Alone? You're in good company

Written by Tsivya

I went to a shiur-class last night given by Rabbi Alperin. One of the things that the Rabbi said was that geula comes through loners.

Avraham, Yitzchak, Yosef, Moshe, Esther, David, Rut were all unique in that they were alone in their situation. Therefore, they cried out to HaShem and each merited to bring the geula-redemption-in their own way. And it says that at the end of days that every nation will turn away from the people of Israel. All that will be left is us and the Creator of the World.

That is why, the Rav said, at this time before Moshiach, there are so many people alone and lonely. We all need to be crying out to HaShem in order to speed the geula.

The Seven Souls [video]

The Seven Souls that correspond to the seven branches of the menorah: Rabbi Simon Jacobson

North Korea's link to Terrorism in the Middle East

While the death of North Korea’s leader in the past 17 years, Kim Jong Il, may seem like it is not connected to Israel, Attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner who heads the Shurat HaDin organization, reminded on Monday of the connection between North Korea and terrorism in the Middle East.

Source: Israel National News

Chanukah Sameach

It sounds so romantic in French.....
billboards across Paris, courtesy of Chabad
.

The Dreidel Explained

The Dreidel Players: Elena Flevora

There are four letters on the dreydel. נ - Nun, ג - Gimel, ה - Hay, and שׁ - Shin - These letters stand for "Nes Gadol Haya Sham" - "A great miracle happened there".

[In Eretz Yisrael it is a פ - Peh instead of the Shin: A great miracle happened here.]

The four letters stand for:

a) the four parts of man - Nefesh [soul], Guf [body], Seichel [intellect], HaKol [all the rest].

b) the four foundations of the world - fire, water, wind and earth

c) the four nations that put us in exile - Egypt, Persia, Greece and Rome.  The four letters on the dreydel have the gematria of Moshiach [358].  This is also the gematria of Hashem is King etc. Chanukah is the season when the possibility exists for the light of Mashiach to burst forth. Then, man and the world will be restored to harmonious relationship and the last and most bitter exile of Rome will draw to a to a close, and we will see the fulfillment of the verse that Hashem will be King forever. [Bnei Yissaschar]

Chanukah and Purim have much in common. They are two holidays which will enjoy an exalted status when Mashiach comes. They were celebrations which were decreed by the Rabbis to commemorate events that took place in their time. Since the faith of the Jewish people were instrumental in bringing these holidays about, the Holidays of the Torah will pale in comparison to them, like a flashlight shining on a sunny day.

Both days have their special instrument. Purim the gregger, Chanukah the dreydel. Their use is indicative of the nature of the holiday.

Purim's gregger we hold from below to symbolize that the great Teshuva on the Jews provided an initiative from below which caused the divine initiative to bring about the miracle.

On Chanukah we use a dreydel which we hold from above to symbolize that the principle initiative for the miracle came from above, and our actions brought it to fruition.

Source: Nishmas

Also see:  The Kabbalah of the Dreidel and Playing with the Dreidel

Korea and Rabbi Nahmani's prophecy

As the world is put on Nuclear alert as Little Kim to rule North Korea ......

North Korea last night dramatically marked the sudden death of its despot leader Kim Jong-il by firing a short range missile, putting nervous world leaders on nuclear alert.

......10Rainbow reminded me of this scary prophecy about Korea from Rabbi Levi Saadia Nahmani zt"l [check out the date on the video..... exactly 17 years ago]

Instant Salvation

"And they rushed him out of the dungeon" [Miketz 41:14]

In the Chofetz Chaim's later years, the Communist Revolution raged in Russia.  One of the aims of the wicked Communists was to stamp out any trace of Judaism from the hearts of the Jewish people.  They spared no effort at trying to achieve this goal. They mercilessly leveled harsh decrees against the Jews, and only thanks to the mercy of Heaven were Jews able to remain firm in their faith.

"Look at what the Torah states in Parshas Miketz", said the Chofetz Chaim to one of his students.  "The verse says that 'Pharoah sent [messengers] and called Yosef, and they rushed him out of the dungeon.'  For twelve years Yosef languished in prison and no one paid any attention to him.

'But when the moment that Hashem had designated for Yosef's salvation finally arrived, he was immediately rushed out of the dungeon.'

''We are in a similar situation. Our predicament appears to be hopeless: the Communist regime, in their cruelty, will stop at nothing to sever our ties with the holy Torah. Yet when Moshiach comes and our moment of redemption arrives there will be no delays and we, too, will be rushed to our Land.''

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

You're Jewish?

Yakov Jacobson was doing pre-Chanukah mivzoim [outreach] in Laguna Beach, CA, when he happened upon a familiar character who - he was surprised to find out - is a Jew! The man had never put on tefilin before, a 'Karkafta,' and Yakov helped him do the mitzvah for the first time in his life.

Source: Crown Heights Info