The 7 Issue behind the scenes: nuts & bolts of a inside: better world my life of lies feature: a rabbi’s why i think the apology to Moshiach money is Coming i don’t have a dream think... small.

holiday guide inside 2.75 Dedicated to the love and inspiration of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

on the cover farbrengenVolume 12 | issue 2 Fall 5770/2009 a little nosh for the soul {editor's note} the 7 building a better world... issue behind the scenes:with a mitzvah? nuts & boltsJust of aa few years ago no inside: better world my life one was talking about of lies feature: carbon footprints. a rabbi’s why i thinkIt seemsthe that nowadays all apology to moshiachyou hear about is the impact money is coming i don’t our activities have on the have a environment. We shop differ- dream ently and eat differently and think... many of us have made a life style change that clearly small. indicates that our everyday actions have an impact on the environment and the world around us. As a Jew, I’ve been watching the mitzvah foot print that started back at Mount Sinai. I view each holiday ritual and each Jewish act as having a major impact on the world around us. Perhapsholiday we can call mitzvot the building blocks of the Newguide World. With this in mind we hired art director Nechamainside Marcus and Award Winning photographer Levi Tenenbaum to create what it really looks like when we sound the shofar or perform any righteous act. And it looks good. The sages tell us that the foot print or impact of a good deed never goes away. And that’s good thing. So, enjoy this issue of our magazine and I hope it helps you see your every good deed as the nuts and bolts of what it takes to build a better world. Happy Reading, Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, Editor

This issue is brought to you by the number 7. 2.75

>>About the photographer Levi Tenenbaum: Levi is an award winning photographer currently based in Los Angeles California. Having completed both Yeshivah and studies in photography, he fuses his Talmudic talents with his savvy photographer’s eye. His artistic direction? “Reality is where I live every day. Composing hyper-real imagery allows me to live beyond those restrictions.”

EDITOR IN CHIEF: Rabbi Chaim N. Cunin EDITOR: Rabbi Shmuel Marcus Distribution: Rabbi Avraham Green MANAGING EDITOR: Beth Rosen COPY EDITORS: Eli Marcus, Lisa Burstein CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe, Rabbi Yosef Marcus, Dr. Ben Sherman, Rabbi Shmuel Marcus, EDITORIAL CONSULTANTS: Rabbi Levi Cunin (Jay Leno’s Rabbi), Yosef Marcus ART DIRECTOR & DESIGN: Nechama Marcus contact: [email protected] COVER PHOTOGRAPHY: Levi Tenenbaum contributing ARTISTS: Sarah Lehat, Ruvi Leider, Marc Lumer SPECIAL THANKS TO: Uri, Dina, Natan, Yitzchak, Moshe and Gilana Sara Pikover for continuing the Rebbe’s Farbrengen.

Website: www.farbrengen.com ©2009 by of California All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce any portion of Farbrengen in any form, without prior written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages Printed in the USA

ALL THINGS BIBLICALLY SEVEN >> 7 weeks counting to receive the torah // first verse in the torah contains 7 words // the bride circles the groom 7 times under the chuppah // tefillin straps Soul Bling

spot any soul bling recently? Send us your comments to [email protected] Ben Sherman of Farbrengen Magazine dons food judaica the gas mask for the grating room with Marc The Lulav & Gold of Gold’s. Etrog Shake For thousands of years, the Jewish People have fulfilled the biblical mitzvah to “Take for yourself a beautiful Why You Don’t fruit and the palm branch.” Known as Know Borscht! power: kosher-style the four kinds, your By Dr. Ben Sherman It sounds like the beginning of a joke; “A rabbi, Lulav and Etrog set is a doctor and an entrepreneur get together,” used everyday (except I asked the girl in but the punch line is: seriously great tasting Shabbat) during the the green Starbucks protein bars! The secrets are in the doctor’s festival of Sukkot. To apron for a “Grande SmartFoods Technology™, with a little help get your own Lulav and Iced Borscht with from the Kabbalah. The all new bars are “Cholov Etrog set, contact your 3 pumps of Schav.” Yisroel”, made with whey protein supervised in local Chabad. She said “With room a centuries old tradition. Order your power bars www.chabad.org/centers for cream?” No she online at www.actionnutrition.net didn’t. You see, the Russian-style beet and Price: Peanut Butter Chocolate $1.99 ea. cabbage borscht, served hot as soup or cold Peanut Butter Chocolate $1.59 ea. as beer, is part of the culinary repertoire you can’t blow of Jews hailing from Eastern Europe. But, this shofar off sadly, this traditional beverage is just a mystery to most Americans. For me, there Marc Gold of Gold’s was always a cold jar of red borscht in donning Tefillin with my grandmother’s Brooklyn fridge. It was Rabbi Yossi Lieberman. something my zaidy drank while he read Always dreamed of owning the Yiddish daily. Yet, as the years went and pasted labels, all a 29”-32” Yemenite shofar? This on and Yiddish daily’s turned into English by hand while sitting Rosh Hashanah you could be the Weekly’s, red borscht was set to be soon around the kitchen proud owner of a 100% kosher forgotten. table. Hyman quickly out-grew his bicycle route handcrafted yemenite shofar made Recently, I convinced my editor to fly me to and bought a car. In 1946, Gold Pure Food Inc, from an antelope’s horn! New York and I went to meet Marc Gold. He got their own apartment in Brooklyn. Today, www.kehot.com. Price: $98.99 is one of the only people that still produces the Gold’s mega plant in Long Island is run by Marc and his cousins. They produce a variety of that classic red jar of borscht and that’s Magazine staff writer going to do with Yiddish cultural condiments. Borscht, Lo-Calorie when I finally got my Grande Iced Borscht. his interview of a Jewish CEO? That’s Borscht, Unsalted Borscht or Schav, Russian right, while I hold the camera, my Style Borscht, and now the New York Mets’ have Marc is a borscht connoisseur who’s first brother-in-law, Rabbi Yossi Lieberman, made Gold’s their official ball-park mustard. job as a five-year-old was to slash boxes the local Chabad Rabbi, helps Marc Gold’s pack and ship some 17 million jars of of red horseradish with a red ink marker. with the mitzvah of Tefillin. It’s getting horseradish a year, but not as much borscht. Marc was too young to to work the family late and I have to catch a plane back Borscht sales are in a slow decline. conveyer belt, he was barley able to make to California, so we say L’Chaim, and an x. There is nothing like a good story As we drink and sample new products in Marc’s finish the borscht eager to go read a over cold borscht. I was about to enjoy the Yiddish daily. Marc Gold story. It all started in 1932, when office it is immediately apparent that Marc now Marc’s grandparents, Tillie and Hyman has someone else making red lines on the boxes, For the full line of Gold’s products, visit Gold, grated horseradish roots, filled jars and it’s not a five-year-old. So, what’s a Chabad www.goldshorseradish.com.

e oic editor's ch why are you staring at my t-shirt? e Need the perfect t-shirt to give your inner Jew some fresh air? Check out Chabad graphic designer Yossi Belkin’s t-shirts online at www.zazzle.com/yossibelkin. Price: $18.99

Out of town for the High Holidays? Not a problem! Find a Chabad center you can drop in by at www.chabad.org/centers. Whether you are in Korea, Cyprus, or Montana, Chabad is ready to help you with all of your High Holiday needs. You can even ask for a complimentary Yom Kippur sermon...

are wound 7 times around the arm // 7 levels of heaven // every 7th year the land in israel lays fallow (shemittah) // every 7 shmeittah years we have a jubilee year (yovel) // 7 fruits the land of israel is cover | feature

w h y I t h i n k t h e MOSHIACH IS COMING and how that relates to our year 5770

Today, we stand at this most unique moment of history. At this time of transition, on the threshold between today and tomorrow, as six millennia of human endeavor approach their climax into the tranquil perfection of the eternal Shabbat, we are, in a sense, in possession of the best of both worlds. Let us seize the moment.

