On Thinking - Speaking Positively

On Jewish blogs, of the personal kind, often enough they invoke emotional negativity, an item I here briefly address.

The person is - that which he says. What comes of of one's mouth - defines that person.

For example, it says
חכם מה הוא אומר and it says
רשע מה הוא אומר

Don't read these as questions, but as assertions, namely:
A wise man (or an evil one) can be determined by
- what comes out of his mouth. Put a comma after the word
חכם or after the word רשע.

For example, a young lady wrote,
"I was stuck in a rut. ... I was stuck in my rut and I didn’t know how to get out."

If she says she's in a rut, she is, by virtue of having said so. If she didn't, that's because she decided not to say it because she can get out of it. The Rebbe said, "Think good and it will be good". If you speak in negativity, you're DOING negativity. Speaking (or writing the talk) is doing.

You might argue, "Yes, but don't we have emotions that are the opposite of being happy." And, that being so, they are real and therefore can be spoken of.

The emotions might be real, indeed, but the speaking out of them follows a decision to air them. That decision determines who you are. Keep the emotions inside, away from view, and you will note that you are now thinking positively. Speak them out into the breeze, and you will have defeated your wish to remain positive, because you've relinquished your control over the underlying factors. Keeping them inside gives you strength to ward off the surrender. You will, of course, then be thinking of ways to remove or minimize the offending circumstances, and thereby you will have attained mastery of them.

If problems arise and seem unbearable, the person can ask for help. That is not weakness, nor is it negative.

The Rebbe's dictum is in this same vein. Thinking good does not deny emotional traumas. It just says, use them to your advantage by climbing over and above them, by figuring ways to triumph over the negativity. Think good and, indeed, it will be good!

The Cosmic Purpose of Creation

The first of the Ten Commandments contains a peculiar fact. God says to the Jews, "I am your God who took you out of Egypt, out of bondage." (Ex.20:2)

Suppose you owned a fine thoroughbred who won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Would you take pride in your horse by saying "My horse won the Preakness!"? Of course not; You'd say, "He won the Triple Crown!"

Why did God minimize on His accomplishment? A much greater feat God achieved was - creation of the universe! Would it not have been more compelling to say "I am your God Who created the universe!"?

Taking the Jews "out of Egypt, out of bondage" surely cannot compare to the act of creation because the former is a matter of changing or rearranging things already in existence, whereas creation of the universe involves (continuous) forming matter and circumstances - out of literally nothing!

Specifying "out of Egypt, out of bondage" reveals the secret for which the Creator created the world in the first place! It broadcasts the Cosmic Purpose of the Supreme Creative Power. The heavens may tell the glory of God and the wonders of His works, but this 1st Commandment tells the motive for the Universal Frame in the first place!

God thereby is telling the Jewish people He redeemed them from bondage they would thereby be able to serve Him, and be bonded to God. The purpose of a Jew's life is to devote his mindset to worship God, by adhering to God's desires expressed by His commandments, and minimize serving foreign constraints.

A painter likes to have in his house plenty of fine art work; A scholar enjoys having a house full of books. Put the painter to live in the scholar's house, or the scholar in the painter's house, and they'd be most unhappy.

God created people in such a way as to feel as if they can do what they want, just as God Himself can do what He wants. God very much enjoys having people with free will to do as He wants them to behave. That's the house God created and one in which He can thereby "feel at home in".

So why the unusual clause in the 1st Commandment? To make known to Jews what He expects of them. God's wish was NOT simply to create a universe, not any more than someone wants to build a house without it serving a further purpose. God's desire was to have inside this world a people who will seek Him out to serve Him.

He plucked the Jewish nation out of servitude to another nation to have it be His own. They would be beacons of light, representing His light, to elevate this world to its transcendent state of redemption and perfection.

We've come 3,325 years since that exodus. The Jews, says the Rebbe, have already achieved that goal of preparing the world, finally, for the last leg of the arduous journey. Imminently soon, with the Jewish King Moshiach of the House of David, the crown jewel of humanity, at the helm, all people of the world will recognize this transformation programmed for revelation, in this new Era about to dawn.

