Vayakhel
Dear Friend,
Editing can sometimes feel like a thankless job. Writers get a lot of recognition for their work, but editors don’t get much fan mail. And that’s the way it should be. Our job is to make writers look good. Still, there are moments when a small note of appreciation wouldn’t go amiss.
Reading this week’s Torah portion, though, changed my perspective. After the episode of the Golden Calf, the Israelites were deeply discouraged. Moses needed to take decisive action to revitalize his people. First, he gathered them—vayakhel—into a group. Then he gave them a mission: to donate the materials needed to create the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary where G‑d would dwell in the desert.
The people’s response was overwhelming—Moses actually had to tell them to stop giving. As Rabbi Sacks writes this week in Team Building, a project that can only be accomplished by a team unifies and motivates us like nothing else. It allows each member of the group to point to something great and say, “I helped make that.”
Working behind the scenes to help our writers shine, I know I’ve contributed to something that’s much bigger than I am. I’m proud to be part of the Chabad.org team.
Sarah Ogince,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Each of the five primary components of the Temple service has a counterpart in our homes and in our hearts.
What others think of us is relevant only if it reflects what we stand for and the way we honor their dignity. The secret is that we attain the favor of others precisely when we free ourselves of kowtowing to public opinion . . .
You can turn even hostile factions into a single cohesive group so long as they are faced with a shared challenge.
The Jewish nation donates the necessary materials to the Tabernacle, and Moses has to tell them to stop giving. Moses reiterates the laws of Sabbath observance. The Tabernacle and its vessels are built by a team of artisans.
I understand that the traditional Jewish ketubah (marriage contract) is all about the husband’s obligations to his wife, but there’s nothing in there about the wife’s obligations. Is that fair?
I feel like my looks are fading, and I’m afraid of becoming like a lot of older women who try to look thirty and end up looking ridiculous.
I recall hearing that there were five objects in the chamber, but I cannot remember what they were. Can you please help refresh my memory?
I stared at the words in the upper left corner of my phone: “No Service.” I felt vaguely uneasy, like some part of me was missing.
But for everyone else, surprise them with a different kind of Mishloach Manot: an annual subscription to The Scroll.
Zevulun was a good Jewish merchant in the land of Babylon whom G-d had blessed with riches, much land and other valuable possessions. Most precious to him, however, was his son Naftali
The Rebbe explains why perspective is so important when dealing with catastrophes. And a fascinating exposition on the difference between “G-d is all” and “All is G-d.”
Through a unique partnership with Camp L’man Achai in Upstate New York—Rabbi Yehoshua Soudakoff plans to bring the Deaf Jewish camp experience to Jewish boys worldwide—something he says is a first.
Yeshivah Gedolah of Greater Miami—led by its Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Schapiro—has produced hundreds of rabbis and spawned a plethora of Torah institutions throughout South Florida since its founding with a small group of rabbis and rabbinical students dispatched by the Rebbe 40 years ago.
Some 450 people gathered for the official dedication and opening of Chabad at the University of Florida's.’s new $4.8 million, 23,000-square-foot state-of-the-art building. The multifaceted center was built to cater to a wide range of student needs.
Blind faith is intellect’s most deadly foe. Intellect that would surrender to faith has forfeited its very nature.
True faith is intellect’s most vital partner. To travel beyond its boundaries, intellect must find a vision that transcends itself.
That is the meaning of true faith: A perspective that surpasses the field ...
