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September 29, 2016 by Dvora Kravitz Leave a Comment

You stand firmly here…

What is the message of this parsha?
How is it relevant to me, and my life purpose?
Is there a connection between this reading and the upcoming Rosh Hashana?

Moses delivers his final address to the Jewish people. It’s the day of his passing, 7 Adar. Moses reminds the people that we will never be “swapped” with any other nation. G-d has signed a permanent contract connecting Himself with the Jewish people.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson explains the significance of this opening verse.

What does it mean to stand firmly?
How do we do this when we are the “smallest among the nations?”
Why does the Torah list so many classes of Jews, including tribal leaders, police, children, women, converts?
How do we form a union of so many diverse people?

We are able to stand firmly because we are united as one through our spiritual souls. As long as we connect to our source and connection to G-d, we are able to be united.

The list of diverse classes of people is a lesson that each strength and need that we are given is a unique opportunity to fulfill a unique purpose and contribute to the greater good of the world.

In a few days we will start the new Jewish year of 5777.

Do we appreciate each other for our differences?
Are we able to see beyond those differences?
How might recognition of how we complement each other help us resolve group conflict?
How might this point of view improve classroom climate?

The end of the portion includes advice and encouragement about how to make this possible.

For this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it. (Chapter 30, verse 14, book of Deuteronomy)

Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains this verse in his Tanya, Chapter 17. He advises us to contemplate the greatness of G-d. This will bring us to a love of G-d and a desire to connect to Him. This connection will then connect us to each other.

May this be a meaningful Shabbat.

Shabbat Shalom!

Sources:

Excerpt from a public letter written on Erev Shabbos Parshas Nitzavim 5721, as brought down in the Gutnick Edition of the Book of Deuteronomy, Kol Menachem, Brooklyn, NY, 2005-9 p. 213
Overview of the Parsha in the Gutnick Edition of the Book of Deuteronomy, Kol Menachem, Brooklyn, NY, 2005-9 p. 211

September 28, 2016 by Dvora Kravitz Leave a Comment

Happy Birthday World!

Did you know that in Jewish life, we celebrate the birth of the world five days before Rosh Hashana?

According to Jewish tradition, the world is now 5777 years old.

Less than a week remains until Rosh Hashana, which is called “the birthday of the world.” In fact, Rosh Hashana is the birthday of the first humans -Adam and Eve- who came into being on the sixth day of creation. This means that the first day of creation coincides with the 25th of Elul.

Today is the day in the Hebrew Calendar which carries with it nothing less than the energy of the creation of existence- time, space, matter, darkness, and light. Today we begin preparing the world for its rendezvous with G-d on Rosh Hashana.

(Quoted from 60 Days, A Spiritual Guide to the High Holidays by Simon Jacobson Kiyum press, New York 2003 p. 62.)

The obvious question is: If Rosh Hashana isn’t the birth of the world, what is it?

Rosh Hashana is the day that G-d completes the creation of the world by creating Humankind.

Why do we celebrate the creation of Humankind rather than the creation of the world?

To G-d, the whole purpose of creation is for Humankind to make a dwelling place for G-d to be revealed.

In the works of Kabbalah, various expositions are presented as to the purpose of creation. The Zohar states that the reason G‑d created the world is “So that we may know Him.” Rabbi Chaim Vital in Etz Chaim writes that “G‑d wished to reveal the complete array and perfection of His powers and deeds.” In this chapter we shall focus on the exposition of Rabbi Schneur Zalman, founder of ChaBaD, who writes in Tanya Ch.36, while quoting from a Midrash, which G‑d created because “G‑d desired to have a dwelling place in the lower worlds (Dirah BeTachtonim).” It is for this purpose that He created a chain order of worlds, with higher and lower realms, with the purpose of creation specifically in the lowest of all.

(From The Purpose of Creation by Nissan Dovid Dubov, on Chabad.org)

Rosh Hashana is many things. It is a day of beginnings. It is the Day of Judgement. It’s also the day that the Jewish people reaffirm that G-d is the King.

Imagine that you are about to present yourself to the King of Kings.

When do you start to prepare?
What kind of resources do you need?
Who is your support system?
How will this change the course of your existence?
How might you do your part to represent the King’s Will and Wisdom in the world around you?

September 23, 2016 by Dvora Kravitz Leave a Comment

Count Down …

Apples are in season. The weather is changing. Kids are back in school. Rosh Hashana is almost here.

Are you ready?

This week’s Torah portion of Ki Tavo is a good place to look for guidance about how to get ready for Rosh Hashana.

Ki Tavo includes blessings for observing G-d’s laws, and curses that might be the consequences of not observing G-d’s law. The Torah describes that Moshe divides the tribes into half. Half are assigned to stand on Mount Gerizim (Blessings) and half assigned to Mount Aival (Curses).

About the curses, the Torah tells us that:

….because you did not serve G-d, your G-d, with joy and with gladness of heart, when (you had an) abundance of everything. (Devarim, Chapter 28, verse 47. Translation from the Gutnick Edition of the Book of Deuteronomy)

The blessings are great. The curses are scary. As a motivation to change, do we respond to blessings, or fear of punishment?

Considering how many years of suffering the Jewish people have endured, it seems like we’ve had enough of punishment.

How about some joy and blessing?

What does the Torah mean when it tells us that these curses are a consequence of not serving G-d with joy?

The Yalkut Me’am Lo’ez provides three full pages of narrative commentary on this one short verse. Here are a few tidbits, complements of my own loose translation:

The Holy One Blessed Be He might test a person in one of two ways. One way is the test of poverty, and the other is the test of wealth. Both tests are difficult. And if the wealthy person doesn’t withstand the test, the Holy One Blessed Be He sends afflictions.

A story is told about Rav Broka, who found Eliyahu the Prophet, may he rest in peace, in the market. Rabbi Broka asked the Prophet if anyone around the market merited a portion in the World to Come. At that, two people approached. Eliyahu told Rabbi Broka that these two had a share in the World to Come. Rabbi Broka asked them: “What have you done to merit a portion in the World to Come?” They answered: “We are joyous, and we make others joyous. When we see people who are sad, we make them happy.”

When they said: “We are happy, and we make others happy”, this is a lesson brought down to teach us that if a person wants to make others happy, he himself must be joyous…..

It’s the way of the world that when a person is successful, he links his success to his intelligence and strength, and doesn’t remember the the kindness of HaShem, May He be Blessed. Only when the wheel turns and things go badly, the person says “What will I do, and the Holy One Blessed be He decrees that I lose my money?”

Although not specifically about this verse, here’s how one Chassidic master uses metaphor, and humor, to explain the lengthy exile:

Reb Yisrael of Ruzhin once walked into his beis midrash (study hall) and said to the chassidim (followers) who happened to be there: “I will tell you a story. A villager once came to town for Rosh HaShana. Like many villagers in those days, he was so ignorant that he did not even know how to read the prayers. When he walked into the synagogue on the morning of the holy day he gazed around in all directions without opening his mouth. After a little while, when the other worshipers reached Shemoneh Esreh (the silent devotion prayers), he observed that some of them were weeping.

“Now this is strange.” he thought. “There hasn’t been any fighting or anything. Why are they weeping?’

“He thought it out, and arrived at the conclusion that they were no doubt weeping because they had to stay so late in shul (synagogue), when they were hungry. And since he too was hungry, he soon found himself weeping together with them all.

“After Shmoneh Esreh, he had a new problem: Why did they not cry now? It then occurred to him that he had noticed in the morning that his hostess had put a hard lump of meat into the soup, and the longer it was left on the fire, the easier would it be to chew. It followed, therefore, that going home late was really no cause for tears. But when the time came to hear the shofar, his original question presented itself afresh, for everyone was crying again! He soon found an explanation, however, and told himself the following: ‘True, it is that the broth will be richer after all this time – but we haven’t got the strength to wait so long!’ And with this pathetic cry from the heart he again began to weep with them all…”

After Reb Yierael had left the room, the chassdim said to each other: “That was a parable about this long exile.”

(From A Treasury of Chassidic Tales on the Festivals by Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, Mesorah Publications, NY 1981 p. 50)

More recently, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, comments on this verse of the Torah. The Rebbe encourages us to increase in joy. Joy is an emotion which breaks all barriers. What if we were to take that joy and break down the spiritual barriers that hold back the Redemption from Exile? (From the Gutnick Chumash Devarim, p. 205.)

Questions:

What does joy mean in Jewish life?
What does it mean to you?
Is fear of punishment ever an effective deterrent?
How is the Chassidic story a metaphor for the coming of Redemption?

September 21, 2016 by Dvora Kravitz Leave a Comment

#WisdomWednesday

With everything you need to do in a day, how do you prioritize?

It’s the middle of the week. It’s time to stock up. Do I shop online, or get into my car and drive to a market? Which market do I go to?

From the moment we wake up until the time we fall asleep, we face countless decisions.

The Mishna in Pirkei Avot (Chapter 1, Mishna 6) states:

Yehoshua ben Perachiah and Nitai of Arbel received from them. Yehoshua ben Perachia says, “Make for yourself a mentor, acquire for yourself a friend and judge every person as meritorious.”

In the spirit of this wisdom, here is a brain friendly way to get over indecision:

Visualize a person who is a role model to you as a source of wisdom.
- Who would you choose as a role model?
- Is it someone who helps you to follow your core values?
Take out paper and a pen or pencil.
Use your dominant hand to ask open-ended questions to your role model.
Use your non-dominant hand to write the answers.

What is your advice for what to do when you have to make a decision?

Click here to read Dr. Kari Miller’s full post.