Friday, May 30, 2014

Something to think about ...... What would you do ????????? and the seven branches of science




 


Imagine that you had won the following prize in a contest:
Each morning your bank would deposit $86,400.00 in your  private account for your use.

However,this prize has rules, just as  any game has certain rules.

   
The first set of rules would be:

       Everything that you didn't spend during each day  would be taken away from you.

      You may not simply transfer money into some other account.
      You may only spend it.

Each morning upon awakening, the bank opens your account with another $86,400.00 for that day.

      
The  second set of rules:

     The bank can end the game without warning; at any time  it can say, Its over,the game is over! It can  close the account  and you will not receive a new one.

        What would you personally do?

You would buy anything and everything you wanted right?
Not only for yourself, but for all people you love, right?
Even for people you don't know, because you couldn't  possibly spend it all on yourself, right?
You would try to spend every cent, and use it all, right?

      ACTUALLY This  GAME is  REALITY!

 Each of us is in possession of such a magical  bank. We just can't seem to see it.

               The MAGICAL BANK is  TIME!

Each morning we awaken to receive 86,400 seconds as a gift of life, and when we go to sleep at night, any remaining time is  NOT credited to us.

What we haven't lived up that day is forever  lost.

Yesterday is forever gone.

Each morning the account is refilled, but the bank  can dissolve your account at any time....WITHOUT  WARNING.

SO, what will YOU do with your 86,400  seconds?

Those seconds are worth so much more than the same amount in dollars.

Think about that, and always think of this:

Enjoy every second of your life, because time races by so much quicker than you  think.

So take care of yourself, be Happy, Love Deeply and enjoy life!
Remember to spend time on making others happy, too

Here's wishing you a wonderful, beautiful day.

Start spending.


 Love Yehuda Lave

 
 The Menorah – Symbol of the 7 Branches of Science

By Rabbi Efriam Sprecher
Published: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 12:32:51 PM

The Torah commands Aharon, the High Priest, "When you light the lamps, towards the center of the Menorah shall the seven lamps cast light." (Bamidbar 8:2) According to the Maharal and Rabbi Yonatan Eybishuts, the seven branches of the Menorah represent the seven pillars of secular wisdom, knowledge and science. The Rambam in Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah Ch. 2 states that when you study nature and the natural sciences, you fall madly in love with the One above.


In fact in the Moreh Nevuchim the Rambam explains that if you want to see G-d, study the incredible wisdom, found in nature. That is how the Rambam explains the verse in Parshat Ki Sisa when Moshe asked G-d, "Show me Your Glory." G-d answered him, "I will make all My goodness pass before you… , and you will see My back…". The Rambam explains G-d's answer, "If you want to see G-d, it's only by an indirect way through the study of nature and the natural sciences. That's how one comes to know and love G-d as the popular song goes "to know him is to love him".

Rabbenu Bechaye explains the seven sciences as follows:(1) the Wisdom of Logic and Language (2) the Study of Mathematics (3) The Study of Physics and Chemistry (4) The Science of Geometry and Trigonometry (5) The Study of Music (6) The Study of Astronomy (7) The Study of Divine Theology.

The center lamp of the Menora represents the light of Torah which all the other branches face. Rabbenu Bechaye explains that the central shaft of the Menora that holds all the other branches together is the knowledge of the Wisdom of G-d. The other branches of the Menora are only the offshoots of that Divine Wisdom. As Psalm 111 states "Reshit Chcochma Yirat Hashem," "The source of all wisdom is the fear of G-d."

The Vilner Gaon's disciple, Rabbi Yisrael of Shklov, writes in Peat Hashulchan, "The Vilner Gaon explained that all secular wisdom is essential for our Holy Torah and is included in it. He indicated that he had mastered all the seven branches of secular wisdom and knowledge, including algebra, trigonometry, geometry and music."

The Talmud has many examples of how our Sages used science and mathematics to assist them in their understanding of Torah. To cite an example, in Sanhedrin 5b, it states that the great sage, Rav, spent many months among the shepherds studying the types of blemishes on animals, which heal and which do not, for the purpose of determining the Sanctity of the firstborn kosher animals. The Talmud in Shabbat 75a also criticizes one who knows how to calculate the calendar and positions of the constellations but does not do so.

The message of the Menora is that the light of Torah and the light of secular knowledge complement each other, as long as the Torah is the central focus, foundation, and basis of all secular wisdom.

 



Jerusalem day pictures around Jerusalem and a live video of Rabbi Sprecher


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEpvl7z302k





Rolling Stones delay Start for Religious Jews

By: Shalom Bear

Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones presenting Israel's official symbol.

Charlie Watts, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Mick Jagger will appear in Tel Aviv just as the holiday of Shavuot ends.
Photo Credit: Yori Yanover based on Kyle Blair/WENN.com image.




Long time readers of yesterday's papers know that JewishPress.com was instrumental in bringing the Rolling Stones to Israel, 2000 light years from home.

Our Rolling Stones Purim spoof was hot stuff and it was just like the hand of fate flipped a switch and suddenly the Rolling Stones are in another land.

Now time waits for no one, even the Rolling Stones when it comes to when the Shavuot holiday ends. But now it looks like time is on my side as the Rolling Stones have delayed the start of their performance to 9:15PM in little Tel (&) Aviv to allow religious fans to get to the concert. We love you!

Who says you can't always get what you want?



Thursday, May 29, 2014

The Western Wall Info graphic and the Pope's visit-- a slap in the face?

Suffering helps us Focus

A person who is broken-hearted has a greater tendency to think about his ultimate purpose in this world. This can lead to more elevated behavior.

Love Yehuda Lave


The Western Wall Infographic

The Western Wall Infographic

Everything you need to know about Israel's most-visited site.

by aish.com and Yvette Alt Miller

The Western Wall

Published: May 24, 2014



 


A Slap in the Face
 
After 1700 years of ongoing harassment, forced conversions, massacres and pogroms, one was looking forward to a different relationship in the 21st century between the Jewish world and Catholicism.
 
The latest Papal visit has destroyed a great deal of the good work of Vatican II and those who laboured in the fields of building bridges. Each Papal visit to the Holy Land is filled with symbolic gestures and each move is calculated and orchestrated, and this visit was meant to embarrass and berate the Jewish State.
 
The visit by Pope Francis with his two wingmen, Rabbi Abraham Skovka and Imam Omar Abboud, was all part of the effort to help set the stage for a most severe attack by the Vatican on the Jewish homeland.
 
Pope Francis chose first to visit with Abu Mazen who is in the midst of forming a National Unity Government between Fatah and Hamas (a recognized international terrorist organization). Also, His Holiness would fly directly into what he calls the Palestinian State and not the Palestinian Authority.
 
Pope Francis’ dramatic gesture at the security barrier was a paparazzi delight. It created an instant iconic photo that will be used by Islamists around the world. The Pope, dressed in his splendid white robe, accorded this security barrier the same status as the holy Western Wall of the Temple.
 
His hand and head were gently placed next to the antisemitic graffiti comparing the security wall, which has protected Israeli civilians from Islamist terrorists, as a wall that symbolized the Warsaw Ghetto wall. The Pope could not have chosen to insult the Jewish people with any greater gesture. What an insult to the victims of Nazism. What a mockery of history.
 
The Warsaw Ghetto confined destitute Jews prior to their departure to Auschwitz. They were starved, beaten and deprived of all human dignity by the Nazis. How grotesque to compare the security barrier wall to the Warsaw Ghetto wall. Of course, the analogy is not lost. The Nazis built the wall and now Jews have built what Pope Francis deems to be a similar wall to contain the Palestinians. A new lie in the history of blood libels against the Jewish people.
 
Not once did the Pope object to the imagery throughout Bethlehem that showed Jesus garbed in Muslim attire. Here was the new Jesus, no longer a Jew, but now transformed miraculously into a Palestinian being killed by Israeli soldiers. I wonder how this feeds the theology of those Catholics who still believe in the deicide that the Jews allegedly committed. These Catholics who have never fully embraced Vatican II: Do they now feel vindicated that Pope Francis did not chastise his hosts for this horrific antisemitic imagery?
 
Just as the Jewish world was finally beginning, in the post Holocaust era, to feel a sense of comfort and understanding from the Vatican, Pope Francis has destroyed the trust of the average Jew on the street. Of course, Jewish leaders will still rush to the Vatican for the five minute talk and photo op and the wonderful smiles that will be exhibited at those meetings. It will take more than photo ops for the Jewish street to trust the Vatican.
 
Every person of faith should ask a simple question: Why would His Holiness, Pope Francis, invite Abu Mazen who is planning an entente with Hamas, whose mission is the destruction of the Jewish homeland, to come to Rome and pray together with Shimon Peres, the outgoing President of Israel, when there is an opportunity to pray together in Jerusalem (inviting Peres was not lost on the Israeli Government, as an insult to the Prime Minister).
 
Imagine if his Holiness, Pope Francis, had taken his two wingmen, Abbas and Shimon Peres and said: Let us ascend to the Temple Mount which is holy to all of our three faiths, and let us pray together at the holiest site in the world. Of course, His Holiness, Pope Francis, knows that Islamic tradition regards him as an infidel. As such, he would not be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount controlled by the Islamic Waqf - no Christian is permitted the opportunity to offer a silent prayer where Jesus once spoke. Nor could his Jewish wingman or Shimon Peres even recite a single prayer for peace as Jews are equally prohibited from uttering a prayer at Judaism’s holiest site. Too bad President Peres did not use this historical moment and change the status of the Temple Mount. Rome is not the religious centre for Judaism or Islam, and what a failure not to have utilized the golden opportunity to finally open up the Temple Mount to all monotheistic religions.
 
