Tsunami: The Jewish Response

As Jews we seek guidance from the Torah in trying to make sense of the events around us. So as we struggle to come to terms with the greatest natural disaster in modern history - perhaps even since the Flood - it behooves us to look into the weekly parasha for spiritual direction.

And indeed we do not have to look far. In Chapter 9, Verse 10 we read that Pharaoh’s daughter called him Moshe, “for I drew him from the water”.

The Midrash notes that Moses was given many names by a whole variety of people. To name the two apparently most important: His father called him Chaver, while his mother called him Yekutiel, Yet the name which stuck, and the one by which G-d chose to call him was the name given to him by Pharaoh’s daughter, Moshe. Why?

Says the Midrash: From here we learn the reward of those who do kindness to others. Pharaoh’s daughter felt deeply for the anonymous child she saw floating in the Nile and she went beyond herself to save him. Her hand wasn’t long enough, so she stretched it beyond its limits, further than its natural capacity, in order to save Moses (see Rashi). In recognition of her heroic effort, it was the name that Pharaoh’s daughter gave that remained with the greatest prophet, leader and teacher that the world has ever seen.

We puny mortals cannot comprehend why G-d does what he does. When confronted with suffering, even Moses can’t understand and cries out to G-d, “Why have You acted evilly against this people!”

However there is something far more important than our understanding and comprehension – our actions! From Pharaoh’s daughter we learn that the correct response to tragedy is not to understand it, but to feel it to the extent that we do something about it.

To further confirm this, the Siporno notes that the literal translation of Moses’ name is not the passive, “He was drawn”, but the active “I drew him”. He explains: a person is not known by what happens to him, but by the events that he puts in train. Moses learnt from his saviour and when he saw suffering he too felt the pain and chose to do something about it.

Thank G-d, there are Jews in the very thick of the rescue efforts (continue reading for Rabbi Wilhelm’s extraordinarily moving article.) We may not be able to do what our brothers and sisters are doing in Thailand and other places, but it behooves us to do what we can: to feel the pain and financially assist; to thank G-d for the rescue of those who were saved; and finally to stand in awe and humility of He Who totally transcends us.

I know that there are many organizations that are fundraising at this time. However if you wish to be part of the extraordinary work being carried out by Chabad of Thailand, please forward your cheque to the synagogue office. Be sure to mark the envelope Tsunami Relief c/o South Head Synagogue, 662 Old South Head Road, Rose Bay, 2029 but make the cheque out to South Head Synagogue. You can also donate directly online by going to this page.

Faith in the Path of the Tsunami

By Rabbi Nechemia Wilhelm, reporting from Phuket, Thailand

Ten minutes after the disaster hit the news, my phone started ringing. It's been ringing ever since, 24 hours a day. Husbands looking for wives. Mothers looking for daughters. Friends looking for their traveling companions.

As one of the Chabad emissaries living in Southeast Asia, I was dispatched that very night to the hardest hit areas. My mission: to aid with the search and rescue efforts, particularly in regards to the thousands of missing Israelis and other Jewish travelers. Yakov Dvir, from the Israeli Consul in Thailand, as well as Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, put in the urgent request to Rabbi Yosef Chaim Kantor, the director of Chabad activities in Thailand, that Chabad step in to help. All of us -- the six Chabad rabbis and our families and the twelve rabbinical students living in Thailand -- immediately moved into 24-hour mode, fielding calls, compiling lists, and offering aid and comfort to the survivors.

When I arrived in Phuket the bloated bodies still lined the streets. I had hundreds of names on my lists, with new ones being added every hour. For three days now I have been making my rounds of the morgues, hospitals and makeshift shelters, trying to match faces and fates to the names in my lists.

For the dazed survivors I arrange food, clothing, medical care and transportation back home. For the dead, I have the unfortunate task of helping the ZAKA (Disaster Victims Identification) volunteers who've flown in from Israel make the identification, arrange for a proper Jewish burial, and get the news to loved ones keeping vigil by the phone. But in a place where unfortunately so many will be thrown together in mass graves, there is some sense of relief and closure knowing that the victim has been found and will receive a Jewish burial. From the moment a Jewish body is identified, it is not left alone for a minute. This is the last respect and love we can give to our brothers and sisters.

Yesterday we found Mattan. We searched for him for two days. The 11-month-old boy was torn from his mother's arms as they played on the beach. Both she and her husband survived the tsunami, but Mattan was nowhere to be seen. On Tuesday morning, Steve and Sylvia Nesima found their son. He was in the makeshift morgue along with the hundreds of other children who had no chance against the monstrous waves. Mattan was flown to Bangkok where the Chabad emissaries took turns sitting with him, around the clock, until they put his small body on the El Al plane to Israel, the Holy Land, the only appropriate place where such purity and innocence can be buried.

Our three Chabad houses in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Ko Samui have been transformed into crisis centers for counseling, clothing, communication, food, money, transportation and shelter. We have opened our phone lines for free calls to assuage the fear of parents who will not rest until they hear their son or daughter's voice on the other end. Our free email service has enabled hundreds to contact worried loved ones and assure them of their safety.

The survivors come to us shaken, hungry and overwhelmed. They need to go home and be with their family. Until that is possible, it is our responsibility to provide them with that love, comfort and safety while they are still here. For some that means a warm meal, others need money and arrangements for necessary travel documents, some a hug or shoulder to cry on, and others a place to sleep.

The Thai government has been incredibly helpful and organized. Now that people have been able to travel here to help, we have been joined by dozens of volunteers who've flown in from Israel. We're all working together, round the clock. No one has yet digested the magnitude of what has happened. Right now, there's too much to do to even pause for moment to contemplate it.

The unity amongst all the workers is incredible. I was moved to tears when I saw the Israeli media and news reporters join us to help locate and identify the injured and dead. They were no longer looking at the situation through the camera, but through their tear-filled eyes, as they worked alongside the rabbis, government officials and volunteers.

