ChaBaD Jewish Calendar Thursday, March 9, 2023 16 Adar, 5783
ChaBaD Jewish Calendar Thursday, March 9, 2023 16 Adar, 5783
Agrippa I, appointed by the Roman Emperor to rule over Judea, was pious and kind to his subjects. During his reign, the Jews began to prosper and live comfortably. The Sages of the time accorded him great respect.
Agrippa I started construction to repair, broaden and heighten the walls around Jerusalem. The Romans, wary of the Jews' rising prosperity, placed many obstacles in his way. Nonetheless, the wall was completed, though the finished product was not as magnificent as originally planned.
The 16th of Adar, the day when the construction commenced, was instituted to be a joyous day.
When G‑d told Moses that every Jew must give enough to clean up the spiritual damage caused by the golden calf affair, Moses was concerned.
“A person will have to give all he has to clean himself up!” he said.
But G‑d said, “They don’t need to give a hundred silver pieces, not fifty, and not even thirty. They only need to give one half a shekel.”
-Midrash
When you’ve failed and you want to clean up your mess, very often the job seems overwhelming.
In the case of the golden calf, Moses imagined that the smallest amount it would take to pay back the damage done was thirty silver pieces per soul. That was the value of a Hebrew servant. And with the golden calf, the Jewish people had abused their role as servants of G‑d.
But G‑d told Moses, no, it takes just half a shekel. Which is one sixtieth of thirty.
Why one sixtieth? Because that is the tipping point of significance.
When something falls into a quantity sixty times its size, halachah generally considers it insignificant, as though it's not there.
But at one in sixty, there are only 59 parts against it. One sixtieth just barely crosses the threshold of significance.
So that is all you need to do. Not to fix up your whole mess all at once. Just something that’s enough to have some measurable impact, to be of some small consequence, no matter how miniscule.
And then G‑d will provide the means to complete the job.
As the Midrash says, “Open a pathway into your heart as small as the prick of a needle, and I will open it as large as the great doorway of the Temple.”
- Sefaria CalendarOur Prayer and hope: All the gates to the Har ha-Bait have to be opened for Jews and non-Jews seven days in the week 24 hours a day. The Jews need to have the freedom to go with Tefillin, Tallit and Torah Scroll up on the Mountain to serve Hashem. And do קידה ('Kidah' prostate, laying down, before Hashem) Everyone showing his/her respect for the Jewish and all other religions. But NOT for the words/deeds/sins spoken against any word of the Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu and the 'real' teachings of the Jewish Rabbis. The Jews must be the guardians of the Har ha-Bait.תפילתנו ותקוותנו: כל שערי הר הבית צריכים להיפתח עבור יהודים ולא-יהודים שבעה ימים בשבוע 24 שעות ביממה. ליהודים צריך להיות חופש ללכת עם תפילין, טלית וספר תורה במעלה ההר כדי לשרת את ה' ולקוד קידה .מתוך הפגנת כבוד ליהודים ולכל הדתות האחרות, אבל לא למילים/למעשים/לחטאים הנאמרים נגד תורת משה רבנו. מלמודי רבנים, היהודים חייבים להיות שומרי הר הבית.Ariel, hopefully your Representeeאריאל, מקווה שהנציג שלך
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