Thousands of Chabad rabbis take a group selfie!

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It is not often I find something for the Monday Murals meme, so I was extra happy to discover the Rebbe painted on rolling shutters protecting the entrance to a store in Beer Sheva's old section.

The Rebbe is the late great Rabbi Menachem Shneerson, scholar, teacher, leader, and the pioneer of Jewish outreach.
The head of Chabad-Lubavitch movement died in 1994 in New York,  but many of his devoted followers believe he was, and still is, the Moshiach, the messiah.

In the 1950s the Lubavitcher Rebbe, from headquarters in Brooklyn,  started sending out young rabbis and their wives to cities and towns all over America and the world, even the remotest places like Kathmandu.
These idealistic couples open Chabad Houses and offer worship, classes, support, and love to Jews who are far from being observant.
They are called in Hebrew shluchim, literally, those who are sent out.

This week 4,200 of these rabbis are in New York for their International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries.
Don't miss these amazing photos of how they take a huge group selfie!
It was taken with a particularly large lens that was held up with a 5-meter-long stick carried by two men.

And equally impressive are these pictures of how the 4,200  pose for the more orderly and formal  annual photo.
They even launched a helicopter-drone to take a video of the mass photo shoot!
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UPDATE: This  in today's Times of Israel says it so well:   Thank you Chabad.  Very worth a read.
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(Also linking to Our World Tuesday.)

Shwarma: to take away and take to

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Today's idea for City Daily Photo theme day is "Take away store."
Every CDP blogger will have quite a different example to show you. 

One of the things I miss about Jerusalem are the shwarma stands on just about every corner.
For a little over 20 shekels you can get a whole delicious meal in a paper bag.

It is fun to watch the man "shave" the nicely-spiced chicken and turkey and/or lamb  meat off the turning skewer, stuff it in a pita, and add salads, humus, tehina, and French fries on top.

And a nice story about shwarma in today's Chabad.org/News.  Rabbi Danny Cohen tells this:

I visited soldiers on Sunday, right on the front lines in one of the areas where the units go in and come out. Our staff has been making daily visits to these places. After a few days, due to the generous support of others, we realized that for the time being, they have enough underwear, socks and toiletries for now to open a Costco. . . .
Instead, we have a friend/donor who insisted on sponsoring hot food for the soldiers, who are used to being served airplane-quality cuisine.
So we rolled into the area with 350 portions of hot shwarma in pitas.
The soldiers said at first, they thought it was an illusion due to the heat ... they were so appreciative that was hard to find someone who didn’t want to put on tefillin as well.
On Wednesday, we brought 450 falafel in pita sandwiches, again from sponsors (blessings on their heads). This was met with countless smiles; the food provides energy and nourishment for the soldiers. And about 150 guys wrapped tefillin.

See photos of the soldiers with their shwarma at Chabad News. 
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A happy Chabad Chanuka party

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Tomorrow is the 8th and final day of Chanuka.
But yesterday we got one last Chanuka party in -- the nice one offered by Chabad.
Grandsons Dean and Eyal made pretty sheltered candles.

 Then they moved on to another craft table.
The Meitar community center's gym was filled with tables full of art supplies and the nice Chabad young ladies helped the younger kids create what would later be needed in the shadow theater.

Luckily the grandkids were too busy to notice this  boy helping his mother spin cotton candy,  known in Hebrew as sa'arot savta, grandmother's hair.
I figured the sufganiot / jelly doughnuts distributed at the end of the party would be enough sweetness. 

Eyal and Dean got front row seats on the mats, the better to see Rabbi Shneur Kurtz light the chanukia candles and  to hear as he called the winning numbers in the raffle.

Then the lights dimmed and wondrous stories of light were read out, beginning with the creation of sun and moon.
All the kids who had made stars came behind the screen and waved their stars.
When the narrative turned to spinning dreidls, all the kids who had cut out dreidl silhouettes  came up.
And so on.

