***************************************************************** L'CHAIM ISSUE No. 33 ***************************************************************** 17 Cheshvan, 5749 Parshat Vayeira October 28, 1988 ***************************************************************** THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR EVERY JEWISH PERSON Dedicated to the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson N.E. ***************************************************************** RIGHT OR WRONG "I feel bad for people with a mission," says the sincere voice in the radio commercial. "I had a teacher once who swore she'd teach us the difference between right and wrong," the voice continues. "It's a miracle we ever got to long division." Guess what comes next. You might be expecting to hear someone come out against prayer in school, or some type of civil liberties advertisement. No. Actually, the commercial is for a suit store, and the man is wondering whether people will say he's right or wrong to be buying suits there. But let's get back to the teacher who insisted on instilling in her students some idea of right and wrong. We've been very careful and concerned about removing religion and the possibility of teaching values and morals from our public school system. What have we replaced the emptiness with? Dennis Prager, West Coast radio personality, was the guest speaker at the Hebrew Academy of Orange County, California, annual dinner last year. Basically, Prager asked the parents at the dinner: "What is the real reason people don't want to send their children to a Jewish Day School? Many are afraid the children will come home with stronger religious value and practices than the parents themselves have. They might come home and say, "Let's keep kosher," or "We're not supposed to ride on *Shabbos.*" "Yes, those things might be uncomfortable. But compare this discomfort with how you'll squirm when your son or daughter brings home a pamphlet from the free clinic Planned Parenthood has set up in some public schools. Compare it with how you'll shiver when your son or daughter shows you the clean needles some anti-AIDS activists are distributing to youths in public schools to prevent dirty-needle-AIDS transmission. Now those are values, too. Right smack in the middle of the value-free education system. But those are values you could live without. On second thought, *Shabbos* and keeping kosher might not be so bad, after all." Jewish schools do teach values. They don't hide it. They don't pretend not to. But isn't it better to send our children to schools where at least we know what type of values they'll be learning, values proven to be "right" over the past 3,300 years or so? ***************************************************************** LIVING WITH THE TIMES ***************************************************************** THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION ***************************************************************** This week's Torah portion, Vayeira, hints at a spiritual yet mundane aspect of Abraham and Sarah's relationship. The Rabbis of the Talmud teach: "How does a woman help a man?...If a man brings wheat, does he chew the wheat? If he brings flax, does he wear the flax? It follows, then, that she brings light to his eyes and puts him on his feet!" A person's mission in life is to elevate and refine the material aspects of the world, imbuing them with spiritual content. But man brings only wheat and flax, he is concerned with raw materials, with generalities. He is somewhat removed from the down-to-earth realities, the details. It is woman who transforms the wheat into food and the flax into clothing, who tangibly implements our lifetime mission. Abraham and Sarah. Man and woman. When Abraham found out that his wife, Sarah, was to bear a child, he prayed. From the lofty, detached viewpoint of his great saintliness he asked, "Would that Ishmael might live before You!" He hoped that Ishmael would continue to live in fear of and worship G-d. Abraham saw in Ishmael, future father of the Arab nations, the potential for living a G-d-fearing life. But Sarah saw reality. She saw Ishmael's devastating influence in the home, particularly over her son Isaac (Yitzchak). She demanded that Abraham remove the harmful influence of Ishmael from the home. Abraham could not find peace with the idea of sending his oldest son away. Although G-d had already informed Abraham that He would fulfill His covenant specifically and exclusively through Yitzchak, from Abraham's perspective it seemed that Ishmael should stay in the house. Only in his own home could Abraham hope to influence Ishmael in a positive manner. But G-d declared to Abraham, "In all that Sarah says to you, listen to her voice, for in Yitzchak shall descendants be called to you." The commentator Rashi explains that this statement indicates that Sarah's power of prophecy was superior to Abraham's. It was Sarah, the down-to-earth woman, the foundation of the home, who recognized the harmful influence. From "A Thought for the Week,"--Detroit. Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. ***************************************************************** SLICE OF LIFE ***************************************************************** THE LANGUAGE OF AN ARTIST An artist is a person who has a language, a language which must be used. Andre Zwy (pronounce Tzvi) Berger is an artist with a language. And he uses that language to teach people about Judaism. In his Roumanian, French accented English, Berger explains how his art took on a new dimension and meaning when he ventured into his latest project. Berger has undertaken upon himself to paint 216 huge Jewish murals on public walls throughout the world. "I go where the people are," he explains. The first of Berger's 216 murals, a 62 by 35 foot painting, appears on the wall of a building on Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights. It was sponsored by the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council and is readily visible to passers-by on the busy parkway and youngsters who study in the Ohelei Torah Yeshiva whose school building faces the mural. The painting is an expression of the verse in Exodus, "... The L-rd will come down in the sight of all the people." The predominant color in the painting is blue which, according to Berger is an inspired color, denoting goodness and love, also present, signifying passion. Berger's art is unique in that he only uses Hebrew letters and bright, vivid colors to express what he feels the verses mean. He takes much of his inspiration and understanding of the Biblical text, upon which all his art is based, from the Kabbala --the inner, mystical, esoteric teaching of the Torah. When asked if he feels his work is Divinely inspired, he answers sharply, "'Divinely inspired' are two dangerous words. Shmuel the Prophet was Divinely inspired, Isaiah was certainly inspired. I meditate every morning. Sometimes, when I am at the beach [Berger makes his home in Florida when he is not travelling] I see the painting I am working on, so in that sense I guess I am inspired. The difference between craft and art is inspiration." Berger was born in Roumania. After surviving Nazi labor camps he emigrated to Israel. "In Roumania, a Jew had to be a doctor or a lawyer. My father was a dentist, so I became a dentist." But the time came when Berger felt his obligation to be what others expected him to be was over. He became an artist. Berger left Israel, and his job as an oral surgeon, and studied at Beaux Arts in Paris nearly thirty years ago. "In France I lived a self-indulgent way of life, painting self-indulgent paintings for the sake of my ego," he said. Today, Berger paints what he sees, "I see the beauty of G-d, what He has done to bring harmony to the world. I translate that beauty into painting. My paintings remind people that G-d is there." Will Berger ever become rich from his mural project and paintings? Definitely not! "Maimonides said that a doctor should not get any money for curing his patients [because the ability to cure is G-d given. He should only be recompensed for his time." In this spirit, Berger formed a non-profit organization, called "Murals Inspired by the Bible." The money he charges for painting the murals covers the materials and his meager living expenses-while on location working on a mural he stays in a van parked nearby. Berger is like a man with a mission. On a letter he has distributed to thousands of organizations, he states his position on why he feels the murals must be painted. "Painting on walls in the cities we live in, these statements will inspire truth, yiddishkeit, heritage and faith. Art and spirituality, to be valid, must enhance harmony, reconciliation and unification. These qualities are lacking in most people's lives. What better media is there than paintings of Biblical statements for this purpose!" ***************************************************************** WHAT'S NEW? ***************************************************************** KOSHER BLT'S The Chabad House in Columbia, South Carolina, boasts a unique kind of kosher nourishment--the BLT. BLT stands for Business, Lunch and Torah, a midday study session organized to give business people some spiritual sustenance during the day. The community of 3,500 Jews in Columbia welcomed Rabbi Hesh and Chavie Epstein to their midst just one year ago. Since then, the community has watched the young couple bring to Columbia an old, but new brand of Judaism they were sure only existed in communities like New York or Jerusalem. MINYAN IN BROOKLYN HEIGHTS The formation of a traditional Orthodox *minyan* in Brooklyn Heights was recently announced. Services for the High Holidays were conducted by Rabbi Ahron Raskin at the A.T. White Community Center. Rabbi Raskin, from London, England, is in the process of finishing his post-rabbinical studies at the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth in Brooklyn. Since Rosh Hashana, services have been conducted every Shabbat morning, followed by a kiddush at the home of Steve and Penny Rosen, 46 Remsen St. The minyan is being conducted in affiliation with the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education. For more information call (212) 580-7200 or (718) 735-0200. RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Expanded Shabbat weekend programs, social and holiday events, intensified anti-missionary activities and the Chabad House Kosher Lunch program are just a few of the new projects being undertaken by the recently appointed Campus Activities director at Rutgers University. Rabbi Baruch