The End of Time is Now

 New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Surfside Names of Yidden Still Missing

 

#PrayforSurfside 

Here is the most recently updated list for prayers and Tehillim for those still missing: [names received via Rabbi Yankie Denburg]

Chaim ben Sara

Malka bas Sara Rochel

Yisroel Tzvi Yosef ben Toiba

Tzvi Doniel ben Yehudis (Tzvi Ainsworth)

Ita bat Miriam (Itty Ainsworth)

Brad Cohen

Gary Cohen

Moshe Ben Toba 

Moshe Ben Shoshana

Arie Leib ben Ita

Ilan ben Kalman

Leib ben Shoshana

Sarah bat Ida

Naftulem bat Yafa (Nancy Kress Levin)

Efraim Ben Naftulem (Frankie Kleinman)

Jay ben Naftulem (Jay Kleinman)

Deborah bat Chaia (Deborah Berezdivin) 

Yehuda Arie ben Feiga Rivka

Nicole bat Andrea

Esther bat Linda

Lein ben Ilana

Leibl ben Feigue Rivka

Ruth bat Sarah

Devorah bat Clara

Myriam and Arnie Notkin

Miriam bat Sara 

Yaakov Reuvein Hacohen Ben Devorah

Mikael ben Hans

Gabriela bat Sara

Linda bas Clara (Linda March)

Ilan ben Ronit (Ilan Naybryf)

Chaya Gila bas Yehudis

Lois Marcus

Estelle Hedaya

Chaya Gila bas Yehudis 

Esther bat Leah 

Linda Ana Guara

Marcus Guara

Lucia Guara

Emma Guara 

Andreas Levine

Our Hearts are Breaking

The family of Tzvi and Itty Ainsworth, who were renting an apartment in the Miami building that collapsed, are praying for a miracle after over 48 hours without any sign of the couple.  Formerly living in Australia, Tzvi and Itty moved back to Florida four years ago.

159 people are still unaccounted for, many of them orthodox Jews.

Chatam Sofer Foresees 5781

Rabbi Glazerson translates from a Sefer written 190 years ago by the Chatam Sofer that this year 5781 is the Year of Moshiach. 

Here Comes Delta

 

“That's the thing about unhappiness. All it takes is for something worse to come along and you realize it was actually happiness after all.” [Queen Elizabeth in ''The Crown'']

So here we go again, this time with the Delta strain of Covid.  Just in time for the Three Weeks, the new improved version of Covid is causing havoc in places who naively thought they were done and dusted with it.

I don't know exactly what is going on elsewhere but here in Sydney we are fast approaching another possible Lockdown.  We've been Locked In right now... locked in to Sydney that is.  No-one can leave the city because we're all suspects for the disease.  Even though the actual confirmed cases are very very low, the number is way too high for comfort in a city who thought our Covid days were over.

The Delta strain is much more infectious, you can pick it up just by being in the vicinity of a carrier.  It spreads like wild-fire.  So everyone is very nervous..... and a lot of us have decided to self isolate again. 

And this is where I have to thank Rabbi Kessin for his shiur The Current Darkness and the Mabul which I listened to yesterday, and as always he  makes me feel better about what is happening, and I carry on with a much lighter load of panic. There is light at the end of this tunnel. 

The Current Darkness and The Mabul

 New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

"We are really in the time before the Moshiach"

Who is King Mashiach

 Rabbi Yuval Ovadia

How to Understand the Incomprehensible

by Rabbi David Hanania Pinto 

We sometimes find that a person on a mitzvah mission passes away. For example, he may be killed in a road accident. This occurs despite our being told by the Gemara [Pesachim 8b], "Mitzvah messengers are not harmed." There are also people who demonstrate self-sacrifice in honoring their parents, yet they die at a young age despite the Torah promising [Shemot 20:12], "Honor your father and your mother, so that your days will be lengthened." 

Many years ago, the holy Rabbi Rafael Pinto zt"l was murdered in Morocco by Arab rioters. His tragic death left everyone in shock since he was famous for his exceptional righteousness and profundity in Torah, remaining secluded in his home without leaving for any reason. In addition, Rabbi Rafael was known as someone who had connections amongst the Arabs and often treated them charitably, supporting them when necessary. 

Similarly, the entire history of the Jewish people is replete with difficult circumstances where great, lofty tzadikim suffered through terrible hardships. During the empire of the wicked Greeks, Chana's seven sons, from oldest to youngest, were killed in front of her eyes, following which she threw herself from the roof. The Gemara also tells us that all Rabbi Yochanan's sons died during his lifetime (Berachot 5b, Rashi). Over the course of time, during the terrible Holocaust, European communities suffered indescribable atrocities. The wife and children of the Admor of Satmar were killed, among millions of others. 

This harsh reality can undermine our faith and, G-d forbid, even lead to denying Hashem's existence. In order for Am Yisrael to remain faithful to Hashem despite all the challenges and troubles the human mind cannot grasp, Hashem commanded man to observe chukim – decrees – which we have no permission to ponder. By accustoming ourselves to fulfilling also the mitzvot which are beyond our comprehension, one attains absolute faith in Hashem, despite the many questions that may crop up from time to time as a result of various difficult events. 

This week's Parshah cites the verse [Chukat 19:14], "… a man who would die in a tent." What is the connection between the opening verse of the Parshah, "This is the decree of the Torah" to the later verse, "… a man who would die in a tent"? Man must know that he receives the strength to cope with all the hardships that befall his 'tent' – his home – even in the most difficult of circumstances, when death and bereavement enter his personal abode, by observing the chukim. When a person educates himself not to ask questions and fulfils chukim that he does not comprehend, only because it is Hashem's will, from this he draws the strength to cope with his troubles without casting doubt on the justice of Hashem's providence. 

Parshat Beha'alotcha tells us [10:35], "When the Ark would journey, Moshe said, 'Arise, Hashem, and let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from before You'." Rashi explains, "Since the Ark would travel ahead a distance of three days' journey, Moshe would say, 'Stand in place and wait for us and do not go further'." The Ark went ahead of them to show Bnei Yisrael the way. Let us try to picture this awesome sight! Bnei Yisrael walked in the Wilderness with the pillar of cloud going ahead to straighten the path, while at night the pillar of fire went ahead of them to light up the darkness. Furthermore, Am Yisrael were nourished by the manna and quenched their thirst from Miriam's well which accompanied them on their journey in the Wilderness. 

The Ark went before Am Yisrael and in this manner showed them the way, but Moshe Rabbeinu called to it, "Arise, Hashem, and let Your foes be scattered..." Moshe was asking the Ark to wait for Am Yisrael and not advance more than a distance of three days' travel so that Bnei Yisrael would feel safe and protected by the Ark's presence. Were it to go any further ahead, Bnei Yisrael would no longer feel its presence and may feel vulnerable. 

Furthermore, the Ark was the symbol of Torah since it contained the Luchot. Similarly, every Jewish person possesses a spark from Moshe Rabbeinu's soul, therefore he calls out to Hashem saying, "Do not distance Yourself from me too much. I need to feel Your closeness." Hashem, on His part, turns to man and says, "I remain in My place. If you feel lost and distant, it means you are the one who has distanced himself." 

How can man feel constant closeness to Hashem? Through cleaving to the Torah and mitzvot, even in matters that are considered a chok, incomprehensible to our human minds. When a person fulfills all the mitzvot without leaving anything out, he merits feeling constant closeness to Hashem even if, G-d forbid, death visits his home. If man accustoms himself to fulfil Hashem's word indisputably, sudden, unexplainable death will not make him lose his composure since he feels Hashem's love and closeness.