"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok"

Have you heard the saying ‘I thought I would drink enough to drown out my problems, and then I discovered that they float’.

Purim has come. 

And gone.

We were joyous. Happy. Jubilant and merry.

I had a couple of glasses of wine and during the ‘after-Purim-party’ I announced the following:

One of the great gamechangers I love sharing from the Torah is the ability to change your future as taught so often by the Rebbe.

The Zohar says:

Come and see: The Lower World is always ready to receive …. The Upper World can only provide the Lower World according to its state. If it glows from below, in the same manner it is shined upon from above; but if it gloats in sadness, it receives judgment in return.

Similarly, it is written, “Serve G-d with joy!”—because human joy draws another supernal joy. Thus, just as the Lower World is crowned, so it draws from above.

Basically it means that if you are having a rough time try to break out of the cycle of anxiety and be joyous.

Yes, sing, clap, dance, smile and laugh. 

If you can bring yourself to joy from below. Hashem will reciprocate and beam down joy on you from above.

I challenged the crowd to try it and get back to me with fantastic results. 

Be happy, joyous, upbeat, optimistic and things will go better for you.

Now it’s a week after Purim and the headlines are rather bleak.

Its time address the imperfect reality.

How do you keep your spirits up when you see that with all of the good news there is still so much suffering and cruelty. How do you not fall into despair?

Shall I reveal something you may not have known?

The question really started way back. At the original Purim celebration 2,380 years ago. Then too, the salvation was incomplete.

Even after the Purim miracle it is not like the Jewish people were back in their homeland under their own governance and kingdom. 

As the Talmud puts it ‘we were still servants of Achashverosh’. 

Yes, the saving of the Jewish people from the diabolical plans of Haman and his ten murderous sons was a cause to celebrate. 

They wanted to exterminate every single Jew in the world. The tables were turned, and we were given the right to self-defense and miraculously we won the war.

But were we independent? No.

Yet, the Megilla (Esther 8:16) describes the state of the Jewish people as being favorable and good.

ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששון ויקר

‘The Jews had light and joy and gladness and honor’

Granted they had their lives saved. But they were still totally dependent on the regime of Achashverosh. 

How can that be described as being ‘light’?

And we ask the same question in our times when thank G-d we live in benevolently governed countries for the most part. We are blessed with many good things in our lives thank G-d. Yet to be honest, there are still formidable and existential challenges that we face. 

As Jews in particular, we have quite a few concerns about our future.

The Sages preempted this question by expounding the word ‘light’ in the above verse to mean ‘Torah’. 

אורה זו תורה

The world light in the above verse can be expanded to mean ‘the light of Torah’.

This sheds a new light on the way we look at life.

From the Torah’s perspective, the relationship that Hashem has with His people is one of absolute love.

The Chassidic masters gave the analogy for G-d’s love to His people as being akin to the love of an only child born to elderly parents who despaired of ever having a child.

From this Torah perspective anything that Hashem does to His people is an expression of love. 

Even the things that don’t look loving and kind.

Cleaning a child who is sullied, and one needs to scrape dirt off their skin is quite unpleasant for the child. From the parents’ perspective it’s a necessary labor of love. Leaving the dirt caked on the child’s skin would not be in the best interest of the child. So, even while it is abrasive and causes discomfort to the child, it is still very much an act of love.

The Megilla reminds us that when there is a miracle and we have happy and good things to celebrate, we ought to celebrate with unbridled joy.

Even if not everything is perfect yet.

Perfect peace and ‘living happily ever after’ will come one day. We pray it comes imminently. It is the state of the world when Mashiach comes.

Till then, we are living in a world in which we are ‘still servants of Achashverosh’.

Yet, even while we observe and experience the imperfections and tribulations of our current epoch, we must put on the glasses of our heritage and see our lives from the perspective of the ‘light of Torah’ viewing our challenges from the perspective of Hashem’s infinite love to us.

And let us start by thanking Hashem for what we do have. 

After that we should ask him for what we still need and don’t yet have.

Too often we overlook and omit giving authentic and deepfelt gratitude for the many many good things that Hashem gives us.

Thank you Father!

אבא תודה!!!

We beseech you to bring Mashiach and usher in true and complete redemption and peace, NOW.

AMEN

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS I searched my computer and found this story from about 1995/6. Enjoy. It was written many years ago, I left it as is.

One Friday afternoon we got a call from three young men from South Africa who asked to attend our Friday night Tefillah Prayers. We invited them to the meal and learned from them that they were Medical interns who had been sent on an exchange student program for several months to Thailand and would then return to start their internship in S.A. There was nothing out of the ordinary... In middle of the following week I got a call while I was out from a boy who identified himself only as one of the young men who had attended our Friday night meal and he said he must speak to the Rabbi urgently. I was not home at the time so my wife asked him to call back later as he was quite anxious and for some reason did not want to leave a return phone number.

When he finally got a hold of me he sounded very cryptic. He said “I can’t speak now but I must meet you urgently” “I know it sounds strange but I will explain myself. I cannot come to you right now as I must be close to my work but could you please come and meet me at the Shopping center near the Hospital where I am currently located.” I indeed thought that the request was strange and in a way presumptuous. after all I didn’t know this guy from “Adam” and here he is asking me to go out into the Bangkok infamous traffic to meet him for an undisclosed reason. Yet, I reasons since I am a Shliach and a Jew has reached out in distress of some sort I must help him. 

Instinctively I grabbed a pair of Teffilin and grabbed a book to read in the Taxi which “happened”  to be a basic book of Judaism “to be a Jew” by Donin. I got to the shopping center and the young man was waiting for me. We sat down and the obviously distraught young man introduced himself as Brian and fighting uselessly to fight back tears started to describe his plight:

“Two days ago while I was drawing blood from a probable AIDS patient (Thailand has a very high AIDS rate...) I pricked myself with the needle and I know as a medical student that is a strong possibility that I may have contracted the fatal virus. I have not been able to function since then my life is passing before my eyes. I have told no one/ You are the first one I have confided in. Rabbi, what should I do? should I pack my belongings and go and share the last few months of my life with my parents? Should I tell my girlfriend who is in SA right now. I am at a loss for what to do. I know from my background that the only person to speak to is a Rabbi so I have turned to you for help” He informed me that the first tests would only work after 2 weeks to know whether he had it and conclusively only after 1 month. 

I am sitting there barely a year out of Kollel (post graduate Torah studies) and now I have this kind of situation which I cannot defer and I must respond to with sensitivity and understanding and obviously make this young man realize that he must use this as a spring board for spiritual growth. The feeling that I had was that I must now answer as a Shliach of the Rebbe and try to advise to the best of my ability and Shlucho shel Odom Kmoso certainly I will be guided from above to give the proper advice. 

I told him the following: “On no account may you tell your parents as there is nothing to be gained and they will also not be able to sleep. You must believe with full Bitachon (trust in Hashem) that “it will be good” (Tracht Gut)”  and I explained this concept at length. Besides that I told him that based on a story where someone had the virus  and came to the Rebbe and said “I have non Kosher blood” and the Rebbe told him to “eat kosher food and you will have kosher blood”  that it is critical that he now start to eat Kosher only (a very difficult proposition for a young man in Thailand on a limited budget.) I told him he is invited at all times to our house and we will try to send food with him so that he would succeed. I also suggested that he may want to come over to the house and I would teach him to put on Tefillin as he had forgotten since his Barmitzva. I told him that I could teach him here if he wants fully expecting him to turn down the offer as South Africans are usually more reserved according to my perception. To my surprise he said if you don’t mind, I would like to learn right now. So to the amazement of the Orientals shopping in the Center two Jews started wrapping Tefillin. With tears in his eyes, he repeated the Shema and committed himself to putting on the Tefillin every day. 

Brian lamented to me at future meetings while he was still in doubt about whether or not he had the virus that he had become so foolishly obsessed with this career that he had stopped going to Shul on Friday night in SA years back and now did not even come to the family Kiddush on Friday night. Yet we discussed the fact that he was lucky to get the wake up call without suffering anything but mental anguish (I always spoke as if he had nothing and after the tests he would see that it had all been a bad dream) and he told me “I don’t want to look at religion as a crutch rather I have seen how relevant it is and important in daily life and how much I must learn...” He told me about how wonderful his girlfriend was and how she was coming to spend the last weeks of his trip with him in Thailand and how she would really want to get engaged but he had never wanted to discuss it until finishing the internship. So, I asked him if she is a nice Jewish girl why delay it after all this whole experience has shown you how fragile and dependent on G-d we really are. 

When his girlfriend and brother-in-law came to Bangkok they all spent Shabbos with us and walked with me to Shul and Back on Shabbos morning 1 1/2 hours each way in the wet heat and pollution of Bangkok. He later confided to me that this was the first Shabbos he had kept properly in his life, and he would include Shabbos, Kashrus and Tefillin into his life and continue learning when he got back to SA. 

A few days later they came to tell me that they were engaged and even before they told their parents they had wanted to tell us. A few weeks after he got back to SA his mother wrote us a nice letter saying, “I don’t know what you did but Brian came back with a positive attitude to Judaism and going to Shul”.  A few months ago, we got their wedding invitation and a few words how they are doing well BH. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purim Joy in Thailand

Packed House — Megillah reading and party in Koh Phangan Joy and Spirited dancing at Chabad Bangkok Chabad Laos Megillah and Purim Party

The story of Purim can be told very briefly.

They wanted to kill us. G-d saved us. Let’s eat.

To give a little more detail: The main facts of Purim are that King

Achashverosh was persuaded by Haman to agree to exterminate

the entire Jewish people in his kingdom. Esther who had been

chosen as the new queen managed to miraculously avert the

decree by following the instructions of her uncle Mordechai who

was the Jewish leader at the time.

The Jewish people were given the right to self-defense. The

intended pogrom was warded off by our people who fought back,

and thus the outcome was in our favor.

Instead of being a dark, tragic and disastrous event, it was a

totally transformed outcome. One with light, joy and glory.

We celebrate with incredible joy until this very day.

On Purim we read the entire Megillah at night and day. We recall

all the details.

The longer story contains many details that unfolded over a

decade.

Click here for full Megillat Esther Purim story.

When you live through a story that unfolds gradually over many

years, you may not notice the miraculousness of it all. Only when

reading it as one narrative with all the facts lined up neatly in

sequence do you clearly see the guiding hand of Hashem

weaving together all the details to create the fantastic outcome of

Purim.

Hashem is always running every detail of the world and our lives.

Sometimes we get to see openly how Hashem is coordinating

things. oftentimes it is quite behind the scenes. It may take years

for things to develop. By that time, you may have forgotten the

earlier details and thus not even see the Divine Providence of

how it all came together.

On Purim it’s a great time to try and ‘join the dots’ and see the

‘hand of Hashem’ in the developments of your life.

In that vein I would like to share a comment about the picture I

shared this week of a bulldozer in Ko Pangan.

The bulldozer is the first stages of the building of a women’s

Mikva for family purity that has begun in the yard of Chabad

House of Ko Pangan.

Let me join some dots and go back three years to an article I

wrote in February 2022.

Hashem gave me a special opportunity this week.

As Covid shut the world down, I had been hearing more and

more, of Israeli families relocating to the island of Ko Pangan. As

part of my mission from the Rebbe to spread Torah throughout

the Thailand region, I realized it was time to pay a visit, and feel

out what Ko Pangan was like and consider how to best service

the Jews living there.

An opportunity arose. A friend from Bangkok was visiting Ko

Pangan and introduced me via video call to a family living on the

island who has a son approaching Bar Mitzvah. The ceremony

and celebration will take place in Israel, but they asked me if I

could teach the boy to prepare him. I now had a concrete mission.

A Jewish boy, reaching the age of manhood, and I had the

opportunity to teach him how to put on Tefilin and be called to the

Torah. This to me is presented the perfect and irresistible reason

to make time to visit Ko Pangan and meet the family.

It is always a challenge to find the time to make exploratory trips

of this nature. Hashem presented me with the perfect opportunity.

Earlier this week I found that I could not enter Israel to attend a

memorial event, because of Covid restrictions. This left me with

two days that I had in my schedule to be in Israel but because of

Covid restrictions I was not able to go. I asked my wife if she

would be game to go to Ko Pangan for the day. When she heard

the reasons, to further our mission of spreading Torah and

meeting a potential Bar Mitzvah student, she gave the green light.

Off we went. Flight to Samui. Transfer to pier. Speedboat/ferry

ride of 30 minutes to Ko Pangan. Hot sun. Choppy waters. Strong

smell of engine fuel. I can’t say we enjoyed the ride. In the

pictures it sounds nice, and the word speedboat ferry sounds

glorious. Which is why you can’t rely on social media posts to

experience life. You need to get out there and actually experience

things.

We visited various areas of the island and had some very

enlightening and informative meetings and experiences. We had

a meeting with the Bar Mitzvah boy. We met just across the street

from the pier. I put on tefillin with the father and confirmed that

they would come to Bangkok for some lessons, which we would

complement with lessons via Zoom. Off we went to the return

ferry.

The ferry departure time was 16:30. At about 16:25 they started

boarding. Jumping into the bobbing boat was not something I do

every day but we made it in safely thank G-d. After sitting down

on the boat, I took out my phone and noted the arrival of a new

voice note from a number in the USA that I didn’t recognize. That

voice note had arrived at 16:28.

As the boat was revving up its engine to leave the island, I

listened to the note. It was from a friend of mine in Yeshiva. He

called to tell me that his son – who has the soul of a ‘searcher’ –

would be coming to spend six months on some island not far from

Ko Samui to learn Muay Tai. He was sending me the note to

introduce his son to me and tell me that he was coming. He didn’t

know the name of the island. Only that it was near Ko Samui as

his son said he would visit Chabad of Ko Samui periodically.

I couldn’t believe my ears.

I asked my friend (not sure what he was doing up at 4:28 AM in

the USA) is the name of the island Ko Pangan? He confirmed a

few minutes later that yes, his son was coming to Ko Pangan. I

told my friend that I was just concluding a fact-finding mission and

was on my way off that very island.

Divine Providence at its best.

I could not have received greater heavenly confirmation to our

itinerary than this.

Just as we had concluded a pioneering visit to the island, we got

a further sign that indeed Ko Pangan, while being famous for its

parties, has another dimension to it. It is also a haven for people

looking for meaning and purpose in life. Apparently against the

backdrop of this calming and peaceful island people are able to

slow down and get more in touch with themselves.

Wouldn’t this be a wonderful location to spread the depth and

meaningfulness of Torah? We left from this short visit with a much

deeper understanding and feeling about the nature of the island

and the mindset of the Jewish people who choose to call it home

or pay it visits of varying lengths.

TO BE CONTINUED PLEASE G-D.

This was my article from February 2022.

By the next Rosh Hashana we had already had a young

pioneering couple Rabbi Dovi and Miri (nee Ashkenazi) Deutsch

who had taken up the call to spread Torah and Mitzvot in Ko

Pangan.

My friend who had called me while I was on the ferry sent some

startup funds to get the project going.

A short while later a property became available at a price almost

too good to be true. A dedicated group of our visionary supporters

recognized the unique opportunity and jumped in to make the

purchase happen. Thank G-d a home for Chabad of Ko Pangan

was purchased.

Before the young couple moved to Ko Pangan, they visited the

Rebbe’s Ohel in New York.

Every Shul needs a Sefer Torah so R’ Dovi wrote in his note of

prayer to be read at the Rebbe’s resting place that he is asking for

a blessing to find a Sefer Torah for the new Chabad House he will

be opening.

Prayers also need to be accompanied by concrete actions. Before

going in to pray he made a phone call to a rabbi friend in Israel to

ask if he knew someone who would gift or lend a Sefer Torah to

him. The friend said he didn’t know anyone. A few minutes later

the friend calls R’ Dovi back.

‘Someone just walked into my office and told me that he wanted

to write a new Torah in honor of the healing for his daughter who

was not well. I told him that my friend just called me because he is

opening a new Synagogue in Ko Pangan and needs a Torah. We

are now calling you together. In about a year you will have a new

Sefer Torah for the Chabad House in Ko Pangan’.

The donor was elated to hear that R’ Dovi was about to pray at

the Rebbe’s Ohel and asked him to pray for his daughter as well.

About fifteen months later the Torah was completed. By this time,

it was after October 7 th . The donor’s son in law was in army duty

in Gaza and was seriously injured. During those very days that

the Torah was being completed and the celebration was

underway, the son in law had a miraculous medical turnaround

and is healing well thank G-d.

It was only natural that when R’ Dovi went to visit Israel a few

months ago, he went to see the donor of the Torah to thank him

once again for the great gift of the Sefer Torah to Chabad of Ko

Pangan.

The donor heard about how much active Jewish life there is in the

island and heard R’ Dovi speak about the need for a woman’s

Mikva. He made an offer that left R’ Dovi speechless. ‘Prepare the

architectural plans and tell me the general projection of costs as I

would like to have the merit of building the Mikva at Chabad of Ko

Pangan’.

A few weeks later he sent the first payment for the Mikva and now

the bulldozers have begun to work….

TO BE CONTINUED PLEASE G-D.

This is but a small glimpse of the workings of Hashem that He

allowed me to witness firsthand.

It is a privilege, in honor of the joy of Purim, to share this with you.

And I humbly suggest and invite you to try and find similar things

in your life in which you see the Divine Providence of Hashem’s

wondrous ways working through the seemingly mundane

trappings of your life.

In our parsha of Tisa this week when Moshe asks to see

Hashem’s glory, Hashem says ‘You cannot see My face,” says

Gd, “for no man shall see Me, and live. . . . You shall see My

back, but My face shall not be seen.”

Some commentators say that this alludes to the fact that you can

only see Hashem’s plans ‘from the back’ in hindsight. When the

story is still ‘in front’ it is still unfolding, it may look unfair,

disjointed and haphazard. We are not privy to Hashems plans.

After the dust settles, sometimes many years later, in hindsight,

we may be granted the gift to see the dots and join them together

in the miraculously uplifting path that Hashem leads us on.

This is one of the lessons we can take from the story of Purim and

the Parsha in tandem.

This will help enhance your fulfillment of the mitzvah to rejoice on

Purim with unbridled enthusiasm.

When you contemplate and find these hidden miracles in your

contemporary life in 2025, just as He did miracles for us back then

in the days of Purim, you feel embraced and uplifted by the

personal and individual attention that Hashem gives us.

We should always have REVEALED GOOD and be able to see

Hashems miracles and wonders to us constantly, until we merit

the ultimate and final joy of the coming of Mashiach. AMEN!

Lechayim! To LIFE and to SIMCHA JOY!!!!

Happy Purim

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor