Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on February 5, 2020

With concerns about anti-Semitism and house of worship safety on the rise, a bipartisan trio of lawmakers is sponsoring legislation that would allow trained members of religious congregations to carry guns.

Were not always going to have the luxury of having police officers, armed security, fully trained, years of experience in our houses of worship, said Assemblyman Ron Dancer, and Ocean County Republican whos a co-sponsor of A-1255 with Passaic Democrat Gary Schaer and Morris County Republican Jay Webber. But we can have this. And at a minimum, we should have this to save lives.

The measure, largely similar to a bill that was introduced during the last legislative session but did not move out of committee, would allow a congregation member to carry a weapon to protect fellow worshipers during services.

The proposal has found supporters both among gun rights advocates as well as members of the states large Orthodox Jewish community. Others have urged caution in allowing those other than trained law enforcement personnel to carry lethal weapons.

Theres renewed interest in armed security among members of different congregations particularly after the deadly shooting at a kosher grocery in Jersey City and the machete attack on a Hanukah celebration in Rockland County, both labeled hate crimes targeting Jews. Anti-Semitic and other bias incidents spiked in New Jersey last year, state officials say.

According to gun range operator Anthony Colandro, more Jews in New Jersey are now acquiring gun permits.

Weve seen about a 300% increase of religious, Jewish people Sephardic Jews, Orthodox Jews and Hasidic Jews coming in to shoot, because they want to protect themselves and their family, said Colandro, the owner of Gun for Hire in Woodland Park.

Colandro supports the bill.

All you need is one synagogue, mosque, or Catholic church to be attacked and have the congregants armed and fire back, and I think evil will change its tack and it will think twice before they go in and do it again, he said.

Opinions varied on the merits of the measure among those at the gun range, with many saying that it takes a good guy with a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun. Some referenced the December shooting at a Texas church, where a trained marksman with a handgun worshiping with the congregation shot and killed the armed intruder who burst into a Sunday service.

I think if you put guns in the hands of people that are good, youll protect everybody involved, said gun owner Harmony Corbisero.

I do agree, said Ron Vargo. As long as he passes all the background checks and hes qualified, I dont see why not.

Another of the gun range clients who identified himself as Joe R. also endorsed the measure.

I go to synagogue every day and of course on Saturday, as well, and the need for protection is there, he said. Take up arms, safely, and arm yourself.

Maerlin Delorbe was a dissenting voice.

I dont agree, she said. I think there should be a ban on guns. Its just very dangerous material to carry around, regardless of whats going on.

Russel Kelner is the president of the Golani Rifle and Pistol Club, with a largely Jewish membership. He, too, supports the bill.

Yeah, I think it is a step in the right direction and it could be effective, he said. Most synagogues now have armed guards. Weve seen an uptick, about 200% in my community, of the different synagogues that have armed guards now on Sabbath on High Holy Days, things like that. So, this is just natural progression, I think.

At the same time, Jackson Police Capt. Dan Schafer is uneasy about arming a worshiper whos not trained in police tactics.

They react, whereas an officer is always intent, observing, highly trained not just weaponry, but in tactics, he said. It becomes muscle memory for him. Its something that he does every day. So, its not a reaction, its an action.

Schafer, whos a pastor at an Assembly of God church, has advised more than 400 ministers about security at houses of worship how to set up surveillance cameras, harden a perimeter and plan for a shooting scenario.

The church is a soft target, he said. Youve got innocent people that arent expecting something tragic to happen like that.

Shafer, who also had concerns about legal liability, said the devils in the details of this bill.

One of the states dominant gun control groups also expressed reservations.

We definitely have some concerns and some questions for the sponsors, said Sue Hannon of the Brady Campaign.

For shooting hobbyist Brian Goldberg, its all about training.

In the proper hands, it is only a positive, he said.

The bill defines place of worship as a church, mosque or synagogue, used primarily as a place of public or private worship on a permanent basis by a recognized and established religious sect or denomination registered as a not-for-profit under the federal Internal Revenue Code.

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Posted By admin on February 5, 2020

It has been 18 years since the band Shtreiml was established in Montreal, offering a high-octane mix of not-so-traditional Eastern-European, Jewish and Turkish music. On Saturday, Feb. 8 (8 p.m.) they will premiere the numbers that will appear on their soon-to-be-released new CD at the Dorshei Emet Synagogue in Hampstead.

This will mark our fifth album, said bandleader Jason Rosenblatt. Its a project of 12 new compositions which Ive written over the past two years or so.

Rosenblatt is joined by Tevet Sela (sax), Rachel Lemisch (trombone), Thierry Arsenault (drums) and Josh Fink (Bass). The group has performed at numerous venues and festivals internationally and has been nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award for Best World Music Group. Shtreiml steps into the role of featured performers this year for Dorshei Emets annual Shabbat Shira Concert series. For the last eight years or so, these concerts have showcased a variety of new cutting edge Jewish music that, while respecting tradition, still managed to push the boundaries.

Our music is influenced by klezmer and traditional Sephardic music, and pays tribute to those centuries old art forms, but definitely contains elements that might be considered unexpected. We incorporate jazz, rock, modern classical elements and a lot of improvisation into our playing, said Rosenblatt.

Shtreiml will perform at Maison de la Culture Ahuntsic on April 2 for their official album release.

Dorshei Emet is located at 18 Cleve Road in Hampstead. For tickets log on to shtreiml-at-dorshei.eventbrite.ca, call 514-496-9400 or purchase at the door.

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Shtreiml to showcase their newest material at the Dorshei Emet in Hampstead - The Suburban Newspaper

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Posted By admin on February 5, 2020

After that, I will pour out My spirit on all flesh; Your sons and daughters shall prophesy; Your old men shall dream dreams, And your young men shall see visions. Joel 3:1 (The Israel Bible)

Newly appointed Minister of Communication, Likud member David Amsalem, with Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Shlomo Amar, during a ceremony of installing a Mezuzah at the Communications Ministry in Jerusalem, on July 10, 2019. Photo by Hadas Parush/Flash90

Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, was the keynote speaker at the ceremony held last Thursday commemorating the 36th anniversary of the death of Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira in Netivot on Thursday. In Jewish tradition, a yahrtzeit (anniversary of death) is normally a somber event but the death of a tzaddik (righteous Jew) is commemorated specifically through joy and festive celebration.

Rabbi Israel Abuhatzeira, known as the Baba Sali who was the leading Moroccan rabbi until he passed away in 1984. Baba Sali was the scion of a distinguished family of Sephardic Torah scholars and tzadikim (righteous men) who were also known as baalei mofet (miracle workers). The Baba Sali was renowned for his alleged ability to work miracles through his prayers.

Thousands of people participated in the event held on 4th day of the Hebrew month Shevat.

I want to say things that hurt and hurt me very much, Rabbi Amar said at the opening of his speech. And I am sure that not it hurts you as well as most of the people of Israel.

We are in terrible shape. Never before have we had elections like this. I am not a political person and I have not spoken about this before, but there will be another election and perhaps even more after that and I see no way out of it. Who knows what God is preparing for us, who knows if the Messiah is not already on the way.

I am not saying this just as a personal opinion. Look at what US President Trump is doing, things we have never dreamed of even in our best dreams. And there is more. All the leaders who came [to Israel. This is impossible to ignore. These are things we never dreamed of. How can these things be if not as preparation for the coming of the Messiah?

The rabbi then spoke about remarks he heard in the name of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leading authority in mainstream Ultra-Orthodox Judaism and one of the most prominent Torah scholars of this generation.

This is all just preparation. I have no doubt in this at all. I want to tell you a personal story. A few weeks ago I went to a wedding in Bnei Brak. I was asked to speak a few words of Torah at the wedding. My mashgiach (spiritual advisor) from Tiferet Zion, the yeshiva (Torah learning institution) where I learned, arrived at the wedding. The Hazon Ish (Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz) established the yeshiva and I studied there, as did Rabbi Haim Greenman and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky.

I had not seen the mashgiach for fifty-one years and when he came in, I was as excited as if he came from another world. We spoke for about two hours. He is a holy and great man.

As he prepared to leave, I accompanied him. He told me that not so long ago, he wanted to go abroad. He went to Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky to inform him that he was traveling. Rabbi Kanievsky was shocked.

Rabbi Yitzchak, you are going abroad? Rabbi Kanievsky asked him. You dont know that the Messiah is standing against the wall [is about to arrive]?

Rabbi Kanievsky told him to remain in Israel and that is precisely what he did. He stayed.

Rabbi Kanievsky made headlines four years ago when, after a lifetime of teaching Torah to the masses, he suddenly began announcing in a distinctly uncharacteristic manner that the Messiahs arrival was imminent. Many of his followers believed the rabbi was speaking in a general manner since Jews are explicitly commanded to anticipate the arrival of the Messiah at any moment. Rabbi Kanievsky continued to make these announcements and it soon became clear to all that he was referring to a specific event that he, in his holiness and wisdom, believed was about to take place.

Rabbi Amar certainly understood Rabbi Kanievskys instructions in this manner.

All the great rabbis of this generation are saying that the Messiah is about to reveal himself, Rabbi Amar said at the event. All the signs the prophets gave, all the signs predicted in the Gemara, the Mishnah, the Midrash, everything is taking place, one by one. All we need is to remain strong for a little bit longer.

In his remarks, Rabbi Amar emphasized the sanctity of the Sabbath, which he said was the key factor in bringing the Messiah.

Rabbi Baruch Abuhatzeira, the son of the Baba Sali, also spoke. He announced that, for the first time, he was wearing the special garment that his father had set aside to greet the Messiah.

It should be noted that last week, Rabbi Abuhatzeira, a well-know wonder-worker in his own right, announced that the arrival of the Messiah would preempt the initiation of President Trumps plan for the Middle East.

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Former Chief Rabbi of Israel Hints at Location of the Messiah - Breaking Israel News

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Posted By admin on February 5, 2020

LIVORNO "It was the first morning / of his inability to rise," the poet from Livorno, Giorgio Caproni, would say. On Jan. 24, 1920, Amedeo Modigliani succumbed to the tuberculous meningitis that wore away at him for years.

He was buried at the Pre-Lachaise cemetery, in Paris. They say that the chariot carrying his body was covered in flowers and that the streets were full of artists in mourning from the Parisian community.

The young and handsome Modigliani, the philosopher, the prince, the bohemian, the educated Sephardic jew that he was, was born 36 years earlier in the Tuscan city of Livorno.

His father was a coal merchant perpetually on the brink of bankruptcy, while his mother was a French teacher. She accompanied him, when he was little more than a teenager, during his long convalescence through Sicily and Naples. The first one, the umpteenth.

Modigliani, Pablo Picasso and French poet Andr Salmon in Paris,1916 Source: WikimediaCommons

Modigliani was a sick man. Legend has it that he was a drug addict and an alcoholic, but the truth is that he probably used alcohol and opioids to keep his chronic cough at bay.

Especially in Paris, where he arrived thanks to his uncle Amedeo's money, and where he couldn't allow himself to be considered plague-ridden, a willful Typhoid Mary, someone contagious to be kept away.

He needed to be accepted into the artist community. And he succeeded.

Shown in Livorno's Museo della Citt, Modigliani and the Montparnasse Adventure: Masterpieces from the Netter and Alexandre Collection is an exhibit celebrating the relationship between the painter and his beloved adopted city. It features paintings from the collections of Jonas Netter and Paul Alexandre, the first and most important collectors, according to exhibit curator Marc Restelleni. Merchants, patrons in love with the talent of those penniless and brilliant artists of Montparnasse, the only collections whose Modiglianis are completely above suspicion, having acquired the paintings directly from the artist.

They would dance, paint, make love and argue.

It is a story of love and of blows, the last chapter of which recounts the tale of the great 1980s hoax, those forged stone heads that for a time drove Italy's art historians crazy. They were found down in the Fosso Reale the ancient moat built for protecting Livorno right where legend has it that Mod threw out several of his early sculptures, upset by the smirks of his fellow citizens.

Modigliani escaped, turning toward Paris to Montparnasse. It was the place to be, where Picasso, Apollinaire, Braque, Brancusi and so many others worked just a few streets away. Right where, at 7 Rue du Delta, Paul Alexander and his brother Jean set up an artists' colony, a shelter for everyone, in an abandoned palazzo. They would dance, paint, make love and argue.

Suzanne Valadon was there, with her sumptuous nudes on display, as was her neurotic son Maurice Ultrillo, who for his part painted streets, palaces, cityscapes. Churches, houses, stairway all externalized symbols of his complex psychic architecture. Mose Kisling was there too, and Isaac Antcher, exhibiting his horrifying forest paintings, and Andr Derain, whose fauvist work perfectly balanced the epic and the individual.

But above all there was Cham Soutine, Modigliani's best friend in addition to being a painter of harrowing intelligence. Their works would hang side by side, and seemed to speak to one another.

Modigliani painted Soutine, his only portrait subject not depicted with his hands folded in his lap. Soutine painted a woman and called her La folle, "the crazy one," and posed her with her hands resting on her knees the same position Modigliani painted him in three years earlier.

And then Soutine painted all those animal still lives, all that flesh accumulating in the studio, left to rot, much to the desperation of the neighbors.

''Modigliani and the adventure of Montparnasse'' exhibit in Livorno Source: Federico Tovoli/VW Pics/ZUMA

"Your duty is to not let yourself be consumed in the sacrifice. Your real duty is to save your dream," Modigliani wrote in 1905 to another friend, the painter Oscar Ghiglia. "Worship as sacred all that can exalt and excite your intelligence. Try to provoke them, to prolong them, these fruitful stimuli, because they're the only things that can push your intelligence to its maximum creative power.

"The man who, from his energy, does not know how to spring forth new desires, practically new individuals destined to assert themselves and destroy all that is old and rotting relic, is not a man. He is a bourgeois, an apothecary, what have you ... Accustom yourself to putting your aesthetic needs above your duties to men."

In the cafes and restaurants of Montparnasse, penniless artists would pay with their paintings and drawings. In the Salon exhibits, rivalries and love stories would intertwine.

Modigliani, Mod, maudit ...

Modigliani was handsome and fell in love easily. He had several love affairs and three important and well-known love stories. The first, with the Russian poetess Anna Achmatova, whom he met during her honeymoon. Then he became enamored with the English writer and journalist Beatrice Hastings, a love story which ended with a gun that, fortunately, did not fire.

