Gerer Smartphone saga continues ... Now they want you to spy on your neighbor!

We reported yesterday that the  Taliban heads  in Ger closed two Shtiblach, one in Bnei Brak and one in Ashdod because the congregants have smartphones!

But now they are going a step further and want the Chassidim to "masir" on each other! ........just like in ISIS!

There must be peace in Israel, because they have time for these narishkeitin!

Satmar He/She Will Explain Transgender Issues within the Frum Community

I'm now really concerned ... how are we going to give an "aliyah" to someone when he could possibly be a lady?
I propose that each shul hire someone to check out each and every "guy" that gets called up for an "aliyah"! 
I'm going to avoid the bathrooms in shul, now, because the "guy" next to me in the urinal could be a women.

Also the Lakewood "guys" fresh out of the freezer will have to checked out by a competent Rav!

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The lesson of Chinuch Habonim ...teaching children to steal

On the video below watch a father teaching his mamzeirim how to steal.... in this case an Israeli flag!

In my previous post titled:

"Satmar Crazies rule that even on a bris they must say Tachnun on "Hai Iyer"

 someone commented that the Chazon Ish also said Tachnun at a bris on "Hei Iyer," eventhough the Shulchan Aruch paskens lehalacha that at a bris, one shouldn't say tachnun... the story is very hard to believe since  the Chazon Ish himself said on many occasions  that "Halacha supercedes ethical principles" 

but if the story should be true, then this is how it starts.... first we have Gedoim violating explicit halacha then you have shmoigers taking from that ...that anything goes.... ......

 

19th century painting of the Kotel

Original caption: "Jews Praying at Wailing Wall in Jerusalem" by Johann Martin Bernatz in 1868 (?)

It looks like this was Tisha Be'ov and so we bring this painting that while showing Jewish lamentations, is also a testament to Jewish continuity and aspirations for Redemption.

We are thankful to the archivists at the Ottoman Imperial Archives for digitizing and  posting vintage pictures from Palestine on their website.

On July 14, 2015, this incredible painting was posted. 

Note the Jews' lamentations. They are barefoot (their shoes are in the foreground), suggesting that the scene may be commemorating Tisha B'Av, a day of Jewish mourning for the destruction of the Jewish Temples and other calamities in Jewish history.

Note that the women are not praying with the men, as so many have erroneously claimed was the case before 1967.

The painter, Johann Martin Bernatz, was born in Germany in 1802.  He traveled in the Middle East and Asia in 1836 and published 40 pictures from his journey in a book, "Pictures from the Holy Land, Drawn from Nature" in 1839.  We suggest that the painting was painted 30 years prior to the year in the Archives' caption. 

The blessing said on the settlement of the land of Israel

In honor of the season of Yom Ha’atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, it is appropriate to once again review the halakha’s of the blessing the Chazal fixed over the mitzvah of ‘yishuv ha’aretz‘ – the settling and redemption of the Land of Israel.

Article by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed Shlitah

Our Sages said: “On seeing the houses of Israel when inhabited, one says: ‘Baruch ata Hashem, Elokeinu Melech Ha’Olam, matziv gevul almana‘ (“Blessed be He who sets the boundary of the widow”) (Berachot 58b, S.A. 224:10). The intention of this blessing is to thank God for returning Israel to their land.

After transgressing God’s commandments, we were exiled from our land and ridiculed and scorned among the nations – akin to a widow, wandering around broken and lonely, without any prospect of returning to our borders and building our house; Hashem took pity on us, returned us to our land so as to build houses there, inhabiting them with serenity and confidence. 

Satmar Crazies rule that even on a bris they must say Tachnun on "Hai Iyer"

The prayer called Tachnun that is said every day except Shabbos and Yomim Toivim, has additional exemptions that are clearly outlined in the Shulchan Aruch. 

One of those exemptions is if someone makes a bris. The Shulchan goes as far to say that all minyonim of the building that hosts the bris shouldn't say Tachnun!

Now, Satmar and some other Chassidim don't say Tachnun on friday, because it is Erev shabbos. This minhag is not mentioned in the entire Shulcha Aruch and it's "nosei keilim." Some Rabbi made this minhag up, or he forgot to say Tachnun on friday and the Chassidim saw this as a sign to to start their own halachos!

The poster above distributed to all Satmar Kehillos orders them all to say Tachnun on friday even if their made up minhag is not to say, in the event that "haei iyer" the 5th of iyer falls on a friday!
The notice states that even if there is a bris in shul, they must say Tachnun in all the minyonim!

"Hei Iyer" is the designated date for the State of Israel's Independence Day, Yom Hatzmaot!

Most erliche Jews don't even remember this fact, but every single Satmar Chusid even those that are still breast feeding know when hei iyer is!
But since the Satmar Chassidim are by in large ignorant, so they missed the fact that when hei iyer falls on a friday then Yom Hatzmeot is celebrated one day before ....on Thursday!
So this year the Satmar ignoramous' all violated their own made up halacheh and said tachnun on friday!

Hashem has his own ways and had all the Satmar boychicks say tachnun on friday, like the Shulchan Aruch rules!
Ma Rabu Maasecha Hashem!

Ger shuts down two shtiblach because congregants won't follow Ger rules on Smartphones!

Two Gerer Shtiblach, geared towards 35 year olds and younger, one in Bnei Brak called "Shtibal Abrabenel" and one in Ashdod, were shut down by the higher echelons of Ger, because they refused to follow takanos!

Mispallelim that showed up on Shabbos morning found the doors shut and had to find other shuls to daven in!

Bechadrei Chadorim reports that the congregants of the Shtiblach refused to adhere to the rules prohibiting smartphones!




התקנות המחמירות בחסידות גור: בעקבות הכנס נגד פגעי הטכנולוגיה, נסגרו השבת מספר שטיבלך - בתי חסידים של גור, שמתפלליהם סירבו לתקנות, כך נודע ל'בחדרי חרדים'. 

השטיבלך נסגרו, לאחר שמספר אברכים המתפללים בהם, לא החליפו למכשיר דלתא מובייל, כפי שאושר בכינוס החירום. 

ל'בחדרי חרדים' נודע, כי המתפללים טוענים כי הם מחזיקים במכשיר מוגן, אך בחסידות גור לא מאשרים את השימוש במכשיר שכזה. ההחלטה הרשמית - כפי שהועברה לחסידים בכינוס בירושלים, שהחלטותיו פורסמו לראשונה ב'בחדרי חרדים', היא חד-משמעית וללא הנחות. 

השטיבל הראשון שנסגר הוא 'שטיבל אברבנאל', 'בית המדרש בית אהרן אריה' ברחוב אברבנאל 107 בקרית הרצוג בבני ברק. השטיבל היה נעול השבת על מנעול ובריח, והמתפללים התפזרו בשאר בתי הכנסת בעיר. מדובר בבבית כנסת המיועד למתפללים עד גיל 35. 

שטיבל נוסף שנסגר הוא בית החסידים ברובע ו' באשדוד, שגם הוא מיועד לצעירים. גם הוא היה סגור השבת עד להחלטת הנהלת המוסדות, נוכח אי שמירת התקנות שנקבעו, על ידי חלק מהמתפללים החברים בשטיבל. 

בנוסף ננקטו עיצומים נגד אברכים בשטיבל של בית החסידים, ברחוב רבי עקיבא 68 בבני ברק. 

תוך כך, בני האדמו"ר, הרה"צ רבי נחמיה אלתר והרה"צ רבי ישראל מנחם אלתר, שהו בשבת בניו יורק, לשבת חיזוק והתאחדות במלון באלי יחד עם מאות מחסידי גור. השבת מתקיימת, במסגרת הנחלת התקנות גם לחסידים בארה"ב. 

תחילה דובר כי השבת תתקיים בראשות הרה"צ רבי ישראל מנחם, יו"ר מכון פאר מקדושים, אך לאחר בעיה בויזה, הוזעק האח רבי נחמיה. לבסוף הבעיה סודרה, וכך נהנו החסידים משבת בראשות שני האחים.

Top NYPD Cop Commits Suicide over Reichberg and Rechnitz Investigation !Warned Pals To Cut Ties With Orthodox Jewish Community

Groiseh Tzuris ...Chillul Hashen sh'ein kamohuh

The NYPD officer who took his own life on Friday afternoon had reportedly taken steps to distance himself from some members of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community according to a New York Post report.

 Inspector Michael Ameri, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Highway Patrol, was found in his unmarked police car on Friday afternoon. 

The 44 year old divorced father of a teenage son apparently took his own life near the Bergen Point Golf Course three miles from his home in West Babylon according to The Daily News. 

