Rabbi Fishel's Blog - Chabad of Naples

Heartwarming moment

Thursday, July 27, 2023 - 10:21 AM

Powerful Am .jpeg

Dear Friends,

The saddest day on the Jewish calendar is the Ninth of Av, “Tisha b'Av," the date on which both our Holy Temples were destroyed, and exile, persecution and spiritual darkness began.

During this time-period we fast, eschew pleasurable activities and amenities, and lament the destruction of the Holy Temple and the the worlds exile.

It is a tradition, however, that Tisha b'Av is also the birthday of our Redeemer. This symbolizes the idea that from the ashes of the destroyed temple will rise an incomparably magnificent edifice; exile will give birth to redemption. Thus Tisha b’Av is also a day of anticipation and hope, for “One who mourns Jerusalem will merit seeing her happiness."

One of the core principles in Judaism is the belief that better days are ahead: a world of universal peace, and peace among humanity.

This picture which has been circulating in social media expresses this in a powerful way. It is worth sharing, to give you strength in your own journey, in the midst of the hate, anti-semitism and negativity. Stand up and be counted! Let Shoshana be an inspiration!

Be fruitful and multiply!

Words form social media…

“In front of her eyes she watched Mengele taking her mother. Shoshana Obitz herself survived Auschwitz. After the war, she met Dov, who lost his wife and four daughters in the camps. They married and came to Haifa. She worked as a seamstress and helped him run the chicken shop. Shoshana on her birthday and asked for one gift: that all her descendants come together to the Western Wall.

Am Yisrael Chai! ”

****

This just happened in Israel, as protesters who are against the judicial overhaul head down the escalator and meet those who are protesting for the judicial overhaul heading up the escalator of a Jerusalem train station. Watch the video below!

As we observe Tisha B’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar on which we lost both our temples due to hatred, we need to find a path of balance, harmony, and oneness.

This is not a simple issue. But, nothing important in life is simple.

Let’s all pray for a future where moments like these are more than just moments.

TISHA B'AV SERVICE

Clement Soffer will share poignant words and insights, reminding us of the significance of Tisha b’Av and its enduring relevance in our lives. In these trying times, the need for unity and prayers is more critical than ever.

Thursday, July 27

7:30 PM: Mincha services (with Tallis & Tefillin), Torah reading and Haftorah

8:42 PM: Fast ends

Light refreshments

Have an easy fast

Click here to learn more about the laws and customs of Tisha B'Av.

Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos

This week's Kiddush luncheon, sponsored by Richard and Paula Federman

To honor the Yahrzeits

of Paula's mother, Myra Macher (Mira bas Zalman v' Perla), and Paula's Aunt

Marie Levitan (Rivka bas Perla)

Powerful Am .jpeg

Our soul is whole

Friday, July 21, 2023 - 7:39 AM

Dear Friends,

The Western Wall.

It's World famous — a focal point of Jewish and global spiritual consciousness.

For eight hundred and thirty years, a Holy Temple (Beit Hamikdash in Hebrew) stood as the center of the Jewish World. The Temple was more than a building; it was the supreme point of contact – the nexus - between the human and the Divine.

But what was, no longer is. We haven't had a Temple for more than two thousand years. The Temple no longer stands, having been viciously destroyed by the Babylonians and later by the Romans. All we have is the 'Western Wall" - a remnant of a retaining wall. That's all.

So, is the Western Wall a place of national nostalgia, ground zero for our collective pining over a lost glory? Is it the symbol of our hopes for the future?

Yes. And Yes. But that's not all.

The Western Wall is more than a psychological touchpoint. It's a symbol of what STILL exists.

The Babylonians and Romans destroyed buildings, but they had no way to subdue the spirit which permeated the sacred structure. And it indeed persists. The Temple's 'body' was destroyed, but its 'soul' remains whole. So the Western Wall remains a CURRENT place of contact, an eternally fresh reservoir of Holiness.

The Temple's soul is forever whole.

The Rebbe applies this principle to each of us, because we are each a 'Holy Temple,' each of us a 'Sanctuary for the Divine.'

When we look at ourselves honestly, we can sometimes see that our personal 'structure' is in disrepair. Impacted by the World's negativity, selfishness, and cynicism, our walls are worn down and don't protect our inner Holiness. In a sense, our personal 'Temple's' have been damaged.

But we each have an internal Western Wall. Despite it all, our soul is whole; our basic goodness, our intrinsic Holiness, remains beyond any external contamination. Life's 'Babylonians' and 'Romans' can do a lot of damage, G-d forbid, but they can't touch your soul.

This Thursday is the fast of Tisha B'av, a day of mourning for Jews. It is the day Jews remember the destruction of both Temples that once stood in Jerusalem.

It's a time of year to reflect on the World's pain, and on G-d's gift of an untouchable soul.

Wholeness resides in you. Bring it to the fore.

Shabbat Shalom with Love & Light,

Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos

The Western Wall.

Sunday, July 16, 2023 - 10:24 AM

The Western Wall.

It's World famous — a focal point of Jewish and global spiritual consciousness.

For eight hundred and thirty years, a Holy Temple (Beit Hamikdash in Hebrew) stood as the center of the Jewish World. The Temple was more than a building; it was the supreme point of contact – the nexus - between the human and the Divine.

But what was, no longer is. We haven't had a Temple for more than two thousand years. The Temple no longer stands, having been viciously destroyed by the Babylonians and later by the Romans. All we have is the 'Western Wall" - a remnant of a retaining wall. That's all.

So, is the Western Wall a place of national nostalgia, ground zero for our collective pining over a lost glory? Is it the symbol of our hopes for the future?

Yes. And Yes. But that's not all.

The Western Wall is more than a psychological touchpoint. It's a symbol of what STILL exists.

The Babylonians and Romans destroyed buildings, but they had no way to subdue the spirit which permeated the sacred structure. And it indeed persists. The Temple's 'body' was destroyed, but its 'soul' remains whole. So the Western Wall remains a CURRENT place of contact, an eternally fresh reservoir of Holiness.

The Temple's soul is forever whole.

The Rebbe applies this principle to each of us, because we are each a 'Holy Temple,' each of us a 'Sanctuary for the Divine.'

When we look at ourselves honestly, we can sometimes see that our personal 'structure' is in disrepair. Impacted by the World's negativity, selfishness, and cynicism, our walls are worn down and don't protect our inner Holiness. In a sense, our personal 'Temple's' have been damaged.

But we each have an internal Western Wall. Despite it all, our soul is whole; our basic goodness, our intrinsic Holiness, remains beyond any external contamination. Life's 'Babylonians' and 'Romans' can do a lot of damage, G-d forbid, but they can't touch your soul.

This Thursday is the fast of Tisha B'av, a day of mourning for Jews. It is the day Jews remember the destruction of both Temples that once stood in Jerusalem.

It's a time of year to reflect on the World's pain, and on G-d's gift of an untouchable soul.

Wholeness resides in you. Bring it to the fore.

Shabbat Shalom with Love & Light,

Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos

Our beloved country needs urgent healing

Friday, July 7, 2023 - 5:36 PM

Dear Friends,

We’re facing that time of the year again: summer and everything that comes with it. One of the gifts of summer is time. In recent years the expression “killing time” became popular. People kill time by doing meaningless, distracting things that make the time pass, thereby treating time as if it were something in endless supply. It most definitely is not.

Jewish wisdom put it this way and even made it into a song:

“Man worries about the loss of money and not about the loss of time. And yet, money is immaterial, whereas lost time is lost for good.”

Time is precious, and the big question is, what do we choose to do with this time? Binge watch Netflix shows? Stress about politics? Play games on our phones? Kvetch at the beach?

There are much better options: Read interesting books while sipping your milkshake. Learn about one’s heritage. Meditate on the meaning of life. Smile at the beach.

Some options are better than others, but there is one that I believe should be at the top of our priority list all year long; especially when there is more time available. What is the magical time filler?

Before I share it with you, let us explore a fascinating part of our history, specifically the history of monotheism and Judaism.

The first fellow who discovered G-d was Abraham. And yet, he didn’t do it alone. He did it with his wife, Sarah, and their son, as a family, making his journey towards faith a familial experience. Their son, Isaac, his wife, Rebecca, and their children continued and consolidated this movement as a family. Jacob, Rachel and Leah, and their many children all formed the nation of Israel. (Jacob was also called Israel.)

When the Jews left Egypt hundreds of years later, they did it as family units. They camped in the desert with their families, their “mishpacha.”

The list goes on and on, proving a basic tenet of our heritage: Family is the crucible within which we form the golden links in the beautiful chains of destiny. Family is everything. It was never about an ascetic running off to the mountains and meditating endlessly without the responsibilities and stresses of family life. We do it as a family. It’s a team sport.

In the Shema prayer that we recite twice each day, we are told to “Veshinantam L’banecha”––that we are responsible for transmitting our faith and traditions to our children. “L’dor Vador”––we pass along the wisdom of the beautiful tapestry of our history, destiny, and mystery from generation to generation. At the Seder table and the Friday night dinner, we are building the generation of tomorrow who will continue our mandate of bringing heaven down to earth.

This brings us to how we choose to spend our extra time: We need to prioritize family time with activities such as playing together, chatting, discussing and debating peacefully, making meals and eating together, going to the beach, traveling, playing board games.

Loving families build healthy communities just as we at Naples Chabad refer to ourselves as the Naples Chabad family. Healthy communities build a healthy nation.

Our beloved country needs urgent healing. There is far too much pain, violence, anger, radicalism, physical and mental illness, materialism, and spiritual void.

Recent events bring home the necessity for spiritual health in our nation. We ought to see each other as family. Politics is not the most important thing. Love is.

Healthy families with strong values are the solution to our societal ills. They are our best hope.

I WISH you and your loved ones a happy summer of healthy bonding. Let us heal our world one family at a time.

May G-d bless you and America.

Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos

We all need downtime

Friday, July 7, 2023 - 5:30 PM

Dear Friends,

In this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, we read about Shabbat and the Jewish holidays, and the offerings associated with each of them.

It’s fascinating that Judaism has so many days associated with rest and “holding back” from creativity and “work”. These holy days aren’t just about leaving the mundane, but about entering a state of “service”, bringing “offerings” to G-d, which is really just a form of spiritual fulfillment for each of us. It's an opportune time for us to tap into our depth and spend time focusing on that which really matters.

In his book “The gift of rest”, Joe Lieberman writes that “G-d gave us the Sabbath as a gift, and He meant for us to enjoy it. We begin the holy day with darkness so that we can more fully appreciate the light of the Sabbath day when it dawns.”

We all need downtime, but not downtime to do nothing and tune-out, but rather downtime to tune-in to our souls, our emotions, our psyche and to why we are blessed to live on G-d’s green earth.

We all need breathers and sooner is always better than later.

Taking care of ourselves, ensures we can take care of others!

Shabbat Shalom with Love & Light,

Rabbi Fishel & Ettie Zaklos