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                         L'CHAIM - ISSUE # 883
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             THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR EVERY JEWISH PERSON
   Dedicated to the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson N.E.
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        August 19, 2005        Vaeschanan            14 Av, 5765
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                         This Land is Our Land


By what right do we own anything? If we steal something, of course we
don't own it. But what if the owner gives up hope of ever recovering it,
essentially abandoning it? In that case, you might argue, we now legally
own the stolen object. But, do we have a right to it? The thief might
possess it, but he doesn't rightfully own it.

We could also fight over something and if we're stronger, or just
sneakier, we can win the fight and claim ownership that way. But unless
we have some other legitimate claim, brute force is just another form of
theft.

We can buy something. That certainly gives us a right to own whatever it
is we've bought, be it a lamp, a house or an empty field. But by what
right did the seller sell? How did he come to own the lamp, the house or
whatever? And if we say he bought it, we can ask again, by what right
did the person he bought it from own it?

And the same applies to a gift. If we receive a gift, we certainly have
a right to it; we own it - provided that the giver really owned it, that
he had a right to it. But how did he get that right? How did he come to
possess it?

Again with an inheritance, the underlying ownership is always subject to
challenge.

So we have the question, what is the truly legitimate way to claim
ownership of anything, whether it's moveable property or real estate?

There is a Master to the world who owns it by right of His Creation. He
can rent it out, so to speak, or part of it, to a particular nation or
individual - giving them the right to use such-and-such a part of His
world in exchange for a particular type of service.

He can give it as a temporary gift - allowing a country or people full
use of it, without condition, but only for a set period of time.

Or He can give it as a gift in perpetuity - a gift that becomes an
inheritance, such that the land and the people are inextricably linked,
each needing the other for its existence.

And such is the claim of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. It is
not a claim we make because we bought the land or conquered the land or
inherited the land. The Jewish people have a right to the Land of Israel
because G-d gave it to us. He promised it to us, as descendants of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in fulfillment of that promise took us out
of Egypt and will bring the future Redemption.

Many  people in the world acknowledge this truth, and recognize that our
legitimacy stems from the words of Torah which declares that the Land of
Israel belongs to the Jewish people. Even as we argue against giving
land for security reasons, we need to be aware of the righteousness of
our underlying claim to the land.

Perhaps the spreading of that awareness is itself the last little push
that is needed to bring the long-awaited Redemption, the era when, as
Maimonides says "there will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor
competition, for good things will flow in abundance and all the
delicacies will be as freely available as dust. The occupation of the
entire world will be solely to know G-d."

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           LIVING WITH THE REBBE  -  THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION
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This week's Torah reading, Vaetchanan, contains the Shema, the
fundamental prayer in Jewish liturgy. When a person recites the Shema,
he is not merely declaring that there is only one G-d. The intent of the
Shema is that all existence is one with Him.

Judaism does not believe that the spiritual and the physical can be
separated from each other. We do not believe in a G-d who sits in the
heavens and allows the world to function however it desires. Instead,
the spiritual and the physical are both manifestations of a single
unity.

This is what we mean when we say "G-d is one"  -  that G-d's oneness
embraces everything that we see, hear, or become aware of.

These concepts are hinted at by echad, the Hebrew word for one. That
word is made up of three letters. The first letter, the alef, stands for
the Ein Sof, G-d's infinity. The second, the chet, is equivalent to the
number eight, referring to the seven spiritual realms and our material
earth. The last letter, the dalet, equivalent to four, alludes to the
four directions of this earth. What is inferred is that the alef, G-d's
infinite transcendence, permeates the chet, all eight levels of
existence, and more particularly, the dalet, the four directions of our
world. Wherever we go, there is nothing apart from Him.

On this basis, we can understand why the Shema is the message associated
with our people's martyrs. When a martyr gives up his life for his
faith, he is making a statement that he refuses to separate the physical
from the spiritual. He will not live a life that does not reflect his
inner G-dly essence.

If he is forced to sever the connection between the two and live in
contradiction to what he believes and knows is right, then he would
rather not live. For he cannot conceive of a life that runs contrary to
his spiritual core. For him, the oneness of G-d is an actual - not
merely a theoretical - reality.

The Shema continues with the command to love G-d. That command raises a
question: How can the Torah command us to love? You either feel love or
you don't. No one can tell you to feel something that you don't.

That's why the commandment to love G-d follows after the declaration of
G-d's oneness. When a person understands the oneness of G-d and
appreciates how He is in every element of existence, he will be spurred
to feelings of love. For intellect gives birth to emotion and our
awareness of G-d prompts us to love Him.

After, the Shema mentions several commandments -  to study Torah, wear
tefilin, and affix mezuzot on our doorposts. For it is through these
deeds - and by extension, the totality of Jewish observance - that the
oneness proclaimed in the Shema is made part of our everyday lives.

               From Keeping in Touch, adapted from the works of the
            Lubavitcher Rebbe by Rabbi E. Touger, published by SIE.

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                             SLICE OF LIFE
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                        Letters from Gush Katif

                            by She'era Yuval

Dear Avi and the farmers of Gush Katif,

The most optimistic person in the world is the farmer, who plants a seed
in the earth and expects to eat bread from it the next year. And you,
the farmers of Gush Katif, are the most optimistic of all - and
especially you, our dear Avi, who 30 years ago came to sparkling dunes
empty of people. The closest village was a long way off. You were
received with bread and salt, and people looked at you as though you had
lost your minds - were you going to be farmers in this accursed place? A
place where only Bedouin and camels trod? The Jew must be majnoun
(insane).

But you came at the urging of the government of Israel, a government
whose "greatest" security people anticipated the problems in the Gaza
Strip and conceived the "five fingers" plan to split the area by means
of Jewish settlements. Because a Jewish settlement is always, always the
border.

And you/we took up the challenge, the challenge of the fingers. You
transformed an accursed land into an astonishing agricultural empire,
with special crops that are exported to every corner of the world.

I remember well how we came to visit you in Gush Katif 22 years ago. We
met a young family with two infants, a tiny home and extensive hothouses
in the glowing sand. We too wondered how to do it. How do you extract
plants and saplings from such a vast nothingness?

But you, with infinite patience, with hard and demanding work, looked
for the best crop - the one that would be suitable for our special
climate and soil conditions. At the same time you enlarged your family,
expanded the house and, along with all of us, turned Gush Katif into a
fertile garden.

Today, ill winds are blowing, winds of destruction and evil, winds that
threaten to dry up this project, to uproot what lives and grows.

And you, Avi, a man in the prime of life, almost 50, are looking at the
terrible calamity: how your life's work, the empire you built,
everything that is the foundation for you and your family, for your
settlement and for the whole of Gush Katif, is about to be uprooted. You
are lamenting about how you will be able to keep getting up in the
morning. How you will be able to provide for your family.

Don't they understand that farming is not something you can uproot from
one place to another? After all, everything depends on the climate, on
the soil and on the single crop. Who will have the strength to start
over again?

So you have no choice. Get up tomorrow morning, go back to the
hothouses, which you have been cultivating for many years. Go back to
your saplings, go back to your land, the Eternal One of Israel will send
you a blessing, because the Eternal People is not afraid of a long road.

Lovingly and wishing you only good things,
                                                            She'era

                                *  *  *

                           Believe In Prayer
                         by Yigal Kirschenzaft


It was a routine Sunday in Neve Dekalim (the largest settlement in Gush
Katif, Gaza). My visitor from abroad, Dr. Ze'ev Ravnoy, and I were just
getting out of the car. Suddenly there was an enormous explosion. I flew
into the air and then I was standing on the sidewalk covered with hot,
sticky blood. Ze'ev was sitting on the sidewalk, both of his legs in
pools of blood.

I immediately understood that we had been "privileged" to receive a
large amount of contaminated shrapnel sent by our enemies. I closed the
wound in my head and tried to dial the Regional Council offices on my
cell phone. Immediately neighbors came out and also our angelic
emergency rescue teams arrived and hurried to evacuate us, under fire,
to safety and emergency medical care.

I felt dizzy and my head started spinning as I lost consciousness. When
I came to, I turned to our Father in Heaven and simply asked Him,
"Please! Leave me in this world. We have so much more to do here." I
also recited some Psalms that I was able to remember by heart under the
circumstances. In addition to the injury to my head I felt an enormous
pain in my lower back, and the stretcher was covered with my blood.

When I asked the medic, he assured me, "It is all right, we closed the
wound in your hip."

"No," I replied, "in the middle of my back there is another gaping
hole." So the medics turned me over to my side and bandaged the wound in
the middle of my back. We were transferred from the ambulance to a
helicopter. In the helicopter I said to the officer in command, "Now you
have done your part in taking Jews out of Gush Katif."

In the hospital I was x-rayed repeatedly.  Among other pieces of
shrapnel, two pieces were embedded in my back. One piece was very large
and about 2 centimeters from the spinal cord. It was pressing on my
lower back so I could not walk or sit. The other piece was in my hip.

On the first day both of my injuries were bandaged. The whole world was
praying for our recovery: In Brazil, America, Antwerp, in schools, camps
and businesses. Even in line to go to the dentist in Kiryat Arba,
Hebron, Psalms were recited for our recovery.

And wonder of wonders! On the second day while changing the bandages
only the injury to my hip was bandaged. The injury on my back had
disappeared! I rubbed my back and it was as smooth as before the attack.
I called to my family and they also were astonished. The doctors came to
check me and searched for the shrapnel, assuming that it had moved
somewhere else, but it had disappeared. Simply disappeared!

From that moment when the shrapnel disappeared I was again able to move
freely: to sit up, get out of bed and walk. Thank G-d!

This, my friends, is the power of prayer! If an ugly piece of metal and
an open wound can suddenly disappear, so can evil decrees disappear in
the wink of an eye!

Why worry? Is G-d on strike, heaven forbid? Is He in off for summer
vacation? Throughout history and up until this day, it has been proven
that he who puts his trust in flesh and blood is disappointed. What will
be? What will we eat tomorrow? Where will we live? Where will we work?
Do not worry. We have a dedicated Father who is caring for all of our
needs. We will continue to plant, to build, to educate, to live and
develop. And as the Chasidic saying goes, "Think good and it will be
good!"

And we will be blessed with a complete Redemption very soon. We will be
strengthened with love of Israel, we will depend on our Father in
Heaven. And we will continue with the tried and proven solution:
"Repentance, prayer and charity remove the bad decree."

Thank you for all of your prayers and help.
                                                Yigal Kirschenzaftn

    Rabbi Kirschenzaft is the Rebbe's emissary to Gush Katif

To see houses, parks, zoos, museums, schools, synagogues, hothouses,
beaches and shopping centers visit www.gushkatif.net

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                            THE REBBE WRITES
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Every Jew, man, woman, or child, in every generation, by virtue of his
very existence, expresses the praise of G-d. Not only is every Jew's
soul an "actual part of G-d," so to speak, but also, each Jew as he
exists in this world, body and soul, is a unique Divine creation and a
member of "G-d's nation."

This applies to every Jew without distinction. We are "one nation,"
sharing a fundamental equality regardless of our different spiritual
levels. This applies even to those Jews who - at present - do not
observe the will of G-d as expressed in the Torah. For, as our Sages
teach, "A Jew even though he sins remains Jewish."

Furthermore, the innate desire of every Jew (even one who is not
observant), because he was born of a Jewish mother or converted
according to Jewish law, is to serve G-d through Torah and its
commandments, the mitzvos. Maimonides writes that every Jew, even one
who protests to the contrary, desires to be part of the Jewish people,
to fulfill mitzvos, and to separate himself from sin. If he does not do
so, it is only because his evil inclination forces him to act otherwise.

Throughout the centuries, this essential desire has been revealed by the
many Jews - even those who were not observant - who actually sacrificed
their lives to sanctify G-d's name.

The existence of the Jewish people expresses the praise of G-d. The
Jewish nation has endured throughout the course of history, while
nations more powerful have vanished. This is not a result of any
socio-political factors, but is rather an open expression of Divine
power.

In particular this applies today, only a generation after the Holocaust
that threatened to utterly annihilate our people. The fact that our
people (regardless of their spiritual level) continue to exist reveals
G-d's presence within our world.

The above concepts should affect the manner in which we approach our
fellow Jews. Criticizing or speaking unfavorably about them is no less
than making such statements against G-d Himself. Zachariah (2:12) the
prophet warns that a person who strikes a Jew is like one who strikes
G-d in the eye, so to speak. Since "a king cannot exist without a
people," the appreciation of G-d as king of the world is dependent on
His people, the Jews, and an attack against them, heaven forbid, is an
attack against Him.

When such statements are made, particularly when they are made in
public,  they have to be corrected. We find that when Isaiah criticized
the Jews - even though they were deserving of such criticism - he was
punished. The Bible relates this incident in order to "open the way to
repentance," so that anyone who makes such statements should appreciate
the need to correct his behavior.

Surely the above applies when a person questions the Jewishness of
certain of our brothers and sisters whom the Torah itself defines as
Jews. The Jewish people are compared to a Torah scroll. A blemish in a
single letter of a Torah scroll disqualifies the entire scroll,
including even the Ten Commandments. Similarly, disqualifying a single
member of our people affects the people as a whole.

The essential nature of any entity always seeks to express itself. Thus,
the appreciation of a Jew's essential nature should motivate efforts to
have that nature realized - through the fulfillment of the Torah and its
commandments.

This will bring the Jewish people not only spiritual benefits, but will
also strengthen their position in the world, particularly in the Land of
Israel.

