tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-181809972024-03-18T21:51:45.983-07:00The Third Temple on the Temple Mount in JerusalemWe're happy to announce that the Third Temple will soon grace the Temple Mount and serve as a royal House of Prayer for ALL Peoples who yearn to love and obey and learn more about the God of Jacob.David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.comBlogger1970125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-10828184816134944192011-02-27T13:44:00.000-08:002011-02-27T13:44:04.957-08:00Spirit, Wisdom, Insight and Knowledge<table align="left" class=""><tbody>
<tr class=""><td class="" valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
"...the spirit of G-d, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge, and all manner of craftsmanship..."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Exodus 35:31)<br />
I Adar 20, 5771/February 24, 2011</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Of the 613 commandments listed in Torah, only the building of the Tabernacle, the prototype for the Holy Temple, is described in such great length and in such great detail. Indeed, the attention given the tabernacle is unparalleled. Shabbat is every bit as essential and complex a commandment as the commandment to build the Tabernacle Sanctuary - the <span style="font-style: italic;">Mishkan</span> - yet the details as to how the commandment to remember and keep the Shabbat is to be performed are not included in the words of the written Torah. In fact, every commandment, whether great or small, is of equal significance in the eyes of Torah. So why is so much of Torah dedicated to the building and assembling of the Tabernacle? In light of the opinion of many of our sages that all of the different aspects of the Tabernacle structure and its vessels are but components of a single commandment, <span style="font-style: italic;">"And they shall build for Me a Sanctuary,"</span> (Exodus 25:8) it is no less than extraordinary that the book of Exodus, the same book that features the ten plagues and the midnight departure from Egypt, the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, the miracle of the manna, and the revelation and receiving of Torah at Mount Sinai, nevertheless devotes more verses to the building of the Tabernacle than to any of these other milestones which so describe and define the history and experience of Israel to this day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Could it be that G-d wanted to make sure, not only that the nation of Israel would perform this commandment to build a Sanctuary, but that Torah would also preserve an incontrovertible historical record of the effort? No, not to convince the skeptical nations one day that Israel did, indeed, build the desert Sanctuary, but to convince the nation of Israel, itself, that it once did, indeed, build the Tabernacle, just as G-d desired that they do!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">G-d Himself, it would seem, was so "anxious" that the dwelling place that He desired for His Divine Presence on this earth be completed, that He "personally" named <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span>, no doubt Israel's finest master craftsman to lead and oversee the effort. (ibid 35:30) Torah even describes the necessary qualifications for the job, basically, <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span>'s CV: <span style="font-style: italic;">"the spirit of G-d, with wisdom, with insight, and with knowledge, and all manner of craftsmanship... "</span> (ibid 35:31) The nature of the building of the Tabernacle and its vessels was so multifaceted, so multi-disciplined, we can safely assume that <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span>, and his assistant <span style="font-style: italic;">Oholiav</span>, were men of exceptional knowledge and experience. <span style="font-style: italic;">Midrash</span> even ascribes to <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span> knowledge of the secrets of creation itself!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">It is clear from the Torah that G-d, who commanded to Israel, <span style="font-style: italic;">"build for Me a Sanctuary that I may dwell among them,"</span> (ibid 25:8) really meant just what He said. He wanted it built, he wanted it built just right, and he wanted it built now! <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> had a hard time envisioning the shape of the golden Menorah: G-d showed him an image. <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> didn't know the first thing about building a portable structure that could be disassembled and carried through the desert: G-d chose <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span> to lead the task. Where would the materials, the gold and silver and bronze, the blue and purple and scarlet threads come form? G-d called upon everyone <span style="font-style: italic;">"whose heart uplifted him... and everyone whose spirit inspired him to generosity"</span> (ibid 35:21) to step forth with the requisite supplies. Who would form <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel's</span> work force? G-d called upon every woman and man of a <span style="font-style: italic;">"wise heart"</span> (ibid 35:35) to present themselves before <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Oholiav</span>, and G-d <span style="font-style: italic;">"put into his [Betzalel's] heart [the ability] to teach"</span> the required skills to the people. When would they find the time to work on the Tabernacle? Torah sandwiches the description of the work of the Tabernacle between mentions of the holy Shabbat, the intention being clear: From sundown at the conclusion of Shabbat to sundown preceding the start of Shabbat six days later, the people would be occupied solely with the construction of the Tabernacle and its vessels. Are there any other questions?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">G-d's repeated intervention concerning the building of the Tabernacle is no less extraordinary and no less miraculous than His intervention in bringing Israel out of Egypt, His splitting of the Sea of Reeds, or His revelation at Mount Sinai. And in each of these instances Israel was given its own task to fulfill in order to make manifest G-d's benevolence. So too concerning the Tabernacle: G-d will guarantee the success of the undertaking, but Israel must take it upon itself to accomplish the task!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">It would seem that Israel today is daunted by the challenge of the Holy Temple, blinded and paralyzed by its beauty and grandeur, by the scope and depth of all that it embodies and the sweeping change that it will effect for Israel and the nations. "Who are we to build the Holy Temple? We don't know how! We don't know what it involves! We don't understand the instructions! We don't have a <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span> in our generation!" Torah, with its painstakingly detailed description of every pin and every hook and every bolt and bracket of the Tabernacle, with its intricate description of how to assemble the Tabernacle, what fits inside of what and where every piece is to be placed, provides a resounding response to to these claims: Nonsense!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Not only are all the pertinent details laid out before us in Torah, but we live in an age in which science and technology enable us to research and experiment and discover and arrive at hard conclusions. After all, the Holy Temple isn't rocket science. All that's really required is a <span style="font-style: italic;">"wise heart"</span> and a <span style="font-style: italic;">"generous heart,"</span> attributes hard-wired into our very makeup. We left Egypt. We crossed the sea. We stood at Sinai and we have crossed the vast desert of 2000 years of exile to enter again into the land that G-d has promised us. Now it is time to build the Holy Temple!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="44" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Temple Talk" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman teams up with his own flesh and blood, Tzi Richman, who shares his unique wisdom and insights. What did Moses have in mind when he made the Children of Israel drink the pulverized gold of the golden calf? <span style="font-style: italic;">Parashat Vayakhel</span>, the penultimate portion of the Book of Exodus, brings us closer to the epicenter of the Torah, on several levels. We've got the plan and it couldn't be made any clearer than it gets in the first verses of this <span style="font-style: italic;">parashah</span>… Shabbat and the Tabernacle. That's the whole earth plan to making life count… but yet, post-modern pundits point accusing fingers and shout, "There's no <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span> today! How could we think of creating Temple vessels?" Yitchak Reuven joins in for the second half of <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span>, and together with Rabbi Richman delivers this message, loud and clear: There are amongst us, even today, inspired individuals who meet the Torah's requirements for being a <span style="font-style: italic;">Betzalel</span>... <span style="font-style: italic;">"a wise heart"</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">"a generous heart."</span></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdP4tCz9cSA" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Master craftsman Chaim Odem" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="122" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Master craftsman Chaim Odem" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Interview: Chaim Odem, Master Craftsman for the Temple Institute:</span> Master craftsman Chaim Odem is the designer and creator of the the golden Menorah that currently stands in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, overlooking the Temple Mount. Chaim has also designed and produced other Temple vessels on behalf of the Temple Institute, including a model of the Ark of the Covenant. Chaim is currently working on recreating the Golden Lamp of Queen Helena, to be hung from the great entrance to the Holy Temple sanctuary. Chaim Odem personifies the two criteria spelled out by Torah concerning the craftsmen and women of the Tabernacle in the desert: <span style="font-style: italic;">"wise of heart"</span> (Exodus 35:10) and <span style="font-style: italic;">"generous of spirit."</span> (Exodus 35:21)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In this interview Chaim tries to answer the question how he merited building the golden Menorah for the Holy Temple. His story begins as a young man in the Soviet Republic of Georgia, where news of Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Day War awoke within him for the first time an awareness of his Jewish identity, something that had been denied him growing up in the communist totalitarian state. Chaim's story is one of faith, perseverance and eventual <span style="font-style: italic;">aliya</span> (emigration) to Israel. Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdP4tCz9cSA" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/24/building-the-holy-temple-%C2%A0part-x-the-temple-and-this-world-conclusion.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Temple and This World" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Light to the Nations" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Building the Holy Temple, Part X: The Temple and This World (Conclusion):</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Torah was given to man, not angels, and our sages tell us that one hour in this world is worth an eternity in the world to come. The Holy Temple is of this world, and it is our, and only our, responsibility to build it."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in December 2009. Next week's <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">LTTN</span> will feature an all-new teaching.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/24/building-the-holy-temple-%C2%A0part-x-the-temple-and-this-world-conclusion.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/mishkan.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Mishkan" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="129" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Tabernacle" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />
Learn more about the construction of the Tabernacle in the desert.</span> Please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/mishkan.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Helenas-golden-lamp.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="99" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena</span>: 1980 years ago a woman presented a precious gift to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. She brought the gift from afar. And with the gift she brought her husband and her children. The gift found its place in the Holy Temple and the woman and her family made the city of Jerusalem their new home. The woman's name was Helena and she was the queen of Adiabene, a small nation found in what is present day Iraq. Immersed in the prevailing Roman pagan culture, Queen Helena was searching for a way of life that was true and moral. She searched and she discovered the One G-d of Israel. Queen Helena and her family left their pagan ways and adopted the faith of Israel as their faith and the Torah of Israel as their truth.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We invite all who wish to play a part in the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to join us in recreating the golden lamp, Queen Helena's gift to the Holy Temple. Please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Helenas-golden-lamp.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr0eLREjc7E" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena: The Video" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="159" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena: The Video" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena: The Video:</span> Watch this beautiful presentation of a dream in the making - a work in progress. To view this 2.5 minute video, please click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr0eLREjc7E" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="60" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Weekly Torah" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What's new in the world? What's new in your life? <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> gathers all Israel together before him and reveals to them two things that never grow old and never get stale, but are always fresh and new, and spectacularly always in the moment, in a forever sort of way: the Holy Shabbat and the Tabernacle - the Holy Temple. Keep it new - that's G-d's plan! Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayakhel</span> (Exodus 35:1-38:20).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute<br />
</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-27007727818594432512011-02-26T10:32:00.000-08:002011-02-26T10:32:20.242-08:00Return to Zion?<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Shalom Ilan, haveri! Thank you for thinking of me. We've had an ice and snow snow that came in last night and expect another tonight. <img height="20" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/ft/wm/content?uri=mimebody%3a%2f%2f%3fcontainer%3dstoredmessage%253a%252f%252f%253ffolder%253d%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522FolderHandle%252522%25252c%252522folderPath%252522%25253a%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522Path%252522%25252c%252522path%252522%25253a%252522%25255c%25252fINBOX%252522%25257d%25252c%252522boxHandle%252522%25253a%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522PersonalBoxHandle%252522%25252c%252522owner%252522%25253a52223185%25257d%25257d%2526docID%253d43362%2526name%253dRE%25253a%252520FW%25253a%252520Reunion%252520trip%252520-%252520Back%252520to%252520the%252520Kibbutz%2526contentType%253dMESSAGE%25252fRFC822%2526size%253d%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522ImmutableLong%252522%25252c%252522value%252522%25253a%25252217619L%252522%25257d%26partNum%3d5%26name%3dimage001.gif%26size%3d%257b%2522eonType%2522%253a%2522ImmutableLong%2522%252c%2522value%2522%253a%2522509L%2522%257d%26contentType%3dIMAGE%252fGIF" width="20" />My car door won't open. Frozen shut. <br />
I would love to visit my beloved Land but probably can't for many reasons: I'm a poor white boy (I'm a poor fellow getting ready to sell my home and move with Mom and her boyfriend Doug to a nice home with my own bedroom in the country). And my AIDS doctors said I'll probably be dead and are in shock I'm not already and haven't gotten sick with infectious diseases. Blessed be God!<img height="20" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/ft/wm/content?uri=mimebody%3a%2f%2f%3fcontainer%3dstoredmessage%253a%252f%252f%253ffolder%253d%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522FolderHandle%252522%25252c%252522folderPath%252522%25253a%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522Path%252522%25252c%252522path%252522%25253a%252522%25255c%25252fINBOX%252522%25257d%25252c%252522boxHandle%252522%25253a%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522PersonalBoxHandle%252522%25252c%252522owner%252522%25253a52223185%25257d%25257d%2526docID%253d43362%2526name%253dRE%25253a%252520FW%25253a%252520Reunion%252520trip%252520-%252520Back%252520to%252520the%252520Kibbutz%2526contentType%253dMESSAGE%25252fRFC822%2526size%253d%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522ImmutableLong%252522%25252c%252522value%252522%25253a%25252217619L%252522%25257d%26partNum%3d3%26name%3dimage002.gif%26size%3d%257b%2522eonType%2522%253a%2522ImmutableLong%2522%252c%2522value%2522%253a%2522505L%2522%257d%26contentType%3dIMAGE%252fGIF" width="20" /> What will be will be. I won't give up without a struggle.<br />
<br />
Love ya Ilan,<img height="20" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/ft/wm/content?uri=mimebody%3a%2f%2f%3fcontainer%3dstoredmessage%253a%252f%252f%253ffolder%253d%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522FolderHandle%252522%25252c%252522folderPath%252522%25253a%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522Path%252522%25252c%252522path%252522%25253a%252522%25255c%25252fINBOX%252522%25257d%25252c%252522boxHandle%252522%25253a%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522PersonalBoxHandle%252522%25252c%252522owner%252522%25253a52223185%25257d%25257d%2526docID%253d43362%2526name%253dRE%25253a%252520FW%25253a%252520Reunion%252520trip%252520-%252520Back%252520to%252520the%252520Kibbutz%2526contentType%253dMESSAGE%25252fRFC822%2526size%253d%25257b%252522eonType%252522%25253a%252522ImmutableLong%252522%25252c%252522value%252522%25253a%25252217619L%252522%25257d%26partNum%3d2%26name%3dimage003.gif%26size%3d%257b%2522eonType%2522%253a%2522ImmutableLong%2522%252c%2522value%2522%253a%2522985L%2522%257d%26contentType%3dIMAGE%252fGIF" width="20" /><br />
<br />
David</span>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-50491241375387041972011-02-21T12:57:00.001-08:002011-02-21T12:57:38.009-08:00Back to the Kibbutz<span lang="EN">Reunion trip - Back to the Kibbutz <br />
<br />
June 12-19, 2011<br />
<br />
Dear Friends,<br />
<br />
As part of the 100 year anniversary of the Israel kibbutz, the kibbutz movement has organized a special reunion trip to Israel for former volunteers. The trip will include many unique attractions, including staying at kibbutzim, traveling around the country and meeting old friends. <br />
<br />
If you are one of the 350,000 former volunteers who stayed and worked at a Kibbutz in the past, you are invited to re-live that experience and to meet people from all over the world who share those special memories.<br />
<br />
Former volunteers and their families are welcome to join this unique reunion trip. <br />
For details, please see attached brochure or send an email to: volunteers@amsalem.com<br />
<br />
If you are just interested in attending the reunion, please see the attached link: www.kibbutzvolunteers.org.il<br />
<br />
You are welcome to join the Kibbutz Volunteers facebook page: www.facebook.com/kibbutzvol for more updates. </span>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-66897268131700445142011-02-20T06:27:00.000-08:002011-02-20T06:27:17.158-08:00Erase Me From Your Book<table align="left" class=""><tbody>
<tr class=""><td class="" valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
"And now, if You forgive their sin, but if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Exodus 32:32)<br />
I Adar 14, 5771/February 18, 2011<br />
Purim Katan</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week's Torah reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ki Tisa</span> is sharply divided into two distinct parts. Part one continues the instruction for and description of the building of the Tabernacle and its vessels, and the service of the <span style="font-style: italic;">kohanim</span>, the Temple priests, from the washing of their hands and feet at the brass laver, to the preparation of the incense offering and the anointing of the priests and the vessels alike. This idyllic narrative concludes with five verses concerning the sanctity and observance of the holy Shabbat. These words are spoken directly by G-d to <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Not by chance this passage mimics the opening verses of the book of Genesis which describe the six days of creation and conclude with the Sabbath, the day of rest. The mention of Shabbat here in the book of Exodus comes to express two exceedingly important ideas concerning the nature of the Tabernacle and the historical moment at which man has arrived. Our sages teach us that the mention of Shabbat following the description of all the labors involved in the construction of the Tabernacle, was to inform Israel that the work on the Tabernacle was to cease on the Sabbath, despite its own intrinsic holiness. In other words, the sanctity of the Shabbat takes preference over the sanctity of the building of the Tabernacle. But as a parallel to the verses of Genesis, the mention of Shabbat carries its own implication that the construction of the Tabernacle was an essential part of creation itself; That the world without the Tabernacle, (and subsequently, the Holy Temple), is simply incomplete. The Genesis account of the creation of the world concludes without mention of the Tabernacle. But here, in a reprise of the description of creation, creation draws to a conclusion only after the completion of the Tabernacle.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Next, in what appears on the surface to be a wholly disjointed subject, Torah describes the conclusion of <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe's</span> stay on Mount Sinai, his descent from the Mount, and the scene of reckless abandonment that awaited him. Having grown weary of waiting for <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe's</span> return, Israel, bated by the mixed multitude, has pressed <span style="font-style: italic;">Aharon</span> into creating the infamous golden calf. Perhaps it began as an almost innocent, if misguided attempt to create a tangible sign of G-d's presence in the world, in light of <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe's</span> absence, to guide them through the desert. But no sooner had the golden calf emerged from the fire than the nation descended into a mad display of licentiousness, the golden calf at its center.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This painful scene is not, however, as we supposed, incongruous or detached from the contented description of the Tabernacle and the Shabbat that preceded it. On the contrary, the debacle of the golden calf is an all too familiar denouement to the completion and seeming perfection of creation. It was after the completion of creation and G-d's placement of man in the Garden of Eden, that man ate from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, the results of which are known to all. Man, by demurring from keeping G-d's sole commandment not to eat the fruit, in effect rejected G-d. So too, Israel, by attaching itself to the golden calf, likewise rejected G-d. So it would seem that man, once again, has failed G-d. Or did he?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">After they ate from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, Adam and Eve hid themselves from G-d. When G-d asks of Adam point blank, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"</span> (ibid 3:11) Adam, rather than assuming the responsibility for his own transgression, points the finger at Eve. <span style="font-style: italic;">"The woman whom You gave to be with me she gave me of the tree; so I ate."</span> (ibid 3:12) Now G-d purposely imbued man with free will, both a gift and a responsibility. A gift because it enables us to cling to G-d and to heed G-d's word of our own volition. A responsibility, because when we fail to heed G-d's word, and exile Him, as it were, from our presence, we must hold ourselves, and only ourselves, responsible. It would be foolhardy to conclude, then, that G-d, having granted man free-will, expects man's actions to be flawless. But the possession of free-will does demand that we be accountable.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When G-d's wrath was kindled against Israel concerning the golden calf, He turned to <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> and threatened to destroy Israel and make of <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe "a great nation."</span> (Exodus 32:10) <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> rejected this offer out of hand, and countered G-d's anger, reminding G-d of His covenant with <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham, Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, of His responsibility toward Israel. <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> then went on to forcefully castigate Israel and to stamp out the evil that had spread. He was angry and disappointed with his people, but when he turned back to G-d to ask His forgiveness for Israel, his words put an end to any doubt as to where he stood on the issue: <span style="font-style: italic;">"And now, if You forgive their sin, but if not, erase me now from Your book, which You have written." </span>(ibid 32: 32) Unlike Adam, who meekly pointed to his helpmate Eve, <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> stood by his people and with his people. Their sin was his sin. By doing so, he became vested with the responsibility and the ability to make amends, to right the wrong.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We learn from Adam's response to G-d that it is a most basic human instinct to point the finger at others, and to hold others responsible for our own failings. It could be argued that this is what is at the root of all the world's ills today. An entire Islamicist doctrine of hatred does just this, blaming all its own failings on others, thereby threatening humanity itself. The world doesn't have to be this way. <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> teaches us that putting oneself in harm's way and accepting upon one's shoulders the entire weight of responsibility, not just for his own actions, but for those of his people, as well, marks the beginning of change. This is the man that G-d intended. Not a perfect man, but a responsible and repentant man. The Tabernacle, the Holy Temple, the meeting place for man and G-d cannot be completed as long as man is pointing his finger, accusing the other. Only by facing G-d in a show of undivided fellowship can we complete the sacred work of creation - the building of the Holy Temple.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="44" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Temple Talk" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven hang on tight as <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Ki Tisa</span> leads us through the highs and the lows, the ups and the downs of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bnei Yisrael</span> as the sublime work on the Holy Tabernacle is interrupted by the unbridled licentiousness of the golden calf. <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe rabbenu</span> - Moses our master - masterfully navigates a path fraught with cosmic cataclysmic pitfalls, as he castigates Israel and seeks their forgiveness from G-d. Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven describe <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe's</span> unique leadership qualities, and also the well-intentioned but colossal folly of Israel as they pursued the ill-fated "shortcut" of the golden calf. Also, righteous women and their tight connection to the Copper Laver and the Golden Lamp: Making a Choice To Bring Light Into This World!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Helenas-golden-lamp.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="99" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena</span>: 1980 years ago a woman presented a precious gift to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. She brought the gift from afar. And with the gift she brought her husband and her children. The gift found its place in the Holy Temple and the woman and her family made the city of Jerusalem their new home. The woman's name was Helena and she was the queen of Adiabene, a small nation found in what is present day Iraq. Immersed in the prevailing Roman pagan culture, Queen Helena was searching for a way of life that was true and moral. She searched and she discovered the One G-d of Israel. Queen Helena and her family left their pagan ways and adopted the faith of Israel as their faith and the Torah of Israel as their truth.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We invite all who wish to play a part in the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to join us in recreating the golden lamp, Queen Helena's gift to the Holy Temple. Please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Helenas-golden-lamp.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr0eLREjc7E" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena: The Video" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="159" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena: The Video" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena: The Video:</span> Watch this beautiful presentation of a dream in the making - a work in progress. To view this 2.5 minute video, please click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr0eLREjc7E" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://is.gd/UDmweS" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Secret of Challah, Part I" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Bat Melech" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Secret of Challah, Part I:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Please join Rena in her special teaching for women. This lesson was originally recorded in Houston, Texas, and is being presented on UTN in four parts.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">We are all created and imbued with G-d given potential to achieve many great and good things in our lives. By following the commandments given us by Torah we can learn how to discover, develop and bring to fruition the unique potential that is within us. Learn the secret of your own hidden potential and how to fulfill it by serving G-d, in this exploration of the simple commandment to take challah when preparing bread."</span> Click <a href="http://is.gd/UDmweS" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://is.gd/SK7PFd" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Blessing of the Temple" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Light to the Nations" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Building the Holy Temple, Part IX: The Blessing of the Temple:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Torah was given to man, not angels, and our sages tell us that one hour in this world is worth an eternity in the world to come. The Holy Temple is of this world, and it is our, and only our, responsibility to build it."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in December 2009. Rabbi Richman will soon be recording new teachings.) Click <a href="http://is.gd/SK7PFd" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="60" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Weekly Torah" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In an unprecedented confrontation with G-d, <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span>, by denying and defying G-d’s will, actually fulfills G-d’s will perfectly. Passing this test with flying colors, <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> proves his mettle as a defender of his people and a true leader of Israel. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Ki Tisa</span> (Exodus 30:11-34:35).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-23322202340627823962011-02-18T07:00:00.001-08:002011-02-18T07:00:34.073-08:00The Vatican versus the Fourth Commandment<div style="font-size: 14px; margin: 25px; width: 550px;"> <div style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=EO6o3&m=1ax_SD21fbqwrj&b=OetS14P3H6oKmmM7_H20eg" style="color: #000033; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Commentary: The Vatican versus the Fourth Commandment</a></div><div style="color: #336699; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">By Wyatt Ciesielka | Saturday, February 12, 2011</div><div style="color: black; text-align: left;">On January 25, Pope Benedict XVI again proclaimed his desire "to ignite a fervent missionary movement in the Catholic Church," stating he wants to advance "the entire Catholic Church into a new missionary age" in 2011 (catholic.org, January 28, 2011). While this movement will ultimately contribute to fulfilling prophecies such as Isaiah 47:8-9 and Revelation 17:2-5, an aspect of this rejuvenated "fervent missionary movement" already affects billions. This is the growing emphasis on Sunday observance. <a href="http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=EO6o3&m=1ax_SD21fbqwrj&b=9UbETGcG.rEYHWz1YUubJA" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Read more <img align="middle" alt="Read More" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="12" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" width="12" /></a></div></div>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-24820879110199271342011-02-14T07:22:00.000-08:002011-02-14T07:22:34.421-08:00Holy Garments<table align="left" class=""><tbody>
<tr class=""><td class="" valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
"You shall make holy garments for your brother Aharon, for honor and beauty."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Exodus 28:2)<br />
I Adar 7, 5771/February 11, 2011</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We live in a virtual world. Via the internet we can travel in an instant from one "reality" to another. The film director James Cameron invested millions of dollars in developing cutting edge computer technology for the purpose of creating an illusion of three dimensions. The effect was so compelling that viewers in the theatre flinched in fear as characters and objects seem to fly out at them. "Reality" shows abound, which bear no resemblance to real reality. In fact, the modern world seems to be engaged in a vast retreat from reality, substituting true reality with virtual.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Actors can now be outfitted with special suits covered with electrodes, which, connected to a computer, can recreate a digital map of the actors every motion, upon which a virtual computer generated image of an imaginary being can be laid, creating an ever so realistic rendering of a non-existing entity. Time and space can be deconstructed and reconstructed in this virtual pixel-friendly world.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Hundreds of million dollars and some of today's very brightest minds are invested in creating an ever expanding virtual universe. But alas, the virtual worlds which are being woven before our very eyes every day, lack any real substance. And more to the point, the characters that inhabit them lack souls, and the masters of these universes are not G-d, but mortal man. These virtual worlds are no more real than the conjurings of the magicians of ancient Egypt. And its all being done in the name of profiting from what we moderns call "leisure time," a concept which itself seems to smack of paganity. Did G-d really create us mortal beings with a limited stay upon this earth so that we can while away our idle time in virtual frivolity?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Now try imagining a place where the reality is not virtual, but real, very real. This reality is so real, so true and so pure that it transcends our everyday reality and merges with the source and the light of all reality. This is the Holy Temple, a reality filled with the presence of G-d, emanating from the Holy of Holies, the most sacred spot on earth, spreading forth and reaching out, filling all the confines of the Holy Temple and its courtyards, into the holy city of Jerusalem, the sacred land of Israel and throughout the entire world. G-d's presence: in other words, reality. Real reality as G-d defines it. Not virtual reality as man imagines it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The High Priest, the <span style="font-style: italic;">kohen gadol</span>, is outfitted with a special garment, whose every detail is painstakingly described in Torah. The fibers of purple and blue and scarlet and gold, the ply of the threads, the weave of the fabric are all described for the finest dyers and spinners and weavers and outfitters to fashion. The twelve stones of the High Priest's breastplate and the two stones that are placed upon each shoulder are identified by Torah, for the finest jewelers and stone cutters and polishers to craft and to set in place. The <span style="font-style: italic;">tzitz</span>, the solid gold crown which sits across the High Priest's forehead is detailed by Torah for the most highly skilled goldsmith to form and to fashion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">These priestly garments, every fiber and every flashing facet of every finely cut stone and gold chain and golden crown, upon which is engraved, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Holy to HaShem,"</span> the blue tunic and the linen pants all are plugged in and connected, not to a computer, but to G-d and also to man, every man. It is true that only the High Priest, wearer of the Priestly garments can enter the Holy of Holies, and that no other man other than he can enter. But the High Priest can only enter wearing his specially crafted garments, and that is because, not only do they express an unbreakable connection to G-d, but because they also express an impregnable bond to every man. Every fiber and every flashing facet of every finely cut stone and gold chain and golden crown, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Holy to HaShem,"</span> the blue tunic and the linen pants express and reflect every facet of our spiritual beings, our passions, our strengths and aspirations, our weaknesses and our faults. And wearing these garments of <span style="font-style: italic;">"honor and beauty,"</span> the High Priest stands before G-d in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. He stands alone before G-d, but the garment belongs to all of us. Through the wearing of these garments we all enter the reality of the Holy Temple. This is the reality that G-d has enabled us to access. Real, not virtual, pure, not defiled. Where time isn't occupied by leisure, but every moment rings true. This is the reality that truly leaps out at us and that draws us in to the presence of G-d. And what a reality this is: the Holy Temple.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="44" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Temple Talk" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven explore this year's extra month of <span style="font-style: italic;">Adar</span> and its precious gift of time. They also attempt to come to grips with the thought that the holy Torah might just intend every word it contains! For 2000 years of exile the idea of really rebuilding the Holy Temple was something that was over the rainbow, inaccessible, "impossible" to achieve. So the whole topic of the Holy Temple became an allegory for other things. Now that Israel has returned to her land and the concept of rebuilding the Holy Temple is not only staggeringly achievable but also historically inevitable, it's time to retire the allegories and re-understand the commandment to build the Holy Temple on its literal level. The additional month of <span style="font-style: italic;">Adar</span> with which we are blessed this year is not for marking time, but for making the most out of the gift of time. Getting serious about the Holy Temple is one way to start.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Helenas-golden-lamp.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="99" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Golden Lamp of Queen Helena</span>: 1980 years ago a woman presented a precious gift to the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. She brought the gift from afar. And with the gift she brought her husband and her children. The gift found its place in the Holy Temple and the woman and her family made the city of Jerusalem their new home. The woman's name was Helena and she was the queen of Adiabene, a small nation found in what is present day Iraq. Immersed in the prevailing Roman pagan culture, Queen Helena was searching for a way of life that was true and moral. She searched and she discovered the One G-d of Israel. Queen Helena and her family left their pagan ways and adopted the faith of Israel as their faith and the Torah of Israel as their truth.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We invite all who wish to play a part in the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem to join us in recreating the golden lamp, Queen Helena's gift to the Holy Temple. Please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Helenas-golden-lamp.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/10/building-the-holy-temple-%C2%A0part-viii-fulfilling-the-commandment.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Fulfilling the Commandment" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Light to the Nations" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Building the Holy Temple, Part VIII: Fulfilling the Commandment:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">What exactly did Rashi, the great commentator, say concerning the building of the third Holy Temple, and how are we to understand his words? When is he referring to the physical Holy Temple, and when is he referring to the spiritual essence of the Holy Temple."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in December 2009. Rabbi Richman will soon be recording new teachings.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/10/building-the-holy-temple-%C2%A0part-viii-fulfilling-the-commandment.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/blueprints-for-the-holy-temple.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Blueprints for The Holy Temple" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="111" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Blueprints for The Holy Temple" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Now Presenting the Greatest Progress Toward the Rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Modern History: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Blueprints for The Holy Temple</span>: In his recent USA speaking engagement tour, (January 2011), Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute revealed to the public for the very first time detailed construction plans for the Chamber of Hewn Stone: the seat of the Great Sanhedrin which is a central component of the Holy Temple complex on the Temple Mount. These complete and highly intricate plans constitute the first stage of an historical undertaking of the Temple Institute: the drafting of blueprints for the entire Holy Temple complex. To view the blueprints, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/blueprints-for-the-holy-temple.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnckQrgO7s" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Computer-generated Walk-through" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="159" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Computer-generated Walk-through" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">View this short video and experience a virtual computer-generated walk-through of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sanhedrin Chamber of Hewn Stone</span>, based on the newly drawn up blueprints. Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnckQrgO7s" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="60" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Weekly Torah" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Only the sons of <span style="font-style: italic;">Aharon</span> can wear the priestly garments and only while they are wearing the priestly garments can they serve in the Holy Temple as priests, enter the Temple Sanctuary and perform the Divine service. Yet elsewhere in Torah all of Israel is described as a <span style="font-style: italic;">“kingdom of priests.”</span> (Exodus 19:6) Is there really a way in which each one of us can serve in the capacity of priest? Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Tetzave</span> (Exodus 27:20-30:10).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-51958698530605467392011-02-10T17:22:00.001-08:002011-02-10T17:22:47.210-08:00Beyond Babylon<a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=7004" style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="http://www.publishamerica.com/shopping/images/1413750575.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1413750575?tag=beyondbabyl01-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1413750575&adid=1R300GWDHJRHJPZGSAP9&" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> is destined to become a national debate and an international controversy because it dares to speak the plain truth in a world of lies!<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon</b><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Introduction</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_04.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 1</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_04.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Survival Guaranteed!</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
The DEVASTATION unleashed against America and her British allies was without precedent. Destruction was everywhere and a body count impossible. The catastrophe was beyond calculation.<br />
<br />
Europe - gripped with a messianic furor - justified this mass destruction of the body to "save the soul." Besides, they have the blessing of the pope. His white robes are stained with the blood of many martyrs.<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_06.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 2</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_06.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Why National Defeat?</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Why are we in mortal danger? Why will the American, British and Jewish people SUFFER national defeat? How could Europe ever turn against us?<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_10.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 3</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_10.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Truth or Consequences</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
As global tensions increase, and threats of confrontation escalate, we might very well wonder whether humanity will survive. <i>Unless</i> there’s a GOD to intervene, we have a bleak future indeed: a DEAD PLANET! Will earth become a nuclear fireball? Will charred bones - aftermath of unleashed atomic fires - and the smoldering ruins of a suicidal civilization be all that’s left?<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/01/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 4</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/01/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Victims of Tradition</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Whenever our behavior gets out of control, <i>God lets us loose control! </i>When we’re held hostage to bad habits, and refuse to let them go, we go into captivity! A national lack of discipline results in God sending corrective punishment! Then we wake up and get with it, and beg God to save us. The whole purpose is to bring us to our knees and senses.<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/03/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 5</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/03/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Europe's Fate</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
What’s going to happen to Europe? We know what’s going to happen to the American and British peoples, as well as to our Jewish brethren. The coming WORLD CRISIS is prophesied to fall especially hard on them. Why?<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/04/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 6</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/04/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus and the Jews</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Why don't the Jews accept Jesus?" I've been asked that so many times. My usual reply? "Why haven't the Christians?" At least the Jews are waiting for the proper imperial restoration. The Messiah's coming to sit on DAVID'S THRONE - not Caesar's or "St. Peter's." The Anointed One's going to rule from JERUSALEM - not Rome!<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/05/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_31.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 7</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/05/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_31.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Elijah's Key Role</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Israel's about to host the greatest showdown on earth! A spiritual conflict of interests will create such a scene in Jerusalem that the whole world will watch! Zion will be an arena of prophets and sorcerers, warriors and kings! The forces of good and evil are set to duel: the sons of light will battle the sons of darkness, and truth will confront error head-on!<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<div align="center" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><img border="0" src="http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/images/big/1413750575.jpg" /> </span></div><a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=7004" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</a>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-91378739069444072472011-02-10T17:19:00.001-08:002011-02-10T17:19:37.564-08:00Beyond Babylon<a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=7004" style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" src="http://www.publishamerica.com/shopping/images/1413750575.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1413750575?tag=beyondbabyl01-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=1413750575&adid=1R300GWDHJRHJPZGSAP9&" style="font-family: verdana;" target="_blank">Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> is destined to become a national debate and an international controversy because it dares to speak the plain truth in a world of lies!<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon</b><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Introduction</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_04.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 1</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_04.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Survival Guaranteed!</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
The DEVASTATION unleashed against America and her British allies was without precedent. Destruction was everywhere and a body count impossible. The catastrophe was beyond calculation.<br />
<br />
Europe - gripped with a messianic furor - justified this mass destruction of the body to "save the soul." Besides, they have the blessing of the pope. His white robes are stained with the blood of many martyrs.<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_06.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 2</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_06.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Why National Defeat?</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Why are we in mortal danger? Why will the American, British and Jewish people SUFFER national defeat? How could Europe ever turn against us?<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_10.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 3</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2006/11/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_10.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Truth or Consequences</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
As global tensions increase, and threats of confrontation escalate, we might very well wonder whether humanity will survive. <i>Unless</i> there’s a GOD to intervene, we have a bleak future indeed: a DEAD PLANET! Will earth become a nuclear fireball? Will charred bones - aftermath of unleashed atomic fires - and the smoldering ruins of a suicidal civilization be all that’s left?<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/01/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 4</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/01/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Victims of Tradition</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Whenever our behavior gets out of control, <i>God lets us loose control! </i>When we’re held hostage to bad habits, and refuse to let them go, we go into captivity! A national lack of discipline results in God sending corrective punishment! Then we wake up and get with it, and beg God to save us. The whole purpose is to bring us to our knees and senses.<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/03/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 5</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/03/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Europe's Fate</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
What’s going to happen to Europe? We know what’s going to happen to the American and British peoples, as well as to our Jewish brethren. The coming WORLD CRISIS is prophesied to fall especially hard on them. Why?<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/04/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 6</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/04/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Jesus and the Jews</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Why don't the Jews accept Jesus?" I've been asked that so many times. My usual reply? "Why haven't the Christians?" At least the Jews are waiting for the proper imperial restoration. The Messiah's coming to sit on DAVID'S THRONE - not Caesar's or "St. Peter's." The Anointed One's going to rule from JERUSALEM - not Rome!<br />
<br />
<b>Beyond Babylon<br />
</b></span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/05/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_31.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Chapter 7</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</span><a href="http://beyondbabylon.blogspot.com/2007/05/beyond-babylon-europes-rise-and-fall_31.html" style="font-family: verdana;">Elijah's Key Role</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
<br />
Israel's about to host the greatest showdown on earth! A spiritual conflict of interests will create such a scene in Jerusalem that the whole world will watch! Zion will be an arena of prophets and sorcerers, warriors and kings! The forces of good and evil are set to duel: the sons of light will battle the sons of darkness, and truth will confront error head-on!<br />
<br />
</span><br />
<div align="center" style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: 85%;"><img border="0" src="http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/images/big/1413750575.jpg" /> </span></div><a href="http://www.publishamerica.com/greetingcardpro/createcard1.asp?PostCardID=7004" style="font-family: verdana;"><br />
</a>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-45094009115215229832011-02-05T13:42:00.001-08:002011-02-05T13:42:42.986-08:00Make me a Sanctuary<table align="left" class=""><tbody>
<tr class=""><td class="" valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
"And they shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst"</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Exodus 25:8)<br />
Shvat 30, 5771/February 4, 2011<br />
Rosh Chodesh Adar</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The importance of these words, their centrality to man's existence, and the impact which they have had, should have and must have upon Israel and the nations, is impossible to overstate. In terms of cosmic, cataclysmic, earth-shaking Biblical verses, it can be said that this one is right up there with, <span style="font-style: italic;">"In the beginning... "</span> Why? What makes this commandment different from the other 612 Torah commandments received at Sinai?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">For sure, every commandment, from those which appear the easiest to perform, or the most peripheral to our lives, to those which seem the weightiest, are of equal significance, and the performance of every commandment merits heavenly reward. It is what lies behind the commandment <span style="font-style: italic;">"build Me a sanctuary,"</span> what these words teach us about our world and about G-d's relationship to Israel and what He expects of man, the crowning glory of His creation, which makes this commandment so unique. <span style="font-style: italic;">"Build Me a sanctuary</span>" implies, by the very nature of its intention, so sublime and yet so humble, the potential G-d sees in man, and the heights and perfection to which man can bring G-d's world.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">G-d created the world in six days and then left off from creating. The world was complete. Or was it? In truth, G-d brought creation to a close with the creation of man. But what is man, with his free will, infused by G-d within his very being from his first breath of life, who rises and stumbles, who draws near to G-d one moment, and distant the next? Is man complete? And if not, then is creation truly complete?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">From the moment that G-d created man, He was seeking a relationship, a partnership with man. This is the reason that G-d created man. G-d determined that <span style="font-style: italic;">"'It is not good that man should be alone,'"</span> (Genesis 2:18) and created for man a helpmate. But it was also not good for G-d to be alone. Nor was it ever G-d's intention. G-d has always sought a partner, a friend, in man. <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> became that friend to G-d, (Isaiah 41:8), and a father of many nations. And it was <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> progeny, the children of Israel, whom G-d took out of Egypt, gave to them Torah, and now requests, (if a commandment can be also be a request), but one thing: build for Me a house, let Me into your world. Be My friend, and together we can complete and perfect creation in the only way possible to do so: together, as one.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> first heard this commandment, <span style="font-style: italic;">Midrash</span> tells us, he was incredulous. <span style="font-style: italic;">"How,"</span> he said, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Can we possibly build for You a house that you will dwell within, when the very heavens themselves cannot contain your infinite nature?"</span> In other words, <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> was saying, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Impossible!"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"On the contrary,"</span> G-d replied, <span style="font-style: italic;">"All it requires is twenty beams on the north side, and twenty beams on the south side, and eight beams on the west side, and I will come down and abide My glory amongst them."</span> In other words, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Possible! Absolutely, totally, undeniably and exhilaratingly possible!" </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">G-d, in His response, made reference, of course, to the Tabernacle structure, as a way of illustrating how profoundly simple this task is to perform. In truth, it has nothing to do with wooden beams, or marble blocks, or animal skins, or silver or gold, but with the joining of our will, of our desires, to G-d's will. Of taking that free will that G-d blessed us with from the first, and placing this most precious gift of all in the place where it has always belonged: In G-d's treasure house - His Holy Temple.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What a delusion, what a madness it is to think that we Israel are not capable of, are not quite ready or worthy of the great task, the most profound and sublime Divine challenge of man - <span style="font-style: italic;">" to make [for G-d] a sanctuary that [He] will dwell in [our] midst!"</span> Who created man, after all, and for what purpose, if not for this - to complete G-d's creation by bringing Him into our midst!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="44" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Temple Talk" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Yitzchak Reuven welcomes Rabbi Chaim Richman back to Israel and back to the studio. Just returned from his never ending journey throughout the great United States, and stranded for four days in the snows of New Jersey, Rabbi Richman shares his experiences and reflects upon the "Temple Conundrum:" Who is the Holy Temple for, anyway? So many people think it is either problematic, archaic, dangerous, or inconvenient. But those opinions are.... well, just that: opinions! Whatever happened to doing something for G-d? Remember Him? As <span style="font-style: italic;">Rashi</span> so eloquently states: <span style="font-style: italic;">"For My Name's sake..."</span> Of course we are referring to this week's Torah reading, <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Terumah</span>, the <span style="font-style: italic;">raison d'etre</span> for everything that we do at the Temple Institute. <span style="font-style: italic;">"And you shall make for Me a Sanctuary"</span> is G-d's desire... that we let Him in to this world. Breathtakingly simple!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/blueprints-for-the-holy-temple.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Blueprints for The Holy Temple" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="111" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Blueprints for The Holy Temple" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Now Presenting the Greatest Progress Toward the Rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Modern History: <span style="font-weight: bold;">Blueprints for The Holy Temple</span>: In his recent USA speaking engagement tour, (January 2011), Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute revealed to the public for the very first time detailed construction plans for the Chamber of Hewn Stone: the seat of the Great Sanhedrin which is a central component of the Holy Temple complex on the Temple Mount. These complete and highly intricate plans constitute the first stage of an historical undertaking of the Temple Institute: the drafting of blueprints for the entire Holy Temple complex. To view the blueprints, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/blueprints-for-the-holy-temple.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnckQrgO7s" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Computer-generated Walk-through" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="159" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Computer-generated Walk-through" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">View this short video and experience a virtual computer-generated walk-through of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sanhedrin Chamber of Hewn Stone</span>, based on the newly drawn up blueprints. Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFnckQrgO7s" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/parashat-terumah.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Terumah" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="109" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Parashat Terumah" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"From every person whose heart inspires him to generosity"</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Parashat Terumah</span>, the Torah reading of Exodus 25:1-27:19, encapsulates the essence and the purpose of the Temple Institute. To learn why this <span style="font-style: italic;">parashah</span> is so intrinsic to the work of the Temple Institute, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/parashat-terumah.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Mike-Huckabee-Chaim-Richman.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Governor Mike Huckabee and Rabbi Chaim Richman" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Governor Mike Huckabee and Rabbi Chaim Richman" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Governor Mike Huckabee and Rabbi Chaim Richman</span> discuss Israel, Jerusalem and the Holy Temple: Mike Huckabee, the former Governor of Arkansas, and likely presidential hopeful in 2012, has spent the past few days in Israel. On Thursday evening, February 3rd, (<span style="font-style: italic;">Rosh Chodesh Adar</span>), the Temple Institute's Rabbi Chaim Richman was a guest of Governor Huckabee at the David's Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem. To learn more, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Mike-Huckabee-Chaim-Richman.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/02/10-commandments-the-inside-story-2.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="10 Commandments: The Inside Story" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Bat Melech" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">10 Commandments: The Inside Story:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">We are all familiar with the ten commandments, but most likely not fully aware of the depth and breadth of the spiritual message embodied in each of the ten life-instructions which are contained on the two Tablets of the Law."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in May 2010. Rena will soon be recording new teachings.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/02/10-commandments-the-inside-story-2.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/03/building-the-holy-temple-%C2%A0part-vii-the-holy-temple-conundrum.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Holy Temple Conundrum" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="150" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Light to the Nations" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Building the Holy Temple, Part VII: The Holy Temple Conundrum:</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"> Midrashic and kabbalistic literature abounds in which the Holy Temple is described in spiritual terms. These homelitical teachings do not contradict or override the Torah imperative for building a physical Holy Temple."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in December 2009. Rabbi Richman will soon be recording new teachings.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/02/03/building-the-holy-temple-%C2%A0part-vii-the-holy-temple-conundrum.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="60" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Weekly Torah" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"They shall make an ark of acacia wood"</span> (Exodus 25:10) <span style="font-style: italic;">Aron HaBrit</span> - The Ark of the Covenant - performs no function in the Divine service, and is approached but once a year when the <span style="font-style: italic;">Kohen Gadol</span> - the High Priest - enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement. It is the one Temple vessel that actually serves as a permanent receptacle - holding the Tablets of the Law. Yet of all the vessels described in the Torah reading of Terumah, the Ark of the Covenant remains the most compelling to the imagination. From the Ark emanates the supernal light of Torah and a reflection in this world of the perfected world and the pure light of the Garden of Eden. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Terumah</span> (Exodus 25:1-27:19).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute<br />
</span></div></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="5"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td align="center" class="" valign="middle"> <div><a href="https://www.templeinstitute.org/donate.htm" target="_blank"><img align="Baseline" alt="donate to the Temple Institute" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="90" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" title="Help us build the future" width="115" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Help us build the future.</span><br />
Click <a href="https://www.templeinstitute.org/donate.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="30"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td align="center" class="" valign="middle"> <div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">PO Box 31876</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Jerusalem, Israel 97500</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/" target="_blank">www.templeinstitute.org</a></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="50"> </td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td align="center" class="" valign="middle"> <div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">Fan us on Facebook: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/nxv784" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/nxv784</a><br />
Follow us on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/TempleInstitute" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/TempleInstitute</a><br />
Find us on youTube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/henryporter2" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/user/henryporter2</a><br />
Video teachings available on <a href="http://www.universaltorah.com/" target="_blank">Universal Torah</a></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr class=""> <td class="" height="30"> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-22286361603874947282011-01-22T08:25:00.001-08:002011-01-22T08:25:29.762-08:00Mind of God<div style="font-size: 14px; margin: 25px; width: 550px;"> <div style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: left;"><a href="http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=EO6o3&m=1atUEj9MPrqwrj&b=xlSEHgcocyZAbEsETfCjhg" style="color: #000033; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Commentary: The awesome mind of God</a></div><div style="color: #336699; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left;">By Roger Meyer (guest columnist) | Tuesday, January 04, 2011</div><div style="color: black; text-align: left;">A Yale University astronomer recently suggested that the estimate of the number of stars could be as much as three times more than previously estimated. The new estimate is 300,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. This number is called 300 sextillion in the United States, or 300 trilliard in Europe. Did you know that the Great God calls them all by name? <a href="http://clicks.aweber.com/y/ct/?l=EO6o3&m=1atUEj9MPrqwrj&b=9AyIQXayAZ6Wc1iF3IYyJg" style="color: #336699; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Read more <img align="middle" alt="Read More" border="0" class="emptyExternalImage" height="12" src="http://mail.buckeye-express.com/eonapps/images/grayfiller.gif" width="12" /></a></div></div>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-1747072499771309392010-12-31T11:31:00.000-08:002010-12-31T11:31:37.705-08:00A Memorial to the Deed of Creation<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"A Memorial to the Deed of Creation"</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(from the Shabbat Kiddush)<br />
Tevet 25, 5771/December 31, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When we say Kiddush, the sanctification of Shabbat on Friday evening, after we complete the blessing of the wine, we conclude with the following blessing:</span></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">"Blessed are You, HaShem our <nobr>G-d</nobr>, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments, and hoped for us, and with love and intent invested us with His sacred Sabbath, as a memorial to the deed of Creation. It is the first amongst the holy festivals, commemorating the exodus from Egypt. For You chose us, and sanctified us, out of all nations, and with love and intent You invested us with Your Holy Sabbath."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The connection between the Shabbat and the six days of creation is inherently clear: <nobr>G-d</nobr> created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. Therefore, we also refrain from work on Shabbat. But what does Shabbat have to do with the exodus from Egypt? Where's the connection?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">As we read this week's Torah <span style="font-style: italic;">parasha</span> of <span style="font-style: italic;">Va'era</span> (Exodus 6:2-9:35), we begin to learn about the ten plagues with which <nobr>G-d</nobr> would afflict Egypt. As the story unfolds we see that <nobr>G-d's</nobr> devastation of Egypt is so thorough and so complete, it can almost appear to be gratuitous. Why put the Egyptians through such misery when <nobr>G-d</nobr> could have easily sent Israel out in an instant. What was there to gain by drawing out the affair?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">There are ten occasions in the Torah account of creation in which <nobr>G-d</nobr> said, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Let there be..."</span> These are known as the ten utterances of creation. With these ten <span style="font-style: italic;">"Let there be's"</span> <nobr>G-d</nobr> created the heavens and the earth, and all the elements and life that populate them. Could <nobr>G-d</nobr> have created all of existence with a single utterance, a single <span style="font-style: italic;">"Let there be...?"</span> Of course. But <nobr>G-d</nobr> chose to bring creation into existence gradually, step by step, so that man will be able to witness and study and comprehend the act of creation, and by so doing, comprehend and appreciate and celebrate and honor the holy Shabbat, the day that <nobr>G-d</nobr> <span style="font-style: italic;">"ceased from work and rested."</span> (Exodus 31:16-17)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">It is our custom to stand while reciting the Shabbat Kiddush, in the manner of someone giving testimony. For by relating the six days of creation and the seventh day of rest, we are giving testimony to our faith that <nobr>G-d</nobr> did, indeed create our world. And therefore it is incumbent upon us, bearers of this knowledge, to likewise rest on the seventh day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The only catch is that we weren't there for the six days of creation. We are in effect, giving testimony to something that we did not directly witness. We were, however, in Egypt, and we did, in fact witness the ten plagues with which <nobr>G-d</nobr> punished Egypt. If we examine the nature of the ten plagues, we become aware that each of the ten plagues directly affected a particular aspect of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> creation. In one plague, all plant life was destroyed. In another plague all the beasts of the field were annihilated. In one plague the waters of Egypt were rendered deadly, and in another plague the heavenly firmament was blotted out of the sky. In the final plague, the first borns of Egypt were slain, spelling doom for man himself, the crown of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> creation.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The math speaks for itself: With ten utterances creation came into being, and with ten plagues that very creation was undone, unravelled and made defunct. Each time it was only <nobr>G-d's</nobr> intervention, via <span style="font-style: italic;">Moshe</span> that restored order back to creation. Anyone with eyes in his head would know that only a <nobr>G-d</nobr> who had created the world could thusly wreak havoc on His own creation. And this was <nobr>G-d's</nobr> express purpose:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"'But I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and I will increase My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh will not hearken to you, and I will lay My hand upon the Egyptians, and I will take My legions, My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt with great judgments. And the Egyptians shall know that I am HaShem when I stretch forth My hand over Egypt, and I will take the children of Israel out of their midst.'"</span> (ibid 7:3-5)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">But it wasn't just the Egyptians who witness <nobr>G-d's</nobr> signs and wonders. All the world witnessed, including Israel. And by witnessing, all the world understood that there is but one <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and that same <nobr>G-d</nobr> created the world and that same <nobr>G-d</nobr> will deal with the world as He sees fit. By having witnessed the exodus from Egypt we are able to personally substantiate our Shabbat Kiddush testimony that <nobr>G-d</nobr> is, indeed, the creator of our world, as it is stated in the first half of the Shabbat Kiddush:</span></div><div style="font-style: italic; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">"And on the seventh day <nobr>G-d</nobr> completed the labor He had performed, and He refrained on the seventh day from all the labor which He had performed. And <nobr>G-d</nobr> blessed the seventh day and He sanctified it, for He then refrained from all his labor - from the act of creation that <nobr>G-d</nobr> had performed."</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">There is no true observance of Shabbat without a knowledge of the exodus, and there is no true exodus from servitude without an acknowledgment of the seventh day, the day that <nobr>G-d</nobr> <span style="font-style: italic;">"refrained from all his labor - from the act of creation that God had performed."</span> Shabbat Shalom!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the ten plagues, the blindness of Pharaoh to the truth of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> existence, and the beginning of the long march from exile & servitude to liberty & redemption.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><img align="left" alt="Vendyl Jones" border="0" height="134" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/564/Vendyl-%20Jones-and-Rabbi-Richman-nwslttr.jpg" title="Vendyl Jones" valign="top" width="200" /><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The Temple Institute is saddened to learn of the passing of a beloved friend and inspiration, Vendyl Jones.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Vendyl was a fearless searcher of truth, an uncompromising iconoclast who never swayed from his pursuits, both archaeological and theological, despite the fact that his discoveries were often met with skepticism, hostility, or indifference.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Vendyl was a pioneering spirit who challenged convention. His ground-breaking archaeological findings helped to return the Holy Temple and the Divine service back to its rightful prominence in the minds of many, and his Biblical scholarship and teachings aided countless spiritual seekers to return to the truths and values of the <nobr>G-d</nobr> of Israel. Perhaps more than any other individual of this generation, Vendyl is revered by many as one of the modern patriarchs of the burgeoning Noahide, (<span style="font-style: italic;">Bnei Noach</span>), community in America. May his family and friends be comforted and may his life continue to serve as an inspiration. May his memory be for a blessing.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/30/building-the-temple-in-our-day-2.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Building the Temple in Our Day" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/564/lttn-30-12-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Building the Temple in Our Day</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"><nobr>G-d</nobr> commands and man fulfills. The long anticipated coming of themoshiach is not linked in any way to Israel’s obligation to build the Holy Temple, as explicitly commanded in Torah by <nobr>G-d</nobr> to the Jewish people. Nor is the popular notion that the Holy Temple will descend from heaven ready-built based in Torah or halachic reality."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in October 2009. Rabbi Richman will not be recording new teachings until he returns from his upcoming trip to the USA.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/30/building-the-temple-in-our-day-2.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Rabbi Richman in
America, January 2011" border="0" height="170" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/tour-2011-video-promo-nwslttr.jpg" title="Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Sing to the L-rd a New Song; Sing to the L-rd, All the Earth!" (Psalms 96) Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011</span>: Please view this short video in which Rabbi Richman personally invites you to join him in America this January as he speaks about the world today and the role Israel is destined to play in leading the world "From Exile to Redemption." Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank">here</a>!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">For additional details of the Rabbi's speaking engagements in eight states, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Rabbi-Richman-2011-American-tour-schedule.htm#states" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Parashat Va’era</span> traces the steps of the emergence of the children of Israel from the bondage of Egypt, for which we thank <nobr>G-d</nobr> every day, and celebrate on the seven days of Passover. True, we are no longer slaves in Egypt, but how free are we? Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Va’era</span> (Exodus 6:2-9:35).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-61298435817254309742010-12-26T15:47:00.000-08:002010-12-26T15:47:16.713-08:00They Know Not Yosef<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"A new king arose over Egypt, who knew not Yosef."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Exodus 1:8)<br />
Tevet 16, 5771/December 23, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The opening of the book of Exodus introduces us for the first time to what has in modernity been dubbed, "the Jewish problem:" <span style="font-style: italic;">"[The Egyptian Pharaoh] said to his people, 'Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more numerous and stronger than we are. Get ready, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they increase, and a war befall us, and they join our enemies and depart from the land.'"</span> (Exodus 1:9-10) Too numerous, too wealthy, too poor, too clever, too strong, too weak, too crude, too assimilated, too separate, the list goes on and on. Wherever Jews dwell, their presence, with few historical exceptions, is perceived by others as a threat. Pharaoh, in this week's Torah reading, earns the honor of being the first potentate to propose the breathtakingly obvious response: Eliminate the Jews.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In attempting to eradicate the presence of Israel from within Egyptian society, Pharaoh actually embarked upon a three pronged approach, each of which have been repeatedly tried throughout Israel's long history, with increasing venom and aggression in modern times. Approach number one was servitude: make their lives miserable with the aim at breaking their spirits. Their spirits and bodies broken, they will lose their communal cohesiveness, break apart and disintegrate into nothingness. <span style="font-style: italic;">"So the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel with back breaking labor. And they embittered their lives with hard labor, with clay and with bricks and with all kinds of labor in the fields, all their work that they worked with them with back breaking labor."</span> (ibid 1:13-14)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Approach number two was genocide, or more specifically, infanticide: Destroy the males at birth. The surviving females with serve the Egyptians and eventually disappear into Egyptian society, leaving no trace. <span style="font-style: italic;">"'When you deliver the Hebrew women, and you see on the birthstool, if it is a son, you shall put him to death, but if it is a daughter, she may live.'"</span> (ibid 1:16)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When the <nobr>G-d</nobr>-fearing Hebrew midwives, <span style="font-style: italic;">Shifra</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Puah</span>, refused to do Pharaoh's bidding, this approach was modified. <span style="font-style: italic;">"Every son who is born you shall cast into the Nile, and every daughter you shall allow to live."</span> (ibid 1:22)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Now the third approach was really the first approach, as enslavement and genocide were but logical corollaries of the first approach, which was erasing Israel from the collective memory of the nation. <span style="font-style: italic;">"A new king arose over Egypt, who knew not Yosef."</span> (ibid 1:8) In ancient totalitarian Egypt, Pharaoh's state of mind was what informed every nook and cranny of Egyptian civilization. What Pharaoh knew, or didn't know, was the law. Although the exact nature of Pharaoh's forgetfulness concerning Yosef and his people remains an unanswered question, (was this a new Pharaoh, or even a foreign invader who assumed the title Pharaoh, and to whom the legacy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> held no meaning or allegiance, or was it the same Pharaoh of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> day who experienced a change of heart), it ultimately translated into the same thing: the willful obliteration of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> from the national consciousness.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Every Pharaoh employed scribes skilled at chronicling their reign's history through hieroglyphics. Palace walls and all public buildings were adorned with the hieroglyphic retelling of Pharaonic history. Certainly <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, so central and revered a figure in his own lifetime, was mentioned, even glorified, on these walls. But now the word went out from Pharaoh and Yosef's name was whitewashed, erased, deleted, expurgated and expunged from every wall, ledger and record book within Egypt. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> no longer existed. And as he disappeared so did the identity of his people. Enslaved and set upon, now the children of Israel were robbed completely of their identity. How easy to actively be an accessory to the physical eradication of a people when they no longer exist in the mind! How difficult to survive such a wholesale attack on your very existence when those attacking you claim that you never existed in the first place!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In the past eighty years alone we have witnessed unrelenting attempts using all three of these ancient approaches to removing Israel, utterly and completely, from the world. Nazi Germany relied on slavery and genocide to accomplish their aim. The Arab states, after the birth of Israel in 1948, modified the Nazi attempt at worldwide genocide to the elimination of the Jews within the land of Israel. And like Pharaoh, they abandoned the methodical elimination of the Jews via a state run apparatus, (in Germany's case, the death camps, in Pharaoh's case, the use of the midwifes), and opted instead for "throwing the Jews into the sea!" as the well known battle-cry of the Arab states declared for many decades.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The current approach, even more dangerous than the others, for it is so easy to buy into, so easy to adopt, so easy to justify and sanitize, and so appealing to the politically correct thought tyranny that is threatening our world, is none other that the <span style="font-style: italic;">"know not Yosef"</span> approach. "These people never existed before, never did a jot of good for humanity, never pulled their own weight, in the end always siding with the enemy, so why should they exist today? Why should they exist tomorrow?" Pull out the plug on Israel's "being" and they will cease to exist!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Alas, for our as-ever implacable enemies, the <span style="font-style: italic;">catch</span> to this approach today remains the very same <span style="font-style: italic;">catch</span> that made itself manifest in Pharaoh's day: <span style="font-style: italic;">"<nobr>G-d</nobr> heard their cry, and <nobr>G-d</nobr> remembered His covenant with Avraham, with Yitzchak, and with Ya'akov. And <nobr>G-d</nobr> saw the children of Israel, and <nobr>G-d</nobr> knew."</span> (ibid 2:25) How foolish our <nobr>G-d</nobr>less persecutors are! How puny are their grandiose plans to destroy Israel and expropriate for themselves that which belongs to <nobr>G-d</nobr>! How fortunate is Israel, for even when all the Pharaohs of the world declare from every capital and every human rights forum and every international court of justice that they <span style="font-style: italic;">"know not Yosef,"</span> <nobr>G-d</nobr> knows <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> and <nobr>G-d</nobr> hears the cry of Israel! This is all that matters. <nobr>G-d</nobr> knows! </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the book of Exodus, the <span style="font-style: italic;">"king who knew not Yosef,"</span> the spiritual anarchists among us today who are his descendants, and who is ultimately responsible for the rise of hostility to Israel in recent years. </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/22/miriam-the-prophet-part-i.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Miriam the Prophet, Part I" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/561/bm-22-12-10.jpg" title="Bat Melech" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Miriam the Prophet, Part I</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> Miriam, the older sister of Moses, was a women of prophetic vision and a teacher of her generation, whose unique ability was in channeling her love of <nobr>G-d</nobr> into creative outlets through which all the children of Israel can express themselves."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in April 2009. Rena will not be recording new teachings until she returns from her upcoming trip to the USA.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/22/miriam-the-prophet-part-i.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/23/the-holy-temple-man-made-or-heaven-sent-2.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Holy Temple: Man-Made or
Heaven-Sent?" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/561/lttn-23-12-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Holy Temple: Man-Made or Heaven-Sent?</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">We have studied Maimonides’ Laws of the Chosen House, and we have learned the many details of the Holy Temple. Are we now ready to build? We think so, but some voices differ. A guide for the perplexed."</span> (This teaching was initially posted in October 2009. Rabbi Richman will not be recording new teachings until he returns from his upcoming trip to the USA.) Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/23/the-holy-temple-man-made-or-heaven-sent-2.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Rabbi Richman in
America, January 2011" border="0" height="170" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/tour-2011-video-promo-nwslttr.jpg" title="Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Sing to the L-rd a New Song; Sing to the L-rd, All the Earth!" (Psalms 96) Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011</span>: Please view this short video in which Rabbi Richman personally invites you to join him in America this January as he speaks about the world today and the role Israel is destined to play in leading the world "From Exile to Redemption." Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank">here</a>!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">For additional details of the Rabbi's speaking engagements in eight states, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Rabbi-Richman-2011-American-tour-schedule.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">A new Pharaoh arose <span style="font-style: italic;">"who didn't know Yosef."</span> That's outrageous! After all <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> had done on behalf of Egypt, to be unceremoniously expunged from Egypt's national narrative is unthinkable. Yet it was<span style="font-style: italic;"> Yosef's</span> own brothers who, not so long before, <span style="font-style: italic;">"didn't know Yosef"</span> - not his face, and not his understanding as to how to bring about the redemption. Their animosity toward <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> eventually engendered Pharaoh's animosity. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Shemot</span> (Exodus 1:1 - 6:1).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-24502892856244497732010-12-22T05:51:00.000-08:002010-12-22T05:51:20.896-08:00Don't be afraid, for am I instead of G-d?<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;"><br />
"Don't be afraid, for am I instead of <nobr>G-d</nobr>?" </span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 450:19)<br />
Tevet 10, 5771/December 17, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Perhaps more than any other figure in the entire book of Genesis, which draws to a close with this week's reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Vayechi, Yosef</span> understood the division of labor in <nobr>G-d's</nobr> world: <nobr>G-d</nobr> directs while man does his level best to fill a supporting role. Or, as Shakespeare put it, <span style="font-style: italic;">"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players."</span> But whereas Shakespeare's words speak dolefully of the futility of human endeavor, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> saw man's role in the opposite light. By maintaining a steady and unshakable belief in <nobr>G-d's</nobr> benevolence, man can pursue a purpose on this earth far greater than any motivated by self-interested, and by doing so leave a mark that will far exceed his own fleeting grasp on life. Certainly we witness this in <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> himself. Whatever wounds he suffered in his one hundred and ten years, whatever human flaws he exhibited, he cast a giant shadow that extends until this very day.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">It seems natural to speak of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> employing classical terms of drama. After all, he was not merely a player, but also took up the role of director in what may be the most compelling drama played out in the annals of humankind. It was he who set the stage when his brothers first traveled to Egypt, hungry and in search of food. It was he, as director, who first ordered the money to be placed in the brothers satchels, and later the goblet among <span style="font-style: italic;">Binyamin's</span> belongings. And it was <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> who deftly confronted his unsuspecting brothers, drawing forth from them their own recounting of their earlier crime, their acceptance of the responsibility of their actions, and their determination to make amends. Had he not invisibly guided them through these steps it is doubtful that they could have achieved it on their own. But with the conclusion of this family drama, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> retires as director, seeks to return to his original role as brother among brothers, and reasserts that, for all his dabbling in the art, there is really only one true Director,and that is <nobr>G-d</nobr> Himself.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We can even consider the book of Genesis, in its entirety, as the first act of an unfolding drama. The curtain rises and the world is being created. And as unsurpassable as that may seem, the dramatic tension continues to intensify throughout each of the first twenty four generations of man, arriving at a crescendo with the scene of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> alone with his brothers. And after the crescendo comes the denouement in which the brothers are reconciled and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, reunited with <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, blesses all the boys, expires and is buried alongside his fathers, back in the land of Israel.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">But even before the return of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> and his brothers to Egypt we sense a palpable change. A chill seems to have passed between <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> and Pharaoh. Their relationship has grown formal and distant. In fact, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> no longer has direct access to Pharaoh, but must communicate with him through an intermediary: <span style="font-style: italic;">"When the days of his weeping had passed, Joseph spoke to Pharaoh's household, saying, 'If now I have found favor in your eyes, speak now in Pharaoh's ears, saying… '"</span> (Genesis 49:4) He hasn't fallen out of favor with Pharaoh, but, it would seem that, having successfully completed his mission of feeding Egypt he is no longer essential to Pharaoh, no longer the apple of his eye. There will be no lifetime achievement award for <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. He dies, and as the book of Genesis comes to a close, the lid slams shut upon <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> coffin, and the walls begin to tighten around his remaining brothers and their offspring. The Egyptian honeymoon is over. A very cold <span style="font-style: italic;">"winter of discontent"</span> is about to set in.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">As the curtain closes on Genesis we may be tempted to question the virtue of creation. The great promise of <span style="font-style: italic;">"In the beginning"</span> seems to have dissolved into a haphazard world where good deeds are quickly forgotten and selfless acts of kindness are repaid with scorn. It is precisely here where we need more than ever to remind ourselves of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> consoling words to his brothers, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Don't be afraid, for am I instead of <nobr>G-d</nobr>?"</span> It is not our task to second-guess all that has transpired or to needlessly speculate at what <nobr>G-d</nobr> has in store for Israel in Act II. We're not the Director. But we are the actors He depends upon. We must strive to fulfill our individual roles to the best of our ability.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">So we conclude the book of Genesis with a heavy sense of foreboding, which we will dispel with the hearty call of <span style="font-style: italic;">"Chazak, chazak venitchazeik!"</span> which we declare as a congregation at the conclusion of our reading on Shabbat: <span style="font-style: italic;">"Be strong, be strong, and be strengthened!"</span> The curtain is about to rise, Act II is about to commence, and the great epic of enslavement and Exodus is about to take place: Director's cut. We're in very good hands.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven express their gratitude for the blessed rain that fell in buckets this week here in the Land of Israel. This current month of Tevet is traditionally considered to be a time of portent and distress, and features a public fast day, the 10th of <span style="font-style: italic;">Tevet</span>, which commemorates a siege around Jerusalem that led to the destruction of the first Holy Temple. Is Jerusalem still besieged... or are its inhabitants just suffering from a siege mentality?</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><img align="left" alt="Three Days in Tevet" border="0" height="58" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/559/3-days-in-tevet-nwslttr.jpg" title="Three Days in Tevet" valign="top" width="200" /><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Three Days in Tevet</span>: The eighth, ninth and tenth days of the month of Tevet are each considered dark days in the history of Israel. At one time each of the three days was observed by a fast. Today we fast only on the tenth. What happened on these three days?</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/three-days-septuagint.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The 8th of Tevet" border="0" height="168" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/559/septuagent-nwslttr.jpg" title="The 8th of Tevet" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 8th</span>: The Septuagint: On this day seventy two sages translated the Hebrew Torah into Greek. Why is this accomplishment considered to be less than auspicious? Click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/three-days-septuagint.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to find out.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/three-days-Ezra-Nechemiah.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The 9th of Tevet" border="0" height="141" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/559/9th-tevet-nwslttr.jpg" title="The 9th of Tevet" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 9th</span>: This day marks the passing of Ezra and Nechemiah who led the Jews exiled in Babylon back to Jerusalem. Click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/three-days-Ezra-Nechemiah.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to learn more about their crucial role in Israel's history.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/three-days-breaching-the-walls.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The 10th of Tevet" border="0" height="126" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/559/10th-tevet-nwslttr.jpg" title="The 10th of Tevet" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The 10th</span>: On this day the Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar first laid siege to the wall of Jerusalem which ultimately culminated in the destruction of the Holy Temple on the ninth of Av. Click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/three-days-breaching-the-walls.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to learn more.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/16-12-10.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Queen Esther" border="0" height="152" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/559/ester-tomb-nwslttr.jpg" title="Queen Esther" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Queen Esther Takes up the Battle for Israel and the Holy Temple</span>: The 2,500 year old scroll of Esther is alive and well, and still being written. It has been reported that "A group of Islamists staged a rally at the tomb of Biblical Queen Esther, one of the most revered sites for Jews in Iran, and threatened to destroy it if Israel damages the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. " Click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/archive/16-12-10.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to learn more.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Rabbi Richman in
America, January 2011" border="0" height="170" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/tour-2011-video-promo-nwslttr.jpg" title="Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Sing to the L-rd a New Song; Sing to the L-rd, All the Earth!" (Psalms 96) Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011</span>: Please view this short video in which Rabbi Richman personally invites you to join him in America this January as he speaks about the world today and the role Israel is destined to play in leading the world "From Exile to Redemption." Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank">here</a>!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">For additional details of the Rabbi's speaking engagements in eight states, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Rabbi-Richman-2011-American-tour-schedule.htm#states" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/16/suppressing-iniquity-part-iii-2.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Suppressing Iniquity, Part III" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/559/lttn-16-12-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Suppressing Iniquity, Part III</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"><nobr>G-d</nobr> is neither an accountant nor a scorekeeper. He doesn't tally up our good deeds, subtract from them our transgressions, declare the balance and call it a day. <nobr>G-d</nobr> gathers up our good deeds, places them before Him, and does not allow our transgressions to diminish His delight with with all the good that we have accomplished."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/16/suppressing-iniquity-part-iii-2.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> desires to bless each of his children before he dies and to share with them holy insights into their future. It is at this moment that he and we learn that the Divine promise of redemption which <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> wished to introduce to his children can only become a reality when the entire nation of Israel is included. Not only those who are near to <nobr>G-d</nobr> and in touch with His Torah, but also, and especially, those of us who feel distant and disconnected must be brought close to the legacy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov avinu</span> - our father Jacob, in order for the redemption to transpire. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayechi</span> (Genesis 47:28-50:26).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-70905449869058885652010-12-17T06:26:00.000-08:002010-12-17T06:26:24.959-08:00Hanukkah March of the Temple Mount Faithful<div style="margin-left: 15px; margin-right: 15px;"> <div style="font-size: 80%; text-align: right;"> b'ezrat HaShem / with the help of G‑d</div><h1 style="color: #0b5c98; margin-bottom: 30px; text-align: center;">Hanukkah March of the Temple Mount Faithful — 2010/5771</h1>The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement will hold their traditional Hanukkah march on the first day of Tevet (Wednesday, December 8), beginning at 9:00 AM, Jerusalem time. Starting out in Modi'in, the ancient city of the Maccabees, the march will follow the route taken by the Maccabees as they defeated the mighty Greek army on their way to liberate the holy city of Jerusalem. Their main goal was to liberate Jerusalem, to purify the Temple from the pagan idols, and to once again make the city of Jerusalem the capital of the nation of Israel.<br />
It was in Modi'in where the high priest Mattityahu started a revolt, together with his five sons and many volunteers from the Jewish people. With the help and the strength of the G‑d of Israel, through battle after battle they defeated the Greek empire. They were a small minority fighting against what was at the time the world's greatest military force. When the Greek soldiers asked for Mattityahu's help in getting the Jewish people to make a sacrifice on a pagan altar, he cried out, "G‑d forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances. We will not obey the king's commands to turn away from our religion, either on the right hand or the left" (1 Maccabees 2.21-22). And with that, he killed one of the Jewish traitors who was getting ready to offer a pagan sacrifice, just as Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the priest did to Zimri the son of Salu (Numbers 25.6-15). As he went throughout the city, Mattityahu cried out to the people of Israel, "Whosoever is zealous of the law and maintains the covenant, let him follow me!" (1 Maccabees 2.27). As he fought on and on, more and more Israelis joined with him and his sons. But they all knew that the real reason for their victories and the complete removal of the Greek empire from the land of Israel was that the G‑d of Israel had become the General and the Commander of the Maccabee's forces, and He does today with Israel, so He did with the Maccabees and gave them their great victories in their time of need.<br />
By their bold actions, the Maccabees began a spiritual revolution within the Jewish community, spreading throughout the Land of Israel which was laid heavy under a strong influence of the Hellenistic pagan culture, placing it in grave danger of loosing its godly Jewish identity. By saving Israel's godly identity through this revolution, the Maccabees provided a lesson to all the coming generations of Israel that a small minority, even one person such as the high priest Mattityahu, can change the negative march of history so long as they trust in the G‑d of Israel, and follow the eternal Torah which He gave to Israel.<br />
Since the origin of our movement, the Temple Mount Faithful Movement has considered itself to be as the Maccabees, and as the Joshua's and the Caleb's of our time we swore to adopt this lesson of the Maccabees. We swore faithfulness to G‑d and to His Word and we trust Him absolutely. Like the Maccabees, we are struggling for the liberation and purification of the Temple Mount, the hill of G‑d in Jerusalem, to immediately remove the Arab Islamic pagan presence from the most holy place of Israel -- the location of the First, Second and soon-to-come Third Temple.<br />
On the seventh day of Hanukkah, Wednesday, 1 Tevet 5771 (December 8, 2010) the Temple Mount Faithful Movement will travel by bus to Modi'in, where we shall swear faithfulness to the godly heritage of the Maccabees. We will light the Hanukkah menorah and say for the ears of the whole world, "You will never take the land of Israel given by G‑d only to His people Israel and give it to foreigners and enemies of the G‑d and the people of Israel". We shall swear before G‑d to make the same Spiritual revolution that the Maccabees made in their time. It will be an exciting moment to stand on the same ground where the Maccabees stood, the ground of the ancient city of Modi'in. After lighting the torch of the Maccabees, we will run for part of the way following in the tracks of the Maccabees and their victories against the Greeks, on the mountains of Beit Horon. When we arrive at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem we will demonstrate for the immediate removal of the Arab Islamic enemy from the Temple Mount. We will tell the leaders of the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations that they will not pressure us to stop building homes for the Jewish people on their ancient Land. We will stand against any false anti-godly plan to create a foreign Islamic terrorist state in the midst of the Land of the G‑d and the people of Israel. We shall call to everyone in the world -- and to all the leaders in Israel -- to take their hands away from the Land which belongs to G‑d, that Land which He gave to the people of Israel in an ancient, eternal covenant.<br />
Our present era is reminiscent of the period of the ancient Maccabees, when Israel was controlled by the Greek Empire who prohibited Israel from attaining her divine mission of being a holy nation, a kingdom of priests and a light to the nations. Israel, who had sworn to commit herself to be faithful to the One True Living G‑d of Israel, immediately rejected the situation when the Greeks desecrated the Holy Temple of G‑d in Jerusalem and placed their own pagan idols inside the Holy of Holies of the Temple and forced the Israelites to accept a Hellenistic pagan faith and culture. The Israelites were determined to remain as servants 'only' to the G‑d of Israel and never to be slaves to pagan idolatries. The first book of the Maccabees reads as if it were written today. To all of those who devise evil plans to take Jerusalem from the G‑d and people of Israel, we answer today in the words of Nehemiah, the leader of Israel after the destruction of the First Temple and the redemption of Israel 2,526 years ago, who answered Geshem, the Arab and his companions:<br />
<blockquote> "<em>Then I answered them, and said to them, The G‑d of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build; but you have no portion, or right, or memorial, in Jerusalem.</em>" (Nehemiah 2:20)</blockquote>To those who have devised plans to divide the Land of Israel, to give it to her sworn enemies, listen to what G‑d said through the prophet Joel more than 2,500 years ago:<br />
<blockquote> "<em>For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will enter into judgment with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and have divided up my land.</em>" (Joel 4:1-2/Christian Bible 3:1-2)</blockquote>Everyone who reads this message is called to participate in this exciting and important event of the Temple Mount Faithful Movement. You can ride with us with no cost -- just bring an open heart and be a part of an event that will be another stage in the godly end-time campaign of the Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement. For additional details, contact us by e-mail: <a href="mailto:gershon@templemountfaithful.org">gershon@templemountfaithful.org</a>, telephone: 02.625.1112 or FAX: 02.625.1113 (don't forget your country code).<br />
<strong>In G‑d we trust!!</strong><br />
<br />
<center><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement</b></span></center> <center><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>P.O. Box 18325, 4 Aliash Street, Jerusalem, Israel</b></span></center> <center><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Telephone: 02.625.1112 / FAX: 02.625.1113 <br />
<br />
© Copyright 1997 - 2010 | Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 90%; font-weight: normal;">The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement is not associated or affiliated with the Temple Institute.</span> </b></span></center> </div>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-3569935500904701322010-12-16T13:36:00.001-08:002010-12-16T13:36:54.367-08:00For Your Servant Assumed Responsibility<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"For your servant assumed responsibility..."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 44:32)<br />
Tevet 3, 5771/December 9, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This year the Chanuka festival of light saw the outbreak of the worst forest fire in the history of the modern state of Israel, which destroyed over five million trees and took over forty lives. As to be expected in the fire's aftermath an atmosphere of blame and recrimination has emerged. Just who was responsible for the conflagration? Teenagers are suspected of carelessly tossing embers from a friendly picnic which quickly ignited the blaze. Firefighters are accused of being entirely too slow in initially reacting to the flames. Israel's firefighting forces have been exposed as being woefully under-equiped and under-trained. Various Israeli government ministries, led by various government ministers, over an extended period of various government coalitions have been cited as being neglectful, incompetent and unconcerned over a problem of fire fighting preparedness which has been well known for many years. Proposals for improvements have been rejected. Necessary decisions have been put on hold. By all accounts, this was a man-made disaster.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Yet, had the hills and valleys of Israel not been bone dry the gathering blaze would no doubt have progressed much more slowly, giving fire fighters a better chance to put out the flames before they swept out of control. A wetter month of November, (in which no precipitation fell), might have even prevented the fire at its source. And the strong winds which blew across the Mount Carmel region last week aided and abetted the rapid spreading of the flames. Was <nobr>G-d</nobr> then, an accomplice to this disaster?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This is not the first time in our long history that human frailty and Divine will have conspired to create a dangerous reality, fraught with painful and devastating ramifications. And it's not the first time that the children of Israel have had to face their own failings and take responsibility. This week's Torah reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Vayigash</span> opens with <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span> drawing near to <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. (Genesis 44:18) Tensions couldn't be higher as <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> threatens to imprison his brother <span style="font-style: italic;">Binyamin</span>, an act which threatens both the life of their father <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span> and the very integrity of the brothers themselves. If <span style="font-style: italic;">Binyamin</span> is allowed to be taken, the family will be irreparably shattered. Israel, as a unified entity will cease to exist.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span>, fulfilling his earlier promise to his father, accepts complete responsibility for his brother <span style="font-style: italic;">Binyamin's</span> well-being. His resolve in the matter is unequivocal, forcing Yosef to finally reveal to his brothers his true identity. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah's</span> unassailable resolve not to allow his family another traumatic blow is, of course, also an acknowledgment of all the brothers' complicity in the earlier betrayal of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. The guilt that the brothers have been silently harboring for more than a decade has finally been transformed into a powerful expression of family unity and mutual responsibility.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, in turn, reveals himself to his brothers, comforts them, and implores them <span style="font-style: italic;">"not be sad, and let it not trouble you that you sold me here, for it was to preserve life that <nobr>G-d</nobr> sent me before you."</span> (ibid 45:5) Even as the brothers embrace, two very different perspectives are revealed. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> has always looked at "the bigger picture." He has always seen <nobr>G-d</nobr> as the guiding force behind both his misfortunes and his triumphs. He has always responded by moving forward with his life, making the best of every situation, seeing opportunity even in adversity. By doing so <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> was taking responsibility for his life even while acknowledging <nobr>G-d's</nobr> will behind every turn in his fortune.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span> </span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">has </span><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">also had to reckon with many difficult situations throughout his life. It was he who saved <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> life by proposing to his brothers that they sell, rather than slay <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. Later in life he had to face up to his own wrong doing and acknowledge the righteousness of his daughter-in-law <span style="font-style: italic;">Tamar</span>. And now, once again, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span> takes a hard look at his own actions and their consequences as he faces off with <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> has made a life out of responding responsibly to adversity that came his way through no fault of his own, but ultimately only by virtue of Divine decree. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span>, however, has constantly had to examine and reexamine his own deeds, draw proper conclusions, and make the necessary corrections to his actions. This has been <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah's</span> way of living life responsibly.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">There is no doubt that <nobr>G-d's</nobr> hand was revealed foremost in the great Carmel Mountain blaze. No doubt it was a wake up call to the entire nation, a call for contrition and repentance; a call to examine our ways and correct them. And no doubt, just as <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> was always able to recognize, <nobr>G-d's</nobr> will, even when excruciatingly painful, is always for the ultimate good of His people.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Having recognized this <span style="font-style: italic;">"Yosef's principle"</span> of the ultimate good of the Divine will, we must, nevertheless, take upon ourselves the <span style="font-style: italic;">"Yehudah principle"</span> of personal accountability, recognizing our errors, correcting them, and moving forward.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The <span style="font-style: italic;">Haftorah</span> (additional scriptural) reading which accompanies <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayigash</span> in the Shabbat service is from the book of Ezekiel, in which the prophet is shown two branches, one standing for <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span>, and one for <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. <nobr>G-d</nobr> instructs Ezekiel, saying, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Behold I will take the stick of Yosef, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel his companions, and I will place them with him with the stick of Yehudah, and I will make them into one stick, and they shall become one in My hand."</span> (Ezekiel 37:19)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Rather than slinging accusations at one another, it is incumbent upon us to take hold of the burnt branches of the once noble forest of Mount Carmel, and place them together as one people. If we can accept <nobr>G-d's</nobr> constant presence in our lives, as did <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, yet also understand deep within our hearts our own accountability and our own ability to take responsibility and to change our course for the good, as did <span style="font-style: italic;">Yehudah</span>, we shall truly be a great nation, and so merit <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise to Ezekiel:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"And I will form a covenant of peace for them, an everlasting covenant shall be with them; and I will establish them and I will multiply them, and I will place My Sanctuary in their midst forever. And My dwelling place shall be over them, and I will be to them for a <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and they shall be to Me as a people. And the nations shall know that I am HaShem, Who sanctifies Israel, when My Sanctuary is in their midst forever."</span> (ibid 37:26-28) </span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven look back upon a week of terrific extremes: The joy of Chanuka against the backdrop of the devastating fire in Israel that claimed so many lives and did such horrendous damage. And in the aftermath, a little rain. And as we learn from the story of <span style="font-style: italic;">Choni Ha'Ma'agel</span>, we never say "we've had enough rain!" so we continue to pray that the Land of Israel begins to receive bountiful rainfall. As we read of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> reunion with his family in Egypt, the month of <span style="font-style: italic;">Tevet</span> begins. What are the lessons of this month, which begins during Chanukah but yet, features a fast day over the First Temple's destruction just a week after the conclusion of Chanukah?</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Rabbi Richman in
America, January 2011" border="0" height="170" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/tour-2011-video-promo-nwslttr.jpg" title="Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Sing to the L-rd a New Song; Sing to the L-rd, All the Earth!" (Psalms 96) Rabbi Richman in America, January 2011</span>: Please view this short video in which Rabbi Richman personally invites you to join him in America this January as he speaks about the world today and the role Israel is destined to play in leading the world "From Exile to Redemption." Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/sing-to-the-l-rd-a-new-song-sing-to-the-l-rd-all-the-earth-rabbi-richman-in-america-january-2011.htm" target="_blank">here</a>!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">For additional details of the Rabbi's speaking engagements in eight states, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Rabbi-Richman-2011-American-tour-schedule.htm#states" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/shouting-to-the-darkness.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Shouting to the Darkness" border="0" height="158" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/shouting-to-the-darkness-nwslttr.jpg" title="Shouting to the Darkness" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Shouting to the Darkness - A righteous Gentile's thoughts about Chanukah and the Holy Temple</span>: Every year we are asked, "Why do you celebrate Chanukah?" and/or "Are you Jewish?" I understand people’s curiosity. I even understand that they may think it's a little weird. Heck, I even think it's a little weird that I'm not Jewish and I celebrate Chanukah. But like I tell my kids, sometimes weird is good. It means you're not following the norm. And more often than not these days, it's the norm that's becoming weird. Since the question keeps coming up, I thought I would write a little ditti about why we celebrate Chanukah. Please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/shouting-to-the-darkness.htm" target="_blank">here</a> for the entire article.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/zot-chanuka.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Zot Chanuka" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/bm-08-12-10.jpg" title="Bat Melech" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Zot Chanuka</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> The eighth and final day of Chanuka, the day on which we kindle all eight Chanuka lights is a day of great illumination. This illumination includes a great spiritual force that is brought down from above on this day, which floods the world and provides a supernal light that will remain with us throughout the entire year."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/08/zot-chanuka.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/09/making-miracles-happen.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Making Miracles Happen" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/557/lttn-09-12-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Making Miracles Happen</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">Torah teaches us not to sit back and wait for miracles to happen. Instead we are instructed to actively pursue our own destiny as individuals and as a nation. If our intentions are good and our efforts are wholehearted, <nobr>G-d</nobr> will help us accomplish our goals. This is the real miracle of Chanuka. The people of Israel, led by the Kohen Gadol Mattitiyahu and his five sons, rose up and threw off the yoke of the Greek oppressors, liberated the Holy Temple and renewed the Divine service."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/09/making-miracles-happen.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">When <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> reunite after seventeen years of separation, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> weeps while <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> recites the <span style="font-style: italic;">shema</span> prayer, (<span style="font-style: italic;">"Hear O Israel, HaShem our <nobr>G-d</nobr>, HaShem is One"</span>). Was <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> being distant? Cold? On the contrary. By saying the shema at the moment of his reunion with his son, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was including his love for <nobr>G-d</nobr> with his love for <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. For there is no love outside the love of HaShem. HaShem's love encompasses all. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayigash</span> (Genesis 44:18-47:27).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute<br />
</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-8483032264942129542010-12-06T15:52:00.001-08:002010-12-06T15:52:55.395-08:00God hates Christmas!<div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"><br />
<a href="http://christmascondemned.blogspot.com/2009/12/jeremiah-10-condemns-christmas-trees.html" target="_blank"><strong><b><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Arial;">Jeremiah 10 condemns Christmas trees!</span></span></b></strong></a><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jeremiah 10</span></b><br />
1 Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel.<br />
2 Thus says the LORD: <br />
<br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Do not learn the way of the Gentiles</span></b>; <br />
Do not be dismayed at the signs of heaven, <br />
For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. <br />
3 For the <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">customs</span></b> of the peoples are futile; <br />
For one cuts a tree from the forest, <br />
The work of the hands of the workman, with the ax. <br />
4 They decorate it with silver and gold; <br />
They fasten it with nails and hammers <br />
So that it will not topple. <br />
5 They are upright, like a palm tree, <br />
And they cannot speak; <br />
They must be carried, <br />
Because they cannot go by themselves.<br />
Do not be afraid of them, <br />
For they cannot do evil, <br />
Nor can they do any good. <br />
6 Inasmuch as there is none like You, O LORD <br />
(You are great, and Your name is great in might), <br />
7 Who would not fear You, O King of the nations? <br />
For this is Your rightful due. <br />
For among all the wise men of the nations, <br />
And in all their kingdoms, <br />
There is none like You. <br />
8 But they are altogether dull-hearted and foolish; <br />
A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. <br />
9 Silver is beaten into plates; <br />
It is brought from Tarshish, <br />
And gold from Uphaz, <br />
The work of the craftsman <br />
And of the hands of the metalsmith; <br />
Blue and purple are their clothing; <br />
They are all the work of skillful men.<br />
10 But the LORD is the true God; <br />
He is the living God and the everlasting King. <br />
At His wrath the earth will tremble, <br />
And the nations will not be able to endure His indignation. <br />
<br />
Jeremiah 10 condemns idolatry, both in the letter and in the spirit, whether a physical idol or an idolatrous tradition based upon <b><span style="font-weight: bold;">HEATHEN CUSTOMS</span></b> like the "Christmas tree" that history clearly exposes as pagan in origin. Those who adorn their Christmas trees and remain in denial about its pagan origin, who play deaf, dumb and blind to the facts, who attempt to dismiss or downplay how it's a heathen custom, are <i><span style="font-style: italic;">living a lie</span></i> and shamefully reject the clear commandments of God that speak against such spiritual adultery, mixing and matching pagan error with biblical truth, and will suffer the consequences for being so dishonest and deceitful. <br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Pagan holidays like Christmas and pagan customs like Christmas trees are both abominations to God.</span></b> True Christians shun both, we avoid them like the plague, because we love God more than idolatrous traditions of apostate men!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/no-longer-celebrate-christmas.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Why I No Longer Celebrate Christmas</span></span></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/christmas-giving.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Christmas is About Giving -- Says Who?</span></span></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/c-h-spurgeon-christmas-roman-catholicism.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;">C.H. Spurgeon on Christmas and Roman Catholicism</span></span></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/cog/will-god-curse-countries-christmas.htm" target="_blank"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;">Will God Curse Our Countries for Christmas?</span></span></a><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;"><br />
</span></span><br />
<a href="http://christmascondemned.blogspot.com/2006/11/plain-truth-about-christmas-by-herbert.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #20124d;"><span style="color: #20124d;">The Plain Truth about Christmas</span></span></a> </span></span></div></div>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-56531773882215424502010-12-03T05:29:00.000-08:002010-12-03T05:29:25.221-08:00"I have dreamed a dream"<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"I have dreamed a dream"</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 41:15)<br />
Kislev 25, 5771/December 2, 2010<br />
1st Night of Chanuka</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"To be or not to be: That is the question."</span> At least in Hamlet's mind that is the question. Torah answers this question with an emphatic yes, resonating from the moment of creation, and even a moment before that. But Hamlet, in his long brood, carries his darkness even further: <span style="font-style: italic;">"To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub."</span> It would seem that the hapless Hamlet is haunted by his own dreams, or more precisely, by what they reveal about himself. On the other hand, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, our own inveterate dreamer, had no such compunction. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> sought only <nobr>G-d's</nobr> word in his dreams and in the dreams of others, and not his or their own earthly schemes or motivations. Our sages teach us that our dreams contains both the wheat and the chaff. Every dream we dream has an element of prophecy. But alas, every dream we dream contains its own fair amount of nonsense. Winnowing the kernel of truth from the mass of chaff is the particular skill that Yosef possessed, and that, in truth, very few of us today possess.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> was a young man who followed his dreams, (and the dreams of others), which dragged him down to the depths of despair before propelling him upon his meteoric rise to fame and power. His story alone testifies to the Torah's endorsement of dreams and dreaming. His brothers misunderstood <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> dreams because they read their own fears and desires into his dreams. Pharaoh was confounded by his own dreams, unable to make heads or tails of their profound imagery. Yet <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, in a flash, was able to separate the message from the metaphor, and laid out for Pharaoh both the meaning of his dreams and the practical solution for dealing with their portent.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">There are no dreams which accompany the story of the Chanuka victory of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Maccabi</span> warriors over the Greek oppressors, but neither is the annual coinciding of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> story with the Chanuka celebration a meaningless coincidence. On Chanuka, in commemoration of the miracle of the single cruse of oil which burned brightly for eight consecutive days, we kindle our own Chanuka lights. Anyone who prepares their own wicks for their <span style="font-style: italic;">Chanukiyot</span> (lamps) knows the following: the wick draws up the pure olive oil, and produces both a brilliant illumination, and plenty of jet black soot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">A dream's ultimate source is <nobr>G-d</nobr>, akin, in the case of our Chanuka lamp, to the pure golden olive oil. In one's dream is both the Divine illumination, as envisioned in our mind's eye, (the wick), and all the senseless chatter that inevitably accompanies our dream. And that is the soot. Little wonder that we are instructed on each of the eight nights of Chanuka to take the time to gaze at and enjoy the the glow of our candles after we have kindled them. For this soft but penetrating light is both the source of our dreams and also the very light that first accompanied and illuminated creation. Our sages teach us that <nobr>G-d</nobr>, seeing that the world was not ready to merit this pure and holy light, hid that light away for the enjoyment of the righteous in the world to come. <span style="font-style: italic;">Behold - for the eight days of Chanuka, we are the righteous and this is the world to come!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Contrary to the apprehensions of Hamlet, we have nothing to fear from our dreams if we but cling to their pure source, seek out and behold the illumination of their true message, and regard their worthless soot and dross accordingly. One of the most moving of Psalms is Psalm 126, which begins: <span style="font-style: italic;">"A song of ascents. When HaShem returns the returnees to Zion, we shall be like dreamers."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Today all of Israel are as dreamers for we have indeed returned to our land. Our many enemies see only darkness and danger in our dream. They, like <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> brothers, are transposing their own fears and, (in this case), their own un-<nobr>G-d</nobr>ly desires upon our dream. Many others just don't get it, for they, like Pharaoh, can't separate the wheat from the chaff. And to be sure, there is chaff and there is black soot, for this is a natural byproduct of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> dream in this world. And for this reason we are commanded to see the light and to dwell in its illumination, and not to dwell in the blackness of the soot.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Our ancestors, the <span style="font-style: italic;">Chashmonean</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">Maccabi</span>) priests, knew this well. They recaptured and purified the Holy Temple years into a war for liberation that would last decades more. In spite of the daunting task and its many dangers that still lay ahead of them, they stopped all activity at once and busied themselves with only one thing: rekindling the seven lamps of the golden menora. The one cruse of pure olive oil that they discovered in the ransacked Sanctuary, which would burn uninterrupted for eight nights and days, was their reward for remaining true to their dreams and steadfast in their fight for <nobr>G-d's</nobr> honor, for His light is the light that our dreams are made of.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In the words of the unfortunate Dane: <span style="font-style: italic;">"perchance to dream."</span> By all means - to dream! and to guided in life by the pure Divine light that lights up our dreams. <span style="font-style: italic;">Chanuka sameach - A Joyful Chanuka!</span></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven dream aloud about <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> the dreamer and the role he played in saving his own family and the entire nation of Egypt from famine. It seems that ever since <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, Jews are great at dreaming... Keeping their own dreams alive, and fueling the dreams that keep the whole world alive as well. The nations of the world are all for Jewish dream-power, but once we've made their dreams come true, they'd prefer it if we would just disappear...</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Chanuka is here, time to bring the Hidden Light back into the world. Speaking of which, the light of this world is the Divine Presence which rests in the Holy Temple.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Rabbi-Richman-2011-American-tour-schedule.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Rabbi Richman 2011 American
