Thursday, October 30, 2008
NTS Giddy Happy
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
DAILY DOSE: Analogy
Analogy Tishrei 30, 5769 · October 29, 2008
By Tzvi Freeman
When speaking of what is rational, we generally mean that which is in accordance with the limitations of the human mind and our empirical knowledge.
When discussing G-dliness, however, such a definition will not suffice—since G-dliness is inherently that which defies limitation. Instead, our definition of rational must be that which has some analogous relationship to the workings of the human psyche—since the human psyche itself is made ‘in the image of G–d.’
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
By Tzvi Freeman
When speaking of what is rational, we generally mean that which is in accordance with the limitations of the human mind and our empirical knowledge.
When discussing G-dliness, however, such a definition will not suffice—since G-dliness is inherently that which defies limitation. Instead, our definition of rational must be that which has some analogous relationship to the workings of the human psyche—since the human psyche itself is made ‘in the image of G–d.’
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
NTS - Task at Hand
NTS - IT Happened
What I/we were praying for happened! Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)
Chabad Daily Study - Daily Quote Zohar
In the sixth century of the sixth millennium, the gates of supernal wisdom will be opened, as will the springs of earthly wisdom, preparing the world to be elevated in the seventh millennium
- Zohar
- Zohar
Monday, October 27, 2008
Jewish Virtual Library Maimonides/Rambam
Maimonides/Rambam
(1135-1204)
If one did not know that Maimonides was the name of a man, Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, one would assume it was the name of a university. The writings and achievements of this twelfthcentury Jewish sage seem to cover an impossibly large number of activities. Maimonides was the first person to write a systematic code of all Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah; he produced one of the great philosophic statements of Judaism, The Guide to the Perplexed; published a commentary on the entire Mishna; served as physician to the sultan of Egypt; wrote numerous books on medicine; and, in his "spare time," served as leader of Cairo's Jewish community. It is hardly surprising that when Shmuel ibn Tibbon, the Hebrew translator of The Guide to the Perplexed (which had been written in Arabic), wrote Maimonides that he wished to visit him to discuss some difficult points in the translation, Maimonides discouraged him from coming:
I dwell at Fostat, and the sultan resides at Cairo [about a mileandahalf away].... My duties to the sultan are very heavy. I am obliged to visit him every day, early in the morning, and when he or any of his children or any of the inmates of his harem are indisposed, I dare not quit Cairo, but must stay during the greater part of the day in the palace. It also frequently happens that one of the two royal officers fall sick, and I must attend to their healing. Hence, as a rule, I leave for Cairo very early in the day, and even if nothing unusual happens, I do not return to Fostat until the afternoon. Then I am almost dying with hunger. . . I find the antechamber filled with people, both Jews and gentiles, nobles and common people, judges and bailiffs, friends and foes-a mixed multitude who await the time of my return.
I dismount from my animal, wash my hands, go forth to my patients and entreat them to bear with me while I partake of some slight refreshment, the only meal I take in the twentyfour hours. Then I go forth to attend to my patients, and write prescriptions and directions for their various ailments. Patients go in and out until nightfall, and sometimes even, I solemnly assure you, until two hours or more in the night. I converse with and prescribe for them while lying down from sheer fatigue; and when night falls I am so exhausted that I can scarcely speak.
In consequence of this, no Israelite can have any private interview with me, except on the Sabbath. On that day the whole congregation, or at least the majority of the members, come to me after the morning service, when I instruct them as to their proceedings during the whole week; we study together a little until noon, when they depart. Some of them return, and read with me after the afternoon service until evening prayers. In this manner I spend that day.
Maimonides's full name was Moses ben Maimon; in Hebrew he is known by the acronym of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Rambam. He was born in Spain shortly before the fanatical Muslim Almohades came to power there. To avoid persecution by the Muslim sect — which was wont to offer Jews and Christians the choice of conversion to Islam or death — Maimonides fled with his family, first to Morocco, later to Israel, and finally to Egypt. He apparently hoped to continue his studies for several years more, but when his brother David, a jewelry merchant, perished in the Indian Ocean with much of the family's fortune, he had to begin earning money. He probably started practicing medicine at this time.
Maimonides's major contribution to Jewish life remains the Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law. His intention was to compose a book that would guide Jews on how to behave in all situations just by reading the Torah and his code, without having to expend large amounts of time searching through the Talmud. Needless to say, this provocative rationale did not endear Maimonides to many traditional Jews, who feared that people would rely on his code and no longer study the Talmud. Despite sometimes intense opposition, the Mishneh Torah became a standard guide to Jewish practice: It later served as the model for the Shulkhan Arukh, the sixteenthcentury code of Jewish law that is still regarded as authoritative by Orthodox Jews.
Philosophically, Maimonides was a religious rationalist. His damning attacks on people who held ideas he regarded as primitive — those, for example, who understood literally such biblical expressions as “the finger of God” so infuriated his opponents that they proscribed parts of his code and all of The Guide to the Perplexed. Other, more liberal, spirits forbade study of the Guide to anyone not of mature years. An old joke has it that these rabbis feared that a Jew would start reading a section in the Guide in which Maimonides summarizes a rationalist attack on religion, and fall asleep before reading Maimonides's counterattack-thereby spending the night as a heretic.
How Maimonides's opponents reacted to his works was no joke, however. Three leading rabbis in France denounced his books to the Dominicans, who headed the French Inquisition. The Inquisitors were only too happy to intervene and burn the books. Eight years later, when the Dominicans started burning the Talmud, one of the rabbis involved, Jonah Gerondi, concluded that God was punishing him and French Jewry for their unjust condemnation of Maimonides. He resolved to travel to Maimonides's grave in Tiberias, in Israel, to request forgiveness.
Throughout most of the Jewish world, Maimonides remained a hero, of course. When he died, Egyptian Jews observed three full days of mourning, and applied to his death the biblical verse "The ark of the Lord has been taken" (I Samuel 4:11).
To this day, Maimonides and the FrenchJewish sage Rashi are the most widely studied Jewish scholars. Contemporary yeshiva students generally focus on the Mishneh Torah, and his Book of Commandments (Sefer haMitzvot) a compilation of the Torah's 613 commandments. Maimonides also formulated a credo of Judaism expressed in thirteen articles of faith, a popular reworking of which (the Yigdal prayer) appears in most Jewish prayerbooks. Among other things, this credo affirms belief in the oneness of God, the divine origins of the Torah, and the afterlife. Its twelfth statement of faith — “I believe with a full heart in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may tarry I will still wait for him” — was often among the last words said by Jews being marched into Nazi gas chambers.
Maimonides was one of the few Jewish thinkers whose teachings also influenced the nonJewish world; much of his philosophical writings in the Guide were about God and other theological issues of general, not exclusively Jewish, interest. Thomas Aquinas refers in his writings to “Rabbi Moses,” and shows considerable familiarity with the Guide. In 1985, on the 850th anniversary of Maimonides's birth, Pakistan and Cuba — which do not recognize Israel — were among the cosponsors of a UNESCO conference in Paris on Maimonides. Vitali Naumkin, a Soviet scholar, observed on this occasion: “;Maimonides is perhaps the only philosopher in the Middle Ages, perhaps even now, who symbolizes a confluence of four cultures: GrecoRoman, Arab, Jewish, and Western.” More remarkably, Abderrahmane Badawi, a Muslim professor from Kuwait University, declared: “I regard him first and foremost as an Arab thinker.” This sentiment was echoed by Saudi Arabian professor Huseyin Atay, who claimed that “if you didn't know he was Jewish, you might easily make the mistake of saying that a Muslim was writing.” That is, if you didn't read any of his Jewish writings. Maimonides scholar Shlomo Pines delivered perhaps the most accurate assessment at the conference: “Maimonides is the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, and quite possibly of all time” (Time magazine, December 23, 1985). As a popular Jewish expression of the Middle Ages declares: “From Moses [of the Torah] to Moses [Maimonides] there was none like Moses.”
Source: Joseph Telushkin. Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991.
(1135-1204)
If one did not know that Maimonides was the name of a man, Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, one would assume it was the name of a university. The writings and achievements of this twelfthcentury Jewish sage seem to cover an impossibly large number of activities. Maimonides was the first person to write a systematic code of all Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah; he produced one of the great philosophic statements of Judaism, The Guide to the Perplexed; published a commentary on the entire Mishna; served as physician to the sultan of Egypt; wrote numerous books on medicine; and, in his "spare time," served as leader of Cairo's Jewish community. It is hardly surprising that when Shmuel ibn Tibbon, the Hebrew translator of The Guide to the Perplexed (which had been written in Arabic), wrote Maimonides that he wished to visit him to discuss some difficult points in the translation, Maimonides discouraged him from coming:
I dwell at Fostat, and the sultan resides at Cairo [about a mileandahalf away].... My duties to the sultan are very heavy. I am obliged to visit him every day, early in the morning, and when he or any of his children or any of the inmates of his harem are indisposed, I dare not quit Cairo, but must stay during the greater part of the day in the palace. It also frequently happens that one of the two royal officers fall sick, and I must attend to their healing. Hence, as a rule, I leave for Cairo very early in the day, and even if nothing unusual happens, I do not return to Fostat until the afternoon. Then I am almost dying with hunger. . . I find the antechamber filled with people, both Jews and gentiles, nobles and common people, judges and bailiffs, friends and foes-a mixed multitude who await the time of my return.
I dismount from my animal, wash my hands, go forth to my patients and entreat them to bear with me while I partake of some slight refreshment, the only meal I take in the twentyfour hours. Then I go forth to attend to my patients, and write prescriptions and directions for their various ailments. Patients go in and out until nightfall, and sometimes even, I solemnly assure you, until two hours or more in the night. I converse with and prescribe for them while lying down from sheer fatigue; and when night falls I am so exhausted that I can scarcely speak.
In consequence of this, no Israelite can have any private interview with me, except on the Sabbath. On that day the whole congregation, or at least the majority of the members, come to me after the morning service, when I instruct them as to their proceedings during the whole week; we study together a little until noon, when they depart. Some of them return, and read with me after the afternoon service until evening prayers. In this manner I spend that day.
Maimonides's full name was Moses ben Maimon; in Hebrew he is known by the acronym of Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, Rambam. He was born in Spain shortly before the fanatical Muslim Almohades came to power there. To avoid persecution by the Muslim sect — which was wont to offer Jews and Christians the choice of conversion to Islam or death — Maimonides fled with his family, first to Morocco, later to Israel, and finally to Egypt. He apparently hoped to continue his studies for several years more, but when his brother David, a jewelry merchant, perished in the Indian Ocean with much of the family's fortune, he had to begin earning money. He probably started practicing medicine at this time.
Maimonides's major contribution to Jewish life remains the Mishneh Torah, his code of Jewish law. His intention was to compose a book that would guide Jews on how to behave in all situations just by reading the Torah and his code, without having to expend large amounts of time searching through the Talmud. Needless to say, this provocative rationale did not endear Maimonides to many traditional Jews, who feared that people would rely on his code and no longer study the Talmud. Despite sometimes intense opposition, the Mishneh Torah became a standard guide to Jewish practice: It later served as the model for the Shulkhan Arukh, the sixteenthcentury code of Jewish law that is still regarded as authoritative by Orthodox Jews.
Philosophically, Maimonides was a religious rationalist. His damning attacks on people who held ideas he regarded as primitive — those, for example, who understood literally such biblical expressions as “the finger of God” so infuriated his opponents that they proscribed parts of his code and all of The Guide to the Perplexed. Other, more liberal, spirits forbade study of the Guide to anyone not of mature years. An old joke has it that these rabbis feared that a Jew would start reading a section in the Guide in which Maimonides summarizes a rationalist attack on religion, and fall asleep before reading Maimonides's counterattack-thereby spending the night as a heretic.
How Maimonides's opponents reacted to his works was no joke, however. Three leading rabbis in France denounced his books to the Dominicans, who headed the French Inquisition. The Inquisitors were only too happy to intervene and burn the books. Eight years later, when the Dominicans started burning the Talmud, one of the rabbis involved, Jonah Gerondi, concluded that God was punishing him and French Jewry for their unjust condemnation of Maimonides. He resolved to travel to Maimonides's grave in Tiberias, in Israel, to request forgiveness.
Throughout most of the Jewish world, Maimonides remained a hero, of course. When he died, Egyptian Jews observed three full days of mourning, and applied to his death the biblical verse "The ark of the Lord has been taken" (I Samuel 4:11).
To this day, Maimonides and the FrenchJewish sage Rashi are the most widely studied Jewish scholars. Contemporary yeshiva students generally focus on the Mishneh Torah, and his Book of Commandments (Sefer haMitzvot) a compilation of the Torah's 613 commandments. Maimonides also formulated a credo of Judaism expressed in thirteen articles of faith, a popular reworking of which (the Yigdal prayer) appears in most Jewish prayerbooks. Among other things, this credo affirms belief in the oneness of God, the divine origins of the Torah, and the afterlife. Its twelfth statement of faith — “I believe with a full heart in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may tarry I will still wait for him” — was often among the last words said by Jews being marched into Nazi gas chambers.
Maimonides was one of the few Jewish thinkers whose teachings also influenced the nonJewish world; much of his philosophical writings in the Guide were about God and other theological issues of general, not exclusively Jewish, interest. Thomas Aquinas refers in his writings to “Rabbi Moses,” and shows considerable familiarity with the Guide. In 1985, on the 850th anniversary of Maimonides's birth, Pakistan and Cuba — which do not recognize Israel — were among the cosponsors of a UNESCO conference in Paris on Maimonides. Vitali Naumkin, a Soviet scholar, observed on this occasion: “;Maimonides is perhaps the only philosopher in the Middle Ages, perhaps even now, who symbolizes a confluence of four cultures: GrecoRoman, Arab, Jewish, and Western.” More remarkably, Abderrahmane Badawi, a Muslim professor from Kuwait University, declared: “I regard him first and foremost as an Arab thinker.” This sentiment was echoed by Saudi Arabian professor Huseyin Atay, who claimed that “if you didn't know he was Jewish, you might easily make the mistake of saying that a Muslim was writing.” That is, if you didn't read any of his Jewish writings. Maimonides scholar Shlomo Pines delivered perhaps the most accurate assessment at the conference: “Maimonides is the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages, and quite possibly of all time” (Time magazine, December 23, 1985). As a popular Jewish expression of the Middle Ages declares: “From Moses [of the Torah] to Moses [Maimonides] there was none like Moses.”
Source: Joseph Telushkin. Jewish Literacy. NY: William Morrow and Co., 1991.
AskNoah - The Seven Laws of Noah
AskNoah - The Seven Laws of Noah
By the Grace of G-d
~ How to Become a Righteous Gentile ~
Considering all the spiritual gain that will be achieved by becoming a Righteous Gentile who follows the Seven Laws of Noah, many people are anxious to embark on this path. But how would you get started? Here are some thoughts on how to best proceed.
Since there are two sets of Divine Commandments, you must first know the answer to the question, "What am I?" If you are a Gentile (i.e., born to a Gentile mother, and not converted to Judaism according to traditional Torah Law), you are ready to get started. If not, you should seek the path of traditional Judaism as taught by competent and traditionally observant Rabbis. If you have any difficulty or uncertainty in answering this question, you should consult with a Rabbi who has these credentials and is well versed in all aspects of the Seven Laws of Noah.
Maybe you are asking, "What will I be getting into?" "Is this for real?" "Can I try it for a while before I make a full commitment?" If you are motivated to take the initiative and find out more about the religion of the Seven Laws (or Noahism), you will need access to at least a few of the reliable books on this subject. At present, we suggest that you start with The Path of the Righteous Gentile, by C. Clorfene and Y. Rogalsky.
If your intentions are sincere and you are ready to search out religious Truth, the next step is commitment and pursuit. It will be very helpful to link yourself with a legitimate Noahide group in your area. If you need help with this, you may contact us and we will find one for you to get in touch with. Note that those groups that are accepted as being legitimate will have one or more observant ("Orthodox") Rabbis as spiritual and practical advisors about how to keep the Seven Commandments and the other righteous traditions of the Children of Noah. They will also be able to guide you to reliable and authentic translations of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Why be a Righteous Gentile?
What difference does it make what kind of a Gentile you are, and who cares? After all, look at all the chaos in the world today. And look at all the people there are in the world. Does it make a difference to them?
A great leader of our generation said that it does make a difference whether you are a Righteous Gentile or not. It does mean something, and someone does care. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, told the world that we will soon see the coming of the righteous redeemer Moshiach (the Messiah son of David), as promised in the book of Deuteronomy and the books of the Prophets. He urged people all over the world to prepare themselves by strengthening their observance of their Divine commandments. For Gentiles, he said that this means strengthening their understanding and observance of the Divine commandments from Mount Sinai which apply to them, namely the Seven Commandments which had been given to Noah for all his descendants. For Jews, this means strengthening their understanding and observance of the Divine commandments which apply to them, as found in the Torah and their rabbinic tradition which was given by G-d to Moses.
