Thoughts from the Rabbi

What do we learn from Purim?

Friday, March 25, 2016 - 6:30 PM

A Thought from the Rabbi

In the words of an old saying, “What goes up - must come down.” When you awaken on the day after Purim this could be a problem, for who wants to come down from the spiritual high experienced on Purim? Not me! I want to stay in the clouds – seeing every glass as half full and feeling love and appreciation for everyone I encounter.

Purim teaches us the lesson that everything is possible. In the blink of an eye the Almighty can transform the direst of circumstances into utter redemption and joy! Notice the operative word, “teaches,” not “taught.” The lesson of Purim cannot be relegated to the past (tense). On the contrary, it is meant to be recounted in the present tense. It must stay with us at all times.

In the Code of Jewish Law there is an interesting excerpt that states if one read the Megillah backwards he has not fulfilled his obligation. Now who would do such a ridiculous thing? The meaning of this law is actually he who views the lessons of Purim as being in the past has not fulfilled his/her obligation in reading (and learning from) the Megillah.

What this law is telling us is that we need not step down from the highs of Purim. In fact we are meant to use the joyousness we experienced on Purim as a stepping stone or even a spring board to greater things! We build on the joy of yesterday to make today better and tomorrow better still. In the words of Psalms (in matters of holiness) we are meant to go ‘from strength to strength.’ When it comes to our divine service we must endeavor to continually grow.

Of course this can be a huge challenge! That is where the other commandments associated with Purim come in handy. The love and community-building engendered by our copious charity giving and Shalach Manos (food gift giving) helps create the support system that assists us in our mission to achieve perpetual forward motion and growth. The Creator helps us in this regard as well. When we make the honest effort G-d will help us along the path to happiness and success.

To better illustrate this point here is a salient quote from the Rebbe’s HaYom Yom(Thought for the Day) of 16 Adar II: “Divine Service for the business person includes arousing within himself the faith and perfect trust in the One Who feeds and sustains all flesh, that He will provide him with an ample livelihood. He must be truly happy and cheerful, as though all his livelihood were already in hand.” (Emphasis Added).

We are truly blessed! We get to transition from the frenetic happiness of Purim to (perhaps) a more peaceful joy on Shabbos! Still not feeling it? Go to shul, pray with a group, study some Torah (and listen closely to the Rabbi’s sermon), enjoy some Kiddush goodies, and you will see what I mean!

Parshas Zachor

Friday, March 18, 2016 - 5:52 PM

A Thought from the Rabbi

This Shabbat is called Shabbat Zachor because of the special Torah reading that will be added after the weekly portion (VaYikra – And He Called). On the Shabbat before Purim we read the story of Amalek, the nefarious nation that attacked the Jewish people after their miraculous exodus from Egypt. The reason we read this portion on the Shabbat before Purim is because the arch villain of the Purim story, Haman, was a descendent of that accursed nation.

We learn that Amalek represents the precise opposite of the Jewish nation. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, explains why this is so. As Jews, we are commanded to approach our divine service with warmth, energy, and joy. Amalek, the eternal enemy of our people, had a very different approach to G-dliness. To understand and have context we must study the history.

The Jewish people had finally, after more than 200 years of dwelling in Egypt – ultimately becoming intensely oppressed slaves – were redeemed from servitude through a series of miracles. The Creator basically turned the laws of nature on their head so as to clearly demonstrate His Presence even in the environs of the lowly Egypt. G-d showed how He not only created the world, but He continues to be involved in the world, on a moment-by-moment basis. If G-d decrees that water should turn into blood or that hailstones should contain fire, they will.

The series of wonders led directly to the emancipation of the Children of Israel as well as the destruction of the idol worshipping religious system of the heretofore prevailing customs of the Egyptians. Not only were the oppressors judged so were their gods. The whole world witnessed or heard about this systematic destruction of Egyptian evil and came to understand that indeed the Jewish people were the ‘chosen people’ who were given a special mission to accomplish in the created universe. The world shook in terror at the awesome power demonstrated in behalf of the Jews.

And along came Amalek… The Amalakites were not fools (at least not in the way that foolishness is typically understood). They knew that the power of the Almighty was truly overpowering. However, they wanted to demonstrate the human frailty of the Jewish people – meaning they wanted to show that despite the chosen-ess of the Jews they were still (only) human and were therefore vulnerable to attack. Imagine that; they sacrificed themselves in order to show the ‘weakness’ of G-d’s chosen nation – and by association of G-d Himself!

Where does this Chutzpah come from? How can anyone be so brazen?! The Rebbe explains it comes from a deep and inner coldness. Amalek was unimpressed with G-dliness. Complacency and indifference are our enemies. Perhaps that is the most ‘chilling’ aspect of Amalek; we have an inner Amalek. And that, my friends, is our big challenge in life – to utterly vanquish that inner Amalek. How is that done? That is done by embracing Torah and Mitzvah with vim and vigor, with love and with energy! We infuse our service with passion and joy. And this divinely-mandated mission is helped along by the joyousness of Purim, when we were again saved by the Almighty from our enemies who sought to destroy us and instead were destroyed themselves.

May the joyousness of Purim influence our daily lives and prepare us for the ultimate redemption with Moshiach now! ice cubes.jpg

Parshat Pikudei

Friday, March 11, 2016 - 7:37 PM

A Thought from the Rabbi

This week’s portion is titled ‘Pikudei’, meaning ‘amounts of’ or ‘accountings’. It begins by detailing the donations brought in by the Children of Israel and used for the construction of the Mishkan – the Tabernacle. The fact that there is a strong emphasis on the actual completion of the Mishkan is telling, in that we see the importance of bringing things to fruition, or as the Talmud says, “Maaseh huh ha’ikar (action is the main thing).

Once the actual building is successfully completed the Torah recounts how the Divine Presence rested upon the Tabernacle fulfilling its purpose of being a dwelling place for the Almighty in this world. That is not to say that G-dliness was not present before that time, however, it was not ‘at home’ before the completion of the Mishkan. The notion of being at home indicates that a ‘comfort zone’ had been achieved so that the Presence of G-d rested in the physical space filled by the Mishkan and existed in it in revealed harmony.

The revealed, harmonious coexistence of the Creator and His creation in the Mishkan is meant to demonstrate that it can be done, and that the good offices of humankind can be the key ingredient to make it happen. After all, most people may think that there is a contradiction between G-d’s spirituality and the physicality of the created universe. Indeed, when we allow the physical world to dominate our thoughts and actions there can be a human-made contradiction between the physical and spiritual. On the other hand, when humans – the choicest of creation – train ourselves to make G-dliness our primary focus, realizing that this physical world is a tool to be used in the service of G-d, we have the unique ability to infuse the physical with revealed G-dliness. And this, when all is said and done, is our ultimate purpose and the purpose of all creation – from the most sublime to the most mundane.

Being that we are in the month of Adar which has Purim in it, the most joyous of holidays, we should seek out the theme of happiness in the reading. This week it is particularly easy to find, for how can one not be joyous when we read G-d’s testimony that the Jews had properly fulfilled His command to build Him a home, and they built it exactly per His very specific instructions?! This labor of love was rewarded with His revelation and our people joyfully shared in His move-in celebration.

As it happened then so should it happen now. May we be blessed to do our parts in constructing an appropriate home for G-d here, in this physical world, and may Moshiach come speedily in our day to reveal that G-d has indeed inhabited His home!