"The whole world was created for me"

We live in a world where stimuli influx can be rapid, "arbitrary", and at times inconsequential - making it difficult to decipher an actionable piece of information from the one to be ignored. I suppose it would be nice if we had this filtering process down to a science, but then again, we are only human. The Lubavitche Rebbe,  Menachem Mendel Schneerson,used to say that something wouldn't come to our attention if we were not suppose to respond to it in some way. Hey I want to avoid watching the nightly news precisely for this reason as I already have a full-time job. Yet from our Sages teachings we learn that every person is required to say to themsleves "the whole world wouldn't have been created if not for me". Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explained by adding: " therefore, if I see something lacking in the world, it is my responsibility to pray for its completion."

After reading a recent article about the drought in the Midwest and its effect on crop expectations, particularly for the farmers who operate non-irrigated farms (about 25% of Nebraska farmers, while most of Iowa farmers rely strictly on rain water), I realized that I did not give it the attention it deserved. Ok, I am not a water resource consultant, nor am I a seasoned corn farmer, yet in learning from our Sages teachings, I should have seen it to be my responsibility to respond to this information in a way that i am able - by joining those farmers in prayer for rain.

Now, Hashem seems to be pushing the issue and sending this lesson home. Recently the only mikvah in Nebraska (in the Omaha JCC) experienced a tragic accident, in which the rain water reserve (neccesary to render it a kosher mikvah) was accidently drained. Consequentially, all the Jews in Nebraska who depend on this mikvah must travel to Iowa until the problem is resolved. The mikvah can't be returned to its kosher status until the natural rain water reserve is replenished. This means that there will be no mikvah in Nebraska until we have another heavy rain.

So now, I think I really should take heed and pray for summer rain - joining the farmers of the Midwest and members of the greater Jewish community of Nebraska.

What will you do with this piece of information?

I hope that you will join me in taking a few moments out of your busy day to ask our Father in Heaven for rain.

Wishing you all a great Shobbos and a good forecast,
Rabbi Shaffier

The 4th of July: Fireworks,BBQ's and Redemption.

I'm sure the fourth of July means a lot of different things to different people. Driving around and seeing all the fireworks stands reminds me of the days leading up to Succot in Israel. There, too, the parking lots are full of newly erected stands, only they're selling lulavim and not fireworks. So I've been thinking a lot about what this day means to me as a Jewish American, living in the heartland.

In new York we have endless shtetl'och, right along side China Town, Little Italy and Polish neighborhoods. Something that has, in a way, become one of the cornerstones of American culture. The freedom to keep your own unique culture and heritage, whatever that may be. For the Jewish people this aspect of American society is especially important to us. We all know how long we waited to find a place where we could have the freedom to worship in peace, without the threat of government persecution.

So here's the real question. Has it helped our level of worship? Have we grown spiritually as a people? Never before in the history of our people has assimilation been so ramped. We live in a unique generation, in which more Jews don't know what kosher actually is (or what Tefilin or a mikvah looks like) than do. So what are we as Jewish Americans really celebrating on this 4th of July?

The way I see it, though in previous generations and in other lands, we may have been more learned or observant as a people, we never had the opportunity to find out what we were really made of. An old Yemenite man once told me that "In Yemen, if a Jew shaved his beard, the Muslims would kill him". In Europe, Jews were confined to specific parts of the country, later in ghettos. Assimilation wasn't an option, and in the shtetle life was so much easier if you played by the rules. So being Jews, it was natural to look for meaning and ways to excel within the parameters we were given, i.e a Torah observant society.

Then came America....and with it the Jews.  After the Holocaust, Jews poured into America by the thousands. Here they found a totally new type of existence. One where being Jewish wasn't only "optional" but even discouraged. There were so many more options. Nobody was making them do anything. They could reinvent their identity as they saw fit.  Many did just that.

Yet there are still observant Jews in America! Torah scholars, Rabbi's, Philanthropists, cheider children, Chassidic Rebbe's, and people from all walks of life and every socioeconomic background, that have chosen to live a Torah observant life.  Companies invest millions of dollars to modify their food production plants to meet kosher standards. Everyday Jews all over the country choose to eat kosher food, put on Teffilin, or say the traditional prayers of their forebearers.

All of this with no one compelling them to. No peer pressure. No forced ghetto residence. Just their own desire to come closer to their creator and get in touch with their soul.  Here, in America, the Torah is finally true. Especially in the heartland. Here, every Mitzvah is a conscious choice.

Rebbe Nachman tells a story of a king, who's kingdom was lost and his cabinet spread out across the world. In that story, his ministers  spend their lives seeking out the king. Even while the rest of the kingdom is off "redefining" themselves, the ministers never give up hope of finding the king and re-establishing the kingdom. They each become leaders, guiding their followers according to the ways they had learned from the king.

The moral:
When Hashem is hidden, and the Mitzvahs are "optional", that's when we have the chance to truly show The King what we're made of.

America has given us the freedom to choose to be Jews for the right reasons. I believe that this is the final stage in our continued education that Hashem has been providing us with since Avraham, culminating in our final redemption. On that day, we will be able to stand proud, knowing every mitzvah we performed was true.