Thursday, October 31, 2019

Netanyahu Won’t Be The Only Victim By Caroline B. Glick and Impeachers Searching for New Crimes By Alan M. Dershowitz and I attend the First Herzl Conference on Contemporary Zionism last night

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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

In my role as a journalist, last night I attended the First Herzl Conference on Contemporary Zionism last night, called from Vision to Reality. I will have more on it in a future blog but, I got to meet and shake hands with US Senator Joe Lieberman, and our President Rivlin at the meeting last night.

I will destroy my enemies by converting them to friends.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

There are eight levels of charity.... The highest is when you strengthen a man's hand until he need no longer be dependent upon others.

Love Yehuda Lave

Free Shabbat Meals In Jerusalem Zev Stub

Free meals take place throughout the year - in Mea Shearim and by Western Wall (there is a large sign "Eshel Chabad")

Eshel's National Food Security Initiative offers All Day Dinner and Saturday Dinner at Two Places in Jerusalem

The meals take place throughout the year - in Mea Shearim and by Western Wall (there is a large sign "Eshel Chabad")

 

The Western Wall

Supper - about an hour and a half after the holiday begins. 

Lunch - at 1:30 p.m.

Mea Shearim - 1 Hachnasat Orchim Street, Jerusalem

Lunch at 12.30

Anyone can come and dine happily, no need to be identified

Full Story (Free Shabbat Meals in Jerusalem | Jerusalem Municipality)

It Is Now Easier To Travel On The Light Rail

Now the ticket purchase system is easier, simpler and more convenient than ever! As of 16/7/19, CityPass, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Transportation, has upgraded the ticket machines system at the stations, for your convenience:

New! From now on it will also be possible to load "stored value" on the Rav Kav card at the automated machines at the light rail stations and at the scustomer service center. A "stored value" contract is a travel contract by means of loading a certain amount of money on a Rav Kav card. You can load fixed amounts on your card for use on all public transit lines. Please note! The "stored value" contract is replacing the old kartisiyot (multi-ride tickets) and they will not be sold anymore (passengers who wlready have kartisiyot loaded will still be able to use them as usual).

Fast and easy! We have improved the user interface of the machines and now it is possible to purchase a single-trip paper ticket with one click. Please note! The single-trip paper ticket is now valid only on the day of purchase and grants a single trip without transfers.

Rav Kav Card renewal: Attention passengers! The card is valid for 8 years from the day it is issued. Passengers who have an expired card or a card about toe expire are welcome to renew it at any Ministry of Transport's "Al Hakav" stations.

*The validity of the card can be easily checked by placing the card on any of the card machines at the stations.

For more details and specific information, please visit us on our website and on Facebook.

For more information

www.citypass.co.il

Telephone: *3888

Jerusalem Light Rail

Full Story (Jerusalem Municipality)

Impeachers Searching for New Crimes By Alan M. Dershowitz

{Originally posted to the Gatestone Institute website}

The effort to find (or create) impeachable offense against President Donald Trump has now moved from the subjects of the Mueller investigation — collusion with Russia and obstruction of justice — to alleged recent political "sins": "quid pro quo" with Ukraine and obstruction of Congress.

The goal of the impeach-at-any-cost cadre has always been the same: impeach and remove Trump, regardless of whether or not he did anything warranting removal. The means — the alleged impeachable offenses — have changed, as earlier ones have proved meritless. The search for the perfect impeachable offense against Trump is reminiscent of overzealous prosecutors who target the defendant first and then search for the crime with which to charge him. Or to paraphrase the former head of the Soviet secret police to Stalin: show me the man and I will find you the crime.

Although this is not Stalin's Soviet Union, all civil libertarians should be concerned about an Alice in Wonderland process in which the search for an impeachable crime precedes the evidence that such a crime has actually been committed.

Before we get to the current search, a word about what constitutes an impeachable crime under the constitution, whose criteria are limited to treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanors. There is a debate among students of the constitution over the intended meaning of "high crimes and misdemeanors." Some believe that these words encompass non-criminal behavior. Others, I among them, interpret these words more literally, requiring at the least criminal-like behavior, if not the actual violation of a criminal statute.

What is not debatable is that "maladministration" is an impermissible ground for impeachment. Why is that not debatable? Because it was already debated and explicitly rejected by the framers at the constitutional convention. James Madison, the father of our Constitution, opposed such open-ended criteria, lest they make the tenure of the president subject to the political will of Congress. Such criteria would turn our republic into a parliamentary democracy in which the leader — the prime minister — is subject to removal by a simple vote of no confidence by a majority of legislators. Instead, the framers demanded the more specific criminal-like criteria ultimately adopted by the convention and the states.

Congress does not have the constitutional authority to change these criteria without amending the Constitution. To paraphrase what many Democratic legislators are now saying: members of Congress are not above the law; they take an oath to apply the Constitution, not to ignore its specific criteria. Congresswoman Maxine Waters placed herself above the law when she said:

"Impeachment is about whatever Congress says it is. There is no law that dictates impeachment. What the Constitution says is 'high crimes and misdemeanors,' and we define that."

So, the question remains: did President Trump commit impeachable offenses when he spoke on the phone to the president of Ukraine and/or when he directed members of the Executive Branch to refuse to cooperate, absent a court order, with congressional Democrats who are seeking his impeachment?

The answers are plainly no and no. There is a constitutionally significant difference between a political "sin," on the one hand, and a crime or impeachable offenses, on the other.

Even taking the worst-case scenario regarding Ukraine — a quid pro quo exchange of foreign aid for a political favor — that might be a political sin, but not a crime or impeachable offense.

Many presidents have used their foreign policy power for political or personal advantage. Most recently, President Barack Obama misused his power in order to take personal revenge against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In the last days of his second term, Obama engineered a one-sided UN Security Council resolution declaring that Israel's control over the Western Wall — Judaism's holiest site — constitutes a "flagrant violation of international law." Nearly every member of Congress and many in his own administration opposed this unilateral change in our policy, but Obama was determined to take revenge against Netanyahu, whom he despised. Obama committed a political sin by placing his personal pique over our national interest, but he did not commit an impeachable offense.

Nor did President George H. W. Bush commit an impeachable offense when he pardoned Caspar Weinberger and others on the eve of their trials in order to prevent them from pointing the finger at him.

This brings us to President Trump's directive with regard to the impeachment investigation. Under our constitutional system of separation of powers, Congress may not compel the Executive Branch to cooperate with an impeachment investigation absent court orders. Conflicts between the Legislative and Executive Branches are resolved by the Judicial Branch, not by the unilateral dictate of a handful of partisan legislators. It is neither a crime nor an impeachable offense for the president to demand that Congress seek court orders to enforce their demands. Claims of executive and other privileges should be resolved by the Judicial Branch, not by calls for impeachment.

So, the search for the holy grail of a removable offense will continue, but it is unlikely to succeed. Our constitution provides a better way to decide who shall serve as president: it's called an election.

First Ever Sukkah At The White House

For the first time ever, a Sukkah was placed within the White House complex in Washington, DC, to celebrate the holiday of Sukkos.

While only open to White House and Treasury Dept. staff and their guests receiving US Secret Service clearance, dozens of officials took advantage of the Sukkah's presence during Chol Hamoed, with a small event just prior to the Sukkah being disassembled before Shabbos.

Full Story (COLive)

Netanyahu Won't Be The Only Victim By Caroline B. Glick

The ongoing criminal probes against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are reaching their climax. By the end of the month, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit will reportedly decide whether or not to end Netanyahu's political career by indicting him on corruption charges.

If Israel's attorney general does indict Netanyahu, however, he will have done far more than overthrow a political leader. He will have embraced a legal doctrine that rejects the very essence of democracy.

This truth has been largely ignored till now. It was only sounded in a significant way during the final half-hour of Netanyahu's four-day, 15-hour-a-day hearing two weeks ago. During that final half-hour, Mandelblit approved his attorneys' request to permit two senior American jurists – legendary litigator Nathan Lewin and Professor Avi Bell from University of San Diego and Bar Ilan University law schools – to address him.

The two presented points they made in a brief co-authored with Alan Dershowitz, Richard Heideman, and Joseph Tipograph. The brief focuses on the question at the heart of the two main investigations: Is it permissible to define a news organization's offer to cover a politician favorably a form of bribery?

Their answer was an unequivocal "No." The American jurists warned that if Mandelblit chooses to bow to the position of the prosecutors, he will bring about Israel's legal isolation throughout the free world.

In their brief, the American legal scholars examined court judgments and legal studies from the United States, Britain, Australia, and across Europe. The central issue in all of them was whether it is possible to limit – much less criminalize – relations between media agents and politicians. In all of the judgments and opinions, the answer was the same.

From Oslo to London to Sydney to Washington, the position of courts and senior jurists is that it is not permissible to criminalize or even set limits on such relations.

For instance, in 2010-2011, British Justice Sir Brian Leveson presided over a public inquiry into the practices of the British media in the wake of the News of the World hacking scandal. Among other things, Leveson investigated media mogul Rupert Murdoch's ties to British prime ministers Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair as well as to two Australian prime ministers.

The Leveson Report was published in 2012. It spans 2,000 pages. As the American jurists noted, the Leveson Report documents instances in which political leaders in both countries agreed to grant regulatory breaks and adopt policies that advanced Murdoch's interests in exchange for positive coverage during elections.

And yet, the American jurists explained to Mendelblit, the report "never suggests that Murdoch's flattering and hostile coverage could be deemed a 'bribe'" to the British leaders.

Bell, Lewin, and their colleagues cautioned Mandelblit that the reason the idea of criminalizing ties between politicians and media owners has been rejected is because the action threatens the foundations of democratic societies.

"Prosecution of the Netanyahu case would signal to journalists and media executives that favorable or damaging publicity about a candidate may be investigated by the police and by prosecutors…. If the police and prosecutors are empowered to probe the mixed motives of journalists and politicians, they can exercise arbitrary control over essential institutions of democracy," they warned.

In Israel, and throughout the free world, all politicians and media organs maintain ties with one another as a matter of course. If Mandelblit accepts the state prosecutor's position and indicts Netanyahu, practically speaking, he will render all politicians and media outlets in Israel hostage to state prosecutors.

At their pleasure, the prosecutors will be able to criminalize the routine practice of politics and journalism. They will be able to investigate anyone, at any time. They will be able to destroy reputations and squeeze politicians and media outlets financially by saddling them with legal fees – even send them to prison.

And at their pleasure, prosecutors will be able to decide not to investigate politicians and media outlets, and so leave them free to attack their less fortunate colleagues as "criminal suspects" and "alleged felons."

Some observers in Israel and worldwide may respond with a shrug of the shoulders. The prosecutors, after all, say they don't intend to abuse the power they are seizing. The only thing that concerns them, the prosecutors insist, is protecting the public from politicians and media moguls who reach backroom deals on the public's back.

This attitude of faith in the goodwill and objectivity of prosecutors is riddled with both substantive and normative drawbacks. Substantively, in democratic societies, the public doesn't need prosecutors to decide its interests. For that they have the ballot box.

The normative drawbacks have been evident throughout Netanyahu's investigation. Prosecutors and police investigators have provided anti-Netanyahu reporters with a steady flow of prejudicial leaks from interrogation rooms and from the prosecutions' internal deliberations.

As these leaks have been broadcast, the public has also been subjected to case after case in which other politicians have made deals with media owners that are substantively identical, and in some cases for more problematic than those Netanyahu is accused of having negotiated. But in all of these instances, police investigators and state prosecutors have stubbornly refused to open investigations.

Throughout their investigations of Netanyahu, state prosecutors have argued that media owners do not have a legal right to set editorial policy in their publications. In their view, if a media owner blocks the publication of articles that adversely affect their editorial line, the owner is wrongly constraining his writers' freedom of expression.

This position contradicts the right to own private property that stands at the heart of liberal democracy. Just as the owner of a shoe factory has the right to decide what sort of shoes his workers will make, so a media owner has the right to decide the editorial policy of his media outlet.

When Bell and Lewin noted this basic truth in the hearing, one of the prosecutors in the room was annoyed. "That's a capitalist position," she said.

Perhaps. And many members of Israel's elite look back with longing to the days when socialist and communist newspapers set the tone of the public discourse. But a person who longs for socialism in the name of equality is not more objective than someone who prefers capitalism in the name of freedom and liberty.

The Israeli establishment has long sought to destroy Netanyahu, the only political leader in Israeli history who was never a member of their club and never sought their approval. They haven't been able to defeat him at the ballot box and now they have placed their hopes in the politicized state prosecution.

If Mandelblit chooses to make their dream a reality, he will not merely have gotten rid of Netanyahu. He will have criminalized routine politics and so end Israeli democracy while replacing our political leaders with unelected prosecutors who have richly demonstrated their lack of objectivity and contempt for the public.

See you tomorrow bli neder

Love Yehuda Lave

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202

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Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Quiz: Use Your Smarts to Answer These IQ Problems and Fixing Noah's drinking problem and Etz Hasade Flour Mill and Shilo Block Settlements

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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

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up. O. W. Holmes

Pay attention to the beauty surrounding you. Anne Lamott

Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals. — Zig Ziglar


Half the work trhat is done in the world is to make things appear what they are not.--E> R> Beadle

THE FUNCTION OF LEADERSHIP IS TO PROVIDE MORE LEADERS, NOT MORE FOLLOWERS--RALPH NADER

 

Quiz: Use Your Smarts to Answer These IQ Problems

https://www.ba-bamail.com/content.aspx?emailid=33993

6 Places To Visit In 6 Hours In The Western Galilee

When we first got there, I'll admit I was disappointed in the appearance of the unremarkable building from the outside. But step past the heavy wooden front doors and you're in another world: a combination of Old World style (Nahariya was established by German Jewish immigrants in 1935) and modern touches (every room has been lovingly refurbished). While no holiday accommodations in Israel are inexpensive, this is Nahariya, not Tel Aviv, so it won't set you back a month's salary.

We didn't have a lot of time and we didn't want to drive too far from our Nahariya base. Still, we packed in a lot.

Here are the six places we visited in the Western Galilee in just six hours.

  1. Rosh Hanikra

Located as far northwest as you can travel in Israel before you cross into Lebanon, the grottos at Rosh Hanikra are a must-see attraction – and for good reason.

The brisk cable-car ride down is fun even if it's no competition with its Swiss or Norwegian counterparts.

The gushing water in the grottos is exhilarating for kids of all ages.

Beyond the grottos, the train tunnel to nowhere – once a part of a line that connected pre-1948 Palestine with Beirut – evokes a time when the Middle East's borders were more porous.

  1. The Painted House 

Down the road from Rosh Hanikra, a quick turn east on Route 899 takes you to Moshav Shlomi, a sleepy community that has one highly unusual home. The late artist Ofra (Afia) Zacharia painted the interior of her tenement-style apartment in a cartoonish, naïve style with crazy patterns of stripes and colors, with African and Mexican motifs.

An immigrant from Yemen who never learned Hebrew, at 80 years old Zacharia was displaced from the land on which she lived when the moshav decided to expand its industrial zone. Her response: to paint and in the process to tell the story of her life by covering every wall, floor, ceiling and even window with color.

The apartment is in the middle of a residential neighborhood, down several flights of steps and past a nondescript courtyard – blink and you might miss it.

  1. Keshet Cave

Continuing along Route 899, make a left to ascend a twisty road to the top of Park Adamit. There you'll find Keshet Cave, a bold geological dimple with a stunning view of the entire Western Galilee.

Keshet is Hebrew for "arch," which is how the rim of the cave presents. The cave itself is an easy 10-minute walk from the parking lot on a stroller-friendly paved path. When we visited, a tour guide was putting away the ropes he'd just used to help a visiting Birthright group rappel into the depths.

  1. Park Goren

Across Route 899 and very near Keshet Cave, Park Goren is filled with lovely picnic spots and hiking trails. We drove to the top of the hill for a magnificent view of the Montfort Crusader fortress below.

There are several trails that lead from the viewpoint into Nahal Kziv to reach the ruins of the castle. But be wary before you begin: it's a steep descent and an even more challenging hike back up.

  1. Davidson Sculpture Garden

Tucked deep into Kibbutz Eilon, between Adamit and Goren parks, Ruth and Meir Davidson have created a quiet garden of some 300 mosaic-covered sculptures, representing all manner of creatures real and make-believe – including a wide variety of totem sculptures and mosaic masks – created over a 50-year span.

There's a gallery and a lively aviary nearby (which makes it not quite as contemplative as the Davidsons may have envisioned). It's free to wander as long as you'd like.

  1. Buza

Summer in the Western Galilee means temperatures in the mid-30s Celsius and, if you're along the coast, bucket-drenching humidity. Which makes it the perfect season for ice cream.

And the most perfect ice cream in the region is at Buza, a joint venture between Adam Ziv, a Jew from Kibbutz Sasa, and Alaa Sweetat, a local Muslim. The flagship shop of the growing chain is in the mixed Jewish-Arab town of Ma'alot-Tarshiha. (Workshops and tours are available at the Buza Visitors Center at Kibbutz Sasa).

Buza simply means "ice cream" in Arabic, but there's nothing simple about the all-natural creative flavors on tap. My favorite: a salted cashew caramel with coconut. My wife had vegan chocolate in a halva-flavored cone.

The ice cream containers are closed with a lid – something I've never seen before (every other establishment openly displays its colorful swirls to entice shoppers) – presumably to seal in the freshness in Buza's preservative-free concoctions.

If you have time for more…

There are oodles of Western Galilee attractions that we didn't get a chance to visit – the Alto goat farm and brunch spot, several local wineries, the Malka beer brewery in Yehiam, the burgers at Moshav Meona and chef restaurants.

And of course, there's the old city of Acre, where you could easily spend a full day exploring its subterranean delights. We did so the next day on our way back to Jerusalem.

But we wanted to finish early enough to catch the sunset from the beach at Achziv – a picturesque shoreline, not too crowded, with free parking, no entrance fee, a well-stocked snack bar and a section of luxury "glamping" tents for those who prefer to overnight in style.

As the sun dipped behind the clouds, we reflected on a near-perfect day, capping off 31 years together. The only question left: Where will we go to celebrate next year? 

 

Full Story (ISRAEL21c)

Etz Hasade Flour Mill and Shilo Block Settlements

On the first day of Chul Amoud Sukkot 2019 (5780), we memorialize Ruthy Breener by going to the Shomron. We see the Kush Shilo and the most interesting Kosher Ground stone flour mill in Israel.

Buy Fresh Unsold Food From Restaurants; Save Money And Waste

For Itzhak Molcho, the new Israeli app SpareEat is a win-win: He gets a meal from one of his favorite restaurants in Tel Aviv at half price, while simultaneously preventing perfectly good meals from going in the garbage.

"I saw a post about SpareEat on Facebook as a way to save food in Israel. I downloaded it and used it two times in a row the first week. It was convenient and not complicated to use," says Molcho, 31. "You feel you are part of something big. It gives you a consciousness about the issue of throwing away food."

It was this issue that motivated Elie Fischer and his cousin, Laetitia Jessner, to launch SpareEat in August.

Working in the hospitality industry in France and Israel, they were upset to see how much surplus food hotels and restaurants trash every day.

They found a few smartphone apps in Europe that enable people to purchase unsold food from local establishments. With their own funds, they built SpareEat for Israel with the goal of simplifying the transaction for both businesses and customers.

SpareEat was launched for iOS and Android in August, starting with 16 restaurants, hotels, bakeries, grocery stores and cafés in Tel Aviv. By September 1, about 2,000 people had already downloaded the app and additional businesses are in the pipeline.

"From the business side, it is all about reducing food waste, increasing revenues, bringing in new customers and bringing a fresh and eco-friendly image to the brand. From the customer side, it is all about reducing food waste and at the same time buying fresh and good food at a very reduced price," Fischer tells ISRAEL21c.

Participating businesses make up predefined boxes containing single portions of items often left unsold.

For example, the Vietnamese restaurant from which Molcho got his meal offers a box containing spring rolls and bobun salad or the special of the day plus salad. A supermarket might offer a tuna salad, pastry assortment and fresh fruit.

The app's dashboard allows the business to check and confirm orders and pick-up times, adjust the contents of the boxes if necessary, and track sales statistics. SpareEat earns a commission from the business for each transaction.

For customers, the free app uses geolocation to display nearby participating businesses. The minimum retail value of each box is shown along with the price to be paid, which can be as much as half off.

"You can buy as many boxes as are available. You order and pay directly on the app and simply go to pick up the box at the specified time," says Fischer.

The app also brings food establishments to the attention of users. Molcho, for instance, purchased surplus cookies via SpareEat from a café he'd never frequented before. He was happy with the quality so he's likely to go again.

The app was built in English because SpareEat's founders have plans to expand outside of Tel Aviv and even outside of Israel. SpareEat was one of six finalists in the Strauss Group/EIT Foods Startup Competition at FoodTechIL in Tel Aviv on September 23.

Meanwhile, the app is making a small but important dent in the amount of food wasted in Israel.

Israeli institutions such as workplaces, hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, catering halls and army bases toss out some 507 million pounds of food annually, representing 30% of institutional food consumption, worth approximately $1 billion. About half of all discarded food is fit to eat.

That information comes from a report released last year by Leket Israel, a nonprofit that rescues fresh surplus agricultural produce and cooked meals. About 200 partner organizations distribute the rescued food to 175,000 needy Israelis every week.

Fischer says SpareEat is hoping to do some type of collaboration with Leket.

Meanwhile, he sees the SpareEat app as potentially powerful tool in avoiding food waste. "A win-win-win situation, basically, for the planet, customers and businesses," he says.

For more information, click here.

 

Full Story (ISRAEL21c)

Fixing Noach's Drinking Problem by Rabbi Sprecher

Why is wine so essential to Judaism? All of our sacred occasions are accompanied by the drinking of wine. During Kiddush, Havdala, Weddings, Sheva Brachot, Brit Mila and the 4 Cups on Pesach wine is required. Why??

To find the answer we must look into the Talmud. The Talmud discusses the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, wondering what type of fruit it was (Berachot 40a, Sanhedrin 70 a-b). Three opinions are presented.

According to one opinion, the forbidden fruit was wheat. This suggestion is innovative since wheat stalks are not normally considered trees.

Another opinion in the Talmud states that the forbidden fruit was a fig, for it was a fig leaf that was later used to cover Adam and Eve's nudity (see Bereshit 3:7). According to this approach, the very item that brought about the spiritual downfall of the first human couple was sewn together to cover up their embarrassing state.

At the root of this approach is the idea that the same object can be used to wreak destruction as well as to repair all that is wrong. It is in this vein that the prophet tells us that in the Messianic Era the sharp metal of the deadly sword will be made into plows for preparing the land to provide sustenance to all mankind. (See Yeshayahu 2:4).

According to the first opinion cited in the Talmud, the forbidden fruit in Gan Eden was a grape vine, since it is always wine that is the source of human misery. To prove this contention, the Talmud cites the passage where Noach partook of wine and became drunk (see Bereshit 9:2).

Noach and his family came out of the Ark to a new, idyllic world. All evil had been destroyed, and what remained was pure. Noach quickly began life anew by working the cleansed land and planting a vineyard. The produce of this vineyard was made into wine, and when Noach drank and became intoxicated, his behavior and that of his son, Cham, was grossly inappropriate. Thus the new beginning - just like G‑d's initial program – was sullied by wine.

While the Talmud doesn't quote this, another biblical episode provides a similar lesson (see Bereshit 19:30-36). After Lot and his daughters escaped the destruction of Sodom, they reached the safety of a cave. The two girls mistakenly believed that the entire world had been destroyed. In a desperate move, they conclude that they must have children by their father to ensure the continuation of humanity.

Yet, how could a father agree to such a depraved and immoral act? The solution suggested by the older daughter and implemented by the two women is to get Lot so drunk on wine that he would be oblivious to any sin that he committed. This decadent plan succeeded, and both daughters became pregnant by their very own father!

Thus, in an attempt to reverse this tragic trend, at every Sabbath and Yom Tov we seek to repair the initial damage from the Garden of Eden. Wine should no longer be a tool that brings about grief and sin. Instead, wine should be used in the service of spiritual growth and sanctification.

All G‑d's creations are tools for bringing G‑dliness into this physical world. Despite the woeful history of wine, we do not abstain from this hazardous drink. We seek to sanctify wine on occasions of potential spiritual growth.

Instead of relegating wine to the annals of vice and sin, it is elevated to open each and every Jewish ritual service, proudly announcing that physical objects have neutral value. We choose how to employ G-d's creations and write their history. Will they be recorded as tools of corruption and sin or as objects of holiness that repair this broken world? (TIKUN OLAM)

G‑d created the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. We choose and decide whether Knowledge is to be used for good or evil. A classic example is the internet, which contains evil, or www.rabbisprecher.com. You make the Call!

See you tomorrow, bli neder

Love YehduaLave

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202

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