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!!

Sunday, October 4, 2020

Trump's message from the hospital and 12 Sukkot customs you should understand and The Legacy of Heart Mountain-Dachau Liberation by a Japanese American and Map of Acre prison was leaked to Irgun, enabling them to storm the fortress and Woman in Australia Arrested in Her Home For Facebook Post Promoting Anti Lock-down Protest and Israeli authorities arrest a young man for trying to blow Shofar on Temple Mount and enjoy this second day of Chol Amoud Sukkot

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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

Trump's message from the hospital
Daily news
Israeli authorities arrest a young man for trying to blow Shofar on Temple Mount

On Shabbat the first day of Rosh Hashana- Yom Trua the Israeli authorities violently arrested a young man for trying to blow Shofar on Temple Mount.

Please partnet with us ShalomJerusalem.org to change facts on the mount

Join the Global campaign

#Let_the_Shofar_Blow_on_Zion

ShalomJerusalem.org/shofar

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The Legacy of Heart Mountain-Dachau Liberation by a Japanese American

The doc reveals a chapter in American history the US Government spent decades trying to hide. When the Dachau Concentration Camp was liberated by the US military in 1943, the Jewish inmates were confused by the look of their liberators. The first faces they saw were Japanese-American. A highly decorated unit, the 522nd, made up of Japanese American soldiers were the first to liberate Dachau. Good luck finding that in the history books!

"The Legacy of Heart Mountain" is an Emmy Award-winning documentary about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII.

"The Legacy of Heart Mountain"
Produced by David Ono & Jeff MacIntyre, Content Media Group
©2015 Content Media Group, LLC

Map of Acre prison was leaked to Irgun, enabling them to storm the fortress

Great-nephew of an engineer, Peres Etkes, reveals how his uncle concluded
that "unless they had the map there was no way to get prisoners out."

The family of a British civil servant has revealed the secret behind one of the most well-known incidents in the history of Palestine during the British Mandate period – the storming of the Acre prison in 1947 by Irgun fighters.

Gil Margulis, the great-nephew of the engineer who designed the upgrade to the fortress that was originally built by the Crusaders around nine hundred years ago, revealed to The Guardian this week that his great-uncle, Peres Etkes, leaked the plans of the fortress to the Irgun. "They had the plans of the whole prison from the guy who made it," he explains. "They had a lot of insider information – they had the exact plans."

Etkes was a Russian Jew and US citizen and in 1947 he was working for the British forces in what was then Palestine. Unknown to the British, Etkes was also an ardent Zionist whose most fervent dream was to see a Jewish state established in the ancient Jewish homeland. When the opportunity arose to do something concrete toward this goal, Etkes seized it. He later told his niece that he had revealed the plans of the Acre prison to the Irgun "because the prison was like a fortress, and unless they had the map, there was no way to get out."

Indeed, the Irgun had already surveilled the site, and had reached the conclusion that unless the prisoners knew how to reach the south wall of the prison, any plan to rescue them was doomed to failure. Now, supplied with the map of the prison, the Irgun formulated a plan and appointed a team to carry it out.

At the time there were 163 Jews being held in the Acre prison (60 from the Irgun, 22 from Lehi, five from Haganah, and the rest felons). According to Yehuda Lapidot's The Irgun: A Short History, the organization decided that only 41 could be freed, as it was too difficult to find hiding places for so many men. They managed to smuggle explosives inside, hidden in pots of jam, and on Sunday, May 4, 1947, they set out in a convoy of vehicles, disguised as British soldiers.

At 4:22 that afternoon, a huge explosion blasted through the south wall of the prison. Those prisoners chosen to escape put their plans into action, fleeing in separate groups. Many were captured, but 27 did succeed in making a getaway – 20 from the Irgun and seven from Lehi. Nine fighters were killed in battle with the British, and five of the attacking fighters were captured. Three were sentenced to death, as they had been captured while armed; the other two were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Although the unanimous conclusion, expressed by a British MP in the House of Commons, was that "the events at Acre prison … reduced British prestige to a nadir," Margulis insists that his uncle's actions weren't "an anti-British thing … For him, building the country was a big thing, and he was simply able to do that with the empire putting resources in" – albeit unwittingly, of course.

All the same, Etkes never sought to take any credit for his deeds. After all, "for the rest of his life, he had a nice British pension," Margulis points out. "I think he said that he didn't want to jeopardize that for a little news credit. It's not mentioned anywhere for that very reason."

Woman in Australia Arrested in Her Home For Facebook Post Promoting Anti Lock Down Protest

Zoe Buhler is a 28 year old pregnant mother who lives just outside of Melbourne, Australia. She was handcuffed in her own living room on Wednesday afternoon and charged with "incitement" after officers entered her private property (with a search warrant) and began reading Buhler her rights, Daily Mail reported

Buhler made a Facebook post that allegedly incited a "anti-lockdown protest" in Victoria. "Anyone from Ballarat please join us in our fight for freedom and human rights!" she wrote on the page.

"Excuse me, incitement for what, what on Earth? I'm in my pajamas, my two kids are here. I have an ultrasound in an hour because I'm pregnant." She insisted she hadn't broken any law by putting up the post and offered one more than one occasion to simply take the post down, Zero Hedge explained

Actually you are, that's why we're arresting you in relation to incitement," the officers told her. Meanwhile, her boyfriend also tried to offer up some common sense, stating: "How about she just doesn't do the event? It's not like she's done it, she made a post.

You've already committed the offense," police responded.

In addition to arresting the pregnant mother over a Facebook post, police then informed her that they had a search warrant and that they needed to seize and confiscate all electronic devices in her home.

Friends of Buhler weighed in to the Daily Mail, stating: "This is absolutely disgusting!! Why don't they do their job and catch some real criminals. This fear mongering is ridiculous.

12 Sukkot Customs You Should Know

By Menachem Posner

Sukkot is a holiday brimming with mitzvot. For seven days, the sukkah, a hut covered with branches, becomes the center of our lives. There we light holiday candles, enjoy festive meals, and take the four kinds. On the first two days (or one day in Israel) we desist from work. And of course, it's followed by the joyous holiday of Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah.

Sukkot is also blessed with beautiful and meaningful customs, each of which adds to the unique festivity of this holiday. Join us as we explore a sampling of these customs, ranging from ubiquitous to virtually unknown.

1. Midnight Construction

While the sukkah may be constructed anywhere from several weeks to just a few hours before the holiday, the Code of Jewish Law records the custom to begin building the sukkah the evening after Yom Kippur. Don't feel up to hauling boards and banging nails at midnight? You can fulfill this custom by doing something small to get the ball rolling, like getting your tools out, or even by verbally planning your sukkah construction project.

2. Ushpizin: Welcoming 7 Invisible Guests

Ushpizin is Aramaic for "guests," a reference to the seven supernal guests, "founding fathers" of the Jewish people, who come to visit us in the sukkah, one for each of the seven days of the festival: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph and David.

Every day another of the guests leads the otherworldly entourage, and many have the custom to welcome them in with special prayers and poems. Others go so far as to light seven candles each night to honor the ushpizin, and even put out empty chairs for them. And many, such as those who follow Chabad tradition, weave the ushpizin of the day into the Torah thoughts and stories they choose to share in the sukkah with their family and (flesh-and-blood) guests.

3. Dipping Challah Bread into Honey

Dipping challah into honey is most closely associated with Rosh Hashanah. However, many continue with this practice as long as our fate for the coming year has not been entirely sealed—through Shabbat shuvah, the pre- and post-Yom Kippur feasts, and even on Sukkot.

Besides, what's not to like about some extra sweetness?

4. Simchat Beit Hashoeva: Dancing in the Streets

In the times of the Holy Temple, there was the unique custom of pouring water onto the altar every day of Sukkot, accompanied by great fanfare, including torch-lit dancing and juggling that lasted all night, culminating in a parade to the river where the water was drawn. Today, many have the custom to sing and dance every night of Sukkot in commemoration. The Rebbe encouraged that these celebrations spill out into the streets "until the streets themselves dance along."

During the coronavirus, these are to be conducted in a socially distant manner or at home with one's close family members.

5. Hoshanot: Parading Around the Synagogue

Also in Temple times, every day of Sukkot the priests would "place willow branches alongside the altar, with the heads of the willow branches bent over the altar" to add joy to the holiday. The priests would then sound the shofar, circle the altar once, and say, Ana Hashem hoshiah na. Anah Hashem hatzlichah na ("Please, G‑d, bring us salvation. Please, G‑d, bring us success"). On the last day of Sukkot, known as Hoshana Rabbah, "the Great Hoshana," the priests would circle the altar seven times.

This birthed the custom of circling the Torah reading platform as part of the morning service, while holding the lulav and etrog, and saying a litany of prayers built on the prayers said in the Holy Temple.

6. Beautifying the Sukkah

Many have the custom to decorate their sukkahs with all kinds of creative works of Judaic arts, fruit, and more.

Some have the custom of fashioning "birds" out of eggshells covered with feathers and hanging them in their sukkahs. Several explanations are given. One is that the person can contemplate the "bird," replete with plumage, and recognize that it is hollow inside. In the same way, even after we have done so much to purify ourselves on Yom Kippur, we must wonder if we have truly changed, or are we just hollow eggshells covered in feathers?

Others have the custom of stringing up 91 (!) apples, since the numerical value of the word sukkah (ס=60, ו=6, כ=20, ה=5) is 91 (60+6+20+5=91).

Not up to decorating eggs or hanging apples? You'll be relieved to know that the Chabad custom is to hang nothing at all in the sukkah, but to beautify it by selecting high-quality materials and covering it with ample schach (foliage).

7. "Sukkah Hopping"

In communities where many people have sukkahs, there is a fun Sukkot afternoon activity, whereby children or adults visit sukkah after sukkah, enjoying the opportunity to say the sukkah blessings and taste a treat in each one before continuing on their journey.

During the pandemic, many will forgo this fun tradition, or make sure to do so in a covid-safe manner, with pre-packaged treats, allowing only one family to enter at a time, etc.

8. Driving Sukkah Mobiles

In an effort to bring Sukkot to as many people as possible, someone had the bright idea of mounting a sukkah on the back of a pickup truck, and the Sukkah Mobile was born. Sukkah Mobiles (and their baby sisters, Pedi-Sukkahs) are now an integral part of holiday observance from New York to New Zealand and everywhere in between.

As the coronavirus keeps many sequestered at home, and large-scale sukkah gatherings are impossible, the Sukkah Mobile has taken a central role in safely bringing the holiday observance to many who would otherwise be without.

9. Banging Aravot on the Ground

Remember the priests circling the altar mentioned in #5? The seventh day of Sukkot is called Hoshana Rabbah, literally "the Great Hoshana," thus named because there is a greater number of Hoshanot prayers that are recited on this day. It is considered the day on which G‑d's judgment, which was reached on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, is finalized. It is also the day when G‑d judges how much rain we'll receive over the coming year. To recall priests circling the Temple altar seven times on this day, we also circle the synagogue seven times and say additional prayers.

Afterward, there is an ancient custom instituted by the prophets Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi to take a handful of aravot (willow branches), recite a special prayer, and beat them on the ground. According to Kabbalistic tradition, we take a bundle of five aravot in order to sweeten the supernal "five severities." These branches are known as hoshanot.

Some people hold onto these branches and use them as fuel for burning their chametz or for baking matzah before Passover.

10. Staying Up all Night and Eating Apples in Honey

On the night preceding Hoshana Rabbah, many have the custom to remain awake all night learning Torah. Before midnight, we read the Book of Deuteronomy, in which Moses lays out the importance of loving and revering G‑d. After midnight, we read Psalms.

The Chabad custom is for this to be done in the synagogue and for the gabbai (synagogue official) to distribute apples and honey (to be eaten in the sukkah) to all participants.

11. Eating Kreplach

On Hoshanah Rabbah afternoon it is customary to eat a festive meal, replete with challah dipped in honey. Along with the eve of Yom Kippur and Purim, this is one of the three times on the calendar when it is customary to eat kreplach, dough filled with chicken or meat, in chicken soup.

12. Saying 'Goodbye' to the Sukkah

For most purposes, Shemini Atzeret (the holiday that comes right after Sukkot) is considered a separate holiday. However, many in the diaspora have the custom to eat in the sukkah on that day as well, albeit without reciting the blessing beforehand. On Shemini Atzeret afternoon, many head to the sukkah for one final snack, as a way to say farewell to the cherished once-a-year mitzvah in which we are literally embraced by G‑d's presence.

By Menachem Posner

See you tomorrow bli neder

We need Moshiach now

Enjoy this second day of Chol Amoud Sukkot 

Love Yehuda Lave

Yehuda Lave, Spirtiual Advisor and Counselor

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
 Israel

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