Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor | | | | Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement | | ADVICE FROM THE SHRINK:
You are under no obligation to answer someone who stops you in the hallway to ask you a question, even if you do know the answer. Are you giving anything away, however, if you do?
You carry your feelings wherever you go. Whether you feel good about yourself or you feel bad about yourself. You should be able to self-validate your own importance. What Other People say, think or feel about you should not bear witness on your testimony. These are all the things your Parents should have done for you, but no one is perfect. You cannot live your life successfully playing The Blame Game. Just because someone is a Jerk does not mean you have to talk back to them. There is a big difference. Don't take everything to heart and never argue with a Fool. People passing you by on the street may not be able to tell which is which. Don't buy into Other People's negative opinions of you, and your value. Everyone loves a good victim. Don't be one and don't let anyone else make you feel like one. If there is a Blame Game out there, simply just don't play it. Just because someone starts a fight does not mean you have to finish it. Easier said than done. You are a worthwhile, valuable, and important person, but you are not better than anyone else. And no one else is any better than you are. Treat yourself with respect, like your feelings matter. You don't need to beat people up to prove to yourself that you are alive. And you do not have to feel bad about yourself just because Other People lack an accurate accounting of who you are. You don't deserve to be treated like crap, by anyone, including yourself. Update your files on who you really are and don't take things to heart. You cannot be omnipotent; you have no way of anticipating someone else's stupid actions. It is this inner doubt that triggers your own over-reactions. Who gets to choose whether I feel good or I feel bad. You can choose, of course, You can feel good about feeling good about yourself, whether you are buying a car, a mattress, or an option for better health. Remember to replace that empty feeling of the used candy bar wrapper with a feeling of self-worth, even on a cloudy day. When you take out the garbage, remember how much fun you had in making it. Love Yehuda Lave | | Father's day in America was last Sunday June 16 A father is someone who carries pictures where his money used to be. (unknown) The only things kids wear out faster than their shoes are their parents. (John J. Plomp) 24/7. Once you sign on to be a mother, that's the only shift they offer! (Jodi Picoult) Starting today, it is me who'll decide when we get up! - baby People who say, they sleep like a baby, usually don't have one. (Leo Burke) Today I have given notice on my studio apartment and have moved in with my parents. - baby Children have neither past nor future. They enjoy the present, which very few of us do. – By Jean De La Bruyere NATIONAL CHILDREN'S DAY The second Sunday in June is known as National Children's Day in the United States. | | Due to the most recent rape by an Arab of an innocent Jewish 7 year old girl in the Binyamin Region, I am sending this Rabbi Meir Kahane article. The girls was raped by an Arab school custodian, forced to an Arab village and raped while 6 of his friends watched and laughed. Beyond Words Selected Writings of Rabbi Meir Kahane, 1960-1990 Volume 6 Shchem – Where Is Shimon? Where Is Levi? "Shall he make of our sister a harlot?" (Genesis 34: 31) Some 3,500 years ago, an abomination was done to a Jew in Shchem. Dinah, daughter of Jacob, was raped by Shchem, the son of Chamor. Upon hearing of the obscenity, Dinah's brothers – Shimon and Levi – went into the town and slew every male. Last month, an abomination was done to a Jew in Shchem. A Jewish soldier was murdered when an Arab dropped a huge rock on his head from a rooftop. Upon hearing of the obscenity, Dinah's brothers – Chief of Staff Dan Shomron and the general in charge of the Central command, Amram Mitzna – toured the scene of the murder, swore that the Arabs would pay "a high price" ( the exact words of Shomron were: "There is no doubt that we will react in this area in a way that will make it not worthwhile for local people to throw stones and the price will be heavy. Every reaction is possible. You will see this in the days to come") – and then proceeded to blow up the upper roof of the building from which the rock was dropped and brick up windows overlooking the alley. As they did so, Arabs in adjacent buildings whistled and shouted, "Allahu Akhbar, Allah is great," and former Mayor Hafez Touquan said: "This has no deterrent effect whatsoever." The shame of Israel, the Hillul Hashem – desecration of the Name – lies in the fact that today there is no Shimon, there is no Levi. There is only Dan Shomron who – as Chief of Staff, to our dishonor, and thus committed to crushing the intifada whose aim is to wipe out Israel – instead tells the news media that "the intifada cannot be defeated since it comes from nationalist roots." There is only Amram Mitzna, the disgrace of a soldier who, in the middle of the Lebanese war and following the Sabra and Satilla massacres of Arabs by Arabs, condemned the Israeli Defense Minister before a press conference in Beirut and then left his post and went home to his kibbutz, Ein Gav. What a "high price" the Arabs of Shchem have paid. A roof, two houses blown up and windows bricked up and an area sealed – and the Arabs laughing and happily shouting Allah is great! "High price." What a fraud, what a lie. And how it typifies the entire government of deceit. They have no policy, they have no answers. Where is Shimon? Where is Levi? Where is the Jewish knowledge that an abomination against a Jew has been done here and it must be dealt with in the only way that the Jew-haters understand? When Jacob heard of the act of Shimon and Levi he protested – not because it was immoral, as so many foolish Jews say, but – for practical reasons: He feared the retribution of the people of the land, saying, "You have brought trouble on me to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land … and I being few in number, they will gather themselves together against me, and slay me" (Genesis 34:30). No, not a moral argument, for there was nothing immoral about the act of Shimon and Levi. Jacob was simply afraid of the reaction of the gentiles around him. And the reply of Shimon and Levi resounds throughout the ages: "Shall he make of our sister a harlot?" And Jacob is silent. There is no answer. For his sons are right . . . Hillul Hashem! To defile a Jewess and treat her as a whore! Such a thing cannot be even if there is danger, because in the case of national Hillul Hashem, danger is set aside. And this was even when the Jews were a small minority in the midst of many gentiles. Even then, the demand to wipe out Hillul Hashem transcended danger. How much more so, when there is a State of Israel and an army that controls the city of Shchem! And how much greater is the Hillul Hashem that we bring on ourselves by our humiliating refusal to do that which we should – wipe out the terror by killing the murderers and driving out all the rest. And the Or HaChaim in his commentary goes further: "To the contrary, there will be danger for them among the nations; when the latter will see that one low person ruled over Jacob and did as his pleasure, then the Jews would not be able to survive among the nations. And it is through this [the killing of the people of Shchem] that fear of the Jews will be on the nations and they will tremble before them." Of course. It is only true punishment and a heavy hand of Jewish terror that is the way to terrify the nations who would otherwise wipe out Israel. It is the way of Shimon and Levi that not only leads to the natural terror of the gentile but also to G-d's approval: "And the terror of G-d was on the cities that were round about them and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob" (Genesis 35:5). What the pathetic and humiliating policy of Shomron and Mitzna and their employers – Rabin and Shamir and Arens – has done has been to lift terror from the Arabs and give them confidence and contempt for the Jews. By this deadly and terrible policy, so couched in gentilized and Hellenized concepts of "morality" that is, in fact, repulsive murder, we guarantee the future blood of Jews. Because there is no Shimon and Levi, the Arab is unafraid and he thus will murder more Jews tomorrow, secure in the knowledge that the pathetic kibbutznikim of the army and the Hellenized political leaders of Likud and Labor will speak loudly and then do nothing to crush the Arab. It is the Arab who threw the rock that murdered the soldier but it is Shamir and Arens and Rabin and Shomron and Mitzna who are the accomplices. Their Jewish hands are red and filthy with Jewish blood. And finally, a comprehensive understanding of Shimon and Levi for those who claim that they sinned when they killed the people of Shchem and were therefore cursed by their father. The fact is that their father (as mentioned above) never castigated them on moral grounds but only out of practical fear of the nations. The fact is that they replied to him and he was silent, accepting their cry that no gentile could make of their sister a harlot. The fact is that G-d did not punish them but, to the contrary brought terror on the gentiles around them. And the fact is that when G-d commanded the tribes to choose special and distinctive flags that they would fly proudly as they camped and traveled in the desert, the Rabbis tell us (Bamidbar Rabbah 2): "Shimon [the tribe of Shimon] had a flag whose color was green and had drawn on it the city of Shchem." The city of Shchem? This was the flag of Shimon as commanded by G-d? This was what the ALL Mighty wished Shimon to wave on high for all to see? No, hardly a sin, but rather, as in the commentary of the Maharzu: "Because of their bravery and self-sacrifice in Shchem. And even though Levi was with him Shimon was the older and the main one. And this [flag] is his praise for his zealousness against the abomination of immorality." And Maimonides explains the actions of Shimon and Levi (Hilchot Mlachim 9:14), and his words are brought down in the Ramban (Breishit 34:13): "The sons of Noah are commanded to uphold laws . . . and because of this all the people of Shchem were worthy of death since Shchem stole [Dinah] and they saw it and knew of it and did not try him." And the Ramban gives his own reason as follows: For the sons of Jacob, since the people of Shchem were wicked people and blood for them was as water, wished to avenge themselves on them with an avenging sword. And they killed the king and all his servants who were obedient to him." In any event, since it is clear that Shimon and Levi not only did not sin but, indeed, followed G-d's law, why then did Jacob apparently, curse them when he said: "Instruments of violence are their swords. Let my soul not come into their council . . . for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they uprooted an ox" (Genesis 49:6) The answer is that, again, their actions against the people of Shchem, who had acquiesced in the abomination against Dinah, were totally justified. And that is why Jacob, after first protesting and then hearing their reply, was silent and agreed. But later, after learning that the same two sons had also intended to kill Joseph, and Shimon threw him into a pit that was teeming with snakes and scorpions (see Breishit Rabbah 84, and Rashi on Genesis 49:6. Who explains the words "And in their self-will they uprooted an ox." As referring to Joseph who was symbolized as an ox in Deuteronomy 33:17. "The firstling of his herd grandeur is his, and his horns are like the horns of a wild ox"), he then realized that their motivation in all that they did was violence and anger for its own sake. That is why they sinned – not because of the act itself but because their motivation was violent anger and this was manifested even against their own brother. And so he cursed, not them but their anger and their self-will. No, those who dare raise their hand in abomination against Israel, whether through rape of Dinah or murder of a soldier, have raised their hands against the people of G-d. Hence against the ALL Mighty Himself. It is a Hillul Hashem that demands vengeance and punishment. Shimon and Levi destroyed the desecrators, and forever did the flag of Shimon eternalize the act. But there is no Shimon and Levi today. There is only Shomron and Mitzna and Shamir and Arens – small people, unworthy to carry the flag of Sanctification. Their pitiful reaction is worse than nothing. It adds to the humiliation, to the Hillul Hashem. It spits in the grave of the murdered soldier and guarantees that others will follow him The casbah where the soldier was murdered should have been razed to the ground and all the inhabitants of the city told that blood is on their heads and to flee before the sword of Shimon and Levi returns. Out! Out of the land! Shall our sister be as a harlot? Shall our brother the soldier be as one whose blood is cheap? We need a Shimon and Levi today. We need a government in Israel that understands that this is precisely its role Written 1989 | | Bertha Benz: The Journey That Changed Everything In a time when "car" was not even a word yet, and people relied on horses to pull their wagons, one woman challenged the status quo. To prove to the world that her husband's invention was the future of mobility, Bertha Benz went on the first long-distance journey with an automobile, facing all kinds of challenges but stopping at nothing. The rest, as they say, is history. | | Psalm 146, Azamra Official Music Video by Jeremy Gimpel ג'רמי גימפל - אזמרה About The Judean Way to Start Your Day How did the prophets of Israel start their mornings and begin their days? There's an ancient Jewish spiritual practice that realigns us and launches us into every morning. This practice was passed down throughout the ages as an introduction to the morning prayers called "Psukei D'Zimra"- 'Passages of Song'. It is nothing less than a spiritual technology developed and maintained by Israel for centuries. Now as we have returned to our land it is time to re-institute the practice. If you win the morning, you win the day. If you change your days, you change your life. Excerpt from Introduction: I have spent the last four years deep in the mountains of Judea, in the place that Kind David wrote most of the Book of Psalms. I have come daily to these mountains seeking an encounter, trying to find the inspiration that David experienced when he wrote the Psalms. Alone with my guitar, I would sing and pray his words....days after day. In this world of confusion and separation, doubts and cynicism, some of the clarity and strength I have found was discovered in moments of praise, exaltation, gratitude and worship. The melodies that emerged in those encounters became the songs in this album. This album is the journal of experiences I had in the sacred mountains and this book is a collection of the insights, tips and tactics I've discovered while following the guidance of ancient Israel. Download the full music album and Order the EBook "The Ancient: https://tickets.israelgives.org/ticke... Psalm 146 Halleluyah, praise the Lord, my soul. I will sing to my God with all I have (as long as I live) The Lord shall reign forever. Your God, Zion, for all generations. Halleluyah! I will sing to my God with all I have (as long as I live) To Book a Guided Tour of the Arugot Farm in the Judean Mountains email: tours@thelandofisrael.com | | Eldad & Medad: The Mysterious Prophets By Levi Avtzon Eldad and Medad are the protagonists of a cryptic episode in the portion of Behaalotecha: Now two men remained in the camp; the name of one was Eldad and the name of the second was Medad, and the spirit rested upon them. They were among those written, but they did not go out to the tent, but prophesied in the camp. The lad [Gershom, son of Moses1] ran and told Moses, "Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp!" Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant from his youth, answered and said, "Moses, my master, imprison them2!" Moses said to him, "Are you zealous for my sake? If only all the L‑rd's people were prophets, that the L‑rd would bestow His spirit upon them!"3 This story demands context (when and how did this episode take place?), biographical information (who were Eldad and Medad?), and explanation (what they were prophesying?), which will help us understand Joshua's frantic reaction. Context: The Appointment of the 70 Elders After the desert-weary Jews complained twice in quick succession about their travels and travails, Moses turned to G‑d and cried out: "Alone I cannot carry this entire people, for it is too hard for me."4 G‑d then told Moses that he would now share the load of leading the nation: Assemble for Me 70 men of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the people's elders and officers, and you shall take them to the Tent of Meeting, and they shall stand there with You. I will come down and speak with you there, and I will increase the spirit that is upon you and bestow it upon them. Then they will bear the burden of the people with you so that you need not bear it alone.5 The Talmud tells us what happened next (we'll paraphrase): When G‑d said to Moses, "Gather for Me 70 men of the Elders of Israel," Moses responded, "How shall I do it? If I select six from each of the 12 tribes, there will be a total of 72, which will total to two extra. But if I select five from each tribe, there will be a total of 60, lacking 10. However, if I select 6 from this tribe and five from that tribe, I will bring about envy between the tribes!" What did he do? He selected six from each tribe and he brought 72 slips. On 70 of them he wrote "Elder," and he left two slips blank. He mixed them and placed them in the box. He then said to the 72 chosen candidates: "Come and draw your slips." Everyone whose hand drew up a slip that said "Elder" was now appointed as one of the 70 sages. During this whole saga, Eldad and Medad, who were chosen by their tribes to represent them, didn't come forward, as they said: "We are not fitting for that level of greatness; we are not worthy of being appointed for that level of greatness; we are not deserving of being appointed among the Elders." G‑d said: "Since you have made yourselves humble, I will add greatness to your greatness." And what is the greatness that He added to them? asks the Talmud. All the other elders who were given prophecy at that time prophesied for a period of time and then stopped, but Eldad and Medad prophesied and did not stop.6 But when these two humble sages suddenly started spewing prophecy around the Jewish camp, Moses' loyal student Joshua suggested to Moses that they be locked up. What could they have possibly been saying that would cause such a reaction? What Was Their Prophecy? The Talmud brings three traditions: - They said that "Moses will die, and Joshua will bring the Jewish people into Land of Yisrael."
- They prophesied about the story of the quail that followed immediately after this episode, saying, "Arise quail, arise quail," and indeed then the quail came.7
- They were prophesying regarding the war of Gog and Magog, which will precede the arrival of Moshiach.
The commentary of Yonatan ben Uziel tells us that each one shared a separate prophecy.8 Eldad shared the prophecy that Moses would die and Joshua would lead the nation to the Holy Land, whereas Medad said that the quail would arise and overtake the Jewish camp and cause havoc, as we indeed read later on in the chapter.9 They both prophesied together regarding the war of Gog and Magod and the End of Days. Who Were They? Who were these two mysterious figures and what was their lineage? The Midrash10 says that their real names were Elidad,11 the son of Chislon, chieftain of the tribe of Benjamin,12 and Kemuel, the son of Shiphtan, chieftain of the tribe of Ephraim.13 These two figures ended up leading their respective tribes into the Holy Land. Unlike the rest of the 70 sages, who passed on before entering the land, these two sages merited to see the land due to their humility.14 Yonatan ben Uziel15 tells us that when Moses' father, Amram, divorced his mother, Yocheved,16 she married a man named Elizaphan ben Parnach, Nasi of the tribe of Zevulun. They had two children together, Eldad and Medad, after which she remarried her first husband17 and went on to have her youngest son Moses. In short, Moses shared a mother with Eldad and Medad. The biblical commentator the Rosh18 agrees that they were Moses' half-brothers, but he argues that they shared a father, not a mother.19 Moses' Response Based on all the above, we now have a greater appreciation for Moses' piety and lofty nature when he told Joshua, "Are you zealous for my sake? If only all the L‑rd's people were prophets, that the L‑rd would bestow His spirit upon them!" Even though these prophecies (at least according to the first opinion) was hurtful to him, he nevertheless wished prophecy upon all the nation, and allowed them to continue prophesying around the camp. Our sages tell us that this wish of Moses for all the Jews to become prophets will be realized in the messianic era.20 In the words of the prophet Joel, "I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh. Your sons and daughters will prophesy."21 May this be materialized in our time, amen! FOOTNOTES 1. Rashi on Numbers 11:27. 2. An alternative interpretation: appoint them to a position of public office so they will become too preoccupied and exhausted to prophesy. 3. Numbers 11:26. 4. Numbers 11:14. 5. Numbers 11:16. 6. Sanhedrin 17a. 7. Numbers 11:31–33. 8. Numbers 11:26. 9. Numbers 11:33. 10. Bamidbar Rabbah 15, 19. 11. Originally his name was Eldad without a yud, and when he was appointed chieftain, they added the letter yud to his name, which now read as Elidad (Yichusei Tanaim Veamoraim in the name of the Midrash, brought in Ishei Hatanach). 12. Numbers 34:21. 13. Numbers 24:24. 14. Rabeinu Bechayei, Numbers 24:25. 15. Numbers 11:26. 16. Moses' father, Amram, was the greatest man of his generation. When he saw that the wicked Pharaoh had decreed, "Every son that is born you shall throw into the river," he went and divorced his wife. At the urging of his daughter, Miriam, Amram remarried Yocheved. Her marrying Elizaphan happened in between the divorce and remarriage. 17. This was pre-Sinai, as after Sinai it would be prohibited to remarry her husband once she had married another man in between. 18. Numbers 11:27; the Daat Zekeinim on the same verse brings the same tradition. 19. See Igrot Kodesh, vol. 15, letter 5537 for the Rebbe's solution to the question of when Amram fathered these children. 20. Midrash Tehillim 14:7. 21. Joel 3:1.
By Levi Avtzon | | | What I will add to the above article, is that Moses told G-d that he did not give birth to the nation and that he could not suckle the people G-d having a sense of humor sent him two guys named Dod (which means breast like shadium) to suckle the people. Never underestimate the power of humor, after all G-d is Jewish. Love Yehuda Lave | | See you Sunday-Shabbat Shalom | | | |
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