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Outreach

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A few months ago, in honor of the Rebbe’s birthday, I made a resolution to get back into the habit of going every Friday to do some outreach, visit some Jews and do mitzvahs together. Especially tefillin for men, and Shabbos candles for women. Today Hashem taught me a lesson about this. I was planning to go a bit later in the day, but had to run to Lowes for a couple cans of paint. While pulling out of our driveway, the thought crossed my mind to bring a pair of tefillin with me just in case I meet some Jews, but I brushed it off, saying, “I’m going to do some outreach later today anyways.  How many Jews will there be at Lowes already?” Sure enough, I walked up to the ProDesk and two Israelis were sitting right there. Hopefully, they’ll put on tefillin like they promised, but it’s a reminder for me to always be prepared for mitzvahs that Hashem lines up in my path. This Shabbos is the “Vision Shabbos”, when G-d shows us all a vision (at some level) of the Third Temple we are waiting fo
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Election Loss Digs & Assassination Attempt Response

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The past couple of weeks have been extremely eventful in the political/news cycle.  The shooting of a president and the decision not to run for re-election (and more importantly the response in the media & social media) reminded me about two times that the Rebbe spoke directly about these things. One was a talk the Rebbe gave after Jimmy Carter lost his re-election bid.  The Rebbe spoke about how even though the Rebbe strongly disagreed with the Camp David accords, he was disheartened by the unbecoming remarks people were making about a person who did what he thought was best for the country (i.e. he was getting trashed in the media). The second was after Ronald Reagan was shot.  The Rebbe asked how such a thing could happen, and as usual, traced it back to education… I don’t have a YouTube link to the talk on Carter (if you subscribe, you can watch it  here ).  However, the Rebbe asked for that talk to be transcribed and inserted in the congressional records, which it was.  You ca
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Bilaam's Failed Curses

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Tomorrow in the Torah, we will read the story of Bilaam & Balak.  They were antisemites who tried destroying the Jews. The unique thing about Bilaam, was his amazing connection to G-d.  The Talmud teaches that he could talk to G-d just like Moses. This guy was so connected to G-d that he even asked for permission to “curse the Jews” . G-d said no. But he couldn’t stop himself, so he tried anyways. And failed. Three times!!! Each time Bilaam tried cursing the Jews, G-d made blessings come out of his mouth. Despite his deep connection to G-d, he just didn’t get the point… My blessing for you is that G-d turn any “curses” in your life turn into blessings, and that you (and me) “get the point” of what G-d wants from us.
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What is "belief in G-d"?

“Do you believe in G-d?” Most people think the answer to this question is either “yes” or “no”. Some people may go back and forth as to what their answer is.  “Yesterday I believed in G-d, but today…” It’s as if belief is something you have to vote on, either check “Yes I believe” or “No, I don’t believe”. If someone believes in G-d while everything is good, but then doesn’t believe in G-d when bad things happen, or vice versa, what does that say about their belief when they were a “believer”? The truth is that belief in G-d is a spectrum.  It’s a muscle, that can be strengthened or weakened. Let me illustrate this with a teaching from the Talmud: “Getting angry is like bowing down to an idol” Anger=Idolatry?!  What does that mean? The answer is very simple:  If a person really believes in a G-d worth believing in, how could they get angry?  Isn’t everything in the hands of G-d?  Doesn’t G-d have my best interest in mind?  Doesn’t G-d have the ability to give me what’s good? Of course,
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Moussia's Bas Mitzvah

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Wishing you a relaxing Shabbos.  There is nothing like the deep rest of Shabbos to revitalize a weary soul after a long hard week.  My wish for you is to experience this deep rest and get this rejuvenation. Just a couple days before Shavuos, our daughter, Moussia, celebrated her Bas Mitzvah. It’s the day when a “girl becomes a young woman” and we are so proud of her. The theme of the Bas Mitzvah was “Yogati umatzasi Taamin”. The Talmud says: “If someone tells you they tried hard but did not succeed, don’t trust them. If someone tells you they didn’t try but did succeed, don’t trust them. If someone tells you they tried hard and they succeeded, trust them” The Rebbe chose this wise and empowering passage from the Talmud as one of the 12 Torah Verses we drill into our children.  (I actually wrote a draft for a children’s book on them, which you can read  here .) Moussia personifies this particular verse.   Some kids are just “naturally good” at lot’s of stuff. And some kids have to work
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I Really Mean You!

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The Great Lag Baomer Parade in NY was absolutely fantastic! It was a lot to schlep the whole family, but it was totally worth it. When we returned, I spoke with Ron. He asked about the parade, and I invited him to come with me to NY another time, which he immediately jumped on with excitement. I asked him why he didn’t come with us for Lag Baomer, to which he responded, “I wasn’t sure if I was invited”. I told him that we really wanted to bring a Temecula delegation with us, referencing my email asking the community to join us, and showed him my to-do list, highlighting “bring group” for Lag Baomer. It really was a priority to bring a group with us. It was my intention to call everyone I thought might like to join, but I really am busy and sometimes proactive one on one communication just doesn’t happen, even though I really want it to.  Just like I wrote this email last Wednesday, but got interrupted and only am sending it now… What I want you to know is that whenever I write, “you ar
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Lag Baomer In NY

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The Jewish Children’s Pride Parade was an invention of the Rebbe and a brilliant idea that changed the course of post-Holocaust Jewish America. It features the most inspiring Jewish and Torah themed floats, Jewish children marching bands, and a Jewish wonderland. About ten years ago, I begged my father to attend with me and our 3 toddlers. He reluctantly came but was busy doing some work on his phone during the procession.  He thought it would be a regular children’s event, ie boring for adults. But once I tapped his shoulder to asked him to watch the floats and the children, he stood up and watched them march by for hours , with tears streaming down his cheeks. In the early 1950’s the Jewish people were not in great shape.  The American Jews were very few and assimilated.  The European Jewish immigrants were refugees and broken from the Holocaust. In those days, the saying, “S’ iz shver tzu zayn a Yid- it’s hard to be a Jew” was common. Jews were not holding their heads high. They fel
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