When HaShem Showed Moshe First The New Moon

Ironic thing on the Torah - and its message
An interesting calendar irony.
By Phil Chernofsky ArutzSheva

As we've explained in the past, the actual time of a lunation (that's what it's called in English) varies from month to month. This is so because the distances between Earth and Moon, and Earth- Moon and Sun vary, and those differences affect the velocity of Earth and Moon in their orbits, thereby affecting the timing.

Don't worry if you didn't follow that, just know that the average molad deviates from the actual molad up to half a day or more on either side, earlier or later.

Be clear: Without a Sanhedrin, our calendar is based on the average calculations. The actual molad (which we include in the Word of the Month box for every M'vorchim) is of academic interest only. THAT IS, until the Sanhed- returns to Lishkat HaGazit. Then, IYH may it be soon in our time, the average molad will not be used, and the actual molad will be used by the Sanhedrin (with other factors) to determine whether the Moon will be visible or not on the night following the 29th of a month. We'll spare you futher details at this point.

Now for the irony... and its message.

When G-d gave us (via Moshe and Aharon) the mitzva of HaChodesh Hazeh Lachem, His intention (so to speak) was that months should begin from the beginning of the Moon's cycle - i.e. from when the Moon is between the Earth and Sun and cannot be seen. From there, in the course of the month, the Moon goes through its phases, waxing until Full Moon and then waning until it once again it cannot be seen.

The problem, as Moshe pointed out to G-d (so to speak), is that if LACHEM means that G-d was giving over to us the sanctification of the month, we would not be able to see the beginning of the Moon's cycle and would not be able to sanctify it properly.

G-d's response to Moshe was to agree to wait for a number of hours until the Moon would be visible to people, and then they (we) would be able to testify to the first visibility of the lunar crescent and the Sanhedrin would be able to sanctify the month.

This was facilitated by G-d's showing Moshe the form of the first visibility of the Moon and saying to him - KAZEH R'EI V'KADEISH, when you see it like this, sanctify (the day as Rosh Chodesh).

Now go back to our current calendar. Notice that the molad (both average and actual) of Nisan occurs on Shabbat, which is Rosh Chodesh Nisan. Exactly as G-d had planned - EXCEPT for one important thing - having Rosh Chodesh on the day of the molad (or shortly after it) happens, and can only happen, when we are not involved 'hands on' with the process. Without a Sanhedrin, all we do is the numbers. We calculate and we determine the calendar by the formula passed down to us by a Sanhedrin of long ago. We are passive. And that's NOT what G-d wants. It is a Plan B brought about by OUR misdeeds that led to the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Exile and Dispersion, and (generations later) to the demise of the Sanhedrin.

The Israel New Moon Society, which practices the process of sighting the L'VANA B'CHIDUSHA, the first visibility of the lunar crescent, sent out an email to its members to look for the Moon on Sunday evening. If we had a Sanhedrin, Rosh Chodesh Nisan would most likely be on Monday - two days later than the originally intended beginning of the month. But that would be fine with HKB"H (so to speak), because it would come along with His preferred Plan A - that which involves the active participation of B'nei Yisrael in the process of Sanctifying Time (as He had done with Shabbat)

So that's the irony. Plan A, HaShem's preference, turns out to be less accurate (except it is not inaccurate because G-d 'changed' the set up), less efficient (clouds can obscure visibility, witnesses can be mistaken in what they thought they saw...) but it fulfills LACHEM.

This is so much HaShem's Will, that He has His Shabbat stand aside so that potential witnesses who think they MIGHT have seen the L'VANA B'CHIDUSHA can travel to Jerusalem on a Friday night in order testify. May we see the restoration of KIDDUSH HACHODESH - Plan A, speedily in out time.

Vayikra – THE ENTIRE PEOPLE SHUDDERED

THE ENTIRE PEOPLE SHUDDERED

By Roy S. Neuberger

My friends, did you ever wonder what Mitzraim was like during the Eser Makkos? 

The sense of danger surrounded you. You felt as if you were in the grip of something totally beyond your control. You were completely powerless, unless you had access to the Power Who controls all. Dvaikus with Hashem is the only lifeline!

Ancient Mitzraim was the center of the world. The Makkos destroyed it and the Children of Israel were freed. 

Today, world systems are near collapse because of a microscopic organism which entered the world from a seafood market in China.

I have often quoted the Malbim on Yechezkel 32:17. He foretells events preceding the advent of Moshiach ben Dovid and predicts a war between Yishmael and Edom, followed by the collapse of their cultures.

The culture of Yishmoel-Edom dominates the world. It is axiomatic that, when Moshiach appears and the Bais Hamikdosh is rebuilt, Yishmoel-Edom will no longer be dominant. One need not imagine every step, but somehow, the world domination of Yishmoel-Edom will end and the worldwide preeminence of Torah, levhavdil, will begin. How will it happen?

I would like to point out that all problems in the world began with unrestrained eating. In Gan Eden, Chava and Adam ate a fruit which was forbidden to them and brought all tzouris into the world. The Torah instructs us, “Lo sasuro acharei levavchem …. Do not explore after your heart and after your eyes….” (Bamidbar 15:39) The Al-Mighty has commanded all nations concerning permitted and forbidden foods.Bnai Noach – all human beings – are prohibited from eating the limbs of a living animal. (Beraishis 9:4) This is relevant to the current world situation. 

Eating restrictions for Am Yisroel reach their highest point during Pesach. Apparently, we need to increase sanctity in order to free ourselves from subjugation to foreign cultures and prepare for the Geula. The eating habits of the nations of the world are at the opposite end of the scale from what is permitted for Am Yisroel, lehavdil. We need to understand this. 

At this moment in history, the nations of the world are in a state of deep rebellion against Hashem. It seems that the Ruler of the Universe wants to free His Children very soon from subjugation to these nations. Hashem told Avraham Avinu that the “fourth generation” of his children would enter Eretz Yisroel “for the iniquity of the Emorite shall not yet be full until then.” (Beraishis 15:16; see also Sotah 9a. Thanks to Rabbi Shaul Geller Shlita”h)

My friends, it may well be that the iniquity of the nations is nearing the level termed “fullness.” It may be that the world moral decline has reached levels which the Ruler of the Universe will not tolerate. When this madreiga is reached, we can expect world-shaking events.

At Har Sinai, “The sound of the Shofar was very powerful and the entire people shuddered.” (Shemos 19:16) At this very moment in history, we are preparing to hear the sound of the Shofar Gadol and witness events which will change the world forever. May this happen soon in our days and may the world be transformed from darkness to light!

*          *          *          *

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

His new book, “Hold On: Surviving the Days Before Moshiach” (Mosaica Press) is available in Jewish bookstores and online.

© Copyright 2020 by Roy S. Neuberger

Tehillim Requests

If you have any Tehillim names of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19, please contact YWN with those names to be added to the list. Do NOT send us names from existing lists, and ONLY send us names you know personally. This is for COVID-19 victims ONLY.

SEND THE NAMES TO COVID19@THEYESHIVAWORLD.COM

Aharon Shaul ben Rachel
Avrohom Aharon HaLevi ben Rasha Roiza
Aharon Yehoshua ben Ettel
Aharon ben Golda
Aharon Tzvi ben Liba Sara
Aharon Yaakov ben Bonia
Aaron Mordechai ben Golda
Asher ben Bracha Sima
Arye ben Chaya Rochel
Avrohom Yosef ben Rochel Leah
Aaron ben Chana
Aharon ben Pessel Leiah
Avrohom ben Malka
Avrohom Eliezer ben Toiba
Avraham Lev ben Sara Maya
Avraham Meir HaKohen ben Aliza
Avrhom Arye ben Tzipora
Avrohom Shmuel ben Rochel
Avraham ben Yehudis
Akiva BenTzion ben Leah Bracha
Avigder Sosson Meir ben Rochel Leah
Avraham Abba ben Gittel
Avrohom Shloima ben Baila
Avichai Yisachar ben Rachel
Alter Yehudah Zvi ben Velke Esther Miriam
Aharon ben Mindel
Arlene Chana bas Leah
Aharon ben Giti
Aharon ben Soro
Abraham ben Chana Rivka
Aryeh Leib ben Chaya Sarah
Avrohom Yekusiel ben Gittel
Aharon ben Rochel
Avraham Fishel Ben Feiga
Avraham Nachman ben Rivka Reizel
Aryeh Zev ben Aidel
Aharon ben Chana Golda
Alexander ben Sora
Aaron Ben Toiba Ettel
Adina bat Pelka
Avraham ben Pesha Faga
Aryeh Leib ben Chaya Sara
Aliza Miriam bas Yocheved
Avraham Ben Esther Malka
Ben Tzion Chaim ben Shayna Necha
Bina bas Chana
Benyamin Shalom ben Aviva
Baruch ben Serach
Boruch Tuvia ben Leah
Binyomin ben Camila
Bracha Basya bas Chaya Rivkah
Baruch ben Tzipporah
Binyamin ben Yehudis
Binyamin Elimilech Ben Yehudis
Boruch Naftali ben Devorah Chava
Chaim Dov ben Kraindel
Chaim Meir ben Fraida Rivka
Chana Leba bas Rivka
Chana Rivka bas Rachel Esther
Chaim Yitzchak ben Frieda Feiga Leah
Chaim Shimon Chanaya Yeshua ben Leah Eida
Chaim Mordechai ben Rochel
Chaim Elozor ben Aidel Chaya Mallah
Chaim Levi ben Chana Priva
Chananya Yom Tov Lipa ben Chana Mindel
Chaya Geetel bas Recha Devorah
Chava Nissel bas Chaya Leeba
Chaim Yeshaya Ben Baila
Chana Reizel bas Breindel
Chaim Moshe ben Ratza
Chaim Moshe ben Perel
Ceti bas Miriam
chaim Shmuel ben Fraida Leah
Chananya Yom Tov ben Pessel Leiah
Chana Nechama bas Figlu Chaya
Chaya Faiga bas Chana Reva
Chana bas Adele
Chaim Yosef Dovid ben Shifra
Chanyanya Yom Tov Lipa ben Esther
Chaim Yeshaya ben Baila
Channa Malka bat Pepi
Chana bas Henneh
Chaim Nisan ben Basya Leah
Chaim Avigdor Ben Leah
Dovid ben Leah Freyda
Dovid Yitzchok ben SHoshana Rus
David ben Sara
Dovid Shlomo Zalman ben Zlata
Daniel ben Sarah
Dominique Messaouda bat Sultana
Dovid ben Chaya Rivka
Daniel Yosef ben Pesha
Dovid ben Feiga
Devorah Bat Irit
Dovid Yitzchok ben Zissel
Dovber ben Liba Raizel
Don Zev ben Pesil Penina
Dovid ben Shoshana
Daniel ben Emily
Dovid ben Zisla Mariasha
Dov ben Blima
Devorah bas Chili
Dovid Mordechai ben Matil Yehudis
Eliezer Yehuda ben Chaya
Esther Roza bas Sara Mindel
Eliezer ben Anela Surah
Elazar Chanoch Yechezkel ben Zahava
Eliezer ben Mohtaram
Esther bat Yamina
Ettel bas Rus Leah
Epharim ben Leah
Eliezer Yehoshua ben Perel Bluma
Esther bat Mazal
Eliezer Nosson Ben Tzirel
Eliyahu Yosef Chaim Yedidya ben Sara Marina
Eliyohu Pinchos ben Miriam
Esther bas Penina
Eluzer ben Anele Sara
Esther Raizel bas Chaya Malka
Ester Sarah bat Divora Feiga
Eliezer ben Shaina Miriam
Eilan Avreich ben Nava
Eliza bas Rivka
Esther bas Penina
Ezriel Dovid ben Shulamis
Eliezer ben Gruna Feiga
Esther bas Sarah
Fraida Rochel bas Rivka Shaindel
Faiga Bas Rivkah
Gershon ben Miriam
Gimpel Mordechai Daniel Ben Sora Ita
Gershon Ben Miriam
Gershon Avrohom ben Miriam Malka
Gittel bas Ruchel
Guta bas Henya Chasha
Gavriel ben Liza Leah
Gershon ben Sarah
Gruna Feiga bas Bluma
Harriet bat Lillian
Ita bas Leah
Jacques ben Alice
Leah bas Miriam
Leah bat Sarah
Moshe Sholom Eliezer ben Shoshana Roiza
Moshe Mordechie Safra ben Frima Rochel
Moshe Eliezer HaLevi ben Esther Tziporah
Moshe Yaakov Yosef ben Rus
Moshe Bentzion ben Rochel Yehudis
Mordechai Elimelech ben Devorah
Michoel ben Dina
Mordechai Dovid ben Leah Pesia
Menachem Mordechai ben Miriam
Moshe ben Rozette
Mordechai Leib ben Miriam
Menashe Dov ben Rasha Riva
Moshe Mordechai ben Shaina Baila
Menasha Yaakov ben Liba
Moishe Esumor ben Leah
Moshe ben Rachel
Meir ben Esther
Mordichai Yehuda Leib ben Rivka
Mordechai ben Chaya Sara
Miriam bas Penina
Moshe Shaul ben Sara
Mazal bat Leah
Miriam bas Ceti
Mordechai ben Baila
Mordechai ben Sara
Miriam bas Leah
Mordechai ben Miriam
Moshe ben Leah
Mordechai Leib ben Feiga
Mordechai David ben Nurit Hensha
Moshe Yechezkel ben Rechel Chava
Moshe Shimon ben Sara Leah
Moshe Dovid Ben Slava
Malka Feiga bas Gitel
Mordche Zvi Binyumen ben Reizel
Mordechai ben Clara
Menashe Dov ben Rasha Riva
Matisyahu ben Rochel Leah
Michoel ben Miriam
Nesanel Boruch ben Miriam
Nehama Dinah bat Tsipora
Nochum ben Chaya Gittel
Nissim ben Daya Odet
Pesach Yehoshua ben Tovah Chaya
Ovadia ben Sara Mina
Pina Rella bas Miriam Guta
Parvanah bas Nosrat
Pinchas Shalom ben Raizel Rochel
Pepi bat Yehudit
Rochel bas Malka
Rivka bas Hinda
Rami ben Shoshana
Rochel Mindel bas Faigel Raizel
Rachamim ben Katerine Rivkah
Rachel bat Tsipora
Refael Zvi Yehuda ben Rivka
Reuven Shmuel ben Mazal
Rochel bas Leah
Reuven Shmuel ben Chaya Sara
Rochel bas Matel
Reuven ben Rochel
Reuven Dov ben Chana Chaya
Refoel Nachman ben Vissa Yehudis
Raphael Yoel ben Nichole Nechama
Rivka bas Fradel
Rivka Zlata bas Dabbah
Reuven ben Rachel
Rachamim Rami ben Shoshana
Saadya Yeshoshua ben Ahava Rivka
Shabsi ben Esther
Sholom Yisroel ben Bracha
Simche ben Daniele
Shlomo ben Tziviya
Shoshana Fraida bas Malka Tziporah
Simcha Yossel ben Malka Chana
Shmouel Halevi ben Gretel
Shmuel ben Rachel Leah
Shimon ben Chaya Miriam
Shamshen Raphael ben Miriam Chana
Shmuel Leib ben Michal Dina
Sara Mindel bas Hinda
Shraga Dovid Yechezkel ben Shoshana Roisa
Sasha Yonah bas Kuna Chana
Shlomo Gershon ben Duba Mirel
Shlomo ben Shoshana
Shlomo ben Rivka
Shulamis bas Sora Leah
Sholom ben Sara
Shlomo Tzvi ben Elka Yehudis
Shalom Mordechai ben Zelda
Shalom Yosef ben Hendel
Sema Sasson Simcha ben Mafrat
Shraga Tzvi ben Zissel
Shiran Sara bas Ora
Shimon Ben Miriam Hendel
Shulem Eliezer Menachem ben Toba Leah
Shprintza bas Tila
Shaindel Raichel bas Figlu Chaya
Shulamis bas Saraleah
Shlomo Elozer ben Miriam
Simcha Daniel ben Kayla
Shmuel ben Margareet
Sharona bat Yehudis
Shmuel Mordechai ben Miriam
Shraga Feivel ben Yehudis
Tzvi Yehudah ben Rivkah
Tzvi Hersh ben Ruchuma
Tzvi Shimon ben Roize
Tzvi Yitzchok ben Pesha
Tzvi ben Fraida Leah
Tilla bas Toba Nicha
Tzvi ben Yachat
Tirtsa bas Rachel Brigitte
Tziporah Tzivia bas Rochel Leah
Tzvi ben Hinda
Tzvi ben Chana
Tzvi Yisroel Dovid ben Fayga
Tzvi Hirsch ben Sima Raizel
Yitzchak ben Shifra
Yisroel ben Sara
Yehuda Aryeh ben Devorah Leah
Yisroel Moishe ben Esther Chaya
Yehoram ben Donna
Yaakov ben Malka
Yosef Moshe ben Sima
Yosef Yitzchock HaLevi be Chaya Klara
Yechezkel ben Gittel
Yisachor Chaim ben Esther Malka (Dr Greenberg)
Yosef Yitzchock HaLevi ben Chaya Klara
Yona Eliyahu ben Sara
Yisroel Yizchok ben Gitel
Yisroel Yaakov Gershon ben Rivka
Yehuda Leib ben Menucha Rochel
Yakov Yehuda ben Chana
Yaakov Shalom Ben Gittel Udyah
Yoel Simhon ben Yaacov
Yakkov Meir ben Mala
Yehonoson Gavriel Ben Naomi
Yosef ben Tziporah
Yakov Yosef ben Miriam Chana
Yitzchak ben Yehudis
Yitzchak ben Esther – Dr. Wurzburger
Yehuda Boruch ben Esther
Yosef Halevi ben Chava
Yisroel Chaim ben Leah
Yakov ben Zohara
Yocheved Leah bas Baila
Yisroel Meir ben Sima Udel
Yitzchok Uziel ben Rivka
Yitzchok Dov Eliyahu ben Chana
Yehuda Yitzchok ben Matel
Yehudah Daniel ben Bunya
Yitzchok ben Fruma Elka
Yitzchok Meir ben Raizel
Yehuda ben Esther
Yaakov Dovid ben Soroh
Yonason Avner ben Freidel
Yosef Meir ben Mattel
Yosef ben Batya
Yehudah Leibish Chaim ben Ruchama
Yosef Shlomo ben Fayga Yitel
Yosef ben Simcha
Yisroel Yechezkel ben Chaya
Yisroel Yitzchok ben Chaya
Yitzchak Isaac ben Chana Alta Feiga
Yakov ben Devorah Leah
Yisrael Simcha ben Shifra
Yosef Mordechai ben Leah
Yael Ella bas Sarah Shaindel
Yosef Ben Monavar
Yitzchak Yosef ben Michal Shoshana
Yosef Zindel ben Serl
Yaakov Yochanan ben Figlu Chaya
Yosef Tzvi ben Chana
Yosef Benyamin Ilan ben Emily
Yakov ben Leah Devora
Yitzchak Menachem ben Leah
Yisroel Yakov ben Feiga Yita
Yisroel ben Mafrat
Yitzchak ben Rochel Miriam
Yicheved bas Chana
Yisrael Tzvi ben Yehudis
Yosef Gad’le ben Sara Devorah
Yitzchok ben Alte Nechama Shulamis
Yehoshua Leib ben Miriam
Yisrael Simcha ben Shifra
Yaakov ben Yaffa
Yehuda ben Esther Yitel
Zohar ben Nava
Zahava bat Dvora
Zev Velvel bas Rochel

Rabbi Winston: Vayikra – מַדְבִּיק / דָבֵק

And He called to Moshe… 
(Vayikra 1:1)

LIFE IS EXTREMELY complicated and so phenomenally complex. And yet, it all comes does to only ONE thing, one’s relationship with G–D. Is it good? Is it bad? Are you close to or distant from Him. Anything and everything else is secondary to these questions.

The Torah says this in many places, but hints to it as well right at the beginning of this week’s parsha. The first word is “vayikra—and He called,” except that the final letter of the word, an aleph, is written smaller than the first four letters of the word. As Rashi explains, it is to indicate G–D’s love and respect for those who are close to Him, and just the opposite regarding those who annoy Him. 

A lot of details pertaining to sacrifices will follow in the upcoming parshios. There are many different kinds of sacrifices, and each one has its own set of instructions to be followed so that it will remain a fitting offering. In some cases, details are similar from one sacrifice to another. In other cases, there are differences, and making a mistake can result in the rejection of the sacrifice, necessitating a replacement.

Yet Dovid HaMelech wrote very clearly:

The sacrifices of G–D are a broken spirit; O G–D, You will not despise a broken and crushed heart. (Tehillim 51:19)

A broken spirit sounds rather harsh, even sadistic. What’s wrong with feeling good about yourself? What’s wrong with walking with a bounce in your step? Why isn’t it better to serve G–D with a WHOLE spirit, rather than with a BROKEN one? 

Nothing. On the contrary, we’re told to serve G–D with joy! If so, what’s with the broken spirit? 

The key word is “sacrifice.” The broken spirit is not the way of life, but it is the way of sacrifices. In fact, that is what a sacrifice was supposed to cause, especially a sin offering. There was the purchasing of the animal, and the shlepping of it to the Bais HaMikdosh. The one who brought it had to place his hands on it, as if to pass his sins over to the animal…which was about to lose its life because of the person’s sin. 

Even if the person was not an animal lover, the whole process had to humble them. When WE sin today, we just have to worry about making it to Yom Kippur to atone for it, and then start again. Life and death, and therefore the value of life, is not nearly as real to us as it became to the sinner who had an animal slaughtered on his behalf!

Today we do not have a Temple, and therefore we cannot perform the Temple service. We still do slaughter animals, but mostly just to eat them. We barbecue steaks, dress up hamburgers, and eat juicy hotdogs. Rather than use animals to atone for our sins these days, they can often be the cause of some of them, including overeating or a lack of sensitivity to the life that was lost to provide the food.

In fact, life has become so convenient in so many ways. Recently I traveled to the States, and in one city there must have been at least ten kosher restaurants and food shops in two blocks. I had a great time in two days…but something didn’t seem quite right. And though it is less so where I live, still many families have learned to enjoy the “good life,” especially when it comes to homes, cars, etc.

Judaism is clearly not anti-materialism, as Shabbos and Yom Tov prove. But as long as we have a yetzer hara the question will always be, “How much?” and “At what cost?” As the Talmud states, few people get to eat from both “tables” in this world, the spiritual one and the material one. If you’re enjoying one, it will undoubtedly be at the cost of the other. The extent to which one enjoys one table or the other is the person’s own free will choice, for which they will either be rewarded or punished on their personal day of judgment.  

Before Moshe Rabbeinu died, he warned the Jewish people that their success on the land would make them forget about G–D, which it did. They began to take Torah less seriously, and some began to sin. At that point,  G–D would send in a neighboring nation whose attack would wake the Jewish nation up, and make them do teshuvah. It would break their haughty spirit, opening the door for Divine mercy and military victory…until the cycle repeated itself again. 

And again. 

And again, etc. 

One might get the impression that G–D made this world for man to do as he pleases, within certain boundaries. He has rules for man, but beyond them, people might think, man can go about his business and barely ever think about or thank G–D. For the most part, that is the way mankind has lived for thousands of years, and many Jews for at least the last 100 years. 

G–D made the world for one reason and one reason only, to give man a chance to have a relationship with Him, the closer the better. Imagine it. Everything in the known and unknown universe was created JUST to facilitate that relationship. It may be unfathomable, but it is true. How does some black hole help man come closer to G–D? Somehow and in some way. And that sun that went supernova long ago? That too is for the sake of man’s relationship with G–D. How? I can only guess.

And all of this is alluded to by that little Aleph at the end of “vayikra.” Perhaps that is why it is so small. It is hinting to us that our relationship to G–D is something that should be impossible to overlook and yet IS overlooked by so many. For them, it’s as if the Aleph barely exists because they do not work on closeness to G–D, and that’s a BIG problem.

The rest of the word tells us that. “Vayikar” means that a person’s relationship with G–D gets relegated to the back burner, in their mind first and in G–D’s mind, so-to-speak, next. G–D says, “You may believe in Me and even learn Torah and perform mitzvos. But if you basically deal with ME as if I am only ‘nature,’ then I will deal with YOU as if I am only nature.” 

That may work fine when history isn’t doing or expecting much, like about two months ago. That’s when people got up and went to minyan as they always do, and went to learn or work as they were used to doing. It’s when taking public transportation was not an issue, and flying abroad was commonplace. The only time a person was homebound, was if they caught the flu or just a cold and WANTED to stay home to nurse it. 

That’s when going shopping was an everyday occurrence you never had to think twice about (just how you were going to pay for everything). Two months ago, Chasans and Kallahs fulfilled their dreams by making the Chasanah of their planning, and making a bris or a siyum was easy to arrange. It all seemed to happen…well…just so NATURALLY.

Not today. In a relatively short time, the world has shut down, and if hasn’t shut down, then it has slowed down considerably. Even my prayer has slowed down considerably. At shul, I had to keep pace, and deal with the distractions of a minyan. I felt rushed, and frustrated when I lost my train of thought, or had to repeat words that didn’t get the chance to come out of my mouth just right. 

At home there is quiet. There is no minyan to keep pace with. I can go slow enough to not only get each of the words right, but I can actually think about them as they pass through my brain. And remarkably, just that change alone has allowed me to feel them, and more importantly, feel G–D more than ever before. It has allowed me to work on my “Aleph” and change “vayikar” into “vayikra.” 

Viruses come and go, some quickly, some slowly. Some are only dangerous but others are deadly. Either way they slow life down, which in our super fast paced world, is quite an accomplishment…a G–DLY accomplishment. We need to fight against it, because the Torah tell us to. But we need to work with it too, because when the Torah tells us to choose life, it is talking closeness to G–D. As it says:

But you who cleave to G–D your G–D are alive, all of you, this day. 

(Devarim 4:4)

Not ironically, the word for “infectious” is from the same root as the one used for cleaving to G–D, “davuk ( דָבֵק)” Let our cleaving to G–D protect us from the virus trying to “cleave (מַדְבִּיק)” to us. מַדְבִּיק / דָבֵק

Not so long ago when G–D said “Jump!”

Many people would answer, “Not a hope in the sky!”

Now after G–D has clearly said “Jump!”

People have changed and answered, “How high?”

The mighty US and overconfident USSR,

Shook up many, but also left many without fear.

Even world wars had limits as to just how far,

Not like COVID-19 stumping even the bioengineer.

Within such a short time so much has changed,

Even the simplest of chores now so difficult to do. 

Just like that so much has been rearranged,

Can’t leave town or even our homes, WHO knew?

Who would have thought an enemy so very small,

Could have so large an impact on so much at once?

Insidiously it has spread to the short and the tall,

On just about anyone it is ready to pounce.

It’s not the first time, so it’s not all that odd,

In fact in the Torah it happened to the Egyptian nation.

When Pharaoh brazenly asked, “Me Hashem—Who is G–D?”

Thinking himself the father of Creation.

Plague after plague G–D kept stating His claim,

“I promised My children to redemption they will go!

They’ve waited and suffered while you sought your fame,

Now I will make of you the most spectacular show!”

But Pharaoh and Egypt resisted until their bitter end,

Their pompous way of life more important than life itself.

They did not get it, and would not at all bend,

To the G–D of Creation Who would plague them Himself!

Now here we are three millennia later, a whole new cast,

Holding on to a way of life they feel they can’t abandon.

But the message is the same and we better learn fast,

Get with the program, you personally and no stand-in.

The prophet said it clearly with these very words,

How on THAT day G–D will be One forever more.

To avoid the choice now is more than absurd,

To right all wrongs before He permanently shuts His door.

So together we should all rise to this important occasion,

And take to heart the words passed down from father to son.

The time is approaching when we’ll need no persuasion,

That G–D is THE King, and that only HE is One.

--

Rabbi Kahana: Paradise Lost

BS”D 

The book of Vayikra parashat Vayikra 5780

Rabbi Nachman Kahana

Paradise Lost

Life in a modern Gan Eden. High-end restaurants, sport arenas, ski trips to Bulgaria, shiny new cars, upgraded hotels, glatt kosher of course. Pesach in Thailand, no gebrochts, and nothing less than matza shmurah the whole holiday, going to the mall to get rid of excess money, a trip to Israel to say “hello and goodbye” to the Kotel, financial plans with total expectations that they will be fulfilled, weddings to impress. PARADISE LOST.

Tehillim (Psalms) 92:6-7:

ו( מה גדלו מעשיך ה’ מאד עמקו מחשבתיך:

ז( איש בער לא ידע וכסיל לא יבין את זאת:

How great are Your works, Lord, how profound Your thoughts!

The ignoramus cannot know, and the fool cannot understand,

King David, the Psalmist, proclaims the ultimate greatness of HaShem; and to prove his point he adds that not even an ignoramus or a fool can fathom it. Indeed! — An ignoramus and a fool cannot understand even the most basic ideas, much less the infinite greatness of the Creator!

But David is putting forth an important message. He was referring to the greatest human minds, who leave their microscopes and math equations in order to apply themselves to unraveling the secrets of the Creator. They quickly realize that they are ignorant and fools in the shadow of the omniscient, ultimate Creator. Or as stated by Alexander Pope in his 1711 poem An Essay on Criticism, “For fools rush in where angels (wise men) fear to tread”.

So, despite the pitfalls that King David stated in Tehillim regarding men who would seek to understand the profundity of HaShem, I hesitantly put forward my feelings on what mankind did to bring about this calamitous pandemic.

What do we have to work with now:

1. Covid-19 is a pandemic reaching the far corners of our world.
2. The eyes of the world are upon the research labs to bring a solution. However, Covid-19 is baffling the greatest scientific minds in thousands of laboratories the world over.

The first place to seek direction is the Torah; based on the words of King Shlomo who states in Kohelet: “And there is nothing new under the sun”.

The first universal catastrophe occurred within the first 3 hours in the lives of Adam and Chava, who were given humaneness at 3 in the afternoon – and were expelled from Gan Eden by 6!

In Bereishiet 3:22 HaShem asserts the reason for the expulsion, which surprisingly was not a punishment for eating from the prohibited Tree of Knowledge:

כב) ויאמר ה’ אלהים הן האדם היה כאחד ממנו לדעת טוב ורע ועתה פן ישלח ידו ולקח גם מעץ החיים ואכל וחי לעלם

And HaShem E-lokim said, “Man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever”.

HaShem did not prohibit Adam from eating from the Tree of Life, but only from the Tree of Knowledge. Yet the reason for the expulsion was the probability that one day man would attempt to intrude on the private intimate realm that characterized the creator: the secret of life itself, the Tree of Life. The reason is that man could never draw close to the Tree of Life without highly developed knowledge, which was contained in the Tree of Knowledge. So, it was sufficient for HaShem to prohibit eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

We are living in a time where man’s scientific knowledge has brought us to the point of intruding on HaShem’s private fiefdom of the Tree of Life, and indeed in ways which might be considered perverted and unnatural, such as:

1. 1. In vitro fertilization.
   2. Gestational surrogates, where the embryo is placed in the uterus of a gestational surrogate creating a halachic question as to who the mother is – the egg donor or the surrogate who carries the baby until birth. If the surrogate mother is a gentile, the child will have to undergo giyur (conversion) besafek (because of the halachic doubt).
   3. Sperm donations from one male to several women, creating a possible situation where brothers and sisters marry without knowing that they have a common father.
   4. Sperm banks where fertilization can be done even after the death of the donor.
   5. Doctors who mix the sperm of various donors.
   6. Then there is the other side: artificial life support.
   7. Genetic engineering: which is the direct manipulation of an organism’s genes using biotechnology to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within and across species boundaries to produce improved or novel organisms.

And the list goes on.

All of these are intrusions on HaShem’s monopoly on bringing forth life and taking it away at His chosen time.

It would be naive or worse – foolish, to suggest that any or all of the above are the reasons for Covid-19, since HaShem is at the same time the ultimate oneness. But His directives regarding human beings are infuriatingly complex.

How long will it last, and how many will yet die? Who knows? However, as concealed as the present is, we, of God’s chosen people, know that it is directed for our ultimate good and welfare.

In the interim, let every Jewish man and woman make their personal accounting of failures and successes, and draw conclusions which will bring HaShem closer to their thought and actions…

Shabbat Shalom,

Chodesh Nissan Nifla

Nachman Kahana

Copyright © 5780/2020 Nachman Kahana

Coronaviridae

Coronavirus: How Soon We Forget – Same Playbook, Different Virus by Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, AOBNM. ABIHM VAXXTER



I have been sitting back, listening to and watching the crushing plan “they” have designed for us. I have been viewing this fiasco through the lens of history. I wrote this article to give you some perspective. I couldn’t help but think when this COVID19 blitz started, “How soon we forget…”

Over the last three weeks, unless you have been cloistered in a monastery in Tibet, you have been bombarded with at least 2.1 billion media mentions regarding a new form of coronavirus that has spread rapidly around the world. As a comparison, when Ebola was in the news last year, it received a mere 16.3 million media mentions. The world economy has ground to a stop over the pandemic spread of coro­­navirus SARS-CoV2, the proper name for the virus.

This name was chosen because the virus is genetically related to the coronavirus responsible for the SARS outbreak of 2003. Coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19, is the illness caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus. The two terms are used interchangeably but the words are not synonyms. According to the CDC, coronaviruses are named for the crown-like spikes on their surface.

There are 36 coronaviruses in the family Coronaviridae. The viruses are known to cause respiratory or intestinal infections in humans and some animals. These common, mostly benign respiratory viruses were first identified in humans in the mid-1960s. The coronaviruses that commonly infect people are: 229E (alpha coronavirus), NL63 (alpha coronavirus), OC43 (beta coronavirus), HKU1 (beta coronavirus). These four common human viruses cause 10–20% of respiratory infections worldwide and are present on all continents. Most likely, you have been exposed to, and perhaps ill from, a coronavirus infection at some point in your life and may have some level of natural immunity to this virus. Read full article at HealthImpactNews


New York Hospitals Treating Coronavirus Patients with Vitamin C
By Lorena Mongelli and Bruce Golding. New York Post

[We have not been hearing ‘how' they are treating patients; what medicines they are using?B”H "Intravenus Vitamin C" and the "Chloroquine/Zithromax or Zinc" combination also works. Let’s hope this decreases the deathly ill and more survive.]

Seriously sick coronavirus patients in New York state’s largest hospital system are being given massive doses of vitamin C — based on promising reports that it’s helped people in hard-hit China,

The Post has learned. Dr. Andrew G. Weber, a pulmonologist and critical-care specialist affiliated with two Northwell Health facilities on Long Island, said his intensive-care patients with the coronavirus immediately receive 1,500 milligrams of intravenous vitamin C. Each dose is more than 16 times the National Institutes of Health’s daily recommended dietary allowance of vitamin C, which is just 90 milligrams for adult men and 75 milligrams for adult women. The regimen is based on experimental treatments administered to people with the coronavirus in Shanghai, China, Weber said.

“The patients who received vitamin C did significantly better than those who did not get vitamin C,” he said. “It helps a tremendous amount, but it is not highlighted because it’s not a sexy drug.” A spokesman for Northwell — which operates 23 hospitals, including Lenox Hill Hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side — said vitamin C was being “widely used” as a coronavirus treatment throughout the system, but noted that medication protocols varied from patient to patient.
Read More HealthImpactNews

ISRAEL: NEW REGULATIONS AS OF 5PM MARCH 25

‘Whoever saves one life, it is as if he saved the whole world’. 

But with the coronavirus, that saying has a second, vicious side: 

‘Whoever infects one person, it is as if he infected the whole world.’

According to the new emergency regulations, it will not be permitted to leave one’s place of residence or regular domicile and go into the public sphere except or one of the following actions or objectives: (JewishPress)

1) An employee going to permitted work, according to the regulations

2) Purchasing food, medicines, essential products and receiving essential services

3) Receiving medical treatment

4) Donating blood

5) Legal proceedings

6) Demonstrations

7) Going to the Knesset

8) Receiving treatment by social services

9) An individual or people who live in the same residence may leave said residence for a short time but may not venture more than 100 meters from said residence.

10) Providing medical assistance to a person in distress or who needs assistance

11) Prayer in an open space, funerals, weddings or circumcisions and women going to immerse in a mikveh provided her arrival is coordinated in advance.

12) Taking a minor to a designated educational framework (as per health regulations) for the children of essential workers

13) Transferring a minor, whose parents live apart, by one parent to the home of the other parent

14) Transferring a minor, when the parent responsible for him or her must attend to an essential need and when there is no one at the place of residence to assume responsibility for the minor.

It was also decided to reduce public transportation to 25% of what currently prevails, as per the directives of the Ministry of Health.

Taxi services will be permitted for one passenger only or an additional accompanying person for medical treatment. Passengers will sit in the back; the windows of the vehicle shall be open.

The regulations stipulate that in the public sphere and in workplaces, a distance of at least two meters shall be maintained between individuals. Essential travel in private vehicles shall be limited to two passengers. Transportation to places of work shall be permitted subject to the limitations.

It is further determined that employers shall be responsible for taking temperatures at the entrance to the workplace. Anyone whose body temperature is 38 degrees Celsius or higher shall not be allowed to enter.

Food and newspaper delivery services shall be allowed to operate as will be essential services for home maintenance, electronic goods, communications services and medical devices. Online sales with home delivery is permitted for all types of products. Delivery personnel shall place the delivered items outside the door of the residence.

Businesses that sell food for consumption outside the premises where it is prepared and which is sent by delivery service only, pharmacies, optometrists or any shop the main occupation of which is the sale of hygiene products, will operate while maintaining a distance of two meters between individuals and preventing crowding. At no time will there be more than four customers per active cashier in the shop.

It is determined that violating the prohibitions will constitute a criminal offense; violators shall be subject to administrative fine. The regulations provide the police with the authority to enforce these instructions.

The final wording of the emergency regulations shall be published forthwith upon the completion of the necessary corrections by the relevant professional authorities.

In addition to the above, it will be underscored that there is a mutual need to adhere to the rules in order to defeat the spread of the virus. Individuals aged 60 and over, especially the elderly and at-risk groups, must remain at home and avoid risking themselves by going out.

HIGH COURT DICTATOR: The Ruling of NO LAW

High Court Dictator:

[…] President Hayut criticized the Speaker, but said he could not be accused of contempt of court: “Absurdly, had his resignation taken effect immediately – there would have been no contempt of court, because he no longer had the obligation to comply. We could have taken a more elegant route, but … well. ” That was the end of her quote, honest.

[…W]ere the justices to recommend prosecuting Edelstein, it would have given him an opportunity to respond, with the entire country’s eyes trained on him, and, quite clearly, the injured former speaker would have opened a huge mouth on the High Court that took over the Israeli parliament in a bloodless revolution.

* * * *

Transport Minister Bezalel Smotrich (Yamina) responded to Knesset Speaker Edelstein’s resignation, saying: “Speaker of the Knesset Yoel Yuli Edelstein sacrifices himself with an admirable civic-mindedness on the altar of judicial dictatorship. In his resignation, the Speaker of the Knesset defended Israeli democracy and the crucial independence of the Knesset, and refused to abide by an order over which a black flag is flying. It is a sad day for the State of Israel.”

Former Justice Minister MK Ayelet Shaked (Yamina), who in the past managed to trim the justice system’s talons, on Wednesday night tweeted that “the High Court simply invented a non-existent relief and issued an order to the legislature on how to proceed. It lacks any legal foundation. They bypassed the bylaws, bypassed the law, and bypassed the Basic Law. As we have been taught by the left, democracy dies slowly.”


Source: JewishPress

The Israel Supreme Court

Supreme Court Built to Masonic Guidelines?
Article in Maariv points to Eye of Providence, pyramids, Rothschilds' involvement as tell-tale signs. arutzsheva


NOT AN ORDINARY BUILDING. Was the Supreme Court building in Jerusalem designed in accordance with the ideology of the secret order of Freemasons? Gilit Chomsky, a respected writer, has devoted an article to this question in Maariv-NRG.

Chomsky says that the evidence of Masonic intervention in the building's planning is hard to deny. Right at the entrance to the building, she notes, the sign thanking the donors whose funding made its construction possible features the “Eye of Providence” – a well-known Masonic symbol that represent's G-d's all-seeing eye, which also appears on the U.S. Dollar bill. Chomsky cites evidence that has been put forth by an amateur historian, Elad Pressman, in a website – Conspil.com – devoted to conspiracy theories. Pressman, 27, is a student of philosophy and mathematics. According to Pressman, the building is full of Masonic imagery, and the tours conducted through it are held in accordance with Masonic principles. Read more at link above.



The Israel Supreme Court is the creation of one elite family: the Rothschilds. In their negotiations with Israel, they’ve agreed to donate the building under three conditions: the Rothschilds were to choose the plot of land, they would use their own architect and no one would ever know the price of its construction. The reasons for those conditions are quite evident: the Supreme Court building is a Temple of Masonic Mystery Religion and is built by the elite, for the elite.

Built in 1992, the Israel Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem, in front of the Knesset (Israeli legislature). Its peculiar architecture has earned critical praise due to the architects’ opposition of old versus new, light versus shadow and straight lines versus curves. Almost all  critics and  journalists have however omitted to mention the blatant occult symbols present all over the building. Masonic and Illuminati principles are physically embodied in numerous instances, proving without a doubt who runs the show in there. Read more of the Sinister Sites at transmissionmedia.




In the middle of the stairway is the shape of a vesica piscis (representing female genitals) “penetrated” by a column (phallic symbol). This is an obvious fertility symbol, a union of the male and female principles. Numerous occult temples insert a fertility symbol in their lower floor (see the Manitoba Legislative Building or Washington Capitol). But wait, there’s usually a rotunda along with the fertility symbol.


This is the Dorothy de Rothschild grove. The obelisk is the most commonly used and the most blatant occult symbol used throughout the world.


At the center of the parking facilities are pathways shaped like Christian cross. Jerry Golden has mentioned that this cross has been specifically placed to be trampled on by visitors.

ISRAEL: What we have now is a creeping coup d'etat, de-facto.

A creeping coup d'etat
The self-styled Israeli elite, made up of academes, media and the legal system, hate Netanyahu because he blocks their two major goals. Netanyahu refused to play according to the rules of the elite, and this is his "deadly" and unforgivable sin.
by Alexander Maistrovoy arutzsheva

What we see is essentially a creeping coup under the pretext of "defending democracy"

Despite the pervasive coronavirus pandemic, the Blue and White leaders rejected a proposal for a government of national unity (exceptional case, but with precedents in the history of Israel in emergencies). Moreover, they, together with Lieberman and the Arab list, took control of the Knesset committees and together with the Supreme Court did everything to remove the Knesset chairman Yuli Edelstein who has just resigned in protest..

There are two questions remaining:
- Do they act on their own behalf ?
- What are their goals?

Some years back during my interview with Dr. Martin Sherman, ex-adviser of Yitzhak Shamir, lecturer at Tel Aviv University in Political Science, International Relations and Strategic Studies, and now head of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies (his articles appear weekly on Arutz Sheva, ed.) he said that in fact an elite is governing (or is attempting to govern) in Israel.

There is a kind of "state within a state " or "deep state" – one is at liberty to choose the proper characterization. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Israel.

[THEIR END IS NEAR]

Israel’s Deep State:  The Legal system, the Mass-media and the Academic echelons.

This elite is represented by three forces: The Legal system, the Mass-media and the Academic echelons. It is a type of Private Club which is trying to dictate its will to politicians, and through them, to the whole nation. There is a kind of "state within a state " or "deep state" – one is at liberty to choose the proper characterization. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Israel. On the contrary, today it is an integral part of the modern Western world.

This elite has blatant radical leftist views; a completely unrealistic, far-fetched ideology, that takes countless forms and hypostases. It doesn’t matter if it’s called Globalism, Progressivism, Political identity, Political correctness or Multiculturalism.

This is an ideology that nurtures the rights of migrants and sexual minorities (who are not offended or oppressed in the West anymore); preaches "peaceful Islam" ("Islam is the religion of the world") and furthers Western culpability for the Third World; creates a bugaboo for "global warming" with "martyrs of the new religion" like Greta Thunberg.

This is the ideology of cultural totalitarianism: silencing the disgruntled and the disobedient in the courts and through vilification in the media. It establishes censorship; introduces the concept of "sexism" to break the traditional model of gender relations; turns a "straight white man" into the main enemy of humanity. It affirms cultural relativism (all cultures are equal - paintings by Florentine masters versus Berber rituals in the Atlas Mountains) and asserts the power of non-elected judges over elected legislative structures.

What are the goals of the elite in Israel? John Locke has always recommended to start from what he called "empirical experience". "Empirical experience" shows that there are two super-goals. The first is to end the "occupation" of the "territories".

All the slogans of social justice, equality and economic prosperity of the left parties — from Rabin and Peres to Barak — invariably boiled down to "ending the occupation". If the Likud was in power, its leaders would metamorphasize from formidable "hawks" into gullible, domesticated "doves." It happened to Sharon, Olmert, Tzipi Livni and their other associates.

Let me remind you, dear readers, that the "Prince of Likud" Olmert and his "Princess" Livni were ready to give up almost all of Judea and Samaria to Mahmous Abbas in Annapolis, and when Abbas refused, they planned to carry out "unilateral disengagement" similar to what Sharon did it in Gaza.

Before the disengagement Sharon himself compared the value of Gush Katif to that of Tel Aviv. When he evicted the inhabitants of Gush Katif, the elite, represented by the media and Academia, supported him as enthusiastically as they had reproached him beforehand.

Thus, the super-goal of the cultural, legal, academic, and as a result, the political establishment, is "ending the occupation" or disengagement, regardless of the views of over half the country, losses or consequences.

The second super-aim is to turn Israel from a Jewish state into a "state for all its citizens." Or, in other words, it is de-facto to turn Israeli Arabs into game changers in a quasi-state.

How does this relate to the current political chaos?

All three recent campaigns were not focused on the real problems or on political programs.

They were focused solely on the identity of one person: Benjamin Netanyahu. "JustNotBibi" is the only thing that unites the Blue and White alliance, Meretz, Liberman, the media, the bohemians and the highbrows. “JustnotBibi” has become a mantra, a spell, a prayer.

Why? The answer is obvious. Netanyahu is by no means an ideal politician. He has many personal flaws. He surrounded himself with dubious and narrow-minded personalities, removing brilliant and competent people like former Foreign Minister de-facto Dore Gold. It’s unclear why over the years he consolidated various ministries in his hands, as if he was not the leader of a democratic country but a tribe ruler of Zimbabwe. He neglected many of the internal problems of Israel and got bogged down in dubious transactions for which he’ll end up paying. He degrades his true allies, like Bennett and Shaked.

In spite of all that, he should be highly credited for two fundamental things, among others:

He has refused to conduct questionable, bloody experiments with his own nation in the name of ridiculous doctrinaire concepts

Instead, he endured the pressure from Obama, turned Israel into a world power, established relations with the leading countries of the world - thanks to him macroeconomics reached record levels, unthinkable at a time when "peace processes" were in full swing. During the 32 years of my life in Israel, the 12 years of his premiership were the calmest and most prosperous. Buses did not "fly through the air" with human limbs; the cities did not die off - as occurred in the mid-90s and during the “second intifada”, when Israel “made sacrifices on the altar of the peace” - the country did not lose wars with shame, as was the case in the second Lebanese campaign; people were not thrown out of their homes into the void, as was during the disengagement; Israel did not balance on the brink of civil war.

And, second, he did all he could to preserve Jewish character of this state.

Netanyahu refused to play according to the rules of the elite, and this is his "deadly" and unforgivable sin. That’s why he must go. Leave at all costs. Once he has left, a government will be created. No one knows what it might be. Perhaps eventually it will be headed by the same Likud, but the experience of Sharon, Olmert, Shaul Mofaz, Livni and Meir Sheetrit suggests that it’s much easier to find controllable people than uncontrollable ones.

And then the old and cherished dream of "ending the occupation" will regain hope.

At same time the other cherished dream of post-Zionists - to turn Israel from a Jewish state into a "state for all" -will be achievable. Emmanuel Macron, their guru, once said: "There is no such a thing as French culture." His like-minded people in Israel say the same thing: "There is no Jewish state - there is a state for all its citizens."

It is no coincidence that professors of Israeli universities called to vote for the Arab list, and many former Meretz supporters heeded their call. So not surprising that now Blue and White together with Meretz and Lieberman empowered the Joint Arab list de facto.

Bibi must be broken at all costs - just like Trump in the USA or Salvini in Italy, no matter his prize record of accomplishments. They go against the System, and the System, whether it is the Holy Church, the Communist dictatorship, or "Liberal democracy", does not tolerate any heretics and dissenters. This is a well-orchestrated chaos, deliberate political anarchy, and it will be prolific.

What we have now is a creeping coup d'etat, de-facto.

Author of “Agony of Hercules or a Farewell to Democracy (Notes of a Stranger)”, Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble