My memory is not what it was in my youth for I believe it was Carl
Sagan, whom I had the pleasure of meeting as a teen and working at the Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory a few rooms from him, wrote regarding the Divinity of
the Torah that given enough monkeys pressing on typewriter keyboards one could
write a Shakespeare Sonnet by accident – not Stephen Hawkins whom I never met
face to face in my life.
THIS WEEK I HAD WRITTEN A GOOD DEAL OF MATERIAL FOR THIS WEEK’S
PARSHA AND HAD SOME SHOAH PICTURES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY TAKEN OF ALL PEOPLE
BY A NAZI PHOTOGRAPHER WHICH MY GOOD PEN PAL VALERIE HAD SENT ME EVEN A
MIRACULOUS HAPPENING, A NICE STORY AND PARABLE AND ALL WAS LOST DESPITE THE
“WORD SAVE” IN ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO ATTACK MY COMPUTER WHILE IN FL. IT SEEMS THAT
THE ISRAELI NETWORKS ARE ON THE BALL AND THE USA IS UNDERGOING ATTACK AFTER
ATTACK. I WILL BE WORKING MORE AND MORE OFF LINE NOW. IN FACT ALL OF LAST
WEEK’S PARSHA HAD TO BE RECOVERED FROM MY SENT BOX OF MY E-MAIL WHICH IS
FOREBODING TO ME. The hacking either came via Skype or Firefox so I cautious
putting into e-mail draft and working off line all
Parsha Noach 2
7:1 And the LORD said unto Noah: 'Come
thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me
in this generation.
Rashi and the Sages of the Talmud ask the following question. If
Noach had lived in the generation of Avraham or for that matter Hezekiah would
he have been righteous? We just have to look around us today. There are people
who break away from religion and others who become more religious in our
generation. A generation also about to undergo an abrupt change from the level
of promiscuity of Sodom v’ Amorah to absolute sponging off of other people for
instance third world people who come to Britain and other European Countries
and take advantage of the welfare system and don’t work or work under the table
so to say. In the States we have families on food stamps to claim a large
number of dependents using a poor of children with other food stamp users. Society
is breaking down and cannot continue like this.
A second claim against Noach was that he was not proactive in
trying to bring people back to HASHEM but passive in making the Teva. I claim
that if he had lived during the prime influence of Avraham that Noach would
have been even stronger in his belief and fortitude. Nobody can claim that I am
not proactive on Shabbos, Kashrus or Family Purity yet I want to tell a story
from my own dealings:
I was once on a cruise with a completely non-religious friend of
mine. He did make an exception or two he holds a Seder each year for his family
like his wife’s father used to with full tradition and stays home for Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The Cruise Line offered a service for Friday night
which is basically the main observance of the Reform Jews. People had asked me
to lead the Service. When I got to the meeting room now designed as a temporary
Synagogue, I opened up the Prayer Book and I saw black before my eyes (or
perhaps in non-Jewish terms horns, red and a pitch-fork). I never had seen such
a butchering of prayers. I know that sometimes Israelis don’t like my
pronunciation of some words as they cannot see the intent but this was from the
out-set a rearrangement and abbreviation of the prayers. It was this Reform
arrangement rather than the oral tradition prayer where the Yemenites,
Sephardim and Ashkenazim make the same blessings and perhaps change a word or
two here and there. Even this I was willing to lead with my Hebrew and point
out to the page in English on one silly condition that the men sit either on
the right or the left and the women sit on the opposite side. Now they wanted
to pray mixed. Hey Buddy this is not Gan Eden where Adam and Chava are running
around in their birthday suits as innocent as the day they were created most of
the folks on the cruise were older than I and probably much more worldly than
I. I asked nicely to the people just once for a few minutes of prayer to humor
me. I felt at that moment just like Noach but not quite 120 years of effort. I
had put only two or three minutes trying to persuade these folks that if they
sat separately for perhaps a half hour they could pray with me but if not I could
not pray with them. The Talmud brings down statements about a house with idols
in it. HASHEM states as the Shechina removes itself from such a house that I
and them cannot abide in such a place. (Or like the time in Fussen Germany where
I tried to rent a Zimmer only to find a T with an idol of a man over the bed –
I used an excuse and left the place for the same reason for I want to be under
the protection of the Shechina all the time.)
