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The rewards for following G‑d's commandments are mentioned in this week's Torah portion, and surprisingly, they are very mundane incentives. One would expect the benefits of performing spiritual duties to be supernal pleasures, yet the Torah lists our rewards: rain in its time, good produce - an earthly payment for a heavenly service.
The reading of this physical bounty always falls in proximity to the holiday of Lag B'Omer, (this past Sunday, May 2), when we celebrate the life and teachings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, author of the Zohar, and the first one to reveal the deepest teachings of Kabbalah - the essence and soul of the Torah. Everything in the world has both body and soul: an outward dimension that is easily seen, and a hidden dimension, that, once revealed, allow us to fully interpret the G‑dly essence of each object.
By delving in the depths of the soul of Torah, we can reveal the soul of Creation; the hidden dynamics with which G‑d controls the world He created, and truly unite the creations with their Creator. A fitting reward for this would be to see the fulfillment of this harmony. When we perform a Mitzvah or study Torah, we are unleashing the secrets hidden within our world, and G‑d acknowledges our efforts with Nature's bounty - a perfect fusion of the spiritual and the mundane.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
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Save the date for Chabad's 19th Anniversary Dinner!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010 | (Eve of Tamuz 12, 5770)
Honoring:
Richard Kessel - Ben Landa - Chaya Teldon - Rabbi Ilan & Devorah Weinberg
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New JLI Course: Beyond Never Again
6 Sundays Beginning May 2 | 10:00 - 11:30 AM
80 Shore Road, Port Washington NY 11050
Click here for more info and to register.
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Mommy & Me with Yoga | April 12 - May 10
Mondays | 9:45 - 10:45 AM
80 Shore Road, Port Washington NY 11050
Fee: $50 for all 5 classes
Click here for more info and to register. |
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A Soul on Fire
By: Rabbi Aron Moss
Sydney, Australia
This past Sunday, we celebrated Lag Baomer with the traditional bonfire. This got me thinking: why do we light bonfires on Lag Baomer? As far as I know, it is the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. So why would the death of a great second century rabbi be the cause for celebration around a fire?
Click here for the full article.
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This Week @ www.ChabadPW.org |
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| Video & Audio |
 The Holocaust: Our Response
The Nazis did not only want to exterminate the Jews
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| Parshah |
 Disguised Blessings
When G‑d communicates with us from a place closer to His essence, we don't understand Him clearly. Was that a hug? Cuz' it felt like a slap in the face...
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| Women |
 My Zaydie's Tallit
Of course I wanted to honor my Zaydie and his memory, but I also wanted to honor my son and his choices for his special day...
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| Stories |
 Nothing New
Silently, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak studied the expectant faces. "My brothers!" he said in a respectful tone of voice. "Did we not agree that I was not to be burdened with discussions of old policies?"
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Chabad-Lubavitch News from Around the World |
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| HOLIDAY WATCH |
 Worldwide Celebrations Recall Life of Mystical Sage
Lag B'Omer celebrations around the world offered something for everyone this past weekend, whether in the form of bonfires, barbeques, parades, rallies or carnivals.
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| PHOTO GALLERY |
 Jewish Pride on Display in Colorful Berlin Parade
Featuring clowns, floats, elaborately-decorated vehicles, and drum-carrying children, Berlin's first-ever Jewish parade was as colorful as it was historic.
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| EUROPE |
 Berlin Hosts First-Ever Jewish Unity Parade
An estimated 1,500 people took part in what is widely-believed to be the city of Berlin's first-ever Jewish parade.
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| EUROPE |
 Attack on Israeli Diplomat Leaves Manchester Yearning for Peaceful Discourse
An attempted attack on Israel's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom may have followed earlier threats, but it was certainly not "business as usual" at the University of Manchester, according to members of the school's Jewish community.
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the parshah in a nutshell |
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ParshatBehar-Bechukotai
On the mountain of Sinai, G‑d communicates to Moses the laws of the sabbatical year: every seventh year, all work on the land should cease, and its produce becomes free for the taking for all, man and beast.
Seven sabbatical cycles are followed by a fiftieth year — the jubilee year, on which work on the land ceases, all indentured servants are set free, and all ancestral estates in the Holy Land that have been sold revert to their original owners. Additional laws governing the sale of lands and the prohibitions against fraud and usury are also given.
G‑d promises that if the people of Israel will keep His commandments, they will enjoy material prosperity and dwell secure in their homeland. But He also delivers a harsh "rebuke" warning of the exile, persecution and other evils that will befall them if they abandon their covenant with Him. Nevertheless, "Even when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away; nor will I ever abhor them, to destroy them and to break My covenant with them; for I am the L-rd their G‑d."
The Parshah concludes with the rules on how to calculate the value of different types of pledges made to G‑d.
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