Tour" border="0" height="250" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/555/January-2011-tour-nwslttr.jpg" title="Rabbi Richman 2011 American Tour" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">"Sing to the <nobr>L-rd</nobr> a New Song; Sing to the L-rd, All the Earth!"</span> (Psalms 96) The Book of Psalms speak numerous times about a New Song. "Sing to the <nobr>L-rd</nobr> a New Song." This is the song that will be sung when <nobr>G-d</nobr> ushers in the great moment of the Complete and Final Redemption. What is the secret of that song? What does it sound like? Will everybody get to sing it?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">With <nobr>G-d's</nobr> help, Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute in Jerusalem will be speaking throughout the United States during the month of January 2011. You are invited to join him and explore together, the timeless universal message of the holy Torah for all people - <span style="font-weight: bold;">"From Exile to Redemption:"</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul><li><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What is the Divine promise of Redemption?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How does the process of Redemption affect every individual and nation? How close are we?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How are we all part of the Redemption? What role does every person play?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How do we understand cataclysmic world events in the light of the Biblical promise of Redemption?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How does the Holy Temple fit into this plan?</span></li>
</ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Rabbi Richman will also be unveiling an exclusive Temple building update, never before seen anywhere, which brings Israel and the world to an entirely new and unprecedented level of preparation for the rebuilding of the Holy Temple.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Rabbi Richman will be speaking in eight states. Please click here to see his complete schedule. <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Rabbi-Richman-2011-American-tour-schedule.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/02/symbolism-reality.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Chanuka: Symbolism & Reality" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/555/lttn-02-12-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Chanuka: Symbolism & Reality</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">Many Temple related commandments that we perform today are merely remembrances of the original commandments. The commandment to kindle Chanuka lights, however, is a commandment which effects a true spiritual reality unique to the days of Chanuka."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/12/02/symbolism-reality.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How strong is the bond between a parent and a child? A father and a son? <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> could not be comforted by <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> loss. Just what did Ya'akov know concerning Yosef's apparent demise? Why was there a "conspiracy of silence" surrounding Yosef's disappearance? Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Miketz</span> (Genesis 41:1-44:17).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Chanuka Sameach from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-14802905531796955592010-11-27T11:30:00.001-08:002010-11-27T11:30:26.785-08:00Cast Into the Pit<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"And they took him and cast him into the pit."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 37:24)<br />
Kislev 18, 5771/November 25, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">What happens when an individual, a single soul, is torn from his father? When the wrath of his brothers is kindled and his own flesh and blood are set upon him, seeking his death? When he is thrown into a pit, abandoned to fate and the deadly caprice of the scorpions and snakes who slither and scamper over his naked body? When he is brought from the pit and sold to passing Ishmaelite merchants, mercenaries, dealers in human stock, who sell him again, at a neat profit? When he is ordered to be steward of his masters house, and gains mastery of all the possessions found in his master's house, whose master's wife attempts to seduce him, and unsuccessful, accuses him of rape, and he is arrested and convicted and thrown in the pit? Does his souls wither? Do his dreams perish?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The book of Genesis is the book of the patriarchs, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham, Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>. Yet more words are dedicated to the life of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> than are dedicated to lives of the three patriarchs, and more details are known about the life of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, his trials and tribulations, than are known about the three patriarchs. For sure, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> life was pivotal to the survival of the nation of Israel. But what is <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> life to us today?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><nobr>G-d</nobr> spoke to <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>. He spoke to <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>. He spoke to <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>. Yet <nobr>G-d</nobr> never spoke directly to <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>. At critical junctures in his life <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> had no one to rely on but himself. He had to be his own guide, choose his own path. <nobr>G-d</nobr> didn't tell <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> to go here or to go there. He didn't tell <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> that He would protect him from harm. He didn't promise him seed or that his seed would prosper. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> was on his own. Completely.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">On his own but never alone. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> never suffered loneliness for he attached himself always to <nobr>G-d</nobr>. He didn't require <nobr>G-d's</nobr> consolation or instruction for he acted always with the knowledge that the <nobr>G-d</nobr> of his fathers, the Creator of the universe, permeated His creation with His presence. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> was rejected by his brothers but he could never be estranged from <nobr>G-d</nobr>, for he understood that <nobr>G-d</nobr>, unlike man, was always there right by his side. A man's fate may seem cruel, but when seen through the eyes of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, a man's fate ultimately is neither cruel nor capricious, but an expression of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> will, of His direct involvement in the life of the individual. <nobr>G-d</nobr> didn't appear to <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, nor did He talk to <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, but every moment of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> life, every unforeseen development, every low point and high point of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> life, was informed by <nobr>G-d's</nobr> will. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> knew this. This was the message of his own dreams, and this would be the message that he perceived in Pharaoh's dreams. And <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> conducted himself always with this knowledge. This is why Torah calls <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef tzaddik</span> - righteous: despite every temptation he maintained his unbroken attachment to <nobr>G-d</nobr>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Of all the patriarchs and sons of Israel who populate the book of Genesis, it is <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> who most personifies the dilemma of modern man: man's isolation from his fellow man. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, at any time could have fallen through the cracks, never to be heard from again. He could have been just another statistic, lost in the labyrinth of man's cruelty to man. But <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> prevailed. He took upon himself what is the very heart and soul of Torah teaching: personal responsibility. In this manner it can be said that <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> fulfilled <nobr>G-d's</nobr> expectations of man.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef's</span> soul neither withered, nor did his dreams perish. On the contrary, it was his indomitable sense of self and his fidelity to his dreams that carried him through his darkest moments. Ultimately, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> was the master of his own fate. We too can gain mastery over our own lives if we, like <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>, accept upon ourselves the overriding teaching of Torah: personal responsibility for our own actions and an unbreakable bond to <nobr>G-d</nobr>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven ponder American pressures and promises: Will we be guilty of selling <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> again? The conflict between the righteous <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> and his holy brothers is a conflict that still effects us to this very day. Will we ever fix the sin of the sale of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span>? It's high time for the people of Israel to stop selling themselves short, and to stand up to the task that <nobr>G-d</nobr> appointed us for, no matter what is being used to bribe, threaten, cajole, intimate, or browbeat our people into giving up our Land and our legacy.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The Palestinian denial machine has determined, in the name of science, that the Western Wall is not Jewish. Everybody's upset, but they should have been upset long before this...</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/24/the-challenge-of-adversity.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Challenge of Adversity" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/551/bm-24-11-10.jpg" title="Bat Melech" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Challenge of Adversity</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> The suffering and adversity that are a part of life and that are so difficult to comprehend, are nevertheless an expression of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> love for us. If we can accept our suffering as a challenge, we can grow stronger and closer to <nobr>G-d</nobr>."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/24/the-challenge-of-adversity.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/24/a-prayer-for-rain.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="A Prayer for Rain" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/551/lttn-25-11-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">A Prayer for Rain</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">The rain that falls in the land of Israel represents and reflects our spiritual and physical well-being. <nobr>G-d</nobr> does right by Israel if Israel does right by <nobr>G-d</nobr>. If the rain is not falling, it is time for repentance and prayer."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/24/a-prayer-for-rain.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Have you ever felt utterly and completely alone? <span style="font-style: italic;">Yosef</span> must have. He was separated from his loving father and his brothers wanted to kill him. Ultimately he was thrown in a pit filled with scorpions and snakes and then sold to some passing Ishmaelites, who in turn sold him into slavery. Yet we're never alone, and if our hearts are turned to <nobr>G-d</nobr>, we will identify His fingerprint upon our lives Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayeshev</span> (Genesis 37:1-40:23).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-15912650652001932332010-11-19T05:49:00.001-08:002010-11-19T05:49:15.900-08:00Your name shall be Yisrael<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"Your name shall be Yisrael"</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 32:29)<br />
Kislev 11, 5771/November 18, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Looking back on the lives of the three patriarchs, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham, Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, we can identify a certain pattern of growth and development. <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> embarked on a voyage of discovery that began with an intellectual inquiry: Who created and informs all creation? When <nobr>G-d</nobr> responded to <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> query with the instructions <span style="font-style: italic;">"Lech lecha," "Go from your land... "</span> (Genesis 12:1) <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> intellectual quest was superseded by a spiritual awakening which guided him throughout the rest of his life.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> was born into this knowledge of <nobr>G-d</nobr> and on the eighth day of his life entered into the covenant that had been established between his father <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> and <nobr>G-d</nobr>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak's</span> life was not one of spiritual searching, but rather a life of introspection and intimacy with <nobr>G-d</nobr>. It was <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> who laid himself down on the altar on Mount Moriah, where his father <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> had brought him. And it was <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> who witnessed the angel who called out to <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> and stayed his hand from striking him. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> never set foot outside the land of Israel nor did he ever question <nobr>G-d</nobr> as to the future of his own offspring, or the administration of justice in this world, as did <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham. Yitzchak's</span> life was the result and the culmination of all of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> searching and questioning. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">One might therefore assume, quite naturally, that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov's</span> life picked up just where <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak's</span> left off. That is, that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> grew up and matured within a cocoon-like spiritual reality, impregnable and impervious to those less than sublime forces of every day life that conspire constantly to deflect us from out true course, to drag us down into despair, and to compel us to compromise on and lose sight of the spiritual truths which guide our life's journey.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Yet, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov's</span> life, as we all know, was not a serene life of privilege, untouched by tempest and strife, but quite the opposite. Even while still inside his mother's womb, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> had to contend with violent forces of jealousy and greed aimed against him. This envy and antipathy toward <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> only waxed stronger as he grew up alongside his brother <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span>. Eventually <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav's</span> anger became deadly in nature and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> literally had to flee for his life. But rather than granting <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> some well-deserved respite from all his troubles, his troubles only seem to grow ten-fold. <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> is forced to leave the land of Israel and then he is forced to work as a slave to his wily and rapacious father-in-law. He falls head over heels for Rachel, but is deceived into first marrying her sister Leah. Jealousy between sisters simply adds to <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov's</span> woes. Even separating himself and his family, at long last, from his father-in-law <span style="font-style: italic;">Lavan</span>, in order to return home to the land of Israel, proves a stressful and dangerous task.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Why is it then, that even as the collective soul of the emerging nation of Israel seems to have reached maturation and even perfection in the personage of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, it is immediately plunged into a "life-scape" so fraught with peril and threat of extinction, in the personage of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>? What is <nobr>G-d</nobr>, the shaper of the infant nation of Israel, intending to achieve? It would seem that even as steel, once refined and beaten into shape, needs to be plunged into a white hot fire in order to be tempered and strengthened, so too did the soul of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>. Already an alloy of the soul of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, the outgoing man of loving kindness, and the soul of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, the introspective man of quiet vision, the soul of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was in need of tempering before this single patriarch could pass along his spiritual patrimony to his twelve sons, the eponymous fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Already tempered through trial and tribulation, the soul of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> meets its ultimate test in his confrontation with an unnamed angel, just before stepping back into the land of Israel. It was by virtue of this confrontation, in which he bested this heaven-sent messenger, that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was at last named - and transformed - into <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span> - he who has <span style="font-style: italic;">"struggled with <nobr>G-d</nobr> and with men, and [has] prevailed."</span> (Genesis 32:29) As <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> - now <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span> - reenters the land of Israel he immediately must confront new threats and challenges of a nature even more perilous than those he has faced before. But now, while still vulnerable as an individual, as the embodiment and progenitor of the up and coming nation which is to be called by his name <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span>, the soul which merged the best of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> with the best of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, has become an irresistible force for spiritual truth, to be reckoned with, by man and by <nobr>G-d</nobr>, throughout all the ensuing generations of the history of mankind.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">No doubt we, the generation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span> that lives in the land today, and all those who attach their souls to the soul of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span>, can take heart in the courage and the conviction displayed by <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> our father. For we too, like <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, find ourselves constantly besieged and set upon by murderers and thieves, detractors, despoilers and deceivers, in high places and low, who seek to deny and defy us, to supplant and replace us. To all our brothers who bear an implacable envy in their hearts: This generation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span> has returned, and all we want is what is ours - that which <span style="font-style: italic;">Yisrael</span> earned by dint of his cleaving to <nobr>G-d's</nobr> truth, and bequeathed to his children and to his children's children.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the mysterious balance of light and darkness during the month of <span style="font-style: italic;">Kislev</span>, and the eternal struggle between <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya’akov</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span>, as exemplified by <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya’akov’s</span> wrestling with an angel in this week’s Torah portion of <span style="font-style: italic;">Vayishlach</span>, even as the United States once again pressures Israel to freeze Jewish building in the Land of Israel. Also, the three irrevocable purchases in the land of Israel and the light of Queen Helena's golden lamp.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Please note</span>: Israel National Radio is currently moving to a new facility and is experiencing temporary technical difficulties. The current (November 16th), <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> broadcast, as well as recent broadcasts can be heard and downloaded on <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/temple-talk" target="_blank">UniversalTorah.com</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/events.htm#kiddushin" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Tying the Knot atop the
Temple Mount" border="0" height="136" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/547/temple-mount-wedding-nwslttr.jpg" title="Tying the Knot atop the Temple Mount" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Tying the Knot atop the Temple Mount</span>: This past week, a dear friend of the Temple Institute, and celebrated craftsman of Temple vessels, ascended the Temple Mount with his soon to-be-bride on the morning of their upcoming wedding. Ascending the Mount and being present in the place of the Holy Temple is an ancient tradition that has been renewed in recent years. Here, however, our story takes a romantic - and daring - twist. Click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/events.htm#kiddushin" target="_blank">here</a> to learn more.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/17/suppressing-iniquity-part-ii.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Suppressing Iniquity, Part II" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/547/lttn-11-18-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Suppressing Iniquity, Part II</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"><nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr> is neither an accountant nor a scorekeeper. He doesn't tally up our good deeds, subtract from them our transgressions, declare the balance and call it a day. <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr> gathers up our good deeds, places them before Him, and does not allow our transgressions to diminish His delight with with all the good that we have accomplished."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/17/suppressing-iniquity-part-ii.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov avinu's</span> (our forefather Jacob's) midnight encounter with a mysterious angel: Who was this angel, what was his purpose, and by what name was he known? <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> overcomes the angel, and by doing so gains insight into all these questions. He also acquires for himself a new name, a new identity, and a new role to play in establishing the Divine presence here on this earth. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayishlach</span> (Genesis 32:4-36:43).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-69249791932464643552010-11-12T08:58:00.001-08:002010-11-12T08:58:48.396-08:00The Stones of the Place<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">" ...and he took of the stones of the place... "</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 28:11)<br />
