World Cup in Chevron

B"H

The World Cup.
Nations from around the world gather to fight for the prized golden trophy the entire world covets.
Here in Mayanot Yeshiva in Jerusalem, we had a world cup of our own. Students from countries all over the world joined together for a special 8-day program we created during the summer break.
After many classes on Jewish Law and mysticism, as well as many trips and hikes, we wanted to finish with a special Shabbat experience that would never be forgotten. So we chose:
Chevron [Hebron].

A city saturated with meaning for our people.
Abraham & Sarah lived there. King David lived there.
In the center of town is a massive structure, built over a cave, called Me'arat Hamachpeilah - the doubled cave.



In that cave, down below, are buried none other than our Matriarchs Sarah, Rivkah and Leah (Rachel is buried in Beit Lechem - see Genesis 35:19 for more details on that)
and our Patriarchs Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Heck, even Adam & Eve are buried there!
[ed. note: Our Sages tell us that after being banished from the Garden of Eden, Adam & Eve one day arrived in Chevron and, sensing the feeling of the Garden of Eden there, decided to be buried there when they died. When Abraham later came to the cave where they were buried, he smelled the scent of Eden and decided to bury his wife Sarah there, and the rest is history.Tradition has it that Chevron is the gateway to the Garden of Eden...]

Here we would re-connect to our heritage in the very place where it all began nearly 4,000 years ago!
After an inspiring Fri. evening Shabbat service at the cave, we all gathered around a festive meal, where we sang and laughed, and discussed G-d, Judaism, life lessons & experiences. The inspiring stories told by the students who joined our program, about how each of them had ended up here, were all incredible.
One such story that really struck me, was told by a student named Alex.
While enjoying a short vacation in Israel before embarking on a vigorous semester of Grad. School at Johns Hopkins,
Alex somehow stumbled into our yeshiva. And this is how it happened:

"During WWII, my grandfather lived together with his cousin, who was a Partisan - a civilian resistance fighter against the Germans - who fought in the famous Bielski camp.
So while in Israel, I decided to visit Yad Vashem (the famous Holocaust museum in Jerusalem), in order to possibly find out more about his life story. When I gave his name over to the registry, I was actually printed a transcript detailing his entire account of his personal experiences during the holocaust!
What a treasure! But there was one catch... It was all in Yiddish! And I don't speak a word of it. What could I do?

I decided to find a Judaica store in Jerusalem; Perhaps they could help me. Upon hearing my request, the owner told me to try a Jewish library down the block. After asking for help in translation there, the librarian said that, while he knew Yiddish, I would need someone who properly knew English...
Directed to an English speaking yeshiva down a few blocks, I felt a bit frustrated. But to my surprise, when I arrived, the 1st person I saw was a friend from Baltimore standing at the door! After speaking a while, he connected me with a Chabad student who helped me for the next 2 days to translate the entire fascinating transcript. Once, during our conversation, he mentioned to me this 8-day program. Intrigued, I signed up, and here I am.
This program has been incredible. I've learned so many fascinating things about Judaism that I never knew about, in such a short amount of time.
I'm someone who didn't even know I was Jewish until I was 13 & saw all my friends having bar & bat mitzvahs and my Parents finally told me I was Jewish."

As I listened to Alex speak, together with all of the other students, each with his own special background and story, I began to feel a special unity, a special truth, pervade the room.
"Here we are 4,000 years later, Jews from all over the world, many celebrating their 1st Shabbat ever, together with our ancestors. Look how far we've come; disasters and war, assimilation and pogroms. 60 years after living and fighting in war torn Europe, a man's grandson, directed by Divine Providence, stands in Chevron in 2010 and re-connects to their shared heritage.
As Mark Twain once remarked: All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”

May the amazing resurgence of Spiritual seeking and good deeds lead us to the ultimate World Cup Victory - one where the whole world wins - with the coming of Moshaich Now!

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel

Completion

B"H

Marriage. What's so great about it anyways?
I mean, human nature would seem to point towards wanting to stay free of obligation, of responsibility.
A loving relationship - fine, but "marriage"? Who needs it?
According to mortal thinking, this is a good question. But Marriage is a Divine Institution, a Biblical Invention.



There was once One soul.

It was split, 2 halves descended to this world into two different places, pining to re-unite once again, to be complete.
This is the mystical source for a male & female's desire to find love.
When re-united, man & woman play 2 roles that complement one another - completing the other.
Even though we were once 1 soul, since we are now in bodies in a physical world with different lives and upbringings,
this bonding of course takes time and effort (unlike what Hollywood would like you to believe).
As it says in the Torah: "And (Issac) married her (Rebecca), and he loved her." 1st came marriage, then came true love.
A love that develops over time, with real caring and commitment to one another and their day to day needs and feelings.
Finding a mate based on a shared mission in life & family values, not just infatuation. This gives more chance for success.

