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 I hope you are pleased with the election Results. All the prediciations of people not being interested and worn out and not coming because of the Virus, turned out to be not true and there was a great turnout. Love Yehuda Lave The Torah teaches that when a Man and a Woman marry they are to become as one. As a marriage counselor, I can guarantee that a Man and Woman never become as one. They may love each other and try to please each other or not, but they never become as one. What does become as one is the child the couple produces. Even when marriages are troubled, most of the time, even as adults, the children want their parents to stay together. Why not? They are 50-50 Mother and Father. When the couple splits they feel they are being pulled apart. As an adult, I now see myself in my Mother and Father, but my Mother lived longer (until 7 years ago) so I remember her better, and I am certainly my Mother's son. Here is to you Mom! | | | A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage."
― Alexander Fraser Tytler
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Fraser_Tytler "Anyone who can appease a man's conscience can take his freedom away from him." "Without a clear perception of his reasons for living, man will never consent to live, and will rather destroy himself than tarry on earth, though he be surrounded with bread"." The Grand Inquisitor Quotes by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | | Today is a powerful spiritual day. Adar 7 & and Parsha Tetzaveh Today is a powerful spiritual day. Haman who used the lottery (Pur) to pick a day when the Jews had Bad Luck or Mazel as it is called in Jewish Law tried to pick a day that was bad spiritually for the Jews. They cast a pur, that is the lot." A Tanna taught: When the lot fell on the month of Adar, he rejoiced greatly saying: The lot has fallen for me on the month in which Moses died. He did not know, however, that Moses died on the seventh of Adar and was born on the seventh of Adar. So today, Adar 7, is the Yahrtzeit of Moses who died in 1273 BCE (Jewish year 2488), on the same day of his birth 120 years earlier. (Consequently, "May you live to 120" has become a common Jewish blessing.) Me' or Einayim points out that Tetzaveh (our Torah portion this week) is (nearly) always read immediately before or after the seventh of Adar, which is Moshe's (birthday and) yahrtzeit. So his name is missing from this parashah specifically, in mourning for our loss. Moses was born in Egypt at a time when Pharaoh had decreed that all Jewish baby boys be drowned in the Nile River. His mother set him afloat in a reed basket, where he was -- most ironically -- discovered by Pharaoh's daughter and brought to Pharaoh's palace to be raised. When Moses matured, his heart turned to aid the Jewish people; he killed an Egyptian who was beating a Jew, and he fled to Midian where he married and had two sons. G-d spoke to Moses at the Burning Bush, instructing him to return to Egypt and persuade Pharaoh to "Let My people go." Moses led the Jews through the ten plagues, the Exodus, and the splitting of the Red Sea. Seven weeks later, (on Shavuot) the Jews arrived at Mount Sinai and received the Torah, the only time in human history that an entire nation experienced Divine revelation. Over the next 40 years, Moses led the Jews through wanderings in the desert, and supervised the construction of the Tabernacle. Moses died before being allowed to enter the promised Land of Israel. He is regarded as the greatest prophet of all time. How Do We Know When Moses Died? Moses died on the seventh of Adar. The Talmud proves this as follows: In Deuteronomy 34:8 we read that the Jews mourned for thirty days following Moses' death in the Plains of Moab. This area borders Israel, just east of the Jordan River. The book of Joshua begins with G d's command to bring the Jewish people across the Jordan River. G- d specifies that they are to cross in three days time. This instruction was given immediately after Moses died, meaning at the earliest possible opportunity after his death. This would have been following the thirty days of mourning. In Joshua 4:19 we are told that the Jews crossed the river on the tenth of Nissan. If we subtract the three days between the command and actual crossing, plus the thirty days of mourning, we find the date of Moses' passing is the seventh of Adar. Incidentally, the seventh of Adar is also Moses' birthday. This we derive from what Moses said on the day of his death Deuteronomy 31:2 "Today I am one hundred and twenty years old.Tetzaveh stands as an eternal tribute to Moses. It is the Torah's own testimony to Moses' greatness in relinquishing everything—including his bond with Torah—in order to preserve his bond with his people and restore them to their G-d. | | Since we leaned about the real Moses above, here is another Moses's Obiturary Moishe's Obituary Miriam Applebaum came into the newsroom to pay for her husband Moishe's obituary. She was told by the newsman that it was a dollar a word and he remembered Moishe who worked in the building and wasn't it too bad about him passing away. Mrs. Applebaum thanked him for his kind words and bemoaned the fact that she only had two dollars. But she wrote out the obituary, "Moishe died." The newsman said he thought old Moishe deserved more and he'd give her five more words. Mrs. Applebaum thanked him and rewrote the obituary: "Moishe died. Lots of chazerai for sale." | | Why Are the Bride and Groom Danced on Chairs at Jewish Weddings? If you've been to a Jewish wedding, you may have witnessed the bride and groom being lifted on chairs (or even on tables) and danced around by joyous well-wishers. Where did this custom come from? Bringing Joy to Bride and Groom It is considered a great mitzvah to make the bride and groom joyful at their wedding.1 Many of the great sages in the Talmud would dance and do all sorts of tricks to entertain the couple. For example, Rabbi Yehuda bar Ilai would take a myrtle branch and dance before the bride, calling her "a fair and attractive bride." And Rav Shmuel bar Rav Yitzchak would dance while juggling three branches of myrtle. One rabbi, Rabbi Zeira, felt it was demeaning for such an honorable person to caper about like that. But when Rav Shmuel passed away, Rabbi Zeira saw a heavenly pillar of fire appear before Rav Shmuel's body. He then proclaimed that this was due to the great enthusiasm with which the deceased had fulfilled the mitzvah of bringing joy to the bride and groom.2 Dancing with Bride and Groom on a Chair It appears that the "chair dance" is just another manifestation of this happy (and sometimes silly) expression of joy. Some, however, speculate that this custom developed due to the mechitzah (partition) between the men and women at traditional Jewish weddings. By lifting the couple up on chairs, the bride and groom are able to see each other over the partition. Another possibility is that the chair recalls a royal throne, since the bride and groom are compared to a queen and king.3 Carrying the Bride The Talmud records that there was a custom for some to hoist the bride on their shoulders and dance.4 It is interesting to note that there is no actual source for lifting the couple on chairs. However, there is a reference to the special chairs on which the bride and groom are seated. Adam and Eve's Wedding Seat We read in Proverbs: "She has sent forth her maidens; she calls upon the top of the highest places of the city5 . . . on a seat in the high places of the city."6 The Talmud explains that these verses are a reference to Adam and Eve, the first couple. The metaphor of being "upon the top" versus "seated" implies a change in their status.7 Some explain that before the sin of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were on the greatest spiritual plane, and they were lowered down after the sin.8 Tosafot explains just the opposite: Initially, before being paired with Eve, Adam was aloof, alone and isolated. Once they married, they were ensconced on a seat specially set for a bride and groom.9 This is cited as a source for the custom of seating the bride and groom on special chairs.10 In Conclusion Despite our speculations, there doesn't seem to be clear precedents for the custom to lift the bride and groom on chairs and dance with them. But it's a mitzvah to make them happy, so if this is something that will bring them joy, then go for it! The Talmud tells us that those who bring joy to the bride and groom merit to acquire Torah, and it is as if they rebuilt part of Jerusalem and brought a thanksgiving offering there.11 May Jerusalem be completely rebuilt speedily in our days! Footnotes 1. Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 65:1. 2. Talmud, Ketubot 17a. 3. See Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer 16 4. Talmud Ketubot 17a. 5. Proverbs 9:3. 6. Proverbs 9:14. 7. Talmud, Sanhedrin 38a 8. See Rashi ad loc. 9. Tosafot ad loc. 10. Piskei Tosafot, Sanhedrin 97. 11. Talmud, Berachot 6b. By Yehuda Shurpin | | Gun Permit Applications Surge Nearly 1,000% in New York Jewish Community Gun permit applications surged nearly 1,000 percent in New York's Jewish community since the December 28, 2019, attack on Hasidic Jews in a rabbi's home. The Washington Examiner reports that the surge is clear in Rockland County, the very county in which the rabbi's home was attacked. The Rockland County Clerk's office reported the "nearly 1,000 percent increase in gun permit applications in the week following the Dec. 28 attack." Erik Melanson, owner of Rockland County's Precision Gunsmiths, said, "A lot of people are worried, especially the large Hasidic and Jewish community in Rockland County. I have had rabbis come in. Some of the rabbis already have concealed carry [permits]."Hawkins Calls Out Golden Globes Anti-Gun Hypocrisy On October 27, 2018, an attacker killed 11 innocents at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There was no armed security at the synagogue at the time of the attack. On April 27, 2019, an attacker killed one innocent and wounded three others by opening fire on Chabad of Poway in San Diego, California. On December 10, 2019, two attackers killed a Jersey City police officer, then holed up in a Jewish market, where three civilians were killed. The New York Times reported the December 28, 2019 attack in which a suspect armed with a machete wounded five Hasidic Jews in a rabbi's home. The victims tried to defend themselves by throwing furniture at the attacker. On January 8, 2020, Breitbart News reported HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky indicating Americans can carry guns to the synagogue on the Sabbath for self-defense | | New Israeli technology can determine specific cancer treatment for patients New Israeli Tech Can Determine Specific Cancer Treatment for Patients | | OUR CHALLENGE THE CHOSEN LAND (Excerpts) Written 1974 It is time for the Jew in Israel to throw away those negative attitudes that he retains from the Galut, the Exile. Chief among these is an unwillingness to look at bitter reality. We may not enjoy hearing it, but the truth is that for many years at least there will not be sincere de jure peace with the Arabs. It may affect the tender souls of the more spiritually intellectual among us, but one can never attain either peace or security by "compromise" with bitter enemies who have no intentions of compromising with you. Those in Judea, Samaria and Gaza who do sit down with you because they have no choice, do so only in the hope of getting rid of you as soon as possible. Our enemy, in the long run, is weariness. It is against this enemy that we must struggle. We must grid ourselves with tenacity and determination never to tire of what appears to be a never-ending struggle. For that is what it might very well become: a struggle for Jewish existence and a Jewish state that will never cease to be a struggle; a realization that between us and the Arabs stands a massive barrier that may never be reached; a determination by two peoples to live in a land that at least one will never compromise on. There will grow the weariness of having to send our children to the army without stop. There will grow the weariness of having to leave each year for reserve duty. There will grow the weariness of terrorist attacks on the borders or at the Lod airport or at the Tel-Aviv bus terminal. There will, perhaps, again grow the weariness – and the heartbreak – of victims of a new war of attribution. There will grow the weariness of all this, rising to a crescendo with the frustrating cry: "When will it finally end?" Only the weak succumb to such frustrations; only the weak surrender to time. A strong and tenacious people know that there may never be an end to the struggle and the sacrifice. But they also look about them and see what their refusal to surrender has accomplished: a state, and today a big one, in much of our Eretz Yisroel; a Jewish state with nearly three million souls [now 6 million] and many more to come; the creation of a new and proud Jew. None of these things would have come about had we listened to the intellectual precursors of our modern-day intellectuals and doves. In the name of "peace" there would be no Jewish state; in the name of "morality" there would be no free Jewish nation. If we hope to survive in the literal sense of the word, let us not succumb to the siren call of easy answers and the tempting promise of "peace." Above all, let us, please, have no illusions. The Arabs intend to wipe us out; we must be strong enough to stop them. The Arabs who live with us in Eretz Yisroel, both those who have done so for twenty-five years and those for just five, do not love us and never will – and one cannot blame them. Let us not play games with them or with ourselves. We give them civil rights and political freedom, but what Jew will ever agree that they should become a majority? What Jew will ever agree to allow Arabs to come in on the same terms as Jews do today under the Law of Return? Israel was formed as a Jewish state. Arabs may have social, economic, and much political equality but, in the end, it is not their state. For the individual Arab we offer much, but for the Arab nation, Israel offers nothing. It is not an Arab state, it is a Jewish state. It came into being because Jews knew that for them there was no hope in a world that thirsted for their bodies and souls. It came into being under the realization that neither king nor Republican nor Marxist had the solution to the Jewish problem. That in the end it was the words of the rabbis that proved to be eternally true: "It is a law, it is known that Esau hates Jacob." And so, Eretz Yisroel, the land of the Jewish people, exists. It can never be anything but that and both we and the Arabs know it. Such a fact allows for few illusions over peace. Perhaps peace will come some day; I for one, doubt it. Until it doesn't let us not listen to the delusions that float down to us daily from the ivory tower or from the self-hating Left. Strength and tenacity – they and they alone assure Jewish survival. | | Archaeologists solve Roman Empire mystery with 500 letters discovered near Hadrian's Wall ARCHAEOLOGISTS solved a 2000-year-old mystery after discovering 500 stone tablets revealing the secrets of the Roman Empire. By Callum Hoare Neapolis was a major ancient hub, established as a trade port by the Greeks of Cyrene in the fifth century before it became a port when the Roman Empire conquered North Africa. Now, a city known as Nabeul stands where the metropolis once was, built on top of most of the remains, making them inaccessible and likely mostly destroyed. However, researcher Mounir Fantar discovered multiple tanks in this ancient city in 2017, leading him to theorise that Neapolis was an exporter of a fish sauce called garum. Two years later, stone tablets discovered in Carlisle, Cumbria, during Channel 5's "Ancient Mysteries" series confirmed his suspicions. The narrator said in October: "Neapolis was actually the epicentre for the mass production of fish sauce. "But how did its producers in Neapolis, on the southern boundary of the vast Roman world, manage to reach its markets thousands of miles away? "The answer can be found in a unique collection of documents that suggest Neapolis was part of the ancient world's greatest supply chain, one that would power the Roman military machine as it conquered over two million square miles. Neapolis was actually the epicentre for the mass production of fish sauce "This evidence was uncovered at the opposite end of the Roman Empire, at the furthest reaches of England. "We are on the very northern part of the Roman Empire, on the border of the frontier of the Empire." The series went on to reveal how Vindolanda tablets were uncovered. It added: "Around the early second century AD, the largest Roman army in the entire Empire was stationed here, on Hadrian's Wall, struggling to keep hold of its newly occupied territory. "The British really didn't want to be conquered, so over 30,000 soldiers and their families and communities were stationed permanently in Roman Britain. "For the past 13 years, Dr Andrew Birley has supervised investigations at Vindalanda Fort, one of 16 heavily defended garrisons that ran the length of Handrian's Wall. "He's found evidence it was manned by soldiers from across the Empire." Archaeologists then made a stunning find within the tablet collection. The letters are on display in the British History Museum (Image: WIKI) The series continued: "Among the meany treasures, archaeologists have uncovered around 500 letters sent to and from Roman troops based at the fort. "Many contain requests for favourite foods from back home, the find reveals that, even here, soldiers were being sent a variety of goods from their home countries. "Among the most sought after products was garum." At the time of their discovery, the tablets were the oldest surviving handwritten documents in Britain. Hadrian's Wall: Construction of Roman fortification explained Written on fragments of thin, postcard-sized wooden pages with carbon-based ink, the tablets date to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The documents record official military matters as well as personal messages to and from members of the garrison of Vindolanda, their families, and their slaves. Highlights of the tablets include an invitation to a birthday party held in about 100AD, which is perhaps the oldest surviving document written in Latin by a woman. The excavated tablets are nearly all held at the British Museum, but arrangements have been made for some to be displayed at Vindolanda. | | Ben-Gurion University develops miracle molecule for fighting Lupus NIBN, BGU and NIH researchers make breakthrough in the 'Fight to Cure Lupus: A Proof of Concept in an Animal Model', reported in the prestige journal Science. By ZACHARY KEYSER esearchers from the National Institute of Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in collaboration with the National Institute for Biotechnology and the United States National Institute (NIH) of Health have made a breakthrough in dissecting the pathology of the Lupus disease – creating pathways to pave the direction towards an eventual cure to the autoimmune disease.Prof. Varda Shoshan-Barmatz of the Department of Life Sciences and the founding director of the NIBN in collaboration with Dr. Jay Chung of the NIH have successfully shown that the mitochondrial protein VDAC1 is "critical" for the release of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). mtDNA is linked to the composition of Lupus in patients, in addition, the newly found discovery has shown results in animal models for lupus to successfully relieve symptoms of the disease. "Our breakthrough is identifying a new pathway for the exit of mitochondrial DNA that we can either trigger under controlled conditions or inhibit using our novel molecule that we specifically developed to prevent the formation of this pathway," said Shoshan-Barmatz in a statement. "Since the results thus far with lupus have been so promising, we believe that the molecule will be beneficial with regards to other diseases such as Alzheimer's, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis – as our preliminary results already support.""When VDAC1 is over-expressed, as found in several diseases, a large pore composed of several VDAC1 units is formed, allowing the release of pro-cell death factors and mtDNA," a statement from NIBN read.Shoshan-Barmatz, in order to combat this effect, created a molecule that hinders and restrains cell decomposition which then revitalizes mitochondrial functions within several other diseases including Lupus."That novel molecule prevents the formation of the large pore caused by VDAC1 over expression and thereby prevents the exit of these factors from the mitochondria. Without the release of these factors, cell death in diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, or mtDNA release like in Lupus is avoided," NIBN said.Over five million people worldwide are afflicted by the Lupus disease, an autoimmune disease similar to Colitis and Crohn's – which to the hopes of NIBN would help fight other diseases associated with cell death or the release of mtDNA. | | See you tomorrow bli neder Love Yehuda Lave | | | |
