Prophecy and the Gift of Shabbos

 New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Love and Positivity

 

''....they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and they shall affix a thread of sky blue [wool] on the fringe of each corner.'' [Shelach 15:38]

The turquoise strands of the tzitzit allude to ''abandoning evil'' [negative] and serving G-d out of fear; the white strands allude to ''doing good'' [positive] and serving G-d out of love.

In the current era, the turquoise dye [techelet] is not available to us, leaving all eight strands white. This teaches us that nowadays our emphasis in serving G-d should be on love and positivity.

Source: Likutei Sichos vol 8 Lubavitcher Rebbe

The Day You Can Ask For Anything

HT: Rivka

Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn

In 5743, the Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke about the date of 23 Sivan, today’s date, and said that in line with with what happened on this day during the Purim story, Hashem grants any request on this auspicious day. 

In the farbrengen of Parshas Shlach 5743 [1983], the Rebbe addressed the date of 23 Sivan, today’s date. 

The Rebbe said: “The Megilla relates that on this day, the 23rd of Sivan, after the hanging of Haman, ‘V’yikaru sofrei haMelech- the scribes of the King were called‘, and they wrote whatever Mordecai commanded.

"Mordechai drafted a royal decree giving the Jews the license to defend themselves and kill all who rise up against them to kill them, nullifying the previous decree of annihilation. 

"The decree was dispatched to all 127 provinces of Achashverosh’s empire. [Book of Esther, chapter 8]. This led to the Jewish people knowing how to defeat their enemies on the 13th of Adar which was then followed by the celebration of Purim.

“Everything from the Torah is eternal, repeating itself each year. This above mentioned decree of Mordechai also repeats itself every 23rd of Sivan. Today the scribes are being called again to draft a  royal decree, the ‘scribes’ being the scribes of Hashem, who is called Achashverosh, being that acharis v’reishis shelo, all belongs to him. 

“The sofrim write "whatever Mordecai asks". 

Every Jew is like Mordecai who doesn’t bow to anything against the Torah.

“On this day, the 23rd of Sivan, every Jew, even though they are in galus as Mordecai was, and even though there is a darkness, as there was during the decree of Haman, nevertheless, every Jew has the power to accomplish what he wants, the same way Mordecai accomplished. We can request what we want and it will granted by Hashem Himself.

”As the world shakes from one event after the next, the Rebbe’s holy words reverberate today more than ever. May we utilize the special day to daven for everything we need, and especially the one real solution, the coming of Moshaich.

This post first appeared at Anash.org

A Deep Understanding of Moshiach ben Dan

Yes you read that right. Moshiach ben Dan.

I've never heard of that before, but Rabbi Shimon Kessin is going to explain it. [I haven't listened yet] Shiur was given yesterday June 11 2023.

The Greatness of Torah and the Breakdown of American Civilization

New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

"Nevua is the major state that we will experience in yemos ha Moshiach."

King David's Segulah of Protection

There is a tradition brought down by the Chida that King David put the image of Tehillim 67 למנצח “For the Conductor” in the form of a menorah on his shield and all his enemies would fall before him. But what is the secret of the power of this prayer that it gave King David such power and protection?

Image: המנורה כתובה by Ba'al haKokhav, converted to vector art by Andrew Meit (CC0)

The Torah teaches us that all the peoples of the world are blessed through Avraham and his offspring the children of Israel. However, this blessing depends upon the children of Avraham doing the will of Hashem.

The kabbalistic tradition explains that when Jewish people allow the soul to rule over the body and the physical world is used to serve the higher will of Hashem and His Torah, then this blessing flows properly to the nations of the world and the desire of the masses of people for a peaceful life is fulfilled; then the evil desires of the powerful few are held in check.

However, when Jewish people do not follow Torah and the bodily desires rule the soul, then the power is given to the evil ruling few who desire war over peace.

Torah and Tefillah
Torah is the source of our power, tefilah brings this power into manifestation. When we are involved in Torah and tefillah we give power of soul to rule body and therefore to live like the tzaddik.

Click here to read

Halos Galore

Google explains why halos appear: High, thin cirrus clouds drifting high above your head create the halos you see around the sun or moon. The halos are from tiny ice crystals in Earth's atmosphere. They do it by refracting and reflecting the light. Lunar halos are signs that storms are nearby. 

Strange how all over the world yesterday and last night [depending which side of the world you are on] this phenomenon occurred.  

These photos are all taken yesterday, in different parts of the world. The sun has a halo, the moon is reflecting the sun's halo. These halos have nothing to do with tiny ice crystals in the atmosphere.  People are starting to notice and even if you haven't personally seen it, keep looking and I'm sure you will at some point.   Please don't start looking at the sun directly [obvious but sometimes not obvious to people]. If you notice a halo on a cloudy day and you want to take a photo, don't look at the sun, just point your phone/camera  in the general direction and hope for the best.  :)

Yarrawonga, Vic, Australia [moon]

Queensland, Australia [moon]

Edmonton Alberta Canada 

Hagerstown, Maryland and Belize, Central America [sun]

Phoenix Arizona [sun]

New Zealand [moon]

Armidale NSW Australia [moon]

Emunah [Faith]

from the teachings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

Faith is a very strong thing, and it can greatly fortify your life.

If you have faith, then you have a source of comfort and inspiration even when troubles strike. You realize that all troubles are ultimately for your good and are an atonement for your sins. You know that G-d will be good to you in the end, both in this world and the next.

The faithless skeptic, on the other hand, has nowhere to turn when troubles strike. He is utterly alone, without comfort or inspiration.

It is impossible to put everything into writing, but an intelligent man should be able to build upon this himself.

The main thing is innocent faith. With it, one can have a portion both in this world and the next. Happy is he who has such faith, for he shall never be moved.

There are souls conceived in absolute holiness. When such a holy soul comes down to this world and is not tainted with sin, it results in a person with perfect faith. Such a person never has any doubts.

Others can express their skepticism in such a man's presence, but his faith is no way disturbed. He is totally oblivious to all doubts. His ears are deaf to all their speculation and confusion.

Even one who is not endowed with such an extraordinary soul can realize that the average person's questions are mere foolishness. Upon close examination, their questions turn out not to be questions at all.

Many people are disturbed by questions for years, not realizing that their questions are actually answers. It is only their lack of intelligence that makes them seem like questions in the first place.

They have questions like those one might ask a child: "If we have a broken window, why replace it with a pane from the next window if a bird can then fly through the remaining empty frame?"

Such a question actually includes its own answer. But a child does not realize this and considers it a very difficult question. He will ponder it and not know what to reply.

But the question itself is really very foolish. The question about the bird is really the answer to the first foolish question. The reason why we do not use the adjacent pane is precisely because it leaves a space through which a bird can fly.

A young child does not have enough intelligence to realize that the answer is included in such a question. For this very reason, the question seems very difficult to him.

The same is true of many people. A foolish question enters their mind, and they have no idea that this question actually includes its own answer. It seems like a difficult question, but only because of their lack of intelligence. Understand this well.

Consider all this and be strong in faith. Flee from this foolishness and confusion, and cast all questions and doubts from your mind.