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. Have an easy fast today with its purpose to think about our soul and G-d. Love Yehuda Lave | | 17th of Tammuz: History, Laws and Customs-fast is today The fast of the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz, known as Shivah Asar B'Tammuz, is the start of a three-week mourning period for the destruction of Jerusalem and the two Holy Temples. The fast actually commemorates five tragic events that occurred on this date: - Moses broke the tablets when he saw the Jewish people worshipping the Golden Calf.
- During the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem, the Jews were forced to cease offering the daily sacrifices due to the lack of sheep.
- Apostomos burned the holy Torah.1
- An idol was placed in the Holy Temple.2
- The walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans, in 69 CE, after a lengthy siege. (Three weeks later, after the Jews put up a valiant struggle, the Romans destroyed the second Holy Temple on the 9th of Av.)
The Jerusalem Talmud maintains that this is also the date when the Babyloniansbreached the walls of Jerusalem on their way to destroying the first Temple. Practically speaking: - A fast day is an auspicious day, a day when G‑d is accessible, waiting for us to repentadults—bar- or bat-mitzvah age and older—abstain from eating or drinking between dawn and nightfall. Click here for exact times in your location.
- Pregnant and nursing women may not have to fast. Someone who is ill should consult with a rabbi. Even those exempt from fasting, such as ill people or children, shouldn't indulge in delicacies or sweets.
- It is permitted to wake up early before the fast begins and eat, provided that prior to going to sleep one had in mind to do so.
- During the morning prayers we recite selichot (penitential prayers), printed in the back of the prayerbook. The "long Avinu Malkeinu" is recited during the morning and afternoon prayers.
- The Torah is read during the morning and afternoon prayers. The reading—the same for both morning and afternoon—is Exodus 32:11–14 and 34:1–10, which discusses the aftermath of the Golden Calf incident, how Moses successfully interceded on the Israelites' behalf and attained forgiveness for their sin. After the afternoon Torah reading, the special fast-day haftarah, Isaiah 55:6–56:8, is read.
- During the Amidah prayer of the afternoon service (Minchah), those who are fasting add the paragraph Aneinu in the Shema Koleinu blessing. (It is also added in the cantor's repetition of the Amidah in both the morning and afternoon services, as its own blessing between the blessings of Re'eh and Refa'einu.) Additionally, the priestly blessing is also added in the repetition of the Amidah in the afternoon service.
- If the 17th of Tammuz falls on Shabbat as it is this year, the fast is postponed until Sunday (today).
Abstaining from food and drink is the external element of a fast day. On a deeper level, a fast day is an auspicious day, a day when G‑d is accessible, waiting for us to repent. The sages explain: "Every generation for which the Temple is not rebuilt, it is as though the Temple was destroyed for that generation." A fast day is not only a sad day, but an opportune day. It's a day when we are empowered to fix the cause of that destruction, so that our long exile will be ended and we will find ourselves living in messianic times; may that be very soon. FOOTNOTES1. Historians have long debated when this occurred: some maintain that Apostomos was a general during the Roman occupation of Israel, while others contend that he lived years earlier and was an officer during the Greek reign over the Holy Land. 2. This event is also shrouded in controversy: some say that this too was done by Apostomos, while others say that this was done by King Manasseh of Judea. Sefira Ross is a freelance designer and illustrator whose original creations grace many Chabad.org pages. Residing in Seattle, Washington, her days are spent between multitasking illustrations and being a mom.More from Sefira Ross | RSS | | Restoration Underway at Cuba's Oldest Jewish Cemetery Next November, Havana will officially be five hundred years old. To mark the event, the city council has decided to give the city a new look. As a result, streets are being paved, monuments "refreshed" and historic sites are being restored. Among them is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Cuba. It was in 1906 when the city's first Jewish community bought land in Guanabacoa, a district located east of Havana. Four years later, a Jewish cemetery was built there, where Jews who had come, for the most part, from Central or Eastern Europe were buried. Many of these people fled persecution in the period between the two world wars. According to David Prinstein, the community's vice-president, many Jews have left Cuba after the communists came to power in 1959. This has gradually led to the gradual deterioration of the cemetery as a whole. For years the local Jewish community has not managed to raise the $200,000 needed for a complete renovation of the cemetery. At best, some American Jews have provided funds for the maintenance of specific graves. In an interview on Cuban television, Pilar Vega, an engineer working at the site said that there were about a thousand graves in the cemetery, of which about 50 had already been restored and that another 150 should be repaired before the end of the year. She also confirmed that the burial chamber where the "Tahara" of the deceased was performed had also been restored. It is important to note, that this cemetery also houses a monument, three meters high, dedicated to the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust. Half a dozen soaps, which the Nazis manufactured with Jewish fat, are buried at the foot of the memorial. | | The Israeli innovation which may replace sugar The Israeli company "Gat-Foods" hopes to replace white sugar with a new all-natural sweetener called "Fruitlift". | | Siblings I think togetherness is a very important ingredient to family life. Barbara Bush Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten. David Ogden Stiers My siblings are my best friends. America Ferrera
The oldest sibling always knows things that the younger ones don't. Mike Mills Sometimes siblings can get in each other's space. Gisele Bundchen In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future. Alex Haley I know a lot of people who've lost their siblings and blame themselves. Kelsey Grammer We all have competitive relationships with our siblings. John Benjamin The family is one of nature's masterpieces. George Santayana There's something unnatural about losing a sibling when they're young. Carlene Carter Siblings are often very opposite. Alycia Debnam-Carey Whether it be with your parents or your siblings, everyone is dealing with different kinds of things. Justin Hartley When you have a lot of siblings, you always do something to feel special. Lee Daniels Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor. Marge Kennedy I would ask my parents something, but then go to my siblings. We were encouraged to bounce ideas off everyone. Ahmet Zappa Sibling relationships figure in a lot of my books. You don't often see relationships between adult siblings explored in fiction. Dara Horn There's something about the kind of unconditional wild joy of creating that you have with your siblings that I am always trying to get back to. Jill Soloway You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. Desmond Tutu | | Kippalive - We Are Home - Kippalive - We Are Home ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Itunes: http://itunes.apple.com/album/id11218... Digital Album: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kippalive Bookings: Kippalive@gmail.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kippalive Official Site: https://www.kippalive.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original song: 500 Miles by Hedy West Arranged by Natan Gropper (Kippalive) Lyrics by Kippalive Members Recorded at Levitan Sound Lab by Ralph Levtian Video by Rafi & Maggie Sandler Cinematography: Maggie Sandler Location: המרפסת של המדינה, פדואל ---------------------------------------- Lyrics: Left it all to be with you Distant dreams have now come true Walked the streets of legends told We've come home We've come home We've come home And we'll never stand alone After 2000 years, we are home Not a native of this land Bring me up and take my hand Sapphire seas and golden sand A place called home We've come home We've come home To a land of our own After 2000 years, we are home זאת ארצי, מולדתי על אדמתי צעדתי עברי עתידי זה ביתי We've come home We've come home And we'll never stand alone After 2000 years, we are home We've come home We've come home To a land of our own After 2000 years, we are home After 2000 years, we are home We are home | | Meet the scientist who went to the moon without a spaceship Moon rocks still awe, and scientists hope to get their hands on more. Darby Dyar says that as a kid, whenever Apollo astronauts returned from the moon, she and her classmates would get ushered into the school library to watch it on TV. She remembers seeing the space capsules bobbing in the ocean as the astronauts emerged. Dyar is one of the lucky scientists picked to do experiments on this pristine sample. She's spent her whole career studying the moon rocks she first saw on television as a child, although way back then she never would have guessed it. Nearly a half-ton of moon rocks were collected by the six Apollo missions to the lunar surface. And as the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 first landing mission approaches, NASA has decided to open up a still-sealed, never-studied moon rock sample that has been carefully saved for decades, waiting for technology | | See you tomorrow--bli Neder Have a meaningful fast today. Even if you didn't know about and you learned about it now, G-d will appreciate if you fast the rest of the day or at least think as you eat or drink about your fellow Jews who are fasting. Love Yehuda Lave | | | |
