This week’s Torah portion, Re’eh, opens with the word “See.” Moses says to the Jewish people, “see, I place before you today a blessing and a curse.” The blessing will come when the Jewish people fulfill G-d’s commandments, and the curse if they abandon them.
Our portion also contains the verses, “You are children to G-d” and “... G-d has chosen you to be for Him a treasured people.”
These verses beg a few questions. Which one is it, are we G-d’s children or has He chosen us? What can we learn from this for our personal relationships? Does one choose their relatives?
G-d is telling us that there are two ways he relates to us. First – as His children. Just as a parent is one with his child and nothing can change that, so too G-d’s bond with us can never be severed, we are His children.
Second – He chooses us. He wants us and chooses us every day to be His Treasure.
Not only are we intrinsically one because of our essential bond, but G-d continues to treasure each and every one of us because He chooses to.
It is possible to be in a relationship and take for granted the fact that you are essentially one, thinking that this is enough.
Your children and your spouse ache for you to choose them every day. When you don’t, they feel hurt, taken for granted and used. It is because of the intrinsic bond that they yearn for your love.
Don’t just be your child’s parent, be a parent to your child. The same holds true for spouses, and for children toward their parents. Show them that you choose them, that you treasure them.
Don’t be difficult, don’t be stubborn, don’t make requirements for your love. Choose to give them your love because they are your treasures.
Diagnosed with ALS, unable to move, I have plenty of time to think. When considering what is most important to me, the conclusion is always the same. The most important thing is that my wife and children feel loved and cherished by me, and I try my best to show them that I do. Life is so short, make sure your family knows how much you cherish them and that you choose them over and over again.
Adapted by Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz from the teachings of the Rebbe, yitzihurwitz.blogspot.com. Rabbi Hurwitz, who is battling ALS, and his wife Dina, are emissaries of the Rebbe in Temecula, Ca.
The Laws of Conservation
The Laws of Conservation form the foundation of modern physics and cosmology; without knowing them, much of our current technology and engineering wouldn’t exist. Research, both theoretical and practical, starts from applying, analyzing and understanding these basic laws. From them flow the theories that shape science’s insights into the universe.
One of the most basic is the conservation of energy: It states that the total amount of energy in an isolated system remains constant. Or, energy cannot be created or destroyed. (Einstein showed the relationship between mass and energy, in the famous formula from his special theory of relativity E=MC2. This law also became known as the conservation of mass and energy.
There are other laws of conservation in physics. Some of the conservation laws seem esoteric, and apply to sub-atomic particles: the conservation of color charge, for instance.
There aren’t very many of these laws of conservation. There don’t need to be. Physicists use what they have. But they all share a central, critical characteristic: what exists, once it exists within a closed system, cannot be destroyed. Energy/mass can be converted, changed; so too with angular momentum or electric charge. But they continue to be, to impact the physical world.
In the same way, Chasidic philosophy teaches us, there’s a Conservation of Spirituality. Every holy act – and everything a human being does generates holiness – continues to exist, even after the physical cause ceases.
Yes, the physical object disintegrates – the lulav branch, for instance, the ram’s horn, etc. – all “return to dust.” But the spiritual force invested in a physical object – the spiritual force resulting from the performance of a mitzva (commandment), from study of Torah, from thoughts about the nature of G-dliness, that lead to love of G-d and awe of G-d – these are everlasting and endure.
But what of a negative act - a thought, word, or deed that is prohibited by Jewish law? Well, the “Law of Conservation of Spirituality” applies to the negative as well. Our every misdeed remains existent in the spiritual realm.
However, when it comes to rectifying the negative, the law of conservation applies as well. The act and its ramifications can never cease to exist, but they can be transformed into positive energy.
The process of transformation, reformation, reshaping, is called teshuva. Teshuva is typically translated as “repentance.” But more accurately, it means “return,” a return to the source or essence of what something truly is. In this case, it refers to a person returning to his/her true spiritual and holy essence, to his/her G-dly soul.
This time of year, the 30 days before the High Holidays, are specially set aside as days of teshuva, of returning to our true selves. Tapping into the energy of these days can give us insight into our own personal worlds and into the universe.