Goodman, and his wife, Sarah, will be running the activities at Rutgers. They have been involved with Chabad outreach activities in the Highland Park area for the past eight years. ***************************************************************** INSIGHTS ***************************************************************** UNDERSTANDING G-D'S WAYS It is certainly not surprising that a human being does not understand the ways of G-d, for a created and finite being surely cannot understand the Infinite. The opposite would rather be surprising, and it is only due to G-d's infinite kindness that He has revealed to man certain aspects of His Divine Providence. There is a simple illustration: It would surely not be surprising that a five-year-old child could not understand the conduct of a great scientist, even though the scientist was at one time a five-year-old boy, and the present five-year-old boy may grow up and become an even greater scientist. In other words, the five-year-old boy is potentially in possession of all the qualities of the mature scientist, yet it would not be surprising that the five-year-old boy cannot understand the great scientist. But a created human being has nothing in common with the Creator insofar as intelligence and capacities are concerned. It is only because of G-d's kindness that certain aspects of G-d's Providence have been revealed to man, including also the question of suffering, where we can use a similar analogy. When a young child is told to sit down, learn the "ABCs," do homework, etc., this deprives him of going out into the fresh air, sometimes interferes with having his meal on time and might curtail his sleeping hours, etc. The child, while complying with these instructions, is not doing so because he realizes their wisdom, but because he has no choice in the matter, since he is compelled by his father or mother or teacher to do this. This is not a case where his freedom is curbed so that he would not go about breaking window, and the like. Insofar as the child is concerned, it is for him true suffering to be deprived of fresh air, or rest, etc., which by common consent are considered good things. Nevertheless, of what consideration is the child's temporary suffering, even though it extends for days or months, by comparison with the good which he will enjoy thereby for the rest of his life. In the Torah it is frequently explained and emphasized that life on this earth is only a preparation for the future and everlasting life in the world to come. This is also taught in the well-known *Mishna* of *Pirkei Avot*, which we read and study. The *Mishna* states, "This world is like a vestibule to the future world; prepare yourself in the vestibule so that you can enter the banquet hall" (4:21). Now, when during the time when one is in the vestibule there has been a period of suffering, whereby there will be an infinite gain in the "banquet hall," it will surely be worthwhile. It is impossible to describe the joys of the life of the soul in the world to come, for even in this world while the soul is connected with the body, its life is on an infinitely higher plane; how much more so when the soul is no longer distracted by the body. Compare the joy and excitement of a child when he receives a tasty candy, with the joy of a very wise and learned scientist who succeeds in resolving an important scientific problem. Here again, as mentioned before, there is some connection between the child and the scientist, and everything is relative. But insofar as the life on this earth and the life of the soul in the future world is concerned, the differences are not of degree but of kind, and there is no common denominator between the two. At the same time it should be remembered that the suffering in the "vestibule," which is no more than a corridor to the "banquet hall," is after all a temporary one, and the gain is eternal. Of course, you may ask why things are so conditioned that one must give up something to gain more. This would be the same as a child asking why he must give up his outdoor pleasure, etc. But surely it is not an unkindness to the child to "deprive" him so. From a Letter of The Lubavitcher Rebbe. ***************************************************************** WHAT'S IN A NAME? ***************************************************************** TZVI is from the Hebrew meaning "deer, gazelle." HERSH is the Yiddish for "deer," and the two names, Tzvi Hersh, are often given together TALYA, spelled with a "hei" at the end is from the Hebrew meaning "dew of G-d." Ending with an *alef*, it is from the Aramaic, meaning "lamb". ***************************************************************** A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR ***************************************************************** The twentieth of Cheshvan, this year corresponding to Monday, October 21, is the birthday of the Rebbe Rashab, Rabbi Sholom Dovber. The Rebbe Rashab, born 129 years ago, was the fifth leader of Chabad/Lubavitch. The Rebbe Rashab was universally known for his steadfast defense of Torah true Judaism in Czarist Russia and for his establishment of the Lubavitcher Yeshivah, Tomchei Tmimim, in the town of Lubavitch in 1897. The Rebbe Rashab also worked diligently to implement the virtue of *Ahavas Yisroel* (love of a fellow Jew) among all Jews. On