Conventional Inspiration


The Shluchim convention two weeks ago was a breath of much needed fresh air for me. A spiritual tune up. Five days surrounded by Judaism, Rebbe & Chassidim was just what I needed.

One of the main themes of the convention was “Hakhel,” which I’ve written about before.

Hakhel is the year of gathering. For six years, we “work the land” in Israel, and on the seventh, the land rests. In the beginning of the eighth year, there is a big gathering.

In temple times, it was a gathering in a specific place, by a specific person, at a specific time, with a specific ritual.

Now that we don’t have a temple (specific place) or a king (specific person), the Rebbe taught that Hakhel can be fulfilled by anyone at any time during this year.

Any gathering which furthers “awe of G-d” counts as a Hakhel gathering and is a big deal.

At the convention they pointed out, that the lions share of the Rebbe’s major initiatives were introduced during “Hakhel” years. The famous Tefillin campaign, Tzedakah campaign, Shabbos candle campaign, Torah campaign, Jewish book campaign, Mezuzah campaign & Buying a letter in a Torah campaign were all introduced in Hakhel years. Tzivos Hashem and the Jewish birthday campaign were also introduced during Hakhel years.

At any rate, the question is always action. What action can I do to “gather Jews” in honor of this year? Covid was a time that really allowed us to focus on the individual, and we started the “Lamplighters,” Jewish gift program, which has been huge. But we have not focused so much on “gathering”.

On the plane ride back I had a lot of time to ponder what we can do. And we had a family meeting about it.

Here are some ideas we came up with:

  • Push to gather a minyan together at least once a month

  • Make a BIG Kiddush after services and encourage people to “gather”

  • Make sure to have guests every Friday night

  • Gather the women for Womens Circle

  • Big Chanukah gatherings

  • Make a big gathering (thinking of a Music event in the spring)

  • Childrens gatherings (my children took this on)

  • Encourage community members to gather their Jewish friends for a “mini Torah class” which we would be happy to teach or partake in.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Can the Rebbe Work Miracles?

Image
  People say that the Rebbe can work miracles.  Is that true?  What did the Rebbe himself say about this? In the fall of 1959, a group of college students with the “Hillel” campus organization came for a group meeting with the Rebbe.  At a certain point, the floor was opened up for questions, and one student asked this very question: “Rebbe, people say that you can work miracles.  Is this true?” The Rebbe responded by asked the students what the word miracle means.  And he continue to explain:  The world has “nature” and “miracles”.  Nature is the way things happen naturally.  The world has “rules” and some of them are not so kind.  The strong survive and the weak perish.  Nature dictates that there are winners and losers, “live-ers” and “die-ers”. But a basic tenet of Judaism is that this physical world is the last of a series of many spiritual worlds.  And it’s like a puppet with strings attached from on top.  “Playing with the strings” in the higher worlds has real-life effects in t
Read more

The Rebbe is Alive

Image
  Gimmel Tammuz, which is the day the Rebbe passed away is a day of reflection and connection. I received a couple messages from people who were curious why I would fly across the country for less than 24 hours.  And then wait in line for hours to spend 30 seconds at a grave before being ushered out to let more people in. The Rebbe is alive.   So alive that even death can’t affect him. The Rebbe is not like other leaders who have passed away and left a “legacy”.  My Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Wagner was like that.  He was a special person, who gave a lot to the world, and left a tremendous legacy. Many effective leaders have done the same. The Rebbe is different. He is currently leading and guiding Chabad globally, and each individual Chossid specifically.   Who qualifies as a chossid? Anyone who accepts him as their “Rebbe”. The Rebbe is the “head” of the Jewish people, and we are the “feet” (or other body parts).   The head feels & controls the rest of the body.  In order for the body t
Read more

Should We Move To Texas?

Image
  I took a trip to Washington D.C. to visit my step-uncle and aunt and comfort them for the  loss of their daughters . Torah teaches that visiting mourners, especially in their home, is comforting to the mourners  and to the deceased. Indeed, the process of death is painful not only to the family of the deceased, but to the deceased themselves. The ability to do productive work, help people and do mitzvahs is only possible while alive in this physical world, and this is why death is painful (unlike what most people think, that death is the end of pain). We mourn  with  the dead over the lost opportunities to give light to the world. On the way back, I stopped in Dallas, TX for a day. It made $$ sense and gave me the opportunity to visit a couple good friends and supporters who have moved there. Here are some observations and reflections from the visit: Texas was very different than I expected. I wasn’t expecting the toll roads and traffic. Instead of Ford and Chevy pickup trucks, I was
Read more