By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
Q.
Do Rabbis Make Mistakes?
A.
Yes.
In some of my emails I got the dates of Yom Kippur wrong…
Yom Kippur begins from before sunset on Wednesday September 15 till nightfall on Thursday September 16.
Q.
Will we be having ‘in-person’ Yom Kippur services in Bangkok?
A.
Yes. But we are optimistically awaiting the results of today’s meeting of Thailand’s Covid-19 administration to see what further relaxation of rules will allow for.
Q.
Is it ‘holy’ to speak about money on the ‘HIGH holy days’?
A.
Short answer. YES it is a mitzvah.
Long answer click here.
ACTIONABLE ANSWER:
Please consider contributing to our annual ‘Jewish Thailand High Holiday giving days’ by clicking here.
By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
On Rosh Hashana at the blowing of the Shofar I pray to be taken back in my memories to the golden years that I merited to hear the Shofar blowing by the Rebbe in the overflowing synagogue at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn NY.
It was not the actual sounds of the shofar that are so much embedded into my memory, rather the sweetness and soulfulness of the Rebbe’s voice as he said the pesukim (verses) before and after the shofar blowing. As well as the melodious and soul stirring recital of the blessings before the Shofar. These are memories that I hang on to dearly and they become more vivid as I stand near the Torah’s preparing to blow the Shofar for my community.
There was one item in particular that stands out in my mind as it was unique to the Rebbe. I have never heard of it being done anywhere, certainly not by ‘regular’ shofar blowers or rabbis.
The Rebbe would enter the synagogue on Rosh Hashana morning followed by his secretariate who were carrying packages of something wrapped in brown paper and tied by string. These were placed near the Rebbe’s seat till the time came to blow the Shofar. Then they would be carried to the raised bimah upon which the Shofar would be blown. They were placed before the Rebbe on the bimah just in front of the Shofars that he was about to blow.
The Rebbe, before beginning the recital of the pre-Shofar pesukim, would throw his tallis over himself and those packages for several minutes. His body would heave with emotion. Those close enough could hear him sob, deep tearful sobs.
Thousands of people were packed together with not an inch available between them. The natural noise ceased, and it was totally quiet as all eyes would be on the Rebbe as he carried out his holy tasks of the service of G-d. The scene was pure and angelic.
Those minutes felt like eternity on the one hand yet passed fleetingly on the other. We all sensed that something deeply spiritual was taking place, albeit, we had no inkling of what that was.
It was uplifting and spiritually charged. I try and keep it alive and fresh in my mind, anxious that G-d forbid the time that passes could bring forgetfulness and erode those irreplaceable images from my mind and heart. I pray to G-d that those inspiring and uplifting moments of holiness are not taken from me.
What were in those packages?
Notes, or in the Yiddish, ‘tzetalech’. Hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands of them.
Presumably, notes of petition from Jews around the world. Asking the Rebbe to pray on their behalf.
But which of the notes that streamed to the Rebbe throughout the year in thousands made it to be there at the Shofar blowing in front of the Rebbe?
What notes did the Rebbe take under his Tallis and cry copious tears over?
Here is the enigma. We know that many of the ‘tzetalech’ that were brought to the Rebbe throughout the year, he took with him to his father in laws ‘Ohel’ resting place and after reading them and praying on behalf of the petitioners he would tear them and leave them on the grave.
(We learned from the Rebbe’s conduct how we could best perform our own prayers when visiting the Rebbe’s resting place, and similarly write a note and leave it at the holy site after tearing it. The staff at the Ohel even have a service where you can send a note to be placed at the Rebbe’s resting place by email or fax www.ohelchabad.org . During the High Holiday period it is extremely active as people write notes praying for a good, sweet year).
Some notes the Rebbe would bring back with him to his office.
Before Rosh Hashana we would traditionally write a note asking the Rebbe to pray to G-d on our behalf and for those who were in NY we could even hand it to the Rebbe personally before Rosh Hashana. (click here to see some footage of that tradition).
(if you have a few moments, click here to get a fuller perspective on why it is the Jewish tradition, to ask a Tzadik, alive or even deceased, to pray on your behalf. Taking into account of course that it is a cornerstone of our belief that we all have a direct connection to G-d and pray directly to Him without intermediaries, G-d forbid).
Perhaps it was those notes that contained requests for prayer that we had handed him just before Rosh Hashana?
Perhaps it was a compilation of extraordinary notes that he had received during the year?
I don’t know, and I don’t know if anyone knows….
But I can bare my soul and share with you, what kind of notes I speculate the Rebbe would take under his tallis for the most sacred moment of the year, the blowing of the Shofar.
You see, I have been blessed to be a rabbi of a community that is very special. A community of Jews that includes such a variety of backgrounds and nationalities all united by a love of G-d, Torah and fellow Jews. A community that knows how to embrace with love the myriads of guests who pass through their doors and treat them like extended family. The variety of those who pass through Thailand is colorful. From businessmen who come here for work, tourists who come for leisure, to those who just happen to land up here as Thailand and get attracted to stay.
As a rabbi, and especially a rabbi of this kind of special community, I can tell you that there are certain ‘notes’ i.e., situations that come to my attention, that I think may have made it under the Talis.
The heartfelt emotional cries to G-d for health. The pleas to G-d for making enough money to keep a roof over the family’s head. The prayers to G-d to grant mental health and emotional stability even during these ultra-challenging times.
The ‘why’ notes. Why me? Why, after I took upon myself to get closer to G-d and do more mitzvahs, why did G-d send me the greatest challenge of my life?
This just gives me not even the smallest inkling of the frustrations, the pain, the challenges, the absolute ‘I can’t go on like this’ contained in the notes that must have come to the Rebbe. I can only surmise, from my small bag of conceptual ‘notes’ that I have collected over this past year from the people of our community, how vast that bundle that came to the Rebbe from around the world must have been.
Why did the Rebbe bring it to the Shofar blowing.
Once again, the only one who could truly answer that question would be the Rebbe, and I don’t recall ever hearing that the Rebbe had explained this custom unique to him.
But I will share what I feel as it may be inspiring to you as well and then it will be worth it although I tread in terrain that is out of my depth.
The Rebbe quoted many times what the Baal Shem Tov taught, that the blowing of the Shofar is like a plaintive cry emanating from the depths of a young child’s heart:
FATHER SAVE ME!!!!
The shofar blast is wordless.
Not limited to any particular language or any configuration of letters or words.
(click here for R’ Yitzi Hurwitz’s article on this).
It doesn’t even get uttered by a human. Its human breath making noise as it comes from an animal’s horn. This symbolizes that this cry is unfettered and not limited by human intellect which may temper or limit the primal depth of the cry. It is a base, instinctive and innately primal cry.
It is coming from the deepest recesses of our Jewish heart as we turn to G-d and cry out to Him. Wordlessly, existentially, in a compelling piercing cry that is irresistibly arousing of His divine mercy
FATHER…
A father who hears that kind of cry from their young child doesn’t need to hear the word ‘father’ or ‘save me’. The mere sound of voice of the child. The intensity and depth of the tone of the cry, they express it more deeply than words.
This is what is taking place at the Shofar blowing.
The Rebbe’s as the ‘head’ of the Jewish people had a consummate sensitivity to the needs of others. Thus, his piercing cry to the Almighty, carried with it not (just) his requests, but the requests of the entire Jewish people. Furthermore, the Rebbe himself taught, that a true leader places his people even before him.
These requests to G-d that were spelled out in detail, contained in the hundreds or thousands of notes that had arrived at his office. These were the pleas, cries and entreaties that he carried on his shoulders as he prepared to blow the shofar and cry out:
FATHER……
This year, thank G-d, we were blessed to be able to blow the Shofar here in Bangkok. The government relaxed the rules just six days before Rosh Hashana. We had small minyanim (less then twenty five people, as per the law) and we blew Shofar in the park. While it was raining all round us, on the first day of Rosh Hashana it was dry in the park and we had a Shofar blowing and short service with Tashlich.
On the second day of Rosh Hashana there was a veritable deluge that stopped just forty five minutes before the Shofar blowing time, the flooding on the streets was still draining, and it would have been comfortable to assume that nobody would come to our appointed Shofar blowing. We set out, and greeted one Jew who had indeed come to the Shofar blowing only on this second day of Rosh Hashana. It was exhilarating to be able to blow the Shofar in the midst of the Bangkok tumult and proclaim the oneness of G-d amidst the multitudinous distractions around us.
We turned to G-d, as did Jews the world over and cried out
FATHER……
And indeed, G-d our Father in Heaven hears our cries.
And we are supremely confident that He is blessing us with a good and sweet year.
Which leads me to discuss another kind of note that may have been there under the Rebbe’s tallis.
The notes of good news.
Many thoughtful people wouldn’t just share their troubles with the Rebbe and ask for his blessing. They would come back to him with the reports of how his blessings had helped. How the situations of grim prognosis had resolved themselves miraculously. How they turned out to be opportunities to be recipients of G-d’s miracles and to proclaim the greatness of G-d.
They would share how the Rebbe’s blessing and insight helped them gain clarity. How they now realized that even as they were suffering, the closeness to G-d that was brought about through their trials and tribulations had birthed something special within their soul.
How even though it didn’t make logical sense, and the ‘why’ wasn’t answered, the fact that they had come closer to G-d before their suffering, was a source of strength to withstand their difficult times. Without having had that closeness to G-d brought about through the mitzvah, the challenge would have thrown them into a sense of despair and hopelessness.
Then there were the many notes of commitment and achievement that people sent to the Rebbe. How they had pledged to study more and had successfully progressed in their study of Torah and observance of Mitzvahs. Some shared their goals of tzedakah giving and how that had brought them success in their earnings.
There were ‘lifecycle’ notes asking for confirmation and blessings for engagements, marriages, informing about births, bar mitzvahs, weddings and passing’s.
So I ask you, which notes do you think were under the Rebbe’s tallis?
Once again, I don’t know.
But I do know what I can learn from the Rebbe’s notes under his tallis.
Today, in 2021, thirty years since 1991 when I last heard the Rebbe blow the shofar himself we live in an ‘information age’.
We have access to information from around the world.
Things that only the Rebbe would have been informed about, as people wrote to the Rebbe from around world literally and shared their news.
Back then, we didn’t know most of those things. Our knowledge was limited to people in our immediate circles.
Today we know about a lot of those things that once upon a time were known only to the Rebbe. (I refer to ‘natural knowledge’ not to the spiritual powers that Tzadikim have, that is beyond the scope of this article).
It is incredible how many more painful situations we have become aware of because we live in an information age.
People passing in an untimely way. Orphaned families. People battling illness. Parents receiving a special-needs child to raise. Breadwinners struggling to place bread on the table. Loved ones tormented and traumatized by a dear one taking their own life G-d forbid.
The list goes on an on. We are in an ‘information age’, we know so much about so many people. We take it in and often promptly forget about it.
I know we forget about it, because sometimes when I say ‘WE WANT MASHIACH NOW’ I get a look from the person I am talking to who is not sure why it is so critical for Mashiach to come. In our minds we may sometimes be thinking, times are pretty good these days.
But that is because we have forgotten. The needs and suffering of others is not obviously in our consciousness.
Here is my humble suggestion about what we can learn from the Rebbe’s custom in enhancing our own Yiddishkeit.
As we stand before Hashem during these special days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, we ought to bring all those ‘notes’ and entreaties to G-d and put them into our consciousness.
To remember and pray for all those people suffering.
To emphasize with and pray for all those who are having a rough ride.
To pray for ourselves as well. But to pray first and foremost for others.
And not just to pray.
To act. To help. Assist. Encourage. Reach out. Say a nice word. Bring a smile to someone else, and if need be, a loaf of bread and money for essentials. Share an inspirational thought.
But most importantly not to forget to activate those ‘notes’ whose content, when we recall them, cause us to cry out to G-d from the deepest recesses of our hearts
FATHER!!!!!
SAVE US!!!!!
And then, to also, to recall those notes of ‘nachas’.
Particularly to remember those blessed things that have been gifted to us personally by the Almighty.
We tend to ‘kvetch’ and remember the problems. It is really important for us to remember and praise Him for the good things.
The big things, and the small things. Pay particular attention to the gifts that are taken for granted. That are really HUGE but we call them small because we rely on them being constantly here.
Like every breath that we take.
And thus let us cry out in joy!
at the same time that we cry out in pain, yes, its paradoxical, but we are an enigmatic nation after all. (click here for related story)
FATHER
THANK YOU!!!!
May you be blessed with a SHANA TOVA UMETUKAH
A Good and Sweet Year!!!!
Shabbat (Shuva) Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor