Rebbetzen Tziporah - Tzion

 Dear friends,

What a wonderful way to live! Being a member of a people with all of the play's main actors, who are continually part of their national repertoire. If you were writing a present-day version of the Megillah, would it not be too hard to cast Agam Bergman as Ester, Khomaini as Haman, guess who (a certain politician who is the type to throw a 180-day-long party to prove that he has made Shushan Great Again) as Achashverosh. 

The problem is that general casting has not as yet found a credible candidate for the role of Mordechai, and we wait for his arriving on the scene every day. A spark of Moshe is in the hearts of the collective leadership in every generation. The problem is that we have to be willing to hear what he has to say. No one knew what Moshe could do until Hashem empowered him to become the greatest leader we ever had.

You may think that this paragraph is going to be what we can do to finally hear the words On With The Show! You are right. The masks have come off. It’s time to look more closely at who we are when we aren’t disguised. The way this coming week’s parshah treats reality (oh no! not that!) is by reviewing the mishkan, which is the paradigm for our homes, the place that we define for ourselves as the comfort zone, and then telling us not to build it on Shabbos. 

Ideally you make every effort to see what needs to done for you to achieve whatever needs to happen to make your role in the ongoing drama work. That means using your mind and your body in active participation in tikkun atzmi (rectifying yourself) and tikkun olam (rectifying the world). At the very same moment, you ideally will be praying to Hashem in your heart to let it work. Let Him give you what it takes to make your environment (inside and outside) a mishkan. 

Shabbos has an inner and outer dimension. The inner dimension is being aware that the world with all of its challenges is perfect, it is the way Hashem made it with His wisdom, and His love for us. This is what the Torah directs you to do when it says that you should feel as though your work is done no matter how undone it is by human definition.

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION

Eretz Yisrael is to material reality what Shabbos is to time. It’s the place that Hashem told Avraham that is the place he will discover himself, “lech lecha”, and go to you, to yourself. It’s the place where human endeavors have to be done, with tikkun atzmi and tikkun olam happening as the result of being at the place that Hashem calls the Land of the Living. On the deepest of all possible levels, Jews have always related to EY as more than a place like any other place. 

Tragically its energy has been, at times, used as a means of self-actualization on the lowest, most egocentric level possible. The torah says keep shmittah, surrender. Some of the earliest secular Zionists were extreme enough to say “Do anything to show you don’t surrender” to the Torah or its Author. Their almost supernatural grip on the collective imagination of our people was possible because of the magic of the word Zion. Its literal meaning is “excellent” but is never used in any sense other than spiritual excellence. 

Being in Israel is about bringing Hashem into the most ordinary activities as tikkun olam and tikkun atzmi, a secret that the Jews who resisted leaving the dessert to enter the Land never really grasped. A Jew is a Jew is a Jew. Pure nationalism is no longer seen as our core belief. We now know better, and the emunah that this past year revealed, and the longing for unity that the national motto “beyachad ninatzeah” together we will win, has not grabbed our collective imagery (NOT imagination – imagery). 

The World Zionist Organization has enormous power. It is time that they represent the people to whom Eretz Yisrael, Tzion, is the dream we long to see actualized. I am enclosing a letter about what you can do to have your voice as someone who loves EY and its eternal message be heard. I received it from Ohr Sameach, but my own personal opinion is that it is an opportunity that needs response. Obviously, you can make the decision that rings true to you.

Love,

Tziporah

THE FOLLOWING IS NOT ENDORSED BY THIS BLOG, BUT A PERSONAL REQUEST OF REBBETZEN GOTTLIEB. THERE ARE OTHER OPINIONS ABOUT VOTING IN THE WZO BECAUSE OF THE OVERWHELMING INFLUENCE OF THE REFORM MOVEMENT INVOLVEMENT. DO YOUR RESEARCH

Dear Friends,

Although there is currently quite a lot going on with the sudden passing of Rav Nota Schiller ZTZ'l, the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Somayach, I’m reaching out to you now because this is a HUGE opportunity for the Jewish people and it’s very time-sensitive.

Elections just opened for the WZO where you can help direct a major portion of over $1 Billion dollars in funding towards Kiruv of Jews who are far away from Judaism. This happens only once every five years!

Under the guidance of leading Gedolim (Rabbinic Leaders), we have been given the opportunity to assist the Olami Kiruv organization in sharing the power of the Am Yisrael Chai Party.

Every vote can help bring significant funding to our Yeshiva and to Jewish outreach programs around the globe!

If you and/or your family members live in the United States, PLEASE help us and help the Jewish people by voting TODAY!

With just $5 and 5 minutes, YOU can really make a difference!

Turn $5 into over $1 Billion in funding for the future of the Jewish people!

We would be so grateful if you and each of your family members (18+) could please take the following 2 steps:

1.     Vote for the Am Yisrael Chai Party (Slate #9) - http://zionistelection.org

MUST: Please forward me the email confirmation you receive confirming that you voted

1. (a screenshot does not qualify)

Gratefully yours, 

Rav Yitzchak Breitowitz, Rav Kehilas Ohr Somayach