It is not correct to say that the thought of redemption in the time of exile is a dream, but the exact opposite: when we think about exile – that is the dream! * It is specifically when one accepts the illusion of exile, that it is a dream; it is only during the (dream of) exile that one fools himself into thinking that it is reality
Friday afternoon, in the center of cities like Ramat Gan, Beit Shemesh, Ashdod etc., you will see them at t’fillin stands. No, they are not Lubavitcher bachurim, they are bachurim and married men from Poilishe Chassidic groups who do Mivtza T’fillin every week! * In a conversation with Beis Moshiach, Yisroel Chaim Detz, who runs a t’fillin stand and is a former Poilishe Chassid, told about the challenges of this new phenomenon – the men who go far away from where they live so they won’t be identified, the bachurim who need to hide from their mashgiach, and a personal story about the rain that fell and the Chassid that blossomed
Jewish Holidays come in their prescribed times; Passover in the spring, Sukkos in the fall. The way the Jewish calendar is set up, Pesach can never occur in any other season than the spring. Although we follow a lunar calendar in which a year has 11 days fewer than a solar year, we add a leap month 7 times in a 19-year cycle to compensate for the disparity. In this way, Holidays always occur in the same season.
Tziporah Piltz is a tour guide and master educator who lives and breathes the Hilchos Beis HaBechira not only during the Three Weeks. Her home is on the Mt of Olives, but she is eagerly awaiting the day that the earth will split beneath her (a Messianic prophecy). Although she makes her home on a holy mountain, her true yearnings are focused on the neighboring mountain where we will soon see our true home rebuilt on the other side of the Kosel
At a young age he had a small science lab in his house, he star-gazed, and contemplated the meaning of nature, but it was only when he heard about the ten s’firos that he understood that he needed to find meaning in his life. This he found at the Chabad House in Kiryat Bialik. * Over the years, he began researching fears and phobias and he now treats them. * R’ Ofer Gottlieb tells his life story and shares fascinating insights
In the words of the Shtefaneshter Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Nochum Friedman.
This Shabbos, Parshas Pinchas, is the first Shabbos of the Three Weeks. During this time we focus on the Beis HaMikdash. The Rebbe writes in HaYom Yom (21 Tammuz): “It is written: ‘They shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell among them’ — that is, within each and every Jew. For the innermost point of every Jewish heart is a Sanctuary in which G-d can abide. Now, the site of the Beis HaMikdash remains sacred even in the period of exile and desolation. As is written in Shmos Rabba, Chapter 2, ‘Rav Acha declared: The Divine Presence will never depart from the Western Wall.’ The desolation relates to the buildings alone.
The mitzvah of pru urvu (having children) is a very important mitzvah; in fact, it is the very first mitzvah mentioned in the Torah. In the words of the Alter Rebbe, the first mitzvah of the Torah is that one Jew should make another Jew. However, unfortunately there are people who face grave challenges in fulfilling this mitzvah, and have great difficulty receiving Hashem’s blessing to have children.
As Chassidim, we are taught to write to the Rebbe about every special plan and to ask for his bracha. When we ask the Rebbe for a bracha in a certain matter, of course we need to be prepared to accept whatever the Rebbe says, even if the answer is not in line with our plans. At the same time, it is very important not to draw conclusions on one’s own, but to consult with your mashpia, with the belief that the Rebbe conveys the right guidance through him
It is now a decade and a half since the bracha I got for buying the apartment that I live in. We live on the border of B’nei Brak – Ramat Gan, an area that has gotten more religious in recent years. When we moved in, despite its proximity to B’nei Brak, the building was almost completely populated by people who were not religious. The same was true for the neighborhood
July 12, 2017