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An old friend of mine once came home from a farbrengen at her Chabad House and her mother- who was slightly wary of her growing interest in Judaism- asked what she had been doing. She told her mother that it was a ‘celebration of the anniversary of one of the leaders being released from prison’. Aghast, her mother cried “what kind of a criminal group are you involved with?!’

Yes, our leaders were imprisoned, but for doing good, not bad. Their alleged crimes were either entirely fabricated or they involved some form of spreading Jewish knowledge and practice, under regimes that did not allow that freedom.

Those releases were cause for celebration because of the life threatening risks involved at the time. But the reason those liberations are still cause for celebration, here and now, is because of what they represent.

The Alter Rebbe, first Rebbe of Chabad, spread the teachings of Chassidus wider and more broadly than had ever been done before him. He took the deepest parts of Torah and taught them in a way that was accessible to the average person. No longer were these teachings exclusively for an elite few.

The Alter Rebbe faced much opposition to his work. It was new and many scholars and communities were afraid, they didn’t understand what he was doing.

Some of those people turned to the Czarist government and claimed that the Alter Rebbe was ‘starting a new religion’ (which was illegal), ‘supporting the enemy Turkish government’ by sending charitable funds to the Jews in Israel then under Turkish rule (also illegal) and other such claims. He was imprisoned under terrible conditions.

Naturally, his followers were overjoyed and relieved to hear of his release. But what his release represented is what makes it relevant to us some 200 years later.

Upon his release, the Alter Rebbe explained that his imprisonment had been a mirror of what was taking place up on high, in the Supernal Court. There was a great debate going on about whether the hidden parts of Torah should be released and shared with the masses. Was it necessary? And was the world ready?

After 52 days in prison, (corresponding to the 52 chapters of his book ‘Tanya’, a foundational work of Chassidus) the Alter Rebbe got the go ahead from Above. His teachings were correct, and a necessity. And so he was released on the 19th day of the month of Kislev.

The teachings of Chassidus dig to the core of the diverse disciplines of Torah study and they synthesize and harmonize them by connecting them with their essence.

When studying Chassidus, we gain an understanding of G-d, ourselves and the world around us in a way that we couldn’t otherwise. An understanding of Torah’s great depth and richness.

So anyone who has been touched by the profound teachings of Chassidus, and who hasn’t? (…Chassidic ideas and attitudes have penetrated every facet of Jewish life to an even greater extent than many realize…), has great cause to celebrate this monumental and pivotal day in Jewish history.

The 19th of Kislev falls out this Friday, please join us for a celebratory dinner/farbrengen as mentioned above on Thursday night!

L’chaim,

~Nechama~

Picture of the week: 

350 year old Torah scroll, on a fascinating tour of Crown Heights, NY 

The duality of our existence becomes apparent in this week’s Torah portion. 

When Jacob undertook the journey to return home to the Land of Israel, he had one major hurdle he needed to overcome on the way. Namely, after 20 years, he had to face his brother Esau, who was the entire reason Jacob had fled his homeland in the first place.

Jacob did not know whether his brother had forgiven him for (as Esau perceived) taking his father’s blessings from him, and Jacob knew only too well the danger of Esau’s wrath.

From the way Jacob deals with this unpleasant and frightening encounter, he is in fact sharing with us the secret to our success in overcoming challenges of any kind.

The nature of Jewish existence has always been a simultaneously two sided one. We live in a physical world, where unexpected or unpleasant situations can crop up at any given moment. A world where natural consequences to our actions are taken as a given.

Yet at the same time, our lives are completely Divinely directed and do not always follow that ‘natural’ path.

Jacob prepared himself to greet his brother in two ways. First, he prayed to G-d to help him and to keep him safe. Then he followed the natural means of sending gifts to appease his brother and dividing up his camp in the event of an attack by Esau.

Jacob dealt with his challenge by tapping in to both parts of the Jewish existence. Jacob utilized the spiritual and the physical, because he knew that one without the other would simply not suffice.

We are told not to rely on miracles and await G-d’s direction. However, relying solely on our own maneuvering and smarts, denies the True source of our successes, which is off the mark.

By realizing that our successes are a result of Divine blessing and going through the motions of the natural world order at the same time, we make the appropriate vessel for His blessing to dwell in our midst.

By operating in and utilizing both components of our existence, the spiritual and the physical, we can attack challenges, of any magnitude, in the best way possible.

Because ultimately, we are a People that transcend nature, who are connected on high as we live inside the natural order to transform and elevate it.

Hope you're having an awesome week!

~Nechama~

Picture of the week:

Discussion on Relationships with Sara E. Crispe, Writer and Lecturer