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I arrived in South Africa this week for my sisters wedding. I just got back from a beautiful trip to the Pillansberg National Park where my kids saw Giraffes, Zebras, Elephants, Rhinos and Lions for the first time in their lives.

While on board the fifteen hour plane ride, I found myself thinking how intriguing it is that when one decides to board an airplane, one practically entrusts one’s life to the hands of a stranger. No background checks on the pilot, no queries regarding his reputation, and yet the passage is fraught with potential dangers and disasters. Luggage all packed, passports safely stowed, we board the plane with blind trust.

Yet when one undergoes a surgical procedure one will not so much as enter the hospital without having completed extensive research. After all, who would allow an amateur to knife him and then operate on his insides? Furthermore, even after merely receiving a negative diagnosis we seek a second opinion!

The answer to the puzzle is brilliant in its simplicity. We have no problem boarding a plane with a layman precisely because he boards with us. Since he entrusts his own life at the same time that we entrust ours, our fates are intermingled. But a surgeon risks nothing when he operates on the patient, and so we must establish his credibility.

“Ve’asu li mikdash veshachanti betocham” this week’s parsha commands us. “Make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.” Chassidus teaches that every person on this earth has his own personal mission to accomplish. Generally, this amounts to infusing the world with extra goodness and kindness by permeating physicality with spirituality. By so doing we build G-d the sanctuary He so craves. Let none of us think that he is independent from his fellow and thus free from his obligation. We are all in it together!

This week Shevy and I flew out to Atlanta for the wedding of our niece. It was scheduled to be a brief visit, a little less than 48 hours. Due to the historic snow storm, all flights back to New York had been cancelled. At first I was very upset and frustrated. I had meetings scheduled as well as deadlines to complete. Before I became extremely angry and really annoyed I recalled a teaching from the Baal Shem Tov.

Everything that happens to us in this world is by Divine Providence. Every incident, every event, every occurrence is backed by a purpose. Even if a leaf falls off a tree in a specific location this is Divinely ordained. Obviously there was a reason that our flight was delayed. As such, I embraced the situation and waited to learn why G-d had seen fit to extend our stay in Atlanta.

Each soul that descends into our world is tasked with a specific mission that none but he can accomplish. As such, the location and occupation of each person at every moment is orchestrated by a higher power. Hazardous weather conditions may indeed shift flight schedules, but somebody up there decides when and where disastrous weather strikes. I have friends living in our community who are from Israel. Many of them came to New York only for a couple of years to save enough money so that they can return to Israel with savings in their account. The real, mystical and kabbalistic reason that they end up here is because their souls have a unique mission to accomplish in New York and that’s why G-d orchestrates the events down here below to bring them to New York. Once their mission is completed they can return to Israel.  

My own parents moved from Israel to South Africa nearly 40 years ago. Initially they agreed to go only for 2 years. They managed to build a beautiful community in Johannesburg and have touched the lives of hundreds of people. G-d caused a chain of events to happen so that they should find themselves in such a far place and accomplish their mission in the world.

The founder of Chassidism, the Baal Shem Tov, was an ardent follower of this concept. He would often exclaim, “A soul may descend into this world for seventy or perhaps eighty years with the sole purpose of doing a favour for a fellow Jew…” Who knows, perhaps G-d knew that the only way I’d write this article was if I’d stay in Atlanta an extra day?

There is a Jew named Martin Grossman who is set to be executed on February 16th in Florida. He committed a terrible crime for which he deserves to be punished but not with the death penalty. My friend Rabbi Menachem Katz has been giving Martin counselling and guidance for the last 15 years. He is heading a petition to have his sentence changed. Here are the facts: 

Martin Grossman, in 1984 was a 19-year-old drug-addicted high-school drop-out with a juvenile record for trespassing. He and a friend, Thanye Taylor, drove to an isolated nature reserve to fire a found handgun.

A wildlife officer stopped them, searched their car and confiscated the gun. Martin,who is reported to have an IQ of 77, panicked and began pleading with the officer not to report him as he would be in violation of his probation. When she reached for her radio a struggle ensued, which resulted in the officer reaching for her own gun, whereupon Martin panicked, snatched her gun and shot her.

A psychiatrist who evaluated him concluded, from his psychological and medical condition, that he could not have formed the intent to kill. Taylor served less than three years in prison while Martin was sentenced to death.

Mr. Grossman has been on death row for over 25 years.

The petition argues that the death sentence meted out to him is disproportionate in the extreme and that his defense was inadequate. Only one percent of murder sentences end in capital punishment, crimes commonly referred to as "the worst of the worst."

The petition further argues that Martin's crime, considering the lack of premeditation, his drug addiction, his IQ level, and several other compelling factors does not qualify for the death penalty, and that the court ignored mitigating circumstances. Only four of thirty-three available defense witnesses were used in the sentencing phase.

Additionally, there are allegations of prosecutorial misconduct as well. A fellow prisoner and key witness for the government swears that he lied at trial, and that he was rewarded by having his own charges dropped. Martin Grossman's appeals regarding these issues have been rejected without hearings, but they could be considered in a clemency petition.

"Martin has shown deep and profound remorse over the years, and is no longer the same wild reckless person he was 26 years ago," argues Rabbi Menachem Katz from the Aleph Institute, who has visited him regularly over the past 15 years.

As of this release, Governor Crist has not agreed to grant a stay. Execution is set for February 16 at 6:00 PM.

Please add your name to the petition so that we can change the Governor's mind. Sign the online petition.

This past Sunday I very abruptly found myself quite friendless. Those of my mates who had not carted over to Miami remained resolutely indoors, their noses glued to their flat screens, drinking in the football.

Super Bowl Sunday has evolved into a national religious holiday. Indeed this morning CBS reported that due to the massive snow storm that ravaged Washington, all power lines had been damaged. Residents were warned that it would be several days before electricity would be restored, and that, quite tragically, they would likely have to forfeit watching tonight’s game. I often find myself wondering what can possibly be so intriguing about a ball being kicked across a field. I have since concluded that perhaps it is indeed the odd shaped ball that attracts over 90 millions viewers, with 30 second ads selling for a staggering $3million.

Perhaps the reason is because G-d Himself together with the angels have been watching Super bowl for the last 3300 years. Ever since the giving of the Torah where the Jewish nation was given its mission statement, we have been playing the game.

Each Jew contains his own personal field. The teams are comprised of our two warring souls: the G-dly and the animal. Each side battles for dominion over the body, craving sole authority. The war trumpets sound every time we use our senses, for everything can be experienced through the eyes of the spiritual soul or the physical soul. One may choose to gaze at the blazing billboards of Fifth Avenue, skim through glossy magazines, or one may feast his eyes on the inspiring pages of the holy Torah. Similarly, one may use his hands to strike his fellow, or more positively, to don Tefillin or light Shabbat candles. A two point conversion would be if after putting on Tefillin you pray with a minyan as well.

Many times over the years, due to our slackening skills on the field, G-d has been tempted to abandon the game. At times He came pretty close, even destroying two Temples. Once G-d even caught the Satan roaming aimlessly around the Heavenly Court. “Why are you not working?” G-d admonished him. “There is no work for me to do. I merely suggest a sin and the Jew has already gone ahead with it.”

We know that ultimately purity & morality will triumph over the forces of darkness & evil - that is what Moshiach is all about but in the meantime let the teams that plays best win!