Holidays   Shabbat   Chabad-houses   Chassidism   Subscribe   Calendar   Links

                                  B"H
                                 -----
                         L'CHAIM - ISSUE # 927
*********************************************************************
                           Copyright (c) 2006
                 Lubavitch Youth Organization - L.Y.O.
                              Brooklyn, NY
                             --------------
                  Electronic version provided free at:
                          www.LchaimWeekly.org
                          --------------------
                  Palm-Pilot version provided free at:
                www.LchaimWeekly.org/lchaim/5766/927.prc
                          --------------------
                    To receive the L'CHAIM by e-mail
                  write to: listserv@LchaimWeekly.org
                              Subscribe W1
*********************************************************************
             THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR EVERY JEWISH PERSON
   Dedicated to the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson N.E.
*********************************************************************
        July 7, 2006          Chukas-Balak        11 Tamuz, 5766
*********************************************************************

                           A Cholent Shabbat

What's cholent? Basically, it's a stew that cooks overnight so there can
be a hot meal on Shabbat day. The idea is this: the Torah tells us not
to light a fire or cook on Shabbat. But we are allowed to let something
cook by itself, or to keep warm if it is already cooked.

The Sages in the Talmud and the later legal responsa explain how to do
this in accordance with Jewish law: essentially the fire must be lit and
the food at least partially cooked before Shabbat starts. In addition,
the fire has to be covered so that one wouldn't adjust the flame higher
or lower. Adjusting the flame would, of course, be an act of cooking.

On Shabbat in many observant homes (at least in the winter!) you'll see
a piece of metal (known in Yiddish as a blech) covering the stove top,
and a pot with cholent sitting on top.

Why all of this preamble? To share with you an incident that recently
took place containing an insightful lesson:

Someone was sponsoring a "Kiddush" in the synagogue. After services
there was going to be a lunch in honor of a wedding.

Naturally, the family made sure there would be a big cholent, specially
spiced, with lots of stew meat, potatoes, and other good things.
Everyone walking by the kitchen breathed in the smell and their mouths
watered.

If a cholent is cooking  and there's not enough water, it'll dry out and
maybe even burn. And so about halfway through services, the aroma
changed, ever so slightly. You know that smell when something's just a
little bit overcooked, when it's not really burned but if left on too
much longer it will burn?

So what was the sponsor of the Kiddush to do? If he left the cholent on
the stove until after services, it might burn. If he took it off now, it
wouldn't be hot by the time services were over. While a piping hot
cholent, even in the summer, is delicious, cold stew is, well...

For the rest of the service, he ran back and forth between the kitchen
and the sanctuary.

He managed to time it just right. He took the pot off the fire before
the cholent burned, and it remained hot enough until it was served. It
was a great Kiddush and a delicious cholent.

Afterwards, the sponsor told the rabbi. "Oy, I just had a cholent
Shabbat."

The rabbi just smiled and said, "That might be a good thing."

"What do you mean?" the man asked. "I was so worried about the cholent,
I didn't concentrate on my prayers at all. I barely read the words."

"Well," the rabbi said. "Why were you worrying about the cholent? Were
worrying because you spent a lot of money, or that you might be
embarrassed? That's one kind of cholent Shabbat. And yes, you should
have forgotten about the cholent and concentrated on your prayers.

"But if you were worried that someone else might be embarrassed - say
the bride and groom - or you were worried about the visitors or about
the poor people who, hearing there'd be a sponsored Kiddush, came for
lunch and now might not have something to eat - well, then, that's a
different thing altogether. And that," concluded the rabbi, "is what I
would call a proper cholent Shabbat."

*********************************************************************
           LIVING WITH THE REBBE  -  THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION
*********************************************************************
This week's Torah portion, Balak, opens with the Children of Israel
encamped near the borders of Moab. Balak, the king of Moab, hired the
famous gentile prophet, Bilaam, to curse the Jews and cause their
defeat, but G-d frustrated his evil intentions. Instead of delivering
curses, Bilaam was overcome with a Divinely inspired mood of prophecy
and perception of goodness. Against his will, Bilaam heaped praise and
blessings upon those he had intended to curse.

Our Sages taught that Bilaam's prophecy alludes to the end of days and
the Final Redemption that will take place when Moshiach comes. "There
shall step forth a star out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of
Israel," Bilaam begins. Maimonides explained that Bilaam's prophecy
refers to two anointed kings - King David, who saved Israel from her
enemies, and the last anointed Jewish king, Moshiach, who will arise and
save Israel in the end of days.

By specifying that the Torah mentions Moshiach "in the portion of
Bilaam," Maimonides alludes to the underlying concept of transformation
which will see its culmination in the Messianic Era. "And G-d, your
L-rd, did not desire to listen to Bilaam. And G-d, your L-rd,
transformed the curse into a blessing." Just as Bilaam's evil intentions
were transformed into benedictions, so too shall the inner positive
nature of human suffering be revealed when Moshiach comes.

The Torah portion of Balak generally coincides with the fast of the 17th
of Tammuz which commemorates the breaching of the walls around
Jerusalem, the beginning of the destruction of the Holy Temple, and
inaugurates a three-week period of mourning. Yet, according to
Maimonides, in the Era of Redemption, "all fasts will be nullified...
and will be transformed into festivals and days of joy and rejoicing."
When Moshiach comes, the entire experience of exile will be seen from a
different perspective. The inner good of the exile will be revealed and
appreciated as a positive phenomenon.

The coming of Moshiach will theretofore restore to the Jewish people a
sense of completeness which cannot be experienced while in exile. Just
as his ancestor King David did before him, Moshiach will remove our
spiritual blinders and enable us to live a fully integrated Jewish life.

                   Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

*********************************************************************
                             SLICE OF LIFE
*********************************************************************
                          Every Jew A Survivor

An interview with the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Israel Meir
Lau-a child survivor of Auschwitz-following the commemoration of the
60th Anniversary of the Liberation at Auschwitz.

Q. What was it like to say Kaddish at Auschwitz?

R'L: This is the largest graveyard in the history of the Jewish people.
When I said Kaddish, I did not see the Presidents of Israel, Poland,
Russia, Ukraine, France, or Vice President Cheney, all of whom were
standing before me. My eyes were closed, and I saw my precious brothers
and sisters, coming off the train, and being subjected to the
"selection" of the notorious Mengele. I saw them have everything taken
away, and being led to the gas chambers. I could hear them saying Sh'ma,
and singing Ani Ma'amin (I believe). I saw my father in Treblinka at the
entrance to the gas chambers, together with 28,000 Jews from my home
town of Pietrekov, and at their side thousands more from neighboring
Parshov. They lived as one and died as one. In the name of all the
survivors I said for the martyrs "Yisgadal Beyiskadash Shmai Raboh..."

Q. What is your message for today's youth?

R'L: In 1982, I visited New York as the Chief Rabbi of Netanya. I was
scheduled to meet with then Mayor Ed Koch. My brother Naftali, who at
the time served as Israel's Consul General in New York, prepped me for
the meeting. He told me about the Mayor's background, born in the Bronx
etc. When I met the Mayor, he extended his hand and said, "I know you
are a survivor, I too am a survivor." I wondered how a born and bred New
Yorker comes to be a survivor. Mayor Koch, as if reading my mind said:
"It's true that I was born in this great city of which I now serve as
Mayor, but a few years ago I was invited to tour the large cities in
Germany. I was taken to a museum in Berlin, and saw a huge globe, that
was once Hitler's. I noticed small numbers written in black all over the
globe, and asked as to their significance. I was told that when Hitler
rose to power, he asked his advisers to research the number of Jews in
every country throughout the world. Even Albania had a number written on
it: one. On the United States was written 5,500,000. His objective, his
"final solution," was the complete annihilation of the Jewish people.
Among the 5,500,000 Jews in America targeted on Hitler's globe was a
young boy called Ed Koch. So I too am a survivor. If the Nazi beasts had
not been defeated in Europe, world Jewry world have suffered the same
fate as the six million."

I thanked the Mayor for his words, and I repeat them often, especially
to the younger generation. Our Sages say: "In every generation one must
consider oneself as having left Egypt." In our generation everyone must
consider himself a survivor. Yes you are two, or three generations
later, but world you be alive, had Hitler gotten his way?!

Q. In terms of numbers, assimilation, is proving more costly to Jewish
life than the holocaust in Europe. How do we alert world Jewry to this?

R'L: Only through Jewish education. And in this regard Chabad are
unparalleled pioneers. Everyone needs to learn from Chabad's global
outreach effort through the Rebbe's emissaries that take them to the
remotest Jewish community on the planet.

I tell people that assimilation is tantamount to handing Hitler victory
(G-d forbid). Assimilation and intermarriage not only affect the lives
of the present, but it cuts off future generations of Jews. Precisely
the objective of the "final solution" So if you think that the Nazis
deserve victory, go ahead. But I know there's not a Jew in the world who
would concede that. The ultimate victory over Nazism is Jewish
continuity, and Jewish continuity means Jewish education.

Q. Together with you at the commemoration was your brother Naftali.
Could you share with us some words you shared with each other?

R'L: Over and again we asked ourselves, how did we survive this? The
cold, the hunger, the persecution, the humiliation, the separation from
each other. I was in block 8 and he in block 52. The problems didn't end
after liberation. My brother contracted typhus, and was without
recognition for days. We thought he would never recover, as was the fate
of 60% of the survivors of Buchenwald. And here we are, with homes and
families to return to. Words fail to express the profound sense of being
a living miracle.

Q. In talking to other survivors, did you hear anything you didn't yet
know?

R'L: But I want to mention something significant I noticed. In the past
many survivors had distanced themselves from Jewish life, but many
related how lately they have found themselves looking to reconnect to
their roots. This is a widespread phenomenon that for some reason isn't
being reported. Maybe it's age, maybe it's the anticipation of the final
judgment day, or perhaps it's that the further you stand from the
mountain, the better you see it, the broader your perspective. Whatever
the reason, the long abandoned Shabbos, tefilin and tallis are being
rediscovered. They don't want to drown in the waters of secularism and
cynicism, with a whole body and a lost soul, unlike those who perished
with their bodies burnt, but their souls intact. They are looking to
reconnect to their souls.

Q. Can this commemoration be used to inspire the Jew of today?

R'L: Certainly. This memory needs to unify the Jewish people. The
perpetrators of the holocaust did not differentiate between one Jew and
another. Learned or ignorant, more observant, less observant, they were
all one in their deaths by the Nazis. The lesson is abundantly clear: If
we are all Jews who died as one, we are obligated to live as one. We
need to feel how we are all "areivim" (responsible) for one another. As
the Rebbe once commented, the word "areivim" can mean not only
responsible but sweetness in each other.

         Translated and adapted from the original Hebrew version in
       Kfar Chabad, by Rabbi Ruvi New. Reprinted with permission of
                                               Inside Out Magazine.

*********************************************************************
                               WHAT'S NEW
*********************************************************************
                           Women of Today...

Join Jewish women around the world in a show of unity to bring the long
awaited Redemption - a time of world peace and personal peace,
prosperity, knowledge and good health. Gather with family or friends, at
home or in the synagogue, on Saturday, July 8. Study Torah, share hopes,
pray for the healing of those in need, laugh together, be one. To get a
study-guide or for more info email atzeret@yahoo.com

*********************************************************************
                            THE REBBE WRITES
*********************************************************************
         To the Esteemed Faculty Members of Cornell University
          and Ithaca College, Signatories to Letter of June 1,
                                  1986


This is in reply to your above mentioned letter, in which you describe
the hitherto highly successful Chabad activities in your community and
express deep concern that they be continued, etc...

