This week marks 50 years since the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of righteous memory, launched the “12 Pesukim” initiative.

The “12 Pesukim” are a set of 12 foundational Biblical and rabbinic verses — including Shema and Torah Tzivah — that the Rebbe selected to provide Jewish children with a lifelong spiritual and ethical framework.

To mark this milestone, we’ll be releasing several new projects and initiatives.

We’ve begun rolling out a series of KabbalaToons animations, each one focusing on another one of these verses. We invite you to watch the first one here and get excited for the others, which are on their way, with G‑d’s help.

Concurrently, ChabadU is producing a brand-new course dedicated entirely to the 12 Pesukim, sharing parenting fundamentals, tips, and truths embedded in these pithy quotes.

We’re also working on an in-depth feature exploring how this remarkable campaign was launched and unfolded 50 years ago.

We're very excited about what's being put together and can't wait to share more details with you soon.

Stay tuned!

Unless you’ve been living in Outer Space, and perhaps even if you have been, there’s a good chance that you are aware of the historic mission of Artemis II, which just took four crew members further from Earth than any human has ever been: a total of 252,756 miles. Their mission took them on a loop around the moon, and they’re on their way back toward Earth.

Their mission paves the way for a series of further missions, including a moon landing (Artemis IV) and the construction of a moon base (Artemis V).

Taking place during the week of Passover, when we celebrate our nation’s miraculous Exodus from Egypt, this mission surely is no coincidence.

Back in December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 made history as the first manned lunar orbit.

Soon afterward, Rabbi Zalman Posner (my great-uncle) was a guest on a popular Jewish radio talk show. The discussion focused on why and how Judaism dares dictate the actions of individual human beings.

Is it right for the Torah to choose how a person may act, and even punish him for lighting a match on Shabbat or eating unkosher food?

Uncle Zalman had some good points, explaining how the seemingly cruel punishments were very rarely, if ever, carried out. The following Shabbat, the Rebbe discussed the same issue and pointed out that the answer can be found in the events of the day.

Man had just been around the moon. The astronauts on board had a long list of dos and don’ts. They were told how to sit, which buttons to press, and exactly when to press them. “Now what would happen,” asked the Rebbe, “if one of the fellows on board would choose to smoke a cigarette on board? Is it not his right to smoke if he wants to?” Of course, it is out of the question, as doing so would jeopardize the mission and the lives of their fellow travelers.

But even more than that, the astronauts are not on board as tourists or as private individuals.

In the same way, each of us is an astronaut on a mission. Our job is to bring the universe to a state of universal perfection. Our actions have universal implications, and we must be aware of this fact and act accordingly.

The Rebbe also pointed out many other points we can learn from. Here is one:

The spaceships are propelled by giant external fuel tanks. Once those tanks serve their purpose, they become a liability and are dropped.

We grow and change every day. And like space travelers, yesterday’s fuel tank can become today’s drag. So drop that which is not helping you move forward, holding onto that which will propel you forward.

It’s also fascinating to see how the current Artemis II mission is an elegant figure eight, looping around the moon and then relying on the natural pull of Earth’s gravity to get them right back at the right place at the right time, no additional fuel needed.

G‑d has our mission mapped out for us. The tools we need are provided exactly where we need them. We just need to trust Him and use them.

You are an astronaut. Today is your Exodus. You are fueled by Divine energy. And when you follow the manual, the sky is (not) the limit!