SHABBOS, the Sabbath

HOSHANO RABO - Prayers for rain October 4

CHANUKAH - Festival of Lights - December 6-13

PURIM - March 23 SHUSHAN PURIM - March 24

PESACH - PASSOVER - April 22 - 29 (First two days and last two days are holidays. The intermediate days CHOL HAMOED, are not holidays but are nonetheless somewhat sanctified.)

THE SEVEN WEEKS BETWEEN PASSOVER AND SHAVUOTH LAG B'OMER - THE THIRTY-THIRD DAY of the counting of the Omer. MAY 25. Celebrates the cessation of a plague which claimed most of the students of Rabbi Akiva. It is the YARTSEIT, or anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochoi who published the ZOHAR, a mystical book.

A SHAVUOTH POEM- CRY THE TABLETS WHOLE

The SHABBOS, or the Sabbath, falls on Friday night when the sun sets and lasts until Saturday night, when three medium stars appear in the sky. The same is true of all holidays. A Holiday which falls on Monday actually begins Sunday night and ends on Monday at night. Holy days begin on the night preceding the day.

When is nightfall? This is one of the most vexing problems for the rabbinical authorities. The custom in America is to wait from the time the ball of the sun sinks below the horizon until the sky is dark and stars are seen, a period which averages about an hour or less. Some wait seventy two minutes and some ninety, but other wait fifty minutes or even less after the ball of the sun disappears under the horizon. The last was the opinion of the world's great sage, Rabbi Moses Feinstein, who told me that in the summer the longest period to wait was less than fifty minutes. In the winter the night comes even faster. Each country has its own system based on the swiftness of nightfall. Jerusalem has a very quick nightfall compared to America and so some people wait much less from sunset to declare the new day arrived.

Women light candles approximately eighteen minutes before sunset. (The exact sunset is available on tables from the government for every American locality. Jewish calendars have candlelighting times.) In Jerusalem many pious Jews light candles forty minutes before sunset and cease then to do work. But in America people usually light candles only eighteen minutes before sunset and don't cease doing work until just moments before sunset.

It is a good deed to add minutes before and after the Sabbath. In ancient communities some added hours onto the Sabbath, but this was a local custom not incumbent on other localities. This is called "TOSFOSE SHABBOS", additional Sabbath. Certainly people should plan their days on Friday not to come rushing into the Sabbath with two hours of work to do in half an hour. The great nightmare is when you leave from work and get stuck in traffic. Plan your day.

What you put into Shabbos you get out of it. In Orthodox communities one puts heart and soul and many hours into the Shabbos, and when it comes, the fragrance of that toil is like the perfume of paradise. One living alone, such as an Orthodox person in a college dorm or out of town, has a great challenge to enjoy Sabbath. Surely a great reward is vouschafed for one who suffers for the Sabbath.

One may not work on the Sabbath. When millions of Orthodox Jews came to America from Russia two generations ago they had to work on Shabbos, or not feed the family. Nearly all of them broke. In one community in New Jersy which received ten thousand Orthodox Jews, after a few years not ten Jews could be found who kept the Sabbath. It was thus that the failure to keep the Sabbath and withstand the terrible test, set the stage for the Holocaust of intermarriage and indifference to Judaism which exists today in America. Jews originally worked on Shabbos but first attended an early morning service. Eventually they slipped further and further, and their children were raised to worry about getting a good college education to make money. There was no thought about learning spirituality, about religion. Money meant food. It was an age where people did starve to death, and those who fled the poverty of Eastern Europe were determined that Jews would not go hungry and without proper clothes and homes. Spirituality was socialism and improving the lot of the worker in unions etc. Those were the causes of the day, and Judaism meant nothing. The Jewish world drifted into new forms, where no strain was placed on the worshipper. Those who ran the terrifying gauntlet of joblessness in a cruel world, who risked being flung into the street with their belongings when the rent was not paid, here and there managed to rebuild Torah in a secular world. Sabbath saved them. They managed to continue to find in their children and grandchildren the Jewishness and religiousity which was their reward for superhuman sacrifice.

Those who surrendered remained Jews, for the most part. When here and there a rabbi arrived from Europe to build a Yeshiva he found these Jews willing to help out. They donated monies to support the Jews of Israel and Eastern Europe. Often they kept Kosher, and went to the synagogue on High Holidays. A spark of their belief often passed down from generation to generation, and in the sixties, when students rebelled against secularism, many progeny became Orthodox.

Jews eat three meals on the Sabbath, Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon. The pious and the Hassidim are very careful about the third meal which is often eaten after the sun sets, and in the darkness, profound thoughts accompany the departing Sabbath. Many rabbis would speak at this time. Songs would raise the company to great spiritual heights.

"Remember the Sabbath" and "Guard the Sabbath" are mentioned in the bible, even in the Ten Commandments. "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it" because G-d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Sabbath represents a level when the hustle and bustle of this world will cease, and the Future World Era will begin. Just as "one who prepared for the Sabbath will eat on Sabbath", so one who prepares for the Future World, the Eternal Sabbath, will merit it, not one who finds "better" and "more important" things to do.

Sabbath is a weekly reminder that there is another world, one more important than this one, and that the Jew, indeed all people, were created in the Image of G-d to join Him in that world.

When the Jewish woman lights Shabbos candles, a window in heaven opens and a great light shines down into the Jewish house. It lasts until the husband of the house recites the Havdalah, or departing of the Sabbath ceremony, after the end of the Sabbath. Even when Shabbos leaves, it is rememberd, and a bit of its light and peace tarries wherever its light glittered, never to depart The pious celebrate the passing of the Sabbath and the inspiration which remains from it, by making a fourth Sabbath meal, called MELVAH MALKO, the escorting of the queen.

The Jewish year is twelve months, and is divided into two systems. The New Year from Tishrei, known as Rosh HaShono, denotes the universal system, Jews and gentiles. The New Year for Israel begins six months later, two weeks before Pesach or Passover. This New Year began the Jewish people, but the main Rosh HaShono is for the entire world to worship G-d. This Rosh HaShono occurs in September.

On this day the heavens and earth, Jews and gentile, indeed everything in the entire universe, and indeed, every force and light and vessel in all of the infinite universes, are elevated to G-d's Judgment. From this Judgment they can rise to higher levels and shine with greater light.

The Shofar, a Ram's horn, is blown. A blast of the Shofar is achieved when air is forced into a small chamber. This noise is the struggle of the Infinite Lights to enter the finite world. The sound of the Shofar is the Struggle to find G-d in a finite world.

There are three notes in the Shofar blasts. One the long blast, which represents the infinite. This long, unbroken blast, represents the All before it is finitized into particles of knowledge for the mind of mortals. Next comes two other blasts, known as Shevorim and Teruoh. Both of these words mean "breaking". This means that only by negating ones ego, "breaking" does the acorn person shed the shell which blinds it to the infinite world of G-d and Torah. This "breaking" is best achieved by removing ego and anger, and loving others. But it also represents Israel in the exile. Israel is broken, and when it does, the Infinite Lights are revealed, and Israel becomes Eternal, brought alive time and time again by the destruction of Exile. "You will live in your blood, you will live in your blood."

Judgment Day, Rosh HaShono, is not to frighten us. We dress well and have a festival meal. We must accept that G-d is King and that He loves us. All Judgment is ultimately, even if we in this world don't always see it, Love and Mercy.

It is important on Rosh HaShono to love our fellow and to join with the community in the synagogue. The famous Lady of Shonam refused Elisha's prayers on Rosh HaShono, telling him that "I dwell among my people" meaning that Jews pray together, and that is higher than the individual prayer of any saint or prophet.

There are ten days between Rosh HaShono, the New Year, and the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. G-d judges the world on Rosh HaShono, and some decrees are made. For Ten Days of Penitetnce the Jews repent and another decree is made on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The final execution of the Decree is on Hoshano Rabo, the seventh day of Succoth.

We pray most fervently on Yom Kippur for ourselves, our families, our communities, everyone. We pray for G-d, that He not be pained by our deeds and the ways of mortals. We hope for the end of the reign of doubt and darkness. We pray for the coming of the Moshiach, Messiah, so that evil will vanish from the earth.

Rabbi Yisroel Salanter was the greatest rabbi in Vilna, one of the greatest sages of the nineteenth century. The community awaited his appearance as the sunset ushered in Yom Kippur, but the rabbi was not in the synagogue. People hurried to the rabbi's house, they searched through the streets, but the rabbi was nowhere to be seen. With a heavy heart, the Vilna community began the prayers. Hours later the rabbi appeared and began to pray. He explained that a child had been left home so that his parents could attend the synagogue. Rabbi Salanter could not let a child be frightened and alone. So he stayed with the child until a parent returned. Then, only then, did Rabbi Salanter go to the synagogue.

Rabbi Salanter taught us that worshipping G-d requires us to maintain a love of our fellow. For this is G-d's highest wish. "Love your fellow as yourself." If we ignore the needs of others, how can we face G-d? How can we face Judgment? How can we pray on Yom Kippur?

It is thus that Jews are accustomed not to pray on Yom Kippur until they have mended their fences with others. Enemies ask each other's forgiveness and begin anew. One who forgives his fellow is forgiven by G-d. One who lives with hate and anger cannot seek G-d's Mercy.

SUCCOTH, or booths, is a holiday which lasts seven days, and comes five days after YOM KIPPUR, the day of atonement. Once the Jewish people has purified itself in the Ten Days between Rosh HaShono and Yom Kippur, it is ready for outreach. Israel must be "a light unto the nations." Although forbidden to actively proselytize, Jews inspire the nations of the world to imitate monotheism, benevolence and mercy by Israel's own good behaviour. Once we have learned to behave by praying and fasting on the Ten Days of Penitence from Rosh HaShono, the New Year, until Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, we begin our universal role to inspire the nations of the world.

It all begins on the afternoon of Yom Kippur during the MINCHA service, when we read the story of Jonah and the whale. Jonah was a Jewish prophet who disobeyed God, fled Israel, and was flung in a storm into the depths of the sea where he was swallowed by a sea monster. For days Jonah cruised in the belly of this beast, until he prayed and was spat out. Jonah then went to Nineveh, an ancient metropolis, and warned the population to repent. The King rose from his throne and donned sackcloth. If a brick in the royal palace had been stolen by the king the entire palace wall was ripped open and the brick returned to its owner or heir of the owner. The sailors in the ship where Jonah sailed were amazed by what they saw and sailed to Israel to convert to Judaism.

Jonah was very bitter when he realized what his didactic mission was. He had disobeyed God and fled Israel. In the exile he was flung to the depths in the belly of a huge beast. Helpless, he prayed and was spat out. Once on dry land, he caused a mighty city of gentile sinners to repent. This meant that Israel would disobey God, and would be flung to the abyss of despair in the exile. From there the Jews would pray and wander from country to country, and the gentiles would be inspired. Does Israel have to go into exile and suffer so that they can inspire the world? But the universal role of Israel is its true purpose. Jews were told at Sinai that they are "a kingdom of priests, a holy nation" to inspire the world. Israel, "from the belly of the beast" of exile, will find new spiritual levels, and inspire the world.

It is the custom that immediately upon completing the YOM KIPPUR prayer that a Shofar-Ram's horn, is blown. The Jews then repair to their homes, and after eating and organizing themselves, begin the work of constructing the SUCCAH, or booth. It is in this booth that they eat, and perhaps sleep, for the seven days of SUCCOTH. They are exiled from their homes. They recall, as they sit in the booths, that their ancestors left Egypt and sojourned for forty years in a fiery desert. Above the Sinai Jewish camp was a divine cloud which protected them. SUCCOTH is to remind us of that. It inspired us to realize that the Jews are a miracle people, and that God is always with us.

During the Gulf War Iraq shot thirty nine SCUD missiles into the cities of Israel. There were almost no casulties. Miracle is the natural way of Israel.

In ancient Israel Solomon taught on Succoth the book of Ecclesiasties to the savants of the gentiles. When the Temple will be rebuilt, and when Messiah brings Israel back from the exile, our universal role will continue. The Holy Temple in Jerusalem will shine its light to all nations. If we merit this level, it is because we have suffered in the exile.

On Succoth we take (each day except the Sabbath,) four species and wave them. They are a branch from a palm tree, three fronds of myrtle, two willow branches and a citrus fruit known as ESROG. These four represent four types of people. The citrus fruit has a lovely fragrance as well as being a food. It symbolizes a person who in spirituality has enough to eat, that is, plenty of time to study the Torah law, and to pray etc. The fragrance of the Esrog indicates a person whose qualities waft out to inspire others. The beauty of the ETROG indicates a level of piety which is a cynosure for all to notice and be inspired. The etrog is held together with the branches of the palm tree, the LULOV, three twigs of myrtle, and two twigs of willow. These three are not possessed of the beauty of the etrog, and don't have the double quality of fragrance and being a food. Yet, they are united together, and this unity molds them into one people. The connecting letter in Hebrew is a VOV, which is a straight line, shaped like the LULOV, which is a straight stick. The four species are one, and all are negated to the LULOV, because it represents the connecting force. Therefore we recite the blessing on all four species "Blessed are you God who has commanded us to take the LULOV". The others are not mentioned. The important thing is not the piety but the unity. If people are united, there is harmony, and peace brings holiness. But if people quarrel, darkness not holiness, results.

The citrus fruit ETROG is held in the left hand. The LULOV and the myrtle and willow branches are held in the right hand. The LULOV unites imperfect Jews in one bundle, as the LULOV has a holder in which the myrtles and willows are placed. These lack either fragrance or food property, and the beauty of the ETROG. They must unite and share their spirituality. They must also realize that in the other hand the Jew holds the ETROG, the Torah scholar, the rabbi, the pious, who may be aloof from the world, but is to be respected, as this is the strength and survival of Israel.

The Jews dance in the synagogue and in programs called "Rejoicing of the Drawing of the Water" reminiscent of the Temple celebrations during Succoth. Dancing and singing brings a great spiritual level. In ancient Jerusalem Jews sang and danced day and night during Succoth, dozing off in the circles to gather their strength, and then bursting forth into song. This level of joy brought many Jews to the level of prophecy. Today in Jerusalem bands play while people dance and sing with a special fervor, as they are cognizant that on these very streets their ancestors danced and sang.

HOSHANA RABO means "the great HOSHANO". HOSHANO is a prayer, meaning "O' God, help us!" which is recited as we circle around the synagogue holding willow branches. On SUCCOTH we shake the four species each day. The four species includes two willow branches. On HOSHANO RABO we take an additional willow branch bundle and wave it. This willow branch bunch is known as the HOSHANO. We take the HOSHANO and march around the synagogue in a circle seven times. We wave the HOSHANO and pray for rain. The main prayer for rain is, however, the next day, SHEMINI ATSERESS.

In Israel rain comes only in the winter and it hopefully begins right after Succoth. The entire year's food and produce is dependent on the rain. The rain must come in the right proportion. Too much is destructive. The rain must be strong to reach the deep tree roots and fill the rivers and reservoirs. It must be gentle to nourish the grass and flowers. It must be sufficient but not overpowering. This requires great mercy from heaven. In years when it doesn't rain one who drives in Israel sees fields of blackened and ruined produce. It is through the rain that the Jew learns faith and feels a different kind of prayer. On Succoth and Shemini Atseress the Jewish nation prays for rain.

Along with the physical rain comes spiritual rain, holiness and spirituality. The heavens open for our bodies and soul. The Arovo is known as the Arovo of the River. One might think that such a plant does not need the rain. It has the river. But the river itself depends on the rain. Thus we swing the Arovo willow and finally beat it against the ground and chair. We thus drive away the thought that we can exist with the "river" without G-d's mercy. Egypt, on the other hand, is sustained by the Nile, which rises each year and waters the fields, without the need for rain. Egypt represents nature, and Israel the supernatural. The Jew in Israel must find water through a window in heaven. This brings him close to G-d. It is said that in Israel even the stones need miracles to survive.

Of the four species taken on Succoth the lowest level is the willow for it has neither food or fragrance. It represents the legs, the external, that closest to the mundane and even evil. In Judaism, especially in mysticism, there is not evil, all is goodness. In the Future World evil will be seen to be a vessel for good, but in this world pain is pain. During Succoth and especially on Hoshana Rabo we march around the synagogue in a circle. This circle signifies that ultimately everything will return to its source. It is the Einsteinian line which goes and goes until it come back to its source. There is a unity of straight and circle, there is a unity of light and darkness, there is a unity of All. The holiday of Succo represents that Unity. For this reason we read on Succoth the Book of Ecclesiastes in Hebrew KOHELES, which means "gathering". For all things are gathered together, into one big symphony, where the harmony of Song and Light includes all pain and darkness.

When we make a circle by marching with our feet and legs we join the lowest part of our body, the feet and legs, with the essence of circle, which indicates that everything is part of the divine plan, and the lowest thing can be made hole again and raised to the highest level.

On the other hand we recognize that the association our feet and legs, or the willow has, with the mundane and even evil part of the universe can affect us. We thus march around to raise the willow or lower parts, and we then bang the willow branch on chairs and the ground, to destroy that which we can't raise, so that it not affect us.

Ideally, all of the forces in our system, ego, self-actualization, should be purified and utilized only for goodness. Our pride should guide us to great spiritual ambition, to be the best parent, the best spouse, the best person in society. But alas, only part of us can be purified, and we always have within us evil forces, an ego which wants to destroy the competition, an ambition which brooks no defiance etc. and so we first march to do what we can to raise ourselves, and then we smack the willow branch to indicate that we still have ego and will continue to fight it.

There is a tradition that on Rosh HaShono the Book of Judgment is opened, and is held open for most people until Yom Kippur when the judgment for people and countries are sealed. However, the judgments are not delivered to the executing angels until Hoshano Rabo. Hoshana Rabo is thus the conclusion of Judgment. It is a very solemn day although it is not a holiday. Although we work on HOSHANO RABO we recite part of the holiday prayers and light candles in the synagogue.

