Minute Rice - Chabad of Marin

Shabbat Shuva/Vayelech: Do Not Repent

Friday, September 26, 2025 - 5:22 AM

Of course I want to change. I just don't want to have to do all the hard work associated with it. Jewish mysticism has a meaningful perspective on what this change is really about. And once we are able to visualize this new perspective of change, we can realize our abilities and possibilities in a more organic and wholesome fashion.

And wouldn’t you know it, it is the theme of this Shabbat, called Shabbat Shuva, or Shabbat Teshuvah. It is name for the 10 Days of Teshuvah between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as well as this week’s Haftarah which begins “Shuvah Yisrael.”

Many translate Teshuvah as repentance, which includes sincere regret or remorse. True, Teshuva does include remorse, however it does not capture what this transformational process is really about. The word Teshuvah means to return. Of course, we are meant to return to G-d. However, these words need to be understood. Chassidus explains that the very root and source of who we are, individually, is within the very being of G-d. So when we speak of returning to G-d, what we really mean is getting back to the root of our Divine Soul as the very definition of our true being.

Teshuvah is not about feeling bad. It’s about feeling our awesome potential, our incredible true self, notwithstanding our present state of affairs. The Torah relates: “For a portion of G-d is His nation. Jacob is the cable of His legacy.” (Deut. 32:9) Our soul is a cable that is plugged right in to the Infinite Light. However, this soul becomes manifest in our body that seems to have a mind of its own. Thus, we err. We sin. We fail to become the radiant light to our family, our community and to our very own self. This is the occupational hazard of being a Divine Soul in human body.

Teshuvah begins when we realize the answer to the lifelong question: “Who do you think you are?” When we realize the answer, we long to return to who we really are, as an extension of the Divine.

This is a major life reframe that allows us to increase in our commitment to Torah and Mitzvot. Through Teshuvah we don’t become a new person. We become who we really are.

Ki Tavo: The Hidden Verse

Friday, September 12, 2025 - 5:18 AM

I was watching the ball, and trying to figure out why it kept getting bigger and bigger. Then it hit me! The same can be said of life, there are always so many things happening at us. In our personal life, our community, society, in the news, in our emotional equilibrium. Frequently, the things that are coming towards us the quickest are issues that we have to deal with. Then there is the news that we freebase and react to. Then it hits us! We become unhappy, sad, or even miserable. And we can’t figure out why.

Things that are coming towards us, through our own choice or otherwise, confuse our perspective. We think that these things are all of what life is, and we become unhappy with the depressing result. The fix is simply, if not easy. We must restore our perspective. Here is a simple exercise for you, take 60 seconds (you can time it) and come up with a list of 10 blessings in your life. If you’re ready to move on to AP Happiness, try 5 minutes, 50 blessings. With little effort you will find that the good things in your life far outweigh the negative. (Of course, there are people who are going through horrors and tragedies. This is not the time for such an exercise – I can only hug you, and pray that your situation improves.)

In almost all situations, once we become aware of the preponderance of good in our life we will begin to find happiness.

Scripture does not speak much about being happy, but there is one hidden verse that unveils the foundational importance of happiness. In this weeks Torah Portion, Ki Tavo, the Torah unleashes a horrific description of what may happen to the Jewish People. Why would these nightmares befall us? Because we didn’t observe the commandments? No. It is even more spine chilling. “Because you served not the L-rd your G-d with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, when you had abundance of all things.” (Deut. 25:47)

Happiness is an integral part of our Jewish work. If you are not doing it joyfully, you are doing it woefully wrong. It takes a small contemplation. Imagine the Infinite Light of all existence desires to have a relation with you, up close and personal. Imagine no more! This is what Judaism is. Even when we tap our chest on Yom Kippur, admitting all of our sins – we do it with a joyful tune! (Look up Ashamnu prayer on YouTube.) Even when we are at our moment of deepest heart-break over our failures – we are joyfully contrite.

This week I attended a birthday party, it was for Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Mazal Tov, he turned 280! But I would like to share an amazing insight I read from his teachings: “When you see a person who you truly love, you become totally overjoyed with great light and happiness. Your countenance shines and you forget entirely any pain or agony that you may have because of your great joy of seeing the face of your beloved. So too, a person can remember at any time one truly loves G-d, for He genuinely loves you. We can feel His countenance at any moment and realize that God is with us and be totally overjoyed.”

If we feel that we are undeserving of this love, or that we are spiritually deficient, how much more so that we should be overjoyed. G-d may love you even more.

These meditations do not fix all the problems of the world (as if your Facebook post will), but it will put you on a path of happiness and allow you to receive the amazing G-dly blessings that accompany this joy.

Ki Tetze: 4 Stages of Self-Discovery

Friday, September 5, 2025 - 4:42 PM

Have you had the experience of not being able to find stuff? My wife frequently give me the sage advice to look where I last put it. My problem, of course is that I don't remember where that was. This brings us to the root problem of losing things: ignorance. No, I don't mean lack of information, I mean ignoring where something is meant to go, ignore-ance. Not paying attention to where we put something down, and thus not being able to find it when we need it.

This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tetze, talks about losing things, finding things, and ignoring things. “You shall not watch your brother’s ox or his sheep go astray, and ignore them; you shall return them, bring them again to your brother.” The Torah continues: “And with every lost thing of your brother’s, which he has lost, and you have found, shall you do likewise; you will not be able to ignore.” (Deut. 22:1-3)

These verses convey a subliminal transformation. The Torah begins with our reality – “You ignore.” This is our default state of unawareness. What is the solution? Shall we meditate? No! The Torah now conveys a command – “You shall return them.” We must force ourselves out of our daze, and pay attention. Then you do the right action and return that which was lost. When we develop this habit of forcing ourselves to be awake, and performing the right action – then the verse concludes, “You will not be able to ignore.” You will arrive at a state of awareness.

We are now in the month of Elul, a month of introspection and self-improvement. Through our life, we may ignore the truth of who we are. And this ignoring leads to “losing ourself.” The way forward is through the “command”. Proper action leads to proper living which leads to self-transformation. Too often we wait for the right mood to do the right thing. This is the state of being lost. Stage one – ignoring. Stage 2, force yourself, command and commit to a Mitzvah. Stage 3, do the Mitzvah (especially when you are not in the mood). This is the path to finding your purpose, finding yourself. Stage 4: You cannot ignore. Self-transformation.

(Based on Alshich, thanks to Rabbi Immanuel Bernstein)