Parshas Chayei Sarah

 

Hey there Junior Shluchim!
Can you guess where I am writing from? Nope, I’m not sitting in my messy office in Iowa this week. And I’m not in my lens-making-laboratory either. And no, I’m not lost either, I am exactly where I am sitting! Three guesses, you’re out! I’m sitting in the departure lounge of the one and only International Airport of Iowa on my way to the Kinus Hashluchim!
Did you know that Iowa has 113 airports? Neither did I till I tried to book a ticket to this year’s Kinus Hashluchim.  You see my regular travel agent was away on holiday so I had to try a different one. My travel agent knows to book me the quickest way to New York, but this new guy was a bit confused. Instead of asking me where I wanted to fly to, he asked me where I wanted to fly from! ‘Iowa, of course.’ I told him! ‘But from which airport?’ He asked me. Now that was a good question. I have never really noticed which airport I fly from. You see I’m a bit tzufloigen and so Mrs Getzel always drops me off right outside the airport terminal to make sure I don’t get lost. But Mrs Getzel was out visiting the aineklach, so I couldn’t ask her which airport I needed to fly from.
‘How many airports are there in Iowa anyway?’ I asked the travel agent. ‘I mean, I always fly from the same one, and I always land in the same one in New York. How many airports could there be already?’
‘Actually, for your information,’ said the travel agent, ‘Iowa only has one international airport but there are also 112 other airports.’ Well, I thought to myself. Flying to the Kinus Hashluchim in New York, it isn’t quite flying international. But on the other hand, it is one of the best reasons that I can think of to ever fly on a plane. Of course, Moshiach finally arriving and needing to go to Eretz Yisroel would be a better reason, but then we will all fly on the clouds and we won’t need to go to the airport or even call our travel agent!
‘Okay,’ I said to the travel agent. ‘I want to fly from the biggest and best airport that we have in Iowa, which I am guessing is our one and only international airport. I just hope that Mrs Getzel knows the way there!’
But would you believe it, I forgot to ask to travel agent which airport I was flying from and I forgot to tell Mrs Getzel that this time I was flying from the biggest and best airport in the whole Iowa. But I didn’t want to get Mrs Getzel upset (she sometimes gets a little upset when I am very absentminded), so I just hoped for the best, all the way to the airport. Well, Boruch Hashem it turns out that I actually fly from the International airport every year, so it didn’t matter anyway. Which just goes to show, like the Rebbe would often tell us, ‘tracht gut, vet zayn gut.’
Stay tuned next week for a full report on the Kinus Hashluchim!

Dr. Getzel

 

This Shabbos is שבת מברכים חודש כסלו

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

I went to Shul and made the special ברכה for the new month of כסלו . (The ברכה can be found in the סידור after שחרית for שבת )
שבת מברכים כסלו is when the שלוחים from around the world come back home to 770 for a special כינוס to share ideas and to receive new חיות in their הייליגע עבודה . The Rebbe would give a special talk to the שלוחים in honor of this occasion.

ראש חודש כסלו
Tuesday ל‘ חשון -
Wednesday א‘ כסלו -
I remembered to say יעלה ויבא in שמונה עשרה and in bentching.
I remembered to say הלל after שמונה עשרה .
I remembered to daven  מוסף .
I remembered to say ברכי נפשי after the שיר של יום .
(For Girls) I didn’t sew or do any laundry.

 

 

In פרשת חיי שרה , the תורה tells us that ה‘ blessed אברהם , ‘בכל ’ - with everything. What is ‘everything’?

When we spell the word ‘בכל ’, writing out the letters - ‘בית, כף, למד ’, the total גמטריא of all those letters is 586. This is the same גמטריא as the word ‘שופר ’.
יצחק was originally supposed to be offered up on the מזבח as a קרבן . When the מלאך called out, he was saved. And instead אברהם offered up as a קרבן a ram which suddenly appeared.

The שופר that ה‘ blew when the אידן received the torah came from this ram. This שופר will also be sounded to announce that משיח is here.

So יצחק is connected to both the giving of the תורה and משיח . To the Yidden, תורה and משיח are everything - ‘בכל ’. And so, the פסוק is telling us that אברהם was blessed with a son who will be connected to the giving of ‘everything’ to the אידן - תורה and משיח !

(Adapted from ‘Vedibarta Bam’)

 

כסלו is a חסידישע חודש .  It is full of חסידישע יומים טובים , more than any other month!  And of course, we also have the יום טוב of חנוכה to look forward to at the end of the חודש . 

ראש חודש כסלו

In this week’s calendar we have the חסידישע יום טוב of ראש חודש כסלו .
On the night of the happy יום טוב of שמיני עצרת in the year תשל“ח (1977), the Rebbe suffered a massive heart attack while dancing with thousands of his חסידים in 770. The Rebbe had to stay in his office for five weeks until he was finally well enough to go home on ראש חודש כסלו . חסידים were so happy and thankful to ה‘ that the Rebbe was                                                                  better that they danced and sang in the streets. They decided that this day would be a חסידישע יום טוב and even made up a ניגון which is known as the ‘ראש חודש כסלו ניגון ’.

The Doctors warned the Rebbe that if he continued working so hard, there would be a 60% chance of this ח“ו happening again.  But the Rebbe, who always teaches us to be positive and to ‘טראכט גוט ועט זיין גוט ’, heard good news.  He heard that the doctors thought that there is a 40% chance of nothing to worry about and he continued the same schedule as before: farbrengens, dollars, answering thousands of letters. 

Let us daven that משיח will come now and we will have our Rebbe back to lead us again!

ב‘ כסלו

After the court case of ה‘ טבת , the ספרים were actually returned to the library on ב‘ כסלו .

 

One time, a חסיד who was a simple merchant came to the מעזריטשער מגיד . "I am not able to concentrate during davening and learning," he complained to the מגיד . "Often, my mind begins to wander and I start to think about work, or my family, or even the latest news in town. And, what is even worse," he continued, "I even sometimes think about things I shouldn’t at these times."

The מגיד told the visitor. "Go to my חסיד , ר‘ זאב of Zhitomir. He will be able to advise you what to do."

The visitor listened to the מגיד 's suggestion. He immediately set out for the village in which ר‘ זאב lived. He arrived at the village later that evening. Without much difficulty, he was able to find ר‘ זאב ’s house but it was very late at night, and the house was shuttered.

Because he had come at the מגיד 's suggestion, the merchant was sure that he could knock  on ר‘ זאב 's private door and that he would be let in. He knocked on the door, but there was no reply.

The visitor knocked again on the door, this time a little louder. Again, no one seemed to hear - no once answered the door. Again and again the visitor knocked, pounded, banged, and even kicked the door, but it was no use. Despite the commotion, the door was not opened.

The winter night was cold and the merchant was uncomfortable. He had travelled a long distance to talk to ר‘ זאב . He was tired and hungry. But, the מגיד had sent him to ר‘ זאב , and so he continued to try and get into ר‘ זאב 's house rather than staying somewhere else for the night. He kept knocking and finally began shouting in anger and frustration. "How can you be so mean to leave me standing out here in the cold?" he cried loudly. Still, through everything, the door stayed closed. This continued all through the night.

As the sun came up, the door was opened. The visitor entered and made arrangements to stay with ר‘ זאב for a few days. Throughout the entire time, ר‘ זאב practically ignored his guest.

The man began to wonder why the מגיד had sent him here. How was he to learn from ר‘ זאב , who would not even give him the time of day? He thought that the whole trip was a waste of time and began preparing to leave. Up until now, ר‘ זאב had ignored him every time he had tried to talk to him.

He decided to try once more before he left. "I cannot understand why the מגיד sent me to you!" he told ר‘ זאב . "I told the מגיד that I could not concentrate during davening and learning because my mind wandered off in all directions. He told me  that you could help me, but I think my trip was just a waste of time," he exclaimed angrily.

To this ר‘ זאב replied, "I will tell you why the מגיד sent you to me. You have seen that I have acted like a true בעל הבית .' When I did not want you to come into my house, you were forced to remain outside. So too, with your complaint. If you do not wish to have other thoughts or, even worse, improper thoughts, enter your mind during davening, learning תורה or at any other time, do not let them in! Fill your mind with words of תורה . You, as the ’בעל הבית ’ of your mind, can let in whatever you wish and refuse entrance to those thoughts that you chose not to let enter."

ר‘ זאב 's words made a strong impression on the חסיד . He returned home knowing full well that he could be in control of his thoughts if he really wanted to. True, it would require effort and work, but ultimately he would be the one to determine which thoughts were "welcome" and which were not.

(Adapted from L’chaim Weekly)

 

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