Rectifying the sin of the spies

Mountains around Jerusalem

This post is my own commentary on some of the passages brought in Rav Kook Torah on the Parsha, a weekly teaching assembled and translated by Rabbi Chanan Morrison.

In 1908, Rav Kook wrote that we still suffer from the sin of the spies today, and that in our hands lies the opportunity to rectify the spies' error and enter the land of Israel with all our gusto. 

The glory of the land of Israel can be hidden at times; it is our job to clear away the clutter and announce to ourselves and others the boundless light that lies in Eretz Yisrael's beauty and holiness. A hidden paradise on earth has been bequeathed to us, each generation since 1948 more than the one before it, b"H. Rav Kook emphasized not only the physical beauty apparent in the Land, but also the unique air of Israel (avira d'eretz yisrael) that from time immemorial was the raw material of prophecy:

The quality of delightful holiness that Torah scholars seeking the holy may find in the Land of Israel does not exist at all outside the Land. I myself can attest to this unique quality, to a degree commensurate with my small worth. (Igrot HaRe'iyah, vol. I, pp. 112-113)

How many of us deliberate (including myself) the pros and cons of living in Israel, as if a decision pertaining to the most delicate levels of the soul can be approached like a business deal? Well, you get a year of aliyah payments, free tuition, free health care and a discount on property tax. On the other hand, you have to buy all new furniture, deal with heap-loads of bureaucracy, lower your standards for your first job or two, and get through an August. But can you really approach the question of aliyah like this (I ask myself)? Can you really approach love like this? How silly would it sound if you overheard a conversation weighing marriage over such considerations? How humiliating to a heart testifying to true love! 

The truth is, love is a creative force - the love of the Jewish people for Israel is an integral part of the land's holiness. According to Rabbi Judah HaLevi, the Jewish people, the commandments, the land of Israel, the building of the Temple and the Hebrew language are all parts of a well-oiled machine which when assembled properly over millenia of Jewish history, produces prophecy - prophecy in the sense of the return of the living, Divine presence to the hearts and minds of the Jewish people, through their writings, their art, their blogs and their prayers, their Torah and their love for one another. Without any one of these components, the machine cannot work. The land is barren without its people, and the people are homeless without their land. 

It is told that once a Jewish tourist shared with the Rav his calculation of the albeit very real pros and cons of moving to Israel, concluding in the end that it was not worthwhile. In his characteristic non-confrontational but bold and thought-provoking response, the Rav responded:

Before the Israelites entered the Land in the time of Moses, they first needed to kill Sichon, the king of Heshbon. This teaches us that one should come to the Land of Israel bli heshbon - without making calculations.

An from where does our love for Eretz Yisrael spring? It is irreducible to explanation, because explanation is based on things that you can define and limit, and the holiness of Eretz Yisrael originates in the place from where the limits themselves originate...And yet even so, how can such love be expressed, to others, and to the object of affection? Through action. The secret of teshuva, expressed most extensively in the writings of the first Chabad Rebbe, Reb Schenur Zalman of Liadi, is that physical acts - in the form of mitzvot - involving the body and objects and senses of the physical world - can be vessels for the most sublime of sensitivities of the human soul and of the supernal realms - those that evade our mental thought processes and linguistic capacities. Those who come to Israel and can do nothing but let their knees fall in thanksgiving and adoration for the land upon which the soles of their feet can step, know how such a process of rectification begins:

The Talmud records that Rabbi Abba would demonstrate his great love for the Land of Israel by kissing the rocks of Acre (Ketubot 112a) as he returned to the Land. What was so special about these rocks that Rabbi Abba would kiss them?

Rav Kook explained that if Rabbi Abba had kissed the soil of Eretz Yisrael, we would understand that his love for the Land was due to the special mitzvot that are fulfilled with its fruit - tithes, first fruits, the sabbatical year, and so on. The soil, which produces fruit, signifies the importance and holiness of the Land through the mitzvot ha-teluyot ba'aretz.

But Rabbi Abba's love for the Land was not dependent on any external factors - not even its special mitzvot (see Avot 5:16; Orot p. 9). Rabbi Abba cherished the intrinsic holiness of Eretz Yisrael. He recognized that the special qualities of the Land – such as its receptivity to prophecy and enlightenment - go far beyond the holiness of those mitzvot connected to agriculture. Therefore, he made a point of kissing its barren rocks and stones. 

May each and every soul and body of the Jewish people be rounded up speedily to reunite and congregate in the land that is our inheritance from our holy fathers and mothers, and may we soon sing a new song in Jerusalem to the living God, whose love and justice will be apparent for all to see and contemplate like water fills the seas!

Har HaBayit - BeYadenu?

On Friday around 2:30 p.m. Israel time, tens of Arab youths threw stones from the Temple Mount towards Mugrabe Gate, which out of the Kotel plaza. For the first time since September of this year, Israeli police entered the Temple Mount to disperse crowds and prevent injuries below.

*    *

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine who is exploring her Jewish roots and was previously involved in Arab-Jewish peacemaking arrived in Jerusalem. Her acquaintance with Jerusalem up until this point was no less with the Arab neighborhoods of the city than the Jewish parts, and so she naturally stayed in a hotel in East Jerusalem. Her plan had to been to travel to Safed for Shabbat and delve into the wisdom of Kabbalah through the educational and spiritual resources at Ascent. However, as a result of miscommunication with Egged, she missed the last bus up north and found herself minutes before Shabbat stuck at her hotel in East Jerusalem.

Although I could not accommodate her on Friday night, a friend and I had the unconventional idea to surprise her at her hotel on Shabbat day. The only problem was - myself, an American and my friend, an Israeli - had not been to East Jerusalem in years, and never during such volatile times. We dressed (modestly of course) as non-obsequious tourists, and walked nonchalantly across town towards the hotel, near Damascus Gate. Soon it was time to cross Kvish Echad - Road #1 - that separates the Jewish and Arab neighborhoods of the city. It was one of those experiences where you think lightning is going to strike, and then suddenly - it doesn't - and you realize - there may be a wall of invisible glass dividing the city, but that at its heart, Jerusalem is one.

After meeting at the hotel, we decided to take my friend to the Kotel, as her curiosity for holy places was peaking and she had few resources to explore these places on her own, and besides, what better time to arrive at the Kotel than Mincha on Shabbat. Naturally, she suggested we walk through Damascus Gate, as it provided the most direct route from where we were to the Wall. When our Israeli friend heard Sha'ar Shchem, he replied, are you crazy? I can't walk through there. Eventually we convinced him that there was nothing to worry about, and that chareidim (ultra-orthodox Jews) walk to the Kotel via Damascus Gate all the time.

I don't know exactly how to put into words the experience of walking through East Jerusalem on Shabbat on the way to the kotel. It was like discovering your backyard for the first time, and feeling a bizarre mixture of at-homeness, foreignness, belonging, familiarity and otherness. Granted, I (unlike some others) would not have felt comfortable walking through identified as religious Jews. However, in camouflage, the experience provided an intimate, deeply-sought and deeply significant experience with the city's other half.

The walk from Damascus Gate to the Kotel was new, rich, full of history, and exhilarating. I should note that there were many religious Jews who walked with us, and I resolved to use this route again in the future. Indeed, several days ago, I returned to the Kotel for Mincha on Shavuot, this time dressed as myself, a modestly-dressed religious Jewish woman. Although when I was with the others, we had stuck to the one path leading from the Gate to the Wall, this time I noticed a large group of seminary girls coming out of one of the side alleyways, and I couldn't help but walk a few steps to see what lay at the other end.

To my surprise, the dark alleyway suddenly gave light to an archway filled with blue sky, fresh olive trees, and, behind them - the Dome of the Rock - the present-day marker for the holiest spot of Har HaBayit. This was the regular-old-tourist path to Har HaBayit, and I would soon discover, it was manned by soldiers to ensure that Jews would not enter the space, so as to not turn up the heat on the already hot-spot of conflict. Yet seeing an opening, as any (naive) Jew would do, I abruptly picked up the pace of my steps and went forth. Then, I saw two soldiers waiting by the archway, and right before me, a religious man ascended the steps, eyeing the jackpot. "Excuse me!" the soldiers called in Hebrew. "It is forbidden to go up." A short exchange ensued but it was clear the man had no chance. I had a few seconds before my turn to internalize the situation, and so, eager to ascend (I conveniently forgot for a moment the fact that I should only go up with an expert who knows where I am allowed to step), I decided to try my luck out as a tourist. Yes, that's right, hide my Jewish identity in front of Israeli soldiers to be allowed to enter the holiest place of our people on the festival of Shavuot - 40 years after the reunification of Jerusalem. [God bless the soldiers - they're just taking the Left's (and for that matter, the Right's) orders!]

In any case, my impersonation of a goya did not go very far. At first I tried to sneak but surreptitiously - no luck.  "Excuse me, you cannot go here," the soldier said resolutely in Hebrew. I put on my best clueless tourist, although my Shabbos shoes left me hapless. "Oh...is it always closed?" The soldier perhaps bought it for a moment, and then said: "You can come back tomorrow (in English), mi sheva vachetzi ad achat esre vachetzi". I'm assuming saying the opening hours of the Temple Mount in Hebrew, he was testing my Hebrew as translated in the response of my facial muscles. I couldn't bear to continue the deception and so I smiled and turned around. Maybe another time. As I walked through the metal detectors and to the Kotel Plaza though, I couldn't quite shake off the tense, Kafkaeque and twisted reality of these holy alleyways: After millenia of separation, why is an Israeli soldier the last barrier between a Jew and the Foundation Stone?

Amir Benayun sings to Tamar Fogel

Amir Benayun is an Israeli singer who in recent years has drawn closer to traditional observance and religious practice. Benayun has a new song called Hitna'ari which he wrote for Tamar Fogel, the 12-year old girl who found five members of her family murdered by terrorists. The words are based on the eulogy of her mother Ruth Fogel's brother. The words of the chorus are taken from the prayer L'Cha Dodi, traditionally recited on Friday night, and from a line from Yechezkel 16:6:

When I passed over you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you: In your blood, you shall live; I said to you: In your blood, you shall live!

The version below features the Itamar children's choir and has English subtitles:

Emergency fund for the Viflic family

Via Israel National News:

Lema'an Achai charity organization of Ramat Beit Shemesh, "One Family" (which specializes in assisting terror victims) and "Paamonim" (which specializes in financial and small business structuring) are coordinating efforts to help the family of 16-year-old Daniel Viflic of Beit Shemesh, who remained in critical condition Sunday with wounds suffered Thursday, when an anti-tank missile. launched by Gaza terrorists, hit the school bus in which he was travelling.

Chairman David Morris of Lema'an Achai says the Viflic family will need $10,000 to make it through the Pesach period which, under normal circumstances, would be a peak season for its catering business, which has been closed by the tragedy.

To donate securely on line, go to: https://lemaanachai.org/donations.aspx

Use the drop-down, or comments section to designate "Terror Victim - Viflic".

