The Power of Words

The Gemorah says [Moed Kattan 18] there lies a power in words. Whatever is said can occur.

This is not only when one says something negative.  The power of speech is very significant and saying positive things can also cause good things to happen.

People tend to complain and say things aren't going well.  They would be wiser to get into the practice of saying that everything is good. Their words can cause change for the better.

Source: Torah Daily 

The Yanuka: Safeguarding the Eyes

"The eye is the way to come closer to Hashem..... all of the functioning of the body is through the eyes..

based on what is seen, all of the body organs, sinews.... all follow what a person sees."

Hashem wants us to see the beauty of His creation and lift our eyes to Heaven.

Regarding this Yeshayahu said "Raise your eyes on high and see who created these things".

Video: Hebrew with English subtitles.

Entering the King's Palace

"A man's holy items shall remain his" [Naso 5:10]

To what can this be compared, asked the Chofetz Chaim? Answer: to a King who summoned his servant Reuven, to appear before him.

Reuven was filled with dread and thought "why has the King summoned me? Perhaps someone has slandered me and falsely accused me of committing some crime".

Reuven approached his trusted friend Shimon, and asked him to accompany him to the King's courtyard; yet Shimon refused!

"What shall I do" thought Reuven. "Shimon my closest friend has refused to join me; I will go and ask Levi. True, Levi is not my best friend, but perhaps my plea will sway him enough that he will accompany me."

"I am prepared to join you" replied Levi, "but I am afraid of entering the King's palace. I will accompany you to the King's courtyard, and then I will have to part from you."

Left with little choice, Reuven approached Yehudah, whom he hardly knew.

Surprisingly, it was Yehudah who agreed to join Reuven on his visit to the King. He agreed to enter the palace and intercede on Reuven's behalf.

"When a person departs from this world", concluded the Chofetz Chaim, "and is summoned to appear before HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the King of all kings, his closest "friend" - the gold and silver that took so much effort to amass - will refuse to accompany him. His sons and daughters escort him partway, but they will not enter the King's palace.

"Only the mitzvos and good deeds that he performed during his life - the things he appreciated least - will be the ones to accompany him all the way to the Throne of Glory. Only they will plead on his behalf!"

This is as the verse states: "A man's holy items" - the mitzvos and holy deeds that a man has done throughout his life - "shall remain his" - only they will remain with him to intervene on his behalf after passing from this world.

Source: Rabbi Y. Bronstein on the Weekly Parsha

Meteor Last Night: Queensland Australia

Gog u Magog and What Will Be at the End of Days

HT: Sherry

Correction: this is not a new video, it's from 5775 - eight years ago.  It's just been re-released. Nevertheless, he's giving a lesson on how the End of Days will present itself.

How should people face the End of Days? What does it mean? Will the holocaust happen at the End of Days? Why didn't the Ancient virtuous people wish to live in the last days? Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman will answer all of your questions in detail. Stay tuned till the end of the video. 

Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman Rabbi Yirmiyahu Ullman studied Literature and Chemistry at Harvard University, later graduating from Williams College, where he majored in History and the Sciences. After receiving his rabbinical ordination in Jerusalem, he published a 600-page halachic work titled "Iyunei Deah," which is studied by many aspiring rabbis preparing for semicha in Yoreh Deah. He teaches at Ohr Somayach's Jerusalem campus, where he lectures on a variety of topics in Jewish thought, and writes the "Ask the Rabbi" column for the Yeshiva's website and Ohrnet publication. He has published articles in numerous Jewish magazines and journals and lectures for a variety of kiruv organizations worldwide.

Wonders in the Heavens #14

We don't know what's going on in the Heavens, but when you see something like this it brings to mind the Third Temple... well, sort of.  I don't have any explanation for it.

The following three videos show various comet tails and another strange object in the sky. 

Consequences of Zohama and the Origin of Disease

New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Wonders in the Heavens #13

Have you ever seen square clouds?

The Secret of Pain: Why My Soul Chose ABUSE

Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

Your soul is so pure, and it said "I'm gonna go into this place -  and in order to go into this place, I can't remain in heaven. 

It's not only I have to go down, I have to become entangled = I have to become enmeshed. 

I have to allow myself  to become, so to speak, a victim - in order to be able to be inside that space."

And at that moment you have to know that the soul itself was never contaminated, never!  

It can't be.

But there are Souls that sign up for this journey and it seems like an incredibly painful journey -

because it is.

But really what's happening here is that these are the souls that destroy the impurity in the world, and the impurity in the community, and the impurity on the planet.

These are the souls.

It's a lot of courage.

You have to give yourself credit.

The neshama [soul] signed up for this.

People can suffer their whole life because of things that happened [to them], and they don't give themselves credit. 

Your neshama said "Ribono shel Olam.... I'll go there"

The tragedy is that you don't know you signed up for it and you blame yourself and you think you're evil.

But the truth is the exact opposite.

Family FIrst

"If your brother becomes poor" [Behar 25:25]

R' Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, the Rebbe of Kapishnitz, once visited the home of one of his chassidim who was known to be wealthy.  The Rebbe knocked on the door and waited for a response.

The chassid opened his door, and was taken aback by the sight of the holy Rebbe standing at his doorstep.  "Why did the Rebbe have to trouble himself to come to my home?" asked the wealthy man. "The Rebbe could have summoned me and I would have come at once."

"It is I who needs you" answered the Rebbe, "and this is why I have come."

"How can I be of assistance?" asked the man.

"I know of a certain family" replied the Rebbe, "that is in desperate need of help.  The husband is without work, the wife takes care of the young children, and, to add to their hardship, they have a son who is ill and requires special medical attention.   Their expenses are well beyond their means."

"But Rebbe" said the wealthy man, "did this necessitate you having to exert yourself by travelling to my home?  Why did the Rebbe not simply send me a messenger, and I would have gladly given whatever sum of money that was needed!"

"This particular request is of great importance to me" responded the Rebbe.  "It was therefore essential that I come to your home personally."

"I am prepared to give as much money as necessary!" exclaimed the man. "To whom shall I send this money?"

"Send the money" answered the Rebbe, "to your brother."

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

The Deeper Meaning of Lag B'Omer

 New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Wonders in the Heavens #12

I have a random collection here.

First up, because it is Lag b'Omer, and Hashem gave us a giant rainbow over Bondi Beach yesterday afternoon about half an hour before Lag b'Omer began. [I didn't take the photo]

This video shows the sun with the giant halo

This video shows the moon and another shining object, which could be another planet or something.

Here we have a white UFO.

A very strange bell shape appears in this lightning. I think it is just a cloud, but these days who knows?

Here is that strange shape again, this time in daylight. It is a cloud, but not the kind of cloud we are used to seeing.

Here is a photo from the FAA camera, Larsen Bay Alaska, 22 April 2023. It's a planet!

Moshiach's Rainbow and Lag b"Omer

Lag b'Omer is the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, and we celebrate with bonfires and music.

It is also the yarzheit of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai. [18 Iyar]

This year it is tonight [Monday] going into Tuesday.

Why is Lag b’Omer celebrated with bonfires and bows and arrows?

by Rabbi Yossi Marcus

The bonfires celebrate the immense light that was brought into the world by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [who passed away on Lag b’Omer], especially on the day of his passing.

The bow commemorates the fact that during Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime no rainbow was ever seen. [Bereishit Rabbah 35:2] Note: This was a good thing because the rainbow appears when the earth deserves punishment. The first time a rainbow appeared was after Noah’s flood, when G-d said that He will no longer destroy the world, rather He would send a sign: the rainbow. During Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime, the world was filled with merit because of him and therefore never saw a rainbow. [Genesis 9:8-17 and Rashi there]

There is a Kabbalistic tradition that on Lag b’Omer a rainbow will appear in a different color, which will symbolize the arrival of the Messianic age [Bnei Yissaschar]

Wonders in the Heavens #11

This is a photo of the moon in Manitoba, Canada, taken two nights ago by Brent McKean.

I don't think any more words are needed here.

King Charles III and the No. 40

As we all know, the coronation of King Charles III took place yesterday 6 May 2023.

He is the 40th British Monarch to be crowned.

40 is a famous number of completion.  Maybe this is the final British Monarch.....

The famous Nostradamus, who managed to accurately predict the date of death of Queen Elizabeth II, also said that the new King would abdicate his throne early, and that a surprise new King would take his place.  

Hmmmm.... I wonder if King Charles III will need to step down to make way for the King Moshiach.

The following text is from Aish.com

The number 40 has great significance throughout the Torah and the Talmud. The number 40 represents transition or change; the concept of renewal; a new beginning. The number 40 has the power to lift a spiritual state. 

Consider: 

When a person becomes ritually impure, he must immerse in a ritual bath, a mikveh. The Talmud tells us that a mikveh must be filled with 40 se'ahs (a measure of water). Immersion in a mikveh is the consummate Jewish symbol of spiritual renewal. 

It is no accident that in the story of Noah, the rain poured for 40 days, and submerged the world in water. Just as a person leaves a mikveh pure, so too when the waters of the flood subsided, the world was purified from the licentiousness which had corrupted it in the days of Noah. 

Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and came down with the stone tablets. The Jews arrived at Mt. Sinai as a nation of Egyptian slaves, but after 40 days they were transformed into God's nation. 

According to the Talmud, it takes 40 days for an embryo to be formed in its mother's womb. 

In Kabbalah, 40 represents the four sides of the world, each side containing the ten Sefirot (esoteric powers). 

When a rabbinical court finds someone guilty of a crime, the punishment is sometimes lashes, prescribed in the Torah as "forty less one." The purpose is to bring the offender to a point of change, transition and atonement. 

There are 40 days between the first day of Elul, when we begin to blow the Shofar to prepare for Rosh Hashana, until Yom Kippur, the end of the annual teshuva (repentance) period. These 40 days are the most auspicious time for personal growth and renewal. 

According to the Talmud [Avot 5:26], at age 40 a person transitions from one level of wisdom to the next. He reaches the level of binah - the deeper insight of understanding one matter from another. After Moses led the Jewish people for 40 years in the wilderness, he told them: "God has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day" [Deut. 29:3-4]. From here we see that it took the Jewish people 40 years before reaching a full level of understanding.

The Great Rain Remedy

The famous 18th Century Hasidic Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, a student of the Baal Shem Tov, writes in his book Nofet Tzufim:

"Rain which falls after the Jewish holiday of Pesach until the holiday of Shavuot constitutes a great remedy for all illness and disease. There's no medicine like it to be found in any pharmacy.

One must stand in the rain, expose his head to the rain, and also open his mouth to let the rain fall on the right side of his mouth."  [seemingly, tilt your head back and to the right]

Why Can't a Convert Marry a Kohen?

by Rabbi Aron Moss

I am a convert to Judaism and I'm very proud of it. I have always felt totally welcomed by the community and in no way an outsider. But I am deeply bothered by the law that says a convert is not allowed to marry a Kohen. If I am a fully fledged Jew like any other, why am I not good enough to marry into the priestly tribe? 

Answer: A convert can marry a king. A convert can marry a prophet. A convert can even marry a rabbi, the highest echelon of Jewish society (if you ask me). So it makes no sense to say that a convert can't marry a Kohen because they are second class citizens. There must be some other reason. 

When the Torah forbids a marriage, it is never because one party is not good enough for the other. It is because the parties are not matched to each other. They are simply not soulmates. In the case of the Kohen and the convert, their soul dynamics clash, their spiritual energies contradict, and so they can't marry. 

The holiness of a Kohen is hereditary. If your father is a Kohen, then you are a Kohen. Priesthood is a birthright that is not achieved through a person's effort nor deserved through a person's righteousness. It is an honor that is bestowed at birth. 

The holiness of a convert is the exact opposite. It is completely earned. The convert was not born Jewish. He or she chose it. They achieve Jewishness of their own initiative and with their own hard work. They are self-made souls. 

So these two souls, the Kohen and the convert, are moving in opposite directions. The Kohen receives his power from above. The convert creates his own soul energy from bottom up. The Kohen has the ability to bring down blessings to others, just as his soul was given to him as a blessing. The convert has the power of innovation, of initiative, of creating holiness from the ground up. For this reason, their souls are not a match. 

Both the Kohen and the convert have awesome holiness. It is a great privilege to be gifted with the soul of a Kohen. And yet, the self-made soul of a convert has a depth of experience that inherited holiness cannot compete with. Neither are second class souls. 

The Kohen is crowned with a legacy from past generations. A convert creates his or her own legacy for future generations. The Jewish people is richer because of each of them.

Source: Chabad

"Where is the Messiah?"

 

The tzaddik Rabbi Zafarani in an exciting meeting with the Yanuka - Where is the Messiah?

English subtitles

The 5 Existential Levels of Judaism

 Rabbi Mendel Kessin, new shiur

How to Elevate Self-Esteem and Eliminate Immaturity

Rabbi Shimon Kessin = at the start, he says this is probably the most powerful shiur he will ever have given.