This post started out to be the continuation of a previous post, Rainbow Flags: Gay Pride or Noahide? However, it goes beyond the same-gender-attraction theme to...well, possibly the end of the world as we know it. Not because of that alone, but in spite of all the efforts being made to keep it going. The current system seems to be failing from the inside and may never recover.
Am I exaggerating? I don't know yet.
First we have a video from R' Yehuda Richter, "Just Do It" - where he points out the cultural appropriation by Nike, the sneaker (plimsoll, for my British readers) manufacturer, of the concept behind the slogan. After all, people have been criticizing Jews for ages about our impulsivity, which started with our slogan, "Na'aseh v'nishmah!" (We will do [it], and [then] we'll hear [the explanation]!)
We did this during our time at Har Sinai because we knew, even back in those days of our exodus from Egypt, that when the Creator of the Universe offers something, it must be taken whole, without "checking it out" first. This is the TORAH, the Holy Word of G-d that believing Jews live by (including the prophets and the writers - Torah is the core and the rest is all encouragement to us to live by it), that we're talking about! Apparently the rest of the world didn't consider Who they were dealing with!
Secondly, we have a high-level explanation of the Israeli government's predicament.
Over 40 years ago (1980) Harav Kaduri, zsk'l, has said...
לפני שיבוא משיח הסימן הוא שיהיו בחירות ויהיה תיקו ולא יצליחו להקים קואלציה ואחר כך יבוא משיח !!!
One of the biggest sign of Moshiach's arrival there will be elections
and the 2 main parties will receive similar votes but they will not be
able to build a coalition.
And
20 years ago, Harav Eliezer Abuchazera, zsk'l, said, "Moshiach will come when Israel will be unable to build a coalition"
In the time of Moshiach, they will not be able to form a coalition and will fail
Nava of Dreaming of Moshiach there calculates the time from the dissolving of the 20th Knesset (the last successful Knesset) on 18 Tevet 5779 until the upcoming elections on 17 Elul, which turns out to be...9 months (266 days) of birth pangs...
***Many thanks to Devash for her two posts on 4 and 8 [later deleted - HDG] Sivan respectively.***
Meanwhile, a third factor has come up: our "cousins" who live among us plan on an uprising against US President Trump, taking it out on us as is their wont...and what is our leadership going to do about it? Can they even operate properly under these conditions?
And if not, will they realize that they don't deserve to govern AT ALL? That the whole system is set up to operate against the Jews and therefore ROTTEN TO THE CORE???
That the whole question is not whether Jews should come home to live in Eretz Yisrael, but how we should be governed here, by whom and under what kind of government?
We will see whether HaShem will show Himself now, in a time of favor for the Jewish People, for His own Name's sake.
Ron Jager's article, "Religious coercion issue could weaken the Right in the coming election," and a lot of the results of searching for MK Smotrich's comments show how the shame of prominent Jews on both sides of the aisle about what HaShem really intends for us is what is generating all the lashon hara against us, including the accusations of racism. Let's stop it already, and consider what is really involved, as opposed to what is assumed. If we were to actually demonstrate what this is, the talk would stop.
Notice that in this video about Smotrich's statements, his remarks are not heard and translated, but just talked about. WHAT DID HE REALLY SAY? And won't the Xians who commented on this be shocked by what really happens...)
Back in Shevat (late January 2019) we heard that Mashiah would be revealed before the elections. Now that elections are on again because no coalition was formed, it could still happen — not between Tazria and Metzora, but possibly between Ki Tetze' and Ki Tavo'.
Remember, R' Kanievsky never said which parshiot would be involved. I did, based on the timing of the elections then as well as now. I'm no prophet or great rabbi, and I never claimed to be. Just an observer in my homeland who wants The Forever Geula already. That's why I've been here - and why you should come too, if you're not already here.
And if geula doesn't happen according to this schedule (as hasn't happened in the last 2,000 years), don't worry. It will happen and we will wait for it! I don't know about you, but I'd rather be here in any case.
How can we understand the fact that
our Mashiach, King David, descends from sullied and problematic lineage? His
paternal ancestors, including his great grandfather Boaz, were the result of an
act of incest between Yehuda and his daughter-in-law Tamar. She deceived Yehuda
by posing as a harlot in order to have his child. Yet Yehuda is the father of
the tribe from whom the Mashiach will emerge (Bereshit 38-39, Ruth 4).
