Wednesday, September 29, 2010

An environmentally friendly cleaner and Rise to the Challenge and happy dancing with the Torah

Rise to the Challenge

When trying to do a good deed, do not concentrate on the difficulties involved. Focus on the fact that your merit for doing a good deed is greater when it is difficult. Perseverance in the face of difficulties has an elevating effect. The difficulty need not make you feel worse, but can actually make you feel better.

Today, select one difficult task and see how it can actually be elevating.


Love Yehuda




You probably don't clean your computer screen very often
and it is really hard to do the inside, so 
here  is my present to you.
 
click on the word  "here"  above and wait for a few seconds
and the inside of your screen will be cleaned for you!




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Shemini Atzeret begins this year on Wednesday evening, September 29, 2010, and continues with Simchat Torah through Friday, October 1, 2010. What follows is a how-to guide to the basics of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah observance.

Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah 101


The holiday of Sukkot is followed by an independent holiday called "Shemini Atzeret." In Israel, this is a one-day holiday; in the Diaspora it is a two-day holiday, and the second day is known as "Simchat Torah." This holiday is characterized by utterly unbridled joy, which surpasses even the joy of Sukkot. The joy reaches its climax on Simchat Torah, when we celebrate the conclusion – and restart – of the annual Torah-reading cycle.

These two days constitute a major holiday, when most forms of work are prohibited. On the preceding nights, women and girls light candles, reciting the appropriate blessings, and we enjoy nightly and daily festive meals, accompanied by the Kiddush. We don't go to work, drive, write, or switch on or off electric devices. We are permitted to cook and to carry outdoors (unless it is also Shabbat).

The first day, Shemini Atzeret, features the prayers for rain, officially commemorating the start of the Mediterranean (i.e., Israeli) rain season, and the Yizkor (prayer supplicating G‑d to remember the souls of the departed).

We no longer take the Four Kinds, and we no longer mention Sukkot in the day's prayers; in the Diaspora, however, we do still eat in the sukkah (but without reciting a blessing).

The highlight of the second day, Simchat Torah ("The Joy of the Torah"), is the hakafot, held both on the eve and morning of Simchat Torah, in which we march and dance with Torah scrolls around the reading table in the synagogue. (In many synagogues, hakafot are also conducted on the eve of Shemini Atzeret.)

On this joyous day when we conclude the Torah, it is customary for every man to take part in the celebration by receiving an aliyah. The children too receive an aliyah!

After the final aliyah of the Torah, we immediately begin a new cycle from the beginning of Genesis (from a second Torah scroll); this is because as soon as we conclude studying the Torah, G‑d's infinite wisdom, on one level, we immediately start again, this time to discover new and loftier interpretations.

(In the Land of Israel, the celebration and customs of these two days are compressed into one day.)



Holiday Guide


Shemini Atzeret

The two days of the holiday of Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah constitute a major holiday, when most forms of work are prohibited. Click here for a basic guide to Jewish holiday laws.

Eruv Tavshilin

This year, Shemini Atzeret falls on a Wednesday night and Thursday (so that Simchat Torah will be Thursday night and Friday), an eruv tavshilin must be made on Wednesday, to allow cooking and other necessary Shabbat preparations to be done on Friday. Click here for more on this topic and to learn how to make an eruv tavshilin.

Yizkor Candle

In some communities, it is customary that those who will be reciting Yizkor on Shemini Atzeret (i.e., anyone with a deceased parent) light a 24-hour yahrtzeit candle before the onset of the holiday.

Holiday Candles

Women and all girls (or if there is no woman in the house, the head of the household), light candles to usher in the holiday. See this link for information regarding when exactly the holiday candles should be lit.

After lighting, recite the following two blessings:

Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam asher ki-deshanu bi-mitzvo-tav vi-tzvi-vanu le-hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are You, L‑rd, our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us to light the candle of the Holiday.

Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam she-heche-ya-nu ve-ki-yi-ma-nu ve-higi-a-nu liz-man ha-zeh.

Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Prayers, Hakafot & Festive Meal

Festive evening services are recited. The custom in many communities – especially Chassidic and Sephardic ones – is to also hold hakafot during the prayers of the eve of Shemini Atzeret. (See below for more about hakafot

After the prayers, a festive meal is eaten in the sukkah, though the Leshev baSukkah blessing is not recited (see A Deeper Look at Shemini Atzeret for more on the topic of eating in the sukkah on Shemini Atzeret, as well as the reason why the blessing is omitted).

The challah is dipped in salt. Until today, on all the holidays of this month the challah was traditionally dipped in honey (rather than salt); this is symbolic of our desire to secure a sweet verdict for the upcoming new year. The judgment, however, was finalized on Hoshanah Rabbah, the day before Shemini Atzeret, so there's no reason for the honey any more.

Morning Services

The Shemini Atzeret morning prayers follow the basic order of all holiday morning services: holiday amidah, Hallel, special holiday Torah reading, holiday Musaf, during the course of which the kohanim (priests) administer the Priestly Blessing.

In addition to the standard holiday service, the Yizkor (prayer supplicating G‑d to remember the souls of the departed) is recited by those who have a deceased parent.

Before the start of the Musaf amidah, the gabbai (beadle) announces aloud: "Mashiv haruach u'morid hageshem!" ("He causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall"), and from this prayer forward, and lasting until the first day of Passover, those words are inserted into the second blessing of the amidah.

After the silent amidah, the ark is opened and the cantor – in a tune reminiscent of the liturgy of the Days of Awe – begins the repetition of the amidah. The opening paragraphs of the repetition contains a special prayer, Geshem ("Rain"); this prayer consists of a series of piyutim (poetic verses) beseeching G‑d to grant bountiful rain, and officially launching the Mediterranean (i.e., Israeli) rain season.

Shemini Atzeret Afternoon

Sometime before sundown, it is customary to go into the sukkah, have a bite to eat, and "bid farewell" to its holy shade. In many communities there's a special prayer recited upon leaving the sukkah for the final time—but it is not customarily recited in Chabad circles.

It's important to bear in mind that no preparations may be made from one holiday day to the next. Each day of the holiday is uniquely important, and would be "demeaned" if used in order to prepare for the next. As such, all cooking, setting of the tables, etc., for Simchat Torah must wait until after nightfall.


Simchat Torah

Holiday Candles

After dark, women and all girls (or if there is no woman in the house, the head of the household), light candles to usher in the holiday. See this link for information regarding when exactly the holiday candles should be lit. The candles should be lit from an existing flame (such as a pilot flame or a yahrtzeit candle).

After lighting, recite the following two blessings:

Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam asher ki-deshanu bi-mitzvo-tav vi-tzvi-vanu le-hadlik ner shel Yom Tov.

Blessed are You, L‑rd, our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and has commanded us to light the candle of the Holiday.

Ba-ruch a-tah Ado-nai E-lo-hei-nu me-lech ha-olam she-heche-ya-nu ve-ki-yi-ma-nu ve-higi-a-nu liz-man ha-zeh.

Blessed are You, L‑rd our G‑d, King of the universe, who has granted us life, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this occasion.

Prayers, Hakafot & Holiday Meal

The holiday evening prayers are followed by the lively hakafot dancing in the synagogue. (See below for more about hakafot.) In many synagogues, the hakafot are preceded by a lavish kiddush (indoors usually, as we have already bid farewell to the sukkah earlier in the afternoon) so that no one is dancing on an empty stomach.

After the hakafot, everyone goes home and enjoys a traditional holiday meal.

Morning Prayers

The Simchat Torah morning prayers follow the basic order of all holiday morning services, but with many additions.

The Priestly Blessing is administered – in almost all communities – during the repetition of the amidah of the morning service, as opposed to all other holidays, when the blessing is recited during the Musaf. This is because on this joyous day many make kiddush and consume alcoholic beverages before Musaf, and a priest who is even slightly inebriated may not administer the blessing.

The repetition of the amidah is followed by the recitation of the Hallel, and then the morning hakafot, after which the Torah scrolls are returned to the ark.

Three Torahs are then taken out for the Torah reading. From the first one, we read V'Zot Haberachah, the final portion of the Torah, from the second we read the first section of Genesis (1:1-2:3), and from the third we read the maftir from the book of Numbers (29:35-30:1).

On this joyous day when we conclude the Torah, it is customary for everyone to take part in the celebration by receiving an aliyah. The problem is, there are only eight aliyot available (the five standard holiday aliyot, Chatan Torah, Chatan Bereishit, and maftir), and at least ten men—and usually more. There are several solutions for this issue. In most synagogues, the first five aliyot of the Torah reading of V'Zot Haberachah are repeated as many times as necessary, until all adult men have received their aliyot. In other synagogues, the congregation will divide into smaller groups, and several Torah readings will take place concurrently. In yet other – larger – congregations, several people together will be called up to the Torah to share an aliyah.

