Rabbis' Blog - Chabad Lubavitch

The Giant Huddle

Friday, September 30, 2022 - 1:28 PM

I remember playing sports as a kid, we would have random team huddles in the middle of the game. Sometimes we discussed the next play, but more often it was about getting pumped up for the win. In the real world, militaries have parades, corporations host associate retreats and extended families have reunions. Nothing imbues a soldier with fighting pride like a grand military parade, retreats galvanize business associates into a team with vision and family reunions are about more than just getting to know more relatives.

In this week’s parsha Moshe gives the Israelites some final instructions before conquering and settling in the Land of Israel. The last two mitzvot recorded in the Torah are the obligations to write or own a Torah scroll, and for every Jew to come to the Holy Temple for the holiday of Sukkot in the year following the Sabbatical Shemitah year for the grand Hakhel event.

The fact that these two mitzvot serve as the roundup of all 613 means that they serve as important anchors for Jewish life - perhaps unnecessary during the 40 years we sojourned in the desert - but crucial to our survival in the Holy Land. Writing a Torah scroll was impossible before Moshe’s final day, because the biblical narrative includes the events of his passing. It’s also obvious why the written record was only necessary once the divine messenger of G-d’s commandments was no longer with us. (Today this mitzvah is observed through purchasing a letter in a Torah scroll or purchasing Torah books for personal study.)

But why do we need Hakhel? A mass assembly of men, women and children is hardly the setting for innovative Torah discussion and no new information was shared. So why must every Jew come to the same place, at the same time to hear the king read chapters from Deuteronomy?

Maimonides describes the awesome event as a reenactment of Matan Torah - the Revelation at Mt. Sinai. When all the Jews stood at the foot of the mountain and heard G-d speak to them the Ten Commandments, they learned nothing new. It was an empowering and elevating experience to set them on the path to be G-d’s ambassadors of divine light, moral clarity and peace to the world. They were imbued with identity, purpose and pride.

Living in the desert surrounded by G-d’s protective clouds and nourished by His heavenly food, that inspiration never waned. But the distractions of real life they would encounter in Israel and elsewhere posed a serious threat to the awareness of their global mission.

That’s why G-d instructed us to do Hakhel. The experience of standing together with all Jews in the holiest place on earth to hear G-d’s messenger recite such essential verses as Shema Yisroel and the Ten Commandments refreshed our ancestors’ Sinai inspiration. It motivated them to intensify their commitment to Jewish living and education and reminded them that every Jewish community or single individual must serve as an example of moral clarity and peace for all humanity.

Hakhel is the giant huddle that reminds us we are G-d’s team, but it can only happen in its biblically prescribed format when there is a Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Today Hakhel must be done by each and every one of us by gathering Jews together in a holy environment, sharing inspiring words of Torah with them and doing Mitzvot together . Remind yourself and others that we are all part of a huge team of Jews spanning the generations back to Moshe, dispersed around the world, to bring G-d’s message to all humanity.

This is the Hakhel year. Please join our Hakhel Team and make at least one “Jew Huddle” this year. chabadelpaso.com/hakhelteam

New Year’s Resolution

Friday, September 23, 2022 - 12:51 PM

My family went on our annual pomegranate harvest outing yesterday to pick the best ones to grace our Rosh Hashanah dinner table together with the round challah, apples, honey and other delicious dishes symbolizing the sweet new year to come. But we all know Rosh Hashanah is not all about food, and in addition to hearing the Shofar and participating in synagogue services, making a New Year’s resolution is an important way of giving it our best when asking G-d for an amazing new year. I don’t usually do this, but I’d like to propose a unique resolution you can make specifically for the new year 5783.

This year is different than most other years since it is called “Hakhel.”

Hakhel means to assemble or gather. In the times of the Holy Temple, in the year following Shemittah (the Sabbatical year when all field work is prohibited in Israel once every seven years), all Jewish men, women and children made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the holiday of Sukkot for a very special event. At the appointed time they all gathered in the Holy Temple and heard the king read certain chapters from the Torah.

This replicated the Giving of the Torah that happened many years earlier at Mount Sinai, and refreshed the feelings of awe and dedication to G-d we all felt as a nation then. The experience was so powerful that it inspired the nation to intensify their commitment to Jewish life and education for the next seven years. It also facilitated tremendous Jewish unity.

