For those in CH"L

Rabbi Lazer Brody Lazer Brody back in Operation Cast Lead said - rockets don't fall on Israel and the Jews outside the land sit on their laurels. If the Jews in the land suffer, the Jews outside the land must also suffer, albeit by other means.

This is part of what it means to be part of am Yisrael, which is really one nation and like one body.

So what is happening...anti-Semitic everything all over the world. Calgary, Toronto, Montreal...Chicago...France is on fire literally...Sweden...Germany...there is much more...

Now, where would you rather be?

In the land, Hashem is working incredible miracles (THANK YOU HASHEM) and despite incredible attempts by Hamas, everyone is OK. There are sirens, people are scared, but we are united and protected by Shomer Yisrael.

Outside the land, there are not such revealed miracles. There are goyim protesting, rioting and drawing swastikas and worse, everywhere - whether you currently see it or not. And if this conflict continues in Israel, Hashem have mercy, you will see the goyim around the world continue to go more anti-Zionist aka anti-Semitic and it will become even more dangerous to be a Jew. Already those in France who just made aliyah say - better to be in a bomb shelter than afraid to walk out on the street!

Rashi zt"l whose yahrtzeit is today says in his commentary on the Torah that the pit Yosef's brothers threw him into was empty of water, meaning it had snakes and scorpions. What kind of yeshua is that - so instead of the brothers killing him, a snake or scorpion will? Except they don't! He is taken out alive to be sold to the Ishmaelim. How is that??? He again comments, as David Hamelech writes in Tehillim - better to be in the hands of Hashem than to be in the hands of other people.

Again, with that in mind, where would you rather be - here in Israel in the hands of Hashem, where HaRav Arush says we are completely protected, this is all a big kaparah and for the purpose of mass teshuva...or outside the land, in the hands of the goyim whose hands are already filled with blood, without outright miracles to protect you???

 

Rain in Iyar is bracha

This is amazing. Do you remember it rained in Iyar this year? Look what HaShem gave us with this geshme bracha!

Miracles to and via Badatz Mashgihim
Badatz Mashgihim needed to find wheat fields whose wheat was not invalid for Shemura Matza and due to the rain around Shavuot time, many wheat fields were invalid.  These Mashgihim were forced to go to fields far away - close to Kibbutz Sufa with other G-d-fearing Jews with tractors to harvest the wheat.  During their work, there were many rocket attacks.  Miraculously, no Mashgihim were hurt doing their holy work.  When they found out later about the tunnel infiltration by terrorists that happened in the area, and that the IDF spotted them and thwarted their plan, the Mashgihim knew what had occurred.  The terrorists' plan was to hide in the very tall wheat that was near the opening of the tunnel, but to their surprise, the tall wheat was gone - it was cut a few days earlier by these people cutting wheat for next year's Matza.  And in fact, one of the farmers in the area called up the Mashgihim and based the entire miracle on the merit of cutting wheat for Matza for Pesah.  ושמרתם את המצות has a whole new meaning now.

 

HaRav Arush on Moshiach

B'H

Rabbi Arush spoke about Moshiach in his shiur last Wednesday that I attended. The following is an outline of his words, translated from the Hebrew.

First he mentioned that many people have been asking about Moshiach coming. He was very funny about it, actually, imitating them: “What’s with Moshiach coming? Why hasn’t he come yet? Things are so hard!” He said yes, things are very hard…but we do not want Moshiach now! We do not understand what Moshiach coming is. He said that part of his avodat Hashem right now, is that he is connected to Moshiach every time he prays, literally in everything he does, he is connected to Moshiach…but Klal Yisrael is not ready for this.

Then he mentioned a story he heard from Rabbi Dovid Stern shlita, and confirmed by another person who was there at the time, that happened to Rabbi Yehuda Zev Leibovitz zt”l. Rabbi Arush said one day, a group of tzaddikim nistarim (hidden righteous men) came to Rabbi Leibovitz, and he knew what they wanted – to agree to let Moshiach come. He said to Aaron his helper – “Tell me, what he in the Holocaust?” Aaron said no. “And was he in the Holocaust?” Again, no. And for all the tzaddikim the answer was the same. Then Rabbi Leibovitz said: “Well I was in the Holocaust and far be it from me to agree to let one Jew suffer because of my decision!”

Then Rabbi Arush mentioned that if Rabbi Leibovitz had agreed, Moshiach would have revealed himself right then. But he did not agree, because Am Yisrael was not ready, and still is not ready. And then he said very strongly, looking right at the people listening to him: “Have you done true teshuva today? Are you doing a real cheshbon nefesh every day? Are you doing hitbodedut every day – one hour is just the minimum! How can you receive the face of Moshiach???”

It was very strong and very clear…we don’t want Moshiach until all of Klal Yisrael can say “yes” to that question. Because once Moshiach comes a person cannot move up levels…wherever they are, that is where they stay. And if you can't stand to see the face of Moshiach... “We do not want another Shoah!!!”

Thanksgivukkah

B'H

Thank G-d that Thanksgiving and Chanukah will not coincide again for something like 80,000 years, because I have HAD IT with “Thanksgivingkuh” or whatever people are trying to call it.

I admit that it probably makes a lot of sense for people living in the US, but once you move out of goy-land (as my husband calls it) and live in a Jewish country, filled with Jews, and Jewish customs, and even these “secular” holidays don’t exist, you see that there is no such thing as “secular” – there is “Jewish” and there is “other.” The other category has better and worse – the more idolatry the worse it is – but all of it is non-Jewish, and no matter how much you try to find some “Jewish values” in it (again, some things easier than others) you eventually see that still, there is Jewish and other and no in between.

And mixing them just makes me sick. You want to celebrate US secular Thanksgiving? I can't stop you.
But the whole point of Chanukah is recognizing that the wisdom of the nations is DARKNESS compared to the wisdom of the Torah, which is the wisdom of G-d Himself. So please do not put something secular/non-Jewish with something Jewish during the time SPECIFICALLY when we are supposed to delineate between the two! Uch.

That being said it is sorta ironic, since in place of Thanksgiving turkey, I usually make turkey on Shabbos Chanukah. Chanukah is a time for “hodu v’hallel” – thanking and praising Hashem. Hodu also means turkey in Hebrew. And I do not plan on making turkey this year because I have no energy to make anything, let alone a turkey! (btw finding a whole bird here, except in meat places that cater to Americans, is also next to impossible). If I am lucky I will make stuffed chicken. Maybe.

2 Major Shifts in Anti-Semitism in the US

B'H

These two items, pointed out in the article below, are so terrifying, and so overtly anti-Semitic and frightening, that I had to forward them on…

http://www.breslev.co.il/articles/society/current_affairs/prime_time_jihad.aspx?id=23927&language=english

Main points:

1.      Rolling through the streets of San Francisco and Chicago recently were city buses with the words “My Jihad” plastered on the side. It showed photos of young, attractive people next to such headlines as “My Jihad is to build friendships across the aisle. What’s yours?” and “My Jihad is to stay fit despite my busy schedule. What’s yours?”
But when I first saw photos of the buses with the headline “My Jihad,” I immediately thought of its direct German translation:
“Mein Kamph.”

2.      To bring its pro-jihad propaganda to prime time America, Al Jazeera bought Al Gore’s Current TV cable network for a reported $100 million. What’s almost more alarming is why Al gore sold his Current TV network to Al Jazeera:
 
In a written announcement of the sale, Current TV CEO Joel Hyatt wrote that he and Al Gore chose to sell Current TV to Al Jazeera, because “Al Jazeera was founded with the same goals we had for Current: To give voice to those whose voices are not typically heard; to speak truth to power; to provide independent and diverse points of view; and to tell the important stories that no one else is telling. Al Jazeera, like Current, believes that facts and truth lead to a better understanding of the world around us."

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but if these 2 facts are indeed correct, anti-Semitism in the US just went from being quietly undercover, to completely overt – albeit perhaps trying to fake like it is something else. But it is now there, in the spotlight, on buses and a major TV channel in the US!!!

Winning the War

As it was with the first redemption, so it will be with the final redemption. Again, prayer is in exile. Again, we must not only start praying - we must pray that all of Israel joins us. Then, Hashem will again hear our prayers and redeem us, speedily and in our days, with tremendous mercy, AMEN!
Click here to read the entire article.

Red Alert from R' Moshe Shternbuch

B'H

This is copied from: http://www.shiratdevorah.blogspot.co.il/2012/11/red-alert-to-klall-yisroel-in-name-of.html

Here is another tzaddik of Klal Yisrael also trying to wake us up, trying to help us realize that the key right now is strengthening our emuna!!!

The Jewish people are witnessing miracles in Israel. The missiles fired at us have the power to level buildings, yet miracles are taking place and we were spared from mass destruction. Even the most secular newspapers report that there is no way to explain these events according to natural law.

While the word "miracle" has been liberally splashed around by the media, neither the secular nor the religious press grasped the vital message of the hour. The situation arouses an urgent and critical obligation for each Jew to ask himself: "Why is Hashem performing these miracles for us? How should I be conducting myself in these extraordinary times?

If we do not deal with these questions immediately, this current security crisis could – Chas Veshalom – escalate into the most dangerous period in Jewish history. Hashem performs miracles for the Jewish people so that we will become more aware of His Presence in our lives. In recent days, He has made perfectly clear that He alone wields power in the world and that no missile can harm so much as a hair on the head of a Jew without His consent. Every rocket has an address that He predetermines, though the terrorists may believe that they can aim at a particular target.

Miracles are Hashem's alarm bells, "a red alert" that we must wake up and become truly conscious of Hashem's hashgachah in our daily lives. If we ignore these messages and conclude that miracles are just a natural part of living in Israel, the tables w could – Chas Veshalom – quickly turn.

We could – Chas Veshalom – in fact be handed over to natural law, and the missiles inexplicably could – Chas Veshalom – begin to hit their targets with greater frequency. And that means that the lives of our fellow Jews – our brothers and sisters living in Israel – could – Chas Veshalom – be in mortal danger.

We must learn this lesson from the story of the meraglim (spies). When they returned from Eretz Yisrael they claimed this land was a place where miracles were apparent on a daily basis, and therefore an extremely high spiritual level would be demanded of those who dwelled there. There was no way that Klal Yisrael as a nation could maintain such a level, and therefore the spies, who were all Gedolei Yisrael, ruled that the people should not enter the land.

The opinion of the meraglim was brought before the Sanhedrin, and they concurred with their ruling. It may seem, on the surface, that their reasoning was sound, and logic dictated that it was unwise to enter Eretz Yisrael. Yet we see from the grave punishment incurred by that generation that they could not have been further from the truth. What was the mistake in their reasoning?

The answer is simple. If Hashem told us to enter Eretz Yisrael, He obviously knew that we would ascend to the spiritual level necessary for a nation that sees miracles on a daily basis. For this reason, the claim of the meraglim was heresy, and we suffer from its bitter consequences to this very day.

In more recent times, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg once told Rav Sternbuch about a meeting of secular non-Jewish and Jewish professors to discuss the authorship of the Torah. Their conclusion was that while the Torah was far too complex to be man-made, they were not ready to attribute it to a Divine source that they knew nothing about. Like the meraglim, they perceived the significance of the Divine influence, but refused to follow through by accepting the full import of this conclusion.

During the current military operation, we are facing the very same challenge. Hashem is sending us a message that we must make real changes in our lives and raise our level of consciousness of His Presence, to the point where we are worthy of such supernatural treatment. If we rise to the occasion and raise our level of emunah as a result of these miracles, then we will pass the nisayon (test), and it is very likely that Moshiach will arrive shortly.

Chazal offer us practical advice in this area, and write that reciting a hundred brachos every day and saying Amen yehei Shmei Rabba has the power to annul decrees. Reciting Tehillim is important, but we need to make sure that our tefilah is also said with the proper kavanah. Everyone should take upon themselves to do something small to raise their level of emunah.

We must consider ourselves warned by the lessons of our history: If Hashem shows us miracles and we do not respond by strengthening our emunah, His mercy could – Chas Veshalom – turn to fury and we are handed over to the forces of natural law. We dare not speak about what this could could – Chas Veshalom– lead to, but we all understand the ruthless nature and implacable hatred of the enemy we face.

Now is the time, while Hasehm continues to shower His miracles upon us, to recognize His hand in our lives on a national and individual level, to turn to Him in tefilah and teshuvah, and eagerly watch the redemption unfold before our eyes.

What can we do? Pray!

R’ Arush said in his shiur last night that we must all pray that all the Klal Yisrael begins to pray! He said prayer can make a gun not fire. He also said that when we speak to Hashem in personal prayer, Hashem stops what He is doing in the world, so to speak, and stops to listen to you. Hence, Rebbe Nachman says that personal prayer stops harsh decrees.
Rabbi Brody relates the story that just before World War II, a group of Breslevers started a round-the clock personal prayer cycle within their group, so not a moment would pass that someone wasn’t doing hitbodedut. At some point, they were rounded up and dispersed, hence stopping the constant hitbodedut cycle. That day, WWII started.
My husband also mentioned to me that Rabbi Berland once commented that during the Second Intifada, he set up a 24 hour hitbodedut cycle in similar fashion. After every single bombing, he looked into who was supposed to be doing hitbodedut during that hour, and found out that he had been side-tracked and was not davening then!!!

R' Arush also said that the Evil Inclination is directly responsible for the fact that prayer is so overlooked among many religious people. People look for all types of segulas, inyonim, etc. etc. He said "I don't have any for you! You don't need them! PRAY!" Every prayer creates a vessel. Do you know how many vessels are just in the Shemonei Esrei alone? Why rush? Say every word slowly, with intention. He actually started repeating prayers himself, displaying exactly how one is to say the words. Slowly. Refaeinu, pause. Hashem. Pause. Just like that. He said you can even repeat the words, as many times as you want - just not the blessing itself. 

We can all make a difference. The Evil Inclination has convinced us that prayer isn't effective, we must do, do, do to create vessels. No! Hashem loves us and He wants to give us! The Evil Inclination is a LIAR. Ask Hashem to help you strengthen your belief in prayer - to show you that prayer really does work. Know that Hashem hears every word.

Moshe Rebeinu went into the desert for 60 years before he came back at Hashem's behest to redeem Israel from Egypt. What did he do that whole time? Personal prayer! R' Arush explains even further: He prayed that the Jewish people would start praying. Prayer itself was in exile. Hakol Kol Yaakov - the voice is the voice of Jacob. The Jewish people's strongest middah is prayer! Moshe knew that the Jewish people needed to pray in order to be redeemed. Finally, the Torah says that the Jewish people called out to Hashem in prayer. And what happened next? Hashem went to Moshe and said "I hear their cry! Go redeem them!"

As it was with the first redemption, so it will be with the final redemption. Again, prayer is in exile. Again, we must not only start praying - we must pray that all of Israel joins us. Then, Hashem will again hear our prayers and redeem us, speedily and in our days, B'RACHAMIM, AMEN!!!

Overturning the Decree

We read on the Yomim Noraim (High Holy Days) the end of the chilling Unetanetokef prayer:
Teshuva, tefillah, u'tzedakah - mavrin et ha roa gezeira
Repentance, prayer and charity - overturn the harsh decree

I thought about this a lot this morning. I've talked with so many people - each one tells me about dreams (really, nightmares) about major changes, natural disasters, G-d forbid G-d forbid won't even say the rest. Myself included. For years. People with bad feelings, sick stomachs, afraid for the coming years. One friend told me this morning she even had a dream that an angel came to her some months ago, and told her there was a harsh decree, and then quoted the above. Hence, between this conversation and Obama's re-election, I was speaking to Hashem, trying to understand this crucial verse. How do we DO this? What does this formulation mean in actual function?

I opened up the sefer (holy book) I've been learning every morning, to where I left off yesterday. Right there, it quotes Rabbi Natan, explaining Rabbi Nachman - that tzedakah primarily means holy acts [performing mitzvot], which is considered charity for the soul (Likutei Halachot, Tzedakah 1).

OK, so the tzedakah mentioned in the prayer doesn't per say have to do with money, although giving money to appropriate causes is certainly also tzedakah. I suddenly realized that indeed the entire formulation is a remez (hint) to the functional actions that exemplify each category, and what they are. Here goes:

TESHUVA. Repentance. Certainly we must evaluate our entire lives and what we could be doing better. But what did I learn just before the quote from Rebbe Natan this morning? Kitzur Likutei Moharan 19 - explaining that while every nation has a particular sin, and the language of that nation exemplifies that sin, the common sin among all non-Jews is sexual lust. Hence, sexual lust is the "general sin" and every other type of sin in the world is subsumed within it. But the Jewish people can distance themselves from it altogether, and this is the definition of holiness.
So if the general sin is the lust of sex, then the general teshuva must correspond - negating the lust for sex. For men, this is guarding the brit (circumcision) which is tied directly to guarding the eyes, from which the lust stems (Do not go after your heart and after your eyes after which you stray... - the Shema prayer in the Torah - the heart lusts after what the eye sees). For women, this is modesty. For both, it is the head of the entire concept of connecting ourselves to holiness (Kedoshim t'hiyu - the mitzvah to be holy), which means distancing ourselves from all forms of goyishe (non-Jewish) culture and all forms of unholiness (speech, food, etc.). Meaning each person must start with working on their personal holiness (shmirat habrit/tznua). This distances them from the general sin and from the unholiness of the non-Jewish nations. Then they can start working on distancing themselves from other forms of unholiness and non-Jewish culture as well, while being drawn to more and more holiness in every aspect of life.
For help with understanding these concepts in more depth, please read Rabbi Arush's incredible guides for men and women respectively: The Garden of Peace and Women's Wisdom.
From personal experience I must comment that this process happens organically. It actually amazes me. The more I have focused on modesty and connected to emuna, the more I have naturally disconnected from more and more aspects of goyishe culture, some without even really working on them. Suddenly I am sensitive to it in a way I never was before. I can't explain it in words any better than this feeble attempt.
And yes, I am making this real for me too. This morning I had this revelation, and this afternoon I took a very small, but incredibly big in its ramifications, step in modesty. Thank you Hashem for giving me a lot of seata dishmaya (Heavenly assistance) in this matter. I have been praying a lot about it as well. That brings us to:

TEFILLAH. Prayer. What is the most powerful prayer? Nay, what is the true definition of prayer? Hitbodedut - personal prayer. Because it's your own words. The intention is there by definition. Please read In Forest Fields or any number of lessons and books available about it and Rebbe Nachman's praise of personal prayer. It is the true definition of prayer, and what made our leaders - the Patriarchs, Moshe Rebbeinu, King David and more - the tzaddikim they were. Why do you think they were all Shepherds? So they could spend all day talking to Hashem. The Chofetz Chaim spent 2 hours a day in personal prayer. It's mentioned by the Ramchal in Mesillas Yesharim. There is no space to continue - I hope it's obvious and if not, please learn. Tefillah refers to hitbodedut - the highest form of prayer there is.

TZEDAKAH. Charity. As above, holy acts - mitzvot. But perhaps there is some mitzvah that is so universal and powerful that it can include everything else, that is the most powerful way to negate a harsh decree? Certainly learning Torah comes to mind: Torah k'neged kula - the Torah is equivalent to everything, because in order to act properly, you must learn what to do and not do. The problem is that Torah without prayer is a husk without an inside. Again, no space here to explain in depth - learn Rebbe Nachman's teachings to understand completely (also refer to In Forest Fields for a concise explanation), but for now take it as fact. So there must be something even more all encompassing, something that in one aspect includes everything, with no caveats. If you know anything about Rabbi Arush's teachings, the answer is obvious.
EMUNA. Emuna is the ultimate charity for the soul. Emuna encompasses everything in the Torah. Indeed, it is what the first commandment in the Torah alludes to: I am Hashem your G-d. KNOW that I am Hashem. That is emuna! And indeed, yes - emuna is the key to negating harsh decrees. The key to miracles. The key to the redemption itself (read The Garden of Emuna and The Garden of Gratitude and really, any and every book and CD by Rabbi Arush for explanation).

So: Teshuva, tefilla, tzedakah mean in functional action - Personal holiness, personal prayer and emuna!

These are the keys to the tikkun (personal rectification) for every person. These are the keys to negating harsh decrees - and these are the keys to negating the harshest decree that is the root cause of it all - the exile. With these 3 keys, every one of us helps speed the redemption along, b'rachamim - with mercy.

One little side note, something else I realized while doing hitbodedut some time back. By definition, mercy is a free gift we don't deserve. So how does one deserve something that by definition, you don't deserve?
EMUNA.
Why?
Because with emuna, we give Hashem something He doesn't deserve, if you will. We look at the world and see bad. We should think it's bad. But we give Hashem something He doesn't seem to deserve - we strengthen our emuna and say "No, this is really from Hashem, for a purpose, and for the best. Gam zu l'tova!!!" We ignore reality altogether, ani ma'amin - I believe with emuna!
So what does Hashem do? Middah k'neged middah - measure for measure - the way He always runs His world - He looks past our reality. Hashem looks past everything that seems bad in us, too! And He has mercy, even though we don't deserve it.

May we all strengthen ourselves in these 3 key areas, overturn all the harsh decrees, and may Hashem in His mercy give us a free gift and send Moshiach Tzidkeinu in His mercy, in a merciful way, bimheira v'yameinu AMEN.

Thank you Hashem for giving me this incredible inspiration. Please understand that this absolutely did not come from me, although I lack the ability to quote someone else for it. Basically I just put together why these 3 aspects are the key aspects Rabbi Nachman constantly discussed, as does Rabbi Arush now. Now it makes perfect sense why these 3 keys are so important.

Just How Much Hashem Loves You

I just heard this directly from Rabbi Arush:
Think about how much you love your children (if you don't have them - try to imagine it). How much you want everything for them. How much you will always want everything for them, no matter what they do.
Do you think Hashem loves you less than you love your children? Certainly not. He loves you so much more than you can imagine! R' Arush said even the greatest rasha (evil person) - Hashem still wants him to be like Moshe Rebbeinu. He wants to give him everything too!
We must create the vessels to receive all the sheffa (abundance) Hashem wants to give us. How do we create vessels?
Prayer. Every prayer, every word, creates a vessel. Every hour creates a vessel. 6 hours of personal prayer creates an incredibly large vessel. Hashem then fills these vessels with all the good things He wants to give us!
So we don't need to convince Hashem why we need or deserve something. We don't need to worry about our sins getting in the way either. Hashem loves you! Hashem wants to give you everything! Just be happy, and pray about everything, everything, everything. Create the vessels. And Hashem will surely fill them.

I would like to add to this something Rabbi Natan of Breslev continuously discusses, that he learned first hand from Rebbe Nachman:
Obstacles are nothing!!!
Literally. Nothing.
Obstacles are created by Hashem in order to increase our desire. Everything good in the world has a spiritual "price tag." Perhaps someone doesn't have the ability to acquire the good they want, for whatever reason. But they want it, and Hashem wants to give it to them, because Hashem loves us!!! So Hashem sends obstacles. This enables them to increase their desire, more and more. They also increase their prayers. The prayers create vessels. When the amount of desire and prayers surpass the spiritual "price tag," all the obstacles suddenly fall away completely!
The obstacles were created by Hashem. He can easily take them away at will too! The most important thing is to press on with desire and prayers, and the obstacles WILL fall away at the right time! Just don't, don't, DON'T give up. Rebbe Natan stresses this time and again - how many obstacles stood in the way of his pursuit of holiness and truth (many times reflected in trying to go to visit Rebbe Nachman), and how time and again he saw them all miraculously fall away just at the right time. He bemoans those who give up on themselves and don't press on to break all the obstacles through prayer.
Have patience, and increase your desire and prayers, and break through all the obstacles! It really works - because Hashem really loves you. The obstacles are BECAUSE Hashem really loves you!
So please, don't give up. Remember how much Hashem loves you. And just keep praying.