Chaya Mushka

Mookie Cohen, who works in a Crown Heights flower shop, is one of thousands of women named after Chaya Mushka Schneerson, the late wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

by Paul Berger, Forward

If in the coming weeks you happen to meet a young woman called Mushkie, here are a few things you should know:

Mushkie is probably younger than 24. She is most likely consumed with her upcoming wedding or her young children.

One more thing: “You have to say the last name when you are talking about Mushkie,” said Mushkie Bronstein, 20, “because everyone’s called Mushkie.”

Mushkie — or to give her full name, Chaya Mushka — is one of thousands of girls in the worldwide Lubavitch Hasidic community named after Chaya Mushka Schneersohn, the wife of the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Born Chaya Moussia [“Mushka” is the diminutive], Schneerson died, childless, 23 years ago, on February 10, 1988 -  [22 Shvat]

In the months that followed, hundreds of Lubavitch parents named their daughters Chaya Mushka. On the first anniversary of Rebbetzin Schneerson’s death, the rebbe was presented with an album of namesakes born during the previous year — 324 Chaya Mushkas from across the world.

Mushky Duchman, born in August, 1988, in Brooklyn was among them. “The rebbe was our leader and when the rebbetzin passed away, it was the greatest thing to give back to the rebbe,” Duchman told the Forward.

During the 1990s in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, where the Lubavitch movement has its world headquarters, schools were flooded with Chaya Mushkas. Duchman said that at her Beth Rivkah school in Brooklyn, about 75 of the 120 girls in her grade were called Chaya Mushka.

To differentiate themselves, these Chaya Mushkas adopted various nicknames and alternative spellings: Chaya, Chayale, Moussia, Mushkee, Mushkie, Mushky or Mookie.

Rishe Deitsch, senior editor of a Chabad women’s newsletter, said distinguishing between Chaya Mushkas at school only became a problem when cousins shared the same surname. “Then you start going by the street [they live on],” Deitsch said, “like Chaya Mushka Crown or Chaya Mushka President.”

That was no solution for teachers and classmates of Chaya Mushka Avtzon and Chaya Mushka Avtzon, first cousins who lived three doors away from each other on Crown Street, in Brooklyn.

“We always requested to be in the same class and everyone got us mixed up,” said one of the 22-year-old Avtzons who recently married and officially became Mushky Edelman.

Even today, now that one of the Avtzons has given up her maiden name, the two women still receive each other’s phone calls and text messages, or those meant for their 21-year-old cousin, Chaya Mushka Avtzon, who also lives in Crown Heights.

Mushka Katzman, 21, a classmate of the two Avtzon cousins, recalled how a teacher at the Lubavitch high school they attended avoided confusion by asking both girls to choose their favorite shape. Then each could sign off on her test paper in a different way, one with a star and one with a heart.

Every Mushkie has a story about her name being called out and a group of Mushkies turning around. Mushkee Efune said that when she was at Beth Rivkah school, in Brooklyn, older girls would call down “Mushkie” from the school’s fourth-floor windows and watch as scores of little faces in the playground turned upward.

“The older I got, the less I turned around,” said Efune, 22. “I ignored every ‘Mushkee!’ unless it was specifically for me.”

Today, like Efune, many of those little girls are starting families of their own.

Leah Gansberg, a Crown Heights matchmaker, said almost one-third of the 200 women on her list of eligible brides are Chaya Mushkas.

“The joke is, if I don’t remember the name I say, ‘Oh, it’s probably Chaya Mushka’ — and I am usually right,” said Gansberg, who has an 18-year-old daughter and three nieces called Chaya Mushka.

Even so, Gansberg added, Chaya Mushka is not as popular for girls as the name Menachem Mendel is for boys. That name became increasingly popular after the rebbe died in 1994. “In my son’s class, I would say about 90% [of the boys] are called Mendy,” Gansberg said.

There are no figures for the number of Chaya Mushkas worldwide. But the name appears to have been similarly popular overseas, at least according to Mushka Afrah, from Milan, Italy, and Mookie Cohen, of Sydney, Australia, both of whom now live in Crown Heights.

Statistics from New York State’s Department of Health, which does not record middle names, show that the popularity of the name “Chaya” surged shortly after the rebbetzin died, from about 100 girls annually during the mid-1980s to 150 girls annually during the early 1990s. It peaked in 2005 and 2006, with almost 200 girls named “Chaya” in each year.

According to Jewish tradition, two girls in the same immediate family cannot share the same name. And Crown Heights residents say neighborhood schools have only a fraction of the Chaya Mushkas today that they experienced during the 1990s. So it’s possible many of the Chayas listed on the health department’s statistics have different names, such as Chaya Rivka or Chaya Sara.

Sheina Margolis, a preschool teacher at Beth Rivkah, said of the 15 girls in her class, only two are called Chaya Mushka. But the name is the most popular among the school’s 20 or so teaching and administrative staff, almost half of whom are named Chaya Mushka.

“My daughter’s teacher is Mushkie,” Margolis said. “Next door to her is a Chayale and a Mushkie. The secretary in the office is Chaya Mushka.”

Even the school building has links to Rebbetzin Schneerson.

One month after she died, Beth Rivkah broke ground on a new 125,000-square-foot campus at 470 Lefferts Avenue, in Brooklyn. According to the school’s website, 470 is the numeric equivalent of the rebbetzin’s name. The facility is called Campus Chomesh, an acronym of the Hebrew initials Chaya Mushka Schneerson.

For most Lubavitch girls, Rebbetzin Schneerson epitomized the perfect wife: quiet, kind, selfless, modest, humble, generous, private. So private in fact that, as any Mushkie will tell you, there are very few photographs of her — a startling fact given the mountain of photos and videos of her husband.

Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka

The most ubiquitous photograph is a black-and-white image taken at a wedding in New York, in 1949. Mrs. Schneerson, wearing a floral hat perched atop a pretty face, is captured looking across a table. She has an aquiline nose, a thin upper lip and an elegantly curved jawline. Her expression is serious, as though she is listening attentively.

Every Lubavitch girl has a story about “the rebbetzin.”

There was the time a guest at the Schneerson home knocked over a drink, and to avoid embarrassing her, she knocked over her own drink, too. Or the time her driver passed a family being evicted, so Schneerson asked him to pull over. She immediately wrote a check for the rent they owed. Then there was the time she was asked by a child where her own children were, and she replied: “The Hasidim are my children.”

Perhaps her greatest act, in many young women’s eyes, was marrying Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who went on to become the seventh and last Lubavitcher rebbe.

Chaya Mushka was the daughter of the sixth Lubavitcher rebbe. If not for her marriage to Menachem Mendel Schneerson, he may never have become the rebbe. And if Chaya Mushka had not allowed him to devote almost all of his time to the Lubavitch movement, he may not have been able to create one of the fastest-growing movements in Judaism today.

“She was someone so special and she gave us the rebbe, who was the greatest leader since Moshe Rabbeinu [Moses],” Duchman said.

“It’s very special to me and to everyone who’s part of Chabad.”

Poll

Lately I've been pretty unsettled by a few things on the internet, and the reason I am unsettled is because on the one hand Torah is taught here, and I feel some kind of responsibility to keep things real.  But on the other hand, this is a Geula blog, and therefore I link to some blogs predicting doom and disaster for all of us, as that's all part of the Chevlei Moshiach.  

But ..... I personally do not believe that all Jews need to make Aliyah.... I was taught that when Moshiach comes, the entire world will be Israel. Reading the never-ending horror predictions for all of us in the diaspora is not very uplifting, and yet we've heard it all before many times.  

So I've uploaded a Poll asking whether I should continue to link to blogs predicting disaster for the Jews in the diaspora - with statements such as: "In the diaspora, protection over the Jews has ceased!" -  I need to know what you all think.  If you have any further comments to make on all of this, please leave them here.

Dreams of the Future

There is a type of grace ["Chein"] that enables a person to see the future a dreams. If someone has this grace, he can ask for a vision and perceive the future in a dream.

The Talmud teaches us "Just as grain cannot exist without chaff, so dreams cannot exist without nonsense."

Dreams contain predictions of the future, but they are intertwined with much worthless chaff.

There is also the clear dream of the prophet, regarding which it is written [Num. 12:6] "I will speak to him in a dream."  This is the dream of the person who has grace.

Such a person can also predict the future through the dreams of another. When he hears the other's dream, the worthless chaff falls away and only the clear vision falls upon his ears. Yosef had such grace. He is called "A fruitful son by the fountain". Rashi explains that his fruitfulness was that of grace. He therefore had accurate dreams and was able to interpret and make use of them. They are also included in the Torah.

The Torah also teaches us that Yosef had a unique ability in interpreting dreams.

Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom - by Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov

Have We Betrayed G-d? Has G-d Betrayed Us?

A Yud Tes Kislev and Chanukah Drama

By: Rabbi YY Jacobson

Today, the 19th of the Hebrew month of Kislev, we commemorate the “Rosh Hashanah” for Chassidism. The day when Rabbi Schnuer Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), the founder of Chabad, known as the Alter Rebbe, was liberated from prison, is the day when we celebrate the gift of Chassidism.

What is the essence of Chassidism? And how can it make our lives more meaningful today?

It can be captured through a narrative in this week’s portion (1),where we read about the unconventional union that transpired between Judah, the son of Jacob, and his daughter-in-law Tamar, who disguised herself as a harlot.

The Judah-Tamar Drama

It is a fascinating story: Judah has three sons, Er, Onan and Shalah. His oldest son, Er, married a woman named Tamar, but died prematurely, without children. His bereft father, Judah, suggested to his second son, Onan: "Consort with your brother's wife and enter into levirate marriage with her, and establish offspring for your brother."

Here, we are introduced, for the first time, to the concept of levirate marriages, discussed later in the book of Deuteronomy:"When brothers live together, and one of them dies childless, the wife of the deceased man shall not marry outside to a strange man; her brother-in-law shall come to her, and take her to himself as a wife, and perform levirate marriage. The first-born son whom she bears will then perpetuate the name of the dead brother, so that his name will not be obliterated from Israel."

One of the great biblical commentators, Nachmanides, writes that this mitzvah embodies "one of the great mysteries of the Torah" and that even before the Torah was given, people knew of the spiritual benefits of a levirate marriage. The biblical commentators explain that the child born of the union between the brother of the dead man and his former wife -- both of whom are intimately connected with the deceased man -- is considered the spiritual son of the deceased. Moreover, the Kabbalists suggest that the first-born child of the levirate marriage is a reincarnation of the soul of its other's first husband, bringing the deceased man, as it were, back to life.

So Judah suggested to his second son Onan to marry his brother's widow and perpetuate the legacy of the deceased brother.

Now, Judah's second son also died prematurely without having any children. Judah refused to allow her to marry his third son, Shalah. Which put her in an impossible situation: she could not go out and marry anyone else, because she was bound to Shalah, but her father in law would not allow her to marry Shalah.

Now, during those early times prior to the giving of Torah, Nachmanides explains other relatives, in addition to brothers, used to carry out this obligation of levirate marriages. Thus, following the death of both of Tamar's husbands, she went and lured her former-father-in-law, Judah, into a relationship with her which impregnated her. As a guarantee that he would pay her for the relationship, Judah gave Tamar his seal, cord (2) and staff. "Some three months passed," the Torah relates (3), "and Judah was told, 'your daughter-in-law Tamar has committed harlotry, and moreover, she has become pregnant by harlotry.'" "Take her out and have her burned," said Judah.

"When she was being taken out, she sent word to her father-in-law, saying, 'I am pregnant by the man who is the owner of these articles. Identify, I beg you, these objects. Who is the owner of this seal, this cord and this staff?' "Judah immediately recognized them, and he said, 'She is right; it is from me [that she has conceived]. She did it because I did not give her to my son Shelah.'"

A Spiritual Story

It is axiomatic among all of the Jewish biblical commentators that the stories in the Torah are not just tales relating ancient Jewish history. They also reflect spiritual timeless experiences that take place continually within the human soul. In his commentary on the book of Genesis, Nachmanides wrote: "The Torah discusses the physical reality, but it alludes to the world of the spirit (4)."

What follows, therefore, in this week's essay, is a classical Chassidic interpretation on the episode of Judah and Tamar, treating the story as symbolic of the inner spiritual life of the Jew.

Betrayal and Its Consequences

In the writings of the kabbalah, the name Judah, or Yehudah, containing within it the four letters of the name of Hashem, symbolizes G-d. Tamar, on the other hand, is the Hebrew name for a palm tree, and represents the Jewish people and their bond with G-d (5).

Why? The Talmud explains (6), that "just as the palm tree has but one 'heart,' so too do the Jewish people have only a single heart, devoted completely to their Father in heaven."

(The heart of the date palm is its sap. Unlike the saps of other trees, like the alive or almond tree, the sap of the palm is found only in its trunk, but not in its branches or leaves.  This is the meaning behind the Talmudic statement that the palm tree possesses only a single "heart" (7)).

The intimate union between Tamar and Judah - the Jew and G-d - occurs during the sacred days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. During those days, G-d, or Judah, exposes Himself to His people, evoking within them a yearning to transcend their ego and self-centered cravings and to become one with G-d.

