Man’s intellectual soul desires to come to the oneness that hides behind the diversity of the world. He seeks to solve the problem of the world, as a sort of thought experiment, with the help of scientific investigation, based on logic and mathematics. Every systematic scheme, every scientific investigation is ultimately a desire for oneness. In the consciousness of man and the world, willful action constitutes a fundamental fact no less than logical thought. [When willful action is fulfilled,] the relationship of man to his environment becomes actualized. Beyond the dark life of physical desire, he rises to a life with a clear and purposeful will. He senses that his will is free and gives him freedom in direct proportion to the extent that he accepts the ethical authority of the supernal will, the will of God, which alone is a guarantor for his freedom before the world of superficial phenomena.

But between recognition and will is spread a third domain in the life of the human soul, a domain of emotional outlook, which is a feeling of the essential quality that transcends expressive phenomena. This is the source of man’s aesthetic response, just as his rational and ethical responses stem from recognition and will.

The [fulfilled] life of the Jew presupposes an enlightened humanity. The priestly status of the Jewish people blossoms and grows on the ground of humanity. Therefore, it is impossible to simply posit that this priesthood depends on the suppression of the natural powers in the human soul. Really, in the fundamental structure of truth, the aesthetic response has equal value with reason and ethics, which have never been subject to question.

Reason leads to the unity that is behind diversity, that is, to the Creator of the world; ethics leads to the supernal and ethical will, that is, to the King of the universe. And can a Jew still stand without wonder, yearning, and a pounding heart before the beauty of the starry sky, before the dazzling, sprouting season of spring, before the verses of the singer of Tehillim or when gazing at the glowing holiness of the Cohen Gadol? At that time, shining through the phenomena, is expressed the Godly quality of the world of feelings: God’s presence (the Shechinah).

Revelations of God’s Honor and Holiness

The fundamentals of Jewish faith are expressed morning and evening in the K’rias Sh’ma, in the short verses from the mouth of Moshe Rabbeinu in which he explained before his death the inner meaning of a Jew’s life in every generation. The oneness of the Creator (“Havayah”) and Lawgiver of the world (“Elokeinu”) leads to “V’ahavta”: the practical decisions of a life of action. But between this first postulate of all scientific thought and ethical will and between the essentials of a life that draws meaning from it–between “Sh’ma Yisroel” and “V’Ahavta”–our tradition places an ancient and meaningful verse (one that is whispered in secret on all the days of the year and is called aloud on Yom Kippur) as though one could not proceed without it from “Sh’ma” to “V’ahavta”: “Blessed be the Name of the glory of His kingdom for ever.” We say that “the name of the glory of His kingship” is “blessed,” meaning that it will rise and be infinitely strengthened forever.

But what is the meaning of “the name of the glory of His kingdom”? These three words, each clear in its individual meaning, are here linked together to form one concept. “Name” is the conception of a thing, an intellectual understanding. Here, it means knowing God through reason. “Kingdom” is, according to the Kabbalah, the last of God’s qualities, ruling directly over what occurs in the world, require that man accept the yoke of responsibility, “the yoke of the kingdom of heaven.” It is the ethical kingship of God. “Glory” is, I believe (in short) none other than the third fundamental response of the soul to the world: the aesthetic. Here it means, therefore, the aesthetic vision of God’s glory.

Yaacov Dovid Shulman’s Writings can be found at ravkook.net and jewishlights.blogspot.com

The depression that results from intensive pursuit of money is the venom of the Serpent.

This weighs down your limbs. When your limbs are weighed down, your pulse, on which your life force depends, weakens. The more your pulse weakens, the more your limbs are weighed down– that in turn weakens your pulse. And this can continue until your soul leaves your body.

All this is a result of the desire for money. That desire is the source of worry and a depressed spirit.

But you can heal your pulse with a holy sigh. That is a sigh that means that you want to return to God. Then your life force is strengthened. You merit great consciousness, and can receive words from heaven.

Likutei Eitzos

Yaacov Dovid Shulman’s Writings can be found at ravkook.net and jewishlights.blogspot.com

We are not always fit for elevated spiritual experiences. Those many instances that lack any elevated illumination are to be dedicated to exoteric Torah learning and practical service of God.

But when the light of our soul bursts forth, we must immediately give that light its freedom, so that we may unfold, visualize, imagine, grow wise and attain, aspire and yearn to the highest heights, to the source of our root, to the life of our soul, to the light of the life of the soul of all universes, to the light of the supernal God, to His goodness and beauty.

Orot Hakodesh 10:2

Yaacov Dovid Shulman’s Writings can be found at ravkook.net and jewishlights.blogspot.com

The Talmud (Rosh Hashana 16b) says that one of the reasons we blow shofar on Rosh Hashana is “k’day l’arbeiv hasatan” (Rosh Hashana 16b) to confuse the Satan, the accuser.

What does that mean, to confuse the Satan?

Consider the following scenario:

A woman is in her house preparing dinner in the kitchen. It’s thundering and lightening outside and its pouring cats and dogs. It’s a real thunderstorm. The sound of an ambulance siren can be heard wailing in the distance and on the radio, the song, “Sugar Pie Honey Bun” is playing.

Just at that moment, a thief breaks into the house through the back door of the kitchen, runs inside, knocks her down, grabs her purse, and she falls to the floor and he runs out the door with her purse. As she’s falling, the glass of orange juice in her hand falls to the floor and shatters with a crash, and the juice spills onto the floor. And as she’s falling she bumps into a chair and knocks the chair over with a bang.

She’s very shaken up, calls 911, the police come, they make sure she’s safe, take a report from her and eventually they catch the thief and he goes to jail. And so, we think, the story ends.

Fast forward 20 years

The woman is now happily married with a family. If someone spills some juice, she feels uneasy. If a glass falls and breaks or a chair falls over, she gets uncomfortable. Whenever it rains, her heart pounds, not consciously knowing why. If there is a thunderstorm with rain and lightening and an ambulance happens to be passing by with its siren wailing, and “:Sugar Pie Honey Bun” is playing on the radio at the same time, she goes into a full blown panic attack, never knowing why.

Picture the scene:

The Akeidas Yitzchak, the binding of Isaac. Avraham has the knife in his hand and is about to slaughter his son Isaac, and offer him up to Hashem as a sacrifice.

Anxiously waiting in the bushes is the angel of death, the Satan, whose job it is to take the soul of Yitzchak Avinu, the juiciest Korbon (sacrifice) of all times, and deliver it back to HaKadosh Boruch Hu, the source of all souls.

The Satan is waiting with bated breath to do his job. Suddenly, an angel of G-d calls to Avraham from heaven and says, “Abraham, Abraham! . . . Do not stretch out your hand against the lad nor do anything to him for now I know that you are a G-d-fearing man, since you have not withheld your son, you only one from me. “

Abraham lifts up his eyes and sees – v’hinei ayil achar ne’echaz basvach b’karnav – and

behold, a ram! “ayil achar” caught in the thicket by its horns.

The Torah could have said , v’hinei ayil ne’echaz – and a ram was caught.

The word “Achar” or “Acher” meaning “other”, which appears to be an extra word, actually refers to the Sitra Achra, another name for the Satan.

The Ayil Achar, the other ram, was the Satan.

Suddenly, Avraham is not slaughtering his son, the Satan is now grabbed instead of Yitzchak, and he is slaughtered instead. The Satan is saying, “Whoa! Wait a minute! What’s going on here?! I’m supposed to take the soul of Yitzcahck and instead I am being slaughtered. What’s happening?!”

He is totally confused because the tables are being turned on him.

So now, when we blow the shofar, the horn of the ram that was caught in the thicket, the Ayil Achar, the ram that was slaughtered instead of Isaac, the Sitra Achra or the Satan is brought back to that very moment to the Akeida, just like the woman is brought back by the thunder and lightning to the moment when she was attacked by the thief.

And he is totally confused. When he hears the sound of the shofar, he says “Whoa! Wait a minute! What’s going on here?! What’s happening?!”

And he is totally incapacitated and unable to accuse anybody of anything. That’s when the path of Teshuva is clear and wide open for us.

That is what it means to be “mebalbeil” the Satan – to confuse the satan.

So this Rosh Hashana, when we hear the sounds of the shofar, let us remember how confused the Satan is and make our best efforts to do complete Teshuva to HaKadoshBoruch Hu, because the way is clear.

And may we be zocheh to a year filled with unlimited sheffa (flow) from the creator and to hear the sounds of the shofar of Moshiach (the Messiah) this year.

Shana Tova Umesukah.

Heshie HaGibbor

Copyright© 2009, Heshie Klein, MD

DrHeshie@MDHealer.com

I was depressed. I had just received a verbal beating from a Canadian goose (From The Mouths of Birds). He may have been right, but I couldn’t allow the conversation to end as it had.

I walked right into the flock of geese feeding on the park grounds. Most flew away as I approached, except for a few who were snickering about the guy who lost an argument with one of their own. I found my “friend” in the center of a large crowd of geese listening to his story.

“What do you want?”

“I want to ask some questions.” All the geese gathered round to listen to the conversation.

“How do you know about Van Cortland Park? Do you send scouts ahead? Do you remember the spot from previous years? You obviously can’t see all the worms from up there in the sky.” I didn’t want to be tough at the beginning of the interview; I wanted to lull him into a false sense of security before I went on the attack. He had no idea what lay in store for him. I put on my magnanimous, bird-loving face.

“Road signs,” he said with a quack that sounded a little too much as a laugh.

“Road signs? Do you mean that there are signs in the sky that say ‘Worms Below”?

“What is it with you humans? Do you really consider yourselves to be the most evolved species? Don’t you see the signs?”

I looked around. All I could see were signs that announced “No Alcoholic Beverages Allowed” next to piles of empty beer and wine bottles. I was desperate. I could not allow him to make me appear ridiculous again. I looked all around. “There are no signs!”

“That’s exactly what I thought you would say. What do you see when you enter the park?”

“I see the walking trail, the playing fields, the construction, the torture, I mean exercise, areas, the garbage cans, the garbage piled everywhere around them, people, dogs, and too many geese.”

“Do you see the flowers?”

“There are no flowers!”

“Look again.” He was right. There were flowers all over the place. There were also all sorts of trees. There is a forest just off the walking trail between the park and the highway. There are all sorts of colorful birds. There are giant spider webs with horrific looking spiders and bugs.

He honked at me like a Shofar: “Those are road signs of life. Pay attention. They are gifts from the Creator. Pay attention to His signs. When you miss them, you also miss the road signs of life.”

All the geese flew away.

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

I stepped over a worm on my morning walk and heard a strange voice say, “I bet you think you’re a Tzaddik!” I looked all around me and didn’t see anyone.

“Down here!” I looked down and there was one of the hundreds of Canadian Geese that have been stopping in Van Cortland Park each day.

“Why do you so assiduously avoid stepping on the worms?” (Unbelievable vocabulary for a goose, especially a Canadian!)

“Rav Moshe Cordovero in his Tomer Devorah – The Palm Tree of Deborah – instructs us to have compassion on the smallest creatures.”

“I knew you thought you were a Tzaddik!” He then ate the worm. “You avoid stepping on the worm and yet I get to eat it. Doesn’t seem right. Tasty, but are you sure you understand the Ramak?”

That was all I needed: a goose that was familiar with the Ramak! I shamefully asked my new friend, “What does he mean?”

“You, sir, avoid stepping on the worm because you want to do the right thing. You aren’t thinking about the worm, but about you. Do you really believe that qualifies as emulating God’s attributes of compassion?”

This was becoming truly uncomfortable. People passing were staring at a guy conversing with a goose, which they only heard quacking. They don’t speak or understand goose, at least not Canadian. Even worse, was the fact that I was receiving rebuke from a bird. Even an extraordinary bird is a bird.

He continued in his quacking voice: “God wants you to actually care about the worm. He wants you to avoid hurting the worm for its sake and for mine so I can have some tasty treats. You need to care about all of creation because it is all God’s. So, stop focusing on being a Tzaddik, and start caring for God’s creation. Otherwise, you won’t really be ready for Rosh Hashana. Remember: You are coronating God as King over all creation, not only over a so-called Tzaddik like you!”

Then, he just flew away.

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

“We will do and we will hear,” was not a one time statement, shouted out in a moment of passion. It is a description of how we will observe every Mitzvah/Concept that we perform. We do the Mitzvah and we listen for the message and lesson of the Mitzvah. God speaks to us, trains us and teaches us through His Mitzvot. When we listen to the Shofar we are declaring our commitment to the original Na’asheh V’Nishma – We Will Do and We Will Hear.

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

1. There is a difference between ‘sacrificing” what I want in order to please someone else and loving someone so much that I desire whatever he or she wants. The former is the usual ingredient of compromise in a relationship: Compromise implying that each party that compromises gives up part of what he or she wants. Neither is happy. This approach describes parents who sacrifice what they want for the sake of their children. I have never sacrificed for my children: I chose them and their needs over me and mine.

2. The Mitzvah/Concept of love demands that we love God so much that we desire whatever He wants. It is not a relationship of giving up my desires or sacrificing my needs: Attachment to God is what I want more than anything else. I want whatever He wants.