The year 5782 was Shemittah (Sabbatical), so 5783 is Hakhel. Although we cannot observe Hakhel in the literal sense in the absence of the Holy Temple, its energy is available to us this coming year, just like all Holy Temple ideas continue to be spiritually and personally relevant everywhere and at all times. We can and should tap into this Hakhel spirit by utilizing gatherings to promote a Jewish message, inspirational Torah ideas, and to do mitzvot together.

Doing Hakhel isn’t complicated. All you need is three things; people (a minimum of two), an influencer and Torah inspiration to share. Opportunities abound. Sharing a Torah thought or story at the dinner table, before a business meeting, in the middle of a party or while on an outing are all Hakhel events you can make happen. These examples may seem simple and elementary but you must make a conscious effort to have a Torah idea in mind and actually share it. Of course, participating in Torah classes or Jewish events and gatherings where Torah thoughts are shared and mitzvot are done are also opportunities to get involved with Hakhel.

As a new year’s resolution I invite you to commit to “doing Hakhel” at least twice a month. If you’d like to solidify your Hakhel commitment, please join our Hakhel team at chabadelpaso.com/hakhelteam and I will be happy to guide you with Hakhel throughout the year.

May the oncoming year of Hakhel bring us closer together and infuse us with inspiration and purpose.

Best wishes to you and yours to be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet new year.

First Class Judaism

Friday, September 16, 2022 - 1:36 PM

The 36th Anniversary Gala held at Chabad on Sunday was fantastic, with delicious food, first class entertainment and wonderful company. The effusive feedback I’ve been hearing all week centered around how enjoyable the evening was, and I’m thankful to all who were able to join us in celebrating this special milestone. Please enjoy the photo album here.

In this week’s parsha we learn about the mitzvah of Bikkurim. Owning an orchard in the Land of Israel comes with many obligations. When a Jew noticed the first fruits budding, he wrapped a red string around the stems designating the first and best fruits as consecrated gifts to G-d called Bikkurim.

During the summer months entire communities made the pilgrimage to the Holy Temple with much fanfare. Holding the consecrated Bikkurim fruits in baskets adorned with doves, Jerusalem’s finest greeted the pilgrims as they marched to the Holy Temple with music, pomp and ceremony.

After placing the baskets near the altar the orchard owner offered a prayer of 63 words describing the slavery and exodus from Egypt and gratitude to G-d for gifting us the Holy Land. The fruits were then given to the Kohanim (priests) to enjoy with their families.

Bikkurim is not the only agricultural tax one needed to separate in order to partake from the harvest, but its seeming contradictory uniqueness teaches us a profound lesson in Jewish living today.

All other food taxes were given directly to the beneficiaries and not brought to the Holy Temple. All other consecrated foods brought to the Holy Temple were either entirely or partially consumed by the altar’s fire, whereas the Bikkurim fruits were not burned at all and instead fully enjoyed by the Kohanim. See the contradiction here?

Additionally, one can argue that although giving fruits to the Kohanim may be understandable, why must it be the choicest of my crop? Doesn't common sense dictate I deserve to enjoy the best fruits of my labor? It also dictates that spirituality should be devoid of physical enjoyment (represented by the altar’s fire burning up sacrifices) and physicality is not the forum for spiritual elevation or self improvement. Changing our attitude about the best fruits can give us a better perspective on the relationship between the spiritual and the physical.

The prayer recited with Bikkurim concluded “And now, behold, I have brought the first of the fruit of the ground which you, O L-rd, have given to me.” When we appreciate the truth that all we have is from G-d, it becomes obvious that the choicest fruits must be given to G-d and the physical can become holy as well. Fasting and frugality are not the only routes to spiritual refinement. The best the world can offer, when used with the right attitude, brings us closer to G-d as well.

Kosher cuisine can be delicious, synagogues should be stunning and Jewish celebrations ought to be first class. That’s the Bikkurim way of doing Judaism.

The Queen In Me

Friday, September 9, 2022 - 4:53 PM

I imagined in our modern era, blessed to have democracy in most civilized countries, a sovereign’s death would not be a big deal. But not only did Queen Elizabeth's passing grab global headlines, it felt consequential to me as well. I never lived in her majesty's kingdom, know very little about her, and my best guess is the financial markets or the global balance of power will not be affected. So why do I care?

Reigning for over seventy years is a historic accomplishment, compounded by the fact that she preserved the prestige and relevance of her throne, despite the clamor for ending the monarchy in the United Kingdom, which is entirely ceremonial today. But if she largely had no impact on the operations of government nor set policies even within her own kingdom, why was she such a global icon?

As Jews, our relationship with the institution of monarchy is complicated. We haven’t had our own for thousands of years, and the last two millennia of exile have sadly provided no shortage of czars, emperors and kings who made our lives miserable. Yet, we continue to revere the concept as a ubiquitous title and analogy for G-d. The High Holidays liturgy richly describes G-d’s sovereignty as king and the Talmud and Midrash are filled with king and queen themed parables. Surely there is something about the monarchy we can all relate to and learn from - even today when practical day-to-day life manages without it.

Historically many kings and queens were tyrants and heartless killers, but the organic definition of a monarch is the benevolent benefactor and protector of every single subject. Maimonides defines the monarch as “the heart of the nation.” Just as the heart gives life to every organ of the body, the monarch is the essence of the nation and its source of life. Once upon a time this meant every aspect of life was controlled by the monarchy. Today the monarchy embodies that which transcends the dreary details of daily living: the heart uniting the nation.

Judaism teaches that every person is a monarch in microcosm. Every individual is a composite of many ideas, inclinations, drives and emotions and everyone is gifted the “monarch quality” - the ability to be mindful of the broader perspective and the ultimate goals that transcend all the confusing details. When confronted with contradictory choices and messy situations, deploying that personal monarch allows for clarity and purpose.

Throughout life, the impact of your personal monarch broadens. I don’t mean the ability to control others, but the mandate to remind others of what really matters. Parents must provide a brood of children a strong sense of family, and community leaders need to inspire a diverse group of people with a sense of shared purpose and commitment.

The fact that Queen Elizabeth was such a global icon without wielding the power of the sword or the purse illustrates how we can do the same in our personal lives and domains. Remember the important things in life and seek to be an inspiration to your ever broadening circles of family and friends.

Prophecy in our times

Friday, September 2, 2022 - 4:02 PM

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader died this week and his historic role of presiding over the dissolution of the communist regime is important to me as a Jew and personally as well. My maternal grandfather escaped the Soviet Union in 1947 as a teenage fugitive and my paternal grandfather endured seven harrowing years of forced labor in Stalin’s gulags for attempting the same. My father was born near Moscow, and his family miraculously emigrated to Israel in 1966, 25 years before the evil empire collapsed.

Professor Herman Branover, a Refusenik for over 15 years who eventually emigrated to Israel in the early 1970s, continued working on behalf of Soviet Jewry at the Rebbe’s behest and direction. In the spring of 1985, weeks after Gorbachev came to power, the Rebbe instructed Dr. Branover to notify his contacts back in Russia that the situation will change, and very soon every Jew will be allowed to emigrate. This was before the onset of Perestroika.

Despite his tremendous surprise and incredulity at such a prediction, he called his friends and communicated the Rebbe’s message in the codes they knew so well.

“How could that be?” one Refusenik asked. “I am under 24-hour surveillance from the KGB. One of their cars is parked outside my building as we speak!”

In 1987, months before President Reagan declared “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” the Rebbe set in motion an operation to construct thousands of homes in Israel for the Soviet Jews that would emigrate imminently. Again, no one appreciated the urgency of the matter, because the Iron Curtain seemed impregnable as ever.

A few years later, the Soviet Union was gone and while hundreds of thousands of Jews left, the underground Jewish infrastructure that survived over seventy years of persecution started flourishing openly.

Gorbachev visited Israel in 1992 and at a ceremony held in his honor at Ben Gurion University, Dr. Branover shared with the former president how the Rebbe had predicted this outcome in the spring of 1985. “How did he know that then?” he exclaimed. “Even I could not foresee these developments in 1985!”

Click here to watch how Dr. Branover tells this story.

In this week’s parsha we learn about prophets in Jewish life. In addition to communicating divine messages, predicting future events is integral to the role of the prophet and the basis of his or her legitimacy. Most people crave to know the future to take advantage of the markets or manipulate political power. In Judaism, however, the purpose of prophecy is to inspire us to remain loyal to G-d through learning Torah and doing Mitzvot, and to remind us that even if the world may seem to be going in the wrong direction, the future is brighter than ever.

In every generation there have been prophets in various formats, and the Rebbe declared that the ultimate redemption is imminent. The messianic era of world peace and tranquility our prophets predicted thousands of years ago will occur in our times and we can hasten its onset through increasing acts of goodness and kindness.