This week we read Parshat Vayetze.

Yakov leaves his hometown and journeys to Charan. On the way, he sleeps, dreaming of a ladder connecting heaven and earth, with angels climbing and descending on it. Hashem  promises that the land upon which he lies will be given to his descendants.

In Charan, Yakov works for his uncle Lavan, tending his sheep. Lavan agrees to give him his younger daughter, Rachel to marry, in return for seven years’ labor. But on the wedding night, Lavan gives him his elder daughter, Leah, instead. Yakov marries Rachel, too, after agreeing to work another seven years for Laban.

Leah gives birth to six sons while Rachel remains barren. Rachel gives Yakov her handmaid, Bilhah, as a wife to bear children , and two more sons are born. Leah does the same with her handmaid, Zilpah, who gives birth to two sons. Finally, Rachel’s prayers are answered and she gives birth to Yosef .

After 14 years, Yakov leaves Lavan behind and goes with his family to settle. On his way, he is met by angels.

The 14th of Kislev marks the wedding anniversary of our beloved Rebbe and Rebbetzin.

The Rebbe's marriage to the daughter of the Sixth Rebbe was, in essence, his marriage to a life of leadership. It is, by extension, the point of connection to the entire generation he was chosen to lead.

While every wedding anniversary is an important personal or familial milestone in the lifecycle, this anniversary is significant for all of us, the Rebbe’s generation. It was about his anniversary that the Rebbe said “This is the day that connected me to you (my chassidim) and you (my chassidim)  to me”

On this day we are especially indebted to the Rebbetzin, who selflessly supported and shared her husband with the world. Whether you consider yourself an ardent disciple of the Rebbe or one who sometimes learns his teachings, we all owe a debt of gratitude to the blessings of G‑d for the day of 14 Kislev, which has forever changed the very course of world Jewry.

This weeks Parsha teaches us a valuable lesson about how careful we must be not to embarrass another. Rachel was supposed to marry Yakov. Yet, she knew that her father was a sly man and would try to trick Yakov. Therefore, she made a secret sign with Yakov so that he would know it is her under the Chuppah.

However, when she saw that her father Lavan was putting Leah in her place she knew that it would cause her sister great shame when asked the “code”. Rachel acted with complete selflessness and gave up her dream life for her sister and told her the secret sign.

If Rachel was able to give up so much just for her sisters honour, we too must have the power.

Every Jew possesses a spark of Moshiach within, The Yechidah, the most essential level of the Neshama. This inner spark of Moshiach is. Most clearly revealed in children who are actually referred to in some sources as “Meshichi".

I was born and grew up in an Orthodox home in the USSR, in the Carpathian Mountains (before this region was known as Hungary). We lived a double life. At home one thing, and in the school something different.

My parents were telling different stories about life before the war and during the war, specifically about the concentration camp. My mother was in two concentration camps. The first one was Auschwitz and the second one was Bergen Belsen.

They arrived in Auschwitz on the second day of Shavuot, and from that day they were counting the days to Shabbat. Every Friday she made two little candles from the margarine she saved and did not eat, and took some threads from the bottom of her dress and lit them. My mother encouraged all the other women in the barrack to do the same, and they all did it, so the barrack was lit every Friday night with these candles. She never lost her faith, and even after the war she was a very religious lady. She claimed that she survived only due to her Shabbat candles.

When in 1972 my parents made aliyah, moved to Israel, they went from house to house to teach the Russian Jews how to pray and how to light Shabbat candles. This was very important to my parents. I was taught from childhood how important Shabbat candles are.

Olga Fin