In short my non-religious friends who are used to attending at least
on Rosh Hashanah, Bar Mitzvos and Weddings real prayers in Eretz Yisrael were
there with mouths agape. They watched the pseudo-prayer Service rearranged and
rewritten with mixed seating. It was not like the Conservative that basically
with minor changes kept the same prayers it was so far in the outfield that it
was completely out of the ball park or out of the football stadium for my
non-US readers. As non-observant Jews they called it making a joke of the
prayers and HASHEM and unfortunately my 6th generation Reform Jewish
Cousins and their children and grandchildren grew up this way. In most cases
the sin is by accident or Shogeg and not like the original Shabbtai Zvi
followers and Socialists on purpose or Mayzid.
From all this I come to the conclusion that although it was
Noach’s job to try to save his generation as Avraham tried to save the town of
Sodom with his prayer arguments with the Angels up until 10 people – sometimes
it is beyond human hope and effort. So just as Rebbe Meir, the miracle worker,
made fun of King Menashe and was rebuked in a dream from the next world so too
I believe that Chachamim should not have criticized Noach. It is stated in
Perkei Avos “Don’t judge a person until you can put yourself in his place.”
Unfortunately, I have to skip ahead over what I had covered before
the computer line was hacked despite the firewall (if the Pentagon can be
hacked so a little firewall of a private person on simple computer line all the
more so).
Due to the lack of time, I will only touch on a few minor points and the roots for some of what we shall see in the near future.
… 28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
The flood occurred in the year 1656 after creation. Adding on 350 years we get the year 2006 and since Avram was born in 1948 and the whole earth at that time was one speech and reasonably concentrated in a relatively short distance between Turkey and India speaking the same language they were united in brotherhood. It is more than accident that our Sages say that Avram learned stories directly from Noach that had heard them from Metushalach who heard directly from Adam.
I have underlined the main nations of the 70 that have or will
have an effect on Am Yisrael from the time of Avraham until Goal Tzeddek.
10:1 Now these are the generations of the
sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and unto them were sons born after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer,
and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
Magog according to the Gaon from Vilna is Russia, Yavan is Greece
and Tiras is Iran.
3 And
the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
Ashkenaz is Germany.
4 And
the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish,
Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 Of these
were the isles of the nations divided in their lands, every one after his
tongue, after their families, in their nations. 6 And the sons of Ham: Cush, and Mizraim, and Put, and Canaan.
Mitzrayim is Egypt, Put is Sudan, Ludim is Libya and Canaan are
the original inhabitants of Eretz Yisrael who died off or migrated away.
7 And
the sons of Cush: Seba, and Havilah,
and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah: Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one in the
earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter
before the LORD; wherefore it is said: 'Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the
LORD.' 10 And the beginning of
his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
11 Out of that land went forth
Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and Rehoboth-ir, and Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and
Calah--the same is the great city. 13
And Mizraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 14 and Pathrusim, and Casluhim--whence
went forth the Philistines--and Caphtorim. 15 And Canaan begot Zidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 and the Jebusite, and the Amorite,
and the Girgashite; 17 and the
Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite; and
afterward were the families of the Canaanite spread abroad. 19 And the border of the Canaanite was
from Zidon, as thou goest toward Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest toward Sodom
and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, unto Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their
tongues, in their lands, in their nations.
21 And
unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of
Japheth, to him also were children born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, and Asshur, and Arpachshad, and Lud,
and Aram. 23 And the sons of
Aram: Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24 And Arpachshad begot Shelah; and Shelah begot Eber. 25 And unto Eber were born two sons;
the name of the one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his
brother's name was Joktan. 26
And Joktan begot Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah; 27 and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah; 28 and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba; 29
and Ophir, and Havilah, … 31
These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their
lands, after their nations. 32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their
generations, in their nations; and of these were the nations divided in the
earth after the flood.
The first Sheva is in Africa aka Ethiopia and where the gold is in
the land of Havilah is it in Africa near the Congo River or the Indus River
which might be the second Havilah. One thing for sure is that they are two
different nations with the same name. I would want to take an educated guess
that the Sheva of Shem becomes Sherpa in modern days but I have no tradition or
proof.
At this point all mankind was living in one area united and speaking the same language.
3 And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
And they said to one
another: One nation to another nation, Mizraim to Cush; and Cush to Put; and
Put to Canaan. - [from Gen. Rabbah 38:8] Come: Heb. הָבָה, prepare yourselves.
Every הָבָה is an expression of preparation, meaning that they prepare
themselves and join for work, or for counsel, or for [bearing] a load. הָבָה,
prepare yourselves, aparicler in Old French, to get ready. — [from Zohar , vol.
1, 75a] bricks: Because there are no stones in Babylon, which is a valley. —
[from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer ch. 24] and fire them thoroughly: This is how they
make bricks, which are called tivles in Old French (tuilles in modern French):
They fire them in a kiln.
4 And they said: 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'
Why the top in heaven? Why start from a low valley and not start building from Mt. Ararat? Why were they worried about being scattered over the face of the earth which in the end was their punishment?
lest we be scattered: That
He should not bring upon us any plague to scatter us from here. — [from Tan.
Buber, Noach 28]
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
They were so concerned with building the city for the common purpose that they forgot the individual human beings. If a man became trapped in the bricks or injured they did little to help but continued on like ants or bees in a hive to build. Possibly some on the way down tried to help the man but none on the way up the Migdal. When a man fell to his death they did not care or stop even for a moment of silence.
6 And the LORD said: 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withheld from them, which they purpose to do.
Lo! [they are] one
people: All this goodness they have: that they are one people, and that they
all have one language, and they have commenced to do this!- [from Seder Eliyahu
Rabbah, ch. 31] they have commenced: Heb. הַחִלָּם, lit. their beginning, like
אָמְרָם, their saying; עֲשׂוֹתָם, their doing; they have commenced to do. will
it not be withheld: This is a question. The word יִבָּצֵר means withholding, as
its Aramaic translation (יִתְמְנַע). And similar to it (Ps. 76:13): “He will
withhold (יִבְצֹר) the spirit of princes.”
7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.'
Come, let us descend: He
took counsel with His tribunal due to His extraordinary humility. — [from Sanh.
38b] Come: Measure for measure. They said, “Come, let us build,” and He meted
corresponding [punishment] out to them by countering with,“Come, let us
descend.” - [from Tan. Buber, Noach 25] and confuse: [The word וְנָבְלָה means]
וּנְבַלְבֵּל, and let us confuse. The “nun” is used for the [prefix for the
first person] plural, and the final “hey” is superfluous like the “hey” of
נֵרְדָה, let us descend. — [from Targum Onkelos] will not understand: This one
requests a brick, and that one brings mortar; this [first] one stands and
cracks his skull. — [from Gen. Rabbah 38:10]
I view it more like the
Medrash on the Creation of man. For these people according to Medrash wanted to
ascend to heaven to make war so that no flood could ever occur again. They did
not believe in what HASHEM had promised Noach. I am sure that Noach, himself, Shem,
Arpachshard, Shelah and Ever warned against this. Avraham was a revolutionary
rebelling against the idols and painted by the main-stream politically correct
of his day as a reactionary extremist.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off to build the city.
And the Lord scattered
them from there: in this world. That which they said, “lest we be scattered”
(verse 4) was fulfilled upon them. This is what Solomon said, (Prov. 10:24):
“The dread of a wicked man-that will befall him.” - [from Tan. Buber, Noach 28]
Scattering was alo a punchishment given to the Bnei Yisrael with the first Mikdash aka Beis Rishon only scatter to Bavel. While with Mikdash Shayne throughout the whole world. Like with the generation described here, the Jewish People were initially scattered out of the land and defeated but united because their sin was idolatry or a rebellion against G-D. With the second Temple it was a scattering for the brutal hatred of their fellow man.
9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Bavel is in modern Hebrew is not only scatter but to confuse. For once the Persians spoke their language to the Chinese laborers they became confused and asked the Greeks. Only one family kept the original language and the source of the Bible Codes. Avraham had saved the day. He had also to speak Iraqi and Turkish in his area but managed to communicate. Sign language became a way to make things understood between the family of nations but no more universal language remained.
The Medrash describes precisely what happed to the Migdal Bavel. One third on the top was destroyed by heaven, the bottom third sank into the ground and the remaining third remained. Was this the Ziggurat of Ur?
and from there…
scattered them: This teaches [us] that they have no share in the world to come
(Mishnah Sanh. 107b). Now which [sins] were worse, those of the Generation of
the Flood or those of the Generation of the Dispersion? The former did not
stretch forth their hands against God, whereas the latter did stretch forth
their hands against God, to wage war against Him. Nevertheless, the former were
drowned, while the latter did not perish from the world. That is because the
Generation of the Flood were robbers and there was strife between them, and
therefore they were destroyed. But these behaved with love and friendship among
themselves, as it is said (verse 1): “one language and uniform words.” Thus you
learn that discord is hateful, and that peace is great. — [from Gen. Rabbah
38:6]
… 24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Terah. 25 And Nahor lived after he begot Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 And Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
The Medrash and other Oral Torah speaks about the early life of Avram.
Parsha Lech Lecha
12:1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get yourself out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that
I will show you. 2. And I will make you
into a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will aggrandize your name, and
[you shall] be a blessing.
And I will make you
into a great nation: Since traveling causes three things: 1) it diminishes
procreation, 2) it diminishes money, and 3) it diminishes fame (lit. name),
therefore, he required these three blessings, namely that He blessed him
concerning children, concerning money, and concerning fame. (Other editions:
And this is the meaning of and I will aggrandize your name. I will add a letter
to your name, for until now, your name was אַבְרם From now on [your name will
be] אַבְרהָם, and אַבְרהָם equals 248, corresponding to a person’s limbs.
(Found in an old Rashi . — [from Gen. Rabbah 39:11; Tan. Buber, Chaye Sarah 6)
This week’s Parsha starts off when Avram is 75 years old and
childless. Since Shabbos is approaching and like Avraham was on the road a lot I am leaving this for continuation next
week rather than do a half-baked job.
Hilchos Deyos of the
Rambam http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/910344/jewish/Chapter-Four.htm
Halacha 1
Since maintaining a healthy and sound body is
among the ways of God - for one cannot understand or have any knowledge of
the Creator, if he is ill - therefore, he must avoid that which harms the
body and accustom himself to that which is healthful and helps the body
become stronger.
They are as follows: a person should never eat unless he is
hungry, nor drink unless thirsty. He should never put off relieving himself,
even for an instant. Rather, whenever he [feels the] need to urinate or move
his bowels, he should do so immediately.
Halacha 2
One should not eat until his stomach is full.
Rather, [he should stop when] he has eaten to close to three quarter's of
full satisfaction.
One should drink only a small amount of water
during the meal, and mix that with wine. When the food begins to be digested
in his intestines, he may drink what is necessary. However, he should not
drink much water, even when the food has been digested.
One should not eat until he has checked
himself thoroughly that he does not need to relieve himself. He should not
eat until he has taken a stroll which is sufficient to raise his body
temperature.
