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                         L'CHAIM - ISSUE # 904
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                           Copyright (c) 2006
                 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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        January 20, 2006         Shemos           20 Tevet, 5766
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                       Waiting Room Distractions

You're sitting in the airport waiting for your flight. You got there
early, so you wouldn't have an anxiety attack about missing your plane
while being hassled by security. Not to mention the traffic and parking.

So you take out a book, or review your presentation, or start to call
home when something grabs  your attention.

It's the earnest tone of the anchorwoman, her voice suddenly elevated.
You're hooked. Until the attendants announce it's time to board, you're
watching, even though it's the same news every fifteen minutes and most
of it you saw in the paper that morning, and what you didn't is
sensational or just stupid.

Or you're in the doctor's office. Waiting. Of course. You get there
early, hoping to be taken on time when your appointment's scheduled,
rather than half an hour later. You look around for something to do and
you find the magazine rack, such as it is: a couple of tattered women's
magazines, obscure, old outdoor magazines and a pile of year-old news
magazines. You pick up one of the women's magazines - maybe it has a
good recipe - when your attention gets diverted.

There's an inane video playing. It doesn't matter. You're hooked.

When the mind becomes distracted, or, more accurately, when it is
mesmerized, absorbed with trivial irrelevancies, are we not wasting that
which distinguishes us?

Our Sages recommended memorizing Jewish texts (chapters of Psalms or
sections of the Mishne) and while walking in the street (the ancient
equivalent of "waiting room time"), one could review them, thus making
good use of one's brain time.

While we may not be able to memorize chapters or sections sufficient to
occupy our minds during the "waiting room times" - although we should at
least try - nowadays we have other tools at our disposal.

You can download Jewish texts to your palm [such as from
www.JewishContent.org/pda/palm/ ] (and probably to your iPod as well).
You can sync it and have the latest issue of L'Chaim or the entire
chabad.org magazine or www.meaningfullife.com essay or mystical
Kabalistic teachings (at www.inner.org) at your fingertips.

If you're technologically challenged, many Jewish texts today come in
translated pocket-size versions that fit neatly in a briefcase, purse or
(!) pocket.

It's hard to shut out the droning voice and the shifting images on a
screen, but a good read absorbs all our attention; instead of being
distracted by repetitive trivia, we become focused on learning new or
reviewing essential concepts.

We can choose to watch an interview intruding into the lives of "next of
kin" of the latest crime victim or we can share in King David's wonder
at the majesty of nature. We can wonder about a lost cat a thousand
miles away or get lost in truths a thousand years old.

We can turn "waiting room time" into "extra learning time," snatching
seconds of Jewish knowledge while our lives are in idle.

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           LIVING WITH THE REBBE  -  THE WEEKLY TORAH PORTION
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At the end of this week's Torah portion, Shemot, Moses and Aaron go to
Pharaoh to demand that he free the Children of Israel from bondage.
Pharaoh answered them, "Why do you, Moses and Aaron, hinder the people
from their work? Go about your own tasks."

Our Sages explain that Moses and Aaron, being members of the tribe of
Levi, were not required to work like the rest of the Jewish People, and
were exempted from the bitter decree of slavery. Pharaoh, in effect,
asked the two of them: "Why do you involve yourselves in affairs that
don't concern you? Let the rest of the Jews continue in their tasks, and
don't disturb them."

Why did the Egyptians permit an entire tribe of the Jewish People to be
exempt from the terrible bondage forced upon the rest? The Egyptians
recognized that each nation must have its own leaders and teachers to
whom the people could turn for spiritual guidance. Pharaoh therefore
allowed the tribe of Levi to continue learning Torah and to disseminate
its teachings among the rest of the Jews. It was accepted as a natural
state of affairs that the spiritual authorities should enjoy a higher
status and occupy an elevated position in society.

When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh to demand that the entire Jewish
nation be allowed to journey into the desert to worship G-d, they were
disputing this commonly held notion. Pharaoh, for his part, claimed that
it was sufficient that the upper class, the clergy, be allowed to learn
Torah and carry out Jewish ritual. Pharaoh was the original proponent of
the separation of "church" and state.

The Egyptian king did not object to the Leviim learning Torah; he did
not seek to totally negate the spiritual and intellectual yearnings of
the Jews. He merely sought to perpetuate the Egyptian world-view which
saw the two realms of the religious and the civil as two opposing
concepts.

As religious leaders, Moses and Aaron were allowed a certain amount of
authority by the Egyptian regime, on the condition that they limit
themselves to the synagogue and to the yeshiva.

When Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh with their request, it was seen as
a total contradiction of the existing world order. They claimed that the
Torah's very purpose was to show man how to conduct his daily, private
life, and that its laws were applicable to each and every facet of a
person's existence. Moses and Aaron radically challenged the man-made
division between that which belonged in the spiritual realm and that
which was outside of religious law. The Torah is neither limited in
scope nor reserved for a select few.

From this we also learn the duty incumbent upon every Jew to help other
Jews, even if he is not personally threatened. Aaron and Moses were not
content to remain within the secluded tents of learning if the rest of
the Jews were not allowed to participate. Because of their
self-sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish nation, they were ultimately
successful in ending the Egyptian exile and leading the Jews to Mount
Sinai.

                    Adapted from the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe

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                             SLICE OF LIFE
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                    Blogging up a Shower of Sunshine
                             by Miriam Karp

What's a scooter cruisin,' cartoon scribblin,' joke crackin,' Southern
drawlin,' Chasidic student making chicken soup with matzo balls in a
crock pot doing on her parents' 300-acre farm in south-eastern Ohio's
Appalachian country?

Yochana Coleman is a cliché buster. From an early age, she was pushing
boundaries. Her mother remembers her as a serious child, asking
questions one just didn't ask, of her parents, Sunday school teachers
and ministers.

Yo's Jewish mother and non-Jewish father didn't hide Yo's Jewish
origins, but mentioned it insultingly. Her parents raised her as a
Southern Baptist, being missionaries themselves. She recalls "just
knowing in her DNA" that something was not right. Throughout Yo's
childhood of active church training, those feelings remained.

Yo enrolled in Columbia Bible College, among the top in the world. "The
church taught that Judaism is totally false, and if you believe or
follow it you'll burn in Hell." That fearful teaching kept her cognitive
dissonance more or less at bay. Even with the Southern Baptist veneer,
however, "growing up Jewish meant I was different. Inside I knew that
something was expected of me, though I wasn't sure what."

Mentors helped Yo keep her Jewish spark alive. "Throughout my journey,
people from whom you'd never expect it would appear and say, 'Go for
it!' There was a woman in the church who heard my questioning - she
encouraged me to challenge and never give up.

"I wanted to learn Hebrew since I was a kid. My gentile Hebrew teacher
at the college had a PhD from Hebrew Union College. When he saw my
passion for Hebrew he told me to check out a nearby Temple.

"I spent my first Rosh Hashana at a synagogue and it clicked! It was
amazing! I decided that I had to continue going there, but the school
forbade it."

Another surprising advocate appeared, a teacher named Ginny Hoyt, who
nudged Yo into kosher. She had invited a group of students over for
dinner and then apologized to Yo for having prepared ham.

"No problem,' I assured her, 'I was raised on the stuff.'

"She gave me a stern look, 'But you're Jewish!'

" 'So, I'm a pagan Jew!' I said in exasperation.

"She said, 'G-d made you a Jew and expects you to live like it!'

"I pointedly ate the ham, took a second piece - and my body swelled up!
Mrs. Hoyt gave me a clear 'I told you so!' look and I was so swollen
that I was on crutches for three weeks!

"I was learning to keep kosher and working along with Chosen People
Ministry when they told me 'We don't want you back - you're a freak; if
you keep kosher you'll offend some of our gentile members!'

"When the Bible College where I worked as a librarian realized that I
was really pursuing Judaism, they issued an ultimatum. 'Be like us or
get out - we're not going to have a Jew working here!' They gave me a
paper to sign, but I barely heard them, concentrating on my inner
conversation in which a voice was asking, 'Will you deny My Oneness?'

My reply to the College came from the depth of my soul. I shredded the
paper and proudly stated, 'I was born a Jew, I live as a Jew, and I'll
die a Jew!'

'Sorry to hear that,' was the official's reply.

I grinned, and with an 'I'm not!' walked out.

Though broke, Yo felt a new freedom, and began pursuing Judaism in
earnest. She tried several shuls (synagogues). One Friday evening she
appeared at one in her kipa, leather jacket, jeans and sneakers. Yo was
directed to the women's section this Orthodox shul. " 'Hey, I'm in the
wrong shul,' I gulped. But then they started singing Lecha Dodi to
welcome Shabbos - it was like all the angels came down, everything
stopped!" she recalls.

After some learning, Yo bumped into Chabad.org while web-surfing one day
in '96. "I spent 12 non-stop hours on the site. I found it! I cried at
the keyboard." From then, everything fell into place. She connected with
Chabad of Columbia to learn all she could.

Yo's next stop was Machon Chana Women's Institute in Brooklyn. She
pursued her Torah studies in this yeshiva for women from diverse
backgrounds, and fit into the warm and dynamic community. She began
"buying books like an idiot, as though I am about to move somewhere
where I won't have much access," her journal relates.

Yo's premonition was accurate, as the future brought this feisty gal a
major life challenge and bump on the road. In 2002, Yo suffered three
strokes and her MS came out in full force. For a while she was able to
stay in New York, with the support of many friends - "if you ever saw a
cute red scooter blasting down the streets or sidewalks... that was me!"
New York's "interesting sidewalks" became too much of a maneuverability
problem as Yo's MS symptoms increased, and eventually she moved back to
the family farm.

Thanks to the Internet and one indomitable spirit, Yo spreads her wacky
version of sunshine and humor to fans around this little globe. Her
website, Yobee's Whacky World, is full of interesting and inspiring
tidbits of wisdom spiced with a laugh. She sells her whimsical cartoons
and cartoon-illustrated items at yobeeland! And she dispenses words of
cheer, fortitude and poignant insight to a web-network of Machon Chana
alumni scattered throughout the world.

Yo continues to pursue her Jewish education. She studies Talmud on CD,
and keeps connected with tapes, videos, books and the net. Her solitary
and simple Sabbaths are certainly treasured Above, as this Jewish
daughter lights candles and gazes out over the pastures.

                                        From www.Jewish-Holiday.com

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                               WHAT'S NEW
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                         New Yeshiva in Poland

Ten yeshiva students arrived recently in Warsaw to establish a
Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in that city. There had previously been a
Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva there established in the 1920s until 1939, when
it was disbanded because of WWII. The students had been studying until
now at the Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in Montreal.

                     New Emissaries in Long Island

New shluchim (emissaries of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) will be serving
faculty and students at a number of Long Island campuses. Rabbi Shmuli
and Chavi Lieberman will be working with the Jewish population at
Hofstra University, and Adelphi and Nassau Community College.

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                            THE REBBE WRITES
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                        Freely translated letter
                         10 Shvat, 5709 (1949)

Greetings and blessings,

I am surprised that we received notification from you regarding the
participation of only yourself and Rabbi- in the division of the study
of the Talmud [in honor of 24 Tevet, anniversary of the passing of Rabbi
Shneur Zalman, founder of Chabad Chasidism]. After all the years that
you have been in your community, have you not been able to bring even
one person under your influence?... When will you finally begin doing
your share to spread forth the wellsprings of the Baal Shem Tov's
teachings outward? Moshiach is waiting for the activities each one of us
will perform so that the answer he gave the Baal Shem Tov will be
fulfilled and he will then come and redeem us from exile - the exile of
the body and the exile of the soul.

My intention in posing the above questions is not merely to motivate you
to find several people who will undertake to study selected tractates
for the division of the Talmud. Instead, it is that you - and your
friends in your community - should each create an environment that
should be a Lubavitch corner which Divine providence has, for this time,
implanted in your community. In this way, were the Alter Rebbe [Rabbi
Shneur Zalman] to travel around the world and come to your community, he
would not come to a foreign place. Instead, he would meet a group of
people who identify with him and a house of study identified with him.
There would be tattered pages of Chasidic texts on the floor, and the
air would be filled with the letters of the Torah studied with the fear
of Heaven in general, and with the letters of Chabad Chasidism in
particular. For although the letters of study ascend upward, an eternal
impression is left in the air. And as is well known, regarding every
entity in the sphere of holiness, even if the entity itself is removed,
the impression remains....

With regard to the question you posed regarding G-d's omniscience and
man's free choice: Since ultimately the Holy One, blessed be He, knows
what I will do tomorrow, there seems to be no way that I can do anything
differently, for were that to be the fact, G-d's knowledge would be the
opposite of the truth.

The explanation of this is simple. The idea of free choice is the
concept of the potential to do whatever one chooses without being
forced. This is also the case in the above situation.

Tomorrow, it is within my potential to do as I choose without any
compulsion, and I have the ability to choose the opposite of what is
known Above. For the knowledge Above does not compel me in any way and
it is not at all related to my choice. The fact that I act in a
particular manner is only because I choose to do so without being forced
at all.

In addition to the example given in my previous letter (a clairvoyant
who can foretell what another person will do in the future, in which
instance his knowledge of a future act does not influence or compel that
other person at all), it is possible to bring an example of the opposite
of free choice, i.e., an instance when compulsion is involved. For
example, so-and-so says that he knows that tomorrow when you throw a
stone [in the air], it will ultimately fall to the ground.

When the stone does ultimately fall to the ground, no one would say that
it fell because of so-and-so's knowledge and statement. Instead, the
opposite is true. Since the stone will fall downward because of the
natural laws that G-d implanted within the world, so-and-so knows that
the stone will fall downward. If the natural laws were that the stone
would rise, so-and-so would say that the stone would rise.

The same concept applies to the question you raised. Since I will choose
to do such-and-such tomorrow without being compelled to do so,
accordingly, there is knowledge Above that I will act in this manner.
And tomorrow, were I to choose to do the opposite, there would be
knowledge Above that I will act in the opposite manner.

The difference between this example and G-d's omniscience involves only
the following:

We understand how so-and-so knows that the stone will fall, because his
knowledge is dependent on his awareness of the laws of nature. We cannot
understand, however, how it is possible to know in advance what I will
choose tomorrow. Maimonides resolves this point by explaining that G-d's
way of knowing is not understood, because He and His knowledge are one.

There is another question: How is it possible that the knowledge of the
Creator that brings into being and maintains the existence of all the
created beings at every moment does not influence them at all? For G-d's
thought creates worlds, and in the spiritual realms potential is not
removed from actual existence. This question is resolved by the
explanation that this knowledge operates in a manner that does not
permeate our awareness, as explained in Chasidic philosophy....

           From I Will Write it in Your Hearts, translated by Rabbi
                    Eliyahu Touger, published by Sichos In English.



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                            RAMBAM THIS WEEK
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21 Tevet, 5766 - January 21, 2006

Positive Mitzva 133: Challah - Dough Offering

This mitzva is based on the verse (Num. 15:20) "You shall offer up a
cake of the first of your dough as a gift" G-d gave us a commandment
that shows how our basic foods can be connected with holiness. The Torah
commands us to separate a portion of the dough that we use to bake bread
and present it to the priest. Today, this mitzva is fulfilled by
separating a portion of the dough and burning it, as a remembrance of
the offering in Temple times. There are laws concerning the types of
dough used, the blessing to be recited, and what to do with the
separated portion.

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                        A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
                         Rabbi Shmuel M. Butman
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This coming Tuesday is 24 Tevet, the yartzeit (anniversary of the
passing) of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Author of the Tanya and
compiler of the Shulchan Aruch, he established what later become known
as Chabad Chasidut.

