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Mrs. Risya Posner, who with her husband Rabbi Zalman Posner established the first Chabad-Lubavitch presence in Nashville, Tenn., died Tuesday at the age 80. An inimitable force behind Lubavitch outreach operations and techniques across the world, she was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Lubavitch parents who had immigrated from Russia. She and her husband pioneered the field of campus-based outreach, almost immediately inviting Vanderbilt University students to their home after their arrival in Nashville. From when she was a baby until her last day in the hospital, she elicited love from those who were mere acquaintances as easily as from...

In a world of crises, an immediate problem is the dissolution of the family. We regret the passing of the fabled Jewish family, not out of sentimentality, but from realistic appreciation of a personal experience. The devoted family, an anchorage amid confusion, is rapidly disappearing, even among Jewish people. "What can we do?" is the distressed cry of parents seeing their children growing away from them, going elsewhere for guidance and even affection. We attempt, futilely, to recreate the old family spirit, and wonder why we don't succeed. The atmosphere of a Jewish home was not produced by spontaneous generation,...

The weekly Torah portion describes the characteristics of kosher and forbidden animals, fish, and fowl. Nachmanides in his commentary observes that the forbidden fowl are predatory. Among these prohibited birds enumerated we find the chasida, translated as "stork." The literal meaning of chasida is "kindly," an appropriate name, says Rashi, because this bird is helpful to its friends, and shares its food with them. In this case, asks the Gerrer Rebbe, since the bird is kindly and sympathetic, then according to Nachmanides it belongs among the kosher instead of the forbidden fowl. The Gerrer drew an interesting moral from this....

The various types of offerings brought on the altar in the Sanctuary and in Jerusalem were classified as Major Sanctity and Lesser Sanctity. The Mincha (meal) offering of the poor is called Kodesh Kodoshim (Major Sanctity) "like the sin-offering" of the repentant.1 Abarbanel, the great Spanish commentator, observes that while other offerings may be of relatively minor sacredness, those of the poor, who give with sacrifice and self-denial, are of major holiness. Similarly, the expression of contrition by the erstwhile sinner, his remorse for evildoing, is cherished by his merciful Creator. The significance of the offering lies less in its...

Today we begin the book of Leviticus, so-called because it is concerned largely with the laws of the priesthood, the descendants of the tribe of Levi. The dominant theme, that of the sacrificial offerings brought on the altar, is introduced with these words: "A man who offers from you an offering to G-d..." The sequence of the words seems incongruous -- it should read, "A man from you who offers..." Underlying the ritual of sacrifices, the ceremonial acts of the Kohen, there is the intent of the donor of the offering. The animal offering was symbolic of a greater sacrifice,...

In describing the people qualified to construct the Sanctuary and its instruments, the Torah repeatedly calls them "wise-in-heart" in referring to their skill. The craftsmanship these artisans possessed was more than technical, their wisdom was a special sort -- that of the heart. Some people are brilliant intellectually, their gifted minds master sciences, their logic and reasoning are unimpeachable. Despite these mind-gifts they may be cold, unsympathetic, unmoved by suffering. Others are kindlier, charitable, more emotional by nature, not particularly given to analysis and profound understanding. They may also be overindulgent, gullible, suspicious of or impatient with reasoning. While each...

After the enthusiastic reception of the Ten Commandments, the people, impatient for Moses' descent from the mountain, made themselves a new god -- a Golden Calf. Examine the text carefully1 and perhaps a few observations might be made. Can't we find some exoneration for their idolatry? Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, so the people demanded of Aaron a "god that will go before us," for the Moses who led the people from Egypt is gone. Was this not a sincere religious quest for the divine? Was not their rejection of Moses (and all he taught) justified,...

Among the garments Aaron wore as High Priest, there was one suspended from shoulder-straps. Two onyx stones were engraved with the names of Jacob's twelve sons, and these stones were placed on the shoulder-straps, so that "Aaron shall bear their names before G-d on his shoulders for a memorial."1 In petitioning G-d, in prayer, we are to be mindful not only of our personal individual needs; we do not pray in the singular. Note the plural used through the prayer book: Bless us, Heal us, Redeem us, Grant us. Beyond the humbling function of prayer in reminding man of his...

The dominant theme of the Torah portion is the description of the Sanctuary and all its components. The Torah is explicit and exacting, unusually so, in all the specifications. The Sanctuary played a vital role in Jewish history, whether as the mobile Tabernacle in the Wilderness, the Temples in Jerusalem, or the contemporary Synagogue. In view of its importance, the attention it receives is fully warranted. Many influences helped insure the perpetuation and thriving of Judaism. The school -- and Jewish schooling was never meant for children only -- produced scholars and highly literate laymen. The home transmitted skills and...

Israel eagerly accepts the "Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven" in this week's Torah portion, with the unusual declaration, naase venishma, "We will do and we will hear."1 Why they promised to do first and hear (or "comprehend") later, has supplied preachers with sermonic material for countless years. Many Jews are in a quandary regarding observance of mitzvot. In an age of questioning and understanding, the relevance and meaning of many Jewish practices are obscure. "Why?" is the constant challenge; "What will this observance do for me?" is the implicit demand. There may be certain human experiences that can be...

The great part of the Torah portion is concerned with laws of society (damages, criminal law, debts, etc.), an area popularly regarded as beyond the strict province of "religion." Our world has succeeded in defining the rightful sphere of religious influence, immunizing other aspects of life of the demands and criteria of religion. Morality itself has become "secularized," its origins and nourishment from religious teachings obscured. These laws of justice are readily comprehended; there seems to be little of the mystical involved. Man's intelligence subscribes to these laws and would probably have developed most of them, in principle at least....

There are two accounts of the Ten Commandments, in Exodus 20 and in Deuteronomy 5. One of the main divergences in the two texts is in the Fourth Commandment, the Shabbat. The Rabbis taught that both texts were simultaneously pronounced, indicating a basic unity, or complementary nature. In Exodus the reason for Shabbat is the fact that G-d created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. In Deuteronomy Shabbat commemorates Egyptian slavery. In the first, "G-d blessed the seventh day and hallowed it”; in the second, "G-d commanded you to make the Shabbat day." Shabbat has social...

If it can be said that the Torah has a climax, it would surely be in this week's Torah portion -- the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, the Ten Commandments. Here is a code everyone subscribes to, possibly without even reading it. "Thou shalt not kill," and "Thou shalt not steal" are for many people all the Ten Commandments, all of morality in fact. I have heard self-styled skeptics question the Divinity of the Torah, and readily affirm G-d's authorship and their personal acceptance of the Ten Commandments. We aren't apt to worship graven images; we will honor father...

The crossing of the Red Sea, the manna, the water from the rock, and the war with Amalek, are some of the events described in this week's Torah portion. Each of these pleads for discussion, and at the moment we will dwell on the manner of victory over Amalek. The Torah portion's last words make Amalek the eternal enemy of Israel, proclaiming "war with Amalek from generation to generation." "When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. And the hands of Moses became heavy…"1 With these words the battle is decided; not...

Two enemies attack Israel -- Pharaoh and Amalek. Though Israel was armed they did not fight Pharaoh -- "G-d will do battle for you and you be silent."1 When Amalek attacked, Moses sent out troops to fight. Pharaoh and Amalek represent different threats to our people, and Moses' tactics symbolize the defense against these enemies. Pharaoh was the material enemy, the slave-master. Pharaoh seeks mastery over the body of the Jew; he would literally kill the infant boys. Amalek, the spiritual foe, stands between the Jews and Sinai, blocking the path toward the Torah, disparaging the faith of the Jew,...

The last three plagues befall Egypt before the people of Israel leave their slavery. The ninth plague, darkness, is described in this week's Torah portion in these words: "No man saw his brother, neither did anyone rise from his place."1 With this description, an event in history becomes current and contemporary. The plague of darkness becomes part of the timeless history of man, symbolic of analogous afflictions that admit no immunity. Simple physical darkness of the night becomes a malady of the individual, of the soul. There is no blindness like the selfishness that blots other men from one's vision...

The Jews as a people receive their first commandment in today's Torah portion. The few preceding commandments were given to individuals, Abraham for example was given the mitzvah of circumcision. The reckoning of the calendar according to lunar cycles introduces Israel to formal Judaism. The lunar calendar must obviously have a special quality beyond its specific function, a pervasive characteristic to merit its beginning Jewry's service of G-d. The moon has phases of growth, decline, disappearance, and rebirth. The sun is relatively constant, not appreciably different from day to day. The lunar calendar rather than the solar governs the religious...

(this note below is part of the article as it appears at Chabad.com) Note: This article was written in 1982. See if anything has changed! At this writing the trouble in Lebanon seems to be winding down, with the prospects of an end to the shooting almost visible. We pray that this does not turn out to be a false alarm and peace may return, or maybe come for the first time, to that troubled area. It has been a traumatic period for Jews the world over. We know that the Israeli army sacrificed any number of its young men...