Sometimes we don’t see who is running
the world. We are blind. 52 hostages and Trump’s 52 targets. 52 is twice the
Tetragrammaton NAME of the LRD in Gematria.
Andre Rieu made an Xmas tape. He said
something that should wake up the inheritors
of Esav: “If you can stop fighting for
Xmas, why can’t you stop fighting forever!”
Of course there are those like former
Secretary of State John Forester Dulles who said: “Why can’t the Arabs and Jews
get together and talk like good Christian Gentlemen.” Obviously, he never understood
the Pasuk of Beresheis 16:12 that Yishmael’s hands are all over everything.
Parsha Vayechi
The
era of Avos (fathers of Am Yisrael) is coming to an end. Vayechi is a sign of
bad things to come like the famine from Pharaoh’s dream, Famine in Ruth and
Haman’s plan all have a Vayechi. Here we are dealing with the last days in the
life of Yacov and the eventually the 12 brothers.
47:28 And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years;
so the days of Jacob, the years of his life, were a hundred forty and seven
years.
Out of Yacov’s 147 years, he enjoyed teaching
Yosef 9 years from the time he returned to his father at the age of 99 to 108
when Yosef was sold. And the last 17 years being spoiled by Yosef. This is a
total of 28 years of strength of teaching Torah that he had learned in 14 years
of Shem and Ever.
29 And the time drew near that
Israel must die; and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him: 'If now I
have found favor in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and
deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt.
Yacov has become weak and is dying. He asks Yosef
to swear by the holy bris.
30 But when I sleep with my
fathers, thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.'
And he said: 'I will do as thou hast said.'
I want to be buried in
the caved of the Machpelah near my fathers and next to my beloved Leah.
31 And he said: 'Swear unto me.'
And he swore unto him. And Israel bowed down upon the bed's head.
He swore unto his father. The times in Torah are
sometimes years, months, weeks apart. For it appears that this was more a will
than anything else but now:
48:1 And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph:
'Behold, thy father is sick.' And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and
Ephraim. 2 And one told Jacob, and said:
'Behold, thy son Joseph comes unto thee.' And Israel strengthened himself, and
sat upon the bed.
The implication is that Yacov was feeling
terribly but he was so happy that his son had come that he forced himself to
overcome his illness and sit up.
3 And Jacob said unto Joseph: 'God
Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 and said unto me: Behold, I will make thee fruitful,
and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples; and will give
this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. 5 And now thy two sons, who were born unto thee in the
land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and
Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine.
You are my true Bechor as I worked 7 years for
Rachel. Therefore, your sons shall be like mine for equal inheritance. They
shall be full tribes like my other sons.
6 And thy issue, that thou beget
after them, shall be thine; they shall be called after the name of their
brethren in their inheritance.
If you have any more children, they will be part
of one of these two tribes.
7 And as for me, when I came from
Paddan, Rachel died unto me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was
still some way to come unto Ephrath; and I buried her there in the way to
Ephrath--the same is Bethlehem.' 8 And
Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said: 'Who are these?' 9 And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons,
whom God hath given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me,
and I will bless them.'
Yacov is going to bless Ephraim and Menashe.
Later on he will bless each tribe and even Yosef but their blessings shall be
with the other tribes too even though Yosef will be blessed in general.
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim
for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he
kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And
Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath
let me see thy seed also.' 12 And Joseph
brought them out from between his knees; and he fell down on his face to the
earth. 13 And Joseph took them both,
Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left
hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it
upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's
head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the first-born. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said: 'The God before whom
my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath been my shepherd all my
life long unto this day, 16 the angel who
hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named in
them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a
multitude in the midst of the earth.' 17
And when Joseph saw that his father was laying his right hand upon the head of
Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from
Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 18 And
Joseph said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born;
put thy right hand upon his head.'
For Menashe is the Bechor and therefore the
blessing from your right hand. For Yosef had brought Ephraim on Yacov’s left
but Yacov had crossed hands and as we soon shall learn on purpose.
19 And his father refused, and
said: 'I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also
shall be great; howbeit his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his
seed shall become a multitude of nations.'
Only now Yosef learns that the blessing is from
prophecy.
20 And he blessed them that day,
saying: 'By thee shall Israel bless, saying: God make thee as Ephraim and as
Manasseh.' And he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Behold, I die; but God will be with you,
and bring you back unto the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy
brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my
bow.'
You will receive Schem in your
inheritance.
49:1 And Jacob called unto
his sons, and said: 'Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which
shall befall you in the end of days. 2 Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons
of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. 3 Reuben, thou art my
first-born, my might, and the first-fruits of my strength; the excellency of
dignity, and the excellency of power. 4 Unstable as water, have not thou the
excellency; because thou went up to thy father's bed; then defiled thou it--he
went up to my couch. You should have been the leader but your behavior knocked you out of contention.
5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship. 6 Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed oxen.
They have done things without consulting me and my Torah authority.
7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel; I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
Their anger is cursed and they shall be split apart like Pinchas from Levi vs Zimri from Shimon.
8 Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.
Even though Reuven and your elder brothers forfeited the kingship (Levi grabbed the priestship) you have earned the kingship and the Moshiach shall come from you.
9 Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.
Yacov knew the latest time for Moshiach and wanted to say it to Yehuda but at that moment the Shechina was departing him and his soul nearly left.
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washeth his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of grapes; 12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
Physical strength and wealth as well as spiritual leaders of the nation in the kings.
13 Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and he shall be a shore for ships, and his flank shall be upon Zidon. 14 Issachar is a large-boned ass, couching down between the sheep-folds. 15 For he saw a resting-place that it was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and he bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant under task-work. 16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that bites the horse's heels, so that his rider falls backward. 18 I wait for Thy salvation, O LORD. 19 Gad, a troop shall troop upon him; but he shall troop upon their heel.
Again his soul almost departed or possibly he saw Shimshon vs the Plishtim.
20 As for Asher, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. {S} 21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. 22 Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a fountain; its branches run over the wall. 23 The archers have dealt bitterly with him, and shot at him, and hated him; 24 But his bow abode firm, and the arms of his hands were made supple, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from thence, from the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,
Bow stood strong was referring to the incident with the wife of Potiphar.
25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that couches beneath, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. 26 The blessings of thy father are mighty beyond the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of the prince among his brethren.
This is a reference to Yehoshua Bin Nun.
27
Benjamin is a wolf that ravens; in the morning he devours the prey, and at even
he divides the spoil.' 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this
is it that their father spoke unto them and blessed them; every one according
to his blessing he blessed them. 29 And he charged them, and said unto them: 'I
am to be gathered unto my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is
in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave that is in the field of
Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought
with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place. 31
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and
Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32 The field and the cave that is
therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.' 33 And when Jacob made
an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and expired,
and was gathered unto his people.
HASHEM
allowed him to complete the blessing he prepared himself for death and left
this world. Rachel was to be a mother to all the tribes in exile but Leah would
be his partner in the rave. No mention is made to where the other wives died or
were buried of if they were still alive in Mitzrayim.
50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed
him.
Just as G-D promised him when his prophecy
returned.
2 And Joseph commanded his servants
the physicians to embalm his father. And the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are
fulfilled the days of embalming. And the Egyptians wept for him threescore and
ten days. 4 And when the days of weeping
for him were past, Joseph spoke unto the house of Pharaoh, saying: 'If now I
have found favor in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh,
saying: 5 My father made me swear,
saying: Lo, I die; in my grave which I have dug for me in the land of Canaan,
there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my
father, and I will come back.'
Yacov had received the royal embalming and now
was going to on to burial. Yosef was important and needed permission from
Pharaoh to leave.
6 And Pharaoh said: 'Go up, and
bury thy father, according as he made thee swear.' 7 And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him
went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the
elders of the land of Egypt,
In order to guarantee the return of Yosef and
brothers, an army regiment was sent to accompany them and their wives and
children were left in Egypt.
8 and all the house of Joseph, and
his brethren, and his father's house; only their little ones, and their flocks,
and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and
horsemen; and it was a very great company. 10 And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the
Jordan, and there they wailed with a very great and sore wailing; and he made a
mourning for his father seven days.
Now that they were away from the Tuma and Avoda
Zara of Mitzrayim, they could sit Shiva to mourn [For once the burial was over,
they would have to return directly back with the army contingent.]
11 And when the inhabitants of the
land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said: 'This
is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians.' Wherefore the name of it was called
Abel-mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. 12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them. 13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and
buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the
field, for a possession of a burying-place, of Ephron the Hittite, in front of
Mamre. 14 And Joseph returned into Egypt,
he, and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after
he had buried his father. 15 And when
Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said: 'It may be that
Joseph will hate us, and will fully requite us all the evil which we did unto
him.'
They were now sore afraid that their father was
gone that they might get revenge from Yosef.
16 And they sent a message unto Joseph,
saying: 'Thy father did command before he died, saying: 17 So shall ye say unto Joseph: Forgive, I pray thee
now, the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, for that they did unto
thee evil. And now, we pray thee, forgive the transgression of the servants of
the God of thy father.' And Joseph wept when they spoke unto him.
There is no indication that anybody told Yacov
the truth of what happened and certainly this appears to be a white Shalom Beis
lie from the brothers out of fear. Yosef HaTzaddik cried that they suspected
him of carrying out vengeance on them. Certainly brother Benyamin had nothing
to fear.
18 And his brethren also went and
fell down before his face; and they said: 'Behold, we are thy bondmen.'
They bowed down out of fear.
19 And Joseph said unto them: 'Fear
not; for am I in the place of God? 20 And
as for you, ye meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, to bring to
pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.
Yosef shows himself as a true Tzaddik and
attributes them to being Shelichim for G-D. Therefore, he holds nothing against
them.
21 Now therefore fear ye not; I
will sustain you, and your little ones.' And he comforted them, and spoke
kindly unto them.
He comforted them and they calmed down.
22 And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he,
and his father's house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years. 23 And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third
generation; the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon
Joseph's knees.
Yosef lives a happy life from G-D’s blessing and
hard work. Because of being quiet upon hearing ‘our father thy servant’ he dies
10 years before his time.
24 And Joseph said unto his
brethren: 'I die; but God will surely remember you, and bring you up out of
this land unto the land which He swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.' 25 And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel,
saying: 'God will surely remember you, and ye shall carry up my bones from
hence.' 26 So Joseph died, being a
hundred and ten years old. And they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in
Egypt.
The Egyptians knowing this put him into a cement
coffin and like many years later the great Genghis Khan would have a river
course changed to cover his body to keep the Bnei Yisrael as a national
treasure. Little did they know that Moshe would use the 72 letter Name to raise
the coffin.
Chazak – Chazak v’ nit
Chazak
5 Reasons why the Daf Yomi electrifies
the Jewish World.
By Rabbi Shraga Simmons.
From a few hundred participants 50 years ago, Daf Yomi has exploded and on January 1, 2020, one of the largest gathering of Jews in American history took place in New York’s MetLife Stadium to complete the 7-year cycle. 90,000 people greeted one another – not with "Happy New Year" – but with "Happy New Daf Yomi Cycle."
What is it about Daf Yomi that has so electrified the Jewish world? Here are five take-aways.
(1) Daf Yomi taps the font of Jewish wisdom.
Published 1,500 years ago in Babylonia, the Talmud is the repository of ancient Jewish wisdom, exploring every aspect of existence – geometry, mathematics, land use, civil law, love, happiness, and success. As a reflection of the Jewish people’s emotional-spiritual DNA, the Talmud is the place to recalibrate our societal arc, employing time-tested principles to guide us today.One example, among thousands:
The best way to give charity is anonymously. This helps to protect the recipient’s dignity and self-esteem. Furthermore, one who gives anonymously – without expectation of accolades or reward – connects with a drive to purely “do the right thing.” (Talmud – Bava Batra 10b)
The thrill of Talmud study is probing the great ethical-spiritual giants of human history: Abraham, Moses, Rebbe Akiva, Maimonides. Indeed, talmudic principles form the basis for Western ethics and values. John Adams, second President of the United States, wrote: "I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation." Winston Churchill wrote that Jewish ethics is “incomparably the most precious possession of mankind, worth in fact the fruits of all other wisdom and learning put together."
Daf Yomi is a direct, daily tap into the wisdom of timeless Jewish values.
(2) Daf Yomi is every single day, no excuses.
In identifying the most important verse in the Torah, our Sages suggest two obvious options: “Shema Yisrael” (Deut. 6:4) and “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). A third option, however, is perplexingly: “Offer one lamb every morning, and one every afternoon” (Exodus 29:39). This is one of the most important verse in the Torah because it represents the idea that day-in, day-out consistency is the key to success.Completing the Daf Yomi cycle requires studying for 2,711 consecutive days. With Daf Yomi, there are no vacations. Whether in a synagogue and on a commuter train, regardless of daily frustrations and challenges, that daf has to get done – every single day.
Rabbi Yitzchak
Berkovits, Rosh Yeshiva of Aish HaTorah, speaking at the Siyum HaShas in
Jerusalem, January 1, 2020, sponsored by Rabbi Mordechai Kornfeld's Kollel Iyun
HaDaf.
(3) Daf Yomi is a Jewish victory over oppressors.
There is an eerie connection between Daf Yomi and the Holocaust. When the Nazis marched into Lublin, Poland, they headed straight to Yeshiva Chachmei Lublin, the premier yeshiva in the pre-war era headed by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, founder of Daf Yomi. They murdered his students and made a grand public spectacle of burning the Talmud volumes.The Nazis harbored a particular hatred for Talmud study. In 1940, the German High Commander in Poland, I.A. Eckhardt, warned against Jews escaping Europe, out of concern that could “bring about the spiritual regeneration of world Jewry, even American Jewry." Speaking at MetLife Stadium, Rabbi Yissocher Frand declared that this mass gathering of American Jews celebrating Torah proves that the Nazi’s fears were absolutely correct!
In 1975, rabbinic leaders in America permanently dedicated the Siyum HaShas – and its 2,711 pages – in memory of the six million Holocaust martyrs. In 2005, the Holocaust memorial in Berlin – the epicenter of destruction – was completed containing 2,711 slabs of stone. As the prophet predicts, “from the ashes comes redemption” (Isaiah 61:3).
Shortly after the liberation in 1945, completion of the Daf Yomi cycle took place in a DP camp near Dachau. It was then that Jewish survivors – their connection with Talmud study severed during the war – undertook to print sets of Talmud dedicated to the US Army for defeating Hitler.
Fast-forward 75 years to MetLife Stadium, and the sagely Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky using an original volume printed in the DP camp to officially complete the Daf Yomi cycle. Indeed, out of the ashes of the Holocaust has emerged the phenomenal renaissance of Torah study in America.
Dedication page from
Talmud printed in DP Camp, 1945.
(4) Daf Yomi inspires and unites the Jewish people.
It is a principle of Jewish philosophy that “God made one idea opposite the other” (Ecclesiastes 7:14), meaning that for every experience in the mundane realm, that same energy is found in Torah. Daf Yomi, it seems, is the spiritual counterpart to a packed stadium shouting in unity at a football game or a rock concert.Speaking on an Olami broadcast from MetLife, Rabbi Shlomo Farhi said that the nature of a typical sporting event is there is one winner and one loser. But with Daf Yomi, every seat is filled with people celebrating a “triumph of self,” a constant dedication to reaching the goal line of 2,711 Talmud pages.
The MetLife celebration also pointed to the tribalism of sports fans, uniting around a temporal victory, where next year a new champion is crowned. With Talmud study, we unite time and again around this precious collection of Jewish wisdom.
After being scattered to four corners of the world, into different languages and cultures, Torah study is our portable homeland – the common thread and centrifugal force that holds the Jewish people together. Daf Yomi is a real moment of Jewish unity, a family celebration where Jews around the world study the same page, every single day.
(5) Daf Yomi is a source of stability in a turbulent world.
At the first Siyum Hashas held in Lublin, Rabbi Meir Shapiro cited the Talmud (Yevamot 121a) in which a ship broke apart in stormy waters. The great Rebbe Akiva, who lived during a dark period of Jewish history marked by the destruction of our Holy Temple, was cast overboard. Amazingly, he survived the turbulent waters by holding onto a “board (Daf).”Rabbi Shapiro explained: That Daf can be understood metaphorically as the Talmudic page (“Daf”) to which we hold tight against the turbulent waters of society.
A look at history shows that societies and cultures come and go (just ask the ancient superpower Greeks, Romans, Babylonians, et al). The Talmud (Megillah 6a) predicts that “the nations will build stadiums, and rabbis will teach Torah in them.” The celebration at MetLife Stadium is a fulfillment of that prophecy.
I for one am so inspired that I’ve now started the new Daf Yomi cycle. See you in seven years!
ONE
CAN JOIN THE DAF YOMI A BIT BEHIND BUT STILL ENOUGH TIME TO START FROM THE
BEGINNING. TODAY IS DAF 7 AND I AM CATCHING UP WITH DAF 6. GO TO:
www.e-daf.com you have a
choice of English, Hebrew and Yiddish. Perhaps there is something in other
countries.
Seventy
fours by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles
Towards the end of
his life, in 1850, Rebbe Moshe of Lelov traveled to the Holy Land, arriving
shortly after the Sukkot festival that year. He said that if he prays at the Kotel
HaMaravi (Western Wall) [and blows the shofar there], it will hasten
the Ingathering of the Exiles and the Coming of Moshiach.
Before he began his
journey, he went to take leave from several of the major Chasidic leaders of
his generation. When he came to Rebbe Yisrael of Ruzhin, the Rebbe said,
"Wait for me. I want to go with you."
R. Moshe pointed to
his white beard, implying that he was getting older and didn't have time to
wait.
His plan was to
travel with a group of ten people. He put away money for this cause, but
whenever he had enough money he ended up giving it to tzedakah, and then
he would have to start saving money for the trip again.
Once, a childless
woman came to Rebbe Moshe, and requested a blessing for children. He told her
that if she gives him a certain large amount of money (the amount he needed for
his trip) she would have a child. She was ready to give the money, but R. Moshe
told her that she must ask permission from her husband first. Her husband was a
chasid of [Rabbi David-Zvi-Hersz Taub,] "the Gitte Yid" [tzadik]
of Neustadt, and he asked his Rebbe whether to give the money.
The Rebbe replied,
"You should give the money. However, since you need a miracle to bear a
child, I recommend that you tell Rebbe Moshe of Lelov that you will only give
the money if the Rebbe promises that the child will live long. Because when a
child is born with a miracle, he often doesn't live long."
When she returned
with the money, she stipulated the condition. Rebbe Moshe Lelover replied,
"The years of your child's life will be as many as the days I live in
Eretz Yisrael." R. Moshe lived seventy-four days in Israel, and the child
lived for seventy-four years.
[The Rebbe of Ruzhin
said that if the Jews in Poland were wise, they wouldn't have permitted such a
great Rebbe to depart from them. He provided an allusion to this from a Mishnah
in Shabbos, "Ain polin l'ohr haNer"-"Do not ??? by the
light of the [Shabbat] candle," which he rendered homiletically as,
"The Polish (Jews aren't wise; they had but) let leave their one brilliant
light."
When Rebbe Moshe was
on the boat, he kept repeating, "yom leshanah - a day for a
year." People didn't understand his intention. Later they realized that he
was praying to live one day for each year of his life. He was seventy-four
years old then, and he lived in The Land a corresponding seventy-four days.
Many wondrous
stories are told about his voyage. One* is that there was a hole in the boat
and water began to seep in! Rebbe Moshe placed a cloth over the hole, and this
miraculously stopped the influx of water. (This cloth is still extant, and is
used as a bedecken tichel (wedding veil) by the kallahs (brides)
of his descendants.)
Rebbe Moshe took
with him his son Rav Eliezer-Menachem-Mendel (Rav Luzer Mendel), and his
six-year-old grandson David-Tzvi-Shlomo (Reb Dovid'l). The ship docked in the
northern port of Acco. Rebbe Moshe travelled [by donkey!] to visit the Tzaddikim
who lived in Tsfat and Teveriya ('Safed' & 'Tiberias') and other holy
burial sites in the area before going up to Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), because
he said that after he gets to Yerushalayim, he will not want to leave.
When he finally came
to the Old-city of Jerusalem, he was ill. His children debated whether they
should bring him to the Kotel in this condition. They decided that since
his primary purpose for coming to Israel was to go to the Kotel to
hasten bringing Moshiach, they should. But as they were bringing him
towards the Kotel, Arabs blocked their way and threw rocks at them until it was
impossible to continue. The family and the chasidim who accompanied them sadly
returned to their rented lodgings.
Unfortunately, he
never reached the Kotel. [Broken hearted, feeling that the window of
opportunity for Redemption had now been slammed shut, he became extremely ill
and passed away three days later.] On the seventy-fourth day of his arrival to
the Holy Land, on the thirteenth of the Jewish month of Tevet, his soul
departed from its bodily restraints.
He promised amazing
things about his yahrzeit. He said that the date of his demise is
propitious for rain, and therefore even in a year that is lacking rain, it is
unnecessary to proclaim a fast day to pray intensely for rain before his yahrzeit
passes. Rav Shmuel Salant, the chief rabbi of Jerusalem heeded his words,
and for the next half century until his own passing refused to decree a fast
day for rains until the thirteenth of Tevet passed.
R. Moshe also said
that those who will dedicate a meal on his yahrzeit in his honor (even
if it is just cake and l'chaim,) will have a salvation for whatever they
need.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Editor's note: Others will be reported in a future mailing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Editor's note: Others will be reported in a future mailing.
Source: Adapted and supplemented
by Yerachmiel Tilles from "Torah Wellsprings" (gleanings from the
teachings of Rabbi Elimelech Biderman of Jerusalem - Vayechi 5777), as
translated by R. Baruch Twersky. Square-bracketed [ ] insertions are from
//littmann613.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-dynasty-of-lelov.html.
Biographical notes
Rabbi Moshe Biederman of Lelov [? - 13 Tevet 5611 (1850)] was the son of R. David, the first Rebbe of Lelov, and the son-in-law of "the Holy Yid " of Peshis'cha (having married his daughter, Rivka-Rachel). Although he declined to officially succeed his father, considering himself unworthy of the position, the chasidim nevertheless accepted and followed him as Rebbe over his protests. In 1850, he moved to Israel, and settled in Jerusalem, where he passed away 2 ½ months after his arrival. He was succeeded by his son, R. Eliezer Menachem Mendel, and after him by his grandson, R. David Tzvi Shlomo. The three are buried on the Mount of Olives, near the prophet Zacharia, although the exact location of R. Moshe's grave is not known
Rabbi Moshe Biederman of Lelov [? - 13 Tevet 5611 (1850)] was the son of R. David, the first Rebbe of Lelov, and the son-in-law of "the Holy Yid " of Peshis'cha (having married his daughter, Rivka-Rachel). Although he declined to officially succeed his father, considering himself unworthy of the position, the chasidim nevertheless accepted and followed him as Rebbe over his protests. In 1850, he moved to Israel, and settled in Jerusalem, where he passed away 2 ½ months after his arrival. He was succeeded by his son, R. Eliezer Menachem Mendel, and after him by his grandson, R. David Tzvi Shlomo. The three are buried on the Mount of Olives, near the prophet Zacharia, although the exact location of R. Moshe's grave is not known
Connection: Seasonal - This Friday,
Tevet 13, is the 171st yahrzeit of Rabbi Moshe Lelover.
Latest
Polls. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274020
The
truth is stranger than fiction. Sometimes you can’t make things up. If I told
you some of the stuff I have as a Rabbi seen, heard or tried to intervene in
you would not believe it. Here is a news article that I did not participate in
but just as crazy. https://www.foxnews.com/us/naked-florida-man-meth-bites-dog-assault-cop
Man
killed in gym. Use a Smith machine or buddy – Safety first! http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274283
Ashdod
receives 122mm rain in the morning school flood aka 4.9”. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274331
Judean
Desert receives run-off rain. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274324
Inyanay Diyoma
US
follow-up to kick Iranians out of Baghdad. https://www.debka.com/in-a-fresh-air-strike-us-targets-iraqs-pro-iranian-militia-chiefs-after-terminating-their-master/
US
stopped the ticking time bomb. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274053
US
object to stop a war not start. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274065
Addition
charge of attempted murder as Yosef ben Perel still in critical condition. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274067
A
small road closure article attested to mobilization just in case as it made the
papers before the assassination. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274064
One
dead two injured Paris suburb. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274058
Ayatollah
promises revenge. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274044
Republican
Congresswoman on attack. https://www.foxnews.com/media/elise-stefanik-reacts-to-soleimanis-death-airstrike-success-media
Two
stuck in a flooded elevator die of hyperthermia. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274068
Shiites
rocket US interests. https://www.foxnews.com/world/iraqi-air-base-green-zone-rockets
Disdain for the ultra-Orthodox leads the elites
to tolerate hatred, which turns to violence. By Abigail Shrier
My
entering class at Yale Law School in 2002 had one Jew who might be called
“ultra-Orthodox.” He traveled some two hours to campus each Monday from
Brooklyn, N.Y., and before the weekend, as far as I knew, he headed back. On
Fridays when Sabbath came in early and he needed to get home, he could be seen
racing white-faced for the exit, one hand pinning a velvet yarmulke to his
head, the wheels of his tagalong briefcase crying out.
Yale
Law School was about as secular a place as I had ever been—an institution where
God seemed not only absent but strangely irrelevant. I sympathized with his
need to chase spiritual renewal somewhere else. But the open snickers of our
classmates surprised me. They imitated how he raised his hand in class (palm a
little too rigid and tilted slightly forward). They joked that it looked like a
Nazi salute. They rolled their eyes whenever someone mentioned his name.
… I thought of him this week, and the week before, and
for many weeks before that, as the frequency of assaults in the New York area
targeting ultra-Orthodox Jews rises from alarming to commonplace. The beatings
in Brooklyn; threats hurled at ultra-Orthodox Jews on all manner of public
transport; the brick bludgeoning in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood; the
machete attack in Monsey, N.Y., north of the city; the shooting in a Jersey
City, N.J., supermarket meant for the yeshiva upstairs filled with children.
… This
is Bill de Blasio’s New York, but it could just as easily be David Dinkins’s .
And perhaps that is why we are seeing this again: the demon of hate, never
exorcised, floats freely around. Our sin was to have whitewashed the Crown
Heights pogrom of 1991 and lavished its instigator Al Sharpton with
respectability. After a car crash involving a Hasidic driver resulted in the
death of Gavin Cato, the 7-year-old son of Guyanese immigrants, Mr. Sharpton
led a three-day riot in Crown Heights. He blamed the accident on “diamond
merchants,” and his followers chanted, “Kill the Jew.” They did. The Jew they
killed was Yankel Rosenbaum, 29, a doctoral candidate from Australia. Nearly
200 more were injured in the melee.
… But
there is a moral imperative. Because an America that allows its religious minorities
to be harassed, assaulted and murdered in the streets is not a free country at
all. If religious liberty means anything today, then it must be something we
afford those peaceful minorities whose political views have become
unfashionable, whose customs appear to be throwbacks, who remind us more of
another place and time, where they were hunted and killed in unspeakable
numbers. At stake isn’t merely the lives of these Jews, but the soul of a
nation that once welcomed and embraced them.
Iran
regroups: Iran’s threats of revenge for
Qassem Soleimani’s death were coupled on Sunday, Jan. 5, with practical
preparations for action. DEBKAfile’s exclusive sources report that after most
of the Iraqi Shiite militia leaders and their senior staff were transferred on
Friday and Saturday to Iran, on Sunday, Tehran’s preparations for striking US
targets extended to Syria and Lebanon. https://www.debka.com/__trashed-13/
Trump not afraid of
Iran. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274143
Israel wants 50 more
F35’s. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274157
Flu
season worse in years. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274163
Dr.
Martin Sherman on fake impeachment. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/24978
2370
terror attacks in Shomron2019. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274122
Defense
Secretary US not withdrawing from Iraq. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274190 General
withdraws letter. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274191
Chabad
goes on terror alert world-wide. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274200
40 dead
in stampede and 213 injured. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HkjbyRWx8
France desecration of graves. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274224
From
Gail - The unfreezing of building for Bibi re-election only: http://ch7.io/cbc9c
From
Danny: The return of the Guardian Angels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFdeIBKFMHc
Teen
tourists trapped in Luggage hold of bus. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BkWos9ll8#autoplay
17year
old girl finishes Shas. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274184
Antizionist
Jews attend terrorist funeral. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274199
Politicians
distort Rabbi’s words. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274227
Justice
policeman who brutalized Charedi charged. https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/israel-news/1815798/justice-indictment-filed-against-policeman-who-brutally-dragged-chareidi-man-by-his-peyos.
Iranians
attack US base with 15 accurate missiles (not rockets). Trump to address the
nation tomorrow. Haifa, Dubai threatened if US replies. https://www.foxnews.com/world/missile-attacks-target-us-forces-in-iraq-senior-military-source-says-iran-suspected
Taken
from Debka these are the people France and Germany are not boycotting but look.
https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/debka/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/07111322/IRAN-TARGETS-800x445.jpg
A
man in Teheran Iran writes: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/B100yfFglU
Trump
surprised everybody. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rJQ7ySyxL
From
Monique: https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Petraeus-US-Soleimani-strike-more-important-than-Bin-Laden-killing-613191
Netanyahu-Trump
discuss Iran. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryY7tHVe8
Iran
seems to be standing down. https://www.debka.com/iran-35-missiles-strike-us-ain-al-assad-and-irbil-bases-in-iraq-us-mid-east-troops-idf-on-top-alert/
Legal
matters regarding POTUS. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274305
Neville
Chamberlain chapter of EU. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274310
Bennett
cracks down on illegal building. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274315
Iranian
missile attack was designed to kill. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274301
Accidently
shot down? http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274339
Iraq
vs. Libya attacks. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/24995
VP
says Iran standing down. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274303
Check
post route 446 where I go through and bring an Arab worker a few times a year
after dark has a family attacked. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274297
2
Berlin attacks. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274288
Munitions
truck attacked Iraq-Syrian Border. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/274362
Israel
frees killer-spy but Goldin and others not. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/7V3DX5XZ0
Somebody
tipped of USA. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/rJbm2gHxI#autoplay
Iran’s
plan was to punish USA. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Skzb5mQe8#autoplay
Israel’s
laser defense. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/SJ3Ea5meI#autoplay
Senators
approve aid package. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkoSXbSeU
Israeli
rainfall breaks 51 year record and in south 76 year record. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/B1Fx9xHeU#autoplay
Have
a peaceful and healthy Shabbos,
Rachamim
Pauli