Now we can better understand why so many of our parents are intent on us marrying Jewish. (Besides for the whole wiping out our future existence thing)
True, Judaism is the only religion that believes that every righteous person, Jew or NOT, has an equal portion in the world to come,
in heaven. But we also believe that the Jewish soul still has a different, unique role in this world. We are likened to the moon, chosen and appointed with the mission to reflect the "sun", to reflect God's Will in this world. When we accepted the Torah on Sinai, we accepted this role. And our souls forevermore reflect this change.

But it's very hard to feel distinct or unique nowadays in 2010. I dress the same, talk the same, listen to the same music as everyone else. So what makes me a Jew?
I'll A: this Question with another Q: (when Prime Minister Golda Meir was once asked "why do Jews always A: Q:'s w/ another Question?" She Answered: "Why not?")

Do you identify yourself as an American Jew? (with the emphasis on American) Or as a Jewish American?
If your answer is an American Jew, let me ask you: If you were born in France, would you still be an American? No.
But would you still be Jewish? Yes.
Now what if I asked you: What does it mean to be "Jewish"?
If your answer is "b/c I'm part of the Jewish People", that's like saying "I'm a tree b/c I'm part of a forest." But what are you?
If you'd answer that you're Jewish b/c of your beliefs, than what were you when you were born? Before beliefs?

Regardless of country of origin, before belief, a Jew's Essence is that he or she is a Jew. That is my essence, my soul.
Being Jewish isn't what I HAVE - it's what I am.
But until I find my soul mate with my soul's shared mission in life, I am only half.

Happy hunting for that soul mate of yours - may it come speedily if you so wish! And may the re-union of souls usher the world closer to the ultimate marriage,
of God and His People, Speedily in our days!

Shabbat Shalom!

Daniel
~For more on marriage, see: Soulmates~

A Jew in Curacao

B"H


This Tuesday marks the 16th Yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
What is a Rebbe? A Rebbe is like a window in a house. A window which gives the resident of the house a glimpse into another reality.
Each one of us contains a G-dly soul - but it is clothed in a physical body with mundane desires that barrage us at will. Consciousness of the spiritual
is nearly non-existent. But the Rebbe helps us to look into another reality - a truer reality beyond the mundane. What life looks like from our soul's vantage point.

The impact the Rebbe has had on the world, both personally and through his Chabad emissaries worldwide, cannot be described in words, and the countless miraculous stories abound. Being forced to choose just one; here is one personal account that sheds a glimpse into the amazing caring & miraculous foresight of the Rebbe.
For more, see: Encounters with the Rebbe.

Shabbat Shalom!
~~~~~~

A Jew in Curacao



By Eli Groisman


I grew up in Curacao, a Caribbean island that is part of the Netherlands Antilles. There were no Jewish schools on the island at the time, and I attended the Protestant school.

I had a very difficult time at school. Although I was brought up in a non-observant household, I stubbornly refused to participate in the religious services and classes that were part of the school curriculum. Non-Jewish students picked daily fights with me, and I even felt that my teachers and the school's principal were taking their side.

When I reached 7th grade, things were coming to a head. Life was not getting easier. On the contrary, fights were more prevalent than ever and more vicious. My relations with the school principal became more and more hostile. I started skipping school. I spent my days playing golf at the nearby golf club, returning to the school grounds in time to meet my father, who drove me home every day.

One day, the principal called my father into his office to find out why I had not been in school the past few weeks. Meeting me as usual that day after school hours, my father asked, "How was school today?" I replied, "The same as always." My father then asked me, "Did you go to school today? Last week? Two weeks ago?" Not wanting to lie, I admitted that I had not.

My father gave me a choice: either give in and do as all the other boys do, or leave school and go to work with him -- and work hard -- every day. I didn't need to think long. I walked into the principal's office, put my textbooks on the principal's desk, and ran back out to my father.

Warning letters started to arrive to our home stating the law that all minors must attend school. My family's relations with the community also began to sour as a result.

My father was terribly upset about my situation, but he didn't know any way out. One night he had a dream. He saw himself near the age of three, before his upshernish, sitting on his grandmother's lap. She was saying to him, "Liuvu (Russian for 'my love'), anytime you are in trouble, the one who can help you is the Lubavitcher Rebbe." This was the first time he had ever heard of the Rebbe.

The next morning my father went to his shul, a small, unobtrusive building near his home. He asked the caretaker to unlock the door for him and went over to the Aron HaKodesh (ark), poured his heart to
G-d, and turned to leave.
_________________________

On a January day in 1984, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, assistant to Rabbi Hodakov, the Rebbe's senior secretary, received a telephone call at home from Rabbi Hodakov. "Wash your hands," instructed Rabbi Hodakov, using a code term clueing in Rabbi Kotlarsky that the Rebbe was on the line, listening. "The Rebbe wants you to go to Curacao immediately."

When the Rebbe tells a chassid to act, he does not ask questions; he acts. Rabbi Kotlarsky chose a traveling companion, Levi Krinsky, a 17-year oldyeshivah student, and both took the next flight to Curacao. Arriving at the airport and not knowing where to go or what to do there, they hailed a taxi, requesting to be taken to the synagogue.

Taxi drivers in Curacao are used to such requests, and they usually comply by driving to the largest synagogue on the island, renowned as the oldest synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, Mikvah Israel Emanuel. This synagogue, in which services are conducted only on Shabbat, functions also as a museum throughout the week. It boasts a unique feature: the floor is covered with white sand, possibly because its founders, who escaped the Inquisition, covered the steps leading to their houses of prayer in Portugal with sand in order to hide the sound of their footsteps.

This taxi driver, however, took Rabbi Kotlarsky not to Mikvah Israel Emanuel but to a small, neighborhood shul. As the taxi pulled up to the door, Rabbi Kotlarsky saw a man leaving the building. Thinking that this man would be a convenient source of information about the local Jewish community, he approached him and said: "We were sent here by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. We want to get to know the Jewish people here. We are staying at the Plaza Hotel. Can you come with us and tell us about the local community?" The man, who was none other than my father, just walking out of the shul, nearly fainted.

My father told Rabbi Kotlarsky about our family's plight, and introduced me to him. My first question to Rabbi Kotlarsky was: "Are you allowed to defend yourself if someone comes up and punches you?" I had formed an impression from the movies and TV shows I had seen about the Holocaust that Jews were weak and did not fight back when attacked. Rabbi Kotlarsky responded, "You make sure that you defend yourself, and do such damage that they won't come back to you!" I thought this Rabbi was cool.

Rabbi Kotlarsky invited me to go to New York and attend Camp Gan Israel in the Catskills that summer, and later to Yeshivah that started in September. This was the answer to my prayers, and I accepted the offer immediately.

I would like to thank the Rebbe for caring for me and my family. We should all take his example on how one should care for a fellow Jew. It doesn't have to be a Jew in far-off Curacao; it could be someone right around the corner. Surely, by following the Rebbe's example we will all merit the revelation of Moshiach.

(Below is a letter my father received from the Rebbe shortly after this story:)

The Inner Workings of a Cell

B"H

This e-mail is dedicated to my becoming a Rabbi! (Can I dedicate an email to myself?) Mazal Tov!



~~~~~

"From my flesh, I see God." (Job 19:26)

The world is made up simple structures, and complex ones.
The simple entities can work together nicely - can build upon each other b/c of their similar structures.
Take a brick for example, or a stone. Builders can take thousands of each and build upon each other smoothly.
Or to go a bit deeper, we can look at the computer & internet. It works so efficiently & smoothly b/c it is in essence very simple.
The internet is based on a binary code, made up of 0's & 1's.
But complex things have trouble working together. Whenever there are many different, complex parts working together, we worry for its
breaking down at any moment. They're not supposed to co-exist very well, b/c all the parts are completely different!

But then we see the human body (and the fine tuning of the universe for that matter).
Our body is an incredibly complex system, and yet it works in beautiful harmony, like a billion piece orchestra that plays harmonious music together.
But that's against the rules of logic!
Complex systems aren't supposed to work so smoothly, so soundly and effortlessly.
(Even the occasional disease, G-d Forbid, which seems to break this harmony, works amazingly systematically).

In each of our roughly 72 trillion cells, what's going on will astound you. You must see: Harvard Cell, a video done by a Harvard Professor depicting what goes on.
(For an explanation of the video from the creator, see: ABC Report)

The amazingly beautiful intricacies are boundless, the discoveries of its brilliant workings endless.
By trying to appreciate them, we can come to appreciate the greatness of the One who formed them. Who Created Life.

As Maimonides writes:
“And what is the way for us to fully realize our love and awe for G-d? During those moments when a person contemplates G-d’s creations and wondrous acts, and sees within these creations the Divine wisdom which is endless and has no bounds, immediately he is moved to love G-d, to praise G-d’s glory, and longs with all his desire to know G-d’s great name.” (Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 2:2)

May we all succeed in surveying Creation with a penetrating eye,
and may we all have an amazing Shabbat!

-Rabbi Dan ;)