This Week

B'H

 

It has been quite a week. More than other attacks, the attack in Har Nof on Tuesday struck right at the heart of the Jewish people, and images of men killed in their tefillin like this are reminiscent of the Holocaust. All of Jerusalem is in mourning.

 

That being said, the most important response as I wrote earlier is not trying to convince the world around us to care, or care about even telling the truth about what happened. When we care about what Hashem thinks of us, THAT is when things are going to start changing! So, this is a much longer than usual email in a lot of parts – look at the headings to see each piece.

 

First things first - Update on the wounded from Tuesday's attack in Har Nof:

The best news is that Shmuel Yerucham Goldstein lay tefillin this morning!! Of course many more tefillos are needed, but he's all there.

Eitan ben Sara - Rav Eitan Mualmi – had an 8-hour operation on his arm yesterday to try and save it. They seem optimistic. The blow to his head did not reach the brain!!!! They haven't woken him up yet because he needs kochot to deal with his arm – but Mrs. Mualmi is very optimistic and thanks Hashem that his brain is OK. (it's his left arm…)

Chaim Yechiel ben Malka (Rothman) - The doctors can't be sure whether there's brain damage or not (there is reason for serious concern, at first they thought he might never wake up) – STORM SHAMAYIM!!! They're worried because he lost so much blood. For sure he has lost sight in the left eye completely. Based on his injuries it is clear that he fought the terrorists and risked himself to save others. "The doctors are cautiously optimistic," Rothman-Benhaim said Wednesday. "They're more optimistic about his condition than they were (Tuesday). They're hoping to take him out of a medically induced coma (Thursday) to see how his responses are, his reflexes are." He is from Canada originally and has 10 children, the youngest of whom is only 4.

 

What Should Our Response Be? – More Prayer!

A recap on Harav Arush on women doing an hour of personal prayer , translated and summarized from Chochmat Nashim (in Hebrew), called Women's Wisdom in English. If we focus on prayer and doing serious cheshbon hanefesh (spiritual soul accounting) every single day, from yesterday's hitbodedut until today, we can correct everything and sweeten the judgments on ourselves, and all of Klal Yisrael. Don't forget to spend at least 10 mins of your daily hitbodedut praying for Klal Yisrael! The attack represents dark-side emuna, and the only way to beat it is with more emuna to holiness. Rabbi Nachman explains that prayer and emuna are one aspect – along with Eretz Yisrael and miracles. Prayer is the functional manifestation of emuna, and the key to really living the emuna concepts we learn about. And strengthen prayer – you don't just strengthen emuna, you also strengthen miracles and our connection to the land of Israel.

 

Rabbi Arush says the best time for hitbodedut is while it is still dark, and that a woman should work hard to go to bed early and wake up early, in order to do hitbodedut while it is even still dark, and that the praise in Eshet Chayil (she is awake while it is still night) is brought down by the Ben Ish Chai refers to all the work in the house before everyone else is awake to prepare the house for them, and kal v'chomer for shaa hitbodedut.

 

By doing hitbodedut first thing in the morning, she has a lot of seata dishmaya in her day and has a totally different day because of it. She also sweetens all the dinim and therefore doesn't encounter the problems, difficulties and confusions in her work. Literally, a day with hitbodedut is a completely different day than a day without it, and you pre-empt everything by waking up early for it.

 

If a woman cannot wake up before the children wake up to do hitbodedut because her crying baby kept her up late (I'm not writing this, he said that) or other reasons, then she should "grab her hour" FIRST THING she possibly can, for instance after she has sent the children to school. It doesn't matter if the house is completely turned upside-down, if the laundry is up to the ceiling, and she doesn't feel that she can manage with the house in its present state – DO HITBODEDUT FIRST (again the examples are NOT mine). First and foremost is hitbodedut, and he GUARANTEES that the work done after the hour of hitbodedut will be done easily and quickly, for the same reasons stated above – she will have no judgments and a settled mind to work quickly and efficiently.

 

He ends the section by noting that it is very important to read "In Forest Fields" his book on hitbodedut, which contains a lot of practical advice and details at length, as well of chizuk on doing hitbodedut.

 

Needless to say, he does NOT say that a daily hour of personal prayer is only for men! It is for every man, woman and child on the planet.

 

To finish – a moving emuna piece about the kedoshim, the minyan and the attack from Har Nof

We heard the ambulances. We heard there was a terrorist attack. Then we heard it was at our shul down the road. We got a phone call from Chaya Levine asking my husband to please look at the shul next door to see if Rav Kalman was there. My husband had dovened neitz with him just a short time ago. Rav Kalman gave him a hearty "yashar koach" for his duchening, and went back to learn. My husband came home to get Binyomin Dovid ready for the school bus. You see Tuesday morning is Abba day- Binyomin Dovid looks forward to Tuesday morning all week-. maybe because Abba puts ketchup on the cheese sandwich- or puts more pretzels in the bag than Ima does, or more salt on the salad. Or maybe because he so loves his Abba and their special morning together. And because Tuesday is their special day, my husband dovens at the neitz minyon next to our house, instead of his regular minyon in Kehillas Bnei Torah. My husband might have gone to his regular minyon anyway. Since he was often the only Kohen, on Tuesdays he would pop in for chazaras hashatz just to duchen for them. The carnage occurred during chazaras HaShatz. But Hashem had other plans for my husband. A few months ago a member of the shul, a Kohen, became an avel-a mourner- and he asked my husband if he could be the regular ba'al tefila. This Tuesday my husband did not go back to duchen, because he knew there would be a Kohen in his minyon. So after neitz at HaGra, he came home from shul. But Kalman- where was Kalman? My husband went back to HaGra to look for him. But he had left. Kalman had gone to Rav Rubin's shul to ask the Rav a question. And Kalman did not come home.

We heard names- we heard rumors- we didn't want to believe they were true. Rav Moshe Twersky- the kind talmid chacham who always made time for those who came to him for guidance and halachic advice, and then taught and learned until late at night. He was the one to whom my husband would turn with questions that came up in the minyon. It was Rav Moshe who said at his son's aufruf that this minyon was like mishpacha. We had lost a family member.

R' Aryeh Kupinski. R'Aryeh? No- not R' Aryeh? Haven't they suffered enough? When his daughter Chaya died suddenly in her sleep he was mekabel the din with pure deep faith- and went on to be mechazek others. R' Aryeh- always running to help others; always a smile on his face- despite constant challenges. R' Aryeh was the one who yelled "you run, I'll fight" using a chair against a gun and a hatchet to buy time so that others could flee. The ultimate chesed. 
The names to doven. Shmuel Yerucham ben Baila. Chaim Yechiel ben Malka. Eitan ben Sarah. Yitzchak ben Chaya. All still in need of tremendous Rachmei Shamayim. Please continue to storm the gates of rachamim on their behalf. Avraham Shmuel ben Sheina. Then the rumors turned to agonizing truth- Avraham Shmuel ben Aharon hy"d. Mr Goldberg. That nice warm smiley gentleman who loved Torah and Torah scholars, and every single Jew. Who learned every morning and only then went to work. My husband would set up a shtender for Mr. Goldberg and he in turn would lay out a siddur for Rav Twersky. That was the kind of minyon it was. It can't be. But it was.
What about Rav Kalman? We still didn't know for sure – rumors flying- but Rav Kalman was the most alive person in the world. He was the reason many people came to our shul on Simchas Torah- to see Rav Kalman's ecstatic dancing with his beloved Torah. We should have known if he didn't come home and didn't call something was terribly wrong. But we couldn't believe it could be. And then we heard. The brutal animals shot as they yelled out their vicious war cry. They butchered Rav Kalman as he stood in the hallway absorbed in a sefer-those few seconds gave some of the men in the minyon time to flee out another door. Rav Kalman's last act of ahavas Yisroel was to save the life of his friends. 
And now- Rav Moshe הי"ד, Rav Aryeh הי"ד, Rav Avraham הי"ד, Rav Kalman הי"ד are in the Beis Medrash shel maalah- with their beloved Torah.
Between the hope and the tears we spoke. "Chaya, do you remember….". Binyomin Dovid was a sickly baby with Down syndrome and a host of medical issues and I needed chizuk. I made my way to Bnei Brak to see Rebbetzin Kanievsky. I waited outside until it was my turn. I came in to her- a sleeping baby in my arms. Rebbetzin Kanievsky took one look at him and said "you don't know what shmira (protection) you have in your home". I thought I understood. Perhaps, I thought, other things would be easier because this would be difficult. But now, almost 13 years later, I understand. BD was the only reason my husband was not in his minyon that morning. And because he knew my husband wasn't coming, his post dovening chevrusa- a stalwart regular in that minyon, decided to doven elsewhere that morning. We could not have imagined so many years ago that our son would save his father's life and the life of his chavrusa. 
The stories abound. Those who were saved- Rav E- an elderly gentleman who takes a cab the half a block each morning- but THIS morning the cab didn't come. Rabbi L was on his way to that minyon and for some reason he cannot explain, found himself turning into a closer shul, and stayed there. A. was up during the night helping his wife who felt unwell, so he decided to doven elsewhere. R' S who smashed a terrorist over the head twice with a chair to try to stop his shooting, and somehow managed to run out unscathed. Rav P, Reb B, Rav Pr and Rav F who somehow ran through the line of fire out the door. Rav S who was hiding behind the bima until something told him to get out- and he managed to run through the side door. Rav I saw one of the terrorists in the kitchen on his way in earlier. He thought he was one of the many who come into the shul to take a free cup of coffee in the morning. Why didn't he shoot him then? He escaped through a side door when the shooting started in the shul. Dr. H and Rav W who ran out after throwing a table at the terrorists. HaRav B, who is not a young man, heard the commotion and came downstairs. As he was trying to help one of the victims, he was shot at repeatedly by the terrorists- but the guns misfired four times. When they pulled out a knife he ran upstairs. An old man outrunning two young terrorists? 
And those who were not saved. Rav Kalman regularly dovens shacharis elsewhere and only came to ask a question of a Rav whom he didn't know was not yet there. Rav Aryeh came perhaps once or twice a month to that minyon. The first chovesh (paramedic) who appeared at the scene always carries a gun- but he left it at home that morning. One thing was clear-it appeared random- but it is only random in the eyes of the world- we have to know that it is exacting in the eyes of Hashem, and that while we cannot possibly understand the equation we know it is the Truth.
To us, it is clear that the world is run with exactitude- and that this brutal butchering of innocent souls had purpose and meaning. We must focus inward- -avoiding politics and rage. We must focus our energy inward by asking what each of us can do better than before. That is the Jewish response.
Wednesday morning my husband dovened in his minyon. He set out no shtender, laid out no siddur. R' Chaim, fighting for his life, was not there to call out "kohanim". Rav Moshe was not be there today to lein. He will not ask for an Aliyah for his grandmother's yahrtzeit R"H Teves. My husband took out his gabbai book and added הי"ד to four names.
As Rav Rubin said at the levaya, we must strengthen ourselves in Emuna. We must internalize the knowledge that nothing is by chance, nothing is without purpose and meaning
We must strive in some small way to emulate the kedoshim- so different on the surface but so very much the same- each a true lover of Torah and Talmidei chachamim, each a true lover of his fellow Jew, each a ba'al chesed, each a man with true simchas hachaim. Each of us must look inward; ask "what can I rectify?" Each one of us must make some small yet powerful change. 
The family of the kedoshim asked those who came to the shiva to please take on something for Am Yisrael. This is derech HaTorah. This will give nechama to the widows, the orphans. This will be a z'chus for a refuah for the injured.
And we can pray, that this will be the final chapter in the long and painful history of golus- and this will bring the Geula bimheyra biyameinu

 

AMEN!!!

An Hour of Personal Prayer a Day - For Women Too!

A recap on Harav Arush on women doing an hour of personal prayer , translated and summarized from Chochmat Nashim (in Hebrew), called Women's Wisdom in English:

 

He says the best time for hitbodedut is while it is still dark, and that a woman should work hard to go to bed early and wake up early, in order to do hitbodedut while it is even still dark, and that the praise in Eshet Chayil (she is awake while it is still night) is brought down by the Ben Ish Chai refers to all the work in the house before everyone else is awake to prepare the house for them, and kal v’chomer for shaa hitbodedut.

 

By doing hitbodedut first thing in the morning, she has a lot of seata dishmaya in her day and has a totally different day because of it. She also sweetens all the dinim and therefore doesn’t encounter the problems, difficulties and confusions in her work. Literally, a day with hitbodedut is a completely different day than a day without it, and you pre-empt everything by waking up early for it.

 

If a woman cannot wake up before the children wake up to do hitbodedut because her crying baby kept her up late (I'm not writing this, he said that) or other reasons, then she should “grab her hour” FIRST THING she possibly can, for instance after she has sent the children to school. It doesn’t matter if the house is completely turned upside-down, if the laundry is up to the ceiling, and she doesn’t feel that she can manage with the house in its present state – DO HITBODEDUT FIRST (again the examples are NOT mine). First and foremost is hitbodedut, and he guarantees that the work done after the hour of hitbodedut will be done easily and quickly, for the same reasons stated above – she will have no judgments and a settled mind to work quickly and efficiently.

 

He ends the section by noting that it is very important to read “In Forest Fields” his book on hitbodedut, which contains a lot of practical advice and details at length, as well of chizuk on doing hitbodedut.

 

EMUNAGAL COMMENTS: Needless to say, Rabbi Arush does NOT say that women are exempt from personal prayer ! Every man, woman and child should be doing a full hour, every single day. Nor does he exempt women for being “too busy.” That being said, although hitbodedut is best done totally alone and no one else is supposed to be able to hear it, I do believe that having a baby or very small child around, if this is the absolute only way to do hitbodedut, is OK, but preferably at a time when the child is sleeping or not going to be interrupting your train of thought.

HaRav Arush on Rosh Hashanah

Some notes from Harav’s Wed shiurim on Rosh Hashanah you might appreciate: Erev Rosh Hashanah is ONLY for teshuva and tefilla. Do everything on Tuesday so that starting netz on the last day, you can focus on the tachlis (purpose) – ruchnius! Go through the Table of Contents of Sefer Hamiddot and do teshuva on every midda – Hashem will help you focus on the ones most important for you. Men can go through the Table of Contents of the Shulchan Aruch as well. Do teshuva on every aspect of your day and how it was, versus how it should be - (his examples are for men but apply to women) – how was Shachris, Mincha, Maariv? How was my kavana? How was my hitbodedut? Did I do minimum 1 hr every day? etc etc – AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.

Remember that this last week of the year – each day corrects that day of the entire year, so this week corrects for the entire year! Even if you couldn’t make the year what you wanted, MAKE THIS WEEK THE WAY YOU WANT IT.

 

Then for the 10 days of Teshuva – all the books are open before Hashem and Hashem writes based on your ratzon – will/desire. Spend every single minute, not just fixed prayer times, telling Hashem what you want! Hashem, write me in the book of – emuna shleima, ratzon d’kedusha b’shleimut, tefilla b’kavana, shaa hitbodedut yom yom, adding to kedusha and daat every moment of every day, saying todah with your whole heart, etc. etc. You can do this before Rosh Hashanah too, but especially starting on Rosh Hashanah itself through the 10 days, all the time!!!

 

Remember that these days are incredible chesed. You get to clean the table, to start over, to get a new din for the year, a new opportunity. If you’re doing daily hitbodedut it’s even easier since you are cleaning your table every day. Make the most of it!

 

Don’t forget – until this moment, rak todah – only say thank you. To pray on something is a lack of emuna, because then you think Hashem should have done it differently and that is heresy! You have to cancel your will to Hashem’s will. Just say thank you and all the salvations will come to you, because now you are expressing emuna shleima, complete emuna. Whatever happened was for the best. Remember that “good” is getting closer to Hashem and “bad” is going farther away. You want money, but if not having money is bringing you closer to Hashem, then it’s good! Say thank you! Until this moment you didn’t have the vessels for whatever, but now you say thank you, and you strengthen your emuna, and you request for the future, and now you have vessels – and now Hashem can give it to you! Remember Hashem is all merciful, He WANTS to give it to you, you don’t need to convince Him, you just need to have the vessels so it will be good for you in truth.

 

And for the future – ratzonot. Even a person lost is sadness and despair, express your will for the future. OK so I want happiness, and I'm not happy. Thank you Hashem I'm not happy. Please Hashem, from this moment on, make me happy! From this moment on, give me emuna shleima! Enable me to say thank you with my whole heart! Etc etc. It brings all the salvations immediately AND it gives a person incredible koach, energy and strength.

 

Every minute should be filled with either todah, or ratzonot!

 

Shana tova u’metukah!!!

Anti-Semitism wrap up for the day

Let's do an anti-Semitism (AKA Kill the Jews) wrap up just from skimming today's news, with some best of excerpts:

 

Holland: http://www.mpaths.com/2014/08/muslims-attacking-jews-in-amsterdam.html  - "Death to the Jews, Netanyahu is the devil , don't buy from the Jews, boycott all Israeli products." Now you know what divestment is REALLY all about! (don't forget to check out the story of how the Muslims tried to kill Jewish kids while the police watched and did nothing -RT)

 

LA: http://www.jewishjournal.com/hollywood/article/a_hate_incident_against_elon_gold - We all know too well, that “Free Palestine” means free Palestine from every Jew. As they chant “Free Palestine, from the river to the sea.” That doesn’t mean they want a two state solution, they want Hitler’s final solution and a Jew-free middle east. (two states don't fit between the river and the sea, that's all of Israel BTW -RT)

 

Australia: http://www.jewishjournal.com/world/article/israeli_rabbi_attacked_visiting_mall_in_australia  - “The wider community needs to know that Jews around the world are being affected because they are Jews,” Mayer said.

 

Chicago: http://www.breslev.co.il/articles/society/jewish_world/chicagos_summer_of_hate.aspx?id=26518&language=english - They also bullied a Jewish classmate, telling him to “get into an oven and put on striped pajamas.” Several of the bullies were given only a one-day in-school suspension.

 

Every day I feel like I’m screaming into thin air – wake up and get out! To quote one of the articles:

Yes, Israel has been under attack. But throughout the world’s long bloody history of war, it’s only the Jewish Land of Israel that could miraculously absorb thousands of deadly missiles with extremely few casualties.

Could the same thing be said for communities outside of Israel?

 

It's time for Aliya - the sooner the better.

 

I couldn’t have said it better myself. In Israel Hashem is the Guardian. Everywhere else – just look at the police doing nothing. Who would you prefer watching over you? They both have proven track records over history – one does a great job, the other at some point or another, even joins in killing Jews. Hmmmm. That took me a long time.

 

Remember that one fine day before WWII, passports ready no longer helped. The ones who survived got out while the goyim were only (mostly) talking. Generally, once they come out in the open about what the intend to do, the generally then attempt to do it.

How about CH"L Summer of Hate?

B'H

 

WOW - I knew it was bad in Chicago. I didn't realize that it was THAT BAD. Wake up, my friends, please. It's true that bombs are raining down on us here. But here we have incredible miracles protecting us. Thousands of missiles and unimaginably, not hundreds, not tens, not thousands, not hundreds of deaths. We certainly mourn each martyr who surely was a sacrifice to save many more. But it is still incredibly safer to live here than anywhere else, where open miracles are not happening. Where virulent, open anti-Semitism (that sounds so nice, so PC, hey I'm not a Semite - much nicer than the little boy told to get into striped pajamas and hop in an oven or the Hitlerwasright hashtag) is becoming more and more commonplace. I'm very, very afraid. History shows that once the goyim come out and start telling the Jews what they intend to do, generally, they attempt to do it. GET OUTTA THERE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!!
Remember one fine day just before WWII broke out...it was too late already. And even a passport didn't help. The ones who survived got out now, while the goyim were only (mostly) talking. They didn't care what they left behind, they were refugees and they cared most of all about living...
Living in Israel is paradise, if only you recognize that the Baal Habayit (Master of the House) is Hashem and strengthen your emuna. Adjustments must be made, but I'll take them any day than having to live under conditions like in Chi town!!!

Ignorance is not bliss. Ignorance is death! That proverbial ostrich – guess what, it gets killed. Wake up calls are meant to wake us up, to the truth, whatever the ramifications of that truth might be. Reality might bite – but if you deal with it, you only get bit once.

 

http://www.breslev.co.il/articles/society/jewish_world/chicagos_summer_of_hate.aspx?id=26518&language=english

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!!!