Alternatively, he should work or exert himself
in some other way. The rule is that he should engage his body and exert
himself in a sweat-producing task each morning. Afterwards, he should rest
slightly until he regains composure and [then, he should] eat. If he were to
bathe in hot water after exerting himself, it would be beneficial.
Afterwards, he should wait a short while and eat.
Halacha 3
One should always eat while seated or
reclining on his left side. He should not walk about, ride, exert himself,
subject his body to startling influence, nor take a stroll until the food has
been digested in his intestines. Anyone who takes a stroll or exerts himself
after eating brings serious and harmful illnesses upon himself.
Halacha 4
Together, day and night make up [a period of]
twenty four hours. It is sufficient for a man to sleep a third of this
period; i.e., eight hours. These should be towards the end of the night, so
that there be eight hours from the beginning of his sleep until sunrise.
Thus, he should rise from his bed before sunrise.
Halacha 5
One should not sleep face down or on his back,
but on his side - on his left side at the beginning of the night and on the
right side at the end of the night. He should not retire shortly after
eating, but should wait some three or four hours.
One should not sleep during the day.
Halacha 6
Laxative foods such as grapes, figs,
mulberries, pears, melons, certain types of cucumbers and certain types of
zucchini should be eaten first, before the meal. One should not eat them
together with his main meal. Rather, he should wait until they have descended
from the upper stomach and [then] eat his meal.
Foods which are constipating, such as
pomegranates, quinces, apples, and crustumenian pears should be eaten
immediately after the meal and not in quantity.
A Halacha from the
laws of Lashon Hara
Calling a person by a nickname is forbidden
unless the person himself likes the name. Example Richard could be Richie,
Rich even Rich-man but someone may take offense to Dick, Dickie and certainly
is offensive Rich-RATCH (Heb. Zipper). If one uses the nickname offensively
he has no portion in the world to come.
Newspaper riles up women - Rabbi: Women mustn't run for Knesset http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4296854,00.html
One of most senior
Religious Zionism rabbis, Shlomo Aviner, speaks out against women's right to
vote or be elected to Israeli parliament. Taking part in elections 'is
immodest and against Jewish Law,' he tells students
… "A woman must not serve as a Knesset member. It's immodest,"
the rabbi, head of the Ateret Yerushalayim Yeshiva, told his students during
a lesson. "Exposure in public is against the Jewish perception of 'All
glorious is the princess within her chamber (Psalms 45:13).'"
MK Hotovely gets rabbi's approvalAviner explained the role of the Prophetess Deborah, who held a public position, as "a matter of life-saving… There was no other choice, so she went to war… She led because there was no one else."The rabbi's remarks stirred a row in the religious public, particularly ahead of the primary elections in Habayit Hayehudi-New National Religious Party, where many women are competing for a spot on the Knesset list. One of those women, Liora Minka, chairwoman of the Emunah movement, said in response that Rabbi Aviner's comments were "further evidence of the standstill suffered by quite a few rabbis pretending to represent Religious Zionism. Their head is in the sky – or in that Jewish religious literature – while their legs have failed to reach the ground of reality. "There is no wonder, therefore, that there is such a big gap – which is becoming wider and wider – between many parts of the population and the conservative, stagnated rabbinical establishment. MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), a religious lawmaker, presents a letter she received from Rabbi Aviner, in which he clarified that he was only speaking about an ideal situation and gave her his approval to take part in her party's primary elections.
