Lazer Brody's Blog, page 338

Ashdod Again Suffers Grad Missile Attack

For the first time since the Gaza War two years ago, Ashdod - my beloved city - came under missile attack again. Just minutes ago, the Red Alert siren wailed, and about 35 seconds later, the warhead fell about three kilometers to the south of my home, near the Nitzanim Beach on the south side of town, one of my favorite places for personal prayer. Just last night, my son Danny and I were taking one of our favorite father-and-son walk&talks on that very same stretch of beach. While we were walking, we heard a Grad missile explode on the outskirts of Ashkelon to the south of us. Another Grad missile hit Ashkelon about three hours ago. Thank G-d no one was hurt in either attack.

Civil Defense has warned the residents of Southern Israel to stay close to home, in the proximity of a bomb shelter.

As yet, it's too early to interpret what Hamas's intentions are. We do know one thing - phenomenal amounts of weapons have been pouring into Gaza ever since the unrest in Egypt started.

Complacency is irresponsibility; we have to regard the missiles from Gaza as wake-up calls from Hashem. Accordingly, we must undergo serious self evaluation and correct what needs correcting. With Hashem's help and with emuna, we'll weather all these challenges until Moshiach comes, very soon, amen. 

Red Crow's Legacy

In reaction to our Deadly Dominoes post from a week ago, two of our good friends - David Dome of London and Red Bear from Wyoming - called my attention to amazingly similar things that they had heard from "Red Crow."

Floyd "Red Crow" Westerman was an elder of the Dakota Sioux, a thinker, a man of spirit, and a musician. His beliefs were so close to Jewish spirituality, lending even more credibility to what many believe that the Native Americans stem from the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Red Crow died in 2007 from a battle with leukemia, but before he left this earth, he recorded his legacy on film, which we are happy to share with you. Among other things, Red Crow said (italics are LB's comments):

1. There is a time for purification and a time for renewal - this concept is recurrent all through Torah.

2. A society dies when it forgets how to live on earth - the land regurgitates the morally corrupt.

3. Man's inability to live on earth in a spiritual fashion indicates his end - such is the fate of decadent societies.

4. If you're not spiritually connected, you won't survive - right out of the Torah.

5. Everything is spiritual, everything has a spirit - see Zohar, Ariza'l

6. There is One Creator - the first commandment and first tenet of emuna

7. Our time on earth is limited, then we go to the spiritual world - basic tenet of Judaism

8. The spiritual world is more real than the physical world - basic tenet of Breslever thought.

9. When the elements of the earth are corrupted, so is man - see Gemara, Midrash Raba, Breishit

10. The monkey may be your ancestor, but he's not ours - we don't believe in Darwin.

See and hear for yourself:

Hide and Seek

According to Jewish law, on Purim, we begin to learn the laws of Pesach. Indeed, Rebbe Nachman teaches that Pesach begins with Purim.

* * * * *

We live in exciting times – awesome, sometimes frightening for the faint of heart, but nonetheless exciting. Just as the rumbling of thunder precedes the big storm, the tumult of current events is preceding the biggest event of history: the full redemption of our people and the coming of Moshiach, speedily and in our days, amen.

We do strange things at the Seder table on Passover to arouse our children's interest. We don't eat bread, only matza; we dip vegetables in salt water before we eat them; we recline on pillows like desert sheiks, and we eat bitter herbs. Our children then ask why, and we answer them. In that way, our children are aroused to ask us the meaning of Passover and readily listen to our answer.

So what's the meaning of one earthquake after another in recent weeks? And why are volcanoes erupting, suddenly expectorating fire and lava high in the sky? And why is the entire Arab world in an uproar all at once? And why is the world economy about to crash? And why is Israel surrounded by increasingly radical neighbors?

We are Hashem's beloved children and He is doing strange things to make us wake up and ask why. He wants us to ask, "Hashem, beloved Father in Heaven! What's going on here? Why is there so much trouble in the world?"

Once we ask, Hashem – like a loving Father – answers (Isaiah 50:1-2):
 
"Because of your crimes, I have exiled your mother. Why did I come and there is no one? I called and no one answers! Is My Hand not capable of redeeming you?"

Hashem is reminding us that as long as we don't have a Holy Temple in a reunited Jerusalem, The Shechina, The Divine Presence which is allegorically known as "Our Mother," has no resting place and is still in exile. As long as The Shechina remains in exile, we do to. That's the hard fact that many have had difficulty in accepting. Sure, we have an army, a navy and an air force, but our elected leaders won't let us build homes on our own land if the foreign overloads object. Don't be angry because that's from Hashem too.

So why is Hashem squeezing us with political and security problems in Israel and with economic difficulties and increasing anti-Semitism abroad?

Continue reading Hide and Seek in this week's edition of Breslev Israel web magazine.

My beloved teacher and spiritual guide Rav Shalom Arush shlit'a gives the real meaning of Purim in Joy with Awe.

Breslev Israel is proud to present a new column of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's writings about Rebbe Nachman's teachings, compiled and edited by our dear friend Ziv Ritchie. You'll love this week's The Holy Drunkard.

Zev Ballen has some important observations about Aliya in Fear of the Sabra. Racheli Reckles tells all about the importance of One Word: Amen. Rivka Levy says that if you talk the talk, you certainly must Walk the Walk. Chaya Ovadia relates a wonderful story about The Cane. Dovber Halevi rechannels anger in From Emotion to Action.

This week's Torah portion is Shmini. Have a continued joyful Purim and a wonderful week!

Two Crowns is part 59 of Rabbi Erez Moshe Doron's Warriors of Transcendence.

Purim: Perenniel Template

Purim is a time for learning Torah with love; take 40 minutes, and fulfill your obligation of learning Torah on Purim by listening to our special Purim lesson, which shows how the Megilla of Esther is not only a template for Jewish History, but for each of us individually also. Enjoy, and Happy Purim!

If you have trouble seeing the above video, see it directly here.

The Ring of Fire

This is awesome and amazing: in my post Polar Shift from this past Tuesday, I wrote that Hashem helped me understand that, "fish have innate sensitivity to electromagnetic influences and use the earth's magnetic field - particular magnetic north - as a means of navigation." This was the result of my own observations and personal-prayer session realizations. Doctor Rivka Rachel, a research physician from NIH and a Beams reader, just sent me a video clip where renowned geologist Jim Berkland confirms in a by-the-way manner what I wrote. He does this while saying that changes in the earth's electromagnetic polarity precede earthquakes. Lately, many whales and schools of fish have been uncharacteristically approached the US West coast. This, Berkland says, is not a good sign. He's predicting an imminent earthquake for this coming week; this is well worth seeing and hearing:

If San Francisco is smart, it will rescind the hateful law against circumcision that they made. If they don't, I'd suggest that everyone steer clear of that Amalek-dominated metropolis. Some people never learn; New Zealand banned Kosher slaughter not long ago. New Zealand then got hit in a place with this name. Only fools say "coincidence."

We can all rejoice that Hashem runs the world. Hashem wants us to return to Him, and fast, because the Geula is unravelling much faster than we all think. Have a wonderful Shabbat!

Shabbat Zchor: Wiping out Amalek

If you have trouble seeing the above 7-minute video, here's a direct link.

Chilik Frank: Kel Adon

This is a super special Shabbat coming up - Shabbat Zchor, when we wipe out the memory of Amalek. Amalek is the dark-side of sadness and depression, the worst form of spiritual impurity. Holiness is happiness - this weekend is the time to stock up on both.

As the Fast of Esther was early this year (Thursday), we enjoy the lights of Purim for a full 5 days, through this coming Monday.

Let's start partying right now. Here's Breslev's acclaimed clarinetist Chilik Frank to teach us the Breslev version of "Kel Adon," which we sing every Shabbat morning in Shacharit. Enjoy, and have a wonderful Shabbat.

A Proper Purim

We want you to have the very best Purim holiday you ever had. To help you do just that, take a coffee-and-sandwich break to see our recent emuna lesson, A Proper Purim. If you have trouble viewing on this link, see the video directly here.

Israeli Navy Update on Victoria Incident

The Israeli Navy yesterday siezed a merchant ship - the Victoria - carrying Iranian weapons to Gaza.

Wall of Deadly Dominoes

The domino wall continues to fall: just hours ago, and additional blast at the Fukushima plant now has radiation freely pouring into the atmosphere. The Japanese government is beginning to admit that they're in serious trouble, and people are now fleeing Tokyo.

Bulletin Update, just received from Reuters, 21:11 AM Israel Time, Wed, 16 Mar 11 - a new fire has broken out in the #4 reactor at the Fukushima plant

There's an apparent contradiction in Scripture: In Genesis, Hashem declares that the world He created is "very good." Yet, King Solomon in Ecclesiastes call the world "vanity of vanities." Doesn't that sound like insolence on King Solomon's part, Heaven forbid?

The answer of course is no. There is neither insolence on King Solomon's behalf nor a contradiction between Genesis and Ecclesiastes. Hashem in Genesis talks about the world as He created it. King Solomon in Ecclesiastes is talking about what man does to Hashem's world.

The 8.9-level earthquake and devastating tsunami have passed, but the radioactive-pollution catastrophe grows from minute to minute. Tens of thousands of Japanese are either missing, or homeless, or lack power and water with winter in Japan not yet over. But, no one knows how terribly the people and the land of Japan are being radioactively affected for posterity. A Japanese-grown strawberry is liable to be lethally carcinogenic if it's not completely mutated beyond recognition first.

Earlier today, I asked the Melitzer Rebbe shlit'a about his take on Japan. The Rebbe pondered my question for several minutes in silence. He then told me that any of our great sages, from Moses to the Rambam to the Vilna Gaon and Rebbe Yonatan Eibshitz to the Chazon Ish, could have designed nuclear power plants if they had wanted to. But they didn't, for in their far-reaching holy vision, they didn't want to do anything that would be detrimental to Hashem's magnificent creation which we all know as Planet Earth. In that respect, our sages were always in favor of anything that was conducive to protecting the earth and opposed the opposite.

The Melitzer Rebbe knows what he's talking about. A little later in the day, European governments began having second thoughts about nuclear power. A few hours ago, Germany shut down 7 reactors while they rethink policy. Nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione said that a nuclear meltdown could happen in America too.

Anything people do that is detrimental to Hashem's perfect creation ultimately becomes deadly domino wall - one domino falls and knocks the others down in rapid succession. The meltdown of the Japanese reactors are creating a growing economic catastrophe as well as an environmental one. Much of Japan's industry is down. Japan will undoubtedly be forced to sell hundreds of billions of US bonds to pay for recovery and rebuilding, making the US debt much costlier than it already is. Meanwhile, Tokyo's stock market is on a slide, world markets are in a panic and Wall Street is nose-diving.

Who knows where the radioactive cloud - now moving east from the Japanese coast to the Pacific Ocean - will end up and what damage it will do.

So what's the lesson from all this?

Let's get back to basics fast and put our efforts into the things that Moses, the Rambam, the Vilna Gaon, Rebbe Yonatan Eibshitz and the Chazon Ish put there efforts into - Torah, emuna and teshuva. With Torah, emuna and teshuva, we build the world rather than destroying it, Heaven forbid. If the nations of the world knew the value of Torah, emuna and teshuva, they'd be forcing every single Jew to learn and pray day and night. If we don't want the universe to be a crashing wall of deadly dominoes, we must cling to the Tree of Life - Torah and emuna, returning to Hashem while there's still time. There's no other way.

Some folks like being ostriches, ignoring Hashem's messages and putting their heads in the ground. They can't do that anymore because either the ground is trembling from an earthquake or it has a higher-than-safe level of radioactivity. The Geula is coming, fast.