True Tefillin

Art: Alex Levin

"And all the nations of the earth will see that Hashem's Name is displayed upon you, and they will revere you" [Ki Tavo 28:10]

In Maseches Berachos [6a], Chazal expound on the above verse: "From where do we know that tefillin are a source of might for Israel? - From the verse "And all the nations of the earth will see that Hashem's Name is displayed upon you, and they will revere you". And it was taught: R' Eliezer HaGadol said "these are the tefillin of the head [sheba' rosh]."

The Sha'agas Aryeh [R' Aryeh Leib from Metz] was once travelling. Throughout the trip he wore his tallis and tefillin and engaged in Torah study.

The wagon driver was also wearing his tallis and tefillin - he was praying while steering the horses.

Suddenly, a band of armed robbers jumped out from the forest and attacked the wagon; they demanded that the driver stop the wagon and hand over all of his money.

The driver was terribly frightened. "Rebbe" he screamed, "we're in danger!"

The Sha'agas Aryeh heard the screaming coming from up front, so he stuck his head out the window to see what was happening. But when the ordinarily bold thieves took one look at the Sha'agas Aryeh, they were overcome with fear and immediately fled.

"Rebbe" asked the driver, "I am both younger and stronger than you. Yet it was you whom the thieves were terrified of. Why did the robbers run away when they saw you?"

"The robbers did not run because of my strength" answered the Sha'agas Aryeh, "but because of the tefillin on my head!"

"But I am also wearing tefillin" responded the driver. "Why did the thieves not run away from me?"

The Sha'agas Aryeh explained: "The Torah says "and all the nations of the earth will see that Hashem's Name is displayed upon you, and they will revere you". The Gemara quotes R' Eliezer HaGadol who teaches that this verse is referring to the tefillin of the head [sheba'rosh]. If you read the words of Chazal carefully, you will notice that Chazal did not say "tefillin she'al ha'rosh" [tefillin that rest on one's head]; rather "tefillin sheba'rosh" [tefillin that are inside one's head]. The holiness of the tefillin must be absorbed into one's head, and then it instills fear into the nations of the world. But if the tefillin are simply lying on top of one's head, then the nations of the world do not fear us at all.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Pharoah Quotes Psalm 46

Obama's 9/11 speech [video] - stick around the for end, Dubya's face is a treat.




Psalm 46
1 For the Leader; [a Psalm] of the sons of Korah; upon Alamoth. A Song.
2 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
3 Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change, and though the mountains be moved into the heart of the seas;
4 Though the waters thereof roar and foam, though the mountains shake at the swelling thereof. Selah
5 There is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the holiest dwelling-place of the Most High.
6 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God shall help her, at the approach of morning.
7 Nations were in tumult, kingdoms were moved; He uttered His voice, the earth melted.
8 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah
9 Come, behold the works of the Lord, who hath made desolations in the earth.
10 He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; 
He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariots in the fire.
11 'Let be, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'
12 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our high tower. Selah 

Spiritual beings in physical bodies

"that you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you will bring from your land, which the Lord, your God, is giving you. And you shall put [them] into a basket" [Ki Tavo 26:2]

First fruits represent the Jewish souls, as the Midrash teaches that the Divine Thought to create Jewish souls "preceded everything" [Bereishis Rabah 1:4]. In this respect, Jewish souls are "first" and cherished in a way similar to first fruits.

When the soul is in Heaven, before it enters a body, it enjoys an intense, ecstatic relationship with G-d.  Nevertheless, the soul is sent down to earth in a body which conceals its relationship with G-d.  This is not without profit since, through this descent, the soul is able to carry out a mission in the physical world, which can eventually result in an even more intense relationship with G-d.  For G-d's innermost "desire" is for His mitzvot to be carried out specifically in the physical world.

This is the lesson from the requirement of first fruits being placed in a basket.  Although the fruits are the finest and first of the crop, they cannot achieve perfection without a basket. 

Likewise, the Jewish soul, which is G-d's highest priority, cannot achieve perfection without coming down into a physical body, in a world of concealment and temptation, because it is precisely through that descent that an even greater ascent is achieved.

Source: Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe vol 29

Also see: Yerida L'tzorich Aliya: Descent for the Purpose of Ascent

Washington: Lightning Jolts Presidential Address

Sept 8: Presidential Address: commentary by Richard Adams, The Guardian:

7.15pm: Now Obama is explaining his American Jobs Act, stressing that every proposal in it has been supported by politicians on both sides:

It will provide a jolt to the American economy ... you should pass this jobs plan right away.

At that moment a huge crash of thunder and lightning is heard over NW Washington.

Source: Guardian

Note: video does not contain the lightning, you don't need to watch it.

A Cure for Arrogance

Related by Rabbi Zalman Shimon Dworkin a"h who heard it from Reb Shmuel Grunim a"h

by Rabbi Rafael Nachman Kahn, translated by Basha Majerczyk

Alter Rebbe

The gaon Reb Avraham of Kalisk was an iluy, a childhood prodigy whose genius was already evident at an early age.  When the boy was eleven or twelve, his father complained to the Alter Rebbe - Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi [Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי‎], the first Rebbe of Chabad - that although his son was indeed brilliant, it pained him to see that his son's intellectual gifts were making him arrogant.  "Bring him to me" the Alter Rebbe replied, "and I will speak to him."

The next time the father came to the Alter Rebbe he brought his son along. "Do you know how to learn?" the Alter Rebbe asked him.  "Yes" the boy replied.  At that, the Alter Rebbe stood up and brought him a thick volume, a book of Responsa written by the Rosh [Rabbeinu Asher ben Yechiel].  Opening it to a certain passage, he asked the boy if he understood what it meant.  "Yes", the iluy answered.

The Alter Rebbe then brought up a strong contradictory point, and asked the boy to resolve the conflict.  When the boy was unable to do so, the Alter Rebbe provided an answer.

"Is my answer a good one?" he prompted the child.

"Yes" the young Reb Avraham replied, "it is excellent."

The Alter Rebbe then proceeded to destroy his own hypothesis, and showed him why it wasn't sound.  This happened several times, the Alter Rebbe asking the boy for his approval, and after obtaining it, explaining why his line of thought was flawed.

At the end of the interview the Alter Rebbe closed the book.  "You don't know how to learn." the Alter Rebbe pronounced. "Whatever they tell you, you believe."  This remark nipped Reb Avraham's arrogance in the bud.

Years later, Reb Avraham had another yechidus with the Alter Rebbe. This time the Rebbe showed him the Responsa of the Maharam of Rotenburg, who, when asked a certain question, had cited a particular passage in the Gemara as proof.  This proof, however, was extremely tenuous. The Alter Rebbe asked Reb Avraham if he could think of any other Talmudic passages to bolster the Maharam's argument, and he cited five.  The Rebbe then mentioned six other passages, for a sum total of eleven, each of which seemed stronger and more compelling than the one actually quoted by the Maharam.

"Why do you think," the Alter Rebbe questioned, "the Maharam chose that passage, when there are eleven better ones he could have quoted?"  The Alter Rebbe then knocked down each of the eleven, leaving only the original proof cited by the Maharam, which was incontrovertible.

"Don't think" the Alter Rebbe concluded, "that when the Maharam sat down to write his Responsa he considered and then rejected each one of the other eleven passages, and it was only when he reached the twelfth that he was satisfied.  Not at all !  The twelfth passage was the one he thought of first! For that is the advantage of our Rishonim, in whom the light of truth shone openly."

Obama's Palestinian Dream

President Barack Obama is the unlikely star of a new Palestinian media campaign.

Part of a speech Obama gave in 2010 to the United Nations General Assembly is featured in an ad aimed to rally support for the Palestinians upcoming bid for statehood at the United Nations on Sept. 20, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

“When we come back here next year, we can have an agreement that can lead to a new member of the United Nations, an independent, sovereign state of Palestine living in peace with Israel,” Obama said in the 2010 speech in the clip that is played in the radio ad.

Although U.S. officials described Obama’s statement in the 2010 speech simply as an expression of hope, Abbas has called the statement the “Obama promise,” Reuters wrote.

Read more: Politico.com

Meat and Milk: Gevurah and Chesed

"You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk." [Mishpatim 23:19]

Ramban writes that it is prohibited to eat meat cooked in milk, since it is an act of moral insensitivity.  Rashi points out that not only are we forbidden to eat milk and meat together, but even cooking the mixture is forbidden.  This renders the prohibition of milk and meat unique in that even the preparation of the prohibited mixture is also prohibited by the Torah.

From this we can learn how far we must take care to refrain from being morally insensitive.

According to the Kabbalah, milk and meat may not be mixed as this would cause the negative interaction of opposing spiritual forces.  Meat is a physical manifestation of the Divine power of Gevurah (severity), as suggested by the red color of meat.  Milk has its spiritual roots in the Divine power of Chesed (kindness), indicated by its white color. Being that these two powers have an opposite effect, they must not be mixed.

Bachaye writes that in the Messianic Era, it will become permissible to eat meat that was cooked with milk. This is because, in the spiritual realms, the mixing of Chesed and Gevurah is not counterproductive.  Each Divine power works in harmony with the other, since both powers respect the fact that they emanate from the One God.

In the physical world, this harmony does not persevere, since physical things feel their own existence as paramount, and will not coalesce to a higher purpose.  Therefore, the mixing of meat and milk in the physical world is forbidden for it will result in a "corruption" of the spiritual forces that they embody.

However, in the Messianic Era, we are promised that G-d will be felt tangibly within the physical world.  Therefore, it will become possible to mix Chesed and Gevurah - through cooking milk and meat - even in the physical world.

Source: Based on Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Gutnick Chumash

Free

Art: Michael Sowa

  

To be a person of truth,

be swayed neither by approval

nor disapproval.

Work at not needing approval

from anyone and you will be free

to be who you really are.

[Rebbe Nachman of Breslov]