I was particularly gratified to note how closely you have been involved
with the Chabad activities in your community. Your profound concern for
the future of Yiddishkeit among your students and in the community at
large, gives me the confidence that you, on your part, will do your
utmost to ensure the continuation of these activities and their steady
expansion.

I trust you do not underestimate your personal inherent in your
respective prominent positions in the community and, especially among
the academic youth. It is a prevalent experience, human nature being
what it is, that students are often strongly influenced by the example
of their professor's everyday life and conduct regardless of the
academic field that brought them together.

This being so, each of you will surely readily recognize your special
responsibility - and extraordinary z'chus (merit) that Hashem has given
you, individually and as a group, to help the young people who are
fortunate to be exposed to your influence, to reinforce their identity
with our Jewish people and its eternal heritage; and, with emphasis on
the basic principle of Yiddishkeit that "the essential thing is the
deed," to actually strengthen their commitment to the way of the Torah
and mitzvot in their personal life and conduct.

Needless to say, Hashem does not bestow a responsibility on anyone
without providing the ability to carry it out in the fullest measure,
with joy and gladness of heart.

Apropos of the upcoming month of Tammuz, the month of geula of my
father-in-law, the Rebbe of saintly memory, I trust you know the history
and lasting significance of this anniversary (12th -13th of Tammuz).

The lifelong example of his real mesiras nefesh that permeated all his
activities in his native land and beyond, including the last decade of
his life in the USA, is a source of inspiration and strength to all of
us who are privileged to be associated with, and continue, his sacred
work.

Indeed, we have his assurance of Hashem's blessings for hatzlocha
(success) in this, which also widens the "channels and vessels" for
Hashem's blessings in all personal needs, both materially and
spiritually.

                                *  *  *

                          Tammuz, 5740 [1980]


At this time, in proximity to the anniversary of the Geula - deliverance
- of my father-in-law, the Rebbe, of saintly memory, from the tyranny of
the Soviet regime, fifty-three years ago on the 12th-13th of this month,
it behooves us to reflect again on those history-making events and how
they relate to every one of us here and now. For, as he indicated in his
first letter on the occasion of the first anniversary of his geula, and
as we clearly see it now, his deliverance was more than a personal one,
but a turning point in the survival of Russian Jewry, and is of lasting
significance for every Jew everywhere.

This timely reflection should make every one of us all the more deeply
appreciative of the blessing of freedom to live a full life of Torah and
mitzvoth [commandments], and what goes with it, the sacred obligation to
do one's utmost to spread and strengthen Yiddishkeit [Judaism], with
enthusiasm and love - the love of G-d, love of the Torah, and love of
our Jewish brethren, which are inseparable.

Moreover, by his total mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) even in the face
of overwhelming odds, and by his eventual triumph, with G-d's help, he
has shown the way, and trodden the way, for every Jew to follow in his
footsteps, with complete assurance that when a Jew is firmly resolved to
work for Torah and Yiddishkeit, he or she will overcome whatever
difficulties there may be, and be matzliach [successful] with G-d's
help.

I hope and pray that the inspiration of the Baal HaGeula and Chag
HaGeula - especially as this year's geula anniversary also marks his
100th birthday on the selfsame day of the 12th of Tammuz - will
stimulate you and yours to redouble your efforts in the said direction
in the days ahead, which will also widen the channels to receive G-d's
blessings for yourself and all yours, in all needs, both materially and
spiritually.

*********************************************************************
                                CUSTOMS
*********************************************************************
     What is the reason for the fast of the Seventeenth of Tammuz?

Five national disasters occurred on 17 Tammuz (corresponding to
Thursday, July 13 this year). First, Moses descended from Sinai and
smashed the Tablets when he found the Jews worshipping idols. Second,
During the siege of Jerusalem the daily sacrifice was interrupted.
Third, the breach of the wall of Jerusalem during the Roman siege.
Fourth, the public burning of a Torah scroll and fifth, the erection of
an idol in the Temple courtyard.

