Parshas Emor

 

So kinderlach,
Have you been polishing up on your Peruvian and Spanish since last week? Have you figured out what the SOL lens is? Well, in actual fact the SOL lens gets it name not from one word, but from three, and of course those words are all in Loshon Hakodesh. Yup, you guessed it, it is none other than the brand new, super duper, out of this world, Sefiras HaOmer Lens!

So how does this lens work? Well it is quite complicated, but really very simple. Actually, I find that things are always like that (at least with me anyway). Lots of times I think that something I need to do is very complicated, and I’m worried about how I’m ever going to manage to do it, but as soon as I start, Hashem gives me the kochos I need to do the job, and it actually becomes a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Take the other day for example. I was out late at night putting up some mezuzos for my good friend, Dr Greenbaum, in his new house. As it happens I had lost my hammer - or as I prefer to say, I hadn't actually lost it, I just couldn't remember where I’d put it. Now if you ever plan to put up mezuzos, you should know that a hammer is quite an important thing to have with you. And because Dr Greenbaum was only just moving into the house, he didn’t have a hammer either, and of course I was also running a bit late, so all the stores were closed and there wasn't even anywhere to buy a hammer.

Like it says ‘yeshuas Hashem keheref ayin,’ Hashem saves us in the blink of an eye. And sure enough, before I could even think about blinking my eye, Dr Greenbaum had an idea.

‘Hey Dr,’ he said to me.

‘Yes Dr,’ I said back to him.

‘Dr, do you have any keys on you?’

‘Actually Dr, I do. Why do you ask?’

‘Well Dr, he said, why don't you try to push the nails in with the end of your key.’

What a great idea, I thought to myself, but I think Dr Greenbaum forgot that my first name (and last name) is Getzel and not Shimshon. Still, it was worth a try, so I pulled out my car keys (Boruch Hashem I had found them again), and I tried! And sure enough, with a push and a shove, and a huff and a puff, the mezuzah was up!

So you see kinderlach, Hashem gives us the strength we need, to do the things we need to do - although it was a pity that he didn't give the strength to my car keys too, because they snapped and I had to walk home!

So while you kinderlach may think that counting Sefiras Haomer, and improving yourself in forty nine different ways, is way too much to even think about, make sure to use the SOL lens. It will help you take each day as it comes, and make sure that you don't lose hope on this big job.

Happy counting!

Dr Getzel

 

ל“ג בעומר- ח“י אייר

ל“ג בעומר , the 33rd day of the עומר , is a special day for the אידן , which we celebrate with outings, bonfires, and other happy activities. It is the יאהרצייט of רבי שמעון בר יוחאי . Many people visit his קבר in מירון , in ארץ ישראל .
רבי שמעון בר יוחאי wrote the זוהר , and was one of the greatest teachers of קבלה . On the day that he passed away רבי שמעון told his תלמידים not to be sad on his יאהרצייט , but they should celebrate this day with joy. Until today, ל“ג בעומר is celebrated with much joy.

ל“ג בעומר is also the day another happy event happened. The גמרא tells us that in the weeks between פסח and שבועות there was a plague amongst the students of the great רבי עקיבא "because they did not act respectfully towards each other", 24,000 students passed away. That is why during the עומר , we don’t listen to music, have חתונות or take haircuts. On ל“ג בעומר the plague stopped and no more students died. Therefore ל“ג בעומר is a day that teaches the importance of אהבת ישראל .

כ"א אייר תש"ט

On כ“א אייר תש“ט (1949), the פריערדיקער רבי established the village of כפר חב“ד . The first people living there were חסידים who had managed to leave Russia and escape from communism. כפר חב“ד is near Tel-Aviv. It has farmlands as well as many מוסדות of חינוך , like schools and ישיבות . It is also the headquarters for חב“ד in ארץ ישראל .

 

The beginning of פרשת אמור tells us that a כהן is not allowed to become טמא by coming close to a dead body. But for a close relative of the כהן , such as his sister, he is allowed to become טמא . Even more so, he is commanded to become טמא - לה יטמא .

