"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok"

One of my favorite days is today.

Pesach Sheni – literally ‘Second Pesach’.

The quick story about this day is:

A year after the Exodus, G-d instructed the people of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of the fourteenth of Nissan, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done the previous year just before they left Egypt.

“There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron . . . and they said: ‘. . . Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-d’s offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?’” (Numbers 9:6–7).

In response to their plea, G-d established the 14th of Iyar as a day for the “Second Passover” (Pesach Sheni) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month.

Read the Original Narrative

This day is very special to me. 

Because this day represents the “second chance” achieved by teshuvah, the power of repentance and “return.” In the words of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, “The Second Passover means that it’s never a ‘lost case.’

Our conduct can always be rectified. Even someone who is impure, who was far away and even desired to be so, can still correct himself.”  There is no justification for despair. Every individual, no matter what his situation, always has the potential to make a “leap forward” (the literal translation of the Hebrew word pesach) in his service of G-d.

As I write these words on Friday afternoon, I am running a bit off schedule as I am coming from a morning funeral.

Not a happy event. 

Yet, the mood was not a depressing one.

To me, it seemed like the bereaved sons had a feeling of accomplishment and a sense of relief that they were able to provide their 73-year-old deceased father a true Jewish burial.

The vigor and dedication with which the Chevra Kadish, (comprised of the local rabbis and lay community members) carried out their labor of love was outstanding.

Hashem provided a clear and very sunny day. In the pastoral and quiet fields of rural Chachoengsao you could hear the birds chirping in the background. 

The deceased Tzi’s family name is Shinzinger which literally translates to ‘beautiful singer’. That is what the chirping of the birds sounded like to me. 

Overall, it felt somewhat surreal. 

As if I could hear the melody and song of a life properly balanced and aligned as things were unfolding in the way they should, in the lifecycle of a Jew.

It wasn’t always like that.

I cannot forget the first time I was called up to officiate at the funeral of a Jewish woman in 1993 or shortly thereafter. 

The burial grounds that had been used by Jews living and passing in Thailand was the Protestant cemetery. In perusing the Halachic sources, it was very evident that presiding over a Jewish funeral in a non-dedicated Jewish cemetery was problematic. 

However, it was clear to me that unlike the communities of yore, in Eastern Europe or even modern-day diaspora, where Jewish burial options exist, here there were not acceptable options. 

Cremation, which was the only other option, is totally anathema to Judaism and is 100% forbidden according to Jewish law. 

I gave a speech in English eulogizing the deceased woman. 

Then I followed up with a short statement in Hebrew. 

‘Truthfully, I am not allowed to preside over this funeral as we are interring a Jew into a non-dedicated Jewish cemetery plot. However, the other choice – cremation - is infinitely worse. I pledge beli-neder on behalf of us all, that we will see to get a Jewish cemetery and we will move this deceased to the new Jewish cemetery’.

Miraculously, not long after that the adjoining plot of land, separated by a high wall, was discovered to be a possible location for a Jewish cemetery.

Through the joint efforts of the pioneering members of our community, Mr. Mike Gerson of blessed memory, Mr. Abi Kashani, Mr. Ron Cristal and Mrs. Myra Borisute and several others (apologies for not naming everyone involved) may they all be health and well, the funds were raised and the cemetery was established.

It’s been more than thirty years, and the initial piece of land is almost full. Several years ago, we began a campaign to buy new cemetery land. This was purchased in Chachoengsao, registered as a burial place, and inaugurated and sanctified by the Chevra Kadisha as we did ‘circuits’ around the perimeters of the land. 

Today’s burial is the third person to be buried in this new cemetery.

As I mentioned at each of these three burials, the deceased who are buried in this opening stage are ‘pioneers’ of sorts as they ‘pave the way’ for enabling proper Jewish burial for as long as Jews live in Thailand. 

Of course, we pray to arrive at the Mashiach stage very soon and not need to bury any more.

Once we have arrived at this stage, we can move forward please G-d in the plans to landscape the premises and create an ascetically pleasing, pastoral, serene and quiet final resting place for our loved ones.

Why do I sound passionate about a topic so sad and disheartening?  

Because of its primary importance in Jewish life.

This week’s Parsha provides a very clear instruction about our obligation to bury a Jewish person who passes away.

Usually, the family would be the ones to lovingly bear that responsibility.

In the instance that a Jew passes away without any relatives, and no one to look after interring him.

This is referred to as a ‘met mitzvah’ i.e. ‘a deceased whom it is a mitzvah to care for’.

Torah law obligates a Kohen Gadol, on Yom Kippur, to leave the "holy of holies" to take care of a met mitzvah(!) 

This is how important taking care of our dead and burying them properly is.

There is a cultural epidemic in the Jewish world today that I want to address.

It used to be a given, a default for anyone who was even mildly Jewishly inclined to choose burial as their wishes after death.

I was born a Jew, I wish to be buried as a Jew. 

Whatever journey one may have had in the interim, the final wishes of Jews throughout the thousands of years has always been burial. Whether we were living in Israel, in the Diaspora, whether during times of suffering or times of plenty, the choice has always been Jewish burial.

This long held assumption is under assault and challenged in today's climate and that is why I want to talk about it and address it.

For some inexplicable reason it has become fashionable to think that cremation has benefits over burial.

There are multiple reasons why throughout our history, a traditional Jewish burial was always considered a highest priority. There are many reasons that cremation should be off the table for a Jew.

 Click here for a full essay on the topic.

Let me just add that if one fully grasps and visualizes the process of cremation they would recoil from that choice.

In my humble opinion, the real and foremost reason that Jewish burial is under assault, is the economics. Simply the price of carrying out a Jewish burial in many countries is expensive. 

In Thailand, where cremation is the default and so many options exist, where burial is almost nonexistent it is particularly challenging.

Add to this the economic factor. Many of the Jews who move here as elderly people are living on small pensions, often with no family safety net, and when they pass away it seems that the only option within financial reach is cremation G-d forbid.

Through the donations of philanthropic Jewish visionaries, our community has been blessed to be able to provide a solution to this option. 

In our new cemetery, the cost of burial is very affordable as the large tract of land  sits in Chachoengsao, a rural area 60-90 minutes’ drive from Bangkok. 

Most importantly, our community is blessed with some generous friends who see to it that if a Jews passes away and does not have funds, they will donate to the ‘Met Mitzvah fund’ will cover the burial from A-Z. (If you wish to be one of those who participate in this mitzvah please let me know).

If burying a fellow Jew is important enough to take the High Priest from his holiest role (in a met mitzvah situation), we must take this mitzvah very seriously and take responsibility to provide proper Jewish burial in the most feasible way possible.

Enough said about passing away.

We choose LIFE.

If this is the way we ought to treat our dead, HOW MUCH MORE SO must we treat our fellow living Jews with love, care and compassion.

The mitzvah of helping the dead is called ‘chessed shel emmet’ , a kindness of truth. 

Do you know why?

Because when you help a living person there may be an angle in how you think you will be reimbursed with a favor by the person you are helping. When you help someone who passed away it is a ‘true’ favor as they can no longer repay you.

This is the way we ought to do acts of compassion and kindness to others.

Without expecting anything in return.

Pure kindness and benevolence with no agenda or motive.

Look around you and see who you can help.

When you rejoice, see who else you can invite to rejoice with you.

Even though you are doing it with purity, you will by default be a recipient of the greatest feeling possible.

The feeling of partnering with Hashem in spreading chessed kindness to His creations. 

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

There is a wise saying.

What is worse: A clock that is (unbeknownst to you) thirty minutes late, or a clock that has stopped working?

Instinctively one may say that an inaccurate clock is better than no clock.

At least there is some keeping of time.

How about if you were in the airport departure hall, on your way to board your flight and you stopped to shop at duty free because your inaccurate watch told you that you still had thirty minutes till the gate is closed.

I am certain you would then tell me that a broken watch would have been better.

At least you would have known to ask someone for the time. 

You would not have been lulled into thinking that you had time to shop when in fact you didn’t.

This is one way to understand the ‘allergy’ that the Torah has to the existence of non-exact weights or measuring tools in your house. 

Even if you didn’t steal anything yet by having those inaccurate weights, just owning them is prohibited by the Torah.

Cheating on weights and measurements is even more abhorrent in the Torah’s eyes than classing stealing.

When someone takes something that doesn’t belong to him unlawfully, it is a clear-cut act of immorality.