On a larger scale, this disaster has joined every race, creed and religion together. There are no divisions in suffering. There are no barriers. Rich, poor, young, old, male, female, were all the same in the eyes of the waves. And now, once again are all the same when it comes to offering aid, support and love.

What keeps us going are the miracles that are sprinkled throughout the horror. Today a 20-day-old baby was found alive, floating upon a mattress in the water. A one-year-old who was torn from his mother’s arms was miraculously recovered by his nanny, seconds before he was submerged in water. A Jewish family of six were scheduled to fly to Ko Phi Phi, the hardest hit of the islands; we feared the worst for then, until we learned that they had missed their flight and were sitting on the runway bemoaning their ruined vacation when the news broke.

Today, when I visited the hospital, an Israeli woman called me over and started crying when she told me her story. She had been traveling by boat with another 41 Israelis. They had just docked at Ko Phi Phi when the waves began to hit. The group ran as fast as they could, but could not outrun the rushing water. They were immediately swept in its path along with debris, trees and cars. This woman was sure her life was over and without time to think, suddenly found herself screaming to others to join her in saying the "Shema" out loud. With all the last ounce of strength in her body she cried out the words of the most foundational prayer of the Jewish people, our acknowledgement of our Creator and His oneness. And as she finished the verse, she suddenly felt a log come up from under her feet, keeping her head above water so that she could breathe. Then, as she floated along, she looked up at the heavens and saw a rope come down from the sky. The rope had been thrown from her boat, where other survivors had gathered. They pulled her aboard and managed to save 40 of the group. Unfortunately, there are two who are still unaccounted for.

It is these miracles that give me hope and remind me of my purpose and my mission. There are no words to describe the horror that has happened, and certainly no understandable explanations or reasons for its occurrence. But we must believe that though we can’t make sense of it, this, like everything we experience, it is part of a larger picture that we currently don’t see. More importantly, we must use this opportunity to focus on our ability to overcome, to help others, and to rebuild. Every living, breathing person who survived this not only has to live his or her life, but must live for those who were not able to survive.

And we must remember that just as instantaneously as utter destruction struck, so too in a split second we can be redeemed, we can start anew, we can have complete peace, love and goodness.

I've seen more the pain and suffering in the last few days than I've seen in all my 32 years. But I have also been privileged to witness compassion and faith of a magnitude that I never imagined existed. I have watched as people from different cultures, faiths, countries and mentalities join together to help another. For the G-dly soul, hidden deep within, often shines forth precisely when externally there is nothing to depend on. When physicality is destroyed, the only thing left is spirituality, and that is now what is apparent throughout this annihilated area.

So, for now, I continue to help rescue and identify the victims, working along with representatives from throughout the world here to do the same. We still are hoping to find more survivors, to provide the injured with all their needs, and make possible for those who were not so fortunate to be brought to their families for a proper burial.

Thanks to everyone’s unbelievable dedication and work, we have made much headway. From an initial list of 2,000 missing Jews, only 17 remain unaccounted for. May G-d bless us to continue to be successful in our work, and may this disaster be the last we know of pain and suffering and the beginning of the true ushering in of goodness and redemption.

We Make Mentschen!

A few weeks ago I spent two days in Melbourne where a function was held in honour of Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner's eightieth birthday. Rabbi Groner is the head of the Chabad in Melbourne.

Amongst the anecdotes that were told, I found the following particularly poignant.

In 1994 the Yeshivah institutions in Melbourne were facing bankruptcy and the Commonwealth Bank was threatening to foreclose on the mortgage. As a result, a number of communal identities and well-known business people went to see the then head of the Commonwealth Bank, David Murray. They were going to tell him how important the Yeshivah was for the Jewish Community. Many of them knew Murray personally and were convinced that they would get a sympathetic hearing.

Arriving at the meeting, they were taken aback. Murray had brought along with him a fellow called John Edwards or, as he was commonly known, John "the Hatchet" Edwards. Edwards was the man responsible for bad accounts. Things looked even grimmer when it became clear that it was Edwards, not Murray, who was going to chair the meeting.

Right at the outset he made it known that he was an atheist with absolutely no sympathy for any religion. On the contrary, he thought that religion was the bane of society. From his perspective, it would be better if everyone went to public schools and ceased sponging on the community. He concluded that as far as he was concerned the Yeshivah was no more than a client, and a particularly bad client at that. If the Yeshivah couldn't pay what it owed, he was going to wind it up just like we would any business in default.

All the businessmen sitting around the table were flabbergasted. In their minds, the case was lost. He didn't even give them an opening.

After a minute, Rabbi Groner gets up - he is a very big man - and says: "Hello, your name is John, my name is Isaac. How do you do?"

Then Rabbi Groner grabs Edwards around the shoulders and bellows: "Look here Johnny, I don't think you understand what we do here. We make mentschen. Do you know what a mentsch is? A mentsch is a person who has respect for all other human beings. A mentsch is a person who cares about others. A mentsch is a person who is a good civic citizen. Australia needs mentschen - and we produce them."

By the end of the meeting, everything had turned around - and a compromise deal was struck.
Rabbi Groner was not kidding when he spoke about an institution that produced mentschen. Yeshivah Melbourne was my school and Rabbi Groner was my Rabbi. He is also the Rabbi of many of today's religious and communal leaders throughout Australia. As Rabbi Groner said last week, there are some people who complain that Lubavitch takes over. "Lubavitch," he explained, "doesn't take over at all. It teaches its students that community service is the most important value in life, and it's therefore no surprise that so many of our graduates have put communal life way ahead of their personal and professional lives."

To give you an understanding of the kind of place that Yeshivah Melbourne was and the kind of person that Rabbi Groner is, here is another short story that was related that night.
Manny Althaus recalled how Rabbi Groner once came into his class to test the students. Manny, always the cheeky kid who forty years on is not much different, answered the questions in a rather chutzpahdik manner.

Rabbi Groner - quick as a flash - gave him slap. (I'm not advocating it - that's just what happened in those days - you could slap a naughty kid and not end up in jail!)

Came recess, and Manny finds himself being summoned into the Rabbi's office. He goes, tail between his feet, expecting to get yet another hiding. As he walks through the door, Rabbi Groner puts his arm around him and says, "Althaus, in class I had to give you a patch. But I want you to know that I love you. And he gives him a huge kiss." (In those days you could do that too without getting arrested!)

The reason I tell you these stories is because it is relevant to us. You see, the school I went to was not a school at all. It was a family and it had an absolutely astounding impact on the lives of its students - an impact that went far beyond education in the normal sense.

If we did something unacceptable outside school hours - we were hauled over the coals. We were bringing the family into disrepute.

Today, it's not like that. If the school dares discipline a child for something the child did outside school hours, the school is likely to find itself in court.

Now that's fine as long as parents take absolute responsibility for their children outside school hours. But do they?

Why is it then that children of fourteen and fifteen years old are strolling the streets at 12.00am and 1.00 am and even later on a Saturday night?

Why is it that so many children are drinking, drugging - and out of control?

Did anyone see the article in the Sydney Morning Herald a few weeks ago - that the main culprits of underage drinking are the children's own families who supply them with the drink or the money to buy it? And the article continued that many of these kids are likely to grow up with serious alcohol problems?

You know two years ago on Simchas Torah we had a problem - kids were drinking in our home. Some of them stole alcohol from our home and then they went off to the park and drank more.

I copped a lot of flak for that, but I took it on the chin and decided to do something about it. This year I decided to take action at the risk of becoming very unpopular. No liquor was left on the tables on Simchas Torah and only adults poured the drinks. I had strings of kids trailing me - literally begging for drinks. I had kids pulling PhotoID cards out of their wallets and saying see I am eighteen - when the card showed that they were sixteen or less!

I took it on the chin and was ready to be unpopular - tough love, I think they call it - and I certainly hope that parents will follow suit.

I was recently told that on a recent Saturday night a number of kids were hanging out outside the reserve on Lancaster Road, several of whom were holding baseball bats - at 11.00pm. So one of the parents, who is on the Board of the School gets out of his car - and says, "hmm, I didn't know that the school had a baseball team!"

But jokes aside - where were the parents?

This is not a matter of religion. This is a matter of bringing up your kids as responsible adults. Of creating mentchen.

Why are parents so afraid of their children? If you need to punish, then punish. You can follow Rabbi Groner's example and kiss them immediately after. They may not tell it to you at the time, but they will know that you love of them and that you care about them, even more than if you cower to all their needs.

It is a parent's responsibility to know where their children are - not where their children say they are but where they are - and what they are doing.

A lot of parents feel helpless. How can they be different to the many other parents who let their kids do as they please? I can only suggest that parents who really care about their kids form groups, and instead of trying to tackle this very serious problem on their own, tackle it together. Anything less is pure irresponsibility.

Finally, many parents think their kids are no different than they were when they were young. But I really wonder. What is available to kids today is a lot more dangerous than what was available to kids in our time.

When I was in New York recently, I noticed an advertisement on several subway cars. It read: "Just because you did drugs and survived, don't be so sure that your kids will too."
We are about to celebrate Chanukah - which on a deeper level is the Festival of Jewish Education (Chanukah derives from the Hebrew words Chinuch=Education). Education means a whole lot more than imparting facts. It means, as explained above, creating mentschen. I wish all of you, and me too, lots of success in parenting. It's the one area where we can really make a difference.

Messiahs, Moons and Women

• Rabbi Benzion Milecki

The following is a talk which I gave in New York in Sivan 5754 to the International Convention of the Lubavitch Womens Organization.

One day, as the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was leaving his room, he heard his wife say to her friends, Meiner Zogt (literally, "mine [referring to her husband] says").

Said Rabbi Schneur Zalman, "If by virtue of one Mitzvah - the Mitzvah of marriage - I have become hers, by how many more Mitzvot have I become G-d's?" Meditating on this, he fell into a swoon of Divine ecstasy.

When he awoke he quoted the Song of Songs [1], "Go out and see, O daughters of Zion", explaining the verse as follows: "If a person wishes to 'go out' of himself (move to a higher plain) and 'see' G-dliness, he must be inspired by 'the daughters of Zion' (here referring to the Jewish woman). This parallels the level of Malchut (the feminine aspect of G-dliness) which stimulates Zo (the masculine aspect of G-dliness)".

And the Rebbe concluded, "The time of the future will see the fulfilment of the verse [2], 'A woman of valour is the crown of - and hence higher than - her husband'."

This concept is elaborated upon in other sources as well. In Hemshech Ranat [3], Rabbi Sholom Ber of Lubavitch explains that whereas nowadays the principal Divine Emanations come from the masculine aspect of G-dliness, in the time of the future they will come from the feminine aspect. In support of this he quotes the Zohar [4] where it says lav ihi meshamsha gabay - she will no longer be secondary to him.

Hence, according to the teachings of Chassidut, and of Kabbalah generally, it is clear that the messianic era will see women on a higher level than men.

Actually, Rabbi Sholom Ber goes further still. He contends that even nowadays the feminine aspect is greater. It is for this reason, he explains, that the ability to give birth and create new life, a power deriving from the very essence of G-d Himself, is more manifest in women than in men. Still, the superiority of women is not yet acknowledged. In the time of the future, however, it will be revealed for all.

Thus, the connection between women and the messianic era can be said to exist on several plains:

1) Just as Moshiach is associated with Malchut ("Royalty"), the seventh Divine sphere, so too are women associated with Malchut.

2) The principal Divine Emanation in the Messianic era will be from the feminine aspect of G-dliness.

3) The process of Redemption is compared to child-birth, and hence women, in whose possession lies the Divine ability to give birth and create life, have a pivotal role at this most important time.

I would now like to suggest that there is another, perhaps even deeper, connection between Moshiach and women.

The Rebbe stated in Cheshvan 5752 [5] that Moshiach already exists and is manifest. According to the Rebbe, the only thing remaining now is to receive ("lekabel") Moshiach.

