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This Week at Chabad of Pacific Palisades
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Message from the Rabbi
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We all long for purpose and meaning in our lives. To understand our purpose in this world, to have clarity about which path to take towards fulfilment.
Why is it so challenging to find the clarity to these existential conundrums? Why do we spend our lives seeking? Wouldn’t it better serve G-d’s purpose to show us the path without all this confusion?
The story of Purim is the quintessential story of finding purpose. It is the journey of the Jewish people, led by Queen Esther and Mordechai, towards finding light within darkness, toward finding redemption. Megillat Esther, the scroll that we traditionally
read on Purim, is named after Queen Esther. The name Esther means concealment. The entire scroll which tells the story of the terrible decree against the Jewish people and their miraculous redemption, fails to mention G-d altogether.
Our Chassidic masters teach us that every Jewish soul was present at Mount Sinai when G-d revealed Himself and the truth of existence to the Jewish people. This revelation is inscribed on our souls just as the ten commandments were inscribed on the stone tablets.
Queen Esther tapped into her inner knowledge, her Jewish intuition and her deep-rooted Jewish value system, and allowed it to guide her towards finding redemption for the Jewish people. She risked her life by approaching the king without permission, which
was a crime punishable by death. She exposed herself as a Jew, a member of the nation that the king had vowed to destroy, to save her people. And as she tapped into this deep well of faith, G-d responded in kind. He sowed seeds of kindness and compassion in King Achashverosh’s heart, and the king permitted the Jews to fight a war of self-defense so that they would never be put into such danger again.
This story mirrors our lives. We are placed in this world with a mission. However, no one gives us the map that will guide us towards our goal. G-d set things up this way intentionally. He wants us to learn to look inwards, towards the map that is inscribed
on our soul. So that we may learn to listen to our inner Jewish intuition, as we are guided by our rich history and the holy teachings of our Torah. And most importantly, we must trust with all our being that G-d will respond in kind and will find a way to guide us towards our salvation, individually and as a people united.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Purim,
Rabbi Zushe Cunin
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Service Times
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Shabbat Day
10:00 am
Kiddush and Refreshments
12:30 pm
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Featured Events
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Upcoming Events
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JEC
Tuesday,
Mar. 26, 2024 - 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm JEC
Tuesday,
Apr. 2, 2024 - 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm JEC
Tuesday,
Apr. 9, 2024 - 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm JEC
Tuesday,
Apr. 16, 2024 - 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm |
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Recent Photos
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Yahrtzeits
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This Week @ www.ChabadPalisades.com
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Parshah in a Nutshell
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Parshat Vayikra
The name of the Parshah, “Vayikra,” means “And [He] called” and it is found in Leviticus 1:1.
G‑d calls to
Moses from the
Tent of Meeting, and communicates to him the laws of the
korbanot, the
animal and meal offerings brought in the
Sanctuary. These include:
• The “ascending offering”
(olah) that is wholly raised to G‑d by the fire atop the
altar;
• Five varieties of “meal offering”
(minchah) prepared with fine flour, olive oil and frankincense;
• The “peace offering”
(shelamim), whose meat was eaten by the one bringing the offering, after parts are burned on the altar and parts are given to the
kohanim (priests);
• The different types of “sin offering” (chatat) brought to atone for transgressions committed erroneously by the
high priest, the entire
community, the
king or the ordinary
Jew;
• The “guilt offering”
(asham) brought by one who has misappropriated property of the Sanctuary, who is in doubt as to whether he
transgressed a divine prohibition, or who has committed a “betrayal against G‑d” by
swearing falsely to defraud a
fellow man.
Learn:
Vayikra in Depth
Browse:
Vayikra Parshah Columnists
Prep:
Devar Torah Q&A for Vayikra
Read:
Haftarah in a Nutshell
Play:
Vayikra Parshah Quiz
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Parshat Zachor
This being the
Shabbat before
Purim, on which we celebrate the foiling of Haman the
Amalekite’s plot to destroy
the Jewish people, the weekly Parshah is supplemented with the “Zachor” reading (Deuteronomy 25:17–19) in which we are commanded to
remember the evil of Amalek and to eradicate it from the face of the earth.
Remember what Amalek did to you on the road, on your way out of Egypt. That he encountered you on the way and cut off those lagging to your rear, when you were tired and exhausted; he did not fear
G‑d. And it shall come to pass, when the L‑rd your G‑d has given you rest from all your enemies round about, in the land which the L‑rd your G‑d is giving you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall obliterate the memory of Amalek from under the heavens. Do not forget.
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Today's Quote
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| For so said the L-rd, the Creator of heaven, Who is G-d, Who formed the earth and made it, He established it: He did not create it for chaos, He formed it to be civilized — Isaiah 45:18 |
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Chabad World News
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