V'Zot HaBeracha

Moshe lived until he was 120 years old,
Yet, "His eyes were undimmed," we are told,
Until his last breath was finished,
"His natural force was not diminished."

Usually people lose energy over time,
But Moshe never got tired of the climb,
What was the secret of Moshe's youthful energy,
When he had so much responsibility?

His eyes were undimmed is not just a description,
It is the answer to the question,
Moshe's natural force was undiminished it's true,
Because his eyes were undimmed no matter what he went through.

Moshe was focused on his mission,
He kept his high ideals and vision,
He was as passionate at the end just as he was at the beginning,
His commitment to his people was unyielding.

As the man who burned but wasn't consumed, Moshe we see,
Just like the burning bush that wasn't consumed miraculously,
Until the end, his goal and vision did stay,
He remained full of energy until his last day.

To stay young we must be wise,
Our ideals we should never compromise,
They keep our spirit alive,
Our ideals give us the strength to survive.

We can't despair when obstacles come our way,
We must be inspired by our vision and keep going the next day,
Success comes just before we are about to believe that we did fail,
If we keep trying, we will certainly prevail!

Souvenir: trophy

Parshat Ha'azinu

Parshat Ha'azinu is the song that Moshe did sing,
These were his final words of parting,
With a description of Hashem's kindness the song does begin,
But it predicts that eventually the Jews wouldn't listen.

It continues with the evil that Hashem will send,
But the song closes by saying that the Jews will rejoice in the end,
In the Beit Hamikdash during the Musaf offering,
The Levites sang Ha'azinu although it speaks of our suffering.

Into six parts the song was divided,
Each week one part was recited,
The parts sung on week one, two, and six, were indeed inspiring,
But what about the weeks in between, which speak of suffering?

The point of all the songs was to bring joy,
Why would they sing words which would bring feelings of "oy,"
How would singing the sad parts,
Uplift the Jewish people's hearts?

When the Levites sang the bitter parts of the song,
They were teaching us how to cope when things go wrong,
When tragedy strikes, to our faith we must hold,
We need to patiently wait for the song to unfold.

There will be days that the song we won't hear playing in our ears,
There will be days that we will shed tears,
But the hard times are one stanza of a larger song for sure,
We must come back the next week to hear more!

When we are tested we grow,
Our commitment to Hashem we show,
No matter what life brings we know that we are in middle of a song,
We will discover that even during the hard times there was music all along.

Souvenir: music pencil

Parshat Vayeilech

Before Moshe's soul would take flight,
The entire Torah he did write,
He gave it to the tribe of Levi,
Whose job it was the ark to carry.

On a shelf in the holy of holies, the Torah was placed,
Or in the ark, the tablets it faced,
Why was it necessary for a physical Torah scroll to be,
In a place that represented infinity?

The holy of holies was unique,
No one was allowed to go in or take a peek,
Besides for the high priest on Yom Kippur day,
When for all the Jews he would pray.

The holy of holies measured twenty Amot long and wide,
Miraculously, the ark didn't take up any space inside,
The letters on the tablets didn't have an existence of their own,
They were engraved into the stone.

Its letters were miraculous it's true,
They were engraved through and through,
The inside of the letters Samach and Mem stood in mid air,
In the holy of holies, Hashem's presence was clear.

The Torah doesn't belong in the holy of holies we would think,
Because it is hand written on parchment with ink,
Unlike the letters of the tablets which represent humility,
The letters in the Torah scroll exist independently.

The purpose of the holy of holies is that it should reach,
Every corner of the world and teach,
That Hashem is the creator who is found in every place,
He is infinite, above time and space.

How can we reach this goal?
Through the physical Torah scroll,
To draw down the holiness, the Torah is the tool,
Until the world recognizes that Hashem does rule.

On Rosh Hashana we stand before Hashem with humility,
We accept upon ourselves Hashem's kingship and sovereignty,
We need to draw from this inspiration throughout the year,
And always remember that Hashem is truly everywhere.

Souvenir: mini plush Torah

Parshat Nitzavim

Parshat Nitzavim is read,
On the Shabbos before the year's head,
"You are ALL standing today"
Refers to Rosh Hashana day.

We will be judged favorably,
When we stand together in unity,
Because what brings the most joy to our heavenly father,
Is when we get along with each other.

Every word in the Torah is exact,
There are no extra words, it is a fact,
So why does the Torah mention ten categories of Jews,
Which the word כולכם״ - ALL of you" includes?

Every Jew is as special as can be,
With a unique mission and responsibility,
It doesn't matter who you are,
Every Jew is a shining star!

To a human body the Jewish people compare,
We each need to do our share,
To ensure that our body stays healthy,
Every organ, muscle and cell must function properly.

We have to love each other,
Because we are dependent on each other,
As great as the head may be,
To carry the body is the feet's responsibility.

Wether you are a leader,
Or a wood chopper,
You are needed and you matter,
Every minute of every hour!

Souvenir: standing person

Parshat Ki Tavo

In Parshat Ki Tavo we find the Mitzvah of Bikkurim,
Farmers would bring their first fruit to Yerushalayim,
They were as thankful as could be,
For a land flowing with milk and honey.

This Mitzvah is special because it does show,
That the farmer does know,
That although he worked hard to plant and sow,
Hashem is the one who makes things grow.

We say Modeh Ani before we get out of bed,
Before eating food a Bracha is said,
With "Thank You"s the Jewish day is packed,
Bikkurim is different because it is an act.

It is easy to say thank you,
But to show our appreciation, action we must do,
Just like Bikkurim fruit so sweet,
A sweet act, makes our gratitude complete.

Since Rosh Hashana is on the way,
And for a sweet new year we pray,
A story of our Rebbe so dear,
Let us learn from and share.

About every Jew the Rebbe did care,
He would bless thousands of Jews with a good and sweet year,
A gentleman once asked the Rebbe why "sweet" was necessary to say,
Wouldn't a blessing for a good year be O.K.?

The Rebbe answered that a good year we will have for sure,
Because from Hashem comes only goodness galore,
Our request is that the goodness should be felt physically,
Our lives should be as sweet as honey!

Hashem please bless every Jew,
With an abundance of fruit so that we could serve you,
We will thank you for fruit so sweet and tasty,
With sweet deeds that will bring Moshiach speedily!

Souvenir:

Parshat Ki Teitzei

In Parshat Ki Teitzei we find the command,
To remember the nation of Amalek who laid a hand,
On the Jewish people when they left the Egyptian land,
To wipe them out, Hashem does demand.

The nation of Amalek was cruel,
The fear of the other nation's they did cool,
When everyone was in awe of the Jews,
To be the first to fight us they did choose.

To a boiling hot bathtub the Jews did compare,
To jump inside no one would dare,
To get burned Amalek didn't care,
They cooled off the water for the other nations everywhere.

״אשר קרך בדרך״ he met you on the way,
In the word קרך/met we see the word קר/cold right away,
Although this happened in days of old,
We each have an inner Amalek to fight we are told.

You wake up in the morning and say,
Today will be better than yesterday,
But then something doesn't go your way,
The Amalek within has a role to play.

Who do you think you are?
You will never get very far,
Amalek puts doubt in your heart,
He cools you off before you start.

The numerical equivalence of the word עמלק/Amalek,
Equals to the numerical equivalence of the word doubt/ספק/Safek,
When you are inspired to do something right,
Don't let the doubts creep in, hold on tight!

Although fear and doubt are above logic and reason,
We can fight it no matter what the season,
Because we have a power that is above logic too,
It is our faith in Hashem, an inheritance for every Jew.

The word זכור/remember holds the key,
To fight Amalek for all eternity,
Remember the faith that may lie buried and forgotten,
And reveal it in the open.

Faith in Hashem isn't something new,
It is a treasure within every Jew,
Because it is above logic and reason too,
It is the perfect weapon to fight the Amalek within me and you.

Souvenir: reusable ice cubes

Parshat Shoftim

When you fight your enemies,
Don't cut down any fruit trees,
Because to a tree of the field, man does compare,
In Parshat Shoftim, the Torah makes this clear.

Just like the roots of a tree are hidden underground,
At our core, our faith can always be found,
Trees need to always be connected to the soil to grow,
When we do a Mitzvah our attachment to Hashem we show.

From the roots stem the trunk of understanding,
Which branches out into feelings and deeds that are always expanding,
Producing delicious fruit is the ultimate goal,
To influence others and plant a seed in their soul.

Earth, water, sun and air are elements four,
They help the tree grow more and more,
There is a lesson for us to explore,
About how to educate our children and grow stronger than before.

From the earth the tree gets it's nutrients,
Representing nurture, values and guidance,
Nourishment, parents and teachers can shower,
Their children and students they can empower.

Water keeps plants and trees alive,
Without the Torah we can't survive,
A tree needs light and warmth radiated by the sun,
Children need to see that Judaism is full of beauty, love and fun!

Air represents our environment and atmosphere,
We have to be careful with what we see and hear,
So take a moment and gaze at a tree,
It is a reflection of you and me.

Souvenir: toy tree