It’s hard to verbally articulate gratitude when the kindness is huge and life-changing. Each year, Zeesy, our beloved fifteen-year-old with special needs, is blessed to attend Camp Simcha Special, a camp geared for Jewish girls like her who Hashem has challenged with unique medical conditions (yes, they have a boys camp too) . Not only did her counselor Charna Rochel fly to Bozeman just to escort her to camp in New York, but the weeks at camp are filled with so much fun, so much attention, so much activity, and mostly each of these hundreds of kids is celebrated and made to feel so special.

It’s why they call it “The happiest camp in the world”.

In this week’s Torah portion, Pinchas, Moses is reminded that he will not enter the land of Israel, because he had the opportunity to sanctify G-d’s name when he was instructed to speak to the rock, but he was pressured into hitting the rock instead and it was a big deal. While the rock did give forth water, Moses, and Aaron, failed in that moment, desecrating Hashem’s name and they paid a heavy price for their error. On the verse “You shall love the Lord your God”, the Talmud teaches that we are mandated to ensure that G-d’s name becomes beloved through us. Wherever we go, whatever we do, with whomever we interact, the role of the Jew is to behave in a manner that makes everyone else say, “Wow, the Jewish people are amazing and we’d like to emulate them and raise our children in their footsteps”.

I've heard it being said that instead of taking a Jew-hater or clueless/ignorant/insensitive politician a holocaust museum or to shlepp them to Auschwitz, we should bring them on a visit to Camp Simcha, Camp HASC or maybe to Ohel. Invite them to Bike-4-Chai, take them to a Chasdei Lev distribution site, bring them to a Shabbos at your local Chabad Center or maybe just have them visit with Reb Shlomo Bochner at Bonei Olam. We need to make a Kiddush Hashem which doesn't happen when we amplify the hate or the hater, or even if we attack them, but rather it happens by exposing them to the beauty of our lifestyle, the Chessed running through our veins, and by representing what it means to be an Am Kadosh, a holy nation, inspired at Sinai to illuminate the world.

Thank you Chai Lifeline & Camp Simcha Special!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!

Our family, Bruk/Gordon/Goldman family, were dear friends with the Wolff family in Israel, including the incredible Berke. He was a Chossid par excellence, an ambassador if light, a close confidant of the Rebbe, but above all he loved helping another Jew and being happy for them in their time of joy. It’s a beautiful attribute to be able to celebrate a Simcha and be genuinely happy for a friend, a relative, or an acquaintance. It’s not always easy, as we each carry our own hardships in our heart which can paralyze our emotions, but when mastering the ability to show up in the joy of another, it tends to lift a bit of our burden off our heart, even if just temporarily.

In this week’s double Torah portion, Chukas-Balak, we read about one Jew-hater, Balak king of Moab, hiring another Jew-hater, Balaam Prophet of Midian, to come and curse the Jews. Like today’s love fest between the far-right and far-left, these two dudes hated each other, but to go after the Jew they joined forces. When one must attack others, put others down, push for their demise, instead of being happy for their successes and joyous moments, it’s a sign of inner rot that leads us to be nasty and internally miserable. In Hebrew there is a word called “Firgun” or the act of “Lefargen”, which means to experience a genuine, selfless celebration of another person's success without comparisons or jealousy.

While in New York for thirty-six hours I managed to visit my friend Chesky to say Mazal Tov for his daughter’s recent engagement and to attend the Vurt, engagement party, of Adina Rothman to Avrumi Bodner. Adina is the daughter of our very dear friends Ari and Yaffa, and it was so special to be there with them in their Simcha. Seeing the love, the joy, the warmth that exuded across the ballroom on Ocean Parkway, as friends and family came together to celebrate, was uplifting. I once read that “when someone else’s happiness is your happiness, that is love” and I think that it’s so true. We can choose to bemoan or to sulk in our struggles, and at times those feelings are hard to shake off, but when we can find joy in other people’s moments of success and happiness, it makes us just a bit less sad ourselves.

Firgun!

May G-d guard our brethren in Israel and the world over from harm and send us Mashiach speedily. May G-d protect the armed forces of Israel and the United States wherever they may be!