*********************************************************************
                        A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
                         Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman
*********************************************************************
The Previous Rebbe was imprisoned in the infamous Spalerno prison for
spreading and strengthening Judaism. He had been sentenced to death, but
because of tremendous pressure from throughout the world, the death
sentence was commuted to life in exile.

On the 3rd day of Tammuz, the Previous Rebbe was exiled to the city of
Kostrama. On the way to Kostrama, the Previous Rebbe was permitted to
stop in his home for a few hours.

The Previous Rebbe then proceeded to the train station where a large
group awaited him. Before boarding the train, the Rebbe made strong
statements to the assemblage, among them:

"Now it is apparent to all of the nations of the world: Our bodies alone
have been handed over into exile to be ruled by the nations of the
world, but not our souls. We must openly proclaim to all that with
regard to everything involving our religion - the Torah of the people of
Israel, with its commandments and customs - no one is going to impose
his views on us, and no force has the right to subjugate us."

In a letter sent out by the Previous Rebbe on the first anniversary of
his release from prison, he explained that the 12th of Tammuz is a day
of rejoicing for every single Jew.

"It was not myself alone that G-d redeemed on the 12th of Tammuz, but
also those who love the Torah and observe its commandments, and so too,
all Jews - for the heart of every person of Israel, irrespective of his
particular level in the observance of the mitzvot, is perfectly bound
with G-d and His Torah....

"This is the day on which the light of the merit of public Torah study
banished the misty gloom of calumnies and libels.

"It is fitting that such a day be set aside as a day of gatherings - a
day on which people arouse each other to fortify Torah study and the
practice of Judaism in every place according to its needs..."

On this auspicious day of redemption and liberation, may we merit the
true and complete redemption through Moshiach.

*********************************************************************
                          THOUGHTS THAT COUNT
*********************************************************************
The priest shall take some cedar wood and hyssop...and through it into
the midst of the burning cow (19:6)

The cedar wood and the hyssop also got thrown into the fire. Cedar
symbolizes excessive pride, and hyssop symbolizes excessive humility.
Both of these character traits are not seemly in a person. The same way
that one should not hold himself too high, one should also not walk
around depressed all the time. A person needs a certain amount of
enthusiasm and pride, as it says, "and he lifted his heart in the ways
of G-d."

                                                       (Klei Yakar)

                                *  *  *


This is the law, a man - adam (Num. 19:14)

The Hebrew word for man is adam, alef-dalet-nun, which contains the word
dam (blood). The Torah is likened to the blood which sustains and gives
strength to a person's organs and limbs. In the same way, the Torah, by
teaching us exactly how to keep the commandments, injects life into our
performance of mitzvot.

                                                    (Likutei Torah)

                                *  *  *


And it was when a serpent bit a man, if he looked at the serpent of
copper (Num. 21:9)

Our rabbis explained: How could merely glancing at a copper snake have
an effect on a person, either bad or good? Rather, the point was that
when the afflicted person gazed upwards to his Father in Heaven and
subjugated his heart to G-d, he was healed. Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz
added: A Jew must always lift his eyes upward, while keeping his feet
firmly planted on the ground. One must always have G-d in mind, while at
the same time existing in this world.

*********************************************************************
                            IT ONCE HAPPENED
*********************************************************************
The physical body of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth
Lubavitcher Rebbe, was incarcerated in the infamous Spalerno prison, but
his indomitable spirit was completely unfettered.

In spite of severe physical and psychological tortures inflicted upon
him by his cruel and coarse jailers, he never wavered in his belief in
G-d and devotion to Judaism.

On the 15th of Sivan, after an endless night of torture he demanded that
he be given his tefillin. "Forget about it!" laughed his torturers.
"You'll never get them as long as you're here!"

"If that is so, I declare that I am undertaking a hunger strike. Until
you give me my tefillin, I will neither eat nor drink, and the prisoners
in my cell will be witness to my fast."

The Rebbe stood in the dark cell praying in a loud voice, while his
cell-mates stood in silent awe of the scene.

Neither the terrifying surroundings nor the screamed profanities of the
guards could penetrate the Rebbe's profound meditations.

The Rebbe continued his hunger strike throughout the next two days and
nights. At ten o'clock that night he was taken to be interrogated. There
were three interrogators: two Jews - Lulov and Nachmanson - and one
gentile, Dachtriov.

The room was large and the marble walls were lined with large tubes
which enabled the GPU agents in the adjacent room to hear and transcribe
the interrogation.

When the Rebbe entered the room he turned to his interrogators and
remarked, "This is the first time that I have come into a room and not a
single person has risen from his place!"

"Do you know where you are?" they asked him.

"Of course. I know that this is a place where it is NOT required to put
a mezuza. There are several such places, for example, a stable and a
bathroom."

The Rebbe refused to be intimidated and declared angrily, "You have no
right to accuse me! Return my possessions to me!"

But they proceeded to read the charges against the Rebbe:

Abetting the reactionary forces of the USSR; counter-revolution;
exerting an influence on Russian Jews; spreading religion; corresponding
with foreigners and relaying information about the Soviet Union, etc.

The Rebbe explained that he didn't impose his will on anyone; it is the
way of Chasidut to influence by example, not by force or power.

One hundred and eighty years before, his ancestor, Rabbi Shneur Zalman,
had been forced to explain the tenets of Chasidut to the interrogators
of the Czar; now Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak had to do the same to Soviet
interrogators.

The Rebbe responded to all of their accusations, and then lashed out
against Lulov, saying: "Listen to me. Maybe you think you will start a
new Beilis case [the infamous blood-libel charge], but remember how that
attempt failed." The Rebbe continued in this manner to refute all their
words.

At that time, Nachmanson entered the room and related the following
anecdote: "Lulov, do you know that my parents were childless until they
went to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for a blessing? This is the man right
here...and I am the child who was born." The interrogators laughed
hilariously at this irony.

The interrogation lasted late into the night.

At the end, Lulov angrily blurted out, "In another 24 hours you will be
shot dead!" This was a real possibility at the time.

Suffering excruciating pain from the beatings he had received, the Rebbe
continued his hunger strike until Friday, when his tefillin and books
were returned to him.

At that time, the Rebbe announced that he would eat only food brought
from his home. That Shabbat, he was brought three whole challahs baked
in his home (an example of the new deferential treatment he was to
receive).

The guard who had previously been so gratuitously cruel, now went out of
his way to accommodate the Rebbe. As the Rebbe had requested, the guard
would knock on his cell door to indicate the time for evening prayer,
and at the conclusion of that Shabbat, the Rebbe was given two matches
with which to make Havdala [the prayer marking the separation between
the holiness of Shabbat and the mundane week].

On the 12th of Tammuz, Rebbe Yosef Yitzchok was released from prison and
sure death.

Thirteen years later, the Rebbe arrived in the United States. His
arrival marked the inception of a new era in Jewish America. It had been
assumed that Torah could never flourish in America as it had in Europe,
but with his famous pronouncement, "America is not different," the Rebbe
opened the way for a dramatic growth of Torah observance on these
shores. The day of his liberation is a day of liberation for Jews the
world over.

*********************************************************************
                            MOSHIACH MATTERS
*********************************************************************
Even before that redemption comes, we will merit a succession of Divine
miracles. When one Jew will ask another, "What was the last miracle that
happened," he will be unable to answer because the miracles are taking
place in such rapid succession. And these miracles will lead to the
ultimate miracles, those which accompany the redemption from exile, when
"As in the days of your exodus from Egypt, I will show you wonders."

                      (The Lubavitcher Rebbe, 10 Tammuz, 5751-1991)

*********************************************************************
             END OF TEXT - L'CHAIM 927 - Chukas-Balak 5766
*********************************************************************