Hashem Had Other Plans

Dear Friends,

This week was very trying for me, because I wasn't feeling well, to the point where I couldn't write an article for Shabbos. I prepared for it, but Hashem had other plans. I still hope to write it, but it won't be ready for Shabbos.

This week was a hard week for the Jewish people. My heart is with the Jews of Pittsburgh, whose loved ones died sanctifying Hashem's name, for being Jewish. Hashem should avenge their blood, or better yet, send Moshiach, and bring an end to this exile once and for all.

This week's parsha is called Chayei Sarah, the life of Sarah. However the parsha doesn't tell us at all about Sarah's life. It speaks about Yitzchak and Rivka, the successors of Sarah.

This teaches us that the life of a person is measured by his or her legacy. Even after she passed away, she remained alive in Yitzchak and Rivka. And she remains alive in every single one of us.

Whenever a tragedy like the one in Pittsburgh happens, we have to strengthen our Judaism. They were only murdered for being Jewish, and for no other reason. We can make them alive, by making their deaths matter. If we strengthen our Judaism, doing more mitzvahs, and more Torah study, we will bring life to their deaths, and they will be remembered as the ones who strengthen Judaism, and they will be alive through us.

May we strengthen our Judaism to the point where we tip the scale, and bring Moshiach once and for all.

My heart is also with my brothers, the emissaries of the Rebbe, who are on the front lines, strengthening Judaism all over the globe, who are in New York, at the International Conference of Shluchim. I wish I could be there with you, and in a way, I feel like I am with you.

Good Shabbos,

Yitzi