Dreamtime

Art Jacek Yerka

''In three days Pharoah will remove your head'' [Vayeishev 40:19]

The dreams of the chief baker and the chief wine butler, noted the Dubno Maggid, were very similar. Why, then, did Yosef interpret the dream of the chief wine butler favorably - that Pharoah would soon reinstate him to his post - but that of the chief baker unfavorably - that he was about to meet his end?

The answer, explained the Maggid, can be understood with a parable: An artist painted a magnificent portrait of a man balancing a basket full of bread on his head. Two men came to admire the painting. While they stood there, a bird landed atop it and began to peck away at the bread, which it thought was genuine.

''Such a marvellous artist!'' said one man to the other. ''This bird actually believes that the bread is real!''

''No'' responded the other, ''he is not much of an artist at all. For while the bread may be quite realistic, the man carrying it is not, for if it was, the bird would be afraid to approach the painting.''

We are now able to understand concluded the Dubno Maggid, why Yosef interpreted the dream of the chief baker unfavorably. When the chief baker related his dream to Yosef, he said ''And the birds were eating them from the basket above my head.'' Yosef understood that if the birds were unafraid to approach him, it was an indication that he was soon to be executed by Pharoah and was already considered a ''dead man''. For had he been ''alive''', the birds would have refrained from eating the food on his head!

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Only in Israel

In Kerem Eschalot, Roni and Simcha decided to plant the seven species..... amongst several other miracles that have occurred there, quite a few of the olive trees are [naturally] growing in the shape of a Menorah. Olive oil pressed from olives growing from a tree shaped like a menorah..... only in Israel.......Take a look and be amazed .....

[HT: Joe]

Faith

Art: ''Dreams Come True'' - Gutierrez

Keep in mind that the essence of your prayers is the faith you have in them that they will be answered.

[Rebbe Nachman of Breslov]

Acquiring Purity

''Since he was a son of his old age'' [Vayeishev 37:3]

The acronym of the word ''zekunim'' - זְקֻנִים - [old age] says the Baál HaTurim, alludes to the five orders of mishnayos that Yaakov taught Yosef:  Zera'im, Kodshim, Nashim, Yeshu'os [Nezikin] and Mo'ed.

On this comment by the Ba'al HaTurim, the Imrei Emes [R' Avraham Mordechai Alter of Gur] asked the obvious question: There is one more order of mishnayos that the Ba'al HaTurim ignores - Taharos [purity]. Why did Yaakov not teach Yosef Taharos?

Seder Taharos, answered the Rebbe, cannot be taught.  Purity can only be acquired after an individual strives and exerts himself to achieve it on his own.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

ADHD: Not something to joke about

There are a few rabbis on the internet who will tell you that ADHD is not a real disorder, and it's the parents who need medicating, not the children.

Unfortunately, ADHD is real, and no amount of telling funny jokes about giving the medication to the teacher instead of the child, will change that fact. The medication stimulates the part of the child's brain that has not yet matured, and whilst it is not easy to accept the fact that a child needs to be medicated, it really doesn't help the situation when rabbis continually speak about this disorder and dismiss it as nonsense.  Rabbis, please note, ADHD is real, and perhaps if you think differently, you should educate yourselves a bit more before you dish out the wrong advice to desperate families.

As this mother writes:

Having a longstanding aversion to any kind of medication, for me to accept the fact that my child might need stimulants in order to enable her to function in school was not easy. (By the way, I am sure that many of you are wondering why an overactive child needs stimulants. My daughter and her ADHD counterparts seem to be the proud owners of brains that have underdeveloped attention spans. Ritalin targets this part of the brain, and assists in improving concentration and focus.) After much research, I was ready to comply with her doctor’s recommendations, and she began taking a fairly low dosage. Although she had some side effects at first, such as trouble falling asleep and a decrease in appetite, with time these symptoms diminished entirely, and I must confess that it has made a huge difference in both our lives.

Read more at: Raising a Child with ADHD

Rain causes Sydney chaos

Expect to be drenched.

Read more: Sydney Morning Herald

Gilad thanks his supporters [video]

JERUSALEM — Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held captive by militants in Gaza for more than five years, has thanked his supporters in a pre-recorded message -- his first since being freed in October.

In the recording, a nervous but healthy-looking Shalit offers his thanks to those who waged a "long and exhausting campaign" for his freedom.

"While in captivity I heard a lot about your efforts to release me," he said. "I know for sure that your determined struggle for my release... was one of the decisive factors in bringing me home."

The video recording was broadcast late on Saturday to a group of around 300 activists who gathered outside Shalit's family home to watch the message.

It was later shown on Israeli television and posted online, including on YouTube.

Source: AFP

Do Your Hate Your Brother?

Success is no Subsitute for Familial Harmony
by: Rabbi Y Y Jacobson

Disaster

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house.

Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food was spilled on the counter, nosh was all over the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door. He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife.

He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went. He looked at her bewildered and asked, "What happened here today?"

She again smiled and answered, "You know everyday when you come home from work and ask me what in the world did I do today?"

"Yes," was his incredulous reply.

She answered, "Well, today I didn't do it."

Whole

"Jacob arrived whole to the city of Shechem [1]," the Torah states in this week's portion, Vayishlach.

What a gift it is—to be whole, complete. To feel wholesome, unified, integrated, holistic. How many of us can claim to be whole?

How did this happen? What was the secret behind Jacob's "wholeness" at this time? He hasd been married for years, he had many children, and he was a successful man. He had garnered much wealth and he has dealt successfully with many an adversary.

What transpired at this moment which conferred upon Jacob this condition of "wholeness" [2]?

In fact, nowhere does the Bible describe a human being in such a way—that he or she was "shalam," whole [3]. It is an extraordinary description for a human being, who from the genesis of time, is characterized by duality, fragmentation and conflict.

Apparently, something extraordinary occurred in the life in Jacob, which made him whole, precisely at this juncture of his life.

The Preceding Scene

There is no escaping the juxtaposition between this statement—“Jacob arrived whole”—and the preceding scene in the Bible. In the previous scene, Esau finally made peace with his brother Jacob. After decades of estrangement, hostility and ire, and the fear of outright war between the brothers, they had at last reconciled, even if they would not live together.

It is a profound development. Twenty-two years earlier Esau vowed to murder Jacob, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother [4].” Now, as they are about to meet again, we stand posed anticipating a harsh encounter. Upon hearing that Esau is approaching him with a force of four hundred men, Jacob is “very afraid and distressed [5].” He devises an elaborate defense, including a strategy for war.

When Esau finally appears, something very different transpires. The Bible’s description of the meeting is unforgettable [6]:

“Esau ran toward him, embraced him, fell upon his neck, and kissed him. And they wept.” There is no anger, animosity or threat of revenge. Peace has at last descended upon the Abrahamic family. [7] The next scene in the Torah reads: "Jacob arrived whole…"

The message to us seems clear. You may be a wonderful, accomplished and successful individual, but as long as you are not on speaking terms with your own sibling, you will not be whole. As long as a family is torn by mistrust and conflict, none of its members can be whole. You may be right or wrong in your arguments, but as long as the conflict lingers, you will remain broken. We cannot make ourselves whole, nor can we mend the world, if we lack the courage and vulnerability to create peace within our own families. The family is the nucleus of civilization.

George Burns once quipped that happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city. It is often easier to get along with the "whole world" than with your own family. But it is only through family harmony that we can achieve genuine wholeness in our lives.

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