Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Dreams: Angelic or Demonic?


Source: Rabbi Shelomo Almoli - Dream Interpretation from Classical Jewish Sources

The essential characteristic of an angelic dream is that it is orderly, with no extraneous material mixed in.  Furthermore, the dreamer should not be panicked or frightened at the time of dreaming, and he must see himself as though truly awake in the dream.  If all these conditions are fulfilled, you may be certain that the dream is true, and that it comes through an angel and is a one-sixtieth part of prophecy. [Berakhot 57a]

However, a dream which comes by means of a demon is quite different.  The demon stands near the person as he dozes and whispers frightening words, a concoction of many things, into his ears.  This arouses frightening images in the dozer's mind; his heart beats wildly and he awakes in a panic.  [literally the great panic awakens him].  

The demons remain at his side, rejoicing and toying with his mind in order to frighten him, when he falls asleep they begin again.  After this happens several times [after he awakens from a doze and finally decides to go to sleep again for the night], he finally begins preparing for bed by reciting the Keri'at Shema prayer, or deals with them some other way.  He awakens and recites ''Unclean, unclean! Flee from here!'' three times.  At that, the demon will go on his way, and the sleeper will be able to rest, secure from such dreams.  

Below is a lecture on Dreams from Rabbi Alon Anava from 2018.


Monday, July 15, 2019

Does Eliyahu Precede Moshiach?


Following on from the comments on the Rabbi Kessin Moshiach video in the post below this one , this question was put forward.  Here is the response from the Lubavitcher Rebbe:  Source Sichos in English



There is a tradition that Eliyahu [Elijah the Prophet] will come before Moshiach, to inform the world of the advent of Moshiach. Is this showing of Eliyahu a mandatory pre-requisite for Moshiach?

The Talmud relates:1

Once, Rabbi Joshua met Moshiach and asked him: ‘When are you going to come?’ Moshiach replied: ‘Today!’

Rabbi Joshua then met Eliyahu, who asked him: ‘What did he [Moshiach] tell you?’ Said Rabbi Joshua: ‘He lied to me, for he told me that he is coming today, but he didn’t come!’

Said Eliyahu: ‘He didn’t lie, but this is what he really meant: He will come “Today, if you hearken to the voice of G‑d.”2

Maharsha explains that if Moshiach comes today, we assume that Eliyahu came yesterday to the Supreme Beth Din [in Tiberias].

Another explanation is that if we merit, and Moshiach comes sooner (before the appointed time), he may then come on his own before the revelation of Eliyahu. This is presented in Krayti U’playti [by Rabbi Yonason Eibschutz]:3

Rambam posits4 that it is not a certainty that Eliyahu must come before Moshiach. Although some Sages maintain that before the advent of Moshiach, Eliyahu will appear, yet, there is no definite basis for this.

This poses a difficulty, inasmuch as the Talmud states5 that Eliyahu will come first, and as is seen in Tanach,6 “Behold I send unto you Eliyahu the Prophet.” How do we reconcile these two statements re: the coming of Eliyahu?

The answer is seen in the timing of Moshiach, as the Talmud cites the verse:7 “In its time will I hasten it” — If Jews do not merit, Moshiach will come in his appointed time; but if they merit, then Moshiach will come sooner, in haste.

Rambam holds that there is an order to the coming of Moshiach, that Eliyahu comes first to foretell of his coming. This, however, is effective only when Moshiach comes in his appointed time. But when Jews merit and the redemption is hastened, as expressed in,8 “He is leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills” — G‑d then changes the order, as a sign of His love for Jewish merits and good deeds. This is expressed in the Rambam’s concise words.

The Sages note that Eliyahu comes first, to convey the news of Moshiach; yet, this is not definite. For, perhaps G‑d will have mercy and bestow His holy spirit upon the Jews to serve Him with a full heart; then He will swiftly bring Moshiach without the need for Eliyahu’s message.9

FOOTNOTES

1. Sanhedrin 98a, Rashi

2. Psalms 95:7

3. Yoreh Deah 110, Bais Hasafek/end

4. Hilchos Melachim 12:2

5. Eiruvin 43b

Sunday, July 14, 2019

Rabbi Kessin talks about Moshiach

A 12 minute video
''The Jews will change the world''

''even Moshiach doesn't know who He is until He is revealed''

This is a must listen, and as it's very short you don't have an excuse not to.



Friday, July 12, 2019

Stalin vs Schneersohn

The [6th] Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson (1880-1950)



by Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson




A Vain Battle


 If there was ever a battle fought in vain, this was it. Or at least, so it seemed at the time.

The year is 1924. Vladimir Lenin, the father of the communist revolution, is dead; over 900,000 people pass through the Hall of Columns during the four days and nights that Lenin's body lay exposed to the public.

Josef Stalin succeeds him as the new leader of the Soviet Union. During the following thirty years, he would murder 50 million of his own people. Jews and Judaism would be one of his primary targets. He sets up a special government organization, the Yevsektzye, to ensure that Russian Jewry in its millions embrace the new ethos of Communism, introducing a paradise constructed of bullets and gulags.

Stalin would rule with an iron fist till his death in March 1953, when four million people would gather in Red Square to bid farewell to the tyrant still revered and beloved by much of his nation and by many millions the world over.

At his home in Leningrad (today Petersburg), a 44-year-old rabbi, heir to some of the great Jewish thinkers and leaders of Russian Jewry, summons nine young disciples. He offers them an opportunity most would refuse: to take responsibility for the survival of Judaism in the communist Soviet Union; to ensure that Jewish life and faith would survive the hellish darkness of Stalin’s regime. He wants them to fight—in his words—“till the last drop of blood.”

They embrace the mission. He gives his hand to each of them as a sign that they are accepting an oath, one that would transform their destiny forever. "I will be the tenth, he says; together we have a minyan"...

An Underground Revolution

The nine men were dispatched throughout the country. With assistance from similar minded colleagues, they created an impressive underground network of Jewish activity, which included Jewish schools, synagogues, mikvaot (ritual baths used by Jewish woman for spiritual feminine reinvigoration), adult Torah education, Yeshivot (academies for Torah learning for students), Jewish text books, providing rabbis for communities, teachers for schools, etc. Over the 1920's and 1930's, these individuals built six hundred (!) Jewish underground schools throughout the U.S.S.R (1). Many of them last for only a few weeks or months. When the KGB (the secret Russian police) discovered a school, the children were expelled, the teacher arrested. A new one was opened elsewhere, usually in a cellar or on a roof.

One of the nine young men was sent to Georgia. There were dozens of mikvaot there, all shut down by the communists who buried them in sand and gravel. This young man decided to do something radical. He falsified a letter written supposedly by the KGB headquarters in Moscow, instructing the local offices in Georgia to open two mikvaot within 24 hours.

The local officials were deceived. Within a day, two mikvaot were open. Several months later, when they discovered the lie, they shut them down again.

And so it went. A mohel (the person performing the mitzvah of circumcision) was arrested, and another one was dispatched to serve the community; a yeshiva was closed, and another one opened elsewhere; a synagogue was destroyed and another one opened its portals in secrecy. It is a chapter in Jewish history unbeknownst to most.

But it sure seemed like a lost battle. Here was an individual rabbi, with a small group of pupils, staging an underground rebellion against a mighty empire that numbered in the hundreds of millions, and aspired to dominate the world. It was like an infant wrestling a giant, an ant attempting to defeat a military tank. The situation was hopeless.

Finally, in 1927—ninety two years ago—they lost their patience with this man. The rabbi behind the counter-revolutionary work was arrested and sentenced to death by a firing squad. Foreign pressure and nothing less than a miracle convinced the KGB to alter the sentence to ten years in exile. It was then converted to three years, and then—quite unbelievable in the Soviet Regime where clergy and laymen alike were murdered like flies—he was completely exonerated. The 12th and 13th of the Hebrew month of Tamuz (this year it is July 15-16), mark the 92nd anniversary since he was liberated from Stalin’s death sentence in 1927.

The individual behind the spiritual mutiny was the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880-1950), who became the leader of Chabad in 1920, after the passing of his father. He selected nine of his young pupils to wage battle with him. The one sent to Georgia, falsifying the KGB document, was my grandfather, Simon Yakabashvili, my father’s father (1900-1953). He, together with hundreds of his colleagues, Chassidim throughout the Soviet Union, was arrested in 1938, tortured mercilessly and given a 25-year sentence in the Gulag. Most of his eight colleagues who accepted the oath never made it out of Stalin’s hell. They perished in the Soviet Union.

(My grandfather, Reb Simon, made it out of the USSR, but died several years later at the age of 53 in Toronto. He died on 2 Tamuz 5713, 1953, leaving behind there young sons, Gershon, Bezalel and Sholom. My father died in 2005, my uncle Bezalel died six years ago. Their mother, Freida, passed on in 1954, one year after her husband. She was 44. One child remains, may he enjoy many long and healthy years).

Investing in Eternity

More than nine decades have passed. This passage of time gives us the opportunity to answer the question: Who won? Stalin or Schneerson?

one century ago, Marx's socialism and Lenin’s communism heralded a new era for humanity. Its seemingly endless power and brutality seemed unbreakable.

Yet one individual stood up, a man who would not allow the awesome war machine of Mother Russia to blur his vision, to eclipse his clarity. In the depths of his soul he was aware that history had an undercurrent often invisible to most but discernible to students of the long and dramatic narrative of our people. He knew with full conviction that evil might thrive but it will die; yet goodness, holiness, G-dliness—embodied in Torah and Mitzvos—are eternal.

And he chose to invest in eternity.

He probably did not know how exactly it would work out in the end. I am not sure he believed he would survive. But he knew that his mission in life was to sow seeds, though the trees were being felled one by one.

Cynics scoffed at him; close friends told him he was making a tragic mistake. Even many of his religious colleagues were convinced that he was wasting his time and energy fighting an impossible war. They either fled the country or maintained a low profile. Some great rabbis at the time felt he was trying to do the impossible and it was futile.

But 90 years later, this giant and what he represented have emerged triumphant. Today, in 2019, in the republics of the former Soviet Union stand hundreds of synagogues, Jewish day schools, yeshivot, mikvaot, Jewish community centers. Since communism fell, the Lubavitcher Rebbe (the son in law of the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe who was liberated in 1927) sent hundreds of ambassadors to create a Jewish renaissance. They span the entire length and breadth of the country, from Siberia to Tashkent; from Tbilisi till Krasnoyarsk. Over the last 30 years they have built more than one hundred (!) full-time Jewish day schools, in which more than 100,000 Jewish children received a Jewish Torah education. As this summer season began, dozens of Jewish day camps opened up throughout the former Soviet Union with tens of thousands of Jewish children who will enjoy a blissful summer coupled with the celebration of Jewish life.

I have a cousin, Rabbi Yerachmiel Garelick, who serves as the Chabad ambassador to Western Siberia. Jewish women had to travel for seven hours to visit a mikvah. He just completed building a magnificent mikvah in Tuman, Siberia!

And the Chabad couple in Birobidjhan, located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, near the China-Russia border, where Stalin wanted to exile millions of Russian Jews, opened a Glat kosher restaurant there.
Last Chanukah, a large menorah stood tall in the Kremlin, casting the glow of Chanukah on the grounds where Stalin walked with Berya and Yezhov. On Lag Baomer (a Jewish holiday), thousands of Jewish children with kippot on their heads marched the streets of Moscow with signs proclaiming, "Hear oh Israel... G-d is One." Jewish life is bustling in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Lithuania, Uzbekistan, etc.

Visiting Russia last summer, Russia’s chief Rabbi, Berel Lazar, pointed to a massive Jewish school he built in Moscow stretching over a full block. “Right across from here were some of the main offices of the KGB, where the orders to decimate Judaism came from,” he said.

Across the street was a massive Jewish museum, one of the nicest I have ever seen, attracting thousands of weekly visitors, telling the story of the Jewish people and its heritage. “How did you get the money for this?” I asked Rabbi Lazar. He smiled and said that the first million came from the private charity of Vladimir Putin. "The rest was easy."

I then entered, two streets over, the Marina Rashtze synagogue in Moscow, a massive and beautiful 8-story structure. Hundreds of Jews were praying and studying Torah.

Comrade Stalin is dead; communism has faded away as hopelessly irrelevant and destructive. The sun of the nations is today a clod of darkness. The ideology of the Soviet Empire which declared "Lenin has not died and Stalin will not die. He is eternal," is now a mockery. Stalin and Lenin are as dead as one can be. But the Mikvaot built by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1927, they are still here, from Siberia to Moscow, to Tashkent.

If you will visit Russia this coming Shabbos, I am not sure you will find anybody celebrating the life and vision of Stalin, or even Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Andropov. But you will find tens of thousands of Jews celebrating the liberation of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1927 and the narrative of one holy man’s triumph over one of the greatest mass-murderers in human history, sharing his vision, committing themselves to continue saturating the world with the light of Torah and Mitzvos.

