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                                  B"H
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                         L'CHAIM - ISSUE # 695
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                           Copyright (c) 2001
                 Lubavitch Youth Organization - L.Y.O.
                              Brooklyn, NY
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             THE WEEKLY PUBLICATION FOR EVERY JEWISH PERSON
   Dedicated to the memory of Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson N.E.
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        November 23, 2001       Vayetzei          8 Kislev, 5762
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                                 THANKS

Even before you know what's inside the gift you say "thank you."

Before you've tasted that heavenly-looking dessert the waiter brought,
you murmur, "thanks."

And before you start your day, as soon as you realize that you are no
longer in that delicious mode of sleep, you say the Modeh Ani prayer:

"I give thanks to You, living and eternal King, for having restored
within me my soul, with mercy; great is Your trust."

Though we haven't ritually rinsed our hands, washed our face, brushed
our teeth, we can say this prayer.

The obvious reason for this dispensa-tion is that G-d's name is not
mentioned in this prayer but is referred to only as "King."

However, this allowance points to an essential component of each and
every Jew, that the "Modeh Ani" of the Jew - a Jew's very essence - can
never be tainted, sullied or contaminated.

The concept of expressing thanks to G-d is one of the fundamental
principles of Jewish life.

Thus we begin each day with an expression of thanks - Modeh Ani - in
which we gratefully acknowledge G-d's return of our souls.

This, our first act of the day, serves as the foundation for all of our
subsequent conduct.

It teaches us to be grateful, to take nothing for granted, to appreciate
everything we have.

The Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Chasidic movement, was renown for his
efforts to spread Jewish teachings even among small children.

In particular, before he revealed himself as a leader of the Jewish
people, he served as a teacher's helper.

In fact, when the story of the Baal Shem Tov's life is related - before
his scholarship, piety, unbounded love of all Jews, and miracles that he
wrought are recounted - it is first told that he began as a teacher's
helper.

At that time, he would remind children to begin their day with praise of
and thanks to G-d, by reciting Modeh Ani.

Through this - one's very first act of the day - a Jew acknowledges
G-d's Kingship.

In addition, it sets the tone for the whole day and for our whole life.

It teaches us to be grateful from our earliest moment in our lives at
the earliest moment in the day.

Our Sages have told us that every night when one goes to sleep one's
soul returns to its Divine source and gives an account of its activities
that day.

In the prayer before going to bed we say, "Into Your hand I pledge my
soul; You have redeemed me, O G-d, G-d of trust."

A pledge is something the debtor gives to the creditor as security that
the debt will be repaid.

Usually the creditor will not return the pledge as long as the debtor
still owes him money.

But G-d is very merciful; though every day we are indebted to Him, He
returns our soul to us.

Furthermore, our Sages declare:

When a person gives a pledge, even if it is a new thing, it becomes old
and stained by the time it is returned. But G-d returns our "pledge" new
and polished even though it has been "used," and so it is written, "They
are new every morning; great is Your trust."

The fact that we go to bed "dead tired" and wake up refreshed, returning
from the unconscious world of slumber, is similar to the "revival of the
dead" which will take place in the Messianic Era.

This daily experience strengthens our conviction in the "resurrection of
the Dead," one of the 13 principles of Judaism.

And this adds further meaning to the words, "Great is Your trust," for
we have absolute trust in G-d not only that He will return our soul in
the morning, but also will return our soul into our body at the end of
days, when all dead will arise from their "sleep."

Get into the habit of giving thanks, right from the very first moment of
the day.

Gratefulness goes a long way.

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           LIVING WITH THE REBBE  -  THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION
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In this week's Torah portion, Vayeitzei, G-d promises Jacob: "I am the
L-rd G-d of Abraham your father and the G-d of Isaac; the land on which
you lie, to you will I give it, and to your seed."

According to our Sages, "G-d folded up the entire Land of Israel beneath
him, thereby hinting that it would be as easily conquered by his
descendants as four cubits, which is the area that a person covers." In
the same way that conquering a tiny space (the four cubits Jacob
occupied when he lay down to sleep) is easy, so too would it be easy for
Jacob's children to conquer the entirety of the Land of Israel.

Two generations previously, when G-d promised Abraham that Israel would
belong to him and his descendants, He commanded him: "Arise and walk
through the land in its length and in its breadth, for I will give it to
you." Abraham strode throughout the Land of Israel, visiting any
location he wished without interference. He walked through the Land as
its "baal habayit" (proprietor), thereby demonstrating his ownership.

G-d's promise was in effect even before Abraham's sojourn. But after he
walked the length and breadth of the Land, he was able to more strongly
perceive the fulfillment of G-d's words.

Jacob, by contrast, was never commanded to "walk"; it was enough for him
to lie down on the ground to sleep. Jacob did not openly demonstrate his
ownership of the Land. No one else was present, and thus no one knew
that G-d "folded up the entire Land of Israel beneath him."

The innovation in G-d's promise to Jacob (as opposed to His promise to
Abraham) was that the Land of Israel would be conquered easily and
without effort. You will not have to do anything to obtain it; just lie
down on the earth, and it will come into your possession.

G-d promised the Jewish people that they would conquer the Land
successfully and effortlessly.

Today, there are some Jews who must still be convinced that the entirety
of the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people forever. There are
some Jews who are not entirely sure of our ownership of the Land.

Nothing is created by G-d without a purpose. No element in the world
exists that has no function, nor does G-d do anything "coincidentally"
or without significance. If G-d "folded up the entire Land of Israel" to
show Jacob that it would easily conquered, He did so because that is the
true reality!

                           Adapted from Volume 20 of Likutei Sichot

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                             SLICE OF LIFE
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                             The Challenge
                        By Hanna Bandes Geshelin

The route of every Jew who becomes observant is unique. One of the
turning points on my journey occurred at a large Iowa university with a
miniscule Jewish population, where during my freshman year of 1963-64, I
was the only undergraduate female who identified herself as Jewish.

Among my roommates my first term was a junior taking a child development
class on cultures. She decided to join the committee researching the
Jewish culture because she had a ready-made resource to interview-me. As
a fourth-generation American descendent of Reform Jews who emigrated
from Germany before the U.S. Civil War, I didn't know much about
Judaism, but I did my best to answer her questions. The relief that I
felt when she finished questioning me was short-lived, however. Every
term after that, the child development professor gave my name to the
committee studying Judaism. To meet this challenge, I would have to
learn something about my heritage.

The college library had two shelves of books on Judaism. I started at
one end of the upper shelf and began reading. They gave me basic
information about Jewish history, tradition and beliefs. With the help
of the books I managed to get through the questions during the winter
term. Then, in the spring of my freshman year, I met Janet.

Janet was a Southern Baptist from a small town in Iowa. Like many
students at college, she came from a family for whom church was a major
focus. Her beliefs guided her behavior in all aspects of her life.

I was the first Jewish person she'd ever met. She told me that she had
chosen to write about the Jewish culture because she wanted to learn
about the origins of her faith. Could she come with me to synagogue?

The town had a small Reform congregation that met Friday evenings in the
parlor of one of the churches. I agreed to take her, and as we strolled
through the quiet streets she asked me about my religious life. "Where
do you eat?" she asked suddenly.

Mystified, I gave the name of the dorm dining hall.

"How do you manage?" she asked.

"What do you mean? I just eat."

With an edge to her voice she said, "How can you 'just eat?' We get ham,
pork or shellfish three or four nights a week, and most of the rest of
the time there's meat and milk at the same meal."

"Oh," I said confidently, "You mean kosher. I'm Reform, and we don't
keep kosher."

"You don't keep kosher? But from everything I've read, kosher is one of
the cornerstones of Judaism. Why don't you keep it?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, we just don't."

Janet stopped and turned to face me, hands on her hips. I can still
picture her standing there in the light of a street lamp, dressed the
way she would for church in a navy suit, a small white hat and white
gloves. She looked me up and down as though I were a bug on a pin. Then
she said words that still reverberate through my mind: "If my church
told me to do something, I'd do it."

In the long silence that followed, I rolled the words over and over
through my mind. And I wondered, why did the Reform movement say keeping
kosher wasn't important? I decided to find out.

The next day I found, on one of those shelves of Jewish books, a history
of the Reform movement. Breaking bread with others, said the book, is a
universal gesture of friendship and goodwill. Keeping kosher prevents
Jews and non-Jews from breaking bread together; thus it prevents casual
communion between "us" and "them." When Jews stop keeping kosher and eat
non-kosher with their neighbors, anti-Semitism will end and Jews will be
fully accepted into mainstream society.

I thought of the Jewish history I'd been reading, of Moses Mendelsohn
and the Emancipation. Of my mother's family, which hadn't kept kosher in
at least four generations.

And I thought of the Holocaust, which began in Mendelsohn's and my
great-great-grandparent's home-land, Germany. I turned to the title page
of the book and saw that originally the book had been published in
German in Berlin in 1928.

Maybe in 1928 German Jews could say that eating with non-Jews would end
anti-Semitism. But they were about to be proved disastrously wrong.
Could I continue to eat in a non-Jewish fashion, when the reasoning for
permitting Jews to eat traif was based on a complete fallacy?

"If my church told me to do something, I'd do it." Janet's words took
one end of my Yiddishe neshama and the book's glaring fallacy took the
other end, and they shook me until I had to sit down, right there on the
floor in the library stacks. When I stopped shaking, I knew that until I
could find a good reason, a true reason, to not keep kosher, I had no
choice. I was a Jew, and the Jews kept kosher. It was that simple.

My complete transformation from a secular to a Torah observant Jew took
many years and many more lessons in faith. But my first big step began
that Shabbat night, when a Christian girl challenged me to stand up act
like a Jew.

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                               WHAT'S NEW
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                      New Chabad-Lubavtich Centers


                             Athens, Greece

Rabbi and Mrs. Mendel Hendel recently arrived in Greece to open a Chabad
Center which will serve the 3,000 Jews in Athens and its environs.
Serviced by Rabbi Gershon M. Garelick, one of the Rebbe's emissaries in
Milan, Italy, for over 30 years, the small Jewish community in Greece
now has its own full-time emissaries.



                            Sofia, Bulgaria


Rabbi and Mrs. Yosef Solomon have established a new center in Sofia,
Bulgaria. At the opening ceremonies, Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky of Chabad
World Headquarters noted, "This is not a temporary post for them, a
stepping stone until they find an easier community. They are here to
stay until every Jew in Bulgaria will have created his or her Jewish
identity."



                          Pavladar, Kazakhstan


A New Chabad Center opened in Pavladar, Kazakhstan and will be run by
Rabbi and Mrs. Shmuel Karnuach. The building, Beit Rachel-Chabad
Lubavitch, is named after the mother of the director of the United
Jewish communities of Kazakhstan, Mr. Alexander Moskowitz. The new
center will greatly expand the Chabad activities in Kazakhstan which are
currently directed by the Rebbe's emissary, Rabbi Yeshaya E. Cohen who
is also the Chief Rabbi of the Republic.

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                            THE REBBE WRITES
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                     Erev Rosh Chodesh Kislev, 5738

Blessing and Greeting:

After the interval, I received your (undated) letter.

As you surely know, the questions you ask regarding G-d's ways, etc. are
already found in the Torah shebiksav [Written Torah] and Torah
shebe'al-peh [Oral Torah], for they are natural in time of stress.

One general answer, which is really self-evident, though hard to accept
in a state of emotional upset, is that it is surely illogical to limit
the Creator in His designs and actions to conform to the understanding
of a created human being.

I have often had occasion to cite a simple illustration to the effect
that no one can expect an infant to understand the ideas and actions of
a learned professor, although the professor was once an infant himself,
and the present infant may have the potential even to surpass the
professor in due course. How much more so, and incomparably, when it
comes to the Infinite Intelligence of the Creator vis-à-vis the finite
and limited intelligence of a created human being. This will, of course,
not be a revelation to you; only, as the Torah says, it is difficult for
a person to accept consolation in time of grief.

However, with all due respect, I must say that I was quite, and very
much indeed, astonished at your remark, "Where is my father?" Knowing
your family background, as well as your husband's and yours, it is
surely unnecessary to remind you that the soul is eternal, and,
moreover, its survival after the death of the body is not something that
has to be believed, but it is plain common sense. For, obviously,
physical illness that affects the body cannot affect the soul which is
spiritual; it can only affect and terminate the union of body and soul,
but not the soul itself.

The above would be superfluous to mention to you, except that it has a
direct consequence and bearing on what should be your attitude and
conduct. For, inasmuch as the soul is eternal and, indeed, is now in a
state where it is not limited by the body's limitations, it is fully
aware of what is happening in the family. When it sees that it is the
cause of grief over and beyond the bounds of mourning set by the Torah,
Toras Chaim [the Torah of Life] - it is obviously distressed by it, and
this is no way of contributing to the soul's peace and blissfulness.

I have also had occasion to mention that even during the soul's sojourn
in this life when clothed in a physical body, the real bond between
people and members of a family is not a physical one but a spiritual
one, for what makes the real person is not his flesh and bones, but his
character and spiritual qualities. Hence, this bond remains, and all
those who loved the person dearly should try all the more to bring
gratification to his eternal soul and continuous spiritual elevation
(aliyas haneshomoh) through greater adherence to the Torah, Toras Emes
[the Torah of Truth], in general, and particularly in the realm directly
related to the soul's passing - to observe what is prescribed for the
period of Shiva [the seven days of mourning], but not extend it, and
similarly in regard to the period of Shloshim [30 days of lessened
mourning], but not beyond, and then, and always, serve G-d through the
fulfillment of His Mitzvos as such service should be - with joy and
gladness of heart.

Let me add one other point, and briefly. You should bear in mind that
you and all your family are privileged to be in a position of leadership
and influence - by both example and precept. Your exemplary conduct and
every additional Hiddur [enhancement] is reflected and multiplied in all
those who observe you and are inspired by you. Therefore, even if it
entails a special effort, it is surely of no consequence in relation to
the benefits that accrue to all those around you. Not to mention how
careful one has to be not to give a wrong impression, especially being
in Chinuch [Jewish education], as also your husband, on whom your
conduct is bound to have an impact, too.

I trust you will accept all that has been said above in the spirit that
it has been given. The important thing is to go about the daily life and
conduct in accordance with the Torah, which is both Toras Chaim and
Toras Emes, inasmuch as its teachings reflect the truth at its truest.

And G-d will surely recompense you for all the grief, though at this
time it is still incomprehensible how it will be recompensed.

With blessing,

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                            RAMBAM THIS WEEK
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23 Marcheshvan 5762

Prohibition 237: participating in a loan at interest

By this prohibition we are forbidden to take any part in a transaction
between borrower and lender involving a loan at interest, whether as
surety, witness or notary. It is contained in the Torah's words (Ex.
22:24): "Neither shall you lay upon him interest."

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                        A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
                         Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman
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This Shabbat is the birthday and yartzeit of Rabbi Dov Ber, the second
Chabad Rebbe, known as the Mitteler Rebbe. The following day, Sunday
(10Kislev) is the anniversary of the Mitteler Rebbe's release from
imprisonment on false charges.

There is a famous story about the Mitteler Rebbe told by the Previous
Rebbe and often related by the Rebbe:

The Mitteler Rebbe was known for his unusual power of concentration.
When he was engaged in study or prayer, he did not hear or see a thing
around him.

Once, when Rabbi Dov Ber was studying, his baby sleeping in a nearby cot
fell out of its cradle and began to cry. Rabbi Dov Ber did not hear the
baby's cries and continued learning. But the infant's grandfather, Rabbi
Shneur Zalman (the founder of Chabad Chasidism), who was in his room on
an upper floor and was also learning at that time, did hear the baby's
cries. He interrupted his studies, went downstairs, picked up the
infant, soothed it and put it back in its cradle. Still, the infant's
father did not hear or see what went on around him. Later on, Rabbi
Shneur Zalman told his son: "No matter how important the thing is in
which a Jew is engaged, one must always hear the cry of a child."

This story is applicable to parents, teachers and even children. We must
always here the cry of a child, whether that child is a child in years
or knowledge or commitment to Judaism. Even when we are involved in
important things, we must not neglect or ignore the cry of the child.

This applies, as well, to the child within each one of us. This spark of
good and G-dliness, the wide-eyed and innocent trust and belief that the
world can become a perfect place, that evil can be eradicated, that
goodness can prevail, and that "I" can be a part of it or perhaps even
be the catalyst for realizing the world's potential, must be listened to
and heeded.

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                          THOUGHTS THAT COUNT
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And he gave him Rachel his daughter to him for a wife (Gen. 28:28)

How did Jacob marry both Rachel and Leah, when the Torah prohibits a man
from being married to two sisters at the same time? The lineage of the
children of a non-Jew (Laban) is determined by their mother; Rachel and
Leah were the daughters of two different women. Accordingly, Rachel and
Leah did not have the legal status of sisters.

                                                      (Bechor Shor)

                                *  *  *


It is not yet time that the cattle should be gathered together; water
the sheep, and go and feed them (Gen. 29:7)

Rabbi Meir of Premishlan used to pray: "Father in Heaven! If it is not
yet time to gather the lost flock of Israel in the Final Redemption, at
least bless them abundantly from Your full and Holy Hand, that they may
be able to anticipate and look forward to Your salvation, may it come
speedily in our day.

                                *  *  *


G-d saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb (Gen. 29:31)

G-d forbid that our holy Patriarch Jacob "hated" his wife Leah! Rather,
as is often the case among righteous people, Leah was forever critical
of herself, always seeking character flaws to improve upon.

                                                       (Kol Simcha)

                                *  *  *


This time I will praise the L-rd...and she left off bearing children
(Gen. 29:35)

As brought down in the Talmud (Berachot 54), whenever a Jew offers
thanks to G-d for the past, he must immediately take the opportunity to
pray for the future. However, when Leah thanked G-d for the birth of
Judah, she did not do this; thus "she left off bearing children."

                                              (The Rebbe of Lublin)

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                            IT ONCE HAPPENED
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In Vilna of old was a certain street on which a Christian seminary for
priests was located. It was forbidden for Jews to walk there with the
exception of one Jewish tailor, who sewed the students' uniforms and
also ran a small restaurant. A 16-year-old Jewish apprentice was also
allowed to live with him.

One night, in the dead of winter, the Jews of Vilna were mourning the
loss of one of their own. The Jewish cemetery, on the other side of
town, was quite a distance by foot. Biting winds gusted as the funeral
procession made its way in the bitter cold. Half frozen, the bearers of
the heavy pallet, facing the long and tedious trek in the foul weather,
decided to take a shortcut through the forbidden street. Who would ever
know? It was the middle of the night and not a soul could be seen. The
mourners silently entered the prohibited area.

Unfortunately, the funeral procession was spotted by the students, who
came pouring out of the seminary and began to viciously attack the Jews.
Fearing for their lives they fled, wounded and brutalized. The tailor's
apprentice, witnessing the carnage, immediately changed his clothes so
as not to be recognized and ran outside to help his Jewish brethren.
Strong and powerfully built, the youth delivered several well-placed
blows and injured many of the priests, who retreated and left him alone
in the deserted street with the corpse. The apprentice picked up the
unfortunate Jew's body, carried it the cemetery and buried him there. No
one knew of the youth's good deed.

Naturally, the priests were unwilling to take their defeat lightly. Who
was this person who had dared to intervene on behalf of the accursed
Jews? The government was called in to investigate, but nothing ever came
of the inquiry.

One day, more than a year later, a group of seminarians came to dine at
the tailor's establishment. The apprentice, who waited on the patrons'
tables, overheard the priests talking about the previous year's
confrontation, and the fact that the "culprit" had never been
identified. The youth was only able to catch snippets of their
conversation, but it appeared to him as if one of the students was
pointing in his direction. Terrified of being discovered, the boy fell
to the floor in a dead faint. At once he was suspected of hiding
something, and he was immediately arrested and imprisoned.

The boy was questioned every day for hours, but he held fast and
insisted that he knew nothing. When this proved fruitless they began to
torture him.

It was then that the dead man, whose funeral had precipitated all the
trouble, appeared to him in a dream and announced, "I have come to repay
you for your good deed. Climb up on my shoulders and I will take you
away from here." The boy did as he was bidden, and he was carried away
to a distant city where no one knew him. Needing a steady job to support
himself, he was hired as a waiter in another Jewish restaurant.

When the prison guards discovered he was missing they were astounded.
They searched and searched, but could find no clue as to how he had
escaped.

Meanwhile, a controversy had erupted in Vilna over the construction of a
huge mansion directly across the street from a church. Though the
builder, a Jew, had already begun construction, he was prevented from
finishing the job, as a city law prohibited a Jew from erecting any
edifice taller than the church. The Jew claimed that that law had been
passed only after he began construction, but the mansion remained half
finished.

Frustrated by the local bureaucracy, the Jew decided to travel to the
capital to meet with higher-ranking officials. On the way there, he
happened to pass through the city in which the tailor's former
apprentice now lived. The man immediately recognized the youth, for he
had enjoyed a status denied the rest of Vilna's Jews - the right to walk
on the forbidden street of the priests.

A treacherous idea began to form in the mind of the Jewish builder: Why
should he continue making the arduous journey to the capital? He had no
guarantee that he would succeed. But if he revealed to the authorities
the whereabouts of the missing prisoner, they would surely allow him to
finish building his mansion in gratitude for the information. He
returned to Vilna and betrayed the Jewish youth.

Accompanied by the builder, the authorities descended on the city to
make the arrest, but the boy was not to be found. Once again the dead
man had appeared and rescued him, this time bringing him to a different
country entirely. Believing that they had been led on a wild goose
chase, the informant was duly punished by the police and the Jewish
youth was saved.


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                            MOSHIACH MATTERS
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In earlier generations there were tzadikim, Jews of absolute truth, who
were near the level of prophecy and divine inspiration. On the other
hand, there were exceedingly wicked people amongst the Jewish nation. In
these latter generations, in the era of the "footsteps of Moshiach,"
there are no consummate tzadikim and no utterly wicked.

                 (Shaarei Ora of the Mitteler Rebbe, Rabbi Dov Ber)

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               END OF TEXT - L'CHAIM 695 - Vayetzei 5762
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