Rabbi's weekly messages - Chabad of Olney

Chayei Sarah-The best Character test

Friday, November 10, 2017 - 9:56 AM

Way before Jdate was a thing, other algorithms were used to help set couples up. Matchmakers would be given a profile of what kind of spouse one was looking for, and they would hopefully find a match.

Isaac, our Patriarch, was looking for his Bashert, his bride-to-be, in this week’s Torah portion. Eliezer was dispatched as a matchmaker to find the right one. Now, as you would assume, Eliezer was looking for the perfect girl, with a long profile of righteous qualities, befitting one who would marry the righteous Isaac, and worthy of becoming the Matriarch of the Jewish nation. But in the Torah’s narrative, Eliezer was actually looking for one thing: If the girl responds to my request for drinking water, by generously offering water to my camels too… she must be the perfect bride. Rebecca turns out to be exactly that girl.

Now, I’m not knocking generosity and kindness as wonderful qualities, but what about her faith, modesty or scholarship? Did nothing else matter?

I think this story sheds some light:

In a certain shtetl, a rumor spread about the town's Shochet, ritual slaughterer, that he was truthfully not G-d fearing, not a person with integrity, and his meat could therefore not be trusted as kosher.

The townspeople sent to the famous Ruzhiner Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Fridman, to help them determine if the allegations were true or false. He decided to send a trusted student to visit the Shochet's house and report back.

On his trip to the Shtetl the student ran into torrential rain. The unpaved roads didn’t help either, and he only arrived at the Shochet’s house at midnight. Tired and dirty, wet and cold he knocked on the Shochet's door without disclosing the purpose of his visit. The shochet and his family greeted him warmly and happily, lit candles in his honor, found him a change of clothes, and even offered him a bowl of hot soup to warm him up.

When the Chassid returned to the Rebbe and described the visit, the Rebbe stood up and declared his verdict: Dart vu Iz Lichtig on veram, Iz Oich Kosher – If his home is warm and gracious, it must be Kosher too.

How we treat others is an indication of our faith in G-d.

Vayera- Terrorism today is different

Friday, November 3, 2017 - 9:50 AM

As the terrorist rammed his truck into innocent cyclists on the streets of Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, my brother-in-law, Rabbi Chaim Zaklos was driving a van full of kids to the Hebrew School of Chabad of Battery Park City just two blocks away.

Consider the polar opposites: a truck of terror and, l’havdil, a vehicle of goodness. Yet, there is something that even we, as ambassadors of goodness, should take note of.

Today's terrorists are not like the terrorists of the past.

Once, in order to be a terrorist, they were required to undergo a meticulous recruitment process, to practice at some remote training camp for several months, to maintain secret contact with operators and to receive encrypted instructions. In the end, after months of training and planning, the attack was carried out.

Today's terrorists are completely different.

The terrorist who carried out the murderous attack this week in New York, did not even have his own truck. Neither did he receive orders from anyone. Yet eight lives were lost and many others were injured because of his evil and hatred.

“From my enemies I have gained wisdom” says King David in Psalms. If the side of the negativity has changed strategy, it means that we too, on the side of good and positivity, need to change our strategy.

What do I mean?

Once, in order to do good things on a large scale, people had to go the long route: Open a large charity organization and raise money for those in need; influence the board of directors of an influential organization to effect social change; Spend years in Yeshiva to receive rabbinical ordination so you are assigned a position of influence within a Jewish community…

Today, it is much simpler and easier. Today we can and must act faster. Today, a simple pre-existing web platform can be harnessed to raise support for your cause. You don’t have to set up an organization. Social media gives you the ability to create awareness of a societal issue that needs improved. Don’t wait for Federations or boards. And you don’t have to be a Rabbi to influence a friend to engage in Judaism.

We must create explosions of holiness, of goodness and kindness. Don’t wait for instructions or protocol, just go ahead and unleash your goodness!