So... how do you pronounce 'Chabad'?

Am I a Failure? Weekly e*Torah by Rabbi Altein

Heads or Tails? by Rabbi Moss

Question of the Week:

I read somewhere that there is a custom to eat the head of a fish on the night of Rosh Hashana, to symbolise that in the coming year "we should be the head and not the tail." What does this actually mean? I can't make head or tails of it... (sorry...)

Answer:

We face today a crisis of leadership. In almost every area of life - familial, communal, global and personal - there is a gaping void at the top. Rather than leading with vision and purpose, today's leaders are often no more than followers.

Rosh Hashana in a Nutshell

The Animated Talmud

3 Lubavitch Owned Companies Ranked in Inc. 5000

(L-R) Zalmi Duchman, David Schottenstein, and Ben Schusterman.

Three Lubavitch owned companies were ranked in the top 1000 of Inc. Magazines fastest growing private companies of 2010.

How Much Does It Cost Me?

By Yossy Goldman

What do we cherish? What do we truly value? What do we make time for?

There is a rather curious juxtaposition of ideas in our parshah this week. The Torah cautions us against allowing Ammonite and Moabite men to convert and join the Jewish people. The reasons? Firstly, because they did not greet you with bread and water on the road when you were leaving Egypt. And secondly, because they hired Balaam... to curse you.

Such a diverse set of crimes lumped together in one verse. In the same breath we are told to shun them because they didn't play the good host when we were a tired and hungry nation trudging through the desert from Egypt and because they hired the heathen prophet Balaam to destroy us. How can we possibly compare these two reasons? The first is simply a lack of hospitality while the second is nothing short of attempted genocide!

How to Stop a Crying Baby; by Rabbi Moss

Question of the Week:

I feel so hard done by. I hate feeling like this when I know I have many blessings to be grateful for, like a great family and wonderful children. But I find that no matter how hard I work, how hard I try, others have it so much easier than me - they get left inheritances, win prizes, travel the world and I just slog and slave to live a decent life, and still I struggle. I harbour such negativity it is unhealthy. How can I start feeling more grateful for my blessings and less resentful about my hardships?

Answer:

I hear your frustration. Let me offer you some wisdom that I was taught this morning. I learnt it from my baby daughter.

She has been unwell and very moody and clingy over the last few days. This morning she would not stop crying, for no apparent reason, and nothing I did would placate her. I made funny faces, dangled her dolly in front of her and rubbed it in her face, sang silly songs, and made strange noises by cupping my hand underneath my armpits. But she continued to sob, oblivious to my efforts to make her smile.

So I changed tactics. 

"Fusion & Fission"; Weekly e*Torah by Rabbi Avrohom Altein

Coming up: Shabbat Weekend Retreat and Gala Dinner!