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Date Posted: 22:54:05 05/31/12 Thu
Author: t
Subject: fb104


#472 Power of Patience

The Talmud (Airuvin 54b) relates that Rabbi Praida had to repeat each lesson to a certain student four hundred times until the student understood it. This is usually cited as an example of the patience needed to be a teacher. We can also see the courage and perseverance of the student. Most people would give up after twenty or thirty repetitions and say they lack the necessary intelligence to comprehend the subject. This student realized he would eventually understand if he just heard each point enough times. When you say you cannot understand something, how many times did you try before you reached your conclusion? We have tremendous ability to understand almost anything if we have the patience to hear the ideas enough times. Pride gets in the way, and so does frustration. But a truth seeker does not worry about what others might think and keeps his mind on the goal.

(Gateway to Happiness, p.384)
#473 Trust in G-d Brings Peace Of Mind

What is "trust in G-d?" It is the realization that there are no accidents in the world, and that all aspects of a person's life are guided by the Almighty. This includes life and death, food, clothing, children, job, house, and health. Trust in G-d requires that a person accept the will of G-d in all these areas since he knows that whatever the Almighty does is for his ultimate good. In this way, the person who trusts in G-d will constantly have peace of mind.

A person without trust in G-d, however, will tend to suffer even when things are going well - because of anxiety about the future. About such a person, King Solomon said in Proverbs: "All the days of those poor (in wisdom) are unhappy ones."

(see Chovos Halevovos 4:4,5; Chazon Ish - Emunah u'Bitochon 2:1; Gateway to Happiness, p.81-2)


See Rabbi Pliskin's new book "Life Is Now"




11 Sivan

In 1924, the Israeli town of Bnei Brak ("Sons of Lightning") was founded just east of Tel Aviv. Bnei Brak is known as a center of Talmudic scholarship, and was home to the famed 20th century sages, the Chazon Ish and Rabbi Elazar M. Shach of the Ponevitch Yeshiva. Bnei Brak is mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 19:45), and is famous in the Passover Haggadah as the site of the all-night Seder of Rabbi Akiva and his colleagues.
12 Sivan

In 1948, the government of Costa Rica gave diplomatic recognition to the new State of Israel. Due to its political balance, Costa Rica is often referred to as the "Switzerland of Central America." For years, Costa Rica was one of the only countries to house its embassy in Jerusalem. Of the 184 nations with which United States has diplomatic relations, Israel is the only one where the U.S. embassy is not located in the capital city.



11 Sivan

They were drunk although not with wine, they staggered although they drank no ale (Isaiah 29:9).


In the field of alcoholism treatment, there is a concept of a "dry drunk." This term describes those who have stopped drinking alcohol, but whose behavior remains essentially unchanged from their drinking days.

Just as a "dry drunk" phenomenon occurs with someone who has stopped drinking, it can occur in someone who never drank excessively. In the above verse, the Prophet describes such behavior occurring in the absence of alcohol intoxication.

Active alcoholics are generally oblivious to their self-centered behavior. Seeking to satisfy their own needs regardless of how this may affect others, they are likely to project blame for everything that goes wrong onto anyone and everyone - except themselves. They refuse to make any changes in the way they live; instead, they demand that others accommodate.

We often observe this same behavior in people who do not use intoxicants. In a way, alcoholics are more fortunate, for eventually the toxic effects of alcohol will force upon them the realization of their destructive behavior. People who do not drink and who are thus not likely to have any toxic disasters which precipitate a crisis must therefore exercise even greater scrutiny, lest they unknowingly indulge in behavior that is destructive to themselves and others.


Today I shall ...
...

find myself a competent, trusted friend to help me see if I might not be denying self-destructive behavior.


12 Sivan

Whatever a person gives to the Kohen (priest) will be his (Numbers 5:10).


The Talmud relates that King Munbaz distributed his treasures in a year of famine. His family confronted him and said, "Your ancestors accumulated wealth, and you are dissipating it." Munbaz responded, "My ancestors accumulated wealth in this world, and I am accumulating it in a higher world. They stored their wealth where human hands could reach it, and I am storing it beyond anyone's reach."

The wise words of Munbaz take on special significance in an era such as ours, in which so many people suffer bitter disappointment when the savings they worked for all their lives disappear before their eyes. Major corporations that once appeared invincible have failed, and along with their failures went the pensions that thousands of workers had relied upon for their retirement years. Savings institutions that appeared eternally secure have gone bankrupt, and people who had invested in what they felt were safe securities were left penniless.

While no one disagrees with judicious savings, these economic upturns have proven the Psalmist's caution, not to trust in humans who may not be able to save themselves (Psalms 146:3).

The verse cited above is generally interpreted to mean that any of the tithes given to an individual Kohen belong to him exclusively. Another interpretation may be that whatever we give to tzedakah will be our own. That is something that, as Munbaz said, is beyond human capacity to steal or diminish.


