Good Shabbos Gen. 2:3 - 6:8
Regarding
last week’s Milestone: Welcome
to Israel Eleazar named today at Shabbos House in honor of his grandfather Rabbi Israel Rubin who passed on shemini atzeret after hakafos.
Mazal tov to parents Simmy and Chaya Rubin. What a great way to honor Rabbi
Rubin.
Prayers are still needed for Nadav Ben Sharon, who has not had surgery
yet.
Parsha Beresheis Part 2
Last week, I ended the Parsha with the
Creation of Shabbos and the concept of resting from Melacha (creative work in
39 main categories). Thus if I needed to supply food or drink for guests in a
hotel from the kitchen in the building, I could carry a lot of weight under the
physical condition of work = force times distance but since it was
prepared/cooked or put in heating mode before Shabbos no Melacha or creative
work is done.
Now I shall discuss the Kiddush that I
shall color blue and underline that I did not discuss last week. 31
And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth
day. י֥וֹם הַשִּׁשִּֽׁי: 2:1 And the heaven and
the earth were finished, וַיְכֻלּ֛וּ הַשָּׁמַ֥יִם and all the host of them. 2 And on the
seventh day God finished His work which He had made; and He rested on the
seventh day from all His work which He had made. 3 And God blessed the seventh
day, and hallowed it; because that in it He rested from all His work which God
in creating had made. בָּרָ֥א
אֱלֹהִ֖ים לַֽעֲשֽׂוֹת
Notice in
the Hebrew, the first letters of the first four words of Kiddush are the
Tetragrammaton. The end of the Kiddush is the Hebrew Word for Truth
(Emmes/Emmet). One must stand for the first half of the Kiddush up to the
blessing over wine to give testimony that the L-RD is Truth.
This is in
one way that the Torah and commands were given in Hebrew. Not necessarily our
Aramaic Letters used today vs. the ancient Hebrew which is closer in shape of
some letters to Greek.
We now
continue from the general description of creation to the creation and dominion
of man and woman.
2:4
These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were
created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven. 5 No shrub of the
field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the
LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to
till the ground; 6 but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the
whole face of the ground.
The mist
watered the earth and the plants and trees were able to thrive from it in Gan
Eden. The not caused it to rain leaves an uncertainty if rain started only with
the flood or the description returns the earth to the first and second day.
7 Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of
the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a
living soul.
The famed
legend of the Golem built my the Maharal of Prague used the four ancient
elements, air, fire, earth and water to build the Golem and placed the DIVINE
NAME in his mouth for a living being but no power of speech something like a
Neanderthal Man. (More below)
8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward,
in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground
made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
This Pasuk
clarifies in more detail trees and plants that were created but not necessarily
for mankind or food. The cow eats grass, the camel eats a barbed plant and the
pine and oak tree are used for building shelters and ships for men.
10 And a river went out of Eden to water the
garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. 11 The name of
the first is Pishon; that is it which compasses the whole land of Havilah,
where there is gold; 12 and the gold of that land is good; there is bdellium
and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon; the same is
it that compasses the whole land of Cush.
These two
rivers appear to me to be most likely the Nile and the Congo but might be the
Zambezi. The land of Cush Ben Noach is Africa.
14 And the name of the third river is Tigris;
that is it which goes toward the east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the
Euphrates.
These two
rivers we know their location and they supplied water to the fertile crescent.
Certain other qualities were given to these rivers.
15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him
into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God
commanded the man, saying: ‘Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat;
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it;
for in the day that thou eats thereof thou shalt surely die.’
This was a
test given to man, until he would be mature enough to handle what was good or
evil. He was like new born babe and had to gather basic knowledge slowly and
this
18 And the LORD God said: ‘It is not good that
the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him.’
If a man
merits she is a help mate and if not the Hebrew says that she is opposed to him
(kneggedo). How is she a help with the kneggedo? “Your shirt is unbuttoned, you
should not fight or argue with …, you need to touch up your technique, etc.”
19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed
every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the
man to see what he would call them; and whatsoever the man would call every
living creature, that was to be the name thereof. 20 And the man gave names to
all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but
for Adam there was not found a help meet for him.
Each animal
was given a name that described its properties or perhaps in the future.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall
upon the man, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the
place with flesh instead thereof. 22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken
from the man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And the man
said: ‘This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called
Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’
Women being
created from the rib area are more modest than men. Since a woman comes from a
man, her being alone is harder as she needs to feel whole. A man is responsible
for reproduction and not a woman who is his help mate in the process so he
comes to desire his lost rib. If a couple feel that they are ‘my bones and
flesh’ then they will tend to fight less and not let minor things clog their
thought process. Let’s face it, two people from different backgrounds or even
twins with two different brains are close but not replicas one of the other and
fights occur. Shalom Beis or peace in the home can be achieved but thinking. In
Hebrew it is stronger Ish (man) and Isha (woman) if there is peace in the home
the letters Yud and Hey are there and that is the name of G-D but if they fight
the Shechinah (Holy Presence) is removed and there is only Aish or fire (anger)
left.
24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and
his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
This is not
as some religions mention an “original sin” but part of the natural order that
HASHEM created.
25 And they were both naked, the man and his
wife, and were not ashamed.
They were
innocent like new babes running out of the bath room past the guests in the
house.
3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any
beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman: ‘Yea,
hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’ 2 And the woman
said unto the serpent: ‘Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.’
Adam told
Chava (guttural ch) that she should not touch it adding an extra fence. The
snake was around before mankind and had heard the command not to eat.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman: ‘Ye
shall not surely die; 5 for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then
your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.’ 6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a
delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat; and she gave also unto her husband with
her, and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves
girdles.
They were
supposed to wait 24hours and then learn knowledge as they had to first become
mature to accept the knowledge of good and evil but now they received this too
early.
8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God
walking in the garden toward the cool of the day; and the man and his wife hid
themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. 9
And the LORD God called unto the man, and said unto him: ‘Where art thou?’
G-D knows
where all the sub-atomic particles are so why should HE not know where man is
but rather to open up a conversation without startling man of not obeying (this
is the original sin aka disobedience of a temporary Mitzvah).
10 And he said: ‘I heard Thy voice in the
garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’
An answer
that shows lack of cunning and still innocent but honest.
11 And He said: ‘Who told thee that thou were naked? Hast
thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?’
A short
while ago, I created you and you were naked and not embarrassed. All of a
sudden you know about nudity.
12 And the man said: ‘The woman whom Thou gave
to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.’
The buck
did not stop with Adam as a good politician, he knows how to shift the blame.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman: ‘What
is this thou hast done?’ And the woman said: ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I
did eat.’ 14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent: ‘Because thou hast done
this, cursed art thou from among all cattle, and from among all beasts of the
field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of
thy life. 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy
seed and her seed; they shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise their
heel.’
This is the
natural order that serpents and humans are not good together and this week
there was an article about a snake handler who needed help in removing his
python from strangling him.
16 Unto the woman He said: ‘I will greatly
multiply thy pain and thy travail; in pain thou shalt bring forth children; and
thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.’
She might
be bone of his bones but because of this she is the lesser partner in the army.
17 And unto Adam He said: ‘Because thou hast
hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I
commanded thee, saying: Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life. 18 Thorns also and
thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the
field. 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto
the ground; for out of it were thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust
shalt thou return.’
Until this
point, you were innocent and fed by MY Chessed (mercy). Now you are off the
dole and have to manage for yourself through work.
20 And the man called his wife’s name Eve;
because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and
for his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.
They had no
knowledge of how to produce garments and had to be shown.
22 And the LORD God said: ‘Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his
hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.’
Said to his
attributes or the angels. Man did not obey and therefore he will die immediately
but since “A day before G-D is one thousand years” (Tehillim 90:4) he will die
within the day or at 930years.
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from
the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 24 So He drove
out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and
the flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way to the tree of life.
He was
kicked out of Gan Eden Motzei Shabbos and the only taste of Gan Eden that man
can get is Shabbos for about 25 hours each week.
4:1 And the man knew Eve his wife; and she
conceived and bore Cain, and said: ‘I have gotten a man with the help of the
LORD.’ 2 And again she bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And in process of time it came to pass,
that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
The Midrash
says that Cain and his twin sister were born from “knowing” each other in the
hours before Shabbos and a painless birth. Hevel was born with two twin sisters
and therefore caused Cain to be jealous.
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings
of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to
his offering;
Cain
brought any ole fruit for offering. Hevel brought the choice animal perhaps the
first born before HASHEM.
5 but unto Cain and to his offering He had not
respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the LORD said
unto Cain: ‘Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou do
well, shall it not be lifted up? And if thou do not well, sin couches at the door; and unto thee is its
desire, but thou mayest rule over it.’
He was
jealous from before over two sisters for wives to Hevel vs. only one wife for
him.
8 And Cain spoke unto Abel his brother. And it
came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his
brother, and slew him. 9 And the LORD said unto Cain: ‘Where is Abel thy
brother?’ And he said: ‘I know not; am I my brother’s keeper?’ 10 And He said: ‘What
hast thou done? The voice of thy brother’s blood cries unto Me from the ground.
Perhaps
originally, he wanted to beat him up with a good thrashing but it got out of
hand and he murdered Hevel.
11 And now cursed art thou from the ground,
which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand. 12
When thou till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her
strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth.’
It will be
hard for now not only must he plow with difficultly but also is force to wander
away and cannot accumulate financial stability.
13 And Cain said unto the LORD: ‘My punishment
is greater than I can bear. 14 Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from
the face of the land; and from Thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a
fugitive and a wanderer in the earth; and it will come to pass, that whosoever
finds me
will slay me.’
Hevel must
have had children that could avenge him.
15 And the LORD said unto him: ‘Therefore
whosoever slays
Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.’ And the LORD set a sign for
Cain, lest any finding him should smite him. 16 And Cain went out from the
presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. 17 And
Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bore Enoch; and he builded a city,
and called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.
This
Chanoch (guttural) could settle down and he would build things. He was
concerned with the physical.
18 And unto Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot
Mehujael; and Mehujael begot Methushael; and Methushael begot Lamech. 19 And
Lamech took unto him two wives; the name of one was Adah, and the name of the
other Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of such as dwell in
tents and have cattle. 21 And his brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father
of all such as handle the harp and pipe. 22 And Zillah, she also bore
Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron; and the
sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
He invented
weapons instead of plows. He built knives, swords, javelins, etc. Naamah is
important as she is the wife of Noach.
23 And Lamech said unto his wives: Adah and
Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech; for I have
slain a man for wounding me, and a young man for bruising me; 24 If Cain shall
be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.
He was
becoming blind perhaps with a cataract. His son would guide his bow and arrow
and pointed it towards what he thought was an animal because Cain was made a
protective garment from each animal what shield him from the beasts attacking
him. However with his poor eyesight his son guided him and she shot the
‘animal’, Cain. And Cain died. He was so upset that he clapped his hands
together and accidently killed Tuval-Cain from the force. Thus both were
man-slaughter but accidental hence the 77 times less.
25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bore a
son, and called his name Seth: ‘for God hath appointed .me another seed instead of Abel; for
Cain slew him.’ 26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called
his name Enosh; then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.
Enosh was
religious and all humankind is called Bnei Enosh
5:1 This is the book of the generations of
Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made He him; 2
male and female created He them, and blessed them, and called their name Adam,
in the day when they were created. 3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years,
and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth.
4 And the days of Adam after he begot Seth were eight hundred years; and he
begot sons and daughters. 5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred
and thirty years; and he died.
Became in
his image. The Medrash explains that he had relations with a being that we call
a demon that was created just as Shabbos entered. She was more a spiritual
being but the demons did not have full form as Shabbos entered. For 130years,
they produced ‘demons’ or Shaydim and one of these creatures was brought into a
body by the Maharal or Prague in the body of the Golem.
6 And Seth lived a hundred and five years, and
begot Enosh. 7 And Seth lived after he begot Enosh eight hundred and seven
years, and begot sons and daughters. 8 And all the days of Seth were nine
hundred and twelve years; and he died. 9
And Enosh lived ninety years, and begot Kenan. 10 And Enosh lived after he
begot Kenan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 11
And all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died. 12 And
Kenan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. 13 And Kenan lived after he
begot Mahalalel eight hundred and forty years, and begot sons and daughters. 14
And all the days of Kenan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died. 15 And
Mahalalel lived sixty and five years, and begot Jared. 16 And Mahalalel lived
after he begot Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and
daughters. 17 And all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred ninety and five
years; and he died. 18 And Jared lived a hundred sixty and two years, and begot
Enoch. 19 And Jared lived after he begot Enoch eight hundred years, and begot
sons and daughters. 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and
two years; and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begot
Methuselah. 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begot Methuselah three
hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 23 And all the days of Enoch were
three hundred sixty and five years. 24 And Enoch walked with God, and he was
not; for God took him.
This
Chanoch (Hanoch) became so pious and contemplating that after 365 years removed
all disobedience and other things of this world that brought him alive into Gan
Eden and he became the Arch Angel Metatron.
25 And Methuselah lived a hundred eighty and
seven years, and begot Lamech. 26 And Methuselah lived after he begot Lamech
seven hundred eighty and two years, and begot sons and daughters. 27 And all
the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years; and he died.
He died in
the year 1656 and the sky became brightened like during the primeval light.
(Probably a close encounter with a heavenly body and earth that loosened the rocks
containing water and causing the formation of the clouds of the flood. Sort of
a Velikovsky speculation.)
28 And Lamech lived a hundred eighty and two
years, and begot a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying: ‘This same
shall comfort us in our work and in the toil of our hands, which cometh from
the ground which the LORD hath cursed.’ 30 And Lamech lived after he begot Noah
five hundred ninety and five years, and begot sons and daughters. 31 And all
the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years; and he died. 32 And Noah was five hundred years old; and Noah begot
Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
This was a
hundred years before the flood.
6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to
multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 that
the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took
them wives, whomsoever they chose.
The Midrash
names two Angels that fell out of line and were the size of giants and had
relations with womeen who bore them hybrid humans. Some suggest that these were
humans with giant genes who became god-kings like Pharaoh and the old Emperors
of Japan. Their children would be sons of god.
3 And the LORD said: ‘My spirit shall not abide
in man for ever, for that he also is flesh; therefore shall his days be a
hundred and twenty years.’
Double
meaning: I will not let mankind live such a long life span more like 120 years
and the second that in another 120 years, I will bring a flood upon the earth.
4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days,
and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men,
and they bore children to them; the same were the mighty men that were of old,
the men of renown.
Mighty and
mighty wicked.
5 And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart
was only evil continually. 6 And it repented the LORD that He had made man on
the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. 7 And the LORD said: ‘I will blot
out man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man,C and beast, and creeping thing, and
fowl of the air; for it repents Me that I have made them.’
Living too
long brought about all sorts of perversions including with animals, stealing, murder,
violence and idol worship.
8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
The Miracle of the Fire in the Snow by Rabbi
Yerachmiel Tilles
https://ascentofsafed.com/Stories/Stories/5787/1503-04.html
Many years ago, in the
year 5547 (1786), winter arrived very early. It was unusually cold on Sukkot ,
and it had already begun to snow. Sitting in the sukkah required a fur coat and
fur-lined boots, and on several occasions the snow had to be removed from the
sukkah. Consequently, throughout the day of Hoshana Rabba, most of the chasidim
who arrived in Liozna for Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah had frozen fingers
and toes, and many had caught a nasty flu and a high fever, due to the
unexpected cold.
When Rabbi Schneur Zalman was informed of the terrible situation, he leaned his
holy head on his hands and for a long while he remained deeply engrossed in his
thoughts. When he opened his eyes, he, declared melodiously: "The Torah
states, 'It is a law of fire for them.' Tonight is Shemini Atzeres. Everyone
must be brought for the hakafos[1] , and may 'the fire consume the fire' - the
fire of the holiday will consume the fire of fever."
Before the hakafos , Rabbi Pinchas Reitzes of Shklov, accompanied by a number
of young chasidim, made the rounds among all the inns and hostels in the city
to invite visitors, many of whom were suffering from very high fevers. When the
sick chasidim and their families heard the encouraging words, they were
overjoyed. With complete faith, they went out into the stormy night and made
their way to the synagogue, braving hail, torrential rain and fierce winds that
penetrated their very bones. In addition, great masses of mud clogged the
streets. Many had to be helped to walk, while others had to be carried on
shoulders.
The synagogue, packed with ailing people, was a pitiful sight. Coughs and
groans could be heard everywhere, and the heat was unbearable. Some of the
visitors were so weak that they couldn't even sit on the benches; they had to
be pushed against the walls. Others lacked even the strength to sit at all;
they lay quietly on the hard floor.
Every year on Shemini Atzeret night, the Rebbe would, after the prayers, lead
his own private hakafot with a minyan in the small synagogue adjoining his
room. Afterward, he would go to his sukkah and make Kiddush and eat a bit. Only
then he would proceed to the large synagogue in the courtyard for the public
hakafot.
This year, however, something unusual occurred. Upon entering his sukkah the
Rebbe summoned three elderly chasidim: Reb Michael Aaron of Vitebsk, a Kohen;
Reb Shabbetai Meir of Beshenkovitz, a Levite ; and Reb Yaakov of Semilian, an
Israelite. "I require you three -Kohen, Levite and Israelite-to be a
rabbinical court of three," the Rebbe told them. "You must now listen
to my Kiddush and respond 'Amen' to each of my blessings, with the intention
that your 'Amen' approval will apply to all the spiritual thoughts and
invocations I will concentrate on."
After reciting the Kiddush, the Rebbe requested that, several large flasks of
wine were brought out of the sukkah. After He then poured the remaining wine
from his cup into one of the flasks and appointed his three-member tribunal to
be 'emissaries of healing'. He instructed them to mix the wine from Kiddush
with the wine from the other flasks and distribute it among the sick, who would
drink it and with G-d's help be completely cured.
The Rebbe also asked them to go up to the women's balcony and serve wine to
those who had not been blessed with children or who had suffered miscarriages.
News of the Rebbe's wine spread like wildfire, and the synagogue was abuzz with
excitement. When the three elderly Hasidim entered the great synagogue with the
wine, an awed silence fell over all present. The three ascended the pulpit, and
Reb Yaakov of Semilian, the Yisrael of the rabbinical court, repeated aloud the
Rebbe 's instructions, word for word. In conclusion, he said he would like to
add a few words of his own, which were especially pertinent to the situation:
"There is an accepted tradition, passed down among the chasidim from
generation to generation, that for a tzaddik's blessing to be fulfilled, two
conditions must be met: first, the persons being blessed must believe in the
blesser and the blessing with simple faith, without equivocation. Second, they
must commit themselves to carrying out the will of the one granting the
blessing, in all that pertains to Divine Service--Torah study , prayer, and
pious conduct."
The wine from the Rebbe's cup was then distributed in an orderly fashion, with
the help of several robust young men whom the 'judges' chose for this task.
After everyone had received their wine, the Rebbe entered the synagogue and the
hakafot began. As was his custom, the Rebbe recited the first and last verses
of the Atah Horeita which precede, and participated in the first and seventh
hakafah.
The next day, everyone was talking about the miracle. In fact, Abraham the
doctor stated that for a number of the elderly patients, what occurred was
literally a true resurrection from the dead. He maintained that, from a medical
point of view, there was no hope for them, and their recovery was undoubtedly
due to supernatural intervention.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: A
number of versions of this story are in print, all similar in the main facts,
but differing in the amount of detail. Ultimately, they are all derived from
the very lengthy telling in "Likutei Dibburim," written by the sixth
Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson (1880-1950), based on the
detailed report of Rabbi Pinchas Reitzes of Shklov, a leading disciple of
Lubavitch-Chabad's founder, Rabbi Schneur Zalman (1745-1812).
I compiled and freely adapted and supplemented my presentation from a posting
in 2022 on the Portuguese-English website, NashimTsidkaniot.com, which is taken
from the book "Once Upon a Chassid", by Michael Green, (with
permission from the "Likrat Shabbat" of Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim), with
a few clarifying inserts from the three-times-as-long report [now only twice as
long :] on Chabad.org.
Footnote:
[1] Sephardic and Chassidic custom is to have seven joyous Simchat Torah
hakafot also on the night of Shemini Atzeret, in
order to be in harmony with the Jews of the Holy Land
where Shemini Atzeret and Simchas Torah are compressed into one 25-hour span.
[In parallel, the custom in Israel in the night following the holiday and the
Havdalah ceremony, to have seven joyous hakafot in harmony with the Simchat
Torah holiday outside Israel, which is just beginning then, only this time it
is to the accompaniment of joyous live (or recorded) music, as our holiday has
already been completed. This custom began here in Tsfat, as originated by Rabbi
Yitzchak Luria, the holy Ari-zal]
Fish
Store or Torah Scholar by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles
https://ascentofsafed.com/Stories/Stories/5787/1504-05.html
There was a special young man
that lived in Berditchov. He spent his days immersed in prayer and Torah study
in shul [which was also a Beis Hamedrash ('study hall')]. As his family grew he
realized that he wouldn't be able to continue his present lifestyle; he would
have to provide some source of income. He spent time thinking what he could do
to earn a living. He decided to buy wholesale a barrel of herring fish and then
go to the market place to sell them as single fish and thus earn a meager
income. It wasn't a great business but at least his wife and children wouldn't
starve.
When Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur
arrived, he went to daven (pray) in the shul of the famous Rabbi Levi-Yitzchak
of Berditchov. He was so glad to be able to spend a few days completely
immersed in prayer again. The tears flowed down his face as he poured out his
heart to the Almighty: how difficult it was for him being unable to spend his
day in the Beis Hamedrash as in the past. Instead of studying the words of
Abaye and Rava[1], Rashi and Tosfos[2] , Ramban and Rashba[3] , he was busy
selling herring.
His memories of those elevating
times aroused his emotions and tears. He begged G-D to allow him to once again
be able spend his day in Torah and prayer.
After Yom Kippur he received a
message. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchov wants to speak to him. He entered
the Rebbe's study and waited to hear what the great Rabbi wanted.
The Rebbe said, "I want you
to know that your prayers caused a great uproar in Heaven. On the night of Yom
Kippur, you cried to the L-rd, pouring out your heart how you can't spend your
day in the Beis Hamedrash studying. You prayed that He should give you 120 gold
coins and that would suffice you for a whole year to sit and study.
"However, after a night's
sleep and thinking it over you changed your mind. You decided that if you have
such a large sum of money in one go, your Yetzer Hara (negative impulses) will
try and make you open a fish store instead of studying. So, you asked Him to
give you 60 now and then 60 for Pesach.
"But then you decided that
that isn't a great idea either, so you asked G-D to give you 10 gold coins per
month so you would have enough each month. Then by Neilah [the dramatic
concluding prayer of Yom Kippur], you decided that the best would be if He
would give you two and a half coins each week to provide you and your family
with enough food. Thus, my dear friend, your prayers caused a big uproar in
Heaven."
"Yes," replied the
young man, "that is exactly what I prayed on Yom Kippur. So what was
decided in Heaven?" he asked eagerly.
"The answer was 'No',"
answered the Rebbe.
"But why?"
"Who said that what you think you need is also what the Master of the
World wants from you? Who said He appreciates you more when you are in the Beis
Hamedrash? Rather, He decided that He wants you to work honestly for a living,
So go sanctify His holy name by your behavior and honesty in business to
everyone who meets you. And then, when you come home tired at night, you will
force yourself to go to the local shul and join a Torah-study class or acquire
a learning-partner, even though you can barely keep your eyes open.
"That's how you will become
a true model of what a working person should be, and that is exactly what G-D
wants from you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Source: Modified and supplemented by Yerachmiel Tilles from a 5784 email of
"Inspired by a Story" by Rabbi Dovid Caro, as posted on
ShabbosStories.com
Why This Week? First week after
the many holidays - back to work!
Biographical note:
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak (Deberamdiger) of Berditchev [5500 - 25 Tishrei 5571 (1740
- Oct. 1810)] is one of the most respected and popular Rebbes in Chasidic
history. He was a close disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch, successor to the
Baal Shem Tov. Many of his teachings are contained in the posthumously
published Kedushat Levi. He is best known, however, for his love for every Jew
and his perpetual intercession before Heaven on their behalf. [His son wrote
about him in the introduction to his own book, Kesser Torah, "He raised up
thousands upon thousands of disciples... and ignited within them a passion for
learning Torah and serving the Creator with love. His own divine service was
such that even the angels above were envious of him!"
Footnotes:
[1]Two major sages of the Babylonian Talmud [their burial location here in
Tsfat ('Safed') is a place of pilgrimage.
[2]The two most prominent commentators on the Talmud; their explanations are
printed in all 36 tractates of the Babylonian Talmud.
[3]Two famous commentators a few generations after the above two.
In the winter of 1944–45, Gena Turgel was
ordered to undress and crowded with around a hundred other women into a cold,
stone-walled room at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
They did not know what was going to happen. Gena had already lost almost
everything. Her
family had been torn apart by the Kraków ghetto, Płaszów and Nazi persecution.
One brother had been shot. Another disappeared after escaping. Her sister
Miriam and Miriam’s husband were killed. Now Gena stood inside a
windowless room with narrow openings in the ceiling. And waited. Nothing happened. Minutes passed. Then more.
Gena later remembered that the women stood
there for roughly an hour.
Eventually, water came on. They washed. They drank because they were
desperately thirsty. Then
the doors opened. Outside,
other prisoners reacted with astonishment.
They embraced the women. Gena did not understand why. Then someone told her:
They believed she had just emerged alive from
a gas chamber. Gena
never knew with certainty what had happened. She later believed that something
had prevented the chamber from being used to kill them.
For her, there was a deeper explanation. “God must have saved my life,”
she said in recalling the experience. But surviving Auschwitz did not
mean her nightmare was ending.
In January 1945, as Soviet forces approached,
Gena and her mother were forced from Auschwitz on a death march. They had to leave Gena’s sister
Hela behind.
They never saw her again. After days on foot and weeks of
terrible transport, Gena and her mother reached Buchenwald. From there they were packed into
cattle trucks and sent west again.
In February 1945, they arrived at
Bergen-Belsen. The
camp was collapsing.
Hunger and disease were everywhere. Bodies lay around the grounds.
Gena later remembered piles of corpses so
emaciated that it could be difficult even to tell whether they had been men,
women or children. She
decided that if there was any way to help, she would. Gena found work in the camp
hospital.
And there, according to her later
recollection, she encountered a desperately sick teenage prisoner. Her name was Anne Frank. Anne was 15. The girl whose diary would one
day become one of the world’s most widely read accounts of the Holocaust was
now sick, weak and feverish.
Gena did not know that Anne would someday
become famous. To
her, she was simply another suffering girl who needed care. “I washed her face, gave her
water to drink,” Gena later recalled. She said she could still remember
Anne’s face and hair many decades afterward.
The exact details of Anne Frank’s final days
cannot be reconstructed with certainty.
The Anne Frank House says Anne and her sister
Margot contracted typhus at Bergen-Belsen and most likely died in February
1945, although their precise dates of death are unknown.
Anne never saw liberation.
Gena did.
On April 15, 1945, British troops liberated
Bergen-Belsen.
The soldiers entered a place devastated by
starvation, typhus and mass death.
For survivors, liberation did not instantly
erase what had happened.
Their bodies were weak.
Their families were gone.
Thousands were still dying from disease even
after the camp had been freed.
Gena was alive.
And two days later, something entirely
unexpected happened.
She met Norman Turgel, a sergeant in the
British Army who had been involved in the liberation of Bergen-Belsen.
A relationship developed between them.
Only six months later, on October 7, 1945,
Gena and Norman married in Lübeck, Germany.
Her wedding dress came from an extraordinary
source.
A British Army parachute.
Its silk was transformed into a wedding gown
for a woman who only months earlier had been a prisoner in Nazi concentration
camps.
The British press would later call her the
“Bride of Belsen.”
The dress survived too.
Today it is preserved by the Imperial War
Museums as an object connecting the horrors of the Holocaust with one
survivor’s attempt to rebuild a life afterward.
Gena and Norman eventually settled in Britain
and raised a family.
But Gena did not leave her memories behind.
She understood that surviving gave her something
both painful and important:
a voice.
In 1987, she published her memoir, I Light a
Candle.
For decades afterward, she visited schools,
commemorations and educational events, telling young people what she had
witnessed.
Kraków.
Płaszów.
Auschwitz.
Buchenwald.
Bergen-Belsen.
The family members she lost.
The prisoners who disappeared around her.
And the millions who never returned home.
The Holocaust Educational Trust says Gena
shared her testimony with hundreds of thousands of young people.
She died on June 7, 2018.
She was 95 years old.
By then, the young woman who had once stood
inside Auschwitz wondering what would happen next had lived more than seven
decades beyond the camps.
She became a wife.
A mother.
A grandmother.
An author.
And one of Britain’s best-known Holocaust
educators.
Her story does not need invented guards,
malfunctioning valves or imagined dialogue to make it powerful.
The documented truth is enough.
Gena Turgel survived a room at Auschwitz that
she later believed had been intended as a gas chamber.
She survived a death march.
She survived Bergen-Belsen.
She remembered caring for a dying Anne Frank.
And only months after liberation, she stood
in a wedding dress made from parachute silk and began building a life that the
Nazis had tried to deny her.
She spent the decades that followed speaking
for those who did not survive.
Sometimes hope is not loud.
Sometimes it is simply another morning—
when once you were uncertain there would be
one.
Benjamin Lewis Salomon (September 1,
1914 – July 7, 1944)
was a United States
Army dentist during World War II, assigned as a front-line surgeon. During the Battle of Saipan, when the Japanese started overrunning his
hospital, he stood a rear-guard action in which he had no hope of personal
survival, allowing the safe evacuation of the wounded, killing as many as 98
enemy troops before being killed himself. In 2002, Salomon posthumously received the Medal of Honor. He is one of only three dental officers to
have received the medal, the others being Alexander
Gordon Lyle and Weedon Osborne, and is one of three Jewish American soldiers who received the medal for World War
II.
Captain Ben L. Salomon was serving at Saipan,
in the Marianas Islands on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2nd
Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. The Regiment’s 1st
and 2d Battalions were attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between
3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted
in the Pacific
Theater
during World War II. Although both units fought furiously, the enemy soon
penetrated the Battalions’ combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming
casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded
soldiers walked, crawled, or were carried into Captain Salomon’s aid station,
and the small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter began to be
overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain Salomon to work on the
wounded. He then saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting one of the wounded soldiers lying near the
tent. Firing from a squatting
position,
Captain Salomon quickly killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his
attention back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the front
entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers were killed, four more crawled
under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the
hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the
fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed
the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered
the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid
station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear.
Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of
the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it. When his
body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his
position. Captain Salomon’s extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in
keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great
credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Condensed from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_L._Salomon
Lt. Col Robert ‘Rosie’ Rosenthal was a legend within the 8th Air
Force during WW2. He was awarded a total of 16 awards for valor, including 2
Purple hearts, 2 Silver Stars and the DSC. He flew over 52 bombing missions
with his B17 during the European campaign.
On October 10, 1943, just on his third mission with the 100th
BG, his plane was the only one to return, while every other bomber was shot
down over Germany. He managed to fly back to base with over 200 enemy fighters
on his tail. He land his aircraft with only 2 engines, destroyed radio and
oxygen system, and with the right wing almost coming apart.
He was shot down numerous times and always managed to escape,
opting to return to duty as fast as he could to be with his men. On another mission, his bomber took a direct hit and became
completely engulfed in flames. Despite this, he flew the crippled bomber over
the target, dropped the payload and then stayed with the plane until the rest
of the crew bailed out. He was the last man to exit the aircraft at barely
1000ft, which subsequently exploded after he bailed.
On Feb 3, 1945, he led 1,000 B17s on a massive bombing mission
over Berlin.
He volunteered to fly B29s over the Pacific but the war had
ended by then.
After the war, Rosenthal, who had been a lawyer when he enlisted
in the United States Army as an aviation cadet after the attack on Pearl
Harbor, served as an assistant to the U.S. prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials,
where he interrogated the former head of the German Air Force, Hermann Göring
and Wilhelm Keitel, former head of the German Armed Forces High Command
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW).
He is portrayed by Nate Mann in the nine-part Apple TV+
miniseries Masters of the Air (2024). Rosenthal passed away in April of 2007.
Inyanay Diyoma
Oct. 10th and
Oct. 11th
Day
1100 and Day 1101 since
Oct. 7th Roaring Lion Day 201 and Day
202 start of week 158
Every
Paramedic does his/her best to save lives. Training is most important and
practicing for all potential situations w/lessons learned. https://www.foxnews.com/world/israeli-combat-medicine-slashes-idf-deaths-after-oct-7-draws-us-military-interest
One
American died in the Houthi attack.
also: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434378
https://www.timesofisrael.com/anthropic-reveals-ai-model-submitted-false-homicide-tip-to-police/
This is not
the first time that Netanyahu sends out somebody to slander his critics. https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-ally-posts-apology-video-after-calling-bibas-family-despicable-for-criticizing-pm/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/british-airways-planning-to-resume-flights-to-tel-aviv-on-october-25/
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/11/riyadh-airport-attack-houthi-missile-trump/
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/11/trump-says-ukraine-needs-new-president/
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/11/qatar-100-million-gaza-aid-exposed/
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/11/footage-suspicious-object-lebanon-galilee-infiltration/
Terrorist weapons
storage facilities destroyed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434358
Op-Ed Dr. Martin
Sherman Why Multiple EU Scandals matter …
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434387
A
serious shooting incident occurred on Saturday evening at a home in Yavne,
where a 28-year-old man was seriously wounded, apparently by a bullet
accidentally discharged from a firearm belonging to his 21-year-old brother,
who works as a security guard. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434393
Panama earthquake: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434384
Israeli aid: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434390
Body of Modiin Resident
found after falling off of Mt. Olympus. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434372
Zehut
Party Chairman Moshe Feiglin issued a sharp response to American anti-Israel
commentator Tucker Carlson after Carlson criticized his statements advocating
the destruction of Gaza following the October 7th massacre, accusing him of
hypocrisy and questioning his authority to lecture Israel on morality.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434417
Leah
Ziv-Farag, the widow of Yaakov Farag, who was murdered in December 1988 while
guarding the lands of the Samaria community of Har Bracha, has appealed to
Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth to remove a monument commemorating
her husband's killer. After killing him, the assailant took his weapon and
continued firing at IDF soldiers. Farag left behind a pregnant widow and young
children who would never have the opportunity to grow up with their father.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434397
During
his testimony, Mandelblit confirmed that he had not authorized all police
actions in the Netanyahu cases and addressed the possibility that police had
acted behind his back. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434410
Col.
(res.) Hezi Nehama, former commander of the Alexandroni Brigade and Menashe
Regional Brigade and former deputy commander of the Givati Brigade, warns of
the possibility of a large-scale terrorist attack originating in Judea and
Samaria and calls for a fundamental change in Israel's policy toward the
Palestinian Authority. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434420
Brigadier General
abused power and is dismissed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434425
Iran uses Chat GPT to
fake headlines. https://www.ynetnews.com/tech-and-digital/article/bykrmykizl
Man hurls rocks at cars
on Ayalon Highway. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hkwnylfimx#autoplay
I don’t want your kind
touching me. https://www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world/article/hydwl1fogg
Hackers use security
cameras to track troops in Israel and the Ukraine. https://www.jpost.com/international/islamic-terrorism/article-911309
Egyptian
technical military teams, including advisors, trainers, and officers, are
reportedly preparing for the deployment of troops to Somalia, in the first such
move since the signing of a joint military cooperation agreement between the
two sides in 2024, The New Arab reported on Friday. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-911301
Israel
Police on Sunday arrested a woman on suspicion of stealing several religious
books from the tomb of Rabbi Avdimi of Haifa and
attempting to set them on fire. … "Firefighters
acted decisively to tackle the intense fire in the temporary structure and
conducted rapid searches that ruled out the presence of trapped people,"
said Incident Commander Deputy Chief Shai Nechemia at the time. "During
the operation, crews rescued several Torah scrolls from the flames." https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/crime-in-israel/article-911299
Oct. 12th
Day
1102 since
Oct. 7th Roaring Lion Day 203
Russia attacks Ukraine
Energy Facilities. https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-says-russia-and-ukraine-reached-energy-ceasefire-zelensky-news-to-me/
Troop reduction around
Gaza. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434467
Israeli who lost leg
competes in Iron Man Contest. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434455
Kfar Saba Mayor and
others arrested in bribery inquiry.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434460
A
motorcyclist driving erratically and on one wheel through the streets of
Nazareth was arrested after a police drone operator identified him from the air
and directed ground forces to him. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434465
Six
toddlers, approximately two years old, left a day-care center in Petah Tikva on
Sunday without adult supervision, with three of them reaching a distance of
approximately one kilometer from the facility, Channel 12 News reported.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434461
The
District Court has rejected Sara Netanyahu's request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit
filed against her by Democrats party chairman Yair Golan, ordering the prime
minister's wife to pay him 2,000 shekels in legal expenses. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434456
$100,000,000 in Qatari
Aid goes to the Hamas through their charging Gazans. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434428
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/12/will-saudi-arabia-take-the-gloves-off/
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/10/12/antisemitism-must-not-be-what-connects-young-jews-to-israel/
I’ll do almost anything
to prevent more elections – My advice: Pardon Him. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjfa9gcime
Tortoise Genes could
link to longevity. https://www.ynetnews.com/environment/article/rk9v5ndjmg
Netanyahu Aid tried to
tamper with official records. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-911384
Finance
Minister Bezalel
Smotrich called on Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz to instruct the IDF not to cooperate
with the High Court of Justice, following a decision on Sunday requiring the
state to provide further details about steps toward allowing Palestinian
residents to return to their homes in the Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams refugee
camps. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-911386
Oct. 13th
Day
1103 since
Oct. 7th Roaring Lion Day 204
Note: Tomorrow,
Oct. 14th, is Rabbi Pauli Day off the news to work on Parsha
Beresheis Part 2 and Parsha Noach will continue Oct. 15th.
and https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434520
He unscrewed it and it
exploded. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434502
https://www.timesofisrael.com/2-american-economists-win-nobel-for-work-on-managing-economic-shocks/
Israel to ban certain
types of drones. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434550
Israel will not expand
flights to Morocco. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434542
ISIS plot against
soldiers in Yerushalayim. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434549
UK record anti-Jew
crimes. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434539
Bomb threat on Delta
Jew in Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434530
Jihad and Hamas
eliminated on Sunday. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434527
An
IDF outpost in northern Israel, near Kibbutz Yiftach and the Yiftach Canyons
Nature Reserve, was abandoned by military forces and left unsecured, with large
quantities of military equipment and ammunition remaining at the site. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434526
Terrorist caught
filming train station. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434529
Defense Min. I will not
give in. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434497
Hungarian Univ. honors
terrorist then retracts. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434510
Can Saudis stop Houthis
without wider war? https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-911565
Hezballah rebuilds
Houthis war Saudis. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/2026-10-13/live-updates-911493
Russia already violated
ceasefire. https://www.jpost.com/international/internationalrussia-ukraine-war/article-911588
Iran fortifies Nuke
Sites builds missiles. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-911555
Oct. 14th
and Oct. 15th
Day
1104 and Day 1105 since
Oct. 7th Roaring Lion Day 205 and Day
206
US considering using
MOAB Bombs on Pickax Mountain. https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/15/politics/us-considering-mother-of-all-bombs-iran
Two terrorists who
smuggled weapons eliminated. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434680
Miracle:
Rabbi orders major to defend his community instead of driving to Gaza
Headquarters on Oct. 7th thus saving his life. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434625
New tunnel that crossed
the yellow line is destroyed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434654
Shabbos Times: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/shabat/
Ramming attempt. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434689
Ibn Sinwar, wants to
kill Jews = Amalek. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/434678
Sorry missed the 15th
in Israel will try the rest of the news after the blogspot tomorrow. My US
Passport expired and have a trip to the States in the making so had to take
care of things close to the last moment. I could not produce a quality
commentary on Parsha Noach in the remaining time.
A healthy,
happy, peaceful and restful Shabbos,
Rachamim
Pauli