With his prophetic insight, the Rebbe urgently called on all people to reconnect with G-d's desire for the observance of these two sets of commandments, because he saw and publicized that the promised Messianic redemption of the world is coming speedily to our generation! The Messiah will return the world to true Noahism and Judaism, which were both taught by G-d on Mount Sinai and transmitted by Moses, the Faithful Shepherd. With this call to action, Jews all over the world started examining their conduct and the way they were living their lives, motivated greatly by the dedicated hassidic emissaries which the Rebbe dispatched.
For Gentiles, the Rebbe spoke out beginning more than 40 years ago to reawaken the world to the Seven Laws which G-d gave to Noah and his family, and all their generations to come. The Divine rewards for observing these seven commandments, learning their details, and encouraging their wider acceptance are an inheritance for all people, which is there to be taken. The Rebbe said that this spiritual reconnection of the world will be accomplished by Jews and Gentiles joining together along their perspective assigned paths, in a spirit of kindness, goodness and charity. Please search your heart and take these words seriously! After all, you never know whose life you may be uplifting.
GUEST ESSAYS:
« A Noahide (a Ben Noach) shares his insights »
« A Noahide (a Bas Noach) shares her insights »
ADVANCED SITE SEARCH: Click Here
To send us your questions or comments, direct your email to
Access our Guestbook ········· View Selections from our Guestbook
Home page: www.asknoah.org
Graphic design by http://mayura97.tripod.com
© '06 Ask Noah International
By the Grace of G-d
~ How to Become a Righteous Gentile ~
Considering all the spiritual gain that will be achieved by becoming a Righteous Gentile who follows the Seven Laws of Noah, many people are anxious to embark on this path. But how would you get started? Here are some thoughts on how to best proceed.
Since there are two sets of Divine Commandments, you must first know the answer to the question, "What am I?" If you are a Gentile (i.e., born to a Gentile mother, and not converted to Judaism according to traditional Torah Law), you are ready to get started. If not, you should seek the path of traditional Judaism as taught by competent and traditionally observant Rabbis. If you have any difficulty or uncertainty in answering this question, you should consult with a Rabbi who has these credentials and is well versed in all aspects of the Seven Laws of Noah.
Maybe you are asking, "What will I be getting into?" "Is this for real?" "Can I try it for a while before I make a full commitment?" If you are motivated to take the initiative and find out more about the religion of the Seven Laws (or Noahism), you will need access to at least a few of the reliable books on this subject. At present, we suggest that you start with The Path of the Righteous Gentile, by C. Clorfene and Y. Rogalsky.
If your intentions are sincere and you are ready to search out religious Truth, the next step is commitment and pursuit. It will be very helpful to link yourself with a legitimate Noahide group in your area. If you need help with this, you may contact us and we will find one for you to get in touch with. Note that those groups that are accepted as being legitimate will have one or more observant ("Orthodox") Rabbis as spiritual and practical advisors about how to keep the Seven Commandments and the other righteous traditions of the Children of Noah. They will also be able to guide you to reliable and authentic translations of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Why be a Righteous Gentile?
What difference does it make what kind of a Gentile you are, and who cares? After all, look at all the chaos in the world today. And look at all the people there are in the world. Does it make a difference to them?
A great leader of our generation said that it does make a difference whether you are a Righteous Gentile or not. It does mean something, and someone does care. The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, told the world that we will soon see the coming of the righteous redeemer Moshiach (the Messiah son of David), as promised in the book of Deuteronomy and the books of the Prophets. He urged people all over the world to prepare themselves by strengthening their observance of their Divine commandments. For Gentiles, he said that this means strengthening their understanding and observance of the Divine commandments from Mount Sinai which apply to them, namely the Seven Commandments which had been given to Noah for all his descendants. For Jews, this means strengthening their understanding and observance of the Divine commandments which apply to them, as found in the Torah and their rabbinic tradition which was given by G-d to Moses.
With his prophetic insight, the Rebbe urgently called on all people to reconnect with G-d's desire for the observance of these two sets of commandments, because he saw and publicized that the promised Messianic redemption of the world is coming speedily to our generation! The Messiah will return the world to true Noahism and Judaism, which were both taught by G-d on Mount Sinai and transmitted by Moses, the Faithful Shepherd. With this call to action, Jews all over the world started examining their conduct and the way they were living their lives, motivated greatly by the dedicated hassidic emissaries which the Rebbe dispatched.
For Gentiles, the Rebbe spoke out beginning more than 40 years ago to reawaken the world to the Seven Laws which G-d gave to Noah and his family, and all their generations to come. The Divine rewards for observing these seven commandments, learning their details, and encouraging their wider acceptance are an inheritance for all people, which is there to be taken. The Rebbe said that this spiritual reconnection of the world will be accomplished by Jews and Gentiles joining together along their perspective assigned paths, in a spirit of kindness, goodness and charity. Please search your heart and take these words seriously! After all, you never know whose life you may be uplifting.
GUEST ESSAYS:
« A Noahide (a Ben Noach) shares his insights »
« A Noahide (a Bas Noach) shares her insights »
ADVANCED SITE SEARCH: Click Here
To send us your questions or comments, direct your email to
Access our Guestbook ········· View Selections from our Guestbook
Home page: www.asknoah.org
Graphic design by http://mayura97.tripod.com
© '06 Ask Noah International
List and Learn
Why Do We Sleep? By Yanki Tauber
Why Do We Sleep?
By Yanki Tauber
Every day, many billions of man-hours are slept down the drain. If there are 6,000,000,000 human beings in the world, and each sleeps an average of 7.2 hours a night--well, you do the math. The bottom line is that slumbered time is probably our most wasted human resource.
Why do we spend 25% to 30% of our lives doing nothing? Why do we sleep?
