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B”H The Chabad Weekly Parshas Vayikra Chabad of Beverly Hills Vol. 24 Issue 23 6 Nissan, 5781 / March 19, 2021 9145 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Candlelighting his own personal set of clothing to Chabadofbeverlyhills.com (Los Angeles) Identity Crisis distinguish him from others, he might Rabbi Yosef Shusterman 6:46 PM By Rabbi Yossi Goldman suffer an identity crisis. So he devised Rabbi Mendel Shusterman Amnesia is a frightening illness. Imag- a plan. He tied a red string around his 310-271-9063 big toe so that even in the bathhouse Friday Mincha: ine forgetting who you are — sudden- ly you have no family, no history, and he would stand out from everyone else. Sadly, when he was in the shower, 7:00 PM no identity. It can happen to an indi- In Place of a Temple Offering vidual and it can happen to a people. the water and soapsuds loosened the There have been times in our history red string, and it slipped off his big toe. LATEST SHEMA: 10:00 when we seemed to forget who we To make matters worse, the red string Rabbi Moshe-Leib of Sassov once were and where we came from. And floated along to the next cubicle and came to the marketplace in Yaro- all too often, we seem uncertain twirled around the big toe of the fellow SHABBAT SCHEDULE under the next shower. slav. He was passing among the about where we are going. vendors, checking the quality of the Suddenly, our Chelmer genius discov- Shacharis 7:30 AM In the opening chapters of Leviticus, straw and hay for sale, when he 9:30 AM we read the expression Nefesh ki ered that his string was gone. He start- ed panicking. This was a serious identity met his friend, Rabbi Shimon of techeta — "when a person will sin." The Torah goes on to describe the crisis. Then he saw that the fellow next Yaroslav. Mincha 6:40 PM various atonement offerings necessary door was sporting his red string. Where- "Rebbe, what are you doing here?" followed to absolve one from their trespasses. upon, he ran over to him and shouted, Shimon asked in surprise. "I know who you are, but who am I?" by class The Kabbalistic classic, Zohar, renders "Leave out my 'Rebbe' and your this phrase both literally and spiritual- Who are you? You are a Jew! You are a 'Rebbe' and come with me to carry ly. Nefesh is interpreted as not merely son of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, a a bale of hay to a poor widow who Maariv 7:40 PM a person but a soul, and the verse is d a u g h t e r punctuated by a question mark. In of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. had no hay or straw upon which to other words, the Torah is ask- You are a member of the "kingdom of lay her broken body," the Sassover Shabbat 7:46 PM ing Nefesh ki techeta? Shall a soul priests and holy nation." You were freed replied pungently. s i n ? Can a Jewish soul, ends from Egypt and stood at Sinai. You a yiddishe neshamah, a spark of di- have survived countless attempts on The two holy leaders went togeth- vinity, really and truly stoop to com- your life and your faith. You emerged er, hauling a bale of hay on their Please see attached mit a lowly sin? How is that possible? from the ashes of Auschwitz only to live shoulders. Astonished bystanders again. And you ask "Who am I?" This is email for complete Indeed, the only way it can happen is stared in wonder and moved aside when we forget who we are, when we a serious case of national amnesia. to make room for them to pass. Shabbos schedule and are no longer in touch with our true So the holy Zohar reminds us that we As they went, Rabbi Moshe-Leib spiritual identity, when we start to are not only "a person who may sin." remarked, "Were the Holy Temple conditions. suffer from spiritual amnesia. We are a soul, and shall a soul sin? A soul is by definition part and parcel of standing today, we would be bring- Sadly, it does happen. In fact, it's not ing sacrifices and libations. Now we really that difficult. After all, we live in the Divine. And for the G‑dly soul with- Announcements: a secular society. The old ghetto walls in us, distancing ourselves from our very bring straw, and it is as though we source is absolutely unthinkable. Yartzheit: Mordechai are no longer there to insulate us. We have all the kavanot (spiritual in- are exposed to the big wide world How else can we explain the phenome- tentions) that come with offering Salzberg - Nisan 8, with all its seemingly tantalizing diver- non that after 70 years of Communist the korban mincha sacrifice." sions. Even if we do marry within the Meir Taus - Nisan 10, atheism, Jews in the Former Soviet Rabbi Moshe Leib of Sassov's fa- faith, we become culturally assimilat- Union are today fervently embracing Alfred Sussman - Nisan ed. Slowly but surely, then, even the faith of their forefathers? Or that ther, R. Yaakov, would take a job 11. a nefesh, a Jewish soul, starts forget- after decades of apathy, American Jews before Passover grinding wheat at ting who she is and can fall into the of all ages are desperately seeking the mill, not for himself, though he web of sin. Happy Birthday to spirituality? Or that the renaissance of was also a poor man, but for a wid- Jasmine Eghbali and Remember the "wise man" from Jewish life has become a reality around the globe? Yes, there are good people ow and orphan who lived in his Tehilla Hezghian. Chelm and his problem? He worried neighborhood. And he did this de- that when he went to the public bath- out there igniting sparks and fanning Mazel Tov to the house where everyone is unclothed he them into a fiery faith. But the sparks spite his great and abiding love for wouldn't know who he was. Without would not take if there was not a burn- the Torah, which he learned con- ing ember inside every Jewish soul, an Davidpour Family on stantly. the wedding of Simcha ember that remains Wednesday, Nissan 11 (March 24) inextinguishable no Moshe Leib, his son, followed in his to Moshe Coleman. matter what. father's footsteps. Despite his marks the 119th birthday of the greatness in Torah, he did not wor- Rebbe obm. So if you ever have doubts about who ry about his honor when it came to you are, remember performing acts of kindness for his There will be a Zoom Farbrengen this the Zohar. You are a fellow Jew with his own hands, soul. And a soul never Good Shabbos! Monday night at 8:00 P.M. dies. even if they were beneath his status in the eyes of others. - chabad.org Rabbi Moshe Kessleman will Fabreng. (ascentofsafed.org) ZOOM CLASSES: was invited and was puzzled. Parsha Insights Story of the Week: Then, the person who the Getting Close There will be no Zoom A Meal for Eighteen miracle happened to, who ap- אָדָ םכִּ י יַקְרִּ יב מִּ כֶּם קָרְ בָ ן וגו': )ויקרא Strangers א:ב( classes till after Pesach peared to be about 60 years One day, Yaakov Rechimi old, stood up and started [G-d said to Moses,] “When someone (the grandson of Rabbi Mi- speaking. brings a sacrifice . ” Leviticus 1:2 chael Peretz of Mexico), re- Daily Mon.– Fri: 6:45 AM “I know you all want to know The notion of sacrifices seems to run Torah Ohr (In Shul) ceived a phone call from a counter to the Jewish conception of G- the reason why I invited you. man who wanted to invite him I’ll tell you what happened. d: G-d has no need to “consume” or be to a seudat hodaya, a thanks- “When I was lying in the hospi- “bribed” by our sacrifices. Yet we see Please visit giving celebration that one tal, basically dead from the in this section of the Torah that G-d www.rabbishusterman.com hosts when one experiences Corona, I felt myself rising up not only accepts sacrifices but explicit- ly sets down the procedures for them, a miracle. The caller told him to Heaven. The first one I saw where you can access over giving every indication that He actually his name, which community there was my mother, who had 2300 of Rabbi Shuster- he belonged to, and which wants them! passed away a few years be- In fact, the Hebrew word translated as man’s classes in Halacha, synagogue. Yaakov thought fore. She exclaimed, ‘What are he recognized the name, but “sacrifice” or “offering”– korban – Tanya, Gemara, Torah Ohr, you doing here?! Go back means “getting close.” Although we he didn’t really know the per- down!’ Likutei Torah and more son and wasn’t sure why he generally associate sacrifices with atonement for sin, the first sacrifices was invited. Still, he said: “Of ““I answered her, “Ma, I want to go back down but I can’t.” mentioned in this section are voluntary course, you invite me to a offerings, which an individual brings to seudat hodaya, I will come. “My mother waved off my answer. ’No, you can go down. G-d not to atone for sin but out of the What is it that you want to You want to know why? Look desire to draw closer to Him.