Pekudei
Can We Make a Difference?
Dear Friend,
Our brothers and sisters in Ukraine are facing all-out war, with missiles, bombs and artillery fire landing all around them. Innocent people are dying.
Are we powerless to help?
As we enter the season of Purim, when a draconian decree was rescinded following heartfelt prayer and repentance, we know we can make a difference.
Do a mitzvah! Put a few coins into a charity box (or swipe your credit card) for a worthy cause, at the moment none worthier than to aid the Jews of Ukraine. Don tefillin, light Shabbat candles before sunset this Friday, and know you just introduced a point of goodness and kindness into a world that needs it more than ever.
Say a few heartfelt chapters of Psalms (especially Chapter 20), and know you have introduced a dose of spiritual energy into a world that seems to be pulsating with negativity.
May G‑d protect our Jewish brothers and sisters and anyone in harm’s way.
Your friend at Chabad.org
Was Moses really suspected of making a profit on the communal collection?
Hillel’s unique formulation expresses a deeper level of the mitzvah of loving your fellow as yourself.
Prior to the Temples in Jerusalem, a temple stood in Shiloh, an ancient town in Samaria, for no less than 369 years.
Jewish people have been living in Persia (roughly modern-day Iran) since the second part of the First Temple era.
I’ve been saying these words for so many years that they are engraved in my mind. Impossible to remove, impossible to change.
An advanced essay on Mshneh Torah, Hilchot Rotzeach uShmirat Nefesh.
"If you have real claims against G-d," the Rebbe said, "then you need to take Him to a Din Torah (court case)."
Have fun making this mini Tabernacle dessert for this week's Torah portion!
For a mitzvah is a candle and Torah is light. (Proverbs 6:23)
Every mitzvah shines its particular light into our world. And there will come a time when you will see that light with your eyes.
Except the candles that are lit for Shabbat before sunset. They shine a light you can see right now.
It may seem an ordinary li...
