What is the dream of the future president of the United States? For the answer, check out your e-mail or a pocket-sized, 36-page booklet called \”Jewels of Elul IV,\” which is subtitled \”29 Dreamers and Their Dreams.\” Among the dreamers who sent in their thoughts and hopes are the presumed presidential candidates, Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.
Leviticus 19:1-20:27
Right there, in the shadow of the ever-popular \”Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,\” another mitzvah quietly sits: \”Thou shall surely rebuke thy friend.\” And while this may seem rude or intrusive, the Torah regards the obligation of mutual rebuke as the engine of communal righteousness.
Although they live more than 12,000 miles apart, Yosef Eliezrie and Moshe Price have a lot in common. In October 2006, Eliezrie received a bone marrow transplant provided by Price. It was his only hope for survival after a recurrence of acute myelogenous leukemia (AML), a fast-growing cancer of the blood and bone marrow. This month, Eliezrie got the chance to meet Price in person, thank him for his lifesaving gift and embark on a unique new friendship.
\”Numbers don\’t keep me up at night; Israel keeps me up at night,\” Eisen said. \”I\’m worried about the security of Israel, and I\’m worried about the apparent decline in attachment on the part of American Jews to Israel. This literally, from time to time, keeps me up at night.\”
Along with her family and friends, Leora Nimmer then traveled to the Galilee to visit Migdal Ohr, Grossman\’s remarkable institution for 6,000 boys and girls in what was once one of the poorest and most crime-ridden areas of Israel. There the Nimmer group visited a nursery school, helped in a soup kitchen, and presented the homemade jewelry to bat mitzvah girls in a school where the students put on a performance in honor of their American visitors.
On her big day, Yael spoke with maturity and depth about the concepts of oz and hadar, strength and splendor, for which the Jewish woman is praised in Eishet Chayil. She explained that this is the kind of strength that springs from faith in God and from the courage of one\’s convictions.
As my son\’s bar mitzvah day inched closer, I began to see the world in a whole different light — a disco ball light, to be exact — for as my child grew, so did his friends, officially putting us both on the b\’nai mitzvah circuit.
This, for me, is the Chabad genius: a knack on the deed, not the talk. They don\’t get turned on by grand debates that lead to more grand debates. While the Jewish world agonizes over \”profoundly important\” issues, Chabad agonizes over getting to Kinko\’s on time to get their flyers out for their Chanukah event.
In the Jewish schools of today, Jewish literacy can have new and special meaning. It calls for a refocus on the linguistic, textual and ethical dimensions of learning, which will be the legacy we leave our students.
One of the great rituals of Jewish life: The sukkah.
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