Rabbi Mendy Herson's Blog

Tomorrow – the 18th of Elul on the Jewish calendar - is a very special day.
It's a day when two luminaries, two spiritual masters who revolutionized the world, were born.
In 1698, [Rabbi] Israel Baal Shem Tov was born on this day; known as the Baal Shem Tov, he became the founder of Chassidism.
Exactly forty-seven years later, in 1745, [Rabbi] Schneur Zalman was born on the same exact day. A 'spiritual grandson' to the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Schneur Zalman - eventually known as 'the Alter Rebbe' - conceptualized the Chabad philosophy and launched the Chabad movement.

What does this all mean to me and you?

Everything.
These giants taught us how to see ourselves and the world.
There's only so much I can express in a deliberately brief e-mail.

Suffice it to say:

Seeing myself through their lens, I am never disconnected from my Creator, I am never disengaged from my Divine life-flow; so I am never without a call to meaningful living.
We are each a result of G-d's consistent desire that we exist. Since it follows that G-d brings us into existence for a purpose, we get a counter-intuitive perspective on life: It's dynamic, empowering, challenging; there’s always with an opportunity to realize our raison d' etre, and thereby touch the Divine.
No such thing as a hum-drum day, or an intrinsically meaningless life.
When we see someone else, even a stranger, we see someone whom G-d has created for a reason, and who - ergo - has a lifetime of goodness to bestow upon the world. A person who is a bundle of Divine potential, who is his/her own 'world of meaning'. A person who deserves respect for his/her Divine potential, and the recognition that helping him/her is more than a single act; it's support for an entire world of goodness.
If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, I can't imagine a more beautiful way to see the world than through the lens of [Chabad] Chassidism.
So tomorrow's a really special day to celebrate.

A perfect time to think about these gifts to the world.

Happy birthday.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Mendy 

For the second year in a row, a dear friend has taken me on a whirlwind trip to the former Soviet Union.
We have been visiting the burial sites of great Rebbes, spiritual masters, who are beacons of light to this day. We've also had occasion to visit several cities, and witness the resurrection of Jewish communities which Stalin and his heirs had pledged to obliterate.
I write this from Odessa, where the local Chabad Rabbi tells me of the KGB files he has been able to salvage for posterity. The government's records testify as to the brutality and murder that the Communist regime inflicted upon countless Jews - some from families whom I personally know.
Their crime? Practicing and teaching their religion.
I've been to this part of the world many times over the past twenty-two years; the stories aren't new to me. But they seem to push different internal buttons each time I hear them.
Sometimes I'm struck with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for USA, the country of freedom in which I live.
Today, I'm feeling awed by the commitment and self-sacrifice of the generations who came before me.
In the Soviet Union, millions of people lived their lives under intense scrutiny. They were warned not to keep their faith; and they were severely punished when they did.
But these heroes stuck to their values. They redoubled their commitment to their heritage. They never wavered.
They stood for something.
Many of these people have since passed on. Their bodies have been buried; but their spirits live on.
Decades later, they are stilll honored by people who never knew them or experienced their travails.
The principled life has a resounding echo. 

Rabbi Mendy Herson