On my way to a meeting with a group of Haredi women, I heard Dr. Aliza Lavie getting angry and having difficulty giving a clear answer as to whether she would support all the coalition achievements that the "Haredi government" has achieved for Haredi women.
On the one hand, she called herself "the first" to open the door for Haredi women and raise awareness of their situation (yes. Of course). On the other hand, she will face factional discipline and be forced to shoot herself in the foot, the foot on which all her feminine dreams and the dreams of her Haredi friends stand. Honestly, I felt sorry for her.
The meeting was a gathering of 'authentic Haredi' women, who came together to improve their own situation, but most of all, the situation of women in general who groan under discriminatory and degrading salaries. Of course, among other things, the million-dollar question also came up: how do you manage to combine a husband who is studying, work, and family, and how with all of this, you can still look young and fresh.
Want more news, videos and stories? Join the Haredim 10 WhatsApp channel >>
To make a long story short, a day before the meeting, each participant was asked to send the organizer her "wish." The goal was to read the wishes to all the participants, who would have to guess who wrote that wish.
One asked for more time with the children. Another asked to be happy in her lot and, along the way, lose some weight. And me? I knew they would come to me as soon as I finished reading the wish I had written, so I asked to go ahead and tell a story. Read it carefully. There is also a moral.
There was a king's son who was exiled from his father's table. He wandered between the cities of the kingdom, lonely, poor and destitute, in worn-out clothes and without proper food. One day he was given the opportunity to make one wish. A single wish that would be fulfilled without any conditions or compensation.
And the king's son? All he asked for was a hot meal and new clothes. Those around him were surprised and asked him: Is this your wish?! Why didn't you ask to return to the king's palace, to your loving father who eagerly awaits your return. After all, there all your wishes will be fulfilled.
The son of the king is us. We, the sons of the King of kings. All we have to ask is: to return to the royal palace. To ask that our righteous Messiah come and redeem us. This was my wish and it was clear to me that everyone would know it was me.
Why? Because I'm a Chabad member. As if Messiah only belongs to Chabad.
And that's exactly what happened right after my wish was read.
A heated debate broke out around the issue of the Messiah, leading me to defend my "honor" and remind the dear women sitting around that they recite the thirteen principles every day in prayer, one of which is "Give me the gift of believing in complete faith in the thirteen principles of the Holy Torah... and that the Messiah the King will come quickly in our days.".
Moshiach does not belong to Chabad. He belongs to all of Israel and we all need to ask for him day by day, hour by hour. On the contrary, in the prayer form of most Sephardim and Hasidim, including the Chabadniks, the 13 main points are not included.
What do we need in the world more than the Messiah?! That should have been the wish of all the women around the table.
This is the wish of wishes. The one after which no further wishes are needed.
Three years of cracking
Last Thursday night I attended the launch of the 'Yahudoton' channel, a video channel that makes authentic Judaism accessible through professional means and utilizes the most advanced technology for this purpose.
The new channel includes short films about various mitzvot. It explains the essence of the mitzvot in a tasteful and contemporary Israeli language. Mitzvot such as kiddush, tefillin, tzitzit, and more, are expressed in a clear and simple way that is suitable for everyone.
Or as a very senior publicist said after watching the tefillin video: "I am now canceling the Reform Bar Mitzvah I planned for my son, and I am moving to the authentic Jewish version...""
I will quote here the words of the main actor in the many videos. The actor said that of all the films and series in which he participated, those of Yehudoton touched his Jewish heart and he finds in them his life's mission.
""Grandma. I brought a trophy," Oded Munster said to Grandma Dina, may her memory be blessed, whenever he finished recording another episode of the Yehudton series.
""You have no idea how many people see this. I'm walking down the street in Tel Aviv, a friend stops me and says, 'Listen man. I didn't know how to make kiddush until I saw you at the Jewish Center.'".
""I was at an event in Rishon LeZion. Three young girls approached me and told me that they started lighting Shabbat candles thanks to a video of mine on the Yehudton channel. I am really happy and grateful to everyone who helps and donates to this cause.".
The video about Hanukkah was shown on the giant screen, but surprisingly, the actor who explained the mystery of the miracle was speaking in Italian... Seconds later, the video about the commandments of the four species was shown, and the French explanation filled the ears. Yes. Also in Russian, English, and every language that Jews speak. When everything is intended to make the commandments of the Torah accessible to everyone.
But the highlight awaited the end of the event. When the project's initiators presented the video about the Messiah and the coming redemption. "This is the video whose brief took three years to crack and cost a quarter of a million shekels," says the person behind this enormous project.
""This redemption is heaven," actor Yigal Adika sums up the video, in which the dead are seen emerging from their graves and being reunited with their excited relatives. I will wait for it every day it comes!
A world of faith
The Lubavitcher Rebbe looked the world in the eye. He demanded that we open our eyes and see reality as it is. To see what truly drives the world.
Here are some excerpts from an article by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz), based on the Rebbe's words.
""He said: Do you think that ours is a world in which men are only interested in pleasures? You are mistaken; what they really want is a little love, a little dependence - and a look to the sky. They just don't know how to express it. And those people, who seem to have in life only the pursuit of power and property for their own sake, really aspire only to a little consolation, to some kind word; they just don't know how to get it.
""When we open our eyes and see beyond the fog, to what is behind the rough, blunt, and harsh exterior, we can understand that people are not really what they seem: they are different. And the desire for love, comfort, and a kind word becomes closer and closer.".
""The Rebbe did not leave behind an inheritance or a legatee, the Rebbe left behind a task that we must complete, and the books and all the other resources give people the understanding that will allow them to carry out this task.
""What we have to do is help those hidden things to be revealed, to come out into the light. What appears to us as a world of heresy is nothing but a world of people crying and asking for faith, begging for faith.".
""But since they are ashamed to call faith by its name, they call it by a thousand other names. They say it in their own way, like children who are unable to pronounce the words properly. We must support them, help them pronounce the words better, more clearly. Tell them that what they really want to say is – 'I believe,' 'I want to be better.'".
---
I believe in complete faith. Blessed be the Creator, He is the Creator and Guide of all creatures. And He alone did and does and will do for all who do!
• Part of the column is based on the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe | The writer is the owner of "My Choice", an event host, lecturer, and radio broadcaster. | For comments: [email protected]
