HOW TO LEAVE "HOTEL CALIFORNIA"? A WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM RABBI PLOTKIN Dear Friends, Rachel goes to see her rabbi and complains about her bad headaches. She whines, cries, and talks about her poor living conditions for hours. All of a sudden, she shouts, overjoyed, "Rabbi, your holy presence has cured me! My headache is gone!" To which the Rabbi replies, "No Rachel, it is not gone. I have it now." We are taught that from the get-go at the exodus from Egypt, the Jewish people were already disagreeing with one another. Our sages tell us in the Midrash, that when the Jews were fleeing from Egypt with the Egyptians right behind them and the Sea right in front with nowhere to go, there were already four different opinions of how to proceed. One group said to commit suicide and jump into the sea. A second one said to surrender and return to Egypt. The third group said to fight the mighty Egyptian army, while a fourth group promoted prayer. In our personal lives too, our choices are pretty much the same. Every day we are confronted with challenges that are strikingly similar to the original story of the Egyptian exodus. We constantly find ourselves trapped between a “rock and a hard place”, with nowhere to go. And once again there are the same four approaches. We can either choose to give up on life by turning to drugs and alcohol, or we can surrender to “Egypt” by becoming entrenched in materialism and hedonism, that were the deities of ancient Egypt. The third approach is the cocky one -to rely totally on ourselves and the fourth is to simply pray and hope that G-d will save us! So what at the end of the day is the real solution? Once again, nothing is new under the sun. The very same Torah tells us that after the great debate amongst the Jews as to how to deal with their quagmire, Moses turned to G-d for an answer. G-d responded simply: “Speak to the people of Israel and tell them to go forward!” What a stroke of Divine genius! G-d was simply telling the people to move forward. "If you continue to do exactly what you’re supposed to, the rest will be taken care of. I know that you are frightened by the sea that stands in your way and threatens to drown you, but that is none of your business. Your job is to pay attention to your destination – Mt Sinai, move in its direction and I will help you get there." The solution to our personal daily challenges is no different. Yes, there seems to be a great sea ahead of us, scaring the living daylights out of most of us. But let’s heed the timeless message of G-d to “move forward”. As long as we wake up every day and do what we are supposed to do, G-d will take care of the rest. That’s a guarantee. Providing of course, that we keep on moving ahead steadily in a positive direction, without giving up on ourselves or our creator! Gut Shabbos.

You don't have to be married to enjoy some of the mystical secrets about marriage. Starting tonight at 8 pm a 6 week course on the Kabbalah of Marriage. You can try out tonight's class for free.

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Jake Goodman otherwise known as Shred Ackerman from YTV's incredible show Max and Shred will be joining this Sunday for our unbelievable Tikkun Olam event. What a role model! Will YOU be there?

Chabad of Markham

Teens involved with good things.. You gotta love them❤️

Beyond Bat Mitzvah

Beyond Bat Mitzvah girls hit the streets of Thornhill on a Mitzvah scavenger hunt! After spreading kindness and brightening up peoples day, they ended up in Tovli Pizza where they learned all about our Matriarch Rachel! Rock on girls!

Chabad of Markham

Women's Talmud Class - Join us tonight 8 pm Topic: The Prohibition of Overburdening the Community and Ourselves.

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Baby Cafe starting this Friday 9:15 - 10:15 am! Bring your little one and join us for a morning of fun & exploration, songs & puppetry, art & stimulation! RSVP 905-886-0420 ext. 227. Don't miss out!

Photos from Chabad of Markham's post

What an incredible evening the Bat Mitzvah Club had at our first program learning about Jewish values & priorities and inner beauty. Thank you to our wonderful mentors Rivka Rapoport, Rivka Cohen, Batsheva Gerber & Shayna Rodkin.

A WEEKLY MESSAGE FROM RABBI PLOTKIN Dear Friends: A little girl walked daily to and from school. Though the weather that morning was questionable and clouds were forming, she made her daily trip to school. As the afternoon progressed, the winds whipped up, along with thunder and lightning. The mother of the little girl felt concerned that her daughter would be frightened as she walked home from school, fearing that the electrical storm might harm her child. Following the roar of thunder, lightning, like a flaming sword would cut through the sky. Full of concern, the mother quickly got in her car and drove along the route to her child's school. As she did so, she saw her little girl walking along, but at each flash of lightning, the child would stop, look up and smile. Another and another were to follow quickly, each with the little girl stopping, looking up and smiling. Finally, the mother rolled down her window and called over her child and asked, "What are you doing?" The child answered: "Smiling, G-d just keeps taking pictures of me." Even the infamous Pharaoh of Egypt, understood very well that the future of the Jewish nation was with the children. That is why even after considerable pressure and many plagues brought on Egypt, he finally consents to allow only the seniors to leave, not the children. He categorically refuses to release the children because he knew very well that without them there would be no future. You can’t build a nation with the “old geezers” alone. That is why Moshe immediately dismisses this latest offer of Pharaoh by saying: “With our children and with our elders shall we go!” I remember once reading a novel interpretation of this: Instead of the conventional translation of this verse - “with our children and elders” - we should translate the original Hebrew more accurately: “through our children and elders”. According to this, Moshe was actually informing Pharaoh not just “who” he was planning to take along, but explaining “how” a small nation of Jews managed to beat the lengthy Egyptian persecution and in what merit were they able to leave against all odds. It was only “through” the youth and the younger generation. The secret of Jewish survival is our youth. Only through the children will we strengthen our future and ensure our continuity into the next generation and beyond. Filling our synagogues with seniors and the older generation alone is wonderful but our future is ultimately dependent on the youth showing up and actively participating in our community. So, the next time you attend a service or community event, check out how many young people and children are in attendance. That should give you a good indication of the extent of its success. And if, G-d forbid, you find that the younger generation is not well represented, quickly take to them the message of this week’s Torah portion that both Moshe and Pharaoh agreed upon: The future of Judaism is dependent on our youth and only they will guarantee our future. With whom will we go? With our children! Gut Shabbos

STARTING TONIGHT! TALMUD CLASS FOR WOMEN with Rabbi Plotkin. Why Does Your Money Become Less when You Count it? Learn the answer tonight at Chabad Markham 8 PM

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VROOOOOM..... AND WE ARE OFF! Get your seat belts fastened and adrenaline pumping because Beyond Bat Mitzvah will be off on a scavenger hunt around Toronto this Tuesday, Jan 12th. This program is for girls in grades 7-8. Call 905 886 0420 for more info and dont miss out!