Dangerous Times

These are dangerous times we live in. Every day we have to avoid so much ugliness or else we are pulled down into the mire. A good man guards his eyes and his ears from giving any form of attention to the temptation which swirls around him.

The Yetzer Hara constantly tries to deceive, and his arguments always sound reasonable. It is no simple matter to turn away from the offer because it seems innocent. The vulture takes advantage of his prey, knowing his weaknesses.

A modern man need only turn the television on to see the depth to which we have sunk. It is possible to pretend there is no problem, but with wisdom the issue is clear. Our culture has prostituted itself for the mighty dollar, selling sex and perversion to the masses.

The new age leads us to believe that there is no ultimate truth. As the world has gotten smaller due to technology we have also been forced to accept a wider and more accepting attitude. What has been lost is that basic ethical ideas are not unique to one culture, but ethics are a basic human requirement. We are all created in the image of the master, we all are required to have ethical conduct.

Morals can not be relative because they must be absolute. Judgment cannot be based on prejudice, it must be based on evidence. The foundations of truth cannot be changed and in order for truth to exist a moral code must have been established.

Man cannot determine what is right or wrong because he seeks to always justify his action. Even a righteous man sins, and if he is true he realizes his imperfection. People who minimize their imperfections must realize that their loving father in heaven knows his blemish. It is written: The judgment of Torah is pure, it enlightens the heart.

But just as man deals with his Yetzer Hara he also has to deal with his Yetzer Tov which is a much nicer inclination. This good inclination leads us on to do the right thing.

A servant of the master in heaven knows that no matter what occurs in the physical world, his deeds will be reckoned in the world to come. The true servant of the master sees the world of creation as a performance stage, playing out history leading toward the redemption of all of creation. Every day is a testament to his kindnesses.

The mind is calmed by thoughts of being in the divine presence. When the thoughts of heavens glory soothes the nerves they also prevent the mind from the pain of straying. We compare his presence to the light and his absence as the dark. So much pain occurs in the depth of the darkness.

It is written in Torah (Parsha Shoftim) that we must place guards at the gates of our cities. It is well known that this refers to guarding our eyes and our ears. Only through looking at the world in truth can we protect ourselves from the deception.

Some of my friends have cast the television set out of the house. They will not have it available to pollute their children. Their concerns are understandable.

In the 60’s and 70’s the television was not as dangerous as it is today. It may be due to the moral codes which were imposed on the television industry.

What are the messages we tell over to society through the medium of television? Imagine for a moment an alien race should receive humanities television broadcasts? Our societies morality is not on display on television, instead our basest activities and behaviors are exploited.

Can you look at the face of a murdered child and then the face of his accused murderer without feeling something? Then the scene of the grieving mother? When the media sticks itself into the most intimate of human frailties. Is this not voyeurism?

Who wants to see people giving themselves over to verbal insults because they endeavored for fame? Do they call these people American Idols? What kind of people idolize these cruel judges? Is it supposed to be humorous? Could it be another form of gladiator combat?

There are times it seems that there are so very many more questions than there are answers. Our father Abraham was famous for asking many questions and seeking the answers instead of accepting what he was told.

A time is coming when all of the promises will come true. In order to visualize this it is essential to clear the mind of all troubles. All questions don’t need absolute answers at this time. The answer will be found on the path of the Torah lifestyle.

Pictures from my Sukkot Party

I just got home from a wonderful afternoon of celebrating the end of Sukkot. We had a lovely barbecue with all my good friends from Chabad in Contra Costa county. I snapped a couple of pictures on my cell phone and uploaded some of them here to share.

Pictures from Sukkot with Chabad

Boy Shaking Lulav & Etrog

Rabbi Kagan is master Griller

Hot Dogs/Hamburgers/Chicken for All

Monster Etrog

Child w/Balloon

Mitzvah of Shaking Lulav

It was a great time and I love the Chabad crew. I look forward to spending Simchat Torah with my good Rabbi.

muman613

More pictures @ http://mytorah.wordpress.com/593/

Machlokes

Pirkie Avos 5:17. Any dispute that is for the sake of Heaven is destined to endure; one that is not for the sake of Heaven is not destined to endure. Which is a dispute that is for the sake of Heaven? The dispute(s) between Hillel and Shamai. Which is a dispute that is not for the sake of Heaven? The dispute of Korach and all his company.

This wisdom elucidates about what a ‘good’ conflict is. In order for a conflict to endure it must be for the sake of heaven. This means that the conflict is over what is acceptable to the Master of the Universe. The example which is given is the conflict between Hillel and Shamai, two of the most famous teachers of Jewish law. These two disagreed on many laws.

