By the Grace of G-d
Dear Friend,
Wow. It’s been an exhilarating beginning of year 5780!
Allow me to share that in Hebrew 5780 is ‘תש"פ’
In the acronym system, the Hebrew year could be read as an abbreviation to spell out ‘תהא שנת פ'’. May it be a year of PEI.
The Pei could be used to spell פדותינו which means our Redemption. Redemption through Mashiach is what we are all waiting for!!!
Pei could also spell פלא which means ‘wondrous’. Indeed, we would all love to have a WONDROUS year!!
So first of all blessings to you all for personal and collective redemption during this year. And for a wondrous year in all things good!!!
For me personally, the exhilaration comes from meriting to host thirty-two hundred guests Baruch Hashem on the first evening of Rosh Hashana throughout Thailand.
And I am inspired and amazed by YOU.
For the tremendous outpouring of support in giving Tzedaka during these special days and funding the work of Jewish Thailand.
Because of you and your support, whether via giving money, whether via offering prayers to the Almighty on our behalf which is the TRUE source of our blessings, it is because of you. The combined merits of all of you is what creates community.
Our strength is indeed in our unity!!!
Another ‘penny dropped’ for me this week. I would like to share it with you as the message is a universal one.
A colleague, fellow shliach wrote to me yesterday saying how he much he enjoyed my article last week about the great importance of hearing the shofar on Rosh Hashana.
But then he asked me a question that I have often asked myself. ‘Do you think anyone was influenced to actually attend the Shofar blowing on Rosh Hashana because of your article? Is there any way to know?’
I wouldn’t have known what to answer… except that by Divine Providence I was able to share the below email that I received just several hours earlier.
Shabbat Shalom, Rabbi:
This email inspired me to attend the Shofar service on the morning of Rosh Hashanoh
and I’m so happy that we did.
Thank you for the sermons you send me in California. They are very meaningful.
Best,
Yes, people read what we write, absorb the messages we convey and ACT on that inspiration and newfound knowledge.
Another example of this.
This year we conducted the funeral for a fifty-five-year-old Jewish man who had lived in Thailand for a number of years. He was not a regular Synagogue goer as he lived in a remote part of Thailand. I met him only a few times. But he was a recipient of this weekly mail. Occasionally I write about the fundamental importance for a Jew to be buried rather than cremated G-d forbid. An about how imperative it is to bury in a Jewish cemetery in the traditional hallowed way.
A few weeks ago I got this WhatsApp
hello, are you Rabbi Yosef Kantor?
my name is .... I am contacting you because my father died yesterday and he has mentioned you in his will
your synagogue was the place he wished to be buried
I looked back at my email records and saw that indeed Leo had written to me asking how to ensure that he would receive a traditional Jewish burial. I had advised him that he could simply leave written instructions that he wanted to have a Jewish burial.
(I also would like to insert here the importance of providing for a ‘Jewish Tomorrow’ in one’s final will & testament)
Indeed, L left instructions for Jewish burial and his son who lives in Europe made sure to fulfil his request. Earlier this month he was laid to rest in the sanctified grounds of the Jewish cemetery in Thailand.
I gained a deeper understanding of one of the teaching of the Rebbe that goes as follows:
Groaning by itself won't do a bit of good. A groan is only a key to open the heart and eyes, so as not to sit there with folded arms, but to plan orderly work and activity, each person wherever he can be effective, to campaign for bolstering Torah, spreading Torah and the observance of Mitzvot. One person might do this through his writing, another with his oratory, another with his wealth.
Wealth is an old and classic way for influencing change. Money buys influence. When used in the right way it can be a powerful catalyst for creating positive change.
Oratory is another form of influence that has since the times of the Prophets and before, been a powerful method of swaying the minds and moods of the hearers.
Writing. Is that only for prominent authors?
No longer!
To me it seems that writing has risen to much greater prominence in the last decade or so.
Social media, emails, WhatsApp, Facebook, all transmit written words for the large part.
It used to be that you had to be an author of note to make a difference. Today you can write an article, post it on the web and have it read by large audiences unbeknownst to you. In remote places and at odd times.
Imagine what kind of an opportunity that affords you and I?
And the tremendous responsibility that comes with that!
If you and I can generate more Yiddishkeit, promote more Torah study and Mitzva observance and make the world gentler and more morally upright, we dare not ‘groan’ about the situation. Rather we must DO something about it.
As the Rebbe says One person might do this through his writing, another with his oratory, another with his wealth.
Any means at your disposal.
I am grateful to the reader who shared her Shofar mitzva with me. It has reinforced the importance of sharing the eternal values of our heritage so that more people will be inspired to take an additional step in their observance of Hashem’s mitzvahs. It has impressed upon me beyond doubt that people read what I write and for this I feel blessed, privileged and obligated.
And I share this enlightenment with you.
Don’t underestimate your power of influence.
Use your ‘writing’ to generate good will. To influence good behavior. When in doubt about writing something negative, snooze indefinitely. Conversely, when unsure about writing something positive and inspiring, go ahead and write.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
PS THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU…. FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT IN MAKING OUR GIVING DAY CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS…
EACH BRANCH RAN THEIR OWN CAMPAIGN WITHIN THE GENERAL CAMPAIGN… SOME CAMPAIGNS HAVE FINISHED WITH SUCCESS…. BUT SOME STILL NEED A SMALL EXTRA PUSH…
IF YOU LOOK CLOSELY YOU WILL OBSERVE THAT IT IS THE BRANCHES THAT SERVE YOUNG POST IDF BACKPACKERS THAT NEED OUR HELP NOW… AS WELL AS THE TEENS AND YOUNG PROFESSIONAL’S
WHEN THEY GROW UP, THEY WILL BE THE ‘BIG DONORS’ RIGHT NOW THEY NEED SOME MORE HELP FROM US THE ‘MATURE’ (NICE WORD FOR OLDER😊) CROWD
https://www.shutaf.im/p/jewishthailand