The wise … who bring the multitudes to righteousness [shine] like the stars forever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)
What does this mean? The mystics point out that if you look up at the sky at any given moment, you can only see half of the visible stars. The other half are on the other side of the earth. But they are still there, and their light still shines upon us in an indirect manner.
In the same way, our great Torah teachers continue to guide and influence us even after they have passed and are physically no longer on our side of the world.
In today’s contemporary world, this is more tangible and apparent than ever before.
Eight years ago, on 29 Shevat, master Torah teacher Rabbi Yehoshua B. Gordon passed away. In the years since, hundreds of thousands of people have continued to study Torah with him (online and on the Daily Study app), chuckled at his jokes, and been inspired by his down-to-earth wisdom, positivity and faith.
In addition to classes on every portion of Chumash and Tanya and every chapter of Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, Rabbi Gordon also enriched the Chabad.org community with his empowering and relatable talks on the weekly Torah portion.
This year, a group of his family members and students have banded together to transfer the essence of some of these lectures to “paper.” Life Lessons from the Parshah, is a collaborative effort between Chabad.org and the Rabbi Joshua B. Gordon Living Legacy Fund, which benefits the 32 centers of Chabad of the Valley, the organization to which Rabbi Gordon devoted his life to building.
We invite you to check out this week’s installment, Whose Slave Will You Be?, and leave a comment below letting us know what Rabbi Gordon means to you.
