|
Chabad of Port Washington Email: rabbi@chabadpw.org Voice: 516-767-8672 www.ChabadPW.org
FIND YOUR RABBI
Group photo of more than 4,000 Shluchim - Chabad Rabbis from around the globe - who gathered last month at Chabad Headquarters for the annual Shluchim Conference.
|
|
|
Here's something we explored in our JLI class:
We each posses two souls, known as the "spirit of man" and the "spirit of animal", sometimes known as the G‑dly Soul and the Animal Soul. The two are as different as two things can be.
The Animal Soul is hungry, worried, self centered, short-sighted, jealous, etc. (u fill in the blanks...). It is also the pleasure seeking soul.
The G‑dly Soul is: satisfied, calm, selfless, visionary (sees beyond today, even into the hereafter), content, etc... It is the transcendent soul, searching for meaning and purpose.
Both "souls" are very much a part of who we are (although the G‑dly is your essential core self - like the hardware, while the Animal is the outer self - like the software... Which is why "deep down" we're really good, but day to day is sometimes another story...)
So here's how to operate the human machine in the most optimum fashion:
Think of yourself as a hybrid, able to function on both of these modes. It's ok to allow my Animal to enjoy life's pleasures and pursue it's success. However, when you see yourself losing sight of what's important and falling prey to some of the Animal Soul's weaker links (e.g. feeling angry or disconnected from those around me) switch gears to the G‑dly Soul. You do that by thinking about, and identifying with, your G‑dly Soul, realizing that's the "real you". Suddenly you're operating on a different channel, where anger, jealousy and worry don't come in to play, and you're agenda isn't experiencing pleasure as much as it is doing things that are purposeful and meaningful.
Takes some work, mentally, and ongoing mental exercise, to be able to flip the switch to your hybrid system from one "Soul" awareness to the other. Like any other muscle, the more you exercise the stronger you become. Exercise the mind through focused Torah study and sincere prayer.
Good luck!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Shalom M. Paltiel
|
|
|
Please help us with our Hurricane Sandy Recovery Campaign. Click here for photos and to make a contribution. We have suffered serious damage, estimated to be in the area of $750,000. Our insurance coverage is only $500,000. We will need lots of help getting back on our feet. If each of us made a generous, one time Hurricane Recovery gift we will be OK. Please consider this a personal request and give generously. Also, please forward this request to philanthropic friends and acquaintances who are in the position to help who might assist us at this difficult time. I thank you for your care and consideration.
|
|
|
Kabbalah of You: Sundays, 10-11:30 AM
Are you all you can be? How can you unleash the infinite power of your soul within? This course provides a mystical roadmap to living a life of happiness, fulfillment, and self-actualization by revealing how you can thrive and be more than just alive.
Click here for more info and to register. |
|
|
Yud Tes Kislev - New Year of Chassidism
Monday, December 3 | 8 - 10 PM
Inviting all Men & Women to a "FARBRENGEN" - evening of inspiration (and some snacks and l'chayims) on Monday evening at Chabad's library.
This is indeed a powerful day, loaded with energy and blessings for spiritual growth and inspiration and for getting closer to HASHEM in a real way, from the INSIDE OUT.
Click here to learn more. |
|
|
Saturday Night, December 8, 2012
Public Menorah Lightings at 2 Locations:
Port Washington - LIRR Main Street | 6:30 PM
Manhasset - Park across Town Hall | 8:30 PM
Music, Hot Latkes, Donuts & Coffee, Community leaders, no charge, all are welcome!
Click here for more info.
|
|
|
|
Bomb Dates Cost Money Too
By: Rabbi Aron Moss | Sydney, Australia
Question: I am starting to lose faith in ever finding love. After swearing I would never in my life go on another blind date again, I succumbed after a friend said, you've gotta meet this girl. It was a bomb. I am not sure whether to give up all together, or just give up on blind dates. But it is exhausting me. Any message of hope for the dated-out?
Answer: The saintly Rabbi Yisroel of Ruzhin had an unusual custom when it came to matchmaking. He would give a sizable monetary gift to anyone who suggested a match for one of his children, even if the couple didn't hit it off and the match didn't go ahead. It is customary to pay a matchmaker when a successful match is made. But to pay a matchmaker for a mismatch was unheard of. And yet this is exactly what Rabbi Yisroel did. He explained why:
In heaven it is announced who your soulmate is before you are born. An angel looks at your soul and then calls out the name of your soulmate. But do you think the angel gets it right the first time? Not always. Often the angel suggests a name, and G‑d nixes it. So the angel proposes another possible soulmate, and again G‑d says no. Sometimes a long list of names is called out until the right one is reached and G‑d gives His approval. Each one of those names had potential to be your soulmate. But only one is destined to be yours.
Then your soul comes down here to this world and starts its search for the one. What you don't realize is that you need to meet all those other potential soulmates before you can meet your ultimate one. That's why I pay not only a matchmaker who is successful, but even one who suggests a match that doesn't work out. Because every failed relationship brings you one step closer to your soulmate.
This gives a whole new perspective on dates that go nowhere and relationships that fizzle out. They should not leave us jaded or discouraged. The lessons we learn and the experiences we gain are necessary rungs on our ladder to happiness.
So should you go on every blind date anyone ever suggests? Should you indiscriminately meet any old person, just to tally up the necessary bomb dates and get to the real thing? Rabbi Yisroel answered that one too.
There was once a sly character in his community who was short on cash. He thought he could make a quick buck by suggesting a random match for one of Rabbi Yisroel's sons. Knowing he would be paid even if it failed, he mentioned the name of the first single girl that came to mind. Rabbi Yisroel heard his suggestion patiently and said, "Some matches seem good to angels in heaven. Others at least seem reasonable to people on earth. Yours is neither." Don't waste your time on hit and miss dating suggestions. But if someone comes up with a reasonable idea for a match, even though we don't know if it was made in heaven, give it a try down here on earth. If it doesn't work, it is not a failure, it is a step forward. Thank the matchmaker, and thank the person you met too, for bringing your soulmate one date closer.
|
|
|
B"H
|
| |
 |
Board of Directors
|
 |
|
Adam Katz, Esq., President
Frank Arnold*
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
*Emeritus
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
Shabbat Times
|
 |
| Shabbat Candle Lighting: |
|
Friday, Nov 30
4:10 pm
|
| Shabbat Ends: |
|
Shabbat, Dec 1
5:13 pm
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| |
 |
Community News
|
 |
BIRTHDAYS
Sandra Bashary 11/30
Tomer Levin 12/1
Robbie Samuel 12/1
Dara Adler 12/2
Rebecca Herz 12/2
Terri Hovanec 12/2
Robyn Armon 12/3
Keivan Farhadian 12/3
Lev Pinkus 12/3
Audrey Robinowitz 12/3
Jack Sussman 12/3
Marilyn Goldsmith 12/4
Michael Resnick 12/4
Joshua Andrew Farhadian 12/5
Sophia Charney 12/6
Fern Cohen 12/6
Hersh Cohen 12/6
YARTZEITS
Mimi Rick, (Mindel bas Hannah) 11/30/2012 | Kislev 16, 5773
observed by David & Barbi Shames
Michael Krzyzanowski,
12/1/2012 | Kislev 17, 5773
observed by 
Dr. Geoffrey & Karen Gordon
Rose Podell Paige,
(Reizel Bat Benzion)
12/1/2012 | Kislev 17, 5773
observed by
Allan & Susann Hyman
Katherine Levine, (Channah) 12/2/2012 | Kislev 18, 5773
observed by Keivan & Thea Farhadian
Mikhail Zak,
12/2/2012 | Kislev 18, 5773
observed by Michael Itkin & Anna Orlov
Samuel Brownstein,
(Shmuel Zisa ben Chonan Yehuda) 12/5/2012 | Kislev 21, 5773
observed by 
Martin Brownstein
Sam Nissim Eskanazy,
(Nissim ben Shlomo)
12/5/2012 | Kislev 21, 5773
observed by
Al & Elaine Eskanazy
*CLICK HERE to convert any regular calendar date, birthday or Yahrtzeit to its corresponding Jewish-calendar date!
|
 |
|
 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| Parshah |
 Old Age, Old Wine
Antique sells. Even faux-antique sells. Old is good. Except for old people. No one boasts of having their own senior citizen. Or of being one.
|
|
| Video |
 Jacob or Israel
After wrestling all night with an angel, Jacob is renamed "Israel," which means "to strive."
|
|
| Spirituality |
 What Is Tsimtsum?
If you were to create a world, the first thing you would need to master is tsimtsum. Tsimtsum is a way of being present in your absence. Get that one down, along with creating something out of nothing, and everything else is a piece of cake.
|
|
| Questions |
 Why Does Judaism Forbid Tattoos?
Our bodies are G‑d's handiwork. We don't want to mutilate His product.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Parshat Vayishlach
Jacob returns to the Holy Land after a 20-year stay in Charan, and sends angel-emissaries to Esau in hope of a reconciliation, but his messengers report that his brother is on the warpath with 400 armed men. Jacob prepares for war, prays, and sends Esau a large gift (consisting of hundreds of heads of livestock) to appease him.
That night, Jacob ferries his family and possessions across the Jabbok River; he, however, remains behind and encounters the angel that embodies the spirit of Esau, with whom he wrestles until daybreak. Jacob suffers a dislocated hip but vanquishes the supernal creature, who bestows on him the name Israel, which means "he who prevails over the divine."
Jacob and Esau meet, embrace and kiss, but part ways. Jacob purchases a plot of land near Shechem, whose crown prince-also called Shechem-abducts and rapes Jacob's daughter Dinah. Dinah's brothers Simeon and Levi avenge the deed by killing all male inhabitants of the city, after rendering them vulnerable by convincing them to circumcise themselves.
Jacob journeys on. Rachel dies while giving birth to her second son, Benjamin, and is buried in a roadside grave near Bethlehem. Reuben loses the birthright because he interferes with his father's marital life. Jacob arrives in Hebron, to his father Isaac, who later dies at age 180. (Rebecca has passed away before Jacob's arrival.)
Our Parshah concludes with a detailed account of Esau's wives, children and grandchildren; the family histories of the people of Seir, among whom Esau settled; and a list of the eight kings who ruled Edom, the land of Esau's and Seir's descendants. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
