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TORAH WEEKLYParshat Toldot 4 - 10 November, 2018 JUST KEEP sure enough, there was the This was the lifestyle 26 Cheshvan - buried treasure! of Isaac, everything he did, 2 Kislev, 5779 DIGGING... Meanwhile, back in he did with depth. Torah: A man once came Brod, the second man thought This idea was also Genesis 25:19 - 28:9 to his for a bles- to himself, “the Rebbe would brought out in the fact that sing. “Rebbe,” he said, “my not send someone here to dig Isaac was the only one of the daughter is growing up, if there weren’t actually some patriarchs who never left the Haftarah: treasure.” He picked up the land of . Sometimes we Malachi 1:1 - 2:7 thank God, and is ready to begin looking for a suitable shovel and continued to dig. need to travel far and wide husband. But my wife and I Soon enough, he too found a and search high and low to CALENDARS are flat broke, and don’t have buried treasure. find what we are seeking. But We have Jewish anything with which fee the Now each of the men sometimes, more often than Calendars, if you would family, nevermind pay for a felt somewhat guilty. They we would imagine, we need like one, please send us wedding.” felt that discovering this only to search deeper within a letter and we will send The Rebbe thought treasure was partially due to our own lives, within oursel- you one, or ask the Rabbi for a moment and then said, the other, so they each took a ves and our communities. / Chaplain to contact us. “In the city of Brod, under the part of it and began traveling A Jewish woman towards each other to give once traveled to the moun- TORAH STUDIES big bridge, there is a buried over what they each felt ri- tains of in search of me- We have many treasure. This treasure has no owner, so go dig it up and use ghtfully belonged to the other. aning. She sat with the gurus Judaic topics for you to When they met halfway and day in and day out and really study. We will provide it for your family.” Delighted, the man realized what had transpired, absorbed everything they the material and cour- went home, grabbed his they decided the only thing taught. After several weeks ses. Please write to us shovel and began traveling to do with the jewels they the gurus announced that the for more information. to Brod. When he arrived carried was to give it to the participants had now succes- GRAPE JUICE & he immediately began to did one person truly responsible sfully achieved spirituality. MATZAH under the bridge. He dug and for their fortunate findings. Excitedly, the Jewish woman Aleph offers free he dug, but found nothing. They decided to give it to asked, “Great! Now what do Grape Juice and Matzoh Suddenly, another man appro- their Rebbe. we do?” When they arrived in “Well, now you are for you to be able to ached him and asked, “What are you doing here? What are the Rebbe’s study and explai- spiritual.” make the blessings every ned their intentions, the Reb- “Ok,” she said, “but Shabbos. Please have you digging for?” He explained the be smiled and said, “I believe what do I do with that now?” your chaplain / Rabbi whole story to the man. When each of your has a child of For a moment the guru looked contact us to enroll, it is he finished, the man said, marriageable age - you have a at her, and then asked, “are available to all prisons. “that’s fascinating. You know, son, and you, a daughter. Let you Jewish?” CHANUKAH GELT just last night I dreamt of a them marry one another and When she answered Please ask hidden treasure in someo- give this treasure to them as a that she was indeed, the wise dowry.” guru smiled and said, “In that the chaplain for the ne’s house. Under the brick fireplace.” He then named the In this week’s Torah case, you will find your pur- ‘Chanukah Gelt Form’. reading we learn that Isaac pose by delving deeper into Your children will first man’s exact hometown and address! spent a significant part of and rediscovering your own receive Chanukah Gelt The first man couldn’t his life digging wells in the Jewish heritage.” from you. believe his ears. “This must Holy Land. Now, the Torah ALEPH INSTITUTE be what the Rebbe wanted me does not recount every single EACH TO HIS Hyman & Martha Rogal to come here and find out.” action the forefathers took, Center Without a word, he dropped but the ones which are men- tioned in the Torah all have OWN 5804 Beacon Street his shovel and ran home. “Isaac loved Esau, for Pittsburgh, PA 15217 As soon as he arrived back some special significance. The special meaning in he ate from his trappings, and 412-421-0111 home he grabbed a large sled- Rebecca loved Jacob.” This ge hammer. Despite the prote- digging wells is the idea of Fax: 412-521-5948 looking beneath the surface seems like a very shallow www.alephne.org sts of his wife and family, he reason for a righteous man demolished the furnace and, of things to find their essen- [email protected] tial Godly core. like Isaac to favor the wicked of his two sons. So, in the spirit of Isaac, let us look deeper a festive meal and reduced work activity. The latter custom into those words. is prevalent amongst women, who have a special affinity A middle aged couple once came to their Rabbi and said, with Rosh Chodesh -- the month being the feminine asp of “Rabbi we don’t understand. You know that we have several the Jewish Calendar. children, all of whom give of tremendous Nachas - all, that is, besides one. Our middle son had been nothing but tzuris PITTSBURGH MASSACARE Our response tot he “Pittsburgh Massacre” is to in- since he was a baby. crease in lightness in this world, by creating more light, by “Now, we consider ourselves to be good parents, but we learning Torah and performing Mitzvoth, we will eliminate can’t figure out what went wrong with our dear son. We the bitter darkness of evil, bigotry and hatred. Take upon raised all of the children exactly the same, why is he so yourself to do another good deed. different?” At this point, the Rabbi held up his hand. “Therein,” he explained, “lies your mistake.” He then went on to explain In Jewish History to them that to think that all children can be raised in the Monday, 27 Cheshvan, 5779 - exact same way, cookie-cutter if you will, is a mistake. November 5, 2018 Each and every child needs to have his parenting his educa- Flood ends (2104 BCE) tion personalized to his or her own strengths, weaknesses, On the 27th of Cheshvan of the year 1657 from interests, etc. creation (2104 BCE) “the earth dried” (Genesis 8:14) In Hebrew the wording in “Ki Tzayid b’Fiv” -which could completing the 365-day duration of the great flood that be translated literally as, “For the trapping is in his mouth.” wiped out all life on earth save for the eight human Isaac was a parent who knew that each of his children beings and and the animals (two of each species) in No- needs a different approach in their parenting. He knew ah’s ark; on this day G-d commanded Noah to “Come that Esau committed sins and acted cruelly to people and out of the ark” and repopulate, settle and civilize the animals, but he know that under it all beneath the layers earth.. of tough, rough persona, there was a spark of goodness, of Wednesday, 29 Cheshvan, 5779 - Godliness. The issue was that that goodness was “Tzayid,” it was November 7, 2018 trapped beneath Esau’s outer layers. And Isaac say felt that Mumbai Terror Attacks (2008) the only way to bring it to the surface was “b’Fiv,” with his The city of Mumbai, India, was hit with a series mouth. He felt that if he could develop a good rapport with of coordinated terror attacks, starting on Wednesday Esau, if he could just have an open line of communication evening, the 29th of Cheshvan 5769, which left close to with his son, he would be able to bring him closer to his 200 dead and scores more injured. One of the terrorists’ chosen targets was the core values of goodness and kindness. local House, known as the “Nariman House,” At the end of his life, Isaac even wanted to give God’s operated by Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries Rabbi Gavri- blessings to Esau. He sent him out to hunt one last meal for el Noach (Gabi) and Rivkah (Rivki) Holtzberg. him, again creating a situation where Esau felt wanted and In the subsequent standoff, which continued meaningful in the life of his father. Until his last days Isaac until Friday afternoon, Gabi and Rivki and several other kept the faith that Esau would one day turn around and act Jews in the – Rabbis Bentzion Chroman upon the truth in the deepest recesses of his soul. and Leibish Teitelbaum, Norma Schwartzblatt-Rab- But it was not to be until generations later, with the help inowitz and Yocheved Orpaz – were killed in cold of Isaac’s other descendants, those of Jacob, that Esau’s blood. May G‑d avenge their murders. descendants will repent and return to the path of God. Miraculously, the Holtzbergs’ two-year-old By Rabbi Nissan Aizek. child, Moshe, was saved by his nanny. ROSH CHODESH Friday, , 5779 - OBSERVA NCES November 9, 2018 Today is the first of the two Rosh Chodesh (“Head Winter of the Month”) days for the month of Kislev (when a month As per the Talmud, the month of Kislev marks the onset of the winter season in the Holy Land and is has 30 days, both the last day of the month and the first day the third month of the “Season of the Rains.” of the following month serve as the following month’s Rosh Rebbe’s Recovery (1977) Chodesh). For the first time since suffering a major heart Special portions are added to the daily prayers: attack five weeks earlier, on the eve of Shemini Atzeret, Hallel (Psalms 113-118) is recited -- in its “partial” form the Rebbe left his office in and -- following the Shacharit morning prayer, and the Yaaleh returned to his home, signaling his recovery. Chassidim V’yavo prayer is added to the Amidah and to Grace After all over rejoiced at the good news. Meals; the additional Musaf prayer is said (when Rosh Cho- From that day on, the Rebbe redoubled his desh is Shabbat, special additions are made to the Shabbat efforts on behalf of the Jewish nation and all of human- Musaf). Tachnun (confession of sins) and similar prayers ity, and for the dissemination of Torah and chassidism. are omitted. From then on, the first of Kislev is celebrated as a day of thanksgiving and rejoicing. Many have the custom to mark Rosh Chodesh with