Search:

Uncategorized

Aug 10 2016

Google’s Temple

Moshiach, Three Weeks, Uncategorized
by Chabad Intown

It's well known that Google is data driven. When the brains at Google sit down to discuss new products they have rules of engagement. Essentially, there are no opinions only facts supported by data. If you can bring proof from data you can move forward with your product development, if not then it's out. There are no heated passionate discussions of personal opinions because it's all about the facts.   A breath of fresh air. No politics. No defensiveness.   Wouldn't it be nice if the facts spoke for themselves? Always!   This Shabbos we commemorate...

0 Comments
Share Post
Jul 19 2016

Where do you want to go?

Uncategorized
by Chabad Intown

A basic tenet of Chabad philosophy is that G-d is ever present and it is the Divine concealment (Tzimtzum) that causes our inability to see Him at work that prevents us from experience G-dliness in a revealed fashion.   This is a necessity because it allows us to experience free choice which is the ultimate purpose of our existence on this earth - to make good choices, to choose good over evil and to make the world a more G-dly place.   One of the side effects of this reality is that we can...

0 Comments
Share Post
Mar 10 2016

Stand up and be counted

Uncategorized
by Chabad Intown

There are those that make things happen, there are those who watch things happen and there are those who ask – what happened!   In this weeks Torah portion – Pekuday, the Torah recounts the values of the materials used in the construction of the Mishkan. This despite the fact that we had discussed at length all the details of the construction of the vessels of the Mishkan and the garments of the Kohanim (the Priests). Why are the specific values or weights of the materials so important?   Have you ever seen something...

0 Comments
Share Post
Oct 20 2015

Shluchim

Shliach, Uncategorized
by Chabad Intown

  The Rebbe my father told someone at yechidus: Ever since G-d told our father Avraham, "Go from your land etc." and it is then written "Avram kept travelling southward," we have the beginning of the mystery of birurim. By decree of Divine Providence man goes about his travels to the place where the "sparks" that he must purify await their redemption.   Tzadikim, who have vision, see where their birurim await them and go there deliberately. As for ordinary folk, The Cause of all causes and the Prime Mover brings about various...

0 Comments
Share Post
Sep 17 2015

Are you sorry? or Are you sorry?

Uncategorized
by Rabbi Schusterman

I am sorry that that I hurt you. I am sorry that I hurt you.   During this season we focus on our relationship with G-d. We focus on contemplating how great G-d is, how small we are and how unbelievable fortuante we are that G-d chose to put us on this earth and give us an opportunity to serve Him. How unbelievably humbling!   With this thought in mind we can turn our attention to our shortcomings. If G-d is so great, and He chose to put us on this earth anyway and...

0 Comments
Share Post
Aug 26 2015

Pick your battles

Uncategorized
by Rabbi Schusterman

Sometimes you start the fight, sometimes you respond to it and sometimes you walk away from it.   Sometimes it’s justified to respond to it, sometimes it’s your obligation to respond to it, sometimes you need to walk away from it and then there are those who just like a good fight.   And then you have the cowards who don’t fight because they don’t have the backbone to stand up for anything not because they are truly above it.   (What kind of person are you?)   In all instances there are consequences. Not all consequences are...

0 Comments
Share Post
Aug 13 2015

Stream of Consciousness on the High Holiday Season

Uncategorized
by Rabbi Schusterman

This Shabbos and Sunday the High Holiday season begins. Rosh Hashanah will be in one month and that means we begin to blow the Shofar this Sunday. Tis the season!   So let’s summarize this year. What did you discover about yourself, about your life? What changes did you incorporate into your world? What relationships were enhanced? Which were damaged? How is next year going to be different?   These are the very uncomfortable questions a good friend asked me yesterday. I thought first about telling him to jump into the lake at Piedmont...

0 Comments
Share Post
Jul 01 2015

The New Norm

Uncategorized
by Rabbi Schusterman

Dennis Prager says that happiness comes from having reasonable expectations in life. If you have unreasonable expectations you are likely to be disappointed.   There is an original Chabad adage which says that the world faces challenge at best head on, but in reality we need to jump over challenge. In other words, there are standards, realities and expectations assumed by the world around us. These standards etc. are assumed to be the boxes in which we need to live and conduct ourselves according to.   The Chabad saying asks a rhetorical question, “really?...

0 Comments
Share Post
Jun 18 2015

A Rebellion by Another Name

Uncategorized
by Rabbi Schusterman

In our politically correct world, words are very potent. The word rebellion connotes negative and unpleasant events. In fact in this weeks Torah portion we read of the negative Rebellion of Korach that ended in disaster.   But are all rebellions bad?   The great Prophet Isaiah says “this opposite that G-d has made”. Our Sages explain this to mean that everything that exists in the positive has its counter in the negative. This is in order to make our free choice take place on a fair playing ground. If there were things that...

0 Comments
Share Post
Jun 03 2015

Could we just all get along?

Uncategorized
by Rabbi Schusterman

What kind of person are you? Intellectual? Emotional? Are you a giving person? A disciplined person? Do you bond well with others?   Do you dominate in relationships or do you allow others to take the lead? Could we all just get along?   Blessedly, the answer is yes! In this weeks Torah portion Aaron the High Priest is introduced to his obligation to facilitate the lighting of the Menorah. The Menorah which consisted of seven branches represent seven emotional characteristics, or seven types of people.   Although, we may be different we are all part...

0 Comments
Share Post