The goal of Chabad Chasidut - an acronym standing for chachma (wisdom),
bina (understanding) and da'at (knowledge) - is to bring the Jew to an
intellectual understanding of G-d through the contemplation of G-d's
exalted nature and His relationship with the world and the Jewish
people. It brings the loftiest concepts down into a framework the human
mind can readily comprehend and assimilate.

For generations prior to the writing of the Tanya, the rarefied secrets
of the Kabala were beyond the true grasp of the intellect. G-d sent the
holy soul of Rabbi Shneur Zalman down into the world for the purpose of
creating a body of teachings that would once and for all break through
the barrier between the infinite light of the Creator and the limited
intellect of His creatures.

Chabad Chasidut thus forged an entirely new path in fulfilling
Moshiach's promise to the Baal Shem Tov to come when "the wellsprings of
your teachings will be disseminated." Over the next seven generations,
this new path in man's service of G-d was developed and broadened by the
leaders of the Chabad movement. Each successive Rebbe added new
insights, drawing from the bottomless well of Divine wisdom and bringing
us closer to the Messianic era, when, as G-d has promised, "The world
will be filled with G-dly knowledge like the waters cover the sea."

May it commence immediately.

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                          THOUGHTS THAT COUNT
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When G-d saw that he turned aside to see, G-d called him from the midst
of the bush and said: "Moses, Moses." And he said: "Here am I." (Ex.
3:4)

Why when G-d called out to Moses from the burning bush did He repeat
Moses' name twice? G-d was hinting to Moses concerning the two different
eras in which he will teach Torah to the Jewish people: once in his
lifetime and once in the days of Moshiach. In the future, the Jewish
people will go to Abraham and ask him to teach them Torah, and Abraham
will say, "Go to Isaac, he studied more than me." Isaac will tell them,
"Go to Jacob, he studied more than me." When they will come to Jacob, he
will say, "Go to Moses, he learned it directly from G-d." And Moses will
teach the Jewish people. But there will come a time when all the
scholars and righteous, including Moses and our patriarchs, will all
come to Moshiach to hear him teach Torah.

                               (Shemot Rabba and Midrash Chachamim)

                                *  *  *


And she saw the child, and behold it was a weeping boy (Ex. 2:6)

We can learn (and emulate) three things from a child: He is always
happy, he is always occupied and never sits idle, and when he wants
something, he cries.

                                           (Reb Zussia of Annipoli)

                                *  *  *


And Moses was shepherding the flock of Jethro (Ex. 3:1)

A young goat once ran away from the rest of the flock Moses was tending
in the desert. Moses followed the animal into a thicket that hid a pool
of fresh water. Seeing the goat drinking he exclaimed, "I didn't realize
that you were thirsty. You must be so tired now." After the animal had
quenched its thirst, Moses tenderly picked it up and carried it to the
rest of the flock. When G-d saw Moses' act of kindness toward his
father-in-law's goat, He decreed that Moses was equally worthy of
tending G-d's own flock - the Jewish People.

                                                    (Midrash Rabba)

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                            IT ONCE HAPPENED
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Rabbi Moses Maimonides, known also as the Rambam, was one of the
greatest Jews of all times. During his life, he wrote numerous books in
which he explained the laws and philosophy of the Torah. He was not only
esteemed in the Jewish world, though. He was also known and well
respected as a physician, philosopher and scientist.

The Rambam was born in Cordova, Spain, and moved as a young man with his
family to Egypt. Because he did not believe in accepting monetary
remuneration for his work as a Jewish scholar, he devoted himself to
medicine in order to support himself and his family. The Rambam reached
the peak of his professional reputation as a doctor when he was
appointed to the staff of the court of Saladin as royal physician.

When the Rambam felt his end approaching, he instructed his family to
bury him in the Holy Land. On the twentieth of Tevet, at the age of 69,
the Rambam passed away. In Egypt, where he had been the chief rabbi, the
Rambam was mourned by Jew and Moslem alike for three days. In the Holy
Land and the rest of the world, where the Rambam had acted as guide and
mentor to world Jewry, he was memorialized with special services and
fasts.

People from all over gathered in Egypt to attend the funeral of the
great Rambam. When the procession was over, a discussion erupted as to
where to bury him. The Rambam's request had only been to bury him in the
Holy Land. No mention was made as to which city or site should be his
final resting place.

Because no solution to the problem at hand was in sight, everyone agreed
to begin taking the coffin toward the borders of Israel, hoping that
along the way they might be guided as to where tp bury him.

The coffin was perched atop a sturdy camel and, with hundreds joining
the caravan, made its way toward the Holy Land. One of the most
difficult and dangerous parts of desert travel was not necessarily the
lack of water, nor sand storms. It was the constant fear of being
overtaken by one of the many bands of highway robbers who attacked the
innocent travelers.

As it began to get dark, the pace of the caravan quickened a bit.
Everyone hoped that they would be able to find a relatively safe place
to camp for the evening. Their fears were well founded though, for
within a short while, the sound of hoof beats could be heard, coming
closer and closer. "We're being attacked," cried out the leader of the
caravan. Many of the people panicked and scattered in different
directions. A few of the braver people remained with the coffin to guard
it. But, they, too, were frightened away as the gang of vicious bandits
came charging toward them.

The bandits approached the camel with the large box. It was obvious to
them that this box must contain a huge treasure if so many people were
guarding it. As much as they tried, though, the box could not be taken
down from the camel.

"Grab the camel's reins," shouted the leader of the bandits. "We'll take
it with us." Their efforts met with no success, though. They tried as
much as possible to get the huge animal to move, but it would not budge.

"Open the box," commanded the leader.

One of the gangsters swaggered over to the box and began to pry off the
lid. "There's a body in this box," he shrieked, as he ran away. The
other bandits, too, became frightened at the thought of a dead body in a
box in the middle of the dark desert and quickly made their exit.

The people from the caravan who had been accompanying the coffin slowly
made their way back toward the camel. But, to their surprise, the camel
began moving determinedly, as if it had a specific destination in mind.

The caravan leader cautioned the other people not to go near the camel.
"Let us see what direction it takes." After a little while, it was
obvious that the camel was heading straight for the border of Israel.

No one dared to go close to the camel. Instead, they followed from a
distance behind. The people were amazed to observe how the camel kept on
its course heading straight for Israel. By now, everyone was certain
that there would no longer be a problem of where to bury the Rambam.

After reaching the borders of Israel, the camel continued to travel
steadily. The camel came to the city of Tiberias in the Northern part of
the country. It continued on through the narrow streets of the city
until, at a certain spot, it suddenly stopped and began to kneel down on
the ground.

The people understood that this was the place where they should bury the
Rambam. Carefully, they removed the coffin from the camel's back and
placed it on the ground. Immediately, the people began digging the
grave. All who witnessed this strange event were amazed to see the
wonderful miracle take place right before their own eyes.

The people of the city of Tiberias built a beautiful structure over the
spot where the Rambam was buried. And every year, on the anniversary of
his passing, thousands of people from all parts of the world come to
visit his holy grave. For, the Talmud tell us that "He who prays at the
grave of a righteous person is equal to one who has prayed in the Holy
Temple."

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                            MOSHIACH MATTERS
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Moshiach has a certain superiority even over Moses. On the phrase at the
beginning of the Torah, "and the spirit of G-d hovered...," the Sages
teach, "This alludes to the spirit of the King Moshiach." That verse
continues, "...over the surface of the waters," this intimates a level
higher than that of Moses, who was so called "because from the water I
drew him." And that is why this exile is so prolonged - in order that
this lofty state be finally attained.

(The discourses of Rabbi Shneur Zalman on the Torah portions, p. 237)

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                END OF TEXT - L'CHAIM 904 - Shemos 5766
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