Year: 2018

Kollel Chatzos – The Sources

Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory said…

The song of Torah only emerges at night, which is a propitious time for mourning the destruction of the Beit Hamidkdash by reciting Tikun Chatzot, pouring out one’s heart in prayer, and asking for forgiveness. A man can achieve a greater level of completeness at night than he can during the day, and in the holy books – in particular, in the holy Zohar –extensive praise is lavished on anyone who has the merit to arise at midnight. And in the Yerushalmi Talmud it is written: “If you see that people have abandoned the Torah, stand right up and fortify it and you shall receive a reward on behalf of all of them.” Therefore, since there are very few who study late at night, the significance of them “receiving reward on behalf of everyone” is multiplied dozens of times over, and the reward received by those who learn and by those who support them is limitless.

One of the most frequently discussed matters in the holy Zohar is the praiseworthiness of those who study the holy Torah at “midnight”. As King David, blessed be his memory, said, “At midnight, I rise to give thanks to You.” And in the holy books countless references are made to the praiseworthiness of studying at midnight, emphasizing that it is dozens of times more valuable than studying during the day. “There is no greater time of heavenly mercy than then, and it is the most desirable time to delve into the holy Torah.” (The Holy Alsheich, Eicha, chapter 2, verse 19). [see: Reishit Chochma (Sha’ar HaKedusha) where a pure soul gathered everything that our sages of blessed memory said, and wrote that anyone who reads their words will surely become inspired and will desire with all his soul to arise at midnight.] Thus, we provide you with a small collection of the many words written in the holy books, praising those who arise at midnight to 1

It is written in the holy Zohar (Vayikra 13): Regarding those who prepare to occupy themselves with Torah at midnight, all of their praise is accepted and desired before the King. And about them it is written: “Praise you servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord…” They are the ones who are called “servants of the Lord”, they are the ones who are worthy of blessing the King and whose blessing is a blessing. As it is written, “Lift your hands in the holy place and bless the Lord.” You, who merit the holy King being blessed by you, the blessing through you is a blessing.”

It is also written in the holy Zohar (ibid. 28): Rav Chezkiyahu said, anyone who occupies himself with Torah at that hour will certainly earn a permanent place in the Next World. They asked Rabbi Yossi, “What is the reason for that?” He said: I have learned that every midnight when the Holy One, blessed be He, awakes in Gan Eden, all the souls in Gan Eden will be offered to drink in abundance from that river called “Nahal Kedumim”, a river of delights with water that will flow for eternity. Moreover, for one who arises to study Torah, it will be as if that river washes over his head and waters him among the saplings in Gan Eden. Hence he will have a permanent place in the World to Come. Rabbi Yossi said: “Whereas all the righteous souls in Gan Eden listen to him, and allot him a portion of that river tonic, he, therefore, has a permanent place in the World to Come.”

It is also written in the holy Zohar: And when morning comes, the Holy One, blessed be He draws a thread of mercy over him, and the Holy One, blessed be he, gives him gifts, and happy is his lot.

And our teacher Rabbi Chaim Vital, ztz”l wrote (in Sha’arei Kedusha, part 2:7):

When a man wakes up after midnight, he is included among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem, of whom it is said (Yeshayahu 66:10): “rejoice with her a rejoicing, all who mourn over her”. For at that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, also mourns, and roars like a lion. If he then also occupies himself with Torah, our rabbis of blessed memory said of him (Shir Hashirim Rabba, 5, 7): The song of Torah only emerges at night”. And our rabbis of blessed memory said, (Avodah Zara, page 3, column 2): “One who occupies himself with Torah at night has a thread of mercy spread over him during the day”. And our rabbis of blessed memory said (Tamid, page 32, column 2): “One who studies Torah at night, the Shechina faces him.” And it is written (Eicha 2, 19): Rise, awaken in the night”. David Hamelech, may he rest in peace, didn’t merit life in this world and in the next, if not for that. As it is written (Tehillim 119:62): “At midnight, I rise to give thanks to You for Your just judgments.” And throughout the entire book of Zohar, the praises for this mitzva appear countless times, and a man who learns at night is bestowed with Ruach Hakodesh, as it is stated in Zohar Shemot (18, 2).

Found here.

The Gedolim Who Allowed Oslo Were Proven Wrong the Very Same Day

JOSEPH FARAH

A provocative headline? It’s more than that. It’s the truth.

Truth does not change. Truth is truth. If something was true 50 years ago, 40 years ago, 30 years ago, it is still true today.

