Get to Heaven Keep the Seven

Everybody wants spirituality. To be a good person means to walk in G-d's ways. How does that translate to reality? The only guidebook to spirituality that has stood the test of time is the Hebrew Bible. The Bible says that the Jews will be a light onto the nations. But if you are not a born Jew, you have to convert, which is not so easy!! If you do convert, it is a lot of work to be a Jew (three times a day prayer, keeping kosher, observing the Sabbath).

This blog will show you how to be Jewish without the work!!

Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Ten Predictions for the future of Photography and Dov Lipman's views

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Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor

One sign of true healing is when you can think and feel: "I no longer hold others responsible for my feelings. I take responsibility for my own mental health by reminding myself that I am loved, important, and competent."

Love Yehuda Lave

10 predictions for the future of photography

Although after Rosh Hashana, my friend Lenny Solomon teaches about the holiday

Haredi draft law needed to restore the glory of Torah

SEPTEMBER 17, 2017, 2:15

Dov Lipman served as a member of Knesset (2013-2015) with the Yesh Atid party. He is the author of …

When an ultra-Orthodox young man appears before the IDF draft board to receive his exemption from serving in the army, he does not say "I am ultra-Orthodox." He declares that "his Torah study is his trade."

That phrase in Jewish tradition refers to someone who is so dedicated to Torah study that he cannot do anything else. We are talking about unique individuals who separate themselves from the physical world and engage in Torah study alone.

The Talmud teaches that these people are so committed to Torah study that they shouldn't pause their studies for prayer! The great Rabbi Yochanan comments that this category only applies to someone like Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai but it doesn't apply to people like himself. The Talmud relates that many people tried to live in accordance with Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai's way of life in which Torah was his trade and he did not work for a living — and they failed.

The Talmud makes it clear that "Torah is his trade" is a category limited to a select few in each generation. It doesn't apply to the great Rabbi Yochanan, and didn't apply to most of the people in generations filled with the greatest of Torah scholars.

The 400 ultra-Orthodox men whom Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion agreed to exempt from army service fell into this category. These 400 young Torah scholars – constituting 0.07% of the population in Israel at that time – matched the historic tradition of a select few in each generation who studied Torah day and night as their only pursuit.

As time went along, more young men started to learn in yeshiva, and the issue of ever-increasing blanket exemptions for yeshiva boys arose again and again. This ultimately led to a decision in 1975 that limited the number of exemptions to 800 — a ruling that was never adhered to. That small number and percentage of the population exempt from serving has now reached over 60,000, creeping toward 20 percent of all draft-eligible males.

Many have bemoaned the inequality and unfairness of such a high percentage of young men receiving draft exemptions. While I agree with these claims, there is another reason why these numbers are disgraceful: they disgrace the Torah.

The term "his Torah is his trade" is not simply a code word to say "I am ultra-Orthodox." It means that all the person ever wants to do is study Torah. But when every single Haredi who wants to study in yeshiva claims "Torah is my trade" it reduces the meaning of that phrase, and dishonors the glory of Torah.

No one would ever consider exempting 95% of yeshiva boys from prayers due to their non-stop Torah study without distraction. They are not on this level, which has always been reserved for a select few in each generation. Anyone who has spent any time in a yeshiva or kollel knows that most of the young men there do not fall into this category. This is not to say anything negative about them — these fine yeshiva students simply don't spend every moment they have studying Torah.

But more so: the moment every single yeshiva boy claims that "his Torah is his trade," we as a people have lost the meaning and reverence that should be attached to that phrase. And those young men who truly fall under this category — who deserve their exemption from military service and are worthy of the admiration and praise of the entire nation — become instead the subject of the nation's derision amid the controversy surrounding their not serving in the IDF.

The time has come to make a clear distinction between the elite scholars who do nothing other than study Torah, and those yeshiva students who study Torah but have other interests, and do not spend all their time studying Torah.

Those who can truly claim that "his Torah is his trade" should stay in the study halls and reach the highest levels of Torah scholarship imaginable. Their days and nights engrossed in nothing but Torah study should serve as their service to the State of Israel and the Jewish people. And all the rest — the overwhelming majority of students in the Haredi yeshiva system — should study Torah for a few years after high school if they choose to do so, and then serve the country, either in the IDF or National Service.

And this is precisely what the Yesh Atid law passed in 2014 — which the current government cancelled — accomplished. It identified the Torah study of select, elite scholars as their service to Israel, and required those who are not being accurate when declaring "his Torah is his trade" to leave yeshiva after a few years, and serve the country through a variety of service options. Full implementation of this law would put this source of tension between the secular and religious communities to rest, would enable tens of thousands of yeshiva boys to combine Torah study with IDF or National Service, help pave the way for their joining the workforce, and restore the glory of the Torah and the scholars who truly fit the time-honored category of "his Torah is his trade."

Trust is established in the first year of life

Trust in people, oneself and the world is established in the first year of life when a consistently loving mother enjoys being with the baby and responds to his distress with alacrity. Children who are abandoned, abused, rejected or neglected during this crucial first year of life are very likely to have problems trusting that they can love or be loved. An abused, neglected or abandoned child thinks, "I cannot trust that anyone will be there for me. No matter how much they give, I'm sure to be rejected at some point. No matter how nice someone is, the abandonment can come when I least expect it."

Temple Mount to be Closed to Jews on Rosh Hashana and Yom KippurBy Jewish Press News Briefs - 28 Elul 5777 – September 19, 2017

The Hijri, the day Muslims mark the beginning of the Islamic new year and where the only celebration is a day off from school, falls on the same day as Rosh Hashana this year, and this has led to a police decision to close the Temple Mount to Jews for Rosh Hashana, according to the Har HaBayit news site.

In addition, the Temple Mount will also be closed to Jews on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish year, because the Temple Mount is always closed to Jews on Saturdays.

If anything changes between then and now, we'll let you know.

On the anniversary of his death, September 9 watch Zero Mostel's stunning performance of If I Were A Rich Man!

See you Sunday after Yom Kippur

Love Yehuda Lave

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

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