3 Kislev 5776
BS"D
Communication with Binyamin
Jerusalem, 21 Marcheshvan 5776
"The Real Jewish Soul"
(See original for highlighted sources)
We have seen in the last weeks a lot more clearly that we are very much progressing to the complete redemption. Every day - two, three, four, five, six or more things are happening all over the world. And whoever doesn't know this, I'm not going to start explaining all the news here, but whoever follows it, beyond a shadow of a doubt it does something in his heart. It does something in his thoughts, brings him closer to HKB"H and distances him from materialism.
But, today I want to talk to you about the Jewish soul. The Jewish soul - it's the dearest thing in this world, in all of creation. The dearest thing there is to HKB"H - is the real, Jewish soul. And every single soul that Hashem made and heard from under Har-Sinai and said together with all the souls 'na'aseh v'nishmah', all this creation from Adam HaRishon until today, and all that was created also before Adam HaRishon - everything was just for the sake of this Jewish soul.
So, it's worthwhile to talk about it, because we Jews have gone through a whole lot of troubles in this world, and even in times that were good for us - then, too, we suffered because we were Jews. But, however much we suffered, wonder of wonders, we've arrived to the year 5776, to 2015, and we still look like Jews, and we have names of Jews, and we put on tefillin and go with tzitzit, and try-at-least not to assimilate with the gentiles, we want to educate our children as Jews, etc. And even though in our generation we're not at the level that once was, in our generation, everything's lower, however there are among us those who say explicitly: 'What?!... This is the highest generation that ever was, the best that ever was...' , but that's not right, but it's written clearly that in every generation since Adam HaRishon there was a descent, and it can't be that we're on the highest level.
And we, the real Jews in this generation, we possessors of real Jewish souls, we've gone down very, very much in all aspects. And I won't get into A, B, C, of all the things, there are enough people who see, and there are older adults who can testify that their generation was on a higher level, even thirty years ago, and sixty years or ninety years, also the same.
But no matter, continuing on, we already don't have the strength to tell all the things, the lack of modesty, lack of learning on a real level, Torah learning really not always relevant to the truth, right, we're learning, but to comprehend the truth?... It's far from very many learners. And there are problems with all kinds of things relevant to holiness that there never were problems like these among chareidim, terrifying problems, problems that it's even an embarrassment for me to think about it, that a real-Jew can do these things. And we're hearing about it very much. And we really went down.
But understand what I'm saying, understand well, hear well, read well what I'm saying: it won't be easy. And we will suffer. And we're already beginning to suffer and even in the last fifty years or even more this world is really drowning in materialism, and the Jews also, and this materialism diminishes our Torah, indeed from an external perspective we still appear Jewish more-or-less, we still know to dance at a wedding, and to do chesed, etc. But there's not the internalness that once was.
But HKB"H very, very much loves every single Jewish soul and he will save every single soul, He will personally save him. He won't send angels to do it, He Himself will be concerned for every Jewish soul. It's from within the great love that He has for Am Yisrael, because in truth when we're looking at all the history, from the moment that the first Jew was created, HKB"H knew that even if they fell, and went down, in their mitzvot, and in their Torah, stopped learning Torah and etc., etc. in certain periods in history, and even descended to avodah zarah, but at the end of the thing, when it arrives to the time, to the right moment, they reject it, refuse to transgress the Torah, reject transgressing the Jewish religion. And even if they threatened them with death by the hardest method, they weren't prepared to move, weren't ready under absolutely no circumstances to go against HKB"H. And we, also, there will be for us now a last choice, and that will show who is Jewish and who is not.
And like in Europe, the Jews were mostly secular, in that period, in 1939, and the important yeshivas that we all know their names, and which they had giant roshei-yeshivot, and that in general were very great tzadikim, but compared with all the Jewish-population-of-Europe that were millions - they were few in number. The real tzadikim were very few, the young guys who sat and learned wholeheartedly - were the fewest. The families who had a lot of children, a whole lot of children in each family, and were in poverty so they could be in truth real-Jews - were few compared with all those who preferred to be secular or almost secular.
[To be continued, iy"H...]
15 November 2015
14 November 2015
13 November 2015
Gog uMagog By Other Means
1 Kislev 5776
Rosh Chodesh Bet
It seems that the nations of the world have banded against us with an assortment of weapons. Although they haven't (yet) come against us with the traditional weapons of war, they are currently waging a war by other means - economic and cultural.
Trying to destroy our economy...
Standing in Solidarity with Terrorism? The BDS Movement’s “Wave of Action”
...This marks the first time that the BDS movement has publicly declared solidarity with Palestinians — while Palestinians were murdering Jews.
US OK with new EU labeling rule for goods from Israeli settlements, doesn't see it as boycott
The Obama administration said Thursday it doesn't consider a new European Union rule outlawing "Made in Israel" tags on goods from the West Bank as a boycott of the Jewish state, only a technical guideline for consumers.
...State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "And as you know, we do not consider settlements to be part of Israel. We do not view labeling the origin of products as being from the settlements as a boycott of Israel."
Trying to destroy our historical connection to our land...
UNESCO approves Arab draft declaring Tomb of Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb Muslim sites
..."This decision is yet another step in the continuous Palestinian endeavor to rewrite history and distort the sources of World Heritage in this part of the World. ..."The deep Jewish ties to the holy sites in Jerusalem and its surroundings are undeniable and no decision of UNESCO can alter that,"....
The final version of the draft resolution approved by the UN's cultural body early Wednesday, was changed at the last minute to remove a controversial clause saying the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site at which Jews can pray, is an "integral part" of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Israel had denounced the statement as "a clear endeavour to distort history" and appropriate the site.
This, too is an aspect of the War of Gog uMagog and further proof that it has already begun. May it serve to mitigate the severity of the actual shooting war when it begins. Hashem yerachem!
And may this new month of Kislev 5776 see a return of the Maccabean spirit in Am Yisrael.
Shabbat shalom and chodesh tov~
Rosh Chodesh Bet
It seems that the nations of the world have banded against us with an assortment of weapons. Although they haven't (yet) come against us with the traditional weapons of war, they are currently waging a war by other means - economic and cultural.
Trying to destroy our economy...
Standing in Solidarity with Terrorism? The BDS Movement’s “Wave of Action”
...This marks the first time that the BDS movement has publicly declared solidarity with Palestinians — while Palestinians were murdering Jews.
US OK with new EU labeling rule for goods from Israeli settlements, doesn't see it as boycott
The Obama administration said Thursday it doesn't consider a new European Union rule outlawing "Made in Israel" tags on goods from the West Bank as a boycott of the Jewish state, only a technical guideline for consumers.
...State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. "And as you know, we do not consider settlements to be part of Israel. We do not view labeling the origin of products as being from the settlements as a boycott of Israel."
Trying to destroy our historical connection to our land...
UNESCO approves Arab draft declaring Tomb of Patriarchs and Rachel’s Tomb Muslim sites
..."This decision is yet another step in the continuous Palestinian endeavor to rewrite history and distort the sources of World Heritage in this part of the World. ..."The deep Jewish ties to the holy sites in Jerusalem and its surroundings are undeniable and no decision of UNESCO can alter that,"....
The final version of the draft resolution approved by the UN's cultural body early Wednesday, was changed at the last minute to remove a controversial clause saying the Western Wall in Jerusalem, the holiest site at which Jews can pray, is an "integral part" of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound.
Israel had denounced the statement as "a clear endeavour to distort history" and appropriate the site.
This, too is an aspect of the War of Gog uMagog and further proof that it has already begun. May it serve to mitigate the severity of the actual shooting war when it begins. Hashem yerachem!
And may this new month of Kislev 5776 see a return of the Maccabean spirit in Am Yisrael.
Shabbat shalom and chodesh tov~
12 November 2015
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies"
30 Marcheshvan 5776
Rosh Chodesh Aleph
A Not-To-Be-Missed new video-shiur series from Rav Yehudah HaCohen Richter of Elon Moreh...
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 1
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 2
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 3
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 4
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 5
Rosh Chodesh Aleph
A Not-To-Be-Missed new video-shiur series from Rav Yehudah HaCohen Richter of Elon Moreh...
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 1
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 2
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 3
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 4
Yishmael and the End of Days "For Dummies" - Part 5
"To Be Like A Tree"
30 Marcheshvan 5776
Rosh Chodesh Aleph
(Continued...)
Excerpt from the book The 6 Constant Mitzvos by Rabbi Yehuda Heimowitz and Rabbi Shai Markowitz..
To Be Like A Tree
Rabbi Schorr elaborates on this theme. The Torah likens man to a tree: ...For a man is like a tree of the field (Devarim 20.19). Many homiletical interpretations have been offered to explain the comparison. Rabbi Schorr notes that the Torah does not compare man to vegetation, only to trees. The difference between the two is that vegetables must be planted anew every year, while trees produce a crop annually. But although fruit grows year after year, the tree must not be neglected. It needs pruning, digging, fertilizing and so on. So too, a person should be like a tree in that he should strive to condition himself to the point where he naturally "produces" rich spiritual crops year after year. However, he must never be content with past accomplishments. The work must be constant, the "tree" must be cared for so that its crops will continue to be luxuriant.
As Rabbi Schorr notes in another context - and which illustrates the principle expounded by the Gaon - there are many, many things that are the ratzon Hashem, the will of God, that are not under the rubric of the 613 commandments. The entire Book of Bereishis is an example. Netziv comments that the Sages refer to it as Sefer HaYashar, the Book of Uprightness, because it depicts the conduct of the Patriarchs and their servants, and serves as a demonstration of how God wants Jews to behave. Avraham prayed for the wicked people of Sodom. Yaakov behaved honorably even when dealing with the charlatan and swindler Lavan. Yosef was the exemplar of virtue even in the Egyptian hotbed of perversion. Eliezer earned extensive mention in the Torah as an example of how even the servants of the Patriarchs conducted themselves. True, there are hardly any formal commandments in Bereishis, but it is filled with the "will of God," or, as the Gaon puts it, the trunk, branches, twigs, leaves and fruits of the 613 root commandments.
Rabbeinu Tam (Sefer HaYashar) likens man in his ideal state to an inverted tree, with its roots in heaven and it's growth on earth. If man acts as God wants him to, he plants his spiritual roots in heaven, where they derive energy and nourishment from the will of God - and the result will be that his every deed will be a reflection of the will of God. But if man chooses to ignore God's will and plants his roots in the earth, everything that his tree produces will reflect the materialism of his desires.
Rosh Chodesh Aleph
(Continued...)
Excerpt from the book The 6 Constant Mitzvos by Rabbi Yehuda Heimowitz and Rabbi Shai Markowitz..
To Be Like A Tree
Rabbi Schorr elaborates on this theme. The Torah likens man to a tree: ...For a man is like a tree of the field (Devarim 20.19). Many homiletical interpretations have been offered to explain the comparison. Rabbi Schorr notes that the Torah does not compare man to vegetation, only to trees. The difference between the two is that vegetables must be planted anew every year, while trees produce a crop annually. But although fruit grows year after year, the tree must not be neglected. It needs pruning, digging, fertilizing and so on. So too, a person should be like a tree in that he should strive to condition himself to the point where he naturally "produces" rich spiritual crops year after year. However, he must never be content with past accomplishments. The work must be constant, the "tree" must be cared for so that its crops will continue to be luxuriant.
As Rabbi Schorr notes in another context - and which illustrates the principle expounded by the Gaon - there are many, many things that are the ratzon Hashem, the will of God, that are not under the rubric of the 613 commandments. The entire Book of Bereishis is an example. Netziv comments that the Sages refer to it as Sefer HaYashar, the Book of Uprightness, because it depicts the conduct of the Patriarchs and their servants, and serves as a demonstration of how God wants Jews to behave. Avraham prayed for the wicked people of Sodom. Yaakov behaved honorably even when dealing with the charlatan and swindler Lavan. Yosef was the exemplar of virtue even in the Egyptian hotbed of perversion. Eliezer earned extensive mention in the Torah as an example of how even the servants of the Patriarchs conducted themselves. True, there are hardly any formal commandments in Bereishis, but it is filled with the "will of God," or, as the Gaon puts it, the trunk, branches, twigs, leaves and fruits of the 613 root commandments.
Rabbeinu Tam (Sefer HaYashar) likens man in his ideal state to an inverted tree, with its roots in heaven and it's growth on earth. If man acts as God wants him to, he plants his spiritual roots in heaven, where they derive energy and nourishment from the will of God - and the result will be that his every deed will be a reflection of the will of God. But if man chooses to ignore God's will and plants his roots in the earth, everything that his tree produces will reflect the materialism of his desires.
11 November 2015
"Not Just 613"
30 Marcheshvan 5776
Rosh Chodesh Aleph
Excerpt from the book The 6 Constant Mitzvos by Rabbi Yehuda Heimowitz and Rabbi Shai Markowitz..
Not Just 613
The purpose of the Torah's 613 commandments is to enable the Jew to become a tzelem elokim, an image of God, to the fullest possible degree. By doing God's will, man comes closer to Him, and by refraining from anything that God forbids, man prevents himself from being swept away from his goal. The 248 positive commandments corrrespond to the organs of the body, so that by performing all the commandments, the Jew refines every organ, until body and soul are united in spiritual perfection.
However, the Vilna Gaon, quoted by his brother (Maalos HaTorah), taught that the number 613 cannot mean that those are the only acts that the Torah either requires or forbids. From the beginning of the Torah until Parashah Bo - a total of sixty-one chapters - there are only three commandments. In addition, there are many other chapters that contain no commandments. It is illogical to say that so much of the Torah is without any expression of God's will.
Rather, the Gaon explains, the 613 commandments are like the roots of a tree. From the roots grows the trunk, from which grow branches, twigs, leaves and fruits. So, too, every word of the Torah is an expression of God's will, so that "everyone with a discerning eye and an understanding heart" can obey God's will constantly at every moment. Thus, every activity in life should be an emanation of God's will, even though it is not technically one of the 613 commandments.
This concept illuminates a teaching of the Sages: Jerusalem was destroyed only because the people acted on the letter of the law, and did not do more than the law requires (Bava Metzia 30b). That Talmudic teaching appears in the context of many Scriptural implications and stories of great people who exhibited personal and monetary kindness beyond the strict letter of the law, even though they were not halachically required to do so. But if there was no such requirement, and if people were indeed scrupulous in not disobeying the law, why were the people of Jerusalem held liable? In light of the Gaon's explanation, we can understand it very well. The 613 commandments are not all that the Torah teaches and not all that God expects of us. There is much more.
To be continued, iy"H...
Rosh Chodesh Aleph
Excerpt from the book The 6 Constant Mitzvos by Rabbi Yehuda Heimowitz and Rabbi Shai Markowitz..
Not Just 613
The purpose of the Torah's 613 commandments is to enable the Jew to become a tzelem elokim, an image of God, to the fullest possible degree. By doing God's will, man comes closer to Him, and by refraining from anything that God forbids, man prevents himself from being swept away from his goal. The 248 positive commandments corrrespond to the organs of the body, so that by performing all the commandments, the Jew refines every organ, until body and soul are united in spiritual perfection.
