The Word of the Rabbi - Chabad Lubavitch of Athens Greece

The late coming Pesach

Friday, March 29, 2019 - 8:29 AM

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When is Pesach this year? (Answer: 19-27 of April 2019).

When is the first Seder? (Friday evening, 19 of April 2019).

Wow, it comes out quite late this year!

Indeed, last year Pesach was particularly early and this year it's late. This is because this year 5779, we had 2 months of Adar, which "pushed back" the holiday to where it belongs, in the spring.

Why does Pesach always fall in the spring? First, it's written in the Bible. That's a good enough reason, no? :-) The primary reason is that the Jews left Egypt in the spring, so we should also celebrate it in the spring.

But there is always a more profound reason to everything we do.

Pesach celebrates the birth of the Jewish nation. It is certainly fit to fall in the season of the renewal and the rebirth of nature after the winter sleep. But it also gives a message of hope and endurance to the Jewish people. During our long history, there have been seasons of joy and seasons of despair, seasons of glory and seasons of exile, seasons of helplessness and seasons of consolation. The fact that our nation was born during the spring reminds us that no matter how powerful the winter is, spring always come and nature blooms again. No matter the sorrow that befall our people, we rise again and continue our mission in the world: transform it into a better place through Torah and Mitsvot.

Good luck with the Pesach preparations (it's not too early to start cleaning the house, planning the menu, sending invitations.... more on this next week!)

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel

The best invention in the world

Thursday, March 21, 2019 - 6:01 AM

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Last winter, Nehama took our son Levi to a theater play called "The inventions that changed the world". At the beginning of the play, the narrator asked the crowd of children: "What do you think is the best invention of the world?". One child answered the computer, another said the phone and then a small girl said: "My mummy!".

Everyone laughed but Nehama was very touched. What a beautiful thing to say and what a beautiful thing to hear as a parent!!!

Next week, on the 18th and 19th of Adar, we will celebrate the birthday of the two best inventions of the world, my mother and Nehama's mother! Not a coincidence for sure...

Both are incredible women. My mother is a math professor who, among many other communal activities, runs a philanthropic network that distributes clothes to families in need. Nehama's mother is the director of the Jewish High School Sinai in Paris, which was recently distinguished as the second best high school in the city.

We wish to thank you for the incredible love and dedication we have received and continue to receive, the acceptance, the encouragements, the continuous presence at our side at all stages of our lives. The listening ear, the advice, the help with whatever is needed and the knowledge that you are there for us no matter what. You may be far geographically but you are always so close to us.

We wish you health and happiness, much nachat (satisfaction) from your entire family, much success in your endeavors, continue to inspire your many students and people around you with your light and your wisdom...

We love you,

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel

Take off your mask

Friday, March 15, 2019 - 6:01 AM

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We are saddened to hear the upsetting news from Israel and New Zealand. Our thoughts are with the victims and we pray for peace in the world.

Yet, even during difficult times, the Jews never stopped to celebrate the Holidays. The Holidays are not a matter of if we are in the mood or not.

Therefore, we turn to the holiday of Purim, which we will celebrate next week. How will you dress up?

Here are Chabad, we are in the midst of the preparations for the joyful celebration and the party on Wednesday. (Call us for details and to reserve. If you did not reserve yet, do so asap because space is limited!)

We have arranged for the menu, the music, the raashanim to make noise during the Meguila reading, the serpentines, the wine of course...

The Cretan interpreter Michalios has prepared especially for us super nice and funny rhymes (madinades) for Purim as well as a great musical program...

Of course, we are preparing in the entrance, as every year, plenty of funny hats and other accessories for the people to dress up, for those who did not bring a costume. But many do come ready with beautiful costumes and wear them once they arrive at the Chabad House!

But why do we dress up?

It is connected to the way the story of the Meguila unfolded. The Jewish people were in great danger, as the Prime Minister Haman had purely and simply planned their genocide. Yet the Jewish people were miraculously saved. Were there plagues who smote the villains? Was there a sea that split? Was there a G-dly voice coming from Heaven? No!

It all seemed like a natural course of events. Only that everything happened exactly at the time and the place it had to happen in order to save the Jewish people. Coincidence?

Jewish people have another word for that: Divine Providence. This means that G-d's intervention is hidden under the mask of nature, and in a certain way, is even greater that open miracles.

And this is why young and old put on masks and dress up on Purim, to remind us to always look beyond the mask for G-d's Divine Providence.

There is a beautiful quote that Nehama prepared that reflects this idea: click here to see it on Facebook and Instagram.

PS: Chabad's social media presence is the new "baby" of Nehama. Click "like" and "follow" so you don't miss any new posts.

Shabbat Shalom and Purim Sameach,

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel

Singin' in the mud

Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 10:58 AM

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Chodesh Tov! We just entered the month of Adar II, the month about which our Sages say: “When the month of Adar begins, we increase in joy!”. That sounds very nice, but how can we command people to be happier? My Aunt Sara had the answer to that question.

My great-great aunt Sara was a young girl when she left Russia and arrived to Israel. Her father was deceased, and she was the oldest of 4 children. She had to work hard to help her mother make ends meet. After school hours, instead of playing and doing other activities like her friends, she went to clean houses, she worked in fields and did whatever she could to support the family. Every afternoon, she would also work in their small garden in front of their shack to grow some fruits and vegetables that she would later sell in the marketplace.

You could assume that leading such a difficult life with responsibilities over her age, while adjusting to a new country and language, would have turned her into a bitter person.

Not at all!! She was always cheerful and singing, cheering up her mother and siblings.

Once, one of the wealthy men of the village, which owned a nice large house where Sara would sometimes do some cleaning work, passed in front of their garden. There, in dirty clothes, Sara was working in the mud, caring for the plants while singing.

Surprised, he stopped to ask her how she can be so joyful in such circumstances, when he himself, who had a nice house and job, was finding it difficult to feel happiness.

She answered to him simply: "It is not a big trick to sing in a nice and fancy house. The trick is to be able to sing in the mud!".

What Sara was saying is that being joyful is not a consequence of our life circumstances. We are not happy because we are wealthy, or healthy, or married, or successful... We are not happy because we live in a big house and have a nice job... We are happy because we choose to be: Happiness is a state of mind, not the product of outside situations.

Happiness is a choice: the choice to see the good side of everything, the choice to make the best out of what life throws at us and mostly, the choice to believe that everything, the good as well as the not revealed good, is sent to us by G-d.

When we remember that Someone else is in charge, and that He wants our best, we can sing even in the mud.

Shabbat Shalom and Happy month of Adar!

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel