Breaking news: Experts believe there will be no long-term side effects to the mRNA vaccines and Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Vindicates Shmita Land Sale Permits, Contradicting Religious Zionist RabbisBy David Israel and The Jews Who Designed And Built The Golden Gate Bridge By Saul Jay Singer and Jewish Community Donates Over A Million Dollars Worth Of Aid For Haiti

View in browser 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 Join my blog by sending me an email to YehudaLave@gmail.com The Three Musketeers at the Kotel Experts believe there will be no long-term side effects to the mRNA vaccines. Israeli experts analyze mRNA COVID vaccines long-term effects As thousands of Israelis rush back to their health funds in search of a third COVID-19 vaccine shot and a Green Pass from isolation after traveling abroad, others are asking if another injection of messenger RNA is safe.The American Food and Drug Administration provided full approval of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine last week, but noted in its press release that "information is not yet available about potential long-term health outcomes."However, Tal Brosh, head of the Infectious Disease Unit at Samson Assuta Ashdod University Hospital, told The Jerusalem Post that while he cannot claim to know what is going to happen in 10 years, "there is no true reason to think there are any significant long-term effects" of the vaccine. He explained that there is no other vaccine that was evaluated for a decade before approval and that there is not an example of another vaccine – although no other vaccine is an mRNA vaccine – that has been linked to any significant long-term effects."There is no evidence of something happening unless it happened in the first two hours, two weeks or two months," said Michal Linial, a professor of biological chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "We do not know of any other examples in which the immune system decided to suddenly react to a vaccine that was given 15 years prior."THERE ARE also few examples of people being nervous about taking a booster shot of an already approved vaccine.If a person were to get cut by rusted metal and go to a doctor, the health professional would probably tell that individual to get a tetanus booster shot. It is unlikely this person would ask the doctor if the booster was safe or if it could prevent her from getting pregnant or him from making babies. This is the same thing," Linial said. "I can understand in the beginning that this was a breakthrough and people were shocked, like it is some kind of satellite to the Moon and they don't want to be the first on the satellite. But now we know: This is nothing like that."Rather, more than two billion people worldwide have been inoculated against COVID-19 with more than five billion doses. Around 210 million Pfizer mRNA doses have been distributed in America, for example. In Israel, more than 8.5 million doses have been administered.While traditional vaccines generally put a weakened or inactivated germ into our bodies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, mRNA vaccines "teach our cells how to make a protein – or even just a piece of a protein – that triggers an immune response inside our bodies. That immune response, which produces antibodies, is what protects us from getting infected if the real virus enters our bodies."Brosh said that this does not mean that the vaccine changes people's genetic code. Rather, he said the mRNA is more like a USB device that is inserted into a computer: It does not impact the hard drive of the computer but runs a certain program."Messenger RNA is a very fragile molecule, meaning it can be destroyed very easily," Linial explained. "If you put mRNA on the table, for example, in a minute there will not be any mRNA left. This is as opposed to DNA, which is as stable as you get."She said that this fragility is true of the mRNA of any living thing, whether it belongs to a plant, bacteria, virus or human. A WOMAN receives a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, at Meuhedet vaccination center in Jerusalem, last week. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)WHILE THE Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are based on new technologies, they are asking our bodies to do something they do every day: cells synthesizing protein.Moderna and Pfizer are simply delivering a specific mRNA sequence to our cells. Once the mRNA is in the cell, human biology takes over. Ribosomes read the code and build the protein, and the cells express the protein in the body.This is one of the main reasons to believe there will be no long-term consequences to the vaccine, said Prof. Eyal Leshem, director of Sheba Medical Center's Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Diseases.While the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are the first mRNA ones to ever be brought to market for human patients, Linial said she believes the reason that no mRNA vaccine has been developed until now is because there was just no need to move this fast on a vaccine until COVID-19 came along.In fact, scientists have been experimenting with mRNA for the better part of the last three decades. Leshem said mRNA vaccines for other diseases, including cancer, have been tested in humans for around 10 years and "no long-term effects were registered" in those trials – though he admitted that these trials generally included small numbers of participants.Individuals began receiving mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 as early as July of last year, and adverse effects have been closely tracked worldwide since then.In Israel, the first vaccines were administered on December 20, 2020."There is more data on the adverse events of these vaccines than we have ever had on any other vaccine," Brosh said, adding that no vaccine has ever been given to so many people so quickly.Most adverse events were simple "reactogenicity" – reactions that occur soon after vaccination and that are a physical manifestation of the inflammatory response. These can include fever, muscle pain, swelling at the site of injection or swelling of the lymph nodes, for example – all symptoms that can generally be treated with paracetamol or the like.THE VACCINE was linked to one "immune-mediated phenomenon," said Brosh, and that is myocarditis – inflammation of the heart muscle – which was the predominant serious side effect in young male adults between the ages of 16 and 25. But even then, myocarditis was rare, generally mild, and those people who developed it fully recovered, he said.Moreover, unvaccinated people who contracted COVID-19 were four times more likely to develop myocarditis than vaccinated people were, according to a new study by Clalit Health Services together with Harvard University that was published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine.The study found that there were around 2.7 cases of myocarditis per 100,000 vaccinated people infected with the virus, compared with 11 cases per 100,000 unvaccinated people who were infected.In general, the study showed that individuals who take the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine may suffer from four out of up to 25 clinically relevant side effects: myocarditis, swelling of the lymph nodes, appendicitis and herpes zoster.In contrast, high rates of multiple serious adverse events were associated with coronavirus infection among unvaccinated patients, including a greatly increased risk of developing myocarditis, pericarditis, arrhythmias, heart attacks, strokes, pulmonary embolism, deep-vein thrombosis or acute kidney damage."So, all together we know the vaccines are safe and effective. This holds true for the initial doses and probably also for the booster doses," Leshem said.Linial said she believes that most future vaccines will be made of mRNA because "it is an easy, great technology – no question."She also said that vaccination is the only way to beat this pandemic."If people want to go back to their lives," Linial said, "the population must be vaccinated." Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Vindicates Shmita Land Sale Permits, Contradicting Religious Zionist Rabbis By David Israel As the year of shmita, also called the sabbatical year, is approaching, Jerusalem's chief rabbi, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, last week came out in support of the "heter mechira"—the mechanism devised in the late 19th century by the Russian posek Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor under which the Holy Land could be sold to a non-Jew for the duration of the sabbatical year through a trust agreement. Rabbi Stern called on Israeli consumers to continue buying their fruits and vegetables from Jewish farmers who have sold their plots to Gentiles through the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Rabbi Stern's call followed letters from "srugim" rabbis, who prefer the Tosefta-designed device of Otzar Beit Din (storehouse of the rabbinical court) – a community-based rabbinical court that supervises the harvest by hiring workers to crop, store, and distribute food to the community. Community members pay the court, but the payment is seen as compensation for the court's trouble and not for purchasing the food. The court then passes the money to the farmers. Both methods were devised as legal fictions to go around the literal wording of the mitzvah of shmita (Leviticus 25:4), which states: "But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for God: you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard." The land sale solution means the farmer no longer owns his land, so that the field he sows and the vineyard he prunes are not his. The rabbinical court solution also takes the land out of the farmer's hands. Religious Zionist rabbis have been advocating for the Otzar Beit Din option because it does not involve the fictitious undoing of the Zionist enterprise by handing the land back to the gentiles after returning from the diaspora. Supporters of the wholesale sale of the land point to the fact that the most revered Religious Zionist scholar, Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, supported it. Rabbi Stern addressed all the residents of Jerusalem in his letter, saying: "On the eve of the year of the Shmita that comes upon us for good, I would like to announce that this year, too, the sale permit has been arranged by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, as instructed by the great ones of the generations, led by our great teacher Rabbi Kook Ztz'l. Therefore everyone can buy the agricultural produce that has the certificates of sale, and it is permissible without any apprehension and doubt." The land sale ceremony ahead of the shmita year took place last week at the Chief Rabbinate, as 6,200 farmers from all over the country signed a sale permit with the Chief Rabbinate's shmita inspectors. The sale permit allows the sale of their land to a non-Jew in the shmita year so that they can perform the four agricultural labors forbidden by the Torah during the shmita: plowing, planting, pruning, and harvesting. At the ceremony, the sale permit for one year was signed by Wesley Schmidt, a resident of the State of Israel who follows the Seven Laws of Noah, which will allow farmers to continue to cultivate their land even during the shmita year. The farmers will be issued marketing permits they will use to market their produce as kosher during the shmita year. The Seven Laws of Noah include prohibitions against worshiping idols, cursing God, murder, adultery, and sexual immorality, theft, eating flesh torn from a living animal, as well as the obligation to establish courts of justice. Jewish Community Donates Over A Million Dollars Worth Of Aid For Haiti The Jewish Community bringing relief to Haiti after the 2021 earthquake. Working together with local Haitian organization and their counterparts in Haiti. NY's Jewish Community working together to bring relief to Haiti after the 2021 earthquake. NYS Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein (D-Brooklyn), Rockland County Legislator Aaron Weider (D-Spring Valley), and Alexander Rapaport, ED of Masbia Soup Kitchen Network, together with community and faith leaders of the Haitian community will announce the launch of a drive for Haiti relief. The drop off for needed items at the local Haitian social service organization who plan to travel to Haiti with the supplies, Konbit Neg Lakay, 16 East Church St. Spring Valley, New York 10977. Those all over America who want to join can go to masbiarelief.org/haiti and buy much needed items from the Amazon Wish List or make a tax-deductible donation and help pay for the shipping and travel costs, as well as buying needed supplies. Many partnerships are still in the process of being made. Over a million dollars worth of hand sanitizer, surface wipes, and shelf-stable food has already been pledged to this effort by members of the Jewish community. The Jews Who Designed And Built The Golden Gate Bridge By Saul Jay Singer Before the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, the only practical short route between San Francisco and what is now Marin County was by boat across a section of San Francisco Bay. Ferry service began in about 1820 but, with San Francisco emerging as a major American city, its further growth and development was being stymied by the fact that the city was still reachable primarily by the ferry boats. For many decades, the feasibility of building a bridge across the Bay was doubted by experts, who noted, among other issues, the strong winds blowing across San Francisco Bay; the powerful currents and tides in the Bay and the 500-foot depth at its center; the frequently blinding fog that would make construction particularly difficult; and the fact that it would have to span the greatest distance ever. Moreover, they claimed, even if all these issues could somehow be resolved, raising sufficient funds for this unprecedented project would be impossible. Advertisement Enter Joseph Baermann Strauss (1870-1938), an American structural engineer who revolutionized the design of bascule bridges (which used a pivoting section that was raised and lowered using expensive counterweights to create clearance for boat traffic). He was also a poet who became a well-known businessman and supporter of the Jewish community in San Francisco. Born into a German-Jewish family in Cincinnati, Strauss's father was a writer and painter and his mother was a classical pianist. His original career plans were to follow in his parents' steps and become a writer and a concert performer, but his career path took an unexpected and serendipitous turn while he was attending the University of Cincinnati. Strauss's interest in bridges began when the 5'3" undergraduate, manifesting the determination for which he would later become renowned, had the brashness – and, as it turned out, the foolishness – to try out for the University football team and sustained injuries so serious that he had to be hospitalized. Looking out through the window of his hospital room, he was taken by the beauty of the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge, which spanned the Ohio River and connected Covington, Kentucky, with Cincinnati. Completed in 1866, it was then the longest suspension bridge in history. (Roebling became particularly renowned as the designer of the Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883.) Strauss's senior thesis at the University of Cincinnati, which he graduated with a degree in civil engineering in 1892, was a proposed 55-mile railroad bridge across the Bering Strait. (In 1907, Tsar Nicholas II actually approved the project for construction, which was estimated to cost $300 million, but World War I intervened.) His first position was at a firm that specialized in building movable bascule bridges, but he set out on his own and founded the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company of Chicago in 1904. Before becoming involved with the design and construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, Strauss was involved in the design and construction of over 400 drawbridges. His aereoscope, which was based upon the same principle as his folding bridge, lifted passengers 265 feet up on a car balanced on a 380-ton counterweight and was the highlight of the 1915 Panama-American Exposition in San Francisco. The first meaningful design for a bridge across San Francisco Bay did not actually come from Strauss but rather from James Wilkins, a structural engineering student, who published an article in the San Francisco Bulletin in 1916 touting the possibility of building such a bridge. After M. M. O'Shaughnessy, the San Francisco city engineer, estimated that the cost of implementing Wilkins's proposal would exceed $100 million, he consulted with Strauss, already a renowned bridgebuilder. Strauss responded that his own bridge design, which proposed an enormous cantilever (a long projecting beam fixed at one end) on each side of the Bay connected by a central suspension segment, could be built for $17 million. After conducting lengthy studies and analyses, Strauss submitted his preliminary sketches in 1921. Although this first proposed design was rejected by almost everyone – the press referred to it as "an upside rat cage" – local authorities agreed to commence the project with Strauss, but only after receiving his assurance that he would consult with other experts and agree to adopt a suspension bridge design. Unwilling to accept failure, he retained a number of exceptional consultants to work with him, which yielded a new design for a suspension bridge that critics characterized as "engineering as high art." The Golden Gate Bridge under construction Opposition to the bridge project, which was massive and often hostile, came from many quarters. The War Department feared that the bridge could be blown up by saboteurs, thereby effectively blocking American warships and commercial trade from passing through the harbor. (The Department, which controlled the relevant land and the strait, did not issue its final approval for the bridge construction until August 11, 1930.) Powerful and influential unions demanded ironclad assurances that its local workers would receive most of the construction jobs, and the Sierra Club and other environmentalists complained that the steel towers would forever mar the pristine landscape. Significant opposition also came from the powerful Southern Pacific Railroad, which opposed the bridge because it would take business away from its ferry fleet and destroy many ferryman jobs. The railroad commenced litigation that tied Strauss up in knots for six years, until he finally prevailed in the United States Supreme Court on July 31, 1932. It was common in 1920s and 1930s America to exclude Jews from social, political and economic life, and California was at the time the epicenter of the eugenics movement. Some of the opposition apparently had its roots in anti-Semitism and dislike for the Jew Strauss, who was actively involved over the course of many years in trying to raise funds for the bridge. For example, Miner Chipman, a consulting engineer, wrote that there were bad leaks in the bridge organization and that "the engineering department" should keep its nose out of the financing problem: "The Chief Engineer (i.e., Strauss) is already under fire as a promotor, a Jew, and an alien. If he butts into this bond matter, it will confirm the promotion assertion and provide more ammunition to the opposition." However, the project did have its supporters, including the nascent automobile industry, which understood that the expansion of roads and bridges would increase the demand for cars and, perhaps most importantly, the general public, which tired of the often interminable wait due to congested ferry crossings. The name "Golden Gate Bridge" was first used when the project was initially discussed by Strauss and O'Shaughnessy in 1917. That name became official six years later when the California State Legislature adopted the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District Act (May 25, 1923), and "the Golden Gate Bridge and Highway District," formally incorporated in 1928, was designated as the official entity to design, construct, and finance the bridge. Strauss was officially appointed chief engineer on August 15, 1929; he submitted his final detailed plans on August 27, 1930; and construction on the bridge began on January 5, 1933, with the official groundbreaking ceremony held on February 26, 1933. Unlike the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which opened in 1936, the Golden Gate Bridge received no state or federal backing but was rather financed through a localized, county-driven process. Funding was always a problem, and the project almost immediately ran into even greater financial difficulties after the 1929 Wall Street crash. Bridge management lobbied for the issuance of $35 million in bonds, which were approved by the local counties on November 4, 1930, but the bonds were not actually sold until two years later, when the San Francisco-based Bank of America purchased the entire issue. The ultimate aggregate cost of the bridge was $35 million, and Strauss brought it in $1.3 million under budget. When the bridge was completed in 1937, its 4,200-foot span made it the longest suspension bridge in the world, and its suspension towers, 692 feet above water level, also set a world record. Official Souvenir Program "Celebrating the Opening of the World's Longest Single Span." Ticket stubs for the first crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge (Thursday, May 27, 1937). There was broad debate regarding the final color of the bridge. For example, the Navy urged the use of a yellow and black striping to facilitate visibility for ships traveling through the infamous bay fog; the U.S. Army Air Corps, concerned about pilot visibility, argued that the bridge should be painted in red and white; and engineer Othmar Hermann Ammann, who designed the George Washington Bridge (opened in 1931) and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (opened in 1964), preferred the same gray that he had used in constructing his bridges. Meanwhile, to protect the bridge during its construction, Strauss used "international orange," a reddish lead-based primer, to cover the bridge. His arguments for using that color as the permanent one for the bridge ultimately won the day, and supporters were pleased that it evoked recollections of the California Gold Rush that led to the development of the entire Bay area. Bridge opens to pedestrians. The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937, and the ensuing "Fiesta," which featured a broad variety of civil and cultural activities, lasted for a week. On opening day, Strauss formally presented the bridge to the Highway District, and some 200,000 people crossed on foot the day before vehicular traffic was allowed. Strauss was awarded the right to lifelong free travel on the bridge as a symbolic recognition from a deeply appreciative city. Sadly, however, he was to use this privilege for only a very short time because he died a year after the opening of the bridge because of, according to many authorities, the incredible stress he suffered during decades of unremitting pressure and his attention to every aspect of the Golden Gate Bridge, which became his everlasting legacy. Strauss's detractors initially blocked a statue of the chief engineer that had been proposed for the bridge plaza, but his widow, who funded it herself, dedicated it on May 29, 1941, only two weeks after Strauss's untimely death. The statue was inscribed simply "Joseph B. Strauss, 1870-1938, 'The Man Who Built the Bridge.'" Later, grateful citizens erected a bronze monument to him next to the bridge. Although some critics allege that Strauss downplayed the contributions of his collaborators who, they say, were largely responsible for the final bridge design, he is rightfully credited for the ultimate success of the project as he conceived it; tirelessly and single-mindedly promoted it; directed it using his remarkable organizational skills; raised funds for its construction; obtained building permits; negotiated contracts; administered its day-to-day construction; resolved disputes; and saw it through as the official chief engineer in charge of the overall design and construction of the bridge. Moreover, deeply concerned with the safety of his workers, he innovated safety standards, including the use of movable safety netting beneath the construction site, which is credited with saving 19 lives. There can be little question that at least some of this attempt to take credit away from Strauss was because he had become a prominent Jew. It is true, however, that aware of his own limitations and that he lacked broad knowledge and experience with cable-suspension designs, he delegated responsibility for much of the engineering and architecture to his experts, some of whom he conspicuously failed to acknowledge. The final suspension design was conceived by Leon Moisseiff, and architect Irving Morrow designed the general form of the bridge towers and the lighting scheme, railing and footpaths. Leon Moisseiff Both Moisseiff and Morrow were Jews. Morrow, a young architect, was of Jewish-Russian heritage, but Moisseiff's story (1872-1943) is far more historic. A leading and innovative American suspension bridge engineer, he is best known for the infamous collapse of his Tacoma- Narrows Suspension Bridge over Puget Sound in a windstorm four months after its completion in 1940. The stunning and frightening historic failure, which can be seen on YouTube, is used to this day in educating engineering, architecture, and physics students. Because of Moisseiff's role as a consulting engineer on the design of the Golden Gate Bridge, the authorities temporarily closed it down after the Tacoma Narrows fiasco, but it was deemed safe after a thorough inspection. Born in Riga, Latvia, to a Jewish family, Moisseiff studied at the Baltic Polytechnic Institute before emigrating at age 19 to the United States as a result of his political activities. After earning a degree in civil engineering from Columbia University (1895), he quickly earned national respect as an advocate of all-steel bridges and for his design of the Manhattan Bridge over the East River, among other notable projects. Many critics argue that the collapse of the Tacoma Bridge caused his death from a sudden heart attack a few years later. Finally, I remember a story from my days in actuarial practice regarding the insurance agent who was charged with placing the coverage and paying the initial annual premium for the Tacoma Bridge. Figuring that "in our modern world, who ever heard of a bridge collapsing in its first year," he pocketed the premium, was publicly disgraced when the bridge fell, and was later convicted of embezzlement. See you tomorrow bli neder Rosh Hashanah is Tuesday and Wednesday next week with Yom Kippur to follow the following week September 16 We need Moshiach now! Lov Yehuda Lave Yehuda Lave, Spirtiual Advisor and Counselor Jerusalem, Jerusalem  Israel 972-585043210 YehudaLave@gmail.com You received this email because you signed up on our website or made a purchase from us. Unsubscribe

Rosh Hashana is coming, Rabbi Meir Kahane on the month of Elul and When I Forgave G‑d By Tovah Kinderlehrer and Blessing For A Rooster and The Life and Teachings of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk By Boruch Twersky

View in browser 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 Join my blog by sending me an email to YehudaLave@gmail.com The Three Musketeers at the Kotel The Life and Teachings of Reb Elimelech of Lizhensk By Boruch Twersky Rebbe Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1787) was an early Chasidic master whose powerful example set a template for inspired leadership that became standard in Chassidic courts throughout Poland and Galicia. He and his brother, Rebbe Zusha of Anipoli, were devoted students of the Maggid of Mezrich, who led the Chassidic movement after the passing of the Baal Shem Tov. Reverently referred to as "the Rebbe, Reb Elimelech," and a spiritual guide to many thousands, he was a "rebbe of rebbes." Among his students were some of the most influential leaders of the next generation: Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak, the Chozeh ("seer") of Lublin; Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heshel, the Ohev Yisrael ("lover of Jews") of Apta; Rebbe Yisrael Hopsztajn, the Maggid ("preacher") of Koznitz; and Rebbe Mendel of Riminov. Each of these students had many of their own students who also became rebbes, and in this manner, his approach and teachings spread across Poland and beyond. Reb Elimelech's teachings are laid out in his book, Noam Elimelech, a classic of Chassidic thought, highlighting his emphasis on the Rebbe and his role in shepherding his flock and interceding on their behalf. To this day, thousands visit his gravesite in Lizhensk, Poland, especially on his yahrtzeit, Adar 21. His Mother's Legacy Many stories are told about R' Eliezer Lipa and Mirel, who were blessed to have Rebbe Elimelech as their son. The Alter Rebbe told the following story:1 Beggars came to the home of Reb Eliezar and Mirel and asked if they could bathe there. The hosts heated water for them. One of the beggars was a leper with wounds all over his skin, and the other beggars refused to help him bathe. Mirel had pity on this beggar, and she helped him by handing him the ointments and dressings he needed. The beggar told her, "Since you helped me so devotedly, I give you my blessings that you should bear a son who is like me!" That was the last thing that Mirel wanted to hear. But suddenly, the entire group miraculously disappeared. She understood that these were special, holy people. A year later, Elimelech was born. Love for Others Born in the merit of kindness, Reb Elimelech's teachings emphasize the mitzvah to love one's fellow. A prayer he composed includes the line, "Put into our hearts that everyone should see the qualities of their fellows, and not their faults." Rebbe Elimelech's student, Reb Zecharyah Mendel of Shedisnshov, described the love that existed among his students, which is certainly due to Rebbe Elimelech's influence: There is a lot of love between them. The love is greater than the love a father has for his son or the love a husband has for his wife. They are completely one; they practically share the same wallet. They love their friends' children as their own, and one almost isn't able to discern who are the parents…2 Rebbe Elimelech's son wrote, "My father would constantly bless Jews, and he was moser nefesh for them all the time…" His ahavat Yisrael was a focal point in his life; deeds of kindness and praying for others was how he served G‑d. The Call to Teshuvah Early one morning, the Maggid of Mezritch said to Rebbe Elimelech, "Did you hear the message proclaimed in heaven? They said the mitzvah to love your fellow is to love a rasha (wicked person) just as you love a tzaddik (righteous person). A tzaddik can rouse … people to teshuvah, and a minyan of the tzaddik's students can rouse a great rasha to teshuvah." Reb Elimelech repeated this conversation to the other students of the Maggid, and they were studying the lesson in depth when a rasha came in. He heard them say that they could influence a rasha to do teshuvah, and he laughed. "What are you talking about? Teshuvah? Me? Never." As he mocked them, the holy students prayed tearfully, chanted Psalms, and beseeched G‑d to arouse the man to return to the Torah's ways. And indeed, he had a change of heart and did complete teshuvah.3 Rebbe Elimelech and his brother, Rebbe Zusha, often traveled from town to town to rouse people to teshuvah.4 In fact, Rebbe Shalom (the "Saar Shalom") of Belz said, "The teshuvah that people did, currently do, and will do is all from the empowerment of the Rebbe, Reb Elimelech."5 A wagon driver was once driving chassidim to their Rebbe, and he told them, "Years ago, when Elimelech was alive, I brought chassidim to him in this very wagon." The chassidim cringed when they heard the driver say Rebbe Elimelech's name without using the appropriate title. The wagon driver was a simple, unlearned person, and he didn't know how to properly respect tzaddikim. "I was curious to know what this rebbe is all about, so I went to see him Friday night," he continued. "The prayers were very energetic, and I didn't understand why everyone was so thrilled. The tallit fell off Elimelech's head and I saw his neck; it was red like a beet. I thought, 'Oh, so that's what it's all about! The Rebbe probably drank an entire bottle of vodka!' "But then the Rebbe turned around (at the end of Lecha Dodi) and I saw that his face was white like the dead. I couldn't understand it. If the Rebbe drank so much, and his neck was so red, why was his face so white? I'll tell you the truth, until today I don't understand this." And then, the driver said with a cracked, emotional voice, and with tears streaming from his eyes, "But when Elimelech sang Lecha Dodi, it was something to listen to." The driver sang to them the song he heard Rebbe Elimelech sing 50 years before. The chassidim in the wagon said to each other, "This shows us Rebbe Elimelech's ability to rouse people to teshuvah. Look how this simple Jew cries when he reminds himself of a song Rebbe Elimelech sang 50 years ago." Rebuke Rebbe Elimelech managed to rebuke people, making sure never to condescend or humiliate them. One way he did so was by telling stories, which contained messages directed to each individual present. Once, Rebbe Elimelech was standing outside his house telling a story, and many people gathered to listen. Each person felt the Rebbe speaking directly to him, addressing the particular sin he needed to rectify, and tearfully resolved to do so immediately.6 Rebbe Elimelech taught, "The way of the tzaddik is to rebuke himself, always. He tells people that he has committed terrible sins. He is really listing the sins that others have done, but when he says that he committed those sins, it causes people to fear G‑d and to return to His ways."7 Once, in Nikolsburg, many people came to hear Rebbe Elimelech's speech, and he lamented before the crowd, "Elimelech, Elimelech! Remember the sin you committed on that day… And the sin you committed in that place…" This was how he told the listeners about their sins, because they were the ones who had committed those sins at those times and in those places. He didn't humiliate people, but they got the message and took it to heart.8 In his own words: "When a tzaddik wants to rebuke someone, he should speak about the sin in front of many people. In this way the person [who needs to hear these words] will hear them."9 Greatness for All His son, Reb Elazar, wrote, "I trust everything my father, Reb Elimelech, tells me, because I know that for all the money in the world, he wouldn't tell a lie … He said that a person can easily attain ruach hakodesh (Divine revelation), as long as he's a scholar who knows Gemara with Rashi … and if he knows it with pilpul (in depth), even better." Instead of knocking people down with harsh rebuke, he built them up, telling them that high levels of spiritual connection were in reach. Afflictions Before the Baal Shem Tov began to teach Chassidism, people regularly practiced self-affliction—excessive fasts and even rolling in the snow—as part of their Divine service. The purposes for these afflictions were: (a) to teach the body obedience, so it would agree to follow the laws of the Torah, (b) to purify the body from the blemish of sins, (c) to weaken the yetzer hara, (d) to protect oneself from needing to be punished more severely from Above. But this was not Rebbe Elimelech's way. "Rebbe Elimlech commanded us not to fast except for the fasts established by the rabbis," wrote his student, "because in today's day and age we don't have the strength to fast …"10 So, how can we attain the benefits which come from affliction? One way is to undergo very minor discomforts, for example, "When a person wants to eat, but postpones the meal for an hour or less, and in the meantime he studies Torah… And when a person refrains from speaking something he wants to say…"11 However, Rebbe Elimelech, himself, fasted and afflicted his body all the time. Tzaddikim said, "From Avraham until Rebbe Elimelech, no one undertook so many afflictions."12 Rebbe Elimelech said that because of his own frequent self-affliction, from now on others can use very minor self-discomforts to reach the same spiritual level as those who used to afflict themselves immensely. Humility An opponent of Chassidism asked his colleague, the Alter Rebbe, "Do you know the author of Noam Elimelech? I heard he also studied under your master, the Maggid of Mezritch. I am curious about him, because I have his book in my home. I keep it under the bench, upon which I sit." The Alter Rebbe replied, "I can tell you about him. Even if you were to place him under the bench instead of the book, he wouldn't protest, because he is so humble."13 Indeed, Rebbe Elimelech's humility was truly phenomenal. Although he prayed most of the day with all his heart and soul,14 was a giant in Torah knowledge, deeply attuned to spirituality, and served G‑d with vigor and devotion, he always felt he wasn't doing enough, and that his intentions weren't pure enough. These quotes are just a sampling of examples that show the depth of his humility: "They will need to create a new Gehinom for me, because the Gehinom that exists now isn't large enough to punish me, due to all my sins."15 "After my demise, when I stand before the divine court, they will ask me whether I served G‑d. I will answer that I didn't serve G‑d, not even for a moment. The court will reply, 'You speak the truth. In that merit, you can go straight to Gan Eden.' "16 "I wish my mother gave birth to a stone instead of me, because a stone doesn't anger G‑d, but I make G‑d angry."17 "I'm already 60 years old, and I haven't done one mitzvah."18 Once, he reviewed his deeds and felt like he was the worst person in the world. He was on the verge of becoming ill, because of his intense distress. There was a bottle of wine on the table. He said, "Master of the World! I never served You before, but I will serve You now! I will bless You with all my strength." He took a cup of wine and said the blessing with all his soul. This good deed revived him.19 Even as thousands streamed to him, requesting his prayers and blessings, he remained humble and unassuming. "They are telling me their troubles because it is my fault," he would say. "My many sins polluted the world, and that brought all these sorrows." And then Rebbe Elimelech would pray for them. Holy Pride Humility is an essential virtue, but it can also cause a person to falsely assume that their efforts are not valued On High. Therefore, "holy pride" is also needed at times. When people asked Rebbe Elimelech to pray, he would say to himself, "I can save him with my prayers, and no one else can." He built up his belief that his prayers were essential.20 Rebbe Elimelech once said (regarding an evil government edict), "The decree was established before Elimelech was in the world. But now Elimelech is in the world, and I don't agree to it." He knew when to be humble, and when to have holy pride. Fear of Heaven Tzaddikim said that Rebbe Elimelech's fear of Heaven could be compared to the fear that the angels have in heaven.21 Many Jewish prayers begin with the words baruch atah, "Blessed are You." When he said "baruch," he would be seized with such reverence that he couldn't say "atah."22 Joy Rebbe Elimelech once fell on a nail, and he showed the wound to his wife, to ask her how deep it was. Her first thought was to shout out in distress, because it was a very deep wound. But she learned from her husband the importance of maintaining a joyous mood. So she steeled herself and said, "Kein ayin hara, you can put an entire bale of hay in there." Rebbe Elimelech laughed, and said that the laughter helped cure him.23 Stories of Tzaddikim Rebbe Elimelech wrote, "It is a good sign for a person when he hears stories … of tzaddikim … and his heart is inspired to serve G‑d. This is a good omen that G‑d is with him."24 May the stories told here and the lessons gleaned accomplish this goal! Footnotes 1. Sipurei Chassidim, Reb Shlomo Yosef Zevin, Torah #37. For a dramatized account of this story, see The Leper. 2. Igeret HaKod 3. Torat Shalom, Sefer HaSichot. 4. Siftei Tzaddik, Piltz, Pinchas 5. 13 Orot, Pshvorsk, vol.1, ch.7 6. Maor v'Shamesh, Devarim. 7. Noam Elimelech, Emor. 8. Imrei Yosef, Spinka, Kedoshim 9. Noam Elimelech, Ibid. 10. Maor V'Shamesh, haftarah, Shabbos Shuvah ??? 11. Ch. 27 12. Divrei Chaim of Tzanz, quoted by Tzanz-Klausenberg, Chumash Rashi, Tetzaveh year 5741 13. Beit Rebbe pg. 63. 14. Shomer Emunim, Tzavah, 21 15. Toldot Adam, Ostrava, Ekev 16. Kol Yaakov, Dinov, Tazria 17. Imrei Yosef, Spinka, introduction to Shemot 18. Beit Yaakov, Alexander, Likutim. 19. Shulchan HaTahor Bergesaz, p.170. 20. Ben Beiti, Reb Eliezer Tzvi of Kamarna, Tehillim 41:5. 21. Eish Kodesh, Piaseczno, Kedoshim. 22. Noam Megadim, Tarnigad, Re'eh. 23. Darkei Chaim v'Shalom, Munkatz, no. 220. 24. Noam Elimelech, Shemot. Blessing For A Rooster Searching through prayerbooks of other religions, nowhere could I find a blessing for a rooster. But in the Hebrew prayerbook, it is the very first blessing that a religious Jew recites upon beginning the morning devotions. "Baruch ata Hashem Eloheinu Melech ha olam asher natan la sechvi bina l'havchin bain yom u'vain laila"…. "Blessed are You our God, King of the universe, who has given wisdom to the rooster to distinguish between day and night". What kind of a blessing is this for a rooster? Who makes a prayer on behalf of a rooster? A religious Jew does. Why? In the days before alarm clocks were invented, observant Jews needed a wake-up call at a specific time to begin their morning prayers. The rooster was the caller. "Rise up, o Jew, and bless your God". When a Jew arises and opens his eyes after a good night's sleep he recites the "Modeh ani"… "I thank you, my God, for restoring my soul unto my body". Thus in these few words, the Jew thanks God for another day of life before he commences the formal shacharit (morning) prayers. After the initial blessing for the rooster, the prayer continues with a series of blessings expressing our gratitude to God for having chosen us to be His special people. One need not be a religiously observant person to mutter a brief prayer of thanks for a new day and for renewed life. Our religious texts instruct us to consider each day as if it were our last day. This provides us with an opportunity to do all the things and say all the words which our heart directs us. We need to remember our loved ones by telling them that we love them, that they are important in our lives, that we are grateful for all that they do and share . The words are not holy but the intention and the thought is. How wonderful it feels, after the rooster (alarm clock) has awakened us to begin the new day with expressions of love and gratitude. While driving down residential streets made attractive by the beds of flowers surrounding them, I offer a prayer of thanks to God for having created such