JOY AND TRAGEDY, WEALTH AND POVERTY

Dear Family,

I hope everyone is well

Wishing Claude a Refuah shleimah!

Mazal Tov to Pesach and Chanie on their Anniversary today. Wishing you many more happy and successful years together with much continued growth in both material and spiritual!

It is also the Anniversary of Mommy and I on Rosh Chodesh Tammuz BH!

Mazal Tov to Sid Davidoff in Australia on his birthday tomorrow. Hope all is well with you Sid, and wishing you a Happy and Healthy year!

Mazal Tov to Mendel Davidoff whose birthday is today. Wishing you a great year Mendel with much growth and achievement with your studies, development of middos and with much joy!

Our father's Yohrtzeit is on the same day as The Rebbe's, on Gimmel Tammuz. We are making a kiddush in shul this Shabbos for these 2 events. The Rebbe's fervent wish of Mashiach Now, should be fulfilled, when we will all be together again.

We also wish long life to Naomi and all the Fisher Family on the Yohrtzeit of her mother tomorrow. Her Neshamah should have an Aliyah.

The above seems to reflect the atmosphere of Tammuz, a mixture of emotions, JOY AND TRAGEDY.

The Frierdike Rebbe was released from his imprisonment on 12th - 13th Tammuz. The Rebbe was niftar on 3rd of Tammuz. Then we start the 3 Weeks of Mourning on the 17th of Tammuz. And we have our personal simchos and losses of Family. And then it is also known that the days of fasting and mourning in our Exile, will be transformed to days of Joy in the Future!

Along the same lines as those above, and therefore I felt that it was connected, I also came across a Dvar Torah from Pirkei Avot from this week (Chapter 4). (We read 1 chapter per week during the Summer.)

The theme here is about WEALTH AND POVERTY

Chap 4:9 says:

Rabbi Yonatan said: Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty, will in the end fulfil it in wealth. Whoever neglects the Torah out of wealth, will in the end neglect it out of poverty."

Some explanations:

• Despite his pressing need to earn a living, he sets aside time to study (Meiri)
• Also refers to intellectual and spiritual poverty. "When a person fulfills Torah, even when there is lack of inspiration, he is promised that in the end he will fulfil it amid spiritual light and inspiration." (R. Avraham of Slonim - Mimaayanot Hanetzach)
• Also refers to the oppression of the Evil Inclination. "When a person fulfills Torah even under the oppression of the Evil Inclination, he will ultimately be freed of his negative tendencies. He will be able to serve Hashem on a level similar to the heights that we will achieve in the Future when we will be like angels, and like Adam before the sin." (Midrash Shmuel)

And the Rebbe states that just recognizing our spiritual poverty, enables us to achieve spiritual wealth.

Gut Shabbos and Gut Chodesh to all