"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok"

‘I can’t sleep at night worrying about the displaced communities in the refugee camps at the border of Myanmar and Thailand that are not getting their medications’.

That was the message I received from a dear friend in the USA.

My friend is a fellow chassid/student of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Motivated by the Rebbe’s clarion call that no one should be forgotten, and no cause be overlooked, my friend became a tireless advocate and activist for people in need. With a special emphasis on those who may otherwise be overlooked.

In February when the US government aid cuts were announced, my friend read news reports like the below one,

…. the aid stoppage is posing serious risks to the rights to health of more than 100,000 people living in nine refugee camps on the Thai side of the border with Myanmar. 

It motivated him to call me and ask how he could do something to help. 

I reached out to N. one of our local Jewish community members who works in the field of health development aid. N. knows well-placed people in the refugee aid program. We set up a conference call.

My friend reached out to a generous donor and organized the funds needed for the medications at several of the refugee camps. The medications that these funds paid for, saved countless lives for the few months till the lifesaving US grants were partially restored.

Aid distribution at the refugee camps in Myanmar earlier this year— inspired by the Rebbe

I was thinking to myself that this kind of impactful work is not something one automatically associates with the Rebbe, a great Jewish/Chasidic leader. 

One of the main missions of the Rebbe was studying and teaching Torah continually. Indeed, the Rebbe taught publicly for more than ten thousand hours and published hundreds of books. 

Motivating Jewish people around the world to do mitzvahs was another cornerstone of his work. 

Yet, far from focusing only on the revival of his own flock of Chassidim or even the Jewish people, the Rebbe turned his gaze outward to the world at large, expending thousands of hours meeting and corresponding with people from all walks of life, among them rabbis, statesmen and laypeople, Jews and non-Jews. 

Alongside his vast Torah scholarship he would also passionately address the state of the broader society—speaking on everything from criminal justice reform to social safety nets to the fundamental need for moral and ethical education for all. Thirty years after his passing, the Rebbe’s moral and ethical teachings for the world continue to serve as a guiding force for a generation of Jews and non-Jews seeking to change the world for the better.

For at the heart of true Jewish leadership is care for each member of the Jewish people and a vision of moral guidance, clarity and direction for the entire human race. 

It makes perfect sense that my friend, a devotee of the Rebbe, wants to act in the responsible way that our Rebbe has taught.

The first time I personally engaged in this aspect of our universal mission was in the aftermath of the Tsunami. After all the Jewish victims and survivors were cared for, we set our sights on helping the general Thai population who had been victims of the treacherous Tsunami.

Click here to see the magazine we put out highlighting the Jewish relief efforts carried out at that time.

You and I, can make all the difference in the world.

At the core of the Rebbes leadership was the belief that every person—regardless of background or knowledge—could be empowered as a conduit to spread goodness and kindness wherever they were. Together, those combined acts could illuminate the world, elevating it and bringing true transcendence.

Let us embrace the Rebbe’s vision and try even harder to live up to our full potential.

So that we can merit to greet Mashiach and usher in a world of peace NOW.

Chodesh tov and Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS. I will be visiting the Rebbe’s resting place on Sunday and will be happy to bring your prayers to the holy space of the Ohel. Please click here to send a me note to bring on your behalf.

PPS. I think I may have seen a miracle this week.

Here is a fresh story from my current trip to NY.

Yaakov, a former bar mitzvah student (from twelve years ago) reached out to me a few months ago to resume learning. Now he was 25 and wanted to reengage with the eternal wisdom of the Torah. We had some great learning sessions and got refreshed on laying Tefilin and praying.

Yaakov told me he would be in New York this week. I said ‘great! I am also planning to be in NY. Let us schedule to meet in New York at the Rebbe’s Ohel so I can introduce you to this special holy space and guide you the first time you visit’. 

It worked out beautifully. We met up. Studied some Torah, wrote a blessing note and prayed together at the Ohel.

I then gave Yaakov a ride to Brooklyn where he was meeting with some friends.

On the way he told me ‘Rabbi I was mugged yesterday’. I wasn’t sure I heard right and asked him incredulously ‘what did you say’?

Yaakov told me that he had been doing some grocery shopping for his host and while walking down the street holding his groceries, a person sided up to him and told him that he had a knife and would violate him if he didn’t hand over all his cash. He had $13 and he gave it to him. The perpetrator said, ‘I don’t believe you have only $13, I am sure you have more’. Yaakov insisted that he didn’t. Thank G-d the perpetrator walked away and left Yaakov unscathed.

Is it possible that the prayers Yaakov was planning to make at the Rebbe’s Ohel the next day already started working retroactively in a miraculous way?

To me that is the way it seems. 

Prayers are so powerful. Let us not restrict ourselves to praying for what seems plausible or possible. When praying to G-d even the sky is not the limit.

May the Almighty answer all of our prayers for the good.

It is incredible how this week's Parsha tells the story of this week in Israel. Well, kind of, at least with some poetic license.

This week’s parsha is about the story of the spies.

The Jewish people left Egypt. A year later, after receiving the Torah and spending a year in Mount Sinai region, they were poised to enter Israel, the ‘Promised Land’.

Twelve spies were sent to spy out the land and bring back a report.

The report they brought back was confusing.

On the one hand, the land is very good, yielding unnaturally large and luscious fruits. They brought some samples of this extraordinary, blessed fruit.

On the other hand, the formidable might and power of the land’s inhabitants make it impossible to conquer with the kind of army that we have.

Oh, another thing they said. People are dying a lot in that country. 

Ten of the twelve spies summed up their visit with a dire prognosis. 

Going to live in Israel is an unrealistic dream. It is not achievable and certainly not sustainable. 

Most of the Jewish people joined in a mass demonstration against Moshe’s plan of going up to conquer Israel. They cried and complained and stated their unwillingness to go to Israel.

They were so wrong, continues the narrative in the Torah.

The people dying was actually a miraculous decoy that Hashem had planted in the land. Hashem planned it this way so that everyone was so busy tending to their dead that the spies stayed ‘under the radar’ and went unnoticed. 

How ungrateful. A miracle G-d made to help them, was used against G-d so to speak by portraying the land as being a land not conducive for life.

Truth be told, from a purely natural perspective, the spies’ assessment was correct. The sheer military might of the inhabitants of the land was indeed stronger than that of the Jewish army.

However, these were people who had seen G-d take them out of Egypt, split the sea, rain down miraculous Manna food should have known better. They should have recognized that if G-d tells them to conquer the land, they will be successful even if supernatural G-dly intervention is needed.

Their fear and their subsequent doomsday mindset, led them to make an irreversible mistake.

As the Torah relates:

All the Israelites except for the tribe of Levi complained against Moses and Aaron, and the entire congregation of judges said, "If only we had died in Egypt, or if only we had died in this desert.

Why is God taking us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be spoils of war. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?"

The men said to each other, "Let us appoint a new leader and return to Egypt! And let us worship a new god, and return to the religion of Egypt!" (The women, however, did not rebel). 

Hashem gave them their wish. They indeed died in the desert during the next forty years. Only their children who were not yet twenty years of age, entered Israel at the end of the forty years.

Today we have a people of Israel who is rectifying this mistake. 

Millions of Jews are reversing the behavior of our ancestors who didn’t appreciate Israel and therefore lost the right to go to Israel, today the Jewish People is in love with Hashems promised land of Israel.

They are full of faith, optimism and a steely resolve that Eretz Yisrael is the most blessed place in the world for a Jew.

