Finally, the Vizhnitzer Rebbe Finally Said What Needed to be Said!

 What did the Vizhnitzer Rebbe tell the Prime Minister yesterday?

After concluding this morning's prayers, the Admor of Vizhnitz related some of the content of the discussion he held yesterday with the Prime Minister, as quoted by theBehadrey Haredim website.

"I told him that we have three essential things," the Admor said. 

"These are: 

synagogues,

 mikvas [ritual baths for purity], 

and schools. 

I told him that if he would ensure that Shabbat 

was observed in the State, 

and the status quo was maintained in the public sphere, 

I could promise him that 

the coronavirus epidemic would disappear."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/

Australia has gone stark raving mad

 

Australian police can kidnap people for medical reasons and remove anything “including underwear” to forcefully administer vaccines

Australia’s Public Health Act of 2016 has been updated, and it is being put into action, unleashing medical police state horrors that haven’t been witnessed since the rise of medical experimentation on Jews in Nazi Germany. This Australian law gives sweeping new powers to law enforcement and other “authorized officers” to forcibly restrain, isolate and vaccinate whomever they want. The new powers are so descriptive, they give law enforcement the legal power to “remove anything the person is wearing, including underwear.”

Australian officers can apprehend, detain and restrain adults and children for forced vaccination and removal of clothing

The “authorized officer” can medically kidnap adults or children and force the targeted individuals to undergo medical observation, medical examination, medical treatment or compulsory vaccination. The Australian law allows officers to “use reasonable force” to make sure that human subjects comply with the public health directive. The officers can “apprehend and detain the person to whom the direction applies” and relocate that person for medical experimentation, the forced removal of their clothes and forced vaccination. The law is broken down into three parts, explaining how authorities can one, apprehend, two, detain, and three, restrain human subjects.

Under Part 11 Division 2 of the serious public health incident powers, the authorities can forcibly vaccinate the subject and “remove anything that the person is wearing.” If the subject refuses to remove their clothing, authorities can rip the clothing from their body, including their underwear.

The stripping of human beings of their clothing and their dignity does not end with authorities abusing adults. The act continues, “If the relevant person is a CHILD or an impaired person, it must (the removal of clothing), if practicable, be done in the presence of a responsible person or some other person who can provide the child or impaired person with support and represent his or her interest.”

These heinous powers of rape and abuse and medical kidnap are openly allowed as long as the government of Western Australia can declare a public health state of emergency, as was done by Australia and most other governments in response to covid-19. Australia, like many other governments, will not relinquish these newly delegated powers easily. As long as humans exist, the threat of a viral infection will linger, and governments will capitalize on this fear to abuse anyone they want.

Forced medical experimentation in Australia violates international treaties

The new experimental drugs and vaccines that are being rushed into existence will be forced onto Australians. Australian prime minister Scott Morrison said a coronavirus vaccine will be made “as mandatory as you can possibly make it.” According to these emergency public health orders, anyone who dissents can be rounded up and isolated, their clothing removed, their body subject to medical experimentation and forced injections.

The Nuremberg code, a treaty established in the fallout of Nazi Germany after the International Military Tribunal, is clear about the necessity of informed consent for all medical experimentation on humans. The Nuremberg code is clear that experiments should avoid physical/mental suffering and injury. Vaccinations will irrefutably be classified as risky medical experiments, and when forced onto humans, they cause physical/mental suffering. For one, vaccinations are liability-free products, whereas vaccine manufacturers are held to no standard at all when their products injure people. Two, vaccinations are not tested against a double-blind saline placebo; and three, no studies are conducted comparing the non-vaccinated and the vaccinated in regard to overall health, strength of immune function, infectious disease incidence, and measurable spread of advertised infectious disease.

With this precedent established and with emergency public health orders being pushed into perpetuity, the people of Australia should fight for their rights before they become even more stripped of their human dignity, their bodies violated, their clothing ripped off, their bodies subjected to the newest tracking technologies and vaccine experiments  of the day.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

Legislation.gov.au

IMARCResearch.com

Good Grief, 5G Technology in Israel

A Slow Death is Upon Us . . . Irreparable Harm to Children and adults

In a videoconference ceremony that took place on Tuesday morning, Communications Minister MK Yoaz Hendel granted 5G operating licenses to Pelephone, Partner and Hot Mobile companies.

Attending the ceremony were the Ministry’s director-general, Liran Avishar Ben-Horin, members of the tenders committee, and the CEOs of the companies which received operating licenses: Pelephone CEO Ran Guron, Partner CEO Itzik Benvenisti, and Hot CEO mobile Ilan Brock.

Speaking to those assembled, Hendel said that the 5G network would provide a solution to all citizens of the State of Israel, making it possible for everyone to take advantage of the most advanced technology in the world.

He added that, “We are in the midst of one of the most severe crises every to face the State of Israel, one in which most of our social interactions are based on communication infrastructures which require an advanced system and for everyone to have access to ultra-high speed internet.

“From the first moment I entered this office I knew this would be our main mission,” he added. “We needed to bring the country into the future via increased use of advanced communications and developing the mobile communications infrastructure. I am proud of the progress that has been made, both in the fiber-optics revolution that is already underway, and now in 5G. In order to realize the full potential of 5G, we are working to create an ecosystem for advanced start-up industries, in collaboration with the Innovation Authority.”

