Ki Teitzei
We are a few days into the Jewish month of Elul. That means that we are just weeks away from a brand new Jewish year.
There are many ways to get ready. We start by taking a good look at our souls, taking stock of where we have grown, and where we need to grow. Some of us may also start to seek out people with whom we need to make amends. And then there are the practical preparations. New shoes, briskets, honey dishes and pomegranates—this is a busy shopping month for us Jews. I remember how my Bubby, may she rest in peace, would already be cooking and baking for the big family get-togethers we used to have at her home.
It’s an exciting time. And it’s expensive.
At this time of year, the Rebbe, of righteous memory, would often point out that we must remember our fellow Jews for whom the holiday preparations present a serious financial burden. There are certainly families in your area who struggle nightly to put food on the table, let alone to put together a sumptuous holiday meal.
Please take a moment to find a local fund that helps people with their holiday needs, or distribute some money discreetly yourself. By helping those in need, your materiality can become another Jew’s spirituality.
May we all be blessed with a good, sweet, happy, healthy new year.
Shais Taub,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Finally I’m ready to forgive her, but I don’t even have that opportunity. I just want to put this situation behind me . . .
There is no verse in the Ten Commandments that reads, “Thou shall not hunt for sport.” Nor, for that matter, does that verse appear anywhere else.
There comes a day when the prophet hears with his ears the voice that brings all into being. But that is not yet G‑dliness . . .
Finding ultimate comfort through our unyielding devotion to the will of G‑d.
Once a month, as the soft, mellow light of the moon waxes in the sky, we recite a special blessing called Kiddush Levanah . . .
The hungry employee and a dead brother’s wife, how to get married, when to get divorced—and sixty-eight other mitzvahs.
So you spent eight seconds admitting that you owe your life to G‑d. Does that really affect the rest of the day?
“Oh Rabbi, but I just built a new house with eighteen rooms. Do you realize how much the mezuzahs are going to cost?!”
Many of the Torah’s laws of marriage are derived from the passage legislating divorce. Isn’t that kinda . . . strange?
One would think that an individual who has gone through a divorce would have “learned his lesson.” But often this isn’t the case.
Did G‑d enter into marriage with His people knowing that it would end in divorce? Isn’t marriage sacred?!
When something good or bad has been predestined, how does G‑d choose which person should be the one to bring it about?
There are houses made of bricks, and houses built of effort and accomplishment . . .
Years later, we look back at the 9/11 terror attacks and ask what we have learned as Jews, as Americans and as people.
Labor Day has been around since 1882; perhaps it’s time to dust off the holiday, shine some light on it and figure out what it’s all about.
Throughout the month of Elul, the Jewish people has a collective task: to prepare itself to be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year.
A video photo montage on the meaning of the 9/11 attacks to us and to people all over.
Everyone at the funeral was saying, “Baruch dayan emet” (“Blessed is the true Judge”). I found that it was almost like a greeting . . .
He ignored my heartfelt cries, the Psalms that I recited, the prayers and the bargaining. He did it His way, and in the process my heart was shattered . . .
How can you attain love of an infinite G-d? Through love of your fellow human beings.
As Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa would say, “If people like you, G-d likes you too.”
How did he know?
Because he knew that if people truly like you, it must be that you genuinely like them.
And when you hold genuine love in your heart for ...