But then, some time passes, and the spiritual inspiration of the High Holy days wears off. Judah is informed that "Tamar, your Kallah (8), has committed harlotry, and moreover, she has become pregnant by harlotry." The news arrives to G-d that His bride has betrayed Him, substituting him with another partner.

Is this not the story of so many of us? At one point during our lives we are inspired to transcend our selfish identity and connect to the deeper Divine rhythm of life. Yet, the cunning lore of numerous other gods captivates our imaginations and ambitions and dulls our vision. We substituted the G-d of truth and transcendence with the ego-god, the power-god, the money-god, the temptation-god, the addiction-god, the manipulation-god and the god of self-indulgence.

What is even sadder for Judah is the news that "Tamar" is so estranged that she became pregnant by harlotry. This symbolizes the stage in life when the Jew rejects the G-d of his forefathers permanently and decides to build his future with superficial sources of gratification.

"Take her out and have her burned," says Judah. The purpose of the Jew is to serve as the spiritual compass of human civilization, to bear witness to the truth of the One G-d, the moral conscious of the world. When the Jew loses sight of the raison d'être of his existence, when he believes that his salvation lies in the fact that he "was invited to the White House," or that he was praised in an editorial of The New York Times, his existence is useless.

The Truth Emerges

Rabbi Isaac Luryah wrote that "the judgment that began on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is completed some three months later, during the days of Chanukah." That's why it is at this period of time - three months after the intimate union between Judah and Tamar - that Judah (the metaphor for G-d) is "informed" regarding the spiritual status of Tamar (the Jewish people) and the verdict is issued that Tamar has no future.

"When Tamar was being taken out, she sent word to Judah, saying, 'I am pregnant by the man who is the owner of these articles. Identify, I beg you, these objects. Who is the owner of this seal, cord and staff?'"

During that fateful time, when the "prosecuting angels" have almost been successful in demonstrating to G-d that the Jewish people are a failed experiment, at that very moment, the Jew sends word to G-d, saying, "I am pregnant by the man who is the owner of these articles!" The information you received that I abandoned you, is a blatant lie! If I have gone astray here and there, it is merely a superficial, temporary phase. Gaze into the deeper layers of my identity and you will discover that I belong to You, that my intimacy is shared only with You, G-d. "I am pregnant from Judah and not from anybody else!" the Jew declares.

"Identify, I beg you, these objects. Who is the owner of this seal, cord and staff?" For during the festival of Chanukah - when the judgment of Rosh Hashanah is finalized -- the Jew kindles each night a wick, or a cord, soaked in oil, commemorating the event of the Jews discovering a sealed single cruse of oil after the Greeks had plundered the holy Temple in Jerusalem (9).

The Jew further points to the staff in his arm (10). In order to preserve his faith, he was forced time and time again - for 2000 years - to take the wandering staff in his arm, abandon his home, wealth and security, and seek out new territory where he could continue to live as a Jew.

"Identify, I beg you, these objects. Who is the owner of this seal, cord and staff?" the Jew asks G-d. "It is to this man that I am pregnant!" Our loyalty and commitment remain eternally to the owner of the "seal" and "cord" of the Chanukah flames; our deepest intimacy is reserved to the owner of the "staff" of Jewish wandering.

Who Is the Traitor?

"Judah immediately recognized the articles, and he said, "She is right; it is from me that she conceived. She did it because I did not give her to my son Shelah."

When G-d observes the burning flames of the Chanukah menorah, He immediately recognizes that indeed, His people have never left Him. True, the Jew does fall prey at times to the dominating external forces of a materialistic and immoral world, yet this enslavement is skin deep. Probe the layers of his or her soul and you will discover an infinite wellspring of spirituality and love.

"If the Jew has, in fact, gone astray here and there, it is my fault," G-d says, not his. "Because I did not give Tamar to my son Shelah."Shelah is the Biblical term used to describe Moshiach (11),the leader who will usher in the final redemption. G-d says that for two millennia I have kept the Jewish nation in a dark and horrific exile where they have been subjected to horrendous pain and savage suffering. Blood, tears and death have been their tragic fate for twenty centuries, as they prayed, each day and every moment, for world redemption. But redemption has not come.

How can I expect that a Jew never commit a sin? How can I expect that a Jew never try to cast his luck with the materialistic world about him that seems so appealing, when I held back for so long the light of Moshiach?

"It is I, G-d, who is guilty of treason," G-d says. Not the Jew. Tamar is an innocent, beautiful palm-tree, which still has only one heart to its Father in heaven.

This, then, is what Chassidism taught: A Jew is a child of G-d. A Jew is a prince. A Jew is the holiest of the holy. A Jew is truly one with G-d. And even when you look at yourself in the mirror and you feel disloyal, the truth is that your ultimate loyalty remains to G-d, to truth, to holiness, to purity.

__________

To post a comment on this article, or to view the footnotes, please click here

Why Bother?

R' Yechiel Meir Lifshitz of Gostynin once rebuked a store owner for exploiting the poor and unfortunate people that resided in his town. Instead of showing them mercy, he cruelly charged exorbitant prices for his goods.

R' Lifshitz said to him: "What you are doing is hinted to in a verse. The Torah states: "What gain [betza] will there be if we kill our brother?" [Vayeishev 37:26].

"The acronym of the word "betza" is boker [morning], tzaharayim [afternoon] and erev [evening] - the three periods of the day when a Jew is required to pray to Hashem.

"Now tell me" concluded R' Lifshitz, "mah betza" - why bother [praying three times a day] - "if we kill our brother" - if at the same time we are busy cruelly exploiting our poor and needy brethren."

Source: Rabbi Y. Bronstein

Return

Rebbe Nachman said that repentance helps for all sins.

True repentance involves never repeating the sin.

"You must return to the same place where you sinned, and put yourself in the same situation, and let the temptation stand before your eyes. When you can do this, and not repeat the sin, then you have broken the evil urge and have truly repented."

And he forgot

''Yet the chief wine butler did not remember Yosef, and he forgot him'' [Vayeishev 40:23]

This verse seems redundant, noted the Maharam of Amshinov.  Why must it state that ''he forgot'' since it already informed us that ''the chief wine butler did not remember Yosef''?

The Rebbe answered: As soon as Yosef uttered his request to the chief wine butler he realized that he had sinned, as he had trusted in a human being instead of Hashem.  He therefore prayed to Hashem that the butler would forget his request entirely! And, indeed, ''he forgot him''.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Yud Tes Kislev: The Rosh Hashanah of Chassidus

The Alter Rebbe - Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi author of The Tanya

The 18th of Kislev [today] marks the completion of the annual cycle of daily readings from the Tanya. The 19th and 20th of Kislev are the "Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus".

On Yud-Tes Kislev we re-commence the annual cycle of daily readings in Tanya, as divided by the Rebbe Rayatz.