On King David's maternal side, was
a convert to Judaism, Ruth. She was a Moabite princess, and although the Torah
prohibits Moabite converts to marry into the Jewish People (Devarim 23), the
Beth Din of Boaz ruled that this prohibition applies only to male Moabites and
not to females. Moreover, Moab, Ruth's ancestor, was the result of incest
between Lot and his daughter (Bereshit 19). Therefore Ruth, the great
grandmother of the Mashiach, descends from a very problematic past.
What is Judaism teaching by having
the Mashiach descend from incestuous acts? The Midrash states that this
Messianic ancestry was purposely designed, the proof-text being the strange use
of the word ZERA (seed) rather than BEN (son), in reference to Boaz and Lot.
When Boaz married Ruth, the Jews
blessed the couple at the gates of the city of Efrat, saying, "May your
house become like the house of Peretz, whom Tamar bore to Yehuda, from the ZERA
(seed) which G-D gives you from this NA'ARA, (young woman)" (Ruth 4).
It is strange for the text to refer
to Ruth, a widow for at least a decade as a NA'ARA, and the reference to Lot's
act of incest with his daughter which seems like a bizarre blessing. Based on
this verse in Ruth, the Midrash interprets the verse in Bereshit 19, "And
the elder daughter said to the younger, 'Come let us make our father drunk with
wine and let us be with him, so that we may enable our father to give life to
his ZERA (seed)." The Midrash continues that this ZERA in the Book of Ruth
is the SAME ZERA that comes from Lot and his daughter (Midrash Ruth Zuta).
The idea that good can emerge from
evil is built into the Jewish concept of the Mashiach. Just as the
grand-daughter of the cruel and immoral King of Moab could become the loving,
modest, and gracious Ruth, all sinful people can rehabilitate and re-Jewvenate themselves
and bring the Mashiach. As the Mishnah in Avot states, “According to the effort
and the pain is the gain.”
Rav Soloveitchik understood this
idea from this Midrash. The Rav explains that this idea is precisely the lesson
that Lot's daughter wanted to impress on her younger sister in Bereshit 19,
"The elder sister said to the younger, 'Our father is old and there is no
man on earth to come to us in the manner of all societies.'" The Midrash
Bereshit Rabba states that Lot’s daughters believed the entire world had been
destroyed as in the days of Noach's Flood.
Thus, Rav Soloveitchik explains,
the elder daughter suggested that they each deceive and seduce their father
through intoxication, so that they could repopulate the earth. The younger daughter
hesitates at the act of incest, and she sees no point in attempting to restart
the world. After all, G-D attempted to establish a perfect world, first in Eden
with Adam and Chava and again with Noach and the Covenant of the Rainbow
(Bereshit 9). Both ended in failure, for humanity sank repeatedly into
immorality and corruption. This daughter felt it would be absurd and in this
case of incest, immoral, to begin humanity once again.
The elder daughter would not give
up, said Rav Soloveitchik. She argued that G-D would never have created the
human being in the Divine Image if evil were to triumph, and if human civilization
would destroy itself.
No, she insisted, there must be a
way to transform Vice into Virtue. Because we must have faith in the
possibility and the awesome power of Teshuva. As the verse in Mishlei states,
"The Tzaddik will fail and fall 7 times, but he keeps rising up." The
Baal Shem-Tov explains this verse as ONLY after a person fails and falls 7
times, and doesn't give up, but continues to try to better himself, only then
is he a Tzaddik!
One of the Rambam’s 13 Principles
of Faith is belief in the coming of Mashiach. Rav Soloveitchik explained that
this faith and belief in Mashiach is based on faith and belief in the power of
Teshuva!
3 Sivan 5779
the day of the GP Parade...just before the celebration of Matan Torah...
I took this picture the other day from a bus I was riding on. Note flag. - HDG
My gentle readers may remember my participation in the protest against the "gay pride" parades in Yerushalayim and the rest of Israel last August. This year it's in June...today...just before Shavu'oth, the third major holiday in Judaism.
Although this is a major issue, there is more to it than that. We are all becoming disgusted with the rainbow-designed flags flying in our cities, including Jerusalem, because of who and what they represent, rather than their substance. In a generation where "cultural appropriation" is forbidden and condemned, I want to raise a question: Was there a date before which one could do so with impunity? Meaning, "getting away with it."
In the case of the advocacy of same-gender attraction (SGA for short), the time seems to have begun in 1968 or thereabouts. I was in 7th grade (junior high school in those days; today, Americans call it "middle school") and, as young teenagers were wont to do in my day, there was a sorting out of behaviors due to the impact they would have on how we would be seen, gender-attraction-wise. Because at the beginning of that school year, I was still holding hands with my girlfriends, I was asked whether I was a "lezzie" by one of my classmates. I was not altogether familiar with the vocabulary then, but by the look on her face, I knew I had to think about it quickly. I realized that it meant "do you "like" girls?". I said no, and that was the last time I did a thing like that. We were no longer children — but not quite adults, either.
Since then, "homo" has been replaced by "gay." And "lezzie" (lesbian) has remained. And now an answer to my question (you may have more, and better, ones):
How many of my readers know that "gay" has long-standing earlier meanings having nothing to do with SGA? According to Dictionary.com, it holds a definition rendered "older use" as a result: having or showing a merry,livelymood, and there are several other "older use" and "obsolete" definitions. Click on the "see more" link there to see all of them.
In fact, Gay is still a girl's name! (Here's another link just because you should be aware. A comment pertinent to this post is: "This name is almost never given anymore, as the meaning of the word
"gay" has shifted in the past 40 years to mean "homosexual" in
mainstream speech." (my emphasis - HDG)) But now the search engines want to show you what a "gay" girl's name should be. I had to use the search phrase "a girl named Gay" to get the links in this paragraph. Little did I know that it's been a man's name too. But nothing to do with SGA, any more than Robin, Pat or Chris.
And let's not go into the British names like Beverly, Evelyn, etc...that started out as men's names. If you're curious, look at the prominent men named Evelyn here. The earliest prominent woman on the list above it was born in 1855, where the earliest man was born about 1655. It was normal back then, I suspect, probably more among royals.
In Hebrew, Sharon (pronounced shah-rón) is a man's name, but I know at least two women with that name off the top of my head. We have plenty of other names like that in Israel.
There was a song when I was young that included the words, "happy and gay" and I defy you to find a link to SGA in it. Warning: qol ishah.I Feel Pretty! from the movie West Side Story(1957). Warning: qol ishah.
Could this mean that over the last 40 years the SGA community committed a crime of a kind of appropriation? Could this be a euphemism for "stealing"?
And now, to the big appropriation crime of the millennia and the topic of this post: The rainbow as a symbol, and its use in a flag.
Yes, I mean the millennia - since the time of Noah, the current father of all the nations. See Genesis/Beresheet, parashath Noach.
The rainbow was the symbol G-d gave to Noah to let him know that He would never destroy the world by flood again. And now, it's been appropriated — er, stolen, from the whole world by a small group of people who want to force us to accept them as worthy of normal — no, special — consideration. Do we want to get used to being disgusted by rainbows because of this? Or do we want to take the rainbow back and place it in its proper context among the vast majority of human beings?
Think about that for a while.
Next time I see rainbow flags, I hope the sight will be due to a celebration of Noah, the father of all the nations (yes, including Jews as well! Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are his descendants too.). The whole world will have the choice — and the right — to celebrate.
NOTE: A very controversial conversation took place 3 years ago between Ari Fuld, HY"D and Sarah Tuttle-Singer...Judean Rose, the author of this post documenting the conversation, is concerned that Ari's voice will continue to speak, and I am concerned because this post went away from its original site because of other people's baseless accusations (now you don't see it anymore!).
This post is reprinted by permission.
***
It’s not that Ari Fuld
was a prophet, it’s that he was speaking the truth. That’s how I look
at the confrontation between Ari and Sarah Tuttle-Singer that happened
on Jerusalem Day, 2016. Tuttle-Singer wanted to know why Jews only come
to the Arab section of Jerusalem on Jerusalem Day, “davka.” She saw the Jerusalem Day parade as a provocation.
Ari explained that it’s dangerous
for Jews to go there on regular days, because “they’re looking to
stab.” That Ari was, himself stabbed, proves the point she denied. That a
video of the confrontation disappeared off the face of the earth after
Ari’s murder, suggests that Sarah Tuttle-Singer or perhaps her
followers, don’t want to take any chances that you will come across this
truth.
That was my conclusion after I went digging for the three-year-old
video. We’d spent Yom Haatzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, at the home
of close friends. As often happens, we got to speaking of Ari Fuld,
HY”D, who was stabbed to death 8 months ago while speaking on his phone
at the Gush Etzion shopping center. Ari was a friend and warrior for
Israel. The pain of his absence still feels way too keen and fresh.
Our friend mentioned that she’d never seen the much-talked-about
Jerusalem Day video in which Ari confronts Sarah Tuttle-Singer, the
leftist new media editor at the Times of Israel. STS, as we call her for
short, had happened by as Ari was filming a spot about the celebrations
in “East” Jerusalem, a part of Jerusalem that is for the most part,
populated by Arabs. Ari debated Jewish rights to the land of Israel with
the popular blogger until she said she didn’t want to be on camera
“like this.” At that point, always the gentleman, Ari immediately
stopped rolling. You see a brief fade out and then the film moves on to
something else.
I promised I’d find the video for my friend and send it on. Some time
elapsed until I remembered my promise. I then went to Google and
searched “Ari Fuld confronts Sarah Tuttle-Singer.”
There were three videos, none of them the one I sought, then a Jewish Press article which I knew was the right one. The title was “Confronting the Left at the Jerusalem Day Parade [video].” I thought “Bingo!” but when I opened the link, the video was gone. Inside
the piece, Ari had also linked to his Facebook post of the video, but
when I clicked on the link, I got the error message: “Sorry, this
content isn’t available right now.”
I had only watched that video a month or so ago, and now? Poof! It was gone.
I knew what I think happened. STS or her minions had reported the video and Facebook had removed it.
Some background is appropriate here: Ari expressed to me that felt
hounded by STS and her followers in the last several months of his life.
He told me he was gathering information on STS, creating a dossier. Ari
said that STS had written to his employers at the news station where he
worked, accusing him of disgusting things I'd rather not write here. He
said he had the email. His impression, as he expressed it to me, was
that she was going for the throat, attempting to cut off his livelihood
to make it difficult for him to support his family.
Why haven’t I shared this information before? Because Ari told me these
things on Facebook Messenger, and this account, one of many Ari was
forced to create, was “disappeared” by Facebook, pending "verification”
that the account was real. As a result, I can no longer see the messages
he sent me.
The "Ari Y Fuld" account and the vestiges of our correspondence as in this photo, are now gone.
I wrote Facebook support several times, telling them that Ari was real,
had been murdered by terrorists, that his messages were dear to me and
important, but all I received in return were rote replies that let me
know that Facebook didn’t care and wasn’t listening.
Ari was constantly in Facebook jail
the last few years of his life. He’d no sooner set up a new account
than it would be reported as a fake and taken down. The left very much
wanted to silence him. And with the disappearance of the video of Ari
confronting Sarah Tuttle-Singer on Jerusalem Day 2016, it appears that
the left had finally succeeded in this task.
I was wrecked at the thought that Ari had been persecuted and silenced
even after death, so I dug further. I posted queries on Facebook groups
dedicated to Ari’s memory, asking if anyone still had a copy of the
video. Those who attempted to respond found that they too, could no
longer access the clip as it had been removed by Facebook.
I went back to Google and hunted some more until I found a single, very
poor copy of the original film. I shared it on Facebook. And then I
downloaded it for posterity. Twice. My husband downloaded it, too.
We did this quickly. Because evil works fast. You always have to take
that screenshot, something I should have done with what Ari told me in
that Messenger conversation. I failed him then.
But now there are three copies of the Jerusalem Day video in private
files belonging to me and to my husband. No one can take them from me,
from us. No one can silence Ari. Or the truth.
Here is one of those copies [interview with Sarah Tuttle-Singer begins @0:45 - HDG]:
What did he say, what did she say that was so frightening to the left that they campaigned to disappear the video? It was this:
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: How often do you think that the people who march
through here go and, and, buy things, buy um, you know, eat at these
restaurants, talk to the shopkeepers?
Ari Fuld: That is a great question and I’ll answer you.
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: Okay.
Ari Fuld: Number one: not too many times because the food’s not kosher, one. In terms of buying things, personally, I bought a lot of stuff in Bethlehem until the Oslo accords happened.
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: Okay.
Ari Fuld: But you just can’t walk through because it’s dangerous.
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: I do all the time.
Ari Fuld: Well, you don’t exactly look like a Jew.
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: Well, sometimes I do and sometimes, I mean--
Ari Fuld: Well, it doesn’t matter. As of right now, you look like a tourist.
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: Do you know what language I speak to the shopkeepers?
Ari Fuld: Completely irrelevant. You asked me a question, I’m answering it.
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: Sure, I understand, but--
Ari Fuld: The reason that Jews don’t walk through here is ‘cause it’s dangerous. Becausethe Muslims who are here are looking to stab. If it were not dangerous--
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: No they are not. They are not looking to stab.
Here is the one case where I wish that Sarah Tuttle-Singer had been right. That they were not
looking to stab. Because had she been right, Ari would not have been
stabbed and murdered. He would still be alive. His wife would have a
husband, his children a father. And Israel would still have its warrior.
But Sarah Tuttle-Singer was wrong. Many of the Muslims here were/are
indeed, looking to stab, and they stabbed Ari Fuld to death. This is the
truth that someone so desperately wanted to hide that they reported
every single copy they could find. Perhaps this copy escaped notice, or
perhaps the quality is so bad, they didn't think it could hurt them.
It isn't just her contention that it isn't true that they are looking to
stab and the subsequent stabbing murder of Ari that would be
bothersome. It would also be this admission by Sarah Tuttle-Singer,
captured on film, that Jews did not steal Arab land:
Ari Fuld: Did we take Palestine from the Arabs?
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: I don’t think so. I think this is my home.
Ari Fuld: That’s not what I asked you. Historically, did we take Palestine from the Arabs?
Sarah Tuttle-Singer: No.
Where that quiet “no” is pronounced, STS looks unhappy. Ari had cut
through the bull and gone straight to the facts. She'd been caught up
short, ensnared by logic:
“Did we take Palestine from the Arabs?”
“No.”
The truth was, is, and always will be as simple as that. Nothing else really matters.
Ari had demonstrated that "facts don't care about your feelings." You
want to be an empath? Fine: show empathy for your own. Because Western
notions of social justice are not Jewish and certainly not Tikun Olam.
Because supporting the other side out of sympathy for the underdog is
wrong. Because their narrative is a lie and demonizes our people. And
because all too often, they're looking to stab and murder Jews like Ari
Fuld.
Here is what someone knew that people would take away from this clip:
when you support the Arab narrative, you not only support a lie, but
undermine Jewish rights and threaten the very existence of the Jewish
people.
In the now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t disappearing video, Sarah
Tuttle-Singer was caught up short by the truth. Something that Ari stood
for. But the left doesn’t like the truth. And that is why the left
tries so hard to silence Ari’s voice, even as it calls from the grave.
The truth messes with the left’s image of themselves as the ones who
dole out empathy to the disenfranchised. They don't care that in so
doing, they disenfranchise themselves and their own people. They figure
the Jews are privileged, we can take it. We’re the ones with the
stronger position, the ones who are sovereign.
But what happened to Ari proves that this is a lie. He was made of flesh
and blood, and flesh and blood is no match for cold steel. Which shows
that when you empathize with those who lie, you strengthen the hand of
hate: the hand that takes Jewish lives.
At the moment that the knife took Ari’s life, who deserved the left’s
support? Was it those who claim the Jews stole their land? Was it the
terrorist who murdered Ari? Or was it Ari, the one who insisted on
spreading the truth? And before he was murdered? Who deserved the left's
support then, in the time leading up to the dreadful event?
I think we know. I think Sarah Tuttle-Singer knows, though she may be
loath to give in and face the simple truth in black and white: Ari was
right. He was right all along.
But it takes courage to be like Ari, to display the strong courage and
conviction that is so lacking in the left. In today’s world, you need to
be brave to speak out against the lies that drive the hands that wield
the knives. It’s a lot easier, more familiar perhaps, to hide the truth
and go on as usual.
It’s so much simpler to write to Facebook support and report a video, to
hide the evidence from view. Especially ... as a lone truth-teller
bleeds out on a shopping plaza in the Gush.
NOTE FROM EOZ [original site owner and moderator - HDG]: I edited this article to ensure that there is no direct
accusation of Tuttle-Singer being behind the removal of the video, since
there is no evidence of that.
UPDATE: Varda and Sarah Tuttle-Singer (and I) had a lengthy discussion on Twitter about
this article. Sarah vehemently and repeatedly denied having had
anything to do with Ari's being fired, saying she never sent an email
nor asked anyone to send an email to his employer.
The original post was taken down on Friday afternoon. Thank G-d I got it all except the accompanying commentary. Commenting on this copy of the post is not allowed due to the commenters' part in the original controversy, resulting in its takedown. Again, my main concern, joined with that of Judean Rose, is that Ari Fuld's voice be heard because he can no longer defend himself in THIS WORLD.
In honor of Yom Yerushalayim 5779...בכבוד יום ירושלים ה"תשע"ט
I hope we will be greeting Mashiah soon, here in Yerushalayim! The Rav will be able to serve in the Third Holy Temple, along with my husband, a Levi. (Can't find the source. Sorry.)
IN HONOR OF THE 52nd YEAR OF
RE-UNIFICATION OF YERUSHALAYIM – YOM YERUSHALAYIM
The following is a translation of a
composition by Mr. Yitzchak Navon, in honor of Yerushalayim, written when he
was serving as our 5th president.
In June 1967, the Six Day War broke
out. Israel’s soldiers fought bravely and won many victories. Soon they
reached the Old City of Jerusalem. They prepared to fight for it, and to take
it back from Jordan. But they did not know through which of the seven
gates to enter. As they tried to decide what to do, each gate begged, one
louder than the other, “Enter the Old City through me. Enter the Old City
through me.”
Their voices reached heaven, but God
and his angels could not decide which gate deserved to be the one through which
the soldiers would enter. Then the angel Michael spoke. “God in Heaven,
All the gates are beautiful, and each deserves to be the one through which the
soldiers will enter the Old City. Let each gate speak and explain why it
should be chosen. Then You will decide which gate is most worthy.
God thought this was an excellent
idea and asked each gate to speak for itself. Sha’ar Yafo, the
Jaffa Gate, spoke first.
Two
important roads go out from me. One leads to the city of Yafo and to the
Mediterranean Sea. The other goes to Hevron where our ancestors Avraham
and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivkah, and Ya`akov and Leah are buried in the Me’a-rat
Ha-mach-pe-lah. Near me stands the Tower of David. I will make sure
that the soldiers of Israel enter the Old City safely.
Then Sha’ar Sh’khem, the
Damascus Gate, spoke out in a loud voice and said:
I
am the biggest and most beautiful of all the gates. All roads leading
north from Jerusalem start here with me. Let the soldiers of Israel enter
the Old City through me.
Sha’ar Tzion, the Zion Gate, was the next to speak:
God
in Heaven, I am named for your holy city—Tzion. Look at me. I am
bruised and broken from all the fighting around me. It is only right that
victory should come through me. Choose me, choose me.
Raising its voice, Sha’ar HaAshpot,
the Dung Gate, said:
Dear
God, look at me. I am miserable and ashamed. For centuries,
Jerusalem’s garbage was dumped on me. Now don’t misunderstand, I would
rather be covered with the garbage of Jerusalem than with all the precious
jewels in the world. Every day, I try to comfort the Kotel, which is
right next to me. It is sad because Jews cannot pray there now. Make
us happy and let Israel’s soldiers enter the Old City through me.
It was then the turn of Sha’ar
HaPerahim, the Flower Gate:
It
would not be right for the soldiers of Israel to enter the Old City through the
dirty Dung Gate. Let the soldiers of Israel enter through me and I will
give them wreaths of flowers. It should be through me, through me.
Next the voice of Sha’ar HeHadash,
the New Gate, was heard.
I
am the smallest and newest of the gates. I am so new that I am not even
counted as one of the seven gates. I am near the Israeli side of the
city, and every day I watch as Israel’s enemies fire upon her. I try to protect
Israel, but I cannot. Please let Israel’s soldiers enter through me.
Next in line to speak was Sha’ar
HaRahamim, the Golden Gate. Its voice was muffled because it was
closed in on both sides.
Master
of the Universe. For years my entrance has been sealed shut. The
other gates open and close, but large stones block me up. You promised that the
Jews would return to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash through me, and that is why
Israel’s enemies sealed me shut. It is only right that the soldiers of
Israel enter through me.
Only Sha’ar Ha’Arayot, the
Lions’ Gate, was left to speak. God pointed to it, but it remained
silent. Finally, it began to speak in a soft voice:
God
in Heaven. From all directions I see soldiers fighting and being wounded.
My heart is breaking, and I cannot bear to watch any longer. It doesn’t
matter through which gate the soldiers enter. Just make the fighting stop.
God and the angels heard these words
and whispered among themselves. Then God turned to the Lions’ Gate and
said: All the other gates are interested in their own honor. But you care
more about the soldiers of Israel than about yourself. Therefore, we have
decided that the soldiers of Israel will enter the Old City through you.
Let them enter through the Lions’ Gate. Their armored cars swept through
the alleyways, and they set the city free. At the Western Wall they blew
a great blast on the shofar. The blast was heard throughout the land and
everyone knew that the gates of the Old City were once again open to
Jews. A miracle had occurred. Jerusalem was united.
Dear Friends:
Chag Samayach to the entire House of
Israel on the anniversary of one of the greatest miracles to ever have been
performed by our Father in Heaven – and this in our own time – the
re-unification of Yerushalayim. We are now sovereign over the holy city for the
first time in over 2000 years, and it will never be taken away from us –
be’ezrat HaShem
21 Iyyar 5779 / a little late for La"G ba'Omer ;-(
Fire Safety for Lag BaOmer - Hidabroot (read the source! Great for years to come...)
[Note RE: the first paragraph: R' Sprecher told me today that he was told that Robbie Krieger of the former Doors had visited Israel and Diaspora Yeshiva in the late 1960s, several years before the Rav had himself arrived. I could find no independent corroboration on line or anywhere else (wouldn't it have been cool to have a link?). Please let me know if you met him here, or heard about it, at my blog email or as a comment below. -HDG]
by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher | links to sources by HDG
The Doors had a number
one hit song called "Light My Fire" in 1967. This song was written by
band member Robby Krieger who visited Diaspora Yeshiva in the 1960s. Perhaps
Krieger was inspired by the Lag B’Omer fires that he saw in Israel. Why does
everyone in Israel get so "fired up" on Lag B’Omer?
There are two main
historical events connected to Lag B’Omer. First, the Talmud Yevamot 62[b] states
that during the time of Rabbi Akiva, 24,000 of his students died from a
Divinely sent plague during the days of the counting of the Omer between Pesach
and Shavuot.
The Talmud goes on
to say that this was a punishment because Rabbi Akiva's disciples did not show
love and respect to each other. They were jealous and begrudged each other's
spiritual levels and achievements.
We celebrate Lag B’Omer
as the traditional day that this plague was suspended and Rabbi Akiva's
students stopped dying.
The Zohar gives
another reason for Lag B’Omer. It recounts that the great sage, Rabbi Shimon
Bar Yochai died late in the day on Lag B’Omer, and the sun miraculously did not
set until he died, when a Heavenly Pillar of Fire appeared over his body. Thus,
there is the Kabbalistic tradition of lighting candles and bonfires on Lag B’Omer.
Also, customs of mourning for Rabbi Akiva's disciples, held during the days
from Pesach till Shavuot, are suspended and stopped on Lag B’Omer.
But what does Lag B’Omer
mean today? What is the message for us in our daily lives?
Perhaps these two
ideas, the mourning for Rabbi Akiva's students and the lighting of bonfires for
Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's Yahrzeit are connected.
Think of a camp
fire or a bonfire. It provides a warm glow. You can roast marshmallows and
hotdogs around the camp fire, gather around and bond with other people.
Everyone is attracted to a fire. Throughout the Torah, G-D always appears to
human beings in a fire. For example, G-D appeared to Moshe as a flame in the
Burning Bush and to the entire Jewish People as a Devouring Fire on top of
Mount Sinai (Shemot 24). Thus, a bonfire or campfire bonds and brings people
together.
The idea of Lag B’Omer
and the lighting of fires is to bring us together. Rabbi Akiva's disciples grew
apart, the bonfires of Lag B’Omer are supposed to bring us together. We should
illuminate each other with the Light of Torah and perform our Mitzvot with fiery
enthusiasm. Our goal as Jews is to kindle each other’s Eternal Flame.
It's strange, but
in today's age, although we are more connected to each other than ever before
thanks to technology, we seem to be more disconnected from the people around
us. We see people sitting together but instead of talking to each other, each one
is engrossed in texting someone else through their smart phone and WhatsApp.
So on Lag B’Omer,
for one night a year, we should put away our smart phones and dumb phones and
show respect and love for each other by reconnecting to those close to us.
This can be the
Tikkun for Rabbi Akiva's disciples, who had no respect and love for each other.
***
NOTE: The municipality of Jerusalem did not allowing fires to be lit on La"G ba'Omer because of the hot, dry summer-like weather - readers may be aware that there were fires, not only from the bonfires, but from our "cousins" as well. -HDG
Every time I try to put a post together for the past month or so, I find I'm not ready soon enough, so I keep deleting idea after idea and post after post.
Too much is going on for my slow-working mind to grasp quickly enough to be timely. That's why this blog will never carry "breaking news" unless the timing happens to be just right. Or, maybe I'll be ahead by too much.
I'm more of an analyst - who knows, maybe I'm here to correct part of the Sin of the Spies. After all, the spies were the tribal leaders of the then-new nation of Israel when they discouraged the people from going up to the Land because "the land eats its inhabitants" among other reasons.
Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher says this is because they analyzed the situation, rather than trusting their Creator's word, and came to the wrong conclusion, thus bringing death and disaster upon us before we would be ready to ascend.
R' Sprecher explained to us yesterday that the two parashioth Yitro (Exodus chapters 18-20 / שמות פרקי י"ח-כ) and Sh'lah Lekha (Numbers chapters 13-15 / במדבר פרקי י"ג-ט"ו) are in chronological order as I listed them here, even though they are not thus in the Torah, because Yitro, the great former religious leader of Midian and then-new convert to Judaism, influenced the tribal leaders to believe that one didn't have to live in Eretz Yisrael in order to be a good Jew. So, next thing you know, the tribal leaders — all except for Yehoshua and Kalev — found reasons to discourage the people from coming up here. This is compared with the great-grandmother of Mashiah, the Midianitess convert Ruth, who said, "Wherever you go, I will go...wherever you lodge, I will lodge..."
The Rav went on to suggest that this is why Jewish families name their daughters Ruth, while we don't name our sons Yitro (or Jethro). (The video is at the end of this post.)
Some hidden-in-plain-sight news follows:
1) US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman "fires back at the NY Times" for criticizing him for stating that Israel is on the side of G-d.
“So where am I off in saying that God is on
the side of Israel?” Friedman asked. “The fact that God has fulfilled
his prophecies and delivered the people of Israel to their land is
demonstrably true.”
It is as much a great miracle that Ambassador Friedman actually included HQB"H in his original comment as it is for him to defend it to the Times! May there be more like this!
Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Gilad, former head of the Defense Ministry's security-policy headquarters said on Army Radio that "Hamas is quieting the demonstrators so that Eurovision will pass calmly."
I can't believe it myself, since I'm against the great hillul haShem this represents and I'm proud that the highly popular Israeli band Shalva quit early on because they didn't want to perform on Shabbat.
Also, the link just above goes to the notice that Chief Rabbi of Israel David Lau calls us to stop work at least 10 minutes before Shabbat and 10 minutes after the end of Shabbat.
"This Shabbat will be a mass desecration of Shabbat," he said.
"Unfortunately, this is not the first time but this time it will be
before the eyes of the entire world."
Despite this, could it mean that our collective merit is, or will be, greater than our demerit?
Is that even possible?!?!?!?! As remote as the possibility might be, or even if not, G-d forbid, THANK YOU, HaQADOSH BARUCH HU for Your tender mercies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
