The Secret of Pain: Why My Soul Chose ABUSE

Rabbi Y. Y. Jacobson

Your soul is so pure, and it said "I'm gonna go into this place -  and in order to go into this place, I can't remain in heaven. 

It's not only I have to go down, I have to become entangled = I have to become enmeshed. 

I have to allow myself  to become, so to speak, a victim - in order to be able to be inside that space."

And at that moment you have to know that the soul itself was never contaminated, never!  

It can't be.

But there are Souls that sign up for this journey and it seems like an incredibly painful journey -

because it is.

But really what's happening here is that these are the souls that destroy the impurity in the world, and the impurity in the community, and the impurity on the planet.

These are the souls.

It's a lot of courage.

You have to give yourself credit.

The neshama [soul] signed up for this.

People can suffer their whole life because of things that happened [to them], and they don't give themselves credit. 

Your neshama said "Ribono shel Olam.... I'll go there"

The tragedy is that you don't know you signed up for it and you blame yourself and you think you're evil.

But the truth is the exact opposite.

Understanding the Talmud

 Rabbi Efraim Palvanov

What is the true origin and purpose of the Talmud? How do we properly understand some of its seemingly bizarre statements? Find out as we explore the most misunderstood ancient religious text in the world.

Family FIrst

"If your brother becomes poor" [Behar 25:25]

R' Avraham Yehoshua Heschel, the Rebbe of Kapishnitz, once visited the home of one of his chassidim who was known to be wealthy.  The Rebbe knocked on the door and waited for a response.

The chassid opened his door, and was taken aback by the sight of the holy Rebbe standing at his doorstep.  "Why did the Rebbe have to trouble himself to come to my home?" asked the wealthy man. "The Rebbe could have summoned me and I would have come at once."

"It is I who needs you" answered the Rebbe, "and this is why I have come."

"How can I be of assistance?" asked the man.

"I know of a certain family" replied the Rebbe, "that is in desperate need of help.  The husband is without work, the wife takes care of the young children, and, to add to their hardship, they have a son who is ill and requires special medical attention.   Their expenses are well beyond their means."

"But Rebbe" said the wealthy man, "did this necessitate you having to exert yourself by travelling to my home?  Why did the Rebbe not simply send me a messenger, and I would have gladly given whatever sum of money that was needed!"

"This particular request is of great importance to me" responded the Rebbe.  "It was therefore essential that I come to your home personally."

"I am prepared to give as much money as necessary!" exclaimed the man. "To whom shall I send this money?"

"Send the money" answered the Rebbe, "to your brother."

Source: Rabbi Yisrael Bronstein

The Deeper Meaning of Lag B'Omer

 New shiur from Rabbi Mendel Kessin

Wonders in the Heavens #12

I have a random collection here.

First up, because it is Lag b'Omer, and Hashem gave us a giant rainbow over Bondi Beach yesterday afternoon about half an hour before Lag b'Omer began. [I didn't take the photo]

This video shows the sun with the giant halo

This video shows the moon and another shining object, which could be another planet or something.

Here we have a white UFO.

A very strange bell shape appears in this lightning. I think it is just a cloud, but these days who knows?

Here is that strange shape again, this time in daylight. It is a cloud, but not the kind of cloud we are used to seeing.

Here is a photo from the FAA camera, Larsen Bay Alaska, 22 April 2023. It's a planet!

Moshiach's Rainbow and Lag b"Omer

Lag b'Omer is the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer, and we celebrate with bonfires and music.

It is also the yarzheit of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai. [18 Iyar]

This year it is tonight [Monday] going into Tuesday.

Why is Lag b’Omer celebrated with bonfires and bows and arrows?

by Rabbi Yossi Marcus

The bonfires celebrate the immense light that was brought into the world by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai [who passed away on Lag b’Omer], especially on the day of his passing.

The bow commemorates the fact that during Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime no rainbow was ever seen. [Bereishit Rabbah 35:2] Note: This was a good thing because the rainbow appears when the earth deserves punishment. The first time a rainbow appeared was after Noah’s flood, when G-d said that He will no longer destroy the world, rather He would send a sign: the rainbow. During Rabbi Shimon’s lifetime, the world was filled with merit because of him and therefore never saw a rainbow. [Genesis 9:8-17 and Rashi there]

There is a Kabbalistic tradition that on Lag b’Omer a rainbow will appear in a different color, which will symbolize the arrival of the Messianic age [Bnei Yissaschar]

Wonders in the Heavens #11

This is a photo of the moon in Manitoba, Canada, taken two nights ago by Brent McKean.

I don't think any more words are needed here.

King Charles III and the No. 40

As we all know, the coronation of King Charles III took place yesterday 6 May 2023.

He is the 40th British Monarch to be crowned.

40 is a famous number of completion.  Maybe this is the final British Monarch.....

The famous Nostradamus, who managed to accurately predict the date of death of Queen Elizabeth II, also said that the new King would abdicate his throne early, and that a surprise new King would take his place.  

Hmmmm.... I wonder if King Charles III will need to step down to make way for the King Moshiach.

The following text is from Aish.com

The number 40 has great significance throughout the Torah and the Talmud. The number 40 represents transition or change; the concept of renewal; a new beginning. The number 40 has the power to lift a spiritual state. 

Consider: 

When a person becomes ritually impure, he must immerse in a ritual bath, a mikveh. The Talmud tells us that a mikveh must be filled with 40 se'ahs (a measure of water). Immersion in a mikveh is the consummate Jewish symbol of spiritual renewal. 

It is no accident that in the story of Noah, the rain poured for 40 days, and submerged the world in water. Just as a person leaves a mikveh pure, so too when the waters of the flood subsided, the world was purified from the licentiousness which had corrupted it in the days of Noah. 

Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and came down with the stone tablets. The Jews arrived at Mt. Sinai as a nation of Egyptian slaves, but after 40 days they were transformed into God's nation. 

According to the Talmud, it takes 40 days for an embryo to be formed in its mother's womb. 

In Kabbalah, 40 represents the four sides of the world, each side containing the ten Sefirot (esoteric powers). 

When a rabbinical court finds someone guilty of a crime, the punishment is sometimes lashes, prescribed in the Torah as "forty less one." The purpose is to bring the offender to a point of change, transition and atonement. 

There are 40 days between the first day of Elul, when we begin to blow the Shofar to prepare for Rosh Hashana, until Yom Kippur, the end of the annual teshuva (repentance) period. These 40 days are the most auspicious time for personal growth and renewal. 

According to the Talmud [Avot 5:26], at age 40 a person transitions from one level of wisdom to the next. He reaches the level of binah - the deeper insight of understanding one matter from another. After Moses led the Jewish people for 40 years in the wilderness, he told them: "God has not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, until this day" [Deut. 29:3-4]. From here we see that it took the Jewish people 40 years before reaching a full level of understanding.

The Great Rain Remedy

The famous 18th Century Hasidic Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz, a student of the Baal Shem Tov, writes in his book Nofet Tzufim:

"Rain which falls after the Jewish holiday of Pesach until the holiday of Shavuot constitutes a great remedy for all illness and disease. There's no medicine like it to be found in any pharmacy.

One must stand in the rain, expose his head to the rain, and also open his mouth to let the rain fall on the right side of his mouth."  [seemingly, tilt your head back and to the right]

Why Can't a Convert Marry a Kohen?

by Rabbi Aron Moss

I am a convert to Judaism and I'm very proud of it. I have always felt totally welcomed by the community and in no way an outsider. But I am deeply bothered by the law that says a convert is not allowed to marry a Kohen. If I am a fully fledged Jew like any other, why am I not good enough to marry into the priestly tribe? 

Answer: A convert can marry a king. A convert can marry a prophet. A convert can even marry a rabbi, the highest echelon of Jewish society (if you ask me). So it makes no sense to say that a convert can't marry a Kohen because they are second class citizens. There must be some other reason. 

When the Torah forbids a marriage, it is never because one party is not good enough for the other. It is because the parties are not matched to each other. They are simply not soulmates. In the case of the Kohen and the convert, their soul dynamics clash, their spiritual energies contradict, and so they can't marry. 

The holiness of a Kohen is hereditary. If your father is a Kohen, then you are a Kohen. Priesthood is a birthright that is not achieved through a person's effort nor deserved through a person's righteousness. It is an honor that is bestowed at birth. 

The holiness of a convert is the exact opposite. It is completely earned. The convert was not born Jewish. He or she chose it. They achieve Jewishness of their own initiative and with their own hard work. They are self-made souls. 

So these two souls, the Kohen and the convert, are moving in opposite directions. The Kohen receives his power from above. The convert creates his own soul energy from bottom up. The Kohen has the ability to bring down blessings to others, just as his soul was given to him as a blessing. The convert has the power of innovation, of initiative, of creating holiness from the ground up. For this reason, their souls are not a match. 

Both the Kohen and the convert have awesome holiness. It is a great privilege to be gifted with the soul of a Kohen. And yet, the self-made soul of a convert has a depth of experience that inherited holiness cannot compete with. Neither are second class souls. 

The Kohen is crowned with a legacy from past generations. A convert creates his or her own legacy for future generations. The Jewish people is richer because of each of them.

Source: Chabad

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