ChabadNewOrleans Blog - Chabad-Lubavitch of Louisiana

The Buc-ee's of Judaism

Thursday, September 26, 2024 - 4:09 PM

Our family recently took a road trip to New York for a simcha. Thank G-d the trip was smooth and there were no mishaps. On the way back to New Orleans we stopped off to visit our daughter and her family in Pittsburgh. The route from Pittsburgh to New Orleans is different than the one we usually take from New York, enabling us to have an experience that we have not yet encountered. I refer to a stop at Buc-ee’s.

Buc-ee’s is a travel center that features more fuel pumps than the eye can see, amazingly clean restrooms, a massive car wash, and a convenience store that is the size of a supermarket. When you walk into Buc-ee’s you can spend a long time perusing the aisles and various sections of the store. It really is a one-stop shop where you can find anything you need for your trip. They have little signs featuring whimsical messages for sale. They sell art, gadgets, knickknacks, and a bunch of other stuff. A visit to Buc-ee’s would be termed in Hebrew as a “chavayah.”

As I sat in the car waiting for the rest of my family to return, I watched as hundreds of people came and went, each having gotten what they needed/wanted from Buc-ee’s. Then it occurred to me that there is a parallel between Buc-ee’s and the upcoming Jewish month of Tishrei that contains all the holidays.

Tishrei is a month which is sated with everything good. We are given enough “merchandise” to support ourselves for a whole year. As we browse the “aisles” of Tishrei, we go from “section to section” and select the merchandise that we need for the year.

We pick up some devotion and introspection on the Rosh Hashanah aisle. On the Yom Kippur aisle we select atonement and connection. In the Sukkot section we find unity and joy. Finally, some love of Torah and more joy in the Simchat Torah section. We might come across an endcap featuring Teshuvah. Don’t forget your apples and honey and the blessings for the new year. Give your soul a good cleansing at the car wash and pump some clean divine energy into your tank for the road ahead.

Everyone who takes advantage of the Tishrei experience comes away with something that will fill the rest of the year’s journey with meaning and an uplifted spirit.

Unlike Buc-ee’s, Tishrei can presently be experienced in Louisiana at a Shul near you and in your homes over the next month. Chabad of Louisiana and our affiliates throughout the region would love to be a part of your Tishrei holidays. Please see below for a sampling of our many offerings and come be a part of some or all as you please.

Shabbat Shalom and may we all be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year filled with good health, prosperity, meaningful spiritual growth, peace and security, and the complete and final redemption.

Rabbi Mendel Rivkin

You Have Power

Friday, September 20, 2024 - 12:25 PM

Last Friday morning, after two nights with no electricity following Hurricane Francine, I was sitting on the porch of Chabad House chatting with a member of the community. A woman walked by holding a fresh cup of coffee and was heading to her air-conditioned Tulane office. She smiled, inquiring how we fared with the storm. I replied wearily, “we have no power.” She looked up at me and declared resolutely, “You have power.” We smiled back and she went on her way. We looked at each other and said, “wow, that was a profound message.” Then he grinned and said to me, “I can see this making it into one of your weekly email messages.” So here we are!

Sometimes we hear something that may be more profound than was intended by the person who spoke it. She meant to be encouraging, which she was. But as I thought more about it, there is a very deep message. We do have power. From where is that power drawn?

The collective name of the Jewish people is Yisrael (Israel), the name given by the Angel of Esau to Jacob. Genesis 32:29 states, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have commanding power with [an angel of] G-d and with men, and you have prevailed."

If we break down the Hebrew, Yisrael is composed of two words and a prefix. Sar means prince, minister, or ruler. E-l is one of the names of G-d. The yud is the prefix which denotes a constancy. Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the first Chabad Rebbe, explains that Yisrael means that E-l (Divinity) is the Sar, the ruler or dominant force within us. Everything in the world has a spark of divinity. For Yisrael, that spark is not just present, but dominant.

When we live with the awareness of what Yisrael means, we draw on great reservoirs of power, enabling us to accomplish amazing things. We can then live up to the other application of Yisrael, which is that we are nobility, we are a Sar of E-l, a prince of Hashem.

So, I thank woman whose name I do not know, who just “chanced” to walk by Chabad when I was on the porch. She was a mouthpiece for G-d in that moment, leaving me with an uplifting message of strength at a time that I really needed to hear it.

The High Holidays are coming. Remember we are royalty. We have the power of the dominant divine spark within us. Tap into that power and change the world for the better.

Shabbat Shalom and may we all be inscribed and sealed for a good and sweet year filled with good health, prosperity, meaningful spiritual growth, peace and security, and the complete and final redemption.

Rabbi Mendel Rivkin

8 Billion Hostages

Thursday, September 5, 2024 - 3:36 PM

The consensus is that on October 7 Hamas and its terrorist allies took approximately 250 hostages during their attack on Israel. In reality Hamas and its terrorist allies have taken over 8 billion hostages. They have made psychological hostages of nearly every human being on earth. What other explanation could there be for what we are seeing play out in front of us?

In which world are the victims of an attack demonized almost immediately?

In which world is the right to defend oneself against an ongoing assault not recognized?

In which world can militants embed themselves amongst civilians with impunity, while those who fight back are accused of indiscriminate killing of innocents?

In which world can terrorists openly declare their desire for their own people to be killed so that their deaths can be abused for PR, and then the public buys the narrative hook, line, and sinker?

In which world does the “family of nations” repeatedly condemn the victims, while the aggressors are given carte blanche to do whatever they want?

In which world is a ceasefire, where one side has demonstrated ad nauseum, through words and actions, that it does not respect the ceasefire, the solution to a conflict?

In which world do we watch a terrorist, who was released in a lopsided “prisoner swap,” oversee the killing of 1,200 people, and then we call for an identical swap again and again?

In which world does a group of terrorists brutally murder hostages in anticipation of their impending rescue, and then their deaths are laid at the feet of the negotiator who refused to knuckle under to absurd deals?

In which world are citizens brutally murdered in captivity, only to have their own country targeted by arms embargoes lest they respond to those murders?

In which world? Sadly, it is our world.

The emperor has no clothes, and everyone is afraid to admit that they have noticed. 8 billion people have been conned into believing that the emperor is majestically attired, when, in reality, he is stark naked.

What are we to do? How do we survive in a world that has gone crazy?

Luckily we have the Torah that gives us clear guidance. Sadly, for too long the Torah’s guidance has been ignored by the very people for whom it is intended.

The Torah guides us on hostage negotiations. The Torah guides us on self-defense and security. The Torah guides us on PR and “hasbara.” For some reason, the people in charge are willing to try everything but what the Torah says to do.

We have now entered Elul, the month of mercy. May we merit to be the beneficiaries of Hashem’s infinite compassion. May we see the fulfillment of Psalm 29, “The L-rd will give strength to His people; the L-rd will bless His people with peace” through the coming of Mashiach and the complete Redemption.

Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendel Rivkin