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
Love Yehuda Lave
Everyone is looking forward to Rosh Hashana to say goodbye to 2020
At Rosh Hashana each year, our fate is sealed in a book in heaven until the following year. Everyone is looking forward to 5781 to say goodbye to 2020, a year we don't want to look back at with hindsight. We pray the new year will be better.
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. G-d now gives us another month to prove that we are also that much wiser. It is not only another month, but it is also 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 as opposed to secular New Year's 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. Has 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 – someday, before the Supremes of Courts, as we attempt to explain the meaning of our lives below.
Life is too short for fools. 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. This is the secret of a happy marriage. The idea of giving to each other.
The Song of Songs is 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. 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. And the forgeting of the pain of 2020.
Pure gold: 425 Islamic coins from 1,100 years ago found at Israel dig Rare trove 'in excellent condition' includes a coin fragment, cut to make 'small change,' that shows a connection between Abbasid Caliphate and rival Byzantine empire By TOI STAFF
Israeli worker Oz Cohen, 18, carefully brushes away the dirt from a hoard of gold coins dating to the Abbasid Caliphate, during a press presentation of the discovery at an archeological site near Tel Aviv in central Israel (Heidi Levine / POOL / AFP) A rare hoard of 425 gold coins from the Abbasid Caliphate, dating around 1,100 years ago, was uncovered at an archaeological excavation in the center of the country, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced on Monday.
Perhaps for obvious reasons, the IAA did not specify the exact location of the site where the gold was discovered.
The trove was discovered by a group of young people carrying out volunteer work ahead of their mandatory army service.
"It was amazing. I dug in the ground and when I excavated the soil, saw what looked like very thin leaves," said teen Oz Cohen. "When I looked again I saw these were gold coins. It was really exciting to find such a special and ancient treasure."
Gold coins found at central Israel archaeological dig (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Excavation directors Liat Nadav-Ziv and Dr. Elie Haddad said that it was assumed that whoever buried the coins would have expected they would be able to retrieve the hoard, and that the find could point to international trade carried out by the area's residents.
"Finding gold coins, certainly in such a considerable quantity, is extremely rare. We almost never find them in archaeological excavations, given that gold has always been extremely valuable, melted down and reused from generation to generation," the directors said in a statement.
"The coins, made of pure gold that does not oxidize in air, were found in excellent condition, as if buried the day before. Their finding may indicate that international trade took place between the area's residents and remote areas," the statement read.
Gold coins found at central Israel archaeological dig (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)
Dr. Robert Kool, a coin expert at the IAA, said that the total weight of the hoard — around 845 grams of pure gold — would have been a significant amount of money at the end of the 9th century.
"For example, with such a sum, a person could buy a luxurious house in one of the best neighborhoods in Fustat, the enormous wealthy capital of Egypt in those days," Kool said, noting that at the time, the region was part of the Abbasid Caliphate, which stretched from Persia to North Africa, with a central seat of government in Baghdad.
"The hoard consists of full gold dinars, but also — what is unusual — contains about 270 small gold cuttings, pieces of gold dinars cut to serve as small change," Kool said.
He added that one of those cuttings was exceptionally rare and never before found in excavations in Israel — a fragment of a gold solidus of the Byzantine emperor Theophilos (829 – 842 CE), minted in the empire's capital of Constantinople.
Byzantine fragment found in central Israel dig (Courtesy Israel Antiquities Authority)
According to the IAA, the existence of the fragment in a trove of Islamic coins serves as evidence of the connections between the two rival empires.
"This rare treasure will certainly be a major contribution to research, as finds from the Abbasid period in Israel are relatively few. Hopefully the study of the hoard will tell us more about a period of which we still know very little," Kool said.
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FOUR RETIREES VISIT A BAR
Four old retired men are walking down a street in Yuma, Arizona. They turn a corner and see a sign that says, "Old Timers Bar, ALL drinks 10 cents." They look at each other and then go in, thinking this is too good to be true. There's a fully stocked bar, so each of the men orders a martini.
Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto.
The "Ha'Gomel" Blessing for One Who Has Recovered from the Coronavirus
Question: If one was sick with the Coronavirus but was not in any life-threatening danger and the illness merely caused one to be bedridden, must one recite the "Ha'Gomel " blessing?
Answer: In the previous Halacha we explained that there are four types of people that must recite the "Ha'Gomel" blessing: Sea travelers upon safely docking, individuals travelling through the desert upon reaching an inhabited settlement, a sick person who has recovered, and an incarcerated person who was released. A way to remember these four types is with the verse וכל החיי"ם יודוך סלה. This is an acronym for CH'avush , Y'am , Y'isurim , M'idbar . Chavush refers to one who was imprisoned and then freed, Yam refers to sea travellers who have docked safely, Yisurim refers to the suffering experienced by a person who was ill and now healed, and Midbar refers to those travelling through the desert who have reached an inhabited place.
Regarding the obligation of one who was sick and then healed to recite the "Ha'Gomel" blessing, the Ramban writes in his Sefer Torat Ha'Adam: "Regarding the "Ha'Gomel" blessing for a sick person who has recovered, this does not apply specifically to a person with a life-threatening illness; rather, as long as one was bedridden, one must praise Hashem with the "Ha'Gomel" blessing, for anyone who has been bedridden is considered to have been seated on the prosecutor's bench awaiting judgment and needs a great defense in order to be saved. Hashem in His great mercy provided this person with the necessary defense through the Mitzvot and good deeds that he has performed."
The Rashba and other Rishonim write similarly. The Meiri quotes the opinions that write that only one who recovers from a life-threatening illness recites the "Ha'Gomel" blessing and then writes, "I do not agree with this; rather anyone who was bedridden and then arose [from his illness] must recite the "Ha'Gomel " blessing for he is considered to have been judged on the prosecutor's bench."
Halachically speaking, Maran Ha'Shulchan Aruch (Chapter 219, Section 8) rules, as follows: "For any illness, even one which is not life-threatening, one must recite the "Ha'Gomel" blessing, for as long as one was bedridden and since recovered, one is considered to have been seated on the prosecutor's bench awaiting judgment." The Rama there notes, however, "Some say that one only recites the "Ha'Gomel" blessing for a life-threatening illness, such as an internal injury, and this is the Ashkenazi custom." Nevertheless, some say that even according to the Ashkenazi custom, if one's illness caused one to be confined to bed, one must recite the "Ha'Gomel " blessing.
The widespread custom among the Sephardic and Middle Eastern Jews is to recite the "Ha'Gomel" blessing for any illness, even non-life-threatening, so long as one was bedridden as a result of the illness.
Thus, halachically speaking, if one fell ill as a result of COVID-19 to the extent that one became bedridden, when one recovers, one must recite the "Ha'Gomel" blessing when one recovers. Nevertheless, even if one tests positive for COVID-19 antibodies but one did not suffer from any of the common symptoms, one may not recite the blessing, for our Sages did not enact the blessing to be recited under such circumstances. Nevertheless, it is appropriate for one to offer thanks to Hashem by reciting several chapters of Tehillim and the like.
Why America Is In Real Danger By Dennis Prager
Americans have long been proud of the fact that, unlike European countries, America never went the route of totalitarianism as embodied in communism, fascism, and Nazism.
This achievement may be coming to an end. In order to understand why, it is first necessary to understand why European countries embraced – or fell victim to – totalitarian doctrines.
Until World War I, the primary beliefs that gave life meaning, both on a national and personal level, were Judeo-Christian religions and patriotism (love of one's nation). What gave people moral guidance was Judeo-Christian values.
For most Europeans of the younger generation, World War I, with its seemingly senseless slaughter of millions, ended belief in Christianity and, in many cases, ended the people's faith in their nations. G-d was deemed absent; religion was deemed unnecessary, and national identity was widely seen as a cause of the war.
That left a void that was almost immediately filled by communism, fascism, and Nazism.
In Russia, World War I led directly to the Russian Revolution. Even before the war ended, in 1917, the czar was overthrown, and later that year, the Bolsheviks (the Russian communists) took over. As awful as the czar was, there was far more freedom under him than there was in the Soviet Union until the fall of communism 72 years later, not to mention the murder of more people – 20 to 40 million – under the Soviet regime.
In Italy, the rise of fascism followed World War I. And in Germany, the Nazis came to power just 15 years after the end of the Great War. Nazism conquered most of the European continent during World War II, and after Germany's defeat in 1945, the Soviets imposed communism over all of Eastern Europe.
Though there were communists, communist fellow travelers, Nazi sympathizers, racists, and anti-Semites in the United States, neither communism nor fascism nor Nazism took root here. The primary reason was that, unlike most Europeans, Americans did not lose their faith in Judeo-Christian religions and values or in America after World War I. America remained so religious that, in 1954, the words "under G-d" were inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance recited daily in American schools.
However, by the 1950s, faith in America, Christianity, and what we call bourgeois middle-class values were largely limited to older Americans. The post-World War II baby boomer generation was already being indoctrinated in secularism and anti-Americanism. As early as 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that school prayer was unconstitutional.
By the late 1960s, vast numbers of baby boomers were attending demonstrations that were as much against America – routinely characterized as an imperialist and colonialist aggressor country with an evil military – as they were against the war in Vietnam. It was not uncommon to see America spelled "Amerikkka" or "Amerika" at protests and in graffiti.
When I was in graduate school at Columbia University in the early 1970s, I was taught that men and women are not inherently different from one another and that the Cold War was between two superpowers (equally at fault), not between freedom and tyranny.
Another generation has passed, and the post-Christian, left-wing baby boomers have come close to achieving complete success. The mainstream print and electronic media, universities, high schools and elementary schools, the arts, and now sports have all been conquered by the left. Except for sports, from the beginning of the 20th century, they were almost all liberal, but now they are left.
We now have the answer to the question: What will happen to America if Americans lose faith in G-d and country as the Europeans did after World War I? What will happen to America when Christianity dies as it did in Europe after World War I?
The way things now look, America may have its bout with some totalitarian doctrine – almost surely some form of leftism. Liberty has never been a left-wing value. From Lenin on, wherever the left has come to power, it has suppressed liberty, beginning with free speech.
Already, despite a Republican president and a Republican Senate, America has less free speech than at any time in its history. Exactly one year ago, I testified before a Senate subcommittee and wrote an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal about YouTube (owned by Google) placing more than 100 PragerU videos on its restricted list.
And things have gotten much worse. Last week, PragerU was locked out of its Twitter account for retweeting a press conference of eight physicians in Washington, D.C., which had already received 17 million views, and Facebook has just informed us that if we even cite studies that show possible benefits of hydroxychloroquine (with zinc) in the early stages of a patient with Covid-19, we will lose our Facebook account.
And then there is the "cancel culture" – which is merely a euphemism for leftist suppression of dissent. People are booted from Internet platforms, fired from their jobs or have their reputations smeared and their businesses ruined for differing with the left – on anything.
We are also undergoing a non-violent (as of now) version of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, with individuals forced to issue humiliating public recantations of their beliefs and attend reeducation sessions (we don't yet have reeducation camps, but they should not be ruled out as a possibility if the left is in control).
Another communist norm taking root in America is the rewriting of the American past. We are living a famous Soviet dissident joke: "In the Soviet Union, the future is known; it is the past that is always changing."
On almost all social issues and many economic ones, the American left is more radical than the left in Europe. Europeans across the political spectrum are warier of ideological fanaticism because of the vast scale of death and suffering that resulted from communism, fascism, and Nazism.
One might say that Europe was inoculated against fanaticism. Europeans are more preoccupied with working less, traveling more, and being taken care of than with ideological movements. But America, which has not suffered under fanatical, irrational, liberty-depriving ideologies, has not been inoculated.
Without such a vaccination, what replaced Christianity in Europe may well replace it in America.
The current Corona epidemic has created many types of victims in its wake. Tragically, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have died from the effects of the virus, out of the millions of others, really tens if not hundreds of millions of others, who contracted the disease. Thank God, over 90% of those who were sick have recovered and even though there is some anecdotal evidence that residue symptoms exist in those that were seemingly cured of the disease, in the main it must be said that we consider ourselves relatively fortunate as far as the clinical aspects of the pandemic are concerned. However, there has been enormous collateral damage done to the societies of the world from this bitter plague that has been visited upon us.
We are all aware of the fallout that has destroyed the world's economies and has left tens of millions of people unemployed and practically destitute. Even though there are signs of a recovery in certain economies of the world such as the United States, the economic situation here in Israel remains uncertain at best and bleak at worst. And let no one at any time minimize the effects of economic woes, unemployment, financial insecurity, and losses of home and businesses on the human psyche and condition. There are relatively few happy and contented people present amongst us. The pandemic has taken an economic and psychological toll that is enormous and weighs heavily upon the functions of our society. My friends, a plague is a plague is a plague!
Aside from the physical and economic havoc wrought by the Corona pandemic, I have sensed a spiritual fallout as well. Naturally, the inability to have live, personal, face-to-face Torah study has, in many ways, crippled us. With all of the wonders of Zoom and all of the gratitude that we should have that this technology allowed for Torah study during this most trying period of time, it is apparent that such study is much more difficult and less rewarding than the good old-fashioned way of listening to a live lecture or learning one-on-one with a study partner.
The results are still out as to the success of Zoom use in the schools. Anecdotally, I observed both in the United States and here in Israel that it places far more stress on the teacher and in one way or another that stress must be communicated to the student no matter how comfortable and welcoming the virtual classroom may be. Anyone who is tempted to think that when, God willing, the pandemic finally runs its course and schooling can be continued on a permanent basis, choosing only Zoom and the virtual classrooms is sadly mistaken. Even the most rabid fan of homeschooling and technical learning must admit that the social interaction between fellow students and live instructors is a very necessary part of the overall education and social makeup of students at all levels of schooling. How this gap in the education of the next generation will be redressed is one of the great problems that faces our society.
And, you all know that I am very opinionated when it comes to the question of attendance at synagogue worship services. To me, all the outdoor minyanim that take place, of necessity during this pandemic, are nevertheless inferior spiritually to attending services at a synagogue, even if that synagogue service is limited only to 10 men. These ad hoc minyanim have bred descent, disagreements, personal hurts and are often devoid of content and meaning to the prayers being offered. also have no doubt from my experience of being a rabbi for over 60 years that even when the pandemic ends many of these ad hoc minyanim will continue. Attending the synagogue always is somewhat of an inconvenience and after all, we go to great lengths to escape inconveniences in our lives. But I think we should all recognize that there is a spiritual price to be paid for the absence from regular attendance at our synagogue. We will have to work hard to redress that loss when the situation will change for the better, and we pray that it will do so speedily and completely.
Shabbat shalom
All blessings,
Berel Wein
By Menachem Feldman Witnesses are an important part of every judicial system. Yet, as is often the case, Judaism presents a deeper dimension and perspective on the function and purpose of witnesses.
According to the Talmud, there are two categories of witnesses, "clarifying witnesses" and "establishing witnesses." Clarifying witnesses are witnesses in the conventional sense. They observe an event and later testify that the event indeed occurred; for example, witnesses can testify that a man borrowed one hundred dollars from his friend. The witnesses, however, have no part in the transaction; the borrower is morally obligated to repay the loan whether or not the witnesses testify. It is the loan that obligates him, not the witnesses.
The second category, "establishing witnesses," is entirely different. According to Jewish law, there are events that have no legal significance unless there are witnesses present. For example, the witnesses at a wedding ceremony not only attest that the wedding took place, but actually establish the marriage itself. Without proper witnesses, the marriage would have no legal significance.
In other words, the "clarifying witnesses" reveal the legal reality, and the "establishing witnesses" actively participate in creating a legal reality. But these two categories of witnesses are not just legal definitions; they're relevant to the inner, spiritual dimension of the Torah.
The prophet Isaiah tells us: "'You are My witnesses,' says the L‑rd."1 We are the witnesses charged with the responsibility to "testify" and reveal the truth of G‑d throughout the earth. Our spiritual task as witnesses contains both dimensions, clarifying and establishing, We serve as "clarifying witnesses" when we recognize the presence of G‑d in the magnificent universe He created. When we remind ourselves and others of the good inherent in the world and within people.
Yet merely observing, appreciating and sharing does not capture the full potential and greatness of the Jew, for the Jew is a witness to a marriage, the marriage between Creator and creation, between the G‑d and the Jewish people, between heaven and earth. As previously explained, the witnesses of a marriage are "establishing witnesses," part of the creation and establishment of the marriage.
To be a witness to the marriage of heaven and earth, the Jew must do more than appreciate and focus on the inherent G‑dliness found on earth. The Jew must partner with G‑d in creation. The Jew actively improves and elevates the world around him. He transforms the mundane by imbuing it with meaning and holiness. The Jew doesn't just tell a story, the Jew seeks to actively create it.2
FOOTNOTES 1. Isaiah 43:10. 2. Adapted Reshimot ,
Jordan Calls on Israel to 'End All Provocations and Violations' on Temple Mount
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry called on Israel it to "respect the sanctity" of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and end "all provocations and violations there."
According to Jordan's Petra News Agency, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Deifallah al-Fayez conveyed the message of protest through diplomatic channels, condemning what it called "Israeli violations" on the Temple Mount, by having allowed Jews "to storm the mosque" on the Jewish holiday of Tisha B'Av last Thursday.
Hundreds of Jews visited the Temple Mount to mark the fast day commemorating the destruction of the two Temples that were located on the site.
Al-Fayez also said that the Temple Mount, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, is "a place of worship for Muslims only." He called on the international community to end these so-called "Israeli violations."
The Temple Mount has been under the day-to-day control of the Muslim Waqf religious authorities and overseen by the Jordanian government since the 1967 Six-Day War, with Israel retaining security control of Judaism's holiest site. The Waqf forbids Jews from praying on the site, which is a source of ongoing controversy between Israel and the Palestinians, and between Israel and Jordan
See you Sunday Bli neder
Shabbat Shalom
We need Mosiach now
Love Yehuda Lave
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