It is the Rebbe's emphasis on receiving which I now wish to draw attention to, elaborating on the special connection that exists between women and receiving Moshiach.

As is well known, Rabbi Schneur Zalman attributed much of the seminal thought in his Sefer HaTanya to his famous ancestor, Rabbi Yehuda Loew (more commonly known as the Maharal of Prague). It is from the Maharal's writings that I wish to draw inspiration today.

The Maharal asks: "Why were women given the Torah first, as it says [7], "So you shall say to Beit (the House of) Jacob" - Beit referring to the women?"

He goes on to explain that the answer can be found in the phrase itself. Beit apart from meaning "House" also means "receptacle". Women, explains the Maharal, have a greater ability to receive than men!

In another of his writings [8], the Maharal explains that both women and Moshiach are intrinsically connected to receiving. In support of this, he quotes the Talmud [9] where it says that the promise of the Messianic Era is greater for men than it is for women.

In explanation of this puzzling statement, the Maharal discourses on the essential differences between the male and female natures.

The Maharal explains that men have a nature of Hitgavrut - from the root gever, the Hebrew word for "man" - constantly desiring to fight, to overpower, to conquer new ground. Women, on the other hand, have a nature of Menucha which implies the ability to derive deep pleasure from what has already been accumulated.

An everyday example of this: How many times do women ask their husbands to spend more time with them and the family? And what does the husband respond: he can't, he is busy making a living so that the family can survive. And yet, even well after the family is established and is no longer in need of the husband working so hard, he still gives the same excuse. Why? Because it is the nature of man to gain pleasure from the act of achieving rather than from what has been achieved. This is as our Rabbis, so perceptive of human nature, explain [10], "one who has one hundred, desires two hundred; one who has two hundred desires four hundred."

This distinction between the male and female nature is actually alluded to in Rashi's commentary to the Torah [11]. Rashi quotes the Talmud [12] where it is written: "An old man in the home is a burden in the home; an old woman in the home is a treasure in the home." An old man, because he can no longer achieve and conquer, is frustrated and makes a nuisance of himself. An old woman, however, because she doesn't feel the need to achieve and conquer, because she can receive, because she can enjoy and nurture what is already there, can live her best years in her old age.

And so the Maharal explains that in this world, which is a world of achievement, a world of action hayom la'asotam [13] - a time to conquer the world for G-d - it is the masculine element which is dominant. However, in the world of the future, where the main thing is to receive reward machar lekabel secharam [14], it is the female element which will be dominant.

It should not however be assumed that the receiving associated with women and the messianic era is merely a passive phenomenon. This is clearly not the case.

In kabbalistic terms, women are compared to Shabbat - bride and queen - whereas men are compared to the days of the week. And although no one would argue with the Talmudic dictum [15] that "only one who toils before Shabbat, eats on Shabbat", and hence that Shabbat receives from the days of the week, it is clear that the ultimate aim is Shabbat and not the days of the week! And what is Shabbat if not a day, when free of the need to conquer the physical, one can reveal and nurture one's true inner essence.

And so too is the difference between the masculine and feminine, the this-worldly and the future-worldly aspects. Whereas the masculine is involved in conquering the outer, it is the feminine, once this has been achieved, which nurtures and develops the inner.

Hence when the Rebbe said [16] that now is the time Lekabel Penei Moshiach - to receive Moshiach - because as he has said, the work of conquering the world for G-d (Avodat Habirurim) is at an end, and we are now at the beginning of the period of receiving - Lekabel Secharam - it is only logical that both the merit and responsibility of women are at unprecedented heights.

Furthermore, as this new era dawns, it is even incumbent upon men to reveal the feminine aspect which they too contain within themselves.

The call of the moment, to arouse the feminine aspect within ourselves, emphasises the need to be receivers.

Here it is worth noting that just prior to his illness the Rebbe [17] placed renewed emphasis on the age-old custom of sanctifying the new moon, asking that it be observed - as stated in the Code of Jewish Law [18] - with great joy and dancing.

It is not difficult to draw connections between the moon and women. Both are cyclical in nature, and it is the festival of the moon, Rosh Chodesh, which was given to women.

At the same time the moon is connected with the House of David from which Moshiach derives. This is ellaborated upon by Rabbi Tsaddok HaCohen, who notes [19] that the very first time that we find a Rosh Chodesh festive meal mentioned in the Bible is in association with King David.

However, the connection between the moon, the House of David and women is greater still. They are all receivers and hence dependent on others. The moon constantly requires the sun without which it cannot shine; a woman cannot reveal her essential essence without a man; and the House of David cannot exist without the input of others. This is stated by our rabbis who explain that David's very existence was dependent on the years donated to him by Adam [20], or according to the Zohar [21], by our forefathers, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph.

When speaking of Moshiach, the Rebbe [22], too, emphasised that he was dependent on us: "I have done everything I can, now you do everything you can, in order to make the coming of Moshiach a this-worldly reality."

It is because women and Moshiach share this sense of dependency with the moon, explains Rabbi Tsaddok, that women have a greater ability to feel the pain of exile - a time when Israel is deprived of the source of her dependence - than men. Whereas men are deluded by a false sense of self-sufficiency which prevents them from seeing how dependent they really are on Redemption, women don't share this delusion.

Nevertheless, even as she suffers the pain of Exile, a woman remembers another aspect of her connection with the moon. The moon, even when enveloped in darkness from our perspective, basks in sunlight on the side not visible to us. So too, even at times of great spiritual pain and anguish, the essential unity that exists between G-d and his chosen Moshiach continues to flourish and grow [23].

In fact, even the most negative phenomena are themselves ultimately part of the process of Redemption.

This sheds light on a rather surprising incident in the Talmud [24]. When Rabbi Akiva and the Rabbis encountered the Temple ruins, Rabbi Akiva laughed whereas the other Rabbis cried. Confronted for an explanation of his unusual behaviour, Rabbi Akiva explained that upon seeing the fulfilment of the prophecy of destruction he became convinced that the prophecy of restoration would also be fulfilled.

Nevertheless, the Maharal [25] asks, "Why did he laugh?" Because it will be good?!?! Right now things aren't good at all!

The Maharal goes on to explain that the destruction is in actuality part of the process of Redemption. In fact he goes so far as to say that the building of the Third Temple is predicated on the destruction of the first two. Hence the very act of concealment is itself directed by G-d and is part of the process of Revelation.

In the course of this discussion, I have quoted extensively from the works of the Maharal. So let me now conclude with one final insight.

In his Netzach Yisrael [26], the Maharal addresses those whose faith has been so shaken by the terrible sufferings of Exile that they cannot now believe in Redemption.

In one of his most beautiful and moving passages, the Maharal paints a picture of the suffering which our people have endured. So much has passed upon us, he writes, that if all the skies were parchment, all the oceans were ink and all the trees were quills, they would still not suffice to describe the enormity of the tragedy. He then explains that our long history has been fraught with the most impossible and fantastic occurrences, calamities which have been so terrible in both scope and depth, that had they been merely written in books, people would have denied that such things were possible. We know that they are true only because we ourselves have experienced them.

And yet, concludes the Maharal, the very nature of our suffering points to our ultimate salvation. Just as our suffering, as impossible as it is to believe, did in fact occur, so too will our Redemption, as impossible as it sounds, come to pass. Because for the Jewish people, G-d's chosen people, there is no natural order. Everything which happens to them, the bad as the good, occurs in a manner unimagined in the natural order of things. Or in the words of the Midrash [27] (which according to the Maharal uses "double" to express the infinite) "they have sinned doubly, they have suffered doubly, they will be comforted doubly."

That we have sinned doubly requires no elaboration - divisions have occurred which by virtue of the education granted us should have been unimaginable. That we have suffered doubly - the Rebbe's two strokes occurring on exactly the same date, the 27th of Adar - is something which even sceptics cannot dismiss. Yet these very events, far from causing us to lose hope, point to the double, even infinite comfort, nechama, which the ultimate Comforter, Moshiach, will bestow upon us.

At this time, more than any other, it is for women to lead the way. Quoting from the writings of the Holy Ari [28], the Rebbe has told us that our generation is a reincarnation of the generation of the Exodus. Whereas the men of that generation were constantly involved in power struggles and rebellion (Datan, Aviram, Korach, the spies, to name a few) the women remained constantly loyal. Rather than grabbing for power, they were prepared to be followers of Jewry's greatest prophet, Moses.

Today, too, we are not in need of leaders. We have had within our midst a leader of such great stature who, as even one as sceptical as Chaim Bermant was forced to concede in a recent article, was one of the greatest Jewish leaders of any generation; whose activities were of such broad scope that, according to Bermant, the second half of the twentieth century will become known as the Schneerson Era.

What we need now are receivers. What we need now are followers. Those prepared to put their own agendas aside and with devotion and self- sacrifice dedicate their lives to the Rebbe's mission. Just as in Moses' time it was the women who led the way with their loyalty and devotion to their leader, so too today.

In the merit of our righteous women may we soon merit the fulfilment of Jeremiah's prophecy, "For the Lord has created something new on earth; a woman will court a man", with the imminent revelation of our righteous Messiah, the ultimate Comforter, speedily in our days.

1 3:11

2 Proverbs 12:4

3 Maamar L'chol Tichleh

4 Raya Mehemna Shemot 158a

5 Bsorat HaGeula Ch. 47

6 Tiferet Yisrael 28; See also Chidushei Agadot Bava Batra 58 and Netzach Yisrael 1.

7 Exodus 19:3

8 Drush al HaTorah

9 Brahcot 17a

10 Kohelet Rabba 1:34

11 End B'chukotai

12 Arachin 19b

13 Eiruvin 22a

14 Eiruvin 22a

15 Avoda Zara 3a

16 B'sorat HaGeula 38

17 B'sorat HaGeula 44

18 Orach Chaim Ch. 426; para. 2

19 Resisei Layla 8

20 Yalkut Shimoni 41

21 Vayishlach 168a

22 B'sorat HaGeula 20

23 Resisei Layla 25

24 End Makkot

25 Netzach Yisrael 26

26 Chapter 49

27 Midrash Eicha 1:57

28 Shaar HaGilgulim Hakdama 20

The Jewish Attitude to Christianity

As the Christian world gears up for one of their most important holidays, it is worthwhile contemplating the Jewish attitude towards Christianity.

With a background of the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Chmielnicki genocide and numerous other pogroms and edicts of expulsion, let alone the Holocaust, it is not hard to understand why Jews would have a very ambivalent attitude towards Christianity.

And yet, while Maimonides acknowledges this in his magnum opus, Mishneh Torah, where he writes:

"All the prophets spoke of Mashiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior, who would gather their dispersed ones and strengthen their [observance of the] Commandments. In contrast, [Yeshu] caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humiliated, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to serve a god other than the L-rd."

He continues:

"Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for [to paraphrase Isaiah 55:8] His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts, our thoughts. [Ultimately,] all the deeds of [Yeshu] and that Ishmaelite [Mohammed] who rose after him will only serve to pave the way for the coming of Mashiach and for the improvement of the entire world, [motivating the nations] to serve G-d together, as it is written [Zephaniah 3:9], 'I will make the peoples pure of speech so that they will all call upon the Name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose.'

"How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with talk of [the supposed] Messiah, as well as of the Torah and the Commandments. These matters have been spread among the furthermost islands and among many spiritually insensitive nations, who discuss these matters as well as the Commandments of the Torah. Some of them say: 'These commandments were true, but are not in force in the present age; they are not applicable for all time.' Others say: 'Implied in the commandments are hidden concepts that cannot be understood simply; the Messiah has already come and revealed them.'

"When the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his [position becoming] exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage; their prophets and ancestors caused them to err."

What Maimonides is saying is that while Yeshu distorted the concept of Moshiach, and Christianity caused indescribable suffering to the Jewish People – Christianity (and Islam) should still be viewed as positive phenomena. While not true religions in the absolute sense – he even goes so far as to call them a "false heritage" – they are a most definite improvement on what came before them. They have caused the Jewish concepts, albeit in an adulterated form, to be "spread among the furthermost islands and among many spiritually insensitive nations". As a result, Moshiach, Torah (Bible), etc., are now part of the common language and "will pave the way for the coming of Mashiach and for the improvement of the entire world, [motivating the nations] to serve G-d together". As to the fact that these Jewish notions have been falsified and adulterated – once the basic concepts have been absorbed, it will be a small matter for Moshiach to correct the errors that have distorted them.

The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chassidic movement, instructed his followers to disembark from a wagon if they noticed the wagon-driver pass by a church and not cross himself. In Christian Europe, if a wagon-driver did not show respect for his own religion, how could he be trusted to do the right thing for Jews? He also told them that it was better to do business with a non-Jew who believed than with a Jew who did not believe. A person who believed in a Higher Being – although his religion may not be true in the fullest sense – was far more likely to be act with integrity than a person who did not believe.

So while Christianity has brought us much suffering, it has also raised the world to a higher moral level and is playing an important role in perfecting the world in preparation for Moshiach’s arrival.

We also need to be very cognizant and appreciative of the very welcome moral and political support that Israel receives from our Christian friends who believe that the Bible is the Word of G-d, and that Israel belongs to G-d’s Chosen People.

All this goes to show that nothing in this world is all good or all bad. G-d, Who is infinitely wiser than any of us, often chooses to accomplish His goals through means that appear more than a little strange to us mere mortals.

The Dreidel: A Short Discourse on World History

The dreidel has evolved from the humble clay or wood version that we many of us hand-crafted as children, to the "hi-tech" multi-media version, replete with lights and musical accompaniment, that can be now be found on shop shelves and in many homes. Move aside plasma screens, the dreidel is the way to go.

But as in Judaism in general, embracing the future never comes at the expense of forsaking the past. Even today's ultra-modern dreidels still sport those old Jewish letters: Nun, Gimmel, Hay, Shin.

What's the significance of these letters, and why do they specifically appear on the dreidel?

Many answers have been given for this, but today I will focus on an explanation which while deeply mystical, is poignantly relevant.

You see, the dreidel tells the story of both the history of the world and its ultimate purpose.

The famous Rabbi Lowe of Prague (Maharal), and following in his footsteps, the well-known Chassidic author of Bnei Yissoschor, explain that the human being is essentially comprised of three elements: Body, Soul and Intellect. In Hebrew these are called Guf, Nefesh and Sechel.

They further explain that the history of the world's empires can be roughly divided as follows: Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome. Each one of these empires attacked the Jewish People and State in a uniquely different way - and each time we prevailed.

• The Babylonian Empire attacked the Jewish body (Guf), murdering and massacring, as they destroyed the First Temple and took the Jews as captives to Babylon.
  
  
• The Persian Empire, known for its promiscuity and licentiousness - the story of Purim tells of Achashverosh's enormous harem - attacked the Jewish People in soul (Nefesh).
  
  
• The Greek Empire, which produced some of the world's greatest philosophers, attempted to demonstrate (falsely) the incompatibility of Torah with Science and Intellect (Sechel).
  
  
• Finally, the Roman Empire, utilized all the above four methods (HaKol) - attacks on the Jewish body, attacks on the Jewish soul and attacks on the Jewish intellect - in an attempt to discredit and delegitimize the Torah and Judaism. (The modern world - which is dominated by Western Philosophy - is considered a direct continuation of the Roman Empire.)
  

These then are what the letters of the dreidel represent:

• Gimmel stands for the Jewish body - Guf (Babylon);
  
  
• Nun stands for the Jewish soul - Nefesh (Persia);
  
  
• Shin stands for the Jewish intellect - Sechel (Greece);

• Hay stands for all the above - HaKol (Rome).
  

Furthermore, in Hebrew each letter is associated with a numerical value, known as Gematria.

The Gematria of Gimmel, Nun, Sin, Hay is 358.

This is the same Gematria as Nachash - the serpent that seduced Adam and Eve - at the beginning of time. It is also the same Gematria as Moshiach - the Redeemer of the Jewish People at the end of time!

And so the dreidel represents the history of the world from its inception until the end of time. History began with the attempt by the Nachash - the serpent - to seduce Adam and Eve. The serpent then continued its seduction throughout history - in the guise of the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans. At the end, however, that serpent (Nachash) will be vanquished by Moshiach.

It's important to note that Nachash and Moshiach are the SAME Gematria - the significance of this is that the victory of Moshiach is not one which precludes the use of the body, soul and intellect. On the contrary, each of these has it's place in the service of G-d. We need to serve G-d with a healthy body. Our emotions, including our sex drive, can be used for the greatest acts of holiness. And of course, intellect - especially the advances of science, technology and communication - empower us as individuals and enable the masses to reach spiritual knowledge that was until now unattainable.

As Moshiach approaches, the tools of the Nachash - body, soul and intellect - each of which superficially seem to be in opposition to holiness - must be transformed into a tool to better serve G-d.

Chanukah means "renewal". And Chanukah is a time to find new ways to use all the powers that make us human to achieve our ultimate fulfillment as human beings and bring us closer to G-d and the Redemption of Moshiach.

What a powerful lesson from the humble little dreidel!

Admit Your Mistake and Cut Your Losses

It had all the markings of Greek tragedy. The degrading spectacle of a highly successful lawyer, politician and NSW Supreme Court judge stripped bare in front of the entire country.

By the time the cross-examination was completed, it became obvious that His Honour was in very deep hot water. He was able to converse with a neighbour and hospital staff, yet he couldn't remember going to his office... until a security check of the building revealed that he had entered. When he finally recalled entering his office, he couldn't remember taking anything with him... until a security camera showed a picture of him holding a bag. There really seemed to be a very strong possibility of the judge being not only indicted for drink-driving, but far more seriously, for conspiring to obstruct the course of justice.

What moral lessons can we as Jews learn from this unfortunate chain of events?

1. Had the honourable gentleman learnt a basic Jewish tenet, he would have saved himself a lot of indignity: Far worse than sin, is the lack of acknowledgement of sin. To sin is human, and unfortunately for most of us, to be expected. Not acknowledging sin, and not repenting sin - that is the real crime.
   
   Indeed we learn the vital importance of acknowledging sin from our ancestor - Judah. (Jews are called Jews because most of us derive from the tribe of Judah). When confronted with damning evidence of a major indiscretion on his part - he immediately confessed his sin, although he could have probably got away with it.
   
   Indeed this is one of the reasons that he is called Judah. Judah is derived from the word meaning "acknowledgement". As a reward for his confession and honesty, Judah was rewarded with being the Patriarch of the Jewish Monarchy. All Jewish kings, including Moshiach, trace their ancestry to Judah.
   
   
2. And isn't it strange that a person who, in his capacity of judge, must have heard every unlikely story in the book, should have himself resorted to giving a highly unlikely and hardly believable account of what occurred? But this too has been predicted by our sages who explain that when a person is a party to a matter, his eyes are blinded, and he is no longer able to see things clearly and objectively. This is why not even Moses and Aron, our nations greatest prophets, are permitted to give testimony regarding each other.
   
   
3. And a final lesson: When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers, saying "I am Joseph", his brothers went into a state of total shock. One can just imagine what went through their minds. Suddenly all those years of deceit came crashing down. In a moment they were confronted with a Truth that they had attempted to hide even from themselves.
   
   The Talmud says that whenever Rabbi Elazar read this story he burst out crying. He said, "If this is the rebuke of a human being, can you even imagine what it will be like on our Day of Judgement, when we stand before G-d"?
   
   All the years of self-delusion, of pretense, of making paltry excuses will be exposed.
   
   If this is hard to comprehend, just imagine how His Honour must have felt when they played the videotape showing him entering the Supreme Court holding a bag...
   

Let's not kid ourselves. Most of us are in the position of the Supreme Court judge in at least some aspects of our lives. There aren't too many of us who won't be embarrassed on our Day of Judgement. After all, Rabbi Elazar was a great and holy man, and he still cried!

To save ourselves the further embarrassment of being accused of hypocrisy, we would be well advised to avoid judging others in those situations where our opinions would be better kept to ourselves.

Doctors and their Limitations

It was reported last week that St George Hospital, after a successful application to the Supreme Court, had turned off the life-support of a man who they believed to be in an irreversible coma. The application by the hospital and doctors had been strongly opposed by the patient's family who believed that he should be given every possible chance of recovery. After the machines were disconnected, the patient survived for sixteen minutes before passing away.

Were the doctors right or wrong?

Before embarking on a discussion of this matter, it is important to have an understanding of the authority of doctors. After all, as the Talmud asks, isn't it G-d who makes a person sick? Or as the Zohar says - a sick person is in G-d's prison. This being the case, perhaps the doctor should not interfere.

The Talmud responds to this question by quoting a verse of the Torah: v'rapoh yerapeh - "he shall most certainly heal" - upon which the Talmud comments, "From this verse is derived the doctor's authority to heal".

What is clear from the above is that it is not a given that the doctor can heal. He must be given specific authority. And that authority is to heal - and to heal alone. Nowhere is the doctor given authority to prescribe death!

Democracy is without question the fairest form of government known to mankind. It's not only about the power to elect officials. It is about accountability - about all people being equal before the law. The judge, as we have seen this week, can be judged.

But democracy, in spite of its fairness, does have its drawbacks. It often gives rise to the patently false assumption that anyone can express a sensible opinion about anything - even things which are well beyond their field of expertise or knowledge.

Only recently we heard that Stephen Hawking - a truly great physicist - called the invasion of Iraq a war crime. Now, while I deeply respect Stephen Hawking, and am an avid reader of his books on science, I didn't know that he was a member of the judiciary with special expertise on war crimes. He may have an opinion on war crimes, but it is no more than that, and should be treated with no more interest than anyone else's. And then there was Madonna, who demanded that the troops be brought home. I mean, why would you argue with a famous pop star who has dabbled in "kabbalah"...?

It really is high time that we recognized the boundaries of our expertise and were humble enough not to step too far outside them.

Returning to our discussion: Matters of healing are within the purvey of medical science. Matters of life and death are outside that boundary - they exist in the realm of ethics and religion.

The mode of treatment is one for the expert doctor to decide. Whether to continue treatment is for the expert rabbi to decide.

So what is the religious position here?

While every case is different, and should be addressed individually, the following should give us some broad insight.

The Talmud says that there is no difference between a child of a day old, and an old man of 100. Killing either one of them is an act of murder. Or as former Chief Rabbi Jakobowitz once explained: Life is infinity touching the finite - something which is totally beyond our comprehension - and hence every moment of life is of infinite importance.

In one of his responsa, Rabbi Moshe Feinstein writes that if a person is on life-support and the doctors are not sure whether he is still alive or merely responding to the machine, they may not disconnect him from that machine as this would be akin to killing him. However, should the oxygen run out, they may wait for about a quarter of an hour to see if there is a spontaneous response before reconnecting him.

The important consideration however is not whether in this particular case the doctors did or didn't do the right thing. What's really important is a clear understanding of the boundaries of medical knowledge, and indeed of all knowledge.

As the true Kabbalists have explained: The Gateway to Knowledge is Humility.

Homosexuality: The Person and the Act

Society is faced with a growing acceptance of homosexual behaviour. Judging by the coverage in the media - especially in the weeks prior to Sydneyís Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras - it is definitely "in" to either be gay, or to actively condone and support those pursuing homosexuality as an "alternate" lifestyle. At the very least, a smile or a wave in their direction has become mandatory in polite society. We need only look at the number of "straight" people lining the streets as the parade goes by.

It is difficult to write critically of an issue concerning which "political correctness" - the idol of new-age gurus - demands silence. More so, on a subject so deluged with emotion. Who are we to tell others how to live their lives, and more significantly, who to choose as partners and who to love?

Homosexuality is an issue which touches the lives, and hence the attitudes, of many in our community.

I shall therefore preface my remarks with a point which I believe to be fundamental to the Jewish approach to life. It is attitude which was inculcated in me by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and which I have endeavoured to impart to my congregants and students.

To create and maintain a society that is both tolerant and moral, a difference must be made between people and behaviour.

The fact that the majority of people seem incapable of making this distinction is the bane of civilisation.

It leads to unnecessary hatred - when the assumption is made that because someone acts immorally he deserves to be hated.

Or to moral mediocrity and a breakdown of values - when the assumption is made that because someone I love is acting immorally, the action could not be immoral after all.

The ability to love a person while strongly disapproving of his or her behaviour is a sign of moral maturity - a maturity which unfortunately very few possess.

And because so many people cannot themselves make the distinction between actions and people - they assume the worse of others as well. There is a widespread, if not always articulated, belief that if someone strongly disapproves of anotherís conduct, he must hate that person. That assumption is most assuredly false - at least in the case of those in touch with the spiritual dimensions of Judaism.

It cannot be said often enough that it is a sign of moral weakness to condone bad behaviour in a desperate attempt not to lose someone you love. Too often we are blackmailed out of core values by such statements as, "if you really loved me you would accept me as I am".

Let us be very clear on this: You can accept someoneís right to choose, while being totally unaccepting of what they have chosen.

It is possible to love a person, while being pained to the core by his or her behaviour. Too many parents, and their friends, attempt to change the bearings on their moral compasses because those they love or know have acted immorally. They begin to think of themselves as not being ìwith itî, as if morals are like clothes, to be discarded in favour of the latest fashions. A value system which is victim to the fickleness of human nature is no value system at all. It is fashion which must be controlled by morality, not vice versa.

On the opposite extreme, hating a person because of their immoral beliefs or misbehaviour shows a lack of respect for the Image of G-d present in all of us.

According to Jewish Law even if a person was sentenced to death - an extraordinarily rare event in Ancient Israel ñ he must be treated with both love and respect. Indeed, not doing so is considered an affront to G-d A-lmighty Himself. The judges who condemned him to death must fast, he must be put to death in as painless a manner possible, and he dare not be degraded in any way.

The reason for this, as explained both in the Torah and the Talmud, is because every person, even someone who has sinned in an appalling manner, is created in the image of G-d. As such the imperative, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself" applies to him even at the moment of his fall.

Having made this introduction, I should now like to express the Torahís unequivocal opprobrium of homosexuality.

Homosexuality is not only forbidden according to Jewish law - it has the dubious distinction of being one of the only things which the Torah refers to as Toeva - an abomination - a word which is used to connote the idea of disgust. And this the Torah tells us in the name of G-d Himself (see Leviticus 18:22 - the section of the Torah read on Yom Kippur).

Furthermore - together with other sins of sexual immorality, such as adultery and incest - it is a sin for which the Torah demands that one give up oneís life rather than transgress. This, in spite of the ruling, that in almost every other case the Torah values life above the performance of a mitzvah or the transgression of a sin.

And finally, homosexuality is a sin which applies equally to Jews and non-Jews.

I do not wish to enter into the nature/nurture debate, nor do I believe that it is relevant. (An exhaustive discussion of the subject can be found in a brilliant article by Dennis Prager.) For those who believe in One G-d, it is clear that our Maker was as aware of human frailties thousands of years ago as we are at the dawn of the twenty-first century. He certainly hasnít been awaiting correction for thousands of years by an "enlightened" science! It is equally clear that as G-d has unequivocally forbidden homosexuality , it is possible, albeit with extraordinary effort and courage, to conquer and indeed transform oneís nature. G-d, to quote the prophet, neither deceives nor lies. Nor is He so cruel as to give a person a challenge which he cannot possibly surmount.

There can be no doubt that those with either a natural leaning towards homosexuality, or habituated to it, have been given a particularly arduous challenge ñ one whose difficulty most of us cannot even begin to imagine.

As such they are deserving of our support and love. We need to remember that Abraham argued to the point of exhaustion on behalf of the people of Sodom - a city whose primary transgression was homosexuality.

Before passing judgement on those with homosexual tendencies we must ask ourselves how we would fare if faced with a similar challenge. Would we, and do we, rise to the occasion when confronted by a moral challenge of the difficulty experienced by someone with a homosexual urge? How far do we ìstretchî ourselves in areas where G-d challenges us; areas much easier, and impacting on our lives far less, than those faced by the person with a bent towards homosexuality? This is a question which each of us must respond to before criticising others. In a particularly sobering insight, the Baal Shem Tov, father of the Chassidic movement, teaches us that we are judged on the basis of our judgement of others. Knowing our own frailties, a little caution is advised before rushing to judge others.

On the one hand, the man or woman who commits a homosexual act is loved by G-d, no less than we are. If there is a blemish - it is on the outer shell of his being while the essence remains intact.

On the other hand, this does not detract from our rock-solid belief that homosexuality is wrong, and indeed an abomination - the flawed opinion of new-age pyschiatrists, notwithstanding.

G-d did not make a person into a homosexual the way he made others heterosexual. G-d did not create four categories of people: man and woman, homosexual and lesbian. G-d created men and women with a variety of challenges in life. For some the challenge is overcoming the homosexual urge.

Therefore, while we cannot in any way support a movement which encourages and condones homosexual practice, we can reach out to those with a homosexual urge with love and compassion. We are not reaching out to the outer shell of their homosexuality, but to the inner core of their Jewish essence - the part of them inextricably tied to G-d. That part of them which is so pure and holy that no transgression in the world can eradicate.

As individuals, we must involve them in the community and encourage them to do mitzvot - while praying that they eventually develop the insight to understand the error of their actions, and the strength to overcome them.

And while praying for them, we may wish to spare a thought for ourselves.

For which of us can be sure that he or she will overcome that unique personal challenge given each of us by G-d?