Eretz Yisroel

Well, I guess the North has finally joined the war! (As I write, there is a major attack 15 kilometers away.)

For us, at least, it began at around 1:30 a.m. with a series of very loud explosions coming from our south and much closer than what we're used to.  They were powerful enough to not only shake the building, but to actually cause the windows  to rattle.  It woke up all the kids, who of course ran out to the balcony to see if they could see anything (war is all fun and games until the rockets fall around you).  This happened two other times throughout the night, followed by a volley to our west early in the morning (which they DID get to see, much to their delight).  Thankfully, most were destroyed, but two were not causing heavy damage.  However, no matter what damage the air force is causing them right now, it cannot compare to the damage Hezbollah has done to us:  Our whole area is at "Level Three," which is the highest alert status short of evacuation, which means: no school!!!!!  If THAT is not terror, I do not know what is.

One of the most frustrating things about this war has been, and continues to be, the reaction of the Western world.  Any time the word "escalation", "unlawful", or my favourite, "ceasefire", is used, it's always in relation to Israel.  Hezbollah has sent over 8000 rockets/missiles over the border over the past year, and the world has been silent.  At most, they speak of a "diplomatic solution" with a terror organization which has no problem admitting to the world that their number one goal in life is to destroy Israel.  Then, when Israel executes an amazing operation, knocking out thousands of terrorists in one blow, with super-duper minimal civilian casualties, the world condemns this "terror attack" with the "usage of civilian equipment."

Just recently I saw the US complain about some video of Israeli soldiers pushing dead terrorists off a rooftop, demanding an investigation.  If THIS is what they have to complain about, it means, Israel is doing a REAL good job at following the international rules of war AND … they are VERY desperate to find something.

And now, regarding a lawsuit in the US courts against UNRWA's participation in terror activities, the UN, with backing of the US Judicial office, has said that all "seven" who "might have" participated, have diplomatic immunity and therefore, they and the United Nations cannot be tried.

You cannot make this up.

Let us not forget about the Hague and the ICC.

There is talk about how Israel is fighting a seven-front war.  But really, there is an eighth front: Legal Warfare.

When the Arabs launch their attacks, "frustrating" Is not the word used.  Why?  Because, they are pretty straightforward in what they want: to destroy us.  It's when the Western world, clothed in moral superiority, blinds themselves to what the Arabs want, launch their own legal attacks against Israel.  They claim that they are simply following the cold rules of law and are certainly not antiSemitic.  THAT, is frustrating.

A friend of mine pointed out something interesting from the Haftarah a few weeks ago, in Parshas Re'eh.  It's an explanation written by the Abarbanel, several hundred years ago.  He helps put things into perspective.

"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Hashem, and their due reward from Me, says Hashem" (Yeshaya 54:17).

Says the Abarbanel: "The Prophet assures them that they should not fear the nations, for they will no longer come to destroy you with their wickedness… The phrase 'no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn' refers to the nations of the world today, who force their religion upon others. Some do so without arguments, threatening to kill anyone who opposes them, as is the case with the nation of Yishmael. Others engage in debates and intellectual arguments, as is the case with the sages of Edom, who are skilled in the art of rhetoric. Therefore, the prophet says that neither of these methods will succeed: 'No weapon formed against you shall prosper,' referring to the methods of the children of Ishmael, and 'every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn,' referring to the debates of the children of Edom. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness will protect them from harm, whether by force or false arguments."

Amazing, no?  Can we not see his words playing out as we speak?  The Arabs (Yishmael) are out their fighting with weapons, and the Western world (Edom) attacks us with words, using "judgment" against us.

Our frustration with the Western world comes from the fact that we think that they really like us, or at least are neutral with us, and are simply blinded by their emotions.

That is where we are wrong.

Yes, there have been and currently are individuals who support us, but the Western world as a whole has just as much hatred for us as the Arabs do.  It's a spiritual hatred, going back to Yaakov and Eisav, and that has never and will never change.

Once that fact is internalized, that this is not coming from some foolish innocence, but rather from an ancient hatred that Eisav/Edom have always had for us, our frustration will ebb and will be replaced with acceptance on where each side is really holding.  From there, we can recognize that the Jewish people were never really part of the world, but rather above it, and our existence is not dependent on the will of the world, but rather the will of Hashem.

Written by my wife:

Chaya bas Orah is a 36-year-old woman who we know. She has a daughter in gan with our daughter Tova.

Three years ago, when she was expecting her third child, she was diagnosed with cancer and the doctors performed an emergency C-section in her 8th month to start treatments as soon as possible.

She underwent various treatments for 2 years. The doctors then told her there was nothing else they could do and sent her home. 

Chaya is clinging to hope--and life. She is trying to explore various alternative therapies, like acupuncture and intensive vitamin treatments. But they cannot afford the expense involved.

Nevertheless, she is still wearing a smile on her face and speaking about the deepened emunah she has gained since this trial began.