Divine Providence 6 Months Post-Tammuz 3

An event in 1995 inside of "770" during Shabbat prayers deserves mention. The large crowd in the shul was listening to the Ba'al Koreh, Rabbi Michoel Slavin. About half way through, he suddenly stops his recitation, looks closer at the script, and points to the text for a gabbai nearby to look at.

By the way, every Friday, in preparation for this reading, Rabbi Yehudah Clapman, a long-time sofer in the community, checks the Sefer Torah to make sure all is in good order for the upcoming reading on Shabbat.

After a few more cursory inspections, they began wrapping up that Sefer Torah, returned it to the Aron Kodesh, and took out another one to replace it.

It turns out an entire word was missing from the text. This happened Tevet 21, 5755. That was Shabbat, parshas Shmos. The verse was 4:1,

‫...‬ והן לא יאמינו לי
... and they will not believe me ....

The word לי was missing!

My own reaction to what happened was - I was stunned. To me this was a significant providential message with huge impact. Here was Moshe Rabbeinu telling God the Jews will not believe him. His mission was to tell the Jews he will be redeeming them and the Jews, in turn, may well not believe him.

We were about 6 months away from the 3rd of Tammuz, 1994. The trauma was still raw; Emotions still ran fresh. Many of us believed nothing had changed from what the Rebbe had charted out for us, while plenty of others, local and remote, felt what the past held in store was now down the drain.

No verse in all of Torah could better have depicted the schism the 3rd of Tammuz created. But now, on this Shabbat, those of us who believed the Rebbe's agenda remains sturdily on course, and hadn't changed one iota, felt vindicated - a surreal relief!

It was as if the leader of the generation, the Rebbe, was telling us "They won't be believing in me", as if many would continue to believe (regarding some far future) - BUT NOT IN ME!

There is no Jewish Religion ...

When you host a guest in your home, don't you expect him to behave appropriately? Would it not annoy you if he sits on your dinner table, carelessly breaks a crystal, or spits on the carpet? Would it not further offend you if such crass behavior were to occur mindless of your presence?

This matter of etiquette is a metaphor of our lifetime on earth. We are the universe's guests. God is our host. He brought us into His world, giving us the incredible opportunity to live a life. Do we disrespect the master of this domain and behave ungratefully, or do we abide by His wishes and act appropriately?

You might ask, "But what constitutes 'appropriate behavior'? How is one to distinguish between what's really right from wrong?"

The creator of any complicated gadget always leaves a set of instructions how to correctly operate his invention. The same is true of the universe. We creatures too have been given a manual of instructions.

This manual happens to be the most widely read book in the world. It's no coincidence that it has been the most popular in human history, and still is today! It's no coincidence either that in the whole world hardly a home exists without one, or at least without the ability to get to one immediately!

The miracle of the Jewish people's supernatural survival, let alone their ever-thriving existence despite the eternal hatred, banishment and oppression they have to bear, ought to spur the questioner into seeing the answer in proper perspective - unless this fact that defies Nature also he sees as mere coincidence, in which case he leaves no room for reasoning.

The Jewish people serve as God's flashlight for others to see.

It's God's way to make sure we all have access to Him and His expectations of us. God wants man to use his human intellect to connect the dots.

Once it registers with the Gentile observer that the very existence of the Jewish people is a phenomenon that transcends nature, for it is the equivalent of a sheep that survives among 70 hungry wolves, he becomes very close to the answer he needs.

The Torah is more than just the glue that keeps the Jewish people true to their faith and miraculously assures their collective, if not individual, survival. The Torah is a manual of instruction also for the Gentiles of the world.

But, of course, unless the Gentile acknowledges this fact of life, and thereby appreciates the Jewish phenomenon, without taking offense to God's choice of people who represent Him, they will then be able to connect another few dots thereby.

Finally, when more dots are connected, they will begin to depict an arrow - an arrow of truth that points to Torah.

For in Torah lies buried treasure all people of intellect must discover. God has given the Gentile a treasure, as sure as he has set one aside for the Jew - and both treasures are found in the same Holy Book.

The Torah prescribes two modes of appropriate behavior in this domain of God; One prescription is for the Jew; The other, for the Gentile. The Jew has 613 commandments (plus ramifications thereof) he must follow. The Gentile has 7 (with its own ramifications); These are the so-called Seven Noahide Laws.

