The real miracle on 6 Nisan 5784 (April 14, 2024)

8 Nisan 5784 | ח' ניסן ה'תשפ"ד

 

Does anything seem wrong with the action in this video? Slow it down and see for yourself. H/t: Rivka

***

 Yes, there was an attack on Israel on the 6th of Nisan, two nights ago at this writing, by Iran, its first open full-on attack ever. And people are saying that there was a miracle that no Jews perished in Iran's attempt to wipe us out.

I agree that, indeed, there was a miracle. But I propose that it wasn't what people are thinking it was, as I'm writing. 

The attack was coordinated in advance between Israel and the US so that Israel wouldn't be hurt, which would have brought on an Israeli response that would have become a real war. This is why we are finding that the explosions in and around Israel that night didn't seem quite right to those who observed them carefully, both at the time they occurred and after the fact, even though they were quite real. 

But we have to ask the question of whether Iran is already prepared to attack again immediately, depending on if/how we respond.

So, what do you think the miracle was? you ask. 

The planning and the coordination of the 6th of Nisan attack, itself. The fact that HQB"H is so behind the scenes that He could put the thought into the minds of the plotters to perform a fake attack first, without them noticing. I think it would be the first time ever that a plot against the Jews would actually be hatched without the intention of hurting us! How amazing would that be?!

I wonder how they will respond to the thought, if they happen to read this article! I 'bless' all the plotters against Israel, that they will be as paranoid about their plans to rid the world of us as we've been about our victories and our right to our Land since at least 1967, and even more likely for the approximately two thousand years prior, since we were driven from here by the Romans.

R' Yitzchok Dovid Smith finished and published an article he's had in draft for years in response to this attack that probably explains all the wars in the Middle East since we've been here, never mind the recent fake attack from Iran. H/t: Neshama

Snippet: 

As Iran situation ‘escalates’ to really really get our full attention, it’s time to publish this so you can keep your head and heart above the deception.

It’s about Israel’s nuclear weapons.

The actual intended end game is Israel’s surrender of its land and its nuclear weapons.

...whether we have nuclear weapons or not.

The attempt on our government's part to draw our attention away from our real problem for decades so that Israeli Jews would fear and stay afraid all our lives, and go along with their agenda — which doesn't seem to include taking back all the territory that was ours before the Romans kicked us out, never mind receiving from HQB"H the rest of our inheritance according to the covenant He has always had with the nation of Israel — is also part of it all. 

Not to mention, scaring many exiled Jews away from aliyah. On purpose, I will add.

My people, DO NOT SURRENDER, no matter how afraid and weak you feel you are, or we are.

They all — friends, frenemies, outright enemies and our government — forget one important factor: that we have a GOD. We need to give Him the credit for all our past victories, including this past one, and call upon him NOW for the next one as well!

I love you, haShem! Thank You for all the miracles, including this one and the ones to come!!!

***

More Reading/Watching

Accountability in war: Why is Israel held to account more than any other nation on earth? | R' Lapin: Clear open miracles - the 6th of Nissan | Strangling Israel slowly | A rabbinical opinion: Islam must recognize the State of Israel [even better, the Kingdom of Israel when it comes!] | India police arrest 2 Jewish women for tearing down pro-Hamas poster | Ben Gvir establishes police unit to remove [politically oppositional] provocateurs from Judea and Samaria -- it's about time! |

Another 1967-like miracle: The 2022 elections?

light of 14 Kislev 5783 | אור לי"ד כסלו ה"תשפ"ג

 

https://rumble.com/embed/v1woawu/?pub=4

Above is a video (10 minutes at normal speed) that at least resembles the state of Israel before the elections as the religious organization it makes fun of.

Now, what about after the elections?

Despite all the efforts of the leftists of all stripes, we normal Jews in Israel actually didn't get what they wanted immediately, according to our Sabbatean-Frankist-Freemason-style governance. We may have got, instead, a government that would seem to be much more favorable to what HQB"H wants. Not the exact thing, mind you, but maybe a step or a few forward towards that goal. It would be more than has happened in the last 74 years. Some of us have grown old waiting for the process to unfold...

We can take hope from the idea that what HQB"H wants, HQB"H gets.

Eventually. 

Remember that He is eternal and can wait for centuries and millennia for things to shape up, pushing them along ever so slowly while we come and go in the meantime. 

I started this post right after the election in November. We're in the second week of December as I'm finishing up, and we don't have a government yet. People are anxious to get it done, already. 

But haShem is still "like an ever-fresh cypress [tree], from Me shall your fruit be found. (Hoshea 14:9...full English and Hebrew.) 

(I really seem to like the prophet Hoshea; where have I written about him before?)

It so happens that what HQB"H wants (and has worked patiently for thousands of years to achieve) is what most of us alive today have wanted for "only" decades, following many generations of our ancestors, spanning about two thousand (2,000) years. Many have already come and gone in this time period! 

Until now, we just haven't counted in the eyes of our "leadership." They've done everything they can to prevent our election victories, even going so far as to devise fake petakim (the slips of paper we insert into the envelopes we received when we vote) that, when examined, are thrown out because they don't match the example on the sign exactly. It's what happened to Eli Yishai in 2015 when he ran with the then-new Yachad party. I know this because I voted for him then, and lost my vote! (Naturally, it seems there are no articles up on the net about it any more.)

I hope I haven't spoken too soon, even though more than a month has gone by since the election. The government still isn't officially formed yet, and that it will most likely be formed by former PM (and now currently the PM-designate) Binyamin Netanyahu isn't the reason for my hope.

The only reason for my question mark is that he may not be able to form the government despite his tremendous win, the best anyone's had in a really long time. It isn't the first time the right has won, but it may be the first time since Menachem Begin in 1977, then the leader of Likud, who won by a landslide and became the first "right-wing" prime minister. Even the left and center haven't had a large margin anywhere near that since then. (If you know the order of events more precisely, please comment!)

Let's be clear: The opportunity, here and now for us "normal" people, is to give H' the credit He has been due since the miracles of 1967 at the very least. 

For one thing, here's an interesting interview on how some of the Israeli Right worked together. 

And, with overwhelming victory, Netanyahu set to form strong, stable, legitimate right wing government...

IF that's what he really wants. Does he? Whether he actually does it or not is another question...the religious public, including everything from dati leumi (national religious) to haredi (the most religious parts of the population), has an unprecedented opportunity for the first time in modern Israeli history, and should be careful not to hand it all back to the seculars, who are now the MINORITY. We are capable of relearning how to run a country, we have the perfect sources at our fingertips, including lessons learned, and we MUST be at work on that now (actually, we should have been at work on it all along.). It seems, however, that Bibi might end up trying yet again to appeal to the left side of the aisle, even though the particular people he needs to appeal to appear have decided never to work with him, on his side, ever again (no, this is not a quote. I want to see how serious each side is, here. Like, all those west-coasters who in every 9th of Av poll say they want the Bet haMiqdash, where are they now?)

DDG Search | Brave Search

For more information, see the Israel National News search for elections Israel. 

***

A commenter on a blog I follow has some good examples of how He has been speaking more openly to the Jewish People in the past few years concerning geula (used by permission, doesn't want to be identified):

• Hashem gave us two warnings - in 2018 for the US and 2020 for Europe, both attacks occurred on the anniversary of Kristallnacht, the second one by the only shul in Vienna to survive WW2. It may be inconvenient, but these are the facts.

• The other giveaway is kanye WEST, he lifted the lid on the West's incorrigible antisemitism. It doesn't mean that everyone is, but that it is endemic. Imagine if that picture of those signs in LA was in reverse, i.e. Jews against blacks. All hell would have broken loose. But say what you like about Jews and we might merit one or two supportive tweets.

Israel's first corona czar was Simantov, then Gamzu (letova) and third was Nachman Ash (haish sheli tukad ad biat hamashiach, Rabi Nachman).

Hashem is talking to us.

• I just read many of the comments under a short clip about the termination of Kanye West's partnership with Adidas, on skynewsaustralia. Nearly all of them were supportive of him and highly antisemitic. This man has more instagram etc followers than there are Jews. He is also planning to run for president. He has been supported by Trump, Candace Owen, the far right, blacks (not all of course). For anyone about to poo poo the very idea, well it wouldn't be the first time that a deranged political outsider changed the course of history.
  

If you are Jewish and live outside of Israel, and are not planning your imminent aliya in one form or another, you are in a dream (most Jews unfortunately) or in denial. We don't need messages from olam shel emet or autistic children. Hashem is sending us so many clear and obvious messages, anyone can see them. The only question is if we are willing to see.

***

On 5 December 2022, the MKs were written about as still arguing over whether right-wingers (the Israeli near-equivalent of conservatives in the US) have any right to run the country even if they are the majority! The Left has been accustomed to calling itself the arbiter of democracy since the starting-over of Israeli self-rule in 1948. Their predecessors had been running it since Jews started returning to the Land in the 1880s. And...

THIS MUST STOP. Better yet, MASHIAH MUST BE REVEALED, and a REAL JEWISH GOVERNMENT MUST RISE. It's only a matter of time.

After all, a system that is still discussed 2,000 years after it was last seen on earth is not to be designated as antiquated or worse. Rather, it is classic, something truly sustainable, that can keep going in peace forever and a day...if given the chance.

Here's MK Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid), whose words demonstrate the utter lack of understanding of true democracy he and his fellow leftists continually display (emphases mine):

"We oppose the appointment of people whose views were correct two thousand years ago."  

and

"We are seeing the appointment of people with anti-liberal views" ... "and we're not prepared to be a part of that. The appointment of deputy Speakers is designed to enable the passage of laws such as a law permitting [Shas head Aryeh] Deri to serve as a minister, or a law enabling [Religious Zionism head MK Bezalel] Smotrich to appoint generals in the IDF. We will fight for the rule of law and we will not help the political system to give people unbridled powers. We will do everything we can to prevent the destruction of Israeli democracy."

Oh, really? I would say they had already destroyed any semblance of real Israeli democracy, long ago (in human terms 😉, even before the rise of the modern state). Now that they're not the majority any more, officially, they ought to learn how to be a minority and not try to run things from the opposition.

As my fellow-blogger ex-American Esser Agaroth (2¢) spells it, Israel is really a deMOCKracy. Anyone who reads him and is fluent in English understands the double-entendre.

***

If the right doesn't win decisively, despite the vote, we need to call for a referendum (meesh'al 'am | משאל עם) on the political system in Israel, and all the systems that benefit from it. 

If only the LEFT ("woke," anti-Israel, anti-Judaism, anti-freedom, anti-...anti-...anti-...) can win, it's a FIXED game, and that can also be spelled C-O-R-R-U-P-T. People in the elite organizations and government posts will go to jail...and that won't be the last of it, when H' gets HIS way.

And everybody who has ever said, "that murderer/thief/kidnapper/whatever ought to (fill in the blank with the most harsh punishments ever said, written or voice-recorded)" should be cheering.

Let's listen to haShem now and give Him the credit He deserves, while we still have a chance to be excited about it...and not get caught up in the shenanigans of an atheistic leadership that always takes credit not due them!

Alternately, if they won't take responsibility when things go badly for the country...

...where are the consequences?

Do we really have to put up with the same kind of state the video at the beginning describes (in English)? And how many individual national issues are there having to do with the questions only touched on above?

A warning for the next month or so — and a miracle...or two

 12 Adar 2 5782 | י"ב אדר ב' ה"תשפ"ב

 

The first bus I wrote about below was similar in structure to this one from Singapore, with the double doors in the middle. I lost the link...sorry about that!

 Ed: Tomorrow Jews the world over mark Ta'anit Esther (Esther's Fast), the day before Purim. I live in Jerusalem, where we celebrate Shushan Purim, the day after.

***

A warning

It came to my attention while finishing up my last post that the Muslim month of Ramadan comes in when Nisan, our upcoming month, comes in. Meaning, we need to prepare now for a really nasty month ahead. Or, if G-d will have abundant mercy, our prayers now — and especially tomorrow —  will prevail and we will be spared something like what we had all over Israel last Iyyar (Islam does not have leap years of any kind, so their years go all the way around our calendar and those of others who adjust their days or, in our case, our months; as you see above, the Jewish month is Adar 2 (or Adar Bet).).

A friend of the family who has a lot of experience, having lived in Morocco for a time, implored me to warn everyone clearly. Since our days start at sunset, Nisan and Ramadan come in on Friday night, 1 April.

Here is some news about it. Click or tap: 

"Palestinians" anticipate more violence | Between Land Day in the Negev and Ramadan in Jerusalem: Efforts to Prevent Security Deterioration

 Here's a snippet:

Israeli Minister Zeev Elkin’s intention to resume planting in the Negev, including in areas where violent clashes took place two months ago, is already receiving attention on the PA side, but the fear of escalation stems from a series of further developments, including the diverted global attention from the PA issue in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, pressure on the Palestinian Authority to freeze security coordination with Israel, tensions between Fatah and Hamas, and due to Israel’s intention to approve the construction of housing units in Jerusalem.

In eastern Jerusalem, which was at the center of events last May that led to Operation Guardian of the Walls, Arabs are warning against Jews ascending the Temple Mount on Purim and the Passover holiday, in parallel with Ramadan. Sheikh Akram Tsabari, a preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Supreme Muslim Council, called on Muslims on Sunday to increase their presence in mosques in the east of the city “and to repel the attacks of Jewish worshipers.”

Sheikh Tsabari also called for the prevention of Purim ceremonies on the Temple Mount, and explained that “such comic ceremonies hurt the feelings of Muslims.”

Land Day occurs on 30 March...the day before the new month. It's their day to proclaim their "ownership" of the land of ISRAEL; so, things might get started early.

Because the whole world's attention has been on Covid-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine, it means that Israelis must pay attention to what is happening right here, right now. No one else in the world has as much at stake on this issue as we do.

Furthermore, the Ukranians who are here because of the war might become disoriented, at the very least, because of events here.

Tonight and tomorrow (the fast begins at sunrise tomorrow) is the most appropriate day to appeal to G-d ahead of time, not to act like a dog that bites the stick that is beating it, but like a Jew who knows his G-d is behind everything.

***

A miracle...or two

The day before yesterday, 10 Adar Bet, I had gone to see a friend in a nearby city. On the way home two things happened that were very scary for me and for the others on the buses I was riding on.

The first was on the way to the Giv'at haTahmoshet light rail train station, where the bus had to negotiate a winding road down a large hill, or a small mountain, depending on how you look at it, in the rain. 

The middle double doors somehow opened up while the bus was moving, and people could have fallen out of the bus through them and even gotten run over by other cars. There was one woman who ran to a pole and got a seat just in time to keep herself from falling out. I looked around, and I shudder to think what would have happened if someone had fallen out. Someone screamed towards the driver to close the doors. It took him about a minute to completely close them because they kept flying open...while he was driving the steep downhill curve!!!

I started singing to myself the last part of the Hallel prayer — Please, G-d, save us; please, G-d, forgive us! — knowing that if the driver took his mind off of either driving the curve or shutting the doors, a disaster was waiting to happen. 

THANK G-D THE DISASTER DID NOT HAPPEN.

The second one was another bus, nearing my neighborhood, taking a right hand turn onto its main street...and a little child (I'm still under the impression it was a boy) started to cross the street...Some of us screamed, the driver hit the brakes hard, and stopped just in time. People who weren't seated were thrown about a bit, and got scared, especially the women with baby carriages...with the babies inside.

THANK G-D THE DISASTER DID NOT HAPPEN. 

Neither inside, nor outside, the bus.

Here are some of the things that can happen...and have.

***

I'm convinced that G-d, the same One who saved all of us on those buses, is willing to save all of Israel from the impending disaster of Ramadan...if we are willing to give Him His due ahead of time.

Let's not make the same mistake many of us (led by our authorities) made after the Six-Day War. 

What was that? Not giving HQB"H the credit due Him for the miracles that occurred then, and those that have occurred before and since then, as well.

***

If you haven't had enough yet, watch this video, thanks to SG: 

Purim's Association to the Geulah

Also: Sign a petition to Say NO to a Nuclear Iran.

Songs for Pessah...

light of 12 Nisan 5781

A few great videos found their way to me while I was cleaning for Pessah...have a great one, and may Mashiah be revealed!!!

Six13: The Red Sea Shanty

Pessach Medley with Micha Gamerman (Hebrew | עברית)

 

The Adele/Bieber Passover Mashup

Guest Post: The Secret, Secret Story of Stalin’s Purim Death

 18 Adar 5781 — while the fragrance of Purim Meshulash still lingers in Yerushalayim🌹🌸🌺🎉 -HDG

 

by Efraim Palvanov, Mayim Achronim

 – לעילוי נשמת אמנון בן אסתר –

 On the night of March 1^st, 1953, when Jews around the world had just finished celebrating Purim, attendants of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin found him laying semi-conscious on the floor of his bedroom. He was sick and hemorrhaging blood for the next several days until finally dying on the 5^th of March. His death was announced to the public the following day. While most Jews around the world were probably jubilant at the news, little could they know of the incredible events—both political and spiritual—which were transpiring in the fateful days before.

Continue reading

Happy Hanukkah 5781!

 1st Candle - light of 25 Kislev 5781

Just a couple of my favorite Hanukkah songs...

Ocho Kandelikas - Kenny Ellis

Six13 - Bohemian Chanukah

A mixed message: Miracle above, and what's going on below

 Light of 9 Heshvan 5781

 

Dedicated to the neshama of Yehuda Leab ben Aharon Yitzhak uShifra, whose petirah and levaya were today.

 

Several days ago in mid-afternoon (Tuesday, 20 October / 2 Heshvan) it rained pretty heavily in my Yerushalayim neighborhood for about an hour, then moved on elsewhere in the Holy City. I heard the rain before looking out the window, but I was way too slow. No pics of mine here. But you can see some here, thanks to Neshama, who also lives in Yerushalayim.

Consider this picture, taken for the Times of Israel (first link above). How many times has anyone seen a solitary cloud hanging over Jerusalem at the beginning of the rainy season? (I was hoping that the north of the country would also benefit; but, alas, it seems that no other part of our ancestral homeland did. I'd like to know if other parts of Israel got some precious rain as well.)

I don't know where it went from there, or if it just dispersed. 

Meanwhile, on the same day, while the ground was still drying from the rain and surfaces were still dripping, a Jerusalem neighborhood saw a young girl arrested and her face pepper-sprayed because she wasn't wearing a mask, in front of the apartment building where she lives. It's not in a strict haredi neighborhood, either. If you examine the video carefully (3rd tweet down; it's 1 minute, 36 seconds long), you'll see that her feet are bare. I think that means she wasn't going anywhere. 

We don't know how it ends because someone came home in a car and wanted to park in the parking lot out of our view; that's where the video stops.

Abba sheh'baShamayim, what's the message here, besides that we have a way to go yet before we can have an unmitigated redemption?

PURIM – The Endless Miracle!

15 Adar B 5779
Shushan (Persian) Purim sameah!

Doesn't this look like an endless miracle? Source

by Rav Ephraim Sprecher | first posted here

On Purim, as on Chanukah, we recite Al Hanisim. In this thanksgiving prayer, the stories of the miracles of both Festivals are related in a short and concise synopsis.

However, there is an obvious difference. In the Al Hanisim of Chanukah there is a finale, "Afterwards your sons came to Your House, they cleansed Your Sanctuary, purified Your Place of Holiness and lit lights in Your Holy Courts, and instituted these eight days of Chanukah for giving thanks and praise to Your Great Name."

In contrast, the Al Hanisim of Purim concludes abruptly. "You in Your Abundant Compassion voided Haman's plan and caused that which he sought to do to recoil on his own head, and they hanged him and his sons upon the gallows."

What kind of an ending is this? Where is the rest of the story? As Paul Harvey famously said, “Where is the rest of the story?” Why not tell us that the Festival of Purim was instituted with reading the Megillah, Mishloach Manot, gifts to the poor and the Purim Feast? Why was this part of the story omitted? Is it because the story of Purim is never ending?

Haman was only one episode in the ceaseless hatred and persecution of the Jews throughout our tragic and bitter history.

Though the history of our people is full of Hamans, our Rabbis would not indicate that in the Al Hanisim and spoil the joyous celebration of the Purim Festival. If so, why is there no uplifting conclusion to the Al Hanisim prayer of Purim?

The answer is because the central point of the story of Purim was "Kiymu V'Kiblu" that the Jews again accepted the Torah - unlike at Mount Sinai by coercion, but this time willingly and with love. The main outcome of the Purim story was the rededication to the Torah over and above the merrymaking.

In fact, the joy and celebration of Purim is in honor of our renewed commitment to the Torah, when we became re-JEW-venated as Jews.

Therefore, the Megillah Scroll is to be written on parchment and requires Sirtut, etched lines. Sirtut denotes permanency of the writing forever. The words of the Megillah are called, "Divrei Shalom V'Emet" – "Words of Peace and Truth."

Thus Tractate Megillah 16 states that etched lines are required in the Megillah so that they be words of truth as are the words of the Torah, "K'Amita shel Torah," "like the truth of the Torah."

The Talmud equates the eternal message of the Megillah with that of the Sefer Torah. Therefore, the Megillah concludes, "These days of Purim will never cease from among the Jews."

Each and every day that the State of Israel not only survives but thrives despite Hamas, Hezbullah and Iran is an endless Purim Miracle! As an example of this ongoing miracle, our recent heavy rains have been a blessing. The burned fields around Gaza, as a result of the Fire Balloons, have now become green and lush again BECAUSE the ash from all those fires from Gaza have made the soil extra fertile and extra rich. This is just one example of G-d’s ongoing natural miracles.

***
V'nahafokh hu !  (You've never heard the Purim story like this!) ונהפוך הוא

Haman’s Anger Management

8 Adar Bet 5779
Erev Shabbat Vayiqra/Zakhor

Queen Esther Denounces the Evil Haman the Agagite, Son of Amalek!

by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher | first published here

Of all the abilities that human beings possess, perhaps none is as mysterious as our talent for compartmentalization. Each of us is multiple people, and different ones emerge in different circumstances and relationships.

If we can never fully know somebody, it's not simply because his exterior does not match his interior. It's because we have so many chambers inside, and some are more hidden than others, even from the person himself. As the radio program of yesteryear called “The Shadow” stated, “Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man?”

Thus, even mild mannered people, including me, lose their temper and get angry on occasion. Is there a magic formula to control and manage our anger?

Last week the OU Israel Center showed the film Ground-Hog Day. It’s about a guy that is stuck in a Time Warp. This person keeps re-living the SAME day over and over again. He keeps repeating the same mistakes of the past.

I can identify with the Bill Murray character in the film. When I am having a Bad Hair Day, I tell myself, “I won’t become upset and angry.” And then, BOOM - It’s Ground-Hog Day all over again!

The Talmud in Shabbat 105 and Nedarim 22 state, "When one becomes angry, it is as if he is serving idols." This seems to be a very extreme and exaggerated statement. How can the Talmud compare anger to the worst sin of idolatry?

Upon deep reflection, we can perceive a connection. What really causes anger? When things don’t go my way, when my plans don’t work out, I get angry. The world is not conforming to my vision of perfection.

However, since G-D is running and controlling all events, getting angry is like saying that my version of the world is better than His! A person in the heat of anger thinks, "If I were running the world, I wouldn't have all these problems and troubles." The angry person also thinks, "If I was in charge of the world, I wouldn’t be messing things up the way G-D is." This angry reaction is a subtle form of idol worship. Because I am enthroning my intellect and ego and paying homage to them, instead of to G-d.

What is the best antidote for anger?

Purim is coming fast. Perhaps the antidote for anger can be found in the Megillah. “That day Haman went out (from the King) joyfully and exuberant. But when he noticed Mordechai in the King’s gate, that Mordechai did not stand up and did not bow before him, Haman was filled with anger and rage at Mordechai. Yet Haman controlled and restrained himself and went home. He summoned his friends and his wife Zeresh.” (Esther ch 5)

Why did Haman restrain his fury? How could he have suppressed and controlled his anger? Rashi explains, because Haman was afraid to take revenge against Mordechai without explicit permission from the King.

Here was the wicked and evil Haman “filled with rage.” His whole being was fury and anger, with murderous intent. Yet he was able to control and restrain himself from acting impulsively because he considered its negative consequences. How much more so should we be able to control OUR angry impulses!

The Mishnah in Avot 2 states, “Know Who and What is above you! An All Seeing Eye, an attentive and All Listening Ear, and all your deeds are recorded in The Book.”

When you feel anger coming, stop and say, “Smile, you’re on Candid Camera!”

***
Happy belated Adar Bet 5779!

More about Amalek (Haman's ancestor) from Myrtle Rising:

The Hidden Viciousness of the Esav/Edom Pig | How to Identify & Overcome the Amalekite Conspiracy

Let us be grateful for the miracles HaShem has wrought!

8 Heshvan 5779
Erev Shabbat Vayetze'


Four hundred and seventy (470) rockets were fired into Israel in just over 24 hours this last round — a record — and only one person was killed! Amazing! Only HQB"H!!!

I commented on another blog:

 Let's appeal to HQB"H through tehillim for mercy on our nation! And then let us thank Him after it's all over, and give Him the credit He deserves.

 And so, I'm following up now. We all need to take some time to be thankful for the good as well as seeing the bad.

Hanukkah is nigh and we need to prepare! Study what you can about Hanukkah חנוכה now, my brothers and sisters!

***

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items in the links about Hanukkah are not exactly in its spirit. For instance, I'd never heard "Light One Candle" before today, even though I liked Peter, Paul and Mary when I was young (yes, I am in 'that age' range!). It resembles "Kumbaya" more than it does the story of the Maccabees, who would never recognize themselves in it.

Also, the videos have women singing, just in case you might want to avoid that. If you have better suggestions, please comment!

Lastly for today, we need to be extra vigilant since our government apparently has chosen dishonor and humiliation over victory and deterrence. Next post (be"H - I'm not sure when it will be), I'll present the best reason to make aliyah. I don't think you will have heard it quite this way before.

UPDATE 2018/12/05: still preparing that post...meanwhile, it's Hanukkah.

***
The video below has no women singing; it's R' Ephraim Sprecher explaining why revival of the dead is essential to Judaism.

Shabbat shalom umevorah!

Pirsum haNes : Asher ElMaliah...and R' Eliezer Berland

21 Tevet 5778

UPDATE: B"H Mr. ElMaliah has been released from the hospital!!!

Asher ElMaliah (אשר אלמליח) before the attack. (WhatsApp/Facebook. Found at Times of Israel.)

TRIGGER WARNING for my male readers: A video in this post (in Hebrew, towards the end) has women in it. If you need to turn away, you may just listen to the audio. There is no singing. The same audio is also present at Shuvu Banim's site here and turns on automatically as you enter the page (the link is also elsewhere in the post).

Pirsum haNes (פרשום הנס) is advertising/spreading news about a miracle. It’s why Jews light Hanukkah candles every year in Kislev, which was not so long ago. But, the miracle I’m writing about is here and now, among us “moderns” and “post-moderns” whether religious or not. A skeptical generation, among whom professional skeptics can be found trying to shut down any notion that there can be a reality beyond the material world; and if not that, then the notion that this supernatural reality can manifest itself here in real time and real place.

I have written concerning R’ Eliezer Berland before; and now, Rivka Levy (Emunaroma) just put more ammunition into my hand, whether she knows it or not. 

If you understand spoken Hebrew, and read it, you can see and hear for yourself. Here’s what is translated into English: A timely pidyon-nefesh payment to R’ Berland literally saved Asher ElMaliah’s life; unbeknownst to the family, it was given to them before the incident and they were able to give it quickly.

You may recall that Mr. ElMaliah is the security guard who was stabbed by an Arab directly into his heart a couple of weeks ago. As if it could be any worse already – he had in fact passed away, according to his brother, R’ Shlomo ElMaliah, on Kan Channel 11*.). But he was restored to life, and I heard a woman say in the Hebrew interview that he was in a situation of death twice. When I finally found the video, below, I saw that the woman was his sister Shulamit.

R' Shlomo ElMaliah, Asher's brother, center. From Kan, found at Shuvu Banim. Video below (Hebrew).

There are 2 other audio files, 3 files all together, on the Shuvu Banim page. They are labeled ElMaliah 1 and ElMaliah 2. (אלמליח 1 & 2) and they appear to be transcribed in part in Hebrew there. I wish I had time to translate them (and, I'm sorry to say that I'm not especially good or fast at it)! I do know that R’ Berland’s name is mentioned.

I am looking forward to reading about what he experienced Upstairs…if haShem will let him tell the tale. Times of Israel has the latest article I could find on him.

Now, to you skeptics. How do you justify accusing Rav Berland of wrongdoing? If HaQadosh Baruch Hu does not accuse him, and even makes miracles for him, why do you continue to oppose him and persecute him? 

Are you out of your minds? HQB”H does NOT do these things for evil people who have not made teshuva (returned to HIM). You have to decide for yourselves whether the Rav sinned and made teshuva, or whether your accusations are false; and don’t forget, this is a matter of FACT, not opinion. But, any way you want to look at it, you will have to give them up.

Never mind emuna, for the moment. The thinking and observational skills you rely on are sorely lacking and have failed you. Now, what will you do?

Below is the clip I couldn't find on Kan's YouTube channel; nevertheless, it is still on YouTube all by itself. 

TRIGGER WARNING: Women are present: medical personnel and relatives. The only immodest things I can find here are perhaps the lack of hair covering (I say, perhaps, because I don't know who is married and who is not.) and uniform style (we can't do anything about that, for now.). I cannot prohibit the presence of women who took part in the saving of Asher Maliah, or who belong to his family. Those who need to turn away can always just listen to the audio. There is no singing.

Just as important, this video also includes the part about R' Eliezer Berland and the pidyon nefesh, as does the audio on the Shuvu Banim site.

***
 *Kan כאן Channel 11 is the replacement of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). It means "here."
***

Here is someone who still needs a pidyon nefesh — Chaya Shaina Chana bat Itcha suffers greatly every minute — share in her healing and take a share in the mitzvah!

And finally...a R' Ephraim Sprecher video: Shifra & Puah - the REAL Wonder Women!

May Asher ben Sa'ada (or ben Tamar - whichever works...whichever is his mother's Hebrew name; both have been reported) come back fully to life, family and good deeds; and may he merit to see Mashiah Zidkenu with all 'Am Yisrael!

Yesterday could have been my last. Thank G-d it wasn't.

12 Tammuz 5776

UPDATE BELOW...

Yesterday could have been my last day on earth. I am still processing an event that, although it was not carried out to its intended conclusion, may nevertheless have had a significant impact on how I look at the reality I live in.

It had to happen eventually. I had to be a near-witness to a near-terrorist act that turned out well only due to a miracle: HaShem brought the Palestinian would-be murderer to the attention of a light rail security guard, who brought the police and other security forces together to quash his plans. 

Yesterday morning started like most in Jerusalem: bustling, cheery, lots of car horns beeping, people going about their business. My husband and I were headed downtown on the light rail to perform an important errand earlier than usual.

After the errand, we went to get some breakfast. Hubby pointed out that there were police cars blocking car traffic at the intersections from Yaffa Street to Hillel Street along King George Street. We did not stop to stare and wonder what was happening.

Mind you, we did not see any real action; in fact, no one was even injured, thank G-d, except maybe the terrorist as he was being apprehended. In fact, I am reminded of our ancestors, the ancient Israelites, going through the desert, arriving at Arnon, at the border between Moav and the Amorim and seeing blood seeping from the mountain, wondering what that was about. Hearing the news later was like the body parts rising up out of the well (which we would not know about, but for Rashi's commentary. After all, HaShem just put in the words "...it is told about in the account of the Wars of the Lord, 'What He gave at the [Sea of] Reeds and the streams of Arnon.'" and left it to man to figure it out; Rashi could have had access to a scroll. Here is some commentary on it; but I cannot find a readable copy of the work itself. A lot of talk exists about a book no one can find, apparently.). Thankfully we will not be seeing body parts from this episode.

Later on, when we arrived at the OU Center for our Sunday afternoon class with Rabbi Sprecher, he, along with several friends, told us what had happened; and that some of them had been downtown at that time, unbeknownst to us.

My husband, not one to believe word of mouth alone, found an article on the Israel Broadcasting Authority site titled "Palestinian with homemade bombs arrested on Jlem light rail."  I don't know how long you will be able to see it at http://www.iba.org.il/world/.

Later on, we talked about how fortunate and thankful we felt to have lived to make it home, back to our comfort zone, to talk about it. As for me, I might not have made it to my first anniversary blogging - the Common Era date passed eleven days ago, but the Hebrew date is coming up, on the 20th of Tammuz. Thank G-d.



Many thanks to my blogging colleagues who also informed us of what had happened through links to articles, videos and pictures. Especially this article.

More Reading: In My Little Country ... the story isn't over yet.

UPDATE: The spot where the terrorist was captured is the very same corner where the Sbarro restaurant was blown up in August 2001, where many Israeli civilians were murdered, including Malki Roth. I had no idea until I read this article on This Ongoing War. This makes the miracle all the more palpable.