COVID-19 and Moshiach

Here's a prediction for the most uncertain of times: you will see a lot of memes and comments about Moshiach in the coming weeks. Many of them will draw tenuous links to current events based on various commentators and midrashim. They will interpret pesukim about yetziyas mitzrayim and prophecies of hope and redemption from Yeshaya and others in ways they have not been interpreted before. Some will throw in an apparently compelling gematria or two to spice things up (no offence to the gematria-lovers out there).

There are many ways to think and talk about Moshiach. Now more than ever, it's important to find the right ways to do this, and to be wary of the ways that can cause confusion.

Football and Ahavas Yisroel

The Baal Shem Tov famously said that everything we see and encounter in life is - as a matter of hashgocho protis - placed there so that we can learn a lesson. Whether or not the Baal Shem Tov would consider it appropriate that some of us are fervent sports fans is therefore beside the point; there is still a lesson to be learned from all we encounter. So in between exulting over the recent success of my AFL football club, the Richmond Tigers, I must look further and ask: what can their approach as a professional sports club mean for me as a Chassid?

When will the Mic actually Drop for some people?

Disclaimer: I have watched one Mic Drop segment - from a cousin - and it inspired me to write an article about the nature of emunah and fallibility of humans.

Publicly sharing our innermost secrets and our darkest moments is all the rage these days. Of course it's 'best' if you've survived some adversity, but that's far from a prerequisite. Social media encourages us to put ourselves 'out there' and live a life of conspicuous consumption that borders on exhibitionism. Those who speak out are applauded as brave, and sometimes raised to hero status.

Is that the Jewish way? I'm not sure. The blessing of mah tovu oholecho Yaakov was that everyone's tents were arranged so that no-one could directly look into each other's tent. Nowadays, the walls of our tents have been ripped away.

The Economy, Jobs, Life Expectancy & Moshiach

In Jewish times of crisis, such as war or danger to Israel, we often think about and pray for Moshiach. I recall the Rebbe saying - perhaps during the Gulf War - that "der veld tzittered" (the world trembled with fear) and that these global events are indications that the arrival of Moshiach is imminent.

While we often look towards global geopolitical events (mostly the negative ones) and associate them with the birthpangs of the Messianic age, in the modern world, there are so many positive signs of Moshiach if only we look and take note.

Open Letter to the Yeshivah Community

I usually post about Yeshivah on my personal blog because the messages about governance and leadership have broader applications. This is posted on this blog because it's directed specifically at Anash and won't be shared through social media. It's not 'confidential' - just meant for a narrower audience.

This past year, 5776, has been another tough one for our community. Looking back at where things were a year ago and what we could reasonably expect to happen in the year to come, I throw my hands in the air and say "oy, vey". Every few weeks there has been another eruption or mini-scandal, more airing of our dirty laundry, more factional in-fighting than the Labor party, more meaningless communication from the trustees and/or ICOM-5 (can't remember what sequel we are on). This is the definition of a farshlepter krank.

Charidy Fatigue

Have you heard about this amazing online sensation called Charidy? You can run intensive 24-hour fundraising campaigns where donations are matched by others to 'gear up' or multiply the giving power. It's all or nothing - either they meet the target and the matching donations kick in, or ... you don't want to imagine. And you can use social media to spread the word!

Mivtzo'im? There's an app for that!

While many Haredi and Chassidic communities continue to reject modern technologies, the Rebbe always maintained that the "ultimate purpose for which these new technologies were developed is that they be used for holy purposes". This position dated back in the 1960s, when the Rebbe pioneered broadcasting of Torah and farbrengens around the world. Melbourne people of my generation may remember the "hook ups" during the 1970s, when the shul was filled with people listening to the Rebbe's words live. I recall the elter chassidim standing, eyes closed in deep concentration, absorbing the Rebbe's message. For out-of-towners during a time when air travel was far more difficult, this was one of the few ways to stay close to the Rebbe.

