Shevat 29, 5772 · February 22, 2012 |
Editor's Note:
Dear readers,
G‑d orders a house. Not just any house; a very specific house.
Construction begins. Fifteen different materials are needed. The building crew gets to work melting, soldering, sculpting, carving, weaving and dyeing.
The house needs to be functional, but also collapsible, transportable and easy to put back together.
Sounds pretty complicated to me.
Factor in a vast dry desert, no Google, and the year 2448 (1313 BCE), and I'd classify the task as formidable at best.
But they did it. And it only took a few months of hard, diligent and inspired labor.
How did they pull it off? G‑d gave them the tools and wisdom they needed. He knew what He wanted from them, and they knew it too. It shouldn't have been possible, but it was.
Three thousand years later, we are not privy to direct commands from G‑d. But we have a pretty good idea what he wants of us: To make this world a better place through the lives we live.
Do we have the tools?
We sure do: Studying Torah and living the commandments.
And a pretty good access point to those tools is chabad.org . . .
Miriam Szokovski,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
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| Building a Home for G-d Takes... |
| | Fifteen materials—including gold, silver, copper, wood, wool, animal skins and gemstones—are forged into a “dwelling for G‑d.”
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| | What do the precious metals in the Tabernacle symbolize? How do the scarlet, turquoise and purple wools of the tapestries represent the harmonization of G‑dly attributes in creation?
By Chaim Miller |  |
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| | I’m not a historian, I am not an architect, and I do not find myself interested in exactly how each fiber of linen was sewn. What can I learn from these teachings?
By Yisroel Cotlar | |
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| | Is a person so absolutely distant from G‑d still commanded to do the most sublime divine act, to build a sanctuary for G‑d?
By Shaul Yosef Leiter | |
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| | Are we waiting for G‑d, or is G‑d waiting for us? Who makes the next move?
By Yossy Goldman | |
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| | Through faith, dedication, devotion and love, a person can go beyond his or her ordinary level, making a step which might be exceptional.
By Tali Loewenthal | |
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| | the universe is shaped by six mathematical constants which, had they varied by a millionth or trillionth degree, would have resulted in no universe or at least no life.
By Rabbi Jonathan Sacks | |
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| ...Joy... |
| | Why should joy be just a tool, a means to an end? It’s a good thing in its own right, a better way to be. And it’s not that difficult to achieve.
By Yanki Tauber | |
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| | Sung in four stanzas of joy and gaiety, the melody increases in intensity from stanza to stanza.
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| | The Torah teaches us to maintain our faith, and to not only endure the difficult times but to transform them. Learn how.
By Sara Esther Crispe | |
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| ...Prayer... |
| | What does chewy bread with a hole in the middle have to do with being Jewish? And with Jewish breakfast in particular?
By Tzvi Freeman | |
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| | “I emphasized several times that 3:45 does not mean 3:50, or even 3:46. I was not interested in approximations.”
By Yaakov Brawer | |
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| | What’s the point of praying from a prayerbook? Why do we pray in Hebrew? Is it better to pray in shul? Learn how to infuse your prayers with real emotion and meaning.
By Goldie Plotkin | |
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| | Kabbalah teaches that immersion in a ritual bath, or mikvah, is vital for spiritual growth.
By Baruch Emanuel Erdstein | |
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| | Because synagogues in the Diaspora are considered “miniature sanctuaries,” some of the physical characteristics of the Holy Temple are to be incorporated into their design . . .
By Aryeh Citron | |
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| | Angels wait thousands of years to do what you can do any moment.
By Tzvi Freeman | |
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| | Learn how to perform the havdalah ceremony at the conclusion of Shabbat and festivals.
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| ...and Growth |
| | He’s a day shy of his thirteenth birthday. He’s been avoiding physical affection for a year now, but it doesn’t get easier for this momma, who just wants to hug and kiss her little boy.
By Chana Lew | |
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| | Does the partitioning of household waste in an elaborate classification system have implications for our spiritual lives?
By Levi Jacobson | |
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| | When he entered the Maggid’s room, he was immediately struck by the Maggid’s holy appearance . . .
By Yerachmiel Tilles | |
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| | The Tabernacle was to be built by every man, woman and child. Even a Jew who may appear to be a sinner is still obligated and capable of building a dwelling for G‑d.
By Chana Weisberg | |
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| This Week in Jewish History |
| | There were others who traveled to space, but no one ever carried anything like his kind of baggage. You could say that he took an entire people—3400 years of history included—to the heavens.
By Tzvi Freeman | |
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Featured Judaica:  The Path of Selflessness
Beginning with the words Yehuda Atah, the discourse examines the blessing which Yaakov blessed his fourth son, Yehuda, as compared to the blessings he gave his first three sons, Reuven, Shimon and Levi.
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