Eretz Yisrael ... The Land of Mitzvos

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

When Hashem appeared to Yitzchak and instructed him not to descend to Egypt, but to rather settle among the Pelishtim in Gerar. Gerar is Southern Gaza which is the headlines lately for constant strife. 

He was not to leave the boundaries of the land destined to become Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel (Bereishis 26:3-4).

There is an obligation for a Jew to live in the Promised Land. The special and unique place Eretz Yisrael occupies in the service of G-d, both in the study of Torah and in the fulfillment of the mitzvos. In the view of the Ramban, all commandments are intrinsically related to

the Holy Land (Ramban, Bereishis 26:5, Vayikra 18:25).

This is the first and foremost place wherein to fulfill the mitzvos (Rashi, Devarim 11:18). It is the country that Moshe so desperately yearned to enter in order to observe the laws therein (Sotah 14a).

What is it about Eretz Yisrael that binds the Jewish nation to mitzvah observance? 

Amazingly, the land's destiny is defined by the destiny of its people. The Children of Israel do not only give the Land of Israel its name but also its essential character and reason for being. The Holy Land is the epitome of holiness in the realm of "space".

The most spiritual place on Earth, "higher" than all other countries (Zevachim 54b), the Land of Israel is the country most finely-tuned to G-dliness. Though the divine influence filters down to other countries through intermediaries, the divine providence in Eretz Yisrael is direct - such that the Talmud declares "Anyone who lives outside the Land of Israel, it is as if they have no G-d" (Ketubot 110b). Hence,

Eretz Yisrael is the most suitable forum within which to relate and connect to G-d, and by extension, to lovingly engage in mitzvah observance.

This land, given as a covenant to the descendants of Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov, was to the Chosen People whose lives were consecrated towards this cause. 

Interestingly, the Children of Israel's holiness as a people is twinned with the holiness of the Land of Israel (Bamidbar Rabbah 23). They mirror and pair each other. They were made for each other - in the shared, married goal of performing Hashem's mitzvos.

The land's history and geography, including its changing fortunes, is a direct response to its inhabitants' conduct. When the Jewish people serve Hashem sincerely, the land is fruitful and productive. The country's spiritual "climate" is thus ideally suited to mitzvah observance. But it all depends upon the Jewish people - whether or not they are ready to complement the innate spirituality of the land.

Historically, the Holy Land has only responded to the Jewish people - no other nation has successfully cultivated or developed its grounds.

The theme of mitzvah observance is holiness, thanking Hashem ...asher kiddishanu b'mitzvotav, "Who sanctified us with his commandments".

Here it where the Jewish people's relationship to Hashem blossoms in the most optimal manner possible. Here the holiness of Israel, the people and the holiness of Israel, the land, converge.

The Jewish people look forward to the Messianic Era where the Land of Israel will be universally appreciated as the fount of spirituality and of totally dedicated divine service.

Skver And Viznitz now Enemies over Skver Neuremberg Law Not to Move Within A Mile of Skver

Skverer Chassidim are now fighting with Vizniter Chassidim because Skver asked the Newly crowned Viznitzer not to come to the Skverer Wedding!

What happened????

As you know Skver has instituted a "Neuremberg" style law on other Jews, a law  that prohibits other frum  Jews from buying homes a mile radius around New Square and that area must must be kept "Judenrein!" 

Well, the Kosiniar Rebbe, a popular Rebbe in Monsey opened a shul just outside the mile marker .... 
A good Jew.... Yes?
No!

 Whats the issue? You ask......
Well, that's no good even if it fits into the "judenrein" criteria.
Why? 
The Kosiner shul became very popular and frum Jews wanting to daven there bought homes to be near this popular Rebbe. some of those homes were inside the red line, so to speak, violating the "judenrein Neuremberg" decree!
Well, that was a direct threat to Skver and so Skver waged war with the Kosiniar Rebbe, flooding nearby homes with illegals, criminals and other vermin to make the new owners of these homes miserable, and threatened to burn the Kosiniar Rebbe's shul down; no idle threat in the world of Skver!

So when the newly crowned Viznitzer Rebbe became Rebbe a rebbe that follows the Torah dictum to love every Jew, invited the Kosiniar Rebbe for a Lechayim, all hell broke loose, because that showed that the Viznitzer Rebbe won't play ball and so the Skverer bullies told the Viznitzer Rebbe to sit home and not come to the wedding even though The Skverer Rebbe and the Viznitzer are closely related...
Now, Viznitzer Chassidim will be "no-shows" at the Skverer Wedding!

Shulem al Yisrael:) 

Mitzvos Performed in Israel Are Treif According to SATMAR

Satmar on a mission to brainwash their toddlers, distributes a questionnaire that in effect wipes out a mitzvas esseh de'oriiseh (a positive Biblical mitzvah), the Mitzvah of Yishuv Eretz Yisroel Bizman Hazeh (the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel in the here and now) according to the Ramban.

Just last week, the "holy fool" R' Aron Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe of Monroe, asked his dumb followers to "rent their clothing" over the remarks of Benjamin Netanyahu at the newly opened US Embassy in Yerushalyim Ir Hakodesh.

Today, May 29, so far, as of this posting, 77 Rockets were fired into Israel at Israeli civilians, two landing in a kindergarten, with six hurt....

Did the "good" rabbi, "rent his clothing?" Did the foolish leader shed even one tear for his fellow brothers and sisters?

So lets translate this questionnaire......... my comments in"red"

(1) Is one allowed to leave the diaspora before Mashiach comes?

(a) Yes    (b) No ... G-D forbid   (c) Only if the gentiles allow us

DIN: The Chofetz Chayim wanted to make Aliyah, The Baal Shem Tov wanted to make Aliyah, the Vilna Gaol was on his way to make Aliya .... The Gerer Rebbe, the Belzer Rebbe, the Viznitzer Rebbe, the Kloizenberger Rebbe, the Chazon Ish, the Steipler, and the Satmar Rebbe himself in 1948 made Aliyah ....

(2) Is one allowed to wage war with the gentiles?

(a) Yes  (b) No.... G-D Forbid   (c) Only if the gentiles start the war first

DIN: You are probably thinking that (c) is the correct answer........

You think that way because you are a normal thinking person ..... but according to the Romanian gypsies, the correct answer is (b) .....

What would any country do if they got hit with only ONE missile? They would make the aggressor country a parking lot ...

I will never forget when I was just a child, if a goy started up with a Jew in Williamsburg, the holy Satmars would scream "Chaptzim" and beat the assailant to a pulp! 

But in their upside down world, only someone who slurps chicken soup from the Rebbe's chicken soup sharayim deserves to be protected, but little toddlers living in Israel, deserve no protection because they live under Zionist democratic rules.

(3) What "treif" thing did the Zionist create?

(a) A "treif" State .  (b) A "treif" language . (c) A "treif" military

DIN: The answer, of course, to these miserable creatures, would be all three! 

It seems that this "treif State, distributes more funds to Chareide instutions in one year, than all the monies collected on behalf Moisdes Hatoirah since Hashem gave the Torah on Har Sinai!

There is more Torah learned in this "treif" State than anywhere in the entire world, and that includes Lakewood, Monsey, Williamsburg, Monroe and the other fake Holy Cities!

The "treif" langauge is the langauge that the Ribono Shel Olam created the world, and its the primary language presently for all the Gedoilei Hatorah, be they Yeshivah, Litvish, Chassidish, or Sefardic.. they all speak this "treif" language... The Satmarer Rebetzin from Monroe speaks this "treif language to her Zionist sisters..... the Skeverer Rebbetzin... and the Belzer Rebbetzin...

A "Holy" language for them is Hungarian! 

THE "treif military" is the one protecting the Satmarer Rebbes fat ass when he comes to visit the Zionist State of Israel! 

(4) If you do any Mitzvois in the State of Israel, those Mitzvois are also treif!

(a) No   (b) Yes, because it is prohibited to have a country of our own until Mashach comes.

DIN: The correct answer according to these brain-damaged barbarians is (b)!

