Rabbi's Blog - Chabad of Pittsford

Jewish Thought of the Week (04/23/2025)

Friday, April 25, 2025 - 12:16 PM

Dear Friends,

What’s the difference between a Jew and a Frenchman at a party?

A Frenchman leaves and doesn't say goodbye; a Jew says goodbye and doesn't leave. (Old Jewish Joke)

Passover feels like it was forever ago, right?

It ended just a few days back. But now that we have packed the Passover dishes and the shelves at the Kosher store are once again stocked with fresh bagels, it does feel like the season has passed.

So, let's say it together: Goodbye Passover!

But wait. It will be a Jewish goodbye.

Which means it's going to take a while. Because we don't want to say goodbye, we want Passover's lessons to stay with us for a bit longer.

The truth is, the season is not truly over. Look at the Jewish calendar: we are still in the Hebrew month of Nissan (not the car company), "the month of miracles."

And while we might not need to eat Matzah anymore, there is something we just keep and cherish: the Nissan energy.

The Nissan energy is about a G-d who didn't forget his children.

It's about a nation of slaves with no path to freedom, no power, and no plan. Yet they walked out of Egypt, not as fugitives, but as a free people. Not because it made sense but because G-d Himself took them out.

And it's about a people who, more than 3,000 years later, still stand tall. Not because the odds were ever in our favor but because they never bound us to begin with. We don't live by the rules of nature. We live with the truth of something higher.

Take Shabbat, for example. Does it make sense to disengage from the word for an entire day completely? What if there is a good business deal that we might miss? According to the rules of nature, we might be missing a lot of money. But we don't care because the rules do not apply to us.

So, as we say goodbye to Passover and the month of Nissan, let's take another few moments to appreciate this month's gifts. And next time we encounter any challenge, we will never say "we can't" or "it's not going to work."

Because Nissan energy is here to stay. (Thank you to Rabbi Mendy Kaminker for sharing the above idea with me).

Wishing you a good Shabbos!

Rabbi Yitzi Hein

Jewish Thought of the Week (04/18/2025)

Friday, April 18, 2025 - 12:19 PM

Dear Friends,

My friend Rabbi Eliyahu Shusterman shared this idea; "people say you need to see it to believe it, but perhaps you need to believe it to see it"?!

We are entering into the final two days of Pesach. The first days theme is the Exodus from Egypt while the last day is focused on the future redemption with Moshiach.

Generally, the natural thinking mind is resistant to the entire notion of miracles. After all, by definition miracles are above nature.

So how do we get to believing if the mind wants to see it first? The answer; start believing and you'll see. In the big book of AA, there is an idea that one needs to act their way into a new way of thinking.

I'd like to suggest that similarly we act ourselves into believing.

If one acts as if the world is already in a messianic state; expansive thinking, expansive acting, living large according to G-d's will, doing the mitzvos that are asked of us even with a sense of surrender and abandon, the light will go on and the belief will kick in.

The ideal is believing in to seeing. But, if you must see to believe, we don't need to look further than these past 18 months. We've experienced miracle after miracle affecting our People in Israel and abroad.

Please join me on Sunday April 20 at 7:00 PM for a Festival of the Future - Moshiach feast (RSVP here or below). This is a tradition started by the Baal Shem Tov, later added to by the Chabad Rebbe's to bring the energy of Pesach and Moshiach into the mundane days that follow. We'll have Matzah, wine, light food and song and story galore. I hope you'll join me. Please reply if you'll join.

Wishing you a wonderful end of Pesach and happy Believing!

Rabbi Yitzi Hein

P.S. Our Passover Appeal is still open here- if you would like to make a donation of any size to partner in bringing Passover energy to our community - we'd be honored and grateful!

Jewish Thought of the Week (04/04/2025)

Friday, April 4, 2025 - 12:52 PM

Dear Friends,

When we look at our strengths and talents, we are more comfortable accepting that these are by design. But the negative qualities are more difficult to accept. However, to quote Rabbi Taub; "these are features not bugs".

In this week's Torah portion, in a subtle yet powerful manner, this point is expressed.

This week we begin to read the 3rd book of the Torah, the book of Vayikra - Leviticus. In this book, we read about the various offerings that were brought into the portable Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later in the Beit Hamikdash (Temple) in Jerusalem.

As I have the privilege to teach daily Chumash with Rashi 9am on zoom (if you ever want to join this special zoom, just reply to the email with your phone number to receive the daily text invite) we went through a lot of different offerings, both for the communal and for the individual. In the individual, it talks about the rich person's offering (a sheep) , the middle class person's offering (a bird) and the poor man's offering (some flour).

In telling us about the offering of the poor man, the Torah uses the unique expression, "If a soul brings an offering". It doesn't use this expression when talking about the rich or middle class person's offering.

Rashi (11th Century famous biblical commentator) quotes the Talmud that says that since the offering is of the poor person, who may feel down that all he can bring is a poor offering, the Torah wants to lift his spirits and as such tells us that G-d considers it as if he offered his very soul to G-d.

I think the Torah is validating the struggle of the poor person whose poverty consists of poor qualities as well. Being poor generally is not something someone chooses. Additionally, the poor person is likely doing everything they can to no longer be poor. Nonetheless, the Torah and G-d validate the circumstances and the feelings that come with it. How true is it then, in regard to poverty of better qualities that G-d validates us and our struggle.

Being that all of us can relate to being a 'poor person' in some area of life, we ought to continue working to liberate ourselves from our negative qualities. But, as the poor person too, until such time that these qualities are transformed, it is part of G-d's masterplan. Bringing ourselves with our shortcomings to the table in service of Hashem, is considered an offering of our very souls (Thank you to my friend Eliyahu Schusterman for sharing that idea).

I was thinking about this and want to add another bonus:there is something special when we give our 'poor person offering' that doesn't exist in the 'rich/middle class offering.'

You see, when you do a good deed and everything works out and you "knock it out of the park" you also feel really, really good about yourself. While self-esteem is important (and we are wired to feel good about doing good) that sentiment of self-satisfaction takes away from the selflessness of the act (again this is not good vs. bad just a subtle nuance).

But when Providence presents you with failure or modest success in your attempts to do good, only you and G-d are left with knowing you did your best.

And that my friends is the truest offering to the Almighty and the world. Lchaim!

Have a good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yitzi Hein