I was amazed by how, with only low-tech ways, the Chabadnikim created a warm atmosphere of true Chanuka celebration.
The kids and I loved it.
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The Day of the Breaking of the Ax, Tu B'Av

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Today was Tu B'Av.  As you can see from the Google doodle, in modern Israel this ancient holiday has evolved into a day of love, with many of the trappings of Valentine's Day that we learned from  other countries.
But reading a good Chabad article today, I learned that the Talmud lists six joyous events which occurred on this 15th of Av.

Just recently we found an X word for ABC Wednesday:
 Josephus (Bellum Judaisum 2:17)   refers to Tu B'Av as the Feast of Xylophory ("Wood-bearing") because on that day the cutting of the wood for the main altar in the Temple was completed for the year.

Today I learned this from Chabad:

 When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, the annual cutting of firewood for the altar was concluded on the 15th of Av. The event was celebrated with feasting and rejoicing (as is the custom upon the conclusion of a holy endeavor), and included a ceremonial breaking of the axes, which gave the day its name, the Day of the Breaking of the Ax.
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Why break the axes? Why not store them for next year’s cutting? Because the ax represents the very antithesis of what the altar, and the Temple as a whole, stood for.
Regarding the making of the altar, G‑d had instructed: “When you build a stone altar for Me, do not build it of cut stone; for if your sword has been lifted upon it, you have profaned it” (Exodus 20:22). “Do not lift iron upon it . . . The altar of G‑d shall be built of whole stones” (Deuteronomy 27:5–6). If any metal implement so much as touched a stone, that stone was rendered unfit for use in the making of the altar.
Our sages explain: “Iron was created to shorten the life of man, and the altar was created to lengthen the life of man; so it is not fitting that that which shortens should be lifted upon that which lengthens” (Talmud, Middot 3:4). Iron, the instrument of war and destruction, has no place in the making of the instrument whose function is to bring eternal peace and harmony to the world.

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 From the Chabad website.  Based on the teachings of the

 Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson; adapted by Yanki Tauber.

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See also http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2009/08/dancing-in-vineyards-in-moonlight.html
and for fun look at  http://jerusalemhillsdailyphoto.blogspot.co.il/2008/06/woodpile.html

Happy Tu B'Av!

(Linking to Our World Tuesday.)

Just go over!

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Today the blessed sun returned after our six straight days of rain.

The unusual heavy wetness  was too much for this ancient agricultural terrace wall, and the stones collapsed onto  a section of  green-and-white-marked hiking trail in our valley.

I prayed the heavy rocks would not start falling again as I was climbing over.

It reminded me that the Rebbe Maharash (of Chabad) had this saying:
"The whole world says, if you can't go under, go over.   
I say, forget going under, just go over!"
 
Meaning that often there is no time or energy or need for painstakingly working through a problem, so we should  jump to the most direct, simple, and powerful solution and just DO it.
Usually this is the most outrageous solution to the challenge, but that's OK. 

Just start by stepping right over it, as though there were no obstacle to begin with.

Maybe that’s why obstacles are there in the first place--so we will go higher. 

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Celebration for a kids' Torah

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Never have I seen chairs set up at the Western Wall Plaza.
But on Wednesday there were THOUSANDS of them!
Little plastic "handcuffs" tied the chairs together and ensured orderly rows.

The sign at the stage revealed the reason: in a few hours the writing of a children's Torah scroll would be completed and dedicated, all with much joy and fanfare.

Apparently Chabad has a program in which a child, or an infant's parents, can pay one dollar and have one letter of a Torah written for him or her.

I learn in this article about Wednesday's event that

Three decades ago on his birthday, the Rebbe spoke of the special power children have to make the world a better place. All over the globe, their “very breath free of sin,” could fuel a dramatic demonstration of unity that could change the planet. In order to accomplish this, he urged that every Jewish child possess a letter in a Torah scroll written specifically for them. All it would cost is the symbolic amount of one dollar, ideally coming from the child’s own funds or sponsored by parents and family members. Each letter would link Jewish children the world over to the foundation of their heritage.

