What Really Happened to Rashbi?

Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

Lag b'Omer commemorates the life and teachings of the second-century sage "Rashbi", Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. His discourses form the core of the Zohar, the "textbook" of Jewish mysticism. In this advanced-level shiur, we explore the last Tanakh verse that Rashbi expounded upon and how he passed away, as well as explain the custom of lighting a bonfire on Lag b'Omer and the mysticial meaning of fire.

"Where is the Messiah?"

 

The tzaddik Rabbi Zafarani in an exciting meeting with the Yanuka - Where is the Messiah?

English subtitles

The 5 Existential Levels of Judaism

 Rabbi Mendel Kessin, new shiur

How to Elevate Self-Esteem and Eliminate Immaturity

Rabbi Shimon Kessin = at the start, he says this is probably the most powerful shiur he will ever have given.

TIkkun for an Evil Eye



Art: Linda Boucher

"He who possesses a beneficient eye shall be blessed." [Proverbs 22:9]

There is a “beneficient eye” and an “evil eye”. Both terms have been used for several millennia and are found in the Talmud as indicators of the measure of a man.

Abraham was the paradigm of one who possesses a “beneficient eye”. He always looked for good in others, and felt neither jealousy of, nor hatred for, his fellow man. Bilaam, on the other hand, epitomized the possessor of an “evil eye” – one who always looks for fault or is jealous of another’s possessions or status.

The Talmud, when referring to the evil eye, credits it with almost mystical powers. Looking at another’s possessions with jealousy in your eyes can cause evil to befall that person. For this reason Talmudic law forbids us to build our homes too close to that of our neighbours. Privacy is very important, lest we look upon our neighbours’ possessions with a covetous eye. Neighbours should maintain a reasonable distance between one another, or, at the very least, homes should be built with a separation and a space between them.

Having an “evil eye” is usually understood as looking at another person with the intent that evil should befall him. It also includes coveting another’s possessions, being annoyed at his success (as if his success somehow impinges on our ability to succeed in life), pettiness and so on.

Rebbe Nachman teaches that an evil eye leads to an increased breathing rate. Somehow, jealousy and rage at another’s success causes one to draw breath at an accelerated pace.The Talmud therefore teaches “The cup of benediction at the conclusion of a meal should be given to one with a good eye. It is thus written (Proverbs 22:9) “He who possesses a beneficient eye shall be blessed.” Do not only read “shall be blessed” but shall bless….”

Conversely, one should beware of people with stingy and jealous eyes, as King Solomon cautions (Proverbs 23:6) “Do not break bread with [one who possesses] an evil eye”.

It is not merely a matter of superstition. As much as a good eye blesses, an evil eye takes. The source of the power of the evil eye is greed. When one looks upon another's possessions with greed, and the other is in any way guilty of mis-using his money, or is otherwise unworthy of the wealth he possesses, he might lose his possessions, G-d forbid. Clearly the way we look upon another's possessions can arouse Divine judgment against him. In the same vein, when we view the possessions of others generously, we can with a mere look of our eyes, bring blessing upon them.

When we realise that the eyes are the "windows to the mind" the significance of "evil eye" increases.

Rebbe Nachman taught: Memory depends upon the eyes, as in (Exodus 13:9) "[the tefillin shall be as] a remembrance between your eyes". In order to guard one's memory, one must first guard oneself from an evil eye - from evil thoughts about others, from jealousy, and from all forms of negativity. The evil eye can cause harm not only to the one being focused upon, but also to the one who is focusing, to an even greater degree. Conversely, maintaining an evil eye goes hand in hand with forgetfulness."

Yet we needn't live in constant fear of the evil eye, of others who may wish us harm. Rebbe Nachman teaches that if we feel incapable of guarding ourselves against an evil eye, then we should flee from it. However, if we can come to understand the essence of the evil eye, our actions can be far more effective: we can rectify it.

For example, a person might have an evil eye against another's position in life. This evil eye stems from the fallen attribute of Malkhut (kingship) which, when blemished, leads to low self-esteem and the need to put others down in order to get ahead. To correct one's own fallen Malkhut, one should strive to elevate G-d's Malkhut - by learning Torah or by otherwise disseminating G-d's Name in the world. In this way, one demonstrates one's allegiance to G-d, rather than to one's own need for self-aggrandizement. This serves to rectify the evil eye of the fallen Malkhut at its root.

Source: "Anatomy of the Soul" - Chaim Kramer - from the writings of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov

When you invite jealousy, you're inviting negative energy from someone else. For this insensitivity or transgression on your part, you may incur a Divine consequence of losing some of your blessing. [If you give a child a toy and he hits his little brother with it, you might take the toy away. He's not using it the way you intended.]

Another spiritual rule that the kabbalists describe, explains the evil eye like this:

When someone stares at your blessing and thinks, "Why should so-and-so have that brand new Hummer? He's not so righteous. Why is God rewarding him?", it's like a complaint to Heaven, and an accusation that gets registered. The heavenly court then examines you and your blessing to determine if you in fact deserve it. If you don't, your blessing may be damaged or lost.

Of course, the accuser doesn't get off scott free, either, because then the heavenly court decides to investigate the accuser. "Who is this that comes to judge My child?" God asks.

So it's always a bad idea to give someone else an evil eye. And it's a bad idea to expose yourself to it, too.

Romania: The Black Sea Turns Red

On 25 April this year,  and the previous week, the sea became red.  They don't know why, but they think it was from the "iron rich clay" which suddenly caused the effect.

Meanwhile I'll just go with this explanation:

Every time Nibiru crosses in front of the Earth, it plants our entire planet (land and seas) with millions of tons of fine red dust of Iron Oxide. As time goes by, the Iron Oxide builds up sediment, and this is covered over by new layers of sedimentation that has been deposited on top. And these days, the ground in many parts has moved. It is possible that the movement of the ground left a cloak of Iron Oxide exposed, that would have come in contact with water and been dragged away.

Story from Romanian News here

Wonders in the Heavens #10

Here are three short videos of meteors falling from the sky.... at least I think that's what they are, I don't really know.

The moon with a rainbow halo

Now here is a photo of the sun, just before the eclipse a few weeks ago.  As you can see, there is a blue circle around the sun.  That is a giant planet or dwarf star or something. 

And here is a photo of the moon with that same blue around it, reflecting from the sun shining on it. 

The Secret of Ahavas Yisroel

 Rabbi Mendel Kessin, new shiur

The Yanuka answers some Important Questions

 English sub-titles.

Recent Plagues : Time to Wake Up !

I couldn't resist sharing this one.  It's showing the hail in Argentina, [there is giant hail all over the world lately] then the darkness that came over Istanbul Turkey [caused by a planet 's cloud covering the sun] and then the locusts or roaches that descended in Mecca.  

The video is in Hebrew and it's telling Israel to WAKE UP !  We are getting all the plagues, just like in Mitzrayim, except they are happening all over the world.  The Geula is coming.

And a few more videos... 

Darkness

Hail

Weird phenomenon in desert in Oman

Locusts/roaches in Mecca - turn the sound off if you don't want to listen to music during the Omer

Wonders in the Heavens #9

Here are some photos of a very recognisable curved shelf cloud, it belongs to the atmosphere of a planet known as Napisiti. I don't know if that is the planet's actual name, but it is the name being used and I will stick to it.  It is part of the Nibiru system.

As you can see from the first photo, the clouds are tilted, and it looks like a hot-air baloon taking off. You can see the spherical shape of the planet.

This first video shows two suns.

The following three videos show Napisiti in action, some clouds from its atmosphere, and a giant rainbow halo around the sun.  

Clouds from another planet's atmosphere. As they pan out you can actually see that it is a spherical shape, a straight line of clouds and then it goes up like a sphere where we can't see.  That's how you know they are the clouds of another planet.  Sometimes they fill the entire sky, that's how close this system is to us.  

Rainbow halo around the sun.

Wonders in the Heavens #8

 

This is not a painting, it is actual clouds from the atmosphere of another planet.

These are ion discharges from another planet.

Comments are disabled, if you don't like these photos, move along and look at something else.

Motivation

Text by Rabbi Yisroel Bronstein

''Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon's two sons'' [Acharei 1:1]

Why, asks Rashi, does the verse state ''Hashem spoke to Moshe after the death of Aharon's two sons''? Why not simply say ''Hashem spoke to Moshe''?

To answer the question, Rashi quotes R' Elazar ben Azaryah's parable:  A sick man called for a doctor.  The doctor instructed him ''Do not eat cold food, and do not lie in a damp chilly place.''

Then a second doctor came and told the man ''Do not eat cold food, and do not lie in a damp chilly place, so that you will not die like so-and-so did.''

By alluding to somebody who died as a result of not taking these precautions, the second doctor was more successful than the first in rousing the man to take care of himself.

This is why, explains Rashi, the verse states ''after the death of Aharon's two sons''.  It was in order to give Aharon an extra measure of motivation to keep the laws enumerated in this portion.

Did the Talmud Predict Today's Crisis in Israel?

 Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

Within a passage of Messianic prophecies, the Talmud speaks of a future struggle in Israel involving lawmakers and judges. In this class, we explore a handful of lesser-known ancient Biblical and Talmudic prophecies that have been fulfilled in our days, and whether the current crisis in Israel was actually foreseen by the ancient Jewish Sages millennia ago. 

Also discussed: the current thaw in Arab-Iranian relations, and what this might mean in the context of End of Days events as described in ancient texts, as well as why God gave control of the Holy Land to the Muslims specifically for 1300 years. And, what is special about the year 1909?

The Prohibition of Eating Blood

Parshat Acharei 17:10-12

Why is the prohibition of eating blood so severe that it causes G-d to ''make Himself free'' from all his affairs, and deal with the guilty person?  And why does Rashi not address this obvious question?

Rashi did not need to explain why the prohibition of eating blood is so severe, because the Torah states the reason explicitly: ''Because the soul of [every creature's] body [depends on its] blood''.

Furthermore, the reader will remember that, after the Flood, G-d told Noach: ''Every moving thing that lives shall be yours to eat.  Like the green vegetation [which was all that man could eat before] I have [now] given you everything'' [Noach 9:3].  Rashi [ibid] comments:  ''I did not permit Adam, the first man, to eat meat, but only vegetation.  But, for you, like the green vegetation which I allowed Adam [before], I have [now] given you everything''.

Why did G-d forbid Adam to eat meat and then permit it to Noach?

Rashi did not explain this matter as he held it to be self-evident.  G-d forbade Adam to take the soul from a living creature merely for the sake of eating it.  But after the Flood, there was a weakening of the physical makeup of man requiring the additional nutritional value of meat, and therefore G-d permitted man to eat meat.

Nevertheless, even after G-d permitted man to eat meat, He imposed certain restrictions.  To non-Jews He prohibited eating meat which had been detached from a living animal [Noach 9:4] and to Jews he also prohibited the consumption of the animal's blood.  For while a dispensation had been granted to eat meat, it was nevertheless not absolute.  So, while it became necessary [for nutritional reasons] to allow man to eat the flesh of the animal, it remained prohibited to eat its blood, which contains the very life and soul of an animal.

Based on Sichos Shabbos Parshas Acharei 5746 - Lubavitcher Rebbe

The Yanuka: Suffering for the Beit HaMikdash

"The body must be crushed.... therefore there is so much suffering today"

The Yanuka, Hebrew with English sub-titles.  Video only 2.35 mins.

The Wars of Gog and Magog and Chevlei Mashiach - Zechariah Chapter 12

 Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz 

 Delivered at the OU Israel Center, April 16, 2023

The Secret Behind Trump's Incessant Persecution

[Posted motzei Shabbat.]

New Rabbi Kessin shiur: 

Rabbi Kessin updates us on America and Israel, and the spiritual reasons behind current events.

Darach Kochav M'Yaakov: The Path of the Star of Jacob

Thank you CS for this video.

This is Rabbi Yuval Ovadia [7 mins], and although it is in Hebrew, you can still see what he's showing and some of it has subtitles .....there is video of a second sun and a planet next to the sun.   There is also a  giant planet BEHIND our sun, which you can see at 2:59 in the video.... the sun is much bigger than usual and it has huge object behind it.   At 5:03 you can see the fiery comet Kochav Yaakov.

The Yanuka: Mitzvot and the Love of Hashem

 Hebrew with English subtitles