Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | | If you are screaming at your family members, it means that you are also screaming at yourself for being a failure and not having found a better way to get through to people. You may have been brought up to believe that nothing will get done and no one will help unless you scream at them. In fact, the more you scream, the less people listen to you, because when you scream, they lose respect for you and you lose respect for yourself. Love Yehuda Lave | | | I returned August 15 to Jerusalem after a 16 day absence. I visited over 100 synagogues, graves and holy spots throughout Czech and Vienna, along with castles and tourist spots. My friend the Cabalist, says like the Bal Shem Tov, I was gathering up the holy sparks of Jewishness that has been trapped there and bringing the spiritual energy back to Jerusalem. I hope I have accomplished that goal, but I know for sure that I brought back lots of pictures. There are too many to share at one time so I am trying something new and sharing them day by day as experienced with a 16 day delay. I will repeat this introduction each day. I have been studying Jewish history and Israel in my time in Jerusalem, but the history of the Jewish people in modern times from 1492 to 1945 was in central Europe where the majority of the Jewish people lived. It is worth studying and knowing about and by sharing it with you my friends, I hope I am expanding your knowledge as well. | | 10 Terrifying Creatures That Live After Death Sorry, but i can't include footage with the headless snake in my video, here is the link: ► https://youtu.be/T_8jywmeVPY You may have noticed that, excepting the occasional zombie apocalypse, we humans tend to function best with our nervous systems intact and our brains, limbs and major organs all connected and happily communicating with each other. Well, we feel it's our duty to inform you that not all creatures are quite so picky when it comes to the intactness of their bodies. Hello and today we will talk about Terrifying Creatures That Keep Going After They're Dead Headless Snakes When faced with a venomous snake, most people's natural reaction would fall into one of three categories: fleeing, freezing on the spot or OH GOD OH GOD KILL IT CHOP OFF ITS EVIL POINTY HEAD. While the latter course of action may seem like the surefire way to avoid getting bitten, it turns out that might not be the case. What Makes This Abomination Possible? The snake has heat-sensitive pits at either side of its face, which it uses to detect threats -- and let's face it, if you're close enough for your body heat to be detected, you're close enough to be considered a threat. Cockroaches Cockroaches are infamous for their tenacity, and are often cited as the most likely survivors of a nuclear war. Some even claim that they can live without their heads. It turns out that these armchair exterminators are right. Headless roaches are capable of living for weeks. Chickens If you chop the head off a chicken, it can still run around for a few seconds. The animals can do this because a neural network in the spinal cord is pre-programmed to direct the muscles in various frequently used movement patterns such as running. Despite intense research into how the body, the brain and the nervous system works, scientists still do not have a clear picture of how nerve cells communicate to perform certain movements. Octopus Octopus tentacles still react up to an hour after being severed from their dead owner, and even try to pick up food and feed a phantom mouth. Flatworms Everyone knows the myth about earthworms: if you cut them in half, you get two worms. Nothing could be further from the truth, alas. However, if the earthworm is replaced by a flatworm, the two parts can survive these childish experiments. What's more, be it skin, intestine or brain, the body part lost through cutting will simply grow again in a matter of days. Frogs Thanks to the "let's chop out its brain and see what the hell happens" approach to science taken by 19th century neurologist David Ferrier, we can tell you. A headed but brainless frog actually behaves very similarly to a frog with its gray matter perfectly intact: If you turn it upside down, it will right itself; if you pinch its feet, it will hop away; if you put it in water, it will swim to the side and climb out. And perhaps most disturbing of all, it will even croak contentedly if you stroke its back.ntinue to respond to external stimuli for an indefinite period. Flies Female fruit flies will live for several days after they have been decapitated. Such beheaded females assume an upright stance comparable to that of a normal fly and can and do engage in complex actions such as preening, flying and, under duress, walking. Turtles If you chop the head off a turtle, it can still swim. The turtle frequently uses swimming movements, so it makes sense for it to have a neural network in the spinal cord pre-programmed to perform swimming movements when the nerve cells are stimulated. Salamanders Salamanders can regrow entire limbs and regenerate parts of major organs, an ability that relies on their immune systems, research now shows. A study of the axolotl, an aquatic salamander, reveals that immune cells called macrophages are critical in the early stages of regenerating lost limbs. Wiping out these cells permanently prevented regeneration and led to tissue scarring. The findings hint at possible strategies for tissue repair in humans. | | RABBI ELI MANSOUR The Miracles We Don't See The story told in Parashat Balak is truly extraordinary. Balak, the king of Moab, teamed up with the gentile prophet Bilam to try to annihilate the Jewish people by way of a curse. Bilam knew the precise moment when G-d is angry, and he sought to capitalize on this knowledge by cursing Beneh Yisrael just at that moment, which would have the effect of utter annihilation. G-d, however, in His infinite mercy, altered the usual mechanisms of the spiritual world during that time in order to foil Bilam's efforts.
What makes this story extraordinary is not the fact that the existence of the Jewish people was in danger. This has happened on numerous occasions throughout our history, and in every case, as in the times of Balak and Bilam, G-d has stepped in to rescue us. But what is unique about the story of Balak is the fact that not one member of Beneh Yisrael knew about the danger that loomed. The entire story takes place in Moab, where Balak and Bilam went to different locations overlooking the Israelite camp in an attempt to place the curse. Throughout this period, Beneh Yisrael went about their usual business, eating the manna, praying, studying Torah from Moshe, and so on. Nobody had any idea that the nation's very survival was in question. When Amalek attacked Beneh Yisrael, the people were there on the battlefield fighti g. When different nations threatened the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael, they were keenly aware of the situation. But here, the threat was initiated and ended far from the people's view, and they knew nothing about it until G-d had Moshe record the story in the Torah.
Why, then, is this episode told in the Torah? Why does it matter to do us that far away there were two evil men who plotted against us and were unsuccessful?
The answer is provided by the prophet Micha, in the section chosen as the Haftara for Shabbat Parashat Balak. The prophet admonishes the people to remember Balak's scheme and how Hashem stepped in to foil it, "Lema'an Da'at Sidkot Hashem"–"In order that you know the kindnesses of Hashem." We need to know this story so that we can at least begin to understand the extent of G-d's love and care for us. We need to know that Hashem protects us from dangers of which we never become aware. There are many times in our lives when we can see how Hashem stepped in to help us and take care of us, but we must also recognize that for every such instance, there are countless other times when Hashem protects or helps us without our ever knowing it. We cannot even begin to imagine the number of bacteria and viruses present in the air from which G-d protects us. We have no idea of the criminals and anti-Semites who unsuccessfully conspire against us, without even getting far enough to have the incident reported in the news. And we have no idea of how many terrorists in Israel and throughout the world have their efforts thwarted without anybody knowing.
The Pasuk in Tehillim describes Hashem as "Oseh Nifla'ot Gedolot Le'bado"–"He performs great wonders by Himself." Clearly, we do not need a verse in the Tanach to tell us that G-d makes miracles "by Himself," without anybody's help. This is self-evident. What this verse is saying, as the Hatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg, 1762-1839) explains, is that G-d often performs miracles alone, without anyone else ever knowing about it. The story of Balak and Bilam was revealed in order for us to recognize that so often miracles occur on our behalf far away, unbeknownst to us, "Le'bado"– when He is "all alone," as it were.
This Parasha thus serves to remind us of "Sidkot Hashem," that Hashem's kindness towards us extends far beyond what we can ever see or know. We do not even know all the kindnesses He performs for us, or the extent of the protection He provides for us. And recognizing the limits of this knowledge should lead us to greater appreciation of Hashem's kindness and a renewed sense of commitment to obey His will. | | |
May it be Your will ... that You lead us toward peace ... and enable us to reach our desired destination for life, gladness, and peace (Prayer of the Traveler ).
Before we take a long trip in a car, we first consult a map to determine the best route. If we know people who have already made that particular trip, we ask them whether there are certain spots to avoid, where the best stopovers are, etc. Only a fool would start out without any plan, and stop at each hamlet to figure out the best way to get to the next hamlet. It is strange that we do not apply this same logic in our journey through life. Once we reach the age of reason, we should think of a goal in life, and then plan how to get there. Since many people have already made the trip, they can tell us in advance which path is the smoothest, what the obstacles are, and where we can find help if we get into trouble. Few things are as distressful as finding oneself lost on the road with no signposts and no one to ask directions. Still, many people live their lives as though they are lost in the thicket. Yet, they are not even aware that they are lost. They travel from hamlet to hamlet and often find that after seventy years of travel, they have essentially reached nowhere. The Prayer of the Traveler applies to our daily lives as well as to a trip.
Today I shall ...
... see what kind of goals I have set for myself and how I plan to reach these goals.
| | Get three coffins ready - A Fistful of Dollars 1964 (full scene) Check out the full version of the scene of "get three coffins ready" from the movie A Fistful of Dollars 1964 | | See you tomorrow Love yehuda Lave | | | |
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