Tuesday
Dec292020
MY FIX – WHAT’S YOURS?
December 29, 2020* “Stay the course” is the mantra of the status quo stewardship, effectively muzzling voices that need to be heard. * There is no debate. All we need is genuine conversation. *
Entries in Moshiach & Geula (238)
Sunday
Dec012019
A SLAP IN THE FACE OF SILENCE
As soon as Rabbi Gurary opened his mouth, to his shock and surprise, Reb Zalman Moshe gave him a playful slap. “Whatever you say of Atzmus,” he told his startled friend, “cannot possibly be true of Atzmus!” * The Rebbe’s teachings are truly radical and breathtaking, but they are meant to be practiced in our day-to-day lives and in our general outlook.
Thursday
Oct312019
SEE NO EVIL
Here the Rebbe provides a kind of litmus test for righteousness… * When we are no longer bogged down in the mire of the world, we are available to focus on bettering the world around us. Now our attention is directed to only positivity, seeing signposts to light up and blaze our path.
Sunday
Oct272019
LOSE THE STUPID SMARTPHONE!
A yungerman, a visitor it seemed (from the style of his beard), had his smartphone out to capture a moment he wished to preserve. The bachurim saved him from his phone and swept him up in the revelry. * I too had my smartphone out, broadcasting live the only sign of Jewish life literally for thousands of miles to the west and hundreds to the east…
Tuesday
Oct152019
G-D, MY BESTIE
If the Sukka represents G-d’s love for the Jewish people, wouldn’t the Baal Shem Tov, the great champion of Ahavas Yisroel, want to beautify his Sukka in every way possible? Why then did he rely on leniencies?
Thursday
Sep262019
YOU DON'T COUNT!
“All a man’s provisions are allotted for him from Rosh HaShana until Yom HaKippurim” * The Aron did not occupy any space; its measure did not count. The funny thing is that the measurements of the Aron are very precise, 1.5 x 2.5 cubits – yet it took up no space?!
Thursday
Sep192019
G-D’S FIRST AND FINEST
Mundane or not, each moment contains everything within it, eternity, and it is a gift of devotion to G-d, like the joyous presentation of first fruits in the Holy Temple. This is romantic idealism to the extreme.
Thursday
Sep122019
A GOOD COMPENSATION PACKAGE OR A REAL PARTNERSHIP?
Reward is not for someone who is obligated to work, but for one who binds himself in a kind of consensual, contractual agreement to work for specified compensation, such as a hired worker. We work now and get paid in a timely fashion. The next day, in fact – and even before that! * There is a deeper relationship in the grand enterprise of refining and settling the world, whereby we are partners in Creation.
Thursday
Aug222019
Repent – for what?
A perfect tzaddik has no negativity in him at all. Struggling with seeing how it applies to him, the tzaddik asks – repent for what?! * Someone pointed out to me a glaring stira to my recent editorial of two weeks ago , one that seems to directly contradict the Rebbe…
Thursday
Aug082019
A HOUSE FULL OF ANGELS
What’s the point of seeing the Beis HaMikdash on Shabbos Chazon if on that very day it is destroyed, G-d forbid?! * “One who does not strive to fulfill the mission to bring tzaddikim to t’shuva is as if he did not fulfill the shlichus of his Master” * Our job is to inspire everyone to heightened enthusiasm and wonderment in the awesome time we live in, the threshold of Redemption.
Thursday
Aug012019
While We Wait...
“My enemy’s enemy is not always my friend,” is a good rule for life. Even when we’re not talking about enemies, just different points of view and schools of thought, not always is the classic counterpart of a flawed view indeed the correct one.
Thursday
Jul252019
FIREBRAND
Now Beis Moshiach is fresh, provocative – and yes, shocking at times. * No longer do we rest on the laurels of “heralding” the redemption. Beis Moshiach is bringing to the fore compelling ideas that are more daring and relevant than ever.
Friday
Jul122019
HUNKER DOWN
Is the concept of Armageddon, mass destruction, consistent with Torah. Should I take out a mortgage on an underground bunker? * “G-d’s compassion extends to all His works,” to all His creations! Why, in a world of revealed good and G-dliness, would there be any room for suffering and annihilation?