So, what constitutes proper conduct in God Almighty's abode? What behavior befits the King's palace? There are two, depending on who you are. One protocol applies for Jewish people, and one for Gentile people. There is no Jewish religion. There is no Gentile religion. Each group has its own role in the world. The Jew is the Torah's beacon. The Gentile is the world's just colonizer. Each has his own related set of commandments to follow. Anything else falls short of these requirements and lacks divine sanction!

So, how many religions exist in the world? Who knows and who cares, for in fact there ought be none! Torah endorses only two modes of proper conduct, one for Jew and one for Gentile, no more, no less. You can't beat this elegant simplicity, nor the inherent synergy.

Israeli Prisoner's Letter

It's a simple enough question, but until recently, I hadn't been able to answer it. "Who are you?" For years I was proud of who I was. I had no worries in the world. I was making great money, living a life of fun, fancy and fast cars, and thought that nothing or no one could touch me. For years I was a professional criminal.

And then my world came crashing down. I was caught. I was found guilty. And I am now in the process of serving a 12-year sentence in the Ramla prison in Israel.

The day I entered the jail, I lost my identity. To the prison system, I was merely a number. I had a name, but no one knew it as I never used it. I only knew how to be a criminal. So behind bars, who was I? What defined me?

I was a prisoner. And when you are a prisoner you have no definition. You have no status in the underworld and no status in the real world. You are nothing.

Then I got a glimpse, for the first time in my life, into my religion. I met the prison rabbi. The inmates simply called him "Jacobs." For the first time in my life, I began to learn the real answer. I am a Jew.

I am a Jew who never really cared that he was a Jew. I am a Jew who was raised, like most Israelis, with the basic traditions, but with little care or understanding as to what any of it meant. My parents were immigrants. What was passed down well was the poverty, the illiteracy, and the hopelessness that many immigrant families have experienced. And, what got passed down was the need to survive and thrive at any cost. And that was exactly what I did.

I was a great criminal. I knew how to lie, cheat, steal, and essentially get whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I had no qualms about my actions. I felt I was just helping make the world a little more balanced. It wasn't my fault that I was raised with barely enough food to eat. I couldn't change what I was given, but I could change what I would get. And so, from a very young age, I learned what was profitable. Drugs and weapons were profitable. What I didn't realize was that they were also deadly.

Few believe this, but I think I really wanted to get caught. Call it pop-psychology, but I think my getting caught was my cry for help. I knew something needed to change, but for the first time, I didn't know how to do it. I only knew how to do wrong. Getting caught and thrown in jail was a real blessing - and not even so much one in disguise. I really think it saved my life. But it was the prison chaplain who saved my soul. He introduced me to who I was, to who I am, and to who I want to be.

Fishel, aka, "Jacobs," made sure the kitchen was kosher, there were mezuzas on all the doors, and that other rabbis did their jobs in the cell-block yeshivas by giving classes in Torah throughout the week.

At first when I watched Jacobs make his rounds, I thought that if he knew what was good for him he'd better stay away from me. I was in a cell-block with a lot of tough guys, men who would stab you in the blink of an eye if they needed to. Upon mentioning my thoughts to a fellow inmate, I was informed that Jacobs was a black-belt in karate and if I was smart, I may want to stay away from him. I figured I would rely on the age-old idea that if you can't beat them, join them. He couldn't be that bad if the other inmates liked him so much.

The first time he entered my cell, I realized that this meeting was going to be different. Here was someone who didn't care about my criminal past, wasn't impressed with my rap record, and only wanted to focus on what's inside me. No one had ever taken the time to ask or care about what was going on in there. He did. He took one good look at me, and his eyes entered a place so deep within - a place I didn't even know existed.

He explained to me that he is a Chabad-Lubavitch chasid, and his job was to help Jews discover what it means to be Jewish. That was it. Simple as could be. Here was an intelligent man, whose main goal in life was to teach me that I am a Jew.

Here was someone who embodied the exact opposite of everything I knew. I knew people who were nothing, but pretended to be something. "Fake it 'till you make it." Here was an American, who wrote books, and was a success in other ways, yet to him it meant nothing. All that mattered was helping others. And, he told me that all Lubavitchers tried to be exactly like that.

Working with prisoners is no easy task. Let's be honest here. We are the garbage of the world. We are the people you hate, and rightly so. There is a reason we are behind bars. We did something that landed us here. With few exceptions, we deserve to be where we are.

So what kind of person with other career choices chooses to work with us? This was the first question I asked Jacobs when he entered my cell. His answer blew me away. He told me that the same question was asked to his Rebbe, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, in regards to how he didn't tire standing for hours, handing out dollars to thousands upon thousands of people. The Rebbe answered that when you count diamonds you don't get tired.

Fishel added that even when those diamonds end up in a pile of mud, when you know there are diamonds, you'll stick your hand in and pull them out. The mud may cover the diamond, but it can't penetrate it or diminish its beauty and value. And the mud will wash off. I was a diamond. Most certainly covered in mud, if not worse, but a diamond nonetheless.

Who would have thought that being imprisoned would be the greatest thing that could have happened to me? It wasn't until I came to prison that I learned who I was. Until then I thought I knew, but I had no idea. Now, even though I am physically behind bars, I am finally free within. And though this is not a place where I want to stay, I am using every minute of my time here as an opportunity.

An opportunity for growth, repentance and change. I have begun to view my sentence as yeshiva for ex-criminals. I have a lot of time here to study Torah, and I attend a Tanya class and a class in Jewish law every day. I keep Shabbat, eat kosher food, and do mitzvot whenever I can. Funny enough, because I was so well known on the streets, other inmates are willing to attend the classes and learn because of me. Go figure.

I wait for the day of my release. I await the day when I can give back to society and try and make up for the damage I did. I yearn for the day when I can marry a wonderful woman and bring beautiful children into this world. And when I do leave these prison walls, I will know what to answer when asked who I am. I am Moshe. I am a diamond. I am a Jew.

(Rabbi Fishel Jacobs was raised in Vermont. He is an eighth-degree karate master instructor and title-holder. He worked as an officer for Israeli Prison Service. He has published numerous non-fiction books. REPRINTED FROM L'CHAIM #1269)

The Real Reality

Funny how some people think they are real. Because they sense physicality and feel sure they will live another day, they assume they are real and their environment is real.

Why is that a problem? Because it's untrue and, as all things untrue, it may well lead to false conclusions.

We are only real insofar as we think it's real. Beyond that, only God is real. We are nothing but automatons made to feel as if we're independent. That feeling of independence would melt away were we in the form of animals, with less intellect than we have. And were we, instead, in the form of a plant, our independent feelings would be dealt a heavier blow, always anchored to the soil. Our feeling of independence would vanish entirely were we merely in the form of inert matter.

But since we have intellect and have no constant connection to one place on earth, we pompously flout our freedom and interpret it, incorrectly, as being independent. Independence means you can subsist on your own.

Obviously you cannot fare well on your own to be alive. I'm sure you can think of many people without whom you'd not survive.

That you require oxygen to live the next minute should be enough proof how thoroughly dependent you are on - that which is real!

No, not that oxygen is real, and no, neither are the trees that provide oxygen real, and no, not the earth that provides growth is real. Only He Who created the universe - He and only He is real. All the rest is but a product of His doing. He gave us that which makes us imagine things.

This is the meaning of the verse of Shema that we say about 5 times a day in our prayers. This common interpretation, "Hear O Israel ..." actually should be translated correctly to mean "UNDERSTAND you Jewish people..." - that "God is ONE". "One" does NOT mean unique, first, or any other term that implies the existence of other entities, God forbid. It means that everything about the entire universe is nothing but AN ASPECT OF THE ONE AND ONLY REAL THING THAT EXISTS. The Shema says - Understand Jews that utterly everything in this universe, despite the fragmented appearance of particulates therein, constitutes an aspect of the ONE GOD. That this is difficult to decipher by intellectual analysis is notwithstanding!

Are there physicists among you? How does physics explain the fact that this closed system, the universe, humungous as it is, does not deteriorate into a state of randomness or disorder, but rather continues to function naturally by Nature? Is it not evident that some external source of continuous energetic input keeps it all going in beautiful harmony and organization? If physicists cannot imagine God, or will not allow themselves this luxury, what worth is all their physics training if so simple a question they must skirt?

