Eliyahu, the Drought, Rain and Mt Carmel

A drought in Israel.... prayers for rain.... and fire on Mt. Carmel.

Note the similarities in the story of Eliyahu HaNavi and Mt. Carmel.  [Source and complete article at: Chabad

From Our People by Jacob Isaacs published and copyrighted by Kehot Publication Society 1946-1948]

Divine Revelation on Mount Carmel

Elijah's Challenge

In the third year of famine G-d ordered Elijah to appear before Ahab and to inform him that G-d would send rain upon the earth. Elijah went to Samaria. There he first met Obadiah and requested him to announce his arrival to the king. Ahab went out to meet Elijah and when he saw him face to face, he exclaimed: "Are you back, you troublemaker for Israel?" Elijah fearlessly replied that it was not he who had caused the trouble, but Ahab himself, and the house of his father, who had forsaken G-d and served idols. Then, challenging the king to stage a public contest between him, the only prophet of G-d, and the eight hundred and fifty prophets of the Baal and Ashtarte, Elijah promised to meet them on Mount Carmel.

The Contest

Ahab complied with Elijah's request. He understood the purpose of this gathering, and was eager to have a public contest of power between these two conflicting spiritual forces who claimed supremacy and exclusive control over the land.

The entire nation was assembled on Mount Carmel, and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal came there also, proud and contemptuous and sure of their victory over Elijah. Ahab the king appeared too, eagerly anticipating the outcome of the momentous contest.

Facing the entire people, Elijah addressed them sternly: "How long will you waver between two sides? If the L-rd be G-d, follow him; and if Baal be G-d, then follow him!" The people did not reply, and Elijah's voice rang forth again: "I have been left as the only prophet of G-d; but the prophets of Baal number four hundred and fifty men; therefore give us two bullocks. Let the Baal's prophets choose one bullock for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the altar; but put no fire under it. I will prepare the other bullock and lay it on the altar without putting fire under it. Then they shall call on the name of their gods, and I will call on the name of the L-rd; and the G-d who answers by fire, shall be the true G-d!"

The people voiced their approval and immediately the prophets of Baal picked one bullock and prepared it for the altar. Then they prayed and called on the Baal from morning till noon. But there was no sign of an answer. Elijah ridiculed them and bade them call louder as their god might be asleep or engaged in other and more important business. Not realizing the irony of Elijah's words, the prophets cried louder and louder, and leaped wildly around the altar. They even cut their own flesh until their blood spurted forth, as was their custom. But cry as they might, Baal replied neither to their voices, nor to their wild and desperate gestures. Thus they raged furiously till late in the afternoon, yet there was no sign of an answer.

Divine Revelation

Then Elijah called upon the people to gather around him. In the name of G-d he built an altar of twelve stones, symbolizing the number of the Hebrew tribes, and ordered a wide trench dug all about it. Then he laid the other bullock on the altar and had water poured over it, till the trench was filled to the brim. Having completed all these preparations, he stepped before the altar and prayed to G-d. " L-rd G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel! Let it be known this day that Thou art G-d in Israel, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done all these things at Thy word. Hear me, O L-rd, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the L-rd G-d, and thus turn their hearts back again."

Hardly had he finished praying when a flame of fire came down from G-d and consumed the offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the earth, and licked up even the water that was in the trench. Seeing this, the amazed and overawed people prostrated themselves and exclaimed: "The L-rd He is G-d! The L-rd He is G-d!" Then, at Elijah's command, they seized the prophets of Baal, led them to the brook of Kishon, and slew them,

End of the Famine

After bidding the king eat and drink for the drought would presently end, Elijah went to a solitary place on the mountain to pray for rain. Then he asked his servant to look in the direction of the sea for the first sign of a cloud. The servant did so, but reported that he had not noticed anything. Seven times Elijah repeated the order, till his servant returned with the news that a cloud no bigger than a man's hand had become visible. Immediately Elijah sent word to Ahab to have his horses harnessed and to return to his palace before the rains began to fall. Soon the whole sky became overcast. Strong winds drove large clouds and sent the rain down in torrents. The heavy rains drenched the parched earth of Israel, which had been craving water for almost three years.

Call for Tefillah: Prayers for Israel

Jews throughout Eretz Yisroel gathered to say tehillim tonight, the second of Chanukah, in regards to the horrific wildfire in Northern Eretz Yisroel. A large Atzeres tefillah was also held at the Kosel, and was attended by Rav Shlomo Amar and other Rabbonim. As of this posting (7:35PM EST) , at least one area in Haifa has been evacuated due to the fire approaching the city.

Source: Yeshiva World News

Words that Kill

"Gossip: - Norman Rockwell

From the writings of Hacham Yosef Hayyim of Baghdad -the Ben Ish Hai


"All the gates are locked except for the gates through which cries from onaah enter..." [Bava Metzia 59a, Rashi]

The Torah forbids us to wrong one another through onaah [Lev 25:14-17] of which there are two types: cheating by overcharging or underpaying, and speaking hurtful words.

The second type is worse. The first hurts the pocketbook, the second hurts the person himself. Moreover, money can be refunded, words cannot be taken back. [Bava Metzia 58b]

Worst of all is to insult a person to the point that he is shamed. Calling him by an unflattering nickname, even if he is used to it and does not feel embarrassed, is onaah if the intention was to embarrass him. [Ben Yehoyada - Ben Ish Hai, Shannah 1, Ki Teitzei]

Whoever hurts his friend even verbally must appease him, as it is written: My son, if you became a guarantor for your neighbour... if you are caught by the words of your mouth... do this, now, my son, and save yourself.... Go, humble yourself and appease your neighbour. [Proverbs 6:1-3]

What does a guarantor's financial obligation have to do with verbal abuse?

A person who guarantees a loan through speech alone, without so much as a handshake, is legally bound to pay if the friend defaults. [Shulhan Aruch, Hoshen Mishpat 129:2] This shows that words have consequences. So a person who hurts his friend verbally cannot say "What does it matter? It was only words." [Ben Yehoyada]

Whoever shames his friend in public, it is as if he sheds blood. [damim, literally: bloods] [Bava Metzia 58b]

Why does our Gemara speak of shedding "bloods" in the plural?

Shaming a person in public even once sheds his blood several times: each time he recalls the incident or sees those who witnessed it. [Ben Yehoyada]

Whoever shames his friend in public to the point of making him turn pale, is as if he sheds blood.... for we see that the red drains out of his face and is replaced by white. [Bava Metzia 58b]

A person should enter a fiery furnace rather than shame his friend publicly. How do we know? From Tamar, as it is written: "She was taken out." [Genesis 38:2] [Ketubot 67b; Sotah 10b]

Tamar was found guilty of immorality and taken out to be burned. She could have saved herself by revealing that Judah was responsible for her pregnancy, but chose to die rather than expose him to public disgrace. At the last minute, Judah realized that he was responsible, admitted it publicly, and saved her.

From Tamar we learn not to publicly shame others regardless of personal consequences. It is better to enter a red fire than to make the red leave a friend's face by shaming him.

In the Holy Land, they are particularly careful to avoid shaming people and causing them to turn pale. [Bava Metzia 58b]

Why is this specific to the Land of Israel?

There are two angels in charge of death. The one in charge of the Diaspora is from the Side of Evil; the one in charge of the Holy Land is not. [Hesed L'Avraham]

Bloodshed evokes the jealousy of these angels. "Taking lives is my craft" they say. "How dare man encroach on my domain?" And shaming people is akin to shedding their blood.

The Jews of the Holy Land were afraid that the evil angel might say "The inhabitants of the Holy Land have encroached on my domain; I will encroach on theirs and enter their Land." Therefore they were particularly careful to avoid shaming people. [Ben Yehoyada]

Israel fire - NASA satellite photo

The fire is so big it can be seen above on this NASA satellite photo. You can see a red line on the outside of the fire drawn by NASA. Strong winds are fuelling the fire.

Israel: Carmel Forest Fire- 40 killed

The ZAKA rescue organization says at least 40 people died in the fire on the Carmel Mountain Thursday.

At least ten people - passengers on an overturned bus after it was caught in the fire, and possibly some of their rescuers - were killed after the fire broke out this morning in an illegal garbage dump in the Carmel Mountains. Forty other passengers were initially reported to be injured.

It is feared that another ten people are dead in other places affected by the fire.

Ongoing rescue and fire-fighting efforts are said to be nearly impossible given the physical conditions of the mountains, smoke, dry conditions and lack of accessibility. With darkness approaching, fears are great that the fire will rage out of control for many hours.

One witness said that two light planes were sent to the area to help out in the fire-fighting efforts, and "they simply disappeared."

The trapped bus is said to have departed from the Damon Prison, apparently as part of the attempt to evacuate the prison in the face of the fast-spreading fire. The residents of nearby Kibbutz Beit Oren and the Druze village of Usefiya were also evacuated, as were the students of Haifa University, which is somewhat further away. Several homes in Usefiya have been burnt to the ground

by Hillel Fendel and Gil Ronen

Israel National News

A Stain on the Soul

Art by Schnette

Source: "Not Just Stories" by Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski MD

It goes without saying that spirituality and dishonesty are mutually exclusive. Anyone who is in wrongful possession of the property of others cannot begin to be spiritual.

A person may engage in unfair business practises and rationalize that this is the way business is transacted. It is also possible that a person may inadvertently take advantage of others, and this too is sinful.

In Safed there was a tzaddik, a kabbalist, Rabbi Avraham Galanti, who once came to the Arizal with a request that he reprimand him and help him correct his misdeeds. The Ari refused, saying that he was hardly one who could give mussar to so great a tzaddik, but Rabbi Avraham persisted in his demands. The Ari then studied his face and said "I see that you have a slight defect and that you are in wrongful possession of others' property."

Rabbi Avraham was shocked and promptly went home to don sackcloth and accept a fast, with intense soul-searching as to where he might have been dishonest, but to no avail.

Rabbi Avraham operated a textile factory. He called together all his workers and asked "Am I in arrears to any of you? Have I inadvertently withheld wages from anyone?" The workers responded "Rabbi, whatever you give us is enough. The Divine blessing is in your money, and whatever we receive always goes far enough to cover our needs."

Rabbi Avraham said "Then that is the problem. I may have shortchanged you on your wages, but you have never complained. That is why the Ari found me sinful. Henceforth you must be specific and make certain you receive every cent that is due to you."

"But I must make restitution for the past" he continued. Rabbi Avraham then placed money on the table and said "Let anyone come and take as much as they feel is due to him. Then I wish you to say "Whatever Avraham Galanti still owes me, I forgive him with all my heart!"

Except for one woman who took a few coins, no-one touched the money on the table, and all recited the forgiveness formula as requested.

Rabbi Avraham later returned to the Ari who said "The stain has now been cleansed. It was the small amount of money due to that woman that had left its mark on your neshama."

Yours

That which is meant for you, can never be taken away.

The Ladder of Wealth

Art: Happiness in Perpetuity by Paul Bond

Jacob dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set earthward, and its top reached Heavenward. [Gen 28:12]

A wooden ladder with ten identical rungs was leaning against the side of a house.  The top rung looked down on the rungs below it - especially the lowest one.

"As you can see" boasted the top rung, "the owner of the house has set me above you because of my superiority."

A passer-by overheard and quickly turned the ladder upside-down.  Now the former top rung could boast no longer.  The new top rung, too, refrained from boasting - for fear that the same fate might befall it.

The ladder is a metaphor for money.  In Hebrew the two words (ladder) סולם and (money) ממון are numerically equal.

Don't let wealth make you arrogant. Remember that the ladder of wealth can be turned upside down in a minute.

The ladder is "set earthward" - it looks to people as if their efforts at business or professions bring them wealth.  But in reality, "its top reaches Heavenward" - it is G-d who decides whether a person will make money or lose it.

Source: from the writings of the Ben Ish Chai