From the Rabbi

A famous rebbe, Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, founded a Hasidic community in Tiberias, in northern Israel, in 1777. This in itself raised the hopes of many for the coming of the Messiah and the redemption of the Jewish people.

After just a few months, a troublemaker and prankster secretly climbed to the top of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and blew a great blast on his Shofar, signaling that the Messiah had indeed arrived. Word spread quickly; many even stopped working and began making preparations for the messianic era.

When news of the Messiah’s arrival reached Tiberias, Reb Menachem’s Hasidim couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

“Rebbe, the Shofar was sounded on the Mount of Olives! Mashiach is here!”

They expected their rebbe to jump for joy. Instead, they saw him rise slowly and walk to the window. He opened the shutters, stuck his head out the window and took a long, deep breath. Then he pulled his head inside and closed the window.

Turning to his followers, he said: “My friends, I wish it were true, but I am afraid the Mashiach is not yet among us, for I smelled nothing new in the air.”

Though we don’t pretend to have the Messiah among us, we think that when you come to Shir Hadash you will smell (and hear and see and experience) something new.

What does something new smell like? Nothing at all, of course, for something to be new it cannot be compared to anything else. It is unique, different, unlike all else. That describes who we are and what we do: the people who make up Shir Hadash are unique; the way we explore our Judaism is unique; the songs we sing are unique (hence our name, Shir Hadash, which means A New Song).

We look forward to meeting you. We hope you will visit us and see for yourself if there isn’t a new smell in the air, one that perhaps will have you coming back for more.

Lehitraot,
Rabbi David

To contact Rabbi David, click here.

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