English Blog

My Daughter’s First Driving Lesson

Thursday, July 28, 2022 - 10:02 AM

The first thing my daughter did when she turned 16 was schedule herself a Learner’s Permit test so she could begin learning how to drive.

I was hesitant. In South Africa, where I grew up, you can only start at 17, but my daughter is ambitious and determined, and she went and passed the test.

This week, she came home from camp and asked me to teach her how to drive.

“I got this!” I thought. We hopped in the car, I gave her the driver’s seat and told her to start driving.

She went for the ignition and I stopped her. “You need to do something first,” I reminded her. She thought and then realized, “Oh, my seatbelt!”

Then she turned on the ignition and started driving. I guess all her experience with bumper cars and go-karts paid off, because she knew what she was doing!

The only problem was, she did it all at approximately 3 miles per hour, literally inching forward. When it was time to turn, she stopped, checked all her mirrors, checked her blind spot, turned on the indicator, checked all her mirrors and blindspot again, and finally made the turn at the same 3 miles per hour, all while checking and rechecking everything over and over. All this even though there were no other cars in sight!

I wondered to myself: How am I being so patient here? I’m usually much more impatient!

And then I had a deja vu moment. I remembered how excited I was to start driving close to 30 years ago. I would offer to drive my parents car at every opportunity, eager for the freedom and the experience.

Then I recalled an incident that happened in those early stages, driving my father’s brand new car. We were on our way to pay a shiva visit to a congregant, and I pulled up at the big brown electric gate. Somehow, instead of pressing the brakes, I pressed on the gas! The car lurched forward and crashed into the gate, damaging both the gate and the car pretty badly! (That’s when I learned you must use the same leg for the break and the accelerator.)

Even though it’s been close to three decades, my experiences are clear in my mind, and I was able to have more patience than usual.

In a spiritual sense, we are all driving at all times. The car is our body, with it’s 248 organs (corresponding to the 248 positive mitzvot) and 365 sinews (corresponding to the 365 prohibitions). By driving our cars carefully and correctly, we make this world a more spiritual place.

It’s all too easy to get into the groove of things and switch to autopilot. That’s what most of us do when we drive. But new drivers like my daughter are cautious and aware and tuned in at every step. That’s how we need to approach our spiritual service.

Where am I driving? Which way am I heading? Which turn will get me there? Whether it’s putting on tefillin in the morning, making an effort to get to shul to pray with a minyan, giving charity, or connecting with others … we can’t just zoom through it on autopilot. It needs to be with care and concern and forethought. Then our cars will stay in good condition and help drive us to Redemption with the coming of Moshiach.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Uriel Vigler

$100 for an Omelet?!

Thursday, July 21, 2022 - 4:32 PM

I recently took a group to a restaurant for breakfast. To save time, I ordered the same thing for everyone: omelets, salad, coffee and orange juice. The food was good and we had a pleasant time. But when it was time to pay the bill, I saw we’d been charged $100 per person!

I approached the manager and asked what was going on. Why so outrageously expensive?

He answered with one all-too-familiar word: Inflation.

I said, “Yes, but this is way beyond inflation!”

“Well, workers need to be paid more, ingredients cost more, there are supply chain issues, the war in Ukraine, astronomical gas prices…” he explained.

Yes, this actually happened. Inflation is everywhere, but this was something else!

If you ask people what their main worry is these days, you will undoubtedly hear: Inflation.

It’s affecting everyone, everywhere, and it shows no signs of abating. I filled up on gas the other day, and paid over $100 for the first time in my life. I’m in the process of negotiating prices with a hall for our annual gala and they want $25 more per person than in previous years. Our organization has been helping needy families pay for food, and we’re being told that what we’ve given in the past simply isn’t enough for them to go grocery shopping anymore. No matter what industry, no matter what you buy, inflation is unavoidable.

So, what spiritual lesson can we learn from this? As we know, everything we encounter in the physical world provides a practical lesson for our service of G-d.

I came to the conclusion that if the value of physical goods and services is rising, it’s up to us to raise the value of our spiritual service too.

We need to view every mitzvah, every opportunity to connect with G-d, as infinitely more valuable.

If last year we dedicated two hours each week to Torah study, this year let’s spend five hours per week.

If you used to go to shul on Shabbat and holidays only, try adding one more morning per week.

If you usually light Shabbat candles in a hurry, without much thought, spend a few minutes in front of the candles praying and connecting with the One Above.

Some mitzvot will cost significantly more due to inflation: purchasing a pair of tefillin, buying and installing a mezuzah on your door, dining in kosher restaurants and buying kosher groceries. Most importantly, we need to keep in mind that costs have gone up for everyone, and adjust our charitable giving accordingly. What we used to give is no longer enough.

The good news is that, according to the Talmud, while we do not know the exact date of Moshiach’s arrival, one of the signs to look for is “oppressive inflation,” which means the Final Redemption must be right around the corner. Let’s get ready!

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Uriel Vigler

Major Emergency at Our Chabad House

Thursday, July 14, 2022 - 7:49 PM

We had some serious drama at our Chabad center recently: three hamsters were on the loose and no one could find them!

We have some pet birds and hamsters in our preschool, which the children love to watch, and feed, and interact with. They’ve been around for a while, but one morning a few weeks ago the preschool director arrived at work and discovered the hamsters had escaped!

We’re still unclear exactly how it happened, but it seems they somehow managed to tip over their cage, which fell off the shelf, and when it landed on the floor the door opened and boom!—freedom.

Now, we couldn’t just have rodents running around the building. But more than that, the teachers were petrified! Jumping at the slightest hint of a scuffle, scared to walk into empty rooms or open any dark closets, constantly hyper vigilant … something had to be done.

Finding those missing critters quickly took on an air or urgency, if only so our teachers could feel calm and at ease.

We searched high and low with no success. The building is not that big, but a second and third day passed with still no sight of the hamsters.

Finally, on the fourth day, our beloved caretaker Henry spotted one of them. You see, they can hide and hide but eventually they’ll need to eat. Henry knew that was their weak spot, so he kept at it until they came looking for food.

Over the next day or two the second and third also made appearances while scavenging for food, and Henry scooped them up and returned them to their cage.

Whew! The hamsters are back home and our teachers and staff can relax and focus on the kids without constantly wondering that a hamster might wander across the floor.

So what’s the lesson here?

First, just as the hamsters can’t survive without food, we can’t survive without Torah. We need it in our lives. We need it for our character development, spiritual refinement, and our relationship with our Creator. No matter how busy or tired we are, it’s vital that we make time and space in our lives for regular Torah study.

But more than that, like the hamsters, we all have weak spots, too. Things we struggle with. For one person it’s finding time and concentration to study Torah. For others it’s parting with their hard-earned money for charity. Maybe it’s avoiding work on Shabbat, sticking to kosher food when away on business, or showing genuine compassion to others.

Interestingly, our weak spots directly correlate with our purpose in this world. We are all reincarnations. Our souls have come back to earth to complete something we did not fully accomplish in a previous lifetime.

So how do we know what that mission is? It’s usually our weak spot; the mitzvah we find most difficult to fulfill.

And when we can identify these weak spots and work to overcome them, we will be on track to fulfill our Divine mission in this world.

Mazal Tov! We Got Our CO!

Thursday, July 7, 2022 - 2:04 PM

Just over four years ago we embarked on the task of relocating our preschool—scouting out properties, negotiating with landlords, and becoming intimately familiar with the requirements. It was no easy find; the egress requirements alone ruled out most spaces!

Finally, this week, after four years, we received our Certificate of Occupancy! When we started out, we had no idea it would take this long.

In fact, when we started out there were a lot of things we didn’t know. We had no idea how we would fund the project. And we knew nothing about construction.

All we knew back then was that we were in dire need of a larger space to accommodate all the children whose parents were requesting admission to our school. We wanted to accept everyone; we simply didn’t have enough room.

How do you rent a space with no budget? Trust in Hashem.

How do you start construction with no experience? Absolute faith in the One Above.

How do you deal with the many unavoidable obstacles and setbacks that crop up? Lean into that belief, and trust that Hashem will send us the incredible team of contractors, architects, expeditors, engineers, and lawyers we need to see this project to fruition.

So we jumped in and found a space and started wading through endless trails of paperwork. It’s on the ground floor of an existing building, so you’d think it would be pretty straightforward to obtain the necessary permits. Not so.

As soon as we finished one piece of paperwork, another came to our attention. Every time we presented something to the Department of Buildings, there was some objection we had to deal with. Then there was the health department and the fire department, both of which also needed to approve our plans.

We went into the process knowing none of this, but knowing that Hashem would give us the strength and the tools to do whatever we needed.

We discovered that according to the Department of Buildings our preschool occupies two buildings with two separate addresses, which meant we had to file two permits at every juncture. Two mechanical permits, two plumbing permits, two electrical permits, two fire alarm and sprinkler permits. And after each step, we needed two inspections. Double the work and double the opportunity for the inspectors to find problems.

There were times we were achingly overwhelmed and frustrated. Nothing made sense and there was no one to talk to. One building is taller than the other, and that created a whole host of new problems we had to deal with.

So you can imagine that when we say “Mazal tov! We got our CO!” it’s a real mazal tov indeed!

How did we deal with all the obstacles? We tried our hardest to drown out the background noise and stay focused on the goal: to create an early learning center where we can provide a thriving Jewish education for our community.

And with tremendous gratitude to Hashem, and to everyone who helped us along the way, we can now forge ahead preparing for the coming school year.

Shabbat Shalom