Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement | | A little boy and his father visited the country store, and upon leaving the store, the owner of the store offered the little boy some free Sweets... "Get a hand full of Sweets", the merchant said to the boy. The boy just stood there looking up at his father. The owner repeated himself:- "Son get a hand full of Sweets... it's free." Again the boy did not move, continuing to look up in the face of his father. Finally, the father reached into the candy jar and got a hand full of Sweets and gave it to his son. As they walked back home, the father stopped and asked his son why he did not grab a hand full of the free candy. The boy with a big smile on his face looked into the face of his father and said:- "Because I know that your HAND is BIGGER than mine." So, whatever your needs are please place them in the FATHER'S HAND IN HEAVEN, because HIS HAND is BIGGER THAN YOURS. Love Yehuda Lave | | High Court Disqualifies Ben Ari, Approves Anti-Zionist Arab Parties, Cassif Israel's Supreme Court on Sunday ruled that Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, a candidate on the right-wing parties' slate, will not be allowed to run in the upcoming Knesset elections. The same court also ruled that Ofer Cassif of the Arab party Hadash, and the Arab Ra'am-Balad slate are allowed to run. The decision to disqualify Ben Ari was accepted by a majority of eight judges to one, as did the decision to allow Cassif and Ra'am-Balad to run. In addition, the judges decided unanimously to allow the Arab Hadash-Ta'al list to run in the coming elections. Advertisement Chairman of the National Union MK Bezalel Smotrich issued the following statement in response to the banning of Dr. Ben-Ari: "This is the theater of the absurd in its most profound reincarnation, and an anticipated result from judges who more naturally belong in the Meretz court. Ofer Cassif, Tibi and Zoabi, supporters of terrorism every one, are in, but Ben Ari, a Zionist Jew whose sons serve in the IDF, is out." "This marks a total separation from the people. The judges will not be the ones to determine who will be elected! Only the people will decide. Only the right-wing parties' union will stop the rampant judicial activism. Together with you, we will insist on the enactment of the overcoming clause [permitting a law to ignore a previously enacted constitutional law], and on the strengthening of governance with a variety of important new steps," Smotrich stated, adding, "Ben-Ari may have been disqualified, but the people will give us the power to return the High Court to its real and natural size." Two weeks ago, the Knesset Elections Committee approved Ben-Ari's run in the coming Knesset elections, despite the objection of Attorney General Mandelblit, who suggested Ben Ari incites to racism. In a court hearing last week, Supreme Court Judge Uzi Fogelman criticized Ben Ari's arguments, in which he objected, among other things, to Arabs moving to Afula, a mostly-Jewish city just north of the Arab triangle east of Hadera in central Israel. Fogelman said that Ben-Ari did not distinguish between political enemies and Israeli citizens, accusing Ben Ari of dancing in a masquerade ball, hiding his true intentions against Israeli Arabs while pretending to aim only at enemies of Israel. Fogelman was asking why an Israeli Arab wishing to buy property in an Israeli city is an enemy. Two weeks ago, the Knesset Central Elections Committee disqualified the Ra'am-Balad slate and Ofer Cassif, the only Jewish candidate in an Arab party, the communist Hadash, from running, contrary to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's position. The grounds for disqualification were the Arabs' denial of Israel's existence as a Jewish state, and in the case of Balad, support for terrorism. Last week, during a hearing on the committee's decision, Court President Esther Hayut referred to Casif's statements, in which he compared Israel to the Nazis, Saying they were "very severe." Judge Yitzhak Amit added that Cassif's opposition to the Law of Return is more serious than former MK Azmi Bishara, who has fled the country just ahead of being tried for espionage and treason – at least Bishara did not oppose the Law of Return, Amit said. So Hayut somehow got over her trepidation… Cassif said in response: "We are glad that justice has been done, as the Attorney General has already determined. I will continue to talk about ending the occupation and striving for peace and equality with my partners on the list, and I will continue to oppose racist and inflammatory discourse." | | Special Report: Trump Speaks During Netanyahu White House Visit | NBC News President Donald Trump speaks to press during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's White House visit, a day after Attorney General Bill Barr released his summary of the Mueller report. » Subscribe to NBC News: http://nbcnews.to/SubscribeToNBC » Watch more NBC video: http://bit.ly/MoreNBCNews NBC News is a leading source of global news and information. Here you will find clips from NBC Nightly News, Meet The Press, and original digital videos. Subscribe to our channel for news stories, technology, politics, health, entertainment, science, business, and exclusive NBC investigations. Connect with NBC News Online! | | RABBI SCHWARTZ'S SURPRISE JOKES OF THE WEEK A woman calls the Rabbi. "I was just notified my husband won the 250 million lottery. I am afraid he will faint when he hears the news. What to do?" "Send him to me first," says the rabbi. The man comes to the Rabbi. "Abe, what would you do if you won the lottery"? "Ha Rabbi, me? Never! I don't have mazal. "But who knows maybe you will win. What would you do?" "Rabbi, stop making jokes with me, it is not happening." "Abe, let's talk theoretically. If you would win what would you do?" Rabbi! If I won the lottery, I swear to you, I would give you half! And the Rabbi fainted!... Sarah comes home from her long stay in Uganda and surprises her mother Bette, who is in the process of lighting the Friday night candles and serving the matzoh ball soup. Bette is so thrilled she can't stop hugging and kissing Sarah. Finally she says, "Sit down, darling. Tell me all about what you were doing." Sarah says, "Mum, I got married." "Oy, mazeltov," says Bette, "But how could you do that without telling me? What's he like? What does he do? Where is he?" "He's waiting outside while I tell you." "What are you talking about? Bring him in. I want to meet my new son-in-law." Sarah brings him in and to her consternation, Bette sees a black man standing before her wearing an evil grin, a feathered cod piece, an ornate head dress, animal tooth beads and holding a tall spear. Bette says to Sarah, "What did you do?! Are you hard of hearing? I said RICH doctor!" Chaim comes home from golfing to find his wife, Rochel on her hands and knees cleaning the floors with a toothbrush for Pesach. "I'm here to help you, my dear," he says. "Oh, no!," replies Rochel knowing the mess Chaim makes whenever he tries to "help", "The best way for you to help me is to go back to the golf course."Two hours later, Chaim is back again and a surprised Rochel says, "Chaim, what are you doing home so early?" to which Chaim impatiently replies, "Did you think I was going to help you all day?" Rabbi Landau has always been secretly sad that he's never been able to eat pork. So one day, he flies to a remote tropical Island and books into a hotel. "No one will find me here," he said to himself. On the first evening, he goes to the best restaurant and orders the 'roast pork special'. While he's waiting, he hears someone call his name. Rabbi Landau looks up and sees one of his congregants walking towards his table. What unbelievably bad luck – the same time to visit the same restaurant on the same island! Just at that moment, the waiter puts on his table a whole roasted pig with an apple in its mouth and says, "Your special, sir."Rabbi Landau looks up sheepishly at his congregant and says, "Would you believe it - you order an apple in this restaurant and look how they serve it!" Rabbi Levy is walking home from shul one shabbes when he sees Issy in front of him. Issy is a learned and respected man who can hold his own with the rabbi on tulmudic discussions. As Rabbi Levy tries to catch up with Issy, he is shocked to see him go into 'The Chinese Crab' restaurant. As he looks through the window, Rabbi Levy sees Issy giving his order to a waiter and a short time later sees the food arrive – a plate of shrimps, lobsters and crabs. As Issy picks up the chopsticks and starts to eat, Rabbi Levy bursts into the restaurant and confronts Issy. "Issy, just what do you think you are doing coming into this restaurant and ordering this treif? You are not only violating everything we are taught about the dietary laws, but you also seem to be enjoying this food." "Rabbi," says Issy, "did you see me enter this establishment?" "Yes." "And did you see me order this food?" "Yes." "And did you see the waiter bring the food to me?" "Yes." "And did you then see me eat the food?" "Yes." "Then I don't see a problem, rabbi. Everything was done under full Rabbinical Supervision." Jacob goes to the races for the first time. As soon as he arrives at Ascot, not knowing anything about horse racing, he goes straight to the paddock to take a closer look. To his surprise, Jacob sees a rabbi blessing one of the horses. Jacob thinks he must be onto a good thing so he writes down the number of the horse and places a £3 bet on it. The horse wins and Jacob wins £21. Jacob immediately returns to the paddock and there, as before, he sees the rabbi blessing another horse. He writes down the number of this horse and bets his £21 winnings on it. It comes in first and Jacob now has over £100. This process goes on race after race until Jacob has won £4,650. It's now time for the last race of the day and Jacob watches the rabbi bless the final horse. So confident is Jacob that, although the horse is a 20-1 outsider, he bets his entire £4,650 on it. But, Oy Veh, this time the horse struggles in last, a good 20 lengths behind the field. Jacob is so upset with this outcome that he runs over to the rabbi and says angrily, "Why did every horse you bless win except the last one, rabbi? He came in last." The rabbi replies, "That's the problem with you Reform Jews. You don't know the difference between a brocheh and a kaddish." | | Hand Feeding Caribbean Reef Sharks Footage from my shark feeder course taught by Cristina Zenato of UNEXSO-Grand Bahama. Learn more about the feeding here:http://owussnorthamerica.org/?p=1683 | | Rabbi Meir Kahane speaks after being disqualified for the 1988 Knesset elections Speaking Truth. | | USA stamp has an etrog USA stamp collection [3 big albums] and I stumbled upon this USA + 1997 32 c stamp of an ETROG. My knowledge of Etrogiim is that they were grown successfully in Morocco, Tunisia, Italy (from 1420) , Corfu, Greece, Crete, and Palestine. Today, in Israel they are a local and very important industry.They are exported to the USA over the late summer, and into Autumn.This stamp shows the ETROG tree flowering. Note the small PITOM (at the bottom of the Etrog) -that makes some ETROGIIM unsuitable for Sukkot -according to some Rabbis.The question is why an Etrog on an American stamp?Three possibilities come to mind..1. This is a Caribbean fruit -very similar to the classic Etrog.2. It was grown commercially in Florida and California.3. It is in-fact a lemon [or similar] ..as just a plain citrus fruit -grown in the USA. ""From 1900:- The renewed prominence of the Etrog in American Jewish life piqued the strange curiosity of Christian neighbors. In 1916, the editors of the Country Gentleman, the journal of record for the "farm, the garden and the fireside" in Philadelphia, told their readers about the "sacred Jewish citron" and the high prices paid for it by "Orthodox Hebrews." The magazine noted that while most are imported from Palestine to the United States, to the delight of agricultural opportunists that, owing to the ongoing Great War, "it is possible that the Etrog might be profitably grown on a small scale in some of the citrus sections of Florida and California." The plan did not work, but some still try. As of 2011, there was one 80-year-old Etraises farmer who raises Etrogim not too far from Sacramento, Ca. Aside from that, Etrog yields from American soil are sparse if not non-existent. For more than a hundred years, Jewish bookstores and pop-up merchants in storefronts and residential basements urge their customers to purchase the slightly pricier Israeli Etrog to support farmers in the Holy Land. Dutifully raised in a Religious Zionist home, I usually comply. It isn't that Californian or Floridian Etrogim would be any less kosher. However, there is much to be said for the ever-increasing extra layers of meaning of the mitzvot we observe."" A word of warning, It is very easy to grow a mixed fruit that is in-fact a lemon-with some ETROG genes built in. This is an "Lemon'trog". Any non-pure ETROG cannot be used during the religious festival of SUKKOT. It doesn't pass the halachic test of been a pure ETROG. Any farmer or amateur can graft an ETROG twig onto a lemon tree, and grow adulterated fruit. These 'mixed' Etrogim are rejected by careful buyers of Etrogim-and many use a magnify glass to examine their Etrog, for 'problems'. In Israel, the week before Sukkot, there are hundreds of Etrog-selling booths [The ETROG is 1/4 of the 4 species that are taken together on Sukkot and used to bless the festival and our G-D, who has given us fruits, food and the pleasure of serving HIM.] IF YOU LOOK CAREFULLY ON THE STAMP, YOU WILL SEE THE BUG ON THE FRUIT.STEVE SATTLER | | Meir Kahane Wouldn't Even Particularly Like Otzma Yehudit By Yekutiel Ben Yakov Guzofsky - 30 Adar I 5779 – It is ironic that The Jewish Home is being condemned for including Dr. Michael Ben-Ari's Otzma Yehudit party in its fifth and eighth Knesset spots. Where was the outcry when Ben-Ari served in the Knesset in 2009-2013? Why the sudden fit of rage? And where is the outcry over the refusal of the new party of generals led by Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid to rule out forming a future government with pro-PLO Arab MK terrorist sympathizers? People are calling Otzma Yehudit Nazis because its leaders oppose intermarriage and speak of expelling Israel's enemies – as if there's any equivalence between expelling Arabs from Israel and murdering Jews in Germany, none of whom were exactly blowing up school buses and claiming the Germans stole their land. Those who condemn Otzma Yehudit, The Jewish Home, and National Union are likely causing a million Israelis to consider voting for the trio. After all, the average Israeli has absolutely no problem with speaking about the expulsion of hostile Arabs – not that Ben-Ari does much of that at this stage in his political career. It seems as if G-d has sent these dimwits to put Kahane's words into Ben-Ari's mouth – like Bilaam's donkey. The very words Ben-Ari is so frightened of uttering these days are the very words that could propel him to unimaginable electoral popularity. This could only be G-d's hand at work. First, Bibi heavily pressures The Jewish Home and National Union to merge with the "Kahanists," then the left reminds everyone of Kahane's forbidden ideas. The very same foolish politicians and headlines created "Kahane" in the first place, making him more popular with every headline condemning him. They made the foolish mistake of attacking and maligning Kahane, not realizing that the average Israeli loved Kahane's message and rejected the nonsense in the press. It's all now resurfacing. I don't know if Otzma Yehudit and The Jewish Home deserve this gift, but it appears to be snowballing at a pace that may likely bring about the greatest nightmare for the Israeli left and the Arabs other than Kahane himself being resurrected. This time, the "Kahanists" appear to have the immunity of Likud – the very same Likud that banded together with the left to ban Kahane in 1988, when Kach was on the verge of becoming Israel's third largest party, with polls predicting 10-15 seats for it. If anyone should be outraged, it should be the supporters of Otzma Yehudit who will be forced to vote for The Jewish Home despite the fact that The Jewish Home and National Union bloc has only given them the fifth and eighth spots when Otzma Yehudit comprises, alone, a minimum of 2-4 seats, according to most polls that were taken prior to the controversial merger, while National Union and The Jewish Home only polled between 1-2 seats. Let's not forget that The Jewish Home together with the National Union Party remained in the government these last few years despite Bibi's freeze on "settlements" and his refusal to properly hit back at Hamas. I understand what troubles the left. They want anyone but Bibi to be elected. Why – I am not fully certain. It's unlikely that Bibi will have the courage to turn down the Trump deal. But if Otzma Yehudit and Zehut succeed in gaining enough seats to force Bibi's hand, there actually might be hope for Israel, after all. * * * * * Is 'Kahanism' Racist? Editor's note: The following derives from Rabbi Meir Kahane's last book, "Israel: Revolution or Referendum?," published in 1990. Before going into the exact legal moves for and against Kach, one should deal with the truly obscene charge that Kach and Kahane are racists…. "Racist?" Truly outrageous, truly obscene. Does Kach see Arabs or any non-Jews as being genetically or racially different from Jews? Does it deal with Jews and non-Jews on the basis of color or blood? Does it do what the Nazi and apartheid South African regimes did and do – make a certain class of people permanently inferior? Or does Kach say that the Arab, or any gentile, who sincerely converts according to halacha is the same as the Jew? As Meir Kahane! The difference between Jew and gentile, according to Kach, is not a racial one, but a religious one. And it is not a distinction that originated with Kach, but with Torah Judaism! It is Judaism that distinguishes and discriminates between Jew and non-Jew, though not because of racism, but because there is a spiritual difference between the two, a difference that disappears the moment the gentile becomes a Jew. That is racism? Does not Kach have numerous former gentiles who have converted to Judaism and who are enthusiastic members and supporters? Does not Kach have as one of its members and supporters the convert to Judaism who is the former grandson of the vicious Moslem Jew-hater, Jaabri, former Mayor of Hebron? Did I not attend his wedding and dance with him, this man who was born an Arab Moslem and converted to Judaism and is now a Jew as any other, in Kach's eyes? And does not Kach offer the Arabs a choice of remaining in Eretz Yisrael with all their personal rights but without national ones? And is this not Judaism? And is this not ultimately Zionism, the Zionism that defined the State of Israel as a Jewish state in the Declaration of Independence? … In the end, those who called for a Jewish state and who framed laws that discriminated against non-Jews (the Law of Return and the Jewish National Fund) did so because they intended that non-Jews would never control the Jewish state. Is this racism? | | Otzma Yehudit, in Response to the Rocket Fire in Tel Aviv: (from Reb Mordechai Linhart's timeline)
Return to the Policy of Targeted Killings "We demand that the prime minister order the IDF to reinstate the targeted killing policy and eliminate 50 terrorists from the Islamic Jihad tonight. Anyone who raises his hand against the State of Israel and sends a missile to population centers will know that it will be erased from the face of the earth. The Israeli government must respond with determination and strength, and if it continues its obsolete policy, it will continue to weaken the security of the State of Israel. " | | See you tomorrow--think about the elections seriously Love Yehuda Lave | | | |