Founder of Tzivos Hashem

Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, was sought after by top political figures, successful business people and the finest professionals for his sage advice on matters of grave importance. He was mentor and spiritual leader to hundreds of thousands of everyday people in all corners of the globe, no one was turned away. Yet, amidst his awesome schedule, the Rebbe busied himself with the lives of children, and set out to harness their great potential.

With a vision that has been unfolding and mushrooming for twenty years, the Rebbe called for the establishment of Tzivos Hashem in the fall of 1980. Children were a top priority for the Rebbe. Rather, each Jewish child was a top priority for the Rebbe. From his vantage point as world leader and spiritual giant, he understood the intrinsic promise held by children, and he founded Tzivos Hashem to cultivate and nurture them so that they could grow to be strong and healthy in body, mind and soul.

The Rebbe himself would hold communal meetings, which he called rallies, with thousands of children at a time. And it was the Rebbe himself who spoke to the children directly and put great responsibilities on their shoulders. Not only did the Rebbe see children as the promise of a better tomorrow, the Rebbe saw children as the promise for a better today.

Judaism stresses that chinuch, Jewish education, should begin at an early age to prepare for adulthood. The Rebbe emphasized that not only are children’s mitzvos for the sake of practicing for the future, but that their mitzvos, now, while they are young, have significance in and of themselves. Through his confidence in them and his expectations, the Rebbe actually confirmed a child’s self esteem and challenged children to use their inborn strengths and talents for good.

The Tzivos Hashem relationship did not flow in just one direction, of commander to commandee. The soldiers of Tzivos Hashem gave nachas to the Rebbe as he watched them increase their mitzvos and perform them with greater care. And it was the children who were able to identify with and express the Rebbe’s passion to bring the world to peace and goodness, as they would sing for him their theme song: We want Moshiach Now!

Tzivos hashem chanuka play

Tikkun Olam

The expression tikkun olam is used in the Mishnah in the phrase mip’nei tikkun ha-olam (“for the sake of tikkun of the world”) to indicate that a practice should be followed not because it is required by Biblical law, but because it helps avoid social chaos.

At first a person used to convene a Court in another place and cancel it. Rabban Gamliel the Elder enacted in the public interest (mip’nei tikkun ha-olam) that they should not do so. At first a person used to change his name and her name, the name of his city and the name of her city, and Rabban Gamliel the Elder enacted in the public interest (mip’nei tikkun ha-olam) that he should write, “The man so-and-so and every name that he has,” “The woman so-and-so and every name that she has.”

The rabbis made this rule because they were concerned that a woman might receive a get (divorce document) and think she was divorced when in fact she was not. She might then remarry in good faith not knowing that she was not yet a free woman. In Jewish tradition there are severe consequences if a married woman engages in sexual relations outside of her marriage. She may not marry the man with whom she had sex and her children are ineligible to marry most other Jews because they acquire the technical status of mamzerim.

As an explanation of rabbinic laws, the phrase mip’nei tikkun ha-olam is also invoked for laws about the collection of the ketubah money for a widow (Gittin 4:3), the limit on payments to redeem captives (Gitten 4:6), purchasing religious articles from non-Jews (Gittin 4:6), divorce threatened by vows (Gittin 4:7), and the bringing of first fruits for land purchased from non-Jews (Gitten 4:9). Several additional uses are found in Gittin 5:3.

During Talmudic period, the principle of mip’nei tikkun ha-olam is applied to a very limited number of additional cases. (For example, see Pesahim 88b.) In both the Mishnah (Gittin 4:6) and the Talmud, applications of the principle are contested at times.

Rav (Heb. רב) is Hebrew for rabbi. The term is often used by Orthodox Jews to refer to one’s personal rabbi.

In the Talmud, Rav precedes the names of Babylonian Amoraim, whereas the title Rabbi generally precedes the names of ordained scholars in Palestine (whether Tannaim or Amoraim).

In the Talmud, Rav or Rab (used alone) is a common name for Abba Arika, the first Amora, who established the great yeshiva at Sura, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud.

In some Hasidic groups, the Rebbe is also referred to as the rav; in other circles, the rav is distinct from the rebbe and is the highest dayan (judge) of the group.

The term rav is also a generic term for a teacher or a personal spiritual guide. For example, the Talmud tells us that “Joshua ben Perachyah said: Provide for yourself a teacher (rav).”

Jerusalem, Israel

Jerusalem – Yerushalayim

The ancient city of Beit Shemesh (“house of the sun” or “temple of the sun” in Hebrew) was originally named after the Canaanite sun-goddess Shemesh, which was worshipped there in antiquity. The ruins of the ancient biblical city can still be seen in the tell of Beit Shemesh, located near the modern city.

Several important and unique archaeological discoveries have been made in recent digs at the tell. The most ancient iron workshop in the world was discovered here in 2003. The only remnants of a fortified city with an advanced water system, from the time of the early Kingdom of Judah was found here. In all layers from this period, the bones of animals were all of kosher animals, in contrast to nearby ancient fortresses and settlements of that period such as Maresha, Azeka or Lachish, suggesting an early Jewish settlement and advanced kingdom in the early biblical “kings” period.

Bnei-Brak

In a short period of time most of Bnei Brak’s secular and Religious Zionist residents migrated elsewhere, and the city has become almost homogeneously Haredi. The city has one secular neighbourhood, Pardes Kats. Names of streets that had had a Zionist connotation were changed and named after prominent Haredi figures, the most recent and final change being the renaming of Herzl St. to HaRav Shach St. The Israeli flag is barely seen in Bnei Brak, since the State of Israel is seen as a secular entity; however, it is certain to be seen flying atop the Ponevezh yeshiva, as the practice was originally instituted by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman. Bnei Brak is one of the two poorest cities in Israel.

Bnei Brak has multiple chief rabbis, catering to different groups in the city. The most important are Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Leib Landau, and Rabbi Nissim Karelitz.

Susana, 85, lives alone in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. She never married or had children, and has no living relatives.

Life as an elderly Jew in this part of the world is a constant struggle, filled with poverty, isolation, and loneliness. Susana lives in a dilapidated two room flat, with one room uninhabitable due to fire damage. Her meager monthly pension of $55 is simply not enough to cover even her most basic living expenses or the medications she needs to treat her high blood pressure, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses.

Thankfully for Susana, The Fellowship’s Isaiah 58 partners fund a nearby Hesed center. Through Hesed—a Hebrew word meaning “loving kindness”—Susana is provided with critically important goods and services like home care, medical assistance, food packages, and rehabilitation equipment. She also enjoys an active social life at Hesed’s Day Center, where she has the opportunity to enjoy the company of other people her age.

Susana recognizes the importance of Hesed in her life. She is especially grateful for the friendships that have grown and blossomed since she started visiting the center. “Very few people know how difficult it is to be so lonely,” she says. “I am lucky to have the support of Hesed and to be able to participate in the Day Center program. Because of Hesed I have a family here!”

There are thousands of elderly Soviet Jews like Susana who live in shocking poverty and rely on Isaiah 58 for their survival. Please give to Isaiah 58 today to help ease their suffering.

Ahmadinejad’s appearance comes as the world continues its debate over how to confront Iran’s pursuit of nuclear technology, a problem of deepest concern not just to Israel and the West, but to Arab leaders who know that a nuclear Iran will become the region’s undisputed strongman. Iran continues to publicly insist that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only, but the mullahs in power have little credibility to make such a claim. While some world leaders continue to accept Iranian assurances, others will publicly confirm what’s held privately by many: Just last week, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told a reporter that it is “a certainty to all of our secret services” that Iran is working on a nuclear weapons program.

Now, an important new book, The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West, by Dore Gold, an American-born former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, makes the case that world leaders are failing their citizens by not halting Iran’s acquisition of this powerful—and deadly—technology. This failure, he argues, stems from Western leaders’ inability to understand the depth of Iranian enmity toward the West, and to recognize the deception routinely practiced by Iranian diplomats and other government officials.

That deception, according to Gold, is even admitted to by members of the Iranian government. In 2008, Iranian official Abdollah Ramezanzadeh stated in a public debate with advisers to the Iranian president that “[Iran] had an overt policy, which was one of negotiation and confidence building, and a covert policy, which was a continuation of the [nuclear development] activities.” Gold also quotes a speech, delivered by Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani, in which Rowhani states, “When we were negotiating with the Europeans in Tehran, we were installing equipment in parts of the [nuclear] facility in Isfahan.” These tactics have been all too effective, allowing Iran to proceed with its nuclear pursuits, in defiance of the world’s attempts to thwart them.

Meanwhile, the world’s leaders continue using the same approach—and somehow expecting a change in results. And all the while, Iran edges closer to possessing nuclear weapons.

Coincidentally, Ahmadinejad’s New York appearance bumps up against the anniversary of an event in world history that has become a symbol for short-sightedness and a refusal to address ugly realities: On September 30, 1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from a meeting in Munich with German leader Adolph Hitler. During their meeting, Chamberlain bowed to Hitler’s demand that Czechoslovakia surrender the Sudetenland, a region in western Czechoslovakia, to Germany. Convinced that this would pacify Hitler’s territorial ambitions, Chamberlain told the British people, “My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time. Go home and get a nice, quiet sleep.”

Peace for our time.

Chamberlain’s promised peace, of course, was a phantom: There would be few opportunities for a “nice, quiet sleep” in Europe during the next seven years. Eleven months later, Hitler invaded Poland, and, two days after that, England declared war on Germany. Thus began one of the bloodiest and farthest-reaching wars the world has ever known. Chamberlain allowed his well-intentioned, earnest desire for peace to dominate his thinking to the extent that he turned a blind eye to Hitler’s true ambitions.

This, perhaps, is the overarching message of Gold’s The Rise of Nuclear Iran: If the free world truly wants to stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons, it first needs to evaluate Iran’s true ambitions with clarity—and to see through the obvious smoke screens thrown up by the Islamic Republic. To do this, world leaders must not allow their own wishes and hopes for peace without confrontation to overwhelm their clarity of thought and perception. Only then will we be able to confront this threat. By providing us with the historical context we need to evaluate Iran’s current activities, The Rise of a Nuclear Iran does a great service to all who truly seek real and lasting peace.

It is a natural human impulse to turn away from things we don’t want to see, but it is rarely productive in the long-term. We live in an unredeemed world full of moral unclarity, but we know that Truth illuminates—it is, after all, one of God’s names. While we must “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14), we must simultaneously remain clear-eyed and watchful. We trust in the Eternal and beg Him: “Do not withhold Your mercy from Me, O Lord. May Your love and Your truth always protect me.” (Psalm 40:11)

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President