And the truth is that only 30 years ago, there was very little confusion on this issue of Palestine.

You might remember the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir making the bold political statement: “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people.”

The statement has been a source of ridicule and derision by Arab propagandists ever since. They love to talk about Golda Meir’s “racism.” They love to suggest she was in historical denial. They love to say her statement is patently false – an intentional lie, a strategic deception.

What they don’t like to talk about, however, are the very similar statements made by Yasser Arafat and his inner circle of political leadership years after Meir had told the truth – that there is no distinct Palestinian cultural or national identity.

So, despite the fact that conventional wisdom has now proclaimed that there is such a thing as the Palestinian people, I’m going to raise those uncomfortable quotations made by Arafat and his henchmen when their public-relations guard was down.

Way back on March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview with Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here’s what he said:

The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct “Palestinian people” to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan.

That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? It’s even more specific than Golda Meir’s statement. It reaffirms what I have written on this subject. And it is hardly the only such statement of its kind. Arafat himself made a very definitive and unequivocal statement along these lines as late as 1993. It demonstrates conclusively that the Palestinian nationhood argument is the real strategic deception – one geared to set up the destruction of Israel.

In fact, on the same day Arafat signed the Declaration of Principles on the White House lawn in 1993, he explained his actions on Jordan TV. Here’s what he said: “Since we cannot defeat Israel in war, we do this in stages. We take any and every territory that we can of Palestine, and establish a sovereignty there, and we use it as a springboard to take more. When the time comes, we can get the Arab nations to join us for the final blow against Israel.”

No matter how many people convince themselves that the aspirations for Palestinian statehood are genuine and the key to peace in the Middle East, they are still deceiving themselves.

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, in the history of the world, Palestine has never existed as a nation. The region known as Palestine was ruled alternately by Rome, by Islamic and Christian crusaders, by the Ottoman Empire and, briefly, by the British after World War I. The British agreed to restore at least part of the land to the Jewish people as their ancestral homeland. It was never ruled by Arabs as a separate nation.

Why now has it become such a critical priority?

The answer is because of a massive deception campaign and relentless terrorism over 40 years.

Golda Meir was right. Her statement is validated by the truth of history and by the candid, but not widely circulated, pronouncements of Arafat and his lieutenants.

Israel and the West must not surrender to terrorism by granting the killers just what they want – a public relations triumph and a strategic victory. It’s not too late to say no to terrorism. It’s not too late to say no to another Arab terror state. It’s not too late to tell the truth about Palestine.

From WND, here.

Down with Knighthood!

Knighthood in Britain plays something of the same role that the Legion of Honor, founded by Napoleon, does in France. It rewards men who have spent their lives promoting the interests of the state. In this way it permanently skews the country’s intellectual life towards the state and its beneficent wonderfulness.

  • Ralph Raico

שיר בענין איחור

איחור הוא לא איסור,

איחור הוא לא כדאי.

איחור הוא מאכזב לזה

אשר חיכה מדי.

אם לא תאמתי ציפיות

הכאבתי לשני,

וכשהרב הוא מאוכזב

הכאבתי לעצמי.

(דברי תלמיד)

The Ibn Ezra Is No Karaite!

Even when he says untenable things, this does not reflect his personal view.

Rabbi Gil Student quotes Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman:

The Karaites famously understand Ex. 35:3 as meaning that we may not have any fire in our homes on Shabbos, not just that we may not kindle fires. Therefore, they extinguish all flames before Shabbos. Ibn Ezra (ad loc.) writes about a debate he had with a Karaite. He argues that the verse only forbids fires on the “day” of Shabbos, and the biblical day begins with the morning. On this last point, Ibn Ezra adduces many proofs. If so, Karaites should permit fires on the evening of Shabbos.

Ibn Ezra could not have meant that he believes that the biblical day begins with the morning. In another work, he writes about this view that: “God should avenge the Sabbath from one who believes this disturbing interpretation. The tongue of one who reads it aloud should cleave to his palate. Also, the arm of the scribe who writes this commentary to Scripture should wither and his right eye weaken” (The Sabbath Epistle, tr. Mordechai S. Goodman, p. 4). Rather, Ibn Ezra must have been arguing about the limits of independent understanding of the Bible. As Ibn Ezra wrote (Ex. 35:3): “I only mentioned this because an understanding person can interpret Scripture in many ways. Therefore, regarding all commandments, we need a tradition and Oral Torah.”

See the rest here.