''We Are In A Very Special Time''

Rabbi Alon Anava - Mashiach is coming and G-d is putting pressure on everyone... why? so we can scream from Mashiach to come already!

You Were Sent To Earth With A Mission

Rabbi Simon Jacobson:  Your soul was sent to Earth with a purpose. Are you living up to it? If you want to change your life, start with that question. You can't get anywhere without a mission statement, and here is the basis of how to find yours.

For The Sake Of Heaven

 

"How goodly are your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!" [Balak 24:5]

Rashi writes that Bilam was inspired by the Jewish tents "because he saw that the entrances were not opposite each other".

The arrangement of tents alludes to scholars convening together to discuss matters of Torah, each one offering his own interpretations.  Then, if their "entrances" - meaning their mouths - are "opposite each other" i.e. their intention is to show that their own ideas are superior than those of the others, then woe to them and their souls!  

But if their intentions are for the sake of Heaven, then they are certainly deserving that the Divine presence should rest with them.

Based on Ohr Torah of the Mezritcher Maggid

Terror in France - 9 Tammuz

HT: Daniel

The Magen Avraham writes: [Orach Chaim 580:9]  it is the custom of pious individuals to fast on the Erev Shabbos preceding Parshas Chukas in observance of a tragic event which occurred on that day.   On 9 Tammuz 5004, 24 cartloads of the Gemora and other holy books were publicly burned in France due to allegations of heretical and rebellious teachings contained therein.

Rav Hillel of Verona, a student of Rabbeinu Yonah, writes that his illustrious teacher noted that just 40 days prior to this episode, the Jews had publicly burned in that very spot a number of copies of the controversial philosophical writings of the Rambam. Rabbeinu Yonah saw in this tragedy Divine punishment being meted out for their actions, and he viewed it as a Heavenly message supporting the legitimacy of the teachings of the Rambam. The Jews of the time repented their actions and prayed for Divine forgiveness, thus ending the bitter controversy over the philosophical views of the Rambam. 

Although fasts commemorating historical events are normally established on the calendar date on which they occurred – in this case 9 Tammuz – the Rabbis of the time mystically inquired regarding the nature of the decree, and received the cryptic reply “da gezeiras Oraisah” – this is the decree of the Torah. This expression is taken from Onkelos’ Aramaic translation of the second verse in Parshas Chukas. They interpreted this message as alluding that the decree was connected to the day’s proximity to the reading of Parshas Chukas, so they established the fast specifically on the Erev Shabbos preceding the reading of Parshas Chukas.  Source: Shema Yisrael

Erev Shabbos preceding Parshas Chukas 5776 - 10.30pm local time - 9 Tammuz - 84 people were killed when a truck careened through crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day in the southern French city of Nice.

So not only was it the same date - 9 Tammuz - it was also Erev Shabbat - the exact time that the fast day was decreed to be held.

Can a Disease Become a Cure?

We all have made our share of mistakes, intentional or unintentional. We all have our flaws and defects, our psychological scars and lacerations. Conventional wisdom tells us that we can heal from our wounds and grow through our pain. We may be able to erase our unwanted pasts or overshadow them with positive strength. But can our actual mistakes and deficiencies become healing agents? Can a disease become a cure?

Please join Rabbi Simon Jacobson in this Kabbalistic healing workshop and travel into the inner core of all ailments and discover surprising secrets of your soul, not the least of which is the startling truth: All disease stems from a response to correct an aberration. At the root of all afflictions -- of all negative energy -- lies tremendous potency. Learn how to tap these powerful forces which feed your pains and convert them into formidable allies.

The Day Moses' Face Turned Green and The Mystery of Death

by Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

The Strings of the Heart

At the funeral of my father, eleven years ago, in May 2005, Elie Wiesel spoke. Wiesel and my father, Gershon Jacobson, were old time friends. Their friendship began in the early 1960’s, when they both worked as young, ambitious Jewish and Yiddish journalists. They were both survivors, although in different ways: Wiesel survived Auschwitz; my father carried the wounds of the Stalinist purges in the Soviet Union that deprived him of a normal childhood. They shared a common language and a soulful vocabulary. They were both wise, educated, cultured, intimately familiar with the past and present traumas of the Jewish nation, and committed to telling the story and embracing the vision of “Netzach Yisroel,” the eternity of Israel. They both understood pain, but never spoke of it.

Dr. Wiesel—who died two weeks ago, on July 2, 2016, was the only speaker at my father’s funeral and his eulogy lasted for three or four minutes.

Elie Wiesel said two things that stayed with me since. First, the famed holocaust survivor said that he knew my father for almost half-a-century, and yet never heard him gossip. For an ordinary man not to gossip is an extraordinary feat; for a journalist? It would seem impossible. My father spoke a lot about people; he made his living from analyzing and writing about people. But he never gossiped. He never spoke about the “people,” only about their ideas or behaviors. And he never got petty and personal.

Second, Dr. Wiesel asked, how does one mourn for a very close friend? Jewish law dictates the laws of mourning for parents, siblings, and other relatives. But there are no laws of how to grieve for a best friend.

Yet, “the heart possesses its own set of laws,” said Elie Wiesel.

Continue reading at The Yeshiva.net

''Don't Miss the Train - Mashiach is Coming''

On July 13th, 2016 Rabbi Alon Anava was interviewed on the Kavanah Show on 101.9 ChaiFm on the topic of the urgency of getting ready for Mashiach.

The Tenth Red Cow

"They should take some of the ashes of the burnt purification offering [of the red cow] and place them in a vessel [filled] with spring water" [Chukat 19:17]

Rambam comments: "Nine red heifers were prepared from the time this mitzvah was given until the destruction of the Second Temple.  The first was prepared by Moshe, the second by Ezra, and there were seven from Ezra until the destruction of the Temple.  The tenth will be made by King Mashiach - May he be speedily revealed! Amen, may this be your Will!"

The fact that Rambam mentions the tenth red heifer that "will be made by King Mashiach" in his legal Code [the Mishneh Torah] is understood, since Rambam included in his Code many laws that will only be applicable in the future era.  What is difficult to comprehend is why he concluded this law with a prayer "May he be speedily revealed! Amen, may this be Your Will!"  Surely a legal Code is not the place for the author to record his personal emotions and feelings, or to lapse into prayerful wishes?

It could be argued, however, that with his "prayer", Rambam did teach us a point of Jewish Law - or, to be precise, three points:

Judaism requires a person:

1) Not merely to believe [intellectually] in Mashiach, but also to actively await and yearn [emotionally] for his coming [Laws of Kings 11:1]

2) Inevitably, feeling this void will lead a person to pray for Mashiach's coming, just as he prays for any other thing that is lacking in his life.

3) And being that the requirement to believe in Mashiach is in force at all times, it follows that likewise, a person must yearn and pray for Mashiach constantly.

Therefore:

1) Rambam included prayerful wishes here in his legal Code to indicate that awaiting Mashiach must not be only expressed intellectually, but emotionally too.

2) He stresses that Mashiach should come "speedily" to indicate Mashiach's coming should be a personal heartfelt desire.

3) He recorded the above principles, not in his codification of the laws concerning Mashiach, but here out of context, to indicate that one must express a yearning for Mashiach constantly, whatever the context of one's discusion happens to be.

Source: Likutei Sichos of the Lubavitcher Rebbe