In Exodus 12:16: "On the first day...and on theseventh day shall be a holy concovation for you, no work may be done on them, except what must be eaten for any person..." Unlike the Sabbath, the festivals, Passover, Shavuot and Succot (and Rosh Hashana) all have in common that we are allowed to cook on these occasions, and also carry food (and other necessities) outside into the public thoroughfare. Is it a lower level of holiness than the Sabbath. Chassidus teaches that on the Sabbath all the physicality loses a part of its realness.
A certain component of G-d's creative force is removed from creation only to be renewed and drawn down again in greater force when the Sabbath goes out. This is why the Sabbath is the source of blessing for all the days of the week. This is why we desist from certain creative labors on the Sabbath to reflect the creative force of G-d which is withdrawn. Our rest is parallel to G-d's "rest".
Is the festival any different? No, what is different on the festival is there is also a commandment to be joyful. Deuteronomy 16:14-15 "...You shall rejoice on the festival...and you will be completely joyous." It is this commandment to be joyous to connect the physical body with the spiritual elation of the soul that requires us to be able to make additional food and carry it outside. For the ultimate joy is in sitting together with our fellow Jews with harmony and love, and the way we do this is with the meals. On the festivals, no one can go hungry because all the Jews are sitting together and whoever needs to eat should be able to find a place for this is the occasion of the year where we have the feel the ultimate goodness of the world, G-d creation, all the way down to our physical bodies.
(Based on a Sicha of the Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe)
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
VaEra (Exod. 6:2-9:35)- The Hail Didn't Come/Pour Down
At the end of this week's parsha, Exod. 9:33, Rashi points out an interesting choice of words. In the verse: "...and the thunders and the hail ceased and rain was not poured upon the earth." The word used for poured - "Nitach" has two different occurrences in the Bible. In Daniel 9:11 it is used in the context of reached: "And so there has reached us the curse and the oath" while in Ezekiel 22:22 it is used as poured: "As silver is poured out". Both poured and reached are meanings contained in the word "Nitach".
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson points out that both meanings have significance in the verse of Exodus. If the rain did not reach the ground it would mean that Moses prayer stopped the rain in midair while if we say it did not pour to the ground then it actually melted and transformed back into cloud form, a complete reversal of the rain process.
These two possibilities the rain being hung in midair, and transforming back into clouds reflect the two possible impacts of Pharao's repentance, and therefore can teach us about the power of repentance overall. If repentance is stimulated by fear of punishment then it merely has the power to freeze the ongoing wickedness in one's life while if the repentance is motivated by a reawakening of one's love for G-d then it doesn't just freeze one's progress but it brings about a complete transformation and reversal - one's sins are transformed to merits.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson points out that both meanings have significance in the verse of Exodus. If the rain did not reach the ground it would mean that Moses prayer stopped the rain in midair while if we say it did not pour to the ground then it actually melted and transformed back into cloud form, a complete reversal of the rain process.
These two possibilities the rain being hung in midair, and transforming back into clouds reflect the two possible impacts of Pharao's repentance, and therefore can teach us about the power of repentance overall. If repentance is stimulated by fear of punishment then it merely has the power to freeze the ongoing wickedness in one's life while if the repentance is motivated by a reawakening of one's love for G-d then it doesn't just freeze one's progress but it brings about a complete transformation and reversal - one's sins are transformed to merits.
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Shmot - the Leper King
Exodus 2:23 Now it came to pass in those many days that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed from the labor, and they cried out, and their cry ascended to God from the labor. Rashi explains: He was stricken (נִצְטָרַע), and he would slaughter Israelite infants and bathe in their blood. [From Exod. Rabbah 1:34]
There is a difficulty in this verse. Why would the death of the Egyptian king cause the children of Israel to sigh from the labor - it would seem just the opposite - that the children of Israel would get some relief from Pharaoh's death. So Rashi explains that he didn't die but rather was striken with Tzaraat or the biblical form of leprosy and the cries of the Jews were from the increased pain of having their children slaughtered to provide for Pharaoh's cure.
Chassidus explains that Tzaraat is brought about by a lack of nullification to the Almighty. That lack of willingness to serve the One Above causes a withdrawal of the life force from the person signified by the spots of paleness on the person's skin. The children represent the infusion of new life particularly in that children represent a natural inborn nullification to a higher authority and particularly to the One Above.
Our teaching from this verse is that our children have a natural humility and instinctively look for authority figures in their life and are naturally sensitized to recognize the Almighty. Our job as parents and teachers is to nurture this sensitivity and teach our children how to apply it in prayer and performance of good deeds.
There is a difficulty in this verse. Why would the death of the Egyptian king cause the children of Israel to sigh from the labor - it would seem just the opposite - that the children of Israel would get some relief from Pharaoh's death. So Rashi explains that he didn't die but rather was striken with Tzaraat or the biblical form of leprosy and the cries of the Jews were from the increased pain of having their children slaughtered to provide for Pharaoh's cure.
Chassidus explains that Tzaraat is brought about by a lack of nullification to the Almighty. That lack of willingness to serve the One Above causes a withdrawal of the life force from the person signified by the spots of paleness on the person's skin. The children represent the infusion of new life particularly in that children represent a natural inborn nullification to a higher authority and particularly to the One Above.
Our teaching from this verse is that our children have a natural humility and instinctively look for authority figures in their life and are naturally sensitized to recognize the Almighty. Our job as parents and teachers is to nurture this sensitivity and teach our children how to apply it in prayer and performance of good deeds.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Vayechi - Overcoming the Challenges of Passing On
The Rabbis in their great wisdom made this one of the weekly portions that does not have a large space before it when you read it from the Torah scroll. The reason for this they explained was because it is a portion that deals with the going up of a Tzaddik's soul. When a Tzaddik's soul goes up, we are left with the feeling of no space and no light and the metaphor for this is the lack of space before this Torah portion (see first Rashi on the sedra).
The Tanya in the section of Epistles, Epistle 27, discusses the passing on of a Tzaddik according to the wisdom of the Zorhar and Kabbala that the soul of the Tzaddik is more revealed after it leaves the physical body since the body is merely a veil for the light of the Tzaddik's soul.
A central figure in our generation, the Rebbe, discusses at length the efforts involved in staying connected to the Tzaddik after his physical body is no longer with us. The Previous Rebbe's discourse connected to the day of his passing is titled, Basi Legani, "I came to my garden". It discusses the central concepts of making a dwelling place here in this world by our unflagging commitment (referred to in the discourse as the "foolish" (in the eyes of others) commitment to self-sanctification ) to rebuilding the Temple within ourselves through setting times for Torah learning in our day. This can be accomplished only through a constant struggle with the Animal soul to refine it and not give in to its temptation to sink to lower levels of involvement with the physical. The Rebbe elaborated on this point annually on the yahrtzeit of the Previous Rebbe.
In Tanya, Ch. 9, the Ba'al HaTanya discusses the struggle between the Animal Soul and Divine Soul. There he explains that the advantage of the Divine Soul and its "secret weapon" as it were is its unflagging commitment to G-d. The Divine Soul has a constant connection to its source and therefeore its commitment to G-d is based on the fact that it sees G-d . Because it sees G-d it is unrelenting in its struggle to make this world into a reality where it can again see G-d without the veils of physicality.
The Rebbe explains (in his last discourse, Ata Tetzave) that the level of seeing G-d is insufficient for there is yet a higher level of commitment to the One Above made possible by the teaching of the Moshe Rabbeinu of the generation. There the Rebbe points out that this connection on the level of Yechida can be honed to the point that the Jew himself is connected without external guidance, this is manifested by complete unity with all the Jews around them. Therefore, the passing away of the leader of the generation, our forefather Ya'akov, in this week's portion should inspire us with a redoubled commitment to learning the teachings of our leaders and that they should become one with us to the point where we are connected to G-d and see His Blessed Infinite Light in this physical reality.
The Tanya in the section of Epistles, Epistle 27, discusses the passing on of a Tzaddik according to the wisdom of the Zorhar and Kabbala that the soul of the Tzaddik is more revealed after it leaves the physical body since the body is merely a veil for the light of the Tzaddik's soul.
A central figure in our generation, the Rebbe, discusses at length the efforts involved in staying connected to the Tzaddik after his physical body is no longer with us. The Previous Rebbe's discourse connected to the day of his passing is titled, Basi Legani, "I came to my garden". It discusses the central concepts of making a dwelling place here in this world by our unflagging commitment (referred to in the discourse as the "foolish" (in the eyes of others) commitment to self-sanctification ) to rebuilding the Temple within ourselves through setting times for Torah learning in our day. This can be accomplished only through a constant struggle with the Animal soul to refine it and not give in to its temptation to sink to lower levels of involvement with the physical. The Rebbe elaborated on this point annually on the yahrtzeit of the Previous Rebbe.
In Tanya, Ch. 9, the Ba'al HaTanya discusses the struggle between the Animal Soul and Divine Soul. There he explains that the advantage of the Divine Soul and its "secret weapon" as it were is its unflagging commitment to G-d. The Divine Soul has a constant connection to its source and therefeore its commitment to G-d is based on the fact that it sees G-d . Because it sees G-d it is unrelenting in its struggle to make this world into a reality where it can again see G-d without the veils of physicality.
The Rebbe explains (in his last discourse, Ata Tetzave) that the level of seeing G-d is insufficient for there is yet a higher level of commitment to the One Above made possible by the teaching of the Moshe Rabbeinu of the generation. There the Rebbe points out that this connection on the level of Yechida can be honed to the point that the Jew himself is connected without external guidance, this is manifested by complete unity with all the Jews around them. Therefore, the passing away of the leader of the generation, our forefather Ya'akov, in this week's portion should inspire us with a redoubled commitment to learning the teachings of our leaders and that they should become one with us to the point where we are connected to G-d and see His Blessed Infinite Light in this physical reality.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Hey Teves - Didan Natzach
The fifth day of Teves marks the landmark victory of the chassidim in federal court over the issue of the Rebbe's legacy as a continuation of the Chabad initiative. To note that at the beginning of the Rebbe's leadership, when the Rebbe agreed to lead Chabad, the asked three elder chassidim to ask the Previous Rebbe's wife to give the book collection over into his oversight and at the time she refused. So from the beginning the Rebbe saw that this would be a necessity in accomplishing his mission.
The victory in court was based on convincing a non-Jewish judge of the prevalence of the chassidims' claim to the book collection as the Previous Rebbe's spiritual heirs as opposed to the claim of his grandson as his physical heir. To note that the Alter Rebbe always called himself the spiritual grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov and in many ways eclipsed the physical grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh (although Reb Baruch was a renowned Rebbe and Tzaddik in his own right).
That a non-Jewish court should recognize that this claim of the spiritual connection between the Rebbe and his Chassidim overrode the simple connection that exists between physical relatives seems quite supernatural. The judge addressed the grandson at the end of the case and pointed out that his grandfather had made tremendous financial sacrifices in order to acquire the many books in his collection. He asked the defendant, "Did your grandfather amass this collection so that you could come and sell it off?" In short, the judge was able to recognize the timeless essence that characterized the Previous Rebbe's efforts - he saw that the continuation of this essential mission overrode the grandson's claims as a physical heir.
Our mission following Hey Teves is to continue to explain to the non-Jewish world the value and timeless essence of our service to the Creator. When the Russians interrogated the Alter Rebbe regarding his statement about the origin of Non-Jewish souls, the Alter Rebbe merely smiled. Simcha has the power to sweeten judgements. As the world comes to terms with the timeless essence of our relationship with G-d, our role, those who are continuing in the path of the Alter Rebbe, is to smile bravely and continue to celebrate the victory of light over darkness.
The victory in court was based on convincing a non-Jewish judge of the prevalence of the chassidims' claim to the book collection as the Previous Rebbe's spiritual heirs as opposed to the claim of his grandson as his physical heir. To note that the Alter Rebbe always called himself the spiritual grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov and in many ways eclipsed the physical grandson of the Ba'al Shem Tov, Reb Baruch of Mezhibuzh (although Reb Baruch was a renowned Rebbe and Tzaddik in his own right).
That a non-Jewish court should recognize that this claim of the spiritual connection between the Rebbe and his Chassidim overrode the simple connection that exists between physical relatives seems quite supernatural. The judge addressed the grandson at the end of the case and pointed out that his grandfather had made tremendous financial sacrifices in order to acquire the many books in his collection. He asked the defendant, "Did your grandfather amass this collection so that you could come and sell it off?" In short, the judge was able to recognize the timeless essence that characterized the Previous Rebbe's efforts - he saw that the continuation of this essential mission overrode the grandson's claims as a physical heir.
Our mission following Hey Teves is to continue to explain to the non-Jewish world the value and timeless essence of our service to the Creator. When the Russians interrogated the Alter Rebbe regarding his statement about the origin of Non-Jewish souls, the Alter Rebbe merely smiled. Simcha has the power to sweeten judgements. As the world comes to terms with the timeless essence of our relationship with G-d, our role, those who are continuing in the path of the Alter Rebbe, is to smile bravely and continue to celebrate the victory of light over darkness.
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