And finally, he fell in love with the languid Jeanne Hbuterne, a student of the Academy of fine arts. She was 19 years old and became his muse, his lover and the mother of his daughter. Jeanne died two days after Modigliani's death, jumping out of a window while she was nine months pregnant with their second child.

Modigliani, Mod, maudit, as the French would say damned! He lived in poverty, however much his aristocratic appearance tried to deny it. He slept on the ground and ate when he could. He barely lived long enough to see the day his work began to be appreciated.

And then, on the evening of Jan. 22, 1920, he was found in his freezing studio, lying unconscious in bed. Jeanne was curled up next to him.

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Posted By admin on February 4, 2020

Wednesday, the Jewish calendar date of 10 Shvat, marks 70 years of the unfolding of the Lubavitcher Rebbes vision. On that date (January 28) in 1950, Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn, sixth in the dynasty of Chabad Rebbes, passed. His son-in-law (and distant cousin--himself a direct descendant of the third Chabad Rebbe), Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, succeeded him. Although he himself formally assumed the position the following year, in 1951, Chabad points to the date of 10 Shvat in 1950, as the beginning of the Rebbes leadership.

How would the Rebbe pick up the reins in the aftermath of the Holocaust that left the Jewish people diminished by a third, and crushed in body and spirit? How would the Rebbe bring healing to survivors nursing shame and insecurity, wanting to hide their identity, to forget, to be left alone in their grief?

Revolutionary, visionary, prophetic. These are among the many descriptives used to characterize some of the unusual qualities that registered in the Rebbes phenomenal leadership. In recent years, the Rebbes stunning transformation to the Jewish experience has captured the imagination of thinkers and scholars seeking to understand and analyze the Rebbes iconic leadership. Here, we present the first of several excerpts from my conversations with some of those authors and Jewish personalities about the Rebbe and his leadership.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, celebrated teacher, philosopher, social critic, and author, has devoted his life to making the Talmud accessible to all Jews, publishing the Talmud in modern Hebrew, with a running commentary to facilitate learning. His Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud has also been translated into English, French, Russian, and Spanish. A close disciple of the Rebbe and scholar of Chabad Chasidism, Rabbi Steinsaltz authored numerous books on Chabad themes. His book, My Rebbe, published in 2014, is his firsthand account of the Rebbe.

When Chabad was in Russia, the model Chasid spent considerable time in contemplative prayer, spiritual devotion, and was generally very inner directed. Once it relocated to America, the focus seemed to shift. To the elder Chasidim who remembered the old school, it must have been a difficult change to abide.

The Rebbe made a very conscious decision to shift the focus of the movement. I dont know that it was an easy decision and I wont try to absolve the Rebbe because he knew he was paying an enormous price. He knew the stakes; he knew that the experience of contemplation, a world in which Chasidim would live a different type of life was beautiful. But he saw that it was not a working tool.

So he said we cannot now afford to bask in our own spiritual work--including devotional prayer--to any great degree. It is a luxury we cannot afford now. Now we must save the people, and that demands that we roll up our sleeves and get busy doing simple, crass work.

For 150 years, Chabad was an intellectual body that craved excellence. The Rebbe said, now we have to make it into a body that is trying to be effective.

There are a few people who may not agree with the Rebbe. Others will ask, Did it work? But the Rebbe would say that it was the only way it could be donethere was no other way of doing it.

Im not sure the Rebbe was happy about making this decision. But we as a people are being decimated by assimilation, intermarriage and by forgetfulness. People speak about the Holocaust. A terrible thing, but on the other hand, the Holocaust was not as persistent and as sure as what is happening now.

For every tick of the clock, there is one less Jew. If this is the situation, there are lots of things you cannot afford to do, morally speaking.

It has been said that the Rebbe was reluctant to accept the role of Rebbe after the passing of his father-in-law. Tell us about that.

The Rebbe clearly didnt want the leadership. He married the daughter of the Frierdiker [previous] Rebbe and he moved to Berlin. I believe that the Rebbe may have had lots of plans, perhaps to write books and do other things, but as a private person.

In becoming Rebbe, he made his own Akeda, his own sacrificial offering. He gave up his own private life and instead, took a group of people twice hit, first by the Russian revolution and then by the Germans (the Jews in America were in very small insignificant pockets), and he made them into powerful army. That was very remarkable.

Through all the years of his leadership, it was plain to see that the Rebbe was set on an objective. What do you think the Rebbe was agitating to achieve?

The Rebbe wanted to do something that was more far-reaching than any revolution . . . he wanted to change human nature . . . to change the whole world. In the Talmud, we have Hillel and Shammai, the latter characteristically unforgiving of human limitations, and the former in resigned acceptance of reality. The Rebbe offered another alternative. He said, Let us change human nature.

In physics, something happens under conditions of great pressure. The molecules collapse and the very nature of the object changes. The Rebbe believed that the impossible was possible. He believed that when we do not only what we can do, but also what we cannot do, and that when even though there are only 24 hours in the day, we somehow work more than that, we pass into the world of impossibilities, into the era of Moshiach. It is removing human limitations and becoming transformed into an entirely different existence. It was as if he told us, Run! Run! And if you cannot run, walk! And if you cannot walkcrawl! But always advance, always take at least one step forward.

The Rebbe wanted to bring Moshiach now.

That is revolutionary.

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Posted By admin on February 4, 2020

Wearing a headband can signal many things, including marriage, modesty, athletics, or fashion. But recently, among a small but growing group of traditional but egalitarian Jewish women, headbands have become a unique way of expressing both their gender and their Judaism.

As more and more women take on the practice, a community has sprung up among what one wearer, Deborah Sacks Mintz, calls the #HeadbandNation. Lilli Shvartsmann, another headband-wearer I spoke with, describes this community as a sisterhood, swapping stories of how they took on the practice and recommending places to shop for headbands: I do feel connected to people that wear headbands, in that I know theyre thinking about the same things I think about, and trying to create a culture of head coverings thats not just male head coverings, she said. We are taking the custom and making it our own.

Jewish men have always customarily worn head coverings, today mostly in the form of kippot, or yarmulkes. Kippot serve two purposes: Theologically, they serve as a physical marker of obedience to God; historically, they have become markers of a persons Judaism to the outside world. This custom also comes from a talmudic story: Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, would not walk four cubits with an uncovered head. He said: The Divine Presence is above my head. (BT Kiddushin 31a) Some men wear kippot all day, while others wear them only for prayer, saying blessings, or Jewish learning.

Many Jewish women, especially in Orthodox communities, have also long worn a head covering (mostly starting after marriage), but for a different reason: modesty. The rabbis of the Talmud believed hair to be erotic, and, driven by the social norms of their time, encoded womens hair coverings as part of Jewish law. These coverings take many forms, including (but not limited to) wigs, scarves, hats, and headbands. Some cover all the hair, while others only cover part.

When second-wave feminism hit the Jewish world, many non-Orthodox women claimed kippot as something that could no longer belong exclusively to men; for these women, head-covering wasnt an issue of modesty, but rather of egalitarianism. In some Jewish day schools, students were required to wear head coverings, regardless of gender. Many girls would wear kippot, but Amelia Wolf, a native of Portland, Oregon, told me that some girls would wear a sort of bandanna, especially the girls who wanted to look feminine and more stylish, or the girls who were in Orthodox households who werent comfortable with wearing kippot.

