New Sefer Torah for Kyoto

Rabbi Binyomin Edery arrived yesterday from the Holy Land carrying a Sefer Torah (Torah Scroll) for the new Chabad House in Kyoto. Very moving and exciting to see the extraordinary developments of Hashem's newest home in the Land of the Rising Sun.
 
 
Bar Mitzvah Boy, Tayo puts on Tefillin with Shneor Zalman  (before Shabbat).
Many guests participated in the Bar Mitzvah celebration on Shabbat in Kyoto and were inspired by the unity and holiness of the occasion.

 
Tables are set. Rabbi Edery, the Edery boys and Tayo,  learn about the importance and meaning of Bar Mitzvah in the hours before Shabbat came in Kyoto.

Police won't be needed
When Moshiach comes.
Why?
Our Torah portion, Shoftim, opens with the command, "Judges and officers you shall place at all your gates."
The wording is reminiscent of, but differs from, the one that we say three times daily in the silent "Amida" prayer, taken from the prophet of Redemption, Isaiah, "Return your judges as of old and your advisors as in the beginning."
We can well understand why the word "officers" is not part of the promise of the Redemption, for officers enforce the law and will therefore not be necessary at a time when the very existence of evil will be banished from the earth.
Here we see the difference between the times of exile and the times of Redemption. In our portion, the Torah links the judges to officers indicating that their rulership is by decree and dependent on enforcement. In the Redemption, soon to come, the judges will be seen more as advisors since the people will be convinced more of the personal benefit that is derived from following the Torah's ways.
This feeling develops the closeness between judge and judged which is implied in the wording of Isaiah, "your judges" in the second person.
The way this concept is worded in the Torah is associated with the nature of the Torah itself, it being a direct revelation of the will and wisdom of the Almighty, a decree from Above, as it were.
On the other hand the words of the Prophets, though also emanating from G-d, are more clearly associated with the human mind which transmits them and thus are more similar to the judge as advisor mentioned before.
Indeed part of the role assumed by the prophets of each generation has been to care for the spiritual and even material needs of the people.
Our current portion is also the source of Maimonides ruling that the belief in human prophets is a fundamental of Judaism.
In his epistle to Yemen, Maimonides describes "Prophecy returns to Israel" as a preparation to the Redemption particularly in the personage of Moshiach who is to be "close in prophecy to Moshe."
It is therefore essential to convey to the world that there are human beings in our times who have been endowed with prophecy, that we have a positive commandment to obey them once established as such.
Particularly in the major prophecy that all required conditions for the coming of Moshiach have been met and that we should prepare to greet the Redemption which is immediately to unfold.
Adapted from a talk of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Parshat Shoftim, 5751 - 1991.


Golden Opportunity
This past Shabbat was the first day of Elul. In Elul we prepare for the upcoming High Holidays by blowing the shofar each morning, having our mezuzot and tefilin checked to make sure they are still fit, being more careful about keeping kosher and saying special selichot (penitential prayers) toward the end of the month.
Why do we do all of this in the month of Elul? Can't it wait until we're closer to Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur - most of us "work" better under pressure anyway!?
These questions can be explained by a beautiful parable:
Once each year, a very mighty king leaves his palace, his guards, his finery, and goes out into the field to meet with his subjects. At that time, they can ask of him anything they wish. They do not need to wait in long lines, go through security checks, be announced ceremoniously. They can speak with him without hesitation. When the king returns to his palace, his subjects will once again have to go through all kinds of protocol to meet with him. So, of course, his subjects make the most of the opportunity.
During the month of Elul, G-d is "in the field." We don't need to go through all kinds of red tape to reach Him. We need only come out to meet Him, as it were, with a humble heart, and He will listen to us. He will accept our repentance and consider our requests most carefully.
The King is in the field. Make sure not to miss this opportunity.

                                        Shabbat in Tokyo, September 9 - 10, 2016

 Candle lighting at 5:38 pm

Shabbat ends at 6:34 pm
Long Live our master our teacher our Rebbe King Moshiach forever!
 May we celebrate this Shabbat and Shavuot in the Third Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Binyomin and Efrat Edery