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12 Cheshvan 5768, 10/24/2007
Disengagement California Style
I lost a lot of blog readers this week as out of control fires swept through California, evacuting thousands of Jews from their exile mansions and fantasy lives. "It can never happen in America," they always said when we warned them. It's a lot safer in Israel
Hashem has many messengers. The Almighty can use anti-Semitism and persecution to shatter the dream of galut, or He can use fires, earthquakes, or floods to drive Diaspora Jews back home to Israel. The destruction that the conflagrations have left in their wake, and the staggering number of homeless, make the evacuation of Gush Katif seem like peanuts. And the fires are still raging. Brothers and sisters, we have been saying it all along. Life is much more dangerous in America and France than it is in Israel. Wake up already! Get the message, boys and girls. Read the writing on the wall before it is too late. Your bastions, and country club memberships, and Jewish Federations won't help you. Not in California, nor Monsey, nor Long Island, nor even in Boca Raton. Don't make the mistake by pretending that this ongoing inferno is just a freak outburst of nature. Everything that happens in the world is from G-d, and it's all for the sake of the Jews. So take some good advice and sell your houses now before there is nothing left of them but smoke. Come home to Israel while you can, before you are shipped here in a coffin.
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9 Cheshvan 5768, 10/21/2007
Secret of the Brit
The Covenant between G-d and the Jewish People isn’t stamped on our foreheads, nor on our arms, nor our mouths, nor our toes. The sign of the Covenant, the brit milah, is stamped where it is to emphasize that we are to guard the sexual purity of our lives. This holiness is the foundation of the Jewish Nation, distinguishing us from the other nations of the world.
I know that there are readers who are tired of hearing this message repeated over and over again, but since the Covenant, known as the Brit, between G-d and our forefather, Avraham, is central to this week’s Torah portion, we will go over a few points for any readers who are new to this blog.
After bringing Avraham to the Holy Land, G-d tells him that He will bequeath the Land of Israel to Avraham’s Jewish descendants on the condition that the Jewish People circumcise themselves and safeguard their sexual lives with the holiness appropriate to G-d’s chosen nation. In other words, it isn’t enough for a Jew to live in the Holy Land – he or she has to live here in a holy fashion. If not, the consequences can lead to exile from the Land, may G-d have mercy on us.
Not only is our national security and national wellbeing dependent on the barometer of our modesty and holiness in sexual matters, Kabbalists throughout the ages have emphasized that our personal lives as well, whether it be matters of health, livelihood, happiness, marital harmony, children, or spiritual advancement, all these depend on our behavior in the bedroom. This is what King David is speaking about when he says, “Be not as the horse, nor as the mule, which have no understanding” ( See the Zohar, Vayikra 49B). "Be not as the horse, nor as the mule."
Our website, jewishsexuality.com is devoted to this subject, and we encourage readers to benefit from the wealth of information presented there, including Torah guidelines on how to overcome an addiction to pornography on the Internet, and a reader Forum which offers an opportunity for people to exchange thoughts, experiences, and helpful advice on this intimate and cornerstone subject. Also available on the site are large sections of the book I compiled on the subject, called “Secret of the Brit.” It is a reader friendly, how-to book, based on teachings of the Torah, the Zohar, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, and the elder Kabbalist, Rabbi Eliahu Leon Levi of Bnei Brak. The Kabbalist, Rabbi Eliahu Leon Levi
I mention the website and the book, not to give myself publicity, but because I believe that many people can benefit from a deeper understanding of these crucial issues, matters that are often left unlearned in normative approaches to Torah study. Every Thursday, a long line of people crowd the lobby of Rabbi Levi’s yeshiva to personally meet with the Rabbi for help with their personal difficulties. Every week, there are people with severe medical problems, people in wheelchairs, hospital patients still dressed in hospital gowns, people with marital problems or problems with their children, and people with prolonged cases of depression, unemployment, and the like. In seven out of ten cases, the underlying source of the problem stems from mistakes in their sexual lives. Time and time again, I have seen the Rabbi zero in with his spiritual radar, and reveal the real cause of the problem in his sensitive yet straightforward manner. At first, stunned by the revelation, people often attempt to refute what the Rabbi has told them, but faced with the Rabbi’s x-ray vision, and with their genuine will to escape from the painful chains of their problems, they finally admit that the Rabbi was right and happily set forth on a path of tikun and renewal.
In the merit of our forefather, Avraham, who never gazed upon his wife in a lustful fashion, may we all merit to sanctify our lives, and thus be truly worthy to dwell in the Holy Land in prosperity, health, and peace.
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6 Cheshvan 5768, 10/18/2007
Holy Genes and The Secret of Eretz Yisrael
America is the land of the dollar. France is the land of perfume. Russia is the land of vodka. And Israel is the Land of Hashem. Avraham Avinu’s foremost craving was to serve Hashem. To fulfill this desire, he searched for the place where he could achieve an intimate closeness to the Almighty. The Zohar relates that with his Ruach HaKodesh (Divine Inspiration) Avraham was able to make a radar sweep of the globe and get a read out of the spiritual character of each location in the world. He discerned that Hashem had appointed a different celestial minister to rule over each country. But when Avraham fixed his gaze on the central point of the world, and tried to zero in on its character, his spiritual radar failed. He couldn’t get a reading. The ruling influence over this one place was recondite and hidden. This zone was so exalted and remote, no matter how fervently he concentrated, he could not fathom the origin of the providence ruling over that place. He understood that this was the very place he needed to reach, since all other lesser celestial powers emanated from there, and the power that ruled there, ruled over all other spheres. When Avraham attained this recognition, Hashem said to him, “Lech lecha – get thee forth from thy land to the Land that I will show thee” – to this unique and secret place. The Zohar explains: “When Hashem perceived Avraham’s efforts and desire, he straightaway revealed Himself to him and said, ‘Get thee forth,’ so as to know thy true self; ‘from thy land,’ from that side of the world to which thou was attached up to now; ‘and from thy kindred,’ from that wisdom that that you relied on from the calculation of stars; ‘and from thy father’s house,’ that you not heed the father’s house, even if thou could hope to receive from thy father’s house prosperity in the world – therefore get thee gone from this wisdom and this consideration…. And I shall show thee that which thou was not able to discover, the power of that recondite and obscure Land” (Zoher, Lech Lecha, 78a). Immediately, Avraham Avinu set forth on the journey without knowing where he was going, without waiting for a free ticket, without knowing if there were already built Jewish communities there with synagogues, mikvahs, yeshiva day schools, vacant villas, and kosher gyms, like there are in Israel today. He went without questioning if it was dangerous, or if he and his children would have to serve in the army. He didn’t even bother to ask if he would be able to make a decent living. He went forth, without even Nefesh B’ Nefesh to help him, simply trusting in Hashem. Of course, the recondite power that rules over the Land of Israel is Hashem Himself, and not any celestial angel, as the Torah attests, “The Land that the eyes of Hashem are upon it from the beginning of the year to the end.” This is the understanding behind the halacha brought down in the Gemara, Ketubot 110B: “In all generations and times, a Jew should live in Eretz Yisrael, even in a city where the majority of residents are idol worshippers, and not live outside of the Land, even in a city where the majority of residents are Jews. For everyone who lives outside of the Land is like someone who has no G-d, as it says, ‘To give you the Land of Canaan to be your G-d’ (Vayikra 25). Can it be that everyone who does not live in the Land has no G-d? Rather, it comes to teach that everyone who lives outside of the Land is like someone who worship idols. This is why David said, ‘For they have driven me out this day from being joined to the inheritance of the L-rd, saying, Go and serve other gods’ (Shmuel 1, 26:19). Did someone actually tell David to go and worship other gods? Rather this comes to teach that anyone who lives outside of the Land is like someone who worships idols.” This is because Hashem has appointed celestial ministers to rule over the countries of the world. As the Ramban explains, outside of the Land, the prayers of a Jew and the Torah he learns are carried up to the celestial minister who rules over that land, and not straight to Hashem. This gives strength to the angel, and thus to the foreign land and culture which the angel personifies. In this sense, serving Hashem outside of the Land is like serving other gods, ie, serving the angels who preside over the lands of the gentiles. Only in the Land of Israel can a Jew serve Hashem directly without having to contend with any intermediary powers (Ramban on the Torah, Achrei Mot, 18:25). This is the reason that Avraham Avinu wanted to come to Israel, so that he could worship Hashem directly without intervening celestial messengers. Because we are the children of Avraham Avinu, we have inherited his genes and his spiitual strengths. As the Ramban explains, the deeds of our holy forefathers are signs for us to follow. Just as Avraham went forth to the Land of Israel, trusting in G-d, we all can too.
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2 Cheshvan 5768, 10/14/2007
Lucky Avraham Wasn't Born in America
Chances are that if Avraham Avinu had been born in America, he never would have come to live in Eretz Yisrael. Who could have blamed him? What great award-winning movies he would have missed! "Thou shall not make a molten image!"
Not to mention the world's most beautiful golf courses! And all the great Superbowels! And Disneyland! And the kosher restaurants! And the bagels! And the holidays like Xmas! Jealous of my beard, Tzvi?
And Groundhogs Day! And Halloween! And the great Jewish statesmen like Henry Kissinger who married a shiksa! And great Jewish writers like Philip Roth, Arthur Miller, and Norman Mailer, who all married a shiksas! And great filmmakers like Woody Allen who married a shiksa! We can imagine the dialogue that would have taken place between Avraham and Hashem: "Avraham, lecha lecha, go to the Land that I will show you!" "Sorry, I'd like to, but I can't." "Why can't you?" "Well, for one thing I have to think about my parents. And my father has a big business that I have to look after. And there is a lot of important kiruv work I can do here teaching people about You. And besides, it's dangerous in the Land of Israel, and the place is loaded with idol worshippers. And the Mashiach hasn't come yet, and on and on and on." Thank G-d that Avraham Avinu wasn't born in America, that's all I can say.
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1 Cheshvan 5768, 10/13/2007
S.S. Titanic
Rav Leon often tells a story about a man who bought a ticket to go on a long cruise. After a few days, he appoached the steward of the ship and asked if he could supply him with a hammer and and nails. When the man in the neighboring cabin heard the sound of a hammer noisily pounding away, he knocked on door. When his fellow voyager opened the door, the neighbor asked what was making all the noise? "I'm bored," the man with the hammer explained. "So I decided to make a hole in the floor of my cabin bedroom so that I can see all the sharks and fish swim by." "You can't do that!" the neighbor responded in horror. "Why not?" the man answered. "I can do what I want. It's my private cabin. I paid for it. I can do what I want." "It may be your private cabin," the neighbor answered, "But what you are doing in it can sink the whole ship!"
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Hollywood to the Holy Land
by Tzvi Fishman
Tzvi Fishman was awarded the Israel Ministry of Education Prize for Jewish Creativity and Culture
Before making Aliyah to Israel in 1984, Tzvi Fishman was a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He has co-authored 4 books with Rabbi David Samson, based on the teachings of Rabbis A. Y. Kook and T. Y. Kook.
His other books include: The Kuzari For Young Readers and Tuvia in the Promised Land. His most recent book, Secret of the Brit, can be found at JewishSexuality.com, along with an abbreviated online version. |
