Parshas Shelach

 

Hey there Junior Shluchim!

So here we are a whole week later, looking forward to getting the smallest of looks through that big new lens of mine. Well kinderlach, hopefully we won’t have to wait too much longer, but in case you forgot, let me remind you what this lens was all about. I had decided last week to make a lens that would help me look at things the right way. But not only would the lens help us look at things the right way, it would also help us look at the right things.

So this whole week I’ve been working, with a few of my fellow lens-makers, on this new lens. After all it is not an easy job to decide which things should be used and which things should not be used, and who should use which things. And as I’m sure you can imagine, programming a lens to decide such things isn’t easy.

Take for example the internet. It can be used for so many good things, like for me to send my weekly column for Connections to the editor, who uses the internet to send the Connections to the proofreaders, who use the internet to send the Connections back to the editor, who then sends the Connections to the CYH Department, who sends it out to all your Tatties and Mommies and puts it online for everyone to see. And of course, we have the amazing Shluchim Kids forum, and the absolutely out-of-this-world rallies that we have on the different Yomei Depagra. And we can’t forget the most amazing CYH Online School.

But on other hand there are lots of people who use the internet for things that are not good at all, and sometimes they can make problems and do nasty things, which is why we always have to be so careful what we do on the internet. And that is why we only use the internet when our Mommies and Tatties are around. Actually I go on the internet when Mrs Getzel is around because I don't live with my Mommy and Tatty any more, but you get the idea.

So after a full week of programming, fixing, fine-tuning and correcting, we’re hoping that finally the lens is ready for testing. The truth is, making the lens was actually quite easy, and it was a very easy formula too. All I had to do was think, ‘what would the Rebbe want me to do.’ That was it. Then there was no fooling around. Straightaway I would know if this was something I should be doing or shouldn't be doing. And if it was something I should be doing, I would straightaway know how and where I should be doing it. Because thinking about the Rebbe would always make sure that I was doing the right thing - the thing that the Rebbe would want.

Oops, I just realized, I haven't even told you the name of my new lens yet. It is the LOGLAG lens. I’ll give you a minute to figure it out...

Worked it out yet? Of course! You got it! The Look Only Good, Look Always Good Lens. Well done!

Well, have a Good Shabbos kinderlach, and remember, even if you don't manage to get your own LOGLAG lens, then you can make your own by just thinking to yourselves - ‘what would the Rebbe want me to do.’

Dr Getzel

 

כ“ח סיון

When World War II started, the רבי and רביצין were living in France. When theרבי  פריערדיקער reached America he immediately started to make efforts to bring the רבי and רביצין to safety too. In  תש“א / 1941 - after the Nazis had already invaded France - the רבי and the רביצין were able to travel to Portugal which was neutral during the war. Once they were in Portugal, they boarded a ship to the United States.  The trip itself was very dangerous, with the ship being stopped many times by the Nazis.

On כ“ח סיון תש“א (June 23, 1941), the רבי and the רביצין arrived in New York. The רבי פריערדיקער was not well and was unable to greet his son-in-law and daughter personally. Instead, he sent four of his most important חסידים to greet them.

Theרבי  פריערדיקער told them: "I am choosing you as my שלוחים to welcome my son-in-law, who is arriving tomorrow. Let me tell you who he is: Every

night he says תיקון חצות over the destruction of the בית המקדש . He knows by heart both the entire תלמוד בבלי and ירושלמי with their commentaries and רמב“ם ’s משנה תורה and is expert in the works of חב“ד חסידות . . .!"

Since then, כ“ח סיון has become a day of שמחה and thanks to ה‘ for the rescue of the רבי and the רביצין from the hands of the Nazis in Europe. It also marks the beginning of a new period inחב“ד  outreach when the רבי פריערדיקער set upמחנה ישראל , קה“ת and מרכז לעניני חינוך . All these מוסדות were run by the רבי when he came to America.

 

This Shabbos is שבת מברכים חודש תמוז

o שבת morning I made sure to say תהילים .  (Remember to say your quota for the World-Wide Tehillim club)  

o I went to Shul and made the special ברכה for the new month of תמוז . (The ברכה can be found in the סידור after שחרית for שבת )

In משנה ד‘ we are toldעשה רצונו כרצונך כדי שיעשה רצונך כרצונו ” - Make His (ה‘ ’s) will like your will so that He will make your will like His will. The last word - כרצונו - seems extra. It could have just said “So that He (ה‘ ) will do your will”.
We know that every person loves himself and wants only the best for himself. But sometimes we don’t know what is really the best for us. Sometimes the things that we really, really want, might actually be harmful for us. Now, since ה‘ is good, everything He has in His will to do for us is definitely what is the best for us. But, we don’t know what ה‘ knows and so, we might want something which actually is not good for us. The משנה is saying that when we          make ה‘ ’s will like our will, when we do what ה‘ wants us to do, He will make our will the same as His will - that what we want will actually be what is really the best for us.

In נעילה on יום כיפור we daven“ואצרך הטוב, לנו תפתח ” - “ Your good treasures open for us”. The פריערדיקער רבי asks: Whatever comes from ה‘ is only good and everything He does for us is for our good, so why does it say ‘אצרך הטוב ’ - ‘your good treasure’?

The פריערדיקער רבי answers that we need to punctuate the words a little differently. Since we don’t know what is really good for us, we daven to ה‘ that “אצרך הטוב לנו, - the treasure which is good for us - תפתח - You should open”.

(Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’)

 

Rabbi Pinchas Teitz from New Jersey made twenty-two trips to Russia during the time of Communism. Even while Communism was very powerful, he managed to get permission for his visits. He had good contacts in the government and they trusted him. Still, he was often able to use his visits to secretly smuggle in important Jewish materials, such as תפילין and סידורים , for the benefit of the אידן in Russia.

Although Rabbi Teitz was not a חסיד , when he got involved in helping the Russian אידן , he soon realised how much חב“ד was doing and many times he had the זכות to bring objects from the Rebbe to his חסידים in Russia, and vice versa.

Once, when Rabbi Teitz was preparing for another trip, a representative of the Rebbe brought him a package. This was no surprise; he was already used to and even expected the arrival of a messenger and the usual package.

But this time the messenger from the Rebbe also took out a small תניא , and handed it to the rabbi. He explained that the Rebbe asked that Rabbi Teitz take it and carry it with him while in Russia, but didn't say who to give it to.

"I was shocked," related Rabbi Teitz afterwards. "To cooperate with the Rebbe to deliver basic Jewish necessities to the Jews of Russia was one matter, but to go with a copy of תניא in my luggage? To Russia? It seemed unnecessarily dangerous. The KGB knew very well what a תניא is. What explanation could I give if they would find it on me?"

In the end, he decided to take it. If the Rebbe was making such an unusual request of him, he must have a good reason.

On the third day of his stay in Moscow, while he was walking back to his hotel from the Great Synagogue after מעריב , two young men approached him as he passed through a dark side street. They forced him quickly into a nearby parked car. The rabbi was taken by surprise and of course frightened. Were they the KGB? Was this a kidnapping?

His fears were soon proven wrong, however as his two "kidnappers" turned out to be local חב“ד חסידים . They apologized for the rough treatment, explaining that this was the only way they could possibly bring him to a safe house, and they needed to discuss urgent matters with him.

Only after they were safely in the house, did the two introduce themselves. They said they had investigated and discovered that he could be trusted, and what they wanted of him was that he should deliver a message to the Rebbe for each of them. They had major life decisions to make for which they needed the Rebbe's advice, and they couldn't wait for an official שליח .

(To be continued next week)

 

 

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