ChabadNewOrleans Blog

Dear Friends,

The Jewish world is still stunned by the events in Toulouse this week. Once again there is a fresh widow and orphan and parents mourning over the murder of their children. What kind of individual with a human heart in his body could do something like this? Which twisted mind could possibly find a way to rationalize and justify this barbarism? Yet this is reoccurring chillingly often. In a sad and ironic twist, little three year old Gavriel Sandler was born after the Mumbai terror attack and he was named for Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg (the Chabad Rabbi in Mumbai).

Though we live in a time when Jews have never been freer to openly live and worship as Jews, it seems that every-time we look up another Jew was murdered in cold blood. From where do we draw the strength and how can we attempt to comfort those whose loved ones were lost? As we struggle to come to grips with yet another incident, a small voice is heard with a powerful message for all of us. This is the voice of Mrs. Eva Sandler, whose husband and sons were among the victims. She has released a statement calling for an increase of light to combat this dark storm. Her words can be read at www.chabadneworleans.com/180898. 

Such strength comes from the depths of our souls and the mighty roots from which we grow. Jews in the most terrible circumstances forged ahead supported by the truth of Torah and Mitzvot and our connection with Hashem. When the darkness seems to be overpowering the world around us we must combat it with the light of that truth.

Now as we prepare for the festival of freedom – Passover, let us hope that the world will finally be free of this craziness because it will be flooded with the truth – that Hashem is one and His name is one – with the complete and final redemption. On that day Hashem will wipe the tears of mourning and pain from all faces. Amen.

Dr. Charles Wasserman was one of my earliest pediatricians in New Orleans, as a member of the Rothschild Pediatric Group. His son Michael later joined the group and is now my children’s physician. We are privileged to have Dr. Mike Wasserman as a real Rofeh Yedid – a doctor who truly cares about our children. This week Dr. Charles Wasserman passed away. I am joined by my family in extending our condolences to Mike and the whole family upon their loss.

Mazel Tov to my parents, Rabbi Zelig and Bluma Rivkin, upon their 40th wedding anniversary; many more happy and healthy years together.

Mazel Tov to Lou and Nanette Furman upon the birth of a grandson, Solomon Furman.

Mazel Tov to Johnny Lake upon being honored by the Jewish Federation for his important work in the community.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin

At the recent LimmudFest 2012 (which was a great success – kudos and credit to Gail, Lynn, Marisa and the entire crew for all of the hard work and effort in creating a great event), I had a conversation with an individual following my presentation on the Kabbalistic doctrines of Divine Unity. During our conversation the word dogma was thrown out as a disdainful concept; as if it was something backwards or primitive and non-Jewish. It brought to mind the bumper sticker “my Karma ran over your Dogma.” As I thought about it more I realized that replacing dogma with karma was a lateral move – because actually karma is just the dogma of another religion. Then it dawned on me that this week’s additional Torah reading Parshat Parah provides the true insight to the whole picture.

The subject of Parah is the Red Heifer – the perfectly red cow, whose ashes, when mixed with water, cedar wood, hyssop and a scarlet thread, purify a person who came into contact with a corpse. This concept is called a Chok – a statute for which no reason or logic is provided. In Judaism there are many Chukim – but none is inexplicable as the Red Heifer. To begin with, the notion of impurity is not logical. When you top it off with the Red Heifer procedure for purification it is even less logical. When you read that the Kohen who prepares the mixture himself becomes impure, that puts you over the top. (At least you are in good company - even King Solomon, the wisest of all men, declared that this was beyond him.)

So the question is why we need Mitzvot that don’t have rational explanations. Why can’t we just have a perfectly rational religion that would fit the sensibilities of the 21st century mindset? Wouldn’t it feel better if we Jews would be able to smugly think of our religion as the one that is “dogma free?” Yet this Mitzvah of the Red Heifer is referred to as THE Mitzvah of the Torah. To briefly explain. Since we humans are finite beings, it is impossible for us to have a real connection to an infinite G-d on our terms. Therefore any relationship that is founded solely on human logic will not achieve a connection with G-d. Only when there is the realization that “I must obey G-d whether I understand or not” can we begin to approach this connection. Only when the relationship is not defined solely by the limited human capacity for rationalization can we truly say that we are connected to Hashem.

Don’t get me wrong, reason and understanding are very central to Judaism and Torah & Mitzvot, but they cannot be the foundation. We try to understand as much as we possibly can. But then we must acknowledge that there is something beyond our intellect that we accept with faith and obedience. Upon this solid foundation, the beautiful edifice that is Judaism can stand eternally.  

To sum it up: The red heifer just flattened a karma and ran over a dogma.

Purim 2012 was awesome. Hundreds of people attended Chabad’s multiple programs. Over 240 Purim Shuttle packages were delivered. A good time was had by all. Please take a moment to review the pictures at www.chabadneworleans.com/1798607. I want to thank all of the volunteers who were involved in Purim Night, the packers and deliverers of Purim Shuttle, and those involved in putting together the amazing Purim in the Wild West. I also want to thank all of the participants in the Purim Shuttle 2012 Fundraiser. This year we raised over 10% more than last year. We appreciate your support.

Take a deep breath, because Pesach is just 3 week away…

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin