After Shacharis/morning prayers , many prayer books have the 13 Principles of Faith which was written by the Rambam. The first two of these describes how Hashem is the Creator of everything and controls all events, and that Hashem is the only G-d and that there is none other than Hashem. Rabbi Tzvi Elimelech Hertzberg was a well-known Chassidic Rabbi in Baltimore. Many years ago, the classical temple in Washington, Washington Hebrew Congregation’s Sisterhood, got a program notice from its national organization telling them that it was Chassidism Month, and they should have a focus on Chassidism. They called Rabbi Hertzberg and invited him to come speak to them, but he said, “I can’t go to you, but you’re more than welcome, if you wish, to come to me.” To the women of the Sisterhood, that sounded great and started planning a field trip to the Chassidim. They chartered buses and traveled from Washington to Baltimore. The Rebbe showed them around his shteibel and told them stories of the miracles that the Baal Shem Tov did. He then asked if there were any questions, and one woman asked, “Do you really believe that the Baal Shem Tov performed miracles?” And he answered, “Yes.” She then asked, “Can you do a miracle?” And he answered, “I got you here.” Rabbi Wohlberg, of Baltimore, explains that the very fact that Jews are around today can only be explained as being a miracle from Hashem. When you think of what the world has done over the centuries to try and destroy our people, all the inquisitions, pogroms, forced conversions, the Holocaust, terrorism, etc., and through it all, we are still here! The “glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome” are all gone, along with the mighty Egyptian, Babylonian, Austria-Hungarian, and Ottoman empires. And we— the smallest of people— we have survived! One can surely see the Hand of Hashem in history. It is said that King Frederick the Great of Prussia once asked his ministers if they could offer him one single, irrefutable proof that G-d exists, and one of them answered, “Yes, your majesty. The Jews are proof!”
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 22:23:36 +0000
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