Tuesday, March 05, 2013

The 8th Plague; The Plague of Locusts

Well not much time.  We have a simcha this weekend.  Yet, we all know that the the 8th plague struck Mitzraim on the 21st of Adar, this past Sunday.  We also know that the 8th plague in the Torah also took place in Adar.  The ninth plague followed quickly also in Adar without warning, 3 days of intense darkness in which no light could be seen even if someone tried to light a candle.  Some say that the darkness was so intense that the Egyptians could not even move because the darkness locked them in place for three days.  Now in the previous comment section I noted that this year the calendar of Hillel HaSheini is one day early in order that this coming Yom Kippur should fall out on Shabbat and not on Motzei Shabbat.  He specifically designed the calendar so that after this past Kislev would only have 29 days that all of the moladim for the Roshei Chodesh (New Moons) with 30 days would fall on Rosh Chodesh itself.  Therefore he set it up that the New Moons would occur before the new moons could even be seen!  So this year even if we keep the holy days one day early because we are following the calendar which we must continue to do, then in Shamayim the actual days might be one day later.  I realize that Beit Din in ancient times could extend a month by one day from 29 days to 30 days if non-kosher witnesses showed up on the 30th day.  So Beit Din had it within its power to set the holy days one day later than they would have been if the witnesses had been kosher witnesses to the New Moon.  Yet with our calendar something really peculiar is happening in this 11 month stretch.  We are celebrating Rosh Chodesh before the New Moon can even be seen!!  Halakhically Hillel HaSheini had the power to set it up that way in order to avoid other halakhic problems such as beginning the fast of Yom Kippur over 18 minutes before sunset on Shabbat afternoon since the fast of Yom Kippur begins at least 18 minutes before sundown based on the pasukim which describe it in the Torah.  This is not a problem for Tisha B'Av where the fast begins at sundown and not before sundown.  So having Tisha B'Av fall on Motzei Shabbat is less of a problem.  I am not advising here to start commemorating our festivals coming up one day later than scheduled, but I am noting that there is no precedent in ancient times where Rosh Chodesh would have been declared before the New Moons could even be seen at sunset at least four to six hours after the molad itself.  So we have an important question.  Was this past Sunday the 20th of Adar or the 21st of Adar, my son's 13th birthday?  Here is the reason why I ask the question.

It says in Medrash Sefer Eliyahu that there are three dates when a Messianic process will begin.  The first date which we discussed back in 5766 was the 20th day of Shevat.  On that day angels of destruction were set up to destroy the whole vast multitude dwelling from the great "plain" down to Yaffo (aka Tel Aviv) and all the way down to Ashkelon.  At the time this described the Left Coast of the State of Israel that was about to elect Ehud ARMiLuT (TRMLO) by about 40 seats in the Knesset.  On the 20th of Shevat in 5766, Hamas installed its government in the Yehudah and Shomron and scared at least 300,000 Left Coast Israelis away from voting for Armilut.  Later that summer, all of Armilut's plans to destroy Yesha unilaterally fell apart when the 2nd Lebanon War began with the pummeling of the Galilee on the 17th of Tamuz 5766.  And according to the Zohar Mashiach appeared in the Galil in year 66 that year in 5766.  Yet, the process started on the 20th of Shevat 5766 when Hamas installed their government of our annihilation on that very day.

So here we go again.  Another time where it says that Mashiach will appear and a process will therefore start is the 20th of Adar.  It says on that very day (the 20th of Adar) Mashiach will come, and with him will be 30,000 tzaddikim, as it says in Yishaiyahu 11:5, Righteousness will gird his waist, and Faith will gird his loins!  This verse specifically refers to Mashiach ben David because the entire paragraph speaks about a Staff shooting forth from Yishai (Jesse).  The medrash continues:  When the nations of the world behold this happening, immediately each one of them will putrefy, both it and its calvary, as Scripture says in Zecharia 14:12-15: "And this will be the affliction with which the L-rd will strike all the nations which with armies come against Yerushalayim.  Each one's flesh will melt away while he is standing on his feet; each one's eyes will melt away in their sockets; and each one's tongues will melt away in their mouths.  It shall be on tha day that there will be a great panic of HaShem among them; each one will grab the hand of his fellow, and his hand will be raised up against of his fellow.  And Yehudah will wage war against Yerushalayim; and the welath of the nations all around will be gathered - gold, silver, and garments in great abundance.  And similarly will be the plague of the horse, the mule, the camel, and the donkey, and all the animals that will be in those camps where the plague hit (the humans)."  At that time the Holy One, Blessed be He, will address the nations of the world: 'Woe to you, oh wicked ones, who are alive at the cessation of the Four Kingdoms (that conquered Eretz Yisrael)!  All of you are to be expelled from the world, one wherein one kor of wheat will yield about nine hundred kors, and there will be analogous (fantastic yields) for wine and oil.  Every tree will bear choice produce and fruits, as Scripture says (Yechezkel 36:8):  "And you, Oh mountains of Yisrael, will make your branches yeild, etc."  And Israel will eat (these fruits from this bountiful harvest) and will rejoice for forty years.    

And it continues:  After this the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring up Gog and Magog 'and their associates' and then all the peoples of the earth will assemble together and surround Yerushalayim in order to make war.  the Holy One, blessed be He, will come up and do battle with them.  Mashiach will arrive, and with the help of HKBH, he will wage war on them, etc.  

