Dear Esther,
My friend saw the pictures of me in the forest and commented ‘it’s good to take a vacation once in a while’.
How ironic. My wife and I got back totally exhausted from leading the three day ‘Bar Mitzvah’ camp in the mountains of Kho Yai.
Arguably, the smiling pictures tell a different story. A story of holiday and laid back vacation.
In today’s world especially, you need to know the back story behind the picture you are shown. Images can be manipulated to paint a picture that is totally opposite to reality.
I say this as many of the media outlets in the world keep up a barrage of images that foment anti-semitism.
As a Jew to a fellow Jew, I say to you, don’t believe everything you see.
Perhaps I should be even more definitive. Don’t believe anything you see in the media unless you know the source to be scrupulous and bias free.
So yes, I was in the mountains this week for a few days interacting with pre-Bar-Mitzvah age boys.
It was an exciting opportunity to provide my students with an immersive experience. They didn’t just come for a one-hour bar mitzvah lesson as they usually do, rather they lived and breathed Torah and Mitzvahs for three days.
We had fun to be sure. Karting, swimming, hiking and acting. Master-Chef competitions, BBQ’s, Kumzits around the fire and table hockey competitions.
As well, as learning and praying, putting on Talit and Tefilin and integrating the ways of Torah in every aspect of life. Even saying the monthly prayers of Kiddush Levana thanking Hashem for the renewal of the moon and learning about its significance and relevance.
The kids enthusiastically participated and relished in every part of the camp thank G-d.
The Rebbe started the Chabad camp movement seventy years ago in the NY Catskills. The camp was named Camp Gan Israel. Over the years a network of Gan Israel day camps and sleepaway camps was born that now numbers int the hundreds.
In the Rebbe’s eyes, the immersive Jewish experience that camp offers is transformational. It is akin to the words of the Sages that one should ‘exile oneself to a place of Torah’ i.e. leave home to study Torah. Learning Torah without the familiarity of one’s home surrounding, is the best way to fully immerse in Torah study and observance without outside distractions.
Having a Jewish camp experience not only enhances the knowledge of Torah and Mitzvahs, it also does so in a fun and enjoyable way.
The impact of fun-filled Jewish camping on strengthening Jewish identity and promoting Jewish pride cannot be overstated.
It was inspiring for me to watch firsthand how the young boys are developing into responsible young adults, comfortable in their role of being proud links in the eternal golden chain of Jewish history and destiny.
In today’s world, more than ever before, we need to build a strong Jewish identity in our youth that can withstand the torrent of social media messaging, much of which is not moral, nor favorable of our people.
I say this about the power of social media because I got a chance to observe firsthand the attachment to the phone that an average teenager now has. Phone first thing in the morning. Phone last thing at night. Phone when there is an in-between moment. Tik Tok, group games and who knows what else.
(The challenge of phones and gadgets, which is really about our ‘addiction to distraction’ is not the focus of this article. It behooves us all to become more mindful of how to maintain a responsible balance).
The messages that they are imbibing, directly and subconsciously from their gadgets are unceasing and unrelenting.
To maintain the values that we wish to impart to them we need to find creative and consistent ways to educate them.
There are no short cuts.
The best and surest way to teach is the ‘good ole way’ teaching by example.
When we as parents care deeply about something, we impress the same on the minds and hearts of our children.
Unbeknownst to us, and perhaps even unwillingly, we also teach our children the things we do that we would prefer they didn’t learn from us.
We all care deeply about Jewish continuity.
Am Yisrael Chai – the Jewish people is alive – because we are connected to G-d who is eternally alive.
The only way to ensure that we continue to exist as Jews is by acting, breathing, preaching and living as proud Jews.
That mitzvah that you care deeply about, chances are that your children will cherish it. (It may be that they will become adults and parents till you get to see it, but so often our children mimic us when they become parents). So make it your priority to say ‘care’ about more mitzvahs.
This weeks Parsha says ‘Shma Yisrael’ Hear O’ Israel. Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One. Love Hashem, put it in your heart and teach it to your children.
There is a deep truth that is hinted at in these verses.
What is in your heart, is what you transmit to your children and students.
Be more mindful about your epic power. Don’t look to the leadership to ensure our future. You hold the key to the future of Judaism.
Don’t get distracted by the noise coming at us from all sides. People are highlighting the rising tide of antisemitism and stoking fear. Yes, we have to be proactive in eradicating the scourge of this longest standing anti-Jew bias, but that cannot become our mission statement. We dare not allow our enemies to define our reality. To cower and hide and pretend that we can disappear G-d forbid, is the opposite of the correct approach.
On the contrary. We must highlight and embrace of Judaism more than ever.
Our enemies will continue to rally against us no matter what we do or say.
We have only one traditionally proven recourse. Stay close to Hashem.
Hatred and darkness must be fought with love and light. The light of the Torah and its Mitzvahs is what will keep us strong and illuminate the darkness.
We the Jewish people know that we are an anomaly. Based on the laws of nature and probability we should be non-existent as the Babylonians and Assyrians of old.
We are here because we are not bound by the laws of nature.
We are the people of G-d.
In the words of this weeks Parsha of Vaetchanan (4:4):
All of you who are alive today are attached to God, your God.
Deeper attachment to G-d spells deeper attachment to life.
Learn torah. Do a mitzvah.
Add life to yourself, to your family, to the entire people of Israel and tip the scales to redeem the world and bring Mashiach!
May this truly be the ‘Shabbat of Comfort’
שבת נחמו
Comfort from the thousands of years of suffering as Hashem fulfills His promise to wipe away all the tears and bring only good things to the world.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor