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You Have Power

Friday, 20 September, 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

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