3. The Ohaiv Yisrael (Re’ei) based on Tanchuma Re’ei #3, Devarim Rabbah 4:3, Lamentations 3:38: “It is not from the mouth of the Most High that evil and good emanate.” Only good emanates from God. God is “Kulo Tov” – completely and perfectly good. God desires to send only blessing.

4. We love God so much; especially during this month of intense love – Elul – that we only desire what He wants. We approach Rosh Hashana with only the desire for what God wants to give us.

5. We do not come as supplicants trying to convince God to grant our wishes. We enter Rosh Hashana with the pure desire simply to receive all the perfect good that God desires to give.

6. Most of us hesitate at this point. Will we be able to live up to such infinite blessings? We feel undeserving. We feel inadequate.

7. Elul is the time when we are able to overcome our hesitance in order to receive all that God desires to give us.

8. We compared this to Naval and Abigail in Samuel I Chapter 25: Abigail senses the infinite potential of the moment. She even alludes to the infinite connection between the future king and her. Naval, has his own agenda and refuses to acknowledge how he has benefited from David. He focuses on all the negative things he can find in David even after Saul has publicly acknowledged that David will be king! (See end of chapter 24)

9. The first hours of Rosh Hashana day correspond to the first hours of the sixth day of creation, when all was perfect and Adam had not sinned. This is how God sees us, and our unsullied souls during these hours. There is nothing blocking infinite shefa – abundance of blessings – but our ability to receive them and to believe that God wants only that.

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Learn & discover the Divine prophecies with Rabbi Simcha Weinberg from the holy Torah, Jewish Law, Mysticism, Kabbalah and Jewish Prophecies. The Foundation Stone is the ultimate resource for Jews, Judaism, Jewish Education, Jewish Spirituality & the holy Torah.

CHAI (18TH) ELUL: Presented by Bentzion of Medziboz:

The birth of the Baal Shem Tov in 5458 (1698). The day his holy teacher Achiya HaShiloni and master appeared to him in 5484 (1724).

The day the Baal Shem Tov became revealed to the world in 5494 (1734).

The birth of the Alter Rebbe (Rabbi Schneur Zalman) 5505 (1745).

HAYOM YOM compiled by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson o.b.m.

And then there was the time, an a small shtetl in Poland, during the times of bloody pogroms and fierce anti-Semitism, there lived what appeared to be a simple Jew by the name of Reb Boruch, and his wife, Rivka. Actually, Reb Boruch was a Tzaddik nistar (a hidden Saint) and one of the members of a group of Tzaddik nistars that included the Baal Shem Tov. Reb Boruch and his wife Rivkah had been married for some years but had not been blessed with a child. At the prompting of his wife, Reb Boruch traveled many miles in the freezing, snowy winter to reach Medzibush and ask his Rebbe, the Baal Shem Tov, for a blessing. Without pause, the Baal Shem Tov blessed Reb Boruch and his wife that they merit to be blessed with a child, and added the words that the child “should reveal heavenly light hidden in this world.”

Soon thereafter Rivka became pregnant and on “Chai Ellul” – the eighteenth day of the month of Ellul, twelve days before Rosh Hashanah -the same birthday as that of the Holy Baal Shem Tov, Rivka gave birth to a baby boy whom they named Schneur Zalman. On that day, the Baal Shem Tov’s close followers noted the particularly jubilant mood of their Rebbe. He led the daily prayers with deep kavanah (intention), and afterwards a festive meal was held at which the Baal Shem Tov sang lively niggunim (chassidic melodies) and even danced with unusual joy. During the festive meal, the Baal Shem Tov said: “Today a Neshamah Chadasha (a new soul that had not previously occupied a physical body) has come into the world. This soul will illuminate the world by spreading Torah and Chassidus (mystical explanations of the Torah) to sustain the spiritual well being of the Jewish people and will bring closer coming of the Moshiach (Messiah).”

After Yom Kippur, as is the tradition of Chassidim, Reb Boruch visited his Rebbe and requested a blessing for his newly born son. The Baal Shem Tov asked Reb Boruch to keep the news of the birth of their new son secret, and also gave specific instructions for the care and education of their child. In the following weeks, the Chassidim noted that the Baal Shem Tov mentioned the name Schneur Zalman three times during his Torah discourses.

The following year, Reb Boruch again returned to visit his Rebbe for the Yom Tov holidays. The Baal Shem Tov was very interested in the development of young Schneur Zalman, and asked Reb Boruch specific questions about the child. Again the Baal Shem Tov warned Reb Boruch not to talk to others about their son, particularly regarding his apparent intelligence – as is the nature of parents.

