Rabbis' Blog - Chabad Lubavitch

100 episodes and counting!

Friday, August 26, 2022 - 8:24 AM

Today, with immense gratitude to G-d, I am pleased to release the 100th episode of Project 613. Three and a half months ago the annual Maimonides study cycle began and I reached out to the community to gauge the interest in receiving short (3 minutes) daily videos covering all 613 mitzvot of the Torah within a year. It was exciting and humbling to see over 100 people sign on to receive direct messages every day with video and audio links. Now, 100 episodes and 205 mitzvot later, “Project 613” has reached a new stage.

On a personal level, recording these videos consistently has been both challenging and fulfilling. Daily Torah study is critical to Jewish living and self growth and the opportunity to teach Torah every day is truly a gift. The feedback and questions from the viewers and listeners - through private messages or in-person conversations - assures me the feeling is mutual.

The timing of this milestone is serendipitous because this week’s parsha expresses the importance of knowing to identify the 613 mitzvot of the Torah.

As the Israelites were poised to enter the Promised Land without Moshe at their lead, he prepared them for a time when they would need to weed out false prophets and charlatans from legitimate messengers of G-d. Pious looking men or women may try to lead you astray from serving G-d by delivering false prophecies, Moshe warned. Even if they perform great wonders and predict the future, you must always beware of the messages they communicate.

How can we separate fact from fiction, prophecy from fable? The entire discussion is prefaced with this statement: “Everything I command you that you shall be careful to do it. You shall neither add to it, nor subtract from it.” (Deuteronomy 13:1)

On the surface, this instruction contradicts the historical fact that for generations Jews adopted numerous customs and observances, such as lighting the Menorah on Chanukah and celebrating Purim. How is this possible if the Torah warns against adding or subtracting from the commandments?

While there is certainly room for discovery and innovation in Jewish life, it can only happen within the context of the tradition we received through Moshe. Claiming there is a 614th mitzvah is as problematic as claiming there are only 612 mitzvot, and is one of the hallmarks of false prophecy. Even when certain mitzvot cannot be fulfilled due to circumstances beyond our control, they remain an integral part of Torah, and when new observances are adopted, they are clearly marked as a rabbinic mitzvot, not new biblical commandments. Bottom line, knowing the 613 mitzvot is important.

Education was always the bulwark against the chaos and confusion diverse false prophets tried to sow in the Jewish community and it remains the most potent tool we have in battling against assimilation and apathy.

Please continue enjoying the daily Project 613 episodes and invite your friends and family to join the movement by clicking here: chabadelpaso.com/project613

If you missed past episodes, you can find them all in the online archive here: chabadelpaso.com/all613

Stop Stressing About Stuff

Friday, August 19, 2022 - 1:08 PM

Rescuers on a rescue boat once threw a ring buoy to a man drowning at sea. “No thanks!” he gasped. “G-d will save me.”

A helicopter hovering above lowered a rope ladder for the man to climb up, but he waved them away, because he was waiting for G-d. As he was about to go under he pushed away a raft floating by because it did not look like G-d either, and he drowned.

Facing the heavenly court he complained to G-d “Why did you not save me?” G-d replied “I tried saving you, but you rejected my boat, my helicopter and even my raft…”

In this week’s parsha Moshe describes the tremendous miracles G-d routinely did in the desert for 40 years to enable the Jews to survive there. Heavenly food called Manna descended every weekday morning, water flowed from a stone and divine clouds protected them from the harsh elements. Their clothing never tattered, remained in pristine condition and even adjusted to their sizes.

Why was it necessary for them to live such a dream-like reality for so long? Even if it was necessary to delay entering the Promised Land for forty years, G-d could have led them on a route close enough to civilization so they could purchase food, water, clothing and all other basic necessities.

Moshe explains that the last forty years of miracles was G-d’s way of educating us a profound truth about nature and the real world. “So that [G-d] would make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but rather by, whatever comes forth from the mouth of the L-rd does man live.” (Deuteronomy 8:3)

G-d redeemed us from Egyptian slavery and gave us the Torah at Mt. Sinai so that we should live lives permeated with the knowledge that everything is controlled and determined by the Creator. The routineness of nature makes such an attitude challenging so G-d gave us forty years of miraculous survival so that we should appreciate that nutrition, shelter and comfort comes exclusively from G-d.

The Rebbe once wrote in a postscript to a businessman in England (see below): Don’t worry so much about business. More Bitachon (trust in G-d) - more Parnasa (financial success).

We can’t wait for food to fall from heaven and must responsibly do our part to make a living, but success is in G-d’s hands alone and there is no reason to stress over it. Better invest your energies into nurturing an active and passionate relationship with G-d, through learning more Torah, observing the mitzvot properly, giving charity generously and inspiring others to do the same, and experience the heavenly blessings flow through your natural efforts.

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Follow your childish curiosity

Thursday, August 11, 2022 - 5:09 PM

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For months my son Menachem badgered me to visit a Tefillin making shop during our Brooklyn visit this summer. He already observed a Sofer (ritual scribe) writing and checking the scrolls that are inserted into the black Tefillin boxes, but his main curiosity was piqued by how the actual boxes are made. He has a toy pair of Tefillin made of plastic, but he knows the real Tefillin he will use when he becomes Bar Mitzvah is exclusively hand fashioned from an animal’s hide. For a while he’s been wondering how you produce square, durable boxes from a piece of skin.

Before continuing, it’s important to note that the animal hides used to fashion Tefillin come from animals that either died naturally or were slaughtered for beef. Animals are not killed for the express purpose of fashioning Tefillin.

At first I was at a loss of where to find such a shop. While the main avenue of the Crown Heights neighborhood has more than half a dozen scribal shops, I had never seen the inside of a Tefillin boxes crafting shop before. A friend who is a scribe referred me to Mendel who works in his father’s Tefillin shop located in Crown Heights and I soon learned his shop specializes in producing the “Lamborghinis” of Tefillin boxes.

Menachem’s eyes sparkled as he observed the Tefillin crafters laboring at their holy trade and he soaked it all in as Mendel walked him through the tedious and labor intensive steps to crafting the Tefillin boxes. It can take many months for one pair to be ready, and in those thirty minutes we saw all the various stages it entails.

I’ll admit, the visit was an eye opener for me as well and I started wondering why I never sought out this shop before to quenche my own thirst for knowledge about a mitzvah I do every weekday for many years. I believe the Shema we recite twice daily, which is recorded in this week’s parsha, has the answer to this question.

“And these words, which I command you this day, shall be upon your heart. And you shall teach them to your children and speak of them when you sit in your house… And you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be for ornaments between your eyes. ”

While one can only teach what they themselves previously learned, the fact that the Torah places “teach them (Torah teachings) to your children” before “speak of them (Torah teachings)” perhaps indicates that the best way to learn yourself is by educating your children. Because their insatiable curiosity to know more will drive you to understand Torah better than ever before. Alternatively, one should channel their own childish curiosity while studying as an adult in order to ensure the best possible results.

There is always more to discover about our Jewish heritage. One need only tune into their childish curiosity to seek answers even to the most seemingly elementary questions.

Got questions? I’d love to try and answer them!

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