Dear Friend,
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Jewish communities and people of Ukraine.
We pray for an end to violence, for the well being of good people, and for peace.
It’s hard to understand the current situation, why and for what reason so many people have to suffer or lose their life needlessly.
We feel the pain of being powerless to change anything, all we can do is help people be safe, and get out.
The Torah teaches us that in a time of crisis, we need to have faith, do what we can to better the situation and at the same time we do not wait for miracles. We act with urgency and do what has to be done in order to help people get to safety, assist with basic needs and save lives by evacuating. We, the people who care and help others, are the miracle.
G-d makes miracles and we believe in them, what we don't notice sometimes is that the people closest to us and sometimes it is us who are the miracle, providing for and helping those who are in need. When G-d blesses us, and our efforts succeed in helping people, this is a miracle.
We can choose to be G-d’s partners, we can choose to be a miracle.
Click for more info: https://www.jewishfairlawn.org/peace-in-ukraine.html
Good Shabbos
Rabbi Mendel & Elke Zaltzman
Decorate a beautiful Purim mask, enjoy a delicious Hamantashen buffet and
learn about the great heroine of Purim- Esther!
Open to all girls ages 11-13.
Thursdays 4pm- 5pm Geared for boys and girls in grades 6th - 8th, MVP is volunteering and Mitzvah madness, while connecting with other pre-teens and having a meaningful impact!
MVP is open to all junior teens free of charge!
A BISSELE HUMOR
Every day at lunch time Yankel would open his lunch sandwich and utter the same complaint. "Oh no, peanut butter again!”
One day, after seven years, his co-worker finally loses his patience. "Why don't you ask your wife to make you something different, for heaven’s sake?"
"That won't help", Yankel replies, "I make the sandwiches myself."
WEEKLY eTORAH
This week we finish the reading of the book of Exodus, also known in the commentaries as the Book of Redemption because of its description of the people of Israel leaving Egypt. This second book of the Torah concludes by describing the establishment and dedication of the Tabernacle and, most importantly, the revelation of G‑d's Divine Presence within it.
The Torah tells us: "When the cloud lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would set out, on their various journeys." This seemingly simple verse raises two very significant questions.
First of all, what is the connection between the Jews traveling forward and the establishment of the Tabernacle in the desert? This information would seem to be more appropriate later in the book of Numbers, when it describes in great detail the various travels of the people of Israel during their 40 years in the desert.
Secondly, the verse implies that the Jews' march toward the Land of Israel is specifically connected to the Divine Presence leaving their camp in the desert. Only when "the cloud lifted" do "the Israelites set out." Why is this so?
Chasidic thought answers both of these questions by dealing with the ultimate existential nature of Creation. It understands the Tabernacle to be a paradigm for all of the world. What dynamic is at play behind the timing of the Jewish people's journeys? One answer is that there is no great spiritual accomplishment in fulfilling the Divine Will at a time when G‑d's Presence is revealed and manifest.
The ultimate goal of existence is to rise up and connect to holiness even when it is hidden and concealed from us. The Midrash tells us that G‑d desired a "dwelling place for Himself in the lower worlds." But relative to G‑d, is there truly an upper or lower world? His realm is infinite.
We can now understand that when G‑d's cloud was found among the Jewish people and His Presence was revealed, then the material world ceased to be "lowly." It is only when the cloud of G‑d raises itself higher and higher, and His Divine Light is no longer revealed, can we begin the spiritual fulfilling of G‑d's design. And the Tabernacle bestows upon the Jewish people the strength and faculties to bring holiness into the world, the ultimate purpose of Creation.
This is an extremely relevant message for us all at this time in Jewish history. We are in a spiritual state of exile. There is a darkness that rests on the world necessitating our best efforts, even more than before, to engage in the study of Torah and the fulfillment of mitzvot. We must understand that our ultimate goal and purpose is to illuminate that darkness with the light of Torah. Just as the disappearance of the Divine cloud from the Tabernacle became the sign to proceed forward, so, too, should today’s conflicts encourage and arouse us to dedicate ourselves to the fulfillment of G‑d's mission, which is to journey past this era and into the Messianic era of the complete and full redemption.
-adapted from www.chabad.org
