Tuesday, September 27, 2016

The world's first passenger drone and Rosh Hashana celebrated for two days starting next Monday the 3rd

                                                           

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

Judge Yourself Favorably

Years of guilt feelings over a specific matter can sometimes be overcome in a surprisingly short time if a person adopts a different perspective in viewing the matter. Frequently, people blame themselves unnecessarily. If you have irrational guilt feelings, give yourself a speech why you need not blame yourself. Take a piece of paper and write a list of ways to judge yourself favorably. Be careful not to do this with matters you should really try to correct. Otherwise you will talk your self into not correcting yourself and as we approach Rosh Hashanah the idea is to have self correction.

I am referring only to irrational guilt feelings, not to situations where a person wants to rationalize his failure to make difficult, but necessary, changes.

If you find it difficult to judge yourself favorably, ask yourself, "How could I judge someone else favorably in this matter." Guilt-ridden people often find it easier to excuse others than to excuse themselves and this can be utilized as a tool for lessening their own blaming thoughts.

Love Yehuda Lave

The Bathtub Test

 

During a visit to my doctor, I asked him, "How do you
determine whether or not an older person should be put in a Nursing Home?"

"Well," he said, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a
teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the person to empty the bathtub."


"Oh, I understand," I said. "A normal person would use the
bucket because it is bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No" he said. "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you
want a bed near the window?"


ARE YOU GOING TO PASS THIS ON OR DO YOU WANT THE BED NEXT TO MINE? :

The first passenger Drone

Two Days Rosh Hashanah, Eruvin, And Eggs Raphael Grunfeld From this decree on, the two days of Rosh Hashanah – unlike the two days of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot – were no longer celebrated out of doubt but out of certainy

Why is Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, so different from other Jewish holidays? On the face of it, it does not seem to follow any pattern. It is celebrated for two days, not only in the Diaspora but also in Israel. Yet the Sages refer to the two days of Rosh Hashanah as one long day – yoma arichta.

On Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot we keep Yom Tov for two days because during the time of the Second Temple there was doubt whether the month preceding Yom Tov was a chodesh chaser of 29 days or a chodesh maleh of 30 days. But on Rosh Hashanah the doubt was exacerbated for the following reason: In the case of other festivals, such as Pesach, the emissaries the bet din dispatched to advise outlying districts of a chodesh chaser had 14 days to reach their destination. In the case of Rosh Hashanah, however, the emissaries had no time at all. In fact, as soon as the witnesses had testified on the 30th day of Elul that they had sighted the new moon, that very day was declared Rosh Hashanah. And on Rosh Hashanah the emissaries could not travel more than the techum Shabbat distance of two-thirds of a mile beyond Jerusalem. As a result, even people living inside Israel but outside of Jerusalem remained in doubt.

Even inside Jerusalem, confusion reigned. Nobody knew whether the witnesses who would testify to the sighting of the new moon would arrive on the day of the 30th, in which case Rosh Hashanah would be on the 30th day, or whether they would not arrive, in which case Rosh Hashanah would be on the 31st day. On the night immediately following the 29th day of Elul and on 30th day of Elul itself, people hedged their bets. They ceased work, went to the synagogue, recited the Rosh Hashanah prayers and blew the shofar, all in a tentative state of mind. Perhaps, they fretted, the witnesses will not come today, the 30th, and tomorrow, the 31st, will be Rosh Hashanah by default and a day's work would have been wasted. But then again, perhaps the witnesses would come. So how could they risk working?

The Levites in the Temple fretted, too. If the witnesses would not arrive by Minchah time on the afternoon of the 30th, the Levites had to proceed to offer up the tamid, the afternoon sacrifice. But they did not know which Psalm to sing when doing so. Should they sing the special Rosh Hashanah Psalm, or the weekday Psalm? One year they chose the weekday Psalm only to see the witnesses arrive after Minchah and prove them wrong.

In this situation, the rabbis decided to dispel the doubt. They decreed that if witnesses would arrive after the afternoon sacrifice on the 30th day of Elul, their testimony would be ignored and the 31st day of Elul would be declared Rosh Hashanah. Furthermore, in order to provide certainty for the Levites and in order to prevent people from working on the 30th of Elul after Minchah time, the rabbis merged the 30th day of Elul with the 31st day, declaring them both one long day.

From this decree on, the two days of Rosh Hashanah – unlike the two days of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot – were no longer celebrated out of doubt but out of certainty. This distinction between the status of the two days of Rosh Hashanah and the two days of other festivals has practical ramifications. For example, on Rosh Hashanah, one may not extend the techum Shabbat 4,000 amot in two directions, as one may on the two days of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. Because the two days of Rosh Hashanah are merged into one yoma arichta, only one eruv techumim could be placed for both days to walk 4,000 amot in only one chosen direction. Similarly, the argument that an egg laid on the first day of Pesach, Shavuot, or Sukkot could be eaten on the second day of these festivals would not apply. An egg laid on the first day of Rosh Hashanah could not be eaten on the second.

Following the destruction of the Second Temple, the dilemma of the Levites was no longer a concern. Accordingly, Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai decreed that the testimony of witnesses arriving after Minchah on the 30th of Elul would once again be accepted, thereby rendering Rosh Hashanah one day. If witnesses did not arrive by nightfall of the 30th, Rosh Hashanah would be two days. Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai's decree did not, however, apply to the Diaspora, where it could not be known on the 30th day, whether the witnesses had arrived or not. Accordingly, in the Diaspora Rosh Hashanah remained two days, by decree. The Babylonian rabbis who came to Israel applied the same decree to the land of Israel, even after the time of Rabbi Yochanan Ben Zakkai.

Although nowadays we now which day is genuinely Rosh Hashanah, we continue to celebrate two days – everywhere – out of respect for the tradition of our ancestors.

Pomegranate

Photo Credit: winemaking.co.il

Yirmiyahu Zmiri, 69, owner of Zmiri Nurseries in Yesud HaMa'ala (est. 1882 in the Hula valley, north of the Kinneret) has been laboring for eight years on developing his proprietary (there's a patent) seedless pomegranate, Makor Rishon reported Friday. The new species of pomegranate, dubbed "Wine," features soft edible seeds, and a much sweeter red fruit around the seed.

Wine, or Yayin as it is called in Hebrew, is an acronym for the names of Zmiri's grandchildren.

According to Chabad.org, the common practice of eating a pomegranate on Rosh Hashanah has to do with its abundant seeds, 613 on average, which symbolize our hope that we will stand before the Almighty with as many abundant merits. However, according to the Ben Ish Chai, on Rosh Hashanah one should eat only a sweet pomegranate, because we want our new year to be sweet.

At which point our friends at Chabad.org note, "Of course, the pomegranates we have today generally have a bitter, pungent taste. It appears that in Baghdad, where the Ben Ish Chai lived (1833-1909), they had sweet pomegranates. So the website suggests that "in light of the custom to refrain from bitter foods on Rosh Hashanah, it would seem proper to dip the pomegranate in sugar to at least diminish its pungency."

No need to do that any more. Because Zmiri and his sons have invented the Wine pomegranate which is fire-engine red and sweet beyond belief. Israeli consumers will be seeing the first commercial yield on the store shelves this coming week, just in time for Rosh Hashanah. They're sold to the stores at about 50 cents a pound, but by the time the consumer sees it the sweet fruit's price might quadruple.

Israel exports upwards of 25 thousand tons on pomegranates a year, and on the week before Rosh Hashanah Israelis consume about 10 thousand tons, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Despite limited research data, marketers of pomegranate juice have "liberally" used results from preliminary research to promote their products, until, in February 2010, the FDA issued a warning letter to POM Wonderful, for using published literature to make illegal claims of "unproven anti-disease benefits."

Mattel toy gun ad from the past

AIPAC maps showing the dangers to Israel

Israel is surrounded by mostly Arab neighbors who outnumber her in size by 650 to 1 in terms of land and 56 to 1 in terms of population. Click the map below to learn more about the countries and territories that surround the tiny Jewish state.

 

Iran's leaders have threatened Israel's destruction. See a map of the their missile capabilities against Israel, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Click here to download the pdf of the map.

 

Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed terrorist army based in Southern Lebanon. See a map of their missile and rocket capabilities against Israel. Click here to download the pdf version of this map.

 

These are just a few of the maps we have available for you. To view, print and share the rest of the AIPAC Israel maps please click here.

Johnny Cash impersanting Elvis Presley