One who engages in theft chooses to overlook his better moral sense and greedily steal from his fellow.

There is no way to whitewash this in your mind or in the mind of the society around us.

No so when one has slightly inaccurate weights or measuring tools. It presents itself more respectably. 

And that is what makes it so shocking. 

The whole notion of a measuring tool is to enable and provide a fair and honest transaction.

Taking that very tool and hiding behind it to cheat, is sly, sneaky and duplicitous.

A judge dressed in robes who uses his courtroom to render unfair judgements is more immoral in a more despicable way than an armed bandit.

A broken clock is clearly not a tool that can be relied on to tell time.

An inaccurate clock can misleadingly lead people to believe that they know what the time is.

Click here for more teachings about honesty in weights and measures.

There is a joke that brings out this point well. It is a cruel punchline but most important to hear and absorb.

Yankel, a Yiddish speaking immigrant walked into a restaurant in the days when the Lower-East- Side was the Yiddish speaking part of New York. It was a Chinese restaurant and to his amazement the Asian waiters were speaking fluent Yiddish. Yankel asked the owner incredulously, ‘wow how did you teach the waiters Yiddish?

To which the owner replied ‘Shh… they think they are learning English’.

Thank G-d it’s only a joke. Because if it was real, it would be horribly deceitful on the side of the employer. 

Upon further reflection it is not such a joke and tragically many people engage in this deceit. Knowingly or unknowingly.

During the communist times in Russia, one’s child would be indoctrinated by the teachers of communism. To the extent that the parents who sent their kids to school with one set of truths, could find those very children turning against their parents with their new set of immoral values.

 How careful we must be when we propose to teach the truth of Judaism that it actually remains genuinely and honestly a representation of the instructions of G-d.

The Torah is Divine.

All twenty-four books of the ‘original’ ‘testament’ are G-d’s word.

The ‘Oral Law’ as laid out in the Talmud and codified in Rambam and Shulchan Aruch are the only and sole interpretation of G-d’s words that define the Jewish religion.

We need to be so vigilant that Jewish doesn’t get altered G-d forbid to be JEW’ish like ‘blueish’ or ‘sweetish’ as in an approximation.

It is critical that we remember and affirm that the Torah, written and oral, is not changeable. 

Otherwise, it’s like providing our students and children a set of values that profess to be truth but that are actually a distortion of the truth.

The Torah promises that if we stick to our values, with true measurements and weights, with honesty and integrity, G-d has joy and delight in the people whom He redeemed from Egypt.

Let us embrace authenticity, honesty and integrity in our relationship with G-d and with our fellow.

During these tumultuous times, our prayers are more fervent than ever.

HASHEM, please bring the Redemption, the promised utopian secure, peaceful and love-filled days of collectively ‘knowing’ and serving G-d joyfully and eternally.

WE WANT MASHIACH NOW.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

He is in his seventies, Mr. T., an only child of Holocaust survivors.

I was enthralled and inspired by his story that I ‘happened’ to hear not long ago.

His mother was about to give up her life during the daily march from the concentration camp to the labor camp. All it took was not to get up from the brief stop along the way. Anyone who remained sitting was promptly shot by the Nazi guards.

Life was not worth living under those conditions is what she felt. The day she planned to give up, she fell asleep and dreamed of her father.

‘Don’t give up. The Americans are going to liberate you within a week’.

This gave her the willpower to stand up and continue.

One week later her camp was liberated by the Americans.

The emaciated state of the inmates caused many tragic deaths. The liberating forces had not yet understood the type of care needed for nursing these walking skeletons back to normalcy. Many died those first few days of overeating.

Mr. T. continued telling me the story about his mother.

The American soldiers handed the survivors a few dollars each so that they could buy something of their choice. 

‘My mother looked down at her feet and thought to herself, what could be better to buy than a proper pair of shoes instead of the rags that covered her feet. As she reached up to scratch her head, she realized that as an observant Jewish woman who had been married before the war, she ought to cover her hair which was beginning to grow back’.

‘My mother took the money and bought a piece of fabric to cover her head’ continued Mr. T.

‘My mother desperately wanted to have a child after the war although medically it looked like the ravages of the concentration camp may have caused irreversible damage to the possibly of bearing a child. My parents went to a holy Rebbe and asked for his blessings, that he should beseech G-d on their behalf to have a child. Promising that if they had a child they would move to Israel’.

They had an only son. 

‘This was me. Indeed, I was raised in Israel, with the same pre-Holocaust Jewish traditions of my parents and grandparents, concluded Mr. T.

Today Mr. T. is a grandfather and great grandfather many times over, a successful businessman who supports Jewish life in Israel and around the world. 

This is the true story of authentic, blessed, Jewish continuity.

Jewish continuity is a real issue.

We need to do more about it.

Israel's bureau of statistics published a report that says we are still almost a million Jews less than we were before the Holocaust. 

This is eighty years later. We need to do more for Jewish continuity.

The best way to build Jewish continuity is by marrying Jewish and having many Jewish children. 

We need to plan large families contrary to the popular voices in the secular arena which advocate small families. 

To retain the Jewish growth and not lose Jews to assimilation and intermarriage it is critical that we raise our Jewish children as Jews with a strong Torah based identity.

As a community we ought to celebrate and put on a pedestal the heroes of our people. In a sense, the most unsung heroes of our time are the parents. They ought to be venerated as they are the ones who do the heavy lifting in terms of raising the next generation. 

The responsibility of raising children is daunting. It’s a 24/7 undertaking. This is why it needs to be encouraged and promoted. A philanthropist who is a child of a Holocaust survivor once told me that he offered his kids one million dollars as a gift for every Jewish child they have. He mused to me that as we enter the modern era of the 2020s he is wondering whether a million dollars is enough of an incentive.

Raising children is constant work. It is rewarding, this is true. At the same time, it requires selflessness and dedication.

Kudos and blessings to the valiant parents who are bringing more souls into the world.

Judaism teaches that children are the most cherished Divine blessing known to mankind. Not only are they a blessing, but tradition teaches us that every additional child brings a new flow of blessings to a family. Each additional child does not decrease from the material, financial and spiritual stability of the home; on the contrary, the entire family actually benefits from the Divine blessings that each child brings.

The  Rebbe once said that it is unnecessary for us to take over G-d's bookkeeping to figure out how many children He is able to care for. "He who feeds and sustains the whole world" the Rebbe said, "is able to take care of the children, as well as the parents."

Sometimes it is a struggle financially in the short term. To the parents I encounter who have large families and are temporarily struggling financially, I remind them that they are the truly wealthy Jews. For true Jewish wealth is not money and possessions, rather it is authentic Jewish nachas from children and grandchildren. 

It is not pleasant to pinch pennies, nor does it feel good to receive financial support from others, but the holiness of fulfilling G-d’s directive ‘be fruitful and multiply’ literally, is a blessing that no money can buy.

In Israel they have a wonderful term to describe large families.

משפחות ברוכות ילדים

‘Families that are blessed with (many) children’.

I acknowledge that many of my readers are already past the age of having physical children.

To the grandparents who are reading this I say, make sure that you support your children as they have children. Emotional support. Financial support. Keep on cheering and applauding your kids for their giant contribution of raising kids. 

Yes, kids make a mess and are noisy, but the noise stands in stark opposition to the deathly silence that resounded in Europe after the holocaust with nary a Jewish child in sight. And the children that survived in hiding were terrified to utter a sound. Many of them needed to reclaim their Jewish identity having hidden under the guise of being Christians. 

Thank G-d our communities today resound with the humming sound of youthful exuberance. The sound of children in a Jewish community is music. It sings the melodies of a Jewish future please G-d.

To those who didn’t have the gift of having their own children. Help those families who do have children. Offer a helping hand in whatever way you can. Give money to Jewish organizations who educate our next generation. Give money during your lifetime. Consider a bequest in your will to vibrant organizations that foster and develop Jewish continuity. 

The Torah teaches that one’s good deeds are their ‘offspring’. The more mitzvah’s we do, the more positivity and G-dly energy we bring into the world. These become our spiritual children. 

Everyone must take part in this communal responsibility to proudly and joyously continue the mission that G-d has entrusted His chosen people with here on earth. 

The first exodus was out of Egypt. From there we went to Mount Sinai where we got our ‘marching orders’. 

We have been hard at work since then perfecting the world and bringing G-d consciousness to the universe through studying and living with Torah and Mitzvahs.

The final exodus, the one we all await with intense and insatiable yearning, will be the coming of Mashiach as we march out of this exile to the holy land - Israel. 

An expansive Israel, a land that exudes holiness and is flowing with milk and honey, a land that is peaceful and secure forever. 

And most importantly we will witness the Messianic building of the Third Bet Hamkidash, may it be speedily in our days.

Shabbat Shalom

Chodesh Tov

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

I am ‘high’.

I mean to say that I am uplifted from the eight days of Pesach.

So many moments of Yiddishkeit and Jewish camaraderie.

The Passover Seders were uplifting, rejuvenating (read reJEWvenating) and inspiring. 

The joint Torah study and praying was meaningfully uplifting. The festive Passover holiday meals were delicious and joyous.

And now it is a post Pesach ‘regular’ Friday.

No 10am holiday prayers today. Back to 7:30 am weekday prayer schedule. After prayer and a Torah class I am back at the office. Phones are ringing. Secretaries are typing. The bank needs to be attended to. Back to the familiar hecticness of coordinating the multiple aspects of Jewish life in Thailand.

I don’t want to come down from my ‘high’.

I am sure you join me in this sentiment.

Here is the good news. We don’t have to – actually we shouldn’t - climb down from the heights. 

Pesach doesn’t really end.

The experience of liberation is one that we take with us. 

Here are two examples of implementable Pesach moment that you should take with you.

Something doesn’t go your way. You are about to get into a funk. 

Anger is welling up. 

An inner voice reminds you that anger never gets you anywhere positive, but you shush up that voice and feel you are enslaved to your nature.

Think Pesach. 

Liberation. 

First of all, pause. Take a deep breath. You are not enslaved to your natural reactions. 

Being liberated means that you can choose in what state of mind you wish to be.

This next point I am about to make is of critical importance during these times of upheavals in the world. 

Particularly as I am referring to our reactions to the ubiquitous anti-semitism that has reared its ugly poisonous head from all sides of the world. 

Our enemies would like us to focus on fear. They would like to see unhappy fearful Jews who curtail their involvement in active Jewish life.  

If you read all the reports from around the world that describe incidents of Jew hatred it is easy to fall into despair and panic.

Pesach empowers us to be liberated.

It is our choice about what we focus on.

We ought to focus on the incredible gift of being a Jew.

Hashem extracted us – an entire nation – from slavery – to liberation.

That was just the first part of the Supernal plan.

From Egypt we embarked on our seven-week journey to Mount Sinai.

It was there that Hashem gave us our title as his chosen nation. After we stated our complete acceptance of Hashem’s word, He gave us the most precious otherworldly G-dly gift. A gift beyond human or even angelic imagination.

G-d gave us His Torah.

His most precious ‘thing’ given to His most precious people.

You and I are the recipients of this pedigree of being the nation that G-d placed His holy name upon.

Think along the lines of ‘purveyors’ to royal courts. Having the royal emblem on a company product picks up the prestige and honor of the company. 

We are the people whom G-d places his holy name upon.

The only way we have survived for more than three thousand years when so many other nations have faded and disappeared as independent nations, is by G-d’s miracles.

For reasons known only to Him, Hashem chose to take us through the harrowing and challenging roller coaster of exile and persecution and performs miracles of all types, shapes and sizes to save us, time and time again.

When you make that switch in your mind to focus on the fact that we belong to a nation who G-d constantly protects with miracles you breathe more calmly. 

You and I are children of the illustrious Avraham, Yitschak and Yaakov. Hashems special ‘forces’ whom He redeemed from Egypt with a 'mighty hand and an outstretched arm’. A people who Hashem continues to shepherd and protect, nurture and love.

That is a reason to rejoice. To sing and to dance.

Even more important than your own rejoicing about your Judaism is educating your children, students and those you have an influence on to also rejoice and relish their heritage.

Over this Pesach I heard from various people about the special and joyous Jewish moments that they experienced as children. It is critical that we transmit the beauty and inspiration of Judaism, community and family in a joyous way.

This means making it fun for the children. Adapting the methods of injecting joy and enjoyment to be age-appropriate.  Don’t expect your little kids to get excited about a deep spiritual epiphany that you have had as an adult. On the other hand, as a mature thinking adult, don’t get stuck at having a relationship with G-d only about the Jewish culinary traditions. Latkes are sufganiyot are nice and bring back warm memories but as a sophisticated adult you could be engaging with the beatify and depth of the Torah.

Jump into a deeper Jewish experience. Study something meaningful from the Torah and converse daily with G-d in prayer.

This is liberation. 

Whatever may be going on outside in the world, you and I have the choice to create our own liberated space in our minds and hearts. This will spill over into our homes and communities. 

So, as you and I emerge from the heights and giddiness of eight days of Pesach, let us reengage with the nitty gritty of everyday life in a challenged world, with a new energy and inspiration. 

To refine, elevate and change the world by living in a more elevated space. 

As we get closer to the coming of Mashiach the Rebbe encouraged us to learn more about this topic. Moreover, we can try living in a mindset reminiscent of the changes that the world will undergo in its redeemed state, after Mashiach’s coming.

Mashiach will usher in a new world order of peace and harmony. There will be no jealousy, no unfair competition. Good things will be readily available to all, and we won’t live with a scarcity mindset that causes us to hoard,

When Mashiach comes G-d’s presence will be openly manifest so that we will desire to do what is right rather than what is convenient. Our choices will be obvious. Humanity at large will do what is G-d centered not what is ‘me’ centered. 

Doing the right thing will come naturally. Just as one doesn’t put their finger into fire as they don’t want to get burned, we will all naturally do what G-d has prescribed as it will be a no-brainer. 

Sounds utopic? 

It is. 

Sounds challenging.

It is.

Enjoy the challenge while we still have it.

Ironically, the one thing we will wistfully and nostalgically remember after Mashiach comes is the great challenge of doing the right thing even when it is difficult. 

Pesach, in which we remember our first liberation through Moshe and yearn for our final liberation with Mashiach, empowers us to live a liberated and Mashiach oriented way of life.

It’s a two-pronged personal exercise. 

On the one hand we have our personal Egypt to struggle with, overcome, and exit from.

On the other hand, we can uplift, develop and evolve into living life in a transformed mode. We can choose to live in an uplifted and inspirational mindset of wealth and abundance that allows us to be kind, giving and sharing. 

In reality we are still in deeply uncertain times.

And openly miraculous times.

Simultaneously. 

Our minds and hearts were focused on Israel where the barrage of rockets and missiles was unabating during Pesach. Even while at the same time we recognize the incredible miracles that are happening in Israel all the time.

Impossibly exhausting for those going through the unimaginable reality of missiles being shot incessantly into populated civilian areas.

Impossible as well not to see the miracles that G-d is performing as time and time again near calamities are averted.

We seem to be a nation that is called upon to live with competing emotions.

On the one hand we are acutely aware that we are a nation that faces enemies who wish to annihilate us in every generation. The names and characters change but their agenda of destruction is the same. 

On the other hand we have Hashem’s promise to us that keeps us enduring, resilient and thriving.

May Hashem give us the ability to have strong faith and continue to follow G-d with love and joy till He takes us out of this state of exile to bring us Mashiach and the ultimate and consummate redemption. 

After which there will be no further exile.

No suffering. No war. No jealously.

Eternal peace, harmony, blissful connection to G-d.

We can’t wait!

We want Mashiach NOW.

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

The Haggada that is recited at the Seder on the eve of Pesach should be recited with a JOYOUS tone and in an UPLIFTED voice.

It is the celebration of our liberation. 

No one can ever take us back into the abject slavery in which we found ourselves as slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt over three thousand years ago.

This is not a nostalgic historical celebration. The Passover Seder is a reenactment. A reliving of what it means to go from the lowest point in human experience, that of degrading slavery, to the heady and uplifting space of freedom and liberty.

Jews have celebrated Passover in the best of times.

Today there are many Passover ‘resorts’ where Jewish families combine the religious celebration with beautiful views and destinations and fine kosher cuisine.

Jews have celebrated Passover during the inquisition. 

During the holocaust. 

In the Siberian gulags.

And today Jews living in Israel are preparing for Pesach even as they dash in and out of shelters.

Tragically, some families are mourning fallen sons.

When I saw the name of the fallen Israeli soldier a few days ago, I knew it was a relative.