So if we're not real, what will become of the future? We will remain with a life of imaginations, only we'll have, in the world-to-come, a much greater appreciation of the REAL ONE-AND-ONLY.

P.S. Update: Commenter Yankev adds a most important point hereto overlooked.

One Jew at a Time

A Floridian Jew encounters one of the Rebbe's Chabad emissaries. One small step for mankind, one Jew at a time.

Some Israelis that harbor disgust for religion and its adherents call this behavior "Missionary" work. Of course, out of sheer ignorance, they compare Judaism to all other religions and see them all as taboo, when, in fact, all but one, luckily theirs, although they know not of this yet, represents the ultimate truth.

The reason one Jew wants to help out another and bring him to the guiding light was well explained by the Rebbe. Being that the Jewish people constitute one collective body, to be sure, then, said the Rebbe,"When the left hand is itchy, the right hand wants to relieve the itch by scratching it." Similarly in such cases where we feel the loss suffered by the ignorant Jew, for surely his soul is restless until he discovers the source of truth, we seek to help him out and provide proper direction to a rudderless soul.

This is hardly the reason Gentiles pursue missionary work. They seek to justify their own lie and could care less about the Jew they seek to trap into their web of deceit.

The Advantage of Vitality

The Rebbe, I heard from an elder chassid, once expressed a sigh, "If only all my chassidim were Ba'alei Tshuvah!" Actually, he used a Jewish play on words, saying he prefers "געווארענע" over "געבוירענע" ("becomers" over "those born such").

I stumbled upon a Rashi that makes this same point. The prophet Isaiah says, "Listen DISTANT ONES that which I wrought; Know NEAR ONES my strength." (33:13)

Just who are the "distant" ones? Says Rashi, "those who believe in Me and followed My path since their youth."

Rashi's explanation might run counter to intuition. After all, would you not expect a "distant" one to have failed and thus distanced himself from God? Instead, Rashi says they are distant by virtue of having covered a long "distance" doing God's commandments since their youth!

And who are the near ones? Says Rashi, "these are the Ba'alei Tshuvah who recently came close to Me." 

Here too you might expect "near" ones to have been well-ingrained with doing Hashem's will. Instead, Rashi defines near ones as those who rather "recently" turned to Mitzvot.

Of course, Rashi's eminent interpretation becomes clear if we examine it on the basis of rote behavior. That which has become well-accustomed over the years may well lack a refreshing attitude. This apathy can extinguish the spiritual fire and effect the behavior in turn. For example, a person can learn Torah from year to year and fail to sense greater awe over time.

In contrast, the Ba'al Tshuvah cherishes that which he missed all those years being estranged from Torah. Now that he has the chance, he grabs it. He deems it all fresh and worthy. He senses exhilaration and awe. No longer is there the need to explore for a good trail in the wilderness. He feels appreciative of Torah that now guides him laser-straight without having to test foreign waters, for now he is securely anchored to the path of Truth.

A Rebbe Story at the Foot of the Kotel

At the floor of the Kotel, to the left, you see 
one of the largest stones that make up the 
wall.  It is said to weigh 570 tons! It is 
shaped like an upside-down "L". All stones 
were chiseled with perfection. Cement was 
never used.

During my recent trip to Israel, we participated in a tour along the "Minharot" (underground tunnels) at the base of the Kotel. In a prayer break, near an opening in the Western Wall that faced the Kodesh Kadashim, the tour guide took me aside and said, "Do you want to hear a personal story of The Rebbe?"

"My father", he said, "is a Ger Tzedek. He married my mom and they had no children for 6 years. They decided to go to New York and ask for a blessing from the Rebbe.

"They managed to get an appointment to go in and see the Rebbe. [This was when the Rebbe still made time to see people personally in his holy chamber, before he began distributing dollars in the "dollar line".]

"But when the Rebbe's secretary saw the many pages of questions my father prepared to ask the Rebbe, he told my father to rewrite the letter and make it much shorter. When my father returned the secretary again stopped my father and told him to further contract the size of his script. It was still too big.

"My father again rewrote the letter and this time my parents were allowed entry to the Rebbe's room.

"My father was a 'chevraman'. He knew that it was improper to record inside the Rebbe's room, so he hid his pocket recorder in his pocket and made sure to turn it on well before they entered the Rebbe's room.

