Waw...fascinating! (Strengthening Ourselves in Preparation for Redemption by R' Eli J. Mansour)

 light of 15 Elul 5781

Waw...the letter Israelis now pronounce "vav"...a key to redemption...fascinating! - HDG

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Parashat Ki Teseh 5781

Strengthening Ourselves in Preparation for Redemption

by Rabbi Eli J. Mansour (original article here)

In the prophecy read as the Haftara for Parashat Ki-Teseh, the prophet Yeshayahu foresees the return of the Jewish People to its homeland. He turns to the Land of Israel and cries, "Expand the space of your tent, and the curtains of your residences shall be moved… Extend your ropes, and strengthen your pegs" (54:2). Whereas the land lay empty throughout the years of exile, the prophet promises that the time will come when the land will need to expand to accommodate the influx of Jews who will return.

The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909) offers a deeper explanation of the words, "Vi’ytedotayich Hazeki" ("strengthen your pegs"). The plain meaning, of course, is that this refers to the pegs used to bind the ropes of the tent to the ground. As the tent expands, the pegs need to be strengthened to hold down the extended ropes. The Ben Ish Hai, however, adds that a peg is shaped like the letter "Vav," and the prophet here exhorts us to strengthen our commitment to the quality represented by this letter. He explains that if the letter "Vav" is removed from the word "Kadosh" ("sacred"), the result is the word "Kadesh" – referring to a harlot, the diametric opposite of holiness. The letter "Vav," then, signifies the difference between decadence and sanctity, our maintaining proper standards of purity and morality so we attain Kedusha, rather than becoming the opposite, Heaven forbid. For this reason, the Ben Ish Hai notes, Yosef was dressed with "Bigdeh Shesh" (flax garments) when he was appointed vizier over Egypt (Bereshit 41:42). The word "Shesh" (flax) also means "six," alluding to the letter "Vav," which in Gematria equals 6. Yosef embodied the quality of "Yesod," of resisting temptation to maintain purity, and thus he is described as being clothed with "Shesh," the letter "Vav," the attainment of Kedusha.

The Ben Ish Hai explains that this is the meaning of the prophet’s charge, "Vi’ytedotayich Hazeki." He is telling us that in order to earn our final redemption, we must strengthen our "peg" – the letter "Vav," our commitment to maintaining our standards of Kedusha. This is a struggle that must be waged as we prepare for our final redemption.

It is no coincidence that in our times, as we inch closer to the arrival of Mashiah, we face unprecedented challenges particularly in this area, the area of purity and Kedusha. Already the prophet Yeshayahu informed us that as our nation returns to its homeland in preparation for the final redemption, we will need to work very hard to strengthen our "peg," our commitment to the Torah’s standards of purity. This challenge is an especially difficult one, but it is one which we must wage, with devotion and determination, confident that this struggle will bring us closer to our final redemption, may it arrive speedily and in our time, Amen.

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The Power of Free Choice (Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher)

 28 Menahem Av 5781

 

 

 

The Power of 

Free Choice



by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher

The Torah states in Parshat Re’eh, “You are a holy nation to Hashem, your G-d; G-d has chosen you from all the nations of the earth to be His own treasured, special nation” (Devarim 14). Rashi explains that your holiness comes to you from your forefathers; but also, G-d has chosen you. In other words, not only did G-d choose our ancestors, but each and every one of us as well, as we say in the Bracha before the Shema, “G-d chooses His People Israel with love.”

 

All of us, the entire Jewish People, according to our various streams, down through the generations past, present and future, belong to this unique holiness. We were born that way.

 

However, it is not just a matter of our having been born Jews and our having been chosen by G-d. Each and every one of us has a duty to choose the path by which we will be able to elevate the goodness of the soul from the level of potential to actual.

 

This idea is alluded to by the juxtaposition of the verses that we are “a holy nation” (Devarim 14) and the Mitzvah, “Do not eat any detestable thing.”

 

What is the connection between these verses? The Baal Haturim explains that by the act of eating, we demonstrate our free choice in being able to put into our mouth whatever we want. This is a tangible expression of how we exercise our free choice. Not just food to nourish the body is an option for us, but also spiritual foods, which are the Mitzvot which nourish the G-dly soul.

 

We must be proud of the fact that we are the Chosen People. G-d chose us lovingly from among all of the nations to be for Him a special people. We have to recognize our own special worth to be, in the words of Isaiah, “a light unto all the nations.”

 

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Some sobering reality from an Israeli rabbinical expert on medical ethics.

 light of 25 Menahem Av 5781

UPDATE BELOW

https://rumble.com/vkdcgl-rabbi-uri-sofer.html 

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 I feel this is a huge derekh eretz issue, regardless of what any leadership thinks, ours or theirs, with regard to the crown 'demic and the vacuous scenes. 

The video is in Hebrew with English subtitles; feel free to pass along to Hebrew-speaking friends and relatives. It says a lot of the things I have been wanting to say about current events in Hebrew, and more.

אני מרגישה שזה עניין דרך ארץ ענק. יש הרבה כאן שרציתי לומר בעברית, ועוד, ועוד

H/T to Rivka  - HDG

 

UPDATE: 

In the middle of the video R' Sofer mentions some prominent names of people who are supported by Pfizer, and therefore have conflict of interest. Among these is someone I covered previously, Dr. Prof. Gilly Regev, CEO of SaNOtize, for her product Enovid, back in April 2021.

Since then, I have not seen any Enovid anywhere in Yerushalayim. And maybe that's OK. I'm still on my version of the Zelenko protocol, and I have been fine, b"H.

It so happens that I finally got an answer from Rivka, who also covered someone with a similar name around that time, as to whether they were the same person. You can find my question, along with her answer, here.