Tuesday, December 31, 2024

It's All Good



Now Yosef could not bear all those standing beside him, and he called out, "Take everyone away from me!" So no one stood with him when Yosef made himself known to his brothers. [Vayigash 45:1]

Yosef could not bear that Egyptians would stand beside him and hear his brothers being embarrassed when he would make himself known to them. [Rashi]

We can learn from the example of Yosef towards his brothers that one should never seek revenge against a person who causes him any form of distress or damage.  Rather, one should repay even a guilty offender with kindness. [Tanya ch.12]

Why should we be kind to guilty offenders?

Because whatever that person did to you ultimately stems from G-d.  The person was merely an agent from G-d, Who decreed that this thing should happen to you.

Thus, since "everything that G-d does is for the good", you must repay the person - who brought this "good" to you - with kindness.

Source: Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Monday, December 30, 2024

The Reckoning Begins

 

by Afshine Emrani  MD FACC

2025: The Reckoning Begins 

Carter’s death marks the end of a dying era. 
Obama’s sinister grip on America crumbles into irrelevance. 
Trump returns, triumphant, to restore what was stolen. 
A global shift erupts: Iran breaks its chains, the mullahs fall, and freedom rises from the ashes. 
America reclaims its greatness, casting out corruption and embracing strength. 
Israel awakens, fulfilling its Biblical destiny as a light unto the nations. 
The world stands on the precipice of prophecy fulfilled. 
This is not a time for complacency. 
This is the Messianic Era. 
Are you awake to the truth?

Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Mikeitz: At The End of Days


                                                                
Ontario Nov 7 - Photo Gianluca Marvosi



Text Source: Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Gutnick Chumash


The word Mikeitz means "At the end" as in the saying "the end of days" [Daniel 12:13]

In Aramaic the word "days" is almost identical to its Hebrew equivalent, but the last letter switches from a mem to a nun    ימים = ימין

The Zohar notes that this Aramaic word  ימין is identical to the Hebrew word  ימין , meaning "right" and on this basis, the Zohar concludes: There are two 'ends', one on the spiritual 'right' and one on the spiritual 'left'.

In Jewish mysticism, "left" represents the side of evil.  So, the 'end of the spiritual left' refers to the day when evil will cease to exist, with the end of exile, i.e. "the end of days" (קץ הימים).

"Right", on the other hand, represents goodness and holiness.  Thus we refer to the "end of the right" to indicate that there is no dilution of values in the realms of holiness, so the end is as good as the beginning.  The term קץ הימים ("end of the spiritual right") is thus an allusion to the final redemption, when good will triumph over evil, and we will see how good is found consistently throughout the entire world.

We are thus left with the question: Which "end" does the word Mikeitz refer to - the "end of the left" or the "end of the right"?

In fact, both could be argued:

a) At the beginning of our Parsha, Yosef is released from jail.  This was the end of Yosef's exile, i.e. the "end of the left".

b) On the other hand, we then read how Yosef suddenly rose to power and became ruler over Egypt - his redemption, represented by "the end of the right".

How could the two opposite concepts of exile and redemption be alluded to by the same expression?

Chassidic thought explains that the inner purpose of exile is that the Jews should be scattered around the world in order to "rescue" sparks of holiness which had been lost in physicality.  Thus, redemption is not the elimination of exile, but rather, it is the goal of exile.  And therefore, both concepts are hinted to by the same word.

Thursday, December 19, 2024

The Tribe of Ephraim

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

Who was the Biblical Ephraim and why did he merit to become the most powerful tribe in ancient Israel? Find out in this class as we take a journey through Ephraim’s past, present, and future. Along the way, we uncover the fascinating stories of the great Ephraimite Judges and Kings of the Holy Land (including Joshua, Deborah, and Samuel) and explore who might be the descendants of the Ephraimites today. 

Plus: Why does the Tanakh connect Ephraim to Amalek? Is the Messiah supposed to be a Judean or an Ephraimite (or both)? And has the prophecy of Ezekiel 37 been fulfilled in our days?


Yud-Tes Kislev - The Rosh haShanah of Chassidus

 

The Alter Rebbe - Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi author of The Tanya
The 18th of Kislev marks the completion of the annual cycle of daily readings from the Tanya. The 19th and 20th of Kislev are the "Rosh HaShanah of Chassidus".

On Yud-Tes Kislev we re-commence the annual cycle of daily readings in Tanya, as divided by the Rebbe Rayatz.

It is the anniversary of the release of the Alter Rebbe - Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi [Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי], the first Rebbe of Chabad, who was informed upon by misnagdim in Russia and arrested on trumped-up charges of supporting the Ottoman Empire.

His informers pointed to the fact that he would urge his followers to send money to the Land of Israel as "evidence" of his alleged insurrectionist aspirations [in fact, the money was sent to support poor Jews]. At the time, the Land of Israel was a part of the Ottoman Empire, which was at war with Russia.

Rabbi Shneur Zalman was charged with treason, and released in the secular year 1798 on the Jewish date of Tuesday, 19 Kislev.

The 53 days of Rabbi Shneur Zalman's imprisonment are said to correspond to the 53 chapters of the first section of the Tanya.

19 Kislev is also considered to mark the day upon which Rabbi Shneur Zalman was conceived, for he was born exactly nine months later, on 18 Elul. [Shemu'os Vesippurim, Refoel Kahn, vol. 1, p. 39]


Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel born [1798]

On the very day that Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi was liberated from prison, a granddaughter was born to him -- the daugher of his son Rabbi Dovber and his wife Rebbetzin Sheina. The girl was named Menuchah Rachel -- "Menuchah", meaning "tranquility" [Rachel was the name of a daughter of Rabbi Schneur Zalman who died in her youth].

In 1845, Rebbetzin Menuchah Rachel realized her lifelong desire to live in the Holy Land when she and her husband, Rabbi Yaakov Culi Slonim [d. 1857], led a contingent of Chassidim who settled in Hebron. Famed for her wisdom, piety and erudition, she served as the matriarch of the Chassidic community in Hebron until her passing in her 90th year in 1888.


The 19th of Kislev is also the yahrzeit of R. DovBer, the Maggid of Mezritch, who [as successor to the Baal Shem Tov] was the mentor of the second generation of the chassidic movement - from 5521 [1761] until his passing on the third day of the week of Parshas Vayeishev, Yud-Tes Kislev, 5533 [1772]. His resting place is in Anipoli.

Rabbi Dov Ber was born in Volhynia in 1710, according to the Jewish Encyclopedia, though other sources say his year of birth is unknown. Little is known about him before he became a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov. A Hasidic legend states that, when he was five years old, his family home burst into flames. On hearing his mother weeping, he asked: "Mother, do we have to be so unhappy because we have lost a house?" She replied that she was mourning the family tree, which was destroyed, and had begun with Rabbi Yohanan, the sandal-maker and master in the Talmud. The boy replied: "And what does that matter! I shall get you a new family tree which begins with me!"

How aptly those words described the role he was later to play; for the boy was destined to become the successor to the Baal Shem Tov.

Source: Chabad


The Pintele Yid

The Pintele Yid is the Jewish spark that never dies.


Actor Liev Schreiber



Deciphering the Dream

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

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

The Mystery of the Orbs

A couple of short videos here that will confirm my theory that it was US drones that were chasing the mysterious orbs.

First up, a Military Drone Expert confirming the situation


And this one is some amazing footage of an orb doing some incredible things, which is consistent with other videos I've seen taken by different people from various places in the U.S.



Just some more orbs here

I've seen these orbs many times, I look at sky photos all the time.  So the orbs decided to come in closer now, and the US government sent out the drones.  

Signs in the Heavens.