Vayeishev
Dear Friend,
One of my cherished Chanukah childhood memories is accompanying my father for “Chanukah rides.” Every night of Chanukah, after we kindled our menorahs at home, we drove to the oversized menorah near Village Hall and flipped another switch so that the next bulb would illuminate the frosty night.
This Friday is the 19th of Kislev. In addition to being the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi DovBer of Mezeritch, it is especially festive in Chabad, as it marks the day that the Alter Rebbe—the founder of Chabad—was released from a czarist prison in 1798.
The Alter Rebbe saw his release as more than just the restoration of his physical freedom. It was a sign from heaven to continue—indeed, increase—his work to disseminate the teachings of Chassidism on an unprecedented scale, igniting souls all over the world.
Today, Chabad representatives can be found on every continent doing just that—sharing the light of Judaism and Chassidism with everyone they come in contact with.
And you can do it too. Here’s my suggestion: Pick up a couple of inexpensive menorahs. Stick them in your purse/laptop case/glove compartment/fanny pack/bicycle basket. Find a Jew who may not have a menorah of his/her own, and and offer one as a gift. Repeat.
It will be a Chanukah ride you will not forget.
Menachem Posner,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Determined as he was, on this occasion Joseph was beginning to falter. What saved him? The classical image of the sage with the long white beard . . .
Jacob makes a colored coat for his favorite son, Joseph. Joseph’s brothers are jealous; they sell him to travelling Ishmaelites, and tell Jacob he is dead. Joseph is taken to Egypt, works for Potiphar, and is thrown into jail, where he meets the baker and the butler and interprets their dreams.
Who or what is G‑d? How do we define the undefinable? Is there an intelligent way to speak of G‑d? If so, what is it? First in a six-part course on core Jewish beliefs.
The souls of husband and wife are brother and sister—and yet closer. If they can persist in their journey until they return to that place of oneness, a new sort of love will emerge. An unconditional love.
How did a scholarly disagreement amongst the Mediterranean kabbalists in the late-1600s morph into the explosive debate between the Chassidim and their Mitnagdic opponents more than half a century later?
This day marks the “birth” of Chassidism, when the long-hidden secrets of Judaism emerged from the womb of mysticism to illuminate and transform the totality of Jewish life.
In December of 1928, the Rebbe’s marriage to Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka, daughter of the then Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, was held in Warsaw, Poland.
I know what you are going to say: I am too fussy. But I can’t just settle on something half good. Where is the woman of my dreams?
I was just introduced to the book by a Chabad neighbor, and I’m considering exploring this new area.
I was blessed with so so much in my life, while others had so little. Why did I have to focus on the one thing I didn't have?
Anger and criticism are not building tools; they destroy people’s sense of self-worth, trust and security.
I was walking by the waterfront, and a young man in a black hat ran up to me and politely asked, “Excuse me, are you Jewish?”
Chanukah and Thanksgiving overlap this year—for the first time since 1918. That means there’s even more to be thankful for in a season marked by an appreciation of national freedom and a Jewish celebration of a long-ago battle over religious freedom.
This was a real pickle, even for a Chabad rabbi. How do you tell congregants that for the next year-and-a-half, services, classes and events will be held in a different venue, an unusual venue, a … well, a funeral home?
With pre-Chanukah workshops, and menorah lightings and programs during the holiday, some retailers are focusing on the message, not the merchandise, surrounding the Festival of Lights.
The Chanukah picture expresses the quintessence of the pure oil in our souls. In my painting, the brushwork depicts forms with suggestive use of color in concentrated strokes that enhances the light from within.
Looking at your world from Above, all is good.
Looking at your world from within, things don’t always look so nice.
Until you connect your world below to the world above. Then the goodness flows downward without distortion.
How do you make that connection? By clinging tightly above.
By putting all your trust in G‑d.
...
