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Pre-Pesach Edition
Last week, I skipped the
usual Shabbos HaGadol Drasha for this issue. In the USA Pesach ends with two
days of observance. In Israel it is Parsha Acharei Mos. In order to allow for
keeping with my standard of Israel setting the pace, I will give a brief
summary of Parsha Acharei Mos. The emphasis is the counting of Omer. This is a
Mitzvah that does not cost anything like purchasing Tephillin, Tallis, Lulav,
Esrog, wine for Shabbos or Havdalah, etc. The Mitzvah of counting the Omer is
best done at Maariv for men and on the second Seder towards the end. Women can count
too but unlike men it is voluntary. 49 days 49 Mitzvos as the spiritual level
increases. One who forgot to say at night, has all day to make up and can
continue saying the blessings as the next nights. All one has to do to observe this
one of the 613 Mitzvos is to say today is so and so in Omer plain and simple
nothing more difficult than that so that even children can enjoy the counting.
DON’T FORGET TO MAKE AN ERUV
TAVSHILLIN on Thursday before the last (last two days in the diaspora) day(s)
of Yom Tov. The Eruv consists of a Matzah or two and some other preferably
cooked food but can be a can of Tuna. The formula is in the Siddur generally
before Yom Tov Amidah Prayers. Remember to have in mind that is for everybody
in the city. This permits cooking and lighting candles for Shabbos.
Parsha Acharei Mos
As a modern person, I believe in taking a vacation for rest and relaxation. However as a Rabbi I cannot take a vacation from Torah and Mitzvos they go with me all the time. Therefore so as not to be under pressure to put out a half-baked Parsha and a weak www.rabbipauli.blogspot.com I have sort of jumped the Parsha. For normally Acharei Mos should have been published on Chol HaMoed, but this gives a Rabbi a deserved vacation. This area of the Torah is Mitzvah Dense and only in Sefer Devarim do we have a similar amount of Mitzvos within three weeks.
Acharei Mos 28 of the 613 mitzvot; 2 positive, 26 prohibitions
Kedoshim 51 mitzvot; 13 positive, 38 prohibitions
Emor 63 of the 613 mitzvot; 24 pos. 39 prohibitions
This is 142 Mitzvos in all or 23.1% of the Mitzvos of the Torah 39 positive and 103 prohibitions.
16:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD, and died;
One does not treat his king like a buddy especially the King of Kings. We know about the hint of not drinking wine and now the new prohibition about entering the Holy of Holies. What does G-D want from us to be humble and follow his commandments faithfully no extra additions and no false dress to put on an air for human beings. It is not for a simple Cohain or simple soldier to add or subtract from his commands.
2 and the LORD said unto Moses: 'Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the ark-cover which is upon the ark; that he die not; for I appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover.
We now go into the laws of Yom Kippur Korbanos. What atonements Aaron and his future children are to do for the service of the Cohain Gadol and atonement for the Nation. How the scapegoats are chosen from twin goats or look alike goats. The Mishnah and Talmud Yomi go into depth with the Oral Torah how this was done. Since the Aron Kodesh was permanently placed in the Temple there was a road leading towards the wilderness in the direction of the Dead Sea where the goat was thrown to Azazel. I assume this would be slightly after the turn off to Pisgat Zev on route one something like 15 kilometers from the Temple or about 3 hours of speed walking but probably longer duration due to the goat itself stopping to eat along the way. (That is also the way of our animalist soul inside of us. Our bodies might be pushed off the cliff real soon and all we can think about is enjoying our food along the way. Thus is the nature of this false world. In the true world real values come up for our Neshama.)
3 Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place: with a young bullock for a sin-offering, and a ram for a burnt-offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen tunic, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with the linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired; they are the holy garments; and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and put them on.
The Talmud describes in detail the disrobing of the Cohain behind a curtain and going to the Mikvah. At this juncture he changes his clothing 5 times. In total on Yom Kippur, he goes 5 times to the Mikvah. He washes his hands and feet ten times.
5 And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two he-goats for a sin-offering, and one ram for a burnt-offering.
Aaron and the Sages of his time or in Talmudic times most likely ordinary Cohanim went to view the potential animals in stock. They took the fattest, strongest and physically pleasant set of twin goats and a ram. Warming up in the flock pen they probably had spare animals that had not been declared as sin or burnt Korbanos. Everything on Yom Kippur had a back-up system including a Cohain and a wife for the Cohain Gadol.
6 And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house.
The reason for the spare wife mentioned above was because of the fact that he had to atone for his house. A woman or wife is called Bas and Beis (housewife) so he had to have a wife on hand to atone with.
7 And he shall take the two goats, and set them before the LORD at the door of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for Azazel.
The Talmud describes the process as follows. There would be in a contain two pieces of paper or scroll. The Cohain would take one in his right hand and one in his left. On one piece of paper was written “For HASHEM” and the other “Azazel”. The replacement Cohain Gadol was on his right and the other Cohain on his left. If “For HASHEM” was drawn on his right, the replacement or assistant Cohain Gadol would say, “Mr. so and so Cohain Gadol raise your right hand.” It is said that during even the times of the unworthy Cohanim, during the second Beis HaMikdsh, the “For HASHEM” always came up on the right hand.
9 And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for the LORD, and offer him for a sin-offering. 10 But the goat, on which the lot fell for Azazel, shall be set alive before the LORD, to make atonement over him, to send him away for Azazel into the wilderness.
The wilderness was always eastward towards Yarden. The reason being is that the water shed is to the west where the Sea is. When it rains the mountains of Yerushalayim come and break the rain clouds. As the mountains subside on the eastern side of Yerushalayim, the rain does not usually come down and the clouds pass over head without reducing their water contact. This a wilderness is formed. Unlike today with pumped in water, in Talmudic times the area from Shaar Chaggai until the end of the western side contained the population for the wells would be found there. A certain precipice was used to throw off the goat that it would break up upon impact as the nature of a goat is to hop from place to place up and down the mountains.
11 And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and shall make atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall slaughter the bullock of the sin-offering which is for himself. 12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the ark-cover that is upon the testimony, that he die not.
Looking towards the holy presence directly would cause the soul to depart. A bit different than pictured in raiders of the lost ark but along a similar end result in death. That is why so many unworthy Cohanim in the Second Temple perished. During the second Mikdash, a rope was tied to the waist of the Cohain who went in for pulling out the body.
14 And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the ark-cover on the east; and before the ark-cover shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
He would count out loud. This was one to seven. As we say on Yom Kippur during the Mussaf Service “one, one plus one, one plus two … one plus seven” one above and seven below. Here it was just one two seven repeated by other Cohanim.
15 Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the veil, and do with his blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the ark-cover, and before the ark-cover. 16 And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, even all their sins; and so shall he do for the tent of meeting, that dwells with them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 And there shall be no man in the tent of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.
One time above and seven times below as we count during the Yom Kippur Service.
19 And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. 20 And when he hath made an end of atoning for the holy place, and the tent of meeting, and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, even all their sins; and he shall put them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of an appointed man into the wilderness. 22 And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land which is cut off; and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness. 23 And Aaron shall come into the tent of meeting, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place and put on his other vestments, and come forth, and offer his burnt-offering and the burnt-offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 And the fat of the sin-offering shall he make smoke upon the altar. 26 And he that lets go the goat for Azazel shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 And the bullock of the sin-offering, and the goat of the sin-offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall be carried forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung. 28 And he that burns them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 29 And it shall be a statute for ever unto you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger that sojourns among you. 30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the LORD. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; it is a statute for ever. 32 And the priest, who shall be anointed and who shall be consecrated to be priest in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments. 33 And he shall make atonement for the most holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year.' And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.
Before going on to the next section, I would like to tell a very short story. Once an officer of the King of Poland stopped at a Jewish Inn. The woman of the house broke an egg and there was blood in it and threw it out. He asked her why this was so and she replied that Jews are forbidden to eat anything with blood in it. The officer said that he was a non-Jew and could eat it. However, the Innkeeper’s wife would not put forbidden blood in eggs in her pot as she had to have strictly kosher pots. This went on for a few more eggs. He saw that the Jew was more bothered by the kashrus than the money and was very impressed. Years went by and the officer became governor of the Polish Province. He heard that there was a Pogrom in the works about the Jewish killing a Christian Child to bake their Matzos with its blood. He gathered his troops together and defended the Jews from the Pogrom quoting the incident that occurred many years earlier in the Inn. Unbeknown to the simple woman, her performance of the Mitzvah with all her heart and money had saved the Jewish Communities in that area. Now read the Torah at face value.
17:10 And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that eats any manner of blood, I will set My face against that soul that eats blood, and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement by reason of the life.
One reason for not eating the blood with the meat is that it makes atonement and keeps us in our own blood alive.
12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel: No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourns among you eat blood. 13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that takes in hunting any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14 For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all one with the life thereof; therefore I said unto the children of Israel: Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof; whosoever eats it shall be cut off. 15 And every soul that eats that which dies of itself, or that which is torn of beasts, whether he be home-born or a stranger, he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even; then shall he be clean. 16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear his iniquity.
This last sentence forbids the eating of Trafe – something torn by beasts or Nevailah – something dying of itself and the defilement of the carcass of such a beast on the body.
12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel: No soul of you shall
eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourns among you eat blood. 13 And whatsoever man there be of
the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among them, that
taketh in hunting any beast or fowl that may be eaten, he shall pour out the
blood thereof, and cover it with dust. 14 For as to the life of all flesh, the blood thereof is all
one with the life thereof; therefore, I said unto the children of Israel: Ye
shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh; for the life of all flesh is the
blood thereof; whosoever eats it shall be cut off.
This includes the blood found
in eggs, but one’s blood from gums or a cut finger one can swallow or suck and
not get Kares.
15 And every soul that eats that which dies of itself, or that which
is torn of beasts, whether he be home-born or a stranger, he shall wash his
clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even; then shall
he be clean.
Trafe or Nevailah is Tumay and
one should not even touch them much less eat them.
16 But if he wash them not, nor bathe his flesh, then he shall bear
his iniquity.
18:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 Speak unto the children of
Israel, and say unto them: I am the LORD your God. 3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt,
shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring
you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their statutes.
They had a pantheon of gods.
This included a trinity with a father-mother-son god. I always wondered how
nice Jewish people like Yeshu and his Talmidim and wife Miriam would go from
HASHEM, the emanation of the Shechina on a married man and the Nefesh ELOKIM
within (all united all one in various angles of view or spiritual forms) into
the non-Jewish three separate and independent entities. For the Neshama
(especially the Yechida section of the soul) is the internal heavenly force
that joins us with HASHEM. We are therefore warned Ayn Od Bilado (there is
nothing existing without HIM [HASHEM Yisborach]).
4 Mine ordinances shall ye do, and My statutes shall ye keep, to
walk therein: I am the LORD your God. 5 Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and Mine ordinances,
which if a man do, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.
This is a warning to follow
the Commandments.
6 None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to
uncover their nakedness. I am the LORD.
This whole section is on the
laws of modesty and relationships that are forbidden including relations with
one’s own wife (bone of my bones flesh of my flesh) during her period.
… 20 And thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbor's wife, to
defile thyself with her.
This can come about by simply
greeting each in the course of days as one passes by. Idle talk can follow.
One’s wife might be smart and nice and the other woman becomes over the course
of time with a few arguments with the wife over the years more attractive or a
bit exotic for one. Therefore, the Torah gives us a stern warning in a number
of places not to commit adultery or defile oneself with her.
21 And thou shalt not give any of thy seed to set them apart to
Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Some fire or fire-god. It is
written that the custom of holding a newborn over coals should be forbidden
even without spiritual intent as this was the practice of Molech.
22 Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is
abomination.
I wish that I did not have to
emphasize this command year after year. The Torah did not call adultery or even
heaven forbid bestiality an abomination. Only a few times in the case of
homosexuality and idol worship do we see the word abomination.
When I was a child, men who
acted like women or loved other men were oddballs and were given the name
Queers. There were other slang words for them. Society was healthier and looked
upon these people and their habits as disgusting. Fast forward a generation or
two and the wicked ones pushing Eugenics are lowering the poor population by fostering
them to keep lower paid jobs and have abortions. Just as G-D has plans to bring
about the days of Moshiach and the life in the world to come, the wicked have
plans. I have read that by propagandizing the community to accepting
homosexuality they have plans to make bestiality and pedophilia normal. (Note
in ancient times pedophilia was not frowned upon and arranged marriages at
birth or between a male teen and a younger female when lifespans were short was
considered normal). By doing such acts, the population will be occupied in
their pleasures or what they view as such kept on some sort of drug and not
reproducing. Also assisting Eugenics is birth control and late marriages that
keep the population down.
In short, the elite wealthy
keeping the population of the masses down. Otherwise, how can you explain all
the wealthy socialists telling us of equality. Measure one scale the clerics
who are proponents of these things and man-made global warming. All this to
keep what Marx called “useful fools” occupied.
The L-RD despises sexual lewdness contrary to modern media and movie propaganda. If a man uncovers the nakedness of a close female relative the sex leads to Kares the cutting off the soul(s) of the perpetrator and stoning if caught, warned and brought before a Sanhedrin. These acts may lead to the land vomiting the people out but note the words abomination or perversion are not used. However, homosexuality especially among males is considered an abomination while females should not marry Cohanim if they have done such acts. (Tractate Shabbos). The word perverse is used for bestiality. The Torah does not mince words. If incest is not perverse or abominable then these acts are the vilest of the vile acts that a lewd person can do. If the Torah thinks these acts are the lowest of the low then how can certain Reform and Conservative Rabbis approve of this. Or even the non-Jews who have this reiterated in their book of Roman (perversions and abuse) appoint a Bishop or Clerk to a post as I have seen in the States. Let me tell you that Samael has been given the ability to tempt people just before the Moshiach to weed out the pure from the impure Neshamos. Do not be astounded when you see the wicked thrive or be afraid of sudden fear because we have G-D.
From 5767: 18:22 Thou shall not lie with mankind, as with womankind; it is abomination. All the other prohibited or animalist type of acts one could do with close relatives or a married woman is not called ‘normal’ but only this last one is called an abomination. 23 And thou shall not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith; neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto; it is perversion. While the Torah detests all the above behavior the words get strong on this filth. Otherwise as we see in 25 below, Eretz Yisrael will vomit the violators out! 24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things; for in all these the nations are defiled, which I cast out from before you. 25 And the land was defiled, therefore I did visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomited out her inhabitants. … 20:13 And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
From 5768: 18:28 that the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the nation that was before you. 29 For whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall be cut off from among their people. 30 Therefore shall ye keep My charge, that ye do not any of these abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God. G-D has a way of purging the abominations and that is by having the land vomit the culprits out. There can be no tolerance on a public scale perhaps one individual to his neighbor but publicly we cannot tolerate a Jew doing an action that will cut himself off from the people and delay redemption of Am Yisrael by the Moshiach. This is liken to a man on the private scale is overwhelmed with love for a woman who does not fully observe Shabbos so much that he can think of her as a potential marriage partner but in the end he must try to persuade her to be flexible to observe Shabbos for her own Neshama’s sake.
23 And thou shalt not lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith;
neither shall any woman stand before a beast, to lie down thereto; it is
perversion.
This is degrading and defiling
mankind who was made in the image of G-D but even this is called a defiling,
perversion but not an abomination. On top of this it is corrupting nature
unsanitary and utterly disgusting and repulsive and still this does happen
among sick people.,
24 Defile not ye yourselves in any of these things; for in all these
the nations are defiled, which I cast out from before you. 25 And the land was defiled,
therefore I did visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomited out
her inhabitants.
If the people behave like the
nations in modesty, they will be vomited out of the land.
26 Ye therefore shall keep My statutes and Mine ordinances, and shall
not do any of these abominations; neither the home-born, nor the stranger that
sojourn among you-- 27 for
all these abominations have the men of the land done, that were before you, and
the land is defiled-- 28 that
the land vomit not you out also, when ye defile it, as it vomited out the
nation that was before you. 29 For
whosoever shall do any of these abominations, even the souls that do them shall
be cut off from among their people.
This is the cutting off in the
next world
30 Therefore shall ye keep My charge, that ye do not any of these
abominable customs, which were done before you, and that ye defile not
yourselves therein: I am the LORD your God.
Behave and observe and you
will remain in the land and be blessed. The choice is yours.
Holocaust day is coming here are two
stories from France long ago.
The 20th of Sivan is
the anniversary of the martyrdom of the Jews of Blois, victims of the first
ritual murder accusation in France, more than 800 years ago.
Blois is a city in
France, on the river Loire, not far from Orleans. It is not a large city (its
present population is about 25,000), but it has the "distinction" of
being one of very few cities in France, or for that matter in all of Europe,
where there has been no Jewish community for the past 800 years. Jews simply
shunned that horrible place, where the Jewish community was so cruelly
destroyed as a result of a false ritual murder accusation in 1171.
Many have been the
false accusations made by the enemies of the Jews as an excuse for killing and
robbing them. But none was more wicked than the accusation that Jews require
Christian blood for the Passover matzoth or for other bizarre, fictitious
rituals. The first such accusation was made in Norwich, England, in 1144. It
was repeated in several other British cities in later years. From there it
spread to continental Europe, where the blood libel in Blois was the first of
many to follow from time to time, down to the latest times (Beilis case in
1911), in practically all Christian lands. This vicious slander cost the lives
of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocent Jewish men, women, and children.
But the hatred it bred among the Christians towards the Jews was one of the
main causes of Jewish suffering and persecution in Christian lands throughout
the centuries.
The story of the
burning of over thirty Jews (forty, according to some accounts), men and women,
at Blois was recorded by Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn, a great Talmudic scholar (he
was one of the Tosafists) and paytan (religious poet), who lived at that time.
Rabbi Ephraim ben Yaakov (born in 1132 and died about the year 1200) witnessed
also the terrible massacres perpetrated against the Jews by the Crusaders. He
recorded all those tragedies and the heroism of the martyrs, and composed
penitential prayers and lamentations in their memory. The following account of
the Martyrs of Blois is taken from his historical work.
It happened in the
year 4931 (1171). At that time there lived in Blois about forty Jews. One of
them, Isaac ben Eleazar, rode up to the river one Thursday, toward evening,
shortly before Pesach. It so happened that a stable servant rode up at the same
time to water the horse of his master. The Jew bore on his chest an untanned
hide, but one of the corners had become loose and was sticking out of his coat.
When, in the gloom, the servant's horse, saw the white side of the hide, it was
frightened and sprang back, and it could not be brought to the water.
The Christian servant
was a simple peasant, who had often heard the priest preach in church that Jews
used Christian blood for their Passover matzoth and wine, warning all his flock
to keep a watchful eye over their children during the Passover season. Now,
when his horse took fright, he hastened back to his master and said:
"Hear, my lord, what a certain Jew did. As I rode behind him toward the
river in order to give your horse a drink, I saw him throw a little Christian
child, whom the Jews have killed, into the water. When I saw this I was
horrified and hastened back quickly for fear he might kill me too. Even the
horse under me was so frightened by the splash of water, when he threw the
child in it, that it would not drink!"
The servant knew that
his master would rejoice at the misfortune of the Jews, because he hated a
certain Jewess, influential in the city. He was not mistaken, for his master
said, "Now I can have my vengeance on that woman and the rest of the
Jews."
The next morning the
master rode to the ruler of the city, Theobald, son of Theobald, Count of Blois
(son-in-law of King Louis VII of France). The Christians called him "the
Good," but he was a wicked, cruel man.
When the ruler heard
the accusation he became enraged and had all the Jews of Blois seized and
thrown into prison, where they were all put into iron chains. The only
exception was that influential Jewish woman, Dame Pulcelina, whom the count
admired for her wisdom and beauty. She had often been able to get favors from
the ruler for the Jewish merchants of Blois. But now, the Count's wife (Alix,
daughter of the king) gave strict orders to the servants not to allow her to
speak to her husband for fear she might get him to change his mind.
The ruler had no
evidence against the Jews, except for that half-wit stable servant. The Count
was ready to make a deal with the Jews and free them for a large sum of ransom
money. He sent a Jew to the neighboring communities and asked them how much
they would give to free their brethren. The Jews consulted with the imprisoned
hostages, and the latter advised offering only one hundred pounds, in addition
to their uncollected debts from Christian debtors amounting to the sum of one
hundred eighty pounds. The Jews in the dungeon told their brethren in other
communities not to pay a high ransom for their lives, lest the Christians
should find it profitable to imprison Jews for ransom.
However, nothing came
of the negotiations, because the Bishop arrived on the scene and insisted that
the Jews should be condemned to die, and that he would "prove" their
guilt.
The priest told the
Count to have the witness tested by the ordeal of water, to discover if he had
told the truth. The test was to be arranged as follows: A huge tank would be
filled with water, and the servant who "saw" the Jew throw the child
into the river would be put into it. If he floated, his words were true; if he
sank, he had lied.
The Count of Blois commanded
that the test be carried out forthwith. Now the priest had so arranged in
advance that the servant should not sink in the water. Such was justice in
those days. The Jews were found guilty on the basis of that water test, and
condemned to be burned alive.
At the wicked ruler's
command they were taken and put into a wooden house around which were placed
thornbushes and faggots. As they were led forth, they were told, "You can
save your lives if you will leave your religion and accept ours." The Jews
refused. They were beaten and tortured to make them accept the Christian
religion, but still they refused. Rather, they encouraged each other to remain
steadfast and die for the sanctification of G‑d's Name.
At the Count's command
two of the leading Jews, both kohanim, Rabbi Yechiel the son of Rabbi David
haKohen, and Rabbi Yekuthiel the son of Rabbi Judah haKohen, were taken and
tied to a single stake to be burned in front of the others, so as to make the
others convert. They were both saintly and pious men of great Torah learning,
being the disciples of Rabbeinu Yaakov Tam and Rabbeinu Shmuel ben Meir, the
grandson of Rashi. A third prominent Jew, Rabbi Judah the son of Aaron, was
also tied with them to the stake. At the ruler's command, fire was set to the
faggots. The fire spread to the cords on their hands so that they snapped. The
three Jews came out of the fire, and called to the Christians who had assembled
to watch them die: "By your own laws you should let us go free, for you
see that we came out alive from the ordeal by fire!" They struggled to get
out, but they were overpowered and pushed back into the house, and the house
was set on fire. They came out again and seized one of the executioners and
dragged him along with them towards the fire. When they were right at the fire,
the armed soldiers pulled themselves together, rescued the Christian from their
hands, killed them with their swords, and then threw their bodies into the
fire.
A certain Jew by name
of Rabbi Baruch ben David haKohen was there and saw all this at that time with
his own eyes. He lived in the territory of that ruler and had come there to
arrange terms for the release of the Jews of Blois, but unfortunately did not
succeed. However, a settlement was made by him for one thousand pounds to save
the other jews of that accursed ruler. He also saved the scrolls of the Torah
and other sacred books.
This terrible atrocity
happened on Wednesday, 20th of Sivan, in the year 4931 (May 26th, 1171). All
the facts were written down by the Jews of Orleans, a city close by to that of
the martyrs, and made known to Rabbeinu Yaakov ben Rabbi Meir, Rashi's grandson
and greatest Rabbi of his time.
It was also reported
in that letter that as the flames mounted high, the martyrs began to sing in
unison a melody that began softly but ended with a full voice. "The
Christians came and asked us, 'What kind of a song is this, for we have never
heard such a sweet melody?' We knew it well, for it was the hymn Oleinu
— "It is our duty to praise the L-rd of all... for He has not made us like
the nations of the lands...'"
Rabbi Ephraim of Bonn
records the amazing fact, as, witnessed by the said Rabbi Baruch, that the
bodies of the martyrs were not consumed by fire; only their souls were
released. When the crowd saw it, they were amazed and said to one another,
"Truly these are saints." For a long time, the thirty one (or thirty
two) martyrs of Blois were not allowed to be buried. They were left at the
bottom of the hill on the very spot where they were burnt. It was only later
that Jews came and buried their bones.
Rabbi Ephraim adds the
anguished lament, "O daughters of Israel, weep for the souls that were
burnt for the sanctification of the Name, and let your brothers, the entire
House of Israel, bewail the burning."
All the communities of
France, England, and the Rhineland took upon themselves to observe the 20th of
Sivan as a day of mourning and fasting. This was also confirmed by Rabbeinu
Yaakov ben Meir, who wrote letters to them informing them that it was proper to
fix that day as a twenty-four hour fast day. (Rabbeinu Yaakov Tam died in the
third week after the Kiddush Hashem in Blois.)
The Burning of the Talmud Paris 1242
The story of the burning begins several years before the event actually occurred. In 1240, an apostate (convert from Judaism to Christianity) named Nicholas Donin challenged the great Rabbis in France at that time to defend the Talmud from his charges that it was a work that demonstrated a hostility towards Christianity and thus could not be allowed to exist in a Christian state. What resulted from this challenge was one of the first recorded disputations, debates between Jews and Christians which effectively amounted to Judaism on trial. Setting a pattern that was to be imitated by subsequent disputations in several countries in Europe over the following few centuries, this disputation was held before the King and Queen, in this case King Louis IX, and the Christian side was argued by a former Jew. This was an important fact as it tended to add to the insidiousness with which the case was tried. As we shall see, the questions posed to the Jews tended to stem from a superficial reading of the Talmud, focusing on passages that could only be read in context and with further explanation as passed down from generation to generation. The apostate accusers were generally well-versed in the traditional Rabbinic interpretations, and thus they were somewhat prepared for what they were going to hear. The Jewish defenders were aware of this fact, and thus their answers are often not the standard answers that they would have given had they been lecturing to their students in the Beit HaMidrash, but rather are answers designed to placate the attending royalty and to prove in any way possible that the Christians were not singled out by the Rabbis of the Talmud as a nation that must be reviled.
Four Rabbis were called upon to defend Judaism in Paris, most notably Rav Moshe of Coucy, the author of Sefer Mitzvot Gadol (Semag), and Rav Yechiel of Paris, father of the author of the Tur and the main speaker in the debates. Two accounts of this disputation still exist - the Latin record, which was the official record of the court, and the Hebrew record, written by Rav Yechiel or by another Rabbi in attendance. The two accounts disagree on many of the finer points of the debate, and it is possible that the Hebrew version includes things that were not actually said, but that would have been said had the Jews actually had complete freedom of speech in the context of the debate.
A look at two of the questions posed to Rav Yechiel will serve to illustrate, if only a little, the approach utilized by Donin is his attempts to prove his loyalty to the Church and his hatred of his former religion. He refers to a passage which states that a certain "Yeshu" has been condemned to spend eternity boiling in scalding hot feces. "Yeshu" being the Hebrew translation of "Jesus," Donin concludes that this can only refer to one person, and that this alone constitutes a grave offense against Christianity. Rav Yechiel’s defense focused around the fact that "Yeshu" was a common name in the times of the Talmud, and that the individual referred to here was actually a student of Rav Yehoshua ben Perachia, who preceded Jesus by roughly a century, and who was said to have received this punished in return for his own heretical activities. Not satisfied with this answer, Donin and the priests in attendance continued to push Rav Yechiel, still attempting to prove that the Yeshu in question was actually their lord. Finally, their rabid anti-Semitism reached a point that the Queen, apparently shocked at what she was witnessing, ended this line of questioning, asking the accusers why they were trying so hard to prove that there was something negative being said about the one whom they worshipped - better that he should be left unmentioned!
The second question focused on a passage in Masechet Soferim (one of the "minor tractates" that are of a later time period than the Talmud itself). The phrase "the best of the nations shall be killed" was obviously a statement that alarmed Donin, and he insisted that it applied specifically to Christianity. Rav Yechiel’s defense was again an easy one. He merely read the statement in context, noting that it was the conclusion of a discussion about the Egyptians during the ten plagues. When the Jews left Egypt, the Torah informs us that the Egyptians chased them on horseback. However, we know that several of the plagues killed off the animals of Egypt, and thus how were there any horses left for them to use to pursue the Jews? The answer given is that these horses were those of the Egyptians who heeded the warning of Hashem and took their animals in when informed of the impending plagues. However, despite their fear of Hashem at that time, they still were more than willing to donate their animals to the Egyptian army so that they could overtake the escaped Jews. Thus, the Talmud claims that even the best ones from among the nations are not purely good and thus, in a situation of war, should not be spared and thus should be put to death. Even further, Rav Yechiel noted not only the general prohibition against murder, but that even in wartime the Jewish army must first offer the option of peace to the city that it is approaching, and only if that offer is refused may they attack.
The underlying common denominator of these two questions is that the explanations given by Rav Yechiel were not particularly erudite responses. Both required merely a basic knowledge of the text and perhaps a bit of history, knowledge possessed by Donin but not necessarily by the royal family or the priests (or perhaps they had the same approach to it as did Donin). One of the more poignant tragic aspects of this affair is the rabidness with which one Jew led the charge to destroy the religion which he had abandoned.
As was inevitable from the outset, the Talmud was burned by the cartload in 1242 (or perhaps 1244), despite an attempt by a local bishop to put off the burning. However, this event had several major impacts on the course of Medieval European Jewish history. First, this event marked a change in the attitude of the Church towards the Jews living in its midst. While that attitude had previously been one of relative tolerance, and sometimes even of welcoming (such as the Charter of Rudiger, bishop of Speyers, inviting the Jews to live in his town in 1084), this event was the beginning of a new trend. As already noted, this disputation was merely the prototype for later ones, which grew more and more virulent every time. The Barcelona disputation (1263), pitting Ramban against the apostate Pablo Christiani, and the two-year long Tortosa disputation (1413-14), in which St. Vincent Ferrer and the apostate Geronimo told the Jewish leaders that they were allowed only to affirm or deny that certain Talmudic passages meant what the accusers claimed that they did, were two of the more famous of these "debates" that took place right up until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 and from Portugal in 1496 (the Jewish community in France barely made it out of the fourteenth century), events that effectively ended the era wherein Western Europe was the center of Jewish life.
A second impact is perhaps more positive. As we noted in one of the Chaburas on Chanuka, Rav Yitzchak Hutner has expressed the idea that there are times when the destruction of Torah actually serves as a part of the burgeoning strength of Torah and of Jewish adherence to it. Bearing in mind that the printing press had yet to be invented and that the 1,200 copies of the Talmud that were burned were essentially irreplaceable, the magnitude of this tragedy cannot be underestimated. This was realized by the Rabbis at that time, and they responded with typical Jewish resiliency. Rav Yechiel, in an attempt to save the Talmud, taught it from memory to a group of 300 students and attempted to recall and record all of the writings of the Tosafists that had been burned and forever purged in the flames (the Tosafists were French, and thus many of their original glosses may have been written alongside the pages of the burned volumes). Even more important were two works written with a similar purpose. Rav Moshe of Coucy arranged the laws in the Talmud according to the 613 commandments to which they corresponded, calling his work Sefer Mitzvot Gadol. Soon after that work appeared Rav Yitzchak of Corbeil authored a similar work, the Sefer Mitzvot Katan (Semak). These two works still serve as major reference guides for halacha and helped to minimize the magnitude of the tragedy in Paris.
The Kina itself is written by Rav Meir of Rotenberg, a student of Rav Yechiel who may have actually witnessed the burning. It is beyond the scope of this Chabura to scan each line of the poem, yet a general overview is yet possible. The lamentation follows a pattern familiar from many of the other Kinot. First Rav Meir calls out to the Torah (and presumably to Hashem as well) to see the pain that those who love it are suffering through as a result of the burning, followed by a weeping, despairing cry, asking how such an event could come to pass. The next section presents a series of contrasts, first describing the glory with which the Torah was given, and following that with a mournful line about how shameful a place it has now been relegated to. The final two sections trace the path from the abyss of desperation to the hope for salvation, as Rav Meir painfully describes, using several metaphors, how he sees himself (and the Jews) abandoned by Hashem, and he ends off with a prayer that in the near future Hashem will once again look favorably upon the Jews and redeem them from the horrible straits in which they find themselves.
The burning of the Talmud at Paris, while perhaps not the most horrifying of the tragedies commemorated on Tisha B’Av, is one that contains an extremely important message. We are told by the Sages that the destruction of the Second Temple, resulting in our current exile, was caused by spiteful and needless hatred among the Jews. Over a millennium later, this trend had ceased to evaporate, as Nicholas Donin and his successors proved that the best enemy of the Jews is in fact the Jews themselves. I will refrain from pontificating here, but it is not difficult to see that even now this trend continues, as does the exile. It is our sincere hope that this Tisha B’Av will be the last that we will have to observe as a day of mourning, and that we will soon see the fulfillment of the words of Zechariah (8:19) that this day will be transformed into one of happiness and rejoicing.
The moral of the past two stories are Yesh Din and Yesh Dayan and Mida Knegged Mida (There is a law and there is a JUDGE and measure for measure – a principle in the Judgement of the world. Day come and go with HIS great mercy but in the end HE executes the Din. The burning of the Notre Dame Cathedral was perhaps an accident in this world but a Judgement on what the church did in the past. It had to be before Moshiach!
On Pesach, we say that in every
generation they stand against us to destroy but HASHEM saves us from them.
In honor of Holocaust Memorial
Day coming up I repeat a story from 5767 that is why I have not reference.
Staying Alive in Bergen Belsen
The following article came from Aish HaTorah
transcribed by Sarah Shapiro:
--- as told by Joseph Freuchtwanger,
nephew of Rabbi Davids
It was erev Pesach, 1944. The entire Jewish
community of Rotterdam -- men, women, and children -- had just been transferred
from Vesterbork, a deportation camp in Holland, to the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp in Germany.
Conditions in Vesterbork had been harsh, but continued
religious observance had to a remarkable extent preserved the Jews' dignity and
their will to live. Under the leadership of the loved and revered Torah scholar
Rabbi Aharon (Bernard) Davids, some semblance of communal cohesiveness and
optimism had been sustained. Upon arrival at Bergen-Belsen, however, daily
existence took a sudden, overwhelmingly drastic turn for the worse, as most of
the things that make a human being feel human were taken away. In what for us
-- some 60 years later -- has become a familiar yet impossible-to-imagine
scenario, families were divided, people starved, the absurdly hard labor broke
body and soul, and disease was spreading fast.
Matzah for the Seder was, of course, unavailable.
Rabbi Davids, then in his early forties -- whose wife and
three children had been separated from him upon arrival in the camp -- yearned
to keep the spirit of his family and flock alive, even as their physical
strength ebbed. Yet under such calamitous circumstances, refraining from eating
chametz would surely bring on illness and death for an unknown number of
Jews. What should be done during the week of Passover with their small daily
rations of bread?
He conferred with other rabbinical authorities in the camp,
and after anguished and lengthy discussion of this dilemma, they agreed upon a
course of action.
On the 14th of Nisan, the Seder night, Rabbi Davids sat at
the head of the long table in the male barracks, conducting the ceremony not
from a Haggadah -- for of course there was none -- but from memory. When he
reached the blessing, "...Who has sanctified us by His commandments and
commanded us to eat matzah..." he lifted up his voice and clearly recited
the following prayer, as later translated into English by Prof. Harold Fisch:
Heavenly Father, it is manifest and
known to You that we desire to carry out your will in regard to the commandment
of eating matzah, and strictly refraining from chametz on the Festival of
Pesach. But we are sick at heart at being prevented in this by reason of the
oppression and mortal danger in which we find ourselves. We stand ready to
perform Your commandments of which it is said, "You shall do them and live
by them," (Vayikra 18:5) that is to say, you shall live by them and not
die by them. And accordingly we heed Your warning, as it is written: "Take
heed to thyself and keep thy soul alive." (Devarim 4:9) Therefore we
beseech You that You will keep us in life and establish us and redeem us
speedily from our servitude so that we may in time come to perform Your
statutes and carry out Your will with a perfect heart. Amen.
He then reached for a piece of bread and took a bite,
thereby urging his brethren to do likewise.
Rabbi Davids, along with his son Elijah, died shortly
before the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by the allied forces.
His wife Erika and their daughters, along with
approximately 2,800 others, were evacuated by train from the camp. During the
two-week journey to nowhere, 570 died and were buried in a mass grave somewhere
along the way. Those who survived the trip were abandoned by the Nazis near the
East German village of Troebits.
In 1947, Erika emigrated with her daughters to the land of
Israel, taking with her a copy of the prayer that her husband had composed. She
died in a Herzliya nursing home in1997.
Each year, her family and its descendants read the prayer
aloud on the Seder night, to hear again how Rabbi Davids asked for God's help,
beseeching a shattered people to do the unthinkable and live, not die, by
them.
This article originally appeared in Jewish Action, the
magazine of the Orthodox Union.
The Counting of the Omer (source OU online)
Chapter 120:1
The Counting of
the Omer
1. On the second night of Pesach, one begins "counting
the Omer" (1). One must count while standing (2). The mitzvah is to count
immediately at the beginning of the night (3), as soon as [three medium-size
stars] become visible (4). If one did not count at the beginning of the night,
the time for counting extends throughout the entire night. On Shabbos and festivals nights, the counting takes place in synagogue after the recitation of Kiddush (after Maariv, the evening service), in order to give precedence to the [proclamation] of the sanctity of the day. At the conclusion of Shabbos or a holiday, we count before the recitation of Havdalah in order to delay the departure of the [holy] day. Should the final day of Pesach fall on Saturday night, and hence Kiddush and Havdalah are recited over the same cup of wine, we count beforehand in order to delay the recitation of Havdalah (which signifies the end of Shabbos).
FOOTNOTES:
(1) When the Beit Hamikdash (Temple) was standing in Jerusalem, there was a mitzvah to begin the grain harvest season by harvesting a certain amount of barley on the second night of Pesach, and bringing the amount of one "omer" (approx. 2 quarts) as a meal offering ("Korban Mincha") in the Beit Hamikdash the next day (See Leviticus 23:9-14).
There is another mitzvah for each male to verbally count seven weeks (counting each of the 49 days and seven weeks), beginning from the day the "omer" offering is brought (hence the name "Counting of the Omer"), that is, the second day of Pesach, and ending on the day before the festival of Shavuos (lit: "weeks" - because it is the culmination of 7 weeks of counting) (See Leviticus 23:15-22).
Now that there is no longer a Beit HaMikdash, and hence, no longer an "Omer" offering brought on the second day of Pesach, there are many authorities who rule that the mitzvah of counting is only a rabbinically ordained obligation.
As with most mitzvos that have to be performed at a specific time, women are exempt from the mitzvah of counting; however, women in many communities accepted this mitzvah upon themselves, as they did the mitzvah of lulav and shofar; therefore, if a woman desires to count, she may do so, however, some authorities question whether a blessing may be recited (See Mishna Berura 489:3).
(2) But if one counted while sitting, one has fulfilled one's obligation and need not count again.
(3) The verse says to count "seven COMPLETE weeks", therefore we try to count as soon as the new day begins (that is, at the beginning of the night), so that each counting is for a "complete" day.
(4) After the Maariv Shmone Esrei, before Aleynu.
Sifra Counting Page: http://torah.org/learning/yomtov/omer/sefira.php3
A short movie: http://www.aish.com/movies/4sons.asp
I suggest that you print a few days you need for Yom Tov and Motzei Yom Tov or Shabbos and Motzei Shabbos and during Chol HaMoed and the week following Pessach (re)read what is missing. - RP
The seven emotional attributes are:
- Chesed ― Loving-kindness
- Gevurah ― Justice and discipline
- Tiferet ― Harmony, compassion
- Netzach ― Endurance
- Hod ― Humility
- Yesod ― Bonding
- Malchut ― Sovereignty, leadership
Tiferet, Malchut are the modern Israeli Hebrew version of Tiferes and Malchus. The original pronunciation was similar to the lisp of the Yemenite Hebrew which is a soft ‘th’. Due to the fact that the next blogspot is in two weeks, 15 days into Omer are given below.
The seven weeks, which represent these emotional attributes, further divide into seven days making up the 49 days of the counting. Since a fully functional emotion is multidimensional, it includes within itself a blend of all seven attributes. Thus, the counting of the first week, which begins on the second night of Pesach, as well as consisting of the actual counting ("Today is day one of the Omer...") would consist of the following structure with suggested meditations:
Upon conclusion of the 49 days we arrive at the 50th day ― Mattan Torah. After we have achieved all we can accomplish through our own initiative, traversing and refining every emotional corner of our psyche, we then receive a gift ('mattan' in Hebrew) from above. We receive that which we could not achieve with our own limited faculties. We receive the gift of true freedom ― the ability to transcend our human limitations and touch the divine.
WEEK 1 ― CHESED: LOVING-KINDNESS
Day 1 ― Chesed of Chesed: Loving-kindness in Loving-kindness
Love is the single most powerful and necessary component in life. It is both giving and receiving. Love allows us to reach above and beyond ourselves, to experience another person and to allow that person to experience us. It is the tool by which we learn to experience the highest reality ― God. Examine the love aspect of your love.
Ask yourself: What is my capacity to love another person? Do I have problems with giving? Am I stingy or selfish? Is it difficult for me to let someone else into my life? Am I afraid of my vulnerability, of opening up and getting hurt?
Exercise for the day: Find a new way to express your love to a dear one.
Day 2 ― Gevurah of Chesed: Discipline in Loving-kindness
Healthy love must always include an element of discipline and discernment; a degree of distance and respect for another's boundaries; an assessment of another's capacity to contain your love. Love must be tempered and directed properly. Ask a parent who, in the name of love, has spoiled a child; or someone who suffocates a spouse with love and doesn't allow them any personal space.
Exercise for the day: Help someone on their terms not on yours. Apply yourself to their specific needs even if it takes effort.
Day 3 ― Tiferet of Chesed: Compassion, Harmony in Loving-kindness
Harmony in love is one that blends both the Chesed and Gevurah aspects of love. Harmonized love includes empathy and compassion. Love is often given with the expectation of receiving love in return. Compassionate love is given freely; expects nothing in return ― even when the other doesn't deserve love. Tiferet is giving also to those who have hurt you.
Exercise for the day: Offer a helping hand to a stranger.
Day 4 ― Netzach of Chesed: Endurance in Loving-kindness
Is my love enduring? Does it withstand challenges and setbacks? Do I give and withhold love according to my moods or is it constant regardless of the ups and downs of life?
Exercise for the day: Reassure a loved one of the constancy of your love
Day 5 ― Hod of Chesed: Humility in Loving-kindness
You can often get locked in love and be unable to forgive your beloved or to bend or compromise your position. Hod introduces the aspect of humility in love; the ability to rise above yourself and forgive or give in to the one you love just for the sake of love even if you're convinced that you're right. Arrogant love is not love.
Exercise for the day: Swallow your pride and reconcile with a loved one with whom you have quarreled.
Day 6 ― Yesod of Chesed: Bonding in Loving-kindness
For love to be eternal it requires bonding. A sense of togetherness which actualizes the love in a joint effort. An intimate connection, kinship and attachment, benefiting both parties. This bonding bears fruit; the fruit born out of a healthy union.
Exercise for the day: Start building something constructive together with a loved one
Day 7 ― Malchut of Chesed: Nobility in Loving-kindness
Mature love comes with ― and brings ― personal dignity. An intimate feeling of nobility and regality. Knowing your special place and contribution in this world. Any love that is debilitating and breaks the human spirit is no love at all. For love to be complete it must have the dimension of personal sovereignty.
Exercise for the day: Highlight an aspect of your love that has bolstered your spirit and enriched your life...and celebrate.
After the miraculous Exodus from Egypt, the Jewish
people spent 49 days preparing for the most awesome experience in human history
― the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Just as the Jewish peoples'
redemption from Egypt teaches us how to achieve inner freedom in our lives; so
too, this 49-day period, called 'Sefirat Ha-Omer' the Counting of the Omer, is
a time of intense character refinement and elevation.
During this time, the aspect of the human psyche that
most requires refinement is the area of the emotions. The spectrum of human
experience consists of seven emotional attributes, or sefirot. This week we
continue Sefirat Ha'Omer, utilizing the seven dimensions of the seven emotional
attributes. The first week after Pesach was dedicated to examining the aspect
of chesed, loving-kindness. The second week corresponds to the emotional attribute
of gevurah, discipline or justice.
If love (Chesed) is the bedrock of human expression,
discipline (Gevurah) is the channel through which we express love. It gives our
life and love direction and focus. Gevurah ― discipline and measure ―
concentrates and directs our efforts, our love in the proper directions.
Day 8 ― Chesed of Gevurah:
Loving-kindness in Discipline
The underlying intention and motive in discipline is
love. Why do we measure our behavior, why do we establish standards and expect
people to live up to them ― only because of love. Chesed of gevurah is the love
in discipline; it is the recognition that your personal discipline and the
discipline you expect of others is only an expression of love. It is the
understanding that we have no right to judge others; we have a right only to
love them and that includes wanting them to be their best.
Ask yourself: when I judge and criticize another is it
in any way tinged with any of my own contempt and irritation? Is there any
hidden satisfaction in his failure? Or is it only out of love for the other?
Exercise for the day: Before you criticize someone
today, think twice: Is it out of concern and love?
Day 9 ― Gevurah of Gevurah:
Discipline in Discipline
Examine the discipline factor of discipline: Is my
discipline reasonably restrained or is it excessive? Do I have enough
discipline in my life and in my interactions? Am I organized? Is my time used
efficiently? Why do I have problems with discipline and what can I do to
enhance it? Do I take time each day for personal accounting of my schedule and
accomplishments?
Exercise for the day: Make a detailed plan for
spending your day and at the end of the day see if you've lived up to it.
Day 10 ― Tiferet of Gevurah:
Compassion in Discipline
Underlying and driving discipline must not only be
love, but also compassion. Compassion is unconditional love. It is love just
for the sake of love, not considering the others position. Tiferet is a result
of total selflessness in the eyes of God. You love for no reason; you love
because you are a reflection of God. Does my discipline have this element of
compassion?
Exercise for the day: Be compassionate to someone you
have reproached.
Day 11 ― Netzach of Gevurah:
Endurance in Discipline
Effective discipline must be enduring and tenacious.
Is my discipline consistent or only when forced? Do I follow through with
discipline? Am I perceived as a weak disciplinarian?
Exercise for the day: Extend the plan you made on day
two for a longer period of time listing short-term and long-term goals. Review
and update it each day, and see how consistent you are and if you follow
through.
Day 12 ― Hod of Gevurah: Humility in
Discipline
The results of discipline and might without humility
are obvious. The greatest catastrophes have occurred as a result of people
sitting in arrogant judgment of others. Am I arrogant in the name of justice
(what I consider just)? Do I ever think that I sit on a higher pedestal and bestow
judgment on my subjects below? What about my children? Students?
Exercise for the day: Before judging anyone, insure
that you are doing so selflessly with no personal bias
Day 13 ― Yesod of Gevurah: Bonding
in Discipline
For discipline to be effective it must be coupled with
commitment and bonding. Both in disciplining yourself and others there has to
be a sense that the discipline is important for developing a stronger bond. Not
that I discipline you, but that we are doing it together for our mutual
benefit.
Exercise for the day: Demonstrate to your child or
student how discipline is an expression of intensifying your bond and
commitment to each other.
Day 14 ― Malchut of Gevurah:
Nobility of Discipline
Discipline, like love, must enhance personal dignity.
Discipline that breaks a person will backfire. Healthy discipline should
bolster self-esteem and help elicit the best in a person; cultivating his
sovereignty. Does my discipline cripple the human spirit; does it weaken or
strengthen me and others?
Exercise for the day: When disciplining your child or
student, foster his self-respect
WEEK 3 ― TIFERET ― HARMONY, COMPASSION
During the third week of Counting the Omer, we examine
the emotional attribute of Tiferet or compassion. Tiferet blends and harmonizes
the free outpouring love of Chesed with the discipline of Gevurah. Tiferet
possesses this power by introducing a third dimension ― the dimension of truth,
which is neither love nor discipline and therefore can integrate the two.
Truth is accessed through selflessness: rising above
your ego and your predispositions, enabling you to realize truth. Truth gives
you a clear and objective picture of yours and others' needs. This quality
gives Tiferet its name, which means beauty: it blends the differing colors of
love and discipline, and this harmony makes it beautiful.
Day 15 ― Chesed of Tiferet:
Loving-kindness in Compassion
Examine the love aspect of compassion. Ask yourself:
Is my compassion tender and loving or does it come across as pity? Is my
sympathy condescending and patronizing? Even if my intention is otherwise, do
others perceive it as such? Does my compassion overflow with love and warmth;
is it expressed with enthusiasm, or is it static and lifeless?
Exercise for the day: When helping someone extend
yourself in the fullest way; offer a smile or a loving gesture.
______________________________________________
From Jewish Republicans: The
Conservative and Reform rabbinical leadership along with affiliated lay groups
and tepid pro-Israel groups, have revealed their elitist contempt for democracy
and their disdain for Zionism by appealing to President Trump to force Prime
Minister Netanyahu to break his electoral pledges. They did this in a letter
sent to a Jewish publication on Friday, April 12. In that letter they called on
our President to stop Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from extending
sovereignty over Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
Why not ask President Trump to do what they really
want: overthrow the Israeli government and install a secular leftist
government. Because that is what they want: they don't care about democracy or rule of law if
Israelis dare not to want what they think Israelis should want. The rabbis,
ironically enough, are trying to declare US sovereignty over Israel. They are
acting as if Israel is a vassal state of the US. …
Scientists
at Stony Brook University discover that that brain understands when a person
dies for a few minutes. https://braincharm.com/2018/11/27/scientists-find-that-humans-actually-know-when-they-have-died/?utm_source=AOLPartnership
Charedi
Woman teaches Arab Israeli Children Hebrew. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5485574,00.html
Voting
irregularies will be checked. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261806
MATZAH
BAKING. Hebrew video. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261829
Seder
Korban Pessach Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kgbRusmqjs
33%
of US Citizens don’t know about 6 million Jews murdered. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5494128,00.html
United
Torah gains 8th seat Likud falls to 35. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261875
You
can’t win them all but you can surely lose them badly. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261950
Inyanay Diyoma
Israel
hits more Iranian facilities in Syria. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5493709,00.html
Trump
gives Israeli Air Force an umbrella with Putin and more Israel-Russia fly
agreements. https://www.debka.com/trump-warns-putin-of-us-umbrella-over-israeli-strikes-on-iranian-targets-in-syria/
Secretary
of State says Israeli Sovereignty over Yeshuvim will not hurt peace. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261802
Scientists
at Stony Brook University discover that that brain understands when a person
dies for a few minutes. https://braincharm.com/2018/11/27/scientists-find-that-humans-actually-know-when-they-have-died/?utm_source=AOLPartnership
No
front line women in tanks no moms with PTSD. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5494170,00.html
If
the ICC targets Israelis there will be a quick response. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261803
Against
ethnic cleansing. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261792
Brazilian
Pres forgives holocaust deniers. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261786
Israel
to send second spacecraft to the moon. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261801
Only
4000 rioters only one dead. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261783
Democrats
alienate more Jews. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261831
Israel
3D prints a living heart using a stem cell. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5494806,00.html
Senior
Atomic Plant Manager suspected of corruption. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261889
Three
mothers to be honored. https://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/mothers-of-3-abducted-teens-will-be-honored-on-independence-day/2019/04/15/
Terrorist
end jail strike after granted public telephones. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261891
Photos
of Syrian air strike. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261859
Rumors
mention that the body of Eli Cohen has been transferred from Damascus. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261851
Netanyahu
is essentially in place of the Foreign Ministry. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5494843,00.html
Pre-army
teens speak out about growing up under threat. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5494753,00.html
Famed
Cathedral of in Paris burns down. https://www.foxnews.com/world/massive-fire-breaks-out-in-notre-dame-cathedral-in-paris
Cooperation
to secure 5G net. https://www.debka.com/mivzak/bolton-praises-very-productive-meeting-with-israeli-security-team/
Syria
alleges that Russia colluded with Israel. https://www.debka.com/syrian-military-officials-first-criticism-of-russia-alleging-moscows-collusion-with-israel/
Hamas
realized there was a hole in the lack of iron dome towards Tel Aviv through
Netanya. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261956
Left
wants mixed gender combat missions. IDF no attack units with PTSD moms. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261944
Activist
pulled aside upon entering Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5495476,00.html
Reason
for crash of moon probe. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261985
Justice
Minister leaves without completing the court revision system. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261989
Lebanese
warned Hamas of attempted Israeli assassination. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/261979
Have
a wonderful Shabbos with a sweet and kosher Pessach,
Rachamim
Pauli
