"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok"

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

Somebody wrote to me after their mother’s passing.

‘I am quite broken and have been since she passed - she was loved by so many - I don't think anyone will miss me when I'm gone....’

How would you respond to this?

***

This week’s parsha contains an intriguing mitzvah called ‘Egla Arufah’ literally the calf that is decapitated. 

If you are saying uggh, don’t ran away yet. Keep reading.

This mitzvah is carried out when a corpse is found in a field, outside the city, without any clue as to who killed him.

The Torah says this becomes an issue that involves the highest echelons of the Jewish people.

Five members of the Sanhedrin high court that is positioned in the holy temple in Jerusalem must go to the location, as remote as it may be in the furthest edges of Israel. They need to measure which city is the closest.

Once the closest city is established, the ritual of the ‘Eglah Arufah’ is carried out by the elders of the city.

A calf within a year of birth is killed in an arid piece of land which has never been worked, and never yielded anything. It can never be used for planting in the future either. 

The respected elders of that city need to declare that they were not negligent in allowing for this death.

‘Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see’.

No one suspected these venerable elders of murder. Rather what they are saying is meant to be understood as: 

‘We didn’t encounter this person in our city and allow for him to travel without food or to unaccompanied’.  

(This in itself is a very strong statement about the responsibility we bear for people who are in our vicinity. Ignoring someone else’s plight is tantamount to actually harming them. A powerful statement of civic responsibility. A topic for its own article). 

The ritual is a sensory experience of the killing a calf who had no children on land that produces nothing. This symbolizes the premature death of this person who can now not have children or generate output of good deeds (which are reminiscent of children allegorically).

The Rambam explains the reason for this mitzvah and its elaborate detail is in order to make a scene. A hullabaloo of sorts.

Do you remember during the pre-GPS days when the traffic news would speak about rubbernecking delays because of a traffic accident on the opposite side of the highway? 

Rubbernecking means the tendency that people have when they see something unusual, like police and ambulance activity, to slow down and look to see what happened.

When people see the unusual flurry of activity surrounding this murder, it will lead to chatter about the murder. This may uncover hitherto unknown details and help solve the murder so that the murderer be brough to justice.

Even more importantly, this mitzvah makes a major statement to society that every life is precious.

If someone’s life is cut short, G-d takes it personally.

He instructs in the Torah to set up a task force made up of the highest judiciary of the nation. The most pious and learned elders are dispatched to deal with it.

The impression this makes upon society about the value, sanctity and irreplaceability of every individual is stronger than strong.

And yes. All of this applies even to someone who may not have anyone to miss them.

While we no longer practice this mitzvah in a literal sense, the message it carries with it is more critical than ever.

One of the challenges of our contemporary times is the questioning of the meaning and purpose of life.

And the aloneness that afflicts so many.

Can you imagine? In our super connected generation, people are questioning whether they mean anything to anyone. Would anyone even notice if they were not there.

The pain and deep feeling of loneliness implicit in that question is excruciating and painful.  

I cannot get that question out of my mind.

‘Would anyone even miss me if I were gone’?

How does one respond to such a question?

Often people use it as a way of eliciting sympathy from others. As an invitation for the other person to offer words of validation about their contribution to society that will be missed.

And that is true. There is no one who is not contributing to society in some way. Just by being alive.

But to the person who is not saying it to elicit a soothing response but is genuinely asking the existential question ‘would I be missed if I were not here’?

The Torah portion today teaches us the deepest and most truthful answer.

Hashem ‘misses’ a person if they die.

The unique body and soul composite that was sent down here on earth to become aware of G-d and develop and spread that awareness. Through learning G-d’s Torah and fulfilling his instructions. This mission can only be carried out while the soul and body are together, here on earth the epicenter of G-d’s ‘garden’. 

True, the soul goes back to G-d ascending to heaven while the body is laid to rest in the earth. But that soul is now missing in the ranks of the active on-duty legions of the ‘servants of G-d’ here on earth.

No one is redundant. 

Hashem doesn’t make junk or spare parts. Anyone who is here on this earth is created by G-d for a divine purpose.

Before we do any mitzvah we remind ourselves, that ‘Baruch ata… asher kidshanu bemizvotav vetzivanu..’ G-d has sanctified us and commanded us to do this particular mitzvah.

There is nothing more empowering and uplifting than knowing that Hashem has instructed you to do something for Him. 

Let that knowledge sink in. Reflect on it. If you truly ‘get it’, you will feel joy and may even be tempted to sing and dance. 

You and I have been chosen by G-d to be instructed by Him. He desires our good deeds. He takes pleasure in our discovering Him. 

Yes, if you died, Hashem would ‘miss’ you. 

Choose life. 

***

Here is a practical takeaway from this mitzvah of ‘Eglah Arufa’.

Not one Jew is superfluous to Hashem.

One may think, what is the big issue if a Jew assimilates and their connection to G-d dwindles and weakens.

The collective is strong thank G-d. There are plenty of practicing Jews. 

This mitzvah teaches us don’t think that way. 

Hashem cherishes and awaits every single mitzvah and connection from every single Jew. 

Every single one of us counts. 

At the time of the giving of the Torah if there would have been one Jew missing, the collective Jewish nation would not have received the Torah.

If a fellow Jew’s Judaism ‘dies’ G-d forbid, the most prestigious and pious of the community need to recognize their negligence. 

And every single member of the closest city is held responsible. 

Why? For if they were they to have done their job of teaching and engaging their friends and acquaintances in the ways of connectivity to G-d, their friend would not have ‘died’ spiritually.

You and I, who are connected and active in our connection to G-d must take ownership for every single Jew that we have access to.

Let us join forces in spreading forth the timely message that Rosh Hashana is approaching. In preparation for Rosh Hashana we have a full month (that started on Wednesday) in which we can approach G-d to establish a relationship before the days of awe, the high holy days.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman the first Rebbe, gave the analogy of the King in the field. Hashem is so to speak affable and approachable during this month.

He smilingly welcomes and interacts with anyone who wishes to connect to him. Without pre-conditions. Just as they are.

Let us utilize this special time. Let us spread the word to others, so that we live and all those we know around us live and progress in our connection to G-d.

May we all be blessed for a Shana Tova

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

For further reading:

The unsolved murder

The mysterious Egla Arufa (decapitated calf) 

The King in the Field, Elul

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

Seeing something makes it very real.

Look at this picture and tell me if it looks like a car from which two adults and four children all emerged alive. 

Here is what happened. After the car tumbled off the side of a canyon road in California, the father was treated for a gash on the forehead that was fixed with stitches. The mother suffered three broken ribs. The children – including two one year old twins – emerged without a scratch.

This story happened back in the summer of 2022. I remember seeing this picture just after it happened as I am friends with the father.

Fast forward to this week. I forgot about this story.

My friend came to consult with me about incorporating prayer into his daily schedule.

I was delighted by the purpose of our meeting. It is very inspiring for me to see people grow in their Jewish observance. I am humbled by the arduous journeys and great efforts that people make in advancing in their spiritual growth. 

Rather than just suggesting certain prayers to incorporate into his schedule, it was a chance for me to spell out the basics of prayer.

Prayer in its purest sense is turning to G-d when in need. 

Simply put, to understand that there is no other source for life, health, sustenance or money other than the Creator of the Universe. 

Turning to G-d when you need something is the basis of prayer.

When you see a traffic buildup and you call out ‘Oh my G-d, please let me get home in time to meet my child when they come home from school’ this is prayer.

The most basic and fundamental form of prayer. 

Sometimes people get a bit overwhelmed when they think about prayer, because they assume it must be done in a certain way and using exact words. 

That is true when we refer to detailed prayer. Basic prayer is simply communicating with G-d about your needs. 

When viewed from this perspective, it is safe to say that most of humanity is praying without even realizing it. 

About two thousand years ago when the Jews were exiled to non-Hebrew speaking lands, they began to lose their ability to express themselves eloquently in Hebrew or in any language for that matter. 

It was for this reason that the prophetically endowed sages of that time compiled prayer texts in Hebrew. This would allow even the simplest of Jews to be able to speak to G-d in the most subliminally meaningful and poetically expressive language before the Almighty.

The Siddur Prayer book gives every person the ability to pray like a professional. (And of course these days there are Siddur Apps).

Click here for extensive discussion on the development of Tefilah.

In this article let me just touch very briefly on the basic ‘form’ of prayer. The order and sequence of how ought to present their requests to G-d.

It starts with submission to G-d and praising him. 

Just as if you were standing in front of a human king. You would start off by acknowledging and praising his exaltedness and greatness.

Then comes the request. You petition the king for his kindness and benevolence.

The conclusion of prayer should be with thanks and blessings of Shalom.

The beginning of our daily communication with G-d is the moment we open our eyes.

We say Modeh Ani Lefanecha … I thank you G-d for returning my soul…

The mere fact that I opened my eyes and am aware means that I am alive.

We therefore start by thanking G-d for life itself.

The more elaborate form of thanks for the gifts we are blessed with before we even do anything are the morning blessings of gratitude. 

Click here for morning blessings of gratitude.

Then we ask G-d for our needs and thank Him for everything He does for us.

It was only after I finished the meeting that I was reminded that this was the very same friend who two years ago had this incredible miracle. That he and his family walked out of their totally wrecked car alive and well thank G-d.

I had been emphasizing thanking G-d as an important part of prayer and indeed the person I was meeting has so much to thank G-d for. 

But not just him. So do I. So do you. 

It was Divine Providence that this meeting took place this week.

At the beginning of the week, I paid a visit to Phuket with our son Leibel. It was a short stopover on our way back from Almaty, Kazakhstan.

(We had spent the weekend there, joining hundreds of Chasidim who traveled from far and wide to visit the grave of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak, the father of the Rebbe in honor of his eightieth yahrtzeit. 

As mentioned in last week’s article, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was exiled by the KGB to a remote province in Kazakhstan because of his holy work of spreading Judaism. 

He is buried in a small Jewish section of a general cemetery and until very recently was too remote for many visitors. In exile during his lifetime and after passing. 

A truly inspiring symbol of standing firm in commitment to G-d to the point of sacrifice).

We used the layover time in Phuket to visit the Chabad House to pray and eat something. 

And for something else very touching. To visit the hotel property in Patong where our family had an accident and were saved by a miracle. It was back in 2021 during Covid when we were in Phuket as part of the Sandbox quarantine program. 

(Another thing to thank G-d for. That the pandemic is over. We are able to move around freely without restrictions).

Why did we want to go back to that same site? 

To bless G-d for His kindness and benevolence in making a miracle for us.

The Code of Jewish Law teaches, 

When an individual sees the place where a miracle was performed on his behalf — for example, he was saved from a wall which fell on him or from a wild animal or robbers — after thirty days [of the event.], he is obligated to recite the blessing, “Blessed are You, G-d our L-rd, King of the universe, Who performed a miracle for me in this place.” This rule applies] even when there is no [specific feature or landmark] associating the miracle with that place.

Isn’t every single breath a miracle? Every sunrise, sunset, wind, rain and all the other things we call ‘nature’?

True, life itself is a miracle and a blessing. However, the regularity and predictable rhythm of nature is not by chance. It is exactly the way that G-d intended. He intentionally created the world in a way that for most part He is concealed behind the façade of the garments of nature.

When something unusual happens, those garments are moved aside for a moment. When an event occurs that naturally would have caused fatal damage and miraculously that danger is averted, this is a revelation of G-dly presence.

Upon experiencing this kind of Divine intervention, there is a special thanksgiving blessing. Praising Hashem and thanking Him for the extraordinary above-nature twist of events.

Whereas G-d chooses to remain hidden in the natural running of the world, in the case of a miraculous event, He is choosing to show His Face (so to speak) so that we can ‘see’ His presence and take that inspiration with us for the rest of our lives. 

This weeks Torah portion is Reeh. See.

The first verse reads, ‘See I set before you today a blessing…’

All of us are always recipients of G-d’s blessing.

Sometimes in a most dramatic way. And with pictures that allow you to literally ‘see’ the miracle.

Like my friend who emerged from his car miraculously and has pictures to show the enormity of the miracle.

Other times they are ‘small miracles’ when things come together in a way that you would not be able to predict.

May the Almighty bless you with the gift of R’eeh – seeing His blessings to you in every aspect of your lives.

And collectively we pray, for secure peace in Israel, for our soldiers, the return of our hostages, the healing of the wounded and the ushering in of peace to the world at large. 

Especially as we are about to enter the month of Elul. This week on Tuesday and Wednesday we mark the last day of Menachem Av and the first day of the month of Elul which means we are just about thirty days away from Rosh Hashana.

Time to start wishing for a Shana Tova. 

Chodesh Tov

And of course, what is most immediate,

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

When an NKVD (later known as KGB) document is marked ‘super-secret’ within an entire file that is marked ‘secret’ it attracts unique attention.

In the west, we are used to court records being accessible to the public. These days even the secret and classified documents don’t always remain private as there are data breaches, Wikileaks and whistleblowers. This was not at all the case during the dark and menacing days of Soviet communism under Stalin and his cohorts. The vast reams of documents that chronicled the sham court cases resulting in executions and forced exiling were out of public reach, locked behind iron doors literally and figuratively.

Even once the walls of communism came crashing down in the 1990’s, the archives did not immediately become declassified. It took many years for access to be possible and even then, only after an arduous process.

This Shabbat, the 20th day of the Jewish month of Menachem Av (August 24), marks 80 years since the untimely passing of Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, of righteous memory, father of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was respected as one of the greatest Talmudic and Kabbalistic scholars of his generation. He served as chief rabbi of the city of Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, during the bloody Bolshevik revolution and the subsequent Communist oppression. 

Despite terrible persecution directed at religious leaders in those days, he remained fearlessly defiant in strengthening Jewish learning and practice in his city and throughout the Soviet Union. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was eventually arrested, tortured, and banished to near-solitude in a primitive, disease-infested village in Kazakhstan, where his body finally succumbed to life-threatening illness that resulted in his untimely passing. 

Only quite recently were the documents chronicling the court proceedings of his interrogation made available.

In perusing the many hundreds of pages of this previously highly classified file, the story of the torturous methods of interrogation come to light. Interrogations were mostly scheduled for Friday nights or the eve of other important Jewish holidays. They were held at night for many long hours. Clearly, the intent was to break the person they were interrogating till he would provide them with the information they were looking for and sign a document that confirms his guilt.

These court proceedings were taking place in Kiev the capital of the Ukraine. When they saw that they were unable to break the indomitable spirit of the great rabbi and get the ‘admissions’ they were seeking, they proceeded to arrest the members of the Synagogue staff who worked closely with the rabbi back in Dnepropetrovsk.

The harsh tactics worked. Some of those close associates of the rabbi gave in to their captors and signed on incriminating statements that ‘admitted’ the ‘crimes’ of supporting Jews and Judaism that the communists were searching for.

Once those statements had been made, the interrogators brought the rabbi back from Kiev and brought him and his synagogue staff together for a joint interrogation. This was in an effort to have Rabbi Levi Yitschak ‘admit’ to and corroborate their charges once he realized that they had ‘admitted’ to ‘counterrevolutionary’ activities (i.e. Torah and Mitzvahs).

After that meeting there is a set of documents marked super-secret.

Those extra classified documents are the written and signed records of the synagogue staff revising their former admission as being false and made only under duress. 

It would appear, that meeting their rabbi even while they were all hopelessly imprisoned, had the opposite effect than what the NKVD expected. It infused them with the inner fortitude needed to stand up for the truth.

Of course, the communist government wanted those documents reneging on their previous admission to be even more secret and locked away from unwanted scrutiny. If revealed, they would pull out the rug from under the central aspects of the prosecution’s case.

Now these documents and many other similar ones are out there in the open. The communist regime’s cruelty is well known. And we, humanity, need to learn the appropriate lessons of standing up for G-dly morality, respecting fellow human rights and freedoms.

As Jews, when we remember the life of someone who stood steadfast against all odds and gave his life for commitment to Hashem and His Torah, we are inspired us to deepen our own commitment to Hashem’s mitzvahs without yielding to the things that threaten to deter us. 

Rabbi Levi Yitschak’s heroic example of steadfast and proud adherence to Judaism's ideals, serves as a shining beacon of inspiration for all of us today, and for all generations to come.

What grabbed me in a very powerful way is this detail about the ‘super-secret’ document.

Because I think that deep down, we all have that ‘super-secret’ part of our inner selves that has the tendency to remain hidden and undeveloped unless ‘prodded’.

We live our lives with a personal ‘truth’ that we adhere to. An outlook on life that defines how we make our life choices. 

There is, however, a more essential and ‘truer’ truth that we have.

Our soul. The innermost part of our spiritual identity which is a ‘part of G-d’ and is perfectly aligned with G-d’s will.

Under the duress of peer pressure, societal norms and expectations, we profess ‘truths’ that are not G-d oriented. Just like the staff of the Rabbi Levi Yitschak.

In a moment of clarity, when our exterior is peeled away and we ‘meet’ G-d, the truth comes out.

As the aphorism goes ‘A Jew neither wants to sever his connection with G-d. Nor is he able to disconnect from G-d’. 

Every Jew has his or her ‘red line’, which he will not cross even if he has to pay for it with his life.

This is the essential truth of a Jew. 

The super-secret.

In our parsha this week of Eikev Moshe tells the Jewish people:

And now, Israel, even though you rebelled against God all those times, what does God, your God, demand of you? Only that you exercise your free choice to revere God, your God, to walk in all His ways

Moshe makes it sound easy. What is G-d already asking of you? nothing unattainable, simply to revere G-d and do what He wants. 

Sounds challenging to me. 

The Talmud indeed asks, ‘is revering G-d so simple a matter’? and the Talmud answers ‘yes, for Moshe it is quite a small matter’. 

The Tanya asks, how did the Talmud answer the question? Moshe is speaking to the people and telling them that it’s easy for them. 

The Tanya answers that there is a manifestation of Moshe’s soul in the soul of each and every Jew. In that deepest space of the soul, it is easy to revere G-d and make the right life choices.

One doesn’t have to create a new reality; it is just about declassifying the ‘super-secret’ dimension of your innate truth and revealing your true self.

Wouldn’t it be a shame if we lived our lives in ‘surface level peer pressure mode’ and only achieved true clarity moments before we leave the world?

Let us access our true ‘inner soul’ dimension and live our lives according to that truth.

Let me give a practical example.

You are in a remote location and it’s Yom Kippur.

Of course, a Jew fasts on Yom Kippur by default. Usually, he would be surrounded by fellow Jews in the Synagogue who are also fasting. 

Now you are all alone, no one will ever know if you ate or not.

Perhaps you even have a headache. A little voice niggles at you ‘certainly G-d won’t mind if I take a dispensation just this one time’. 

Dig a little deeper. 

Your inner self knows that G-d is everywhere, and you truly care about your relationship with him. 

Kivi Bernhard, whom I remember from Yeshiva days, is a sought-after public speaker, the author of Leopardology™ – The Hunt For Profit In Tough Global Economy. He was booked to speak at a small high-powered event which was being hosted by Microsoft. His agent accepted the speaking engagement but when Kivi looked at the calendar and saw that it was on Shabbat, he said he couldn’t accept the engagement. The Microsoft staff had already fixed the topic of the meeting and really wanted Kivi to be there. They figured it was solvable by money. They bypassed the agent and reached out to Kivi offering twice the usual fee. Kivi stood steadfast to his keeping of Shabbat and declined. In the end that part of the meeting was rescheduled, and he gave the talk on Sunday morning. 

Later, a senior VP at Microsoft shared with Kivi that when he was with Bill Gates on a private jet, this event came up. The Microsoft executive mentioned the unusual experience and the phenomena of having to work with the speaker bureau to reschedule the start date of the meeting to accommodate “a Jew’s observance of the Sabbath,”

He said to me this made quite an impact on Mr Gates who remarked “there are some things that just cannot be bought with money… I guess the Sabbath is one of them.”

Listening to Hashem and His instructions for life as communicated in the Torah, allows one to align with their deepest core self. 

It leads to a deeper sense of happiness. For the soul can only be truly happy when one lives according to the ‘super-true’ truth.

Living this way puts on the direct path to being truly wholesome and happy as G-d has in mind for us.

When we all live this way Mashiach is here.

May this be a reality NOW.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

We are reading the fifth book of the Torah. Second Parsha of the fifth book to be precise.

The most well-known passage among Jewish People is the ‘Shma Yisrael’. Most Jews if there is one part of the Torah and prayer that they know in the original Hebrew it’s the six words of ‘Shma Yisrael….’.

As stories emerge from the October 7th massacre, many survivors recall those moments when they held onto Shema Yisrael as tightly as they held onto their weapons. And in many cases, it was the only weapon they had. They whispered or shouted or closed their eyes and moved their lips over and over again—”Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem echad.”

Benni Chasson lived on Kibbutz Kissufim. He and his wife spent hours and hours in their “safe room,” until soldiers arrived to rescue them at 4:00 in the morning. Were they terrorists or Israelis? He wasn’t sure.