Selfies and Yeshus

This site is about the challenges of being a chossid in the modern world. The advent of digital social media has changed the world and the way we engage with it (so much so that I'm writing a book about it). A changing world will always tend to clash with a conservative movement and belief system like Judaism. As Chabad chassidim, we believe all of these technological advances can be keilim to help us make the world a better place and to spread the light of Torah and chassidus. The new tools certainly can do that - however they are so powerful that they can be used both for positive and negative purposes, and can cause much good and much bad. The challenge for us becomes how to use them well, and how not to get caught up in many of the cultural ills that they enable and even foster.

New ohros and matching keilim

Someone bought me a new pair of shoes the other day. I put them on and they looked fantastic, but then I noticed that my pants looked somewhat scruffy next to the shiny new shoes. So I went out and bought some new pants. They looked great with the new shoes, but wouldn't you know it - my shirt really didn't do the new shoes and pants justice. There was only one option - to go get a new shirt.

Was this a case of the cart leading the horse? Perhaps. So what really happened here? I was actually fine with the old shoes. But getting a new pair disrupted things, and made everything else I was wearing suddenly look relatively bad. The other new items were 'required' to restore the equilibrium and consistency of my clothes.

Shavuos - returning to Echod

Some people pine for the simple life – a ‘sea-change’ from the hustle and bustle of modern living. On one hand, you might say that we are living in a ‘golden age’ for Judaism: there are many countries in the world where Jews can enjoy religious freedom of expression, there is a wealth of scholarship available in both nigleh and chassidus, and in general humankind has more leisure time than ever before. And yet, with all this opportunity before us, modern life is just so ‘full’ and busy it’s often a challenge to find the time to feed our souls.

Does it make sense to pine for an earlier time, when live was simple and Chassidim would spend hours learning or meditating before an even longer time davening? But would anyone want to live in those times, when Jews were persecuted and poverty was rife?

The power of the moment

Is it a dark conspiracy or perhaps part of some vast eternal plan that we spend weeks preparing for the physical aspect of Pesach - cleaning, cooking, running errands - to the point where we reach the Seder and are so exhausted that we can barely enjoy the experience?

How much time do we spend on the spiritual preparation? Whether it's the avoda of bedikas chometz, or learning the Haggadah so that our Seder can be more meaningful. Or do we sit back, conk out from exhaustion and wine, and attempt to pay attention as our children expound and affirm our decision to send them to good Jewish schools?

We *really* want Moshiach now

Slogans are all very good, but if we are bombarded by them, or just with the passage of time, they can turn into clichés that no longer serve their original purpose. Other things can happen, like they can start to mean different things to different people (e.g. insiders vs outsiders), which again cause them to be ineffective or worse.

We sing "We want Moshiach now" and put slogans on yarmulkes and elsewhere but what does it really mean? Indeed, we mention it so often in shmone esrei that most people just rush through it without thinking twice, and others need convincing that the desire for Moshiach is not exclusively Chabad's. Certainly saying something (different) about Moshiach & Geula on a regular basis can help break the rote patterns and actually get us thinking.

Beyond the Call

You just can't buy the sort of publicity that the Call of the Shofar program has received in recent weeks within the Chabad community. Many people have come up to me and asked me about it, and I've found myself having to explain what COTS is, and what LGAT is to people who otherwise would not know (or need to know) about either. But while the article itself had some useful analysis and insights into ourselves and at other groups and programs through a lens of 'cult-like markers', that is not the key issue here.

It's not about what specific external programs are or aren't kosher or suitable for us, nor about whether our mashpi'im have been unduly influenced, nor about the knee-jerk reactions of Rabbonim and others, nor about the way this issue has polarised the community and how that may continue to play out.

We need to take a deep breath (no meditation required), step back for a bit, and consider the real issue: the challenge of how we as a community deals with our mental and emotional health.

Call of the Shofar

Several people have asked my opinion of the Call of the Shofar program ("COTS"), and given its popularity (or notoriety) in the Chabad community, this site seemed an appropriate place to write an analysis.

Important disclaimer: I've never been to one of their courses, nor communicated directly with someone who did. The research I've done includes reading several different perspectives that I found about them online, watching the interview with the founder, and reading some of Rabbi Shea Hecht's comments and related material.

