JEWISH WITHOUT THE WORK: Breaking news--When will get our lives back by Tucker Carlson-we Won't! and The Three Forms of Betrothal By Menachem Feldman and largest List of Jewish COVID-19 Victims Released by Chabad.org and Talking to G-d with Rabbi Gil Locks and New York's Big Brother Has Gone Bananas By Jack Cashill and Second thoughts on complying with the mask mandate By Bob Dullard and Yehuda Lave giving two Zoom lectures on September 3 (tomorrow night) and next week September 9 and a picture ofYehuda Lave blowing shofar at the Golden Gate, yesterday and Let the Shofar blow on Jerico! On Friday morning We are going to Jerico with the Army-Join me and will go to Jerico-15 -אלול


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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.

Love Yehuda Lave

Yehuda Lave is giving two Zoom lectures on September 3 (tomorrow night) and next week September 9 for the Root and Branch organization (it has been associated with the OU for many years)

All one has to do is click the Registration link to sign up for the zoom

Rabbi Yehuda Lave: How Rabbis and Halacha have been affected by the Corona Epidemic
Thursday, September 3rd, 2020, 7 PM (Israel Time)
Registration open to anyone anywhere. Will result in an automatic email containing link to join the Zoom talk
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Rabbi Yehuda Lave: Ten Great Stories from the Talmud
About the Talmud
About the Mishnah
About the Gemara
Wednesday, September 9th, 2020, 8:30 PM (Israel Time)
Registration open to anyone anywhere. Will result in an automatic email containing a link to join the Zoom talk

Let the Shofar blow on Jerico!
We go To Jeico with the Army--Join me
15 אלולOn the seventh day...the only day they marched around seven times...on the seventh time, the priests blew the horns...Joshua commanded the people to shout... So...when the Shofars were sounded...the people raised a mighty shout and the wall collapsed. Joshua 6:15-20 (abbrev.)

A call to Arms! You are being summoned to join the Global Shoutto break through and bring down the resistanceprohibiting the Shofar from being sounded on the Temple Mount!

Rabbi Yehudah Glick and his shofar army from Shalom Jerusalem Foundation will join Robert "Shofar So Great" and Erna Covos, "The Lady of Jericho" and founder of Beit Hogla Farm. We will go into Jericho to pray the morning prayers at the old Shalom Al Yisrael synagogue and blow the shofar as Joshua did when this ancient nation was birthed!

Join us on Rabbi Yehudah's Facebook live!* pending wi-fi connectivity

We are encouraging those in the Nations to participate on Elul 12, 5780 with a Shofar blast or shout from wherever you are.

Friday, September 4, 2020, Between 7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m. Israel Daylight Time

Thursday, September 3, 2020, Between 9:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time

It is forbidden by the Israeli government for Israeli Citizens to enter Jericho without a military escort. So we will be accompanied by an Israeli
Defense Forces convoy for our Shofari mission to pray that the walls of resistancefall to bring forth the Temple Mount as a House of Prayer for All Nations.

Previous journeys into Jericho under the protection of the Israeli Defense Forces military convoy!

New York's Big Brother Has Gone Bananas By Jack Cashill

In reading the New York State travel advisory, I am reminded of one of my favorite scenes from a Woody Allen movie, this one from Bananas. Having ascended to power, the dictatorial rebel leader Esposito announces his new rules for San Marcos:

From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. ... In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now...16 years old!

Woody's character Fielding Mellish cracks, "What's the Spanish word for straitjacket?" The Spanish word is camisa de fuerza. The Swedish word is tvångströja. In any language, Gov. Andrew Cuomo surely needs one. It is bad enough that he is running the state by executive order. Worse is that the orders are nuts. If Woody Allen were to make a comic version of 1984, he could model "Big Brother" on Andrew Cuomo.

Last week, I flew into Buffalo. It was my first flight this year into New York, a state in which I have owned a summer cottage for the last 30 years. Coming from Missouri, a state on New York's travel advisory, I had to fill out a two-sided form promising that I would quarantine in place for 14 days. As if.

Missouri has had about 25 COVID-19 deaths per 100,00 people. New York has had about 165. In the western part of Missouri where I live, the rate is considerably lower. No matter. By some perverse calculation, my return to New York threatened to put the state's residents at some elevated risk.

To visit my own cottage, I had to promise not to be in public or otherwise leave the quarters that they have identified as "suitable." These "quarters" — how quaint — had to have "separate bathroom facilities for each individual or family group." More than that, I had to have "access to a sink with soap and water, and paper towels."

Esposito would have been hard pressed to imagine rules this absurd and unenforceable: "Food must be delivered to the individual's quarters"; "Garbage must be bagged and left outside by the door of each of the quarters"; "Individuals should self-monitor for fever and other symptoms of COVID-19 daily."

Big Brother Andy promises that "enforcement teams" will be stationed to "greet disembarking passengers to request proof of completion of the State Department of Health traveler form." He isn't kidding. My flight had no more than 20 people on board, but two officials were waiting at 9:00 P.M. on a Sunday night to collect our letters of transit. The penalty for leaving the airport without completing the form is a $2,000 fine and a mandatory quarantine. Knowing this, I filled mine out. I wrote on it, "Under protest, self-destructive, wasteful, oppressive."

My flight to Denver a week earlier was nearly full, but no one who did not have to come was coming to New York. The state is broke and broken. Yet it can still afford to create this Byzantine bureaucracy and impose it on those who are compelled to visit, even — hang on — those who drive to New York. Decrees Big Brother: "Travelers coming to New York from designated states through other means of transport, including trains and cars, must fill out the form online."

I know a conscientious fellow who did just that. Health authorities contact him every day to check on his progress. My friend was given a choice of call or text. He chose text. At the beginning, he was asked if he needed any help with food or medicine. I asked my friend whether the State delivered pizza. He chose not to inquire. He was afraid they might.

The tourist destinations in the mountain states are thriving. Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks is reportedly doing twice its annual business. New York State is withering. Not since Saddam taunted the U.S. into invading Iraq has the world seen so self-destructive a case of narcissism.

Pay no attention to New York's national dominance in COVID deaths. Nursing homes? What nursing homes? I am convinced that Cuomo imposed the travel advisory to creates the illusion that he has so heroically purged his state of COVID that red-state refugees can only screw things up. I suspect his forthcoming book — American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic — will assure at least the media that this is so. (And who writes a book during a crisis?)

Come what may, Cuomo has an assured place in history. He will be the first head of a state to enact a costly, self-defeating law that absolutely no one will follow and, quite likely, no one will be punished for not following. San Marcos can use a man like that.

Jack Cashill's new book, Unmasking Obama: The Fight to Tell the True Story of a Failed Presidency, is now widely available. Also see www.Cashill.com.

Breaking news--When will get our lives back by Tucker Carlson-we Won't!

For Americans living under coronavirus restrictions, it's a question too rarely asked. In fact it's actively discouraged.

Second thoughts on complying with the mask mandate

By Bob Dullard

I'm writing thus under a pseudonym because it's not about me. Yet I have some unanswered questions regarding compliance with all the recent health fads.

The company I work for falls under the heading of "Essential," so when the Governor of my state issued a "stay at home" order in March, we continued to work, "business-as-usual." It was extended for a total duration of 5-weeks. During that period, we worked without masks or hand-sanitizer.

A few days before the order was lifted, we were told that on the day the order is lifted, wearing of face masks would be mandatory. All my co-workers grumbled: "The state is relaxing its mandate; why are we suddenly tightening-up?" We hadn't needed them for the previous 5 weeks, so many were declaring defiance and refusal to wear one.

Without fanfare, I issued a request to Human Resources:

Re: Face Masks

As a gesture of respect, I am submitting this letter expressing my objection to wearing a face mask as required by the Company, for the sake of clarity and record.

When it was posted that all employees would be required to wear face masks as of Friday, May 1, 2020, my conscience convicted me that the motivation behind the ruling had less to do with safety than it had to do with an outward display of religious submission to the false god of paranoia currently gripping our country.

Compliance with the rule would contradict my religious convictions. It would violate the prohibitions found in both the Old[1] and New[2] Testaments against worshiping false idols[3].

If I believed it was about safety, I would comply, just as I do with the use of other PPE.

To date, my objections have been met with courtesy and respect from all members of management that I have interacted with, having made accommodations for my faith by approving the use of vacation time until a resolution can be arrived at.

I regret any inconvenience my position has caused and express my gratitude for the consideration I have experienced thus far and look forward to continued employment with the Company.

Thank You.

(Signed)

The day the mandate took effect, I took 2 days of vacation to see if it would blow-over. Upon my return, I noticed that all the rebels who were raising a raucous refusing to wear masks were wearing theirs. Without donning one myself, I requested 2 more days' vacation, awaiting approval of my request for absence.

After a week had elapsed, I called an HR representative and asked if they'd received my request.

"Yes."

"Then why haven't I received either approval or denial?"

"Our lawyers can't figure out what to do with you."

"Well then, obviously, you need to hire more lawyers."

Hmm: They've turned it over to legal. I wondered if I should get a lawyer. I told a friend who's a consummate news-junky about my dilemma. He responded, "Bob – you're gonna be famous! Every news item has been about this pandemic 24-7 for weeks. I haven't come across a story from this angle once. You'll be on Hannity before the end of the week."

No. I didn't want to exploit the opportunity for personal gain. It would appear as a shameless publicity stunt and maintaining the appearance of having integrity is sort of important to me. Even at work I was discrete about it, not staging a public protest.

My buddy protested, "Guaranteed, if your name was 'Mohammad' they'd approve your request."

The day before my scheduled return to work, I woke up in the morning and made a decision: Throw in the towel. All the other resistors caved-in. You're not better than anyone else. Everyone else is wearing one. Put one on tomorrow and return to work.

Having put that decision behind me, I poured a cup of coffee and decided to begin my day by spending some time in the Bible. My routine is to pray before I start my day to block-out distracting thoughts. As I prepared to launch into prayer, I perceived a nearly audible, firm, "NO."

"No?" I knew what it meant. "Okay, If I'm not supposed to return to work wearing a mask, what am I supposed to do?" Crickets.

So, I opened my Bible and found myself reading in the book of Esther, the account of Mordecai refusing to bow before Haman (biblically condoned civil disobedience). That was my answer.

My friends and family harangued me for my stance: "You're just being a rebellious child! What are you going to do – quit and go work for some other company that requires you to wear a mask? It's not the company that is requiring it: they posted an order from OSHA. Is this really the hill you want to die on?" I wasn't being rebellious. I was struggling to be obedient to God rather than man.

After 3 weeks of frittering-away my accrued vacation and 2 weeks of voluntarily unpaid quarantine, I decided not to make a spectacle of myself and violated my conscience by acquiescing and returned to work. It wasn't a financial decision: I have sufficient resources to subsist for a substantial duration.

A few weeks later, the Governor mandated wearing of masks anywhere in public. Had I taken my stand for "Conscientious-Objector" status and prevailed, it would have affected the personal freedom of potentially millions of other Americans (other countries don't have constitutionally protected freedom of religious expression).

Churches, emulating my victory, would be able to congregate once again.

That's why this isn't about me. I'm wondering if I didn't drop the ball. What would have happened had I stood my ground? Had I retained an attorney and demanded an answer from the company, what would have transpired? All the company had to do to avoid my appearance on Hannity was approve my request. What repercussions were they afraid of?

(If you're an attorney, please answer that in the comment field below.)

Had the company denied my request, it would have violated the ethics policy they post on their website: requiring an employee to violate their conscience.

I maintain my original position. I continue to violate my conscience in submission to false religion. It's an effort to avoid drawing attention to myself. Is it a legitimate position?

[1] Exodus 20:

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:

14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

[3] 2 Timothy 1:Graphic credit: Public Domain Pictures

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Photo credit: Public Domain Pictures

I'm writing thus under a pseudonym because it's not about me. Yet I have some unanswered questions regarding compliance with all the recent health fads.

Without fanfare, I issued a request to Human Resources:

Re: Face Masks

As a gesture of respect, I am submitting this letter expressing my objection to wearing a face mask as required by the Company, for the sake of clarity and record.

Compliance with the rule would contradict my religious convictions. It would violate the prohibitions found in both the Old[1] and New[2] Testaments against worshiping false idols[3].

If I believed it was about safety, I would comply, just as I do with the use of other PPE.

I regret any inconvenience my position has caused and express my gratitude for the consideration I have experienced thus far and look forward to continued employment with the Company.

Thank You.

(Signed)

After a week had elapsed, I called an HR representative and asked if they'd received my request.

"Yes."

"Then why haven't I received either approval or denial?"

"Our lawyers can't figure out what to do with you."

"Well then, obviously, you need to hire more lawyers."

My buddy protested, "Guaranteed, if your name was 'Mohammad' they'd approve your request."

"No?" I knew what it meant. "Okay, If I'm not supposed to return to work wearing a mask, what am I supposed to do?" Crickets.

So, I opened my Bible and found myself reading in the book of Esther, the account of Mordecai refusing to bow before Haman (biblically condoned civil disobedience). That was my answer.

Churches, emulating my victory, would be able to congregate once again.

(If you're an attorney, please answer that in the comment field below.)

Had the company denied my request, it would have violated the ethics policy they post on their website: requiring an employee to violate their conscience.

I maintain my original position. I continue to violate my conscience in submission to false religion. It's an effort to avoid drawing attention to myself. Is it a legitimate position?

[1] Exodus 20:

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

[2] 1 Corinthians 10:

14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.

[3] 2 Timothy 1:Graphic credit: Public Domain Pictures

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Largest List of Jewish COVID-19 Victims Released by Chabad.org

'Each Person, a World,' pays tribute to 1,200 Jewish COVID-19 victims from around the globe

Chabad.org StaffAugust 20, 2020 4:36 AM

Reality dawned slowly, painfully. In mid-March, it suddenly became clear that the novel coronavirus that first ravaged China, and then parts of Europe, was becoming a global pandemic. Five months later, the death toll remains staggering.

On Aug. 20, Chabad.org published "Each Person, a World," a memorial page paying tribute to the 1,200 Jewish victims of COVID-19 from around the globe, and includes links to obituaries of many. While there are undoubtedly unknown names missing from the list, the project is the most comprehensive Jewish one of its kind and will continue to be updated.

Back in March, as the joyous holiday of Purim approached, and synagogues and Jewish schools around the world made the decision to shut their doors, few could have imagined what the next weeks and months would look like.

Each Person, a World

But within days, it became clear that COVID-19's toll would not just be the halt of communal prayer and gathering, nor the unprecedented and sudden school shutdowns. Something far worse loomed. As the first text messages and social-media posts requesting prayers for people infected with the virus made their rounds, the Jewish community braced itself for the unthinkable. And then it came.

"There was a feeling early on that this wasn't just going to blow over, but then came this deluge of death within the worldwide Jewish community," recalls Motti Seligson, director of media relations for Chabad.org. "When we started seeing message after message stating Baruch Dayan HaEmet ['Blessed Are the True Judge,' traditionally affirmed when receiving the news of a death], it was just overwhelming."

Various segments of the Jewish community have been hit at different times—some earlier and some later, but none have been immune. Month after month, the death toll has mounted. Holocaust survivors, victims of Soviet oppression and war veterans, rabbis and laypeople, community leaders and teachers, Torah scholars and professionals, parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. Lost to an unseen enemy.

Of course, COVID-19's deadly toll is a tragedy that has transcended religion, ethnicity and nationality, and the Jewish community joins with people around the world in mourning the loss of all life. Even now, months later, parts of the globe continue to battle the deadly virus, and the world continues to pray for an end to this plague.

From the beginning of the pandemic, the team at Chabad.org has worked hard to help individuals cope with loss, putting out numerous articles and videos on death and mourning. Among the initiatives has also been its Coronavirus Quarantine Kaddish Service, a special free service allowing anyone around the world without access to a minyan to input the name of a deceased loved one and have the Kaddish prayer said for them.

Yet Seligson still felt something had to be done to memorialize those who have passed. Each and every person lost to the COVID-19 plague represents a full life, a world unto itself. Especially as the numbers tragically grew, Seligson knew that every single name had to be recorded for posterity.

"This plague touches every part of the Jewish community without distinction," says Seligson. "A Jewish memorial for the victims has to do the same. We are one people."

And so even before Passover began, Chabad.org launched "Each Person, a World"—a project to document the name, age and some biographical information about every Jewish person who passed away from COVID-19. At the time, no one knew how big of an undertaking it would end up being.

In the months that followed, Chabad.org staff writer Mendel Super and media associate Tzali Reicher, both Australians who have been stranded Down Under since the beginning of the pandemic, liaised with Jewish community leaders around the world while scouring Jewish community news bulletins, papers and social-media postings to create the most comprehensive list of Jewish victims from the United States, France, Italy, Israel, Morocco and everywhere in between—about 1,200 names to date.

Super and Reicher also wrote hundreds of biographical sketches for those about whom information was accessible. This effort was joined by Chabad.org staff editors Menachem Posner and Dovid Margolin, who penned longer obituaries for figures as diverse as the former chief rabbi of Israel to the leader of an underground network aiding Soviet Jews. Other contributors include Eli Rubin, Mordechai Rubin, Motti Wilhelm and Aharon Loschak.

All those who have passed led lives that can and must be learned from. In the aftermath of any death within the Jewish community, the individual is mourned communally with friends, family and neighbors gathering to share memories of those lost. Due to social distancing and lockdowns, many of those who died during the pandemic were denied a regular funeral, a traditional shiva and even the recital of Kaddish.

The losses have hit the entire Jewish people, no matter which community, level of observance or socio-economic status, underlining the intrinsic unity of the Jewish nation. By publishing all of the names in this special section,Chabad.org hopes to give every one of the departed the honor and dignity they deserve, as well as allow readers to leave well-wishes and condolences.

"We are trying to be as comprehensive as possible," explains Reicher. "But the goal is to get every single name down. No one should be forgotten."

Ultimately, the most important element of memorializing a loved one wrote the Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory—in a Hebrew letter to a family would be the way their offspring lived their lives. For they are "a living monument. Their deeds and behavior in their everyday lives … act as a living inscription on a living monument; the wording of this inscription is in their hands, and only theirs."

May the memory of those who have passed be a blessing for the entire Jewish people and all humankind, and their stories a living legacy for all.

If you have lost someone dear to you, or know someone who has, we invite you to share their story here.

The Three Forms of Betrothal

By Menachem Feldman

The laws of marriage are derived from the Torah portion of Ki Teitzei. The Talmud explains that there are three ways to betroth a woman:

A woman is acquired by (i.e., becomes betrothed to) a man to be his wife in three ways, and she acquires herself (i.e., she terminates her marriage) in two ways. The Mishnah elaborates: She is acquired through money, through a document and through marital relations.

Although this description of marriage may sound legalistic, Judaism's perspective and insight into the profound meaning, beauty, romance and mystery of marriage can be discovered by exploring the meaning behind the seemingly technical details of the law.

There are three ways to betroth a woman, not merely

Marriage has three dimensions

because the Torah would like to give us more options for creating the legal state of marriage, but rather because marriage has three dimensions. Each of the three methods of betrothal express one of the three dimensions of the relationship.

(Practically speaking, even one of the methods of betrothal suffice to usher in all three dimensions of the marriage. In fact, the rabbis prohibited betrothal through intimacy, and it has become the universal custom to betroth through a form of money. Yet, the law offers three forms of betrothal to teach us to be aware of all three dimensions that can be initiated by any one of these forms.)

The first form of betrothal is through money—the groom gives the bride something of monetary value. Money, which is tangible and physical, represents the physical aspects of the relationship. The couple will live under the same roof, eat dinner together, have a joint bank account and file a joint tax return. They will spend time together and enjoy each other's company. Yet, while important, the physical aspect of the relationship is not all there is to marriage.

The second form of betrothal is through writing a legal document. The document itself does not have to have any monetary value; its value is abstract and intangible. The document represents the spiritual aspect of the marriage. The couple will share ideas with each other, and enjoy each other's wit, wisdom and point of view.

Betrothal by document reminds us that marriage is more than just living together; marriage is about creating a bond between two souls (or, as the mystics say: reuniting two halves of the same soul).The document represents the soul connection that is established (or reestablished) through marriage.

The third form of betrothal, marital intimacy, represents the ultimate goal of

Intimacy is considered a holy experience

marriage. In Judaism, intimacy in the context of a sacred marriage is considered a holy experience, for it is a fusion of body and soul. It is when the first two dimensions of marriage, the physical unity and the spiritual unity, merge. The physical union expresses the deepest spiritual bond.

The marriage of man and woman is a reflection of the spiritual marriage between G‑d, the groom, and the Jewish people, the bride. Perhaps we can add that our relationship with G‑d is also expressed through these three forms of betrothal: 1) betrothal by money: G‑d blesses us with our physical life, health and necessities, allowing us to enjoy our physical life on earth; 2) betrothal by document: we enjoy a spiritual connection with G‑d, by studying His document, His Torah, which contains the mysteries of His deepest thoughts; and 3) betrothal by intimacy: the ultimate expression of our connection with G‑d is through performing a mitzvah. For the physical act of the commandment is an act of intimacy with G‑d, whereby our body and soul become one with His infinity.1

FOOTNOTES

1. Adapted from Binyan Adei Ad, by Rabbi Yosef Karasik.