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Tuesday, October 19, 2010
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About Me
- Mottel
- Rabbi by education, Journalist by profession, Blogger by choice. Torah, Chassidus & the Social Web. Appreciator of: craft beer, fresh coffee, Scotch or Bourbon, brewed tea, photography, art and travel. Note: Views and opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of my employers
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4 comments:
baruch dayan emes.
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A clear halacha (religious rule) stated in the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam (Jewish sage Maimonides) explicitly forbids gentiles, like Jews, from celebrating any religious holidays not found in Torah or rabbinical tradition. The rule further requires all Jews to be involved in teaching gentiles this rule, which applies to such Christian holidays as Christmas, Easter, and Halloween.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe has publicly taught this and related halachic rules, and has made it clear that, since there are no opinions in Torah to contradict them, such rules apply to us today. The Rebbe has further instructed Jews that whenever we see a project or campaign that must be done, or any action that is needed, we must not ask permission from any authority — be it a Chabad representative, a beis din (Jewish court), a Rav (rabbinical judge), or whomever — but rather we must take immediate action on our own initiative (see, for example, the Rebbe's Yiddish-language speech published in Likkutei Sichos, vol. 2, Parshas Pinchas, pp. 342-344; also sichos of motzoei Shabbos Chayei Sarah, 24 MarCheshvan 5738, and 10 Shvat, 5738).
In accordance with these guidelines, members of JAHG-USA wrote a flier promoting our campaign to abolish Christmas celebration; it was aimed at recruiting Jewish support and featured key quotations from Maimonides, the Rebbe, and other sources. In November 2001, two volunteers posted this flier in a major Chabad synagogue in Los Angeles; when some members of the congregation repeatedly tore down the fliers with the holy Torah quotations, the volunteers instead distributed the fliers throughout the neighborhood to Jewish homes.
I hope all is well. I hope you utilize your time away from blogging to do something positive, like learn Maharshah or put on Rabeynu Tams. Zayt Gezutn
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