28 Adar Alef 5774
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
The so-called "settler station" - Arutz Sheva - continues to misreport details of the event called for yom rishon. Clearly, they have their own agenda, which has also been called into question in the past.
One of their latest article on the atzeret is titled Rabbi, Students: No Place for Zionists at Hareidi Rally . Here is an excerpt...
A group of students wrote a letter urging the rabbis not to attend, and even warning that they could come to harm due to strong anti-Zionist sentiment among those present.
First of all, what kind of chutzpah is this that Torah students are calling their rabbanim to account to them? If they don't trust their rabbis' judgment, what do they hope to learn from them? Second, I warned you this was coming. To the degree that this atzeret will bring unity to Klal Yisrael and advance the redemption process, this is the same degree to which the Other Side (SA) will try to thwart it. Don't look to the left or to the right. Keep your eyes focused straight ahead on the ultimate goal - the geulah shleimah. We are going to show Hashem that we are ready to follow Mashiach!
Next quote...
The letter, a copy of which reached Arutz Sheva, quoted several articles from hareidi news sources in which religious-Zionist rabbis were accused of spreading anti-Torah teachings, of “ruining everything,” and of being “wicked.”
The Erev Rav does not have a monopoly on any one group. That is why they are so dangerous to us. They are mixed among us and are to be found at every strata of our society. The one thing which serves to distinguish them, however, is their craving for power. Therefore, they are often in positions of leadership. The Vilna Gaon said that, at this point in history, "most of the rabbis would be from the Erev Rav." You can look for people on all sides to come against this event in a very strong manner. Look not to the naysayers, but to those who are promoting unity around the Holy Torah. It is forbidden to believe this lashon hara.
Continuing to quote from the article...
“Even if the purpose of the prayer rally Sunday were a good one – please don’t go, because of the danger posed by the herd which is incited by its leaders,” they wrote.
Apparently, they've learned nothing of mesirut nefesh in their yeshivas. It goes on...
Rabbi Ronsky: Zionists don't belong at anti-enlistment event
Rabbi Avichai Ronsky, the former Chief Rabbi of the IDF and head of the Itamar yeshiva, declared that religious-Zionist rabbis should avoid the rally for ideological reasons. Rabbi Ronsky is considered rabbinic advisor to Religious Affairs Minister MK Naftali Bennett and MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) who headed the Knesset draft law committee. The three had planned running for Knesset together on a separate list before joining the Jewish Home party.
“I really find it difficult to understand how there are rabbis, great Torah scholars, some of them my teachers, who are calling to participate [in the rally] and even plan to attend,” he said.
“Our moral understanding, our understanding of halakhah [Jewish law], is that men must enlist in the army. Even Torah scholars – maybe for a limited period of time, like in the hesder program… That’s our Jewish and moral understanding,” he declared.
'Rabbi' Ronsky seems to have conveniently forgotten that the Torah itself sets down criteria for exemption from military service, and this at a time when it was a pure and holy Jewish army led by Moshe Rabbeinu and Yehoshua Ben Nun!!
One of those reasons is "fear" on the part of the soldier. Would the "fear" of assimilation be considered legitimate? Anyway, the point is that a real Jewish army does not depend on quantity in any case, but on quality. (That's a lesson learned from Gideon's 300 men.) And, as it's already been pointed out, but certain factions refuse to acknowledge it, there are hundreds, if not thousands of chareidi recruits already serving!!
How are these unproven accusations any different from what the rabbi did who warned that a chareidi "might" murder Lapid? This fear-mongering and creating doubt and confusion by questioning the trustworthiness of our leaders' judgment is the exact same thing the ten evil spies did to keep us from realizing our goal of entering Eretz Yisrael in the Midbar and it resulted in catastrophe for every generation until this day!!
NOW IS THE TIME TO REPAIR THIS MISTAKE!!!
Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh tov!
28 February 2014
Parshat Pekudei - Shabbat Sheqalim 5774
28 Adar Alef 5774
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Pekudey/Shabbat Shekalim: Towards redemption
by Daniel Pinner
This Shabbat, which falls on the 29th of Adar I, is Shabbat Shekalim: “If Rosh Chodesh Adar falls on Shabbat, then [on that Shabbat] we read the section of the Shekalim. If [Rosh Chodesh Adar] falls during the week, then we advance [the reading of the section of the Shekalim] to the previous Shabbat” (Mishnah, Megillah 3:4).
Shabbat Shekalim, then, is the Shabbat which either coincides with or which immediately precedes Rosh Chodesh Adar. In a leap year (as this year 5774 is), Shabbat Shekalim is the Shabbat immediately preceding Rosh Chodesh Adar II (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 685:1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 140:1).
This section is read as the Maftir-reading for Shabbat Shekalim: “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: When you take a census of the Children of Israel [literally ‘When you elevate the head of the Children of Israel’] according to their numbers, each man shall give an atonement for his soul to Hashem… This is what they shall give… – a half-shekel of the holy shekel… Everyone who passes the mustering, from twenty years old and upward, shall give Hashem’s donation… It will be a memorial for the Children of Israel before Hashem, to atone for their souls” (Exodus 30:11-16).
Introducing the month of Adar (in a leap year Adar II) with this reading memorialises the mitzvah of the half-shekel which every Jew was obligated to give to the Temple treasury for the continual offering each year. In the words of the Rambam, “On the first of Adar the announcements concerning the shekalim were made, so that everyone would prepare his half-shekel and would be ready to give it. On the fifteenth, the treasurers would sit in each city, and demand [the half-shekel due] gently; whoever would give it to them, they would accept it from them, and those who did not give, they did not force them to give. On the twenty-fifth they would sit in the Temple to collect it; and from then on, they would force those who had not yet given to pay up” (Laws of Shekalim 1:9).
These half-shekel taxes were then used, from the first of Nisan a few days later until the first of Nisan the following year, for the Tamid (twice-daily sacrifice) and the Musaf offerings (the additional sacrifices on Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot) of that year (Tiferet Yisrael to Mishnah Shekalim 1:1). So in memory of the half-shekel donation that once was, and looking forward to the half-shekel donation that will be again, we read this parashah in the same week that the Sanhedrin would begin to impose (and will again begin to impose) this tax.
The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana (also called Aggadat Eretz Yisra’el, a very early Midrash Aggadah attributed to the third-generation Eretz Yisrael Amora, Rabbi Abba bar Kahana) begins its exposition on Shabbat Shekalim (which passage also appears in the Midrash Tanhuma, Ki Tissa 4) by quoting Psalms 3:3-4, “Rabim (“Many” or “The great ones”) have said of my soul, he will have no salvation from God, Selah. But You, O Hashem, are a shield on my behalf, You are my Glory and You raised my head”. The Midrash then cites two opinions as to what King David referred to when he wrote this.
Rav Shmuel bar Ami interpreted the word rabim to mean “the great ones”, and understood it to refer to Doeg and Ahitophel; Doeg supported King Saul over David in the civil war, and Ahitophel supported Avshalom (Absalom) over King David in the later civil war.
Though both of these men supported the wrong sides in opposing King David, they were both great in Torah. “They said to David: A man who took the ewe captive [i.e. took Bat-Sheva] and killed the shepherd [her husband, Uriah the Hittite] and caused Israel to fall by the sword [in the battle in which Uriah was killed (2 Samuel 11:17)] – can he have any salvation? No, ‘he will have no salvation from God, Selah’”.
[The comments in square brackets are the explanations of the Etz Yosef commentary on the Tanhuma.]
King David admitted that their arguments might be justified. “David said: You agreed with them, You wrote in Your Torah, ‘The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death’ (Leviticus 20:10). ‘But You, O Hashem, are a shield on my behalf’ (Psalms 3:4), and You protected me in the merit of my ancestors. ‘You are my Glory’ (ibid.) because You restored me to my kingdom, ‘and You raised my head’ (ibid), for even though I deserved to have my head cut off, You exalted my head”.
The Rabbis interpreted the word rabim in Psalms 3:3 to mean “many”, and understood it to refer to the nations of the world, hence: “The many nations have said of my soul, he will have no salvation from God, Selah”.
The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana expounds: “The nations…say to Israel: The nation which heard ‘You shall have no other gods before Me’ (Exodus 20:3) from the mouth of God at Mount Sinai, yet which after forty days said to the golden calf ‘these are your gods, O Israel ’(32:4) – can it have any salvation? No, ‘it will have no salvation from God, Selah’. And Israel said: You, Hashem, agreed with them, You wrote in Your Torah ‘one who sacrifices to the gods shall be destroyed’ (22:19). ‘But You, O Hashem, are a shield on my behalf’, and You protected us in the merit of our ancestors. ‘You are my Glory’, so You infused Your Shekhinah (Divine Presence) into our midst – ‘they shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst’ (25:8). ‘And You raised our head’, for even though we deserved to have our heads cut off, You exalted our head at Moshe’s hand, as it says ‘When you elevate the head of the Children of Israel’”.
Thus the census – the “elevation of the head of the Children of Israel”, the Maftir-reading for Shabbat Shekalim – was the seal of God’s forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf.
We expand on this thought by putting Shabbat Shekalim into its calendric context. As we have seen, Shabbat Shekalim is the Shabbat which either coincides with or which immediately precedes Rosh Chodesh Adar.
Two Shabbatot after it (occasionally the Shabbat immediately after it) is Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Remembrance, the Shabbat immediately before Purim, the Shabbat on which we are obligated to remember Amalek’s attack on us and attempt to annihilate us while still in the Sinai Desert (Exodus 17:8-16, Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
Reish Lakish (Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish) addresses the juxtaposition of Shabbat Shekalim followed by Shabbat Zachor: “It was known and revealed before He by Whose Word the world was created that Haman would one day weigh out the shekalim to annihilate Israel; therefore He placed their shekalim before [Haman’s] shekalim” (Megillah 13b; Yalkut Shimoni, Exodus 386 and Esther 1054).
This is a reference to Haman, the descendant of Amalek, who weighed out 10,000 silver talents to King Achashverosh to persuade him to proclaim the decree of genocide against all the Jews of his empire (Esther 3:8-9).
The Tosafot (Megillah 16a) observes that “10,000 silver talents are equivalent to half a shekel for everyone of Israel, because there were 600,000 when they left Egypt”.
The Bach (Bayit Chadash, Talmudic commentary written by Yoel ben Shmuel Sirkis, 1561-1640) explains: “A talent is worth 60 manehs, and a maneh is worth 25 selas [a sela is the Talmudic term forthe Biblical shekel]. Haman gave 10,000 ordinary talents, which are equivalent to 5,000 holy shekels. Half a shekel for each of 600,000 Jews for one year equals one holy talent; a lifespan is 70 years [Psalms 90:10], and one starts donating the half-shekel at 20 years of age to redeem one’s soul. Thus Haman gave the same amount that 600,000 Jews would donate in 50 years”.
Before Haman was even a glint in Amalek’s eye, we had already redeemed our souls, so to speak, with the 10,000 talents which we had donated, generation after generation, for the Mishkan and later for the Holy Temple.
This year, as in most leap years, Shabbat Shekalim coincides with Parashat Pekudey, the parashah which completes the Book of Exodus, the parashah whose entire theme is the construction of the Mishkan. (In some leap years Shabbat Shekalim coincides with Parashat Vayak’hel, which also describes the construction of the Mishkan. The last time this happened was in 5763/2003, and the next time it will happen will be 5776/2016.)
In his Introduction to the Book of Exodus, the Ramban writes: “The subject of the Book of Exodus is the first exile which had been explicitly decreed [Genesis 15:13], and the redemption from it… Now, the exile was not ended until the day of their return to their place, and when they were restored to their forefathers’ level. When they left Egypt, even though they had left the house of slavery, they were still considered exiles, because they were ‘in a land not theirs’ [in the words of Genesis 15:13], wandering through the desert. And when they came to Mount Sinai and built the Mishkan, and God restored His Divine Presence to their midst, then they were restored to their Forefathers’ level…and then they were considered redeemed. And therefore, this Book concludes with the completion of the Mishkan, and the Glory of Hashem filling it perpetually”.
According to the Ramban, then, the building of the Mishkan was the pinnacle of the redemption from Egypt. It was only when the Mishkan was complete, on the first of Nissan almost a year after the Exodus (Exodus 40:17) that we were truly redeemed, even though we had long since physically left Egypt and received the Torah.
The Mishkan, whose construction Moshe had overseen and which was completed in this week’s Parashah, was to serve the nation for the next 479 years. It was then replaced by the Holy Temple which King Solomon built in Jerusalem, 480 years after the Exodus (1 Kings 6:1). The narrative of King Solomon’s dedication of the Holy Temple usually forms the Haftarah for Parashat Pekudey; however, this year the regular Haftarah is replaced by the Haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim.
The redemption from Egypt was complete the day that we erected the Mishkan in the desert. And since the redemption from Egypt was the paradigm for the final redemption, the final redemption which has started in these last few generations will be complete on the day that we will rebuild the third Holy Temple in Jerusalem. On that day, when the Glory of Hashem will fill the Holy Temple, we will conclude the exile which began on that bleak summer’s day 1,944 years ago when the Roman legions destroyed the Second Temple.
On that happy day, we will complete the redemption and achieve the purpose of Creation – physical and spiritual perfection in this world. And on that day, in the words of the Haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim, “the entire nation in the Land will rejoice, and the City [of Jerusalem] will be tranquil” (2 Kings 11:20).
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Pekudey/Shabbat Shekalim: Towards redemption
by Daniel Pinner
This Shabbat, which falls on the 29th of Adar I, is Shabbat Shekalim: “If Rosh Chodesh Adar falls on Shabbat, then [on that Shabbat] we read the section of the Shekalim. If [Rosh Chodesh Adar] falls during the week, then we advance [the reading of the section of the Shekalim] to the previous Shabbat” (Mishnah, Megillah 3:4).
Shabbat Shekalim, then, is the Shabbat which either coincides with or which immediately precedes Rosh Chodesh Adar. In a leap year (as this year 5774 is), Shabbat Shekalim is the Shabbat immediately preceding Rosh Chodesh Adar II (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 685:1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 140:1).
This section is read as the Maftir-reading for Shabbat Shekalim: “Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: When you take a census of the Children of Israel [literally ‘When you elevate the head of the Children of Israel’] according to their numbers, each man shall give an atonement for his soul to Hashem… This is what they shall give… – a half-shekel of the holy shekel… Everyone who passes the mustering, from twenty years old and upward, shall give Hashem’s donation… It will be a memorial for the Children of Israel before Hashem, to atone for their souls” (Exodus 30:11-16).
Introducing the month of Adar (in a leap year Adar II) with this reading memorialises the mitzvah of the half-shekel which every Jew was obligated to give to the Temple treasury for the continual offering each year. In the words of the Rambam, “On the first of Adar the announcements concerning the shekalim were made, so that everyone would prepare his half-shekel and would be ready to give it. On the fifteenth, the treasurers would sit in each city, and demand [the half-shekel due] gently; whoever would give it to them, they would accept it from them, and those who did not give, they did not force them to give. On the twenty-fifth they would sit in the Temple to collect it; and from then on, they would force those who had not yet given to pay up” (Laws of Shekalim 1:9).
These half-shekel taxes were then used, from the first of Nisan a few days later until the first of Nisan the following year, for the Tamid (twice-daily sacrifice) and the Musaf offerings (the additional sacrifices on Rosh Chodesh, Pesach, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot) of that year (Tiferet Yisrael to Mishnah Shekalim 1:1). So in memory of the half-shekel donation that once was, and looking forward to the half-shekel donation that will be again, we read this parashah in the same week that the Sanhedrin would begin to impose (and will again begin to impose) this tax.
The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana (also called Aggadat Eretz Yisra’el, a very early Midrash Aggadah attributed to the third-generation Eretz Yisrael Amora, Rabbi Abba bar Kahana) begins its exposition on Shabbat Shekalim (which passage also appears in the Midrash Tanhuma, Ki Tissa 4) by quoting Psalms 3:3-4, “Rabim (“Many” or “The great ones”) have said of my soul, he will have no salvation from God, Selah. But You, O Hashem, are a shield on my behalf, You are my Glory and You raised my head”. The Midrash then cites two opinions as to what King David referred to when he wrote this.
Rav Shmuel bar Ami interpreted the word rabim to mean “the great ones”, and understood it to refer to Doeg and Ahitophel; Doeg supported King Saul over David in the civil war, and Ahitophel supported Avshalom (Absalom) over King David in the later civil war.
Though both of these men supported the wrong sides in opposing King David, they were both great in Torah. “They said to David: A man who took the ewe captive [i.e. took Bat-Sheva] and killed the shepherd [her husband, Uriah the Hittite] and caused Israel to fall by the sword [in the battle in which Uriah was killed (2 Samuel 11:17)] – can he have any salvation? No, ‘he will have no salvation from God, Selah’”.
[The comments in square brackets are the explanations of the Etz Yosef commentary on the Tanhuma.]
King David admitted that their arguments might be justified. “David said: You agreed with them, You wrote in Your Torah, ‘The adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death’ (Leviticus 20:10). ‘But You, O Hashem, are a shield on my behalf’ (Psalms 3:4), and You protected me in the merit of my ancestors. ‘You are my Glory’ (ibid.) because You restored me to my kingdom, ‘and You raised my head’ (ibid), for even though I deserved to have my head cut off, You exalted my head”.
The Rabbis interpreted the word rabim in Psalms 3:3 to mean “many”, and understood it to refer to the nations of the world, hence: “The many nations have said of my soul, he will have no salvation from God, Selah”.
The Pesikta de-Rav Kahana expounds: “The nations…say to Israel: The nation which heard ‘You shall have no other gods before Me’ (Exodus 20:3) from the mouth of God at Mount Sinai, yet which after forty days said to the golden calf ‘these are your gods, O Israel ’(32:4) – can it have any salvation? No, ‘it will have no salvation from God, Selah’. And Israel said: You, Hashem, agreed with them, You wrote in Your Torah ‘one who sacrifices to the gods shall be destroyed’ (22:19). ‘But You, O Hashem, are a shield on my behalf’, and You protected us in the merit of our ancestors. ‘You are my Glory’, so You infused Your Shekhinah (Divine Presence) into our midst – ‘they shall make Me a Sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst’ (25:8). ‘And You raised our head’, for even though we deserved to have our heads cut off, You exalted our head at Moshe’s hand, as it says ‘When you elevate the head of the Children of Israel’”.
Thus the census – the “elevation of the head of the Children of Israel”, the Maftir-reading for Shabbat Shekalim – was the seal of God’s forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf.
We expand on this thought by putting Shabbat Shekalim into its calendric context. As we have seen, Shabbat Shekalim is the Shabbat which either coincides with or which immediately precedes Rosh Chodesh Adar.
Two Shabbatot after it (occasionally the Shabbat immediately after it) is Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat of Remembrance, the Shabbat immediately before Purim, the Shabbat on which we are obligated to remember Amalek’s attack on us and attempt to annihilate us while still in the Sinai Desert (Exodus 17:8-16, Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
Reish Lakish (Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish) addresses the juxtaposition of Shabbat Shekalim followed by Shabbat Zachor: “It was known and revealed before He by Whose Word the world was created that Haman would one day weigh out the shekalim to annihilate Israel; therefore He placed their shekalim before [Haman’s] shekalim” (Megillah 13b; Yalkut Shimoni, Exodus 386 and Esther 1054).
This is a reference to Haman, the descendant of Amalek, who weighed out 10,000 silver talents to King Achashverosh to persuade him to proclaim the decree of genocide against all the Jews of his empire (Esther 3:8-9).
The Tosafot (Megillah 16a) observes that “10,000 silver talents are equivalent to half a shekel for everyone of Israel, because there were 600,000 when they left Egypt”.
The Bach (Bayit Chadash, Talmudic commentary written by Yoel ben Shmuel Sirkis, 1561-1640) explains: “A talent is worth 60 manehs, and a maneh is worth 25 selas [a sela is the Talmudic term forthe Biblical shekel]. Haman gave 10,000 ordinary talents, which are equivalent to 5,000 holy shekels. Half a shekel for each of 600,000 Jews for one year equals one holy talent; a lifespan is 70 years [Psalms 90:10], and one starts donating the half-shekel at 20 years of age to redeem one’s soul. Thus Haman gave the same amount that 600,000 Jews would donate in 50 years”.
Before Haman was even a glint in Amalek’s eye, we had already redeemed our souls, so to speak, with the 10,000 talents which we had donated, generation after generation, for the Mishkan and later for the Holy Temple.
This year, as in most leap years, Shabbat Shekalim coincides with Parashat Pekudey, the parashah which completes the Book of Exodus, the parashah whose entire theme is the construction of the Mishkan. (In some leap years Shabbat Shekalim coincides with Parashat Vayak’hel, which also describes the construction of the Mishkan. The last time this happened was in 5763/2003, and the next time it will happen will be 5776/2016.)
In his Introduction to the Book of Exodus, the Ramban writes: “The subject of the Book of Exodus is the first exile which had been explicitly decreed [Genesis 15:13], and the redemption from it… Now, the exile was not ended until the day of their return to their place, and when they were restored to their forefathers’ level. When they left Egypt, even though they had left the house of slavery, they were still considered exiles, because they were ‘in a land not theirs’ [in the words of Genesis 15:13], wandering through the desert. And when they came to Mount Sinai and built the Mishkan, and God restored His Divine Presence to their midst, then they were restored to their Forefathers’ level…and then they were considered redeemed. And therefore, this Book concludes with the completion of the Mishkan, and the Glory of Hashem filling it perpetually”.
According to the Ramban, then, the building of the Mishkan was the pinnacle of the redemption from Egypt. It was only when the Mishkan was complete, on the first of Nissan almost a year after the Exodus (Exodus 40:17) that we were truly redeemed, even though we had long since physically left Egypt and received the Torah.
The Mishkan, whose construction Moshe had overseen and which was completed in this week’s Parashah, was to serve the nation for the next 479 years. It was then replaced by the Holy Temple which King Solomon built in Jerusalem, 480 years after the Exodus (1 Kings 6:1). The narrative of King Solomon’s dedication of the Holy Temple usually forms the Haftarah for Parashat Pekudey; however, this year the regular Haftarah is replaced by the Haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim.
The redemption from Egypt was complete the day that we erected the Mishkan in the desert. And since the redemption from Egypt was the paradigm for the final redemption, the final redemption which has started in these last few generations will be complete on the day that we will rebuild the third Holy Temple in Jerusalem. On that day, when the Glory of Hashem will fill the Holy Temple, we will conclude the exile which began on that bleak summer’s day 1,944 years ago when the Roman legions destroyed the Second Temple.
On that happy day, we will complete the redemption and achieve the purpose of Creation – physical and spiritual perfection in this world. And on that day, in the words of the Haftarah for Shabbat Shekalim, “the entire nation in the Land will rejoice, and the City [of Jerusalem] will be tranquil” (2 Kings 11:20).
27 February 2014
BEWARE! DANGER AHEAD!
28 Adar Alef 5774
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
There are people, especially in leadership positions, who, whether through malice, ignorance or sheer desperation and a lapse of their emunah, will do or say something to disrupt the unity of the atzeret on yom rishon. They will be under great spiritual pressure from the Other Side to spoil the achdut and ahavah among the people for the Torah and for each other. This is one reason it was requested that it not be political.
There's already a lot of disruptive and discouraging and downright hateful talk going around
If anyone has any influence with Rav Porush, tell him that Bayit Yehudi does not represent all of the Jews in Judea and Samaria. I doubt if a majority of YoSh Jews voted for that party and those who did are right now, probably very sorry they believed their lies considering that they are doing absolutely nothing (nor will they) to prevent another expulsion. I'm trying hard not to think about the perfidy of chareidi religious parties who assisted the Likud in banning Kach and also, enabled Oslo and the expulsion from Gush Katif for the sake of money for yeshivahs.
This is a historic opportunity to achieve a major break-through towards redemption. I feel it and you'll see for yourself as the power of evil seeks to come against it. We have to be very strong and courageous now to not be turned aside either to the left or to the right, but to stay centered and focused on doing spiritual battle with the Erev Rav. Forget about the issues and focus on the suffering of all Jews everywhere. The only solution to everything that is wrong is the long-awaited arrival of Mashiach Tzidkeinu.
We must determine in our own minds and hearts not to allow anything at all to divert our attention from this one holy goal - to cry out to Hashem together like we did at Yam Suf and expect Divine deliverance!
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
There are people, especially in leadership positions, who, whether through malice, ignorance or sheer desperation and a lapse of their emunah, will do or say something to disrupt the unity of the atzeret on yom rishon. They will be under great spiritual pressure from the Other Side to spoil the achdut and ahavah among the people for the Torah and for each other. This is one reason it was requested that it not be political.
There's already a lot of disruptive and discouraging and downright hateful talk going around
If anyone has any influence with Rav Porush, tell him that Bayit Yehudi does not represent all of the Jews in Judea and Samaria. I doubt if a majority of YoSh Jews voted for that party and those who did are right now, probably very sorry they believed their lies considering that they are doing absolutely nothing (nor will they) to prevent another expulsion. I'm trying hard not to think about the perfidy of chareidi religious parties who assisted the Likud in banning Kach and also, enabled Oslo and the expulsion from Gush Katif for the sake of money for yeshivahs.
This is a historic opportunity to achieve a major break-through towards redemption. I feel it and you'll see for yourself as the power of evil seeks to come against it. We have to be very strong and courageous now to not be turned aside either to the left or to the right, but to stay centered and focused on doing spiritual battle with the Erev Rav. Forget about the issues and focus on the suffering of all Jews everywhere. The only solution to everything that is wrong is the long-awaited arrival of Mashiach Tzidkeinu.
We must determine in our own minds and hearts not to allow anything at all to divert our attention from this one holy goal - to cry out to Hashem together like we did at Yam Suf and expect Divine deliverance!
26 February 2014
ATZERET UPDATE
27 Adar Alef 5774
Via Yeranen Yaakov's sources:
First note that a Fast Day has been called for tomorrow: ("Due to the Decree of the Draft and John Kerry: Rav Meir Mazuz calls for a Fast Day") He is calling for a fast day and Yom Kippur Katan services on Thursday before Rosh Hodesh - which is tomorrow.
The Million Man Atzeret
Date: Yom Rishon, 1 Rosh Chodesh Adar II (Sunday, March 2nd)
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: Yirmiyahu Street and expanding towards the String Bridge.
"...this will be an atzeres tefilla only and there will not be a bimah since there will not be any speeches, just the recitation of Tehillim. There will be a small podium for the person reciting tehillim." - See more at: YWN
This will be a historic event, by all reports to eclipse the 600,000 who stood against the High Court in 1999. It will take place with the approval, encouragement and participation of rabbis across the religious spectrum including the Moetzos Gedolei Yisrael of Shas, Degel Hatorah and Agudas Yisrael, and also rabbis of the dati leumi tzibur.
___________________
UPDATE to the update: (YWN)
...Agudas Yisrael in the United States has already agreed to run concurrent events, .... The same is true of the chareidi tzibur in a number of European countries...
Organizers stress the event is an atzeres tefilla, not a protest and not a rally, and the tzibur must act accordingly to be MeKadesh Shem Shomayim.
When asked if the Eida Chareidis will be attending, R’ Benny Rabinowitz, the spokesman for Maran HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita told Kol Chai Radio that he has heard from “high up sources in chassidus’ not affiliated with Agudas Yisrael, in addition to other Yerushalayim chassidim that plan to attend”.
Via Yeranen Yaakov's sources:
First note that a Fast Day has been called for tomorrow: ("Due to the Decree of the Draft and John Kerry: Rav Meir Mazuz calls for a Fast Day") He is calling for a fast day and Yom Kippur Katan services on Thursday before Rosh Hodesh - which is tomorrow.
The Million Man Atzeret
Date: Yom Rishon, 1 Rosh Chodesh Adar II (Sunday, March 2nd)
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: Yirmiyahu Street and expanding towards the String Bridge.
"...this will be an atzeres tefilla only and there will not be a bimah since there will not be any speeches, just the recitation of Tehillim. There will be a small podium for the person reciting tehillim." - See more at: YWN
This will be a historic event, by all reports to eclipse the 600,000 who stood against the High Court in 1999. It will take place with the approval, encouragement and participation of rabbis across the religious spectrum including the Moetzos Gedolei Yisrael of Shas, Degel Hatorah and Agudas Yisrael, and also rabbis of the dati leumi tzibur.
___________________
UPDATE to the update: (YWN)
...Agudas Yisrael in the United States has already agreed to run concurrent events, .... The same is true of the chareidi tzibur in a number of European countries...
Organizers stress the event is an atzeres tefilla, not a protest and not a rally, and the tzibur must act accordingly to be MeKadesh Shem Shomayim.
When asked if the Eida Chareidis will be attending, R’ Benny Rabinowitz, the spokesman for Maran HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita told Kol Chai Radio that he has heard from “high up sources in chassidus’ not affiliated with Agudas Yisrael, in addition to other Yerushalayim chassidim that plan to attend”.
!PLEASE PASS THIS INFO ON!
Riiiiinnngggg!!! "This is God calling."
26 Adar Alef 5774
Eight and a half years ago, the settler public got a big wake-up call when ten thousand Jews were uprooted and expelled from their homes by force by the Israeli government. I don't think the question of "why?" was ever properly addressed. When the dust settled down, everyone went back to sleep.
Today, the yeshivah public just got their own wake-up call when a law was proposed to criminalize yeshivah students who refuse to leave their learning to serve in the army. Let us hope that people will stay awake this time, because the Israeli government is getting ready for Expulsion II.
Rabbi Mendel Kessin recently gave a shiur in which he said that "the Erev Rav have no power of their own" so the power they've been given to come against the Chareidi tzibur has come ultimately from Hashem and why? - "Because there is a kitrug against them in Shamayim."
Obviously then, there was also a kitrug - an accusation - against the settlers by which Hashem allowed the deed to be done. We have to try to figure out the reasons so we can do the proper teshuvah, make amends and progress towards redemption.
I maintained from the very beginning that the expulsion from Gush Katif happened because these people specialized in the mitzvah of yishuv ha'aretz, but it was only half done. There are two parts to it:
“You shall (1) possess it and you shall (2) dwell therein.” (Devarim, 11:31)
According to the Ramban: “We were commanded to (1) take possession of the Land that God, may He be blessed, gave to our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov; and (2) we must not leave it in the hands of any other nation or let it remain desolate” (Addendum to Rambam’sSefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandment 4).
If you are in any doubt as to what the mitzvah fully entails, I suggest you read Sefer Yehoshua. Granted that we are not today in the same position with the same power and license to act on the mitzvah, but we are all of us obligated in two ways: 1) we must always be ready and willing to STATE the truth of these matters, even if we can't ACT on it right now, and 2) we must always be ready and willing to do whatever IS in our power to do to bring it about. This is our minimal responsibility and I have to tell you, we've seen with our own eyes and felt with our own hearts and souls how Hashem feels about half measures!! (Read also Sefer Haggai.)
The people went to settle the land in Gush Katif, but they were not ready to conquer it from the enemy - even in their own minds. How many interviews did I hear where they justified their presence in Aza to the Israeli public by emphasizing mutual understanding and friendships with their Arab neighbors; how they attended each others simchas and drank coffee together. Even some years after the expulsion, when missiles were raining down from the previously Jewish areas of Aza, a self-identified national religious woman from Sederot had admittedly learned absolutely nothing. She told a radio interviewer that if the Arabs would simply stop attacking, they could all go back to the prior situation of "mutual respect and peaceful coexistence."
Back to the current situation. Might we extrapolate from the foregoing and discover the accusation in Shamayim against the Chareidim? I'll tell you what comes to my mind and you decide for yourself.
The yeshivah public specializes in the mitzvah of limud Torah. The Gemara in Yevamot 109b says "Whoever says 'all I have is Torah (without deeds), doesn't have Torah!"
At Har Sinai, we all stood together and said "na'aseh v'nishma" - we will (1) do and we will (2) hear. This is another two-part mitzvah in which, I believe, HALF is being severely neglected - Torah learning must result in Torah deeds and I'm not talking just about bein adam v'chavero, but the deeds that Torah demands with regard to the Land of Israel and the Beit Hamikdash.
And it's not enough just to ensure that Chareidi children are saved from the spiritual ravages of the secular army and the secular education system. We have an obligation to fight for the rights of EVERY pure Jewish neshamah. It's enough of - they'll have their world and we'll remain safely in ours. Hashem despises this Torah which has no practical implications for the future of all His children.
Sure, maybe in the beginning, Chareidi numbers were too small to make much of an impact, so Hashem, so to speak gave them a pass, but once they began to wield considerable political power, did they think to use that power for the betterment of all Jews in the Land of Israel or only for their own tzibur. Isn't this exactly the basis upon which the Erev Rav have been able to attack the Chareidi tzibur - that they sit back and let other Jews put themselves at risk to protect them and their way of life?
If there were not some truth to it, it wouldn't work. It's time for serious soul searching. We have to stop excusing ourselves by saying that we do not have the power at this time to expel the Arab enemy or to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash or to make Torah the Law of the Land. Just ask yourselves honestly...
WOULD I, IF I COULD?
The only way out of this mess is to get with the program and be prepared mentally, spiritually and physically to carry out Hashem's complete will without doubt or hesitation. Because, it is obvious now, that there is not much time left.
Were the Erev Rav regime to continue on their path, Israel would be destroyed. However - thank God! - now that they have stripped themselves of all the merit they've been accruing from supporting yeshivah bachurim and avreichim and their families and now that they have reversed the merit they accrued from settling and building the land of Israel by tearing it down and giving it to our enemies, they are truly and thankfully on their way down and out.
That means, Mashiach is here and just waiting to be revealed and why does he wait? Again, for two reasons: 1) for the merit of the Erev Rav to be used up, and 2) for the greatest number of Jews possible to get with Hashem's program for redemption. You'll recall that "doubt" and "Amalek" have the same gematria. Anyone who remains in doubt about the rightness and justness and simple Torah basis for the actions Mashiach will take, will be removed from this world. Mashiach is not coming to fight with Jews over the program and process of the redemption.
This is the war for hearts and minds. No more half-measures. Hashem wants and deserves 100% from us and He will have it. It's time once again for "na'aseh v'nishma." When the day for action arrives, Mashiach will shout "Mi l'Hashem elai!" and like the Cohanim of old, we will rush to him, without hesitation and without stumbling and the final victory will be ours!
Eight and a half years ago, the settler public got a big wake-up call when ten thousand Jews were uprooted and expelled from their homes by force by the Israeli government. I don't think the question of "why?" was ever properly addressed. When the dust settled down, everyone went back to sleep.
Today, the yeshivah public just got their own wake-up call when a law was proposed to criminalize yeshivah students who refuse to leave their learning to serve in the army. Let us hope that people will stay awake this time, because the Israeli government is getting ready for Expulsion II.
Rabbi Mendel Kessin recently gave a shiur in which he said that "the Erev Rav have no power of their own" so the power they've been given to come against the Chareidi tzibur has come ultimately from Hashem and why? - "Because there is a kitrug against them in Shamayim."
Obviously then, there was also a kitrug - an accusation - against the settlers by which Hashem allowed the deed to be done. We have to try to figure out the reasons so we can do the proper teshuvah, make amends and progress towards redemption.
I maintained from the very beginning that the expulsion from Gush Katif happened because these people specialized in the mitzvah of yishuv ha'aretz, but it was only half done. There are two parts to it:
“You shall (1) possess it and you shall (2) dwell therein.” (Devarim, 11:31)
According to the Ramban: “We were commanded to (1) take possession of the Land that God, may He be blessed, gave to our forefathers, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov; and (2) we must not leave it in the hands of any other nation or let it remain desolate” (Addendum to Rambam’sSefer HaMitzvot, Positive Commandment 4).
If you are in any doubt as to what the mitzvah fully entails, I suggest you read Sefer Yehoshua. Granted that we are not today in the same position with the same power and license to act on the mitzvah, but we are all of us obligated in two ways: 1) we must always be ready and willing to STATE the truth of these matters, even if we can't ACT on it right now, and 2) we must always be ready and willing to do whatever IS in our power to do to bring it about. This is our minimal responsibility and I have to tell you, we've seen with our own eyes and felt with our own hearts and souls how Hashem feels about half measures!! (Read also Sefer Haggai.)
The people went to settle the land in Gush Katif, but they were not ready to conquer it from the enemy - even in their own minds. How many interviews did I hear where they justified their presence in Aza to the Israeli public by emphasizing mutual understanding and friendships with their Arab neighbors; how they attended each others simchas and drank coffee together. Even some years after the expulsion, when missiles were raining down from the previously Jewish areas of Aza, a self-identified national religious woman from Sederot had admittedly learned absolutely nothing. She told a radio interviewer that if the Arabs would simply stop attacking, they could all go back to the prior situation of "mutual respect and peaceful coexistence."
Back to the current situation. Might we extrapolate from the foregoing and discover the accusation in Shamayim against the Chareidim? I'll tell you what comes to my mind and you decide for yourself.
The yeshivah public specializes in the mitzvah of limud Torah. The Gemara in Yevamot 109b says "Whoever says 'all I have is Torah (without deeds), doesn't have Torah!"
At Har Sinai, we all stood together and said "na'aseh v'nishma" - we will (1) do and we will (2) hear. This is another two-part mitzvah in which, I believe, HALF is being severely neglected - Torah learning must result in Torah deeds and I'm not talking just about bein adam v'chavero, but the deeds that Torah demands with regard to the Land of Israel and the Beit Hamikdash.
And it's not enough just to ensure that Chareidi children are saved from the spiritual ravages of the secular army and the secular education system. We have an obligation to fight for the rights of EVERY pure Jewish neshamah. It's enough of - they'll have their world and we'll remain safely in ours. Hashem despises this Torah which has no practical implications for the future of all His children.
Sure, maybe in the beginning, Chareidi numbers were too small to make much of an impact, so Hashem, so to speak gave them a pass, but once they began to wield considerable political power, did they think to use that power for the betterment of all Jews in the Land of Israel or only for their own tzibur. Isn't this exactly the basis upon which the Erev Rav have been able to attack the Chareidi tzibur - that they sit back and let other Jews put themselves at risk to protect them and their way of life?
If there were not some truth to it, it wouldn't work. It's time for serious soul searching. We have to stop excusing ourselves by saying that we do not have the power at this time to expel the Arab enemy or to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash or to make Torah the Law of the Land. Just ask yourselves honestly...
WOULD I, IF I COULD?
The only way out of this mess is to get with the program and be prepared mentally, spiritually and physically to carry out Hashem's complete will without doubt or hesitation. Because, it is obvious now, that there is not much time left.
Were the Erev Rav regime to continue on their path, Israel would be destroyed. However - thank God! - now that they have stripped themselves of all the merit they've been accruing from supporting yeshivah bachurim and avreichim and their families and now that they have reversed the merit they accrued from settling and building the land of Israel by tearing it down and giving it to our enemies, they are truly and thankfully on their way down and out.
That means, Mashiach is here and just waiting to be revealed and why does he wait? Again, for two reasons: 1) for the merit of the Erev Rav to be used up, and 2) for the greatest number of Jews possible to get with Hashem's program for redemption. You'll recall that "doubt" and "Amalek" have the same gematria. Anyone who remains in doubt about the rightness and justness and simple Torah basis for the actions Mashiach will take, will be removed from this world. Mashiach is not coming to fight with Jews over the program and process of the redemption.
This is the war for hearts and minds. No more half-measures. Hashem wants and deserves 100% from us and He will have it. It's time once again for "na'aseh v'nishma." When the day for action arrives, Mashiach will shout "Mi l'Hashem elai!" and like the Cohanim of old, we will rush to him, without hesitation and without stumbling and the final victory will be ours!
INN Headline: 'Lapid Will Be Murdered Like Rabin'
26 Adar Alef 5774
'Lapid Will Be Murdered Like Rabin'
Attorney and rabbi Dov Halbertal warned that Finance Minister Yair Lapid's crusade to enlist the hareidim into the IDF will lead to him being murdered a la former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, assassinated in 1995 following his Oslo Accords.
Halbertal, a former bureau chief in the Chief Rabbinate who was close to Torah sage Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, appeared on Galei Yisrael this week, and related that an important yeshiva world figure warned him that "there's going to be a new Rabin murder. Yair Lapid will be murdered by a hareidi."
A few thoughts come to mind. The first is that why only Lapid? There are tens if not hundreds more who will take his place. Political assassination is NOT the answer. We need a political revolution where you sweep the house clean!
My second thought was who is this irresponsible Jew who goes to the enemy and reveals such information?
The radio show's host called the words "explosive," saying Shin Bet (Internal Security) could soon be waiting outside the studio to question Halbertal over the statements.
"I don't know about Shin Bet, I'm just saying what they told me," responded Halbertal. "Someone to whom I ascribe importance tells me we aren't far from that. The murder of Lapid will be the next Rabin murder in line."
If he has no concerns about Shabak, then he is stupid or in cahoots with them. I did a quick Google search and found a YWN article in which he explains his 'holy' reasons for promoting the separation of religion and state in Israel. B'kitzur, he's one of the bad guys, but this incident on the radio already told us that.
RABBANIM CHAREIDI'IM, ROSHEI YESHIVOT AND YESHIVA STUDENTS BE WARNED! THEY'RE LOOKING TO SET YOU UP THE SAME WAY THAT THEY SET UP THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS KEHILAH WITH RABIN! TAKE PRECAUTIONS!!
If it were up to me, I'd call for the excommunication this rodef Halbertal.
'Lapid Will Be Murdered Like Rabin'
Attorney and rabbi Dov Halbertal warned that Finance Minister Yair Lapid's crusade to enlist the hareidim into the IDF will lead to him being murdered a la former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, assassinated in 1995 following his Oslo Accords.
Halbertal, a former bureau chief in the Chief Rabbinate who was close to Torah sage Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, appeared on Galei Yisrael this week, and related that an important yeshiva world figure warned him that "there's going to be a new Rabin murder. Yair Lapid will be murdered by a hareidi."
A few thoughts come to mind. The first is that why only Lapid? There are tens if not hundreds more who will take his place. Political assassination is NOT the answer. We need a political revolution where you sweep the house clean!
My second thought was who is this irresponsible Jew who goes to the enemy and reveals such information?
The radio show's host called the words "explosive," saying Shin Bet (Internal Security) could soon be waiting outside the studio to question Halbertal over the statements.
"I don't know about Shin Bet, I'm just saying what they told me," responded Halbertal. "Someone to whom I ascribe importance tells me we aren't far from that. The murder of Lapid will be the next Rabin murder in line."
If he has no concerns about Shabak, then he is stupid or in cahoots with them. I did a quick Google search and found a YWN article in which he explains his 'holy' reasons for promoting the separation of religion and state in Israel. B'kitzur, he's one of the bad guys, but this incident on the radio already told us that.
RABBANIM CHAREIDI'IM, ROSHEI YESHIVOT AND YESHIVA STUDENTS BE WARNED! THEY'RE LOOKING TO SET YOU UP THE SAME WAY THAT THEY SET UP THE NATIONAL RELIGIOUS KEHILAH WITH RABIN! TAKE PRECAUTIONS!!
If it were up to me, I'd call for the excommunication this rodef Halbertal.
25 February 2014
THE INDEFATIGABLE SUNSPOT 1944-1967-1990
26 Adar Alef 5774
Remember this? Like Looking Down the Barrel of a Loaded Gun
Well, guess what? It's back!
Quoting Spaceweather.com over the last couple of days:
Although the Earth-facing side of the sun is peppered with spots, that's not where the action is. For the past few days, most solar activity has been coming from a location hidden behind the sun's southeastern limb. It is likely old sunspot AR1967, set to return from a two-week transit around the farside of the sun. ...If AR1967 does come back, it will mark the third time the active region has crossed the visible face of the sun. The first time was in early January when it was called "AR1944." Sunspots seldom last more than two or three weeks; two or three months is remarkable. By now the returning spot is probably a decayed shell of its former self, although flares and CMEs flying over the southeastern limb hint at some remaining potency.
********
X-FLARE! Returning sunspot AR1967 unleashed a powerful X4.9-class solar flare on Feb. 25th at 00:49 UTC. This is the most intense flare of 2014 so far, and one of the most intense of the current solar cycle. ...The source of the eruption is long-lived sunspot AR1967, now beginning its third trip across the Earthside of the sun. This region was an active producer of flares during its previous transits, and it looks like the third time will be little different. By tradition, sunspots are renumbered each time they return, so AR1967 will soon have a new designation. (Update: The new name of this sunspot is AR1990.)
********
Do any of the readers find significance in these numbers???
The new (old) very potent and very powerful sunspot will be earth-directed in one week's time - the first week in Adar Bet when PM Netanyahu will be meeting with Pres Obama and when one million chareidim are supposed to demonstrate in Yerushalayim... Have I forgotten anything? In the spirit of Purim and Adar, just about anything can happen. Look for something to turn upside down!
Remember this? Like Looking Down the Barrel of a Loaded Gun
Well, guess what? It's back!
Quoting Spaceweather.com over the last couple of days:
Although the Earth-facing side of the sun is peppered with spots, that's not where the action is. For the past few days, most solar activity has been coming from a location hidden behind the sun's southeastern limb. It is likely old sunspot AR1967, set to return from a two-week transit around the farside of the sun. ...If AR1967 does come back, it will mark the third time the active region has crossed the visible face of the sun. The first time was in early January when it was called "AR1944." Sunspots seldom last more than two or three weeks; two or three months is remarkable. By now the returning spot is probably a decayed shell of its former self, although flares and CMEs flying over the southeastern limb hint at some remaining potency.
********
X-FLARE! Returning sunspot AR1967 unleashed a powerful X4.9-class solar flare on Feb. 25th at 00:49 UTC. This is the most intense flare of 2014 so far, and one of the most intense of the current solar cycle. ...The source of the eruption is long-lived sunspot AR1967, now beginning its third trip across the Earthside of the sun. This region was an active producer of flares during its previous transits, and it looks like the third time will be little different. By tradition, sunspots are renumbered each time they return, so AR1967 will soon have a new designation. (Update: The new name of this sunspot is AR1990.)
********
Do any of the readers find significance in these numbers???
The new (old) very potent and very powerful sunspot will be earth-directed in one week's time - the first week in Adar Bet when PM Netanyahu will be meeting with Pres Obama and when one million chareidim are supposed to demonstrate in Yerushalayim... Have I forgotten anything? In the spirit of Purim and Adar, just about anything can happen. Look for something to turn upside down!
PROOF! The Face of Germany Has Not Changed!
26 Adar Alef 5774
Bibi, Merkel Photo Makes Waves
What are the chances, in the split second that Netanyahu pointed, that the camera would be poised at the exact angle to record this? Hakol min Shamayim!
The victims of the holocaust must be turning over in their graves!
Peres honors Merkel with Presidential Medal of Distinction
Israeli and German leader hold press conference after joint meeting of their two governments in Jerusalem.
EVENTFUL DAYS UPON US
25 Adar Alef 5774
As Adar Alef begins to wind down and we find ourselves nearing Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet - the real Adar - I expect our days will become very eventful, as we already see happening from current events. Here is a round-up of what I find most compelling from the last 24 hours. (See my commentary in blue.)
Avreichim Willing to Leave Their Homes in ‘Occupied Areas’
...A few hundred avreichim, men with families living in “chareidi settlements over the Green Line” including Betar Illit and Modi’in Illit decided to send a letter to the prime minister. In the letter they emphatically explain their willingness to voluntarily leave their homes, which are located in “occupied areas”, for true peace”.
...“We resident of Modi’in Illit and Betar Illit, residents of settlements in Yehuda and Shomron, areas that are a stumbling block to peace, represent the lion’s share of areas occupied over the Green Line since 1967.”
They continue explaining “there is no significance to the mitzvah of Yishuv Haaretz is the latter is void of limud and kiyum Torah and therefore, we do not want to be stumbling blocks to peace for there is no reason to continue living in these areas”
The organizers explain they are willing to move their wives and families elsewhere, concluding “Obviously we live here happily and in peace but if it constitutes and obstacle to peace, we will leave voluntarily, without hesitation. It is better for us to learn Torah comfortable inside the Green Line than being a obstacle to peace between peoples”, say some of the organizers of the letter.
What are we supposed to take from this? It is very ill conceived. I can't tell what they hope to gain, but I hope someone quickly provides them with a reality check. Despite my admiration for the chareidi dedication to Torah and mitzvot, two things continue to bother me and those are two perceptions which may be completely baseless, but nevertheless, exist: the perceived lack of concern for anyone else outside their own group, along with the perception that their Torah seems to be disconnected from real life.
As far as I am concerned, if they would give voice to the lie that we are "occupiers" in our own land and side with our enemies who say that our existence here is an "obstacle to peace," and furthermore, throw their fellow "settlers" under the bus in order to buy themselves some quiet to continue their learning, then I say their learning is absolutely in vain and Hashem doesn't want it. It obviously has not done them any good at all up to now!
IDF’s Chief of Personnel Branch Wants More Women in the IDF
In an address in Kiryat Ono College, IDF Chief of Personnel Branch Major-General Orna Barvibai told her audience that “we are busy discussing [IDF] service for men, both secular and chareidi, but there is almost no discussion regarding the fact women are not inducted”.
According to Barvibai, 42% of draft eligible females in Israel do not serve in the military – most because they bring a letter from the Rabbinate testifying to their adherence to Shabbos and kashrus. Barvibai plans to change this reality, explaining there must be a significant increase in the number of women serving towards true equality regarding sharing the nation’s defense burden.
The senior officer explained there must be equality between men and women serving in the IDF and she plans to act to eliminate the ability of girls to ‘automatically’ receive a draft deferment on religious grounds. “There is a steady increase in religious girls declaring they are not serving. This is an embarrassment and a disgrace”.
I told you this was coming, but I'm surprised they aren't waiting to make this the next step in their nefarious plan to wipe out all holiness and purity among Bnei Yisrael. It must be that evil's time is running out too quickly for them.
Ukrainian Jews Urged to Leave Kiev (See also: Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Urges Jews to Flee)
Speaks for itself. All I can add is - if you think it can't happen in America...
________________________
Reported as "historic" events:
At historic conference, haredi sects decide on mass protest against IDF enlistment
...decided at a combined conference of members of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yiserael's Council of (Great) Torah Sages and Shas' Council of (Wise) Torah Sages.
...The conference represents a historic cooperation between the Sephardi and Ashkenazi sects. (See also:Jerusalem rabbi warns of casualties in war over IDF draft)
Riots on the Temple Mount Injure Two Police Officers
...Rabbi Chaim Richman, International Director of the Temple Institute, points out that today’s riots on the Temple Mount are in direct response to the historic discussion regarding Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount which is scheduled to take place in the Knesset Tuesday. This is the first Knesset hearing regarding the status of the Temple Mount since its liberation in the 1967 Six-Day War.
“Clearly, there are nefarious forces at work that are attempting to frighten Israel into submission," Rabbi Richman said Tuesday. "Ironically, on the very day upon which the Israeli Knesset will be considering this very issue, we see before us today a stark reality check, and a lesson on who is really sovereign on the Temple Mount." (See also: Jordanian MPs Demand End to Peace With Israel Over Temple Mount)
_________________________________
IMPORTANT INFO - GET THE WORD OUT!
Right-wing groups start anti-Jewish state campaign
The groups start what they call an "information and warning campaign" to inform public of what they believe is a tactical trick by Netanyahu.
As Adar Alef begins to wind down and we find ourselves nearing Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet - the real Adar - I expect our days will become very eventful, as we already see happening from current events. Here is a round-up of what I find most compelling from the last 24 hours. (See my commentary in blue.)
Avreichim Willing to Leave Their Homes in ‘Occupied Areas’
...A few hundred avreichim, men with families living in “chareidi settlements over the Green Line” including Betar Illit and Modi’in Illit decided to send a letter to the prime minister. In the letter they emphatically explain their willingness to voluntarily leave their homes, which are located in “occupied areas”, for true peace”.
...“We resident of Modi’in Illit and Betar Illit, residents of settlements in Yehuda and Shomron, areas that are a stumbling block to peace, represent the lion’s share of areas occupied over the Green Line since 1967.”
They continue explaining “there is no significance to the mitzvah of Yishuv Haaretz is the latter is void of limud and kiyum Torah and therefore, we do not want to be stumbling blocks to peace for there is no reason to continue living in these areas”
The organizers explain they are willing to move their wives and families elsewhere, concluding “Obviously we live here happily and in peace but if it constitutes and obstacle to peace, we will leave voluntarily, without hesitation. It is better for us to learn Torah comfortable inside the Green Line than being a obstacle to peace between peoples”, say some of the organizers of the letter.
What are we supposed to take from this? It is very ill conceived. I can't tell what they hope to gain, but I hope someone quickly provides them with a reality check. Despite my admiration for the chareidi dedication to Torah and mitzvot, two things continue to bother me and those are two perceptions which may be completely baseless, but nevertheless, exist: the perceived lack of concern for anyone else outside their own group, along with the perception that their Torah seems to be disconnected from real life.
As far as I am concerned, if they would give voice to the lie that we are "occupiers" in our own land and side with our enemies who say that our existence here is an "obstacle to peace," and furthermore, throw their fellow "settlers" under the bus in order to buy themselves some quiet to continue their learning, then I say their learning is absolutely in vain and Hashem doesn't want it. It obviously has not done them any good at all up to now!
IDF’s Chief of Personnel Branch Wants More Women in the IDF
In an address in Kiryat Ono College, IDF Chief of Personnel Branch Major-General Orna Barvibai told her audience that “we are busy discussing [IDF] service for men, both secular and chareidi, but there is almost no discussion regarding the fact women are not inducted”.
According to Barvibai, 42% of draft eligible females in Israel do not serve in the military – most because they bring a letter from the Rabbinate testifying to their adherence to Shabbos and kashrus. Barvibai plans to change this reality, explaining there must be a significant increase in the number of women serving towards true equality regarding sharing the nation’s defense burden.
The senior officer explained there must be equality between men and women serving in the IDF and she plans to act to eliminate the ability of girls to ‘automatically’ receive a draft deferment on religious grounds. “There is a steady increase in religious girls declaring they are not serving. This is an embarrassment and a disgrace”.
I told you this was coming, but I'm surprised they aren't waiting to make this the next step in their nefarious plan to wipe out all holiness and purity among Bnei Yisrael. It must be that evil's time is running out too quickly for them.
Ukrainian Jews Urged to Leave Kiev (See also: Chief Rabbi of Ukraine Urges Jews to Flee)
Speaks for itself. All I can add is - if you think it can't happen in America...
________________________
Reported as "historic" events:
At historic conference, haredi sects decide on mass protest against IDF enlistment
...decided at a combined conference of members of Degel HaTorah and Agudat Yiserael's Council of (Great) Torah Sages and Shas' Council of (Wise) Torah Sages.
...The conference represents a historic cooperation between the Sephardi and Ashkenazi sects. (See also:Jerusalem rabbi warns of casualties in war over IDF draft)
Riots on the Temple Mount Injure Two Police Officers
...Rabbi Chaim Richman, International Director of the Temple Institute, points out that today’s riots on the Temple Mount are in direct response to the historic discussion regarding Israeli sovereignty on the Temple Mount which is scheduled to take place in the Knesset Tuesday. This is the first Knesset hearing regarding the status of the Temple Mount since its liberation in the 1967 Six-Day War.
“Clearly, there are nefarious forces at work that are attempting to frighten Israel into submission," Rabbi Richman said Tuesday. "Ironically, on the very day upon which the Israeli Knesset will be considering this very issue, we see before us today a stark reality check, and a lesson on who is really sovereign on the Temple Mount." (See also: Jordanian MPs Demand End to Peace With Israel Over Temple Mount)
_________________________________
IMPORTANT INFO - GET THE WORD OUT!
Right-wing groups start anti-Jewish state campaign
The groups start what they call an "information and warning campaign" to inform public of what they believe is a tactical trick by Netanyahu.
24 February 2014
Will There Be an Israeli 'Spring' in the Month of Aviv?
25 Adar Alef 5774
A revolution is coming. I don't know if it will be this year or next, or ten years from now, but it's definitely coming. The revolutionary spirit of our founding fathers - Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabeinu, David HaMelech, Matityahu HaChasmonai, Judah HaMaccabee, Eleazer ben Yair, etc. - runs very, very deep underground and then pops up at various junctures in history when desperately needed - in times very much like ours.
In 1949, once the goal of the other Zionisms - liberation of the homeland from foreign rule - had been accomplished, the ideological leader of Revolutionary Zionism, Israel Eldad, began to speak about what it should do to carry on until its ultimate goal - the complete redemption - could be realized.
In excerpts from Ze'ev Golan's book Stern: The Man and His Gang:
Eldad: "Don't delude yourselves into believing that a miracle will occur and the masses will stream toward us. This is an illusion, they won't come. ...we can be, under current conditions, a framework for educational work."
Eldad: "My view is the State of Israel is [no more] than the Zionist Organization with expanded authority. ...there is an army, but a strange army that cannot move forward according to its strength, only according to the dictates of American imperialism."
Golan: "Eldad knew that 'we are at the ground stage' and the time had not yet come to realize his goals."
Golan: "He rejected what passed for Zionism.... Zionism, he said, is a national liberation movement while the goal he saw before him is a uniquely Jewish one: redemption."
Golan: "Redemption, Eldad told a group of youthful followers in 1953, is itself a revolution, as was the redemption of Jews from Egypt. ...Had they (Lehi) spoken (in the formative days) of redemption (instead of liberation and revolution), the state would have been seen for what it is: one more modern tool to be used by the movement for redemption."
After 1949, Eldad felt that the group should focus on the "...transformation into a revolutionary elite...focusing on the roots of the movement for Hebrew liberation and spreading the word slowly, until such time as circumstances again favored the transformation of the ideas into deeds. ...Eldad sought to promote the biblical form of Hebrew redemption."
Golan: "The Jewish declaration that God created the world means history has a beginning, an order, and an intention. God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who chose the Jews as His people. Eldad said the benefits of Jewish sovereignty cannot be won as long as Jews do not know who they are and what they seek."
The seeds of Revolutionary Zionism lie dormant in the Jewish psyche for they are the dreams, the hopes, the prayers of two thousand years. In the minds and hearts of "a revolutionary elite" of whom Eldad spoke, they have sprouted anew.
Our task until then is to spread this Jewish Idea through information and education - to prepare fertile soil in the hearts and minds of all true Jews for the full bloom of revolutionary redemption, in OUR time!
When Mashiach finally arrives and shouts "Mi l'Hashem Elai!!" there will be no stumbling, no hesitation. For this is the very reason our long-awaited redemption has been delayed. How can Hashem send us a redeemer if there is no one prepared to follow him?
A revolution is coming. I don't know if it will be this year or next, or ten years from now, but it's definitely - absolutely - coming.
A revolution is coming. I don't know if it will be this year or next, or ten years from now, but it's definitely coming. The revolutionary spirit of our founding fathers - Avraham Avinu, Moshe Rabeinu, David HaMelech, Matityahu HaChasmonai, Judah HaMaccabee, Eleazer ben Yair, etc. - runs very, very deep underground and then pops up at various junctures in history when desperately needed - in times very much like ours.
In 1949, once the goal of the other Zionisms - liberation of the homeland from foreign rule - had been accomplished, the ideological leader of Revolutionary Zionism, Israel Eldad, began to speak about what it should do to carry on until its ultimate goal - the complete redemption - could be realized.
In excerpts from Ze'ev Golan's book Stern: The Man and His Gang:
Eldad: "Don't delude yourselves into believing that a miracle will occur and the masses will stream toward us. This is an illusion, they won't come. ...we can be, under current conditions, a framework for educational work."
Eldad: "My view is the State of Israel is [no more] than the Zionist Organization with expanded authority. ...there is an army, but a strange army that cannot move forward according to its strength, only according to the dictates of American imperialism."
Golan: "Eldad knew that 'we are at the ground stage' and the time had not yet come to realize his goals."
Golan: "He rejected what passed for Zionism.... Zionism, he said, is a national liberation movement while the goal he saw before him is a uniquely Jewish one: redemption."
Golan: "Redemption, Eldad told a group of youthful followers in 1953, is itself a revolution, as was the redemption of Jews from Egypt. ...Had they (Lehi) spoken (in the formative days) of redemption (instead of liberation and revolution), the state would have been seen for what it is: one more modern tool to be used by the movement for redemption."
After 1949, Eldad felt that the group should focus on the "...transformation into a revolutionary elite...focusing on the roots of the movement for Hebrew liberation and spreading the word slowly, until such time as circumstances again favored the transformation of the ideas into deeds. ...Eldad sought to promote the biblical form of Hebrew redemption."
Golan: "The Jewish declaration that God created the world means history has a beginning, an order, and an intention. God is called the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Who chose the Jews as His people. Eldad said the benefits of Jewish sovereignty cannot be won as long as Jews do not know who they are and what they seek."
The seeds of Revolutionary Zionism lie dormant in the Jewish psyche for they are the dreams, the hopes, the prayers of two thousand years. In the minds and hearts of "a revolutionary elite" of whom Eldad spoke, they have sprouted anew.
Our task until then is to spread this Jewish Idea through information and education - to prepare fertile soil in the hearts and minds of all true Jews for the full bloom of revolutionary redemption, in OUR time!
When Mashiach finally arrives and shouts "Mi l'Hashem Elai!!" there will be no stumbling, no hesitation. For this is the very reason our long-awaited redemption has been delayed. How can Hashem send us a redeemer if there is no one prepared to follow him?
A revolution is coming. I don't know if it will be this year or next, or ten years from now, but it's definitely - absolutely - coming.
"Million Man Atzeres Set for Yerushalayim"
24 Adar Alef 5774
From the Yeshiva World News website:
As Am Yisrael is about to mark 15 years since the unprecedented 1 million man protest against Israel’s Supreme Court organized by R’ Menachem Porush Z”L, Gedolei Yisrael Shlita have given the go-ahead for a million man atzeres against the new chareidi draft law.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 2 Adar 2 5774 to act publically against what HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita called “an awful Chilul Hashem”, in his comments after hearing the Shaked Committee approved criminal sanctions.
Rav Shteinman’s immediate response was the atzeres is now required to act in the face of the horrific Chilul Hashem and he seems uninterested in the other factors, such as how the event will play out in the media.
It is clear from all the statements that there is no interest in or need of yeshiva students to participate in the army beyond that they be assimilated into Israeli culture and absorbed into the work force, so that those at the top can reap even more monetary gain.
They promise to accommodate the religious soldier and then go back on every one of them, because it is their aim to wean them away from Torah and observance. I would venture that the average religious young man who goes into the army comes out less religious in the end. I've seen it happen.
I was there fifteen years ago to demonstrate against the High Court of (IN)Justice and I plan to be there, G-d willing, next week. In the merit of achdut around Torah, may Hashem see fit to raise up our righteous Mashiach to lead us and to re-establish a real Jewish army like that of King David's!
From the Yeshiva World News website:
As Am Yisrael is about to mark 15 years since the unprecedented 1 million man protest against Israel’s Supreme Court organized by R’ Menachem Porush Z”L, Gedolei Yisrael Shlita have given the go-ahead for a million man atzeres against the new chareidi draft law.
The event will take place on Tuesday, 2 Adar 2 5774 to act publically against what HaGaon HaRav Aaron Yehuda Leib Shteinman Shlita called “an awful Chilul Hashem”, in his comments after hearing the Shaked Committee approved criminal sanctions.
Rav Shteinman’s immediate response was the atzeres is now required to act in the face of the horrific Chilul Hashem and he seems uninterested in the other factors, such as how the event will play out in the media.
It is clear from all the statements that there is no interest in or need of yeshiva students to participate in the army beyond that they be assimilated into Israeli culture and absorbed into the work force, so that those at the top can reap even more monetary gain.
They promise to accommodate the religious soldier and then go back on every one of them, because it is their aim to wean them away from Torah and observance. I would venture that the average religious young man who goes into the army comes out less religious in the end. I've seen it happen.
I was there fifteen years ago to demonstrate against the High Court of (IN)Justice and I plan to be there, G-d willing, next week. In the merit of achdut around Torah, may Hashem see fit to raise up our righteous Mashiach to lead us and to re-establish a real Jewish army like that of King David's!
21 February 2014
Parshat Vayakhel 5774
21 Adar Alef 5774
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Vayakhel — Twilight — Rabbi Meir Kahane
On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem... (Ex. 35:2)
In Yoma 81b, our sages said regarding Yom Kippur: «You must afflict your souls on the ninth of the month» (Lev. 23:32): I might think one should start fasting on the ninth day. It therefore says «in the evening» (Ibid.). If «in the evening», I might think he should start after it gets dark. It therefore, says, «on the ninth». How does this work? We start fasting while it is yet day. From here we learn that we add from the non-holy [the day before] onto the holy... I only know that this applies regarding Yom Kippur. How do I know it applies also regarding the Sabbath? The verse adds, «You must celebrate Sabbath [תשבתו]» (Ibid.)
We, likewise, find in Mechilta (Yitro, Mesechta DeBachodesh, 7): The Torah says «Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy» (Ex. 20:8) and then, «Keep the Sabbath day to make it holy» (Deut. 5:12). We must remember it from before [its onset] and we must keep it until after [its completion]. From here they learned that we add from the non-holy onto the holy.
All the Rishonim ruled this way (except for Rambam), and R. Yosef Caro ruled this way as well (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 261:2). I believe a profound principle can be derived here. Consider that G-d, rather than letting day move to night suddenly, created twilight [בין השמשות — ben hashemashot], a time of questionable status, and included this in the Sabbath. By His very doing so, He already established a sort of addition to the Sabbath besides the Rabbinic one mentioned above. The Poskim argue over when twilight occurs. According to Rambam and Rif, the Gaonim and Gra, it begins immediately after sunset and continues the time it takes to walk three fourths of a mil [approximately 960 meters], after which begins night.Yet Rabbenu Tam has another view, which Ramban and Rashba, Rosh and Ran agree to, that from sunset until nightfall lasts the time it takes to walk four mil 9Pesachim 94a), and that there are two sunsets: The first lasts the time it takes to walk three and a quarter mil, and then it is still daytime. The second sunset begins then and lasts the time it takes to walk three quarters of a mil, and that span is twilight.
Actually, according to either view, one is obligated to add some amount of time even before twilight, such that before what is for sure Sabbath, there is not only twilight, the questionable time, but a period of unquestionable weekday added on. R. Yosef Caro (who ruled like Rabbenu Tam and his group), wrote (Ibid.), «If someone wishes to make an absolute addition to the Sabbath, he may do so... He need only add some amount of unquestionable daytime, thereby adding from the non-holy to the Holy.» Rema commented: «And if he wishes to accept upon himself the onset of the Shabbat as early as plag haminchah [one and a quarter halachic hours before nightfall], he may do so» (yet, whoever starts before then has done nothing).
Previously [in other places], I have explained that G-d can bring redemption early on various pretexts, even when Israel have not merited redemption «in haste». I believe that the two additions, namely (1) G-d's creation of a twilight period between day and night and its natural inclusion in the Sabbath that follows; and, (2) the mitzvah of adding weekday time onto the Sabbath, serve to reward Israel in the Messianic era if we are otherwise undeserving. G-d is hinting at this. The week is composed of six weekdays followed by a Sabbath, and we are obligated to add from the sixth day to bring the Sabbath earlier. In the same way, the world's entire existence is six thousand years, followed by a seventh, called «a day that is all Sabbath».
Hence, as part of our cries to hasten redemption, it is a great mitzvah for us to bring the Sabbath as early as we can. That way, we can merit early redemption as just recompense. How many blessings will befall the Jew who steadfastly brings the Sabbath early each week! By this merit, he will hasten also the coming of the eternal Sabbath to the world .This may be why R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon bar Yochai (Shabbat 118b): «If Israel kept only two Sabbaths according to their laws [כהלכתן — kehilchatan], we would immediately be redeemed.» In other words, if we fulfill all the laws of the Sabbath, including adding from the non-holy to the holy, corresponding to the Messianic era, then G-d Himself will add from the non-holy and hasten the eternal Sabbath.
-
[No compilation - this is Rabbi Meir Kahane's «The Jewish Idea», Chapter 37 «Twilight» directly from the book]
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Vayakhel — Twilight — Rabbi Meir Kahane
On six days, work may be done, but the seventh day shall be holy for you, a day of complete rest for Hashem... (Ex. 35:2)
In Yoma 81b, our sages said regarding Yom Kippur: «You must afflict your souls on the ninth of the month» (Lev. 23:32): I might think one should start fasting on the ninth day. It therefore says «in the evening» (Ibid.). If «in the evening», I might think he should start after it gets dark. It therefore, says, «on the ninth». How does this work? We start fasting while it is yet day. From here we learn that we add from the non-holy [the day before] onto the holy... I only know that this applies regarding Yom Kippur. How do I know it applies also regarding the Sabbath? The verse adds, «You must celebrate Sabbath [תשבתו]» (Ibid.)
We, likewise, find in Mechilta (Yitro, Mesechta DeBachodesh, 7): The Torah says «Remember the Sabbath day to make it holy» (Ex. 20:8) and then, «Keep the Sabbath day to make it holy» (Deut. 5:12). We must remember it from before [its onset] and we must keep it until after [its completion]. From here they learned that we add from the non-holy onto the holy.
All the Rishonim ruled this way (except for Rambam), and R. Yosef Caro ruled this way as well (Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim, 261:2). I believe a profound principle can be derived here. Consider that G-d, rather than letting day move to night suddenly, created twilight [בין השמשות — ben hashemashot], a time of questionable status, and included this in the Sabbath. By His very doing so, He already established a sort of addition to the Sabbath besides the Rabbinic one mentioned above. The Poskim argue over when twilight occurs. According to Rambam and Rif, the Gaonim and Gra, it begins immediately after sunset and continues the time it takes to walk three fourths of a mil [approximately 960 meters], after which begins night.Yet Rabbenu Tam has another view, which Ramban and Rashba, Rosh and Ran agree to, that from sunset until nightfall lasts the time it takes to walk four mil 9Pesachim 94a), and that there are two sunsets: The first lasts the time it takes to walk three and a quarter mil, and then it is still daytime. The second sunset begins then and lasts the time it takes to walk three quarters of a mil, and that span is twilight.
Actually, according to either view, one is obligated to add some amount of time even before twilight, such that before what is for sure Sabbath, there is not only twilight, the questionable time, but a period of unquestionable weekday added on. R. Yosef Caro (who ruled like Rabbenu Tam and his group), wrote (Ibid.), «If someone wishes to make an absolute addition to the Sabbath, he may do so... He need only add some amount of unquestionable daytime, thereby adding from the non-holy to the Holy.» Rema commented: «And if he wishes to accept upon himself the onset of the Shabbat as early as plag haminchah [one and a quarter halachic hours before nightfall], he may do so» (yet, whoever starts before then has done nothing).
Previously [in other places], I have explained that G-d can bring redemption early on various pretexts, even when Israel have not merited redemption «in haste». I believe that the two additions, namely (1) G-d's creation of a twilight period between day and night and its natural inclusion in the Sabbath that follows; and, (2) the mitzvah of adding weekday time onto the Sabbath, serve to reward Israel in the Messianic era if we are otherwise undeserving. G-d is hinting at this. The week is composed of six weekdays followed by a Sabbath, and we are obligated to add from the sixth day to bring the Sabbath earlier. In the same way, the world's entire existence is six thousand years, followed by a seventh, called «a day that is all Sabbath».
Hence, as part of our cries to hasten redemption, it is a great mitzvah for us to bring the Sabbath as early as we can. That way, we can merit early redemption as just recompense. How many blessings will befall the Jew who steadfastly brings the Sabbath early each week! By this merit, he will hasten also the coming of the eternal Sabbath to the world .This may be why R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon bar Yochai (Shabbat 118b): «If Israel kept only two Sabbaths according to their laws [כהלכתן — kehilchatan], we would immediately be redeemed.» In other words, if we fulfill all the laws of the Sabbath, including adding from the non-holy to the holy, corresponding to the Messianic era, then G-d Himself will add from the non-holy and hasten the eternal Sabbath.
-
[No compilation - this is Rabbi Meir Kahane's «The Jewish Idea», Chapter 37 «Twilight» directly from the book]
19 February 2014
Shameless Peres
19 Adar Alef 5774
It's all a sham, a plot to let Peres remain in office because he doesn't want to give it up! Shimon, you are shameless!!
Report: Netanyahu May Extend Peres's Presidency
If true, Peres to serve an additional year; presidential elections would then be handed to the people in 2015.
It's all a sham, a plot to let Peres remain in office because he doesn't want to give it up! Shimon, you are shameless!!
Report: Netanyahu May Extend Peres's Presidency
If true, Peres to serve an additional year; presidential elections would then be handed to the people in 2015.
18 February 2014
Is North Korea Being Set Up? Will It Backfire?
18 Adar Alef 5774
In light of what has been discussed recently regarding North Korea, I began to pay close attention when the media suddenly exploded in the past 24 hours with reports like the following:
Washington Times: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un forced mothers to drown newborn babies: U.N. report
North Korea forces women to undergo abortions and young mothers to drown their newborn babies, and has starved and executed hundreds of thousands of detainees at secret prison camps — atrocities that the chairman of a U.N. panel that documented the abuses compares to those of Nazi Germany.
...In an unprecedented act, commission Chairman Michael Kirby wrote to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warning that he could be tried for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Marie Harf said the Obama administration “strongly” welcomed the report. She said it “provides compelling evidence of widespread, systematic, and grave human rights violations” by the North.
The Telegraph: Kim Jong-un warned he could face prosecution for 'crimes against humanity'
...his intentions were partly to “galvanise” the wider world, and to prevent foreign leaders ever claiming ignorance of the scale of the abuses, as some did after the discovery of Nazi concentration camps at the end of the Second World War.
Some of reports from North Korea’s prison camps, which hold around 100,000 people, bore “striking” likenesses to the horrors of Germany’s Third Reich, Mr Kirby told a news conference in Geneva.
He cited grisly accounts of inmates being starved to death and then being disposed of in pots, burned and buried by other prisoners. “It was the duty of other prisoners in the camps to dispose of them,” he said.
He added: “At the end of the Second World War, so many people said if only we had know the wrongs that were done. Now the international community does know.”
CNN: North Korea: 'We were forced to eat grass and soil'
SkyNews: North Korea Regime Compared To Nazis By UN
The New York Times: U.N. Panel Says North Korean Leader Could Face Trial
The Guardian: North Korea: 'You are brainwashed from the time you know how to talk'
Reuters: North Korea crimes evoke Nazi era, Kim may face charges: U.N. inquiry
LA Times: North Korea's atrocities: What is the world going to do? Not much.
BBC: UN says North Korea crimes 'could amount to genocide'
Now, let's go back ten years to a report I wrote about a lecture I attended given by John Loftus in Jerusalem:
...Mr. Loftus assured his rapt listeners that the current President Bush is a "good guy, a sincere man, and a real friend of Israel." He said that "good things" are going to happen for Israel in the near term and then he dropped his bombshell. Over the next two years, America is going to "take out all seven dictatorial regimes in the Middle East."
The conquest was begun with Iraq and is to be followed by Iran, the groundwork for which is already being laid and which, according to Mr. Loftus, will be finished "by Spring", only to be followed in swift succession by Libya, N. Korea (which will be divied up to China), Syria and Lebanon. Since Jordan and Egypt are already on America's payroll, that only leaves Saudi Arabia which will have no other option, according to Mr. Loftus, but to fall into line. The plan is ostensibly to "liberate" all the democracy-starved hordes of the Middle-East and rebuild all the war-torn countries courtesy of the American taxpayer (to whom Israel is also beholden, reminds Mr. Loftus, lest we Jews ever forget), and create a climate in which "moderate Islam" can flourish.
Obviously, it has taken far longer than the "two years" originally anticipated and who knows what has happened with Syria and Iran. It would seem that there are two factions operating against each other. It seems equally obvious to me that this media blitz is the opening shot which has been orchestrated against North Korea. What concerns me is that whoever cooked up this plan may have just bitten off more than they can chew.
What I'm wondering is whether this is what will push Kim Jong-un over the edge and make him push back by pushing the button.
________________________
[NOTE: Not to say that NKorea doesn't deserve it, but after all these years, why suddenly now? And it's obviously being orchestrated from above with a clear goal in mind. THIS was the situation a year ago.]
In light of what has been discussed recently regarding North Korea, I began to pay close attention when the media suddenly exploded in the past 24 hours with reports like the following:
Washington Times: North Korea’s Kim Jong-un forced mothers to drown newborn babies: U.N. report
North Korea forces women to undergo abortions and young mothers to drown their newborn babies, and has starved and executed hundreds of thousands of detainees at secret prison camps — atrocities that the chairman of a U.N. panel that documented the abuses compares to those of Nazi Germany.
...In an unprecedented act, commission Chairman Michael Kirby wrote to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un warning that he could be tried for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
At the State Department, spokeswoman Marie Harf said the Obama administration “strongly” welcomed the report. She said it “provides compelling evidence of widespread, systematic, and grave human rights violations” by the North.
The Telegraph: Kim Jong-un warned he could face prosecution for 'crimes against humanity'
...his intentions were partly to “galvanise” the wider world, and to prevent foreign leaders ever claiming ignorance of the scale of the abuses, as some did after the discovery of Nazi concentration camps at the end of the Second World War.
Some of reports from North Korea’s prison camps, which hold around 100,000 people, bore “striking” likenesses to the horrors of Germany’s Third Reich, Mr Kirby told a news conference in Geneva.
He cited grisly accounts of inmates being starved to death and then being disposed of in pots, burned and buried by other prisoners. “It was the duty of other prisoners in the camps to dispose of them,” he said.
He added: “At the end of the Second World War, so many people said if only we had know the wrongs that were done. Now the international community does know.”
CNN: North Korea: 'We were forced to eat grass and soil'
SkyNews: North Korea Regime Compared To Nazis By UN
The New York Times: U.N. Panel Says North Korean Leader Could Face Trial
The Guardian: North Korea: 'You are brainwashed from the time you know how to talk'
Reuters: North Korea crimes evoke Nazi era, Kim may face charges: U.N. inquiry
LA Times: North Korea's atrocities: What is the world going to do? Not much.
BBC: UN says North Korea crimes 'could amount to genocide'
Now, let's go back ten years to a report I wrote about a lecture I attended given by John Loftus in Jerusalem:
...Mr. Loftus assured his rapt listeners that the current President Bush is a "good guy, a sincere man, and a real friend of Israel." He said that "good things" are going to happen for Israel in the near term and then he dropped his bombshell. Over the next two years, America is going to "take out all seven dictatorial regimes in the Middle East."
The conquest was begun with Iraq and is to be followed by Iran, the groundwork for which is already being laid and which, according to Mr. Loftus, will be finished "by Spring", only to be followed in swift succession by Libya, N. Korea (which will be divied up to China), Syria and Lebanon. Since Jordan and Egypt are already on America's payroll, that only leaves Saudi Arabia which will have no other option, according to Mr. Loftus, but to fall into line. The plan is ostensibly to "liberate" all the democracy-starved hordes of the Middle-East and rebuild all the war-torn countries courtesy of the American taxpayer (to whom Israel is also beholden, reminds Mr. Loftus, lest we Jews ever forget), and create a climate in which "moderate Islam" can flourish.
Obviously, it has taken far longer than the "two years" originally anticipated and who knows what has happened with Syria and Iran. It would seem that there are two factions operating against each other. It seems equally obvious to me that this media blitz is the opening shot which has been orchestrated against North Korea. What concerns me is that whoever cooked up this plan may have just bitten off more than they can chew.
What I'm wondering is whether this is what will push Kim Jong-un over the edge and make him push back by pushing the button.
________________________
[NOTE: Not to say that NKorea doesn't deserve it, but after all these years, why suddenly now? And it's obviously being orchestrated from above with a clear goal in mind. THIS was the situation a year ago.]
The Documented Downfall of Edom
17 Adar Alef 5774
The United States of Decline
America unravels at an increasingly dizzying pace.
By Deroy Murdock, National Review Online
America is unraveling at a stunning speed and to a staggering degree. This decline is breathtaking, and the prognosis is dim.
...America is a total mess. ...America, as Paul Simon sings, is slip-slidin’ away. And the worst part hasn’t happened yet.
The United States of Decline
America unravels at an increasingly dizzying pace.
By Deroy Murdock, National Review Online
America is unraveling at a stunning speed and to a staggering degree. This decline is breathtaking, and the prognosis is dim.
...America is a total mess. ...America, as Paul Simon sings, is slip-slidin’ away. And the worst part hasn’t happened yet.
17 February 2014
"Our Secret Weapon"
18 Adar Alef 5774
In our continuing discussion, I want to begin looking more into the concept of mesirut nefesh - self sacrifice - and it's meaning for our time and for redemption. For without mesirut nefesh, there is no redemption.
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
OUR SECRET WEAPON
One of the repeating themes weaved throughout the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt is the great mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) that certain individuals displayed for the sake of the Jewish people, and their great reward for their selfless acts. Eventually, these acts of self-sacrifice would spread to the entire nation.
The story of the Exodus opens up with king Pharaoh ordering the midwives, Yocheved and Miriam, to kill all the Jewish male babies. Surely, the king of Egypt did not need police or advisers to put his wishes into action, for anyone who would dare disobey the king's order would certainly be put to death. Still, Yocheved and Miriam refused to lend a hand to Pharaoh's wickedness, for they feared the L-rd, so they did not do as the king had ordered. Their reward for this very courageous act? The Torah tells us that Hashem made houses for them. What kind of houses? From them would come forth the houses of the Kehunah (priesthood) and the houses of Malchut (kingship).
Next, we find the great acts of Moshe, in leaving the palace where he lived a life of luxury, where every request of his was fulfilled, to go out and see the pain of his people. All of this he gave up in an instant when he saw the Egyptian striking a fellow Jew, and killed him. He then went into exile, leaving all behind. For this, Moshe was chosen to lead the people out of Egypt.
We find that, after the decree went out that the Jews would no longer receive straw to make bricks but would still be required to produce the same amount as when they were given the straw, they were unable to come up with the daily quota. As the Torah tells us that the Egyptian overseers said to the guards: Why did you not complete your requirement to make bricks as yesterday and before? And the guards of the children of Israel were beaten. So unlike today's Jewish police, who frantically give out the beatings, these Jewish heroes received the beatings from the Egyptians and did not pass it on to their beloved people. They, too, were rewarded for their acts, for later on we find that these same Jewish policemen became the future Sanhedrin!
Even Pharaoh's daughter Batya was rewarded for her great act of self-sacrifice for saving baby Moshe. For surely she took great risks to herself when she brought Moshe into the royal palace. Our Rabbis teach us that Moshe prayed on her behalf, and so the 10 plagues did not affect her. She would leave Egypt together with the Jewish people and later convert. She also merited to enter the Land of Israel 40 years later.
The nation as a whole was also put to the test and passed with flying colors, when they were given the commandment to offer the Passover sacrifice. To pass this test, the Jewish people were sent to the limits, when G-d ordered to tie up the Egyptian god (the lamb) to their bedposts and, four days later, slaughter the lamb before the eyes of the helpless Egyptians. The Jews suggested to Moshe that maybe they could cook the lamb in a stew, chopping it up in fine pieces so the Egyptians would not take notice of it. No, answered Moshe, it must be whole. Not only that, but it must be roasted, for the smell of the burning lamb should go all over Egypt for all to smell. The Egyptians were still helpless in stopping the Jewish people, and had to watch them destroy their god. This took great self- sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish people, and it was in this merit that they were able to cross over the Reed Sea.
In our parsha, Beshalach, we find the Jewish people with their backs to the wall. With the mighty Egyptian army in front of them, and their back to the sea with nowhere to run, Hashem commanded them to enter into the raging sea. The Jews were hesitant, and they formed a committee and a subcommittee (oh, how we love committees) to see which tribe would be the first to enter. At that moment, Nachshon from the tribe of Judah jumped in, and only when the water started to enter his mouth did the sea open up for the Jewish people. Once again the day was saved through the great merit of self-sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish people. Nachshon was justly rewarded, as all before him, for his unselfish act to merit descendants who would sit on the throne of Israel!
Today, too, we see the great self-sacrifice of our children on behalf of the Jewish people and its Land. ... As in the Redemption in Egypt that came about only though acts of mesirut nefesh, so, too, in our day. As the blood of the Passover sacrifice went up to the Almighty and enabled us to pass through the raging waters of the sea, so, too, the blood of our children spilled for the Land of Israel should go up before the Almighty and bring Redemption to us all.
____________________________
[I also suggest to re-read Discussion with Moishe'la: "Mesirus Nefesh is Our Answer"]
In our continuing discussion, I want to begin looking more into the concept of mesirut nefesh - self sacrifice - and it's meaning for our time and for redemption. For without mesirut nefesh, there is no redemption.
YESHIVAT HARA'AYON HAYEHUDI
Jerusalem, Israel
HaRav Yehuda Kroizer SHLIT"A, Rosh Yeshiva
OUR SECRET WEAPON
One of the repeating themes weaved throughout the story of the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt is the great mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice) that certain individuals displayed for the sake of the Jewish people, and their great reward for their selfless acts. Eventually, these acts of self-sacrifice would spread to the entire nation.
The story of the Exodus opens up with king Pharaoh ordering the midwives, Yocheved and Miriam, to kill all the Jewish male babies. Surely, the king of Egypt did not need police or advisers to put his wishes into action, for anyone who would dare disobey the king's order would certainly be put to death. Still, Yocheved and Miriam refused to lend a hand to Pharaoh's wickedness, for they feared the L-rd, so they did not do as the king had ordered. Their reward for this very courageous act? The Torah tells us that Hashem made houses for them. What kind of houses? From them would come forth the houses of the Kehunah (priesthood) and the houses of Malchut (kingship).
Next, we find the great acts of Moshe, in leaving the palace where he lived a life of luxury, where every request of his was fulfilled, to go out and see the pain of his people. All of this he gave up in an instant when he saw the Egyptian striking a fellow Jew, and killed him. He then went into exile, leaving all behind. For this, Moshe was chosen to lead the people out of Egypt.
We find that, after the decree went out that the Jews would no longer receive straw to make bricks but would still be required to produce the same amount as when they were given the straw, they were unable to come up with the daily quota. As the Torah tells us that the Egyptian overseers said to the guards: Why did you not complete your requirement to make bricks as yesterday and before? And the guards of the children of Israel were beaten. So unlike today's Jewish police, who frantically give out the beatings, these Jewish heroes received the beatings from the Egyptians and did not pass it on to their beloved people. They, too, were rewarded for their acts, for later on we find that these same Jewish policemen became the future Sanhedrin!
Even Pharaoh's daughter Batya was rewarded for her great act of self-sacrifice for saving baby Moshe. For surely she took great risks to herself when she brought Moshe into the royal palace. Our Rabbis teach us that Moshe prayed on her behalf, and so the 10 plagues did not affect her. She would leave Egypt together with the Jewish people and later convert. She also merited to enter the Land of Israel 40 years later.
The nation as a whole was also put to the test and passed with flying colors, when they were given the commandment to offer the Passover sacrifice. To pass this test, the Jewish people were sent to the limits, when G-d ordered to tie up the Egyptian god (the lamb) to their bedposts and, four days later, slaughter the lamb before the eyes of the helpless Egyptians. The Jews suggested to Moshe that maybe they could cook the lamb in a stew, chopping it up in fine pieces so the Egyptians would not take notice of it. No, answered Moshe, it must be whole. Not only that, but it must be roasted, for the smell of the burning lamb should go all over Egypt for all to smell. The Egyptians were still helpless in stopping the Jewish people, and had to watch them destroy their god. This took great self- sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish people, and it was in this merit that they were able to cross over the Reed Sea.
In our parsha, Beshalach, we find the Jewish people with their backs to the wall. With the mighty Egyptian army in front of them, and their back to the sea with nowhere to run, Hashem commanded them to enter into the raging sea. The Jews were hesitant, and they formed a committee and a subcommittee (oh, how we love committees) to see which tribe would be the first to enter. At that moment, Nachshon from the tribe of Judah jumped in, and only when the water started to enter his mouth did the sea open up for the Jewish people. Once again the day was saved through the great merit of self-sacrifice on behalf of the Jewish people. Nachshon was justly rewarded, as all before him, for his unselfish act to merit descendants who would sit on the throne of Israel!
Today, too, we see the great self-sacrifice of our children on behalf of the Jewish people and its Land. ... As in the Redemption in Egypt that came about only though acts of mesirut nefesh, so, too, in our day. As the blood of the Passover sacrifice went up to the Almighty and enabled us to pass through the raging waters of the sea, so, too, the blood of our children spilled for the Land of Israel should go up before the Almighty and bring Redemption to us all.
____________________________
[I also suggest to re-read Discussion with Moishe'la: "Mesirus Nefesh is Our Answer"]
16 February 2014
The Jewish Idea
16 Adar Alef 5774
We've been talking about Revolutionary Zionism as promulgated by Avraham Stern. He was very clear from the beginning that he did not view his movement as simply a liberation movement whose raison d'etre would end with the founding of the Jewish State. Quoting from Zev Golan's book Stern: The Man and His Gang:
...the goals set in the "Principles of Rebirth" are not for the moment: "The great Hebrew nation needs to follow the path of mastery and power till the end of time." He ruled, "The conquest of the homeland and the establishment of sovereignty are the first stage."
Regarding "War and Conquest:"
Principle #5 Education says: Educating the nation to love liberty and develop a zealous loyalty to its eternal heritage. Inculcating the idea that the fate of the nation is in its own hands. Renewing the understanding that the "book and sword descended together from heaven" (Midrash Vayikra Raba 35:8).
Principle #9 War says: Never-ending war against anyone standing in the way of realizing our destiny.
We are currently engaged in a cosmic battle for the hearts and minds of humanity before the arrival of the Great and Final Redemption for which Avraham Stern sought to pave the way. The weapons for this war are education and information. It's not for nothing that Hashem saw fit to introduce the Information Age with all its technological tools at this time in history or that we are the reincarnation of the Dor Ha'Deah - the Generation of Knowledge.
Quoting again from Zev Golan's book: "The British did not intend to kill Yair, the man. They wanted to kill "Yair" the thinker...."
It is The Jewish Idea which is embodied in Stern's Principles and which Rav Meir Kahane and Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, Hashem yinakem damam, which remains the greatest threat to the powers which oppose redemption.
Minds have been virtually enslaved by false and selective teachings masquerading as "Torah."
Yisrael Eldad picked up the fallen "Yair's" torch and carried it the rest of his life. How appropriate that he was a teacher. And how appropriate that the enemies of Israel's redemptive destiny would do the same thing to him that they like to do to all the bearers of truth:
...Eldad eventually got a job teaching Bible and Hebrew literature in an Israeli high school, until Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion intervened and had him dismissed. Ben-Gurion was afraid Eldad would imbue the students with his Lehi ideology. Eldad went to court and won, but found few people willing to hire him after Ben-Gurion had labeled him a danger to the state.
...Eldad did not believe that the creation of the state of Israel was the goal of Zionism. He considered the state a tool to be used in realizing the goal of Zionism, which he called Malkhut Yisrael (the Kingdom of Israel). Eldad sought what he referred to as national redemption, meaning a sovereign Jewish kingdom in the biblical borders of Israel, with all the world’s Jews living there, and the Jewish Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem.
Just like with the Lehi and it's leaders, Stern and Eldad, Rav Kahane and his message were marginalized, delegitimized and stigmatized. They raided his facilities and confiscated the books and pamphlets and then they assassinated him along with his son and successor. But, others quietly arose and again picked up the torch and are holding it aloft even until this day, lighting the way for all Jews who seek to know and follow the path of Truth.
They can kill the warriors for the soul of Israel, but they can't kill the Idea - The Jewish Idea.
To be continued...
[See other parts in this series at Revolutionary Zionism - Free Your Mind.]
We've been talking about Revolutionary Zionism as promulgated by Avraham Stern. He was very clear from the beginning that he did not view his movement as simply a liberation movement whose raison d'etre would end with the founding of the Jewish State. Quoting from Zev Golan's book Stern: The Man and His Gang:
...the goals set in the "Principles of Rebirth" are not for the moment: "The great Hebrew nation needs to follow the path of mastery and power till the end of time." He ruled, "The conquest of the homeland and the establishment of sovereignty are the first stage."
Regarding "War and Conquest:"
Principle #5 Education says: Educating the nation to love liberty and develop a zealous loyalty to its eternal heritage. Inculcating the idea that the fate of the nation is in its own hands. Renewing the understanding that the "book and sword descended together from heaven" (Midrash Vayikra Raba 35:8).
Principle #9 War says: Never-ending war against anyone standing in the way of realizing our destiny.
We are currently engaged in a cosmic battle for the hearts and minds of humanity before the arrival of the Great and Final Redemption for which Avraham Stern sought to pave the way. The weapons for this war are education and information. It's not for nothing that Hashem saw fit to introduce the Information Age with all its technological tools at this time in history or that we are the reincarnation of the Dor Ha'Deah - the Generation of Knowledge.
Quoting again from Zev Golan's book: "The British did not intend to kill Yair, the man. They wanted to kill "Yair" the thinker...."
It is The Jewish Idea which is embodied in Stern's Principles and which Rav Meir Kahane and Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane, Hashem yinakem damam, which remains the greatest threat to the powers which oppose redemption.
Minds have been virtually enslaved by false and selective teachings masquerading as "Torah."
Yisrael Eldad picked up the fallen "Yair's" torch and carried it the rest of his life. How appropriate that he was a teacher. And how appropriate that the enemies of Israel's redemptive destiny would do the same thing to him that they like to do to all the bearers of truth:
...Eldad eventually got a job teaching Bible and Hebrew literature in an Israeli high school, until Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion intervened and had him dismissed. Ben-Gurion was afraid Eldad would imbue the students with his Lehi ideology. Eldad went to court and won, but found few people willing to hire him after Ben-Gurion had labeled him a danger to the state.
...Eldad did not believe that the creation of the state of Israel was the goal of Zionism. He considered the state a tool to be used in realizing the goal of Zionism, which he called Malkhut Yisrael (the Kingdom of Israel). Eldad sought what he referred to as national redemption, meaning a sovereign Jewish kingdom in the biblical borders of Israel, with all the world’s Jews living there, and the Jewish Temple rebuilt in Jerusalem.
Just like with the Lehi and it's leaders, Stern and Eldad, Rav Kahane and his message were marginalized, delegitimized and stigmatized. They raided his facilities and confiscated the books and pamphlets and then they assassinated him along with his son and successor. But, others quietly arose and again picked up the torch and are holding it aloft even until this day, lighting the way for all Jews who seek to know and follow the path of Truth.
They can kill the warriors for the soul of Israel, but they can't kill the Idea - The Jewish Idea.
To be continued...
[See other parts in this series at Revolutionary Zionism - Free Your Mind.]
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