It is the anniversary of the release of the Alter Rebbe - Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi [Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי], the first Rebbe of Chabad, who was informed upon by misnagdim in Russia and arrested on trumped-up charges of supporting the Ottoman Empire.

His informers pointed to the fact that he would urge his followers to send money to the Land of Israel as "evidence" of his alleged insurrectionist aspirations [in fact, the money was sent to support poor Jews]. At the time, the Land of Israel was a part of the Ottoman Empire, which was at war with Russia.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman was charged with treason, and released in the secular year 1798 on the Jewish date of Tuesday, 19 Kislev.

The 53 days of Rabbi Shneur Zalman's imprisonment are said to correspond to the 53 chapters of the first section of the Tanya.

19 Kislev is also considered to mark the day upon which Rabbi Shneur Zalman was conceived, for he was born exactly nine months later, on 18 Elul. [Shemu'os Vesippurim, Refoel Kahn, vol. 1, p. 39]

Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel born [1798]

On the very day that Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was liberated from prison, a granddaughter was born to him -- the daugher of his son Rabbi Dovber and his wife Rebbetzin Sheina. The girl was named Menuchah Rachel -- "Menuchah", meaning "tranquility" [Rachel was the name of a daughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman who died in her youth].

In 1845, Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel realized her lifelong desire to live in the Holy Land when she and her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Culi Slonim [d. 1857], led a contingent of Chassidim who settled in Hebron. Famed for her wisdom, piety and erudition, she served as the matriarch of the Chassidic community in Hebron until her passing in her 90th year in 1888.

The 19th of Kislev is also the yahrzeit of R. DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch, who [as successor to the Baal Shem Tov] was the mentor of the second generation of the chassidic movement - from 5521 [1761] until his passing on the third day of the week of Parshas Vayeishev, Yud-Tes Kislev, 5533 [1772]. His resting place is in Anipoli.

Rabbi Dov Ber was born in Volhynia in 1710, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, though other sources say his year of birth is unknown. Little is known about him before he became a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. A Hasidic legend states that, when he was five years old, his family home burst into flames. On hearing his mother weeping, he asked: "Mother, do we have to be so unhappy because we have lost a house?" She replied that she was mourning the family tree, which was destroyed, and had begun with Rabbi Yohanan, the sandal-maker and master in the Talmud. The boy replied: "And what does that matter! I shall get you a new family tree which begins with me!"

How aptly those words described the role he was later to play; for the boy was destined to become the successor to the Baal Shem Tov.

Source: Chabad

Drone Clone

Will Iran clone the US drone? I'm finding this whole story so amusing... with Obama asking Iran to give it back.... maybe Israel should try the same shtick: capture a US drone and trade it for Jonathan Pollard.....

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that his country has "been able to control" the U.S. drone that Iran claims it recently brought down, Venezuelan state TV reported.

"There are people here who have been able to control this spy plane," Ahmadinejad told VTV. "Those who have been in control of this spy plane surely will analyze the plane's system. Furthermore, the systems of Iran are so advanced also, like the system of this plane."

Ahmadinejad did not elaborate or specify what precisely he meant when he referred to people "who have been able to control" the drone. He spoke in Farsi, which VTV translated into Spanish. The Farsi portion of the interview was not audible.

President Barack Obama said Monday that the United States has asked Iran to return the drone aircraft that Iran claims it recently brought down in Iranian territory.

"We've asked for it back. We'll see how the Iranians respond," Obama said.

Ahmadinejad's comments to VTV seemed to suggest that Iran did not plan to return the aircraft.

Source: CNN

Dreamtime

Art Jacek Yerka

''In three days Pharoah will remove your head'' [Vayeishev 40:19]

The dreams of the chief baker and the chief wine butler, noted the Dubno Maggid, were very similar. Why, then, did Yosef interpret the dream of the chief wine butler favorably - that Pharoah would soon reinstate him to his post - but that of the chief baker unfavorably - that he was about to meet his end?

The answer, explained the Maggid, can be understood with a parable: An artist painted a magnificent portrait of a man balancing a basket full of bread on his head. Two men came to admire the painting. While they stood there, a bird landed atop it and began to peck away at the bread, which it thought was genuine.

''Such a marvellous artist!'' said one man to the other. ''This bird actually believes that the bread is real!''

''No'' responded the other, ''he is not much of an artist at all. For while the bread may be quite realistic, the man carrying it is not, for if it was, the bird would be afraid to approach the painting.''

We are now able to understand concluded the Dubno Maggid, why Yosef interpreted the dream of the chief baker unfavorably. When the chief baker related his dream to Yosef, he said ''And the birds were eating them from the basket above my head.'' Yosef understood that if the birds were unafraid to approach him, it was an indication that he was soon to be executed by Pharoah and was already considered a ''dead man''. For had he been ''alive''', the birds would have refrained from eating the food on his head!

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Only in Israel

In Kerem Eschalot, Roni and Simcha decided to plant the seven species..... amongst several other miracles that have occurred there, quite a few of the olive trees are [naturally] growing in the shape of a Menorah. Olive oil pressed from olives growing from a tree shaped like a menorah..... only in Israel.......Take a look and be amazed .....

[HT: Joe]

Faith

Art: ''Dreams Come True'' - Gutierrez

Keep in mind that the essence of your prayers is the faith you have in them that they will be answered.

[Rebbe Nachman of Breslov]

Acquiring Purity

''Since he was a son of his old age'' [Vayeishev 37:3]

The acronym of the word ''zekunim'' - זְקֻנִים - [old age] says the Baál HaTurim, alludes to the five orders of mishnayos that Yaakov taught Yosef:  Zera'im, Kodshim, Nashim, Yeshu'os [Nezikin] and Mo'ed.

On this comment by the Ba'al HaTurim, the Imrei Emes [R' Avraham Mordechai Alter of Gur] asked the obvious question: There is one more order of mishnayos that the Ba'al HaTurim ignores - Taharos [purity]. Why did Yaakov not teach Yosef Taharos?

Seder Taharos, answered the Rebbe, cannot be taught.  Purity can only be acquired after an individual strives and exerts himself to achieve it on his own.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

ADHD: Not something to joke about

There are a few rabbis on the internet who will tell you that ADHD is not a real disorder, and it's the parents who need medicating, not the children.

Unfortunately, ADHD is real, and no amount of telling funny jokes about giving the medication to the teacher instead of the child, will change that fact. The medication stimulates the part of the child's brain that has not yet matured, and whilst it is not easy to accept the fact that a child needs to be medicated, it really doesn't help the situation when rabbis continually speak about this disorder and dismiss it as nonsense.  Rabbis, please note, ADHD is real, and perhaps if you think differently, you should educate yourselves a bit more before you dish out the wrong advice to desperate families.

