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When the unthinkable happens we hurt deeply.
That's what we should do... hurt deeply. People of faith don't take tragedy lightly, just because they have faith. We don't doubt G‑d... but we certainly question Him, just the way Abraham and Moses did. Leiby Kletzky's father has very strong faith in Hashem. This doesn't mean he won't be mourning this loss for the rest of his life.
Having faith doesn't mean I shouldn't feel the pain when horrors take place. In fact, I should feel it even more so. That's what good people do. They feel the pain of others.
If you shed tears for Leiby, if you cried like a baby each time you think of his mother and father, that's good. That's how we feel when bad things happen. We feel bad...
The one thing I suggest you do not do is try and figure this out. Don't try to make sense of why bad things happen. The human mind is limited, it can't possibly fathom the ways of G‑d, which by definition are beyond limit. Just as I can't see with my ears or hear with my eyes, it is simply not the right tool... similarly, I can't relate to G‑d's mysterious ways through the limited lens of the mind. It's simply the wrong tool.
When the unthinkable happens, the reaction is in our hearts and souls. The mind is not part of the experience. It simply does not have the capacity.
Cry. Pray. Ask for better days. Offer condolences. Don't try to figure it out. Shabbat Shalom!
Rabbi Shalom M Paltiel
P.S. Join us at Shul this Shabbat at 11 AM as we offer prayers in memory of young Leiby Kletzky OBM, while praying that G‑d give his family the strength they need to carry on. Similar prayer services are being offered at Shuls all over the world.
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When the Unthinkable Happens
When I was in college, my friend's younger brother was shot to death one night over a beeper. Fifteen years old, and shot in the back, at a party filled with kids, because of a $100 gadget.
I was devastated. The pain, emptiness and horror that his loss created was something that will forever stay with me. I was there for the funeral and for the mourning, and close to the family during most of the trial. Unfortunately, due to technicalities in the legal system (the murderer confessed before he was read his rights, therefore his statement was inadmissible in a court of law, and he then pleaded not guilty, etc.) he ended up receiving a slap on the wrist for taking a beautiful, innocent, young life.
We recently had my twenty-year high school reunion. While I was unable to attend, some of my friends were there. They updated me on what everyone was doing. And that included Marc's family. No one had forgotten what had happened. His older brother, our classmate, was now a successful professor, happily married, with two children and a third on the way. And they mentioned that his young son is named Marc...
Click here to read full article.
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The Rebbe's Response to Tragedy
After everything that has befallen the whole Jewish people in our generation, we cannot fathom the tragedies.
Click here to watch a 2 minute clip.
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Honey, I Don't Want Your Money
By: Rabbi Aron Moss
Sydney, Australia
Question:
I recently attended a Chassidic wedding. It was a very different experience. One thing I had never seen before is that the bride wears a veil at the Chuppah that is so thick she can't see anything at all, and no one can see her face at all. What is the reason behind this?
Answer:
There's an old stereotype when it comes to marriage. Men marry women for their looks. Women marry men for their money. As cynical as this view may be, there is some truth to it.
Men fall for beauty. The fact that there are plenty of pretty girls with rotten character does nothing to stop the male quest for a beauty queen. And so, many wonderful girls are overlooked simply because they do not fit into today's narrow and superficial definition of beauty.
Click here to read full article.
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Board of Directors
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Adam Katz, Esq., President
Frank Arnold
Bert Brodsky
Martin H. Brownstein, M.D.
Howard Fensterman, Esq.
M. Allan Hyman, Esq.
Sara E. Paltiel
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
Alan Rosenzweig
Alan Salzbank
Michael Samuel
Felix Sater
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Shabbat Times
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| Shabbat Candle Lighting: |
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Friday, Jul 15
8:08 pm
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| Shabbat Ends: |
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Shabbat, Jul 16
9:14 pm
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Daily Thought
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Living Jews
The sages tell us that our father Jacob never died. "Since his children are alive, he is alive."
Each and every Jew is the personification of his father Jacob, and the heart of each and every Jew is alive and beating strong. To say about any one of them that he is spiritually dead is to pronounce our father Jacob dead. If to you it appears that way, the fault is in you, not in the Jew you observe.
G‑d sees only good in them. He will make great miracles for them and they will be safe.
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* PATRONIZE OUR SPONSORS *
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| Spotlight on Chassidic Artists |
 Before I Took Up This Journey
The Talmud says that a man's soulmate is chosen for him before birth. A poem dedicated by the poet to his wife.
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| Climbing Life's Ladder with Torah |
 A Practical Guide to a Calmer Spirit
These thirteen exercises are among those introductory practices the authors have found to be most meaningful and helpful.
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| First Person |
 Love Your Neighbor
Gradually, the air conditioner underwent a metamorphosis that transformed it into an object of pride and satisfaction.
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| Parshah Personality: Joshua |
 The Greatest Servant
Leadership is one of those qualities that, as soon as a person begins describing his or her own mastery of it, you can't help but feel that, in fact, they don't have it . . .
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Chabad-Lubavitch News from Around the World |
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| ISRAEL |
 Free Tour Takes People With Special Needs to Holy Land
Tema Krempley, 23, has had Birthright Israel on her mind for a long time. For Krempley, who graduated this year as a religion major from Ohio Wesleyan University, the free 10-day trip of the Holy Land provided by Mayanot offers the chance to learn more about Israel and visit Caesarea, where her favorite poet, Hannah Senesh, wrote her favorite poem.
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| NORTH AMERICA |
 Personal Touch Characterizes Poway Jewish Center's Quarter Century
Shiel Gayler went to services 25 years ago at what was then the newest synagogue in the young rural outpost of Poway, Calif. He became hooked on the congregation, and wanted to go back every Sabbath.
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| EUROPE |
 Chabad on Campus Announces New European Push
The Chabad on Campus International Foundation, following up on a decade of unprecedented expansion, announced plans to establish six new student centers across Northern Europe over the next year.
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| BOOK BAG |
 Sacramento Rabbi Releases Scholarly Examination of Medieval Debates
Rabbi Mendy Cohen has written a new book analyzing the philosophical underpinnings to Maimonides' landmark code of Jewish law and the critical gloss authored by Rabbi Abraham ben David, the 12th-century French commentator better known by his acronymic, the Raavad.
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the parshah in a nutshell |
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Parshat Pinchas
 Aaron's grandson, Pinchas, is rewarded for his act of zealotry in killing the Simeonite prince Zimri and the Midianite princess who was his paramour: G‑d grants him a covenant of peace and the priesthood.
A census of the people counts 601,730 men between the ages of twenty and sixty. Moses is instructed on how the Land is to be divided by lottery among the tribes and families of Israel. The five daughters of Zelophehad petition Moses that they be granted the portion of the land belonging to their father, who died without sons; G‑d accepts their claim and incorporates it into the Torah's laws of inheritance.
Moses empowers Joshua to succeed him and lead the people into the Land of Israel.
The Parshah concludes with a detailed list of the daily offerings, and the additional offerings brought on Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh (first of the month), and the festivals of Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret.
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