By Eli Soble

blessed with: wheat , barley, gapes, pomegranates, figs, olives, dates // 7 days of sitting shivah for a close relative // moses was the 7th generation after abraham // 7 holidays in the jewish year: 2 wear Tefillin 5 give Tzedakah 8 Love Your Fellow to change the world www.chabad.org/tefillin Contact your local Chabad Reach out to a friend click here. 3 afix a Mezuzah 6 buy Jewish Books 9 get a Jewish Education www.chabad.org/mezuzah www.kehot.com Contact a Chabad near you 1 Light Shabbat Candles 4 study torah 7 eat Kosher 10 Observe Family Purity www.fridaylight.org www.myjli.com www.chabad.org/kosher www.mikvah.org

You are here

Day of the week Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Shabbat Time elapsed 5770 Years from creation 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000

ccording to a it is all happening. You buy the new the mouth of the well (of Miriam, that 2000-year-old kab- iPhone and days later a new better provided water for the Israelites in balistic manuscript, 3GS version is coming out. Perhaps, the desert); the mouth of the donkey a it’s similar to the traditional pre-Shab- (Balaam’s); the rainbow; the manna; we are living in an epic bat hurriedness. Has the world itself the staff (Moses’); the shamir (that cut moment in history. Sure, begun to move faster before the onset the stones of the Altar in the Holy the Jewish book of mysti- of the Great Shabbat? Temple); and the writing, the inscrip- cism, the zohar, did not say tion, and the tablets [of the Ten Com- the word “Google” but it got This is how the sages see the Cosmic mandments]. (Ethics of the Fathers 5:6) Calendar or G-d’s Seven Day Planner; pretty close. Sunday, create light, = First millen- Nachmanides notes that each nium of Adam “the light of the world.” thousand-year day is preceded by a You see, the Torah says the world was twilight--an overlapping period which, Monday, distinguish between the created in 6 days and on the seventh while technically belonging to the Heaven and earth = Second millen- He rested, and the Talmud illustrates previous millennium, contains the nium of judgment and Flood. the timeline of history as a macro- beginnings of the next. Thus, Abraham cosm of creation. There will be seven Tuesday, create greenery and fruit- was born 52 years before the third mil- one thousand year periods with six bearing trees = Third millennium of lennium, King Solomon built the First of toil and then the tranquility of Abraham’s discovery of monotheism Temple 72 years before the fourth, and redemption--the cosmic Shabbat. So, and the giving of Torah at Sinai. so with each millennium. now you get it. Today are living in the last quarter of the 6th millennium, Wednesday, create the sun and the moon = Fourth millennium of the First Therein lies the special significance of the Friday afternoon of history. And I the twilight following the sixth day of think the Moshiach is coming. Temple (2928-3338) and the Second Temple (3408-3829) in Jerusalem. creation. For on the macro-historical level, this is the twilight which facili- Here is some background information Thursday, create fish, birds and rep- tates the transition from the six mil- from the Zohar: “In the 600th year tiles = Fifth millennium (240-1240 CE) lennia of history to the new world. of the 6th millennium (5600 = 1840 of the Dark Ages. C.E.) the gates of supernal wisdom Friday morning, create beasts of the Is that what the number 5770 indi- above together with the wellsprings of cates? The number seven refers to the wisdom below will be opened up and land = Sixth millennium of forceful empires. natural order of life. 5770 perhaps the world will prepare to usher in the hints at the culmination of the way of 7th millennium. This is symbolized Friday late afternoon, = creation life we are accustomed to and is a sign by a man who begins preparations of Adam and Eve: the millennium in that a new frontier, the redemption, is for ushering in the Shabbat on the which humankind finally becomes a immediately before us. afternoon of the 6th day.” Historians “Mensch.” argue as to the exact date of the first Industrial Revolution, but surely 1840 Nowadays, we have surely entered Eli Soble is a staff writer for Farbren- seems right. twilight on the Friday eve of the cos- gen Magazine and work at the Ameri- mic week and it would be interesting can Stock Exchange during the week. To be sure, it’s not only the more to note that ten things were created In his spare time he studies about the recent Technological Revolution I’m at twilight and they are: the mouth of upcoming redemption and hopes that it excited about, but the speed at which the earth (where it swallowed Korach) will happen soon.

rosh hashanah, yom kippur, sukkot, chanukah, purim, passover, shavuot // 7 commandments were added by our sages // 7 nations warred with the israelites // 7 gates of entry to the beit hamikdash cover | feature Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe is the Founder of the Connecticut Symposium on Contemporary Legal Issues and Jewish Law and the Rabbi of Congregation Agudas Achim in Hartford. He is also a chaplain at the Hartford Fire Department.

I D o n ' t H a v e

a deny or abandon our source and innermost self. We dreamby Rabbi Shlomo Yaffe do something that is, in a certain sense, even more destructive: we simultaneously know and ignore, Why is it that in the space of one hour we can be full commit and shrug off, believe and deny. of faith and then skeptical, kind to one stranger and W a k i n g U p abrupt with another, deeply inspired to seek holiness What do we do when a bad dream becomes too hor- and then be drawn to the basest desires? rible to bear? We make ourselves wake up, and all the impossible predicaments and disturbing contra- e are so accustomed to this phenomenon we do not often question it, dictions of the night disappear as if they never were. but we should. Do we desire to live a G-dly life or not? Do our negative Once the soul is re-engaged, we see that the dream winclinations and deeds prove that our convictions and commitments are only a could not have been real. sham? If our commitment to "do the right thing" is not superficial, why does the opposite draw us in so easily on a moment's notice? This will be the collective experience of humanity when galut ends and redemption comes about. How- T h e D r e a m ever, this collective redemption is the sum of many individual redemptions. For the cosmos to awaken There is a powerful metaphor in Psalm 126 that can help us understand some- we each need to wake ourselves up. thing about this state of being. It begins, "When G-d will return the exiles . e. r a m t h g i n e h t s i d l r o w “ of Zion we will [see our experiences in exile] as having been dreamers". The T We awake when the pain and contradiction of our nature of sleep and its unique attendant experience -- dreaming -- holds . m a e r d n a i p to u a the ot n s i d l r o w l u f r e d n o w s i h dreams becomes too intense to bear. If we accept and key to understanding galut, exile. internalize that we are G-dly beings, if we under- When we sleep we are most certainly alive. Our brain is functioning, as is stand our lofty potential and what a prison for our the rest of the body. However, according to Chassidic masters, all psychologi- souls galut therefore is, if we understand that G-d is cal and physiological aspects of sleep and dreaming flow from a spiritual everywhere available by a simple choice to connect dynamic. to G-d by doing another Mitzvah -- we can wake up. The Talmud says that "sleep is one sixtieth of death." Death is the complete Every time we refuse to accept the limits that our withdrawal of the soul from the body, permanently disconnecting them. In capacity for self-delusion places on us -- we are sleep, the soul remains within the body, giving it life -- but at a distance. The waking ourselves up. primary life force of the soul that vitalizes the mind and the higher faculties Every time we insist that each moment of our life withdraws, leaving behind only a trace of vitality -- just enough to keep the can, and should, reflect our essential potential rather body and basic brain functions going. than the force of habit and social convention -- we are waking ourselves up.

In the absence of higher rational thought, various memories fill the mind at A random, and from the confluence of these memories, we create most of our s i o d to e av h e w l l When we dream, irrelevant facts can loom large, dreams. Since the rational powers are not there to "police" what we see, we because we lack the needle of reason to deflate them. conflate different and contradictory ideas to create visions of the impossible. The fact that "no one else I know is living this way" In a dream, we can be simultaneously old and young, in two different places has no bearing on our capacity to live "this way." at the same time, or in the presence of two people one of whom died before When we break through this delusion of imagining the other was born. All contradictions "fit" in a dream. It is only when we that the behavior of others has a veto on ours -- we wake up that we realize that what we saw could never be or have been. are waking ourselves up. This is the essence of the galut experience. The withdrawal of G-d's revealed By these acts of awakening and refusing to accept presence from our world leads to the capacity for self-delusion and self- the nightmare, we shatter the one-way mirror and contradiction. Because the Soul of the Universe (the vivifying force of G-d) enter a world in which we see G-d as clearly as G-d is not engaged with its "body" (our world) in a revealed manner, we are able sees us. to do things that contradict and deny G-d's will and presence. Just as in a p u e k wa This is the world awoken from the nightmare of human

dream contradiction is rampant, so, too, in galut we can reject G-d without O suffering, emptiness, and petty hatreds. This is the world perceiving how this contradicts the most fundamental fact of our being -- r u envisaged by all our prophets: a world free of hunger, the reality that our very existence is an expression of G-d's power and will. disease, and jealousy, a world in which all humankind This is why we accept the contradictions noted at the beginning of this ar- will focus together on the ever-exhilarating experience of ticle. The deepest part of us remains attuned to the truth of who we are and knowing G-d and living accordingly. . what we truly desire; but our deep-seated convictions co-exist with an alien- ” This wonderful world is not a utopian dream. Our ated and confused self that is ignorant or in denial of them. It's not that we world is the nightmare. All we have to do is wake up.

// 7 prophetesses: sarah, miriam, devorah, chana, avigail, chuldah, esther // yom kippur is concluded with saying “the l-rd is g-d” 7 times // 7 branches of the menorah // 7 ushpizin (spiritual holidays | high holiday guide h Hig

Hyouro holidaylid G ua i d e ys

Similar to a shopping spree at the mall, where we’d pick up all sorts of merchandise, the month of Tishrei enriches us with a whole collection of deep experiences from which we can draw sustenance all year long. We just need to unpack the merchandise and put it to use.

Rosh YOM KIPPUR SUKKOT SHEMINI ATZERET/ September 27-28 October 2-9 SIMCHAT TORAH Hashanah October 9-11 September 18-20 After the sin of the Golden Sukkot, the season of rejoic- Calf, Moses fasted and prayed for ing, means “huts,” reminiscent of Shemini Atzeret Unlike a typical New 40 days on behalf of the Jewish the temporary shelters in which and Simchat Torah Year celebration, the people. On Yom Kippur, the Jewish people dwelled in the are the culmina- Jewish New Year is a G-d proclaimed, “I have desert. Also called the Festival tion of the holi- time of awe and solem- forgiven.” Yom Kippur of Ingathering, Sukkot is the days of Tishrei. On nity. Rosh Hashanah means, means “day of atonement” and time that the produce from the Shemini Atzeret, “head of the year.” Just as the is the holiest day of the year. field, orchard and vineyard which means “the head controls the body, Rosh Before Yom Kippur, we observe is collected. It is one of three eighth day that con- Hashanah contains the potential the Kapparot service by rotating Pilgrimage Festivals when Jews cludes the festival,” for life, blessing and sus- a fowl or money over our heads, would travel to the Holy Temple some customarily eat tenance for the entire which we then give to the poor. in Jerusalem, demonstrating their their meals in the year. On Yom Kippur, we do not eat, unity. We express this unity by sukkah. In the synagogue, On Rosh drink, wash, use perfume, have blessing the Four Kinds: The we dance Hakafot with the Hashanah, the birth- marital relations or wear leather lulav (palm branch), etrog (citron), Torah—processions amid singing day of Adam and shoes. It is a custom to wear white, haddasim (myrtle) and aravot and dancing—and pray for rains Eve, we renew our symbolic of purity. (willow). of blessing. relationship with Yom Kippur begins with Kol During the Simchat Torah, which means G-d and are evalu- Nidrei, expressing our timeless seven days “rejoicing with the Torah,” is ated, together with all of human- commitment to G-d. We ask for of Sukkot, we celebrated with exuberant danc- ity. The words we read in the G-d’s forgiveness, enumerat- eat our meals ing. Completing the annual cycle machzor, the holiday prayer book, ing our shortcomings with the outdoors in the of reading the Torah, we read help us channel our feelings. The resolve to strengthen our connec- sukkah. The the final section of the Torah, shofar awakens our hearts to the tion with Him. The prayers are sukkah is the only mitzvah that after which we immediately start awesome power of the day and phrased in the plural, for all Jews encompasses us, symbolizing to read it again. The rest of the trumpets our acceptance of G-d are considered one soul, respon- the “clouds of glory,” which year, we approach the Torah with as our Master. sible for each other. surrounded and protected the serious study. On Simchat Torah, Our actions on Rosh Hashanah Yom Kippur reveals the Jewish people upon leaving we approach the Torah with joy- set the tone for the year to come. essence of the Jewish soul, a Egypt. ful dance. During the Tashlich service, we spark of G-d united with its Hoshanah Rabbah, the last day This holiday emphasizes that symbolically “cast” our sins into Source. The final prayer of Yom of Sukkot, means “great salva- the Torah is the inheritance of the water. We eat apples dipped Kippur, when our judgment for tion,” and marks the end every single Jew. By starting to in honey, wishing for a good and the coming year is sealed, is of our judgment period, which read the Torah anew, we demon- sweet year, and eat new fruits called Ne’ilah, “closing the gate,” began on Rosh Hashanah. We strate that learning never ends, symbolizing new beginnings. which culminates with the final traditionally tap the floor with a especially when it comes to the This is reflected in the words that sounding of the shofar. bundle of willow branches, and Torah and its infinite wisdom. we say during Rosh Hashanah, ask G-d to seal our inscription Checklist for Shemini Atzeret/ “May you be inscribed and Checklist for Yom Kippur: for a sweet year. sealed for a good year.” (See inside for more information) Simchat Torah  Kapparot and charity, before Checklist for Sukkot (See inside for more information) Checklist for Rosh Hashanah: Yom Kippur (See inside for more information) (See inside for more information)  Candlelighting, both nights  Two festive meals, before the fast  Candlelighting, first two nights  Candlelighting, both nights  Yahrzeit memorial candle is lit  Kiddush and festive meals,  Kiddush and festive meals, before Yom Kippur (if applicable) first two nights and first two days both nights and both days  Kiddush and festive meals, both  Candlelighting, before sunset  Dance Hakafot, both nights nights and both days  Eat all meals in the sukkah and second day  Fast, from before sundown until  Apple dipped in honey, first night  Bless the Four Kinds each day, after nightfall except Shabbat  Yizkor memorial prayers, first day  New fruit is enjoyed, second night  Yizkor memorial prayers, during  On Hoshanah Rabbah, eat fes daytime services tive meal and tap the aravot (wil  Hear the shofar  Break the fast after the Havdalah low branches)  Visit a body of water for Tashlich service, marking the end of the holiday

