... not a secular burden but a religious duty.

Torah Study And The Defense Of Israel

By: Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel in the Jewish Press
Published: March 20th, 2014
Latest update: March 21st, 2014

I am a platoon sergeant in the IDF. I am a religious Jew. I am a platoon sergeant in the IDF because I am a religious Jew.

Recently, hundreds of thousands of haredim gathered in Jerusalem to protest the idea that they should be drafted into the army like every other Jewish citizen of Israel. This, they claim, is the Torah law and the will of God.

It is nearly impossible to find a precedent in all of Tanach, Talmud or Jewish history where Jews did not go out to defend their country together. There is not one time when Jews were exempt from fighting alongside their brothers because they were learning Torah.

Joshua, the spiritual leader and commander of the first Jewish army in the land of Israel, was commanded by God that “the Torah shall not depart from your mouth day and night.” In the haredi paradigm, we should expect to read about the houses of study Joshua established. Instead, for the next seven years Joshua went out to battle with all his people.

Ironically, that passage in the first chapter in the book of Joshua is the primary textual source for the commandment to learn Torah.

King David, the author of so many of our treasured prayers, also went out to battle. With a Torah scroll by his side he led his men in war and toward peace. The Maccabees were priests in the Holy Temple. Matityahu was the high priest and his son Judah a priest as well. Both led the military revolt against the Greek empire. Later, Rabbi Akiva led his students to war under Bar Kochba against the Roman occupation in Israel.

For those who can’t find value in the Jewish state and therefore refuse to defend it (or to even thank God for its existence on Yom Ha’atzmaut), a religious re-education is in order. There has never been more Torah study in the land of Israel in all our history than there is today. More synagogues, mikvehs, yeshivas and seminaries have been built by the modern state of Israel than ever before. In quantifiable numbers, the amount of people learning Torah in our modern state dwarfs anything that King David, King Solomon, Ezra, Nehemiah, the Hasmoneans and Rabbi Akiva ever produced.

Outside of Israel, the greatest yeshivas like Volozhin and Lublin had no more than 300 students. Even the legendary institutions of Sura and Pumpedita had approximately 1,000 students. Just the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of Torah students in Israel to protest is reason enough to celebrate the country.

Only the modern state of Israel with a trained military could have transformed our shattered and devastated people after the Holocaust into a new spiritual empire. While it is forbidden to rely on miracles, we live as a free people again today because of our brave, dedicated soldiers. Only a few decades ago Jews wore a different kind of uniform – one with stripes and a yellow star.

In this sense, the popular demand “to share the burden” creates the wrong discourse and misses the heart of what it means to be a Jew in our country. Serving in the first unified Jewish army in the Land of Israel since the times of King David is not a burden; it is a privilege, an honor, and a miracle. It is unconscionable for a religious Jew living in the Promised Land, connected to his heritage and his history, not to want to serve in the army.

Although the ultimate Jewish vision aspires to no army, no soldiers and no weapons of war, the story of the modern Jewish army is the next chapter in the ongoing saga of Jewish history.

Israel Eldad articulates this point in his book The Jewish Revolution. “Some time in 1953,” he writes, “a remarkable series of ancient letters was discovered in the Judean desert. These were the letter of the last commander of Judea, Simon Bar Kochba, the leader of the last great revolt against the Romans…. The letters, addressed to commanders in various theaters of operation, were personally signed by him. Now they are on display at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

“This by itself is an outstanding archeological discovery. But it is not the most miraculous part of the story. The true miracle lies in the fact that the person who discovered the letters of the last Jewish commander was the well-known archeologist, General Yigael Yadin, effectively the first commander of the new Jewish army.

“For 1,820 years Bar Kochba’s letters lay hidden in the Judean desert, in clay pots where they were preserved for some unknown date in the future.… They were waiting until they reached their final destination. The letters of Bar Kochba, the last commander of the Jewish army, thus reached the first commander of the new Jewish army after 1,820 years as if by personal delivery….”

What Eldad does not discuss is what Bar Kochba wrote and how relevant his message is today. He ordered his men to deliver lulavs and etrogs to his soldiers in the battlefield. It was the holiday of Sukkot and his Torah-observant troops wanted to serve God while they served in His army.

A call to us from the days of Rabbi Akiva to never forget that serving in the Jewish army is not a secular burden but a religious duty.

A Torah Way of (Honest) Living ...

My sentiments precisely:

"This past Motzai Shabbos, Rav Aharon Feldman of Ner Israel flew to Israel specially to address the Anglo community of Ramat Beit Shemesh. He said that the municipal elections taking place tomorrow present a unique opportunity. We can make Beit Shemesh into a Torah City. And we must do so.

I agree.

I want to live in a Torah city. The first of the Aseres HaDibros is about loyalty to God. I want a mayor who fears God, not man. I want a mayor who is not intimidated by violent people who terrorize other residents of the town, who will take a firm stand against them, and who will not campaign in a way that encourages verbal and physical violence. I want a mayor who is honest, not one who states blatant lies to the frum press.

I want to live in a Torah city. The prerequisite for Torah is acting properly with regard to other human beings - derech eretz kadmah leTorah. I want a mayor whose campaigners act with derech eretz towards others, not one whose campaigners refer to their opponents with Amalek and Nazi terminology and imagery. I want a mayor who displays honor and respect for the state that protects him and provides him with an office, not one who proudly and disrespectfully declares that he is not a Zionist.

I want to live in a Torah city. And Chazal say, Im ein kemach, ain Torah. Torah cannot survive without material support. Shuls and yeshivos and schools and chesed organizations need buildings and municipal aid. I want a mayor who is trained and qualified in professional management, who will attract residents that pay taxes and contribute economically, who has a good reputation with the rest of Israel that will attract national support, who gives the city a good name internationally that will attract investment from abroad. I don't want an incompetent mayor that just stuffs people into the city without proper infrastructure, or who is associated with people that make a chillul Hashem.

I want to live in a Torah city. Torah is embodied in Torah scholars. I want a mayor who is associated with rabbonim that honor the Torah that they embody - rabbonim that act with love and respect and care towards everyone in the city, not rabbonim who describe their opponents as animals and lacking sechel and who physically assault rabbis who disagree with them and who relentlessly slander their opponents.

I want to live in a Torah City. The Rishonim and the Shulchan Aruch state that a person should work for a living (Orach Chaim 156; Yoreh De'ah 246:22), because Torah without work leads to laziness, sin and theft. While I will tolerate those who disregard this ruling based upon a poisonous extrapolation of a hora'as sha'ah beyond the circumstances in which it was enacted, I do not want this perversion of halachah to take over and define the city.

I want to live in a Torah city. Chazal say that a father is obligated to teach his son a trade. I want a mayor and a city that encourages schools that fulfill Chazal's dictates, not a mayor associated with those who disregard Chazal and who strongly oppose schools that teach children the knowledge, skills and inclination to work for a living.

I want to live in Torah city. I want to live in a city that lives Torah, not that just learns it. I want to live in a city that brings glory to Torah, not disgrace...."


As read on 'Rationalist Judaism' blog.

Golus vs Geulah

A very interesting perspective: Golus vs Geulah


"If one sees Judaism from a geulah perspective things are quite different.

Suddenly there are all sorts of questions that need to be asked that either haven't been asked
in 1900 years or have never been asked at all. 

What is the Torah approach to a modern national economy?  How does shemitah get properly observed in today's agricultural scene?  What should the proper structure of the army be and what should the roles of men and women be within it?  What  is the Torah approach to foreign relations and international trades?  The environment?  Natural resource extraction?  For people with strong intellects and great imaginations this is an amazing area to bring the halacha into and see what the Torah has to say about the issues.  Such people, unfortunately, seem to be in short supply.

What we have called Judaism for the last 1900 years is a truncated form of true Torah observance which, in addition to personal and community rituals along with a limited set of civil rules, lacks any truly national character.  True Judaism is based on such a character, one in which Jews are not coreligionists but fellow citizens participating in a joint national project."

Is There a Message Here For Haredim ... In Israel?

Haredim receive draft notices

Ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students in Kiev and other Ukrainian cities received draft notices to report to the Ukrainian army draft center, according to a report in Maariv.

Yeshiva students from multiple yeshivas in Kiev, including Chabad students, were told to report to the draft center, in response to the increasing tensions with Russia. Unlike in the IDF, Jewish soldiers in the Ukrainian army cannot get kosher food, cannot have beards, and must work on Shabbat – which is they day they clean the base.

Going to prison for doing a mitzvah?

Going to prison for doing a mitzvah?


"Have you heard the news? The United States Government has sentenced a number of Jews to prison for the crime of giving charity. Yup, that's right. These people gave money to charity, and because of this, they were sentenced to prison. This has happened to lots and lots of Jews. You might even have heard of some of them - Bernie Madoff, associates of the Spinka Rebbe, etc.

"Of course, this is a nonsensical way of describing the situation. Bernie Madoff was not sentenced to prison because of what he did with his money. He was imprisoned because of what he didn't do with his money, i.e. to give it to the investors who it belonged to. People who are punished for tax evasion are not being punished for spending their money on houses and cars - they are being punished for not giving their money to the government.

"This is all obvious, right? Yet for some inexplicable reason, the same mistake in describing the current situation in Israel vis-a-vis charedim and army is being committed by a wide range of people.

"I'm not talking about whether it is innately right or wrong, fair or unfair to other Israelis, or strategically wise or unwise to punish charedi draft-dodgers with prison. But in order to have any meaningful discussion about it, we have to describe the situation accurately.

"Nobody is being "sent to prison for learning Torah." They are being sent to prison for avoiding army service. They are not going to prison because of what they are doing with their time; they are going to prison because of what they aren't doing with their time. It's true that they are learning Torah while not being in the army, but it is inaccurate and inappropriately inflammatory to describe this as the reason for their going to prison."

Israli Sovereignty must be applied

Knesset Told: Settlements are Legal
Dr. Harel Arnon explains Judea and Samaria is not 'occupied territory' in the legal sense.

"If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth,” said Arnon. “One of the biggest lies, which is feeding the wild incitement campaign that Israel has been dealing with over the last few years, is that Israel is unlawfully occupying Judea and Samaria, and that the presence of the settlements and of Israelis in Judea and Samaria is a violation of international law. I want to confront and refute the accusation that Israel is unlawfully occupying Judea and Samaria."

"Kerry is not Messiah; He is the Enemy"

'Kerry is not Messiah; He is the Enemy'

Attorney Yoram Sheftel, in interview with Arutz Sheva, fires back at US claims that they have Israel's security interests at heart.

Yoram Sheftel
Flash90
Attorney Yoram Sheftel called US Secretary of State John Kerry "the enemy" of Israel in a weekly interview with Arutz Sheva on Saturday night, relating to the clash last week between Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and the US State Department.

"Even if Ya'alon did not do anything else in his life but say what he did, we will remember him for generations to come," Sheftel stated.

"Even though he made the statements in private messages to Yediot Aharonot, and they crossed all the lines to use it to harm the State of Israel, what [Ya'alon] said was true - and even articulated well," Sheftel claimed.

Ya'alon was quoted as saying that "Secretary of State John Kerry – who came here very determined, and operates based upon an unfathomable obsession and a messianic feeling – cannot teach me anything about the Palestinians."

"I live and breathe the conflict with the Palestinians, I know what they think, what they want and what they really mean," he continued. "The American security plan that was presented to us is not worth the paper it was written on.”"

The US responded with shock Tuesday, calling the remarks "offensive" and "inappropriate." Ya'alon responded Tuesday to the US with more criticism, stating that the US knows that the source of instability in the Middle East is not the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Some things cannot be solved in one [day]," Ya'alon stated, addressing US efforts. "Note that we still we have not solved all the problems of medicine and mathematics; it is not like we don't have special challenges also facing us." He called on Israel "not to panic and give in to these [statements] and other intimidation, because this ( standing up for oneself) is the only way to protect the security of Israel."

Ya'alon later apologized for the remarks, stating that he had no intention of "offending" Kerry. The apology itself has garnered a backlash, as many see the statements as yet another bow to US pressure.

Kerry: Representing the Arab world's interests - not Israel's

On Saturday night, Sheftel also said to Arutz Sheva that Israel is not conducting talks with the Palestinian Authority, but with the Americans, who are working on behalf of the Arab world.

"They want to give the Land of Israel over to the enemy, they want us to withdraw from our communities [in Judea and Samaria] and from the Jordan Valley, they want us to retreat to '1967 lines,' and give us security arrangements that don't provide security," he continued. "These are the Arab world's stances on the issues, as presented by Kerry - making him into an enemy, as he represents the very people who want to destroy us."

"He tells us constantly that the US is making Israel's security a 'top priority' - then tells us, despite knowing what happened in Gaza [with the Disengagement], to withdraw from the Jordan Valley, even militarily, and has the audacity to call that 'security'," Sheftel elaborated.

"Israel withdrawing from the Jordan Valley would mean that missiles, rockets, and mortar shells would be raining down on Israeli communities [in Judea and Samaria] in a short time," Sheftel fired, "and no one knows it better than Kerry."


"Kerry keeps saying that both sides will have to make the painful decisions - what painful decisions will Abbas have to make?"

H

Just "Who?" or "What" is Illegitimate?

Kerry:  US Sees Jewish Judea and Samaria as 'Illegitimate'

Mr Kerry, you cannot call my Homeland, Eretz Yisrael, the Land that G-d promised to Am Yisrael, anything but legitimate!

The President of the United States is the illegitimate one!

Guilty! Guilty! Mankind is Guilty!

Sardines are gone from the Pacific.

Sea captains report seeing no life for vast stretches in the oceans that were once teeming with life.

Fish, birds and aquatic mammals are dying at a fast clip and worst of all cancer rates, especially for children in Japan, are soaring out of control.

California is getting more radiation than the water at Fukushima.

Yet, this news is on the back pages of newspapers, or found in blurbs here and there hidden from mainstream view because no one wants to face the cold hard truth of why the world is in the state it is in.

Man is responsible for it all.

Man is responsible for it all.

Man is responsible for it all.

Man is responsible for it all.

Man is responsible for it all.

Lemon Lime Moon

WORLD are you ready?

Do you read about this in your daily?

Does it even enter your consciousness?

Are you at all worried ... to raise a ruckus?

The whole world is worried about little Eretz Yisrael.

They are consumed (and can't sleep at night) because of how badly (sic) Israel treats the Palestinians (by shipping to them truckloads of fruits and vegetables, utilities, medicine, concrete), that they have to make proclamations to their Press for the world to read!

Meanwhile

FUKUSHIMA:  710 billion becquerels of radioactive materials are pouring out into the world's atmosphere, the air you breathe, giving Fukushima the well deserved nickname of "the disaster that never ends." While the self satisfied world today ignores this and believes their god of politics can solve all ills, things are deteriorating more and more rapidly all the time.

FUKUSHIMA is killing every day while stewardship of the land and its inhabitants is laughed at by most. The oceans are dying and this is huge my friends, simply huge.

Does anyone see 

Heavenly Justice at work here?

The Truth of Our Sages ... And the Crazy Israelis

This is one of those "Only in Israel" convoluted tales:

"In the words of the immortal Rabbi Elazar (Midrash Tanchuma on parshat Metzora): 'Whomever becomes merciful to the cruel ones, eventually becomes cruel to the merciful ones.'  "

"On the one hand Israeli cops raid a Jewish man’s home and tase the daylights out of him for the sin of residing with his family, and on the other an Arab who conspired with devoted Jew killers gets a slap on the wrist."

Read on

"Veteran ‘Egged’ Bus Driver Was Hezbollah Agent. Mashara bought a laptop, installed an encryption program, opened a Facebook account and waited for Hezbollah to contact him."

This is so typical of some Israeli men;  when they luv ya, they'll do anything for ya! 

Chessed gone amuk!

They Have Raised the Nazi Flag Once too Often

We are definitely feeling the upsurge in Palestinian attacks that bear the fervor of the nazis. 

Haven't we seen them raising the nazi flags in defiance? Cutting off a frum Jew's peyah, or both peyos, is reminiscent of nazi tactics. They believe that through terror and murder they will get rid of the Jews/Israelis. Not one of the murderous nations in our history succeeded in erasing the Jew from the world. The G-d of the world and history did not and will not let that happen. We Jews were promised that when the time was right we would return to OUR LAND and then no one would be able to chase us out ever again.

Even an erev Rav contingent acting as a government with its erev rav supporters will not be able to give OUR LAND away. If it takes an earthquake to shake up the situation, then so be it. We need strong Jews who stand up for and fight for our sovereignty in OUR LAND.

The fight for Yerushalayim is now being fought, and we need a mayor who stands up for OUR Holy Makom on the Hill and the unification of Jerusalem.

We need a government that protects its people from marauders, murderers, terrorists and enemies out to kill as many Jews as possible, in any way possible.

We need brave and dedicated members of knesset willing to speak out in defense of our sovereignty and once and for all take the necessary steps to secure all of OUR LAND ... And really mean it ... Not just mouthing cleaver oratorical skills to foreign senators and representatives. They can detect hot air blowing their way.

We have read in today's papers and online that

"There has been a surge in serious terror attacks in recent weeks."

A tractor attack was thwarted near Jerusalem on Thursday evening. In that attempted attack, a terrorist aged about 30 broke into an IDF base at A-Ram, north of the capital, driving a tractor. Soldiers fired on him and killed him.

On the previous week, PA Arab terrorists broke into the Jordan Valley home of Sraya Ofer, a retired IDF colonel, and killed him using iron bars and axes.

A week earlier, a terrorist infiltrated the Binyamin region community of Psagot, shooting nine-year-old Noam Glick at close range and then fleeing.

The IDF continues to investigate the attack. Two brothers from the Palestinian Authority town of El-Bireh have reportedly been arrested as suspects.

On September 22, IDF soldier Gal (Gavriel) Kobi was killed by a terrorist sniper in Hevron.

Several days before this attack, IDF soldier Tomer Hazan was kidnapped and murdered by a PA Arab terrorist with whom he had worked in a restaurant in Bat Yam. The terrorist lured Hazan to Samaria, where he murdered him and disposed of his body. "


In Iran they hang people for less crimes. In Russia they end up in jail or somewhere beyond the stratosphere.

Why does Israel's establishment release prisoners as a 'gesture' of 'good will'?

Why isn't there a punishment of execution for terrorists bent on murder, who take the lives of our precious Jewish neshomas?

An Example of What Made America Great as a Nation ...

This reminds me of the tremendous achdus and caring of ordinary Americans after 9/11

"Army Ranger’s salute ‘seen around the world’

"An Army Ranger wife, Taylor Hargis knew the kind of man she married. But when she posted a photo of her husband on Facebook, it went viral — and the world learned about Rangers, too.

"The photo shows Cpl. Josh Hargis lying on a hospital bed in Afghanistan with his eyes shut and tubes sticking out all over his body. But the most telling thing it shows is this Ranger struggling to raise his hand to ­salute his commander, when everyone in the room thought him unconscious.

"Cpl. Hargis was wounded this month during a Ranger operation aimed at catching a high-value terrorist target in Afghanistan. When the troops arrived at a home, a man came out and lifted his shirt to show the Rangers he wasn’t wearing a suicide vest. When several Rangers came forward, a woman with a suicide vest exited the house and blew herself up. Thirteen other improvised devices exploded, killing four of our people and injuring more."

Full article at the New York Post. This paper wrote the article "to salute Cpl. Hargis — and all those who put their lives on the line to keep us safe at home."

One commentator had this to say: The whole of Congress - Democrats, Republicans, Senators, Representatives - every last one of them ALL TOGETHER - PLUS this President and his entire Cabinet - have not the integrity, the valor, the courage, the love of country, that Cpl. Josh Hargis has all by himself. RANGERS LEAD THE WAY!!

To me it is so sad to see these good men sacrificing their lives, and their families still holding to the principles that once made America a great nation. However, the sadness is in witnessing the disintegration of values and morality, slowing destroying the goodness that was America.


See picture and the article on Glenn Beck's The Blaze THE WOUNDED RANGER’S SALUTE DURING A PURPLE HEART CEREMONY THAT LEFT THE ROOM WEEPING

(just a thought, could he be Jewish?)

Missionary Group Ensnaring Neshomas in Binyan Clal

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND GAVE THE 
KASHRUS CERTIFICATE 

TO A MISSIONARY GROUP CAFE

Right in the middle of Jerusalem, near the Agrippas Shuk, Maccabi Health Center, and myriad shoppers along Rehov Yafo, the certified 'Kosher' Cafe Porta tries to ensnare Jewish neshomas into their foreign belief system.


"When Yad L'Achim found out, they reported it to the Kashrut division of Jerusalem’s Religious Authority. The Kashrut division sent its inspectors to check on the report and were taken by surprise when the owners gave missionary material, including a New Testament, to the Kashrut supervisor ...." Jewish Press.


NOTE: The Clal building is the headquarters of the King of Kings Messianic group. They have all their events in the Pavilion, downstairs on the P1 level of the building...  (JPress commentor)

Just a while ago father and daughter attorneys were gunned down in Binyan Clal. What else is going on inside that cavernous building?

FUKUSHIMA ... again

"Typhoon Wipha will bring heavy rain, strong winds, and heavy surf to Japan today. Tokyo (population: 9 million) and the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant are both vulnerable."

Another Tragedy in the Making

"As of October 15 at 9Z (or 5 a.m. EST), the Joint Typhoon Warning Center reports that Typhoon Wipha contains 80-knot winds, which is estimated around 90 miles per hour (mph) or 148 kilometers per hour (kph). The storm is accelerating to the northeast at 17 knots."

End of Shiva for Maran ztz"l

The End of the Shiva for Maran zt”l*

Today is the seventh day of mourning for Maran zt”l which marks the conclusion of the Shiva period. Let us therefore eulogize him as best we can.

Our crown has fallen, woe unto us for we have sinned! 

Our hearts are broken and our eyes have been dimmed.

In the year 5762, with the passing of “the true genius, crown glory of Israel, the great light of the Kingdom of the Talmud and Poskim, the light of Israel, the right pillar, the mighty hammer, an individual unique to the generation, Hagaon Harav Chaim Kreiswirth zt”l” (an excerpt from Maran’s very own eulogy for the Rav), Chief Rabbi of Antwerp, Belgium, Maran Harav Ovadia Yosef zt”l was thrown into great mourning. Maran zt”l was a dear friend of this great sage and Maran would constantly say that the world did not really know who Hagaon Harav Chaim zt”l really was. According to Maran’s words, this was a Torah personality that could not be matched.


When Maran zt”l rose to eulogize this giant of Torah, he began by asking, what is this tumult all about? Our Sages tell us (Kiddushin 72b) that “a righteous individual does not depart from this world until another man as righteous as him is created, as the verse states, ‘The sun rises and the sun sets’-before the sun of Moshe set, the sun of Yehoshua rose. Before the sun of Yehoshua set, the sun of Otniel ben Kenaz rose. Before the sun of Eli set, the sun of Shmuel Ha’Navi rose.” This should be our comfort, for another person as righteous as the deceased has surely been born. If so, why do we mourn the loss of the great rabbi so much?


Maran zt”l explained in the name of the commentators that even so, not necessarily will the righteous man just created be as great in Torah as the deceased righteous man, as the Gemara (Baba Batra 75a) states regarding Yehoshua, “the elders of that generation would say, ‘The face of Moshe shined like the sun and the face of Yehoshua shined like the moon.’” This is because the generations become progressively weaker as time goes on and the leader is relative to the generation.


Likewise, we mourn today along with Zion and the nation of Israel, for Hashem has sent us a great redeemer, Maran zt”l, who saved Sephardic Jewry from destruction and raised the glory of Halacha when it was almost completely forgotten from the Jewish nation. This man was the pillar of Torah, kindness, and prayer. He was the leader of the generation in so many ways: In his humility, in his holiness, in his discourses, in his halachic rulings, and in his understanding. Now, we have lost Maran zt”l and as downtrodden as we are, we have no choice but to gather together the remaining Torah sages of our generation and only together will they be able to continue the tradition which Maran pioneered on his own.


Many times when speaking with Maran zt”l, we were able to catch a glimpse of his greatness in Kabbalah, which was truly far more advanced than any of the greatest Mekubalim in our generation who have not reached Maran’s level, just as no Torah scholars have reached his level of Torah knowledge in the revealed portion of the Torah.


Besides for Maran’s greatness in Torah, he would perform loving-kindness with all his heart. Maran’s right-hand man, our dear friend Rabbi Tzvi Hakak, recounts that many times, serious questions in Halacha were sent to Maran regarding Agunot (women whose husbands have gone missing and are “tied down” to their husbands and are forbidden to remarry) and children born from forbidden unions (who are prohibited from marrying regular members of the Jewish nation) and Maran told him to place these questions on the desk in his bedroom. At 2:00 AM, Maran zt”l would go to sleep. When Rabbi Hakak would arrive at Maran’s home at 6:00 AM, Maran would already be sitting and learning and would tell him to send the response to the relevant parties immediately, even before morning prayers. Everyone would be flabbergasted, when did Maran find the time to write this lengthy and tedious response?! He only went to sleep four hours before…


We cannot possibly adequately eulogize Maran zt”l, for every single one of his character traits can fill volumes. His tremendous greatness was unfathomable, so much so that two of the greatest Mekubalim of the previous generation, Hagaon Harav Yisrael Abuchatzera zt”l (the “Baba Sali”) and Hagaon Harav Mordechai Sharabi zt”l, attested that Maran’s soul was kept from the times of the Geonim (period preceding that of the Rishonim) and Hashem told Maran’s soul, “Wait until your time comes. During a generation when heresy will spread all over the world, it will be your time to save Israel.”


Indeed, it is almost non-existent for a child of six or seven years old to decide to dedicate his life to Torah study. However, when Maran zt”l was all but a young lad, he would sit and learn Torah, Prophets, and Scriptures for hours on end. By the age of ten, Maran had already written unbelieveable novel Torah thoughts (see the biography on Maran, “Abir Ha’Ro’im,” for some incredible pictures of Maran’s handwritten Torah essays when he was a child). At the age of fourteen, he had already mastered the entire Talmud. At the age of twenty-five, he was already greater in Torah knowledge than any Torah scholars living among us today. Maran was a supernatural genius in Torah. Who can replace him?


When contemplateing all of Maran’s accomplishments, we are reminded of Rabbi Chiya about whom the Gemara (Ketubot 103b): “Rabbi Chiya said: I prevented Torah from being forgotten from the Jewish nation, for I planted flax seeds and from the flax that grew, I wove nets and trapped deer. I fed the meat to hungry orphans and I processed the hides to produce parchment and on that parchment I wrote the five books of the Torah and the six orders of the Mishnah. About me did Rabbi Yehuda Ha’Nassi exclaim, ‘How great are the actions of Chiya!’”


Similarly, we exclaim, “How great are the actions of Rabbeinu Ovadia!” With all of his greatness and genius in Torah, he would be able to stand before laymen and speak to them in a language they understood and enjoyed through parables and anecdotes. He would speak about the deepest segments of the Talmud with the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Hagaon Harav Tzvi Pesach Frank zt”l and then hurry off to deliver a Torah lecture to simpletons. He was unable to open a Sephardic Yeshiva because there were no Sephardic Yeshiva boys to learn in it. However, he did not give up; he was relentless. He began by teaching regular working men Torah daily until their children grew up; he troubled himself to place their boys into Talmudei Torah and Yeshivot and girls into Bet Yaakovs. He likewise taught the children Torah himself until many of them flourished into outstanding Torah scholars. In this way, an entire generation that was doomed to straying from Hashem’s path became completely G-d-fearing and Torah observant. Maran indeed “built up Jerusalem with mercy,” for all Sephardic Torah scholars and many Ashkenazi sages who are involved in rendering halachic rulings are all in Maran’s merit. Praiseworthy is the generation which had the merit of being led by Maran.


The entire Jewish nation felt a great void upon Maran zt”l’s passing and the reason for this could very well be because Maran’s soul was tantamount to that of Moshe Rabbeinu whose soul was comprised of all of the souls of the Jewish nation. Thus, anyone with a soul within him felt a great lacking with the passing of Maran zt”l.


May Hashem have mercy on us, the remaining ember of the Jewish nation, and not let us be like a flock of sheep without a Shepard. May Maran act as a righteous defending angel on our behalf, let him not leave us or forsake us. May his blessings to the entire nation of Israel, whom he loved deeply like a father loves his child and whom he comforted like a mother comforts her child, come to fruition, for indeed, Maran was dedicated to the collective needs of the entire nation with every fiber of his being. May Hashem finally redeem us eternally and may we soon merit witnessing the Resurrection of the Dead at which point Maran zt”l will lead us and teach us once again, Amen.

*From Halacha Yomit

Russian Prediction From 2008

After reading Tomer Devorah's post, Is America Headed For a Coup?, wherein it says "It’s not just Texas that wants out of the Union. Georgia, Florida and Louisiana also bolstered enough votes on “We The People” to merit a response from the Obama administration.

Other states vying to break ties:

Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, Arizona, Missouri, Mississippi, Kentucky, Oklahoma, New York, Oregon, New Jersey, Montana, Georgia, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, California, Nevada, Ohio, Delaware, Wyoming, Utah, Alaska, Kansas, Nebraska, West Virginia, South Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, Illinois, New Hampshire and Idaho. That leaves only 10 states who aren’t considering secession or who haven’t yet managed to raise enough votes to get on the site.

Does anyone remember the Russian Professor, 

IGOR PANARIN, 
and his prediction:

MOSCOW -- For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously. Now he's found an eager audience: Russian state media.

If the US does break up into, 
whatever you might call it, maybe Igor's prediction just might realize. 
Could it be that he had connections 
at a very high level in the American Govt. working to enable this:

In recent weeks, he's been interviewed as much as twice a day about his predictions. "It's a record," says Prof. Panarin. "But I think the attention is going to grow even stronger."

Prof. Panarin, 50 years old, is not a fringe figure. A former KGB analyst, he is dean of the Russian Foreign Ministry's academy for future diplomats. He is invited to Kremlin receptions, lectures students, publishes books, and appears in the media as an expert on U.S.-Russia relations.

But it's his bleak forecast for the U.S. that is music to the ears of the Kremlin, which in recent years has blamed Washington for everything from instability in the Middle East to the global financial crisis. Mr. Panarin's views also fit neatly with the Kremlin's narrative that Russia is returning to its rightful place on the world stage after the weakness of the 1990s, when many feared that the country would go economically and politically bankrupt and break into separate territories.

A polite and cheerful man with a buzz cut, Mr. Panarin insists he does not dislike Americans. But he warns that the outlook for them is dire.

"There's a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur," he says. "One could rejoice in that process," he adds, poker-faced. "But if we're talking reasonably, it's not the best scenario -- for Russia." Though Russia would become more powerful on the global stage, he says, its economy would suffer because it currently depends heavily on the dollar and on trade with the U.S.

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, [the dates are off track but the plan might not be] he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces -- with Alaska reverting to Russian control. WSJ

Boycott Israel ...................and everyone else!

Saw this mentioned on End of Days blog, which was seen on IsraellyCool and it really is spot on:

BD"E

Baruch Dayan HaEmes

Rav Ovadia Yosef ZatZal

3 Cheshvan 5774

A Massive Lavaya is expected, From Har Nof, Yeshivat Porat Yosef (Yosef ben Matityahu St), to Sanhedria Jerusalem Cemetery. A map is in one of the links below.

Some links of interest:

Kosel Rav Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz

Boruch Dayan Emmes

Lavaya with Map

Gedolei HaDor Shlit"A attending

PHOTO ESSAY: Collection of Photos Of Hagon Chacham Ovadia Yosef ZATZAL

Shas Spiritual Leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ZT'L

Photos of Mourners' Reactions

Photo from Vosizneias







A very sad day.

A Hornet's Deadly Sting ...

An Asian hornet (vespa mandarinia) eats a honeybee. The sting of the highly venomous giant hornet, which measures about the size of a human thumb, can dissolve human tissue and cause kidney failure. Photograph: Scott Camazine



Over the past three months alone, hornets have killed 41 people and injured a further 1,675. Ankang, a municipality in the province's south, appears to be the epicentre of the scourge. While hornets infest its mountainous rural areas every year – 36 residents were stung to death between 2002 and 2005 – locals and municipal officials say this year is tantamount to an epidemic, the worst they have ever seen. More at The Guardian