Good Shabbos

May we merit to see these days transformed to days of "Joy & Happiness!

This Shabbat we read the first Torah Portion in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). This fifth and last book of the Five Books of Moses is different than the previous four; it is G-d's directions to a generation that was about to enter the Land of Israel and, for the most part, had not experienced the 'Face to Face' (Deut. 5:4) revelation of G-d at Mount Sinai; they were LOWER than the previous generation.

This Shabbat also falls in the 'Nine days of Mourning' and precedes the saddest day in the Jewish calendar; Tisha B'Av - the Ninth day of the Month of Av when both the First and Second Holy Temples were destroyed some 2,500 and 2,000 years ago.

But because it is forbidden to mourn on Shabbat we must demonstrate on this Shabbat (Shabbat Chazon) that we are happy.  It seems that Shabbat Chazon is the highest and happiest Shabbat of the year and holds the opposite message from this week's Torah portion when the Jews were at their lowest.

To understand this, here is a story. (HaGeula weekly page #467)

The year was 1990 somewhere in the north of Israel. Ariel Chadad, a middle aged, hard working Jew heard the bell ring in his electronic appliance store. Customers!  He put down the newspaper he was reading and looked up to see seven, well dressed men enter together.

But for some reason it didn't look good. 'Can't be a stickup' he thought to himself, 'it's the middle of the afternoon!' But they didn't look like customers.

He tried to force a smile and asked them if he could help but they just stood there, straight as statues and one of them presented him with a small calling card upon which was written; "Income Tax" and said, "Your business has been randomly chosen to undergo inspection. Your books please. We want to see all your books".

Ariel's smile faded, he scanned their faces to see if it was a joke.  It wasn't.  They closed the store, cleared off a few tables, opened the books he brought and went to work. He knew it was going to be bad; no one ever came out of such investigations clean.  But he had no idea how bad.

Several hours later they closed the books, gathered all their papers, put the books in a large cardboard box, sealed it, took it outside to one of their cars and solemnly presented him with an official piece of paper with all sorts of headings and seals on it.

He owed the government THREE MILLION Shekels!

He sat down, opened his shirt collar and counted the zeros.  There were six of them all right. First a three with a comma after it, then three zeros with another comma after them and then three more zeros.  Three million!!

"Three million??" he almost whispered. "There must be some mistake."  He looked up at the officials, but they were already heading out the door. One of them turned to him and said. "If you want to clarify anything there's a phone number on the card or one of the numbers on the paper. Have a good day!"

He wiped his forehead and called an accountant and a  lawyer. The next few weeks were a nightmare chain of frustrating meetings, desperate telephone calls, pleas for mercy and.....disappointments.

It was hard but it was reality. In the twenty years that he owned his store he had done his own accounting and it seems he had missed a lot of important details. He never dreamed his little store was important enough for an investigation. But after all it was no mistake; after reckoning the mistakes, fines, penalties and compound interest there was no way that even a penny could be deducted. He owed the government three million.         

He was finished for LIFE!! Even if he sold his business, house and spread the remainder of the debt over the next hundred years he would never be able to pay it off! And he had a family to support!

But then, precisely when things looked helpless a faint ray of light shone through the darkness.

Ariel kept his store open. It at least kept him occupied; it took his mind off his troubles a few hours of the day and kept him from going insane.  And it paid off! One day, one of his customers, a religious Jew, happened to notice the miserable look on his face and asked what was wrong. When he heard the reply he told him not to worry. There was a solution.  In another month he and a group of other Jews were going to visit the Lubavitcher Rebbe on a subsidized charter flight that had been arranged by Rabbi Tzitlin from Tzfat.  Chadad had heard of the Lubavitcher Rebbe before but he never took the name too seriously.  Until now.

He got the phone number, called, asked to be included, was told that the list was closed, begged to be included, called friends to influence Rabbi Tzitlin, prayed and a week later got his wish; a few places opened up and he was IN!!

The trip was just what he needed. Not only did it take his mind off his troubles, it awakened some part of him that he never knew existed; his Jewish soul. The prayers, the Chassidim, the Torah learning, the Farbrengans (Chassidic get-togethers) with the Chassidim and the massive ones with the Rebbe put him in another world.

But every once in awhile the number popped up before him; 3,000,000! He would go to prison! And he COULDN'T pay!!

He asked Rabbi Tzitlin what to do and was told not to worry. Every Sunday the Rebbe gave dollar bills to thousands of people to encourage the giving of charity (each recipient was to give at least its equivalent to the needy) and with each dollar he also gave advice and blessings.