From this we see that a process of judgement on the nations of the world has now begun with the Plague of Locusts against Mitzraim.  From this particular medrash, there is no way of knowing the total length of time all the events of this Medrash will take place, but it has begun with the 8th plague against Mitzraim on the 20th or the 21st of Adar 5773.  And we are in the middle of the 8th month of pregnancy which began on Tisha B'Av 5772.  The ninth month will begin on the 10th of Nisan 5773. 

So who are the 30,000 righteous ones you might ask?  Well the verse uses a military expression for girding both the waist and the loins.  The word Aleph, Zayin, Reish is usually used when referring to soldiers preparing themselves for battle.   In the last election about 31,500 votes corresponded to one seat in the Knesset.  Before the soldier votes were counted after the election Bayit Yehudi only had 11 seats.  After the soldier votes were counted, BY had an additional seat.  There were therefore an additional 30,000 soldier votes at least which wanted to tell King Shaul that we are sick and tired of going to war in accordance with the rules of the nations of the world.  The ground invasion during the Gaza War never took place because it required bombing all the buildings at the border with Israel where men with RPGs were stationed on the third floor of those buildings which were apartment buildings where civilians lived.  King Shaul was scared of incurring the wrath of Obama by bombing those buildings and and therefore allowing the ground invasion to win the war.  According to G-d's law, halakhah, those buildings were military targets because military Hamas personnel were stationed there on top of civilians in order to shoot at tanks and other ground vehicles once the ground invasion had occurred.   In honor of the righteousness of those soldiers who want to tell Mankind to Go to H-ll and to stick their rules in a very dark place, a Messianic process began on the 20th of Adar 5773.

59 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Interesting, I also thought of the 8th makka when this happened and wondered how long before the chosech makka comes and what will that be? Today I hear that the locusts are crossing the border to Israel, what do you think that is about? In Miztraim, the plagues did not affect Goshen.Thank you.

EB

3/05/2013 8:52 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

The infestation in Israel was minor. It barely made the news today. All the locusts are gone, or have been collected by various Yemenite Rabbis to see if they are all kosher for eating. There are I believe 4 kosher species of locusts. If anyone knows if there are more locusts permitted by the Oral Torah, please let me know.

3/05/2013 9:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Locust is interesting and more extreme than honey but still kosher.
The kashrut of honey was explained to me by a beekeeper. The bee doesn't eat but rather stores the flower nectar in containers in its mouth. It dumps the nectar to be fanned by other bees so since it is revealed now as just collected and dried flower nectar kashrut is easy to understand bzman hazei.
What do we learn from the kashrut of locusts? Is it mida caneged midah chesed for them eating our crops and leaving us no food that HKB"H allows them to us, and why just a few types or is that we eat only ones present in Yemen for Yemanite Jews to have minhag for?

3/05/2013 9:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This was in the NY times, parshat Bo, read carefully
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/20/us/politics/after-4-years-friends-see-shifts-in-obamas.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

3/05/2013 10:13 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

And now the Lord of the Flies with the new Spirit of Hanuman the monkey god which he carries around in his pocket, will be coming to the Holy Land to offer up an ultimatum or two to whomever is frightened of this man. The rest of us hopefully will be able to laugh our heads off and demand that he release Yehonatan Pollard.

3/05/2013 10:22 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

He discusses moral philosophy with Elie Wiesel. Hmm. Is that kind of like Friedrich Nietzsche having a moral discussion with Moshe Rabbeinu??

3/05/2013 10:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Iran feeling the brunt of this also:

http://english.sina.com/world/p/2013/0228/566711.html

3/05/2013 11:43 PM  
Anonymous Mochin Rechavim said...

Based on your 1 day off theory.

Yud - Aleph Nissan is the Rebbe's birthday.

This will be a fitting day for Moshiach's arrival. Just in time to shecht to Korban Pesach.

The Rambam paskins that if all of Klal Yisroel is impure than it is acceptable to bring the Korban Pesach.

May it be speedily in our days.

3/06/2013 5:41 AM  
Blogger Neshama said...

The latest gesture of the PM, as much as he wants, will not appease OB. I don't think OB is coming here to just talk, especially when he threatened to "take action on his own" (or something equalling that). How could he FORCE Israel, other than with a UN invasion??

3/06/2013 9:58 AM  
Blogger Neshama said...

This brought tears to my eyes: http://youtu.be/KPf_wqPG9N8. It's the way it should be for many young men trying to find their way in life. What will it take to get 'the Rabbis' to open their minds and hearts to saving lives? This must be allowed to increase and flourish for the sake of their neshomas.

3/06/2013 10:37 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

It is interesting but the third time that this medrash mentions when Mashiach will come is earlier in the medrash where it states:

"On the 20th of Elul Mashiach will come: His name will be Yinon. On that same day Gavriel wil descend and from the ninth and the tenth hour (of that day), he will destroy from the world 92,000 people. This name appears in Tehillim (Psalm) 72 dealing with King Solomon. And the Talmud mentions this name as one of the four names of Mashiach in Sanhedrin 98. The name Yinon or Yanin as it is written, seems to have many many meanings. But in my humble opinion, the root of the word seems to refer to Mashiach ben Ephraim or to Moshe Rabbeinu. The root of the word Yinon refers to the Nun fish in the Sea of Galilee. It could refer to that he will multiply like fish, which is the blessing for Mashiach ben Ephraim, or its reference could be to Yehoshua bin Nun, a progenitor of Mashiach ben Ephraim who is called the son of a fish because he served Moshe who was drawn from the water of the Nile. Other than that, I am not sure that anything noteworthy has occurred on the 20th day of Elul in the recent past where 92,000 people have died.

3/06/2013 11:17 AM  
Anonymous mkf said...

Dov, i know you said the 2 kings who die are IN the war in the north..but but...Venezuela had very very close ties with Syria and w/Assad. They were supplying diesel fuel in large quantities that can be used in army tanks. In this case Ven. is certainly a part of the war. Could Chavez be one of the kings? I know you revisited the Zohar discussions to confirm it was IN and not at the time of...but..just asking again cause technically Chavez was "in" it by supplying this active support. What do you think?

3/06/2013 2:08 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Well considering that Nasrallah of Hezbollah was recently whisked off to Tehran for emergency Cancer treatment too, anything is possible.

Under orders from on high, this is my last response to a comment until Sunday morning, unless G-d forbid, King Shaul forms a government with a "Cabal" of Labor rebels in the interim. Moshe Feiglin, fresh down from his visit to the Dome of the Rock, might pull at least 7 Likud rebels out of Shaul's government if he proceeds with his insanity to that extent. Right now he is so scared of Obie, he won't abandon his pact with Livni, the Witch of EinDor. Obie with the monkey god in his pocket might put the hex on Shaul.

Feel free to keep commenting. I will still approve comments.

3/06/2013 2:31 PM  
Anonymous Ray said...

I am skeptical. Locusts hit Egypt. So? Locusts hit many places. They came, hit Egypt, went. Go ask an Egyptian if its a big thing? He will say no. They hit Israel. And left, no big thing. So how can you see this as a big thing, and say that this particular locust swarm (not that big) is the one from Torah? The 30,000 tzadikim are all soldiers? Really? You think 30,000 soldiers in the entire drug-ridden IDF are tzadikim? Never mind late voters. I see way too many wild assumptions now, that is all I see.

3/06/2013 3:52 PM  
Blogger Lisa said...

You seem to be under the mistaken impression that the name Armilus ends with a tav, and that Armilus is the Ashkenazi pronounciation of Armilut. It isn't.

3/06/2013 6:41 PM  
Blogger Lisa said...

Also, Moshe Feiglin would never pull anyone out of Likud. He's committed to using the Likud as the vehicle by which Israel will become, once again, a Jewish state.

3/06/2013 6:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hard to believe that moshiach is so close...looks like derech eretz just went out the window...from todays hamodia:

Hamodia Mentions Boycotting Settlement Goods
(Wednesday, March 6th, 2013)

HamodiaIn the Tuesday Hamodia, affiliated with Agudas Yisrael, senior columnist Yisrael Hershkowitz under his nom deplume of Meir Gold addresses the split between the dati leumi and chareidi communities. He feels that cannot be any doubt that Bayit HaYehudi leader Naftali Bennett’s move of making his entry into the coalition conditional on leaving the chareidim out will boomerang back at him big time.

Gold explains that one mustn’t chalk this up to naiveté, for Bennett is not a rookie but rather an astute politician and realizes full well what he is doing. There can be no doubt that Bennett emerged successful in the election, and now he strives to build a coalition that reflects his philosophy, both political and economic, and on that route he hopes to possibly fulfill some of his other dreams including the draft of chareidim, taking over the Chief Rabbinate, and bringing the power base back to the hands of the dati leumi tzibur. To set the stage for this, he must oust the chareidim from the playing field.

“It will not take too long to see if his is successful in achieving some or all of his visions, or alternatively it will all melt and the yishuvim will pay the price for the costly arrogance.”

Gold then moves on to address the economic concerns of the businesses in yishuvim, facing a growing boycott of their goods in the international marketplace, with a growing number of nations unwilling to purchase goods originating over the Green Line. The continued use of these products by the chareidim is the “oxygen lifeline” for these companies, Gold believes, for at home there is no concern regarding the origin of the product vis-à-vis the Green Line, at least not among the chareidim. In Tel Aviv for example, the settlers realize they cannot market their goods. Now if the chareidim decide to launch a boycott against products from yishuvim or from the dati leumi tzibur, it will only be a matter of time until some of these companies fold as a result.

Calling for such a move is not an easy task for much of this community are persons who are shomer Shabbos and mitzvos, and they too are probably dissatisfied with Bennett, but such a decision should be made when the serious decisions surrounding the chareidi community are made.

If such a decision is made, one that has proven itself effective time after time, even a partial boycott or an unofficial boycott, the impact would be realized in a very short time period. The organized chareidi consumer might is known and several large companies can show their scars from such actions in the past.

3/06/2013 6:59 PM  
Anonymous Elisandra said...

Ok, I might be mixing up prophecies here, but isn't the anti-christ figure supposed to arrive in Jerusalem and announce control over it? If so, that appears to be about to happen.

3/06/2013 7:16 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Instead of Anti-X we would call him the half-Xtian half-Muslim (iron mixed with clay) 11th horn dude who leads Edom at the End of Days for 7 years maximum. sorry no time for the other comments until Sunday.