I recently saw her at the end-of-year gan party. It was the first gan party she has been able to stay for in a long, long time. As the girls danced and sang, I kept stealing glimpses at her, awed by this woman who was smiling, taking it all in and truly living in the moment, despite the tremendous suffering and obstacles she is enduring.

Sadly, Chaya doesn't look anything like her picture anymore. But her smile still remains--bright, beautiful and full of hope.

Please give whatever you can to help her and her family (she has three precious children--aged 9, 6 and 3, and a husband in the IDF). And please share the link with others who may be able to help.

She should have a refuah sheleimah among all the other sick people in Klal Yisrael.

https://thechesedfund.com/cause/save-chaya

Sorry for all these emails.... I've received a few replies, some coming from the "comments" section of the website, and is not providing an email address.

Please resend and send any emails by responding to the dvar torah. THEN, I can respond back :)

Thanks... and hopefully you won't hear back from me until next week.

For those interesting in helping the family of the two girls that were in the bus accident (one in critical condition, one who was released but will be needing therapy), can go here to donate:

https://www.gofundme.com/qgphdhwc

Needless to say, they live a very simple lifestyle (you would be surprised), and do not have the money to cover the expenses they are going to need.

Any help would be appreciated!



From the site:

Recently in Israel there was a bus crash involving bus #402 .The police said its preliminary investigation showed that the driver had become distracted while driving, which is why he crashed the #402 bus into a truck that was stopped on the side of the road. Six people were killed in the collision and 12 others were injured.

One of those people are Miss Sarah Sperling.
A soon to be Bride.

As of now Sara is in critical but stable condition. After the accident, she underwent a 10 hour surgery to attach her right hand and to repair her leg that was crushed. Miss Sperling has just been recently engaged and is a few weeks away from her wedding.

The Sperling family is completely focused on their daughter Sarah bas Dina's complex medical condition and IY"H her recovery from the terrible #402 bus crash Sunday, February 14, 2016. At this time, they are confronted with many financial challenges, including IY"H her upcoming wedding scheduled for March 9, 2016

Besides caring for their children (including one special needs child), they now face many previously unexpected costs and are in need of major financial assistance.

Some of the mounting expenses now include:· Daily commute from Jerusalem to Asaf Haroeh Medical Center (a 114 km/71 mile round-trip)
· Psychological support and treatment for their other daughter, also injured in the bus accident
· Babysitting for their special needs child, as both parents spend each day at the hospital
· Legal fees for filing claims (Please note that the major claim may only be filed at the end of the period of Rehabilitation for Sarah, which has not begun yet because she is still in the acute phase of treatment.)
· Long-term commuting expenses to the rehabilitation facility, which will likely be either Tel HaShomer or Beit Levenshtein, both located in the Tel Aviv area

We are trying to raise $50,000 to reduce the burden on the Sperlings. Your generous donation will go a long way towards easing the stress and pressure on this wonderful family and will help them focus on Sarah's recovery and her wedding!

Please Help with whatever donation you can give.
Thank You.

What fun times we live in. Yet, I’m happy to be able to live here despite whatever issues arrive.

My wife and I were talking about the situation, and she commented that we (in Israel) really live in a country of heroes. The police and army have agreed that they cannot stop the situation, and everyone must do what they must to defend themselves. So, in response, people who have licenses have been arming themselves; those without, carry other forms of weapons with them, and in probably half the attacks, or attempted attacks, it’s the civilian who is stopping the terrorist. One man started to carry nunchucks when the violence started, and took down a terrorist on one of the buses; another one with a “selfie-stick.” A few of our friends from our old neighborhood (which is surrounded by Arabs) have reported that their children are carrying rocks and sticks to school (just in case), while women are carrying around Mace, rolling pins, etc.

We know a family whose two young teenagers actually thwarted an attack. On Shabbos, they saw two Arabs going into the girls’ school where there usually is a special program for the girls. The kids, of course being Israeli, started to question the Arabs demanding to know why they were there. They informed their father, who in turn called the police, who in turn showed up and arrested them.

One of the best only-in-Israel moves was made by the Health Minister, Yaakov Litzman (the Ultra-Orthodox minister, whom everybody loves for the vast improvements he has made in the system). When Abbas started telling the world about Israel “executing” a 13-year-old boy, the hospital in which said boy was being treated came out and said that he is being treated there. However, since he is a minor and his parents have refused, they cannot release any photos or videos as proof. Litzman said, “too bad, he lost his rights” and went in there with a film crew, and much to the shock of human rights groups (who were silent about the actions this boy was doing), he publicized the photos via the Prime Minister’s office, to prove, once again, that Abbas is making things up. I just can’t picture a U.S. government official getting away with that.

Anyhow…
Rav Moshe Chalkowski from Neve Yerushalayim recently spoke about the situation. He started off with a warning that we don’t know why Hashem does things, HOWEVER, we have an obligation to do our best to learn from what we see.

As mentioned above, the Israeli government, army, and police, have admitted that while they are doing their best, it’s impossible to stop the terrorism. Rav Chalkowski said that this is just another reminder of who is in charge. While one must do proper hishtadlus (taking normal, proper methods) for security (i.e. a country setting up an army and police force), one CANNOT rely on them. In the past, he said, we relied on our army and police, and have given lip-service to Hashem. When we walked the streets and seen beefed up security, we would feel safer and say, “Thank G-d we have them.”. But that is NOT emunah in Hashem, nor does it fit in the category of hishtadlus. Hishtadlus (for anything, be it medical, security, income, etc.) is doing what is normal and right to obtain your objective and putting your faith in Hashem that he will take care of it, whether or not it came from your hishtadlus. I, for example, do my hishtadlus for income. Yet, there were countless numbers of times where money has come into our account right in the “knick of time” from some other source that had nothing to do with me or my work. I do my hishtadlus, and how Hashem takes care of me is His business.

Our national security is no different. We set up an army, we set up a police force. We let them do their jobs, but who takes care of us? Not them! Just Hashem. Rav Chalkowski pushed the point that we need to walk out the door and daven to Hashem, “Please take care of me and take care of everybody on this bus.” THAT is emunah: relying on Hashem and giving “lip-service” to the army/police.

He also warned us about our personal behavior, and how WE stab people in the back with loshon horah. In World War II, they had posters that warned soldiers on-leave, “Loose lips, sink ships.” Loshon horah is something that can and will destroy a person like, if not more than, a knife wound. It can destroy homes, marriages, livelihood, self-esteem, etc.

He concluded by noting how this started right after Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippor/Sukkos. One would think, he said, that this is not the way we were all hoping to start off the new year. However, he noted, it is said that any year that starts off bad, will end off good. By working on our emunah in Hashem, and our relationships with other people by eliminating loshon horah, we can be assured that Hashem will turn things around in our favor.

Have a great Shabbos!

Michael Winner

Many food stores in Israel offer a delivery service for all your purchases, since we do not, in many places, live in a car-based society, and not everybody has a car. So, nearly every week or every two weeks, my wife goes to a certain place to buy most of our food, and the same Arab deliveryman drops it off. Between you and me, he’s a nice guy. Well educated. Happy to live in Israel. Religious. And he’s happy with his place in life. So, whenever I’m home when he drops off the food, we trade a few “how are things” and that’s that. This week he said to me, “What’s going on about the rain? We’ve had so very little rain this winter, and when we don’t have rain, bad things happen. WE NEED TO PRAY MORE FOR RAIN!”

This is coming from an Arab deliveryman.

This winter alone has produced a strange number of sudden deaths. We know of the loss of Yossi Kalter & Rav Asher Rubenstein. The father of a girl in my daughter’s class never woke up one morning. A 28-year-old married (no children, unfortunately) son was visiting his father here last month, and was killed on Shabbos morning in a hit-and-run. A family in Southern Jerusalem was wiped out in a sudden gas explosion. Another Jerusalem family lost two young girls and have two other sons in the hospital (thankfully, they’ve been upgraded to stable-condition) after being poisoned after an extermination. And just last Shabbos another rav of mine from when I first came to yeshivah died of a sudden heart attack. There have been a lot of non-normal incidences such as these.

I saw something printed up in a leaflet in the kollel this week and the author spoke about it a little bit. He made note of the differences on how we act when a city, for example, is undergoing a siege, or famine, or some other misfortune. The Gemara in Tannis explains that they fast, do teshuvah, and daven for it to go away. Not so with rain. When we have a lack of rain, there is an entire-program that we do, consisting of different fasts and forbidding different activities, etc. He asks, what’s the difference between bad things happening and a lack of rain? Why do we take a lack of rain to be so serious?

He explained, that when a city is undergoing a misfortune, they are being told to do teshuvah on a certain aspect of life. However, a lack of rain means something completely different. It means that Hashem is not renewing our lease on life itself!

When our lives are not being renewed, that means we need a total overhaul, and a “total revamp.” We say at least twice a day in Shema, “That if you continually hearken to My commandments that I command you today, to love Hashem, your G-d, and to serve Him, with ALL your heat and with ALL your sou l- THEN I will provide rain for your land in its proper time…”

When we lack rain, it’s a sign that we are lacking LIFE.

I believe northern Israel, for example, has received only 35% of its normal annual rainfall. Normally, we stop davening for rain in another month and a half. This year we have a leap year, and starting tonight, we begin the first of two months of Adar, meaning we have an additional month to daven for rain. May we merit to renew our entire lives so Hashem may do the same.

Have a wonderful Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh (first of the new month)!

Michael Winner

I was wondering …

Let’s say I had an issue with Ethiopians. I had a bad run-in or two with them. Would it be acceptable to write to the papers, voicing my beefs with the group as a whole? How they do this, that and the other thing disturbs me, because I had a few run-ins …

You see … for some strange reason, it’s perfectly okay to write similar articles about the Chareidi (Ultra-Orthodox) community. Assigning group-blame is par for the course.

For example (all together now): They don’t pay taxes! They don’t work! They don’t participate in the Army! They don’t educate their children! They freeload off the government! They keep women at home, taking care of children! They force women to go out to work to support them in kollel, leaving the kids in the street! They sit around and do nothing! They’re parasites!

Minus the Army bit, all those claims are false … and have little or no relation to religiosity.

Currently, there’s a big religious-secular war being fought in Israel. What brought it to a boil?

There’s a small group of … oh … meshugenas … that live in parts of Meah Shearim and Beit Shemesh. In Beit Shemesh, all told, the population of meshugenas numbers maybe 35-40 families. They decided the girls in a nearby Religious-Zionist school were not dressed appropriately. So they spent their mornings protesting and calling the girls names. In some cases, they even spat on them.

The media and politicians caught wind of it and zoomed on over. The next thing you know the headlines are spewing anti-religious ra-ra, all about the Ultra-Orthodox troubling little girls. And, once again, everybody’s up in arms about the people they love to hate: the entire Ultra-Orthodox community.
Ironically, the same group of meshugenas has a record of making trouble for the Ultra-Orthodox community as well. They belong to a small, breakaway Chassidic group, do not listen to any Torah leadership (which is, of course, also being blamed for not stopping them somehow), nor do they (obviously) follow the Torah. They number 35-40 families out of a city of 100,000 people (many of whom are Ultra-Orthodox themselves). Yet, suddenly, they represent the entire spectrum of the Ultra-Orthodox world. According to what I’ve seen, the Ultra-Orthodox comprise about 10 percent of Israel’s population. Suddenly, the 35-40 families now represent all 750,000 people.

If that wasn’t enough, a second wave of attacks began.

Many publicly-owned bus companies in Israel run special lines for the religious community. Although these lines are based in religious neighborhoods, anybody is allowed to use them. On these buses, men sit in the front and women sit in the back. Couples can usually sit together in the middle, depending on the line.

Not surprisingly, attacks on the mehadrin bus lines began almost as soon as we could sniff anti-religiousness in the air. Remember, the religious Israeli world does not have the same history as the American world. Sitting in front and sitting in the back is no reflection, indication or representation of who is better and who is lesser.

Egged, the company that runs bus lines in Jerusalem and many other cities, created the majority of these lines because it saw profit in them. It was Egged who offered to create new lines for the religious communities. Now, these are lines VOLUNTEERED by Egged. And because there is a demand within the religious world for them, they have maintained popularity. And they haven’t impacted other, regular lines in any way.

Nonetheless, on more than several occasions in the last two weeks, secular women, in the name of “women’s rights” (and, ahem, to get their names in the press), have boarded these buses and sat with the men. In some cases, they even harassed the men to provoke a fight. Granted, they never used the lines before. Granted, the religious women don’t seem to side with their “sisters.” Granted, it doesn’t affect them. But they wanted to fight discrimination against women.

Why they didn’t protest in Tel Aviv, where advertisements use women for their bodies? Where the streets are paved with women’s “business cards” and there’s a nice amount of illegal trafficking of women going on … Oh, never mind, that’s not “in.”

Last week, a female soldier pulled such a stunt, starting a verbal fight with a man. He responded in kind and called her a “prutzah” -- wrongly translated in the media as a “prostitute,”but more like “immodest woman”. Lo and behold, a few stops later, the police boarded the bus and arrested him! Now he’s being charged with sexual harassment.

I’ve been riding the buses here for years. I’ve heard secular Jews use FAR worse language on the bus. Yet NEVER did I see an arrest! But when a religious Jew is provoked and calls somebody an inappropriate name, the police and media are there two minutes later, filing charges for SEXUAL harassment???

Logic would state, then, that if you argue with a woman and you’re not careful, you can get arrested for sexual harassment! He didn’t touch her, nor did he make any lewd comments. In fact, he hardly was able to see her in the crowd! While I don’t agree with how he handled the situation, he most certainly did not deserve to be arrested.

On the other hand, just yesterday, a young religious girl had her life threatened. She was pushed and spat on while riding a bus. A secular Israeli did it -- several times -- and in front of everybody on the bus, including the driver. Nobody stood up to defend her. No one called the media. And, most importantly, no arrests were made.

Then, in one of my old neighborhoods, a young boy was beaten by two secular Israelis. Again, no arrests were made. Then a secular Jew declared on national television that he wanted to take an Uzi and gun down Chareidim. And, gasp: no headline stories!

While the above-mentioned incidents were reported, they were parts of a regular report, with no media backlash against the entire secular community. I didn’t see one article written about withholding funds from secular schools until they clean up their act (secular Israeli schools are well-known for the violence issues they have), nor do I see a call for secular society to stop and introspect.
After the mehadrin bus issues, our meshugena friends decide to hold a protest, portraying themselves as “victims.” How do they do it? They protest in Jerusalem’s Kikar Shabbos, wearing concentration camp garb. This drew the wrath of everybody across the board, from the far-left to the far-right, up to and including Chareidi leaders and newspapers.

