Balak
Marking 20 Years
Dear Friend,
Editor's Note: After writing this note, we received the tragic news from Israel about the cold-blooded murder of Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach.
Brokenheartedly, we pray that G‑d comfort their families among all the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.
These last eighteen days witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of love, connection, compassion and caring among our brethren worldwide. Differences fell away as we united in our hopes for the boys and our efforts on their behalf.
Our determination now to transform adversity into growth must never falter as well. Our unity, our prayers, our actions, our mitzvot are needed now, more than ever.
* * *
We are currently marking the 3rd of Tammuz, the 20th anniversary of the passing of the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.
In Aramaic, an anniversary of passing is often called a hillula, which literally means “celebration.”
A celebration on the day of passing? The mystics explain that on the day a righteous person passes away, his Torah scholarship and good deeds are revealed in an elevated state, which makes this day a deeply meaningful and joyful one for all of his disciples.
And we are all disciples of the Rebbe.
If you are reading this e‑mail, your life has been influenced by the Rebbe’s teachings. If you’ve ever stepped into a Chabad center, you too have been touched by the Rebbe’s abounding love for every Jewish person. If you’ve visited our site (like 37 million others this past year alone), you’ve benefited from the Rebbe’s embrace of technology as a medium through which G‑d’s presence can be spread to all parts of earth.
If you think about it, the underlying factor of the Rebbe’s multifaceted leadership was his drive to transform our world into a place where G‑d will feel at home. So, let us commemorate the day of his yahrtzeit by continuing his mission, adding more mitzvahs and good deeds. Together, we can make his dream a reality.
Rabbi Mendy Kaminker,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Essays, insights and letters, stories and first-person accounts, and an online biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of saintly memory
Twenty-eight articles, each encapsulating a period of the Rebbe’s life, and highlighting key themes that distinguish his ideas.
The Torah as the divine wisdom and will. The bitul (self-abnegation) that is the prerequisite to receive Torah.
A farbrengen in preparation for the Rebbe’s 20th yahrtzeit, with Rabbi Mendel Lipskier
G‑d has given us something far, far superior to "Donkeyvision": the challenge of liberty and the gift of discernment...
Is leadership a set of skills, the ability to summon and command power? Or does it have an essentially moral dimension also?
Balak sends Balaam to curse the Jews. His talking donkey tries to stop him, to no avail. Each time he opens his mouth, Balaam ends up blessing the nation instead.
If you work on yourself, improve your character, and refine yourself to a new spiritual plane, then your soulmate changes.
If your intervention will not help solve the problem, and possibly will even exacerbate it, do you intervene? If you are not positive that a crime has been committed, can you pass judgment? Can you act based on your “sense” that there is a serious problem?
For the past three weeks I have been watching the small blister on the top of my middle finger shrink, and observing the healing process, I believe I have made an intuitive discovery.
A personal account of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s attitude towards feminism.
With the approach of the third day of the Jewish month of Tammuz—this year commemorated on Tuesday, July 1—Jewish circles everywhere are marking its significance in ways large and small.
With the search for the three yeshivah students kidnapped in Israel becoming increasingly desperate, people around the world have been intensifying their prayers and acts of kindness, and events around the world are being dedicated prayers for their safe return.
The chief rabbis of Israel have publicly called for worldwide commemoration of the Rebbe's yahrtzeit with increased mitzvah observance, and rabbinical organizations worldwide issued calls to gather and reflect on the Rebbe’s legacy.
As part of the broader relaunch of TheRebbe.org, two Chabad.org team members have crafted new works that explore an area that has been less accessible to the wider public—how the Rebbe’s Torah scholarship and philosophy were intrinsic to his life and leadership.
“The man Moses was more humble than any human being on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
Moses didn’t fool himself. He knew how good he was. He knew he stood on a level beyond any other human being. Yet he was humbled before them.
Because he knew that all that he had achieved was only with the capabilities given...
