Rabbis' Blog
Shainy’s Grandmother, Mrs. Itu Lustig OBM
Shainy’s grandmother, Mrs. Itu Lustig (“Bubbe Lustig” to all her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren), passed away yesterday. She was 97.
I was privileged to know her for 16 years and have learned so much from her remarkable character and her life story of faith, sacrifice, and perseverance. Although she was a Holocaust survivor with a tattoo from Auschwitz, I rarely heard her dwell on the horrors of the past. In fact, her most common reference to the Holocaust was to state proudly that every special occasion in the family, whether it was a Bris, Bar or Bat Mitzvah, or wedding, was her personal revenge on Hitler. She even came to El Paso for our son Menachem’s Bris when she was 84 years old.
Instead of crushing her, the memories of the past fueled her passionate love and dedication to her family. She was an involved mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother who knew all her descendants by name and kept tabs on every one of them.
She was born in Strimtera, Romania, in 1928, where her father, Rabbi Tzvi Kahana, was the town’s rabbi. On Passover of 1944, all the Jews of the town were rounded up and deported by the Nazis to Auschwitz. Her entire family was murdered. Miraculously, she and her brother Zanvil survived. She eventually came to the United States, married, and raised a tribe that was her pride and joy.
Like many survivors, she only started speaking publicly about her story fairly recently, and in the spring of 2020, she shared her story with our community via Zoom for over an hour. Watch the recording here.
Although you can listen to her story directly from her in the recording, I’d like to share one anecdote that encapsulates what is most inspiring to me about her.
When she spoke of the infamous numbers the Nazis sadistically tattooed on the concentration camp inmates, she described the pain as “like giving you fifty shots in your hand without any protection.” Then she would say, “They wrote on me what G-d wanted to happen to me. They wrote Chai, which means Life!”
Her number is A-7443. The sum total of all four numbers is 18 (7+4+4+3=18), which in Jewish numerology spells out the word “Chai - Life.” I’m so moved by the fact that the scar, which is perhaps the most visible and inescapable part of her excruciating suffering, came to embody what she felt was her mission in the aftermath of it all.
Although she did not explicitly say this, I would like to add that that number also embodies the ultimate destiny of the Jewish people - “Am Yisrael Chai.”
Yesterday, she passed away peacefully after attending the Bris of her great-great-grandson, two days after Purim. The holiday which celebrates G-d’s everlasting kindness to our people in protecting us from all the Hamans, Hitlers, and Khameneis who seek to destroy our nation in every generation.
In 1944, fifteen-year-old Itu Kahana needed unfathomable faith in G-d to believe she could survive the concentration camps and continue living. In 2026, 97-year-old Mrs. Itu Lustig proved to the world that “Am Yisrael Chai” is not a catchy slogan. It’s a scientific fact.
May her memory be for a blessing. But most importantly, may we all learn from her story and continue that unbreakable chain of life, proudly and joyfully.
Bubbe Lustig participating in Menachem's Bris in El Paso, 2013.
My thoughts after Bondi
On Sunday, the world went dark. When I heard what happened in Bondi, at one of the world’s first public menorah lightings for 2025, I was crushed. Anger, grief, sadness, and oh so many questions came crashing all together inside of me. But there was no time to process. I knew what needed to be done. I knew we had to move forward with our celebrations and public menorah lightings. But the jarring realization that the “festival of lights” had just gone dark, and a holiday of joy had been shattered by unimaginable sadness, made it feel so surreal.
The rest of the week continued in the same way. As more details of the tragedy emerged, my personal sadness intensified, but our efforts in spreading the message of light and joy of Chanukah reached peak success. In the span of two days, three new public menorah displays were arranged and installed in the El Paso County Courthouse, El Paso City Hall, and at El Paso High. Dozens of Jews have reached out to procure menorahs and candles, and based on the news coming out of Australia and around the world, public menorah lightings are happening like never before. How does this make sense?
Although I have learned and taught the Chanukah story for years, and projected its message of light overcoming darkness and goodness overcoming evil countless times, this week I finally understood what it is all about.
The central observance of Chanukah, the nightly kindling of the Menorah, commemorates the miracle of the one-night’s supply of pure olive oil that burned for eight nights in the seven lamps of the Menorah of the Holy Temple. However, there are fundamental differences between the way we light the menorah today and the way it was done in the Holy Temple.
In the Holy Temple, the same number of lamps were lit in the Menorah every day, well before nightfall, inside the sanctuary. On Chanukah, we light an increasing number of candles each night, specifically in the evening, by a door or window to project the light outward.
The reason for these differences is that the two menorahs represent two different eras. The Holy Temple represents a time when the Jewish nation experienced independence, success, peace, and tranquillity. The eight, ever-increasing flames of our Chanukah menorahs emerged from an era of persecution, terror, and darkness.
When life is good and the world is bright, there is no need to increase light or make an effort to project it outward, because all is normal. A flame in sunlight is unnecessary. But when life is turbulent, evil is on the rise, and the world becomes very, very dark, we must increase in light and project it outward as well, because even one flame in darkness can make a world of a difference.
Although the Maccabees heroically fought their enemies with weapons and military maneuvers, they focused the commemoration of their salvation on the miracle of the menorah lights because they understood their struggle as one of good over evil, morality over depravity, and light over darkness. Their victory was represented by the flames of the menorah, miraculously fueled by very little ritually pure olive oil.
“Light Overcomes Darkness” is not a cliche punchline to wish away reality. It is the greatest acknowledgement of the overwhelming darkness so pervasive in our world today, and an urgent call for all humanity to uproot it at its core by responding to evil with ever-increasing goodness.
The horrors that shook the world from Bondi Beach on Sunday brought the urgent message of Chanukah into sharper focus. When the world goes darker, we must make more light.
Menachem’s Final Training Before Bar Mitzvah
Bar Mitzvah is the most important milestone in a Jewish boy’s life, primarily because of the tremendous trust placed in him on that day by G-d, his parents, and the entire community. On the day he turns 13 years old, he is placed on Jewish active duty for the rest of his life, and there is no turning back. Everything that happens until then is meant to train him for the important mission of being G-d’s agent to inspire and elevate creation through Torah study and the observance of the Mitzvot.
Perhaps the greatest display of this trust is that he becomes the proud owner and user of his own pair of Tefillin.
Tefillin was the first Mitzvah given when our ancestors departed Egypt and embarked on their historic journey to Sinai. The pair of black boxes, containing scrolls with chapters of the Torah that describe the exodus, the declaration of our faith in G-d’s oneness, and the covenant of Mitzvot, are worn on the arm near the heart and above the head, respectively, signaling our preparedness to serve G-d intellectually, passionately, and actively. Jewish men wear them every day, aside from Shabbat and biblical festivals.
Tefillin cannot be mass-produced on an assembly line in China. The boxes, straps, and scrolls are meticulously handcrafted based on thousands of years of Jewish law and tradition by highly skilled and devoted craftsmen and scribes who dedicate their lives to this holy task. Every pair is the result of a labor of love; a holy endeavor.
Just as any high-stakes performance demands many dress rehearsals, the Bar Mitzvah boy is given two months before the big day to become a pro at using his Tefillin, and the day he starts to practice is a huge milestone unto itself.
On Wednesday, I had the joyous privilege of witnessing Menachem begin his two-month practice period. Before we prayed morning prayers near the Ohel, the Rebbe’s holy resting place in Queens, NY, Menachem carefully placed the Tefillin on his bicep, wrapped the leather straps around his arm and finger, and placed the Tefillin above his forehead; a routine he will follow every weekday going forward.
Mazel tov, Menachem, on reaching this special milestone!
The Price of Peace
Ever since the beginning of “the ceasefire” in Israel, I have been asked by many for my opinion on “the deal.” While everyone is ecstatic and grateful to G-d for the return of all the living hostages, the disturbing events of the past few weeks have many wondering about the ethics of the deal. Will it lead to peace, or is it just a matter of time before things get much worse, G-d forbid?
I have no formal security, military, political, or diplomatic training, but Torah is my field, and like everything in life, it provides us with the definitive paradigm through which we can evaluate everything. I will share two points I believe are relevant when grappling with what has been happening based on some messages from this week’s parsha.
The opening story of this week’s Parsha is G-d’s instruction to our patriarch Abraham to go to Israel. Although at the time it was known as the “Land of Canaan” because the heathen Canaanites were conquering it from the indigenous Semites, G-d promised Abraham that the land would ultimately belong to his descendants, the Jewish people.
The divine eternal promise of the land is mentioned four different times throughout the Parsha, in four separate contexts: 1. Upon Abraham’s arrival to the land. 2. After his nephew Lot moves away from him. 3. At the Covenant of the Parts. 4. When G-d instructed Abraham to do the Bris circumcision when he was 99 years old.
The most important message we must know as Jews throughout the world is that the Land of Israel belongs to us. Especially when many nations protest the Jewish presence in the Middle East, we must know with absolute certainty that the Jews living in Israel are in the right place at the right time and should never apologize for it. We don’t need anyone’s approval or support on this matter whatsoever.
At the end of this week’s parsha, we learn of how G-d forms a covenant with Abraham through the Bris circumcision. Despite his advanced age and the public mockery he endured, Abraham did not hesitate to follow G-d’s instructions to the letter.
In addition to being our deed of ownership, Torah is first and foremost a detailed and definitive guide to life containing clear instructions on how we must ensure our security in our homeland and everywhere else in the world. So-called international law, public opinion, or any other ethical philosophies are irrelevant when it comes to the crucial obligation to protect life. Torah provides the ethical context, concrete instructions, and most importantly, moral clarity in how Israel ought to handle this delicate and precarious situation. International condemnation, isolation, or mockery must be ignored.
I highly recommend watching this 8-minute video produced by Jewish Educational Media, providing 3 important points on Torah’s perspective on the current situation in Israel.
The Price of “Peace”: The Torah’s View on Israel’s Moral Battle Over Gaza: https://youtu.be/g561t74Wzkw
Although most of us are in no position to influence specific change on the ground, as Jews, we have the collective responsibility to know who we are and what paradigm ought to guide Israeli leadership and all the decision makers as they seek to achieve security and stability in the region. In fact, based on Torah’s guidance, it is possible to achieve what most of humanity thinks is impossible: true and enduring peace in the Middle East.
The Slumbering Lions
We spent the day in America’s first zoo in Philadelphia. My kids enjoyed the sights and scenes of wildlife, and I learned something new, courtesy of the big colorful signs near the wild cats exhibit: Lions sleep 20 hours a day, and after a good meal, can sleep up to 24 hours. This “Snapple Fun Fact” caught my attention because it connected to an interesting detail from today’s Torah portion and sheds light on something that has bothered me about Jewish history for a while.
In this week’s parsha, we learn about the paranoid Moabite King Balak, who hired the vile prophet Bilaam to curse them to extinction. Historically, Bilaam’s curses were fatal and had destroyed powerful nations before. But it all turned out for the best. Bilaam ultimately delivered beautiful blessings to the Jews three separate times, and rounded them off with the clearest prophecy of Israel’s future stratospheric rise and the arrival of Moshiach ever recorded in the Torah.
The Jews were completely unaware of the dramatic saga of how G-d foiled this fiendish scheme, and it was brought to their attention only through Torah’s prophetic record.
In two of the blessings, Bilaam described the Jews as lions. The first verse was famously used as the inspiration for the name of Israel’s recent miraculous war against Iran, “Operation Rising Lion.” “Behold a people that rises like a fearsome lion, raising itself like a lion. It does not lie down until it consumes prey, and drinks the blood of its slain enemies.” (Numbers 23:24)
The second time Bilaam invoked the image of a lion in his blessings, he said: “You will settle and dwell like a lion, like a fearsome lion that no one would dare rouse.” (Numbers 24:9)
In both, there is a focus on the lion sleeping and rising, and through understanding the deeper meaning of sleep and how it applies to the Jewish nation, we will appreciate the tremendous blessing herein.
During sleep, a person retains all their faculties and abilities, but they do not function properly. The eyes do not see, one cannot notice their surroundings, nor communicate properly. Even in the subconscious mind, which is working during sleep, dreams are typically a hodgepodge of random and chaotic events that usually make no sense. The most absurd things happen in dreams, and when we wake up, we are well advised to forget about them.
Reality can be experienced in two ways: either as a coordinated series of events choreographed by G-d to the minutest detail, or as a chaotic jungle of the survival of the fittest. The first option is the “awake” experience, where life functions according to a divine plan; the second option is a nightmare that only happens during sleep.
When Bilaam compared us to slumbering lions, he meant to emphasize that even when we may be making chaotic choices contrary to Torah’s clear plan for our lives, we are still majestic lions who only need to be awakened to the truth. And even when overwhelming forces of exile and persecution force the Jewish nation into a crouching, sleep-like position, it is only temporary.
I was always disturbed by the fact that the Jewish people have been forced into this position for the vast majority of our history. Today I learned this mirrors the experience of the lions we are compared to, who sleep most of the day, to conserve energy for their nocturnal hunts for prey. But even when we are sleeping, we are conserving and gathering the strength we need to overcome the final hurdles of exile to usher in the blessed era of Moshiach, who will awaken the entire world to the truth of G-d’s divine providence, and true peace and tranquility will reign for all.
The story I heard while waiting in line
The 31st anniversary of the Rebbe’s Yartzeit was observed on Sunday, the third day of Tammuz. At noon, my son Menachem and I joined the line of tens of thousands seeking to enter the Ohel, the Rebbe’s holy resting place. We waited for over two hours and utilized the time by reciting Tehillim (psalms) and standing in quiet reflection in preparation for being in the Rebbe’s presence and placing our petitions at the Ohel.
During that time, I met Yair (a pseudonym), a Jew from Florida who said that, although he is not a Chabadnik, he was deeply gratified to be at the Ohel that day. He then shared an amazing story, which I later heard in more detail from his wife, Sarah (a pseudonym).
For weeks, Sarah’s friend had invited her to join a Tuesday morning Tanya class hosted in different homes led by a charismatic Chabad woman named Batya in Hollywood. The first time she participated was on a summer Tuesday last year, which coincided with the 30th anniversary of the Rebbe’s Yartzeit. Much of the discussion revolved around the Rebbe’s continued influence today, and the opportunity to petition the Rebbe to intercede on our behalf for all of G-d’s blessings by visiting the Ohel or writing letters to be placed at the Ohel.
Toward the end of the class, the women were encouraged to share a request for blessing, which would be placed by Ohel later that day. Sarah shared with the class that her son and daughter-in-law, who had been married for three years, had not yet been blessed with children, and she expressed her request for a blessing that they should have children very soon. Batya then suggested that when the blessing materialized, Sarah could celebrate it by hosting the Tanya class in her home, and she readily agreed.
A few months later, Sarah and Yair received the long-awaited news that their daughter-in-law was expecting, and she joyfully hosted the Tanya class at the earliest opportunity.
Three weeks ago, their adorable granddaughter was born in New York City, and they traveled from Florida to meet her and celebrate the joyous occasion. A day before their return flight home, Yair told Sarah that Sunday was the Rebbe’s Yartzeit and suggested they visit the Ohel. At once, she made the connection that a year earlier, she had requested a special blessing for the birth of their grandchild, on the Rebbe’s Yartzeit, and here they were in New York celebrating the realization of that blessing on the Rebbe’s Yartzeit. They both felt it was appropriate to come and thank the Rebbe for this special blessing.
“It is all coming full circle,” Yair told me with a huge smile. “By divine providence, we were able to come here to say 'thank you' to the Rebbe on the perfect day.”
