Rabbi's Blog - Chabad Lubavitch of Idaho

Fiery Passion

Friday, July 26, 2024 - 6:44 AM

The wildfires in Oregon and Idaho have disrupted life for many of us. With evacuation orders, highways closed, and the terrible haze in the air – we are all affected in various ways, some more than others. Fire has the wild ability to spread uncontrollably. But, it needs fuel.

It reminds me of a conversation I once had with my son while camping.

We had a campfire going, but it was modest. At my son’s suggestion that we throw in an entire bottle of lighter fluid to make the fire really big, I countered that it would indeed make it big, but there would be two problems. Firstly, it would be very dangerous. Since it is highly flammable it would create such a large fire that we may not be able to control. Secondly, it w… Read More »

The Ultimate Assurance

Friday, July 19, 2024 - 7:28 AM

The Houthis have apparently managed to hit Tel Aviv. In a tragic strike today, at least one was killed and multiple were injured by a drone. Their message is obvious. Jews are not safe anywhere. Not in Paris and not in Tel Aviv. Not in Brooklyn and not in Auckland.

Israel will certainly find the proper response.

But, how does this influence my life?

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In this week’s Parsha of Balak, the non-Jewish prophet Bilaam attempts to curse the Jewish people, but eventually blesses them instead. He was hired by Balam, king of Moav to “come and curse this people for me, for they are too powerful for me.”

Bilaam’s ultimate prophecy is the prophecy of the “end of days,” the time of the final redemption. … Read More »

Mindless?

Friday, July 12, 2024 - 7:26 AM

I spent this past Tuesday with tens of thousands of Jews who had gathered in New York in observance of the 30th yarzheit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneersohn of Righteous Memory.

It was truly surreal to see Jews from all walks of life and from the four corners of the world wait for several hours in the hot sun to spend a couple moments of prayer at the Rebbe’s gravesite.

It reminded me of the comment of a non-Jew witnessing the event some years prior. As I was walking down the block then, a police officer stopped me. He said, “Sir, I’ve been stationed here for a few hours now and I’m still trying to understand what’s going on. I already asked someone and was told that people are… Read More »

The First Hippie

Friday, July 5, 2024 - 8:57 AM

The Midrash on this week’s Torah portion of Korach tells us a fascinating motivation for Korach’s rebellion against Moshe and Aharon. We know that Korach’s mutiny ended in disaster, with the earth swallowing him and his closest associates (and fire consuming his outer circle). But what caused a man – who the Talmud calls clever – to rebel against the likes of Moshe? After all, wasn’t Korach present during the Exodus from Egypt, Revelation at Sinai and the many other miraculous events that proved Moshe was a divinely chosen leader? How could a clever man be so foolish?

The Midrash states that Korach was spurred by the law of the Red Heifer.

The Torah teaches that if a person becomes ritually impure… Read More »