Kislev 4, 5771/November 11, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The sun set suddenly and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov avinu</span> - Jacob our forefather - was compelled to pitch camp and stay the night. So <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov "took of the stones of the place and placed [them] at his head, and he lay down in that place."</span> (ibid) Now a person who has set out on a long journey knows that a good night's sleep is an imperative if he is to continue on his way in peace the following morning. Among other considerations to be made for a good night's sleep, comfort will surely be paramount. And anyone who has ever gone camping knows that the smallest pebble or bramble under one's bedroll will render utterly impossible a restful slumber. Yet <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, with great purpose, gathered up stones to employ as his pillow. Whatever was he thinking?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Midrash</span> relates that the twelve stones that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> gathered up at that place were twelve stones that he pulled from the altar that his father <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> had been bound upon one generation earlier. From this we learn that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> didn't stumble upon this place inadvertently. He knew exactly what this place was, that is, the place where his grandfather <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> bound his father <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, the place where <span style="font-style: italic;">Adam</span> first built an altar, the place known by our sages as the place of the world. That is, the place of the future Holy Temple. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> deliberately dismantled the altar of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>. Wasn't that disrespectful? Shouldn't he had stood off a bit in the distance, silently taking in the site of the great test of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> faith? He could have meditated, contemplating the profundity of the site. But <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> chose to do something else altogether. He chose, by deconstructing the altar and then reconstructing it as a pillow for his head, or should we say, a pillow for his consciousness, for his entire spiritual being, to opt into his father's and grandfather's experience of a direct and immediate relationship with <nobr>G-d</nobr>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">And <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> took this paradigm of the man - <nobr>G-d</nobr> relationship not one, but many steps forward. He could hardly relive his father's experience by throwing himself down upon the altar. That was a onetime moment in the history of mankind. Instead, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> sought to take the intimacy of this moment and make it accessible to all. He removed twelve stones from the altar representing the twelve sons he was yet to have. He wanted to bequeath the <span style="font-style: italic;">Moriah</span> experience of his father and grandfather to his children and to all further generations of man, through his children. This is the meaning of his exclamation upon awakening from his dream: <span style="font-style: italic;">"How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and this is the gate of heaven."</span> (ibid 28:17) Just as <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> tent was open and welcoming to all passers by, <span style="font-style: italic;">"the house of the <nobr>G-d</nobr> of Ya'akov"</span> (Isaiah 2:3) would likewise be a true house, accessible to all.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> chose to not only honor the holy site where he spent the night, but to bring it to life and make it his, through his own active intervention. Those who today only view the Temple Mount from afar, insisting that we must not approach the Mount, may be paying respect to the place of the Holy Temple, but they are also, intentionally or not, rendering the place and all that it stands for, distant and irrelevant. The positive commandment that we fulfill by visiting the Temple Mount, (in accordance with <span style="font-style: italic;">halacha</span>), is known in Hebrew as <span style="font-style: italic;">mora Mikdash</span> - showing reverence to <nobr>G-d</nobr> on the site of the Holy Temple. The word <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">mora</span> - <span style="font-weight: bold;">reverence</span> - is derived from the same root as the word <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov avinu</span> uttered, <span style="font-style: italic;">"ma <span style="font-weight: bold;">nora</span>," "How <span style="font-weight: bold;">awesome</span> is this place!"</span> (Genesis 28:17) Visiting and making our presence felt, as Jews and believers in the <nobr>G-d</nobr> of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, on the Temple Mount is a direct continuation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov's</span> own actions which he took on this spot to lay his rightful claim to the spot and to the covenant between man and <nobr>G-d</nobr> that it embodies. We are unable in our generation to pull stones from the altar itself, but by being on the Mount where we are commanded by Torah to be seen by <nobr>G-d</nobr>, we can begin to remove the stones that have lodged in our hearts.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven are transfixed by this week's Torah reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Vayeitzei</span>, and its connection to the Holy Temple - past, present and future, and how <span style="font-style: italic;">Yaakov's</span> prophecy on the Temple Mount, as expressed in the rocks he gathered, is being fulfilled today.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/events.htm#zevachim" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Tractate Zevachim" border="0" height="222" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/546/masechet-zevachim-nwslttr.jpg" title="Tractate Zevachim" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">With great thanks to HaShem</span>, the Temple Institute is proud to announce the historical, landmark publication of the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Talmud Tractate Zevachim</span>. This classic work deals intensively with the description and explanation of the Divine service of offerings, as it is performed in the Holy Temple. Now, for the first time in 2000 years, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Tractate Zevachim</span> has been published with an in-depth exploration and elucidation of all the commandments and traditions concerning the Temple offerings. Years in preparation, this work includes the <span style="font-style: italic;">"Sha'arei Heichal"</span> ("Gates of the Sanctuary") commentary written by the Beit HaBechirah Kollel of the Temple Institute, whose scholars specialize and excel in the Torah knowledge of the Holy Temple and the Divine service, providing ground-breaking research, new insights, and, literally, hands-on investigation into the practical implementation of the commandments concerning the Temple offerings. To learn more, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/events.htm#zevachim" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/10/avraham-sara-part-ii.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Avraham & Sara, Part III" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/546/bm-10-11-10.jpg" title="Bat Melech" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Avraham & Sara, Part III</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> United in their search for the One <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr>, united against all the odds of a world hostile to the knowledge of the One <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr>, and united in their love for one another, the source from which they drew their strength, Avraham & Sara are to be emulated by all who seek out the love and guidance of <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr> in their lives."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/10/avraham-sara-part-ii.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/11/suppressing-iniquity.htm" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Suppressing Iniquity" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/546/lttn-11-11-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Suppressing Iniquity</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"><nobr>G-d</nobr> is neither an accountant nor a scorekeeper. He doesn't tally up our good deeds, subtract from them our transgressions, declare the balance and call it a day. <nobr>G-d</nobr> gathers up our good deeds, places them before Him, and does not allow our transgressions to diminish His delight with with all the good that we have accomplished."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/11/suppressing-iniquity.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">" ...and he took some of the stones of the place and placed them at his head, and he lay down in that place."</span> (Genesis 28:11) What was <span style="font-style: italic;">"that place,"</span> and what was the nature of those stones that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> gathered together, and which, upon his awakening from his dream of a House of <nobr>G-d</nobr>, formed a single stone, which became the very "foundation stone" upon which all creation is established? And how could the "foundation stone" upon which the entire world rests find itself in that place and at that very moment when <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> chose to take his sleep? It was <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov's</span> consecration of the stone with olive oil that made the transformation possible. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayeitzei</span> (Genesis 28:10-32:3).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-20422289868915088872010-11-06T07:36:00.000-07:002010-11-06T07:36:57.438-07:00Two Nations are in Your Womb<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"Two nations are in your womb."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 25:23)<br />
Cheshvan 27, 5771/November 4, 2010</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Even before they emerged from the womb, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> and his twin brother <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> were battling it out. <span style="font-style: italic;">Midrash</span> tells us that whenever <span style="font-style: italic;">Rivkah</span>, (Rebecca), would pass by a place of idolatry, <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> would strike out violently within her, and every time she passed by a place of Torah, (the tents of <span style="font-style: italic;">Shem</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ever</span>, where Torah was taught), <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> would stir with longing. The written words of Torah itself immediately note the nature of their differing world views: <span style="font-style: italic;">"And the youths grew up, and Esav was a man who understood hunting, a man of the field, whereas Ya'akov was a pure man, dwelling in tents."</span> (Genesis 25:27) <span style="font-style: italic;">"Dwelling in tents,"</span> in Hebrew, <span style="font-style: italic;">"yoshev ohalim."</span> The five Hebrew letters which make up the word <span style="font-style: italic;">"ohalim," "tents,"</span> are the same five letters which spell the name of <nobr>G-d</nobr>. In other words, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was <span style="font-style: italic;">"a pure man who dwelled with <nobr>G-d</nobr>."</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">But who was <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span>? <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> was a man who understood the chase, the ways of the world, and what it takes to get ahead, to get what you want, to take what you want, when you want it, and by whatever means necessary. <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> was a man of means, he <span style="font-style: italic;">"understood the hunt."</span> The Hebrew word for hunt, <span style="font-style: italic;">tzayd</span>, is related to the word for equipment, <span style="font-style: italic;">tziyud</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> had the right stuff, all the necessary <span style="font-style: italic;">accoutrements</span>, and then some. He wore a three piece suit, carried a leather briefcase, a laptop, a bluetooth, a gold watch, a silver cane. He was a <span style="font-style: italic;">"man of the field,"</span> outstanding in his field, the best at what he did. He was out there, in the limelight, in the news, in the gossip columns, the subject of <span style="font-style: italic;">paparazzis</span>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, (Isaac), loved <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> because <span style="font-style: italic;">"the hunt was in his mouth."</span> (ibid 25:28) Our sages explain that <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> was a smooth talker, and his words could sway and persuade others. His words could slay hearts. His words could kill. <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> was a man of instant gratification. He returned from the hunt hungry and with a fire in his belly. He wanted food to fill it. He wanted it now and at any cost. He ate, he killed his hunger, he rose up and was off again, out to acquire more. (ibid 25:29-34)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Come to think of it, <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> possessed all of the qualities that modern society seems to lionize. We may not admit to admiring these qualities, but we are taught, and frequently experience first-hand, that this is what it takes to make it in today's world. Do unto others before they do it unto you. It may not be pretty, but it works. And what of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>? He lived in <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav's</span> shadow.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"And Yitzchak loved Esau,"</span> (ibid), not because he admired or approved of <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav's</span> aggressiveness or his possessiveness, or his sense of entitlement, or his crass worldly accomplishments, or his murderously violent nature, but because he, too, felt that this is what it takes to get by in this world. And if <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> lacked humility, if he had no room in his heart for his fellow man, if he had no faith in or need for <nobr>G-d</nobr>, well then, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> thought, <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> could, in time, acquire these traits. No, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> wasn't naive, but he was the man, who, when still a lad, walked hand-in-hand with his father <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> to Mount Moriah, where, bound upon the altar, the heavens opened up above him, and the angels' tears dimmed his eyes. <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> was cut from a different cloth.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Rivkah</span>, however, grew up in a household of scoundrels not unlike <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span>. She understood where he came from and she understood to where he was bound. <span style="font-style: italic;">Rivkah</span>, we are told, <span style="font-style: italic;">"loved Ya'akov."</span> (ibid)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Contrary to <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav's</span> claim, to his bitter lament, to his heart-tugging cries, <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> stole neither his birthright, nor his blessing. For both the birthright and the blessing always belonged to <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>. He was the man of <nobr>G-d</nobr>. When <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was tired, as we shall see, (ibid 28:11) he lay down his head in a place of <nobr>G-d</nobr>. When <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was hungry, driven from his home, pursued by his murderous brother, he prayed to <nobr>G-d</nobr> that He would provide him with sustenance, with clothing and with shelter. And with these words he concluded his prayer: <span style="font-style: italic;">"And if I return in peace to my father's house, and HaShem will be my <nobr>G-d</nobr>. Then this stone, which I have placed as a monument, shall be a house of <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and everything that You give me, I will surely tithe to You."</span> (ibid 28:22)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We don't need to live like <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span>, from hand to mouth, always on the hunt, trusting no one and at odds with our brother. There is another way. The way of our father <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>. If we determine that where we lay down our head will be a place of <nobr>G-d</nobr>, that our sustenance, our shelter, and all our worldly accomplishments will be expressions of our faith in <nobr>G-d</nobr>, then this world will be one of <nobr>G-d</nobr>liness, and not a <nobr>G-d</nobr>less hunting ground.</span></div></td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss <span style="font-style: italic;">Yaakov's</span> birthright & blessings, and the Torah's insistence that we all accept personal responsibility for the course of human events.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">How do we understand the perplexing struggle between <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span>? What do these forces represent, and how is their struggle ultimately resolved?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Unesco, in a quintessentially <span style="font-style: italic;">Esavian</span> manner, declares that <span style="font-style: italic;">Ma'arat HaMachpela</span> in Hevron as well as Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem are mosques. Why is Rachel crying for her children (Jeremiah 31), and why is Rachel <nobr>G-d's</nobr> guarantor that her children will return to their land?</span></div></td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Americans-for-a-Safe-Israel-on-the-Temple-Mount-5771.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="True to the Temple Mount" border="0" height="160" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/545/AFSI-5771-nwslttr.jpg" title="Americans for a Safe Israel" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI): True to the Temple Mount</span>: Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI), established in 1970 to advocate for Israeli sovereignty over the historical biblical heartland of Israel, (Judea, Samaria and Gaza), have made it an annual commitment in recent years to include an ascent to the Temple Mount in their itinerary during their stay in Israel. Click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/Americans-for-a-Safe-Israel-on-the-Temple-Mount-5771.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to learn more about AFSI's commitment to the land of Israel and to the Temple Mount, and to view photographs documenting AFSI's visit to the Mount.</span></div></td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/04/returning-with-mercy.htm" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Returning with Mercy" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/545/lttn-04-11-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Returning with Mercy</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"><nobr>G-d's</nobr> love for every individual is unreserved and unconditional. We may distance ourselves at times from <nobr>G-d</nobr>, through our own selfishness, carelessness and short-sightedness, but <nobr>G-d</nobr> is ever ready to accept our return to Him, with "open arms," and an embrace that only grows stronger, in spite of, or perhaps even because of, our own human frailty. Have we the capability within ourselves to likewise be so magnanimous toward others?"</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/11/04/returning-with-mercy.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The work of the patriarchs, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham, Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> was to establish in this world an eternal bond between man and <nobr>G-d</nobr>. <span style="font-style: italic;">Toldot</span> chronicles the struggle for supremacy between two radically different approaches toward leadership: the way of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span>, and the way of <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav. Esav</span> excelled in so many ways he seemed a natural for the part. And after all, he was the first-born. There was but one thing missing from <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav's</span> understanding of life: the fear and the acknowledgment of <nobr>G-d</nobr>. Forever stymied by his own egotistical take on life, <span style="font-style: italic;">Esav</span> languished, while <span style="font-style: italic;">Ya'akov</span> assumed the mantle of leadership. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Toldot</span> (Genesis 25:19-28:9).</span></div></td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr><br />
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr><br />
</tbody>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-61768360602162515142010-10-30T15:01:00.001-07:002010-10-30T15:01:48.599-07:00The Field and the Cave<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"And the field and the cave within it were established to Avraham as burial property, purchased from the sons of Heth."</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 23:20)<br />
Cheshvan 21, 5771/October 29, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham avinu</span> - Abraham our father - is renowned for the gracious manner in which he invited wayfarers and hosted them in his tent. In fact, his tent, as our sages tell us, was a square tent with entrances on all four sides, so that any travelers passing by would see the open entrance and immediately feel welcome to stop in and rest, receive a hearty meal, be refreshed and be tended to by <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> himself. The most famous of these occasions is, of course, that which is documented in Torah, in which three passing sojourners are approached by <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, still weak from his circumcision. Interrupting an encounter he is experiencing with <nobr>G-d</nobr>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> runs to meet these three passing strangers, (whom he imagines to be idol worshippers, based on their appearance), bathes their feet, and invites them for a meal. While <span style="font-style: italic;">Sara</span> prepares cakes for them <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> runs after a young calf among his livestock, in order to slaughter it and prepare for them a meal. Of course the three strangers prove to be three angels with a special message for <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Sara</span>, but had <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> not run to greet them and bless them with his hospitality, the rest of the story would never have occurred.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We are taught that the actions of the fathers, (the patriarchs), are signs and instructions for the children, (the descendants of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham, Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yaakov</span>). We are meant to learn from their example, in how we treat one another, how we deal with the nations, and in our relationship with <nobr>G-d</nobr>. Certainly we are to learn from <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> the importance of hospitality and welcoming guests into our home. What truly marked <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> was not simply that he was a friendly and gracious host, always welcoming an opportunity to greet a new face and make a new friend, but the energy and initiative, determination and persistence that characterized, not just the manner in which he pursued his three heavenly guests, but how he pursued all the challenges and goals of life that <nobr>G-d</nobr> set before him.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> employed the same zeal and unwavering determination when carrying out <nobr>G-d's</nobr> command to bind and offer up his son Yitzchak, the supreme and most perilous challenge of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> life. And it is with the same meticulous attention to detail and respect and concern for others that <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> purchased the burial cave of <span style="font-style: italic;">Machpelah</span> as a final resting place for <span style="font-style: italic;">Sara</span>. And leaving nothing to chance, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> instructs his servant <span style="font-style: italic;">Eliezer</span> to travel abroad to find a bride for his son <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>. But why was <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> so concerned and proactive in purchasing a plot of land in Israel and finding a suitable bride for his son? After all, had not<span style="font-style: italic;"> Avraham</span> already secured <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise that his progeny would inherit the land? Why work so hard to accomplish a promise that you have already pocketed?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> understood intuitively that the Divine promise he received from <nobr>G-d</nobr> was not a <span style="font-style: italic;">carte blanch</span> or a one-way all-expenses-paid ticket, but a covenant, a contract which required that both parties work toward the achievement of the common goal. <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise is eternal, <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise is irrevocable, <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise is unassailable, but <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise will only be fulfilled through the undaunted efforts of His children. Actively engaging <nobr>G-d</nobr> and actively pursuing their common aim of making <nobr>G-d</nobr> a welcome "guest" in this world was what personified <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, from his rebel days in <span style="font-style: italic;">Ur</span>, and later, his <span style="font-style: italic;">"making of souls"</span> in <span style="font-style: italic;">Haran</span>, and finally his laying down of the spiritual cornerstone for the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah, (the binding of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>), and his laying of the physical cornerstone for Jewish settlement and possession of the land of Israel in Hevron, (the purchasing of the <span style="font-style: italic;">Machpelah</span>). This is the legacy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> that he has bequeathed to his children. We are not to rest until we have secured our place in the land of Israel and <nobr>G-d's</nobr> place in this world via the building of the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah and the renewal of the Divine service. This is <nobr>G-d's</nobr> promise and this is our challenge. Nothing less!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss this week's Torah reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Chayei Sarah</span>, which opens up with our forefather <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> purchase of the "Double Cave" in Hevron. Why does Torah emphasize this so much, and what is our connection to this mysterious, ancient place whose very name, Hevron, means <span style="font-style: italic;">"connection?"</span> All this in the light, (or darkness), of this week's statements issued by the Synod of Catholic bishops which essentially "cancels" promises made by <nobr>G-d</nobr> to our father <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, to all the patriarchs, to Moses and to the entire people of Israel. What exquisite timing! What better week to cast doubt on the Biblical connection to our homeland, than the very week in which Torah testifies to that connection!</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/27/avraham-sara.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Avraham & Sara" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/544/bm-27-10-10.jpg" title="Bat Melech" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Avraham & Sara</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> United in their search for the One <nobr>G-d</nobr>, united against all the odds of a world hostile to the knowledge of the One <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and united in their love for one another, the source from which they drew their strength, Avraham & Sara are to be emulated by all who seek out the love and guidance of <nobr>G-d</nobr> in their lives."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/27/avraham-sara.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/28/the-prayers-that-bind.htm" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Prayers that Bind" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/544/lttn-28-10-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Prayers that Bind</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">What is the nature of true prayer? Do our words and thoughts have the power to effect change? True prayer in its rarest and most precious form is the yearning of the heart. These feelings of yearning form an unseen yet tangible connection between us all, binding us to each other and in turn to every aspect of creation."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/28/the-prayers-that-bind.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/TI-digest.htm" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="TI Digest" border="0" height="93" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/544/TI-digest-nwslttr.jpg" title="TI Digest" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">We are pleased to introduce a new feature on the Temple Institute website: <span style="font-weight: bold;">TI Digest</span>, which consists of an archive of articles, videos and slide shows which have formerly been listed on the <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/events.htm" target="_blank">Events</a> page. It is our hope that this will ease navigation on our site and make it easier to find the features that you are looking for. Please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/TI-digest.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to go to TI Digest.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The celebration and the sanctification of life are the keys to the gates of the Garden of Eden through which we can pass into life eternal. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Chayei Sara</span> (Genesis 23:1-25:18).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-90558993847875634262010-10-28T09:58:00.001-07:002010-10-28T09:58:00.439-07:00Yitzhak Rabin<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/israel/shimon-peres-rabin-dead-body.htm" style="color: #000066; font-weight: bold;">Shimon Peres Came to Power Over Rabin's Dead Body</a><br />
I met Yitzhak Rabin in the Israeli Parliament in 1982 during Hanukkah. I was able to talk with him briefly and mention I was associated with Ambassador College in Pasadena, California.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/israel/avishai-raviv-eyal-yitzhak-rabin.htm"><strong>Avishai Raviv, Eyal, and Yitzhak Rabin</strong></a><br />
Avishai Raviv was an Israeli government agent provocateur (whose code name was "Champagne" for the bubbles of incitement he created to tarnish the right-wing Israelis) who goaded Yigal Amir to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (although this is hotly disputed by investigative reporters like Barry Chamish)...<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.davidbenariel.org/israel/vatican-linked-assassination-yitzhak-rabin.htm" style="color: #000066; font-weight: bold;">Vatican Linked to the Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin?</a><br />
The dark powers of the European Union, under evil influence of the very real German-Jesuit cabal, are intent on ripping out the heart of Israel and sacrificing Israeli sovereignty to their wannabe divine emperor about to take the world by storm, pimped by the sorcerer-pope.David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-21875361377360342662010-10-22T13:32:00.001-07:002010-10-22T13:32:38.480-07:00And They Both Walked Together<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"And They Both Walked Together"</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Genesis 22:6)<br />
Cheshvan 14, 5771/October 22, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">These past weeks we have been learning about <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham Avinu</span> - Abraham our father. <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> was an outgoing man, a man of action, a man of tremendous passion. We learn this from the written word of Torah and we learn it from our <span style="font-style: italic;">Midrashic</span> sources. Whether he was <span style="font-style: italic;">"making souls"</span> in <span style="font-style: italic;">Haran</span>, (Genesis 12:5) waging war in Damascus, (ibid 14:15) or hosting a trio of angels in <span style="font-style: italic;">Alonei Mamre</span>, (ibid 18:2) <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> was brimming with leadership and initiative. He was charismatic and personable. He was accessible.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> son <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, (Isaac), on the other hand, seems to embody all the opposite attributes. He strikes us as passive. He is more a <span style="font-style: italic;">reactor</span> than an <span style="font-style: italic;">enactor</span>, as was his father. Whereas <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> was making souls and waging war, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> was digging wells and staying one step ahead of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avimelech</span> and his contentious shepherds, avoiding conflict at any cost. (ibid 26:15-31) <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> is a model of introspection. The very act of digging wells suggests something that is under the surface, hidden from the light of day. The love of his life, <span style="font-style: italic;">Rivkah</span>, (Rebecca), was brought to him while he was in his field meditating (ibid 24:63). <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> embodies the inner life.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The worldly <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, friend to <nobr>G-d</nobr> and friend to man, has given birth to <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, so much his father's opposite. Yet, in what will be known as the greatest of the ten tests with which <nobr>G-d</nobr> tested <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> walked and acted as one. This is the test of the binding of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, known in Hebrew as the <span style="font-style: italic;">akeidah</span>. The test is, of course, the test of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, who was called upon by <nobr>G-d</nobr> to perform a commandment that contradicted everything that <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> thought he know about the nature of <nobr>G-d</nobr>; everything that he had been teaching to his fellow man. <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> had to subjugate his will to the will of <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and by doing so, prove to every witness of his act, that he was indeed a servant of the One <nobr>G-d</nobr>. But this was only half of the balancing act that was required of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>. He also had to include <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> in this act of selflessness and solidarity: solidarity between man and <nobr>G-d</nobr>, between father and son, between patriarch and each and every generation of the people that he fathered.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The site of this test, of this great binding of hearts and souls, was Mount Moriah, named, albeit somewhat mysteriously, for the first time in Torah. The <span style="font-style: italic;">akeidah</span> (binding) narrative (ibid 22:1-18) refers to the place alternatively as <span style="font-style: italic;">"the land of Moriah,"</span> (ibid 22:2) and, in <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> own words, as <span style="font-style: italic;">"the mountain where HaShem will be seen."</span> (ibid 22:14) And it was on this very spot that one generation later, <span style="font-style: italic;">Yaakov</span>, the son of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, would lay down his head and dream a dream in which a ladder stretched from the heavens to the earth. (ibid 28:12) This is the site of the Holy Temple. And just as <span style="font-style: italic;">Yaakov</span> inherited both the extroverted qualities of his grandfather <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, and the introverted qualities of his father <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, and synthesized these opposites, harmonizing and balancing them, so too would the Holy Temple eventually come to embody and perpetuate this unity of opposites.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The Holy Temple is a <span style="font-style: italic;">"house of prayer for all nations,"</span> (Isaiah 56:7) open and welcome to all who come to worship the One <nobr>G-d</nobr>. Yet the inner courtyards of the Holy Temple are open only to Israel. The Temple Sanctuary, (the <span style="font-style: italic;">Kodesh</span>), is open only to the <span style="font-style: italic;">Kohanim</span>, (Priests), and into the Holy of Holies only the <span style="font-style: italic;">Kohen Gadol</span>, (High Priest), can enter, and only on one day of the year, Yom Kippur.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The Holy Temple is the place from which Israel connects to all the nations, where offerings are made on behalf of all the nations, and where all the nations can bring offerings and offer up their prayers. And the Holy Temple is the place where the nation of Israel is most intimately united with the <nobr>G-d</nobr> of Israel.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">In the Holy Temple Israel defines itself, fulfills its potential and sends forth Torah to the four corners of the earth. The Holy Temple is a mountain for uniting hearts and minds, a field for quiet meditation and a place of dreams and their realization. It is our patriarchs, <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham, Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yaakov</span>, who, with their own unique strengths built the foundations of the Holy Temple, and bequeathed its healing and harmonizing powers to Israel and all the nations.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss today's news headlines as they were first reported thousands of years ago by Torah in the lives of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>. The binding of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> on Mount Moriah provides the real subtext to the conflict between <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Yishmael</span>, and between Torah and Islam which today is being clarified and rectified in that very place... <span style="font-style: italic;">"as it is said, on the mountain HaShem will be seen."</span> (Gen. 22:14)</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/21/for-he-desires-kindness.htm" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="For He Desires Kindness" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/543/lttn-21-10-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">For He Desires Kindness</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> The sixth of the thirteen attributes of mercy, as described in the Tomer Devorah: The acts of kindness that we bestow upon one another are "recalled" by <nobr>G-d</nobr> and sweeten whatever harsh judgment we may be otherwise deserving."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/21/for-he-desires-kindness.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsAMADC9CU" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Maimonides Ascends the
Temple Mount" border="0" height="113" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/542/Rambam-ascent-nwsltr.jpg" title="Maimonides Ascends the Temple Mount" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maimonides Ascends the Temple Mount</span>: Commemorating the 835th anniversary of Maimonides historic ascent to the Temple Mount: The incomparable Rambam (Maimonides), of blessed memory, was a giant of Jewish law who journeyed from North Africa to the land of Israel, braving storm and sea and an inhospitable land under crusader domination for one purpose: to visit Jerusalem, ascend the Temple Mount and pray at the place of <span style="font-style: italic;">"The Great and Holy House,"</span> the site of the Holy Temple. In doing so Rambam performed the positive commandment of <span style="font-style: italic;">"mora mikdash,"</span> showing reverence to <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr> in the place of His Holy Temple. We can and must perform this same commandment today. If you have not yet watched this four minute video, please click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsAMADC9CU" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Every newborn baby is a miracle. Yet the birth of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak</span>, (Isaac), defied all the rules of reason and biology. Rather than bow their heads in awe of the enormity of the miracle that <nobr>G-d</nobr> wrought, the pundits and gadflies of the day cast doubt upon the veracity of <span style="font-style: italic;">Yitzchak's</span> origins. Fast-forward to today,replace <span style="font-style: italic;">"Yitzchak"</span> with "the state of Israel" and gain some insight into Israel's contemporary denigrators and their pathetic denial of truth and reality. Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Vayera</span> (Genesis 18:1-22:24).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18180997.post-52678043211310728192010-10-16T07:43:00.000-07:002010-10-16T07:43:26.664-07:00Avraham My Friend<table align="left"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 16pt;">"Avraham My friend"</span><br />
<span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;">(Isaiah 41:8)<br />
Cheshvan 7, 5771/October 15, 2010</span></div><br />
<br />
<br />
<div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"The darkest hour is just before dawn."</span> That's what they say. When was mankind's darkest hour? Was it the generation of the flood, when man's iniquity forced <nobr>G-d's</nobr> hand, and the devastating flood occurred? Was it the generation of the dispersion and the mixing of tongues when man's meteoric rise in self-deceiving narcissism led to his attempt to elbow <nobr>G-d</nobr> out of this world? Or was it the generation into which <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham avinu</span> - Abraham our father - was born?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">"I am HaShem, Who brought you forth from Ur of the Chaldees..." (Genesis 15:7) <span style="font-style: italic;">Ur</span>, the name of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> native city, also bears the meaning, in Hebrew of <span style="font-style: italic;">"light"</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">"fire." Midrash</span> refers to this when describing how <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, still a young man, was thrown into a fiery furnace on account of his belief in the One <nobr>G-d</nobr>. We can also learn from this another truth: That if it hadn't have been for the light of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, the flame that he kindled while still in the city of <span style="font-style: italic;">Ur</span>, darkness would have overcome creation for a third time. But unlike the generation of the flood or the generation of the tower of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bavel</span>, Torah doesn't describe to us what great peril humanity found itself in during the generation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham.</span> What changed?</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Concerning the generation of the flood, a corrupt and despicable generation, <nobr>G-d</nobr> called upon <span style="font-style: italic;">Noach, "righteous among his generation,"</span> (ibid 6:9) to build an ark and save all living creatures. In the generation of <span style="font-style: italic;">Bavel</span>, there was no one there to call out to. Or could it be that the time of <nobr>G-d</nobr> calling out to man was over? <nobr>G-d</nobr> had already called out twice to man. He called out to <span style="font-style: italic;">Adam</span>, asking, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Where are you?"</span> (ibid 3:9) and He called out to <span style="font-style: italic;">Noach</span>, saying, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Build an ark."</span> (ibid 6:14) But <nobr>G-d</nobr> only called out to <span style="font-style: italic;">Noach</span> when it became clear that <span style="font-style: italic;">Noach</span> wasn't going to call out to <nobr>G-d</nobr>. And by then it was too late for the great mass of humanity. For <nobr>G-d's</nobr> instructions to <span style="font-style: italic;">Noach</span> came with a price: the life-destroying waters of the flood. And <nobr>G-d</nobr> concluded His covenant with <span style="font-style: italic;">Noach</span> with the promise that a second flood would not occur. <nobr>G-d</nobr> would no longer express His disappointment with mankind by threatening man's existence. He would let man imperil himself, as man did in the generation of the dispersion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">So <nobr>G-d</nobr> waited. And within generations the dark clouds of corruption and cynicism and deception; of a totalitarian, one-world government ruled by thought police, which pervaded and permeated every aspect of life, gathered once again to blacken the skies and threaten man's future. And then <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> came and called out to <nobr>G-d</nobr>.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Midrash</span> tells us that <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> smashed his father's idols, and by doing so, caused such a sensation and such a scandal in society, threatening both those in power, and the very all-embracing false orthodoxy that kept them in power, that he had to be eliminated. Hence the fiery furnace. But the fire was just as phony as everything else in society and <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> walked out unscathed. And if Torah doesn't relate any of this explicitly, and begins the chronicle of <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham's</span> life with <nobr>G-d's</nobr> word, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land that I will show you,"</span> (Genesis 12:1) this is because <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>, by calling out to <nobr>G-d</nobr>, and by reintroducing <nobr>G-d</nobr> to his fellow man, pre-empted the chaos and devastation that was surely to come. Dawn had arrived.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> blazed a new trail, and forged a new relationship with <nobr>G-d</nobr>. Twenty generations earlier it was <nobr>G-d</nobr> who came looking for man, who was hiding from Him. Now it is <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> who has come looking for <nobr>G-d</nobr>, when <nobr>G-d</nobr> was hiding His face from man. This is why <nobr>G-d</nobr> refers forever to <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> as, <span style="font-style: italic;">"Avraham My friend."</span> (Isaiah 41:8) For <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> rescued man, the crowning glory of <nobr>G-d's</nobr> creation, by reintroducing man to <nobr>G-d</nobr>. And that, as they say, <span style="font-style: italic;">"was the beginning of a beautiful friendship."</span></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Temple Talk" border="0" height="44" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/temple-talk-small.jpg" title="Temple Talk" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">Tune in to this week's <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/temple_talk.htm" target="_blank">Temple Talk</a></span> as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven discuss the month of <span style="font-style: italic;">Mar Cheshvan</span>, the Torah reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Lech Lecha</span>, the Rambam, who this week, 835 years ago, ascended the Temple Mount, all under the rubric of the "Faith Connection." For the concept of faith shows up everywhere, all around us: It’s the backdrop of everything associated with <span style="font-style: italic;">Mar Cheshvan</span>, as well as the Torah portions and the career of our illustrious forefather <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>. And the great Maimonides’ historic pilgrimage to the Temple Mount was also an aspect of his undying faith that the Holy Temple would be rebuilt.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsAMADC9CU" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Maimonides Ascends the
Temple Mount" border="0" height="113" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/542/Rambam-ascent-nwsltr.jpg" title="Maimonides Ascends the Temple Mount" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Maimonides Ascends the Temple Mount</span>: Commemorating the 835th anniversary of Maimonides historic ascent to the Temple Mount: The incomparable Rambam (Maimonides), of blessed memory, was a giant of Jewish law who journeyed from North Africa to the land of Israel, braving storm as sea and an inhospitable land under crusader domination for one purpose: to visit Jerusalem, ascend the Temple Mount and pray at the place of <span style="font-style: italic;">"The Great and Holy House,"</span> the site of the Holy Temple. In doing so Rambam performed the positive commandment of <span style="font-style: italic;">"mora mikdash,"</span> showing reverence to <nobr>G-d</nobr> in the place of His Holy Temple. We can and must perform this same commandment today. Click <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVsAMADC9CU" target="_blank">here</a> to watch this four minute video.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/13/avraham-was-one.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Avraham was One" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/542/bm-13-10-10.jpg" title="Bat Melech" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Bat Melech</span> video teaching with <span style="font-style: italic;">Rabbanit</span> Rena Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Avraham was One</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;"> Avraham and Sara were two individuals that sought out the One <nobr>G-d</nobr> and worked tirelessly as a couple to impart that all-encompassing oneness to mankind."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/13/avraham-was-one.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/14/the-attribute-of-anger-part-ii.htm" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Attribute of Anger, Part II" border="0" height="150" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/542/lttn-14-10-10.jpg" title="Light to the Nations" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">This week also features the new <span style="color: #996600; font-family: Georgia; font-weight: bold;">Light to the Nations</span> teaching by Rabbi Chaim Richman, entitled, "<span style="font-weight: bold;">The Attribute of Anger, Part II</span>: <span style="font-style: italic;">Our sages tell us that when we lose our temper and allow ourselves to act out of anger, we are succumbing to a form of idolatry. Conversely, by emulating <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr>, and allowing our anger to be transformed into patience and forbearance, we are elevating ourselves and bringing <nobr></nobr><nobr>G-d</nobr> into our lives."</span> Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/2010/10/14/the-attribute-of-anger-part-ii.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to view.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/week-of-the-Rambam.htm" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="The Week of the Rambam" border="0" height="204" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/541/week-of-the-Rambam-nwslttr.jpg" title="The Week of the Rambam" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">For the entire week we have been celebrating <span style="font-weight: bold;">The Week of the Rambam</span>, in commemoration of the 835th anniversary of Maimonides' historic ascent to the Temple Mount: Each day this week we have posted articles describing the Rambam’s life and times, his visit to Israel and the Temple Mount, and the commandment of <span style="font-style: italic;">mora mikdash</span> - showing reverence for <nobr>G-d</nobr> on the Temple Mount. To get started learning about this giant of Jewish thought and scholarship, please click <a href="http://www.templeinstitute.org/week-of-the-Rambam.htm" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank"><img align="left" alt="Parashat Hashavua" border="0" height="60" hspace="10" src="http://www.imsclients.com/listmail/admin/temp/newsletters/364/parashat_hashavua-nwslttr.jpg" title="Weekly Torah" valign="top" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;">The book of Genesis opens, and the generations of man just whir by. By the time the reading of <span style="font-style: italic;">Lech Lecha</span> begins twenty generations have passed. And then the pace slows down as Torah begins to describe the life and work of our father <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span>. What made <span style="font-style: italic;">Avraham</span> unique? How was he different from all those that had come before him? Why was <nobr>G-d</nobr> pleased with Avraham? Click <a href="http://universaltorah.com/programming/category/temple-institute-light-to-the-nations/weekly-torah/" target="_blank">here</a> to view Rabbi Richman's short teaching on <span style="font-style: italic;">parashat Lech Lecha</span> (Genesis 12:1-17:27).</span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td height="20"> </td> </tr>
<tr> <td valign="top"> <div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Blessings from the holy city of Jerusalem,</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> Yitzchak Reuven</span></div><div><span style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana;"> The Temple Institute<br />
</span></div></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table>David Ben-Arielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02271443642557427428noreply@blogger.com0