Matot-Massei
Dear Friend,
My daughter is three, the age when Jewish education officially begins. She lights her own Shabbat candle every Friday evening, has learned the correct blessing to say for every food she eats, and participates fully in every mitzvah that comes her way. But, above all, she watches me like a hawk. The smallest details of my conduct are noted and emulated, often to my chagrin.
I couldn’t help thinking of my daughter as I read Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s fascinating article, The Danger of Suspicion. Whether or not we have children, the Torah asks each of us to be a role model. In stark contrast to the who-cares-what-people-think attitude that sometimes prevails, Judaism requires that we behave in a way that will inspire others to follow our example. It’s a heavy responsibility, but it is also a privilege.
The Torah sources Rabbi Sacks cited gave me a new perspective on my daughter’s scrutiny. Someone is always watching (in my case, that’s impossible to forget). I’ve resolved to shape up my example, and this is the right time to do it. May the power of our collective good deeds turn the mourning of these three weeks into joy.
Sarah Ogince,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Had they learned nothing from the sin of the spies who, by de-motivating others through their behavior, condemned an entire generation to forty years of wandering in the desert?
“Why should our father’s name be eliminated from his family because he had no sons? Give us a landholding among our father’s brothers!”
When we stand up to the negative pressures around us, holding our own, we are really moving forward and discovering new dimensions.
Vengeance and war spoils, east and west of the Jordan, tribalism, havens for inadvertent murderers, the daughters of Tzelafchad and forty-two journeys.
Another violent blow landed on my other cheek. “You are still praying?” the Blockelteste asked. Her face was crimson, contorted from fury, her eyes bloodshot. A sudden Jewish pride arose within me, like a pillar of smoke rising from a chimney . . .
What I encounter is a matter of life and death. Not death as an end, but as non-life, a state of dormancy. The potential for life is unexpressed. It is curled up, head lying lifeless between its knees. Complete in formation, but inactive and unthinking...
The further the wave recedes, and the longer before it breaks, the further it will charge up the beach . . .
What stands out in my mind more than anything else is the earnest, loving way the Rebbe looked at me. I never saw that type of love.
A high administrative official in our synagogue embezzled a great sum of money from the congregational offerings. He is well versed in Torah, and certainly knows the difference between right and wrong. So, how is it possible that he did such a thing?
One day my Mac composed its own algorithm for generating ideals. Based on that algorithm, it determined that the only way to achieve its ultimate self was for every process to be treated equally.
Two people—one man and one woman—were charged with the task of introducing monotheism to the world. They were Abraham and Sarah. This is an overview of her life.
Even after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Roman persecution of the Jewish people continued. In this class we learn about the Bar Kochba revolt, as well as some of the important rabbinical leaders of the era such as R. Akiva, R. Meir and R. Shimon ben Yochai.
The only thing that kept us warm was the body heat of our bunkmates. The person at the end had no one on one side of him to keep him warm. Often, after a particularly freezing night, people would wake up in the morning and find that the last person on the bunk had frozen to death during the night.
In 1948, Leibel Posner was about to spend five weeks on the road, traveling throughout the farmlands, towns and cities of New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania. Sixty-six years later, more than 600 rabbinical students are setting off on similar journeys around the world.
A growing number of former middle-class families in Milan, Italy, are now receiving home deliveries of kosher food packages in the privacy of their homes from the Friendship Kitchen, the first kosher soup kitchen in Italy.
This piece represents the ritual hand-washing and the accompanying blessing “al netilat yadayim.”
A light summery fish that takes just minutes to prepare and cook.
Perhaps a person will say,
“I cannot fathom an infinite Creator, so why should I attempt to do so?”
“And why should I attempt to awaken my heart to show Him love? What can the love of this puny creature provide Him?”
“So I will just serve Him in complete surrender, doing that which is to be done, connecting to a wil...
