Understanding the Talmud

 Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

What is the true origin and purpose of the Talmud? How do we properly understand some of its seemingly bizarre statements? Find out as we explore the most misunderstood ancient religious text in the world.

Family FIrst

"If your brother becomes poor" [Behar 25:25]

R' Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, the Rebbe of Kapishnitz, once visited the home of one of his chassidim who was known to be wealthy.  The Rebbe knocked on the door and waited for a response.

The chassid opened his door, and was taken aback by the sight of the holy Rebbe standing at his doorstep.  "Why did the Rebbe have to trouble himself to come to my home?" asked the wealthy man. "The Rebbe could have summoned me and I would have come at once."

"It is I who needs you" answered the Rebbe, "and this is why I have come."

"How can I be of assistance?" asked the man.

"I know of a certain family" replied the Rebbe, "that is in desperate need of help.  The husband is without work, the wife takes care of the young children, and, to add to their hardship, they have a son who is ill and requires special medical attention.   Their expenses are well beyond their means."

"But Rebbe" said the wealthy man, "did this necessitate you having to exert yourself by travelling to my home?  Why did the Rebbe not simply send me a messenger, and I would have gladly given whatever sum of money that was needed!"

"This particular request is of great importance to me" responded the Rebbe.  "It was therefore essential that I come to your home personally."

"I am prepared to give as much money as necessary!" exclaimed the man. "To whom shall I send this money?"

"Send the money" answered the Rebbe, "to your brother."

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

The Deeper Meaning of Lag B'Omer

 New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Wonders in the Heavens #12

I have a random collection here.

First up, because it is Lag b'Omer, and Hashem gave us a giant rainbow over Bondi Beach yesterday afternoon about half an hour before Lag b'Omer began. [I didn't take the photo]

This video shows the sun with the giant halo

This video shows the moon and another shining object, which could be another planet or something.

Here we have a white UFO.

A very strange bell shape appears in this lightning. I think it is just a cloud, but these days who knows?

Here is that strange shape again, this time in daylight. It is a cloud, but not the kind of cloud we are used to seeing.

Here is a photo from the FAA camera, Larsen Bay Alaska, 22 April 2023. It's a planet!

Moshiach's Rainbow and Lag b"Omer

Lag b'Omer is the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, and we celebrate with bonfires and music.

It is also the yarzheit of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai. [18 Iyar]

This year it is tonight [Monday] going into Tuesday.

Why is Lag b’Omer celebrated with bonfires and bows and arrows?

by Rabbi Yossi Marcus

The bonfires celebrate the immense light that was brought into the world by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [who passed away on Lag b’Omer], especially on the day of his passing.

The bow commemorates the fact that during Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime no rainbow was ever seen. [Bereishit Rabbah 35:2] Note: This was a good thing because the rainbow appears when the earth deserves punishment. The first time a rainbow appeared was after Noah’s flood, when G-d said that He will no longer destroy the world, rather He would send a sign: the rainbow. During Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime, the world was filled with merit because of him and therefore never saw a rainbow. [Genesis 9:8-17 and Rashi there]

There is a Kabbalistic tradition that on Lag b’Omer a rainbow will appear in a different color, which will symbolize the arrival of the Messianic age [Bnei Yissaschar]

Wonders in the Heavens #11

This is a photo of the moon in Manitoba, Canada, taken two nights ago by Brent McKean.

I don't think any more words are needed here.

King Charles III and the No. 40

As we all know, the coronation of King Charles III took place yesterday 6 May 2023.

He is the 40th British Monarch to be crowned.

40 is a famous number of completion.  Maybe this is the final British Monarch.....

The famous Nostradamus, who managed to accurately predict the date of death of Queen Elizabeth II, also said that the new King would abdicate his throne early, and that a surprise new King would take his place.  

Hmmmm.... I wonder if King Charles III will need to step down to make way for the King Moshiach.

The following text is from Aish.com

The number 40 has great significance throughout the Torah and the Talmud. The number 40 represents transition or change; the concept of renewal; a new beginning. The number 40 has the power to lift a spiritual state. 

Consider: 

When a person becomes ritually impure, he must immerse in a ritual bath, a mikveh. The Talmud tells us that a mikveh must be filled with 40 se'ahs (a measure of water). Immersion in a mikveh is the consummate Jewish symbol of spiritual renewal. 

It is no accident that in the story of Noah, the rain poured for 40 days, and submerged the world in water. Just as a person leaves a mikveh pure, so too when the waters of the flood subsided, the world was purified from the licentiousness which had corrupted it in the days of Noah. 

Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and came down with the stone tablets. The Jews arrived at Mt. Sinai as a nation of Egyptian slaves, but after 40 days they were transformed into God's nation. 

According to the Talmud, it takes 40 days for an embryo to be formed in its mother's womb. 

In Kabbalah, 40 represents the four sides of the world, each side containing the ten Sefirot (esoteric powers). 

When a rabbinical court finds someone guilty of a crime, the punishment is sometimes lashes, prescribed in the Torah as "forty less one." The purpose is to bring the offender to a point of change, transition and atonement. 

There are 40 days between the first day of Elul, when we begin to blow the Shofar to prepare for Rosh Hashana, until Yom Kippur, the end of the annual teshuva (repentance) period. These 40 days are the most auspicious time for personal growth and renewal. 

According to the Talmud [Avot 5:26], at age 40 a person transitions from one level of wisdom to the next. He reaches the level of binah - the deeper insight of understanding one matter from another. After Moses led the Jewish people for 40 years in the wilderness, he told them: "God has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day" [Deut. 29:3-4]. From here we see that it took the Jewish people 40 years before reaching a full level of understanding.

The Great Rain Remedy

The famous 18th Century Hasidic Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, a student of the Baal Shem Tov, writes in his book Nofet Tzufim:

"Rain which falls after the Jewish holiday of Pesach until the holiday of Shavuot constitutes a great remedy for all illness and disease. There's no medicine like it to be found in any pharmacy.

One must stand in the rain, expose his head to the rain, and also open his mouth to let the rain fall on the right side of his mouth."  [seemingly, tilt your head back and to the right]