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The Lamplighter
Chabad of Washington Heights' Weekly Newsletter
23 Iyar - 38 of Omer - 5784 | May 31, 2024 | Torah Portion: Bechukosai| Pirkei Avos: Ch. 5 | Issue #781

Have a Good Shabbos - Shabbat Shalom. Next week in Jerusalem!
Rabbi Yakov & Shulamit Kirschenbaum 

We pray to G-d that our brothers and sisters in our Holy Land of Israel be safe and unharmed, that the wounded be healed, that the hostages return home safely and unharmed, that the murdered be avenged, that the IDF utterly defeats our enemies, and that all our soldiers return home safely and unharmed.

To say a prayer for Israel, click here
Weekly Shabbat Dinners - RSVP for tonight!
Weekly Torah Classes
Schedule for Week of June 2-8
Weekday classes can be joined on Zoom - ID#: 858-784-1721 Password: 9R3NEZ , FB Live, and Phone - 646-558-6338 - code is 613770#.  

  • Monday at 8:30 pm: "My Prayer"
  • Wednesday at 8:30 pm: Parshah Insights
  • Shabbos at 9:30 am: Tanya & Tuna
  • Shabbos at 7:20 pm: Talmudic Tales

Shabbat Candle Lighting
Friday, May 31
Light Candles at: 8:03 pm

Shabbat, June 1
Shabbat Ends: 9:11 pm

Find out more about Shabbat & Holiday candle-lighting
Services are held at the Chabad House - 50 Overlook Terrace, side entrance

Shabbos P. Bechukosai
Shabbos Chazak - Shabbos Mevorchim Sivan
shul - kleiman
FRIDAY, MAY 31

Minchah, Kabolas Shabbos: 8:10 pm

SHABBAT, MAY 25

Tehillim: 8:30 am
Say Shema before: 9:07 am
Tanya & Tuna: 9:30 am
Shacharit: 10:00 am

Services followed by a kiddush, not-yet sponsored
To sponsor this week's kiddush or any kiddush, click here

Talmudic-Tales Class: 7:15 pm
Minchah: 8:00 pm
Maariv/Shabbat Ends: 9:11 pm
Torah: The Great Antidote
Life Lessons From the Parshah - Bechukosai
By Rabbi Yehoshua B. Gordon, emissary of the Rebbe to Tarzana, CA; art by Sefira Lightstone
The Torah portion of Bechukotai is the final portion of the Book of Vayikra, the third of the Five Books of Moses.

Upon completing each of the Five Books, it is customary to wish each other, “Chazak, chazak, venitchazek – be strong, be strong, and may we be strengthened.” The Shabbat that we read the last portion of each book is thus called Shabbat Chazak.

So five times a year, the Jewish people collectively wish each other, and all Jews, that by virtue of completing a book of Torah, the Torah should imbue us with strength and courage.
A Most Extraordonary Opportunity - Refused!
Modified and supplemented and supplemented by R. Yerachmiel Tilles from "A Treasury of Chassidic Tales", published by Artscroll.. Taken from Ascentofsafed.com.
A certain merchant who was a chasid of Rabbi Aharon-Leib of Premishlan had occasion to pass through Lyzhansk in the course of business. It would be a pity, he thought, to be so far from home and not to utilize this opportunity to visit one of the towering figures of the generation, the Rebbe Rebbe Elimelech of Lyzhinsk, In order to be able to do this in a clear and focused frame of mind, he first settled his various business affairs in the district, and arranged to be back in town for Shabbos. On Friday morning, after immersing himself in the mikveh (ritual bath), he went to greet the rebbe.

Rebbe Elimelech welcomed him, and then said: "Are you not one of the chasidim of Rabbi Aharon Leib of Premishlan? Tell me, now, why is your rebbe so conceited?"
Rabbi Shimon's Redemption Perspective
Taken from Chabadnj.org
The Torah portion of Bechukotai contains some hair-raising, dire predictions of what will happen to those who do not follow the Torah. Chassidic teachings explain that these curses are actually great blessings. Because of the lofty origin of these blessings, they could not be contained in the world in their actual form, and had to descend as curses.

A similar example can be found in Talmud (Moed Katan 9a) regarding Elazar, the son of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, who was sent by his father to two sages to receive a blessing. When he returned, he told his father in dismay that rather than blessing him, the sages had cursed him! His father then explained the meaning of each “curse,” which actually was a blessing in disguise.
Radicchio, Endive and Fennel Salad
By Levana Kirschenbaum | 8/31/17
My Radicchio Endive Fennel Salad is my latest triumph.

I created it as a special gift to a special friend for a special (upper round number) birthday.

Everything about this Radicchio salad is delightful and luxurious. The colors, the crunch, the flavors.
For a halachic guide to  washing/checking vegetables, fruits, & berries, click here

Two Orthodox Jews walking on a Boro Park street pass a church with a sign outside, saying: “Convert to Christianity in one hour, receive $10,000.”

So one guy says, “You know, I’m tired of being an Orthodox Jew, I’m going to give it a try, and I could really use $10,000.”

So he goes in, comes out an later, and the other guy asks him, “Did you do it? Did you really convert? And did you get the $10,000?”

And the first guy says, “You ask me about the $10,000? Is that all you people care about?”
"Everyone must regard himself and the world as evenly poised between good and guilt...If he performed a good deed, he has shifted the balance of his fate, and that of the entire world to good, and has brought deliverance and salvation upon himself and upon them all."
-Maimonides, Laws of Teshuvah Ch. 3, Law 4
"The time of our redemption has arrived!"
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, 1990-1 - see Yalkut Shimoni Yeshayahu, remez 499