A gutten Chodesh to you. Click here to read some interesting information about the month of Cheshvan.
Just a reminder not to forget to recite the text of "Ata Yatzarta Olamecha Mikedem..." during the Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Musaf prayer.
Kikar Hashabat reports that there will be a special Atzeret On Motzaei Shabbat for Rebbetzin Kanievsky who was niftar during Sukkot.
28 Oct 2011
Refining oneself
This evening I received an email from Merkaz Anash about refining character traits. One thought caught my attention.
A chossid from Beshenkovitch once asked the Mitteler Rebbe for a brocho to be able to do avoda. He added, "I am not exactly sure what avoda entails, but since I have a strong desire not to do it, I understand that it must be something really good..."
(סה"ש ת"ש ע' 106)
Kikar Hashabat has an article about the importance of seizing the moment and that one shouldn't procrastinate. There is a story about Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz who went into the yeshiva and overturned benches so that the students would think a "pogrom" had occurred and would realize they had to flee to Shanghai. The Rabbi's plan succeeded and the bachurim took the last train before the tracks were blown up.
Read full article in Hebrew: http://www.kikarhashabat.co.il/מופלא-כך-ניצלו-תלמידי-הישיבה-מ.html
A chossid from Beshenkovitch once asked the Mitteler Rebbe for a brocho to be able to do avoda. He added, "I am not exactly sure what avoda entails, but since I have a strong desire not to do it, I understand that it must be something really good..."
(סה"ש ת"ש ע' 106)
Kikar Hashabat has an article about the importance of seizing the moment and that one shouldn't procrastinate. There is a story about Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz who went into the yeshiva and overturned benches so that the students would think a "pogrom" had occurred and would realize they had to flee to Shanghai. The Rabbi's plan succeeded and the bachurim took the last train before the tracks were blown up.
Read full article in Hebrew: http://www.kikarhashabat.co.il/מופלא-כך-ניצלו-תלמידי-הישיבה-מ.html
Insecurity
Two former Transportation Security Administration officers based at John F. Kennedy Airport have admitted to stealing $40,000 in cash from a checked bag.
Read full article: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Ex-TSA-Agents-Stealing-Cash-JFK-Bag-132744423.html
Read full article: http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Ex-TSA-Agents-Stealing-Cash-JFK-Bag-132744423.html
27 Oct 2011
A sad post
Yossi and Hindel Swerdlov penned an open letter to family and friends on the occasion of the upcoming 2nd Yahrzeit of their young daughter Alta Shula A”H.
This Shabbos, please have a Lichayim and do a Mitzvah in the memory of Alta Shula bas Yosef Yitzchak & Hinda.
Click here to read the letter. In addition, the Sverdlov's included a link to a letter written by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1978 titled When Does One Stop Mourning a Death? - Worthwhile reading.
The Muqata has a post about the Schijveschuurder family that is heartrending. I wish I could do something to help. Actually, I met one of the Schijveschuurders when he came to Europe as part of the One Family Fund organization speakers. I won't forget how I told an owner of a store that I was on my way to meet one of the Schijveschuurder sons. I had stopped at her store to converse and she told me that she knew the family. Immediately, she handed me some items from her store and told me to give them to him. At her shiva, a few years later, I related the story to her daughters, hoping they would derive comfort from their mother's act of kindness.
This Shabbos, please have a Lichayim and do a Mitzvah in the memory of Alta Shula bas Yosef Yitzchak & Hinda.
Click here to read the letter. In addition, the Sverdlov's included a link to a letter written by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 1978 titled When Does One Stop Mourning a Death? - Worthwhile reading.
The Muqata has a post about the Schijveschuurder family that is heartrending. I wish I could do something to help. Actually, I met one of the Schijveschuurders when he came to Europe as part of the One Family Fund organization speakers. I won't forget how I told an owner of a store that I was on my way to meet one of the Schijveschuurder sons. I had stopped at her store to converse and she told me that she knew the family. Immediately, she handed me some items from her store and told me to give them to him. At her shiva, a few years later, I related the story to her daughters, hoping they would derive comfort from their mother's act of kindness.
The fur coat
The following is an excerpt from an email by Rabbi Eli Mansour from this week's parsha.
What is the precise difference between Abraham and Noah? What quality did Abraham possess that Noah did not, on account of which Abraham was chosen to father God’s special nation, but not Noah?
The difference between Abraham and Noah is the difference between two people’s reactions to uncomfortably cold temperatures in a room: one person puts on a fur coat to stay warm, and the other raises the thermostat so that everyone in the room would be comfortable.
Noah was a “fur coat Sadik.” He kept himself and his family safe from the sinfulness and corruption that swept the world at the time, but he did not work to help the other people of his generation. Noah spent 120 years building the ark, and yet not one person changed during that period; not one more passenger was added to the ark. Noah did not get involved trying to teach and improve the people, and he did not pray to God to annul the decree. He saved himself and his family, but nobody else.
So, let's get off our chairs and do something to help another now!!!
What is the precise difference between Abraham and Noah? What quality did Abraham possess that Noah did not, on account of which Abraham was chosen to father God’s special nation, but not Noah?
The difference between Abraham and Noah is the difference between two people’s reactions to uncomfortably cold temperatures in a room: one person puts on a fur coat to stay warm, and the other raises the thermostat so that everyone in the room would be comfortable.
Noah was a “fur coat Sadik.” He kept himself and his family safe from the sinfulness and corruption that swept the world at the time, but he did not work to help the other people of his generation. Noah spent 120 years building the ark, and yet not one person changed during that period; not one more passenger was added to the ark. Noah did not get involved trying to teach and improve the people, and he did not pray to God to annul the decree. He saved himself and his family, but nobody else.
So, let's get off our chairs and do something to help another now!!!
26 Oct 2011
A college education
President Barack Obama says it has never been more important for Americans to get a college education. But he says it has also never been more expensive to do so.
Speaking at the University of Colorado in Denver, the president announced new executive actions to lower student loan payments.
Read full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-obama-student-loans-20111026,0,4121978.story
Yes. A college education is very important. Where else can students be exposed to a professor such as this one?
Speaking at the University of Colorado in Denver, the president announced new executive actions to lower student loan payments.
Read full article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-obama-student-loans-20111026,0,4121978.story
Yes. A college education is very important. Where else can students be exposed to a professor such as this one?
I cannot but tell a lie
The story about George Washington and the cherry tree demonstrates the sterling qualities of America's first President.
When George was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.
One day, as he wandered about the garden amusing himself by hacking his mother's pea sticks, he found a beautiful, young English cherry tree, of which his father was most proud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.
Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great anger, and demanded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.
Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room.
"George,'' said his father, "do you know who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!''
This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried:
"I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.''
The anger died out of his father's face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said:
"My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! Yes - though they were blossomed with silver and had leaves of the purest gold!''
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/presidents-day/george-washington/short-stories/the-cherry-tree.html
Nowadays, politicians and leaders have adopted a new ethical code. I cannot help but tell a lie. Telling lies, obfuscation, and lack of transparency increase electablility and save people from all kinds of hassle.
A proposed revision to Freedom of Information Act rules would allow federal agencies to lie to citizens and reporters seeking certain records, telling them the records don’t exist.
The Justice Department has proposed the change as part of a large revision of FOIA rules for federal agencies. Specifically, the rule would direct government agencies who are denying a request under an established FOIA exemption to “respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist,” rather than citing the relevant exemption.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/24/justice-dept-proposes-lying-hiding-existence-of-records-under-new-foia-rule/#ixzz1brkqKawK
When George was about six years old, he was made the wealthy master of a hatchet of which, like most little boys, he was extremely fond. He went about chopping everything that came his way.
One day, as he wandered about the garden amusing himself by hacking his mother's pea sticks, he found a beautiful, young English cherry tree, of which his father was most proud. He tried the edge of his hatchet on the trunk of the tree and barked it so that it died.
Some time after this, his father discovered what had happened to his favorite tree. He came into the house in great anger, and demanded to know who the mischievous person was who had cut away the bark. Nobody could tell him anything about it.
Just then George, with his little hatchet, came into the room.
"George,'' said his father, "do you know who has killed my beautiful little cherry tree yonder in the garden? I would not have taken five guineas for it!''
This was a hard question to answer, and for a moment George was staggered by it, but quickly recovering himself he cried:
"I cannot tell a lie, father, you know I cannot tell a lie! I did cut it with my little hatchet.''
The anger died out of his father's face, and taking the boy tenderly in his arms, he said:
"My son, that you should not be afraid to tell the truth is more to me than a thousand trees! Yes - though they were blossomed with silver and had leaves of the purest gold!''
http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/presidents-day/george-washington/short-stories/the-cherry-tree.html
Nowadays, politicians and leaders have adopted a new ethical code. I cannot help but tell a lie. Telling lies, obfuscation, and lack of transparency increase electablility and save people from all kinds of hassle.
A proposed revision to Freedom of Information Act rules would allow federal agencies to lie to citizens and reporters seeking certain records, telling them the records don’t exist.
The Justice Department has proposed the change as part of a large revision of FOIA rules for federal agencies. Specifically, the rule would direct government agencies who are denying a request under an established FOIA exemption to “respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist,” rather than citing the relevant exemption.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/10/24/justice-dept-proposes-lying-hiding-existence-of-records-under-new-foia-rule/#ixzz1brkqKawK
25 Oct 2011
The shiva call
There's a beautiful article written in Hebrew on Chadrei Chadarim about Nachman Kletzky, the father of Leiby Kletzky, paying a shiva call to Rav Chaim Kanievsky. When Mr. Kletzky found out about the petirah of Rebbetzin Kanievsky, he made plans to travel to Israel to be menachem aveil. When someone asked what had prompted him to trouble himself to travel so far to console the mourners, he replied that when he was sitting shiva for his son, the Rav and Rebbetzin had sent him an emotional letter consoling him so he felt he had to console the Rav.
Mr. Kletzky related that he had heard stories about faith from people who came to be menachem aveil him a number of months ago.
People decided to strengthen themselves and some took upon themselves the yoke of Torah and mitzvot.
He said that a fifteen-year-old boy had been sentenced to a two year imprisonment. A few days after the murder, the Kletzky family received a letter from the boy who was in prison. In the letter there were four dollar bills. The boy wrote that he received a small daily allowance for food and cigarettes. When he heard about the shocking murder he decided to give up the money and donate it leilui nishmat Leiby. In the merit of Leiby, he decided that he would don tefillin and keep the Sabbath.
May the mourners be comforted betoch shaar aveilei Tzion v'Yerushalayim.
Mr. Kletzky related that he had heard stories about faith from people who came to be menachem aveil him a number of months ago.
People decided to strengthen themselves and some took upon themselves the yoke of Torah and mitzvot.
He said that a fifteen-year-old boy had been sentenced to a two year imprisonment. A few days after the murder, the Kletzky family received a letter from the boy who was in prison. In the letter there were four dollar bills. The boy wrote that he received a small daily allowance for food and cigarettes. When he heard about the shocking murder he decided to give up the money and donate it leilui nishmat Leiby. In the merit of Leiby, he decided that he would don tefillin and keep the Sabbath.
May the mourners be comforted betoch shaar aveilei Tzion v'Yerushalayim.
A different direction
A post by David Harris titled The New York Times and Israel led me to an article by Muammar Qadaffi published in the paper on January 21, 2009. I was surprised that he was ready to cede some points to Israel.
The basis for the modern State of Israel is the persecution of the Jewish people, which is undeniable. The Jews have been held captive, massacred, disadvantaged in every possible fashion by the Egyptians, the Romans, the English, the Russians, the Babylonians, the Canaanites and, most recently, the Germans under Hitler. The Jewish people want and deserve their homeland.
...It is a fact that Palestinians inhabited the land and owned farms and homes there until recently, fleeing in fear of violence at the hands of Jews after 1948 — violence that did not occur, but rumors of which led to a mass exodus. It is important to note that the Jews did not forcibly expel Palestinians. They were never “un-welcomed.”
In his post, David Harris writes about a NYT editorial regarding the release of Gilad Shalit.
But this editorial took the cake.
By the second of eight paragraphs, and barely 24 hours after the drama of what had just taken place with Shalit, the editorial was already darkly suggesting this was really a Machiavellian plot to further weaken chances for peace – and the blame, predictably, was laid at Netanyahu’s doorstep.
Of course, the editorial could have gone in other directions.
Read full article: http://blogs.jpost.com/content/new-york-times-and-israel
Broderick Johnson, a Washington lawyer and the husband of NPR’s Michele Norris, is joining President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign as a senior adviser and member of the senior staff to help provide “an ear to the ground,” Obama for America officials said Monday.
...Because of her husband’s new job, Norris, the co-host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” said Monday she is temporarily stepping away from all her duties and all campaign-related coverage.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66701.html#ixzz1bmmJyJUC
After reading about Michelle Norris, I was curious if her husband's relationship with the President had affected her previous reporting. I came across an interview she did with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker magazine, after the President released his birth certificate. Ms. Norris could have interviewed Orly Taitz or Donald Trump for his take about the issue but she chose to interview someone who castigated anyone who brought up the issue as being racially motivated.
The New York Times could have opted for a different direction in its editorial. Ms. Norris could have opted for a very different type of interview. But they didn't.
The basis for the modern State of Israel is the persecution of the Jewish people, which is undeniable. The Jews have been held captive, massacred, disadvantaged in every possible fashion by the Egyptians, the Romans, the English, the Russians, the Babylonians, the Canaanites and, most recently, the Germans under Hitler. The Jewish people want and deserve their homeland.
...It is a fact that Palestinians inhabited the land and owned farms and homes there until recently, fleeing in fear of violence at the hands of Jews after 1948 — violence that did not occur, but rumors of which led to a mass exodus. It is important to note that the Jews did not forcibly expel Palestinians. They were never “un-welcomed.”
In his post, David Harris writes about a NYT editorial regarding the release of Gilad Shalit.
But this editorial took the cake.
By the second of eight paragraphs, and barely 24 hours after the drama of what had just taken place with Shalit, the editorial was already darkly suggesting this was really a Machiavellian plot to further weaken chances for peace – and the blame, predictably, was laid at Netanyahu’s doorstep.
Of course, the editorial could have gone in other directions.
Read full article: http://blogs.jpost.com/content/new-york-times-and-israel
Broderick Johnson, a Washington lawyer and the husband of NPR’s Michele Norris, is joining President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign as a senior adviser and member of the senior staff to help provide “an ear to the ground,” Obama for America officials said Monday.
...Because of her husband’s new job, Norris, the co-host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” said Monday she is temporarily stepping away from all her duties and all campaign-related coverage.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66701.html#ixzz1bmmJyJUC
After reading about Michelle Norris, I was curious if her husband's relationship with the President had affected her previous reporting. I came across an interview she did with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker magazine, after the President released his birth certificate. Ms. Norris could have interviewed Orly Taitz or Donald Trump for his take about the issue but she chose to interview someone who castigated anyone who brought up the issue as being racially motivated.
The New York Times could have opted for a different direction in its editorial. Ms. Norris could have opted for a very different type of interview. But they didn't.
United Nations
In an October 20th press conference by special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk said that "when he first assumed his mandate, he had tried to broaden it — wanting to comment, for example, on the firing of rockets from Gaza — but that was not acceptable to the Human Rights Council, which was concerned that, if changed, the mandate might be terminated."
Read whole transcript: http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2011/111020_Palestine.doc.htm
The following are the opening remarks made by Ambassador Rice at the U.N. Debate on the Middle East.
Thank you, Madame President, and thank you, Under Secretary-General Pascoe, for your briefing.
I’ll begin with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/10/20111024125112su0.3723522.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz1bkJPlC47
October 24 - The UN celebrates United Nations Day.
“Global problems demand global solutions,” Mr. Ban said in a message for United Nations Day, marking the anniversary of the day the Organization was founded 66 years ago. “They compel all nations to unite in action on an agenda for the world’s people. That is the very mission of the United Nations.”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40173&Cr=global+challenges&Cr1=
Yep. They are united in the pursuit of one agenda. Any guesses?
Read whole transcript: http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2011/111020_Palestine.doc.htm
The following are the opening remarks made by Ambassador Rice at the U.N. Debate on the Middle East.
Thank you, Madame President, and thank you, Under Secretary-General Pascoe, for your briefing.
I’ll begin with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2011/10/20111024125112su0.3723522.html?CP.rss=true#ixzz1bkJPlC47
October 24 - The UN celebrates United Nations Day.
“Global problems demand global solutions,” Mr. Ban said in a message for United Nations Day, marking the anniversary of the day the Organization was founded 66 years ago. “They compel all nations to unite in action on an agenda for the world’s people. That is the very mission of the United Nations.”
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=40173&Cr=global+challenges&Cr1=
Yep. They are united in the pursuit of one agenda. Any guesses?
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