19 Tishrei: Yarzheit of the Vilna Gaon

Painting of the Vilna Gaon from Yesodei Hatorah School corridor wall

Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna - The Vilna Gaon - Leader of Lithuanian Jewry, Torah scholar and kabbalist. Born: Vilna, Lithuania, 1720 Died: 19 Tishrei Vilna, Lithuania,1797

Popularly referred to as the Vilna Gaon, the Gra (initials of Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu), or simply as the Gaon. Considered to be the greatest Torah scholar of the past two centuries.

Even as a child Eliyahu of Vilna amazed the congregation when, at the age of 7, he delivered a learned discourse in the Great Synagogue in Vilna. By 10 years of age he had surpassed all his teachers, and, studying by himself with total concentration, he acquired knowledge of the vastness of Torah in both its revealed and mystical aspects. Every minute of his life was devoted to Torah study. He never slept more than two hours in a 24-hour period; he never accepted any rabbinic post or leadership of a yeshivah. He taught few disciples, selected from the foremost Torah scholars of his time. He also mastered astronomy, mathematics and music.

Known for fierce opposition to Chassidut, which was initiated in 1736 by the Baal Shem Tov, he and his followers in this anti-Chassidic Movement were known as "Mitnagdim," or opponents. Their opposition was based on the beliefs, vigorously denied by Chassidic leaders, that Chassidut took liberties with the Oral Law, that it substituted emotion for intellect in the Study of Torah, that its form of prayer departed too far from the traditional form of prayer, etc.

The Vilna Gaon cleared a new path to Talmud study, focusing on gaining a clear understanding through keen analysis of the principals and approaches of the early authorities. His methodology stood in sharp contrast to the pilpul system of the Polish yeshivahs, an intricate system of creating a complex framework with which a series of questions would be answered. He toiled hard on emending the the talmudic and midrashic texts. Subsequent discoveries of ancient manuscripts confirmed the soundness of his corrections, which appear in the Vilna edition of the Talmud [Haga'ot Hagra].

His works which were recorded and published by his disciples, include Aderet Eliyahu, a commentary on the Torah; a commentary on Ecclesiastes; Shenot Eliyahu, a commentary on the Mishna, Order of Zeraim; Biur Hagra, a commentary on Shulchan Aruch; a commentary on Sefer Yetzirah, a kabbalistic work; and many other works.

His commentary on the Torah is filled with interesting allusions that show the oneness of the Written Torah and the Oral Law, demonstrating their common source in Divine revelation.

The Vilna Gaon was revered in Vilna and throughout the world for his phenomental knowledge and saintly character. One of his most outstanding disciples was Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, the founder of the yeshivah of Volozhin. Following the Gaon's approach to learning, this institution spread Torah for more than a 100 years. Today most yeshivas follow the study pattern of Volozhin, keeping alive the approach to Torah pioneered by the great Vilna Gaon.

18 Tishrei: Yarzheit Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

 

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's histalkus [ascent from the body] took place in Uman, a Ukrainian town in Kiev oblast, on the 18th of Tishrei, which is the second day of Chol HaMo'ed Succos, 5571 [Oct. 16, 1810]. According to his express wish, Rebbe Nachman was buried in the old Jewish cemetery, together with more than 20,000 martyrs of the Haidamack massacres of 5528 [1768]. His surviving family members included his second wife, who built over his grave the original Ohel [a wooden structure to accommodate those who wished to pray nearby]; his daughters Adel, Sarah, Miriam, and Chaya; and several grandchildren. According to one tradition, the Rebbe's father, Rabbi Simcha, survived him, as well. 

It is customary for Breslover Chasidim to gather together on "Chai Tishrei" in order to commemorate the Rebbe's Yahrzeit. As is commonly the case in the Breslov community, there are no special minhagim [customs] associated with this event, other than lighting a Yahrzeit candle, giving Tzedakah [charity] in Rebbe Nachman's memory, and engaging in the study of Rebbe Nachman's writings.

To learn more about Rebbe Nachman click here

Gaza: Google Updates Images

Thus saith the LORD: For three transgressions of Gaza, yea, for four, I will not reverse it: because they carried away captive a whole captivity......So will I send a fire on the wall of Gaza, and it shall devour the palaces thereof

[Amos 1:6,7]

Google Maps has begun up-dating it's images of Gaza: flattened -  a couple of links below.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/1i8frfh/google_earth_has_begun_updating_images_of_gaza/

https://x.com/Tamer_Alnoaizy/status/2104329277311451199/video/1

The Sukkah and the Heavenly Hug

Wishing everyone a Chag Sameach !

 

Adapted from the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s teachings by Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

The Sukkah hut is frail and vulnerable, but its walls have basic specifications: They must be two full walls, plus a third wall of only 3.5 inches, measured in Hebrew as a ‘Tefach’ handbreadth. It’s okay to have 3 or 4 full walls; but the minimum is two plus a tiny bit of a third.

What is the spiritual significance of this tiny third handbreadth-size wall?

Anatomy of an Embrace

Two great Jewish thinkers, Rabbi Isaac Luria and Rabbi Schnuer Zalman of Liadi, turn our attention to the affectionate words uttered by the Bride in the Song of Songs: "His left arm is under my head, and His right arm embraces me."

These metaphors address two distinct moments in the relationship between G-d, the Groom, and His people, the Bride. During the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur "days of awe," G-d's "left arm," as it were, is under the head of Israel. The left side represents introspection, strict discipline and awe.

Sukkos, on the other hand, is "the time of our joy," when “G-d's right arm embraces me."

Our arm is divided into 3 sections. The first is the arm itself, from the shoulder to the elbow; the second is the forearm, from the elbow to the wrist; and the third is from the wrist to the fingertips.

Our Sukkah walls represent the "right arm's embrace." The first full wall represents a Divine embrace from the "shoulder" to the "elbow;" the second wall reflects the "forearm," and the third tiny wall symbolizes the palm’s embrace.

Expressions of Love

There are three ways of expressing love.

The first is words. "I love you," when uttered sincerely, has impact. A second, more powerful expression of love is a kiss. A genuine kiss expresses a deep intense feeling that may not be grasped in words. Words can state, "I love you," while a kiss declares, "I love you more then I will ever be able to tell you."

An embrace is a third expression of love.

Dissecting the Hug

Which form of love do children cherish most?

Children enjoy being spoken to. They certainly take pleasure from being kissed. Yet, most children, especially infants, cherish being hugged. When our children hurt themselves or break something, they cry and come running to their parents for a hug to calm them down and to restore their confidence.

Two significant features set apart an embrace from the other "love communicators."

Affection is directed primarily toward the face of the beloved. You speak to one's face, kiss one's cheeks or lips, or gaze at one's eyes. An embrace involves the nape and back of the one being embraced.

Another feature that distinguishes an embrace is the firm physical bond of a hug. When I utter words of love, even when I kiss, I am not holding on to you. But when I embrace you, even if you wish to escape my embrace, you are "trapped" in my gripping hug; I don't let you tear yourself away from me.

Two forms of love

There is reciprocal love and unconditional love. The first is directed to the face of the beloved one; the second is directed to the back of the beloved.

I may love you because of what I receive in return for my relationship. You may be wise, deep, sensitive, kind, beautiful, humorous, challenging etc. - qualities expressed through your face, eyes, ears and mouth - and I love you because of these or other qualities that enrich my life.

This type of love is communicated in words of affection, or in a kiss, directed toward the face of the beloved, the primary location of reciprocity. Expressing my attachment in these forms shows that I cherish you because of your qualities.

This love may be deep and can bestow blessings and fulfillment. Yet it is conditional on reciprocity. As long as you are here for me, I am here for you. In essence, I love you because I love myself, and you make my "self" so much deeper and happier.

Yet there is a deeper love of an embrace, in which my arms encircle your backside. The hug represents an unconditional, unqualified and absolute love. It is not about your face, it is about your back, an area lacking meaningful reciprocity. I don't love you because of me; I love you because of you. You may not give me anything in return for my love, you may even want me out of your life, but I still love you with all my heart.

Do you embrace your children?

That’s why children need their parents to embrace them.

When children get hurt or break something, they are searching for affirmation that their validity was not compromised. They are yearning to hear that their value does not depend on them being perfect and impeccable, but that their dignity is absolute. "Show me," asks the child, "that you love me unconditionally because of who I am and not because of what I achieve."

When a child cries because their finger is bleeding, and you simply place a band aid on the wound and go away, you may have forfeited the opportunity to teach your child the most important lesson: Your dignity stems from your very being. Even when you will fall in life and bleed badly, your very being and identity is indispensable.

We also relate to G-d on these two levels.

All year around, G-d's light relates to us as a result of the choices we make. The more we rise to the higher truth, the more we hear G-d’s silent voice resonating in our souls.

Throughout the year, we experience G-d's presence only through our efforts and toil to refine our behavior. When we meditate, pray, reflect, study and live morally and holy, we catch a glimpse of G-d's love toward us. When I work against my immoral temptations and cravings, I can at times sense a reciprocal kiss from G-d.

Throughout the year, we enjoy a reciprocal relationship with G-d. G-d might talk to you, He may even kiss you or gaze at you, but You must show Him your face. If you don't turn your back on Him, He will be there for you.

But during Sukkot, G-d shares His love unconditionally and embraces us.

We eat, drink, chat, and relax in a Sukkah- all mundane activities with little spirituality. Yet when performed in the Sukkah, these acts are a Mitzvah, a medium through which we relate to Him.

The Sukkah walls are saying: I love and cherish you not because of what you do for me or because of what I gain from you. I am attached to you not because of your spiritual sophistication or because of your noble pursuits. I love you because I love you. I am one with you as you are. I am in love with your very core.

So for a real good hug, spend time in a Sukkah.

Sustaining the Embrace
Each Jewish holiday leaves us with a special energy that affects the entire year. This Divine “hug” even while we are in a physical mode, empowers and inspires us to transform our physical and mundane endeavors throughout the year into tools through which to bring Divine light into the world.

This year 5787 is transformative! Things are not going to be the same.

Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff

How the war of Gog and Magog will play out this year and its strong connection to the festival of Sukkot

Asteroids over South Africa

These are not UFOs, they are clouds formed by asteroids.

This is the Red Asteroid - sometimes it looks blue/grey, depends on atmospheric and lighting conditions
Link to original photo on FB

Two more, they're all around us

What Will Actually Happen When Mashiach Comes

Rabbi David Gottleib

What will actually happen when The Messiah comes? Will the natural world continue? Does Jewish tradition really teach that history must end after 6,000 years? 

What is the difference between the days of Mashiach and the World to Come? And why would the greatest sages throughout history yearn so intensely for the Messianic age? 

Many people imagine the Messianic age as a supernatural end of the world filled with earth-shattering miracles and dramatic cosmic events. 

But the Rambam presents a very different picture. 

In this fascinating Torah class, we explore what Maimonides says about Mashiach, the Messianic era, Biblical prophecy and Olam Haba—and why some of the most dramatic descriptions of the End Times may not mean what they appear to mean. 

A thought-provoking journey through Rambam, prophecy, redemption, resurrection and the ultimate purpose of the world to come.

]

Just a Passing Planet over N.Y.

One of the planets orbiting the second sun a.k.a. Kochav Yaakov.

Not AI.  Weather reporters do not publish AI nonsense.  

We are currently in a 180 day "close pass" of these planets.   When you see something like this, it's not "just clouds".  

Canandaigua, NY Sept 15
Link to original FB post

Today’s weather report by Charles Ruoff, Rochester NY.  Link to original FB post

It's That Time Again

During the ten days of teshuva [repentence] between Rosh haShana and Yom Kippur, we are supposed to apologize and make amends to anyone we have upset during the past year.  

One of the dangers of blogging is that you upset many people who you don't even know you've upset.  None of it is intentional.  I don't know most of the people who read this blog, I don't even know where they come from, although mostly it is the U.S. and Israel, with a scattering of Europe, Canada and Australia.

Most of the hits come from bots.  I can get 40,000 hits from bots in one day.  I know they are bots because they come from places like Vietnam and Singapore, where I have no real readers at all.  [If you are a reader who comes from Singapore, please let me know, and I'm sorry I called you a bot].

I have no idea how many people read this blog.  The numbers I'm given make no sense at all.  

Now, back to the apology.  As I was saying, it is very easy to offend some people, such as the person who came to my blog not so long ago and asked a question, which I answered, and then they responded by telling me how rude I was and that they would never come back again.  I still don't know what I did wrong!    I decided there was no point apologizing because they weren't coming back anyway.

Sometimes it's my Aussie accent that can sound rude to people from other countries.  In Australia, we call a spade a spade, and don't bother flattering the spade by calling it by some flowery name.  If you want an honest opinion, ask an Australian, but be prepared for the honesty, because that's what you'll get.  So perhaps it's my Aussie accent that offends some people, but whatever the case, that's my language, straight and to the point, I don't bend the truth and I don't know who anyone is, so it's never personal.

I wish everyone a peaceful and delightful 5787, with the coming of Moshiach, who should have come last year but if He turns up this year then that's fine with me.  I forgive everyone who's aggravated me in any way, and I will try my best not to offend anyone in the future.  

Just wanted to get all that off my chest and I feel much better now.

The Torah Verse that Connects to This Year 5787

Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff - 6 min video

The Essence

God's Portion: His People

The Baal Shem Tov taught: ''The quality of essence is such that as soon as one grasps a tiny part of the essence, one grasps the whole of it.''

Thus it follows, that since all Jews [''His people''] have a Godly soul which is ''literally a portion of God above'' [Tanya Ch.2] - ''God's portion'' - then even when that soul undergoes the long journey downwards to this world, it remains inseparably bound with the Essence of God.  [See Ha'azinu 32:9]

Based on Sefer Hama'amarim 5735 p.243 Lubavitcher Rebbe

Message to the UK France and Canada from Caroline Glick

H/T DusizNies Blog

The following is authored by 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗚𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗸, Israeli-American Journalist and commentator.

To the 𝗨𝗞, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, & 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮: Go Shove It

You sanctimonious, hypocritical cowards. How dare you threaten the one Jewish state on earth—after everything your nations did to us. You dare speak of “humanitarian values” while standing on piles of Jewish bones your ancestors buried beneath cobblestones, cathedrals, and charters of “civilized” nations.

𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻

Oh, 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻. The empire that carved up the Middle East with a pencil and a gin and tonic. You issued the Balfour Declaration and then slammed the door on Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. You handed chunks of Jewish land to Arab monarchs and let Jews die in the Holocaust rather than let them enter your precious Mandate. You interned with Holocaust survivors in 𝗖𝘆𝗽𝗿𝘂𝘀 like they were criminals. And now you’re wagging your colonial finger at Jews for building homes on our ancestral hills?

Go shove your royal hypocrisy back into Buckingham Palace and deal with your own collapsing society—where knife crime, antisemitism, and Islamic extremism are more common than fish and chips.

𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

Liberté, égalité, fraternité—unless you’re a Jew. You deported over 75,000 Jews to their deaths during the Holocaust with the full cooperation of the French Vichy regime. You let them be shoved into cattle cars from the Vel d’Hiv while Parisians watched. And after the war? No justice. No reckoning. Just decades of indifference and empty words. Today, Jews are being stabbed in the streets of 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, synagogues are under military guard, and you still have the audacity to lecture us about morality?

You couldn’t defend your own republic from a gang of jihadists in a van, but now you want to dictate how 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹 defends itself from genocidal terrorists hiding behind human shields? You are morally bankrupt and culturally collapsing. Go lecture someone else while your republic burns.

𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮

Oh 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮—𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮’s cold, smug, spineless cousin. Your “moral high ground” is a snow-covered hill of lies. You locked Jewish refugees out during the Holocaust. The ship St. Louis begged for your mercy. You sent them back—to die. “None is too many,” your officials said. That’s your legacy. Your history. And today, your politicians pose for photo ops in mosques that glorify martyrs while denouncing 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹 for fighting genocidal killers.

You’ve turned your universities into Hamas fan clubs and your Parliament into a circus of virtue signalling. You host terrorists in suits and call it diplomacy. You abandoned the Jews when we were stateless, and now you want to punish us for defending our state?

Here’s Our Response:

We’re not the broken, stateless Jews of 1942. We’re the sovereign people of 𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹—armed, aware, and unapologetic. Your sanctions are a joke. Your threats are meaningless. Your moral lectures are garbage. We don’t need your permission to live. We don’t need your validation to fight.

You allowed Jewish blood to soak your soil for centuries. Now that Jews fight back, build, thrive—you clutch your pearls?

𝗜𝘀𝗿𝗮𝗲𝗹 doesn’t need your empty Western democracy. We have something older, holier, and stronger: truth, covenant, survival.

Go shove your resolutions where the sun doesn’t shine.

We’re not going anywhere. And next time you dare threaten the Jewish state—

Remember who we are now.

RE: GENESIS 12:3 ✡️🇮🇱

GOD WON'T BE MOCKED...

Tsunami ?

Sea levels near Anak Krakatau have dropped after the eruption. The head of BMKG Region II, Hartanto, said they have not yet found evidence that the sea level drop is related to the activity of Mount Anak Krakatau.  BMKG is urging the public to remain vigilant. He said that if the sea suddenly recedes rapidly and does not follow the normal tidal pattern, especially if accompanied by a loud rumbling sound or unusual waves, people are asked to immediately move away from the beach.

Torah From Shamayim

Listen, heavens...and I shall speak  [Ha'azinu: Devarim 32:1]

This can be explained based on a statement found in the holy Zohar "When the righteous Moshiach will come, speedily in our days, Moshe Rabbeinu will come along with him and teach the Jewish people Torah. He will reveal to them the secrets and explanations of the Torah."

Moshe said to the people "Listen, heavens" - calling the people "the heavens" because those who study Torah are called "shamayim" - heavens. Moshe commanded them that when they reveal novel original ideas on the Torah, they should do so in a manner of "listening". They should hear those ideas from above, for when they learn, the holy light shines upon them from above, and then they open their mouths to speak and say over the idea they receive.

Through their Torah learning, they can hasten the redemption, as Moshe implies with the words "I shall speak". When you learn Torah by being open to receiving ideas from above, then, says Moshe, you will be able to hear the secrets of Torah from me as in earlier days. You will be the direct cause of Moshe speaking with you in the future by learning in the manner described and thus hastening the redemption, may it be speedily in our days, Amen.

Source:  Mipeninei Noam Elimelech  Translated by Tal Moshe Zwecker

The Star is Approaching

Our sun is the small one

Rabbi Yuval Ovadia - 5 min video - click the You Tube logo on the video and watch on You Tube for auto-dub into English.   He has uploaded this video again, and I am blogging it again, because it's the biggest news in the world right now. 

The only Rabbi who knows what's going on !     Thank you Rabbi Ovadia.

Where Are We At ?

Tonight, my time, 25 Elul begins.  The 25th day of the sixth month, the date foretold for the appearance of the Kochav Yaakov.  The only problem is that the prophecy also says it will be on the sixth day of the week, and it's nowhere near the sixth day of the week. 

But as we can see this Star already, or something that appears to be this Star.... then I don't really know where it all stands.  

I just read a post from a friend of mine, the sister of a man who was one of the 15 murdered last Chanukah at Bondi Beach.... she was saying that he told her that this year 5786, would be amazing.... and, quoting her " You said this year was going to be amazing so that means the Revelation . Please please please do your thing and show us the full picture . Moshiach now ! Techiyas hamesim now ! And a yeshua for every single person that needs it right now..."

I want to remind you that there are 271 days counting from the first night of Chanukah [the Bondi Beach attack] until Rosh haShanah - 271 days is the number of days given in the Talmud for a pregnancy.