Boteach
Opponent Supports Renaming Park After Holocaust Denier: NJ congressional candidate
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach released a letter in which his opponent supported
renaming park after Holocaust denier. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161321#.UIkZnoYopN8
|
I got
this from my friend Valerie and managed to recover it: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2219304/Haunting-smile-girl-facing-Holocaust-How-Hitlers-PERSONAL-photographer-captured-history-plight-Jews-Nazi-occupied-Poland.html?openGraphAuthor=%2Fhome%2Fsearch.html%3Fs%3D&authornamef=Paul+Harris
My USA second cousins stopped
speaking to me when I called out Arab Terrorism here but now this article
vindicates me. http://www.wnd.com/2012/10/about-that-big-nato-success-in-bosnia/
Preparing
for Yechezkel 38: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4294695,00.html
This has never happened before but just as the Arabs like Obama so a Leading Israeli Rabbi Tells Americans in Israel to Vote Romney: Rabbi Eliezer Melamed of Har Bracha disappointed with Obama, calls on Americans in Israel to vote for the Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161320#.UIkalYYopN8
Inyanay Diyoma
When the computer was hacked, I lost some information about Iran
and Hezballah preparations but one can figure out it was not birthday greetings
that they were planning to send to Benyamin Netanyahu.
Politicians
were busy with the Elections not expecting strength from the Hamas and a very
badly wounded was an IDF officer: http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=289059
Speaking
of hacking: http://www.debka.com/article/22459/Iran’s-global-cyber-war-room-is-secretly-hosted-by-Hizballah-in-Beirut
As I
suspected when I read Yeshaya Ch. 8 about 33 or 32 years ago. Gog and Magog
will be Atomic, Biological and Chemical http://www.debka.com/article/22453/Obama-to-Israel-Iran-is-piling-up-fissile-material-for-4-6-bombs---in-Natanz-too
A
miraculous recovery: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/161306#.UIiQEIYopN8
What no
more Shehab missile supplies? http://www.debka.com/article/22469/The-bombed-Sudanese-factory-produced-Iranian-Shehab-missiles
Israeli
Police computers were attacked: http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=289260
From
Albert: Your credit card may be transmitting info you don't want people to hack http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/lLAFhTjsQHw%26sns=em
Humor: I got this
great joke either from Rabbi A.L. or Sheldon and it is not far from reality.
Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official, 'You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he has done.'
The Chief nodded in agreement.
The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?'
The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. 'When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, enough buffalo, enough beaver, clean water.
Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having be fruitful and multiply.'
Then the chief leaned back and smiled. 'Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system likes that.'
Indian Chief 'Two Eagles' was asked by a white government official, 'You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he has done.'
The Chief nodded in agreement.
The official continued, 'Considering all these events, in your opinion, where did the white man go wrong?'
The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute and then calmly replied. 'When white man find land, Indians running it, no taxes, no debt, enough buffalo, enough beaver, clean water.
Women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend all day hunting and fishing; all night having be fruitful and multiply.'
Then the chief leaned back and smiled. 'Only white man dumb enough to think he could improve system likes that.'
Now for M. Wolfberg’s Good Shabbos Story “Go – go”
"So what's on the itinerary today?" Hillel asked his son. "Oh, Abba, I forgot to tell you! Tonight you're in for a real treat. The children will be singing in a yeshiva choir. You will really get your nachas this evening!"
Hillel did indeed enjoy the evening. What a pleasure to hear the sweet voices of his offspring blending melodiously with the voices of so many other Jewish children! After the gala performance, Hillel joined his son and headed for home.
"Have you davened (prayed) maariv (the evening prayers) already, Abba?" "I did," Hillel replied, "but I'd be happy to accompany you."
While his son ducked inside the building for the evening service, Hillel waited patiently in the courtyard. After several minutes, a saintly-looking elderly man, his beard long and white, wandered into the courtyard. Hillel estimated that the man must be in his mid-nineties. The elderly man addressed Hillel. "Do you know if a minyan for maariv has begun?"
Hillel gestured inside. "My son just went in for maariv a few minutes ago. The minyan has probably just begun." The man's face lit up at this information. He slowly and steadily made his way inside the building, only to emerge a few minutes later.
"Back so soon?" Hillel asked. "What happened?"
"I already missed Kaddish and Borchu," the man explained. "But they have ongoing minyanim here until eleven. I'll just wait for the next one." As the elderly man spoke, Hillel thought he detected a Persian accent. So he began conversing in Persian. The other man was surprised. "Are you Persian?"
"Actually, I am Syrian. I live in America now," Hillel replied.
"I spent some time in New York once," the man reminisced. "It was about thirty-five years ago. I attended Shaarei Tzion quite often." Hillel listened with interest. Shaarei Tzion was a Syrian synagogue he himself had been frequenting for years. "I have one friend there," the man went on.
Hillel's curiosity piqued. "Really? Who is your friend?"
"Hillel Avion." Hillel couldn't believe his ears. He eyed the old man closely, but he did not appear the slightest bit familiar to him. Hiding his surprise, he asked, "How do you know this Hillel Avion?"
"I was in America for heart surgery, and Hillel Avion was a tremendous help to me."
Something stirred in the back of Hillel's mind. "What's your name?" Hillel asked, hoping the name would conjure up the memory. "Gorgy. My name is Gorgy."
Yes, that's right! Gorgy! Now Hillel remembered. The man, a father of fourteen, had come from Israel to consult with an expert surgeon in New York. Gorgy had no medical insurance—and no money to pay the doctor's fee. So the surgeon had turned him away: "Fifty thousand dollars, or no surgery!"
Upon hearing of Gorgy's desperate plight, Hillel undertook the tremendous financial obligation. For two weeks, by day and night, through cold and snowy weather, Hillel knocked on the doors of friends, acquaintances and strangers. When he finally amassed a sizeable sum, he presented himself at the surgeon's office. Hillel placed an enormous bag on the table. "Here's the money," he announced. "Please perform the operation."
The surgeon summoned four nurses, who sat down to count the bills. Hillel watched nervously until the surgeon looked up with a smile on his face. Every penny was there, and the doctor agreed to go ahead with the surgery. Boruch Hashem, the operation was a complete success.
"Mr. Gorgy," Hillel burst out emotionally, "I am Hillel Avion!" He grasped Mr. Gorgy's hand and kissed it. "Can you please give me a brocha?"
"Hillel ben Rivkah," Gorgy answered earnestly, "there is no need for me to bless you now. Every day for the past thirty-five years I have prayed on your behalf. Every morning I wake up and say 'Hashem, please bless Hillel ben Rivkah.'"
The tears streamed down Hillel's face as the two men parted. Hillel shared the remarkable episode with his son when he rejoined him in the courtyard. Both men marveled at the reunion that had transpired.
"Every mitzvah is recorded in Heaven, and is paid back." Many a trial and tribulation had passed by Hillel in the past thirty-five years. Hillel was certain now that it was in the merit of helping Mr. Gorgy as well as Mr. Gorgy's daily blessings, that Hillel was alive today, enjoying nachas from his grandchildren in the Holy Land.
The Midrash teaches us that there are a few ways which a Jew can change his "Mazal," i.e, from bad to good. One of these ways is by moving to a new place, as Avrohom Avinu does at the beginning of this week's parsha Lech Lecha. Another way to change one's Mazal is by giving Tzedaka - charity. There is verse in Mishley which states "Tzedaka saves one from death..." (10,2) From our story above we see the power of Tzedaka. Now that we are reading the parshas of Avrohom Avinu, who personified the character trait of Chesed - Kindness, let us all strengthen ourselves in this aspect and resolve to give more and more Tzedaka. Hashem should then help us that by giving more Tzedaka we will all merit to good Mazal, to Mazal Tov! Good Shabbos Everyone. M. Wolfberg is sponsored by: In memory of R' Yaakov ben Naftoly, of blessed memory Refuah Shleima to Reb Mordechai Menachem Mendel ben Tziporah Yitta Refuah Shleima to Tsviah bas Bracha Leah
Good Shabbos and next week I hope to be back on Track.
Rachamim Pauli
