The Word of the Rabbi

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One of our favorite activities as a family is to do a puzzle together. We usually choose a 500 or 1000 pieces, get on the floor and start having fun with finding the edges, sorting out the colors... Each one of us "takes care" of a specific portion of the picture, and you often hear: "hey, take this, I think it belongs to your part". 

It is real teamwork. We all help each other and have a similar goal: complete the picture. The success of one person completing his part of the puzzle is the success of all of us. 

I thought about puzzles in connection to the happy day of Lag Baomer, which was yesterday. It is the 33rd day of the period between Pesach and Shavuot, called Sfirat Haomer (find out more here). This is a sad period, as we remember the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva, who died in a plague because, in the words of our Sages, "they did not respect each other". The plague stopped on Lag Baomer, so we celebrate it as a joyful day. 

Lag Boamer teaches us that we need to respect each other even if we are different and don't agree. We do not need to be similar in order to be united. Just the pieces of the puzzle, which have different shapes and different colors, but find a way to be connected and all together form a beautiful picture. Just as with our family solving the puzzle together, each one of us has a particular mission and an individual way to fulfill it has his part, and each one contributes to the completion of the final goal. We can get there only with respect one for another and helping one another.

Lag Boamer teaches us that there can be unity without uniformity.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel

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Last week, Nehama and I attended the Chabad Regional conference Europe / Africa, which took place in Istanbul. (You can see pictures on our Facebook page, including our visits to the Ashkenazi and the Neve Shalom synagogues)

This conference was very different that the one I usual attend every year in November in New York, which gathers 3500 (!) Chabad Shluchim from all over the world. It was much smaller, as it was geared for Shluchim and Shluchot in small or remote communities.

The lectures and workshops were very interesting and thought-provoking. Meeting friends and colleagues dealing with similar challenges and exchanging ideas and encouragements was also a boost of strength and motivation.

But the most inspiring message I was reminded of and took away from the conference is that what really matters is people, not numbers.

Many times, we measure the success of an event by the amount of people who attended it. But what really counts is if the event or class actually touched and inspired the attendants. If they walked away with something that they will take along in their lives.

You may have heard the following story before, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of it every once in a while:

A man walking on the beach noticed a young boy stopping every few steps, bending down and throwing something into the sea. "What are you doing?" he asked him. "There are starfish stranded in the sand. If I don't throw them back to the sea, they will die". Puzzled, the man replied: "But there are thousands of starfish stranded on this beach, and on many other beaches in the world. You can't make any difference". The young boy smiled, bent down, took another starfish and threw it back into the ocean: "I made a difference for that one" he said.

It is certainly more fulfilling to organize events with a big attendance. But what is crucial to remember, especially in smaller communities, is the power and importance of each individual.

I came back full of energy, feeling privileged and lucky to be part of this amazing, devoted and enthusiastic group of people, the Chabad Shluchim and Shluchot, devoted to preserving and developing Jewish life even in the smallest and furthest Jewish communities in the world.

May each one of us do our share and make a difference in the world, one starfish at a time.

Shabbat Salom,

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel

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As soon as Pesach ended, we received the shocking news of the terror attack against the Chabad synagogue of Poway in California. Lori Gilbert-Kayes, 60, which everyone described as "a woman who thought about others before she thought about herself" was killed and three injured, including the Rabbi, Rabbi Goldstein. 

Rabbi Goldstein refused to be taken to the hospital before making sure that all congregants were accounted for and before addressing them. This is part of what he told to the New York Times: (for full article, see here) 

“ … I don’t remember all that I said to my community, but I do remember quoting a passage from the Passover Seder liturgy: “In every generation they rise against us to destroy us; and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from their hand.” 

And I remember shouting the words “Am Yisrael Chai! The people of Israel live!” I have said that line hundreds of times in my life. But I have never felt the truth of it more than I did then.”

This message is especially important this week, as we remember and honor the victims of the Holocaust and pledge "Never again".

I will conclude with Rabbi Goldstein's words: 

"I do not know G-d’s plan. I do not know why G-d spared my life in my Poway synagogue. All I can do is make this borrowed time matter. [...]  I am going to be even more proud about walking down the street wearing my tzitzit and kippah, acknowledging G-d’s presence. And I’m going to use my voice until I am hoarse to urge my fellow Jews to do Jewish. To light candles before Shabbat. To put up mezuzas on their doorposts. To do acts of kindness.”

This is how we can remember the victims. This is how we can make our lives matter. This is how we can make the world a better place.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Mendel and Nehama Hendel