I’m in Bangkok.
My wife is in New York.
Nechama is attending the international conference of Shluchos/Chabad Lubavitch women emissaries from around the world.
The conference is taking place ahead of the 38th anniversary of the passing of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson, of righteous memory, on 22 Shevat (Monday, Feb. 9).
Together with their husbands, the women are among the more than 6,500 Chabad emissary couples serving communities from Accra, Ghana, to Zurich, Switzerland. The conference offers attendees the chance to connect and learn from their peers, and to rededicate themselves to their mission. More than 30 workshops on a kaleidoscope of contemporary issues will be held in various locations in Brooklyn, along with a series of dinners and programs.
The conference will be capped with a grand gala banquet on Sunday, where thousands of people are expected to attend in person. Countless more around the world will join the celebration by watching the event live at: Chabad.org/Kinus.
Early last week my wife and I landed in Melbourne last week on the eighth day of the birth of a new grandson to our eldest daughter Mushka, thank G-d.
With my son in law, Rabbi Gabi Kaltmann and the new baby
For a Brit that we thought was scheduled but Hashem has other plans. The baby is jaundiced and according to Jewish law, in such conditions the bris – as important as it is - is delayed.
The Rambam sums up the rationale for delaying this most central mitzvah of Brit Milah – the covenant between G-d and the Jewish newborn boy.
We should not circumcise a child who is afflicted with any sickness at all, since the danger to life takes precedence over everything. Circumcision can be performed at a later date, while it is impossible to bring a single Jewish soul back to life.
When the baby is in robust health please G-d within a few days, the Brit will take place in good health and spirit and with lots of joy (the Thailand grandparents will participate via zoom).
I was not bored on my trip. Alongside spending time with our family, the greatest nachas and pleasure thank G-d, Hashem had planned a full schedule of lecturing activities for me in Australia.
I traveled to Sydney and spoke at the Bondi Chabad House. It was at the thanksgiving meal for the recovery of the heroic Label Lazaroff who was heading back home to Texas after more than ten surgeries.
Life is the most sacred and precious gift that we have from G-d.
I went to visit the Bondi Beach site of the Chanukah massacre. I saw the bridge that the shooter was situated on, the car park that the second shooter approached. The proximity between the shooters and the crowd was not far.
It was horrific, tragic and enraging to see the site of this senseless barbaric act of terror.
I was inspired to see the gazebo and tefillin stand that has put on tefillin with thousands of Jewish men since the attack.
The Rebbe’s response to darkness is to add light. The comforting can only come from the rebuilding. Bigger, better and more.
In this spirit the Chabad rabbi’s in Australia are working on opening new Jewish centers and generating more ‘semitism’ and Jewish life to bring more G-dly light into the world to drive away the darkness.
We, the Jewish nation, live in a constant state of waxing and waning. Like the moon that we are compared to. We have our difficult times, moments of challenge, yet we soldier on and do our best to fulfil Hashem’s Torah and Mitzvahs until the light comes blazing through.
The next evening, I addressed the community in the North Shore of Sydney. On my way out of Sydney, I was invited to give a class to the high school boys of the Jewish day school on their first day of the school year.
In Melbourne I was the keynote speaker at the ‘Siyum Harambam’ celebration marking the completion of the cycle of learning the entire book of Maimonides, (in both the one year and three years cycle).
By learning the entire 14 books of Rambam, one essentially studies the mitzvah content of the entire body of the written and oral torah. All the mitzvahs are spelled out in this comprehensive work.
The new cycle of Rambam study is starting tomorrow, Click here for more information and for the resources needed to join this study.
Please consider taking on this wonderful study so that you too can fulfil the mitzvah of learning the entire Torah.
(Here in Bangkok, we will be celebrating the Rambam study conclusion on Sunday at 18:30 in Bet Elisheva Synagogue).
This week in the Parsha G-d gives the Jewish people the Torah.
MAZEL TOV to us all.
How fortunate we are to be the nation that Hashem chooses to be His special people, tasked with being a beacon and compass of Divine morality to the entire world.
‘A light unto the nations’.
My dear friend, the Torah is YOUR inheritance.
It’s more valuable than the most expensive commodity imaginable.
Make the best decision of your life. Spend a few minutes every day in Torah study.
Bringing G-d’s Torah into your mind, creates an intimate oneness between the Almighty and you.
DI. not AI. Divine Intelligence. Nothing artificial about that.
Even with just a few minutes a day. Your life will change for the better.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor