ב"ה
Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov told his disciples to form a circle, each taking the hand of his neighbor, and to close their eyes. The Baal Shem Tov himself closed the circle by placing his hands upon the shoulders of the two disciples who stood to his right and his left. Suddenly, the Chassidim cried out in fright: they saw the angry man actually tearing his fellow apart, just as he had threatened!
There are many kinds of separations. A couple can live in different places, have differences of opinion, or get into arguments and be angry at each other. Often the arguing isn't for the sake of arguing, but for the sake of creating a distance so that husband and wife can feel like they're coming together. That's not a very happy solution, especially since separations can take a more positive form.
The village chassidim, brawny, broad-shouldered Russian Jews with thick black beards and bushy brows, stood dumbfounded before the terrible scene that met their eyes. A pogrom in Israel! A pogrom in Chabad! they whispered, and bit their lips in rage. The women stood there too, hefty, handsome Russian matrons, wringing their hands and murmuring to themselves in Russian and Hebrew, their eyes emitting an endless stream of tears.
The next afternoon, the friendless little accountant again went to the door to collect his daily portion of "occupant mail." Again when he opened the door, a cardboard box fell at his feet. He examined it closely and again found that it was Shmurah Matzah from Lubavitch House. "Strange," he thought, "one box was nice, but two seems a bit extravagant on the Rabbi's part." "Maybe the Lubavitch have more money than I think," he said to himself, "perhaps I have been giving in excess," he noted in his accountant-like brain.
The world's natural bodies of water--its oceans, rivers, wells, and spring-fed lakes--are mikvahs in their most primal form. Created even before the earth took shape, these bodies of water offer a quintessential route to consecration. But these waters may be inaccessible or dangerous, not to mention the problems of inclement weather and lack of privacy. Jewish life therefore necessitates the construction of mikvahs--"pools" whose water is collected in accordance with the Halachic guidelines which preserve its power of purification. No other religious establishment, structure, or rite is as crucial to Jewish life, or can affect the Jew on such an essential level, as the mikvah.
 At the time Chabad emissary to Louisville Rabbi Avraham Litvin received an invitation to offer the opening prayer at the Kentucky House of Legislation, local religious sensitivities were running raw. Some legislatures' plan to erect a large monument to the Ten Commandments had touched off bitter controversy, setting its supporters and opponents against each other in fierce debate. |
Leviticus 14:1 - 15:33 Week of April 9 - 16, 2000 The Parshah In A Nutshell Full Parshah Summary With Commentary 
THE REBBE: 50 YEARS PREVIOUS ISSUE |