Today I shall ...
...

remember that the only wealth that I can truly claim as my own is that which I have given to tzedakah.


See more books by Rabbi Abraham Twerski at Artscroll.com


11 Sivan

History of Palestine

I'm a bit confused about the term "Palestine." Today everyone uses it to refer to Arabs, but my grandfather played in Palestine Symphony Orchestra which changed its name to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra when the Jewish state came into being in 1948.

So what's the scoop on "Palestine"?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:

In the year 70 CE the Romans burned down the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, murdering and exiling the Jews of Jerusalem. Following an unsuccessful revolt against Rome in 135 CE, the Roman emperor Hadrian decided to excise all things Jewish from the promised land. Jerusalem was renamed "Aelia Capitolina" and the penalty for any Jew daring to venture into the city was death. In addition, an idol to the pagan god Jupiter was erected in the remains of the Temple.

Further, Hadrian asked his historians who were the worst enemies of the Jews. The scribes said, "The ancient Philistines who vanished half a millennium prior." It was thus declared that Land of Israel would from then on be called "Philistia" to dishonor the Jews and obliterate their history. Hence the name "Palestine."

For the next 2,000 years, Israel remained at the forefront of Jewish consciousness. Jews always maintained a presence in Israel, and prayed to return en mass.

The rhetoric about a massive Arab presence being overrun by "invading Jews" is dispelled by Mark Twain, who visited the area in 1867 and wrote in his book, "The Innocents Abroad":

"We traversed some miles of desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given wholly to weeds – a silent mournful expanse... We never saw a human being on the whole route... hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."

The vast majority of Arabs came to Israel after the early Zionists pioneers began to rebuild the land, thereby creating modern infrastructure and economic opportunities, which attracted Arabs from both surrounding territories and far-away Arab lands.

At the time, Jewish residents of Palestine were considered "Palestinians," whereby the Arabs were officially referred to as Arabs. The "Jerusalem Post" newspaper was called the "Palestine Post," and the Jewish Agency-issued postage stamps read "Palestine." As far as the Arabs were concerned no political entity called Palestine existed.

But that is all past history. The Arabs, in their decades-long war against Israel's very existence, have succeeded in convincing the world of a Palestinian Arab identity deserving of their own state. So that's the reality today, and we are trying to deal with it in a way that satisfies both world opinion and the security requirements of the citizens of Israel.
12 Sivan

Four Quarters

I visited Israel in 1987 and it was the experience of a lifetime. In Jerusalem, I noticed that the walled Old City is divided into four quarters: Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Armenian. My question is: When were these divisions made, and why is there both a Christian and an Armenian quarter?
The Aish Rabbi Replies:

To answer your question, let's review a quick history of Jerusalem. Dating back 3,000 years ago, Jerusalem had only one quarter – the Jewish Quarter. The simply reason is that when King David made it the capital of Israel, all of Jerusalem was Jewish!

In 70 C.E. the Roman emperor Vespasian and his legions destroyed the Holy Temple and Jerusalem. A series of revolts against Rome ensued. The revolt led by Bar Kochba and Rabbi Akiva nearly succeeded, but in the end the Emperor Hadrian prevailed. He wiped out over a million Jews and completely destroyed Jerusalem. He then rebuilt the city in its current design of four quarters, and renamed it Aelius Capitolinus. (Aelius from his name, Aelius Publius Hadrianus, and capitolinus as the surname of his god Jupiter.)

Throughout the millennia, Jews did not relinquish their dream of rebuilding the Temple and returning to Jerusalem, and they always retained a presence there. One hundred years ago, 60 percent of the residents of the Old City were Jews. The Jewish Quarter was too small to accommodate them, so Jews actually comprised a majority of the Muslim Quarter as well.

Arab riots in the 1920s forced the evacuation of all Jews from the Muslim Quarter. In the aftermath, over 300 Jewish properties were either burned, destroyed or abandoned. Today, numerous buildings in the Muslim Quarter are identified as historically Jewish by virtue of the niches carved in the doorways. These niches once held a Mezuzah, the parchment placed on the doorway of every Jewish house.

Recently, many Jews have begun to move back into the Muslim Quarter, prompting some bit of political controversy. One group is the Ateret Kohanim Yeshiva, where Jewish scholars study the laws pertaining to Jewish life during the times of the Holy Temple.

The Christian quarter is comprised mostly of Arab Christians, including Greek Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Copts, etc. Since the time of the Crusades 1,000 years ago, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Christian Quarter has been a site of pilgrimage for Christians the world over.

The Armenian quarter is comprised completely of Christian Armenians. Prior to WWI the entire area was a monastery. Only beginning in 1915, when fanatical Turkish Muslims massacred a million Armenian Christians, did some of the survivors take up residence in Jerusalem.

By the way, some would argue that there are actually five quarters in the Old City, the fifth being the Temple Mount, also called Mount Moriah, which has been a Jewish historical site for 4,000 years.

May Jerusalem soon fulfill its destiny as the City of Peace.

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