Everyone had relaxed and made themselves as comfortable as they could get on the international flight, when suddenly the plane began to shake violently. The captain turned on the fasten seatbelt alert and for the next 30 minutes the passengers endured the worst turbulence they had ever experienced. During a short lull in the shaking, a petrified woman turned to the rabbi sitting next to her and exclaimed, “Rabbi, do something!!” The Rabbi calmly turned to her and replied, “Sorry ma’am, I’m in marketing, not management.” They say this actually happened to Rabbi Immanuel Schochet OBM. And he is right - rabbis are not in control of the world, they’re simply G-d’s marketing department - especially Chabad rabbis. But who are we marketing Judaism to? Jews who are interested in Judaism already seek out sources of learning. We don’t proselytize, do we? Although there are Jews who are looking for what we are teaching, there are unfortunately many others who don’t even know what they’re missing. Let alone looking for it. The goal of a good marketing campaign is to help potential customers realize that they really need the product that is being sold. That their life will get better because of it. And in reality, that is our goal too - to help fellow Jews discover their need for Judaism. The truth is, every Jew is intrinsically connected to G-d and His Torah; our job is to help them realize that they should engage with it, study it and live it, too. There’s a surprising lesson in this week’s Torah portion that highlights this inherent connection. As you likely know, the Torah is a guidebook for life; the very word Torah means guidance or instruction. With that in mind, this week’s Torah portion raises a few questions. The themes this week vary from the story of Pinchas to the laws of inheritance and the sacrifices offered on Jewish holidays, among other themes. While we have to find lessons in each of them, perhaps one of the more challenging is the laws of inheriting the land. How does this one time event have relevance to us? When we examine a little closer, we find that in fact there were three methods of dividing the land: 1) Proportionary portions i.e. according to the size of each tribe 2) Lottery i.e. not dependent on size, simply according to a lottery 3) Inheritance i.e. not dependent on any determinations other being the descendant of the inheritor. All this is interesting, and we can delve into how all three were used in determining which tribe was allotted which portion. But, as they say in marketing, WIIFM? What’s in it for me? How is this detailed overview of this one time event relevant to my life? Here’s the scoop - the connection to the land reflects our connection to G-d. On one level we relate to G-d on a proportional basis, He provides us with sustenance - so we give thanks. We do a mitzvah, so He rewards us accordingly - i.e. a proportional relationship, one based on the effort we invest. But there is a deeper level of connection, the lottery level. A lottery is a reward that is not proportional to the investment. This reflects our connection to G-d that is deeper than what we do or don’t do. This level of connection is an essential bond. The lottery level of connection is deeper than the first, but there is a deeper one still: The inheritance. An inheritance in Jewish law is different than a usual transfer of property from one person to the next. An heir is not considered a new owner - the heir is considered the continuation of the original owner’s title. This is because a parent and child are essentially one. The child is created from the very being of the parents, the child shares the parent's DNA. This level of connection reflects a level of unity in which there is truly no distinction between G-d and the Jew - they are truly one and the same. The essence of every Jew is the soul, a literal “part” of G-d.
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