"Shabbat Shalom from Bangkok"

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

The cornerstone of the work of the Rebbe was education. Jewish education for children in age. As well as Jewish education for those who are children in terms of their knowledge.

The work of Chabad Lubavitch in establishing day schools, Hebrew after school programs, summer sleepaway camps and day camps, is well known.

Let me introduce my ‘miracle story’ with a glimpse into an educational initiative that you may not yet have heard of.

‘Released Time’.

Here is what it is in a nutshell:

The Released Time Jewish Hour Program offers fun and engaging Jewish classes for students in public schools across NYC. The weekly classes occur every Wednesday during the last hour of the school day, and operate within every NYC public school.

The weekly Jewish hour programs are led by dedicated rabbinical instructors who bring the children to synagogues and Jewish centers near the public schools. The programs are meaningful and educational filled with Torah learning and hands on exciting holiday projects.

Psychologists and educators agree that a sound religious education is the key to developing healthy long lasting character traits. Federal law protects the right of any recognized religious group to teach its principle's to public school students who elect to join. 

The Jewish Released Time program is the flagship program of the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education (NCFJE). Since its inception in 1941, the program has educated more than a quarter of a million Jewish boys and girls throughout New York with a fun and meaningful Torah education.

This initiative has been going on for 78 years now. When I was a student in the Yeshiva in NY I too had the honor and merit to teach the weekly ‘Wednesday Hour’ to public school children and got to see the critical importance of this one hour of religious instruction to the Jewish children who attend.

Back at the end of January I was in New York to give the main speech at the ‘Released Time Jewish Hour’ fundraising event. It was timed to coincide with the day of passing of the previous Rebbe of Lubavitch in 1950 and the day that the Rebbe – whose 29^th Yartzeit we are marking today (Thursday June 22) - assumed the mantle of leadership.

After the official speeches, I was asked to lead the informal part of the “Farbrengen’ (Chassidic gathering) and I shared some inspirational stories of Divine Providence. One of the stories was from 2011 about my unexpected visit to Brussels due to missing a flight. (Click here if you want the full story. Part 1 Blizzard in New York. Part 2 unexpected trip to Brussels). After I finished the story, someone called out to me that my friend Levi who I had visited in Brussels, was in New York now. I called Levi to see if he was in the area so we could say hi. He told me that he was in Arizona for a meeting but would land in JFK airport early the next morning. We didn’t make up to meet as I wasn’t sure of my plans the next morning.

Hashem made our plans. Early the next morning I set out from Crown Heights, Brooklyn, to the Rebbe’s Ohel in Queens. It was a wintry dark morning and the luminous dashboard of the car showed me that my tire pressure had fallen to a level that could be dangerous. I figured that I had better try to put some air in the tires but at 5:30 am it was dark and the gas stations I was stopping at in Brooklyn did not have functioning air pumps and to be frank some of them didn’t feel all that safe. Hey, a rental car is not supposed to have these kinds of hiccups. I figured that the best way forward was to drive slowly to the car rental at JFK which opens at 6am.

After the rental car staff filled the tires, I was about to head out to the Ohel when I recalled that my friend Levi should be landing about now. When I called Levi and told him I was in JFK and offering him a ride to the Ohel, he was happy to accept. As I got closer to his terminal Levi called me and asked if I had room for an additional person. A Chassidic man from Boro Park said he would join us to go to the Ohel and say a prayer on this auspicious day (it was Yud Shevat).

I pulled up to the terminal and Levi got in as well as a Chassidic looking man by the name of Reb Shea. As Reb Shea got into the car his phone rang. It was his daughter. He asked her why she was calling so early. She told him the special news that she was on her way to the hospital to give birth. Reb Shea was very excited and told her, ‘what a special Divine Providence this is. I am about to go to say a prayer at the Ohel of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and I will pray for your healthy birth.’

It was a beautiful story already. But it gets much more exquisite. Three days later I got a voice note from Reb Shea which took it to a new level.

‘I wanted to thank you for taking me a few days ago to the Ohel. As I associate with a different Chassidic group, I don’t come frequently to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Ohel. However, when the opportunity fell into my lap it seemed Divinely ordained for me to visit and I gladly took it. The fact that it coincided with my daughter’s giving birth was inspiring to me. As far as I was concerned that was the blessed end of the story. The birth was natural, all was good, and on the next day (Thursday) they were discussing my daughter going home for Shabbos.

Then the unexpected happened and an emergency alert was called on my daughter’s hospital floor as she started hemorrhaging. It was touch-and-go as to whether she would pull through.

I can now share the good news that Baruch Hashem she is fine.

On Shabbos we made a Kiddush and said lechayim thanking Hashem for the birth and the miraculous recovery.

As I told the story to the people in the Shul, someone pointed out the incredible correlation between the Divinely orchestrated visit to the Ohel of the Rebbe, and the subsequent medical emergency. It was inspiring and amazing to realize that from Heaven I had been directed to the resting place of the Tzadik to pray for my daughter at that hallowed place and enlist the merits of the great Tzadik.

A real miracle had transpired’.

I was so uplifted that I listened to Reb Shea’s emotional voice note to me several times.

My dear friends.

On the Yartzeit of a Tzadik, there are supernal energies that are available to those who study or follow in the footsteps of the Tzadik.

Take a moment to read about the Rebbe and his living legacy, learn something from the Rebbe’s teachings, add a mitzvah in honor of the Rebbe’s ‘hilula’, be inspired by the love that the Rebbe showered every person with, be uplifted by the Rebbe’s positivity bias, and join the collective efforts to end this dark exile and bring Mashiach NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS I am currently in New York to attend the Rebbe’s yahrtzeit in person and will be visiting the Ohel in prayer on this auspicious day. I will have you in mind in a collective way. If there is something particular that you would like me to pray for on your behalf, please use the form jewishthailand.com/noteohel .

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

Last week, two days after our daughter’s wedding in New York, the continuation of the seven days of celebrations ( Sheva Brachot ) moved over to the west coast of the USA.

I made a day trip from LA to the S.F. Bay area to visit with some people who used to work/visit Thailand but are currently battling health challenges. The Torah teaches us that Bikur Cholim visiting the ill is a mitzvah.

Our Sages tell us that ‘one mitzvah brings another mitzvah. I saw it unfold before my eyes. I was on the way to fulfil the mitzvah of visiting the sick and by Divine Providence, from the moment I boarded the plane in LAX I was led to other inspiring mitzvahs.

The young man in the seat next to me on the plane guessed that I was Jewish and told me that he too was Jewish. He had just come back from a training session for a Jewish summer program he was chaperoning. We had a wonderful discussion about Jewish learning and observance. In particular he was interested in exploring the synergy between Torah and advanced scientific studies. He was happy to respond positively to my offer to put on Tefillin right there on the plane. As he said ‘it’s the first time in my life wrapping Tefillin on a plane’.

I arrived in San Jose. The Uber driver who accepted my ride went to the wrong terminal in the airport and kept me waiting for longer than usual. During the ride, he had an interesting piece of information to share with me. ‘I could marry a Jewish girl and be accepted in the Jewish community’, he said. ‘How so’ I asked. Well, my mother’s parents were Jewish. Although I was raised Catholic.  

‘Would you be open to having a Jewish experience and doing a ‘ritual’ Mitzvah that Jewish boys do when they are thirteen years old’ I asked him. To which he responded that he would welcome the opportunity.

And so it happened that upon arriving at our destination, on a quiet suburban street, I put Tefillin on with my Uber driver who welcomed the opportunity to offer a prayer to Hashem adorned in the thirty-three-hundred-year-old traditional Jewish ornaments. (Picture below).

I would like to point out that our responsibility in terms of sharing Hashem’s message is not limited to interactions with other Jews. The Rebbe reintroduced the concept of actively engaging with all of the nations of the world in teaching them the seven Noahide laws – the Universal Moral Code.

Click here and here for more on this.

In that vein let me share a meaningful Uber experience that I had with a Pakistani driver named Asif.

As I got into the car, I said ‘thank you for coming to pick me up’ in a good-natured humorous tone.

Looking at my destination on his screen, my driver said, “I thank G-d for sending me this ride’. I looked at him quizzically and he continued ‘my daughter learns in college in Queens and asked me if I could pick her up when she finishes class today. I told her that I don’t think I can as I am in Brooklyn but let us see how the day develops. Now that you have asked me to take you from Brooklyn to Queens (I was going to the Rebbe’s Ohel in Cambria Heights, Queens), I will indeed be in the area of her school to pick her up’.

The driver, seeing my excitement at hearing him share a ‘Divine Providence’ story, continued to chatter. Our discussion continued to the topic of charity. Asif shared an inspiring story.

‘Once I wanted to give someone charity, and the person I had in mind just happened to be coming towards me. I had forty dollars in my pocket. I thought to myself, I will give the needy person half of my cash and keep half to myself. Upon reflection I thought, if I truly believe in G-d and that He will give back more than what I give, I should be prepared to hand over all my cash. In a split-second decision I gave the entire forty dollars to the needy person.

Then I started my late afternoon shift of driving my yellow cab (pre-Uber) in Manhattan. Late at night I was flagged down by a man and after I stopped to pick him up, I discovered that there was a drunk man behind him lying on the ground. It was his friend that he was trying to shlep home. I declined the ride explaining that if he threw up in my cab, my entire evening of work would be lost. He begged me and said that he had been refused by so many drivers already. I acceded and helped shlep the drunk into my car, placed a bag in his friend’s hand to catch any possible retching, and upon reaching our destination, helped shlep the drunk man up the steps.

The friend of the drunk, handed me a sixty-dollar tip on top of the fare.

You see, G-d sent me back more than I had given’.

The driver, recognizing that I am a religious Jew, asked me to share some wisdom with him. I told him that he should  continue to spread the message of the belief in one G-d. And that G-d is the Eye that sees and the Ear that hears so that mankind behaves morally not for fear of the police, but because G-d has instructed the laws of morality. Moreover, he should share with his riders the importance of helping others and giving charity, thus fulfilling the instruction of the Creator who created humanity in His image.

Wherever we go and whomever we meet, there is always a Divine purpose. Sometimes, all it takes is being present enough (not fully immersed in the gadgets we carry around that create constant distraction) to recognize the opportunity that is in front of your eyes.

There is another story I heard recently.

Not from an Uber driver but from a fellow elderly rabbinic passenger from Jerusalem with whom I was sharing an Uber ride.

‘About thirty-five years ago I was on a visit to NY with my wife and daughter’ related Reb C.Y. Cohen. ‘The Rebbe was distributing dollars to those who had come to see him’.

(The Rebbe would give dollars to the thousands of men women and children who came to greet him every Sunday. The Rebbe would hand each one a dollar which they in turn were to give to a person in need. Or as most would do, keep that dollar that was given personally by the Tzadik and give its exchange (with an addition) to tzedakah).

Reb CYC continued ‘my daughter asked the Rebbe for dollars for her sisters who were back in Israel. The Rebbe asked how many sisters do you have. She responded that she has two. The Rebbe asked ‘how many sisters do you have’? Again, she answered that she has two sisters. Yet another time the Rebbe asked and the same response. I looked at my wife not knowing why the Rebbe wasn’t just accepting our daughters’ answers. Till my wife exclaimed. Yes, we do have a third daughter. But she is already married and out of the house.

The Rebbe handed my daughter four dollars, one for her, and one for each of her sisters.

Reb CYC concluded his story and pointed out the incredulousness of it. Here we were, parents of our daughters, yet we had momentarily overlooked one of them. The Rebbe, who had never met our family and to my knowledge didn’t have any pre-information about how many children we had, obviously had holy powers that allowed him to sense that our daughter had more than two sisters.

I was most inspired by the story. It shows how the Rebbe was tuned in to the needs of the ‘sheep’ in the generation that he was ‘shepherding’.

The world shepherd is used to describe Moshe and all the future true leadership of the Jewish people. Thus, I use the word shepherd to describe the Rebbe, for that is the true function of Jewish leadership.

The Rebbe, positioned as he was in history just after the Holocaust, shepherded the broken generation to incredible growth and miraculous rebirth.

Perhaps even more remarkable, is the Rebbes leadership to our unique generation of wealth. We are a generation that has affluence and freedom that previous generations didn’t have. Under those privileged conditions, we are not being persecuted by pogroms and massacres as in the past, but we are challenged by assimilation and apathy.

The Rebbe addressed the needs of this generation. Through the myriads of programs, directives, personal mentoring and lengthy public addresses. Judaism, under the leadership of the Rebbe, was turned outward.

What does this mean to you and I personally?

It is the job of a leader to shepherd his flock. To be in in tune with every single soul. Even if the physical family may have overlooked their child/sibling, it is the holy function of the Tzadik to ensure that they are remembered and connected to Hashem and his Torah.

On Thursday of this week, June 22^nd corresponding with the third (Gimmel) of Tammuz the Hilula/Yartzeit of the Rebbe.

The Rebbe’s inspiration, guidance and blessings continue to yield fruits and connect souls to G-d as we study his teachings, fulfil his directives and visit his resting place at the Ohel in New York.

The Rebbe believed in each and every one of us and empowered us to dare to reach for higher achievements than we naturally would aim for.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ob”m famously said of his experience of meeting the Rebbe many times:

‘ You saw your reflection in the Rebbe’s eyes, and you were suddenly much bigger than you thought you were.” Click here for his full remarks .

My friend, take up the Rebbe’s inspiration and make if your own.

Consider taking a few moments to peruse this website dedicated to the Rebbe’s legacy and join in his mission of making this world a better place and bringing Mashiach.

No one can remain on the sidelines in this massive undertaking to finish the darkness of this exile. It takes the efforts of each and every one of us to finally bring this exile to an end and bring Mashiach NOW.

Shabbat Shalom

Chodesh Tov (Monday and Tuesday)

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

Words cannot describe the joy that Nechama and I felt at the wedding celebration of our daughter Miriam to her new husband Yosef.

One of the dear friends who attended, wrote to me ‘the simcha (joy) was beautiful, palpable — explosive!’

Come to think of it, there is no other lifecycle celebration that elicits as much joy as a wedding.

Why is that?

Let me first share with you something else extraordinary that happened to me this week.

Just after Yom Kippur earlier this year, my wife and I together with the kids that are still living at home, landed in NY to spend Sukkos in the Rebbe’s synagogue, in conjunction with the Hakhel year.

It was a wonderfully uplifting and inspiring trip.

Except that upon exiting the airport I realized that I had left my Tefillin in the very deep bins of the Cathay Pacific airplane that had transported us from Hong Kong to JFK.

The cleaning crew in NY said that they hadn’t seen it. I tried reaching Cathay Pacific in Hong Kong to no avail.

I bought new Tefillin and tried to get over the disappointment of losing the Tefillin that I had been blessed to receive from my grandfather of blessed memory and that I had prayed with for forty years.

On Tuesday of this week, I was invited to give a class on the topic of leadership to the girls teaching seminary in Crown Heights and I put my phone onto airplane mode. Upon opening my phone, I found a WhatsApp from my cousin who shares the same last name Kantor, and a picture of my Tefillin and Talit bag. ‘Do you recognize this’ he asked. ‘It was found in the lost and found of Israels Ben Gurion airport’ he continued.

Do I recognize it? Yes. It is unmistakably my lost Talit and Tefillin.

My cousin shared with me that someone had posted it on his ‘status’, a friend of my cousin had noticed the last name and asked my cousin if he recognized it. My cousin recognized my name and contacted me.

My heart is full of gratitude to Hashem for orchestrating this find. And I feel most thankful to the person who found it. This special person makes it his duty to visit the lost and found and take pictures of lost items in the hope of finding their rightful owners. What a blessed person this is, to exert so much effort in fulfilling the mitzvah of returning a lost object.

How did my Tefillin land up at Ben Gurion airport?

Perhaps the same airplane after arriving back in HK was used on the HK Tel Aviv flight by Cathay. Could it be that the Tefillin were overlooked when the plane was cleaned in HK (the flights during that time were woefully empty) and only in TLV did the cleaning or security staff find them?

A friend suggested that perhaps they found it in Hong Kong but they must have seen the Hebrew lettering and thought it belonged in Israel.

This would be a good preparation and omen for the beginning of the ‘kibutz galiyot’ ‘ingathering of exiles’. As this story shows how whatever belongs to a Jew goes to the holy land of Israel. When Mashiach comes the Prophets prophesized that every Jew will come back to the land of Israel.

I don’t know if I will ever know exactly how it landed up in Israels airport lost and found. One thing I do know.

I am very happy and elated at this totally unexpected find.

Much more excited than the dollar value that the Tefillin are worth.

Why am I so excited?

It dawned on me.

Finding something that is dear to you, almost a part of you, that has been lost is a source of real joy.

This, our Sages say, is the reason for the incredibly joyous celebrations at weddings. It is based on what the teaching of Kabala tell us about marriage.

Initially the soul is created comprised of two parts. A feminine part and a masculine part. Upon birth, every part of the soul becomes enclothed in its respective masculine or feminine body.

Marriage is about the reunification of those two parts of the soul that were initially one.

(There are various caveats and nuances to this concept, but the general idea is as stated).

The joy of the finding one’s ‘bashert’ (Divinely intended) partner in marriage is thus the joy of reunion.

Finding a wholesomeness that was lost has a special dynamic of energy to it.

Weddings are thus the most expressively joyous events in the Jewish lifecycle.

How do the two parts of the soul meet up?

This is G-d’s domain.

Hashem runs the world with detailed Divine Providence.

I have no idea of how He orchestrates it all, but if we but open our eyes we see that He is pulling the strings.

It sometimes takes longer to see the outcome than our naturally impatient selves are comfortable with, but that too may be for the very important reason of working on our faith.

It is a mitzvah to have faith in Hashem that He is in charge and that everything will work out for the best. For He truly wants our good, He is omnipotent and can do whatever He wants, and He knows everything that was, is and will be.

(It is a very good practice to exercise the muscle of faith by reading the treatise of R’ Bachya Shaar Habitachon – Gate of Trust. Click here for a website that has a wealth of knowledge and information about faith.

Here is a blurb from the webstite:

Your life is an entire book; a story waiting to be told. But in an increasingly uncertain world, you cannot always write your own plot. Instead of walking the path of your own choosing, you often find yourself swimming in a sea of suspense, bobbing up and down amidst its waves of worry. How you wonder, do you find solid footing?

A millennium ago, Rabbeinu Bachya ibn Pekudah addressed this question in Chovot Halevavot, Shaar Habitachon, a comprehensive work that patiently charts the Jewish path of bitachon. It is the rock-solid trust in G-d, developed when we learn to see past the screen of human control and hold onto the hand of G-d that lies behind it. Released from the dictates of the world, we discover the serenity of a profound relationship with G-d.

May Hashem bless all those who are looking for their ‘soulmate’ to find their respective spouses very soon and have the clarity of knowing that ‘this is the one’.

And for all of us who are searching for meaningfulness and for ever deeper levels of connection, may we all be blessed with the wholesomeness of being reunited with our inner self.

Ultimately the only way once can truly live a healthy life, is by following in the path of G-d’s instructions.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Yosef Kantor