Wednesday, January 18, 2012

24 Teves - Yarzheit - The Alter Rebbe

The founder of Chabad Chassidism, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi - "the Alter Rebbe" [1745-1812], passed away on the eve of the 24th of Tevet, at approximately 10:30 pm, shortly after reciting the Havdalah prayer marking the end of the Shabbat. The Rebbe was in the village of Peyena, fleeing Napoleon's armies, which had swept through the Rebbe's hometown of Liadi three months earlier in their advance towards Moscow. He was in his 68th year at the time of his passing, and was succeeded by his son, Rabbi DovBer of Lubavitch.

The Alter Rebbe would often repeat in the name of the Baal Shem Tov that wealth can be Gan Eden (paradise) or it can be Gehenom (purgatory). The Alter Rebbe explained this saying as follows. If one uses his wealth for charitable purposes, then it is paradise. If one uses it for self-indulgence or holds it treasured away in order not to give charity, then it is purgatory.

The Mitteler Rebbe, when he was just 7 years old, asked his father "Why are wealthy people so haughty? Even those who are not born into wealth, yet when they become wealthy they change nature and become conceited."

The Alter Rebbe responded "God set up a system in which wealth inherently causes conceit. The chamber of wealth, in heaven, is found between Gan Eden and Gehenom. There are two doors to this chamber. One opens to Gan Eden and the other opens to Gehenom. Ze le'umas ze asa Elokim - God made one opposite the other.

Source: Chaim Dalfin: The Seven Chabad Lubavitch Rebbes

Rumors of Moshiach: Av 5772

Received via email*

Yosef Chaim Zakai Shlit"a from the Yeshiva for Mekubalim "Nachlas Yitzchak", said he heard three times from Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri Zatza"l, that Moshiach will come in Av of 5772. 

I heard from someone who heard from Rabbi Yehudah Moalem Zatza"l, who also quoted Rav Kaduri Zatza"l referring to the same time. 

The words Av 5772 are the same letters as Tisha B'av, when Moshiach was born: .
אָב התשע"ב אוֹתִיּוֹת תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב

And ט' בְּאָב equals David: . ט' בְּאָב בְּגִימַטְרִיָּא דָּוִד

Rabbi Meir Reich Shlit"a said that Tisha B'av of 5772 comes out on Shabbos. This connects to the Gemara Yerushalmi that says [Megilla 5B] "Rav Abba Bar Zavda said Rebbe wanted to cancel Tisha B'av [they shouldn't fast at all, that year] when it came out on Shabbos. He explained that since it is postponed, it shall be canceled completely.

*Note: This was originally published at Yeranen Yaakov

More Strange Sounds - Everywhere !

[HT: Moriah]
Definitely sounds like a shofar, no question about it now.
If anyone has a different logical rational explanation, please let us all know about it.

Czech Republic


Edmonton, Alberta


Manitoba Canada


Nottingham, UK


and

Chicago

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Upside Down World

Art by Xetoby


Written by Rabbi Yisroel Ciner

The Talmud [Bava Basra 10:] tells of what we now call a near death encounter. Rav Yosef the son of Rav Yehoshua was ‘dead’ for a short period of time and then was resuscitated. To his father's question of what did he see, he responded: “I saw an olam hafuch [an upside down world]. The elyonim [‘high’ people] were low and the tachtonim [‘low’ people] were high.” '

“You saw an olam barur [a clear world]!”, was his father’s response.

Rashi there explains what he saw in the following manner. The people who were ‘high’ in this world due to their wealth were in a lowly position in the next world. The poor who were treated lowly in this world were the important ones in the next. His father responded that there he saw with clarity each person’s true state.

Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l asked how could Rav Yosef have called what he saw in the next world ‘upside down’? Isn’t it obvious that here in this world, with our physical eyes, we are very easily misled by the revealed actions of a person. We see the outer shell. We don’t see with clarity. Why did he call it an upside down world?

He explains the Talmud differently. The true elyonim [‘high’ people] of this world were considered to be the elyonim of the next and the tachtonim [‘lowly’ people] of this world were considered to be the tachtonim of the next. Yet, these elyonim were lower than the tachtonim! It truly was an olam hafuch [upside down world]! He couldn’t understand why Hashem had arranged the world of truth in such a fashion.

His father explained that what he had seen was an olam barur [a clear world]. Hashem only demands from a person that which is within that individual person’s ability. Those with lesser abilities and more modest potential are not expected to ‘accomplish’ as much as others. If they maximize their potentials to fulfill the purpose for which they were sent to this world, even if they’ll actually ‘accomplish’ less - performing less ma’asim tovim [good acts], studying less Torah - they will truly be the elyonim in the world of clarity. Those ‘high’ people who might have ‘accomplished’ more but where blessed with tremendous abilities which weren’t used to their fullest, those elyonim will be the tachtonim in the next world.

Source: Neveh.org

A Miracle Within a Miracle



''There was hail and fire flaming amid the hail'' [Va'eira 9:24]

The Midrash states that the Plague of Hail was a miracle within a miracle: the hail did not extinguish the fire and the fire did not melt the hail.  Rather, both elements joined forces in smiting the Egyptians.

R' Acha compared this to a king who had two very powerful legions of soldiers. To find greater favor in the king's eyes, each legion tried out-doing the other when they went out to war. The competition between the two legions escalated to the point that they hated one another.

This hatred continued for some time until a major war threatened to break out in the king's land. The king summoned both legions to appear before him, and he told them the following:

''I know'' said the king, ''that you are both very powerful and dedicated to my service. I usually send only one of you at a time to the battlefront. But now a major war looms on the horizon, and I need assistance from both of you. But what shall I do about your mutual hatred? You must make peace between yourselves and go out to war united. Then we will be victorious!''

So it was with the Plague of Hail. Hail and fire cannot co-exist because the nature of fire is to melt hail and the nature of hail is to extinguish fire. But in this instance, Hashem made peace between them and together they struck at the Egyptians.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Monday, January 16, 2012

US, Israel in open rift over Iran: Big joint military drill cancelled

US-Israeli discord over action against Iran went into overdrive Sunday, Jan. 15 when the White House called off Austere Challenge 12, the biggest joint war game the US and Israel have ever staged, ready to go in spring, in reprisal for a comment by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon in an early morning radio interview. He said the United States was hesitant over sanctions against Iran's central bank and oil for fear of a spike in oil prices.

The row between Washington and Jerusalem is now in the open, undoubtedly causing celebration in Tehran.
Nothing was said about the 9,000 US troops who landed in Israeli earlier this month for a lengthy stay. Neither was the forthcoming visit by Gen. Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint US Chiefs of Staff, Thursday mentioned.

Source: Debka

Reaching the Palace

Art: Maronski
Our Rabbis have said "This world is like an antechamber and the World to Come is like the palace; prepare yourself in the antechamber so that you may enter the palace" [Avot 4:17]

No one does anything except for a purpose. If the goal is important enough, no effort and no trouble are too much to attain it. We find, for example, that Yaakov Avinu worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him as a few days because of his love for her.

Now, the purpose of the whole of creation, and thus of the whole world, is the World to Come. For such a purpose as this, one should be willing to face all the difficulties and obstacles of this world with a good heart, after all, there is no other way to reach one's King.

The story is told of a savage who knew nothing of the value of gold, silver or precious stones. As a reward for saving the king's life, he is taken into the royal treasury, provided with a number of sacks, and told to fill them from whatever he sees on the shelves and take them to his home.

The savage misunderstands the situation and is under the impression he is being punished by forced labor for some unknown wrongdoing. He starts working, but soon notices that no one is watching. He promptly goes to sleep and even when he wakes up, he works as slowly as possible. At the end of the day the sacks are almost empty.

When he is sent away with the sacks over his shoulder he is pleased with himself. If I had obeyed their orders, he thinks, I would have had to work hard all day and then had a lot of heavy sacks to carry. But when he meets some of his more knowledgeable companions and tells them his story, he soon learns what a fool he has been. He realizes - too late - that he should have worked with a will during that one precious day when the treasure was his for the taking.

This is exactly how we shall look when we get to the World to Come, the world of truth, where the yetzer hara, the evil inclination, and its deceptions have no more place. Here in this world, the world of falsehood, where the yetzer hara rules, all our value judgments are distorted.

The happy man is the one who recognizes true values while he is still in the preparatory antechamber - this world. He will find his ultimate happiness in the Palace. But he rejoices too even in the hard and unremitting toil of this world. He knows the true value and final results of his labours.

Source: Michtav M'Eliyahu by Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler zt"l, adapted by B. D. Kvutzat