"During the private meeting, the Rebbe answered ALL my father's questions, including those that were written down BEFORE my father contracted the size of the original letters!

"When my father left the Rebbe's room, and was able to remove the recorder, he noticed that all that transpired before and after the meeting with the Rebbe HAD been recorded - but nothing was recorded by the machine DURING the meeting!

"My parents then had 6 children, and I am the 2nd child."

The Symptom of Cancer

Most people when they hear news of the dreaded SYMPTOM called "cancer" run straight away into the waiting hands of the conventional ("allopathic") doctor, whose only means of "treatment" - not cure - is to attack the symptom, because he was taught, since medical school, that this symptom IS the disease. It never occurs to this blind-sighted doctor that this symptom is NOT the disease, which is why he leaves the cause of the disease undisturbed. This is why the symptom almost always returns and finally kills the patient. No matter what "greatest doctor" they turn to, or what "great oncological facility" they go to, the results are usually the same. And when he loses the patient, the doctor thinks he tried his best, because anyways against this "disease" there isn't anything else he can do more.

It's not just the doctor who knows no better. The patients, the population at large - know no better. Which is why they run to these medical practitioners and facilities in the first place.

Actually it should be the very LAST place to go for someone with the symptom of cancer.

Unfortunately this incorrect mode of thought runs deeply ingrained in most people. Most remain ignorant of the real truth because the medical establishment continues to push this fallacy - purposely - to push their hidden agenda, namely, of making money by pushing drugs, surgery and radiation. These 3 modes of "treatment", plus the fact that hospital beds can thus be occupied, make for a great system of squeezing the last dollar out of the sick, dying person.

Any method that comes along that can claim better results, especially if it promises to be a cheaper way to go, if not more humane and much more effective, will be branded taboo and the forces of this mafia will come down hard on he who dares buck the system.

Do you ever hear the advertisements for these oncology facilities? "Oh, our facility is kinder and gentler to the 'victim', and we know so much about how to do it, and we've been at this for so much longer that we've perfected it, and we have instruments of precision better than any other facility, yak yak yak ...." It's outright shameful! They commit this disaster upon elders and children alike.

Chemotherapy is the delivery of poisons into the body, as if there weren't enough of that already. It's what caused cancer in the first place. Radiation burns the body. Surgery mutilates it. At best the symptom passes away for a short time, but because the underlying cause hasn't been dealt with, it is bound to return. Plus there is also the not insignificant aspect of secondary side-effects of these methods which make the poor patient feel all that much worse in his final days.

That these methods ultimately end up killing patients also serves the industry very well. They can then therefore attach dread, fear and "poor prognosis" to this so-called "disease". They can also therefore make the patient feel he must act quickly, without much thought, as if time is the most urgent matter to consider. The time between diagnosis of the dreaded "disease" and the application of a "treatment protocol" is a very short period, therefore, which, of course, plays right into the hands of this evil quackery.

Little to people realize the cancer symptom is nothing more than many years of poor nutrition or accumulative toxicity, and because they do NOT know this, they also do not know that there is a CURE, and nothing less than a full cure, if only they knew where to look.

Here's an example of someone who knew better!

Love at 2nd Sight

How does Chassidic Jewry go about "getting married"? It follows the example of matrimony detailed in Torah between Isaac and Rivkah.

The lesson, and age-old custom, is:

1) Get a mediator to introduce the pair for the sake of marriage; Then

2) Upon mutual consent, get married; And then:

3) Fall in love.

Once the couple was introduced, it says of Isaac (Beraishis 24, 67), "... he married Rivkah, she became his, and he loved her." First came the marriage - then came the love.

Another priority we learn from the above event: Just before the couple's introduction it says, "... she covered herself." In other words, female modesty is proper etiquette.

This may surprise those whose culture puts stock in the pre-requisite of first "falling in love" ("falling" seems to be an appropriate coinage). Secular (or less than orthodox) behavior endorses the flaunting of skin, even promiscuity, before marriage. Torah, on the other hand, assumes both parties will suffer from lack of humility or reluctancy to commit themselves.

