Yiddishe Mamme

Selections from the Spinka Rebbe, Shlita, of Bnai Brak [A recent letter received by the Admor, Shlita, followed by his reply] The Question: I don’t understand what the  Yosher Divrei Emes  meant when he wrote that the worst thing,  the great evil is to fall  into depression and gloom. Then right after that, he continues and says that this state of mind comes about because of arrogance and a false, exaggerated sense of self. I cannot understand the connection between them. It seems that depression is the opposite of pride. Depressed people are broken people, not prideful people. The Spinka rebbe answers: Rav Asher Freund taught us that a person generally lives his 70 years with either excessive pride or despair.  Despair comes as a result of excessive pride. If things don’t bring me happiness, enabling me to be prideful, then I find myself settling into despair. For example, when a person walks into a room full of people and someone...

 How should a person feel when he does good things for other people? Says Rav Asher Freund zt''l, G'd gave a lot of examples in our world.  Just like an electric iron, that straightens out all of the clothes, nobody thinks he has to get up an stand and thank the iron. Because without any electricity, the iron would not be able to do anything.  The same applies to  a person, he himself does nothing. It is only G'd who gives him the electricity, the life, that he should be able to help other people.   The Holy language The Ahavas Yisroel from Vizhnitz said: "I was looking for a language that is clean from slander, gossip, anger and conflict . I, G'd, found a language, a holy language. When a person talks clean, without lashon harah, slander and conflict even if it's English, Danish or Dutch, it is a holy language.  Source: Spinkah Rebbe Bnei Berak

As is well known, Israel receives far more criticism in the UN than any other country. You would almost think that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are killed by Israeli massacres and that Israel should therefore be condemned. Nothing is less true. But in the UN, different countries work together to advance their own interests at the expense of Israel. Facts The true facts don't matter that much. The geo-economic and social interests are valued many times over the existence of that small country of Israel. Israel seems to be a thorn in the side of many countries and the destruction of the Jewish state is not considered an impossibility by those countries. Israel's opponents confuse the true facts of history with lies and distortions. This is currently not only the case with Israel. If countries have an interest in distorting the facts, many will not resist. Doesn't this also happen in the media? Disaster As decided at the beginning of this month the United Nations thin...

 Jerusalem has 80 urban gazelles and they are preparing for winter. Warm up As Jerusalem's weather cools, the endangered wild Israeli gazelles are changing their diet and eating habits. They also do a warm-up run to keep warm during the coming cold Jerusalem winter. Winter is approaching and the 80 animals prepare to survive the cold, rainy weather in Jerusalem. The gazelles are  switching from eating dry grass to fallen leaves, almonds and olives that are rich in nutrients and oils that provide a lot of energy. In addition, the animals do instinctive physical training to keep warm. In the evening the gazelles go for a run to warm up before the temperature drops. All the animals in the herd participate in the running and this 'training' can take a very long time. Endangered species This is very special, because the mountain gazelle of Israel is an endangered species worldwide. About 5000 still live in the wild. The greatest danger to gazelles in the wild is the destruction ...