By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
With the fifteen-day quarantine making it not feasible for the kids to come home for Pesach, Nechama and I (and our youngest son Leibel) made the leap and went to spend Pesach in NY. This way we get to see our parents and children thank G-d. Vaccines are available here. And of course, it has been too long since we had the chance to visit the Rebbe’s Ohel. We did visit the Ohel which is located not far from JFK airport immediately after our arrival and prayed for our loved ones and friends (you).
The trip, one I have done many tens of times over the several decades of living in Thailand, was different than any other trip I have taken.
The airport in Bangkok was depressingly empty. Though I must also admit that it was much easier to traverse.
The plane was pitifully empty. However, I cannot deny that having a full row of seats for each of us made for a more comfortable flight.
Masks seems to be the major issue in many societies today.
Obviously, masks are required on the planes.
But I noticed that different flight crews had different attitudes.
The flight crew on the overnight flight from Bangkok to Korea, literally prowled the aisle to make sure that no one’s mask fell slightly off even if they fell asleep.
The crew from Korea to New York was not at all invasive. Everybody wore masks, but they didn’t go around with flashlights to make sure that while sleeping the mask hadn’t been dislodged.
I took an internal flight in the USA and boy did they keep on insisting on masks. They blared it through the loudspeakers, and they repeated it again and again. I even saw with my own eyes how a family was banned from future flying on the airline. To me it seemed excessive and unfair. It centered around an eleven-year-old boy whose eyes started to swell towards the end of the flight. In pain, he lowered his mask off his nose. The stewardess got belligerent. Maybe the boy’s family reacted a bit disrespectfully. It was quite unpleasant to experience.
It made me think about rules.
And about how different societies handle rules in different ways.
We are now in the midst of Pesach. A Holiday which has its fair share of ‘rules’.
I was reminded of this story from a few hundred years ago.
It was the afternoon before Passover, and Rabbi Levi Yitzchak was wandering through the streets of the city seeking out local smugglers. From one he quietly asked for a quote on contraband tobacco, from another he inquired about the availability of smuggled brocades and embroideries. No matter the merchandise he sought, everything was available for the right price.
When he started looking around for some Jewish businessman to supply him with some kosher bread or whiskey, the businessmen who were usually very accommodating balked. “Rabbi,” said one, “are you trying to insult me? The Seder will be starting in just a few hours, and no Jew would have even a speck of chametz left in his home or business.”
No matter the price offered, not one merchant was willing or able to come up with even a crumb of bread or a dram of alcohol. The town had converted into a chametz-free zone.
Thrilled with the results of his failed quest, the rabbi looked up to heaven and declared: “G‑d Almighty, look down with pride at Your people! The czar has border guards and tax commissioners dedicated to his commands. The police and the courts are devoted to tracking down and punishing smugglers and black marketeers, and yet anything one could possibly want is available. Contrast this with the faith and fidelity of Your Jews. It has been over 3,000 years since you commanded us to observe Passover. No police, no guards, no courts and jails enforce this edict—and yet every Jew keeps Your laws to the utmost!
“Mi k’amcha Yisrael—Who is like Your nation, Israel?!”
Masks. There is so much stress around masks these days.
In Asia they are much more obedient. In the USA? It seems like without screaming and insisting and threatening to ban passengers from future travel, many may not comply.
My dear friends, I will be honest, it was not only masks that made me think about rules that are difficult to enforce. I also thought of this story, because I am now in New York and the big news here is about legalizing marijuana.
One of the reasons the advocates for legalization use is the fact that prohibition has not worked. Marijuana use is mainstream and widespread.
Basically, what the governing leaders are now saying is that if no one is listening to the rule, we may as well just change the rule…
We definitely don’t look at mitzvahs that way. If we would change mitzvahs to make them palatable to changes in society Judaism would G-d forbid be unrecognizable as the mandate G-d gave us at Sinai.
Clearly, there is a fundamental difference between man made laws and G-d given laws.
Man-made rules can be changed based on circumstance. G-d’s instructions, the Mitzvah’s are eternal and unchangeable.
The Rebbe summed it up in the following entry in Hayom Yom :
There are two sorts of statutes: a) statutes that create life, and b) statutes created by life. Human laws are created by life so they vary from land to land according to circumstances. The A-lmighty's Torah is a G‑dly law that creates life. G‑d's Torah is the Torah of truth, the same in all places, at all times. Torah is eternal.
I am so proud to belong to AM YISRAEL, a people who keeps to the rules of the Torah with such devotion love and joy.
Pesach was celebrated in Thailand this year with more enthusiasm than I have ever seen before.
Even during Covid times, with no tourists coming in, the communal Seders across Thailand hosted more than six hundred guests. And many people held small private Seders with a few guests.
Matzah distribution reached many more people this year thank G-d!!!
We are about to enter the last two days of Pesach. No chametz till Sunday night April 4 7:02 PM.
See below about the special energies of these last two days related to Mashiach.
If you have two minutes, watch my clip about how Covid is an intro to understanding how the world can change when Mashiach comes.
Do another mitzvah to bring this era ever closer, and see below how to eat the ‘Mashiach Seudah’ the ‘meal of Mashiach’ on the last day of Pesach.
Shabbat Shalom, Chag Sameach!!!
Rabbi Yosef Kantor