On Aish Hatorah, C-tians talking Torah and Shemittah and Sham

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Tonight I watched a powerful video of Rabbi Noah Weinberg and 60 of Aish Hatorah's educators go to Poland and see the reality of what happened there. http://www.kiruv.com/FromTheAshes/    This is a must see video and one can not walk away from this video unchanged.  This video is a wake up call to what a patient G-d is willing to do to his precious children, Jew and non Jew alike, when we lose sight of our purpose for being in this world.  G-d is very patient.  He waits generations before he strikes.  But, yes he does strike at times when there is no other choice because the world is simply too corrupt and incapable of return.  Rabbi Weinberg's message was that even though we (all the organizations that are involved with reuniting Jews with their heritage) are making in ways, we are still losing the battle.  Perhaps Rabbi Weinberg is being metaken (correcting) the fault of the Biblical Noah who did not yell and scream to his generation WAKE UP.  The Deluge is coming!

 

Then thanks to links from Batya Medad in her blog http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ I saw video clips of Danny Danon Likud Chairman and the World Likud alliance with World Evangelical C-tians.  see wezion.org. These C-tians apparently wish to be more active in promoting World Likud's platform and become working active partners and not just spectators from afar.   I listened to Joel Bell speak very eloquently about C-tians support for World Likud that will enable them to play a part in a shared vision of a Strong Israel and an Israel that has a Covenant with G-d as is specified in the Torah.  Danny Danon was equally eloquent calling on C-tians Evangelical Groups  to be supportive of World Likud and support World Likud's platform which has a shared vision.

 

I listened recently as well to John Hagee's  speech to AIPAC and was mesmerized by his overt Torah references.   Thank you Sara Lehman for that link.  Benny Elon of National Union has strong connections with Evangelical Christians.  

 

So the C-tians are taking a Biblical stand and with money are influencing Israeli politics.  I will not at this point discuss whether their support for a Complete Israel is pure or comes with an agenda.

 

Is this connection to Christians a good or bad thing?  In my opinion it is only good if the Nation of Israel are the true Kohanim and recognize together with the rest of the world, that the essence of Israel is to be Metaken Olam Bimalchut Shakai, to correct the world in the Kingdom of Heaven and to be a Mamlechet Kohanim VeGoy Kadosh.  How is this accomplished.  Only through proclaiming the Sovereignty of G-d and then through the observance of Mitzvoth which we learn and teach and keep and whose source is our H-ly Torah.  Yet when the majority of Orthodox Jews, the Torah Leaders refuse to overtly talk about any Biblical references that might have any connections with world events and ignore any focus on those commandments read in Sefer Devarim, the commandments that are necessary in the Land of Israel, the commandments taught by Moshe Rabbeinu in the last 36 days of his life, knowing that he will not lead the Nation into the Land of Israel and only the performance and the observance of these Mitzvot will bring the Roadmap to peace and security and prosperity, I agree with Rav Noah Weinberg that we are indeed losing our battle.  How can one teach Torah to the millions of lost Jews and with the threat of weapons of mass destruction in every corner and the threats of Natural Disasters coming from both Heaven and Earth and remain apathetic to the Commandments that are spelled out in Sefer Devarim (Deuteronomy) and reiterated many times and act that there is nothing that actually correlates our failures in observing these Mitzvoth and the dangers facing our generation from every direction.  If we go with happenstance then G-d will as well.  The Blessings and Curses are clearly pointing to observances of specific Mitzvoth and on the top of the list is Shemittah. 

 

I put an alert on Google to any posts about Shemittah.  What came up was an article in the TIMES.  It is clear that all the loopholes the Takanos of the Rabbanim of the Mitzva D'araita of Shemittah did not escape the writer of the article.  The title of the article is Shemittah and Sham.

 

 http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,842193,00.html?promoid=googlep

 

The purpose of this blog is to brainstorm how to rediscover the Mitzvah of Shemittah without the Rabbinic loopholes.  The dream is to experience Shemittah in the spirit of Shabbos, Shabbat where the Halachoth reflect that the entire Land belongs to G-d and it is truly a year of partying and eating and sharing what one has.  There is the utopian vision of no poor person among my brothers and of equality and of sanctity and h-lyness since there is the recognition and knowledge that all truly comes and belongs to G-d.  Shemittah as practiced in our times practically means buying Arab produce or doing without. Even putting a plastic divider doesn't quite bring in the proper spirit and neither does not having any vegetables to eat that is grown in Israel proper.  What about foregoing loans?  That is totally not addressed out of the halachic loophole of Pruzbul.

 

Coming up with Halacha that reflects the utopian vision of all the above has not been addressed since the time of the 1st Temple.  And even in the time of the first Temple there were 70 Shemittoth  that were not observed properly Keneged, represented by, the 70 years between the destruction of the 1st temple and the building of the 2nd Temple.  Each Shemittah is a 7 year cycle.  Simple multiplication of 7 times 70 brings one to 490 years.  The duration of the 1st Temple was only 850 years.  That means that even in the time of the first Temple Shemittah was not kept properly for 490 years.  And if these were the last 490 consecutive years of the 850 years that the 1st Temple stood, that would bring us back to even before the rule of King David to the times of the Judges.   

 

Rediscovering the Halachot of Shemittah is truly revolutionary.  Very scary let me add.  Yet the threats that hover our generation having witnessed and having extensive documentation, first hand of the Holocaust, is way scarier. 

 

It's time to get down to business and as Rav Noah Weinberg states, let us learn from our enemies the monsters, the Nazi's what the meaning of dedication and determination and professionalism and efficiency and let us learn from our enemies the Hamas and the PA, the meaning of self sacrifice (G-d does not desire the sacrifice of the Molech) but perhaps the monetary sacrifices where Ani CHashuv Kemais (a poor person is considered as dead)  can replace human sacrifice, we will once again rediscover only with G-d's help and our yearning, what the Torah really meant by the Mitzvoth of Shemittah.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Manhigut's Slogan "Feiglin Yesh Lo Elokim" Proclaiming G-d's Sovereignty

 

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Yasher Koach to Manhigut Yehudit and Moshe Feiglin for choosing a slogan that is a precondition to everything else.  In fact such a statement comes before speaking about doing Mitzvoth.

 

The following will back up this point. I was learning Mishnayot with my son, and a particular Mishneh seems to indicate that Manhigut/Moshe Feiglin with this slogan is sending the right message.  (I wish that they would break from Likud but that is a side issue)  

 

It was Berakhot Chapter 2 the Second Mishnah.  (in the middle of the mishnah)

 

R.Yehoshua b. Karha said:  Why does Shema precede Vehaya?  Why in arranging the sections of the Shema, did the Rabbis place the section beginning with Shema before the paragraph beginning "And it shall come to pass if you will hearken diligently"? (Vehayah im Shamoa)

 

Ela Kedei So that one should first accept upon himself the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven - Shema was placed before: "And it shall come to pass." so that man should first accept the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, the belief in and the submission to the Sovereignty of G-d, which is included in the Shema paragraph, which contains the affirmation of our belief in the existence of G-d and His unity and uniqueness.  This affirmation is the essential precondition for the observance of the Torah. 

 

Veacher Kach And afterwards take upon himself to observe Mitzvot, as is explicitly stated in the second section: "And it shall come to pass if you will hearken diligently to My commandments... to love the L-rd your G-d and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." (taken from  Elucidated Mishnah Series Berakhot with commentary by R. Pinhas Kehati)

 

Let me commend Moshe Feiglin and the Manhigut Team on the choice of their slogan. This affirmation of our belief in the existence of G-d and His unity and uniqueness is the essential precondition for the observance of the Torah.  Just hearing the slogan brings great strength to Am Yisroel.

 

(one additional  constructive comment. I  think a concern some Jews (especially from the Chareidi camp)  may have with the slogan is whether  it's ok to spell the word Elokim with a heh rather than with a kof.  When Moshe Feiglin speaks, he says Elokim. Being that the slogan will be on posters on busses some might get the wrong impression that Manhigut Yehudit has irreverence to G-d's name for spelling it out). 

 

May all the endeavors of Manhigut be to Glorify G-d's name in this world and be pleasing to G-d and in this direction may Manhigut Yehudit under the leadership of Moshe Feiglin go from strength to strength.

 

Sincerely, Robin Ticker

 

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Zion Bamishpat Tipadeh Veshaveha Bitzdaka. A letter to the Gush Katif refugeeslll

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Zion BaMishpat Tipadeh Veshaveha Bitzdaka.. (Zion will be redeemed through justice and her returnees through righteousness). The question is how can we raise consciousness so that precisely that will happen. I read about a study done on how to convince people to be more involved in a cause. For this study they chose the cause to stop smoking. First they asked people if they would contribute to the nonsmoking campaign. The response was shvach. Then they tried another approach. They asked people how they felt about smoking. People expressed their concerns and their knowledge about how smoking is dangerous. Then they asked people if they would be willing to put up a sign stating that smoking was hazardous. Many agreed to this simple act of involvement. Once this message became ones own, and by this simple personal declaration whereby they contributed not necessarily with money but with their hearts, the likelihood of them contributing with money was that much greater.


The root cause of the disengagement was our failure to have the yearning for Eretz Yisroel and the desire to keep the Mitzvoth in Eretz Yisroel and to live the Torah in Eretz Yisroel. This root cause goes back to the Chait Miraglim. As a result of our failure, (and when I say "our" failure, I am including even those that love Eretz Yisroel, live in Eretz Yisroel, work the Land in Eretz Yisroel and fight in the Wars and have died for Eretz Yisroel). Why you may ask do I include these righteous souls? Only because of Areivus. When the majority of Jews in Chutz Laaretz and in Eretz Yisroel, are unwilling to put a claim to Eretz Yisroel, even a simple declaration, not even requiring going on Aliya which is umpteen times more difficult, then the Nation as a whole because of Areivus is lacking and undeserving of this precious gift of Eretz Yisroel. The disengagement happened only because the majority of Jews wherever they live did not support the struggle of the people of Gush Katif and the righteousness of their cause by a simple declaration. There was deafening Silence on the part of world Jewry. For example, not only did Agudath Yisroel fail to share in the pain, in my opinion they were a direct cause of the pain by the Silence of their Leadership who could have mobilized hundreds of thousand of Jews to protest the disengagement and they chose instead to allow it to happen. How did they claim and fool people to believe that it was not in their power to do anything to stop it even when there were many Mitzvoth D'orayta that were being violated? Then again there was the Conference of Presidents that supported the policies of the gov't of the "State of Israel" irregardless of what the policies are.

The Security and Humanitarian projects are practical ways to deal with the security and humanitarian consequences of Am Yisroel's failure to put a claim to Eretz Yisroel and whose leadership willingly gave our inheritance to the Goyim. But even if the Goyim that we gave our Land had been "peace loving partners" as per Bush's wish full thinking , our lack of appreciation and yearning for this precious gift of G-d and desire to keep His commandments reflect a failure on our part to keep our part of the Covenant. These Goyim desire the destruction of the State of Israel as well as the Nation of Israel as well as Western Democracies)

Chesed is a natural extension of keeping the Mitzvoth. However, Chesed by itself is not necessarily the reason to support all the worthy projects that have been initiated for the refugees of Gush Katif or for the people of Sederot. After all, especially in my neighborhood in Marine Park Brooklyn, no one would argue with you that indeed these are very worthwhile projects. However, A kind, caring Brooklynite will argue in his/her defense not to contribute to your cause, that he/she is inundated with many worthwhile chesed projects. Then to back up the point, he/she will provide you with 10 envelopes of worthy chesed projects he/she receives daily in the mail not to mention the chessed calls he/she receive daily. After paying 4 tuitions and mortgage and car payments and regular expenses, I am living day to day in the red, these very kind and charitable families will tell you in a caring and concerned manner.

Does that mean that they don't care about your suffering. Not at all. It means that they do not have the where with all to help you financially and if they did have extra money you are competing with many other worthy causes.

The approach can not simply be humanitarian, chesed. The Emes is that this chesed for the refugees of Gush Katif is actually a way to once again help those that were the builders of Eretz Yisroel, once again do that. The Charitable people from whom you are reguesting aid, need to have it internalized that it's also their Land. They too must stake a claim to the Land. Because G-d desires the Nation as a whole to yearn and desire the Land of Israel. Going on Aliya is the goal. Yet if that is a goal that is too difficult to implement, than at least let it be acknowledged that indeed, the home of the Jew is Eretz Yisroel. To fulfill commandments properly requires the Land of Israel.

A Jew in Chutz Laaretz has the same claim as the Jew in Eretz Yisroel to the Land of Israel.

The next step after this acknowledgement is to help join with the collective struggle to stay on the Land, work the Land, make the Land produce and most important keep the Mitzvoth in the Land. It doesn't necessarily require making Aliya as long as there is acknowledgment that the Land of Israel is my true home and I am obligated to do what I can to preserve the Land and whomever is involved in doing just that.

There needs to be a collective recognition that the strength of each community in Eretz Yisroel is what gives strength to Eretz Yisroel as an autonomous Nation and the collapse of any community brings weakness to Am Yisroel. Why if there are over 100,000 signatures on a petition to stop an antisemitic website see http://www.petitiononline.com/rjw23/petition.html, can't there a be a declaration that is proactive for what Judaism and Eretz Yisroel is all about. Antisemitism happens when the Jew is not involved with Torah and Mitzvoth. When we declare that we would like to keep the mitzvoth, specifically those dependant on Eretz Yisroel, antisemeitism should be reduced by inversed proportions.

For our collective survival, we need to look beyond our personal pain of our own community. We must first see ourselves as part of a whole. The disengagement of Gush Katif is a stain, a cavity in our oral Hygiene. So are the excavations at Temple Mount and the incarcaration of Yonatan Pollard. Our aim is to unite all these worthy parties/groups as one thereby creating a force that will work for the benefit of each of the individual members knowing that it will ultimately benefit the Klal.

There must be a public apology to the people of Gush Katif and to Sederot for a failure to prevent the disengagement.

True, money for the farmers of Gush Katif will ease the emotional and material pain and security for Sederot will ease the stress level and daily anxieties. However, that in and of itself is merely a bandaid or balm to the deep sore that has caused such anguish. The sore however, if not properly diagnosed or treated will simply surface elsewhere in the body.

Imposter was removed with xoftspyse

bs"d

Thanks to xoftspse software(which I purchased online), a trojan that was attached to utorrent was removed from my computer. I also changed my Password. I hope that this has resolved the problem. Thank you Rafi for your computer expertise.

There is an imposter on Shemittah Rediscovered

bs"d

Dear Friends,

You may have been receiving strange posts from this blog. I have not been posting them but someone is under my name. Please do not open any links. Know that it is spam. I have written user support at blogspot and asked them how it is possible that an unauthorized user has succeeded in invading my blog and posting on it. I have still not received an answer. I delete the posts that are hijacking my blog as soon as I seem them but several have come up daily. I hope that this can be resolved asap because this is bad news for all bloggers.

Sincerely, Robin Ticker