Just as the Jews are G-d's chosen people, the Land of Israel is G-d's
chosen land. It is a holy land given as an eternal inheritance to the
entire Jewish people, those living in the land at present, and those
presently living in the diaspora. Hence, no one is entitled to surrender
any portion of the Land of Israel to gentiles.

Maintaining possession of this land is the only path to peace.
Succumbing to the pressure to surrender any part of it will only invite
additional pressure, weakening the security of the Jewish people and
exposing them to danger. The government in the Holy Land must follow the
path of peace, but also must realize that the path to peace depends on
maintaining possession of every portion of the land which G-d has
granted us.

May the above hasten the coming of Moshiach who will lead our entire
people to the Land of Israel....

         Freely translated from an address of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

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                            RAMBAM THIS WEEK
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16 Av, 5765 - August 21, 2005

Prohibition 285: It is forbidden to testify falsely

This mitzva is based on the verse (Ex. 20:13) "You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor" We are forbidden to act as false
witnesses and declare that something is true when we know that what we
are saying is a lie.

17 Av, 5765 - August 22, 2005

Positive Mitzva 180: Punishing False Witnesses

This mitzva is based on the verse (Deut. 19:19) "You shall do to him as
he had thought to have done to his brother" If witnesses are found to be
testifying falsely, they must be punished. We are commanded to impose
upon these false witnesses the same verdict that would have been given
to the person on trial, had their testimony been true.



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                        A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
                         Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman
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This Shabbat is the 15th of Av, a day on which many positive things
happened in Jewish history.

It is also the Shabbat after Tisha B'Av, known as Shabbat Nachamu for
the Haftorah portion we read which begins, "Nachamu, Nachamu Ami -
Comfort, I will comfort My People."

Our Sages state that the word "Nachamu" is stated twice, for with the
building of the Third Holy Temple, G-d will comfort us doubly for the
destruction of the first and second Temples.

Jewish teachings further explain that the repetition of words in the
Torah points to the unlimited quality of the matter being discussed.

Thus, the comfort that G-d offers us through his prophet in this week's
Haftorah does not point a limited consolation for the destruction of the
First and Second Temples; G-d is telling us that with the building of
the Third Holy Temple in the Messianic Era, we will be comforted in a
totally unlimited manner, when the revelation of G-dliness and Divine
Knowledge will likewise be totally unlimited.

The 15th of Av is also the day on which we are encouraged to begin
increasing our Torah study, since, on the 15th of Av the nights become
longer - nights which can be used for Torah study. The Rebbe, in a talk
on this Shabbat, emphasized what form this Torah study should take:

"In general, the study of Chasidut is associated with the Redemption...
in particular the function of this study as a catalyst for the
Redemption is more powerful when the subject studied concerns that
matter itself," i.e., matters concerning Moshiach and the Redemption.

May G-d comfort us not only doubly but in an infinite and unlimited
manner with the revelation of Moshiach and the building of the Third
Holy Temple, immediately.

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                          THOUGHTS THAT COUNT
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You shall not add...nor shall you diminish (Deut. 4:2)

The Torah is called the "prescription for life" - a medicine able to
purify those who take it. That is why we are warned not to add nor
detract from the Torah's words. A prescription drug is a precise mixture
of various substances, and changing the proportions can have toxic
effects. So, too, are the commandments of the Torah given in the exact
and correct proportions, and to change even a word has a deleterious
effect.

                                          (Rabbi Yonoson Eibeshutz)

                                *  *  *


Your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the nations (Deut 4:6)

A Jew is expected to keep the commandments in the Torah, not because he
understands them rationally with his mind, but because the Creator of
the World has commanded him to do so. But "in the eyes of the nations,"
the Torah is "your wisdom and your understanding": one must know how to
answer heretics.

                                                       (Ktav Sofer)

                                *  *  *


This day we have seen that G-d can speak with man, who may live. But
now, why should we die? (Deut. 5:21, 22)

Up until now, we thought that while the soul is still in the physical
body, it cannot bear the revelation of the light of holiness. But this
day, we have seen that it is possible, "that G-d can speak with man,"
and that man "can live" with this added dimension of holiness. We see
that the physical world can accept this degree of G-dliness. Therefore,
"why should we die?"

                                                           (Shaloh)

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                            IT ONCE HAPPENED
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In the upcoming week falls the 20th of Av, the yahrzeit (anniversary of
the passing) of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, father of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe. Rav Levi Yitzchak was a great sage and scholar, an
awesome reservoir of Talmudic and Kabalistic knowledge. But perhaps the
most unique dimension of his character was his unflinching commitment to
Judaism and the total lack of fear with which he expressed that
commitment.