guests) who visit the sukkah: abraham, isaac, jacob, moses, aaron, joseph, david // 7 days of pesach and sukkot // joshua circles the walls of jericho 7 times before they fell // biblical contamination holidays | high holiday guide e

th Basics

The Shofar TESHUVAH-”REPENTANCE” Your Personal Return to Sender Wake-Up Call Ten Days of Repentance between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Blown both days of Rosh Hashanah, except Shabbat, and at the end of Yom Kippur. “Teshuvah redeems the Source of the soul from its exile and returns the flow of the Divine manifestation to its “After the blowing of the shofar, a new, more sublime Divine light descends, so sublime a light as has yet never proper place.” (The Zohar) shone since the Creation of the world.” (Tanya) Although often translated as repentance, teshuvah really means “return”—a return to the true inner self that One hundred sounds are blown from the shofar each day is always connected to its Source. The path of teshuvah of Rosh Hashanah. The shofar is a ram’s horn, the oldest begins with sincere regret for our transgressions and the and most primitive of wind instruments, yet its call touch- resolve to abandon those ways. It is also the desire to come es the innermost chords of the soul. Its sound is simple and closer to G-d through prayer and increased performance plaintive—a cry from the heart, like that of a lost child for of mitzvot, particularly the giving of charity to the poor, its parent. It is a call to evaluate our actions and improve which “redeem” the soul from spiritual captivity. our ways, as expressed in the verse: “Awake sleepers from your sleep; slumberers. Arise from your slumber–examine In the words of The Zohar, teshuvah returns the Divine your deeds, return and remember your Creator.” presence, the Source of the soul, from the exile to which it was banished by transgression. The shofar proclaims the coronation of G-d as King of the Universe and brings to mind great events that involved a ram’s horn. After the binding of Isaac, Abraham sacrificed a ram in place of his son; this ram's horn was blown 363 KOL NIDREI years later when the Jewish people gathered at Sinai to receive the Torah; its horn will also herald the coming of Look at our Hearts, Moshiach and the final redemption of the Jewish people. Not our Clothes Heard the night of Yom Kippur. TASHLICH “Let our vows not be considered vows; let our oaths not Fishing for Wisdom be considered oaths.” (Kol Nidrei) Performed before sunset on the first day of Rosh Hashanah The first prayer of Yom Kippur, as the sun is setting, is (or second day, if first occurs on Shabbat). Kol Nidrei, the cancellation of vows. The significance of “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the this prayer dates back to the persecution of Jews during the Spanish Inquisition of the 15th Century, when Jews waters cover the ocean floor.” (Tashlich liturgy) were forced to convert to Catholicism under the threat of Before sunset on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, death. Tashlich (“cast away") is observed. We visit the bank of Outwardly, the Jews behaved like their Spanish neigh- a river, lake, or any stretch of water containing live fish, bors, but in private they remained devout. Once a year and recite special prayers. The words of the prophet Micah, they would gather in secret, declaring Kol Nidrei to vow which are recited at Tashlich, contain the meaning behind their commitment to Judaism, despite their seemingly this custom: “[G-d] will cast our transgressions into the Catholic lives. Kol Nidrei was their proclamation that their depth of the sea.” The Kabbalah teaches that water sym- external behavior was not who they were. bolizes kindness, and fish remind us of the ever-watchful Our souls are cloaked in external garments, which are eye of G-d’s providence. Fish have no eyelids, so their eyes simply not us. Though we may think, talk and act in ways are always open. incongruous to our Jewishness, that is not who we truly The creatures of the sea symbolize unity with the Divine. are. On Yom Kippur, we hope to transcend our outer gar- Righteous people are termed “fish of the sea”—just as fish ments and reach our inner souls. are encompassed by the sea, the righteous are absorbed in the waters of Torah, completely united with G-d.

lasted 7 days // every shabbat 7 people are called up to the torah for an aliyah // 7 noachide laws pertaining to all of humanity // each plague in egypt lasted 7 days // on sukkot we shake 7 your personal map to a meaningful holiday

The hadas (myrtle branch) is tasteless but aromatic, rep- THE SUKKAH resenting one who, though lacking in Torah knowledge, Seven Days is observant in mitzvot. Under His Roof The tasteless and scentless aravah (willow branch) repre- sents the individual who lacks in both Torah and mitzvot. Sukkot is a seven-day festival. When we are bound together, each individual makes up “It is fitting that all of Israel should dwell in a for that which is lacking in the others. single sukkah.” (Talmud) The Four Kinds also represent four personas within A sukkah is an outdoor structure, where we dwell during each individual: Lulav is the intellectual within, who does the Festival of Sukkot in symbolic demonstration of our faith not allow feeling to cloud the purity of knowledge; hadas in G-d's providence. Its roof is composed of vegetation such is the emotional self, where feelings comprise the highest as evergreen branches, cornhusks or bamboo stalks. ideal, even at the expense of intellect; etrog is the force that strives for balance of mind and heart, while aravah is “Sukkah is the only mitzvah into which a person enters the capacity for setting aside both intellect and feeling in with his muddy boots,” goes the Chassidic saying. The commitment to a Higher ideal. sukkah, its walls and roofing, encompass us entirely. Our whole being—from our intellect and emotion down to the tips of our toes—is involved with this mitzvah. The Zohar teaches that on each of the seven days Dances with of Sukkot, we are joined in our sukkah by seven spiri- tual Ushpizin, honored guests: Abraham, representing the the torah divine sefira (attribute) of chesed, kindness; Isaac, rep- Feel the Beat resenting gevurah, restraint; Jacob, representing tifferet, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. beauty and balance; Moses representing netzach, eter- nity and perseverance; Aaron, representing hod, splendor; “The Torah wants to circle the bimah and Joseph, representing yesod, spiritual foundation, and King dance; since it cannot, we become its David, representing malchut, sovereignty. ‘feet,’ transporting the Torah around the reading table, just as feet transport the The sukkah encompasses its visitors in unison. In this way, the sukkah reveals the simple and beautiful head.” (Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch) oneness of a people rooted in the oneness of their Creator. When all of Israel dwells in a single suk- All reserve disappears in the exuberant dancing of kah, our unity transcends our differences. Simchat Torah. Every Jew, learned and unsophisticated, feels a natural desire to take a Torah in his arms and dance. Simchat Torah taps a point in the soul that defies the differ- THE FOUR KINDS ences that exist between one Jew and another. The source for this happiness is of course the Torah. Yet All Four One and One for All throughout the entire Hakafot dances, the Torah is never Performed each day of Sukkot, except for Shabbat. opened; we dance holding it wrapped in its mantle. Though “G-d says, ‘Let them be bound together in one bond, and the Torah is usually associated with disciplined study, on these will atone for those.’” (Midrash) Simchat Torah we approach it differently, singing and dancing in a manner that bears no apparent relationship The unity of the Jewish people is expressed by blessing to understanding. the Four Kinds: We are lifted beyond the realm of our individual identi- The etrog (citron) has both a pleasant taste and smell, rep- ties and become the “feet of the Torah.” These celebrations resenting one who is both knowledgeable in Torah and reveal that our bond with G-d and the Torah is unconfined proficient in the observance of mitzvot. by the limits of intellect. The lulav is the branch of the date palm, whose fruit is Moreover, this celebration anticipates the ultimate celebra- tasty but has no scent, representing one who is accom- tions that will accompany the coming of Moshiach and the plished in Torah, though less so in mitzvot. advent of the Era of the Redemption. May we merit it now.

species: 1 lulav, 1 etrog, 2 willows, 3 myrtles // 7 days in preparation for the construction of the tabernacle in the desert // pharaoh dreamed of 7 cows and 7 stalks of grain // the world was created in 7 holidays | high holiday guide Insights Based on the teachings o f t h e L u b a v i t c h e r R e bb e , R a bb i M e n a c h e m M e n d e l S c h n e e r s o n

Rosh YOM KIPPUR SUKKOT SHEMINI Hashanah THE SOUL ESSENCE AN ENDLESS JOY ATZERET/ CELEBRATING Yom Kippur has a special The spiritual light we achieve dur- SIMCHAT OUR POTENTIAL power, for “whether one ing the High Holidays through TORAH repents or does not repent, Rosh Hashanah celebrates prayer, meditation and fasting is SIMPLY DIVINE the creation of Adam and Yom Kippur atones.” To again achieved on Sukkot, but Eve. When Adam was cre- quote Maimonides, “The through joy. Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur essence of the day atones.” ated, his soul so irradiated What we accomplish through and Sukkot are considered his being, that all the crea- The soul has many lev- our engagement with G-d’s els. Though it is a spiritual blowing the shofar is now accom- tures wanted to crown him plished by placing the s’chach Will. Shemini Atzeret and as their creator. Adam cor- entity, there is a level that Simchat Torah constitute our is affected by our physi- branches on the roof of our suk- rected them, saying, “Come, kah. (The word s’chach has the wedding, the time of “Intimacy let us worship, let us bow cal transgressions. For this with the Divine.” level of the soul, repentance numerical value of 100, equal- down and kneel before G-d ing the amount of sounds blown A wedding brings two people our Maker” (The Zohar). At is required to reattach it to G-dliness. from the shofar during Rosh together in happiness and that moment, he actualized Hashanah.) The seven days fulfillment. Simchat Torah the universe’s potential—to However, the essence of between Rosh Hashanah and means “the joy of the Torah,” become one with the Divine. the soul is literally one with Yom Kippur can elevate each day because we bring joy to the It is only through the cre- G-d and cannot be affect- of the coming year; the seven Torah when we bring her into ation of Adam (humanity) ed by our physicality. On days of Sukkot elevate the com- our lives. Our soul comes from that the separate elements Yom Kippur, G-d reveals ing year with joy and spirituality. the essence of the Divine; the of the universe can unite this essence that is hidden The cloud of incense offered in Torah is the manifestation of with one purpose. Only we throughout the year. the Holy Temple on Yom Kippur the Divine Will. It is only when have the power to elevate The Hebrew word kapparah is a manifestation of the “clouds the soul (clothed in a body) physicality into something has a connotation of “scrub- of glory” that protected the Jews adheres to the Torah, that the spiritual. When a ram’s horn bing”—meaning that on leaving Egypt; a physical sukkah Divine Will is actualized and is blown on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, we can scrub is the spiritual manifestation of fulfilled. these clouds. the animal kingdom is elevat- off our transgressions and When we dance with the ed. When we make a bless- connect with our essence. Joy is not logical; it is above Torah on Simchat Torah, G-d’s ing before eating an apple our comprehension. Our Sages essence and His Torah are dipped in honey, we elevate teach, “joy breaks all boundar- reunited, bringing purpose the organic kingdom. On this ies.” Through joy, Sukkot gives us and fulfillment to each other. day, we realize the potential the power to reach our spiritual and responsibility we have as potential, by breaking our intel- human beings. lectual boundaries.

Sometimes G-d does the strangest things. So you ask, Why? Why would You make this happen? We ask A Chassidic Tale this question even more intensely when G-d messes up our plans to do something good. // A disciple of Reb Illustration by Sarah Lehat David of Mikilev, we’ll call him Reb Yaakov, once made the journey to Koretz to spend Yom Kippur with the sleeping great tzadik Reb Pinchos of Koretz. Every Yom Kippur he reached higher and higher levels of concentration through and awareness, and he now planned to take it to the next level, by experiencing the holiest day of the year yom kippur in the presence of one of the holiest mystics of the generation. Throughout the journey he sang Chassidic melodies, studied, prayed meditated. He was ecstatic with anticipation. // He arrived in Koretz on Erev Yom Kippur and ate the traditionally large meal of the day. Afterward he felt sleepy and lied down for a short nap of sweet slumber. The effects of the journey and something he drank put him fast asleep. When he finally awoke, and went to the shul he could hear the congregation singing the tunes of the final prayer of the day, Neilah. Yom Kippur was over and he had slept through it. Good job. // He had traveled all this way, and now, not only did he not pray in the presence of the holy master, not only had he not prayed with the kabbalistic meditations of the Arizal—he had not even said the prayers in the simplest manner as performed by any simple Jew! He felt like a total and complete fool. // Well, there was still some of Yom of Kippur left, so he joined the congregation in their prayers. He prayed with heartfelt devotion, filled with remorse and contrition. His plaintive voice could be heard throughout the shul. And so he prayed till Yom Kippur was out. // After havdala, during the break-fast, Reb Pinchos asked about the man who been praying so loud and mournfully during Neilah. He explained: “Throughout Yom Kippur, a battle had been raging in heaven. The prosecuting angels insisted on a terrible decree against our people. As we prayed, the defense was bolstered, but all the way to the final moments, the prosecution was ahead. I tried everything—to no avail. And then I heard a plaintive voice in the back of the shul and when I looked to heaven I could see that the decree had been annulled, the prosecuting angel had finally been silenced. I would like to meet the master of that voice….” // So when G-d messes up your plans to do something good, perhaps He’s setting you up to do something better?

days // shabbat is the 7th day of the week // on shabbat we recite 7 blessings in the silent amidah prayer // 7 emotional sefirot (behavioral traits through which we serve g-d) // rosh hashanah 1 musings | perspective

Jack Benny made is time sensi- a yom kippur a successful career tive. G-d will understand.” out of the “Jewish cheapskate” persona, Sadly, in hollywood Ari Gold although, in the personifies spirit of the times, stereotypes As the rabbi of one of about Jews the “Jewish” element America's most prestigious and money was implied rather that got their art schools, I get to spend my start centu- than explicit. In one ries ago, long Friday nights in the company famous radio routine, before their of hip young media-savvy a thief holds up Benny ever was a Hollywood students. at gunpoint and (a place that growls, “Your money was, ironi- Not surprisingly, the topic of Jewish imagery in popular culture cally, created often comes up over the matzo ball soup. I was especially in- of your life!” After by Jewish trigued when a film student told me about America's most openly repeated threats and a geniuses!) Jewish character: a hyperactive, materialistic Hollywood agent, painfully long pause, Folk tales de- aptly named Ari Gold, and played by Jewish actor Jeremy Piven picting Jews on the show Entourage. Benny finally replies, as mon- “I’m thinking, I’m eygrubbers The student extrapolated on one particularly Jewish episode that can be traced had become the talk of the blogosphere: Gold knows he isn’t al- thinking…” back to the lowed to use his precious cell phone during Yom Kippur services, Medieval but he only has a few hours left to broker a major movie deal. Un- and Renaissance eras. Later, literary giants Shakespeare able to resist temptation, Gold negotiates with an orthodox studio and Dickens immortalized Jews as greedy and amoral, head in the middle of services anyway, reassuring the man: “This through their characters Shylock and Fagin.

Not surprisingly, when American Jews began to prosper after years of grinding poverty, their complicated feelings about money, 20success and security found their way into their comedy routines.

For example, Jack Benny made a successful career out of the “Jewish cheapskate” persona, although, in the spirit of the times, the “Jewish” element was implied rather than explicit. In one famous radio routine, a thief holds up Benny at gunpoint and growls, “Your money of your life!” After repeated threats and a painfully long pause, Benny finally replies, “I’m thinking, I’m thinking…”

Whereas those early Jewish humorists incorporated their painful memories of poverty into their humor, today their comedic descendants (like the makers of Entourage) joke about the bad behavior of super-successful characters like Ari Gold. But to me, Gold’s popularity isn’t a sign of progress. That big-spending character is just as unflat- tering as the old Jack Benny stereotype of the Jewish tightwad, and just as unfair.

Beneath all the humor, however, these stereotypes can teach us important lessons. Let’s face it: when forced to choose between “their money” and “their lives”, many

falls on the 7th month of the year // on yom kippur, the high priest sprinkled blood in the beit hamikdosh 7 times // we dance 7 circles (hakafot) on the holiday of simchat torah // the smallest  by  by Simcha Weinstein

people choose money over family, friends, and even their I s G - d relationship with G-d. Recently, many of us learned the hard Religious? way that we can’t rely on material wealth for our happiness and security. The polls are mixed on that count. In the Shema, the central Jewish prayer, we say, "You shall Recent surveys show that as much love the Lord your G-d with all your heart, with all your as 80-90% of Americans will say that soul, and with all your might." they believe in G-d, but 40-50% will say they do not practice a religion. The question is sometimes asked: what do we mean by the words "all your might"? Rabbi Shlomo Itzchaki, known as Indeed, if G-d is all-powerful and infinite, and religion is a Rashi, explains that we are enjoined to love G-d with every- set of laws and rituals and a list of things that one must or must not do, it would seem that G-d could hardly be thing we have, even with our money. described as "religious." Nor would it seem that being re- ligious will bring a person closer to G-d. If G-d transcends And how do we do that? By conducting all our business all limitation and definition, why would the way to relate to dealings with the utmost integrity. G-d be to impose further restriction and definition on our already finite and constricted lives? Judaism does not ask us to take vows of poverty, nor require Yet this paradox is not confined to the religious-spiritual us to renounce material wealth. But rather places greater aspect of the human experience. Throughout the ages, emphasis on generosity and charitable giving. The Talmud whenever man has endeavored to escape the bounds of notes that charity equals all the other commandments com- the mundane and the everyday, he did so by submitting to bined (Bava Basra 9a). While the word “tzedakah” is most a structured, even rigid, code of behavior. commonly translated into English as “charity,” it actually comes from the Hebrew word meaning “justice” or “righ- My favorite example for this is the discipline of music. teousness.” There are just so many musical notes on the scale, and no one--not even the greatest musician--can create addi- tional notes or subtract any. Anyone who wishes to play or This High Holiday period is the perfect time to confront both compose music must conform to this absolute, immutable the "Cheapskate" and "Soulless Capitalist" inside us all. Let’s system. not forget that right after Rosh Hashanah last year, the front page of Business Section ran a photo of And yet, by submitting to this framework, the musician will nervous Jewish Wall Street traders outside one of the largest create a piece of music that touches the deepest place in a person's heart---a place that cannot be described, synagogues in New York, checking their Blackberries for the much less the defined. By using this very precise, math- latest market news on one of the holiest days of the Jewish ematical formula, the musician will create something that calendar. What a depressing image, especially in retrospect. transports the listener to a place high above the confines and fetters of everyday life, high above the strictures of As another Jewish comedian, Lily Tomlin, once observed, physics and mathematics. “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, Imagine, then, a musical discipline whose laws are dic- you're still a rat.” tated by the inventor and creator of life---by the one who has intimate knowledge of life's every strength and every On Rosh Hashanah, our income is determined for the up- vulnerability, of its every potential and its every sensitivity. coming year, and on Yom Kippur, it is sealed. No amount of schmoozing on cell phones can change that. The only question remaining is: but why so many laws? Why must this discipline dictate how we are to wake and Maybe this Yom Kippur, we should all switch our cell how we are to sleep, and virtually everything in between? phones off (and not just set them on vibrate and think that’s Because life itself, in all its infinite complexity, is our instru- good enough!) Better yet, let’s leave these devices at home ment of connection with G-d. Every "scale" on its "range" altogether. We can then use all those quieter, uninterrupted must be exploited to achieve the optimum connection. hours to contemplate the true meaning of life. Now that’s a “time sensitive” project that G-d will really understand. Music being our metaphor, we cannot but quote the famous anecdote in which Archduke Ferdinand of Austria reputedly says to Mozart, "Beautiful music, but far too Simcha Weinstein is an internationally known, best-selling au- many notes." To which the composer replied, "Yes, your thor. He has appeared on CNN and NPR, and has been profiled majesty, but not one more than necessary." in leading publications, including The New York Times, The and The London Guardian. He chairs the Reli- Rabbi Jacobson is the author of the best-selling book, gious Affairs Committee at the renowned New York art school, Toward a Meaningful Life. He heads The Meaningful . His latest book is, Shtick Shift: Life Center in the U.S. in the 21st century.

allowable dimension of a sukkah is 7x7 handbreadths // groom 7 times under the chuppah // tefillin straps are wound 7 times around the arm // 7 levels of heaven // every 7th year the land in israel money | editorial a rabbi’s apology to money Dear Money, I would like to publicly apologize for things I may have said about you in the past.