The Rebbe told us over and over again, even as scud missiles were aimed at us by Sadam Hussein, and even after the missiles started flying, that the Torah promises that this is the Land upon which G-d places His eyes ‘from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.’

This description of Hashem’s intense supervision and attention to the land of Israel and those who dwell therein, is the eternal word of G-d.

Today, unlike the Jews back then in the desert, we are standing firm and strong in our faith and confidence in Hashem’s promise. And we are witnessing Hashem’s protection and blessings in ways that are simply incredible and miraculous. 

It is inspiring beyond, to see how Jewish people are clamoring to get back to Israel. They are waiting in Cyprus, in Rome, in Bangkok and various other central locations, to fly back into Israel.

The flights to Israel are called ‘rescue flights’. Being ‘stuck’ outside Israel they feel ‘stranded’ and await to be ‘rescued’ and taken to Israel.

What a blessedly faith-filled nation Am Yisrael is!

Rather than looking at Israel like the spies did, as an undesirable place, the Jewish people are streaming into Israel in whatever way possible. 

Even though, we all know that living in Israel last week has been challenging.

My daughter sends pictures of our grandchildren every time they enter the protected cellar in their central Israel apartment. Some nights it was 2-3 times. Literally they were jetlagged from being woken up and running up and down the steps to the common ‘mamad’ – saferoom. 

At the same time the miracles that are taking place in Israel are of biblical proportion.

Click here to read the story of the missile that hit Soroka Hospital causing major damage but not taking any lives. Just ten hours earlier they had finished evacuating the ward that was hit, into the hospital’s basement.

The ominous predictions that the analysts had about the tens of thousands of fatalities if Iran was attacked, was miraculously averted. The extent of the miracles we have witnessed just in the last week, are a thick book waiting to be written.

Click here for a Torah perspective on operation ‘Rising Lion’.

I talk to many people and am mindful of the fact that some are a bit panicky and pessimistic. It is understandable and natural. We are living in scary times.

The way it seems to me is that there are ‘two Israel’s’.

And it is up to each of us to create the mindset and choose in which Israel you will inhabit. 

There is the Israel of anxiety, danger, pessimism and apologetics.

Many news channels and media outlets will be very glad to help you with the scary, bad, anxiety-generating news. 

And there is the blessed and holy and miraculous G-dly land. The land of promise, promised by G-d to the Jewish people. A land of luscious opportunity and daily almost predictable miracles and G-dly attention.

A land where you feel Jewish history and imagine Jewish destiny in the hill, valleys, cities and settlements. 

We each have an important choice to make.

Which ‘Israel’ do we live ‘in’ and ‘with’. 

Do we want to cry and wail like the spies 3,000 plus years ago?

Or do we want to embrace with appreciation, joy and exuberance, the gift that G-d has given us. 

The holy land of Israel.

Let us being to imagine how we are getting closer and closer to the coming of Mashiach. 

At that time we will all live in Israel. We will have a Bet Hamkidash in Jerusalem and there will be world peace for eternity.

I can’t wait. It’s high time to end this cycle of war and destruction.

Let us do our bit to hasten Mashiach’s coming and send power and might to our people. Wherever you are, wherever you live, we need to bolster and strengthen our G-dly protection.

We do this by adding in Torah and Mitzvahs. Especially the Mitzvah of Tefilin, and the mitzvah of lighting Shabbat Candles.

Click here for Shabbat candle lighting times around the world.

And most importantly let us adopt for ourselves, and spread contagiously to others, an optimistic faith-filled approach to Almighty’s Promised Land. 

Be proud of yourself if you live in Israel.

Send messages of solidarity and funds to support your relatives who live in Israel. 

Start rejoicing and expressing gratitude for the miracles that have happened and in advance for that that are poised to happen!

Dear Hashem, we had to spend forty years in the desert because we showed our distaste for the land. Surely, now that we, Your chosen people are showing our steadfast commitment and appreciation for Your gift, we should be blessed with the immediate redemption and the mass return to Eretz Israel.

As the Prophet says in G-d’s name ‘They (referring to our entire nation) will come to Zion with joy’.

Shabbat Shalom – a peaceful Shabbat and a joyous Shabbat

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

CLICK HERE FOR SHORT VIDEO OF INSPIRATION

 After I wrote my weekly article, war has broken out. We trust in Hashem who has promised us that Eretz Yisrael is the place that עיני

השם אלקיך בה מראשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה Hashem is constantly watching and guarding Israel.

Click here for words of faith, optimism and blessing from the Rebbe for these circumstances.

Click here for practical ideas on how to support our brothers and sisters in Israel, and all over the world.

Weekly Torah:

We were toasting Lechayim to each other, singing melodies, I was sharing Torah thoughts interspersed with Thai flavored Jewish experiences. A classic ‘farbrengen’ gathering. 

I was explaining to the eager listeners around the table how special it was to sit together and share words of Torah inspiration.

A young man in his early twenties who I know since he is born, respectfully asked permission to ask me a question. 

‘You have explained so nicely about the benefits of this gathering to us who are listening to you. What benefits do you, who are leading the gathering get from the event?’

For a second I was speechless. 

Then I realized that he genuinely cared for me and wanted to know if I too was getting a benefit from my participation or was it one sided.

I thought for a few minutes and here is what I answered:

Certainly, I as the speaker am having a lot of benefit for sharing my thoughts with others.

Speaking out about things you believe in, with conviction and passion, help strengthen your own inner resolve to live up to those ideals.

Sometimes our actions, speech and even thought is commandeered by our negative inclination in direct conflict with our inner voice of morality.

Expressing our positive aspirations and ethos is a wonderful way to solidify your behavior to be more positive.

How providential that just two days later I came upon a post by a Jewish inspirational blogger who told this story:

A story is told of a Jew who was praying passionately. His prayers were punctuated with crying out ‘Aba-Tatteh-Father’ as he raised his eyes heavenward.

A passerby asked the local Chassidic rebbe scoffingly, ‘do you really think this person believes that G-d is his father’?

The Rebbe responded, ‘if he keeps saying Tatteh-Father-Aba he will’.

There is a reality that is created by language.

When we know what kind of reality we are aiming for, it is helpful to aim towards it, to speak about it, and to act on it.

When we talk about how much we love someone the love gets intensified. 

When we do something loving and caring for someone else, the love grows even stronger. 

This is a very good reason why we should eliminate hate speech from our vocabulary unless it’s about hating something diabolically evil.

Certainly we should stay far away from hateful behavior.

In this week’s Parsha some Jews who weren’t able to participate in the Pesach offering voiced their disappointment at being left out.

Their angst was so intense, their message of wanting to be part of Hashem’s mitzvah was so authentic that Hashem granted them the ‘second Pesach (Sheni)’. 

Speech has power.

To inspire others. 

And to inspire ourselves.

Some great leaders would pray that their words of inspiration should have the intended motivational effect on themselves and on those who hear their words.

The Rebbe taught us that projecting the future with words of optimism and faith in Hashem’s benevolence creates a more positive outcome.

Let us try to be like bubbling springs of positivity.

Inspiring more good deeds in others.

Being inspired ourselves during the process of inspiring others.

When someone tells you they are embarking on a journey. Starting a new business. Entering a new relationship. 

Wish them well.

Don’t be that naysayer who says ‘oh, so many people have failed…’. 

If you see that there is an obvious danger in the path ahead, by all means share your concern.

But all too often it is simply habitual to be a pessimist.

Let's be consciously POSITIVE.

Hashem loves us. Hashem is protecting us. 

May Hashem bring us Mashiach and usher in the world peace we so desperately crave, long and yearn for.

Oseh Shalom Bimromov Hu Yaaseh Shalom Aleinu Ve’al kol Yisrael -

Mashiach NOW -

Veimru, AMEN

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef C. Kantor

George Rosowsky was living in Roodepoort far from the larger Jewish communities of South Africa. Just after the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war George read in a Jewish newspaper that the Rebbe was calling on Jewish men to take on the mitzvah of tefillin, in light of the stressful situation in Israel. He embraced the important mitzvah and didn’t miss a day of tefillin after that.

(Click here for George’s comment to a Tefillin article in connection to October 7th (scroll down in the comments), where he shares how he hasn’t missed a day in fifty years. )

A while later, his relative who lived in Israel and was the head of a Yeshiva came to visit. He was collecting funds and George wrote a generous check to support the Yeshiva. His relative commented on what nice handwriting George had. The rabbi then asked him for a favor. 

The rabbi asked George, would George agree not to write on Shabbat?

Writing on Shabbat is a prohibition and since G-d had granted him such beautiful handwriting, it would be appropriate for him to give gratitude to the Almighty for the gift by refraining from using this artistic gift on Shabbat. 

George agreed. A short while later, one thing led to another, and he became a Shabbat observer for the rest of his life.


The door of George Rosowsky's place of work.
 

I know the story because I observed one of my friends originally from South Africa who was saying kaddish. I asked my friend why he was saying kaddish? Was it a parent that had passed away? And he told me that he was saying kaddish for George (Yosef ben Shlomo HaKohen) who had passed away without children. He then told me the heartwarming story of who George was and about the long family relationship which led him to take on the holy role of saying kaddish for him.

This story inspired me, as I hope it will you.

Giving gratitude to Hashem for the gifts that we get is so fundamental, it makes so much sense, yet sometimes it can be challenging.

This week's Parsha speaks about the gifts of the first fruits and other forms of tithe that had to be given to the Kohen and shares how beneficial this is for the person himself.

The Torah writes (Bamidbar 5:10): 

 "if a person keeps his holy things and does not give them to the priests altogether, he will in the end possess only as much as he should have given, and no more. Whereas if a person does give the priest what is due to him, he will be rewarded by being wealthy.” 

In the word's of Hashem in the Torah it is a very simple equation.

Giving leads to greater receiving. 

Hashem gives us, and included in that gift is the expectation that we will share with others.

Let us translate that into the realm not just of money but of skills, capabilities and opportunities.

When someone is blessed by G-d to have a nice voice, it should be used in G-d’s service.

If you have an ability to help lift someone’s spirit by sharing a kind word, do it!

Perhaps just by listening to someone else who is going through a hard time, you can tip the scales in their life and make them feel valued and needed.

It is counterintuitive. When you share with others and by all accounts you should now have less, the reverse will happen. 

You will have more.

The Talmud teaches that if you are a great scholar, and spend time teaching someone of lesser ability, both the student and the teachers will be blessed with deeper understanding.

Check it out for yourself.

Next time you meet someone who is willing to learn, spend time and teach them. You will find your own learning enhanced.

May Hashem bless us with gifts, and may we be mature and disciplined enough not to use those gifts in a way that Hashem would not approve of.

Could you imagine parents giving a young adult child a car to drive to school only to discover that it was being used to drive to wild parties under the influence of alcohol or drugs?

This abuse of the generous gift would be the greatest slap in the face to the parents. 

Let us not do that to G-d.

If G-d makes us financially wealthy, it is not to be used to stray far from Him. On the contrary the gift is intended to be used in strengthening the relationship between us and G-d.

One of the things Hashem wants us to do is to share of those gifts with others.

That is what the Torah which we received earlier this week on Shavuot us all about.

The Torah was only given to promote peace in the world!

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Yosef Kantor

George's Synagogue in Roodepoort, South Africa

The traffic jams in Jakarta that Friday December 19, 1997, were beyond the norm. 

When the traffic caused the G family to miss their flight to Singapore, they were understandably very upset. 

It is frustrating and disrupting to have well made plans fall apart for no good reason.

But in their case, they discovered that there was a good reason for them to miss their flight.

The Silk Air flight they were meant to be on crashed, leaving no remaining survivors.

Ironically, they were now thanking G-d for the same traffic jam that they had previously been bemoaning.

When they came to see me a few days later to ask for guidance, they were still shaken to the core.

The question that gnawed at their soul: ‘Why had they been spared, when more than a hundred others who were on the flight, lost their lives’.

When they came to meet me, they expressed their desire to thank Hashem for this miracle by giving extra tzedakah. In my files I found the following letter that I wrote to follow up on our meeting.

I thank you so much for sharing with me the story of your personal miracle last week in which you missed the ill fated flight on Silk Air (because of being stuck in the traffic) and thereby saved your life. THANK G-D.

As we discussed briefly no one walks away from such an experience unchanged and certainly being presented by G-d with a special gift of life begs at least a revaluation. 

While giving charity is certainly appropriate at this time, I think that this is not yet sufficient to put the feelings of gratitude into their proper perspective. My humble suggestion is that you add in some of G-d’s commandments as in the Shabbat (the night the event occurred) first of all to try avoid travelling on the Shabbat at all costs (certainly not by plane) and to light candles (before the Shabbat comes in) and make Kidush. I also suggested the putting on of Tefillin (if not every morning, then) at least once a week and preferably on a day when the kids are home and can see you doing this (i.e. Sunday).

While this may seem somewhat difficult at first, I am sure you will agree that the tremendous tragedy that was averted deserves some kind of focus on the “real things of life” those that don’t get affected by currency devaluation's recessions etc. the doing of good deeds – Mitzvot. (note: 1997 saw the year of the ‘Asian financial crisis’).

I hope you accept this letter in the good spirit it was written as a friend who is genuinely happy for you all and wishes for your physical and spiritual wellbeing. May we merit speedily the coming of Mashiach when disasters will be a thing of the past, Amen.

Sincerely,

Yosef C. Kantor

I would like to take a deeper look at the feelings of anger and frustration at being caught in an irritating traffic jam.

Where did those feelings disappear to?

What made them go away?

No, the G’s did not begin to enjoy sitting in snarled lines of idling cars. 

The perspective changed because they saw how missing the flight was a blessing not a curse. The traffic jam was the catalyst for the blessing. They were handed the rest of their lives as a gift to live, enjoy and do meaningful things.

This week’s Parsha spells out the glorious blessings that will come to those who follow in Hashem's path. After that it follows up with verses that describe the opposite. The non-blessings that come from not following in Hashem's path.

The non blessed consequences of not following Hashem’s path are hard to listen to. They are meant to remind us to stay on the proper path of Torah and Mitzvah observance. 

Yet even those harsh sounding words also can be reframed to be positive.

For example, the Torah says that ‘Each man will stumble over his brother Israelite’. Literally it means that while fleeing from their enemies, the confusion will be so great that they will stumble on each other.

Our Sages taught that this means something deeper. The concept of ‘arvut’ mutual responsibility for each other. ‘One person will stumble because of another’s sin, for all Israelites are held responsible for one another'.

If we reframe this positively, we will see that not just is their liability in being responsible for each other. Rather there is immense power available to each and every one of us, as we are all intertwined and responsible one for each other.

Not so long back, when the Soviet Union was in its full strength, there were millions of Jews behind the ‘Iron Curtain’. 

