Fasting on New Year's? - Insights Into Halacha: The Many Facets of Asarah B'Teves
שו"ת וידאו: האם יש חובה הלכתית להצביע בבחירות
"Yaakov lived in Mitzrayim for 17 years; and the days of Yaakov, the years of his life were 147 years". We know from Parshas VaYigash (47:9) that Yaakov was 130 years old when he came to Mitzrayim. Once the pasuk informs us that he lived the remainder of his life in Mitzrayim, it is not necessary to state that he remained in Mitzrayim for 17 years. Obviously, if he lived until the age of 147, he had to be in Mitzrayim for 17 years?
Daas Zekainim MiBaalei HaTosfos answer, the pasuk is stressing that Yosef repaid the kindness which Yaakov had bestowed upon him in his youth. Yosef lived by his father for 17 years until he was sold. During those years Yaakov took care of Yosef and fed him. Midah KiNeged Midah, Yosef supported his father for the last 17 years of his life. It is for this reason that the Torah stresses that Yaakov lived in Mitzrayim for 17 years - the years that Yosef was Mikayem the Midah KiNeged Midah.
http://revach.net/tefila/article.php?id=1533
Having been taught about how we strive to go uphill in our goals of attaining higher spritual heights, I found it ironic to read the following headline today.
Another U.S. downhill winner in Italy
How can you be a winner if you're going downhill?
Great reporting at a Jordanian news agency about Jewish extremists storming the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
Muslim worshippers inside the mosque gathered to repel the incursions of settlers and prevent them from performing their Talmudic rituals and prayers inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
http://petra.gov.jo/Public_News/Nws_NewsDetails.aspx?Site_Id=1&lang=2&NewsID=177884&CatID=13&Type=Home>ype=1
30 Dec 2014
29 Dec 2014
Visiting a senior center
Collive documents a visit by Yeshiva Bochurim to a nonagenarian in a senior center in the first video below.
Did it ever happen that you learned a word for the first time and then the word kept popping up in books you read in the ensuing weeks?
Yesterday I took out a book from the library by Rabbi Yissocher Frand titled "Were All in This Together." Last night I came across a video uploaded to YouTube over a year ago in which Rabbi Frand speaks inspiringly about the efficacy of tefillah. Well worth listening to.
I was debating whether to link to this article but you might as well be aware as to whom PressTV turns to for opinions about the U.S. President, none other than David Duke.
Did it ever happen that you learned a word for the first time and then the word kept popping up in books you read in the ensuing weeks?
Yesterday I took out a book from the library by Rabbi Yissocher Frand titled "Were All in This Together." Last night I came across a video uploaded to YouTube over a year ago in which Rabbi Frand speaks inspiringly about the efficacy of tefillah. Well worth listening to.
I was debating whether to link to this article but you might as well be aware as to whom PressTV turns to for opinions about the U.S. President, none other than David Duke.
28 Dec 2014
No break
Unlike every other Parsha, there is no break between the end of Parshas Vayigash and the beginning of Parshas Vayechi. The Medrash brings several reasons for this. Rav Shamshon Rephael Hirsh offers his own explanation for this as well.
Parshas Vayechi starts with Yaakov settling in Mitzrayim. These were the best and only peaceful years in Yaakov's strife filled life. He watched his family grow and learned Torah with his children and grandchildren. Surely, this deserves a Parsha by itself. "However," says Rav Hirsch, "the opposite is true."
All of Yaakov's troubles laid the foundation for the building of Bnei Yisrael. Every tragedy he suffered was another building block in the future of Klal Yisrael. His time in Mitzrayim may have been enjoyable, but did not add to the future legacy of the nation. These years were a reward for his lifetime of avodah in the face of the turmoil.
"This is why," says Rav Hirsch, "Parshas Vayechi is not a separate parsha. It is merely the epilogue of Yaakov's life and is attached to the parsha before, and the conclusion of his life. We are not here on this world to coast," says Rav Hirsch. "It is only through our suffering that we can accomplish anything."
http://revach.net/parshas-hashavua/quick-vort/Parshas-VaYechi-Rav-Shlomo-Zalman-Zelaznik-Why-Did-Yaakov-Go-Blind/5179
Open Season on Jews for Palestinians
IRS Says it ‘Mistakenly’ Penalized GOP Candidate Christine O’Donnell For a Second Time
Parshas Vayechi starts with Yaakov settling in Mitzrayim. These were the best and only peaceful years in Yaakov's strife filled life. He watched his family grow and learned Torah with his children and grandchildren. Surely, this deserves a Parsha by itself. "However," says Rav Hirsch, "the opposite is true."
All of Yaakov's troubles laid the foundation for the building of Bnei Yisrael. Every tragedy he suffered was another building block in the future of Klal Yisrael. His time in Mitzrayim may have been enjoyable, but did not add to the future legacy of the nation. These years were a reward for his lifetime of avodah in the face of the turmoil.
"This is why," says Rav Hirsch, "Parshas Vayechi is not a separate parsha. It is merely the epilogue of Yaakov's life and is attached to the parsha before, and the conclusion of his life. We are not here on this world to coast," says Rav Hirsch. "It is only through our suffering that we can accomplish anything."
http://revach.net/parshas-hashavua/quick-vort/Parshas-VaYechi-Rav-Shlomo-Zalman-Zelaznik-Why-Did-Yaakov-Go-Blind/5179
Open Season on Jews for Palestinians
IRS Says it ‘Mistakenly’ Penalized GOP Candidate Christine O’Donnell For a Second Time
Weathering the weather
Whether the weather be fine,
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!
Author: unknown
I was reminded of the above poem when I read an article at CNN about the missing AirAsia plane.
CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo questioned whether weather would have been a factor in what happened to the plane.
"Ordinarily, the pilots would get the updated weather from air traffic control and, of course, their onboard radar," said Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. "So whether there was (bad) weather in the area would not be a mystery." http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html
A rescue operation is under way in high winds in Greek waters for an Italian ferry carrying 466 people that has caught fire, Greek officials said early Sunday.
...The evacuation of the ferry was occurring in difficult conditions, with passengers saying gale-force winds were lashing the vessel.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/fire-italian-ferry-bad-weather-off-greece-forces-070816823.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
An Indonesian man scheduled to travel on the missing Air Asia Indonesia flight with his family has thanked God that chance led him to cancel their tickets just a day before it disappeared.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2889017/We-thankful-god-Man-supposed-travel-missing-AirAsia-flight-wife-three-young-children-cancelled-tickets-YESTERDAY-father-ill.html
We board an airplane or a ship and take it for granted we are going to arrive at our destination some hours later.
A friend of mine told me how she dreamed she had gone on vacation and that her apartment had been robbed. When she woke up and saw that a robbery had not taken place, she was grateful that she still had what she thought had been taken. Let's be grateful for things that we take for granted. And let's say a perek Tehillim for Ayala bat Rut, who faces a long recuperation period.
Or whether the weather be not,
Whether the weather be cold,
Or whether the weather be hot,
We'll weather the weather
Whatever the weather,
Whether we like it or not!
Author: unknown
I was reminded of the above poem when I read an article at CNN about the missing AirAsia plane.
CNN aviation analyst Mary Schiavo questioned whether weather would have been a factor in what happened to the plane.
"Ordinarily, the pilots would get the updated weather from air traffic control and, of course, their onboard radar," said Schiavo, a former inspector general for the U.S. Department of Transportation. "So whether there was (bad) weather in the area would not be a mystery." http://edition.cnn.com/2014/12/27/world/asia/airasia-missing-plane/index.html
A rescue operation is under way in high winds in Greek waters for an Italian ferry carrying 466 people that has caught fire, Greek officials said early Sunday.
...The evacuation of the ferry was occurring in difficult conditions, with passengers saying gale-force winds were lashing the vessel.
https://sg.news.yahoo.com/fire-italian-ferry-bad-weather-off-greece-forces-070816823.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
An Indonesian man scheduled to travel on the missing Air Asia Indonesia flight with his family has thanked God that chance led him to cancel their tickets just a day before it disappeared.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2889017/We-thankful-god-Man-supposed-travel-missing-AirAsia-flight-wife-three-young-children-cancelled-tickets-YESTERDAY-father-ill.html
We board an airplane or a ship and take it for granted we are going to arrive at our destination some hours later.
A friend of mine told me how she dreamed she had gone on vacation and that her apartment had been robbed. When she woke up and saw that a robbery had not taken place, she was grateful that she still had what she thought had been taken. Let's be grateful for things that we take for granted. And let's say a perek Tehillim for Ayala bat Rut, who faces a long recuperation period.
27 Dec 2014
UN condemnations
LiberalLogic101 asks, "Is the UN biased against Israel?…" and posts a graphic detailing UN 2014 condemnations. 20 were against Israel while other countries were on the receiving end of 1 or zero condemnations.
http://linkis.com/liberallogic101.com/MiXlw
The head of the censorship board said these included the film's depiction of Jews as having built the Pyramids, and that an earthquake, not a miracle by Moses, caused the Red Sea to part.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30605059
TheGuardian has an article titled Diaries reveal Jewish suffering during Holocaust in Hungary which describes how a "defiant doctor hid Jewish boy and his aunt from Nazis in her Budapest home during the late stages of the second world war."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/27/hungary-holocaust-diaries-budapest-jews
TheGuardian also has an interesting article titled Pakistan’s last self-declared Jew campaigns to save cemetery.
Below are two headlines of articles regarding the same event.
Israel saves life of Palestinian baby, after child collapses at border crossing
7-month-old evacuated after fainting while waiting at Allenby Bridge
http://linkis.com/liberallogic101.com/MiXlw
Egypt has banned a Hollywood film
based on the Biblical book of Exodus because of what censors described as
"historical inaccuracies".
The head of the censorship board said these included the film's depiction of Jews as having built the Pyramids, and that an earthquake, not a miracle by Moses, caused the Red Sea to part.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30605059
TheGuardian has an article titled Diaries reveal Jewish suffering during Holocaust in Hungary which describes how a "defiant doctor hid Jewish boy and his aunt from Nazis in her Budapest home during the late stages of the second world war."
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/27/hungary-holocaust-diaries-budapest-jews
TheGuardian also has an interesting article titled Pakistan’s last self-declared Jew campaigns to save cemetery.
Below are two headlines of articles regarding the same event.
Israel saves life of Palestinian baby, after child collapses at border crossing
7-month-old evacuated after fainting while waiting at Allenby Bridge
26 Dec 2014
The roar of Yehudah
This week's Parsha relates how Yosef Hatzadik wanted to incarcerate Binyomin for his "theft" of the goblet, telling his brothers that Binyomin shall remain behind while the rest of them return "B'Shalom" to their father's house. The Midrash states that Yehuda roared "How can there be shalom in our father's house if Binyomin is not there with us?!"The Midrash says that Yehuda screamed so loud that even Chushim Ben Dan, who was deaf, was able to hear him!
Why does the Midrash deem it necessary to detail the decibel level of Yehuda's cry?
Continue reading: http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=45&ARTICLE_ID=55696
להקריב את החיים בשביל לא לבייש
For third time this week, shots fired at Paris Jewish target
The NYDailyNews has an article titled Israeli girl badly burnt by firebomb tossed at car.
The firebombing is the latest in a string of recent attacks against Israelis, including violence in Jerusalem and in West Bank settlements.
In October, a Palestinian man drove his car into a crowd of commuters in Jerusalem. At least eight people were injured and a 3-month-old girl was killed.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/israeli-girl-badly-burnt-firebomb-west-bank-article-1.2056585
An RT article has the headline 11yo Jewish girl critically injured as firebomb hits West Bank settlers.
A caption under a phot in the article reads, "Jewish settler children walk together after leaving school in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Bat Ayin, south of Bethlehem."
After detailing the attack, the article goes on to dig up incidents of Palestinian children being hit by rubber and sponge bullets, without mentioning that the incidents took place amongst clashes between the two sides.
Two articles describing the same incident, but with two very different perspectives.
Why does the Midrash deem it necessary to detail the decibel level of Yehuda's cry?
Continue reading: http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=45&ARTICLE_ID=55696
להקריב את החיים בשביל לא לבייש
For third time this week, shots fired at Paris Jewish target
The NYDailyNews has an article titled Israeli girl badly burnt by firebomb tossed at car.
The firebombing is the latest in a string of recent attacks against Israelis, including violence in Jerusalem and in West Bank settlements.
In October, a Palestinian man drove his car into a crowd of commuters in Jerusalem. At least eight people were injured and a 3-month-old girl was killed.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/israeli-girl-badly-burnt-firebomb-west-bank-article-1.2056585
An RT article has the headline 11yo Jewish girl critically injured as firebomb hits West Bank settlers.
A caption under a phot in the article reads, "Jewish settler children walk together after leaving school in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Bat Ayin, south of Bethlehem."
After detailing the attack, the article goes on to dig up incidents of Palestinian children being hit by rubber and sponge bullets, without mentioning that the incidents took place amongst clashes between the two sides.
Two articles describing the same incident, but with two very different perspectives.
Making amends
After 522 Years, Spain Seeks To Make Amends For Expulsion Of Jews
Collive has a video of Santa putting on tefillin for the first time over here.
Our Parsha begins with Yehuda drawing close to argue with Yosef on Binyomin's behalf. He tells Yosef that he is more involved than the rest of his brothers because he took responsiblilty for Binyomin by telling his father, if he doesn't return him alive he will lose his Olam HaBa.
The Vilna Gaon says that this is hinted in the Truppe (notes) of the first words of the Parsha. KADMA V'AZLA R'VI'I, ZARKA MUNACH SEGOL. KADMA V'AZLA - The 4th (son) went forward (in confrontation with Yosef), because he had thrown away(Zarka) his place among the Chosen (Nation)- "Munach Segol" -(when he promised Binyomin's safe return). It was therefore Yehudah who entered in to the controversy more than his brothers
http://www.revach.net/parshas-hashavua/quick-vort/Parshas-VaYigash-Vilna-Gaon-Yehuda-Sings-A-Tune-Of-Sacrifice/1492
Collive has a video of Santa putting on tefillin for the first time over here.
Our Parsha begins with Yehuda drawing close to argue with Yosef on Binyomin's behalf. He tells Yosef that he is more involved than the rest of his brothers because he took responsiblilty for Binyomin by telling his father, if he doesn't return him alive he will lose his Olam HaBa.
The Vilna Gaon says that this is hinted in the Truppe (notes) of the first words of the Parsha. KADMA V'AZLA R'VI'I, ZARKA MUNACH SEGOL. KADMA V'AZLA - The 4th (son) went forward (in confrontation with Yosef), because he had thrown away(Zarka) his place among the Chosen (Nation)- "Munach Segol" -(when he promised Binyomin's safe return). It was therefore Yehudah who entered in to the controversy more than his brothers
http://www.revach.net/parshas-hashavua/quick-vort/Parshas-VaYigash-Vilna-Gaon-Yehuda-Sings-A-Tune-Of-Sacrifice/1492
25 Dec 2014
Really caring
Yeranen Yaakov linked to an excellent article by Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz titled We Really Care.
The Lakewood Scoop writes about the petirah of a young child who was struck by a vehicle. Below is a comment posted under the article.
The girl is named after Rebbetzin Kanievsky… One of the most special women Klal Yisrael had. In her biography from artscroll page 335 there is a special letter that Rebbetzin Kanievsky wrote to parents who lost their young children. May she be meiltz yosher for Klal yisroel. http://www.thelakewoodscoop.com/news/2014/12/tragedy-toddler-niftar-after-being-struck-by-vehicle.html
I turned to page 335 and found a letter from Rebbetzin Kanievsky to Mrs. Kletzky, written after the murder of Leiby Kletzky.
Parshas VaYigash - It's Never Too Late
The Lakewood Scoop writes about the petirah of a young child who was struck by a vehicle. Below is a comment posted under the article.
The girl is named after Rebbetzin Kanievsky… One of the most special women Klal Yisrael had. In her biography from artscroll page 335 there is a special letter that Rebbetzin Kanievsky wrote to parents who lost their young children. May she be meiltz yosher for Klal yisroel. http://www.thelakewoodscoop.com/news/2014/12/tragedy-toddler-niftar-after-being-struck-by-vehicle.html
I turned to page 335 and found a letter from Rebbetzin Kanievsky to Mrs. Kletzky, written after the murder of Leiby Kletzky.
Parshas VaYigash - It's Never Too Late
A scathing response
HuffPost Editor Likens Joseph and Mary to Palestinians — a Law Professor Wasn’t Having Any of That and Wrote a Scathing Response
This morning I read how a sniper from Gaza fired at an Israeli soldier. Check the headlines at Haaretz and the JPost regarding the incident. How was the soldier wounded in an exchange of fire as the Haaretz headline reads?
Israeli soldier seriously wounded in exchange of fire on Gaza border
Sniper fire from Gaza seriously injures IDF soldier; Army responds
A strong correlation exists between religiosity and personal happiness, according to a new study by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/12/24/religious-people-much-happier-than-others-new-study-shows/
This morning I read how a sniper from Gaza fired at an Israeli soldier. Check the headlines at Haaretz and the JPost regarding the incident. How was the soldier wounded in an exchange of fire as the Haaretz headline reads?
Israeli soldier seriously wounded in exchange of fire on Gaza border
Sniper fire from Gaza seriously injures IDF soldier; Army responds
A strong correlation exists between religiosity and personal happiness, according to a new study by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture.
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2014/12/24/religious-people-much-happier-than-others-new-study-shows/
14 Dec 2014
The Kalamazoo menorah
A small group of Jews from throughout the Kalamazoo area were joined by a handful of interested citizens Sunday while they set up a Hannukah menorah in Bronson Park.
Read more: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/12/hanukkah_menorah_raised_in_bro.html
Zidan isn’t a name usually heard at a Jewish circumcision, but a New York couple gave their newborn son the moniker to honor a Druze policeman killed while responding to a terror attack on a Jerusalem synagogue last month.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-couple-names-son-after-druze-cop-killed-in-terror-attack/#ixzz3Lu2qPpNC
CIF Watch reports Guardian editorial condemning CIA torture curiously includes image of a Jewish menorah.
One comment posted under the Guardian article reads, "Dubya with the huge shadow of a Menorah in the background. Score one for subliminal antisemitism."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/14/observer-view-on-torture#start-of-comments
Paul Greenberg asks Can Seafood Be Kosher and Sustainable?
Israel Matzav points to an NYT correction of an obituary.
An earlier version of this obituary misstated the location of Alon Shvut, where Mr. Marks lived. It is in the West Bank, not in Israel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/books/gil-marks-historian-of-jewish-food-and-culture-dies-at-62.html?smid=fb-share&_r=5
Alon Shvut (Hebrew: אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem,
...Alon Shvut, literally "oak of return", is a reference to the return of the Jews expelled from Gush Etzion by the Jordanian Arab Legion in 1948 following the Kfar Etzion massacre...
... Alon Shvut is located on the site of the Battle of Beth Zechariah, fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid army after the defeat of the Seleucids in Jerusalem. The ancient town of Beth Zechariah, in northern Judea, is identified with the ruins of Khirbet Zechariah, less than a kilometer north of Alon Shvut. It was considered the nearest area to Jerusalem whose topography could be exploited by the Maccabees to block the northward advance of the Seleucid army, after the Maccabee defeat in the Battle of Beth Zur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alon_Shvut
Two versions of an incident- You choose which one to believe.
Israeli settlers torched a West Bank mosque in an apparent revenge attack today, Palestinian officials said, as the US top diplomat headed to Jordan to discuss the spiralling violence.
“The settlers set fire to the whole of the first floor of the mosque” in Al-Mughayir village near the West Bank city of Ramallah, a security official said. Police confirmed the incident and opened an investigation.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/israeli-settlers-torch-west-bank-mosque-in-suspected-revenge-attack#sthash.7MQeknDk.dpuf
A fire at a West Bank mosque last month was most likely caused by an electrical fault and not the result of arson, Israel’s police said on Sunday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/world/middleeast/arson-ruled-out-in-fire-at-west-bank-mosque-israeli-police-say.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=world/middleeast&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&pgtype=article
Read more: http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2014/12/hanukkah_menorah_raised_in_bro.html
Zidan isn’t a name usually heard at a Jewish circumcision, but a New York couple gave their newborn son the moniker to honor a Druze policeman killed while responding to a terror attack on a Jerusalem synagogue last month.
Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-couple-names-son-after-druze-cop-killed-in-terror-attack/#ixzz3Lu2qPpNC
CIF Watch reports Guardian editorial condemning CIA torture curiously includes image of a Jewish menorah.
One comment posted under the Guardian article reads, "Dubya with the huge shadow of a Menorah in the background. Score one for subliminal antisemitism."
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/14/observer-view-on-torture#start-of-comments
Paul Greenberg asks Can Seafood Be Kosher and Sustainable?
Israel Matzav points to an NYT correction of an obituary.
An earlier version of this obituary misstated the location of Alon Shvut, where Mr. Marks lived. It is in the West Bank, not in Israel.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/11/books/gil-marks-historian-of-jewish-food-and-culture-dies-at-62.html?smid=fb-share&_r=5
Alon Shvut (Hebrew: אַלּוֹן שְׁבוּת) is an Israeli settlement located southwest of Jerusalem,
...Alon Shvut, literally "oak of return", is a reference to the return of the Jews expelled from Gush Etzion by the Jordanian Arab Legion in 1948 following the Kfar Etzion massacre...
... Alon Shvut is located on the site of the Battle of Beth Zechariah, fought between the Maccabees and the Seleucid army after the defeat of the Seleucids in Jerusalem. The ancient town of Beth Zechariah, in northern Judea, is identified with the ruins of Khirbet Zechariah, less than a kilometer north of Alon Shvut. It was considered the nearest area to Jerusalem whose topography could be exploited by the Maccabees to block the northward advance of the Seleucid army, after the Maccabee defeat in the Battle of Beth Zur.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alon_Shvut
Two versions of an incident- You choose which one to believe.
Israeli settlers torched a West Bank mosque in an apparent revenge attack today, Palestinian officials said, as the US top diplomat headed to Jordan to discuss the spiralling violence.
“The settlers set fire to the whole of the first floor of the mosque” in Al-Mughayir village near the West Bank city of Ramallah, a security official said. Police confirmed the incident and opened an investigation.
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/world/article/israeli-settlers-torch-west-bank-mosque-in-suspected-revenge-attack#sthash.7MQeknDk.dpuf
A fire at a West Bank mosque last month was most likely caused by an electrical fault and not the result of arson, Israel’s police said on Sunday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/15/world/middleeast/arson-ruled-out-in-fire-at-west-bank-mosque-israeli-police-say.html?ribbon-ad-idx=4&rref=world/middleeast&module=Ribbon&version=context®ion=Header&action=click&contentCollection=Middle%20East&pgtype=article
Four forces
The simple story of the Dreidel or Sivivon is that it was a decoy used by the little children learning the Aleph Bais in case the Yivanim caught them. The Bnei Yisaschar brings some deep remazim regarding the dreidel.
The four sides of the dreidel have the letters, Nun, Gimel, Shin, Hey. These stand for the four forces in a person. Nefesh or spirit-Nun, Guf or physicality-Gimel, Sechel or intellect-Shin, and a higher spirit combining the other three, HaKol-Hey. The four nations of Bavel, Yavan, Rome, and Madai each opposed a specific one of these forces. Moshiach, whose gematria is 358 the same as Nun, Gimel, Shin, Hey, will annul these forces forever. Then Hashem's reign will be accepted by all. Hashem Melech, Hashem Malach, Hashem Yimloch L'Olam Va'ed also equals 358 like our dreidel and Moshiach.
The dreidel spins on its point. All these nations on each side of the dreidel all focus on Bnei Yisroel. The four side gradually decrease and disappear into this point, as the four nations will disappear and become batel to Am Yisroel.
http://revach.net/moadim/chanukah/Chanukah-Some-Hidden-Secrets-Of-The-Dreidel/3164
Former CIA Director James Woolsey spoke to Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) on Thursday, and emphasized that the ongoing incarceration of Jonathan Pollard (60), now in his 30th year behind American prison bars, has "no good reason."
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188557#.VI1S2JVATIU
What it really means to be a hero and the need to stamp out labels in Judaism were address at a great gathering at the Great Synagogue.
Continue reading: http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=33194&alias=stereotypes-crushed-in-jerusalem
The four sides of the dreidel have the letters, Nun, Gimel, Shin, Hey. These stand for the four forces in a person. Nefesh or spirit-Nun, Guf or physicality-Gimel, Sechel or intellect-Shin, and a higher spirit combining the other three, HaKol-Hey. The four nations of Bavel, Yavan, Rome, and Madai each opposed a specific one of these forces. Moshiach, whose gematria is 358 the same as Nun, Gimel, Shin, Hey, will annul these forces forever. Then Hashem's reign will be accepted by all. Hashem Melech, Hashem Malach, Hashem Yimloch L'Olam Va'ed also equals 358 like our dreidel and Moshiach.
The dreidel spins on its point. All these nations on each side of the dreidel all focus on Bnei Yisroel. The four side gradually decrease and disappear into this point, as the four nations will disappear and become batel to Am Yisroel.
http://revach.net/moadim/chanukah/Chanukah-Some-Hidden-Secrets-Of-The-Dreidel/3164
Former CIA Director James Woolsey spoke to Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) on Thursday, and emphasized that the ongoing incarceration of Jonathan Pollard (60), now in his 30th year behind American prison bars, has "no good reason."
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188557#.VI1S2JVATIU
What it really means to be a hero and the need to stamp out labels in Judaism were address at a great gathering at the Great Synagogue.
Continue reading: http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=33194&alias=stereotypes-crushed-in-jerusalem
13 Dec 2014
Temporary versus eternal
The Jews may have originated in the Middle East but they were long ago scattered far and wide - to the Gulf, among other places. Few now remain, except in Iran. But a century ago, writes Matthew Teller, there was even a proposal to found a Jewish state at an oasis near Bahrain.
Continue reading: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30447043
The Jewish Press reports , "A Jewish man found a swastika drawn on the gate to his home where he had put up decorations for Hanukkah."
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/hanukkah-decorated-florida-home-vandalized-with-swastika/2014/12/13/
Speaking about the Jewish Press, can they please correct the typo in the headline of another article titled 'Lieberman Open to Labor Coalition' means 'I am Running Sacred.' I don't suppose he is running holy, but rather running scared.
This afternoon I was reading Gateway to Happiness by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin and ruminated upon the following passage.
The only type of joy that can really be complete is the joy of fulfiiling a mitzvvah. Joy over material matters is by necessity limited since all material matters are only temporary. But the value of a mitzvah is eternal, hence the joy of fulfilling a mitzvah can be without limits.
... Phyiscal pleasures have an extremely short existence. Immediately after one has gratified oneself, the pleasure is no longer there.
A little while later, I was reading an article in the IHT and cam' across the following words, which seemed to reinforce the message that was transmitted from the above words.
Material things appear to be permanent, while experiences seem evanescent and likely to be forgotten. Should you take a second honeymoon with your spouse, or get a new couch? The week away sounds great, but hey — the couch is something you’ll have forever, right?
Wrong. Thirty years from now, when you are sitting in rocking chairs on the porch, you’ll remember your second honeymoon in great detail. But are you likely to say to one another, “Remember that awesome couch?” Of course not. It will be gone and forgotten. Though it seems counterintuitive, it is physically permanent stuff that evaporates from our minds. It is memories in the ether of our consciousness that last a lifetime, there for us to enjoy again and again.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/opinion/sunday/arthur-c-brooks-abundance-without-attachment.html?_r=0
Bayit U’Menucha: Happiness – “Keeping Up With The Jones’s” , Not Me!
Continue reading: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-30447043
The Jewish Press reports , "A Jewish man found a swastika drawn on the gate to his home where he had put up decorations for Hanukkah."
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/hanukkah-decorated-florida-home-vandalized-with-swastika/2014/12/13/
Speaking about the Jewish Press, can they please correct the typo in the headline of another article titled 'Lieberman Open to Labor Coalition' means 'I am Running Sacred.' I don't suppose he is running holy, but rather running scared.
This afternoon I was reading Gateway to Happiness by Rabbi Zelig Pliskin and ruminated upon the following passage.
The only type of joy that can really be complete is the joy of fulfiiling a mitzvvah. Joy over material matters is by necessity limited since all material matters are only temporary. But the value of a mitzvah is eternal, hence the joy of fulfilling a mitzvah can be without limits.
... Phyiscal pleasures have an extremely short existence. Immediately after one has gratified oneself, the pleasure is no longer there.
A little while later, I was reading an article in the IHT and cam' across the following words, which seemed to reinforce the message that was transmitted from the above words.
Material things appear to be permanent, while experiences seem evanescent and likely to be forgotten. Should you take a second honeymoon with your spouse, or get a new couch? The week away sounds great, but hey — the couch is something you’ll have forever, right?
Wrong. Thirty years from now, when you are sitting in rocking chairs on the porch, you’ll remember your second honeymoon in great detail. But are you likely to say to one another, “Remember that awesome couch?” Of course not. It will be gone and forgotten. Though it seems counterintuitive, it is physically permanent stuff that evaporates from our minds. It is memories in the ether of our consciousness that last a lifetime, there for us to enjoy again and again.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/opinion/sunday/arthur-c-brooks-abundance-without-attachment.html?_r=0
Bayit U’Menucha: Happiness – “Keeping Up With The Jones’s” , Not Me!
12 Dec 2014
The vending machine prize
The NYDailyNews reports 4-year-old Okla. boy puts quarter in vending machine, gets Nazi ring.
Faith schools are tightening their grip on the top spots in primary league tables, official figures reveal.
Of the 693 best-performing schools, 62 per cent were faith schools – up from 60 per cent last year – although they account for only a third of primaries nationally.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2870947/Faith-schools-gaining-spots-primary-league-tables.html#ixzz3LgfQD1Pd
Parshas VaYshev - Being Grateful ' Even for the 'Small' Things
Faith schools are tightening their grip on the top spots in primary league tables, official figures reveal.
Of the 693 best-performing schools, 62 per cent were faith schools – up from 60 per cent last year – although they account for only a third of primaries nationally.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2870947/Faith-schools-gaining-spots-primary-league-tables.html#ixzz3LgfQD1Pd
Parshas VaYshev - Being Grateful ' Even for the 'Small' Things
11 Dec 2014
Thanking G-d
Parshas VaYashev - This Too Is For My Best
Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis writes about a recent trip to Israel in an article titled The Sun is Ashamed to Shine.
The mother of stabbing victim Levi Rosenblatt was reunited with her son on Wednesday, thanking G-d for a "miracle."
Continue reading: http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=33196&alias=injured-bochur-reunited-with-mom
9-year-old Eli is fighting a battle against cancer. Imagine his surprise when the 8th Day Band showed up at his home.
Continue reading: http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=33195&alias=8th-day-surprise-boy-with-cancer
After watching the video below, which I discovered at Collive, I took a moment to thank Hashem for my health. Without a wake up call, I usually take it for granted.
Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis writes about a recent trip to Israel in an article titled The Sun is Ashamed to Shine.
The mother of stabbing victim Levi Rosenblatt was reunited with her son on Wednesday, thanking G-d for a "miracle."
Continue reading: http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=33196&alias=injured-bochur-reunited-with-mom
9-year-old Eli is fighting a battle against cancer. Imagine his surprise when the 8th Day Band showed up at his home.
Continue reading: http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=33195&alias=8th-day-surprise-boy-with-cancer
After watching the video below, which I discovered at Collive, I took a moment to thank Hashem for my health. Without a wake up call, I usually take it for granted.
Unwavering commitment
Michael Medved has written an article titled Correcting Mistakes About Hanukkah.
Far from a victory for tolerance, or for the ideals of moral relativism, Hanukkah counts as a commemoration of fervent, unwavering religious commitment and Jewish particularism. It emphasizes the ancient covenant demanding that Jews differentiate themselves from their pagan neighbors – and oppressors. To the frustration of most Jewish Americans (who tilt irrationally but stubbornly to the left), this is a holiday far more in line with underlying messages of today's religious right than the secularist sentiments of the ACLU.
http://www.truthrevolt.org/commentary/medved-correcting-mistakes-about-hannukah
Yesterday's State Department briefing included the following questions.
QUESTION: It’s my understanding – and correct me if I’m wrong – that the Justice Department says that it does not intend to reopen any investigation into the alleged – what was alleged to have happened. And I’m wondering if you – if that’s not wrong, how it is going to be when you call for accountability for rights abuses in other countries, how you’re going to be able to do that without being essentially laughed out of the room?
QUESTION: Yes, very quickly. Today in the West Bank, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein was killed as a result of a scuffle with the occupation army. I wonder if you have a statement on that.
QUESTION: So the claim that you are trying to unseat or helping in the process to unseat Netanyahu is wrong, correct?
QUESTION: That’s what Likud sources – they’re saying that you are rallying, you’re marshaling resources and efforts and so on, basically, to seat someone else other than Netanyahu.
Read the whole transcript: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2014/12/234934.htm
Far from a victory for tolerance, or for the ideals of moral relativism, Hanukkah counts as a commemoration of fervent, unwavering religious commitment and Jewish particularism. It emphasizes the ancient covenant demanding that Jews differentiate themselves from their pagan neighbors – and oppressors. To the frustration of most Jewish Americans (who tilt irrationally but stubbornly to the left), this is a holiday far more in line with underlying messages of today's religious right than the secularist sentiments of the ACLU.
http://www.truthrevolt.org/commentary/medved-correcting-mistakes-about-hannukah
Yesterday's State Department briefing included the following questions.
QUESTION: It’s my understanding – and correct me if I’m wrong – that the Justice Department says that it does not intend to reopen any investigation into the alleged – what was alleged to have happened. And I’m wondering if you – if that’s not wrong, how it is going to be when you call for accountability for rights abuses in other countries, how you’re going to be able to do that without being essentially laughed out of the room?
QUESTION: Yes, very quickly. Today in the West Bank, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian official Ziad Abu Ein was killed as a result of a scuffle with the occupation army. I wonder if you have a statement on that.
QUESTION: So the claim that you are trying to unseat or helping in the process to unseat Netanyahu is wrong, correct?
QUESTION: That’s what Likud sources – they’re saying that you are rallying, you’re marshaling resources and efforts and so on, basically, to seat someone else other than Netanyahu.
Read the whole transcript: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2014/12/234934.htm
10 Dec 2014
Jewish values
David Benkof has written an interesting article titled Liberal Orthodoxy, Not Jewish Orthodoxy: ‘Repairing The World’ Isn’t In The Torah.
And make no mistake: tikkun olam as it’s used today grew out of recent liberal American politics, and is not a value uniting the Jewish community across space and time. If tikkun olam is for everybody, why are its advocates almost always on the left? Right-of-center Jews like me believe in world-repairing policies just as compatible – if not more so — with Jewish values. http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/10/liberal-orthodoxy-not-jewish-orthodoxy-repairing-the-world-isnt-in-the-torah/
A Jewish MP says he has received death threats because of his religion.
Lee Scott, the Conservative MP for Ilford North, said he has had five death threats in the last year.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-30416704
רעיית הקדוש הי"ד לנשים: 'קצרו את הפאות הארוכות'
And make no mistake: tikkun olam as it’s used today grew out of recent liberal American politics, and is not a value uniting the Jewish community across space and time. If tikkun olam is for everybody, why are its advocates almost always on the left? Right-of-center Jews like me believe in world-repairing policies just as compatible – if not more so — with Jewish values. http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/10/liberal-orthodoxy-not-jewish-orthodoxy-repairing-the-world-isnt-in-the-torah/
A Jewish MP says he has received death threats because of his religion.
Lee Scott, the Conservative MP for Ilford North, said he has had five death threats in the last year.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-30416704
רעיית הקדוש הי"ד לנשים: 'קצרו את הפאות הארוכות'
Alleviating pain
I went to visit an elderly woman in an old age home yesterday and met a friend who was taking care of a nonagenarian. My friend was complaining of severe back pain and was at her wit's end.
As I was on my way home, I bumped into a woman who was touting the benfits of magnetized water and therapeutic magnetic jewelry to alleviate chronic pain. She told me that the people who received the products from her experienced less pain. She added that she prayed for them to get well.
I wanted to blurt out to her, "Okay, how about if I skip the magnetic therapy products and proceed to your praying for me instead?"
Probably the woman's prayer is providing more benefit than the magnetized jewelry. All I can say is Baruch Hashem that I don't suffer from back pain my friend is experiencing.
In an article titled Twice-Bereaved Mom Refuses Bibi's Offer of Likud MK Spot? Miriam Peretz explains why she turned down Prime Minister Netanyahu's offer to go into politics. She prefers to devote her life to meeting and educating IDF soldiers;
“I need the personal touch, it keeps me alive,” she added. “I will not have that when I am sealed off inside the Knesset. I pray to G-d to give me strength to continue and light the heritage of the fallen – not just of my sons, but of all of the fallen soldiers of this country. They fell so that we can be worthy, so that we build a country that seeks kindness, and that yearns for this peace, already. I am doing it my way.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188469#.VIgZvZVATIU
US comedian Joan Rivers left money in her will for some of her favourite charities, including Guide Dogs for the Blind, Jewish Guild Healthcare and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Read more: http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/joan-rivers-includes-jewish-charities-will-fortune/
As I was on my way home, I bumped into a woman who was touting the benfits of magnetized water and therapeutic magnetic jewelry to alleviate chronic pain. She told me that the people who received the products from her experienced less pain. She added that she prayed for them to get well.
I wanted to blurt out to her, "Okay, how about if I skip the magnetic therapy products and proceed to your praying for me instead?"
Probably the woman's prayer is providing more benefit than the magnetized jewelry. All I can say is Baruch Hashem that I don't suffer from back pain my friend is experiencing.
In an article titled Twice-Bereaved Mom Refuses Bibi's Offer of Likud MK Spot? Miriam Peretz explains why she turned down Prime Minister Netanyahu's offer to go into politics. She prefers to devote her life to meeting and educating IDF soldiers;
“I need the personal touch, it keeps me alive,” she added. “I will not have that when I am sealed off inside the Knesset. I pray to G-d to give me strength to continue and light the heritage of the fallen – not just of my sons, but of all of the fallen soldiers of this country. They fell so that we can be worthy, so that we build a country that seeks kindness, and that yearns for this peace, already. I am doing it my way.”
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/188469#.VIgZvZVATIU
US comedian Joan Rivers left money in her will for some of her favourite charities, including Guide Dogs for the Blind, Jewish Guild Healthcare and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Read more: http://www.jewishnews.co.uk/joan-rivers-includes-jewish-charities-will-fortune/
9 Dec 2014
One positive thing
Susanne Cervenka writes about being happy and outlines the tips of author Shawn Achor for achieving joy.
• Write down three new things you are grateful for everyday.
• Journal about one positive thing that you have experienced every 24 hours
• Exercise for at least 10 minutes a day, which he says teaches your brain that your behavior matters
• Meditate for at least 10 minutes a day, which will train your brain to focus on one thing
• Send random acts of kindness: write one positive email or note thanking or praising someone in your social support network every day
http://www.app.com/story/life/wellness/2014/12/08/studying-happiness/20090425/
Rabbi Daniel Glatstein talks about giving to others in a short video titled Parashat Vayeshev: The Secret Of How To Live And Really Be Successful
Rabbi Yonoson Roodyn talks about Hilchos Chanukah In 10 Minutes.
Congressman Trey Gowdy questioned Jonathan Gruber about comments he made regarding the stupidity of the American voter. In one instance Professor Gruber responds, "Once again, it is another example of my inexcusable arrogance in trying to insult others to make myself seem smarter."
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/video_of_trey_gowdys_questioning_of_jonathan_gruber_today.html
Isn't that what people do when they speak lashon hara? Insulting others to make oneself seem superior to another?
• Write down three new things you are grateful for everyday.
• Journal about one positive thing that you have experienced every 24 hours
• Exercise for at least 10 minutes a day, which he says teaches your brain that your behavior matters
• Meditate for at least 10 minutes a day, which will train your brain to focus on one thing
• Send random acts of kindness: write one positive email or note thanking or praising someone in your social support network every day
http://www.app.com/story/life/wellness/2014/12/08/studying-happiness/20090425/
Rabbi Daniel Glatstein talks about giving to others in a short video titled Parashat Vayeshev: The Secret Of How To Live And Really Be Successful
Rabbi Yonoson Roodyn talks about Hilchos Chanukah In 10 Minutes.
Congressman Trey Gowdy questioned Jonathan Gruber about comments he made regarding the stupidity of the American voter. In one instance Professor Gruber responds, "Once again, it is another example of my inexcusable arrogance in trying to insult others to make myself seem smarter."
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/video_of_trey_gowdys_questioning_of_jonathan_gruber_today.html
Isn't that what people do when they speak lashon hara? Insulting others to make oneself seem superior to another?
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