SHEMINI ATSERESS and SIMCHASS TORAH

SHEMINI ATSERESS and SIMCHASS TORAH, the Rejoicing of the Torah <-p>October 5 is the holiday of SHEMINI ATSERESS, which means, the Eight Day of Convocation, literally, a day of "holding back". On SUCCOTH (see above), the Jewish people go out of their own houses to inspire the nations, but afterwards Israel returns to purity, prayer, to better deserve its role as a clergy of the human race. Israel now "holds back" its going out into the world, and turns to inspire itself.

Israel inspire the gentiles (Succoth); the nations respond and teach the Jews (Shemini Atseress). On Shemini Atseress Israel applies the lights and lessons of the exile to itself. The reality of exile is that whatever lights and lessons Israel takes from the nations are delivered with a few good kicks and worse. This too, elevates Israel, as the Kabbalists teach: "Exile means revelation." It is when the Jew wanders helplessly in exile that a very high and pure light shines and radiates among the blood and tears. Only in the Future World will we understand, but in this world we do know that there is a God or else we wouldn't be here at all. Besides that empirical fact, those who have sustained suffering know God in a truer sense, as it is said: "I am with you in suffering." For this reason God appeared to Moses in a burning bush. If Israel, among all of the nations, merits the Torah, it is only because of the exile and affliction.

The Eight Day of Convocation, Shemini Atseress, comes after a week when the Jews live in huts, outside of their homes. This symbolizes the exile, where Jews suffer at the hand of their enemies. On the eight day the Jews come to terms with their suffering, and the revelations of the exile.

The Talmud relates that at the Destruction of the First Temple the Jews were exiled to Babylonia, and there, starving, they were broken. "Where is your God?" people asked the huddled, helpless masses. No longer could even the rabbis of Israel pray to God and call Him "great, powerful, awesome" because God wants honesty and not flattery. We can't praise Him when we don't really see His greatness. "The pagans dance in the holiest place of the Temple, where is His greatness, strength and awesome Presence?" they said. They stopped the appellations for many years. One day it dawned on the Jewish people that "how can one sheep subsist among seventy wolves?" Indeed, it is a divine miracle. These miracles are not always as great as when thirty nine monster missiles slam into Israel and less people die that day than usual because there were no traffic fatalities, as happened a few years ago in the Persian Gulf War. But Jewish survival, to the Jews and their enemies, is an obvious miracle. Thus the Babylonian captive Jews resumed their prayers, and honored God once again with the appellations of "great, strong, awesome" because "our survival shows His greatness."

Shemini Atseress, the Eighth Day, is a very serious holiday. The Jews pray for rain, because in Israel the rain comes in the winter, not in the summer. Rain is a natural phenomena, but in Israel prayer pushes each drop to the holy soil. Thus nature is united with faith. In Israel, say the pundits, the stones sit only by miracle. Others say, if you want to live in Israel, you must walk on your head, not your feet, that is, forget about it making sense, there is no natural way to survive, just trust God and you will succeed. On Shemini Atseress Israel comes to the realization that nature and exile and miracle and heaven are all one. This leads to the joy which accompanies Shemini Atseress, because in Israel the Torah is on that day concluded and begun again. It is their Simchas Torah, the rejoicing of the Torah.

In Israel Shemini Atseress and Simchas Torah are one day. In the diaspora they are two days. In the exile after the serious level of Shemini Atseress with its introspection and prayer, joy and jubilation mark the next day, SIMCHASS TORAH, the rejoicing of the Torah. On this day the Torah scroll is read to the end, with the final words about Moses dying. The Torah is then turned to the beginning and the story of Creation is read. This signifies that Torah is never finished, but "turn it, and turn it, for everything is in it. Do not depart from it." For the Torah is "our life and the length of our days." After we read about the death of Moses, we read of creation, and the new cycle of life. But in that new cycle, the spirit of Moses appears, because death is in the physical sense, but each Jew who lives never really dies, and the good deeds they do radiate forever, in the new cycles until the End of Time. Israel, God and the Torah are One, and Eternal.

That a Jew can dance and sing is only because of the Torah, which shines a special light into the soul which no mortal can imagine, unless they go through Ten Days of Penitence, seven days of SUCCOTH, and Shemini Atseress and Simchass Torah.

A rabbi told me the following story: He was in Auschwitz, and it was Simchas Torah. The Jewish slaves were cooped up in long slave cabins, and after they were worked to the bone, they collapsed on hard "beds". After they had given their strength, they wasted and died, and their hair was taken to make pillows for Germans, their teeth were torn apart for the gold in it, and soap was made from their fat. Lamp shades were made of their skins. And yet, it was time to dance in honor of the Torah, even in Auschwitz.

"Are we so vanquished that we have no joy for the Torah?" asked one person.

"But how can we dance and rejoice here?" asked another. "Is there one thing in the world we inhabit which is not misery and death?"

The group of Jews sat silently, nobody could solve this problem. Finally one of them said: "My friends, look at the world we live in. Millions of Jews are being killed, for no reason but they are Jews. We who gave the bible and morality to the world are considered animals, and brutes and murderers are elevated. Not one nation takes Jews into their country to protect them from Hitler. In this world is there mercy? Is there justice? We are Jews, and we represent the antithesis of this. Because we are different, let us rejoice."

Immediately, regardless of their famished weakness, the Jews jumped up and danced and sang, many of them for the last time.

When a Jew dances on Simchas Torah he whirls and sings with a Torah and many souls who are now in a better world. The Torah. Nothing else really matters. Once we know that, all mortal pleasures are sillhouetted with universal joy. "Israel, the Torah, and God are One." "Happy are you in this world, and it will be good for you in the Future World." The Torah is the next world here, and when we rejoice, we taste a harmony which bridges all dimensions and tribulations with a Higher Light."

