B”H Erev Shabbat Vaetchanan, 10th of Menachem Av, 5780; July 31st, 2020 947 Upon her return to the seminary, Sharon A Bottle for the Wedding cried herself to sleep. Shlomo, a fine religious Jew who was In her dreams, the Lubavitcher Rebbe living in France had unfortunately not appeared to her. “Don’t worry,” he said, been blessed with children. Just before “he is your soul mate and it is a good his 25th wedding anniversary his Lubav- shidduch. I will be with you and I will be itcher friends invited him to 770 for dol- there at the wedding.” lars. The visit was exciting and eventful, When she awoke in the morning, the the experience of a lifetime. After Shlo- dream had assuaged her broken heart. mo received his dollar, the Rebbe did Chatan and Kalla decided to marry in a something unusual and handed him a very simple ceremony at the shul near bottle of vodka saying, “this is for the the seminary with just a few friends. wedding.” Meanwhile, Shlomo’s 40th wedding an- Shlomo was bewildered, he had no chil- niversary was approaching and he want- dren, so he wasn’t expecting to make a Menucha Yankelevitch menuchay.com ed to celebrate in grand style with no wedding. He arrived back in Paris and less than 500 guests. At 6:00 in the put the bottle away safely, with no reso- morning on the day of the party, the ca- lution to the puzzle. terer phoned. “Shlomo, disaster has As Divine Providence would have it, Meanwhile, a young girl, Sharon, was struck, last night there was an explosion sometime later she happened to pass by in the hall and it is flooded with sewage growing up in Paris with her parents. the seminary and the name rang a bell. Her parents had mentioned that they and water. Only the food is safe for it On an impulse she walked inside and was prepared elsewhere. But don’t wor- were Jewish but with no explanation as struck up a conversation with some of to what that meant. When she reached ry, I will find another hall somewhere, the students who were milling around. It somehow.” her teens, her parents said to her: wasn’t long before she became a fre- “Remember we told you are Jewish? quent visitor. Two hours later the caterer rang again. Well, make sure that your future hus- She decided to put her degree studies on “What amazing good fortune! I have band is also Jewish.” hold for a year so that she could study found a smaller hall in the shul, not far She was baffled, not understanding what full time at the seminary. After a few from the original venue. Prepare signs difference her future husband’s religion months, one of the teachers proposed the directing the way to the new place.” idea of a shidduch to her and with her could possibly make and put the matter When Shlomo arrived at the hall, the agreement, arranged a meeting with a out of her mind. Rabbi came in from the shul downstairs wonderful Lubavitcher young man. When it was time for her to go off to and asked him if he could spare five men university, her parents repeated the The young man began the date by telling for a short time to make up a minyan for strange request: “Make sure, you do not her that he was not born Jewish and was a wedding. Shlomo was taken aback, end up with a non-Jewish husband.” a “ger tzedek” (a righteous convert). He “doesn’t everyone have a minyan for a was concerned that this might make him wedding?” he exclaimed. This time she was motivated to read up unacceptable in her eyes. She reassured Continued on page 3 about being Jewish to discover why it him that it didn’t bother her at all. was so important for her to have a Jew- ish husband, but she was not able to find After a few pleasant meetings, they were Shabbat Times anything to help her. However, she dis- ready to get engaged. She now went Candle Lighting Motzei Shabbat covered that there was a synagogue near home to break the good news to her where she lived. She went to see the parents, but to her utter distress and Jerusalem 10:7 5078 amazement they exploded with fury and Rabbi there hoping he could explain. Tel Aviv 1077 5075 Kind as he was, they were not on the venom. Haifa 1077 5075 same wavelength. Finally, he came up “Didn’t we tell you that you have to with an idea. marry a Jew? Someone who wasn’t born Beer Sheva 1071 5078 “Not far from here is a Chabad seminary a Jew can never become Jewish. For us New York 1087 5088 for young Jewish girls, perhaps someone he is a non-Jew.” there might be able to explain better than A terrible fight ensued. They screamed Chabad Of Israel I can.” at her: “If you marry him, we will cut Rabbi Joseph I. Aronov you off, we will not attend the wedding Published by M.L.S. Kfar Chabad (03) 3731777 The Rabbi wrote the details for her on a Editor: Aharon Schmidt piece of paper which she put in her bag and we will never speak to you again.” [email protected] and promptly forgot about it. Please guard the sanctity of this publication Mitvos - Infinite Bond connection or bond. when a person performs a mitzvah, he or she bonds with G‑d in all His infinity. In a Torah reading filled with many im- Every mitzvah represents a bond with G‑d, portant events: e.g., the repetition of the a step above the limits of humanity and a Grabbing the Opportunity Ten Commandments and the Shema, there chance to relate to G‑d on His terms. is one small passage that is occasionally For this reason, Moses was eager to per- overlooked: The Torah relates that at that A person can try to relate to G‑d intellectu- form the mitzvah of setting aside the cities time, Moses set aside three cities in the ally or emotionally, but then he is con- of refuge before his passing. area of Trans Jordan to serve as cities of scribed by his thoughts and his feelings. refuge for anyone who accidentally killed He can go no further than the limits of his He knew the meaning and significance of another person. mind and heart. And G‑d certainly trans- all the mitzvos, but he was not interested in cends those limits. the intellectual satisfaction that this know- Now the question arises: This act had no ledge brought him. He wanted the infinite immediate purpose. The designation of A Means to Bond bond that can be achieved only through these cities would not actually take effect actually fulfilling the mitzvos. until three other cities were set aside in the Indeed, since G‑d is infinite and man, fi- land of Israel between the Jordan and the nite, one might think that there is no way That’s why — on a personal level — he Mediterranean and that would not be until that one can ever relate to G‑d, because prayed so sincerely to be allowed to en- several years later. Why then did Moses finiteness and infinity are skew lines that ter Eretz Yisrael, as related at the begin- take the time to make this designation be- will never intersect. ning of this week’s Torah reading. He fore his death? wanted the chance to fulfill all the mitzvos From man’s own perspective, this is true. whose observance is associated with our Mitzvah - Connection But the limits mentioned above do not Holy Land. confine G‑d. For His infinity encompasses Our Sages answer: When a mitzvah comes finiteness as well. He can step into the When G‑d did not grant his request, he to your hand, do not postpone its fulfill- realm of finiteness and give man a means grabbed the opportunity to fulfill whatev- ment. True, Moses knew all the laws and of bonding with Him. er mitzvos he could. Therefore, even all the significance behind setting aside though his act would have no immediate a city of refuge. But that was all on the That’s what mitzvos are. G‑d prescribes a effect, he set aside the three cities of refuge intellectual plane. Here he had the chance physical deed for man to carry out. True, in Trans Jordan. to take part in the actual fulfillment of every one of these deeds has manifold sig- the mitzvah. There is nothing higher than nificance, enabling us to refine ourselves Reprinted from Keeping in Touch, Vol. 4, that. and the world at large. Sichos in English. From our Sages and Moshiach Now! reprinted from relates But over and above any and all signifi- www.LchaimWeekly.org - LYO / NYC - מצוה - The Hebrew term mitzvah meaning cance, the advantage of a mitzvah is that - צוותא - to the term tzavsa Respect for a Rav Lest you corrupt yourselves and make a And these words which I command you Despite disagreements and irrespective of graven image (Deut. 4:16) this day shall be in your heart (Deut. 6:6) the actual dispute, the Rebbe taught that respect for rabbonim must be upheld. Why did Moses have to remind the Jew- "These words" of Torah should be always To this end, in 5747 (1987), when as a ish people not to make graven images, at the ready; all one must do is open up result of a machlokes (dispute) the local considering the fact that they had just one's heart for a second and they will rabbonim were not honored with being spent forty years in the desert and had enter.