To donate by Phone (in Hebrew), people in Israel can call: 02 999 9933

Humanity for Pollard

Kudos to the San Francisco Chronicle for publishing a press release on the launching of Humanity for Pollard, a new organization dedicated to achieving clemency for former US Navy intelligence officer Jonathan Pollard, who is now serving his 26th year in prison. Pollard was convicted on one count of providing classified information (the threat of Iraqi biological and chemical weapons) to an ally (Israel) -- a charge which has never before led to a life sentence.

According to the press release, the new organization "seeks to reignite social awareness of the issue, and through public support, encourage President Obama to commute Pollard's sentence based on humanitarian and compassionate grounds."

The organization's launch features the ba'al teshuva (in the true sense of the word) rapper Shyne of Def Jam records:

In a video message to President Obama, Shyne, an artist with Def Jam Records, spoke out in support of Jonathan Pollard, saying, “As a human being, we've all made mistakes, and we've all done things that we regret... but I think we, as human beings, have to be given the opportunity to atone, and to redeem ourselves, and to be forgiven, be given a second chance... He has paid his debt to society.”

The press release maintains that public awareness of Pollard's plight is essential is bringing about a resolution under Obama's presidency. It also highlights the participation of delegated figures such as Henry Kissinger, John McCain and Barney Frank in public calls for his release.

Eager to join the new effort? From the group's website, you can call Obama, send a letter to the White House, email Humanity for Pollard and have them send a letter on your behalf, or agree to be filmed.

Last June, after the former chief rabbi of Israel, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu z"l passed away, Jonathan Pollard's wife Esther the following about the significance of Jonathan Pollard's release from captivity:

Over time, the Rav shared with us and with a few others who were very close to him that Jonathan’s release is the key to the redemption of all of Am Yisrael.

In 2006, Rav Mordechai Eliyahu z"l, who had a special relationship with Jonathan Pollard, compared his captivity to that of biblical Joseph. Below is a video in Hebrew, followed by an English transcript of his words.

This week, we read in the weekly Torah portion about the actions taken by Avraham Avinu to save a captive, to save Lot who had gone to Sodom. He went to Sodom and he was undeserving (of rescue); yet Avraham Avinu spared no effort to save him. 

There is a Jew - a very dear Jew - who did so much for the Nation of Israel all over the world and who did so much for the Land of Israel, to save us from some very harsh things --the worst that could happen!

This Jew is named Jonathan Pollard.

His wife, Esther, has worked endlessly to try to get him out from where he is held in prison. I myself have appealed to several Presidents of the United States: to Regan, to Bush, to Bush's father, to Cardinal Law and to a host of others. To whomever I could turn, I have appealed to them, asking that they act to take him out of there and bring him here to The Land.

And I told them - also told them here in The Land - if they what they are afraid of is that he will talk, then I will be his guarantor that he will not say a word. He won't say anything. On the contrary! He will praise everyone; he will praise the presidents.

In any case, what we want is this: He is our brother! He must come home to the Land of Israel - and at once!

Many have pointed to the Pollard case as a cause that unites Jews across "divisions" of denomination (Reform/Conservative/Orthodox), nationality (American/Israeli), political persuasion (Israeli left/Right). Only last week, Meretz Youth, a (far) left-wing Israeli political organization issued a statement on the eve of Shimon Peres' upcoming meeting with Obama.

In fact, as I write this sentence, Peres is meeting with Obama in Washington. Before his departure, Peres had what was reported as a very emotional meeting with Esther Pollard. Following their meeting, she made a special plea to all of Am Yisrael:

Please dedicate at least part of this time to prayer, hope and thinking about Yehonatan ben [son of] Malka

Prayers for Jonathan Pollard's release are available here. A prayer to insert at the end of the amidah is available here in Hebrew, and is reprinted below in English:

May it be Your will HaShem, our G-d and G-d of our forefathers, that with the might of the twenty-two letters of Your Holy Torah, which we received at Mount Sinai, that You open the Heavenly Gates for Yehonatan Ben Malka: the Gates of Healing and Cures; the Gates of Health; the Gates of Joy; the Gates of Redemption; the Gates of Freedom; the Gates of Splendor and Glory; the Gates of Merit; the Gates of Compassion; the Gates of Gladness; the Gates of Goodness; the Gates of Salvation; the Gates of Atonement; the Gates of Good Heartedness; the Gates of Forgiveness; the Gates of Pleasantness; the Gates of Reliance; The Gates of Assistance; the Gates of Liberty; the Gates of Righteousness; the Gates of Holiness; the Gates of Mercy; the Gates of Happiness; and the Gates of Return. May all of the righteous deeds he has done for the Nation of Israel be remembered before You and may they rise before Your Throne of Mercy to plead for good for him; and may he be granted the merit, along with his wife, Esther Yocheved bat Rayzl Bracha, to build a Faithful Home in Israel; and may they be blessed with whole and healthy sons and daughters, and Your Name will be Sanctified publicly! May the verse "Take me out of confinement to praise Your Name" (Psalms 142) be fulfilled for him! Do so for the sake of Your Right Hand; do so for the sake of Your Righteousness; do so for the sake of Your Holiness; do so for the sake of Your Divine Presence; do so for Your own Name's Sake; do so for the sake of Your Torah. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your Presence, Eternal! my Rock and my Redeemer!

May Hashem hear your prayer and bring about the speedy release of Yonatan ben Malka, Gilad ben Aviva, Sholom Mordechai ben Rivka and all captives, and may their release herald the redemption of all of Am Yisrael.

Purim Sameyach

Will Sarah Palin understand?

In honor of Purim (Sunday, or Monday in Jerusalem), here's an excerpt from an interesting vort from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin on the power of Klal Yisrael during the messianic era:

For the Zohar, every nuptial is derived from the sacred union between the Almighty and His bride, Israel. In biblical times, when Israel was still in her infancy, God had to take center stage in our redemption from Egypt. However, in the ultimate Redemption with the coming of the Messiah, “the woman – the Jewish people, Klal Yisrael [all Israel] – will run circuits around and dominate the Almighty,” by taking the initiative in bringing about the coming of the Messiah.

This process of redemption initiated by Bride Israel began in the time with the period of the Second Temple, when the Oral Law, dominated by our rabbinical leaders of our people, gained sway over the Written Torah – dominated by God Himself. Whereas God’s name appears in virtually every verse of the Bible, it is the rabbis Rava and Abaye, Ravina and Rav Ashi whose names fill the pages of the Talmud (Mishna and Gemara).

The victory over Haman was magnificently orchestrated by Esther, who placed her life on the line to save her people; “The woman ran circuits around the man,” when Esther, rather than God, is given credit for initiating the victory. Hence God’s name doesn’t appear in the scroll. Yes, He plays a crucial role behind the scenes, but the perceived leader is Esther, aided by Mordecai and the coming together of all the Jews in Persia.

This Purim happens as a war is declared on Libya, as a global nuclear crisis unfolds in Japan, and as the modern-day champion of the rights of the Jewish people, Sarah Palin, dines with the 'king of Israel' in Jerusalem. 

May this be the year when the Jewish people, with the help of Hashem, do everything in our power to usher in the geulah!

A Freilichin Purim

Tamar Fogel asks Livni to take action on behalf of Pollard

The amazing middot (character) of 12-year-old Tamar Fogel, the orphan whose parents, brother and sister were murdered by Palestinians last Friday night, are coming to light. Last week, she said she would be strong and overcome, and be the mother of her brothers. 

In the video above, Tamar Fogel speaks in her first interview, hardly mentioning herself and her own pain, but speaking with all of her heart about the importance of unity between all parts of the Jewish people, settling the entirety of the land of Israel, and justice for Jonathan Pollard.

The Jerusalem Post reports on Tamar's special plea for Pollard:

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni made a pledge to 12-year-old orphan Tamar Fogel on Wednesday to work to bring about the release of Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard.

Pollard's wife Esther visited the shiva house earlier and presented teddy bears from her husband to Tamar and her two surviving siblings. Tamar showed the bear to Livni and asked her to take action on behalf of Pollard, who has served more than 25 years of a life sentence.

Livni responded that she has worked to bring about Pollard's release and would continue to do so. She commended Tamar for her selflessness.

"Despite all your pain, you are thinking about the pain of others,” Livni told Tamar. “This is heartbreaking and amazing.”

Amazing indeed. May Hashem comfort and protect this extraordinary young woman and may her emunah and middot be an example for all of am yisrael.

See here for a commentary on the contemporary manifestation of Amalek-Haman.

Confronting Heaven on the Harshest of Decrees: A Brief History

Photo of the Baal Shem Tov's handwritten siddur (open to Amidah, Matzmiach
Keren Yeshuah through Modim), with his students' names in the margins
to help him remember them in his prayers (Agudas Chabad Library/Wikipedia)

The brutal murders in Itamar were a din kashe - a harsh judgment of the highest degree from the Almighty, whose ways are worlds beyond us. Hashem is the true judge and Heaven only knows what is coming.

In the Roman conquest of Jerusalem at the turn of the first millenia, ten of the great rabbis of the generation were brutally slaughtered by the enemy. The generation was aghast -- what on earth or in heaven could explain the brutal murder of not one, but 10 holy souls, all at once, each tortured in a different way, and even beyond the individual level of suffering -- the elimination of not one, not two, but the ten pillars of the yidden's leadership, the knockout of the heart of Torah learning and guidance? In a dire search for answers, with the future of yiddishkeit at stake, the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) Rabbi Yishmael ascended to heaven to ask after the origin of the decree.

In heaven, Rabbi Yishmael was told that the 10 righteous souls of his generation were taken to atone for sin of the 10 brothers who sold their brother Joseph, the Tzaddik of the generation, into destitution, slavery and despair. Out of jealousy and concern for themselves rather than the future of the Jewish people, the brothers attempted to scuffle the subtle voice of truth in their midst, taking the future into their own hands and raising their own hands against God's plan.

The state of leadership of the Jewish people today is painful, to say the least. We have very few true leaders who would truly sacrifice themselves for the wellbeing of each soul of Am Yisrael. Politics, selfishness, interests and agendas have infiltrated even the most sublime of messages and campaigns. And yet, is this enough to explain the pain of the 12-year old girl who is now faced with pictures of her slaughtered family in her mind that even the world cannot bear to see, and the pain of her 8-year-old brother who is crying and asking "Where is Daddy!?"

Enter the second aliyat neshama - ascent of the soul - of Jewish history. In the 1740's, the Jews of Zaslav, Siytovka and Dunevich were brought under the rotten influence of Sabbateanism that was creeping across Eastern Europe Jewry. Certain members of the normative rabbinical establishment were distraught at the influence of Sabbateanism on the purity of Jewish minds and souls, and collaborated with Christian leaders to convert groups of Sabbatean Jews to Christianity -- at least that way they would not taint their Jewish souls or influence others in the community. Yet after the Jews converted to Christianity, they were slaughtered en masse by Christian authorities.

The holy Ba'al Shem Tov, founder of Chassidus, the teacher of Kabbalah to the people, was appalled by the rabbis of his generation behind such schemes. He made dire efforts on earth and in heaven to stop the conversion of Sabbatean-influenced Jews, arguing that a Jew can always do teshuva, but that once a Jew converts, he is cut off forever. He urged his contemporaries to see the Sabbatean Jews first of all as Jews and to never give up on them. And yet this time he was too late, and before his eyes groups of Sabbatean Jews were killed as a result of the rabbinical establishment's policies.

On Rosh Hashama of 1746 (5507), the Ba'al Shem Tov ascended to heaven again, like Rabbi Yishmael, to confront the heavenly court about the harsh decrees on the Jews of his generation. In response to his deep love for his people, the Besht was brought into the chamber of the Mashiach, in which he had the following conversation, as he recorded in a letter to his brother-in-law, Rabbi Gershon of Kitov:

I went higher until I actually entered the palace of the King Messiah, and I saw face to face that which I had never before seen from the day I reached maturity until now. And what was revealed to me is not for you. Also revealed to me were wondrous and fearful things regarding the depths of Torah which I have not seen and heard and no ear has heard in many years. And it occurred to me to ask him - perhaps all this delight and rejoicing is in preparation for his good coming.

And when will the Master come?

And his lofty reply is not to be revealed. But in this way will you know of it: when your teaching becomes famous and manifest in the world, and your wellsprings pour outwards,  that which I have taught you and you have comprehended, and they [others] will also be capable of performing unifica­tions and having [soul] ascents as you do. Then will all the kelippot (shells) be consumed, and it will be a time of grace and salvation.

And I was astonished and I had a great sorrow about the extent of time involved, and when such a thing might be possible.

The answer to the divine decree behind the tragedy of Rosh Hashana 1746 was kept secret from us, but in the footsteps of the tragedy, we learn that the Besht had a face-to-face conversation with the Mashiach, his only equal in love for the Jewish people down to the core. This interaction has guided the spread of the teachings of Chassidus around the world since the Besht until today, with every letter spoken or written containing the deep anticipation of Mashiach.

Many tragedies faced the Jewish people during the time of the Besht; Chassidus - the inner dimension of Torah, and the teachings that prepare the world for Mashiach - was not born out of peaceful monks meditating by a river, but out of a time of decrees on the Jewish people from left and right, much like today.

Some decrees the Besht was able to intercede, but others he there only to comfort the victims and their loved ones, and keep the spirit of Am Yisrael burning, no matter what. As a story told in the Yizkor Book of  my family's village in Tarnobrzeg (Dzikov) tells, when the community sent messengers to the Ba'al Shem Tov in response to a Polish decree to execute eight Jews on false charges, they were told it was too late; that the decree in heaven was already signed.

Sometimes, the prayer of one Jew who feels the pain of his generation can skip through all the worlds and change something which even the greatest of tzaddikim cannot reach. The following story is recounted about the true secret of the Baal Shem Tov's power of prayer:

The saintly prayers of the Baal Shem Tov and his close circle were unable to lift a harsh Heavenly decree they perceived one Rosh Hashanah (New Year). After extending the prayers beyond their time, the danger remained. An unlettered shepherd boy entered and was deeply envious of those who could read the holy day's prayers. He said to God "I don't know how to pray, but I can make the noises of the animals of the field." With great feeling, he cried out, "Cock-a-doodle-do. God have mercy!"

Immediately, joy overcame the Baal Shem Tov, and he hurried to finish the day's prayers. Afterwards, he explained that the heartfelt prayer of the shepherd boy opened the Gates of Heaven, and the decree was lifted.

At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the 12-year old girl, Tamar Fogel, who found her family slaughtered on Friday night. At 13:30 on Sunday Israel time, Tamar, her brothers who survived the attack and grandparents will gather to bury their loved ones.

And so we stand, a generation deprived of true leadership, desparate for guidance, belching with pain from harsh decrees, who will stand for us in this generation? We need Mashiach now!! And to hasten his arrival, we heed the lesson of the shepherd boy who saved his generation from the harshest of decrees: I am but a yid at the end of history...all I know how to do is cry/beg/scream...God have mercy!

Never underestimate the power of the love of one Jew for another

MIN HASHAMAYIM TERACHAMU
From Heaven may you be Comforted! 

Is Moamar Qaddafi a halakhic Jew?

Moamar Qaddafi's Jewish grandmother married a Muslim sheikh during her second marriage. The daughter this Jewish woman and Muslim man had is Qaddafi's mother.

This family tree was reported by Qaddafi's Jewish relatives (as they tell it) on a fascinating Channel 2 segment (in Hebrew). Qaddafi's mother, the daughter of the Jewish-Muslim marriage, is the great aunt of the woman who appeared on TV.

Professor Judith Ronen, an expert on Libyan affairs on Bar Ilan University, who was also interviewed in the segment, says that there is no official documentation for this claim, although that does not mean it is not true.

Does this mean Qaddafi can make aliyah? I say only if he does some MAJOR teshuva.

As seen on Israel Matzav & Yeranen Yaakov

Suez Canal hit by Earthquake (or: Earthquakes and Redemption)

At 3 a.m. on Monday morning, a 5.9 earthquake hit the Suez Canal entry and surrounding areas, 48 hours before two Iranian ships are expected to transit the canal to the Mediterranean. The quake lasted for a half hour and caused no damage. Originally, the ships were going to pass through the Canal Monday morning. Now, the ships are scheduled to make the passage early Tuesday morning.

The Suez Canal is the modern-day body of water that connects the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. It is the strategic and economic asset in the region. All of Israel's wars have involved economic or military threats via Suez. Iran's warships are carrying missiles to Syria, but their more significant goal is to take advantage of turmoil in the Middle East to stage a display of power and influence in the region by navigating the various bodies of water unencumbered. If Iran can sail freely through the Mediterranean and deliver weapons to Israel's northern enemies, it might as well be crowned King of the Middle East.

In this highly tense situation, what is the significance of an earthquake, hours before Iran's attempted ascent? In Ezekiel, a large earthquake in Israel is predicted during the war of Gog and Magog. Many have theorized that Iran is the prime aggressor in this apocalyptic war, having made no secret of its stride against Israel. 



According to one interpretation, the Splitting of the Red Sea, the miracle by which the Israelites crossed from Egypt to the Sinai desert to receive the Torah and proceed to the Promised Land, was in fact a tidal earthquake. In 1068, an earthquake in Ramla, Israel was documented in Jewish historical texts as causing water to disappear entirely from the River Jordan, while the Mediterranean "turned to land for two days". Interestingly enough, the earthquake this morning occurred in the Suez Canal, which is the body of water which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, or the sphere of Egypt's influence to the sphere of Israel's influence, which could be seen as a modern-day parallel to the Exodus route.



In Greek thought and polytheistic belief, earthquakes are related to the rage of the gods against humans. In Jewish thought, earthquakes are directly related to moral behavior of human beings. In the Jerusalem Talmud (Berachot 64a), earthquakes are understood as divine retribution for sins of failing to adequately fulfill the commandments associated with living in the Land of Israel, such as tithing, for building mass entertainment hubs on the background of the destruction of the Temple, and for the sin of homosexuality. Furthermore, all sages agree that earthquakes are caused by fissures, divides and arguments among the Jewish people.



Perhaps the most important lesson on earthquakes is found in a famous phrase from Isaiah's description of an earthquake during God's judgment of the earth in the end of days:

רֹעָה הִתְרֹעֲעָה, הָאָרֶץ; פּוֹר הִתְפּוֹרְרָה אֶרֶץ, מוֹט הִתְמוֹטְטָה אָרֶץ. נוֹעַ תָּנוּעַ אֶרֶץ כַּשִּׁכּוֹר, וְהִתְנוֹדְדָה כַּמְּלוּנָה; וְכָבַד עָלֶיהָ פִּשְׁעָהּ, וְנָפְלָה וְלֹא-תֹסִיף קוּם. וְהָיָה בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, יִפְקֹד יְהוָה עַל-צְבָא הַמָּרוֹם בַּמָּרוֹם; וְעַל-מַלְכֵי הָאֲדָמָה, עַל-הָאֲדָמָה(ישעיה כ"ד י"ט-כ"א)

The earth has broken; the earth has crumbled; the earth shakes. The earth sways like a drunken man, and it sways like a lodge, and its transgression shall weigh down upon it, and it shall fall and not continue to rise. And it shall come to pass on that day, that the Lord shall visit punishment upon the host of heaven on high and upon the kings of the earth on the earth. (Isaiah 24:19-21)

The phrase 'It shall fall and not continue to rise' is a theme throughout Jewish exegesis, whose major current is the spiritual and national revival of Israel. The same phrase appears in the book of Amos, this time seemingly describing Israel herself as falling irreparably (in the Hebrew, the Land and the People are feminine subjects that both take feminine verbs and are therefore used interchangeably in the two verses):

נָפְלָה לֹא תוֹסִיף קוּם בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל נִטְּשָׁה עַל אַדְמָתָהּ אֵין מְקִימָהּ.

She has fallen, shall not continue to rise; the virgin of Israel is abandoned on her soil, there is none to raise her up. (Amos 5,2)

In the Talmud, this verse is interpreted with a profound twist, which turns the deep fall into a deeper rise. In the opening of Masechet Brachot, Rabbi Yochanan explains that the letter Nun (נ) is missing from the acrostic Pslam 145 (Ashrei) because the verse that would have begun with Nun describes the fall of Israel's enemies, as it says in the verse: "She fell and will not rise again": In the West, he explains, this verse was interpreted by parsing the phrase differently: Rather than "She fell, will not continue to rise, Virgin of Israel", the verse is read (which works according to the Hebrew grammar) 'To fall - she will not continue. Rise, Virgin of Israel!" Rabbi Nachman Bar Yitzchak then says that King David knew this teaching by divine prophecy, as the next line he wrote begins with the words: God supports all the fallen.

And this is exactly the dynamic that enables the transition from the seemingly irreparable state of downtroddenness to reattained heights. In Tikkunei Zohar, this very verse is used over and over as signaling Israel's final redemption, which will come from above, when Israel is weak from exile and has almost given up, and in need of divine intervention.

נָפְלָה לֹא תוֹסִיף קוּם, וְלֵית לֵיהּ עִלּוּי וְסִלּוּק אֶלָּא בִידָא דְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא, דְאָזִיל שְׁמָא קַדִּישָׁא לִימִינָא וְאוֹקִים לָהּ. (תיקוני זהר נ,א)

She fell and will not rise again, and she has no way to rise other than in the hands of the Holy Blessed One, whose holy name comes to her right and lifts her up. (Tikkunei Zohar 50,1)

דִּבְזִמְנָא דְאִינוּן יִשְׂרָאֵל מְלוּכְלָכִין בְּטִנּוּפִין דִּשְׁאָר עַמִּין, נִשְׁמָתָא דְאִיהִי שְׁכִינְתָּא אָמְרַת, (שיר א, ו) אַל תִּרְאוּנִי שֶׁאֲנִי שְׁחַרְחֹרֶת, וּצְלוֹתָא נָפְלַת, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (עמוס ה, ב) נָפְלָה לֹא תוֹסִיף קוּם בְּתוּלַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְכַד נָפְלַת שְׁכִיבַת לְעַפְרָא בֵּין רַגְלִין, וְהָא אוּקְמוּהוּ (רות ג, ז) וַתְּגַל מַרְגְּלוֹתָיו וַתִּשְׁכָּב, וְאִיהִי מְצַלֵּי לְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא דְיוֹקִים לָהּ מֵעַפְרָא, הֲדָא הוּא דִכְתִיב (שם, ט) וּפָרַשְׂתָּ כְנָפֶךָ עַל אֲמָתְךָ כִּי גוֹאֵל אָתָּה. (תיקוני זהר נ,ב)

When Israel are filthy in the dirt of the nations, the soul of the Shechina (the lowest of the 10 divine emanations of God, the Divine Presence in this world) says: Do not look at me, that I am blackened, that prayer has fallen (i.e. the people do not even have the strength or the voice to pray, to call out to God for help), as it is written: 'She has fallen and will not rise again virgin of Israel," and when she fell to lie in the dust between the legs, as it says: "She revealed his ankles and lay down" (Book of Ruth 3:7) -- this is prayer to the Holy Blessed One, He Who Lifts her up from the dust, as it says "And you spread your wings on your servant, for You are a Redeemer" (Ruth 3:9) (Tikkunei Zohar 50,2)

In the Zohar, feet and legs are often metaphors for the Shechina, the last of the ten Divine Emanations (Sefirot) which brought this world into being. Shechina is also associated with speech, prayer and expression, which is both the Divine and human mechanism for bringing worlds into being: for God, through creation, and for humans, through prayer and study. Therefore, according to the Zohar's read, when Ruth revealed Boaz's ankles, this is a metaphor for finding a voice with which to pray, uncovering that which covers God's presence and closeness in any and every situation, and this revelation and expression is what lifts her up form the dust in which she had lay down, signifying her ultimate redemption, as alluded to by the use of the root of 'geulah' = redemption, throughout the book of Ruth.

From these passages we learn that an earthquake is related to the notion of falling. Although the verse from Amos' harsh prophecy seems to paint a doomed picture for Israel, deeper interpretations reveal that it actually signals the LAST fall, the fall from which she will be raised, this time in God's hands. The impetus to the rise that will inevitably follow the fall is prayer, as described by a metaphor of revealing that which is hidden, which brings about the transition from the lying in the dust to coming under God's wings. In summary, an earthquake raises all of these associations, ultimately indicating that the current state of Israel and the Jewish people is but a vehicle for us to reach out to God and rise in an elevation after which there will be no further fall.

In the Kuzari, Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi tells King Kuzar that the Jewish people are in a closer state to God than they would be if they were not in exile (Part 1, 114). The King challenges him: Perhaps I would believe you if Your humility were voluntary, but this sounds like an after-the-fact justification, i.e. you are only "explaining away" your suffering, but surely you would do without it, if you were so able. The Jew responds:

You have touched our weak spot, King of the Kuzar. If the majority of us, as you say, would learn humility towards God and His law from our low station, Providence would not have forced us to bear it for such a long period. Only the smallest portion among us thinks thus. Yet the majority may expect a reward, because they bear their degradation partly from necessity, partly of their own free will. For whoever wishes to do so can become the friend and equal of his oppressor by uttering one word, and without any difficulty. Such conduct does not escape the just Judge. If we bear our exile and degradation for God's sake, as is meet, we shall be the pride of the generation which will come with the Messiah, and accelerate the day of the deliverance we hope for.

The "weak spot" that the Jew describes in the face of the King of Kuzar is one of two times in the Kuzari in which the Jew admits that the King's questions and challenges are accurate. The other place is when the Jew is asked by the King why the people did not jump to return to the Land of Israel:

The King: If what you say is true, surely the Jewish people have fallen short of their duty by not endeavoring to reach that place? Your founding fathers chose it as an abode in preference to their birth places, and lived there as strangers rather than as citizens in their own country. This they did at a time even before the Shechinah was visible, when the country was full of unchastity, impurity, and idolatry; nor did they leave it in times of dearth and famine except through God’s explicit permission, they even directed their bones to be buried there. Yet when Ezra and Nehemiah called the people to return home during the time of the Second Temple they simply weren’t interested in leaving the exile, how could that be?

The Rabbi: Indeed your reproach is a severe one; it is in fact this lack of reaction that ultimately kept the Divine promise with regard to the Second Temple from being fulfilled. Divine Providence was ready to restore everything as it had been at first, if all of our people had willingly consented to return, but only a part was ready to do so, whilst the majority and the aristocracy remained in Babylon, preferring dependence and slavery, and unwilling to leave their houses and their affairs.

Could it be that Hashem is ready to redeem us, and all we have to do is let it happen?

אמר רבי יוחנן מפני מה לא נאמר נו"ן באשרי מפני שיש בה מפלתן של שונאי ישראל דכתיב (עמוס ה, ב) נפלה לא תוסיף קום בתולת ישראל במערבא מתרצי לה הכי נפלה ולא תוסיף לנפול עוד קום בתולת ישראל אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק אפילו הכי חזר דוד וסמכן ברוח הקדש שנא' (תהלים קמה, יד) סומך ה' לכל הנופלים:

The Importance of Eretz Yisrael for Am Yisrael

The entire life of the Jewish people revolves around the question of our existence in Israel -- whether we are in a state of exile or a state of redemption. Even after the Giving of the Torah, the complete fulfillment of the commandments began only after entering the Land, conquering, and dividing it -- after the Jewish people settled in the Land. The purpose of giving the Torah at Mt Sinai -- the moment at which we became a people -- is the fulfillmenet of the Torah and the commandments in the Land.

Why is Land of Israel essential to Jewish people? In the writings of Rabbi Isaac of Homil zt"l it is explained in several places that the settlement of the Jewish people in their land and the establishment of their kingdom is, in the language of Kabbalah, 'raising the aspect of Rachel'. Rabbi Isaac explains that the raising of the aspect of Rachel means revealing and shaping the true Jewish nature. In exile we can fulfill commandments and even establish Jewish community, but it is all still part of 'the aspect of Leah' - the world of conscious thought. Outside of the Land, Judaism is an intellectual and thought-out exercise; only in Israel Judaism is revealed as the Jewish soul's natural impulse, and natural expression of Jewish nature in the fulfillment of the commandments comes to light.

from Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, The Jewish Nature: The Way to Natural Consciousness

רחל מבכה על בניה מאנה להתנחם כי איננו

ושבו בנים לגבולם

Ricky Gervais makes a crack at Mel Gibson's antisemitism

Gervais: “Our first presenter is beautiful, talented, and Jewish apparently...Mel Gibson told me that. He’s obsessed. Please welcome Scarlett Johansson.” (5:00)

In 2008, Johansson said in an interview with Israel's Channel 2 that her mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and brought her up with a basic observance of Shabbat and holidays. She identifies as Jewish.

Ingathering of the Exiles

Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, a champion of
the spiritual and political revival of Israel,
who read the words below from Isaiah
at the opening of Hebrew University
in Jerusalem in 1925

Raise your eyes around and see
All have gathered and come to you
Your sons have come from afar
Your daughters carried on hips
Then you will see, and become radiant
...Your heart will expand and tremble
The abundance of the sea will turn over to you,
The heroes of nations will make pilgrimage.

(Isaiah 60:4-5)

According to JTA, 20 Jews from Tunisia have come to Israel amid the political situation in the country. Ten are members of one extended family who are making aliyah; the other ten are participating in programs and may do so in the future. Others in the country are considering making aliyah. About 1,100 Jews live in Djerba, while about 400 live in Tunis. 

On its website the Jewish Agency is offering to assist any Tunisian Jew to leave the country for Israel.

The Tunisian Jewish community dates back to the Roman period, when the Romans exiled the Kohanim as far as possible so as to quell possible attempts to reconstruct the Temple and Jewish worship. Most of today's Tunisian Jewish community in Djerba are Kohanim and have remained loyal Kohanim for centuries.

The Ga'on Rabbeinu Chananel, Rabbi Chananel ben Chushiel, was an 11th-century Tunisian rabbi. Yaakov ben Nissim was a Tunisian Jewish philosopher who wrote an Arabic translation to Sefer Yetzirah, the one of the first texts of Kabbalah. HaRav Nissim Gaon, Rabbi Nissim ben Yaakov was a great Tunisian Talmudist. During the Spain and Portuguese Inquisition in the 15th century, some Jewish refugees arrived in Tunis.

In 1948, there were 105,000 Jews in Tunisia. By 1967, the increasingly unstable situation led to the aliyah of 40,000 Tunisian Jews to Israel. During the six-day war, 7,000 immigrated to France. In 2002, a truck exploded at the outer wall of the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba. Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility. 11 German tourists and 6 others were killed in attack. (Source: Jewish Virtual Library)

The popular Israeli singer Etti Ankari, who has recently reconnected with her Jewish roots and embraced a religious lifestyle, is from a Tunisian Jewish family.

Fish and Jews

Gefilte fish (photo by David Shay)

בראשית מ"ח ט"ז

הַמַּלְאָךְ הַגֹּאֵל אֹתִי מִכָּל-רָע, יְבָרֵךְ אֶת-הַנְּעָרִים, וְיִקָּרֵא בָהֶם שְׁמִי, וְשֵׁם אֲבֹתַי אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק; וְיִדְגּוּ לָרֹב, בְּקֶרֶב הָאָרֶץ

Genesis 48:16: "May the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and let my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them be like fish in the midst of the earth.'

The Hebrew word 'vayidgu' is difficult to translate - it's as if the word fish had a verb form - thus 'be like fish' comes close. Jacob blesses his offspring, the ancestors Jewish people, that they multiply like fish. 

Rebbe Natan of Breslov, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov's student, on fish and Mashiach.

Yitzchak Ginsburgh on Mashiach, the letter Nun and fish at Inner.org

A gefilte fish recipe @ Chabad.org

A parable for the importance of being connected to Chassidus today

A prince once fell extremely ill. The doctors diagnosed that his sickness could only be cured by grinding down certain jewels, mixing them with water, and administering this potion to him. However, these jewels were so rare that they could not even be found in the king’s treasury. The only such jewels available were in the king’s crown. In the meantime, the prince’s health deteriorated to the extent that the doctors began to doubt whether the prince would even be able to swallow the potion. The king then declared that nonetheless, it is worthwhile to grind down this jewel, the centerpiece of the king’s crown, on the chance that a drop may enter the prince’s mouth and heal him.

(from A Chassidishe Farbrengen)

Or LaGoyim

Jon Voight speaks on the unique contributions of the Jewish people to the world: