Friday, July 24, 2020

Parsha Devarim, Stories, Covid19 Tisha B' Av rules,



Prayers for­ Men: Shalom Charles ben Gracia, Yosef ben Esther, Daniel ben Rivka, Avrum ben Faigel, Ephraim ben Mazel, Zev ben Rachel, Menachem Mendel Shlomo ben Chaya Rochel, Gershon Shlomo ben Merrill

Women: Karen Neshama bas Esther Ruth, Chaya Melecha Rachel bas Baila Alta, Rachel Shoshana bas Chana, Tsvia Simcha bas Devorah Yachad, Miriam bas Irene Taita Malka, Shulamis bas Etta, Chana Friedel bas Sara, Esther bas Alice, Drorah Rivka bas Chana, Penina Bas Zeisa Preeya, Denise Esther bas Leah, Chava bas Tirtzah, Leah bas Sara, Miriam Esther bas Golda Chaya, Leah bas Annette,

The following persons are recovering from long term non-threatening injuries and need Psalms. Binum Benyamin Tuvia ben Chana Friedel, Avraham HaCohain ben Yocheved, Melech David ben Sulah Pearla,


Ed-Op: Ce Sera – For the last few years, I have been reading that the future professions will be more to do with leisure. Jobs in the hotel industry, tourism, restaurants, catering, entertainment, airline industry, etc. are the way of the future. Came along Corona and my niece, who is an Israeli Tourist Guide and her husband an international tour guide, are suffering. My flight of May 31st was cancelled and I have not ordered another in its place. Bar Mitzvos (see last week’s blog), weddings are places of infection and in Israel limited so that the owners of the halls cannot make money. Restaurants are unable to really make a profit like before or closed entirely. Hotels only have city taxes to pay and some maintenance. It is very sad to such an extent. Actors, stage hands, cameramen, stuntmen are left without employment.


Special Corona Tisha B’ Av information. Because of the Pandemic, the Israeli Rabbis have become very strict on Pekeuach Nefesh. Those who are quarantined or facing depression if it psychologically helps you, you can listen to music during the 9 days. Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Chief Sephardic Rabbi. If you are in a group of high danger – over 65, obese, diabetes, cancer, heart disease this year do not weaken your system by fasting even if in normal years you would feel healthy enough to fast.


Parsha Devarim

Most of the Torah does not have dates. When dates are given there is a good reason for it. We are now within the 40 days prior to the death of Moshe. It says that 40 days before a person dies, the soul feels that it is going. Our Parsha or shall I say our Sefer takes place in the 37 last days of Moshe’s life.

There is a written Torah vs. Oral Torah. One of the things a potential Convert faces in the first days of the Conversion is why should I follow Oral Torah? The truth is that written Torah is lacking a lot. That leads to the main difference between the Karites and Jews on many things. Their Tzitzis are different from us on their Taleysm. They hang their Tephillin on the walls opposite their facing position that they should be ‘against your eyes’ rather than ‘between your eyes’. The same goes for Kosher Slaughter and the preparation of the sharpness, flatness and inspection of the knife. The difference in the Bris of Avraham Avinu between us and the Arabs aka the children of Yishmael.

For if the 200 plus Mitzvos of Devarim were not given orally why do they appear suddenly at the end in of a review? For Devarim is basically a book with 3 main Torah Drashos and a final blessing of Moshe.

The review of history is a lesson for all of us. We must remember out history. An example of true history is that my forefathers were in NY on the Northern Side of the Civil War. However, if one knows that President Lincoln asked General Robert E. Lee to reconstruct Virginia he will be less likely to tear down the statue of Lee (this is not a statement of Torah on making statues but a statement about history). Sefer Devarim is teaching us to learn and remember history.

1:1 These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel beyond the Jordan; in the wilderness, in the Arabah, over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab. 2 It is eleven days journey from Horeb unto Kadesh-barnea by the way of mount Seir. 

This is not only a history lesson but a geographical lesson. Knowing the distances involved, one can figure out how fast the nation moved per day taking into account that there was at least one Shabbos and Erev Shabbos or perhaps two.

3 And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the LORD had given him in commandment unto them; 

Rosh Chodesh Shevat 2488.

4 after he had smitten Sihon the king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei; 5 beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, took Moses upon him to expound this law, saying: 

Moshe returned to the area where Balak saw him but Midian in that area no longer existed at the time of the Drasha. I wonder if Balak realized that the people were blessed and not interest in him.

6 The LORD our God spoke unto us in Horev, saying: 'Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain; 

Horev is another name for Sinai.

7 turn you, and take your journey, and go to the hill-country of the Amorites and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the Arabah, in the hill-country, and in the Lowland, and in the South, and by the sea-shore; the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.' 

When man makes a promise it can be with the best of intention and with that of a politician. But when G-D makes a promise, it is going to be kept. If not now in 39 or 430 plus years, but it will be kept.

9 And I spoke unto you at that time, saying: 'I am not able to bear you myself alone; 10 the LORD your God hath multiplied you, and, behold, ye are this day as the stars of heaven for multitude.-- 11 The LORD, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times so many more as ye are, and bless you, as He hath promised you!

You were blessed a thousand fold.

12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13 Get you, from each one of your tribes, wise men, and understanding, and full of knowledge, and I will make them heads over you.' 14 And ye answered me, and said: 'The thing which thou hast spoken is good for us to do.' 

This is the delegation of power by a leader.

15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and full of knowledge, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, tribe by tribe. 

Those who were captains and officers were to learn and improve their Halachic Knowledge. From ten to fifty, from fifty to a hundred, until from a hundred to a thousand or Sanhedrin Gadol.

16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying: 'Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. 

Even the leader of 10 was a teacher. He was an Av-Rach or young scholar like a father to 10 people to lead them in Torah.

17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.' 

In Parsha Yisro, we see what Yisro told Moshe to do about the delegation of judgement. Here we see what Moshe told the nation.

18 And I commanded you at that time all the things which ye should do. 19 And we journeyed from Horev, and went through all that great and dreadful wilderness which ye saw, by the way to the hill-country of the Amorites, as the LORD our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said unto you: 'Ye are come unto the hill-country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God giveth unto us. 21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee; go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of thy fathers, hath spoken unto thee; fear not, neither be dismayed.' 

Let us go up immediately but you wanted to spy out the land instead of going on faith alone.

22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said: 'Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us back word of the way by which we must go up, and the cities unto which we shall come.' 23 And the thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe; 

But they were not sworn to secrecy as in a modern security clearance.

24 and they turned and went up into the mountains, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 And they took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down unto us, and brought us back word, and said: 'Good is the land which the LORD our God giveth unto us.' 

Your initial report was optimistic of a good land but then you rebelled.

26 Yet ye would not go up, but rebelled against the commandment of the LORD your God; 

You were too happy not working with the Mann falling from heaven and no wars, a yellow streak went down your backs and you turned into lazy cowards not freemen who trusted in HASHEM.

27 and ye murmured in your tents, and said: 'Because the LORD hated us, He hath brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 

First the spies said that the land was good. But they did not want to go up for they were sore afraid of the Amorites.

28 Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying: The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.' 

They saw giants like Og the king of Bashan and were sore afraid. However, their children battled him and were victorious.

29 Then I said unto you: 'Dread not, neither be afraid of them. 30 The LORD your God who goes before you, He shall fight for you, according to all that He did for you in Egypt before your eyes; 31 and in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that the LORD thy God bore thee, as a man doth bear his son, in all the way that ye went, until ye came unto this place. 32 Yet in this thing ye do not believe the LORD your God, 

The generation would not believe in HASHEM and they would die in the wilderness.

33 Who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in: in fire by night, to show you by what way ye should go, and in the cloud by day.' 34 And the LORD heard the voice of your words, and was wroth, and swore, saying: 35 'Surely there shall not one of these men, even this evil generation, see the good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers, 36 save Caleb the son of Yephunneh, he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children; because he hath wholly followed the LORD.' 

Only Calev showed personal faith and leadership for Moshe had blessed Yehoshua by adding a Yud but Calev prayed by the graves of the fathers and mothers of the nation. For this reason, he had enough merits from the forefathers to withstand the plot of the spies and David Melech Yisrael would come too from Chevron area and Beis Lechem where Rachel is buried.

37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying: Thou also shalt not go in thither; 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before thee, he shall go in thither; encourage thou him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, and your children, that this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it. 

This is what Moshe said to the fathers or grandfathers of the audience standing before him.

40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.' 41 Then ye answered and said unto me: 'We have sinned against the LORD, we will go up and fight, according to all that the LORD our God commanded us.' And ye girded on every man his weapons of war, and deemed it a light thing to go up into the hill-country. 

Those that did want to repent girdled their weapons but HASHEM said “No!”. Supposedly, on the last Tisha B’Av 15,000 survived. Perhaps they did not murmur or they truly repented and HASHEM accepted their humility and allowed them to enter the land. That is a Midrash but the Pshat is that only Calev and Yehoshua entered the land.

42 And the LORD said unto me: 'Say unto them: Go not up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest ye be smitten before your enemies.' 

Suddenly there was a group that wanted to fight but did not have permission from HASHEM.

43 So I spoke unto you, and ye hearkened not; but ye rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill-country. 

And there fell the ‘dry bones’ from Sheves Ephraim that Yechezkel saw.

44 And the Amorites, that dwell in that hill-country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even unto Hormah. 

Unto Hormah is not the area in northern Syria. On the internet, one non-Jewish source identifies it as Arad.

45 And ye returned and wept before the LORD; but the LORD hearkened not to your voice, nor gave ear unto you. 46 So ye abode in Kadesh many days, according unto the days that ye abode there.

Having served on the modern Israeli Border there and looking out towards the Egyptian Bedouins in the area, it appears that they live off of well water in the area and it suffices for sheep and goats.

2:1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days. 

The encompassment of Mt. Seir is for many days and not as implied in Bamidbar as if it were just passing by. If one looks at the area between Eilat and Aqaba the area in the middle has fresh water and is good for grazing so it appears they took advantage and were there for a while before they moved further north on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.

2 And the LORD spoke unto me, saying: 3 'Ye have compassed this mountain long enough; turn you northward. 4 And command thou the people, saying: Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you; take ye good heed unto yourselves therefore; 5 contend not with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given mount Seir unto Esau for a possession. 6 Ye shall purchase food of them for money, that ye may eat; and ye shall also buy water of them for money, that ye may drink. 7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the work of thy hand; He hath known thy walking through this great wilderness; these forty years the LORD thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.' 

Your shoes did not wear out, clothes did not wear out, water you had, eat Mann, learned Torah and Halacha, no woman lost a child or died in childbirth for 40 years!

8 So we passed by from our brethren the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah, from Elath and from Ezion-geber. 

I assume that they went northwards instead of via the road to Aqaba they went closer to the western side the current road to Eilat and Esav did nothing as we kept our distance from him.

And we turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the LORD said unto me: 'Be not at enmity with Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give thee of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar unto the children of Lot for a possession.

Had Balak known this, it would have saved 24,000 from the tribe of Shimon. Bilaam would never have been called to curse even though in the end he blessed.

10 The Emim dwelt therein aforetime, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; 11 these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 And in Seir dwelt the Horites aforetime, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and dwelt in their stead; as Israel did unto the land of his possession, which the LORD gave unto them. 

They might have been giants but they were defeated by the children of Avraham and Yitzchak both Esav and Yisrael.

13 Now rise up, and get you over the brook Zered.' And we went over the brook Zered. 14 And the days in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty and eight years; until all the generation, even the men of war, were consumed from the midst of the camp, as the LORD swore unto them. 

The spies were sent out after the Mishkan was built in the second year and combined with 38 years, they were now in their 40th year since Yitzias Mitzrayim.

15 Moreover the hand of the LORD was against them, to discomfit them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed. 16 So it came to pass, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, 

Those of the generation died out in the wilderness and a new free generation of soldiers grew up.

17 that the LORD spoke unto me saying: 18 'Thou art this day to pass over the border of Moab, even Ar; 19 and when thou come nigh over against the children of Ammon, harass them not, nor contend with them; for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession.

The children of Lot had merit to live on the land. I do not know if this will continue for the future or that they will disappear in the war of the nations at the time of Gog v’ Magog.

20 That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim dwelt therein aforetime; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21 a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but the LORD destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead; 22 as He did for the children of Esau, that dwell in Seir, when He destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day; 23 and the Avvim, that dwelt in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, that came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.

Sihon had captured the land and now you captured it from Sihon and it is yours.

24 Rise ye up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of Arnon; behold, I have given into thy hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. 25 This day will I begin to put the dread of thee and the fear of thee upon the peoples that are under the whole heaven, who, when they hear the report of thee, shall tremble, and be in anguish because of thee.' 26 And I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth unto Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying: 27 'Let me pass through thy land; I will go along by the highway, I will neither turn unto the right hand nor to the left. 28 Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink; only let me pass through on my feet; 29 as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which the LORD our God giveth us.' 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for the LORD thy God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that He might deliver him into thy hand, as appears this day. 

Sihon could have had his land on Ramat HaGolan but instead of letting us pass through, he resisted and fought us and was over-confident because of his height and the bigger he was the harder he fell.

31 And the LORD said unto me: 'Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before thee; begin to possess his land.' 32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Jahaz. 33 And the LORD our God delivered him up before us; and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. 34 And we took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones; we left none remaining;

Could it be that because of the women of Midian that they took no female captors? Rashi:

The men: Heb. מְ×Ŗִם, which means “men.” Referring to the spoil taken from Sihon it is stated (verse 35), בָּזַזְנוּ לָנוּ, an expression denoting plunder בִּזָה, because it was precious to them, and every man plundered for himself. When they came to the spoils of Og, however, they were already satisfied and full, and it was contemptible in their eyes. They tore into pieces and threw away cattle and garments, and took only the silver and gold. Therefore, it states (3:7), בָּזוֹנוּ לָנוּ, which is an expression of “contempt.” It is also expounded in Sifrei, in the chapter beginning, “And Israel dwelt in Shittim” (Num. 25).

35 only the cattle we took for a prey unto ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken. 

Here contrary to Rashi they did take cattle.

36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even unto Gilead, there was not a city too high for us: the LORD our God delivered up all before us. 37 Only to the land of the children of Ammon thou came not near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill-country, and wheresoever the LORD our God forbade us.

Their land was to be left alone.

3:1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan; and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, unto battle at Edrei. 2 And the LORD said unto me: 'Fear him not; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon.' 3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people; and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. 4 And we took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we took not from them; threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were fortified cities, with high walls, gates, and bars; beside the unwalled towns a great many. 

That is a lot of towns and cities and the 2.5 tribes took over their area.

6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every city, the men, and the women, and the little ones. 7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey unto ourselves. … 11 For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

His bed was 4.05 meters long by 2.7m wide or 13.5 feet long by 6 ft. wide. Remember he had to sleep in the bed stretch his arms and legs so chances he was shorter and maybe had a wife or so sleeping at the head or foot of the bed and one next to him.

12 And this land we took in possession at that time; from Aroer, which is by the valley of Arnon, and half the hill-country of Gilead, and the cities thereof, gave I unto the Reubenites and to the Gadites; 13 and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I unto the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob--all that Bashan is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, unto the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth-jair, unto this day.-- 15 And I gave Gilead unto Machir. 16 And unto the Reubenites and unto the Gadites I gave from Gilead even unto the valley of Arnon, the middle of the valley for a border; even unto the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17 the Arabah also, the Jordan being the border thereof, from Kinneret even unto the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. 18 And I commanded you at that time, saying: 'The LORD your God hath given you this land to possess it; ye shall pass over armed before your brethren the children of Israel, all the men of valor. 

So the 2.5 tribes were given a portion in these lands.

19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your cattle--I know that ye have much cattle--shall abide in your cities which I have given you; 20 until the LORD give rest unto your brethren, as unto you, and they also possess the land which the LORD your God giveth them beyond the Jordan; then shall ye return every man unto his possession, which I have given you. 21 And I commanded Joshua at that time, saying: 'Thine eyes have seen all that the LORD your God hath done unto these two kings; so shall the LORD do unto all the kingdoms whither thou goes over. 22 Ye shall not fear them; for the LORD your God, He it is that fights for you.' 

To this day, Rabbi Shlomo Goren Zal instituted the pray for the IDF. In the prayer is says: “G-D will fight your battle against the enemy to save you. V’ Amar Amen!”


Black Orthodox Fashion Designer by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
Elisheva Rishon’s designs reflect her experiences as a Black Orthodox Jew.


“One of my best sellers is my ‘Hashem loves you’ sweatshirt,” explains Elisheva Rishon, the Modern Orthodox Jewish fashion designer behind Eli7 Designs. “And that’s really good. That tells me that people are looking not only to feel loved, but to let other people know they are loved,” she explains. “I didn’t make sweatshirts saying ‘Hashem loves me’ because that’s selfish – I made ‘Hashem loves you’ to make other people feel good.”

Launched in 2019, Eli7 Designs features clothes and accessories with affirming slogans designed to help people feel happy with their identities and be uplifted. Elisheva is inspired by her own life experiences as a Black Orthodox Jewish woman and as a millennial who has spent a lifetime nurturing her spirituality.

Feeling positive about herself wasn’t an emotion that Elisheva often felt growing up in Orthodox Jewish communities in New York where she was often teased and insulted because of the color of her skin. “My childhood was difficult,” she explained in a recent Aish.com exclusive interview.

Elisheva and her four siblings grew up in a tightly knit Jewish community in Brooklyn in the 1990s and early 2000s. Her father is African American and converted to Orthodox Judaism; her Black mother grew up in a traditional Jewish home and became religiously observant as an adult. Elisheva has noticed because of her Black features that people often quiz her about her own lineage, always suspicious that she isn't really Jewish. “My mother’s family goes back many years – people always ask.” It’s just one of the many slights she’s received over the years.

“When I was a child I didn’t realize the whole world wasn’t Jewish,” she recalls. She also didn’t notice any difference in skin tone between her and her friends. She and her brothers and sisters loved everything about being Jewish. They would spend hours singing Jewish songs, pretend to pray from a siddur, and say Shabbat shalom to anyone she saw.

Elisheva was eight years old when she realized for the first time that some people viewed her differently because of the color of her skin. On Shabbat, many of the children in her synagogue used to go outside to play together while their parents prayed inside. One day, a group of girls refused to play ball with her. When Elisheva asked why they told her she was “dirty”. Elisheva was confused: she wasn’t dirty, she explained. On the contrary, she was wearing her prettiest Shabbat clothing. She’d even just washed her hands. The kids told her she was “dirty” because she was Black and ran away laughing.

That moment was a turning point. Elisheva recalls going home and looking at herself in the mirror, her self-esteem plummeting. It remains a painful incident she remembers clearly today.

There were other slights. She remembers attending a Shabbaton when a synagogue janitor refused to let her in. He insisted she couldn’t be Jewish, despite the fact that Elisheva was all dressed up and ready for Shabbat. Most painful was the fact that while her friends sympathized with her afterwards, nobody was brave enough to help her out at the moment. “People sometimes come up to me twenty minutes later after an anti-black racist incident occurs and say ‘wow that was crazy’, but painfully, nobody intervened at the time that it occurred.” Elisheva explains that she and other Black Jews – or anyone who is targeted and told they don’t belong – need isn’t so much sympathy after the fact, but for people to stick up for them while they’re being insulted or embarrassed or made to feel out of place.

When Elisheva was nineteen, she entered the “dating scene”, contacting a matchmaker to help her find men to date. The process brought her more painful slights. Her matchmaker insisted on setting her up with much older men who had serious baggage. After one particularly disastrous date, Elisheva confronted the matchmaker who put it bluntly: given that she was Black, she couldn’t expect to be treated like any other Jew. Elisheva withdrew from the dating scene.

One way that Elisheva dealt with the racism she faced was through fashion. “Fashion is a way to express myself. Through my clothes I was able to flip the negative to the positive at a very young age.” She developed a flair for putting outfits together and noticed that people seemed drawn to her because of her clothes. “I would wear 1920s gloves, or hats, or mix and match patterns and people would comment ‘wow I love that, where did you get it?’ Fashion pulled them in to say something besides my skin tone.”

She also noticed that fashion could transform people’s moods and make them feel joyous. “I just want them to feel happy,” she explains.

When Elisheva enrolled in Brooklyn College to study history she began to feel happy with her looks for the first time in her life. “A student once commented that I had a beautiful ‘Nubian princess skin.’” She had no idea what that meant and had to look it up. "It meant Black in a beautiful way. I started to look at myself in a different light,” she remembers. It was the very first time she’d been complimented for her dark skin.

In 2019, Elisheva launched her own brand, Eli7 Designs. She had the idea for her company name ever since childhood. By then, she’d moved to Los Angeles and her clothes and accessories have a laid-back vibe. She designed shirts with slogans such as “Gam Zu L’ Tova” in Hebrew, meaning “Everything is for the Good”, mugs that read “Self Care = Self Love”, and handbags that read “Malka. Period.” using the Hebrew word for Queen. Elisheva explains the meaning behind that particular slogan: “Because all Jewish girls/women are Queens, PERIOD. And no one should get to make you feel any less than a Queen." Her other slogans are also empowering.

She also has products aimed at customers who are Black and Jewish. One t-shirt reads “Jewish. Yes, I really am. Please stop asking,” a line that Elisheva has longed to repeat to many people through the years. A section on the website gives advice to “frum” (Orthodox Jewish) customers who might want to wear some of the shorter sleeves featured on the website. She gives specific advice about how to layer and pair items to be modest, drawing on her years of presenting herself fashionably in an Orthodox Jewish context.

Elisheva explains that she draws her creative inspiration from two places. “The first place is literally my entire life – I know how people are made to feel bad about certain parts of their identity.” Her designs are meant to counter some of the negative messages that people hear and give a positive boost. “I would have killed to have things that made me happy about myself as a teenager and child.”

Her second inspiration is “the amazing people I’ve met throughout my life.”

Elisheva explains that she’s met countless Jewish girls who embody the Jewish imperative to live a good life and treat all people well. “They have no hate in their bones. They are really good people who are so amazing they don’t even know how amazing they really are. These are people I’ve met in my life who understand what it means to be an Orthodox Jew. These people are part of my design process too.”

She also tries to incorporate Jewish values of tzniut, or modesty, in her designs. For Elisheva, the commandment to be modest is spiritual as well as physical. Eli7 Designs began to boom, and Elisheva soon added more and more products, featuring pictures of herself sporting her latest designs on her website. But then she started getting “nasty” comments on her website questioning why she was using a Black model.

“I made a post and said ‘hi, the reason there’s a Black girl in all the pictures is – it’s me!’” The response to her post shocked her. “I lost over 300 followers.  I had several dozen orders cancelled. All my collaborations were cancelled. I was devastated.” The experience left Elisheva feeling like she lived in the 1950s.

She also began to receive harassing, anti-black racist emails. It got so bad that she had a friend open her emails for her; the number of hate emails dwarfed the actual emails and orders she was receiving. Her business plummeted for several months. “I was yelling at myself, saying ‘Elisheva you’re so stupid, why did you tell people you were Black?’”

In the past several months, she’s slowly begun to rebuild her brand. “I’ve been getting real, actual followers who don’t care what color my skin is.” Women have started reaching out to her to thank her for being a Black Jewish role model and for creating products aimed at Black Jewish women. “I’m now hearing more positive things than in my whole life.”

As the United States has embarked on a national dialogue about race, Elisheva has felt a profound sense of relief. “Finally in the past months we Black Jews can speak our truths… I feel people are more interested in what everyone’s been saying.” She likens being Black and Jewish to carrying a pile of heavy rocks. Black Jews have the burden of being disliked by anti-Semites because they’re Jews, of dealing with anti-black racists and the difficulty of facing racism from within in the Jewish world. She finally feels that some of those burdens are being shared.

“People finally feel safe enough to speak. I’m hopeful that this is going to continue.”

Elisheva has a few concrete suggestions for people who wish to become more sensitive and inclusive. If you see someone being targeted or harassed because of the color of their skin or for any other reason, speak up. Don’t excuse the behavior, and don’t try minimize or ignore it. Don’t try to rationalize away racist, cruel or degrading actions. Think how you would want other people to stand up for you. Don’t use derogatory terms, and speak up when other people do.

“There’s no real ahavat Yisrael (love of one’s fellow Jew) when we don’t stand up for Black Jews,” Elisheva observes. “Sisters have to stand with sisters, brothers have to stand with brothers.” Elisheva explains that she hopes to build a Jewish family one day, God willing, and she doesn’t want her children to go through the pain she herself experienced. “There’s so much potential, so much good that can be done,” she feels. “We need to wake up.”

Elisheva feels the current period of the "Three Weeks" between the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av is a particularly appropriate time to work on loving our fellow Jews. "We have these weeks of mourning leading up to Tisha B'Av because Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) - because Jews didn't love each other like they should. And when Jews don't love each other it makes us weak and it makes it so easy for those who hate us to harm us. This is an opportune time for all of us to do some serious introspection."


The Pope who printed the Talmud by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller


A volume of the Talmud – dedicated to the Pope? It seems unlikely but the very first printed edition of the Talmud was in fact dedicated to Pope Leo X, who reigned as pope from 1513 until his death in 1521.

For millennia, copies of the Talmud had been painstakingly written by hand. It could take many years to complete a set of all 63 masechtot, or tractates, of the Talmud.