As this mother writes:

Having a longstanding aversion to any kind of medication, for me to accept the fact that my child might need stimulants in order to enable her to function in school was not easy. (By the way, I am sure that many of you are wondering why an overactive child needs stimulants. My daughter and her ADHD counterparts seem to be the proud owners of brains that have underdeveloped attention spans. Ritalin targets this part of the brain, and assists in improving concentration and focus.) After much research, I was ready to comply with her doctor’s recommendations, and she began taking a fairly low dosage. Although she had some side effects at first, such as trouble falling asleep and a decrease in appetite, with time these symptoms diminished entirely, and I must confess that it has made a huge difference in both our lives.

Read more at: Raising a Child with ADHD

Rain causes Sydney chaos

Expect to be drenched.

Read more: Sydney Morning Herald

Gilad thanks his supporters [video]

JERUSALEM — Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by militants in Gaza for more than five years, has thanked his supporters in a pre-recorded message -- his first since being freed in October.

In the recording, a nervous but healthy-looking Shalit offers his thanks to those who waged a "long and exhausting campaign" for his freedom.

"While in captivity I heard a lot about your efforts to release me," he said. "I know for sure that your determined struggle for my release... was one of the decisive factors in bringing me home."

The video recording was broadcast late on Saturday to a group of around 300 activists who gathered outside Shalit's family home to watch the message.

It was later shown on Israeli television and posted online, including on YouTube.

Source: AFP

Do Your Hate Your Brother?

Success is no Subsitute for Familial Harmony
by: Rabbi Y Y Jacobson

Disaster

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, nosh was all over the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife.

He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know everyday when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Whole

"Jacob arrived whole to the city of Shechem [1]," the Torah states in this week's portion, Vayishlach.

What a gift it is—to be whole, complete. To feel wholesome, unified, integrated, holistic. How many of us can claim to be whole?

How did this happen? What was the secret behind Jacob's "wholeness" at this time? He hasd been married for years, he had many children, and he was a successful man. He had garnered much wealth and he has dealt successfully with many an adversary.

What transpired at this moment which conferred upon Jacob this condition of "wholeness" [2]?

In fact, nowhere does the Bible describe a human being in such a way—that he or she was "shalam," whole [3]. It is an extraordinary description for a human being, who from the genesis of time, is characterized by duality, fragmentation and conflict.

Apparently, something extraordinary occurred in the life in Jacob, which made him whole, precisely at this juncture of his life.

The Preceding Scene

There is no escaping the juxtaposition between this statement—“Jacob arrived whole”—and the preceding scene in the Bible. In the previous scene, Esau finally made peace with his brother Jacob. After decades of estrangement, hostility and ire, and the fear of outright war between the brothers, they had at last reconciled, even if they would not live together.

It is a profound development. Twenty-two years earlier Esau vowed to murder Jacob, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother [4].” Now, as they are about to meet again, we stand posed anticipating a harsh encounter. Upon hearing that Esau is approaching him with a force of four hundred men, Jacob is “very afraid and distressed [5].” He devises an elaborate defense, including a strategy for war.

When Esau finally appears, something very different transpires. The Bible’s description of the meeting is unforgettable [6]:

“Esau ran toward him, embraced him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him. And they wept.” There is no anger, animosity or threat of revenge. Peace has at last descended upon the Abrahamic family. [7] The next scene in the Torah reads: "Jacob arrived whole…"

The message to us seems clear. You may be a wonderful, accomplished and successful individual, but as long as you are not on speaking terms with your own sibling, you will not be whole. As long as a family is torn by mistrust and conflict, none of its members can be whole. You may be right or wrong in your arguments, but as long as the conflict lingers, you will remain broken. We cannot make ourselves whole, nor can we mend the world, if we lack the courage and vulnerability to create peace within our own families. The family is the nucleus of civilization.

George Burns once quipped that happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. It is often easier to get along with the "whole world" than with your own family. But it is only through family harmony that we can achieve genuine wholeness in our lives.

To post a comment on this article, or to view the footnotes, please click here.

Good Shabbos!

Finally some blue sky....

Sydney celebrates its first sunny day - so far - this summer. Rain expected to return tomorrow.

Bondi Beach

Reuven: The First Baal Teshuvah

''Reuven moved the bed of Yaakov....'' [Vayishlach 35:22]

The midrash refers to Reuven as "the first one to repent'' for his sin [of moving his father's bed].  G-d said to him ''No man has ever sinned before me and repented. You have opened the path of teshuvah.'' [Bereishis Rabah 82:11, 84:19]

Even though we find that Adam and Kayin repented before Reuven, nevertheless they did so out of fear of Divine retribution.  Reuven however was the first one to truly return to God, because he realized that his sin was wrong.

For this reason, Yaakov is said to have a ''perfect complement'' of children, for not only did he have sons who were tzadikim [perfectly righteous], he also had a son who was a genuine baál teshuva.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe, Sefer Hasichos 5750]

#IsraelHates

#IsraelHates
The latest Twitter hashtag is just the latest in anti-Semitism
A video from Glenn Beck

Responding to Wake Up Calls: What We Must Do

by Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis 

For the past several weeks I have been discussing the contemporary crisis that is engulfing us and how we might respond to it. As we are all too aware, there is a new Hitler on the block. He has multitudes of followers and, as in the past, the world is ominously silent. In this column I will conclude (at least for the time being) this series on how we might respond to our challenges. That which I am writing is not based upon whim or opinion, but that which is rooted and documented in our Torah.

There is an amazing prophecy in the Yalkut Shimoni – a Medieval/Midrashic compilation that eerily foretells the events of today and should give us all pause: Rabbi Yitzchok said: “The year in which Melech Hamashiach will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be provoking each other. The King of Persia [Iran], will provoke the King of Arabia Saudi Arabia. The King of Arabia will go to the King of Edom [the leader of the Christian nations – the President of the United States] to take counsel, and the king of Persia [Ahmadinejad] will threaten to destroy the entire world.

The nations of the world will be outraged and panic. They will fall on their faces and experience pains like birth pangs. Israel too, will be outraged and in a state of panic, ask, ”Where do we go?”

“But say unto them, ‘My children, do not fear. The time of your redemption has come..... And this last redemption shall be different from the first that was followed by further bondage and pain. After this last redemption, you will not experience any further pain or subjection.” [Yalkut Shemoni, Isaiah 59]

The Klausenberger Rebbe, Z’tl, referring to this teaching said, “Remember these words. “They are perhaps not understood now, but in time they will be and be a source of strength to our people.”

Had you heard these prophecies centuries ago, when they were written, you might have laughed and scoffed – even if you read them as recently as 1970, you would have been hard put to believe it, for of all the Moslem countries the Shah’s Iran was probably the friendliest. But today, the impossible has become possible, and events are unfolding so rapidly, that we have difficulty absorbing their impact. So how are we to understand it all?

The Yalkut compares our suffering to birth pangs. But birth pangs are deceptive; when the contractions begin, it’s easy to ignore them since they are mild and occur between long intervals. As the birth becomes imminent however, the contractions intensify and the pain becomes more intense. And just when it appears that the woman can no longer endure the pain, the baby is born and new life enters the world. It is these labor pains to which we are witness today. How long will the labor last? It’s anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain – please G-d, the birth is sure to take place. In the interim however, we may very well ask, “Is it possible to ease the suffering? Is it possible to protect ourselves from these painful contractions?”

For that too, our sages have an answer: “Let he who wishes to be spared the birth pangs of Messiah occupy himself with Torah and gemilas chassidim [acts of loving-kindness] and let him be scrupulous about Seudah Shlishis – the third Sabbath meal.”

The first two recommendations – Torah and gemilas chasadim are self-explanatory and do not require much elaboration, for he who is committed to Torah and mitzvos and to reaching out with loving kindness must, of necessity, become a better, more spiritual person.

But eating a third Sabbath mean is not as readily comprehensible. We are enjoined to have three seudos – meals on the Sabbath – Sabbath eve [Friday night], Sabbath noon [following prayer in the synagogue] and the third seudah – meal —in the late afternoon as the Sabbath Queen prepares to depart. Through these three meals we honor the three Patriarchs, the three sections of our scriptures [Torah, Prophets, and the Writings] and we recall the three Sabbath meals of manna that G-D provided us during our sojourn in the wilderness [Exodus 16:25].

This final Sabbath seudah is called Shalosh Seudah, which translated literally means “Three Meals” rather than Seudah Shlishis – the third meal. Our Sages explain that the reason for this is that all three Sabbath seudos are embodied in this one.

This third mean presents a most auspicious time for prayer. And to this very day, when I close my eyes, I can hear the sweet voices of my revered father and my beloved husband of blessed memory, leading their congregants in singing Psalm 23, the psalm that is traditionally chanted at the Shalosh Seudas.

“The L-rd is my Shepherd, I shall not want... The task of the shepherd is a lowly and lonely one. Day in and day out, he is destined to wander from place to place, seeking pasture for his flock, and yet, David did not hesitate to refer to G-d as a Shepherd, for he perceived that G-d’s love is so total so encompassing that when it comes to caring for His children, nothing is beneath him. What a magnificent and fortifying thought - for no matter where life takes us, even if we have to walk in the treacherous valley overshadowed by death, we need not fear, for G-D, our Shepherd, will always be there to lead us to greener pastures, even if, at first, we do not recognize that the pasture is green.

Still, it is difficult to comprehend how the mere eating of a third meal, singing Psalm 23, and discussing Words of Torah could have such awesome power that they can actually protect us from the suffering that will accompany the birth pangs.

But there is a profound lesson at the root of this teaching. The first two Sabbath seudos are eaten when we are hungry, but after a festive noontime seudoh, we are hardly in the mood for yet another meal. So it is not to satiate our hunger that we gather around the Shalosh Seudos table. Rather, it is to celebrate the Sabbath and sing her praises, and that is why the Third Meal encompasses them all. The Third Meal is symbolic of the conversion of the physical to the spiritual, and ultimately, that is our purpose – to become spiritual beings and to free ourselves from the shackles of materialism – and that is something that our generation, obsessed with materialism and the pursuit of pleasure has yet to learn.

You might of course wonder, “Why must we experience birth pangs in order for Messiah to come? Why can’t he just announce his presence? But the Messianic period will be very much like Shalosh Seudas, when we sit around the table, not to satiate our physical hunger not to glory in our material achievements, but to celebrate our spiritual attainments.

In order for that to happen, we will have to divest ourselves of all the icons that we hold dear. Therefore, our hallowed institutions, the bastions of strength in which we placed our trust, will have to fall away. It is that painful disintegration to which we are witness today. From the corporate world to government, to religious institutions, to science and medicine, they have all failed us. And worse, we no longer feel safe or secure in our daily lives. Terrorists and suicide bombers have become a reality of our existence and no army or police force is capable of defending us from them.

Additionally, we are witness to constant horrific natural disasters – Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods.... we see the devaluation of our assets, be it the dollar or the Euro.... We see dictators, who for generations ruled with an iron fist falling like dominos as they are overtaken by Muslim fanatics, the sons of Yishmael. Yes, prophecy is unfolding before our very eyes.

Shorn of our defenses, we stand vulnerable and terrified and wonder where it will all end...... what is it all about? But we see only that which we want to see and hear only that which we want to understand as our world quickly disintegrates.

How long will these birth pangs last?.... Until we recognize the simple truth – that “we can rely on no one but our Heavenly Father.” So let us sound the shofar, awaken ourselves from our lethargy, and heed the voice of our Father calling us. And that is the only answer to the big question – what are we to do?

Even as I write these words, I realize that this simplistic response may disappoint and irritate many. But there is no way that we, the Jewish people, can escape our destiny.

G-d appointed us to be His light on this planet, a light, which illuminates the world with His Torah.... a light which proclaims G-d is One and His Name is One... And that is our calling – a calling that we cannot escape.

Lunar Eclipse December 10

There will be a total lunar eclipse in two days' time: and unfortunately a lunar eclipse is not a good sign for the Jews [bad news for the Aussies: as it will be visible in its entirety from all of Australia and New Zealand]

Click on the MOON label for more eclipse posts.

Also see: Rav Mutzafi: Don't Worry About the Eclipse

Following Dinah's Example

''Dinah - Leah's daughter, whom she had borne to Yaakov''  [Vayishlach 34:1]

From Dinah's conduct we can learn that those Jewish women who are blessed with a God-given ability to influence others positively, should make sure to use their talents productively outside the home as well.  Of course, a Jewish woman must always maintain an air of modesty, and even when she is outside the home it should be recognizable in her actions that ''the entire glory of the King's daughter is within'' [Psalms 45:14].

Nevertheless, while retaining the utmost guard in all matters of modesty, it is crucial that Jewish women who are capable of bringing others closer to Judaism, spend time outside the home, utilizing their God-given talents for the sake of Heaven.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe vol 35

Oprah in Boro Park

In a just released photo, media mogul Oprah Winfrey dines with Lubavitch Shluchim Rabbi Aron and Shterna Sara Ginsberg and family at their home in Boro Park for an upcoming TV show.

Source: COLlive

'Clinton unfamiliar with Jewish modesty'

Israel's Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar responded Monday to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's harsh criticism against the exclusion of women in Israel. [See American foot in mouth]

"She has no real knowledge of a Jewish woman's modesty," he said. "The Jewish people respect women and treat them like queens and princesses."

According to the rabbi, had Clinton learned from "the right people, scholars, she would see that the Jewish people respect their women."

Speaking in an interview to Kol Barama Radio, the rabbi added that the respect is demonstrated in modest clothes and a head cover for married women.

Rabbi Amar did criticize the clothing of the "Taliban women" and their claim that Jewish women used to wear cloaks in the past.

"I still belong to the generation which we saw our mothers and grandmothers, so they cannot tell us how they dressed. We know exactly what they wore – they covered their hair with a silk cloth and the clothes went beyond their elbows and knees… They never heard of such a thing. There are clear rules."

As for "kosher" buses, separating between men and women, the rabbi explained that some people choose to be stricter but that this is not part of Jewish religious laws. He mentioned Rabbi Moshe Feinstein's ruling that there is no problem for men and women to use public transportation together.

Source: Ynet

An Eighth of an Eighth

"I have become unworthy through all the acts of kindness" [Vayishlach 32:11]

The Vilna Gaon was once asked to explain Chazal's statement [Sotah 5a]  "Said R'Chiya bar Ashi in the name of Rav: A Talmid chacham must have one-eighth of an eighth [of haughtiness]".  

Rashi explains that it is essential for a talmid chacham to possess this minute amount of pride in order to prevent those who are ignorant in Torah learning from making light of him and his words.  Why did Chazal choose specifically the measure of one-eighth of an eighth?

The term "one eighth of an eighth" answered the Gaon, is not a reference to a particular measure. Rather it is hinting at the eighth verse of the eighth parsha of the Torah.  The eighth portion in the Torah is Parshas Vayishlach, and the eighth verse of the parsha [32:11] begins with the word "katonti" - "I am very small".

While a talmid chacham must possess a certain amount of arrogance, it must be a "very small" amount.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Small in his own eyes

"[My merits] have become small" [Vayishlach 32:11]

When G-d shows His kindness to a person, it brings that person closer to G-d, causing his feeling of self-importance to diminish, since "everything is like nothing before G-d".

Therefore, it was precisely due to the fact that G-d had been so kind to Yaakov that he became small in his own eyes - for the kindness brought him closer to G-d, and so he felt that he was not worthy of G-d's promise to be saved.

Source: based on Tanya Igeres Hakodesh ch.2

How could Yaakov the patriarch fear that "perhaps... I have become soiled with sin" [Rashi v. 12] when surely he was aware that he had not sinned?

A tzadik is not static - he constantly grows spiritually from one level to the next.  After reaching a higher level, his previous actions are spiritually deficient compared to his current standing. They are thus considered as "sins", metaphorically speaking. [The Hebrew word for sin - chet - can also mean ''deficiency'' [see Kings 11:21]  Thus Yaakov was worried that perhaps due to such ''sins'' he was not worthy to be saved.

Source: based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Healing Rifts

Parshas Vayishlach

Re-establishing bonds/Healing Rifts

by Rav DovBer Pinson

This week's Torah reading opens with Yaakov/Jacob returning home after many years of exile. He had left his home many years earlier, to escape the wrath of his brother Esav/Esau who wished to kill him. Yaakov is now returning to make peace with his brother.

The Torah reading begins with the words “Yaakov sent angels ahead of him to his brother Esav.” [32:4]

He begins his return by sending messengers, or ‘angels.’ Angels are conduits of energy.

Sending “his angels”, represents an issuance of pure thoughts of love and reconciliation towards his brother, either through physical messengers or actual angels.

The message is relayed back to Yaakov that Esav is approaching him with four hundred men, apparently to wage war.

Realizing that Esav is not in favor of brokering peace, Yaakov prepares himself and his family for battle, prays for guidance, and finally encounters Esav.

Upon Esav’s approach, Yaakov “prostrated himself to the ground seven times, until he came close to him, to his brother. And Esav ran toward him and embraced him, and he fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.” [32:3-4]

Something crucial changed between Esav’s approach for battle and his subsequent embrace of Yaakov.

Between war and embrace, there were the seven prostrations of Yaakov - and this seems to change the entire relationship between the brothers.

When a person prostrates him/herself, they are physically breaking the straight line of their body. Spiritually, this represents a breaking of negativity or concealment. [Kidushin 29b]

Bowing is a movement that allows for an [alleged] immutable outer reality to crumble, and a new reality, one that reflects an inner truth, to emerge.

Seven is symbolic of the natural order of the world; a world created by seven in seven. The world of nature is an outer concealment that hides the miraculous, the enlivening Divine animating force and potential of everything, within it.

By prostrating seven times, Yaakov breaks the old reality that once seemed so unshakeable and revealed the truth of their story - the natural love between brothers that was always there beneath the concealments and friction.

“Until he came close to him, to his brother”

He prostrates himself until he can reach “his brother” not the external Esav who now hates him, but the inner Esav, his twin brother. This works, the outer reality falls away, and Esav responds with love, reaching out to his brother in embrace.

The Energy of the Week:

Re-establishing Bonds / Healing Rifts

This week’s Torah reading gives us the strength to repair relationships with others, particularly family, that may have been marred in the past.

The actions of Yaakov set a map for a way to reconnect.

Sending messengers, or messages if you will, is a way to begin.

Reach out carefully, being aware of the hard feelings and the need to break through.

Preparing for ‘war' represents an understanding that you are only one half of the equation, and if the good will is not reciprocated, you may have to acknowledge defeat, and wait for another time.

Prayer represents a reaching out beyond yourself - understanding that there is something greater than yourself and your estranged friend or family in this picture, and that it will affect a change for good in the entire universe if this rift is healed.

Prostrate, finally there is the need to humble our voice that wishes to hold on to an old reality and break free of what you felt to be true until now. Thus revealing a deeper truth that has been there all along.

Source: Iyyun.com

Mamash

"And Yaakov sent angels ahead of him to Eisav" [Vayishlach 32:4]

Rashi comments: "And Yaakov sent angels -  literally [mamash] angels".

R'Meir of Premishlan explained Rashi's words with the Mishnah in Pirkei Avos [4:13] : "He who fulfills one mitzvah gains one advocate for himself". When an individual performs a mitzvah, he creates an angel that speaks favorably on his behalf in Heaven.

The verse tells us that Yaakov sent angels as messengers to Eisav. Which angels did Yaakov send? Those angels that had been created through the mitzvos that he had performed.

This is what Rashi is alluding to when he says: "mamash angels".  For "mamash" is the acronym of the words "malachim me'mitzvos sheásah" ["angels from the mitzvos he performed"].

The Other Devorah

The Cloud and The Bee by Al-Baum

Torah by Rabbi Yissocher Frand

This week's parsha records the death of Rivka's nursemaid, Devorah: "Devorah, the wet nurse of Rebecca died and she was buried below Beth-El, below the Allon, and he named it, Allon-bachuth" [Vayishlach 35:8]. Rashi wonders what Rivka's nanny was doing in Yaakov's household, such that Yaakov should wind up burying her. The Medrash states that Devorah was 133 years old at the time of her death. Rashi states that Rivka had sent her old nursemaid to Yaakov in fulfillment of her promise to him that she would send word to him when it was time to come home from Padan Aram [Vayishlach 27:45]. Devorah died on the journey back home after having carried out this mission.

Rashi's words are very difficult to comprehend. Why would Rivka choose this elderly woman to journey on this long trip to carry out such a mission? Could she not find a more appropriate messenger to send word to her son that it was time to come home?

Rav Dov Weinberger makes a beautiful comment on this Rashi. Yaakov was most reluctant to leave the house of Yitzchak and Rivka. Rikva insisted that he must leave. But Yaakov protested: "What will be with my spirituality? How can I leave this holy household and survive in the house of Lavan the crook?" Rivka promised "I will take you back and I will restore to you what you lost spiritually in the years you were away."

To accomplish such a mission, one cannot send a young kid. On such a mission, one must send a "great grandmother." To restore the idea of what the House of Yitzchak was like in Yaakov's mind, it was necessary to send someone from the older generation. The person who grew up in yesteryear presents an untarnished image. They come from the "old home." Unlike the "younger generation," they represent "the way it is supposed to be."

Many times we will meet a person, not from our generation and not even from the generation of our parents, but someone from two generations ago. It is sometimes worthwhile just to observe how an old Jew acts. He witnessed what things were like "when times were spiritually correct."

Those old enough to remember Rav Ruderman saw a connection to the glory of what European Jewry was in its prime. He corresponded with the Ohr Sameach. He saw the Chofetz Chaim. He sat on Reb Chaim Soloveitchik's lap. He took walks with Reb Chaim Ozer. His reactions were Torah reactions. He knew instinctively what Yiddishkeit [Judaism] was all about.

When Rivka wanted to spiritually retrieve Yaakov from the house of Lavan, she had no choice but to send a delegate who represented the previous generation.

The Chofetz Chaim lived to be a very old man. He died when he was 93 years old. At the end of his life, he wanted to travel to Eretz Yisrael and spend the last days of his life in the Holy Land. He wanted to study the laws of Kodshim and the Temple Sacrifice there. As a Kohen, he hoped he would merit to witness the coming of Moshiach and to participate in the Divine Service in the rebuilt Beis HaMikdash.

He felt that he was an old frail man and could not contribute much more to European Jewry and therefore wanted to "retire" to the Holy Land. He took counsel with Rav Chaim Ozer, the (much younger) leader of European Jewry at the time. Rav Chaim Ozer advised him not to leave Europe. He told him "Even if you cannot be in the Yeshiva any more and you cannot give Torah lectures any more and even if you cannot write any more because of your age -- still, if you remain, people will be able to see what a Jew is supposed to look like."

This can be compared to children sitting at their parents' table. Many times they misbehave. But when their grandpa [Opa/Zeida/Saba] is sitting at the table, the behavior is different. When a member of the previous generation is there, a bit of awe and respect is present as well.

This was Rav Chaim Ozer's message to the Chofetz Chaim, and this explains Rivka's choice of messenger to retrieve her son Yaakov back from Padan Aram.

Source: Torah.org

Torah by Rabbi Azarya Berzon

Apparently, there was an underground movement in Charan which preached Avraham's morality and circulated his teachings. Rivka belonged to that movement. She knew Avraham's world, his hashkafot, and when she became his daughter-in-law she didn't have to learn it from scratch. She had received her special training even while living in a pagan home. Avraham's teaching had spread across the borders and many people in many lands were impressed. But who was the leader? Who was the teacher? It couldn't have been Rivka for she was too young. No doubt many were opposed to this movement and it had to go underground. We find its leader briefly mentioned in Chayei Sarah and then three weeks later in Parshat Vayishlach.

The leader was Devorah - Rivka's nurse [Bereishit 35:8], דברה מינקת רבקה . Why does the Torah find it necessary to tell us [Breishit 24:59] וישלחו את רבקה אחתם ואת מניקתה . What is the chiddush here? After all it was not uncommon for an aristocratic family to employ a nurse for a child and to send this nurse wherever the child went. Furthermore, in Parshat Vayishlach [35:6-8], the Torah adds a sentence which seems unimportant, ותחת דבורה מינקת רבקה ותקבר מתחת לבית אל  - And Devorah the nurse of Rivka died near Beth El, and was buried under the tree, and it was called Alon Bachut [the tree of weeping] -  Is it so important that an old woman died and they named a tree after her?

The answer is found in Parshat Toldot. When Rivka sends Yaakov to Charan, she tells him [Bereishit 27:43-45]:  ''So now, my son, heed my voice and arise; flee to my brother Lavan, to Charan. And remain with him a short while until your brother's wrath subsides. Until your brother's anger against you subsides and he forgets what you have done to him; then I will send and bring you from there; why should I be bereaved of both of your on the same day?"

Rivka told Yaakov: ''When the time will come, I'll send someone to get you!''. Whom did she send? It was Devorah! Why her? Rivka was afraid that Yaakov would get too used to Padan Aram . Why send Devorah? Because Rivka knew what a great person Devorah was and what a great job she had done teaching and educating herself and others. When Devorah died, Yaakov was so shaken that he proclaimed a period of mourning. It was Devorah who had trained Rivka for being the mother of the covenant! It was Devorah who was sent to bring Yaakov back from Charan to Eretz Canaan. By adding the words וישלחו את רבקה ואת מניקתה , Hashem confirmed the greatness of Devorah, and her impact upon Rivka. And, by telling us about the death of Devorah and the mourning for her, the Torah confirmed: A great leader was lost.

Source: Mevaseret

Obama the anti-Israel President

Live Conference to Demand Moshiach - Sunday Dec 4

This Sunday join Jews from all of the world on for a Live Phone Conference to demand the coming of Moshiach ● Get inspired by Rabbi Yossi Jacobson and Rabbi Yitzy Loewenthal ● Don't miss this crucial historic event- from your own home! ● 

The "International Ad Mossai Phone Conference" will take place 3:00pm EST, and will feature Rabbi Yitzy Loewenthal, Chabad Shliach to Denmark who will address the topic "Living The Light Of Chassidus" and Rabbi Yossi Jacobson who will explain how to "Achieve Geulah in the month of Geulah."

Conference Number: 712-432-0900
Access Code: 810794#