Everything is now ready for the feast, the feast of the Future Era (“a day that is entirely Shabbos and tranquility forevermore”), when there will be (after the preparations of Erev Shabbos are completed) the ultimate experience of eating fish, “the flesh of the Leviasan,” as well as Shor HaBar, and Yayin HaMeshumar.
One of the widespread problems of our generation is the problem of concentration and attention. The commotion, even turmoil, of life, constantly distracts us.
Just four years ago, R’ Roi Uliel and his family moved to the Abu Tor (Givat Chananya) neighborhood of Yerushalayim in order to work with the Jewish families there. He managed to form a small community, to start a yeshiva and even to be elected, against all odds, to the vaad of the neighborhood. If you are familiar with the neighborhood, you know this is nothing short of an open miracle. * Let’s take a tour of Abu Tor with the shliach and his k’hilla.
How can we educate children so that even when they are on their own, they will go on the path we laid out for them? What power do we Chabad Chassidim have in chinuch that nobody else has? Where do we really install the filters in today’s advanced technological world? * Answers to these questions, along with two moving stories in this practical article on chinuch, part 2 of 2, by R’ Nachman Twersky, a longtime mechanech in Crown Heights.
R’ Yaakov Elishevitz was moser nefesh in Russia to circumcise Jewish babies and to train mohalim. After moving to Eretz Yisroel, he enabled thousands of people to put on t’fillin at the Chabad t’fillin stand at the Kosel. * Profile of a Chassid to mark his passing on 20 Shvat 5753.
In his classic work Tanya, the Alter Rebbe expounds on the revelation at Mount Sinai. What happened there was more than just the giving of a set of Ten Commandments, most of which were already known. Far more significantly, it was an unprecedented revelation of G-d’s presence in our physical world. No longer were the physical and the spiritual realms disparate entities
“Did you hear what happened?” It was portly Berel who always walked around as tensely as a coiled spring.
“No,” I said.
“Don’t ask! Old Zev did not feel well and he is staying in the Senior Home to recuperate.”
February 4, 2015