Rabbi's weekly Blog - Chabad of Basel

As we drove from Basel to London

Thursday, July 24, 2025 - 2:00 AM

A few years ago, we set out on a pleasant journey in the family car from Basel to London. We boarded the ferry and crossed the English Channel — that stretch of water separating England from the rest of the continent. The children fell asleep as we disembarked onto the roads of London. After about an hour of driving, Mendel, who was six years old at the time, suddenly woke up and asked in alarm: "Daddy, why is everyone driving the wrong way?"

I explained to him that in England, people drive differently. In fact, what seems "backwards" to us is perfectly straight to them — just as our "straight" is their "backwards."

Amused by the conversation, I recalled a favorite story of mine about the madman who stood before a panel of doctors. The doctors had just decided he must be hospitalized in a mental institution — or, as they used to say, “a madhouse.”
The man asked, “Why? Why should I be hospitalized?”
And the doctors answered unanimously: “Because we’ve determined that you are insane!”
To which the man replied: “But in my opinion, it’s exactly the opposite. I think you are the crazy ones, and I am perfectly normal.”
And here comes the line I love so much. The doctors answered: “You might be right. But what can we do? We’re the majority.”

As parents — and in general — we must always remember this. What we see as normal and reasonable may not appear so to someone else. Sometimes, even our children may not see it that way. Sometimes, another person’s “straight” is our “backwards.”

Parshat Masei lists the 42 journeys the Israelites took through the wilderness over forty years. The Baal Shem Tov taught that not only did the Israelites journey then — every Jew goes through 42 journeys in life. Some are long and heavy, others short and light — but journeys, nonetheless.
If you ask me, it’s best to accept that reality — and the sooner, the better.

The more I observe, the clearer it becomes: each person has their own personal journey, their own path that, for them, feels straight and normal — even if that same path may seem “backwards” or strange to someone else.

So what do we do?
Maybe we take a cue from the moment we get off the ferry in Dover, England: we look around, understand that what seems backwards is someone else’s straight, and try our best to merge smoothly into traffic.

Good luck.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zalman Wishedski

Milah b’sela, mishtuka b’trei

Friday, July 18, 2025 - 2:19 AM

There was once a prominent rabbi in American Jewry who had a private audience with the Rebbe. During the meeting, the Rebbe asked him to express his Torah opinion regarding an important matter that was being discussed at the time. The rabbi, who preferred not to voice his opinion, tried to avoid answering by quoting the Talmudic saying from Tractate Megillah: “Amri b’Ma’arava: Milah b’sela, mishtuka b’trei” — “In the West (i.e., in the Land of Israel) they used to say: If a spoken word is worth a coin of one sela, then silence is worth two coins.”

The Rebbe, however, was not prepared to let the matter go and immediately replied with a sharp insight: True, silence earns you two coins — but that means even if you remain silent for a whole hour, you will receive only two coins. Speech, on the other hand, earns you one coin per word — so if you speak many words, you will earn many coins. After an hour of speaking, your purse will be far heavier.

On the Shabbat of Parshat Pinchas, we read the first haftarah of the “Three Weeks,” and this week’s haftarah comes from the Book of Jeremiah. It recounts the story of Jeremiah the Prophet, the prophet of destruction, who was sent to warn the Jewish people and urge them to mend their ways.

With the sincerity and the rich, poetic language characteristic of Biblical narrative, Jeremiah describes how God appointed him as a prophet: “The word of the Lord came to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you; I appointed you a prophet unto the nations.” In simple terms: I know you from before you were born; already then I knew and determined that you would be a prophet to the nations.

But Jeremiah, like Moses before him, tried to refuse, claiming: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am but a youth.” And God answered him — as Jeremiah continues in verse 8 — “Do not fear… for I am with you.”

From that moment on, the mission of Jeremiah the Prophet began — forty-one years before the destruction.

This beautiful and moving story of Jeremiah the Prophet is not just a fascinating piece of history. The Rebbe taught us that everything must have contemporary relevance. He took these verses and applied them to each and every one of us.

God is, in essence, declaring to every individual: You have a mission to fulfill. Use the talents and strengths I have given you and make the world around you a better place. And if you say, “Me? Who am I?!” your Creator will answer: “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you.” I know who you are! I knew you even before you were born! You can do it.

And if you try to refuse and say: “But I am just a youth; how can I possibly deal with the world around me?” your Father in Heaven will say to you: “Do not fear… for I am with you.”

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zalman Wishedski

The curse turned into a blessing

Friday, July 11, 2025 - 8:21 AM

The curse turned into a blessing.

That is the entire story of Parshat Balak.

Now all that remains is to look back and see how many times in our lives moments that seemed like a curse eventually turned into a blessing.

This way, we will know how to handle future ‘curse’ moments with proper balance, knowing that they too may one day turn into a blessing.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Zalmen Wishedski

abundance mindset

Thursday, July 3, 2025 - 3:28 PM

Recently, I’ve been contemplating a lot about the concept of an abundance mindset.

In every good coaching lecture, they talk about it. In every podcast that deals with consciousness and the soul, the topic comes up.

“Live with an abundance mindset,” say the coaches and therapists.

If you live with an abundance mindset, abundance will come to you – and who doesn’t want abundance to come through their gates?

There are even those who promise to teach people how to live with an abundance mindset.

And I, who love mindsets and am fascinated by shifts in consciousness, I’m just trying to understand – what does “an abundance mindset” actually mean?

They told me, “Just think big.” But how can I think big if reality isn’t syncing up?

It reminded me of the story about the man whose late father came to him in a dream and told him he needs to become a Rebbe. The dream wouldn’t leave him alone until he went to his own Rebbe and said: “Rebbe, my father, of blessed memory, won’t let me be. He comes to me in a dream and demands that I become a Rebbe.”

The Rebbe said to him: “Next time your father comes to you in a dream, tell him that instead of coming to you, he should appear in a dream to 300 chassidim and tell them they should be your followers.”

They told me, “Fly business class, buy expensive things, stop calculating every little expense, think abundance.” But how does that align with being a responsible person who knows how to manage his steps wisely?

Actually, I love thinking abundantly, so I thought. Abundantly.

And then I understood something brilliant – an abundance mindset is the opposite of a scarcity mindset. If I understand scarcity mindset, I can understand what abundance mindset is.

So, I thought abundantly about scarcity mindset, and I understood.

Scarcity mindset has nothing to do with one’s actual financial situation. Scarcity mindset doesn’t depend on a bank account. It’s a fixed mindset that says: If I’m not lacking now, I’ll be lacking tomorrow, and if not tomorrow then the next day; in the end, there will be lack. One day it will all run out and may God help. And that’s frightening.

Scarcity mindset can exist even among people with great wealth – if it was ingrained in their hearts sometime in childhood, or perhaps they inherited it entirely, it doesn’t disappear easily. Deep down they are convinced that someday the checks will bounce and everything will collapse.

A person living with a scarcity mindset carries inner fear and anxiety – sometimes hidden, but always accompanying him.

An abundance mindset, then, is the awareness that God is infinite and desires to give abundantly. An abundance mindset is a person who lives with a solid inner faith that everything will be okay. He acts, and works, and plans, but all with a firm belief that things are already good and will become even better.

He doesn’t tell himself, “Yes-yes, no-no,” but rather, “Yes-yes, yes-yes.” And if he encounters a “no,” he smiles and says, “Okay, let’s check where and what didn’t work, and move forward toward the next ‘yes.’”

One who lives with an abundance mindset does not live in fear of the future. He lives with deep knowledge that there is abundance, and abundance will come to him.

I was reminded of this this morning when I studied the daily Chumash with Rashi on the verse, “And the Canaanite, king of Arad, who dwelt in the Negev, heard that Israel was coming by the southern route” (Numbers 21:1).

On the words“by the southern route,” Rashi brings two interpretations:

1. The way of the Negev through which the spies went.

2. the southern route – referring to the great guide traveling ahead of them, which is essentially the Ark of the Covenant – God Himself leading the way.

I recalled a sicha in which the Rebbe explains that the path taken by the spies essentially symbolizes the calculated path of nature, while the path of the great guide symbolizes the path that is essentially walking with complete trust in God.

Is it possible that Rashi is referring here to scarcity mindset versus abundance mindset? That the path of the spies represents living with a scarcity mindset, and the path of the great guide represents living with an abundance mindset?

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Zalman Wishedski