ב"ה
Why do you bother getting out of bed in the morning? Why do you bother grappling with all the obstacles, great and small, that life sends your way? And are you the only one who gets out of bed in the morning? Billions of people do it every day! Obviously, they all believe something: they believe that all this is going somewhere, and someday we're going to get there...
Numbers 19:1-25:9 Week of July 9 - 15 
In this week's Torah reading there is ashes and water, death, anger and war; a talking ass, curses transformed into blessings and prophecies of the end of days, a promiscuous prince and a zealous son of a priest--plus what has been said about them all by sages and mystics through the ages.
The creatures of the forest stood in silent wonder. Perhaps it was the oils of the black bird's feathers that refracted the light of the sun as a prism into so many rainbows. Perhaps it was the mystery of her absolute blackness, or the contrast she held against the bright morning sky. All that could be said is that it was an intangible beauty, not of something that could be painted, or described or known in any way. It was beauty as indefinable as black is dark.
After concluding the search of my pockets, he turned to Bashkov saying: "And now, Comrade, stand and we will also search you. Perhaps--or certainly--you are an emissary of Citizen Schneersohn to build mikva’ot or to organize children’s Torah classes to support the counter-revolutionaries, the Rabbis, teachers, and their colleagues from the Black Hundreds."
There are many teachings in the Torah's account of the petition presented to Moses by the daughters of Tzelafchad, relevant both to women seeking Halachic support for change and to the rabbis who are ruling on their questions. It suggests an approach that if conscientiously adopted by both parties, will keep peace below and draw grace from above. This article explores both perspectives.
Hmmmm, I like that image of the king saying, "Let's farbreng, just you and I." It helps explain the generic dictionary-definition of farbrengen as "spending time". Because at a farbrengen, it's just being there that counts. I thought about the two elder chassidim who began their farbrengen by pouring themselves a thimbleful of vodka, then sang soulful melodies and simply gazed at each other to convey their profound emotions, without uttering a word all night. As dawn broke, they poured the two untouched thimblefuls back into the bottle, stood up from the table and went out to meet the day.
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 The thousand person Coconut Creek Township Hall was filling up fast, as the children from six different camps from across Southern Florida filed in. The happening, featuring Hasidic performer Chaim Fogelman, had the young audience clapping hands, singing along and eventually up on their feet and dancing in the isles. 
Avot: Chapter Five Opinion: Pilgrim's Progress Five years after the Lubavitcher rebbe's death, the faithful gathered in Queens to find spirituality. Advanced Study: Mystery Of The Red Heifer The wording of the phrase, "this is the ordinance of the law" suggests that the law of the Red Heifer is the only ordinance in the Torah. But surely there are others. Story: A Ticket To Heaven The Berditchever Rebbe calmed him a little, and asked him, "Is there anyone you suspect in the theft?"
THE REBBE: 50 YEARS PREVIOUS ISSUE | ||||||||||||