As the Crash Course in Jewish History link explains:

The schools of Hillel and Shammai are famous for their disputes in Jewish law. One of these concerned whether one should tell a bride on her wedding day that she is beautiful even if this is not true. The school of Shammai held that in this situation it would be wrong to lie. The school of Hillel held that a bride is always beautiful on her wedding day. (Talmud, Ketubot 16b-17a) The school of Hillel won the dispute. Indeed, Jewish law today almost always agrees with the school of Hillel.

The reason that the conflicts between these great sages were for the sake of heaven their controversy endures. The Talmud even relates the story of how Hillel and Shammai disagreed on the order of lighting the Channukah menorah [LINK]. I quote from that link:

These two academies played a very important part in our Jewish heritage. Each academy consisted of the students of either Hillel or Shamai. These two sages are amongst the earliest of the sages recorded in the Talmud. They maintained many opposing viewpoints, yet, argued with each other with honor and reverence. Many arguments are recorded in the Talmud. The argument presented herein is only one of many.

The Talmud in Tractate Shabbat relates that the academy of Hillel advocates lighting the candles as we know today, in ascending order. The academy of Shamai disagreed and advocated that we light the Chanukah candles starting with eight candles on the first night, then seven candles on the second night. This is in reverse order that we know today. The academy of Shamai advocated lighting the candles in descending order. Therefore, each succeeding night of Chanukah had one less candle than the preceding night.

The Mishnah goes on to describe what constitutes a conflict which will not endure. The conflict between Korach and his cohorts against Moshe, our teacher. As we read several weeks ago, one of the leaders of the jewish people felt that Moshe didn’t deserve to be the leader of the Jewish nation. Korach assembled a group of 250 men of reputation amongst the people. They mocked Moshe by bringing him questions which they considered proofs that Moshe didn’t really know the laws which Hashem gave him. See my commentary on Korach at this link.

Korachs conspiracy was a conflict based solely on Korachs own selfish pride and arrogance. He felt that if he could not have all the power then nobody, Moshe included, should have the power. Despite the entire nation knowing that Moshe was the one who brought them out, they started to feel as if they deserved more than what Hashem had given them.

The Mishnah illustrates that a conflict which results in learning and growing and searching for the truth, such as the conflicts of Hillel and Shammai will endure and be for the good of the world. Those conflicts of vanity and ego will not endure. When the conflict of Korach was over it was utter destruction for Korach and his perverted party. This kind of conflict was not for the betterment of the world and was not good in Hashems plan.

Hillel taught one of my most favorite Mishnas of Pirkie Avot. Chapter 1, Mishnah 12 reads:

“Hillel and Shammai received the transmission from them [the previous generation of scholars, of Mishna 10]. Hillel said: Be of the students of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to Torah.”

MORE LINKS

OU Description of Shammai : http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/shammai.htm
Discussion of Chapter 1, Mishnah 12 : http://www.torah.org/learning/pirkei-avos/chapter1-12.html
On Arguments : http://www.torah.org/features/spirfocus/arguments.html
Rabi Naftali Reich : Pirkei Avos Chapter 1 Mishnah 12 & 13 Video

Parsha – Devarim

This week we start reading the last book of Moshe, Devarim. In this book Moshe recalls the children of Israels journey from the bondage of Mitzrayim {Egypt} to the desert to the foot of Har Sinai where they received the Torah from Hashem. In his recalling these journeys he gently rebukes them for their infidelity against the Almighty. Rashi explains that Moshe used special names for the places which they camped at to remind them of the transgressions which they committed. For example the places Hazeroth and Di-Zahav {enough gold} remind us of the insurrection of Korah and the sin of the golden calf.

By using the names of the places and not explicitly spelling out the particular sin showed that Moshe was not trying to shame the nation, just trying to remind them that they are capable of such things. It is notable that the people whom Moshe was rebuking were not even the ones who did the transgressions, that generation has already died in the wilderness.

It is also important to remember that Moshe only rebuked the nation only a short time before his death, because we learn from Jacob who rebuked his sons right before he died. Also Moshe made sure to smite Sichon, king of the Amorites and Og, king of Bashan before rebuking the nation. This way his words had more power because they were reminded of Moshes great acts of bravery for his people.

