Moshe Rabbeinu, said the Chofetz Chaim, called his son Gershom ('stranger there') because he wished to be reminded daily that his life in this world was but a temporary one, like a stranger living in a foreign land.
The Chofetz Chaim explained this idea with a parable:
A merchant once went to a fair in order to purchase merchandise at a low cost. The fair was being held in a distant location, so the merchant was forced to part with his family for a long time.
Before he left home, the merchant comforted his wife and children: "Do not be upset. It's true that I will be away for a long time and I will certainly miss all of you, but the time will pass quickly and, with the help of Hashem, I will soon return home. You have my word that I will not tarry a moment longer than necessary." The merchant then gathered his belongings and went on his way.
After a long trip, the merchant arrived at the fair. Without wasting any time, he hurried to the marketplace and began investigating the merchandise.
At one of the booths, he met a friend whom he had not seen in many years. After exchanging warm greetings, the friend suggested to the merchant that they leave the fair and go to a quiet area for a day or two, where they could sit and share memories from the past.
"I'm sorry" replied the merchant, "but I cannot accept your offer. Do you think I left my wife and children to engage in frivolous conversations? Did I travel to such a distant land for my amusement? As soon as I finish acquiring the merchandise I need, I will immediately rush home."
So it is with man, said the Chofetz Chaim. Every individual is placed in the world for the express purpose of fulfilling Hashem's will by doing mitzvot and performing good deeds. But then the yetzer hara tries to lure the person into wasting his precious time on meaningless pursuits.
Therefore, concluded the Chofetz Chaim, a person must say to his yetzer hara exactly what the merchant said to his friend: Did I come to this world in order to engage in foolishness? Do not even attempt to beguile me into wasting my precious time!
Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein
By Special Request: This post is dedicated to "Y" from "B".
Source: from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov; translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Many types of fruit do not grow in some lands, only because people do not understand.
The world has a foundation stone. Channels emanate from this stone, reaching every land. The Midrash teaches us that the wise King Solomon knew the details of these channels and was therefore able to plant all types of trees.
If people knew the exact location of these subterranean channels, they would be able to grow fruit trees even in these lands. They could grow many that never grow there now.
Each channel has the power to stimulate a particular species. Even if a particular channel does not pass through one land, all channels are intertwined and flow into each other. If one knew the exact place, he could plant any type of tree.
If one knew the location of all channels, he could dig a well and know where to plant trees around it. He could then make any type of tree grow.
The foundation stone of the world constantly rises and descends. If one knows its position, then he knows what to plant at a particular time.
All these things are concealed from the world for some things may not be revealed.
People say that the world is gaining knowledge, but earlier generations made the primary discoveries, and this took the greatest wisdom.
Later generations make discoveries only because earlier ones prepared the way. One generation makes the basic discoveries, and later generations apply them, but the latter contribution is really the smaller.
The Talmud says "If you would not have removed the piece of clay, you would not have found the jewel under it."
There are things that may not be revealed, for if they were revealed, later generations would make an idol of them. There is knowledge that may not be revealed, for later generations would use the basic knowledge and continually add to it, often irresponsibly. They could then develop concepts leading to cataclysmic discoveries.
It is written [Lev. 19:23] "When you enter your land and plant any tree... three years shall its fruit be forbidden to you". The Zohar teaches us that the evil forces of klipah dwell in trees duirng these first three years.
Earlier generations misunderstood this and thought that they were obliged to worship a tree during the three years that it was under the influence of the klipah. According to their error it was a logical necessity to make such a tree an object of worship.
The manna reminds us that a Jew's food, and his livelihood in general, come directly from G-d, in a manner of "bread from heaven", i.e. even though, at first glance, it appears that a person earns his livelihood through hard work, in truth however the work of his hands is merely a "receptacle" into which G-d places his blessings.
In other words, it is not the hard work in itself that brings a person his daily bread - G-d provides a Jew with food in a manner which is not limited to the rule of nature. But in order not to disturb the natural order which He created, G-d garbs His gift in natural phenomena, so that it should appear to come from nature alone.
The eternal perpetuation of manna reminds us that, even though we no longer see bread coming from heaven, nevertheless, in truth the bread continues to come from heaven to this day.
Before Redemption: A Tremendous Flood
[originally published at Yiddishkeit.org by R. Yaakov Nathan]
The prophectic words of the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, from the newsletter HaKria V’HaKedusha (Tammuz, 5704/1944)
Translation from Shmais.com
Psalm 93
The Lord is King; He has garbed Himself with grandeur;
the Lord has robed Himself, He has girded Himself with strength;
He has also established the world firmly that it shall not falter. Your throne stands firm from of old; You have existed forever. The rivers have raised, O Lord, the rivers have raised their voice; the rivers raise their raging waves. More than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, is the Lord mighty on High. Your testimonies are most trustworthy; Your House will be resplendent in holiness, O Lord, forever.
This chapter of Tehillim was composed by the G-dly poet regarding Yemos Ha’Moshiach (the Messianic days). He hints briefly at the events which will take place before the geula (redemption). The central theme of the chapter is that the Jews living at that time will understand by means of these events, that the galus (exile) is over and geula (redemption) has begun.
Hashem will be king by wearing greatness! We generally think the world is run by nature and we forget entirely that there is a G-d who rules over nature. It’s only when an unnatural occurrence takes place such as a flood, earthquake, and other terrible upheavals–that we remember that there’s a ruler of the world who rules over nature; Then all will say that G-d is king! He put nature aside and showed his absolute sovereignty over nature.
The poet goes on to speak about the time when Hashem will be revealed in clothes of gevura (judgement) and the world will recognize and acknowledge that He is king. He explains that this will happen during Yemos Ha’Moshiach before the geula because "Hashem wore the gevura" which he girded Himself with in the past. Gevura refers to Torah, and Hashem girded Himself with its strength at the time of the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai. At that time there were such strong thunder and lightning that the nations of the world thought the world was coming to an end. Bilaam explained to them that Hashem is giving might to His people–that Hashem was giving his strong Torah to His people, and it has the power to build worlds or destroy them.
Regarding this the poet says that in Yemos Ha’Moshiach, when Hashem will be king by wearing gevura, he won’t do this by wearing a new garment of gevura which is designated for a new purpose. It will be the old garment of Mattan Torah (the giving of the Torah), of Hashem's giving might to His people. Hashem will rise to fortify the Torah in the world, and just as when it was given the first time it ws accompanied with proof that He is the ruler over nature, so too the second time. The process of kabbolas ha’Torah (receiving the Torah) will include displays of gevura whose purpose is that the entire world accepts the Torah. But, continues the poet, He has also established the world firmly that it shall not falter.: many will err and think that Hashem is destroying the world. That’s why the poet writes that the world will remain fortified and it will not falter. It will only be the Jewish people and the Torah which will be elevated once again: Hashem is giving might to His people!
Your throne stands firm from of old; You have existed forever: already before the creation of the world when Hashem was alone You have existed forever – You prepared Your throne of Your kingdom. The purpose of the creation is in order to strengthen Torah and the Jewish people; the Torah – as the Sages say: "for the sake of Torah which is called 'first,' the world was created". Already back then it was established that Hashem would come enclothed in gevura in order to fortify a place for Torah. This time it won’t be in order to destroy the world, but in order to fortify the Torah, and to bring about the realization of the promise "and Hashem will be king over all the world" through this – that the world will gain knowledge of Torah (and accept it) through the Jewish people.
The rivers have raised, O Lord, the rivers have raised their voice; the rivers raise their raging waves: the literal meaning of the verse is that the rivers will lift up Hashem; the rivers will raise their voice, the rivers will make a lot of noise! This means that the roaring and raging of the rivers will elevate Hashem. The only meaning in this is that Hashem will be uplifted by His making the oceans roar before the geula. Through this noise everybody will understand that Hashem is elevated.
The practical conclusion is that the roaring rivers will bring great changes to the world; for example: they will drown an entire nation or at least a great portion, and this natural disaster will cause a revolution in man’s perspective. They will see this as a G-dly punishment. It’s also possible that this natural disaster will change the world political map by a chain of events which will begin with that nation that drowns.
In summary: before the geula there will be a great roaring of water which will shake the world with its intensity, to the point that the world will return to elevate Hashem. That’s how we can understand the verse–that the water will elevate Hashem by means of their noise and rage.
More than the sound of many waters, than the mighty breakers of the sea, is the Lord mighty on High: the sound of the many waters will cause the powerful ones to break, and then Hashem will be the powerful One. This means that as a result of the crashing waters, the mighty ones of the earth will be wiped out. World empires will collapse in the face of the water’s strength and then people will acknowledge and agree that Hashem is the only mighty One in heaven.
Your testimonies are most trustworthy; Your House will be resplendent in holiness, O Lord, forever: The ones who relate your testimony are very loyal; holiness suits Your house; G-d–will be forever! The G-dly poet concludes the chapter with a description of the world after all of humanity will acknowledge Hashem’s kingdom. The world will say that the prophecies about Hashem and the geula of the Jewish people were absolutely true. This means that at the time of the complete geula it will be obvious–Jews will return to Eretz Yisrael and the Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple) will be rebuilt, and all the nations of the world will be drawn there in order to learn G-d’s ways from up close.
The nations will also say–Your House will be resplendent in holiness–holiness suits the Beis Hamikdash; i.e. holiness will return and rest in the Beis Hamikdash as in the past, and the nations will acknowledge this. You have to say that this is the intention of the poet because these promises were not fulfilled yet. Nobody can say "Your testimonies are most trustworthy", that all the prophecies have come true. And nobody can say "Your House will be resplendent in holiness" without it being actually so.
The nations will ask Hashem to continue to have His Presence rest in the Beis Hamikdash forever. This indicates the perfection of the geula of the Jewish people–that the nations won’t bother them at all, to the point that the nations themselves will ask Hashem to continue to have His Presence rest in the Beis Hamikdash.
The poet, as is his way, is brief but that leaves us with little in quantity but a lot in quality. This psalm contains everything about geula, including the eve of geula and the "end of days." The central motif of the chapter are the roaring waters which will demonstrate Hashem’s might and transform humanity entirely in a spiritual way. These roaring waters will be the sign of the beginning of the complete geula. Following it, the glory of Hashem, the Torah and the Jewish people will be elevated in the world until true peace will reign and all the prophecies will be realized in their entirety.
We can only wait for those great stormy waters which will force the nations to admit that Hashem is king–all will have to concede that this is not a natural disaster but an act of G-d.
Note: In the "HaKri’a V’hakedusha" of Tammuz 5704 (1944) which was edited under the Previous Rebbe’s supervision, this article appears under the name G. Zarchi about chapter 93 in Tehillim, based on Midrash and words of the Sages.
[Shabbos Parshas Beshallach is known as Shabbos Shirah, because of the song which the Jews sang to G-d at the Splitting of the Red Sea on their way out of Egypt. The matching Haftorah is the song sung by Devorah the Prophetess (Shirat Devorah) after the Jews won their battle against Sisera]
Devorah was the only woman who was both a Judge and a Prophet. The only man who accomplished that feat was Shmuel/Samuel who bridged the Period of the Judges and the Prophets.
According to Rashi, there were forty eight male prophets and seven female prophetesses. The seven prophetesses were Sarah (wife of Avraham) Miriam (sister of Moshe and Aharon), Devorah, Chana (mother of Shmuel), Avigail (wife of David) Chuldah and Esther.
Devorah's style is described as "sitting under the date palm of Devorah," meaning that for reasons of "tzniut," or modesty, she did not wish to meet with male litigants in private. Therefore, she "set up court," performing her duties as Magistrate and as Teacher and Transmitter of Torah, in the great out-of-doors.
The Midrash places her in good company when it says of her that "Moshe, David and Devorah sang to Hashem and the Holy Spirit rested upon them." [Mechilta Beshalach 6]
The date of the reign of Devorah was 1130 B.C.E. The People of Israel had been oppressed by Yavin, King of Canaan, and his fearsome general, Sisera, for twenty years. In a prophetic message from Hashem to Devorah, Hashem informs her that the time has come to cast off the yolk of the King of Canaan, and that the task should be performed by Barak ben Avinoam along with a small army of 10,000 men taken mainly from the Tribes of Naftali and Zevulun. Other Tribes were also expected to help, but no specific numbers were required.
Sisera, hearing of this surprising and presumptuous challenge from the People of Israel, determines to destroy their army completely. He assembles a force of nine hundred iron chariots (each the probable equivalent of a modern battle tank) plus, according to Targum Yonatan 5:8, 40,000 Officers, 50,000 swordsmen, 60,000 spear throwers, 70,000 shield carriers, and 80,000 regular soldiers - the total of which by the ordinary rules of war would be expected to totally annihilate the miniscule army of Israel, G-d forbid.
But the battle is a victory for Israel, though Sisera has received aid from all the Kings of Canaan, who likewise wish to destroy Israel. Israel receives miraculous aid from the forces of Nature, caused of course by their Director. The stars approach the battlefield, scalding the army of Sisera, and causing them to seek refuge in the waters of the River of Kishon. But those waters, usually shallow, miraculously rise and drown all the forces of Sisera - that is, all but him.
Sisera, shocked and stunned by the outcome of the battle, staggers in the direction of the Tent of Chever the Kenite, who has a peace treaty with Yavin, the overall King of Canaan. Chever's wife, Yael, emerges from the tent and gestures to him to come into her tent for protection. She plies him with warm milk, and he falls asleep. She seizes a tent peg and a hammer, and drives the peg between his eyebrows, through his head and into the ground, definitely and thoroughly killing him.
When Barak, in hot pursuit of Sisera, arrives, Yael says, "the one you are looking for is in my tent, and he is quite dead."
The People of Israel follow up their victory by applying intensifying pressure on Yavin until they completely break his hold on them and in fact reverse their roles. Peace is obtained for a long period of time, forty years, in the context of those tumultuous times.
Click here to read the Song of Devorah (in Hebew and English): Devorah Hanevia
"All salvation comes by virtue of women." [The Alter Rebbe]
If someone told you that Moshiach is already here, what would you think? I guess it depends who it is that is speaking, in this case it is Rabbi Glazerson, who casually remarks at the end of this video that "Moshiach is here by the way..."
Rabbi Aryeh Weingarten It's Hebrew with English subtitles [click on the CC for the subtitles and then the cog for auto-translate and cho...
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"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."