The following year, Reb Boruch again came to the Rebbe for Yom Tov and the Baal Shem Tov again asked many questions about the welfare of the child. Before departing for home, Reb Boruch told the Rebbe that G·d willing, on his next visit, when the child would turn three years old, he would bring his Schneur Zalman with him.

On the following Chai Elul, Reb Boruch brought young Schneur Zalman along with mother and his aunt Devorah Leah to the Baal Shem Tov to celebrate little Schneur Zalman’s Upscherinish (the first cutting of a boys hair at three years old). The Baal Shem Tov appeared very pleased at the joyous event. He cut some of the boy’s locks, and then placing his holy hand son the boy’s head, and blessed little Schneur Zalman with the words of the Birchas Kohanim (Priestly blessing).

During their visit, young Schneur Zalman asked his mother who was the “old” man that had been the first to cut his hair. His mother told him he was his Zaide (Jewish for grandfather and the term used until this day by Chassidim when speaking of the Baal Shem Tov). Following the joyous event, the Baal Shem Tov asked the child’s mother and aunt to return home and not to reveal the events of the day.

Later that day of Chai Elul, there was a special gathering of the chassidim in celebration of the Baal Shem Tov’s birthday. The Baal Shem Tov mentioned that the Torah tells us that at three years of age, Avraham Avinu (The Patriarch Abraham, our father) recognized that there was one G·d. The Baal Shem Tov continued, “There is a great Neshamah (soul) in Poland that today reached the age of three years old and has recognized the Creator. He too will undergo Mesirus Nefesh (great self sacrifice) to reveal a new teaching of the holy Torah that will touch the souls of all Jews.

At that time there, was a great Torah scholar named Rabbi Yissochar Dov of Kalbink. The Baal Shem Tov arranged for him to be young Schneur Zalman’s teacher, but asked Reb Yissochar Dov not to tell Schneur Zalman that the Baal Shem Tov had sent him.

Under the watchful eye of the Baal Shem Tov, the young Schneur Zalman flourished in his studies. He later became one of the ‘Chevraya Kadisha’ – The Holy Brotherhood of disciples of the Baal Shem Tov, who would spread the teachings of Chassidus through Eastern Europe, and who would later become known as ‘The Alter Rebbe-the first Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch.

And so it was.

Freely adapted by Tzvi Meir HaCohane (Howard M. Cohn, Patent Attorney) from a story found in Sefer HaToldos and reprinted with the kind permission of the Baal Shem Tov Foundation. Please visit www.baalshemtov.com

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Herod’s Temple

This is an amazing undertaking…



A retired farmer has spent more than 30 years building an enormous scale model of a Biblical temple.



Alec Garrard, 78, has dedicated a massive 33,000 hours to constructing the ancient Herod’s Temple , which measures a whopping 20ft by 12ft. The pensioner has hand-baked and painted every clay brick and tile and even sculpted 4,000 tiny human figures to populate the courtyards.



Historical experts believe the model is the best representation in the world of what the Jewish temple actually looked like and it has attracted thousands of visitors from all over the globe.


But Mr Garrard, who started the elaborate project in his 40’s, says his masterpiece will not be finished in his lifetime.



“I’ve always loved making models and as I was getting older I started to think about making one big project which would see me through to the end of my life,” he said..


“I have an interest in buildings and religion so I thought maybe I could combine the two and I came up with the idea of doing the Temple ..



“I’d seen one or two examples of it in Biblical exhibitions, but I thought they were rubbish and I knew I could do better.



“I have been working on it for decades but it will never be finished as I’m always finding something new to add.”

[caption id="attachment_992" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Picture 11"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_994" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Picture 13"][/caption]

Mr Garrard, from Norfolk , spent more than three years researching the Temple , which was destroyed by the Romans 2000 years ago and deemed to be one of the most remarkable buildings of ancient times.




He then started to construct the amazing 1:100 scale model, which is now housed in a huge building in his back garden.



“Everything is made by hand. I cut plywood frames for the walls and buildings and all the clay bricks and tiles were baked in the oven then stuck together,” he said.




Visitors come from all over the world to see the model and Mr Garrard provides binoculars so they can see all the details.

“I personally know all the top archaeologists from Jerusalem and I’ve had experts from the British Museum visit,” he says.

The Temple was probably located on the site of what is the Dome of the Rock today.

–

JIM