Jewish Calendar Wednesday, February 15, 2023 24 Shevat, 5783
Jewish Calendar Wednesday, February 15, 2023 24 Shevat, 5783
"On the 24th day of the 11th month, which is the month of Shevat, in the second year of the reign of Darius, the word of G-d came to Zachariah the son of Berechiah the son of Ido the prophet, saying:
'...I will return to Jerusalem in mercy, my house will be built within her...and the Lord shall yet console Zion and shall yet choose Jerusalem.'" (Zechariah 1:7-17)
This was two years before the completion of the 2nd Temple on the 3rd of Adar, 3412 (349 BCE).
Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel Slonim, daughter of Rabbi DovBer of Lubavitch and granddaughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, was born on Kislev 19, 5559 (1798) -- the very day on which her illustrious grandfather was freed from his imprisonment in the Peter-Paul Fortress in Petersburg; she was thus named "Menuchah", meaning "tranquility" (Rachel was the name of a daughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman who died in her youth).
The Rebbetzin's lifelong desire to live in the Holy Land was realized in 1845, when she and her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Culi Slonim (d. 1857), led a contingent of Chassidim who settled in Hebron. Famed for her wisdom, piety and erudition, she served as the matriarch of the Chassidic community in Hebron until her passing in her 90th year in 1888.
Links:
A Biography on Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel
22 Facts about Hebron Every Jew Should Know
19 Kislev: The "New Year" of Chassidism
When you approach any human wisdom, you must first understand and discern. You must say, “This makes sense to me; I will follow this. This is a teacher with a good reputation; I will consider her lessons. This doesn’t fit for me; I will put this aside for now.”
But learning Torah means more than learning wisdom. To learn Torah is to enter into union with the Giver of Torah. To make G-d’s thoughts your thoughts, G-d’s mind your mind. To achieve perfect oneness with the One Above.
At Sinai, we understood this well. When Moses asked us if we were ready to accept the Torah, we answered, “We will do, and we will understand.”
First, we said, “We will do.” Because we understood Who was asking us and we desired to connect with Him.
Then we said, “We will understand.” We would take upon ourselves a venture that should be entirely impossible, only now made available to us through divine intervention:
To know the divine. To bring His thoughts into our thoughts, His mind into our minds. To become one with Him.
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