WORDS OF WISDOM

"The sum of the matter, when all all has been considered: Fear God and keep his commandments, for that is man's whole duty. For God will judge every deed -even everything hidden- whether good or evil." Kohelet 12:13,14

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COMMENT ON JEWISH ISRAEL POST

The following is my comment on the post "Now there arose new rabbis in Israel who knew not the Rav - Part 2" from JewishIsrael.

This is not a new phenomenon. We learn from Melachim Bet chapter 17 the King of Assyria brought foreigners and settled them in the Shomron. These people were idolators and Hashem sent lions to attack them. When this happened the people told the King that they didn't know the law of the G-d of the land so he sent a Kohen to teach them. It is interesting to note that the Kohen settled in Bet-El. According to the commentary the Kohen realized he couldn't convince the people to give up their idols so he allowed them to continue serving their idols but as intermediaries not deities. They feared Hashem but they continued to worship their own g-ds in addition to Hashem. We see these foreigners later in Ezra chapter 4 when we come back to the land from Bavel to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash.

Ezra 4:1
The enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a Sanctuary for Hashem, God of Israel. They approached Zerubbal and the heads of families and said to them, "Let us build with you, for, like you, we will seek your God; it is to Him that we have been sacrificing since the days of Esar-haddon, king of Assyria, who brought us up here." But Zerubbabel, along with Jeshua and the rest of the family heads of Israel, said to them, "It is not for you together with us to build a Temple for our God; rather we by ourselves will build it, for Hashem, God of Israel, as King Cyrus king of Persia has commanded us."

According to the commentary, these people had adopted a distorted form of the Jewish religion worshiping Hashem along with their gods.

Sound familiar? Is not the slogan of the so-called "xian zionists", "we worship the God of Avraham, Yitzhak, and Yaakov just like you"?

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PREPARING FOR ELUL

"The ways of God are straight.

The tzaddik uses them for progress;

The rebel comes to failure by them."

(Hoshea 14:10)

The ways of God are straight. There should be no possibility of taking the wrong turn. There are no turns. But if one does not want the truth... If one rebels... Even the ways of God, even the precious gifts of God can lead to failure.
When one is making progress in the life of the spirit many doors open before him. But there is no standing still. If one thinks one is standing still, in truth he is falling. This is our situation. We are falling continuously, but we don't know it. There is nothing worse that this.
The very "ways of God" used by the tzaddik as a means of progress lead to failure when used by the rebel. Everything is a test. The very means given by God to achieve aliyah- spiritual ascent -can be used by the yetzer ha-ra for the opposite.
(Michtav Me'Eliyahu, Rabbi Eliyahu E Dessler)

FAST FOOD RELIGION-1,000,000 CONVERTED

There are rabbis among Am Yisrael that believe we should take a "McDonalds" approach to "converting" the goyim. These "rabbis" say we have a mission to be a "light to the nations" and we are following in the footsteps of our father Avraham when we act like "missionaries" and go out to the goyim to forcefeed them Torah. These rabbis want to twist the Torah and even throw out halachah to make it more palatable to the goyim. Well I have three words for them "quality over quantity"!

Bereishis 17:3 Abram fell on his face: Abraham's life goal was to bring all the nations to faith in the Living God. As is known, he would attract passersby by offering them drinks, and then some would heed his call to convert. But when he heard the new condition for conversion, namely circumcision, he was seized with trembling, for henceforth his goal would be beyond reach. What fool would listen to him to undergo an operation on his own flesh? Abraham fell on his face in great anguish, like a man whose ship had sunk at sea. This is what is behind Chazal's statement (Breishit Rabbah Ch.46), "Before I underwent circumcision they would come and join me, but who will come now that I am circumcised?" God answered him:

Bereishis 17:4 As for me this is my covenant with you. I do not need a lot of "converts," who come to "look for God" among the food and drink, and who are unwilling to shed their blood on the altar of faith. It is sufficient for Me that you keep My covenant. I am content to have one believer like you, who goes through fire and water to sanctify My Name.

(Insights in the Torah/Bereishis, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin)

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GALUT MENTALITY

After 2000 years HaKadosh Baruch Hu has removed us from the galut and returned us to our holy land but it is up to us to remove the galut from within us. That means we have to remove all that is unholy and unjewish from within our hearts and minds. We have to remember the true Jewish idea without the influence of western philosophy or morality.