Yossele Rosenblatt with the Previous Rebbe

Reb Yossele Rosenblatt visited the Previous Rebbe in Warsaw in 5688 [1938] after the Rebbe had just left Russia. Those present expected that he would sing. However, he understood from the Rebbe’s facial expression that he did not want that.

When he left the Rebbe’s presence and went into a side room, he met the Rebbe’s daughters and sang something in front of them. He had a very strong voice and was heard in the next room where the Rebbe was. Afterwards, the Rebbe said, “Er hot mir aroisgenumen fun atzvus, er zugt gut, er ken pirush hamilos” (He took me out of depression. He says well. He knows the meaning of the words).

(I heard this from my good friend Reb Shneur Zalman Baumgarten, who heard it from his uncle Reb Sholom Ber Hacohen Eichorn, who witnessed the story.)

In the year 5690, the Previous Rebbe visited America and stayed in Brooklyn for Shmini Atzeres.

During the Yom Tov, the famous Chazan Reb Yossele Rosenblatt walked from the Bronx, where he lived, to visit the Rebbe. The walk took him many hours. When he arrived, the Rebbe honored him to sing several pieces of chazonus. When he finished, the Rebbe turned to Reb Zalman Havlin – who sang nigunim with Heavenly sweetness - and said, “vaizt vos ir kent” (demonstrate what you can do). Reb Zalman sang several niggunim.

When he concluded, Reb Yossele said, “Ir mit eire nigunim macht finster mayne chazonus” (You, with your nigunim, darken [comparatively] my chazonus.)

(Reb Shneur Zalman Baumgarten heard this story from the elder chasidim Reb Shlomo Aharon Kazarnovsky and Reb Eliyahu Nochum Sklar, of blessed memory.)

Reprinted from Vert-a-lach (43) by Eliezer Zalmanov

Letter of the Rebbe: No Conflict between Science and Torah

By the Grace of G-d

You write that although many apparent contradictions between religion and science have been explained to you in a way that they could be individually acceptable to you, you find it hard to accept them in total. You attribute this difficulty to your background, which taught you to think for yourself at every phase, having been brought up in a public school and high school, instead of in a Yeshiva atmosphere. But it is not your being trained to think for yourself that is your difficulty, but rather your inability to think straight in this manner, because of the prejudice which was acquired - consciously and even more subconsciously during these formative years, which you spent in an atmosphere which was alien to the point of view of the Torah, while the Torah viewpoint has come to you only recently.

It is therefore not surprising that whenever any detail comes up which apparently is in conflict with your former attitude, you find it difficult to accept, in the belief that everything must strictly conform to your former viewpoint, without stopping to examine what of that viewpoint represents truly scientific criteria.

I believe I once pointed out to you that the behavior of any individual is, in 90% or more of his actions, determined not by rational afterthought, but habit and faith in the authority of other people. Just consider your own actions, from the moment of your awakening in the morning until you go to sleep at night, and ask yourself which and how many of them you perform on the basis of scientific analysis or any kind of premeditation?

And here is another point to bear in mind. Precisely from the point of view of modern science - more than at any time in the past - it is clear that there can be no real conflict whatsoever between science and faith. Modern science upholds the view that there is no longer any immutable physical laws, that everything is relative, and that the so-called laws are no more than probabilities.

Modern science no longer claims absolute certainty in the physical world. The fact that a certain thing behaves in a certain way today, is no conclusive evidence that the same thing behaved in the same way 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, or that it will behave the same way a thousand years hence unless all other things are equal, including all external physical conditions of atmosphere, outer space, temperature, pressure, etc., not to mention human nature which is also changeable. And even then, all things being equal, modern science will say that the past behavior of a certain thing in a certain way offers us no certainty that it will behave that way, but only the "chances" are that it will.

Clearly, therefore, modern science cannot presume to judge with any degree of certainty the truths which our religion proclaims. The most science could say is that these truths are more or less probable. Obviously, there is no room here to speak of any conflict between science and faith.

