Ariel Sharon - Five years in coma

For update see: Ariel Sharon Moshiach and the Eighth Year

Last Tuesday marked five years since former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon went into a coma -  today's report from the Washington Post  notes that he responds to pinches and opens his eyes when spoken to.

JERUSALEM -- The personal doctor of Ariel Sharon says the comatose former Israeli prime minister responds to pinches and opens his eyes when spoken to.

Dr. Shlomo Segev made the remarks in a program broadcast Saturday on Israeli television that coincided with the fifth anniversary of the massive stroke that incapacitated the ex-prime minister.

The 82-year-old Sharon is a former war hero who led Israel from 2001 until the 2006 stroke that left him comatose. Severe hemorrhaging caused significant brain damage and he has been in a vegetative state since.

Former Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin told The AP there has been no change in Sharon's condition.

Sharon was moved home in November, but Gissin said he has since been returned to the long-term care facility outside Tel Aviv for treatment.

Yarzheit: 4 Shevat: Baba Sali

Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeirah - The Baba Sali

Born: Tafillalt, Morocco,1890

Died: 4 Shevat, Israel, 1984

Rabbi Yisrael Abuchatzeirah was of a well-known rabbinical dynasty. His grandfather was the famous tzaddik, Rabbi Yaakov Abuchatzeirah. He had great skill in Talmudic interpretation and many of his halachic decisions were accepted and took root among his followers. He was regarded as someone who possessed the Ruach Hakodesh or "Divine Spirit".

Although still very young, people flocked to R' Yisrael for blessings for their parnassa (income), family, and health. Consequently he became known as "Baba Sali," (our praying father) because of the prayers that he would invoke on behalf of those who sought out his guidance.

One day, young Yisrael's father told him, "My child, you have a great power to bless people which you cannot measure. Your words can bring great help to men. From now on, you must use this power to say good things about others and to bless them."

Young Yisrael gave his word. Soon it became known that the blessings of this young child brought miraculous results. He became famous as Baba Sali. A master of the Kabbalah and a great Torah Sage, he took over his father's position as head of the yeshiva and Rabbi of the community. Although he regularly gave many lectures in Torah and kabbalah, he did not permit his students to write them down because he wanted his scholarship to remain unknown. Nevertheless, his fame as a holy man and a righteous Tzaddik continued to draw Jews to him from all over. Even Arabs came to receive his blessings and the coins he gave for charity.

At 19 he was inducted as the Rosh Hayeshiva, after his father's death. After an extended one year trip to Eretz Yisrael he returned, and was compelled to take the position of Rav of the community after the murder of his brother by an Arab. He gave daily lectures, served as a judge in the beit din (rabbinical court), and set the tone for the kehilla. The community appreciated that nothing escaped his holy, penetrating eyes. From throughout Morocco, people converged on his home for his blessings, his counsel, and his encouragement.

In 1964 when Baba Sali noted that much of Moroccan Jewry had emigrated to Eretz Yisrael, he followed them to fulfill his dream of settling there. Baba Sali chose Yavne as his home because many of his followers had settled there.

In 1970 he moved to Netivot where he was steadily visited by Chassidim, Ashkenazim and Sephardim who sought his unique counsel. He stressed emunah (faith), humility, ahavat Yisrael (love of fellow Jews) and kiyum hamitzvot (fulfillment of mitzvot). His phenomenal memory allowed him to access information at will, whether it dealt with law, Talmud, Kabbalah,etc.

He was very humble and did not want to attract attention, however, his prophetic powers and his miraculous prayers soon became renowned. Thousands of Jews from all over the world would come to seek his advice and blessings for children, health, and livelihood. Baba Sali was very close to other great Torah scholars, especially the Lubavitcher Rebbe, whom he referred to as "the Great Eagle in the Heavens." He strongly encouraged the Rebbe's Mitzvah campaigns, especially urging young girls to light candles for Shabbat and Yom Tov.

*****************************************

Young and old, men and women, observant and secular, Sephardim and Ashkenazim of every stripe, all streamed to the door of the great kabbalist and tsaddik, Baba Sali, in Netivot, seeking his blessing and help. Everyone, without exception, held him in the highest esteem.

Once a man from Holon, Eliyahu, was scheduled to have his legs amputated. His spinal cord had been damaged by a bullet in the Yom Kippur War. He had already spent much time in the hospital, and so was reconciled to his fate. The procedure was to take place on Friday.

That Thursday, an elderly woman acquaintance suggested that he receive a blessing from Baba Sali before the operation. She said that she knew of someone who had been paralyzed, yet was healed through Baba Sali's blessing. Although Eli was not at all observant, he decided to try it anyway, in desperation. Maybe, maybe....

It would have been impossible to get permission to leave the hospital the day before the operation, so Eli snuck out. He didn't even disclose his intention to see Baba Sali to his concerned family.

Eli sat on a chair in the waiting room near the entrance to the tsaddik's room. After many hours, finally his turn came. The custom was, before anything, to approach Baba Sali on his couch and kiss his hand, but because of the advanced thrombosis of his legs and the crippling pain that accompanied it, Eli was unable even to rise to enter the room.

Following Baba Sali's instruction, Rabbanit Simi, his wife, approached Eli and asked, "Do you put on tefillin?" Do you keep Shabbat? Do you say blessings?

"No," admitted Eli, and burst into sobs.

Baba Sali seemed to be moved by Eli's suffering and his sincerity. He said to him, "If you do my will and observe the Shabbat and repent completely, then G-d, too, will listen to my will."

With great emotion, Eli promptly cried out, "I accept upon myself the obligation to observe the Shabbat in all its details. I also promise to do full tshuvah, to 'return' in repentance all the way."

At Baba Sali's directive, Eli was served tea. After he drank it, the Rabbanit suggested that being that the Rav had blessed him, he should try to get up, in order to go and and kiss the Rav's hand.

After much effort and pain, Eli managed to rise. He couldn't believe it-his legs were obeying him! Shakily, he walked over to Baba Sali and kissed his hand! By then nearly delirious with shock and joy, he began to thank Baba Sali profusely. The Rav interrupted him, saying with a smile, "Don't thank me. Just say: 'Blessed are those who sanctify His name publicly!'"

As if in a dream, Eli stumbled out the door and descended the stairs. He experimented, walking this way and that. He had to know: Was he really awake? Could this truly be happening? With each step, his legs felt better.

On his "new" legs, he went over to Yeshiva HaNegev, not too far from the home of Baba Sali. When the students realized they were seeing the results of a miracle that had just occurred, they surrounded Eli with happy dancing and singing, and words of praise and gratitude to G-d.

Rejoicing in his new-found ability to walk, Eli returned to the home of Baba Sali to say goodbye properly and to thank him again. He also expressed his fear that his legs would relapse to their previous weakness and disease. Baba Sali calmed him, saying cheerfully, "Don't worry. In the merit of your oath to 'return' and repent, and especially that you promised to observe Shabbat according to its laws, which is equal to all the commandments, G-d has done this miracle and nullified the decree against you. Now it is up to you to fulfill your words."

Leaving Baba Sali's house again, Eli telephoned his mother. "I'm all better!" he shouted, without explanation. She figured that fear of the surgery had caused him to loose touch with reality. "Are you coming home?" she asked with concern. "Or will you go straight to the hospital?"

Eli then told her what he had promised Baba Sali, the blessing that he had received from the tsaddik, and the miraculous improvement that had already occurred. As soon as he hung up, he called his doctor at Achilov Hospital in Tel Aviv and informed him of his cure. The doctor told Eli to be back at the hospital the following day, and to "stop acting crazy!"

Eli did go to the hospital the next day. The doctor was barely able to accept the evidence of his eyes. After a few days and many tests, Eli was released. The first thing he did was to return to Netivot, to thank Baba Sali again. The Rav requested of his household that a seudat hoda'ah, a meal of thanksgiving to G-d in honor of the miracle, be prepared and served. At the end of the meal, Baba Sali blessed a bottle of water and told Eli to deliver it to the hospital so that his doctor could drink l'chaim from it. "And tell him," added Baba Sali, "not to be so hasty to cut off legs."

