If life is too easy for you, then beware for if you don’t have
something go wrong in 30 days, you are losing your merits for the next world.
The Tanya speaks of Tzaddik and Ra Lo (the righteous and his sins cause bad
things to him in this world). So I guess I have to rejoice in my sorrows but
when it effects me to make the dead-line on the blogspot for the shortest Sedra
of the year then I know I have to do some repairing both in my prayers and
deeds.
Parsha Vayelech
The two
last Mitzvos in the Torah are in this very short Parsha. The first is Mitzvah
“HAKEYL” or to gather the people on Sukkos as the end of the Shmita Year to
read the Torah. Today a few National Religious Yeshiva types go there, the
Haredi mostly ignore the ceremony as we do not have Moshiach and the Temple
yet. Then there is the last Mitzvah and that is to write a Sefer Torah. Usually
one participates in this Mitzvah by buying a letter in a Sefer Torah being
written. The Lubavitch Chassidim had this going around years ago and I
purchased for my whole family.
Moshe tells the people that he is 120 years old now 7
Adar 2488 (Devarim 31:1-2). He is leaving the reigns to Yehoshua. They and
especially Yehoshua should be strong and of courage (Devarim 31:7). When we
read the Haftarah on Simchas Torah, we read chapter 1 of Yehoshua and there the
words are mentioned 3 times. I wish to thank my mentor R’ Moshe Stessman Shlita
now of Yerushalayim for helping me with the reading and understanding during my
first year in Eretz Yisrael without any monetary gratuities it was he who
pointed out to me the wording. He also pointed out to me the theme of the
RAMBAM (Maimonides) on the laws of Teshuva with the background of Le David
HASHEM that we say in Elul until Hoshana Raba.
I was rereading the Rambam recently and I came across
some interesting points about Teshuva. First of all the basics of regretting,
the sin, ceasing and desisting from the sin. However, the Teshuva is not
complete without a real confession before G-D. I have sinned, transgressed
and did so and so plus such and such. There are levels of repentance. For
example I became a Baal Teshuva at the age of 19 to 21. There I was young with
all my impulses and youthful folly. What about a 30 year old, 40, 50, 60 and 70
year old? Ideally if I did such and such at the age of 18 and at 20, I had the
same strength and urges and did not return to my evil ways that is ideal. What
happened if I waited until my age or in another 12 or 22 years from now when my
strength is not the same. The passion of youth is no longer a roaring fire but
a dull flame and perhaps in 22 years just an ember if at all. So the Tshuva is
complete because of the other ingredients but not on the same level.
What happens if a person does not do Tshuva until just
before he dies. A few years ago, I wrote about a worker named Yechezkiel Rodeh
of Israel Aircraft Industries. He learned in our Kollel and I photographed him
at the dinner where we completed a portion of the Talmud. Yechezkiel had been
an ordinary laborer on the aircraft. He would get up to work and put on his
work uniform and take his tool box to the wing or the belly or whatever part of
the aircraft he was needed in our maintenance and repair station. On Shabbos he
would work over time or go fishing in the ocean to relax. One day he heard
about our Shuir and decided to see what the Talmud was about. He fell in love
with the Talmud, Torah and the Mitzvos. Suddenly, he was encouraging his
buddies to come to Synagogue and learn what a delight Shabbos was and the
singing and family and eating. He had just finished his first Tractate of
Talmud a large Mesecta either Sukkos, Shabbos or Sanhedrin. He celebrated with
us and brought his non-religious buddies to the party to hear Rav Boyer Shlita
and other Rabbis. Shortly thereafter, HASHEM gathered unto HIMSELF and took
from us Yechezkiel. One of the fellows in the Kollel said, “There are people
who earn their portion in the world to come in 90 years, others in a couple of
months and some at the last minute. Happy is he that has earned his portion.”
Thus the Rambam states that one could be a wicked person all his life and if he
repented, he has a portion in the world to come.
The Talmud (Sanhedrin) tells of Ben Gouda who traveled
from prostitute to prostitute ignoring the laws of modesty and family purity.
(The Rambam notes that one who refuses to do a positive command or ignores a
minor Mitzvah repeatedly has not place in the world to come.) Ben Gouda was
such a person because he was hooked on going to different prostitutes. One day,
he heard that there was one across the sea who was something else a real floozy
and what a time he could have. He began a long journey. On the way, A Bas Kol
(literally daughter of THE VOICE) came out of heaven and said, “Ben Gouda has
not place in the world to come.” Ben Gouda dismounted his donkey/horse and sat
on the ground and began crying. “Mountains can you forgive me that my sins are
piled as high as you if not higher? Earth can you forgive me that I have tread
all over you to perform my sins? Sun can you forgive me that I have publicly
sinned in broad day light before all? The moon for what I did at night?” He
cried and cried until his soul departed. Then came a Bas Kol from Heaven,
“RABBI Ben Gouda is invited to enter the world to come.” I also wrote the story
of the two butchers who sold Trafe that the sheep and cows did not get their
Tikun and people died from the trafe food. They repented and one visited the
other on the 30th day after death and told him how the Beis Din in
Heaven allowed him in and straightened out every wrong that he did. The other butcher told the story and
continued to repent until it was his time to join his friend.
The Rambam talks three types of sins. Since we do not
have Korbanos (Sacrifices) to aid in our repentance, we must rely on Tshuva,
confession and charity today. The sins
between a man and G-D can be easily forgiven. Ok between 13 and 20 plus I did
not wear Tephillin, now I put on Tephillin during weekdays. I regret messing up
this out of ignorance of the Mitzvah. Ok Rachamim, you are forgiven. Now comes
the sins between man and his fellow. Sometimes one can make up for it or even without
making up for it is forgiven. When I first used the old 80 Computer working on
DOS, there was a much better program than word, word perfect, etc. called
Einstein. It was designed by the brother of Rav Samet Shlita. When the Rav and
his sister were sitting Sheva for their mother, I met the programmer. I told
him that I had a pirated copy and how wonderful his program was. He told me
that he forgave me, because it was so stolen that he never made real money from
it. It was the best word processor program for Hebrew and English without all
the problems of the others and super easy to use. There I was forgiven for my
stealing by the owner because of his abandonment of the program. Too bad it is
not WIN compatible. I think that if he had sold the idea to Microsoft they
might have used it for his Hebrew Word. In fact a lot of things in Microsoft
were stolen from the Word Perfect Program, Lotus, Apple, etc. How can we do
repentance from all the stolen stuff. I was a bit worried until I met David
Lowe. He told me that he invested while at Boroughs the computer program that
allowed information to be transferred from register to register. It was stolen
from him! Any computer program used today is a product of thievery from my
friend Dave. He gave me permission to use any program. So Dave never got
royalties or a Nobel Prize in this world, but having fought on the Altelena in
the beginning of the State of Yisrael, we owe him a lot. His reward may not be
in this world at all.
Sorry for the sidetrack but two short stories that I
wanted to share. Getting back to the Rambam. What happens if Esav stole from
Yacov and now Yacov has moved out of the neighborhood to Padam Aram? Esav has
no way of paying Yacov back. Or at the age of 147 a little while before Esav
dies, Yacov passes away? One can give charity in the name of the late person or
try to trace down the heirs for repayment. What happens if one does not
remember if he stole something worth 5 or 10 from the victim? Again repentance,
confession and an attempt to return help. Upon his death, he may be forgiven.
Achashveros kills Vashti and
then regrets it. Here the repentance cannot be completed in a lifetime as the
sin is irreversible. Only death after long Teshuva can atone. Still there are
things that one loses his place in the next world entirely. The Rambam lists 24
of them starting with Idol Worship, Chilul HASHEM, and Lashon Hara. One may
think it is easy to speak behind somebody’s back and criticize him.
Even though I hate making up excuses I did get thrown that curve ball this week and did not want to strike out. My second grandson in Yeshiva Gedolah came home for Tzom Gedaliah with stomach pains. It turned out he needed an appendectomy. So I had extra Tehillim to say along with long Selichos. So it ended up that I had to forego on writing a little on the shortest Sedra in the Chumash and stealing from what I believe was a pre-blogspot posting of 13 years ago. At that point I have a few hundred readers not the vast number I have today so in one way I am regretting my repeat on the other hand I am happy to add the stories and my old Drasha to my readers. I hope next week, I will only be craz-busy as usual and catch up on things.
31:1 And Moses went and spoke these words unto all Israel. 2 And he said unto them: 'I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in; and the LORD hath said unto me: Thou shalt not go over this Jordan. 3 The LORD thy God, He will go over before thee; He will destroy these nations from before thee, and thou shalt dispossess them; and Joshua, he shall go over before thee, as the LORD hath spoken. 4 And the LORD will do unto them as He did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and unto their land; whom He destroyed. 5 And the LORD will deliver them up before you, and ye shall do unto them according unto all the commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be affrighted at them; for the LORD thy God, He it is that doth go with thee; He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.'
Moshe’s life in this world has come to an end. Sparks of Moshe’s soul will arise in Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the Ari Zal in the future but for now the great Rabbi of us all is bidding Am Yisrael farewell.
14 And
the LORD said unto Moses: 'Behold, thy days approach that thou must die; call
Joshua, and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may give him a
charge.' And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tent of
meeting. 15 And the LORD appeared in the Tent in a pillar of cloud; and the
pillar of cloud stood over the door of the Tent. 16 And the LORD said unto
Moses: 'Behold, thou art about to sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise
up, and go astray after the foreign gods of the land, whither they go to be
among them, and will forsake Me, and break My covenant which I have made with
them.
Moshe is
giving over the leadership to Yehoshua and it is almost time to depart. He has
still time for teaching the nation a song that is Parsha Hazinu and giving the
tribes his blessings.
17 Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that
day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall
be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they
will say in that day: Are not these evils come upon us because our God is not
among us? 18 And I will surely hide My face in that day for all the evil which
they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. 19 Now
therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou it the children of Israel;
put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the
children of Israel. 20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I
swore unto their fathers, flowing with milk and honey; and they shall have
eaten their fill, and waxen fat; and turned unto other gods, and served them,
and despised Me, and broken My covenant; 21 then it shall come to pass, when
many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before
them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their
seed; for I know their imagination how they do even now, before I have brought
them into the land which I swore.'
HASHEM knows that you will sin so therefore learn the
song of Hazinu.
22 So Moses
wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. … 30 And
Moses spoke in the ears of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song,
until they were finished:
I estimate that it takes 15 to 20 or more times to sing
a song until the nation learns it fully. Repeating and learning by rote is the
key here. My son and his class learned this by heart in elementary school.
On Rosh Hashanah
it is written who will live and who will die. Sometimes people are saved with a
sword or pistol handing over their head. The following stories are examples of
such cases. Yes there is a WHO WILL LIVE AND WHO WILL DIE. Nobody knows why
they survived and others died. My friend Jack Kaplansky of Modiin always said
to me that better men than him died and most of his family was gone and he
could not understand how he could have survived or why he survived. Here are
some Holocaust Stories of survivors written in 5766 I believe before I started
the blogspot.
Some survived Amalek:
I received this from ‘Poster’ who promised to send me his copy
of the book written by the Doctor in Auschwitz.
I knew a man who lived through Auschwitz for five years because
his former teacher registered him as a 'Gypsy' instead of 'Jew' and he cooked
for the guards. Having read the book, it seems even more surprising he lived
that long. He said one guard kicked him so hard he couldn't sit down for a long
time, and they also put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. I've heard that
account from other sources I think the Nazis did that as a cruel joke, or their
guns were worse than I thought.
Or they just did it a lot and we only have the survivors from the rare cases of weapon malfunction.
He eventually became successful in real estate and donated the use of a building for the Orthodox shul where I later converted. He was always nice to me. Later he died, I think from cancer.
I could see the tattoo numbers when he layned t'fillin.
He was very quiet about the whole thing, only talked to me about it when he and I were alone [he asked me to help him put together a shelf for the shul] and from what I could tell in the following years, I'm just about the only one he ever talked to about all of that. People (other Jews) in the community we so shocked to hear the stories I related after he died that they practically didn't believe me.
I wish I could ask him more about the time he spent there, but it's too late now.
He told me that when they were liberated, the Americans gave them corn to eat.
The only problem was that in Europe (or Poland at least) corn is looked at as animal food (I think of alfalfa or dog chow). They traded the corn to the local farmers for animals to eat.
I think about that sometimes with a laugh, the only comparison would be if as an American I was liberated and then the liberators offered me horsemeat or hay to eat. 'Here's some grass, enjoy!'
Or they just did it a lot and we only have the survivors from the rare cases of weapon malfunction.
He eventually became successful in real estate and donated the use of a building for the Orthodox shul where I later converted. He was always nice to me. Later he died, I think from cancer.
I could see the tattoo numbers when he layned t'fillin.
He was very quiet about the whole thing, only talked to me about it when he and I were alone [he asked me to help him put together a shelf for the shul] and from what I could tell in the following years, I'm just about the only one he ever talked to about all of that. People (other Jews) in the community we so shocked to hear the stories I related after he died that they practically didn't believe me.
I wish I could ask him more about the time he spent there, but it's too late now.
He told me that when they were liberated, the Americans gave them corn to eat.
The only problem was that in Europe (or Poland at least) corn is looked at as animal food (I think of alfalfa or dog chow). They traded the corn to the local farmers for animals to eat.
I think about that sometimes with a laugh, the only comparison would be if as an American I was liberated and then the liberators offered me horsemeat or hay to eat. 'Here's some grass, enjoy!'
On Moshav Yesodot located between the Reem Junction and Nahal
Zorek there were a number of Holocaust survivors. Among the survivors was a man
named Boruch. He told me about the religious Jews in the camps and the slop
that they had to eat. He mentioned the liberation. The Americans gave them
meals some ate and their stomachs exploded! The Americans then gave only
chocolate bars and other energy packed foods until the people got strong enough
and gradually reintroduced them into regular meals.
In another story, I think
also by ‘Poster’:
It needs to be mentioned that the only Sonderkommando who would
not help with the cremations was the Orthodox Jew who somehow got chosen as a
Sonderkommando (I think he said the man was a rabbi).
They put him on the duty to burn 'trash' (including sifrey kodesh people had brought) Had only Orthodox Jews like him been chosen, the book seemed to imply, ... well, I think the author implied that the Holocaust could not have happened the way it did.
If only we had more rabbis to lead us, to guide us, to help us.
If you are around rabbis, they are the most generous people on the planet.
When the end was near for Auschwitz, the Russians were coming, he slipped out of the camp and joined another group. He suggests strongly that as a Sonderkommando he would have been liquidated to bury the truth.
He later blends in as just any other victim, rounded up into yet three more different camps.
At one point to join a camp to survive (the kill orders had been rescinded as the Nazis were in their 'cover up' mode near the very end of the war as the armies were coming closer) so as a 'new' prisoner, he was able to escape death by joining another camps. For some reason, they moved him to the fourth camp.
At one point to save his life, he identified authoritatively himself as a Doctor for Auschwitz, so he could get into the camp. But then they sent in an SS squad to root him out, but not specifically him. He surmised if they knew specifically him, they wouldn't have asked which of them was from Auschwitz, they would have just look at their tattoos.
So for once, he didn't step forward, and that seems to have saved his life.
They put him on the duty to burn 'trash' (including sifrey kodesh people had brought) Had only Orthodox Jews like him been chosen, the book seemed to imply, ... well, I think the author implied that the Holocaust could not have happened the way it did.
If only we had more rabbis to lead us, to guide us, to help us.
If you are around rabbis, they are the most generous people on the planet.
When the end was near for Auschwitz, the Russians were coming, he slipped out of the camp and joined another group. He suggests strongly that as a Sonderkommando he would have been liquidated to bury the truth.
He later blends in as just any other victim, rounded up into yet three more different camps.
At one point to join a camp to survive (the kill orders had been rescinded as the Nazis were in their 'cover up' mode near the very end of the war as the armies were coming closer) so as a 'new' prisoner, he was able to escape death by joining another camps. For some reason, they moved him to the fourth camp.
At one point to save his life, he identified authoritatively himself as a Doctor for Auschwitz, so he could get into the camp. But then they sent in an SS squad to root him out, but not specifically him. He surmised if they knew specifically him, they wouldn't have asked which of them was from Auschwitz, they would have just look at their tattoos.
So for once, he didn't step forward, and that seems to have saved his life.
He missed the boat and the other
had an unexpected train delay.
Yacov Singer was a toddler and his parents had tickets
for a steam ship to Eretz Yisrael called “Der Strummer”. They were about to
board and tickets were hard to come upon. The head of the shipping line wanted
them to pay an extra ticket for Yacov. They refused as infants were supposed to
go free and the young couple did not have too much money. The owner of the ship
sold the tickets to others and the one for the infant at an inflated price. The
ship was not far from Istanbul when it was torpedoed. Only one person survived
the sinking.
Zvi Shalit and his mother were on a transport from Budapest to
Auschwitz. The US bombers took out the tracks from the industrial city down the
line. The train had to stop. The Gestapo decided that it would be best to use
these people as laborers and pick up another group to be transported while the
rail lines were being fixed. In order to keep the factory workers happy, they
were allowed to be with their children and production was good. They were fed
better than the slop of Auschwitz.
By
2024 Israel to reach 10,000,000 Nefesh. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3745804,00.html
Alex
Jones banned by Twitter. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251749
Inyanay Diyoma
Russian
& Iranian axis in Syria defies US and Israel. https://www.debka.com/putin-is-ready-go-all-the-way-against-the-us-in-syria-where-does-this-place-israel/
Iraqi
Shiites against Iran. https://www.debka.com/while-irans-leaders-and-allies-confer-on-idlib-shiite-iraq-implodes-in-their-faces/
Explosion
on Rosh Hashanah. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251835
Shooting
over weekend. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251783
Hamas
observation posts attacked. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251758
Remember
Nazi is National Socialist Cynthia Nixon not far from them. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251835
Germany
Neo-Nazis attack Kosher Restaurant. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5345386,00.html
East
Yerushalayim residents flame fire. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5347744,00.html
President’s
Rosh Hashanah Message. https://www.algemeiner.com/2018/09/06/jewish-people-have-flourished-and-thrived-as-an-example-of-humankind-trump-declares-in-rosh-hashanah-message/?utm_content=news1&utm_medium=daily_email&utm_campaign=email&utm_source=internal/
Ed-Op
with the Oslo Accords finished. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5342686,00.html
Social
media is fake news. https://www.wnd.com/2018/09/americans-see-social-media-news-as-inaccurate/?cat_orig=politics
Proof
of Global Warming? https://www.wnd.com/2018/09/south-africa-hit-by-snow/?cat_orig=world
Did
the NYT make up a story. https://www.wnd.com/2018/09/limbaugh-suspects-n-y-times-made-up-trump-editorial/
Turks
take part of Syria bust sanctions. https://www.debka.com/post-war-syria-destined-to-be-sanctions-busting-hub-the-russian-iranian-turkish-summit-decides/
More
on the same thing. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5348872,00.html
Iran
has 3-4,000 centrifuges working. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5348484,00.html
Defense
Min. visits Georgia. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251889
Long
overdue closing of PLO office. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5348611,00.html
It is hurricane season and right now there are 4 active storms in
the Atlantic. Florence at the time of writing is pounding NC and close to
200,000 people without power and flooding close to a river. The storm is only
going to get worse. Millions heeded evacuation orders and saved themselves and
rescuers problems.
F-35
reaches the Gulf preventing Iran blockade. https://www.debka.com/first-us-f-35-planes-deployed-to-gulf-red-sea-marines-drill-unblocking-hormuz-and-mandeb/
Pipe
bomb thrown at soldiers. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/251960
By
not coming to negotiations Arabs deserve to lose their stipends. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5350045,00.html
Nasrallah
breaks out in tears. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5349773,00.html
Ed-Op
Dr. Sherman I do not concur. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/22732
A healthy, happy and wonderful year and a peaceful Shabbos. Gmar Chatima Tova,
Rachamim Pauli
