30 May 2014

Parshat Naso 5774

1 Sivan 5774
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Rosh Chodesh Sivan
Day 45 of the Omer

Parashat Nasso: The return of the estranged wife
by Daniel Pinner

Parashat Nasso contains 18 mitzvot, seven positive and eleven negative. Of these, three (one positive and two negative) involve the treatment of a sotah, a wife whose husband suspects her of adultery. As the Mahara”m Hagiz (Rabbi Moshe ben Ya’akov Hagiz, Israel, 1671– c. 1750) summarizes in his Minyan ha-Mitzvot (Enumeration of the Mitzvot): “She must be brought before the Kohen for him to carry out her judgement which is written in this parashah, as it says ‘the husband will bring his wife to the Kohen (Priest)’ (Numbers 5:15); he must not pour oil on the sotah’s sacrifice, as it says ‘he shall bring her sacrifice for her…and shall not pour oil over it’ (ibid.); and he must not add frankincense to the sacrifice, as it says ‘…and he shall not put frankincense upon it’ (ibid.)” (Mitzvot 365-367).

The Torah lays down the full procedure for trying the wife whose husband suspects her of adultery: “The husband will bring his wife to the Kohen… The Kohen will take sacred water in an earthenware vessel; then the Kohen will take from the earth which is on the floor of the Tabernacle and put it into the water. The Kohen will cause the woman to stand before Hashem; he will uncover the woman’s hair, and put the meal-offering of remembrance – which is a meal-offering of jealousies – on her hands, and the bitter waters which bring a curse will be in the Kohen’s hand” (Numbers 5:15-18).

Thus far, this is a fairly unsurprising sacrificial ceremony. Then comes the Kohen’s adjuration to the suspected wife: “If no man has lain with you, and you have not strayed in defilement with anyone other than your husband, then you will be innocent of these bitter waters which bring a curse. But if you have strayed with anyone other than your husband and have thus become defiled, and if any other man than your husband has lain with you – !” (vs. 19-20). The Torah leaves the fearful consequences of her sin unspoken.

And then comes something startlingly unique in Halakhah: “The Kohen shall write these imprecations on a scroll, erase it into the bitter waters, and make the woman drink of the bitter waters that bring a curse… And if she had become defiled and had betrayed her husband’s trust…then her stomach will become distended and her thigh will collapse, and the woman will become a curse amid her nation. But if the woman had not become defiled and remained pure, then she will be proven innocent and will bear seed” (vs. 23-28).

This is the sole example where a person’s guilt or innocence is determined not by a court, not by witnesses or by evidence, but by God’s direct miraculous intervention. In the words of the Ramban (Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman, Spain and Israel, 1195-c.1270), “Nowhere throughout the Torah’s jurisprudence does anything depend upon a miracle, apart from this one case, which is a wonder and a miracle which was to occur permanently within Israel when the majority of them do the will of God, because He desired for the sake of His righteousness to chastise the women so that they would not do like the licentiousness of the other nations. Thus He cleanses Israel from the offspring of adultery so that they will be worthy of having the Divine Presence infused into their midst” (Commentary to Numbers 5:20).

The Ramban then cites the Talmud (Sotah 47a-b) according to which the miraculous procedure of the bitter water ceased when adultery became more frequent, and continues: “This does not, however, mean that adulteresses are no longer guilty of their sin just because their husbands also committed adultery – only that this great miracle would no longer be performed for them, which was performed for their honour, because of their being a holy nation; but they neither understood nor desired the benefit”.

And after further analysis, the Ramban concludes: “The principle then is that [this procedure] is a miracle and glorifies Israel”.

Let us emphasize a couple of salient points here. The procedure by which a suspected adulteress’s guilt is proved is miraculous; if no miracle occurs, then she is judged innocent. That is to say, God intervenes to prove her guilty. If there is no divine intervention, then she is acquitted.

And this miraculous procedure worked only when the majority of the nation were still faithful to God and to His Torah and therefore merited revealed miracles; then sexual immorality was so rare that God could openly change the natural course of the world to punish the supremely rare transgressors.

The Ba’al ha-Turim (Rabbi Ya’akov ben Asher, Germany and Spain, c.1275-1343) connects the subject of the sotah, the suspected adulteress, with the first redemption, the Exodus from Egypt. In their final day in Egypt, scant hours before the slaying of the first-born, Moshe had told the Jews to daub the blood of the Paschal Lamb on their door-posts and lintels, “and when Hashem passes through to smite Egypt He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two door-posts, Hashem will pass over the entrance and He will not allow the destroyer to come to your homes to smite” (Exodus 12:23).

The Ba’al ha-Turim notes that this is the first of only three times that the phrase “ve-lo yitein” (which we have translated here “…and He will not allow…”) occurs in the Tanach.

The second time is in the context of the chattat (the sin-offering), when God commands that the sacrificer “shall not put frankincense upon it” (Leviticus 5:11), again using the phrase “ve-loyitein” (which due to English idiom we have translated here as “he shall not put”).

And the third time is in our parashah, in the context of the sotah: “The man shall bring his wife to the Kohen and he shall bring her sacrifice with her…and he shall not put frankincense upon it” (Numbers 5:15).

The inference that the Ba’al ha-Turim derives from the common denominator of these three contexts is that “in the merit of the sacrifices they were saved from Egypt…in the merit of righteous women they left there [compare Sotah 11b, Sh’mot Rabbah 1:12 et. al.], and because this one [the Sotah] did not act like them [i.e. was not righteous like them], her offering is not adorned”.

That is to say, neither the chattat-sacrifice nor the sotah’s sacrifice is adorned with frankincense, because both result from inglorious events.

The Midrash Tanhuma likewise compares the sotah with Israel. Analysing the words “You are standing today, all of you, before Hashem your God…for you to pass into the Covenant of Hashem your God” (Deuteronomy 29:9-11), the Midrash Tanhuma expounds: “God forged three Covenants when they left Egypt: one when they stood before Mount Sinai, one at Horeb, and one here… You find that when Israel angered Him and they were exiled, Daniel said ‘All Israel have transgressed Your Torah and turned away, not hearkening to Your voice, so the imprecation and the oath which are written in the Torah of Moshe, servant of God, are poured out on us’ (Daniel 9:11). And the word ‘imprecation’ connotes curse, as it says ‘and the woman will become an imprecation among her nation’ (Numbers 5:27). This teaches you that just as the sotah is forced to swear an oath, so too God forced Israel to swear an oath” (Tanhuma, Nitzavim 3; also Yalkut Shimoni, Nitzavim 940).

I suggest that the comparison between Israel and the sotah (both in the Ba’al ha-Turim’s commentary and in the Midrash) is no idle musing. One of the most persistent themes in Judaism is the imagery of Israel and God as bride and groom, the Giving of the Torah (which we will celebrate in just another few days on Shavuot) as a wedding.

Whenever Israel strays from Torah they are compared to the unfaithful wife who betrays her husband.

And this allegory of God and Israel as a husband who suspects his wife of adultery goes further. As we have noted, the ceremony in which the sotah is judged is the sole instance in Jewish jurisprudence in which the verdict depends upon a miracle. The default position is that the suspected wife is not guilty, in which case she remains with her husband. Only a divine miracle can convict her.

So too with Israel. Yes, we may be accused (sometimes justifiably) of being unfaithful to God, of disobeying His Torah, of rejecting His love. But as with the sotah, as long as God has sent no direct divine miracle to reject us, we are still His nation.

Ever since the yearly cycle of Torah readings was standardised towards the end of the Second Temple era, and the fixed calendar as calculated by Hillel II (Hillel ben Yehudah, Nasi or head of the Sanhedrin) was adopted in 4119 (359 C.E.), Parashat Nasso invariably falls on either the Shabbat immediately before Shavuot (as this year) or the Shabbat immediately after Shavuot.

This is no idle coincidence. And neither is it idle coincidence that our two greatest strides towards redemption in living memory – our national independence in 5708 (1948) and our return to more of our homeland in 5727 (1967) – occurred during the Omer, the period from the Exodus (our “betrothal”) to the Giving of the Torah (our “wedding”).

Shavuot was when God and Israel became wedded to one another. Are we still His nation? His “bride”? Do we still have the right – indeed, the obligation – to return to our marital home? To return to our Land, the homeland which God promised us? Or are we forbidden to return to His home until there is some miraculous sign?

Learn the unequivocal answer from the sotah. Of course we are still God’s “bride”, of course we are still His beloved nation. Of course His Land is still our home! Of course we do not need some supernatural miraculous intervention for us to return to our Husband and to His home. To the contrary – only a miraculous divine intervention could forbid us to return home, just as only a miraculous divine intervention can forbid the sotah from returning to her husband.

29 May 2014

Message from Moishela: "L’Shanah Haba’ah B'Yerushalayim"

29 Iyar 5774
Day 44 of the Omer

B"H

Message from Moishela
Given 1 Iyar 5774

L’Shanah Haba’ah B'Yerushalayim

Time is moving on and speeding up. I can’t say that we’re moving at the speed of light, but we’re moving on. It’s like a tank, a large tank that moves slowly but is very deadly and we are moving onwards forwards into the Nevuas of Hashem. Now we can see much more clearly what is on the horizon and if we look closely through our binoculars we can see clearly destruction and death, Shelo Naida.

We can see clearly how every single prophecy is coming true. On one hand it’s very frightening. On the other hand it gives us hope. It gives us hope that finally, finally we’re coming to the end of this terrible Golus; this most difficult time in all of our history, running from country to country every time the Goyim started killing us, trying to find a place where we could live in peace and worship Hakodosh Boruch Hu in every way without being attacked. We had to move from place to place and we had to reestablish ourselves financially so that we would have bread to give our children, our families. We suffered the fear of going upwards and then falling downwards in our spirituality. All of this will soon be over and it can be seen already with the naked eye, so-to-speak. Maybe we need the help of the binoculars, but we can see it already. We can smell the smoke of war and we can taste it as well.

We can understand now in our minds how two thirds of the world can be destroyed and we can be so depressed with this thought that we hopefully can forget our extreme Gashmiusdik world and decide finally to do true Teshuva. So I think my fellow Jews that it is time. It is time right now before the real troubles start. It is time to do Teshuva and to learn to depend only on Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Hashem is giving us many incentives for this, and many ways to learn to come so close to Him, so that you will fear nothing but Him. It’s our job to start to learn, how to be true Avdai Hashem and Ovdai Hashem. I hope and I pray that all Am Yisroel, every single one of Am Yisroel, will take my message seriously and stop with all the nonsense that most of you are occupied with. Push it all aside. See it for what it is – emptiness, and come closer to Hashem which is everything, all-encompassing, which is totally spiritual in nature and come close to the only Truth which is so absolutely Divine, so absolutely beautiful and pleasant and wonderful and all-encompassing that you will soon forget the hard grimy materialistic world and be swept up in the beauty and the holiness of the spiritual world of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, Hakol Yachol, the Creator of all existence.

Can you just imagine looking up and seeing the third Bais Hamikdosh looming above us, inviting us to come and bring Karbonos, finally after so many years? Can you imagine that? It will turn from a dream to reality, but we have to really desire this. We have to really long for it in order that we will also be Zoche to be part of it. L’shana Haba’ah B’yerushalayim, Yerushalayim Habenuyah!

Sefiras Haomer this year, is part of the countdown. We are going now from slavery to freedom and we are going to see many miracles on the way so between when we began counting until Shavuos there will be many changes in this world, difficult changes. It will be hard to understand maybe for many, but in the end all of the pieces of the puzzle will be put together and we’ll see a clear vision of what Hashem wants from us. We will also be aware of what this distorted world has taken away from us. Everything will be clear, pristine clear, clear as can be. We will have no doubts. We will trust Hashem completely.

I feel that Lag Baomer this year is going to symbolize the end of a certain way of doing things. I feel that things are going to change drastically after Lag Baomer, in Eretz Yisroel and generally in the world. We are looking for tremendous changes after Lag Baomer, and by Shavuos and after Shavuos, tremendous changes.


Q: How are these changes different then the last 13 years?

A: Well in the last 13 years the world has changed completely. It has become a world that once was frivolous and on the surface happy. Everybody running off to Europe or Israel from Brazil to Africa to Thailand and every place in the world. It was a time of Gashmius above and beyond anything we could dream of. Now things have gone down in the Gashmius very much. People are confused because the world has become threatening and dark. People are afraid to fly. People don’t have the money to go on vacations and never mind vacations, people don’t even have money for food. Fear hovers over the world. People are afraid because it has become a harsh and very difficult world and most people are living with a tremendous fear and rightfully so.

28 May 2014

Unrestricted Evil

28 Iyar 5774
Day 43 of the Omer

Lapid to Chareidim: You Will Accept Our Values

...Lapid also addressed his policies vis-à-vis the chareidi tzibur. He explained that “Every chareidi MK who meets with non frum Jews insists the sharing the burden concept will not be successful. However when they speak with one another it is a different story.

...Lapid commented on the agreement reached between the government and Shas’ Mayan Chinuch education network. He stated the coalition will design workable programs and after a great deal of dispute the deal with Shas was made and the school system will include core subject matter such as math and English.

Most of all Lapid stressed the rule has returned to the sovereign government “and we now tell the chareidim these are our values and you will accept them”.

And to continue his mantra, Lapid added that a democratic state cannot tolerate mehadrin bus lines for one does not send women to the back of a bus in 2014. He warns if this is the case “Tomorrow the chareidi tzibur will not have a bus”.

Lapid: “We Need to Evacuate 80-90,000 Settlements”

“There will be an evacuation of settlements and two states,” Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid stated.

...Lapid, who spoke today at the Eilat Bar Association, stated that the move will include the evacuation of 80-90,000 settlements.

...“I am talking about a solution that involves things that will hurt all of us. This will shake all of us,” Lapid stated. “The country will not only change. You and I will be different. This will be the largest tearing apart of this country since the Yom Kippur War. Any other option will be worse.”


But Evil is not restricted to the Left or the Right. It knows no boundaries.


Bennet inaugurates two employment centers for Beduin in Negev

...The Bayit Yehudi head added a personal anecdote, demonstrating his gratitude towards the Beduin: "A Lebanese Bedouin saved my life during my army service, so I also feel a personal debt to the Bedouin community. In the name of the government of Israel, I say that we love you. We will do all we can, in cooperation with you, to integrate yet more Bedouin men and women into the workforce."

...A Beduin a leader told those gathered that he was delighted to meet Bennett for the first time. We are talking about a man who sees no difference between a Jew and an Arab and is just looking to improve the social-economic situation, said the Beduin leader.


Erev Rav one and all.

27 May 2014

Happy Yom Yerushalayim!!

28 Iyar 5774
Day 43 of the Omer
Yom Yerushalayim

Yom Herut Yerushalayim: Paradigms of Miracles
by Daniel Pinner

Reading one chapter of Pirkei Avot each Shabbat for each of the six Shabbatot between Pesach and Shavuot is a long-established tradition: almost 1,200 years ago, Rabbi Amram Gaon, Rosh Yeshivah in Sura, Babylon, mentioned that this was customary in the Babylonian Academies on Shabbat afternoons.

Last Shabbat we read the fifth and penultimate chapter of Pirkei Avot, and it is that chapter whose thoughts remain with us and inspire us for this week. And in this fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot, the Sages of the Talmud give us an invaluable insight into the nature of miracles.

“Ten miracles were wrought for our forefathers in Egypt, and ten at the Red Sea” (Pirkei Avot 5:5). All of the major commentators (the Rambam, Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura, Rabbeinu Yonah of Gerona, Tosfot Yomtov, Tiferet Yisrael) agree that the ten miracles in Egypt were, surprisingly, not the ten plagues in and of themselves, but rather that in each case we were saved from the plagues.

The entire purpose of the plagues was that “all the plagues came upon Egypt and not upon Israel” (Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura), and that “they were saved from the ten plagues even though they deserved to be punished just like the Egyptians, since they were just as bad and sinners like them, but were saved in the merits of their Fathers” (Yachin of Tiferet Yisrael). Only thus did God demonstrate not only that He controls nature, but that He controls nature for the sake of the Jewish People.

Though Pirkei Avot tells us that another ten miracles were wrought at the Red Sea, it does not tell us what those ten miracles were. The Midrash (Tanhuma, Beshallach 10 and Mechilta de-Rabbi Yishmael, Beshallach 5) enumerates them:

1) The Sea was split for them, and became a dome covering them;
2) It was divided into ten channels, as God said to Moshe, “Stretch forth your hand over the sea and divide it” (Exodus 14:16);
3) It became completely dry, so they would not even get their feet muddy, as it says, “…and the children of Israel walked on dry ground” (ibid 14:29);
4) It became like thick, muddy clay, miring the Egyptians, as it says, “You trampled them in the sea with Your horses, with clay of mighty waters” (Habakuk 3:15);
5) The waters crumbled as it says, “You crumbled the sea with Your might” (Psalms 74:13);
6) The waters became piles of rocks against which the Egyptians were smashed, as it says, “He smashed the sea-serpents’ heads against the water” (ibid);
7) The water was cut into pieces, as it says, “To He Who cut the sea into pieces” (ibid 136:13);
8) The water was heaped into piles, as it says, “At the wind of Your nostrils the waters were heaped up” (Exodus 15:8);
9) It became a solid wall, as it says, “The flowing waters stood erect like a solid wall” (ibid);
10) Sweet water flowed out from the midst of the salt water for them, and the water froze, becoming like a glass jug, as it says, “The deep waters froze” (ibid).

So far, so easy to understand. God wrought ten miracles for our ancestors while they were yet in Egypt, and another ten at the Red Sea, and all were open, clear miracles which no observer could deny.

But Pirkei Avot continues: “Ten miracles were wrought for our forefathers in the Holy Temple:

1) No woman ever miscarried due to the aroma of the meat of the sacrifices;
2) The meat of the sacrifices never rotted;
3) No fly was ever seen in the place where the sacrificial meat was butchered;
4) No nocturnal emission ever happened to the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) on Yom Kippur [which would have rendered him impure and unfit for Temple service];
5) The rains never extinguished the fire of the wood-pile on the Altar;
6) The wind never disturbed the vertical column of smoke [arising from the Altar];
7) No disqualifying defect was ever found in the Omer or in the two Loaves [for Shavuot] or in the Showbread;
8) Though the people were crowded together when they stood, they had sufficient space to prostrate themselves full-length on the ground;
9) No snake or scorpion ever injured anyone in Jerusalem;
10) And no one ever said to his fellow, The place is too small for me to overnight in Jerusalem” (Pirkei Avot 5:7).

And in this list there is no single event that is miraculous in and of itself. The Jew who made the tri-annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem would not have gazed in awe at a pregnant woman not miscarrying from the aroma of the roasting meat of the sacrifices. No Jew would have been awestruck at seeing meat which had not rotted, or been overwhelmed at not seeing a fly around the meat-hooks set in the sides of the cedar-wood blocks on the eight stone benches to the north of the Altar or on the adjacent marble tables where the carcasses were flayed.

Similarly, the fact that the Kohen Gadol did not suffer a nocturnal emission on a specific Yom Kippur, or that the rain on any given Festival did not extinguish the fire of the wood-pile on the Altar, or that no disqualifying defect was found in the Omer or in the two Loaves or in the Showbread in a given year was not an open miracle. After all, how likely was it for any of these events to occur?

But after a total of 830 years (410 for the first Holy Temple and 430 for the second), the pattern would have become undeniable. For sure, the individual pilgrim who spent a week or two in Jerusalem without being bitten by a snake or stung by a scorpion would not have seen anything miraculous. But when no pilgrim – uncountable millions of Jews through those centuries – was ever harmed thus throughout 830 years of pilgrimages to Jerusalem, then the miracle becomes undeniable.

Just as the Ten Plagues and the Splitting of the Red Sea were physically impossible, so too the perfect functioning of all these systems of the Holy Temple without even a single mishap over 830 years was statistically impossible.

The fact that Pirkei Avot uses the identical phraseology – “ten miracles were wrought for our forefathers” – both for the open, revealed miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea and also for the hidden, “mundane” miracles in the Holy Temple, suggests that the Mishnah places them on the same level, regarding them as equally miraculous.

This week marks the 47th anniversary of the Six Day War, and Wednesday 28th Iyyar (28th May) is celebrated as Yom Herut Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Liberation Day), the day that the paratroops liberated Jerusalem and restored it to Jewish sovereignty for the first time since the Roman general Pompey invaded Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. and installed Hyrcanus as High Priest and vassal king of Rome.

In many ways the Six Day War straddles the boundary between hidden miracles and revealed miracles. Most of the individual battles which Israel won can be explained rationally: even though the Arabs outnumbered and outgunned Israel on four borders, Israel enjoyed specific tactical advantages – shorter supply-lines, superior communications, a fortuitous wind in the Sinai Desert which raised a dust-storm at just the right moment, the rising sun dazzling the Egyptians in the morning of the first day of the war, the setting sun dazzling the Jordanians that evening, Egyptian soldiers who were unable to read the instructions for their missiles and were therefore unable to fire them…the list goes on.

Most of these battles can be explained rationally – but the statistical likelihood of all these events occurring by pure happenstance is vanishingly tiny. We must remember that in the Six Day War, Israel had zero margin for error. Israel was attacked by 13 Arab and Moslem states (Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco,Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan, and Pakistan).

At the beginning of the war, hostile forces surrounded Israel on three sides; the only neutral border was the sea, into which the Arabs had sworn to drive the Jews.

Hostile Jordanian forces, stationed in the centre of Jerusalem (half of which was under illegal Jordanian occupation), were poised to sweep across Israel from east to west, to link up with the Egyptian army preparing to invade from the south-west. Meanwhile the Syrian Army was preparing to attack from the north and then sweep through the country to link up with the other Arab forces in the Tel Aviv region.

Had any Arab army – any one at all, Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian, all of which were reinforced with the armies of the other hostile states – won even one single land battle, then Israel would have been destroyed. Israel had no strategic depth, no opportunity to recover from a single lost battle.

Under those circumstances, Israel’s very survival was precarious, to say the least.

True, each individual battle can (sort of) be explained rationally. But the perfect functioning of all Israel’s military systems without even a single mishap over the course of the war was statistically impossible.

When future historians will come to write of our era, perhaps they will discover another hidden miracle. Ever since the Six Day War, every government of Israel has tried with all their might to get rid of those parts of Israel which the army liberated during that war. On the 11th of Sivan 5727 (19th June 1967), just nine days after the war finished, Israel declared that she was willing to withdraw from the Golan Heights, the Sinai Desert (including the Gaza Strip), and Judea and Samaria (the “West Bank”) in return for peace treaties, normalisation of relations with the Arab states, and guarantee of navigation through the Straits of Tiran.

The Arab response was expressed in the Khartoum Conference two months later: “No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with it”.

Israeli governments ever since have pleaded, begged, cajoled Arab countries to take back the territories that they lost in the Six Day War. Successive Israeli governments (the present one no less than previous ones) have yearned to give away the Temple Mount – Judaism’s holiest site – to anyone who was willing to talk to them: the PLO, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UN, the European Union, Switzerland, the Vatican – anyone.

It is a miracle no less than the miracles which the Mishnah records were wrought for our forefathers in the Holy Temple that the Temple Mount is still (nominally) under Israeli control. True, it does not seem miraculous that any one of the Israeli government’s attempts to give away the Temple Mount failed: after all, international diplomacy is full of failures.

But the statistical likelihood that after 47 years of non-stop appeals by Israeli governments to give away the Temple Mount not one foreign power would ever accept is vanishingly tiny.

The Six Day War was indisputably a series of miracles. And the aftermath – by now close on half a century – has been a series of miracles no less.

Binyamin: "The State of Israel - It's Not a Jewish State"

Message from Binyamin
Jerusalem, 16 Iyar 5774
_______________________________
The Book of Daniel, 11:14 - "And in those times, many will rise up..., and the sons of the renegades of your people will exalt themselves to bring about the vision but they will fail."

Haftarat Bamidbar, Hosea 2:7,12 - "For their mother played the harlot; she who conceived them behaved shamefully, for she said, "I will go after my lovers, those who give my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drinks. ...And now, I will bare her disgrace before the eyes of her lovers,...."

Zohar Hakadosh, Parshat Pinchas Ra'aya Mehemna, p.238 - "Moreover, when the Erev Rav is involved in Israel, what is written? 'Her adversaries have become the head.' Furthermore, when Bnei Yisrael are in exile, about them it is said: 'Who hinders the leavening that's in the dough?' And here is elucidation from the masters of the Mishnah, at the time that the Erev Rav are heads over Israel, it's like they are transferring the control of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, so to speak, and entering into laws of stars and fates and because of this they are crying out and saying: 'Hashem, our God, other lords beside You have had dominion over us.'"

Zohar HaKadosh, Parshat Naso, p.126 -
דעֵרֶב רַב ַ אִינּון עַמֵי הָאָרֶץ... אִינּון חֲשׁוכִין... וְלָא אִתְקְרִיאו יִשְׂרָאֵל'...
[Sorry, I couldn't translate this one.]
_________________________________

The State of Israel - It's Not a Jewish State

And it never was a Jewish State. Those who came here to establish a country - they were enemies of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And those who arrived from this group who supposedly 'built the state,' - they also, the majority, were enemies of HKB"H.

They built a goyishe state in the full sense of the word. There remained only a few Jewish symbols like they named MADA 'Red Star of David' instead of the Red Cross... And 'the Shabbat' with laws like keeping Shabbat, although there were many, many desecraters of Shabbat. The majority were Shabbat desecraters or that there was Shabbat desecration, and 'the holidays' that the Jews were taking the car and traveling on the holidays to all kinds of places... and looking for entertainment more suitable for gentiles. And now we even have murder every day... drugs... and all the mess they have all over Europe and among the gentiles all over the world.

And we have an army full of gentiles. It's not a 'Jewish army' davka. It's not "mitzvah-observant." There's a group who keeps mitzvot... but, it's not a 'mitzvah-observant army.'

The State of Israel is turning into a completely goyishe country. I said 'turning into,' but from the beginning it was already built for this, except that there are, Baruch Hashemmitzvah-observant Jews that a little more are 'tipping the scales.' But, it's a very bad influence on the chareidim. And today, we have chareidim who already do not distinguish between what's good for them and what's bad for them. They do not distinguish between what is supposedly 'protecting us,' chas v'shalom, and HKB"H, who is the only One protecting us, Baruch Hu. They do not distinguish between a miracle and the power of Tzahal. They do not distinguish between a state that has within it all the materialism of the world, even though it's only a few years after the period of austerity, they think that they did it, by their own power. They don't understand that only HKB"H is All-Powerful.

There is a goyishe state in the full sense of the word. And now they are going to complete it, the goyishness of the state. The whole country is full of gentiles. There are those who declare that they are Jews and there are those who say that they are gentiles. But they are missionaries, nevertheless... And they go into every place, and the Jews don't know, don't understand, and they give them money, help them in all kinds of things... and don't understand.

But worse than this. Comes the head of the Catholic Church to take Kever David HaMelech. Every time I even think about it - I cry and cry. In tears internally and externally. I want to bang my head on the wall. The pain is so difficult for me. And it's not correct that he's only taking the upper rooms, it's everything - everything - everything they're giving to him. And the government is very quiet on this subject. No one knows anything about it.

The Head of the Catholic Church will arrive and they will receive him like a king. They will give him, supposedly, two rooms, but he already received the whole place. They already gave him the whole place. They're 'pretend' Jews. Because a Jew is incapable, even a non-religious Jew, non-chareidi, completely secular real-Jew doesn't have the heart to give this place to murderers who murdered Jews generation after generation, both spiritually and physically. It can't be that a Jew is capable wholeheartedly of giving the keys to the enemy of Yaaqov, to Edom, to Eisav, to hand over to him the keys, not just the keys of 'David HaMelech,' - but, those of the State of Israel.

There are those who are of the opinion that I am blowing hot air, but you don't know. You don't know what their plans are. You don't understand that since the birth of the church, they've wanted to get rid of the Jews. You don't understand this. For them - it's not a problem to kill Jews. It's true, today, they're like 'cultured people' and 'good' and even, they say, 'begging forgiveness,' that they lied about the Jews killing that manbut it is they themselves who are murderers. After the second world war, they rescued by way of the Catholic Church, many, many Nazis. They smuggled them to South America. And they - they 'suffered' so much for the sake of the Jews because of the war and even from the majority of the supposedly 'good-hearted,' they took Jewish children into the monasteries and turned them into gentiles. 

Baruch Hashem, part of them were rescued at the end of the war, but many Jewish children disappeared among the gentiles, because they took them, and already they didn't remember that they were Jews. And it wasn't just that they didn't remember, they already didn't want to be Jews: "Why be a part of this poor people, the Jews, that any gentile who wants to can grab the Jew and kill him? Why be part of a people who murders gentile children supposedly for the purpose of baking matzot, God forbid?" Yes, yes. Some Jews became priests in Europe. Hashem should protect us. It's really heart-rending. And not just became priests, they turned against the Jews themselves.

You don't believe me? It's true...! But, you will know. You will see that in a little while - and already everything is filled with gentiles. Full, full of gentiles. Count how many gentiles there are in the army, check how many gentiles live in Eretz Yisrael, tons of gentiles. Check. And it doesn't matter if they are tourists or not. You almost don't see Jewish tourists. Almost all are gentiles. Except for the chareidimChareidim from all over the world continue to arrive as tourists. On Lag Ba'omer, like now, many are coming, and on Sukkot, and holidays, etc. or for no other purpose than for the sake of seeing their rabbi. But, the secular Jews are not coming so much. Once there were kibbutz groups, but now they've disappeared among the gentiles.

And now, in addition to this, there are all kinds of laws that are passing now that there are even secular Jews who are not able to understand why these laws are passing. Why they are making it difficult for families with many children, for no purpose, so they won't have food? Why!? They won't be in favor of it exactly. They don't want to destroy Jews. That is to say that there are seculars with a heart. But, seculars-with-a-heart-of-a-gentile. They say: "Yes! Good! Excellent! They're parasites! They don't go to work, etc..."

The real Jew is a servant of Hashem. And if he's a servant of Hashem - he profits. He profits in the World to Come and in This World. The majority of chareidi Jews work or sit in kollel and receive a check. But, today, already, there are no checks...  Because they were concerned also to stop money for this. And the women have worked, and are working. Someone works in the family and someone profits. And the chareidim have a way, the way of Hashem, to receive exactly what they need.

But, the wicked who want to change, who want to also make the chareidim into seculars, and make the seculars into gentiles, then it's not enough for them! They just have to destroy, God forbid, every shred of Judaism that there is in this world. With great sorrow, after sixty-six years of the secularism, of the Hellenization of Eretz Yisrael, the majority, a majority of the Ashkenazim as well as Sephardim - are secular. They know very little of Judaism. And they believe that if they turn everyone into 'Modern Israelis' - then they will be 'more cultured' people. And we know that in the end they will be gentiles. There won't be any memory left of them, because they will be gentiles. But, they decided by force that they will lower our spirituality and HKB"H. I don't believe that the majority of seculars want exactly to do this, but they are so far from the truth that the majority - don't understand at all. Only great suffering and the cutting off from the materialism could possibly return them - if they really have a Jewish heart, a Jewish soul.

But the State of Israel is really turning into a goyishe country. And the Prime Minister who says that we need to pass a law 'that this is a Jewish State,' apparently he is doing this, because, if not - then, in a little while everyone will forget it... so, therefore, he wants to say that there will be some kind of 'sign'... 'We are a Jewish State.'

But, in a little while they will say: "Lie! Lie! You are gentiles like us! So we also can settle here in Eretz Yisrael! And why not...!?" They will say that 'we' meaning they - believe in the "new testament"... and it's written in it about 'all kinds of prophecies'... like with us. And then saying: 'What's the difference? It's the same thing...! Then, why make problems...!? We're united, God forbid, united! But, to unite with the Arabs - that's impossible, because they have 'Yishmael,'... and Yishmael doesn't let them. War - that's what they know. They can't unite with the Jews and with the Christians. So, there will be war, a big war.

I just want to explain to you clearly: the 'Jewish State' from her inception wanted to be 'a state of gentiles.' Because secularism can't bring the Jew to any level of spirituality, it can only murder him and turn him into a gentile.

The Judaism today is divided. Each group has its rabbi and each rabbi has his derech... and God forbid if there is any kind of connection between them... Because each one guards the 'his only.' So we don't have unity and we don't have one recognized leader who is able to guide all of Am Yisrael. And therefore, we are confused.

The wicked sent spies among us, 'pretend-chareidim', 'important people', to help them dismantle us. But they don't know that they're using them - using them as under-cover agents, but they don't know that. They want money. And from the wicked they are receiving money and honor. They don't comprehend that the wicked are using them for the sake of destroying Am Yisrael.

We are in a very difficult situation. But, in a little while, you will see how they will take control more and more over Medinat Yisrael. They already took over the government. And just because of this, they are able to pass laws that are so gentile. Like the law that lowered the national insurance from the children in order that they won't have anything to eat... Why do they care!? They don't want there to be children! It's really a struggle against HKB"H.  'Be fruitful and multiply' - that's the first thing. It's the first mitzvah in the Torah. And they tell us: "Go to work! Don't be a parasite! Don't bring so many children into the world!" And if the person is busy in a job, and also his wife all day is only in materialism, then they don't have any desire that there will be children. They're tired... Exactly like in Egypt. That's what they wanted to do there.

But it doesn't work here - didn't work there. And in a little while - the Jews, those who are called 'chareidim'  - they will be for sure a quarter of the population. In a little while. Because they are continuing to give birth. Why? Because a real-Jew knows that it is a great mitzvah, to continue to reproduce. More and more. They should be Jews who are close to Hashem. Who aren't going to erase us with all their goyishness.

And not only this. We will show exactly who are the real-Jews. And show who it is who helps with the Laws-of-the-Wicked. They want to legislate that doctors will do circumcisions. This goes into the covenant between us and HKB"H! That's the basis for our world! Will we allow them!?? No! We won't be afraid! We won't let them and we won't be afraid. It doesn't matter how much they say on the radio, and on the television, that 'the mohelim aren't professionals,' and 'it's not clean,' etc, etc. We will continue with tradition. Nothing will help them! And Hashem will protect us.

We can't be a part of this. Everyone here has to be a zealot, because it's not possible to be a part of them. It's true, a more open person says: "So, what!? It's possible to go to the army... to get a job... and what have you...!?  It's just simply 'to go to work and return home'..."  

Fools! You don't understand! They're drawing you into the army and will push you to be more and more inside their world. You don't understand this!? It's pointless! It's impossible to go to work in the army and the goyishness not bring us down and not put stains on your souls. You don't understand!

There are soldiers who are already saying that it's pointless what they say that 'This is such a good army,' that whoever really wants to be a real-Jew can't be in the army. And this is one who is not the greatest-tzadik-in-the-world, but he's telling the truth, the truth - that they're liars. Perhaps they have some kind of 'group for example' that when someone says something - so they pull out this group. But it's all - all goyishness and in order to bring us to goyishness. That's what Ben-Gurion wanted, and that's exactly what they want now. Just one thing I don't understand. Why the 'so-called chareidi leaders in the Knesset are silent!!! Silent!!!! Perhaps - they're afraid. Perhaps - they've become accustomed to materialism...

[Question] What are they doing there at all...?

Truthfully, what is there for them to do there already...!? They can't influence. But the main thing is that you will know and that you will pay attention that it will be more and more a gentile world, a gentile country. And every day, we are informed on the radio how many murders there were in the youth-clubs, in night-clubs for youth, in contemptible clubs. And not only that. Also, those in the Knesset are participating in these places! Dancing on the tables..., ministers, drinking beer... That was always the behavior of a gentile!

But, these will say: 'It's true that we're doing this. But, it's cultured...! It's like everybody else... What's wrong!? What!? To be a dirty-Jew who sits all day beside a Gemarah... who doesn't wash... and he has a million children!? No! We are cultured...! We have dogs, and cats, and some child or two. And we have entertainment, dirty movies... And we have night-clubs, where we dance... and drink... and go wild... We have drugs... We are cultured! You are - dirty Jews.

But, the end will be that Edom will win over Yishmael. And then, they will come against us. And then - Hashem will kill the gentiles, all of the gentiles, except for a few who will remain - the righteous among the nations. And we the Jews - will be victorious. How? With our faith and trust in Hashem. Because we won't have anything to fight with. Just with this. And whoever will attach himself to HKB"H and His Torah, whoever will trust in HKB"H with all his essence and he also requires it from his children - he will be victorious. HKB"H will fight for us. And we will trust in Him.


26 May 2014

Message from Binyamin: Excerpt on Catholic Church

26 Iyar 5774
Day 41 of the Omer

Following is an excerpt from the most recent message from Binyamin. He gave it on 16 Iyar and it was posted on the Daniel website on 22 Iyar. I only found it yesterday and started translating, but it is very long and probably won't be finished before the Pontiff leaves. Therefore, I'm excerpting the parts pertinent to the current events here. The rest will follow later.
_________________________________________

 ...Comes the head of the Catholic Church to take Kever David HaMelech. Every time I even think about it - I cry and cry. In tears internally and externally. I want to bang my head on the wall. The pain is so difficult for me. And it's not correct that he's only taking the upper rooms, it's everything - everything - everything they're giving to him. And the government is very quiet on this subject. No one knows anything from it.

The Head of the Catholic Church will arrive and they will receive him like a king. They will give him, supposedly, two rooms, but he already received the whole place. They already gave him the whole place. They're 'pretend' Jews. Because a Jew is incapable, even a non-religious Jew, non-chareidi, completely secular real-Jew doesn't have the heart to give this place to murderers who murdered Jews generation after generation, both spiritually and physically. It can't be that a Jew is capable wholeheartedly to give the keys to the enemy of Yaaqov, to Edom, to Eisav, to hand over to him the keys, not just the keys of 'David HaMelech,' - but, those of the State of Israel.

There are those who are of the opinion that I am blowing hot air, but you don't know. You don't know what their plans are. You don't understand that since the birth of the church, they've wanted to get rid of the Jews. You don't understand this. For them - it's not a problem to kill Jews. It's true, today, they're like 'cultured people' and 'good' and even, they say, 'begging forgiveness,' that they lied about the Jews killing that man, but it is they themselves who are murderers. After the second world war, they rescued by way of the Catholic Church, many, many Nazis. They smuggled them to South America. And they - they 'suffered' so much for the sake of the Jews because of the war and even from the majority of the supposedly 'good-hearted,' they took Jewish children into the monasteries and turned them into gentiles. Baruch Hashem, part of them were rescued at the end of the war, but many Jewish children disappeared among the gentiles, because they took them, and already they didn't remember that they were Jews. And it wasn't just that they didn't remember, they already didn't want to be Jews: "Why be a part of this poor people, the Jews, that any gentile who wants to can grab the Jew and kill him? Why be part of a people who murders gentile children supposedly for the purpose of baking matzot, God forbid?" Yes, yes. Some Jews became priests in Europe. Hashem should protect us. It's really heart-rending. And not just became priests, they turned against the Jews themselves....
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Some pertinent Questions and Answers:

Q. What is your opinion about the demonstration that took place this week on Mount Zion on the subject of giving up Kever David HaMelech to the Catholics? There weren't many Jews there, but the message was very strong... Did it have an effect?

A. I didn't think there would be many people in any case, because the chareidim don't go out at all if the rabbi of every single one of them separately doesn't say. And the seculars - a few come to it.  The national religious - they have their issues. So who came? Real Jews. A few. Jews whose hearts hurt them very much. And those who spoke - spoke truth. Why? Because it hurts them. It simply hurts them. And I didn't think there would be more. But, it was very important that someone came and said the truth. The effect - this was particularly in Heaven, but it will also help to save the Jews, b'ezrat Hashem.

Q. The Pope is coming here on Monday... Always throughout history in this period, in these months, Iyar and Sivan, there were Crusades...  And also this time, it's a type of crusade...

A. It's not a "type." It's really the same thing! He's doing it intentionally. Everything that he's doing is calculated. There's someone directing him. But, HKB"H won't allow him at the end. It will all fall. But, first of all, it needs to float up, so the lie will become clear.

Q. So, actually, now they are coming to the Holy Land, coming up to Jerusalem for the third time, and this time it will appear as if it's going their way... that this time they are attaining their goal...

A. Exactly. And the Jews will say: "What's going on!?", "There's nothing," "Nothing at all!" And we will see who is right - them or me...

Q. In the streets of the city they've placed giant signs, they're really going all out...

A. Look. The Jews always do things like this, they had to do this like when a king arrives. But, he's no king. He's a representative of the Church - which is against HKB"H! The Church - wants to finish Judaism. And wants to run off HKB"H, God forbid. And especially the Catholic Church, but also the whole Church. And therefore, they do this because they are sycophants. They're flatterers. And it won't help them. Eventually, they'll be gentiles. Like the first Christians were Jews who prayed like Jews in every way, and after 400 years, with a little help from the Sanhedrin, particularly with the help of Hashem, they became completely gentile in Rome.

Complaints, Complaints!

(Re-posting from 13 Sivan 5773)

Angel in Charge of Complaints (AICOC): "The Universal Complaint Department is now open, who will be first?"

Chairman of the 'Palestinian' delegation: "We, the 'Palestinian' people wish to lodge an official complaint against the Israelis. They have stolen our land!!"

AICOC: "Whom did you say you represent, sir?"

Chairman: "The 'Palestinian' people of the State of Palestine."

AICOC: "Sorry, I don't find you here. According to my records, there is no such people and no such 'state.' That being the case, you never had possession of the land in question; therefore, I am unable to register your complaint. Next!"

UN Representative accompanied by a delegation from the EU: "Yes, good morning. I'd like to file a formal complaint against the Israelis. They pay no heed to our demand to cease settlement expansion and refuse to return to the 1948 borders. They show no respect whatever for international law."

AICOC: "Sir, here we all answer to a Higher Law, which, I must tell you, may differ somewhat from your 'international' law. Let us have a look, shall we?"

(Opens a book. To self: "Hmmm, uh huh, yes.")

(Turning book so the UN Rep can see it.) "Right here," pointing.  "Bamidbar 33.53 - it says: 'You shall clear out the Land and settle in it, for I have given you the Land to occupy it.'"

"Now, as to borders...," flipping pages. "Yes, here it is - Breishit 15.18: 'To your seed I have given this land, from the river of Egypt until the great river, the Euphrates river.'"

"Whoa, looks like they're actually only occupying a very small portion of what is actually theirs. If you want my advice, boys, quit while you're ahead. Next!"

US Ambassador: "We don't like to complain. Maybe this is not the right department for our issues. Perhaps some type of arbitration is in order."

AICOC: "State your problem and then I'll know better how to assist you, sir."

US Ambassador: "Well, seeing as how our democratic form of government, free-capitalistic economy and pluralistic culture is the best in the world and the envy of all who behold us, we naturally want everyone to be just like us. In fact, we believe in it so much that we have gone completely around the world subverting existing regimes and offering bribes in the guise of 'aid' in order to bring the entire world in line with our 'values.' But, the Israelis are an intransigent bunch. Some are on our side, but many more are not - mainly the so-called 'religious' ones. Something has got to be done about them."

AICOC: "Alright, then. Here are your options. You can file this as a complaint of non-compliance with previous agreements, although that might be hard to establish considering the characters of those with whom you made previous agreements, Oslo, etc. It's not clear that they had any right to act on behalf of the nation in this regard, or you could apply for relief with the Department of Justice."

US Ambassador: "Thanks for your help. I'll take this back to my boss and see how he would like to proceed."

AICOC (chuckling to himself): "I already know how my Boss will want to proceed."

AICOC (peering over at a group heatedly arguing among themselves in the corner: "Will there be anyone else?"

A group of Israelis rush up, stumbling over each other, pushing and shoving and arguing over who has the right to speak for the rest. They are made up of prominent Members of Knesset, ambitious military and security officers and even a few 'rabbis.' By the sheer force of his amazing presence, Yair Lapid takes charge, saying, "Since I am the most intelligent, most knowledgeable, most experienced, most beautiful and most likely to become the next Prime Minister, I will speak for us all."

Lapid: "We most assuredly wish to make a complaint - against the Ultra-Orthodox, those Chareidim and anyone else who thinks and acts as they do. They don't pay taxes! They don't serve in the army! They won't listen to women singing and force them to sit at the back of the bus! They wear black!! We, the tax-paying, army-serving majority who enjoy the ladies and walk bare-headed and are hard-hearted when it comes to prying the yeshiva bochurim from the batei midrash - we demand satisfaction."

AICOC:  "What is it specifically, Mr. Lapid, that your group wants from this department?"

Lapid:  "I believe that I speak for the tax-paying, army-serving, etc. etc. majority when I say that we won't carry the burden of those people any longer."

Lapid's group ( in unison, for once):  "That's right!  We want them off of our backs and out of our lives - FOR GOOD."

AICOC:  "I'm sure some accommodation can be arranged.  Please wait here while I consult my Superior."

(Agitated whispering all around the Israeli group until the AICOC returns.)

AICOC:  It seems that a prior complaint has already been filed by an aggrieved party against you and your cohorts, Mr. Lapid.

Lapid:  What!!??

AICOC:  "Yes, that's right.  The God-fearing Jews of Eretz Israel have already lodged a complaint, well, several actually...  Here.  Here it is right here...  numbers 1 through....  Oh my!  Let us just summarize it as an attempt to prevent the nation from fulfilling it's Divine destiny. 

Lapid:  "What does that even mean?"

AICOC:  "It means, Mr. Lapid, that when your group's complaints are weighed against the complaints of the God-fearing people of Israel, you come up a bit short, to say the least.  However... I believe we can find a solution which answers the needs of both populations."

Suddenly, the Angel in Charge and his Complaint Department disappear and Yair Lapid and the Israelis are looking around in shock, trying to identify their location.  Then someone squints into the distance.

"Is that a road sign over there?"

They all start running at the same time. Lapid was the first to get close enough to read the sign - Kampala 250 km.  The others caught up and one queried, "Where the heck is Kampala!?"

Lapid slapped his hands to his head and moaned, "UGANDA!!"

R. Shmuel Eliyahu on the Pontiff

26 Iyar 5774
Day 41 of the Omer

Rav Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita on Pope Francis’ Visit

Tzfas Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Shlita spoke out about the ongoing papal visit by Pope Francis to Israel. Rabbi Eliyahu commented on statements by rabbonim who instruct us not to look at the pope, citing he is tamei. Rabbi Eliyahu feels there is no need to argue with him, calling it a waste of time and energy. “We have good reason to be angry but it is difficult to build amid feelings of frustration and revenge”.

...He added “We are talking about a religion that is fading. 6,000 priests in Italy alone have abandoned their posts to become non religious....

...Rabbi Eliyahu adds that “one cannot erase thousands of years of repression, killing and robbery as they have done to us and it is difficult to forget what occurred during the Holocaust but we must adopt the teaching of Rabbi Akiva – to look ahead with courage and happiness and build. Not with feelings of frustration and revenge for it is difficult to build with those feelings’.

...“He will come to Jerusalem to see the beauty and size and realize there’s no point to fight the people of Israel. I believe he will see the blessing of G-d is in everything and realize there’s no point to war.”

When asked if one may look at the pope, from a Halachic perspective, he said “Christians claim they are like Yeshu and he was the embodiment of God. It sounds bizarre but this is what they say. Therefore one may not bow before him for he is like idolatry. It is so bizarre that I have a hunch that even Christians cannot believe this story even though they receipt this mantra. One should know one may not bow down before him and one should not get carried away with it. We have no reason to confront him.”