But you would never know that if you read the secular papers. After all, the headlines blare: “Hareidi protests.” Because if some do it, everybody else must be thinking the same thing. Remember, “there is no individual thought in the religious world.”

Why? ‘Tis the season to hate Torah Jewry.

I don’t like it when people, including the frum community, cry victim for the sake of crying victim. But let’s quickly play a number game. Let’s say there are 40 meshugena families in Beit Shemesh that have been ostracized by the frum community. Obviously, there are more in Jerusalem. Those two places are where these folks are located.

Now, for fun, I’m going to wildly inflate the numbers and say there are 5,000 meshugena, trouble-causing rabble rousers in the frum community. And there are 750,000 Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. That means these meshugenas – whose population I wildly inflated -- comprise 0.66% of all Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel.

That means the media, politicians, armchair Israelis in America and all other talking heads are speaking about the entire Ultra-Orthodox community based off the behavior of 0.66% of their population.

Does this make sense to you?

You know, just for fun, let’s double the numbers. Judge a segment of society based off 1.2% of their population.

Any better?

Can you imagine if I spoke negatively about the black community based off of even 10% of their population? What if I wrote that all black churches should lose their tax-exempt status until they clean up gang problems in the black world? Or perhaps schools that are 90% minority should lose funding until they keep their single-mother population under control? Anybody feel comfortable reading that?

The frum community is finding itself in the corner and feeling victimized for that exact reason. The entire community is being portrayed as non-working, non-tax paying parasites, who are violent and anti-woman -- and all because 0.66% of their population cannot behave.

What are all the “enlightened” ones saying? Because the “entire” Chareidi community cannot behave itself, it’s obvious that they need to undergo certain changes immediately. All funding needs to be cut off from their yeshivas and kollelim. Their schools must toe the line, adhering to secular curriculums. And, gosh darnit, all Chereidim should join the Army (just don’t put them in my platoon!). Oh, right, a nice percentage of secular Jews don’t join either; but, then again, that “medical” reason is a legitimate excuse, as opposed to sitting and learning in yeshivah.

Let’s look at the facts briefly. The Israeli public school system has rated in the bottom 50% educationally among Western nations. Never mind that Chareidim annually – and on an ongoing basis – score higher than their secular counterparts on the Israeli “SATs”. And then there’s the violence issues plaguing the Israeli public school system. Those don’t exist within the religious educational framework. How, exactly, will this help the poor Chareidim get over their poor education and violent tendencies?

Concerning the Army and work -- they’re tied together. Until you hit a certain age or receive an exception, you will not be hired by many companies until you do the Army. That’s because the Army could draft you at any time. This is a problem, since, as the Army recently stated, much to the chagrin of the religious, that they will no longer honor the agreement they’ve made with religious soldiers allowing them to serve within the bounds of halacha, and have already begun to enforce that decision (The Army has recently stated that a commander’s orders supersede Torah). This has already led several prominent Religious-Zionist rabbis to say that unless this is reversed, they will instruct their students not to join as well, only widening the rift between the Religious-Zionists and the government that has been ongoing for several years.

These are the simple facts. We’re not talking about a religious vs. secular fight here. Most people on both sides could care less. Thankfully, for the most part, on the individual level, the religious and secular get along. They live in different worlds, but they respect that and leave it be. The fight is more of the “enlightened” left vs. Judaism (both the Ultra-Orthodox and Religious Zionist). The media and politicians are using 0.66% of the Ultra-Orthodox community to attack the entire group en masse -- and to finally strike where they were unsuccessful before: the Torah.

Since the founding of the state, the secular government has always wanted to get their hands on the religious education system. I can understand why. They want a perfectly functioning Israeli society. On the other hand, the religious want a Jewish society.

And since 1948, they’ve been going head-to-head on this. And that’s why the education system is repeatedly targeted by the government and media. He who controls education, controls children. Yes, they will say it’s in the name of educating the children -- so they can earn a living and not live off the State – but the reasons run much deeper.

Then why not give Army exemptions to those who will never serve anyhow? That would solve the issue of not entering the workforce.

But, alas, it’s just an excuse.

An excuse to battle over Torah in Eretz Yisrael.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

I do know one thing though: Torah Judaism has yet to lose a fight.

This was written by a friend of mine whose been wanting to write and publish this for quite some time. I thought it would be appreciated.
Every year about this time I sit down to try and write this piece. This year I finally decided I would do it.

I will never forget it. As I went on an early morning drive I noticed that the roads were empty. It was eight thirty in the morning. The air was clean and crisp, it was quiet. No one was on the streets, no buses, trucks or taxis. What a breeze. If only it was like this all the time. But Jerusalem doesn’t offer this too often. Then it hit me , “this must be what it feels like for someone driving his car on Shabbat early in the morning.”

But it wasn’t Shabbat morning..it was Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Independence Day. Everyone was sleeping. They were up till the wee hours of the night. The roads were empty.

I remember those “all night” bonfires we would have on Yom Ha’atzma’ut thirty some odd years ago. Those great teen years. I can still taste the potatoes as we dug them out from under the coals before the sun came up.

I finally went back one day after all those years to that field with the cave where we would spend those nights. I was disappointed. I found they had built a housing complex and a parking lot. No more field, no more cave. Just the memories remain.

Yes I did three years in the army, I gave them “the best years of my life”. Three good years, great friends, truly unforgettable moments. I wouldn’t give them back for anything.

I was in Lebanon before these beautiful kids in the army today were born. Buried my best friend. Did many years in miluim, reserve duty. The only thing I have left are the memories and my army boots.

Traveled through Europe way back when, but didn’t make it to South America or New Zealand like they do today. Got married, have children, grandchildren. Can’t get enough of them. I've changed over the years...we all do. Life sort of does it to you.

My father told me that before going off to World War II he told his parents, “we are going to fix up the mess your generation made”. Yes, he fought for four years. His battleground makes Lebanon, Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan all together look like a playground. Now look at the mess his generation left us!

Who is going to fix things up now? Who is going to fix up our mess? One thing I know for sure is that I don't think we can do it alone. Mankind hasn’t been able till now. I think we all may be in need of assistance of a higher authority.

Well, I’ll suggest for starters that the next time you are driving your car on a Shabbat morning and you happen to notice how peaceful it all seems, remember, I’ll be home with my family making kiddush over a cup of wine, proclaiming that we, the Jewish people are keeping the Shabbat as we made an eternal deal with God, We will watch over your Shabbat...and you and your Shabbat will watch over us.

That is definitely a memory worth while cherishing.

Seth Clyman
Jerusalem

When I mentioned that the best way to support Israel (from outside of Israel) during Shmitah was to refrain from buying produce from Israel during that period (since it's being sold against halacha), somebody asked me, "What about the economy?"

The answer is simple: When you do the will of Hashem, no matter what a bunch of economists or government officials will say, you will come out on top.

This is just one story of many of the miracles of Shmitah.
Rabbi Shmuel Bloom of Agudath Israel of America is a busy man involved in important matters concerning Klal Yisroel. Why would he, then, spend a considerable amount of hours traveling to
look at bananas during his recent trip to Eretz Yisroel?

A completely secular farmer whose produce is bananas decided that he would undertake to keep Shmitah this time around. He approached the Keren HaShviis for assistance and they stipulated that he would be registered in their program if he would also undertake to be personally Shomer Shabbos throughout Shmitah. He agreed. Keren HaShviis undertook to cover his farming expenses in return for which all the produce would become the property of Otzar Beis Din and would be distributed in full accordance with Halacha.

Israel has suffered a significant cold spell over the past 2 to 3 weeks.

Bananas don’t like cold. Cold doesn’t like bananas. Needless to say, they don’t get along. When bananas are still growing and get hit with frost, they turn brown and become rock-solid hard.

The hero of our story, the banana farmer, knew he was in deep trouble when the relentless cold hadn’t let up for over a week. He lived a distance from his orchard and hadn’t yet seen the damage with his own eyes. He began to receive calls from his neighbor farmers, who have orchards bordering his, complaining bitterly that their entire banana crop had been destroyed by the frost.

He decided it was time to inspect the damage up close, no matter how painful it may be.

He drove up close to Tverya to inspect his orchard, as well as those of his neighboring farmers. As he passed from one orchard to another, he was overwhelmed by the damage. Not a single fruit had survived, no tree was spared. His neighbors took quite a beating. All the bananas were brown, hard as a rock. He could only imagine how bad his trees must have gotten it.

Yet when he finally got to his orchard, he was awestruck! ALL of his bananas were yellow and green. It’s as if his orchard was not part of this parcel of land. His orchard bordered those of his neighbors, but not a single tree of his was struck by the frost. It’s as if a protective wall kept the damage away. At first he thought he was imagining it, and as he rushed from one section of his orchard to another, the realization that more than the farmer keeps the Shmitah, the Shmitah keeps the farmer hit home.

He immediately called his contacts at Keren HaShviis and yelled into the phone, “Karah Nes!, Karah Nes!”

A miraculous modern-day manifestation of V’Tzivisi Es HaBracha!. There is no way to explain this other than that HaKodesh Baruch Hu keeps His promises. He says keep Shmitah, and I’ll take care of you. He sure does!

Keren HaShviis reports that farmers that until now refused to keep Shmitah, have been turning to the Keren following the losses suffered as a result of the frost, they are now ready to commit to Shmitah observance.

And so, Rabbi Bloom took the time to travel all the way to Tverya and back to witness this awe-inspiring phenomenon. During the previous Shmita (2000-2001) Agudath Israel of America
provided over $1,000,000 to Keren HaShviis. It plans to do even more this time around.

I apologize for not getting out a dvar torah before Shavous. Unfortunately, my hard drive failed, and I was stuck without a computer. Instead of doing useful things, I had to spend hours on the bus to get around town to buy a new hard drive and recover the information from the old.

Thank G-d, we're now back up and running. Due to all the running around, I was unable to look into this week's parsha too deeply, but I did see something this morning that I thought was very appropriate for this time and day. It might be a bit 'controversial', but, I'm simply quoting people who can't be argued with.

Now, on to Torah!
"Woe that Assyria is the rod of My anger, and a staff is My fury in their hands. Shall the axe boast over the one that hews with it, or shall the saw hold itself greater than he who wields it? It is as though the rod wields those who raise it, or as if the staff should lift up them that are not wood" (Yeshayahu 10:5, 15)

Rashi explains: "Woe" that I have made Assyria the rod of My anger with which to chastise My people... "You should not have boasted," declared Hashem, "since you are merely like My axe which I am using to avenge My foes... "

Rabbenu Bachya writes: The prophet likens man to an axe. The activity of the axe does not originate from within itself, but from the one who chops with it. In the same way, the deeds of man, be they good or bad, are not from himself, but from G-d. A person is merely like a staff that is being lifted.

Last year, a friend of mine directed me to Rav Dessler's "Michtav M'Eliyahu" Volume III, Page 217, concerning the days before Moshiach comes, which everybody agrees we are currently in.

In it, with backings from Chazal, he writes of the dangers of a certain "-ism" that will take over Eretz Yisroel. Well... he didn't hold back any punches, so I'll try my best to quote him (it won’t be a direct quote, since he uses ‘flowery’ language, making it difficult for me to translate perfectly):

In the days before the coming of Moshiach, "chutzpah, brazenness, will increase" (Sota 49b), then the exile of G-d's presence will be under those Chutzpadik Jews. These "Chutzpadik Jews" have the souls of the Erev Rav (those who cause trouble within the nation), which is the source of impurity and have the characteristics of Amalek. This is the language of the Zohar: "The Erev Rav is Amalek... the ruler ship of the holy people will be given over to the Erev Rav".

Explains the Vilna Gaon: "The Erev Rav will be the head of the nation in the last exile"

Continues Rav Dessler: "The ruler ship will try to influence the nation with its impurities and it's heresy of 'Through my strength, I did this'"

Here comes the fun part: "This is the test the nation of Israel has been thrown into during these days. Hashem has returned the Jewish people in large numbers to Eretz Yisroel and has allowed them to govern themselves, and they have unloaded themselves from the yoke of Torah, they have claimed that it was through their hands that they have succeeded, their brazenness has increased, and they have taught things that are contrary to Torah… THIS IS THE LAST TEST OF THE EXILE, AND IT'S A VERY DIFFICULT TEST.

As clearly explained, this last test is the test against brazenness, against the idea that we control our own destinies and all our accomplishments are through our hand and not that of Hashem's. Unfortunately, this is exactly what a certain government has been teaching for nearly 60 years.

The southern city of Sederot, is still under daily rocket attacks. Last summer we went to war, hundreds were killed and nothing was accomplished. Iran is still working hard to devise nuclear weapons. And the Israeli government? They are too busy fighting amongst themselves due to the severe corruption that is imbued within the system to do anything. At the same time, they, along with the media and the talking heads, are busy reporting and making bold statements of what we should be doing to make peace with our enemies.

What's the real unfortunate part?

We get caught up in it.

As stated above, the physical enemies of the Jewish people are mere rods and axes in the hands of Hashem. While we are so busy yelling at the rod and the axe, we completely forget to deal with the One who is wielding them.

We are living in the days before Moshiach. Eretz Yisroel is surrounded by physical enemies on one hand and is being run by the spiritual enemies of the Jewish people on the other.

It’s foolish to put any faith whatsoever in the Israeli government, since they are the spiritual enemies who are promoting anti-Torah philosophies. And we cannot turn to plead our case to our physical enemies, since Hashem is their controller. Therefore, we are obligated to turn to the ONLY one who has any true power.

I saw a very poignant drawing right before Shavous. Standing on top of a hill with a sefer, was a man learning Torah with a smile. Below him, the hill was surrounded by a wall with a "Stay Out", sign by the door. Right outside the gate were various Israeli politicians fighting amongst themselves, Fatah fighting with Hamas, etc...

It made a lot of sense. Focus on what will make a difference and try to keep the nonsense out.

By filling our heads with the idea that "If we do this... if we did that...” we are failing this last test. Rav Dessler pointed out, our destiny will not be hewn 'by the strength of our hand', but only through the hand of Hashem.

By davening, learning, working on ourselves, and working on our emunah, our faith, in Hashem; we can truly make a difference, and free Eretz Yisroel of all her enemies.

May we all have an excellent Shabbos!

I think this week, instead of giving one dvar torah concerning this week's parsha; I'll give two dvrei torah NOT concerning this week's parsha. I'll send the second one out later in the week.
I saw an amazing Vilna Gaon over Purim (Esther 1:2), in which he asked the following question:

The Gemara (Chullin 139b) asks, "Where in the Torah do we see Esther hinted to?” The Gemara replies that you can find Esther in (Devarim 31:18) "V’Anochi Hester Astir Pneye". There, the Torah is describing the times when Hashem will hide (hester) his face when the Jews do not follow the ways of the Torah.

The Vilna Gaon asks, why does the Gemara ask "where do we find Esther"? The story of Purim was certainly not the first miracle to occur to the Jewish people, why didn't the Gemara ask where the Chashmonaim (Maccabees) are hinted to? Or Devorah? Or Balak? Or any other previous hero to the Jewish people?

The Vilna Gaon answers that Purim was the first "incident" that occurred outside of Eretz Yisroel. The Gemara wanted to find a proof that despite the fact that we were in exile, Hashem would still be looking over us. All previous miracles occurred while we were living in Eretz Yisroel.

So what? Why don't we ask this question on incidences inside of Eretz Yisroel? Answers the Vilna Gaon, because it's no chiddush (novel idea) that miracles should take place in Israel. We don't need proof that Hashem will perform miracles in Israel, since everyday we see miracles take place here.

Eretz Yisroel is the true "land of opportunity". The Torah describes it as the land that Hashem always casts his eyes upon (Devarim 11:12-15). A person's spiritual capabilities are raised when he lives in Israel and Hashem looks over him more so than those that live outside.

One need not look forward to today's situation for more proof of Hashem's guidance. We currently are under one of the most corrupt governments of Western Civilization. We are also surrounded by hostile countries that would be more than happy enough to destroy us as many times over as possible. We saw this past summer, the lack of competence in our leaders to conduct a war, which resulted in a loss for Israel, without any gain. We have Hamas and Jihad constantly growing only miles from our homes. We have the entire world constantly attacking and condemning us. We have government ministers who actually have introduced bills to outlaw Torah outreach. We have Jerusalem mayors who openly admit to trying to stem the growth of the religious communities. So many enemies; the list is never ending...

Yet, what is the result?

New shuls, yeshivas, and seminaries opening up throughout the country. The religious communities growing in leaps and bounds. More people learning Torah than ever before.

Thank G-d!

Every day Hashem performs untold miracles that help the Jewish nation as a whole and a Jew as an individual. Here in Israel, however, those miracles are far more evident and daily. Had Purim occurred in Eretz Yisroel, it would have been treated like an every day occurrence.

This is one of the many powers of Israel.

May we all merit returning permanently.

I find it amazing how the world is so concerned of the ‘innocent Lebanese’ people suffering from 'brutal' Israeli air attacks against them. It’s a national crisis, and the UN is raising money to help direct food and aid in their direction (if it doesn’t get ‘lost’ in the UN coffers).

Here in Israel, we also have a crisis, which of course, is of little importance to the world. Cities, not mere villages, have been evacuated of many of their population. Thousands are living their lives in bomb shelters. The economy, especially up north, has been hit badly. Yet, nobody makes a peep about it. Why? Because people, the Israeli people, are taking care of each other.

Take the city of Tzvas for example. It’s practically a ghost town from what I hear. Where is everybody? Well, the frum community took upon itself to start up centers and hotlines for families who are in ‘safer’ areas, such as Jerusalem, to volunteer to take in whole families until it is safe again. We’re talking about families living in three bedroom apartments, with several children already, taking in an additional family to live with them. Oh yes, apartments here are not known for their roominess.

There are other frum (read: ultra-orthodox) Jews (the ones that some liken to ‘parasites’), who volunteer their time to visit the wounded civilians and soldiers in hospitals. Some rabbis and yeshiva students actually travel to front line units to help make a minyan, give out tefillin for soldiers to wear, and strengthening their morale.

There are several types of groups that do chesed. One type talks a lot, has fancy dinners, and gleans in the spotlight. If you've gone to a 'support Israel' rally recently, I'm sure it's been hosted by one of these. However, in terms of real action, while they certainly do some... let's just say not all the money you give them goes to where they lead you to believe your money is going.

The second group is made up of individuals who wish to do chesed because that’s what a Jew is supposed to do. One 'sub-group' contains large organizations that hold fundraising dinners and such, but don't 'bask in the limelight'. They are run by people who are honest with their time and money. The only reason they have their events is to raise the money. There is also another 'sub-group'. These are the people who work behind the scenes. They are very rarely recognized, and because of this, they are sometimes attacked as good-for-nothings who do little to help society. However, they are the ones who truly give up their time, energy, homes, and sometimes lives to help others.

It’s good to be living amongst people in the second group.