In 1450, a German bookmaker named Johannes Gutenberg invented the very first printing press. He used it to print pamphlets and calendars, and several copies of the Bible. The “Gutenberg Bible” is considered the very first printed book ever produced in Europe. In the ensuing years, other printers copied Gutenberg’s invention and began printing books. Several Jewish books were printed using the new mechanical invention but nobody ever attempted to print an entire copy of the Talmud. For years, sets of the Talmud continued to be written laboriously by hand.

That changed in 1519, after years of bitter debates, when the very first complete edition of the Talmud was produced using the new invention the mechanical printing press.

One of the very first printers to produce Hebrew books in Europe was Daniel Bomberg, a Christian printer who moved from his native Antwerp to Venice in 1515 and opened a printing press business there. Venice at the time was home to a vibrant Jewish community, and Bomberg realized that he could prosper by catering to this under-served market.

Printing Jewish books wasn’t so easy. His initial requests for a license were repeatedly turned down by Church and city officials. Bomberg started offering local officials ever larger bribes to allow him to print Jewish books. After paying 500 ducats – an enormous sum – he was granted a ten-year license to print Hebrew books.

Bomberg got to work immediately, hiring learned Jews to help him. He petitioned Venice’s officials for permission to hire “four well-instructed Jewish men”. Jews living in Venice at the time could only live in the Ghetto and were forced to wear distinctive yellow caps whenever they left the Ghetto’s gates. Bomberg’s assistants were granted permission to wear black caps like other non-Jewish workers.

Together, they started printing copies of the Chumash, the Five Books of Moses, and other Jewish books. Bomberg and his Jewish assistants decided to include the text of Targum Onkelos, the translation of the Hebrew text written by the celebrated First Century Jewish scholar Onkelos, a popular custom still in practice today.

Bomberg’s pro-Jewish business activities were made somewhat easier by the climate in Europe overall, which was becoming more tolerant of Jews, thanks in part to an Austrian Jewish physician named Jacob Ben Jehiel (also known as Jacob Lender).

Very little is known about Jacob Ben Jehiel’s personal life. What’s clear is that he was a learned Jew, fluent in Hebrew, who worked as a doctor. He died in about 1505 in Linz, Austria. Unusual for a Jew, he rose to become one of the most influential men in the Holy Roman Empire, working as the personal assistant of Emperor Frederick III, who ruled from 1452-1493. It was noted that the two men were fast friends, and Jacob Ben Jehiel’s friendship influenced Frederick III to be sympathetic to his Jewish subjects. At the time the emperor’s enemies complained he was “more a Jew than a Holy Roman Emperor”. Jacob was so beloved by the Emperor that Frederick III knighted him, raising him from a lowly Jewish outcast to the ranks of the nobility.

One day, a young German nobleman named Johann von Reuchlin contacted Jacob, asking for his help in learning Hebrew. He’d studied with a Jew named Kalman in Paris, von Reuchln explained, and had learned the Hebrew alphabet. Now he wanted to learn more. Jacob Ben Jehiel agreed to tutor the Christian nobleman and taught him to read and write Hebrew. They struck up a friendship that would lead to von Reuchlin defending Jewish scholarship across Europe and to the first printing of the Talmud.

Now fluent in Hebrew, Reuchlin championed Jewish books, defending Jewish scholarship from Catholic zealots who wanted to ban Jewish literature and burn Jewish books. He had many Jewish friends and was remarkably tolerant of Jewish viewpoints and scholarship. When Catholic officials demanded that he and other scholars condemn the Talmud, von Reuchlin replied contemptuously that one not condemn what one had not personally read and understood. “The Talmud was not composed for every blackguard to trample with unwashed feet and then to say that he knew all of it.”
Johann von Reuchlin
In the early 1500s, von Reuchlin engaged in what was known as the “Battle of the Books,” arguing that Jewish scholarship had merit and that Hebrew books ought not to be banned.

Johannes Pfefferkorn: Condemning his Fellow Jews

Reuchlin’s main adversary in the “Battle of the Books” was Johannes Pfefferkorn, a Jew who converted to Christianity. He turned on his fellow Jews and caused years of pain and misery for Jewish communities across Germany.
Pfefferkorn was a butcher by trade but he was also in trouble with the law. He was arrested for burglary in his 30s, spent time in prison, and subsequently found himself unemployable. In order to reverse his ill fortune, he volunteered to convert to Christianity and to have his wife and children convert as well. Pfefferkorn embraced Catholicism under the protection of the Dominicans, the strict Catholic order that administered the feared Inquisition. The Dominicans wasted no time in using Pfefferkorn to help bolster their attempts to persecute Jews and to ban Jewish books.
In the years between 1507 and 1509, Pfefferkorn wrote a series of booklets claiming to illuminate the secret world of Jewish thought. Although Pfefferkorn's writings show that he had a very poor grasp of Jewish scholarship, that didn’t deter him as he churned out booklet after booklet excoriating Jews and the Jewish faith. His pamphlets were written in Latin and aimed at Catholic scholars and priests. They had names such as Judenbeichte (“Jewish Confession”) and Judenfeind (“Enemy of the Jews”), and Pfefferkorn falsely claimed that Jews were devious and blasphemous and that their literature ought to be banned. Though he wasn’t educated enough to study it himself, Pfefferkorn demanded that the Talmud be banned in Europe.

Using Pfefferkorn’s booklets as “proof”, Dominical authorities demanded that Jews be expelled from towns which had large Jewish communities, including Regensburg, Worms and Frankfurt. Their campaign succeeded in Regensburg and the city’s Jews were expelled in 1519.

Pfefferkorn and his supporters managed to convince Emperor Maximilian I to briefly ban the Talmud and other Jewish books in cities across Germany and to destroy any and all Jewish books that could be found. This alarmed more liberal Catholics, including Johann Reuchlin, who’d spent so long learning Hebrew and studying Jewish holy books with Jacob Ben Jehiel. Reuchlin objected and wrote passionate defenses of the Talmud and other Jewish books. Eventually, Maximilian I reversed his decree.

The “Battle of the Books” raged across German cities and was debated among the educated class: should the Jewish Talmud and other holy books be banned, or were they worthy of preservation and study? Historian Solomon Grayzel notes that “There was not a liberal Christian in Europe, nor a single critic of the forces of bigotry within the Church, who failed to range himself on the side of Reuchlin in defense of the Jewish books… Everyone who was not a peasant in Europe was thus ranged on one or the other side in the controversy. The only people who were forced to stand aside and not participate were the ones most directly concerned – the Jews.” (From A History of the Jews by Solomon Grayzel. Plume: 1968)

Reuchlin eventually gained a powerful ally: Pope Leo X. A cultured, educated man, Leo X came from the fabulously wealthy Medici family. He was disposed to be tolerant towards Jews – so much so that at one point the Jews of Rome wondered if his benevolence towards them was a sign that the Messiah was on his way: community elders even wrote to Jewish leaders in the Land of Israel asking if they, too, had seen signs of the Messiah coming.

In 1518, Leo X took a public stand in the Battle of the Books: not only should the Talmud not be banned and burned, he stated, but he gave a Papal Decree allowing it to be printed using the new mechanical printing presses that were all the rage in Europe. Some individual volumes of the Talmud had already been printed; now, the Pope was allowing a complete set of all 63 volumes of the Talmud (called Shas in Hebrew) to be produced. Joannes Bomberg, who’d already built up a Jewish business at his printing press in Venice, was given the commission to print this first complete set of Shas on his printing presses. It was an unprecedented show of support for Jews in Europe.

Jacob ben Chaim ibn Adonijah


But Pope Leo X imposed one crucial condition: Daniel Bomberg could print the Talmud only if he included anti-Jewish polemics in the books. Realizing that this would alienate potential readers, Bomberg successfully lobbied against including anti-Jewish screeds in his Jewish books. He did, however, make one concession to the Pope’s generosity: the first four volumes of the set of Talmud he was printing were dedicated to Pope Leo X.

Local Jews were reluctant to buy expensive new volumes of the Talmud dedicated to a Catholic leader whose Church regularly persecuted Jews and Jewish communities across Europe, even if Pope Leo X himself was sympathetic towards Jews. Sales were sluggish and Bomberg realized he had to make some changes, including dropping the dedication to the Pope. He also turned to Jacob ben Chaim ibn Adonijah, a Jewish proofreader from Tunisia, for help. (There is some evidence that ibn Adonijah might have converted to Christianity, like some other printers who specialized in Hebrew books in Venice at the time.)

Bromberg and ibn Adonijah devised a layout of their printed editions of the Talmud that is still in use today. They placed the Talmud text in the middle of the page, and included key commentaries on the Talmud around the central text. The commentary by Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (known as Rashi), a Medieval French scholar was printed on one side of the page. Commentaries by a group of other Medieval Jewish sages known as the Tosefotists are found on the opposite side of the page.

This layout made it easy to read and study, and proved an immediate hit with customers. Though their title pages no longer carried a printed dedication to Pope Leo X, these beautiful books continued to be printed with his permission, enabling even more Jewish communities to study and learn from complete sets of the printed Talmud.



It is rare that I get a question that is worth giving a public answer to all.

From K.G.: Are Shabbat meals served on Friday night after candle lighting?  I always thought so, but just realized that means eating fairly early in winter and really late in summer.  Do Friday night meal times change like candle lighting?  If people eat at 6:00 pm six nights a week, and then 8:15 on Friday night, they'll either be famished by 8:15, or eat a snack to tide them over and risk not enjoying the Sabbath meal to the fullest if they've blunted their hunger.

In order to understand what time one can make an early Kiddush one needs to calculate the Halachic Day Time.

The Halachic Day and Halachic Night are broken up into 12 hours. I don't know your exact location so I took Shreveport, LA for today for example The sun rises at 6:21 and sets at 20:20 or 13hrs and 59 minutes. Now it is permissible to accept Shabbos earlier by 1.5 hrs. so the calculation goes like this:
You have 839 minutes in your day making each hour almost 70 minutes. 1.5 hours is 105 minutes before sunset. This would be 6:35 PM+ so one could pray Mincha before that. Let us say a Jew could start praying Maariv at 6:36PM and a woman could like the candles at that time. One could make Kiddush and eat anytime after that.

There is another option mentioned in the Talmud and Halacha. If somebody was eating a meal. Let us say one is hungry and wants to start a fruit cup, fresh salad or something precisely at 6 PM for health reasons can't wait the 36 minutes one can even wash for bread with intent to make Kiddush in the middle of the meal and say the Shabbos grace after meals. This solution although it exists is frowned upon but the option does exist especially for diabetics, cancer patients, etc.

FYI, the early Shabbos option is also good in the winter time but mostly used by Jews during the long days of summer.

ONCE A JEW PRAYERS MAARIV OR MAKES KIDDUSH AFTER THE EARLY TIME, IT BECOMES SHABBOS AND THE MEAL IS CONSIDERED THE HOLY SHABBOS MEAL. ONE WHO IS JEWISH CANNOT PREFORM MELACHOS AT THAT TIME. The Shema Prayer has to be recited again a minimum of 18 to 20 minutes after sunset.

Shabbos ends somewhere between usually 45 minutes to 72 Halachic Minutes after sunset on Saturday.


In 2019 ZOA President M. Klein sent this to the Speaker of the House. file:///C:/Users/Richi/AppData/Local/Temp/Morton%20Klein%20to%20Nancy%20Pelosi.pdf

Tragic story of a widow kindergarten teacher and Corona. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283763




Video 100year old Sefer Torah survives fire in Boca Raton FL. https://www.aish.com/jw/s/100-Year-Old-Torah-Survives-House-Fire-Intact.html?s=shl

50,000 Yeshiva Students to learn the same tractate: A unique letter was published at the end of last week, signed by leading Rabbis, calling on Yeshiva students to join the special program. The emotional letter is signed by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, The head of the Shas Council of Torah Sages - Rabbi Shalom Cohen, the Vishnitzer Rebbe, the Sanzer Rebbe, and member of the Shas Council of Torah Sages - Rabbi Shimon Baadani. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283901

Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak rules music permissible in quarantine this year during the three weeks. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283868

IDF Soldier dies in brake failure accident. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284025

Thurs. Poll shows right slightly ahead. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284030

Fri. Poll shows 60 members for right. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284087

Ashdod pre-school child tied to chair. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284014

KAJ removes Kosher Cert. from Empire Chicken. https://collive.com/kaj-removes-kashrus-from-empire-poultry/


Inyanay Diyoma


Covid 19 deaths hit 400! 29,502 active. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283762



Hi-Tech may take a hit with Corona. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/SydpWcpJD

Ben Dror Yemeni when old antisemitic plague meets the new Corona plague. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkBUKf5yw

Hezballah faces financial and other crises. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rJ11HmCpJv

Please pray for Rabbi Itamar ben Chasia.

The Mossad can’t do all the things that is happening in Iran. There is an organized partisan group working. https://www.debka.com/mivzak/large-fire-at-oil-pipeline-in-south-iran/

More and more protest government. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S1G5nCelv



Tragic story of a widow kindergarten teacher and Corona. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283763


Netanyahu wants to fire Corona Committee head. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283768


Head of Coalition either stop demonstrations or open businesses. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283779

Head of Corona Committee wonders about solution. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283790

Former Ichilov Hospital Director and former Health Ministry Director Professor Gabi Barbash will take on responsibility as "projector" in management of the coronavirus crisis as deaths rise to 406. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283787


Israel discovers 28 new Hezballah launch sites. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283783



Ganz prevents sanctions on terrorist salaries. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283823


Rise in seriously ill patients. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SJ00nX11GlP

Arabs in Shomron loving to Corona. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SJ00nX11GlP


Ganz orders soldiers to help in 25 infected cities. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283822



Updated number 1,844 new cases. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HJNz5r7gv




Shin Bet contact tracing extended but if you shut off the GPS or don’t report it to the health department no quarantine. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkyyk47gw

Nurses strike over government agrees to more MD’s and Nurses in Hospitals. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/V3OWWYK0Y

A better alternative for health. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkwO3YZlv

Kayne West not the sky’s brightest star. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rk2C3NmxP

Muslims endorse former Senator who hated Menachem Begin and aid to Israel, Joe Biden. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283900

France far Left Politician “Jews killed J.C.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/283911


Gam Zu L’ Tova we have a projector. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284037

Iran’s Isolation Ed-Op Perry. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SyUe900Sev


New Law gives Netanyahu Caesar extra powers. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284000

Pres. Rivlin Ed-Op We will get through Corona. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SJj000Rfxw

Democratic Party opposed to sovereignty. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284043

Fed’s sending law enforcement to Chicago. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284036

Trader Joe forced to drop brand names. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284032



IDF Soldier dies in brake failure accident. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284025



What is going on in the north is more important than abomination bill. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284063

KAJ removes Kosher Cert. from Empire Chicken. https://collive.com/kaj-removes-kashrus-from-empire-poultry/



Israel seeks Vaccine Approval. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S1EDIM8gD

So Caesar Netanyahu goes around the Knesset and essentially censors a Likud member. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HyX6N2Wev




Israel develops new Corona tests to be tested in India. Poor Countries tests. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284062


Schools to open up with 18 children per class. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284050

Near copter crash with troops on board. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284099


IDF “ghost” unit that combines land, air, computers, electronic warfare, etc. now combat ready. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284079

Afghan girl kills two Taliban murderers. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BJtint4lv

How much of Europe’s money goes to killers of Jews. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284091




Uncertain how to fight Corona. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HJ2NCB4gD



Fri. Poll shows 60 members for right. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/284087

Have a healthy and productive fast and a good Shabbos,
Rachamim Pauli
Posted by Rabbi Rachamim Pauli at 12:08 PM