Friday, January 20, 2017

Vertical Clouds


This photo on Instagram taken by a friend of mine in Israel shows vertical clouds - perhaps the same kind that Rivka wrote about in More Weird Things in the Sky - ''There were a lot of thin, wispy clouds that were placed vertically in the sky, like figures with arms, instead of the more usual horizontal layout.''

Looks like Hashem is using a paintbrush.

Anyone else seen these kind of clouds?

Photo: DLea

OCMD



If you read the Geula blogs, then you probably have it.  OCMD.  Obsessive Compulsive Moshiach Disorder.  I certainly do.  I've had it for over ten years now, and there is no known cure, or medication available.  You are obsessed with the coming of Moshiach and Geula.  Once you have it, you will probably always have it, because even though you've been let down several times and you may try and remove yourself from it and focus on other things, you will find that it comes back again because any alternative is not sustainable.  To NOT anticipate Moshiach is far worse, because the world is so unbearable without the hope of Redemption.

The inauguration of D. J. Trump is bringing us a lot closer... you know that guy, the one with the gematria of Moshiach ben David.  That in itself is a big hint.

Now I happen to think that Trump himself will do the best he can and will be a great President, but the trouble may come to the Jews simply because he is doing the best he can.

Yesterday I read something written by someone I highly respect, even if we don't share the same political views.  First she linked to this article Twenty-seven Jewish Centers Across U.S. Evacuated Amid New Wave of Bomb Threats  and commented that ''Racists are emboldened because of his election. It's a green light for homegrown racists and white supremacists. It is an unfortunate but common mistake to assume that terrorism aimed at Jews must come from Muslims. In America, terrorist threats towards Jews are much more likely to be from white supremacist groups and homegrown racist nutjobs.''

Add to that the fact that Trump is surrounded by Jews, including his own family, and you have a recipe for a mass anti-semitic uprising, G-d forbid.  There are certainly enough Americans already who ''refuse to accept him as President'' and it won't take much for them all to blame the Jews.

I believe [as Dov Bar Leib informs us] that we are in the final nine months before Moshiach - this process began on January 15 at Paris, when they kicked off the war of Gog u Magog.  I just hope my OCMD is not deluding me again.

Artist Unknown


Thursday, January 19, 2017

Sunglasses at Night


Did you read More Weird Things in the Sky ?  

And the light of the moon shall be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of the seven days, on the day the Lord shall bind the fracture of His people, and the stroke of their wound He shall heal. [Isaiah 30:26]



‘Gog and Magog’ …Now It’s G-d’s Turn



H/T Yaak

Is the political stage being set for the war of Gog & Magog? Tamar Yonah’s guest Rabbi Menachem Kohen, author of the book ‘Prophecies For The Era Of Muslim Terror: A Torah Perspective On World Events’ says we have already seen many prophecies and miracles come true, and that perhaps we have already witnessed the war of wars, and now…. it’s G-d’s turn. A fascinating show! 

 The Tamar Yonah Show 16Jan2017 – PODCAST - click here to listen

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

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

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Results of the Declaration on Israel by the 70 Nations at the UN

by Aaron Klein

Instead of convening a summit on the ongoing civil war in Syria, or the migrant crisis threatening Europe, or the rampant anti-Semitism plaguing its own country, France on Sunday held a convention attended by over 70 nations to affirm the international community’s commitment to creating a Palestinian state. 

At the end of the farcical display, and with neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority in attendance, the Paris summit representatives released a brief concluding declaration unanimously agreed to after negotiations between the countries.
  1. The text draws a moral equivalency between “violence,” which would include Palestinian terrorism targeting civilians, and “settlement activity,” meaning Israelis building homes in the West Bank or eastern sections of Jerusalem.
  2. The declaration calls for Israel to “fully end the occupation that began in 1967,” language that seems to mean that Israel would need to withdraw from the entire West Bank and eastern Jerusalem and thus shrink the country to indefensible borders.
  3. The declaration patronizes Israel by calling on both parties to “restate” their commitments to the two-state solution.
  4. The declaration gives credibility to the so-called Arab Peace Initiative, which threatens Israel’s security.
  5. The Paris declaration “welcomed” UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which passed last month when the U.S. abstained and refers to the entire West Bank and eastern Jerusalem as so-called occupied Palestinian territories while demanding a complete halt to all Israeli construction in those areas.
To read the full article go to Five Anti-Israel Offenses In Paris ‘Peace’ Summit Final Declaration 

70 is a Recurring Theme this month

This month, where the 70 nations of the world vote at the UN... the number 70 rules.


The Month of Tevet: Capricorn

The zodiacal sign of Teves is gedi, the goat [Capricorn]

Colour: Blue
Letter: Ayin - ע -  gematria 70

Tribe: Dan

Sense: Anger

The goat is given other names in the Torah, such as se'ire and eiz. Both of these names are highly significant for Teves, as it relates to Eisav and Rome.

Yaakov said to his mother Rivkah: "But my brother, Eisav, is a hairy man [ish se'ir] and I am smooth-skinned. Suppose my father feels me - I will appear to him as an imposter!" [Bereishis 27:11-12] Se'ire means "hairy" and refers to goats, which are extremely hairy. But we are also being told here that the goat itself is a metaphor for Eisav. The goat is also a metaphor for Yavan (Greece) as it appeared in Daniel's vision: And the rough goat is the king of Yavan. [Daniel 8:21]

In which way does the goat represent Yavan and Rome? One aspect is in the name itself - eiz - which means azus. The goat is not known for its tractability. It possesses the brazenness that is the hallmark of Yavan and the legacy of Eisav and Rome.

The goat is the brazen one of the domesticated animals. [Beitzah 25b]

There is another aspect of the goat which relates to Yavan and Rome:

Why do goats go out [to pasture] first, and only afterward sheep?... It is like the creation of the world: first was darkness, and then came light. [Shabbos 77b]

Rashi explains that goats are usually black (and sheep, of course, are white). Thus the goats, which push ahead to be first, symbolize the primal darkness, and the sheep which follow are the light which follows the darkness.

The goat, which represents Yavan, also echoes the darkness, the concealment, which is so fundamental to Yavan's outlook. It is this reign of darkness that always comes first. At the time of creation of the world, there was first darkness over the face of the deep, and only then did Hashem create light.

The irate anger of the goat is termed rogez, and the Sefer Yetzirah states that rogez is the dominant emotion of this month. Rogez refers to a trembling feeling. We find that one can tremble in rage or tremble in fear.

Rogez is a term frequently used to describe violent weather conditions.

Teves is the beginning of all destruction. This means that Edom (Rome; Western civilization) has its power rooted in this month. Furthermore, we see that many of our problems with Yavan took place in this month (such as the translation of the Torah). Greece is considered the origin of the Roman empire, for with Alexander's expanding Greek empire came the eventual spread and triumph of Rome. The month of Teves is therefore associated with Eisav, otherwise known as Edom.

The month of Teves is extremely harsh for the Jewish people. The fast day that was instituted on the tenth of the month commemorates the tragic events that took place on that day and the preceding two days:

* On the 8th of the month, Ptolemy, ruler of Greece, forced the Sages to translate the Torah into Greek [the Septuagint - which means seventy in Latin]. This was part of the threat to Jewish identity that Yavan (Greece) represented. We are told that when this took place, three days of darkness descended on the world.

* On the 9th of the month, Ezra and Nechemiah died. Also on this day the leader of Christianity was born [Megillas Ta'anis, Tosafos Chadashim, citing Kol Bo]

* On the 10th of the month, Yerushalayim was attacked by Nebuchadnetzar, king of Bavel. He laid a siege on the city, which resulted in the walls being breached on 17th Tamuz, three years later.

Although the actual destruction of the Beis HaMikdash took place on 9th Av, the 10th of Teves is of significance in its being the time when the process of destruction began.

Our sages teach us that at the age of ten (an allusion to the tenth month, the level of ten in general) a child "jumps like a goat." [Midrash Kohelet] The playful nature of jumping up and down "like a goat" reflects an important stage in the growing-up process. The month of Tevet, the month of the tribe of Dan, relates to the growing-up process, from a state of immaturity to a state of maturity.

Immaturity is characterized by the "evil eye," while maturity is characterized by the "good eye." Gedi = 17 = tov, "good" (the "good eye"). One must play (and jump up and down like a goat) in order to rectify and sweeten the anger latent in ones animal soul.

Tribe: Dan

The tribe of Dan represents the initial state of immaturity in the soul that "grows-up" during the month of Tevet. Dan means "to judge." Initially, he judges reality and others critically, with severe judgment (the "evil eye"). This is the nature of one who is spiritually immature. Dan is likened to a snake, who bites with the venom of anger. The "evil eye" is the eye of the snake.

The rectification of Dan is his engaging in the battle of holy anger against evil anger. Our sages teach us that only one from the soul-root of Dan can spontaneously jump up and kill the evil snake--"one like him, killed him."

Nachash ("snake") = 358 = Mashiach. The holy power of Dan reflects a spark of Mashiach. In the Zohar we are taught that the commander-in-chief of the army of Mashiach will come from the tribe of Dan.