Finally to refer to your statement that your attitude to Yiddishkeit is based on your faith in a certain person, let me say that in truth this is by no means the whole story. To illustrate:

If a spark sets off a powder keg, the resulting explosion in all its force cannot be attributed to the spark "exclusively", for the spark was no more than the immediate cause setting off the reaction. The energy released was already contained in the powder keg. Similarly, every Jew already contains a Divine soul and all the potential energy, except that it is sometimes inactive, or that it is only active in a limited way. When it comes in contact with a person, or with an event or an experience, which sets in motion a chain reaction releasing the potential energy already contained in the Divine soul, the reaction is indeed deep-rooted and by no means dependent on the external cause.

I send you my personal wishes for growing faith in G-d, Whose Divine Providence extends to everyone individually, and that you strengthen your bonds with the Source of all life and all good, that is G-d, through the daily observance of the Torah and Mitzvos, which will give you peace of mind, true happiness and success in all your undertakings.

With Blessing,

A 33-Year Story of the Rebbe

About 33 years ago, Rabbi Zalman Gafni was setting up a special Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad to draw Jews closer to religiosity. During a visit to New York, on Simchat Torah 5730, Gafni succeeded in bobbing his way inside the large and packed crowd in 770, to find a place next to where the Rebbe would be praying at his platform.

When the Rebbe began to descend the steps to make his way to accept the sefer Torah, to take the first round of Hakafot, a path among the congregants opened up and the Rebbe walked into it. When he was next to Gafni, the Rebbe stopped, and in a loud voice and with a very broad smile, the Rebbe said to him, "There should be a joyous occasion for the entire Kollel!"

"I thought I didn't hear correctly because of the overcrowding and excitement", said Gafni. "So I asked the people next to me and each one said, 'That's exactly what the Rebbe said.' I myself had no idea what the Rebbe was referring to. At that time I was extremely involved with building up my Yeshiva; I had no other plans at all to think about."

The Rebbe's statement became engraved in Rabbi Gafni's mind. For years he sought to decipher what the Rebbe meant with that mysterious statement.

Six years ago, changes in his life began to materialize. His son, Rabbi Yosef Yitschok, was picked to lead the well-respected Kollel "Ohel Moshe" in the ancient city of Tsfat. "Suddenly", said Rabbi Gafni, "it donned on me what the Rebbe meant." Nonetheless, Rabbi Gafni continued to work as usual in his Yeshiva in Kfar Chabad. Only a few weeks ago did Rabbi Gafni and his wife take their belongings and move to Tsfat. He was to take up the new position at his son's Kollel as a Mashpia there.

He told this story in the 1st celebration at his new post. Things finally came full circle after 33 years.

Story in Hebrew here.

A Story from Nepal

Bim, The Boy From Beit Chabad

A Nepalese Boy Finds a Home With Chabad of Kathmandu

He’s the good looking, buoyant 12 year old Nepalese boy who greets visitors to Katmandu’s Chabad House with a huge smile: “Hi I’m Bim, the boy from Beit Chabad," he offers. He's also quick to provide unsolicited bits of useful information, like candle-lighting time on Friday, or that Shabbos is not out until three stars are spotted in the sky.

Bim arrived at the Chabad House last year, naked but for a plastic bag that he used for some cover. One of hundreds of children exploited for profit on Kathmandu’s dangerous streets, he fixed his eyes on a Chabad rabbinical student, and asked for help. He wouldn’t leave go until the student brought him back to the Chabad House.

Chezki and Chani Lifshitz, Chabad representatives here have become beloved figures in Kathmandu, especially to thousands of Israeli backpackers who flock to the Himalayas after completing their service in the IDF. (The Lifshitzs were the inspiration for Kathmandu, a popular Israeli TV series based on their day-to-day lives as Chabad Shluchim in this third-world backwater.)

After 13 years of living here, the Lifshitzs have not become hardened to the poverty and the human suffering that are everywhere in this slum city. “My grandmother is a Holocaust survivor,” Chani says. “I learned from her not to ignore the pleading eyes of a child in need. Bim was not going to survive—that much was obvious,” she says.

Saving the Life of A Child Beggar

The boy screamed in pain as Chani and Chezki gently washed his lacerated, severely malnourished body. Scars and bruises—from beatings by his traffickers disappointed in his take home after a day on the streets—were raw. They brought a doctor in to administer first aid. They cut his long, matted hair and uncovered a beautiful face. They fed him, clothed him and made him comfortable.

What made Bim know to ask for the Chabad House?

Read the rest here.