One night in 1935, in the midst of the fiercest Stalinist oppression, a
woman knocked on his door. "I've come from a distant city whose name I
cannot mention. In approximately one hour, my daughter and her fiance?
will also arrive. They both hold high government positions and so their
coming here is fraught with danger. They have agreed to be married
according to Jewish law, provided you would perform the wedding in your
home."

Rav Levi Yitzchak consented and set about gathering together a minyan
for the wedding. Within half an hour, he had brought eight other men
into his home. But the tenth man was lacking. On the bottom floor of the
apartment house where Rav Levi Yitzchak lived a young Jewish man who had
been hired by the Communist authorities to spy on the goings on in Rav
Levi Yitzchak's home. Rav Levi Yitzchak was well aware of who this
person was and how he was employed. Yet when the tenth man was lacking,
he sent for him.

"We need a tenth man for a minyan so that a Jewish couple can marry," he
told his neighbor.

"And so you sent for me?!" the neighbor responded in utter amazement.
And yet he consented to participate in the minyan and did not inform
about the ceremony.

Years later, the Rebbe said: "From my father I learned never to be
afraid."

                          From Keeping in Touch, by Rabbi E. Touger

                                *  *  *


One year, before Passover, the Government required each citizen to
complete a questionnaire, as part of a general population census. One of
the questions was, "Do you believe in G-d?"

Certain Jews who did believe, nevertheless responded in the negative
because they were afraid of losing their jobs. When Rav Levi Yitzchak
became aware of this, he stood up and proclaimed before a large audience
in the synagogue, that for a Jew to deny his belief in G-d is considered
heresy and therefore it is absolutely prohibited for any Jew to give a
negative answer to this question, no matter what the consequences.

This ruling of Rabbi Lev Yitzchak was brought to the attention of the
authorities by an agent who had been planted in the shul in order to
observe the rabbi's manner of conducting himself and to determine the
extent of his influence upon the congregation.

At a later date, after Rabbi Levi Yitzchak had been arrested and was
being interrogated about this speech, he defended himself. He explained
that the Government certainly expected truthful answers to all of its
questions, and it being the case that so many Jews were ready to respond
falsely to this particular question out of fear of losing their jobs, he
had felt it his duty as a loyal citizen to urge them to answer each
question honestly!

From the diary of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, wife of Rabbi Levi
Yitzchak, published in A mother in Israel, Kehot Publications

Ozar Wienikursky told of the traumatic time when he was about to be
drafted into the Russian Communist army. He came to Rav Levi Yitzchak
to ask for his blessing that he should secure a deferment. The Rav did
not simply bless him. He gave Ozar extremely detailed instructions; he
specified the exact date and hour at which he should report to the draft
office, which route to take on the way there, the chapters of Psalms
that he should say beforehand, and exactly how many coins he should give
to charity.

He also prescribed that when Ozar stood at the entrance to the building,
he should stop and envisage in his mind the holy four-letter name of
G-d. The Rav then blessed him and promised that nothing bad would befall
him. He concluded by requesting that the young man return afterwards
with a detailed report of all that had transpired.

Wienikursky carefully followed all of the Rav's instructions. When he
arrived at the draft office, he was sent into a large room with many
tables. At each table sat a doctor with a particular specialty who had
the responsibility of examining each candidate that passed before him,
but only in his area of expertise. Each draftee had to go before all of
the doctors to determine the true state of his health and eliminate any
possibility of deception.

"I passed along the row of tables and was examined by each doctor,"
related Ozar. "Each one recorded his opinion in turn. Finally, I reached
the desk of the clerk who notified the draftees of the board's decision.

The man looked at me pityingly and exclaimed, "What is going on with
you? You poor man! Each doctor found something wrong with you and each
one's diagnosis describes you as suffering from a different disease!"

He left safely with a complete exemption from the army.

     Translated and adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from Eim b'Yisrael,
                                    reprinted from www.ascent.co.il

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                            MOSHIACH MATTERS
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The First Holy Temple was characterized by a higher degree of G-dliness
than was in the Second Temple. This is reflected in the fact that five
elements of holiness including the Ark were present in the First Temple
and were not present in the Second. On the other hand, the Second Temple
possessed an advantage over the first. It was larger and endured for a
longer time; i.e., in time and space, the qualities which characterize
our material world, it surpassed the First Temple. The Third Temple will
possess both these advantages, plus a unique dimension reflected in the
fusion of these two.

                                  (The Rebbe, 16 Menachem Av, 1991)

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              END OF TEXT - L'CHAIM 883 - Vaeschanan 5765
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