the holiday of Simchat Torah, in 1898, the Rebbe Rashab recited a Chasidic discourse entitled *Heichaltzu*, literally meaning "arm yourselves." The discourse delves primarily into the spiritual roots of baseless hatred. However, the essence of the discourse was to foster love and unity among all Jews. The Rebbe Rashab states in the discourse: "One must assume that the other person is good in every respect. One should not view others in terms of one's own [experience], for one must judge every man positively and firmly believe he is surely better than oneself. Hence, one ought to be deeply distressed by the suffering of one's fellow..." In the merit of the Rebbe Rashab (of blessed memory), let us all do our utmost to abolish senseless hatred and foster true, unblemished love for our fellow Jews, which is certainly the precursor to the final redemption, the coming of *Moshiach Tzidkaynu*, speedily in our days, NOW Rabbi Shmuel Butman ***************************************************************** IT HAPPENED ONCE ***************************************************************** The mighty emperor Alexander the Great traveled to many countries. In each place he attempted to learn about unique customs, life-styles, and the way in which the people were governed. Once he visited a kingdom behind the African mountains. The king of that country welcomed Alexander and presented him with a beautiful gift--golden loaves of bread on golden trays. "I did not come here to see your treasures," Alexander told him. Then why did you come?" the king asked. "I wished to see how you judge the people in your country," replied Alexander. "I heard that your judgment is fair and good." As they were talking, two people arrived to be judged by the king. The first man was quite upset and could hardly contain his distress. "I bought a field from this other man," he blurted out, "and found a treasure in it. I want to return the treasure. I bought only the field, not the treasure! I don't want to take what doesn't belong to me." The other man, however, steadfastly held to his position. "I sold you the field with whatever it contains," he insisted. The treasure is yours. I don't want to take it." The two men continued to argue. Each one insisted that the treasure belonged to the other one. Alexander was amazed. "How do you judge this case?" he asked the king in disbelief. The king turned to the first man. "Do you have a son?" he asked him. "Yes" replied the man. "Do you have a daughter?" he inquired of the second man. "I do," replied the second. "I decide as follows," the king told them. "Marry your son and daughter to each other. Give the treasure to the young couple." Alexander expressed surprise at this decision. "Why are you so surprised?" The king asked him. "Didn't I judge well? How would they have decided the case in your country?" "Probably," replied Alexander, "they would have arrested both men. Then the treasure would be confiscated by the government." "Are the people in your country so greedily for money?" the shocked king asked. "Does the sun shine in your country, and does the rain fall?" "Certainly," replied Alexander. "Well," concluded the king, "G-d does not give you sun and rain in the merit of the people. People who quarrel with one another and want each other's possessions do not deserve even sun or rain. G-d has mercy on the animals, and it is only in their merit that He takes care of your country. Reprinted from "The Little Midrash Says": *Bereishit*. ***************************************************************** THOUGHTS THAT COUNT ***************************************************************** "G-d appeared to him [Avraham] in the plains of Mamre "(Genesis 18:1). When Rabbi Sholom Ber, the fifth Chabad Rebbe, was a young boy of four or five he went to his grandfather, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, the Rebbe at that time. He began to cry as he asked, "Why did G-d show Himself to our father Avraham, but He does not show Himself to us?" Reb Menachem Mendel answered him: "When a *tzadik* (righteous person) decides at the age of ninety-nine years that he should be circumcised, he deserves that G-d appear to him. *** "G-d appeared to him" (18:1). Rashi explains that the entire reason for G-d's appearing to Avraham was for the purpose of "visiting the sick." From here we learn the greatness of the mitzva of visiting the sick. *** "But his wife looked back from behind him [Lot] and she became a pillar of salt" (19-26). Lot's wife sinned through salt and was therefore punished through salt. When Lot asked her to bring salt for guests she replied, "Do you wish to institute this evil custom of hospitality, also, in our city?" (Rashi) She then went around to all the neighbors, announcing, "I need to borrow some salt because we have guests." It is in this way that all of Sodom found out they had visitors. (*Bereishit Rabbah*) *** "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac" (22:2). G-d said to Abraham, "Take your son [to be sacrificed]." Abraham said, "I have two sons, Isaac and Ishmael." G-d said, "Your only son." Said Abraham, "Each one is an only son to his mother." G-d said, "Whom you love." "I love both of them," replied Abraham. "Take Isaac," G-d commanded. (*Sanhedrin*; Rashi) *****************************************************************