PARSHA - Bha'alotcha #2

The Torah portion of Be'haalotcha, describes the journeys of the Jews through the desert after having camped at Sinai for more than a year.

At Mount Sinai, the Jews received the Torah and soon after constructed the Sanctuary there. Rather than staying in the desert where G-d provided for all their needs, they set out on a mission - to journey to Israel.

The desert is barren and desolate. Yet as the Jews traveled through the desert, they transformed it, albeit temporarily, into a settled land, a place where crops, trees, and even flowers grew. With them, they took the Torah that they had been given and the Sanctuary that they had constructed. G-d's presence, which rested within the Sanctuary brought about these positive changes in the surroundings in which they lived.

The Baal Shem Tov explains that the journeys of the Jewish people through the desert are reflected in the journeys of every individual through life. Some of the phases that we pass through may appear barren and desolate. Nevertheless, we must appreciate that this is only the external setting in which we are placed. It should not reflect our inner state - for G-d's presence accompanies us at all times and the Torah is with us in all surroundings.

Similarly, the journeys of the Jewish people through the desert also allude to the journeys of our people through the ages. Throughout history the Jews have wandered from country to country pursuing the Divine mission of revealing the sparks of holiness, which are hidden within the world's material substance, by utilizing physicality in fulfilling the Torah's commandments.

When a Jew uses an object for a mitzvah, he or she releases these hidden sparks of G-dliness and enables them to be overtly revealed. So from land to land have our people wandered, completing phase after phase of this mission.

In the process of doing so, they have made "the desert blossom." They have endowed the world with spiritual meaning and purpose, pushing it toward the culmination of this process; Moshiach's coming, when the G-dliness that pervades our existence will be apparent.
Shabbat shalom!

PARSHA - Bha'alotcha #1

The Torah portion of Beha'alotcha, opens with the words "When you light the lamps."

Aharon the kohen, the high priest, was commanded to kindle the Menorah in the Sanctuary every day. The Menorah was required to burn at all times, as the Torah states, "To cause a light to burn perpetually."

Just as Aharon lit the Menorah in the Sanctuary, so is every Jew required to illuminate his home and surroundings with the Torah's holy light.

Aharon was a kohen, but so too is every member of the Jewish people, as it is written, "You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests." The giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai transformed every Jew into a "kohen."

The Menorah stood in the Sanctuary (and later in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem). Similarly, every Jewish home is a "Sanctuary" to G-d. The verse "I shall dwell in their midst" means that G-d dwells within each and every Jew; hence, every Jewish home is an abode for the Divine Presence.

The light that Aharon kindled was "perpetual"; so too must the light in every Jewish home be always shining. The Torah's light of holiness must burn night and day, and pervade all corners of a Jewish residence.

All Jews, and especially Jewish children, have the power to imbue their homes with holiness. This can be accomplished by expressing an awareness of G-d every moment of the day.

As soon as we open our eyes in the morning we say "Modeh Ani ("I give thanks to You"); whenever we eat we recite the proper blessings both before and after. Throughout the day we conduct ourselves according to the Torah's laws, and at night we say the "Shema" ("Hear O Israel") before going to sleep.

The Torah and its mitzvot are likened to light: "A mitzva is a candle, and the Torah is light." Indeed, the Torah and its commandments are the medium through which we are able to illuminate our home, our "Sanctuary".

Tefillin - Story

In 1939, Hershel was sent to slave in the labor camp of the Germans. Right from the beginning, Hershel made up his mind that come what may, he would never part with his Tefillin, which he managed to smuggle into the camp. He was determined to put them on whenever he had a chance to and while someone kept watch, the Tefillin hurriedly passed from hand to hand to his fellow Jewish inmates. The Tefillin gave him the strongest encouragement to hold on to his faith. He felt that as long as he had his Tefillin, he would outlive his tormentors.

He would never forget -- he related later -- an incident, which convinced him again of the special protection G-d had shown him in the merit of his Tefillin.

This happened when he was taking a group of children by train to Bucharest. Hershel was standing on the open platform of the train, clutching his small valise in which he kept his Tefillin. Suddenly the train made a sharp turn, he lost his balance, and his valise flew out!

Hershel was horrified! All through the war years he had guarded his Tefillin at the risk of his life, and now, suddenly he had lost them!

As the train halted at a red signal light, Hershel jumped off and ran back. He spotted his little valise in the distance, picked it up and hugged it with delight.

Hershel was about to board the next train to Bucharest, when a friend of his who had just come from Bucharest informed him that secret Russian agents were waiting for him in Bucharest and don't he dare go there.

"Oh Thank G-d my valise fell out of the train" exclaimed Hershel. " Otherwise I would have now been in their torturous hands. Once again the Tefillin saved my life!"

