A DIFFICULT CHALLENGE

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well, and especially thinking of Brian, who has had a big operation. (Baruch ben Sarah Zlata)

We are all thinking of you Brian and wishing you a refuah shleimah!

Mazal Tov to Hirshy on his upcoming birthday next week. Wishing you much hatzlocha and good news through the year Hirshy.

Thanking Reuven and Chana Lieba for stopping by in London from their Moscow trip, to spend Shabbos with us. It was so nice to be able to talk to each other in a home environment rather than at rushed simchos! Please repeat whenever you get the chance, and that applies to everyone who may be planning trips.

We are now in the middle of summer in the Northern hemisphere, and it is a time when people start to remove layers of clothes, go on vacations and exciting activities, in high spirits.

Our Sages, who recognised dangers here, instituted that we read a Chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers), every Shabbos throughout the summer.

A number of stories about tznius (modesty) came past me this week, and then of course we are reading about Pinchas in the Sedra, and so I wanted to share these.

The Rebbe

When the Rov of Kfar Chabad and his wife visited the Rebbe, he turned to Mrs Ashkenazi his wife, and said 'What about the yiras shamayim (fear of Heaven) of the girls and women in Kfar Chabad?' and then without waiting for an answer he said 'the true test of Yiras Shamayim is tznius (modesty) and taharah (family purity)

The Alte Rebbe

At the time of the Alte Rebbe there was a new fashion in Russia where jackets had collars.

His grandson, Reb Nochum, son of the Mitteler Rebbe, was preparing for his chassanah, and the Alte Rebbe enquired from him, whether his silk kapota would be made in the traditional way, or according to this new fashion?

Reb Nochum replied that it would of course have a collar.

The Alte Rebbe then requested that it should be made without a collar. But Reb Nochum argued that everyone else would have one and that he would therefore be embarrassed.

The Alte Rebbe then promised him, that if he would wear the kapota without the collar, there would be a place kept for him in Gan Eden together with his grandfather.

(To understand this challenge, one has to understand how great was The Alte Rebbe, and what meant a request and promise from him!!)

Before the wedding The Alte Rebbe requested that Reb Nochum should come to him dressed in his kapota.

And guess what?

HIS KAPOTA HAD A COLLAR!!??

The Zohar

I saw 2 quotes from Zohar this week:

1. The Zohar warns that the Yetzer Hara begins its influence on a person by targeting his clothing....
2. Keeping of tznius by the woman of the home draws down the blessings of Heaven and earth - the blessings of wealth, children, and grandchildren - upon her home and and upon her family.

I also saw that the Dayanim of Crown Heights delivered a letter to all the homes in the area this week, summarising the essential Laws of Tznius, which I have attached above.

The challenge is difficult, and the rewards must therefore be very great!

Gut Shabbos to all and a Happy Summer.