Vayeitzei
Dear Friend,
Five years ago this week, I was on my way to Holland to visit my newborn niece. As the plane touched down, my husband turned on his phone to check the news. We knew there had been a terrorist attack in Mumbai, but suddenly the story turned terribly personal: terrorists had occupied the Chabad House. That Shabbat the rabbi sang Av Harachaimim, the prayer for Jewish martyrs, in a voice choked with tears. Six souls had joined millions of others in the prayer’s eternal embrace.
Reflecting on Mumbai five years later, it is hard to separate the pain of the tragedy from the response it evoked. People did thousands of mitzvahs, Chabad shluchim established tens of Torah centers, and many parents honored the memory of Rabbi Gavriel and Rivkah Holtzberg by naming their children after them. We survived, and we are stronger for it. As Rabbi Sacks writes this week in Light in Dark Times, the ability to recover, to use our pain as an impetus for growth, is a trait passed down to us from our forefather Jacob. For better or worse, this has become a defining characteristic of our people. May we soon merit the time when light will overpower darkness, once and for all.
Sarah Ogince,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
What is it that made Jacob—not Abraham or Isaac or Moses—the true father of the Jewish people?
The border between Jacob and Laban is seen as the divide between the sacred and the profane. This distinction is important. One has to know clearly what represents the Jewish dimension of holiness, and what does not.
Jacob rests on his way to Charan and dreams of a ladder with angels ascending and descending. Laban tricks Jacob into marrying his daughter Leah. A week later, Jacob also marries Rachel. He works for Laban for 14 years, then escapes with his wives and children.
An extract from Rabbi Yaakov Mazeh’s expert testimony at the trial of Mendel Beilis.
Kislev is best known for the holiday of Chanukah and the New Year of Chassidism.
Today we value aggressiveness, extroversion and charisma. But humility is the trait most prized by G‑d.
The tzaddik is a human being like all of us. Because, essentially, all of us are divine.
What happens if a charity organization to which you donated money turns out to be fake? Does it still count as charity? How can one ever be sure that the money goes to the right cause?
There are plenty of other animals that aren’t kosher either, but none of them arouse as much disgust as the pig. Why?
The scholar would throw the crass materialist a look of contempt, and hurry on to his holy pursuits.
Kislev is the month that begins the winter season, when the light of the summer becomes hidden and we enter into a place of spiritual concealment. But it is through our surrender to the darkness that we can reveal and manifest the greatness of who we are.
Chanukah is right around the corner. If you’ve got any parties on the agenda, you’ll certainly want to make this cake—it will wow your friends and family.
Join the growing number of children who are signing up. Showcase your talents and win a a trip to N.Y.C.
Many of the special moments of five-day Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries were shared on social media with the #Kinus hashtag. View some of the epic moments of the 30th annual conference.
Keynote speaker Sen. Joseph Lieberman energizes the crowd at Chabad gala dinner
International Conference of Shluchim opens in New York
Marc Asnin’s experiences with “Uncle Charlie,” Chabad-Lubavitch and 9/11
Insights culled from Jewish Educational Media’s “My Encounter with the Rebbe” oral history project.
Sometimes the cloud would be upon the Tabernacle for a number of days, and by G-d's command they encamped, and by G-d's command they journeyed.
And sometimes the cloud would be there from evening until morning, and the cloud was lifted in the morning and they journeyed...Or two days, or a year, or a month...By G-d's com...