The last of these aliyot is traditionally reserved for the children, who also receive an aliyah on this day; all the children are gathered together and, together with the adult who received the honor of leading this beautiful rite, recite the traditional aliyah blessings. In many congregations – though not in Chabad ones – a tallit is spread over the heads of the children, and after the conclusion of the aliyah, someone pronounces Jacob's blessing: "May the angel who redeemed me from all harm bless the youths, and may they be called by my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and may they multiply abundantly like fish, in the midst of the land" (Genesis 48:16).

Until this point, the five aliyot read were from the first part of V'Zot Haberachah (Deuteronomy 33:1-26). The next two aliyot will conclude the Torah (Deuteronomy 33:27-44:12), and then (from the second Torah scroll) begin the new cycle of the reading from the beginning of Genesis. For we never, heaven forbid, finish the Torah; as soon as we conclude studying the Torah, G‑d's infinite wisdom, on one level, we immediately start again, this time to discover new and loftier interpretations.

The individuals honored with these two special and highly-sought aliyot are known as Chatan Torah (the "Torah Groom") and Chatan Bereishit (the "Genesis Groom"). Because these aliyot are in such demand, they are often given to individuals who pledge to donate substantial sums of money to charity. (It is acceptable for these aliyot, too, to be shared by several individuals. A kohen or Levite can also be honored with either of these aliyot.)

A rather lengthy Aramaic poem is read in which the Chatan Torah is summoned to discharge his honor. The Torah is then concluded. With the final verse, everyone rises to their feet, and at its conclusion all proclaim, Chazak chazak vinitchazek! ("Be strong! Be strong! And let us strengthen one another!")

The second Torah scroll is then placed on the reading table, and the Chatan Bereishit is summoned, also in poetic form. The Torah is read. When the reader reads the story of creation, he pauses before the conclusion of each of the six days of creation, for the congregation to chant, "There was evening and there was morning, the (number) day!" after which the reader reads those words from the Torah. The last three verses of the reading (Genesis 2:1-3), which discuss G‑d's resting on Shabbat, are also first chanted by the congregation, followed by the reader.

This is all followed by the day's maftir and haftorah (from the Book of Joshua). When the haftorah has been completed, it is customary to sing a hymn called Sisu v'simchu b'Simchat Torah ("Rejoice and exult on Simchat Torah!"). The Torahs are returned to the Ark, and the holiday Musaf service commences.

The day continues with the holiday meal, and then the afternoon services.

After the post-holiday evening services (this year, because Simchat Torah is on a Friday, this proclamation waits until after the evening services of Saturday night), it is a Chabad custom for the gabbai (beadle) to announce: "V'Yaakov halach lidarko!" ("And Jacob went on his way!").

An inspiring month of holidays has reached its conclusion. Now it is time for Jacob to take all the spiritual treasures he has amassed in these few weeks, and "go on his way" back into the mundane world. Newly invigorated and spiritually recharged, he can be assured that in the coming year he will have the strength and fortitude to unflinchingly confront all the challenges that life presents, and bring meaning and holiness to every area and situation that Divine providence will send in his direction.



Hakafot


The joyous climax of Simchat Torah is the dancing of hakafot (lit. "circles"), during which we dance and sing with the Torah scrolls. In the words of one Chassidic master, "On Simchat Torah the Torah scrolls wish to dance, so we become their feet."

The hakafot are a memorable event, certainly one of the highlights on the Jewish calendar. It is a kid-friendly event; they should not be left at home! And you might want to pass on those uncomfortable formal dancing shoes for this participatory event; the comfortable shoes (though they should be elegant in honor of the holiday) will probably be more suitable for the occasion.

The Chassidic masters explain that the Torahs are rolled shut and wrapped in their velvet coverings for the duration of the hakafot celebrations. We don't celebrate by sitting down and studying the Torah's holy words. This is because the celebration encompasses every Jew, no matter his or her level of Torah scholarship or ability to comprehend and interpret the Torah's words. The Torah is the heritage of every Jew – the day-old infant is as essentially connected to the Torah as the venerated sage – and every Jew is equally entitled to celebrate on this special day.

The Hakafot — Step-by-Step

The hakafot are celebrated on the eve of Simchat Torah and then again the following morning. In Chassidic communities, hakafot are also conducted on the eve of Shemini Atzeret. The evening hakafot follow the amidah of the night's festive prayers; the morning hakafot immediately precede the reading of the (final parshah of the) Torah.

Before the dancing commences, a set of seventeen verses, called Atah Ha'raita, is chanted three times. Traditionally, members of the congregation are honored with leading the congregation in the recitation of these verses; in synagogues where there are many more congregants than verses, it is common practice to "auction off" the honors, with the proceeds going to charity.

After the completion of the Atah Ha'raita, it is Chabad custom, as instituted by the Rebbe, to chant the following verse (Genesis 28:14): "And your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall gain strength westward and eastward and northward and southward; and through you shall be blessed all the families of the earth and through your seed."

All the Torah scrolls are then removed from the Ark. According to the Zohar, the Torahs' crowns should not be removed, but should remain on the scrolls throughout the dancing. Members of the congregation are honored with holding the scrolls (a Torah scroll should always be held over the right shoulder), and the leader leads the Torah procession around the bimah (synagogue reading table) while chanting brief prayers beseeching G‑d for success and deliverance, with the congregation responding in kind. This is followed by singing and dancing, with the Torah scrolls usually handed from person to person, allowing all the opportunity to be the "Torah's feet." The children, too, take part in the merry-making, traditionally dancing around with special Simchat Torah flags, and are often treated to a bird's eye view of the dancing while perched on their dancing father's shoulders. In the spirit of merriment, it is not unusual to find some adults enjoying a l'chaim or two before and during the hakafot.

This procedure is followed seven times—seven hakafot. After each hakafah (singular term for hakafot), the synagogue's gabbai (beadle) announces, "Ad kan hakafah ...." ("We have reached the conclusion of hakafah number x"), the Torahs are returned to the ark, and the next hakafah commences (usually with a different set of people holding the Torahs, and a different leader).

The procedure for the hakafot on Simchat Torah morning is slightly different. According to Chabad custom, three and a half circuits are made around the bimah, with the prayers for each hakafah being recited during the course of a half of a circuit. All the seven hakafot areperformed in succession with no interruption (the gabbai does not announce "Ad kan..."), and then are followed by one prolonged session of singing and dancing with the Torah.



Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah 5771 (2010) Calendar

Wednesday September 29 – 21 Tishrei
7th day of Sukkot
Hoshanah Rabbah
- The Day Before Shemini Atzeret

Note: Click here and here for more information about this special day. What follows is only the information relevant to preparations for the holiday of Shemini Atzeret.

Since the festival begins on a Wednesday night, we prepare an eruv tavshilin. In some communities, it is customary that those who will be reciting Yizkor tomorrow (i.e., anyone with a deceased parent) light a 24-hour yahrtzeit candle before the onset of the holiday.

Women and girls light candles -- preferably in the sukkah -- in order to usher in the holiday. See above, in the Shemini Atzeret Guide, for the text of the blessings, and click here for local candle lighting times.

Festive evening prayers followed -- in most communities -- by hakafot.

After the prayers, we enjoy a holiday meal in the sukkah. (Tonight and the next day, no blessing is made on sitting in the sukkah. Click here for more on this topic.)

Thursday September 30 – 22 Tishrei
Shemini Atzeret

Morning service. Full Hallel is recited.
Two Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark.
Torah reading: Deuteronomy 14:22-16:17 and Numbers 29:35-39.
Haftorah: I Kings 8:54–66.

Yizkor is recited by those who have a deceased parent. Before the start of the Musaf amidah, the gabbai announces aloud: "Mashiv haruach u'morid hageshem!" ("He causes the wind to blow and the rain to fall"), and from this prayer forward, and lasting until the first day of Passover, those words are inserted into the second blessing of the amidah. The opening paragraphs of the repetition of the amidah contains a special prayer, Geshem ("Rain"), beseeching G‑d to grant bountiful rain, and officially launching the Mediterranean (i.e., Israeli) rain season. The Priests bless the congregation with the Priestly Blessing during the Musaf prayer.

Festive lunch meal in the sukkah. Sometime before sundown, it is customary to go into the sukkah, have a bite to eat, and "bid farewell" to its holy shade.

After dark (tzeit hakochavim), women and girls light candles -- in the home -- for Simchat Torah, using an existing flame. See above, in the Simchat Torah Guide, for the text of the blessings, and click here for local candle lighting times.

Festive evening prayers followed by hakafot -- jubilant singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls.

After the prayers and hakafot, we enjoy a festive holiday meal (no longer do we eat in the sukkah).

Friday October 1 – 23 Tishrei
Simchat Torah

Morning service. The Priests bless the congregation with the Priestly Blessing during the Shacharit (morning) prayer. Full Hallel is recited, followed by the hakafot.
Three Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark. Everyone, including children, receives an aliyah.
Torah reading: Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12; Genesis 1:1-2:3; Numbers 29:35-39.
Haftorah: Joshua 1:1-18.

Festive lunch meal.

Shabbat cooking and preparations.

18 minutes before sunset, women and girls light candles for Shabbat, using an existing flame. Click here for the text of the blessing, and here for local candle lighting times.

After abridged Shabbat evening prayers, traditional Shabbat meal.

Shabbat October 2 – 24 Tishrei
Shabbat Bereishit - Shabbat Mevarchim

Morning service: Normal Shabbat prayers.
Torah reading: Genesis 1:1–6:8.
Haftorah: Isaiah 42:5-21.

Shabbat lunch meal.

The Rebbes of Chabad would say: "As one establishes oneself on Shabbat Bereishit, so goes the rest of the year."

After nightfall, perform the Havdalah ceremony.

After the evening services, it is a Chabad custom for the gabbai to announce: "V'Yaakov halach lidarko!" ("And Jacob went on his way!")






Tuesday, September 28, 2010

egg Trick from Johnny Carson and have the courage to change

Have Courage to Change

Whenever we have repeated a pattern many times, it is difficult to change. But all patterns ultimately can in fact be changed. It is a question of having a clear goal - and then being motivated to take action.

It is easier to change patterns when two parties are willing to work together. If you are the only one, it takes more strength, more courage, and more resilience. That's why cooperation is essential in a marriage.

The Almighty leads a person on the path on which he wants to go. May He give you the wisdom to make the right decisions and choices, and the strength and courage to follow through!

Love Yehuda




 
 

 

 

 

EGG TRICK - Try it!

 

This is great!!

 

These were the days when TV was fun and non-rehearsed!  Click on the "Egg Trick" link below.

 

THIS IS PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

If Johnny Carson was still around,

Leno & Letterman wouldn't have a chance!

The real Tonight Show. The good ole days.

This trick has never been repeated in modern

times.... Johnny Carson and Dom DeLuise.

If this doesn't bring a smile, you're brain dead.  

Click below.

Egg trick   







 

 






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Monday, September 27, 2010

Brooklyn Rooming in May 2010 and Yehuda Avner shares his perspective

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-z-oo5V1Wc

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Love Yehuda

Adviser to five Israeli leaders, Yehuda Avner shares his perspective on Israel and what it means to be a Jew.

When Yehuda Avner first joined the Israeli Foreign Service in 1959, he was the only observant Jew. "When I began I was the only religious fellow in the whole Foreign Service. It wasn't easy," recalls Avner, 82, whose diplomatic career ended up lasting an incredible 38 years.

Avner came to Israel in 1947 as a pioneer from Manchester, UK, at the age of 18. After becoming a founding member of Kibbutz Lavi in the Galilee, he caught a break that landed him in the Foreign Ministry's Political Information Department, a post which propelled him to successive positions as secretary, English speechwriter, and adviser to Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol, Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, and Shimon Peres; Ambassador to London, Australia, and Ireland; and Consul to the Israeli Embassies in New York and Washington, DC.

His story, which touched intimately on the lives not only of Israel's founding fathers, but also on the likes of Abba Eban, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, Yasser Arafat, Margaret Thatcher and Princess Diana (to name a few), forms the backbone of his new book, The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative of Israeli Leadership (Toby Press).

The 700-page account tells a thus-far untold version of this critical period in Israeli history, compiled from Avner's meticulously-kept notebooks, photographs, diaries, minutes, speeches, memorandums, letters, newspaper clippings, classified government material, and his extremely strong and vivid memory.

Avner, who lives and writes from his home in Jerusalem – a city which after all these years he still says he finds "intoxicating" – recalls how difficult it was for him in the beginning, to be Israel's lone religiously observant diplomat. "There were times when I had real problems," he says.

One particularly sticky instance stands out in his mind. In 1985, then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin asked Avner to draft a statement on Shabbat. There was a crisis following Henry Kissinger's shuttle diplomacy and the U.S. had threatened to reassess its regional policies and its relations with Israel. "I refused to do it, and Rabin was full of contempt," recalls Avner.

Afterwards, he went to one of the leading rabbinic sages of the time to seek counsel on his decision. Since successful diplomacy has the potential to prevent war, potentially saving lives was a factor involved in weighing the decision. The rabbi asked him whether Avner was certain that he had all the pertinent information to make the judgment that he did. Perhaps only the Prime Minister had the full picture. "One will never know whether I behaved correctly or not, and eventually Rabin forgave me."

Plenty of never-before-released, personally-gathered stories make the book a compelling source of both historical and academic interest. Avner tells one never-before-published story about late-Prime Minister Menachem Begin and the mezuzot at the Prime Minister's residence.

Soon after he started working for Begin, in 1977, Avner got a call from a yeshiva student requesting to check the mezuzot at the Prime Minister's house. "I had been so conditioned by working with all these other secular Prime Ministers, I told him I would take down his phone number, just to get him off my back," says Avner. "As Begin was leaving that day I mentioned it to him in passing, and he told me it was extremely important and to get the student to the house as soon as possible.

"Begin himself checked every mezuzah with him," recalls Avner. "I kept looking for the cameras and the crowds, but no. Begin did it for only one reason – it was important to him. He meant it."

It was for his sincerity and his traditionalism that of all the heads of State he worked for, Avner says he most admired Begin. "Until Begin came along, all the Prime Ministers I worked for were secular Zionists," explains Avner. "Begin was a tremendous traditionalist and in public he would never do anything that was not within the bounds of Jewish tradition. As a Jew who strives to keep the mitzvot, this was very exciting and refreshing for me."

The thing he admired most about Begin was the fact that he was able to bridge his identity as a Jew, religiously, with his identity as a Jewish nationalist, a duality that Avner says is at the crux of Jewish and Israeli identity issues, to this day.

Jewish identity says Avner, is unique in the family of nations, beginning with the Exodus from Egypt, where the Jews entered history as a people, and continuing to the giving of the Torah at Sinai, where the Jews entered history as a faith.

"Ever since, we have walked through history with this duality," he says. "We are the only ethnic group in the world, in terms of modern statehood, in which we are at one in the same time a people and a religion."

This dual identity is as disturbing to Jews as it is to non-Jews, and accounts for much of Israel's internal socio-cultural tensions, namely those between the state's religious and secular populations. "It is an uneasy coexistence," says Avner. "While some would like to see the two components of Jewish identity torn apart, others say no way."

It also accounts for Israel's isolation in the international community. Avner points to the fact that Israel doesn't belong to a geographic entity in the UN, neither to a power bloc NATO, nor to an economic space like the EU.

Again, he takes a lesson from Begin. Each Saturday evening, Begin would hold a study session on the weekly Torah portion. Avner recalls one particular week, where the discussion centered around a passage in which the non-Jewish prophet Balaam is bribed by the Moabite king Balak to curse the Israelites, who had been wandering 38 years in the desert and were still two years away from entering the promised land.

Bilam foretells the future destiny of the Jewish people, predicting "... this is a people that shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned among the nations" (Numbers, 23:9).

"Reading the verse out loud, Prime Minister Begin gave a mild chuckle and said, 'One does not have to be a mystic for the imagination to be stirred by such an improbable vision of a nation forever 'dwelling alone'. Is it not a startlingly accurate prophecy of our Jewish people's experience in all of history?'" Avner reads aloud from the middle of The Prime Ministers. "'So there you have it,' concluded Begin snapping the book shut. 'Cease dwelling alone and we cease to exist. What a conundrum!'"

We may be alone in the world, as Begin concluded, but says Avner, we are here. The idea conjures another of Avner's vivid memories. Once, while on a post-peace treaty tour of a museum in Cairo with Begin, one of the men in the Prime Minister's entourage commented that the plethora of artifacts representing the vibrant Egyptian civilization, with its incredible arts and culture, made him feel small. "Begin overheard him and said, yes, but everything of this civilization is in a museum. We [the Jews], we are alive. We are still here."

Avner sees himself and his writing as a link in the chain of that history. "I am hoping [with this book] every generation will simply learn about these early years. That is something very important to me," he says. "The most important words in all the Bible is 'teach thy children'. Our job on earth is to teach them, from generation to generation. This is part of the secret of our survival."





Sunday, September 26, 2010

Gear oil failures in windmills and Visualize Courage

Visualize Courage

Your magnificent brain can make mental pictures of how you would like to speak and act. The more times you repeat these pictures, the more ingrained they become. These mental pictures will make it easier for you to follow through in reality.

Utilize this gift from the Creator to increase your level of courage.


Love Yehuda







 

Gear oil failures in windmills 
Here are some photos of what happens when transmission failures occur in windmills.  To date no gear oil has been invented to withstand the pressures produced within these units.  Most recently, the government gave Dow-Corning a big grant to work on it.  Previously, many others had tried and failed. 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

Boy, they really burn!


 

 
 
 
  
  
    




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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Recycled tire art...amazing! and Lift Your Spirits on this Succos Eve

 Lift Your Spirits on this Succos Eve

Here are some ideas to help you feel better:

(1) Fill your mind with happiness-producing thoughts. Create an encouraging inner voice.

(2) Remember the positive moments of your life. Re-experience the positive feelings you had when you lived through those moments.

(3) Get in touch with your moments of strength. When you felt strong, how did you create those feelings?

(4) Increase your sense of meaning in life by doing meaningful things.

(5) Create enjoyable mental imagery. Visualize yourself being joyous.

(6) View your depressed feelings as a challenge that can eventually help you to elevate yourself.

(7) Find some positive way of looking at each event and situation in your life.

(8) Keep a diary of the good things that happen to you.

(9) Keep a self-mastery journal to give you a greater sense of empowerment.

(10) Engage in physical exercises such as brisk walking or running.

(11) List ten reasons why you can feel better even though you are experiencing difficulties.

(12) Each day, do acts of kindness for others.

(13) Remember that all money comes from G-d, so when you lose some or make some, it wasn't up to you anyway.


Love Yehuda






 
 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 


 

 
 
 
 

EVERY ONCE IN AWHILE WE WITNESS THE EXTRAORDINARY TALENT OF PEOPLE'S CREATIVITY,

HERE IS ONE THAT IS TRULY AMAZING. WHO WOULD EVER THINK?

Wonder what happens to old tires?




  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  



Sorta adds a whole new meaning
To the term "RETREAD" doesn't it?

 
 
 
 







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Monday, September 20, 2010

WHY OUR GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE SOOO HAPPY AND THE HAPPY HOLIDAY OF SUCCOS

GOOD MORNING! Judaism has something for everyone. If you like to drink booze, we have Purim. If you like asceticism or self-denial we have Yom Kippur and Tiash Abov. If you like to play with fire, we have Lag B'Omer (celebrated with bonfires!). If you like to dance, we have Simchat Torah, and ... if you like the great outdoors, we have Sukkot!

Sukkot starts Wednesday evening, September 22nd. Sukkot means "booths." During the 40 years of wandering in the desert we lived in Sukkot. We are commanded in the Torah regarding this holiday, "You shall dwell in booths for seven days ... so that your generations will know that I caused the Children of Israel to dwell in booths when I took them out of Egypt, I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 23:42-43). We are commanded to make our Sukkah our main dwelling place - to eat, sleep, learn Torah and spend our time there. If one would suffer from being in a Sukkah - i.e. from rain or snow - or heat and humidity - he is freed from the obligation to dwell there. We make, however, every effort to at least eat in the Sukkah - especially the first night.

The love and enthusiasm you put into building a Sukkah and decorating it makes a big impact on your children. A friend told me that his father was a klutz (not handy) with tools and their Sukkah would oftentimes fall down. But, what he remembers is his father's love for the mitzvah of building the Sukkah and happiness in building it each time. We cannot decree that our children have our love for our heritage. However, by showing them our delight and energy in the mitzvot, they build their own love for Torah and the holiday. A teacher once said, "Parents only owe their children 3 things: example, example, example."

We are also commanded to wave the arbah minim, the Four Species, during the week-long holiday. There are many deep and mystical meanings to be found regarding Waving the Four Species. One understanding from waving in all four directions and up and down -that the Almighty controls the whole world, the winds, the forces and everything everywhere. A second lesson from holding the Four Species together - that all Jews are bound together as one people, be they saints or sinners, knowledgeable or ignorant (see Dvar Torah!).

The Torah tells us, "...On the fifteenth of the seventh month (counting from the Hebrew month of Nissan when the Jews left Egypt) shall be the holiday of Sukkot, seven days (of celebration) for the Almighty. The first day shall be a holy convocation; all manners of work (creative acts as defined by the Torah) you shall not do; it is an eternal decree in all of your dwelling places for all generations" (Leviticus 23:34-35).

Sukkot is called zman simchateinu, the time of our joy. Joy is distinct from happiness. Happiness is taking pleasure in what you have. Joy is the pleasure of anticipating a future good. If we trust in God and know that everything that the Almighty does for us is for our good, then we will know great joy in our lives!

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 tells us "The festival of Sukkot shall be to you for seven days when you gather from your threshing floors and your wine cellar. You shall rejoice in your festival ... for the Almighty will bless you in all of your produce and in all of the work of your hand and you shall be completely joyous." It is fitting that Sukkot is a harvest festival. People who work the earth are amongst the most religious of people trusting in the Almighty (followed perhaps by fundraisers ... ). They take a perfectly good seed that could be eaten and they stick it in the ground, not knowing whether there will be rain or drought or floods or pestilence. They put forth hard work not knowing the outcome. They trust in the Almighty for their food and their very existence.

The mitzvah of dwelling in the Sukkah teaches us trust in God. We tend to think that our possessions, our money, our homes, our intelligence will protect us. During Sukkot we are exposed to the elements in a temporary hut. Living in a Sukkah puts life into perspective. Our possessions are transient - and our corporeal beings are even more transient than our possessions. Life is vulnerable. Our history has borne out how transient are our homes and communities. No matter how well-established, wealthy and "secure" we have become in a host country, in the end it too has been a temporary dwelling. Our trust must be in God.

As King David wrote in Psalms 20:8 "There are those who trust in chariots and those who trust in horses, but we trust in the name of the Almighty." Only the Almighty is the Creator of the world, the Master of history, our personal and caring God Who can be relied upon to help us.

While we had our two Temples in Jerusalem, during the Festival of Sukkot, 70 offerings were made for the nations of the world - so that the Almighty would provide rain for their crops. The Talmud tells us that if the nations of the world understood the value of what the Jewish people provided them, they would have sent their armies to defend our Temple in Jerusalem to keep it from being destroyed!

Sukkot is one of the Shelosh Regalim, Three Festivals (the other two are Pesach and Shavuot), where the Torah commands everyone living in Israel to leave their homes to come to Jerusalem to celebrate at the Temple. For the last 2,000 years since the destruction of the Temple, we've been unable to fulfill this mitzvah. May we soon be able to fulfill this mitzvah once again in its entirety!


Love Yehuda


 

WHY OUR GREAT GRANDPARENTS WERE SOOO HAPPY

 

'Why Our Great-Grandparents Have Such Fond Memories Of Their Youth...'

A bottle of Bayer's 'Heroin'.  

(I'm surprised that they rememberanything!!)

Between 1890 and 1910 heroin was sold as a non-addictive substitute for morphine.

It was also used to treat children suffering with a strong cough.


Coca Wine, anyone?

 

Metcalf's Coca Wine was one of a huge variety of wines with cocaine on the market.

Everybody used to say that it would make you happy and it would also work as a medicinal treatment.


 
 
 

Mariani Wine.

 

 

Mariani wine (1875) was the most famous Coca wine of it's time.

Pope Leo XIII used to carry one bottle with him all the time.

He awarded Angelo Mariani (the producer) with a Vatican gold medal.


 
 

Maltine.

 

 

Produced by the Maltine Manufacturing Company of NewYork.

 It was suggested that you should take a full glass with or after every meal.

Children should only take half a glass.


 
 

A paper weight:

 

 

A paper weight promoting C.F. Boehringer & Soehne ( Mannheim , Germany ).

 They were proud of being the biggest producers in the world

of products containing Quinine and Cocaine.


 
 

Opium for Asthma:

 

 

At 40% alcohol plus 3 grams of opium per tablet,

 it didn't cure you, but you didn't care...


 

Cocaine Tablets (1900).

 

 

All stage actors, singers, teachers and preachers had to have them for a maximum performance.

Great to 'smooth' the voice.


 
 

Cocaine drops for toothache.

 

 

Very popular for children in 1885.

Not only did they relieve the pain, they made the children very happy!


 

Opium for new-borns.

 

 

I'm sure this would make them sleep well (not only the Opium, but also 46% alcohol)!

It's no wonder they were called, 'The Good Old Days'!!

From cradle to grave...

Everyone Was Stoned!!!






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Sunday, September 19, 2010

If Facebook Had Always Existed and Rising to the Challenge

"The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson."
--Tom Bodett,
American author and humorist -- spokesperson for Motel 6

Rising to the Challenge

A person whose main focus in life is self-improvement will feel the greatest joy on days when his tests are the most difficult.

A righteous person once said that the happiest moment in his life was when some people tried to humiliate him in an extreme way, and he was able to remain calm and serene. He realized on that day that he was able to cope with insults with total inner peace.

Difficult life situations are not a contradiction to having a pleasant life. Rather, the ultimate level to strive for is when all difficulties serve as tools for joy and happiness. This is an essential Torah concept, which guarantees that if you follow it 100 percent, then your life will be 100 percent full of happiness and joy.

Love Yehuda


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 





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