Please remove Yosef ben Esther from the prayer list his soul has come to rest.
Parsha Vayeshev Part 1
Rabbi Simcha HaCohain Kuk Shlita years
ago pointed out G-D’s vacation in this Parsha. No mention is made of an active
G-D. What is G-D doing behind the scenes? He is making Moshiach Ben David and
Moshiach Ben Yosef.
37:1 And Jacob dwelt in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan.
Yacov is now living with his father and has passed the age of 100. He is finally relaxing from the tremendous burdens of taking care of the animals as his sons take over running the grazing of the herd, flocks and camels.
2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being still a lad even with the sons of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father.
Favoritism a big mistake. There should have been listen in the generations of Yacov twelve sons and not Yosef alone. Yosef was a tattle tale even if the improper behavior was true. It was up to him to give them Mussar even if they were his elders in years.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a coat of many colors.
I think Reuven as he matured realized that Yosef looked like Rachel and he received the love that Rachel could not give him. However, Shimon and perhaps Levi were jealous for the sake of Reuven and their mother. The special coat and other favoritism got his brothers jealous
4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them: 'Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: 7 for, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves came round about, and bowed down to my sheaf.' 8 And his brethren said to him: 'Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?' And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.
Yosef lived between 1700 and 1800 years before Perkei Avos. Chapter 1:17 His son, Shimon, (ben Rabban Gamliel) would say: All my life I have been raised among the wise, and I have found nothing better for the body than silence. The essential thing is not study, but deed. And one who speaks excessively brings on sin.
3:13 Rabbi Akiva would say: Jesting and frivolity accustom a person to promiscuity. Tradition is a safety fence to Torah, tithing a safety fence to wealth, vows a safety fence for abstinence; a safety fence for wisdom is silence.
9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brethren, and said: 'Behold, I have dreamed yet a dream: and, behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me.' 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren; and his father rebuked him, and said unto him: 'What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down to thee to the earth?'
Yacov seeing the reaction of the brothers rebuked him but realized that according to the dream greatness awaited Yosef. (But it would not come either easy to Yosef or to poor Yacov who was just starting to enjoy retirement.)
11 And his brethren envied him; but his father kept the saying in mind. 12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem. 13 And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and I will send thee unto them.' And he said to him: 'Here am I.' 14 And he said to him: 'Go now, see whether it is well with thy brethren, and well with the flock; and bring me back word.' So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.
Yacov had no idea to what extent the hatred and jealousy had poisoned his sons.
15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field. And the man asked him, saying: 'What seek thou?' 16 And he said: 'I seek my brethren. Tell me, I pray thee, where they are feeding the flock.'
Yosef is looking for brothers but they are not acting that way.
17 And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.' And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan. 18 And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him. 19 And they said one to another: 'Behold, this dreamer comes. 20 Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say: An evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams.'
When HASHEM has a plan you can plan all you want in the end HE will carry out HIS will against yours.
21 And Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand; and said: 'Let us not take his life.' 22 And Reuben said unto them: 'Shed no blood; cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand upon him'--that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
I think we are better than Esav and even he did not murder his brother!
23 And it came to pass, when Joseph was come unto his brethren, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him; 24 and they took him, and cast him into the pit--and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
The pit had snakes and scorpions – Rashi.
25 And they sat down to eat bread; and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and, behold, a caravan of Ishmaelites came from Gilead, with their camels bearing spicery and balm and ladanum, going to carry it down to Egypt.
They sat down to eat while Yosef is in a pit with snakes and scorpions and hungry.
26 And Judah said unto his brethren: 'What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? 27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh.' And his brethren hearkened unto him.
Yehuda does not always make the best decision but he leads and takes the consequences for it.
28 And there passed by Midianites, merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they brought Joseph into Egypt. 29 And Reuben returned unto the pit; and, behold, Joseph was not in the pit; and he rent his clothes. 30 And he returned unto his brethren, and said: 'The child is not; and as for me, whither shall I go?' 31 And they took Joseph's coat, and killed a he-goat, and dipped the coat in the blood;
Why a goat? Why a coat? It is Karma or measure for measure of Yacov deceiving Yitzchak with the hair of a goat. As he left is father for 22years so too Yosef would be away from him 22years.
32 and they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father; and said: 'This have we found. Know now whether it is thy son's coat or not.' 33 And he knew it, and said: 'It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.' 34 And Jacob rent his garments, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days.
Yacov knew that he could get Olam HaBa with 12 sons but less and missing his favorite son. He could not be comforted.
35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said: 'Nay, but I will go down to the grave to my son mourning.' And his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.
When somebody is dead eventually the person can move on but when somebody is alive he is not forgotten.
I picked up the following story fresh this morning. The making of Moshiach Ben David and Ben Yosef will be continued next week.
The Private Hanukah Miracle of Dror Zuckerman translated by R. Pauli
Dror appeared on Arutz 2 Television Today after the 9 AM News. Dror was part of the special elite Duduvan Brigade. He was serving in the Shomron and saw a suspicious person coming at them. He asked his commander HY”D for permission to fire. He did not get it. He stationed himself in between the terrorist and this commander. The terrorist came close he blew himself up with his body flying in one direction and Dror in another as the terrorist’s grenade went off.
The patrol’s paramedic arrived and the call
went out for a helicopter medivac. The paramedic told Dror keep yourself away
for if you sleep you might not wake up. Dror stayed away through the processing
at the hospital. He soon was in a coma and operated upon.
The Doctors were unsure if he would or could wake up. On the 8th
night of Hanukah almost being declared dead he regained consciousness.
The physical wounds seemed to recover in about two months. On a trip to South America all of a sudden, Dror found himself with fears of explosions and other things. It took a very long time to over-come his PTSD.
Now Dror is a personal trainer specializing in people with disabilities or recovering. Dror also gives pep talks on PTSD and how to manage with it.
Oldest Greek Holocaust Survivor passes away by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
https://www.aish.com/jw/s/Oldest-Greek-Holocaust-Survivor-Passes-Away.html
Esther Cohen who survived Auschwitz, died at the age of 96. This is her Story.
It was early in the morning of March 25, 1944. Seventeen-year-old Esther (also known as “Stella” in Greek) Cohen was at home with her parents and six siblings when the call went through the town of Ioannina, near the northwestern border of Greece: all the Jews were being arrested by the Nazi authorities, with the help from local Greek police officers.
For years, the Jews in Ioannina had been keenly following the war, but for much of that time they were relatively safe. Fascist Italy, not Germany, controlled the region, and the Italian authorities did not round up the region’s Jews. However, after Italy surrendered to the Allies in September 1943, German troops moved into Greece to take over the country. These German Nazis were very different from their Italian former allies. Suddenly, Greek Jews found themselves in the same grave danger as their co-religionists in the rest of occupied Europe, hunted and killed simply for the “crime” of being Jews.
In the early days of the German occupation, Ioannina’s Jewish leaders did little, hoping that the new German overlords would somehow spare them. At first that seemed like it might be the case; the Germans assured Ioannina’s Jewish community that they would be safe. The Jews of the thriving Greek city of Thessaloniki had been arrested and deported to concentration camps, the Nazis explained, but that would not happen to Ioannina’s Jews who were much more integrated and less overtly Jewish, the Nazis assured them.
Indeed, Jews had lived in Ioannina since the destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 CE. The community was Romaniote, an ancient Jewish sub-group with their own distinctive customs and language. The Nazis explained that Thessaloniki’s Jews, which traced their history to the years after the Spanish Inquisition in 1492 when many Sephardi (“Spanish”) Jews fled to Greece, spoke the Jewish Language Ladino. That rendered them offensive and different, the Nazis explained, whereas Ioannina’s Jews spoke the Jewish language Romaniot (also called Yevanik) and that made them more acceptable. Though this was palpably nonsense, it seems that the town’s Jewish leaders were willing to be reassured.
In March of 1944, the leader of the Ioannina Jewish Community Board, Dr. Moses Koffinas, was arrested by the Nazis. While in custody, he overheard plans to deport Ioannina’s Jews, and he managed to write a letter to another board member, Sabetai Kabelis, warning him of the plans. For reasons that are lost to history, Mr. Kabelis did nothing to act on Dr. Koffinas’ warning – and on March 25, the entire 1,800 Jewish population of Ioannina was rounded up and sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. A few Jews did manage to escape to the mountains where they joined partisan fighting units, but nearly all the rest of the town’s Jews were slaughtered.
“All you could hear was ‘Oh my God,’ mourning, crying…” Esther Cohen later recalled that horrific morning. “Old people with white hair running wearing their slippers, babies crying, screaming – and my Mom saying how are we going to leave our house? ‘We’ll be back Mom, don’t worry!’”
The Jews were forced at gunpoint to gather in the town’s Mavili square. “When we reached Mavili with their guns pointed at us, the Germans made us get into trucks to begin the journey,” Esther remembered. Years later, she was hardly able to describe what happened next: “I cannot describe – I can’t – why my God, why? What did we do wrong? There is one God for everyone – why do you hurt us so much?”
The Ioannina Jews finally arrived in Auschwitz, where most were sent to their deaths immediately. “The parents, they put them together inside other cars,” Esther remembered, “men, children – cars full of them left. We didn’t see any of them ever again.”
That was the last time Esther ever saw her parents, as the truck they were forced on pulled away to take them to their deaths. Esther and about fifty other girls were left behind to work as slaves. “Girls, defend your honor!” the adults on the truck called out to their precious daughters as they were taken away.
“One day when our heads were being shaved by one of the prisoners,” Esther explains, “she asked me what had become of my parents. I said that I didn’t know. She pointed to the flames coming out of the crematorium and said, ‘There they are, burning.’”
Esther managed to escape from Auschwitz with the help of a Nazi doctor who’d managed to hide from his colleagues the fact that he had some Jewish ancestry. She was ill and in the prison hospital when orders came through to take all of the infirmary’s patients to the gas chambers. The doctor helped Esther hide, and she survived until January 27, 1945, when Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet forces.
Esther found out that out of her entire family only her sister had survived. They were two of the fifty Jews from all of Ioannina who were still alive.
Esther returned to Ioannina and went to her family’s house. “I knocked on the door and a stranger opened it,” she recalled. “He asked me what I wanted and I told him that it was my house. ‘Do you remember whether there was an oven here?’ he asked me. ‘Why yes, of course,’” Esther replied, “‘we used to bake bread and beautiful pies’... ‘Well get out of here then! You may have got away from the ovens in Germany, but I’ll cook you right here in your own home.’ I was horrified.”
Esther remained in Ioannina and married a fellow Jew named Samuel, who was one of the handful of Jews who’d managed to escape to the mountains and had fought the Nazis. Together, they tried to track down some of Esther’s family’s belongings which had been pillaged by her neighbors.
“I found out that the metropolitan bishop had our two singer sewing machines,” she recalled. “I went and asked for them to be returned to me, but I was told that they had been given to the regional authorities. There, they asked me to produce the serial numbers of the machines before they would look for them… I raised my arm and showed them the indelible number from Auschwitz,” she recalled. “‘This is the only number I remember,’ I told them and left.”
Esther and Samuel had a daughter who couldn’t stand the intense anti-Semitism that continued to mark Ioannina. One day in the 1960s, a high school teacher called her daughter a “damn Jew”. “She never got over the insult,” Esther explained. “As soon as she finished the year she moved to Israel. She never came back.”
Despite these and other horrible experiences of prejudice, Esther never left Greece. “We were scared. We were unloved by everyone,” she said, yet still she stayed in the country.
In 2014, German President Joachim Gauck paid an official visit to Greece and requested a meeting with Esther. By then, she was only one of a handful of Jews who were still alive in Ioannina, and at the age of 90, was well known in the country. Esther did agree to meet him, but was unsure what to say. “I feel odd, shaken,” she told journalists before their meeting. “I want to ask him where such hate came from, to burn millions of people alive because it just so happened that they were of a different religion. Should I accept an apology? Nothing can make up for what they did to us. I have no one to see me off when I do die… They left no one; everyone was burned.”
When President Gauck finally did arrive in Ioannina, he visited the town’s synagogue with Esther. Drawing upon the depths of her experience, in that moment Esther did have a key, crucial message to convey to the German President and to the world: “The world must know that human must not be inhuman,” she explained. It was a broken sentence, but conveyed a deep message: we all must hold on to our common humanity, and the horrors of the Holocaust can never be allowed to happen – God forbid – again.
A Taste of Heaven by Sara Yocheved Rigler (Story 1 of 3)
https://www.aish.com/sp/so/48900627.html
An Incredible Jerusalem Family Brings Shabbos to the World
One Shabbat a young American student from the Hebrew University was among the 100 guests who crowded into the modest Jerusalem apartment of Rabbi Mordechai and Henny Machlis. This student, wearing a nose ring and an eyebrow ring, was determined to undermine every word of Torah Rabbi Machlis tried to share with his guests. Every time Rabbi Machlis spoke, the student would yell out, "That's stupid!" or "That's archaic!" or he would laugh out loud.
The seemingly infinite patience of Rabbi Machlis almost gave out. He sat down and said to his wife, "That's it. He's just too disruptive."
Henny encouraged her husband. "Ignore what he says. Don't speak to him; speak to his neshama [soul]."
"Why do you have that dumb thing in your nose?" The student retorted, "Why do you have that dumb thing on your head?"
Mordechai somehow continued. At the end of the meal, the obnoxious student left. As he walked out the door, seven-year-old Moshe, one of the Machlises' thirteen children, asked him, "Why do you have that dumb thing in your nose?"
The student retorted, "Why do you have that dumb thing on your head?"
Moshe answered: "Because I always have to know that there's something above me and higher than me and better than me. Now why do you have that dumb thing in your nose?"
The student returned to his dorm room and wrote in his diary: "Just imagine – that little kid knows why he's wearing a Kipa, but I have no idea why I'm wearing a nose ring."
Three days later he returned to the Machlises' apartment, and announced, "I want to learn more about what it means to be a Jew. And I want to learn how to put on tefillin."
For more than two decades Rabbi Mordechai and Henny Machlis have opened their home to an amazing assortment of Shabbat guests. Every week 60-100 guests show up for Friday night dinner, and an equal number for Shabbat lunch. Who comes? Travelers, yeshiva students, university students, the homeless, the mentally ill, Hadassah ladies, tourists, lost souls, U.J.A. mission visitors, new immigrants, drunkards, widows, orphans, Sar El volunteers for Israel, Birthright participants, and truth seekers.
While most of their guests are from English-speaking countries, the Machlis family has hosted people from every continent, and from countries as far away as Japan, China, and the Philippines.
Some people come hungry for food -- the ample helpings of home-cooked gefilte fish, chicken soup, chicken with barbeque sauce, at least three kinds of kugel, an array of salads, vegetarian alternatives, and four kinds of cake. Of course, destitute souls could pick up food at a public soup kitchen, but what is Shabbat without Shabbat songs and words of Torah, which Rabbi Machlis provides as profusely as his wife's cooking?
Some people come hungry for love and warmth. Two orphaned young women in their early twenties have an apartment and good jobs, but on Shabbat they miss the family atmosphere they once knew. A refined 67-year-old widow ate alone every Shabbat for five years after her husband died; her independent persona dissuaded her friends from inviting her. Now all three enjoy the palpable warmth of the Machlis table.
Some people come for the spiritual inspiration and unconditional acceptance Rabbi Machlis radiates. Religious and secular guests sit side-by-side, most wearing kipot, some opting not to. Most people say the appropriate blessings, often for the first time; some opt not to. Everyone is encouraged to say a few words, of introduction or wisdom or personal reflection. Everyone is lovingly received.
A smattering of gentiles, curious to experience a Jewish Sabbath, manage to find their way to the Machlis house on Shabbat.
Once a group of ten Mormons came for Shabbat. When it was their turn to speak, each one rose and politely thanked the Machlises for their hospitality. When the last Mormon -- a young woman -- rose to speak, she burst into tears. She finally managed to compose herself, and declared: "I'm Jewish. Both my parents are Jewish. This is the first time I'm in a real Jewish home. I had no idea how beautiful Judaism is."
