I hope this thought finds you all well. There were so many juicy topics to choose from this week, but because I will have to take a break until the hecticness of my trip to Florida and Pesach is over, I wanted to leave you with the following.                     

The parsha begins with the subject of Shabbos. The Alexander Rebbe, while in the 'resort' city of Carlsbad, told a 'chasidishe vort' to R' Avrohom Grodzensky. The gemara tells us that Hashem made a special request to Moshe to tell the Jewish people, that H-E had a very special gift in H-S treasury which H-E is giving to them - and that gift is Shabbos. The gemara explains that it means that Hashem wanted Moshe to tell them of the great reward of Shabbos. "What does this mean," asked the Rebbe." I will illustrate it with a true story. The great Rebbe, R' Shmelke of Nikolsburg, was sitting and learning in his house one day when someone knocked on the door. He told the person to enter. It was a poor man who looked like he was at the end of his rope begging for a donation. The Rebbe looked in his wallet, in the drawer - not even a penny did he have in the house. He had an idea though -" would you accept it if I gave you something which you could sell and get some money that way," he asked the beggar. "Why not " he replied. The Rebbe searched the house for something that was not needed at that time and came across, in the closet, a very nice dress that the rebbetzin was saving for their daughter's dowry. He took it thinking that his daughter was not yet close to the age of marriage so it wouldn't be missed right now, and by the time they would need one they would get another. He gave it to the man who thanked him and left with the dress under his arm. Just as he left, the rebbetzin walked in and seeing a stranger walking out with something under his arm, asked the Rebbe what had just transpired. He told her exactly what happenned. Not pleased she wailed," but that was for the dowry!" He said that he knew but… "but not only was the dress for the dowry, but all the cash that I have scraped together over the years for the wedding and dowry, was in the pocket of that dress!!! She shreiked. The Rebbe was visibly shaken by this revelation, and he grabbed his hat and ran out the door, after the beggar. It was an extraordinary sight - The holy Rebbe of Nikolsburg chasing a beggar through the streets of Nikolsburg ! Those witnessing the event immediately assumed that the beggar had robbed the Rebbe and was making his escape. They joined in the chase and apprehended the poor bewildered man and held him until the Rebbe finally reached them. The Rebbe was yelling, "let him go , it's okay, I gave it to him!" He turned to the still terrified man and said, " I just wanted to tell you that when you sell the dress, make sure you take the cash out of the pocket first - there is a hidden treasure in there."                                                                         

 

The Rebbe from Alexander said," that is what Hashem asked Moshe to tell them - "don't just take the gift at face value. Don't just think that Shabbos consists of chulent and a good sleep - make sure to find the hidden spiritual treasure within.            The Maggid of Koznitz puts this idea to a parable : A very wealthy man moved into a small town, bought a huge plot of land and proceeded to build a phenomenal mansion. Besides the huge palace, there was a fantastic amount of lush land around the property. At the boundary lines of his property, he erected quite a security system - two solid, 3 foot wide stone walls, separated by a 10 foot area into which he placed a pack of Rotweilers, and then outside of that, a double barbed-wire fence. No one in town knew what went on behind those walls but the rumors started to fly of magnificent gardens, creeks and ponds full of rare fish, and … One smartalec decided to brave the security by digging under the system to finally satisfy his and everyone else's curiosity. In the dead of night, for two weeks straight, he dug and dug until he finally reached past the inner stone wall. His heart was racing and breathing heavy as he pushed up the final piece of earth and stuck his head through the hole. Opening his eyes expecting to be dazzled by who knows what, he almost fainted - there was nothing - just empty land!! The Maggid said - does that make any sense? To build an intricate security system to protect nothing? Shabbos is protected by 39 melachos and all their derivatives along with all the Rabbinic prohibitions and protections - does it make sense for Hashem to construct such a detailed and intricate security system simply to insure our ability to have a good piece of kugel and/or shmaltz herring and a nap??                      I thought that now, before we go through a bunch of Holy days, we should all give some thought to two things. Although Yom Tov is by its very nature and definition, different than Shabbos, the concept is true for it as well. Secondly, we should all give thought to the imbedded Shabbosos in this Yom Tov season (for example instead of looking at this year's Shabbos Chol Hamoed as the ' third day of a three-day Yom Tov ', let us not lose sight of the fact that it is Shabbos.                                   

 

 How to capture the hidden treasure of Shabbos ( and Yom Tov ) is best done through learning of Torah. I am not denigrating eating and drinking and sleeping and socializing, but we all must realize that the true value of Shabbos can only be realized through its twinning with Torah - going to a shiur, learning on your own or with a chavrusa or for a nice ' sholom bayis ' touch, learning something together with your spouse. B"H I will get to see you all one way or another over the next little while and I hope we can all draw great meaning and inspiration from each other and the great gifts of Shabbos and Pesach.                               

Have a wonderful Shabbos, and from the thought for the week, a wonderful Yom Tov. I love you all. 'd'                                                                                                                                           p.s If Moshiach doesn't come before it, may this be the last Pesach that we are not all together celebrating it in Yerushalayim !!!  Xoxoxo 'd'