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!!

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Quiz: Use Your Smarts to Answer These IQ Problems and Fixing Noah's drinking problem and Etz Hasade Flour Mill and Shilo Block Settlements

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Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor

Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works  with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money,  and spiritual engagement

Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than in the one where they sprang up. O. W. Holmes

Pay attention to the beauty surrounding you. Anne Lamott

Obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals. — Zig Ziglar


Half the work trhat is done in the world is to make things appear what they are not.--E> R> Beadle

THE FUNCTION OF LEADERSHIP IS TO PROVIDE MORE LEADERS, NOT MORE FOLLOWERS--RALPH NADER

 

Quiz: Use Your Smarts to Answer These IQ Problems

https://www.ba-bamail.com/content.aspx?emailid=33993

6 Places To Visit In 6 Hours In The Western Galilee

When we first got there, I'll admit I was disappointed in the appearance of the unremarkable building from the outside. But step past the heavy wooden front doors and you're in another world: a combination of Old World style (Nahariya was established by German Jewish immigrants in 1935) and modern touches (every room has been lovingly refurbished). While no holiday accommodations in Israel are inexpensive, this is Nahariya, not Tel Aviv, so it won't set you back a month's salary.

We didn't have a lot of time and we didn't want to drive too far from our Nahariya base. Still, we packed in a lot.

Here are the six places we visited in the Western Galilee in just six hours.

  1. Rosh Hanikra

Located as far northwest as you can travel in Israel before you cross into Lebanon, the grottos at Rosh Hanikra are a must-see attraction – and for good reason.

The brisk cable-car ride down is fun even if it's no competition with its Swiss or Norwegian counterparts.

The gushing water in the grottos is exhilarating for kids of all ages.

Beyond the grottos, the train tunnel to nowhere – once a part of a line that connected pre-1948 Palestine with Beirut – evokes a time when the Middle East's borders were more porous.

  1. The Painted House 

Down the road from Rosh Hanikra, a quick turn east on Route 899 takes you to Moshav Shlomi, a sleepy community that has one highly unusual home. The late artist Ofra (Afia) Zacharia painted the interior of her tenement-style apartment in a cartoonish, naïve style with crazy patterns of stripes and colors, with African and Mexican motifs.

An immigrant from Yemen who never learned Hebrew, at 80 years old Zacharia was displaced from the land on which she lived when the moshav decided to expand its industrial zone. Her response: to paint and in the process to tell the story of her life by covering every wall, floor, ceiling and even window with color.

The apartment is in the middle of a residential neighborhood, down several flights of steps and past a nondescript courtyard – blink and you might miss it.

  1. Keshet Cave

Continuing along Route 899, make a left to ascend a twisty road to the top of Park Adamit. There you'll find Keshet Cave, a bold geological dimple with a stunning view of the entire Western Galilee.

Keshet is Hebrew for "arch," which is how the rim of the cave presents. The cave itself is an easy 10-minute walk from the parking lot on a stroller-friendly paved path. When we visited, a tour guide was putting away the ropes he'd just used to help a visiting Birthright group rappel into the depths.

  1. Park Goren

Across Route 899 and very near Keshet Cave, Park Goren is filled with lovely picnic spots and hiking trails. We drove to the top of the hill for a magnificent view of the Montfort Crusader fortress below.

There are several trails that lead from the viewpoint into Nahal Kziv to reach the ruins of the castle. But be wary before you begin: it's a steep descent and an even more challenging hike back up.

  1. Davidson Sculpture Garden

Tucked deep into Kibbutz Eilon, between Adamit and Goren parks, Ruth and Meir Davidson have created a quiet garden of some 300 mosaic-covered sculptures, representing all manner of creatures real and make-believe – including a wide variety of totem sculptures and mosaic masks – created over a 50-year span.

There's a gallery and a lively aviary nearby (which makes it not quite as contemplative as the Davidsons may have envisioned). It's free to wander as long as you'd like.

  1. Buza

Summer in the Western Galilee means temperatures in the mid-30s Celsius and, if you're along the coast, bucket-drenching humidity. Which makes it the perfect season for ice cream.

And the most perfect ice cream in the region is at Buza, a joint venture between Adam Ziv, a Jew from Kibbutz Sasa, and Alaa Sweetat, a local Muslim. The flagship shop of the growing chain is in the mixed Jewish-Arab town of Ma'alot-Tarshiha. (Workshops and tours are available at the Buza Visitors Center at Kibbutz Sasa).

Buza simply means "ice cream" in Arabic, but there's nothing simple about the all-natural creative flavors on tap. My favorite: a salted cashew caramel with coconut. My wife had vegan chocolate in a halva-flavored cone.

The ice cream containers are closed with a lid – something I've never seen before (every other establishment openly displays its colorful swirls to entice shoppers) – presumably to seal in the freshness in Buza's preservative-free concoctions.

If you have time for more…

There are oodles of Western Galilee attractions that we didn't get a chance to visit – the Alto goat farm and brunch spot, several local wineries, the Malka beer brewery in Yehiam, the burgers at Moshav Meona and chef restaurants.

And of course, there's the old city of Acre, where you could easily spend a full day exploring its subterranean delights. We did so the next day on our way back to Jerusalem.

But we wanted to finish early enough to catch the sunset from the beach at Achziv – a picturesque shoreline, not too crowded, with free parking, no entrance fee, a well-stocked snack bar and a section of luxury "glamping" tents for those who prefer to overnight in style.

As the sun dipped behind the clouds, we reflected on a near-perfect day, capping off 31 years together. The only question left: Where will we go to celebrate next year? 

 

Full Story (ISRAEL21c)

Etz Hasade Flour Mill and Shilo Block Settlements

On the first day of Chul Amoud Sukkot 2019 (5780), we memorialize Ruthy Breener by going to the Shomron. We see the Kush Shilo and the most interesting Kosher Ground stone flour mill in Israel.

Buy Fresh Unsold Food From Restaurants; Save Money And Waste

For Itzhak Molcho, the new Israeli app SpareEat is a win-win: He gets a meal from one of his favorite restaurants in Tel Aviv at half price, while simultaneously preventing perfectly good meals from going in the garbage.

"I saw a post about SpareEat on Facebook as a way to save food in Israel. I downloaded it and used it two times in a row the first week. It was convenient and not complicated to use," says Molcho, 31. "You feel you are part of something big. It gives you a consciousness about the issue of throwing away food."

It was this issue that motivated Elie Fischer and his cousin, Laetitia Jessner, to launch SpareEat in August.

Working in the hospitality industry in France and Israel, they were upset to see how much surplus food hotels and restaurants trash every day.

They found a few smartphone apps in Europe that enable people to purchase unsold food from local establishments. With their own funds, they built SpareEat for Israel with the goal of simplifying the transaction for both businesses and customers.

SpareEat was launched for iOS and Android in August, starting with 16 restaurants, hotels, bakeries, grocery stores and cafés in Tel Aviv. By September 1, about 2,000 people had already downloaded the app and additional businesses are in the pipeline.

"From the business side, it is all about reducing food waste, increasing revenues, bringing in new customers and bringing a fresh and eco-friendly image to the brand. From the customer side, it is all about reducing food waste and at the same time buying fresh and good food at a very reduced price," Fischer tells ISRAEL21c.

Participating businesses make up predefined boxes containing single portions of items often left unsold.

For example, the Vietnamese restaurant from which Molcho got his meal offers a box containing spring rolls and bobun salad or the special of the day plus salad. A supermarket might offer a tuna salad, pastry assortment and fresh fruit.

The app's dashboard allows the business to check and confirm orders and pick-up times, adjust the contents of the boxes if necessary, and track sales statistics. SpareEat earns a commission from the business for each transaction.

For customers, the free app uses geolocation to display nearby participating businesses. The minimum retail value of each box is shown along with the price to be paid, which can be as much as half off.

"You can buy as many boxes as are available. You order and pay directly on the app and simply go to pick up the box at the specified time," says Fischer.

The app also brings food establishments to the attention of users. Molcho, for instance, purchased surplus cookies via SpareEat from a café he'd never frequented before. He was happy with the quality so he's likely to go again.

The app was built in English because SpareEat's founders have plans to expand outside of Tel Aviv and even outside of Israel. SpareEat was one of six finalists in the Strauss Group/EIT Foods Startup Competition at FoodTechIL in Tel Aviv on September 23.

Meanwhile, the app is making a small but important dent in the amount of food wasted in Israel.

Israeli institutions such as workplaces, hotels, restaurants, schools, hospitals, catering halls and army bases toss out some 507 million pounds of food annually, representing 30% of institutional food consumption, worth approximately $1 billion. About half of all discarded food is fit to eat.

That information comes from a report released last year by Leket Israel, a nonprofit that rescues fresh surplus agricultural produce and cooked meals. About 200 partner organizations distribute the rescued food to 175,000 needy Israelis every week.

Fischer says SpareEat is hoping to do some type of collaboration with Leket.

Meanwhile, he sees the SpareEat app as potentially powerful tool in avoiding food waste. "A win-win-win situation, basically, for the planet, customers and businesses," he says.

For more information, click here.

 

Full Story (ISRAEL21c)

Fixing Noach's Drinking Problem by Rabbi Sprecher

Why is wine so essential to Judaism? All of our sacred occasions are accompanied by the drinking of wine. During Kiddush, Havdala, Weddings, Sheva Brachot, Brit Mila and the 4 Cups on Pesach wine is required. Why??

To find the answer we must look into the Talmud. The Talmud discusses the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, wondering what type of fruit it was (Berachot 40a, Sanhedrin 70 a-b). Three opinions are presented.

According to one opinion, the forbidden fruit was wheat. This suggestion is innovative since wheat stalks are not normally considered trees.

Another opinion in the Talmud states that the forbidden fruit was a fig, for it was a fig leaf that was later used to cover Adam and Eve's nudity (see Bereshit 3:7). According to this approach, the very item that brought about the spiritual downfall of the first human couple was sewn together to cover up their embarrassing state.

At the root of this approach is the idea that the same object can be used to wreak destruction as well as to repair all that is wrong. It is in this vein that the prophet tells us that in the Messianic Era the sharp metal of the deadly sword will be made into plows for preparing the land to provide sustenance to all mankind. (See Yeshayahu 2:4).

According to the first opinion cited in the Talmud, the forbidden fruit in Gan Eden was a grape vine, since it is always wine that is the source of human misery. To prove this contention, the Talmud cites the passage where Noach partook of wine and became drunk (see Bereshit 9:2).

Noach and his family came out of the Ark to a new, idyllic world. All evil had been destroyed, and what remained was pure. Noach quickly began life anew by working the cleansed land and planting a vineyard. The produce of this vineyard was made into wine, and when Noach drank and became intoxicated, his behavior and that of his son, Cham, was grossly inappropriate. Thus the new beginning - just like G‑d's initial program – was sullied by wine.

While the Talmud doesn't quote this, another biblical episode provides a similar lesson (see Bereshit 19:30-36). After Lot and his daughters escaped the destruction of Sodom, they reached the safety of a cave. The two girls mistakenly believed that the entire world had been destroyed. In a desperate move, they conclude that they must have children by their father to ensure the continuation of humanity.

Yet, how could a father agree to such a depraved and immoral act? The solution suggested by the older daughter and implemented by the two women is to get Lot so drunk on wine that he would be oblivious to any sin that he committed. This decadent plan succeeded, and both daughters became pregnant by their very own father!

Thus, in an attempt to reverse this tragic trend, at every Sabbath and Yom Tov we seek to repair the initial damage from the Garden of Eden. Wine should no longer be a tool that brings about grief and sin. Instead, wine should be used in the service of spiritual growth and sanctification.

All G‑d's creations are tools for bringing G‑dliness into this physical world. Despite the woeful history of wine, we do not abstain from this hazardous drink. We seek to sanctify wine on occasions of potential spiritual growth.

Instead of relegating wine to the annals of vice and sin, it is elevated to open each and every Jewish ritual service, proudly announcing that physical objects have neutral value. We choose how to employ G-d's creations and write their history. Will they be recorded as tools of corruption and sin or as objects of holiness that repair this broken world? (TIKUN OLAM)

G‑d created the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil. We choose and decide whether Knowledge is to be used for good or evil. A classic example is the internet, which contains evil, or www.rabbisprecher.com. You make the Call!

See you tomorrow, bli neder

Love YehduaLave

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202

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