Va’eira
Dear Friend,
Egypt is on my mind this week. Reading the Torah portion of Va’eira transports us right back to Egypt, where the story of the Exodus unfolded over 3,000 years ago.
Interestingly, it was in Egypt, millennia after the Exodus, that Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, the great codifier and philosopher known as the Rambam, studied and taught Torah, philosophy, medicine and more. This Monday we marked the anniversary of his passing.
Then, on Friday, we mark the passing of another great leader and Torah teacher: Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi.
You can perpetuate their legacies (and deepen your own Jewish experience) by studying their writings here and here. You can even sign up here to have a daily portion of Maimonides’ Code of Jewish Law and Rabbi Schneur Zalman’s Tanya delivered to your inbox every day.
Rochel Chein,
Responder for Ask the Rabbi @ Chabad.org
The very concept of Egypt denotes limitation, a sense of entrapment, blockage and slavery. And we have a directive to escape this reality every day. We don’t need to physically live in the land of Egypt under Pharaoh’s rule to feel enslaved . . .
Sticks transforming into serpents, water turning into blood, hail pellets with a core of fire . . . Why doesn’t this stuff happen today?
G-d is concerned not only with lofty generalities, with the world as a whole or an entire species as a whole, but also with “lowly matters” and with the smallest details.
G-d promises to redeem the Israelites from their oppression. Moses and Aaron repeatedly demand of Pharaoh to let the nation leave. The Egyptians experience the first seven plagues: blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils and hail.
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Looking at the child’s dejected little face, I share her hurt. Though it happened decades ago, I still vividly remember the pain of rejection by my mean classmates, like a shard of glass in my heart.
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The most renowned of the Jewish medieval scholars, Maimonides indelibly changed the face of Judaism. Read about his scholarship and achievements, and the modern-day global campaign to incorporate his teachings into every Jew’s daily study schedule.
The life, teachings and works of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad.
I remember the real Jewish shtetls of Russia. This is my Zaidy and Bubby near the little shtetl where I was born. Where are you now, my little shtetl . . . ? Only in my dreams and my paintings . . .
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ChabadLink allows people to quickly and easily refer acquaintances to Chabad rabbis or institutions with just a few taps on their mobile devices.
Why is Torah compared to light? Because it tells us the place of each thing.
Because, in truth, there is no need to change the world. Everything is here.
Each thing has a place, and in that place it is good. Altogether, it is very good, a beautiful world. All that’s needed is a little light.
What is light? Light...
