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Greetings!
"Take it one day at a time". "Put one foot in front of the other". "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".
This idea is brought home very powerfully this Shabbat as three unrelated events come together, all emphasizing this theme:
This Shabbat is the anniversary of the Rebbe beginning his illustrious leadership, in 1950. One of his most revolutionary and far reaching teachings was that Judaism is not an all-or-nothing proposition. He strongly encouraged Jews to take steps, small but meaningful steps forward, towards increased Jewish observance and Torah study. One mitzvah will lead to another. Step by step... you'll get there.
This week we completed the annual study cycle of RAMBAM - Maimonides' Code of Law - and we begin the next cycle. (Click here to learn more). Maimonides was the first of the great codifiers, making Jewish law and scholarship accessible to all in a systematic, step by step manner. Consider joining the new daily study cycle of Maimonides' BOOK OF MITZVOT - available in English by clicking here. It's 5-10 minutes of Torah study each day. Start today; in one year you'll have reviewed all of Torah's mitzvahs, step by step... Nice accomplishment.
We're also celebrating the monthly SISTERHOOD FAMILY SHABBAT at Chabad, an opportunity to introduce your family to synagogue attendance - over and above the 3-day-a-year thing, but without biting off more than you can choose... I hope you'll join us. There'll be a nice Kiddush sponsored by our Sisterhood, and Junior Congregation for the kids led by my Mushka. The DVAR TORAH will be delivered by Sisterhood co-president Tammy Kobin. (I'm most grateful to our Sisterhood for all the wonderful things they're doing. Yasher koach! Ladies - if you haven't gotten involved yet, you should. They've got lots of great programs planned, including our first ever Purim Masquerade Ball for adults, see below).
See you at Shul? I hope so. It's a small step in the right direction!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
P.S. This is a very powerful time to receive blessings through visiting the Rebbe's OHEL. I encourage you to visit on Sunday (later afternoon the crowds will have dissipated) - click here for directions. If you can't make it personally, feel free to email me your request for blessings and I'll be sure to deliver it to the Ohel over the next few days. Please be sure to include your Hebrew name and mother's Hebrew name, as well as for anyone for whom you're requesting a 'bracha' - blessing.
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10 Shevat: A Day of Two Rebbes
The 10th day of the Jewish month of Shevat (Yud Shevat in Hebrew) is a most significant date on the chassidic calendar.
It is the anniversary of passing (yahrtzeit) of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), of righteous memory.
It is also the day when, in 1951, the seventh Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), of righteous memory, formally accepted the leadership of Chabad-Lubavitch with a historic discourse (maamar) and address at a gathering marking the first anniversary of his predecessor's passing.
ENTER SITE>>
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The Year Ahead: The Lubavitcher Rebbe, 20 Years After
Two decades ago, June 12, 1994, after years of messianic crescendo, controversy and genial outreach, the Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, breathed his last. Like Joe Hill or Elijah, the rebbe became one of those characters that some say never really died, either literally or figuratively. The debate within Chabad over his messianism has become somewhat muted with the years, as the passage of time does its dulling. But one thing is beyond dispute: The rebbe is having one heck of an afterlife.
Despite widespread doubts in 1994 about Chabad's prospects without its rebbe, the rebbe's influence may be as powerful now as it was in life. His shluchim (his emissaries, his happy warriors), seem omnipresent, going where no chasidim have gone before - everywhere from the Congo to every major college campus, even opening a (kosher) Chinese restaurant in China. The most recent convention saw the return to Brooklyn of over 4,000 shluchim from 81 countries. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, a member of the rebbe's secretariat and now the key administrator of international Chabad, has twice been named by Newsweek as the country's most influential rabbi. The rebbe's grave and memorial complex in Queens has become a 24/7 pilgrimage and prayer site, perhaps the most visited Jewish site outside Israel...
Click here to read more.
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Special Lecture
Sunday, January 12 | 10:00 AM
The Cteen program of Port Washington invites you to join us for a lecture by Bernie Raider, holocaust survivor who will to share his experience. All are welcome!