So according to Satmar, all the mitzvois including Shmittah, Maasor, Terumah, Shabbos, Tefillin, Lulav, Pesach, Succos, Shevuois ... Shecitah, Mila, are all "treif"

All the Gedoilie Yisroel including Rav Kanievsky who do mitzvois even Limud Torah are all "treif"

Which idiot has a "SHIT'ah like this .... how crazy can one get???

Wait ... it gets better!

(5) When can we celebrate that the Zionists have their own country?

(a) Tisha Be'Ov  (b) 5th of Iyur  (c) Never

DIN: The correct Satmar answer is ... (c)

These crazies would celebrate if the Palestinians controlled the entire country ....

Now you say .........."No...that's the Neturei Karta thinking like that" not the Holy Satmar....

Well, to that I respond that the entire Neturei Karta ideology comes directly from R' Yoel Teitelbaum the founder of the Romanian Dynasty called Satmar ...

absolutely... he mentions this many times in his books called Va"Yoel Moshe"

(6) Is one allowed to speak the 'tumedikie" language Hebrew?

(a) Only one word (b) Only whisper (c) G-D forbid to speak even one word

DIN: I answered this crappy question above!

(7) Is one allowed to step into the Zionist offices that is called the Knesset?

(a) Yes (b) No G-d forbid (c) Only if one must be rescued

DIN: The question is really "Is one allowed to step into a Satmar Institution," since they teach hate and teach the "tenokas shel bais raban" to ridicule lifestyles of other Jews that don't look like them..

(8) Are we allowed to visit the Kotel, Kever Rachel, or the Mearas Ha'machpilah?

(a) Yes (b) of course not (c) Only if you want to recite tehilim

DIN: Of course the intended Satmar answer is (b)

There were only two Jewish leaders that didn't allow Jews to go to the Kotel ....

One was the evil Jewish King, Yerovam ben Navot and the other was Satmar Rebbe

Enough said! 

(9) Are we allow to take money from the Zionists to build a Talmud Torah?

(a) Yes (b) Nope (c) Only if no one notices ...

DIN: Now this is a very tricky question .... because the author of this questionnaire wanted you to answer (b) Nope .... 

but the truth is that Satmar actually does take money from the State when they think nobody "notices ..".

You see ... In the Zionist State, when a child gets born... that child gets a number called a "Teudat Zehut" something like a Social Security number ...

That number follows that child around ... and when he gets born the government opens up a savings account for that child and deposits some shekels each year into that account ...

As you know in Israel, tuition is free, so when that number shows up in a Yeshivah, that Yeshivah will get funds to educate that child based on that number ...

Well... Satmar .. supposidely doesn't take money from the Medinah? Right?????

Wrong!!!!!

First of all that child, let's call him "Yoiley" for the purpose of this discussion, gets every year money into his account as soon as he gets born, and if he is the Second or Third child in the family, the "cursed" Zionists gives Yoiley's parents money on a monthly basis....

I never heard anyone returning those tumidike monies.

Now the crafty Satmar phonies want the world to think that they don't take money from the "Tumedike" Zionists ... so what do they do?

They set up that the official Satmar Yeshivah to take no funds from the Medinah, and they notify the Zionists who sit in the Knesset (the building that they cannot walk into) that "no thank-you" keep your cursed money, we are just fine schnorring in the US for the funds .....

but then ........ 

are you sitting guys??????

"So talk already.......I'm sitting at the edge of my seat ....... " "what does Satmar do?"

AHA!!!!!!

They set up a dummy yeshivah where they register our little friend Yoiley, and then .....

yes..... when nobody is looking .... they transfer those "tumidike" cursed Zionist money to their coffers...

So you are sitting in comfortable chair, in the Holy Chutz Le'aretz, thinking ... how does DIN know all that???

Aha!!!!!

Remember, about two years ago that phoney, R' Zalman Leib, Williamsburg Satmar Rebbe, extorted money from his naive chassidim to the tune of over 5 million Dollars to distribute to Moisdois that refuse to take money from the Zionists in Israel?

Well, if you remember at that time, the Zionists sick of this game that Satmar was playing, released the Names and numbers of all the Yoileys in an Israeli Newspaper called Haaretz, and listed all that were supposedly learning in Satmar Yeshivois but were secretly registered in these fake Yeshivois that were getting the Zionist cursed tumidike money that was eventually funneled back to Satmar .....

Remember when the big money guys in Williamsburg found out about this scheme, they were furious and went bonkers and flew to Israel to investigate what happened?????

All of a sudden ....... Quiet .... Shhhhhhhhhhhh! Quiet ..... nobody is talking ....

The rich Satmar guys were told to  "shut the hell up" or else their children would be thrown out of their moisdos and their daughters wouldn't be able to marry into other Satmar families depriving them of the big mitzvah of shaving their heads bald when they get married!

(10) Which sin is the most responsible for stopping Moshiach from coming?

(a) Saying lies (b) Chametz (c) Zionism

DIN: I have to laugh at this one ..... because I would have answered (a) Saying Lies ...

Ha ha ha ha 

But that's not the answer they want ...they want to blame their whole miserable existence on the Zionists .....

But B"H, anyone with eyes who visits the State of Israel, the country that I am now residing in, sees the beautiful built up cities, beautiful shuls, ....they see the words of the prophet coming true ....and they see that what Satmar says is all a bunch of crap wrapped in a Caftan with Vaassseh Shtrimp, 

 The whole questionnaire is based on the whole LYING SHIT"a! 

Gitty Rosenberg a two-year-old Killed by Car by her own Father in Her Own Driveway in Monsey

A young child was R”L struck and killed by a vehicle in Monsey on Monday afternoon.

This was a double tragedy because the driver was unfortunately her own father.

Rockland Hatzolah responded to the call at around 3:30PM for a child struck by a vehicle in a driveway of a home at Phyllis Terrace – across from the Vishnitz Bais Medrash.

Upon arrival, Hatzolah found Gitty Rosenberg, a 2-year-old child in traumatic arrest. The child was rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital, but doctors were unable to save her life and she was Niftar moments later.

The child was identified as a daughter of R’ Levi Yitzchok Rosenberg. They are a Sanz Klausenberg Mishpacha.

Chesed Shel Emes was on the scene.

The Levaya  was  held on Monday night at 8:15PM by the Sanzer Bais Medrash on Suzanne Drive.

Blessing on the Seven Species ..

Blessing on the Seven Species ...

with which Israel is blessed ...

Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

While we are required to make a blessing on any food we eat, there are special rules for the “seven species”, the seven kinds of produce mentioned in the Torah as the praise of the Land of Israel: 
wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranate, olives, and dates (D’varim 8:8).

These kinds of produce have priority over other kinds in making a first blessing (SA OC 211), and they have a special long after-blessing (“one like three” – SA OC 208).

Rav Natan of Breslav explains how this rule serves to connect all of our blessings to the praise of the Land of Israel. 

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz, Scholar In Residence For Trans And Queer Jewish Studies At CBST

Rabbi Moskowitz studied at the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem where he received smicha. He then continued his studies at BMG in Lakewood where he received an advanced degree in Talmud. 

For the last 15 years, he has been engaged in Jewish outreach and education as the Dean of Students of the Yeshivah of Virgina. Most recently he has served as a rabbi at Columbia University (Lipa Schmeltzer's Alma Mater) and of the Old Broadway Synagogue in Harlem. 

Rabbi Moskowitz is a vocal advocate for inclusivity, LGBT rights, and social justice. He writes frequently at the intersection of transgender issues and Jewish thought. He is currently working on a doctorate in Talmud at The Jewish Theological Seminary – JTS. He is the Scholar in Residence for Trans and Queer Jewish Studies at CBST.

Jewish Dentist Takes Internet By Storm With Viral Video

By Sandy Eller for VIN News

An Orthodox Jewish dentist from Passaic, New Jersey has found himself in the media spotlight after a video he posted of himself doing a magic trick for a two year old patient went viral over the weekend.

The minute and a half long video, which has 16 million views and 410,000 shares on Facebook and has also made the rounds on Twitter, shows Dr. Eyal Simchi of Riverfront Pediatric Dentistry in Elmwood Park charming a two year old patient with small glow balls that seem to appear and disappear into thin air. 

