The World of Lubavitch A publication of Chabad-Lubavitch, Toronto SEPTEMBER 2018 Vol. 44 No. 2 (150) TISHREI 5779 Not For Perks And Benefits Chabad moved to Iceland earleir this year, marking the 100th country/territory exposed to Chabad’s reach. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, Chairman of Chabad-Lubavitch Educational/Social Services, describes the motivation be- hind establishing centers all over the world. And you shall be gathered one by one, children of Is- rael (Isaiah 27:12) With the opening of Chabad in the 100th country/ter- ritory and now in ever smaller communities, the idea of a future in which no individual among our people is lost, resonates anew. It is astounding to anyone paying attention that, in 2018, new Chabad Houses open at a steady rate. That this is the case now, after all of the major cities and towns around the world are already well served by Chabad rep- resentatives, so that new appointees must travel farther afield, sometimes to places very remote, is more astound- ing yet. Add to this that the men and women who vie for the privilege of lifetime appointments as the Rebbe’s shluchim have never met him (most were born around the time of his passing almost twenty-four years ago)—and the as- tonishment grows. And if that isn’t enough, there are no compensation packages with benefits and perks awaiting the Rebbe’s emissaries. Still, they strive to join the ranks of those who live to realize the promise of the prophet. The challenges are often formidable. Many of the com- munities that Chabad’s young men and women—usually newlyweds starting their own families—relocate to, have tiny populations, and even tinier Jewish numbers. Posting an event on their Facebook page won’t fill the house. They must seek out the Jewish souls in their towns, one by one. And they must raise the funds to finance the educational, social, and spiritual programs and services that they want to make available, even if only to a handful of people. But local resources are scant, so they work harder and more innovatively. We’ve been asked before how the cost-benefit ratio justifies investing where there are so few Jews. To that, we say we learn from the midrash that tells us that if but one of the 600,000 Jews would have been missing at Sinai, there would have been no Revelation. Likewise, the Rebbe taught us, that our redemption will come through our ef- forts to reach every Jew; for him, the Talmudic statement that every soul represents a world, was more than a noble idea. That he took it quite literally, and taught his represen- tatives the same, is obvious. The men and women committed to sustaining Jewish life wherever it exists, even in places like Sioux Falls, SD, or Grand Baie, Mauritius, know they will never draw a New Torah to Honour Stalwarts crowd. Rather, they have learned to look at the individual The most unifying event with eyes that see each soul as a world unto itself, and in Jewish life is the dedication have come to cherish the value of one in ways that most of us living in larger communities may not appreciate. The of a new Torah scroll. It brings same is true of donors who are putting their support be- together young and old alike. hind the emissaries serving in these small outposts. In some mystical fashion it In his lifetime, the Rebbe counted the people who links us to the very first pre- support the work of the shluchim as partners indispens- sentation of the Torah, which able to his project, an egalitarian arrangement, if you will, was held in the wilderness of that offers emissaries and donors equal opportunity and Sinai. The vast open expanse equal responsibility to make their unique investments. draws our attention to the fact Each knows that without the other, Jewish continuity and that all Jews have equal access the Jewish community would not be as richly and widely and an identical claim to the served as it is by the Rebbe’s vision. For there is no Jewish Torah. Hence, the traditional demographic and there is no Jewish cause that doesn’t de- procession is held with much rive profound benefit from the dedication of Chabad emis- saries and their partners. And soon too, as these effective pomp and ceremony and is partnerships continue to grow, there will be no individual recognized as a city wide cel- Jew who will not be reached, no Jew who will be left be- Continued on page 3 hind. Page 2 • World of Lubavitch • SEPTEMBER 2018 By Yanki Tauber I shall press each of my buttons and flip each of my switches as I Rosh Hashana please. As for the indicator lights, I, not you, shall decide for myself what they indicate; indeed, if I G-d on the An Anthology Of The so choose, I shall ignore them Campaign Trail altogether. Yours truly, a very stupid customer.” A US president has four High Holidays He did not, of course, sign years between elections, a off that way, but he might as well congressman needs to renew his had. Needless to say, I didn’t mandate every two years, while bother replying. dictators stay in office for as long The sages of the Talmud as they can keep their generals didn’t see much difference happy (or terrified). But G-d is between my stupid customer and up for reelection every year. your standard sinner. As they saw Every Rosh Hashanah, it, when a person acts contrary we crown G-d king. According to his Creator’s instructions on to the Kabbalists, without this how life is to be lived, he may annual coronation (effected be doing something bad, evil, by our resolve to submit to the made by your typical office- think it’s a wholly Christian Anyway, one day the selfish, destructive, enjoyable, divine sovereignty, our recitation seeker. concept, while others ascribe it consumer department of one defiant, cowardly -- as the case of the “verses of kingship” The king is in the field; if you to the ancient Hebrews. To the of the companies I wrote for may be. But above all, he is doing included in the special prayers of need something from Him, now’s sages of the Talmud, sin is, above forwarded me a letter which, something profoundly stupid. the day, and our sounding of the the time to ask. all, an act of stupidity. since it was the first response shofar), G-d’s “kingship” would “A person does not sin,” I had ever gotten from a reader Sukkot not be renewed, and the whole of Yom Kipur they wrote, “unless a spirit of of my work, I read with interest. creation - which derives from the folly has entered into him.” “Sir,” the letter began. “I have The Big Sukkah divine desire to be king - would Before I got this job I used in hand a booklet you wrote cease to exist. Do Jews to write manuals for various which came in the box with Jewish life is a calendar (We don’t usually think of Believe in Sin? household items -- those 30- my new video camera. I must of objects: the shofar sounded kings requiring election to their page booklets that come in the say that I am outraged by your on Rosh Hashanah, the sukkah constructed for Sukkot, the office, but that’s because the Say the word “sin” and box together with electric drills, presumptuousness and audacity. word “king” is a rather imprecise microwaves, and the like. It This is my camera, for which I oil or candles lit on Chanukah translation of the Hebrew word you’ll evoke different things in evenings, the matzah eaten on the minds of different people. was pretty boring work, but it paid my own hard-earned money. melech. A melech, by definition, paid well and it was the kind of It has lots of buttons, switches Passover, and so on and on. is a sovereign whose kingship To the fire-and-brimstone writing you could do with two and indicator lights -- and these Objects need to be a certain derives from a people’s freely types, the word smells of shame kids on your lap. The best part are all my buttons, switches and size. A 3-inch chair is not a chair chosen desire to submit to his and scorched flesh. To the was that you didn’t have to put indicator lights. How dare you rule. A king who reigns by force hedonist it sounds like fun. Some your name on it. instruct on what to do with them! Continued on page 14 or exploitation is not a melech but merely a moshel or “ruler”.) How does G-d prepare for His annual reelection? Does He just sit up there in His “palace” trusting in our good sense to proclaim Him king once again? Does He go after the vote, mingling with the masses, pressing the flesh, kissing babies? Here’s how Chassidic master Rebbe Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), describes the month of Elul - the month that precedes the divine coronation on Rosh Hashanah: It is like a king who, before he enters the city, the people of The Mysterious Logic of Mashiach the city go out to greet him in the field. There, everyone who By Heschel Greenberg kind is constantly evolving and good or evil. Is not history re- so desires is permitted to meet What is the common thread that we will eventually graduate plete with leaders who have ir- wand that will instantaneously him; he receives them all with a that runs through materialistic, into a state that will transcend the revocably changed its course? To transform our universe, eliminate cheerful countenance and shows secular ideologies and religious egocentric nature of Homosapi- believe that once again a great all vestiges of evil and create a a smiling face to them all.