Now we are entering the three weeks, the time the Jewish nation mourns the destruction of our holy Beis Hamikdash in Jerusalem.  We know that one of the main ideas during these three weeks is to increase in love and unity in order to correct the sin of baseless hatred which caused the destruction. 

Do we truly value life?  I think this requires true introspection.  If we view life as dispensable, or if we feel there is justification in killing someone (other than in self defense), then we do not really value life.  And why do we not? Because we forget Who gives life. We forget that the Almighty created us, created the entire universe, and He is the One Who bestows life upon His creations.

Today is the special day of Gimmel Tamuz, the day that our Rebbe, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was concealed from us until the coming of Moshiach.   But what can we do to connect with the Rebbe? We can learn the Rebbe’s teachings of chassidus, follow the Rebbe’s ways and fulfill the Rebbe’s directives. Perhaps the most important directive from the Rebbe was about loving every Jew unconditionally. And this is what our generation finds difficult.

There are a number of Turkish tv series on internet these days which are blatantly anti semitic. They twist around the Torah and make it sound like Avraham sacrificed Yishmael rather than Yitzchak (Hashem yirachem).

Today’s lifestyle has become all about zoom.   I do amit that zoom is a good online platform to have classes and to get together with friends, family etc.

I was thinking about how the entire world is now wearing masks.  What is a mask? It hides who you are. On Purim, there is a custom for us to wear masks. The mask hides our face but allows us to reveal another aspect of ourselves.  In life we all wear masks on a spiritual level. We pretend many things in order to fit into society, or to get approval from others, or to make ourselves happy etc. etc.

During Shavuot we read the portion in Torah about God giving us the Ten commandments.  And included in those are the commandments is “thou shalt not steal”, “thou shalt not kill”, “thou shalt not commit adultery”.  

In Judaism there is a concept of a Sabbatical year: a shemitta year, when the agricultural land in Israel is given a rest in the seventh year of  it's seven year cycle in order to increase its fertility and productivity after that.  This is a very powerful commandment which even seems counterintuitive because the Torah promises that those farmers who observe the laws of shemitta carefully will be blessed with their land yielding enough produce for three years (

During this pandemic time, we need to think to ourselves “Why is this happening?” Obviously, none of us can really have a definite answer because we are not the Almighty. Only He knows why anything happens in the world. To try to guess would be a waste of time.

Now is the new Hebrew month of Iyar.  Iyar is an anacronym for the words “Ani Hashem Refoecha” (I am the Lord Who heals you).   So may this month bring true healing to everyone who needs. And when the Almighty heals, without going through an intermediary, there is no trace of any illness.