beauty, for giving my eyes the pleasure to behold them. "Thank you, o my God, for creating such beauty in your world for Your children to enjoy". How strange people are ! We rise up in the morning preparing to go to work or to school. We look out from the window and we see the sun shining brightly in the heavens and we say nothing. On other days we rise up preparing to go to work or to school and we again look out from the window. We see that it is raining heavily, strong winds caused branches to fall to the ground, the temperature is extremely cold and we say "What a rotten day. Do I have to go to school today? Can I go into work later when the weather improves and the heavy rains diminish? I hate this weather". We curse the darkness but we fail to bless the light. And we forget the words from a Hebrew psalm, "Zeh hayom asa Hashem, nagila v'nismecha bo"…. "This is the day which God has created, let us be glad and rejoice in it." God made the sun to shine and the rain to fall. We do not praise one but we curse the other. The rooster's call, like the blasts of the shofar, is a call to us to awaken from our slumber, to give thanks for life and love, to appreciate the blessings which God and family have bestowed upon us. We can thank the rooster but he does not hear nor understand. We can thank God who hears and who blesses. About the Author Esor Ben-Sorek is a retired professor of Hebrew, Biblical literature & history of Israel. er redeems his child from a Kohen, a member of the Aaronic holy family of Jerusalem Temple priests two thousand years ago. What are the duties of a great-grandfather? To love and to cherish his great-grandchild. To pray that God will help him to grow from infancy, to childhood, to youth, to adolescence and to adulthood healthy and strong, dedicated to serving God with all his heart, with all his soul and with all his might. Facing reality, I understand that I will be unable to watch him grow. At the age of 88 I hope for a few more years of life which will still separate me from Elazar's growth and development. Better fewer than none ! But for this precious time of my old-age, I pray to be able to hold baby Elazar Shalom in my arms, to kiss his head and face instead of only photos. And I thank my heavenly Father for granting me a life in which I can be called "great" for a good reason. Long life and much love to my infant two-week-old grandson Elazar Shalom. Welcome into the Ben-Sorek tribe! About the Author Esor Ben-Sorek is a retired professor of Hebrew, Biblical literature & history of Israel. Conversant in 8 languages: Hebrew, Yiddish, English, French, German, Spanish, Polish & Dutch. Very proud of being an Israeli citizen. A follower of Trumpeldor & Jabotinsky & Begin. When I Forgave G‑d By Tovah Kinderlehrer "The King is in the field." This is the phrase that describes the month of Elul, the month leading up to the High Holy Days. The King is in the field. OK, we know that the King refers to G‑d. What about the rest? What is the field? What does it mean that G‑d is in the field? And what am I supposed to do about it, if anything? To start to understand, we need to go back a few months. Remember Shavuot? Remember staying up all night learning Torah? The anticipation leading up to it while we counted the 49 days of the Omer. The fabulous cheesecake we ate way too much of (well, maybe that was just me). On Shavuot, we celebrated the receiving of the Torah. Before G‑d even told us what was in the Torah, we said: na'aseh v'nishma, "We will do and we will hear." This was our wedding. We formed an everlasting covenant with G‑d, binding ourselves to Him and His Torah for all time. So, Shavuot we stay up all night learning Torah, just like our wedding night. It feels like this is it. There's nothing left, this marriage is over We're too excited to sleep, and besides, just as we feel about the one we are about to marry, we say, we want to know everything about You, G‑d. So we study His Torah, which is the best way to learn about G‑d. We live in this honeymoon state for a little while. But a month-and-a-half later, things start to change. We have our first row. On the 17th of Tammuz, we fast. It is a day of mourning. On this day, the walls of Jerusalem were breached in 69 CE. On this day, we realized that G‑d would not allow our infidelity to go unnoticed and was not unconditionally protecting us as we expected. On this day, we saw things were not perfect. The honeymoon is definitely over. For three weeks, we continue to be in mourning. But instead of doing teshuvah, and repenting and fixing our holy marriage, we turn against each other. On the 9th of Av, our Holy Temple—the house we built for so that He would dwell among us—was destroyed. The reason our sages give us is baseless hatred against each other. It was a very low point for all of us, and still is. And it feels like this is it. Our House has been destroyed, there's nothing left, this marriage is over. But then comes the month of Elul. And we hear the words "the King is in the field." In the old world, where kings ruled and peasants worked the land, there was very little interaction between the two. The king ruled from his walled palace, and the peasants kept to the fields. But now it is Elul. And we are truly peasants. We work hard in our fields, barely lifting our heads from the dirt of this material world. But if we do, if we chance to take a moment from our everyday routine and just look "up," we will see there, in the field, the King. The King of the world above, here in our world; the King ready to listen, to forgive, to love. This is our chance to repair our broken marriage. And indeed, the first thing a spouse needs to say is "I'm sorry." But for those of you who are married, you know that "sorry" by itself is never enough. Because the next question is always, "Sorry for what?" And this is what the month of Elul is for: 29 days of talking to the King, going over all the hurt, pain and misunderstanding. And we can put ourselves in our loved one's fields. Go to our spouses, our siblings, our parents, our friends, our children, ourselves. We do all this so that when we come to face G‑d on the High Holy Days, when we leave behind the materialism of the field and enter the spiritual world of the Palace, when we say we're sorry, not only will we know what we are sorry for, but G‑d can smile and answer, "I know." On a personal note, forgiveness can be so much more encompassing than we know. One Yom Kippur I was praying alone, feeling nothing. Exhausted, hungry, disappointed and, if I'm really honest, angry One Yom Kippur I was praying alone, feeling nothing. No tears, no heartfelt apologies and no true forgiveness in my heart. I sat down exhausted, hungry, disappointed and, if I'm really honest, angry. Then I started to feel guilty for feeling all that, which made me feel it even more, and the cycle continued. I began speaking to G‑d as though He were in the room listening to me. And I said it all. I told G‑d that I was hungry. I told Him I was tired. I said that if He wanted me to be a more spiritual person, then He should have made me that way. I told G‑d that if He wanted me to be someone other than who I was, then He was at fault. He created me as I am. Then I said the thing I was most afraid to say. "G‑d, I'm angry at You. You've made me with so many faults. You have given me so much pain. You've taken away people I love. You've broken my heart." But then, once I said it, I wasn't angry anymore. In fact, a feeling swept over me that I hadn't intended at all. And before I could think about it, the words came out of my mouth. "G‑d, I forgive You." I know that logically, G‑d does not need my forgiveness. In fact, I truly believe that everything G‑d does for me is all a blessing, even if I can't see it. It wasn't G‑d who needed me to feel forgiveness in my heart; it was me. With those words, I was able to reach into all areas of my life and find forgiveness for those in my life I didn't even know I needed to forgive. I forgave my 2-year-old for all the pain he caused me, through pregnancy and birth to sleeplessness and endless crying. I forgave my parents for not being perfect like I felt they should have been. I forgave my husband for not being the exact man I wanted him to be. And I forgave myself for being deeply flawed, making mistakes and not living up to my own expectations. Have a beautiful and blessed Elul! By Tovah Kinderlehrer R A B B I  M E I R  K A H A N E ON JEWS AND JUDAISM 2 Elul 5737 - September 2, 1977 Elul The Jewish calendar is full of notations, red letter days that are meant to be both particular reminders as well as part of a uniform one: time is passing; the sands of life have run out just a bit more; the beard is a little grayer and the limbs just a touch heavier. Time. The Jewish calendar is a watchman of time, ram's horn that blows not once a year but every time that a new time cycle begins. Every week is marked by a Sabbath that notes not only the end of the week passed but the beginning of a new one. It is both a reminder of seven full days passed out of our life – so soon! – as well as the opportunity to make the next period fuller, more meaningful, a reason for being. Every month is marked by a Rosh Chodesh, the consecration of the new beginning of yet another lunar cycle. The wheel of heaven has revolved yet another thirty days – so soon! – and we are that much older. The L-rd now gives us another month to prove that we are also that much wiser. It is not only another month, it is a new month. Above all, it is called Rosh Chodesh, the "head" of the month. Is there perhaps here a hint to see how much wisdom has filled our heads during the mistakes and sins of the past one…? And every year has its Rosh Hashana, that peculiarly Jewish day in which there are no parties and drinking and abandonment of restraint; in which there is no hilarious laughter and noise that is a frantic and frenetic attempt to convince all (and oneself) that he is happy; there is no frantic clutching at pleasure before it escapes and – worse - before I pass on; too soon, too soon. There is Rosh Hashana, the time past. Another year gone by – already? So soon! – and it is a time to see what the gray hairs and the added wrinkles and the slower reflexes have taught us. Rosh Hashana is one step closer to the gateway out of this world and into the next one. It is a time to rehearse the speech that we will make – all of us – some day, before the Supremes of Courts, as we attempt to explain the meaning of our lives below. Life is too short for fools. It is too long for those who know it was not given for happiness (if that comes, how wonderful, but how often does it appear, only in insignificant measures and at rare times, as drops of rain that fall on a parched desert leaving no impact, changing nothing so that the traveler never knows it fell). Life was given for holiness and sanctity, so that we might rise above ourselves; so that we might consecrate and hallow that animalism within us that threatens at every moment to escape and express itself in selfishness, ego and greed – sins that are themselves only the corridors to the crimes of cruelty and hurting others. Life is not a happy thing – it is a beautiful thing, and when one becomes the artist and artisan of that beauty that is called holiness, when one practices the supreme holiness that comes of loving and giving of oneself. "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li…" "I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine…" the words of the greatest of love poems, Song of Songs; great because it is that purest of love, between the Almighty and the House of Israel. Consider them, for do they not contain the essence and the secret of true love? "I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine." When I am my beloved's, when I give to her and give of myself and live to do for her and make her happy – then I am guaranteed that she is mine for she will, in turn, be doing the same for me. The lovers who think of giving to each other must receive from each other. This is love, this desire to give, this desire to sacrifice and do for the other. Not for nothing was the Song of Songs called by the incomparable Rabbi Akiva, "the Holy of Holies" of all the books of the Bible. For the kind of love expressed in it IS holiness. Holiness is to escape from the selfishness and greed of the animal; it is to smash the passions and desires of the ego; it is to master the will that makes man seek only his own gratification. And is not love just that, in practice? Is not love exactly that, if it is true love? And not for no reason did the rabbis see in the Hebrew letters of the month of Elul the first letters of "Ani l'dodi v'dodi li – I am my beloveds and my beloved is mine." Elul is the month of Tshuva, return and introspection. It is the month of scraping away the ego that has settled and crusted on our hearts and souls. If Passover calls for searching out he leaven in the home, Elul decrees removing it – the yeasty and bloated ego – from the soul. It is a time to note the calendar, the graying and aging, and to realize: Not for nonsense was I born and not with nonsense must they bury me. Be good. Love. Love selflessly; cease speaking evil, cease thinking evil; cease searching out evil in your fellow human beings. Cease seeking to grow at the expense of others. For one who climbs on top of the man he has just chopped down is not taller. He is the same dwarf standing on his victim's height. Be wary lest you hurt the one you love. Think before you act towards the other person. Be good as a person, as an individual, and your part of the world will become holy. Then, if others emulate you, the world will suddenly and automatically turn beautiful and hallowed. It is Elul. Think of your beloved – all the people of the earth – and think of your particular beloved. Give of yourself and you will receive that which no amount of grasping and scheming can ever bring you: self-respect. Love the other and you will learn to like yourself. Be holy, for the One who made you is Holy and for this He placed you on this earth. It is another Elul, yet another one. How many more are left? May Elul bring all health and peace for Israel and Jews everywhere. See you tomorrow bli neder We need Moshiach now! Love Yehuda Lave Yehuda Lave, Spirtiual Advisor and Counselor Jerusalem, Jerusalem  Israel 972-585043210 YehudaLave@gmail.com You received this email because you signed up on our website or made a purchase from us. Unsubscribe