There will be many apologists, many interpretations, and many efforts, I am sure, by good Catholic leaders to try to heal the wounds and the insults, and not even the forced visit by His Holiness, Pope Francis, to the Jewish victims of Islamic terror will make amends for the damage. Giving aid and comfort to the Fatah-Hamas Alliance will long resonate with the Jewish people who are fulfilling the words of the Covenant and returning to build the Jewish Homeland.
 
Frank Dimant, CEO, B'nai Brith Canada
 
15 Hove St.
Toronto, M3H 4Y8
Canada
 



Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Jerusalem Day videos and flower power point


Today is Yom Yerushalayim- Jerusalem Day! 47 Years ago we experienced a great miracle! While the Arab countries of Syria, Egypt and Jordan planned a war to annihilate Israel and throw the Jews into the sea, the Jewish people triumphed, returned Biblical Israel to our sovereignty and miraculously reunified our holy city and finally opened it up for all people to pray and have freedom!

It is therefore a day of celebration of thanks for the miracles that the one above provided us then and continues to provide us each and every day.

Wishing you Happy Jerusalem Day and all the best from Jerusalem


Love Yehuda Lave







  Jerusalem Day videos


This will make your heart stop:


http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/chills-run-down-my-spine-as-i-watch-jerusalem-finally-be-reunited?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_campaign=20140527_m120631588_12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_term=Jerusalemday_Israel_jpg_3F1401172902




http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/thanks-to-israel-jerusalem-is-finally-free?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_campaign=20140527_m120631588_12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_term=jerusalemday_lookback_png_3F1401173029



http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/cant-make-it-this-is-almsot-as-amazing-as-the-real-thing?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_campaign=20140527_m120631588_12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_term=rikud_kotel_jerusalemday_png_3F1401173312


http://www.israelvideonetwork.com/the-modern-day-miracle-that-will-give-you-goosebumps?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_campaign=20140527_m120631588_12tribe+Films%3A+Celebrating+The+Reunification+of+Jerusalem!+47+Years+of+Freedom!&utm_term=6-day-breakthrough_jpg_3F1401173454




Why Celebrate Jerusalem Day

The two-millennia love affair of the Jewish People


In the year 70 CE we lost her.

The Roman army conquered what had been the glory of the Jewish nation for a thousand years. They pillaged Jerusalem, and slaughtered or enslaved every Jewish resident.

Sixty-five years later, the Roman Emperor Hadrian razed the city. On its ruins, he built Aelia Capitolina. The only Jews allowed entrance were Jewish slaves. And the name "Jerusalem" survived only in our prayer books, from which we beseech-ed God three times a day to rebuild Jerusalem.

When the Roman Empire reinvented itself as the Christian Byzantine Empire in the 4th century, they brought back the city's name, Jerusalem, but not its Jews. Jews, who still lived in thriving communities in the Galilee and the Golan Heights, were permitted entrance only one day a year – on Tisha B'Av, the day of the destruction of the Holy Temple and of Jerusalem. As a contemporary historian, Jerome, wrote: "The Jews can only come to mourn the city, and they must buy the privilege of weeping for the destruction of the city."

The Arab conquest in 638 wrested the city from the Byzantines. The Caliph Omar, the Muslim ruler, permitted Jews to return. A large Jewish enclave settled to the north of the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount, of course, was the crown of Jerusalem. The Roman Emperor Hadrian had built a temple to Jupiter on the ruins of the Jewish Holy Temple. The Byzantines had built a church there. Now the Muslims leveled the site and built the Dome of the Rock and the El Aksa Mosque.

The Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099, and killed every Jew and Muslim. Blood flowed knee-deep through the holy streets. Soon the Christians allowed Jewish textile dyers to return. Benjamin of Tudela recorded, "There are about 200 Jews who dwell under the Tower of David."

A century later the Muslims under Saladin defeated the Crusaders, and Jews once again were permitted free access to Jerusalem. As Rabbi Solomon ben Samson wrote: "We arrived at Jerusalem by the western end of the city, rending our garments on beholding it. … It was a moment of tenderest emotion, and we wept bitterly."

The Egyptian Mamluks (soldier-slaves) took over the city in 1250. When the famous Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (the Ramban) arrived from Spain he found not even enough Jews to make a minyan. In an epistle to his son he wrote, "I write you this letter from Jerusalem, the holy city… the most ruined of all cities….We found a ruined house with pillars of marble and a beautiful dome, and we converted it into a synagogue…. The houses of the city are abandoned, and anyone could claim them." The Ramban re-established the Jewish community in Jerusalem and it grew.

In 1516, the Ottoman Turks conquered the city. The sultan Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and encouraged the Jews exiled from Spain (in 1492) to settle there. Less than a century later, however, the Turkish regime became corrupt. They imposed heavy taxes and many restrictions of the Jews of Jerusalem. Nevertheless, drawn by their hearts and their prayers, Jews continued to return to Jerusalem.

By the mid-nineteenth century the walled city of Jerusalem was so crowded with Jews that a few residents suggested moving outside the walls, but without the massive stone protection they would be at the mercy of roving bands of brigands. Sir Moses Montefiore took the first step to solve the problem by building a protected compound outside the walls; twenty intrepid Jewish families took up residence there. Soon other Jewish enclaves sprouted up, and the new city of Jerusalem extended beyond what came to be known as the "Old City" like a bevy of descendants around their Matriarch.

The British vanquished the Turks during World War I, and in 1917, General Allenby marched victoriously into the walled Old City. The British divided the Old City into four quarters: the Muslim Quarter (actually half of the area of the Old City), the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter, and the Armenian Quarter. The designations were spurious; according to the British rulers' own census, the majority of residents of "the Muslim Quarter" were Jews.

The British maintained the Turkish restrictions on the Jews at the Kotel (Western Wall), the world's holiest Jewish site next to the Temple Mount itself. Only a narrow alley was accessible for Jewish prayer. Jews were not permitted to bring benches or stools to sit on. Jews were not permitted to put up a mechitza such as existed in the synagogues. Those Jews who dared to blow the Shofar on Rosh Hashana or the end of Yom Kippur were arrested and imprisoned.

When, in May 1948, the British were forced by the United Nations to leave, the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount and the Kotel (Western Wall), fell to the Jordanian army (known as the Arab Legion). All the Jewish residents were exiled. The men were taken to Jordan as prisoners of war, and the women, children, and elderly were forced out through Zion Gate, as their homes of generations were looted and burned behind them.

For the first time in three millennia, the Old City of Jerusalem was Judenrein.

The nascent State of Israel, born that month, proclaimed Jerusalem its capital. David Ben Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, declared: "The value of Jerusalem cannot be measured, weighed, or put into words. If a land has a soul, Jerusalem is the soul of the Land of Israel."

The "new city" of Jerusalem, divided between Israel and Jordan, became the bustling location of governmental, educational, and cultural institutions. But its heart, the walled Old City, surrounded by barbed wire and a menacing No Man's Land, remained outside of Israel like, during certain cardiac surgeries, the patient's heart sits outside his body.

For nineteen years, Jerusalem – the real Jerusalem, the Old City – retreated into our prayers and our longings. Israel's greatest songstress Naomi Shemer composed a haunting song, "Jerusalem of Gold," that became an anthem of yearning for secular Jews as the Psalmist's "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem," was for religious Jews.

Then on the 28th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, on the third day of the Six-Day War in 1967, while the Israeli army was battling the Jordanian army in areas along No Man's Land, the Israeli command suddenly realized that it might be possible to reclaim the Old City. In the files of the Israeli army were detailed military plans for how to take every hill and field in the land, but there was no plan at all for taking the Old City. Its thick walls and belvederes, built to ward off invaders, had made it invincible in 1948, when dozens of Jewish fighters had lost their lives trying to penetrate its bastions. But, now, when miraculous victories were being scored on every front, was it possible – really possible – to reclaim the Old City of Jerusalem?

The order was issued to the 55th Paratroopers Brigade of Motta Gur to take the Old City. A secular Jew with the yearning for Jerusalem running through his veins, Gur was humbled by the charge, that after 2,000 years, he would get to command the Jewish forces that would finally bring Jerusalem back to Jewish sovereignty.

The paratroopers entered through Lions' Gate. Much to their surprise, other than occasional sniper fire, there was no resistance. The Jordanian forces had evacuated the night before. The Israeli troops, like a magnet, headed directly to the Temple Mount. The words of Mutta Gur, heard on radio in bunkers and bomb shelters and bases throughout Israel, would echo throughout modern Jewish history as the rallying cry of a vanquished-now-victorious people: "Har Habayit b'yadenu, the Temple Mount is in our hands!"

I sit here today, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 47 years after that historic day, and I celebrate it as Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day.

 








Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Just in case you didn't already know and a Jerusalem Day Video

A Guarantee of Happiness 

"And my tongue will express Your charity. Your praise all day long." (Psalms 35:28)

  The charity that King David was referring to was the kindness and charity that the Almighty bestowed on him. Out of gratitude and appreciation for this, King David would praise Hashem all day long.

  Fulfillment of this one verse would guarantee a person a life of happiness and gratitude: an elevated and spiritual life



Love Yehuda Lave



Here is a Jerusalem day (Yom Yerusahalim) video on the beauties of Jerusalem and Israel

http://www.aish.com/jw/j/Jerusalem-A-Music-Video.html?s=nb



1.  Q: Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs?  
A: Long ago,  dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a  dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of  this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a bank that resembled a pig.
 And it caught on.
 
 
2. Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches, while pennies and nickels do not?
 
A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals.? Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave..
 
 
3. Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?
 
 
A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through
 holes on the left.? And that's where women's buttons have remained.
 
 
4. Q. Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses?  


 

A: In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.  

 

5. Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?
 
 
A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.
 
 
6. Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?
 
 
A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the  glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously.  When a guest trusted his host, he would then just touch or clink the host's glass with his own.
 
 7
. Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?
 
 
A: Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and stage lighting by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theater, performers on stage 'in the limelight' were seen by the audience to be the center of attention.
 
 
8. Q: Why do ships and aircraft in trouble use 'mayday' as their call for help?
 
 
A: This comes from the French word m'aidez - meaning 'help me' -- and is pronounced 'mayday.'
 
 
9. Q: Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?
 
 
A: Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
 
 
10. Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?
 
 
A: In France, where tennis first became popular, a big, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.'  When tennis was introduced in the US, Americans pronounced it 'love.'
 
 
11. Q: In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?
 
 
A. When Mary, later Queen of Scots, went to France as a young girl (for education & survival), Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scot game 'golf.' So he had the first golf course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when she returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.'


Monday, May 26, 2014

tourists and Elvis is Jewish according to new book

  Shelve Those Worries

At times you may be obsessed with certain worries.

You do not want to worry the entire day. A useful technique is to set aside time slots for giving thought to those matters. When a worry arises during the rest of the day, tell yourself, "Now is not the time for worry. At 9:00 this evening I will think about it, but not now."

This gently pushes away worries, and gives you confidence that you have control.

Love Yehuda Lave


 Subject: Elvis was Jewish

https://s3.amazonaws.com/jspacenews/uploads/2014/04/Elvis.jpg

Elvis Presley may be remembered as a rocker with a penchant for Baptist hymnals, but the King also had some major Jewish lineage.

According to  a biography, "Elvis and Gladys," the Memphis musician was halachically Jewish through matrilineal descent. And he was proud of  it. Elaine  Dundy wrote "Elvis  and Gladys" in 1995 about the singer's relationship with his mother, Gladys Love Smith. Gladys' maternal grandmother was Martha Tacket, who was Jewish. 

 

According to the book, Elvis knew about his Jewish lineage, but was told to keep it quiet by his parents, who feared an antisemitic backlash in 1940's  Mississippi. Nevertheless, Elvis was known to wear a Chai necklace and carry a yarmulke in his jacket pocket, and he buried his mother under a gravestone engraved with a Star of David.

 

"After his mother died, Elvis personally sought to design his beloved mother's gravesite which included a Star of David on Gladys Love Presley's tombstone," Dundy wrote in her book. "The decision was made by him in honor of his Jewish heritage. Something his mother was proud of and acknowledged to Elvis at a very early age."

 

               https://s3.amazonaws.com/jspacenews/uploads/2014/04/GladysTombstone.jpg

 

In 2002's "Schmelvis: In Search of Elvis Presley's Jewish Roots," writers Jonathan Goldstein and Max Wallace wrote about Elvis' generous giving to Jewish institutions.

 

"One day the Memphis Jewish Welfare sent a delegation to Graceland to see him and ask if he could contribute. At Christmas every year he would donate $1,000 to a number of Memphis charities and one of them was the Memphis Hebrew Academy, and so they thought maybe they could get something," the book read. "They explained what they do, taking care of poor Jews and orphans. Elvis excused himself for a minute. When he came back, he handed the leader of the delegation a check. They didn't know what to expect. They thought $1,000 would be nice. When they looked at the check, it was for $150,000. The equivalent of more than a million dollars today."

 

It looks like the King knew the meaning of tzedukah.


Tourists

THESE ARE ACTUAL COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY

"THOMAS COOK VACATIONS" FROM DISSATISFIED CUSTOMERS :

1. "I think it should be explained in the brochure that the local convenience store does not sell proper biscuits like custard creams or ginger nuts."

2. "It's lazy of the local shopkeepers in Puerto Vallarta to close in the afternoons. I often needed to buy things during 'siesta' time -- this should be banned."

3. "On my holiday to Goa in India , I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don't like spicy food."

4. "We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our own swimsuits and towels. We assumed it would be included in the price"

5. "The beach was too sandy. We had to clean everything when we returned to our room."

6. "We found the sand was not like the sand in the brochure. Your brochure shows the sand as white but it was more yellow."

7. "They should not allow topless sunbathing on the beach. It was very distracting for my husband who just wanted to relax."

8. "No-one told us there would be fish in the water. The children were scared."

9. "Although the brochure said that there was a fully equipped kitchen, there was no egg-slicer in the drawers."

10. "We went on holiday to Spain and had a problem with the taxi drivers as they were all Spanish."

11. "The roads were uneven and bumpy, so we could not read the local guide book during the bus ride to the resort. Because of this, we were unaware of many things that would have made our holiday more fun."

12. "It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England . It took the Americans only three hours to get home. This seems unfair."

13. "I compared the size of our one-bedroom suite to our friends' three-bedroom and ours was significantly smaller."

14. "The brochure stated: 'No hairdressers at the resort'. We're trainee hairdressers and we think they knew and made us wait longer for service."

15. "When we were in Spain there were too many Spanish people there. The receptionist spoke Spanish, the food was Spanish. No one told us that there would be so many foreigners."

16. "We had to line up outside to catch the boat and there was no air-conditioning."

17. "It is your duty as a tour operator to advise us of noisy or
unruly guests before we travel."

18. "I was bitten by a mosquito. The brochure did not mention
mosquitoes."

19. "My fiancé and I requested twin-beds when we booked, but instead we were placed in a room with a king bed. We now hold you responsible and want to be re-reimbursed for the fact that I became pregnant. This would not have happened if you had put us in the room that we booked."

BEWARE...

THEY WALK AMONG US, and VOTE TOO!!!!!

 

 



Sunday, May 25, 2014

The World Explained With Graphs and Wednesday is Jerusalem unification day

  Keep Focused On Your Goal

Always ask yourself: "What is my goal right now?"

When you keep focused on a specific goal, you are less likely to get sidetracked by venting your anger at someone. You'll discover that your real goal is incompatible with losing your temper and shouting.

For example, an employer wants his employee to do a good job. Encouragement is more likely to achieve that goal than yelling. Similarly, parents want their children to learn positive values. A friendly, warm talk is more effective than angry outbursts.

By being aware of your original target and goal, you will stay focused and accomplish more.


Love Yehuda Lave

 


                                                                                         
 
               
 
                                                                                         
 
                                                                                                                                                         
 
 
               
 
                                                                             
 
                                                                                                                                                                       
 
                   
 
                                                                       
 
                                                                                                                                                               
 
               
 

                                                                                 

 

Jerusalem Day

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Israeli national holiday.
Jerusalem Day
Jom Jeruschalajim.jpg
Jerusalem Day 2007, Jaffa Road
Official name Hebrew: יום ירושלים‎ (Yom Yerushalayim)
Observed by Israelis, Jews
Significance The reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli control after the Six-Day War. The first time Jews control Jerusalem since the Destruction of the Second Holy Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.
Begins Iyar 28 (Hebrew calendar)
2013 date May 8
2014 date May 28
Frequency annual

Jerusalem Day (Hebrew: יום ירושלים‎, Yom Yerushalayim) is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City in June 1967. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a minor religious holiday to thank God for victory in the Six-Day War and for answering the 2,000-year-old prayer of "Next Year in Jerusalem".

The day is marked by state ceremonies, memorial services for soldiers who died in the battle for Jerusalem, parades through downtown Jerusalem, reciting the Hallel prayer with blessings in synagogues, and saying the Pesukei Dezimra of Sabbath and High Holidays.[1] There are also lectures on Jerusalem-related topics, singing and dancing, and special television programming.[2] Schoolchildren throughout the country learn about the significance of Jerusalem, and schools in Jerusalem hold festive assemblies.[3] The day is also marked in Jewish schools around the world.[4][5]

History

Jerusalem Day 2004 at the Western Wall

Under the 1947 UN Partition Plan, which proposed the establishment of two states in the British Mandate of Palestine—a Jewish state and an Arab state—Jerusalem was to be an international city, neither exclusively Arab nor Jewish for a period of ten years, at which point a referendum would be held by Jerusalem residents to determine which country to join. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, including the internationalization of Jerusalem, but the Arabs rejected the proposal.[6]

As soon as Israel declared its independence in 1948, it was attacked en masse by its Arab neighbours. Jordan took over east Jerusalem and the Old City. Israeli forces made a concerted attempt to dislodge them, but were unable to do so. By the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War Jerusalem was left divided between Israel and Jordan. The Old City and East Jerusalem continued to be occupied by Jordan, and the Jewish residents were forced out. Under Jordanian rule, half of the Old City's fifty-eight synagogues were demolished and the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives was plundered for its tombstones, which were used as paving stones and building materials.[7]

This state of affairs changed in 1967 as a result of the Six-Day War. Before the start of the war, Israel sent a message to King Hussein of Jordan saying that Israel would not attack Jerusalem or the West Bank as long as the Jordanian front remained quiet. Urged by Egyptian pressure and based on deceptive intelligence reports, Jordan began shelling civilian locations in Israel[8] to which Israel responded on June 6 by opening the eastern front. The following day, June 7, 1967 (28 Iyar 5727), Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem.

Later that day, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan declared what is often quoted during Yom Yerushalayim:[9][10]

This morning, the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem. We have united Jerusalem, the divided capital of Israel. We have returned to the holiest of our holy places, never to part from it again. To our Arab neighbors we extend, also at this hour—and with added emphasis at this hour—our hand in peace. And to our Christian and Muslim fellow citizens, we solemnly promise full religious freedom and rights. We did not come to Jerusalem for the sake of other peoples' holy places, and not to interfere with the adherents of other faiths, but in order to safeguard its entirety, and to live there together with others, in unity.[11]

The war ended with a ceasefire on June 11, 1967.

On May 12, 1968, the government proclaimed a new holiday—Jerusalem Day—to be celebrated on the 28th of Iyar, the Hebrew date on which the divided city of Jerusalem became one. On March 23, 1998, the Knesset passed the Jerusalem Day Law, making the day a national holiday.

One of the themes of Jerusalem Day, based on a verse from the Book of Psalms, is "Ke'ir shechubra la yachdav"—"Built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together" (Psalm 122:3).[3]

Religious observance

Religious Zionists recite special holiday prayers with Hallel.[12] Although Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik was reluctant to authorise its inclusion in the liturgy,[13] other scholars, namely Meshulam Roth and others who held positions in the Israeli rabbinate, advocated the reciting of Hallel with its blessings, regarding it as a duty to do so. Today, various communities follow differing practices.[14]

Some Haredim (strictly Orthodox), who do not recognise the religious significance of the State of Israel, do not observe Yom Yerushalayim.[15][16] Rabbi Moses Feinstein maintained that adding holidays to the Jewish calendar was itself problematic.[17]

40th anniversary celebrations

Logo of 40th anniversary celebrations, Jaffa Gate

The slogan for Jerusalem Day 2007, marking the 40th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem, was "Mashehu Meyuhad leKol Ehad" (Hebrew: משהו מיוחד לכל אחד‎, Something Special for Everyone), punning on the words "meyuhad" (special) and "me'uhad" (united). To mark the anniversary, the approach to Jerusalem on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway was illuminated with decorative blue lighting which remained in place throughout the year.

 

 

 

 

  


 

 


 

Friday, May 23, 2014

best model of anything ever made by man and the tribe of Levi and King David is still under attack!

Concentrate on your Next Step

A man came to the town of Krasny, Russia, and publicized he would balance himself on a rope tied on both sides of a river. Rabbi Chaim Krasner, a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, brought some of his students to watch the man perform. Rabbi Chaim's students, noticing how their teacher concentrated deeply on the man, asked why it caught his interest. "I was contemplating how this person puts his life in danger to walk across the rope. If he would think about how much money he will receive for his act, he would surely slip and fall. The only way he can keep his balance is to free his mind from every other thought, and concentrate completely on each step. If his mind would wander for even a moment, he would fall into the river. That is the level of concentration we too must master.

Love Yehuda Lave

King David is still under attack! Last night at the wall of the old city of Jerusalem we had a music event to publicize, we must not give away the holy sites of Israel






 
 

Incredible Model.........'To be honest I have been working on this model exactly 5 1/2 years, a total of 4300 hrs and I`m proud that I have finally finished it.

The folding wings of all the aircraft are scratch built as well as all PE parts were done by myself. 

The fuselages for the Hellcats came from Italy and the Avenger from Academy. 
423 figures came from various sources, all the rest are scratch built. 

And just to make sure I would definitely do it again, the next one is already in the early planning stages."
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Bamidbar(Numbers 1:1-4:20)

The Smallest Tribe

The tribe of Levi contained the holiest Divine servants, yet it numbered only 22,000 (Numbers 3:30), substantially less than any of the other tribes. What is the reason for this anomaly?

Nachmanides explains that when the Egyptians enslaved and afflicted the Jews, God blessed them and caused them to become even more numerous (Exodus 1:12). Because the Sages teach that the tribe of Levi was exempt from the servitude in Egypt, they therefore didn't merit the blessing of giving birth to six children at a time.

The Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh answers that at the time that Pharaoh decreed that all Jewish male babies would be killed in the Nile River, Amram divorced his wife, and the rest of the Levites followed his lead. Even though Amram subsequently remarried his wife, perhaps many of the other Levites did not, and therefore their population was much smaller.

The Beis HaLevi (MiShulchano Shel Beis HaLevi) suggests that because the tribe of Levi was sustained by other Jews through gifts of tithes, God intentionally made their tribe smaller so as not to overburden the rest of the Jews.

The Netziv (HaEmek Davar) posits that the Levites were already selected to serve God and were therefore judged more harshly, and their numbers were reduced due to their sins for which they were punished immediately.

Rav Elchonon Wasserman (Kovetz Ma'amorim) writes that God created the world in a manner in which everything which is loftier is rarer. For this reason, animals outnumber people and non-Jews outnumber Jews, so too are there more non-Levites than Levites.

* * *

WAITING ONE MONTH TO COUNT

Rashi writes (Numbers 1:1) that God frequently counts the Jewish people to make His love for them known. Here, after He came to rest His Presence among them, He counted them once again. If the Tabernacle (Mishkan) was erected and God began to dwell there on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, why did He wait an entire month until Rosh Chodesh Iyar (1:1) to count them?

The Sifsei Chochomim cites the Talmud (Bava Basra 8a), which rules that somebody who takes a vow that he will have no benefit from the residents of a town is permitted to have benefit from those who haven't yet lived there for 30 days, as they're not considered permanent residents until they have lived there for 30 days. Similarly, although God began dwelling in the Mishkan on Rosh Chodesh Nissan, He waited to count the Jews until His dwelling there was considered permanent, which was on Rosh Chodesh Iyar, 30 days later.

The Tzeidah L'Derech answers that the census was conducted by Moshe, Aharon, and the leaders of each tribe. On Rosh Chodesh Nissan, Moshe and Aharon were so busy consecrating the Mishkan and offering sacrifices there that they didn't have time to conduct a census. Additionally, Nachshon ben Aminadav, the leader of the tribe of Yehuda, also brought sacrifices on that day. Maimonides rules (Klei HaMikdash 6:9-10) that the day on which somebody brings an offering becomes a personal Yom Tov for him, and he is forbidden to do work on that day. As a result, the census couldn't be conducted on any of the first 12 days of Nissan, on which the tribal leaders brought their respective offerings. At that point were seven days of Pesach, and because the majority of the month had passed devoted to various spiritual obligations, the census was delayed until the following month.

* * *

MULTIPLES OF 100

In relating the number of Jews in each tribe, the Torah records that the population of each tribe was a multiple of 100, with the exception of Gad, whose population was a multiple of 50 (Numbers 1:25). Was it really possible that every tribe had such a precisely even number of Jews, or did the Torah round the census to the nearest 50 or 100?

The Shaarei Aharon quotes the Imrei Noam, who maintains that the Torah isn't particular about small numbers, and suggests that the census for each tribe was rounded to the nearest 100. Since the tribe of Gad had precisely 50 extra people, their count couldn't be rounded either way.

As proof that the Torah rounds numbers, the Imrei Noam cites the commandment to count 50 days of the Omer even though we count only 49, and the verse ordering 40 lashes to be given to certain transgressors even though we give only 39. This is also the position of the Meshech Chochmah (3:16).

However, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky relates that he initially assumed that the census numbers were rounded, but when he mentioned this to his father, the Steipler responded that a number written in the Torah must be exact, and God must have had a reason why He miraculously caused each tribe to have such even numbers of people.

* * *

RAISING AN ORPHAN

Rashi quotes (3:1) the Talmud (Sanhedrin 19b), which states that whoever teaches Torah to others is considered as if he gave birth to them. The Talmud there similarly teaches that whoever raises an orphan in his home is considered to have given birth to him. Can one who is unable to have children fulfill the mitzvah of having children through these methods, as it will be considered as if he gave birth to them?

Rabbi Shlomo Kluger (Chochmas Shlomo - Even HaEzer 1:1) writes that this question is subject to a larger dispute. Whenever the Sages teach that A is considered like B, the Drisha maintains that such comparisons are not to be taken literally, and therefore a person could not fulfill the mitzvah to have children in this manner.

However, according to the Taz, who argues that the Sages intended to say that the two items being equated are legally one and the same, it would be possible for a couple to perform the mitzvah in this manner.

The Chasam Sofer (Even HaEzer 76) notes that while the Torah (Numbers 26:46) refers to Serach as the daughter of Asher, the Targum writes that she was actually the daughter of his wife from a previous husband. Because she was raised by Asher, the Torah refers to her as his daughter, indicating that one may fulfill the mitzvah to have children in this manner.

Rabbi Yitzhak Zilberstein adds that the Torah (Genesis 46:17) includes Serach in the count of 70 people who descended with Yaakov to Egypt. As the Torah (46:26) describes all 70 of them as Yaakov's descendants, this supports the idea that an adopted child is legally considered as one's own.