3/06/2013 7:26 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

I just had to respond to the lack of Derekh Eretz which on this blog we call the lack of common decency. Here in Kochav Yakov we have two communities side by side, Abir Yakov and Tel Tzion. Abir Yakov is now 550 national religious families. And Tel Tzion is now 850 Chareidi families. We are really a diverse group here even if 80% of the national religious families here are from various Sephardic backgrounds from Morocco, to Bavel, to Persia, to Yemen, to Mexico. We also have Ethiopian families and about 55 American families in the Abir Yakov area of the yishuv. In Tel Tzion about 55% are Sephardic Chareidi and 45% are Ashkenazic Chareidi. The Ashkenazim are half and half Chassidic (Seret Vizhnitz, Lubavitch, and Breslov) and half Litvak. Most of the businesses on the yishuv are owned in one of two business or industrial zones where many of the businesses are owned by members of either community. We are a Jewish United Nations here which is one of the reasons why we moved here to get away from the intramural hatred that exists in other places in this country. I am wondering how such a boycott would work against Kochav Yakov. How would they decide which businesses to boycott and which businesses not to boycott? And then there is Beitar and Emmanuel and other Chareidi yishuvim. There is far more to say about this evil that is being perpetrated by that particular newspaper in this regard. My first question to the bozo who first thought of boycotting yishuvim in he Chareidi world is do they know what goes on in Eretz Yisrael less than 30 miles from where they live? Are they that ignorant of parts of EY which in some cases are less than ten miles from their homes in some cases? Perhaps we need a mandatory core curriculum subject called Geography of Eretz Yisrael in Chareidi schools. But doing that would only lead to more boycotts! sorry pressured for time. Others can respond to this insanity.

3/06/2013 8:31 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Also TRMLO in Medrash Sefer Eliyahu, as being the last leader of the Erev Rav in Eretz Yisrael before Mashiach comes, is spelled with a Tav. The medrash was given over to Eliyahu HaNavi himself when running away to Har Sinai and away from Jezebel when he fell asleep under a rotem tree and received this very precious medrash from Michael the Angel. I discussed this in several posts years ago. So reversing the order as is meant to be done in this medrash because Edom's languages are written from left to right, reveals that the Tav becomes a soft ancient Thav. So Olmert should technically be pronounced Olmerth according to this medrash. In another place The Targum Yonatan comments on the last vision of Moshe Rabbeinu and the evacuation of the city of Kiryat Dekalia (Newe Dekalim) by 200,000 fellow Jews, and he spells Armiluth as Armolgus with a gimmel and a Samech. In that case Armolgus has the Gematriah of Peres, both 340. What we can learn is that both Olmert and Peres (also with a samech as in Vulture) are the gilgulim of the two sons of Bilaam who lead the Erev Rav in the desert at the Sin of the Golden Calf. Together they make up Armilus. Both of these faces of the Erev Rav, Olmert and Peres, have been discussed in depth in earlier posts years ago. The ancient names of the two sons of Bilaam are Yanus and Yambrus. One of them was twice as rich as the other. Try and figure out which one is Peres and which one is Olmert.

We are now beyond this point, at least with Olmert....we pray. Peres still has his talons on the government formation process, and will once again play a role in less than 2 weeks if Bibi does not form a government. Bibi is King Shaul and therefore not from the Erev Rav. Shaul was even a Mashiach HaShem, and David on two or three occasions could have killed him but did not. Getting rid of the force of Shaul requires for G-d Himself to find his replacement. Looking at what is going on now, well I pray that we can find a way to get along with each other so that a more worthy shepherd arrives.

3/07/2013 12:34 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

The Erev Ze'ir that wants to prolong the galut for another Shmitah cycle as they did in the previous Shmittah cycle is now pure evil evil evil. The leader of United Torah Judaism, Moshe Gafni, for 8 years at least has neither represented the Torah or its foundation of human decency. A blog post about the Erev Ze'ir will follow next week, G-d willing. I sense that this is the final birur for that evil political party.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/165969#.UTihy6ISNi1

3/07/2013 4:39 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

If you don't approve of Moshe Gafni's views, move away from him so that when HaShem opens up the earth to swallow him and his cohort who agree with him, you are not swallowed up along with him. This man deceived his gadol 8 years ago to join the Disengagement govt., and he is a leopard who will not change his spots.

3/07/2013 4:45 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

The spell of these evil men and women of both the Erev Rav and the Erev Ze'ir is the black magic of ancient practitioners of black magic. In ancient times for instance, the nation of Amalek knew how to shape shift into sheep and goats. It is now time to leave the spell of these ancient magicians in both the Erev Rav and the Erev Ze'ir and return to the tent of Bait Yehudah or Bait Yisrael. The chosen evil leader of UTJ is this man who deceived his gadol 8 years ago to delay the Geulah by one Shmittah cycle. Please leave the shadow of both Erevim before it is too late. Many good Jews especially in the Ashkenazi Chareidi world have been fooled to promote the Erev Ze'ir goals through UTJ. Right now, until Shas officially speaks, I am not sure if they have enjoined themselves to the words of this great evil. But now that these evils are being exposed, it is time to join the world of human decency. Please before it is too late.

3/07/2013 5:15 PM  
Blogger Neshama said...

Meanwhile, What is going on in America?

3/07/2013 6:00 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Yes, Neshama. I saw that Glenn Beck show last night at 3am while cleaning the house for the Bar Mitzvah. Apparently Rand Paul yesterday was doing a one man filibuster of the Brennan nomination to get answer on the drones to be used against American citizens. And then I listened to a Shiur on my son's parsha.

I would recommend for confused Ashkenazi Chareidim, to find a Gadol who was against the Disengagement 7 1/2 years ago. There are plenty out there especially in the Chassidic world. Rav Shalom Arush, the Melitzer Rebbe, the Sanzer Rebbe, The Rebbe of Erlau, and the Bostoner Rebbe zt"l just to name a few. Run away from any Rav who 8 years ago argued that they needed the money for their yeshivot so that it was important to join Sharon at that time. Run even faster away from Satmar whose Rebbe came out publicly for Obama to be re-elected. So there are no excuses in this final birur. Attach yourself to a true tzaddik.

3/07/2013 7:39 PM  
Blogger Neshama said...

A few horrible headlines in the US news:

NYC Warns Of ‘Absolutely Terrifying’ Meningitis Outbreak, Urges Vaccination Among Gay Men

North Korea says it will launch nuclear attack on America

CDC says ‘nightmare bacteria’ a growing threat

HOLDER: Obama 'has authority to use drone strikes to kill Americans on US soil'… Paul Rand filibusters for 13 hours, Krauthammer said it was political genius by Rand ... Now there is a fight going on between all the Elephants in Congress.

3/07/2013 8:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Eight years ago many heradim thought that abandoning Aza would buy a generation of peace. This was backed up in many minds by the giving away of the Sinai.
To most Israelis there is the impression that settlers all receive free large houses and a large monthly support check which might justify ending the free ride by recalling the free no rent government houses.
It is of course lefty propaganda but it stays in peoples minds like the lie that all Americans are wealthy and can just call somebody any time for a few 100grand of pocket money which justifies cheating or stealing from these walking ATMs. Doing anything less is being a friar.
Many people can find many good reasons to take the homes of "those who should have known better than live where they didn't have any business" a situation is now well established where it is considered almost repossessing stolen goods to expel settlers.
It should be noted that the free land is long gone, houses, development, and land are hijacked by the developer/builder gangs and are expensive in yesha, 5 to 20 times more expensive than any rural area in the US. Settlers get NO payout,and almost no breaks except perhaps the reduced fare bus tickets.

3/07/2013 8:38 PM  
Blogger Neshama said...

My (the owner's) kitchen is being repaired, noise, dust, don't ask. The only sanity is sitting by the iMac in-between surveying the workers.

Me thinks something terrible is going to happen in the USofA. Nuke threats from NKorea, Increasing earthquakes in Oklahoma, very unusual, one 9 miles deep! and very close to a huge amount of 'fracking' going on.

Only a few states away, maybe on a fault line, Yellowstone Nat Park in Wyoming, extending into Montana and Idaho. The Yellowstone Caldera is the largest supervolcano on the continent. All these little items could converge into tragedy for many. Or maybe just a bunch of scary news, nothing to worry about. Imagine the United States splitting in two...

3/07/2013 8:52 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Sorry, Anon. I don't buy a single one of the Ashkenazi Chareidi excuses 8 years ago to join with Sharon. All the foreboding info. was there. The expulsions and the withdrawals were unilateral. Oslo had already occurred and we were already experiencing the results of making concession to murderers, and those concessions were negotiated with the murderers. The Aza withdrawal was not. Based on all the information available at the time, there should have been not even one shred of doubt that abandoning Aza would be one huge mistake, and that Jews in the SW corner of Israel would pay dearly for the largess in total stupidity and evil of others. I did a full investigation at the time. And it was clear to me that a calculation was done by Gafni and Litzmann of UTJ. They figured that even if they started shooting missiles from Aza within a radius of the missiles, the missiles would never reach Bnai Brak. Sorry to be blunt about this. I asked two so called Roshei Yeshivot at the time that benefited from the 290 million shekel to be handed out, and they were blunt to me about why they supported joining Sharon. I have since thrown away their names because I don't keep phone numbers of resha'im. Thank G-d Rav Ovadia Yosef was not part of this evil alliance. And the same kudos of human decency goes to The Admor of Sadigora and the Rav of Erlau.

3/07/2013 9:08 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

And I pray that all the mistaken Chareidim from 8 years ago profusely apologize to at least one family from Gush Katif and find themselves a Gadol who knows which direction is up and which direction is down by making basic distinctions between good and evil before even opening a Gemorrah. As said above, there are many of them out there. Also a little bit of knowledge of a secular subject called Geography to understand that Aza was never 1000 miles away from Bnai Brak as previously suspected is in order.

When will the apologies to those who have sacrificed so much in Aza start flowing in??

3/07/2013 9:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Every heradi I know person who is for disengagement or even makes the stupid "if only they would let us be Turkish/British/Palistinian dhimis" talks at least partly about the pikuach nefesh angle, as well as the states right of eminent domain for its diplomatic interests especially considering that except for a few Turkish land deeds everyone by Israeli law is just a lease holder to the land.
I do not agree but those some would call genavim have a legal leg to stand on.
Anyone familiar with the yeshiva world knows that except in a few outstanding examples to fund a yeshiva the law is bent or ignored to a ridiculous extent.
I suspect it is partly the culture which uses the same lumdish kop to find a good halachic exception or invent a chumra which allows stealing if justified well enough for the sake of Torah(or cavod if justified as Torah) as much as lack of even basic economics beyond what is understood to happen at GoldmanSachs.
I have worked in both worlds and was disappointed to find the mindset nearly identical though the heradi mindset also has the victim out for revenge on his tormenters.
Sadly the mizrachim are among the yeshuvs historical tzioni haskala tormenters who wanted to side with the Tzar and introduce math and science into the classroom.

3/08/2013 5:01 PM  
Anonymous mkf said...

this is probably global enough to meet the criteria of multinational war, you think?

http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=305724

3/10/2013 12:43 AM  
Blogger Issachar and Yosef Reuvan said...

Dov, could you comment on Obuzzard arriving in Israel on 9 Nissan and should be in Israel on 10 Nissan which is the day of the beginning of the 9th month of pregnacy. This all seems very prophetic and ominous that he will be here at this time!

3/10/2013 5:45 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Yes, it qualifies as a multinational war already. If Hugo Chavez is one of the two kings that falls in this war, of which we cannot be sure until I look at the exact lashon of the Zohar in Aramaic again later, then one more king has to fall.

And yes, with Obuzzard showing up at the beginning of the ninth month of pregnancy, it should be both ominous and wonderful at the same time, kind of like birthing contractions. My wife had hip surgery many years ago. So both of our children were born with C- sections. Anyone who has had natural childbirth can speak of these things.

3/10/2013 10:45 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

The entire process of "giving birth" should last between five and six weeks since the a baby born at term is born between the 39th and the 40th week. 39 weeks after conception is exactly 9 Hebrew months plus one more week (9 1/4 Hebrew months). This would seem to mean that the "baby" would be born around Lag B'Omer. I am basing this all strictly on the Zohar's dating system which pointed to the pregnancy beginning on Tisha B'Av 5772.

3/10/2013 10:58 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

And we can all make a guess on where the following is leading:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166044#.UTxLqhxvDIw

Of course who is Seriyah ben Dan who will leap forth from Bashan (The Golan Heights)?

3/10/2013 11:22 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Sorry, as I mentioned before the Chushim ben Dan character at the End of Days might be Serayah ben Dan. None of these medrashim are vowelized so that it could be Seriyah or Serayah.

3/10/2013 11:25 AM  
Blogger Neshama said...

How could they? "Interior Minister Eli Yishai tells Habayit Hayehudi head Naftali Bennett to stop using the term "brother" when referring to the ultra-Orthodox, as "he apparently does not know what it means."

What does he mean by "apparently does not know what it means."

Al pi HaTorah, 'brother' means in the mitzvos! So how can he say that? So 'cutting' and 'mean'. They both observe the mitzvos.

3/10/2013 2:53 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Yes, the verbiage is profoundly ugly these days. And Bennett still has not even entered the government at least as of today. In Adar we had a chance to come together as brothers, but the intramural hatreds are simply way too great. The solution will have to imposed from Above. The stirring of some in the Chareidi world from below simply is completely absent. From what I can see, Bennett has avoided saying even one hateful thing....so far. He has proposed compromise solutions that were put on the back burner because of Bibi playing the Livni card (giving here power way out of proportion to her 6 seats) which has forced him into a pact with Lapid. Yet, throughout all this, no real attempt at a compromise solution has yet to be proposed by the Chareidi world. Admittedly, I have to say the same about Lapid's position too. Yet, Bennett has ventured into the shark filled water of a compromise, and the Chareidi world seems to be shooting at him on sight. It is as if one side either Lapid or the Chareidim have to trounce the other side with no respect being accorded to the words of the other side. Yet, this particular issue is begging for a compromise solution. I guess we need a war to take our minds off how much we seem to hate each other here when le'hefech, there is a compromise solution begging to be found.

3/10/2013 6:27 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

I had to awaken from a bad dream. I actually have a lot of respect for how Eli Yishai personally has conducted himself since he took over the leadership of Shas. There is an obvious hashkafic divide going on here. The religious Tzionim see the return of the Jewish people to Eretz Yisrael over the last 100 years as a part of the redemptive process to varying degrees. The Chareidi world sees the return of 6 million Jews to the Land of Israel as a cosmic accident, and that no aspect of galut has been reversed over the last 100 years. The 6 million Jews here may in their minds disperse to the four corners of the earth in a moment's notice. I hold by the in between position that the physical redemption of the nation has already begun in full bloom, but that obviously we are still in a deep spiritual darkness. In short the Dry Bones have come together, but the Four winds in Yechezkel's vision have not yet taken place. more later.

3/11/2013 3:11 AM  
Blogger LondonMale said...

The Foundation of the State of Israel in 1948. That year corresponding to the 1948 years after Adam when Avraham was born.

The land bearing fruits.

The return of the Ethiopian and Bnei Menashe communities.

Access to the Kotel for more than a few Jews at a time.

More Yeshiva learning than ever before.

Synagogues all over Israel.

The victory of the small Israeli army versus larger Arab armies in the wars including and since 1947 which go against standard military doctrine and logic.

Mashiach may not be here, but the large scale re-settlement of the ad of Israel is surely a significant part of the process and not an accident?

3/11/2013 3:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"oops":

Earth gets a rush of weekend asteroid visitors

Reuters By Irene Klotz | Reuters – Sat, 9 Mar, 2013

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/earth-gets-rush-weekend-asteroid-visitors-001945056.html

3/11/2013 6:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/earth-gets-rush-weekend-asteroid-visitors-001945056.html

Near-Earth asteroids log scary-busy weekend

A large one Saturday could have levelled a city, and two others are comparable to the Russian meteor. 'A wakeup call'



ghosts house LOL

3/11/2013 6:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To be fair the heradim feel that the zionist settlement of the land was not an accident but a chutzpahdik act by socialist Jewish anti-religious forces who sought to eliminate Judaism by replacing it with a racial nationalism.
Many realists now see the situation happening in the backdoor way that the malchut beit dovid was introduced, but this is a a culture where the best minds spend their time studying sifrei kodesh, and which considers commentary by recent rabonim on events like Shabtai Tsvi or the chasidim splitting off from ashkenazi Judiasm to be nearly current events. The balei batim can only parrot the nuanced arguments made by gedolim much like beit Shammi fell short of the rigor and consideration shown when Shammi himself would debate Hillel. Worse than that gedolim are sometimes fed one sided information or lies as well as false reports of halachic decisions in order to enhance their position much as Elishas bad assistant who ran after Naaman for gifts after Elisha sent him away with no request as a kidush Hashem.

3/11/2013 1:13 PM  
Anonymous avf said...

You forgot that zionism was built on the murder on the haredei negotiator Dr. Jacob Israel de Haan , who was negotiating a haredei state. Is this called brotherly love and Derech Eretz ?. Is zionism then the beginning of the Geula or was it the start of a terrible shmad ?.
Yakov avinu prayed to be saved "from my brother from eisav " . He was the most scared of eisav when he came as his "Brother"!! .

The second part of this article is on Dr. Jacob Israel de Haan H"YD
http://www.jewishmag.com/149mag/arlosoroff/arlosoroff.htm

3/11/2013 4:35 PM  
Anonymous Elisandra said...

To LondonMale, of course it's not an accident. It boggles that there are those who think just because Jews had to actually physically go there and fight to keep it means it's not of God. What do they expect, for God to suddenly teleport all the Jews there from around the world and the enemies suddenly all vanish into thin air? Israel had to physically go there and fight to keep it every single time they've been there throughout history. God helps those who help themselves.

3/11/2013 5:57 PM  
Blogger Neshama said...

a must read, "Wednesday, February 27, 10:25 A drone, masked policemen, GSS agents and widespread searches in the area’s caves all were part of the security forces’ dawn raid on the Geulat Tzion outpost in the Shilo bloc, Honenu reports. Residents say that the policemen treated them as if they were terrorists..."here and scroll down here.
They used a DRONE.

3/11/2013 7:57 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Ya'akov Yisrael De Haan was murdered almost 90 years ago. He was negotiating for the existence of a Dhimmi State which would not have rescued any Jews even during the Shoah since it would only exist under the discretion of the Jordanian king. He was not negotiating for the establishment of an independent country. Jews in Hevron for instance would still not be able to enter the Cave of the Patriarchs past the 7th step leading up into the Cave. Yet, again this was 90 years ago and before the Shoah. Does our hatred for each other go back a century? When does the statute of limitations end on hating each other? Did the Shoah that came in the middle of all this intramural hate in any way temper the excuses for not having an independent country? I am also not a cheerleader for secular Zionists who did not have a penchant for loving Chareidi Jews of the time. But we are 6 million Jews here now. And this intramural hatred is being used as an excuse by Jews in the diaspora to stay put, and therefore place themselves in danger. Any attempt at this time to make excuses for others to dismiss Aliyah if they can afford to do it, places them in danger from what is coming to their hinterlands. The hatred of the movement that has in-gathered millions of exiles will endanger Jewish lives all over the world.

3/12/2013 12:53 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Now, the locusts will come our way because we have so much unjustified hatred for each other. The hatred must stop. Here is a way to still try to bring compromise:

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166092#.UT5slhxvDIw

About 3 weeks ago, Shas was beginning to come forward as compromises were being worked out between BY and Likud. Then came Livni into the coalition. Lately, because of that, the situation has deteriorated. I am now convinced that Gafni and Litzman will not compromise about anything based on their public statements and past public behavior. Yet, it is time for Bennett and Yishai to at least have a meeting. Oy, G-d help us all. Of all the voices for sanity, I think Rav Shmuel Eliyahu's voice is the clearest and loudest voice of all. Very early on I thought that it would best to work out a deal with Shas before working out a deal with Lapid, but the negotiating time is only 6 weeks, and then Bibi threw in Livni to complicate what was already a mess.

3/12/2013 2:06 AM  
Anonymous mkf said...

Dov, i agree that Bennett should forgive and forget, but this doesn't mean that Shas or UTJ should be part of the coalition. On the contrary. But even there Bennett said several times they tried to work with Shas and they refused. So...since Bennett has proven himself to be honest and not given to bitter and unkind words, I believe him. Shas and UTJ have done terrible things in the govt, controlled the Ministry of Interior in ways that are so shameful, and have really been terrible examples of Jews and Jewish values. There is good reason why the country is sick of it. With all due respect they should not be allowed to continue and maybe teshuva is in order before they rejoin?

3/12/2013 11:09 AM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

MKF: The only incident that seemed to show that Yishai was not prepared with Ministry of the Interior was the Carmel Fires when he did not have aerial extinguishing capability. He was caught off guard with that one, but to be honest, the Carmel fires were a first. The Dept. of the Interior now has aerial extinguishing capability. Are you referring to conversions or recognizing conversions? He seemed to be a capable minister even with his mistakes. I find that the Dept. of the Interior has actually improved in efficiency since we made Aliyah. I can hear all the chuckling as I write this.

3/12/2013 12:04 PM  
Anonymous mkf said...

more than chuckling Dov...a little shocked....and then a chuckle.

I know the Carmel fire was a mess, however, it wasn't intentional, but a mistake, and oversight. In the other arenas...they are not mistakes imo but intentional control with an arrogance that i find distasteful..especially from a religious party.

It's Shas the party I have a problem with, not necessariy Yishai himself. He's only one of the three bandits. hhh

Also, I think this party working together with UTJ has created some huge problems for the country & overstepped appropriate boundaries not just the Interior. IF Shas is good then let them separate from UTJ and show themselves to be fair minded.

But i think they should not be included in the govt for now. Let them sit in the opposition and do some hard thinking ...my opinion.

3/12/2013 12:46 PM  
Anonymous mkf said...

see, like Bennett, (and Bibi for that matter)i feel Rabbi Druckman is a wonderful role model..for what a man of G-d should look like, sound like and be like.

:)

3/12/2013 12:50 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Sorry, but need to respond to mkf's comments. Firstly, with all their chesronot, the Shas & even UTJ (UTJ-who are more like the spies in the desert and were happy with the desert & mann), these religious parties are needed. There was something very questionable about Bennett immediately and stubbornly siding and aligning himself with Lapid. Sure there are forces that are compelling them to go leftward and away from religious Judaism. Isn't it obvious? Secondly, Rabbi Druckman was the one who enmasse converted non-Jews, so they can enter the army and be called Jews. Sorry, that doesn't jibe with real Yiddishkeit. A true convert (ger tzedek) is an individual and conversion done on an individual basis because his heart and soul is in it. We have such a balagan now in Israel on who is a Jew! Getting back to Shas & UTJ, we need the ultra religious as a force to keep, at least, the status quo that existed since the creation of the State. The country has already slipped down a slippery slope and a little more, that will be the straw that broke the camel's back!

