Vacation

Yes, it's true. I can't deny it. I was on vacation.

Where I went is not important, well, it is to me, but not for this post.

The most important thing and the best part of my time away was the ability to spend solid quality time with my family. You can't put a price on that.

Contrary to what Madonna says, time goes by .... so quickly. We need to take advantage. Each of our children is different and deserving our attention, and I don't know about you, but when I am working and home and involved with the usual distractions of life, it's much harder to concentrate on the important things.

I am grateful that I had that opportunity and that I took advantage of it!

Elul

Harav Sholom Shvadron's rebbe, Reb Leib Chasman, used to get up and give his drasha, this time of year, say the word Elul, and faint.

TAG ---- I'm finally IT....

As much as I tried avoiding it, I got tagged by both Chaverah and FrumGirl , so here goes.... still somewhat of a work in progress.....

Things I want to do before dying:

Travel the world (and the seven seas)
Find world peace
See my kids establish themselves
Finish shas
Make peace with my maker


Things I can not do:

Snap using the fingers on my right hand
Hide my feelings/emotions
Sing (OK, I can sing, but not well)
Drive consistently under the speed limit
Betray a friend
Speak Chinese


Things I can do:

Listen
Give
Keep secrets
Play competitive sports
Snore really loudly


What attracted me to my spouse:

Her kind, caring and giving nature
Her eyes

Things I say most often:

well hello there
interesting
no way
I’m confused (although, I think I’ve stopped saying that)
……….
What do you mean you haven’t read my blog yet????


Authors of books that I enjoy reading:

Dan Brown
Brad Meltzer
James Patterson
Joel Rosenberg
Greg Iles (my new favorite author)



Movies that I love:

Lion King
Dead Poets Society
Rat Race
The Usual Suspects
Arlington Road


I tag: hmmmmmmm, has ANYONE not done this yet?
Jameel , Kasamba , Masmida , and TOWIK

The Esoteric Meaning of Numbers - Numerology 108

Who knows EIGHT?
I know EIGHT.
Eight are the days of the milah.

The difference between seven and eight is that seven is the spiritual manifestation of Hashem in this world in a way resembling "nature" or natural, "derech hateva". Eight is the force of Hashem in this world that violates and overcomes and overpowers "nature", the presence of Hashem that is supernatural, "l'maala min hateva" above nature. That's the connection to the days of the milah. We take an eight day old child that cannot do anything and we "overpower" him and do this mitzva for him. If you think about it, a baby boy should be born complete, but he's not, he's born with something extra that we have to remove to perfect him, and create within him a new reality. That is not natural, it's above nature.
It would also seem to be that this would be a reflection of someone who was born on a corresponding day. If someone was born on the seventh day of the seventh month that person would seemingly be a very spiritual person but in a natural way, whereas someone born on the eighth day of the eighth month would be more supernaturally spiritual, and this would probably apply in some way to the other months as well.
The miracle of Chanukah did not take place in the natural course of events. It was supernatural, that's why we have eight days of Chanukah and eight candles that we light on the Chanukah menorah. On Yom Kippur, the Kohein Gadol does sprinkle seven below as mentioned last time, but he also sprinkles one above. The seven plus one, the eight, is the supernatural. Shmini Atzeres is brought down in Chazal as one of the holiest of holidays to connect to Hashem, it's on the eighth day. As David pointed out in his comment on #7, chazal tell us that the harp of mashiach, which is how the harmony will be played in the days to come, will have eight strings and consequently, we will then have eight musical notes.
The Torah is representation of the supernatural. When did we receive it, after seven full weeks, on the first day of the eighth week, we received the Torah. David Hamelech wrote the longest perek of tehillim, about the Torah. He constructed it with 176 pesukim, eight pesukim for each letter of the aleph bais. Why eight for each? Because the Torah is supernatural. The number 22 * 8 = 176 is of significance because the longest parsha, Naso, has 176 pesukim, and the longest mesechta, bava basra, has 176 dafim. Again proving that numbers are NOT a coincidence.
I recently stumbled onto an interesting discovery. There are certain perakim of tehillim that we tend to say when we are looking for (sometimes supernatural) salvation whether it's for eretz yisrael or for a sick person. The main ones that we say whether it's perek 121, 130 or 142...... each of them has eight pesukim.

The Esoteric Meaning of Numbers - Numerology 107

Who knows SEVEN?
I know SEVEN.
Seven are the days of the week.

As discussed last time, six is reality and we see six dimensions, but we believe that there is one more. A seventh dimension. The Maharal explains it as a room. In a room, there are four walls, a ceiling, a floor, and an interior space which makes seven. That seventh dimension is the presence of G-d in this material world. Some call it nature, randomness or luck. There's a reason that there's a saying, "Lucky number seven". They call it luck. We call it Hashgacha/Yad Hashem.
Because it's a representation of spiritual in the physical world, the number seven is a holy number. That's what the days of the week and Shabbos represent. We work for six days, and the seventh day, Shabbos, is not just a spiritual day, but even though we officially do nothing on that day, as the gemara says "minay mitbarchin kula yoma" from Shabbos comes the bracha for the rest of the week.
Which mitzva is Shabbos? It's the 32nd mitzva in the Torah. 32 is the gematria of "lev"/heart, Shabbos/number seven is at the heart of all the mitzvos and the entire universe.
In addition to Shabbos, Pesach and Sukos are seven days long (in EY), there are seven heavens, seven sefiros, seven brachos at a chupa, seven years of shmitta and seven shmitta cycles in a yoveil. Dovid, the first king of Yehudah, was the seventh son and the seventh generation (I'm still trying to figure out what that means). What I do know is that malchus is the seventh of the sefiros. Erev Shavuos is malchus she'b'malchus. Consequently, as mentioned before relating Aharon to the number five, in the ushpizins, Dovid Hamelech is the seventh. Dovid is the one who was beloved to Hashem. "Ani Tefilla". There are seven musical notes (strings of David's harp). Tishrei, the month with the most and holiest of our holidays, is the seventh month. On Yom Kippur, the Kohein Gadol sprinkles the blood seven times. In the Bais Hamikdash, there were seven cups on the menorah (I spelled it with the "h" so that it would have seven letters). There were three on each side facing the one in the middle which miraculously never went out.
On Sukos, when we shake the lulav and esrog by the pasuk of Hodu laHashem kee tov, we shake in all six directions, but there are seven words in the pasuk, the seventh word is Hashem and when saying Hashem's name we don't shake the lulav at all. This symbolizes our recognition that there is a seventh dimension that we know is there, and is everywhere. We know it exists but we can't pinpoint it or point to it.
We have to make our best efforts in this world, but we also have to understand that ultimately, the end result is all in Hashem's hands. "Man tracht, Gut lacht" Man plans and G-d laughs. That, I believe, is also the connection to the corresponding hebrew letter to the number seven, the letter zayin, which happens to be the letter that reprents the male. The word zayin or zan has two meanings. Klai zayin are tools or weapons of war, and to be zan means to provide food for. These are the two primary roles associated with men. These are also two of the most prime examples of the concept that we were just discussing, that man has to put forth his best efforts, but ultimately, the results are all b'yad Hashem.

The Esoteric Meaning of Numbers - Numerology 106

Who knows SIX?
I know SIX.
Six are the books of the Mishnah.

We have established that the numbers one through five were powers or forces that exist in the world. Now we start on the second set of five. The number six therefore, is the first number that is physical and real and somewhat tangible.
The Torah is beautiful and spiritual and theoretical, but it's not practical. We are told to wear tefillin, but what are tefillin? We are told that we must rest on shabbos, but how do you define rest? If you follow the Torah literally, you are a tziduki and not a frum Jew. It's only when the Mishnah comes around explains the Torah into physical reality that we can follow it. The Mishnah tells us that tefillin are back boxes with straps that have parshiyos written in them. It's the Mishnah that teaches us the 39 melachos of shabbos and what constitutes violating rest. The number six is taking the theoretical and making it real.
There are three dimensions in space, but we can't see them. There are two sides though to every dimension, which makes six sides in the physical world: up, down and all four sides. Similarly, in time, (and btw, the Maharal wrote about the connection between space and time and the continuum over 600 years ago. Well before Einstein) there are three dimensions, past, present and future, they too have two sides which translate into the six days of the week (obviously leaving shabbos out, for now).
Which letter corresponds to the number six? The letter "vav". Vav is a line, and literally means a hook. The vav, the six is the hook that connects that spiritual world with the reality of our physical world. I don't think it's any coincidence that the number six is the first answer that is a by-product of man and not Hashem.

Reflections on Tisha B'Av/Shabbos Nachamu

I was reflecting on Tisha B'Av this year and remembering last Tisha B'Av, where I was and where we were as a klal. After Kinus until chatzos, and then early Mincha, my wife and I went to Manhattan to join in the rally on behalf of our brothers in Gush Katif. Once again today, Israel is very much in the news. Thank G-d, this year, I think we are in a better position than last year. Last year, it was Jew vs. Jew. Sinas Chinam at its finest (unfortunately). BH, this year, Jews in Israel and the world are united. Opinion polls in Israel have never EVER been so one-sided, hopefully this is a sign of good things to come. Ahavas Chinam undoing the Sinas Chinam.
The fact that we figured so prominently in the news both years made me think.....

If we look at the haftoros of the seven weeks between Tisha B'Av and Rosh Hashana, they follow an interesting pattern. The first is "Nachamu, nachamu ami, yomar elokaichem". Hashem tells the bnei yisrael through the navi that they should be consoled. What is the next haftora, klal yisrael answers, "vatomer tzion azavani Hashem, VaHashem shaichani" Hashem has forsaken and forgotten us. Next comes "aniyah soara, lo nuchama" Hashem talks to the inconsolable one (bnei yisrael) and then "anochi anochi hu menachemchem" Hashem says I will console you and then "rani akara lo yalada" Hashem is telling us to sing, "kumi ori ke va oraich" Rise and shine for your light has arrived and then we say "sos asis baHashem". What was the difference between nachamu nachamu ami and anochi anochi hu menachemchem? The Rambam writes that any nevuah that comes through a navi cannot be reversed. Why? Because there needs to be a way to test a navi and see if he is a real navi or a navi sheker. A negative nevuah can be reversed through teshuva, but a positive one cannot be reversed. In contrast, we see by Yaakov Avinu that Hashem made certain promises directly to Yaakov and Yaakov was concerned, "katontee mikol hachasadim" he was afraid that he might have sinned and therefore undone Hashem's promise. The difference is that there is no need to (chas v'shalom) test Hashem and therefore if he says something directly it can be reversed, but if it's said through a navi it can't be. Now we can understand, Hashem originally said through the navi, in third person, you will be consoled. This is an iron clad guarantee, you can take it to the bank. Klal Yisrael responded and said, that's nice, but we don't want guarantees. We want YOU Hashem. When Hashem himself in first person said I will console you, then klal yisrael was happy and rejoiced.
Every jewish child is taught that the keruvim in the bais hamikdash were miraculous. When Klal Yisrael was doing the will of Hashem the keruvim were facing each other. When they were sinning, and opposing the will of Hashem, the keruvim were facing apart. One would think that while the bais hamikdash was being destroyed they were obviously facing apart, but that's incorrect. When the Romans entered the kodesh hakodoshim, they found the keruvim intertwined in a tight embrace.
We don't say tachanun on Tisha B'Av or during the Mincha before, because Tisha B'Av is a moed, loosely translated as a holiday. This is hard to understand. How and why would we call it a holiday? The answer is that the word moed comes from the root/shoresh, vaad. Vaad is a meeting. What is a meeting? A meeting can be good or a meeting can be bad, but one thing that we know for sure is that a meeting is a meeting. On Tisha B'Av good or bad, Hashem is in our midst. He is very much here with us (even more so than usual). Similar to the way Hashem was with us even though He was punishing us and evicting us from his holy "House" here on earth. Like a father who punishes his child, even as Hashem was punishing us, he was hugging and consoling us, making sure we knew that he still loves us.
Through the At-Bash method we connect the first night of Pesach with Tisha B'Av (the second night to Shavuous, etc). The practical results are that the first night of Pesach will always fall out on the same day of the week as Tisha B'Av of that year. We also eat a hard boiled egg at the seder and one of the reasons is because of the Pesach-Tisha B'Av connection and zecher l'churban, etc. I'd like to add my own thought. Any gezaira shava, any comparison is a two way street, not just one. The same way as on Pesach we remember the churban because of Tisha B'Av, I think it's important that on Tisha B'Av we also remember Pesach and the aspect of geula. Chazal tells us that Mashiach is/was born on Tisha B'Av.
I would like to request of my readers that everyone should do or take on one thing, one "chumra" this Tisha B'Av that they never have before. If we mourn and do our avoda and tikun/kinut properly may Hashem grant us his promise that we will merit to see the consoling and rejoicing in the rebuilding of the bais hamikdash and yerushalayim, bimheira byameinu, AMEN!

Al Aileh Ani Bochiya

After the Bais Hamikdash was destroyed, the gemara tells us that the chachamim were so distraught over the loss of the bais hamikdash that they wanted to prohibit the eating of meat and the drinking of wine. The gemara is not discussing the nine days, the chachamim wanted to prohibit meat and wine until mashiach came. Luckily for us, one of the tannaim came with an argument that caused them to re-think it, but the original thought was there.
Where is that passion today? Where is that longing for the bais hamikdash and the geula?
You might say, well, that was when the loss was still fresh in their minds, and to some degree that's true. In sefer Ezra it's written, that the day of the dedication of the second bais hamikdash was a day of great joy and crying. The younger generation was thrilled and overjoyed, but the older generation that lived to see the first bais hamikdash and saw and recognized that the second was not on the same level of the first, they cried.
Rav Hutner once said, the difference between Yom Kippur and Tisha B'Av is that on Yom Kippur, ver daft essen (who needs to eat) and on Tisha B'Av, ver ken essen (who can bring themselves to eat). Rav Hutner didn't live that long ago. He was from the previous generation, the 20th century, and yet he felt it. Why don't we?
There is a machlokes as to whether or not Tisha B'Av was observed as a fast day during the time when the second bais hamikdash was standing. The consensus seems to be that they did indeed fast on Tisha B'Av. HaRav Soloveitchik says that it was a day of tefila being that it was a day destined for tragedy, even though the bais hamikdash had been rebuilt, it was important to pray and cry to prevent future tragedies as well. As I heard Rabbi Moshe Weinberger say, anyone that survived the Holocaust is eternally scarred and every event and decision in their life is influenced by those experiences.
Where is that emotion? What happened to us to make us so stone cold?
Most people that I observe look for the easy ways out, the kulos not the chumros. You can listen to music, as long as it's not live. You can take a shower because you take one every day. You can shave because you go to work. You can eat meat because you went to a siyum. You can go swimming because it's really hot. The list of rationalizations are endless. I am not chas v'shalom disputing the kulos that people have. If you go to a siyum you can eat meat, etc., I'm not denying that, my point is, why is that the angle we look for? Why is it that most people look to daven in the shul that says the shortest kinus? I was in one shul which starts at 8 AM and has over a hundred mispallelim, and by chatzos when they finish, they barely have a minyan. Where is everybody rushing off to? Working on Tisha B'Av, hmmmm, of course, it helps pass the day.
We are taught that Kol Hamisabel al Yerushalayim Roeh Bnechemasa. How many of us are truly misabel? How many of us sleep on the floor, as is brought in chazal? Why don't we try, for one day a year to seek out the chumros not the kulos? Our job is to take the KINUT and turn it into a TIKUN. If we do that, may we all merit to see the building of the third bais hamikdash, bimheira b'yamaynu, amein!