To read all about it, please see http://www.kidstorah.org/.

Shabbat shalom.
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Chametz and how to get rid of it legally

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A Chabadnik with his fringe flying, he was in such a hurry!

We posted about the cleaning frenzy Israelis get into the week before Passover, but in general everybody is frantically trying to get all the preparations done before Pesach begins.

I assume the Chabad man was wheeling his little stand (with the picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) to a strategic place in or near Machaneh Yehuda market (this was three days ago).
Probably he was going to help people sell their chametz, letting them sign a power of attorney form so that Chabad could sell (actually lease) all their not-allowed-during-Pesach-week food to a non-Jew.

I am not frum enough to be able to explain this well, so if you really want to know, please see the "Chametz Wizard" for a short and authoritative explanation.

Furthermore, in the Age of the Internet, Chabad now helps Jews all over the world sell their chametz online!
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P.S. Here is the definition of chametz, from Chabad:
"Chametz is "leaven" -- any food that's made of grain and water that have been allowed to ferment and "rise." Bread, cereal, cake, cookies, pizza, pasta, and beer are blatant examples of chametz; but any food that contains grain or grain derivatives can be, and often is, chametz. Practically speaking, any processed food that is not certified "Kosher for Passover" may potentially include chametz ingredients."
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Chag sameach/happy holiday and Shabbat shalom!
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Happy xanuka

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As far as I can figure, [x] in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the sound of a voiceless velar fricative.
Good enough for X-Day at ABC Wednesday, no?
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So happy [x]anuka! hehe
Today is the 8th and last day of Chanuka.

In Tel Aviv, on one of the fancy streets, this shop was full of many varieties of traditional fried in oil soofganiot (jelly doughnuts).

But I much preferred these simple free ones because of the nice and friendly Chabad man who was offering them to everyone after they lit the Chanuka lights.
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This was at HaTachana, the new complex of shops and restaurants that Tel Aviv recently opened.
It is the site of the old Turkish railway station and freight warehouses, etc.
You can see the brown railroad car in the background of the photo.

"Young Chabad" wishes you Happy Chanuka with their happy sign and joyful Jewish music.

Some of my family responded to the music and started dancing.
Some (secular) men joined in the circle, something the religious would not allow back in Jerusalem.
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Lulav

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All week we are celebrating the Jewish festival of Sukkot (instructions begin in Leviticus 23:39).
Let us combine it with L-Day at ABC Wednesday.

Lulav! This Hebrew word לולב is the name for a ripe, green, closed frond from a date palm tree.
The man is meticulously examining the lulavim, deciding which one meets his standards and his budget.

Limes? Lemons?

No! These are etrogim. The etrog is the fruit of the citron tree.

Together with myrtle branches and willow branches, the lulav and the etrog make up the "four species" that are required for Sukkot.

You will enjoy reading about their rich symbolism.

While holding the plants together with both hands, you say the blessing and shake them above you, downward, in front of you, in back, and two both sides--showing that God is everywhere.
The leaves of the lulav make a nice snapping sound.

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But this should be done inside a sukkah, the temporary booth or hut we put up to "dwell in" during the week of Sukkot.

And, in the Diaspora at least, if you don't have or can't find a sukkah, Chabad will make sure you see their Sukkah Mobile at various obvious places.

The Chabadniks will make sure Jews perform the mitsva of eating in the sukkah and waving the lulav.

Look! Another Sukkah Mobile parked outside the Coliseum in Rome!

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The last two photos are borrowed from Chabad, with thanks. Thanks for all they do.

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Turkey or terror?

A blessed Thanksgiving Day to all who celebrate it today.
We don't have this holiday in Israel. I daresay most Israelis have never seen a whole roast turkey and have no idea what cranberry sauce is.

Photo of a Heifer Ranch turkey by friend Kristine S. in Arkansas

Photo from Chabad.org News

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But what is weighing heavily on me and all Israelis for the past 18 hours is the chaos and drama going on (and on) in Mumbai/Bombay. Pity on ALL the dead and wounded. But many of the hostages are Israelis. And the Jewish couple pictured above, Rivka and Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, directors of the Chabad House in Mumbai, are reported to be unconscious, with terrorists controlling the house. The nanny managed to carry their child out to safety.

Rivki's father was on the radio this morning, asking everyone to say Psalms, to pray, for the rescue of all. God help them.

The horror of it all drains me of energy. I try to put it aside for a few moments and to post on some neutral or even happy subject, but it doesn't work. It is a dilemma for me as a blogger. Forgive me for often posting gloom. Can any of you give me advice?

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Let there be light -- Shabbat Beresheet

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Today is Shabbat Beresheet, the Sabbath on which we begin the Torah-reading cycle anew, starting at Genesis.
After all our soul-searching and repenting of the past month, God has hopefully given us a clean slate to begin the new Jewish year.
Every year on this Hebrew date we read all over again how God created the world, and every year we are given a fresh chance to create our own worlds all over again.

"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

Here is a story related by Yanki Tauber, content editor of http://www.chabad.org/:

What Is A Chassid?LET THERE BE LIGHT (1:3)

In 1907, when Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch was staying at the health spa in Wirtzburg, Germany, a group of chassidim came to spend a Shabbos with the Rebbe. Among them was Reb Yosef Yuzik Horowitz, his son-in-law Reb Feivel Zalmanov, and Reb Elimelech Stoptzer.

The Rebbe prayed for many hours that Shabbos morning, as was his manner. Meanwhile, the chassidim made kiddush and consumed a respectable quantity of l'chayims.
Later, when the Rebbe had finished and they sat with him to the Shabbos meal, Reb Yosef Yuzik asked:
"Rebbe, what is a chassid?"

Replied the Rebbe: "A chassid is a lamplighter. The lamplighter walks the streets carrying a flame at the end of a stick. He knows that the flame is not his. And he goes from lamp to lamp to set them alight."

Asked Reb Yosef Yuzik: "What if the lamp is in a desert?"
"Then one must go and light it," said the Rebbe. "And when one lights a lamp in a desert, the desolation of the desert becomes visible. The barren wilderness will then be ashamed before the burning lamp."

Continued the chassid: "What if the lamp is at sea?"
"Then one must undress, dive into the sea, and go light the lamp."
"And this is a chassid?" Reb Yosef Yuzik asked.
For a long while the Rebbe thought. Then he said: "Yes, this is a chassid."

"But Rebbe, I do not see the lamps!"
Answered the Rebbe: "Because you are not a lamplighter."
"How does one become a lamplighter?"
"First, you must reject the evil within yourself.
Start with yourself, cleanse yourself, refine yourself, and you will see the lamp within your fellow. When a person is himself coarse, G-d forbid, he sees coarseness; when a person is himself refined, he sees the refinement in others."

Reb Yosef Yuzik then asked: "Is one to grab the other by the throat?"
Replied the Rebbe: "By the throat, no; by the lapels, yes."
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Obstacle? Just go over.

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This is where I often go walking at the end of the day.

Once it was our village's only way to Jerusalem.

Then the new road, higher on the hill, was built and this old one was blocked.

Grandson No. 1 and I had a big hike from here down to the spring when he came from Australia to visit almost two years ago.

I thought of this picture when today's "Daily Dose of Wisdom from the [Lubavitcher] Rebbe" arrived in my inbox. It is copied below.

Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch, known as “The Rebbe Maharash,” the fourth in the golden chain of rebbes of Lubavitch, had an attitude.

Many wise people say if you can’t go under, go over. The Rebbe Maharash said, “Just go over.”
Meaning that instead of first trying to work through a problem by its own rules, and then --if that doesn’t work --gathering the strength and courage to step brazenly over it. . .
Instead, just start by stepping right over it, as though there were no obstacle to begin with.

After all, that’s why obstacles are there in the first place--so you will go higher.

A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe
-words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman
Tishrei 13, 5769 * October 12, 2008

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