For many women, traditional kippot can often be too masculine. I already perform gender weirdly, and I dont need to add to that [by wearing a kippah], Wolf explained. Many Conservative synagogues, as well as some Reform congregations, offer a different kind of head-covering for women: white, thin, and lacy, more like doilies than mens kippot. But few women wear these on a daily basis, or outside of the synagogue.

As a teen, while she was living with a host family in Seattle, Hungarian-native Viktoria Bedo attended a Conservative synagogue where a lot of women wore [doily-style] kippot, she told me. The rabbia female rabbiwore a yarmulke, and my host mother wore a yarmulke at shul and at Friday night dinner.

When Rabbi Sarah Mulhern was a student at Brandeis University, she decided to embrace Jewish observance, including wearing a kippah. At that point I decided, if I was a guy, I would wear a kippah, she said. I didnt think my Jewish practice should be different because Im a woman. In 2008, after she graduated college, Mulhern spent a year at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, an egalitarian yeshiva in Jerusalem. She wanted to continue the practice of covering her head, but wanted to present more femininely and encountered a tremendous amount of street harassment for wearing her kippah. I didnt feel safe, she said, and at that point it was easier to wear a headband. I was still doing the mitzvah, but I wasnt getting harassed. She later switched to wearing hats instead of headbands, but continued to advocate for women covering their headswith headbands, hats, or kippot.

The practice of wearing headbands quickly became meaningful for Mulhern and others. When Liza Bernstein arrived at the Conservative Yeshiva in Israel, she saw a ton of amazing women wearing headbands. She studied a lesson about womens head coverings compiled by Mulhern, and came out of the session with a commitment to wearing headbands. I saw strong women identifying with this practice, and I felt empowered that I was doing this minhag in a way that was right for me, not just pretending like I was a man. I really identify with wearing headbands.

It is hard to generalize what the headbands look like, as there is so much room for creativity. Those who wear them buy from a variety of sources, including secular clothing stores and stores aimed at Orthodox women. The headbands come in all colors and different fabrics. The most common headbands are a few inches wide, but some wear headbands that cover more of their head. Many choose to wear the headbands all day, while others don them only when praying, saying blessings, or learning Jewish texts, just as the custom is with mens kippot.

Headbands fill the same niche in Jewish practice that kippot do, but without the strong assumption of masculinity that comes with wearing traditional kippot. Many of the women who now wear headbands experimented with kippot and found them uncomfortable or unsatisfactory. Instead, headbands provide a creative, genuine way of expressing Jewish womanhood, though that is not always recognized by those around them.

Shvartsmann started wearing headbands in 2018 while a student at Yeshivat Hadar in New York City, in large part inspired by her conversations with Bernstein. I love the physical feeling of doing different mitzvot, and a headband is a lot more physical than a kippah. I really notice the difference when I take my headband off. At egalitarian Jewish institutions like Hadar, the Conservative Yeshiva, Pardes, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, women wearing headbands is a common sight. Shvartsmann, Wolf, and Bedoall rabbinical students at JTSwear headbands.

Maya Zinkow took on the practice of wearing headbands during her first year as a rabbinical student at JTS, in 2016. But not long afterward, two male colleagues made joking comments about her headband: Did you get married since the last time I saw you? Zinkow found the comments disheartening. This is a common assumption women wearing headbands face, and that can be frustrating, especially if they are looking for a partner. Meanwhile, others, including Wolf, often are asked by other Jews, Have you become Orthodox?

Unlike the kippah, which serves as a very public marker of Judaism, headbands are also worn by non-Jewish women. Some male classmates of mine at JTS were talking about kippot, and what it means to be a representative of the Jewish people out in public, Zinkow recalled. Her male colleagues explained the pressures of wearing a kippah: If someone asks for money and you dont give, everyone is watching you and seeing that youre Jewish. Zinkow wishes she had that problem. All I want is to present myself, uncomplicatedly, as a religious Jewish woman who sees herself obligated in mitzvot, she said, despite the anti-Semitism that can sometimes come with publicly presenting as Jewish. I want to present my gender in a way that feels authentic to me and combines with my religious practice in a way that feels holy and affirming. She hopes that headbands can, one day, fill that niche.

Despite the frustrations, many remain committed to the practice, wearing headbands frequently or every day. Sacks Mintz posted a selfie of her, Zinkow, Bedo, and two others wearing their headbands with the caption #HeadbandNation at JTS. The comments are full of people swapping places to buy headbands, sharing selfies of their own, planning their own headband shop, and, as Sacks Mintz commented, bringing together some of the most amazing women I know. This community even has members as young as 3. Mulhern has introduced the practice to her daughter, giving her a selection of kippot and headbands to choose from as part of her outfit. Mulhern hopes that her daughter will grow up with head coverings as just another part of her daily uniformas so many Jewish boys do.

Zinkow hopes that this practice will open up a conversation about Jewish practice in general: Theres an opportunity to play with gender and religious expression that is expansive beyond the way it has been done in our tradition, for people of all genders, she said. Can we begin to open up our minds, our hearts, and our spirits, to more gender and religious play in all aspects of our lives? It allows for a more fun, creative Judaism, and I think we need to have an expansive imagination and creativity around this. I think this will lead us to more authentic expression of who we are, trying to live out a religious practice.

***

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Alyx Bernstein is a student at Barnard College and JTS studying History and Talmud.

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Headband Nation - Tablet Magazine

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Posted By admin on February 4, 2020

The Good Place, which ended a four-season run on NBC on Jan. 30, was a magically weird cocktail of sharp, funny writing (including outstanding food puns), messy and indelibly endearing characters, and a crash course in philosophy and ethics.

And while the show avoided most direct connections to organized religion, the series did provide enough Jewish food for thought to fill 26.1 Jeremy Bearimys (the shows measurement of how time in the afterlife flows relative to time on Earth).

Note that this piece contains some spoilers for all four seasons the first three of which you can watch right now on Netflix.

From its start, The Good Place was notable for reflecting lifes tendency to establish rules and then break them. Each season had its twists, reboots and game-changers, and visited eternal questions about the meaning of life and afterlife.

It challenged the concepts of good and evil, crime and punishment, hope and desperation. It redefined the concept of torture and evoked concepts of God as angel, demon, puppetmaster, petulant child or experimental scientist.

It elicited moral and ethical questions, introduced the non-philosophy-inclined to the trolley problem and argued whether people are responsible for the unintended consequences of their actions (like buying an organic tomato from a farm where the workers arent treated equitably).

Never before had an NBC sitcom made me feel like I wish I had a degree in moral philosophy.

And absent that particular academic training, the only lens through which I could view this show and its finale was my Jewish one.

The Jewish text known as Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) provides guidance about human interactions and behaviors in other words, what we owe to each other.

How should one lead? In a place where there are no people, strive to be a person. How should one gain wisdom? Who is wise? One who learns from every person. What is our communal responsibility, and how should we behave toward ourselves and others? Hillel said: Do not separate yourself from the community, do not trust in yourself until the day of your death, do not judge not your fellow man until you have reached his place.

At my yeshiva day school, we were told that in the afterlife, wed get to study Talmud all day with the great rabbis; I secretly hoped my afterlife would be a place where Id be able to catch my favorite TV shows whenever I wanted (which basically came true once Netflix started streaming).

As I got older and experienced loss grandparents, friends, my mother my hope for what comes after changed: clarity on lifes confusing moments, for sure, and television, always, but also a reunion with people I missed, a chance to reconcile unspoken words and right the complicated relationships that all humans have in our short lives.

As viewers, we yearned for this, too.

The Good Place was notable for reflecting lifes tendency to establish rules and then break them.

We saw Tahanis reunion with her sister and parents, and Eleanors dinner with her friends and Chidis bestie; the blissful idiocy of Donkey Doug and Pillboi who pay tribute to Jason; and hear stories about how over the course of however many Bearimys our main characters have meaningful resolutions with the people in their lives.

Chidi gets the space to teach to and learn from the great philosophers he admired during his life (a philosophy class version of a beit midrash, perhaps) and Jason fulfills his less-intellectual lifelong dreams.

Im hoping for an afterlife space somewhere between an endless philosophy/Talmud course and go-cart racing with monkeys.

Over its four seasons, The Good Place focused on the intertwined ideas of human responsibility and fixing the world. The main characters constantly challenged the status quo toward creating a more equitable system; their moral compulsion to make things better was the drive to achieve tikkun olam, or more accurately, tikkun olam haba (fixing the world to come).

After rejiggering the system by which souls are judged after they die, the characters finally get into the Good Place, a paradise where all needs and desires are met.

But when anything is possible, people do everything, get bored, and theres still endless time ahead.

After Michael invokes Eleanors observation that every human is a little bit sad all the time because you know youre going to die, but that knowledge is what gives life meaning, the team works out a new system: When people feel theyve accomplished everything they wanted to, they can walk through a door and end their time in the universe.

As someone who is hopeful for afterlife reunion with lost friends and relatives, I decided the idea of reaching a moment when Id give that up or the idea that those lost loved ones might decide to leave me behind is both incomprehensible and panic-inducing.

But permitting people to create their own endings restores the sense of mortality that provided meaning on Earth and rewards humans with free choice that many of them lacked in life.

The penultimate episode (likely unintentionally) played with the Jewish idea that we hold two simultaneous truths: the idea that the world is made just for us to enjoy and that we are but dust and ashes. This teaches us to be aware of our presence and function in this world, and to have the humility to understand that our time here is limited.

The series could have ended with the penultimate episode, an everything is fine episode that said the afterlife is about having enough time with the people you love.

But by showing us the departures of the characters, The Good Place team brought us to a more challenging emotional space, to think about the purpose of life and afterlife, about journeys and their endings and about the people we leave behind.

At the end, the show suggested, our essence converts to sparks that flow throughout the world. Should those sparks alight on the shoulder of another human, may our glow be for a blessing.

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Posted By admin on February 4, 2020

Your mother told you so many times. Your highschool principal didnt seem so convinced. Certainly not your employer.

But its true. And even more: You are not justthe center of the worldyou are the entire world.

Its an explicit Mishnah:

Every human being isunique, and every human being is a copy of the prototype human being(Adam)therefore, every human being must say, For my sake the world wascreated.

As for humility, well, yes, humility is whatmakes you a nice guy, but it can also be totally out of place.

As the Baal Shem Tov taught, humility in thewrong place can subvert a persons purpose in life. Humility in the right place means knowing youre no morespecial than anyone else (well get to that later) and therefore you shouldntlord yourself over others. Humility in the wrongplace means imagining youre not special at all. And so the world can get by justas well without you.

Youve got to know, the Baal Shem Tov, wouldsay (okay, Im paraphrasing just a little), that everything depends on you.That with every beautiful mitzvah you do the universe resonates in blissfulharmony that heals and nurtures, and if you mess up, the whole cosmic symphonyfalls apart in a cacophonous crash, taking down myriads of the heavenly host inits wake.

Because if you act with misplaced humility,saying, Who am I, this lowly meat-patty with eyeballs, that anything I doshould have significance in the cosmic scheme of things? Who am I, that theCreator of this infinitely-sized operation should take notice of my deeds?soyoull just go off and do whatever you feel like, bringing your entire worlddown with you.

But when you are aware of that the Master ofthe Universe kisses your lips with every word of Torah or prayer that you utter[yes, the Baal Shem Tov actually put it that way, based on Solomons Song of Songs 1:2,and more], then you will say each word just as it should be said, with love andwith awe. And when you truly believe that with each mitzvah you are in embracewith the Infinite Light Himself, then your entire day will be filled withbeautiful deeds that shine.

As for misplaced humility, the Baal Shem Tovwould conclude, on that, the Talmud tells us, The humility of Rabbi Zechariaben Avkilus destroyed the Holy Temple and exiled us from our land.

But wait, if youre the center of the world,how about me? Im also unique and special, right? We cant both be the center,can we?

Well, maybe we can. Maybe human beings are notcounted in an arithmetical way, where one plus one equals two, until theaccumulated eight billion of us renders each individual a virtual nobody,vanished in the crowd. Maybe human beings are counted differently.

So heres the Chabad take on counting humans,on our equality, on our magnificent diversity and on the immeasurablepreciousness of each and every one of us. So that each human being is theentire world.

Humans are the fundamental unit of humankind.When dealing with fundamental units, Wall Street has dollars, physicists haveatoms, Gottfried Leibniz had the monad, and Chabad talks about the etzem.

The etzemcan be found anywhere, in anything; it is a oneness, whole and complete,lying at the essence of each thing. Whats especially neat about the etzem, is, as the Baal Shem Tov was fondof saying, When you hold a part of the etzem,you hold all of it.

Think of shares in a corporation. When youhold one share, it doesnt mean you own one square foot in the corporatewashroom. Each share is a share in the entire company, every part of it.So, too, wherever the etzem turns up in a detail, there you have one share ofthe entire etzem.

Take mitzvahs. Mitzvahsare the fundamental unit of purpose. All the mitzvahs of the Torah represent asingle etzem: Gds purpose for yourworld. Each individual mitzvah holds a share of that etzem. Thats why, if youre occupied with one mitzvah, youre offthe hook for every other mitzvah.

For example, youre attending to someone whois not well. Thats a mitzvah. Lets say another mitzvah pops up, such ascelebrating a friends wedding, praying with the congregation in the synagogue,eating in a Sukkah on Sukkot, or calling your Mom. So you ask your localhalachic authority what to do, and you get a clear answer: Stick to the mitzvahyou are doing right now.(Calling mom might be an exception, since no one can replace you for that.)

Why? Because, at their etzem, all the mitzvahs are the same one actdoing that which Gdwants of you. And so, in doing this onemitzvah, you are doing all the mitzvahs of the Torah.

An etzem,then, is something like the life within a living organism. Whatsthe difference between a living squirrel and the roadkill someone accidentallyran over in the mad rush to work this morning? Both have the same limbs andorgans in the same structure and form. But the living squirrel is a singlebeing, while the dead carcass is a collection of parts in a single encasement.The living animal is united by a single, shared etzem, which the carcass has lost.

Like you. You are a living organism. Whether Igrab you by your hand, your earlobe or your toenail, Ive grabbed all of you.Because within each part of you is the same etzemthesame you. Your toe is no less you than your earlobe.

Within every year, every day, every moment oftime, there is an etzem.If I could know what this moment is all about, whats it purpose, what Immeant to do with it, I would have its etzem.

And that etzemcontains all of time: Just as the reflection of the same sun appears in theocean, in a pond, or a puddle, or a raindrop, so in the etzem of every year, every day, and every moment of time appearsall of time, every second of it, all at once.

Thats because all of time is itself a single etzem. And like I said, you dont get a piece of the etzem, you get a share ofit. With every tick of the clock life deals out to you, youve got one share inall of time.

A hologram might be a good metaphor. Ahologram presents a three-dimensional image because its made of many cells,each presenting the same image from a different angle. You can cut a hologramin two and now youll have two complete holograms of the same 3D object. Cut itagain and youll have more.

Perhaps a better metaphor is a fractal. Afractal is an image of endless depth generated by a single mathematicalformula. Each level of depth of the fractal is simply another articulation ofthe same formula.

Its important to note is that we are nottalking about being a vital part of a wholelike a player on a team. Yes, if Isteal one guy from your minyan, Ive dissolved the entire minyan. So too, awinning team depends on the individuals who are part of itthe team cant doits thing unless each one does his or her part.

Thats only true, however, as the individualis part of the wholeas a player on the team. But when I have any one playerall by himself, I dont have the whole teamI have only that one individual. Inthe share-of-the-etzem paradigm, eachindividual contains the entire whole independently. Each one is the wholeeach in a different andunique way.

Take the universe. The universe is also asingle etzem, and all its details areshares of that etzem. If you could find the etzem of each entity in the universe, you would find that itcontains the entire universe.

What is the etzem of each entity? Its purpose for which it was createdthatwhich we often call the divine spark within. Eachentity of the universe expresses the purpose of the entire universe in adifferent way.

Its just that within a single entity, thatpurpose cannot be seen so clearly. Sometimes it can seem as though there is nopurpose, just haphazard stuff that happens. When we see the biggerpicturethe accumulation of all this stuff happeningthen the purpose becomesclearer.

Which is yet another thing about the etzem: It is always there, and nothingcan hide itbecause it is the essence of each thing. What the etzem can do, however, is to camouflageitself, sort of hiding in plain sight, by expressing itself as a detail, ratherthan as a whole. What are those details? All the details that render a singularuniverse a plethora of endless beings.

The ultimate, only true etzem is Gd Himself. Gd is the perfect oneness, both encompassingall existence and not dependent on any existence. And, indeed, the truth ofevery other etzem you will find inthis universe is nothing other than Gd Himself.

Yet the fullest, most exquisite representationof that etzem in our world is theindividual human being. Within each of us lies the fundamental unit of freedomwithin the universethe freedom to go blindly our own way and make ourselveseach one his or her own god, or to fulfill the purpose for which we were createdand bring harmony and perfection to our world.

Thats what the creation story in Genesismeans when it says that the human being was created in the image of Gd. Theindividual human being, with his or freedom to make or break his universe, is theultimate fractal of Gd.

Take a look again in that creation narrativeof Genesis and youll notice how the emergence of all living things isdescribed as creation en massefieldsof grasses, forests of trees, schools of fish, herds and families of beasts.Only the human being is created as an individual.

Why was the human being created as anindividual? ask the rabbis of the Talmud. To teach you that one who destroysa single human life is as though he has destroyed an entire world. And one whosaves a single human life is as though he has saved an entire world.

Thats not just a figurative hyperbole. The Talmud provides a vivid, practical application of thisprinciple:

A caravan of peopleis traveling on the road is accosted by strangers who tell them, Give us oneof you and we will kill him, and if you refuse, we will kill all of you.

Even if all of themwill be killed, they cannot hand over a single soul.

The ruling is stunning. And yet, within itlies the fundamental rejection of totalitarian fascism and communism that has become an essential building-blockof post-WWII modernity.The individual is sacred. Nothing, not the good of the state, not even thelives of the majority, can override the sanctity of the individual.

It also reflects the intuitive experience ofthe human being. The human being, as he or she becomes aware of his or her ownexistence, experiences something bewildering, even shocking. There are billionsof theys, yous, hes and shes out there, but only one I.

How could that be? Only because the individualhuman being experiences life as an exquisite fractal of the very etzem of Gdthe true I.

Now youre going to ask, If all individualhuman beings share an equal spark of divinity and represent the same one Gd inHis universe, why are they not all the same? If theres one Gd, shouldntthere be one human being?

And thats an observation the Talmud notes ina terse, deep metaphor, A human being stamps many coins with one stamp andthey all come out the same. The Holy One, may He be blessed, stamps out everyhuman being with the one mold of Adam, and no two are alike.

You see, the question is much like thequestion philosophers have asked for millenia, How is it that from one comesmany; that from a Gd who is a perfect unity comes a universe of diversity?

And our rabbis answer that this question isnot really a question. Because, quite the contrary, the most exquisiteexpression of a Gd who transcends form is a universe of diverse and oppositeforms.

Only from One who is neither water nor firecan come both the oceans and the stars; from One who is neither large nor smallcan come both the blue whale and the gnat; from One who is neither light nordarkness can come both the eyes of the hawk and the ears of the bat, theglistening fierceness in a leopards eye, the tender care of a mighty eagle forher eaglets, silence and noise, destruction and renewal, order and chaosandall in the same instant, even within the very same being.

As the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, ofrighteous memory, once spoke:

The One Above did notwant His creation to be a sort of simple oneness, homogeneous and uniform, withno distinction between one creation and the next. On the contrary, He desired amultitudea tremendous multitude, to the point that we exclaim, How many areYour works, oh Gd!

And not in numberalone. They are diverse, and their diversity has great meaning. On any one ofthose creations we can exclaim, How great are Your works, oh Gd!Because these differences are not insignificant, arbitrary differences. Rather,the uniqueness of each individualcreation is a commentary all of its own on the greatness of its Creator.

So too, it is the differences among humanbeings, not their similiarities, that makes them precious in their Creators eyes.

Yes, it all seems such an impossibleparadoxto say that we are both perfectly one and entirely different in thesame breath. But that, too, is a reflection of the Creator, for whom it isimpossible that anything should be impossible, for He transcends all binaries.Paradox of this sort is beauty, for it is a window within our world throughwhich transcendence shines.

Perhaps that is why we human beings eventuallycame to embrace these primal yet contrasting values of diversity and equalitynotso much from our sense of reason, but from the etzem within each of us that encapsulates and expresses themagnificence of the divine.

And that may be what truly motivates us topreserve the diversity of our world, and of one another, for in that diversityis expressed the most profound secret of the divine and of the human soul.

Paradoxically again, by describing thepreciousness of every human being in such an individualistic way, we actuallytie human beings closer together. Intimately together.

When describing the connection of one Jewishperson with another (which is a paradigm for the connection all of humanitymust learn to feel), Rabbi Schneur Zalman writes in his classic work known as the Tanya that all our souls, aside from being one etzem at their origin, are twinned.

Meaning: Not only do they all represent thesame one Gd, but they are entangled with one another in thatrepresentationmuch as particles of the same atom are entangled in theirstateseven if theyre blown off to opposite ends of the galaxy. Because not only are they all one etzemat their essential core, but in theirdifferences as well.

And therefore, what happens with one humanbeing, even in some detail that would seem entirely irrelevant to another humanbeing on the other side of the planet, affects that other person immediatelyand profoundly.

So each human being must look at another humanbeing and say, That is not an other.That is my same essence expressed in a different unique and special form. Whathappens with her happens with me. Her pain is my pain. Her happiness is myhappiness. Her destiny is my destiny.

It becomes patently clear now why we cannotstrip one human being of his or her dignity as a human being for the sake ofthe rest of humanity, and why a world that does so is not a sustainable world.Because it is an impossibility. Each individual is the entire world. We are all reflections of a single face fromevery possible angle. If youve stripped one individual of human dignity,youve stripped all of us.

In his recent book, Social Visionthe Lubavitcher Rebbes transformativeparadigm for the world, Dr. Phillip Wexler discusses how thegreat sociologist, Max Weber, had difficulty seeing the inner-world mysticcreating a viable society. Yet, Wexler writes, the Rebbe extended the veryinner and very mystic school of Chabad thought towards an activist programof social transformation and a better future for America and the world.

Heres a very practical example of how theChabad concept of etzem addresses oneof the big social dilemmas of our time: the incarcerationof criminals.

As Wexler shows, the Rebbe spoke with greatpassion of the need to replace punishment with repair. Corrective facilities,he said, must live up to their name.

In the Rebbes words:

We must see to itthat the individual should feel that he isas Gd saidin our form and likeour imageMeaning, that he is a human being. That, if only he so desires, he can be aperson in the likeness of the One Above.

But when we takeaway that possibility, when we persecute and oppress him, when we dont allowhim to raise his head, then not only is the correctional facility notconducive to its own purposeon the contrary, it actually makes him even morepredisposed to criminality than he was before his initial incarceration.

That is why it mustbe a goal of the correctional facility to raise the spirits of those who findthemselves there. In all possible ways they should be treated just like freepeople just like the prison guards. They must be given the opportunity toachieve their human potential to the most complete degree.

The guys a criminal. He stole. He damaged.Maybe he even killed. But hes a human being, and therefore in the divineimage, a fractal of Gd. And therefore, our job as a society is to teach himhow to live as the noble being he truly is.

Each of us is the world, a divine being.Thats why, if you truly respect yourself, you will enter the space of everyother human being with awe and humility.

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Actually, You Really Are the Center of the World - Why We're All Different and Why We All Count - Chabad.org

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Posted By admin on February 4, 2020

In honor of of 10 Shevat 5780, which marks 70 years since the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, assumed leadership, we present this article on the significance of the number 70.

Theres something special about the number 70. Curiously, we see this number coming up over and over in Scripture and Midrash:

The fact that the number 70 is mentioned so many times in Scripture indicates the preeminence of this number. What is the significance of the number 70?

The mystics explain that the natural order is represented by the number 7. Gd chose to create the world in 7 days, resulting in a week that consists of 7 days, corresponding to the 7 attributes (ChesedKindness, GevurahSeverity, TiferetHarmony, NetzachPerseverance, HodHumility, YesodFoundation, MalchutRoyalty).

Any number times 10 represents the completeness of that number. (Ten is a full number, because after after we reach the number 10, we start counting again with 1. For example, the number 11 is 10 plus 1.) Ten corresponds to the 10 mystical sefirot. And 7 times 10 represents the completion of the natural ordereach aspect of nature is complete and made up of all 10 sefirot.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the number 70 is especially associated with leadership.

In the Mishnah that is recited as part of the Haggadah on the night of Passover, Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah declares: I am like a man of 70 years old. The Talmud explains that the reason he declared that he was like a man of 70 is that he wasnt actually 70; in fact, he was only about 18 years old. However, despite his young age, the sages wanted to appoint him as the nassi, leader of the Jewish people. Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah was reluctant due to his age, so a miracle occured and white hairs appeared in his beard, giving him the respectable appearance of a 70-year-old who was fit for the leadership position.

The Rebbe explains that his appearing specifically as a 70-year-old was not random. Rather, as explained, the number 70 represents the completion or fullness of a person's life, as the verse states, The span of our life is 70 years . . . Thus the number 70 represents refining ones 7 attributes (since each attribute is comprised of 10 sefirot) as well as refining the world in general. Only someone who has reached this level of personal and global refinement is fit to be the nassi. Thus, it was only after Rabbi Elazar ben Azariahs appearance became that of a 70-year-old was he satisfied that he was fit to be the nassi and leader of the Jewish people.

While the number 70 represents the completion of the natural order, going beyond 70 represents reaching even higher than the natural order, until we ultimately reach the messianic era. May it be speedily in our days!

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Preface

On the Essence of Chasidus, a discourse by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of blessed memory, is a definitive, systematic exploration of the nature and idea of Chasidic philosophy. The discourse, originally delivered by the Rebbe on the 19th of Kislev 5726 (1965) and subsequently printed as Inyana Shel Toras HaChasidus in 5730 (1970), delves deeply into the essential nature of Chasidic thought, describing the unique role Chasidus plays within Torah and its fundamental connection with the soul.

The discourse was first published in English by Kehot Publication Society on 11 Nissan 5738 (1978) in honor of the Rebbes 76th birthday. The current edition contains revisions, clarifications and commentary, and presents both the Hebrew and English together for the first time.

An excerpt from a talk given by the Rebbe on the last day of Passover 5730 (1970), which touches upon matters that are relevant to the ideas discussed in the main text, appears as an appendix.

In addition to the translation of the discourse and the Rebbes footnotes, additional footnotes were added to further clarify the text. Also, some of the Rebbes footnotes have been elucidated and elaborated upon. The Hebrew text of the discourse has been retypeset with Hebrew vowel marks to further enhance this volumes usability.

The original Hebrew footnotes appear at the end of the text. The original translation was prepared by Rabbi Y. H. Greenberg and S. S. Handelman and edited by Rabbis Zalman I. Posner and A. D. Sufrin. For preparing and editing the current edition, special thanks are due to Rabbis Ari Sollish, Avraham D. Vaisfiche and Yosef B. Friedman.

Kehot Publication Society14 Iyar 5763Pesach Sheini

Chasidism, by now, is a familiar phenomenon and a source of curiosity and fascination to many. Though its founders faced many difficult struggles, it has now become universally known and admired. Authors of all varieties of belief and practice have written countless volumes about its origins, history, and philosophy. Anthologies of stories and maxims told by and about Chasidim have been compiled and made available in English for many years.

Yet many of these works have been produced by outside admirers not always steeped in the knowledge of Chasidic philosophy nor familiar with its more intricate and profound teachings. Hence many of these attempts made to define Chasidus, and to describe its precise relation to the rest of the Torah, have not been at all satisfactory. The need of the English reader for a definition of Chasidus from within, from Chasidic leaders and thinkers themselves, has long been recognized.

On the Essence of Chasidus is a definitive explanation of the nature and idea of Chasidic philosophy. Indeed, one of the prime aims of Chabad Chasidus is to systematically define and elucidate general Chasidus in rational, intellectual terms, as will be explained at great length in the text.

Chasidus has been popularly conceived, especially by outside historians and biographers, as a teaching which primarily emphasizes joy, enthusiasm, emotion, etc.albeit within the framework of the traditional Jewish Codes of Law, i.e., Talmud, Shulchan Aruch, etc. One who probes more deeply into works of Chasidic philosophy might be surprised, therefore, to find great emphasis placed on the actual, practical performance of mitzvot, on simple deed or action in itself. Though not explicitly referring to the seeming dilemma of whether Chasidus is expressed more in affect or in action, the Rebbe answers the question by presenting the concept of Chasidus as one of essence and analyzes the various modes in which essence comes to be revealed.

Hence, the focal point of the present discourse is the essence of Chasidus. It is a deep and searching inquiry into the central core of Chasidic philosophy and practice, and is not only an introduction to the subject, but also an integral part of classic Chasidic literature.

The Rebbe precisely defines the unique relationship Chasidus has with the other parts of Torah and the traditional forms of interpretation; with Kabbalah; with the various dimensions of the soul; with the concept of Moshiach; and with the Divine attributes (sefirot). He explains the role and function of Chasidus in the world and the imperative reasons for its dissemination.

Furthermore, the Rebbe clarifies and illuminates the nature and essence of Chasidus by selecting one specific topic in Torah, analyzing it in light of the four traditional forms of interpretation, and then exploring the very same topic in the light of Chasidus. He thus proceeds to show how Chasidus vivifies and illuminates each of these four approaches to Torah. The topic, significantly, is the meaning of the first words a person utters when he awakens from his sleep in the morningthe prayer Modeh Ani, which is the fundamental starting point of a Jews spiritual service for the entire day. Finally, the Rebbe demonstrates the manner in which all the ideas of Chasidus are reflected in, vitalize, and illumine even the technical and legalistic parts of Torah, using the example of the law of acquisition through four cubits.

* * *

This discourse was delivered by the Rebbe on the Chasidic holiday of Yud-Tes Kislev 5726 (1965). It was originally published at the end of the first volume of Sefer Haarachim (the Chabad Encyclopedia) in 1970 and reprinted in a separate cover in 1971. A supplementary Appendix, excerpted from a talk given by the Rebbe on the last day of Passover 5730 (1970), was added to the 1971 edition. In it, the Rebbe explains why different parts of the Torah come to be revealed at different times in Jewish history and, in particular, why Chasidus has been revealed only in these latter generations. Since the subject matter of this Passover talk is relevant to the ideas discussed in On the Essence of Chasidus, it has also been translated into English and added as an appendix in the present edition.

Yud-Tes Kislev, the date on which the discourse was originally given, celebrates the day upon which the founder of Chabad Chasidus, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was released from a Russian prison. He had been arrested and falsely accused of subversive political activities and treason because of his leadership of the Chasidic movement. On the 19th day of Kislev 5559 (1798), he was completely exonerated and freed on express orders of the Czar. This date ever since has been celebrated by Jews the world over, and especially among Chabad Chasidim, for among other reasons, it marks the decisive turning point toward victory in the struggle to spread Chasidus. Hence, Rabbi Shalom DovBer of Lubavitch called it the Rosh Hashanah of Chasidus.

Thus, the Rebbes choice of On the Essence of Chasidus for his discourse on this special day is deeply connected to the meaning and inner significance of the holiday itself; for it was Rabbi Schneur Zalman who specifically brought the teachings of general Chasidus (as expounded by its founder, the Baal Shem Tov) into systematic, intellectual comprehension.

The Baal Shem Tov is well known for his emphasis on and practice of the great principle of Ahavat Yisrael (the commandment to love a fellow Jew as oneself), even to the extent of self-sacrifice, and for his affection for, encouragement, and teaching of the poor, unlettered, and oppressed masses of Jewry, who at that time were separated by a vast gulf from the scholarly elite by whom they were regarded as inferiors. The Baal Shem Tov emphasized the holiness of every Jew, stressing that everyone can serve Gd no matter what his or her background or knowledge. He also re-emphasized the importance of joy in Divine service and performance of mitzvot. Furthermore, he taught the deepest doctrines of the esoteric part of Torah in a manner that could be understood even by the simplest Jew, expressing these profound ideas through parables, stories, and aphorisms.

It was Rabbi Schneur Zalman, as has been said, who formulated the general Chasidus of the Baal Shem Tov into a systematic, comprehensible, intellectual philosophy. Among his numerous and lengthy Chasidic works, Likkutei Amarim, or Tanya, is the best known and most widely read, and has been translated into English and many other languages. This classic is a concise outline of his philosophy, written in a manner which enables people of all levels of understanding and knowledge to grasp and more deeply understand Chasidus.

Each of the six leaders of Chabad succeeding Rabbi Schneur Zalman have continued to expand and disseminate Chasidusnot only through their discourses and theoretical writings, but through their life example, with their self-sacrificing work for the good of all Jews everywhere. They have intensely fought and resisted the efforts of oppressive governments to destroy Judaism, Gd forbid, placing themselves in great personal peril. The sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, was imprisoned in 1927 and brutally treated by the Soviet government for his refusal to stop teaching Torah in Russia. After his arrival in the United States in 1940, he proceeded to establish Torah centers, determined to reawaken the flame of Torah and Judaism in America. Upon his passing in 1950, he was succeeded by his son-in-law, the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, who continued and intensified this monumental task of spreading the light of Torah and Judaism throughout America and the entire world, to every Jew wherever he or she may be, and who has inspired countless Jews everywhere in love for Gd, Torah, and ones fellow man.

In vowelizing the Hebrew words in this edition we have followed the grammatical rules of the Holy Tongue, which occasionally differ from the traditional or colloquial pronunciation.

In the original Hebrew text, 135 footnotes were added by the Rebbesome citations of sources, and others quite lengthy and detailed explanations of ideas discussed in the text and their ramifications. These footnotes contain ideas of such profundity and importance that all have been completely translated. The reader is urged to make full use of them. In addition, the original Hebrew notes appear at the end of the text.

The translators have also added their own attempted clarifications, explanations of terms, concepts, names, etc. It should be understood that these commentaries and explanations are tentative and by no means an exhaustive or complete understanding of this text. They are meant to make the text clearer and more accessible to readers of all backgrounds. The text is a free translation, and the translators have attempted to make the language as clear and simple as possible. Nevertheless, the beginner may find some parts of the notes quite complex and perhaps difficult, but they are meant to be of aid to those who also already have some knowledge of Chasidus. Some of these notes develop independent topics and may be studied separately.

In addition, the translators have researched the Rebbes references and included summaries of the contents of those which they felt would be of invaluable aid to the reader, thus alleviating the reader of the task of looking up this information.

To facilitate distinguishing between the words of the Rebbe and those of the translators, minor variations in the text and notes have been made. All brackets are uniformly used to denote additions, remarks, and clarifications of the translators; parentheses are used for the words of the Rebbe. Footnotes added by the translators are enclosed in brackets. All chapter titles are the translators.

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Introduction and Summary - On the Essence of Chasidus - Chabad.org

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