A Golden Opportunity

What wonderful words wrote Rav Berger that I recommend you read the rest on YeranenYaakov:

"Geula Update from Rav Berger - Matot 5776 - Part 1 of 2 (YY translation):

"The last prayers tip the scale!...

"For generations upon generations, people hope for the coming of Mashiah - but nevertheless, he has not yet arrived. And many times, people wonder: how is it possible that our fathers, who preceded us were like angels, who mourned all their days over the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash, arranged to say Tikkun Hatzot every night with sackcloth and ashes, prayed for the Redemption with an abundance of tears, and attempted to hasten it with their concentrations, unifications of Hashem's name, with their Torah and with their Mitzvot, and they were not answered? [Read all of Rav Berger’s words at above link] . . .

"Father, redeem us already!!!"

"Send us our righteous Mashiah!!!"

"Build Your Beit Hamikdash!!!"

"Have your Shechina dwell among us!!!" 

"We already want to see the end and finality to all our troubles, the beginning and start to the redemption of our souls!!!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This coming Tisha B’Av please have these precious words in mind and implore Hashem with the above highlighted text (from Rav Berger). 

Its so sad, but all the Jews in all of the golus countries need to (wake up &) realize and act upon the fact that Hashem has made returning to our Homeland, our Yerusha, possible. The time of the “Spies” has now passed and we are being allowed to enter Eretz Yisrael (despite whatever good/bad govt and people are in power –they will dissolve upon Mashiach’s arrival); this is such a small mountain to climb to enter the Land. One tribe tried to enter after hearing the report of the Spies, but because Hashem didn’t let, they didn’t make it there. But now the gates are wide open . . . .

We are so gifted with abundant resources to live a full Jewish life (in earnest) and to do so in Eretz Yisrael, in our Homeland. It is inconceivable that some Jews are still asleep. What more needs to happen for them to ‘HOP’ what is happening in this tiny world of ours? And to appreciate the golden opportunity placed before us.

Maybe those in the Golus nations could benefit from a Torah Empowerment Seminar conceived of and produced by Rabbi Pinchas Winston Shlit”a.  Read more:

FOR MANY, TORAH IS primarily a code of morality, designed to encourage a spiritually-inclined lifestyle. It expects subjugation to its system of mitzvos and loyalty to God. In short, it is designed to make good “soldiers.”

Such people do not associate Torah with empowerment, inspiration, or increased motivation. They do not understand how Torah is deeper than any human mind can fathom, and that this depth explains the entire universe, what we can see and what we cannot. They do not appreciate that Torah holds the secret to self-actualization in the most meaningful way possible.

The system is called “Pardes.” The Hebrew word itself only means “orchard,” but something far more profound as the acronym for the four Hebrew words: Pshat, Remez, Drush, and Sod. Literally, the names mean: Simple, Hint, Exegesis, and Secret, and refers to four levels of Torah learning: 

Knowledge is power. Pardes is access to the most powerful knowledge available to man. Knowledge empowers. Pardes is an integrated system of such knowledge, the mastering of which results in tremendous per- sonal empowerment and on-going inspiration.

THE GOAL OF THIS seminar is to inspire and motivate. As the blueprint for Creation,3 Torah, vis-à-vis “Pardes,” relates a wealth of information about Creation, life, and history. The realization of this is extremely uplifting. Harnessing it is life-altering, and truly empowering on a daily basis.

The material will provide a unique understanding of the Torah system, and how to utilize it. It will teach how to personally advance one’s understanding of Creation and life. It will become clear why Pardes is crucial for personal harmony and continuous peace of mind.

1 The simple reading of a Torah verse.
2 Concise encoded teachings that comprise the legal part of the Oral Law and which are the basis of Talmudic discussions.
3 Bereishis Rabbah 1:1.

________________________________

You can purchase this Seminar Guidelines and bring it to your community, to whomever will be interested, and gather willing neshomas, and from these attendees, the spread of precious ideas that might awaken the dormant Pintele Yid to come Home.

Parshas Matos – By The Plains of Moav

The Plains of Moav

By Roy S. Neuberger

“These are the journeys of the Children of Israel ….”

High drama! This epic journey has inspired the entire world! 

The passage ends, “They encamped by the Yarden, from Bais Hayshimos until Avail Hashittim, in the Plains of Moav….” (Bamidbar 33:1-49)

THE PLAINS OF MOAV, WITH YAM HAMELACH IN THE FOREGROUND

How interesting that our travels in the Midbar are recounted in forty-nine possukim (Bamidbar 33:1-49), exactly the number of days it took from Mitzraim to Sinai, the number of days of Sefira, the number of days we needed to go from tumah to kedusha. Does this not tell us something? All our journeys in life are for the purpose of teshuva. May we only realize it!

My favorite road in the world is the “Tishim,” Route 90, which runs the entire length of Israel, from Eilat to Lebanon, passing along the Jordan Valley from Yericho to Tiveria. From this road, one can look eastward, across the Yarden, into the Plains of Moav. There you can see – in your mind’s eye – the Children of Israel, encamped under the leadership of Moshe Rabbeinu, exactly as described in this week’s Parsha, poised to cross into the Holy Land. 

Our ancestors rebelled again and again. They tried Hashem’s patience, kaviochol, endlessly. “Thus said Hashem, ‘What did your forefathers find in Me that is wrong, that they distanced themselves from Me and went after nothingness….!” (Haftaras Masei) And yet, Hashem loves us so much that He will never abandon us! He will never annul the Bris He made with us. And He will bring us across the Yarden to the Land He promised us! “Zion will be redeemed with justice and her returnees with righteousness.” (Haftaras Devarim)

But how could a “ten-day” journey 

from Mitzraim to Eretz Yisroel take forty years? 

I made a rough calculation of the direct route from the Red Sea to the border of Israel (as defined in our Parsha) and it looks to be about 125 miles. A normal waking rate is 1.4 miles per hour, at which rate it should take a person on a straight path about 89 hours to walk from Egypt to Israel. Assuming about ten hours walking per day, that is about nine days. Even if we factor in the huge number of people with belongings, the Leviim carrying the Mishkan with all its kailim, and the fact that it was desert, the direct distance is still short. So let’s call it nine days. 

How could a nine-day walk take forty years?

My friends, this is life itself. Look back on all your important projects. Is it not true that every project involving kedusha takes a lifetime! Look at our own history: how long we have been in Golus! Look at what we have survived! Look how long it takes to make a talmid chacham! A lifetime! The Satan throws up roadblocks up at every turn. But despite all the setbacks, we go on. When it comes to kedusha, no matter how long the road, we never give up. "We run and they run. We run to the life of the World to Come, while they run to the well of destruction.” (Hadran)

“Rabos ra’os tsaddik … many are the mishaps of the righteous, but from them all Hashem rescues him….” (Tehillim 34) 

I spoke recently to a Gadol b’Torah. You would know his name. He told me that he constantly changes his method of saying brachas, because the Yetzer Hara is so incredibly tricky that, each time you think you have mastered kavana, the Yetzer Harahas a new trick to fool you. The battle is ongoing every second, because the Yetzer Hara never runs out of koach or tactics or costumes. 

Right now, we – Am Yisroel – are standing as a Nation in the Plains of Moav. Our journey is close to the finish line. Our travels through history have brought us to the brink of our goal: the peaceful settlement of Eretz Yisroel and the rebuilding of the Bais Hamikdosh.  

A few weeks ago we read a frightening prophesy from the mouth of Bilaam. “Come, I shall advise you what this people will do to your people in the End of Days…” (Bamidbar 24:14) And Bilaam continues. “Oy, mi yichye misumo Kail …Who will survive when He imposes these.” (Bamidbar 24:23) And who are “these?” Sforno ominously relates this to the Gemara in Sanhedrin (98b), “Let [Moshiach] come, but let me not see him!”

According to Pirkei deRebbe Eliezer, “these” refers to Bnai Yishmoel, the Moslem nations. “Misumo kail,” means the ones in whom the Divine Name “Kail” is placed.  There are only two nations whose name contains the Divine Name, Yisroel and Yishmoel, and the Pirkei DeRebbe Eliezer understands Bilaam’s prophesy to mean, “Who will be able to survive” when Yishmoel becomes dominant in the world?

I remember vividly the “Teshuva Drasha” of Rabbi Yissachar Frand Shlita”h, when he told over this frightening prophesy only a few days after the events of 9/11/01.  America was in a state of siege; military planes were streaking overhead, and the phrase “who will survive” took on real meaning. 

Rav Chaim Vital writes that the last Exile will be Golus Yishmael: “At the end of days, Israel is destined to experience the Ishmaelite exile. This fifth and last exile will be the most difficult of all. It is the exile of [the one] who is called ‘pe’re adam, a wild man.’” (Eitz Hadas Tov on Tehillim 124) My friends, let’s make no mistake. We are there, right now. Look around. Do you see what is happening in Europe? Do you think this is coincidence? Can you not hear the footsteps of Moshiach? 

Hashem “creates darkness” but He also “forms light.” There is a reason for everything. As we stand on the banks of the Yarden, we should know that our Final and Complete Redemption is very near. May we see it soon in our days! 

*          *          *          *

Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

© Copyright 2016 by Roy S. Neuberger

The Star is Coming

The Star is Coming
I read this on AbsoluteTruth (link below) and found a couple sentences that I had not read elsewhere. These were quite startling so I highlighted them here, together with other pertinent thoughts from the same post.

Only a few Jews know that the Vatican is partial owner of the land in Israel, and the owner of many holy sites.

Not only that, they also sold parts of the old city with the Temple Mount, along with David's tomb!

Did you know this? They do not show it, but it's a fact, and you will see soon that it is true.

I worry for the Jews [...] how much they do not want to believe that there is such a threat from a star approaching, even though many people have already seen it with their own eyes.


The star is very close. I just want to explain to our people that the only way to save ourselves is to have complete confidence in Hashem. Even if you move into a bunker, have weapons, food, water and everything you need for a few years, it will not help you without Hashem. And, if you do have Hashem, He will take care of you; you will have food, water, electricity and everything you need. Like the Jews who came out of Egypt, the plagues did not affect those who had Hashem.


Hashem is going to destroy two-thirds of the world. This is something that must be. People cannot do such destruction, only Hashem can do that. Do not think it will be because of a nuclear war? It could include one, but it will not be that people could destroy the world. As we have said many times: “Hashem created this world, only Hashem can destroy it.”

The Star is Coming

True, the star will come. The star belongs to Hashem; all the stars belong to Him, even the sun belongs to Him; everything belongs to him. Even the wicked belong to him, and soon they will learn it.

Our people are tiny compared to the world population; all real Jews do not take up much space. There is something like 14 million Jews around the world. Some who do not take it seriously, are not Jews at all. We do not know exactly how many Jews are real; only Hashem knows. Many Jews, who think that they are Jews, are not Jews because of all sorts of reasons. We can write all kinds of sources before Moshiach comes, but the majority of Jews would find they are Erev Rav, the mixed multitude. There are real differences between secular Jews, and it will all be clarified soon, who is what.

The big change is about to happen in this world. We live as human beings in this the first human world which is temporary. Hashem will raise us up much higher than what was in the Garden of Eden. After all wars, the star, etc, we move to another dimension; Hashem will raise us to a better, higher place, like the next higher world of Heaven where souls await after death. It will be higher with more spiritual pleasures.

Community of Bat Ayin – Trailor and Episode One

Bat Ayin Trailor 

introducing the Series being created

Welcome to the first episode of Bat Ayin, our profile of a unique community in Israel.

The town of Bat Ayin lies in the hills between Jerusalem and Hebron. The population is estimated to be 85% baal teshuva, Jews who weren't born Orthodox but chose that way of life. Many of the residents are artists, farmers, and/or scholars. All of them share a sense of mission: this is their land, and their vision is essential to the future of the Jewish people.

Our goal with this film series is to show a community of Jews that doesn't get a lot of exposure beyond the political. The residents of Bat Ayin challenge many assumptions - about what it means to be Jewish, to settle in Israel, and to inhabit, physically and spiritually, the tension between worlds. In a discussion that is often divisive, we want to show you a human, living, breathing side of this one-of-a-kind place.

In our first installment, we follow Shlomo and Rina Shoshana Vile.. They first visited seven years ago, then returned to Chicago, sold their homes, and moved to Bat Ayin for good. They grow their own food, live in the nature around them, and connect their Jewish observance to the very earth they live on and that sustains them.





Episode Two expected sometime in August – Av 5776

Bat Ayin Ancient Mikvah and Winepress

B"H Bat Ayin of Gush Etzion was the location of an ancient mikvah and wine-press. It is believed that wine destined for the Beit Hamikdash came from this location in Judea, south of Jerusalem. 

Jewish Heritage Project

Video by Ezra Ridgley וידאו על ידי עזרא רדג'לי

judeaandsamaria@gmail.com

Bay Ayin Yeshiva




The above is part of a Series Arutz Sheva will be featuring and why:

While the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria are widely maligned by much of the international media, some communities in particular are often singled out.

Among them is Bat Ayin, a village of some 200 families nestled in the ancient hills of Judea, between two of the Jewish people's holiest and most historically important cities, Jerusalem and Hevron.

Often cast as a hotbed of extremism - particularly since the uncovering of a Jewish underground cell there who planned revenge attacks against Arabs during the Second Intifada - the community's human side, like that of the "settlers" in general, are rarely portrayed. That's something which Elad Nehorai - better known as founder of the Pop Chassid blog - set out to change, with a remarkable series opening a window into the lives of several families in this unique community.

As those familiar with the wider Gush Etzion area will know, Bat Ayin is a particularly unique place, offering a unique fusion of powerful Jewish identity on the one hand, and a deep - borderline "hippyish" - sense of spirituality and connection with nature. It's a character which comes out particularly strongly in the first episode of "Bat Ayin," released earlier this month, which features Shlomo and Rina Shoshana Vile - two olim from Chicago who sold everything and left for Israel after becoming enchanted with their current hometown.

In a statement posted along with the video, the directors what motivated them to launch the crowd-funded project:

"Our goal with this film series is to show a community of Jews that doesn't get a lot of exposure beyond the political.

"The residents of Bat Ayin challenge many assumptions - about what it means to be Jewish, to settle in Israel, and to inhabit, physically and spiritually, the tension between worlds.

"In a discussion that is often divisive, we want to show you a human, living, breathing side of this one-of-a-kind place."

Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin Promo



Midreshet B'erot Bat Ayin is a unique seminary in Israel that approaches Torah study from a holistic perspective, combining intensive textual learning with creative arts, holistic health and healing, and working the Land of Israel - all within the framework of Jewish law. Our weekly schedule includes classes in the Bible (Torah, Prophets, Writings), Chassidut, Jewish faith, prayer, Jewish law (halacha), and much more. Hear from our students, alumnae and teachers about our special learning program, and enjoy the breathtaking view that awaits you in Bat Ayin!


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SEE ALSO

Letter from a Jewis Termite

Those Who Live On The Land
Elad Nehorai interviews a Bat Ayin Resident

Could Be Headed Toward US!

Explanation of Magnetosphere Reversal 

plus other interesting photos and data

[skip over or ignore his religious comment (not long) and cautioning at end of Video, otherwise very informative]

Slow leak from NASA about “Brown Dwarf”

Magnetosphere is Struggling with 2 Suns

Planets not in regular alignment - Moon possibly off by 45 degree SW

[This is what I commented about on a fellow blogger – that I witnessed]

Some interesting photos:

Big Orb Little Orb
(with the Sun’s rays covering left side of Big Orb)

Constant Halo

What could be headed toward us!?

How Do We Know About Gan Eden and Gehinnom?

How Do We Know About Gan Eden and Gehinnom?

From Defending the Honor of Hashem (#E-328)

by Rabbi Avigdor Miller

Q: How do we know that the tzaddik (righteous person) is going to Gan Eden and the rasha (evil person) is going to Gehinnom?

A: We know it because the Torah tells us that. That's the source of all knowledge. All that you can say is what you know, you know nothing at all. We listen to the Torah. Hashem spoke to our nation at Har Sinai, and He said that Moshe Rabbeinu is My spokesman. You hear that? Moshe will speak for Me.

Moshe Rabbeinu wrote in the Torah, “vayishkav im avosov,” Avraham Avinu “lay down with his fathers." Where were his fathers?

Avraham wasn’t buried with his fathers. Terach was in Canaan, in Aram, in Choron. Avraham is buried in Mearas Hamachpeilah. It says he’s lying with his fathers?
The answer is, he joined his fathers in the World to Come.

About Aharon it states that he was “gathered in to his fathers." Aharon wasn’t buried with his fathers, Aharon’s father was buried in Mitzrayim. Aharon was buried not in Mitzrayim. Moshe Rabbeinu was buried in Har Hohar; it says also he went to lie down with his fathers. So the Torah, Moshe says openly, when a person dies, he’ll go to his fathers, this is the World to Come.

When Bilaam stated “tomus nafshi mois yeshorim — let me die the death of these righteous people [meaning Am Yisroel]." What's the death of Am Yisroel, what does it mean, “usehi acharissi kamohu — and my afterward, should be like his [afterward].” What did Bilaam want, to be buried in the Jewish cemetery? Bilaam meant, if I could die and have an afterlife like they have an afterlife: an open statement in the Torah…

Therefore, there’s no question at all, we have an open demonstration of the truth of the World to Come, from the mouth of Moshe Rabbeinu. There are many other proofs in the Torah. Therefore, how do we know?

We know from Torah.

Shiva Asar b’Tammuz – “SEEK HASHEM WHEN HE CAN BE FOUND”

“SEEK HASHEM WHEN HE CAN BE FOUND”

By Roy S. Neuberger

“Seek Hashem when He can be found. Call upon Him when He is near.” (Yeshiah 55:6)

So begins the Haftarah we say at mincha on fast days.

Let’s try to understand what happens on fast days. During Shacharis, we say special tefillos recalling terrible events that took place on this day. By mincha, the shock of contemplating these
events is beginning to be digested by our intellect. The miracle begins to dawn on us that we have gone through all these events and survived! At that point we begin to understand that fast days provide us with a great gift: the chance to become close to the King of the Universe!

I find it amazing that the Holy Ark contains the broken luchos, the Tablets which Moshe Rabbeinu smashed after the incident with the Golden Calf. Why should the holiest spot on earth contain a vivid reminder of Am Yisroel’s rebellion against Hashem, a reminder of our degradation, our embarrassment, our ingratitude?

That may be exactly the point. Only when we remember our utter degradation can we rise to the heights. Only when we are broken can we cry out to Hashem. When we are filled with arrogance, we have no room for Him. Only when we are crushed are we ready to beg Him to save us. It’s not that we desire to be crushed, G-d forbid, but this is a fact of life.

“Let him put his mouth to the dust – there may yet be hope.” (Eichah 29)

A few weeks ago, I was driving near a Jewish neighborhood. I saw a car mount the sidewalk and park in front of a store. In America, this is unusual, so I watched as the door opened. A “religious-looking” Jew got out and entered the store. My friends, this is dangerous. The perception exists among non-Jews that we believe ourselves to be above the law and above other people.

“Dina d’malchusa dina … the law of the land is the law.” (Gittin 10b; Nedarim 28a) But more than that: it is just plain stupid to antagonize the surrounding culture, especially at such a violent time in history, when nations are looking for excuses to attack us, G-d forbid.

A Fast Day comes to remind us that our only hope for greatness and redemption is to humble ourselves and cry out to our Father in Heaven. Every day we begin our tefillos with the words, “Master of all worlds, not in the merit of our righteousness do we cast our supplications before You, but in the merit of Your abundant mercy. What are we? What is our life? What is our kindness? What is our righteousness? What is our salvation? What is our strength? What is our might? What can we say before You, Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers? Are not all the heroes like nothing before You?” We really must try to incorporate this into our being.

The Three Weeks are not only the most tragic days of the year, but they are perhaps our greatest opportunity to come close to Hashem. This is how we can turn tragedy into simcha. Tisha B’Av is called a “Moed” (Eichah 1:15), which implies that its intrinsic identity is positive. It should have been the day on which our eternal entry into the Land of Israel was assured, but it became “twisted” into a day of tragedy.

The nature of the Jewish People is that we do not give up, even under conditions of deepest grief and catastrophe. We use these events – even if they arose through our own errors – to elevate ourselves to a level which would not have been possible without them. The lowest day becomes the highest day; that is exactly the nature of Redemption.

At the very beginning of history, Adam and Chava had every reason to give up. “How could Adam and Chava live with the burden they had introduced into the world? How, I ask, did they live? For quickly they knew. Quickly they sought clothing because suddenly their innocence was not good enough for them. Before their rebellion they had nothing to hide because they had no guilt. But now no amount of clothing could cover their guilt. Where could they run to escape from G-d? Nowhere! It is G-d’s world! So the banishment was self-inflicted; they had sealed their own doom. Can you imagine their burden on that day, the hot tears flowing as their feet walked out of that perfect world and passed the sword of the angel guarding the entrance through which no man has ever returned? Can you imagine what rested upon their shoulders? Already then they must have felt the guilt of thousands of future generations of their own children, the accumulated pain which was to befall every individual who would ever exist in the future world. It would all come about as a result of their one “tiny” error in Gan Eden. How could they bear it? How could anyone bear the responsibility for such untold suffering? The truly amazing thing is that they did bear it. Their greatness is shown perhaps more by the way they bore their exile than by their actions inside the Garden. Adam and Chava did not commit suicide. That same Adam and Chava – whose introduction to life outside the Garden included the murder of one son by another – walked onward through life. They did not give up! They lived to become the parents of yet another son, Seth, who carried the knowledge of G-d onward to the next generation and through whom the hope of the world was to survive.” (Quoted from my book, Worldstorm, Finding Meaning and Direction in Today’s World Crisis.)

Generations later, Avraham and Sarah did not give up. Even though Avraham was one man against the entire world, he did not waver in his belief in the Existence of Hashem and his quest to learn Hashem’s Torah. When they were already “too old” to bear children, they gave birth to a child who changed the world.

Am Yisroel was released from slavery in Egypt at precisely the moment we reached the lowest level, “mem tes sha’are tumah.”

At the Yam Suf we had every reason to give up, surrounded as we were by the sea on one side and the Egyptian Army on the other. But Nachshon ben Amminadav trusted Hashem, entered the water and Am Yisroel was saved.

When we as a Nation wandered through Midbar Sinai, we perpetrated rebellion after rebellion against Hashem. We were our own worst enemies, and – because of our own stubbornness – we had every reason to give up, but we did not. Because we did not give up, we were saved.

The list goes on and on. “Ani ma’amin b’emunah shelemah ….” When you are desperate, you cast all your hope on Hashem, and only then are you going to find Redemption. If you know there is nothing else beside “Hashem echad,” then your life is going to change.

“Min ha maitzar … from the straits I called upon G-d; G-d answered me with expansiveness. Hashem is with me; I have no fear; how can man affect me?” (Tehillim 118)  Hashem was with Dovid because he called “from the straits,” when there was nothing on earth which could help him. Hashem took Dovid out of the straits, but he had to hit rock bottom first.

I will recall for you my personal story. On January 10, 1966, my life was falling apart. I did not believe in G-d and I did not want to believe that I was Jewish. My marriage seemed to be disintegrating. I was in graduate school and I couldn’t concentrate. I woke up at 2 a.m. crying. It was all over. I had tried “everything” and nothing worked. It looked to me as if I would spend the rest of my life in a mental institution, G-d forbid.

But wait! Maybe there was something else, other than the pit. Only then, under the terrible pressure of a decree of death, did I come to realize that, if I was going to survive, I had to believe that G-d is real! And that’s where it all began. That moment of absolute despair was the moment that changed my life! It was G-d or Gehennom! I for one was so stubborn that it took that terrible moment to force me to humble myself enough so that I could believe I was not G-d!

The Three Weeks is that period of excruciating pain through which we are reminded that Hashem Echad is the One Source of Life. If we want to live, we have to surrender ourselves to His guidance and mercy. The secret and the seeds of Redemption lie in the pain we feel as we plummet to the utter depths during these terrible days of tears and tragedy.

In our own time, the suffering is prodigious. In Eretz Yisroel, Jewish blood is flowing. Outside Israel, tzouris upon tzouris. Each day, you think that you have heard the ultimate, until the next day, when you hear something worse, G-d forbid! How far can we be from Mem-Tes Sha’are Tumah, the straits from which we are going to cry out to G-d, “Ana Hashem Hoshia na … please Hashem, save [us] now!” (Tehillim 118)

Our son told us a beautiful thought from the Chofetz Chaim. Why did the miraglim become despondent? They knew Hashem was able to bring them into Eretz Canaan, but they felt that they and their generation were not worthy of His help because of their sins. Their sense of shame caused them to doubt that they had the merit to enter the Land. This is the way of the Yetzer Hara: to try to cause us to forget our innate nobility to focus instead on what we did wrong! Hashem is waiting to help us, but we feel unworthy. (Based on Sefer Shmiras Haloshon, Chelek Bais, Parshas Shelach)

Just this morning, as I was writing this article, I did something so stupid! I began to berate myself and feel as if I were hopelessly dumb with no hope whatsoever! Why do I keep making the same mistakes over and over again? This is the same thought many people have before Rosh Hashanah, when they tell themselves it is hopeless to do teshuva, because “each year I regress after all my promises to improve.” In general, the present generation is extremely depressed. We are so steeped in the ways of the surrounding culture that the innate meaninglessness of their lifestyle has affected us deeply.

But we really do not want to give up! This morning, after my stupidity, I spoke to a trusted rabbi, who gave me a way out. I started to feel that – perhaps – there is hope for me, and that is what we need to know: even though the Yetzer Hara will tempt us endlessly to become depressed and hopeless, there is hope and help from Above which will never desert us. Hashem loves us and will certainly bring Moshiach. No matter the mountain of problems that weighs down on us, Hashem will surely fulfill all His promises!

We begin every day by saying, “My G-d, the soul You placed within me is pure. You created it, You fashioned it, You breathed it into me, You safeguard it within me ….” Contrary to the belief systems of other cultures, we know that Hashem created us with intrinsic kedusha.

The Fast-Day Haftara continues: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways…. As high as the heavens over the earth, so are My thoughts [higher] than your thoughts.” We are being guided by a Power infinitely higher than we can comprehend.

During the Three Weeks, the rejuvenation of Am Yisroel begins, because we are not going lower than this. This is the end … and the beginning! On Tisha B’Av Moshiach is born. “On the day the Temple was destroyed the Messianic Savior was born. What is his name? Menachem (Comforter).” (Medrash Eichah Rabbassi 1:59)

Midrash Eichah explains: 

An Arab passed a Jewish farmer plowing his field. The Arab heard the farmer’s ox mooing. The Arab, who understood the language of animals, told the Jew that meant the Holy Temple had been destroyed. While they were conversing, the ox mooed a second time. The Arab told the Jew this meant that the Redeemer had been born. (Midrash Eichah 1:51)

Amazingly, the news of Moshiach’s birth came through the mouth of an Arab. Today, the Arabs of the world are also telling us something. Their hyper-activity shows that they are aware of how little time they have before their power is nullified by the arrival of Moshiach.

The Artscroll commentary to this Midrash is illuminating: 

“Before the Temple’s destruction, it was not possible to have Moshiach, as that which is already perfect cannot perfect itself. It is only from the imperfect state of a destroyed Temple that this nation may ascend and eventually merit the Moshiach…. All seeds in the ground first disintegrate and decay and only afterward begin to grow into new plants…. A similar principle exists in the spiritual realm: sprouting must emanate from decay. The Sages teach that us that only one who mourns over the … destruction of Jerusalem will merit to see its consolation. This, explains Maharal, is because the eventual rebuilding of Jerusalem and the rebirth of the Jewish Nation can only come about after there existed a state of destruction…. But how will we be consoled? We will realize that all those years of pain and travail were not for naught and were not purposeless. They were part of the process of decay that caused the brilliant light of the Moshiach to shine.”

May we see it soon in our days!

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A version of this column appeared in THE JEWISH PRESS (July 22, 2016)

Roy Neuberger’s latest book, WORKING TOWARD MOSHIACH, is now available. His book 2020 VISION is available in ENGLISH, HEBREW, SPANISH, FRENCH, RUSSIAN & GEORGIAN. 

Roy is also the author of FROM CENTRAL PARK TO SINAI: How I Found My Jewish Soul, available in ENGLISH, HEBREW, RUSSIAN & GEORGIAN, and 

WORLDSTORM: Finding Meaning & Direction Amidst Today’s World Crisis.

ROY AND HIS WIFE LEAH SPEAK PUBLICLY ON TOPICS RELATED TO HIS BOOKS AND ARTICLES.

Email: roy@2020vision.co.il. Website: www.2020vision.co.il.

Leopard Attacks Baby Deer –Befriends Does Not Eat Prey

For a Change of Pace, an fascinating encounter of a Leopard and a baby deer

Instead of eating her (as is the custom in Africa) he played with her and wouldn’t let her out of his sight. Watch the Leopard grab her tail and not let her go. They become friends after a while.

I watched the entire video and it took my mind off the star and other strange things going on.

Leopard attacks a baby deer but then doesn't want to kill - what a surprise!!

And then a Female Lion takes a fancy to a Baby Antelope Orex

What’s So Important About Morality?

WHAT’S SO IMPORTANT ABOUT MORALITY?

By Roy S. Neuberger

“Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon ha Kohain … stood up from amidst the assembly and took a spear in his hand. He followed [them] into the tent and pierced them both … and the plague was halted from upon the children of Israel….”

“Behold! I give him My covenant of peace.” (Bamidbar 25:7-12)

Unlike the Parah Adumah, we can understand this inyan very well. But do we really grasp the magnitude of Pinchas’ achievement? If this is so easy to understand, why aren’t we all out there like him, fighting for the ultimate cure?

It’s not so simple to be a Pinchas.

What precisely did he do?

The answer is that he single-handedly stood up for moral sanity. It is often difficult to go against the opinion of even one person, and here was Pinchas acting alone when the entire nation was paralyzed. His was the courage of an Avraham Avinu, who was not afraid to stand alone against an entire world for kovod Shomayim.

But is moral behavior so crucial that the entire future of Am Yisroel was at stake? What does it mean that “the plague was halted?”

Chazal state that “the Generation of the Flood acted corruptly [in a manner described as] ‘great,’ and they were [similarly] punished [in a manner described as] ‘great.’” (Sanhedrin 108a) Artscroll comments in the name of the Bais Halevi and others, “mankind’s licentious behavior permeated the world with a spirit of immorality which infected even the animals.”

Why does licentious behavior result in the destruction of the entire world?

Let’s compare this to magnets. If you place the north pole of one magnet next to the south pole of another magnet, they will bond, but if you place like poles together, they will repel each other. Hashem created men and women as opposites through which the strongest union is created, a union blessed by Hashem with the power to create new life!

But if mankind perverts the bria and tries to bring together like poles instead of opposite poles, they will repel each other. Rather than creating new life, this actually destroys life by creating chaos in the universe, with each part of the bria repelling the other part and loosening all the bonds of Creation. Instead of achdus, division is created everywhere in the universe, and the entire structure can literally fall apart, every atom spinning away from every other atom. This is similar to the plague of sinas chinom, in which individuals among Am Yisroel are increasingly separated from each other with disastrous consequences.

Moral perversion causes catastrophe on every level. Our entire world is now reeling under perversion after perversion. I happened to hear the new British Prime Minister’s opening words, in which she congratulated her predecessor on his achievement in making moral perversion the law of the land! The political turmoil in Britain followed the turmoil in the European Community and immediately preceded a mass attack in France and chaos in Turkey. Within the United States, there are also strong indications of a widespread breakdown in national unity.

World order – if there is such a thing – is rapidly deteriorating. It will not be easily fixed. Of course, Hashem gives us a chance to fix everything, just as He gave the world time to do teshuva while Noach was constructing the teva. But nobody paid attention. There was no Pinchas to restore sanity, and I do not see a Pinchas on the world stage today. Around the globe, mankind is plummeting to new lows of rebellion against the order established by the Ribono shel Olam when He created the universe.

“Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and cling to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” (Beraishis 2:24) Chazalinform us that “he shall cling to his wife” teaches, “But [he shall] not [have relations with] a male.” (Sanhedrin 58a)

This is non-negotiable. This is the way Hashem created all mankind, Jew and non-Jew. Moral laws are included in the Sheva Mitzvos Bnai Noach, the Seven Laws which are applicable to all mankind. When the Torah tells us that “a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife,” Chazal teach us that “The Holy Spirit says this to forbid to the Sons of Noach [that is, all mankind] forbidden relationships.” (Rashi to Beraishis 2:24)

This situation is uncomfortable to contemplate; the potential suffering is unimaginable. But, my friends, mankind is literally destroying the world, and it behooves us to be aware of this. Everything that we know in this world is now in imminent danger, just as at the time of the Mabul. We must try to understand that mankind is playing with fire, and the fuse is rapidly burning.

Pinchas ben Elazar ben Aharon ha Kohain acted because he saw sin in front of him and he was zealous to serve Hashem. His courage was prodigious and his reward unique. His act was similar to that of Nachshon ben Amminadav, through whom Israel was saved at the Yam Suf.

In our days, where do we begin? How do we confront an entire world gone mad? We have a moral obligation to raise our voices in Truth. In the end, there will come one person who will stand up in front of the entire world and proclaim “Hashem Echad Ushmo Echad” and “His Torah is forever!”

This will be Moshiach ben Dovid. 

We need him to come now and save us from the plague that is raging across the earth. May Hashem allow us to see with our own eyes the Days of Salvation, purification and Redemption that will come with the building of the Bais Hamikdosh in Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh!

* * * *

Roy Neuberger, author and public speaker, can be reached at roy@2020vision.co.il.

© Copyright 2016 by Roy S. Neuberger

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Today is the yartzeit of the Ohr Hachaim
AND in Israel
Immorality is parading as pride
More 'oppositism'
The opposite of Good is Evil

Multiple Sightings of Nibiru System and View of the Sun Flipping Over

Multiple Sightings of Nibiru System

these pics come at a time when some are doubting the existence and visibility of Nibiru and it Moons and sundry accomplices
(when I write “Orb” it refers to either Nibiru or any of its Moons etc.)

AND THE SUN IS FLIPPING

(see below)

Here is a capture of the Object as the Moon passes by:

These show the Green Object and the Blue and Red Object:

This is a Telescope Sighting of the Big Object (Nibiru) and its Gases near the Sun getting closer

Here we see the Object with its Tail of gases/particles

NASA camera shows MASSIVE Planet Between Earth and Sun!

This is a submission from Poland with FINGER CORRECTLY COVERING THE SUN so the Object in Upper Right CAN BE SEEN

THE SUN IS FLIPPING

The sun appears to take a dizzying flip in a new video captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft .

SDO did a full somersault on July 6 over the course of about 7 hours, taking pictures of the Sun every 12 seconds all the while.


"Were the sun perfectly spherical, this would be a much simpler task. But the solar surface is dynamic, leading to occasional distortions," NASA officials wrote. "This makes it hard for HMI to find the sun’s edge when it’s perfectly still. HMI’s biannual roll lets each part of the camera look at the entire perimeter of the sun, helping it map the sun’s shape much more precisely.” Space

More on "Loving Kindness”

"dozens of American Jews spent Friday in Hebron “practicing nonviolent resistance against Israel’s presence,” singing “The World is Built with Loving Kindness” in English and Hebrew"

What is this “Loving Kindness”?

Caroline Glick in “Our World” addresses Beinart’s ‘solipsism’*. As she cogently states:

"The sight of Beinart and his comrades locking hands and singing Debbie Friedman songs in Hebron was so absurd it was funny. But there was a menacing aspect to their solipsistic showmanship.

"Beinart told the JTA reporter who joined them for the protest party, “I feel like I’m seeing the emergence of a new leadership.... People will try to write these guys off as lefties that don’t have any connection to the Jewish community. But... these kids actually come from the bosom of the Jewish community. A lot of them are affiliated." 

"No doubt they are. But to what? According to JTA, “Many belong to left-wing Israel advocacy groups such as J Street and the New Israel Fund, and others to groups that more deeply divide the pro-Israel community, including Jewish Voice for Peace, which supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel, and IfNotNow, which holds its own sit-ins at US Jewish groups.”

"Peter Beinart and his gang are not staging ridiculous publicity stunts in Hebron because they care about being Jewish. They are doing these sorts of things because they care about being lefties. 

They believe that the Left is becoming anti-Semitic”

So, you come to foment “kindness” as in “perversely, she was irritated by his kindness" Beinart’s “kindness” is egocentrism knowing no bounds.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the same vein, the “kindness” of the Nations IS TOWARD the merciless terrorists who desire to usurp the Land of Israel from the Jews and give it to the murderous terrorists who declare they want to wipe out the Jews:

"Palestinian religious leaders, all appointees of the PA political leadership, are publicly preaching that the Israel-Palestinian conflict is part of Islam's eternal religious war against the Jews. Jews are portrayed as the eternal enemies of Allah, and the killing of Jews as Allah's will. On the national level, Allah prohibits acceptance of Israel's existence and will destroy it.” Islam's War Against the Jews: Quotes from the Palestinian Authority

So, your “kindness” wants the Jew to give the Land of their inheritance to murderers, so they will erect a State of perpetual killing machines of citizens to cross over a border they will not recognize in order to do away the Jewish People and Nation of Israel. Such “kindness” is akin to murder and anti-semitism.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the same vein, our dear Israeli Leftists want nothing but to rid the Jewish State of Religion. They do not want to be bound by the Torah of Sinai given to the Jews by the G–D of the World. They have caught the disease of ‘progressivism’ which infects their minds and thinking that transforms “the opposite” (diametrically different; of a contrary kind), into the preferred, i.e. the opposite of "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth.” Sefer Bereshis.

"When the ruling group and the society as a whole relax their code (of sexual morality), within three generations there is usually a cultural decline, as was the case in the later stages of the Babylonian, the Persian, the Macedonian, the Mongol, the Greek, and the Roman civilizations...We find that among civilized societies those which have remained strict in their sexual codes for the longest period have reached the highest levels. Historian Arnold Toynbee likewise concluded that a society’s creative energy is tied to the control of sexual drives.” When Nations Die

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Dictionary: solipsism = 'the theory that only the self exists’ OR 'a theory holding that the self can know nothing but its own modifications and that the self is the only existent thing; also, extreme egocentrism.

Anti-Religion in IDF

Anti-Religion in IDF – the Fight Against Religion (and Hashem) by Secularists in the IDF Hierarcy

[ME: So, does this mean the Rabbis are correct in not letting their Yeshiva Students enlist in the IDF? But what about those who seek to join, and want to be a part of defending (on the ground) Israel? I believe that the fight must go on to bring Torah values to all segments of Israeli life.]

Rabbi Yigal Levinstein is a well-known name in Israel’s dati leumi community, a co-founder of the first mechina yeshiva, in Yishuv Eli, over a quarter of a century ago. Standing at the helm of Yeshivat Bnei David along with Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Eli Sadan, Levinstein is also a colonel in the IDF reserves. Being a veteran IDF officer and having dealings with the IDF on a regular basis over the past 25+ years, Rav Levinstein has a finely tuned handle on realities faced day-to-day by dati leumi soldiers and officers. He regularly contacts the high-ranking command of the IDF in dealings with the yeshiva and the thousands of Bnei David graduates, many serving in military’s chain of command.

During an assembly in Yerushalayim last week attended by many prominent leading rabbonim in the dati leumi community in Eretz Yisrael and abroad, Rabbi Levinstein was among the keynote speakers. He spoke of the true agenda of IDF Chief Education Officer Brigadier-General Avner Paz-Tzuk, who is working with tenacity to destroy the IDF Rabbinate while infusing his secular ideology  as a replacement.

Levinstein addressed the growing problem of female combatants alongside male soldiers, from both a halachic perspective and from the perspective that today, a soldier cannot necessarily rely on the soldier at his side.

In his address to the rabbonim, Rabbi Levinstein mentions Paz-Tzuk by name, stating that the Education Corps is doing everything in its power to limit the authority and impact of the IDF, pushing its agenda of recognizing Reform Jewry, women combatants and anything and everything else that is anti-Torah. He explains the attitude in the IDF today is “We love your motivation but we don’t tolerate your religion”.

He explains that was the reason the Jewish Consciousness Unit was taken from the IDF Rabbinate and placed under the Education Corps. Clearly, this move was endorsed by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott who appears pleased with the sharp anti-religious turn taken by Israel’s army.

Today, soldiers are fighting for permission not to shave their beards and are being ousted from officers training for refusing to listen to women vocalists.
Levinstein adds “they are scared to open their mouths for they understand if they do, they are marked forever” in his reference to officers speaking about Yiddishkheit and religious beliefs. One premier example is Brigadier-General Ofir Winter, who by the way is a graduate of Bnei David, a decorated officer that has been racked over the coals by Paz-Tzuk and those who support him to make certain Winter and those like him will never reach the General Staff or chas v’sholom be considered for the position of Chief of Staff.

Levinstein also draws an example from the IDF “Witnesses in Uniform”  program, a program in which officers in uniform visit Auschwitz. He laments that while in the past such visits were intended for the leadership of the IDF never to forget the atrocities of the Shoah, today, under the leadership of the IDF Education Corps, they are told to look at what the Nazis have done and to make sure “we do not become like them in our activities throughout Yehuda and Shomron vis-à-vis Palestinians”. He laments that “Palestinians speakers” are now called in to address soldiers to explain their point of view as part of the education program, seeking to influence them to become sympathetic to a left-wing agenda.

Another example is the air force’s pilots course, which took cadets to a to’eva club in Tel Aviv to paint the location as a ‘chessed’. One religious cadet refused, explaining this has nothing to do with pilots training. Levinstein explains he contacted the chief education officer to confirm this, and to his dismay, this is the case as “pluralism is the new flagship of the Education Corps and he thinks the air force program is good and necessary” stated Levinstein.

Today the IDF he explains is willing to forgo on the “extremist soldiers for normal soldiers” making reference to the mechina soldiers who have become the backbone of the IDF fighting force. However, today, with officers like Winter moving up the ranks, those loyal to Torah and Eretz Yisrael, the secularists are fighting for survival and are doing everything possible to keep the dati leumi officers from becoming the future leaders of the military.


See more at: The Real IDF Agenda of Religious Soldiers




UPDATE: MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) –"It's interesting what the knights of democracy and free expression, who now justify the IDF's silencing and persecution of Rabbi Levinstein (and the entire Eli academy), are saying to themselves," he wrote on Twitter.

"Why can the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff, who compared us to Nazis, continue in his position and Rabbi Levinstein can't?! This is hypocrisy at its best."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

This post was prepared several days ago, but due to publishing delays (over 20 hours to see my posts on other bloggers’ blogrolls causing time gaps between news posts and dates they are published) and other matters it is being published now. This should be viewed as a companion piece to Devash’s Rabid Dogs have been turned loose.

The ‘Loving Kindness’ Terrorizing Continues . . . Costumed as Activism

“I HEARD THE SAME ARAB COMPLAINING THAT THEY PULLED OUT HIS GRAZING WEEDS FROM THE GROUND, THAT HE OWNS A HERD WHICH HE KEEPS IN DURA VILLAGE, AND THE OLD FACTORY IS ONE OF THE AREA WHERE HIS GOATS GRAZE.

The following is from a JewishPress article Peter Beinart invades Hebron with anti-Jewish activists (my rendition of article title)

A group of anti-Israel Jewish activists arrived in Hebron to award the city its first movie theater. But in the process, according to local Jewish residents, they destroyed the grazing grounds of a local Arab shepherd.

According to a JTA report by Andrew Tobin, dozens of American Jews spent Friday in Hebron “practicing nonviolent resistance against Israel’s presence,” singing “The World is Built with Loving Kindness” in English and Hebrew, clearing scrap metal, weeds and debris from a dirt lot with several low-slung cement structures, singing Jewish and protest songs, and passing around bags of popcorn labeled “Cinema Hebron” below a “triumphant” sign that read “Cinema Hebron: Coming Soon.” Indeed, the mission last Friday was to endow Hebron its “first Palestinian movie theater.”

Arab landowner to Israeli Police: "Yalla, take them from here … these are my lands …”

[ME: It’s not enough to kill us in the streets 

of all the foreign countries where Jews live – 
You have to come to our Home
and Incite hatred and foment anger
between Arab and Jew
to tell us what we should do on our own Land

Where is the “Loving Kindness” of which you speak?]

JTA REPORT: On hand to help were some bold-faced names in the American Jewish community’s Israel debate, including Peter Beinart, a leading liberal U.S. Jewish thinker, and Amna Farooqi, the Muslim president of J Street U.

Eventually, soldiers and police officers demanded that the activists leave the area, and when said activists sat on the ground, locked arms and sang “Lo Yisa Goy el Goy Herev,” they were pulled up one by one and removed. The Israelis in the group were detained, the Americans were let go (which was their strategy). Around 2 PM the American activists left the Israelis behind bars and proceeded to have a much deserved lunch.

There are many things wrong with the above two paragraphs, and we encourage you to read the entire JTA report to better appreciate our story (Peter Beinart joins US Jews for civil rights-style protest in West Bank). We spoke to Tzipi Shlisel, who is actually quoted by Tobin in his story, where he uses her as the obligatory reactionary settler’s counter-view: “[The activists] think they’re doing a good thing, but they’re really helping the terrorists,” and, “I’ll tell you, in the Holocaust, Jewish people helped Hitler, too.”

Tzipi Shlisel’s father, Shlomo Ra’anan HY”D, was stabbed to death by a local Arab back in 1998, the year when then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu handed over most of Hebron to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. Shlisel recalls it was a scene similar to the devastating stabbing of 13-year-old Hallel Yaffa Ariel, in Kiryat Arba two weeks ago.

Read the full article JPress–Arab Outraged by Activists