The Rebbe would urge the Jews of the ‘Free World’ to be mindful of the fact that their mitzvahs would be beneficial to their brethren who were unable to perform mitzvahs due to the persecution and tyranny of the Soviet who were bent on stamping out religion. 

When one part of the body is weak and not functioning properly, it is imperative to strengthen the parts of the body that are functioning and can be bolstered. 

These days our oneness has never been more obvious.

Every Jew in the world today is held responsible for whatever any other Jew is doing.

Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgrim were murdered in cold blood last night in Washington DC because the evil murderer saw them as part of one inseparable collective.

The attackers aim was to kill Jews. Jews in Israel and Jews in Washington or wherever else they may be, are all the same to our enemies.

You have probably experienced some form of heightened antisemitism in your own lives. (I will not get into the cruel and false irony and untruths of the media portrayal of the Oct 7th attack and its continuation. We are the victims of unbridled and sheer terror yet somehow, we are being portrayed as the aggressors).

This is the challenging part of our mutual responsibility. 

It behooves us all to be mindful and cautious about what is going on around us. If something looks suspiciously dangerous, speak up. 

Let us focus on the uplifting, positive and blessed part of our mutual responsibility.

I’m reminded of Yosef, a Jew who was dying in a remote hospital in Cambodia. He managed to get a message to the Chabad Rabbi in Phnom Penh. He went to visit him and arranged for him to be transported to Bangkok for treatment. Thank G-d he was nursed back to good health and started spending time at Chabad House in Bangkok. Every Friday night as the guests shared something at the Shabbat table he would say ‘lihyot Yehudi, zeh Guarantee’. Literally ‘to be a Jew is a guarantee’ (in Hebrew it rhymes..) referring to the fact that he, a previously unknown person was plucked out of near death situation and nursed back to life like a family member. Simply because he was a Yehudi. With no strings attached. 

He is absolutely correct in this assessment. 

As a Jew, you are not alone. We are part of a people. Each of us is an indispensable part of a treasured and glorious people.

In the aftermath of the Tsunami a team of relief workers came to Phuket from the UK. One of them was Jewish and he attended the newly opened Chabad House  Shabbat prayers and Kiddush every week. He told me that his English friends asked him ‘where do you go on Friday nights’. He responded, “I go to family and friends’. They asked him ‘we didn’t know you had family or friends in Phuket’? 

He was right. As a Jew, almost wherever you go in the world, you have family. 

We have incredible challenges these days.

We have unbelievable opportunities to do good.

Let us focus not on fear, but on pride and strength of being Hashem’s treasured nation. It is our holy mission to spread awareness of Him by acting in a way befitting our responsible role of ambassadors for G-d so to speak.

We are not individuals working as independent freelancers. We are all part of one big collective. Like various limbs of one big body. 

Let us do more mitzvahs and strengthen ourselves, our loved ones and by extension the entire Jewish people. 

Don’t suffice with thinking about how much you can do for yourself, recognize that your good deeds can impact our entire people of Israel.

Let us recall that we are at the cusp of a world of Shalom as this week's parsha promises that if we follow in the path of Hashem, then even before Mashiach comes:

ונתתי שלום בארץ ושכבתם ואין מחריד

“I will make the land peaceful, and you will sleep without fear’. 

Too many nights of sleep are shockingly disrupted with little kids (my grandkids among them) being rudely awakened to go into shelters from senseless shooting of missiles.

When Mashiach comes it will mark the permanent end of evil. 

WE WANT MASHIACH NOW.

Let us do one more act of goodness and kindness to hasten his coming.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

New Tefilin gift from the Jewish community's 'Tefilin Fund' (providing Tefilin to anyone committed to fulfilling the mitvzah daily)

 An idea came to my mind just before I took the stage to lead the Lag Ba’omer celebration in Bangkok.

I asked for two brothers and two sisters to come to the stage.

The kids were eager to be ‘stars’ on stage. More than seven pairs of siblings came up.

I asked them each to introduce themselves.

‘Do you ever fight with your sibling’? I asked them. Six out of seven admitted that they did.

Then I asked them all collectively, ‘do you still love your sibling even though you admitted that you sometimes fight’?

A loud resounding YES was the response.

I rest my case.

As kids we figure out how to fight yet remain connected as one family.

It behooves us to retain that innate knowledge as we get older.

I will say it in even stronger terms.

Being different is not a ‘bug’ in humanity. It is a ‘feature’.

Hashem created us all looking different.

And he created us all thinking differently.

Each of us has our own nuanced personality.

Let us figure out how to stay unified.

The Jewish people are likened to one collective body.

Every part is irreplaceably critical to the whole. 

Nu, so what more motivation do we need to agree to disagree respectfully and lovingly.

This is exactly what Lag Ba’omer teaches us.

The students of Rabbi Akiva stopped dying. The plague that took so many thousands of them was precipitated by their intolerance towards each other. The plague stopped, which means that they got the point.

Sometimes or shall I say oftentimes, it is a small thing that can create conflict between people. The small thing grows and expands in our minds and hearts and sometimes even degenerates to all out fighting. 

Think of someone you don’t talk to, or whom you avoid. 

Think of the origins of that feeling.

Is it all that big an issue?

On a sidenote, I am not minimizing small issues.

Small issues can be HUGE issues when you trace them.

One of the headlines that jumped out at me in the last few weeks are the incidences of radar outages between the flight control towers and the aircraft that are flying in the air. It is frightening to think about. Pilots need guidance by air traffic controllers to stay in their flight path and land safely. May Hashem protect us.

Apparently, one of the outages was traced back to a small copper wire which short-circuited caused a disruption to the radar communication system.

A small piece of wire is hardly of any financial value. If you saw it on the street, you wouldn’t bother picking it up. 

However, when it is part of a sophisticated system controlling aircraft carrying hundreds of people it becomes priceless and critical beyond description. 

That little ‘short circuit’ in your relationships with others may be much more significant than you imagined.

There is a very comprehensive multi-decade study about wellness and happiness that shares the formula for happiness as derived by researchers from tracking people’s lives. 

The conclusion was simple.

Connection with other people, especially with spouse, family and community, is the surest way to long term happiness and wellness. Doing acts of kindness to those in need. Being nice to people you meet along your way. All of these things – simple and old fashioned as they may sound – are the paths to living happier and better material lives. So says the Harvard study.

As Jews who have the gift of the Torah, it does not come as a surprise at all.

We have known this for more than 3300 years. Since the Torah was given.

The Torah says, ‘love your fellow as yourself’.  Rabbi Akiva taught that this precept is the main rule of the Torah’.

As Jews we know that the Torah way of life is the most natural expression for a Jew. And the healthiest too. Both physically and spiritually. 

The Torah warns us against hatred and intolerance and forbids it. Cruelty and vindictiveness are likewise prohibited. 

It thus follows that by staying away from fighting with others and instead by doing acts of kindness and compassion to others, you will be healthier and happier. 

Lag Ba'omer is the day of the passing of the author of the Zohar. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

From his perspective, the day of his passing was the day that he became bound up in oneness with G-d. He instructed that we celebrate this day. In honor of the great saintly sage, festive bonfires and celebrations are held throughout Israel and the world.

The Midrash tells a story about this holy sage:

Once there was a disciple of Rabbi Shimon’s who left the Holy Land and returned a wealthy man. The other disciples saw this and were envious and also wanted to leave. Rabbi Shimon knew of this. He took them to a valley facing Meron and said: “Valley! Valley! Become filled with gold coins!” The valley started flowing with gold coins before them.

Said Rabbi Shimon to his disciples: “If it is gold that you desire, here is gold; take it for yourselves. But know that whoever takes now is taking his portion of the World to Come. For the reward of Torah is only in the World to Come.” (Midrash Rabbah, Shemot 52:3)

Click here for the Rebbe’s teaching on this story.

It seems to me that there is a very basic lesson in this story. 

Sometimes the short term ‘gold’ is at the expense of the long term ‘gold’. 

The ‘quick fix’ may eventually prove to be a ‘long term glitch’.

Say for example you work so hard that you neglect caring for your loved ones. When you finally build your financial life to the point that you have time to spend on your loved ones, there may no longer be a viable relationship.

Sure, keeping the mitzvahs has its cost.

But ultimately the benefits, in this world and in the next world are infinitely more valuable when keeping Torah and Mitzvot.

And I want to ‘double-click’ on what I just said and expand the discussion regarding the benefits of keeping Torah as being the best way of life for every Jew.

It is not just in the next world that we will see how living a Torah life is the best investment. In this lifetime too. If you look from the perspective of several decades you will almost certainly see that the areas in which you followed G-d’s moral code of Torah and Mitzvahs, led to the most blessed parts of your life.

It makes perfect sense that doing the right thing leads to good results in our lives.

We believe in G-d as the creator of everything. 

We believe that the Torah is G-d’s instruction book to the Jewish people (and through them to the world at large). 

Since G-d is the creator of our material bodies, our nervous systems, our mental capacities and our souls, it is quite simple to recognize that the best possible life is to be had by following the ‘instruction manual’ i.e. the Torah.

It sounds simplistic.

How to live the best life? By following Hashem's path.

The truth is so true that it seems simple.

It is uncomplicated.

And at the same time in our sophisticated world, it sounds embarrassingly straightforward. 

Which is why the first instruction we have in the Code of Jewish Law is ‘do not be embarrassed in the face of scoffing cynics’.

There is nothing to be embarrassed about. Embracing your deepest identity as a Jew will be the greatest source of blessing.

The Torah is our life.

The Torah is our strength. 

Our strength, happiness and wellbeing emanate from our unity.

It’s a no-brainer. Let us get more ‘one’ with each other’ 

After the kids sat back down on their seats, I asked them to place their arms over the shoulders of their friends and sing together: ‘Hinei Mah Tov Umana’im Shevet Achim Gam Yachad’. ‘How good and pleasant it is when brothers sit together’.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

P.S. in honor of the auspicious day of Lag Ba’omer we held a ‘parade’ and a bonfire at the Chabad House. The weather over the past few days in Bangkok has been heavy rains in the afternoon. Right now, as I am finishing to write my article on Friday afternoon, it is raining heavily. 

Yesterday was an exception. For the duration of the day, all the way through the afternoon and eve of Lag Ba’omer we had inexplicably dry weather.

We felt so loved by Hashem as He shined His countenance upon us in the merit and honor the great and righteous Tzadik.

Dear Friend,

I had the opportunity to make someone feel better this week.

He scheduled an appointment with me and walked in saying he was falling into despair from the direction that the world was taking.

I asked him if it was things that were happening to him personally or it was the news he was reading in his news feeds? He told me it was the international world news that was terrifying him. 

I suggested that he simply stop reading the news. 

He looked at me incredulously. It had never dawned on him that one possible way to cure anxiety would be to discontinue the practices that caused the anxiety in the first place. 

If I was a doctor and he would be coming to me about high blood pressure, I would suggest lifestyle changes to reduce the high blood pressure before prescribing medication. Similarly, the modification that one can make from anxiety over world news is to limit one’s news intake.

Continuing the analogy of the doctor, I wanted to check his ‘vitals’ to make sure he was ok, and it was just world news that was making him depressed. 

Perhaps his anxiety was over a health scare or issue. 

No, he reassured me he was feeling stable health. 

Was it personal financial stress? No, he described how he had protected himself against the volatility in the financial markets.

It seemed therefore that indeed it was the news reports he was reading about the many different instabilities in the world. 

I shared another thought with the sweet elderly Jew who had come see me. 

While some years ago we got our news by reading printed newspapers that were printed in multitudes of copies. That has now changed. Now we get our news for the most part on our personal devices. 

We must remember that because we get our news predominantly from our personal internet feed, the news we read is provided to us tailored and based on our perceived preferences. The algorithms are genius in feeding us the news we prefer to read. Just as they are incredibly suave in marketing products to us that are aimed at our unique age and stage in life. Yep, they know too much about us.

And if you think that ‘AI’ is the path to finding the truth, read on…

One of my children brought me an energy bar from the ‘Trader Joe’s’ supermarket in the USA. They pride themselves as being healthy oriented. The kosher symbol was there, and I ate the bar. And then I read the ingredients. Hmm. Tapioca syrup is the first ingredient. I hadn’t heard of that ingredient before. I decided to educate myself and turned to AI.

The first search I did is in bold font below. 

tapioca syrup first ingredient trader joes grain bar is it healthy

Yes, it's generally considered okay for many people to consume tapioca syrup as a sweetener, especially when it's the first ingredient in a Trader Joe's granola bar, as it can be a healthier alternative to refined sugar. Tapioca syrup is made from the starch of the cassava root and offers some potential health benefits. 

From the above it sounded like tapioca syrup was healthy and the energy bar in general was a good idea to eat. 

Yet, see below when I inserted the word ‘unhealthy’ at the beginning of the very same search, the result came out painting tapioca syrup less positively and describing this energy bar as a much poorer source of calories.

unhealthy tapioca syrup first ingredient trader joe's grain bar is it healthy

Yes, while tapioca syrup can be part of a healthy diet, using it as the first ingredient in a Trader Joe's grain bar might indicate a less nutritious product. Tapioca syrup is primarily sugar and starch, lacking in essential nutrients and fiber, which can lead to quick spikes in blood sugar and be considered an "empty" calorie source. 

Clearly, the computer-generated intelligence was answering me in the way it perceived I wanted to be answered. 

This is the way our internet generated news sites feed us our news these days too.

If someone wants to be an antisemite the web will help provide material to supposedly justify the hate.

Conversely, for those not poisoned by the age-old bigotry against Jews, there is a wealth of positive information on why Jews should be admired, supported and emulated.

I am not rallying against reading news. Neither am I advocating to be an ostrich. However, if the news is causing you unhealthy anxiety, recognize that (if you are not a news analyst by profession), you can safely reduce the amount of news intake and live a calmer and more fulfilling life.

My friend left my office feeling a lot better. So he told me. And I felt happy as well that I was able to lighten his gloom and put a smile back on his face.

This is an introduction to the main point I want to make.

About HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. 

Using AI is fine. So long as you remember it is a TOOL for you to use. 

You must remain in the ‘drivers’ seat’.

It is up to you to make a conscious decision to decide if you want to have something to be grateful for or something to complain about.

Our human intelligence subconsciously notices the things we care about deeply. 

For example, if you give five people the same newspaper to glance at for a few seconds, not everyone will notice the same things. The banker, the barber, the rabbi, the real estate broker and the sports fan will all notice different things.

If you are trying to find problems and issues with the ingredients of your life or with the people around you, no doubt you will find them.

When you look for positive things in those around you and in your individual set of circumstances, the rosier items will jump out and identify themselves to you.

Even more than that. When we aim and try to be optimistic and upbeat, the same objective reality will be perceived differently.

Here is a classic joke that points out how two opposite perspectives can emerge from one unarguable fact.

Once, a shoe company dispatched two salesmen to the vast continent of Africa, seeking to understand the potential for their products. One was sent to the east coast, the other to the west. Both set out to assess the local market, each returning with their findings.

The east coast salesman reported, "Here, I see that no one wears shoes; clearly, there is no market." 

Conversely, the west coast salesman proclaimed, "Here also, no one wears shoes, but this indicates an enormous opportunity—a market still waiting to be born. Send inventory immediately."

Make a conscious decision to try to be joyous.

It’s a major mega mitzvah to be joyous.

So now we have to figure out how do we do that. How do we change our perspective to be upbeat and positive rather than morbid and negative?

First of all, let us be grateful to the Almighty for the great gifts we have before we even get out of bed in the morning. G-d has given us back our soul and we are alive!

Don’t just think of your gratitude. SAY IT. 

מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתיך
I thank You, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.

In R’ Tzvi Freemans words explaining the first prayer of the morning immediately after we open our eyes:

In its most simple sense, Modeh Ani is a statement of gratitude. At night, I gave my weary soul into G-d’s hands, and He returns it to me in the morning—not as I left it but refreshed and renewed. Now, if you left say an old Chet Atkinson hollow body electric guitar at the pawn shop, would you expect to get it back all shiny and well-tuned? Especially, if let’s say you still owed that pawn shop a lot of money?

Well, we have a huge debt of unpaid bills to our Creator, and nevertheless He continues to return our collateral back to us for daily use, all spruced up as well.

Click here for some more joy generating meditation.

With an attitude of gratitude, one becomes a much more positive oriented person.

Now let’s talk about the fact that, yes, there are very unsettling things going on in our world. There is much suffering and pain. There is fear and uncertainty. It seems like there is much to panic about.

For most of us it leaves us feeling helpless. 

What can we do to help?

We can change our mind set. That helps not just us, but the cosmic reality starts to alter.

The Kabala based aphorism ‘think good and it will be good’ has never been as critically important as in today’s times.

Hashem created his world with us at its epicenter. The Jewish people fulfilling the precepts of the Torah and thus creating an abode for G-d here on earth is the supreme purpose of creation.

Hashem wants us to be the initiators, movers and shakers in the process of bringing Heaven down to Earth.  

Hashem promises to mirror our efforts by sending down infinitely magnified energies commensurate with the efforts we have put forth.

Positivity will draw down positive energy. 

The reverse will engender the reverse.

Here is the irony.

The more you are concerned about the state of the world, which makes you anxious and negative, the more you ought to try and stay focused on being joyous and upbeat. Because that is the only way to make cosmic changes in the universe that will transform our world into a more positive environment.

The Rebbe insisted that we are on the precipice of something incredibly great. However, it may look to us from our vantage point, he reassured us that from his Divinely inspired perspective, Mashiach’s arrival is imminent.

We just need to keep doing and doing and add even more and then even more.

More what?

Deeds of goodness and kindness. Torah and Mitzvot. Living with a mindset that Redemption can and will happen imminently. 

The Moshiach-world of no more wars, of swords being transformed into civilian tools for planting is waiting to begin. 

May we see it NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS. Are you sad because you missed opportunities to do good? Check out his mitzvah of the ‘second Pesach’ – Pesach Sheni – which empowers us to push harder and fix and redo what we thought was lost and hopeless. Click here if you want the message in a minute or less. And here for a plethora of information about Pesach Sheni and ‘second chances’.

Seeing a group of children playing in the streets of Brooklyn while speaking Yiddish in the early 1900’s was not strange. Immigration to the United States from Eastern Europe was quite common.

What was unusual was the very dark skin color of the Yiddish speaking kids. 

This prompted the wealthy Jewish businessman to strike up a conversation with the children.  He found out that they lived in the basement of a crowded apartment house and helped their father stoke the coal furnace that heated the building. Their skin was darkened from coal dust that stuck to it. Quite obviously they were a destitute family.

The generous hearted well to do Jew asked to meet their parents. The father explained that he was struggling with making ends meet as he kept the sanctity of Shabbat and wouldn’t work from Friday sundown till Saturday night after nightfall.

Week after week, job after job, he was warned ‘if you don’t show up on Saturday, don’t bother coming on Monday as you are fired’. By managing the heating in the apartment building he was granted a meager form of roof over his head by the custodian of the building. 

The philanthropic Jew was sympathetic and offered to give $500 to the family to help them get into their own apartment.

The poor Jew looked his would be benefactor in the eye and asked him ‘do you keep Shabbat’. To which the wealthy person answered truthfully that he did not. If so, I will not accept your magnanimous gift as it would be disrespectful to the very sanctity of Shabbat that my family works so hard to uphold and preserve. 

‘Hashem will continue to provide as He has provided till now’ continued the Shabbat observer.

The would-be-benefactor went home that evening and told his wife about the unusual encounter with the financially struggling family. 

The wife of the benefactor spoke up. ‘Do you remember how distressed you were the first time you worked on Shabbat. We felt that we had no choice at that time as we needed to survive. We felt true remorse the first time you went to work on Shabbat and pledged that once things would stabilize, we would go back to observing Shabbat. We are now well to do and it’s time to fulfill our pledge….’ 

The husband immediately made an inspired decision to start keeping Shabbat.

Excitedly he went back to the family who had refused his money and told them ‘I am now keeping Shabbat, please accept my gift’. To which the pious Jew responded, ‘we would only consider that after you actually keep this coming Shabbat’.

Indeed, the wealthy family kept Shabbat and the poor family received the gift of financial assistance. 

This enabled them to get on to their own independent financial feet.

I heard this story this week from the great grandson of the protagonist. 

As the saying goes, more than I ‘guard/protect’ the Shabbat, the Shabbat guards and protects me’.

In the 1900’s it was very difficult to find employment and observe Shabbat. Today, thank G-d, employment while keeping Shabbat is much simpler.

Yet, keeping Shabbat always requires effort. Hashem has embedded into the fabric of the world, that doing good things requires effort.

This is not a ‘bug’ rather it is a ‘feature’. Hashem desires our efforts. He wants to give us the gift of ‘earning’ our relationship with Him by investing time, energy and resources in building our relationship with Him.

Let us strengthen and upgrade our observance of the Shabbat.

Start by lighting Shabbat candles in your home before sundown tonight. 

(In Bangkok the time is 6:16pm. Check the time in your time zone by clicking here.

Our Sages promised that if all of the Jewish people would keep even just one Shabbat, Mashiach would come NOW.

Let you and I do our best to make this a reality as speedily as possible.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS. in Tzvi Freemans words:

Meaningful Opposition
People think that G‑d first made a world and then gave us instructions to follow, so we won’t mess it up. The truth is, the instructions came first, and the world was designed as the venue to carry them out.

Therefore, to say that anything in the world could oppose its Creator’s will is an absurdity. There can be no opponents to the purpose of creation—only meaningful challenges.

It started off sounding a little nostalgic. A girl who once spent shabbat with us was back in town and wanted to meet.

Little did Nechama and I know that this meeting would provide a peek into the workings of Hashem's wondrous world and lend insight into the foresight of the Rebbe’s sending of Shluchim around the world to engage with Jews wherever they may be.

Hi. My name is A. R. Twenty-one years ago, I was in Thailand as an exchange student. And, when I came to Bangkok, my family didn't want me to stay in a hotel because I was only 17. And I stayed with the Chabad, if I remember correctly, it was with you and your family.

I just wanted to let you know, just how much of an impact that visit made on me. I got to celebrate my first really traditional Shabbat, and it really sparked within me a joy and interest in Judaism that I hadn't had before.

So now it's been twenty-one years and I try to have Judaism be a much bigger part of my life. I attend and work at Chabad events in my hometown. I host Jewish events at my home in N. especially for study abroad students. 

So, I just wanted you to know that you made a huge difference in a kid's life, and I wanted to thank you for that.

The story touched us deeply.

Because of its simplicity. What we had done was nothing out of the ordinary. Just helping a doting mother who wanted her teenage daughter to be hosted in a safe and secure environment. 

Yet, this act set off a host of results that constitute the ingredients of Jewish Continuity.

I am certain that you who are reading this article have similar stories. Where you did something that didn’t seem extraordinary, but the long-term chain of events that was set off ended up being quite phenomenal. 

There is a funny joke that highlights how one thing leads to another.

An old Jewish man and a young Jewish man are traveling on the train. The young man asks: "Excuse me, what time is it?" The old man does not answer.

"Excuse me, sir, what time is it?" The old man keeps silent.

"Sir, I''m asking you what time is it. Why don’t you answer?!"

The old man says: "Son, the next stop is the last on this route. I don''t know you, so you must be a stranger. If I answer you now, I''ll have to invite you to my home. You’re handsome, and I have a beautiful daughter. You will both fall in love and you will want to get married. Tell me, why would I need a son-in-law who can''t even afford a watch?"

One thing leads to another.

Especially when it comes to ‘things’ that are not just things but infinitely meaningful and holy things – G-d’s commandments – Mitzvot.

Our Sages taught us ‘a mitzvah pulls with it another mitzvah’.

Every mitzvah that you do has the power to be a ‘gateway mitzvah’ that brings with it deeper connection to Hashem and ever widening and deepening G-d’ly attachment.

I am deeply and wholly immersed in preparing for Pesach right now. 

Raising the funds and setting up the teams of rabbi’s, Yeshiva student volunteers, and food service staff to provide more than ten thousand seats at Pesach Seder dinners throughout Thailand.

Sometimes when you think about large numbers you can lose sight of what that truly means to each guest on a personal and individual level.

Exactly during this most busy and strenuous time, Hashem has sent me an uplifting reminder of what one Jewish experience by one guest can spark in themselves and in their extended families and beyond.

I share this with you to remind to remind all of us that each of us has the G-d given ability to not just to impact ourselves, but to have an influence on other people around us. 

This story reemphasizes the importance of doing what you can, even if it seems small and trivial, to help someone else have a meaningful Jewish experience. 

In this weeks Parsha the Torah describes the detailed accounting of the construction of the Mishkan. 

The Midrash describes a poignant part of the parsha where Moshe accounts for 100 heavy bars of silver that had been collected by each Jewish household giving a half shekel but is unable to account for 1775 shekels.

While it was only .005% of the amount collected, there were murmurings among some of the people about this.

A heavenly voice rang out from heaven. ‘The 1775 shekels were used to fashion the hooks for the curtains of the courtyard’.  

I am thinking out loud here, how many percentage of your clothing do the buttons represent? However minute a percentage, if you don’t have buttons where you need them, the clothing may be unusable. Hooks, where they are needed, are crucial. It may be only .005% of the structure, but it is absolutely and majorly impactful.

In an allegoric way, this may happen to us in our lives as well. Perhaps sometimes Hashem sends us heavenly signs to remind us that while we may not recognize the impact of our deeds, there is value in continuing to follow in Hashems path step by step. Little action by little action.

A young Chabad rebbetzin shared a story about her disappointment in one of her students who had not followed through on fully implementing the mitzvah of Family Purity that she had studied with her. 

In the very same conversation she shared how another student had called her a few days earlier to thank her for the meaningful lessons and guidance and how much joy the mitzvah of Family Purity was bringing to her and her husband.

She didn’t notice the juxtaposition of both stories that had been shared during the conversation. I noticed it and pointed out to her that these two stories may be very related. It seemed to me that it was plausible to say that Hashem had prepared the uplifting feedback in advance of the disappointing one.

When presented in that way, the young rebbetzin agreed and felt much better about continuing her outreach classes in Family Purity.  

There was a great Jewish sage who when asked about how he achieved his great knowledge responded ‘it took me five minutes’. What he meant to say was that the five minutes that most people consider too short of a unit of time to allocate to study, he utilized for Torah study. How often do we look at the watch and say ‘I don’t have enough time to start studying’. If one were to utilize all of those minutes, the result would be astounding.

The takeaway is very simple.

Keep on studying Torah, doing mitzvahs and helping people.

Action by action. 

Minute by minute.

Penny by penny.

Not only does it accumulate to a big amount but even the small amount may have a big effect.

May all of our collective deeds throughout the generations join to reach the tipping point of Mashiach coming NOW.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS. To host a guest for an uplifting Pesach Seder, please click here. 

We did our best — would it work?
A Torah thought for Parshat Pekudei.

Watch Here →

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. 

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

Do you ever complain?

It is quite a normal thing.

Life is not perfect. Far from perfect. Only when Mashiach comes will it be perfect. Till then….

We cannot control what goes on in the world, but we can control what we choose to focus on.

Let us define the best possible life environment as Gan Eden (Garden of Eden - Paradice) and the worst possible surroundings as being a prisoner a Nazi concentration-death-camp.

The Rebbe once shared this following observation with a person who was complaining about G-d, and that nothing good ever happened to her in life.

Adam, in Gan Eden, when confronted by Hashem about eating the forbidden fruit blamed ‘the wife that you gave me’ for causing him to eat. Rather than being appreciative for the gift of companionship and love that Hashem had given him, Adam was ungrateful. 

Even in Gan Eden one can have complaints.

On the totally opposite end of the spectrum, even in Nazi concentration camps people found reasons to be grateful to Hashem. There were Jews who recited the morning blessings of thankfulness for waking up etc even in those vilest and dire conditions.

Even in the most excruciating circumstances one can find many spots of positivity.

For the vast majority of people whose life is lived in the vast spectrum that exists between perfection and devastation, there are things that are joyous and G-d forbid there are also things that are challenging. 

The question is what will you try to emphasize in your life. The good or the not so good.

What compounds the challenge of staying positive is that good and evil are sometimes happening at the same time.

The Jewish people have gone through very very challenging times in recent times. I would like to highlight a day that was excruciatingly painful. 

Thursday February 20 – Shevat 22. 

During the day of Thursday, the bodies of the Bibas children, 4-year-old Ariel and nine month old Kfir, murdered by our evil enemies, were brought back to Israel for burial. On Friday the 21st in the evening their mother Shiri’s body was returned.

Click here more articles relating to this heartbreaking tragedy that defies words.

There was not a dry eye in the Jewish people that day. Every single humane person in the world could not remain apathetic to the sheer evil of the murderous groups who sanctified this barbaric murder.

On the very same day, Thursday evening, a woman alerted a bus driver in Bat Yam (a suburb not far from Tel Aviv) that there was a suspicious package on her bus.

The bus driver followed the police’s instructions. He drove to the depot and got off the bus. It was not a second too soon. The explosion ripped through the bus leaving nothing but a charred shell.

Three other buses exploded in rapid succession at bus depots near Tel Aviv.

Police searched all of the buses in the area and found another two unexploded bombs which they neutralized. 

The experts are saying that this was a mega-terror attack planned for 8:00 AM when the buses are packed. Instead, the bombs were mistakenly set for 8:00 PM when most of them were empty of people and parked for the night at the depot.

From a planned mega-terror-attack designed to kill and maim countless victims, not one person was harmed.

A miracle of epic proportions.

On the very same day Am Yisrael concurrently experienced two radically different and diametrically opposite events.

The most hideous barbarism in the Bibas side which plunged all of the Jewish people into a state of mourning.

The most exalted miraculous gift from G-d in the averted mega attack.

The best reason in the world for joyous celebration.

One day. Two events. Deep sadness and grief. Uplifting joyousness.

The story of life as a Jew. 

We mourn the tragedies and with resilience we celebrate the good things. 

When the month of Adar comes in, we increase in joy. We emphasize the happiness and the positivity.

משנכנס אדר מרבים בשמחה

Purim is the holiday of transformation. 

Agony turned to joy. 

Morning turned to celebration.

Darkness turned to light. 

Haman wanted to exterminate our people.

G-d made a miracle. Esther became queen of Persia. Mordechai her uncle saved King Achashverosh’s life. Haman perished. The Jewish people were given the right to self-defense. They fought and won. 

From a calamity that almost wiped out our people, was born the exact opposite. A holiday celebration that is celebrated with unbridled joy.

Purim is the catalyst for the victory of good over evil. Of holiness over impurity. Of light over darkness.

It is also a reminder to focus on the positive. To find the good things to be joyous about.

Take a moment to fulfill the instruction of our Torah to increase in joy.

Find the nice and good and happy things in our life and celebrate them.

And most importantly, commit to fulfilling the mitzvahs of Purim.

Click here.

And may Hashem bring us to the complete transformation of all negativity into positivity with the coming of Mashiach NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

In a first for me, a donor gave a donation via cryptocurrency. The donation came in the ‘currency’ of bitcoin.

I almost feel like I should say a form of ‘shehechaynu’, blessing Hashem for having this new experience.

This seemed quite a departure from the traditional gold and silver shekels and dinars that were used once upon a time.

It is not even conventional paper or electronic currency. 

Cryptocurrency is something totally different.

But it worked.

It may have been ‘mined’ on the internet, it may have started off a a ‘virtual reality’ but within a short time the cryptocurrency was converted to traditional currency. It then helped pay for some of the kitchen equipment. The pots and pans will be used for cooking many thousands of kosher-for-Passover meals. If you connect the dots you get a more complete picture. From a ‘concept’ on the internet the crypto turned into ‘palpable reality’. 

The result is that the donor of the cryptocurrency helped further the mission of spreading the light and holiness of Hashem in Thailand.

This weeks Parsha of Terumah speaks about donating to build a home for G-d here on earth in the Holy Temple – Bet Hamikdash.

speak to the Israelites and have the treasurers take materials the people donate for this purpose from their personal belongings as a contribution for Me.  Tell the treasurers: 'You shall take the contribution for Me from every man whose heart prompts him to give.'  

The following materials constitute the contribution that you shall take from them: 

gold, silver, and copper wool dyed turquoise  wool dyed purple, and wool dyed scarlet, ; linen; goat hair and red-dyed ram skins; skins of the tachash, acacia wood, olive oil, which is to be used for illumination in the Candelabrum; and spices for the anointing oil—used to anoint the Tabernacle, its furnishings, and the priests —and for the incense offering; and onyx stones and inset stones; the onyx stones for the Ephod and the inset stones for the Breastplate, which are two of the high priest's garments that will be described later on.'

They shall make Me a sanctuary from these materials; when they do so they must specifically intend thereby to infuse holiness into these materials. The purpose of the sanctuary is so that I may dwell in their midst.

In jest I will say that the above extensive list mentions many kinds of things that can be donated for the Temple, but it does not mention cryptocurrency. For that matter neither does it mention paper currency of electronic transfers.

There are two kinds of donations one can make.

One type of donation is when the actual item that you have donated becomes used and incorporated into the Temple and its service. Like gold that is smelted and used to make the vessels of the Bet Hamikdash. Or olive oil that is used to light the Menorah.

(This kind of gift to Hashem is not at all limited to money. If you have a nice voice, use that for G-d. If you are a good writer, harness that for G-d. Every kind of talent that you have, every ability that you posses can be contributed and be part of Hashem’s presence here on earth. 

In that way Hashem says ‘I will dwell in their midst’. Through building a dwelling for Hashem, in a communal way and in a personal way, Hashem will dwell in each and every one of us).

The other type of donation is ‘money’. The ability to pay workers to build the structure of the Temple, funds to buy food for hospitality, books for study, electricity for lighting and climate control and all the other things that require funds.

This latter kind of support is the one that we mostly talk about and fundraise for. As the word indicates it is raising ‘funds’ in any form. For helping the poor, for paying to keep the lights on and to provide shabbat hospitality and the other long list of things that money is needed for. 

This kind of ‘funding’ can come from gold, silver, bronze etc. or from dollar/baht/shekel/yen currency. 

Now there is another form of funding that can provide the wherewithal to pay for generating holiness in the world. 

Cryptocurrency.

It is a new innovation to be sure, but at its core it must be viewed as just one other avenue of fulfilling Hashems’ plan to make His presence known here on earth.

The Midrash teaches that ‘Gold too precious a commodity to be shared with the world. Why was gold given to the world? solely for use in the Bet Hamikdash’.

Once Hashem gave G-d to the world for the Bet Hamikdash He allowed it to be used for any purpose. Even nefarious and negative plans can be funded by gold. Hashem always leaves room for free choice. Bad vs good. It is up to us to choose to use the gold for its truly intended use.

The Rebbe taught that all forms of advanced technology starting with the industrial revolution are likewise created to be used for holiness. This means that the true reason for things like internet, satellite communications, cryptocurrency and chat gpt is to further Hashems presence here in this world.

When you view the advances of technology in this way, life becomes a smorgasbord of opportunity. There is a wide range of things within my reach, for building G-d’s dwelling place here in this world.

Let us hone-in on ChatGPT for example. It is a tool that has power way beyond what we can imagine. 

There is a tendency to resist and push-back and find fault in such radical technology.

(I haven’t yet interacted much with ChatGPT directly. From the little I have seen of it clearly it is a gamechanger in terms of gathering, computing and even inferring information)

The Torah way is to view every thing in this world as being created by Hashem for His glory. 

Some things need to rejected for it is only in this way that they bring glory to G-d. For example when a Jewish person meets up with unkosher food and rejects eating it, he is doing the most holy thing and elevating the world.

On the positive side when he makes a blessing and eats kosher food he is bringing Hashems presence into the world and elevating the food, himself and the world around him.

Technology and all of its myriads of derivatives also contain those two modes. Things that ought to be rejected like immoral things that are promoted by technological advance. Criminal use of untraceable cryptocurrency is negative. 

Usage of technology for holy purposes like donating to help the needy and build holy edifices of Torah and Mitzvahs is the most holy usage of technology.

And the truest intended usage of the technology that was created by humans whom G-d endowed with the wisdom and ingenuity needed to create these innovations. 

Let us pray that the innovations of technology will be used solely for peaceful pruposes as the prophet Yeshaya (Isaiah) said ‘they shall beat their swords into ploughsares’. This means that the entire function of the massive military industry will be redirected to helping humanity as when Mashiach comes there will be no more wars. Only PEACE. May it be NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor