Thank You Boy George

Boy George has released a song entitled "We Will Dance Again" - 

You say genocide, I say war - When you're attacked, that's what the army's for - Does it get ugly? You bet it does - When I know you wanna kill - Every last one of us - Every last one of us 

You never mention October 7 - Murder through Tel Aviv - For the crime of dancing  - You condemn the Jews, with selective memory - Musicians holding flags, mouthing like sheep - Propaganda fueled by the Internet feels so weak..... we will dance again.....

But if you're ever confused.... I stand with the Jews.... I don't feel brave, I just need to behave like a human....

Link to hear on Instagram: click here

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The Life of the Tzadik

Art Baruch Nachshon

''From there, they journeyed to Gudgodah, and from Gudgodah to Yotvath..'' [Eikev 10:7]

Rashi: And at Moserah, you made a great mourning for the death of Aaron, which was the cause of this [your retreat], and it seemed to you as though he had died there. Moses juxtaposed this reproof with the breaking of the tablets to indicate that the death of the righteous is as grievous to the Holy One, blessed is He, as the day the tablets were broken...

Why is a tzadik [Aaron] compared to the tablets?

The writing on the tablets represented the ''soul'' of the tablets, and the tablets themselves, their ''body''. The fact that the Ten Commandments were engraved into the tablets, and not merely written onto them, means that the words and the tablets [''soul'' and ''body''] became one single, indivisible entity.

Likewise in the case of a tzadik, it is not merely that his soul interacts with his body, but that the tzadik's physical life is totally at peace with his soul such that ''the life of the tzadik is not a physical life, but a spiritual life''.

Based on Likutei Sichos vol 14 pp 32-34 Lubavitcher Rebbe

Tu b'Av

L'illui nishmat Mordechai ben Menachem a"h

The Jewish mini-holiday of Tu B’Av

The 15th of Av [begins Tuesday night] is undoubtedly a most mysterious day. A search of the Shulchan Aruch [Code of Jewish Law] reveals no observances or customs for this date, except for the instruction that the tachanun [confession of sins] and similar portions should be omitted from the daily prayers [as is the case with all festive dates], and that one should increase one’s study of Torah, since the nights are beginning to grow longer, and “the night was created for study.” And the Talmud tells us that many years ago the “daughters of Jerusalem would go dance in the vineyards” on the 15th of Av, and “whoever did not have a wife would go there” to find himself a bride.

And the Talmud considers this the greatest festival of the year, with Yom Kippur (!) a close second!

Indeed, the 15th of Av cannot but be a mystery. As the “full moon” of the tragic month of Av, it is the festival of the future redemption, and thus a day whose essence, by definition, is unknowable to our unredeemed selves.

Yet the unknowable is also ours to seek and explore.

Source and more  click here

We're Living in the Final Moments Before Moshiach

H/t Sherry

Rabbi Zushe Silberstein - 6 min video

Asking Forgiveness From the Deceased

Question: In my past I wronged someone who is unfortunately no longer alive today. Is there any way I can make amends? 

Response: Rabbi David Rosenfeld [Aish]

As a matter of fact, the Talmud [Yoma 87a] discusses your exact situation. The proper way to make amends is to go to his grave accompanied by ten people and to publicly confess that you sinned to the God of Israel and to him and that you did such and such, and you beg his forgiveness. At the end the others respond three times "machul lach" [“it is forgiven to you”]. You should be barefoot during the course of this. 

If it is too far for you to travel, you can send a messenger to do the same, accompanied by ten people. He should state that he is the agent of so and so, and has come for the purpose of apologizing for such and such an act etc. 

If you have no way of knowing where he is buried or it would be very difficult to arrange a visit to his grave, you can gather ten people where you are and do the same procedure. My wishes that you achieve full atonement.

[Sources: Talmud Yoma 87a, Shulchan Aruch 606:2 with Mishna Berurah and Piskei Teshuvot]

Source: Aish

Also see How Can I Make Amends to a Deceased Person

The Three Levels of Tzadikim

In every generation there exists 36 tzadikim nistarim [hidden righteous men] - sometimes known as "the Lamed Vav-niks" - [Lamed Vav is Hebrew for 36], whose existence sustain the world.

When one of them dies, G-d finds another replacement.

A tzadik nistar is a hidden tzadik, whose righteousness remains unknown to his community. In every generation there are 36 tzadikim nistarim in addition to 36 revealed tzadikim. [see Leviatan and Behemot]. Together they combine to form the 72 "bridges" [corresponding to the 72 Names of G-d] described in the Zohar as linking together the concealed and revealed worlds. It requires tremendous self sacrifice for a tzadik nistar to reveal himself to the world. This was first accomplished in full by the Ba'al Shem Tov.

A tzadik is someone who has succeeded in fully overcoming the evil inclination of his animal soul [and has converted its potential into good] and who dedicates himself to spiritually elevating his people.

There are in general three levels of the tzadik:

1. A "complete tzadik" [tzadik gamur] who not only vanquishes in full his innate evil inclination, but even transforms it into good [for which reason he is referred to as tzadik v'tov lo," a tzadik who possesses only good].

2. An "incomplete tzadik" [tzadik she'eino gamur] who has not yet completed the task of vanquishing his evil inclination, though he has mineralized it in essence [for which reason he is called a tzadik v'ra lo," a tzadik who [still] possesses [a bit of] evil].

3. A "relative tzadik" [tzadik b'shem hamushal, or tzadik b'din] whose merits exceed his liabilities [see Tanya, chapt. 1].

Challah: Not Just Plaited Bread

A recent discussion on a  social media group caused some controversy as many Jewish women did not know the true facts about challah.

Someone asked where to buy challah..... and people responded by naming several local bakeries, one of which was not a kosher bakery and which was operated by a non-Jew.

So here are the facts.

Challah must be made by a Jewish person, and there is a very valid reason for this. The literal meaning of challah in the Torah refers to the commandment of hafrashat challah—setting aside and consecrating a small portion of dough to G-d before baking.   Only a Jew can do this setting aside and consecration of the small portion of dough.  

We separate challah dough to fulfill a biblical commandment [mitzvah] that originally provided a portion of bread dough to the kohanim [Jewish priests] serving in the Holy Temple. Because the Temple no longer stands, we now set aside and burn a small piece of the dough in remembrance of this practice, symbolizing that our sustenance comes from G-d and is not for our use alone. 

A non Jewish person does not have this obligation, and therefore even if they do it - which is highly unlikely as they probably don't know - it is not acceptable and does not fulfill the commandment. Only a Jewish person can make real challah.  Any other challah originating from a source that is not Jewish is not acceptable.

If you didn't know this, and have been buying your challot from a bakery where the baker is not a Jew, then don't worry, because you can rectify this situation by fixing the problem and going to a Jewish bakery.   By doing this, you will have done teshuva, and your past sin of buying the wrong [fake]challah will be turned into a mitzvah, because you have rectified the problem.

As Rebbe Nachman said: "If you believe you can damage, then believe you can fix.... if you believe you can harm, then believe you can heal."  That quote is at the top of my blog, although it is hard to read now, a bit blurry, but it's there.

Even non-Jews, Bnei Noach, who make a blessing over challah on Shabbat, should adhere to this rule, otherwise their challah is fake challah.

How to Perform the Mitzvah

The Separation of Challah

According to traditional Jewish law [Halacha], a non-Jewish person cannot perform the religious separation of challah [hafrashas challah], and any separation they attempt is considered invalid. Furthermore, dough that belongs to a non-Jewish person is exempt from the obligation of challah separation entirely.  

I hope no-one takes offence to anything written here, it is Torah, and there is no need to be offended.  

The Hidden Treasure

Art: Dima Dmitriev

''And from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him...'' [Va'Etchanan 4:29]

Chassidic thought teaches that in order for any entity to exist at all, God must renew it continually, by enlivening it with a spark of His own Existence.  Without being connected to God - the True Existence - the entity is unable to exist.  Thus, even the forces of evil must contain a Godly spark that enables them to exist.

But why, then, is it possible for the forces of evil to conceal this presence of Godliness within them?  

The answer is: To make possible the amazing elevation that can be reached through teshuvah.

When a person has regressed to a very low spiritual state, the Torah teaches us that ''from there [i.e. from amidst the forces of evil] you will seek God''.  

This teaches us that the Godly revelation which a person reaches through teshuvah is disproportionate to the effort involved, like ''finding'' a previously hidden treasure, as the verse states ''And you will find Him''.

Source: Lubavitcher Rebbe: Based on Ma'amer ani Ledodi, Shabbos Parshas Re'eh 5747