I know nick names can be extremely mer camp and learn about what it Like I said, I have a completely new hurtful, and I’m shocked that people means to be Jewish. I had no idea, respect for what you are and what have called you “cold and hard” for so you were the one that kept the Torah you do. I am truly ashamed of the long, when in truth I’ve come to realize Day School open for so long, until it things people still say about you, and that you are warm and soft. had to close recently, a few months I for one would like to make it official, after you left. that I am sorry, and I will never treat The most outrages claim I’ve ever you like that again. Please forgive me heard about you, was that you were “Since you’ve gone away, I for the things I have said and let’s be somehow a sort of idol that people started missing you, but more friends again. worshiped. (I’m not going to respond than just the emotional void to the comments made by some that As I write this, with tears in my eyes, you are the root of all evil, i mean, in my heart, I have now come i think of all the wonderful things we that’s down right nasty.) to see you in a new light.” could do together. A new book, a new school and summer camp, or even As with many people in our lives, My dearest friend Money, I had no a new hospital. But, it seems you’ve sometimes we don’t appreciate who idea how important you were in the gone and I’ll have to wait right here they are until they are gone. And the life of a Jew. I still don’t know of any until you get back. same thing happened with you. Since shul or school that was built without you’ve gone away, I started missing you. Perhaps, you have done more Thank you for all you’ve done, and I you, but more than just the emotional for Jewish education than any single hope to see you soon. void in my heart, I have now come to rabbi friend of mine. Yet, somehow, Rabbi A. see you in a new light. you had the ability to reach beyond education. You knew how to impact I’ve come to understand that you’re people in so many ways. How can I >> About the author: Rabbi A. was the one behind my small student’s forget all the smiles that I would see raised in Brooklyn, New York and smile. It was you that allowed my on the faces of the poor and needy educated in the finest rabbinical friends child to attend Jewish sum- after a small visit from you. schools in the US and abroad.

the rebbe on the dollar bill The next time you use or pursue a dollar, take a moment to read the fine print. By Divine Providence, the designers of the dollar inscribed on it two key phrases. The first is “In G-d we trust.” Not I, says the dollar, can provide you with solace from the pain of life and secu- rity against its uncertainties; not I should serve as the object of your yearning and the focus of your striving. The second phrase is “E pluribus unum” (“Out of many, one”). Our mission in life is to make of the many one, to unite these diverse forces into a harmonious expression of the oneness of their Creator. Money is the ultimate abstractor, converting goods, talent and toil into a commodity that can easily be traded and shared. It is a medium of generosity and coopera- tion between men and nations, a consolidator of resources to a common end. Based on the Rebbe’s talks on Sukkot 5744 (1983), Tishrei 6, 5745 (October 2, 1984), and on other occasions

lays fallow (shemittah) // 7 fruits the land of israel is blessed with: wheat , barley, gapes, pomegranates, figs, olives, dates // 7 days of sitting shivah for a close relative // moses was the 7th gen- my story I can't tell you I knew how it felt to be an outsider. I never thought I was an outsider.

by Ezzy Fink My Life of Lies

believe in order to feel like an outsider you I must first experience being an insider. For me, there was never an inside or an outside. There was just me. I always believed it was all about me. I thought the way I was, was the way everyone She was my enemy and my best friend. My love should be... and my hate. Her name was Alcohol and Drugs. She kept me alive and helped me feel like an insider. I lived a life of lies. I deluded myself into believing I was a truthful and honest person. But there wasn’t Alcohol and Drugs. She kept me alive and The greatest blessing I received, at first a truthful bone in my body- it was all a lie... It helped me feel like an insider. At times seemed like the greatest curse-ant that wasn’t until much later in my life, when I started to she made me too numb to care if I was an was hitting bottom. Losing everything recover, that I finally realized I had been spending insider or an outsider- until she stopped that was ever of value in my life. The my entire life only looking in from the outside. It working. And she always did. most intense feeling of emptiness was to was like looking through a glass- a glass that was feel the pain of being an outsider in my The pain and suffering of today or yes- never washed. Let me tell you something, I don’t own body. think there’s anything more painful than feeling terday would come back. She might have like an outsider-like not fitting in. When I started tried to still love me but she couldn’t Today, I am a ben chorin- a free man. satisfy me. For me, the most torturous to experience the pain of living without drugs, it G-d has blessed with a hand that reach- thing is when I wanted to stop (using) all became clear to me what living on the outside es out to those on the “outside,” while because she wasn’t “working” anymore, really meant. I continue to work on myself and help but I couldn’t, I had to keep going- I felt bring my brothers and sisters to the door I am by no means an expert, nor am I here to teach like I had no choice... anything. I am merely here to share my own expe- of freedom. I thank G-d each and every day for every- rience of what it means to live as an outsider- or If there is one thing I can say to you, it’s thing He gave me. The good and the pain should I say, go through this world as an outsider- that I extend my heart to all those that because it made me who I am today and because it’s definitely not living. kept their ”doors open to the outside.” I I wouldn’t trade that for anything. And couldn’t have done it without you. Part of the pain I started feeling was when I real- if I could erase your pain, and give you ized that I was always judging other people’s out- what I have today, guess what. I wouldn’t. And for all the people who are afraid of sides (they look great,they look successful, they I wouldn’t want to rob you of the journey. those on the outside, please unlock the look happy) and comparing it to how I was feel- It’s a gift. doors. There are people out there crying ing on the inside. That way of thinking can “kill” to be let in... someone instantly, because if I see you and it looks One of my favorite holidays is Pesach. like you have it together and I feel horrible inside, I love sitting at the seder because I can Ezzy Fink would not be alive today to tell his tale. When Fink’s dealer refused to sell him I will compare the two. What I don’t know is how identify with slavery. I was a slave, truly a slave. I didn’t have a say in anything. anymore drugs claiming that Ezzy was doing you really feel inside... too much too fast, the thirty-year-old finnaly When my addiction wanted me to get up, hit rock bottom Luckily, that was a starting These judgments and misperceptions caused me I got up. When she wanted me to sleep, I point of return for Ezzy Fink. Ezzy was soon to live in fear. Because I couldn’t deal with fear passed out. When she wanted me to steal, rehabilitated at the Chabad Rehab Center in I had to numb it. So ever since I was a kid and I robbed. When she wanted me to cheat , Los Angeles where he currenly works at Aish couldn’t deal with these “fears” I started turning to I manipulated. I was compelled to do as Tamid, a center for at risk teens in Los An- geles. His story printed here, originally ap- something that kept me alive- alive and comfort- she commanded. I couldn’t stop until she peared in the Aish Tamid Magazine and was able with who I was. She was my enemy and my wanted it to be over. I had crossed over reprinted with their permission. best friend. My love and my hate. Her name was the invisible line from free man to slave.

eration after abraham // 7 holidays in the jewish year: rosh hashanah, yom kippur, sukkot, chanukah, purim, passover, shavuot // 7 commandments were added by our sages // 7 nations warred with musings | jewish life

Reb Mordechai of Neshchiz was on his way to Brody to purchase an esrog for Sukkot. He had patiently saved up six silver ruble to be able to purchase the precious holiday fruit and horse was excited to soon make the purchase. // Each year, Reb Mordechai, along with all the other a Jews, would look through the batch of that exotic citron, choosing one without blemish, per- on fectly shaped, and fragrant. // How could a Jew celebrate Sukkkot without an esrog? It’s like Illustration by Marc Lumer Marc by Illustration celebrating Chanukah without a menorah. Impossible. // He stopped off at an inn to grab a

A Chassidic Tale bite and sat down near a poor and dejected-looking older man. Reb Mordechai inquired as to

Blessing the cause of his long face and the fellow replied that he had just turned penniless. His beloved

e oic editoer's ch Some ews you may be in shul this sitting next to yom kippur

You should know The Parisis are, The tall man next your rights, and even perhaps, the to you saying kad- if you show up late to most unlikely dish for his father synagogue this year, couple you’ll may be Peter you have the right to meet at the shul Himmelman. remain Jewish. picnic this year. You’ll know that Just ask Steve Ri- You might he has a kippa back sitting next mistake Yaa- and tzitzit and to you. Riback is kov Parisi for prays with his a detective for the the rabbi, with eyes closed. Las Vegas Met- his long white But, you may ropolitan Police beard and vel- not know that Department, and vet yarmulka, he is nationally his decision to be- but, in fact, known for his unpredictable mu- come an observant Jew has added just a few years ago this former sical shows. USA Today calls him meaning to the slogan "To serve and evangelical Christian Pastor and “one of rock’s most wildly imagi- protect." his wife were attending picnics native performers.” And that’s of another group. putting it lightly. Steve's assignments (other than blowing the shofar and giving the In 1992 Mr. Parisi and his wife Somewhere, while traveling the lulav and etrog a good shakedown) became Pastors of their own world playing to sold out crowds, have included Jail Corrections, Pa- church in the Bible Belt. In their Peter came to understand the es- trol, D.A.R.E., Undercover Vice, and search for answers in their own sence of torah and mitzvot. Sure, currently Detective in the Quality As- religion they turned to the Bible he still makes music for a number surance Bureau. Steve and his wife and discovered the beauty in Ju- of television shows and films, (in- Michal can easily be spotted at any daism. In exploring the roots of cluding The Fox hit, Bones, ABC’s sukkah party, they're the ones in the their faith and their search for Men in Trees, the CBS comedy, car with flashing lights. More on truth Yaakov was set on a long The Ex List, the Disney series Bug Steve at koshercop.com journey that ended up with him Juice , NBC’s American Embassy sitting next to you in shul. and the Touchstone film Crossing

the israelites // 7 gates of entry to the beit hamikdash // 7 prophetesses: sarah, miriam, devorah, chana, avigail, chuldah, esther // yom kippur is concluded with saying “the l-rd is g-d” 7 times // horse, his only possession of worth, and the vehicle of his livelihood, had died. After all, horses don’t live forever. // You know, said Reb Mordechai, there’s a man outside selling a horse, let’s go see what he’s asking. And so they did. // For you? said the dealer: Six ruble. // Reb Mordechai gave the horse dealer his precious six ruble and gave the horse to the poor man. He said to himself: Most people will be saying a blessing over their own esrog this Sukkos; I’ll be saying it over a horse. // When it’s not about you and how you experience the mitzvah, it makes no difference what the mitzvah is. Having your own beautiful esrog on Sukkot is a beautiful experience that not many people would give up. And anyhow, let someone from his own town help the poor man. Why should I give away the money that I saved up for an Esrog for me and my family? // Reb Mordechai wasn’t thinking about himself; he was thinking about mitzvahs.

dear rebbe | my story

The Bridge to name just a few), but his true pride and joy is connecting with his roots and being a part of his heri- tage. That’s why he leaves his guitar collection at home and takes his tallit and tefillin and ends up sitting next to you in shul.

The guy with the Super Bowl Ring.

There won’t be a number on his tallit. When I Was Asking For It But, if you get close B y D av i d C o u lt e r enough to Alan’s hands you’ll see a small ring that tells a big story. have a special needs teenage daughter. Shlomo (Alan) Veingrad, Offensive Line- Shira is high functioning and we love her dearly. man with the Dallas Cowboys & Green Bay Packers, was a member of the Su- This summer we took a family vacation to Isra- el and I has secretly hoped that the 10-day trip per Bowl XXVII World Champion Dallas I Cowboy Team in 1992. That’s how he would teach Shira something about our heritage. got the ring. How did he end up sitting I did not know that I would be the one who was next to you at shul? Perhaps, the intense to learn the lesson of his life. training and performance requirements It happened when we went to the Western Wall to say goodbye of professional football life, helped him and pray for a good year. As you know, the economy is not make some spiritual breakthroughs? great and family trips to Israel are not free, and as a 48-year- old married man with two kids I have much to ask for in these “After completing my undergraduate de- uncertain times. As we approached the wall I told my family gree, I was signed as a free agent by the that we would write letters and put them in the cracks of the Green Bay Packers and spent five excit- last remaining wall of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. I told Shira ing years in Wisconsin, upholding the that G-d would read her letter and she could write what ever traditions of Vince Lombardi and trying she wanted.

to keep quarterbacks off their backs. The My list was surely the longest as I'm starting a new business and Jewish community of Green Bay, though need a blessing for my health and need a blessing for strength in small, sustained me and helped me sur- my day to day battles. We all placed our notes into the cracks that vive the isolation of being the only Jew surely lead to Heaven and as we walked away, I asked Shira what on the team. At pre-game prayer ses- she asked for? "Ask for?" She was shocked. "I didn't ask for any- sions, when my teammates would join thing, I wrote thank you G-d for my nice family, thank you for all my hands and recite the Lord’s Prayer, I friends at school, and thank you for making me a Jew." would say my own silent prayer, a Jew- (The names have been changed to protect the family, but the ish prayer.” To read Shlomo’s full story story teaches us a profound lesson of gratitude. We thank the visit www.alanveingrad.com family for allowing us to print the story.)

7 branches of the menorah // 7 ushpizin (spiritual guests) who visit the sukkah: abraham, isaac, jacob, moses, aaron, joseph, david // 7 days of pesach and sukkot // joshua circles the walls of jericho 7 Practice makes perfect: A higher state of consciousness does not come by sudden enlightenment. It act now | future is a matter of training yourself, every day, until you become used to seeing each thing in a higher way. -“365 Meditations,” Tzvi Freeman

by Rabbi Shmuel Marcus think ...small

What you don’t know is co-founder of Array Comm Inc. Martin Cooper made the first that Marty could have wireless phone call on April 3, ended up working on The Jewish New Year is a time when we 1973. It was the incarnation of Wall Street. But, a small consider resolutions for the upcoming gift changed his life year. May I suggest ending poverty and his vision for personal wireless and eventually would bringing global peace? But, I’d also like communications, distinct from change the lives of mil- to suggest thinking small this year. For lions of cell phone users example, take only 30 minutes a day for cellular car phones. around the globe. Torah study. Make only 1 phone call a week to an old friend. Take only one step That first call, placed to Cooper’s rival It wasn’t a hundred-thousand-dollar schol- closer to keeping kosher or observing the at AT&T’s Bell Labs from the streets of arship to Harvard, the gift was by all stan- Shabbat. You’ll see, give your self a small New York City, caused a fundamental dards a small one. It was a birthday gift. gift and it will change the lives of many. technology and communications market Young Marty had just blown out 8 candles Rabbi Shmuel Marcus lives with his wife and chil- shift toward the person and away from and a few school mates had stopped by. dren in Cypress California where they run Chabad of the place. Anyone reading this today, has Marty’s uncle had bought a science for Cypress. Marcus is a singer-songwriter who performs under the name 8th Day. He is also the author of in some way been impacted by this white kids kit. And that was the gift that made Chicken Kiev, The Ballad of the Yarmulka Kid, and is haired scientist. little Marty into Martin Cooper CEO, and currently the editor of this magazine.

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