Shalom Aleichem!
Happy birthday to my father! Here’s wishing you much simcha, health & nachas from your super-cute grandkids 🙂
Mazel tov to Andrew & Amy ’12 Finkelstein (nee Doniger) on the birth of a son, Elisha.
Mazel tov to Yosef & Dale Garber on the birth of a daughter, Leah Shira.
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In this week’s Torah portion, Kedoshim, there appear numerous well-known verses. One such verse states, “Do not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow’s blood” (Leviticus 19:16).
Commenting on this verse, Rashi, the great French commentator, writes, “[Do not stand by] watching your fellow’s death, when you are able to save him.”
What is added by Rashi’s commentary? The verse seems self-explanatory.
The Rebbe offers the following explanation: Of course you should save someone in danger if you are able to; that is not what Rashi is trying to tell us. Rather, Rashi is teaching us that if you see someone in danger, then you are able to save him!
Everything that we see or experience is engineered by Divine Providence. In other words, if we see something, then we were meant to see it.
When this concept is applied to our verse, we come away with powerful words of encouragement. The very fact that you or I encounter a person in need of material or spiritual help, is an indication that we are able to provide that help. Thus, our verse is teaching us not to stand by the shedding of our fellow’s blood (literally or metaphorically), for since we are capable of helping, then we must help!
Shabbat Shalom,
Shaul
P.S. To see pictures of the progress on our kitchen renovation project, visit www.qChabad.org/kitchen.
