Within Reach



"She sent her maidservant and she took it" [Shemot 2:5]

Chazal inform us that the basket carrying Moshe was too far for Pharoah's daughter to reach from where she was standing. Still, she stretched out her hand (amasah) in the direction of the basket and Hashem miraculously lengthened her arm for her.

R' Meir Shapiro, the Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin, called for an emergency meeting of the leaders of Lublin to discuss a certain person whose life was in danger.  R' Shapiro demanded of them to do something to save his life.

"This matter that you speak of" responded one of the leaders, "is beyond our capabilities.  We regrettably do not believe that we can carry it out."

"In this week's parsha" replied R' Shapiro, "the Torah states: "And she sent her maidservant".  Chazal teach us that the arm of Pharoah's daughter was miraculously lengthened in order for her to take hold of Moshe's basket.

"I wonder" continued R' Shapiro, "why did Pharoah's daughter even attempt to retrieve the basket in the first place?  After all, if it is obvious to an individual that something is not within his reach, does he waste his energy trying to obtain it?"

"We see from here" concluded R' Shapiro, "that when a person is expected to accomplish something, he should not deliberate whether or not he is capable of succeeding - he must try! Let him first make an effort, and then Heaven will assist him."

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

The Beginning of the End??

H/t Sherry and Serious Bible Student

Rav Ron Chaya

Subtitles available, all languages.  Rough transcription in the comments.

Understanding Edom Part 4

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

What is the significance of Egyptian obelisks erected in major capital cities around the world? Who was Zepho, grandson of Esau, and what is his connection to Rome and Edom? How did the myth of Vulcan originate in an earlier Biblical figure? And what does the Soviet Union have to do with it all? Find out in this class as we continue our exploration of Edom and its eye-opening relation to current global events. 

Plus: Was Christopher Columbus Jewish? Is there a Star of David in the US Great Seal? And is there an “Illuminati” pyramid with all-seeing eye in the Israeli Supreme Court?

The Palisades Palestine Connection

People are noticing the similarities.... they both currently look the same, i.e. totally destroyed and they both start with "Pal" - even though the "Palestine" they refer to is actually called Aza or Gaza - nevertheless there is a connection, just not the one the anti-Semites have grabbed hold of.

Dov bar Leib shows us the  connection between the Mishkan and California - although there are a lot of comments there, just click this link to take you to the actual page, scroll down to see his comments dated 9 January.

I'm going to quote his last sentence:

Both Eretz Yisrael and California have 50th Gates (Golden Gates). Eretz Yisrael has the Golden Gate from the Qidron Valley to the Ezrat HaNashim on the Temple Mount, and San Francisco's Golden Gate is well known and has been used by some in humanity to take the Human race in the wrong direction. Both places have spiritual power to move all of humanity in one direction or the other.

The Tenth Day of the Tenth Month

The 10th of Tevet (known as Asarah B'Tevet) is observed as a day of fasting, mourning and repentance. We refrain from food and drink from daybreak to nightfall, and add Selichot (penitential prayers) and other special supplements to our prayers. The fast ends at nightfall (and Kiddush has been said, when this fast occurs on Friday), or as soon as you see three medium-sized stars in the sky.

What does it commemorate? 

Jerusalem Surrounded 

For years, G‑d had sent His prophets to warn Israel about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple if they didn’t mend their ways. But they derided the holy men as bearers of “false prophecies of doom,” bent on demoralizing the nation. They even went so far as to kill one of the prophets. 

Then it finally happened. On the 10th day of the Jewish month of Tevet, in the year 3336 from Creation (425 BCE), the armies of the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar laid siege to Jerusalem.

Ever patient, G‑d delayed the destruction to give the Jews yet another chance to repent. He repeatedly sent the prophet Jeremiah to admonish His nation, but they foolishly had him imprisoned. Thus, 30 months later, on Tamuz 92 (or 17,3 the very date the walls would be breached when the Second Temple was destroyed), 3338, the city walls were breached, and on 9 Av of that year the Holy Temple was destroyed and the Jewish people were exiled. 

Unique among Jewish fasts, 10 Tevet is observed (in a joyful manner) even when it falls on a Friday, though it interferes somewhat with Shabbat preparations.

More plus footnotes: Source

Woken Up Yet ? [updated]

I spent most of yesterday watching a Live Stream of the fires in California.  I was horrified and amazed as I watched million dollar properties burn while people helplessly watched on, with no water to put out the fires, compounded by the fact that there had been no back-burning -  which is what we do here in Australia.... back-burning is to deliberately burn parcels of land well beforehand in order to halt an out-of-control fire spreading even further.  

Australians are prepared for fires, but it seems these Palisades people didn't have a clue what to do.... and there's only one road out.  Scenes of earth-moving equipment shovelling abandoned cars out of the way to make a path for the Fire trucks was something I'd never seen before.  Hundreds of abandoned Porsches, Mercedes.... all being unceremoniously pushed to the side.  

How is that even possible.... in California, the land of the disaster movie... out of control fires, the devilish Santa Ana wind blowing through like a jet engine, and no water available from the fire hydrants so the Fire Dept had to leave.

Well, it's because the Governor of the State is woke [the new word for stupid] and even Trump had to call him out.

But don't blame him entirely.... he got there because they voted him in.  All the woke stupid people voted for this guy.  

So Hashem gave them a cluster....   a word I can't write in full but you know what I'm saying.... it's when mass human incompetence and the Hand of G-d come together to cause a major devastation.  And it's still going, they say at least until the weekend.  That Santa Ana wind is blowing like there's no tomorrow.

Feel for the people in L.A. who can't breathe because of the air quality.  I'm sorry that so many innocents have to suffer because there are so many woke stupid people who vote in these morons to run their lives.

So 2025 has certainly got off to a nightmare start, and it's just the beginning of more of the same, in the lead up to Moshiach coming.   I think we're in for a wild ride.  Maybe some of these woke people will wake up, who knows.

Update: Fire has now broken out in the Hollywood Hills.... near the HOLLYWOOD sign.  G-d is sending a strong message.

Link to NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/01/08/us/california-wildfire-la-palisades

The Power of Mashiach Ben Yosef and the Upcoming Inauguration

Rabbi Mendel Kessin

The Spiritual Significance of 2025

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

What is the significance of the alignment of the last night of Chanukah with the first day of 2025? What does it have to do with the upcoming Chinese Year of the Snake? And how is it all connected to the new Hebrew month of Tevet and the Talmudic tractate of Sanhedrin? Find out in this fascinating class as we prepare for what promises to be a monumental 2025 ahead. 

Also: Why was the Zohar revealed to the world in the year 1290? Which verses in Tanakh prophetically allude to the year 2025? What is the significance of the letters on the dreidel? And what happened when Alexander the Great presided over a lawsuit against the Jews?