We are now in the month of Adar 1, coming soon to the holiday of Purim in Adar 2.   So let us discuss a very inspiring thought from the Megillah.

We know that in the Megillah reading, when we get to the part that says “the King’s could not  sleep …” the reader raises his voice at that part because that is when the miracle of Purim actually begins.  But what does this mean?

Today is zayin Adar, the 7^th of Adar, the birthday and yom hilloula of Moshe Rabbenu.  It is a very special day. 

I was thinking about Moshe Rabbenu’s greatness. He was such a huge tzadik and he spoke face to face to Hashem yet Moshe was always defending the Jewish nation and complaining to Hashem why He mistreated the people. Why would he do that? Surely he had such immense faith and trust in Hashem that he would never question His ways.

So how could he become upset when a Jew was suffering? Or when the Jewish nation was suffering?

It is appalling and shameful that New York passed a law allowing  abortion and not just at an early stage of pregnancy but right up to delivery time!  It is outright murder!!  It is disgusting, immoral and cruel. What has society come to?

According to the Torah, abortion is murder. Of course if there is a valid medical reason for an abortion which would mean saving the life of the mother, that is a different situation because then it is to save a life. But abortion for any other reason is not allowed and is actually considered murder.

G-d blessed the seventh day and He made it holy: this is speaking about the Shabbat (Shabbos).

What did He bless it with? He blessed it with manna. What is manna? It is an abundance that sustains. It is parnassa. So from keeping Shabbat we are blessed with an abundance of parnassa. Even though we do not work on Shabbat, our parnassa comes from Shabbat. Because we rest on Shabbat and we demonstrate our trust in G-d, He bestows His blessings upon us including the blessing for an abundant livelihood.

Why is it that the whole world always wants to see a happy ending?  I realized that when people read books, watch movies, hear stories, they always want to know that there was a happy ending. Everybody wants to know that the good guys win and the bad guys are defeated.

I was pondering this idea.  From Hashem’s perspective everything is a happy ending. Everything is all good.

Today is the holy day of Yud Shevat, the yahrtzeit of the Frierdike Rebbe (Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe) and the day that, one year later, the Lubavitcher Rebbe took over the mantle of leadership from his father in law and became the next Lubavitcher Rebbe, the leader of world Jewry.

In synagogue every Shabbat I see a woman who is totally bent over because she has some problem that does not allow her to ever straighten her back. I think to myself: every day we say the blessing “zokeaf kefufim” (Hashem straightens the bent) and it never had as much meaning as it does when I see this particular woman. As I watch her every week I think to myself. “ she is in a perpetual state of bitul, being prostrated in front of the Creator”.  But I  also noticed that she is always happy.

The more a govt tries to be politically “correct”, the more they tend to become morally wrong.  Politically correct basically means politics first. But usually morality, decency and kindness suffer and are put on the back burner.  And innocent people suffer.

One lesson we can learn from the Chanukah lights is the following:

Many Jews are afraid that if they do not observe all the mitzvoth they are not worth much and they are afraid to learn more, afraid that they will be obligated immediately to jump into doing everything.

But from Chanukah we learn to start with one light, and then you add more.

Every Jew has to know that even one mitzvah has value. Even one tradition has value. Doing one mitzvah attaches you to G-d and is on its own of great value in G-d’s eyes and for the person’s neshomah (soul).

Wishing everyone a happy Chanukah! 

It is very interesting to note that the only holiday that we publicly publicize the miracles that occurred to us is Chanukah. The jewish people have experienced many  miracles and salvations. Purim we celebrate the miraculous nullification of Haman's decree to annihilate all the Jewish people. On Pesach we celebrate the miraculous liberation from slavery in Egypt. But we do not publicize to the outside world these miracles.

only on Chanukah we publicize the miracles to the outside world, in public places. Why?