Are We Supposed to Be Afraid of G-d?

B"H


Elul 18, 5772 * September 5, 2012

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CHABAD.ORG NEWSLETTER

* Daily Quote * Daily Thought * Comment * Question * Story * Voices *
* Essay * Parshah Summary & Overview * From The Chassidic Masters *

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Editor's Note:

Dear friends,

What's with that $18 check you got from your aunt for your birthday? Why do Jews love the number 18?

Each Hebrew letter stands for a number, and the word for "life" (chai) is spelled chet-yud, which are 8 and 10. Thus 18 is the number of life.

Hold on to that idea for a minute.

There are twelve months in a year, and the twelfth and final one, Elul, is used for taking stock of the outgoing year, casting out what doesn't work and improving what does.

Now, let's go back to the previous concept. If 18 is life, and Elul is about self-improvement, then what is the 18th day of Elul? It's the day that infuses life into the task of self-improvement.

It is no coincidence that the 18th of Elul is the birth date (47 years apart) of the founder of Chassidism, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, in 1698, and of the founder of Chabad, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in 1745. These two fathers of the Chassidic movement taught us that self-improvement isn't a schlep. It is what life is all about.

Enjoy Elul!

Rabbi Shais Taub,
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team



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THIS WEEK'S FEATURES:

PARSHAH

Crossing the Border (Based on the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe)


Wakefulness and sleep affect only the external activity of the intellect; what we know with the very essence of our being, we know no less when plunged into the deepest slumber.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=813663CB5275EC619CC7976C94793153&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Good Thinking (By Yanki Tauber)


For several years now, positive thinking has been in vogue. But the New York Times reports on a group of psychologists who are "worried that we're not making space for people to feel bad."

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=CB0CF8D9CAE9D2040829A8C86E569D93&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


How to Grow a Relationship (By Lazer Gurkow)

Relationships can be said to progress along a path of four stages: proclamation, selection, glory and unification.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=C91A0ACAF023A0A428B5F120E1B1E5C0&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Ki Tavo in a Nutshell


Gratitude and fruit, awareness versus acknowledgement, priorities over percentages, and the polarity of reward and rebuke—in the Torah reading of Ki Tavo.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=8F23AC3AAAECF74FD9798219F819743C&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


QUESTIONS

Are We Supposed to Be Afraid of G-d? (By Aron Moss)


The difference between love and respect is that when I love, I am preoccupied with my feelings toward you; when I respect, I am focusing on your presence rather than mine . . .

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=B0D6514BBECCD6B85C78A1E62DBA178A&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Do the Jewish People Still Expect a Messiah? (By Tzvi Freeman)


The Jew aches with expectation, and blatantly demands that the world act according to the beauty it inherently contains.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=6BABB8219B768CE012124243229234EE&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Should I Heal the Planet or Help My Community? (By Tzvi Freeman)

What's my role in life? Is it to "slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet," or is to to help my own family and community?

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=D15D06F28E5C351C49776FF4A058E08F&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


VOICES

Running on Empty (By Sara Debbie Gutfreund)


She says that she is running on empty. She says that there is vast, useless space inside of her. She looks the same on the outside. But things are subtly falling apart.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=93A5678899EC7A56245597D9375120D4&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Dancing on 9/11 (By Dovi Scheiner)


With a plume of black smoke suspended in the skies above our wedding canopy, it was clear to us that our challenge would be to build more than a Jewish home—it would be to build a Jewish tower.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=653F8B3E7C3C8085EE4FEC0343190E2E&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


A Broken Heart (By Sara Esther Crispe)


Our wholeness, our completeness, is a process. And part of that process is allowing ourselves to feel and be vulnerable enough to be broken. If we have never been broken, we can never be whole.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=A523D0366BF2FE4B12675578C82F7CA4&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


VIDEO

Taxation with Representation (By Nochum Mangel)


How can we most fairly apportion the communal burden? Who should pay, and how much? And who decides where this money should go?

WATCH (1:01:22) >> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=8959977AE754AB6024E52E4206A4D054&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Stick Figure Vignette: Joy (By Dovid Taub)


A man and his stomach have a party.

WATCH (1:04) >> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=3502A0E9B6BD3D420136580C2514EE82&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Curses in the Bible (By Moshe New)


The connection between the start of a new year and the 98 curses read in this week's Torah portion.

WATCH (40:29) >> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=6A870581B99D7E0561C063375A8716FD&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Does Your Schedule Reflect Your Priorities? (By Chana Weisberg)


In the myriad responsibilities of the daily grind, realize what most important to you and give it precedence.

WATCH (25:58) >> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=74B7C98D3D36A9C1851122F0492FBAA9&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


STORY

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (By Yerachmiel Tilles)


The rebbe stood in front of the blazing home and leaned on his cane. He remained utterly still for a few moments. Suddenly, the fire died down.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=3EBEB1E8D6D5FF591EA8228346414122&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


By Invitation Only (By Batya (Schochet) Lisker)


Severe Siberian cold waves swept across the remote forest region with a vengeance, as the bitter temperature plummeted further. It was week two of his treacherous trek . . .

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=D5056E0B2F47D416775E1CD539C0DBF8&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


SEASONS OF THE SOUL

Selichot in a Nutshell


Several days before Rosh Hashanah we begin to recite the Selichot, a series of penitential prayers and liturgy.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=21CEE4D19B24A9033574BF80FF64A1AF&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Preparing for the Festival (By Tali Loewenthal)


The cleansing and scouring process before Rosh Hashanah is most intense, because it is in preparation for a greater and more wonderful revelation of the divine.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=EFAAB1E594168C3EDFF2E534882D6285&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Chabad Yeshivah Circa 1937 (Translated by Shimon Neubort)


A short history of the early years of Yeshivah Tomchei Temimim, the central Chabad yeshivah.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=DB0AF55DE35F1F5482B876B59F66EA52&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


CURRENT

Remembering Sami Rohr

Reflections on the legendary renaissance man who catalyzed jewish revival worldwide on the occasion of his shloshim -- 30 days since his passing.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=C5163C3B69AAAF8AC9B865A5A82FE9A0&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


What Does the Torah Say About Obamacare? (By Nochum Mangel and Shmuel Klatzkin)


What would Congress do if it guided its actions by the principles of Torah?

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=D0032874D5AF7EDDD9ADE540A990BCE7&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


NEWS

New Shabbat Times Mobile App (By Moshe Rosenberg)

I will admit: like most people my age, I am literally tied at the hip to my smartphone . . .

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=6283B7E837DDCEFAEE2DD9D35C2DEA6F&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Jewish Community Returns to Downtown L.A. (By Malina Saval)

Once a Gotham-like void that went dark after the law offices, jewelry shops and fashion houses closed for the day, Los Angeles' downtown is now a center of arts and culture, its trendy cafés and chic galleries entertaining a growing number of young professional residents.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=7199A3D222F64E20965CB6826148E6EF&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2


Friendship Circle Beneficiary Gives Back (By Karen Schwartz)

His childhood characterized by frequent interactions with volunteers from the Friendship Circle, New Jersey's Alec Russin decided to give back, coordinating a summer camp program for the organization as part of his Bar Mitzvah project.

>> http://link.Chabad.org/go.asp?li=DBD460C18504C2DCA363A0BB351176BD&ui=F8C16ABBBCDB72AD0024EE2F647D78D2

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