Re’eh
Turns and Returns
Dear Friends,
During the summer months we customarily study the tractate of the Mishnah known as Ethics of the Fathers, which is filled with insightful aphorisms and edifying instruction relating to all kinds of personal and social questions. A recurring theme, and the topic of this week’s chapter, is the study of Torah. “Turn over within it and turn over within it,” the Mishnah instructs, “for everything is in it.”
Why the double expression? Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson—father of the Rebbe, whose 70th yahrtzeit was this past Shabbat—explains that to turn Torah thoughts over in your mind is to engage in a two-way relationship with G‑d. On the one hand, you are drawing down divine wisdom from above. On the other hand, you are raising up your physical mind and surrounding environment to receive that wisdom. Thus, Torah study is a man-G‑d partnership.
Now, who wouldn’t want to become partners with the Creator? All you need to do is open a book, hop over to a class, or even open the computer. He is there waiting for you.
Now, that’s something to turn over in your head.
Eli Rubin,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
Have you ever closed a deal, celebrated your marriage (or its anniversary), or simply spent time with a good friend—without eating something together? Why do our teeth, gullet and stomach figure so prominently in who, how, where and with whom we are?
What better way to integrate my learning than to think about its implications in everyday life?
“You are children to the L-rd your G-d.” If we are children to G-d, what is G-d to us?
Meat, blood, false prophets, idolaters, kosher signs, tithes, pilgrimages, and the special Jewish idea of charity.
Do you ever fantasize about making a bold change in your life, perhaps starting a new career or moving to another city?
He trips over his own two feet and slams his face into the wall with full force . . .
Imagine, a couple gets married, and the man says to his new wife, “Would you make me something to eat, please? I’ll be right back.” She begins preparing. The guy comes back 3300 years later . . .
If you don’t know why you’re here, sometimes all you can see is dirt. But once you know your mission, all you see is diamonds.
What does the Torah teach about drug addiction and breaking free from it? For instance: Why does man beg G-d for help, yet still remain in addiction? It is as if religions are powerless to defeat the monster of addiction. Can you give me some insight?
Finally, Reb Yehoshua set a price of 25 Napoleons—a sum that would support a family for two years. Surely, no one would be so foolhardy as to pay that kind of money for a horse . . . !
This would mark a major milestone in the Rebbe’s Tanya printing campaign, since Trinidad would be the final country in the Western Hemisphere to have the Tanya printed within its borders.
Thousands of emails came in from around the world and in a host of languages—English, Hebrew, Spanish, Russian and more. Good words and mitzvot on behalf of IDF soldiers were then hand-delivered to troops at the Gaza border, in an ongoing Chabad.org campaign.
Rabbi Shlomo and Matti Banon just completed their first year working with Jewish students at Université de Montreal, among them a growing number of students from France who say they want to live and study without the growing threat of anti-Semitism.
A ‘blended-learning model’ that attracts students who would not have otherwise considered a Jewish high school has gained national attention and a special grant from the Avi Chai Foundation as it enters its second year.
Mayor and community in Coconut Creek, Fla., turn out for the opening of a 33,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility for Jewish students with special education needs.
When the Creator came to create the human being, Truth said, "Do not create him, for he is full of lies.
Kindness said, "Create him, for he will do acts of kindness."
What did the Creator do? He cast Truth earthward, and created the human being.
That is why it says, "Truth will sprout from the earth."
—Midrash Rabba
...