Perhaps this seems a pointless question. Why sleep? Because our body demands it of us. Because that is how we are physiologically constructed--that we require so many hours of rest each day in order to function. But to the Jew, there are no pointless questions. If G-d created us a certain way, there is a reason. If our active hours must always be preceded by what the Talmud calls the "minor death" of sleep, there is a lesson here, a truth that is fundamental to the nature of human achievement.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains: If we didn't sleep, there would be no tomorrow. Life would be a single, seamless today. Our every thought and deed would be an outgrowth of all our previous thoughts and deeds. There would be no new beginnings in our lives, for the very concept of a new beginning would be alien to us.
Sleep means that we have the capacity to not only improve but also transcend ourselves. To open a new chapter in life that is neither predicted nor enabled by what we did and were up until now. To free ourselves of yesterday's constraints and build a new, recreated self.
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov taught that G-d creates the world anew every millisecond of time. If we are His "partners in creation" (as the Talmud says we are), we should be able to do that too--at least once a day.
Wake up tomorrow--and start anew.
By Yanki Tauber
Every day, many billions of man-hours are slept down the drain. If there are 6,000,000,000 human beings in the world, and each sleeps an average of 7.2 hours a night--well, you do the math. The bottom line is that slumbered time is probably our most wasted human resource.
Why do we spend 25% to 30% of our lives doing nothing? Why do we sleep?
Perhaps this seems a pointless question. Why sleep? Because our body demands it of us. Because that is how we are physiologically constructed--that we require so many hours of rest each day in order to function. But to the Jew, there are no pointless questions. If G-d created us a certain way, there is a reason. If our active hours must always be preceded by what the Talmud calls the "minor death" of sleep, there is a lesson here, a truth that is fundamental to the nature of human achievement.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains: If we didn't sleep, there would be no tomorrow. Life would be a single, seamless today. Our every thought and deed would be an outgrowth of all our previous thoughts and deeds. There would be no new beginnings in our lives, for the very concept of a new beginning would be alien to us.
Sleep means that we have the capacity to not only improve but also transcend ourselves. To open a new chapter in life that is neither predicted nor enabled by what we did and were up until now. To free ourselves of yesterday's constraints and build a new, recreated self.
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov taught that G-d creates the world anew every millisecond of time. If we are His "partners in creation" (as the Talmud says we are), we should be able to do that too--at least once a day.
Wake up tomorrow--and start anew.
Friday, October 24, 2008
DAILY DOSE: Past the Cosmic Machine
Past the Cosmic Machine Tishrei 25, 5769 · October 24, 2008
By Tzvi Freeman
If the cosmos were some giant machine running a procedural program with immaculate precision, G–d’s involvement would be superfluous. But science has long abandoned a mechanical view of the universe. For most of a century, scientists have discussed the basic particles of matter and energy as ideas, without form as we know it.
True, science does not discuss G–d. But it does describe His works. In our times, science has allowed G–d back into the world He envelopes Himself within.
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
By Tzvi Freeman
If the cosmos were some giant machine running a procedural program with immaculate precision, G–d’s involvement would be superfluous. But science has long abandoned a mechanical view of the universe. For most of a century, scientists have discussed the basic particles of matter and energy as ideas, without form as we know it.
True, science does not discuss G–d. But it does describe His works. In our times, science has allowed G–d back into the world He envelopes Himself within.
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
Monday, October 13, 2008
DAILY DOSE: All of Him
All of Him
By Tzvi Freeman
That force that holds electrons in their orbit and planets in theirs, explodes incessantly within the stars above and is the darkness that fills the empty space—-that force is a single whole and it is G–d.
It is not all of G–d. It is an expression of G–d. All of it could disappear in a single instant, and for Him nothing would have changed.
Where is it that you can find all of G–d? Wherever He wishes to be found.
Right now, He hides within some scattered branches placed upon an autumn hut.
By Tzvi Freeman
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
By Tzvi Freeman
That force that holds electrons in their orbit and planets in theirs, explodes incessantly within the stars above and is the darkness that fills the empty space—-that force is a single whole and it is G–d.
It is not all of G–d. It is an expression of G–d. All of it could disappear in a single instant, and for Him nothing would have changed.
Where is it that you can find all of G–d? Wherever He wishes to be found.
Right now, He hides within some scattered branches placed upon an autumn hut.
By Tzvi Freeman
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Daily Dose - Discarding the Void
Discarding the Void
By Tzvi Freeman
Life is true, every step of it is G-dly. Only the emptiness is false.
There are paths we wish we never traveled; decisions we wish we never took; actions that we wrestle to tear out of our memory, rip out of our hearts with agony and remorse.
But it is never life that we reject. Life has meaning, life is good -- not a moment of it can exist without a spark of truth throbbing somewhere within. Including that moment you regret. In fact, life’s most precious diamonds are hidden in the shadows -- or even buried deep below the mud.
In the end, we reject an ephemeron, a thing that never was. Not life, but its shadow. Not the jewel, but the mud. An absence: that the light-portals of heaven closed when you did what you did. Wash away that void with tears -- there remains only a precious moment of life rescued from the deep earth.
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
By Tzvi Freeman
Life is true, every step of it is G-dly. Only the emptiness is false.
There are paths we wish we never traveled; decisions we wish we never took; actions that we wrestle to tear out of our memory, rip out of our hearts with agony and remorse.
But it is never life that we reject. Life has meaning, life is good -- not a moment of it can exist without a spark of truth throbbing somewhere within. Including that moment you regret. In fact, life’s most precious diamonds are hidden in the shadows -- or even buried deep below the mud.
In the end, we reject an ephemeron, a thing that never was. Not life, but its shadow. Not the jewel, but the mud. An absence: that the light-portals of heaven closed when you did what you did. Wash away that void with tears -- there remains only a precious moment of life rescued from the deep earth.
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman. To order Tzvi's book, "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.
Friday, October 03, 2008
NTS No Negative Thinking
Found negative thoughts attack the body.
Why does everything always go wrong? - Latest Questions
Why does everything always go wrong? - Latest Questions
Why does everything always go wrong?
By Tzvi Freeman
To a mother who was kvetching about everything always going wrong and her life was "full of curses and troubles"
Oy...I'm getting the picture.
Let me tell you what the Rebbe very often told people: Many troubles come because they feel at home. That is, when a person's mind is full of thoughts of how rotten things are and how bad they are going, so the troubles say, "Hey, here's a place for us with all our friends where we can feel at home!"
So what do you need to do? Throw out the unwanted guests—meaning all those lousy thoughts—and bring in some friendly ones. There's always something good, all of us have many blessings in life. You are alive, you are a mother who cares, you are not starving in Africa. First and foremost, you are a Jew who can turn and speak to G‑d firsthand at any time and He will listen, because you are His firstborn son.
Once you start thinking those thoughts and banish all the lousy ones, the troubles don't feel at home any more. Instead, all those blessings that have been standing out the door for years waiting to come in—but couldn't, because it just wasn't the right company inside—now they will all come to party and fill your house.
Granted, this is not an easy task, at least for the first week or so. But we know from much experience that it works, and it works wonders: Misery attracts misery; joy attracts blessings.
How about giving it two weeks and see what happens?
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman heads Chabad.org's Ask The Rabbi team, and is a senior member of the Chabad.org editorial team. He is the author of a number of highly original renditions of Kabbalah and Chassidic teaching, including the universally acclaimed "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth." To order Tzvi's books click here.
All names of persons and locations or other identifying features referenced in these questions have been omitted or changed to preserve the anonymity of the questioners.
The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
Why does everything always go wrong?
By Tzvi Freeman
To a mother who was kvetching about everything always going wrong and her life was "full of curses and troubles"
Oy...I'm getting the picture.
Let me tell you what the Rebbe very often told people: Many troubles come because they feel at home. That is, when a person's mind is full of thoughts of how rotten things are and how bad they are going, so the troubles say, "Hey, here's a place for us with all our friends where we can feel at home!"
So what do you need to do? Throw out the unwanted guests—meaning all those lousy thoughts—and bring in some friendly ones. There's always something good, all of us have many blessings in life. You are alive, you are a mother who cares, you are not starving in Africa. First and foremost, you are a Jew who can turn and speak to G‑d firsthand at any time and He will listen, because you are His firstborn son.
Once you start thinking those thoughts and banish all the lousy ones, the troubles don't feel at home any more. Instead, all those blessings that have been standing out the door for years waiting to come in—but couldn't, because it just wasn't the right company inside—now they will all come to party and fill your house.
Granted, this is not an easy task, at least for the first week or so. But we know from much experience that it works, and it works wonders: Misery attracts misery; joy attracts blessings.
How about giving it two weeks and see what happens?
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman
By Tzvi Freeman More articles...
Rabbi Tzvi Freeman heads Chabad.org's Ask The Rabbi team, and is a senior member of the Chabad.org editorial team. He is the author of a number of highly original renditions of Kabbalah and Chassidic teaching, including the universally acclaimed "Bringing Heaven Down to Earth." To order Tzvi's books click here.
All names of persons and locations or other identifying features referenced in these questions have been omitted or changed to preserve the anonymity of the questioners.
The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Day One - Chassidic Masters - Parsha
Day One - Chassidic Masters - Parsha
Chassidic Masters
Day One
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Courtesy of MeaningfulLife.com
[The sages say:] Yom Kippur atones only for those who repent.
Rabbi [Judah HaNassi] says: Yom Kippur atones whether one repents or one does not repent.
Talmud, Shevuot 13a
On Yom Kippur, the day itself atones... as it is written, For on this day, it shall atone for you.
Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance 1:3
Citing the prophet Isaiah's call, "Seek G-d when He may be found, call upon Him when He is near," the Talmud says: "These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur." These ten days, called The Ten Days of Teshuvah, are the most solemn days of the year -- days designated for soul-searching and return (teshuvah) to G-d. G-d is near--more attentive to our prayers, more accepting of our repentance, than on the other days of the year.
But are there ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishrei, while Yom Kippur is on the tenth of that month. Thus, the Ten Days of Teshuvah include Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Indeed, teshuvah is a dominant theme in the observances and prayers of both festivals. Yet the Talmud, in the above-quoted passage and in other places, speaks of the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Chassidic teaching explains that while Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are themselves days of teshuvah, they each embody a principle that goes beyond the concept of return: the essence of Rosh Hashanah precedes teshuvah, while the essence of Yom Kippur supersedes teshuvah. Thus, the Ten Days of Teshuvah include the days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and, at the same time, are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The Virtue in Sin
The Torah describes the people of Israel as "the nation close to Him." What does it mean that we are close to G-d? There are three fundamental aspects to our relationship with the Almighty and the manner in which it is expressed in our lives.
On the most elementary level, we achieve connection with G-d through our observance of the mitzvot, the Divine commandments. The mitzvot embody the will of G-d; by observing the mitzvot and making their fulfillment the substance and aim of our lives, our souls and bodies become vehicles of the Divine will.
But when a person violates the Divine will, G-d forbid, he uncovers an even deeper dimension of his bond with G-d. The connection created by the mitzvah is exactly that -- a connection created between two separate entities. Taken on its own, this connection does not point to any intrinsic bond between the two. In fact, it implies that the natural state of the doer of the mitzvah is one of separateness and distinction from G-d -- a state which is overcome by the act of the mitzvah, which bridges the gulf between the mortal and the Divine. But when a person transgresses a Divine command, a deeper bond with G-d comes to light. His inner equilibrium is disturbed; his soul finds no peace and is driven to compensate for its devastated identity with material excesses or profane spiritual quests. His transgressions highlight the fact that there is nothing more unnatural than a soul estranged from her G-d.
Teshuvah is a soul's experience of the agony of disconnection from its source and its channeling of this agony to drive its return to G-d. Thus, our sages have said that the sins of a baal teshuvah (returnee) are "transformed into merits," and that he attains a level of relationship with G-d on which "even the perfectly righteous cannot stand." His transgressions become virtues, for the distance and disconnection they created have become the impetus for greater closeness and deeper connection. His sins have provoked -- and his teshuvah has actualized -- a dimension of his soul's connection to G-d which a perfectly righteous life never touches.
The One of the Year
But there is also a third, even deeper, dimension to our bond with G-d.
The two types of connection discussed above have one thing in common: they both allow for the possibility of disconnection. The mitzvah relates to the level on which our finite and mortal nature set us apart from G-d -- a state of affairs which the mitzvah comes to overcome. The transgression makes the opposite point (that connection with G-d is the natural state of every soul) with its very dissevering of this connection, teshuvah being the consequential effort to restore the natural bond.
Ultimately, however, there is a quintessential bond between the soul and G-d that is immutable. On the deepest level of our being, there can be no disconnection, natural or unnatural.
This underlying oneness with G-d is the root from which the other two levels of connection stem. Every time we do a mitzvah, we draw from this quintessential unity with G-d the power to overcome our natural apartness and connect to G-d through the fulfillment of His will. Every time we sin and experience the agony of disconnection from G-d, this is but another expression of the fact that, in essence, our soul is one with its Creator. And it is this unity with G-d that empowers us to restore our relationship with G-d -- on the level on which our transgressions do affect it -- through the process of teshuvah.
These, however, are only glimmers of a deeper truth, expressions of unity rising to the surface of a life that is perceptively distinct and apart. But one day each year, our quintessential oneness with G-d shines forth in all its glory. This day is Yom Kippur, which the Torah refers to as "the one of the year."
Yom Kippur is more than a day of teshuvah. Teshuvah, "return", implies that, in the interim, one has been somewhere else; Yom Kippur is a day on which we are empowered to actualize that dimension of our soul whose unity with G-d has never been disturbed in the first place.
Thus, our sages say that on Yom Kippur, "the day itself atones". There is even an opinion, held by Rabbi Judah HaNassi, that the day itself atones even for those who do not repent their sins. For on this day, we achieve atonement for our sins not only by exploiting them as an impetus for return, but also by uncovering that element of self that is never touched by sin at all.
Foundation and End
During the Ten Days of Teshuvah, G-d makes Himself more accessible to us -- on all three levels of connection discussed above.
It is a period in which special mitzvot are commanded to us (sounding the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, fasting on Yom Kippur, etc.), opening unique avenues of connection to G-d via the fulfillment of His will.
It is a period of heightened opportunity for teshuvah -- a time when our souls are more sensitive to the break from G-d caused by our transgressions and more driven to return.
But the foundation and objective of all connection with G-d is the quintessential bond which requires no deed to effect it and which no deed can affect. In the Ten Days of Teshuvah, the foundation is laid on Rosh Hashanah and attains its ultimate realization on Yom Kippur.
The defining quality of Rosh Hashanah is that it is the day we crown G-d as king over us. What does it mean that we accept G-d as our king? The king-subject metaphor is one of many employed by the Torah to describe our relationship with G-d, which is also referred to in terms of the relationship between husband and wife, shepherd and flock, master and disciple, among others. The king-subject relationship is unique in that it is not defined by equivocal criteria (love, nurture, intellectual appreciation, etc.), but rather involves the abnegation of the subject's very self to the sovereign. On Rosh Hashanah we relate to G-d as our king, affirming our bond to Him as the very essence of our identity.
Our acceptance of G-d as king is the basis for our other levels of connection with G-d -- mitzvot and teshuvah. The concept of a Divine commandment has meaning only after one has accepted G-d as the authority over one's life; and a transgression is a transgression (and thus an impetus to teshuvah) only because it violates a Divine command.
Thus, the Ten Days of Teshuvah are defined as the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They are preceded by Rosh Hashanah, since our submission to the Divine sovereignty is the basis for teshuvah -- including the teshuvah we do on the two days of Rosh Hashanah (which are themselves part of the ten). And they are superseded by Yom Kippur, since Yom Kippur, in addition to itself being a day of teshuvah, is the ultimate realization of the soul's quintessential oneness with G-d -- a oneness which teshuvah expresses and from which teshuvah draws its power, but which transcends the very concept of "return".
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe More articles...
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson; adapted by Yanki Tauber
Originally published in "Week in Review"Republished with the permission of MeaningfulLife.com. If you wish to republish this article in a periodical, book, or website, please email permissions@meaningfullife.com
The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
Chassidic Masters
Day One
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Courtesy of MeaningfulLife.com
[The sages say:] Yom Kippur atones only for those who repent.
Rabbi [Judah HaNassi] says: Yom Kippur atones whether one repents or one does not repent.
Talmud, Shevuot 13a
On Yom Kippur, the day itself atones... as it is written, For on this day, it shall atone for you.
Mishneh Torah, Laws of Repentance 1:3
Citing the prophet Isaiah's call, "Seek G-d when He may be found, call upon Him when He is near," the Talmud says: "These are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur." These ten days, called The Ten Days of Teshuvah, are the most solemn days of the year -- days designated for soul-searching and return (teshuvah) to G-d. G-d is near--more attentive to our prayers, more accepting of our repentance, than on the other days of the year.
But are there ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second days of Tishrei, while Yom Kippur is on the tenth of that month. Thus, the Ten Days of Teshuvah include Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Indeed, teshuvah is a dominant theme in the observances and prayers of both festivals. Yet the Talmud, in the above-quoted passage and in other places, speaks of the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
Chassidic teaching explains that while Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are themselves days of teshuvah, they each embody a principle that goes beyond the concept of return: the essence of Rosh Hashanah precedes teshuvah, while the essence of Yom Kippur supersedes teshuvah. Thus, the Ten Days of Teshuvah include the days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and, at the same time, are the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
The Virtue in Sin
The Torah describes the people of Israel as "the nation close to Him." What does it mean that we are close to G-d? There are three fundamental aspects to our relationship with the Almighty and the manner in which it is expressed in our lives.
On the most elementary level, we achieve connection with G-d through our observance of the mitzvot, the Divine commandments. The mitzvot embody the will of G-d; by observing the mitzvot and making their fulfillment the substance and aim of our lives, our souls and bodies become vehicles of the Divine will.
But when a person violates the Divine will, G-d forbid, he uncovers an even deeper dimension of his bond with G-d. The connection created by the mitzvah is exactly that -- a connection created between two separate entities. Taken on its own, this connection does not point to any intrinsic bond between the two. In fact, it implies that the natural state of the doer of the mitzvah is one of separateness and distinction from G-d -- a state which is overcome by the act of the mitzvah, which bridges the gulf between the mortal and the Divine. But when a person transgresses a Divine command, a deeper bond with G-d comes to light. His inner equilibrium is disturbed; his soul finds no peace and is driven to compensate for its devastated identity with material excesses or profane spiritual quests. His transgressions highlight the fact that there is nothing more unnatural than a soul estranged from her G-d.
Teshuvah is a soul's experience of the agony of disconnection from its source and its channeling of this agony to drive its return to G-d. Thus, our sages have said that the sins of a baal teshuvah (returnee) are "transformed into merits," and that he attains a level of relationship with G-d on which "even the perfectly righteous cannot stand." His transgressions become virtues, for the distance and disconnection they created have become the impetus for greater closeness and deeper connection. His sins have provoked -- and his teshuvah has actualized -- a dimension of his soul's connection to G-d which a perfectly righteous life never touches.
The One of the Year
But there is also a third, even deeper, dimension to our bond with G-d.
The two types of connection discussed above have one thing in common: they both allow for the possibility of disconnection. The mitzvah relates to the level on which our finite and mortal nature set us apart from G-d -- a state of affairs which the mitzvah comes to overcome. The transgression makes the opposite point (that connection with G-d is the natural state of every soul) with its very dissevering of this connection, teshuvah being the consequential effort to restore the natural bond.
Ultimately, however, there is a quintessential bond between the soul and G-d that is immutable. On the deepest level of our being, there can be no disconnection, natural or unnatural.
This underlying oneness with G-d is the root from which the other two levels of connection stem. Every time we do a mitzvah, we draw from this quintessential unity with G-d the power to overcome our natural apartness and connect to G-d through the fulfillment of His will. Every time we sin and experience the agony of disconnection from G-d, this is but another expression of the fact that, in essence, our soul is one with its Creator. And it is this unity with G-d that empowers us to restore our relationship with G-d -- on the level on which our transgressions do affect it -- through the process of teshuvah.
These, however, are only glimmers of a deeper truth, expressions of unity rising to the surface of a life that is perceptively distinct and apart. But one day each year, our quintessential oneness with G-d shines forth in all its glory. This day is Yom Kippur, which the Torah refers to as "the one of the year."
Yom Kippur is more than a day of teshuvah. Teshuvah, "return", implies that, in the interim, one has been somewhere else; Yom Kippur is a day on which we are empowered to actualize that dimension of our soul whose unity with G-d has never been disturbed in the first place.
Thus, our sages say that on Yom Kippur, "the day itself atones". There is even an opinion, held by Rabbi Judah HaNassi, that the day itself atones even for those who do not repent their sins. For on this day, we achieve atonement for our sins not only by exploiting them as an impetus for return, but also by uncovering that element of self that is never touched by sin at all.
Foundation and End
During the Ten Days of Teshuvah, G-d makes Himself more accessible to us -- on all three levels of connection discussed above.
It is a period in which special mitzvot are commanded to us (sounding the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, fasting on Yom Kippur, etc.), opening unique avenues of connection to G-d via the fulfillment of His will.
It is a period of heightened opportunity for teshuvah -- a time when our souls are more sensitive to the break from G-d caused by our transgressions and more driven to return.
But the foundation and objective of all connection with G-d is the quintessential bond which requires no deed to effect it and which no deed can affect. In the Ten Days of Teshuvah, the foundation is laid on Rosh Hashanah and attains its ultimate realization on Yom Kippur.
The defining quality of Rosh Hashanah is that it is the day we crown G-d as king over us. What does it mean that we accept G-d as our king? The king-subject metaphor is one of many employed by the Torah to describe our relationship with G-d, which is also referred to in terms of the relationship between husband and wife, shepherd and flock, master and disciple, among others. The king-subject relationship is unique in that it is not defined by equivocal criteria (love, nurture, intellectual appreciation, etc.), but rather involves the abnegation of the subject's very self to the sovereign. On Rosh Hashanah we relate to G-d as our king, affirming our bond to Him as the very essence of our identity.
Our acceptance of G-d as king is the basis for our other levels of connection with G-d -- mitzvot and teshuvah. The concept of a Divine commandment has meaning only after one has accepted G-d as the authority over one's life; and a transgression is a transgression (and thus an impetus to teshuvah) only because it violates a Divine command.
Thus, the Ten Days of Teshuvah are defined as the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. They are preceded by Rosh Hashanah, since our submission to the Divine sovereignty is the basis for teshuvah -- including the teshuvah we do on the two days of Rosh Hashanah (which are themselves part of the ten). And they are superseded by Yom Kippur, since Yom Kippur, in addition to itself being a day of teshuvah, is the ultimate realization of the soul's quintessential oneness with G-d -- a oneness which teshuvah expresses and from which teshuvah draws its power, but which transcends the very concept of "return".
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe More articles...
Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson; adapted by Yanki Tauber
Originally published in "Week in Review"Republished with the permission of MeaningfulLife.com. If you wish to republish this article in a periodical, book, or website, please email permissions@meaningfullife.com
The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.
