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. Now also a Blogger on the Times of Israel. Look for my column Love Yehuda Lave Yom Yerushalayim / יום ירושלים Jerusalem Day (Hebrew: יום ירושלים, Yom Yerushalayim) is an Israeli national holiday commemorating the reunification of Jerusalem and the establishment of Israeli control over the Old City in June 1967. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel declared Jerusalem Day a minor religious holiday to thank G-d for victory in the Six-Day War and for answering the 2,000-year-old prayer of "Next Year in Jerusalem". Yom Yerushalayim begins at sundown on Thu, 21 May 2020. | | Why doesn't G-d do Biblical Miracles today/ He still does! Why doesn't G-d do biblical Miracles today? He still does! Many contemporary People feel disconnected from the vibrant, Spirit-filled ministries of the prophets described in the Bible. In the Only Testament, G-d seemingly took the people of Israel through miraculous events after miraculous events Yet today, such miraculous events seem rare, and, when we do hear reports of miracles, many are skeptical. At the very least, we feel there's something different about the way God worked in the Old Testament period and the way he works today. This raises a valid question: Why don't we experience today the miracles we read about in the Old Testament? To answer that question, we need to understand the purpose of miracles in the Bible. Miracles in Scripture are acts of God that proclaim his sovereign power over creation as well as his commitment to the good of his people. Miracles are often significant because they serve a larger purpose in God's redemptive plan, testifying to the authenticity of God's messengers who bring his revelation to humanity. This is one of the primary functions of miracles in the scriptural narratives: In the Old Testament, Moses did miracles to demonstrate his authority as God's spokesman. Similarly, the prophets were given words to speak from God, and in order to verify their authority God granted them the ability to perform miracles And don't tell me that every day is a miracle, childbirth is a miracle, and the sunrise is a miracle. I am talking about splitting seas, dead people coming alive, and voices-from-heaven and hand-writing-on-the-wall type of miracles. The really supernatural stuff — what happened to that? Why did the people of the Bible get all the special effects and we don't? Has G‑d retired? One answer is as a child develops and grows, the parents gradually withdraw. A baby becomes a toddler; she can walk on her own two feet, feed herself, and look after some of her own needs. Eventually, she will grow into a young child, and can even go out of the house for the day, without her parents, and go to school. Then the child becomes a teenager when he asserts his independence even more. Teenagers brush off their parents' advice, because they have to find their own way, and they think that they know best. As difficult as it is, the parents have to accept this as a part of their child's maturation process, and to some extent allow the teenager to make some silly mistakes. Otherwise, the child will never grow up. The other answer is to open your eyes to the History of Israel. Tonight starts Yom Yershalim. The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel . . . to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan, and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle; the critical hour has arrived." —Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, May 30, 1967 And thus began the Six-Day War. A war school children know nothing of, millennials know sadly little and baby-boomers whisper about in reverential tones. A war that affirms the Divine influence. A war that acts as a metaphor for 2,000 years of inexplicable, incomprehensible Jewish survival. All of which might explain the on-stage shuffling and maneuvers, but none of which encapsulates the driving force of it all, the menacing shadow of our existence which has clung to us without reprieve. The war's results? – Israel more than tripled in size – 777 Jewish deaths –For there is no greater provocateur than a Jewish victory. You can read through many personal accounts. Those who lived through those terrifying days of uncertainty, fear, and hope, relive not just the terror, but also the wondrous Maccabean-like miracles of those extraordinary six days. Relive the sense of awe and wonder that Jews the world over—religious and secular alike—felt then, and reaffirm your own faith in the eternity of the Jewish people. Am Yisrael Chai. Rabbi Shlomo Goren Since I knew that on this day we would be liberating the Old City and reaching the Kotel, at around 4:30 in the morning I hurried to the home of my father-in-law [Rabbi David Cohen, the "Nazir of Jerusalem"], who had a synagogue attached to his home. "I need your synagogue's shofar," I told him when he opened the door to the sound of my knocking. "We are going to liberate the Kotel!" He became so emotional that he began to cry, but he climbed onto a table (the shofar was tucked away high up in a cupboard), and gave me the shofar . . . According to Jewish law, when Jews go out to battle, they blow trumpets or shofars to assure their victory, as the Torah states: "And if you go to war in your land, against the enemy that oppresses you, then you shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered before the Lord, your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies." It was for this reason that I had brought a shofar with me. The moment we drew close to the gate, I began blowing the shofar, sounding it loudly in this war for the liberation of Jerusalem . . . . I began to utter a prayer in between shofar blasts and shouted to the soldiers, "In the name of God, take action and succeed. In the name of God, liberate Jerusalem, go up and be successful." I kept shouting the entire time until we were right on top of the Temple Mount, where I found Motta Gur [commander of the brigade that captured the Old City] standing surrounded by his soldiers. I had prepared a proclamation, which I then recited on the Temple Mount: In honor of the liberation of the Old City, the Kotel, and the Temple Mount from the enemy legions on 28 Iyar, 5727 on the Jewish calendar. Israeli soldiers, beloved of the nation, decorated with courage and victory, may God be with you, valiant heroes. I am speaking to you from the plaza of the Kotel, the remnant of our Holy Temple. "Comfort My people, comfort them, says your God (Isaiah 40:1). This is the day we have waited for . . . . The city of God, the place of the Temple, the Temple Mount and the Kotel, the symbol of the messianic redemption of the nation, have been redeemed this day by you, heroes of the Israel Defense Forces. Today you have fulfilled the oath of the generations—"If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning." Indeed, we have not forgotten you, Jerusalem, our holy city, home of our glory, and your right hand, the right hand of God, has made this historic redemption . . . From Rabbi Shlomo Goren, With Might and Strength: An Autobiography (New York, 2016), 326-327. | | The six day war that enabled the unification of Jerusalem The Six-Day War of 1967"), also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War, or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between 5 and 10 June 1967 by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt (known at the time as the United Arab Republic), Jordan, and Syria. Relations between Israel and its neighbors were not normalized after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. In 1956 Israel invaded the Sinai peninsula in Egypt, with one of its objectives being the reopening of the Straits of Tiran that Egypt had blocked to Israeli shipping since 1950. Israel was eventually forced to withdraw but was guaranteed that the Straits of Tiran would remain open. A United Nations Emergency Force was deployed along the border, but there was no demilitarisation agreement. In the months prior to June 1967, tensions became dangerously heightened. Israel reiterated its post-1956 position that the closure of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping would be a cause for war (a casus belli). In May Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser announced that the straits would be closed to Israeli vessels and then mobilized its Egyptian forces along its border with Israel, in addition to kicking out UNEF. On 5 June, Israel launched a series of preemptive airstrikes against Egyptian airfields, asserting imminent attack from the Egyptians. The question of which side caused the war is one of a number of controversies relating to the conflict. The Egyptians were caught by surprise, and nearly the entire Egyptian air force was destroyed with few Israeli losses, giving the Israelis air supremacy. Simultaneously, the Israelis launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip and the Sinai, which again caught the Egyptians by surprise. After some initial resistance, Nasser ordered the evacuation of the Sinai. Israeli forces rushed westward in pursuit of the Egyptians, inflicted heavy losses, and conquered the Sinai. Jordan had entered into a defense pact with Egypt a week before the war began; the agreement envisaged that in the event of war Jordan would not take an offensive role but would attempt to tie down Israeli forces to prevent them from making territorial gains. About an hour after the Israeli air attack, the Egyptian commander of the Jordanian army was ordered by Cairo to begin attacks on Israel; in the initially confused situation, the Jordanians were told that Egypt had repelled the Israeli airstrikes. Egypt and Jordan agreed to a ceasefire on 8 June, and Syria agreed on 9 June; a ceasefire was signed with Israel on 11 June. In the aftermath of the war, Israel had crippled the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian militaries, having killed over 20,000 troops while losing fewer than 1,000 of its own. The Israeli success was the result of a well-prepared and enacted strategy, the poor leadership of the Arab states, and their poor military leadership and strategy. Israel after the war acquired the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel's international standing greatly improved in the following years. Its victory humiliated Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, leading Nasser to resign in shame; he was later reinstated after protests in Egypt against his resignation. The speed and ease of Israel's victory would later lead to dangerous overconfidence within the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), contributing to initial Arab successes in the subsequent 1973 Yom Kippur War, although ultimately Israeli forces were successful and defeated the Arab militaries.. Across the Arab world, Jewish minority communities fled or were expelled, with refugees going mainly to Israel or Europe. | | Huge Group of California Churches Announces Plan To Defy Governor Newsom's Order An evangelical church network in California will ignore Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom's executive prohibitions this month, opening sanctuary doors for communal worship despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to Fox News, California Church United, representing roughly 3,000 churches and 2.5 million congregants statewide, announced Thursday that it will return to conducting in-person services by Pentecost on May 31 rather than await the third phase of planned societal reopening. Newsom, the first governor to introduce a statewide executive stay-at-home order, finally pushed California into Phase 2 of its reopening effort on Friday, allowing retailers to recommence on-site sales under substantial health and capacity restrictions, KABC-TV reported. Newsom did not, however, definitively indicate when the "Phase 3" reintroduction of public dining and in-person church services might come — and that left local church leaders unwilling to cooperate. "Our churches are part of the answer, not part of the problem," Water of Life Community Church senior pastor Danny Carroll said. "We're an essential part of this whole journey and we've been bypassed … kicked to the curb and deemed nonessential." The decision was reportedly not easy for church leadership, leaving several pastors torn between extending more personal care to their local congregations and submitting to the authorities, who they conceded are doing their best to protect the health of the community. When the former eventually won out, however, rebelliousness and defiance were not a part of the equation. Instead, it was a Christian heart of service that informed the decision for Sandals Church pastor Matt Brown and Church United pastor Jim Domen. "My church made 10,000 masks and gowns for doctors while practicing social distancing," Brown told The Sun of San Bernardino County. "We feed people and procure electronic devices for seniors who are isolated. [Newsom] has no problem with all of that. But when we want to gather to worship, he has a problem. "We have a pastor in the south, in Chula Vista feeding hungry people a mile long in cars, socially distancing," Domen said, according to Fox. "How can the church not be essential?" "It's the heart of Jesus to love and care for all people. The heart of God supersedes government," he added. Until recently, churches across the state have been steadfast in adhering to Newsom's orders with few exceptions, conducting Sunday worship and other gatherings online. With no end to the ongoing pandemic in sight, however, and with political leaders seemingly in no hurry to reopen places of worship, the church network saw no better time than Pentecost to revive in-person services. | | | K A H A N E The magazine of the authentic Jewish Idea - Spring 5744 -1984 THE LEMMING The lemming looks like a sensible enough animal, but its habit of drowning itself in the sea has long puzzled scientists. The lemming is a small animal, about the size of a rat. The lemming is a strange animal with a very strange custom. The lemming, every few years, gathers together with a great many other lemmings, and they all march together – to the sea. The lemming and all the other lemmings march shoulder to shoulder and when they reach the sea they do a very strange thing: They jump in and drown. The lemming is a very strange animal and no one can understand it. There are various categories of lemmings and last Saturday night, the Hebrew lemmings gathered in Jerusalem, some several thousand of them, small creatures, the stature of rodents. And they marched. Shoulder to shoulder down the road of madness, inexorably moving to the sea of destruction. The march of the lemmings, "Suicide Now". The Hebrew lemming is a strange animal undoubtedly the most irrational of all. Psychologists and sociologists and anthropologists and biologists and students of irrational behavior from far and wide gathered to study the march of the Hebrew lemmings. "Peace Now", was what they carried as their slogan as they marched to the sea of suicide to partake of the most permanent of peace. "Leave Lebanon" was etched on their banners as they marched in preparation of leaving the world. "Stop Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories" they proclaimed as they began their uprooting of their settlement on this earth. The Hebrew lemming is a strange animal and it is said that no one can understand it. That is not really true. I understand the small Hebrew lemming, the stature of the rodent, who seeks to leap into the sea to die. And if the sociologists and psychologists and anthropologists and biologists and students of irrational behavior will gather together, I will describe for you what makes the Hebrew lemmings – run – to commit suicide. The issue is not and never was "Lebanon". The issue was never the "occupied territories of 1967". What strikes terror into the hearts of the Hebrew lemmings of the stature of the rodent, is an immense cancer called guilt, that grows inside of them until it gives them no rest. The lemming of guilt is the Hebrew-speaking rodent who is haunted by the thought that he is not only an oppressor and aggressor in the "occupied lands of 1967" but he is also a thief and robber of a people he calls "Palestinians", and really has no right to any of the land that was once "Palestine". The Hebrew lemming of Suicide Now is haunted by the thought that his family had no right to come from Russia or Poland or Galicia or England or Canada or Argentina or the United States to create a "Jewish State" on lands that were owned by others. But since the lemming is the size of a rat, who lacks the courage to honestly follow up his convictions, stand up before the "Palestinian" and say: "I am a thief and I hereby return my kibbutz to you" – he must, instead, fight all the harder for the poor "Palestinian" in Judea, Samaria, Gaza, Lebanon. His weakness and inability to give up his houses in Kibbutz Mishmar Ha'Emek or the artist's colony of Ein Hod or the tennis courts of Ramat Ha'Sharon or villa in Savyon, drives the Hebrew lemming into even greater depression of guilt and self-hate. His need to prostrate himself before the poor Arab of any other area except his own house becomes an all-consuming, obsessive one. And, of course, the guilt goes much further. The Hebrew lemming, who is a small animal about the size of a rat, deeply despises with a psychopathic passion everything that smacks of Judaism and the curse of fate that made him Jewish. In his little heart the lemming knows that Judaism's values are at odds with everything that he wishes his life to consist of. The separateness and exclusivity of Judaism vis-à-vis other peoples is anathema to his universalistic desire to intermarry, assimilate, amalgamate with all the goyim and thus find love and escape in their midst. The concept of Chosenness repels him for he seeks anything that will enable him to eliminate the barriers between Jews and others. The holiness that decrees discipline and sanctity and abstinence and personal limitations are all diametrically opposed to his materialistic need for total freedom, anarchy, and limitless right to license. He sees in Judaism racism, primitiveness, parochialism, concepts that he abhors because he seeks to be a universal rodent. And faced with this Judaism, he is faced, too, with the fact that he is a Jew. This is the horror that he cannot abide. From guilt emerges self-hate, black and ugly self-hate. The lemming must escape. His escape is through the sea. The Sea of Suicide, Suicide Now. Let the state that he feels to be a robber state, go under. Let the people and faith that he sees as reactionary and fascist and abominable, cease to exist. "Let my soul perish with the Philistines! The cry of the Hebrew lemmings of Suicide Now. The tragic story of the Hebrew lemmings. But, if it must be, it would be sufficient if they leaped into the sea themselves. The real tragedy is that while ordinary lemmings take the plunge themselves, the Hebrew ones seeks to take all of us with them. And that cannot be. That is why the lemmings of Israel must be fought. Because they have become more than an interesting zoological phenomenon. They threaten the existence of normal, healthy, true Jews who are not small animals the size of a rodent. THE GREAT DANGER (excerpt) The great danger and most powerful weapon of the Hebrew-speaking gentiles and lemmings of Israel, is their ability to so instill guilt and doubt in us, that we close our mouths and minds and fear to say what we know is to be true. The small circle of leftists and guilt-ridden liberals, intellectuals and frustrated artistic type, possesses a weapon of overwhelming power, and it is this that enables them to march toward victory. Their control of the news media affords them the opportunity, daily, to influence, indoctrinate, pervert, corrupt, an entire generation that is their captive audience. They decree the gentilized foreign culture that becomes the passion of the masses. They decree the ideas and perverted gentilized values that are heard and propagated over the waves. An entire generation of youth is in their hands. And they are aided by the frustrated spiritually sick, lost artists who join them in parody of championing of "peace and love". They din their message of perversion into our ears every day, every hour, every minute. | | A rare whale shark A rare whale shark was spotted Sunday morning swimming amid the coral reefs of the Red Sea, off the coast of the southern Israeli city of Eilat. The sighting came a year after a specimen of the shark, the world's largest fish, was last seen in the area. Full Story (The Times of Israel) | | Do not pay for your son or daughter to go to Poland s long as they are getting your money, dear Jewish parents, the Poles will continue their anti-Semitic behavior with impunity. Rabbi Zev Friedman Approximately 3 million Jews, 90% of Polish Jewry were murdered during WWII on Polish soil. The majority of them perished in concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Sobibor, Majdanek, Chelmno, Plaszow, Belzec and Treblinka. Others were killed in killing pits after having dug their own graves. In addition to Polish Jews, more than 500,000 other Jews were killed in (what used to be called) Polish concentration camps. Many believe that the major killing camps were specifically located in Poland because it was fertile ground for anti-Semitism and the murder of Jews would be readily accepted and not provoke protestations. In sharp contrast, Bulgaria which actually joined the Nazi axis in 1941, did not deport its Jewish population which numbered 50,000 because government officials were courageous enough to rebel against pro-Nazi leadership which had taken over the country. Dimitar Peshev, a former Bulgarian minister of justice was recognized as 'Righteous among the Nations' for his role in blocking the deportation of 48,000 Bulgarian Jews; saving them from certain death. Recently, the Polish government passed a law stating that "whoever accuses publicly and against the facts, the Polish nation, or the Polish state, of being responsible or complicit in the Nazi crimes committed by the third German Reich shall be subject to a fine or penalty of imprisonment up to three years." Israel, the United States, France and others have characterized this law as a sordid attempt to white wash the Holocaust and change history. Poland alleges that it was not involved in the persecution of Jews during World War II. However, it has yet to explain the following inconvenient truths:
1. Prior to World War II thousands of Polish Jews took up temporary residence in Germany and Austria (later annexed by Germany) with the rise of the Nazis in 1939.
Many Jews chose to return to their homes and families in Poland. In order to prevent the Jews from coming back to Poland, the Polish government passed a law which revoked the citizenship of people that did not renew their passports in 1938! The New York Times reported that this law specifically targeted the Jewish population and was "designed mainly to prevent their return." Approximately 50,000 Jews were impacted by this anti-Semitic law. The New York Times continued to report on the situation with headlines, "Poland bars Jews deported by Reich." We all know the fate of the Jews that were in the hands of the Germans. 2. In July of 1941, the Polish residents of the town of Jedwabne, turned on their Jewish neighbors massacring 1500 Jews, including those that they herded into a barn where they burned their Jewish neighbors alive. 3. According to Jan Gross, professor of history at Princeton University, Polish citizens during World War II were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews; some accounts put this number at over 100,000. 4. Despite the fact that some Jews were saved by Poles who received money in return for safekeeping, there were many incidents where the Polish farmers took the money and murdered their "guests." In countless other cases the Polish supposed 'saviors' turned in the Jews who trusted them and handed them over to the Nazis. 5. Those few who were fortunate to survive the holocaust often times returned to their hometown to look for any surviving relatives. On July 4, 1946 Polish anti-Semites massacred over 40 survivors of concentration camps who had returned to the city of Kielce. 6. Poland appropriated Jewish property of families that were persecuted during the Holocaust. According to a report issued by the Polish government in 2012, Poland had over $10 billion of Jewish property in its hands. By all accounts they have refused to return the stolen property to the rightful heirs, saying that the "process takes time." Case in point is the Hotel Lenart which advertises on its website that it is located on the side of the brick factory which is formally owned by the Friedman family (my grandparents). Hotel Lenart**** may be proud of its unique history. Today's multi-function building was arranged in lieu of an old Wieliczka brick factory. Apart from the Salt Mine, the brick factory used to be on the key industrial sites at Wieliczka from 1902 almost to the end of the 20th century. Its founder – Eliasz Hirsch Friedmann – owned also a mill and a sawmill which together with the brick factory constituted the Friedmann Works. After World War Two, the brick factory was taken over by the Zupy Krakowskie (Cracow's Saltworks) Enterprise. The Brick Factory continued to thrive, like in the 1970s when the Factory was, in turn, made part of Terenowe Zaklady Ceramiki Budowlanej (Local Building Ceramics Factory). For more than a century, there were manufactured bricks, roof tiles and drain pipes.
Despite all the above, the current Polish government has passed legislation to outlaw anyone from speaking about the collaboration of Poles in the persecution of the Jews during the Holocaust. The implications of law are clear. If one were to express the opinion that there was Polish complicity during World War II in promoting attacks on Jews, he might be subject to a three-year jail sentence. Over a quarter of a million participants from many countries have participated in the March of the Living visiting concentration camps in Poland and later traveling to Israel. Undoubtedly, this is an emotional and memorable experience for all who March. However, it also provides the Polish government with millions of tourist dollars. Money is spent on airfare, hotels, food, tour guides, buses, taxes, etc. In light of Polish anti-Semitism in the past and in light of their attempt to whitewash the Holocaust and change history, why are Jewish Tours promoting trips to Poland? Just this week Polish Prime Minister,Mateusz Morawiecki accused the Jews of being perpetrators of the Holocaust!! Czechoslovakia, which is currently a staunch supporter of Israel, would be an ideal alternative for the March of the Living. Participants could be taken to Theresienstadt, which played a key role in the Nazis implementation of the Holocaust. Approximately 33,000 Jews were murdered there and 100,000 deported from there to Auschwitz and other killing camps. Participants can also see the ancient Pinkas synagogue in Prague which is inscribed with the names of 80,000 Jews who died in the Holocaust. The Charles Bridge in town which contains a crucifix with Hebrew inscriptions is an important historical reminder of anti-Semitism in Europe. Efforts by governments around the world to push Poland to change this despicable law will fall on deaf years as long as Jews continue to visit that country despite its attempts to rewrite history. Poland has over $10 billion of Jewish money...why give them another zloty? Rabbi Zev Friedman is the Rosh Mesivta, Dean Of Rambam Mesivta for Boys and Shalhevet High School for Girls | | See you tomorrow bli neder Yom Yerushalim starts tonight We need Moshiach now! Love Yehuda Lave | | | |