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Mommy & Me | Tuesdays, 9:30 -10:15 am
Join Jaime Lewis, of Kids Can Music together with Sara Paltiel, Director of Florence Brownstein Preschool for music and movement in Chabad's spectacular new Israel-themed immersive indoor playground.
Click here for more info and register. |
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NEW JLI: To Be a Jew in the Free World
6 Sundays, Begins February 2 | 10:00 AM
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. One side of the coin promised security, acceptance, and affluence with the escape from anti semitism and discrimination; while the other threatened assimilation, confusion of loyalties, and the possibility of disappearing as a nation.
In To Be a Jew in the Free World, we examine the personal and religious struggles that individuals and communities confronted as they faced the challenges of changing times: stories that provoke debate and shed insight into what it means to live as a Jew today.
Click here for more info and to register. |
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Save the Date: Purim Ball
Saturday Night, March 15 | 8:30 - 11:30 PM
Start planning your costumes and book your babysitters... Join us to celebrate Purim in Costume!
Evening festivities are for adults only. Sponsors and volunteers are welcome.
Contact: [email protected].
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Save the Date | Gala Dinner
Monday, June 2, 2014
Please save the date for Chabad of Port Washington's annual dinner celebrating our 23rd anniversary.
Formal invitation to follow. |
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Why the Need to Split the Sea?
By: Rabbi Aron Moss | Sydney, Australia
Question:
Why did the Israelites have to pass through the Red Sea?
On my map of the Middle East, the route from Egypt to Israel is directly through the desert. The sea is totally out of the way. G-d led them on a detour, trapping them between the sea and the chasing Egyptians, and then split the sea. Does G-d have no sense of direction?
ANSWER>>
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B"H
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Shabbat Times |
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| Shabbat Candle Lighting: |
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Friday, Jan 10
4:28 pm
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| Shabbat Ends: |
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Shabbat, Jan 11
5:32 pm
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Daily Thought |
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Objective Faith
If your belief is based upon what makes sense to you, what you find most gratifying and what best accommodates your own self-concept-then you will undoubtedly fear intellectual inquiry.
At best, your approach will be subjective and bribed.
However, if your faith is based not upon your subjective self, but because this is the reality of your inner soul, a truth to which it is intrinsically bound-then you are not afraid to inquire.
There is no apprehension of being proven wrong, only certitude that you shall understand more.
Therefore, only true faith can be truly objective.
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| Parshah |
 The Four Factions
One camp proposed to throw themselves into the sea. A second group advocated return to Egypt, a third wanted war, a fourth prayer. G-d rejected all four strategies . . .
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| Your Questions |
 Does My Friend Need to Replace My Damaged Cookbook?
She was about to return it when she noticed that the pages were filled with smears from trying her hand at the recipes.
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| Women |
 Bitterness Moves
When confronted with pain, we have three choices . . .
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| On the Calendar |
 10 Shevat: A Day of Two Rebbes
The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, passed away on this date in 1950. Exactly one year later, Rabbi Menachem Mendel accepted the leadership of the movement, and set about transforming the face of world Jewry . . .
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Parshat Beshalach
Soon after allowing the children of Israel to depart from Egypt, Pharaoh chases after them to force their return, and the Israelites find themselves trapped between Pharaoh's armies and the sea. G-d tells Moses to raise his staff over the water; the sea splits to allow the Israelites to pass through, and then closes over the pursuing Egyptians. Moses and the children of Israel sing a song of praise and gratitude to G-d.
In the desert the people suffer thirst and hunger, and repeatedly complain to Moses and Aaron. G-d miraculously sweetens the bitter waters of Marah, and later has Moses bring forth water from a rock by striking it with his staff. He causes manna to rain down from the heavens before dawn each morning, and quails to appear in the Israelite camp each evening.
The children of Israel are instructed to gather a double portion of manna on Friday, as none will descend on Shabbat, the divinely decreed day of rest. Some disobey and go to gather manna on the seventh day, but find nothing. Aaron preserves a small quantity of manna in a jar, as a testimony for future generations.
In Rephidim, the people are attacked by the Amalekites, who are defeated by Moses' prayers and an army raised by Joshua.
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