Friday's Post article and The Talmud's view on eating bread in the morning--This was when people did physical labor and did not sit around and eat all day

Can't see images? Click here... Rabbi Yehuda Lave Sweet Talk Your Kids   Your tone of voice when speaking to your children sets the tone for their way of speaking, even when they speak to themselves. If you have an abrasive way of speaking to them, practice speaking pleasantly. Professional singers spend countless hours practicing for their audiences. All parents are professional communicators and all children are entitled to be spoken to pleasantly. Yesterday I wanted to include an article about how Friday (February 3, 2017) had misinterpreted US policy on Israel with a Lefty slant, but it was not included. It is the last article today. Love Yehuda  Lave How Does Big Ben in London Keep Accurate Time? Eating Bread in the Morning for Breakfast The importance of diet in the preservation of health was recognized by the Rabbis, and the Talmud has many passages which deal with articles of food that are wholesome or otherwise. Bread seems to have been literally the staff of life. Thirteen things are said concerning bread eaten in the morning.[1] Bread will:   protect you from the heat; protect you from the cold; protect you from injurious spirits; protect you from demons; make you wise if you are simple, and help you win a lawsuit; help you learn and teach Torah; cause your utterances to be listened to; cause your learning to remain with you; ensure that you breath does not exhale a bad odor; ensure that you are attached to your wife and do not lust after other women; destroy all tapeworms in your system; drive forth envy; and cause love to enter.   The intention is that if a man starts the day with a nourished stomach, he will be able to think more clearly and do his work efficiently; it will also put him into a cheerful frame of mind. The same thought is expressed in the remark: "Before a man eats and drinks he has two hearts: after he has eaten and drunk he has but one heart."[2] In the Hebrew system of psychology "heart" is the seat of intelligence; and the saying indicates that an empty stomach has a disturbing effect on the mind and interferes with concentration of thought. The bread should be made of fine wheat flour. "Barley flour is injurious by creating tapeworms."[3] It should also be eaten cold: "There is a saying in Babylon that hot bread has fever by its side."[4] Great stress is laid on the advice that to derive the fullest benefit from eating bread, salt must be added to it and water drunk after it. Salt and water are indispensable to life: "The world can exist without wine but not without water. Salt is cheap and pepper dear; the world can exist without pepper but not without salt."[5] The rule advocated is: "After every food eat salt, and after every beverage drink water, and you will not come to harm [through illness]. He who has partaken of any food without eating salt, or drunk any beverage without drinking water, will be troubled during the day with a bad odor in his mouth and at night with croup."[6] One Rabbi counseled: "He who makes his food float in water [by drinking a large quantity of water with his food) will not suffer from indigestion. Another stated: "There are eighty-three diseases connected with the bile which can be counteracted by eating bread with salt in the morning and drinking a jug of water."[7] Bread and salt constituted the ordinary meal of the poor, both morning and evening. Meat was regarded as a luxury and must have been seldom tasted by the poor classes. The bulk of the people lived mainly on a vegetarian diet, and several Talmudic discussion debate the wholesomeness of a diet whose staple food is vegetables. One passage declares: "Woe is the body through which vegetables keep constantly passing,"[8] meaning a body whose staple food is vegetables. Supporting one particular opinion that vegetables are harmful when eaten uncooked, another passage reads: "A disciple of the Sages is not allowed to reside in a city where no vegetables are to be had. From this is to be inferred that vegetables are wholesome, but there is another teaching: Three things increase feces, reduce stature and take away a five-hundredth part of the light of a man's eyes: bread made of coarse meal, freshly-made intoxicating liquor, and vegetables!"[9]In the parallel version,[10] the reading is "raw vegetables" and the text continues: "three things decrease feces, raise the stature and bring light to the eyes: bread made of well-sifted flour, fat meat and old wine." *        *        * So there you have it folks, the unbeatable Talmudic recipe for a healthy mind and body. Let's summarize: Be sure to eat bread every morning; Eat your bread with salt and a jug water. Make sure it's of fine, well-sifted wheaten flour (not barley); Eat your bread with well-cooked vegetables, and with fat meat... although, er....you know, it really couldn't hurt to get a second opinion. [1] Baba Mezia 107b [back] [2] Baba Batra 12b [back] [3] Brakhot 36a [back] [4] p. Shabbat 4b [back] [5] p. Hor. 48c [back] [6] Berakhot 40a [back] [7] Baba Kama 92b [back] [8] Berakhot 44b [back] [9] Erubin 55b [back] [10] Pesahin 42a [back]From Everyman's Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages, by Abraham Cohen. © 1949 by E.P. Dutton, reprinted by Schocken Books, 1995. Reprinted with the permission of the publisher. Speaking of bread--diet buster Berry French Toast Bake FULL RECIPE: http://bzfd.it/2jrWuQk THE MEZUZAHS A wealthy Jewish man buys a fabulous home in Beverly Hills. He brings in a local workman to decorate the place. When the job is finished, the homeowner is delighted but realizes that he's forgotten to put mezuzahs on the doors.  He goes out and buys 50 mezuzahs and asks the decorator to place them on the right hand side of each door except bathrooms and kitchens. He's really worried that the decorator will chip the paint work or won't put them up correctly.  However, when he comes back a few hours later, he sees that the job has been carried out to his entire satisfaction.  He's so pleased that he gives the decorator a bonus. As the decorator is walking out of the door he says, "Glad you're happy with the job. By the way, I took out all the warranties in the little boxes and left them on the table for you!" Early History Of Jews In Chicago Dr. Yitzchok Levine http://www.jewishpress.com/sections/magazine/glimpses-ajh/early-history-of-jews-in-chicago/2017/02/01/ After this diet buster-you can just die and get it over with What's so unsual about this? Most people over 50 do the same thing? Another aspect of the AG investigation that should be reviewed.  Hillary raised and spent nearly $1 billion on her campaign and still lost.  Trump spent approximately $300 million.   Most of the employees of the Clinton foundation were actively campaigning for Hillary during the runup to the election. Seriously....Is anyone surprised???   Clinton Foundation Tax Return. This is from the National Center fo Charitable Statistics. http://990s.foundationcenter. org/990_pdf_archive/311/ 311580204/311580204_201412_ 990.pdf These are figures from an official copy of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Foundation for the tax year 2014. Anyone may obtain a copy of the tax return from the National Center for Charitable Statistics website! You can get the latest tax return on any charitable organization! Total revenue (line 12) ........................... $177,804,612.00 Total grants to charity (line 13) ..................$5,160,385. 00 Total expenses of............................ ..........$91,281,145.00 Expenses include: salaries (line 15)……….$34,838,106.00 Fund raising fees (line 16a)...................$850, 803.00 Other expenses (line 17)……………$50,431,851.00!?!   They list 486 employees (line 5)! So it took 486 people who are paid $34.8 million and $91.3 million in fees and 'expenses', to give away $5.1 MILLION WHICH IS LESS THAN 3% OF TOTAL REVENUES!   Line 22 shows ending year net assets/fund balances of $332,471,349.00 which is up $85,171,891 from last year's tax return!   By any measure this is not a CHARITY! It is a family and friends slush fund!   For the first time in many years, the White House released a statement regarding Jewish settlements, without the adjectives illegal or illegitimate next to it. I meant to include this story yesterday, but it was deleted accidently. The post on Friday, February 2, 2017 gave it a very misleading headline. For the first time in many years, the White House on Thursday released a statement regarding Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria without the adjectives "illegal" or "illegitimate" next to the word "settlements." While not 100 percent perfect — a policy of benign neglect would be best — it is clearly a complete turnaround from previous administration positions, particularly former-President Obama's "not one brick anywhere" policy, including Jerusalem. The White HouseOffice of the Press SecretaryFor Immediate ReleaseFebruary 02, 2017Statement by the Press Secretary "The American desire for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians has remained unchanged for 50 years. While we don't believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace, the construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal. As the President has expressed many times, he hopes to achieve peace throughout the Middle East region. The Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month." In other words, what began a few months ago as a video of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asking why should having Jews living in Judea and Samaria be considered an impediment to peace – is now US foreign policy.     In addition to the biggest item of recognizing the legitimacy of the settlements, by omitting the words "illegal" and "illegitimate," the statement actually declares, for all the world to see: "We don't believe the existence of settlements is an impediment to peace." It should be noted that even that one seemingly negative-note in the Trump statement against new settlements or expansion isn't exactly that: "the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal." First of all, the statement gives implicit approval to construction within existing settlements, and not just to communities within the settlement blocs (i.e. Gush Etzion, Ariel, etc), but rather to all settlements. This is a much wider definition, and includes many smaller Jewish communities that exist outside of the blocs, representing some 80,000 Jews. Not to name names, but that's more settlement legitimacy than what even some members of Netanyahu's cabinet recognize. Furthermore, it doesn't actually forbid or rebuke Israel if it does build a new settlement or expand beyond the borders of an existing one. The White House statement merely questions if it is helpful to achieving peace, and leaves that question open for further discussion. The other glaring omission in the Trump White House statement is the term "two-state solution," so beloved by every Administration since the 1993 Oslo Accords. Why, only last Wednesday, the new, relatively pro-Israel UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, had his spokesperson release a statement saying that, "the recent announcement by the Israeli Government to advance 5,000 settlement units in the occupied West Bank could […] threaten to unravel plans for a two-State solution between Israelis and Palestinians. […] We once again warn against any unilateral actions that can be an obstacle to a negotiated two-state solution." Having praised the Trump statement so much, it's also easy to realize that there must be some conflict within the Administration over the settlements issue, with one faction obviously pushing the traditional State Department line. Rumor has it that the White House statement was released not so much as a response to Netanyahu's recent settlement construction announcements, but in response to an unauthorized leak from within the Administration to the Jerusalem Post, which the latter reported Thursday: "The White House warned Israel on Thursday to cease settlement announcements that are 'unilateral' and 'undermining' of President Donald Trump's effort to forge Middle East peace, a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post. For the first time, the administration confirmed that Trump is committed to a comprehensive two-state solution to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict negotiated between the parties." The official White House statement thoroughly rejects the JPost's quote, craftily eliminating both concerns: Trump is not committed to a two-state solution, and he does not consider the settlements an obstacle to peace. Indeed, the White House statement acknowledges the value and validity of the Israeli PM in forging US foreign policy: "The Trump administration has not taken an official position on settlement activity and looks forward to continuing discussions, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits with President Trump later this month." This is tantamount to an Obama statement saying: "The Obama administration will decide on the Iran nuclear deal after continued discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu when he visits to speak to Congress on March 3, 2015." Yes, that's how impossibly big this statement is. It is now entirely up to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Will Netanyahu have what it takes to change forever Israel's future? Will he take full advantage of Trump's invitation to help forge US foreign policy in a way that bolsters the Zionist vision? Will he step back from his Bar Ilan speech, and return to his former, maximalist positions? From the White House statement it appears that the ball is completely in Netanyahu's court. Stephen Leavitt About the Author: Stephen's company, WebAds, builds and manages online newspapers and websites to high volume readership and profitability - including JewishPress.com. See you tomorrow my friends Love Yehuda Lave Rabbi Yehuda Lave Your mailing address Contact Phone Website LIKE TWEET FORWARD You received this email because you signed up on our website or made purchase from us. Unsubscribe