The Book of Adam

Before the time of the Baal Shem Tov, lived a saintly, holy Jew, known as Reb Adam Ha Tzaddik. Rabbi Adam had mastered Torah and secrets of Kabbalah, but was still not satisfied. He pleaded with The Almighty: "Father in Heaven! I beg of You to open the innermost secrets of the Torah so that I may bring honor and glory to Your name."

One night, Rabbi Adam had a dream in which he stood in The Ma'aras Ha'Machpelah - the burial place of Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, and Jacob and Leah. He saw lying before him 'HaSefer Ha'Adam - THE BOOK OF ADAM", in which is contained the TETGRAMATON - the secret, mystical name of the Eternal Being. Only six others were worthy of its secrets: Adam, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua and King Solomon. Rabbi Adam studied the book and its secret knowledge was revealed to him.

He then asked: "After I am gone from this world, to whom should I pass on these secrets of The BOOK OF ADAM?" A heavenly voice replied: "Seek Rabbi Israel, son of Rabbi Eliezer, who lives in Okup. He is worthy to receive it".

The next day, Rabbi Adam wrote down all he had learned. He then called his son and said, "When I take leave from this world, take this BOOK OF ADAM to Israel, son of Eliezer, who lives in Okup. This book will belong to him. After Rabbi Adam departed from this world, his son followed his father's request and gave the holy manuscript to The Baal Shem Tov.

In his time, Rabbi Adam was known as a man of great wisdom even among the non-Jews. The ruler of the adjoining land, a Kaiser, occasionally asked for his counsel. Once, when Rabbi Adam was summoned to the Kaiser's castle, after offering his opinion on a certain matter, he invited the Kaiser to a banquet in his home. To the surprise of the ruler's attendants, the Kaiser accepted the invitation, and a date was set for the following week. Then Rabbi Adam returned home to prepare for the Banquet.

Rabbi Adam lived in a very small, modest house - hardly suitable to entertain royalty. After purifying himself by immersing in a mikvah, Rabbi Adam fell into a deep state of meditation using secret powers entrusted to him through the Book of Adam.

He envisioned a king who lived in a large palace. This king wished to invite the ruler of the neighboring land for a banquet. The king instructed his servants to prepare a grand banquet. In a large banquet hall stood a large table bedecked with gold dishes. The king arranged for the neighboring land's king to attend his banquet on a certain date - the same day the Kaiser would visit Rabbi Adam.

Among the Kaiser's ministers was one who held a well-known hatred for Jews. He tried his best to dissuade the Kaiser from visiting Rabbi Adam: "Your Excellency, the Rabbi lives in a tiny two room house in a village. It is not fitting your honour to dine in such a setting." But the Kaiser recognized Rabbi Adam's wisdom and enjoyed their discussions, so he paid no attention to his minister. As the royal entourage traveled towards Rabbi Adam's town, the minister tried to convince the Kaiser to abandon the idea and return home to the palace. In the course of the journey, the Kaiser began to wonder how he and all his attendants would be able to dine in such a small house. He instructed one of his guards with the fastest horse to ride ahead and to report back as to the banquet preparations.

The messenger soon returned and reported that Rabbi Adam's house was a small shack and he did not see any special preparations being made. The Kaiser was now unsure, but as they were almost at their destination, decided to continue towards Rabbi Adam's home.

As the royal carriage entered the small town, the residents stood in disbelief: The Kaiser himself was in their town! As the Kaiser's carriage turned onto the street where Rabbi Adam lived, he beheld a magnificent palace! The Kaiser stepped out of his golden carriage with a great smile. Servants took the horses to the stables, while palace waiters silently escorted the Kaiser and his attendants to the banquet hall.

Rabbi Adam awaited the Kaiser in the banquet Hall, and soon the Kaiser and his court were sitting with Rabbi Adam enjoying the lavish feast.

Rabbi Adam then said, "I welcome you all to this palace of my King, and I invite you all to eat and drink to your fill! But I have one request. Please do not remove any of the table settings from the room."

Following the feast, Rabbi Adam turned to the Kaiser: "Any person among you who has a particular wish should say to me - 'I want this, or I want that' - and then put his hand in the pocket of his coat, and he will find the object that he wished for."

The Kaiser was first. He wished for a gold watch - and found it in the pocket of his coat. The ministers were beside themselves with excitement: They each told the Rabbi their requests, and each received his specific request.

When it was the turn of the minister who hated Jews, after telling Rabbi Adam his wish, he reached into his pocket, but screamed as he felt something disgusting! He quickly pulled out his hand covered with putrid slime! The smell was nauseating! He ran to wash his hand, but try as hard as he could, he could not rid himself of the foul smell that overtook his whole body.

The minister turned to Rabbi Adam: Pleas help me! I am going to faint from this stink!"

Rabbi Adam then said: "If you will swear to me in front of your master, the Kaiser, never to express your hate for the Jewish people again, I will help you. If not, you will bear this filthy odour for the remainder of your life." The minister began to wail - and then swore never to express hate for the Jewish people again.

Then Rabbi Adam told him: "There is only one remedy. To take the urine from a Jew. You will wash in it and this will take away the smell." And so it happened.

The Kaiser decided to test the Rabbi's request, and hid two gold cups from the banquet table in an inner pocket of his coat. The Kaiser thanked their host, and departed. As soon as they turned the corner, the palace and all that it held, disappeared. Only two gold cups were missing.

Word of the strange events spread throughout the land - that an unknown king with an unknown palace had suddenly appeared, and then again disappeared - except for two missing gold cups. Sometime later, the Kaiser sent a letter to the "unknown" king in which he wrote: "A Rabbi brought us to your palace, where we ate and drank your fine food and wine. As a sign of my respect, I am returning to you your two gold cups."

And so it was.

Source: Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Shivchei HaBesht and translated in Tales of the Baal Shem Tov by Mintz and Ben Amos

Operation Hot Mic

You Only Run Twice
 Hat tip: Lemon Lime Moon

Behold, Days Are Coming

HT: Joe

Passover Miracles? You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet! 

by Rabbi Tuly Weisz 

While we all love and enjoy Passover, Jewish tradition says something surprising about the future of this beloved holiday. According to one opinion in the Talmud, at the end of times, we are not even going to talk about the Exodus from Egypt anymore because those miracles will be entirely overshadowed by what G-d has in store for us. Blood, frogs, lice… that’s nothing compared to what the Almighty has planned for the future redemption of the Jewish people. How could there be any miracles greater than the 10 plagues?! How could anything top the splitting of the sea?! 

The answer lies in a close reading of Jeremiah 23: ’Behold, days are coming’, says the Lord, ‘when they will no longer say, ‘As G-d lives, who brought the Jews out of the Egypt,’ but, ‘as G-d lives, who raised and returned the Jews from the northern lands and from every country into which I had driven them, and they will dwell on their own Land.’ 

What will make the future redemption even greater than our Exodus from Egypt is that it will be accompanied by the greatest biblical miracle ever imagined: the In-gathering of the Exiles. 

After 2,000 years of separation from the Land, it would be historically unprecedented if even a small number of Jews were to rediscover our ancient homeland. However, Jeremiah promises that Jews will return, not only as an isolated community here and there, but from all four corners of the world! On the most basic level, this pipe dream would have been logistically impossible just one century ago: the communication and transportation challenges were insurmountable. 

There was no one language to communicate with all of world Jewry, and even if there was, there was no way to reach all of them spread out to the far flung corners of the earth. And even if you could reach them, there was no good way to get to the Promised Land, and even if somehow large numbers of Jews got there, there was not even the most basic infrastructure to absorb them: there were no modern roads, plumbing or any other kind of industry to speak of. The list goes on and on. Who would have imagined that in the last century entire Jewish communities have picked up and resettled in the Land of Israel, just as the prophet described, and for for the first time since Jeremiah spoke those words, a majority of the world’s Jewry lives under a Jewish government, in one of the most advanced countries in the world?! 

The first Israeli Chief Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook zt"l [1865-1935] explained that this is precisely why the miracle of our future/current redemption is even greater than the miraculous Exodus. It would have been easier for G-d to break the laws of nature like He did with the Ten Plagues and the Splitting of the Sea, than to orchestrate our return to Israel through natural means. Yet, He has begun to do just that with the miraculous restoration of the Hebrew language, the in-gathering of Jews from Arab and African countries, the upheaval of the Holocaust and the rebirth of the Jewish State after 2,000 long years of exile. 

Passover is our time to explore the miracles that G-d performed for us long ago and appreciate His active role in our own lives as well. Those of us fortunate enough to live in this generation where we see with our own eyes the fulfillment of these grand Biblical prophesies were put here for a reason and must not merely stand by as passive onlookers. This Passover, make a commitment to connect with Israel, pray for Israel, support Israel and play a leading role in the most exciting drama of human history and the greatest Biblical miracles ever described.

IDF on Full Alert for Pesach

The IDF is making preparations to celebrate the holiday of Passover, which commemorates the ancient Israelites’ exodus from slavery in Egypt. Although Jewish people worldwide will be celebrating Passover with friends and family, many IDF soldiers will not able to do so because IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has ordered all IDF units to cancel their usual Passover vacation. 

All IDF units are expected to remain on full alert due to unspecified security threats, possibly from Gaza. Israel has previously come under attack during Jewish holidays, including the 1973 Yom Kippur war and the terrorist attack during Passover in 2002.

Read more: Algemeiner

The Moshiach Haggadah: Free Download

Why does the Pesach Seder conclude with "Leshana haba b'Yirushalayim"? Is it simply the end of 15 seemingly unconnected stages describing Yetzias Mitzrayim? Or is it the start of a transformation that takes us from the First Redemption to the Final Redemption? 

 You'll find the answer in "The Moshiach Hagaddah" by the International Moshiach Campaign. 

"The Moshiach Hagaddah" presents the 15 Simonei Ha'Seder as as viewed through the perspective of Geulah. It was edited by Rabbi Binyomin Walters of Chicago IL, who edited the popular book, "Moshiach Day by Day." What's more, it will help you transform your Seder from a celebration of our past to an exciting trip that leads to our glorious future! 

The Moshiach Hagaddah, and The Moshiach Seudah Handbook, are now available as a free download. To obtain your copy, visit Moshiach Campaign

 Source: Chabad.info

Hevron Machpela Expulsion [video]

While it appeared that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had defied Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in expelling Jews from the Machpelah House in Hevron, Netanyahu had in fact agreed to the expulsion. 

Sources close to the prime minister explained his reasoning Wednesday, speaking to Maariv/nrg. Between Netanyahu’s declaration Tuesday evening that the eviction would be delayed and the expulsion early Wednesday afternoon, Barak met with Netanyahu and convinced him the expulsion was necessary, they said. 

 Source: Israel National News

Video: [HT: Moriah]

Develop a good eye.  Always looking for good will bring you to truth.

Even with a good eye, be careful not to rush to judgment. This is no different than looking at something from afar and drawing the wrong conclusion.

from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

North Korea 'preparing to unveil missile capable of striking continental US'

Reconnaissance satellites have identified the huge missile at a government research and development facility in Pyongyang, South Korean government sources told the Chosun Ilbo newspaper.

Analysts estimate the weapon to be around 130 feet long and, equipped with a more powerful booster unit, capable of delivering a warhead more than 6,200 miles.

Unveiling the missile will raise new fears in neighbouring countries, already alarmed by Pyongyang's insistence that it will go ahead with the launch in mid-April of a rocket to put a satellite into orbit. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo believe the launch is a covert test launch of a missile.

South Korean and US officials said they believe Pyongyang wants to show the new missile off at the military parade scheduled for April 15 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birthday of the founder of the nation, Kim Il-sung, or on April 25th, which marks the founding of the North Korean army.

Source: Telegraph UK