“Finish this sentence,” he told the soldier outside: “Shema Yisrael …”

And the soldier answered, “Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad.” Finally, they felt safe to open the door.

From article by Linda Hirschel entitled From the Gas Chambers to Gaza, Shema Was on Our Lips

Yet, the Shema prayer only appears in the Torah at the fifth book, which means that it was said by Moshe in the fortieth year after the giving of the Torah at Sinai.

Where was the Shema prayer earlier?

And once we are asking. Here is another basic question.

The Shema is a lead up to the next verse. 

One of the most important commandments of the 613. 

Ve’ahavta et Hashem. You shall love Hashem.

Same question. Why does such a fundamental mitzva only get taught forty years into the journey, just before Moshe passes away?

Let us think about love and discuss some basic facts about love.

Sometimes love is automatic. Spontaneous. A natural response to the circumstances.

Most babies are loveable. 

During the courtship and early stages of marriage love seems to be natural and effortless.

When a business partnership is thriving, the partners may feel quite appreciative of each other. It would seem like the ideal model.

In the fairy tales, we could now say that ‘they lived happily ever after’ and close the book.

In real life, it is hardly ever like that.

Kids grow up and the love is challenged.

Parents start going to parenting courses on how to love their child once the kids start growing up and doing their own thing. They seem less naturally loveable at that state. Sometimes mindfulness and rational thinking is required to guide the parents over the humps of dysfunctional parenting, into healthy love.

Kids may have to invest and work on loving their parents.

Self-driving may or may not work in today’s new technology heavy cars. In marriages, it is not at all advisable. Couples must work on their relationship if they want their marriage to endure.

Business partnerships usually develop some hints of disunity. Partners need to invest efforts in keeping the harmonious balance in their joint enterprise.

The first forty years that the Jews were in the desert, there was no need to instruct them to love G-d.

They were in the idyllic state of being totally enveloped with G-d’s kindnesses.

Yes, most of the time the Jewish people had a paradise-like experience in the desert.

I know that it doesn’t sound like that when you read the Torah.

That is because bad news makes for larger headlines.

Our memories and impressions are often formed by sporadic extraordinary episodes that take place. Even though in terms of quantity, they are nowhere near the majority of the days of our life.

Even in the Torah this is the case.

When you read about the sojourn of the Jewish people in the desert, it seems full of drama. Never a dull moment.

When you select out the few incidents that were spread over the first year in the desert and the event of the last year, you have some thirty-eight years of ‘boring’ and ‘routine’ living. 

Pleasantly boring. 

Dependable source of food. 

Mana fell from heaven six times a week. Friday a double portion fell to provide for Shabbat.

Water was provided by the miraculous ‘well of Miriam’. 

Their clothing was preserved by the divine ‘clouds of glory’ that enveloped them. Those clouds also protected them from the elements and smoothed out the terrain in front of them.

They had none of the usual concerns and worries of making a living. Neither did they have health issues for nearly forty years.

The natural state of being for the Jews living in that environment was an awareness that Hashem is their provider. No need for reinforcing that belief by declaring the Shema Yisrael.

Also, as they all saw and felt that it was G-d who is providing all of this beneficence, they naturally and instinctively loved G-d.

There was no need to instruct them to make efforts to love Him.

Now the Jewish people are poised to enter Israel. 

No more miraculous sustenance. Ploughing, sowing, harvesting and all the other strenuous stages of preparation till one gets an edible loaf of bread.

This is not by mistake, this is by Hashems design. Our mission here in life is to engage in the material world and infuse it with purpose and meaning.

The challenge that Hashem introduces into the mission is the hiddenness of His presence. He chooses to have us live in a natural environment without overriding the system continually with miracles. 

We now need to search for him. 

Loving G-d will not be instinctive anymore. It needs to be consciously aroused.

Now let’s get practical. For here and now 2024. 

How do you bring yourself to love G-d? 

Isn’t love only an instinctive emotional expression. If you love something you love it, if you don’t, you don’t.

Can you tell someone ‘love healthy food’?

Most mothers would love to tell their children that.

The answer is that one can bring oneself to love something if one contemplates and internalizes the goodness and importance of it.

Loving G-d is really about being mindful of G-d, His greatness and most importantly His relevance to my life.

By thinking about all the good that Hashem does for us, we will be aroused to love Him.

If you are not immediately sure that Hashem does myriads of good things for you personally, stop and pause. Take a moment to be honest with yourself.

True, we have selective memories. Ask someone about their memorable moments and they will recount the high points of their life and the low points. And many people have weathered many difficult and painful moments during their lifetimes.

However, for the majority of people most of life is lived in the middle zone. In the nondescript uneventful flow of life with its occasional rises and drops that are not newsworthy.

During that ‘routine life’, there is so much blessing that we can and ought to be mindful about.

The question we need to ask ourselves is how much time do we take to reflect on the good that Hashem does for us in our personal life?

The difference between feeling love to Hashem and not feeling that love is all in the mind.

The moment we will be mindful about what Hashem gives us and the all-encompassing embrace that He wraps around us, we will be aroused with a feeling of attraction and love towards Him.

This weeks Parsha is a reminder to us. To pay more attention to the passages we say at least twice daily. It is a mitzvah to say Shma Yisrael and the subsequent verses about loving Hashem in the morning and evening. Click here for the text

Because we say it so often, we don’t always reflect meaningfully enough on the depth of what we are saying.

Pause. Reflect. Contemplate. 

Every breath is a blessing from G-d. Your biological systems are blessings from G-d. Food, shelter, family, nachas and everything else we often take for granted, are all from our loving Creator.

He is the source of all of that. He is one. He is the ONLY one. There is no power outside of Him. Once you realize He is the provider of all your beneficence your heart will be aflame. 

You will love G-d.

The word V’ahavta translates both as instruction – you shall love G-d.

And an affirmation. You will love G-d.

This Shabbat is called Shabbat Nachamu – the Shabbat of Comfort. Post Tisha B’av we read the Haftorah from the prophets starting with the words ‘nachamu nachamu ami’ ‘comfort, comfort, my people’. Click here for Rabbi Shais talk on this.

We pray and hope that as we emerge from remembering the destruction on Tisha B’av, we become comforted. We look forward eagerly to the time when Hashem will show us how the destruction was only to make way for the building of the Third Bet Hamikdash. 

Once the building commences, the destruction will be recognized as not having been destruction in the first place, rather it was the first stage of the demolition/renovation/rebuilding. Of the Third and eternal Temple. 

May the world be immediately blessed with the security, healing, unity and peace of Mashiach’s arrival.

Amen.

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

A joke to begin with.

Shlomo and Miriam Cohen were visiting Shlomo’s 95-year-old Zadie when he asked them to take him to buy a new Shabbos hat.

Shlomo was worried that Zadie wouldn’t have enough money to buy the hat and might become embarrassed, so he asked the salesperson to tell Zadie that whichever hat he chose costs $25 and Shlomo would pay the difference. Zadie picked out a beautiful new Shabbos hat and was charged $25. After he left, Shlomo paid the other $175.

Later Zadie said, "What a bargain! The last one I bought there, cost me $200!"

I think back to this as it seems to me that there is a habit that some people have which they confuse with being a ‘Jewish custom’ of sorts.

I mean the excitement of getting something for free. Or at least heavily discounted. Or at the very furthest extreme at least not paying retail prices. Some (jokingly?) say that it seems almost sinful to buy something without fierce bargaining.

This weeks Parsha has a verse that jumps out at me because it dispels the notion that paying for something is wrong when you may be able to finagle or beg for it and get if for free.

Here are the verses I am referring to (using the Kehot interpolated translation incorporating Rashi’s commentary to the text).

The background is, that as the Jews were getting closer to Israel, they passed by neighboring countries. Hashem told them that they skirt those borders but could engage with the inhabitants to procure food and drink.

Devarim Chapter 2 verse 6: You may buy food from them with money, that you may eat; and you may also buy water from them with money, that you may drink.

7: In fact, you should purchase food from them, in order to show that God, your God, has blessed you in whatever you do and that you have thus become wealthy. As you know, He was intimately aware of your needs during your trek through this great desert; you have lacked nothing throughout these forty years that God, your God, has been with you.” ’

This verse and the reasoning present a different perspective on the ‘custom’ of bargaining.

Let me clarify myself here. I am not advocating extravagance of wastefulness.

We are taught in the Torah not to be wasteful. Every resource we have in our reach should be incorporated and used in our mission here on earth to serve the Almighty. 

The Torah tells us how Yaakov went back over the river to retrieve some inexpensive items he had left behind. Yaakov was a wealthy man at the time but since everything one owns should be utilized in the service of G-d, a Tzadik doesn’t walk away from things objects that he can incorporate into his Divine service.

Click here for a kabalistic teaching by the Arizal on this verse.

I recall that the Rebbe rejected the new roomy more luxurious car that some supporters wanted to give to him. He said that the old car did the job just fine, and it had taken him on many important journeys (between home, office and the resting place of his sainted father-in-law at the Ohel). It would be a waste to get a new car. He continued using the old car till his passing.  

Clearly, we need to be mindful of how we spend resources even if we have much more than we can spend.

Hashem gives us what we have, and it is intended to be used meaningfully.

But there are other factors that need to be taken into account as well.

Recently my father shared with me a Yiddish idiom he heard from his grandmother when he was a child. ‘Better to throw out than to throw in’.  

It refers to the prohibition of wasting food. What happens when there are a few pieces of food left over, without anyone to eat it before it goes off. 

In the olden days, there was usually not an oversupply of food, and the tradition was ‘don’t throw out food’. Rather eat the food so it is not wasted. 

Today, there is often (thank G-d) food left over. Sometimes in the name of not being wasteful one will eat more than they intended. ‘It’s a waste to throw out such good, tasty, expensive food’ one says.

However, we may be overlooking other factors. We all know that overeating has consequences that are not beneficial. The ‘price’ and ‘expense’ that the human body pays for ingesting the additional food is no less wasteful of a behavior.

Thus, it really makes sense to remember that, ‘throwing out is better than throwing in’. (In the original Yiddish ‘aroisvarfen is besser vi areinvarfen’).

What this week’s Parsha may be teaching us is that there is an additional dimension to consider when we act overly frugal.

Part of our mission here on earth is to proclaim the existence of G-d.

We are walking ‘marketing agents’ for G-d’s presence here on earth.

Our sages taught besides the mitzvah that we have to love G-d, we are also enjoined to bring others to love G-d.

How does one do that? 

One way is, not by lecturing about G-d but by acting kind and nice beyond the usual expectations of society. When someone who believes in G-d acts extraordinarily honest and caring, they are advertising that G-d is the source of all good and kind things. This will engender the love toward G-d in society at large.

