Last
week, I thought it would be a good idea to bring down Rashi on the Priestly
Blessing. That was before afternoon prayers by the time I came home from
evening prayers and ate something, Rashi was long forgotten. So next year
hopefully.
Miracle of the week perhaps month
Ron
Steiner was learning in the Chabad Yeshiva in Sderot. A Kassam Rocket hit the
building 30 to 50 centimeters away from the window where his head was. He was
shaken up a bit but is unscathed. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264565
Another
fellow in the miracle. https://www.timesofisrael.com/witnesses-describe-miracle-as-gaza-missile-barely-misses-sderot-students/?fbclid=IwAR3O42g0-5kTvG8V3sX5u_J3kc7vn-iSXxAmVmVQBLjABvY3bUWp2ytOr8M
Please note: I am working on book now including
Kabbala, Cosmology, Astronomy, Biology called Kaboom Creation so if my
commentary is a bit shorter than usual bear with me. Here is a sample with a
5-minute lecture by Gerald Schroeder on the proof of
G-D: “We shall update ourselves to the latest theories of Biology
and Genetics and see why scientists in the know now hold that Charles Darwin’s
Evolution Theory has become a Yemenite “Dow-win” (made up story). You will be
able to draw your own conclusions with the data presented before you if you
want to believe in Schroeder’s 13,700,000,000-year-old Universe based on
Kabbalah (science has discovered G-D 5 minute lecture https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=eQVm8RokoBA) or the newer red-shift theory of Roger Pearlman and the
traditional 6-day creation belief of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (certified
engineer).”
Parsha Behaalosecha
The
Leviim had their tasks in the Mishkan and the regular Cohanim to slaughter,
fray and place on the Mizbayach Korbanos. The Cohain Gadol had one daily chore.
It was to place in oil, wicks and light or rekindle all the seven branches of
the Menorah.
8:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 2 'Speak unto Aaron, and
say unto him: When thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in
front of the candlestick.' 3 And
Aaron did so: he lighted the lamps thereof so as to give light in front of the
candlestick, as the LORD commanded Moses. …5 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 6 'Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse
them.
The Leviim working in the Mishkan or
Mikdash were to be consecrated. And this is how:
7 And thus shalt thou do unto them,
to cleanse them: sprinkle the water of purification upon them, and let them
cause a razor to pass over all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes,
and cleanse themselves.
They have to be purified from coming into
contact with a dead body. [Example: the relatives of Aaron who prepared and
buried the bodies of two of his sons.]
8 Then let them take a young bullock,
and its meal-offering, fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock
shalt thou take for a sin-offering. 9
And thou shalt present the Levites before the tent of meeting; and thou shalt
assemble the whole congregation of the children of Israel. 10 And thou shalt present the Levites
before the LORD; and the children of Israel shall lay their hands upon the
Levites. 11 And Aaron shall
offer the Levites before the LORD for a wave-offering from the children of
Israel, that they may be to do the service of the LORD. 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the
bullocks; and offer thou the one for a sin-offering, and the other for a
burnt-offering, unto the LORD, to make atonement for the Levites.
The Shaving and ritual purification would
start before the Korbanos. All the tribe shall come and lay their hands on the
bulls.
13 And thou shalt set the Levites
before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering unto the
LORD. 14 Thus shalt thou
separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall
be Mine.
The whole tribe shall be dedicated to the
work for HASHEM.
15 And after that shall the Levites go
in to do the service of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt cleanse them, and
offer them for a wave-offering. 16
For they are wholly given unto Me from among the children of Israel; instead of
all that opens the womb, even the first-born of all the children of Israel,
have I taken them unto Me.
Originally, the Bechor was to serve either
as a Cohain or Levy but after some participated in the sin of the Egel HaZahav
(golden calf), HASHEM gave the service over to the Leviim.
17 For all the first-born among the
children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I smote all
the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself.
The first born have holiness but they have
to be redeemed unless their father or mother is daughter of a Cohain or Levy.
18 And I have taken the Levites
instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel.
The Bechorim have been replaced by the
Leviim.
19 And I have given the Levites--they
are given to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the
service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement
for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of
Israel, through the children of Israel coming nigh unto the sanctuary.'
This is a double-edged command. Do as I
say and no plague will come unto you. Don’t do as I say and guess what will
come unto you.
20 Thus did Moses, and Aaron, and all
the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the Levites; according unto
all that the LORD commanded Moses touching the Levites, so did the children of
Israel unto them. 21
And the Levites purified themselves, and they washed their clothes; and Aaron
offered them for a sacred gift before the LORD; and Aaron made atonement for
them to cleanse them. 22 And
after that went the Levites in to do their service in the tent of meeting
before Aaron, and before his sons; as the LORD had commanded Moses concerning
the Levites, so did they unto them. 23
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 24
'This is that which pertains unto the Levites: from twenty and five years old
and upward they shall go in to perform the service in the work of the tent of
meeting;
It appears to be at 25 to 30 there is
internship and apprenticeship among the Leviim as we learned last week 30 to 50
years.
This is the rule concerning the Levites: Age
disqualifies them, but physical blemishes do not disqualify them. — [Sifrei
Beha’alothecha 1:10, Chul. 24a] From the age of
twenty-five years: Elsewhere (4:3) it says,
“From the age of thirty.” How can this be reconciled? However, from the age of
twenty-five they came to study the laws of the service; they would study for
five years, and at the age of thirty they would [begin] work. From here we
learn that a student who does not experience success in his learning for five
years, will never experience it. — [Chul. 24a]
25 and from the age of fifty years
they shall return from the service of the work, and shall serve no more;
And do no more work: [I.e.,] the work of
carrying on the shoulders; however, he can return to [the work of] locking the
gates, singing, and loading the wagons. This is the meaning of “He shall
minister with his brethren (אֶתאֶחָיו)” [in the next verse]-with his brethren,
as the Targum [Onkelos] renders (עִם אֲחוֹהִי).
26 but shall minister with their
brethren in the tent of meeting, to keep the charge, but they shall do no
manner of service. Thus shalt thou do unto the Levites touching their charges.'
Some were still strong into their 60’s but
after 50 the body is aging and brain cells too disappear. I used to lift 100 lb
aka 45 kg cement bags for work around my house and garden in my mid 40’s but in
my mid 60’s it was hard to drag one.
9:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in
the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they were
come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2
'Let the children of Israel keep the Passover in its appointed season. 3 In the fourteenth day of this month,
at dusk, ye shall keep it in its appointed season; according to all the
statutes of it, and according to all the ordinances thereof, shall ye keep it.'
4 And Moses spoke unto the
children of Israel, that they should keep the Passover. 5 And they kept the Passover in the first month, on the fourteenth
day of the month, at dusk, in the wilderness of Sinai; according to all that
the LORD commanded Moses, so did the children of Israel. 6 But there were certain men, who were
unclean by the dead body of a man, so that they could not keep the Passover on
that day; and they came before Moses and before Aaron on that day. 7 And those men said unto him: 'We are
unclean by the dead body of a man; wherefore are we to be kept back, so as not
to bring the offering of the LORD in its appointed season among the children of
Israel?' 8 And Moses said unto
them: 'Stay ye, that I may hear what the LORD will command concerning you.'
These were the men who had buried Nadav
and Avihu (sons of Aaron).
9 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 10 'Speak unto the
children of Israel, saying: If any man of you or of your generations shall be
unclean by reason of a dead body, or be in a journey afar off, yet he shall
keep the Passover unto the LORD;
The Talmud Bavli asks “what is a journey
afar off?” The answer was “From Modiin and closer is considered near.” Thus
somebody in Lod, Tel Aviv, the Galil etc. would be considered on a journey afar
off. Remember the sheep or goat for the Korban was transported by cart pulled
by animals.
11 in the second month on the
fourteenth day at dusk they shall keep it; they shall eat it with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs; 12 they
shall leave none of it unto the morning, nor break a bone thereof; according to
all the statute of the Passover they shall keep it. 13 But the man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbears
to keep the Passover, that soul shall be cut off from his people; because he
brought not the offering of the LORD in its appointed season, that man shall
bear his sin.
Nothing is more a ben Israel or but one
person who participates in an act that commemorates the going from slavery to
freedom in Israel. Thus on the grand scale of things the non-participate is
like slapping G-D in the face and thereby the person receives Kares.
14 And if a stranger shall sojourn
among you, and will keep the passover unto the LORD: according to the statute
of the Passover, and according to the ordinance thereof, so shall he do; ye
shall have one statute, both for the stranger, and for him that is born in the
land.'
Stranger is a Ger Tzeddek who joined with
Judaism from a strange place and customs.
15 And on the day that the tabernacle
was reared up the cloud covered the tabernacle, even the tent of the testimony;
and at even there was upon the tabernacle as it were the appearance of fire,
until morning. 16 So it was always:
the cloud covered it, and the appearance of fire by night. 17 And whenever the cloud was taken up
from over the Tent, then after that the children of Israel journeyed; and in
the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel encamped. 18 At the commandment of the LORD the
children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the LORD they encamped:
as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they remained encamped.
It is hard for a modern
man in the grinding routine of clock punching today to put his frame of mind
back to a time where G-D controlled where we would or wouldn’t be.
23 At the commandment of the LORD they
encamped, and at the commandment of the LORD they journeyed; they kept the
charge of the LORD, at the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses.
Imagine waking up and getting your meals
from heaven gathering them participating in the daily morning Korban and then
sitting down for a meal with no work per sec all one had to do was learn the
Halachos and history of Am Yisrael.
10:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 2 'Make thee two
trumpets of silver; of beaten work shalt thou make them; and they shall be unto
thee for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to set
forward. 3 And when they shall
blow with them, all the congregation shall gather themselves unto thee at the
door of the tent of meeting.
There sound was stronger and louder than a
Shofar and therefore a better instrument to use than a Shofar.
If a proselyte dwells with you, and he makes a Passover
sacrifice: I might think that anyone who converts should
immediately make a Passover sacrifice. Therefore, Scripture teaches us, “One
statute [shall apply to you, to the proselyte and to the native-born citizen].”
And this is its meaning: If a proselyte dwells with you, and he comes (Reggio
ed. - and the time comes) to make a Passover sacrifice with his friends, “according
to the statutes of the Passover sacrifice and its ordinances he shall make it.”
- [Sifrei Beha’alothecha 1:30]
4 And if they blow but with one, then
the princes, the heads of the thousands of Israel, shall gather themselves unto
thee. 5 And when ye blow an
alarm, the camps that lie on the east side shall take their journey.
Machane Yehuda moves out first.
6 And when ye blow an alarm the
second time, the camps that lie on the south side shall set forward; they shall
blow an alarm for their journeys.
Machane Reuven. Afterwards Machane Yosef
in the west moved and finally Machane Dan in the north.
7 But when the assembly is to be
gathered together, ye shall blow, but ye shall not sound an alarm. 8 And the sons of Aaron, the priests,
shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a statute for ever
throughout your generations. 9
And when ye go to war in your land against the adversary that oppresseth you,
then ye shall sound an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered
before the LORD your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies. 10 Also in the day of your gladness,
and in your appointed seasons, and in your new moons, ye shall blow with the
trumpets over your burnt-offerings, and over the sacrifices of your
peace-offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am
the LORD your God.'
11 And it came to pass in the second
year, in the second month, on the twentieth day of the month, that the cloud
was taken up from over the tabernacle of the testimony. 12 And the children of Israel set forward by their stages out of
the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud abode in the wilderness of Paran.
Paran is the desert around Sde Boker where
David Ben Gurion is buried. It has a year around watering spot in Nahal Zin and
I assume over the area enough grass and desert plants to supply the animals
while the Bnei Yisrael received Mann each day.
13 And they took their first journey,
according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand of Moses. 14 And in the first place the standard
of the camp of the children of Judah set forward according to their hosts; and
over his host was Nachshon the son of Amminadav.
The names of the princes are repeated here
for the journey.
…29 And
Moses said unto Hobab, the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses' father-in-law:
'We are journeying unto the place of which the LORD said: I will give it you;
come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the LORD hath spoken good
concerning Israel.'
Moshe wanted Yisro to come with him to
Eretz Yisrael and be a part of the Nation. Yisro was happy with his lot in his
land with his greater family.
30 And he said unto him: 'I will not
go; but I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred.' 31 And he said: 'Leave us not, I pray
thee; forasmuch as thou know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and thou
shalt be to us instead of eyes.
Yisro’s descendants would be one day
scouts for the IDF because for their knowledge
of the land.
…33 And they
set forward from the mount of the LORD three days' journey; and the ark of the
covenant of the LORD went before them three days' journey, to seek out a
resting-place for them. …35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses
said: 'Rise up, O LORD, and let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that
hate Thee flee before Thee.' 36 And when it rested, he said: 'Return, O LORD, unto the ten
thousands of the families of Israel.'
The Ark of the Covenant did not need
protection but it went before the camp to make the way for them.
11:1 And the people were as murmurers,
speaking evil in the ears of the LORD; and when the LORD heard it, His anger
was kindled; and the fire of the LORD burnt among them, and devoured in the
uttermost part of the camp.
There are always people who complain and
obviously enough to upset the whole camp.
2 And the people cried unto Moses;
and Moses prayed unto the LORD, and the fire abated. 3 And the name of that place was called Ta’avra, because the fire
of the LORD burnt among them. 4
And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of
Israel also wept on their part, and said: 'Would that we were given flesh to
eat!
The quantity of non-convert mixed
marriages was probably less than there exists today among the Reform and
Conservative Jews in the States but was probably similar to the young women in
Israel gulled by Arabs with promises.
5 We remember the fish, which we were
wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks,
and the onions, and the garlic;
They forgot the beatings and the heavy
labor but remembered the physical pleasure of eating these items.
6 but now our soul is dried away;
there is nothing at all; we have nought save this manna to look to.'
You get fed directly by your CREATOR and
this is how you appreciate this great gift!
13 Whence should I have flesh to give
unto all this people? for they trouble me with their weeping, saying: Give us
flesh, that we may eat. 14 I am
not able to bear all this people myself alone, because it is too heavy for me. 15 And if Thou deal thus with me, kill
me, I pray Thee, out of hand, if I have found favor in Thy sight; and let me
not look upon my wretchedness.'
This was too much for Moshe. HASHEM gives
him help:
16 And the LORD said unto Moses:
'Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou know to be the
elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto the tent of
meeting, that they may stand there with thee.
They will help you and relieve you of some
of your duties.
…therefore the LORD will give you
flesh, and ye shall eat. 19 Ye
shall not eat one day, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor
twenty days thee there; and I will take of the spirit which is upon thee, and
will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee,
that thou bear it not thyself alone.;
You will see that HASHEM an supply your
needs for a month
20 but a whole month, until it come
out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you; because that ye have
rejected the LORD who is among you, and have troubled Him with weeping, saying:
Why, now, came we forth out of Egypt?'
After this episode those who remain alive
will feel towards meat like the Vegans of today.
21 And Moses said: 'The people, among
whom I am, are six hundred thousand men on foot; and yet Thou hast said: I will
give them flesh, that they may eat a whole month!
Moshe released the tremendous amounts of
meat needed and it overwhelmed him.
22 If flocks and herds be slain for
them, will they suffice them? or if all the fish of the sea be gathered
together for them, will they suffice them?'
Their Yetzer is so great that will these
suffice for the gluttons?
23 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'Is
the LORD'S hand waxed short? now shalt thou see whether My word shall come to
pass unto thee or not.' …25 And
the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke unto him, and took of the spirit
that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders; and it came to pass,
that, when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied, but they did so no
more. 26 But there remained two
men in the camp, the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other
Medad; and the spirit rested upon them; and they were of them that were
recorded, but had not gone out unto the Tent; and they prophesied in the camp.
We do not know who were on the Sanhedrin
but because they lowered themselves from the glorious prestige of being on the
Sanhedrin like Rabbi Shmuel HaKatan in his generation, they got special
mention. https://meirtv.com/en/lives-of-tannaim-shmuel-hakatan-281111--8211l
27 And there ran a young man, and told
Moses, and said: 'Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.' 28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the
minister of Moses from his youth up, answered and said: 'My lord Moses, shut
them in.' 29 And Moses said unto
him: 'Art thou jealous for my sake? would that all the LORD'S people were
prophets, that the LORD would put His spirit upon them!' …32 And the people rose up all that
day, and all the night, and all the next day, and gathered the quails; he that
gathered least gathered ten heaps; and they spread them all abroad for themselves
round about the camp. 33 While
the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the anger of the LORD
was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote the people with a very great
plague. …12:1 And Miriam and
Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married; for
he had married a Cushite woman.
He has separated himself from Zipporah and
left her like a widow in that he feels that at any moment he might be called
before HASHEM.
2 And they said: 'Hath the LORD
indeed spoken only with Moses? hath He not spoken also with us?' And the LORD
heard it.
But HASHEM also spoke to us and we did not
have to separate from my Chur or your Elisheva. So why should he separate?
3 Now the man Moses was very meek,
above all the men that were upon the face of the earth.
The most humble man who ever lived.
4 And the LORD spoke suddenly unto
Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam: 'Come out ye three unto the tent of
meeting.' And they three came out. 5
And the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the Tent,
and called Aaron and Miriam; and they both came forth. 6 And He said: 'Hear now My words: if there be a prophet among
you, I the LORD do make Myself known unto him in a vision, I do speak with him
in a dream.
Appeared suddenly and angry. This is a
very strong verbal rebuke and Miriam will receive a physical rebuke.
7 My servant Moses is not so; he is
trusted in all My house; 8 with
him do I speak mouth to mouth, even manifestly, and not in dark speeches; and
the similitude of the LORD doth he behold; wherefore then were ye not afraid to
speak against My servant, against Moses?'
Moshe is special he is an exception from
all the other prophets.
9 And the anger of the LORD was
kindled against them; and He departed. 10
And when the cloud was removed from over the Tent, behold, Miriam was leprous,
as white as snow; and Aaron looked upon Miriam; and, behold, she was leprous.
Miriam did this out of the love for her
sister-in-law but Lashon Hara is evil and so she was punished. This is Miriam
who waited for Moshe in the bulrushes and the camp waited for her. This is
Miriam who by her merit Am Yisrael had water. However, this is Miriam who was
set as an example by HASHEM not to speak Lashon Hara. From this Chachamim
deduced that Lashon Hara is the cause of Leprosy for even Moshe got it for a
minute when he said that Am Yisrael will not believe me.
11 And Aaron said unto Moses: 'Oh my
lord, lay not, I pray thee, sin upon us, for that we have done foolishly, and
for that we have sinned. 12 Let
her not, I pray, be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he
cometh out of his mother's womb.' 13
And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying: 'Heal her now, O God, I beseech Thee.' 14 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'If
her father had but spit in her face, should she not hide in shame seven days?
let her be shut up without the camp seven days, and after that she shall be
brought in again.' 15 And Miriam
was shut up without the camp seven days; and the people journeyed not till
Miriam was brought in again. 16
And afterward the people journeyed from Hazeroth, and pitched in the wilderness
of Paran.
Adopting
9 Jewish Orphans by Yvette Miller https://www.aish.com/print/?contentID=510903001§ion=/jw/s
H.
Cohen built a unique family to help Jewish Children in need.
Hayim Cohen never set out to change the world. Yet the 34-year-old
Houston resident has transformed the lives of nine Jewish orphans, building a
unique family of children in need.
As a child growing up in a Yiddish-speaking Satmar Chassidic family in
New York, Hayim recalls that one particular Jewish injunction spoke to him in a
deep, profound way. In an Aish.com exclusive interview, Hayim recalls that the
Jewish instruction “Don’t cause anguish to any widow or orphan” (Exodus 22:21)
always felt particularly meaningful to him. He took the injunction to care for
the less fortunate personally, and decided to pursue a career in social work.
He moved to Houston to study social work, working in Jewish summer camps
and helping children with difficult home lives. He began to gain a reputation
as someone who could help children within the Jewish community, and in 2010 he
was contacted by social workers from a rural area in Texas. Two
Yiddish-speaking ultra-Orthodox Jewish boys were in foster care there, but the
local foster home they were placed in had no way of meeting their needs. Could
Hayim, located in the large Jewish community of Houston, help?
“I didn’t waste any time,” Hayim recalls. He visited the boys – Avichai
and Avshalom, who were nine and ten years old – in their foster home. Their
foster parents had insisted the boys remove the kippot they were used to
wearing and were serving the children non-kosher food. “I jumped into action,”
Hayim says, and applied to become a licensed foster parent with the state of
Texas to help them. Within a very short period of time he learned a huge amount
and realized the incredible need for foster homes in Texas and elsewhere.
“I never knew the level of need in the foster system,” Hayim explains.
He learned that many children have absolutely nobody to support them and are
entirely without relatives, friends or resources. “There are thousands of kids
in that situation.” In Texas alone there are 29,000 children in the foster care
system. In Harris County, which is home to Houston, there are 13,000 children
in foster care. Hayim was determined to do what he could to help.
“I often hear people say ‘if I ever had the opportunity to give back,
I’d give back,’” Hayim says with a chuckle. “But I tell them you do have
the opportunity, it’s right here.” He acknowledges that not everyone can be a
foster parent but “that chance to help, it rests with everyone.”
Hayim became licensed and Avichai and Avshalom moved in with him. It was
very difficult at first, but slowly the new foster family became used to their
new routine. When Hayim felt overwhelmed, he turned to his rabbi, and continued
to take classes and training courses within the foster care system. He also
joined a support group for Jewish foster and adoptive families. Gradually,
Avichai and Avshalom began to adjust to their new lives; one day Avshalom
turned to Hayim and told him that if he had to be anywhere other than with his
birth family, he wanted to be with Hayim.
Hayim continued to forge bonds with local social workers and worked hard
to expand resources for Jewish children within Texas’ foster care system. His
Yiddish-speaking Orthodox foster home was a unique resource, and a year and a
half after he took in Avichai and Avshalom, Hayim got a phone call about
another Yiddish-speaking, religiously observant Jewish child in CPS (Child
Protective Services) care.
Yehudah was 11 years old and is “such a special kid” Hayim explains. At
first, he was traumatized and didn’t want to play with his new foster family. Hayim,
Avichai and Avshalom would play board games in the evening together, while
Yehudah peeked out from an open door at them, afraid to join them. Finally, one
day, Yehudah came and sat down and started playing the board game with the
others. “We didn’t say anything,” Hayim recalls. “We just acted like he’d
always been playing.”
Soon, Hayim enrolled Yehudah – and his foster brothers – in a local
Jewish boy scout troop, as well as another group for young boys called the
Houston Police Explorers, run by the Houston Police Department. The boys began
to blossom. Hayim home-schooled the children. He’d learned that children from
difficult backgrounds can often best be helped by public schools, yet he didn’t
want to compromise their religious Jewish education either. He also had to work
around the complex schedules of therapists and counsellors his foster children
required.
Hayim’s solution was to turn a room into his modest house into a
classroom, complete with a smartboard on the wall, and transform his home into
a fully-functioning home school. Hayim hired tutors to teach the boys both
secular and Judaic studies, and he’s proud today that all of his boys are
working at their grade level.
A couple of years later, another boy, Shmariyahu Yair, joined the foster
family. He was followed by Yissachar Yomtov and Simcha Yitzhak, two brothers
whom Hayim calls the “babies” of the family: they were two and four years old
when they were placed in the home. In 2017 three brothers joined the family:
Nachman Medad, Elimelech Fishel and Pasach Lior.
As the foster family grew, they forged special bonds with one another
and Hayim decided he wanted to transform his family, becoming not only a foster
father, but a legal father as well. Over the span of several years, Hayim has
adopted all nine of his foster children.
It has made for an unusual home. Hayim hopes to find the girl of his
dreams to marry, and he acknowledges that his family’s large size presents
special challenges. “It’s difficult to date; you can imagine,” Hayim explains,
joking that “you can imagine coming to somebody and saying you want to date
them – and you also have nine children – I hope you like to cook!” he finishes
with a laugh. Still, Hayim has faith that God willing, he’ll meet his bashert
soon, and she’ll embrace both him and his warm-hearted family.
In the meantime, the boys want to give back, helping other foster
children in similar circumstances they were once in. The boys recently hatched
a plan to make a difference in the lives of Houston’s foster children.
With nine growing boys, the family is always looking for inexpensive
places to buy clothes. A local store was recently going out of business and
slashing all their prices; Hayim and the four oldest boys went shopping. As
they browsed, the store owner announced that all the inventory was now 90% off.
Avshalom, who’s now 18, turned to his father and asked wouldn’t it be amazing
if they could buy all the school uniforms in the store – and donate them to
foster kids?
The Cohens have long donated clothes to a Houston-area charity called
BEAR (“BE A Resource for CPS kids”) which distributes clothes to foster
children. “Kids often come into foster care with only the clothes on their
backs,” Hayim explains. His children understood that reality, and each year
would donate a few outfits to the charity. This time, Avshalom had a more
ambitious plan: to donate hundreds of articles of clothing.
The boys discussed the idea. They each had saved up their allowance for
months: would they be willing to part with their savings to help foster kids on
a large scale? Avshalom in particular had been saving up his allowance to buy
one of his brothers a set of books written by Maimonides. Would he mind
Avshalom spending the money on charity instead? The answer was clear: all the
brothers decided to help buy out the store.
The store owner was so impressed he lowered the prices even further, and
together the boys bought 1,200 school uniforms and 4,000 pairs of socks for
$300. On May 20, 2019, they donated the clothes to charity. Hayim becomes teary
recalling his sons’ charity and willingness to go without in order to help
others.
Hayim has tried to use the publicity his unusual family has received to
educate the community about adoption and foster care, including in the Jewish
community. “Our community is nervous when it comes to adoption,” Hayim told
reporters, “because they feel like there are no Jewish children in foster care.
Jewish children in foster care doesn’t mean we’re an imperfect people. It means
there are issues that are out of our control.…. People have been blinded by the
old idea that kids in foster care are ‘damaged goods’. These are normal kids
who have gone through an abnormal situation. They deserve the same love,
respect and dignity that we give to every other person in our daily life.”
Hayim hopes that his example will inspire others to act to help others,
and to understand the magnitude of the need in the foster care system. “We can
all do something,” he notes. Not everyone can adopt or be a foster parent – but
we can all challenge ourselves to move out of our comfort zones to care more,
to do more, and to try and make a lasting difference to others.
The Holocaust Survivor who captured Amon Goth by
Rabbi Shraga Simmons long story but worth reading. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/The-Holocaust-Survivor-Who-Captured-Amon-Goth.html?s=ss2
NY
removes religious exemptions for vaccines. https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-york-abolishes-religious-exemptions-for-vaccinations/
New
Computer Hub in Israel for Beer Company. https://www.calcalistech.com/ctech/articles/0,7340,L-3764171,00.html
Rabbi
Peretz consults with the Charedim. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264585
Netanyahu
and right can win. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264354
The future
of US Orthodoxy. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/23922
Right
would get 68 seats but still need Lieberman. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264589
Inyanay Diyoma
US sanctions
Turks. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264313
Likud
Ministers Netanyahu deceived us. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264300
IDF boards
craft with stowaway. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264354
The deal
that failed. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264315
Gov. Walker
ret. Visits Golan Shomron. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264303
Israel can
annex parts of Yehuda and the Shomron. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264356
Man arrested
over Times Square plot. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264350
Hamas and
their rockets. https://www.debka.com/hamas-gaza-amasses-10000-rockets-plans-a-new-iran-sponsored-militia-in-syria/
Arab leader
of BDS lives in Israel it is now time to revoke his residency status. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264390
Another Arab
infiltrator found in the area where a different Arab raped and murdered a young
woman. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264371
Iran
attacking US allies. https://www.debka.com/iranian-attacks-on-us-mid-east-allies-continue-us-gulf-states-israel-seem-unconcerned/
IDF and PLO
exchanged fire. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264406
Kim’s
brother was with the CIA? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264405
Saudi Sharia
Justice. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264400
Another Rabbi
attacked in Argentina. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264395
If Labor
wins Pompeo will help Jews. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264385
Nun who
helped Jews in war dies at 110. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/oldest-nun-hide-jews-dies-110-sister-cecylia-roszak-poland-a8644721.html?fbclid=IwAR2VGSobMChmilWp27VsI14S2mgzHse3sShPAkFHB38exunRKOYBDpwnF0A
My
comments. It appears that Iran has some restrictions in Syria but they can
reply via Gaza. So we hit them in Syria despite their tricks but they reply via
proxies in Gaza. Each day the number of fire balloons began to rise again from
three to seven and seven and already four by the afternoon on Thursday.
Wednesday night a rocket was fired towards a Kibbutz. Iran attacked two oil
tankers regularly or via torpedoes. The Japanese Prime Minister is trying to
broker peace talks with the States.
After
a rocket and explosive balloons http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264524
Terror
attacks in Yehuda and the Shomron. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264554
Analysis
Ben Yishai. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5524118,00.html
IDF
destroys sheet metal and thin aluminum empty Hamas structures. BIG DEAL yeah
tell me how this deters them! https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5525182,00.html
Ganz
says attack Hamas with force. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264568
How
is it working for you? You do the same thing over and over again Sisyphus the
rock star says to the Israel Cabinet. https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5524138,00.html
White
House spokeswoman to step down. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264569
New
IDF Spokesman. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/264557
Have
a wonderful Shabbos,
Rachamim
Pauli
