11 Cheshvan: Yarzheit Rochel Imeinu

Jewish Mother's Day The 11th of Cheshvan  

by Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh

One of the most important days in the month of Cheshvan is the 11th, which commemorates the day of passing of our matriarch Rachel. Rachel was Jacob's most beloved wife and was the principal of his household and thus the principal of the entire house of Israel. From the first day of the year, the 1st day of Tishrei, the 11th day of Cheshvan is the 41st day. 41 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word "eim," which means "mother," thus the 11th of Cheshvan is truly the Jewish Mother's Day.

"Rachel cries for her children, she will not be comforted…"

Rachel constantly mourns over the exile of her children, the Jewish people, and the Almighty comforts her with the words: "Withhold your voice from crying and your eyes from tearing, for there is a reward for your actions… and the children will return to their border." Literally, "return to their border" refers to the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. But, more deeply, it refers to the return of our people to our natural spiritual environs: Judaism and our ancestral Jewish nature. These are the borders that truly circumscribe the uniqueness of our people. Amazingly, numerically, the value of the Hebrew word for "border" (g'vul / גבול) is exactly the same as the value of the word for "mother" (eim / אם); both equal 41.

In Hebrew, Cheshvan is written with the four letters: חשון. The borders (the first and last letters) of Cheshvan are chet - ח and nun - ן, which together spell the word chein - חן, meaning "beauty." The word chein - חן, "beauty" equals 58. The 58th day of the year is the 28th day of Cheshvan.

Rachel is described as the most beautiful woman in the Torah. The numerical value of the two middle letters, shin and vov, שו, is equal to isha -אשה , meaning "woman." Thus, the name of the month itself hints at the special and unique grace endowed to women.

King Solomon says that external beauty by itself is deceitful. If external beauty is all that a woman seeks then the name of the month becomes Marcheshvan, which means Bitter-Cheshvan. It is of such a woman King Solomon says: "And I find the woman to be more bitter than death." But, of true beauty, the beauty of a Jewish woman that emanates from within, he says: "The woman of beauty shall support honor." This true beauty is given to us, the Jewish people, by G‑d through the Torah, for "there is no truth but Torah" and "there is no honor but Torah."

It was Rachel, who was first endowed with this real beauty. Rachel is described as the most beautiful woman in the Torah, "She had a beautiful face and a beautiful figure." Thus, Rachel was the embodiment of the verse: "A woman who fears G‑d, she shall be praised," praised both for her grace and true beauty.

The beauty of the Jewish woman is not just a passive agent of spirituality. The sages teach that the offspring of Esau and his grandson Amalek can be defeated only by the children of Rachel.

Who embodies the spirit of Amalek in our day and age? In Hebrew, the words "Amalek" (עמלק) and "doubt" (safek / ספק) have the same numerical value. Thus, the spirit of Amalek that continues to plague each and every Jew is doubt; doubt in our faith, doubt in our Torah, and doubt in ourselves and the moral justification of our path.

But, sometimes the spirit of Amalek becomes bolder and captures a Jew (whether he be a private individual or a political figure) to the point of driving him or her to unconscious or even conscious self-hatred. This can result in a Jew's cooperation with the enemies of our people.

Finally there are the direct spiritual offspring of Amalek: those enemies who threaten the lives of Jews and our return to the Land of Israel.

The sages say that beauty is a woman's weapon. With everything that we have said about Rachel, her role as our matriarch, as the progenitor of Jewish nature, and of her beauty, it should now be clear that our weapon for defeating Amalek is the special beauty and grace of the Jewish mother. Joseph the tzaddik (righteous one) inherited his mother Rachel's beauty and he too is described as having a beautiful face and a beautiful figure. That is why the prophet says about him that "the house of Jacob will be fire and the house of Joseph its flame and the house of Esau straw, and together they will ignite him and consume him; and there will be no remnant for the house of Esau."

True Jewish beauty and grace destroy the enemy indirectly but, beauty is no regular weapon. True grace and beauty work by attracting the sparks of holiness that are bound within the enemy. These sparks are G‑d's will that the enemy still exist. Yet, when they are redeemed by their attraction to true beauty, they escape the enemy's grasp, leaving him void of any Divine source and causing his demise. True Jewish beauty and grace destroy the enemy indirectly by leaving him void of any beauty or grace himself, making him irrelevant and powerless.

The battle against Amalek in our generation must be conducted primarily with our ability to communicate to all around us the true nature of Jewish beauty and grace. It is to this beauty of Jewish nature and character that we return during the month of Cheshvan by reconnecting with our matriarch Rachel, with our own Jewish nature, and with ourselves.

Also visit: http://rachelstomb.org

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Yiddishe Mama

Rachel lost her own spiritual luxury - the privilege of being buried in the Cave of Machpeilah - in order to help her children. This represents the unparalleled quality of the "Jewish mother" who is always willing to sacifice her own needs, spiritual or physical, for the sake of helping her children.

And this is the inner reason why Jewish identity follows the maternal and not the paternal route. For even though the father possesses a greater degree of spirituality - since he has the privilege of observing more mitzvos than a woman - the quality of a Jewish mother is nevertheless greater, that she is willing to forego much of that spirituality in order to enable her to raise a family with tender loving care. And since this quality is even more quintessentially Jewish than the spirituality of the man, it is the mother that actually makes her children Jewish.

Based on Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

Parshas Vayechi: Gutnick Chumash

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Mama Rochel understood that tending to a broken heart comes above even Kavod Hashem....

When Rochel, out of frustration, complained to Yaakov about not having children, Yaakov got angry with her. The mefarshim say, based on a medrash, that Yaakov was punished for getting angry at Rochel and telling her that she needs to daven to Hashem and not complain to him.

Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro points out that Yaakov was defending Kavod Shamayim (the honor of Heaven) and was correct that Rochel's complaints were unjustified. His mistake was that he addressed the words that she spoke and not the pain in her heart. Had he pierced the veil of her soul, he would have known that because of her anguish, the words escaped her mouth and she was not accountable for them. He should have been slower to defend Kavod Shamayim and faster to understand human suffering.

This he explains was the greatness of Rochel. After the destruction of the first Temple, when Bnei Yisroel went into Galus, all the Avos and Imahos came before Hashem with all their great zechusim but were turned away empty handed. All the heroism of the Akeida, Yaakov's Torah, and lives of pure mesiras nefesh to build Klal Yisroel, did not impress Hashem in that dark moment of history.

The only one who merited Hashem's attention was Rochel Imeinu. What was her great act that warranted this special treatment? That she gave the simanim to her sister and helped fool Yaakov. With this bravery, in her mind, she was sabotaging the history of the Jewish nation since she understood that it was her and Yaakov that were destined to build the nation. Nevertheless she chose to cast aside her own destiny and Hashem's grand plan in order to save her sister from a single embarrassing moment.

Only Rochel, who had such a deep understanding of another person's pain and how it carries more weight than the entire Jewish experience, can be Hashem's emissary to bring his children's pain before Him. Only tears from Mama Rochel can bring the Geula.

On bombing Iran...

What is all this propaganda all over the internet about a plan to bomb Iran?  Why would they announce such a thing anyway?   Do you believe it, or think it's just a scare tactic and/or diversion?

The Lamplighter

The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, R. Joseph Isaac Schneerson, who brought Chabad-Lubavitch to America, once recalled a thought-provoking conversation between his father and predecessor, R. Sholom Dov-Ber, and a Chassid:

The Chassid asked: "Rebbe, what is a Chassid?"

R. Sholom Dov-Ber answered: "A Chassid is a street-lamp-lighter. A street-lamp-lighter has a pole with fire. He knows that the fire is not his own, and he goes around lighting all lamps on his route."

The Chassid asked: "But what if the lamp is in a desolate wilderness?"

The Rebbe answered: "Then, too, one must light it. Let it be noted that there is a wilderness, and let the wilderness feel ashamed before the light."

"But what if the lamp is in the midst of a sea?"

"Then one must take off the clothes, jump into the water and light it there!"

"And that is a Chassid?"

The Rebbe thought for a long moment and then said:"Yes, *that* is a Chassid."

The Chassid continued:"Rebbe, I see no lamps!"

"That is because you are not a street-lamp-lighter."

"How does one become such?"

The Rebbe replied: "One must be sur mera [avoid evil]. When beginning with oneself, cleansing oneself, becoming more refined, then one sees the lamp of the other. When, Heaven forbid, one is crude, then one sees but crudeness; but when himself noble, one sees nobility."

[This again reflects typical Chassidic thought. The Baal Shem Tov [in comment on Avot 4:1; Nega'im 2:5; and Kidushin 70a] teaches that what man sees in another is a mirror-reflection of himself: as he is himself, so he sees the other. Divine Providence brought him to see it in order to correct his own deficiencies.]

When the present Rebbe recounted this conversation, he added: The lamps are there, but they need to be lit. It is written, "The soul of man is a lamp of G-d" [Proverbs 20:27], and it is also written, "A mitzvah is a lamp and the Torah is light" [Proverbs 6:23]. A Chassid is he who puts his personal affairs aside and goes around lighting up the souls of Jews with the light of Torah and mitzvot. Jewish souls are in readiness to be lit. Sometimes they are around the corner . Sometimes they are in a wilderness or at sea. But there must be someone who disregards personal comforts and conveniences and goes out to put a light to these lamps. That is the function of a true Chassid.

Source and more: Chabad

As Good As It Gets

Art: Sharon Tomlinson

This is beautiful.... Rabbi Shmuley Boteach's message to his eldest daughter Mushki, on the occasion of her marriage this week.

Message to my daughter under the Wedding Canopy

Mushki, given the paucity of my experience in conducting Jewish weddings, I feared that I’d perform the ceremony imperfectly and my own daughter would end up living perpetually in sin. So, I brought in the heavy guns – your new grandfather-in-law, Rabbi Zalman Lipsker of Philadelphia – to join me in conducting your wedding.

I have waited my entire life as a parent to see you here under the chupa-wedding canopy, baby girl. You are my eldest child and we have always shared a special bond. One night, when you were about three and we were living in Oxford, I hosted ‘important’ people for dinner and you were sent with your baby sister Chana to your room. You weren’t used to being separated from me and Mommy and we had to install small bars in front of the bedroom door to make sure you stayed in bed and didn’t escape. A few minutes later we were all startled to hear shrieks from upstairs. We ran and saw you were squashing your sister underfoot, using her as a step ladder to climb out. Years later, when we moved to New Jersey and you were about ten, I was sitting and doing an interview with a journalist when I suddenly felt my entire back crumble. You had lunged yourself from the top of the couch right on me. You were my firstborn, and, having learned from the baby-as-step-ladder experience, you were allowed to invade my every meeting.

But now, as we stand here, those are mere memories and serious changes are afoot. The man standing next to you is to become the epicenter of your life. Like an old, crumpled paper, I am yesterday’s news (you know how much I like feeling sorry for myself.) But far from being sad, I am ecstatic to see you with your chosson. It is a validation of everything I stand for and believe. Your father is the product of a broken home and I bear the scars of that breakup till this day. Seeing you marry a fine young man with whom you will build a life makes me feel like I have reversed some of the wounds I have endured. I have been given the privilege of seeing love come alive, not just among strangers but among my own flesh and blood.

The ancient Rabbis say that a chupa is a recreation of Eden, which is why it is covered in beautiful flowers and other natural ornaments. In a sense you, Arik, are the first man, and you Mushki, are Eve, the first woman, in this new world you are both building.

Bereishis-Genesis, which we read in the Torah a little over a week ago, is the story of two people who owned absolutely nothing, not even clothing. And yet, in each other they found paradise. Their only possession was love and they reveled in the fullness that their companionship provided. Adam, whose first emotion, the Torah says, was loneliness, discovered fulfillment in the wife at his side and Eve too found happiness in her penniless husband. We commemorate that tradition till today by having a bridegroom empty his pockets prior to his arrival at the Chupa so that his wife accepts him for who he is without any accoutrements. With Eve believing in him, Adam gained confidence. He felt his very being was sufficient to make his wife blissful. She laughed at his jokes. She snuggled at his side. Eve, too, felt desirable and essential. She was, in a very real sense, Adam’s one and only. There was noone else in the entire world to distract him and he loved her with every molecule of his being.

But the story takes a sudden and painful turn. Enter the serpent who points out to Eve that there is a fruit she has never tasted. “Are you really happy?,” he asks. “Look at all the things that are outside your reach. The neighborhoods you can’t afford. The vacations you haven’t taken.” Eve looks sad. Adam begins to feel like he’s not enough. They have made one another feel inadequate and in so doing they have transformed paradise into hell. And all because they simply switched their focus, away from what they have to what they lack. And that is why, as soon as they eat from the forbidden fruit, the Bible famously says they ‘came to know their nakedness.’ Whereas before they felt they had everything, now they felt like they had nothing. Fullness has been replaced with failure. Enrichment with emptiness. They banished themselves from Eden.

In a real sense so many people today use possessions and material objects to fill the holes of their hollow hearts. They live with the mistaken belief that money will buy them Eden. But the lesson from the story of Adam and Eve is that paradise is not a fixed point on the globe but a habitation in the heart. It is not a geographic location that can be visited or a piece of real estate that can be purchased. It is, rather, an emotional frame of mind that must be experienced. Eden is walking by a river bank holding the hand of the spouse you love and paradise is seeing the children you have together laughing at the Sabbath table. I remember once, Mushki, that as a family we visited Washington, DC. All my children were walking ahead of me looking at the cherry blossoms and Mommy walked at my side. And I consciously remember thinking to myself that this is as good as it gets. This is life at the mountaintop.

But just as paradise is something that lives inside us, and can be experienced at any loving moment, so too the serpent slithers within, attempting to inject his venom into our bloodstream. His poison is cold, numbing us to the blessings that surround us. The Bible says that as a result of his voraciousness, the serpent is cursed to eat dust all his days. Dust is plentiful, but always unsatisfying. And so is the materialism and upward career mobility which are used today as poor substitutes for love. You must therefore expel the serpent from Eden, giving him no quarter in your heart.

When you were born, Mushki, your mother and I became parents. Suddenly we had everything. We took you everywhere. As you know I love the outdoors. I would carry you on my back up steep hills that would make your mother’s heart skip a beat and bring her to the cusp of profanity (don’t worry, she never crossed the line). We took you to visit your Grandma whom we told you lived in Miami, and the next week you cried to us that you wanted to go back to ‘Grandma’s Ami.’

Yet here you are, abandoning your father – after you had promised you’d hang around until drool was coming out of my mouth and I was in diapers – and running off with another man. But it’s as it’s supposed to be. The Bible says it most eloquently: ‘Therefore shall a man, leave his father and leave his mother, he shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

But as the two of you profess your love and dedication to each other, one question remains. What are the rest of us doing here? Why is the public gathered at this most private of moment? Why are marriages communal affairs?

Because your love is never meant to be private. You’re meant to light up the world with your affection. All of us who have gathered here look today to the two of you for inspiration. Those of us who are in less than loving marriages, or who were hurt by love, we look to you to believe again. All those whom life has beat up and who have been through the rinse cycle are looking to you to heal. All those whom relationships have let down are looking at you to feel lifted up. Inspire us. Move us. Free us from cynicism and despair. Give us hope. In witnessing the two of you dedicating yourselves to each other you have given us all a taste of paradise.

Go forth and build an eternal home among Israel and the Jewish people. Go forth and turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, the natural into the miraculous, the everyday into Eden.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach has just published Ten Conversations You Need to Have with Yourself.’ (Wiley) His upcoming book, ‘Kosher Jesus,’ is dedicated to his daughter Mushki and son-in-law Arik who were married this week. Follow him on Twitter @RabbiShmuley.

The Vilna Gaon on Yonah: Secrets of Reincarnation

A Glimpse into the world of Remez

Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, commonly known as the Gaon [literally "genius"] was probably the most influential Jewish leader in modern history. He never assumed any official position of leadership and spent his time in almost total isolation toiling day and night in torah study. He became the undisputed greatest torah scholar and kabbalist in modern history.

The book of Yonah is read every Yom Kippur in all orthodox synagogues. The simple meaning of the story contains the theme of repentance. However, as is known there are 4 main dimensions of interpretation in the torah. They are 1: "Pshat" [simple,literal meaning], 2: Remez [allusion, hinted], 3: Drosh [not explicit interpretation], 4: Sod [secret meaning, which form the acronym PaRDeS (orchard)]. The Vilna Gaon on Mishlei [1:6, commentary "chemda genuza"] explains: "The 4th level of Torah, called "Sod" [secret] is the inner and primary meaning. The other lower meanings, are also true, but serve primarily for the purpose of straightening a man in order that he be sufficiently spiritually developed to understand the Sod". These four dimensions of interpretation exist certainly in the 24 books of the bible but even in the mishna and in the talmud. 

Very few people can delve properly beyond the pshat. Only one who has attained mastery in the four levels can be capable of deciphering the hidden code. The Vilna Gaon was such a rare person and offers us a spectacular view of a parallel book of the Yonah story in the realm of "Remez". Note that the simple meaning of the book is also true as we see, for example, that the Midrash Raba lists the "special fish" which swallowed Yonah as one of the creatures specially prepared during the 6 days of the creation of the world. Yet in the Vilna Gaon's "remez" version of the story, the fish is not real but is only symbolic of the grave of Yonah. 

