Chabad's Secret to Success by Gutman Locks and Alan Dershowitz: Black Lives Matter Must Rescind Its Anti-Israel Declaration and Is It Proper…? Why don’t we fast today for the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust? By Jewish Press Staff -and the Old City of Jerusalem -where I live and Study

Can't see images? Click here... Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor Mental Rules to Fight Anxiety anytime including during The Virus and recovery time 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. Now also a Blogger on the Times of Israel. Look for my column RULE #1: DO NOT SPECULATE ABOUT THE FUTURE. - you have no idea what is in store for you. RULE #2: Forget about spectacular. ALL you need is to be AVERAGE .RULE #3: If you think about the future, think ONLY POSITIVE. See yourself being calm and happy.RULE #4: Think thoughts that make you calm, grateful, mindful, and faithful. Love Yehuda Lave The amazing Old City and Kotel where I live and Study In Israel, peeling back the layers of history is a never-ending pursuit. Findings from thousands of years ago are preserved Sitting at the crossroads of the ancient world, Israel is an archeologist's dream. Peeling back the layers of history here is a never-ending pursuit. Excavations by the Israel Antiquities Authority with local and international experts are constantly turning up new clues to ancient civilizations. The most visited and well known, because of the wailing wall (the Kotel in Hebrew) the remains of the Temple Mount.is The Old City of Jerusalem. Archeological digs and conservation projects reveal the history of this capital city established by King David more than 3,000 years ago. The most visited place in Israel, Jerusalem has been continuously inhabited for some 5,000 years. The most famed archeological heritage sites are in the Old City area and shed light on life during the First Temple period (1000-586 BCE), Second Temple period (516 BCE to 70 CE), Byzantine Muslim period (4th to 11th centuries CE) and Crusader period (1095 to 1291 CE). Recently, cutting-edge micro-archeology tools were used to correctly date the construction of Wilson's Arch, which supported one of the main pathways to the Second Temple. The Western Wall (Kotel) is a 70-meter (230-foot) section of one of the huge retaining walls of Herod the Great's expanded Second Temple compound, built around 20 BCE and destroyed by the Romans around 70 CE. It is revered as a place of worship for its proximity to the Temple Mount. The tunnels behind the wall are still revealing amazing treasures and mysteries. Davidson Archeological Park and Museum houses many artifacts including city walls from the First Temple period and the original street from the Second Temple period, as well as models and multimedia presentations. The City of David, the original "Old City" just outside the present walls. Excavations include a hidden spring where biblical kings were coronated, the flowing waters of Hezekiah's Tunnel from the eighth century BCE, and a recently unearthed half-mile pilgrimage road leading to the Temple Mount – complete with burned coins and clothing Is It Proper…? Why don't we fast today for the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust? By Jewish Press Staff - For hundreds of years, Jews in Poland fasted on the 20th of Sivan to commemorate the tens of thousands of Jews killed in the Chmielnitzky uprising of 1648-49.  Yet, we don't fast today for the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. Why not?   We probably should, but there are several reasons why we don't. Some point to a statement in the kinot – "for we may not add a new day of mourning over ruin and burning." But the fact that Jews in Poland did fast [for the massacres in 1648-49] renders that reason less than compelling, even if we assume that kinot are an authoritative halachic source. I think the real reason is broader and an unhealthy reflection on our society today. Polish Jews formed one community. It is probably fanciful to say they were all religious, but at least they all saw themselves as part of one nation. Sadly, many Jews today no longer see themselves that way. Polish Jewry also had a central leadership body – the Council of the Four Lands – that could issue decrees to which all Jews felt bound. We no longer have a respected council of leaders that all Jews respect. Moreover, how many Jews today fast the established four fasts such that a decree to establish another fast would be heeded? Fasts are designed to be catalysts for teshuvah, repentance. How many Jews sincerely engage in acts of repentance? The Holocaust devastated Ashkenazic Jewry. Yet, it would be very difficult to convince even most American Jews (who are largely Ashkenazic) to accept an additional fast. All that said, the current observances of Yom HaShoah fall short of a meaningful commemoration of this unique and horrific calamity. They tend to consist of contrived ceremonies, survivor accounts, hollow expressions of "Never Again," and the pursuit of the broader agenda of the organizers. There is little religious perspective added and almost no attempt to fit the Holocaust into the context of Jewish history, before and after. Observances that feature these elements might have to wait another generation, and such observances will include a public fast. — Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, mara d'asra of Congregation Bnai Yeshurun of Teaneck, NJ   * * * * *    Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu The fast of the 20th day of Sivan was established in the era of the Achronim when there were gedolim like the Taz who had the authority to make decrees. Today, the power of the generation's Torah leaders has weakened, and we are unable to establish fast days. Before World War II ended, on the 17th of Tevet, 1945, the Chief Rabbinate held an initial discussion about establishing a permanent day of remembrance for the victims of the Holocaust. In 1948, after many requests and demands from organizations and individuals who wanted to say Kaddish for their loved ones whose day of death was unknown, the chief rabbis – HaRav Herzog and HaRav Uziel – sent a letter to the General Council of the Chief Rabbinate requesting that Asarah b'Tevet be declared a day of general Holocaust remembrance. Rav Herzog related that a proposal had been made to establish a day of fasting, but there was intense opposition from the Brisker Rav, Rav Velvel Soloveitchik, who maintained that to do so would be a violation of the prohibition against adding new things to the Torah (bal tosif). Rav Herzog responded that he did not agree and saw no prohibition whatsoever. He also laid out the reasons for making Asarah b'Tevet a day to recall the Holocaust: On the one hand, it's impossible not to establish a fast to remember the martyrs of the Holocaust. On the other hand, to add a special fast is problematic in our generation. Therefore, in his opinion, the most appropriate day to set aside as a day of remembrance is Asarah b'Tevet, which is a short fast day without excessive mourning. — Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Tzefas    * * * * *   Rabbi Simon Jacobson Rabbi Moshe Feinstein explains in Igros Moshe (vol. 8, Yoreh De'ah 57:11) that the Holocaust, which targeted all Jews, is an extension and continuation of the destruction of the Temple and all subsequent tragedies experienced by the Jewish people. We don't add a special day marking these calamities because they are all marked by and included in our grieving and fasting on Tisha B'Av. By contrast, Reb Moshe says, Chmielnitzky's massacres were a local event, and were not government-sponsored (indeed, the Polish authorities, against whom the Cossacks were revolting, tried to save the Jews where possible). So while this tragedy was indeed an outgrowth of galus (in Reb Moshe's words, "mishum d'mei'osan hachata'im she'nischaivu b'galus ne'enashu gam baze"), nevertheless it was somewhat different and deserved its own (local) commemoration. As an aside, Reb Moshe doesn't seem to directly address the fact that the 20th of Sivan had first been established as a fast day several centuries earlier by Rabbeinu Tam and other gedolei Baalei Tosafos of France, memorializing the Jews killed al kiddush Hashem following the Blois blood libel of 1171. Perhaps, though, the same logic applies: It occurred in one particular city and was not sanctioned by the king of France, only by the local baron. On a related note, on Purim, 1957, the Lubavitcher Rebbe explained that we don't establish special days to mark tragedies and victories that happened to the Jewish people throughout history (as we did after the Purim story) because the days designated by Chazal encompass the commemoration of all historical events. — Rabbi Simon Jacobson, renowned Lubavitch author and lecturer   * * * * *   Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein It's not quite true that there's no fast for the Holocaust. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel offered the existing fast of Asarah b'Tevet for that purpose (the first Holocaust Remembrance day was Asarah b'Tevet, 1949), and still designates it as a day of generalized Kaddish for all whose yahrzeits are unknown. The Knesset eventually moved the day to Nisan, during which fasts are prohibited. Others – including apparently Rav Soloveitchik – saw Tisha B'Av as a day of national mourning since all the tragedies of the Jewish people have their roots in the destruction of the Temple. Obviously, though, leaders of Polish Jewry thought their tragedy deserved its own day. I have two guesses why we did not emulate them. First, I wonder whether the rise of the State of Israel made special "days" political. The Orthodox world split over Zionism and Yom HaAtzma'ut. Any new day of commemoration would have seemed too "Zionist" or "modern." I suspect the Chief Rabbinate chose an existing fast in an effort to be less radical. My second guess, more convincing to me, revolves around Oravh Chayim, siman 571, where the Shulhan Aruch looks askance at Torah scholars who fast unnecessarily because it diminishes their service of G-d. The Magen Avraham extends this disapproval to many others, even day laborers, who owe their best efforts to their employer. After the 1648-49 massacres, establishing a fast day on the 20th of Sivan was evidently seen as worth the loss of energy. I think the centuries since have changed eating patterns such that the downsides of non-mandatory fasting has deterred [rabbis from] instituting new fast days. The headache, the nap, the inability to focus make it not worth it. We have too much to do – in the most positive sense. We can and should remember, mourn, and commemorate the Holocaust, but without losing precious time of service of G-d. So we observe it in other ways than fasting, or fold it into existing fast days. — Rabbi Dr. Gidon Rothstein, author, regular contributor to www.Torahmusings.com Rabbi Yehuda Lave -author of this blog I am the child of a Holocaust Mother whose entire family was murdered in the Shoah. For years I didn't understand what I could do personally to make a difference about their deaths. The Kaliver Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Taub (\Hebrew: מנחם מנדל טאוב‎) (1923–2019) taught me that since I was alive and they were dead I could say Kaddish every day for them in synagogue. That of course it was so painful not to go to synagogue for 20 days for me (the time in Israel it was prohibited to go to any minyons, including outside minyons) In addition, Living in Israel, in Jerusalem near the old city that I write about above, makes a statement to the world that the Jews survived and will always survive. The Penny Drops The Penny Drops Shirah and Shmuel Shuster had just finished tucking their kids into bed one evening when they heard sobbing coming from three-year-old Moishie's room. Rushing to his side, they found him crying hysterically. He had accidentally swallowed a penny and was sure he was going to die. No amount of talking could change his mind. Desperate to calm him, Shmuel palmed a penny that he happened to have in his pocket and pretended to pull it from Moishie's ear. Moishie was delighted. In a flash, he snatched it from his father's hand, swallowed it and demanded cheerfully, "Abba, do it again!" Chabad's Secret to Success by Gutman Locks Why is Chabad so successful? They are all over the World. What is it about them? Alan Dershowitz: Black Lives Matter Must Rescind Its Anti-Israel Declaration It is a real tragedy that Black Lives Matter — which has done so much good in raising awareness of police abuses — has now moved away from its central mission and has declared war against the nation state of the Jewish people. In a recently issued "platform," more than 60 groups that form the core of the Black Lives Matter movement went out of their way to single out one foreign nation to accuse of genocide and apartheid. No, it wasn't the Syrian government, which has killed tens of thousands of innocent people with barrel bombs, chemicals and gas. Nor was it Saudi Arabia, which openly practices gender and religious apartheid. It wasn't Iran, which hangs gays and murders dissidents. It wasn't China, which has occupied Tibet for more than half a century. And it wasn't Turkey, which has imprisoned journalists, judges and academics. Finally, it wasn't any of the many countries, such as Venezuela or Mexico, where police abuses against innocent people run rampant and largely unchecked. Nor was it the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, where the police are a law unto themselves who act as judge, jury and executioner of those whose politics or religious practices they disapprove. It was only Israel, the nation state of the Jewish people and the only democracy in the Middle East. The platform accuses the US of being "complicit in the genocide taking place against the Palestinian people" by providing aid to "an apartheid state." To be sure, Black Lives Matter is not a monolithic organization. It is a movement comprising numerous groups. Many of its supporters have no idea what the platform says. They cannot be faulted for supporting the movement or its basic mission. But the platform is the closest thing to a formal declaration of principles by Black Lives Matter. The genocide paragraph may well have been injected by radicals who are not representative of the mainstream. But now that it has officially been published, all decent supporters of Black Lives Matter — and there are many — must demand its removal.   Criticizing Israel is not antisemitic. Like other democracies, including our own, it has faults. Criticizing Israel's settlement and occupation policies is fair game. But singling Israel out and falsely accusing it of "genocide" can be explained in no other way than blatant hatred of Jews and their state.   In defending its citizens against terrorism since before its establishment as a state in 1948, Israel has killed fewer Palestinians than did Jordan and Syria in two much shorter wars. The relatively low number of civilian deaths caused by Israeli self-defense measures over the past 68 years compares favorably to the number of civilian deaths in other conflicts. This is because, as Colonel Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan, put it: There has been "no time in the history of warfare when an Army has made more efforts to reduce civilian casualties…than [the Israel Defense Forces]." Though Kemp was specifically referring to the wars in the Gaza Strip — which are also the apparent focus of the Black Lives Matter Platform — his conclusion is applicable to all wars Israel has fought. Genocide means the deliberate extermination of a race, such as done by Nazi Germany to Jews and Sinti and Roma or by the Hutu against the Tutsi in Rwanda. It has no application to deaths caused by self-defense measures taken to protect citizens against terrorism. To falsely accuse Israel of "genocide" — the worst crime of all, and the crime whose very name was coined to describe the systematic murder of 6 million Jews — is antisemitic.   Until and unless Black Lives Matter removes this blood libel from its platform and renounces it, no decent person — black, white or of any other racial or ethnic background — should have anything to do with it. We should continue to fight against police abuses by supporting other organizations or forming new ones. But we must not become complicit in the promotion of antisemitism just because we agree with the rest of the Black Lives Matter program. To support an organization or movement that promotes antisemitism because it also supports good causes is the beginning of the road to accepting racism. Many racist groups have also promoted causes that deserve support. The Black Panthers had breakfast programs for inner-city children, while advocating violence against whites. And the Ku Klux Klan organized summer camps for working-class families, while advocating violence against blacks. There must be zero tolerance for antisemitism, regardless of the race, religion, gender or sexual orientation of the bigots who promote, practice or are complicit with it. Being on the right side of one racial issue does not give one a license to be on the wrong side of the oldest bigotry. To give Black Lives Matter a pass on its anti-Jewish bigotry would be to engage in racism. Black antisemitism is as inexcusable as white antisemitism or white racism. There can be no double standard when it comes to bigotry. I write this column both in sorrow and in anger. In sorrow because I support the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement — I have long been involved in efforts to expose and prevent police abuses — and worry that this obnoxious and divisionary platform plank may destroy its credibility with regard to police abuse in America by promoting deliberate lies about Israel. It is also alienating Jewish and other supporters who could help them achieve their goals here at home — as many such individuals have historically done in actively supporting all aspects of the civil rights movement. I write it in anger because there is never an excuse for bigotry and for promoting blood libels against the Jewish people and their state. It must stop. And those who engage in it must be called out for condemnation. Black Lives Matter should rescind the portions of the platform that falsely accuse Israel of genocide and apartheid. If it does not, it risks ending in the dustbin of history, along with other discredited bigoted groups. It would be sad if the good work done by Black Lives Matter were now to be sidetracked by the mendacious and irrelevant accusation of "genocide" and "apartheid" against one foreign democracy — Israel. Alan M. Dershowitz is professor emeritus of law at Harvard University and author of "Taking the Stand: My Life in the Law.'' This article, originally published in the Algeminer See you tomorrow We need Mosiach now Love Yehuda Lave Rabbi Yehuda Lave PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202 LIKE TWEET FORWARD You received this email because you signed up on our website or made purchase from us. Unsubscribe