So on this Shabbos, two days before the 12th of Tamuz, lift up your glasses and say L’chayim! L’chayim to a Rebbe who inspired such heroism in so many disciples, many of them who paid the ultimate price. L’chayim to the incredible Jews of Russia who maintained the embers burning for seven decades, and then—when opportunity came—fanned them into glowing flames. L’chayim to my dear Zeide, Reb Simon, whom I never met but whose life-story is engraved in the core of my heart.

Today, we have many battles to fight, and plenty of darkness to conquer. It is easy to become cynical or depressed, leading to emotional paralysis. But our greatest leaders always knew better. They never allowed the mask of evil to define the narrative of history; they ensured that another story would dominate our imaginations and actions.

So can we.

1) This figure was given to me by Rabbi Sholom Ber Levin, chief librarian of the Central Lubavitch Library in Brooklyn, NY.

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Kapparah in the Death of a Tzaddik

by Rabbi Elchanan Lewis


Question: How can the death of a Tzaddik become a Kapparah [atonement]?

Answer: The Tzadik is not a personal individual that has an impact only on himself, he is a public figure who impacts on all those around him; the loss of a Tzadik is therefore a public loss, not an individual or family one. The Tzadikim are here not for themselves, rather for others - that is how they live their lives and that is how they also die; Just as the death serves as atonement to the deceased himself, so the departure of a Tzadik does to his community.

Death of a [Hidden] Tzaddik




Just last Friday, the day of the big earthquake in L.A., a young Chabad rabbi was suddenly taken from this world.  His name was Rabbi Tzemach Yehoshuah Cunin a''h.

The name Tzemach Yehoshuah literally means ''the Redeemer is flourishing''. 

When we look for hints for the coming of the Moshiach, these two events: the earthquake and the sudden unexpected passing of Tzemach Yehoshuah - can be taken as a huge sign.

Tzemach a''h was, by all accounts, a hidden Tzaddik.  His life was devoted to bringing Jews back to their roots, via his Chabad House in Century City Los Angeles.   He leaves behind a tzadekess wife and five children.

Tzemach's father, Rabbi  Baruch Shlomo  Cunin was appointed by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1965 , as a head shaliach to the west coast of America. Cunin built the very first of over 5000 Chabad houses, and is personally responsible for a network of over 200 Chabad Houses throughout California and Nevada.  If anyone can bring Moshiach, it is Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, as you can see for yourself in the videos below.

Running a Chabad House is no easy feat.  It requires constant input financially, and the Rabbis and their wives spend their lives raising money to support not just their own families, but those of all around them, helping whenever needed for whatever cause, being non-judgemental and available to others at all times of the day and night.

There are so many tragedies in the world today... we cannot help everyone.... but if you have a look at the thousands of people who have donated to help the wife and children of Rabbi Tzemach a''h, you will see just how big an impact one person can make in a short life on earth.

The fact that his name means ''the Redeemer is flourishing'' is a sign that we should ALL join and make a donation and rock the Heavens with an outpouring of Tzedaka, the greatest mitzvah of all.  Of course it is also a great mitzvah to support widows and children.

I am asking everyone to make a small donation, even if it is just one dollar, because one dollar multiplied by thousands of people makes a lot of dollars.  Let's all be a part of this and let's help the Redeemer to Flourish.  Click to here to see the Fundraising Page, with a link to donate at the bottom of that page.  Whatever kind of Jew, or nonJew you are, Breslover, Satmar, Ashkenazi, Sefardi... it makes no difference, we are all the same big family.  Non-Jews who align themselves with the Jewish people are Righteous Gentiles and will be part of the world of Moshiach.

Below are a couple of videos from the Levaya [funeral] of Rabbi Tzemach a''h.







Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Two Paths of Redemption - A shooting star of Jacob and a Scepter Rise from Israel

Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz

Parshat Chukat: The Mysterious Friday Fast


The Magen Avraham cites a 'practice of individuals' to fast on the Friday prior to the reading of Parshas Chukas (OC 580). In general, it is an anomaly to have a fast day scheduled for a Friday. Of even greater significance is the fact that most fast days are established on a specific calendar date, while this one is not. The Magen Avraham writes that no matter what day of the month the Friday prior to Parshas Chukas falls, that is the day when 'individuals' fast.

What is the significance of this fast day? It commemorates the burning of 20 - 24 wagonloads of the Talmud and other Sefarim in France. When the event happened, it occurred on the 9th day of Tammuz. However, various Rabbinic authorities of that day learned through dreams that the 'cause' of the incident was not related to the day on the calendar, but to the fact that it was the day before the Torah reading of Parshas Chukas.

The Magen Avraham explains that the Aramaic Targum of the opening words of the parsha [Bamidbar 19:2] "Zos Chukas HaTorah" [This is the law of the Torah] is "da Gezeiras Oraiysa" [this is the Torah's decree]. This was understood to be a Torah decree that such a tragic event would occur on the Friday before this Torah reading.

The Imrei Shammai supplies additional historical background to this incident. He says that in the exact place where the Talmud and other Sefarim were burnt, the Jews of that town had in previous years publicly burnt the Rambam's Sefer - Moreh Nevuchim.

The Moreh Nevuchim was a controversial work. In those days, the Rambam did not yet have the unquestioning allegiance that he gained in later generations. As surprising as it may seem to us, he had his detractors and there were authorities that were highly critical of the Moreh Nevuchim. In fact, there were even some places where his Sefer HaMadah - the first volume of his Major Work "The Yad HaChazakah" was not accepted.

As a Heavenly punishment for this earlier burning of the Rambam's works, 20 cartloads of Torah books were now publicly burnt. When the Jewish community saw this, they recognized their earlier misdeed and repented by establishing a fast day. They prayed for forgiveness and subsequently there was no more controversy about the Moreh Nevuchim.

In this way they were very fortunate. They had a clear Sign from Shomayim in terms of what they had done wrong. It did not take a genius to put two and two together and draw the appropriate conclusion. The connection was obvious. This is the historical background of the custom of 'individuals' to fast on the Erev Shabbos preceding Parshas Chukas.

Source: Revach.net

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Appreciating the Bad



''Everything will be okay in the end.... if it's not okay, it's not the end..''  [that quote has been attributed to several different people, but it was actually written by John Lennon and more recently made famous in a movie called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I happened to watch on TV the other night.  

When you are taken down in any way, or are inflicted with some kind of terrible event, and you begin to lose faith and wonder why this is happening to you..... that's a very good quote to remember.  It's not the end.  We haven't got there yet.  Terrible things are happening everywhere and most of them are there to bring us back to Hashem.... the lower the descent, the higher the potential ascent.  In Hebrew this is ''Yerida l'tzorich Aliyah'' - descent for the purpose of ascent.

You can't rise to the highest highs unless you have experienced the lowest lows.  

And so it is with the world... the lower it sinks, the higher it will rise when Moshiach's time has come.  It is necessary that the world sinks to the lowest point possible, because the coming of Moshiach will cause it to rise to the highest point possible.

So appreciate your suffering for what it is.... a stepping stone to a higher level of existence.





Monday, July 8, 2019

Twice every Seven Years


And you shall inscribe them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates. [Va'etchanan 6:9]

Now that my shoulder is healing, I am able to do things that I should have done sooner, such as check my mezuzot !  They are supposed to be checked TWICE every Seven Years.

Most people are under the false impression that you are supposed to have them checked once every seven years. The fact is that the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law) states that they need to be checked by a scribe twice in every seven year period. That means about every 3.5 years.

The benefits of having a kosher mezuzah on every door post in your home cannot be underestimated.  That means every doorpost, not just the front door [of course with the exception of any room that contains a toilet as such a room is tamei - impure].  And if you have a gate with a lintel over it, that needs a mezuzah as well.  A gate without a lintel doesn't require one.

Make sure the mezuzah is the right way up and the Shin/Daled/Yud is visible on the front.  An upside down mezuzah in its case is not going to work properly.

To learn more about the mitzvah of the mezuzah see here and here.

As it happens, all my mezuzot were kosher, but I decided to buy a bigger newer one for the front door anyway.  The bigger the better.  And it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe who campaigned for bigger mezuzot, as opposed to those tiny little scrolls that everyone used to have when they were trying to hide them from their anti-semitic neighbours.  If, however, you do happen to live in a place where you are worried about anti-semitism, place the mezuzah just inside the front door.  You might want to check with a Rabbi first about this though.

This is one mitzvah you should do, not only because it is commanded of us, but because it gives you incredible protection spiritually and physically.

The Greatness of Torah Part 3


Rabbi Mendel Kessin - to see Parts 1 and 2 click on the KESSIN label below


Sunday, July 7, 2019

The Sound of the Earthquake: The Voice of the Earth


Everyone has heard about the massive earthquakes that hit Los Angeles on July 4 and subsequent even bigger aftershocks more recently.

The quakes came during the Parsha of Korach, where the ground opens up and swallows the evil ones.  Thankfully no-one died as a result of the quakes [or so I read, whether that is actually true or not I do not know], but the ground did open up in several places.

*************************

The Israeli city of Tzfat has suffered several devastating earthquakes. After one of them in the year 1839, the Chassidic Rabbi, Rebbe Avraham Dov of Avritch, said the following: "This catastrophe is a sign of the redemption. The Talmud in Sanhedrin alludes to the time when the Mashiach will redeem us. He will come when 'This gate shall collapse, be rebuilt, collapse, be rebuilt again and again, until there will not be enough time to rebuild it before the Mashiach comes.' The word gate in Hebrew is _sha'ar_. These same three (Hebrew) letters when reshuffled, spell the word _ra'ash_ (meaning earthquake)...May this be the last 'collapsing of the gate' mentioned in the Talmud, and may we soon see the final redemption in our time - Amen."  Source:  God and Earthquakes

***********************

"V'Chol Yisroel Asher Sevivoteihem Nasu L'Kolam" - all of Bnei Yisroel that were around them ran from the voice [Korach 16:34]. Which voices were they running from? The Mizrachi says it could not have been from the screaming of the people falling into the open earth or else all the people would run towards the voices to see this strange event, and not away from it. Instead he says it was from the booming noise of the earth opening up. 

The Tosfos Yom Tov says that the voice was that of the earth speaking and announcing that the sinners were swallowed alive and still living inside the bowels of the earth. He brings proof from the pasuk that says [Korach 16:30], "U'Phatzta HaAdama Et Piha" the earth opened its mouth. The word Phatzta implies that it opened its mouth to speak because the word that is used in this parsha to describe the opening of the ground is "VaTiftach HaAretz Et Piha". 

Maybe this would explain the mishna in Pirkei Avos [5:8] that says that one of the ten things created Erev Shabbos Bein HaShmashos was "Pi HaAretz" - the mouth of the earth that swallowed Korach. if it meant the crack in the earth then why would this be a special creation? The earth splitting was not a one time event and happens from time to time. Moreover, a crack is not a creation. Maybe it means the mouth of the earth that spoke, similar to another creation in this mishna, the mouth of the donkey of Bilam who spoke.

Friday, July 5, 2019

Gimel Tamuz and the World of Lies around Us

Art Robert Kremnizer


Seems I can't even leave the internet for a few days before someone posts something deliberately provocative designed to bring me back !   This is just a special blog post in honour of the yarzheit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe: Gimel Tamuz [3 Tamuz].  

I was spurred to post it due to something I just read on another blog which made me very upset.  

People who did not grow up with the Rebbe should really not make ridiculous statements about him.  I will not link to the ridiculousness, but I will post my own evidence to wipe out their nonsense.  

As it was the Lubavitcher Rebbe who gave me a bracha to blog, I cannot let lies and mistakes be published on the internet without standing up for the truth.

What did the Lubavitcher Rebbe say about Gog u Magog?

You can hear for yourself, in this video:




What did the Lubavitcher Rebbe say about the Holocaust?  Read it for yourself here at Chabad.

Did the Rebbe foresee another ''Moshiach'' 30 years ahead?  [hey it's not 30 years it's only 25 years but I am quoting the nonsense].....  No he did not,   I believe he WAS the Moshiach of that generation.  We did not merit to receive the Moshiach back then, and so here we all are today, 25 years on.   The Rebbe still appears in dreams - to give chizzuk to many people around the world, Jews and nonJews - just last week a close friend of mine whose mother passed away had a wonderful dream of the Rebbe.  

Whoever will be the Moshiach, will be as great a tzaddik as the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and may we see the revelation speedily in our days.


Monday, July 1, 2019

The Greatness of Torah Part 2

Rabbi Mendel Kesssin




To see Part 1 click on the KESSIN label below

Created at Twilight



"But if Hashem will create a phenomenon, and the earth opens its mouth and swallows them" [Korach 16:30]

Rashi cites the Gemara in Maseches Sanhedrin [110a]: "If the mouth of the earth is a creation from the six days of Creation," said Moshe Rabbeinu, "then fine. But if not, may Hashem create one!"

Why, asked the Chasam Sofer [R' Moshe Sofer], did Moshe Rabbeinu have any doubt as to whether or not the mouth of the earth had been created during the six days of Creation?  For Chazal state [Avot 5:9] explicitly:

Ten things were created at twilight on the eve of the first Sabbath:
the mouth of the earth
the mouth of the well
the mouth of the ass
the rainbow;
the manna;
Aaron's staff;
the Shamir, writing;
the inscription on the tablets of the Ten Commandments;
and the tablets themselves. 

How then could Moshe have overlooked this Mishnah?
One of the ten things enumerated by Chazal, answered the Chasam Sofer, was "Moshe's grave".  This grave, whose location is unknown, was also created at twilight of that erev Shabbos.

Hashem therefore concealed all ten things from Moshe so that he would not hear of his own passing.  Thus, Moshe had to request "If the mouth of the earth is a creation from the six days of Creation, then fine. But if not, may Hashem create one!"

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Prediction: Second Elections Will Fail -Gog u Magog by Tishrei


Rabbi Yekutiel Fish, an expert in Jewish mysticism who blogs in Hebrew under the title ‘Sod Chashmal,’ told Breaking Israel News that the final redemption is very close indeed. He also noted two clear signs that this is so, signs that will be seen in newspaper headlines.

 “According to our calculations, there will be a war by the end of the summer, certainly before the Jewish high-holidays,” Rabbi Fish said.

One of his calculations was based on a section of the Talmud.

The disciples of Rabbi Yossi the son of Kisma questioned him, asking when the son of David (the Messiah) will appear. And he answered: I am afraid you will request from me a sign as well. And they assured him that they would not. He then said to them: When this gate will fall, be rebuilt and fall again, be rebuilt again and fall again. And before it will be rebuilt for the third time the Messiah will appear. Tractate Sanhedrin (78a).

Rabbi Fish explained that the term שער (gate) refers to government or leadership, as seen in a verse in Deuteronomy.

You shall appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes (gates), in all the settlements that Hashem your God is giving you, and they shall govern the people with due justice. [ Shoftim 16:1]

Read the entire article at Breaking Israel News

Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Reincarnation and Souls


Art Carolee Clark

Questions and Answers from Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh of the Gal Einai Institute


Q: When people see a deceased relative in a dream, is it their own reflection or is it more objective? Is this real communication?

A: It depends. If the person is a tzaddik, it is a real communication. If it is a regular person, it can be something just within himself.


Q: Is there an ongoing subconscious dialogue with the deceased, such as family members? Is it a only in one direction or are the deceased aware, as well?

A: Certainly it is a two way street. Parents are always connected to their children whether they are alive or in the higher world. They are here, they look and take interest in everything that happens in the family. The Rebbe used to write that when the family member has a happy occasion, they know.


Q: If the soul reincarnates, it is still connected?

A: if the soul reincarnates in a different person, there is a distance, but there is still a connection. In physics, it is called entanglement. יי


Q: I was wondering if one’s family members in this life are specifically connected to one’s soul and were connected in previous gilgulim (and will be in the world to come) or if it is more “incidental” so to speak and the souls of one’s family change.

A: According to the Arizal, in the more recent generations, there could be less connection at the source between souls of family members. Certainly, though, there is a connection and a definite rectification in their relationship.


Q: Is there any usefulness in bringing out events in one’s previous life in order to rectify?

According to the Ba’al Shem Tov, it is not appropriate for an individual to try to discover his reincarnations. A person’s service of G-d must be done with temimut, simplicity. This is one of the basic foundations of Judaism. The more that a person connects to G-d on a level of simplicity, the more simcha, joy, he experiences. Joy is the inner trait of Binah, the beginning of the left line of the sefirot. Simplicity, temimut, is the inner trait of hod, which is the bottom of the left line. The joy of Binah spreads down to the simplicity of hod. This is the source of happiness in life. It is not important for a person to know specifically what level he is on, or what reincarnation he must rectify. If his focus is on the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot, the rectification process will take place without his specific awareness. This is a much more practical way for a person to function in his daily life, and his ultimate goals and rectifications will be accomplished with more joy.

The Wedding Singers


From the Persian Gulf.... to a Persian wedding.... in Los Angeles.

Australian brothers Mendel and Zalman Simons perform Chaim Shel Shalom backed by the YJP Acapella Group. Arranged and conducted by another Aussie, Aron Niasoff.

I just happen to think this is fabulous.


Tuesday, June 25, 2019

How Can Iran ''Destroy the World''?



Hat tip: Joe


We are all familiar with the Yalkut Shimoni prophecy of the King of Iran destroying the world:

A piece of rabbinic literature [written 800 years ago] known as the Yalkut Shimoni touches on many future scenarios both for the nation of Israel and for the world. In its section on the biblical Book of Isaiah and the prophecies contained therein, a rabbi cited by the Yalkut Shimoni states:

 “That the year the Messiah will arrive when all the nations of the world will antagonize each other and threaten with war. The king of Persia (Iran) antagonizes the King of Arabia (Saudi Arabia) with war. The King of Arabia goes to Edom (The Western Countries, headed by USA) for advice. Then the King of Persia destroys the world. And all the nations of the world begin to panic and are afraid, and Israel too is afraid as to how to defend from this. G-d then says to them “Do not fear for everything that I have done is for your benefit, to destroy the evil kingdom of Edom and eradicate evil from this world so that the Messiah can come, your time of redemption is now.”

But while most of us have thought this would be by way of nuclear weapons, there is a far easier way for them to do it.

As reported by Peter Hartcher in the Sydney Morning Herald today, all Iran needs to do is block oil exports through the Persian Gulf.  Australia, it seems, is the most at risk, having the least amount of oil stockpiled if such a blockage should take place.

The US itself is far less vulnerable - it now imports only a tenth of its oil needs - and could much better withstand disruption to its supply.


From Donald J. Trump ‏Twitter Verified account @realDonaldTrump 13h13 hours ago - China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, and many other countries likewise. So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation. All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been....

Opposition to Trump, Netanyahu's Election Failure and Iran's Fall


New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin - [may be some audio issues, trouble with microphone]


Monday, June 24, 2019

The Sins of the Father

Art: Marianne Caroselli

"He reckons the fathers' transgression to the sons' account, up to the third and fourth generations" [Shelach 14:18]

In explaining how children can be punished for the sins of their parents, R' Berechiah HaNakdan recounts the following parable:

A hungry wolf met a fox and desired to devour it.

"Why would you want to devour me?" asked the sly fox.  "I am thin and have few bones... go and devour a fat-fleshed human, and you will enjoy the feast."

"I cannot devour a human" replied the wolf, "as the verse states "Of every beast I will demand it" [Bereishis 9:5] - [this verse warns beasts against killing people - see Rashi there]

The fox cackled and said "You have nothing to fear, for it is not you who will receive the punishment, but your children, as the verse says "He reckons the fathers' transgression to the sons' account."

The wolf was persuaded by the fox, and it began to search for a human.  On the way, it fell into a trap laid by hunters.  The wolf began yelling for help.  When the fox heard the calls of the wolf, it carefully approached the wolf.

"You liar!" screamed the wolf.  "Did you not say that only my children would get punished for my sins?"

"Fool that you are" replied the fox, "You are also not getting punished on account of your own sins, but for the sins of your fathers."

"How could that be?" screamed the wolf....."Why would I suffer for what others have done?"

"And why did you set out to devour humans?" queried the fox.  "Was it not because you were counting on the fact that it would be your children who would suffer for your sins? Since you felt it was fair that your children bear your sins, it is only fitting that you bear your fathers' sins!"

A child, concluded R' Berechiah, is only punished for his father's sins if he is guilty of the same sins.  This is because an individual's punishment is meted out measure for measure. When someone emulates the sinful ways of his father, without concern that his children will receive punishment on account of his sins, he too gets punished for the sins of his fathers.

If this is true of the negative, how much more so is it true of the positive: when a righteous son follows in the ways of a righteous father, he will certainly be rewarded for the good deeds of his father!

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

Thursday, June 20, 2019

G-d in Nature



Signature of G-d in the Universe 
by Yosef Sebag, physicist, electrical engineer 

Did the Creator of the universe attach his signature in nature? Modern science has unlocked much of the mysteries of the universe. We have probed the atom, studied the cell, and peered out to the far edges of the observable universe. Surely if such a signature exists, we should have found it by now.

Read it at Daf Yomi Review

Out of Order



Teshuvah has the power to wipe away a person's past deeds, and transform him into a new person.

This is the inner reason why the account of the Second Pesach offering [Beha'alotecha 9:2] - which represents the concept of correcting and compensating for the mistakes of the past - was recorded out of chronological order, because teshuvah has the power to re-arrange a person's life ''out of chronological order'', wiping away his past mistakes.

Based on Likutei Sichos Lubavitcher Rebbe

Wednesday, June 19, 2019

The Greatness of Torah Part 1

New Rabbi Kessin shiur

The Greatness of Torah Part 1

Gog u Magog and the 400 Year Anniversary of the ''Kli Yakar''


Many of us believe that currents events involving Iran / US are the beginnings of the final war of Gog u Magog.


The following text is by R' Dan Stochel

The geographical location was actually revealed for the start of the War of Gog and Magog, according to the Great Torah Sage, Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim Zatz"l from Luntschitz, Poland - a major Torah commentator known as the "Kli Yakar" who was niftar [passed away] in 1619.

In his holy book "Kli Paz," meaning "Vessel of Pure Gold" he wrote that the war of Gog and Magog will be centered around the area he calls: "the Hormuz."

Kli Paz was also written by another major mekubal - Kli Yakar the Gaon Aran Tzuba HaRav Shmuel Lanaiado from Venice. He also lived almost 400 years ago 1603-1657. He was a chaver of HaRav Chayim Vital and HaRav Galanti and the Holy Alshich in the Arizal's time. He saw these events and wrote them down in his commentary on Isaiah chapter 34.

As Chief Rabbi in Israel over 400 years ago, he wrote, ''there will be a great sacrifice in Basra'' quoting Isaiah chapter 34:1-13 about the last days during which the war of Gog and Magog should occur in a place nearby Basra named "Hormuz."

And the Navi Isaiah's 34:1-12, 63:1-6 foresaw "A sacrifice to Hashem is in Basra and it is a great slaughtering in the land of Edom" meaning to say that this will occur 'from above and descend,' many huge "Re'amim" roaming warrior-like beasts (aircraft/drones) and with them "Abirim" like powerful healthy bulls --(aircraft carriers) since the day of vengeance is for G-d and it is very near the completion of years of Hashem defending-protecting, fighting for Zion.

And the statement, ''the animals will descend with them'' means there will be many kings among the remaining nations whom will join with Edom (America) to help him (Trump) facilitate this slaughtering/sacrifice to Hashem in Basra - a country some distance from Bavel (modern-day Iraq) whose name is Basra and it is adjacent to Ashur (Syria) and Persia (Iran) in between the boundary of the land of Edom - called "Hormuz" - and today (Kli Yakar's time) it is under the rulership of Yishmael... "blessed is the one who knows the truth of these matters.״

However, it will be there in (the straits of) Hormuz where will be the Final War in the End of Days.

וְהֶרְאוּנִי דָּבָר מַבְהִיל בְּסֵפֶר 'כְּלִי פָּז' מִבַּעַל הַ'כְּלִי יָקָר' שֶׁהָיָה רֹאשׁ הָרַבָּנִים בְּאֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְנֵי כְּאַרְבַּע מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה (ישעי' לד) שֶׁהַ"זֶבַח לַה' בְּבָצְרָה" שֶׁיִּהְיֶה בְּמִלְחֶמֶת גּוֹג וּמָגוֹג יִתְרַחֵשׁ בְּמָקוֹם עַל יַד בַּצְרָה שֶׁשְּׁמוֹ הוּרְמוּז. וְנָבִיא אֶת דְּבָרָיו "כִּי זֶבַח לַה' בְּבָצְרָה וְטֶבַח גָּדוֹל בְּאֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם, וְיָרְדוּ רְאֵמִים עִמָּם וּפָרִים עִם אַבִּירִים וְגוֹ', כִּי יוֹם נָקָם לַה' שְׁנַת שִׁלּוּמִים לְרִיב צִיּוֹן". וְאָמַר "וְיָרְדוּ רְאֵמִים עִמָּם וְכוּ'', לְהַגִּיד שֶׁהַרְבֵּה מְלָכִים מִשַּׁאר הָאֻמּוֹת יִתְחַבְּרוּ עִם אֱדוֹם לְעָזְרָם. "כִּי זֶבַח לַה' בְּבָצְרָה", מְדִינָה יֵשׁ רָחוֹק מִבָּבֶל שְׁמָהּ בָּצְרָה, וְהִיא בֵּין גְּבוּל אֲשׁוּר וּפָרַס וּבֵין גְּבוּל אֶרֶץ אֱדוֹם, הוּרְמוּז, וְהִיא הַיּוֹם תַּחַת מֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיִּשְׁמָעֵאלִים. וּבָרוּךְ הַיּוֹדֵעַ אֲמִתָּתָם שֶׁל דְּבָרִים, אוּלַי יִהְיֶה דֶּרֶךְ שָׁם הַמִּלְחָמָה בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים

Furthermore, during the Brit Bein Habitarim Hashem guaranteed to Avraham that his descendants would be freed from exile after 400 years!

This took place when Avraham was over 70 years old as is the present age of medinat Yisroel.

Moreover, when the current events with Iran's series of acts of terror and then openly blowing up 4 oil tankers (Re'amim) the latest two in the straits of Hormuz for all the world to see -- that intriguingly occurred exactly this year - the 400th year anniversary of the Kli Yakar's petirah in 1619!

It's no coincidence then that, Avraham and Lihavdil the Medinah, were both born in 1948 a time when what I call the "pre-redemption" process began.

Kli Yakar


Thursday, June 13, 2019

Two Moshiach Lectures


Two shiurim from Rabbi Shimon Kessin [brother of Rabbi Mendel Kessin] - thank you Leah for the links, for some reason these did not come up on my feed even though I am subscribed.

Purifying the Messiah




Messiah and Torah


Wednesday, June 12, 2019

The Tainted Lineage of Moshiach


Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz: The Tainted Lineage of Moshiach: Goodness in the Guise of Impropriety



A Collective Responsibility

"A man or woman who commits any of man's sins.... they shall confess their sin.... he shall make restitution for his guilt."   [Naso 5:6,7]

One erev Yom Kippur, R' Moshe Chagiz delivered a derashah in which he said "In Parshas Naso it states: "A man or woman... they shall confess... he shall make restitution for his guilt". The verse begins in the singular, switches to the plural, and then concludes by reverting to the singular. This is to teach us that all Jews form one nation and we are all responsible for one another.

"They shall confess" - on Yom Kippur, an individual is not only required to confess his own sins, but even the sins of his fellow Jew.

To what can this be compared? To a group of individuals who set sail together on a large and magnificent ship. Each one of the passengers received his own quarters for the duration of the trip.

When they had reached the very heart of the sea, one of the passengers began to drill a hole in the wall of the ship.

"What are you doing?" yelled his friends. "You are going to sink the ship!"

"Why is this any concern of yours?" he asked them. "I am making a hole in my quarters, not yours."

"All Jews are responsible for one another" concluded R' Chagiz. "If one Jew sins, the entire Jewish nation is held accountable."

"It is incumbent upon every Jew to keep this great responsibility in mind."

[written by Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein]



If you can understand the above words, you should also be able to understand the entire Torah, which can be summed up in these words from Hillel: "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor: that is the whole Torah while the rest is commentary".

It sounds so simple, and yet so many have so much trouble with it. It seems to be the hardest thing of all for so many Jews.

If you call yourself a "Torah-observant Jew", but you still treat others badly, then I would like to suggest to you that you are not what you claim to be. What is the point of doing all the mitzvos if you cannot even achieve the basic criteria for a "Torah Observant Jew" ?

One of the first questions we are asked upon death is "were you honest in business" - and the answer to that question can tell us a great deal about how we treated others. If you knowingly cheated someone, overcharged him or short-changed him, you are treating him with the utmost disrespect. You are harming him financially, you have lied to him, you have deceived him. You have behaved in a manner totally contrary to Torah - because it can only be assumed that you would not treat yourself that way, and yet you find it okay to do so to others. If you sincerely did not do to others what is hateful to you, you would never even consider cheating in business affairs.

Monday, June 10, 2019

A Sign Predicted 40 Years Ago



Israeli site Sod1820 is reporting that 40 years ago, Rabbi Kadouri zt''l predicted that before the coming of Moshiach, there will be an election and they will not be able to form a government.


Friday, June 7, 2019

The Shavuot Departure of the Baal Shem Tov


[Shavuot is the Yarzheit of the Baal Shem Tov]

Biographical note: Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer [18 Elul 1698-6 Sivan 1760] - the Baal Shem Tov ["master of the good Name"] - a unique and seminal figure in Jewish history, revealed the Chassidic movement and his own identity as an exceptionally holy person, on his 36th birthday, 18 Elul 1734. He wrote no books, although many claim to contain his teachings. One available in English is the excellent annotated translation of Tzava'at Harivash, published by Kehot.

* * *

Following the revelation of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, the Baal Shem Tov, on 18 Elul 1734, as a great Jewish leader and mystic, many of the Jewish community, especially in Poland, became followers of the Chassidic path of Judaism. Twenty-six years later, the time arrived all too soon for the Baal Shem Tov to pass on to the next world.

For Passover 1760, Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, came to visit his Master, the Baal Shem Tov. On the afternoon preceding the festival, Seventh Day of Passover, Rabbi Pinchas was feeling weak and decided not to go to the mikveh, as was his custom.

The next day during his morning prayers, he had a premonition that the Baal Shem Tov would soon pass away. Rabbi Pinchas began to pray more intensely, begging that the Heavenly decree against the Baal Shem Tov be lifted. But he felt that he was unable to affect the decree and started to deeply regret that he had not gone to the mikveh before the holiday.

Interestingly, after morning prayers, the Baal Shem Tov asked Rabbi Pinchas if he had gone to the mikveh on the previous afternoon. When he answered he had not, the Baal Shem Tov replied, "It's too late to correct that now."

* * *

After Passover, the Baal Shem Tov fell ill. However, he did not tell his followers and continued to pray before the ark. Whoever among his close followers might have been able to effect changes with their prayers, he sent on missions to other communities. Rabbi Pinchas, knowing of the Heavenly decree against the Baal Shem Tov, did not return to his home but stayed on in Medzibuz.

Previously, on the eve of Shabbat Hagadol, the Sabbath preceding Passover, the Baal Shem Tov had sat down to write a last will and testament addressed to his disciples. He concluded it with the words, "I write this today because last night my [heavenly] master and teacher [Ahiya of Shilo-a biblical prophet,] revealed to me that this is my last eve of Shabbat Hagadol…."

Seven and one half weeks later, on the eve of Shavuot, Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov called his personal scribe, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh, and dictated to him some final revisions and amendments to an earlier, detailed will, ordering among other things that all his books and manuscripts be given unto "my disciple and peer, the Prince of Torah, Rabbi Dov Ber [the Magid of Mezritch,] son of Rabbi Abraham, except for all the books in Yiddish which belong to my G-d fearing daughter Adele."

He reaffirmed article 18 of his original will to the effect that his copies of "the commentaries of Gersonides on the bible, and the book Neveh Shalom [a 15th century philosophical-homiletical work, with Kabbalistic overtones composed by Rabbi Abraham Shalom] both with my marginal notes and annotations, are to be given unto my disciple, dear to me like a son, the Pillar of fire, Rabbi Jacob Joseph Hacohen [of Polnoy]."

* * *

On Tuesday evening, the [first] night of Shavuot, all of the followers of the Baal Shem Tov gathered with him to spend the night in Torah study, as is the custom. The Baal Shem Tov expounded on the Torah portion of the week and the meaning of Shavuot.

In the morning, he sent for his closest followers to gather in his room. He told Rabbi Leib Kessler and several others to arrange for his burial. Because they were members of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society) and were knowledgeable in signs of illness, he showed them the signs on his body and explained how the soul emanates from each part. Then, he told them to gather a minyan to pray with him. Before they began, he said, "Soon I shall be with the Holy One, blessed be He."

After the prayers, Rabbi Nachman of Horodenka went to the Study Hall to pray for his Master. Later, the Baal Shem Tov said, "He petitions in vain. Maybe if he could have entered in the Heavenly gate where I was accustomed to enter, his prayers would have helped."

When the shammesh (attendant) of the Baal Shem Tov entered his master's room, he heard the Baal Shem Tov saying, "I grant you these two hours. Do not torture me."

The asked, "Rebbe, who are you talking to?"

The Baal Shem Tov answered, "Don't you see the Angel of Death? Before, he always ran from me. Now that he has been given control over me, he stands straighter and laughs at me."

Later, during the festival day meal, he asked his attendant to put mead in a large glass. Instead, the shammesh put it in a small glass. The Baal Shem Tov remarked wryly, "'Man has no power on the day of death,' even my attendant does not obey me."

After the meal, many of the town's people, who did not know of the Baal Shem Tov's condition, came to see him. As always, he delivered a discourse of Torah to them.

All of his close disciples were sitting in the room of the Baal Shem Tov while he lay in his bed. He gave them a sign. "My friends, when I leave this world, both clocks in this room will stop."

He asked for a large cup of water and a basin to be brought to him. While he was washing his hands, His followers saw the hands of the big clock stop. They stood in front of it so that the Baal Shem wouldn't see that it had stopped.

He said to them, "My friends, I am not concerned for myself because l know that when I leave through the door of this world, I'll immediately enter into the door of the next world."

The Baal Shem Tov then sat up in his bed and told them to gather around him. He spoke words of Torah, explaining about the column upon which one ascends from Lower Paradise to Upper Paradise, and how this was so in each of the Four Worlds. Then he described the World of Souls, and expounded the order of worship. He instructed them to say with him, "Let the pleasantness of the L-rd our G-d be upon us" [Psalms 90:17].

He lay down and sat up several times. Meanwhile he concentrated on mystical kavanot (intentions) until they could not distinguish the syllables of his speech.

Finally he lay down and told them to cover him with a sheet. Then he began to tremble as when he said the nineteen blessings of the Amida prayer. Slowly he became quiet.

They saw that the small clock had stopped. They waited for a long time but he didn't move. Then they put a feather under his nose to detect his breathing, whereupon they finally had to accept that he had passed away.

A Rabbi Jacob of Medzibuz, reported that Rabbi Leib Kessler of the Burial Society saw the departure of his soul as a blue flame rising.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Source: Adapted by Yerachmiel Tilles from the rendition of Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn. Patent Attorney) on //besht.com, and supplemented from other written and oral sources, mainly "The Great Maggid" by J. I. Schochet (Kehot).  Ascent of Safed


Wednesday, June 5, 2019

The Failed Israeli Elections

New Rabbi Kessin lectures

The failed Israeli election [very short]





The Origin of Jews and Non Jews Part 4




To see earlier videos click on the KESSIN label below

You Are The Key !


This is Part Two of Miryam Swerlow's short life message from "Coffee with Miryam''.  Part one can be found here.


Monday, June 3, 2019

Shelah HaKadosh: Prayer for Your Children


A special prayer composed by the Shelah HaKadosh to express the prayers of parents on behalf of their children should be recited today Monday June 3 this year - erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan - the optimal time for parents to recite this prayer [but it may be recited anytime]. The holy Shlah Hakadosh left Europe in the 17th century and made his home in Eretz Yisrael, becoming chief Rabbi of Jerusalem.

The Artscroll website states:

"All parents want the best for their children — that they should be good and upright, that they have everything they need for a fruitful, joyous life.

We recite the prayer anytime but especially on the day before Rosh Chodesh Sivan, for that is the month when God gave us the Torah, and when the Jewish people began to be called His Children. On that day, [the Shelah Hakadosh] writes, fathers and mothers should give charity to the poor and repent. They should even fast, if they are able to."

Sunday, June 2, 2019

No Common Ground

Art Dima Dmitriev

Two people in Vilna had an argument that required a Din Torah. The agreed to choose the Dayanim through Borerus, where each one chose one Dayan and the two Dayanim would choose the third. One side chose the Vilna Gaon. The other side chose someone who wasn't a Ben Torah and the Vilna Gaon said he would not hear the case together with this other Dayan. He said that the Daas of a Ba'al HaBayis is completely different from Daas Torah and they would never see things eye to eye. 

When the Vilna Gaon was asked where his basis for this was in the Torah, he said that it can be found in Parshas Bamidbar. When discussing the encampment of the Shevatim, the Torah says each Degel had three Shevatim under it. By the last Shevet in each group the pasuk say's "U'Mateh," and the Shevet... By Zevulun who was last in the Degel of Yehuda, right after Yisachar, it says [Bamidbar 2:7] "Mateh," without the letter "Vav".

The Vilna Gaon explains that the letter Vav connects what is written previously with what the Torah is saying now. Since Yisachar learned Torah, and Zevulun were the businessmen, their outlook was always different and there was no common ground between the two. Therefore, the connecting "Vav" was left out.

Source: Revach.net

Friday, May 31, 2019

We're All in this Together


For those readers who don't understand the way Chabad chassidus operates, please watch this video and you will understand.  Let's all stop putting labels on different kinds of Jews, start accepting all Jews regardless of their lifestyles and religious choices.  Open your heart and open your mind.  We are all one, let's remember that.

A surreal story about the way Chabad looks at the world and how that saved someone's life.
Rabbi Moshe Bryski



Watch on TorahCafé.com!