Sunday arrived. Thousands were standing in line ahead of him and thousands more behind him; all sorts of Jews in all sorts of garb and hairstyle. As he got closer to the Rebbe he saw that each person got to stand still not more than a second or two; long enough to get the dollar and hear a short blessing, before being pushed on by the Rebbe's secretaries.

But for some reason when his turn came they didn't push him. They let him talk. "Rebbe!" he almost cried "I owe three million in taxes on my business and can't pay!"

The Rebbe took two dollar bills, handed them to him and said. "Here is one for your old company, and here is one for your new one;
Blessing and success!"

Ariel Chadad suddenly found himself outside totally confused. 'What type of blessing what that?' he said to himself. "What did the Rebbe mean? Did he understand what I said? What old company? What new one? Why didn't he talk about my debts?!"

A week later he returned to Israel an empty man.  His old world was destroyed and his only hope for a new one was also destroyed. He had nowhere to run, nowhere to turn but the Rebbe's blessing, although he didn't understand a word, somehow spelled hope, he had no idea how, but some new type of hope.

A week later his phone rang, on the other end was one of the stone-hearted officials whose voice he recognized all too well.  He had spoken to this man tens of times, begging, pleading, trying to be calm with no success. Now the official was calling him.

"Chadad? Listen. You have to come down to the office now! Do you hear? Come down now! You just won the lottery!! Hear me
Chadad? This has never happened before!"

"Lottery?" he replied. "What lottery? What are you talking about? I didn't buy any lottery ticket? Who is this? Is this a joke?"

"No!" the voice on the other end said. "It's for real! Listen! The head of the entire department had a look at your case and decided to drop two million, eight hundred and fifty thousands shekels from your debt! You only owe one hundred and fifty thousand! You hear me Chadad?!"

He was shocked. Two million....gone!? But as overjoyed as he should have been, he wasn't. The fact is that the remainder; one hundred and fifty thousand shekel was also an impossible amount for him to pay.

But the Rebbe's blessing had only begun to work; in the next few weeks the officials found ways to cut away an additional sixty thousand and spread the remaining ninety thousand over the course of several years.

The Rebbe's first dollar did its job.

A few months later he got an offer from a good friend to open a hardware store together. He sold his 'old' place and used the money to open it up and immediately succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. This was the new company the Rebbe was talking about.

But the main profit was not the money. It was the soul awakening that accompanied the dollars. Ariel Chadan became one of the thousands that realized that success and money is not the goal of life but rather a means to the goal.

The goal is to be interested in the same thing as the Rebbe; to make the world a perfect place.

This answers our questions.

Really this week's Torah portion where the Jews are on a low level and this week's Shabbat which is a high level have the same point.

As we saw in our story, it is precisely by being 'helpless' and 'low' that we leave our selfish, limited world and begin living in The Creator's world where there are no limitations, no selfishness and no suffering.

Only then can we want what the Rebbe wants and transform all these days of sadness and mourning  to joy and blessing by doing even one more deed to bring....
 
Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton

RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Good Shabbos

This week's double Torah portion contains many details; the laws of vows, the war with Midian and an interesting list of the 42 journeys the Jews made in the desert, to name a few. In addition, this week is one of the Three Weeks of Mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple and the beginning of the 'Exile' of the Jews some 2,000 years ago.
But because all these are united under 'Matot – Masai' they must have something in common.
Matot means 'staffs' and Masai means journeys. Both imply separation. Matot are sticks that have been separated from the tree so long they become hard, and journeys are only taken when one is far from home.
But the Torah is not just a book of religion or history, it's every word is a lesson from the Creator on how to put meaning into and how to get the most out of life. If so, what is the meaning here?
To understand this, here are two stories I just read about the Lubavitcher Rebbe. (Sipurim M'Chader HaRebbe pg. 54-55)
Once, shortly after Shabbat, the telephone rang in the home of one of the Rebbe's secretaries, Rabbi Leibel Groner. On the other end of the line was a frantic Jew, one of the Rebbe's Chassidim (followers) from a different state on the east coast, with a life and death message. Shortly after his wife lit the Shabbat candles, she suddenly lost consciousness, passed out cold on the floor and had to be rushed to the hospital.
The doctors all said the situation was very grave, and the entire Shabbat he did exactly as they said; he went home and prayed. He would have called the Rebbe's office on Shabbat but he knew no one would be there and in any case no one would lift the phone. So now, at the first possible opportunity after Shabbat he called Rabbi Groner's house.
He explained that he knew the Rebbe wouldn't arrive in his office until the morning but the reason he was calling now was he was so desperate that he was going crazy. He needed the Rebbe's blessings and prayers; the doctors said that his wife was still in serious condition. He was almost in tears. It was an emergency! He needed help! He wanted Rabbi Groner to call the Rebbe at his home and tell him.
Rabbi Groner calmed the man down, assured him that he would call the Rebbe immediately. As soon as he hung up he called the Rebbe at his home and informed him. But when the Rebbe heard the news he didn't respond at all.
The next morning when the Rebbe arrived at his headquarters (770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn) he told his secretaries that one of them should telephone the man and ask him what happened at 5:00 a.m. on Shabbat morning.
Rabbi Groner, without asking questions, called and did as he was told.
The answer was startling! "Yes! The Chassid answered. In fact my wife's situation got worse and worse on Shabbat until, sometime after three or four a.m. my phone rang. Although it was Shabbat we were all on edge and no one was asleep. I told one of the children to answer and sure enough, it was what we all feared; the doctor. He said that my wife had only a short time to live and if we wanted to part from her we should come as soon as possible.
"We ran to the hospital, hoping to get there before it was too late but when we arrived we got a surprise; the doctor greeted us with a smile and told us that there had been a change. He said that at five a.m. she suddenly regained consciousness and was out of immediate danger!"
Rabbi Groner related what the Chassid said to the Rebbe and the Rebbe replied in a way which was very unlike his usual, extremely modest way. "Call him back and tell him that I was aware of his wife's situation before he called to tell me about it. Also tell him that the reason she got better on Shabbat was not because of the doctors but because I thought of her. And the only reason I am telling him this is so that he shouldn't think that he can hide from me."
The second story is about a religious family from Hungary that lived near the Rebbe's headquarters and decided to send their son to learn in the Rebbe's yeshiva in Brooklyn. The boy learned there for a few years and when he reached marriageable age and suggestions began coming in, he finally agreed to meet one of them. They found favor in one another's eyes and after a few meeting decided to write to the Rebbe and ask for his blessing to marry. The Rebbe gave his blessing and everything was going wonderfully until the young man told his parents.
As soon as they heard a few details they immediately rejected the entire idea and gave all sorts of reasons for their decision. But their son, being that he had become a firm follower of the Rebbe and had his blessing, and also because he could find nothing wrong with the girl and didn't want to break off the match, wrote again to the Rebbe and told him of his predicament.
The Rebbe replied that according to the Torah one must give honor to his parents in all matters save two; matters of Torah and getting married.
The young man informed his parents that he was going ahead with his plans, whereupon they informed him that not only would they not attend the wedding but they were cutting him off forever! Not only that, but one day his mother showed up in the Rebbe's Synagogue where he and some one hundred other young men were learning Torah, walked angrily up to her son and gave him a stingingly loud slap in the face!
Seeing that things had gotten totally out of control, one of the other pupils in the yeshiva approached the woman and tried to reason with here. He told her that she and her husband certainly were aware that when they put their son into this Yeshiva that he would become a Chassid of the Rebbe and would listen only to the Rebbe's advice. If they had arguments or complaints they should take them to the Rebbe, who was a very reasonable and intelligent man, and talk it over with him.
The words hit home and the next evening after all the arrangements were made they entered the Rebbe's office with fire in their eyes, for a 'showdown'!
But just moments later they came out of the office smiling and beaming and announced that the wedding was….ON.
The same pupil approached them again and asked the obvious question; what did the Rebbe do or say in such a short time that turned them completely around?!
The woman explained. "When we entered the Rebbe was very cordial. He apologized for the misunderstanding and explained that when our son first asked for his agreement to the marriage he didn't agree without first going up into the 'upper worlds' and checking the 'books' to see if the marriage would work. And only when he saw there was no opposition did he give his blessing. Then when he heard of our negative reaction he said he thought that perhaps he had missed one of the 'books' so he went 'up' again. But when he saw that, in fact, he had missed nothing he just repeated the blessing."
The woman looked at the young man and concluded. "If a holy Tzaddik like the Rebbe said that he went up into the heavens and looked at the books, then who are we to disagree?"
Both of these stories come to show the same thing; there is a great Jewish leader whose job in this world is to re-attach Jews to their source.
When one is attached to the Creator there can be no sickness or doubt. And that is exactly what the Rebbe did in these two stories. And he even advertised it in order that the people would know that, just as Moses took the Jews from Egypt, so today the Rebbe takes Jews from their problems and so tomorrow will Moshiach take the entire world from it's confusion and strife.
And that is the message of hope for the Three Weeks: Moshiach certainly is 'just behind the door' and he will re-unite all creation with the Creator.
Then all the Mattot, the 'separated and dried up' Jews will be re-connecte to their source and the 'Masai' wandering Jews will all return home to the Third Holy Temple which he will build in Jerusalem.
All of the 'separated' topics of this Shabbat will be transformed to joy and laughter. It all depends on us to do even one more good deed and bring...
Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton

http://www.ohrtmimim.org/torah

RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Wednesday Night Shiur - Parshas Matot-Massei

Listen to this week's shiur on Parshas Matot-Massei.
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Wednesday Night Shiur - Parshas Pinchas

Listen to this week's shiur on Parshas Pinchas.
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This week the shiur was hosted at the Chein family. For the next few weeks the shiur will also be at the Chein's at 914 Avenue L. Join us.

Good Shabbos

This week's Torah portion (Balak) tells the bizarre story of an evil sorcerer called Bilam who almost destroyed the entire Jewish people (G-d forbid).

This seems to contradict everything Judaism believes in: that G-d is good, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, creates and enlivens all being constantly and 'chose' the Jews as HIS People.

Why does the TorAH tell us this story?

Similarly, this Shabbat will mark the 82nd anniversary of the miraculous release of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, on the 12th and 13th of Tammuz 5687 (1927) from certain death in Soviet prison. Why did G-d allow the evil, immoral Communists to threaten such a holy, selfless man?

To understand this, here are two stories.

The first is about the Holy Rebbe of Kloisenberg; Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstram, who passed away fifteen years ago.

Rabbi Halberstram went through the holocaust and although he lost his wife, all his eleven children and over 250 members of his family to the Nazis, miraculously he was not killed.  But throughout the ocean of torture, disease and death he, against all odds, remained a beacon of light and optimism for all those around him.

An example is given by Rabbi Aba Halperin who related how he personally saw with his own eyes the Rebbe do a miracle that saved him and thousands of others from certain death.

He and the Rebbe were two of a work force of 3,000 Jews that the Germans took from the death camp Birkinau in 1944 to clean the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto.  The work was backbreaking, almost non-stop and they were guarded closely lest they try to rest. Escape was out of the question.

Then, early one blisteringly hot summer morning, the Germans told all the workers to line up in rows of three and march; they were moving out and had to move fast.

The Russians were closing in on Warsaw and the Germans didn't want to leave anyone behind, live or dead, for them when they arrived.

The heat was unbearable, the Jews could barely stand no less walk but it made no difference to the Germans. Making progress and marching in line were their only interests. They all had rifles and enough ammo and cold cruelty to kill everyone. Dogs and Nazis were barking everywhere.

Anyone that stepped out of line, even one step, was immediately shot.  It was especially awful when they passed a river or a brook. The thirst was so intense that the sight of water simply drove some people crazy and, unable to hold themselves back, instinctively made a move toward the water and were instantly riddled with bullets before everyone.

The Rebbe ordered all those around him to pass the word that no one was to step out of line for any reason and promised that there would be water. But when the second morning of marching arrived and water didn't arrive, the complaints, moaning and thirst became unbearable. Everyone felt it was better to die quickly from a gunshot then slowly and painfully from thirst. It was simply impossible to not to break ranks.

The Rebbe said to pass the word that if everyone stays in line he promises that in the evening he personally will provide water for each and every Jew.

Near sunset the Nazis told everyone to lie down in the road to sleep. It was impossible to march at night because it would be too easy for people to escape in the darkness, but there was no water.

The people that the Rebbe told to spread the word came to him and demanded the miracle. "Where is the water?! People are dying! The Rebbe said that we would have water.'

The Rebbe answered, "Each of you has a spoon, right? (the Germans gave each Jew a crude spoon to eat the 'soup' when apportioned).

"Tell each person to take his spoon and dig in the ground where he is and they will find water." The road was totally dry surrounded by open fields and no trace of water as far as the eye could see.

But lo and behold! Each one of the people dug with their spoons in the place they were, and...a miracle!! Each one found water and was saved!

Years later in Israel when the Rebbe spoke at the grand opening of the Kloisenburg Synagogue in Tel Aviv he told this story and then pointed to Rabbi Aba Halperin and added to the crowd, "And if you don't believe me you can ask Rabbi Aba - he was there." (Shaa Tova weekly magazine #309).

The second story occurred some 200 years ago in the city of Rimanov. A large garrison of some 200 Austrian soldiers descended on the Jewish section of city and declared that they were considering making it their base for several months at least. Every house was to supply food and lodging for at least two soldiers until further notice.

This decree, as innocent as it may seem, really spelled disaster for the Jews. Besides the damage and loss that the Jews would incur in home and property, it meant that their sons and daughters would be constantly in contact with these uncouth animals which would weaken and threaten their connection to Judaism.

A meeting of the city elders was called at the home of their holy leader Rabbi Mendel of Rimanov to decide what to do to avert this terrible decree. They spoke for several hours, accepting some ideas and rejecting others until suddenly one of the more experienced elders had a brainstorm revelation. He smiled, cleared his throat, stood and said: 

"My friends, I don't think we have much to worry about! I know a little about being a soldier. I myself was one for some five years and I know that when troops make camp, one of their greatest necessities is a place to keep their weapons.  They need a large, strong, dry building to use as an arsenal. And there is no such building here!

That's right. Just think of it; the biggest building we have is our Synagogue and it certainly does not meet the qualifications of an arsenal: The walls are cracked, the roof leaks, the doors are broken. For sure, no self respecting commander would use it! I mean, of course we should pray, give charity and try to give a few bribes to the commander and all, but what I'm saying is that our Shul will certainly convince them to leave. "

Everyone was quiet, the speaker sat down and all eyes turned to the Rebbe.

He closed his eyes for a minute or so, opened them, looked around and began to speak. "My decision is, we must take all the money we have saved up and repair the Synagogue! Reinforce the walls, replace the roof and the doors and the place must be entirely painted inside and out! It is our only chance."

The elder that just spoke about the arsenal was speechless.  The Rebbe either didn't understand him, didn't hear him or was simply committing suicide! He was doing the exact opposite! He was destroying their only chance!

But no one asked questions. The Rebbe had never been wrong. Workers were hired, materials were purchased and in just two days time the repairs had been completed and the Synagogue looked as fit and sturdy as a fortress!

The next day the officers in charge of the troops talked it over and decided that the Rimanov Synagogue was too small for their needs. One hour later there was not one soldier left in the town!

Of course the Jews were overjoyed and at the thanksgiving celebration someone asked the Rebbe for an explanation.  Why did he decide to fix the Shul? Why did he rely on miracles?

Reb Mendel replied. "It was no miracle. When I heard of the decree I asked myself 'why'? What sin could it be that we did to deserve such a terrible curse? And I couldn't find anything wrong. In Rimanov, thank G-d, we learn Torah, pray, give charity and do all the commandments. But then when someone talked about how our Shul (Synagogue) was in ruins I understood that that was the cause. I knew we had to do something quickly.

And, thank G-d, I was right! As soon as the Shul was fixed our problems disappeared! (Adapted from Words of Wit and Wisdom, by Shmuel Himelstein)

This answers our questions: The reason that G-d allowed Bilam to curse the Jews was in order to transform his curses to a blessing.

Indeed, this, according to teachings of Kabala and Chassidut is the 'reason' that G-d created the entire universe:  G-d wants there to be a world where sin is possible in order for us to transform that possibility into perfect good.

Just as the terrible conditions in our two stories were the cause of great miracles and brought many Jews to a greater appreciation of the Creator.

And the Communists were able to threaten the Rebbe so the Rebbe could transform it all to a miraculous blessing. (Indeed, because of his self-sacrifice, Communism eventually fell and an unprecedented awakening in Russian Jewry has begun).

It is all a preparation for a time when, in a more absolute and permanent way, all the bitterness and selfishness in the world will be transformed to sweetness and brotherhood.

Sounds a bit fantastic, but it is one of the basic foundations of Judaism; that Moshiach will teach all mankind to make heaven on earth!

It all depends on our efforts and prayers.   Every time we transform selfish thoughts, speech and action to comply with the plan of the Torah we get a step closer to.... 

Moshiach NOW!

Rabbi Tuvia Bolton
RYYH
ULYOP
In a Rush to bring Moshiach

Wednesday Night Shiur - Parshas Chukat-Balak

Listen to this week's shiur on Parshas Chukat-Balak .
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