His friend remained thoughtful for a few moments, then said, "Hershel, I haven't yet put on Tefillin today. Would you allow me to use yours? And after hearing your story you can be sure, I will never again miss putting on Tefillin," he concluded, his voice choking with emotion.

Hershel relates the many instances when his Tefillin clearly saved his life. "Let Jews know," he says, "how to cherish the Mitzvah of putting on Tefillin daily. After all, it can be done so easily, without any sacrifice whatsoever."

Tefillin #3

Hi-Tech Connectivity

This was back in the early sixties, when the first mainframe computers were being introduced into business. Professor Abraham Polichenco, a pioneer of computer technology, visited the Lubavitcher Rebbe and posed to him a question:

"I know that everything that exists in the world, even something that we discover later in history, has its source somewhere in the Torah. So, where are computers in the Torah?"

Without hesitation, the Rebbe answered, "Tefillin." The professor was perplexed.

"What's new about a computer?" the Rebbe continued.

"You walk into a room and you see many familiar machines: a typewriter, a large tape recorder, a television set, a hole puncher, a calculator. What is new?"

"But under the floor, cables connect all these machines so they work as one."

The professor nodded enthusiastically. He hadn't realized it before, but yes, this is all that a computer is: a synthesis of media and processing devices.

"Now look at your own self. You have a brain. It is in one world. Your heart is in another. And your hands often end up involved in something completely foreign to both of them. Three diverse machines.

"So you put on tefillin. First thing in the day, you connect your head, your heart and your hand with these leather cables -- all to work as one with one intent. And then when you go out to meet the world, all your actions find harmony in a single coordinated purpose."

Tefillin #2

An explanation for what Tefillin are:

Our personality has three layers to it - intellect, emotion and action; what we think, what we feel and what we do.

Intellect: Are my opinions on issues, philosophies on life and attitudes to myself and others.

Emotion: Are my moods, desires and passions; what I love and what I hate.

Action: Are not my beliefs or feelings, but what I actually do, how I live my life, and how I spend my time and energy.

Ideally, these three faculties should be in sync. My beliefs and ideals should direct my passions and ambitions, which should in turn be translated into my lifestyle. But so often we find this is not the case. What I know is right doesn't always feel right, and what I feel like doing is not necessarily what I do.

One of the greatest challenges in life is to try to overcome this mind-heart-body disconnect - to develop the right attitude in the mind, positive desires in the heart and then to do the right thing. Now, this isn't easy.

That's where Tefillin come in. The Tefillin help to achieve a spiritual alignment of mind, heart and body; uniting our thoughts, feelings and actions towards a power higher than all three.

These black boxes are holy objects, charged with immense divine power. We place one box on the head - the home of intellect, with its straps dangling over the heart - the place of emotion. Then the other box rests on the forearm next to the heart, with its straps wrapped around the arm and hand which are the tools of action.

The head Tefillin binds our minds to the divine will, that we should know what's right and wrong. The straps dangle down so that this knowledge should flow into our hearts and become a passion for goodness. And the passion resting in our hearts should in turn be translated into action, that we live a life of meaning and purpose, based on clear and pure morals.

Tefillin #1

Tefillin - "You shall bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they should be for a reminder between your eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8).

Every weekday, the Jew places on his head above the brain, and on his arm opposite his heart, a pair of tefillin--black leather boxes containing small parchment scrolls on which are inscribed the basic tenets of our faith, chief amongst them the proclamation: "Hear O Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is one."

There are many laws and requirements regarding the making of tefillin. A set includes two tefillin -- one for the head and one for the arm. Each consists of three main components: the scrolls, the box, and the strap.

The scrolls are strips of parchment upon which are inscribed four passages from the Torah. These scrolls need an occasional check up by a professional scribe to make sure they are still in excellent shape.

The scrolls are inserted into boxes made of leather that has been painstakingly pressed into the tefillin's perfectly smooth planes and precise geometrical shape, and painted black.

The head tefillin has a raised Hebrew letter shin on each side and has a large, fixed loop to fit the head. The hand tefillin has a smaller, adjustable loop to tie on the upper arm.

The head strap's knot is in the shape of the Hebrew letter daled; the hand tefillin is knotted in the shape of the Hebrew letter yud. Together, shin, daled, yud spell (Sha-da-i) -- one of the names of G-d.

One box is strapped on your head and the other onto your arm next to your heart and you recite the passage Shema Yisrael...

Our sages tell us that G-d, too, dons tefillin. And what is inscribed in G-d's tefillin? "Who are like Your people Israel, one nation on earth." As we attest to the oneness of G-d, G-d attests to the oneness and integrity of His chosen people.