Va’etchanan
We Are One!
Dear Friend,
For the last several weeks, our hearts and minds have been on Israel. We’re glued to news reports as we are heartened by the victories of the IDF and mourn the loss of lives. We’ve been encouraged to pray and do mitzvahs in the honor of the brave troops, and we’ve responded to requests for basic supplies and toiletries, which have been happily delivered from around the world.
There has been an outpouring of love and support from Jews in Israel and abroad, a unique togetherness almost unheard of under normal circumstances. We are all Jews—brothers and sisters—and that’s what counts.
This great oneness of the Jewish people is especially germane at this time of year, when we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temples on Tisha B’Av. The Talmud says that the reason for the current exile is senseless hatred among our people. It follows, then, that the redemption and the rebuilding of the Temple will be caused by “senseless” love for our fellows, regardless of how different we are.
I think we are on the right track.
Eliezer Zalmanov,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
When G-d does make demands of me, they tend to be in trivial areas—but areas that hit me where it counts.
If Moses would have crossed the Jordan, that would have been the end: the end of the struggle, the end of history . . .
“Who took you out of Egypt”? Talk about sweating the small details! What about “who created heaven and earth”? Surely stage-managing the Exodus doesn’t even approach His role as designer and creator of the universe!
In which Moses implores G‑d, describes the Exodus and the giving of the Torah, predicts Israel’s abandonment and return to G‑d, and summarizes the fundamentals of the Jewish faith.
Two puzzling stories where the sages cried after witnessing tragedy, but Rabbi Akiva laughed instead.
The mystical secrets hinted at by the numbers in the dates associated with the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem—the 17th day of Tammuz, the 9th day of Av, and the three weeks or twenty-one days between them.
Barbaric Nazis drove her out of hiding while enormous flames engulfed the ghetto as she was shoved onto packed cattle trains. Estelle Laughlin shares her horrific Holocaust story and how she was surrounded by the heroism of special people who kept their hearts and spirit. Despite her ordeal, she asserts, we can find our own light even in the darkest lives.
A Jew comes to this world to bring light. If so, what are we doing fighting this ugly war? This is not who we are.
Our extended Jewish family is under fire. Rockets are raining down on Israeli cities and towns, and our troops are face-to-face with ruthless killers in Gaza. Is there anything we can do?
I painstakingly began to prepare. Nobody was going to stop me from fulfilling this holy mission.
Were the colonists right for dumping all the tea into Boston Harbor? Am I allowed to participate in a sit-in? What does Judaism have to say?
How is comparing the loss of a loved one to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans two thousand years ago supposed to make me feel any better?
This conversation, a conversation that took place over 30 years ago, stands out as a most significant moment on my way to observance.
In day camps, overnight camps and youth programs all over, children are doing their part to support the people in Israel.
Fasting, prayer and a positive spirit of hope for Jerusalem, the Holy Temple, and Israel's war in Gaza will be foremost in the minds of millions as Jewish communities around the word prepare for Tisha B'Av.
From his home in Hebron—45 miles due east of Gaza—Rabbi Danny Cohen,and his fellow Chabad emissaries have been working to assist soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces.
From a new Torah scroll to honor soldiers, and tefillin and Shabbat candles with a timely message, Chabad works to instill hope and faith throughout the country
Your step-by-step guide to the “separation meal,” the book of Lamentations, elegies, prayers, Torah readings, the break-fast and more.
The history of the Second Holy Temple, from its construction through its destruction 420 years later by the Roman armies.
What is a mitzvah?
An act of uniting heaven and earth.
But heaven is spiritual and earth is material. To make spirit and matter one is impossible!
A creature of earth cannot make earth heaven. And a heavenly being cannot bring heaven to earth.
But for you, it is not impossible.
This mitzvah that I am commanding...
