Weekly Moment With the Rebbe

The Avner Institute presents letters honoring this time of year and other contributors to Jewish thought: the Alter Rebbe, whose Tanya, the foundation of Chabad Chassidim integrated the hidden Torah; and the proper study of Cabala, a deeply esoteric practice that has attracted many seekers.

This Tuesday we celebrated Lag B’Omer, the 33rd day of counting the Omer, when the plague that had decimated the scholars of Rabbi Akiva came to a halt; and the yahrzeit of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai—the “Rashbi”—author of the Zohar, the seminal work of Jewish mysticism. The Avner Institute presents letters honoring this time of year and other contributors to Jewish thought: the Alter Rebbe, whose Tanya, the foundation of Chabad Chassidim integrated the hidden Torah; and the proper study of Cabala, a deeply esoteric practice that has attracted many seekers.

In loving memory of Hadassah Lebovic A”h
“The survival of our heritage”

By the Grace of G-d
5 Iyar 5721
Brooklyn, NY

The Newman Family
21 Supple Road
Roxbury, MA

Greeting and Blessing:

I was pleased to receive your letter of Rosh Chodesh Iyar, in which you write your experience of a “chance” meeting with a Jewish girl, and the far-reaching results that it has led to in bringing her closer to her Jewish heritage. It is gratifying to note that you did not fail to see in this the intervention of the Divine Providence which extends to each and every one individually.

You will also be encouraged to see how every Jewish person, no matter how estranged from the Jewish sources, is yet sensitive and responsive to the proper influence. I hope this will encourage you in your good work to exercise your utmost influence in this direction.

As we are now in the days of Sefirah, it is well to bear in mind that these days also emphasize the above lesson in regard to the great Sage, Rabbi Akiba and his disciples. For you surely know the story of Rabbi Akiba, who had 24,00 students, all of whom, unfortunately, died during the period of Sefirah, and, as our Sages relate, “The world was desolate.” However, subsequently, Rabbi Akiba had five students, and these five individuals laid the foundation for the whole future of the Mishna and Talmud, and thus ensured the survival of our people.

This story which our Sages recorded for a purpose, namely, that we should learn something from it in our own daily life, emphasizes the importance of every individual in the survival of our heritage, for no one can tell whether the particular individual Jewish child, boy or girl, may be one of such five students as Rabbi Akiba had.

Your experience should also serve as a complete rebuttal of those who oppose or are indifferent to such work as the Release Hour, minimizing the effect that one hour a week can have on a child, and at the same time making all sorts of false calculations to discourage making contact with Jewish children, from the only opportunity they may have to make contact with Jewish life.

May G-d bless you in your good work and influence, and may you go from strength to strength. Hoping to hear good news from you always.

With blessing,

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“A proper and full Torah education”

By the Grace of G-d
19 Kislev 5744
Brooklyn, NY

To All Participants in the Builders Banquet
and Dedication of the Dauer School
The Hebrew Academy Lubavitch
Long Beach, CA

Greeting and Blessing:

I am pleased to extend congratulations and prayerful wishes to the esteemed Dauer Family and all friends of the Hebrew Academy Lubavitch on this auspicious occasion. May it be blessed with hatzlocha [success] in every respect.

Since everything is by Divine Providence, and this event is taking place in the week of sedra Vayechi, it is timely to recall the teaching of the Alter Rebbe, author of the Tanya and Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law] and founder of Chabad – today (19th of Kislev) being the Anniversary of his Liberation – that the weekly Torah portion contains pertinent lessons for the current events of the week.

One such lesson, particularly relevant to the occasion, is to be found in the very first verse of the sedra: “And Jacob lived (“vayechi”) in the land of Egypt seventeen years” (Gen. 47:28). It came to light when the Alter Rebbe’s little grandson (later to become famous as the Rebbe the “Tzemach Tzedek”), having heard from his Chumash teacher that these were Father Jacob’s best years, asked his grandfather how this was possible, seeing that Egypt was not the Holy Land, etc.

The Alter Rebbe explained that, as indicated in the previous sedra, Yaakov Avinu (our Patriarch Jacob) had sent his son Yehuda ahead of him to establish there a Torah school that would provide a complete Torah education to his children and succeeding generations; and when this was done, it was possible to live happily in Egypt.

The lesson is clear: Wherever Jews settle, it is their first duty to make sure that the young generation – including those who are “young” in terms of experience of Yiddishkeit in the everyday life, regardless of actual age – will be provided with a proper and full Torah education. The Hebrew Academy Lubavitch, and all who participate in programs and activities to spread Torah-true Yiddishkeit with dedication and personal involvement – are the “Yehudas” of our time, whose vital work cannot be overemphasized.

May Hashem bless each and all of you to go from strength to strength in all the above, which will also widen the channels to receive G-d’s generous blessings in all your needs, materially and spiritually.

With esteem and blessing,

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“Transmitted over the generations”

By the Grace of G-d
20 Adar II 5736

Mr. & Mrs. O. Loeffler
1196 Donation Avenue
Youngstown, OH 44505

Greeting and Blessing:

This is in reply to your letter of 3/16/76 on behalf of a young man stationed in Korea, who is interested in Cabala, and you ask what it is and where it may be obtained.

Cabala – very briefly – is part of the sacred Torah-literature, dealing with profundity and mystical aspects of G-dliness and the inner significance of the Divine precepts (mitzvoth). The teachings of the Cabala have been transmitted over the generations in special schools of saintly Torah scholars, called Cabalists. In the past 200 years or so, much of the teachings of the Cabala have been incorporated and disseminated in the teachings of Chasidus, especially Chabad, and made accessible to wider circles, indeed, to all who are interested in a deeper knowledge of Judaism.

Cabala, per se, is a subject that cannot really be studied without a G-d-fearing, Torah-true teacher, much less by one who has no solid Torah background, and is not fluent in the original Hebrew and Aramaic language and the Cabala terminology.

However, we have published a number of works on Chabad in English, which can well serve as a practical introduction to Cabala. These are listed in the enclosed catalog, with titles underscored in red (see Index p. 27). In addition, we can highly recommend the more recent publications (not included in the catalog):
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, vol. II: Philosophy of Chabad, and
My Prayer. Both by Nissan Mindel.

To begin with, we would suggest these last two, as well as The Commandments, by the same author.

Sincerely yours,

Rabbi M.A. Hodakov, Dir.

Encl.

P.S. Needless to say, to study Cabala in India, and the like, should not be under consideration at all. And even to study the Cabala in another and more suitable place, this could also be considered only if one is to learn it from a person who is himself totally committed to the Torah and mitzvoth.

The study of Cabala is not like the study of any science and the like, which can be studied from books or authors in a detached way. It is intimately connected with the Torah and mitzvoth as a daily experience, and, like the Torah and mitzvoth themselves, is based on the principle of “na’aseh v’nishma – we will do and we will understand.” This means that the doing, i.e., the actual fulfillment of the Torah and mitzvoth, is a pre-condition to the understanding, for it is through the observance of the Torah and mitzvoth in the daily life that one gains an insight into the understanding and deeper meaning of the mitzvoth.

And the same applies to Cabala. There is no exception to this rule, and it would certainly be presumptuous and illogical for a young man to say that he will be an exception.

To receive to your inbox email: Rebbebook@gmail.com

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