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                         L'CHAIM - ISSUE # 1089
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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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        September 25, 2009      Ha'Azinu         7 Tishrei, 5770
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                        The Most Important Peace

Yom Kippur. The holiest day of the year. The day on which the High
Priest entered the Holy of Holies.

The holiest man, in the holiest place, on the holiest day of the year -
the spiritual climax of time, space, and soul.

What kind of preparation was necessary for the awesome entry of the High
Priest, into the Holy of Holies, on the holiest day of the year?

The Torah itself mentions but one: "And he shall atone for himself and
for his home." Upon this verse the Talmud comments, "his home" refers to
"his wife" - only a High Priest who was married could enter the Holy of
Holies.

The lesson is clear: the precondition for ultimate holiness is a Jewish
home; and the most essential ingredient of that home is the wife.

The traditional roles of husband and wife in Judaism has often been
called the neck-head syndrome. The wife is the neck and the husband is
the head.

And the head goes where the neck turns it!

When Sara sees that Ishmael is having a negative influence on Isaac, she
tells Abraham that he must send Ishmael away.

Abraham, for his part, is very upset. But then G-d steps in and takes
Sara's side: "Everything that Sara says to you, listen to her voice!"

And Abraham obeys.

Abraham may be the head, but Sara is the neck!

                                *  *  *


The Torah emphasizes the importance of shalom bayit, peace in the home,
and compares G-d's love of Israel to a husband's love of his wife.

The love of husband and wife is no small thing. It is the love of
husband and wife which causes G-d's unique love for the Jewish people to
become manifest.

And from the husband and wife, the love extends outwards to the entire
family.

On Yom Kippur, the High Priest atoned "for himself and for his home."

In our fast-paced, hectic, day-to-day lives, how can we assure that the
"peace in the home" extends to and is felt by every family member?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe once campaigned that Jewish families should eat
the Friday night Shabbat meal together. Through this weekly
get-together, primacy can be given to the most important unit in Judaism
- the family. Of course, this requires restricting ones outside
activities on Friday night.

But people can surely understand that in order to create positive space,
there must be restriction, barriers.

It's quite simple really. In order to promote the free flow of traffic,
you must restrict cars to one side of the road.

In order to boil water, you must make a separation between the water and
the fire. If you don't, one of two things will happen: either the water
will evaporate or the fire will be extinguished.

If you want to bring families together you have to remove all the
external stimuli. And this is what a Shabbat meal with one's family is
about. Shabbat is not primarily about "don'ts." It is about transforming
the home into a veritable Garden of Eden. And you create the positive
space of Shabbat by fencing off the external stimuli.

May we blessed with a good, sweet and peaceful year, with strong shalom
bayit that influences and extends throughout the world.

      Based on a Yom Kippur sermon by Rabbi Bentzion Milecki of the
                          South Head Synagogue - Sydney, Australia.

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           LIVING WITH THE REBBE  -  THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION
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One feature of our Yom Kippur prayers is the recitation of the service
performed by the High Priest in the Holy Temple on the Day of Atonement.
The Holy Temple was razed nearly two thousand years ago and we no longer
have a High Priest. However, the Temple was destroyed only in the
physical sense, affecting the stones and precious metals from which it
was built. The spiritual Holy Temple which exists in the soul of every
Jew, remains untouched and can never be destroyed. The Yom Kippur
service of the High Priest, therefore, is valid today, too.

The High Priest's service was divided into two parts: One was performed
while wearing special garments made of gold, and the second was
performed in simple, white linen. The gold clothing was worn for those
parts of the service executed in the Temple and in the Temple court,
while the white was reserved for the service performed within the Holy
of Holies.

Maimonides explains that one of the reasons the priests were commanded
to wear special garments "for honor and for beauty" is that a person
must always utilize the finest and best of whatever he possesses in
serving G-d. It is therefore only fitting that the High Priest's Yom
Kippur garments were made of gold, a substance universally prized for
its value and beauty.

Translating this concept to our inner, spiritual Temple, a Jew must
always strive to serve G-d with all of his talents and to the best of
his ability. A rich person, for instance, cannot claim that he has
fulfilled his religious obligations by learning Torah--G-d has granted
him wealth in order to share with others.

But if such is the case, why did the High Priest remove his golden
finery before entering the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, the most sacred
day of the year?

The Holy of Holies was the place in which the Ark and the tablets of the
Ten Commandments were kept, and the site in which the Divine Presence
was revealed and manifest. It was therefore appropriate  for the High
Priest to wear only white and pristine garments in the presence of such
holiness.

In other words, although it is indeed necessary to utilize whatever
riches and blessings a person is granted in order to serve G-d properly,
one must realize that external trappings cannot affect the holy inner
sanctum of the Jew. When a Jew really wants to plumb the depths of his
soul and enter the "Holy of Holies," where the Tablets inscribed with
the intrinsic bond between the Jew and G-d are kept, he must first
sanctify and refine himself, approaching G-d with humility and clothed
in pure white garments.

This self-sanctification is required of every Jew; in the Holy of Holies
of the soul, all Jews are equal. On Yom Kippur, garments of gold are
unnecessary. G-d asks only that we stand before Him with a pure heart
and with a clear conscience, so that we may be sealed in the Book of
Life for a good and sweet year.

                    Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

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                             SLICE OF LIFE
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                         Ripping Off the Kittel
                        by Rabbi Simon Jacobson

The account below was related to me personally by Reb Leibel Zisman, a
living witness to these unforgettable events. Leibel's birthday is on
Yom Kippur.

Yom Kippur Eve 1945/5706, Foehrenwald DP Camp, Germany.

The sun was about to set on Yom Kippur eve, the holiest day of the year.

But for us it felt like Tisha B'av. Just a few months earlier we were
living, if you can call that living, it was actually dying, in the
unspeakable horror that was called the Gunskirchen Lager (concentration
camp) in Northern Austria. It is impossible to describe the hundreds of
dead bodies strewn about everywhere you turned throughout the camp. The
hunger, the stench, the death, the insanity was everywhere. The Nazis,
may their names and memories be forever erased, dehumanized us, turning
us into ravenous sub-humans, desperate for a drop of water. Days would
go by between a morsel of bread and a paltry sip.

I was 14-years-old when we were finally liberated on May 5, 1945.
Orphaned, widowed, homeless - completely alone with no place to go - we
wandered in what now appears a complete fog. But it all comes back to me
as I tell the story.

We - some 5,000 of us survivors - ended up in the Foehrenwald DP Camp in
Germany, where we spent Yom Kippur, together with the Klausenburger
Rebbe, Rabbi Yekutiel Yehudah Halberstam, who tragically lost his wife
and 11 children to the German beasts.

As night was falling that Yom Kippur eve all 5,000 of us gathered in a
makeshift shul for Kol Nidrei. As is the custom in many communities, the
Klausenburger Rebbe stood up on the bima (the central platform) to share
a few pre-Kol Nidrei words to awaken our hearts and prepare us for the
awesome day ahead of us.

I will never forget what the Klausenberger Rebbe said that Yom Kippur
eve over six decades ago. The moment was overwhelming.

With tears in his eyes he began by thanking G-d for saving our lives
from the Nazi hell. He then pointed to his kittel - the white linen robe
that we traditionally wear on Yom Kippur - and began to speak, slowly,
deliberately, tearfully:

"One of the reasons we wear this kittel is because it is the traditional
burial garment, in which we wrap a body before laying it to rest in the
ground, as we do when we bury our parents and those that came before us.
Wearing a kittel on Yom Kippur thus reminds us of our final day of
judgment when we will be laid to rest. It therefore humbles and breaks
our hearts, stirring us to do complete teshuva (return). The white,
linen kittel is a symbol of purity that we achieve through our
introspection and efforts to repair all our wrongs.

"Since the kittel reminds us of the burial shrouds of those who passed
on before us," continued the Klausenberger, "why are we wearing a kittel
today? Our parents and loved ones were just slaughtered without
tachrichim (burial shrouds). They were buried, with or without clothes,
in mass graves, or in no graves at all..."

Suddenly, the Klausenberger Rebbe began tearing off his own kittel,
literally. "No kittel!" he cried out in an anguished voice. "Let us be
like our parents. Let us remove our kittels, so that they can recognize
us. They won't recognize us in kittels, because they are not wrapped in
kittels..."

I have no words to capture the emotions pouring out of the grand Rebbe
that first Yom Kippur after the horror.

Everyone gathered in the shul began to weep uncontrollably - men, women,
old, young, every person in the large hall. All our anguish, all our
unbearable losses, all the humiliation and dehumanization came spilling
out of our guts.

It was an unforgettable sight: 5,000 people sobbing. Not sobbing;
bawling. The floor was wet with the tears gushing from all our eyes.

What a stirring awakening we experienced that Yom Kippur eve, it was
unbelievable.

The Rebbe's words rang in our ears, in every fiber of our broken beings
- every one of us had just lost our closest relatives: fathers, mothers,
brothers, sisters, uncles and aunts. We were indelibly scarred. The
words rang out: "What do we need tachrichim for?! Your father, mother,
brother, sister, aunt, uncle, zeide, bobbe - they are all lying mangled
in mass graves. Or in no graves at all - burned to ashes... What
tachrichim? What clothes? What kittel?!...

Picture the scene: The holiest night of the year. The awesome moment
just before Kol Nidrei. All the Torah scrolls lifted out of the ark.
5,000 broken Jews, left shattered, orphaned without families. The
saintly Klausenberger Rav standing on the bima, ripping off his kittel -
"We don't need it..."

                                *  *  *


What more can be said? Yet, as another Rebbe once expressed himself: "It
difficult to speak, but it's more difficult to remain silent."

Today, we are blessed to enter Yom Kippur without the misery that
haunted Yom Kippur in 1945, immediately after the liberation from the
camps. Yom Kippur today comes amidst many blessings and comforts. We
live in freedom and have achieved many levels of success. It's almost
impossible to imagine that in just six decades the Jewish people have
gone through such a renaissance: With the growth of Israel, advancements
in Jewish education and overall prosperity. Jewish life today is nothing
less than a modern miracle.

In stark contrast to 1945, we now enjoy a sumptuous meal before the
holiday together with our intact families. We dress up, don our
well-pressed kittels and enter our synagogues in calm and peace.

But we must never forget, we must never get caught in the trap  of
complacency.

Yom Kippur is upon us. And heaven and earth are our witness that we are
linked today to all generations past - both a gift and a responsibility.

As the sun sets this coming Sunday evening and we put on our kittels, we
have much to cry and sing about - for ourselves, our families,
generations past, future generations, from the beginning of time into
eternity itself.

     Reprinted with permission (c) 2009 The Meaningful Life Center.
                       All rights reserved. www.meaningfullife.com.


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                            THE REBBE WRITES
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                In the Ten Days of Teshuva, 5736 [1975]

...Inasmuch as we are now in the propitious days of Aseres Yemei Teshuva
(Ten Days of Return), it is well to remember that this is the time of
the year which our Sages identify with the verse, "Seek G-d when He is
found, call on Him when He is near." This "nearness" is described as the
"nearness of the Source of Light to its spark." May G-d grant that this
be reflected in the daily life throughout the whole year, in all
aspects, both spiritual as well as material.

Indeed, since all expressions used by our Sages, as all words of Torah,
are exact, the said expression, "nearness of the Source of Light to its
spark," is particularly meaningful. For, the proximity of the Source of
Light increase the spark's flame and power, and so in the spiritual
realm, where the nearness of G-d, the Source of Light and Source of
Blessing, sets the Jew's heart and mind aglow with love of G-d and awe
of G-d, stimulating him (and her) to observe and the channels and
vessels to receive G-d's blessings in all needs, materially and
spiritually.

With the blessing of Chasimo uGmar Chasimo Toivo [be fully sealed for
good] and good things in all above,

                                *  *  *


    From an audience of the Lubavitcher Rebbe with a group of Jewish
    students:

The Ten Days of Teshuva [Repentance] which begin with the two days of
Rosh Hashana and continue through their culmination, the Day of
Atonement, Yom Kippur, are the ten days of the inauguration of the new
year.

Between these three solemn days of the year we are given a period of
seven days, containing every day of the week; one Sunday, one Monday,
and so forth. This complete week, neither more nor less, is given to us
to enable us to atone and repent for any wrong deeds accounted for
during the previous year, and to better our way of life in the new year.
That we have been given a complete week in which to accomplish this is
significant: Spending Sunday of this week as we should, and making the
most of the time, serves as a repentance and atonement especially for
all the wrong done on all the Sundays of the previous year; the same may
be done on the Monday of this week for all the Mondays of the past year,
and so on.

However, repentance implies two essential conditions: regret for the
past and resolution for the future. Therefore, this seven-day period is
also a means of planned preparation for the forthcoming year. On the
Sunday of this week we should think in particular of bettering the
Sundays of the upcoming new year. This will give us the strength and
ability to carry out and fulfill our obligations on the Sundays to come.
Likewise, with regard to all the other days of this as regards the
forthcoming year.

By considering only ourselves, however, we would deal with just a part
of our obligations. As I have emphasized many times in the past, one
should not and must not be content with leading a proper Jewish life
personally, in one's own home and family. One must recognize and fulfill
one's obligation to the environment by influencing others in it to
adhere to the Torah and to its precepts. This duty is particularly
required of youth, on whom G-d has bestowed an extra measure of natural
energy, enabling them to become leaders, particularly among their own
youth groups, and to inspire others in the ways of our Torah and
Torah-true way of life.

I hope and pray that everyone of you will become a leader and source of
positive influence in your environment, leading Jews, and Jewish youth
in particular, to a true Jewish life, a life of happiness, a life in
which its spiritual and material aspects are properly balanced. Such
perfect harmony of the spiritual and material can only be found in the
Torah and mitzvoth [commandments], and in the light of the Torah you
will lead your colleagues and friends to true happiness.

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                            A CALL TO ACTION
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                                Teshuva

Spend time during these "Ten Days of Repentance" in sincere
introspection with the knowledge that "nothing stands in the way of
repentance." Our Sages taught that our transgressions are turned into
merits if we repent properly. The Rebbe adds that by beginning to
fulfill a commandment that one had previously neglected and encouraging
others to do so, one can actually retroactively rectify any spiritual
damage caused by one's neglect.

    In memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg and the other
    kedoshim of Mumbai

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                        A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
                         Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman
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We are currently in the days known as the Ten Days of Repentance from
Rosh Hashana up to and including Yom Kippur.

In the midst of these awesome days we observed the yahrzeit (on 6
Tishrei-Sept. 24 this year) of Rebbetzin Chana Schneerson, mother of the
Lubavitcher Rebbe.

In a talk following his mother's yahrzeit, the Rebbe noted that all
women named Chana share a connection to the first Chana.

The Biblical Chana was a prophetess and the mother of one of our
greatest prophets, Shmuel.

A scene from her life, and her prayer - the intertwined request for a
child and the Messianic Era - are the Haftorah reading on the first day
of Rosh Hashana.

Two stories recounted by the Rebbe at gatherings in honor of his
mother's yahrzeit illustrate a fundamental concept.

The first anecdote took place when the Rebbe's father, Rabbi Levi
Yitzchak, was in exile. Rebbetzin Chana ingeniously managed to produce
different color inks from wild plants for Rabbi Levi Yitzchak to use in
writing his Torah innovations, as he was not even afforded ink with
which to write.

The second incident took place after Rabbi Levi Yitzchak's passing.
Rebbetzin Chana miraculously succeeded in smuggling Rabbi Levi
Yitzchak's writings out of Communist Russia.

The Rebbe explained that these two incidents teach us that when, by
Divine Providence, a mission is given to an individual - even if that
mission seems utterly futile or impossible - one's efforts will
ultimately be crowned with success.

Though one must work within the confines of nature, one must not be
constricted by nature, for it is the infinite and supranatural G-d who
has presented one with this mission.

As our Divinely appointed mission in these last moments of exile is to
hasten the Redemption's arrival and prepare ourselves for the
long-awaited Messianic Era, we can look to the prophetess Chana and her
namesake, the Rebbetzin Chana, for inspiration.

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                          THOUGHTS THAT COUNT
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Listen heavens, and I will speak; hear earth, the words of my mouth.
(Deut. 32:1)

"Listen" is an expression of teaching, whereas "hear" connotes that one
learns "by the way." The difference in language can be understand as
follows: Moses wanted all the Jewish people, great and small, to listen
to his words of exhortation to follow the Torah. Therefore, he started
by addressing himself to the leaders of the people (hinted to by the
word "heaven"). Once they listened, it would follow that the "earth,"
the simpler Israelites, would see that the leaders were conducting
themselves in the proper manner, and they would behave, by the way,
properly.

                                                      (Ohr HaChaim)

                                *  *  *


And the L-rd saw it and spurned them, because His sons and daughters
were provoked. (32:19)

G-d's anger is kindled when "His sons and daughters are provoked" --
when the children of Israel provoke and anger one another, when there is
strife, contention and separation. When the Jewish people are annoyed
with each other, G-d is annoyed with them.

                                               (Rabbi Moses Pollak)

                                *  *  *


Jacob is the lot of His inheritance (Deut. 32:9)

The Hebrew word for "lot"- "chevel"- also means "rope." Jacob was the
third of the Patriarchs. Like a rope that is strong because it is made
of three threads, Jacob had three merits: the merit of his father's
father, his own father and himself. Through these combined strengths
Jacob and his sons were able to become G-d's inheritance.

                                                            (Rashi)

                                *  *  *


...He, and Hosheia the son of Nun (32:44).

Why was Joshua (Yehoshua) referred to here by his original name,
Hosheia? To inform us that although he was being given a position of
greatness as the successor of Moses, he did not become egotistical or
overbearing. He remained the same as always.

                                                            (Rashi)

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                            IT ONCE HAPPENED
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        The story of Yona is read on Yom Kippur as the Haftorah

The streets of Jerusalem were full of Jews who had come to celebrate the
holiday of Sukkot. The Prophet Yona was among the happy celebrants until
the prophecy came to him, saying: "Arise! Go to Nineveh, that great
city, and cry out against her, for their wickedness has ascended before
Me."

For Yona, this was an unwelcome mission, for if the sinful people of
that great, gentile metropolis were to heed his call and return to G-d,
how would that reflect upon his recalcitrant brethren  - those who had
resisted the pleas of so many prophets? Wouldn't G-d's anger burn
against them all the more? And the Ninevites, the bitter enemies of the
Israelites, would be forgiven! No, Yona decided, he would not follow the
bidding of his Master. He would flee. Never would he, even unwittingly,
cause punishment to his beloved brethren. He would escape to the sea,
and perhaps there, holy prophecy would depart from him and he would be
free of the onerous command.

When he arrived in the city of Jaffa Yona blended into the general fray
and hastened to find a ship bound for Tarshish. He approached the local
seamen, but they told him all ships had set sail and there were none to
be hired. Yona was almost frantic as his eyes scanned the horizon. Out
as far as he could see there seemed to be a dark speck on the sea -
could it be a ship? In what seemed to be an incredibly short span of
time, it drew close enough to identify. Sure enough, it was a ship
heading straight to port.

Even before it had time to anchor, Yona boarded and approached the
captain. "Take me to Tarshish at once. Don't worry about passengers - I
will pay the entire fare. Just make haste." The captain accepted the
fare and set sail, but no sooner had they reached the open sea than a
violent storm engulfed the ship. The frightened sailors tried to steady
the ship, and desperately tried to return to port, but they were trapped
in the swirling waves. Standing on the deck, they could see other ships
passing by on peaceful waters. But for them, the sea churned with
ever-increasing fury.

They decided to cast lots, and each time the lot fell on Yona. "Who are
you and where are you from? What people do you belong to?" they asked.

"I am a Jew, and I fear G-d,  Creator of the earth and the seas," he
replied.

"What have you done to bring about this storm, and how can we stop it?"

Yona was resigned to his fate. He looked at them and replied, "Cast me
into the sea, and the storm will abate."

But the sailors were unwilling to commit what would surely be murder.
They tried to bring the ship to port, but to no avail. Finally, they
agreed to test his word and lowered him partially into the raging
waters. Immediately the storm ceased. When they pulled him out, it raged
again. It was clear to them that they would perish unless they heeded
his words, and begging forgiveness, they cast him into the sea.

Yona suddenly felt himself being swallowed by a huge fish. For three
days and nights Yona lived inside the belly of the fish and prayed to
G-d in total repentance. When he had returned to G-d completely, G-d
caused the fish to swim near the shore and spit Yona out onto the beach.

He entered the huge city of Nineveh and proclaimed G-d's word: "In 40
days Nineveh will be overturned!" The people of the city believed him,
and even the king sat in sackcloth and ashes and repented. They all
repented both in word and deed. When G-d saw their sincerity and how
they had turned from all their evil, He relented and pardoned the city.

Yona was sick at heart, for what he had so greatly feared had indeed
transpired, and he prayed to G-d, saying, "Wasn't this why I fled to
Tarshish, for I knew You would always pardon a sinner who returns to
you, even these evil people! Now, death is more preferable to me than
life!"

And G-d answered him, "Are you so deeply grieved that this huge and
populous city has been spared?"

Yona left the city and built a booth in the eastern outskirts, intending
to wait out the forty-day period to see if the Ninevites would indeed
remain true to their resolve. The heat beat down relentlessly piercing
his makeshift shelter, and the prophet slept fitfully through the
sweltering night.

Overnight G-d had caused a leafy kikayon tree to sprout and shed a
blessed coolness overhead. Yona was full of joy on account of the
kikayon tree. The very next morning G-d sent a worm to attack the
kikayon, and it withered and died. The sun beat down and an east wind
blew, and Yona wanted to die. G-d said to him, "Are you so grieved on
account of the kikayon?"

"Yes," replied Yonah, "I wish that I would die."

And G-d said to him: "You took pity on a plant which you neither planted
nor labored over. It appeared overnight and vanished overnight. And I -
should I not take pity on Nineveh, a great city in which there are more
than a hundred and twenty thousand people as well as animals?"

And Yonah was still.

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                            MOSHIACH MATTERS
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Fasting on Yom Kippur is an expression of pure faith in G-d. Yom Kippur
is compared to Shabbat, and Shabbat is compared to the Era of Moshiach.
In the Era of Moshiach, G-d will obliterate hunger, starvation, need and
blight from mankind. On Yom Kippur, a day of Moshiach in microcosm, we
divorce ourselves from our needs for physical maintenance and rely on
G-d, as we will when Moshiach comes.

                                                 (www.askmoses.com)

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               END OF TEXT - L'CHAIM 1089 - Ha'Azinu 5770
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