Police said that Ameri, who had been with the NYPD since 1993, died of a gunshot wound to the head and that no suicide note was found at the scene.

It was during his tenure as the commanding officer of the NYPD’s 78th Precinct, which includes both Gowanus and Park Slope, that Ameri first met Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Park Slope resident.  Ameri was photographed chatting with the mayor and his wife at the 2014 Pride Parade in Park Slope and de Blasio released a statement expressing his sadness at Ameri’s passing.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this difficult time,” said de Blasio.

Sources said that many in the NYPD, including Ameri, have been particularly worried about the corruption probe.  Ameri’s name surfaced in the ongoing probe in early April but at the time, the career cop did not appear overly concerned. 

He had been interviewed twice by investigators about having possibly given preferential treatment to Jeremy Reichberg and Jonah Rechnitz.  Officers from the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Bureau raided the Highway Patrol Unit office on Thursday in connection with the investigation, taking police escort logs from the office.

The corruption probe is said to be concluding soon, with possible criminal charges and other changes expected at high levels within the NYPD.  One source said that Ameri might have been facing departmental charges but not criminal ones.

Ameri took over as commanding officer of the highway unit in July 2014, bringing with him a close friend from the 78th Precinct, Lieutenant Michael Fargo.

Firefighter put out fire in Meah Shearim and get thanked with smeared PLO Stickers

One of the offending stickers

The Meah Shearim residents are experts in "hakaras hotov"

and were eager to show it to the firefighters that came to extinguish a fire in one of their homes!

They went and shmeared PLO stickers on the fire trucks!

I know the e-mails I'm going to get ....

 "it's only a bunch of crazies" ...

"don't include all the residents, they are all tzaddikim"

To that I answer, "this is unacceptable, and if they know who these guys are and stand by and do nothing, they are all guilty! Absolutely!

I stopped shopping in their stores years ago .....I do go to my favorite stores in Meah Shearim and tell the owners " sorry, but I cannot support terrorism"

Firefighting crews that worked on Thursday evening to put out a fire in an apartment located in Jerusalem's Meah She'arim neighborhood were surprised to find anti-Israeli stickers with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag stuck to their fire engine.

Making the incident all the more troubling is that it took place on Israeli Independence Day.

One of the stickers read "Jews are not Zionists" in Hebrew, Arabic and English, with the PLO flag in the background.

The stickers had especially strong glue, and the crews were force to spend a long time trying to remove them until they finally succeeded in doing so with high pressured water from the fire engine's pumps.

The incident comes after a similar provocation on Israeli Memorial Day, when anti-Zionist haredi extremists from Neturei Karta hung a huge sign in the center of Meah She'arim presenting haredim who enlisted to the IDF as fallen soldiers.

Police forces were dispatched to remove the sign.

Sheldon Adelson Is Poised to Give Donald Trump a Hundred Million Dollars

The casino magnate Sheldon G. Adelson told Donald J. Trump in a private meeting last week that he was willing to contribute more to help elect him than he has to any previous campaign, a sum that could exceed $100 million, according to two Republicans with direct knowledge of Mr. Adelson’s commitment.

As significant, Mr. Adelson, a billionaire based in Las Vegas, has decided that he will significantly scale back his giving to congressional Republicans and direct most of his contributions to groups dedicated to Mr. Trump’s campaign. The two Republicans familiar with Mr. Adelson’s plans spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

Mr. Adelson’s pledge to Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, comes at an opportune time. Mr. Trump has relied on a mix of his own wealth and small-dollar contributions to finance his primary effort and lacks the sort of major donor network needed to sustain him in the general election. Mr. Trump has said that he may need $1 billion for the campaign but has only recently begun scheduling fund-raisers and hiring finance staff members. Many of the Republican Party’s wealthiest contributors, including the billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch, have indicated they are unlikely to give to his candidacy.

What remains unclear is how Mr. Adelson plans to contribute his money to Mr. Trump. He will give the maximum allowed to Mr. Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, but to spend the amount he contemplates would require donating through a “super PAC,” able to accept unlimited donations.

Dina Cohen wife of Rosh Kollel proud that her husband was arrested for protesting the arrest of the "Bar Hopper"

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Instead of making potato kugel and chulent, Mrs. Dina Cohen, wife of a Rav and Rosh Kollel got up and danced, celebrating  her husband's arrest for protesting the arrest of the "drunk bar-hopper" that failed to register for the draft!

