I believe that you learn a lot about a culture from its heroes. If you need evidence that the European High Middle Ages were murderous, brutal and primitive, look at the heroes of the age — they were warriors, not scientists, and so murderous that a healthy dose of historical revisionism is needed to maintain their positive image.

The Crusaders, for example, are celebrated, while the trail of Jewish blood they left across Europe is relegated to a footnote. To this day, statues in Ukraine celebrate Chmielnicki the Cossack, while modern historians engage in downward revisions of the appalling number of Jews murdered during the uprising he led.

At least we can say that today, butchers are no longer celebrated — at least not in the Western world. Nonetheless, the news headlines have been filled this week with the passing of three famous Americans, all from the entertainment industry. These are today’s heroes: actors, musicians, sports stars — people whose contribution to society is to give others something to think about other than their own lives. And meanwhile, entertainment figures are hardly good models when it comes to stable marriages, lack of drug use and other conduct.

Would the passing of a Nobel-prize-winning scientist be the topic of headlines for days? Would his death be memorialized with a moment of silence in the U.S. House of Representatives? Are these the examples we should be holding up for the next generation?

Good Shabbos,
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

At my son’s eighth grade Seudas Preida (lit. “departure meal,” or graduation dinner), each graduate was asked to say a brief thought. My wife gets the credit for finding a very apt thought on this week’s reading.

The Torah tells us that the spies went into the Land of Cana’an and came back with an “evil report.” But the spy Kalev, trying to counterbalance what the others said, told the nation to go up and inherit the land, “for we can certainly do it.”

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, Rashi, quotes from the Babylonian Talmud that even if Moshe had told us to build ladders to climb up to Heaven, we should do that, because we would succeed.

To that, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l asks a question. Why mention ladders, when no ladder is capable of reaching Heaven? What’s the point?

Reb Moshe answers that if we want to achieve spiritual height, first we have to do everything humanly possible — and then HaShem will help us, beyond what we can do.

If we want to live a higher life, we can’t sit back and say “G-d, help me!” On the contrary, we have to express that desire by doing everything we can on our own. Then, G-d will accelerate our progress beyond what we should be able to do.

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org

As many already know, the Baltimore JCC has decided to open its Owings Mills branch on Saturday afternoon, reversing a decision to keep it closed on Shabbos 12 years ago. Our own Rabbi Mordechai Dixler suggested that we think about what we can do to promote thinking about the Sabbath, and new Shabbos observances, here at Torah.org.

Rabbi Ilan Feldman writes that in the wake of a similar decision in Atlanta, “We had 60 people publicly, on the internet, proclaim their personal kabbalos [commitments] for what they would take on to strengthen Shabbos. We formed a team that would examine what could be done to make Shabbos ’spectacular’: we looked at Kiddush, we looked at davening, we looked at activities in the afternoon, we looked at sharing Shabbos, and we [even] looked at greeting each other on Shabbos… We made some changes, nothing terribly dramatic, but the ‘conversation’ of a being responsible to have a spectacular Shabbos is alive, and we are not finished yet.”

Thinking about using new media to help in this process, Rabbi Dixler turned to Twitter, recognized as a great way to — in extremely brief notes — make new connections, follow your friends’ activities and generally waste time. In all seriousness, technology can be used for the greatest of purposes, and this “social networking” service seems to be an ideal way to exchange thoughts and words of encouragement regarding Shabbos.

So, please join us and follow our newly launched ShabbosTweets. “Tweet” us, to tell us what you are doing to make your Shabbos special. Are you having guests for Shabbos? Serving something extra at the Shabbos meals? Have you made a new commitment, such as lighting candles each week? Sharing what you are doing will encourage others — and that’s the idea behind ShabbosTweets. If you don’t use Twitter, please drop us a line at feedback *at* torah.org, and we’ll post it for you!

After the rally, I expressed to a reporter that Shabbos is “the sign of the Jewish faith and the Jewish people.” Every nation has its flag, its sign, and this is ours. Everyone has something to add. You can add to your Shabbos, and that of others, as well!

Good Shabbos!
Rabbi Yaakov Menken
Director, Project Genesis – Torah.org