Myrtle Rising

5 Tishrei/October 7th 2024 is the Yahrtzeit of Naftali ben Yaakov Avinu

6/10/2024

October 7, 2024 falls on the 5th of Tishrei, which is the yahrtzeit of Naftali ben Yaakov Avinu and Bilha, may his merit protect us.

I know our haters recognize only the Julian date, rather than the Hebrew date, and so there is a lot of talk about that right now.

But we can focus on the zechus of Naftali ben Yaakov.

Devorah HaNeviah (the Biblical Prophetess) descended from Naftali and remained part of the Tribe of Naftali.

I don't know of any specific segulot, but it's always good to light a candle l'ilui nishmat Naftali ben Yaakov Avinu, zechuso tagen aleinu (for the soul-ascension of Naftali the son of Yaakov, may his merit protect us). And maybe read the part of Chumash which mentions Naftali ben Yaakov.

For a lovely article on Naftali ben Yaakov Avinu, please see:
www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112509/jewish/Naftoli-and-His-Tribe.htm

Ancient God-given territory of the Tribe of Naftali – Lake Kinneret

View of of the God-given territory of the Tribe of Naftali from Mount Bental. (Credit: Dr. Avishai Teicher, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons)

View of Quneitra, Syria (photographed from the Quneitra Reservoir on the Israeli side), also part of the God-given territory of the Tribe of Naftali. (Credit: Shayshal2, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

View of Quneitra, Syria, which lies in the ancient God-given territory of the Tribe of Naftali. (Credit: Imrich, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Disturbing Storm Patterns in the Southeastern USA & Northwestern Europe

6/10/2024

I'm a little concerned about what's going on in southeastern USA.

A couple of weeks ago, a major hurricane swept through Florida, up through Georgia and the Carolinas.

Many areas and major highways experienced terrible destruction.

I heard entire outlying towns were wiped out in North Carolina.

Needless to say, these areas have not had time to recover.

Yet right now, another tropical storm (Milton), predicted to become a hurricane, currently travels on a similar trajectory to Hurricane Helene:

(The letters within the predicted trajectory represent the following: S=Tropical Storm; H=Hurricane; M=Major Hurricane.)

As emphasized here many times, the true judge of a hurricane's strength lies not in the windspeed (though that's important too), but in the pressure reading, often measured in millibars.

LESS pressure equals MORE intensity.

That faster the pressure falls, the more intense the storm or hurricane will be.

(For a detailed explanation & chart, please see here: the-most-accurate-way-to-measure-a-hurricane-focus-on-the-pressure-reading.html.)

As of last night (here in Eretz Yisrael), Milton's pressure read 1006 millibars. That's average for a tropical storm (albeit still dangerous and disastrous for an area so recently ravaged by a major hurricane).

This morning, it went down to 1003. Still average for a tropical storm, but a sign of intensification.

Suddenly, Milton's pressure dropped to 991 millibars.

Now that is very intense for a tropical storm and supports the predictions of Milton transforming into a hurricane.

Fortunately, as with Helene, the authorities are giving out serious warnings.

My concerns focus on the areas directly hit by Helene; they still remain raw disaster zones, with another major hurricane on the way.

Please note that while Milton's trajectory doesn't show a direct hit on all the areas hit by Helene, weather conditions outside the cone are still going to be stormy.

After all, it's not like the rain and winds magically buffer against the imaginary line of the computer-simulated cone.

I also wonder why this particular area of the USA is getting hit so destructively.

On the other hand, you can see how the tefillos of the frum Jewish community over Yom Kippur likely neutralized a hurricane developing over southern Florida in 2017, so maybe the teshuvah of these 10 Days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur will also soften or eliminate harsh events:
did-teshuvah-tefillah-dissipate-a-potential-hurricane.html

A Tropical Storm during a Northeastern European Autumn?

And that's not all.

In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Kirk (indicated by magenta arrow) rages right now.

As you can see from the satellite view, Hurricane Kirk seems to take up a third of the distance between North America and Europe (distance, not volume or ocean):

Last night, Hurricane Kirk's pressure read 949 millibars (a strong Category 3 hurricane), but since "weakened" to 957 millibars (a medium Category 3 hurricane), which follows the prediction of it petering out as it storms through the English Channel, hitting England and France as either a tropical storm or tropical depression, then eventually weakening to a tropical depression covering Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg:

(The "D" in the above graphic stands for Tropical Depression.)

I've been following this National Hurricane Center website for a few years now, and rarely has it shown a hurricane from its jurisdiction hitting Europe.

(Other centers cover European storms.)

It's also odd to see a TROPICAL depression hitting northwestern Europe during its cold autumn season.

I suppose they'll refer to it as something else when it happens.

As you can see from the graph, meteorologists predict Kirk to hit Spain and Portugal at tropical storm strength — again, odd for autumn, though not as odd as it hitting the colder northwestern European countries.

And as you can see, Kirk will remain a tropical storm or depression as it hits England and France.

For further perspective, while the Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on November 30, August and September comprise the peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. So such powerful storms so late in the season represent unusual weather.

Having said all this, the teshuvah and tefillos of these 10 Days of Teshuvah prior to Yom Kippur can mitigate these storms.

But these storms stand out as not-your-usual hurricane season.

So I guess we'll see.

(You can follow these storms here: www.nhc.noaa.gov/?atlc.)

While You Dipped the Apple in the Honey, God Made Sure to Foil a Major Terror Attack in the Merit of Your Rosh Hashanah Observance

5/10/2024

In the night following this 3-day extravaganza of the 2-day Rosh Hashanah and Shabbat, a charedi news outlet reported that terrorists from Tulkarem plotted to carry out a terror attack in the area of Yehudah and Shomron over Rosh Hashanah, but the Israeli air force foiled their plans, eliminating 12 terrorists in the process.

Hodu L'Hashem ki Tov!

So as the devoted ones of Am Yisrael sat eating festive meals, stood in prayer, repeatedly crowned Hashem as King, and did a hundred other acts of prayers, good deeds, or good thoughts to sweeten Heavenly Judgement, Hashem in the meantime made sure to foil a major terror attack.

(Nice judgement-sweetening, Am Yisrael!)

Do you think any of these Jews in Yehudah or Shomron had any idea they were under threat of an attack?

The vast majority (or maybe all) had no idea of the savage plot against them.

Sure, Hashem foiled the attack via Israeli operatives, but if the Great Horror from Gaza taught us anything, it's that we CANNOT rely on the military or the Shabak (Israel's internal security service).

As David HaMelech noted in Tehillim, if Hashem will not protect a city, then the sentry presides over his post in vain.

Not every Jew in Yehudah and Shomron is a shomer Torah and mitzvot, unfortunately.

However, the communities I know of are either very religious, somewhat religious, or mixed.

Even the ones more secular are at least open to and positive about Torah Judaism.

One charedi woman, who teaches at a school (in a charedi area & staffed by charedi women only) for girls who don't fit into the mainstream charedi school system, informed me that many of her students come from the surrounding communities — communities which I initially thought of as secular.

It's gratifying to know there are families in those communities who send their teenage daughters to such a school.

Most of the communities (if not all) in Yehudah and Shomron have access to shuls and other religious necessities — something lacking in several of the southern communities affected by the Great Horror from Gaza.

Meaning, even if someone from one of the secular Leftist kibbutzim near Gaza wished to walk to shul on Shabbat or chag, there was no way to do so.

This is not the case with the Jewish communities of Yehudah and Shomron, which display a lot of religious commitment and positive feelings toward Torah Judaism.

This latest miracle and terrorist-elimination follows on the heels of the information posted here:
the-sheer-folly-bigotry-of-merely-suggesting-the-deportation-of-half-a-million-jews-from-yehudah-vshomron-plus-what-that-number-of-jews-really-looks-like.html

Yishtabach Shemo.

Shanah Tovah & Apologies- Wishing Everyone a Sweet New Year!

1/10/2024

I request forgiveness if anyone was hurt in any way by anything posted on this blog.

I request forgiveness for anything misleading or confusing.

I want to apologize if anything written in this blog caused harm to anyone.

Part of the official Jewish Vidui/Confession is ya’atznu aitzot ra’ot—we’ve counseled bad advice.

In an effort to avoid this sin, I base my recommendations either on people much greater than I could imagine being or on my own regrettable experience, hoping to help others avoid suffering the same pain and flops that I’ve suffered, plus benefiting from chizuk I either wish I’d had or have indeed received and found helpful.

Having said that, I know I messed up at times.

For example, sometimes I let my emotions get the best of me. I really try not to write or post in certain moods, but occasionally, it happened.

In such situations, I went back & adjusted the post.

For example, this post:
Happy Update on Rachel Naomi bat Esther Chana, Plus a Very Disturbing COVID-19 Case.

There, I came down very hard on doctors & hospitals after my husband told me about a head doctor of a hospital ward telling a nurse to simply turn off the life support of 4 elderly covid patients, then write them off as deaths due to covid.

Appalled at this doctor's attitude & also his psychopathic certainty that he could request this crime from his staff with no repercussions & expect full obedience, I was still on fire when I wrote the post requesting donations for Rabbi Sofer.

But when a comment came in noting that many hospital staff work with devotion for their patients, I realized I needed to acknowledge the moral & dedicated doctors & nurses too.

So I went back & toned down the original post.

Likewise, when writing about the problems of modern pop psychology, I later realized I was too hard on therapists.

Then I came across lectures by Rav Avigdor Miller (and not a fan of therapy), in which he noted how discouraging people from going to therapy negatively affects the parnasa of frum therapists.

He also noted that some therapists DO guide people according to Torah, but use the language of psychology so people will both understand them & take them seriously as professionals.

So I went back & adjusted several posts, emphasizing the good many frum therapists do. (Those same posts already acknowledged the helpful aspects of some therapists, but not as much as required.)

Posts written on the topic since then also acknowledge this broader realization.

So while I continue to discuss the superiority of Torah over pop psychology (because that's what I honestly believe & find helpful), these discussions also include this broader realization.

Additionally, I went through all the posts since the beginning of this blog and made correction in information or tone wherever I spotted an issue. Links were also updated.

Probably I missed a couple of posts, so if you see faulty links, etc., then that's why.

So those are things for which I'm sorry & made amends as best I could by going back to correct things, writing more responsibly since then, and apologizing now.

Included in this is how maybe I misunderstood or miscommunicated an important idea, which messed you up.

Or, despite my best efforts, maybe a post contains lashon hara or something wrong or useless or misleading.

(Again, over the past few months, I've combed through the blog since the first post to catch anything wrong, misleading, useless, or slanderous, but I'm still afraid to have missed something.)

Maybe a comment or email to you was tactless or insensitive in some way.

(I aim for compassion and sensitivity, but because I usually have no idea to whom I'm emailing/commenting, I can totally flub up. Actually, I can totally flub up even if I know exactly to whom I'm speaking. But I try not to flub up.)

For all the above, I’m truly sorry.

May we all enjoy a sweet new year full of sweetened dinim/judgments.

May Hashem forgive us, may we forgive each other, and may we forgive ourselves.

And may each of us merit to fulfill our unique soul-potential.

B'ezrat Hashem, may you all be inscribed for a year of revealed good & sweetness...

...and may the light of the Geula shine b'rachamim on us all.

Rav Avigdor Miller with Priceless Advice for Rosh Hashanah

30/9/2024

There's a dvar Torah from Toras Avigdor, which discusses Rosh Hashanah:
Rosh Hashanah – Judgement Day

For a previous post on this parsha, please see:
Rav Avigdor Miller Discusses the Truth behind the Good Stuff of This World in Parshat Netzavim

And the original:
torasavigdor.org/parshas-netzavim-the-purpose-of-worldly-reward/

To discuss Rosh Hashanah, Rav Miller reveals that long-term, even permanent things, can be decided on Rosh Hashanah.

For example, you could be sentenced to live in a neighborhood that will bring down you & your family in religiosity & character.

Or, you could merit to move to a neighborhood full of positive spiritual-growth-inducing influences.

First of all, Rav Miller takes a closer look at the conversation between Elihu & Iyov (Job), which is pretty interesting.

It also takes us to a form of dream interpretation, in which Rav Miller explains how our dreams reveal something of our essence—something in contrast to our waking behavior that takes us by surprise.

For example, Rav Miller related the time he dreamed of sitting in a dry bathtub full of money—and he enjoyed it.

Yet he criticizes himself for it:

It was a pleasant dream but in the morning I asked myself, “Why is it that I don’t dream about Hashem?”

A very big kasha! Why don’t I dream about Hashem?!

Maybe that Hashem spoke to me, something else maybe.

It never happened!

Years and years pass by and nothing. I talk about it all the time but I never dreamed about it.

The answer is now I see what a hypocrite I am.

[Ein mar'in lo la'adam eleh mehirhurei libo]—a man is shown in a dream what he really thinks about (Brachos 55b).

It tells you the truth about yourself. You understand that?

A dream sometimes reveals to you important things about yourself.

Clearly, Rav Miller is not a religious hypocrite.

Religious hypocrites neither think nor speak like this.

But we should follow his example in using a dream for soul-searching & self-improvement.

That's the lesson here for us all.

In a dream, a person can be violent or commit major sins—things he would never do in real life—and that says something about him, says Rav Miller.

But it all depends on context.

Once, I dreamt I was being forced to hurt someone I couldn't recognize. Then I realized it was my own child, and I immediately stopped, hugged him close to me, and burst into tears.

After intense analysis, I realized the dream referred to the chinuch advice I received at that time, which was harmful to my child (not at all the intention of the well-meaning chinuch advisor, but harmful nonetheless).

The dream helped me break away from the well-intended yet harmful chinuch technique and non-Torah attitude unconsciously projected by the instructor.

Anyway, like with all messages from Hashem, these are meant to be loving.

Hashem wants us to live a wonderful life & merit a wonderful eternity.

So He sends us messages about stuff we're stumbling in so we can right ourselves & merit unimaginable goodness.

Even One-Thousandth of a Malach Matters

On Rosh Hashanah, your malachim (angels) get together on your behalf.

What are ways to create your din-sweetening malachim?

Rav Miller suggests:

Holding the door open for your fellow Jew
Informing your fellow Jew he dropped a dollar
Not responding to an insult because you remembered Hashem
Writing a check to a good tzedakah cause (i.e., not an art museum, etc.)
5 minutes of Torah learning
Don't insult people
Encourage people
Say excuse me
Say thank you
Even if you totally daydreamed your way through Shemoneh Esrei, at least have kavanah on the last words
Even if you totally daydreamed your way through Birkat Hamazon, at least have kavanah on the last words
Think about Yetziat Mitzrayim from one traffic light to the next or from one streetlight to the next

Tilt the scales with as many malachim as you can, even via seemingly minor acts of goodness.

A bizarre yet happy chiddush from Shabbat 32a informs us that even one-thousandth of a malach can save you.

Meaning, your good deed was tainted in so many ways, but you have that 1/1000 part speaking up on your behalf.

But that one-thousandth of a malach can be all that's needed to tip you into a sweet new year.

And Heaven hold onto hope for us that maybe this coming year, we'll improve even more.

Rav Miller informs us of this idea to motivate us to do good deeds regardless of how worthless or tainted we think our good deeds are.

The Secret Revelation of Why Hashem Uses Malachim

Have you ever wondered why Hashem uses malachim?

After all, Hashem is wholly Omnipotent & can do anything & everything.

The answers appear toward the middle of the booklet.

Here's part of the answer:

A mitzvah is not like we think, just something that we once did, or thought or said.

No; every mitzvah is an especial kind of creation.

That’s what the Kuzari says.

He says that a mitzvah that is performed is a living entity, an actual creature.

Now the Kuzari you have to know is a Rishon; he doesn’t go into fantasies.

He is practical and his every word is counted and so we have to listen to that — even the smallest mitzvah is a living being that will stand in the Beis Din Shel Maalah and advocate for you.

It doesn’t have to be something with wings — the wings are just a form of vision that is granted to us, so that we should see them and be impressed by them.

A living mitzvah is higher than wings; it’s something of ruchniyus that is of tremendous power — it doesn’t need any wings to propel it.

This reminds me of a true story included in the book, The Stolen Light by Yitzchak (Izo) Leibowitz & translated into English by Rivka Levy.

A top guy in the Israeli mafia got shot in the head & his soul ascended to the Heavenly Court where the prosecuting angel read off his tome of transgressions and each transgression appeared as an ugly frightening monster. The room filled with thousands of them, and they all started screaming at him, "Why did you create me?"

His mitzvot, however (consisting of one page read by his defending angel), created beautiful angels who thanked him sweetly for creating them.

(Then Rebbe Nachman appeared, saved him from the final verdict, and the guy returned to his body & did complete teshuvah.)

Anyway, Rav Miller's point is it's okay to bluff your goodness.

Be nice, even if you secretly know it's not really you.

You're still creating angels—even if it's only 1/1000 of an angel.

Even that tiny sliver of angel matters.

Encouraging Words

Then Rav Miller discusses the importance of encouraging people.

Sometimes, you can simply offer encouragement without any prompting.

Other times, a person confides in you, giving you the opportunity to respond with encouragement.

Yet encouragement is not what many people assume it is today.

Today, people encourage you by saying, "You really need to take so-and-so's chinuch class. It'll help you so much."

Or, "I want to encourage you to attend a 12-Step program."

Or, "You need to get out more."

Or, "Just have emunah!"

Now, sometimes saying the above is the perfect thing to say.

These things aren't black 'n' white.

But real encouragement generally means telling the person something good about how he or she is RIGHT NOW.

Not what you think they need to do to improve their lives or themselves (though there is a time & a place for saying that too), but something good about who they are or what they're doing.

Not a tactful version of "This will help you because you're so flawed in this area" & not "Turn to Hashem or to a therapist because I sure as heck do not want to deal with listening to or empathizing with you."

Again, it's GOOD to turn to Hashem.

But a lot of people use the cheery commands of "Just daven!" "Just have emunah!" "Think good & it will be good!" to get you out of their hair & release them from having to listen or empathize.

Maybe they honestly do not have the time or emotional energy to listen. That's legitimate. Why should they emotionally exhaust themselves with a difficult conversation? It's not fair to do that to them.

But how much are these pious or "go-to-a-class/group/expert" brush-offs coming from apathy?

If you really cannot spare the emotional energy to listen or tell the person good things about him- or herself, then it's encouraging to tell the person you'll daven for them—and MEAN it.

It says something when you're willing to think about someone on your own time.

Ideas for encouragement:

Tell her she's doing a good job.
Tell her the good you see in her.
Offer sincere praise.
Offer sincere gratitude.

Rav Miller also recommends writing a letter of encouragement—even anonymously.

Shanah Tovah!

Rav Miller continues in the PDF with other wonderful yet simple ideas for positive change.

May Hashem please grant us all a sweet year full of revealed blessing & the light of Mashiach.

Credit for all material & quotes goes to Toras Avigdor.

The 2 Most Important Ideas to Remember for Rosh Hashanah

29/9/2024

There are 2 vital ideas to remember for Rosh Hashanah (these also apply to the time period throughout Yom Kippur & Sukkot).

And the second is merely an aspect of the first.

The first is as Rav Avigdor Miller emphasized in his Rosh Hashanah shuirim:

Rosh Hashanah is the time to focus on & internalized EIN OD MILVADO — THERE IS NOTHING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE EXCEPT HASHEM.

Internalizing this all-important emuna is the intrinsic focus of Rosh Hashanah.

If you do nothing else Rosh Hashanah, you must at least do that.

Rebbetzin Batsheva Kanievsky used to recommend that people say "Ein od milvado" with all the heartfelt kavanah they could muster as a segula for being saved from whatever troubles they suffered.

From Rav Chaim Volozhin's book, Nefesh Hachaim:

When a person determines in his heart to say that Hashem surely is the True God, and there is none other than Him Yitbarach, no power in the world and in any of the worlds at all, and all is filled only with His Simple Oneness Yitbarach Shemo, and nullifies within his heart complete nullification that he [the person] doesn't supervise at all any power and will in the world, and subserviates and cleaves the purity of his thought only to the Unique Master Blessed be He — then He Yitbarach will satisfy his hand and will automatically nullify from upon him [the person] all the powers and wills that exist in the world, so they cannot do anything at all to him.

And everything that he [the person] decrees will be fulfilled for him, to activate matters and wondrous miracles in contradiction to the natural order...

In Rebbetzin Ahuva Arad's siddur Ahuvah L'Tzaddik, it explains the above as follows:

Accepting upon oneself Hashem's Total Mastery over the entire Universe removes & nullifies all judgement and other ills from a person.

And with that, nothing else can overpower or control that person at all.

(This siddur is also from where I copied the above passage from Nefesh Hachaim. Any mistakes in translation are mine.)

This brings us to Vital Ideal #2...

Stay Sweet When Things Have Soured! A True Story

The famed mekubal Rav Yehudah Petiyah sat at the table one Rosh Hashanah with his family and guests.

The rav wore pure white garments in honor of the special day.

A candelabra lit in honor of the chag stood on the table.

Everything was set up according to his profound knowledge of holy standards.

His holy wife just brought out a whole platter of delicious fish to start the main meal when someone bumped the table in a way that overturned the lights, plunging the entire room into darkness.

(In our times, it's hard for us to imagine the depth of darkness without electric lights in the home and without electric streetlights along the road outside.)

Unable to see where she was going or where to put the heavy unwieldy tray (plus the sudden turn of events startled her), the tray slipped from her hands, plunging all the delectable fish to the ground.

The rav rose to assist her and fix the problem, but he slipped in the all the fish and sauce, falling smack to the ground, which soiled his special white garments.

You can imagine what this all meant, and how hard it is to get the fish smell out of things and how bad fish smells when it hangs around for too long.

Furthermore, I don't know whether the Petiyahs had indoor plumbing.

And were they still in Baghdad or had they already arrived in Eretz Yisrael?

It doesn't say, but the clean-up of both the floor and the rav using pump-water must have been difficult, particularly in the dark (though they likely had some light from the stove).

Rosh Hashanah is 2 days and that meant that the rav likely had no more special white garments for the rest of the chag. Not to mention the loss of the fish...

Yet Rav Yehudah Petiyah did not get angry.

Interestingly, that year ended up being a splendid year for Rav Yehudah Petiyah.

He experienced success with everything he attempted. He found increased success in his Torah, producing new & wonderful chiddushim.

And he traced back all that success to not getting angry over the disaster of that first night of Rosh Hashanah.

The REAL Segula for a Sweet Year — And It's Not the Apples Dipped in Honey...It's YOU.

The above story is found in Rav Elimelech Biderman's Be'er Haparsha.

He emphasizes that the most powerful segulah on Rosh Hashanah for having a sweet year is...BE A YEHUDI MATOK — BE A SWEET JEW.

If we turn around Rav Petiyah's situation, we see that in Heaven, he already had a sweet year decreed for him...he just needed to earn it.

And the way he was meant to earn it was by having someone knock over his Rosh Hashanah lights, ruin his fish, fall down (which must have hurt at least a little), and get soaked in a big fishy mess that ruined his special white garments -- all without getting angry.

And that could be the dynamic for any of us.

If you're reading this after Rosh Hashanah, don't despair.

I've noticed that Hashem gives us our final chances to get things right during Sukkot, before the din is decided in its finality. Lots of challenges still pop up throughout this time.

The main thing is to resist getting angry about them. (And here, I'm writing this for myself as much as for anyone else.)

They're from Hashem & possibly the key to giving you a wonderfully sweet year.

So to sum it all up:

Do everything you can to internalize the idea that there is nothing other than Hashem.
Don't get angry no matter what.

May we all be sweet Jews who merit a very sweet year!

For more on the holy Rav Yehudah Petiyah, please see the blog posts under the category Minchat Yehudah.

Enemies Defeated and Foiled: In the Merit of All the Jews who Decided to Keep or Enhance Shabbat during This Last Shabbat of the Year 5784

28/9/2024

Prior to this last Shabbat of the year, thousands of Jews decided to keep Shabbat.

(One person told me 40,000 Jews in Eretz Yisrael made pledges on social media to keep this final Shabbat of the year. I don't know if none of them had kept Shabbat before or what their backgrounds are. It could be some kept it on and off, while others grew up shomer Shabbos, dropped it, then decided to keep this past Shabbat. Either way, a lot of Jews took Shabbat upon themselves, davka this past Shabbat.)

Likewise, because the last Shabbat of the year can rectify anything we stumbled in during past Shabbats of this year, many solidly committed Jews choose to behave with extra care and extra enthusiasm during the last Shabbat of the year.

Altogether, this produced an extra powerful Shabbat for the conclusion of 5784.

We often hear how whoever keeps the Sabbath, then the Sabbath "keeps" him (alive an well).

Likewise, Shabbat is "makor habracha" — the source of blessing.

The power of making a kabbalah (taking a mitzvah or good deed upon oneself) creates such a positive force, it goes into action even before the person completes the kabbalah.

This derives from Hashem's great chessed toward us, in that He judges a sincere good intention or good thought as if we fulfilled it in deed. (The Kli Yakar mentions this idea several times in his commentary on the Chumash.)

So even though all the newly pledged Sabbath-observers — and all the frum Jews who committed to enhancing or rectifying this last Shabbat of the year — had yet completed their lofty intentions, Hashem still destroyed Nasrallah, plus other baddies.

As an amusing aside:
A Druze security officer went driving around a charedi area in the middle of Shabbos night and to every single Jew he saw, he joyfully shouted: "NASRALLAH'S DEAD!"

Talk about being a bringer of glad tidings...only in Israel, eh?

Likewise, a Houthi missile passed over religious communities peacefully keeping Shabbat in the hills of Yehudah (Judea), falling in pieces outside the town of Tzur Hadassah (which is not known as a religious community, but there are several shomrei Shabbat there and other residents who are at least friendly toward Torah Judaism and not rabid haters of religious Jews).

We are all feeling tremendous love and gratitude toward Hashem.

כִּי אֶשְׁמְרָה שַׁבָּת אֵל יִשְׁמְרֵנִי

Just as I will preserve Shabbat, God will preserve me.

— Rav Avraham ibn Ezra (1089-1167) in a classic piyut he composed for Shabbat

Chavakuk HaNavi and the Biblical Jewish City of Shunam, Today Known as Sulam

27/9/2024

Today is the 24th of Elul, is the yahrtzeit of Chavakuk (Habakuk) HaNavi (and also of the holy Chafetz Chaim).

Chavakuk HaNavi was the son of the Shunamit woman whom Elisha Hanavi miraculously revived in Melachim/Kings II.

The village of Shunam still stands, and the wall of the little room she created to host Elisha HaNavi still stands until today.

Currently, the village of Shunam is known by an Arabic twist on the name: Sulam.

It's also inhabited by Muslim-Arabs.

Technically, you can still go see the wall, but I don't know how to do that practically.

Here are some images of the Biblical Jewish city of Shunam:

This image of Shunam was drawn sometime between 1877-1879. Mount Gilboa rises in the background. John Douglas Woodward (1846-1924), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This is Shunam in 1914 under Muslim Turkish occupation. By Matson collection - http://www.palestineremembered.com/GeoPoints/Sulam__Shunem__1616/Picture_16217.html, Public Domain, Link

This is Shunam in 1917, as the British took over from the Turks. עברית: ביתמונה, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This is Shunam in 1918, well under British rule. As you can see, despite having been a standing village for thousands of years with all that time to develop, it didn't seem to be faring well under the Muslim Turks or the Christian British. עברית: ביתמונה, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Ooh, look at modern Shunam under the much-demonized governance of the Jews! Paved roads, electricity, nice buildings and nice cars, and the right to practice their religion in peace. Goodness me. I wonder if Elisha HaNavi's wall is part of that mosque? After all, Muslims usually build their stuff on Jewish holy places. I wonder where the wall is... NaVisitor, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

An aerial view of Shunam, so you can get an idea of its environment and how it might have looked in the time of the Shunamite woman and Elisha Hanavi and the young Chavakuk. Hanay, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Sheer Folly & Bigotry of Merely Suggesting the Deportation of Half a Million Jews from Yehudah v'Shomron, Plus What that Number of Jews Really Looks Like

26/9/2024

The bizarre idea presented to the U.N. (and supported by myriads of Jew-haters worldwide) of exiling half a million Jews from our native Land (Yehudah v'Shomron/Judea and Samaria) exposes the rabid Jew-hatred of the supporters of this plot.

Yet again, they pile sinfulness upon sinfulness, with their continued support of barbarism against Am Yisrael.

Throughout this year, they enthusiastically supported the mass savagery committed against Am Yisrael during the Great Horror from Gaza.

And right before the universal Day of Judgement (Rosh Hashanah), these same minions condemned the merciful Mass Pager Attack as "terrorism" and "against international law," while also trying to boot out half a million Jews from our ancestral homeland in Yehudah v'Shomron.

(It is really not looking good for them. Very grateful not to be in their shoes.)

Why is even the mere suggestion of exiling Yehudim from Yehudah v'Shomron sheer folly and bigotry?

First of all, the reason why that area of the so-called "West Bank" (indicating a riverbank of a river many of these communities cannot even see from their location) goes by the name Yehudah/Judah/Judea is because that is the God-given ancestral Land of the Tribe of Yehudah.

For thousands of years, it has been known as "Yehudah."

Jews always dwelled in Yehudah and Shomron whenever POSSIBLE to do so.

The fact of Palestinians ("invaders") moving in to squat on the Land does not make it theirs — not in God's Eyes, and not even according to anyone's Torah, Gospels, or Quran.

As one religious Jewish author noted, Eretz Yisrael herself chose to embrace her returning children.

Eretz Yisrael only flourishes under Jewish settlement and cultivation.

Simply compare photos of anywhere in Eretz Yisrael prior to the return of Jewish settlement and then after the flourishing of Jewish settlement.

You see how the Land itself chooses the people who truly belong to it — Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.

Different Perspectives of What 500,000 Jews Looks Like

Now let's get to the actual numbers.

Around 500,000 Jews live in Yehudah v'Shomron.

And the Jew-haters wish to kick them out.

Compare and contrast this number with other Jewish populations (source):

France: 450,000
Canada: 392,000
United Kingdom: 292,000
Argentina: 180,000
Russia: 165,000
Germany: 118,000
Australia: 118,000

Therefore, deporting the entire Jewish population of Yehudah v'Shomron would be the similar to deporting the entire Jewish population of France.

Or deporting the entire Jewish populations of both Canada and Australia.

Or simply making all of the UK and Russia wholly Judenrein.

B'ezrat Hashem, this nefarious plot will not come to fruition.

(Yes, I know people said the same about Gush Katif, but there are certain practical and spiritual differences between the two regions that preclude a mass deportation of Yehudah v'Shomron, chas v'shalom.)

Nonetheless, we should not rest on our laurels and egos. We should still turn to Hashem as our Loving Father and Best Friend, imploring Him to completely protect the Jewish communities of Yehudah v'Shomron.

Rabot machshavot b'lev ish v'aitzat Hashem hi takum – Many thoughts are in the heart of a man, yet the counsel of Hashem – THAT is what will come to fruition (Mishlei/Proverbs 19:21).

To explore the ideas touched on in this post, please see:

why-west-bank-is-a-factually-incorrect-term-for-yehudah-shomron-and-how-its-meant-to-both-insult-am-yisrael-and-deny-the-god-given-claim-of-am-yisrael-to-eretz-yisrael.html

why-its-good-for-am-yisrael-to-dwell-alone-the-true-history-behind-terms-like-palestine-and-west-bank-plus-the-hypocrisy-and-virtue-signaling-of-those-who-claim-to-love-us.html

more-information-and-maps-about-the-torah-true-god-given-borders-of-eretz-yisrael.html

Part 2: Certain Types of Great Spiritual Light, Merits, and Most Avodah CANNOT be Achieved without Falling, Failing, Stumbling, and Bumbling

25/9/2024

Failing and falling exist as part and parcel of succeeding and rising.

You cannot rise unless you fall first.

(Stretching upwards on your tippy-toes doesn't count as rising, ha-ha. Anyway, as noted in the Part 1, you cannot attain certain levels and certain great spiritual light without forcing yourself to rise after a fall.)

In other words, you cannot do real teshuvah and move seemingly unmovable mountains within yourself without tripping all over your negative qualities at least a few times.

This stands as a spiritual FACT — brought to you by Torah Judaism!

Let's look at what else Rav Itamar Schwartz says in his book Building a Sanctuary in the Heart, especially the discussion of "Times of Falling – Times of Growth" (bilvavi.net/english/bilvavi-part-2-chapter-15-tzaddik-falls-seven-times-rises):

Times of Falling – Times of Growth

Here we must add an important point.

Many times, a person falls spiritually.

Not all times are identical.

Sometimes, a person's heart is open in prayer, and he prays from the depths of his heart. His heart pours out just as it says (Eichah 2:19), "Pour out your heart as water before the Presence of Hashem."

But there are states of "their heart is closed" (as in Hoshea 13:8). The heart is sealed and the person feels tremendous difficulty in his avodah.

Human nature causes one to feel that the days of growth, when he can pour out his heart to his Creator as a son would relate to his father, are his successful days, but the days with difficulties seem dark, and he wishes they would just be over, so the light can shine again.

Of course, it is good to hope that the light will shine, but while one is in darkness, he should have the proper perspective.

If one will recognize the great achievements attainable from the difficult tests, and recall that these tests are essential for those achievements, he will have a positive attitude about his current state.

One must delve into this.

"Where penitents stand, perfect tzaddikim cannot stand."

This applies to the small events in life, as well.

Anytime one "rises" after a "fall," he is a penitent in that regard.

He must realize that the difficult days allow tremendous attainments to sprout forth, which will become evident once he "rises."

However, while someone is going through the process of "a tzaddik falls seven times," he cannot see the light he will attain when it will be over.

Even when he rises after the first, second, or third time, he cannot see the light.

Only after finishing the whole set of tests indicated by "a tzaddik falls seven times," and then rising, do the powers he earned become revealed to him.

There is, then, a double concealment.

During the fall, one does not see the light, and even after he picks himself up, he does not see what he gained from the fall.

If so, the next time he falls, he doesn't know that when he picked himself up from the previous fall, he gained something.

He only remembers the difficult days and the suffering he experienced then, and he is naturally very concerned about the fall.

But when a person has absolute faith in the words of Chazal that "where penitents stand, perfect tzaddikim cannot stand," he knows that he will attain more from his fall than from the times when things went well, and he will be happy even in times of a fall.

Merely knowing and believing in this fact will afford the person the ability to cope properly during the difficult times.

Just to emphasize:

Falling FEELS baaaaaaad.

Many people feel angry at themselves and feel ashamed when they fall.

And here, we learn that NO, the very act of rising when you DON'T feel inspired and you DON'T feel the fruits of your efforts — THAT eventually brings you to the higher levels and open you to receiving great spiritual light impossible to receive in any other way.

Upon discovering a negative trait within themselves, many people ask, "Does this mean I'm a bad person?"

That's totally the wrong question to ask.

If you are a bad person, you need to change.

(Here's the Pele Yoetz on how a truly bad seed can still change: the-authentic-torah-view-of-and-advice-for-a-truly-awful-personincluding-one-who-was-born-that-way.html.)

If you are a saintly person with a flaw, you still need to work on that one flaw.

So how does deliberating on whether you are a bad person or not move you to where you need to go?

It's simply irrelevant.

Whether you are a good person or a BAAAAAAAD person, you need to change any bad qualities into good qualities.

End of story.

Summary of the Main Points

To summarize the main points:

Bad days (avodah-wise) are not actually bad; they just FEEL bad.

Dark days are not bad. Their absence of light actually enables the opportunity to work on yourself in way nothing else can.

The very act of peeling yourself off the pavement and rising back up after you crashed and burned while feeling like a failure — THIS builds you like nothing else.

Your negative qualities do not reflect on your essence.

Hashem imbued you with these specific negative qualities in order for you to work on them (including all the falling and rising bits) in order to complete your tikkun.

As long as you pick yourself back up again, your falls ironically benefit you more than your ascents.

You won't experience the benefits of all your falls until you reach the 8th time (metaphysically speaking), so every time you peel yourself back off the pavement (again!), don't expect to feel good about dragging yourself back to your feet. The good feeling and light WILL come — but not until you reach the 8th time. So feel good about not feeling good!