Emor: Two Short Vorts

Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro - The Vilna Gaon's Overflowing Cups 

In the first pasuk of Emor it says twice to tell the Kohanim: Emor and V'Amarta. Rashi quotes the gemara in Yevamos that says the double language is, "L'Hazhir Gedolim Al HaKetanim", to tell the adults to caution the children. 

How do Chazal see this from the fact that is says twice to tell them, asks Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro? 

He answers that the Dubno Magid once asked the Vilna Gaon what is the most effective way to influence children. The Vilna Gaon answered with a Mashal. 

He said to take a large cup and surround it with smaller cups. Then pour into the large cup and keep pouring until it spills over the top right into the little cups. To have children absorb the lessons, you must fill yourself with an overdose of whatever traits you want to teach them. They will become filled from the overflow. 

The Kohanim were implored twice, to give them a double measure of Kedushas Kohen. The reason for this is obviously in order for it to spill over to the children.

Preparing Food on Yomtov

 דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם מוֹעֲדֵי יְהוָה אֲשֶׁר-תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֵלֶּה הֵם מוֹעֲדָי שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ כָּל-מְלָאכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ שַׁבָּת הִוא לַיהוָה בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם

Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: The Lord's appointed [holy days] that you shall designate as holy occasions. These are My appointed [holy days]: [For] six days, work may be performed, but on the seventh day, it is a complete rest day, a holy occasion; you shall not perform any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places.   Emor 23:2-3

Why did this Parsha in the first Posuk start talking about Yom Tov and in the next Posuk talk about Shabbos? The Vilna Gaon provides the answer. There are שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים that are from the Torah but you are allowed to do Melacha for food. The first and last day of Pesach make two days and a third is one day of Shavous, a Fourth is a single day of Rosh Hashanah, and then again two days of Succos adding up to six days that the Torah gave us But then the last Yom Tov is שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן Yom Kippur and hence the connection of the two Posukim is explained.

Source: Revach.net

Rabbi Meir Baal HaNess- Master of the Miracle

Yarzheit: 14 Iyar

Ohel of Rabbi Meir Ba'al HaNess

By simply saying the phrase אלהא דמאיר ענני "Eloka d'Meir aneini" three times , which means "the G-d of Meir Answer me !", a person will be saved from trouble, if they promise to give charity to the poor and needy in the memory of the soul of Rebbe Meir Baal Haness . Donations can be made at Rabbi Meir Baal HaNeis.com

The Chida says that the source for this custom is the Gemara [Avodah Zara 18a-b] where Rebbi Meir bribed a guard to release his imprisoned sister-in-law. The guard asked what happens if he's caught and Rebbi Meir told him to say ''G-d of Meir answer me'' and he would be saved, and that's what happened. From there comes the custom of donating money or oil for the neshama of Rebbi Meir, saying Eloka D'Meir Aneini, three times.

Rebbi Meir Baal HaNess said he would help those that gave to the poor of Eretz Yisroel, for the sake of his neshama.

Reb Dovid of Dinov points out a fascinating allusion: 

Mishlei 12:25 says דְּאָגָה בְלֶב-אִישׁ יַשְׁחֶנָּה - if one has worry in his heart, he should suppress it.

Mesechta Sanhedrin 100b explains this as ישיחנה לאחרים, tell it over to others. Mesechta Horios 13b says אחרים refers to Rebbi Meir. Putting it all together – if one is in a time of trouble give tzedaka for the neshama of Rebbi Meir Baal HaNess.  [Source: Tzemach Dovid]

Anytime, and especially on the yahrzeit, it is a big zechus to give tzedaka or light a candle li'luy nishmas Rebbi Meir Baal HaNess. 

There is a custom that when something is lost, a person immediately promises to give some money to the Tzedakah of Rebbe Meir Baal Haness in the merit of finding what was lost, and say the following [red text in picture below]

Truth

Art Robert Dowling

There's nothing higher than finding truth on your own.

All worlds were made, all barriers put in place, every veil over G‑dliness hung, and the soul plummeted from its pristine height into the confusion of this harsh world— —all for this one thing alone:

That you should uncover truth on your own.

by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman  from the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt'l

Mind Games



Art: Mike Worrall

The Baal Shem Tov said : "The world is a mirror. The defects you see in others are really your own."


That solves one problem: if we see a defect in someone else, we can rest assured that defect exists in us too, otherwise we wouldn't have noticed it.

But what happens when that defect does not exist in you, and therefore you don't notice it in someone else........ ?

That's how simple, naive, innocent people fall for con-artists [and narcissists]. These innocent people don't possess a sneaky or manipulative trait: for them, it would be unthinkable to deceive someone else or use a friend to further their own agenda.... and therefore they do not realize when they are being taken for a ride, being used and manipulated.

They didn't see it, because they don't have that quality themselves.

When the truth finally hits, that they have actually been deceived, they are in a state of shock. It's hard to believe, how could this happen? Sometimes the victim may turn nasty and try to shoot the messenger, but ultimately, once they have given the matter a lot of thought, they should realize that the "messenger" was the one they should be thanking for waking them up and ensuring that they will be on their guard in future relationships.

It's no crime to be innocent and naive, in fact it's a virtue, but these days the world is a very dangerous place, and we need to be on the alert for anyone who's messing with our minds.

Geneivat da'at - Theft of the Mind - is the worst theft of all.

Geneivat da'at is not limited to con-artists..... it's practised all the time by abusers and manipulators.  They do the crime, but they won't admit it, or accept responsibility for it.  Instead, they'll blame you, the victim, for everything, and bring attention to your defects in order to take the heat off themselves.   They will try to discredit you in every way possible in order to ensure that no-one will listen to a word you're saying.

Be aware that this is how abusers behave, and be on your guard in the future. Get as far away from these people as you can, and don't go back. 

The Day Our Suffering Will End

Art Tomozei Maximilian

Mi She'amar L'Olamo Dai Yomar L"Tzaraseinu Dai  - He who said to His world enough should say to our pain enough. What does it mean that Hashem says to His world enough, and how is that connected to our suffering?

Olam is like the word Haalem which means hidden. The definition and essence of the world is the hiding place of Hashem. Hashem created our world to challenge us to recognize Him even in the randomness of nature and the apparent unabated evil acts that are perpetrated daily without Divine reprisal.

The gemara in Pesachim [50a] says that in this world we make two brachos, one bracha on good, HaTov V'HaMeitiv and one bracha for bad, Dayan HaEmes. However says the gemara, in the next world there is only one bracha since we will have the ability to recognize the goodness in everything. What the gemara is saying is that even in this world everything is good but we don't have the ability to recognize it, for Hashem hides it from us. Even people with steadfast Emuna that accept Hashem's decree and believe that it's good, still suffer and therefore must say Dayan HaEmes. That is the nature of our world.

In other words our pain is, simply put, a lack of understanding, for if we understood the reason for the seemingly bad things that happen to us we would thank Hashem for they are always good. When will we understand? Only when Hashem reveals Himself to the world and says to His Olam, His hiddeness, Dai enough. Only then will our Tzoros be behind us forever.

Source:  Revach

Why Does Hashem Allow Catastrophes to Occur ?

HT to Rabbi Mizrachi

After the Haiti earthquake in 2010, Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski wrote:

Rabbi Twerski

The recent tragedy in Haiti has elicited a number of comments. People question why G-d permits such catastrophes to happen. Others ask, why go to places of worship to pray for the victims to the G-d who smote them? Some people see such tragedies as expressions of G-d’s wrath, but, are the victims of earthquake, tsunami and tornadoes to be considered the most sinful people in the world?

My understanding of these happenings is based on the statement of the Zohar, that the Torah was the “blueprint” according to which G-d created the world. In other words, Torah is Natural Law, according to which the world operates. The Law of Gravity is Natural Law and is inviolable as are other physical laws, and so is the Natural Law of Torah. If the physical law that keeps the moon in its orbit were somehow suspended, the moon would crash into the earth, but this would not be a punitive act by G-d. If someone puts one’s hand into a fire, one gets burned, but that is not a punitive act of G-d. Rather, it is the result of Natural Law that fire burns.

According to the Torah, there are seven Noahide Laws that are binding on all human beings, and these constitute the Natural Law according to which the world operates; these are:

1. Prohibition of idolatry

2. Prohibition of murder

3. Prohibition of theft

4. Prohibition of sexual promiscuity

5. Prohibition of blasphemy

6. Prohibition of flesh taken from a live animal

7. Requirement to have just laws.

All human beings, religionists and non-religionists are required to abide by these laws, which underlie the Natural Law according to which the world operates. Violation of these laws is tampering with Natural Law, whose consequences can be catastrophic.

The world is a closed system. When a butterfly flaps its wings in Norway, it affects the ecology in Australia. When the Natural Law is intact, the earth’s crust and the atmosphere are stable. When air pollution tampers with the ozone layer, or sulfur dioxide pollution causes acid rain, the effects may be felt hundreds of miles away from the perpetrators. The people suffering these effects are not being “punished” by G-d, but are the victims of the reckless behavior of other people.

Is this an injustice? Yes, just as it is an injustice for a pedestrian to be killed by a reckless driver. Such happenings occur because G-d does not interfere with the free choice and behavior of human beings. Just as we do not fault G-d when an innocent person is killed by a reckless driver, we should not fault G-d when innocent people, victims of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunami, suffer from the reckless behavior of those who violate the Natural Law.

No one is singled out to suffer the consequences of tampering with Natural Law. Violation of the seven Noahide Laws by people on one continent may result in a disruption of the Natural Law according to which the world operates, and the consequences of such disruption may occur on a distant continent. The disruption of the Natural Law which affected Indonesia and Haiti may have been caused by violations of the Noahide Laws by people the world over. No individual or group of people can be singled out as responsible and as being punished.

The seven Noahide Laws are the basis of decency and morality. Every human being should behave according to them.

Source: Vos Iz Neias

The Rainbow's Message

Double and quadruple rainbows at Long Island....  see Everyone is Looking for a Sign

and Devash is correct because whilst a rainbow is beautiful it is not something we really want to see

as it is telling us that our generation is being judged.  See below for more details.

A quadruple rainbow was spotted in the skies over the Glen Cove LIRR station Tuesday morning - Photo Amanda Curtis

God made a covenant with Noah that He will not destroy the entire world again with a Flood. The symbol of this covenant is the rainbow.

When observing a rainbow, we recite a blessing: "Blessed is God, Who remembers the covenant (of Noah)."

However, the rabbis discourage one from staring at a rainbow, since it has a negative message:  It is telling us that the world deserves (another) flood but because of God's covenant, it will not happen.
The Talmud relates that during the lifetimes of certain great sages, a rainbow was never seen, because they were capable of saving the world from a flood, in their own merit.

Rav Kook writes:

Were there not rainbows before the Flood? How did the rainbow suddenly become a symbol of protection from Divine punishment?

In truth, the rainbow was created immediately before the Sabbath of creation (Avot 5:6). Before the Flood, however, the rainbow could not be seen. It was a "Keshet Be'Anan," a rainbow in the clouds. The thickness and opacity of the clouds, a metaphor for the world's dense physicality — obscured the rainbow. Only after the Flood, in a world of diluted physical strength, did the rainbow finally become visible.

The rainbow is a symbol of weakness. Physical weakness, that the cloud no longer conceals it. And also spiritual weakness, that only a Divine promise prevents destruction of the world as punishment for its sins. The Sages taught in Ketubot 77b that rare were the generations that merited tzaddikim so holy that no rainbow could be seen in their days.

The Flood restored balance to the world in two ways. In addition to weakening the material universe, the aftermath of the Flood resulted in a bolstering of the spiritual and moral side, through the Noahide Code. The Flood annulled all previous obligations, and initiated a new era of repairing the world via the seven mitzvot of Bnei-Noah.

Read entire essay at Rav Kook Torah

Why was the rainbow chosen as a symbol of peace between Hashem and mankind?

Hashem said: "When I brought the mabul (flood), My bow was drawn against man. The rainbow resembles a reversed bow, signifying that there shall be no more "arrows from Heaven" sent to destroy humanity".

In the Torah portion that relates the establishment of the covenant between God and Noah (and all generations to come) by means of the rainbow, the word "covenant" (בְּרִית) is repeated seven times. These seven appearances of the word "covenant" allude to the seven colors of the rainbow studied and documented by Isaac Newton, and to the seven Noahide commandments.

The seven colors of the rainbow and the seven Noahide commandments correspond to the seven lower sefirot as follows:

RED - Gevurah (might) - The prohibition against murder

BLUE - Chessed (loving-kindness) - The prohibition against adultery

YELLOW -Tiferet (beauty) - The prohibition against theft

ORANGE - Hod (thanksgiving) - The prohibition against blasphemy

VIOLET -Netzach (victory) - The prohibition against idolatry

GREEN -Yesod (foundation) - The prohibition against eating the flesh of a live animal

INDIGO -Malchut (kingdom) - The injunction to establish a just legal system

by Rabbi Y. Ginsburgh

Read entire essay at: Inner.org

Cyclone Sydney

Bondi Beach: closed !

We're in the middle of some pre-Moshiach weather right now.

It's not a cyclone but it sure felt like one

Storm Sandblasts Sydney's Eastern Beaches

House floats down street