Baba Sali's gabbai (attendant) during most of his years in Netivot, Rabbi Eliyahu Alfasi [who witnessed much of the story and heard the rest of the details from Eli of Holon], reports that he once asked Baba Sali how he performed this great miracle. The tzaddik answered him innocently, "Believe me, Eliyahu, all I did was tell him 'Stand up!'"

Korea 5771 in Bible Codes

Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson shows where the words "Korea, atomic holocaust, Barack Obama, Seoul, war, 5771" are encoded in the Torah -

Jonathan Pollard in Torah Codes

Rabbi Matityahu Glazerson discusses the "very great soul" of Jonathan Pollard and his connection to Yosef, as shown by the Torah codes:

A Wake Up Call

Lessons from Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz by Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz        

(HT: Yaak)

[Original article at Matzav]

Rav Michel Yehuda Lefkowitz


We often hear people remark that “we live in an Olam Hasheker” or that “Olam Hazeh is all fiction.” What does this truly mean?

We all live in Olam Hazeh, yet we don’t perceive our lives to be full of lies. We don’t believe that our very existence is based upon a falsity. We work hard, we learn Torah, and we do mitzvos, endeavoring to be truthful and to spread goodness.

Perhaps what is meant by olam hasheker is that we live in a world built on illusion. This is certainly true of society’s stubborn belief in man’s power to control his destiny. This illusion tends to die hard. Time and again humanity must be shocked anew into the awareness of how helpless man really is.

For example, we need only ponder some recent “natural” disasters that drove home this message: the fire in Israel’s northern Carmel region and last week’s snowstorm in the Northeast. The entire world watched as citizens of the most technologically advanced countries admitted their powerlessness in the face of fire and snow - “natural” forces sent to carry out the Divine plan.

A country that likes to see itself as almost invincible was brought to its knees by a fire it could not extinguish. The inferno was started by two irresponsible teens, who hadn’t even intended to do any damage. They were simply careless and lazy. Before they knew what was happening, however, many people had been killed. Homes, businesses and properties were being incinerated and thousands of acres of forest went up in smoke.

A proud country accustomed to offering aid to suffering nations around the globe was reduced to begging for fire-fighting equipment. It was revealed that the country didn’t even possess one airplane equipped to fight forest fires. Its fire-fighters proved wholly unequipped and inadequate in the face of the rapidly expanding fire.

It became apparent that the only reason Israel hasn’t suffered serious fire damage over the years was because fires of this magnitude had never before broken out. Complacency thus became the nation’s undoing in this “natural” disaster.

Last week, we had the same type of learning experience in the New York area. Tiny flakes of frozen water fell upon this region. Millions of them. We call them snow. We think we are equipped to handle snow; after all, it’s nothing new and has been around for thousands of years.

Cities have salt to melt snow and ice. They have large, heavy trucks with large plows attached in front of them which push the snow to the sides of the street so that cars can pass. People have snow tires on their cars to enable them to gain traction on snowy roads and move from place to place. Other people have heavy four-wheel-drive vehicles that can drive in all types of weather conditions.

All of the above failed to impose order over the chaos in New York City caused by last week’s blizzard. The City That Never Sleeps was put to bed for three days. For reasons unknown and not yet understood, the plows didn’t plow; the trucks didn’t move; four-wheel-drives didn’t drive; cars stood frozen in the middle of the road and buses were immobilized in the middle of thoroughfares.

The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg who, thanks to his money and proven administrative skills, overturned term limits to get himself reelected to a third term, was left flat-footed. Every time he opened his mouth to speak about the progress of the snow-plowing effort, he was caught with another lie and lost even more respect among his constituents.

Not only was he shown to be out of touch with the public’s needs, he was seen as reacting with petulance and resentment when confronted with the public’s demand for competent handling of the emergency. People refused to be resigned to being locked into their homes for days on end, unable to exit their own streets.

In both the inferno in Israel and the blizzard in New York City, people perceived as strong leaders capable of handling emergencies and exercising damage control were shown to be sorely lacking in those skills.

There is nothing novel about snowstorms and fires; in technologically advanced societies they are quickly brought under control. Not this time. The fires refused to be extinguished and the snow foiled all clearing attempts.

Other strange occurrences have recently captured our attention. A lone anarchist using the name WikiLeaks unleashed an avalanche of state secrets, exposing for the world the machinations of presidents, prime ministers, potentates, dictators, ministers and others. The most powerful men and women in the world stood by, unable to stop the outrageous leaking of their secret schemes that left them exposed and mortified.

The United States has stretched its army thin in wars to decimate al-Qaeda. Yet the band of nomadic terrorists is as elusive as ever. The world’s strongest nation has been proved impotent in its efforts to capture the most wanted man in the world since Hitler, as he sits in a primitive cave and plans acts of mass murder.

The leaders of the Western and Arab worlds watch as a lunatic with messianic pretensions presides over Iran, manufacturing nuclear weapons to use in his crusade against Israel and other enemies. Despite strong talk, saber rattling, boycotts, sanctions, and the biggest farce of all - UN resolutions - the civilized world appears utterly powerless to halt what no one denies is a disaster in the making.

What is this all about? What is going on? Why are all the powerful people of the world being exposed as powerless?

We all know people who talk as if the world is about to blow up at any time. Listening to them, you wonder if you should sell everything and run to a faraway desert, stocking up on water and provisions. In all seriousness, their observations are not that far from the truth. An objective observation of the situation in the Mideast can leave one shaking. Iran is on the cusp of becoming a nuclear power. Hezbollah has tens of thousands of rockets aimed at Eretz Yisroel. Hamas gets stronger by the day. Israel’s economic problems are endemic.

The world today is a very dangerous place and there is no human being or country that can protect us from those who seek our destruction. It’s about time we internalized that stark reality.

We sing Vehi She’amdah once a year on the Seder night, but the rest of the year we tend to forget that “Im Hashem lo yishmor ihr, shov shokad shomer.” It is Hashem Who protects us, today and every day. We lull ourselves into a false sense of security by putting our faith in presidents, prime ministers, seasoned diplomats and other professionals.

Recent world events are meant to impress upon us how little control we have over the events of our lives. The headlines of recent weeks ought to demonstrate to us that none of the leaders strutting about on the world stage has any independent power. All are pawns in the hands of Hashem. Their pretensions to leadership are part of the olam hasheker.

Who is the true leader? The man who cares. The man who feels a responsibility for others. The one who sits huddled in a humble apartment away from the shackles of power, out of the spotlight. The person who is suffused with Torah. The person who has dedicated his life to being an eved Hashem and bows to no one but those who follow the true path.

A person like the 97-year-old Rav Michel Yehudah Lefkowitz, who sits in a small dirah in Bnei Brak. As he approaches the age of 100, he is weak and finds it difficult to move about. A grandson who stays with him and his elderly wife, tends to their needs.

My friend, Rav Eliezer Sorotzkin, related to me that three weeks ago Rav Michel Yehudah awoke in middle of the night and saw that his wife was not in her bed. He got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom into the hallway. There he saw his wife sprawled on the floor.

The grandson who stays with them was roused by his grandfather’s footsteps and came to the hallway. Groggy and disoriented, he watched as Rav Michel Yehudah ran to his room to get a pillow to put under his wife’s head.

The grandson rushed over to him and said, “Sabbah, mah atah oseh? What are you doing?” Rav Michel Yehudah responded that the floor is hard and cold, that he went to get a pillow so his wife would be more comfortable…”Kar lah. Ratziti lehakeil aleha.”

He didn’t scream for his grandson, he didn’t shout to call Hatzollah, he didn’t bend down to ask his wife what happened. His first thought was to ease her pain. And to accomplish that, he ignored his frailty and mustered all his strength to be of assistance to her.

At almost 100 years old, Rav Michel Yehudah is teaching us about shalom bayis, and about caring for others. This is a true leader. He feels the pain of others and does everything he can to lessen it. A leader of this caliber labors far from the seat of power; he dwells instead amongst his brethren, caring for them as a shepherd tends to his flock.

Baalei Mussar expound in great length on the fact that the Avos were shepherds, consumed with the task of tending to their flocks. Moshe Rabbeinu, too, spent his time in Midyan caring for sheep and providing for their needs. Dovid Hamelech was, likewise, a shepherd prior to becoming the king of Israel.

These heroes exemplified devotion to Hashem’s creations and despite the hardship it entailed, made the wellbeing of their charges their foremost concern. This is the crucible in which a true leader attains greatness. Greatness is won through selflessness. It is not magically conferred on people by virtue of their success in seizing the limelight or grabbing the reins of power.

Leadership is reserved for those who display compassion and altruism when no one is there to observe them. Leadership belongs to those who spend their lives as servants of Hashem and grow in His shadow by following the teachings of Torah and mussar.

It is to people who distinguish themselves in this way that we should turn for guidance and direction. It is in their merit and the merit of all the truly good people of Am Yisroel that fires don’t break out all over, that snow gets plowed, that Iran doesn’t fire nuclear weapons, that Hezbollah is restrained, and that al-Qaeda doesn’t strike. It is the merit of the selfless, dedicated, servants of the One Above, that the world doesn’t blow up.

Sometimes we need a wake up call to remind us that we don’t control our destinies; that Hashem is the Master Scriptwriter and He alone runs the world. Instead of allowing the illusions of the olam hasheker to hold us hostage, let us shake off our slavish dependency on impotent leaders. Let us follow the blueprint for salvation by performing more tzedakah and chessed, doing the mitzvos properly with more purity of heart, and bringing more kedusha into our lives.

The Pain of the Last Generation

Dreaming of Moshiach was the first blog to call our attention to the imminent coming of Moshiach: it's author (Nava) was way ahead of her time, and also the inspiration for a lot of us who followed in her footsteps. 

In November 2007, she blogged this:

In Gemara, Chazal tells us that 3 divisions of sufferings came down to the world.

The first division of suffering was placed on the generations of the seven holy shepherds: Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov Avinu, Moshe Rabenu, Aaron HaKohen, Yosef HaTzaddik, and Melech Dovid, zs'l.

The second division of suffering was placed on the remaining generations, excluding our generation.

The third division of suffering was placed on our generation, the last generation.

The first 2 sufferings were a gradual process but the last suffering, the third, is the hardest and harshest. Whether it's an illness, unnatural death in a family, livelihood, divorce, finding a spouse, having children, etc. Every Jew, regardless where, when, what, who, why, is suffering!

This is the reason Chazal wrote in Gemara that if a person is not suffering in the generation of the End of Days, know that this person is not a Jew!!! If someone tells you he is not suffering, he is not the son/daughter of Avraham Avinu, zs'l.

Why is this very harsh decree occurring specifically in our generation, all at once and so numerous? The suffering is a necessity required before the arrival of Moshiach Tzidkenu. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, zs'l, explains it further in the Zohar HaKadosh, as follows:

When Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, zs'l, (Rashbi) was hiding in the cave, he wrote the Zohar HaKadosh in Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Spirit). Thru Ruach HaKodesh, he saw that  the last generation will be in a large fire and he cried for us and said, ווי לון מאן דגרמי דיוזיל ליה Oy to the people who will live in the last generation. Rashbi saw that our generation will transgress the Torah and commit adultery, lust, promiscuity, stealing, heresy, secularism, etc. He cried because he saw that we will need to go thru so many tests and suffering.

But why so much suffering in our generation? Why is the Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) so powerful in this generation, more than in all past generations?

It is because HKB'H is so merciful and so generous!

The Zohar HaKadosh explains: Every soul comes into this world only for the reason to correct past lives for sins committed. HKB'H saw throughout all generations that many souls were unable to correct themselves and remained unworthy to enter Gan Eden. Even though they were reincarnated as humans, animals, inanimates, plants, food, etc., and also placed in Gehenom or Kaf Hakela. Yet, they were still unable to correct their souls.

Even after so many reincarnations, these souls were unsuccessful in their tikun and were placed in Heichal HaNeshamot (hall of souls).

The Zohar HaKadosh continues and says that HKB'H revealed Himself to the souls placed in Heichal HaNeshamot and the neshamot cried to HaShem, "Merciful Heavenly Father, help us correct ourselves, we want to succeed in cleansing our souls, we reincarnated as humans, plants, animals, we went thru Gehenom, Shaol Tachtit, Kaf Hakela... But we still have not properly corrected our souls...".

When Merciful HKB'H heard this, He said, "I'll place you all in one generation, a generation that will have much confusion, tests, suffering, and hardships, a generation where the truth will be absent, a generation where one will be easily trapped by the evil inclination. There will be many opportunities to get trapped into terrible sins; everything will be available to you in split seconds. It will be a generation that will feel exhausted from trying to do Teshuva, the evil inclination will be very powerful and adultery, lust, temptations, promiscuity, stealing, heresy, secularism, etc. will be everywhere."

"BUT, despite all these hardships, all neshamot that will succeed to pass these difficult tests and continue to have Emunah, will be tremendeously rewarded and will merit to live in the Geula."

This is the reason the holy Rashbi also said "אשרי מי שיהיה בדור הזה, Overjoyed is the person who lives in that generation."

Although it's difficult to comprehend, it's important to know: ALL PEOPLE IN THIS GENERATION: YOU, ME, HIM, HER, THEM, ARE FROM HEICHAL HANESHAMOT!!!

Read the complete post here: Understanding the Heels of Moshiach

Dead Fish, Birds and Beasts: Prophecies

I can't believe we're actually seeing this happen: but it really is:

Reports of dead birds and fish still coming in from around the world

Mass animal deaths remain a mystery
Mysterious mass animal deaths that have turned up in recent days have some people very spooked and speculating about the end of the world.

Dead eagles in China
Yesterday morning, the king master walking to work, an eagle suddenly hit him and died.

Dead birds fall from sky in Sweden
....the mass death reached Sweden. On the way home from work just before midnight saw Drilon Hulaj and his peers colleagues suddenly to the street in front of them was studded with black fågellik, probably jackdaws.


Talmud Sanhedrin 98a - click to enlarge

Above is the relevant page of the Talmud: translation - "Mashiach ben Dovid will not arrive until someone seeks a fish for a sick person and cannot find one."

Talmud Sanhedrin 98a quoting Ezekiel 32:14 explains that an important, unprecedented Oil Spill causing the oceans to congeal precedes Mashiach's rise to power. [There are many who think the unexplained deaths of the fish and birds are connected to the Gulf oil spill].

The Sage commentators explain that no animals will remain since they can no longer get nourishment from the waters. Likewise, neither will the people benefit from these waters any longer.

 
And are we witnessing the beginning of this prophecy?

"It shall come to pass on that day, on the day that Gog shall come against the Land of Israel," says the L-rd, G-d, "My fury shall rise up . . . And in My jealousy, in the fire of My anger, I have spoken-surely on that day there will be a great shaking in Eretz Yisroel. The fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field, and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the people who are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My Presence; the mountains shall be destroyed, the steep places shall fall, and every wall will fall to the ground."(Yechezkel 38:18-20)

Choosing The Right Path

"Of Yetzer, the Yitzri family; of Shilem, the Shilemi family" [Bamidbar 26:49]

This verse, said the Chofetz Chaim, can be expounded upon in the following manner:

"Of Yetzer" - One who succumbs to the lure of the yetzer hara (evil inclination) will immediately find himself in the company of the "Yitzri family" - the members of the yetzer hara's family are all more than ready to help him along the path of wickedness.

"Of Shilem" - But one who strives for perfection (sheleimus) will find himself in the company of the "Shilemi family" - those who fear Heaven and have achieved spiritual perfection will help him along the upright path.

"In the path that a man wishes to go, he is led" [Makkos 10b]