58 | JULY 13 • 2023 

MAZEL TOV!

HOW TO SUBMIT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mazel Tov! announcements are welcomed for members of the 
Jewish community. Anniversaries, engagements and weddings 
with a photo (preferably color) can appear at a cost of $18 
each. Births are $10. There is no charge for bar/bat mitzvahs 
or for special birthdays starting at the 90th.
For information, contact Editorial Assistant Sy Manello 
at smanello@thejewishnews.com or (248) 351-5147 for 
information or for a mailed or emailed copy of guidelines.

Nathan-Rosenthal
C

ynthia and Neal 
Rosenthal of Keego 
Harbor and Emily and 
Stuart Nathan of Farmington 
Hills are overjoyed to 
announce the engagement of 
their children Rachael Lauren 
Rosenthal and Andrew Bryan 
Nathan. 
Rachael received her 
degree in advertising 
management from Michigan 
State University and works as 
a senior account executive at Campbell Ewald. Andrew 
received his degree in packaging from Michigan 
State University and works as an associate packaging 
engineer at Kellogg. 
The couple will be wed in fall 2024 in Detroit.

SPIRIT

Action & Reaction 
T

his week’s portion of 
Mattot discusses the war 
that the Jewish nation 
waged against Moav, whose 
women played a major rule in 
enticing Jewish men to sin. 
When the Jewish 
soldiers returned 
from battle, Moses 
rebuked them for not 
following some of his 
instructions. While 
for most people such a 
display of anger would 
not be excessive, for 
Moses, the holiest man 
who ever lived, it was 
deemed inappropriate. 
The Talmud relates that 
when Moses “entered 
the realm of anger he 
also entered the realm 
of forgetfulness.
”
A foundational tenet of Torah 
Judaism is belief in Divine 
Providence. According to the 
Talmud, “Everything is deter-
mined by Hashem aside from 
fear of Hashem.
” The material 
components of life, our financial 
and health situations, our spous-
es, where we will live — these 
are all preordained. Only ethical 
and spiritual decisions are in 
our own hands. Whether you 
fall down the stairs and break 
an arm or win a million dollars 
in the lottery, that was ordained 
from Above. How you react 
when that happens is in your 
realm of choice.
Anger is a result of unhappi-
ness with one’s material wellbe-
ing. It could be due to a business 
deal that went sour, a decline 
in the market, a serious health 
issue. To overcome anger, reflect 
on the fact that all our challeng-
es in life are placed before us by 
the Creator of the universe. The 
Chassidic masters cite passages 

from Tanach that even when 
one is hurt by another person, 
the attitude of the victim should 
be that this was bashert (preor-
dained from Above). The Zohar 
extols Joseph who never sought 
revenge against his brothers 
for kidnapping and selling 
him. Joseph understood that 
it was all orchestrated by 
Hashem for him to prepare 
Egypt for upcoming drought 
and famine and to bring 
the Jewish nation down to 
Egypt.
When one meditates on 
these ideas and lives by these 
principles, there is no place 
for anger in his life. Anger, 
however, is a subtle sign that 
he rejects Divine Providence. 
Hence the comparison of 
anger to idolatry.
This week’s second Torah 
portion, Massei, details the 42 
journeys that the Jewish nation 
made between leaving Egypt 
and arriving at the Jordan River, 
the eastern border of Israel. The 
holy Baal Shem Tov asserts that 
we all embark on 42 journeys 
during our lifetimes. These 
“journeys” refer to challenges 
that the Almighty places before 
us.
This Shabbat, when we com-
plete the Book of Numbers, is 
called Shabbat Chazak. There is 
a custom that upon the comple-
tion of reading an entire book of 
the Torah, the congregation rises 
and proclaims Chazak, Chazak 
Venischazek. Strength! Strength! 
May we be strengthened!”
May we all be blessed with the 
strength to complete our chal-
lenges in life successfully and 
without anger. 

Rabbi Elimelech Silberberg is a rabbi 

at Tugman Bais Chabad Torah Center 

in West Bloomfield.

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi 
Elimelech 
Silberberg

Parshat 

Mattot/

Massei: 

Numbers 

30:2-36:13; 

Jeremiah 

2:4-28, 3:4.

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