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Bethlehem Chabad is committed to serve the local Jewish community and make Judaism accessible by offering a warm, vibrant and welcoming space for the Jewish community to learn and practice Judaism.
As a part of the worldwide Chabad movement, Bethlehem Chabad serves people at all levels of Jewish identity, no matter of their background, all have a place and feel welcome at Chabad.
CYBER MONDAY!!
Take advantage of the great sales today to purchase toys for Shalom Food Pantry to distribute!
Check out our wishlist, www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1UFRUIOX4ZX8E to order directly to our location. You can also choose your own toys and drop them off at Chabad!
It’s Not the Good. It’s Not the Bad. It’s the Battle for Living as an “In-Betweener”
Inside of us, two identities are battling for supremacy. Each wishes to control our perceptions, feelings, thoughts, words, and deeds. Our struggles vary, as does our rate of success. How much can we reasonably expect of ourselves?
Women - Join us this Monday at 7:00 PM!
Sign up here: bethlehemchabad.com/events/to-believe-or-not-to-believe-in-yourself/var/ri-1.l-L1/
Light candles tonight before 4:07 p.m.
Shabbat is over tomorrow at 5:11 p.m.
Isaac, our patriarch, was a completely righteous man.
Early in his life, he was prepared to be offered as a sacrifice to G‑d and even afterwards, when a ram was offered in his place, he was still considered holy, like a sacrifice. For that reason, unlike the other Patriarchs, G‑d did not let him leave Israel. He was holy and had to live in a holy land.
One of his sons, Jacob, emulated his holiness. He was “a dweller of tents,” choosing to frequent the prominent houses of study of the age. But his other son, Esau, was a hunter, a man of violence and passion.
And yet Isaac loved Esau.
Some say Esau was able to deceive him. In Isaac’s presence, he appeared holy and then afterwards, he did what he wanted. But that makes our Patriarch look somewhat shallow.
But also, it runs contrary to one of the basic themes of Isaac’s life work. Isaac was a digger of wells. What’s the secret of a well-digger? Not to accept what you see on the surface, but to dig deep down, to keep clearing away the dirt until he finds the water of life.
Isaac did that not only with wells, but with every experience in his life. He would probe to the depths and appreciate the inner core. Now if he did that with everything, wouldn’t he do that with his own son?
So if Esau wasn’t fooling him, why did he love him?
For precisely that reason. When digging deeply, it depends how deep you dig. If you dig past the surface, you will be able to see a person’s passions and drives — not all of that is pleasant.
But if you really love a person, you won’t stop there. You’ll dig deeper until you find the essential core of G‑dliness that person has. In some, it shines openly. In others, it’s hidden and in certain people, it’s very hidden.
Since Isaac loved Esau, he didn’t look at his less favorable dimensions; he focused on the good that was deep inside of him.
That also enables us to understand why he wanted to convey the blessings to him. Isaac was constantly struggling to motivate Esau to live up to his spiritual potential. He felt that by pouring so much positive energy into him, he could arouse the good inside and enable it to dominate his personality.
However, the blessings were given to Jacob. For the work of revealing the good in Esau could not be accomplished in a brief period of time.
This is where we come in. We are striving to reveal this spiritual energy, the “sparks” invested in worldly experience which is associated with Esau. By doing Mitzvot and good within the world we are able to elevate the G-d;y energy associated with Esau.
The final consummation of these efforts will come in the Era of the Redemption, when “deliverers will go up to Mount Zion to judge the mountain of Esau, and the sovereignty will be G‑d’s.” At that time, the powerful spiritual energies which Esau possesses will surface and be given appropriate expression.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zalman
Tonight, the first day of the month (Rosh Chodesh) of Kislev marks the return of the Rebbe to public life after suffering a major heart attack just thirty-eight days earlier.
During the celebrations of the evening of Shemini Atzeret in the year 1977 (5738), while dancing with the Torahs in the main synagogue, the Rebbe’s face suddenly turned pale. As he sat back in his chair, the chassidim knew that something was very wrong, and the synagogue was quickly cleared. Yet the Rebbe stoically completed the last dance together with his brother-in-law Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary. Dr. Ira Weiss, who flew in from Chicago to treat the Rebbe, testified that “on a scale of ten, he had the full ten heart attack . . . it involved such extensive damage that in anyone’s normal medical experience one would worry about the possibility of survival.”
Knowing that the Rebbe’s life might be in danger, and that he was surely suffering intense physical pain, the chassidim had cause for deep anguish and anxiety. Yet the Rebbe instructed that the celebration must continue, and that the joy must be unconstrained. One chassid who was present later recalled, “The fact that the Rebbe was unwell penetrated us to the very core. To begin with, we sang, ‘The Rebbe should be healthy.’ Then the words changed to ‘The Rebbe is healthy.’ We somehow knew, axiomatically, that our faithful joy would make it so. On Rosh Chodesh Kislev, when we once again saw the Rebbe, we celebrated because we were united again with our own essence. And that was the celebration. Such a thing doesn’t come through any kind of specific preparation. It comes from the very foundation of what it means to be a chassid, knowing that the Rebbe is your essence.”
Rosh Chodesh Kislev marked the beginning of many additional years of life and leadership for the Rebbe. During this period he revealed ever deeper Torah secrets, and inspired many thousands of people to transform themselves and the world for good.
But Rosh Chodesh Kislev wasn’t just a point in the past. Rosh Chodesh Kislev continues to be celebrated as the moment that chassidim collectively recognize just how deep the bond with the Rebbe goes. Transcending any physical or temporal dimension, the Rebbe and his teachings continue to provide our essential soul connection, the bedrock of our faith, of our awe and love of G‑d.
*This photo was taken at the first farbrengen led by the Rebbe after suffering a major heart attack. Unbeknownst to most of the audience, doctors were using cardiac monitors to observe the Rebbe’s condition throughout the farbrengen.
To watch a video with the complete story, please see here: jemcentral.org/2018/11/20/the-inside-story-of-rosh-chodesh-kislev-5738/