3/12/2013 3:55 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Yes, and the issue of Spies in the desert is more of an issue for UTJ than it is for Shas. I agree that those who seriously study Torah full time and even part time should have representation in the government, or at least should be supported by the State because we all benefit both spiritually and physically from their greatest of mitzvot, learning Torah. Part of the problem lies with the part time and no- time learners not being integrated into the Klal here through national service and gainful employment. Real Matmidim should be paid for their craft. Most of the Sephardic Jews in the world are either here or live in Chu"l where their spiritual focus still is in Eretz Yisrael.

What happened in the previous Shmittah cycle with UTJ was an abomination brought about by the fact that after five years of Intifada here called the Oslo War, they could not make the morally correct decision that unilaterally withdrawing from land here would cost Jewish lives and would destroy the lives of our finest in the Klal, the residents of Gaza. I did a full fledged investigation of the matter at the time, and the calculation went as follows: The bulk of money in the Ashkenazi Chareidi world for yeshivot does not come from the Israeli govt. It came from the bulk of that Ashkenazi world in the United States. Their prosperity in the US and their disposable income there was in large part determined by and inversely proportional to the price of oil. The Saudis wanted Jewish Gaza destroyed, and bluntly told Gog W. Bush that if he somehow saw to it that Jewish Aza was destroyed through his "influence" over Sharon, the Saudis would create an oil glut in America and therefore help American prosperity. Gog W. jumped at the opportunity. American Jews therefore prospered at the expense of Jewish Aza. Now, I want to stress that this is not the fault of American Jews to be beneficiaries of American prosperity. G-d forbid that I would suggest that any Jew should be poor. But the Agudath Yisrael of America had friendly relations with Gog W. and did not see it in their best interest to oppose him on this matter. In America, the Agudath Yisrael is totally an Ashkenazic concern. Now many individuals in the Agudah world personally confronted the Bush Administration about this, but institutionally, no one wanted to rock the boat. Now the Ashkenazi yeshivot that were dependent on American prosperity for their institutions here therefore had a vested interest in keeping the American prosperity machine going until of course the housing bubble burst followed by the financial collapse of 2008...after Annapolis. The Disengagement from Aza was therefore necessary collateral damage in order to keep Gog W.'s relationship with the Saudis intact. I have evidence for this from personal conversations with someone in the Agudah apparatus in America to back this up, but I cannot release any names.

In this Shmittah cycle the situation of dependence on American Jewish wealth has therefore dissipated. Divine Providence will not allow for this situation to be repeated. So now Gafni is suggesting an alliance with the Communist, Shelly, in Labor here, and make no mistake. Listen to her speak. She is not a Socialist from Mapai. She is a Communist who wants redistribution of wealth. Since the American Jewsih pocketbook is shrinking as a source for funds, Gafni publicly proclaims that UTJ would make an alliance with a Communist. This is really really sad. To be honest Shas for the most part does not have this alliance with Gog in its past even if its support of Oslo was financial. It did not have UTJ's dilemma in 5765 and therefore had no problem making the moral choice at the time. Our financial dependence on prosperity of Jews in Chu"l is great if it helps build life here in Eretz Yisrael both physically and spiritually. Both the giver and the recipient get eternal reward. When it destroys life here as it did in 5765, that financial dependence must end...and it is time to come home.

3/12/2013 7:44 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

By the way, just to make it clear, I personally know two people from the Agudath Yisrael of St. Louis who made personal appeals to the Gog W. Administration to stop the Disengagement. The reasons for the American Agudath Yisrael official silence on the matter of Gaza Disengagement had a lot to do with legislation that they desired that Gog W. sign that was sitting on his desk.

3/12/2013 8:16 PM  
Blogger Dov Bar-Leib said...

Numbers of how many Matmidim should receive state support must as always be negotiated through the least known word in Israel....Compromise or Pesharah. But the support should be direct and not funneled through political parties which only corrupts the process...as we have seen to our dismay.

3/12/2013 8:47 PM  
Anonymous mkf said...

@ Dov. I totally agree that serious full time Torah students should be protected and supported by the State and that even they should be paid for their craft as you stated.

@ Anonymous. I don't care for Lapid so much, and wasn't too happy with the pact either, but Bennett didn't do it immediately at all. He waited a week, and during that time he tried unsuccessfully to forge a pact with Shas. It was Shas who refused and rebuffed Bennett. So how can Bennett be blamed for this?

I am happy with the religious community's representation in the govt being that of Bayit Yehudi, and the religious members of Likud. It doesn't have to be Shas imo.
Why does Shas insist on staying with UTJ? Is it a common protexia?

As to Druckman's conversions I am sorry to be so blunt, but I wasn't privy to looking into the soul of each one of those he converted, so I guess I don't know who was or was not a ger tzedek. But since Ovadia Yosef and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar both approved or ruled that the conversions were valid, why does anyone question it?

I don't want to start on the "who is a Jew" issue, as it's a big issue that would divert this blog's intent.

I just believe that Shas and especially UTJ have acted inappropriately, unkindly, and outside of Jewish values and I am tired of this kind of behavior being rewarded.

Sorry to be so blunt and so wordy.

3/12/2013 10:11 PM  

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