Prayers for Men: Shalom Charles ben Gracia, Daniel ben Rivka, Ephraim ben Mazel, Zev ben Rachel, Yisrael Ben Dovid ben Drorah Rivka, Meir Melech ben Bracha, Nadav Chaim ben Iris Chaya, Avraham Noach ben Yehudit, Peter Bruce ben Golda Chaya,
Women: Karen Neshama bas Esther
Ruth, Chaya Melecha Rachel bas Baila Alta, Tsvia Simcha bas Devorah Yachad,
Miriam bas Irene Taita Malka, Drorah Rivka bas
Chana, Leah bas Sara, Esther Georgette bas Misooda, Mine’ Dulah bas
Maxine, Rachel Izel bas Sara, Devorah Rosa (row sa) bas Freyda Leah, re-added
temp. Miriam Esther bas Golda Chaya, Dina bas
Sara.
Op-Ed: AI by Rabbi Rachamim Pauli
The good part about AI is that although I was not
the first to invest in it, I invested a couple years ago after it had fallen in
half and was lucky to make theoretically some money it not quite Rothschild but
enough for a few presents to my grandchildren.
However, there is a bit of stress with it in human
interaction. Version did help a little but the last time with an agent it went
much better and quicker. However, I bought a new refrigerator from Home Depot
and had a problem with the Freezer. It took 10 to 15 minutes to get to the
correct brand and then an hour of my life and Torah Time texting. Today I think
that I have either a better programmed AI or human interface on slow texting
maybe to India or some place in the world. I got on at about 9:25 AM and as I
type this it is 10:20 AM and don’t have an appointment for a technician to
check out my problem. I am wondering if this AI or person is dealing with AI by
the technician service that it is taking ten minutes for an appointment? Oh
after 10 minutes got a text “on it”. “All set – they will call you for an
appointment”. Maybe in the days of the Moshiach and the next world?
As the Astronauts of my generation used to say:
“Houston we have a problem here.” This is without weapons systems turning into “The
Terminator”! As the two hours of texting ended – would you take a survey? A
= yes, B = skip. Rabbis try not to curse and it does not help telling AI where
it can go in the next world. I think anyway that the Satan is cunning enough
not to use it.
After waiting for both the Moshiach and the Technician,
I drove back to the Home Depot was told that within 48 hours they could replace
my refrigerator without questions so I called the number given and got a human
interface but after 36 hours the new Fridge started working.
Mind reading AI: https://i-hls.com/archives/119189
Geoffrey Hinton the “Godfather of AI” quit his
job at Google: “I left so I could talk about the dangers of AI without
considering how this impacts Google.”
Sir Isaac Newton A Law of Physics: Every action has
an equal and opposite reaction.
Op-Ed Rabbi Rachamim Pauli
I was a frontline
soldier and worked all my life with non-religious Zionist and I still have many
friends among them whom I am on the phone with weekly some What’s App daily.
But look what the
left’s protests are doing:
I just got a new
public opinion poll about the protests and the effect on the Charedi Community.
Places where even flags were flown on Israeli Independence Day on Schools had
flags being burnt on Lag B’Omer.
The protestors from
the left invading Bnei Brak is like having thousands of Charedim invading
Kibbutzim and Ramat Aviv on Shabbos blocking traffic and shouting “Shabbos!”
Thus, Charedim that
were thinking of integrating into Israeli Society and participating in the IDF
and Labor Market have been driven away in droves. “Better to be poor and rich
in fear of G-D than rich in money and turning into a Zionist pooh-pooh. You
never can bring closer to your ideas by throwing rocks, waving your flag, stepping
on somebody’s toe or spitting at him. Maybe love begets love and hate begets
hate!
Perhaps go back to
checking that your brakes are in order, tires the right pressure and your brain
in proper gear before trying to bulldoze your philosophy on the Charedi Community.
Parsha Bamidbar
We are still in the
time-frame of Rosh Chodesh Nissan 2449 to Pesach Sheni or 15 Iyar 2449 as Sefer
Bamidbar opens up.
1:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in
the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year
after they were come out of the land of Egypt, saying:
This is Rosh Chodesh
Iyar 2449 or a month after the start of the dedication of the Mishkan.
2 'Take ye the sum of all the
congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers'
houses, according to the number of names, every male, by their polls; 3 from twenty years old and
upward, all that are able to go forth to war in Israel: ye shall number them by
their hosts, even thou and Aaron.
All who are fit to go out to the
army: This informs [us] that no one went
out to the army below the age of twenty.
4 And with you there shall be a man of every tribe, every
one head of his fathers' house.
It appears that by the
age of 20, every male was married and a head of a household.
5 And these are the names of the
men that shall stand with you: of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur. 6 Of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of
Zurishaddai. 7 Of Judah, Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 8 Of Issachar, Nethanel the son of
Zuar. 9 Of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon. 10 Of the children of Joseph: of
Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud; of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of
Pedahzur. 11 Of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni. 12 Of Dan, Ahiezer the son of
Ammishaddai. 13 Of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran. 14 Of Gad, Eliasaph the son of
Deuel. 15 Of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.' 16 These were the elect of the
congregation, the princes of the tribes of their fathers; they were the heads
of the thousands of Israel.
It appears that HASHEM
chose the heads of the tribes.
17 And Moses and Aaron took these
men that are pointed out by name. 18 And they assembled all the
congregation together on the first day of the second month, and they declared
their pedigrees after their families, by their fathers' houses, according to
the number of names, from twenty years old and upward, by their polls.
Each Tribe was to take
their own census.
19 As the LORD commanded Moses, so
did he number them in the wilderness of Sinai.
The Pasuk establishes
where the census took place.
20 And the children of Reuben, Israel's first-born, their
generations, by their families, by their fathers' houses, according to the
number of names, by their polls, every male from twenty years old and upward,
all that were able to go forth to war; 21 those that were numbered of
them, of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five
hundred.
22 Of the children of Simeon, … were fifty and nine
thousand and three hundred. 24 … Gad, … were forty and five thousand six
hundred and fifty. 26 … Judah, … were
threescore and fourteen thousand and six hundred. 28 … Issachar, their generations, …
were fifty and four thousand and four hundred. 30 … Zebulun, … were fifty and seven thousand and
four hundred. 32 … Joseph, … of the tribe of Ephraim, were forty
thousand and five hundred. 34 … Manasseh, … were thirty and
two thousand and two hundred. 36 … Benjamin, … were thirty and
five thousand and four hundred. 38 … Dan, … were threescore and two
thousand and seven hundred. 40 … Asher, were forty and one
thousand and five hundred. 42 … Naphtali, … were fifty and
three thousand and four hundred.
Why does the Torah
repeat so much for each tribe? The Torah is teaching us that each tribe was
equal to the other in importance. Note Levi is not included in this census.
They have been separated to be priests or teachers of Yisrael without a
concrete portion in the land except for the small cities of the Leviim and some
of the future 24 Families of Cohanim that lived with the Leviim at the time of
the second Mikdash.
44 These are those that were
numbered, which Moses and Aaron numbered, and the princes of Israel, being
twelve men; they were each one for his fathers' house. 45 And all those that were numbered
of the children of Israel by their fathers' houses, from twenty years old and
upward, all that were able to go forth to war in Israel;
From the age of 20 to 60
meaning soldiering service ended after 59 years and 364 days on the average.
46 even all those that were
numbered were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and
fifty.
Each direction should
have been approximately 150,000 soldiers so that the army had equal strength in
all place. However, only on the southern flank this was true. The army was
waking east or north led by Degel Yehuda (Machane Yehuda) in the east that had
the most soldiers followed in fourth place by Degel Dan in the north while the
western flank the sea and the Plishtim had the two tribes of Yosef and Benyamin
with the smallest amount of soldiers.
47 But the Levites after the tribe
of their fathers were not numbered among them. 48 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 49 'Howbeit the tribe of Levi thou shalt not number,
neither shalt thou take the sum of them among the children of Israel; 50 but appoint thou the Levites
over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all the furniture thereof, and
over all that belongs to it; they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the
furniture thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round
about the tabernacle.
The appears to be a
general rule in Torah it does not matter but the number of tribes counted are
12 and no more at any one time. Thus, in our case 10 tribes non-Yosef and two
tribes of Yosef. So the Leviim were left out so far but now they are given the
challenge to remove and rebuild the Tabernacle aka Mishkan and the various
sections: Holy Items, Tent & Screens and Boards.
51 And when the tabernacle set
forward, the Levites shall take it down; and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up; and the common man that draws
nigh shall be put to death.
The Ben Yisrael could
not come in to dismantle the Mishkan all the doings were to be handled by
Cohanim or Leviim.
52 And the children of Israel shall
pitch their tents, every man with his own camp, and every man with his own
standard, according to their hosts. 53 But the Levites shall pitch
round about the tabernacle of the testimony, that there be no wrath upon the
congregation of the children of Israel; and the Levites shall keep the charge
of the tabernacle of the testimony.' 54 Thus did the children of Israel;
according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so did the.
Moshe and Aaron and sons
were in the north. The three other sides were one Levi family on each side.
2.1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying: 2 'The children of Israel shall pitch by their fathers'
houses; every man with his own standard, according to the ensigns; a good way
off shall they pitch round about the tent of meeting. 3 Now those
that pitch on the east side toward the sunrising shall be they of the standard
of the camp of Judah, according to their hosts; the prince of the children of
Judah … of Issachar …of Zebulun; … 9 all that were numbered of the camp of
Judah being a hundred thousand and fourscore thousand and six thousand and four
hundred, according to their hosts; they shall set forth first.
They were the front line and the first to go to
battle and had the most troops.
10 On the south side shall be the standard
of the camp of Reuben … of Simeon … of Gad … a hundred thousand and fifty and
one thousand and four hundred and fifty, according to their hosts; and they
shall set forth second.
The Degel Reuven was on a side facing Egypt or places conquered by
Yehuda and had an average number of troops although basically the time
difference between their moving in the south and Dan in the north was not that
17 Then the tent of meeting, with the camp
of the Levites, shall set forward in the midst of the camps; as they encamp, so
shall they set forward, every man in his place, by their standards.
Merari was in the east
and would follow Yehuda. Kohath was going Parallel with Reuven.
18 On the west side shall be the standard of
the camp of Ephraim according to their hosts; the prince of the children of
Ephraim … of Manasseh … of Benjamin … 24 all that were numbered of the
camp of Ephraim being a hundred thousand and eight thousand and a hundred,
according to their hosts; and they shall set forth third.
They were the rear guard
with the sea and Plishtim to their back and had the least number of soldiers as
they would be the last to see battle.
25 On the north side shall be the standard
of the camp of Dan … of Asher … of Naphtali … a hundred thousand and fifty and
seven thousand and six hundred; they shall set forth hindmost by their
standards.' 32 These are they that were numbered of the children of
Israel by their fathers' houses; all that were numbered of the camps according
to their hosts were six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred
and fifty.
The northern flank was also vulnerable as Eretz
Canaan was north of the came so they also had more troops than the others. Sort
of a second line of defense.
33 But the Levites were not numbered among the
children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 34 Thus did the
children of Israel: according to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so they
pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, each one according to its
families, and according to its fathers' houses.
The Leviim were dealing
with holy work and teaching Torah. They also were the sociologists of the
soldiers and families.
3:1 Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day
that the LORD spoke with Moses in mount Sinai. 2 And these are the names of the
sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons
of Aaron, the priests that were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in
the priest's office.
The Torah is
numerating the sons of Aaron even though the first two were dead.
4 And Nadab and Abihu died before
the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of
Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the
priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father.
The Torah is
reminding us of who is a Cohain in case we forgot as most of Vayikra was
without too much mention.
5 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 6 'Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron
the priest, that they may minister unto him. 7 And they shall keep his charge,
and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the
service of the tabernacle. 8 And they shall keep all the furniture of the tent of
meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the
tabernacle. 9 And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his
sons; they are wholly given unto him from the children of Israel.
All the Mishkan and
holy items were taken care of by the Leviim.
10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and
his sons, that they may keep their priesthood; and the common man that draws
nigh shall be put to death.'
The Priesthood was
given only to Aaron and sons and the common man who tried to be a Cohain would
die.
11 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 12 'And I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the
children of Israel instead of every first-born that opens the womb among the
children of Israel; and the Levites shall be Mine; 13 for all the first-born are Mine:
on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto
Me all the first-born in Israel, both man and beast, Mine they shall be: I am
the LORD.' 14 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of
Sinai, saying: 15 'Number the children of Levi by their fathers' houses,
by their families; every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number
them.'
Pidyon HaBen starts
at 30days so the age of Levi would be counted at 30days.
16 And Moses numbered them
according to the word of the LORD, as he was commanded. 17 And these were the sons of Levi
by their names: Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari. 18 And these are the names of the
sons of Gershon by their families: …
22 Those that were numbered of
them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward,
even those that were numbered of them were seven thousand and five
hundred. … 23 The families of the Gershonites were to pitch behind
the tabernacle westward; … 25 and the charge of the sons of Gershon in the tent of
meeting the tabernacle, and the Tent, the covering thereof, and the screen for
the door of the tent of meeting, 26 and the hangings of the court,
and the screen for the door of the court--which is by the tabernacle, and by
the altar, round about--and the cords of it, even whatsoever pertains to the
service thereof. 27 And of Kohath … 28 according to the number of all
the males, from a month old and upward, eight thousand and six hundred, keepers
of the charge of the sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to pitch on the
side of the tabernacle southward;
Thus, Korach would be
a neighbor of Reuven and Gad.
… 32 Eleazar the son of Aaron the
priest being prince of the princes of the Levites, and having the oversight of
them that keep the charge of the sanctuary. 33 Of Merari … 34 And those that were numbered of
them, according to the number of all the males, from a month old and upward,
were six thousand and two hundred; … 36 the appointed charge of the sons of Merari being the
boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and
the sockets thereof, and all the instruments thereof, and all that pertains to
the service thereof; 37 and the pillars of the court round about, and their
sockets, and their pins, and their cords. 38 And those that were to pitch
before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of meeting toward the
sunrising, were Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the charge of the
sanctuary, even the charge for the children of Israel; and the common man that
drew nigh was to be put to death.
The Torah singles out
the Kohath of all the Leviim as having Eleazar, Sgan HaCohanim (substitute
Cohain Gadol) as in charge of the holiest of items. The lesser holier items
like curtains, pins, boards etc. did not need such supervision.
39 All that were numbered of the
Levites, whom Moses and Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their
families, all the males from a month old and upward, were twenty and two
thousand.
The Leviim counted would
be a redemption for a Bechor.
40 And the LORD said unto Moses:
'Number all the first-born males of the children of Israel from a month old and
upward, and take the number of their names. 41 And thou shalt take the Levites
for Me, even the LORD, instead of all the first-born among the children of
Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the
cattle of the children of Israel.' 42 And Moses numbered, as the LORD
commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel. 43 And all the first-born males
according to the number of names, from a month old and upward, of those that
were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two hundred and threescore
and thirteen. 44 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
The number of Bechorim
were 273 more than could be redeemed.
45 'Take the Levites instead of all
the first-born among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites
instead of their cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine, even the LORD'S. 46 And as for the redemption of the
two hundred and three score and thirteen of the first-born of the children of
Israel, that are over and above the number of the Levites, 47 thou shalt take five shekels
apiece by the poll; after the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them--the
shekel is twenty gerahs.
So a lottery was taken
and for each Bechor an exemption was given if the word Levi appeared but if the
lottery was blank, the Bechor had to pay 5 Shekels Kodesh. Some Bechorim today
are exempt if their mother was a daughter of a Cohain or Levi.
48 And thou shalt give the money
wherewith they that remain over of them are redeemed unto Aaron and to his
sons.' 49 And Moses took the redemption-money from them that were
over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites; 50 from the first-born of the
children of Israel took he the money: a thousand three hundred and threescore
and five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary.
The Torah gave an
accounting of all public money and gifts given to the Mishkan to teach of have
clean hands and clean and clear public accounting. Unfortunately in today’s
world of Politics it is not what you see is what you get.
51 And Moses gave the
redemption-money unto Aaron and to his sons, according to the word of the LORD,
as the LORD commanded Moses. 4.1
And the LORD spoke unto Moses
and unto Aaron, saying: 2 'Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from
among the sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers'
houses, 3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years
old, all that enter upon the service, to do work in the tent of meeting.
The Gematria of strength
Chaf-Chet or Koach is 28 and that is the age when one reaches the maximum
physical strength and maintains that until around 50years of age. There is also
a minimum age for emotional maturity and so the Torah tells us between the age
of 30 and until one’s 50th birthday, a person is at maximum physical
strength and mental alertness. After such a time, the person’s alertness and
concentration drop as well as one’s physical strength.
4 This is the service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting,
about the most holy things: 5 when the camp sets forward, Aaron shall
go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover
the ark of the testimony with it; 6 and shall put thereon a covering
of giraffe skin, and shall spread over it a cloth all of
blue, and shall set the staves thereof. 7 And upon the table of
showbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and
the pans, and the bowls, and the jars wherewith to pour out; and the continual
bread shall remain thereon. 8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth
of scarlet, and cover the same with a covering of giraffe
skin, and shall set the staves thereof. 9 And they
shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and its
lamps, and its tongs, and its snuffdishes, and all the oil vessels thereof,
wherewith they minister unto it. 10 And they shall put it and all the
vessels thereof within a covering of giraffe skin, and
shall put it upon a bar. 11 And upon the golden altar they shall
spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering of giraffe skin, and
shall set the staves thereof.
These were the main holy
items and their covering.
12 And they shall take all the vessels of
ministry, wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of
blue, and cover them with a covering of giraffe skin,
and shall put them on a bar. 13 And they shall take away the ashes
from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon.
Usually the Ashes were
buried in a clean = holy place and only the eternal flame did not go out via a
torch.
14 And they shall put upon it all the
vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it, the fire-pans, the
flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the vessels of the altar; and
they shall spread upon it a covering of giraffe skin,
and set the staves thereof. 15 And when Aaron and his sons have made
an end of covering the holy furniture, and all the holy vessels, as the camp is
to set forward--after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear them; but
they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die. These things are the
burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting.
Only after all the items
were packed by the Cohanim in Giraffe Skin, could the Leviim come close enough
to touch a move them for a non-Cohain touching them would die.
16 And the charge of Eleazar the son of
Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the
continual meal-offering, and the anointing oil: he shall have the charge of all
the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, whether it be the sanctuary, or the
furniture thereof.' 17 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron,
saying: 18 'Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the
Kohathites from among the Levites;
This was a command to
the packing Cohanim during the generations to cover the items well that no
member of Kohath would die by direct touching.
19 but thus do unto them, that they may
live, and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his
sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his
burden; 20 but they shall not go in to see the holy things as they
are being covered, lest they die.'
They had to be very
cautious.
Would you
give your bread away in a Nazi Concentration Camp?
By Rabbi
Dovid Campbell
https://aish.com/would-you-give-away-your-bread-in-a-concentration-camp/
In the dark pits of
hell, somehow Rabbi Gershon Liebman managed to spread his light.
Life in the
concentration camps was inherently dehumanizing. The work was crippling, the
hunger was unimaginable and the threat of death was constant. Under these
conditions, it was difficult to focus on anything but survival. The young Rabbi Gershon Liebman, who would eventually
become a powerful force for Jewish education in postwar Europe, quickly
recognized the great need to preserve his sense of humanity.
Throughout his time in
the camps, he maintained the practice of never eating his entire meal at once,
always leaving some food on the plate. This simple action reminded him that he
could still behave with refinement and moderation, even here. In a place where
people swallowed whatever food they could find, as quickly as they could find
it, it seemed absurd to bother with something like this. But Rabbi Liebman
refused to be dragged down by external circumstances, no matter how hellish
they were.
A similar
story is told by Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky, who survived the Soviet labor camps in
Siberia. Early one morning before the other prisoners were awake, Rabbi
Galinsky awoke to a strange sight – an older Lithuanian prisoner was quietly
donning a military uniform that he had hidden in a work satchel. Complete with
impressive ribbons and medals, it was the full-dress uniform of a Lithuanian
general. He began to quietly bark orders and salute the air. He returned the
uniform to his satchel when the other prisoners began to wake.
Rabbi
Galinsky couldn’t contain his curiosity. The Lithuanian was initially
embarrassed to have been seen, but he eventually explained: He had been a
general in the Lithuanian army, a decorated military hero with tens of
thousands of soldiers under his command. Then the Soviets came and it had all
disappeared in an instant. “They sent me here into exile, to this miserable
hole, and they’re doing everything they can to turn me into a wretched prisoner
so that I’ll forget my former glory. But I don’t intend to forget!”
Rabbi Galinsky absorbed a powerful lesson from these words – the same
one Rabbi Liebman embodied with his small plate. Circumstances might rob us our
comfort, our glory, or even our basic human necessities, but no circumstance
defines our self-worth. We can always remind ourselves of who we are, using the
mirror of our own proper conduct.
Rabbi Galinsky absorbed a powerful lesson from these words – the same
one Rabbi Liebman embodied with his small plate. Circumstances might rob us our
comfort, our glory, or even our basic human necessities, but no circumstance
defines our self-worth. We can always remind ourselves of who we are, using the
mirror of our own proper conduct.
In the Buchenwald concentration camp, it was not unusual for the
prisoners to succumb to starvation and exhaustion. The Nazis would place their
bodies in a designated room until they could be buried the next day. But Rabbi
Liebman suspected that some of these poor souls were not actually dead. Risking
his life, he crept into the pitch-black room at night and, crawling among the
bodies, searched for signs of life.
Sometimes
he would feel warmth in a body, awaken the man, and help him back to his
barracks. On one occasion, a body seemed totally dead, but Rabbi Liebman felt a
small tremble in the man’s lip. Not knowing the man’s barracks, he brought him
back to his own, where he massaged the man back to consciousness. But he was
still too sick to be moved and this created a terrifying problem.
Officially
the man would be listed as dead, and there were now the wrong number of
prisoners in the barracks. Additionally, he would no longer receive food
rations. Rabbi Liebman and the other prisoners chose to hide him and feed him
from their own meager rations. The man survived and was eventually reunited
with his wife after the war.
There were
so many reasons not to attempt these nightly rescue missions,
but Rabbi Liebman was looking for the opposite: He wanted an excuse to try, and
he found it in even the smallest tremble of life.
Whether
saving a single soul or pioneering Jewish education after the Holocaust, Rabbi
Gershon Liebman embodied the beautiful words of Anne Frank: “How wonderful it
is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”
Rabbis Galinsky and the Maggid
Shwardron were among the Rabbis with their stories and Mussar that inspired my
generation. Rabbi Galinsky was a short and frail man and Rabbi Shwardron at
least my height if not taller and wide. Sort of the opposite but their powerful
stories and messages awoke a generation of workers and young Kollel Scholars
into becoming the Rabbis that we are today. Among them was Rabbi Pesach Krohn.
Yom Yerushalayim an article by Sara Yocheved Rigler
https://aish.com/jerusalem-the-longest-love-story
The Jews’ Millenia
Long love affair with Yerushalayim
The Jewish People lost Jerusalem
three times.
The first was when the Babylonians
conquered the city and destroyed the Holy Temple on the Temple Mount in 586
B.C.E. The Jews living there were enslaved or sent into exile to Babylon.
Seventy years later, a segment—42,360—returned and started to rebuild the walls
of Jerusalem. Local peoples who had moved in to replace the Jews tried to
attack. The Bible recounts that those who built the walls “would do their work
with one hand while the other hand held a weapon” (Nehemia 4:11).
Over the next decades, they
succeeded in rebuilding the city and the Second Temple. By the first century
C.E. Jerusalem was a thriving, wealthy, populous city—one of the jewels of the
ancient world. However, it squirmed under the oppression of its pagan masters,
the brutal Roman empire.
In 66 C.E., the Jews launched the Great Revolt.
Rome was forced to send four out of ten of their empire’s eastern battalions to
route the troublesome Jews. The Jews lost, and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem
and the Holy Temple. But Jerusalem was not yet Judenrein. As the Talmud
describes, Jews had access to the environs around the city. Every year on Tisha
B’Av, the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, Jews went to Mt. Scopus
overlooking the Temple Mount and mourned.
In 66 C.E., the Jews launched the Great Revolt.
Rome was forced to send four out of ten of their empire’s eastern battalions to
route the troublesome Jews. The Jews lost, and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem
and the Holy Temple. But Jerusalem was not yet Judenrein. As the Talmud
describes, Jews had access to the environs around the city. Every year on Tisha
B’Av, the anniversary of the Temple’s destruction, Jews went to Mt. Scopus
overlooking the Temple Mount and mourned.
Scholar and philosopher Yisrael Eldad had a unique
way of observing Tisha B’Av in the late 20th century. While
myriads of Jews go to the Western Wall, the remnant of the Second Temple, to
mourn its destruction, Prof. Eldad would go to the Israel Museum. There he
would stand in front of the 2nd century bronze statue of
Emperor Hadrian and yell, “Where are you now? Where is your empire, its
language, its religion, its civilization? You are gone! And the Jews whom you
determined to wipe out still exist. We have returned to our city and our land!”
Throughout the centuries, Jews prayed three times a
day for the “rebuilding of Jerusalem,” but they had a hard time re-establishing
themselves there. When the Crusaders conquered the city in 1099, they killed
all the Jews and Muslims, so that blood ran “knee-deep” through the streets.
Even after Saladin’s Muslim forces reconquered the city in 1187, only a trickle
of Jews came back. The Muslim capital was Ramle, not Jerusalem, which remained
a backwater city, ignored and impoverished. When the great sage Nachmanides
arrived in Jerusalem in 1267, he found less than ten Jewish men, not enough for
a minyan [prayer quorum].
After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, a
few hundred of them re-established themselves inside the walls of Jerusalem.
Then, in the 18th century, significant Jewish immigration from
Europe—disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and of the Vilna Gaon—began to populate
the city. By 1860, the Jewish population had grown so much that the walled city
could not contain them, and Jewish neighborhoods started to pop up outside the
walls. By 1920, the majority of Jerusalem’s population (including the Old City
inside the walls and the new city outside the walls) was Jewish.
Throughout the centuries, Jews prayed three times a
day for the “rebuilding of Jerusalem,” but they had a hard time re-establishing
themselves there. When the Crusaders conquered the city in 1099, they killed
all the Jews and Muslims, so that blood ran “knee-deep” through the streets.
Even after Saladin’s Muslim forces reconquered the city in 1187, only a trickle
of Jews came back. The Muslim capital was Ramle, not Jerusalem, which remained
a backwater city, ignored and impoverished. When the great sage Nachmanides
arrived in Jerusalem in 1267, he found less than ten Jewish men, not enough for
a minyan [prayer quorum].
After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, a
few hundred of them re-established themselves inside the walls of Jerusalem.
Then, in the 18th century, significant Jewish immigration from
Europe—disciples of the Baal Shem Tov and of the Vilna Gaon—began to populate the
city. By 1860, the Jewish population had grown so much that the walled city
could not contain them, and Jewish neighborhoods started to pop up outside the
walls. By 1920, the majority of Jerusalem’s population (including the Old City
inside the walls and the new city outside the walls) was Jewish.
When the State of Israel was
declared on May 14, 1948, there were about 1750 Jews living in the Jewish
Quarter, surrounded by ten times that many Arabs. With five Arab armies
attacking the nascent state, the Jewish leadership had to decide where to
concentrate its meager, poorly armed defenses. The Jewish Quarter of the Old
City had no strategic value, and was clearly indefensible.
About
a hundred Jewish fighters, however, were determined not to again give up
Jerusalem. While the new city had expanded and flourished, their Jewish hearts
felt that the real Jerusalem was the Old City, were the Prophets had walked,
where our ancestors had fought the Babylonians and Romans, where Jews had
prayed and learned Torah throughout the centuries. How could we give up
Jerusalem?
They
bravely held out for ten days against the assault of the well-equipped
Jordanian army. Most of the Jewish Quarter residents were women, children, and
elderly. The defenders had one machine gun, and so few bullets that they could
count them. With no radios to communicate with other positions, they depended
on volunteer children to run messages.
Esther
Cailingold was 21 years old when she left England and moved to the Land of
Israel in 1946. Burning with zeal to save the Old City of Jerusalem, on May
7,1948, a week before the state was declared, she chose to join the small force
in the Jewish Quarter. She was mortally wounded a few days later. From her
deathbed, 23-year-old Esther wrote to her parents:
I
am writing it to beg of you that, whatever might have happened to me, you will
make the effort to take it in the spirit that I want and to understand that for
myself I have no regrets. We have had a bitter fight, I have tasted of Hell -
but it has been worthwhile because I am convinced that the end will see a
Jewish State and the realization of all our longings. I shall only be one of
many who fell [in] sacrifice. … to remember that we were soldiers and had the
greatest and noblest cause to fight for. God is with us, I know, in his own
Holy City, and I am proud and ready to pay the price it may cost to reprieve
(?) it.
Sixty-eight
Jews were killed defending the Jewish Quarter. The youngest of them was a
ten-year-old messenger boy named Nissim Ginni. When they completely ran out of
ammunition, they surrendered. The men were taken as prisoners of war; the
women, children, and elderly were banished. Their homes were looted, then
burned. The Old City’s 38 synagogues, including the Hurva, the largest and most
magnificent synagogue in the Middle East, were destroyed. It was the third time
that we lost Jerusalem.
In 1967, on the third day of the Six-Day War, the 66th Battalion
of the Paratroopers Brigade, without resistance, entered the Old City of Jerusalem.
They ran straight to the Temple Mount, and then to the Western Wall. When the
seasoned soldiers touched the Wall, they wept. They were crying the tears of
their grandparents and mine and yours, stretching back 2,000 years.
Home-coming.
Heart-overflowing.
Dreams and prayers finally fulfilled.
This is what we celebrate on Jerusalem Day, on the 28th of the
Hebrew month of Iyar, which this year falls on May 19.
With thanks to spectacular tour guide Eytan Rund eytanrund@gmail.com for
the stories in this article.
Last week, I mentioned
about the fact that when Rabbi Simcha HaCohain Kuk was alive not rockets hit
Rehovot. This week was his Yahrzeit. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371428
44th Day Omer Shabbat
Mevarchim Parsha: Bamidbar Molad for Sivan: Will occur (May 20) Shabbat morning
52 minutes and 14 Chalakim after 2 O’clock Jerusalem time.
Milestone: Dvora Kendar, 98, actress
Habima. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-743305
Inyanay Diyoma
May 12
The Jihad was negotiating with too
many demands and when they sent 60 rockets of which two were towards
Yerushalayim and Beit Shemesh, Israel pulled out of the negotiations. Quiet
will be matched by quiet and not what is going on now. Most of the attacks are
around Gaza and shorter Range. But Motzei Shabbos 100,000 or more stubborn
mules are going to demonstrate in Tel Aviv. 6th Jihad Leader bites
the dust. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371351
https://www.debka.com/jihad-rockets-take-first-aim-at-jerusalem-hills-israel-truce-talks-irrelevant/
Mother of Hadar Goldin demonstrates
in Sderot. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371348
Op-Ed on Gaza. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371325
Jewish Antisemite. https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/05/10/tunisian-authorities-announce-criminal-investigation-into-deadly-terror-attack-on-djerba-synagogue/
May 13
The top portion occurred before
Shabbos but I had no time to post.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/mother-son-found-dead-in-netanya-home-in-suspected-double-homicide/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-arrested-after-ex-wife-found-stabbed-to-death-in-rishon-lezion/
Despite sitting Shiva, Defense
Minister continues working: https://www.timesofisrael.com/holocaust-survivor-and-exodus-passenger-fruma-gallant-defense-ministers-mom-dies/
Show cancelled. https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/s1amqti4n
Hamas happy that Israel and Jihad
are fighting. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rjjzuf5n2#autoplay
Yerushalayim should not cooperate
with China. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1ugfqh4n
Op-Ed. It seems that not a
single Israeli military operation goes without international criticism and
pearl-clutching, and Operation Shield and Arrow is no different. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjwja00ten
Op-Ed Col. Richard Kemp: A grave
against the IDF. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/r1gg4o542#autoplay
Military operation helps Netanyahu
in polls. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-742856
After morning attacks, the IDF
doubles down. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-742866
After Bible Pasukim was changed in
WOKE books: DeSantis has advanced Holocaust
education while also enabling parents to effectively remove Holocaust
literature they don’t like from school libraries. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-742839
The Iron Dome air defense system suffered a
technical malfunction on Thursday evening, allowing a Gaza rocket to inflict a
direct hit on a Rehovot building killing one person, IDF Spokesperson Daniel
Hagari revealed on Friday morning. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-742846
Motzei Shabbos
Less than 24 hours after a ceasefire between
Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization went into
effect, officially ended Operation Shield and Arrow, Red Alert sirens were
heard Sunday in the southern industrial zone of Ashkelon and in Kibbutz Zikim. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371416
No Budget, no government. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371415
London Airport shutting down…my fair
lady. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371414
IDF hits concealed mortars and
rockets. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371359
Another retaliation. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371379
Rehovot victim HY”D revealed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371358
Command and Control Centers hit. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371357
Despite danger some hard core
anti-Bibi and anti-Charedi show up even with the event cancelled. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371366
Former US Marine charged in death on
subway. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371360
Israel Space Force. https://www.israelhayom.com/2023/05/03/israel-is-working-on-space-warfare-capabilities/
New peace proposal. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371361
King Charles to visit Israel and
Arabs. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371409
Received budget from previous
government using it against Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371410
A suspect accused of a car window smashing spree
in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn on Thursday has been arrested. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371350
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israel-is-now-paying-the-price-for-its-2005-gaza-pullout/
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israels-containment-problem/
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/anti-haredi-sentiment-and-the-boycott-of-angel-bakeries/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-inbar-lanir-wins-gold-at-world-judo-championships-in-qatar/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-inbar-lanir-wins-gold-at-world-judo-championships-in-qatar/
Children never put at risk. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skt1w8ann#autoplay
Israel 3rd place in
Eurovision Song Contest. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371385
All restrictions now lifted
previously: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371386
Ice Cream Truck at Auschwitz. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371377
Former First Lady of Peru flees to
Israel. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rklz4sn4h
Russians target homes of Ukrainian
Singers. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-742953
Jihad still has a large rocket
supply. https://www.debka.com/israel-jihad-still-has-6000-rockets-jihad-we-can-keep-warfare-going-for-months/
Israel keeps credit rating. https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/banking-and-finance/article-742879
The material on the moon. https://www.jpost.com/science/article-742938
Biggest galactic expulsion ever
witnessed. https://www.jpost.com/science/article-742812
Martian Meteorite or Moon? https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/the-moon-deimos-might-be-a-piece-of-mars/
May 15
Israel opposes Iron Dome for the
Ukraine but the US is ready to send it. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-743121
PLO wants Israel banned by UN. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371474
Gazan man killed in Israel by rocket
there will be compensation to family. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371423
CNN fake news has an Arab member of
Hamas who represents. “Jews against Israel” on the channel.
https://www.debka.com/gaza-ceasefire-faces-first-test-with-annual-jerusalem-day-flag-parade/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/spotlight/exploring-innovation-initiatives-between-israel-and-bahrain/
Amnesty International Israelis have
no human rights. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-742620
Healthy diet reverses aging. https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/nutrition/article-742997
Belarusian
President Alexander Lukashenko, who has not been seen in public
since Tuesday, did not appear on Sunday at a ceremony in the capital,
Minsk, triggering
speculation that the veteran leader is
seriously ill. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-743103
Belarus on high alert. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-743138
Israeli Moon Mission in jeopardy. https://www.jpost.com/business-and-innovation/all-news/article-743106
Har Eval inscription that predates
Hebrew. https://www.jpost.com/archaeology/article-743039
Lifeless Arab revived by EMTs. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371468
Plane Crash kills experienced pilot.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371477
The two terrorists who shot US-Israeli
citizen Elan Ganeles to death in February were indicted today (Monday). https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371479
Media Bigotry on Judicial Reform in
US too. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371483
2year old eats cannabis cookie. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371482
May 16
Hamas threatens flag march again. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371525
Knife welding ‘Black Hebrew’ charged
with hate crime. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371524
If Judicial Reform fails, the
government falls.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371525
May 17
90+ days after terrorist attack,
Rabbi leaves hospital. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371520
Prime Minister Netanyahu and National Security
Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir met but failed to find common grounds. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371537
MK Tally Gotliv (Likud) on Tuesday welcomed the decision of MK Ayman Odeh from the Hadash-Ta’al Party to step
down from politics and not run in the next Knesset election.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371543
NM killer IDed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371546
The US Secret Service is investigating how an
intruder entered US national security adviser Jake Sullivan’s home last month
without being detected by Secret Service agents guarding his home, CNN reported
on Tuesday. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371548
Expect government to keep promises
of Yeshiva Budgets. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371534
Repeal of disengagement law to be
implemented by IDF. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371583
King puts Jordanian MP on trial for
smuggling. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371586
New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani is
advocating for a BDS bill. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371582
May 18
Because Yom Yerushalayim is on
Friday celebrations start early. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371632
Fake FB friends fake bomb threats. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371634
Lieberman taken to task for
hypocrisy. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371630
Gas leak and explosion in Beer
Sheva. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371636
Aguda demands that Degel vote
against Budget to get money for Yeshivos. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371628
Temple Mt. controversy Charedim vs.
Ben Gvir. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371624
Four days before the Palestinian Arab Islamic
Jihad rocket killed Inga, Senator Bernie Sanders helped host an event in the
Senate building promoting the terror group. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371619
Rabbi Dee offered Envoy Job. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743343
Op-Ed paying the price of the Gaza
Pullout. https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israel-is-now-paying-the-price-for-its-2005-gaza-pullout/
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/israels-containment-problem/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-60-shot-dead-in-lod-in-suspected-organized-crime-slaying/
Greek and Israeli Airforce closer
relations. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743348
Claims that T72 will split Abrams
Tank. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-743216
Bill regarding Arab Textbooks. https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-743375
Bill against sexual terrorism. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743357
Gallant authorizes Yeshiva under new
law. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743378
CNN Fake shootout women ambushed. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-743370
Prince Hamlet says there is
something rotten in Denmark or something stinks in the swamp of DC. https://www.aol.com/news/attorneys-irs-whistleblower-being-removed-165919258.html
Trump tells Jews I gave you the
Golan Heights. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371674
Bennett on AI: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371679
Latest poll shows neither side could
win but Religious Zionism up. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371667
Austria two men charged with Hitler
Recording on Train. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/371673
https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-charged-with-stealing-famed-ruby-slippers-of-wizard-of-oz/
A healthy and peaceful
Shabbos and a Wonder Chodesh Sivan,
Rachamim Pauli
