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ב"ה

Unbroken Glass

Friday, 18 June, 2021 - 5:09 am

By the Grace of G-d

Dear Friend,

The glass didn’t break.

Which glass?

THE glass. 

You know, the one that elicits the joyous cry of MAZEL TOV at the end of the Chuppah. 

Traditionally after the Bride and Groom have completed the ceremony of marriage under the Chuppah, a glass is broken. This is in order to remind us that our joy is not complete as the Bet Hamikdash (Holy Temple) in Jerusalem is still not rebuilt. To symbolize the marring of our joy, we break a glass.

In all the decades of Chuppahs held outside Chabad world headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, no one remembers the glass not being broken under the Chuppah.

To be sure, not every groom breaks the glass on the first try. But if it doesn’t break the first time, the Chattan raises his foot a second time and this time applies more pressure and breaks the glass.. sometimes it takes a third try but the chuppah never ends before the glass is broken.

That is until Benyamin, son of Zevulun Brewer, (our very own ‘Jewish Rice Farmer’ in Thailand) got married.

Here is what happened. The glass that was used for the ceremony was wrapped in foil and placed under Benyamin the groom’s foot, to be broken. There was a breaking glass sound. It sounded like it broke. Everybody shouted out MAZEL TOV. 

However, after the Chattan and Kalla had already left the Chuppah area, someone picked up the ostensibly broken cup and it was COMPLETE.

What to do? Nobody thought that this would impact the validity of the Chuppah but still it was so unusual that there was a bit of bewilderment.

A senior rabbi was called, and he confirmed that the glass breaking had nothing to do with the actual marriage taking place under the Chuppah. It was simply a prop to remind us of the mourning we need to have for the destruction of the Bet Hamikdash. This could be done without a minyan, and without still being under the chuppah. He said that the glass should be broken wherever the chattan was now, when it was noticed after the chuppah ceremony.

Benyamin gave a stomp on that glass and it smashed to smithereens to the delight of the onlookers. We all shouted out MAZEL TOV!!!

What a story.

There has gotta be something inspiring to be learned from this.

What do you think the ‘moral of this story’ is?

I invite you to share any insights you may have about its meaning.

Here is what I was thinking.

Hashem wanted the unmarred joy to continue for longer than the average chuppah.

For this was no standard Chuppah.

This was a chuppah that symbolized a victory over Hitler. 

A Chuppah that proclaims AM YISRAEL CHAI.

Here is the history.

A Jewish immigrant to the USA ran back to Europe during the second world war to save her family. She didn’t succeed in saving them, got trapped in Europe and perished by the hands of the Nazis.

Her daughter, who remained in the USA, was heartbroken and angry. Angry at G-d who had taken her mother from her as she was valiantly trying to save her family.

She decided to raise her children without religion. 

The Holocaust had taken her mother. The Holocaust now threatened to sever her future generations from their illustrious Jewish heritage.

Zevulun is the youngest of her four children.

Growing up without Judaism, he knew only that his mother was Jewish. 

After serving in the USA navy, marrying a Thai woman, having three children, owning a rice farm complete with tractor and combine, Zevulun was spiritually restless. His searching led him to the Beth Elisheva Synagogue where he would put on Tefilin with me for the first time and embark on a journey of learning and ritual. 

The branch of the Jewish tree that had been almost severed was now being reconnected. 

Benjamin his son, saw the wonderful growth in his father’s spiritual life and he too wanted to follow in the path of his Jewish ancestors. Being born of a non-Jewish mother, he turned to the Beth Din in Australia to see about how to convert to Judaism. The path included studying in Yeshiva for several years and observance of all the mitzvahs. After graduating the Yeshiva, Benyamin moved to the heart of the Chassidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and joined the work force. A while later he was introduced to Elisheva Schwartz from Toronto.  Their marriage was celebrated earlier this week in Crown Heights.

The wedding ceremony took place just outside the office of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, at 770 Eastern Parkway. The date of the wedding was a mere two days after the day of yahrtzeit of the Rebbe.

This is more than symbolic.

Rabbi Jonathan Saks of blessed memory once said about the Rebbe:

"… the Rebbe was different from other Rebbeim, because the Rebbe did so with particular urgency, and although he never specified why, I’ve speculated on this, and I thought this – maybe I'm wrong, but I think not – because he was the first Rebbe to become Rebbe after the Holocaust.

How can you redeem a world that had witnessed Hitler? And the Rebbe did something absolutely extraordinary; he said to himself: if the Nazis searched out every Jew in hate, we will search out every Jew in love."

Do you see where I am going?

Hitler succeeded in killing Benyamin's great grandmother physically.

The immediate ripple effect was the killing of Benyamin's grandmother spiritually.

By the time it came to Benjamin’s father there was barely a sliver of Judaism left in the family. 

It looked like this branch of the Jewish family was forever lost G-d forbid.

The Almighty promised that the Jewish people is eternal. 

G-d’s sent a modern day Moshe, the Rebbe to work relentlessly on searching out Jews with love. It was for this reason that the Rebbe dispatched his students and disciples to all four corners of the globe, literally. 

Zevulun made contact with a shliach of the Rebbe in Thailand. His neshama was activated and the Jewish light began to shine brightly in his soul. Subsequently, the next generation that looked cut off, was inspired to travel the brave path of Halachic conversion and rejoin the Jewish people in the most inspiring of ways.

Benyamin, a proud Chassidic Jew is now a husband to a wonderful Jewish wife Elisheva.

Can you imagine what joy this must cause in Heaven?

So much joy, that it was too early to shatter that joy by breaking the glass. 

It seems like somehow Hashem wanted the joy to continue. The glass remained complete. For a few minutes longer. Physically that is. As eventually the glass was broken.  Spiritually however, the cup remains whole and overflowing with blessing.

My dear friends, I cannot tell you how joyous the wedding was. It was truly a beautiful and freilcheh simcha. 

I am sure you join me in blessing Elisheva and Benyamin with a happy marriage, healthy children, and a joyous future.

May we all be blessed with joyous and happy occasions in our lives. 

And yes, we did need to break the glass, albeit a bit later. Because we must always be mindful that we don’t live in a perfect world. We still have a mission to complete. To do one more act of goodness and kindness, to bring more holiness into the world which leads to the coming of Mashiach and rebuilding of the Bet Hamkidash.

THEN, once the Bet Hamikdash is rebuilt, chuppa’s will NOT have any glass breaking ceremony. 

For THEN it will be a world of complete happiness, bliss and divine inspiration. 

May it come VERY soon.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Yosef Kantor

PS I have heard many stories lately of Jewish people discovering that they are Jews without knowing anything about it. If you are reading these lines, you are already connected to your Judaism. You are in a perfect position to enlighten others and bring them closer to the truth of Torah and the warmth and holiness of our traditions. Seize the opportunity if it comes your way, to help a fellow Jew get a little bit closer to who they TRULY are. The world will be the better off for it.

PPS Last Tuesday night we screened UNFAZED - A Symphony of Living Voices, Story & Song in honor of the Rebbe's Yartzeit. It was inspiring and uplifting. CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE REPLAY.

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