Shoftim
Shaking Awake
Dear Friend,
We are beginning the month of Elul, when we blow the shofar every day in anticipation of Rosh Hashanah. The shofar blasts serve as a wakeup call, reminding us that we will soon stand in judgement before G‑d as we crown Him King of the Universe.
This week, I spoke on the phone with Rabbi Elchonon Tenenbaum of Chabad of Napa Valley, who had just experienced a different kind of wakeup call: a 6.0-magnitude earthquake.
He told me how thankful he was that the quake had taken place in the middle of the night when everyone was in bed, not near the heavy bookcases that had tumbled over and smashed a solid wood table.
Even in the challenging times, G‑d’s hand is always there, guiding, steering, and supporting. During the month of Elul, G‑d leaves the palace, so to speak, and meets us in the fields, accessible to all. Now is the time for us to recognize His loving presence and reciprocate in kind.
Menachem Posner,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
He was standing at the entrance of the strip mall, his front and back covered by identical, cumbersome cardboard signs.
The tree’s greatest benefit is the fruit it produces; man’s greatest hallmark is the fruit of his intellect.
Introspection and stocktaking, mercy and forgiveness, sounding horns and whispered psalms, prayer, charity and repentance . . .
During services today, my three-year-old daughter ran into the shul, parading in my wife’s high-heeled shoes.
We rarely ever saw her, save for the few times a day when she came outside for a smoke, wearing dirty pajamas and mumbling to herself.
Even when internal and external factors pull on the child’s heartstrings, there are things that a parent can do to increase his or her own power of influence.
Will I go there simply because I don’t observe the Shabbat, Jewish holidays or the laws of kosher?
I have strayed far away from the hard drugs I once took, and feel that marijuana is a safe way for me to indulge myself from time to time.
Turnus Rufus asked Rabbi Akiva: “If your G-d loves the poor, why doesn’t He feed them?”
Surrounded by guests from around the world, local dignitaries, and more than 25 Chabad emissaries in Asia who are in India for a regional conference, Chabad of Mumbai’s headquarters—also known as Nariman House—opened its doors once again today.
Hours after a 6.0 earthquake tore through Napa Valley—now declared a disaster area by California Gov. Jerry Brown—Rabbi Elchonon Tenenbaum says he is thankful to G‑d that the many people he contacted are alive.
A New Yorker gives her husband something unreturnable—a day out for widows and orphans associated with Colel Chabad
Rohr Jewish Learning Institute’s annual program, this year held in Chicago, draws 1,000 participants.
From a letter:
Even if all your complaints about your spouse are well-founded and valid—show her your love, nevertheless. Show her unconditional love.
The sages taught that all our exile is due to the sin of senseless, unwarranted hatred.
When each one of us will start with unwarranted, unconditional love in our ow...