I also want to remind you of this shiur from Rabbi Yossi Saadeh Is 5786 the Year of Moshiach  showing the hints that he discovered in the Torah, as well as so many other hints and clues we've had such as the 6 7 phenomenon.

And right now, one of the world's deadliest volcanoes just went nuts.

Between now and Yom Kippur, anything can happen.  We are heading into 6 7 territory, the swap over of the years.  I remain hopeful and pray that we will see the coming of Moshiach before too long.

The Future Redemption

Parshat Nitzavim:

The future redemption: Moses warns of the exile and desolation of the Land that will result if Israel abandons G‑d’s laws, but then he prophesies that in the end, “You will return to the L‑rd your G‑d . . . If your outcasts shall be at the ends of the heavens, from there will the L‑rd your G‑d gather you . . . and bring you into the Land which your fathers have possessed.” 

The Talmud Talmud [Sanhedrin 97a–98a] mentions various signs to identify the generation in which Moshiach will arrive.

In that generation:

• Torah scholarship will be diminished. 
• There will be many troubles and difficult decrees. 
• The younger generation will not respect their elders. 
• There will be inflation in food prices. 
• The government will turn towards heresy (denying the Torah). 
• People will despair of the Redemption. 
• People will have no money left in their pockets (i.e., savings). 
• The Jewish people will not have supporters. 
• The generation will be either entirely righteous or entirely wicked. 
• There will be no fish available for purchase, even for sick people. 
• There will be no arrogant people left amongst the Jews. 
• There will be no judges or enforcers left amongst the Jewish people.

Source: Chabad

Under Water

We began the new 180 day "close pass" of the planets when September kicked off.   Looks like we're just getting started.

Toronto had a visitor yesterday -

Roads turned to rivers.

There's only one planet that turns the sky green, and that's Napisiti, the planet of the rain bombs and instant rivers. I couldn't download the video but I did a screenshot to show you the green sky. [Napisiti is the green planet, hence the green sky]

Here's a video, he's even telling you the sky is green. That cloud is the base cloud of the planet Napisiti.

Napisiti is one of the planets orbiting the second sun.  We've got 180 days of this kind of event.  Buckle up.

Here we have pink lightning.  Pink and purple lightning come from the passing planets.  

Maybe Moshiach will show up before we're all under water.

Here it is over Cleveland today, from News5 Cleveland.

The Hidden Time of the Redemption

 

"The hidden things belong to the Lord, our God, but the revealed things apply to us and to our children forever: that we must fulfill all the words of this Torah." [Nitzavim 29:28]

[Written by Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein]

In Maseches Sanhedrin [98a], R'Yehoshua ben Levi poses a question regarding a verse dealing with the eventual redemption of the Jewish people. The verse sates, "I am Hashem, in its time I will hasten it" [Yeshayahu 60:22]

Asks R'Yehoshua ben Levi: If the redemption will ultimately occur "in its time", then how can Hashem promise the Jewish people "I will hasten it"?

The answer, says the Gemara, is as follows: If the Jewish people will carry out the will of Hashem, then the redemption will, in fact, be hastened.  But if not, then the redemption will occur at its assigned time.

Chazal's words, said the Kesav Sofer [R'Avraham Shmuel Binyamin Sofer, son of the Chasam Sofer] are alluded to in the above mentioned verse: "The hidden are for Hashem, our G-d" - if the Jewish people will not perform the will of Hashem, then the redemption will come at a fixed date, one that is ultimately hidden from us and known only to Hashem.  However, "the revealed are our and our children's [responsibility]" - if the Jews choose to follow the will of Hashem, then the redemption will arrive immediately.

The time of the redemption, therefore, can be revealed and known to the Jewish people, for it is something that can be determined by their actions.

Second Sun in the East

It's even setting in the East ....  people are noticing now ... this is the most exciting thing that's ever happened to us.  Sorry if I'm driving you nuts with this.  Sorry but not sorry.  

Are Narcissists Bad People?

Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson