Thank you for your responses to my articles. I have received many comments and questions about the current series on Moshiach and Chinuch and I would like to take the opportunity to address some of them.
While doing mivtzaim, it happens sometimes that in my outreach to Jews, I encounter non-Jews. I usually just give them a sheva mitzvos card with a picture of the Rebbe. Once in a while, a non-Jew will enter into a discussion about faith, the seven mitzvos, Moshiach, etc. I have met smart non-Jews who have despaired of what their religion has to offer and are looking for an alternative. I have also met those who choose to eat kosher and “observe” Shabbos even though they are not Jewish. I respond to each one according to the circumstances and the question they pose. I usually explain that in Judaism we are not interested in enlisting new candidates and that in their current status they are obligated to observe the Seven Noachide Laws.
“I was born and raised in Rechovot. I learned in Chabad yeshivos in Kfar Chabad (Rishon L’Tziyon), in Tzfas and in 770. I got married after a stint on shlichus at the Chabad house in New Delhi, India. After a year in kollel in Tzfas, I worked as a teacher for a few years in the yishuv of Eli in Mateh Binyamin and then we moved to Petach Tikva.”
Together with his fervent desire for the position of rav of Yekatrinoslav, Rabbi Bunin was a man with a very refined and exemplary character who recognized the greatness of Rabbi Schneersohn. He knew that he himself was more of an orator, while Rabbi Schneersohn was more outstanding for his deeds. Thus, he felt that if the community would choose their rav based on the sermon he gave, they would likely choose him and not the one who was better suited for the job. Rabbi Bunin was faced with a difficult internal struggle, and he eventually decided to withdraw his consideration of this lofty post, choosing instead to use his connections on behalf of Rabbi Schneersohn’s election. His decision was made with a heavy heart, but also with absolute determination…
To commemorate twenty years since the founding of the Beis Moshiach Magazine, editorial board member R’ Menachem Ziegelboim sat down with R’ Elchanan Nir, editor of the Makor Rishon Shabbos supplement, and discussed their work in writing and editing, revealing a few secrets of the trade. They deliberated over a variety of journalistic possibilities, and they agreed on the tremendous responsibility attached to every written and printed word.
One of the people familiar to those working for Zaka in Beer Sheva is Shimon Zaguri. Zaguri is a volunteer in the Zaka organization for over fifteen years now. In recent years he has been driving an ambulance for them.
Forty years ago, R’ Yosef Ladaiov had yechidus and asked the Rebbe for permission to stop his work in registering children in Chabad schools and to go into the diamond business. The Rebbe negated his plan and told him to continue with his holy work. R’ Yosef, as a faithful Chassid, did just that. For the rest of his life, he located small diamonds covered with dirt and brought them to the “diamond polisher” in Chabad schools.
Before departing from this world, Jacob blessed Joseph and his two sons, Ephraim and Menasheh. When Jacob placed his right hand on the head of the younger son, Ephraim, and his left hand on the head of the older son, Menasheh, Joseph tried to correct his father. Jacob explained that Ephraim, though the younger brother, would be greater than his older sibling, Menasheh.
The wheels of the plane lifted off the runway. The earth slowly became smaller and smaller and only the blue skies and white fluffy clouds could be seen out of the plane’s windows.
December 31, 2014