The Lamplighter
Chabad of Washington Heights' Weekly Newsletter
21 Iyar-36 to the Omer-5783 - Hakhel Year | May 12, 2023 | Torah Portion:Behar-Bechukosai | Pirkei Avos: Ch. 5 | Issue #732
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This week's Lamplighter is dedicated to Rabbi Akiva Wagner (click here), of blessed memory - a very special chosid who passed away this week. I attended the summer camp he ran in 1996 in Hunter, NY. It was a life-changing exeperience. May G-d bless his soul.
Wishing you Good Shabbos, Shabbat Shalom. Next week in Jerusalem!
Rabbi Yakov Kirschenbaum
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To say a prayer for the security and well-being of our brothers and sisters in Israel, click here.
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To donate to Chabad of Poland's work in helping Ukrainian refugees, click here
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This Shabbos at appx. 2:00 pm
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Weekly Shabbat Dinners - RSVP for tonight!
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Schedule for Week of May 14-20
Weekday classes can be watched/heard on Facebook Live and on the phone at 646-558-6338 - code is 613770#
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Monday at 9;00 pm at Chabad: Chassidus
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Wednesday at 9:00 pm at Chabad: Parshah
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Shabbos at 2:00 pm: Chassidus w/ R' Aaron Wold
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Shabbos at 7:50 pm: Pirkei Avos w/ R' Yitzchak Friedman
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Friday, May 12
Light Candles at: 7:45 pm
Shabbat, May 13
Shabbat Ends: 8:51 pm
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Services are held at the Chabad House - 50 Overlook Terrace, side entrance
Shabbos P. Behar-Bechukosai
Shabbos Chazak
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FRIDAY, MAY 12
Minchah, Kaballat Shabbat: 7:55 pm
SHABBAT, MAY 13
Say Shema before: 9:14 am
Tanya & Tuna: 9:30 am
Shacharit: 10:00 am
Services followed by a kiddush,sponsored by Mdrs. Rivka Cohn and Mrs. Nechi Wolf!
Chassidus w/ R' Aaron Wold: Appx.: 2:00 pm
Pirkei Avos w/ R' Yitzchak Friedman: 6:40 pm
Minchah: 7:40 pm
Maariv/Shabbat Ends: 8:51 pm
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Can We Ever Really Change?
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“I don’t want to—it’s too hard!”
I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard that from my kids. Whether it’s pulling them out of bed, getting them to eat their broccoli, or making sure they’ve said their morning prayers, resistance comes in many forms. And even when they finally get the job done, it doesn’t make it any easier the next time.
When I think about it, can I really blame them? It is genuinely difficult to get out of bed when you’re tired, it’s no fun to eat broccoli when you detest the green leafy stuff, and it’s downright boring to pray when you’re not in the mood.
So what do I tell them?
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The “Disgraced” Woman’s Successful Cry of Anguish
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Rivka Heller was a fine young woman with a noble dream: she hoped to marry a scholar and raise children who would be a credit to her own heritage. Born around 200 years ago in Belarus, then part of the Russian Empire, on her mother’s side she was a great-granddaughter of the illustrious Rabbi Yomtov Lipman Heller, revered author of a treasured commentary to the Mishnah.
Rivka’s father, a businessman who owned a store, became embroiled in a dispute with a fellow trader who turned out to be viciously vindictive. When the matter was not resolved to his satisfaction, the antagonist spread salacious rumors about Rivka and a patron of her father’s store. Tragically, the rumor was widely believed, and although of marriageable age, no worthy suitors were forthcoming. Rivka was devastated, feeling that she was being treated as a pariah due to no fault of her own.
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One may wonder: the level of freedom we enjoy in this country (and around the world) surpasses the freedom felt at any other time in history. Our freedom extends not only to material matters, but - thankfully, to spiritual opportunities as well. There is hardly a place on Earth where a Jew does not have the ability to fully express his Jewishness with pride.
Why then to we need and request so strongly the Redemption through Moshiach?
It is understandable why Jews in the Middle Ages needed Moshiach - their lives were miserable; there were pogroms and terrible suffering. But now, it seems that we have “evolved” into a brighter future and who’s to say that that evolution won’t continue - so why the need for Moshiach?
The answer is that there are still many Jews who have not yet connected with Judaism and still others who, specifically because of the freedoms of our society - have drifted away from observance of Torah. As long as one Jew is not yet connected with Torah, none of us - no matter how far we’ve developed in our pursuit of holiness - can truly be called free.
Moshiach will have the G‑d given ability to reveal the innermost, Divine essence of our souls and bring liberty and freedom to all mankind.
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Steak Salad Recipe. All Variations
By Levana Kirschenbaum | 1/30/13
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A great Steak Salad starts with a great cut of meat.
There are quite a few steak salad recipes out there you could play with (Asian, Latin, French etc), all delicious.
The following Steak Salad is one of my favorite, a sort of take-off on Waldorf Salad, served as a main course. The robust Remoulade dressing is a great match for the steak. Gluten-free without even trying.
For a halachic guide to
washing/checking vegetables, fruits, & berries, click here
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A Surgeon, an engineer, and a politician were arguing as to which profession was older.
"Well," argued the Surgeon, "G‑d created Eve from Adam by form of surgery, so I am sure that mine is the oldest profession."
"No," said the engineer, "before life began there was complete chaos, and it took an engineer to create some semblance of order from this chaos. So engineering is older."
"But," chirped the triumphant politician, "who do you think created the chaos?"
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"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
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"The time of our redemption has arrived!"
The Lubavitcher Rebbe, 1990-1 - see Yalkut Shimoni Yeshayahu, remez 499
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