Article resent: because of Lech lecha and the first Brit mila.
Leviticus: 12-3: And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Did you know that the 8th day is the safest day for the child to be circumcised??
The " rofe kol basar " ["the Healer of all flesh"] knew this of coursevery well and may have probably engineered -so to speak- the system of every newborn this way.
Of course these kind of medical facts are just an example of the wonderful ways in which we may recognize our creator.
On this day the clotting factors in the blood are super-optimal.
Before that date and after that date they are or sub-optimal or just "normal".
Do you know that metsitsa /metzitza [ sucking by mouth] of the blood during/after the brit[circumcision ]is the best and safest method there is to regulate the bleeding after the circumcision[and not by a tube]?
This was highly recommended by chazal and many rabbis of the past and today still hold the same opinion as far as I know.
That some/most Mohalim use a tube to day is probably because of fear for infections in our changing/changed world.
It has been shown that morning saliva [the first saliva in the morning, before rinsing the mouth and before eating or drinking anything makes the chance of transferring diseases nil. [even Aids!!]
How proper could it be -for this medical reason alone- to do the brit early in the morning ,even without rinsing the mouth before hand and not drinking anything!! and to use metsitsa instead of a tube.
I am speaking pure medically and not criticizing any other opinion or habit or stating any halacha.
For the same reason I advise people with severe acne to dab [litfoach] there face ,as first thing in the morning ,with the morning saliva ,directly after netilat yadayim] , without rinsing theri mouth first and before drinking anything.
The antibacterial [antiviral] effect of the first morning sputum is tremendous!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A clever way to take care of yourself
An Incredible Story:
Following is an incredible true story that happened recently: An elderly lady in a nursing home in the Midwest passed away. Her children, who always visited her and took care of her, did their duty and did a proper Jewish Tahara and burial.
On the 5th day of sitting Shiva, the phone rang and the daughter sitting Shiva answered the phone. On the other end of the phone was her mother who she just buried. The daughter, in shock, immediately fainted. The phone rang again and it was her mother again, complaining that no one came to visit her that week.
The family then rushed to the nursing home and it turned out there was a mix up at the nursing home and it was her roommate that passed away and not this lady. So now the nursing home had the grim job of informing the children of the other lady that their mother died five days ago. The nursing home called and was trying to break it to these children slowly but before they could even tell the children what happened, the children callously answered if this call has anything to do with our mother they are not interested. These children said "All day long our mother wastes her time and just prays and prays and says Psalms". The children then added- "And the one thing she prays for is that when she dies she should have a proper Jewish burial". But, the children cruelly said, "We will outsmart her and when she dies we will spite her and make sure she will not have a proper Jewish Burial".
The nursing home staff then explained to them it was too late as she already received her proper burial!
Look at the power of prayer and to the extent Hashem will turn the world around to answer a prayer. Here this pious religious lady only prayed for one thing, a proper burial, knowing it was almost impossible, yet she didn't give up. So Hashem orchestrated this whole mix up to respond to the prayers of this lady.
Any of our prayers can have the same potential and power!
(This true story was recently told by a Menahel who heard it first hand from one of the Children)
Following is an incredible true story that happened recently: An elderly lady in a nursing home in the Midwest passed away. Her children, who always visited her and took care of her, did their duty and did a proper Jewish Tahara and burial.
On the 5th day of sitting Shiva, the phone rang and the daughter sitting Shiva answered the phone. On the other end of the phone was her mother who she just buried. The daughter, in shock, immediately fainted. The phone rang again and it was her mother again, complaining that no one came to visit her that week.
The family then rushed to the nursing home and it turned out there was a mix up at the nursing home and it was her roommate that passed away and not this lady. So now the nursing home had the grim job of informing the children of the other lady that their mother died five days ago. The nursing home called and was trying to break it to these children slowly but before they could even tell the children what happened, the children callously answered if this call has anything to do with our mother they are not interested. These children said "All day long our mother wastes her time and just prays and prays and says Psalms". The children then added- "And the one thing she prays for is that when she dies she should have a proper Jewish burial". But, the children cruelly said, "We will outsmart her and when she dies we will spite her and make sure she will not have a proper Jewish Burial".
The nursing home staff then explained to them it was too late as she already received her proper burial!
Look at the power of prayer and to the extent Hashem will turn the world around to answer a prayer. Here this pious religious lady only prayed for one thing, a proper burial, knowing it was almost impossible, yet she didn't give up. So Hashem orchestrated this whole mix up to respond to the prayers of this lady.
Any of our prayers can have the same potential and power!
(This true story was recently told by a Menahel who heard it first hand from one of the Children)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Israel's peculiar position....
THIS WAS WRITTEN IN 1968 41 years ago - Astonishing!
You probably don't remember the name Eric Hoffer. He was a longshoreman who turned into a philosopher, wrote columns for newspapers and some books. He was a non-Jewish American social philosopher. He was born in 1902 and died in 1983, after writing nine books and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Eric Hoffer was one of the most influential American philosophers and free thinkers of the 20th Century. His books are still widely read and quoted today.
Here is one of his columns from 1968 -- 41 years ago! Some things never change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ISRAEL'S PECULIAR POSITION...by Eric Hoffer - LA Times 5/26/68
Deja Vu
The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it.
Turkey threw out a million Greeks, and Algeria a million Frenchman. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.
Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single one. Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.
Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious, it must sue for peace.
Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world. Other nations, when they are defeated, survive and recover but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.
Had Nasser triumphed last June [1967], he would have wiped Israel off the map, and no one would have lifted a finger to save the Jews.
No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on. There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people die in Vietnam or when two Blacks are executed in Rhodesia.
But, when Hitler slaughtered Jews no one demonstrated against him. The Swedes, who were ready to break off diplomatic relations with America because of what we did in Vietnam, did not let out a peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews. They sent Hitler choice iron ore, and ball bearings, and serviced his troops in Norway.
The Jews are alone in the world.
If Israel survives, it will be solely because of Jewish efforts and Jewish resources. Yet at this moment, Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally.
We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us.
And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer [1967] had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war, to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to America and the West in general.
I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us.
Should Israel perish, the Holocaust will be upon us all.
You probably don't remember the name Eric Hoffer. He was a longshoreman who turned into a philosopher, wrote columns for newspapers and some books. He was a non-Jewish American social philosopher. He was born in 1902 and died in 1983, after writing nine books and winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Eric Hoffer was one of the most influential American philosophers and free thinkers of the 20th Century. His books are still widely read and quoted today.
Here is one of his columns from 1968 -- 41 years ago! Some things never change.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ISRAEL'S PECULIAR POSITION...by Eric Hoffer - LA Times 5/26/68
Deja Vu
The Jews are a peculiar people: things permitted to other nations are forbidden to the Jews. Other nations drive out thousands, even millions of people and there is no refugee problem. Russia did it, Poland and Czechoslovakia did it.
Turkey threw out a million Greeks, and Algeria a million Frenchman. Indonesia threw out heaven knows how many Chinese and no one says a word about refugees. But in the case of Israel , the displaced Arabs have become eternal refugees.
Everyone insists that Israel must take back every single one. Arnold Toynbee calls the displacement of the Arabs an atrocity greater than any committed by the Nazis.
Other nations when victorious on the battlefield dictate peace terms. But when Israel is victorious, it must sue for peace.
Everyone expects the Jews to be the only real Christians in this world. Other nations, when they are defeated, survive and recover but should Israel be defeated it would be destroyed.
Had Nasser triumphed last June [1967], he would have wiped Israel off the map, and no one would have lifted a finger to save the Jews.
No commitment to the Jews by any government, including our own, is worth the paper it is written on. There is a cry of outrage all over the world when people die in Vietnam or when two Blacks are executed in Rhodesia.
But, when Hitler slaughtered Jews no one demonstrated against him. The Swedes, who were ready to break off diplomatic relations with America because of what we did in Vietnam, did not let out a peep when Hitler was slaughtering Jews. They sent Hitler choice iron ore, and ball bearings, and serviced his troops in Norway.
The Jews are alone in the world.
If Israel survives, it will be solely because of Jewish efforts and Jewish resources. Yet at this moment, Israel is our only reliable and unconditional ally.
We can rely more on Israel than Israel can rely on us.
And one has only to imagine what would have happened last summer [1967] had the Arabs and their Russian backers won the war, to realize how vital the survival of Israel is to America and the West in general.
I have a premonition that will not leave me; as it goes with Israel so will it go with all of us.
Should Israel perish, the Holocaust will be upon us all.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Torah’s View On Iran, Eretz Yisroel, America & Moshiach
October 19, 2009 [By Rav Yitzchok Fingerer] As Iran becomes more vehement in their cataclysmic threat, inching imminently closer to nuclear power, there are questions that gnaw every thinking person’s conscience: What is Iran’s ultimate motive? Who will preemptively strike Iran? Will it be Eretz Yisroel or America? Will we survive retaliation? How does this tie in to the grand scheme of Hashem’s plan for the Jewish people? Where does the Torah prophesize this?
The Roots of Iran in the Torah:
The prodigious histories of Babylonia and Persia, modern day Iraq and Iran, may be traced to postdiluvian civilization. Shem, Cham, and Yafes, Noach’s sons, were bequeathed distinct divine missions. While some of Cham’s descendants were cursed to be slaves, Yafes’s descendants were ordained with a twofold mission—to be the aesthetic developers and monarchs of the world and the facilitators and catalysts of the spiritual ascendancy of Shem’s progeny. Finally, Shem’s descendants were charged with being the world’s spiritual and moral beacons.
Ancient civilization lived in relative unanimity until Nimrod, Cham’s grandson, unilaterally crowned himself monarch, an act of brazen usurpation. Nimrod appropriated Yafes’s endowed role and established an empire in Babylonia. According to Rashi; Seforno; Rokeach; and others; Ashur, Shem’s grandson, protested this illicit seizure of power, and left the Mesopotamian environs. Nimrod’s eventual successor in Babylonia was none other than Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed the first Beis HaMikdash.
Almost two hundred years before the Churban Bayis Rishon, Yeshaya HaNavi prophesied that—in the future—a descendant of Yafes, namely a king of Persia named “Koresh”, would supplant Babylonia as the world power, restoring Yafes’s natural rights to the world monarchy. Yeshaya further astoundingly prophesied that Hashem would commission this “Koresh”, a gentile king, to redeem the Jewish people and rebuild the Beis HaMikdash. Yeshaya’s words proved accurate—Babylonia was destroyed, Koresh ruled the world, and the Jews were redeemed from exile.
There was one critical problem: Only 42,360 Jews returned to Israel. The rest stayed in exile. Koresh didn’t do enough to facilitate the Jewish redemption, nor did he completely rebuild the Temple. Koresh ordered that sections of the Temple be constructed out of wood, lest the Jews rebel and the Temple could then easily be burned to cinders. Alas, Noach’s blessing and charge to Yafes wouldn’t be fulfilled through Koresh the Persian. Instead, Yafes’s illustrious legacy would be assigned to his other offspring, Greece, and eventually, Persia’s arch nemesis—Greek’s successor—Rome.
Not only did Persia (modern-day Iran) forfeit its position as Yafes’s spiritual heir, it also attempted to destroy the Jews. Only a short while later, Haman, Prime Minister of ancient Persia, plotted to annihilate the Jews. As the Zohar teaches, history must always come full circle. Therefore—in the End of Days— kings and nations will be reincarnated and Persia will threaten the world and, in particular, the Jews.
As stunning prophecy from Rav Yonoson Eibushetz:
The Talmud in Avodah Zara and Yoma portends that the final world war will involve Persia and latter day Rome, which Ben Ish Chai identifies as the Western Super-Power—America. The Talmud cites two opinions concerning the ultimate victor in this war. One opinion is that Persia will defeat modern-day Rome because of Persia’s role in constructing the second Beis HaMikdash. The dissenting opinion posits that although Persia helped build the second Beis HaMikdash, they will suffer ultimate defeat. In the words of the Talmud, even though this seems incongruous, “It is a decree from Hashem.” Interestingly, Rav Yonoson Eibushetz (in Yaaros Devash) seems to side with the latter opinion. He emphatically claims that a prerequisite for Moshiach’s arrival is Persia’s downfall. Regardless, it is clear that Rome—or America’s—role as the catalyst of the ascendancy of Shem (i.e. the Jewish people), and the third Beis HaMikdash, remains to be determined. Will America live up to its destined mission or fail?
America & Eretz Yisroel
A fascinating Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Yeshaya, 499) further clarifies the apocalyptic events:
Rabbi Yitzchok said: The year that Melech HaMoshiach will be revealed, all the kings [leaders] of the nations will be struggling against each other. The leader of Persia will contest with the leader of Arabia, and the leader of Arabia will go to Rome [the leading modern-day Western superpower] to get council from them. The leader of Persia will respond and act to destroy the entire world. All the nations of the world will be trembling and shaking and falling on their faces. They will be seized by labor-like pains.
The Jewish people will be trembling and quaking and saying: “Where can we go? Where can we go?” And [Hashem] will say to them: My children do not fear! Everything I did, I did only for you! Why are you frightened? Don’t be afraid-— the days of your redemption have arrived!”
Shiites and Sunnis:
What is interesting is that the Medrash contrasts Persia with Arabia. Why would the Medrash make a distinction between Arabic Iran (Persia), and another Arab country, Arabia? Why would the Medrash speak about a war amongst kindred Arab nations? And finally, why would Arabia consult with the leading Western superpower?
This Medrash is startling and mind-boggling. While Iranians are Muslim, they are not true Arabs, i.e., they are not Semites; they stem from Yafes and are Indo-European. This is precisely why the Medrash contrasts Iran, non-Arabs, with the rest of the Arab world. The Iranians are largely Shiite Persians. Arabia may refer to Saudi Arabia, the leading Sunni country in the Middle East. The Saudis and Iranians both seek to dominate the Middle East and lead the Muslim world. Their growing rivalry is a major factor in world politics.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear ambitions, combined with Iran’s sponsorship of the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, its backing of Hamas, and its uprisings in Iraq, is proof to Arab leaders that their old Persian rivals are determined to reshape the Middle East (and the world). As early as 2004, Jordan’s King Abdullah warned of a rising Shiite “crescent” running from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia is concerned about a nuclear Shiite Iran. Therefore, they are dependent on America, the leading country attempting to stifle Iran’s nuclear pursuits, which could explain the part of the Medrash in which Arabia consults modern-day Rome. This Medrash patently teaches that the Iranian threat is a definite signpost and prelude to Moshiach.
Moshiach can come in one of two ways:
1. We will earn Moshiach peacefully by following Hashem’s law.
Or
2. The plight of humanity will become critical and desperate, necessitating Moshiach to salvage the world from chaos.
We have two choices: We can ignore all the prophecies in a binge of self-assertion and hope to survive the outcome of the war on terror or we can allow Moshiach to come in peace and serenity by changing and improving ourselves, personally and collectively, living up to our mission as Hashem’s chosen nation. The power to choose is in our hands.
(Rav Yitzchok Fingerer - YWN)
The Roots of Iran in the Torah:
The prodigious histories of Babylonia and Persia, modern day Iraq and Iran, may be traced to postdiluvian civilization. Shem, Cham, and Yafes, Noach’s sons, were bequeathed distinct divine missions. While some of Cham’s descendants were cursed to be slaves, Yafes’s descendants were ordained with a twofold mission—to be the aesthetic developers and monarchs of the world and the facilitators and catalysts of the spiritual ascendancy of Shem’s progeny. Finally, Shem’s descendants were charged with being the world’s spiritual and moral beacons.
Ancient civilization lived in relative unanimity until Nimrod, Cham’s grandson, unilaterally crowned himself monarch, an act of brazen usurpation. Nimrod appropriated Yafes’s endowed role and established an empire in Babylonia. According to Rashi; Seforno; Rokeach; and others; Ashur, Shem’s grandson, protested this illicit seizure of power, and left the Mesopotamian environs. Nimrod’s eventual successor in Babylonia was none other than Nebuchadnezzar II, who destroyed the first Beis HaMikdash.
Almost two hundred years before the Churban Bayis Rishon, Yeshaya HaNavi prophesied that—in the future—a descendant of Yafes, namely a king of Persia named “Koresh”, would supplant Babylonia as the world power, restoring Yafes’s natural rights to the world monarchy. Yeshaya further astoundingly prophesied that Hashem would commission this “Koresh”, a gentile king, to redeem the Jewish people and rebuild the Beis HaMikdash. Yeshaya’s words proved accurate—Babylonia was destroyed, Koresh ruled the world, and the Jews were redeemed from exile.
There was one critical problem: Only 42,360 Jews returned to Israel. The rest stayed in exile. Koresh didn’t do enough to facilitate the Jewish redemption, nor did he completely rebuild the Temple. Koresh ordered that sections of the Temple be constructed out of wood, lest the Jews rebel and the Temple could then easily be burned to cinders. Alas, Noach’s blessing and charge to Yafes wouldn’t be fulfilled through Koresh the Persian. Instead, Yafes’s illustrious legacy would be assigned to his other offspring, Greece, and eventually, Persia’s arch nemesis—Greek’s successor—Rome.
Not only did Persia (modern-day Iran) forfeit its position as Yafes’s spiritual heir, it also attempted to destroy the Jews. Only a short while later, Haman, Prime Minister of ancient Persia, plotted to annihilate the Jews. As the Zohar teaches, history must always come full circle. Therefore—in the End of Days— kings and nations will be reincarnated and Persia will threaten the world and, in particular, the Jews.
As stunning prophecy from Rav Yonoson Eibushetz:
The Talmud in Avodah Zara and Yoma portends that the final world war will involve Persia and latter day Rome, which Ben Ish Chai identifies as the Western Super-Power—America. The Talmud cites two opinions concerning the ultimate victor in this war. One opinion is that Persia will defeat modern-day Rome because of Persia’s role in constructing the second Beis HaMikdash. The dissenting opinion posits that although Persia helped build the second Beis HaMikdash, they will suffer ultimate defeat. In the words of the Talmud, even though this seems incongruous, “It is a decree from Hashem.” Interestingly, Rav Yonoson Eibushetz (in Yaaros Devash) seems to side with the latter opinion. He emphatically claims that a prerequisite for Moshiach’s arrival is Persia’s downfall. Regardless, it is clear that Rome—or America’s—role as the catalyst of the ascendancy of Shem (i.e. the Jewish people), and the third Beis HaMikdash, remains to be determined. Will America live up to its destined mission or fail?
America & Eretz Yisroel
A fascinating Medrash (Yalkut Shimoni, Yeshaya, 499) further clarifies the apocalyptic events:
Rabbi Yitzchok said: The year that Melech HaMoshiach will be revealed, all the kings [leaders] of the nations will be struggling against each other. The leader of Persia will contest with the leader of Arabia, and the leader of Arabia will go to Rome [the leading modern-day Western superpower] to get council from them. The leader of Persia will respond and act to destroy the entire world. All the nations of the world will be trembling and shaking and falling on their faces. They will be seized by labor-like pains.
The Jewish people will be trembling and quaking and saying: “Where can we go? Where can we go?” And [Hashem] will say to them: My children do not fear! Everything I did, I did only for you! Why are you frightened? Don’t be afraid-— the days of your redemption have arrived!”
Shiites and Sunnis:
What is interesting is that the Medrash contrasts Persia with Arabia. Why would the Medrash make a distinction between Arabic Iran (Persia), and another Arab country, Arabia? Why would the Medrash speak about a war amongst kindred Arab nations? And finally, why would Arabia consult with the leading Western superpower?
This Medrash is startling and mind-boggling. While Iranians are Muslim, they are not true Arabs, i.e., they are not Semites; they stem from Yafes and are Indo-European. This is precisely why the Medrash contrasts Iran, non-Arabs, with the rest of the Arab world. The Iranians are largely Shiite Persians. Arabia may refer to Saudi Arabia, the leading Sunni country in the Middle East. The Saudis and Iranians both seek to dominate the Middle East and lead the Muslim world. Their growing rivalry is a major factor in world politics.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nuclear ambitions, combined with Iran’s sponsorship of the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, its backing of Hamas, and its uprisings in Iraq, is proof to Arab leaders that their old Persian rivals are determined to reshape the Middle East (and the world). As early as 2004, Jordan’s King Abdullah warned of a rising Shiite “crescent” running from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon.
Saudi Arabia is concerned about a nuclear Shiite Iran. Therefore, they are dependent on America, the leading country attempting to stifle Iran’s nuclear pursuits, which could explain the part of the Medrash in which Arabia consults modern-day Rome. This Medrash patently teaches that the Iranian threat is a definite signpost and prelude to Moshiach.
Moshiach can come in one of two ways:
1. We will earn Moshiach peacefully by following Hashem’s law.
Or
2. The plight of humanity will become critical and desperate, necessitating Moshiach to salvage the world from chaos.
We have two choices: We can ignore all the prophecies in a binge of self-assertion and hope to survive the outcome of the war on terror or we can allow Moshiach to come in peace and serenity by changing and improving ourselves, personally and collectively, living up to our mission as Hashem’s chosen nation. The power to choose is in our hands.
(Rav Yitzchok Fingerer - YWN)
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