Rabbi's Blog - Harford Chabad

Remember being a kid and not having to do anything?

Thursday, April 30, 2026 - 10:05 PM

Life is a three-part experience.

The first part is a gift; childhood. You didn't have to work. You didn't have to do anything other than be home. Hopefully your parents were able to provide food, clothing, shelter, and love. They were simply given to you.

At some point, as a teenager or young adult, you started to pave your own path. That path came with bruises and bumps. You had to work through things. You had to show up and do the work.

And hopefully, eventually, you find yourself. You recognize what makes you you. You become comfortable living in the oneness and awareness of who you really are.

This is exactly the experience of Passover, the Omer (the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuos), and Shavuos itself.

On Passover, we were redeemed from Egypt as a gift from G-d. We didn't deserve it. The matzah, made from wheat, flat and simple, represents that humility and unearned kindness.

Then comes the Omer period. The offering brought during these 49 days is made from barley, animal fodder. It represents the work we do on our animal self: the self-absorbed, reactive, impulsive part of us.

On Shavuos, culminating the Omer counting, we bring a wheat offering. The very thing that's forbidden on Passover, leavened bread, becomes the mitzvah on Shavuos. Why? Because by then, we are so in tune with truth and with who we really are that our ego and our intellect are no longer selfish. They become a conduit for G-d and G-dliness.

We get to experience this same three-part journey every single day.

We start the morning with saying Modeh Ani; thanking G-d for gifting us another day. A pure gift, before we've done a thing to earn it. A Passover moment.

Then we say the Shema, the contemplation, the internal work, the soul-searching. That's the Omer offering.

And we end our prayers with the Amidah, standing before G-d in complete oneness with Hashem. That's Shavuos.

Three times a day. Every day.

When we read about the sacrifices and offerings in this week's Torah portion, don't think of them only as ancient rituals that haven't been experienced in thousands of years. Think of them as a guide for life; ways we can sacrifice our internal instincts, our ego, our animal impulses, in order to become one with Hashem.

The Temple may not be standing. But the three-part journey? That's available to each one of us, every single morning.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Kushi Schusterman

You'll have to answer for the pleasures you didn't enjoy

Friday, April 24, 2026 - 12:05 AM

We all desire good things in life. Good food, a comfortable home, a vacation, a promotion at work, and a glass of wine. It would seem that indulging in these physical wants would conflict with and perhaps compromise our spiritual growth. Yet we see that Judaism doesn't ask us to stop wanting any of that; it’s part of being human. The Jerusalem Talmud (did you know there are two Talmuds?) actually says that in the world to come, every person will have to give an accounting for every permitted pleasure they did not enjoy. You will need to explain why you didn't allow yourself to experience those pleasures that you denied yourself.

We live in a reality where "just one more" really isn’t just ONE more. A world where a business trip can quietly turn into a moral crisis. Where the buffet, the phone, the social media, the drink, etc., have a pull that is hard to ignore. In this reality, limiting our access is not a restriction on our freedom; it is the infrastructure to gain freedom.

Don't ignore your physical desires, and don't feel guilty for wanting things. When you engage with the world the correct way, with structure and intention, you're not just “not sinning”, you're revealing G-dliness and elevating that food, that moment, that experience.

Putting aside the phone to enjoy a steak dinner with your family transforms the dinner into intentional family time. A Shabbos meal isn't just “not doing work”, it's actively celebrating Shabbos. Disconnecting for a focused Torah study session, because otherwise that time will evaporate. Deciding in advance what you'll order so you can choose deliberately. These restrictions and limitations are like the scaffolding at a construction site that allows us to build something holy in the first place.

Let’s keep the traditions our grandparents upheld, not only because we're nostalgic, but because they have kept our people elevated for thousands of years. Add in your kosher adherence, put up another mezuzah, light Shabbos candles, make kiddush, and come to shul in the morning.

Enjoy the steak, the Shabbos meal, the vacation, the success, the good life, just put up the fence first! It's not there to keep you small, it's there to keep you you.

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Kushi Schusterman

The counterintuitive secret to wealth

Thursday, April 16, 2026 - 10:36 PM

Have you ever committed to something bigger than your budget?

Maybe you pledged to a building campaign, said you’d cover the cost of a Kiddush, or told a friend “Don’t worry, I’ve got this”, and then quietly wondered how on earth you were going to pull it off.

That moment of stepping up beyond your means is actually the secret to opening new channels of blessing.

In this week’s Torah portion, we discuss tzaraas (a spiritual skin condition) and the purification sacrifices required afterward. Because animal sacrifices are expensive, the Torah has a two-tiered system: a wealthy person brings the more expensive animal sacrifices, whereas a poor person brings sacrifices made of just flour.

What happens if a poor person makes a vow to cover the sacrifice costs for a wealthy person? The Rambam (Maimonides) rules: the moment a poor person accepts the commitment, the Torah now views them as wealthy, and holds them to the wealthy person’s standard.

When we stretch beyond our financial reality to help another Jew something changes in the spiritual accounting world. G-d looks at what that person committed to, not what they currently have, and opens up new channels of blessing to make it happen.

The Rebbe shared a story that his father-in-law (the previous Rebbe), once encouraged someone to fund the printing of a Jewish book. The project’s cost was completely beyond that person’s means. The man accepted and the Previous Rebbe blessed him. At that time (and only a Tzaddik can say this), it wasn’t only beyond the person’s bank account, it was beyond the blessings allocated to him from Above.

After that commitment, the man became wealthy and was able to pay for the entire printing.

Although we need to put in effort, it’s not about the hustling or great timing. It’s making a commitment to something bigger than yourself.

When you sincerely take on a financial responsibility for another person, project, or communal need, even when the math doesn’t add up, you aren’t just spending money irresponsibly, you are creating the channels through which G-d can send you more.

The Rebbe says “G-d makes it possible for that person to carry out their positive resolution and to do so amidst wealth and prosperity.”

The next time you’re tempted to say “I can’t afford to give right now”, maybe ask yourself: can I afford not to?

Wishing you a Shabbat full of blessing and abundance,

Rabbi Kushi Schusterman

P.S. what would you do to open your own new channels of blessing?

What if nothing in your life is ordinary?

Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - 6:19 PM

We concluded the Passover holiday with the Moshiach Meal, a custom instituted by the Baal Shem Tov and strongly emphasized by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. At this meal, we touched on the idea of the Messianic era; how we live in a physical world where pleasure and connection to G-d are not in conflict. The physical world is not an obstacle to G-dliness, it is the point.

This is the kabbalistic concept of Dira B’Tachtonim, G-d’s desire for a dwelling in the lower worlds.

The last day of Passover is the eighth day. Everything in the world exists in quantities of seven. There are seven days of the week, seven notes in a musical scale, and seven colors in a rainbow. Seven represents the natural order. Eight means above nature, beyond the confines of what is typical.

Also, this week’s Torah portion is called Shemini, eight, as it begins with, “And it was on the eighth day.” Eight comes after seven. It emerges from within the natural order and then transcends it. This is not an escape from the physical world; it is the elevation of it.

Typically, a person connecting with G-d begins at the bottom and reaches upward.

Eight is when G-d returns to the person and reveals how He was present the entire time. G-d does not want us to leave the world behind; He wants to be found within it.

Imagine living in a world where everything you see and experience feels like G-d walking with you down the path. Where an obstacle in your way feels like something you signed up for, even asked for.

The Rebbe taught that we are on the cusp of the messianic age. The redemption has begun, we just need to open our eyes. The question is not when it will come, but whether we are training our eyes to see it.

This week tells us that even though the Messianic era has not yet arrived in a fully revealed sense, we can access Moshiach-consciousness right now. Even while living in a physical world, we can learn to see everything, even the things that appear entirely natural, as beyond nature.

What does that actually look like? Here are three practical ways to begin training that lens:

1. Pause Before the Reaction "There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in" - Leonard Cohen
The next time something frustrating or difficult happens, before responding, take one breath and ask, “What is G-d showing me here?” Not to force a false positivity, but to create a crack of space where a different perspective can enter. Over time, that pause becomes a habit, and the habit becomes a lens.

2. End Each Day with One Moment of Revealed Goodness
Before going to sleep, say the Shema. Recognize that G-d is running the world and identify one thing from your day that was clearly good, a conversation, a meal, a moment of connection, and say out loud, “This was G-d.” Then identify one thing that felt hard or neutral, and practice saying, “This was also G-d.” The Baal Shem Tov taught that everything comes from Divine Providence. This exercise trains the mind to mean what it says.

3. Learn Something from the Week’s Parsha Daily
The Rebbe emphasized that we must live with the times. This means not just reading the Torah portion, but making it alive and relevant to our lives. This week’s portion, Shemini, asks you to find the eight in your own life. Look for the place where you are being invited beyond your natural limitations. Spend some time each day learning the Torah portion (harfordchabad.org/dailystudy) and ask, where is this showing up in my life right now?

Have a transcendent Shabbos,

Rabbi Kushi Schusterman