B"H

Wednesday, Sivan 30, 5776 / July 6, 2016 - Hakhel year

Today is the first day Rosh Chodesh Tammuz. The Hallel and Musaf prayers are added in the morning service. There is also a Torah reading for Rosh Chodesh.

The month of Tammuz plays a special role in Jewish history. It was on the 17th day of Tammuz that Moshe came down Mount Sinai with the first set of Tablets. Upon descending the mountain he saw the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf. He threw the Tablets from his hands and broke them.

As a result, that day, the seventeenth day of Tammuz was designated a fast day to atone for that sin.

This week’s Parsha (in the Diaspora), Korach, is about the revolt which Korach, who was from the tribe of Levi, waged against Moshe and Aaron.

Korach was very jealous of the leadership roles which Moshe and Aaron had. He gathered 250 leaders of the tribes, and together they rebelled against Moshe and Aaron. They claimed that G-d didn’t appoint Moshe leader and Aaron the High Priest. They said that Moshe and Aaron took the leadership positions themselves.

No matter how much Moshe tried and called for peace, they became more rebellious. In the end, Korach and some of his people, together with their families, were punished when the earth opened up and swallowed them alive along with all their possessions.

The Talmud says that at times when a person wants what does not belong to them, in addition to not getting what they desire, they may also lose whatever they already have. Korach wanted what didn’t belong to him. As a result, he not only didn’t get that, but also lost everything he already had.

Last Shabbat Elie Wiesel passed away at the age of 87. He leaves a remarkable legacy for not letting the world forget the murder of the six million Jews during the Holocaust. He was a champion of human rights for all people and a voice for all who were voiceless victims of oppression and terror. He fought for the rights of Soviet Jewry, behind the Iron Curtain, under Communism. The world was a much better place in many ways, thanks to Elie Wiesel. He impacted so many for the good.

He was always attached to his roots – to his home town of Sighet and to the Vishnitz Chassidim. He had a very close relationship with the Lubavitcher Rebbe and Chabad.

When accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, he said, "Do I have the right to represent the multitudes who have perished? Do I have the right to accept this great honor on their behalf? I do not. No one may speak for the dead, no one may interpret their mutilated dreams and visions..." 

Elie Wiesel lived with the pain of his people all his life. May his Neshama rest in peace in Gan Eden. May his memory be a blessing.

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY