The Sinaitic Revelation

This week in Shul, we will read about the revelation at Mt. Sinai.

The following is excerpted from a letter from Elie Wiesel about an interview the Rebbe had with some college students in 1951. Part of the letter included a discussion about Mt. Sinai:

Q: How can you explain scientifically the existence of G-d and the need for religion?

A: Let us take the "Chumash" (Torah) and open it. Before you are many words.
Suppose you had never heard of a printer nor seen a printing shop. Would you then say, not knowing how these words were formed, that they developed from a bottle of ink that was spilled by itself and formed these words? Or would you not say that these words were made on purpose? You would have to say that there was some force that created these words and put them back in order. Just as a pencil which contains billions of atoms, has to have some law of order governing it to exist, so too do the words in the "Chumash" need an order governing it to exist and to be understood.

We have established that the "Chumash" was made purposefully. When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, they were given it directly from G-d and accepted it directly from Him. (Moses went halfway up Mount Sinai and G-d came down to meet him.) There were 600,000 Jews at Mount Sinai who heard what G-d said and who accepted the Torah. They passed on what they knew to be true from generation to generation. It is not very likely that a father in all his senses would tell his son a thing that is not so.

There have never been fewer than 600,000 religious Jews in Jewish history, and this chain of tradition has never been broken. There has never been an interruption in the constant regeneration of at least 600,000 religious Jews. In other religions, there is not to be found this unbroken chain of tradition.

Q: If all that is said above is true, what proof does one have that the Jewish religion is the true and only religion?

A: A scientific discovery is accepted when there is enough evidence or proof that the discovery is true. The more people who agree with the results of an experiment add support to that discovery. If 600 people performed an experiment using the same implements and 100 people performed the same experiment on the same basis, and the results showed that the 600 people stated a belief on the basis of their experiments, and the 100 people disagreed with them on the basis of their experiments, you would believe the 600 people more readily than the 100 people.
The Christian religion has only 12 witnesses to affirm its origin and prominence. The Buddhists had three witnesses. The Muslims had only one witness, and Mohammed was a mentally ill person. The Jewish people had 600,000 witnesses. On that basis you would say the Jewish religion has the greatest amount of witnesses and therefore the greatest amount of truth.

Q: Was there only quantity or quality too at Mount Sinai?

A: There was a great deal of quality. Jews from all walks of life were present; from all different occupations and professions (carpenters, bakers, scientists, philosophers). What greater quality of people can one assemble in one place?

World's Largest Menorah

Click here to view world's largest Menorah, in Birobizhan, Russia:
http://www.chabad.org/news/article_cdo/aid/608340/jewish/A-Far-East-Chanukah.htm

Problem is, however, it's not kosher for Chanukah -- in order to fulfill the mitzva, it has to be within 32 feet of the ground. Otherwise, it's too high up, not viewable to the average pedestrian unless you look up.

This teaches us a powerful lesson about Judaism in general and Chanukah in particular.
We need to see the miraculous in every aspect of our lives, even in the down-to-earth, daily routine. If it's too lofty, too sublime, too abstract... it's not helping us achieve the purpose for which we were created, to illuminate the darkness of the world with the light of Torah.

Our Jewishness ought to be expressed outwardly through the mitzvos we do in the realm of action as well, not just in speech and thought.

Happy Chanukah!

Smiling for a Change!

After solemnly holding tight onto a pitchfork for over seven decades, the dour-faced Depression era couple is almost breaking into a “Happy Chanukah!” smile.
Indeed, the picture has changed as the stern stick-in-the-mud style has branched out right and left with warm and welcoming outreach to one and all. Lo and behold, the cold sharp iron implement has gracefully metamorphosed into a warm and bright Menorah.
When Grant Woods painted the austere rural American Gothic in 1930, he could never have imagined a Menorah standing in the center of his masterpiece. Neither could most of us envision that Chanukah would one day light up the contemporary American scene.
The festival of Chanukah has finally arrived, even here, deep in the heartland. Although once low profile and almost in hiding, the shy and bashful Chanukah is now embraced and celebrated, in homes, halls and malls across the country. Rather than restricted to a tiny notice tucked away in back of the religion section, Chanukah has now blossomed into a full color front page story.
It’s not that our smiling couple just discovered Chanukah out on the street. Note that they’ve already kindled their personal household Menorah in the window, and have come out front to publicly and proudly display a Menorah for all to see. The cherished Constitutional Freedom of Religion that we enjoy in this country is surely a good reason for us all to smile along.
These adorable folks may also be smiling at how times have changed since they starred in the original Gothic. Long past its heyday, the pitchfork has fallen into disuse, an archaic relic that rusts in the barnyard or is confined to museums. By contrast, the Menorah of twenty five centuries ago is full of energy, meaning and purpose. The vital and vibrant Menorah reflects the past and burns with a fiery passion for the future, shining forth as strong as ever.
The painting’s original expression of the precious values of Thrift, Endurance and Faith are depicted beautifully in the new rendition. But rather than standing stoically and tight lipped, Chanukah poignantly delivers a three pronged message that emanates warmth.
Thrift: The little cruse of oil that illuminated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem for eight days and nights demonstrates the victory of Quality over Quantity and the triumph of the few over the many.
Endurance: The Menorah highlights the brave and courageous Maccabees who struggled to overcome great challenges and obstacles.
Faith: Standing tall and proud, the Menorah encourages our faith in G-d and strengthens our confidence in Jewish destiny and future.
The Menorah inspires today, just as it inspired the Jewish people when they were liberated from Greek-Syrian oppression and influence. We preface the Menorah lighting by reciting the blessing for the miracles “in those days, in our time.” The Menorah’s bright rays help dispel the surrounding darkness and confusion and fear of war and terrorism in our time.
Retire, the old trusty pitchfork, must, but first with final respects to its association with the rich symbolism of Messianic universal peace. That is when “nations will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning shears.” (Isaiah 2:4)

By Rabbi Israel Rubin

Albany, NY

International Convention of Chabad Emissaries

Four thousand hats, four thousand beards, sixty five countries, forty seven states. There is no hall large enough in the entire borough of Brooklyn, NY to hold them. They are gathered at Pier 94 on the west side of Manhattan, which has been converted in to a gigantic banquet hall.

Welcome to the International Convention of the World-Wide Chabad Lubavitch Movement.
The annual gathering of Chabad emissaries is the highlight of our year. Our mission to reach every single Jew is evident throughout the entire ballroom.

Rabbis from every corner of the world are here today, yet tomorrow they will be off to their faraway destinations, placing them within the reach of every single Jew in the entire universe.

The guest speaker is Mr. Levi Leviev, the powerful diamond magnate, who personally bankrolls hundreds of Chabad institutions in the former Soviet Union. He tells the tale of ten Chabad envoys who one hundred years ago arrived in Samarkand to inspire the Bucharian Jewish community. To their chagrin, only ten boys agreed to attend their small cheder. The entire generation was engulfed by a wave of assimilation, yet those ten boys in the cheder remained steadfast in their Jewish observance. One of those boys was Mr. Leviev's grandfather.

It was this committment to the individual, to every single Jew, that Chabad displayed to his grandfather and continues to display to every single Jew that inspires him to stand side by side with the Chabad movement, ensuring that no Jew will be left behind.

The highlight of his talk was the story of a girl from the country of Tatarstan who was born to a Jewish mother and non-Jewish father. The mother felt an obligation to give her daughter a Jewish education and enrolled her in the local Chabad day school. The father went along with it initially, but gradually changed his mind and decided to baptize her as a Christian. As they prepared for the ceremony on a Friday evening, the girl asked the priest for some candles, and he complied with her wishes. She took the candles, lit them and proceeded to say," Baruch ata adon-ai... Lehadlik ner shel shabbat kodesh .... Needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the audience.

May we all merit to reach every Jew and inspire them to give their children a love and passion for the Jewish faith.

By Rabbi Dov Mandel

World's Oldest Jew goes to Chabad!

Breaking News

World's oldest Jew turns 107

The man believed to be the world's oldest living Jew celebrated his 107th birthday in Moscow. Boris Efimov, born Boris Fridland, worked as a political caricaturist until the early 1980s. He won two Soviet State Prizes and was named People's Painter of the USSR in 1967. Efimov had no Jewish education growing up. He began studying Judaism at the age of 100 at Moscow's Chabad-run Marina Roscha Center, where his birthday celebration was held this week.

From JTA News Website
http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/breaking/104875.html

New Website!

Please go to http://www.chabadhebrewschool.us/ and check out our new Hebrew School website!

We welcome your comments!

More Ramblings on 5768

Another reflection on the current Jewish year, 5768:

What is the luckiest number in Judaism?

OK, there's no such thing as luck. But what's the most meaningful number you can think of?

For example, let's say you make a donation to Chabad of Westboro (click here, by the way, so this doesn't have to be theoretical :-) or to any Jewish charity of your choice.

Which sum would you choose to donate?

Could it be that you'd donate in units or multiples of 18?

Why? Because the number 18 is the numerical value of the Hebrew word Chai (Chet=8, Yud=10). And Chai means life, right?

Wrong. Chai actually is an adjective which means "alive."

"Life" as a noun would be "Chayim."

The numerical equivalent of "Chayim" is 68, the last two digits of this year.

So one could make the case that 68 is more "alive" than 18. 18 is merely a description of life, whereas 68 is life itself!

(Time to start increasing your tzedaka from 18 to 68 :-)

Anyhow, now that we've established that 68 is an important number, let's consider the number 57, the first two digits of this year.

Fifty-seven is the numerical equivalent of "Zan," which means "sustains," or "the one who sustains" (zayin=7, nun=50). 57+68, then, could mean "the One Who sustains life."

Or perhaps, we can use Gematriya (Hebrew numerology) a bit more liberally, and say that 68 is the English word, "now" (nun=50, aleph=1, vav=6).

In this sense, 57 and 68 means: "Life Now," i.e. now is the time for life, lliving life the way life ought to be. Living life to its fullest, by filling it with Torah and Mitzvot.

But in truth, life for a Jew can't be lived to the fullest until Moshiach comes and rebuilds the Bais Hamikdash. At that time, life will truly be meaningful, as we will live in a more real, G-dly reality. Indeed, at that time, human life will once more be eternal, as it was intended to be prior to Adam's sin. In Kabbalah, only immortal life is true life. (This is why, even nowadays, life is only truly meaningful when imbued with Torah and Mitzvot, which are eternal.) Likewise, although life is the synthesis of body and soul, it is the soul which makes the body live, and not vice-versa. For the soul is eternal whilst the body is not. When Mashiach will come, however, a deeper perception of reality will become evident. It is the raw physical existence of the human body, the nethermost end product of creation, that expresses the essence of G-d. Hence, the body will become eternal as well. In fact, there will be a great paradigm shift in the symbiotic relationship of body and soul. At that time, the body will sustain ("Zan") the soul, and not vice-versa, as it is today.

Anyway, sorry for digressing. Back to the point --

So 5768, "Life Now," really means:

"Moshiach Now!"

May it be this year! Amen.