However, the Vilna Gaon, quoted by his brother (Maalos HaTorah), taught that the number 613 cannot mean that those are the only acts that the Torah either requires or forbids. From the beginning of the Torah until Parashah Bo - a total of sixty-one chapters - there are only three commandments. In addition, there are many other chapters that contain no commandments. It is illogical to say that so much of the Torah is without any expression of God's will.
Rather, the Gaon explains, the 613 commandments are like the roots of a tree. From the roots grows the trunk, from which grow branches, twigs, leaves and fruits. So, too, every word of the Torah is an expression of God's will, so that "everyone with a discerning eye and an understanding heart" can obey God's will constantly at every moment. Thus, every activity in life should be an emanation of God's will, even though it is not technically one of the 613 commandments.
This concept illuminates a teaching of the Sages: Jerusalem was destroyed only because the people acted on the letter of the law, and did not do more than the law requires (Bava Metzia 30b). That Talmudic teaching appears in the context of many Scriptural implications and stories of great people who exhibited personal and monetary kindness beyond the strict letter of the law, even though they were not halachically required to do so. But if there was no such requirement, and if people were indeed scrupulous in not disobeying the law, why were the people of Jerusalem held liable? In light of the Gaon's explanation, we can understand it very well. The 613 commandments are not all that the Torah teaches and not all that God expects of us. There is much more.
To be continued, iy"H...
"Destruction is Imminent"
29 Marcheshvan 5776
Erev Rosh Chodesh Aleph
Yom Kippur Katan
After a stepped-up campaign, by the so-called Defense Minister, of deligitimization of the people objecting to the destruction of the Ayelet Hashachar shul in Givat Ze'ev, the Memshelet Zadon is determined to raze it to the ground.
But, to give credit where credit is due, the following rabbanim have made a public call to members of the security forces to refuse to carry out the orders for the synagogue's demolition...
Rabbi Shalom Cohen Shlita, Rabbi David Batzri Shlita, Rabbi Meir Mazuz Shlita, Rabbi Binayahu Shmueli Shlita, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg Shlita, Rabbi Shalom Arush Shlita, Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl Shlita, Rabbi Bentzion Mutzafi Shlita, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita and Rabbi David Chai HaCohen Shlita.
Kol hakavod lahem. According to YWN's report...
___________________________
See also: Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: I Don’t Know Where Ya’alon Gets His Information From
Erev Rosh Chodesh Aleph
Yom Kippur Katan
After a stepped-up campaign, by the so-called Defense Minister, of deligitimization of the people objecting to the destruction of the Ayelet Hashachar shul in Givat Ze'ev, the Memshelet Zadon is determined to raze it to the ground.
But, to give credit where credit is due, the following rabbanim have made a public call to members of the security forces to refuse to carry out the orders for the synagogue's demolition...
Rabbi Shalom Cohen Shlita, Rabbi David Batzri Shlita, Rabbi Meir Mazuz Shlita, Rabbi Binayahu Shmueli Shlita, Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg Shlita, Rabbi Shalom Arush Shlita, Rabbi Avigdor Nebenzahl Shlita, Rabbi Bentzion Mutzafi Shlita, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita and Rabbi David Chai HaCohen Shlita.
Kol hakavod lahem. According to YWN's report...
The demolition of the shul is imminent as per the decision of the High Court of Justice.
The rabbonim shlita call on members of the IDF and Israel Police to refuse orders, not to lend a hand in an act that is prohibited by the Torah and that the Torah supersedes the decision of the court. They call on them to refrain from being a part of this Chilul Hashem.
The call of the rabbonim is also directed at non-Jewish members of security forces, explaining by protecting Kodshei Yisrael they will merit a bracha from the G-d of Avraham, אב המון גויים.
Many have already arrived at the shul for the standoff, occupying their time with tefilos and limudim.May Hashem look upon us with mercy and save this mikdash me'at from the hands of the reshaim.
___________________________
See also: Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: I Don’t Know Where Ya’alon Gets His Information From
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