This parallel story of Yonah is one of a human being who got caught up in materialism, dies, goes through Gehinom [purgatory], and returns in a reincarnation. The Sages teach that the vast majority of people alive today are reincarnations, which are sent back down because they did not complete their previous "mission". So this book, can very well speak personally to many of us. In Chapter 4 verse 3 the Vilna Gaon gives us a sign into how to see what went wrong in our previous lives.

And how could one know what he corrupted before [in his previous gilgul]? There is on this 2 signs. One - that [sin] which he stumbles many times in this gilgul. On this they said "let him examine his ways", which ones does he stumble. Two - which sin does his soul desire greatly, because it was used to it previously and became second nature. Therefore there are some men who desire one sin more, and others who desire a different sin. And on this they said "examine his ways" - that he should also fix his ways.

To read the whole thing go to: a glimpse into the world of Remez

Emunah: Above and Beyond

''He trusted in Hashem, and He considered this for him as an act of righteousness'' [Lech Lecha 15:6]

Why, asked the Chofetz Chaim, was Avraham's trust in Hashem considered 'righteousness' - as though it was something above and beyond what was demanded of him? After, all, Avraham fulfilled every commandment in the Torah; what was so unique about his trust in Hashem?

We see from here, answered the Chofetz Chaim, that trust in Hashem is more than just another mitzvah, rather it is the foundation of the entire Torah.

To what can this be compared? To a man drowning in the sea who suddenly sees a tree extending from the shore. Which part of the tree will he attempt to grab? Not the branches, for they can easily be broken off; rather, he grabs hold of the roots.

So too, concluded the Chofetz Chaim, is trust in Hashem. Trust in Hashem is comparable to the sturdy roots of a tree, which serve as a foundation and a base for the entire tree.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Miracle in Ashdod

[INN] A classroom in a special education school in Ashdod has served as a makeshift synagogue on Sabbaths for 40 years running. Throughout those years, not one Sabbath prayer was missed. Until this last Sabbath. And that was what saved the congregants from a Gaza missile that struck the synagogue's ...

Converts and Soul Roots

 

And Abram took Sarai his wife, his nephew Lot, and all their belongings, as well as the souls that they made in Haran; and they left to go into the land of Canaan [Lech Lecha 12:5]

When a person is in a state of small-mindedness (mohin d'katnus), he gives birth to the souls of converts. (1) This is the meaning of: "the souls that they made in Haran," which is the three aspects of Elokim in Smallness, having the numerical value of the word Haran (2).

(1) This idea, found throughout the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, is based upon the principle of root and branch souls. When a root soul falls to a lower level, it is in order to raise up the "branch" souls that are connected to him, who themselves are on a low level. Although converts may have very high souls - according to the Talmud, they observe the mitzvos with more exactitude than born Jews - before their conversion, their souls are locked in a Gentile body. A similar teaching can be found in the writings of the Baal Shem Tov concerning ba'alei teshuva - returnees to Judaism. Their ability to repent comes from the influence of a Tzaddik who has fallen to a lower level and raised himself again.

It is necessary to understand why G·d created a situation in which a Tzaddik falls from his level. It would certainly be better for him to remain constantly on his level and serve G-d with an expanded consciousness and to love Him perfectly. The Baal Shem Tov and my Master, Rabbi Dov Baer (the Maggid of Mezritch) explained it as follows. When the Tzaddik falls from his level and endeavors to regain his strength, he creates the souls of converts. This is like someone who wants to take his friend out of the mud. He also has to go down into the muck to raise him up." [See Kedushas Levi, by R. Levi Yitzchok of Berditchov, on the verse: "Your ointments have a goodly fragrance" (Song of Songs 1:3)]

(2) G-d's Name "Elokim" has the numerical value of 86. When multiplied by three, gives the number 258, which is the numerical value of the word "Haran." The implication is that when Abraham and Sarah were in the land of Haran - in a state of small-mindedness - they gave birth to the souls of converts: "the souls that they had made in Haran."

[See R. Yitzchok Luria, Etz Chayim, Sha'ar HaKelalim, chapter 13.3]

Sefer Baal Shem Tov: The Baal Shem Tov's Teachings on the Torah

Translation and Commentary by Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Shore