בס׳ד

"Where does it say that you have a contract with G-d to have an easy life?"

the Lubavitcher Rebbe



"Failure is not the enemy of success; it is its prerequisite."

Rabbi Nosson Scherman



11 Aug 2015

Open your hand to the poor

"Paso'ach Tiftach Es Yadecha Lo; Open up your hand to the poor (Re'eh 15:8)." The Gemara in Bava Basra (10a) tells the story how Rav Papa was walking up the stairs and his foot slipped and he was about to fall. Chiya Bar Rav MiDifti said to him, "Maybe a poor person came to you and you did not support him." What is the connection between an accident on the steps and not giving tzedaka?

The Vilna Gaon explains this enigmatic comment with the "Trop" the notes used when reading in the Torah the words Paso'ach Tiftach. The notes are "Darga" and "Tevir" which literally means "Steps" and "Break". After seeing Rav Papa's accident on the stairs, Chiya Bar Rav MiDifti's first thought was this must be a tzedaka issue.
http://revach.net/parshas-hashavua/quick-vort/Parshas-Reeh-Vilna-Gaon-Give-Tzedaka-And-Watch-Your-Step/4005

The other day I went to pay a shiva call to a woman whose parents used to open their house for people to deposit their tzedaka pushkas and receive an empty one in return. A few weeks later, I would receive a receipt down to the last cent from the tzedaka organization to which the couple gave the money.
I told the daughter who was sitting shiva that I remembered dropping off the pushkas many times and while I was happy to give tzedakah, I felt bad that the elderly woman would have to count so many small coins, thinking what a hardship it was for her.
The woman related that her mother said that when she would eventually go up "there" she would raise her hands and display to Hashem the black and dirty fingers she had got from counting all those small coins. I told the woman that her mother had many merits to accompany her to heaven.

The Washington Post published an article about Aviya Morris, a "Jewish extremist." The journalist describes a visit to Jersualem"s old city.

The walled compound is sacred to both religions — ... — where Jews believe the world began and Abraham had his hand stayed by an angel...

It is also the site of Islam’s golden Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa mosque, which marks the ascension of the prophet Muhammad on his night journey to heaven. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/meet-the-israeli-mom-who-called-muhammad-a-pig--at-al-aqsa-mosque/2015/08/10/15e31afc-3f5b-11e5-b2c4-af4c6183b8b4_story.html

So a Jewish holy site is where Jews believe something happened while Islam's Dome of the Rock "marks the ascension."

The Independent published the article on the next day with some differences.

A paragraph at the Washington Post ends with the words, "and a lethal arson attack in a Palestinian village where a toddler was burned alive and his father succumbed to wounds a week later."

The Independent appended the paragraph with the words, "Benzi Gopstein, the Jewish extremist leader who has condoned burning churches, has been detained for questioning by Israeli police." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/aviya-morris-israels-new-face-of-jewish-extremism-is-a-20yearold-mother-10450738.html

The Washington Post contained a sentence , "Morris said the Palestinian women were the aggressors." The Independent omitted that sentence.

To the person who posted on a site about the passing of an individual, only to be refuted by the person who replied to the comment, I would ask to exercise caution and make sure you are aware of all the facts the next time you wish to add a comment.

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