The גמרא says that ה‘ is compared to a כהן . We are therefore left with the question - since we are still טמא in גלות , and ה‘ is like a כהן , how will He be allowed to take us out of גלות ?!

But the זוהר explains that בני ישראל are like ה‘ 's sister. In this way ה‘ has no problem taking us out of גלות - right away!!

 

On ל“ג בעומר , רבי שמעון בר יוחאי revealed the deepest secrets of the תורה and taught them to his תלמידים . They, in turn, taught them to all the אידן .

רבי שמעון בר יוחאי said that the same thing would happen in the days of משיח . In the last generation of גלות , not only would adults learn the deepest ideas of the תורה , but young children would as well. In this way they would bring the גאולה האמיתית והשלימה .

This is the special lesson for אידישע children on ל“ג בעומר .

Children should realise that the גאולה of the entire Jewish people depends on them. When אידישע children learn תורה and do מצוות as they should, when they obey their parents  and teachers and become living examples to their friends, they will bring the גאולה for themselves and for all אידן .

Then, משיח צדקינו will come and take us all out of גלות , to our holy land, very, very soon.

‘The Rebbe Speaks to Children’

 

(Continued from last week)
Suddenly in a spirit of chutzpah, ר‘ שמואל looked the young man in the eyes, smiled slightly and said, "I want YOU to call. It is very important."

Like magic, the young man nodded his head yes, went to the phone and returned just moments later announcing that his father would see him at his office in two hours.

Two hours later ר‘ שמואל was standing opposite the elderly official explaining his terrible dilemma; in two weeks he was to be evicted, and his one hundred talmidim would be on the street. He was hoping that maybe the old man would give him a few rooms in a different building until he could arrange something else.

"Sit down please" said the official. "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Rabbi?"

ר‘ שמואל was a bit nervous but he sat down and said he would be glad to answer to the best of his ability.

"Tell me, Rabbi, what you think about your Israeli Prime Minister Begin giving the סיני desert back to the Arabs?"

Now ר‘ שמואל really didn’t know what to do. The French were famous for being pro-Arab and against the Israelis. One wrong word and he could say good-bye to his school. But on the other hand the Rebbe was very opposed to returning the סיני .

It crossed his mind to try to be diplomatic and avoid the question, but he shuddered at the thought and just blurted out. "Mr. Blan, I am a חסיד of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and he said that returning the סיני is a big mistake and will lead only to tragedy."

The old man looked at him deeply and said. "I just returned from Israel last month, I was there for a week. I'm even a representative here in France for the Weitzman Institute. I want to tell you that the returning of the סיני is the most insane thing in the world.....Completely insane!"

He then took out a translation of the חומש from a drawer, put it on his desk and continued. "In this book it says that Israel belongs to the Jewish people. If G-d said it, that is good enough for me. No one has the right to give that land back! No one in the world!"

He paused again and said, "Rabbi, I'm going to write a letter about your school to the Building Minister in Paris. He is the one that makes the decisions, not me, but I think everything will be all right. Please give me a call in a week."

A week later the שליח was again sitting opposite Mr Blan waiting to hear the answer. The official just spread a set of blueprints (building plans) on his desk and said. "Do you understand blueprints? This, Rabbi, is your new building! It's yours. See? It's two stories high, and about three thousand meters square. Here I will call my driver and we will drive down to see it. You can move in whenever you want."

The שליח was dumbfounded! A huge building! Completely his! He was expecting only a few rooms. Even more amazing, in France there is a very strict separation of Religion and State. This was probably the first building ever given by the French government to a religious institution!

When the official saw the joy in ר‘ שמואל 's eyes he said, "Rabbi, I want to tell you something. You know why I am doing this? You told me that you were a חסיד , right? Well, I asked one of my friends what a חסיד is and he told me that חסידים are Jews that are always happy. That made me feel good. You know, I know several other religious Jews, but they aren't like you, they always have angry faces, and I hate an angry face!"

ר‘ שמואל now understood what the Rebbe meant with those exact same words over two years ago.

 

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