21 Tevet 5771
While the rest of the world is being inundated by water in one form or another (or yet another), Eretz Yisrael is having quite a different experience. Since the beginning of 5771, the six-year-old drought has deepened significantly with only one winter storm to date and fire keeps making the headlines.
Tishrei 5771 : Bnei Brak - 11 Sifrei Torahs Burned in Fire at a Vizhnitz Shul
Kislev 5771 : ISRAEL - Carmel fire is finally under control
Tevet 5771 : Train fire leaves 121 injured
What does it mean? We can look to our prophets for clues.
Yechezkel 22---
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Son of man! The house of Israel has become dross to Me; all of them are copper and tin and iron and lead in the midst of a furnace; dross of silver have they become. ...As they gather silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace to blow fire upon it, to melt it, so shall I gather with My wrath and with My fury, and I shall cast you in and melt you. And I shall gather you, and I shall blow upon you with the fire of My anger, and you will be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so will you be melted in its midst, and you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury upon you."
...Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: "Son of man, say to her: You are a land that is not cleansed; it was not rained upon on the day of fury...."
Zecharia 13:9----
And I will bring the third in fire; and I will refine them as one refines silver, and I will test them as one tests gold. He shall call in My name, and I will respond to him. I said, "He is My people"; and he shall say, "The Lord is my God."
If so, then, this is only the beginning.
28 December 2010
24 December 2010
Parashat Shemot
BS"D
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
PARSHAT SHMOT
18 Tevet 5771/24-25 December 2010
DON'T JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS COVER
"And the child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became a son to her."
If one would have lined up all the important Jews living in Egypt in the time of the exile, all the "Gedolim" - all the members of the "Sanhedrin" - and asked them who would be the redeemer of the Jewish people, who would take us out of Egypt and bring us into the Promised Land, the last one on the list would certainly have been Moshe Rabbenu. Moshe, who not only grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, but at an early age was given the responsibility for running the kingdom, and being that he grew up with the Egyptians - non-Jews, never going to the local Talmud Torah, there certainly were many who questioned his leadership as a Jew, as the redeemer. As we find when he broke up a quarrel between two Jews who said to him, "Who placed you as a leader over us?". And who would have blamed them? He acted and dressed as an Egyptian, but still, he was chosen by Hashem to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt.
David, too, as a youth, was also never consided to be the chosen one. In fact, if you had a daughter you probably would not have let her go out on a date with David. We find that when the prophet Samuel came to the house of Yishai to find the new king of Israel, as instucted by G-d, David was not even considered. In fact, he was so despised by his brothers, that when Samuel came, David was sent out with the flocks. But when all was said and done, it was David who was chosen to lead the Jewish people, as he wrote in the book of Psalms: "The stone which was cast out by the builders became the head of the house."
When King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jewish people to return to their land at the beginning of the Second Temple period, most Jews could not believe that this was G-d's will. How is it possible, they said, that a non-Jew will lead us back to the Holy Land? We are waiting for the son of David to bring us back home. So the great majority did not return. Some years later, Ezra the Scribe went to all the Jewish communities in the exile, encouraging them to return to the Land of Israel. In Djerba, a small island off Tunisia, the Jewish community there told Ezra that it cannot be G-d's will that a non-Jewish king return us to Israel. This, they said, is not the redemption that we have been waiting for. But they were in fact terribly mistaken, and the fact they the Jews did not return to Israel was the cause of us missing our chance to have the Final Redemption.
Some 90 years ago, when Lord Rothschild began to buy up properties in the Land of Israel for Jews to settle, many said that this is not the way of the Redemption; this is not what we have been waiting for. We expect a knock on the door from King David telling us to pack up and to bring us to the Holy Land. The Netziv, who lived at that time, wrote about the people who were complaining of those Jews going to live and redeem the Land, that "who are we to give advice to G-d on how to redeem His people?". They cited the example of how Moshe was raised in the house of Pharaoh - the exact opposite of what one would think the redeemer should be.
Today, too, many raise the concern that the State of Israel is not G-d's will. Certainly, they say, the redemption will not come about through the vote of the U.N. Still, who are we to give advice to the Master of the World on how to redeem His people? When we look at the facts on the ground, we see that the great bulk of Torah learning today is in the Land. Soon, if not already, the majority of the Jewish people will be living here. Only the blind do not see the Redemption unfolding. Jump aboard the Redemption train - it left the station long ago. You don't want not to be on it!
Blessings,
Levi
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kreuser SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
PARSHAT SHMOT
18 Tevet 5771/24-25 December 2010
DON'T JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS COVER
"And the child grew and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became a son to her."
If one would have lined up all the important Jews living in Egypt in the time of the exile, all the "Gedolim" - all the members of the "Sanhedrin" - and asked them who would be the redeemer of the Jewish people, who would take us out of Egypt and bring us into the Promised Land, the last one on the list would certainly have been Moshe Rabbenu. Moshe, who not only grew up in the palace of Pharaoh, but at an early age was given the responsibility for running the kingdom, and being that he grew up with the Egyptians - non-Jews, never going to the local Talmud Torah, there certainly were many who questioned his leadership as a Jew, as the redeemer. As we find when he broke up a quarrel between two Jews who said to him, "Who placed you as a leader over us?". And who would have blamed them? He acted and dressed as an Egyptian, but still, he was chosen by Hashem to lead the Jewish people out of Egypt.
David, too, as a youth, was also never consided to be the chosen one. In fact, if you had a daughter you probably would not have let her go out on a date with David. We find that when the prophet Samuel came to the house of Yishai to find the new king of Israel, as instucted by G-d, David was not even considered. In fact, he was so despised by his brothers, that when Samuel came, David was sent out with the flocks. But when all was said and done, it was David who was chosen to lead the Jewish people, as he wrote in the book of Psalms: "The stone which was cast out by the builders became the head of the house."
When King Cyrus of Persia allowed the Jewish people to return to their land at the beginning of the Second Temple period, most Jews could not believe that this was G-d's will. How is it possible, they said, that a non-Jew will lead us back to the Holy Land? We are waiting for the son of David to bring us back home. So the great majority did not return. Some years later, Ezra the Scribe went to all the Jewish communities in the exile, encouraging them to return to the Land of Israel. In Djerba, a small island off Tunisia, the Jewish community there told Ezra that it cannot be G-d's will that a non-Jewish king return us to Israel. This, they said, is not the redemption that we have been waiting for. But they were in fact terribly mistaken, and the fact they the Jews did not return to Israel was the cause of us missing our chance to have the Final Redemption.
Some 90 years ago, when Lord Rothschild began to buy up properties in the Land of Israel for Jews to settle, many said that this is not the way of the Redemption; this is not what we have been waiting for. We expect a knock on the door from King David telling us to pack up and to bring us to the Holy Land. The Netziv, who lived at that time, wrote about the people who were complaining of those Jews going to live and redeem the Land, that "who are we to give advice to G-d on how to redeem His people?". They cited the example of how Moshe was raised in the house of Pharaoh - the exact opposite of what one would think the redeemer should be.
Today, too, many raise the concern that the State of Israel is not G-d's will. Certainly, they say, the redemption will not come about through the vote of the U.N. Still, who are we to give advice to the Master of the World on how to redeem His people? When we look at the facts on the ground, we see that the great bulk of Torah learning today is in the Land. Soon, if not already, the majority of the Jewish people will be living here. Only the blind do not see the Redemption unfolding. Jump aboard the Redemption train - it left the station long ago. You don't want not to be on it!
Blessings,
Levi
22 December 2010
21 December 2010
2010: The Weather Year That Was
15 Tevet 57712010's world gone wild: Quakes, floods, blizzards
This was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
"It just seemed like it was back-to-back and it came in waves," said Craig Fugate, who heads the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
"The term '100-year event' really lost its meaning this year."
(Continue reading here...)
And it ain't over yet!
CA: Heavy Rainfall Causes Flooding and Evacuations
Snow deepens Europe's Christmas travel misery
20 December 2010
What else have they lied to you about?
14 Tevet 5771When you are a child, you'll believe pretty much anything the adults in your life tell you. That's natural. But, then the day comes when you find out that they lied to you. Oh, not maliciously! They were just preserving a tradition which they inherited from their own parents. It brings them good memories and they simply want you to share in the joy of that ritual, too.
But, it should be a lesson to us all that not everything should be accepted at face value just because it's what we have always done or it's all that we have ever known. Like one man I heard on the radio years ago said about the followers of a false religion: "Could millions of people be wrong?"
Uh, yeah!
There are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world and every one of them believes in error. The vast majority will never be convinced of that, however.What about the 1 billion Hindus?
Or the 330 million Buddhists?
Or dare we ask? What about the 2.1 billion Christians??? 
The Hebrew Israelite prophet Jeremiah wrote (16:19): "The Gentiles shall come to You from the ends of the earth and say, 'Surely our fathers have inherited lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things.' " Despite the best attempts of the most evil people throughout history, the prophet's descendants still live. They number approximately 12 million in a world of almost 7 billion people. I can't show you a picture of their G-D since He has no image and they are forbidden from trying to make one. The world that He created cannot contain Him or express His true essence.
Despite the odds against them and the best efforts of those who would persuade them to abandon their religion for one of the predominant false ones, they have prevailed and faithfully maintained the Truth which He revealed to them through their prophets.
Those who have inherited a pretty package with nothing of substance inside...
...can trade it in at any time for the real deal."And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
17 December 2010
ASARAH B'TEVET
10 Tevet 5771
Today is a fast day. It grieves my heart to walk down the streets of Jerusalem and see the sidewalk cafes full with people eating, drinking and enjoying themselves. How much more must it grieve Hashem's heart, k'viyechol.
It's a bit late in the day, but those in chu"l can still get some use out of this and then there is always next time, sad to say.
Some timely quotes from The Book of Our Heritage by Eliyahu Kitov:
"Rambam writes the following in Hilchos Ta'anis 5: The fast of the tenth of Teves is like the other fasts which were established as means of mourning the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash and Israel's exile. However, the primary purpose of fasting is not grief and mourning, for the distress felt at the time when these events transpired is sufficient. Rather, the primary purpose of the fasts is to inspire people to repent, to bring us to recall the evil deeds of our ancestors as well as our own---deeds which brought them and bring us great travail. By remembering these events we will repent and act properly, as the verse (Vayikra 26.49) states: 'And they shall confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors for the evil that they have done to me.'
Our Sages (Talmud Yerushalmi, Yoma 1) taught: 'Any generation in which the Beit HaMikdash is not rebuilt, is considered as if they had destroyed it.' Every generation has the ability to awaken Divine mercy, to bring Israel salvation from her enemies, to gather the exiles from the places of their dispersion, and to rebuild the Beit haMikdash. How can this be accomplished? By complete repentance and by rectifying the sins of the previous generations. As long as salvation fails to arrive, it is a sign that we have not yet repented for our sins and that we are therefore suffering because of our own trangressions as well as those of our ancestors. It is therefore as if we were delaying the final redemption, and as if we ourselves had caused the destruction.
...The aim of fasting...is to subjugate our evil inclination by restriction of pleasure; to open our hearts and to stir us to repentance and good deeds, through which the gates of Divine mercy might be opened for us....
We read in Chayei Adam (133): 'Therefore, those people who fast, but who spend the day traveling or wasting their time, grasp what is of secondary importance, fasting, and forsake that which is essential, repenting. Nonetheless, repentance alone---without fasting---is insufficient, for it is a positive commandment, declared by the Prophets, to fast on these days.'"
May all your fasts result in complete and sincere repentance. Shabbat shalom.
16 December 2010
AMEN to that!
9 Tevet 5771
Jewish Monetary Law Should be Israeli Law
“If Israel wants to call itself a Jewish state, it has to be about more than just physically housing Jews,” says Rabbi Dr. Ratzon Arusi, the Chief Rabbi of Israel's Yemenit Jewish community and head of an organization that promotes the case for Jewish civil law in the Jewish state. “There has to be Jewish content in the daily life of the state. Otherwise, we have no answer to those who call us racists, giving rights to one group of people over another.”
This past week, the Netzach Yisrael organization, under Rabbi Arusi's leadership, held its 20th Annual World Conference on Monetary Law, discussing and promoting various aspects of Jewish (Halakhic) law on monetary issues. But the conference is more than about just halakhic minutiae, as Rabbi Arusi told Israel National News; it's about promoting Jewish monetary law to be the law of the land.
Jewish Monetary Law Should be Israeli Law
“If Israel wants to call itself a Jewish state, it has to be about more than just physically housing Jews,” says Rabbi Dr. Ratzon Arusi, the Chief Rabbi of Israel's Yemenit Jewish community and head of an organization that promotes the case for Jewish civil law in the Jewish state. “There has to be Jewish content in the daily life of the state. Otherwise, we have no answer to those who call us racists, giving rights to one group of people over another.”
This past week, the Netzach Yisrael organization, under Rabbi Arusi's leadership, held its 20th Annual World Conference on Monetary Law, discussing and promoting various aspects of Jewish (Halakhic) law on monetary issues. But the conference is more than about just halakhic minutiae, as Rabbi Arusi told Israel National News; it's about promoting Jewish monetary law to be the law of the land.
15 December 2010
"That's Despicable"
8 Tevet 5771
It's one of those pitiful Diaspora-mentality attempts to please all of the people all of the time; something which is not only despicable in its own right, but which makes Jews despicable in the eyes of non-Jews.
Chalk it up to my wayward childhood, but I can still hear Daffy Duck saying, "That's despicable!!" with the spit flying, of course. That's the first word that came to mind when I read the publication of the RCA's position on Rav Eliyahu's letter calling for a ban on sales/rental of Jewish homes to non-Jews.
It's one of those pitiful Diaspora-mentality attempts to please all of the people all of the time; something which is not only despicable in its own right, but which makes Jews despicable in the eyes of non-Jews.
I might add that the habit of straddling the fence can result in damage to that part of the anatomy that enables a man to stand up for what is right and true regardless of whether it is palatable to "modern and democratic" (read "Western") sensibilities. Time to come down off that fence before the damage becomes permanent.
12 December 2010
Heaven is very unhappy with us
6 Tevet 5771
And I'm sure that's an understatement. We didn't do teshuva over the drought, so Hashem sought to get our attention with the fire. Instead of teshuva, everyone started pointing fingers in every direction.
This is the third time this season that I have watched gray clouds pass over without a drop of moisture falling. This is the second day that we are suffering from a dust storm in Jerusalem. Tree limbs are falling, garbage is flying around the streets and the air smells and tastes nasty. According to the weather radar, rain is falling in the North and is on its way here, but the wind is doing a lot of damage all around the country.
A tourist was swept off a rock by a wave and a ship sunk in the Mediterranean. In both Yafo and Caesarea ports, damage was done to piers and breakers. Electricity is out in many places and trees are being uprooted.
These are not rains of blessing. If we don't get our act together soon, I fear for what is coming next. It appears that Hashem's patience has worn out.
And I'm sure that's an understatement. We didn't do teshuva over the drought, so Hashem sought to get our attention with the fire. Instead of teshuva, everyone started pointing fingers in every direction.
This is the third time this season that I have watched gray clouds pass over without a drop of moisture falling. This is the second day that we are suffering from a dust storm in Jerusalem. Tree limbs are falling, garbage is flying around the streets and the air smells and tastes nasty. According to the weather radar, rain is falling in the North and is on its way here, but the wind is doing a lot of damage all around the country.
A tourist was swept off a rock by a wave and a ship sunk in the Mediterranean. In both Yafo and Caesarea ports, damage was done to piers and breakers. Electricity is out in many places and trees are being uprooted.
These are not rains of blessing. If we don't get our act together soon, I fear for what is coming next. It appears that Hashem's patience has worn out.
08 December 2010
Another take on the Carmel fire
2 Tevet 5771
It's a week since the Carmel fire broke out on the first day of Hanukah. We are right to look for the message in such events because our tradition tells us that nothing happens in the world except to bring a message to Am Yisrael. How much more so when it occurs in conjunction with a holiday and in the Land of Israel.
The most obvious connection, as many bloggers pointed out days ago, is to the classic Tanach tale of the showdown between Eliyahu HaNavi and the prophets of Ba'al. (Melachim 1, Perek 18) Then, as now, the land was suffering from a drought because of our many sins. Just last week, at the behest of the chief rabbis, we fasted and sought Hashem's face to relieve the drought and send us rain. Just when the drought was uppermost in our minds, comes the fire.
Regardless of the agent employed, the fire breaking out on Har Carmel was the hand of G-d. The faithful recognize that and understand that teshuva is required, but for what specific sin? Many opinions were offered in the immediate aftermath. But, to know definitively, I think we have to stay true to the story of Eliyahu HaNavi---the prophet who will usher in the messianic age.
"And Eliyahu drew near to all the people and said, 'Until when are you hopping between two ideas? If the Lord is God, go after Him, and if the Baal, go after him.' And the people did not answer him a word."
It was not until the people saw the phenomenal miracle displayed before their very eyes that they were finally moved to say: "Hashem, hu ha'elokim! Hashem, He is G-d!" Shortly thereafter, the rains came and the drought was ended.
In addition to drought, the Carmel and fire, there is the aspect of Hanukah since the fire broke out on the very first night of the holiday. This was not a coincidence. It was by Divine design. With what cry by the High Priest Mattityahu was the war against the Greeks launched---the war which was to preserve Judaism's unique character? "Mi l'Hashem alai! Whoever is for Hashem, come with me!"
In both cases, the people have mixed foreign elements into its worship of the Almighty and are then urged to purge out those foreign elements and remain faithful to Hashem alone. Mattityahu's cry is reminiscent of another. In the wake of the Golden Calf affair (Shemot, Perek 32), we see Moshe Rabeinu saying these same words, "Mi l'Hashem alai! Whoever is for Hashem, come with me!" Again, the call is for separation from foreign elements which have been erroneously introduced into the Torah-pure worship of G-d Almighty.
The list of sins, especially those of individuals, which we could lay at the root of this tragedy is sadly long, but I believe the evidence points to a national sin for which we all share some guilt and that is the unholy mixing of Torah and Western values. Although certainly not restricted to the political arena, this can be seen very clearly in the idea of Israel being "both a Jewish and a democratic state."
We have a prime example in today's headlines. Fifty rabbis have come out publicly with a psak halacha that Jews may not sell or rent homes to non-Jews in the Land of Israel.
"Racism originated in the Torah," said Rabbi Yosef Scheinen, who heads the Ashdod Yeshiva. "The land of Israel is designated for the people of Israel. This is what the Holy One Blessed Be He intended and that is what the [sage] Rashi interpreted."
He added that he did not see the move as racist so much as segregationist. "The world is so big and the State of Israel is small, that God intended it for the people of Israel and the whole world covets it. That is the injustice."
Here are some expected reactions:
1) Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi said during the discussion, "I am certain that the number of rabbis will rise. Since the Arabs are a Semitic people – this is anti-Semitism. These rabbis are skinheads acting against the Arabs."
2) President Shimon Peres slammed the rabbis who recently issued a ban on selling or renting apartments to Arabs. "The rabbis' ruling creates an ethical and fundamental crisis in Israel related to Israel's essence as a Jewish and democratic country," the president said.
And after this one, can anyone still question why Haifa was threatened?
3) Haifa Mayor Yonah Yahav termed the ruling the "real desecration of God's name. It is bringing hatred against those with whom we have chosen to live our lives."
The ongoing drought, the Carmel fire and the holiday of Hanukah come to remind us that we have a choice to make. Either the ba'alim or Hashem and His Torah; either the Golden Calf or Hashem and His Torah; either Hellenism or Judaism; either democracy or a Jewish state. Unholy mixtures are forbidden to us.
It's a week since the Carmel fire broke out on the first day of Hanukah. We are right to look for the message in such events because our tradition tells us that nothing happens in the world except to bring a message to Am Yisrael. How much more so when it occurs in conjunction with a holiday and in the Land of Israel.
The most obvious connection, as many bloggers pointed out days ago, is to the classic Tanach tale of the showdown between Eliyahu HaNavi and the prophets of Ba'al. (Melachim 1, Perek 18) Then, as now, the land was suffering from a drought because of our many sins. Just last week, at the behest of the chief rabbis, we fasted and sought Hashem's face to relieve the drought and send us rain. Just when the drought was uppermost in our minds, comes the fire.
Regardless of the agent employed, the fire breaking out on Har Carmel was the hand of G-d. The faithful recognize that and understand that teshuva is required, but for what specific sin? Many opinions were offered in the immediate aftermath. But, to know definitively, I think we have to stay true to the story of Eliyahu HaNavi---the prophet who will usher in the messianic age.
"And Eliyahu drew near to all the people and said, 'Until when are you hopping between two ideas? If the Lord is God, go after Him, and if the Baal, go after him.' And the people did not answer him a word."
It was not until the people saw the phenomenal miracle displayed before their very eyes that they were finally moved to say: "Hashem, hu ha'elokim! Hashem, He is G-d!" Shortly thereafter, the rains came and the drought was ended.
In addition to drought, the Carmel and fire, there is the aspect of Hanukah since the fire broke out on the very first night of the holiday. This was not a coincidence. It was by Divine design. With what cry by the High Priest Mattityahu was the war against the Greeks launched---the war which was to preserve Judaism's unique character? "Mi l'Hashem alai! Whoever is for Hashem, come with me!"
In both cases, the people have mixed foreign elements into its worship of the Almighty and are then urged to purge out those foreign elements and remain faithful to Hashem alone. Mattityahu's cry is reminiscent of another. In the wake of the Golden Calf affair (Shemot, Perek 32), we see Moshe Rabeinu saying these same words, "Mi l'Hashem alai! Whoever is for Hashem, come with me!" Again, the call is for separation from foreign elements which have been erroneously introduced into the Torah-pure worship of G-d Almighty.
The list of sins, especially those of individuals, which we could lay at the root of this tragedy is sadly long, but I believe the evidence points to a national sin for which we all share some guilt and that is the unholy mixing of Torah and Western values. Although certainly not restricted to the political arena, this can be seen very clearly in the idea of Israel being "both a Jewish and a democratic state."
We have a prime example in today's headlines. Fifty rabbis have come out publicly with a psak halacha that Jews may not sell or rent homes to non-Jews in the Land of Israel.
"Racism originated in the Torah," said Rabbi Yosef Scheinen, who heads the Ashdod Yeshiva. "The land of Israel is designated for the people of Israel. This is what the Holy One Blessed Be He intended and that is what the [sage] Rashi interpreted."
He added that he did not see the move as racist so much as segregationist. "The world is so big and the State of Israel is small, that God intended it for the people of Israel and the whole world covets it. That is the injustice."
Here are some expected reactions:
1) Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi said during the discussion, "I am certain that the number of rabbis will rise. Since the Arabs are a Semitic people – this is anti-Semitism. These rabbis are skinheads acting against the Arabs."
2) President Shimon Peres slammed the rabbis who recently issued a ban on selling or renting apartments to Arabs. "The rabbis' ruling creates an ethical and fundamental crisis in Israel related to Israel's essence as a Jewish and democratic country," the president said.
And after this one, can anyone still question why Haifa was threatened?
3) Haifa Mayor Yonah Yahav termed the ruling the "real desecration of God's name. It is bringing hatred against those with whom we have chosen to live our lives."
The ongoing drought, the Carmel fire and the holiday of Hanukah come to remind us that we have a choice to make. Either the ba'alim or Hashem and His Torah; either the Golden Calf or Hashem and His Torah; either Hellenism or Judaism; either democracy or a Jewish state. Unholy mixtures are forbidden to us.
To do teshuva on a personal level, begin to purge your mind, your heart and your soul of foreign influences, ideas and practices (i.e., "foreign" to the Torah). The autistics call this Olam HaSheker. On a national level, I call on all my brothers and sisters living in Eretz Yisrael to do everything in their power to support the rabbis who take a public stand for Hashem and His Torah, His people and the Land of Israel.
In their ruling, the rabbis called on the religious community to voice support for Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, who could face trial for incitement against Arabs for initiating the move against renting to gentiles."
How entirely appropriate it is that it was Rabbi Eliyahu who initiated this action.
In the prefatory prayer said before Hanukah candlelighting, we say...
"...Purify our hearts to Your service, distance us from evil traits and foreign thoughts, may our eyes see Your return to Zion with mercy...."
ZOT HANUKAH!
How entirely appropriate it is that it was Rabbi Eliyahu who initiated this action.
In the prefatory prayer said before Hanukah candlelighting, we say...
"...Purify our hearts to Your service, distance us from evil traits and foreign thoughts, may our eyes see Your return to Zion with mercy...."
ZOT HANUKAH!
29 November 2010
"...the 9/11 of world diplomacy..."
23 Kislev 5771
That's what some are saying about the Wikileaks revelations.
My comments:
Davka at Hanukah, the time when the Light of 36 (Hanukah candles) begins to shine...
Two powerful signs of redemption---
1) The World of Truth is overtaking the World of Lies
2) Another prop holding up the Evil Empire has been knocked out from under it.
Foreign Policy Meltdown
Leaked Cables Reveal True US Worldview
That's what some are saying about the Wikileaks revelations.
My comments:
Davka at Hanukah, the time when the Light of 36 (Hanukah candles) begins to shine...
Two powerful signs of redemption---
1) The World of Truth is overtaking the World of Lies
2) Another prop holding up the Evil Empire has been knocked out from under it.
Foreign Policy Meltdown
Leaked Cables Reveal True US Worldview
28 November 2010
24 November 2010
Prepare for the next contraction...
18 Kislev 5771
Toward the end of labor, just before the birth, it can get rather rough.
CHINA, RUSSIA QUIT DOLLAR
US SENDS CARRIER TO YELLOW SEA
ISRAEL PREPARING FOR HIZBULLAH COUP IN LEBANON
Toward the end of labor, just before the birth, it can get rather rough.
CHINA, RUSSIA QUIT DOLLAR
US SENDS CARRIER TO YELLOW SEA
ISRAEL PREPARING FOR HIZBULLAH COUP IN LEBANON
22 November 2010
The Summer that Never Ends
15 Kislev 5771
It's ten days to Hanukah and I'm still wearing my summer clothes; still running the fans at home and the a/c at work. No need even for a sweater at night. The sun is still bearing down and there's not a cloud in the sky!
By this time, it should be feeling more like autumn---a little nippy. Usually the windows frost up in the heat of the Hanukah candles' flames.
I feel like a brown, shriveled, potted plant.
HASHEM, please send us the winter rains already!!!
It's ten days to Hanukah and I'm still wearing my summer clothes; still running the fans at home and the a/c at work. No need even for a sweater at night. The sun is still bearing down and there's not a cloud in the sky!
By this time, it should be feeling more like autumn---a little nippy. Usually the windows frost up in the heat of the Hanukah candles' flames.
I feel like a brown, shriveled, potted plant.
HASHEM, please send us the winter rains already!!!
21 November 2010
We all know that it's coming
14 Kislev 5771NATO planning 'integral' role in enforcing Mideast peace deal
LISBON - NATO will play an integral role in enforcing a Middle East peace deal, but will not play a direct role in reaching that agreement, the alliance's secretary general told Haaretz this weekend.
"If a Middle East peace agreement is reached, an international military force will be needed to monitor and implement it," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
...Rasmussen will visit Israel in February of the coming year.
Or at the end of the next three-month construction freeze when Obama has said, if the Israelis and Palestinians have not yet agreed to borders, he will set the borders for them.
Interestingly, this brings us to Purim Katan, a month before Purim/Pesach, an auspicious time for redemption!
19 November 2010
Timely Torah
PARSHAT VAYISHLACH
13 Kislev 5771/19-20 November 2010
NO FREE LUNCHES
"He selected a minchah for his brother Esau from what he had with him.These he gave to his servents. He said to his servants: When my brother Esau encounters you, he will ask to whom does it belong? You must reply: It belongs to your servant Jacob, It is a minchah to my master Esau. Jacob said to himself, I will win him over with the minchah that is being sent ahead". (Gen. 32)
The question that must be asked is: Was Jacob's conduct proper? Was it fitting for Jacob, the man of truth, to call his evil brother Esau master, bow down to him countless times and offer up such a large gift?
We certainly see an admonishment of Jacob's actions in the teachings of our holy rabbis. The Midrash brings down the following: "As a muddied fountain and a polluted spring, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. G-d said to Jacob: 'Esau was walking on his way and you sent him a message, saying "your servant Jacob says". You degraded yourself and called Esau 'my lord' eight times. I swear that I shall make eight of his offspring precede yours as king."
The Rashbam, on his commentery to the Bible, writes that "Jacob was smitten and ended up with a limp, because G-d had made a promise to him while he was fleeing that He would be with him. So, too, all who refuse to take G-d's path, or who take an opposing path, are punished."
Rabbi Kahane HY"D brings down in his work the Jewish Idea that "Jacob took the minchah, our gift to G-d, representing man's lowliness before his Maker and his faith and truth in Him, and he transferred these sentiments to Esau. This reflected great lack of faith in G-d."
Even though as a rule we are forbidden to flatter an evil person, as the Talmud teaches us: "Every individual in whom there is flattery will fall into Hell," and "Whoever flatters the wicked will eventually fall into his hand" - there is an exception, as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish ruled from a statement made by Jacob to Esau (Genesis 33: 10): "For therefore I have seen your face, and it is as though I had seen the face of an angel." Tosafos explains this apparent contradiction by asserting that it is permitted to flatter the wicked in a dangerous, life-threatening situation.
Jacob's life was certainly in danger from the evil one, Esau, and he felt he had to overwhelm him with gifts, in spite of the fact that Esau's intent was to kill Jacob. For as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish taught us: It is a well-known law that Easu hates Jacob.
Throughout history, the conflict between the two brothers continues. Esau, the red one, represented by Rome, Amalek, the west, Russia and the U.S., has always set its goal to annihilate the descendents of Jacob, one way or another. So we find it interesting that it is now Esau who is giving over a minchah gift to Jacob! It was reported this week that the U.S. wants to give Israel 20 fighter jets for free, a three billion dollar deal! These are the same jet fighters which Israel had ordered from the US a long time ago and that have been held up time and time again, and are now being given to the Jewish state free of charge... Has Esau finally found his brotherly love? Has he done teshuva and wants to make right by his brother, Jacob? Undoubtedly not!
Rather, as we all know, there are no free lunches; with this minchah gift of Esau there come strings attached, many strings, strings to choke the life out of the state of Israel. Make Israel consent to permanent borders with the Palestinians and thus cut right through the heartland of Israel, thereby causing her destruction. Without proper borders to defend the Land, what use will the fighter planes serve? [Note: Delivery is to take place ten years from now.] It is important for us to remember that no matter how essential the planes are for the security of the country, the bottom line is that "some come with chariots and some with horses, but we come with the Name of the Living G-d."
Blessings,
Levi Hazan
13 Kislev 5771/19-20 November 2010
NO FREE LUNCHES
"He selected a minchah for his brother Esau from what he had with him.These he gave to his servents. He said to his servants: When my brother Esau encounters you, he will ask to whom does it belong? You must reply: It belongs to your servant Jacob, It is a minchah to my master Esau. Jacob said to himself, I will win him over with the minchah that is being sent ahead". (Gen. 32)
The question that must be asked is: Was Jacob's conduct proper? Was it fitting for Jacob, the man of truth, to call his evil brother Esau master, bow down to him countless times and offer up such a large gift?
We certainly see an admonishment of Jacob's actions in the teachings of our holy rabbis. The Midrash brings down the following: "As a muddied fountain and a polluted spring, so is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. G-d said to Jacob: 'Esau was walking on his way and you sent him a message, saying "your servant Jacob says". You degraded yourself and called Esau 'my lord' eight times. I swear that I shall make eight of his offspring precede yours as king."
The Rashbam, on his commentery to the Bible, writes that "Jacob was smitten and ended up with a limp, because G-d had made a promise to him while he was fleeing that He would be with him. So, too, all who refuse to take G-d's path, or who take an opposing path, are punished."
Rabbi Kahane HY"D brings down in his work the Jewish Idea that "Jacob took the minchah, our gift to G-d, representing man's lowliness before his Maker and his faith and truth in Him, and he transferred these sentiments to Esau. This reflected great lack of faith in G-d."
Even though as a rule we are forbidden to flatter an evil person, as the Talmud teaches us: "Every individual in whom there is flattery will fall into Hell," and "Whoever flatters the wicked will eventually fall into his hand" - there is an exception, as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish ruled from a statement made by Jacob to Esau (Genesis 33: 10): "For therefore I have seen your face, and it is as though I had seen the face of an angel." Tosafos explains this apparent contradiction by asserting that it is permitted to flatter the wicked in a dangerous, life-threatening situation.
Jacob's life was certainly in danger from the evil one, Esau, and he felt he had to overwhelm him with gifts, in spite of the fact that Esau's intent was to kill Jacob. For as Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish taught us: It is a well-known law that Easu hates Jacob.
Throughout history, the conflict between the two brothers continues. Esau, the red one, represented by Rome, Amalek, the west, Russia and the U.S., has always set its goal to annihilate the descendents of Jacob, one way or another. So we find it interesting that it is now Esau who is giving over a minchah gift to Jacob! It was reported this week that the U.S. wants to give Israel 20 fighter jets for free, a three billion dollar deal! These are the same jet fighters which Israel had ordered from the US a long time ago and that have been held up time and time again, and are now being given to the Jewish state free of charge... Has Esau finally found his brotherly love? Has he done teshuva and wants to make right by his brother, Jacob? Undoubtedly not!
Rather, as we all know, there are no free lunches; with this minchah gift of Esau there come strings attached, many strings, strings to choke the life out of the state of Israel. Make Israel consent to permanent borders with the Palestinians and thus cut right through the heartland of Israel, thereby causing her destruction. Without proper borders to defend the Land, what use will the fighter planes serve? [Note: Delivery is to take place ten years from now.] It is important for us to remember that no matter how essential the planes are for the security of the country, the bottom line is that "some come with chariots and some with horses, but we come with the Name of the Living G-d."
Blessings,
Levi Hazan
18 November 2010
Collision Coming
12 Kislev 5771
I saw a very interesting video recently. I'm no fan of Glen Beck---not by a long shot---but, he did a three-part interview with a couple of guys about the souring US economy and where it all might lead. Part 3 was the most interesting. Without realizing it at all, he and his guests began describing the entree to the Days of Mashiach.
You see, there is going to be a New World Order, but it's not just exactly what most people think. And you know all those baseless antisemitic accusations that the Jews are taking over the world? Well....
The prophet Ovadiah wrote:
"And on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall inherit those who inherited them. And the house of Jacob shall be fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau shall become stubble, and they shall ignite them and consume them, and the house of Esau shall have no survivors, for the Lord has spoken."
The Maharal wrote extensively in his book The Mitzvah Candle about the four world empires and how Rome/Esau would fall to Israel/Yaaqov.
For Glen Beck's guest, financial analyst Damon Vickers, this might not be so traumatic. He said:
"I would say that in spite of the fact of a new world order being potentially a scary thing, that there’s a growing awareness that all of us are a part of one planet, one community, and that we’re moving towards oneness, whether it’s facebook or whether it’s …, the society wants to be closer to one another."
For his other guest, novelist Brad Thor, it will likely be quite traumatic as he discovers that America is not the Promised Land and Americans are not the Chosen People.
“I believe in American exceptionalism. I agree [that communities should come together] in the context of America, and what makes America great and why American exceptionalism exists. It’s something that’s incredibly important for the rest of the world to follow US, not for us to be part of some one world, new world order."
According to people like this, American values are the only ones that count and everyone else in the world must be brought into line with those values, which I might add are NOT Jewish values!
Take this for example:
US State Dept: Israel Similar to Iran, Iraq and Sudan
The U.S. State Department under Secretary Hillary Clinton claims that Israel violates religious freedom at the same level as Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and China.
Israel is listed among 30 nations...where “violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy"...due to the emphasis of the Jewish State on maintaining the status quo with regard to respect for Jewish legal standards.
Do you sense a collision coming between Israel and the US? I do. Actually, it has already started---over the construction freeze. The days of little Israel meekly bowing to the the will of Mighty America are nearly done. If you know how to listen, you will see that the whole world is talking about Days of Mashiach and it is almost here. No longer will Israel be under subjugation by any of the nations and we will be completely free to live according to every word of our Holy Torah!
Quickly, in our days!!
I saw a very interesting video recently. I'm no fan of Glen Beck---not by a long shot---but, he did a three-part interview with a couple of guys about the souring US economy and where it all might lead. Part 3 was the most interesting. Without realizing it at all, he and his guests began describing the entree to the Days of Mashiach.
You see, there is going to be a New World Order, but it's not just exactly what most people think. And you know all those baseless antisemitic accusations that the Jews are taking over the world? Well....
The prophet Ovadiah wrote:
"And on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant, and it shall be holy, and the house of Jacob shall inherit those who inherited them. And the house of Jacob shall be fire and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau shall become stubble, and they shall ignite them and consume them, and the house of Esau shall have no survivors, for the Lord has spoken."
The Maharal wrote extensively in his book The Mitzvah Candle about the four world empires and how Rome/Esau would fall to Israel/Yaaqov.
For Glen Beck's guest, financial analyst Damon Vickers, this might not be so traumatic. He said:
"I would say that in spite of the fact of a new world order being potentially a scary thing, that there’s a growing awareness that all of us are a part of one planet, one community, and that we’re moving towards oneness, whether it’s facebook or whether it’s …, the society wants to be closer to one another."
For his other guest, novelist Brad Thor, it will likely be quite traumatic as he discovers that America is not the Promised Land and Americans are not the Chosen People.
“I believe in American exceptionalism. I agree [that communities should come together] in the context of America, and what makes America great and why American exceptionalism exists. It’s something that’s incredibly important for the rest of the world to follow US, not for us to be part of some one world, new world order."
According to people like this, American values are the only ones that count and everyone else in the world must be brought into line with those values, which I might add are NOT Jewish values!
Take this for example:
US State Dept: Israel Similar to Iran, Iraq and Sudan
The U.S. State Department under Secretary Hillary Clinton claims that Israel violates religious freedom at the same level as Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and China.
Israel is listed among 30 nations...where “violations of religious freedom have been noteworthy"...due to the emphasis of the Jewish State on maintaining the status quo with regard to respect for Jewish legal standards.
Do you sense a collision coming between Israel and the US? I do. Actually, it has already started---over the construction freeze. The days of little Israel meekly bowing to the the will of Mighty America are nearly done. If you know how to listen, you will see that the whole world is talking about Days of Mashiach and it is almost here. No longer will Israel be under subjugation by any of the nations and we will be completely free to live according to every word of our Holy Torah!
Quickly, in our days!!
17 November 2010
"Hang in There!"
10 Kislev 5771
Ever hear that adage, "when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on"? I love that one, as well as the image of the kitten hanging onto the rope for dear life. I think of it often.
Do you get the feeling that "there's a whole lot of (spiritual) shakin' goin' on" and it's getting harder and harder to hold tight? I've noticed a downward trend lately and I just wondered if it was the same by you. Everything seems to be sliding downhill. Women who once wore only skirts have taken up wearing pants. Those who previously wore pants now wear shorts. Those who minimally covered their hair have stopped covering it altogether. And a lot of people are leaving Eretz Yisrael.
Welcome to chevlei Mashiach and the process of birur. Nobody ever said it would be easy. But there is a guaranteed reward for your faithfulness. NEVER GIVE UP!!
Ever hear that adage, "when you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on"? I love that one, as well as the image of the kitten hanging onto the rope for dear life. I think of it often.
Do you get the feeling that "there's a whole lot of (spiritual) shakin' goin' on" and it's getting harder and harder to hold tight? I've noticed a downward trend lately and I just wondered if it was the same by you. Everything seems to be sliding downhill. Women who once wore only skirts have taken up wearing pants. Those who previously wore pants now wear shorts. Those who minimally covered their hair have stopped covering it altogether. And a lot of people are leaving Eretz Yisrael.
Welcome to chevlei Mashiach and the process of birur. Nobody ever said it would be easy. But there is a guaranteed reward for your faithfulness. NEVER GIVE UP!!
11 November 2010
Sifting for the Truth
4 Kislev 5771
I am constantly amazed at how many people swallow whatever garbage they are fed by the mainstream media. Even in spite of what their own eyes should be telling them! I didn't think the subject of the "mystery missile" off the coast of California, near Los Angeles, was necessarily worth a blog post until a co-worker brought it up a short while ago and asked me if I had heard about it. I'm like, what do you mean? that missile? And she goes no, it wasn't a missile, the news said it was a plane. Right then and there, I knew I had to blog it.
I saw somewhere that there were like a thousand stories on Google about this event. As soon as it happened, looking at where it originated, I told someone that I'd bet it was a message from an Iranian sub. After the research that I did about Iranian military capabilities for my story and noting the Debka report about the US surrounding Iran, it is not unimaginable. The US has been expecting something like this along its Atlantic coast, but not the Pacific. I'll bet it woke a lot of people up.
There have been confirmations from all over that, in fact, this did not originate with the US military. They lamely claimed, well, if you look at a jet's contrail from a certain angle, it can look like it's coming from the ground to the sky.
Uh-uh. Watch the video of it below. A jet flies smoothly across the sky, this thing wobbles like a rocket headed for space. Besides that the military experts know what they are looking at and they also say, not only that it is a missile, but that it was likely sub-launched.
Think about the ramifications for a bit.
***************
UPDATE @ 6:25 pm: Or then again, maybe it was CHINA.
I am constantly amazed at how many people swallow whatever garbage they are fed by the mainstream media. Even in spite of what their own eyes should be telling them! I didn't think the subject of the "mystery missile" off the coast of California, near Los Angeles, was necessarily worth a blog post until a co-worker brought it up a short while ago and asked me if I had heard about it. I'm like, what do you mean? that missile? And she goes no, it wasn't a missile, the news said it was a plane. Right then and there, I knew I had to blog it.
I saw somewhere that there were like a thousand stories on Google about this event. As soon as it happened, looking at where it originated, I told someone that I'd bet it was a message from an Iranian sub. After the research that I did about Iranian military capabilities for my story and noting the Debka report about the US surrounding Iran, it is not unimaginable. The US has been expecting something like this along its Atlantic coast, but not the Pacific. I'll bet it woke a lot of people up.
There have been confirmations from all over that, in fact, this did not originate with the US military. They lamely claimed, well, if you look at a jet's contrail from a certain angle, it can look like it's coming from the ground to the sky.
Uh-uh. Watch the video of it below. A jet flies smoothly across the sky, this thing wobbles like a rocket headed for space. Besides that the military experts know what they are looking at and they also say, not only that it is a missile, but that it was likely sub-launched.
Think about the ramifications for a bit.
***************
UPDATE @ 6:25 pm: Or then again, maybe it was CHINA.
07 November 2010
Leaving Egypt
B"H
30 Marcheshvan 5771
"...not since the days of the Pharaohs or the more ludicrous Roman Emperors has a head of state travelled in such pomp and expensive grandeur as the President of the United States of America."
30 Marcheshvan 5771
"...not since the days of the Pharaohs or the more ludicrous Roman Emperors has a head of state travelled in such pomp and expensive grandeur as the President of the United States of America."
This observation comes from a report in Britain's Daily Mail. Interesting that the writer would mention the leaders of the two exiles most embodied by America today. This blog and others have made this connection before.
This is an important and timely reminder that we are all still in exile and that America is just a reincarnation of ancient Egypt. And it will meet the same end---utter devastation and destruction. And the Jews who are connected to it, both physically and emotionally, will, G-d forbid! be lost there and never journey out to enter the Promised Land. (The exceptions are those souls who recognize it for what it is, but are trapped there and are begging Hashem every day to redeem them from there.)
America is a hateful and heartless enemy that only pretends to be righteous---like a chazir pretends to be kosher. Another holocaust is taking place there even as I write this. How many Jewish souls have been lost to the silent holocaust of rampant assimilation? And today, it is even being exported to every corner of the world, including Eretz Yisrael!! Hashem have mercy and deliver us NOW!!
This is an important and timely reminder that we are all still in exile and that America is just a reincarnation of ancient Egypt. And it will meet the same end---utter devastation and destruction. And the Jews who are connected to it, both physically and emotionally, will, G-d forbid! be lost there and never journey out to enter the Promised Land. (The exceptions are those souls who recognize it for what it is, but are trapped there and are begging Hashem every day to redeem them from there.)
America is a hateful and heartless enemy that only pretends to be righteous---like a chazir pretends to be kosher. Another holocaust is taking place there even as I write this. How many Jewish souls have been lost to the silent holocaust of rampant assimilation? And today, it is even being exported to every corner of the world, including Eretz Yisrael!! Hashem have mercy and deliver us NOW!!
24 October 2010
The Autistics Speak the Truth
16 Cheshvan 5771Many people deride the words of the autistics and falsely accuse them of having set dates which never materialized. I have read all the messages and I've never seen a particular date quoted. They just keep saying "soon." And in the scheme of 6,000 years, even ten years is "soon."
Now, you can listen to their messages in English.
The two most recent ones are A Small Peak into the Future and Mass Destruction. Their words have the ring of truth and are entirely consistent with the Tanakh and other Jewish sources. We ignore them to our own detriment.
21 October 2010
The Battle for Jerusalem
14 Cheshvan 5771
We are so close to the complete redemption that now even an ordinary TV program like 60 Minutes sounds like prophecy!!
Zecharya 12.2-3: "Behold! I am making Jerusalem a cup of weakness for all the peoples around,.... And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather about it."
Leslie Stahl's now (in)famous report on Ir David (The City of David) opens with the following words: "Jerusalem ... is one of the most difficult issues at the negotiating table." (Of course, the first lie of this piece of anti-Israel propaganda also occurs in the first sentence---that Jerusalem is holy to basically everyone!) Further on in the report, she actually uses the words "stumbling block" to refer to the Jerusalem issue.
Unfortunately, Israel is still being represented by people who don't properly present her case. Did anyone bother to inform Leslie Stahl that the Arab village she is calling Silwan was a barren hillside until the Yemenite Jews came and built the homes which are currently located there in the late 19th century? And that it didn't become an Arab village until a pogrom and threatened massacre drove the Jews away in fear for their lives in the 1930's? The Arabs moved in and stole those properties. The words "Will you murder and also inherit?" come to my mind.
But maybe they did and she or her team conveniently edited it out of the final cut. Who knows? But I can tell you right now that no bare-headed, bare-faced Mayor of Jerusalem who sees only the economic benefits of turning Holy Jerusalem into a theme-park for tourists will be able to prevent what is quickly coming upon us, Hashem have mercy!
Are you wondering where we go from here? Well, here is a clue...
Report: PA to Leave Talks
A report in the New York Times Thursday said that the Palestinian Authority has decided to halt talks with Israel, and will instead seek recognition of a Palestinian state in all of Judea and Samaria from international institutions. According to the report, the PA will not only seek recognition of a state from the UN, but will seek to cement its legality through the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and and will seek recognition from countries that are signatories to the Geneva Convention.
If they make good on this threat, will the world refuse them? Can the world refuse them? And if they so rule and we do not cooperate, how long will it be before the foreign troops arrive to enforce the edict?
But it will all be good!! The status quo is intolerable---that Jerusalem should stand so degraded, the Moslems on the Mount and the city being turned into a theme park where the residents are reduced to bit players to be filmed and photographed while they try to carry out their daily lives. We want more than that; much more!
The storm clouds are now gathering. Suddenly, the storm itself will rage with wind and rain and clean the filth away. Then the sun will come out and shine radiantly upon G-d's lovely palace---the Holy City.
Oh, one more thing that I can't allow to pass. If you view the video below, you will hear Leslie Stahl say that according to Clinton's plan, the parts of the city which were predominantly in Jewish hands were to remain Jewish while those which were predominantly Arab would constitute the new Palestinian capital and "That meant that for the most part, East Jerusalem would go to the Arabs."
Not at all! This outright lie depends on the general public who hears it to know nothing whatever of geographic Jerusalem. Did you ever hear of Ramat Eshkol? French Hill with the Hebrew University and Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital? Ramot? Ramat Shlomo? Talpiot? Gilo? THE OLD CITY WITH THE JEWISH QUARTER, THE WESTERN WALL AND THE TEMPLE MOUNT!?? (And no doubt other places which I have forgotten for the moment.)
Chevre, hundreds of thousands of Jews live in these neighborhoods which were built already for many decades or as in the case of the Old City, for thousands of years! AND THEY ARE ALL LOCATED IN THE AREA WHICH THE WORLD CLAIMS IS "MOSTLY ARAB EAST JERUSALEM."
Oy!! And now I read that Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson (they certainly need no introductions) are here in Jerusalem inspecting the situation as I write this.
AND ...this just in! Hague Hears Arguments on PA State Status . Wow! That was fast! I have a feeling events are going to start going a whole lot faster as the coming days go by.
Shabbat shalom!
We are so close to the complete redemption that now even an ordinary TV program like 60 Minutes sounds like prophecy!!
Zecharya 12.2-3: "Behold! I am making Jerusalem a cup of weakness for all the peoples around,.... And it shall come to pass on that day that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all peoples; all who bear it shall be gashed, and all the nations of the earth shall gather about it."
Leslie Stahl's now (in)famous report on Ir David (The City of David) opens with the following words: "Jerusalem ... is one of the most difficult issues at the negotiating table." (Of course, the first lie of this piece of anti-Israel propaganda also occurs in the first sentence---that Jerusalem is holy to basically everyone!) Further on in the report, she actually uses the words "stumbling block" to refer to the Jerusalem issue.
Unfortunately, Israel is still being represented by people who don't properly present her case. Did anyone bother to inform Leslie Stahl that the Arab village she is calling Silwan was a barren hillside until the Yemenite Jews came and built the homes which are currently located there in the late 19th century? And that it didn't become an Arab village until a pogrom and threatened massacre drove the Jews away in fear for their lives in the 1930's? The Arabs moved in and stole those properties. The words "Will you murder and also inherit?" come to my mind.
But maybe they did and she or her team conveniently edited it out of the final cut. Who knows? But I can tell you right now that no bare-headed, bare-faced Mayor of Jerusalem who sees only the economic benefits of turning Holy Jerusalem into a theme-park for tourists will be able to prevent what is quickly coming upon us, Hashem have mercy!
Are you wondering where we go from here? Well, here is a clue...
Report: PA to Leave Talks
A report in the New York Times Thursday said that the Palestinian Authority has decided to halt talks with Israel, and will instead seek recognition of a Palestinian state in all of Judea and Samaria from international institutions. According to the report, the PA will not only seek recognition of a state from the UN, but will seek to cement its legality through the International Court of Justice in the Hague, and and will seek recognition from countries that are signatories to the Geneva Convention.
If they make good on this threat, will the world refuse them? Can the world refuse them? And if they so rule and we do not cooperate, how long will it be before the foreign troops arrive to enforce the edict?
But it will all be good!! The status quo is intolerable---that Jerusalem should stand so degraded, the Moslems on the Mount and the city being turned into a theme park where the residents are reduced to bit players to be filmed and photographed while they try to carry out their daily lives. We want more than that; much more!
The storm clouds are now gathering. Suddenly, the storm itself will rage with wind and rain and clean the filth away. Then the sun will come out and shine radiantly upon G-d's lovely palace---the Holy City.
Oh, one more thing that I can't allow to pass. If you view the video below, you will hear Leslie Stahl say that according to Clinton's plan, the parts of the city which were predominantly in Jewish hands were to remain Jewish while those which were predominantly Arab would constitute the new Palestinian capital and "That meant that for the most part, East Jerusalem would go to the Arabs."
Not at all! This outright lie depends on the general public who hears it to know nothing whatever of geographic Jerusalem. Did you ever hear of Ramat Eshkol? French Hill with the Hebrew University and Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital? Ramot? Ramat Shlomo? Talpiot? Gilo? THE OLD CITY WITH THE JEWISH QUARTER, THE WESTERN WALL AND THE TEMPLE MOUNT!?? (And no doubt other places which I have forgotten for the moment.)
Chevre, hundreds of thousands of Jews live in these neighborhoods which were built already for many decades or as in the case of the Old City, for thousands of years! AND THEY ARE ALL LOCATED IN THE AREA WHICH THE WORLD CLAIMS IS "MOSTLY ARAB EAST JERUSALEM."
Oy!! And now I read that Jimmy Carter and Mary Robinson (they certainly need no introductions) are here in Jerusalem inspecting the situation as I write this.
AND ...this just in! Hague Hears Arguments on PA State Status . Wow! That was fast! I have a feeling events are going to start going a whole lot faster as the coming days go by.
Shabbat shalom!
20 October 2010
Important Report by Jewish Israel
13 Cheshvan 5771I'll be so happy when we will no longer have to warn others to beware of the wolves in sheep's clothing amongst Am Yisrael.
Fallen apple breaks interfaith fence
"…By the end of his paper, Rabbi Riskin surprised me by pleading for religious pluralism in which there is one God and the names YHVH, Allah, the Trinity, Buddha all reflect one reality. All ritual, images, statues, and representations serve the same Divine force. God only cares about morality and the forms of worship are incidental. The rainbow metaphor and its explanation seems like a paraphrase of the famed pluralist John Hick’s rainbow of faiths."
"…Rabbi Riskin concludes with an acceptance of the Pauline understanding of Abraham as the covenant of faith. He views Christianity as entirely within the Noahide laws and as reconciled with Judaism."
(Read the report in its entirety by clicking on the title above.)
19 October 2010
14th Annual Rabinfest
If you're not Israeli, you may not be aware of what happens at this time of year. True to the schizophrenic nature of modern Israeli society, the Rabinites can not make up their minds upon which date they want to commemorate Yitzhak Rabin's assassination---the Hebrew or the Gregorian calendar date. So they begin on whichever date comes first and continue until the second.This year, that means 11 Cheshvan (20 October) through 4 November. Enough is enough! Unless and until someone is brave enough to expose the actual truth.
Peres: I kissed Rabin goodbye
..."From the foots (sic) of Mount Sinai to the slopes of Rabin Square, one commandment stands high throughout all generations: Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not kill a person. Thou shall not kill an idea," Peres said at the start of his speech.
"The murder is a crime which must not be forgiven or forgotten. We are holding a memorial evening because we must fight forgetfulness. Such forgetfulness is the enemy of man. It's also puts democracy in danger."
Like I said..."RABINFEST." Fifteen years and still counting.
18 October 2010
17 October 2010
How many ways can I say it?
The Jews (some of us anyway) are fighting a war on two fronts. We're fighting a "Love" War with Eisav and a "Hate" War with Yishmael. The Xians want to absorb us and the Muslims want to obliterate us. But make no mistake! The "Love" War also comes from a place of deep hatred. The "love" is all pretend. As long as the Jew is groveling before the Xian, he'll never see it, but the moment he stands up and says, "Thanks, but no thanks" and insists on remaining a proud Jew, then the face changes, just like Lavan's did toward our father Yaaqov. As our sages said, "It's a law. Eisav hates Ya'aqov."Jews who make friendships with Eisav and invite them into their homes and praise them are traitors to their people and our tradition. Be they Greeks, Romans, Brits or Xian "Zionists," they are the enemy and consorting with the enemy in a time of war is treason. If you don't think it's that starkly true, then you are infected with the assimilation virus and are not seeing and thinking like a Torah-true Jew.
John Hagee, a xian evangelist who has become rich misleading countless people into a false, idolatrous religion, presents himself as a great "friend" of Israel and Jews. He would not hesitate to "lead" any Jew who approached him to turn his back on the Torah and embrace a belief in his false messiah. Out of the millions he collects from duping poor clueless goyim, he shares some of the ill-gotten gains with his Jewish buddies, making them partners in his crimes against humanity. Too strong a statement for you? Again, I say, check your assimilation meter and see if you are not under the influence of Western "pc" thinking.
To feed people religious poison and lead them astray from the ONE G-D is a crime against humanity!! And all you Jews consorting with the enemy, taking the money as if it's your due and somehow salving your conscience.... Well, what more can I say? With your bechira, you'll laugh off everything I'm saying to you and go on your merry way. But I will just remind you: There is a Judge and there is a Judgment.
*******************
John Hagee Ministries Israel Gift Recipients 2010
Nefesh B’Nefesh $1 million
Migdal Ohr $500,000
Jewish Agency for Israel $450,000
Ashdod Emergency Medical Center $400,000
Barzilai Medical Center $400,000
Bikur Cholim Hospital $400,000
Laniado Hospital $400,000
Netanya College $400,000
Or Movement $300,000
Ben Yakir Youth Village $250,000
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee $250,000
Kiryat Yam Absorption Center $250,000
Ohr Torah Stone $250,000
Save a Child’s Heart Foundation $250,000
Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity $250,000
Avukat Or $200,000
Gush Katif $200,000
Yeshivat Hesder at Akko $200,000
Afikim Family Enrichment Centers $150,000
Gush Etzion $150,000
Council of Young Israel Rabbis in Israel $150,000
Leo Baeck Education Center $100,000
Ben-Gurion University $100,000
Bikur V’Ezras Cholim $100,000
Eretz Nehederet $100,000
Just One Life $100,000
Meir Panim $100,000
One Family Fund $100,000
Orr Shalom $100,000
Shurat Hadin Israel Law Center $100,000
Women’s International Zionist Organization $100,000
Eshel Yerushalayim $75,000
Leket Israel $75,000
Hadadi Center for Breast Cancer Survivors $50,000
Israel Emergency Aid Fund $50,000
Israel-Help in Kiryat Gat $50,000
Koby Mandell Foundation $50,000
Nativ $50,000
Or L’Doron $50,000
Jewish Federation of Greater Houston $250,000
TOTAL GIFTS $8.5 million
15 October 2010
King Mashiach
Well, it won't be "President" Mashiach sitting on David's throne! Are you a rebel or a loyalist? Find out by visiting Mashiach's Wife
14 October 2010
"Lech Lecha"
The Kumah organization which promotes aliyah to Eretz Yisrael has made available free on their website an English translation of "a short and little-known book by kabbalist Rabbi Mordechai Atiyah." It's called "Lech Lecha" and it "expounds on the tremendous merit of making Aliyah – and the misfortune of those who will not."
You can read more about it here and download a copy of the booklet here. Following are some excerpts:
"...those who dilly-dally and refrain from coming to the Land, and explain that they are waiting for the Messiah, are making a basic error. For one who believes in the Messiah and truly awaits him must do so in the Land of Israel. This is just like one who waits for a king must get there a few hours early in order to get a good spot, and to show honor to the king by waiting for him; he should not wait in his own house, causing the king to arrive first and have to wait for people to show up."
"...Whoever confidently views himself as a citizen of a foreign country is living in error, misleading himself and others, and bringing evil upon himself and his descendants. Come and see what the Gaon Yaavetz wrote in his commentary on the Siddur:
'...And do not think of ever settling outside the Land, G-d forbid. For this was the sin of our forefathers that led to a 'weeping for generations' - the sin of rebuffing the Land. It was this sin that caused us such suffering throughout the generations, with nary an opportunity to live in serenity.' "
"...those pious people who fear the word of G-d and are careful in the performance of His commandments, must understand that learning Torah outside the Land strengthens our enemies and those who wish us harm. On the other hand, learning Torah here in the Land of Israel strengthens the forces of sanctity and the Divine Presence, ...."
Shabbat Shalom!
You can read more about it here and download a copy of the booklet here. Following are some excerpts:
"...those who dilly-dally and refrain from coming to the Land, and explain that they are waiting for the Messiah, are making a basic error. For one who believes in the Messiah and truly awaits him must do so in the Land of Israel. This is just like one who waits for a king must get there a few hours early in order to get a good spot, and to show honor to the king by waiting for him; he should not wait in his own house, causing the king to arrive first and have to wait for people to show up."
"...Whoever confidently views himself as a citizen of a foreign country is living in error, misleading himself and others, and bringing evil upon himself and his descendants. Come and see what the Gaon Yaavetz wrote in his commentary on the Siddur:
'...And do not think of ever settling outside the Land, G-d forbid. For this was the sin of our forefathers that led to a 'weeping for generations' - the sin of rebuffing the Land. It was this sin that caused us such suffering throughout the generations, with nary an opportunity to live in serenity.' "
"...those pious people who fear the word of G-d and are careful in the performance of His commandments, must understand that learning Torah outside the Land strengthens our enemies and those who wish us harm. On the other hand, learning Torah here in the Land of Israel strengthens the forces of sanctity and the Divine Presence, ...."
Shabbat Shalom!
10 October 2010
By the word of two witnesses
Like in the days of Noah....
When something is brought to my attention and before I even turn around, it comes at me again from a completely different direction, I sit up and take notice. To me, it's like the testimony of two witnesses confirming the truth of a matter.
BUT ... the Third War would be different from the first two. During the first two wars the Angel of Death was given permission to go after tzaddikim as well as others. We know in retrospect what that meant; we know what happened seventy years ago. But in the Third War, before the coming of Moshiach, the Angel of Death will have no power over those who cling with all their strength to G-d and His Torah! Those who know that there is no other Power beside Him, those who understand the total emptiness of the surrounding culture, will live through the Third War and into the Age of Moshiach ben Dovid!
Does not the story of Noah illustrate precisely that point? There is no getting around it. There is only one ticket for survival! We must very soberly learn the appropriate lessons. If we are not made afraid by the fate of Noah's world, then we are not getting the message.
I was reading the latest newsletter from Roy Neuberger and in it he says the following:
I heard the words of Rabbi Mattisyahu Salamon Shlita"h in which he described the Chofetz Chaim's account of what would take place before the coming of Moshiach. There would be three wars. (Of course, all we need is teshuva to enable Moshiach to come peacefully! But otherwise....) The First World War was War Number One. The Second World War, which the Chofetz Chaim predicted before his death, was War Number Two. Then, he said, there would be an interval, followed by a Third War, after which Moshiach would arrive.
I heard the words of Rabbi Mattisyahu Salamon Shlita"h in which he described the Chofetz Chaim's account of what would take place before the coming of Moshiach. There would be three wars. (Of course, all we need is teshuva to enable Moshiach to come peacefully! But otherwise....) The First World War was War Number One. The Second World War, which the Chofetz Chaim predicted before his death, was War Number Two. Then, he said, there would be an interval, followed by a Third War, after which Moshiach would arrive.
BUT ... the Third War would be different from the first two. During the first two wars the Angel of Death was given permission to go after tzaddikim as well as others. We know in retrospect what that meant; we know what happened seventy years ago. But in the Third War, before the coming of Moshiach, the Angel of Death will have no power over those who cling with all their strength to G-d and His Torah! Those who know that there is no other Power beside Him, those who understand the total emptiness of the surrounding culture, will live through the Third War and into the Age of Moshiach ben Dovid!
Does not the story of Noah illustrate precisely that point? There is no getting around it. There is only one ticket for survival! We must very soberly learn the appropriate lessons. If we are not made afraid by the fate of Noah's world, then we are not getting the message.
Then, I saw that a new message had been posted from the autistic children at Messages from Heaven and this is what I read there:
(Translated and paraphrased) ...This time, it won't be like it was in the Shoah when Hashem took the righteous along with the wicked. This time it will be a clarification. It will be decided from Shamayim, who will survive and who won't. It will be very clear....
Right now, our job is to cleanse ourselves from all impurities, to do complete teshuva, to perfect our middot, to separate ourselves from evil, disconnect from all attachments to the world of sheker and prepare ourselves to be fit to survive and enter into Days of Mashiach. Hold fast to your faith in HKB"H and in His promise to send us Mashiach Tzidkeinu and to redeem us completely!
Every day, we are one day closer to the new reality and that means we have one day less to prepare ourselves. Make the most of the time we have left.
05 October 2010
Coming to Europe: "Worst Winter in a Thousand Years"
The image at left is something out of one of my worst nightmares. (I grew up in a tornado-prone area of the United States.) Five tornados at once! It happened "just a kilometer out at sea from the port town of Novorossiysk" in Russia towards the end of August when they were having all that heat and fires.Well, now, record cold is being forecast.
Coldest winter in 1,000 years on its way
After the record heat wave this summer, Russia's weather seems to have acquired a taste for the extreme.
Forecasters say this winter could be the coldest Europe has seen in the last 1,000 years.
The change is reportedly connected with the speed of the Gulf Stream, which has shrunk in half in just the last couple of years. Polish scientists say that it means the stream will not be able to compensate for the cold from the Arctic winds. According to them, when the stream is completely stopped, a new Ice Age will begin in Europe.
22 September 2010
My Thoughts on Erev Sukkot 5771
14 Tishrei 5771
Today, I was thinking about how we really are in the midst of a redemptive process. Recently, I read a story about the British Mandate period---how they wouldn't let the immigrants land here and then they were gone and we had Jewish sovereignty over Eretz Yisrael and now all the immigrants we want (and many we don't want) can come at will.
I was reading about how the British wouldn't let Jews blow the shofar at the conclusion of Yom Kippur at the Kotel and then we lost Yerushalayim to Jordan and couldn't get to the Kotel at all for nineteen years.
Then we got Yerushalayim back and we can do whatever we want at the Kotel, but we in essence lost the Temple Mount.
Just as surely as we have been making this steady progress toward complete redemption, so the Temple Mount will one day be back in our hands as well and we will see the Third Temple built on its holy site and we will bring our offerings up to Hashem three times a year---at Pesach, at Shavuot and at Sukkot! That time is not very far off at all.
21 September 2010
Better Late than Never
Just found this in my inbox from Rav Nachman Kahana. A few days late, but still worth the read...
BS"D Yom Kippur 5771
The year 5771 has begun, but it’s yet too early to judge if it entered as a lamb or a lion - time will tell. The alphabetical symbols for the numerals 5771 are:
תשע"א
which, in my mind, serves as a double acrostic. The first is:
תהא שנת עלייה ארצה
May this year be one of mass aliya to our land. The second acrostic will come later.
But for now, the first will serve perfectly to express my blessings to all my brothers and sisters that HaShem should bless them with desire and ability to close the historical circle on their families’ personal 2000 year exile and come home.
Dear friends: The following story is probably familiar to you from previous writings, but I repeat it here because its lesson should not be forgotten.
There was once a man who sought absolute truth, and it was his habit in every place to ask if anyone there knew the truth of life?
One townsman replied that when he was a young child, his father told him that on the mountain lived a woman who knew the truth. The man ascended the mountain where he saw a woman standing before a cave. She was the ugliest person he had ever seen. Her age could have easily been 100 or 120. Any beauty which might have been hers was long ago lost, for she was a pitiful sight. He asked her, "Are you the woman who knows the truth? She replied that she was the personification of truth in the world. The young man was so enraptured by the woman's wisdom and revelations on every subject. After several months, he informed her that he must return to civilization.
She agreed, and when he was about to leave, she said to the young man, "Remember to tell everyone that I am young and beautiful."
This story comes to teach us that often it is difficult (if not almost impossible) to face the blatant truth, but in our attempts to soften the sting, we often pervert the absolute truth.
Yom Kippur is "pay-up" time. During the year, HaShem "slackens the leash" to permit us a degree of freedom to choose our way in life. But then, comes Yom Kippur and we are required to confess our mistakes and request forgiveness. A common illustration of this is your local supermarket. You enter, pushing a cart into which you are free to place any ridiculous assortment of items - and neither the manager nor any one of the staff will criticize or limit your choices. But at some point, you will stand before the cashier and remove each item - one by one - and pay!
When I will stand before HaShem on this Yom Kippur, as I have done in previous ones, I will employ the three sided triangle of teshuva: vidui (confession), charata (regret) and kabala le’atid (resolutions not to repeat these sins). But within the unfortunate totality of my shortcomings, I can truthfully state before the Almighty that I never denied the truth of the Torah, nor have I ever acted in any way that could be construed as negating one iota of the written or oral Torah.
Unfortunately, this claim cannot be made by people in the galut. Indeed, the more observant and the more erudite the individual, the greater is the degree of denial of the basic concepts of the Torah. And when taken to its logical extreme, their conduct has life threatening implications for the Jews in Eretz Yisrael.
I will explain.
The fanatical, homicidal adherents of the Moslem religion, together with many other peoples and nations, demand that we withdraw from the Temple Mount. They point to the two imposing Moslem buildings on the Mount - the Golden Dome and the Al Aksa Mosque - each over 1000 years old; and conclude that we have no legitimate claim over the Mount. Their claim is corroborated by the historical fact that for 2000 years the Jewish presence in the Holy City was either sparse or non-existent.
The reply of observant Jews is that HaShem, Creator of heaven and earth, presented the Mount solely to the Jewish nation to be the eternal site of His holy temples - those of the past and the one in the future.
The same fanatical, homicidal adherents of the Moslem religion, together with many other peoples and nations, demand that we withdraw from the major areas of Biblical Eretz Yisrael, such as Yerushalayim, Shechem, Chevron, Bet-Lechem and Yericho in favor of a ragtag, unaffiliated, disengaged rabble who came to Eretz Yisrael 100 years ago to find work, and were artificially welded together under the name "Palestinians" by the leftist Israeli press with the compliance and endorsement of foreign gentile factors.
They point to areas which were Arab villages in the past and are today kibbutzim or moshavot.
The reply of observant Jews is that HaShem, Creator of heaven and earth, presented the land solely to the Jewish nation to be our eternal, sanctified homeland.
The fanatical, homicidal adherents of the Moslem religion, together with many other peoples and nations, claim that we Israelis are the last vestiges of imperialism in the world, demanding that each one of us return to his country of origin, and restore the land to its rightful owners - the Bedouin, the murderous Chamas and Chizballa, and Persia-Iran.
The reply of observant Jews is that HaShem, Creator of heaven and earth, presented this land solely to the Jewish nation to be our eternal sanctified homeland.
The claims of the gentile and our God-centered retort are stated in Rashi’s first commentary to the Chumash (Book of Beraishit). There are no surprises here. The Torah opens with the episode of creation in order to announce to the world - in every generation - that HaShem created all, so it is His right to do with the entire creation whatever He wishes. And it is His expressed wish that the entire Holy Land be the sole possession of the Jewish nation.
This is our tradition, our heritage, our belief and our hope. HaShem has presented this great gift to the Jewish people, and we are commanded to establish here a God-centered society based on Halacha, as expressed in the written Torah and expounded by the oral Torah.
Now, if your father presented you with a gift of a huge, fully-furnished mansion, with the latest model, silver-plated limousine in the driveway, with an olympic-sized swimming pool and two tennis courts in the back - would you not say "thank you" and move in?
If you would not move in, nor drive the car nor take advantage of any of the great luxuries, what would your father or the neighbors conclude?
The obvious ones are that either you don’t particularly value the gifts, or you harbor great animosity towards the giver. The third possibility of insanity is never far behind.
Je accuse! The message that resounds today to the gentile ear from any and every observant Jew in the galut, who casually or not casually dismisses the historic opportunity to rebuild our national-religious life in Eretz Yisrael is that the Jew does not value the gift (the Land) or he does not value the giver (Hashem). There is no escaping this conclusion.
The enemies of Israel have picked it up very quickly and it has emboldened them to attack, murder, destroy and plan for the liquidation of the Jewish presence in the Holy Land.
If learned rabbis, with hundreds of students, and Grand Rabbis with thousands of disciples stay away from Eretz Yisrael, then the land is obviously not an essential part of Jewish tradition. Hence the Jews who are here have no disclaimers to counter the historical facts of the Moslem and we are usurpers of land that does not belong to us, because the only real legitimate claim we have is based on the Almighty’s gift to us of this land.
Had religious Jews come here en mass then world history would be today radically different. We would have today a religious government, and many of our internal problems and strife would be eliminated.
But because of some scratch in the brain, religious Jews in the galut have adopted the irrational, even Christian oriented (but comfortable), belief that HaShem opened wide the gates of the Holy Land to invite the Arabs, Druze, Beduins, Christians etc., while His chosen people will have to wait for the Mashiach.
I am so embarrassed whenever I hear a ben Torah from the galut expressing this idea. But I am mortified and humiliated to learn that he is quoting in the name of his spiritual mentor.
To return to the opening part of this message that deals with the second acrostic of
תשע"א
I suggest the following:
תהא שנת עבודת א-לוקים
meaning: May this year be one of serving the Almighty
The two acrostics complement each other. The first designates this year as one of great aliya to Eretz Yisrael, and the second designates the year to one of serving Hashem.
The Gemara (Ketuvot 110b) states that a Jew who lives outside of Eretz Yisrael is considered as if he worships idolatry.
May this coming year bring about a great wave of teshuva, when millions of Jews cease to worship idolatry as they return home to Eretz Yisrael.
Gemar Chatima Tova
Nachman Kahana
BS"D Yom Kippur 5771
The year 5771 has begun, but it’s yet too early to judge if it entered as a lamb or a lion - time will tell. The alphabetical symbols for the numerals 5771 are:
תשע"א
which, in my mind, serves as a double acrostic. The first is:
תהא שנת עלייה ארצה
May this year be one of mass aliya to our land. The second acrostic will come later.
But for now, the first will serve perfectly to express my blessings to all my brothers and sisters that HaShem should bless them with desire and ability to close the historical circle on their families’ personal 2000 year exile and come home.
Dear friends: The following story is probably familiar to you from previous writings, but I repeat it here because its lesson should not be forgotten.
There was once a man who sought absolute truth, and it was his habit in every place to ask if anyone there knew the truth of life?
One townsman replied that when he was a young child, his father told him that on the mountain lived a woman who knew the truth. The man ascended the mountain where he saw a woman standing before a cave. She was the ugliest person he had ever seen. Her age could have easily been 100 or 120. Any beauty which might have been hers was long ago lost, for she was a pitiful sight. He asked her, "Are you the woman who knows the truth? She replied that she was the personification of truth in the world. The young man was so enraptured by the woman's wisdom and revelations on every subject. After several months, he informed her that he must return to civilization.
She agreed, and when he was about to leave, she said to the young man, "Remember to tell everyone that I am young and beautiful."
This story comes to teach us that often it is difficult (if not almost impossible) to face the blatant truth, but in our attempts to soften the sting, we often pervert the absolute truth.
Yom Kippur is "pay-up" time. During the year, HaShem "slackens the leash" to permit us a degree of freedom to choose our way in life. But then, comes Yom Kippur and we are required to confess our mistakes and request forgiveness. A common illustration of this is your local supermarket. You enter, pushing a cart into which you are free to place any ridiculous assortment of items - and neither the manager nor any one of the staff will criticize or limit your choices. But at some point, you will stand before the cashier and remove each item - one by one - and pay!
When I will stand before HaShem on this Yom Kippur, as I have done in previous ones, I will employ the three sided triangle of teshuva: vidui (confession), charata (regret) and kabala le’atid (resolutions not to repeat these sins). But within the unfortunate totality of my shortcomings, I can truthfully state before the Almighty that I never denied the truth of the Torah, nor have I ever acted in any way that could be construed as negating one iota of the written or oral Torah.
Unfortunately, this claim cannot be made by people in the galut. Indeed, the more observant and the more erudite the individual, the greater is the degree of denial of the basic concepts of the Torah. And when taken to its logical extreme, their conduct has life threatening implications for the Jews in Eretz Yisrael.
I will explain.
The fanatical, homicidal adherents of the Moslem religion, together with many other peoples and nations, demand that we withdraw from the Temple Mount. They point to the two imposing Moslem buildings on the Mount - the Golden Dome and the Al Aksa Mosque - each over 1000 years old; and conclude that we have no legitimate claim over the Mount. Their claim is corroborated by the historical fact that for 2000 years the Jewish presence in the Holy City was either sparse or non-existent.
The reply of observant Jews is that HaShem, Creator of heaven and earth, presented the Mount solely to the Jewish nation to be the eternal site of His holy temples - those of the past and the one in the future.
The same fanatical, homicidal adherents of the Moslem religion, together with many other peoples and nations, demand that we withdraw from the major areas of Biblical Eretz Yisrael, such as Yerushalayim, Shechem, Chevron, Bet-Lechem and Yericho in favor of a ragtag, unaffiliated, disengaged rabble who came to Eretz Yisrael 100 years ago to find work, and were artificially welded together under the name "Palestinians" by the leftist Israeli press with the compliance and endorsement of foreign gentile factors.
They point to areas which were Arab villages in the past and are today kibbutzim or moshavot.
The reply of observant Jews is that HaShem, Creator of heaven and earth, presented the land solely to the Jewish nation to be our eternal, sanctified homeland.
The fanatical, homicidal adherents of the Moslem religion, together with many other peoples and nations, claim that we Israelis are the last vestiges of imperialism in the world, demanding that each one of us return to his country of origin, and restore the land to its rightful owners - the Bedouin, the murderous Chamas and Chizballa, and Persia-Iran.
The reply of observant Jews is that HaShem, Creator of heaven and earth, presented this land solely to the Jewish nation to be our eternal sanctified homeland.
The claims of the gentile and our God-centered retort are stated in Rashi’s first commentary to the Chumash (Book of Beraishit). There are no surprises here. The Torah opens with the episode of creation in order to announce to the world - in every generation - that HaShem created all, so it is His right to do with the entire creation whatever He wishes. And it is His expressed wish that the entire Holy Land be the sole possession of the Jewish nation.
This is our tradition, our heritage, our belief and our hope. HaShem has presented this great gift to the Jewish people, and we are commanded to establish here a God-centered society based on Halacha, as expressed in the written Torah and expounded by the oral Torah.
Now, if your father presented you with a gift of a huge, fully-furnished mansion, with the latest model, silver-plated limousine in the driveway, with an olympic-sized swimming pool and two tennis courts in the back - would you not say "thank you" and move in?
If you would not move in, nor drive the car nor take advantage of any of the great luxuries, what would your father or the neighbors conclude?
The obvious ones are that either you don’t particularly value the gifts, or you harbor great animosity towards the giver. The third possibility of insanity is never far behind.
Je accuse! The message that resounds today to the gentile ear from any and every observant Jew in the galut, who casually or not casually dismisses the historic opportunity to rebuild our national-religious life in Eretz Yisrael is that the Jew does not value the gift (the Land) or he does not value the giver (Hashem). There is no escaping this conclusion.
The enemies of Israel have picked it up very quickly and it has emboldened them to attack, murder, destroy and plan for the liquidation of the Jewish presence in the Holy Land.
If learned rabbis, with hundreds of students, and Grand Rabbis with thousands of disciples stay away from Eretz Yisrael, then the land is obviously not an essential part of Jewish tradition. Hence the Jews who are here have no disclaimers to counter the historical facts of the Moslem and we are usurpers of land that does not belong to us, because the only real legitimate claim we have is based on the Almighty’s gift to us of this land.
Had religious Jews come here en mass then world history would be today radically different. We would have today a religious government, and many of our internal problems and strife would be eliminated.
But because of some scratch in the brain, religious Jews in the galut have adopted the irrational, even Christian oriented (but comfortable), belief that HaShem opened wide the gates of the Holy Land to invite the Arabs, Druze, Beduins, Christians etc., while His chosen people will have to wait for the Mashiach.
I am so embarrassed whenever I hear a ben Torah from the galut expressing this idea. But I am mortified and humiliated to learn that he is quoting in the name of his spiritual mentor.
To return to the opening part of this message that deals with the second acrostic of
תשע"א
I suggest the following:
תהא שנת עבודת א-לוקים
meaning: May this year be one of serving the Almighty
The two acrostics complement each other. The first designates this year as one of great aliya to Eretz Yisrael, and the second designates the year to one of serving Hashem.
The Gemara (Ketuvot 110b) states that a Jew who lives outside of Eretz Yisrael is considered as if he worships idolatry.
May this coming year bring about a great wave of teshuva, when millions of Jews cease to worship idolatry as they return home to Eretz Yisrael.
Gemar Chatima Tova
Nachman Kahana
20 September 2010
We are our own worst enemy
All of our problems stem from one of two things. Either we don't understand what Hashem wants from us or we simply refuse to give Him what He wants from us.
Here is a case in point. It comes from an article that I was reading yesterday---PA: Give us a State or It's War.
Problem #1: Most of us do not understand that we are not supposed to allow non-Jews to live here at the present time. Even geriei toshav cannot be accepted except during the yovel year. Yet our leaders are talking about allowing (another) Judenrein Arab state to set up within our borders while letting so-called Israeli Arabs continue to live within whatever borders are left to us.
Quote: Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Nabil Shaath ... said that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would undermine the PA's demand for the “right of return,” which would grant Israeli citizenship to the millions of descendants of Arabs who fled Israel during its War of Independence.
He also claimed that accepting a Jewish state “will directly threaten the Muslim and Christian Palestinians in Israel.”
The PA has demanded that no Jewish residents remain in the territory it claims as the location of a future Arab state, including any Israelis in Judea and Samaria who would be willing to become PA citizens. Arab leaders in the PA and elsewhere have insisted that Israel cease all construction for Judea and Samaria Jews in order for negotiations to proceed.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak backed the PA view in an interview with Channel 1 broadcast Saturday night. “I say to Israeli citizens, including Jews, Muslims and others, that there is no such thing as a state in which all the citizens are Jews,” he said.
But in Egypt, every citizen is an Egyptian, right? The author of the article obviously thinks he is making a case for the Jewish state with the following short analysis, but there is something critically wrong with it. Can you see it?
While the Arab League and Mubarak argued against labeling a state “Jewish,” many Arab League nations – among them Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Libya – are officially Muslim countries. In Syria the president is required by law to be a Muslim, and the same is true for the Prime Minister of Lebanon.
Problem # 1 (again): We do not properly understand what it means to be Jewish. The article sees it primarily as a religion and equates "Jewish" with "Muslim." And this is a very big mistake. Being Muslim makes one a follower of the Mohameddan religion. Being Jewish makes you a citizen of the Jewish nation whether in its native land or outside of it. The prophet says (paraphrased) 'was there ever such a thing like this before, where a God came and took a nation from within another nation?' God took us and molded us into a nation and gave us a Book of Instruction (The Torah) for how to live as a nation in our own land, which He also gave to us. The Torah is our constitution and we need no other. There should be no conflict between being a Jewish state as well as "a state of all of its citizens" because only Jews can rightfully be citizens of the Jewish nation.
Just like every other nation requires prospective citizens to pass an entrance exam, so does the Jewish nation. It's called conversion and it's open to anyone who can pass the test. That's exactly why it's perfectly ok to say that Israel is for JEWS ONLY and ONLY JEWS can be citizens. This came down to us from the Creator Himself.
Problem #2: It is not up to us to decide if it sounds right to us or if we are comfortable with the idea or not. It is only up to us to obey.
We are unique in all the world that our nation is also a family and that we do not practice a religion, but simply follow the Instruction Book given to us by the Creator of the World for how to conduct not only our private lives, but also our NATIONAL life---how the government should be set up and run; how to choose judges; how to care for the poor; how to allocate the land, etc..
What a Kiddush Hashem it was when the entire country closed down on Yom Kippur ---no tv, no radio, everything closed, even the airport. Mi kamocha Am Yisrael!! Now, if only we would be so diligent every Shabbat of the entire year. And especially in the realm of who is allowed to be a citizen of Israel.
If you learn nothing else from this blog post, please understand these two very important concepts. Being Jewish is NOT a matter of religion, it is NATIONALITY. And ONLY JEWS can properly be citizens of a Jewish State.
Here is a case in point. It comes from an article that I was reading yesterday---PA: Give us a State or It's War.
Problem #1: Most of us do not understand that we are not supposed to allow non-Jews to live here at the present time. Even geriei toshav cannot be accepted except during the yovel year. Yet our leaders are talking about allowing (another) Judenrein Arab state to set up within our borders while letting so-called Israeli Arabs continue to live within whatever borders are left to us.
Quote: Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Nabil Shaath ... said that recognizing Israel as a Jewish state would undermine the PA's demand for the “right of return,” which would grant Israeli citizenship to the millions of descendants of Arabs who fled Israel during its War of Independence.
He also claimed that accepting a Jewish state “will directly threaten the Muslim and Christian Palestinians in Israel.”
The PA has demanded that no Jewish residents remain in the territory it claims as the location of a future Arab state, including any Israelis in Judea and Samaria who would be willing to become PA citizens. Arab leaders in the PA and elsewhere have insisted that Israel cease all construction for Judea and Samaria Jews in order for negotiations to proceed.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak backed the PA view in an interview with Channel 1 broadcast Saturday night. “I say to Israeli citizens, including Jews, Muslims and others, that there is no such thing as a state in which all the citizens are Jews,” he said.
But in Egypt, every citizen is an Egyptian, right? The author of the article obviously thinks he is making a case for the Jewish state with the following short analysis, but there is something critically wrong with it. Can you see it?
While the Arab League and Mubarak argued against labeling a state “Jewish,” many Arab League nations – among them Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Libya – are officially Muslim countries. In Syria the president is required by law to be a Muslim, and the same is true for the Prime Minister of Lebanon.
Problem # 1 (again): We do not properly understand what it means to be Jewish. The article sees it primarily as a religion and equates "Jewish" with "Muslim." And this is a very big mistake. Being Muslim makes one a follower of the Mohameddan religion. Being Jewish makes you a citizen of the Jewish nation whether in its native land or outside of it. The prophet says (paraphrased) 'was there ever such a thing like this before, where a God came and took a nation from within another nation?' God took us and molded us into a nation and gave us a Book of Instruction (The Torah) for how to live as a nation in our own land, which He also gave to us. The Torah is our constitution and we need no other. There should be no conflict between being a Jewish state as well as "a state of all of its citizens" because only Jews can rightfully be citizens of the Jewish nation.
Just like every other nation requires prospective citizens to pass an entrance exam, so does the Jewish nation. It's called conversion and it's open to anyone who can pass the test. That's exactly why it's perfectly ok to say that Israel is for JEWS ONLY and ONLY JEWS can be citizens. This came down to us from the Creator Himself.
Problem #2: It is not up to us to decide if it sounds right to us or if we are comfortable with the idea or not. It is only up to us to obey.
We are unique in all the world that our nation is also a family and that we do not practice a religion, but simply follow the Instruction Book given to us by the Creator of the World for how to conduct not only our private lives, but also our NATIONAL life---how the government should be set up and run; how to choose judges; how to care for the poor; how to allocate the land, etc..
What a Kiddush Hashem it was when the entire country closed down on Yom Kippur ---no tv, no radio, everything closed, even the airport. Mi kamocha Am Yisrael!! Now, if only we would be so diligent every Shabbat of the entire year. And especially in the realm of who is allowed to be a citizen of Israel.
If you learn nothing else from this blog post, please understand these two very important concepts. Being Jewish is NOT a matter of religion, it is NATIONALITY. And ONLY JEWS can properly be citizens of a Jewish State.
17 September 2010
G'MAR TOV!
Erev Yom Kippur
9 Tishrei 5771
Every tailor and seamstress knows that the "wrong" side of the fabric looks nothing like the "right" side. Sometimes it is even an entirely different color altogether.
Hashem shows us the "wrong" side of the fabric most of the time for His own reasons which I won't try to go into here, but it is possible to get a glimpse of the "right" side occasionally. There we see the whole beautiful harmonious pattern in all its glory.
Take for example this week's "peace" talks. Clinton and Mitchell were here in Jerusalem doing their damnedest to begin a major dismantling of the State of Israel. They plan to have the borders of Palestine set in three months. Before that was even finished, Mitchell was rushing off to Syria with Bibi's map for a "withdrawal" from the Golan Heights. Bibi and Barak are working overtime it seems to conduct the firesale of all time.
All of this would be pretty depressing if we did not also see that this all plays right into Hashem's plan to bring the geulah shleimah to His weary children. Hashem knows and we should also, that the Arabs absolutely do not want to make peace with Israel and coexist with us. They want us gone and completely replaced with Palestine. The faster the West pushes them to end the conflict, the quicker will come Gog uMagog---the world's ultimate plan to eliminate Israel. At the moment that the West would impose its "peace" the Arabs will absolutely go to war. That is guaranteed.
What can we do? Don't lose the momentum at the end of the Aserei Ymei HaTeshuva. Continue the process of teshuva every singl
e day. Continue to perfect your middot and look for every opportunity to perform a mitzvah or chesed. Proceed with your life in faith and the joy of knowing that Hashem IS King and everything He does is for our good. And never lose hope that the geulah could come at any moment, just when we least expect it.
e day. Continue to perfect your middot and look for every opportunity to perform a mitzvah or chesed. Proceed with your life in faith and the joy of knowing that Hashem IS King and everything He does is for our good. And never lose hope that the geulah could come at any moment, just when we least expect it.
We shouldn't be too upset or worried about the trials and tribulations that assail the hero (Israel) because we already know how the story ends...happily ever after!
I'll end with this inspirational story The Shofar and the Wall from the nice people at Chabad.org.
We should all be blessed with a g'mar chatima tova and the geulah shleimah even at this very moment!
15 September 2010
"BP Oil" Update
Have you been wondering what's up with that BP oil well disaster? Like...did they ever fix it? Well, as of two days ago, they were still at it:
BP resumes drilling relief well in Gulf as step toward permanent seal
By Vivian Kuo, CNN
September 13, 2010
(CNN) -- BP said it resumed drilling Monday on a relief well, as efforts to permanently seal the previously leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well appeared to be entering their final stages.
A few weeks ago the government announced that all the oil was gone ... just up and disappeared ... eaten up by bacteria and the sun. Now, you know better than to listen to anything the government tells you, don't you?
"Disappeared" Spilled Gulf Oil Discovered, Found Residing On Bottom Of GOM
In recent weeks the administration has been fanfaring the tremendous success of discovering far less spilled oil in the GoM than one would expect. The fallacious conclusion derived from this "fact" by Obama's henchmen is that the oil just went poof and disappeared, with even the president going spelunking in the GoM to prove just how safe it was. Well, we hope he didn't step on the ocean floor, because a new report by ABC discloses that "miles of oil is sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico." It gets worse:
'Professor Samantha Joye of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, who is conducting a study on a research vessel just two miles from the spill zone ...said the oil has not disappeared, but is on the sea floor in a layer of scum. "We're finding it everywhere that we've looked. The oil is not gone," Joye said. "It's in places where nobody has looked for it."
..."If we're seeing two and half inches of oil 16 miles away, God knows what we'll see close in -- I really can't even guess other than to say it's going to be a whole lot more than two and a half inches," Joye said.
This oil remaining underwater has large implications for the state of sea life at the bottom of the gulf.
Joye said she spent hours studying the core samples and was unable to find anything other than bacteria and microorganisms living within.
"There is nothing living in these cores other than bacteria," she said. "I've yet to see a living shrimp, a living worm, nothing."
BP resumes drilling relief well in Gulf as step toward permanent seal
By Vivian Kuo, CNN
September 13, 2010
(CNN) -- BP said it resumed drilling Monday on a relief well, as efforts to permanently seal the previously leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well appeared to be entering their final stages.
A few weeks ago the government announced that all the oil was gone ... just up and disappeared ... eaten up by bacteria and the sun. Now, you know better than to listen to anything the government tells you, don't you?
"Disappeared" Spilled Gulf Oil Discovered, Found Residing On Bottom Of GOM
In recent weeks the administration has been fanfaring the tremendous success of discovering far less spilled oil in the GoM than one would expect. The fallacious conclusion derived from this "fact" by Obama's henchmen is that the oil just went poof and disappeared, with even the president going spelunking in the GoM to prove just how safe it was. Well, we hope he didn't step on the ocean floor, because a new report by ABC discloses that "miles of oil is sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico." It gets worse:
'Professor Samantha Joye of the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia, who is conducting a study on a research vessel just two miles from the spill zone ...said the oil has not disappeared, but is on the sea floor in a layer of scum. "We're finding it everywhere that we've looked. The oil is not gone," Joye said. "It's in places where nobody has looked for it."
..."If we're seeing two and half inches of oil 16 miles away, God knows what we'll see close in -- I really can't even guess other than to say it's going to be a whole lot more than two and a half inches," Joye said.
This oil remaining underwater has large implications for the state of sea life at the bottom of the gulf.
Joye said she spent hours studying the core samples and was unable to find anything other than bacteria and microorganisms living within.
"There is nothing living in these cores other than bacteria," she said. "I've yet to see a living shrimp, a living worm, nothing."
14 September 2010
06 September 2010
05 September 2010
"Standing Before HASHEM"
B"H Elul 26 5770"Atem nitzavim .... You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem...." (Deuteronomy 29:9)
Why "standing"?
We stand to indicate respect and attention. Moses gathered the Children of Israel on the East Bank of the Jordan River on the day of his death "In order to establish you ... as a people to Him and that He be a G-d to you...." (Deuteronomy 29:12)
We stand when the Sefer Torah is carried. We stand for a Torah scholar. We stand for our parents. When the Torah was given at Mount Sinai, "Moses brought the people forth from the camp toward G-d, and they stood at the bottom of the mountain." (Shemos 19:17)
Standing signifies dignity and respect. In the Prayer after Meals (bentching), we ask G-d to "break the yoke of oppression from our necks and guide us erect to our Land." In other words, we don't want to crawl home to Israel at the end of the Exile, G-d forbid. Slaves are bent and depressed; they drag their bodies along in servile lowliness. But we are different; we are Children of the Al-mighty.
"They slumped and fell, but we arose and were invigorated." (Psalm 20)
Every morning, we thank G-d, "Who straightens the bent."
We are royalty, descendants of kings, prophets and great rabbis through whom the light of Torah enters the world.
I recently received the following email:
"After reading your article on how we speak, I thought you might appreciate what we experienced the other day when my husband and I found ourselves in a Walmart in a town where I don't think they had ever seen a religious Jew. The language of the people around me was colored with inappropriate words, which are 'normal' speech for today's times. A teenage daughter was speaking to her mother with only 'four-letter' words.
"Her mother looked at me and my husband and then said to her daughter, 'You know you shouldn't be talking like that.'
"At that moment I realized what G-d wants from us. We are a Holy Nation, an example to others on how to behave. The way we speak affects not only our personality, but it also affects the look on our face, so that someone who looks at us can see it, and I think they did.
"At that moment I was so proud to be a Jew."
What a Sanctification of G-d's Name occurs when the Jewish People act in conformity with our Holy Torah! All we have to do is LIVE IT! When the Nations see us living this way, they remember that there is a G-d in the world. When we remember that we are in the Presence of G-d, the entire world remembers that G-d rules the world! Our purpose in this world is to sanctify G-d's Name ... without embarrassment!
"See, I have taught you decrees and ordinances, as Hashem my G-d, has commanded me, to do so in the midst of the Land to which you come to possess it. You shall safeguard and perform them, for it is your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of the people who shall hear all these decrees and who shall say, 'Surely a wise and discerning people is this great nation!' For which is a great nation that has a G-d Who is close to it, as is Hashem our G-d, whenever we call to Him? And which is a great nation that has righteous decrees and ordinances, such as this entire Torah that I place before you this day?" (Deuteronomy 4:6-8)
[NOTE from the blogger: THIS is how we are a light to the nations!]
As the Month of Elul draws to a close, as the week of Selichos begins, as we prepare for the Days of Judgment and the beginning of a new year, it is well to remember the great responsibility resting upon our shoulders. We do not need to try to flatter the other nations by mimicking their lifestyle, G-d forbid. They are always looking for something new to fill the empty bottomless pit through which they are plunging, but we are "sameach b'chelko... happy with our lot" (Ethics of the Fathers 4:1). All we need is to live the glorious life of Torah. This is what will guide and protect us in the darkness until the Great Light shines!
"I will rejoice intensely with Hashem, my soul shall exult with my G-d, for He has dressed me in the raiment of salvation, in a robe of righteousness has He cloaked me, like a bridegroom who dons priestly glory, like a bride who bedecks herself in her jewelry. For as the earth brings forth her growth, and as a garden causes its sowing to grow, so shall my L-rd Hashem cause righteousness and praise to grow in the face of all the nations." (Haftaras Nitzavim/Yeshiah 61:10ff)
We are already here! We do not have to innovate! We have our Torah! We have everything we need! Do you see what happened when the lady who sent me the email simply stood with her husband among the members of the surrounding culture, even in a setting of almost total materialism! They radiated Yiras Shomayim... Fear of Heaven, and they changed the world!
Once, years ago, I was late to an appointment in New York City. It was a winter rush hour, just before sunset. Suddenly, I realized that I had not yet said the Afternoon Prayer. I pulled my car over to the curb in Midtown Manhattan, got out, faced East, and began to say "Ashrei." A police officer approached me.
"What are you doing? Move your car right now!"
"Officer, I ... um ... actually just need about five minutes for my prayers."
Silence. He looked at me.
"You want to pray! Why didn't you tell me?"
And then he said, "Don't forget to pray for me!"
Don't you think they WANT us to pray for them? What do they have in this world except for the Holiness of the Children of Israel? They need us, and they know it! They WANT us to keep the Torah! They are desperate for us to keep the Torah! We are their only hope!
"It is your wisdom and discernment in the eyes of the people who shall hear all these decrees and who shall say, 'Surely a wise and discerning people is this great nation!'"
My friends, let's give our Father and King endless nachas this year by returning to Him with "all our hearts, all our soul and all our resources." He is ready to dry all our tears, end the insanity, cruelty and pollution, ready to bring a new dawn to all mankind. It's in our hands.
Let the year and its curses conclude! Let the year and its blessings begin! (Achos Katana)
Roy S. Neuberger
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