Chanukah celebrates the miracle of Jewish victory of the Greeks 2,135 years ago. After the Jews re-entered Jerusalem they found that the Greeks had polluted and destroyed the supply of pure olive oil which lit the Menorah, or candelabra, in the Holy Temple. Only one day's supply of pure oil remained. But for eight days that small cruise of oil burned, until more oil could be prepared.

To remember this miracle Jews light candles, each night, for eight days. On the first night one candle is lit, two the second night, three the third night, until the eighth night when eight candles are lit. In ancient Israel the candles were placed at the gates of the courtyards, so that passerbyers could see the candles. Today we light indoors because in the exile Jews cannot be too ostentatious with their miracles.

We play Dreidel, a game with a four paneled top, with a letter on each panel. The four letters are an acronym for "A great miracle was there." The winning letter is GIMEL and the losing letter is SHIN. Gimel has a foot, and a Shin has no foot. The Talmud says that "lies have no feet" or foundation, and thus "the truth stands, and falsehood falls." The GIMEL is the shape of a foot, symbolizing truth, which stands on "feet". SHIN has no feet, but comes to a point at the bottom, in correct writing, (although the printed SHIN may have a rounded bottom). SHIN thus represents lies, which have no feet. Indeed, SHIN is the first letter of SHEKER, or lies.

Jewish tradition has a solid foundation. Miraculous survival for centuries, even milleniums, prove our divine Torah is true. Our beliefs are based on the Revelation at Sinai, which all Jews saw. Other philosophies and religions are based on elections as to who is a deity, "proofs" which rely on faith, and are thus without foundation.

The Greeks ruled the Jews in the beginning of the Second Temple period, about 2,400 years ago. This was a Hellenistic culture with philosophy, questioning and intellectual ferment. The Greeks, however, were not really interested in ideas. They wanted a world empire which would be united in thought. This would cement the conquests of Alexander the Great, from the Mediterranean to India. There was no room in this empire for a religion which had its own absolutes.

The Greeks believed in what was tangible. The Jewish system insisted that the intangible was the True reality. The Greeks believed in the power of people to invent truth. The Jews insisted that it could better be received with prophesy, not philosophy. The Greeks glorified the human body, its power of thought, its physical form, its athletic capacity. The Jews gloried in the soul, and felt that the body was a mere frame for higher things.

In Israel many Jews succumbed to the power and influence of the Greeks. They ran naked in the coliseum. They tried to make themselves uncircumcized. They felt that the Jewish religion had run its course in history and would now be supplanted by the new order. How, they asked, could a tiny nation continue amid an entire world conquered and assimilated by Hellenistic ideas?

Israel split into two factions. Hellenists argued with the rabbis. The iron grip of Greece was tightened again and again. All married women had to submit to the Greek officer at her wedding ceremony. This public humiliation was aimed at destroying the Jewish family and Jewish self-respect. The Greeks then began to force Jews to worship idols. Finally, there was a revolt led by the Priestly family, that is Judith who killed the Greek general who assaulted her, and her brother Matisyohu the High Priest. These were the Hasmoneans. Five sons of Matisyohu, led by Judah Macabee, carried the battle to the Greeks, whose mighty war machine could not extinguish the Jewish spirit. Finally the Greeks were routed, and the Jews entered the Temple, cleansed it, and lit the Menora.

The battle of Chanukah was thus a civil war, and a battle against the Greek empire. The success of the Hasmoneans was a double miracle. But the battle for Chanukah did not end with the miracle 2,135 years ago. Until today the Jewish people is divided into those who follow the dictates of Sinai and those who believe in secular visions. The rabbis taught that the light of the Chanukah candles is the "hidden light of the Seven Days of Creation". This light, the light of miracle, is ignited by great struggles, by the pure few who continue to follow the edicts of Sinai in a hostile world.

Hanukah

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Hanukah celebrates the victory of the Jews in Israel over the Greeks. Phillip and Alexander designed an army whose military science and precision phalanx outflanked the fierce Persian hordes. Greek thought followed the sword. In the time of Alexander and Aristotle Jewish and Greek savants conversed with mutual admiration. After Alexander's death his generals utilized Greek science for barbarism.

Alexander the Great entered Jerusalem at the head of an army bent on rapine. Simon the Righteous, the Jewish High Priest, adorned with his official finery, awaited the mighty king flanked by lines of priests holding torches. Alexander alighted and honored Simon as a sage and saint. The generals and troups were furious. Upon Alexander's death, they did what they wanted.

"All brides must surrender to the general" was decreed. Judith, the sister of the High Priest Matisyohu, began to disrobe at a family celebration. When her brother rushed over to her in fury, she told him that if he was so concerned for her honor, how could he allow her to marry? The brother promised to rebel. Judith went to the Greek general, fed him food which induced sleep, and killed him. Matisyohu attacked a Greek troup which forced Jews to profane their religion. Jews fled to the mountains, and after several hard years, King Antiyochuse and his crack Greek army fled Israel. The Jews entered the Temple, sadly profaned by the Greeks. The Jews found a cruise of oil which was enough for just one day to light the Menora (candelbra) in the Temple. It took eight days to prepare more oil. The cruise burned miraculously for eight days. To commemorate the miracles, Jews light Hanukah candles for eight days, usually in a window, to tell the world the story of Hanukah. Out of recognition that Hanukah was the work of Judith, Jewish women don't work while the Hanukah candles burn.

On the first night of Hanukah we light one candle, two the next night, three the following night, until on the eighth night, we light eight candles. We kindle also a "server" candle which represents science in the service not of barbarism, but morality and goodness. Both candles produce One Light.

Hanukah falls this year on Thursday night, December the 5. The candles are lit, songs are sung, children play the DRAIDEL (a top) game, and latkes (pancakes) are eaten. Children receive Hanukah gelt (coins). In the window Hanukah candles sit quietly amid the bustle. So it has been for 2,100 years. This light was in Egyptian bondage, it burnt with the destroyed Temple in the Babylonian exile, was with Esther in the Persian exile, Judith in the Greek exile, the martyred Rabbi Akiva in the Roman exile, and still it shines, until darkness quivers with anticipation.

Purim celebrates the salvation of the Jewish people during the Persian exile, some 2,400 years ago. The Babylonian King Nevuchadnezzar destroyed the First Temple in the year 586 B.C.E. and exiled the Jews to Babylonia (Iraq). Several generations later the Persians and Medes conquered Babylonia. Leading Jews now repaired to Shushan, the capital of Persia (Iran). A new king arose, Achashverush, who discovered the treasure ships buried by King Nebuchadnezzar, which contained the booty of many countries. With this mighty wealth Achashverush determined to make for his subjects a huge party which would endear him to them. He wanted everyone to like him. He also wanted to be known as the greatest of kings, one who could afford to make such a supreme spectacle.

Acheshverush, at the height of the festivity, almost realized his dream of achieving the pinnacle of success. One thing yet eluded him. He was not of royal descent. He therefore determined to humiliate his wife, a scion of great Babylonian kings, to show that he was a king in his own right, not through his wife. He ordered his wife to appear at his party wearing only a crown. She replied: "My grandfather Nebuchadnezzar would regularly drink a thousand men under the table. And you have a few cups and are helplessly drunk." Upon hearing this Acheshverush flew into a mighty rage. He was a laughing stock, not the mightiest of mortals. Not only did his wife not honor his majesty, she insulted his manliness. Acheshverush turned the matter of the disobedient queen over to his advisors, who had her killed. The party atmosphere, the joy and pleasantness, the pride of the king, all dissipated.

The King awoke from his wine to find that his wife was dead. He killed his advisors who did this. This made him a bigger fool, and now, instead of being loved, he was feared by everyone, as a man who killed his wife and closest advisors. Something was needed to restore to King Acheshverush a sense of greatness. In oriental Persia, mystique was the force by which kings ruled.

It was decided to take all of the beautiful women in the Persian empire, and to seclude them for many months, with cosmetics etc. until they would be brought to the king, one at a time, until he decided which one would be the queen. He chose a Jewish woman, Esther, the niece of Mordechai, a prominent rabbi and a personality in the Persian court. The king elevated Esther and at that time also elevated Haman to be Prime Minister. Haman wore a pagan medallion on his chest and had people bow to him. Mordechai refused to bow. Haman determined to kill Mordechai and all of the Jewish people. He drew lots, and the date was set for the thirteenth day of Adar. Esther was instructed by Mordechai to appear before the king to supplicate on behalf of the Jews. Haman was killed and the Jews were saved.

The king refused, however, to rescind the decree on the Jews completely. A royal command could not be negated. He did, however, allow the Jews to defend themselves, and appointed Mordechai as Prime Minister in place of Haman. Most people feared Mordechai and Esther, and did not trouble the Jews. But many did. Battles broke out and the Jews were victorious. The holiday of Purim was declared and is celebrated until today. The rabbis teach that in the Future World no holiday will be celebrated as Purim.

On Purim people send each other gifts of food, at least two types of food, and gifts are given to the poor. Costumes are worn and good cheer prevails. Charity is lavishly dispensed. The Book of Esther is read twice during Purim, at night and the following morning.

The Fast of Esther commemorates the Jewish custom of fasting before going to battle. It is the day before Purim. The Fast of Esther is on the day of the battle, and the holiday is the next day. The city of Shushan fought two days, and rested on the third day, known as Shushan Purim. It was thus decreed by the rabbis that Shushan, and all cities walled from the time of Joshua, would read the Megilah and celebrate Purim on Shushan Purim, not the day before.

Esther, says the Zohar, was never conquered by the Persian King. The Talmud says she was. There is no contradiction. In this world, the logical sphere of the Talmud, suffering exists even for the righteous. On the other hand, Reality of Eternity is such a pure light it cannot be vanquished by darkness. This is the Esther of the Zohar. Esther was faith in a world where faith hovers in darkness. She walked to King Achashverush to plead for the Jewish people, aware that she was losing her Future World as well as her life. Such darkness released a great light; the Shechinah descended upon her and she walked, serene and secure, until she came to the room of idols, where the Shechinah departed. At that moment Esther realized failure; her broken soul cried out: "My G-d, My G-d, why have You forsaken me?" It was then that Purim, and the Jewish people, pierced the veil of evil and blazed a great light higher than faith. The Torah came into the world, never to depart, and the Jewish people completed the Exodus of Egypt and Receiving of the Torah.

Moses walked to Pharaoh armed with a mighty plague. He marched, not into a den of idols, but into heaven. But while he was there the Jews built the Golden Calf and destroyed what Moses had built. Moses died, gazing at a land he could not enter, and from that last mountain vista the Jewish people hobbled into paganism and failure, time and time again, until they were dispelled into the diaspora with terror and tears. It was there that Esther led the Jews into the Promised Land, right there in the Den of Idols. The Shechinah could not go there, but Esther could. Torah is not in heaven. It is too great for heaven. It needs the exile, where Esther receives and reveals it.

Moses, says the Vilna Gaon, had a soul which could attempt to receive the lights of the world called Atsilose, where only pure goodness exists. Esther, says the Zohar, was that world. She did not attempt to comprehend it. She lived there. Esther means hidden. "Esther is hinted in the Torah: 'I will hide My face, and the Jews will be devoured.'" Esther is revealed when the beast dominates, when light flees the furious night, until the face of Moses, gazing helplessly, suddenly blazes with a great light, and the upper and lower worlds rejoice, in Purim. "One must imbibe on Purim until he cannot tell the difference between 'Cursed be Haman' and 'blessed be Mordechai.'" Is there a difference? Not on Purim. Not to Esther.

PESACH, or Passover, celebrates the Exodus of the Jewish people from Egyptian bondage 3,300 years ago. The Jews originally went down to Egypt because of the famine in Israel, when Joseph was the Viceroy of Egypt. As the Jews increased they were enslaved. The Jewish sojourn in Egypt lasted 210 years, with the final 86 years being the most bitter. At the end Jewish babies were flung into the river to die and those who remained alive were savagely persecuted and driven to do work which broke their bodies and spirit.

The men broke. The leading rabbi of the generation, Amrom, divorced his wife, Yocheved, lest he have children and watch them die. All of the Jews followed his example. Seven year old Miriam rebuked her father: "Pharoah has decreed death on the males, and you have destroyed all Jews." Amrom took his wife back, and she gave birth to a child. Amrom turned to Miriam. "Now what will happen?" he cried. "Must I watch the death of my baby?"

Miriam then received prophecy, and told her father that the baby would be saved and would bring a great light into the world. But the father was morose. "Where is your prophecy, my daughter" he asked, as the babe was put into a basket to float down the river.

Basyo, the Egyptian Princess, walked along the river bank with her attendants. Unlike the masses of Egyptians, Basyo did not hate the Jews. She remembered how her father had trembled when the Egyptian elders had demanded the bondage and oppression of the Jews. "My ancestor Pharoah detained Sarah the wife of Abraham for one night and was flogged by an angel," Pharoah told his daughter. "Now what will become of me for enslaving all of the Jews?"

The first Jews who came to Egypt found peace and happiness. They dwelled alone in the land of Goshen. Joseph was the Viceroy and his father Jacob was honored at the Egyptian court. But subsequent generations of the Jewish people left Goshen and mixed into the sports and society of Egypt. The Egyptians were unhappy about this, and felt that everywhere they went they saw Jews, Jews, Jews. There was no peace. So they demanded that something be done. Pharoah at first refused, but when he was removed from his throne for several months, he finally relented and agreed to persecute Israel. The bondage was done with the realization that this was a people descended from Joseph and his brothers, that Joseph who had saved Egypt. Therefore the bondage was limited to some degree. Then members of the tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, revolted against the Egyptians and escaped to Israel, where they were massacred by the inhabitants of the land. Because the perpetrators of the revolt descended from Joseph, it gave the Egyptians the excuse they were seeking to utterly forget about the merit of Joseph. Now the slavery began in earnest, with the intent of destroying the Jews.

Basyo, the daughter of Pharoah, knew that the baby floating in the basket was Jewish. She risked the wrath of her father and the Egyptian Elders and rescued it. Miriam rushed from her hiding place and asked if Basyo wanted a wet-nurse. Basyo agreed and thus Moses was nursed by his own mother who was hired by Basyo to tend to the child. Moses was saved and grew up in the house of Pharoah. Basyo did not let him forget that he was a Jew and allowed his mother to attend to his physical and spiritual needs.

Just as the wicked Jews created hatred, so the righteous Jews created love for Israel. Basyo was at the royal court where she was used to seeing leading rabbis in the tradition of Joseph. The masses were used to seeing the lost Jews who frequented the sports arenas and the streets. In every generation there are those gentiles who see the right Jews who do a favor to save Israel from those who have seen the wrong Jews.

Moses came of age and was a member of the family of Pharoah. He grew up and went out to see how he could help his fellow Israelites. He did not have long to wait. There was an Egyptian flogging a Jew to death. Moses killed the Egyptian and buried him. He later saw some Jews fighting and rebuked them. "Are you going to do to us what you did to the Egyptian?" snarled one of them, who then told Pharoah the truth about Moses and that he killed an Egyptian. Moses saw this and said: "Now I understand why the Jews are enslaved." Moses fled to Midyan, married the daughter of Jethro, a righteous gentile, and finally was told by God to return to Egypt and redeem the Jews. After receiving ten plagues the Egyptians let Israel leave.

On the night of Passover each Jewish family has a SEDER, a meal which has many rituals. The purpose of the SEDER is to inculcate in the coming generation the tradition that the Jews left Egypt with miracles to receive the Torah and the land of Israel. So important is the Seder, and the teaching of the Exodus, that even great sages were commanded to recite the story in its simple form, for all our faith flows from it.

Children are encouraged to see the various customs and to question why we are doing things this or that way, and then the head of the family responds and tells the HAGADAH, or TELLING, of the bondage in Egypt, the Exodus, and the receiving of the Torah and the land of Israel.

We drink four cups of wine, reclining on our left sides, as this was the custom in ancient times for important people to do. This shows that we are free not slaves. We eat MATSO, unleavened bread, for this was the bread of our ancestors, who hastened to leave Egypt before regular bread could be baked. Moror, bitter herbs, and CHAROSES, a mixture of nuts, cinnamon and wine, resembling mortar, are eaten as well. The children ask the Four Questions, and songs are sung. In some communities the Matsoh is taken on the shoulder and the participants pretend that they are walking out of Egypt. The idea is to impress upon ourselves and our children that our ancestors actually did leave Egypt, and that we thank G-d for that even today.

The middle of April is the interim between the two Major Festivals of Passover, when the Jews left Egypt and Bondage, and Shavuose, when the Jews received the Ten Commandments at Sinai. There are seven weeks between Passover and Shavuoth which are known as the "seven weeks of the Counting of the Omer (a grain sacrifice in the Time of the Temple.)" During this time Rabbi Shimon bar Yochoi died, on the Thirty Third Day of the Counting of the Omer. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochoi is the author of the Zohar. In Israel all Jews religious or not descend on this night to the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochoi in Moron to dance and sing around huge bonfires. Many miracles are associated with this site. This year Lag BoOmer falls on May 7.

The fiftieth day after Passover is the two day Holiday of Shavuoth which falls this year, 1996, on May 24, and 25, on Friday and Saturday (Shabbos). In Biblical times the spring was a time to sing and rejoice. But in the exile the Counting of the Omer is a sad time, because many sad tragedies occurred. Spring is a time for war, and the Jews were always the first in line for suffering.

Passover falls in the Hebrew month of Nison, which means "miracle." The next month is called IYOR, which is an acronym for the words "I am G-d who cures you". The old Skolener Rebbe taught that Passover was miracle, and heavenly. IYOR is a month where these heavenly levels are brought down to earth. It is then that the conflict of spirit and body is resolved, and instead of religion causing discomfort, there is "cure". When this happens the Shechinah is at home with the person and miracle and nature walk harmoniously together towards the Holiday of Shavuose, when the Torah was given.

(The old Skoloner Rebbe didn't just say these words. He lived through the war, until its conclusion. The Communists then took over his native Roumania and began to take the war orphans and make atheists from them. The Skolener Rebbe organized a movement to save these orphans. The Communists arrested him and his son (the present Skoloner Rebbe in Brooklyn) and almost killed them. The final release of the two rebbes was a miracle. The rebbes recovered and went to America where they established a world wide program for Jewish orphans and thoses without means. "I am Gd who cures you" means something else to the Skolener Rebbe who suffered great physical and mental pain for so long. The Jew in exile derives a special strength, and the faith that one day all will be well.)

The Kabbalists say that on Passover the Jews were mired beyond the pale in the paganism of Egypt. For 210 years they had been exiled, and their connection to Judaism was fleeting, although they did keep their national identity. Therefore a great light came into the world to lift the Jews out of the morass of Egypt. But this great light was the opposite of the purpose of the world, which is for people to bring the infinite lights into their minds, or finite perception. Therefore seven weeks follow Passover. Seven weeks are 49 days. Forty nine is the numerical value of the Hebrew word MIDO, or measure. The Jews put the infinite lights into measurable terms. When they were ready, on the fiftieth day, they received the Torah at Sinai. Fifty is beyond forty-nine. It is beyond MIDO, or measure, and represents the infinite.

Three levels of the Jews mentioned here are a) the blinding light of divine inspiration b) the finitizing of that light, until the mind is comfortable with religion. c) The joining of the mind to the infinite, or miracle dimension.

But none of this can work in the real world. A whole vessel which receives the infinite lights merely cracks. Therefore the Jews must enter Exile, be cracked, and then receive the infinite lights. Thus after Shavuose, comes the Summer of Exile. Forty Days after Shavuose the Jews worshipped the Golden Calf and initiated the Galuth. This was part of the Divine Plan, to create a world whereby the Exile unites the finite and infinite. People can thus only blossom in spirituality by suffering, which is the theme of the world. If we know that, we raise all suffering to infinity, where there is no suffering. Such suffering becomes a vessel to maintain the infinite lights and to reveal them throughtou the world. Thus, Galut, or Exile, means in Hebrew "reveal."

The Thirty Third Day of the Omer is GAL, which means exile and means reveal. They are one. On this day, spelled in Hebrew GAL (33) the Zohar's lights radiated in the world as Rabbi Shimon bar Yochoi raised his soul. Death, in Judaism, is the infinite light. The souls of the dead depart, but are still here through the deeds of others. Thus, there is no death in a collective society.

One day, we will understand that all death is infinite light and life. We thus, to honor the death of a relative or another, recite the Kaddish, which speaks of the Glory of G-d. One day we will understand that only through darkness was there light. Today we take it on faith, and when we do, our minds are nourished by light which peeks through the cracks.

The Jewish people left Egypt on Passover and seven weeks later came to Sinai and received the Torah on Shavuoth. These seven weeks prepared the Jews for their great spiritual experience. G-d revealed Himself prophetically to the Jewish people and gave them the Ten Commandments. They all heard G-d say "I am the L-d your G-d who brought you forth from the land of Egypt." This experience was so ingrained in each and every Jewish soul that no flood of persecution can extinguish the flame of belief in the Jewish soul. Together with the descendants of Jacob were the souls of the converts who joined the Jewish people throughout the generations.

The Second Commandment was "You shall have no other gods before Me." The ancients accepted a Great Deity who was a mighty king with many servants who were intermediaries between human supplicants and the great deity. Judaism forbids this. All prayers must be directly to G-d.

Included in the Ten Commandments are all of the 613 commands in the Torah. The Torah was dictated by G-d to Moses during the Forty Years the Jews sojourned in the desert. It was written down on parchment with black ink. Moses wrote a scroll of the Torah for his own tribe, the Levites, and scrolls for the other twelve tribes of Israel. The scroll of Moses was handed down from generation to generation. In the Temple was a Torah scroll which was considered the final authority and from it all Torah scrolls were copied and all doubts resolved.

Maimonides had an authentic Torah even in his time which was about eight hundred years ago and he records some of its writings in the Book of Mishneh Torah, his classic compendium of the Law. Today, 3,300 years after Sinai, all Torah scrolls are almost completely identical, but there are a few words whose spelling is disputed. In the Torah scrolls are words writtin by Moses with the spirit of prophecy which contain, not only teachings, but all secrets of the universe. Some of these secrets were revealed by great rabbis from time to time.

After the Torah was given on Shavuoth Moses went to heaven to learn with G-d for forty days. During this time the Jews were tested grievously when the Satan showed a dead Moses floating in a bier in heaven. The Jews accepted that Moses had died, and that the Judaism of Moses had died with him. No mortal could deal with the Torah lest he die. So the Jews forced Aaron, the brother of Moses, to modify Judaism and built a Golden Calf. Moses was told by G-d to descend from the mountain and he restored Judaism to the Jewish people.

Nonetheless, the Jews in the desert were not able to tolerate the high levels required of them and constantly tested G-d and Moses with arguments and improper deeds. Finally G-d decreed that all of the Jews who left Egypt would die in the desert, but their children would enter the Promised Land. The exception were the women. The did not sin with the Goldan Calf and did not cry when the spies declared that Jews could not conquer Canaan.

From the time of Sinai the Jews have been divided into factions. The Levites are the rabbinical sect who refrain from sinning and are devoted to Torah and the service of G-d. The women generally are considered pure from sin. "Greater is the promise G-d made for the women than for the men." Men are prone to sin and not women. The simple Jews who were not scholars or wealthy were generally religious. But the scholars and philosopher Jews are susceptible to sin, and have brought the Jews destruction after destruction. During the Expulsion from Spain in 1492 the simple Jews and women left with nothing, rather than convert, but the wealthy and intellectual Jews converted rather than leave their money and prestige. Those who took up the wanderer's staff left with nothing, and bandits, murderers, and starvation awaited them on the road. Only those with simple faith could do it. Eventually, the rabbis teach, all Jews will repent.

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