ChabadNewOrleans Blog

Several years ago we took the kids to the Audubon Insectarium. One of their more popular exhibits is the exotic butterfly garden. As a security measure, the butterfly garden’s two phased exit is set up so that both doors are not open at the same time, which prevents the butterflies from escaping.

During our visit a child mistakenly opened one door while the other was open and a butterfly escaped into the main exhibit area. The entire facility went into emergency lockdown mode. All exits were secured and they set out to locate the runaway butterfly. Within 15 minutes they find it hiding in an AC vent. It took about another 15 minutes to get a ladder and climb up with a net to capture the butterfly and bring it back to its proper place.

I asked one of the staffers why it was so imperative to capture the butterfly before it gets out into the street. He explained that since it was not an indigenous species it could cause harm to the local ecosystem with its eating habits and reproductive pace.

In light of the Baal Shemtov’s instruction to apply every encounter as a lesson in serving G-d, I thought that this is a very appropriate Elul lesson. Sometimes we think of certain Mitzvot or transgressions as small or insignificant. We regard it as no big deal in the scope of history or the vastness of the universe.

The anecdote of the escaped butterfly teaches that even the smallest thing can have a major impact on something very large. Indeed the Rambam teaches that a person should always view the next step they are about to take as the one that can impact the future of humanity and the entire world. As such, when we engage in Elul reckoning we must also account for the “small” deeds – good and bad – as they can be a major factor in our own lives and the world around us.

Our heartfelt condolences are extended to Natalia and Fernando Promoslovsky upon the passing of her mother.

Mazel Tov to Sarah and Zev Attias upon the birth of their son. The Bris will be held this Sunday at 1 PM at Chabad of Metairie. We look forward to celebrating with them.

May Hashem bless each and every one of us with a happy, healthy, prosperous and meaningful new year of 5774.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin

Most of the Torah’s instructions regarding war can be found at the end of last week’s Torah portion and flowing into this week’s Torah portion. Among the issues covered are, G-d instructs us how to offer peace, how to approach a siege, how to deal with certain populations, how to maintain an army, and how soldiers should conduct themselves during war.

However in the middle of the passages that deal with war, the Torah interrupts to address the discovery of an unidentified corpse outside a city. The city elders and the priests need to come and perform a ceremony and declare “our hands did not spill this blood.” This passage conveys Hashem’s great pain over needless loss of life.

Context is very important in the Torah. As such the placement of this passage in the middle of the section on war is somewhat curious. I recently heard a beautiful solution to this issue. The Jewish soldiers that went to war needed to banish their fear and somewhat suppress their sensitivity in order to fight the righteous battles of G-d and defend their people against enemies who wished to destroy them. Being involved in war, destruction and killing, soldiers can encounter a difficulty in reacquainting themselves with the sensitivity that was suppressed and once again heighten the value of each and every human life. Therefore the Torah inserts the passage about the tragedy of death, seemingly out of context, because it is just the lesson needed to maintain the balance needed to be mindful of the value of a human life.

Last fall we introduced you to a local artist named Anna Gil, who created a series of paintings called Letters of Light focusing on the Hebrew Alphabet. Following successful exhibits at two French Quarter galleries, Anna encountered a strange phenomenon. Even though the exhibits went well each of the galleries expressed a similar sentiment when they asked her to remove her work, “we do not want to be known as the ‘Shalom Gallery’ around here.” It seemed that her work was too Jewish to be featured in their galleries.

Anna was feeling very down after being informed by yet another gallery that they did not want her work. She arrived home and opened her laptop where she saw one of her pieces on the screen. She thought it strange because she did not recall leaving it open. When she took a closer look, it was part of an email from Chabad.org in which they were asking to feature her work in a blog section called Art for the Soul. She felt that G-d had given her this amazing sense of uplifting after feeling so down from her earlier encounter with the gallery. This is an example of what is known as Hashgacha Pratis or Divine Providence. The hand of Hashem can be discovered in the most unexpected places or times. Anna’s feature can be found at www.chabadneworleans.com/2277989. Her work was featured last weekend at the National Jewish Retreat’s Living in Joy art show. She has also done exhibits in Venice and Paris. For more on her work see www.annagil.com.

Mazel Tov to Ephraim Ashurov upon his upcoming marriage to Esther Shalumov.

KVT and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin

The story is told about a resident of the silly town of Chelm who was observed searching for a lost ring under the street lamp. He was asked, "where did you lose the ring?" He answered, "down the street." "So why are you looking here instead of there?" Because it is light here." This story is a perfect metaphor for our own silliness that we express durign the month of Elul, the month of reckoning and spiritual stock-taking. 

Our sages interpret the term Yisrael (Israelite) as being Sar Keil a master or minister of or over G-d. Chasidic teachings illuminate this interpretation in the following way. Every Jew has a spark of Keil (G-d) within the core of the soul. Yisrael indicates that this "Keil" is the Sar, the master or dominating force in the Jew's life. This is the ideal to which every Jew aspires.

At times it is possible that the Jew fails to live up to potential of being a Yisrael. Under those circumstances it is possible that the spark of G-d gets lost within the vast emptiness of the persons life. Regarding this the verse instructs, "and you shall seek Hashem your G-d there and you shall find." This emphasizes to us the importance of looking for the spark of G-d where we lost it. It is not good enough to look over our Torah, prayer and Mitzvot and fool ourselves into concluding that all is well. We must honestly confront our less desirable side so that we can find the lost spark of G-d and restore it back to its proper place within our souls. As the verse states, "in the marketplaces and the streets have I found the One whom my soul desries." We need to go to the "outside" of our lives to seek and find the love and connection to Hashem that was diluted due to our negative experiences throughout the year. 

Of one thing we are assured. If a person makes the effort to seek his G-dly spark and reconnect with Hashem, Hashem will be waiting for him with a "smiling face and shining countenance." Hashem's love for us is unbounded and His strongest desire it to be close to us. As such it should be a labor of love for us to fulfill that desire. Happy searching! Happy finding! Happy Elul!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, prosperous and meaningful new year! Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Mendel Rivkin