I had the privilege of spending last Shabbat in New York at Chabad’s International Conference of Shluchos (women emissaries). You could spend hours hearing what each shlucha does and you still wouldn’t reach the end.
I heard from the shlucha in the Caribbean about opening the first Jewish kindergarten. I heard from the shlucha in Taiwan about building the first mikveh. I listened with tears as the shlucha from Kiryat Malachi described a groundbreaking school for children with disabilities. I heard from the shlucha in Berdychiv, Ukraine, about helping Jews make aliyah under fire. And then the shlucha who works with new immigrants in Jerusalem turned to me, eager to share a story about bar mitzvah celebrations for elderly Holocaust survivors who never had one at age thirteen, while next to her stood the shlucha from an Atlanta campus, where they are confronting antisemitism and anti-Israel protests.
It’s overwhelming, in the best sense. How do you even sum it up? And what does it mean for ordinary people like us, who aren’t heading out this morning to rescue Israeli backpackers lost somewhere in the Far East, but are simply trying to manage the morning rush at home and at work?
The answer came at the moment the group gathered.
Rabbi Mendel Kotlarsky, who oversees the shlichut network, said: “The Lubavitcher Rebbe didn’t send only them. In fact, everyone is a shaliach. Here you see women who live their mission 24/7. But I’m asking everyone to take this idea and translate it into their own life. Maybe not 24/7—but do you have 24 minutes a week? You don’t need to fly across the world; maybe you can invite a neighbor for a Shabbat meal; start a small Torah class; notice the elderly woman living alone in your building. The whole world is meant to be one great gathering of shlichut.”
May we merit it.
Perseverance Pays Off
Eliran Bitan recently completed the daily Rambam study cycle, and immediately began again from the start.
The Rambam, Maimonides, organized the Torah’s laws into a single monumental work: the Mishneh Torah, also known as HaYad HaChazakah (The Strong Hand). It is comprised of 14 volumes (the numerical value of yad is 14), encompassing Jewish law in virtually every area of life.
How does a person build a “strong hand”? The answer is simple: by training it daily, even when it’s inconvenient, even when the motivation isn’t there. A muscle is built through steady exertion, not through a one-time burst of effort. And this is true not only in Torah, but in every meaningful endeavor. Torah isn’t acquired in a day; it is acquired day by day.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe established structured paths for learning HaYad HaChazakah: one chapter a day on a three-year cycle, or three chapters a day to complete it in one year. Either way, the foundation is the same: consistent, daily commitment, the way any strength is built.
At first, Eliran found it tedious to learn halachah day after day. But over time, he discovered that there are no shortcuts, and that perseverance is everything. In reserve duty, at work, and under the pressures of everyday life, what carries a person forward is the ability to keep going. It is a commitment, but one that anyone can make.
Purpose, he came to understand, is not found only in the completion of a project, but in the person one becomes through dedication to it, and through the daily “training” it requires.
And so, it is not only the hand that is strengthened. A person builds a strong backbone, a strong heart, eyes trained to see others generously, and muscles of faith that grow sturdier with time. On a broader level, that same daily discipline helps shape the resilience of a community and a nation.
Today there are many apps, websites, and, of course, books that make daily Rambam study and other forms of daily Torah learning accessible. Readers are invited to launch a daily practice of learning in their lives today.
Five Points on Parashat Mishpatim:
- After a sweeping sequence of formative events: the enslavement in Egypt, the Ten Plagues, the Exodus, the splitting of the Red Sea, and the revelation at Har Sinai, we arrive at a parashah that feels entirely different. Instead of dramatic narrative, Parashat Mishpatim is filled with laws and commandments that speak directly to everyday life. Out of the Torah’s 613 mitzvot, the parashah includes 53.
- The topics dealt with in this parashah are strikingly wide-ranging: labor relations; family life; relationships between neighbors; charity; festivals; kashrut; sensitivity to the poor, the orphan, and the widow; repaying debts; entering the Land of Israel and much more. This is because the Torah is Torat Chaim—a Torah of life. It addresses all areas of living, not only lofty spiritual moments.
- Toward the end of the parashah, Moshe reads words of the Torah aloud to the people, and they proclaim the famous, foundational phrase: “Na’aseh v’nishma,” We will do, and we will hear. First we do, and only afterward do we listen. The Jewish people begin with action, with commitment to the mitzvot. That is our secret: doing. Only then comes discussion, interpretation, learning, and understanding.
- Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains the essence of the parashah this way: “The one-time experience of the revelation at Har Sinai must be translated. Our task in life is to turn experience and inspiration into careful attention to detail, to turn the ‘wow’ into laws. That is how the message becomes timeless.”
- Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz adds a powerful insight: “We are used to lifting our eyes heavenward when we speak about God, but Parashat Mishpatim teaches us that He is present as well in the bill we pay, in the apple we eat, and in the way we treat the parking attendant.” This is where revelation settles into reality, and where holiness takes up residence in the details of daily life.
