You
can take Eliezer Binyamin ben Faiga Dina off the healing prayer list.
Rabbis of Israel declare a Torah
Emergency Situation
This is perhaps related to the security situation
and the miracles that occur in Israel.
In Lecha Dodi Shabbos introductory song, each week,
we declare that Shabbos is the Makkor or source of our blessing(s). I wrote
during the Protective Edge Operation of the direct hit on houses in Ashdod of
the Kiddush HASHEM Miracle. The house to the left was damaged, the house to the
right was damaged and the house in the middle of the TV 12 news clip was
undamaged but it had a big banner in Hebrew on it. “Guard the Shabbos and the
Shabbos will guard you.”
The Gadol HaDor a true Cabinet Member of the
Heavenly Beis Din living among us, Rav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita declared that
everybody should start learning or relearn the laws of Shabbos. Roshei Yeshivas
and Kollelim are joining the plea of Rabbi Chaim. The outside enemies of Israel can be easily
dealt with if Am Yisrael honors, observes and guards the holiness of Shabbos. However,
what started as a two-bit mayor who cannot pass a budget in Tiberia offering at
the expense of taxpayers’ free autobuses on Shabbos has now become a cancer
with Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan beginning to follow suit.
I am not a fire and brimstone person and teach that
hell is not eternal but a cleansing of the soul that has sinned until it is
repaired and clean. But when we have enemies working on nuclear, biological and
chemical weapons against us, we must take this request seriously as we know
already that they have and are willing to use hundreds of thousands of rockets
and accurate missiles with conventional warheads against civilians.
What makes Shabbos so important. Beresheis: 2:1 And the heaven
and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2
And on the seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested
on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it;
because that in it He rested from all His work which God in creating had made. So shouldn’t we emulate G-D? Shouldn’t we
guard and keep the holiness of Shabbos? Shemos 31:12 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 13 'Speak thou also unto the
children of Israel, saying: Verily ye shall keep My Sabbaths, for it is a sign
between Me and you throughout your generations, that ye may know that I am the
LORD who sanctify you. 14 Ye shall keep
the Sabbath therefore, for it is holy unto you; every one that profanes it
shall surely be put to death; (Now you can see why Rabbi Kanievsky Shlita is very worried) for whosoever does any work therein, that soul
shall be cut off from among his people. (Death and destruction of one Jew worries and
concerns the Gadol HaDor) 15 Six days shall work be done; but on the seventh day
is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whosoever doeth any work in the
Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. 16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the
Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. 17 It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel
for ever; for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh
day He ceased from work and rested.' Vayikra: 19:1 And
the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of
Israel, and say unto them: Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy. And
every week we have a remembrance day for the creation of the world. Shemos 20:7
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 8 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; 9 but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the LORD thy
God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, (not physical work of force times distance but Melacha) thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor
thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; 10 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD
blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Finally, in Devarim 5:11 Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the LORD
thy God commanded thee. 12 Six days shalt
thou labor, and do all thy work; 13 but
the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any
manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor
thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant
may rest as well as thou. 14 And thou
shalt remember that thou was a servant in the land of Egypt, and the LORD thy
God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm;
therefore, the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day.
The
39 Melachos are: Planting, Plowing, Reaping, Gathering, Threshing/Extraction of
bad from good, Winnowing, Sorting/Purification, Dissection, Sifting,
Kneading/Amalgamation, Cooking/Baking, Shearing, Scouring/Laundering,
Carding/Combing wool, Dyeing, Spinning, Warping, Making two loops/Threading,
Weaving, separating two threads, Tying, Untying, Sewing, Tearing apart,
Trapping, Killing/Slaughtering, Flaying/Skinning, Curing/Preservation,
Smoothing, Scoring, Measured Cutting, Writing/Drawing, Erasing, Construction,
Demolition, Extinguishing a fire, Ignition, Fine-tuning, Transmitting between
two domains.
Therefore, let us heed Rav Chaim’s words and learn
or relearn the laws of Shabbos and observe better. – R’ Rachamim Pauli.
P.S. Shabbos observed properly is 1/60th
of Paradise according to Talmud Berachos.
Parsha Vayishlach
Last week, we ended with a Bris between
Yacov and Lavan a non-aggression pact, recognizing the borders of Eretz Yisrael
and that Yacov would not take any more wives. Now Yacov wanted to carry out the
beginning of last week’s Parsha 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying: 'If God will be with
me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and
raiment to put on, 21 so that I come back
to my father's house in peace, then shall the LORD be my God, 22 and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar,
shall be God's house; and of all that Thou shalt give me I will surely give the
tenth unto Thee.' but
he had to confront face to face Esav to return in peace.
32:4 And Jacob sent messengers
before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
Messengers in Hebrew Malachim (Angels) and Rashi
says that they were from the camp of Angels.
5 And he commanded them, saying:
'Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus says thy servant Jacob: I have
sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now.
Sojourned in the text “Garti גַּ֔רְתִּי”
which is the Gematria for 613. Rashi comments about this saying “I observed the
613 commandments”. This would include Shabbos, Kashrus, Teruma, Ma’aser,
Shmita, etc. but he had to have been exempt from not marrying two sisters in
the lifetime of the other. In fact, there are commentaries suggesting that
Lavan sired the two servant girls who were also sisters so it becomes two
sisters and two half-sisters. This message has a hidden meaning that Esav might
understand. I am strong in Torah and Mitzvos and you cannot overcome me by
strength or your merits of honoring our parents.
6 And I have oxen, and asses and
flocks, and men-servants and maid-servants; and I have sent to tell my lord,
that I may find favor in thy sight.'
I do not need your inheritance. I have Olam HaZeh
(this world) therefore you can also obtain Olam HaBa (the next literally coming
world).
7 And the messengers returned to
Jacob, saying: 'We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet
thee, and four hundred men with him.'
Esav was a killer and skilled hunter with warrior
skills. Yacov also would fight battles after Schem but did not want to kill his
brother and have revenge murder in the family. If Avraham defeated 4 kings and
a massive army with 318 men, all the more so Esav with 400!
8 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and
was distressed. And he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks,
and the herds, and the camels, into two camps.
In case Esav did not know where Yacov was, he had
only to trace the route of the messengers and meet up with Yacov.
9 And he said: 'If Esau come to the
one camp, and smite it, then the camp which is left shall escape.'
If during the Holocaust, Esav would murder
European Jewry, the other camp in Eretz Yisrael and the camp in the USA.
10 And Jacob said: 'O God of my
father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O LORD, who said unto me: Return
unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good; 11 I am not worthy of all the mercies, and of all the
truth, which Thou hast shown unto Thy servant; for with my staff I passed over
this Jordan; and now I am become two camps.
You have performed so many miracles for me that I
am afraid that I have used up all my merits from the Mitzvos.
12 Deliver me, I pray Thee, from the
hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and
smite me, the mother with the children.
Brother – save me and mine from brothers,
fathers, friends and females that want to act like they love us and make us one
of them only to try to convert us from our Torah ways. Hand of Esav – Esav the
wicked who might want to kill us or bully us to doing something against the
Torah to get us to convert by brute force or torture us.
13 And Thou said: I will surely do
thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered
for multitude.'
Please remember your promise and protect me and
mine.
14 And he lodged there that night;
and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother: 15 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two
hundred ewes and twenty rams, 16 thirty
milch camels and their colts, forty kine and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and
ten foals.
The value in today’s terms are presents that
amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
17 And he delivered them into the
hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and said unto his servants: 'Pass
over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.'
The camels would be in the foremost group, the
cattle afterwards, then probably the goats and last but not least the sheep.
18 And he commanded the foremost,
saying: 'When Esau my brother meets thee, and asks thee, saying: Whose art
thou? and whither go thou? and whose are these before thee? 19 then thou shalt say: They are thy servant Jacob's; it
is a present sent unto my lord, even unto Esau; and, behold, he also is behind
us.'
Why the servant Yacov? Yacov reasoned that if the
shows himself a servant it would show that Yitzchak’s blessing of his ruling
was naught. It would also let Esav know that he was the dominate one and appeal
to his ego. It is like confronting a male Gorilla. Swatting low and not moving
lets him rule in peace and you can wait and let him move on.
20 And he commanded also the
second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: 'In this
manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; 21 and ye shall say: Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob
is behind us.' For he said: 'I will appease him with the present that go before
me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.'
Perhaps these presents would placate Esav as
bribes do to corrupt people.
22 So the present passed over
before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp. 23 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and
his two handmaids, and his eleven children, and passed over the ford of the
Jabbok. 24 And he took them, and sent
them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. 25 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man
with him until the breaking of the day.
Also in Sefer Daniel, a man refers to an Angel.
Yacov was the equivalent to a multi-millionaire or billionaire and yet he went
back to pick up some clay items of little value saying a Din of a Peruta
(smallest coin) is like a Din of a hundred. Or as the late President Herbert
Hoover said: “Willful waste makes woeful want and one day you may say, ‘How I
wish I had that crust of bread that I once threw away’.” Yacov was not
flaunting his wealth but valued everything. He was charitable but thrifty to
teach others not to waste the environment.
26 And when he saw that he
prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow
of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled with him. 27 And he said: 'Let me go, for the day breaks.' And he
said: 'I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.'
Why did the Angel have to leave suddenly? He had
to say the prayers prior to and during sunrise. From here we learn that the
Angels pray Scharis.
28 And he said unto him: 'What is
thy name?' And he said: 'Jacob.' 29 And
he said: 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast
striven with God and with men, and hast prevailed.'
As I explained in the Pauli Inclusion Principle
that there are dimensions (Sefiros in Kabbala) above time and space that
enabled the Angel to see the future and name change of Yacov to Yisrael.
30 And Jacob asked him, and said:
'Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.' And he said: 'Wherefore is it that thou dost
ask after my name?' And he blessed him there.
He was the Sar (Minister) of Esav in heaven.
31 And Jacob called the name of the
place Peniel: 'for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.'
Angels and sometimes Judges are called Elokim.
32 And the sun rose upon him as he
passed over Peniel, and he limped upon his thigh.
The Angel could not prevail but damaged the sciatic nerve.
33 Therefore the children of Israel
eat not the sinew of the thigh-vein which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto
this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, even in the sinew of
the thigh-vein.
This Mitzvah is only for the Bnei Yisrael and not
for a Ben Noach who might keep kosher and they can eat of the thigh without any
problem and be very G-D fearing.
33:1 And Jacob lifted up his eyes
and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men. And he
divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids.
rd
What did Yacov see? By prophecy or a large dust
cloud created by 400 soldiers on horse or camel? It seems to me that what he
saw was distant enough that he could divide the camp so that if Esav would fall
on one perhaps the other camp could flee.
2 And he put the handmaids and
their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph
hindermost. 3 And he himself passed over
before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to
his brother. 4 And Esau ran to meet him,
and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept.
Esav and Yacov were not vain people that they looked into mirrors.
Suddenly Esav sees his twin brother as a 99year old limping towards him. Esav
was brought up 15 years by Avraham and years by Yitzchak and Rivka. He still
had some mercy left from the household of Chessed. Suddenly, he realized that
Yacov was a semi-reflection of what he looked like. A warrior is embarrassed to
kill an elderly man who is partially crippled. Rashi talks about Esav trying to
bite Yacov’s neck and his teeth breaking which caused him to cry. I prefer the
words read as the Pshat and that something form his parenting rubbed off. This
would not happen with his grandson from Eliphaz, named Amalek.
5 And he lifted up his eyes, and
saw the women and the children; and said: 'Who are these with thee?' And he
said: 'The children whom God hath graciously given thy servant.'
Again “thy servant” which belittles himself.
6 Then the handmaids came near,
they and their children, and they bowed down. 7 And Leah also and her children came near, and bowed down; and after
came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed down.
They all bowed down but not Benyamin for he had
not been born. It would be Mordechai from Benjamin to oppose Haman from Amalek.
8 And he said: 'What meanest thou
by all this camp which I met?' And he said: 'To find favor in the sight of my
lord.'
I want to give you these presents (maybe as
compensation for taking your blessing) and look, you are a more powerful nation
and I am your servant.
9 And Esau said: 'I have enough; my
brother, let that which thou hast be thine.' 10 And Jacob said: 'Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found favor in thy
sight, then receive my present at my hand; forasmuch as I have seen thy face,
as one sees the face of God, and thou were pleased with me.
He remembered the story of Ephron the Hittite
with Avraham. So he pressed him to take the gifts.
11 Take, I pray thee, my gift that
is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I
have enough.' And he urged him, and he took it.
It is most likely that Esav wanted the gifts if
nothing else to give a reward to his army. So he did not have to plead with him
too hard.
12 And he said: 'Let us take our
journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.' 13 And he said unto him: 'My lord knows that the
children are tender, and that the flocks and herds giving suck are a care to
me; and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.
Just because Yacov miraculously survived Esav now
was no guarantee that in the future things would remain this way.
14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass
over before his servant; and I will journey on gently, according to the pace of
the cattle that are before me and according to the pace of the children, until
I come unto my lord unto Seir.'
Yacov never got to Seir so what is the meaning of
this? Until as it says in Ovadia that Moshiach will Judge Har Esav in the
future.
15 And Esau said: 'Let me now leave
with thee some of the folk that are with me.' And he said: 'What need of it?
let me find favor in the sight of my lord.'
So Esav came in war and left in peace and Yacov
came in peace and left in peace.
16 So Esau returned that day on his
way unto Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to
Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle. Therefore the
name of the place is called Succoth.
Since he built temporary booths and not a city we
can only assume it was good grazing country between the Galil and Schem.
18 And Jacob came in peace to the
city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram;
and encamped before the city. 19 And he
bought the parcel of ground, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the
children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money. 20 And he erected there an altar, and called it
El-elohe-Israel.
This is the problem everywhere that the
forefather’s bought land; The Temple Mount by David, Chevron by Avraham and
Schem by Yacov Am Yisrael has a dispute now. When the land was taken or
conquered there is no dispute.
34:1 And Dinah the daughter of
Leah, whom she had borne unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
According to my computations she would have been
about 8years of age. Since she had only brothers, she was looking for girls her
age to be friendly with as they were finally going to settle in the place that
she wanted to permanent friends.
2 And Shechem the son of Hamor the
Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her; and he took her, and lay with her, and
humbled her.
Disclaimer: I am a modern western person and not
a Pedophile but I am explaining the concept here and not how I, my children or
grandchildren act. He first
befriended her but as they got too friendly raped her but in the end he
professed his love for her. He might have been 13 or 14 at the time and even
today the Arabs of Gaza marry female children between the ages of 6 to 9. The
concept of Pedophilia is Christian Western Concept and completely foreign to
Asia and Africa and perhaps the natives in the jungles of Brazil. Marrying a
daughter at the age of 12 or sweet 16 was popular for centuries. It is only
today with higher education and exploding populations that children marry so
late.
3 And his soul did cleave unto
Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spoke comfortingly
unto the damsel.
As most Arabs do they promise their pre-marriage
girl friends like politicians seeking election. They may even give gold or
silver trinkets and win the girl over.
4 And Shechem spoke unto his father
Hamor, saying: 'Get me this damsel to wife.'
Schem truly wanted the girl, she was fair to look
at, intelligent and after his smooth taking to her infatuated with him.
5 Now Jacob heard that he had
defiled Dinah his daughter; and his sons were with his cattle in the field; and
Jacob held his peace until they came.
I can only believe that she was excited and happy
and declared this to her mother for she was going to be married. Why do I draw
this conclusion? I have seen films of the 6 – 9 year-old brides of Hamas that
are smiling at the game of marriage. The alternative is that she was crying
after being raped.
6 And Hamor the father of Shechem
went out unto Jacob to speak with him.
The Torah in Devarim brings down the case of a
man who rapes or entices a maiden in the field or some place outside of a
populated area. In the first case, if she wants him he pays a fine and he can
never divorce her if she is a nag. In the second case he pays a fine and they
can marry and divorce. Schem was at this point truly infatuated and in love
with Dina so that his father met with her father for the purpose of a union of
the two families.
7 And the sons of Jacob came in
from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved, and they were very
wroth, because he had wrought a vile deed in Israel in lying with Jacob's
daughter; which thing ought not to be done. Town
And such ought not to be done-: to violate virgins, for the nations (the general population) had
refrained from illicit relationships because of the Flood. — [from Gen. Rabbah
80:7]
8 And Hamor spoke with them, saying
'The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. I pray you give her unto
him to wife.
She is his Bashert and he wants to live with her
happily ever after. We have to arrange a monetary promise for her and the
wedding ceremony.
9 And make ye marriages with us;
give your daughters unto us, and take our daughters unto you.
We will intermarry with you and essentially our families
shall become one.
10 And ye shall dwell with us; and
the land shall be before you; dwell and trade ye therein, and get you
possessions therein.'
Knowing the central location of Schem it is a
very good deal for trade.
11 And Shechem said unto her father
and unto her brethren: 'Let me find favor in your eyes, and what ye shall say
unto me I will give. 12 Ask me never so
much dowry and gift, and I will give according as ye shall say unto me; but
give me the damsel to wife.'
He is willing to forego a dowry.
13 And the sons of Jacob answered
Shechem and Hamor his father with guile, and spoke, because he had defiled
Dinah their sister, 14 and said unto
them: 'We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is
uncircumcised; for that were a reproach unto us. 15 Only on this condition will we consent unto you: if
ye will be as we are, that every male of you be circumcised; 16 then will we give our daughters unto you, and we will
take your daughters to us, and we will dwell with you, and we will become one
people.
The family of Yacov was extremely wealth. The
Bnei Yisrael are thrifty. How so? Unlike, many show-offs or misers, the Bnei
Yisrael put money aside and invest for retirement or “A rainy day”. The Bnei
Yisrael invest in the future in this world and for their children when they
will go on into the next. Most of the people of the nations want the here and
the now. In modern terms, a Jew buys a computer. He then instead of buying a
new one, changes his hard disk for an SSD and buys a back-up external memory.
Thus he has a next generation equivalent computer in the old frame keeping up
with the technology but saving about $500 or more. Not buying a flashing
automobile when a new popular make supplies the same function that also saves
money. For a Ben Yisrael wants to live in this world but stows things aside both
Mitzvos and Charity for the next.
17 But if ye will not hearken unto
us, to be circumcised; then will we take our daughter, and we will be gone.'
The Bris was an excuse but need it for becoming
one people.
18 And their words pleased Hamor,
and Shechem Hamor's son.
One little thing like a Bris and we will become
part of this large wealthy family.
19 And the young man deferred not
to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter. And he was honored
above all the house of his father. 20 And
Hamor and Shechem his son came unto the gate of their city, and spoke with the
men of their city, saying:
Schem and Hamor thought that the Bris was a
bargain price to pay.
21 'These men are peaceable with
us; therefore, let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; for, behold, the
land is large enough for them; let us take their daughters to us for wives, and
let us give them our daughters. 22 Only
on this condition will the men consent unto us to dwell with us, to become one
people, if every male among us be circumcised, as they are circumcised. 23 Shall not their cattle and their substance and all
their beasts be ours? only let us consent unto them, and they will dwell with
us.'
Can you imagine if a Bill Gates, Warren Buffett
or Jeff Bezos were to make you an offer like this to believe in one G-D and
become one people. This is Yacov was offering to the people of the city of
Schem.
24 And unto Hamor and unto Shechem
his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city; and every male was
circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city.
Yacov and Leah might not have been thrilled with
this arrangement but agreed with such a marriage.
25 And it came to pass on the third
day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi,
Dinah's brethren, took each man his sword, and came upon the city unawares, and
slew all the males.
Contrary to the word and will of their father
they extracted beyond and above vengeance for their sister.
26 And they slew Hamor and Shechem
his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and
went forth. 27 The sons of Jacob came
upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister. 28 They took their flocks and their herds and their
asses, and that which was in the city and that which was in the field; 29 and all their wealth, and all their little ones and
their wives, took they captive and spoiled, even all that was in the house.
This is the normal convention of war that the
women and children belong to the captors.
30 And Jacob said to Simeon and
Levi: 'Ye have troubled me, to make me odious unto the inhabitants of the land,
even unto the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and, I being few in number, they
will gather themselves together against me and smite me; and I shall be
destroyed, I and my house.'
Did you put your brain in gear before doing this
deed? There will now be avengers of blood. You are not a mighty army and we are
few in number.
31 And they said: 'Should one deal
with our sister as with a harlot?'
Levi kept up with this moral code but
in the future he would divide with Shimon as Zimri would sin with Cozbi and
Pinchas would avenge Moshe and HASHEM on Zimri.
It did not take long for the neighboring
towns to figure out what had happened. Yacov and sons were attacked as they
held the high ground on Har Gerizim. There was no place to run as the peoples
came from all four sides. Suddenly a fog rolled in and covered the area. The Bnei
Canaan fought with the people from the other side of the mountain in the fog as
they thought that they were the Bnei Yisrael. In the fog they kept missing the
Bnei Yisrael and the great slaughter continued all that night while Yacov and
sons made a strategic withdrawal between the fighters. – Sefer HaYashar.
35:1 And God said unto
Jacob: 'Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there; and make there an altar unto
God, who appeared unto thee when thou didst flee from the face of Esau thy
brother.' Yacov is in danger from the neighboring Hittites. Yet he has not moved from his spot until HASHEM commands him as with Lavan.
2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him: 'Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments;
The command was given to the women and children of Schem as they were sent to Mikveh as converts. The only hint we have of this is that Asher married a woman with a daughter named Serach and she is called Serach bas Asher and the Agada says she lived 400 years from Yacov’s blessing when she sang that Yosef was alive before they broke him the news.
3 and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.' 4 And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the terebinth which was by Shechem.
I hope that he buried them deep or non-Jewish archeologists have send them to non-Jewish museums that they never will be used for idolatry.
5 And they journeyed; and a terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob.
After such a slaughter of so many, the rest of the people of Canaan in the area were deathly afraid to start up with such a fierce bunch of fighters and just wanted to keep their distance like an average citizen with the mafia.
6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan--the same is Beth-el--he and all the people that were with him. 7 And he built there an altar, and called the place El-Beth-el, because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. 8 And Deborah Rebekah's nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak; and the name of it was called Allon-bacuth.
He called her burial place the Oak of crying. As I wrote in previous years, if Yacov was the age of 101 when he reached his father, depending if Rivka was 3 or 14 when she married if she was still alive to hear of Devorah’s death. It is also possible that she and Devorah died at the same time if she was 14 as she passed away at 133 years old.
9 And
God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him.
10 And God said unto him: 'Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any
more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name'; and He called his name Israel. 11
And God said unto him: 'I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation
and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy
loins; 12 and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give
it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.' 13 And God went up from
him in the place where He spoke with him. 14 And Jacob set up a pillar in the
place where He spoke with him, a pillar of stone, and he poured out a
drink-offering thereon, and poured oil thereon. 15 And Jacob called the name of
the place where God spoke with him, Beth-el.
This
would be a future resting place of the Mishkan still other commentators place
this on Har Moriah aka Har HaBeis.
16 And
they journeyed from Beth-el; and there was still some way to come to Ephrath;
and Rachel travailed, and she had hard labor. 17 And it came to pass, when she
was in hard labor, that the mid-wife said unto her: 'Fear not; for this also is
a son for thee.' 18 And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing--for she
died--that she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
She
called him the poor son but Yacov called him my right-hand son.
19 And
Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrata--the same is Bethlehem. 20
And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave; the same is the pillar of Rachel's
grave unto this day. 21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond
Migdal-eder. … 27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriat Arba--the
same is Hebron--where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. 28 And the days of Isaac
were a hundred and fourscore years. 29 And Isaac expired, and died, and was
gathered unto his people, old and full of days; and Esau and Jacob his sons
buried him.
They buried him as brothers and this
was the last that Yacov would see of Esav.
Unknown
Story of the man who saved Thousands by Rochel Sylvetsky
The
story of Hans Calmeyer's success in saving more people than Schindler did was
unknown, until one of the people he saved researched and wrote the new book
"Shedding our Stars," a tribute to a brave German lawyer who avoided
the spotlights.
What would those Sages say about someone who, during the darkness of the Nazi era, saved the lives of thousands of intermarried Jews and non-Jews and their families, by finding a way to list them all as bona fide non-Jews – doing this with steadfast determination, despite the considerable risk to his own life? Unbelievably, the fascinating story of the man who did just that remained unknown until this year, when the book Shedding our Stars, the Story of Hans Calmeyer and How He Saved Thousands of Families Like Mine (She Writes Press, 2019) by Laureen Nussbaum, was published - decades after his death.
The year is 1940. Hans Calmeyer, a secretly anti-Nazi German lawyer with humane beliefs, is drafted to an SS unit but opts to join an organization taken over by the Luftwaffe whose specialty is foreign airplane sightings. He volunteers to serve near the Dutch border and when the Dutch army surrenders in May, the reluctant soldier's unit moves to Rotterdam.
In
December, he interviews for a position in the Reich's Interior Ministry which
soon issues a decree defining what constitutes a "Jew" and which
requires all Jews in the Netherlands to report to the
authorities. Rival factions in the Nazi party interpret the German racial
law differently and Calmeyer is charged with interpreting it in the Netherlands
so as to settle doubts about the Jewishness of those on the Dutch list.
Calmeyer
uses his considerable and respected legal talents to argue persuasively against
article 3 of the decree. His opinion is accepted and that clause, stating that
a grandparent was racially Jewish if he or she was a member of a Jewish congregation,
is opened to refutation by individuals whose race is in doubt. This opens
the door for petitioners to claim that they are not in fact Jewish and for
decisions of doubtful ancestry to be made for over 5600 cases. Calmeyer has
brilliantly shifted the emphasis to proving an undocumented forebear was
Jewish instead of forcing the petitioner to prove that this forebear was
Aryan, and that makes all the difference. Thanks to his legal expertise,
murderous German pedantry is bested using its own meticulous
methods.
Appointed
the Reichskomissar in the Netherlands, Calmeyer is then officially assigned the
authority to decide on questionable cases with regard to the Reich's definition
of Jew. He is given considerable autonomy and thus holds the life or death of
thousands in his hands - and he uses his power bravely and well.
What gave him the courage to research, then falsify, destroy and alter family records when he felt it was possible to save people? It was a combination of abhorrence for Nazi ideology, his own ordinary human decency and the firm belief that the way to fight the evil that had found root in his native land was to do whatever he could to prevent the wanton genocide of Jews. He did this with two loyal co-workers and without public heroics, without joining the partisans, without fanfare and without talking about it, managing to thwart Nazi inspections and criticism. Bringing attention to himself in any way would not only have gotten him killed, it would have stopped his efforts, he later wrote.
Good
men were scarce in the Nazi machine during the Holocaust. Good men who took
risks to save Jews were rare indeed. In the Netherlands, where 90% of the
Jewish population did not survive Nazi genocide, many due to Dutch neighbors'
turning them in or reporting their hideaways (as in the case of Anne
Frank), his daring is even more laudable, taking on even more
significance.
It
is riveting to read Calmeyer's story through the eyes of the
book's author, then the school-age daughter of one of the families he
saved. Her father was Jewish, her mother a non-Jew, and Calmeyer used her
non-Jewish grandmother's alleged relations with another non-Jew to
classify her and her siblings as non-Jewish and her mother's marriage to a Jew
a "privileged intermarriage." This enabled mother and children to
"shed their stars," – giving rise to the book's name - escape
being sent to the camps and to survive the hardships of the war as part of the
civilian Dutch population instead of being slated for extermination. The writer's
vivid description of life during the frightening period when her family was
considered Jewish contrasts starkly with how she was able to live once the
hated yellow star was removed and makes Jewish suffering all the more
horrifying, the Nazis' relentless lust for murdering Jews and anyone with a
Jewish bloodline all the more abhorrent.
Laureen,
then called, Hannelore, was friendly with Anna and Margot Frank and describes
their sudden disappearance as well as what befell other Jewish families, including
her future husband Rudi's parents who died in the camps and the suicides
of Jewish neighbors who had escaped to the Netherlands and could not
face falling into Nazi hands. The story of how Rudi himself cleverly escaped
being caught by the Nazis is a spellbinding part of the book.
Hans
Calmeyer saved thousands of lives, but in order to do so, had to reject those
whose records he could not change without giving himself away and jeopardizing
the entire operation. His concerted effort to remain clandestine allowed him to
save many more than the number of Jews on Schindler's list, but did not lead to
his starring in a movie by Steven Spielberg. Instead, he was actually
imprisoned after the war, denounced as part of the Nazi genocide machine by a
woman whose family came to him but was rejected because he could not find a way
to alter their records. Those whom he was able to save, however, came
forward and served as living proof of the thousands he removed from Nazi
clutches. Today, he is listed as a Righteous Man Among the Nations in
Israel's Holocaust Museum, Yad Vashem, a title reserved for those few who
courageously saved Jews.
Calmeyer
suffered greatly as a result of the choices he had to make, calling his efforts
"too little, too little" and torturing himself throughout the rest of
his life with the thought that he might have done more. The reader, however, is filled with awe and admiration for
this outwardly unremarkable Aryan lawyer and cannot help thinking how many
lives could have been saved had there been another hundred Calmeyers among the
bureaucrats faithfully running the genocide system. The contrast with Adolf
Eichmann's claim that he was only "following orders" comes unbidden
to mind...
Calmeyer's
damning description of post-war Germany is as enlightening as his war time
experience and goes a long way towards explaining the despicable rise of
antisemitism today in the country that once blindly followed
Hitler. Writing soon after the war, he is shocked to see the same Nazi
bureaucrats continuing to run his native land, unashamed, unrepentant, and
ubiquitous – realizing that he was but a drop in the bucket filled with
willing, believing Nazis. It seems, he reveals, that the allies only got
to the leading figures in the Third Reich, and that the ordinary, plodding
Nazi bureaucrats were whitewashed, with all guilt swept under the carpet,
allowing them to remain in place. The old elites, the big banks and industrial
giants who helped the Nazis and whose liquidation had been recommended by
investigators, were left untouched.
Famed
writer Alfred Doblin wrote: "Here lives unchanged a hardworking people of
orderly habits. As always, they have been obedient to a government, latterly to
Hitler, and they do not understand why this time, being obedient should have
been wrong." Author and journalist William Shirer was
clearer: "They do not have any guilt feelings and regret only that
they have been beaten…they are sorry for themselves and not for all the people
they have murdered and tortured." Adenauer was unrepentantly
laconic, saying that there was no one else to help run the country. The
reader realizes that it is continuity, not regression, that explains why so
many of their offspring are Jew haters whose anti-Semitism is
what they have in common with the Muslim migrants Angela Merkel mistakenly
thought would expiate her country's wholehearted attempt to eradicate its loyal
Jewish minority during the Hitler years…
Hans
Calmeyer deserved to have his important story told. It is evident that much
research and efforts went into its writing and that the book's 92year old
author is able to look at the world, after decades of personal accomplishment,
with the wisdom of experience. She says in an interview that the situation in
the world shows many parallels with that of the Weimar Republic that allowed
Hitler to rise to power and hopes that it is not too late to draw lessons from
history.
The
only part of the book I found somewhat less interesting was the writer's
detailed description of her own family's life long after the war, added at
the advice of friends who thought it would provide human interest to the
book. It is somewhat jarring when she tells of her family's move to America and
affiliation with the pacifist Quakers. She does not mention or perhaps does not
know, that they are also avowed antisemites.
On
the one hand, her Jewish survivor husband's illustrious scientific career
serves to emphasize, by contrast, how many other brilliant minds were lost at
Auschwitz. On the other hand, the couple's view of life that embraces
pacifism as if there is no evil in the world that must be fought once the Nazis
were defeated, is not particularly realistic. In that vein, this reviewer
feels that Nussbaum's sympathy for the German girls her age who suffered
during the allied bombings towards the war's end is misplaced. We would all
have wished that only Nazi ideologues be the ones to pay for their sins, but
bombing Dresden, for example, saved untold lives because it was the center of
Nazi industry and most of the girls for whom she feels sorry were compliant and
cooperative Nazis. Those very same Talmudic Sages quoted above, by the way,
said that he who has mercy on the cruel will end up causing cruelty to be
wreaked on the weak.
Hans
Calmeyer was not bothered by those considerations. He quietly saved
whomever he could and his story makes for a highly recommended and
powerful read.
From
Robin White House Kosher Kitchen. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGRlnvidYH0
From
Lee: Israeli medical breakthrough. https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Worlds-first-artificial-meniscus-implant-performed-in-Israel-608138
What
the last election in the USA was about and why the impeachment. From Ben. https://www.facebook.com/FollowTheWhiteRabbit1776/videos/1037302636455188/?t=71
Poll
61 left can win without Lieberman as Bennett throws votes away again. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273108
Inyanay Diyoma
US
makes a preemptive strike on Iranian Missiles. https://www.debka.com/us-ends-non-response-for-iranian-attacks-iran-deploys-bavar-373-missiles-in-syria/
Bnei
Akiva in Sderot attacked. IAF hits hard. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BJ8hWQ96B
IAC
– Trump says he is Israel’s best friend. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/B1k911f5Tr
President
special G-D Bless America. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272852
Weapons
smuggling attempt. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272827
FL
Naval Base Terror. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272804
Wearing
down Iranian base in Iraq. https://www.debka.com/systematic-air-strikes-are-dismantling-the-al-qods-compound-at-abu-kamal/
Rabbi
beaten in Lod Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272867
New
Zeeland volcano erupts people missing. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272891
Secret
Iranian missile storage base. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272985
Strategic Arab tents to surround Maalei Adumim. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272967
Public opinion poll shows right split hurting. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272974
Six dead in Czech Republic shooting. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272961
From Adele and Jennifer: Teens throw rocks at
Jewish Schoolbus. https://www.timesofisrael.com/teenagers-in-brooklyn-throw-rock-at-school-bus-carrying-jewish-kids/
Fishman the Israel missile the deterrent. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BJ1Rjdc6B
Paris an Israeli beaten unconscious. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/272979
BDE
Shooting in NJ Kosher Market. https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/12/10/three-jews-among-dead-in-shootout-at-kosher-supermarket-in-new-jersey/
Knesset
Dissolves elections Mar. 2, ’20. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273043
Trump
offers support always for Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273042
Israeli
TV showed shooters with stopped car purposely attacking Kosher Store shooting
before entering and a Chassid fleeing. Antisemitic Manifesto found. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273051
Jersey
City Mayor on antisemitic hate attack. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273032
300
rounds of ammunition and 3 pipe bombs were left in car.
Knesset
Dissolves elections Mar. 2, ’20. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273043
Trump
offers support always for Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273042
Tip
of iceberg. Danes arrest 20 terrorists. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273049
Public
not prepared for Iranian surprise. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273047
Footage
of attack in Jersey City. https://www.algemeiner.com/2019/12/11/shocking-surveillance-footage-shows-moment-antisemitic-shooters-opened-fire-at-new-jersey-kosher-supermarket/
B”H
Boris Johnson Brexit Wins. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273107
Third
set of elections has population either angry or apathetic. https://www.debka.com/unprecedented-third-election-in-a-year-leaves-israeli-public-cold/
Intolerant and antisemitic church. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273105
.
Arab
Democratic blames Jews 4 Shots. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273095
Trump
against Global warming nonsense. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/273078
Yemeni Ed-Op Netanyahu’s bluff exposed. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkTxtA3TB
Have
a wonderful peaceful, tranquil Shabbos rest,
Rachamim
Pauli
