Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | Love and Giving The Sages (Rosh Hashanah 17a) have revealed to us a wonderful tool: "A person who forgives others who distress him and does not do or say anything negative in retaliation will have all of his transgressions forgiven." By removing your anger over the behavior of others, anger will be removed from you. (Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler; Michtav M'Eliyahu, vol.4, p.243) Think of someone whom you have not yet forgiven. Let enlightened self-interest serve as a motivating factor to forgive that person. Love Yehuda Lave | | Woman in Green co-founder passes away Ruth Matar passes away. Matar had co-founded renowned movement calling for Israel to assert sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Tzvi Lev, 20/10/18
Ruth Matar, who founded the "Women in Green" movement 25 years ago with her husband, passed away on Saturday. Originally called "Women for Israel's Tomorrow", the group sought to destroy media stereotypes of those opposing land concessions by showing mothers, housewives, and career women who could intelligently articulate Israel's cause. Matar first founded the organization in 1993 following the signing of the Oslo Accords by the Rabin Government and the resulting plans for a Palestinian State. In recent years, Woman in Green has been leading the discourse over the vision of full Israeli sovereignty over Judea and Samaria. Ruth's daughter-in-law Nadia Matar, together with Yehudit Katzover, currently lead the movement. "Her spirit was exemplary, and modeled in our activities both in the practical grasp on the ground and in advancing the vision of sovereignty over Judea and Samaria," said Katzover. At a recent event celebrating 25 years since the movement's founding, Nadia recounted Ruth's influence. "Ruth taught all of us that we must not be silent and that when a Jew is in distress, you leave everything else aside and mobilize to help him; she taught us not be afraid to tell the truth and that loyalty is the highest virtue - loyalty to the People, to the Torah, to the Land, and to the family," Nadia recalled. The funeral began at 11 PM at the Sanhedria Cemetary, followed by Ruth's burial on the Mount of Olives. | | Missing Saudi journalist had 'bloodlust' against Israel' Journalist allegedly killed by Saudi government was Islamist extremist, supporter of terrorists Osama Bin Laden and Hamas. Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi-born writer who was allegedly murdered on the orders of the Saudi government in Istanbul earlier this month, has been the subject of much concern in the mainstream media since his disappearance. However, Khashoggi was far from a liberal journalist, writes Jordan Schachtel of Conservative Review. Schachtel stated that Khashoggi, who wrote for the Washington Post's serious bloodlust when it came to violence against the state of Israel Global Opinions" section, was an Islamist extremist who displayed a "serious bloodlust when it came to violence against the state of Israel" and was connected to terrorist organizations. In 2014, Khashoggi wrote an op ed for the Middle East Monitor, a publication which is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, in which he expressed his hope that Muslim nations would one day work together with the Hamas terrorist organization to destroy the Jewish State. He has written other pieces castigating Muslim nations for failing to support Hamas' genocidal ambitions. Khashoggi was also a supporter of arch-terrorist Osama Bin Laden, the leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist organization. According to Schachtel, Khashoggi had an "extremely regressive, anti-Western worldview and a consistent pattern of supporting fringe Islamist movements in the region." Schachtel said that while "no one deserves to be harmed for his views," the media have played fast and loose with the truth by portraying Khashoggi as a moderate journalist and reformer. | | | Tevet 11 In 1861, President Abraham Lincoln pledged to amend a federal law granting only Christian clergy the right to serve as military chaplains. During the Civil War (in which 6,500 Jews served for the North, and another 2,000 for the South), a religious Jew named Michael Allen had been elected as the non-denominational chaplain of his army regiment. When Allen's Jewishness became "publicized," rather than subject his family to the humiliating ordeal of his dismissal, Allen resigned, citing poor health. The regiment then elected Rabbi Arnold Fischel as its chaplain, in order to test the constitutionality of the "Christian-only" law. Much lobbying ensued, including Fischel traveling to Washington to meet with Lincoln. Six months later, the law was amended to permit Jewish clergy to become military chaplains. It is regarded historically as the first case of American Jews successfully challenging federal legislation. | | One who responds "Amen" after a blessing surpasses the one who recites the blessing (Berachos 53b). "Amen" is an expression of confirmation, whereby we attest that what the other person has said is indeed true. Thus, when someone recites a blessing expressing gratitude to God or asserting that God has commanded the performance of a particular mitzvah, one is making a declaration of one's faith. When we respond by saying "Amen," we are essentially stating, "What you have said is indeed true," and thereby we are not only concurring with what was said and expressing our own faith, but also reinforcing the other person's statement and strengthening the other person's faith. There are things that one can do that will strengthen other people's faith in God, and things that will weaken it. In Torah there is a concept of arvus - mutual responsibility - by virtue of which one is obligated to try to strengthen other people's belief and trust in God. Although every person has free will, and God does not intervene to deter someone from committing a wrong, people who have suffered because of someone's misdeeds often feel that God has abandoned them. Thus, if we deal unfairly with others, we may not only cause them to be angry at us, but also bring them to doubt God for allowing an injustice to happen. While such reasoning is faulty, the one who caused it is nevertheless responsible for causing the victim to feel that way. On the other hand, when we behave in the manner which God wishes, the result is kvod shamayim - bringing glory and honor to God, and strengthening people's faith. Our actions can and do affect how other people will think and act.
Today I shall ...
...
try to behave in a way that will result in people having greater respect for and trust in God. | | Want to go on a Safrari- We did- Right here in Israel | | Senior PLO official: Killing Israelis is not "terror"; it's not "criminal"- it's "legitimate" This is why peace is impossible with the fake people who claim they are "Palestinians." All they want to do is murder Jews and destroy Israel. An official of the Palestinian Authority said this. He works right under PA leader Abbas.Issa Karake Issa Karake was the Director of PLO Commission of Prisoners' Affairs until last month. Today he is still a member of the Palestinian Authority Parliament. He was in charge of using aid money from the world to pay terrorists in jail who murdered Israelis. He was vocal against the laws that Israel and the United States passed deducting funds from the aid given to the Palestinian Authority because of the Palestinian Authority "pay to slay" program. "Pay to slay" is the financial reward system of the Palestinian Authority to reward terrorists who murder Israelis. They are paid according to how many Israelis they kill. The more Israelis they kill, the more money they receive. "Peace" Partner? The truth is that the PA should have one labe – a terror organization. They are not a potential "peace" partner!!! When will this truth finally become the norm and change the paradigm of the fake "peace" deals? Yes, even the one President Trump wants to pass is a fake deal. Israel should not deduct money that the PA gives to terrorists. Israel, and all countries giving aid, should STOP any and all money to the PA. Fake Peace It is clear to all that the Palestinian Authority supports the murder of Jews to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars! It is NOT interested in peace and never was interested in peace. When will Israel officially stand up against these lies? Israel continues to act as if the Palestinian Authority is a credible "peace" partner. The PA is not and never was a credible peace partner. Israel must stop this charade already. Israel should not wait for President Trump to state this. It must call out the lies about the Palestinian Authority. Stop! Any country truly interested in peace must stop giving all money to the Palestinian Authority, and call for it to be disbanded. The Palestinian Authority leaders are a bunch of corrupt terrorists who line their own bank accounts with the international "aid." They just use the Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza as pawns in a war to destroy Israel. They don't even care about their own people. Anyone who cares about the lives and human rights of the Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza MUST call to destroy the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. To NOT do so, and to call for a two state solution means that they either don't truly care about their human rights or they are blind to reality. | | |
When a thief recites a blessing, he angers God (Psalms 10:3).
The Talmud explains this verse as referring to someone who stole wheat, ground it into flour, and kneaded it into dough, then took off the required tithe for the Kohen (priest) and recited the blessing for the tithe. Far from being pleased with this prayer, God becomes angry, for not only did this person sin by stealing, but he or she had the audacity to pronounce God's Name over something acquired dishonestly (Bava Kama 94a). Much of Torah law deals with business. Indeed, the greatest piety is achieved when people observe the laws regulating commercial transactions and property rights, and thereby respect other's belongings and rights (Bava Kama 30a). Doing a mitzvah with something not acquired honestly is the grossest of all distortions. In a highly competitive society, we may think that all is fair, especially if we can find a way to make dishonest actions appear legitimate. The Torah condemns such thinking."
Today I shall ...
... try to maintain rigorous honesty in all that I do, so that all my mitzvos will be welcomed by God.
| | Holocaust: Reincarnated Souls? I live in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and I enjoy reading your Ask the Rabbi column. In my local paper today, it was reported that a leading rabbi in Israel said that the Jewish victims of the Holocaust were reincarnated souls of great sinners. This confuses me on two points. Is the belief in reincarnation a central Jewish belief? And if so, how can the victims of the Holocaust, so many of which have been documented to be loving and gracious people, be reincarnated souls of great sinners who are being punished? The Aish Rabbi Replies: Everyone agrees that when taken out of context, these statements sound awful. However, in context this rabbi was explaining the idea that souls enter this world in order to correct their mistakes from previous lives. This idea not only refers to those murdered in the Holocaust, but in every generation. The great kabbalist, the Arizal, says that there is almost no one alive today who is not reincarnated from earlier generations. This includes a large portion of souls from previous times, from those who sinned with the Golden Calf and on through history. Did they die for naught? No, these reincarnated souls accepted upon themselves all the punishments, hardships and the deaths of those who were murdered in the Holocaust. By the way, this wouldn't be the first time that the newspapers have quoted something out of context to create a controversy which helps sell newspapers. It was not merely the Holocaust connection, but rather the entire idea of reincarnation which disturbed the media. An editorial in Haaretz lambasted Judaism and religion in general: "The transmigration of the souls of sinners" (reincarnation) is a concept that is difficult for an enlightened person, religious or secular, to relate to seriously." Let's see: The majority of the world's religions, and not just Judaism, holds the belief of reincarnation. What if the Buddhist Dali Llama, who also believes in reincarnation, were to speak of it - would the media insult him, or praise him? Why then do they act with such contempt towards a fellow Jew, even more so a leading Torah Sage? This all gives us much to think about. | | See you tomorrow Love Yehuda Lave | | | |
