Avraham Moshe is reaching the age of Mitzvos. So despite all the bad things this year, I have a little Simcha to enjoy.
The birth of Avram and the discord among the Nations.
Last week, I skipped the laws that HASHEM gave to Noachides and the fact that Noach got drunk. I guess if I completely failed to get even one person to repent and lost all my classmates and buddies, I too might want to drink. I don’t believe it is in our interest to judge Noach on this.
What I did promise is the story of Avraham Avinu from the beginning. Avos 5:2 There were ten generations from Noah to Abraham. This is to teach us the extent of G‑d's tolerance; for all these generations angered Him, until Abraham came and reaped the reward for them all.
… 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
The people were one heart and one language in what they did.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3 And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.
If I was, heaven forbid, like this generation and did not trust the world of the L-RD that there would never be another flood, I would start my rebellion on Mt. Ararat and build a tower 20 Amos or more with stowage facilities that could hold the population. Who was the genius who thought to build the tower to wage war on G-D in a close to sea level plain?
4 And they said: 'Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, with its top in heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.'
Let us make a name before we become scattered by the larger population across the earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. 6 And the LORD said: 'Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do; and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.
They wanted a central meeting area and make a name for themselves and instead they were scattered. They tried to make war with HASHEM in the days of Peleg as the spiritual leader and they ended up being divided instead of united. Avraham was 48 at the time and did not participate in this foolishness.
7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.'
In Ur the tower was attacked. One third destroyed either by an earthquake or powerful lightning killing off people. One third sunk into the earth. – Medrash. From the initial shock, their language became confused. Suddenly instead of the original Hebrew was only known to the G-D fearing family of Avraham kept the original language of Creation/Gan Eden.
8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they cleft off to build the city. 9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Babel means to confuse or confound and that is just what G-D did with them.
10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11 And Shem lived after he begot Arpachshad five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
This Pasuk lets us know that Shem was born in the year 1558 and died in 2158. Avraham was born in 1948 and lived until 2123. Yitzchak was born in 2048 and lived until 2228. Yacov and Esav were born in 2108 and died in 2255.
12 And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begot Shelah. …14 And Shelah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 And Shelah lived after he begot Eber four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begot Peleg. 17 And Eber lived after he begot Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. …20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begot Serug. …22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. …24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Terah. …26 And Terach lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the generations of Terach. Terach begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot.
Why the generations of Terach? Terach had a weak stamina in his generation and worshipped idols besides HASHEM. Avraham figured out the truth and convinced his brothers.
28 And Haran died in the presence of his father Terach in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
There is a story that Nimrod managed to have the garment that HASHEM made for Adam and became a mighty warrior and king. He remained so until Esav killed him on the day that Avraham died. At this point, Nimrod threw Avram into a furnace because of his belief and Avram survived the faith of Haran was weaker and went into the furnace only after he saw Avram walking around inside and Haran was burnt. – Medrash.
29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Iscah according to the Medrash is Sarai and it is a Mitzvah for a man to marry his niece. – The Medrash.
30 And Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terach took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terach were two hundred and five years; and Terach died in Haran.
After the persecution of Avram and Haran by Nimrod, Terach decides to move towards the land of Canaan. He stops off in modern Turkey and establishes the town of Haran that still has an area that looks like the time of Avram with huts and donkey carts as well as a newer city.
Parsha Lech Lecha
Avram was 75 years old when he heard Lech Lecha and started to perform the tasks and trials that HASHEM gave him, he lived another 100 years the Gematria of Lech Lecha. Rabbi Baruch Rosenblum Shlita.
12:1 Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee.
Rabbi Pinchas Winston Shlita says: SOMETIMES WHERE YOU say something is important to what you say. “Let’s go somewhere else and discuss this,” a person might say if their surroundings do not seem appropriate for what they need to discuss. It can be the secretive nature of a message, or it can just be that the location lacks the proper ambiance for what needs to be said, like when proposing to a potential future spouse. As they say, “Location, location, location…”
God clearly had something He wanted to tell Avraham, but not in Charan. Aside from the fact that prophecy usually only occurs in Eretz Yisroel and not in the Diaspora, there was also the message itself. Therefore, in order that the message could have its full impact, God first told Avraham to pick himself up and get to Eretz Canaan.
The promises God that made to Avraham about Eretz Yisroel in this week’s Parsha may seem only like words to us, but they are far more than that. They are part of something called “Bris Avos—Covenant of the Fathers,” and Kabbalah explains that it is based in a level of light at the very beginning of everything. And when I say “everything,” I don’t just mean physical creation. I mean everything before it as well, which is extremely primordial.
That’s a VERY high level of Divine light, far higher than anything we can ever imagine. It is so sublime that even Kabbalah doesn’t know what it is like, except that it is the same light of God from which everything is made. But how do you talk about a light that is only known for what it isn’t, not what it is?
Avram, I want you to leave the country that you are in. More than that you will leave your greater family and even the close ones in your father’s house and go into an unknown land.
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing.
This is a strong blessing. For usually one who is traveling does not acquire children and by moving from place nor does one make a name for himself and usually spends extra sums of money traveling and not being able to accumulate wealth.
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curses thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.'
The last Pasuk went against the natural order of things and here is such a blessing that Avraham shall be blessed and has the power to bless others but those who try to curse him get their curses thrown back at them like a boomerang.
4 So Abram went, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Prior to this, Lot had established himself as a judge in Sodom. Avram was trading with Sodom as we see in Pasuk
5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
This was five years earlier that Avram took Lot to establish a trading company. Lot and family remained in Sodom and Avram returned to Terach and the other kindship and they did the trading.
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said: 'Unto thy seed will I give this land'; and he built there an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
Anybody who has seen the view from Alon Moreh can see that Shechem is the middle of Eretz Yisrael between the Jordan River Valley and Lebanon/Syria in the north to Yerushalayim/Beer Sheva.
8 And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
This is north of Yerushalayim and the same place that Yacov would visit in the future and rest (disputing Midrashim about the Temple Mount and Beth-el).
9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
Avram was promised the land and was on his way south to check out the land.
10 And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.
The question is as follows: If Avram was chosen by G-D to get the reward of the first 20 generations why wasn’t he given a spot right in water and minerals like in North America or Europe why was he given a land that from time to time suffered drought and famine? The answer is that HASHEM desires our prayers for rain and supplications so we were sent to Eretz Yisrael and not a country with lush water and vegetation sources.
11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife: 'Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. 12 And it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say: This is his wife; and they will kill me, but thee they will keep alive. 13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.'
We wonder at this point why does Avram do such a thing and the reason is not written here but by Avimelech “That there is no fear of heaven here”.
14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15 And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
They took her by force to the house of Pharaoh but were willing to compensate.
16 And he dealt well with Abram for her sake; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.
Avram was given a dowry for Sarai. The question is if they knew he was married would they have killed him for her? Even in modern times, Saddam Hussein was known to have taken the wives of generals and killed the general. Smart generals divorced their wives.
17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
He shut up the wombs of all the women in Pharaoh’s household.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said: 'What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
G-D came to Pharaoh in a dream and explained to him. Pharaoh like Avimelech acted innocent before G-D.
19 Why did you say: She is my sister? so that I took her to be my wife; now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.'
You are a problematic person just go from here.
20 And Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him; and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.
Avram was allowed to leave in peace because Pharaoh feared G-D and more plagues on his house.
13:1 And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the South.
This is probably very south like Kadesh Barnea.
2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Ai; 4 unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first; and Abram called there on the name of the LORD. 5 And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. 6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together; for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was a strife between the herdsmen of Abram's cattle and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. 8 And Abram said unto Lot: 'Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdssmen and thy herdmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.' 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou go unto Zoar. 11 So Lot chose him all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed east; and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom.
Lot chose to leave the spiritual wealth for the physical wealth. This was when Avram was 75 but 5 years before Avram had a business with Lot and Lot had been in Sodom prior to the war of the 4 kings vs. the 5 kings.
13 Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the LORD exceedingly. 14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him: 'Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward; 15 for all the land which thou see, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.
Now that Lot was out of his area, HASHEM promised Avram the land as an inheritance forever. However, this would mean that he would have to have children to carry on the occupation of the land.
16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
So Avram is promised children who will inherit the land.
17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it.'
So Avram walked the land from the border of Egypt to the Turkish border to the land of the Euphrates returning back to what we know as Eretz Yisrael proper.
18 And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.
Avram liked the area of Chevron where the ‘Ch’ is guttural deep in the throat. Avram was drawn downs the cave of the Machpelah and the well of souls that go to heaven at that point.
14:1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goiim,
According to commentaries this battle took place when Avram was 70 or five years before the command Lech Lecha.
2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela--the same is Zoar. 3 All these came as allies unto the vale of Siddim--the same is the Salt Sea. 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. …10 Now the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. 11 And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. 12 And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. 13 And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew--now he dwelt by the terebinths of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner; and these were confederate with Abram.
The one who escaped was the giant Og, who had set his eye on Sarai and wanted Avram to die in battle against the kings.
14 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan.
The number equals Eliezer in Gematria and some say that it was just Avram and Eliezer that made battle. Others and the Pshat hold that it was 318 courageous men with Shofaros that attacked over a wide area at night and scared the complacent army into rout.
15 And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. 16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
According to convention of war at that time. Once captured the woman becomes wife or slave of the captor.
17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, at the vale of Shaveh--the same is the King's Vale. 18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine; and he was priest of God the Most High.
Who was this priest-king in Salem aka Yerushalayim non other than Shem!
19 And he blessed him, and said: 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth; 20 and blessed be God the Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand.' And he gave him a tenth of all.
Besides the spoils from the Sodom area, other areas there were spoils.
21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram: 'Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.' 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom: 'I have lifted up my hand unto the LORD, God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, 23 that I will not take a thread nor a shoe-latchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou should say: I have made Abram rich; 24 save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion.'
They fought bravely and deserve a share of the spoils but as for me I did this for the sake of heaven and it is sufficient for me that my nephew, Lot has been freed.
15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying: 'Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, thy reward shall be exceeding great.' 2 And Abram said: 'O Lord GOD, what wilt Thou give me, seeing I go hence childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?' 3 And Abram said: 'Behold, to me Thou hast given no seed, and, lo, one born in my house is to be mine heir.' 4 And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying: 'This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.' 5 And He brought him forth abroad, and said: 'Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if thou be able to count them'; and He said unto him: 'So shall thy seed be.'
He also moved his Jupiter either into retrograde or fast forward according the Medrash or Zohar.
6 And he believed in the LORD; and He counted it to him for righteousness. 7 And He said unto him: 'I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.' 8 And he said: 'O Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?' 9 And He said unto him: 'Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon.' 10 And he took him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other; but the birds divided he not. 11 And the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. 12 And it came to pass, that, when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a dread, even a great darkness, fell upon him.
This is when he was taken above the planet in his prophetic sleep.
13 And He said unto Abram: 'Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; 14 and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterward shall they come out with great substance. 15 But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. 16 And in the fourth generation they shall come back hither; for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.' 17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and there was thick darkness, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. 18 In that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: 'Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates; 19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.'
According to the commentary this was 30 years unto the day that Yitzchak would be born. The 400 years shall start from the birth of Yitzchak.
16:1 Now Sarai Abram's wife bore him no children; and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said unto Abram: 'Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing; go in, I pray thee, unto my handmaid; it may be that I shall be builded up through her.' And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai. 3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar the Egyptian, her handmaid, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to Abram her husband to be his wife. 4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.
As soon as the servant to Sarai became pregnant she also became disrespectful as she was going to give Avram his heir and not Sarai.
5 And Sarai said unto Abram: 'My wrong be upon thee: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.' 6 But Abram said unto Sarai: 'Behold, thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes.' And Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her face. 7 And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur. 8 And he said: 'Hagar, Sarai's handmaid, whence came thou? and whither go thou?' And she said: 'I flee from the face of my mistress Sarai.' 9 And the angel of the LORD said unto her: 'Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands.' 10 And the angel of the LORD said unto her: 'I will greatly multiply thy seed, that it shall not be numbered for multitude. 11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her: 'Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son; and thou shalt call his name Ishmael, because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
The Angel convinces her to return to the hands and rage of Sarai with the notification that she will have a son. But see what is to become of him.
12 And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren.' 13 And she called the name of the LORD that spoke unto her, Thou art a God of seeing; for she said: 'Have I even here seen Him that sees Me?' 14 Wherefore the well was called 'Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Literally the name of the well is “Well of the (ever) living seer”.
15 And Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him: 'I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be thou wholehearted. 2 And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.' 3 And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: 4 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee.
You will father many nations, the children of Yitzchak, Uz, Buz, Midian, etc. Your name shall become Avraham for Avram cannot have so many nations but Avraham has a different astrology and is blessed to become the father of many nations.
6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
Kings of each of these nations.
7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.' 9 And God said unto Abraham: 'And as for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. 10 This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised.
This is the Bris that is between us.
11 And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed.
Anyone 8 days old and up shall observe the Bris.
13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. 14 And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken My covenant.'
He shall not be accepted as Yisrael or Yishmael if he does so on purpose.
15 And God said unto Abraham: 'As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 16 And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.'
Sarah shall give birth.
17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart: 'Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?'
He laughed with joy that tears rolled down his face.
18 And Abraham said unto God: 'Oh that Ishmael might live before Thee!' 19 And God said: 'Nay, but Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his seed after him.
Yitzchak shall be your heir but I will reward and bless Yishmael for your sake.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee; behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation. 21 But My covenant will I establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year.' 22 And He left off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.
Contrary to the attempt to save Sodom, Avraham accepts the blessing and G-D or an Angel leave him.
23 And Abraham took Ishmael his son, and all that were born in his house, and all that were bought with his money, every male among the men of Abraham's house, and circumcised the flesh of their foreskin in the selfsame day, as God had said unto him. 24 And Abraham was ninety years old and nine, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
He was no youngster but gladly performed his obligation.
25 And Ishmael his son was thirteen years old, when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.
Even though that Yishmael was young, he performed his duty with Simcha.
26 In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son.
So both were to be rewarded.
27 And all the men of his house, those born in the house, and those bought with money of a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
The burning of the Talmud in Venice by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Burning-the-Talmud-in-Venice.html?s=hp2
October 31 marks the tragic anniversary of the end of a golden age of Hebrew books in Venice.
This year, October 31 falls on the 13th of Cheshvan, the anniversary of an actual horrific event in Jewish history – the burning of the Talmud and other Jewish books in the center of Venice in 1553.
A few years before this massive Jewish book burning, the thought that Jewish books would be hunted down and destroyed in Venice might have seemed impossible. At the time, Venice was the center of the Hebrew publishing industry.
After the printing press was invented in the mid-1400s by Johannes Gutenberg, publishing houses sprung up throughout Europe. This new technology caused a huge revolution: for the first time, books and other printed items could be mass-produced. Families that might have only owned one book before – a laboriously hand-written Bible, perhaps – could suddenly acquire a small library of their own. Learning and education were completely transformed.
In Italy, this new atmosphere of intellectual inquiry was often led by Jews. Historian Solomon Graetz described the key role Italian Jews played in the development of the Renaissance there: “Jewish youths attended the Italian universities, and acquired a more liberal education. The Italian Jews were the first to make us of the newly discovered art of Gutenberg, and printing houses soon rose in many parts of Italy – in Reggio, Ferrara, Pieva di Sacco, Bologna, Soncino, Ixion, and Naples.” (Quoted in History of the Jews: From the Earliest Times to the Present Day, Vol. IV by Solomon Graetz, 1904.)
Venice, however, refused to grant permission for Jews to set up printing presses. Though prosperous and home to a large Jewish community, Venice discriminated against Jews in the extreme. Jews had to wear ridiculous yellow garments and hats whenever they ventured out in public. In 1515, Venice forced all Jews to live crammed into an inhospitable island called the Ghetto (the origin of the term Ghetto in English), where they were locked in each night. Despite their education, Jews could not enter most professions and were barred from citing on the city’s powerful, secretive leadership council.
Daniel Bomberg, a non-Jewish businessman from Antwerp, saw a market for Jewish books in the city, and requested permission from the city authorities to open a printing press specializing in Hebrew works. (It would have been impossible for a Jew to go into business in this way.) Bomberg moved to Venice and spent years trying to bribe local officials for permission to set up shop. Finally, in 1515, after paying an enormous bribe, he was granted approval. Bomberg hired four local Jewish assistants (including at least one of whom seemingly publicly embraced Christianity) and started setting Hebrew text on his presses.
Bomberg’s first printed work was the Jewish classic Mikraot Gedolot, a version of the Hebrew Bible containing key commentaries by important Medieval rabbis. He then went on to print editions of the Talmud. Bomberg printed books were incredibly high quality: he used only the finest ink and paper, and soon learned Jewish households were clamoring to buy copies of his books. Though there were several Jewish printing presses operating throughout Italy at the time, Venice became synonymous with the new Hebrew printing press industry, setting a standard that many other presses tried to follow.
Even though Jewish life and learning flourished in Italy, it did so despite a terrifying drumbeat of intense anti-Jewish hatred that sometimes flared into violence. As Solomon Graetz notes: “The relatively secure and honorable position of the Jews in Italy did not fail to rouse against them the anger of those fanatical monks who sought to cover with the cloak of religious zeal either their dissolute conduct or the ambitious share with which they took in worldly affairs.” Some priests blamed Jews for all sorts of ills: perhaps the most vocal Jew-bater in Italy at the time was the 15th Century Franciscan priest Bernardinus of Feltre, who encouraged hatred of and violence against Jews in the generation before the heyday of the Italian Hebrew printing press.
Bernardinus railed against Jews in his sermons, openly trying to foment violence. He was so vituperative that some of the leading princes and aristocrats of Italy forced him to quit a succession of cities and towns across Italy. Duke Galeazzo of Milan forced Bernardinus to leave his city rather than whip up massacres of Jews there. Civic leaders in Florence and Tuscany protected their Jews and forbade Bernardinus from preaching. Bernardinus did manage to incite violence against Jews in Pisa and Venice. He finally left for the north of Italy, where he had his greatest success: A Christian baby was found dead and Bernardinus blamed the Jews of Trent, who were all thrown into prison, many were tortured. The dead baby was beatified by the Catholic Church as Simon of Trent, and Jews were banished from ever living in the city again. Against this grim background, Jewish learning flourished and Hebrew books were printed by the thousands across Italy. Despite the Jews’ relative prominence, the specter of danger never entirely disappeared.
In Venice, the threat of violence bubbling against the surface would soon erupt. The cause was other non-Jewish businessmen entering the Hebrew printing business, hoping to capitalize on Bomberg’s success and make a fortune printing Hebrew language books for Venice’s large and educated Jewish community.
The first of these was Marco Antonio Giustiniani, an Italian nobleman who set up a Hebrew printing press in Venice in 1545. From the start, Giustiniani was openly hostile to Daniel Bomberg. Giustiniani began printing editions of the very same books that Bomberg was printing, and even seemed to try to provoke Bomberg with the logo that Giustiniani adopted. Giustiniani’s mark, printed in all his books, depicted a picture of the ancient Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, with a quote from the Jewish prophet Haggai, “The glory of this later Temple will be greater than the first….” (Haggai 2:9). His message was clear: his new business would quash Bomberg’s lucrative press.
Within a few years, other non-Jewish businessmen opened yet more Hebrew printing presses in Venice. These businessmen were also cutthroat, vying to put their rivals out of business. (Indeed, Bomberg’s press soon closed.) They behaved with a startling lack of decency, routinely undercutting each other and printing the same volumes that their competitors had already released. And they employed a certain type of worker: men who’d been raised as Jews, who knew Hebrew and could lay out sheets of Hebrew text, but who’d converted to Christianity, making them more attractive as employees in the anti-Semitic atmosphere of the time.
One of these newcomers was a Venetian native named Alvise Bragadin, who founded a wildly popular press called Stamparia Bragadina, printing Hebrew books. One of his first products was an edition of the classic Jewish work Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1138- 1204). Alvise Bragadin apparently used Bomberg’s edition and added a key new element.
Bragadin approached Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen, the Chief Rabbi head of a renowned yeshiva in nearby Padua, and one of the greatest rabbis of the era. Rabbi Katzenellenbogen gave his consent for a penetrating commentary that he wrote on the work to be included in Bragadin’s edition, and even invested some of his own money to finance the work. For Bragadin, this was a master stroke, establishing the Stamparia Bragadin as the most highly regarded of Venice’s Hebrew presses. Rabbi Katzenellenbogen was revered by Jewish readers who clamored to have his commentary; the Bragadin edition of the Mishneh Torah was a huge success.
An angry Giustiniani decided to orchestrate Bragadin’s utter downfall. He began printing copies of the Mishneh Torah of his own, and added Rabbi Katzenellenbogen’s groundbreaking and wildly popular commentary – which he’d given specifically to Alvise
Bragadin only – without writing the name of their author.
Giustiniani priced these editions lower than Bragadin’s, undercutting his rival. Moreover, Giustiniani began a public smear campaign, claiming that Rabbi Katzenellenbogen’s commentary was being poorly received and was of faulty scholarship.
Facing financial ruin after investing in the Bragadin edition, Rabbi Katzenellenbogen wrote to one of the most prominent rabbis of the time, Rabbi Moshe Isserlis, known as the Rema, who was a cousin of his. Rabbi Isserlis lived in far-away Cracow, but he agreed to adjudicate the conflict in Venice. After hearing all sides of the case presented by Rabbi Katzenellenbogen, Rabbi Isserlis issued a complex legal ruling, appealing to the Talmud’s many injunctions to always be scrupulously honest in business matters. Citing Jewish laws that prohibit unfair competition, underhand dealings, and sloppy work, he instructed Venice’s Jews – and other Jewish customers – to buy only the Bragadin edition of the work until it sold out, at which point Jews could then begin purchasing the Giustiniani editions. Even though Guistiniani was not Jewish, Jewish law was incumbent on him in this matter, Rabbi Isserlis wrote.
Despite this ruling, neither printing press owner was satisfied. Ignoring their many loyal Jewish customers, they turned to Church authorities and each denounced the other for printing “blasphemous” Hebrew texts. Both the Bragadin and Giustiniani Hebrew printing presses had printed editions of the Talmud and now Bragadin and Giustiniani themselves were calling these volumes heretical and accusing the other of violating Church teachings by printing them.
This was no idle threat. Elsewhere in Europe, the Inquisition was actively rooting out heretical material; both Jews and Protestants were targets of the Church’s fearsome Inquisitors. Italian Inquisitors heard the evidence brought by Bragadin and Giustiniani, as well as apostate Jews they marshaled to their cause, men who’d turned their back on Judaism and were all too eager to prove their Christian bona fides by denouncing their fellow Jews.
Finally, in August 1553, the Italian Inquisitors issued their ruling: all copies of the Talmud were to be burned. Anyone found hiding volumes of this Jewish holy work would be imprisoned. Those who informed on their neighbors would receive a financial reward. The first Italian city to burn its Talmuds was Rome: on Rosh Hashanah, Inquisition authorities forced their way into every Jewish home in the city, confiscating not only the Talmud but every single book in Hebrew they could find.
These were burned in an enormous bonfire in Rome’s central Campo di Fiori public square. A couple of weeks later, a similar bonfire consumed the Jewish books in Bologna. One month after that, the Inquisitors set their sights on Venice, the jewel of Hebrew publishing.
The Hebrew month of Cheshvan is sometimes called “Mar Cheshvan,” or “Bitter Cheshvan,” since it is the only Hebrew month to contain no holidays. In the year 1553, the month of Cheshvan was indescribably bitter for another reason: it saw the destruction of an incredible amount of Jewish scholarship in the city of Venice. While some Jews managed to hide treasured volumes at huge risk to themselves, nearly every copy of the Talmud, as well as other Hebrew works, were seized from family homes, schools and synagogues. The Inquisitors built an enormous fire in Venice’s beautiful Piazza San Marco and publicly burned thousands of books. The authorities issued a blanket ban on printing any more Hebrew books in Venice. (The ban was only lifted only a decade later, with severe restrictions.)
The destruction had a profound effect on Jewish life for generations. After thousands of Jewish books were burned, the shutting of Venetian presses meant that there was very little way Jews could rebuild their book collections. Hebrew printing presses in Lublin and Salonika began ramping up production, issuing more printed editions of the Talmud. In Italy, meanwhile, Jewish students focused on the few Jewish books that were available. It was relatively easy to buy copies of books by the great North African Medieval Rabbi Isaac ben Jacob Alfasi ha-Cohen (known as the Rif), in Italy for instance, so his works gained a new prominence among Italian Jews.
Even after the Talmud was allowed to be printed once again in Venice, it was only with heavy edits and under a different name. Venice never again regained its prominence as a center for Jewish printing and scholarship – and the horrible memory of the raging fire in St. Mark’s Square in the heart of the city haunted Italian Jews for years.
Unintended by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles
http://ascentofsafed.com/Stories/Stories/5781/pdf/s1194PosenCaptive%20(1).pdf
When he was a youngster, Rebbe Naftali Katz, who would become the head of the Rabbinical Court of Posen, was once playing outdoors with his friends. They were throwing rocks, and Naftali accidentally hit the passenger of a fancy carriage that was nearby. Unfortunately, that passenger was none other than the High Prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The prince's guards arrested the boy for this act of "rebellion." He was brought to court and found guilty. His sentence: public execution.
Naftali was to be escorted by a guard to the empire's capital, where his sentence was to be carried out. It was a difficult journey, and the stormy weather they encountered made travelling almost impossible.
At one point they stopped at an inn that was owned by a Jew. While the guard made himself comfortable in a corner by the stove, young Naftali sat and listened to the innkeeper's sons studying Talmud with their tutor. Naftali knew this tractate by heart, and when the boys and their tutor were stumped by a question in the tractate, Naftali supplied them with the answer.
The innkeeper realized that this was a brilliant boy, and when he found out why Naftali was being kept in custody, he thought of a plan to save the boy's life. The innkeeper offered the guard free food and drinks, thus convincing him to stay at the inn for a few days until the weather cleared up.
After a while the innkeeper approached the guard casually: "What would happen if a prisoner was to die in custody as he was being escorted from one city to another?" he inquired.
Replied the guard, "The escort would simply have to present a document testifying to the prisoner's death, signed by the local authorities."
Using his connections, the innkeeper obtained the required document and handed it to the guard, along with enough money to bribe him. The guard left Naftali with the innkeeper, who took the boy in and raised him as if he was a member of his own family. Years passed. Naftali had become of marriageable age, as had the innkeeper's daughter. The innkeeper proposed a match between the two young people and they both agreed. The wedding date was set.
One night, sometime later, the innkeeper passed by Naftali's room and heard him talking. He peeked through the keyhole and saw Naftali sprawled on the floor, begging and pleading. "What can I do?" Naftali was saying, "these people saved my life." The scene repeated itself the next night. The innkeeper could not contain his curiosity, as he knew no one was in Naftali's room, and he asked Naftali for an explanation. "My parents keep appearing to me and telling me that your daughter is not my intended mate."
The innkeeper, realizing that a Heavenly hand was guiding the young man, told him to obey his parents' wishes, and that he bore Naftali no ill will.
Before Naftali left, he requested that the innkeeper give him a written account of the money paid on his behalf to bribe the guard so many years before.
"I have merited to fulfill the commandment of redeeming a hostage, and seek no reimbursement," exclaimed the righteous innkeeper. Naftali insisted and the innkeeper finally gave him a paper stating the sum paid to the guard. Naftali left and became famous for his exceptional qualities. He married and was appointed the rabbi of the city of Posen.
The innkeeper's daughter married a storekeeper, and settled in a town near Posen. One night, as she was walking home from the store, she was kidnapped by a wealthy landowner and brought back to his estate with obvious intentions. Despite the dangerous situation, the young woman maintained her composure. "I will go along with all your wishes," she told the landowner, "but first you must go to town to purchase some fine liquor for me."
The landowner readily agreed. While he was in town, the clever woman looked for a means of escape from the mansion. The only window she found unbarred was very high up. Realizing the jump was dangerous, she looked for something to cushion her fall. She found the landowner's heavy lambskin overcoat and, wrapping herself in it, offered a prayer and leaped out the window. Miraculously, she was not hurt. She fled home, still wrapped in the coat. The husband was thankful for his wife's narrow escape. He related the entire incident to the rabbi of Posen.
Rabbi Naftali told the husband, "Your wife is a righteous woman and her level-headedness is admirable. G-d is truly with her. Open the seam of the landowner's coat, and you will find money that rightfully belongs to you and your wife." A few days later, the landowner came into the husband's store to make a purchase. He complained about "some Jewish woman" who had not only outwitted him, but had managed to steal his overcoat that had a large sum of money sewn inside it.
The husband returned to Rabbi Naftali and told him what the landowner had said. "This finally concludes a much longer story," Rabbi Naftali replied, and proceeded to tell the husband the whole story of his arrest and ransom. "That landowner," he concluded, "was the guard who had escorted me. The amount of money in the coat is the sum that your father-in-law paid for my release. Wait, I will show you a bill which confirms the figure exactly."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from the rendition on //LChaimWeekly.org (#1010), with permission.
Connection: Weekly Reading of Lech Lecha (Gen 14:10-17 -- Abraham rescues from captivity his nephew and brother-in-law).
Biographical note (from: Rabbi Naftali HaKohen Katz: His Life & Legacy & Ethical Will) Rabbi Naftali HaKohen Katz [c. 5409 - 5479 (c. 1648-1719)], an important sage and kabbalist, served as Head of the rabbinical court and the yeshiva of Ostroh (Ukraine), Posen (Poland) and Frankfurt-Am-Main (Germany), and at a certain time was also appointed as head of the Va'ad Arba Aratzot (‘the Council of the Four Lands’). At the end of his life he accepted an invitation to become the chief rabbi of Safed, but unfortunately he passed away on the ship to the Holy Land.
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Milestone Yehuda Barkan,75. https://www.timesofisrael.com/he-made-israel-laugh-actor-and-prankster-yehuda-barkan-dies-of-covid-19/
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Israeli breakthrough in brain mapping. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289966
Rav Kanievsky recovers from Covid. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290047
Inyanay Diyoma
Sudan asylum seekers will go home with peace. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BkHFL9fdD
https://www.debka.com/the-us-brokered-sudan-israel-pact-will-also-help-deradicalize-the-region/
Pittsburgh Synagogues move because of security and Covid19. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Hyc1QiGuw
Ed-Op Bederman
Al Qaeda Leader killed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289763
Locked down teens brawl Jew killed by Arabs. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289763
Horse Manure of Netanyahu no building permits. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289763
Man attacked by Arab MK. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289776
Exercise to fight Hezballah kicks off. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289782
Northwestern’s President Condemns Student Protesters ‘This isn’t actually speaking truth to power or furthering your cause. It is an abomination and you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Northwestern University President Morton Schapiro in an Oct. 19 letter:
Over the weekend I received many messages of concern about protests organized by some of our students, among others, who are demanding the abolition of the Northwestern University Police Department. . . . I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the overstepping of the protesters. They have no right to menace members of our academic and surrounding communities. When students and other participants are vandalizing property, lighting fires and spray-painting phrases such as “kill the pigs,” we have moved well past legitimate forms of free speech.
I want to offer a personal illustration of the pain these protesters have caused. Many gathered outside my home this weekend into the early hours of the morning, chanting “f--- you Morty” and “piggy Morty.” The latter comes dangerously close to a longstanding trope against observant Jews like myself. Whether it was done out of ignorance or out of anti-Semitism, it is completely unacceptable, and I ask them to consider how their parents and siblings would feel if a group came to their homes in the middle of the night to wake up their families with such vile and personal attacks. To those protesters and their supporters who justify such actions, I ask you to take a long hard look in the mirror and realize that this isn’t actually “speaking truth to power” or furthering your cause. It is an abomination and you should be ashamed of yourselves.
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Thousands sent to unnecessary isolation. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289889
Attempt to steal soldier’s gun foiled. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289862
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Senior Defense Officials worried. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HJPNnU700D
Israel cannot afford capsules for grades 1 and 2. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HJPNnU700D
A gulf that will destroy the State. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/BkIe25Sww
Baby attacked by Jackal in Tel Aviv. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289853
Trump acknowledges Rabbis Support. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289834
Jews for Trump convoy attacked. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289825
Rescues on the Kinneret. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289794
Democrats want us to shut up and vote. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289832
Inspector General on Health Min. failures. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkMeJDVOP
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UAE lawmaker: Hamas & PLO murderers. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289927
New Supreme Court Justice. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289925
Hamas frees Zoom for Peace man. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S1n11ecV00D
Ed-Op Ben Yishai ME Plan not about Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S1qsYaG00D
Netanyahu let himself ignore logic and official hierarchy in a manner more befitting a dictator than a democratically elected prime minister.
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Boston man burns ballot box. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289915
Seniors tell off Kamala on Health. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289911
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FBI Director on way out if Trump reelected. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289885
New Corona fight director chosen. https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-next-coronavirus-czar-named-as-former-idf-medical-chief-nachman-ash/
7 Al Qaeda leaders killed in Syria. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289934
76% of Israelis don’t trust Gov. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289941
Trump brought peace to ME. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289963
Rav Batzri Shlita prayer for reelection. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289959
Phila. Riot. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289961
Study – antibodies are not long lasting. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289948
Drill against Hezballah makes them call up reserves. https://www.debka.com/hizballah-mobilizes-reservists-to-counter-israels-military-drill-report/
Iran builds more underground. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290004
Israel taps Baal Teshuva General to head Holocaust Memorial. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkwPYl800D
Tucker and whistle blower full: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pg8yFvUD8I
Trump parade in Yerushalayim. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/S1b00LyIdw
Up to 10 countries could make peace. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289992
Unemployment benefits come to people over 67 who have to work to survive. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/SkxibeUuP
Israel corrects injustice to IDF Orphans. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289980
Israeli breakthrough in brain mapping. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/289966
Melania Biden will destroy the USA. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290001
Twitter bans NY Post but not Holocaust Denial. https://www.timesofisrael.com/twitter-ceo-suggests-holocaust-denial-not-banned-on-platform-in-senate-grilling/
20% of Israelis emotionally traumatized. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290032
Biden concerned over F35 sale to gulf. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290090
Sudan reconciliation. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290092
Israeli foothold in Africa. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290084
Arabs throw 8 firebombs in Yeru. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290078
Undercover Police captures firebomber. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290022
Attack in Nice. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/278272
Iran planning attack on top Pentagon Officials. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290155
France braces for Islamic Attacks. https://www.debka.com/two-killed-in-knife-attack-in-french-town-of-nice/
Vaccines may not work for all. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290111
20% of anti-Israel posts are fake. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290107
Israel-Lebanon Maritime talks. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Bkh9cPOuP
Trump and Biden appeal to FL voters. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryD2xF00uw
Biden path on Iran uncertain. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HkFaEAU00w
Charedim weighing Corona Education. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkjuamEOv
Synagogues to open with only ten people (Absurd as one needs a spare or two if a person steps out for a minute for whatever reason). https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290146
Iran claims to have hacked three substations large electrical blackout. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290149
Firebomb barrage in Shomron. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290148
US cases of Covid pass 9,000,000. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290147
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Wife who was scalped, face slashed and body stabbed release from hospital. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290137
Former Democrat Assemblyman supports Trump – Democrats are dangerous. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290138
Vietnam Church burned to ground by BLM. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290135
Accept Shabbos early for a Trump Victory. https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/1914376/renowned-bnei-brak-posek-calls-to-accepts-shabbos-early-for-trumps-victory.html?fbclid=IwAR2V1U6JTyzi4gGcWCxDUj6xCoRLV9h-vB6nMWWb5bgNiHgpY-BENTNSSMA
Kosher store vandal was a terrorist. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/290134
For my US Readers it is a Mitzvah to love thy neighbor as thyself vote don’t complain.
Have a healthy, happy and peaceful Shabbos,
Rachamim Pauli