Moshe then recalls how he set up a system of judges and a justice system. As it is written:

11. May the Lord God of your forefathers add to you a thousandfold as many as you are, and may He bless you, as He spoke concerning you!
12. How can I bear your trouble, your burden, and your strife all by myself?
13. Prepare for yourselves wise and understanding men, known among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
14. And you answered me and said, ‘The thing you have spoken is good for us to do.’
15. So I took the heads of your tribes, men wise and well known, and I made them heads over you, leaders over thousands, leaders over hundreds, leaders over fifties, and leaders over tens, and officers, over your tribes.
16. And I commanded your judges at that time, saying, “Hear [disputes] between your brothers and judge justly between a man and his brother, and between his litigant.
17. You shall not favor persons in judgment; [rather] you shall hear the small just as the great; you shall not fear any man, for the judgment is upon the Lord, and the case that is too difficult for you, bring to me, and I will hear it.”
18. And I commanded you at that time all the things you should do.

The Final Struggle – According to Rabbi Shalom Arush

I love to read the writings of Rabbi Shalom Arush of the Breslov Chassidic sect in Israel. He has started writing a column about the coming of Moshiach and I find it fascinating.

I will reproduce his writing here, and provide a link to the Breslov article.

[LINK]

By Rabbi Shalom Arush

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

Gog and Magog, Part 1

It’s no longer a dream: all of our contemporary spiritual leaders have expressed that this is the final generation before Moshiach.

Just as in a hand-to-hand combat situation, when a fighter gets the upper hand and is close to defeating his enemy, then the enemy summons all of his strength in one final effort to overcome. If the fighter withstands the enemy’s tremendous final effort, then he wins, but it’s not easy.

The fighter is the Nation of Israel, the Jewish people all over the world. The enemy is the Yetzer Hara, the Evil Inclination (EI). The people of Israel are fighting for emuna, for truth, for the values of Torah. The EI is fighting tooth and nail against emuna, against any mention of Hashem’s name. The EI knows that only emuna can bring Moshiach; once Moshiach comes, the EI is finished. Therefore, he’s using all his forces to try and destroy emuna.

Parsha – Mas’ei

Once again Shabbat is here. All week I look forward to the Sabbath bride and the comfort of being in the peace {Shalom} of the Shabbat. For the Jewish soul was the Sabbath created, so our own creations can flourish in this world.

This week we read the story of Mas’ei, or Numbers 33:1-36:13. This happens to be the last chapter of the Book of Numbers. When we finish a book of Moshe we rise and say “Strength, Strength, may we all be strengthened”.

The Parsha starts with a recollection of the journeys of the Children of Israel through the desert. Each of the 42 encampments is listed in very vivid detail. At some of the camps there were big problems when Hashem got mad at us and rebuked us. Each of these stops is recalled by Moshe as it is written:

32:1. These are the journeys of the children of Israel who left the land of Egypt in their legions, under the charge of Moses and Aaron. 2. Moses recorded their starting points for their journeys according to the word of the Lord, and these were their journeys with their starting points. 3. They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day following the Passover sacrifice, the children of Israel left triumphantly before the eyes of all the Egyptians. 4. And the Egyptians were busy burying because the Lord had struck down their firstborn and had wrought vengeance against their deities. 5. The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses and camped in Succoth. 6. They journeyed from Succoth and camped in Etham, at the edge of the desert. 7. They journeyed from Etham and camped in Pi hahiroth, which faces Baal zephon. 8. They journeyed from Penei hahiroth and crossed in the midst of the sea to the desert. They walked for three days in the desert of Etham and camped in Marah. 9. They journeyed from Marah and arrived in Elim, and in Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10. They journeyed from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

It is understood that this recollection is representative of the journeys all human souls go through in this world. Personally I can relate to this understanding because I have journeyed quite a bit in my life. The Parsha continues with the rest of the 42 stops.

Tehillim – Chapter 94

Every day I am amazed at the Psalms I open up to. Sometimes I just pick up my book of psalms and open to a random page. I am often amazed how pertinent to my life at the time I read them. Today I was inspired by the words of Psalm 94. I have copied it here:

1. The Lord is a God of retribution; O G-d of retribution, reveal Yourself!

2. Judge of the earth, arise; render to the arrogant their recompense.

3. How long shall the wicked, O Lord, how long shall the wicked exult?

4. They continuously speak insolently; all the evildoers act arrogantly.

5. They crush Your people, O Lord, and oppress Your heritage.

6. They kill the widow and the stranger, and murder the orphans.

7. And they say, “The Lord does not see, the G-d of Jacob does not perceive.”

8. Understand, you senseless among the people; you fools, when will you become wise?

9. Shall He who implants the ear not hear? Shall He who forms the eye not see?

10. Shall He who chastises nations not punish? Shall He who imparts knowledge to man [not know]?

11. The Lord knows the thoughts of man, that they are naught.

12. Fortunate is the man whom You chastise, O Lord, and instruct him in Your Torah,

13. bestowing upon him tranquillity in times of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked.

14. For the Lord will not abandon His people, nor forsake His heritage.

15. For judgment shall again be consonant with justice, and all the upright in heart will pursue it.

16. Who would rise up for me against the wicked ones; who would stand up for me against the evildoers?

17. Had the Lord not been a help to me, my soul would have soon dwelt in the silence [of the grave].

18. When I thought that my foot was slipping, Your kindness, O Lord, supported me.

19. When my [worrisome] thoughts multiply within me, Your consolation delights my soul.

20. Can one in the seat of evil, one who makes iniquity into law, consort with You?

21. They band together against the life of the righteous, and condemn innocent blood.

22. The Lord has been my stronghold; my G-d, the strength of my refuge.

23. He will turn their violence against them and destroy them through their own wickedness; the Lord, our G-d, will destroy them.

This psalm is so inspiring to me. I hope it gives you strength to defeat the enemies which challenge you.

muman613

Tehillim – Chapter 44

The book of psalms express such a range of emotions. I was thinking of Tehillim Chapter 44 over this last Shabbat. In it, the sons of Korach, describe the feeling of being in Hashems protection. Even though at times it seems the L-rd has forsaken us we must remember that he really is with us and we will see our salvation.

1. For the Conductor, by the sons of Korach, a maskil. 2. God, with our ears we have heard, our fathers have told us, of the deeds You wrought in their days, in the days of old. 3. You drove out nations with Your hand, and planted [Israel in their place]; You afflicted peoples and banished them. 4. For not by their sword did they inherit the land, and their own arm did not save them, but by Your right hand, Your arm and the light of Your countenance-for You favored them. 5. You are my king, O God; decree the salvation of Jacob. 6. Through You will we gore our adversaries; with Your Name we will trample our opponents. 7. For I do not trust in my bow, and my sword cannot save me. 8. For You have delivered us from our foes, and You shamed those who hate us. 9. In God we glory all day, and forever thank Your Name, Selah. 10. Though You abandon and disgrace us, and do not go forth with our armies; 11. You cause us to retreat from the oppressor, and those who hate us plunder for themselves; 12. You deliver us like sheep to be devoured, and scatter us among the nations; 13. You sell Your nation without gain, and do not set a high price upon them; 14. You make us a disgrace to our neighbors, the scorn and derision of those around us; 15. You make us a byword among the nations, [a cause for] nodding the head among the peoples; 16. all day long my humiliation is before me, and the shame of my face covers me 17. at the voice of the reviler and blasphemer, because of the foe and avenger- 18. all this has come upon us, yet we have not forgotten You, nor have we been false to Your covenant. 19. Our hearts have not retracted, nor have our steps strayed from Your path. 20. Even when You crushed us in the place of serpents, and shrouded us in the shadow of death- 21. did we forget the Name of our God, and extend our hands to a foreign god? 22. Is it not so that God can examine this, for He knows the secrets of the heart. 23. For it is for Your sake that we are killed all the time; we are regarded as sheep for the slaughter. 24. Arise! Why do You sleep, my Lord? Wake up! Do not abandon [us] forever! 25. Why do You conceal Your countenance and forget our affliction and distress? 26. For our souls are bowed to the dust, our bellies cleave to the earth. 27. Arise! Be our help, and redeem us for the sake of Your kindness.

May Hashem assist us in all times of distress…

muman613

The Real Messianic Jews

I found the following article on IsraelNationalNews and wanted to reprint a part of it. Recently I have gotten into a little issue with a non-Jewish member of JTF who insists on posting images of his favorite idol, the J-man. It is offensive to me, as it should be to any Jew, to see a person post an image of something which they believe is divine. It is such a sin that the 2nd Commandment of the 10 commandment explicitly forbids the creation of images of anything divine.

Personally he is entitled to believe anything he wants. If he wants to believe that a tree or a rock is G-d, so be it. From a Jewish perspective it is very wrong as Idolatry is one sin a Jew should die before he bows to an idol. But in a Jewish forum it reveals a certain amount of Chutzpah. As a Jews are bound by the 10 commands it is good to know what they are. Just for a refresher, here are the 1st five commanments:

Shemos 2:2-11

1 : 2 I am the LORD thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

2 : 3 Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 4 thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; 5 and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

3 : 6 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

4 : 7 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 8 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work; 9 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD thy God, in it thou shalt not do any manner of work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; 10 for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

5: 11 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

Our forefathers were forced to bow to images of the Jman and convert to their false belief that Messiah has come and that he was divine. The fact that Jman did not fufill any of the messianic prophecies seems to make no difference to the devout xtian.

From A7 News

The Real Messianic Jews

by Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

As we know, Christianity deifies Jesus and also views him as the promised Messiah; thus, some Jews who have adopted Christian beliefs in recent years have begun to call themselves “Messianic Jews.” We need to remind ourselves, however, that they are not entitled to this title, for it belongs to the Jews who have remained faithful to Judaism and who are therefore awaiting the true Messiah.

One major reason why Jews who have adopted Christian beliefs, including the deification of Jesus, should not be called “Messianic Jews” is because our sacred scriptures define the Messiah as a human being. For example, the Prophet Isaiah describes the Messiah as a man who descends from Jesse, the father of David:

“A staff will emerge from the stump of Jesse, and a shoot will sprout from his roots. The spirit of God will rest upon him – a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and awe of God.” (Isaiah 11:1,2)

The above passage clearly indicates that the Messiah is an enlightened human being who is in awe of God, but who is not God. The Christians, however, call the man they view as the Messiah “God and Savior” – a belief which contradicts the following Divine proclamation: “I, only I, am God, and there is no Savior aside from Me.” (Isaiah 43:11)

Another major reason why Jews who have adopted Christian beliefs should not be called “Messianic Jews” is because Isaiah reveals in the following passage that the true Messiah will inaugurate an age of world peace and spiritual enlightenment when he comes; moreover; in the age of the Messiah, God will also gather in all the exiles of Israel:

“They will neither injure nor destroy in all of My sacred mountain; for the Earth will be filled with knowledge of God as water covering the sea bed. It shall be on that day that the descendant of Jesse – who stands as a rallying banner for the peoples – to him shall the nations inquire, and his peace shall be with honor. It shall be on that day that the Master of All will once again show His hand, to acquire the remnant of His people who will have remained from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations, and assemble the castaways of Israel; and He will gather in the dispersed ones of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” (Isaiah 11:9-12)

The above prophecies were not fulfilled during the life of Jesus; thus, to view him as the Messiah is a betrayal of the prophetic tradition. The real Messianic Jews are those who await the true Messiah who will inaugurate the age of peace and spiritual enlightenment for Israel and the world. In this spirit, they proclaim the following principle of our faith: “I believe with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even though he may delay, nevertheless, I wait every day for his coming.”

As I sit in my Jerusalem home, I pray that our lost brothers and sisters who have adopted Christian beliefs will return to their One Loving God, to their life-giving Torah, and to their people, which was given the Torah and its interpretations.

It is not incumbent on a Jew to try to persuade a non-Jew to believe in Hashem. As I said before whatever you personally believe is your own business. But it is important to be considerate of others and not impose your idols on others.

PS: I work with people of all races and religions. There is nothing wrong with working with people of other religions. I simply feel uncomfortable around Buddha and Jman idols.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/8121

PS: I removed an inflammatory sentence from this article. I did it in an attempt to rectify any animosity I generated by making that statement.

PPS: Here is a link to the laws of Moshiach as written by RAMBAM {Maimonides} http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/mashiach/09.htm .

Tehillim – Chapter 4

Another installment of my favorite Tehillim. My soul consumes these words and they give me solace in times of distress.

1. For the Conductor, with instrumental music, a psalm by David. 2. Answer me when I call, O God [Who knows] my righteousness. You have relieved me in my distress; be gracious to me and hear my prayer. 3. Sons of men, how long will you turn my honor to shame, will you love vanity, and endlessly seek falsehood? 4. Know that the Lord has set apart His devout one; the Lord will hear when I call to Him. 5. Tremble and do not sin; reflect in your hearts upon your beds, and be silent forever. 6. Offer sacrifices in righteousness, and trust in the Lord. 7. Many say: “Who will show us good?” Raise the light of Your countenance upon us, O Lord. 8. You put joy in my heart, greater than [their joy] when their grain and wine abound. 9. In peace and harmony I will lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, will make me dwell alone, in security.

I have faith that all will be revealed in the end and Hashems truth will fill the world. May we all be blessed.

muman613