Rabbi's weekly messages - Chabad of Olney

Tetzaveh Zachor- Doubting yourself

Friday, February 23, 2018 - 10:34 AM

Do you second-guess your decisions? A double take on your opinion or a humble admission of an error is a sign of tremendous character strength and very admirable.

Second-guessing isn't always a positive thing, though.

The Shabbat before Purim we read an additional Torah portion called Zachor, memory, remembering the crimes committed by the nation of Amalek, who waged battle at the fledgling Jewish nation barely emerging from decades of Egyptian slavery.

There is one major problem though: There are no suspects in this case. The Amalekite people, no longer exist today as a people nor can we identify their descendants (unlike some individuals in Poland today who want to shirk responsibility of their ancestors for terrible crimes committed not so long ago). So why spend our time dissecting the behaviors of a people whose memory has long been forgotten?!

It turns out that Amalek is a phenomenon that always exists. Its mission: to curb enthusiasm. Here you have a motivated people, all fired-up, on their way to embrace the Torah at Sinai, and its got the chutzpah to cool the enthusiasm, and ‘deflate the air out of its tires’.

The tactic is self-doubt. ‘Doubt’ in Hebrew (Safek) has the same numerical value (Gematria) as Amalek. Self-doubt can be very destructive, for when a person lacks confidence in him or herself, in their peoplehood and in G-d, they become weak from within and defeated.

We must eliminate self-doubting our very core - in our ability to believe, to advance and to succeed.

The best antidote to Amalekism is the celebration of Purim. Reading the Megillah evokes memory and heritage, sending Mishloach Manot food gifts, charity to the poor and the holiday meal unite us into one family and make us strong, happy and invincible! Don’t miss the party!

Trumah- The Jewish Demographic Study

Friday, February 16, 2018 - 10:32 AM

Elliott Lasky was like many others, in the sixties, who challenged the status quo, in their search for meaning in life. He thought of finding answers in Buddhism then in music, but even after a two-month stint playing the Rolling Stones on tour in the summer of 1972, he was still searching for a more meaningful path.

He found himself on a bitterly cold day in the winter of 1973 waiting for the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the steps of the famous 770 building in Brooklyn, the red brick house, which serves as the center of the Chabad movement.

Sporting a large beard, shoulder-length hair, snake-skin boots, jeans, and a leather jacket, he approached the Rebbe who had just left his car. In Yiddish he knew from home, he turned to the Rebbe and asked, "Excuse me, are you the Lubavitcher Rebbe?" And from there a 15-minute conversation ensued, which he describes as a most moving one.

"I have a question," he went straight to the point, "where is G-d?" “Everywhere”, the Rebbe replied. "I know," said Elliot, "but where?" The Rebbe answered again: "Everywhere, even in the tree and in the stone.”

“I know”, Elliott said again, as their eyes were still locked, “but where?!” After a pause, the Rebbe responded: “In your heart. G-d is in your heart.”

Elliot Lasky stood beside the Rebbe just a few steps from the synagogue, but when he asked where G-d was, the answer was not: here behind you in the synagogue. The answer was: everywhere, in everything you encounter, and most importantly, in your heart too.

With the release of the latest Jewish demographic study in the Greater Washington area this past week, there is an important element I want to focus on. For some years now, grim forecasts have dominated the discussions regarding the Jewish future in America, pointing to the low numbers of Jews affiliating with “Brick-and-Mortar” Synagogues.

I beg to differ. Jews are onto something big and I think they took a page out of this week’s Torah portion.

“And they should build for me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell among them” we read from the Torah this week. The commentaries are quick to notice: it does not say “Dwell in it”, rather “in them” – it must mean that G-d wants to be at home, in the heart and mind of each individual.

Of course Synagogues are integral to Jewish practice, however, for some, the role of Synagogues in the Jewish experience led to confusion. If I relegate my Judaism to the four walls of the Synagogue, my Judaism will be lacking and empty. No, the Cantor will not pray for me, and the Rabbi will not study for me, I need to experience it myself. Judaism and G-d need to be built in my heart!

Jews seek meaningful Jewish experiences not merely in the synagogue, but in our everyday lives. At our dinner table, at work or on a road trip. We immerse the family in a weekly highlight at the Friday night Shabbat dinner, or make infuse meaning into the day by listening to Torah class on-the-go.

Let us harness the movement of making Judaism ever more relevant in our personal lives, and seek opportunities to introduce more Mitzvos and more study in our daily routines!

Mishpatim- Missing something?

Friday, February 9, 2018 - 10:21 AM

If your spouse were to be away for the weekend and you were left home with the kids you would probably feel merely ‘half’ as capable. Incidentally, that is precisely my predicament this Shabbat, as Devorah is in New York City joining thousands of Chabad emissaries and Rebbetzins for the annual Shluchot conference.

A greater achievement, though, is to recognize this truth when we are together with our spouse or family member or community member or co-worker. To realize that our abilities, wisdom, and very quality of life is made complete only with another. Alone we are merely half.

This is the message Moses conveyed in Shekalim, the bonus Torah portion we read each year this pre-Purim season. By commanding the Jews to donate precisely a half-Shekel coin, then take a census by counting the coins. In this process, we recognize that on our own, we each amount to half. I am only complete when I join with another.

This is so important to our lives that when the Alter Rebbe, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi organized the prayer book, he inserted this as an opening to the daily prayer: It is proper to say before prayer, I hereby take upon myself to fulfill the mitzva - "Love your fellow as yourself."

Try it. Begin your day with this humble, yet empowering declaration and realization. Why settle for less, if we can embrace another and become complete?!