Lots of strong things have been said about COTS - in particular the use of the term "cult". The bad news is: we are also a cult.

Leverage, Diversity and Unity

I was sitting at the kotel recently on Shabbos morning (OK, very late morning) thinking about saying hareini mekabel. Davening at the kotel is always a treat - besides being as physically close as possible to the holiest place on earth, I love Yerushalayim and just walking around soaking in the atmosphere.

The kotel is magnet for all sorts - sefardim & ashkenazim, chassidim & misnagdim, Jews of every affiliation and plenty of non-Jews too. The person next to me is a tourist - no idea if he's Jewish or not - and approaches the wall with arms outstretched and immerses himself in whatever engagement with God works for him. Next to him is another who is writing a note - again I have no idea if he is Jewish or not. But what they all have in common is a sincerity and respect and a desire to commune with the Divine - with something greater than themselves.

Ohr Chodosh 5774

Chassidus describes the truly amazing process that happens each Rosh Hashanah. On the first night Hashem’s desire to continue the existence of the world is ‘paused’ k’viyachol, and then renewed through our blowing of the shofar, at which time an ‘ohr chodosh’ comes into the world.

How can we understand this ‘ohr chodosh’ – this new spiritual energy that has until now never manifested in the world?

Coping with the pace of life

After my last post, a few people suggested that I write for every Shabbos mevorchim, which sounded like a reasonable frequency to me. And the next one approached, I thought about what to write, and didn't really come up with anything that good, and before I knew it, it was Rosh Chodesh, and now we are already blowing shofar, and if I blink, Rosh Hashanah will be upon us. So at this time of year, it's only appropriate to reflect on the pace of life and what to do about it.

I have this theory about why the older we get, the faster time seems to pass. If someone is 20, then one year represents 1/20th or 5% of their life so far. But if they are 40, then a year represents just 2.5% of their life, so a year might appear to pass twice as quickly. Having passed both of those milestones, I'm often asking myself: "where did the time go?" as week blends into week, month into month, and so on. I put things in my diary well in advance thinking they are not going to happen for a while, and before I look around, they are upon me.

A Brave New post-Gimmel Tammuz World

It's a bit of a cliche - the youngsters gathering around an alter chossid at a farbrengen hearing stories of how things were in the "olden days". These recollections become all the more precious as the older people in the community move on from this world, which is why projects that collect this history are so important. As the older generation pass on, the role of alter chossid also shifts forward a generation, which sometimes seems odd to people of my vintage.

What was even more strange was the discussion that came up last Simchas Torah at the kiddush/farbrengen we traditionally hold in our home.

Pesach and Moshiach

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted - there are a few things floating around that I should get to shortly. In the meantime, in order to get into the habit of posting as soon as possible after something comes to me ...

While Pesach celebrates the initial and prototypical geula and our formation as a Jewish nation, Achron Shel Pesach is about the future geula that we are all waiting for. The Pesach narrative is very much the story of the entire Jewish history - bchol dor vador - in every generation they try to destroy us, and yet we prevail. The last couple of thousand years have been a constant cycle of threat & redemption. Rinse and repeat. But what happens after the redemption?

Mihu Chossid

Notwithstanding my disdain for labels (like "ultra-Orthodox"), the issue of Chabad identity and its markers is an important one that is worthy of exploration. Let's consider some of the responses to an earlier article:

In response to a question from Dr David Weiss, the Rebbe said: "When a Jew endeavours to take a step forward in the service of G-d and the love of his fellow man every day, I am happy to consider him my chassid" and in the name of Rabbi Manis Freidman: "The question of who is a chasid has to be asked and viewed from the Rebbe's perspective, if we could ask the Rebbe today who are his Chasidim, would he point to you?"
This was countered by another comment: "... it is likely the Rebbe was telling Dr Weiss something he needed to hear. We have a much higher aspirations to be considered a chosid. Many of the young people today who don't act very chasidish are probably taking steps forward in their service of G-d and the Rebbe would consider them a Chosid.”
I’m reminded of the story of a regular at a Chabad House who kept asking the shliach if he could start
wearing a kapote,