A Segula for a Baby

The meaning of ''segula'' is a deed, object, or utterance that acts as a charm effecting spiritual or material benefits.  Do not think it is related to magic, it is a holy spiritual act and should be treated that way.

Now I'm going to tell you about a segula for a baby.

Photo: K. Rockman

I have known several people for whom this has had an almost immediate result!

It is the act of being ''kvatters'' at a bris - [kvatters are usually a husband-and-wife team]

The kvatters are a designated female and male who serve as messengers to bring the baby from the mother’s arms to the side of the room where the circumcision will be performed.

Many give this honor to a childless couple. It is considered a blessing for the childless couple, that in the merit of being the parents’ messengers, they will be blessed with a child of their own.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that the connection of the body with G-d is cemented during the circumcision, and etched upon the body forever.  The ritual circumcision is considered greater than any other commandment, because it directly connects the physical body with G-dliness, in a revealed and eternal manner.  The messengers [kvatters] assist and escort the infant in this connection of the physical body with G-dliness.

Sources and references can be found here:  Chabad

Act of Kindness

From a FB post by Rabbi S. Feldman:

Today I was very proud to witness and record The Real Israel in action. Travelling on a highway in Jerusalem with bumper to bumper traffic this afternoon, an elderly Arab driver with a flat tyre needed help. An IDF truck pulls over in front of him to help change his tyre. I asked him permission to publicise this and he very happily agreed. In the real Israel (not the one the media wants you to think exists), the Israeli army is a deeply compassionate army that does not discriminate between people in need and as we see here this is embedded in their training; to pull over in the scorching heat on their own volition to provide help to an Arab they do not know. — in Jerusalem, Israel.

How Do We Know Moshiach Is Coming Soon

From the recent lecture in Ramat Bet Shemesh Gimel, Rabbi Alon Anava speaks - a two part video. 

How do we really know Mashiach is coming soon? We've being hearing that Mashiach is coming for the last 2000 years, why should He come now?? Watch this video to see the sources from the Zohar and more reveal the time has come and Mashiach is coming VERY SOON!!

Outreach

Art: Kjherstin

Even though Moshe received the Torah from its Heavenly source and transmitted it to the people below, Aharon actually caused the Divine Presence to come down to earth.

Similarly, in these final moments of exile, it is the approach of Aharon - bringing the Jewish people closer to observing the Torah [Avos 1:12] - which will bring the Divine Presence back to earth once again.  For, in this respect, the approach of Aharon is even greater than that of Moshe [Torah study].

Source: Based on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Shemini 5732 Lubavitcher Rebbe

Who Talks Lashon Hara About Me?

Who talks Lashon Hara about me, and how do I fix it?

Rabbi Alon Anava: the kabbalistic origins of lashon hara - try and listen to this video, it's well worthwhile.  He also discusses Gog U Magog and even mentions ''the planet'' - but that's all it is, a mention - @ 43:00 - and @57.30 where he says it is just one of the ways that Hashem may decide to bring the Geula.

Creating Angels

As soon as Purim is over, Pesach cleaning begins!

According to Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, we create an angel whenever we do any cleaning for Pesach.

The following is written by R' Tal Moshe Zwecker

Once, when the Rebbe Maharash of Lubavitch was traveling through Berditchev, he saw a group of elderly Tolna chassidim carrying buckets of water and scrubbing the walls and floor of a little shul in preparation for a visit from their Rebbe the following day.

When the Rebbe asked them why they were doing all the work themselves instead of letting the younger chassidim help them, they answered, "We are doing this ourselves because we want to have healthy angels to assist the advocating angels who come out of the tekios, the blasts of the shofar."

"You know the Yehi Ratzon that is said after the tekios of Rosh HaShanah — the one that mentions 'the angels that are formed from the blowing of the shofar, and from the tekia, the shevarim, the teruah, and the tekiah, (kshr"k),' [the identifying letters of the Hebrew words that signify the various sounds of the shofar]?

Well, one Rosh HaShanah the holy Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev said: 'Sweet Father, compassionate Father! Just in case the angels that proceed from the shofar that Levi Yitzchak the son of Sarah Sasha has just blown are weak angels, let their place be taken by the holy, healthy angels that were created by the toil of Your people in preparation for Passover, as they cleaned their kitchen utensils in order to fulfill their mitzvah as perfectly as possible:

kratzen (scouring), shobben (scraping), rieben (rubbing), and kasheren (making kosher)'" — [for the initials of these four Yiddish words are also kshr"k].

[Likkutei Dibburim of the Rebbe Rayatz of Lubavitch, Vol. I p. 280]

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Similarly we find in the holy sefer Kav HaYashar Part II Chapter 89:

It is proper to teach the women of Beis Yisroel to have the following in mind while they are kashering their utensils from Chametz for Pesach through hagalah and libun that [just as they are removing the Chametz ] so should the Holy One should remove and destroy the evil inclination, evil and wickedness from the land. And we trust in the Holy One to removed idolatry from our midst.

The minhag of Yisroel is Torah, that they have the custom to scrape clean tables, benches and chairs as well as the walls from any suspicion of contact with Chametz  and Hashem's watchful eyes gaze over all the actions of Bnei Yisroel His treasured people who are holy and the sons of the holy ones whose hard work and labor is all for the sake of removing and destroying chametz all the days of the month of Nissan, and so should the Holy One scrape away all the afflictions which come from the "other side" [which are found sunk in the walls of homes in this bitter exile] and any prosecutions against us and from their power they cause us suffering in this bitter exile."

Source and more at: Berdichev Org

The Secret of the Final Redemption

The following is from an essay by Rabbi Nachman Kahana

''The Gemara does not elaborate on the tradition stated by Melech Shlomo that only three victories over Amalek may be written in the TaNaCh, because herein lies the hermetically sealed secret of how the final redemption will come about, and when.

My premise is that the three victories over Amalek as recorded in the TaNaCh means that when Amalek will be defeated three times in the time frame of a 70 year life span, the final redemption of Am Yisrael will have arrived.

It has never yet happened in the history of nations that three evil empires fell in the short span of 70 years; since it takes hundreds of years for an empire to develop, to peak, become corrupt and then die. 

But it is occurring right now in our generation of 70 years! 

The 70-year count began sometime between 1945-47 and will conclude in 2015-17. 

In 1945 Nazi Germany, unmistakably Amalek, was defeated. Between 1945-47, ten of the German leaders – the same as the number of Haman’s sons – were sentenced to be hung; 9 were put to death by hanging with the tenth, Hermann Goering, escaping the gallows by committing suicide in his prison cell. 

Forty-six years later, in 1991, the leaders of the evil Soviet Union, also sons of Amalek, together with their anti-Semitic ideology, were discarded into the trash bin of history. 

In the time frame between 2015-17 the destruction of the third and last Amalek power will have begun or will begin. Who will it be? 

Perhaps it will be the Haman of the Koran spinning his hatred from Persia-Iran; or perhaps world Christianity or Islam; possibly both. 

What makes this projection even more interesting is the fact that the year 2015 was a Shmitta (Sabbatical) year corresponding to our calendar year of 5775 תשע”ה which means salvation. 

I submit this in full knowledge that, at the end of the day all human calculations could be proven false in the face of what HaShem has in store for us - 

The entire article may be read at NachmanKahana

Did You See the Red Moon on Purim?

The moon was red on Purim.  I personally didn't see it, but a close and reliable friend of mine did see it, and there is talk on the internet about it.  She saw a red moon as it rose in the sky soon after sunset in Sydney Australia.  When I looked at the full moon much later [around 2am] it was a normal colour.

Seems that the moon is appearing red quite often lately...  all the dates listed below, and now an extra date of Purim 5776.  However, the only people talking about it on the internet are the Xtians and I don't feel like linking to their videos.

I am thinking that the reason the moon appeared to be red on Purim was because there is a red planet [Nibiru] near the sun, and this is what is causing the moon to appear red.   If you think this is nonsense please let me know, I'm just guessing.  If you saw a red moon, let us know where you live and when you saw it.