The 39 year old father of six said that the video was originally posted to a Facebook group which has 26,000 dentists last week, and then posted to Riverfront’s Facebook page just before Shavuos.

“Motzei Shavuos I turned on my phone and there were notifications from all over,” Dr. Simchi told VIN News.  “I don’t really know how it happened.”

Dr. Simchi said he has been contacted by virtually every news organization over the last few days, including one from Taiwan, as well as companies that sell viral videos.

“Right now I am speaking to a lawyer,” said Dr. Simchi. “I wasn’t really planning on any of this.”

A graduate of University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, Dr. Simchi did his residency at Maimonides Medical Center before going on to become board certified. 

The magic component of his dental practice, which focuses on children and special needs patients, came about quite by accident.

“I was walking around in the mall with my wife and I saw the light trick and I was kind of amazed,” said Dr. Simchi.  “My wife suggested that it would be great for the kids in the office and I bought the trick because I realized that kids who come in terrified and are stressed out and crying would really like this.”

Over time Dr. Simchi’s collection of magic tricks has grown to well over a dozen, giving him the opportunity to work on children without having to resort to sedation. 

His Instagram page is filled with pictures of young patients who are gently cajoled into having their dental work done, some sitting in the dental chair while others are perched on regular chairs, standing, sitting on the floor or, in one instance, checking out Dr. Simchi’s teeth as a way to ease into treatment.

“As a kid, I hated going to the dentist and I still do,” noted Dr. Simchi.  “But if you can buy a kid’s trust and you can distract them with tricks, you can do a lot more, especially once they realize that the dentist’s office isn’t a scary environment.”

Dr. Simchi prides himself on working with children and was featured in a 2016 New York Times video (https://nyti.ms/2IJz17d) on the use of silver diamine fluoride, a cavity fighting liquid that is now being used in place of conventional drilling.

“I like to do things differently,” said Dr. Simchi.  “In my office we don’t hold kids down and they rarely cry.  We don’t sedate or use general anesthesia and so far have been able to keep most cases out of the operating room.”

Listed for three consecutive years in New Jersey Family magazine’s Favorite Kids’ Docs issue, Dr. Simchi’s techniques have made him popular with patients, including a five year old girl whose parents make the eight hour round trip from Syracuse to Elmwood Park for their daughter’s dental work. 

In another instance, Dr. Simchi had one patient who said that she stopped brushing her teeth hoping for more cavities so that she could come back to Riverfront more often.

Ironically, Dr. Simchi had originally aspired to a career in medicine and even after choosing to become a dentist, his intent was to specialize in cosmetic dentistry.

An internship at a pediatric dental clinic in addition to growing up as the second of ten children ultimately pushed him into pediatrics, where his now two year old practice continues to attract patients from all over.

“Baruch Hashem, we have grown pretty quickly, and for now we are just going with the flow,” said Dr. Simchi.

Hirsch YM"S From Neturei Karta Encourages Arabs to Murder Jews but Satmar Rebbe Does Not Call For "tearing clothes"

Satmar Rebbe Says "Tear your garment " over Netanyahu

This is the foolish guy who blamed the murders of three Yeshiva Boys  on the parents. This is the same clueless nutcase who wrote letters to US Congressman urging them to boycott Netanyahu's Iran speech to Congress.....
Now the foolish blabbermouth barks :"Tear your garment" over a speech that Netanyahu made at the US Embassy inauguration.

I don't remember him ever "tearing" his flowery bekeshe when Jewish children were being murdered in Israel and in France.

I don't remember this  fake, fraud and phoney shedding any tears for any Yiddish blood ever shed by the bloody Jew hating murderers! 

He is great at waiting for Jews to get sick so he can feed them chicken soup, but for  healthy Jews he has only contempt!
Shame on him!!!!!!!!!!

The Satmar Rebbe sharply criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his speech on Shavuot, calling the PM "the head of the heretics.”

"My uncle, the author of ‘Vayoel Moshe,’ said that whoever enjoys the success of the Zionists is a true heretic and will not merit to see the joy of the coming of the Messiah and, as idolatry is annulled by calling it a disparaging name, so too here we must speak disparagingly of Zionism,” the Rebbe said, according to Kikar Hashabbat.

The Rebbe addressed Netanyahu’s speech during the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem. "Whoever heard the speech of the head of the heretics, who spoke in heresy about the coming of the Messiah, should have torn his garment, and especially when he blessed, with head uncovered, a ‘Shehecheyanu’ blessing in vain," he said.

In his remarks, he berated haredi representatives present at Netanyahu’s speech, including the Chief Rabbi of Israel and Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman. "Did those who sat there protest?"

"Today there are various technological tools that people used to see his speech, but with these you can also see the weekly sermons of the Pope. You have to know that this is the same idolatry."

He later protested the "Zionist Haredim," as he put it. "They showed me that in the Zionist haredi newspapers, the month of Iyar is a month of miracles for the Zionist state. They write, 'That was the case in 1948, and in 1967, and so today.' Everyone remembers what my holy uncle did then when he was alive. I’m not coming to repair the world, but I want our students to find out what he said.”

"It is a shame that in the synagogues that are named after his pure name, they speak with joy and pleasure about what happened, and therefore I ask everyone to come to the great gathering on the 20th of Sivan to learn and absorb what my uncle the Rebbe, of blessed memory, passed onto us Satmar Hasidim.”

The Amazing Speech that Made Trump President and Frightened the Swamp

Police rescue soldier whose car was stoned in Meah Shearim

I live in country surrounded by Muslim wolves who are trying to destroy us. You would think that Frum Jews would appreciate that they can at least live in a community protected by their own fellow Jews.

No!!!! 

They see a Jewish Soldier and throw rocks at him just like the Arab animals. 

Last week, I was in Meah Shearim and visited the stores and told them that I will not spend a shekel in their stores until these atrocities stop.

And I'll let you guys into a big secret, the stores are tourist traps, very expensive.

You can buy anything you need in other parts of Yerusalayim for 30% less. 

Stop buying by these merchants, tell them that you cannot support terrorism, I'm sure they will get the message and pass it on to their neighbors .. 

A soldier was  rescued by cops on Monday after he drove his car into the predominantly ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim and was pelted with stones and garbage, police said.

The uniformed man was driving through the neighborhood when several dozen ultra-Orthodox extremists began pelting his car with rocks and other objects.

Police were able to help him escape without injury and began searching for those involved in the incident.

Some members of the ultra-Orthodox community are violently opposed to army service and the military in general.

Over the years, there have been frequent demonstrations by Haredi Jews against the draft. There have also been cases of soldiers getting harassed and even assaulted when entering ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem.

In January, a man was arrested on suspicion that he was part of a group of ultra-Orthodox men who threw rocks at a car driven by a soldier in the town of Beit Shemesh, causing him to crash. The 21-year-old soldier was driving through the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhood of the city when a group of ultra-Orthodox men started throwing rocks and bags of trash at his car. Police said the soldier lost control of the vehicle and drove into a lamppost.

Last June a former Knesset member’s soldier son was attacked in the capital’s Mea Shearim neighborhood.

Stopping Robert Mueller to protect us all

The “deep state” is in a deep state of desperation. With little time left before the Justice Department inspector general’s report becomes public, and with special counsel Robert Mueller having failed to bring down Donald Trump after a year of trying, they know a reckoning is coming.

When a Hug is more Meaningful than a Kiss

Every time we read the story of Rus we are once again inspired by the extraordinary loyalty and noble spirit of this former Moabite princess. 

Naomi, a Jewish woman living in Moab, decides to return to Eretz Yisrael after losing her husband, her two sons and all her wealth. Her two widowed daughters-in-law, Arpah and Rus, both of them Moabite princesses, want to accompany her, but Naomi insists that they return. Arpah accedes to her mother-in-law’s wishes, but Rus is steadfast in her loyalty. Together, Naomi and Ruth return to Eretz Yisrael, where Rus ultimately marries Boaz and becomes the ancestress of the Davidic dynasty. Arpah returns to Moab and becomes the ancestress of Goliath.

How and when was Rus’s loyalty expressed? 

Her famous words immediately come to mind: 

“Do not press me to abandon you, to turn back and leave you behind. Wherever you go I shall go. Wherever you sleep I shall sleep. Your people are my people, your Lord is my Lord.” 

But if we look into the Megillas Rus we find that Rus's loyalty had already become evident even before she spoke these famous words. 

We read: “And Arpah kissed her mother-in-law, and Rus embraced her. And [Naomi] said, ‘Behold, your sister-in-law is returning to her people and her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.’ And Rus said, ‘Do not press me to abandon you . . .’”

How did Naomi know Arpah had decided to return but not Rus? 

The clue seems to have been in their different reactions to Naomi’s appeal that they return home. Arpah kissed her, but Rus embraced her. 

The Talmud (Sotah 42b) tells us that Goliath was vanquished by David because the Holy Blessed One said, ‘Let the child of the one who kissed be vanquished by the one who embraced!’ Clearly, there was a great difference between Arpah’s kiss and Rus’s embrace, a difference with important ramifications for the future.

How can we define this difference between a kiss and an embrace, which instantly told Naomi that Arpah had decided to return but Rus was determined to remain?

Perhaps we can answer this question with another question. The Talmud tells us that when the Jewish people assembled at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, Hashem uprooted the mountain and held it over their heads. “If you accept the Torah, all is well,” He said, “but if you don’t, this will be your burial place.” 

The question immediately arises: Why did He find it necessary to do this? The Jewish people had just accepted the Torah unconditionally with the immortal declaration of “Naaseh venishma! We will do, and we will hear!” Why was it necessary to force them to do something they had already agreed to do?

The commentators explain that Hashem was teaching the Jewish people a critical lesson that would carry them through all future generations. 

If the Torah had been accepted only because of an emotional impulse, there would always have been a danger that, at some future time, the emotion would dissipate - and the commitment along with it. 

Therefore, Hashem wanted to impress upon the Jewish people that Torah was the very breath of life, that without it they were as good as in a “burial place.” The tremendous inspiration of the moment was to their everlasting credit, of course, but the perpetual bond to the Torah could only be forged by a strong fundamental attachment based on need in addition to emotion.

This is where a kiss differs from a hug. A kiss is a glancing touch, an incomplete physical contact which expresses strong inner emotion but from a slight distance; a kiss does not show the fusion of two souls. 

An embrace, however, is an expression of total attachment, of two hearts that beat as one, that cannot live without each other. 

When Arpah kissed Naomi, she showed that her feelings for her mother-in-law were purely emotional, and Naomi immediately understood that these tender emotions would not lead her to accept the sacrifices that lay ahead. But Rus hugged her mother-in-law, showing a close attachment, a dependency, and Naomi understood she would not be so easily persuaded to return home. Nevertheless, she tried to send her away, and Rus responded with her celebrated declaration of undying loyalty.

In our own lives, we sometimes find our observances lacking in zeal and enthusiasm. But if we reflect on the awesome power of the Torah to transform, elevate and give meaning to our lives, we can recapture that enthusiasm. 

As we prepare to receive the Torah this Shavuos, let us do more than pay lip service to the Torah. Let us recognize that our lives have lasting, eternal value only through the Torah. And if we embrace the Torah with all the devotion and dedication in our hearts, we will surely be rewarded with a feeling of total connection and fulfillment.

Rabbi N. Reich

Tracing the History of Shavuos Night Learning

By Eliezer Brodt

This article will trace some of the earliest sources for the Minhag observed by many to stay up learning Torah throughout the entire night of Shavuos.[1] At the outset I would like to note that the focus of this article will be not be about the exact seder that was learned i.e. Tikun Lel Shavuos.[2]

Different versions of this article originally appeared in the Kulmos Supplement of Mishpacha in 2014 and then in English in 2015. I returned to all this in my doctorate Halachic Commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch on Orach Chayim from Ashkenaz and Poland in the Seventeenth Century.[3] This post contains important additions to some of the earlier versions. One day I hope to update it properly.

That the minhag of staying up on Shavuos night to learn was observed widely in recent history is very clear. For example, the author of a nineteenth-century Lithuanian memoir describes how her brothers would stay up the entire night.[4]

In a memoir about Yeshivas Lomza, the author writes in passing "after staying up the whole night, the whole yeshiva would take part in a milchig kiddush at the Rosh Yeshiva’s house".[5]

Posters in Monsey Compare New Square to Gaza

The administration of New Square have decided that it is a bad idea for Skverer children to find out that there are Frum Jews in Monsey that are not Skverer Chassidim, so they came up with a bizarre but dangerous scheme to buy up property all around New Square so that other Frum Jews wouldn't G-D forbid move near their town, who are exposing their little sheep to Satmar, Belz, Viznitz and other non-Skver Frum Jews!

I know this sounds crazy .... but it isn't only crazy it's dangerous, because they are renting out these one family houses to Latino families. 

These Latinos are by in large illegal emigrants with criminal backgrounds who move in with many of their criminal cronies, causing  entire neighborhoods around New Square to be crime infested.

These Latinos are also by nature transient, so they never establish families with roots in the community. 

Just two years ago, two Satmar Families that I personally know, managed to buy houses within walking distance to New Square. New Square bullies bought houses on both sides of these houses, filled them up with criminals whose teenage daughters paraded around on Shabbos with skimpy outfits, making life miserable to these Satmar families who were trying to bring up children in a country atmosphere, out of the city, only to be bombarded with these degenerates.

What the above poster is pointing out is that New Square Chassidim by in large live in poverty, and yet the administrators manage to find huge amounts of money just to make their Chassidishe neighbors who are not Skverer Chassidim, miserable!

25 Chareidim Complete Israel Police Course; Now 350 Chareidi Police Officers

Twenty-five chareidim are the latest members of Israel Police, successfully completing the department’s course.

At the end of the training program, 25 chareidi cadets completed a police course during which they were certified as policemen, passed weapons certification and joined the organization as regular policemen. The policemen were recruited as part of the military service (Shacham) and civilian service for two and two years and 8 months.

The recruitment of a chareidi unit in the police began less than four years ago and has since recruited more than 350 chareidim. The officers who completed the training will serve in various units in a variety of positions, including: patrol, intelligence, investigations, Lahav and classified units.

Yitzchok Menashe Rosenfeld 7 Killed by a bus in Beitar Illit

A young boy of approximately 7 years of age was struck and killed by a bus in Beitar Illit on Thursday afternoon. Paramedics and EMTs from United Hatzalah and staff from Magen David Adom (MDA) responded to the emergency and began performing CPR on the young boy. At the time that the EMS  first responders arrived, the boy was already in trauamatic arrest.

EMS personnel from MDA told Israeli newspapers that the young boy was hit by a bus after he had slipped while riding his bicycle. First response teams decided to continue performing CPR on the child while en route to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital.

He was unfortunately Niftar when he arrived at the hospital.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are still being investigated.

Kiryas Yoel Child Drank Poison Thinking it was Chocolate Syrup

Images doesn't represent story

On Tuesday, a serious tragedy occurred in Kiryat Yoel - Monroe in New York. As reported in Behadrei Haredim, 4 year old Yitzhak Menashe Schwartz swallowed poisonous material believing it was Chocolate Milk. 

He was flown to the Westchester Hospital, and in the helicopter his heart stopped beating and he returned his soul to its creator, 

Neturei Karta Fanatic Decides To Dance With IDF Soldiers

This kind of unity may not have been seen, and it is particularly moving at a time when ultra-Orthodox soldiers and soldiers are afraid to wear uniforms in ultra-Orthodox centers.  But last night, this happened within an ultra-Orthodox crowd, some of whom were identified with the extremist circles, dancing hand in hand - border policemen with a fanatical Neturei Karta The Reason for the dancing was because of a Sefer Torah was donated in honor of the IDF Soldier Binyamin Yakobovitz a IDF Soldier murdered in Gush Etzion. The Neturi Karta guy is Akiva Miller who happens to daven in the shul where the Torah will be housed