There are IDF soldiers ready to give up their lives for this fat yente, and what is she proud of?
Her convict husband ....who has the good life, sitting all day, " looking for hafganas....
Mind you, he is a Rosh Kollel, meaning that he is supported by the community, he lives on schnorred money.... people are paying so that he learns Torah .... and what does this menuval do? 
He is busy supporting a bar hopper in Eilat!
"Mutzeh Meen es Meenah"!



Mrs. Dina Cohen, the wife of a Rosh Kollel arrested at a Yerushalmi branch protest in Bnei Brak over the arrest of a talmid yeshiva told “Kav HaHaganah” News affiliated with the Yerushalmi branch she is proud.

Tens of protestors were taken into custody by police during a stormy protest during which they tried to block streets in protest over the arrest of a talmid yeshiva who is in an IDF prison for failing to register for military service. Since the Yerushalmi faction follows HaGaon HaRav Shmuel Auerbach Shlita, talmidim do not even report to draft centers to register in compliance with the rav’s instructions, for he feels one may not cooperate with military authorities in any way.

Mrs. Cohen explained “my husband is not a 30-year-old avreich but a rosh kollel and a rav of a kehilla. When they woke me and told me I simply got up and danced out of joy and thanked HKBH on the great zechus.

“We are in a period in which HKBH is calling on us with the cry “מי ה’ אלי” and today in Israel there is a government that wishes to eradicate the world of Torah R”L. This is its goal! We must know this and it must be loud and clear…

Tragedy in Tzfat ...R' Yechiel Cohen falls from office building and dies

A huge tragedy in Tzfat, Reb Yechiel Mordechai Cohen, died after falling from an office building. Rav Cohen z"l was a noted Talmud Chachum  and studied in the Sanzer Kollel for 14 years. He  is survived by his wife and eight children.

טרגדיה בקהילה החרדית בצפת. האברך החשוב הרב יחיאל מרדכי שפרגל כהן ז"ל, נפטר לאחר שנפל מבניין משרדים בעיר. כוחות ההצלה שהגיעו למקום קבעו במקום את מותו. 

הרב כהן ז"ל היה מחשובי תלמידי החכמים בעיר. הוא למד בכולל של חסידות צאנז במשך 14 שנה והיה דמות ידועה ומוכרת. 

הותיר אחריו את רעייתו שתחי' ושמונה ילדים יתומים. 

הלוויתו יצאה היום בשעה 21:00 מצפת, לבית העלמין בעיר. במסע הלוויה השתתפו קהל רב מתושבי העיר. 

תהא נשמתו צרורה בצרור החיים.

Ponovitz Terrorists lose Flag fight to Zionists

Early yesterday a bunch of terrorists that learn in Ponovitz glued the locks (ala Satmar against R' Moshe Feinstein) of the door leading to the roof of the Yeshiva, so that it would be impossible to fly the Zionist Flag on Yom Hazmaot!

There has been a custom in Ponovitz that was started by the founder of Ponovitz, Rav Kahanamen z"l and continued by Rav Shach z"l to fly the Israeli flag once a year on Yom Hatzmaot to give Hakaras Hatoiv to the government for funding and protecting the Yeshivah!

So a bunch of Bochrim that are holier than the previous and present Rosh Yeshivah, decided to vandalize Yeshiva property and glue the locks to the door leading to the roof...

It seems that Ben-Gurion won this one!

Am Yisroel Chai! 

Chareidiem Like Arabs Vandalize the Graves of the Fallen Soldiers on Har Hazeisim

Hey Mr. Lubinsky ...... helooooooow....you there? 

Where are  you and your organization" that is  supposed to protect Har Hazisim?   

well ... you got your job cut out for you now!   Forget the Arabs, we got enemies within .... look out for the guys that wear the tzizis out!

Police on Independence Day morning responded to a vandalism attack in the military section of Har HaZeisim. It appears extremist chareidim set wreaths that was placed on kevarim on fire.

The vandals fled the area when police arrived.

Obama thanks Satmar for backing his disastrous Iran deal with a full blown FBI investigation of KJ on Yom Hatzmaot

The Satmar Yiddish weeklies, Der Goy and Der Bluteh, advocated for the cruel Iran deal, because, as they put it ... "we have to back the leader of our host country!" Especially  since it is at the expense of their brothers and sisters living in Eretz Yisroel! 

R' Aron Teitelbum, Satmar rebbe of Kiryas Yoel went so far as to have a "write in campaign" to Senators and Representatives begging them  to not attend Netanyahu's speech in Congress!

Turns out that according to this past Sunday's New York Times, "the entire Iran deal was sold on lies" this according to Obama's own aide Ben Rhodes!

Obama had huge "Hakaras Hatoiv" to the holy rebbe for his support and promptly sent a team of FBI investigators to Kiryas Yoel  to find evidence of fraud and corruption, on Yom Hatzmaot, no less!

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Approximately 15-FBI agents followed by the local Sheriff including agents from the Sullivan County DA's Office entering the UTA building.

7:03 AM - 12 May 2016

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Chaeidim thumb their fingers at Gedoilim and use the internet as much as Chilonim

How many times have i written that the Gedoilim basically live in a cocoon and don't have the slightest idea in what's going on in the life of a typical Jew!

Helloooooooow! Is anybody home?
The internet is here to stay and so is the smartphone  ....now deal with it!

Despite denouncements and bans imposed by rabbis and religious leaders, many of Israel’s 750,000 Haredim are secretly and increasingly using the internet, according to a new study conducted by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.


Ha’aretz reports (http://bit.ly/1rGvfCx) the study found that a majority of Haredim are using assumed identities or a “nick” – abbreviation for nickname – to browse the internet and are even attempting to guess the real identities behind the so-called nicks of their fellow surfers.

The study also found that the Israeli ultra-Orthodox community is surfing online and accessing websites at all hours – as often as less religious Jews – usually from a mobile device since Internet access is forbidden in Haredi homes.

The purpose of the study was to “characterize the Haredi surfer.” The findings revealed that Haredim are using the web to “consult with one another, gossip madly and discuss a vast range of topics touching on their community, their thoughts and anguishes, emotions and needs, politics, halacha, and their experiences with peers in the online Haredi world,” behaviors which would be condemned in their real lives.
The analysis also determined that online usage in the ultra-Orthodox is not really much of a secret after all. In fact, major telecom companies like Bezeq have been specifically targeting Haredi users with advertisements geared toward the community. And Google Israel hosted its first ever conference for Haredi online marketers, entitled “Friday night over cholent and digital.”

The study concluded that an “internet revolution” has changed the way young Haredim are leading their lives.

The Sanctity of Yom Haatzmaut

Is there more to Israel Independence Day than just fireworks and flagwaving? 

Is Yom Ha'Atzmaut just a secular holiday commemorating our political independence, or does it hold a deeper meaning for us?

The Holiness of Mitzvot
Rav Kook passed away in 1935, thirteen years before the State of Israel was established, but his son Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook interpreted the historic events of 1948 in light of his father’s teachings. In an article entitled “Affirming the Sanctity of the Day of Our Independence,” Rav Tzvi Yehudah analyzed the religious significance of Yom Haatzmaut.

In general, our connection to sanctity and holiness is through the mitzvot of the Torah. Thus before performing a mitzvah we say, “Who sanctified us with His mitzvot.” 

The holiness of Yom Haatzmaut, Rav Tzvi Yehudah explained, is anchored in the holiness of mitzvot. But which particular mitzvah is connected to this historical occasion?

The Ramban defined the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz, settling the land of Israel, as “we will not abandon it to another nation, or leave it desolate.” This definition makes it clear that the mitzvah is first and foremost an obligation of the nation; the Jewish people are commanded to take possession of the land of Israel and rule over it. On the basis of that national mitzvah, there is a mitzvah for each individual to live in Eretz Yisrael.1

The Ramban emphasized that this mitzvah is in effect at all times. 

This view is upheld in the Shulchan Aruch (Even Ha'ezer 75:6, Pitchei Teshuvah ad loc).


This then is the significance of Yom Haatzmaut: that we have finally merited, after centuries of exile, to once again fulfill this lofty mitzvah, valued by the Sages as “equal to all the other mitzvot” (Sifre Re'eih), “to return and possess the land that God promised to our fathers” (Ramban). 

We should be full of gratitude to live here, in Eretz Yisrael, “the place that Moses and Aaron did not merit” (Ketubot 112a).
We should be grateful to be alive at this time in history, to witness the hour of redemption that so many great and holy leaders of our people did not merit to see.

Courageous Spirit
And yet one may ask: why should the fifth day of Iyyar be chosen for celebrating this event? Perhaps a different date, such as the date of the ceasefire after the War of Independence, would be a more appropriate choice?

While the military victory of a fledgling state over the armies of five enemy countries was certainly miraculous, that was not the greatest miracle of the establishment of the State of Israel.

The true miracle was the remarkable courage displayed on the fifth of Iyyar in making the fateful decision and announcing the establishment of an independent state. This decision, in the face of heavy pressure from the U.S. State Department not to declare a state, and belligerent threats of the surrounding Arab countries to attack and destroy the Jewish community in Eretz Yisrael, was by no means a trivial matter. The motion to declare a state passed by only a thin majority in Ben-Gurion’s cabinet.

(One of the signers to the Declaration of Independence, Moshe Sharett, later recalled in his diary how he had signed with “a sense of excitement together with a clear premonition of danger, such as one might feel while standing on a cliff, ready to leap into a yawning chasm. We felt as though we stood on a very high crest, where roaring winds were brewing about us, and that we had to stand fast.”)

This courageous decision was the true miracle of Yom Haatzmaut. 

The Talmud in Baba Metzia 106a states that a shepherd’s rescue of his flock from a lion or a bear may be considered a miracle. Where exactly is the miracle in this act? 

The Tosafists explained that the miracle is to be found in the shepherd’s “spirit of courage and willingness to fight.” This spirit of valor is a miracle from above, an inspired inner greatness spurring one to rise to the needs of the hour. This is the significance of Ezekiel’s prophetic description of the redemption:
“I will place My spirit in you and you shall live. I will set you on your land, and you will know that I, the Eternal, have spoken and performed it.” (Ezekiel 37:14)

Atchalta DeGeulah
Nevertheless, many people have difficulty reconciling the current moral and spiritual state of Israel with the vision of the redemption as portrayed by the prophets and the sages. Is this the Messianic Era for which we prayed two thousand years?
The Sages determined that “The only difference between the current reality and the Messianic Era is [independence from] the rule of foreign powers” (Berachot 34b; Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings 12:2). While we have certainly not yet merited the final phase of redemption, we have achieved this criterion of redemption - independence and self-rule over our geographical area.

Many Torah scholars fought against the Zionist movement because they envisioned redemption as a future era that arrives complete from the very start, and not an ongoing process. But the import of the Talmudic statement (Jer. Berachot 1:1) that the redemption will appear “little by little,” like the spreading light of dawn in the morning sky, is exactly this: that the redemption is a process that advances in stages.

We need to examine history with a perspective of faith in God. We need to recognize that the Master of the universe controls and governs all events. 

The Sages taught:
“What is the meaning of the verse, ‘For who has scorned the day of smallness’ (Zecharia 4:10)? What causes the table of the righteous to be scorned in the future era? Their smallness of faith, that they failed to believe in the Holy One.” (Sotah 48b)

Why is the future portion (the ‘table’) of the tzaddikim marred? 

Because they are tzaddikim who lack faith in God. They view the world with a narrow outlook, and fail to see God’s hand in the events of history. The redemption does not have to come through great miracles; God can also bring the redemption using natural forces and events.

Ezekiel’s Prophecy of Redemption
The various stages of redemption are clearly described in the order of events in Ezekiel’s prophecy. The prophecy first speaks of the initial stage of redemption, the ingathering of the exiles:
“I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the lands and I will bring you to your land” (36:24).
Only after this initial redemption does the prophet describe the spiritual return and teshuvah of the people:
“I will sprinkle over you purifying water and you will be purified from all of your impurities.... I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will place in you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My spirit within you so that you will walk in My statutes.... And you will be My people, and I will be your God.” (36:25–28)
This narrative of the redemption concurs with the opinion of Rabbi Joshua in Sanhedrin 97b, that the redemption will come regardless of the merits of the Jewish people - “even if they do not repent.”2

(Excerpted from the book Silver from the Land of Israel, pp. 191-195. Adapted from  LeNetivot Yisrael vol I, pp. 181-184, 192-200; Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehudah 19, sent by Rabbi Chanan Morrison,Ravkooktorah.org)

Sources:

1 Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Nachmanides) of Gerona, Spain (1194-1270). The Ramban wrote this definition of yishuv ha’aretz in his appendix to Maimonides’ Sefer Hamitzvot, positive mitzvah #4.

2 See LeNetivot Yisrael, pp. 195-196, where Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook demonstrates that the Halachah follows this opinion.)

"If you like your insurance, you can keep it" Obama Speech Writers laugh out loud about that Lie!

Not Shaving on Sefirah has absolutely no basis in Halacha says Kabbalist!

Ramchal z"l 

The Mekubal Rebbi Moshe Dovid bar Shmuel Volli z"l,from Padua Italy, writes that growing a beard during sefirah has absolutely no basis in halacha and is actually a custom instituted by gentiles!

According to the Mekubal, the Shulchan Aruch only discusses haircuts ...but not facial hair!

This Mekubal  was a student of the Ramchal, who wrote numerous sefarim on Kaballah  and was also a physician!

It is  interesting to note and this will probably come to a shock to my readers. The Ramchal himself did not let his beard grow...some say that was because in those days in Italy the priests would grow their beards so the Rabbonim of Italy to look different than the gentile priests, cut their beards! 

 But There was an Italian kabbalistic tradition going back to R. Menachem Azariah of Fano to be beardless outside of Israel (this is a complex discussion; it became a major issue in the 19th and 20th century; in truth it seems that he wore a beard, but it was neatly trimmed).

 Below is Haham Raphael Meldola, who was rabbi of the Sephardic Jews of London. A native of Leghorn, he was ordained by the Chida and was clean shaven...

"האבלות בימי ספירת העומר, שלא להתגלח עד ל"ג בעומר והמחמירים עד לחג השבועות ממש, הוא מנהג שאין לו טעם ואין לו עיקר, והוא מחוקות הגויים" - כך כותב המקובל הרופא מפאדובה, רבי משה דוד בר שמואל וואלי.

בצילום מספרו שהגיע לידי 'בחדרי חרדים' נכתב כי העיקר הוא שלא לגלח את שערות הראש לפי שהם דינים, ואין לחתכם ולבטלם בימי הדין שהוא עת התפשטות הגבורות כידוע.

"אבל המנהג שלא לגלח את הזקן אינו נמשך כי אם מחוקות הגויים שנתערבו ביניהם, שאינם נוהגים לגדל את זקנם ואדרבא חרפה היא להם".

"ומזה נתפשט המנהג שלוקחים גידול הזקן לסימן של צער ושל צרה ושל אבלות, ואנחנו יודעים ששערות הזקן הם צנורות של חסד, לפי שהם מצד הפנים, והשערות של הראש הם צנורות של דין לפי שהם מצד האחור".

"אם כן התספורת שאסרו בגלל האבל בשלושים הם רק בשערות הראש לרמז שהם ימים של צער ודין והוא הדין בימי העומר ולא היתה כוונתם על תספורת הזקן לפי שכבר היו מגדלים אותו כל ימיהם כמו שראוי לעשות".

לסיום כותב המקובל: "ואף על פי כן כיון דדשו ביה רבים שלא לגלח את הזקן בימי העומר ובימי האבל יש להפיס את דעתם ולתת טעם שהוא אדרבא כדי להמתיק הדינים של גידול פרע שער ראשם בגידול שער זקנם שהוא הממתק את הדין".

הרמ"ד וואלי, תלמיד חבר לרמח"ל, שמלבד היותו מקובל עצום אשר חיבר ספרים רבים והותיר אחריו כתבים לאלפים, היה גם רופא.

בחיבוריו מתגלה עולם שלם מופלא, ולעיתים אף שונה תפיסתית מכל המוכר לנו. לרגל יום ההילולא שלו החל השבוע, אנו מביאים בפניכם קטע קטן - אקטואלי ומעניין עבור בחורי ישיבה, מתוך מדברי תורתו. וגם, תפיסתו העקרונית בעניין השמחה, המזכירה במעט את שיטת ברסלב אשר התגלתה דורות אחר כך, על ידי רבי נחמן זיע"א. 

Yom Ha'atzmaut 2016

Vital Statistics: Israel Has Grown from 806,000 to 8,522,000 Citizens in 68 Years

In 1948 Israel’s annual GDP (in 2015 rates) was $6.66 billion. Today we are happy to report things have become much better, with the GDP reaching $294 billion.