Hendel added that, “I am delighted that as soon as we had the results of the tender, the companies got right to work to meet the conditions for obtaining a license. I would like to thank our partners in the Finance Ministry as well as the staff of the Communications Ministry along with the director-general, Liran Avishar Ben-Horin.”

Following Hendel’s speech, Ben-Horin addressed the ceremony, saying: “Today we are at the dawn of a new era. Use of 5G technology will lead to the advancement of industry, high-tech, smart cities and IoT technology. Taking this step is hugely significant especially in such times, given the situation in which we currently find ourselves. I call on all Israeli companies and start-up industries to realize the unique opportunities now opened up to them by the creation of a 5G environment.”

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/288065

This Government is insane, nothing Jewish about them, they are misguided imbeciles entrenched in the New World they envision.

And so says the JPost:

Comparing the early days of Zionism, when territories were established by Jewish farmers ploughing their fields, to our time, he said that now, “communication infrastructure is the new frontier.”  

[...] how the higher speed of the web connection will help children studying from home and hi-tech workers now unable to work in their offices.

Coronavirus Cases Plummet When PCR Tests Are Adjusted

Health experts now say that PCR testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus associated with the illness COVID-19, is too sensitive and needs to be adjusted to rule out people who have insignificant amounts of the virus in their system.1 The test’s threshold is so high that it detects people with the live virus as well as those with a few genetic fragments left over from a past infection that no longer poses a risk. It’s like finding a hair in a room after a person left it, says Michael Mina, MD, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.2

In three sets of testing data that include cycle thresholds compiled by officials in Massachusetts, New York and Nevada, up to 90 percent of people testing positive carried barely any virus, a review by The New York Times found.3

Manufacturers and Labs Set Criteria for Positive COVID-19 Test Results

The reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) test used to identify those people infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus uses a nasal swab to collect RNA from deep within the nasal cavity of the individual being tested. The RNA is reverse transcribed into DNA and amplified through 40 or more cycles, or until virus is detected.4 The result is reported as a simple “yes” or “no” answer to the question of whether someone is infected.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials state they do not specify the cycle threshold ranges used to determine who is positive, and that commercial manufacturers and laboratories set their own threshold ranges.5

PCR Test Threshold for COVID-19 Positivity Is Too Sensitive

Any test with a cycle threshold (CT) above 35 is too sensitive, says Juliet Morrison, PhD, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside. “I’m shocked that people would think that 40 [cycles] could represent a positive.” A more reasonable cutoff would be 30 to 35, she added. Dr. Mina said he would set the figure at 30, or even less. Those changes would mean the amount of genetic material in a patient’s sample would have to be 100-fold to 1,000-fold that of the current standard for the test to return a positive result worth acting on.6

The CDC’s own calculations suggest that it is extremely difficult to detect any live virus in a sample above a threshold of 33 cycles.7

“We’ve been using one type of data for everything, and that is just plus or minus—that’s all,” Dr. Mina said. “We’re using that for clinical diagnostics, for public health, for policy decision-making.” But “yes” or “no” isn’t good enough, he added. It’s the amount of virus that should dictate the infected patient’s next steps. “It’s really irresponsible, I think, to forgo the recognition that this is a quantitative issue,” Dr. Mina said.8

The number of people with positive results who aren’t infectious is particularly concerning, said Scott Becker, executive director of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. “That worries me a lot, just because it’s so high,” he said.9

SARS-CoV-2 Positive Case Numbers Drop When Cycle Threshold is Adjusted, Removing Need for Contact Tracing

Officials at the Wadsworth Center, New York’s state lab, have access to CT values from tests they have processed, and analyzed their numbers at The Times’s request. In July, the lab identified 872 positive tests, based on a threshold of 40 cycles. With a cutoff of 35 cycles, about 43 percent of those tests would no longer qualify as positive. About 63 percent would no longer be judged positive if the cycles were limited to 30.

In Massachusetts, from 85 to 90 percent of people who tested positive in July with a cycle threshold of 40 would have been deemed negative if the threshold were 30 cycles, Dr. Mina said. “I would say that none of those people should be contact-traced, not one,” he said.

“I’m really shocked that it could be that high—the proportion of people with high CT value results,” said Ashish Jha, MD, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. “Boy, does it really change the way we need to be thinking about testing.”10

“Gold Standard” PCR Tests Leave Many Unanswered Questions Due to Knowledge Gaps

A positive PCR test does not tell doctors whether the person is currently ill or will become ill in the future, whether they are infectious or will become infectious, whether they are recovered or recovering from COVID, or whether the PCR test identified a viral fragment from another coronavirus infection in the past. The CDC reports that a person who has recovered from COVID-19 may have low levels of virus in their bodies for up to three months after diagnosis and may test positive, even though they are not spreading COVID-19.11

CT Value Adds Context to PCR Results, Personalizes Care

Although the cycle threshold (CT) is not reported on PCR tests, new evidence suggests the CT value could help to better inform clinical decisions, particularly when testing in the absence of symptoms for COVID-19. When SARS-CoV-2 virus is detected after fewer amplification cycles, that indicates a higher viral load and a higher likelihood of being contagious, while virus detected after more amplifications indicates a lower viral load.

“It’s just kind of mind-blowing to me that people are not recording the CT values from all these tests—that they’re just returning a positive or a negative,” said Angela Rasmussen, PhD, a virologist at Columbia University in New York. “It would be useful information to know if somebody’s positive, whether they have a high viral load or a low viral load,” she added.12

In a study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases in May, 2020,13 the authors suggested that viral load based on CT cutoff could establish whether inpatients have transmissible disease or need to be retested. This would conserve valuable testing capacity, reagents, and personal protective equipment (PPE), and determine when a patient could discontinue isolation. Taking the CT value into account may also help justify symptom-based strategies recommended by the CDC. CT values may enable contact tracers to focus only on persons most likely to be infectious, which will become increasingly important as asymptomatic screening expands.

Another study14 found that patients with positive PCR tests at a CT above 33-34 are not contagious and can be discharged from the hospital or strict confinement at home.

Evidence from both viral isolation and contact tracing studies supports a short, early period of transmissibility. By accounting for the CT value in context, RT-qPCR results can be used in a way that is personalized, highly sensitive, and more specific.15

FDA Approves Rapid, Less Sensitive Coronavirus Antigen Test

Highly sensitive PCR tests seemed like the best option for tracking the coronavirus at the start of the pandemic. But for the outbreaks raging now, Dr. Mina said, what’s needed are coronavirus tests that are fast, cheap and abundant enough to frequently test everyone who needs it—even if the tests are less sensitive. “It might not catch every last one of the transmitting people, but it sure will catch the most transmissible people, including the super spreaders.”

The FDA noted that people may have a low viral load when they are newly infected. A test with less sensitivity would miss these infections. That problem is easily solved, Dr. Mina said: “Test them again, six hours later or 15 hours later or whatever,” he said. A rapid test would find these patients quickly, even if it were less sensitive, because their viral loads would quickly rise. People infected with the virus are most infectious from a day or two before symptoms appear till about five days after. But at the current testing rates, “you’re not going to be doing it frequently enough to have any chance of really capturing somebody in that window,” Dr. Mina added.16

When a patient is tested for the coronavirus, doctors typically tell them to stay home until the results come in. If a patient tests positive and faces a two-week quarantine, that means they could spend a total of three weeks in isolation. That’s a long time for anybody who has bills to pay or kids to care for, and it’s understandable that some people will continue working until the results come in. The problem is that anybody who does this with a serious infection is putting others at risk.17 Rapid tests can be helpful in these situations.

In late August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first rapid coronavirus test that doesn’t need any special computer equipment. Made by Abbot Laboratories, the 15-minute test will sell for U.S. $5 but still requires a nasal swab to be taken by a health worker.18 The Abbot test is the fourth rapid point-of-care test that looks for the presence of antigens rather than the virus’s genetic code as the PCR molecular tests do. 19

YOM KIPPUR THOUGHTS

 This was the first Yom Kippur (hopefully the last) in the era of the China virus.

Each year I notice how the shul I daven in becomes a magnet for Israelis at the opening and  ending of the day;at Kol Nidre  and Neila.  Obviously not  "in their element" they peep into windows, loiter outside. sometimes rows deep, wearing what they deem appropriate for the strange occasion; they are pulled to the moment.

What is the attraction?

Each year I look at the faces of those drawn  to the shul  twice  a year -  both on the same day.
I wonder what  it  means.
They are part of the Jewish People; my People . They seem to be clinging  to the last  strands that connect them to the "old time religion".
Are they covering their bets ; maybe there is something to this day of forgiveness after all?
Are they exhibiting a  sign of solidarity with our traditions that have always defined us  as a People?

This year the action took place outdoors as all the shuls were locked.
This brought the drama to the streets.

Arnona neighborhood  where I live for the last fifteen years, I am told, was totally secular  not long before I arrived.
The  rabbi of the main shul in which I daven ( now there are many smaller ones too) told me that thirty years ago it was difficult to gather a minyan.
Today, a good number of  the residents are observant. There are many  North  American and Europeans who brought the "old religion" to the secular Israeli neighborhood.

In the streets this year  many  minyanim contributed to the special sounds and sights  of the special day.
Ashkanazi, Sephardi, Chabad...

Getting back to the twice a year visitors; yes  they came again seeking to commune  with  what they may feel  ambivalent towards  during the year.
The "pintele  Yid'?

The "pintele Yid" in Israel is different from his counterpart  outside of Israel.

Outside Israel. the streets are not closed on Yom Kippur.
It is not a national holy day.
Commerce and government do not shut down
The media does not shut down.
The public arena does not change for a moment.
The language of prayer is not their mother tongue.

The "pintile" spark in the heart of Diaspora Jews must overcome a multitude of obstacles and  distractions for it to be ignited, even for a fleeting moment.

Yes,  this Yom Kippur  gave me food for thought about our People here and abroad.

Shalom Pollack 

May We Be Inscribed For Life And Eternal Life

I liked this photo so much, that its included here.

"May we Be Inscribed in the Book of Life!"

Erev Yom Kippur, Tishrei 9, 5781/September 27, 2020

When we study the service of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) in the Holy Temple on Yom Kippur, we begin to appreciate the incredible intensity of the day. Having immersed himself for days in preparation for his task, the Kohen Gadol must work with the utmost celerity and precision, from the very moment that Yom Kippur commences to its very final seconds. He has no breaks, no time-outs. He has no do-overs and he can't call a friend if he can't remember what comes next. The Kohen Gadol must be completely and utterly focused. His mind and body and soul must move in unison, as he advances through the day, one vital task after another. He bears on his shoulders the ultimate responsibility for himself, for his family, for his people, and for the world. His task is enormous.

We are not the Kohen Gadol, but in a very real way, our task and our responsibility are no less than that of the Kohen Gadol. True, we are allowed more wiggle room on this Great and Awesome Day, but our one hundred percent presence - physical, mental and spiritual - is every bit as required. Yom Kippur provides for us an unparalleled opportunity for correction and recalibration, for realignment, recommitment and redirection in our lives. Opportunity literally knocks on our door on Yom Kippur, as the Gates of Teshuva (repentance, return) open, and remain open from start to finish. G-d's absolute attention is completely focused on each and every one of us. Now is our golden moment for rectifying our past mistakes and starting again in life. And yes, the change that we can effect on this day will not only impact our own lives throughout the year ahead, but the lives of our loved ones, our communities, our peoples and all humanity. Just like the Kohen Gadol. It's an enormous task, but we are tailor-made for it. G-d has granted us this opportunity because He wants us to succeed and He knows that we will succeed.

This past year, with its seemingly endless calamities both local and global, has taught us that we all are responsible and have a role to play in insuring our own well being, the well being of our neighbors, our families and loved ones, our communities, our countries and all humankind. Yom Kippur is an opportunity to internalize that message and begin our work toward a year of healing and unity.

We enter the day with no small measure of trepidation, which is only natural, but it is tempered and sweetened by the knowledge that Yom Kippur exists for one reason and one reason only: G-d loves us!

The Temple Institute wishes to extend to all our friends and supporters, to the entire nation of Israel, to those who hold dear the people of Israel and the G-d of Israel, and to all the sons and daughters of Adam, Gmar Chatima Tova - May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life!

Looking Ahead to Nissan 5781

Wishful Wishing

And it came to pass in the 72nd year of the sovereign Jewish State of Israel, that a plague struck the world and did not pass over the Children of Israel. 

And so it was that on the 15th of Nissan that the Children of Israel were instructed to remain each in their own individual homes and not celebrate the Seder night with their extended families as they did from generation to generation (when not separated by evil persecutors).. 

And the Children of Israel were distressed. And so it was that on the Seder night that an appointed time the Children of Israel stood by their open windows, porches and doorsteps and joined as one man in singing Ma Nishtanah. 

And the Children of Israel found solace hearing their neighbors as one Nation with one heart, joining together in song. And it came to pass that the plague continued to Tishrei. And the plague prevented many of the Children of Israel from hearing the call of the shofar, as commanded, in their houses of worship. 

And the Children of Israel were distressed. And so it came to pass that at an appointed time the shofar call was heard in every street so that the Children of Israel could fulfill the commandment to hear the shofar call. 

And the Children of Israel found solace hearing the call of the shofar as one Nation with one heart. And it came to pass that the plague continued and even strengthened in the month of Tishrei so that on the 10th of Tishrei the Children of Israel were unable to pray according to their particular traditions at each of their own houses of prayer on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, as they did from generation to generation. 

And the Children of Israel were distressed. 

And the Children of Israel prayed with their immediate neighbors as one man, according to an improvised common tradition. And the Children of Israel found solace joining with their immediate neighbors in prayer as one Nation with one heart.

Dr. Aaron Lerner is editor of IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis, since 1992 providing news and analysis on the Middle East with a focus on Arab-Israeli relations. Website: www.imra.org.il

Source:  arutzsheva

_________________________

Despite all the davening and begging, it seems the Virus is still with us, and Hashem has not removed it. There must be another purpose behind this new upsurge, beside the intentions of those who created this evil virus strain; and we are yet to see and hopefully to learn why Hashem is not satisfied with our behavior.

IGNORANCE BEYOND WORDS

 

New Mutation? Since When? Not More Deadly But More Contagious?

Just in time for Yom Kippur!

How do they know this? When did they know this? 

Created with original concoction?

The new strain, known as the D614G mutation, consists of higher loads of the virus, which does not make it more deadly but does make it more contagious.

A new round of scare tactic from the WHO and FAUCI. 

Let Us Think For a Moment . ..

at first one reads, “ no Yom Kippur inside synagogues or Shuls”. 

This drives some people to anger, saying it’s downright anti religious. How could they deprive us what we have been doing for years?

But let’s apply what I suggest that for each of the strange or seemingly anti restrictions connected with this episode of the Corona, we try to find the opposite in a spiritual interpretation. The simple ones are

Masks = no Lashon Horah

Distancing = instilling better morality, no touching between un married men and women

Heat wave = cover up to protect from the suns fiery rays, like our Arab cousins do

Gatherings = also morality, which HaShem hates immorality very much, as well as the LGBT adherents

Now, “They” have proposed, No davening in Shuls. This actually takes us back to our early Jewish History, before houses of worship” were built. All the men wore their their tefilin practically all day long as they “spoke to G–D outside under the stars or blazing sun. After which they learned alone or in groups. 

Let’s say, that HaShem wants our heartfelt communication to come from deep inside our neshomas, not in groups by rote quickly in order to “get on with the day” (with secular life of the world). HaShem wants us to concentrate on the words and meanings of our dialog with Him. It is not really against the Torah to daven outside, however it should be with a minyan. And when distancing one is not going at his neighbor’s pace, but his own pace, a more thoughtful and meaningful pace.

Could this be what ”GOD” wants from us?

Think not restriction but expansion, opening up of the heart and mind.

One needs to apply a clear thought process in analyzing what we have been through over this past year. HaShem is speaking to us, and we must learn His language, and what He wants from us. And this “illness” has been brought down to inflict Israelis, to make them wonder about life, the why and what for. “leaders have failed them and they need to change course. Someone needs to tell them that they need to reach up to the heavens and cry out to GOD, and reunite with HaShem as they once did on Mt Sinai with Moshe Rabbeinu!

Davening is not a business in competition with one another, it is communing with GOD.

Reb Neuberger: THE WITNESSES

THE WITNESSES

By Roy S. Neuberger

 

Dear Friends,

 

This Parsha contains a song which Moshe Rabbeinu taught to the Children of Israel.

 

This song is cosmic in magnitude, presenting the panorama of the history of Israel, from our days as slaves to Paro, through our epic Desert March, our glorious settlement in the Land of Israel, our decline, our tragedy, our agonizing exile and our assured Redemption in the End of Days.

 

“This song is great, for it has within it the present … the past and … future; it has within it [what transpires] in This World and in the World to Come…. All its words until now have been fulfilled .... How much more so [should we believe and wholeheartedly expect [the fulfillment of] the words of G-d [concerning the future].” (Ramban on Dvarim/Deuteronomy 32:41ff)

 

The Ramban goes on to speak about our Redemption: “Now, there is no stipulation in this song [to indicate that the deliverance is dependent] upon [Israel’s] repentance or service [of G-d]. Rather, it is purely a testimonial document that we will commit evil deeds to the utmost and that He – may He be blessed – will deal with us with wrathful punishments, but He will not cause our memory to cease and he will [ultimately] …. grant atonement for our sins for His Name’s sake. This being so, this song serves as an explicit assurance of the future redemption.” (ibid)

 

There is a big question: why does Moshe Rabbeinu appeal to Heaven and Earth as witnesses? What do they have to do with us or our future? And how can Heaven and Earth function as witnesses in any case?

 

Rashi answers.

 

“Moses said: I am flesh and blood. Tomorrow I will be dead. If Israel were to say, ‘We did not accept the covenant upon ourselves,’ who could come and contradict them? This is why he called as witnesses … the heavens and the earth, witnesses who last forever.

 

“And furthermore, if [Israel] will be meritorious, the witnesses will come and give [Israel’s] reward, as it is stated, ‘The vine will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce and the heavens will give their dew.’ And if [Israel] will be found guilty, the hand of the witnesses will be the first against them, as it says, ‘He will restrain the heavens and there will no rain and the ground will not yield its produce …..’” (Rashi on Dvarim 32:1)

 

Now I am going to take a bit of a liberty and apply this passage not only to the Nation of Israel but to the entire world. I will tell you why: G-d made a covenant with the entire world. The Torah assigns seven mitzvos to “Bnai Noach,” all the children of Noah.^[1] These mitzvos are binding upon every descendant of Noah, in other words, every person in the entire world.

 

As a result of our long Exile, the Torah has become known to the entire world and even adopted as if it were “their own” by other nations. As a result, there are very few people in the world, if any, who can claim ignorance of this Book. So I am going to say that the Heavens and the Earth are witnesses to the obligation of every person in the world to follow the Torah laws which apply to him or her, whether Jew or non-Jew.

 

And now, as the year 5781 begins, the entire world sees that the Heavens and the Earth are testifying against us! All mankind is trembling because an invisible agent has entered and infected the entire world! Lightning comes from the heavens and kindles fires in areas which were once sought-after like gardens of paradise. Huge ocean storms inundate large land masses. Heaven and Earth are coming to testify against us!

 

Hashem Melech … Hashem is King!

 

“Hashem Echad ushmo echad … G-d is One and His Name is One!”

 

The Song says, “When I call out the Name of Hashem, ascribe greatness to our G-d. The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a G-d, faithful, without iniquity…. Corruption is not His, the blemish is His Children’s, a crooked and twisted generation.” (Dvarim 32:3-5)

 

As we enter the Holy Day of Yom Kippur this Sunday evening, let us remember that we will survive in this world only if we submit ourselves to the Rule of the King of Kings.

 

“You reduce man to pulp and You say, ‘Repent, Oh sons of man. For even a thousand years in Your eyes are but a bygone yesterday, like a watch in the night. You flood them away … For we are consumed by Your fury and we are confounded by Your wrath. You have set our iniquities before You, our immaturity before the light of Your countenance…. Who knows the power of Your fury? … Teach us to count our days, then we shall acquire a heart of wisdom.” (Tehillim/Psalm 90)

 

I believe this is the perspective we should have at this time in history as we prepare ourselves for judgment. As we contemplate the new world that is unfolding before our eyes, let us remember Moshe’s parting words: “Thus Israel shall dwell securely, solitary, in the likeness of Yaakov, in a land of grain and wine …. Fortunate are you, Oh Israel. Who is like you, a people delivered by Hashem, the Shield of your help.” (Dvarim 33:28ff)

 

Gmar chassima tova … may we all be sealed in the Book of Life!

 

 

Roy Neuberger’s latest book,

HOLD ON: Surviving the Days Before Moshiach

Available at Jewish bookstores and online at

https://mosaicapress.com/product/hold-on and Amazon.com.

“Hold On” is soon to be released in Hebrew

as “Tachzik Chazak” (Feldheim Publishers)

Roy and his wife speak publicly and via Zoom

Website: www.2020vision.co.il.

Email: newsletter@2020vision.co.il

 

© Copyright 2020 by Roy S. Neuberger

Rabbi Winston – Shabbos Shuva

 Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! And let the earth hear the words of my mouth! (Devarim 32:1)

ONE OF THE most famous stories in Tanach is when Yehoshua managed to have the sun stand still so that he could finish his battle against Ai during daylight hours. I tried doing that so that I’d have more time for Minchah, but it didn’t work. Just kidding. He, however, DID succeed, and got 36 hours out of his day. 

He wasn’t the only one to pull that one off. Apparently, he learned it from his teacher, Moshe Rabbeinu. He too needed to extend the day to complete his battle before sundown, and asked God for the “favor,” which was granted, though it is obviously far less famous than the miracle done for Yehoshua. As the expression goes, “Like father, like sun.” Sorry.

Perhaps even more remarkable is that the same kind of miracle even happened after the close of Tanach, long afterwards. It was during the time of the Second Temple, and the story goes like this: 

Once all the Jewish people ascended for the pilgrimage Festival to Jerusalem and there was not enough water for them to drink. Nakdimon ben Guryon, one of the wealthy citizens of Jerusalem, went to a certain gentile officer and said to him: “Lend me 12 wells of water for the pilgrims, and I will give back to you twelve wells of water. And if I do not give them to you, I will give you twelve talents of silver.” 

The officer set him a time limit for returning the water. When the set time arrived and no rain had fallen, in the morning the official sent a message to Nakdimon: “Send me either the water or the coins that you owe me.” 

Nakdimon sent a message to him: “I still have time, as the entire day is mine.” 

At noontime the official again sent a message to him: “Send me either the water or the coins that you owe me.” 

Nakdimon sent a message to him: “I still have time left in the day.” 

In the afternoon he sent a message to him: “Send me either the water or the coins that you owe me.” 

Nakdimon sent a message to him: “I still have time left in the day.” 

The officer ridiculed him, saying: “Throughout the entire year rain has not fallen, and now it will rain?” 

He entered the bathhouse in a state of joy, anticipating the large sum of money he was about to receive. As the master entered the bathhouse in his joy, Nakdimon entered the Temple in a state of sadness. He wrapped himself in his prayer shawl and stood in prayer. He said before God: 

“Master of the Universe, it is revealed and known before You that I did not act for my own honor, nor did I act for the honor of my father’s house. Rather, I acted for Your honor, so that there should be water for the Festival pilgrims.” 

Immediately the sky became overcast and rain fell until the 12 cisterns were filled with water, and there was even more water, so that they overflowed. As the master left the bathhouse, Nakdimon ben Guryon left the Temple. When they met one another, Nakdimon said to him: “Give me the money you owe me for the extra water you received.” 

The official said to him: “I know that The Holy One, Blessed Is He, has shaken His world and caused rain to fall only for you. However, I still maintain a claim against you, by which I can legally take my coins from you, as you did not pay me on the agreed date, for the sun had already set, and therefore the rain fell onto my property.”

Nakdimon went back and entered the Temple, wrapped himself in his prayer shawl, and stood in prayer. He said before God: “Master of the Universe, let it be known that You have beloved ones in Your world.” 

Immediately, the clouds scattered and the sun shined. At that time, the master said to him: “If the sun had not broken through the clouds, I would have had a claim against you, by which I could have taken my coins from you!”  (Ta’anis 20a)

An interesting story, to say the least. But there is another, and in this one, the sun not only did NOT stand still, but it blazed against Avraham Avinu who had been recovering from Bris Milah. In spite of the intense heat of the day, Avraham went outside looking for wayfarers to tend to, in spite of his weak condition. The mitzvah of taking care of guests, which the Talmud compares to receiving the Divine Presence, was too important for Avraham Avinu to push off for his recovery. God had made the day hot to push Avraham back in his tent, but Avraham pushed back the sun to stay ready for the mitzvah.

This is not an incidental story. It is a fundamental one. Indeed, the Talmud states: 

There is no Gihennom in the World-to-Come. Rather, the Holy One, Blessed Is He, will remove the sun from its sheath, and the righteous will be healed by it and the wicked will be punished by it. (Nedarim 8b)

Why the sun, of all things? The answer is in this week’s parsha, right at the beginning:

Listen, O heavens, and I will speak! And let the earth hear the words of my mouth! (Devarim 32:1)

…Why did [Moshe] call upon heaven and earth to be witnesses [for warning Israel]? Moshe said: “I am [just] flesh and blood. Tomorrow I will die. If the Jewish people say, ‘We never accepted the covenant,’ who will come and refute them?” Therefore, he called upon heaven and earth as witnesses for Israel-witnesses that endure forever. 

Furthermore, if they [the Jewish people] act meritoriously, the witnesses will come and reward them: “The vine will give its fruit, the earth will yield its produce, and the heavens will give their dew” (Zechariah 8:12). And if [the Jewish people] act sinfully, the hand of the witnesses will be upon them first [to inflict punishment upon them]: “And He will close off the heaven that there will be no rain, and the soil will not give its produce” (Devarim 11:17), and then [the verse continues]: “and you will perish quickly” (that is) through [the attacks of] the nations. (Rashi)

The heavenly bodies, and especially the sun, work for God. They “watch” what we do, and how, and bear testimony before the heavenly Bais Din regarding our worthiness, or lack of. This impacts the outcome of our judgment, and the direction of history in the upcoming year. Their responsiveness to the needs of the Jewish people indicate the spiritual status of the nation at any given moment in time.

The sun certainly took note of Avraham’s devotion to God’s ways on his third day after his Bris Milah, and became sympathetic to him and his descendants down through the years. Well, at least to those, like Moshe Rabbeinu, Yehoshua bin Nun, and Nakdimon ben Guryon who walked in the ways of God, like Avraham before them, and who were more worried about sanctifying God’s Great Name than their own.

This is probably why the sun figured prominently in the following story about the gentile world after history is done, and reward and punishment is being decided by God:

The gentiles [will later] say before Him: “Master of the Universe, give us the Torah afresh and we will perform its mitzvos.” 

The Holy One, Blessed Is He, will say to them in response: “Fools of the world! Do you think you can request this? One who takes pains on Erev Shabbos will eat on Shabbos, but one who did not take pains on Erev Shabbos, from where will he eat on Shabbos? The opportunity for performing mitzvos has already passed, and it is now too late to ask to perform them. But even so, I have an easy mitzvah to fulfill, and its name is succah; go and perform it.”

…Immediately, each and every gentile will take materials and go and construct a succah on top of his roof. And the Holy One, Blessed Is He, will set upon them the heat of the sun in the season of Tammuz, and each and every one who is sitting in his succah will be unable to stand the heat, and he will kick his succah and leave…” (Avodah Zarah 3a)

Even the Talmud questions the fairness of God’s response to their fulfillment of the “mitzvah.” But it answers that the test was not to see if they would endure the extremely hot sun while in the succah. It was to see how they would react to the incident on the way out, either accepting that the problem was with them, or with God. Kicking the succah on the way out revealed that they did the latter.

But now we can provide an alternative answer, which is really not that different. God was telling them that it was not only about performing the mitzvos, it was about making the CHOICE to do so by overcoming the yetzer hara to not do it, or the yetzer hara to not do the mitzvah with heart and soul. That was only a possible reality while in this world, now, while we have a yetzer hara.

The hot sun they felt was the one that judges the evil to the side of punishment. It remained to testify against them, about how they used, or rather abused their free will while they had it. We may not take much note of it, or any of the heavenly bodies that affect the quality of life, but they take note, so-to-speak of us all the time. Moshe told them to keep an eye on us ever since, and their testimony is currently being received in Heaven in our favor, or against us. 

We may seem to be okay, from our perspective, by how we have used our time on earth. But what about from their perspective?

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Rabbi Kahana – What is HaShem planning ...

BS”D The Days of Awe (Yamim Nora’im) 5781

Rabbi Nachman Kahana

What is HaShem planning for His people in Eretz Yisrael?

With every new year we draw closer to the final redemption of our nation as we return to our holy land, as promised by our prophets.

The Torah states (Devarim 22:1-2):

לא תראה את שור אחיך או את שיו נדחים והתעלמת מהם השב תשיבם לאחיך:

ואם לא קרוב אחיך אליך ולא ידעתו ואספתו אל תוך ביתך והיה עמך עד דרש אחיך אתו והשבתו לו

If you see your brother’s (fellow Jew) ox or sheep straying, do not ignore it but return it to its owner. If your brother (the owner) is not close to you or if you do not know who owns it, take it into your home to be with you until your brother seeks it out, then return it (after receiving convincing signs of description).

What is HaShem planning for His people in Eretz Yisrael?

In our unpredictable, erratic world one immutable principle has stood the test of millennia, with no sign that it will ever change – that nothing of significance has ever evolved or will evolve without implicit or covert implications for the Jewish people!

Empires rose and fell, and will rise and fall, because of the Jewish nation. If we can’t always discern the historical connections of all great historic events with the Jewish people, it is due to our intellectual limitations or lack of information. But the principle is intact – humanity and its march in time revolves around HaShem’s chosen nation, as the planets orbit the sun. And just as each planet revolves in its predetermined orbit contingent on the gravitational energy exerted on it by the sun, so too do the nations of the world develop in relation to the direct or indirect Jewish influence on them.

The descendants of Aisav and Yishmael have always been closely involved with the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov. Hence, their development is more sophisticated than cultures which were less involved with the knowledge of HaShem as passed on through the Jewish people.

Numerous studies have been made into the genealogy of major European leaders and found that Jewish blood – from mother or father or a grandparent – flowed freely in their veins.

Aisav and Yishmael as individuals, had a love-hate relationship with their Jewish brothers – Yitzchak and Ya’akov – that passed on to their descendants. The Christian and Moslem peoples have so much to be indebted to the Jewish nation and our teachings, but the scratch in their brains makes it impossible for them to live with us or to live without us. When we are in the galut, they rant “Go back to Eretz Yisrael”; and now that we have returned to Eretz Yisrael they rant “You do not belong there”.

I wish to point out three nations in particular: England in Western Europe, Turkey with one foot in Europe and the other in Asia, and Iran (Persia) deep in Asia. There is no apparent connection between them, save for one – that aside from the Arabs, these three are the most anti-Israel nations in the world today.

England is the seat of intellectual anti-Israel feeling. Their universities boycott ours, and every Israeli is in danger of being arrested, which prevents ranking army officers and cabinet ministers from going there. Turkey is regressing into Islamic darkness, with the initiation fee being the severing of its ties with the Jews in Eretz Yisrael. Iran is Shi’ite, removing them from the thought processes of rational people.

But why just these three nations? I suggest:

They have a common historic experience. At some time in their history, each was an empire with colonial holdings which included Eretz Yisrael, until HaShem’s stopwatch of history sounded and the Holy Land expelled them. Their insatiable jealousy at losing the fulcrum of human activity leaves them little room for rationality.

And one more common feature. Their anti-Eretz Yisrael policies will in time be the cause of their destruction as national entities.

The prophets predicted the fall of the great empires of their times: Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and Phoenicia. Would they be alive today, the prophets would speak of the downfall of all the nations that prevent the fulfillment of our God given obligation to return and rebuild the holy land.

To return to the question of where is HaShem taking us?

With every passing day, anti-Semitism disguised as anti the State of Israel is becoming more bold and aggressive. Many Jews in the United States – orthodox and otherwise – are fearful of their frail status as accepted equals and compete with the worst of our enemies in mudslinging at our holy Medina.

The prophecy of what will be our destiny in the generation of the Mashiach was delivered by HaShem through the foul mouth of the evil Bil’am, when he said (Bamidbar 23,9):

כי מראש צרים אראנו ומגבעות אשורנו הן עם לבדד ישכן ובגוים לא יתחשב:

From the highest plateau I will view him (the Jewish people) and from the high places I will acknowledge him. A people that shall dwell in isolation and will not regard the (gentile) nations

Herein lies the master plan of the Creator.

As we in Eretz Yisrael are increasingly excluded from international forums designed to de-legitimize the Jewish state, despite the seeming warming of relations with some gulf states, we will draw ever closer to the God of Israel.

The evil Bil’am saw the future return of the Jewish nation to HaShem and the Torah. It will be brought about by our non-reliance on foreign “friends”, coupled with HaShem’s miraculous intervention in unprecedented military victories.

RaMBaM (hilchot Melachim) states that the Mashiach will lead us in our final wars, that is to say the Mashiach will have a military background, that puts an entirely new perspective on who to expect to be HaShem’s messenger to redeem His people.

The future demography of Eretz Yisrael

The wide expanse of the Golan is waiting for millions of Jews to settle there and infuse the area with Torah life. Yehuda, Shomron, the Negev and Galil, as well as the areas of Biblical Eretz Yisrael waiting to be returned to us, will be settled by tens if not hundreds of millions of Jews returning home.

From where will all these Jews come? For this we have to think “outside of the box”.

They will not come from the Jewish community in the United States which is quickly dwindling through inter-marriage, coupled with apathy and antagonism of most orthodox Jews towards God’s greatest miracle of the last 2000 years. The Jews of Western Europe and South America are following suit. The 70+ years of opportunity for the Jews in the West is rapidly ending, for the timetable of HaShem waits for no man.

The big numbers will come from the hundreds of millions of Jewish descendants of the Ten Tribes and Anusim, who will awaken one day to their Jewish heritage. They are the Jewish nation of the future, as prophesied by Yechezkel (11:17)

לכן אמר כה אמר א-דני ה’ וקבצתי אתכם מן העמים ואספתי אתכם מן הארצות אשר נפצותם בהם ונתתי לכם את אדמת ישראל:

Therefore say: ‘This is what the LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’

As MaLBim explains this verse:

שלעתיד יאסוף את עשרת השבטים שהם בארצות רחוקות ולא שבו בבית שני, ונתתי לכם את אדמת ישראל לא כמו שאמרו לנו נתנה הארץ למורשה

“In the future HaShem will gather the Ten Tribes from faraway lands, those who did not return at the time of the second Temple, and I will give them the land of Israel”

With this in mind, I would like to suggest an additional understanding of the verses quoted at the beginning of this message:

לא תראה את שור אחיך או את שיו נדחים והתעלמת מהם השב תשיבם לאחיך:

ואם לא קרוב אחיך אליך ולא ידעתו ואספתו אל תוך ביתך והיה עמך עד דרש אחיך אתו והשבתו לו

The first verse deals with lost articles that belong to your brother Jew. I suggest that the second verse deals with your Jewish brother who is seemingly lost to his people, as follows.

ואם לא קרוב אחיך אליך ולא ידעתו ואספתו אל תוך ביתך והיה עמך עד דרש אחיך אתו והשבתו לו

If your brother Jew is far from you (in the spiritual sense), to the extent that you can no longer recognize any Jewish features in his life. Bring him into your home (Eretz Yisrael) until his heart is opened and he begins to seek out his Jewish roots. Then be prepared to return him to those roots.

This is what will be in the near future, when HaShem will awaken the millions of our brothers so distant from their roots and return them miraculously to us in Eretz Yisrael

Gemar Chatima Tova

אבינו מלכנו מנע מגפה מנחלתך

Nachman Kahana

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