Once an American man in his early twenties partook of all the Shabbat meals at the Machlis home. At the end of Shabbat, he approached Rabbi Machlis and admitted that he was confused. Although his mother was born Jewish, she had raised him completely secular. In fact, he had become a born-again Christian, and had come to Israel with an Evangelical group in order to missionize the Jews. But what he had seen over Shabbat revealed that, contrary to what he had thought, Judaism was a vibrant, profound religion, full of love and compassion.
After a long conversation, he and Rabbi Machlis agreed that the young man would return with his whole Evangelical group the next day for lunch, and Rabbi Machlis would engage in a debate with the head of the group, who had a master's degree in theology. If Rabbi Machlis's arguments prevailed, the young man decided, he would enroll in a yeshiva to study Judaism; if his group leader won the debate, he would continue with his missionary activities.
Apparently Rabbi Machlis won, for the erstwhile missionary enrolled in yeshiva. The story did not end there, however. Several weeks later the fellow's mother flew to Israel. She stormed into the Machlis home and accused them of kidnapping her son into a cult. He had written that he would not eat in her home unless she made her kitchen kosher!
Mordechai calmed her down and brokered a deal between her and the heads of her son's yeshiva. Her son would return to America and study at a yeshiva close to home, on condition that she make her kitchen kosher.
Several years later, while attending a Torah class in New York, Henny ran into the young man, now sporting a beard. He told her that he was married, with two children, and that his mother also had become an observant Jew.
Sometimes Henny herself is surprised by the impact her home makes. One Rosh Hashanah, they had only 30 guests, including a young couple who had come to Israel for their honeymoon. The bride was an American reform Jew and the groom was a German gentile. The couple said very little, and seemed "pretty icy." Two years later, the Machlises received a letter beginning, "You probably don't remember us…" (Since there had been so few guests that Rosh Hashanah, Henny remembered them well.) The woman went on to write: "When we left your place, we said, ‘This is the kind of home we want to have -- the light and the warmth and the children.' I had never realized that there was anything more to being Jewish than what I grew up with. We started studying Torah. Then we started keeping Shabbat, then kashrut, then I started to go to the mikveh. We just want you to know that next week my husband will be undergoing an Orthodox conversion."
Both Mordechai and Henny are Brooklyn born and bred. Both of their fathers were Orthodox rabbis. Mordechai, born in 1952, has rabbinic ordination, an M.A. in Jewish history, and is close to finishing his Ph.D. in Talmud from Bar Ilan University. Mordechai is a much-loved rebbe and teacher in a men's yeshiva, and also teaches Jewish Studies at Bar Ilan.
Henny, born in 1958, has a B.S. in education plus a Hebrew teaching degree from Yeshiva University and studied dietetics at Brooklyn College. She used to teach Jewish subjects in adult education. Since the birth of her sixth child, she is a full-time mother and homemaker.
The couple met in 1979 in New York. Shortly after they started seeing each other, it became clear that, as Henny says, "We both wanted to share the love and the joy and the beauty of Judaism, and to share Shabbat with everyone."
The young couple wasted no time in actualizing their ideals. For the first three months after their wedding, they rented a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, so that they would have a room to accommodate homeless people. The very first Shabbat in their apartment, Mordechai brought home to his 21-year-old bride a mentally ill couple to sleep over and eat with them for Shabbat. This couple became regular guests for the whole period the newlyweds were in Brooklyn. Three months later, Mordechai and Henny actualized another cherished ideal. They moved to the holy city of Jerusalem.
Within a year, the Shabbat scene began. Mordechai prayed the Shabbat morning service at the Kotel. Walking through the Arab Shuk on his way home, the 27-year-old Mordechai encountered a middle-aged Jewish woman, an American tourist. He invited her to come home with him for Shabbat lunch. "I'd love to," she replied, "but I'm here with a few friends."
When Mordechai crossed his threshold a short while later, he had 40 Hadassah ladies in tow.
"Bring them along," Mordechai offered warmly. "There's enough food for everyone."
When Mordechai crossed his threshold a short while later, he had 40 Hadassah ladies in tow. Henny amiably cut up the gefilte fish into paper-thin portions. Impressed by the 22-year-old Henny's warmth and hospitality, the middle-aged women kept saying to her, "You remind me of my grandmother."
Another Shabbat both Mordechai and Henny were walking home from the Kotel. In the Shuk, they met a doctor from Holland who was in Israel for a laser convention. They invited him home for Shabbat lunch. After Mordechai made Kiddush, he passed small cups of grape juice around to his guests. The Dutch doctor's hands were shaking so much that he could not grasp his cup. Finally, in an impassioned voice, he declared: "This is my first Jewish experience. Both my parents are Jewish, and Holocaust survivors. They would not let any Judaism into our home at all. Even when my son was born, they insisted that we not circumcise him. When I get back to Holland, I'm going to start studying about my Jewish roots."
Within two or three years of their marriage, the Machlises were hosting 20-30 guests at each Shabbat meal. From there, "it just grew. We bought another table, and filled it. We just kept adding tables."
Ninety people fit tightly into the Machlises' book-lined living room. The two sofas and the imitation Oriental rug, the only furnishings in the room during the week, are moved out for Shabbat. The overflow of guests sits in the fiberglass-roofed courtyard. When the guests exceed even the courtyard -- as they often do, depending on the season -- they sit in the small kitchen or at the tables set up outside the front door of the garden apartment. Henny's dream is to have the money to expand the living room, so everyone can sit together comfortably.
The Machlises' hospitality is not reserved for Shabbat. Rare are the days when needy persons are not sleeping in the Machlises' extra beds, or on their two couches, or on the rug in the living room. Every night one, two, or three men, too drunk or crazy to want to sleep inside the house, sleep in the Machlises' van. When Mordechai leaves for work in the morning, he can tell how many "van guests" he has by how many pairs of shoes he sees in the front windshield.
Once a drunk Russian immigrant in his early fifties came for Shabbat dinner. When everyone else had left, the Machlises discovered this man asleep on the floor. He woke up, vomited, and was invited to sleep on the couch. He stayed for a few months, during which time he gave up alcohol cold turkey. When he started to suffer withdrawal symptoms, Henny, alarmed, called up specialists to make sure it was safe for him. Eventually, they found him a job and an apartment.
Mordechai and Henny's ingenuous, non-judgmental acceptance makes them a magnet for troubled people. One day an American man, disheveled and emotionally distraught, came to their house. He told them he had no money, no place to live, and no food. So, as usual, they invited him to stay with them. Then he told them a story that was hard to believe. He claimed that he was a prominent attorney, a graduate of a prestigious law school, and that he was being pursued in the United States by certain people who had grievances against him related to his law practice. He said that he had fled to Israel a few days before with nothing but the shirt on his back, but that he owned a large house in New Jersey filled with his valuable possessions.
Since the man was an emotional wreck, anyone else would have dismissed his claims as wild ravings. Henny and Mordechai gave him the benefit of the doubt. They asked friends in America to check out his story.
It turned out that it was all true -- including the house in New Jersey. These friends, granted power of attorney, managed over a period of months to sell the house, pack up all of its contents, and send them to him in Israel. Today the attorney is successfully practicing law in Israel. He is happily married and owns a large apartment in Jerusalem.
Often during the week destitute people pop into the Machlis home and ask if they can help themselves to staples from the kitchen shelves. The answer is always, "yes." A fortune of tuna fish and canned vegetables disappears this way.
In addition to the Machlises' 13 children, Mordechai and Henny have scores of spiritual progeny -- couples who have found each other at the Machlis home or people who have been inspired to become observant by the Machlises' example. When these people have no money to pay the rent or buy food, whom do they turn to? Their spiritual parents, Rabbi and Rebbetzin Machlis, of course!
The massive Shabbat meals cost the Machlises at least $2,000 a week. Where does the money come from?
The Machlises live frugally, and over the years have borrowed enough money to finance their Shabbat project. Now, however, they are facing a financial crunch which puts the future of their Shabbat hospitality in jeopardy. Their apartment already mortgaged to the hilt and the coffers of a charitable fund set up to help pay for the food now empty, the Machlises are hoping desperately for donors to come forward and join them in their undertaking.
The specter of abandoning a project which feeds so many hungry people at a time when more Israelis than ever are in need fills Henny with apprehension. Where will the orphans, the widows, the mentally ill, and the homeless who have become regulars at the Machlis table go? Readers who want to take part in this huge mitzvah can make a contribution (which is tax deductible in the United States) to: American Friends of Hesed L’Orchim, 552 E. 5th St., Brooklyn, NY 11218.
May the light of the Machlis Shabbat table never be extinguished.
Visit the Machlis website at http://www.machlis.org
The beloved Henny Machlis passed away on Friday, Oct. 16, 2015/Cheshvan 3, 5776. May her soul be bound with the bonds of life.
This story was written Nov 7, 2009 and the two other stories 2002 and 2017 devoted to Henny. Ble Neder next week.
Hanukah Story – Condense from Dr. Nissan Mandel
https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102978/jewish/The-Story-of-Chanukah.htm
More than 2000 years ago there was a time when the land of Israel was part of the Syrian-Greek Empire, dominated by Syrian rulers of the dynasty of the Seleucids.
In order to relate the story that led up to Chanukah, we shall start with Antiochus III, the King of Syria, who reigned from 3538 to 3574 (222-186 B.C.E.). He had waged war with King Ptolemy of Egypt over the possession of the Land of Israel. Antiochus III was victorious and the Land of Israel was annexed to his empire. At the beginning of his reign he was favorably disposed toward the Jews and accorded them some privileges. Later on, however, when he was beaten by the Romans and compelled to pay heavy taxes, the burden fell upon the various peoples of his empire who were forced to furnish the heavy gold that was required of him by the Romans. When Antiochus died, his son Seleucus IV took over, and further oppressed the Jews.
Added to the troubles from the outside were the grave perils that threatened Judaism from within. The influence of the Hellenists (people who accepted idol-worship and the Syrian way of life) was increasing. Yochanan, the High Priest, foresaw the danger to Judaism from the penetration of Syrian-Greek influence into the Holy Land. For, in contrast to the ideal of outward beauty held by the Greeks and Syrians, Judaism emphasizes truth and moral purity, as commanded by G‑d in the holy Torah. The Jewish people could never give up their faith in G‑d and accept the idol-worship of the Syrians.
Yochanan was therefore opposed to any attempt on the part of the Jewish Hellenists to introduce Greek and Syrian customs into the land. The Hellenists hated him. One of them told the King’s commissioner that in the treasury of the Temple there was a great deal of wealth.
The wealth in the treasury consisted of the contributions of "half a shekel" made by all adult Jews annually. That was given for the purpose of the sacrifices on the altar, as well as for fixing and improving the Temple building. Another part of the treasury consisted of orphans’ funds which were deposited for them until they became of age. Seleucus needed money in order to pay the Romans. He sent his minister Helyodros to take the money from the treasury of the Temple. In vain did Yochanan, the High Priest, beg him not to do it. Helyodros did not listen and entered the gate of the Temple. But suddenly, he became pale with fright. The next moment he fainted and fell to the ground. After Helyodros came to, he did not dare enter again.
A short time later, Seleucus was killed and his brother Antiochus IV began to reign over Syria (in 3586 - 174 B.C.E.). He was a tyrant of a rash and impetuous nature, contemptuous of religion and of the feelings of others. He was called "Epiphanes," meaning "the gods’ beloved." Several of the Syrian rulers received similar titles. But a historian of his time, Polebius, gave him the epithet Epimanes ("madman"), a title more suitable to the character of this harsh and cruel king.
Desiring to unify his kingdom through the medium of a common religion and culture, Antiochus tried to root out the individualism of the Jews by suppressing all the Jewish Laws. He removed the righteous High Priest, Yochanan, from the Temple in Jerusalem, and in his place installed Yochanan’s brother Joshua, who loved to call himself by the Greek name of Jason. For he was a member of the Hellenist party, and he used his high office to spread more and more of the Greek customs among the priesthood.
Joshua or Jason was later replaced by another man, Menelaus, who had promised the king that he would bring in more money than Jason did. When Yochanan, the former High Priest, protested against the spread of the Hellenists’ influence in the Holy Temple, the ruling High Priest hired murderers to assassinate him.
Antiochus was at that time engaged in a successful war against Egypt. But messengers from Rome arrived and commanded him to stop the war, and he had to yield. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a rumor spread that a serious accident had befallen Antiochus. Thinking that he was dead, the people rebelled against Menelaus. The treacherous High Priest fled together with his friends.
Antiochus returned from Egypt enraged by Roman interference with his ambitions. When he heard what had taken place in Jerusalem, he ordered his army to fall upon the Jews. Thousands of Jews were killed. Antiochus then enacted a series of harsh decrees against the Jews. Jewish worship was forbidden; the scrolls of the Law were confiscated and burned. Sabbath rest, circumcision and the dietary laws were prohibited under penalty of death. Even one of the respected elders of that generation, Rabbi Eliezer, a man of 90, was ordered by the servants of Antiochus to eat pork so that others would do the same. When he refused they suggested to him that he pick up the meat to his lips to appear to be eating. But Rabbi Eliezer refused to do even that and was put to death.
There were thousands of others who likewise sacrificed their lives. The famous story of Hannah and her seven children happened at that time.
Antiochus’s men went from town to town and from village to village to force the inhabitants to worship pagan gods. Only one refuge area remained and that was the hills of Judea with their caves. But even there did the Syrians pursue the faithful Jews, and many a Jew died a martyr’s death.
One day the henchmen of Antiochus arrived in the village of Modiin where Mattityahu, the old priest, lived. The Syrian officer built an altar in the marketplace of the village and demanded that Mattityahu offer sacrifices to the Greek gods. Mattityahu replied, "I, my sons and my brothers are determined to remain loyal to the covenant which our G‑d made with our ancestors!"
Thereupon, a Hellenistic Jew approached the altar to offer a sacrifice. Mattityahu grabbed his sword and killed him, and his sons and friends fell upon the Syrian officers and men. They killed many of them and chased the rest away. They then destroyed the altar.
Mattityahu knew that Antiochus would be enraged when he heard what had happened. He would certainly send an expedition to punish him and his followers. Mattityahu, therefore, left the village of Modiin and fled together with his sons and friends to the hills of Judea.
All loyal and courageous Jews joined them. They formed legions and from time to time they left their hiding places to fall upon enemy detachments and outposts, and to destroy the pagan altars that were built by order of Antiochus.
Before his death, Mattityahu called his sons together and urged them to continue to fight in defense of G d’s Torah. He asked them to follow the counsel of their brother Shimon the Wise. In waging warfare, he said, their leader should be Judah the Strong. Judah was called "Maccabee," a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words Mi Kamocha Ba’eilim Hashem, "Who is like You, O G‑d."
Antiochus sent his General Apollonius to wipe out Judah and his followers, the Maccabees. Though greater in number and equipment than their adversaries, the Syrians were defeated by the Maccabees. Antiochus sent out another expedition which also was defeated. He realized that only by sending a powerful army could he hope to defeat Judah and his brave fighting men.
An army consisting of more than 40,000 men swept the land under the leadership of two commanders, Nicanor and Gorgiash. When Judah and his brothers heard of that, they exclaimed: "Let us fight unto death in defense of our souls and our Temple!" The people assembled in Mitzpah, where Samuel, the prophet of old, had offered prayers to G‑d. After a series of battles, the war was won.
Now the Maccabees returned to Jerusalem to liberate it. They entered the Temple and cleared it of the idols placed there by the Syrian vandals. Judah and his followers built a new altar, which he dedicated on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev, in the year 3622 (139 B.C.E.).
Since the golden Menorah had been stolen by the Syrians, the Maccabees now made one of cheaper metal. When they wanted to light it, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. It was sufficient to light only for one day. By a miracle of G‑d, it continued to burn for eight days, till new oil was made available. That miracle proved that G‑d had again taken His people under His protection. In memory of this, our sages appointed these eight days for annual thanksgiving and for lighting candles.
The brightness of the first Chanukah light had dwindled down. But the holy fires on the altar burnt again in the Beit HaMikdash, from morning to morning, as prescribed by the Law. The priests were again busily officiating in the old customary ways, and day in, day out they prepared the offerings. Order and peace seemed established.
The Jewish farmer longed to return to his land after two years of hardship, privation and danger in the victorious Jewish army. It was high time to break the ground and to till the soil, if the barley was to grow and ripen in time for "Omer-offering" on Passover. The Jewish farmers had left their ploughs to rally about the heroic Chashmonayim. The first victories had drawn even the hesitant into the ranks of the enthusiastic Jewish rebels, led by the sons of Mattityahu. Farmers had forsaken their land, merchants and tradesmen their stores and shops. Even Torah students had emerged from the four walls of the Beit HaMidrash to join the fight against the oppressors.
But the songs of victory, which had filled the reclaimed Holy Temple with praise and gratitude for the merciful G‑d, had ceased. The goal of the battle seemed reached, and Torah again was supreme law in Israel.
One man, though, realized that the time for a return to normal living had not yet come. Israel could not yet afford to relax; it would have to stand ready and prepare to carry on the fight against the overwhelming odds of the enemy. This man was Judah Maccabi. His name was upon everyone’s lips and in every Jewish heart. He was admired as a hero, as a man with the heart of a lion and the simple piety of a child; as the one whose mighty armies fought and conquered, yet who never failed to pray to G‑d, the Master of all battles, before he entered the fray.
It was not the spirited warrior’s joy that made Judah Maccabi stay in camp. His heart, too, longed to return to his former peaceful life, to Modiin, the quiet town of priests, which held the grave of his adored father. Bloodshed and battle meant a hard and unwanted profession for the men of Judea, who preferred peace to strife. Yet this was no time for relenting. Not only had he to stay, but with all the persuasion of his magnetic personality he had to hold back his comrades-at-arms. His own reasoning and his two wise brothers, Shimon and Yonatan, told him that only the first phase of this war of liberation had passed. Hard and desperate times were yet to come. Clever enemies merely needed an extended lull to prepare new assaults with more troops and better equipment. And there were enemies all about Judea, besides the defeated Syrians. The neighboring countries begrudged the dazzling victories of the small Jewish armies. They would much rather have seen the people of Judea oppressed and humiliated, than armed and spirited, a threat to their own lands. Whence had come the sudden source of strength, courage and fortitude? What was there in this nation that made history in proud seclusion and isolation from other nations? Old hatred was revived. The descendants of Edom (the Idumeans), the Ammonites, the Philistines and Phoenicians, they all revived their ancient jealousies.
Messengers arrived from Gilead. The pagan people joined forces to destroy Judea. From Galilee came the bad news of similar evil intentions and active preparations in Ptolemais, Tyre and Zidon. The messengers found Judah Maccabi already at work. Fortifications had to be thrown up around Zion. Towers, walls, battlements and moat had to be constructed opposite the fort still held by their worst enemies, the Hellenistic Jews, under the leadership of the false priest Menelaus. These hated everything Jewish, and lived in the hope of the return of the Syrian masters. Judah Maccabi prepared Jerusalem against them and against imminent assault by the troops of Antiochus. Under his supervision the Jewish people worked feverishly to refill their arsenals and turn the whole country into a stronghold.
Once this most important task was accomplished, Judah Maccabi led his freshly trained troops to the aid of the regions and villages harassed by the spiteful neighbors of Judea. He drove the Idumeans from Hebron, which they had annexed, and he punished the people who had acted with hostility towards the Jewish settlers. Then he led his army across the Jordan River against the Ammonites. Their capital fell before the furious onslaught of the Jewish troops, and so did their fortress, Yaeser. Judah’s brother Shimon led an army north to aid the plagued Jews of Galilee. He defeated the enemy and cleared the Jewish land. At his urging, a great many of the Jewish settlers who had fled to Jerusalem, returned to rebuild in safety what had been destroyed during the years of weakness. Judah Maccabi and Yonatan joined forces and marched against Gilead, where they were met with the toughest resistance. By Shavuot, this campaign was successfully concluded.
Judea was again free, and all parts captured by the neighboring nation had been recovered. Celebrations and festivity transformed Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, hardly half a year after the victories over the Syrian armies. The Jewish people expressed their joy and gratitude to G‑d in the form of psalms and offerings. For He had restored glory and liberty to the Jewish land.
Tikkun Olam in Alaska: https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HyREfGdqw#autoplay
Rabbi Lau stepped aside for his Bar Mitzvah. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292557
Menorah from the times of the Maccabees discovered. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292640
With Saar in the race polls change. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292770
Milestone Yosef Safra, 82. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292887
Milestone Av Beis Din Gedalia Dov Schwartz, 94, Chicago Din Torah. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292858
Inyanay Diyoma
Hezballah infiltrated via a drone and photographed IDF bases. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292552
5.2 or 5.5 quake in sea near Turkey felt. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292549
Bahrain will not import west bank products. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292551
Clinton, Bush, Obama to vaccinate in front of cameras will Netanyahu and Edelstein do the same? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292550
PLO teen dies after being shot for terror (claim). https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292543
3,000,000 more vaccines from Moderna. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292543
Missionaries selling fake or empty Mezuzahs. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292526
104year old survives Corona. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292534
Law forbidding private ownership of big cats. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-passes-tiger-king-bill-to-outlaw-private-ownership-of-big-cats
US Senator fights sex trafficking. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/hawley-pornhub-trafficking-victims-sue
Early Winter 5cm on Mt. Hermon. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ByHzckFiD#autoplay
US to return to traditional Gulf Security. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Hyxu11VBoP
Women lag behind men even when leaders. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/SyamdEBiv
Wedding outside of settlement leads to 44 cases. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/Skz1ArUoP
Former Likud Minister: Netanyahu cannot be believed. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HJx94NUjv
Highest Alert for Iranian Attacks in various parts of the world. https://www.debka.com/high-alert-for-iranian-hizballah-terror-in-revenge-for-scientists-death/
Psak Torah by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu: Everybody needs to get a Corona Vaccine. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292853
As Corona Cases rise, cabinet to meet. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/ryAw919ov
Trump assails vote integrity but requests larger turnout. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/HygDfxciw
Video of hidden suitcases of votes counted unsupervised. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292559
Will the politicians show leadership? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292550
Iranian leader transfers power to son. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292575
Rabbi Lau stepped aside for his Bar Mitzvah. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292557
Chinese moon probe on way back to earth. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/chinas-change-5-collects-samples-departs-from-the-moon/
UAE changes visa requirements Israelis stuck in airports. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292641
Story of Trump ignoring Biden inauguration surfaces. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292644
Possible new Corona restrictions. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292637
In the midst of a new outbreak. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292639
IDF needs a new approach to recruiting. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292608
Ed-Op Bederman: Front Line Workers are becoming exhausted. http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2020/12/05/front-line-medical-workers-exhausted-diane-bederman/
Menorah from the times of the Maccabees discovered. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292640
Trump Lawyer has Covid19. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292627
Fraud in Penn. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292639
The thief that was shot has two dead brothers shot while stealing. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292602
Bennett offers plan to prevent third lockdown. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292600
Aussies use dogs to sniff out Covid. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292590
"The fact that hundreds of doctors and scientists have been warning since the beginning of the outbreak, that lockdowns and restrictions are useless and only increase mortality by prolonging the epidemic and preventing immunity from developing in the young and healthy population - will not be mentioned in the newspaper. Dr. opposes Health Ministry Lockdowns. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292586
Ed-Op Caroline Glick on Biden, Iran and the Bomb. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292586
CNN is not fair and balanced. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292571
Israel’s infection rate is 3%. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkfraHsow
New Roads pave way for building in Yehuda and Shomron. https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/H1GfxLsoD
More precise Iranian Missiles. https://www.debka.com/while-harping-on-the-nuclear-issue-iran-builds-more-precise-missiles-and-uses-them/
US troop withdrawal leaves ME vacuum for Iran. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SJq411ihjD
Ed-OP Leshem Ganz leaving Government could help Netanyahu. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/H1FTPussD
Gideon Saar to leave the Likud. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292740
Satmar’s attend a giant funeral in NYC. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292707
Medical Authority against night curfew. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292744
Medical Miracle wounded IDF soldier returns to his guitar. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292665
Gen. Lloyd Austin tapped for US Min. of Defense. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292698
First Covid Vaccines to arrive in Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292687
Hypocrite Politicians don’t believe in lockdowns. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292693
Dr. Martin Sherman on Targeted Killings. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292663
Elections closer. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292679
Dennis Prager why does the left hate Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292677
I smell Chinese Germ Warfare. Mystery illness in India leaves hundreds ill, 1 dead - ABC7 New York (abc7ny.com)
(thanks to Sophia)
Morocco is the next peace agreement. Netanyahu promises 'very warm peace' with Morocco (ynetnews.com)
Lot of news and movement in Israel. https://www.debka.com/first-covid-vaccines-arrive-as-israels-ruling-party-splits-and-a-new-election-date-is-set/
Elections to be held March 16, 2021. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292796
From Barbara M. and Israel TV: People with “significant” allergic reactions are being warned not to get Pfizer’s new coronavirus vaccine — after two people needed treatment after being jabbed on the day it was launched in the UK. The unidentified duo — both staff in the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) — needed treatment for an “anaphylactoid reaction” Tuesday after they were among the first in the world to get the shot. MORE ON: COVID VACCINE Fauci touts vaccine but warns that US must overcome COVID-19 denial Benjamin Netanyahu will be first in Israel to get COVID-19 vaccine No drinking for two months after COVID-19 vaccine, Russia tells citizens Trump signs ‘America First’ COVID-19 vaccine executive order The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) immediately issued precautionary advice against vaccinating anyone with a history of “significant” allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines. “Two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday,” said professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the NHS in England, adding that “both are recovering well.” “The MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination,” he said, insisting the advice was “common with new vaccines.”
Russian Ambassador rebuked. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292806
Afternoon prayers in the desert. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292808
Disgusting a Jew against Hanukah. https://www.algemeiner.com/2020/12/09/goodbye-to-hanukkah-new-york-times-author-distances-herself-as-criticism-mounts/
Texas lawsuit with 17 other States most likely will not succeed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292777
3rd day Corona Cases close to 2,000. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SkJYRNyhw
Europe and guf expect Iranian retaliation against Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/H1fj78Csw
Hamas hackers target Arabic Speakers. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/H1fj78Csw
Israeli Second Moon Probe and Orbiter to be launched in 2024. https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/r1zjbS0jP
Senior Minister joins with Saar. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/DE96Y682G
Malls reopen. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SknGcLRiP
Because of Pandemic 268,000 HOUSEHOLDS in Israel now in extreme poverty that is 29% of households.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292791
Did a Chinese Communist say that Biden is Compromised? https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292797
FDA panel approves vaccine. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292899
Egyptian President invites Netanyahu for strategic discussions. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292848
Ed-Op Fishman Yisrael can no longer wait. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292858
Why masks after injection? Why Vaccinated People Still Need to Wear a Mask | Newsmax.com
Biden taps Susan Rice for domestic policy. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292909
Vaccinations start Dec. 27 @60,000 per day. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/292909
Have a good, peaceful and healthy Shabbos and Hanukah Samayach,
Rachamim Pauli
