Monday, December 31, 2012

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

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

How to Avoid an Evil Eye


"Ben Poras Yosef, Ben Poras Alei Ayin" [Vayechi 49:22]. Rashi says that this means that Yosef will multiply and be beyond the reach of Ayin Hara [the evil eye]. As a reward for not taking his master's wife, no one will be able, through jealously, to inflict any harm on what belongs to him.

The Shulchan Gavo'a brings from Rav Eliyahu Dessler that no matter how rich a person is, no one is ever jealous of a totally selfless person whose whole life is about giving. An element of jealousy stems from the intended or even unintended flaunting of oneself before others.

Yaakov gave Ephraim and Menashe a bracha "V'Yidgu LaRov" - they should multiply like fish. There are two attributes of fish that Yaakov had in mind. Fish are not seen from the dry land. Moreover the fish live a life totally separated from the inhabitants of the land. They don't compete with them in any way. That is why the Ayin Hara does not affect them.

If a person lives a life of Yosef, where he doesn't want what doesn't belong to him, and he lives and enjoys his material assets out of the public eye, he too will not suffer from any unwanted evil eyes.

Source: Rav Eliyahu Dessler

Friday, December 21, 2012

Jews in the West Bank?

by Rabbi Aron Moss

Question of the Week:

As a believing Christian, I made a recent pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I was profoundly disturbed by the Jewish state and its criminal occupation of the West Bank. The international community has condemned this time and time again. How can you justify usurping land that belongs to others?

Answer:
You are entitled to your opinion on the matter. But I hope you are consistent in your beliefs. Being that you oppose a Jewish presence on the West Bank, I assume you will not be participating in any Xmas celebrations during the coming days. According to your view, there is no reason to be merry on December 25.

The Christian holidays celebrate an event that you have named a criminal act - the birth of a Jewish baby to a Jewish family in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Your views should not allow you to have any part in this cheer, for if you did you would be giving retroactive approval to a Jewish settlement on the West Bank that dates back more than two thousand years.

Perhaps you will be joined by the UN and other humanitarian organizations around the world condemning any celebrations that are connected with this controversial birth, as such events would be recognizing the rights of a Jewish family to live on what you see as occupied territory.

However I must warn you, by espousing this view and not celebrating, you will be vastly outnumbered. The international community, by celebrating Xmas, expresses support for the fact that the West Bank has always been the home of the Jewish people.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The Mayans and the Jewish Midrash

The biblical Enoch was the son of Yered who was the great great grandson of Seth, a son of Adam. Enoch lived 365 years, from 622 to 987 on the Jewish calendar. The beginning of the long count Mayan calendar is taken to be in August of the year 3114 BCE, [-3113]. This corresponds to the year 647 on the Jewish calendar. After the Rosh HaShanah holiday in the year 3114 BCE, the year on the Jewish calendar would be 646. From these dates, we can infer that the beginning of the Mayan calendar occurs during the life of Enoch.

According to the Midrash in Seder Hadorot, [Vol 1, p. 89], Enoch served God and despised the wicked people of his generation. He separated from them and hid himself away. One day when he was praying, an angel of God spoke to him telling him to go out from his house and teach the people about the ways of God and the correct ways to live. 

In the book Sefer Hayashar, we read about Enoch:

He gathered people around him and taught them about God. Word was sent around everywhere announcing that whoever wanted to know the ways of God and the good life should come to Enoch for instruction. Hungry for the truth, people eagerly gathered around him and he taught them the wisdom of God. Thus the people served God all the lifetime of Enoch. Rulers, princes, and judges, all came to hear him. He was loved and respected so much that three hundred rulers proclaimed him king over them. With gentle persuasion he was able to establish peaceful relations between all these rulers. He reigned for two hundred and forty-three years guiding all people in the ways of God.

Seder Hadorot tells that Enoch was the first one to write a book on astronomy. In the pseudepigraph Book of Enoch, a compilation of books detailing the experiences, the prophecies, and teachings of Enoch, there is a book entitled The courses of the Heavenly Luminaries. This is chapters 72 through 82 of the Book of Enoch, and they are devoted to describing the changing times for the rising and the setting of the sun through the solar year, the waxing and waning of the moon through the lunar month and year.

The ancient Greeks identified Enoch with Hermes Trismegistus. The Greeks wrote that Enoch taught the sons of men the art of building cities, the knowledge of the Zodiac, and the course of the Planets. We also find Enoch's association with astronomy and arithmetic in Sefer Yuhasin. In the Book of Jubilees, Enoch was the inventor of the art of writing. This is also so according to Masonic lore. The correlation of these accomplishments of Enoch and the meaning of the term Maya in different cultures is immediately apparent and surely not a coincidence.

The Midrash explains how Enoch obtained his knowledge. In The Zohar, Rabbi Aba said, A book was sent down to Adam through which he discerned and comprehended the supernal wisdom. [This is the book of The Generations Of Adam.] This book later came into the hands of the sons of Elohim, the sages of their generation, who were priviledged to learn from it and to glean the supernal wisdom. They grasped it and comprehended it. This book was brought down by the guardian of the secrets who is the angel Raziel and was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden. Three guardian angels went before him and guarded the book so that the external forces would not have access to it.

When Adam was expelled from the Garden of Eden, he still held on to the book. Yet as he stepped out, the book flew away from him. He prayed and cried out to his Master, and the book was returned to him again so that this wisdom would not be forgotten and the people would endeavor to attain knowledge of their Master.

We have been told that Enoch had a book, which originated from the same place as that of the Generations of Adam. And this book contains the inner secrets of wisdom.

Continue reading at: Real Bible Codes

Suffering, Passing Tests, and Miracles

Rav Isaac Sher - The Beauty of Suffering and the Torment of Gehinom

Chazal tell us the a lifetime of suffering in this world is less painful than even a moment in Gehinom. How can we compare suffering in a physical world to the suffering in a spiritual world, it is not a real comparison. Are we really comparing degrees of heat?

Rav Isaac Sher explains that there is a big difference between suffering in this world and suffering in the next world. Gehinom he says merely cleanses you of your aveiros [sins]. Once you are clean however, you are the same person you were before, only without the stains of your misdeeds. You are on the same low level.

Not so with suffering in this world. Through our suffering we grow and can reach new heights. We contemplate our pain and open new vistas of understanding of Hashem and our purpose in the world. Each step of our purification brings us closer to Hashem in ways we would have been unable to without the pain.

Maybe this resolves our question. While suffering in the next world is a punishment for our sins, suffering in this world is an opportunity for advancement. Therefore all the pain in this world which is steeped with opportunity cannot be compared to even a single moment of the hopeless of Gehinom.

Rav Chaim Zaitchek - The Nes of Passing a Nisayon [The miracle of passing a trial]

What defines a miracle? Everything in this world is controlled by Hashem. There is no difference between Hashem's ability to make plants grow or split the sea. What differentiates the two? The answer is that Hashem created a natural order in the world to allow people to believe that Hashem does not exist. An event that breaks the rules is called a miracle. It is Hashem showing us a glimpse of His total control. Nature is called Teva from the word Tava or drowning. The everyday miracles that Hashem performs in nature and to us individually are drowned beneath the surface, and out of our field of view unless we use our mind to perceive them. The word for a miracle is Nes. Nes means a flagpole. It is an event that stands out in plain view for all to see, unless one chooses to look the other way.

On a similar note the world was created to challenged us to choose good. The word for these challenges is Nisayon. Nisayon has the word Nes in it. What is the connection? The answer says Rav Chaim Zaitchek, is that we all are born with great potential for good. Our challenge is to dig deep down and use these abilities. We are tested as a means to bring this potential out into the world. A Nisayon is an opportunity to show ourselves, Hashem, and the universe the good buried within us. By passing a Nisayon we have created a Nes!

Source: Revach

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Ani Yosef

"I am Yosef!" [Vayigash 45:3]

The Chofetz Chaim offered the following explanation of this verse: 

When the brothers had initially arrived in Egypt, they were treated harshly by Yosef, who accused them of being spies.  The brothers were startled by what was happening to them, and they asked one another: "Why is this happening to us?  Who among us is guilty of a sin that would have brought this upon us?"

On the brothers' second trip to Egypt, they once again asked one another: "What is this that Hashem has done to us?"

However, continued the Chofetz Chaim, when the brothers heard but two words: "Ani Yosef" - I am Yosef - all of their questions were answered.  Suddenly, everything was clear - all of their misfortune had occurred as a result of having sold Yosef.

Today, as well, concluded the Chofetz Chaim, there are many people who question the way that Hashem runs His world.  "Why do the righteous suffer?" they ask.  "Why can the wicked prosper?"

However, at the End of Days, when the entire world hears Hashem utter but two words: "Ani Hashem" - I am Hashem - all of the questions will vanish.

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein





Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Obama Codes

Way back in 2008, Joel Gallis a"h and Dr Robert Wolf presented an article outlining the events that would occur via Obama during the ''End of Days''. [See Obama and the Evil at the End of Days]

Today, R'Dov bar Leib has shown us some more on this subject, with the coded name of Obama appearing in the Torah where it discusses the Kings of Edom:  וְאֵלֶּה הַמְּלָכִים אֲשֶׁר מָלְכוּ בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם  .... ''And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom''...  [Vayishlach 36:31]
The red letters, re-arranged, spell אובאמה - Obama.

You can read Dov bar Leib's post here: The Last King of Edom