Vayikra: G‑d is Calling
Dear readers,
Hooray! Spring starts this week. That’s right. And that is why this week also ushers in the month of Nissan, the month in which we left Egypt and the first month of the Jewish calendar (read more about that here). Nissan is the season of rebirth. It is the month in which our nation was born from a tribe of slaves in Egypt. It is the time when the northern hemisphere wakes up from the dreary winter, and the first buds begin to appear.
Nissan is also related to the Hebrew word nes, which means “miracle.” It is a time for miracles. Some Nissan miracles were grand, like the splitting of the sea. And some are so quiet they almost go unnoticed—like the incredible greenery that suddenly pops up everywhere. Let’s take a moment to appreciate the miracles in our lives, large and small.
To a month of liberation, rebirth and miracles!
Menachem Posner,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
In the midst of her mourning, the widow and mother of three of the victims of the attack on the Ozar Hatorah high school issues a heartfelt call for people around the world to carry on the memory of those whose lives were cut short.
The tight-knit Jewish community of Toulouse was thrown into turmoil Monday morning, the peace of the southwestern French city shattered by a gunman’s bullets. As police counted shell casings, authorities released the names of the deceased, their lives snuffed out just steps from the Ozar Hatorah high school when a man riding a motorcycle opened fire.
Jewish residents of Paris crammed inside the city’s historic Synagogue Nazareth Monday evening in an attempt to put words to their shock and grief following the gunning down of three young children and a father outside Toulouse’s Ozar Hatorah high school.
While they mourn, we must speak for them. We must let the world know that we are not going anywhere, and our voices will only get louder the more others try to quiet us . . .
G-d tells Moses about the sacrifices brought on the altar in the Sanctuary, including the meal offering, peace offering, offering of atonement, guilt offering and ascending offering.
Experience your largeness, but at the same time feel your smallness. Talents are gifts endowed to you by G‑d.
Yom Kippur atones for sins between man and his Creator, but it does not atone for wrongdoing against another person. The wronged person must be asked for forgiveness.
Moses could have demanded entry into the Tabernacle, but he didn’t. He humbly demurred. Ironically, it was only on account of his humility that he was invited to enter the Tabernacle.
When I close my eyes, I imagine that it’s all a game of tug-of-war. I am the rope that each parent is so desperate to gain. They each pull without compromise, determined to win me over.
I’m building my spiritual photo album. Hopefully, all the pictures will be high resolution, and all graced with genuine smiles. But perhaps I’m missing out on something . . .
Cruises are notorious for nonstop, all-you-can-eat breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. No wonder the average passenger gains eight pounds on the friendly seas!
For many years, my weekly date with my husband has followed an exact formula. Recently, though, we had a surprise. For the first time in many years, we went on a date that was completely different.
On the 27th of Adar the Rebbe suffered a stroke, and spoke no more. How are we to view this event? What does it demand of us?
When the rebbe indicated that he would deliver a chassidic discourse, the students began to sing the introductory melody. But, anxious to hear the discourse, they rushed through it . . .
The manager raised his voice, “That’s not acceptable; it must be there. Look again, look well, and bring it to me, fast!”
Walking down the street, you find something. An iPod, a wallet, a lost cat. Finders keepers? Or should you leave it and walk on?
I feel sated with pride, although my children haven’t done anything unusually brilliant—yet. I wonder: is this the way G‑d feels towards us?
The new moon, small as it may be, represents growth. It may be tiny now, but it will grow nightly in the sky until it becomes full and resplendent.
What is the source of the Jewish sense of humor in our times? Is it nature or nurture?
For a mitzvah is a candle and Torah is light. (Proverbs 6:23)
Every mitzvah shines its particular light into our world. And there will come a time when you will see that light with your eyes.
Except the candles that are lit for Shabbat before sunset. They shine a light you can see right now.
It may seem an ordinary li...