Another way we cause people to come closer to G-d is to share how benevolent He is to us. 

This is why it is not enough to be internally thankful to Hashem for His kindness to us. We are instructed to share our gratitude out loud. The song that the Jewish people sang at the splitting of the sea was a classic example of ‘if you are happy and you know it sing a song of praise to G-d’.

When someone is granted a miracle where his life was saved from an almost certain fatal danger, there is a custom to make a ‘seudat hodaah’ a feast of thanksgiving and invite family and friends to publicize G-d’s miraculous intervention. 

When we portray ourselves as being poor and needy, what message are we communicating about G-d’s kindness and beneficence?  

Acting poor and needy is a statement that loudly pronounces that you have scarce resources. Scrounging for free food would be creating an image that the Jewish people are an abandoned needy people. 

If one needs help, it is foolish and conceited to be too proud to ask. Hashem created his world with an imbalance of resources so that we should be given the gift of giving and the humility of receiving.

But in this case the Jewish people were no needy. The opposite was true.

While they were traveling in the desert, G-d had given them every need, way beyond subsistence. G-d had made them wealthy. 

They may need food on their journey, but they can well afford to buy it.

And in this way, by buying their food rather than begging for it, they are showing that G-d has taken care of them in a generous way.

May I apply this a little more broadly to the way we talk about our connection to the land of Israel.

Sometimes I sense an apologetic bent in the way Jewish people speak about Israel.

As if we are uninvited and unwanted guests that are somehow tolerated but we should make sure not to speak up too loudly. We are expected to quietly accept whatever policies or dictates the ‘world leaders’ impose upon us.

It is important to remember. We are not ‘beggars’ in the world arena who need to ask and curry favor from the nations of the world to have the right to exist in our land and defend our people.

Hashem gave us our land.

He created it. He gave it to us. There were some periods in history when He took it from us, but essentially and existentially He gave his promised land to His promised People. 

Period.

Lying low, trying not to attract attention and with our body language acting as if we are intruders of colonists who have invaded a land is simply a misrepresentation.

So is relying on the UN resolution that granted the modern-day Israel its right to statehood. It is a shallow point that takes away attention from our truthful Biblical claim to Israel. UN resolutions can come and go. G-d’s words in the Torah are eternal.

The Jewish claim to the land of Israel is simple. It is a gift from G-d. To our forefathers Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov. And to us, the eternal Jewish people who are their direct descendants. 

It is disrespectful to Hashem to act as if we are recipients of the nations-of-the-worlds kindness when really our thanks should go to G-d.

We welcome and bless all who help us, and indeed we are blessed that there are nations who choose to help us. Hashem promises to bless those who support His people. As the Torah says ‘those who bless you will be blessed’. 

In this week’s Parshah the Torah tells us and reminds us that if we have been given a gift, we ought to thank Hashem for it and openly acknowledge the great blessing that He has given us.

With prayers for our soldiers, our hostages, our wounded and the millions of brothers and sisters living with such faith and determination. 

May Hashem bless us to bring Mashiach and be brought to Eretz Yisrael (every single one of us) to witness the building of the Bet Hamikdash, the ushering in of permanent world peace, and the transformation of Tisha B’av into a day of joy and jubilance.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

Assumptions are so important.

How could any of us make plans or decisions without feeling comfortable assuming certain things.

Have you ever bought an airline ticket?

Taken on a monthly mortgage repayment?

Committed to a spouse in marriage?

All these things require assumptions.

You assume that you will still be able to make the trip once the date of the flight arrives.

Mortgage payments can only be made if you have the resources to pay. The bank and you assume that you will be earning enough funds to pay your obligations for the next twenty – thirty years.

Marriage requires the great leap of faith that your spouse will turn out to be what you assume them to be.

To make it simple.

Have you made plans for today? Did you make those plans before today, perhaps yesterday?

That required (an implicit belief in G-d and) an assumption that G-d will grant you life this morning. 

Assumptions can also be misleading and even dangerous.

This week’s Parsha of Pinchas talks about Hashem's final decision that Moshe will not be the one to lead the Jewish People into Israel. The leadership will be handed over to Joshua. 

The Torah spells out Moshe’s mistake for all to see. Hashem clearly states the reason that he is not allowing Moshe (or Aharon) to enter the Promised Land is because they hit the rock instead of speaking to the rock. 

By providing water to the Jewish people in a different mode than instructed by G-d, was a ‘sin’ that denied Moshe the ultimate gift of leading his people into the land.

Why so? What was so grave about hitting the rock instead of speaking to the rock?

The core of the answer is as follows. Speaking to the rock in the presence of the Jewish people and having them all see how the rock miraculously gives forth water, would have caused the name of G-d to be glorified and sanctified. 

The message would have been ‘if even a rock is able to give forth water by merely being spoken to by G-d, we, the Jewish people how much more so we must listen to the word of G-d’.

Because of Moshe’s great and lofty level of saintliness, the small misstep of the missing of that opportunity is significant enough to have Hashem take away his entry into the land of Israel.

Why does the Torah state the cause of this prohibition of entry at every juncture that it arises? Is it not disrespectful to Moshe to repeat several times in the Torah his mistake of hitting the rock?

Rashi brings the following answer.

It would be more disrespectful not to spell out the issue clearly. Assumptions would be made about Moshe that would be worse than what actually happened.

It would be said that Moshe was part of the various rebellions against G-d that various sectors of the Jewish people had engaged in during their forty years of sojourn in the desert.

The parable is given:

Two women are brought to the Jewish court (in Biblical times when Jewish law governed the nation of Israel).

One has been convicted of promiscuity G-d forbid. If the proper advance warning procedure is followed, the punishment of lashes is administered. 

Another woman was also being punished by the court. Her violation is a much lower-level infraction. She has eaten the fruits of the Sabbatical year when they are still not ripe. The Rabbi’s decreed that this is a prohibition as the fruits of the Shmita are holy and intended only for proper consumption as an edible. Eating an unripe fruit is considered ‘destroying’ the fruit, not ‘consuming’ the fruit.

There is a vast difference between the moral violation of promiscuity to the subtle violation of misuse of the Sabbatical years fruit.

The woman who has committed the minor infraction requests that her violation be publicized. 

So that it is not thought that she too has been morally sinful.

I am sure that you can find parallels to this today, which I will leave to your imagination.

True, Moshe and Aharon erred. But it wasn’t a rebellious act of sin. It was a subtle and almost negligible change in fulfilling Hashem's instruction. After all, forty years earlier Hashem had told Moshe to hit the rock and bring forth water. The fact that after speaking to the rock and not getting results, he assumed that maybe he should try hitting the rock is hardly a reason for Hashem to punish him.

Yet, Moshe’s greatness is what causes him to be judged so exactingly. 

With Tzadikim the bar is higher than with regular lay people, and they are held to much higher level of perfection.

Moshe understood that some people may not understand this. They may assume that his non-entry into Israel is just the same as the People of Israel’s non-entry. That it was a result of not believing in G-d. 

Moshe wanted the narrative to be very clear that he believed in G-d fully and the only reason he was not being allowed to go to Israel was the omission of speaking to the rock and further sanctifying G-d’s name.

I recall a story told about the Rebbe when he was running from the Nazis. One of his sojourns was in the city of Vichy, France. The authorities required all residents to be registered. When the registrar came to the Rebbe’s hotel, the Rebbe’s wife stated their religion as ‘Orthodox’. When the Rebbe came home, his wife shared this incident with him. The Rebbe promptly went to the registration office to amend the religion to read ‘Jewish Orthodox’. For ‘Orthodox’ could have been assumed to mean Greek Orthodox or something like that.  

The Rebbe stated, ‘I don’t want to be separated from Hashem even if only on paper’.

Moshe insists that his minor sin be recorded in the Torah, so that there can be no misunderstanding from what is written in the Torah that he had been participant in a sinful group that rebelled against G-d, Heaven forfend.

If I wasn’t sure what topic to write about today, Hashem sent me a sign.

Yesterday I wrote a note to a vendor in the USA that did some work for the new Synagogue being built in Bangkok’s Sukhumvit Soi 22. I asked him for more favorable payments terms. Sometime after midnight, my telephone woke me up (I keep it with me in case someone needs to reach me in an emergency) and I saw this vendors name on the call screen. I assumed that he was calling me to discuss my request which could certainly wait till the next day. 

I assumed that he simply didn’t realize the time difference. When I looked at the text messages, I saw that it was indeed an emergency and called him right back. He has a family member traveling in Asia and they had a medical emergency. The emergency was not in Thailand but since he is contact with me, and I live in Asia he reached out to me. May Hashem send complete and swift healing!

This was a personal reminder to me not to assume and jump to conclusions without investigating what the situation is.

What was remarkably Providential to me was the fact that I was thinking to write this article about assumptions, but I wasn’t sure. Having a personal story like this happen to me on Thursday night as I was formulating my weekly article, was like a sign from Heaven to write about this topic.

(As I thought about it more I realized that the very opening of the Parsha is also about dispelling assumptions. See below*).

We are humans, and we all make assumptions.

Thankfully we have Hashem's guidance that tells us what direction our assumptions should be leaning toward.

The Pirkei Avot teaches ‘judge every person in a favorable way’. 

Here is a story that R’ Yanky Tauber shared that brings the point home:

R’ YT relates: The incident I'm going to tell you about occurred more than ten years ago, but hardly a week goes by in which I don't think about it.

I had popped into a Jerusalem synagogue for minchah (afternoon prayers). A few rows in front of me there was this man, sitting with his four kids. The fellow in front of him had his arm over the back of the bench, and the fellow behind him was also disturbing him in some way. He kept snapping at his kids. What a jerk, I thought to myself. Ok, you're nervous, you're rude, that's fine, there are lots of nervous and rude people in these stress-ridden times, but does the whole world have to know it?

I'm really a live-and-let-live kind of guy, but this fellow was impossible to ignore. His ill-will and discontent filled the room. Yes, I thought, your kids are a rowdy bunch, but do you have to yell at them all the time? Why don't you leave them home if they get on your nerves so much?

At the conclusion of the service, his four kids—the twelve-year old, the nine-year old, the eight-year old and the six-year old—stood in a row and recited the mourner's kaddish. What a jerk, I muttered—meaning myself of course—my face hot with shame.

(Click here for an in-depth article about this topic. Or click here for a short lecture by Chana Weisberg on this topic). 

How fortunate we are that the Torah clearly guides us on being positive people. On projection a positive outlook on those around us. On seeing the inherent good at every juncture possible.

The way we judge others is the way Hashem ultimately judges us.

Let us judge others the way we want to be judged. 

With a good and positive eye.

Especially during these ‘Three weeks’ of national mourning, when we remember the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash, we need to mindful of how we can rectify the cause of the destruction.

This exile started almost two thousand years ago because of ‘Sinat Chinam’ – baseless hatred – the way to fix it is by love without strings attached.

One of the important mindsets to have, is the ability to assume that your fellow is good at his or her core. 

May we all have much success in creating an atmosphere of unity and love within Am Yisrael.

We pray for the hostages, the soldiers, the wounded and for Am Yisrael at large, to merit to bring this world to its perfected state with the coming of Mashiach NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

*here is a brief explanation of how the Torah dispels the assumption one may have made about Pinchas’ character. Or click here for more in-depth on this topic.

Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aaron ( Numbers 25:10)

Why does Gd refer to Pinchas as “the son of Elazar the son of Aaron”? Because the tribes of Israel were mocking him, saying, “Have you seen this son of the fattener, whose mother’s father (Jethro) fattened calves for idolatrous sacrifices, and now he goes and kills a prince in Israel?” Therefore, Gd traces his lineage to Aaron.

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 82b)

Few professions are as cruel and inhumane as the fattening of calves for slaughter. So when Pinchas slew Zimri, many said: “Look at this holy zealot! He acts as if motivated by the desire to avenge the honor of Gd and save the people, but in truth he has merely found a holy outlet for his cruel and violent nature. After all, it’s in his blood—just look at his maternal grandfather . . .” So Gd described him as “Pinchas the son of Elazar the son of Aaron” in order to attest that in character and temperament he actually took after his paternal grandfather—the compassionate and peace-loving Aaron.

The true greatness of Pinchas lay in that he acted in complete opposition to his nature, transcending his inborn instincts to bring peace between Gd and Israel.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

The bombs were falling on Warsaw in September of 1939. Under the barrage of the German onslaught, the residents of the bustling Polish capital were sheltering in basements. A nearby building collapsed from a direct hit.

Rabbi Yosef Yitschak Schneersohn the sixth Rebbe of Chabad addressed those sheltering with him with calming words.

‘Every bullet has an address’. Even during times of war, when mayhem reigns, the Divine precise providence of G-d is in charge.

There is a pattern we find with true leaders.

They don’t spread panic and fear.

It requires balance.

Certainly, one must do everything humanly possible to protect oneself from danger. A responsible leader shares pertinent information if there is something that needs to be done.

At the same time, a true leader projects and exudes calmness and inner resolve and fortitude. A leader who shepherds their flock with faith, doesn’t need to fearmonger to stay relevant.

We see this so clearly in this week’s Parsha

Balak is the king of Moav. When he gets information that frightens him, he passes it straight on to his nation and now they are all dread filled.

Contrast that with Moshe’s leadership. Moshe is scared of Og, but he keeps his fears to himself and exudes confidence to his people.

This has its applications to the way we act as leaders of our families and any other leadership role we may play.

The ramifications and sometimes long-term effects can be huge. Take this story for example:

"A young girl from a very poor family was having terrifying dreams. Her parents consulted a rabbi about this problem. He said: "The Sages say that we dream at night what we think about during the day. Ask your daughter what she is afraid of."

When they asked her, she replied: "I often see how you both sit and worry over the poverty we live in. Of everything, I am most afraid of your fear…"

Click here for a fuller explanation of this and the way R’ MK sums it up in the below one-liner.

So fake it, in order for your child (or spouse or friend) to make it.

I would like to pick up on the axiom that ‘every bullet has an address’.

Earlier this week there was a bullet that seemed to have an address.

A US presidential candidate.

G-d Almighty showed His Hashgacha Pratit – Divine individual providence.

Mr. Trump moved his head ever so slightly, the bullet aimed at his head grazed his ear and brought forth blood, but nothing more serious took place.

I have not read any political analysis of this story at all.

If I thought the story was about politics, I wouldn’t address it in this article.

The lessons we take from this event is what I am seeking here.

Click here to read the Rebbe’s remarks after the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981.

As well, I would like to focus on our gratitude to Hashem for His miracles.

To me it seems that regardless of one’s political affiliation or preference, one should be mindful of the miracle that happened and thank Hashem for showing His precise supervision.

Would have the assassin have been successful in killing Mr. Trump, there may have been massive instability in the USA.

This would inevitably have spilled over into the world at large.

Our world is unstable enough as it is with the major issues and crises that are currently going on…

In this unplanned, instinctive and purely providential head movement of a mere millimeter or two, the trajectory of world history was affected.

What is uniquely remarkable about this incident is the fact that it is documented by pictures that were being snapped at the exact time that the bullet was making its way to and past the would-be victims’ head.

This makes me want to stop and think for a moment about all the miracles that are taking place far from the camera lens. And far from our conscious awareness.

Remember the Covid 19 pandemic?

The pandemic highlighted how many trillions of microbes exist in our bodies. And how critical it is that they coexist and interact with each other. An errant microbe resulted in millions of deaths around the world.

Every microbe is under the direct supervision of Hashem.

It’s a mind-boggling statement to make but it is at the core of our belief in G-d.

Can one even imagine how much coordination needs to take place for the human body to function healthily?

A while back I was transiting through a huge airport. We had deplaned from a bus gate. The bus to the terminal from the plane was driving for a full fifteen minutes through the labyrinth of planes, gates, luggage crates and catering trucks.

It dawned on me that to keep an airport running is a mammoth organizational challenge.

There must be very expensive computer programs that help bring all the parts together. Hundreds or perhaps thousands of employees pool their abilities together to keep an airport running.

Our very own bodies are even more complex.

The eyes we view the world with. An eye is incredibly complex.

Our gut is another wondrous hive of activity. It is constantly active with trillions of microbes dancing in unison to take care of our nutrition delivery and waste elimination.

Some miracles can be caught on camera. Like the assassination attempt last week.

Others, we know about and understand and appreciate Hashem’s kindness only after we realize that they have happened.

Yet other miracles we may never even find out about.

The cancer gene that Hashem didn’t allow to metastasize and develop, and it stayed dormant till the person passed away from old age.

The would-be terrorist who got cold feet just before carrying out his murderous plans.

The virus that you didn’t catch.

The close to one thousand breaths we breathe every hour.

And the many other myriads of miracles that happen out of our sight or awareness.

For all of these and more we thank Hashem.

We have the morning blessings that address the wonders of the gifts we get just by opening our eyes, putting our feet to the floor, going to the bathroom and getting dressed.

One of those open miracles is the victory that Rabbi Yosef Yitschak had over the KGB in 1927 after he was arrested for ‘subversive’ activities of teaching Jewish children Torah, keeping mikvah’s open, sending rabbis to lead Jewish community and establish Yeshivas. The communists were bent on stamping out connection and belief in G-d.

The Rebbe was courageously fighting to teach and inspire Jews and especially children to be faithful to G-d and His Torah.

The soviets arrested the Rebbe and sentenced him. First to ‘the opposite of life’. This was then changed to ten years of exile in Siberia. It was then further changed to three years exile in a closer location. A bit more than a week after arriving at his exile the Rebbe was released outright and emigrated from Russia.

It's 97 years later, the same calendar day as the great miracle release from the clutches of the Soviets which was a statistical impossibility.

Therefore, the way the Jewish calendar works, in a cyclical way, there are ‘victory and liberational possibilities in the air’ today.

Today is a good day to open up our eyes and see the miracles Hashem is doing for us.

Let those miracles inspire us to come closer to Him.

If it seems like the odds are against us, or the barriers in the way of reaching your aspirations are too formidable, utilize the potential for miracles and liberation on this day of redemption.

May we be blessed with miracles, liberation and transformation.

In this week’s parsha of Balak, the curses that Balaam tries to give, are transformed into blessing.

There is a timely transformation that we are aspiring to later next week.

The transformation of the upcoming ‘three weeks of national mourning’ (starting with the fast of 17^th of Tammuz on this coming Tuesday click here for more and culminating in Tisha B’av three weeks later).

May these days be transformed to days of Redemption with the coming of Mashiach.

AMEN

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

Dear Friend,

Earlier this week I waited in a line, in the NY heat wave, that took four hours to complete.

Whilst waiting, I gained a deeper appreciation for the Rebbe’s greatness. And a new perspective on the story in this week’s Parsha about Moshe hitting the rock.

Here is what I mean.

Three thousand three hundred (and some) years ago, Moshe was chosen by G-d to shepherd the Jewish people.

Taking them out of Egypt, through the sea that split, transmitting the word of Hashem at Sinai and bringing them to the banks of the Jordan river poised to enter Israel.

Ever since then, the Jewish people has been gifted with shepherds that guided, uplifted, advocated and motivated the Jewish people of their generation.

The Rebbe, whose day of passing we marked earlier this week, was a modern-day Moshe, the leader and shepherd of our generation.

As I mentioned, I waited close to four hours in a line of people that entered the Ohel of the Rebbe for two minutes of prayer time.

In those two minutes as I walked by the Rebbe’s resting place with the line that passed through the Ohel, I crammed in prayers for myself, my loved ones, my community, my partners and for the collective of Am Yisrael.

(During the year one can pray there for as long as one wants. On the Hilula/Yartzeit day of passing, when tens of thousands of people want to visit on the same day, the time is limited).

I didn’t feel frustrated by the long lines.

On the contrary, I was inspired.

The obviousness of the relevance of the Rebbe’s legacy is the fact that more and more people are inspired to come and soak up the atmosphere and blessings of the Tzadik.

Thirty years ago, the crowds were considerably smaller. The line would have taken less than an hour. Now the lines are four hours.

The facts speak louder than any explanation or sermon.  There is a reason why myriads of people are paying a visit to the grave of a person who passed away thirty years ago.

People are usually forgotten after they pass.

(Thank G-d for that. It allows people to move on and not get mired in sadness).

With Tzadikim things are a lot different.

A Tzadik continues to live even after they have physically passed away.

Through his teachings. Through his students, you and I, who glean inspiration and commitment to Hashem via his guidance.

After standing on my feet in a line for four hours and feeling quite tired, I got a new perspective and deeper appreciation of the incredible shepherding of the Rebbe.

The Rebbe stood on his feet for more than four hours every week greeting people. During his eighties. In respect to those who came to see him, he didn’t even agree to sit down but stood as he greeted those who came to meet him.

Click here to see how the Rebbe greeted thousands of Jews ever Sunday to give them a dollar to give to a needy person.

Here am I, a youngish person, yet after four hours on my feet I was a bit tired.

Additionally, I know how emotionally depleted I feel on a day that I have had multiple meetings with all kinds of people. Meeting people is tiring. You have to focus on the person. Then you need to remove your focus from the first person and refocus on the next one.

Exhausting work.

The Rebbe did it, week after week, with thousands of people.

Is it difficult to fathom?

Yes.

It highlights the fact that we really don’t understand the life and feelings of a Tzadik. Saintliness is a plateau that is achieved by only a select few. It is not a standard experience that we can really say we feel.

We humans tend to judge other people based on the feelings and thoughts we have ourselves. If we truly understand what a Tzadik is, we will understand that we cannot understand them. They are too different. On a totally different level.

For example. Do you ever feel an urge to do something wrong?

Think about it for a minute. Honestly. Even if you have never acted on your desire, it is almost guaranteed that you have felt a pull to do something inappropriate.

A true Tzadik never contemplates or is even pulled in the direction of doing something wrong.

You and I cannot begin to comprehend what it must feel like to be a Tzadik and totally sublimated and committed to Hashem.

That is why it is so difficult to understand the ‘sin’ of Moshe in this week’s portion. Where Moshe doesn’t speak to the rock but hits it. And Hashem gets angry and says that Moshe will have to stay in the desert.

It cannot be so simple. It doesn’t make sense that Moshe simply did not follow Hashems instructions.

The commentaries offer many perspectives. Click here for some.

Allow me to share the one I felt connected to most this week.

The opportunity for sanctifying Hashems name in the story of the rock is as follows.

The rock giving water after merely being spoken to, would create a chastisement of the Jewish people.

‘If even a rock gives water when Moshe speaks to it by command of Hashem, how much more so the Jewish people should be obedient of Hashems commandments to them’

It was precisely this comparison which would paint the Jewish people in a non-favorable light that Moshe wished to avoid.

He disregarded what not speaking to the rock would mean for his own future. Indeed, he didn’t go into Israel because of this. But he protected the Jewish people by not allowing this comparison to be drawn.

This interpretation fits my image of true leadership of a Tzadik. As it fits well with my vivid memories of the Rebbe standing for many many hours on his feet, gazing into the eyes of Am Yisrael as they walked by him for blessing.

The Rebbe life was lived in selfless service of the Jewish people.

His mission was to uncover and develop the innate greatness in each person.

Click here to hear from four leaders about the impact the Rebbe had on their lives even though they never met him.

The lesson is crystal clear.

We ought to carry out more acts of selflessness, giving to others and looking out for the good of the collective.

At the core it is about asking yourself, not what is best for me, but what is best for those around me.

What is best for the Jewish people.

And march forward with energy and joy to implement it.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS Click here to see a clip highlighting the Rebbe’s message of empowerment for each of us.

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

I had a very inspiring ‘joining of the dots’ happen to me over the past few weeks. I would like to share it with you. Pretend you are watching footage from my ‘bodycam’.

Earlier this week the following story was told in the Talmud I was teaching (tractate Berachot 5):

The Gemara relates another story regarding acknowledgement of the justice of divine punishment: 

Four hundred barrels of Rav Huna’s wine fermented and turned into vinegar, causing him great financial loss. Rav Yehuda, the brother of Rav Sala the Pious, along with the Sages, and some say Rav Adda bar Ahava, along with the Sages, entered to visit him, and said: The Master should examine his actions, as perhaps he committed a transgression for which he is being punished.
Rav Huna said to them: Am I suspect in your eyes? Have I committed a transgression on account of which you advise me to examine my behavior?
They said to him: Is the Holy One, Blessed be He, suspect that He exacts punishment without justice? Your loss was certainly just, and you must examine your conduct to find out why. The Sages were aware of a flaw in Rav Huna’s conduct, to which they alluded (Tosafot).

Rav Huna said to them: If someone has heard something improper that I have done, let him say so. They said to him: We have heard that the Master does not give a share of his grapevines to his tenant farmers. A tenant farmer is entitled to a portion of the crop grown on his landlord’s property, as well as a share of the vines planted during a given year.

Rav Huna said to them: Does this tenant farmer leave me anything from the produce that he grows on my property? He steals it all. Consequently, in denying him his share of the grapevines I am simply recouping that which was stolen from me by this tenant farmer.

They said to him: That is the meaning of the folk saying: One who steals from a thief has a taste of theft. Despite the fact that the property was stolen to begin with, one nevertheless engages in theft. Although he did not violate a prohibition per se, it is still a form of theft, and one who is held to a higher standard than others will be punished for it.
He said to them: I accept upon myself to give my tenant farmer his portion in the future.
Thereupon, as a result of Rav Huna’s repentance, God restored his loss. Some say his vinegar turned back into wine, and some say that the price of vinegar rose and it was sold at the price of wine.

(copied from Torah Texts by Chabad.org)

As I was reading Rav Huna’s heartfelt question ‘have I done anything wrong to deserve this great loss’? someone else’s voice popped up in my mind.

A few weeks ago, when I was in NY, a businessman friend asked me to come over to his home for a chat. Sipping wine in his backyard he opened his heart to me that times were tough for him financially. Particularly he was bothered by a seventy-thousand-dollar payment that was being withheld for a construction job he had completed for a building contractor. 

‘What am I doing wrong’? was his anguished cry. ‘Tell me Rabbi Kantor, what more can I be doing in my service of Hashem, in my study, in my observance, in my Tzedaka giving’?

I felt sorry for him. I believed him that he is trying to serve Hashem to the best of his ability. Of course, it would be misplaced of me to try and answer his question. Hashem has His reasons, and we don’t always have to understand them. I blessed him. ‘May Hashem shower you with an abundance of parnassah (‘wherewithal’).

As the conversation unfolded, there was something that my friend mentioned that I considered very significant. He mentioned that his kitchen was inadequate for the large amount of hosting that he and his wife do on the Shabbat and Chagim. He told me that his wife was a bit fed up and wanted to do a major overhaul but as he had just explained, he couldn’t see how to do it.

My mind started racing. 

I pointed out to my friend the statement in the Talmud

A person must always be careful about sustaining the honor of his wife, as blessing is found in a person’s house only because of his wife, …. And that is what Rava said to the residents of Meḥoza, where he lived: Honor your wives, so that you will become rich.

And I shared that I had read many letters written by the Rebbe where he had urged that the house and its furnishings be according to the taste of the wife. 

Could it be that this is where you could get better? To really make every effort to get your wife a more functional kitchen with which she could be happy.

My friend agreed in concept, that when times would improve he would make his wife’s kitchen a top priority. 

This was two weeks ago. This week when I read this story of Rav Huna in the Talmud, this story jumped back into my mind. I was happy to teach the happy ending in Rav Huna’s case. The moment that he had identified where he could better his behavior towards his farmer, Hashem turned around his financial loss and he recouped his money. 

Now that my friend had firmly decided to get his wife a kitchen that she would be happy with, shouldn’t my friends story also have a happy ending, I thought to myself.

In the middle of the night (in Bangkok local time) I got a text from my friend. It was a picture of a check for more than thirty-four thousand dollars. 

In the morning, he explained to me what happened. His wife had called and asked him to accompany her to shop for something that needed to be upgraded in the kitchen (even before the major renovation). It was a busy day, the workers needed to be supervised, but as he is self-employed, he was able to make the noble and holy decision that his wife’s request should come first. He dropped everything he was involved with and took her shopping. As he dropped his wife off back home after their shopping trip, he got an email with a picture of the check that was waiting to be picked up.

When he went to pick it up, someone he didn’t know walked into the room. The unknown man praised him for his craftsmanship. It was the owner of that very company. And the conversation continued right then and there for additional even more significant work in the future.

I was so inspired to hear this story play out in 2024. Just as it had been recorded in the Talmud almost two thousand years ago.

It speaks to one of the basic premises and truisms of our Torah. 

Hashem is true. His Torah is true.

Following the path of Hashem is the source of all blessing.

If you do what Hashem wants, you are connected to the greatest faucet of blessing, not just in terms of spirituality, but right here down on earth.

It is this reality that is at the heart of the Mitzvah campaigns that the Rebbe promoted. 

Tefillin, Shabbat candles, Mezuzah, Mikvah - Family Purity are some of the ten.

In particular these mitzvahs engender peace, security, health, and protection for our soldiers and for our people. In Israel and wherever Jewish people live.

How can a kosher mezuzah bring security and safety to the home?

What is the connection between us laying Tefillin and the soldier’s safety in their holy work in protection of Israel?

How does eating kosher food promote material health?

How does keeping the laws of Family Purity bring blessings for physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy children?

At the core of our Torah is the belief that Hashem created the world and its entirety. 

The blueprints of the world are the Torah.

When a Jew fulfils his mitzvahs he or she is connecting to Hashem in the deepest and most consummate way.

This connection to Hashem automatically provides the greatest opening of the faucets of blessing even here down on earth.

It is simple. We all believe in Hashem. He created the world. It makes sense to follow the ‘instructions’ of the ‘manufactuer’.

But I will admit, it is not always easy to keep that mindset.

It is not intended to be effortless.

Hashem designed us with an ‘animal soul’ that tends to be skeptical. 

Hashem embeds into the natural cycle of the world things that obscure His presence. 

And to make thing more confusing, sometimes good people suffer. This creates questions and doubts in the minds of those who witness it.

It is for this reason that Hashem also positions great spiritual leaders into every generation so that we have human beings who by their personal example are living and breathing this absolute connection to G-d in the real world.

Hashem sent Moshe to take the Jews out of Egypt, to teach them the Torah and to shepherd them through the desert on their way to Israel.

In every generation Hashem implanted a continuation of Moshe to shepherd the Jews of that day and age.

The Rebbe’s teachings – (the Hebrew acronym רב"י  stands for ראש בני ישראל ‘head of the generation’ - are so relevant and pertinent for our modern age. 

Find out for yourself.

Explore more of what the Rebbe taught in honor of the thirtieth year of his passing which is going to be on Tuesday Tammuz 3, July 9.

Thirty years is a long time. I miss the Rebbe’s physical presence dearly.

Counterintuitively, the more time that passes, the more that the Rebbe’s teachings and directions for living contemporary life, become prevalent and recognized.

Just look at the growth of the number of Rebbe’s emissaries since his physical passing. At the time of the Rebbe’s passing my wife and I who arrived in Bangkok in 1993, were the second Chabad couple in Asia having arrived several years after the first shluchim to Asia, Rabbi & Mrs. Avtzon in Hong Kong. 

Today, baruch Hashem, there are nearly fifty shluchim couples that serve the Jewish communities of Asia.

The message of the Rebbe is clear. Each of us, you and I, have a mission from Hashem to bring Mashiach. And we have all been provided with the toolbox needed. Torah and Mitzvahs.

Let us ‘wake up and smell the coffee’, that the only and singular way that ensures the eternity and success of the Jewish people nationally, and for each and every Jew individually, is the way that Hashem has instructed us at Sinai. 

Learning Torah and performing Mitzvahs.

This is a blessed life spiritually.

This is a blessed life materially and emotionally. 

May we merit to have MASHIACH come NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Chodesh Tov (tonight thru Sunday is Rosh Chodesh Tammuz)

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS. Thirty years after the Rebbe's passing, his presence is felt stronger than ever. His teachings continue to inspire and guide us, and his insights remain as fresh and relevant as if they were given today. Each of us is a beneficiary of the Rebbe's inspiration in one way or another, and our lives are affected by his visionary leadership.

Click here to explore more about the Rebbe's life and how one can send a letter to his Ohel - resting place and commit to fulfilling more Torah and Mitzvot and making the world more ready for the imminent arrival of Moshiach, AMEN.
And if you are in Bangkok, join us this Motzei Shabbat — Saturday night as we remember the Rebbe and commit to carrrying his message further.

Do you ever get exasperated when no matter how many times you have saved your child or loved one from a predicament, they continue to doubt you?

How many times do you have to prove yourself till your loved one fully lets go and trusts you?

The biggest disappointment with having someone doubt you is not necessarily the negative feeling it gives you. 

It is much deeper than that. 

The big loss is that you cannot make progress together on the big ideas you have. 

If your partner or protégé is skeptical about your abilities, you cannot move forward and be successful.

The Jewish people disappointed Hashem in this week’s parsha by believing the ‘spies’ who reported back that Israel was unconquerable by them. 

The reporting spies assessed the situation. They said with decisiveness that the local populace was too strong. 

Hashem reacted very sternly and said:

all the people who perceived My glory and the signs that I performed in Egypt and in the desert—and who nonetheless challenged me these 10 times and did not listen to My voice—

will not see the land that I swore to their fathers. All who provoked Me this time will not see the land, 

Hashem is saying ‘enough is enough’. After I took the people out of Egypt and wrought incredible miracles, which they all saw and experienced firsthand, and they went ahead and challenged me TEN TIMES, they have lost their chance to have a happy ending and enter the promised land. Rather I will wait for the generation of Exodus to pass away – by the age of sixty – and forty years later, the new generation will enter Israel.

This was already a much more benign outcome then Hashem’s initial response.

Initially Hashem had said in response to the moaning of the Jews about going into Israel:

They have betrayed their mission in this world, so I now have only one choice: I must strike them with pestilence and annihilate them! As for My oath to the patriarchs to give the land to their descendants, I will make you into a nation, greater and stronger than they." 

Moshe prayed on their behalf and averted that punishment. Yet, even after Hashem forgave the people thanks to Moshe intervention, the forgiveness only helped to ward off the immediate death punishment. They lived till the age of sixty. It did not however earn them the G-dly gift of going into Israel.

Why not?

The Rebbe explains that not allowing them to enter Israel was a consequence rather than a punishment.

Simply put. The spies were not wrong. To conquer the land of Canaan you had to be exceedingly mighty as the inhabitants of the land of Canaan were strong. Beyond normal human strength. One would need supernatural strength. 

Conquering the land would require G-dly intervention. 

Miracles.

When they heard that according to the laws of nature their attempt at conquering the land would be disastrous, they cried and said, ‘we don’t want to go to the land’.

Hashem accepts this. It is true. Naturally, they do have reason to be fearful. 

So why is their behavior considered sinful if they correctly assessed the impossibility of conquering the land? 

Because why in the world are they projecting using conventional thinking? What about all the miracles Hashem has done for them. Haven’t they realized by this time that the Jewish people are not bound by the laws of nature?

G-d responds by telling the Jewish people that they have shown that they don’t have the belief in G-d’s powerful abilities to rout out the resisting kingdoms.

There is a consequence to that.

If they don’t believe in the power of G-d sufficiently, and they are closing their minds and viewing themselves as a people who operate only under the ‘laws of nature’, they cannot be the ones to carry out G-d's miracle-based goals and vision. 

What seems to be most irksome is that they actually do believe in G-d. How could they not? They had witnessed Exodus, splitting of the sea, miraculous raining down of Manna. Yet, they were skeptical even as the miracles were pouring down.

For example, one of the ten challenges to G-d was when Hashem told them not to collect the Manna on Shabbat and they disregarded that command and went out to search for Manna to gather on Shabbat.

Additionally, they were told not to keep any leftover Manna for the next day. Hashem would give them fresh daily Manna. Yet they couldn’t resist trying to hoard some.

Can you imagine the absurdity?

G-d is creating this incredible heavenly food. Raining it down from Heaven. It has literally a ‘heavenly taste’. Whatever one wanted the Manna to taste like, it adopted that taste.

And yet, while ‘seeing’ and ingesting the glory and miracles of G-d, at that very same time they were weak in their belief and skeptical of G-d’s abilities. They went out to forage on Shabbat and tried leaving leftovers.

This is what singles out the ‘sin of the spies’ from other transgressions. 

The Jewish people believe in G-d. they are eating his heavenly bread. They have just witnessed the splitting of the sea. The most epic miracles possible.

Yet, they remain skeptical.

To the point that they now challenge whether going into Israel is possible,

The spies speak about it being naturally impossible to conquer Canan.

G-d agrees.

It is impossible. Unless you believe in Me and in my miracles.

You, the people who have witnessed the closest relationship with me have now made a grave mistake. You have stated that you are unable to surrender and say “G-d, we will allow ourselves to be taken in your miraculous enveloping cloud to triumphantly and supernaturally enter Israel’.

And if you are not able to go along with my miraculous plan, says G-d, then indeed, you will have your wish. I will withdraw my G-dly protection, you will thus remain bound to the laws of nature and die here in the desert. 

To which Moshe replied, if the agenda of Hashem is to engender belief in Him, to the extent that Hashem is disappointed and ready to let the entire Jewish people perish, how will that ignominious ending help the overall agenda of belief in G-d.

To quote Moshe’s words:

If You kill this nation suddenly, as if You were killing one man, the nations who have heard of Your reputation will say as follows:

'Why didn't He wait to punish them until He brought them into the land, as He promised? It must be that since God was unable to bring this nation to the land which He swore to them, He slaughtered them in the desert. The inhabitants of Canaan are strong, and it is harder to battle a number of kings than it is to battle one Pharaoh.'

Hashem accepts this line of reasoning by Moshe.

The Jewish people continue to live. Albeit they are no longer able to be implementers of G-d’s supernatural plan of entering Israel.

This is such a clear and empowering message.

An eye opener when one looks at oneself in the mirror.

We may find that in some way we also underestimate G-d’s powers even after being blessed by them in an open way.

Mediate on it for a moment.

Think about everything Hashem has done for you.

You may be focused on the things you DON’T have. 

Don’t feel bad if that is your default. It is human nature to be mindful of the problems and challenges of your life. We tend to take for granted the things that are going right.

But if you stop and meditate you will see a different picture. 

For everything that is going ‘wrong’ in your life at this minute, there are trillions and trillions of things that are going ‘right’. Like every breath you take. Like the microbes in your body functioning. The electricity that you are using as you read this. The food that you ate last meal and the drink that is keeping you hydrated. 

Granted, there are irritating and irksome things in your life and G-d forbid perhaps even painful things. But that does not erase all the good things that are happening.

Let us get even more mindful. Bigger picture things.

May I humbly suggest that you try this exercise:

Reflect on the last five years of your life. 

What were your challenges five years ago. Maybe you have old emails, or hopefully your memory is still good, and you can recall your experiences of five years back.

Depending on your age and stage in life you most likely had various concerns. 

I think you will be quite surprised to note how many of your major concerns and worries that you were praying for, Hashem answered your prayers and solved the issues.

Ask a high school student if their worries in elementary school still worry them or if things worked themselves out. 

Whatever stage you are at in life, look back five years and see if those things are still problems.

Or have you been blessed by Hashem that they worked out?

So now the question is why are you so worried now about your current challenges?

Why don’t you trust in Hashem (while of course doing what you can to solve them with the tools you have) and rid yourself of unhealthy anxiety?

You may say ‘it’s my prerogative if I want to be anxious and downcast over my challenges and what difference will my attitude make on the outcome’.

This Parsha highlights that 

1. Hashem has good things in store for you if you have faith and trust in Him. So its simply not good practice to worry. Much more effective to trust in Hashem that things will be good. This itself will lead to a favorable outcome.

2. It is downright not ‘menschlich’ and grievously foolish to doubt Him after all He has done for you. In a way it is even ungrateful to not rely on Him after all the myriads of things He has done and is currently doing for us.

My friend, even when things look challenging put your chin up and place your trust in Hashem.

On a national level, we as a people have been blessed and will continue to be blessed. The People of Israel especially in the land of Israel are under the constant direct supervision of G-d. We have seen that throughout the last decades time and time again. He will continue to bless us and protect us everywhere. Especially in the Holy Land. 

Yes, we must do everything we can naturally to protect ourselves and secure our future.

And then we must pray. And BELIEVE in Hashem's protection and blessings.

Our prayers are with Israel. The soldiers, the hostages, the wounded and the regular citizens.

Additionally, we facilitate and invite Hashem’s blessings to us, by believing in the blessings of G-d to the Jewish people for eternity.

Adopt this too in your own personal life. Allow the miraculous energies of G-d to uplift you and carry you, by brushing away destructive skepticism and heightening your faith and belief in Him.

Think GOOD because you believe in Hashem who is GOOD, and it will be GOOD. 

GOOD - Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

How wonderful it was for the Jewish people traveling from Egypt to Israel just after Exodus.

They had absolute clarity.

They knew when they had to stop to rest and when to travel onward.

This week’s parsha Behaalotcha spells out how the cloud of Hashem traveled in front of the camp and stopped at the location and the time that Hashem wanted the Jewish people to stop at.

Imagine if we had a personal cloud of glory that traveled in front of each of us. And we could know with absolute clarity that Hashem wants us to be in a particular place at a particular time.

Wouldn’t that be great?

The fact of the matter is that while we don’t see the ‘cloud of G-d’ telling us where to live, it is G-d who Divinely orchestrates our movements. Without us consciously knowing it.

The place you are born. The time in history in which you are born. The family you are born to. The opportunities that come your way. All of these things shape your destiny, and they are all chosen by G-d.

I was thinking about this in the context of our anniversary dinner of our arrival in Thailand. We had the heavenly blessing of being able to present a written note to be read the Rebbe by his secretary Rabbi Krinsky.

The Rebbe nodded his holy head in the affirmative that we were to become his Shluchim emissaries to Thailand.

Off we went. With clarity that this is where we are meant to be.

And fortified with all the blessings that are needed to carry out the mission of spreading Torah and preparing Thailand for Mashiach.

Every person has a mission. That mission is G-d given and G-d sees to it that everyone lands up where they need to be and has the faculties and wherewithal to do what they are tasked by the Almighty to do.

It is tempting to look at ‘the grass on the other side of the fence’. Invariably it ‘looks greener’. But ultimately that is simply a distraction from doing and fulfilling the mission G-d has prepared for you.

Usually, our missions are delivered directly to us. We just need to do them.

And sometimes the ‘heavenly cloud’ moves on, and it is time to move.

More than one person has come to me frantic with worry that circumstances may force them to move to a different country. It is unsettling to move from place to place. Especially if you feel very comfortable in the place you are living.

My response to that is ‘if G-d wanted to tell you to move to another place, how would He communicate that’?

‘As believers in G-d, we believe that the circumstances that are causing your move are Divinely ordained’.

When the cloud Hashem rested the people encamped.

When the cloud rose to move onward, the Jewish people moved onward.

Embrace your own personal ‘clouds of glory’ and try and make the best of where you live and the opportunities you have.

Very soon, the enveloping clouds of glory of Hashem will whisk us off to Israel for the coming of Mashiach when the world will become filled with the knowledge of the glory of  Hashem.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

The Torah was ‘given’ once more for the 3337th time this Shavuot.

I recently ordered new checks from the bank. The check printing company wanted to know if I would like to write on the checks ‘doing business for 30 years’. 

Why would someone want to advertise how long they have been in business? 

One of the reasons is that there is automatic credibility attached to things that withstand the test of time.

We don’t add any inscription on the Torah scroll and there is no official announcement before we read the Torah on Shavuot about how many years ago it was given. 

It’s incredibly impressive when you think about it. More than three thousand years after it was given, the Torah is fresh, current and teaches how to live life in our day and age.

This is because the Torah is meant to be studied as a current set of instructions.

The Torah is a book of teachings and instructions that not just tell us how to life, it literally gives us life.

The Torah is ‘Emet’ – Truth.

The word ‘א מ ת’ in Hebrew has the first, middle and last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This symbolizes the fact that the Truth of Torah is eternal. From the beginning, through the middle and till the end of time the Torah is unchanging. 

Hashem didn’t just give the Torah way back at Sinai, He is constantly ‘re’giving the Torah to us. 

This is why every single morning, as we start our day, we thank Hashem for giving us the Torah.

Make Torah study a part of your day.

It is contemporary and current. It contains the blueprints and recipes for living a wholesome and beneficial life. 

Realistically, things have changed radically over the last 3336 years. 

Imagine what the world looked like back then. Vs what the world looks like now.

For example, today we are able to learn Torah with a Kindle or online, where in the past we  needed books and scrolls.

We are blessed with being able to study at night without having to light candles. Electricity is a great innovation.

Yet, the mitzvas and values of the Torah have not changed one iota.

For example, one of the verses in our Parsha of Nasso that never ceases to grab my attention and inspire me is: 

Everyone's holy things shall belong to him; whatever a man gives to the kohen shall be his.

Rashi comments that this verse can also be read, "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."

Let me explain what is meant here. If for example, a person’s field yielded 100 bushels of produce. Out of those 100, ten percent, needs to be given to a Levite as ‘Maaser’ tithe. If the person withholds from the Levi his rightful tenth, he, the owner may land up next year only making 10 bushels of yield. i.e. ‘he (the owner) will in the end possess only as much as he should have given (10 bushels, that he was meant to give to the Levi).

Conversely, if the owner gives the Kohen and Levi their rightful portion, he (the owner) will be rewarded by being wealthy.

This verse teaches us an eternal G-dly truth.

Hoarding and being frugal in sharing with others doesn’t pay in the long run.

Sharing and being charitable are more beneficial even in the financial sense.

Does it make logical sense? Not really. Rationally speaking if you ‘hoard’ and keep more for yourself you will have more. If you give and donate to others, you will have less.

The Torah tells us the supra rational truth and reveals to us how Hashem’s world operates.

In a counterintuitive way. If you give to others, you have more for yourself. 

Yes, the Torah states unequivocally that kindness, sharing, and Tzedaka are the conduit for blessing.

And the Torah has withstood the test of time. Different philosophies and movements have come and gone, while the Torah has emerged time and time again as the only everlasting truth.

Try it. 

Give generously. 

Of the commodity that you have been blessed with. 

Money to tzedakah is the obvious and default definition of being charitable. 

But there are multitudes of ways that one can give. 

A helpful piece of advice for someone who needs guidance. A listening ear to someone who is in pain. An uplifting compliment to someone who is feeling low. A nutritious meal to someone who is hungry. 

One of the most pristine forms of Tzedaka is helping someone perform a mitzvah that they wouldn’t think of doing themselves. 

A community member brought a guest to Bet Elisheva synagogue on the eve of Shavuot. Besides for attending the holiday services it was still before sunset and he got to put on Tefillin for the first time in his life. The person who brought him gave his guest a uniquely valuable gift.

In whatever way you are blessed to be able to give, give freely to others, you will find your own wherewithal enhanced not diminished.

At this point in my article, I could share a story, or two, or three about how giving to others doesn’t diminish your own ‘bottom-line’ but on the contrary it enhances it. 

Click here for many stories about Tzedaka

However, I would like to suggest that YOU tell the story. Think about the times that you have been kind to others and recall how that let you feel more uplifted and invited more blessing to your life.

Even better, create NEW stories. Broaden your circle of giving and watch the blessed outcomes.

I would love to hear your stories.

Our Sages tell us that Tzedaka has a unique power to hasten the coming of Mashiach. 

We Want Mashiach Now!

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

We just started reading the fourth book of the Torah.
Also known as the ‘book of Numbers’.

Numbers are used to count.

They can be used to uplift. They can be used to utterly demoralize.
The most demeaning thing in the world is to treat people as mere
numbers. Indistinguishable from each other.

The Nazis ‘yimach shemam’ branded the Jews as cattle, each given a
number, when they entered the concentration – work and death –
camps.

On the other hand, there is something incredibly uplifting about being
counted.

When you count items, it means that each one of those items counts.
It depends on who is counting. And the reason that one is counting.
The instruction by Hashem to count the Jewish people was all about
imbuing each individual with an non-dilutable individual intrinsic self-
worth.

Today, more than ever we need to remind ourselves and our loved
ones that they count.

People need to keep on hearing from people who truly mean it, that
the world would not be the same without them.

In that sense, counting people individually means that every individual
counts.

Are some people bigger than others?

This week with the passing of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, I lost a mentor,
advisor and friend.

It was Rabbi Kotlarsky who I approached in November of 1993 to
inquire about the position of rabbi in Thailand.

That first meeting led to our writing to the Rebbe to ask if we should go
to visit Thailand to meet the community.

After a brief visit to Thailand in December 1992, we merited to be sent
by the Rebbe as his Shluchim to Thailand. Rabbi Kotlarsky flew down
with us to settle us in and iron out the ‘wrinkles’ of the challenges
associated with beginning a new thing.

A subsequent lifelong connection of caring, guidance, mentorship and
love by Rabbi Kotlarsky to our family developed. My family and I will
miss him.

One of the elders of our community reached out to me upon hearing of
the passing and wrote:

Rabbi,

So sad to hear of the passing of Rabbi Kotlarsky who was instrumental
to the community in Thailand

My condolences

Rabbi Kotlarsky was indeed a larger than life individual, sent by the
Rebbe from mission to mission, from country to country, building and
guiding Jewish life.

Click here for a snapshot of his life.

One of my greatest enjoyments was to hear Rabbi Kotlarsky share
nuggets of wisdom from the guidance and instructions that the Rebbe had given him during his many years of community building and outreach work.

Below read a fascinating story about a Jew in Curacao.

Kotlarsky went wherever he was needed, sometimes not even knowing
why he was being sent.

Like the time in January of 1984 that he got a phone call at home from
Rabbi Chaim Mordechai Aizik Hodakov, the Rebbe’s chief of staff, telling
him, “the Rebbe wants you to go to Curacao immediately.” Upon arrival
to the Caribbean Island with a friend, they promptly hailed a taxi to the
synagogue. However, instead of taking them to the
famed Mikveh Israel synagogue, the cab driver took them to another,
much smaller one, from which a man was exiting. “We were sent here
by the Lubavitcher Rebbe,” Kotlarsky told the man.

The man, named Chaim Groisman, nearly fainted. Groisman, it
emerged, was a local Jew who’s family was going through a crisis. Their
son, Eli, was being harassed in his Protestant school for not attending
mandatory religious services. It got so bad that they started keeping
him home from school, only to receive warning letters that by law they
had to send him to school. The Groismans did not know what to do.

One night Chaim Groisman had a dream in which his late grandmother
appeared and told him that if ever there was a time he was in trouble,
he should turn to the  Lubavitcher Rebbe. He’d never heard of the Rebbe
before. The next day Kotlarsky and his traveling companion showed up.
“Rabbi Kotlarsky invited me to go to New York and attend Camp Gan
Israel in the Catskills that summer, and later to  Yeshivah that started in September,”  Eli Groisman recalled. “This was the answer to our prayers,
and I accepted the offer immediately.”

Groisman later wrote a letter of thanks to the Rebbe for sending his
emissaries and caring for “a small Jew from Curacao.”

“I must … take exception to your referring to yourself as ‘a small Jew
from Curacao,’” the Rebbe wrote to him… [T]here is no such thing as a
‘small Jew,’ and a Jew must never underestimate his or her tremendous potential.”

For the rest of his life Kotlarsky would cite these words from the Rebbe
as a source of personal guidance and inspiration.
As we move forward in a world of AI and robotic technology that makes
many former human tasks obsolete, we must remember this crystal
clear teaching of the Rebbe.

Each of us COUNTS.

No one is ‘small’. If to measure our potential, we are all tremendous.
By bringing us into this world Hashem has stated that His world would
be incomplete with you.

Hashem loves you. Make your life meaningful and inspiring.
Study Torah. Perform Mitzvot. Acts of loving kindness and caring.
Most important of all, leave room for someone else.
Even better, feel yourself as one with all of your people.

Today, Rosh Chodesh Sivan, is the day that we the Jewish people
arrived at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. A day of unity.

Through our unity against all odds, we will usher in the ultimate unity of
Mashiach’s coming.

Shabbat Shalom
Chodesh Tov

Rabbi Yosef Kantor