This
is going to be probably a one week pray for Eliyahu ben Sarah – I received a
letter from an MD stating that he had a very bad infection.
From here and there. Chagai Segal wrote an article this week in which former
Secretary of State George Schultz, 95, eulogized a former student of his from
Israel who fell in battle.
A
number of people raised non-Jews have traced their family on their mother’s
side and found out their great or great-great grandmother was Jewish.
Ethical
behavior and good health habits are needed. I picked up years ago EBV from
eating at a Charedi 7 blessings party because of people eating from salad plate
or not having serving spoons. This was a status of mine this week on Facebook
and it says what I think of boorish characters. Good
morning, I was at a wedding last night. What I despise about certain groups in
Israel that basic manners and cleanliness are not known. THE TALMUD STATES THAT
MANNERS ARE BEFORE TORAH. I left my seat and had my main course plate stolen by
supposedly G-D fearing people (my coat was on my chair). THIS IS SOMETHING THAT
I HAVE NEVER EVER SEEN AT A YESHIVISH, CHABAD, A MODERN ORTHODOX OR
NON-RELIGIOUS WEDDING. To say the least, it was not taught to the children who
grew up to become uncivilized adults. To put it mildly this was not an act that
glorifies HIS NAME. I did photograph the wedding but not the women's side
except family.
Parsha
Ki Sisa
This week we read about the donation of half a Shekel. We will
repeat it again next week in Parsha Shekelim. When HASHEM asked Moshe to
command the Bnei Yisrael to be counted by the method of the half Shekel, HASHEM
showed him the half Shekel coin and the weight of the coin was given. Why was
the population counted by coins and not as men? It seems that the accusing
angel has an evil eye but when there is a donation to the Temple or in our case
the Mishkan, he has no power. (Tzeduka saves from death)
Last week we had the daily Korban mentioned and this week the
giant water supply for washing the hands of the Cohanim. If the Cohain’s hands
and feet were not washed, the Korban is Pasul (invalid).
31:12
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 13 'Speak thou also unto the children of
Israel, saying: Verily ye shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign between Me
and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the LORD who
sanctify you.
Then nations of the world were given the 7 Mitzvos of Noach but
Shabbos is for: You, the Bnei Yisrael and nobody else. For the Torah was given
only to the seed of Yacov and not the nations of world. The Shabbos is the
great reward.
14
Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that
profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever does any work therein,
that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
Keeping the Shabbos is a positive command and one who knows how to
keep it with song, family meals with the best one can afford in his own
situation and health. A time for prayer, singing, conversing and learning Torah
and Halacha. Rest is a great plus and release of tension for the body and
spiritual wellbeing.
However, those who want to observe Shabbos by starting on their
own without proper guidance or visiting an Orthodox home will come across the
second half of this Pasuk. For when I began observing at the age of 20-21 it
was no typing of term papers and after the Schul in a relatively non-religious
area it was no riding, no swimming, no sailing, and I neither had a family or
sang songs as I had never heard them or seen an Orthodox home. On one hand I
wanted to be part of the Jewish people and not have my soul cut off and on the
other hand, I only saw the negative physical activity for 25 hours. Slowly, I
came to know the Orthodox crowd at school at the age of 21 and was invited into
homes and a Lubavitch Shabbaton whom my hosts had no experience dealing with a
Baal Teshuva and how to be more sensitive and a few other things and over
glorifying the Rebbe to a person who never saw a Talmud Chacham in his life.
However, the new foods of Kugel and Chunt were stranger and tasty to me. (When
I came to Israel and tasted various Yemenite and Indian – Pakistani Jewish
dishes they were less exotic than my first taste of these foods that my family
never ate.)
That was the hardest time for me when I began observing the
Shabbos and everything was more the negative commands. It was only months later
that I began to enjoy the positive side of Shabbos.
15
Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn
rest, holy to the LORD; whosoever does any work in the Sabbath day, he shall
surely be put to death.
The emphasis is rest (and relaxation) from work and making oneself
holy through learning.
16
Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath
throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
i
As a Baal Teshuva, I did not note the positivizes of the word
observing. For I should have working the summer before in the Smithsonian
National Astronomical Observatory in Cambridge MA. For I had been observing the
wonders of the heavens from a physical standpoint. The observing there was fun
for me and I should have view Shabbos observance of refraining from work in the
same light but it was like I had landed on a strange planet still coming in as
a sixth generation Reform Jew.
17
It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever; for in six days
the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and
rested.'
This is a contract between the Bnei Yisrael and the L-RD but not
for the non-Jewish world and therefore a potential Convert prior to Mikvah is
required to violate the Shabbos.
… One thing that we deal with this week in the Parsha is the
golden calf. The people at the sea saw the feet of the Chayos HaKadosh that
bore the Throne of G-D (See Yechezkel Chapter 1). Since the feet were those of
a calf and the light blinding a bit, they made an Egel Zahav. This image was
not of HASHEM but the Chariot of G-D. It is obvious that 40 days after
receiving the Torah, this half of one percent of the population murders Hur and
makes the image which is forbidden in two out of ten of the commandments. Since
the images was not of other gods, that command was not violated. But perhaps
the NAME was taken in vain.
If we had the original Luchos of Sapphire made by the hand of G-D
we would have reached redemption, no enemies could hurt us but Moshe broke the
Luchos. So we have the nations of the world against us and the so-called
Palestinians making trouble for us. 18 And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an
end of speaking with him upon mount Sinai, the two tables of the testimony,
tables of stone, written with the finger of God. But
with the sin of the Egel and the breaking of the Luchos we lost all the power
of them and today even the broken pieces and their power are hidden from us.
Rebel against Shabbos a
modern tale by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles: http://ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=952-24
Rabbi Benyamin Adelman was
told this by a man he met about ten years after this story took place.
It was sometime in
the 1960's when the strictly religious Jews --the so-called "Ultra-Orthodox"
- of the Meah Shaarim neighborhood in Jerusalem first attempted to close their
main street to traffic on Shabbat. They set up trash bins across the road and
there was anger and indignation all around.
In response, some secular Jews decided to form a committee to oppose the closure of the street, calling it by a name which declared their opposition to "religious coercion." They saw it as coercive against the secular that the Ultra-Orthodox wanted to close the street which runs through their completely Shabbat-observant neighborhood. This committee against religious coercion used to bus ruffians into Jerusalem on Shabbat from kibbutzim and other places to attack and beat up Ultra Orthodox male demonstrators.
This man was one of those ruffians who went up to Jerusalem to fight religious coercion by beating up the Ultra-Orthodox in order to force them to open the main street in their neighborhood to traffic, including the city bus line #1.
One Shabbat, he was in Jerusalem with his own automobile and decided to teach those impudent Ultra-Orthodox a lesson. He drove his car down Meah Shaarim Street "like a Roman charioteer," as he described it, with pedestrians scattering in panic, pregnant women sprinting from the street and women with baby carriages bouncing across the uneven pavement. All this was to show them that they can't impose their "Shabbat" on him!
One resident, a local teacher, had the presence of mind to memorize the number of his license plate and look it up the next day at the motor vehicle Licensing Bureau. Then he looked up the registered owner's telephone number and called him up. Ascertaining that the man on the line was indeed the wild driver, he invited him to his home for Shabbat, explaining that he wanted him to see what Shabbat is and "why it means so much to us."
The driver declined, explaining that he would not want to spend the whole of Shabbat in such an environment. The teacher said, "I am inviting you to be my guest, not my prisoner. You are free to leave whenever you want. Just do me the courtesy of parking your car outside the neighborhood."
He could find no honorable way of refusing a challenge so reasonably presented, so he showed up Shabbat evening for Kiddush and the meal. They talked somewhat and he left. As he was leaving, his host invited him to return another Shabbat and, to reinforce the invitation, called him during the week.
Eventually, he came again for Shabbat. And again. And again. Over the next year or so, he became first an occasional Shabbat guest, then a frequent Shabbat guest and finally a regular Shabbos guest. Over period of two to three years, he became Shabbat observant and then fully religious.
Commented Rabbi Adelman (in the early 2000's, when the street closure demonstrations and opposition had moved to a newer neighborhood - y.t.):
A motorcade of secular Jews driving down Bar Ilan Boulevard on Shabbat is an opportunity to talk to them. They are in your neighborhood on Shabbat. So invite them for Kiddush. They have never seen you in a positive, sympathetic way before. Great good can come of it!
~~~~~~~~~~~
In response, some secular Jews decided to form a committee to oppose the closure of the street, calling it by a name which declared their opposition to "religious coercion." They saw it as coercive against the secular that the Ultra-Orthodox wanted to close the street which runs through their completely Shabbat-observant neighborhood. This committee against religious coercion used to bus ruffians into Jerusalem on Shabbat from kibbutzim and other places to attack and beat up Ultra Orthodox male demonstrators.
This man was one of those ruffians who went up to Jerusalem to fight religious coercion by beating up the Ultra-Orthodox in order to force them to open the main street in their neighborhood to traffic, including the city bus line #1.
One Shabbat, he was in Jerusalem with his own automobile and decided to teach those impudent Ultra-Orthodox a lesson. He drove his car down Meah Shaarim Street "like a Roman charioteer," as he described it, with pedestrians scattering in panic, pregnant women sprinting from the street and women with baby carriages bouncing across the uneven pavement. All this was to show them that they can't impose their "Shabbat" on him!
One resident, a local teacher, had the presence of mind to memorize the number of his license plate and look it up the next day at the motor vehicle Licensing Bureau. Then he looked up the registered owner's telephone number and called him up. Ascertaining that the man on the line was indeed the wild driver, he invited him to his home for Shabbat, explaining that he wanted him to see what Shabbat is and "why it means so much to us."
The driver declined, explaining that he would not want to spend the whole of Shabbat in such an environment. The teacher said, "I am inviting you to be my guest, not my prisoner. You are free to leave whenever you want. Just do me the courtesy of parking your car outside the neighborhood."
He could find no honorable way of refusing a challenge so reasonably presented, so he showed up Shabbat evening for Kiddush and the meal. They talked somewhat and he left. As he was leaving, his host invited him to return another Shabbat and, to reinforce the invitation, called him during the week.
Eventually, he came again for Shabbat. And again. And again. Over the next year or so, he became first an occasional Shabbat guest, then a frequent Shabbat guest and finally a regular Shabbos guest. Over period of two to three years, he became Shabbat observant and then fully religious.
Commented Rabbi Adelman (in the early 2000's, when the street closure demonstrations and opposition had moved to a newer neighborhood - y.t.):
A motorcade of secular Jews driving down Bar Ilan Boulevard on Shabbat is an opportunity to talk to them. They are in your neighborhood on Shabbat. So invite them for Kiddush. They have never seen you in a positive, sympathetic way before. Great good can come of it!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Source: Adapted by
Yerachmiel Tilles from //nishmas.org, the website of "Nishmas Chayim:
Center for Torah, Chassidus and Jewish Spirituality."
Connection: Weekly Reading-the
opening verses speak of the prohibition against doing certain forms of work on
the Shabbat.
17
minutes from a Hezballah terrorist to a Chassidic Jew: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU-rrl_7pwQ&ebc=ANyPxKoceeWfYSSoQ8EPlYIckHAD7y93XVDOeEdrWc1x8BujG0k1c3_grI1CDUiVLNIg8khXbV39lVFg-oai7SiXa8C_WzzAQg
From Minister to Jew the story of Ahuva
Gray 57 minutes (I have not yet watched this) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCkeIBlWrpQ
From Chabad magazine: Dear Friend,
My
youngest son and I recently had the pleasure of spending a few days with my
grandmother. As I balanced the needs of a toddler and a nonagenarian, the
parallels between the two flashed through my mind.
My
son is at that stage where he understands but does not yet talk. He uses sounds
and motions, and sometimes resorts to tugging until we realize what he wants.
My
grandmother is always great to talk to, yet she is at that stage where she
sometimes forgets a word, a thought, or worse, a name, resulting in frustration
on her part.
My
son speeds up and down the stairs. I try to encourage his budding independence while
at the same time ensuring that he does not get hurt.
My
grandmother wishes to continue living as she always has, but her body is frail.
So as I watch her cautiously climbing the stairs, I try to respect her dignity
while protecting her from being hurt.
Our
babies and our seniors deserve to be heard, esteemed and treated with dignity,
whether they can speak or not, whether they remember who we are or not.
The
Torah enjoins us to honor and respect our elders. Over these few days, I
learned that dignity truly starts in infancy.
I’d
like to hear your thoughts on dignity (or on my musings).
Chana Benjaminson
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
on behalf of the Chabad.org Editorial Team
From the hospital treating the worst victim of the bus accident
via Judith.
BS"D Sarah bas Dina, now that she is
conscious she is suffering terrible pain, even though she is receiving pain
killers, so let’s all Daven that Hashem take away her pain soon! And she also
still needs lots of Tefillos for her hand and leg, that the treatments work and
her limbs return to normal functioning. Every day that passes improves the
chances of her body's not rejected the re-attached hand. Her leg is in some
kind of sealed bandage almost like a vacuum that is supposed to improve oxygen
and blood flow in the leg. Please re-double your efforts in Chessed, Davening,
given Tzeduka, and saying Tehillim, and remember the website for saying
Tehillim: http://tehilimyahad.com/mr.jsp?r=PTkPjKUJfD
There was a kennes the other night in Ramat Beit
Shemesh that was attended by 400 women! Bracha Sperling spoke about the Nissim
that happened to her and Sarah on the bus (it could have been worse!),
Rebbetzin Heller spoke as well.
Last
week I reported on man tracks and dinosaur tracks. A more scientific evaluation
shows that perhaps this was a creationist distortion of the facts. I need to
see it for myself to really understand this. http://www.paleo.cc/paluxy/tsite.htm
Of
course I don’t need archelogy to prove the Tenach but it does not hurt: http://www.netiv.net/critics-bible-silenced-archaeological-discoveries-prove-torah-accurate/
His only crime was being extremely right wing with no criminal
activities but spreading his grandfather’s philosophy: http://www.jewishpress.com/news/rabbi-kahanes-grandson-to-see-judge-tuesday-over-administrative-detention/2016/02/22/
Detention in prison extended then you wonder why there was an
American Revolution for this is left over from the British Mandate: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208441#.VsxxHZx96M8
Israel
has a new HIV prevention medication. http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Health-and-Science/Israel-approves-drug-that-prevents-HIV-infection-445846
From
Judith 5 minutes - An Arab lectures the others about their working habits and
ethics: Israel has made an Oasis in the
desert. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPBe4J0_iaQ&feature=player_embedded
Inyanay
Diyoma
Libya
and ISIS: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/02/20/2-kidnapped-serbian-embassy-staffers-killed-in-us-airstrike-in-libya.html?intcmp=hpbt2
Last
survivor of Treblinka passes away: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208306#.VsjG7px96M8
Did
Ron Arad die of torture? http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4768469,00.html
Is
the US paying for the upgrade of the Iranian Army? http://debka.com/article/25246/Iran-to-Russia-Take-14bn-and-build-us-a-modern-army
Guess
who is avoiding Netanyahu? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208307#.Vsjbhpx96M8
The
three very pro-Israel candidates take the Republican Primary in SC as Hillary
who won by 70% the last time had only 52.5% to a so-called nobody socialist
named Bernie who got 47.5% of the votes. Considering the Clinton machine is was
a big failure on her part. With Jeb out of the races the RINO’s will have to
decide if they want Kasich or Rubio and even with all Jeb’s votes it is short
of Trump. However if Ben Carson drops out, he will split with Trump and Cruz.
We shall see. It is going to be an interesting year. As the Chinese curse goes
“May you live in interesting times.” http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208315
E-mails
reveal what Hillary thinks of Israel and yet most of the Jews will vote for her
if she wins the nomination. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4768605,00.html
Dr.
Martin Sherman characterized this Ed-Op as probably the most important one he
ever wrote. He looks at the left-right divide, hawkish leftist,
capitalist-socialist divide and the religious-secular divide. He starts off
with a quote about truth and justice from Melanie Philips. I rate this 5 stars:
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Into-the-Fray-Israels-urgent-imperative-A-doctrine-of-the-liberal-hawk-445433
Between Friday night, Shabbos and Sunday there were many
stabbing attempts most nipped in the bud. I believe 6 or 7 from Tzomet Tapuach,
Chevron and Yerushalayim. Still better that taking an Uber Taxi in the States
as one of the drivers was a homicidal maniac. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/02/21/us/michigan-kalamazoo-county-shooting-spree/index.html
Syria: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/02/21/at-least-14-killed-after-2-blasts-rock-syrian-city.html
Better late than never for Ted Cruz and I did not like the
Donald J. Trump lie about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) on George W. Bush.
Let us put it this way when I was younger, I did have some connections with the
IDF also Debka and there were 25 Scuds etc. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208420#.VsvzOZx96M8
After being denied use of his weapon last week the 21 year
old Nahal Soldier was murdered, the COS changes the rules and now soldiers that
are issued weapons have them all the time: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4769554,00.html
Hamas is preparing and smuggling arms, cement and
building more tunnels so Israel is prepared for a longer fiercer war: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4769439,00.html
Ed-Op on what is going on in Gaza and some idea
what will cause the next war. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4769759,00.html
Sodom in the USA and you thought it was San
Francisco. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina's largest city has passed a
law allowing transgender people to choose public bathrooms that correspond to
their gender identity, which the governor had called a threat to public safety
and warned that the General Assembly may step in.
The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 Monday to expand protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, making it the latest frontier in a national debate on how businesses treat gay, lesbian and transgender customers. One of the revisions to the city's nondiscrimination ordinance allows people to choose restrooms corresponding to the gender with which they identify.
"I'm pleased that Charlotte has sent a signal that we will treat people with dignity and respect, even when we disagree," Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said moments after the vote.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory — a former mayor of Charlotte, one of the 20 largest cities in the U.S. according to census figures — said in an email Sunday that changing the policy on restrooms could "create major public safety issues."
"Also, this action of allowing a person with male anatomy, for example, to use a female restroom or locker room will most likely cause immediate State legislative intervention which I would support as governor," he wrote in the email to two Council members.
Roberts said she hadn't heard from McCrory as of late Monday night Thanks to Dr. Harry.
The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 Monday to expand protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, making it the latest frontier in a national debate on how businesses treat gay, lesbian and transgender customers. One of the revisions to the city's nondiscrimination ordinance allows people to choose restrooms corresponding to the gender with which they identify.
"I'm pleased that Charlotte has sent a signal that we will treat people with dignity and respect, even when we disagree," Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts said moments after the vote.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory — a former mayor of Charlotte, one of the 20 largest cities in the U.S. according to census figures — said in an email Sunday that changing the policy on restrooms could "create major public safety issues."
"Also, this action of allowing a person with male anatomy, for example, to use a female restroom or locker room will most likely cause immediate State legislative intervention which I would support as governor," he wrote in the email to two Council members.
Roberts said she hadn't heard from McCrory as of late Monday night Thanks to Dr. Harry.
Spying
on friendly countries. Conversations of French, German leaders were known
already now it is Italy and Israel. The only secure conversation can be held in
a cave surrounded by wire mesh and no electronic devices. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208426#.VsyZepx96M8
I
think that Kerry actually believed that Abu Mazan wanted peace with Israel.
Guess what he cannot even say a few words to calm down the terror. http://debka.com/article/25252/Abu-Mazen-rebuffs-Kerry%E2%80%99s-appeal-to-cool-Palestinian-terror-against-Israelis
Arab
terrorist was wounded attempting to stab officer but the officer dies from
friendly fire. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208480
A
good long term investment: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4770058,00.html
Shia
and Sunni plans for Islam and Sharia in Europe. ISIS and Iranian sleeper cells
in Europe: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208523
From
the reporter Karen Holt who picked up this story. Maybe human lives matter as
it is written: Adam was created single to show that every life matters.
http://now8news.com/police-find-white-bodies-in-freezer-black-lives-matter/
Southern
Syria and Israel: http://debka.com/article/25254/Netanyahu-phones-Putin-for-clarifications-on-the-South-Syrian-ceasefire
Argentina
the 1994 Iranian Terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy the special prosecutor
was murdered: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4771034,00.html
Ben
Dror Yemini in a refreshingly different Ed – Op: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4768451,00.html
Fwd.
by Shona: The head of Turkey is a bit swelled up in pride and wants to travel
to Gaza and pick a fight with Russia. I do not know the truth about this blog
but there is tension in the air between the two. http://www.socio-political-journal.com/2016/02/massive-russian-troop-buildup-threatens.html
Arab
with permit waits until the unarmed guard is the last man in the Mall and then
attacks with ax and knife: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/208566
Six
air defense systems tested by the US-Israel. http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/US-Israel-involve-6-air-defense-systems-in-unprecedented-missile-defense-drill-446158
Have a wonderful Shabbos and stay healthy,
Rachamim Pauli