You see Moshe Yitschak Katz was named after his great-grandfather Rabbi Moshe Yitschak Hecht, who was an older brother of my grandfather. 

The dynamic Hecht brothers (there were six), American born and bred, became emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s to build the foundations of Jewish learning and living in the USA starting in the early 1940’s. 

Rabbi Moshe Yitschak Hecht spent more than fifty years from his early adult years till his passing, tirelessly heading a Yeshiva day-school in New Haven CT in which thousands of Jewish boys and girls received a Jewish education. It was a labor of love, one that took every ounce of his energy, between covering the perennial deficits and steering the curriculum blending Torah studies and general studies.

Many decades later, his great grandson who felt a passion in his soul to defend our people in Israel enlisted in the Israeli army and in his first deployment in Lebanon, Moshe Yitschak Katz lost his life tragically and heroically.

It is impossible for me to imagine how my second cousin and his family are going to transition from the shiva mourning to the Pesach Seder. 

I know that they will. 

They are Jewish. 

And the Jewish people at their very formation are referred to as G-d’s ‘army’.

They will march on. With determination, hope and positivity.

May G-d comfort them and give them the strength to carry on the legacy of their heroic son.

I quote from the Rebbe’s entry in the Hayom Yom Diary about the Jewish fortitude and absolute commitment:

From the time of the exodus from Egypt the Jewish people are called the "Army of G-d."1 They are also called "servants." The difference is this: A servant performs his master's service which may be on many different levels; he may work at the delicate craft of threading pearls, he may do other kinds of expert work or he may perform simple tasks. His service involves great toil and labor, but this does not constitute mesirat nefesh - a willingness to sacrifice self, to lay down one's life. Soldiers are servants who serve with great toil and labor and with self sacrifice, in wars of defense or attack. The soldiers stand at their posts with the highest degree of stalwart determination, undeterred by the opposing enemy; their service is not one of comprehension, for they act according to the orders of their commander.

The Jews in Egypt were utterly degraded under their severe and bitter affliction. Yet, despite it all, they did not change their names, their language, or their distinctive clothing. With absolute determination they stood at their posts, for they knew that G-d had promised to redeem them.

Whoever behaves as they did under such circumstances is a soldier in the Army of G-d, and the Al-mighty will come to his assistance in a manner that manifests itself in nature - yet transcends nature.

I got an emotional and uplifting note from someone in our community in Bangkok. He came especially to put on Tefilin in honor of Moshe Yitschak, although he rarely does so.

As he put it, ‘that's the least I can do to honor a fallen brother.’

Especially during these tense days and trying times, we need to redouble our efforts to strengthen our mitzvah observance. Especially putting on Tefillin as often as we can (daily besides for Shabbat and Chagim). 

Lighting Shabbat and Holiday candles are especially significant as they add more light of holiness to the world.

Our Mitzvah’s are critical and contribute strength and security to our nation.

Let us do our bit as links in the golden chain of the ‘legions of Hahem’ who emerged from the House of Bondage to become the moral lighthouses of the world, chosen by G-d at Mount Sinai to be his special nation, with positivity and joy.

In a joyous upraised voice!

Hopefully things are going well for you, and it is natural and easy for you to rejoice. 

If G-d forbid you are going through a challenge of your own, make the effort, even if it requires a herculean effort, to celebrate Pesach, Zman Cherutenu the holiday of our freedom.   

The main agendas of the day:

Making sure you have no Chametz in your possession by selling it or disposing of it totally.

Joining a Seder click here.

Getting Matzah for eating on Wednesday (and Thursday) night. (JCafe is open tomorrow (Wednesday) and then again on Sunday-Tuesday of next week selling matzah and other kosher for Passover food items).

Relating and reliving our Exodus from Egypt by saying the Hagada tomorrow night. Click here for Hagada instructions. 

May we merit to have the fulfillment of what we proclaim at the end of the Pesach Seder

LESHANA HABAAH BEYERUSHALAYIM

Chag Kasher Vesameach,

A happy and kosher Pesach

Rabbi Yosef & Nechama Kantor

Yesterday a young man came to the Synagogue to make the blessing of thanksgiving – Hagomel.

(Perfect timing for this discussion as this week’s Parsha Tzav is where the thanksgiving sacrifice of Todah - the forerunner to the Hagomel blessing is taught). 

After the first few words he choked up with tearful emotion and struggled to get the remaining words of the blessing out of his mouth. It was a raw and powerful moment. I was standing right next to him as the Torah reader, and I found my eyes filling up with tears of emotion. The other members of the minyan all stood reflectively. It was an intense moment.

The Hagomel blessing is made reminiscent of the sacrifice that was brought as a thanksgiving for being saved from a life and death situation. These days, we most commonly say it after overseas travel, which means that in a place like Thailand, which hosts so many travelers, people are constantly saying this blessing. Sometimes at one Torah reading we can have multiple Hagomel blessings being recited. 

Usually, this blessing is said without extraordinary emotion. 

I can only speculate as to why the young man who made the blessings yesterday was so full of emotion. What near-death experience had he been rescued from? I do not know, he didn’t share any background. 

I was envious of this young man’s emotionally laden prayer. 

(Envy of someone else’s good behavior is encouraged by the Torah unlike envy of someone’s material possessions which is the tenth of the Ten Commandments)

This is what true prayer should look like. 

The words of the Baal Shem Tov came to my mind.

It is a "great miracle" and a profound act of Divine mercy that a person remains alive after intense prayer.

When one prays with proper Kavana and intensity, the emotional feeling of desire to be one with G-d could lead to enrapturement. Literally the soul could fly back to its source of oneness with G-d leaving the person lifeless. 

Hashem wants us to live life in this physical world, so he miraculously keeps us alive even if our feelings of desire to cleave inseparably from G-d are overwhelming. 

Giving thanks to Hashem ought to be deeply meaningful.

One of the challenges we face in life is the fact that we are never totally problem free even as we are blessed in an exceptional and overwhelming way. 

For example, one may have been blessed with a new baby, the greatest gift possible. At the same time there may be some serious difficulties like not having enough money to support the family. If you just hear the person complaining about not having enough income, you may think that their life is full of difficulty. On the other hand, if you hear that they just had another healthy child, you recognize that their life is also so blessed. Yet at the same time the money issue is a real issue. 

Competing emotions. 

The Torah teaches us to thank Hashem for the blessings.

Even as we cry out and pray for salvation from the problems.

Israel is under attack right now.

Our hearts, minds, prayers and mitzvahs are dedicated to our brothers and sisters in Israel.

Millions of citizens are running back and forth to shelters as the enemy fires ballistic missiles and cluster bombs. 

At the same time the Jewish people are being showered with G-d’s openly miraculous protection.

Thank G-d most of the incoming missiles are intercepted by the Israeli army defense system. Alas, some missiles have made their way through taking innocent lives and wreaking havoc.

Even within the devastation there are miracles bearing the unmistakable markings of being direct protection from G-d to His people in His holy land of Israel, the land on which the eyes of G-d are focused at all times.

An example from Monday of this week:

An Iranian ballistic missile carrying hundreds of kilos of explosives hit a Tel Aviv apartment building directly on Monday night. Despite scenes of “widespread destruction after the missile impact left a large crater alongside mangled buildings and vehicles at the scene of the attack,” only four people were lightly injured, none of them requiring hospitalization. (Times of Israel, March 24, 2026).

If you read the in-depth reports coming out of Israel you will see that together with the unbearable devastation, there are openly Divine miracles.

This week’s Torah reading about Todah – thanksgiving reminds us to sing out to Hashem in song and praise for the miracles He does.

Just as we pour out our hearts in emotional prayer that He save us from our enemies.

Let us remember to also give thanks to Hashem for the blessings in our personal lives. And there are myriads of blessings. If one pays attention ones heart is full of song and thanksgiving to Almighty G-d.

On this Sunday we give thanksgiving to Hashem for the blessing our generation with the birth of the Rebbe on Nissan 11 in 1902.

Click here for more about the Rebbe and his absolute Ahavat Yisrael the cornerstone of his mission to reach out with love to every Jew in every corner of the globe with the Mitvzah Campaign.

The Rebbe and his enduring vision continue to guide and shepherd our generation as we inch ever closer to the final Redemption with the coming of Mashiach.

Prepare for inner liberation this Pesach by visiting some of the links below.

The Rebbe’s teaching on Postivity teach us how to view life through the uplifting and energy generating lens of positivity.

The Rebbe’s teachings on Purpose give a practical path to living a meaningful and purposeful life even as modernity surrounds us from all sides.

The Rebbe’s pronouncement that Mashiach and Geula-Redemption are imminent and immediate  fuels our deeds, our aspirations and our yearning for the greatest moment of history – the coming of Mashiach!

Best wishes for continued success in all your preparations for Pesach.

See below to sell chametz, order matzah, reserve your spot at a Pesach Seder.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

This Thursday we will celebrate the Rosh Chodesh beginning of the month of Nissan. The month of the exodus from Egypt – Pesach. The month of miracles!!!!

We are living in a time of miraculous and detailed oversight by G-d. 

The more you read the news, the more you observe and see the statistically impossible miraculous protection of our Holy Land. 

It is incredible to see the hand of G-d working through the sophisticated weaponry that we thank G-d have in our arsenal.

The Jewish people is in a time of war. In Israel, and the world over, we are praying more and connecting more to Hashem by upgrading our mitzvah efforts.

There is a theory out there in the internet that it is possible to predict USA military moves by the ‘pizza index’.

The way this thinking goes is that when there is a spike in pizza orders to the Pentagon in the wee hours of the morning, it’s a sure sign that people are working around the clock planning a military action.

Whether this is true or not I will leave for others to debate.

There is an organization that provides Tefillin for Israeli soldiers who request them. They say that just before the latest Israel air force action in Iran there was a flurry of Tefillin requests from the air force soldiers. 

I do not know this information firsthand. 

What I do know, is that the Rebbe quoted the Talmud’s statement that deterrence against our enemies is generated by Jewish men putting on Tefillin.

And knowing the nature of my fellow Jews, as non-observant as they may seem to be, deep down is a pulsating, living and thriving Jewish soul-neshama that turns to G-d when salvation is needed.

So its not hard to believe that when the action is imminent, soldiers reach out to strengthen their Tefillin observance.

As well, it is clearly stated in the Torah that having a kosher Mezuzah on one’s door is a sure way to ensure a secure and protected home.

This has led to a surge in those requesting mezuzahs.

Around the world more mitzvahs are being done for the protection of our brothers and sisters in Israel, civilians and soldiers alike. And for the protection of Jewish communities around the world.

We are all ONE.

Below are links for providing 

Tefillin for those who commit to wearing them.

Mezuzahs on the homes of IDF soldiers.

If you would like help in Thailand with obtaining a mezuzah for your home please contact me by clicking here.

Giving Tzedakah is always important, 

Here is the link to a ‘tzedaka PUSHKA app’. The default on this app is tzedakah for helping poor people in Israel. Chabad of Thailand has been privileged to be selected to be added to the list of causes that are on this app. 

Click here for an easy way to give tzedakah electronically. 

Make sure to start making your Pesach plans. 

Sell Chametz

Order Matzah in Thailand (order internationally here)

Participate in a Seder

And most of all, combat anti-semitism by doing acts of Judaism.

Joyously and energetically and proudly.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

How much would you pay to get your firstborn son back from the Kohen?

On January 1, 2025, it would cost you $105 USD

Today it would cost you $260 USD.

Yep, the mitzvah is that if a Jewish mother has a firstborn, (born naturally), the son needs to be ‘redeemed’ at thirty days old in a ceremony called Pidyon Haben. 

The Kohen receives 5 shekels of silver, or the value of those shekels.

Silver prices have risen so much that now the price of the mitzvah has risen dramatically. 

The price of silver does not just impact newly formed families. 

This week’s Parsha tells about the obligation for every Jewish male over the age of twenty to give a half shekel – which contains 9.6 grams of silver – to the collection for the Bet Hamkidash Temple building. 

Once the Tabernacle (traveling temple) was built, there was an annual half shekel collection that everyone was obligated to contribute to. This was for the purchase of the communal sacrifice.

As a remembrance to this collection that took place during the Hebrew month of Adar we reenact the giving of the half shekel. We incorporate it as part of the Purim custom. We each give a half shekel to tzedakah just before Purim starts. This practice reflects the above idea that the shekels of the Jewish people counteracted the shekels that Haman gave to have them annihilated. Click here for more. 

While it is not necessary to give the true value of half shekel, as it’s only as a remembrance to the ‘machatzit hashekel’ during temple times, there are many who do choose to give true value that a half shekel of silver (9.6 gram) would cost. 

Last year on Purim that was $10.43. This year it is $26.29 USD.

While it’s startling to see the galloping-runaway price of silver, even at this higher price of silver, it is not a huge amount of money. Granted, it is not a trivial amount, but I sincerely hope that for most people reading this article, this amount of money is not prohibitive.

I asked Google what $26 USD would buy in an average Western country. Here is the response:

Casual Dining: One main course at a mid-range restaurant, likely without alcoholic beverages or appetizers. 

Small Basket: A few days’ worth of essentials: 1 litre of milk, 1kg of sugar/rice, a loaf of bread, eggs, and a small amount of fruit/vegetables.

Personal Care: A basic haircut at a budget salon or a few toiletry items (toothpaste, shampoo, soap). 

The amount required is not meant to be out of reach of the lower income people. It is not about amassing large amounts of money. 

In this collection there needed to be equality. The rich could not give more. The poor could not give less.

This created the ‘communal-ness’ of the offerings. By each one paying in equally, it meant that all members of the Jewish community were equal partners and owners in the daily communal offerings. For this purpose, there needed to be a unison amount that everyone contributed without distinction.

It wasn’t a huge amount.

Quite the contrary, it was a modest donation that we are talking about.

Yet the Torah describes it as being impactful in a major way. ‘It atones for your souls’.

Moshe was astonished, how could such a meager donation bring such a major achievement of forgiveness and atonement?

Indeed, our Sages relate that Moshe found it difficult to understand the concept of the half shekel and Hashem showed him a half shekel coin of fire.

One of the explanations is that Moshe had this very question. How can such a modest coin engender such a powerful result. To which Hashem showed him a fiery coin. 

It is not the amount. It is the fire, passion, excitement and devotion with which this coin was given that generated this powerful result. 

Click here for a longer essay based on teachings from the Rebbe about this.

Our connection to G-d is not about quantity. It’s about Kavana, intention and devotion. Warmth and passion. Joy and enthusiasm. 

That makes all the difference in the world.

Take a moment to ask yourself. How do you show up with your gift for G-d?

When you see an appeal from someone needing help.

Do you show your displeasure and annoyance at being ‘solicited’ for yet another cause?

Or are you thankful to the Almighty for having created a way to connect devotedly to him by something so material and base as money.

Do you see giving tzedakah as a way of elevating the mundane to become a holy part of G-d’s plan for the world?

Sure, large amounts can do big things.

Yet it is the - small in quantity but large in intention - monies given with a true and genuine feeling of warmth and fire that become worthy of being a offering to G-d.

G-d wants our passion and our heart. 

My friends, the threshold for being a part of G-d’s holy work here on earth is not a quantitative one. It is a question of spirit and commitment. 

One becomes an active partner with G-d, by contributing resources, time, money and attention to building G-d’s abode here on earth. 

At the very basic level, the smallish amount of half shekel is all that is required.

In addition to the communal collection of half shekel there were and still are other collections where everyone is called upon to do what is in THEIR ability. 

This can be quite extreme. 

For example, if someone can afford two million dollars and only gives one million, they have not lived up to their capacity and their charitableness is not up to G-d’s expectations of them.

Whereas if someone could afford to give ten dollars and forgoes a few things to push themselves and give eighteen dollars, they have given tzedakah in a laudatory way.

None of us are exempt from giving.

Each of us ought to look at their own situation and give at least a bit more than they are comfortable with. 

And remember, this refers to time and attentiveness to others, as well as resources.

In the merit of Tzedaka the Redemption will come.

And boy oh boy are we praying right now. For the victory of our forces immediately. For peace with enduring security. 

And even more so for the overall and comprehensive solution that we await for so long. For Mashiach to come right now. 

Mashiach’s coming will usher in an eternal peace that will obviate the need to fight even righteous and moral wars. 

For the sake of our brothers and sisters, grandchildren and grandparents, who are running in and out of shelters in Israel, for the sake of the multitudes of people whose plans have been thrown into chaos all over the world, and for the sake of humanity at large, may we merit the coming of Mashiach so that the entire creation will serve Him – Almighty G-d - with dedication and devotion.

AMEN.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

This year we celebrate Purim while Israel is at war. The question is obvious: how can we be joyful at a time like this?

Our sages teach, “Simcha Poretz Geder,” joy breaks through barriers. Simcha is not denial. It is not ignoring reality. It is part of how a Jew responds to reality.

Every holiday has its mitzvot, and every holiday also has its focus. Yom Kippur is about repentance. Rosh Hashanah is about introspection. Sukkot is about unity. Hanukkah is about light. Pesach is about freedom. Each time of the year carries its own spiritual energy, and when we live the focus of that day, we activate the blessing and power built into it.

Purim’s focus is joy.

If G-d tells us that today we must rejoice, then that joy is not a contradiction to what is happening, it is the very tool we are meant to use. There is no greater weapon than simcha. Joy breaks walls, walls of fear, walls of worry, even harsh decrees.

Because joy is not only the result of salvation, it helps bring salvation.

This Purim, our simcha, is an act of faith. 

And it is an act of solidarity that it much more meaningful and powerful than limiting our Purim as if we were in the direct line of danger G-d forbid.

On the exact contrary. 

Rejoicing on this Purim is a dispatch of power, energy and G-dly blessing to our brother and sisters, mother and fathers, sons and daughters, fellow Jews who are limited in their ability to celebrate Purim as usual because of the dangers involved.

When someone in the family is ill, the best thing the caregivers around them can do is to be healthy, upbeat, positive, optimistic and joyous. The person in danger is not helped by gloom in the eyes and hearts of those who are caring for them. 

Fascinatingly and inspiringly, there are so many parallels to the original Purim story.

The epicenter of the diabolical plans of exterminating the Jews was in Persia some 2400 years ago. This is modern day Iran, the main center of this war to remove the murderous government of evil. 

India and Ethiopia are mentioned prominently in the Megillah. The prime minister of India just visited Israel. The president of Israel just visited Ethiopia. 

The miracles of Purim were veiled behind a natural twist of world events and palace intrigues, to the extent that the name of G-d is not even mentioned in the Megillah.

Similarly, the current miracles unfolding are also hidden behind geopolitics and incredibly modern and effective weaponry. 

We Jews, understand that behind every incredibly successful missile interception is the benevolent, miraculous and supernatural Hand of G-d.

The masquerade on Purim is all about highlighting this very point.

On Purim we get dressed up in costumes to remind us that behind those ‘cover-ups’ and costumes, it is the undeniable Hand of G-d that is blessing His people with miracles of historic proportion.

And here is something that I never truly paid that much attention to, till now in the year 2026 as we live through the current historic world events. 

The Purim celebration from its very beginning is the only Jewish holiday that is celebrated on different days in different places.

In Jerusalem and other cities that had walls since ancient times, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of Adar (tomorrow night and Wednesday). In all of the rest of the world, it is one day earlier on the 14th day of Adar (tonight and tomorrow)

We find that even in the times of Mordechai and Esther, Purim was celebrated on a different day in Shushan than in the other cities. In all other cities, the battle against the enemies of the Jews took place on the thirteenth of Adar, and the people rested and celebrated on the fourteenth of Adar. In Shushan, however, the battle took place on the thirteenth and fourteenth of Adar, and the people rested and celebrated only on the fifteenth.

In other words, Purim from its inception had some Jews being able to fully rest, rejoice and celebrate, while others needed more time and only once their battle was over could they fully rest, rejoice and celebrate.

This is important to remember this year. Because as we get pictures and videos of our kids and grandkids running incessantly tens of times during day and in middle of the night to the bomb shelters, I understand that their Purim parties are not able to be held as usual. 

Yet, those of us who are outside the arena of the incoming missiles are fully able to celebrate (while paying attention to security concerns and implementing responsible security).

It feels awkward and not fair to celebrate so jubilantly here, while in Israel the epicenter of our nation, they are under attack, yet this is what the very festival of Purim reminds us from its very inception. 

Celebrate when you can. I have no doubt the delayed Purim parties in Israel after this is over will be epic and joyous. (Of course they will perform all the mitzvahs of Purim, reading the megillah, trading food gifts, money to the poor and eating a festive meal (hopefully not needing to be in a shelter), but they wont be able to celebrate (the way it seems now) in the same unbridled and exuberantly public way as usual.

We are all part of AM YISRAEL. 

My dear Jewish brother or sister: Don’t sit by the sidelines this Purim. 

For our people, especially for our fellow Jews in Israel (and Iran) celebrate Purim by doing the Four mitzvot of Purim with even more attention and devotion.

And yes, practice JOY and SIMCHA and CELEBRATE this Purim on your behalf and on behalf of our people.

AM YISRAEL CHAI – the People of Israel is alive – our life is our connection to G-d and His Torah – this makes us an eternal nation. Connecting more deeply with Hashem and observing more fully his Mitzvot is the greatest way to send gifts of life, health and joy to our dear brothers and sisters in Israel and wherever they may be.

And may our joy truly break all barriers and bring revealed miracles and peace for our brothers and sisters in Israel.

HAPPY PURIM!!!

WE WANT MASHIACH NOW!!!!!!!!!!

Rabbi Yosef and Nechama Kantor

A friend who wanted to make sure I am as full of joy as one should be during the joyous month of Adar sent me a comical short video which I am sharing with you.

It’s an elderly woman at a busy market stall in Israel who stands near the large expensive fish that are displayed at the stall and naggingly asks to buy olives by the kilo rather than in the usual sized container. As the store owner is busy responding to the olive details, a cat sticks its paws out of the bag that is being held by the elderly woman and grabs a fish and pulls it into the shopping bag. All carried off in split seconds while the people around are distracted, focused on the olive purchase minutiae.

It’s hilarious.

On a deeper level it reminded me of how we live our lives and what we may be overlooking.

Sometimes we get caught up in immaterial petty things. We get pulled into squabbling about unimportant things. Some people are distracted by the vast array of flavors and variety of material indulgence. They fall into a drunken state of chasing the temporary pleasures. 

All the while there are many more significant issues that they are being distracted from. If they really ‘kept their eye on the ball’ they would remember to keep on aiming towards the ‘goal’.

Do you think your kids care that much about the details of the snacks or games you are spending an inordinate amount of time preparing for them? Don’t you think you should focus more on spending quality time with them? It certainly beats using the ‘screen’ as a full-time babysitter.

Imagine if you are using all your energy in selling some proverbial olives which have a profit margin of a few meager pennies when the expensive fish is being lifted from your possession.

Priorities can so easily be skewed if we don’t anchor ourselves to the moral compass of Hashem’s instructions to man.

The reading in the second Torah this week (we take out two Torah’s this week) is Parshat Zachor the mitzvah to remember what Amalek did to us and thus we are instructed to wipe him out.

While the actual implementation of this mitzvah requires circumstances that will be met only when Mashiach comes, the application in terms of our inner service to Hashem is very pertinent.

There is a spiritual negativity within each of us that battles and challenges our relationship with G-d. 

If you sometimes feel challenged in your religious observance, or even in your very faith in Hashem, it is because there is a spiritual Amalek who sows doubt and tries to cool down our connection to G-d.

The way to fight and win the war with Amalek is as described in the Torah (Shemot 17:8-11)

Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

So Moses said to Joshua, Pick men for us, and go out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand

Joshua did as Moses had told him, to fight against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.

It came to pass that when Moses would raise his hand, Israel would prevail, and when he would lay down his hand, Amalek would prevail.

The Talmud comments on this:

Did then the hands of Moses wage war or break war? Not so; but so long as Israel looked upwards and subjected their hearts to their Father in Heaven, they prevailed; and when they did not, they fell.

In other words. If you are focused on the truly Divine values of life, if you remember that authentic life is defined by connection to G-d and disconnection from G-d is unplugging from true life, you will uncover the inner strength to win the war.

By taking Moshe’s cue and focusing on what is holy and true, you will be able to extricate yourself from the confusion and distraction of the world around you.

During this upcoming week we will be celebrating Purim.

 On one hand the Jews had a seat at the table. They were invited to Achashverosh’s feast. Ironically, the moment that they felt invincible, protected by the reigning sovereign, the threat of Haman came upon them.

Stripped and bereft of any chance to save their lives through political efforts, they turned to G-d in prayer and supplication. They fasted for three days. They had their kids entrusted to Mordechai the Tzadik for religious Torah instruction.

When they were distracted from their true Jewish identity and relied solely on governmental ‘proteksia’ things looked more dismal than imaginable. 

When they looked heavenward to G-d and recommitted to Him, the tables were turned, the situation was transformed as they vanquished their enemies.

It’s a reminder of how to overcome the inner Amalek, the inner Hamanic voice. 

By connection and commitment to Almighty G-d.

That is the time-tested surest and securest path for a Jew.

Look upwards to G-d – win the battle with Amalek – negativity and insecurity.

This dramatic turnaround happened almost 2400 years ago in Persia. And ever since then we celebrate Purim.

The most festive and joyous day in our calendar.

Looking forward to a victorious Shabbat and a joyous Purim.

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

Sometimes a silly joke conveys a deep message.

Joke: A guy who was living on the kibbutz in the days when farming the land was standard, was looking to get married. On the bulletin board of the kibbutz dining area, he placed a sign: ‘Looking to get married to a girl with a tractor. Please send pictures of the tractor….’.

Sounds like a ridiculously silly joke, but is it really any different from the all-too-common misguided reality when someone searches for a spouse based solely on the externals. Don’t you wonder how someone looking for a spouse can be more interested in their good looks, economic status or glamor, rather than their inner qualities, like whether they are a good, kindhearted person?

Marriage or any other form of meaningful relationships between people needs to be focused on the character and behavior of the people involved. Not on the externals of their beauty or economics.  

King Solomon (Shlomo Hamelech) taught in his poem ‘Eishet Chayil’ (woman of valor) that we sing every Friday night before Kiddush.

‘False is grace, and vain is beauty; a G-d-fearing woman, she should be praised’.

King Solomon is telling us the simple truism that only values, morals, and overall alignment with G-d is what truly makes a person praiseworthy. The inside of the person is what counts. The external features of the physique are empty.

Let’s think about this. 

Is it that simple to reject exterior beauty as being unimportant and empty?

The Torah places value and importance on beauty.

This week’s Parsha Terumah contains the instructions on building a Temple for Hashem, first a traveling Mishkan and eventually a permanent edifice in Jerusalem. 

The materials that G-d instructed to be used for the building are described at great length. Lots of gold, silver, precious stones and beautiful textiles were used in the building. 

The Rambam in the laws of building the Bet Hamikdash writes as follows: The most preferable way to fulfill the mitzvah is by strengthening the building and raising it to the utmost degree within the potential of the community, as implied by Ezra 9:9: “to exalt the House of our Lord.” They must make it beautiful and attractive according to their potential. If possible, it is a mitzvah to plate it with gold and to magnify all of its aspects. 

If beauty is merely an empty and external thing why so much emphasis on the details of building a physically beautiful house for Hashem? 

The Bet Hamikdash is the ultimate place of holiness and truth. Why do gold and silver and external beauty play such an important role?

When the ‘Miss Israel’ (the ‘beauty queen’ as it’s referred to) came to receive the blessing and dollars for tzedakah from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, the Rebbe referred to the Solomonic verse regarding beauty and by slightly rephrasing it, pointed out the deeper message contained therein. 

Click her to watch

The Rebbe explained that when one uses the G-d given gift of beauty in a way that is consistent with being G-d fearing and morally upright from within, then grace and beauty is to be praised. 

The Torah is not averse to good looks and precious commodities.

On the contrary. 

The natural expression of inner beauty is external beauty. 

The Pirkei Avot (ethics of our fathers) sums it up (6:8):

Rabbi Shimon the son of Judah would say in the name of Rabbi Shimon the son of Yochai: Beauty, strength, wealth, honor, wisdom, sageness, old age and children are becoming to the righteous and becoming to the world

External things like money, good looks, honor and wealth are in fact positive things at their source when viewed and used correctly. 

They are only negative if they are worshipped or seen as intrinsically significant without corresponding inner values. 

When holiness and beauty reign from within, corresponding exterior beauty, wisdom, strength and wealth are powerful tools of holiness. 

When it comes to Shabbat our sages taught that we should make the beds, put a tablecloth on the table, clean the home, bathe ourselves and put on nice clothes. The meal should be fancier both in the quality of the food and the number of courses. Even if you are just on your own. 

This was put into practice during the period of lockdowns that Covid 19 brought with it. Many Shabbats were celebrated in seclusion. Yet, the proper way to honor the shabbat was not to stay in your pajamas of ‘leisurewear’ but to get dressed up in your finer garments and eat upgraded Shabbat foods even if you are all alone.

Let’s go a bit deeper to the ‘soul’ of this topic.

What is external beauty when referring to a person?

Mainly it is the perfectly formed features and build of the physical body. 

Who provides that natural beauty with which a person is born? 

G-d Almighty. 

What makes gold so special in contrast to sand?

The fact that sand is available freely without effort while gold needs to be mined and is a limited commodity.

Who made that uneven distribution of resources?

G-d Almighty. 

So let us investigate as to the intention of Hashem.

Our sages taught, why did G-d create gold at all?

To be used in the Bet Hamikdash.

The intention of gold is not to be a currency stabilizer or a commodity to offset inflation. 

The very reason gold was created was to build a beautiful Bet Hamikdash.

If one puts on true G-d based ‘glasses’ everything in the world has been created by Hashem to be used for His glory.

Beauty and wealth and good health are all G-d given. They are not to be rejected as inherently negative. Rather they should be viewed and utilized as intended. to be the backdrop and beautiful environment for devoted commitment to serving G-d.

There is an instruction to ‘beautify’ our observance of the commandments of Hashem.

When you build a house of worship for Hashem it should be nicer than your personal home. 

When you give tzedakah to help others – thus being an agent of G-d to help that person - give the poor person something even more expensive than what you would spend on yourself.  

While our external features are given to us by G-d at birth, and we can’t do much to change that, we can change our true state of beauty. Our internal beauty. This is a beauty that is dependent very much on our own efforts.

G-d instructs in our Parsha ‘make for me a temple and I will dwell in them’ which alludes to the fact that G-d seeks to reside inside each and every one of us.

Until Mashiach comes – hopefully very very soon – the only Mikdash we can build is the inner one.

It behooves us to ensure that our inner temple is beautiful and valuable. 

This is achieved by living a moral life of Torah and mitzvahs.

Especially by overcoming and rectifying our imperfect and even negative character traits. The things that are most challenging to us, sometimes are the most important for us to overcome and change. 

As the Rambam so clearly outlines in his first book in Hilchot De’ot The Laws of Personality Development it is our holy G-dly duty to develop and mold our personalities to be ‘mentschen’ moral, kind, calm, patient and holy people. Even when requires intense 

Our mood also counts. In terms of temperaments and moods, there is nothing more pleasing to G-d and more pleasant for relationships with others than joy – simcha. 

Kvetching and complaining, sadness and negativity are anathema to G-dly revelation.

This month of Adar is one of extra special joy. Purim which is coming up in ten days, transforms the entire month into a month of increased joy. 

May we merit to have many happy things in our lives to facilitate and make it easier to access our inner joy.

Happy month of Adar.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

What are your red lines?

At what stage would you be so full of despair that you would sell yourself to someone else.

The answer should be NEVER.

May G-d protect us from ever being tested.

In this week’s Parsha of Mishpatim the opening mitzvah, is about the laws of servants. 

The details of the laws of the Torah surrounding servants and slaves are not applicable currently. Ever since the post-Temple-times the Torah laws of being a servant or slave are not put into actual practice. Yet the mitzvah is eternal and the message is one that guides our lives.

If a Jewish man sells himself to another Jew, he works for a six-year maximum. At the end of the six years, the beginning of year seven the servant goes free.

For someone to sell himself as a servant the financial situation must have been excruciatingly dismal. 

Yet the Torah chides this person as being insensitive to what he had heard at Sinai when G-d told our nation for now and for eternity that ‘to Me the children of Israel are slaves’. 

Implicit in that commandment is that they are not to willingly become slaves to anyone else ever again (after being slaves in Egypt). The fact that this person went and sold himself is an affront to G-d in some way.

Therefore, if the servant wants to continue his term of servitude past the six years, the Torah says that it can be extended, but an awl is pierced through his ear to the door, to remind him that his ears didn’t pay close enough attention to the G-dly gift of liberation. 

By willingly agreeing to have a ‘master’ other than G-d he is obviously misguided. He didn’t listen carefully enough to G-d’s words. So, while the Torahs says that the extension of the period of his slavery is possible, it is absolutely discouraged.

Isn’t that a bit harsh of a reaction to someone who only sold himself in the first place because of desperation?

It is.

But sometimes we need to take a firm stand in order to drive home a point.

Yes, the poor man faced a lot of pressure.

However, if he had remembered that G-d Almighty told him to never revert back to being a servant, he would have stayed away from it.

But how was he meant to feed his family?

When one remembers G-d, one also needs to remember that G-d is the one who provides sustenance for all flesh. 

The highest form of praise to Hashem is called the ‘Hallel hagadol’ 

The Talmud (Pesachim 118,a) tell us why:

And why is this section calledthe great hallel? Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Because this passage states that the Holy One, Blessed be He, sits in the heights of the universe and dispenses food to every creature. The whole world praises God for His kindness through the great hallel, which includes the verse: “Who gives food to all flesh” (Psalms 136:25).

G-d is responsible for feeding every living creature.

The Creator of the universe provides sustenance for more than eight billion people at this current writing.

For more than 50 billion birds and other forms of life.

AI tells me that there are approximately 20 quadrillion ants on Earth. This staggering figure, which is considered a conservative estimate, equates to roughly 2.5 million ants for every single human. 

All of these creatures are being sustained by G-d.

Not matter the level of desperation, a Jew believes and knows that it is Hashem that provides.

G-d said at Sinai do not become slaves again.

A Jew that was ‘listening’ properly to G-d’s words would recognize that selling himself to slavery is a red line that should not be crossed. 

Doing what runs contrary to Hashem’s instructions is a move that makes no sense.

Yes, Hashem wants us all to put forth effort to earn money to pay for our food. Yet, Hashem also told us what methods are ‘kosher’ to be used for this effort.

Sensible thinking means that the closer you stay to Hashems ‘drop down menu’ of ‘suggested jobs’ to make a living, the more blessed and fruitful your efforts will be.

The Torah is not advocating that one be too picky in how they make their living. Or that one waits around snobbishly for the perfect job.

The Torah instructs us to do whatever is needed to pay our way through life and not be dependent on handouts from others if at all possible.

It may even be that really menial and degrading labor is required. The Talmud (Pesachim 113 a) says:

Rav said to Rav Kahana:  Skin a carcass in the market and take payment, but do not say: I am a priest, or: I am a great man, and this matter disgusts me. It is preferable for one to work, even in menial labor, than to be dependent on others.  

NOT to enter into SLAVERY though. 

Hashem took us out of Egypt and gave us the gift of freedom and liberation. 

We must recognize and appreciate this gift and G-d forbid never look at ourselves as enslaved.

While we don’t have slavery today there are many variations of slavery that are more prevalent now than ever before.

Allowing oneself to be bullied is a form of submitting to slavery.

Being overcome by addiction to harmful behavior is another subtle form of slavery.

Viewing yourself as a victim of ‘fate’ without the ability to make decisions to help yourself is a slavery.

If you listen carefully to the message of G-d you will hear and recognize that you are free! 

Nobody can enslave you anymore.

Even when G-d forbid one doesn’t know where the next paycheck is coming from, remember, it is Hashem who is our provider. He can and will provide for our needs without us submitting to forbidden and immoral occupations. Without entering into enslavement.

May we all enjoy our liberation and truly inculcate and internalize the Torah statement that ‘there is no true freedom other than that of commitment to Hashem and His Torah’ 

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As we edge closer to Pesach let us embrace, relish and be empowered by the great gift of liberation and freedom that is granted to us.

Every breath as a free person is heady and uplifting.

Utilize your gift of freedom to do something good. To help someone else with kindness – an interpersonal Mitzvah. To add another ritualistic Mitzvah – a Mitzvah between you and G-d.

And let us hope that this year we will all be in YERUSHALAYIM for Pesach with the coming of Mashiach.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS. Please save the date for the Jewish Community Passover Seder which will be held on April 1, 2026. Passover is from April 1st - April 9th this year. 

I’m in Bangkok.

My wife is in New York. 

Nechama is attending the international conference of Shluchos/Chabad Lubavitch women emissaries from around the world.

The conference is taking place ahead of the 38th anniversary of the passing of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, of righteous memory, on 22 Shevat (Monday, Feb. 9).

Together with their husbands, the women are among the more than 6,500 Chabad emissary couples serving communities from Accra, Ghana, to Zurich, Switzerland. The conference offers attendees the chance to connect and learn from their peers, and to rededicate themselves to their mission. More than 30 workshops on a kaleidoscope of contemporary issues will be held in various locations in Brooklyn, along with a series of dinners and programs.

The conference will be capped with a grand gala banquet on Sunday, where thousands of people are expected to attend in person. Countless more around the world will join the celebration by watching the event live at: Chabad.org/Kinus. 

Early last week my wife and I landed in Melbourne last week on the eighth day of the birth of a new grandson to our eldest daughter Mushka, thank G-d. 


With my son in law, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann and the new baby

For a Brit that we thought was scheduled but Hashem has other plans. The baby is jaundiced and according to Jewish law, in such conditions the bris – as important as it is - is delayed. 

The Rambam sums up the rationale for delaying this most central mitzvah of Brit Milah – the covenant between G-d and the Jewish newborn boy.

We should not circumcise a child who is afflicted with any sickness at all, since the danger to life takes precedence over everything. Circumcision can be performed at a later date, while it is impossible to bring a single Jewish soul back to life.

When the baby is in robust health please G-d within a few days, the Brit will take place in good health and spirit and with lots of joy (the Thailand grandparents will participate via zoom).

I was not bored on my trip. Alongside spending time with our family, the greatest nachas and pleasure thank G-d, Hashem had planned a full schedule of lecturing activities for me in Australia.

I traveled to Sydney and spoke at the Bondi Chabad House. It was at the thanksgiving meal for the recovery of the heroic Label Lazaroff who was heading back home to Texas after more than ten surgeries. 

Life is the most sacred and precious gift that we have from G-d.

I went to visit the Bondi Beach site of the Chanukah massacre. I saw the bridge that the shooter was situated on, the car park that the second shooter approached. The proximity between the shooters and the crowd was not far. 

It was horrific, tragic and enraging to see the site of this senseless barbaric act of terror.

I was inspired to see the gazebo and tefillin stand that has put on tefillin with thousands of Jewish men since the attack.

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The Rebbe’s response to darkness is to add light. The comforting can only come from the rebuilding. Bigger, better and more.

In this spirit the Chabad rabbi’s in Australia are working on opening new Jewish centers and generating more ‘semitism’ and Jewish life to bring more G-dly light into the world to drive away the darkness.

We, the Jewish nation, live in a constant state of waxing and waning. Like the moon that we are compared to. We have our difficult times, moments of challenge, yet we soldier on and do our best to fulfil Hashem’s Torah and Mitzvahs until the light comes blazing through. 

The next evening, I addressed the community in the North Shore of Sydney. On my way out of Sydney, I was invited to give a class to the high school boys of the Jewish day school on their first day of the school year.

In Melbourne I was the keynote speaker at the ‘Siyum Harambam’ celebration marking the completion of the cycle of learning the entire book of Maimonides, (in both the one year and three years cycle).

By learning the entire 14 books of Rambam, one essentially studies the mitzvah content of the entire body of the written and oral torah. All the mitzvahs are spelled out in this comprehensive work. 

The new cycle of Rambam study is starting tomorrow, Click here for more information and for the resources needed to join this study.

Please consider taking on this wonderful study so that you too can fulfil the mitzvah of learning the entire Torah.

(Here in Bangkok, we will be celebrating the Rambam study conclusion on Sunday at 18:30 in Bet Elisheva Synagogue). 

This week in the Parsha G-d gives the Jewish people the Torah.

MAZEL TOV to us all.

How fortunate we are to be the nation that Hashem chooses to be His special people, tasked with being a beacon and compass of Divine morality to the entire world. 

‘A light unto the nations’.

My dear friend, the Torah is YOUR inheritance.

It’s more valuable than the most expensive commodity imaginable. 

Make the best decision of your life. Spend a few minutes every day in Torah study.

Bringing G-d’s Torah into your mind, creates an intimate oneness between the Almighty and you. 

DI. not AI. Divine Intelligence. Nothing artificial about that. 

Even with just a few minutes a day. Your life will change for the better.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor