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By the Grace of G-d Dear Friend, I owe you some good news. Some people complained to me that it wasn’t fair to end off my email last week like I did, whetting your appetite and piquing your curiosity without sharing anything substantial. Here is what I wrote in my email last week:
This week many items of good news have been shared with me.
Things that are unfolding over weeks, months and even years.
Really important things take time.
Really really really important things may take even more time.
I heard a bunch of good news about really really really important things. Thank G-d for His kindness and benevolence!!!! However, I didn’t share any details. Today I would like to rectify my omission of details and share some visuals as well. But first I would like to tell some stories. This week I had three major inspiration points from my very own community here in Thailand. People whom I have the privilege of inspiring by teaching them Torah and Jewish law and values. This week in three separate instances, I became their student, as they inspired me with their steadfastness in their Jewish observance and unswerving commitment to acting morally and ethically. Let me share them with you to spread the inspiration. A young man came to tell me that he had just signed a contract and put down a deposit for purchasing a home. He looked generally happy. But he didn’t look as happy as I expected after someone purchases a new home. He explained to me why he was a bit sad. In his words: ‘I had seen the building project in advance. It looked good. However, when it came to actually choosing which home within the complex to buy, the day of opening was Shabbat. Now, I don’t yet keep Shabbat fully, but I definitely respect and honor the Shabbat to the best of my current ability. Buying a home on Shabbat was not okay for me as a Jew to do on Shabbat. I sent my non-Jewish partner. She made a choice of a home and put down the deposit. When I went to see her choice, I realized that if it were up to me, I would have chosen a different location within the compound but now it is too late. I am a little bit sad that for what may me the biggest purchase of my life, I didn’t really get to choose what I wanted’. Listening to him telling the story I felt tears tricking out of my eyes. Tears of emotion. Tears of inspiration. I told my friend ‘this is one of the most inspiring stories I have heard’. ‘Do you realize that for the rest of your time living in this home you will always remember that your identity as a Jew is the most pivotal thing in your life. While Shabbat only comes once a week, you will have a constant reminder of the Shabbat in the very home that you live in’. Wow, I was inspired by the way he had been determined to keep the Shabbat holy, even though it involved such a great foregoing of his own tastes and habits. In a conversation with a local businessman this week I was dismayed to hear of a rather substantial financial loss that he had sustained. I recalled that he has asked me an unrelated question a few months ago regarding an unclaimed, possibly ownerless sum of money that had come to his attention. I asked him how he had resolved that matter.
What he responded, left me speechless. He said, ‘I saw this potential financial windfall right after my great loss. In a Providential way, the amount I could possibly gain, was almost identical to the amount I had lost. I thought, perhaps it is from Heaven. To replenish my loss. Nobody would ever trace back the unclaimed fund to me. Then I thought, on the contrary, perhaps Hashem is testing me. If He wants to send money, He knows how to send it in a ‘kosher’ and ‘clean’ way. I will not touch this other money even if it’s only a far-off chance that it will be claimed by a former owner. I am firm in my resolve and while the money is still there for the taking, I will not do something that may be not moral according to the laws of G-d’. Wow. I heard this statement, and I was impressed and inspired. It’s one think to talk about being honest and ethical. It is awesome to see it actually be carried out even in the face of temptation.
In a third conversation, someone told me about a long-awaited job opportunity that they had just signed for. He shared the news with me, but it was accompanied by a sigh of hardship. He told me that the Jewish holidays came out just at the beginning of the employment. ‘But Rabbi, I am not going to compromise my observance of Judaism. I will simply explain that it is my Festival and I am not coming in to work on those days and I will hope for the best, although I know I am walking on ‘thin ice’. Once again, I was uplifted by the sincere faith and trust in Hashem implicit in this attitude. Our sustenance and everything else come from G-d. it is up to us to adhere as closely as possible to G-d’s instructions. G-d will see to it that we be granted our sustenance without working on Shabbat or compromising on the values of ethics and morality. Its easy to ‘say’ but quite a different level to actually ‘act’ on ones beliefs. I am a teacher and a student at the same time. I learned things from my students this week as I just described. I also got the nachas and joy to see the long term achievements of my students. My dear friends, one of the major items of good news that I had last week was the engagement to be married of my dear student Benjamin Brewer. The ‘shidduch’ was already well in progress by last Friday, but it still needed to be formalized and was only announced a few days later. I was hopeful but it was still not confirmed and not shareable. Benyomin, the son of Zevulun the Jewish rice farmer in Sakhon Nakhon is a source of great inspiration to all who know of his story. Born to a non-Jewish mother from Sakhon Nakhon and a Jewish father from Kansas, USA, Benyomin grew up on the rice farm. After his father Zevulun started observing Torah and Mitzvot, Benyomin, by this time a teenager, chose to convert to Judaism. Under the auspices of the Sydney Beth Din, Benyomin underwent a Halachic conversion and went off to Yeshiva in Israel and then NY to study Torah. As a student of mine, I was praying fervently that Benyomin meet his ‘bashert’ his ‘soulmate’ a nice Jewish girl with whom he could build the next link in the golden chain of his family. The traditional process of ‘matchmaking’ was put into motion until a Shadchan from Toronto came up with what turned out to be the ‘right’ one. Elisheva Schwartz from Toronto. Benyomin and Elisheva met, dated and subsequently decided that they were ‘bashert’ (meant/intended) for each other in G-d’s global plan. On Sunday night just after coming out of the Rebbe’s Ohel (resting place) Elisheva and Benyomin announced their plans to marry each other please G-d in the near future. Another thing that got me excited. On Purim, one of my dear students, Avraham Benyomin Soicher (son of Harry and Rachel), went on a mission to read the Megilah for the Jews in Udon Thani. I had the privilege of teaching Benny since he was a toddler. The nachas of having Benny (stranded here from his Yeshiva in Israel due to Covid) as one of our Chabad team out in the ‘fields’ spreading Judaism was deliciously sweet. Another sweetness. Earlier this week, I had the distinct pleasure of spending the actual day of Bar Mitzvah, the day of thirteenth birthday (according to the Jewish calendar) with Lucas (Rafael) Frankel and guiding him in putting on Tefilin, the art of which he had mastered in but a few lessons with me. (Due to Covid, the more public celebration will follow at a later date please G-d). It is always extremely moving and meaningful for me to watch a boy turn into a Bar Mitzvah, a full fledged ‘young Jewish man’ responsible for Mitzvah observance. And there are thank G-d many more good, healthy, nachas and positive things I have heard about, of a more private nature. I truly believe that happy things need to be shared. They help bring light and joy to those around us. Today is the 28th day of the month of Adar, tomorrow (Shabbat) is the 29th day, the FINAL day of the month of Adar for this year. The CLIMAX and GRAND FINALE of the month of JOY. May you all have amazingly joyous and good news!!!! Don’t forget to share your good news with others, so that the spirit of joy and light can dispel the proclivity we have to hear other kinds of news. Shabbat Shalom Rabbi Yosef Kantor PS Below find the information about Passover. More to follow during the week. Please help spread the JOY of Pesach to those who can use your help. Click here to HELP and BRING JOY to those who rely on YOU.
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