Yahrtzeit of Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel

Hundreds of Lubavitcher Chassidim made their way to the holy city of Chevron today 24 Shvat to visit and pray at the resting place of Rebbetzin Menucha Rochel

See more beautiful pictures.

Thank you Shturem.org for taking a picture of my friend among the ladies saying Tehillim.

The White House is Watching You!

i wonder if they're using Google tracking?

Washington - Obama Administration 

Pledges to Protest Jewish Housing 

Developments in Jerusalem

February 16th, 2009 

PMNews Source: World Net Daily 

By Aaron Klein

An aerial view shows Israel's West Bank barrier

Washington - The Obama administration has pledged to the Palestinian Authority it will closely monitor Jewish construction in the West Bank and will protest any new housing developments in the biblical territory, a top PA negotiator told WND.

"'They told us the White House will watch for any Jewish construction,' said the PA negotiator, speaking on condition of anonymity." 

"The PA officials said they were enthusiastic about the new tone of the White House and about recent meetings with Obama's Mideast envoy, former Democratic Sen. George Mitchell. They said they believe that under Obama the Palestinians can extract from Israel concessions reaching 'much further' than during talks held under the previous administration."

"Regarding all understandings achieved between the parties, the Obama administration told us they will give guarantees to carry them out," said a top PA official. "With Obama, the number of settlers to be removed from the West Bank will much be more important than 60,000," said the PA official, referring to previous negotiations in which Israel expressed a willingness to withdraw from up to 94 percent of the West Bank and move about 60,000 settlers into central settlement blocks closer to Jerusalem.

Full article can be read at  VosizNeias

The Medical Profession in Israel - An Invitation

Aliyah Seminar 

for 

Medical Professionals & Students

Explore Your Career Opportunities in Israel

Psychologists, 

Nurses, 

Dentists, 

OT/PT, 

Psychiatrists, 

Dieticians, 

Ultrasound Technicians, 

X-Ray Technicians

Sunday, March 15, 2009 

1:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT  

Doubletree Hotel JFK Airport, New York 

Meet with Israeli officials from 

Ministry of Health regarding: 

Medical Licensing

 Certification 

 Job trends 

 Career Opportunities

Employment Fair: 

Meet with representatives of leading Hospitals & Kupot Cholim (Health Funds) Special Interactive Planning… and more!

View Details & Register 

Three Thousand of The Rebbe's Shluchos

Sunday evening I was able to view the Shluchos Kinus via a live video hookup. There were many speakers, the most touching for me was the special tribute by Chani Lifshitz from Katmandu, Nepal, who dedicated her speech to her very best friend and sister Shlucha Rivki Holtzberg HY"D.

Needless to say the tears returned.

Shturem.org has a video presentation and a very fine photo essay by Odelia S.



COLlive.com also covered the event and likewise has a very fine collection of videos and pictures.

Coming out of the Kinus is a very special Initiative called "Rivkah's Tent." So named, as written by Dvora Lakein (of lubavitch.com):

"The Midrash in Bereishit Rabbah 60 speaks of the candles that burned and the challah that remained fresh from week to week in Sarah’s tent. These, and the cloud of glory that rested above, disappeared upon her passing. They were only to return when her daughter-in-law, Rivkah, arrived and married her son."

Rivki's legacy revolves around the way she performed the three mitzvot inherent in the life of a Jewish woman: kosher food, family purity, and the kindling of Shabbat and holiday lights."

A curriculum is being devised to enable the Shluchos to share this legacy with the women in their communities.

I urge the women who may read this, to visit CoLlive and Shturem to view the videos and read the coverage of the Kinus. When people are wondering what to do to bring back children, sisters and daughters who have left their heritage in search of something 'more' spiritual, one should recognize that these Shluchos dedicate their lives to doing just that, reuniting HaShem's children with their very own beautiful and meaningful spiritual legacy.

This was The Rebbe's vision.

Woman to woman they reach out to the distant and bring them close to the warmth and preciousness of their own Jewish heritage.

'Worst GLOBAL Economic Collapse Ever'

This is not the first time we have heard this.

Anyone who has followed Nava on Dreaming has read the warnings given by Daniel and Binyomin (the two frum autistic prophetic-voices from Jerusalem). 

But now we are hearing dire warnings from forecasters

"The Exile is over!" 

So says Tamar Yonah on her award-winning  Tamar Yonah Show on Israel National News

"Jews, come home before it is too late. The Exile is over. The future of the Jewish People is in Israel, not NY, LA, London, Paris, or Melbourne. Watch this important video clip. Jews, come home before it is too late. 

The Exile is over. The future of the Jewish People is in Israel, not NY, LA, London, Paris, or Melbourne. Watch this important video clip and then read Tamar's blog."

So says says Gerald Celente, U.S. trend forecaster

And then you must read:

the Muqata on the election manipulations and the UNRWA video

Lazer Beams on Winners and Losers

We Want Mashiach and his Gematriot about Obama

Akiva on Oh Why Do They Hate Us So? 

Little Moishele, Here are your parents . . .

Another reason that computers and videos were created:

"When Moishe grows up, this is what we will have to show him of his parents," Rivky Holtzberg's father Shimon Rosenberg said.

My heart breaks every time I think about what happened to these wonderful, selfless servants of Hashem. Please Hashem bring us Moshiach!

Thank you ColLive for bringing us this good (?) news.  http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=2175

HaRav Ginsburgh on Parshas Yisro

Shabbos Parshas Yisro

Lecture by Harav Yitzchak Ginsburgh 10-11 Shevat 5769 (Part)

The Secret Weapon – The Secrets of the Secrets

What is the secret weapon that the king is handing out in our generation in order to win the final battle? In the most general terms possible, the treasure is the secrets and the secrets of the secrets of the Torah. In the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai says that with this book (with the secrets of the Torah revealed in the Zohar) we will come out of exile with mercy and compassion. It seems that in our generation there are no more secrets. It seems that from the time of the Ba’al Shem Tov, and even more so from the Alter Rebbe and on, everything has been openly revealed.

Still, even among the secrets of the Torah, there are some secrets still unknown. In Kabbalah, these secrets fall under the category of the 32nd of the 32 pathways of wisdom, which unites with the 50th of the 50 gateways of understanding. This unification is the secret of the word “Lebanon” (לְבָנוֹן ) appearing in the verse, “A wellspring of water, a well of living waters, pouring from the Lebanon” (מַעְיַן גַּנִּים בְּאֵר מַיִם חַיִּים וְנֹזְלִים מִן לְבָנוֹן ).

The letters of this word can be broken up to read 32 (לְבָ ) and the name of the letter nun—נ  ) (נוֹן, whose value is 50.

This is our hidden treasure that no one has ever laid eyes upon. The 32nd pathway is hidden, not even the bird of prey—a symbol for King David —nor the falcon has ever laid his eyes upon, as in the verse, “There is a path, which no bird of prey knows and which the falcon’s eye has not seen.” And the 50th gate of understanding was not attained by even Moshe during his life.

This unification has to be understood by even the simplest soldier in a way that he can use it during the “battle” in order to win the war. This is referred to in Chassidut as a manner in which the individual can gain sustenance from it (יִתְפַרְנְסוּן מִינֵיה ). The distribution of these secrets of the secrets of the Torah, this is what the king is taking out now and distributing freely to anyone who wants to become his soldier.

We have talked about this many times.

In our generation, the generation that has to be victorious, there are no longer any secrets. The secrets have to be explained to even the simplest of soldiers in a way that he (or she) can integrate it fully into their understanding. Then they will be able to embark on their mission with joy, win the battle, and bring the Mashiach.

http://www.inner.org/lectures/11-Shevat-5769a.php

Russia and U.S. Crash . . .

U.S. and Russian Satellites 

Crash in Space

HOUSTON, Texas, February 12, 2009 (ENS) - A Russian military communications satellite and a U.S. communications satellite have collided in Earth orbit. The unprecedented crash of two intact spacecraft has left two massive clouds of debris in low Earth orbit.  Newswire

An artist's concept of an Iridium satellite in earth orbit is seen. 

An Iridium commercial satellite, launched in 1997, 

and a Russian satellite launched in 1993 and believed to be 

nonfunctioning collided in orbit over Siberia, 

Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by the European Space Agency shows an artist's impression of catalogued objects in low-Earth orbit viewed over the Equator.

Nothing is a Coincidence

The Lesson of the Yuds

In Chutz L'Aretz we wait for our Yom Tovim (the three main Jewish holidays) to receive this very special blessing, Birkas HaKohanim. In The Loneliness Is Overwhelming, I noted that the names of the three boys on trial in Japan all begin with a yud. 

Devorah sent me a reference from Rabbi Zev Leff's sefer, Shemoneh Esrei, The Depth and Beauty of Our Daily Tefillah, with translation and commentary of classic Torah sources, and on page 190 is a section on Honesty and Integrity in Securing a Livelihood. In part it says:

"The blessing of Birkas HaShanim contains thirty words, which correspond to the three yuds that begin each of the three blessings.

These three blessings represent the perfection of one's material needs; one's spiritual needs; and the perfect synthesis of both of these realms, which culminate in shalom, perfection and harmony.

The significance of the three yuds, adding up to thirty also represents the community in its three aspects:  Kahal, Adas and Yisrael ... not earning one's living at the expense of others."

Hashem has sent us a message, an aspect of our Klal that needs attention. This is the key to the yuds. It could be understood that the boys suffering in Japan are suffering for the Klal. What can we say or do to help them.

It might be appropriate for the person who sent them into this very tight experience (mei-tzar-im) to go to Japan and try to have the authorities release the boys because they are innocent and accept himself as the guilty party.

In the meantime, we continue to daven for 

Yoel Zev ben Mirel Reesa Chava; 

Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel; and 

Yosef ben Ita Rivka.

The Loneliness Is Overwhelming!

The Nightmare For The Teens 

Held in Japan Prison

http://www.vosizneias.com/27272/2009/02/11/new-york-the-nightmare-for-the-teens-held-in-japan-prison/

"The loneliness is overwhelming. 

Yoel G., Yaakov Yosef G., and Yossi B. 

have spent ten months in solitary confinement, sitting on a hard concrete floor, their mobility severely restricted. They have no contact with anyone they know, except for their lawyers. No visitors are permitted, with the exception of parents, whom they may only see briefly and infrequently. Even these visits are held through a glass partition, and monitored by guards and interpreters.

Yossi was only 17 at the time of his arrest, and he can’t stop crying. Yaakov Yosef, who was 19 when he was arrested, cries “only” about 20 times a week. Lack of kosher food has caused one of the boys to lose 100 pounds, and another to lose 60."

Each of the names of these boys on trial in Japan 

BEGINS WITH A YUD!

Yud Gimmel, Yud Yud Gimmel and Yud Beis

• Is there something in Kabbala or in Gematrios for simanim.
  
• Could it be that Hashem wants the hidden Jews among the Japanese people 
  
• to become aware of their heritage?
  
• Could it be that these boys are being held to highlight 
  
• the corruption within the Jewish community?
  
• Could it be that their ransom (pidyun shevuiim) 
  
• is contingent upon something we Jews need to do?
  

A Letter Writing Appeal

Perhaps everyone could write a letter to their local Japanese Embassy?

A nice respectful letter, appealing to the fact that these boys are young and innocent like many of their Japanese youth;including the fact that many of the countries of the world are experiencing their own youth in upheaval; bringing to mind that Japanese mothers and mothers of all the youth of the world are suffering because their children are suffering from the same crises;and let them know that just they are a noble and brave people, the Jews are also a noble people coming from Abraham, the father of all nations, and brave also because the have suffered injustices for thousands of years, and only wish to live in their ancestral homeland, given to them by the G-OD of all peoples, undisturbed.Perhaps the Japanese could identify with these statements, and come to realize that these boys are 

NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CORRUPTION OF THE WORLD.

The following sites give relevant information about the Japanese people, which may be very helpful to hold in your heart so that your words pour forth from your heart and will possibly enter the hearts of the Japanese people.

http://www.habri.co.uk/
http://www.habri.co.uk/PerspectiveHfd_7_8.html#priorities and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_people

21st Annual Kinus HaShluchos

Crown Heights Welcomes The

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF SHLUCHOS

18-22 Shevat, 5769 • February 12-16, 2009

WELCOME TO THE 21ST YEAR OF THE ANNUAL KINUS HASHLUCHOS !

"In the spirit of Shnas Hakhel, that of gathering together to foster unity and encourage commitment to Torah and Mitzvos, we resolve to undertake an appropriate hachlata [commitment]  in LIMUD HATORAH and KIYUM HAMITZVOS"

Conference organizers anticipate 2500 women, representing communities in 70 countries worldwide. The Shluchos gather in an atmosphere of Kedusha, to listen and to learn, to share and to gain. Every year these hard-working, creative and selfless women, in their mission as daughters of The Rebbe, Nosi Doraynu, and being Shluchos (alongside their husbands, the Shluchim of The Rebbe, they are charged with the mission of preparing themselves, their families and the communities of their Shlichus.

The Kinus is a forum for introducing new ideas and for seeking creative solutions to the different challenges that occur in the life of Shlichus. Towards this end, the program is replete with presentations covering many of our Shlichus activities. This year there is also a greater focus on introspection and opportunities to discuss and deal with each shlucha’s personal development.

Each day is filled with challenging and informative lectures, workshops, and other special program events, culminating with a Royal Banquet on Sunday Evening the 22nd of Shvat, the 21st yahrzeit of the Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson A"H, wife of the Lubavitcher Rebbe.

Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky remembers Rivki Holtzberg A"H:    "I am certain that the Shluchos are coming to this conference with a desire to bond, to remember Rivki and take inspiration from her extraordinary life"

*******************

• I was privileged one year to participate in some of the special programs. They were inspiring and fostered a very special spiritual achdus. It was a little like being on clouds of glory, elevated to a very special atmosphere.

Full articles can be read at:

Crown Heights Info

Shturem

Why is America Bankrupt?

My blog was not created for political events, but this just came my way and it's too good not to share.

WHY ARE WE BANKRUPT 

Posted by Don Lavetter on January 10, 2009 at 8:09am in General FairTax Topics 

WHY ARE WE BANKRUPT?
Informative, and mind boggling! You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this:

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.   Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.  Verify at : http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers. Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html

9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens. Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US . Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 M ILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. Verify at: Homeland Security Report: http://tinyurl.com/t9sht

12. The National policy Institute, estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.'  Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin. Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm >

14. 'The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ..' Verify at: http: // www.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping 

$ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR

_________________
There are three kinds of people in the world:
* Those who do what they're told without question,
* Those who control them, and-
* Those who refuse to play that game - ENVIED AND HATED BY THE OTHER TWO.

This can be found at ALIPAC

and courtesy of  The Bronx boy transplanted to Calif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NMu1mFao3w

Rain is Bracha!

The Endorsement on High: 

Pre-Election Rain Notice.

Whether anyone has paid attention to this or not, as posted by Reb Akiva at Mystical Paths

B"H - We will have a prayer for Rain on Tuesday - the Day of (Israeli) Elections, at 3:30 PM at the Kotel (Western Wall)

And then there was RAIN, LIGHTNING, WIND, and a sandy HAMSIM, A Beautiful Stormy Day with the Blessing of Rain. A perfect day for Israeli Elections.

And now the work begins. Heard on US radio this morning was a left-sided endorsement (unconfirmed) that the Obama Administration would rather work with Livni. 

What this says to me is, an ENDORSEMENT for Israel to bring back a strong rightist government. But we shall see. Now the fun (funds) begins. A pivotal player in all this is the President of Israel when the parties come before him to form their ruling government.

But, in the meantime, we still have Prime Minister Olmert!

Does anyone remember that prophecy that the Sharon/Olmert government would be the last  before Moshiach arrives?

A Little Chizuk

This is a video of R' Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, singing a song of thanks at a Seudas Hoda’ah held to give thanks for those who survived the Mumbai Chabad terror attack. R’ Grossman is the greatuncle of two-year-old survivor Moishe Holtzberg; the Rabbi is the uncle of terror victim Rivka Holzberg A"H.



While not a Miracle

A hero for our times - another Holtzberg story you'll love!
This story was given over in 770 during the last hei teves farbrengen by Rabbi Shalom Jacobson. 

A close friend of Rabbi Holtzberg asked him after he went on shlichus, how much money it will take to buy a building for a Chabad House in Mumbai. He told him that in India it is impossible for a foreigner to get a mortgage and the only option was to pay in cash, a sum in the millions of dollars! His friend told him such an amount you have to fundraise, hire help, etc. Such a thing could take many years! 

Holtzberg replied to him "We don't have the time for all of that," Moshiach is Coming Now!

http://realfakeworld.blogspot.com/

Vos iz un Alef?

How Open Minded Should Our Children Be?

Many parents are struggling with children that want to break away from Judaism.

I would like to suggest the following unique and intellectually stimulating thesis on Yisro to everyone who has ever pondered why the "grass on the other side of the fence looks greener"!

Each week Rabbi Jacobson tintilates the mind and neshoma with unique insights into the Parsha that could provide the inquiring mind much food for thought. Please avail yourself of this wisdom. 

Try to join the myriad of listeners/viewers each Monday Evening at 8:00 pm. A Curriculum is also provided for download, and while it is given live, one can also download an mp3 file.

The Torah Portion of Yisro 5769

by Rabbi Yosef Y. Jacobson

The Global Classroom for Jewish Thought

A Declaration

This is the Declaration of a man who brings his First Fruits (of the Land of Eretz HaKodesh) to the Holy Temple:

"G.OD brought us forth out of Egypt 

with a mighty Hand, 

with an outstretched arm, 

with great fearfulness, 

with signs and with wonders."

We just Blessed the Fruit of the Trees and the seven fruits indigenous in a Land Flowing with Milk and Honey.  In the Pesach Haggadah these First Fruits are linked to our leaving slavery and growing in a sense of freedom, in order to be a people of a Nation that will now serve a new Master, HKB"H

Because Hashem has Aharon strike the Nile (into blood) which is the source of the nourishment to the abundance of produce they were so proud of [and that the newly freed people of the Nation in the making longed for, the leeks, onions, garlic] , and now lies in utter devastation. 

Cognitive Dissonance: AZZUS in Your Face

Rectification of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - the rectification of personal experience

I just finished my Tu BiShevat seder and thanked Hashem for the beautiful fruits of the field, and for the Trees that at one time were actually also edible. We Jews thank Hashem, the Creator of the World, in all His Majesty, for all His creations.

But, then I hear on my favorite Talk Radio program, the following:

Australia targeted for . . .

'Forest Fire' jihad?

AUSTRALIA has been singled out as a target for "forest jihad" by a group of Islamic extremists urging Muslims to deliberately light bushfires as a weapon of terror.

US intelligence channels earlier this year identified a website calling on Muslims in Australia, the US, Europe and Russia to "start forest fires", claiming "scholars have justified chopping down and burning the infidels' forests when they do the same to our lands".
The entire township of Marysville has been destroyed by fire. All buildings have been burnt to the ground except for one. The Cumberland Resort and Villa Day Spa has been utterly destroyed and Ann, the owner, lost her father in the fire. The people there have been evacuated to Alexandra and other areas, and are basically homeless. I am deeply saddened by this sudden tragedy… May Hashem help the poor victims of the fire."
[ macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/5487/53/ and on http://www.vosizneias.com/27092/2009/02/08/melbourne-at-australias-worst-ever-bushfire-outreak-jewish-community-reacts/ ]

AND THEN I READ ABOUT:

Fire at S.anta Barbara Chabad

A fire ripped through parts of the Chabad House at University of California at S. Barbara, leaving it with extensive damage. According to Capt. Eli Iskow of the Santa Barbara Fire Dept., the fire began at noon in a bedroom at the new UCSB Chabad House run by Rabbi Mendel and Rochel Loschak. [http://www.collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=2099]

We need to storm the Shomayim 

with our own fire, the fire of Tefillah, 

and beg Hashem to bring the scales of justice against those who would wreak hate and destruction on innocent people.

Rosh Hashana L'elanos

Today we Bless the Trees

for a Good Year 

and for a Beautiful Esrog for Succot

Mahane Yehuda

Yerushalayim

and one of the best places to buy your fruits, veggies,

and dried fruits for Tu B'Shevat is Mahane Yehuda in Yerushalayim

Pictures are courtesy of  

esrogworld.com, 

freshelectron & flicker, 

and google images.

Thank You!

Shabbos Shira ... Shabbos Beshalach

Who is like You among the powerful, O Lord? Who is like You, powerful in the holy place? Too awesome for praises, performing wonders!

Courtesy of Rabbi Lazer Brody Shlit"a 

as can be viewed on koshertube.com

More Miracles ...

Hodu LASHEM Ki Tov Ki LeOlam Chasdo

Ein Od Milvado

This has not been verified, but nevertheless ...

Look what I found on 

http://www.thecooljew.net/2009/02/why-are-you-not-dancing.html

Why are you [we] not dancing?

Apparently Rabbi Holtzberg h.y.d. , the shliach in Mumbai India, came to his uncle in a dream and told him why aren't you dancing in the streets?   Since all the signs of Moshiach are here, you should be dancing in the streets!!!

And this came from:

"this is what i heard from a friend.

time to start dancing! not so easy to dance when everyone's sleeping huh?"

Posted by david chaim" at

 Dancing