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The Flute Used in the Temple From Erchin 10b?

Rebirth of the Judean Flute

Rabbi Lazer Brody commissioned Shilo flute-craftsmen Joe Bazer to build him a replica of the exact same flute that was played in the Holy Temple; it sounds exquisite…

By: Tal Rotem Update date: 2/9/2016

Moshiach is definitely on the way.

Sure, we all talk about Geula, the ingathering of the exiles, and the rebuilding of our Holy Temple, speedily and in our days, Amen. We’re commanded to eagerly await Moshiach and to expect salvation at any moment. But do we?

I can honestly say today that I can feel the intimate arrival of Moshiach and the rebuilding of the Bet HaMikdash; that is, ever since I accompanied Rabbi Lazer Brody on a trip to the village of Shilo, about an hour north of Jerusalem in the Binyamin Region, the site of the Holy Tabernacle that was destroyed during the Philistine Wars during the time of Eli the High Priest.

For those who may not know, Rabbi Lazer plays wood flutes and composes melodies for them. His first album, Calming Waters, has received wonderful reviews both in Israel and in the USA. But, despite the fact that he largely uses the NAF (Native-American flute), what people know as the “Indian Flute,” Rabbi Lazer doesn’t try to adapt himself to any conventional style, especially foreign. “Rebbe Nachman demanded that we be upright menagnim.”

“Menagnim”- literally “melodists” – is the Hebrew word for musicians. Musicians play instruments, but melodists sing songs of praise to Hashem. Rabbi Lazer adds, “Rebbe Nachman didn’t want his disciples to be bar-room musicians. He wanted us to be menagnim. You’ll find that in the first section of Likutei Moharan, Torah 3. Yet in Torah 54, the Rebbe says that the instrument must be upright as well, capable of being a worthy vessel for the niggun, or melody. For that reason, I always dreamed of having a flute that would be made of local Israel-grown wood and crafted here by an upright Shabbat-observing and G-d fearing craftsman. In short, I was looking for something spiritually pure as possible that would give me the tone of the flute used in the Bet Hamikdash, our Holy Temple. I asked Hashem to give me such a gift…”

Sounds like a pipedream? Those with emuna ask Hashem for whatever they need. Well, Hashem certainly heard Rabbi Lazer’s prayers. “After Calming Waters hit the market, I received an email from an individual in Shilo by the name of Joe Bazer. He happened to be an acclaimed master wood turner who had now begun to make his own flutes, right here in the Land of Israel. We met in Jerusalem, and we became great friends. Joe made a custom Eucalyptus flute for me in G; it sounds like a nightingale and is just as good as the American-made NAF. But, it still lacked the tone of the Bet HaMikdash.”

The faster Moshiach and Geula approach us, the more we see outright revelations of G-dliness in this world. Rebbe Nachman said that for those who believe, miracles are the course of nature. Rabbi Lazer pulled a Gemara off the shelf and opened it to tractate Arachin, second chapter. “Look here, Tal,” he showed me. “The Mishna here describes the type of flute that was used in our Holy Temple. It was made of native Israeli River Cane, not bamboo or metal. The Gemara explains that Israeli River Cane gives the flute a specially sweet and desirable tone. This flute is so important that it is played on the days when the entire Hallel is said, even if the day lands on a Shabbat! When I first learned this in deep detail, as soon as I closed the Gemara, I got a call from Joe Bazer. You’re not going to believe this…”

Joe called Rabbi Lazer with the good news that he had just completed his first 5-hole flutes made from Israeli River Cane. He calls this the “Shepherd flute” for undoubtedly, this was the type that King David played as a shepherd in the hills of Judea. Rabbi Lazer calls this the rebirth of the Judean flute. “Lucky I had a ride to Shilo when Joe called me,” smiles Rabbi Lazer. “Otherwise, I’d have put on my Nikes and run all the way from Ashdod to Shilo!”

Rabbi Lazer picked out 3 of the Shepherd Flutes as a start. What could be healthier for the soul? This is just what Rebbe Nachman wanted – a kosher menagen with a kosher instrument, playing original songs of praise to Hashem. Moshiach is undoubtedly fast on the way.

Joe and Daphne Bazer came to Israel from the USA twenty years ago. Joe’s phenomenal Shepherd’s Flute is now available online from his website Shilo Flutes. Pretty soon, the sweet strains of the Bet Hamikdash will be heard far and wide, amen!

Continue reading here…

From Breslev.com, here.

מלוכה מול דמוקרטיה

סינגפור – דיקטטורה “טובה”

דיקטטורה יכולה להיות “טובה” רק אם אני אהיה הדיקטאטור. אני לא סומך על אף אחד אחר שיהיה “דיקטאטור טוב”…

סינגפור היא הוכחה שדמוקרטיה אינה תנאי הכרחי לשגשוג כלכלי.

בתנאים מסוימים ונדירים ייתכן שאופי הנורמות הנכפות (הרגולציה) על ידי הדיקטאטור והעונשים למי שלא מציית – זוכים להסכמה מצד רוב מוחץ של האוכלוסייה. כמו העונש “הלא מידתי” למי שזורק בדל סיגריה במקום ציבורי. והראייה – אזרחי סינגפור רשאים להגר מהדיקטטורה מתי שיחפצו, אבל הם לא בורחים, נהפוך הוא – אנשים מוכשרים ממדינות רבות נוהרים אל סינגפור.

“הדיקטאטור הטוב” של סינגפור החליט לנהל מדיניות רווחה מינימאלית כי לא נעים לו לראות אנשים מחטטים בפחי אשפה. כל כך מינימאלית שההוצאה הציבורית בסינגפור היא הנמוכה במערב. אין הסתדרות, שביתות אסורות, אין שכר מינימום ואין דמי אבטלה. אין איסור על קיצוצים בשכר העובדים (“הרעת תנאים”) כאשר המציאות הכלכלית מאלצת זאת, העובד כמובן חופשי לחפש מקום עבודה אחר. למרות העדר “זכויות עובדים” – הפלא ופלא: כוח הקניה של השכר הממוצע בסינגפור הוא מהגבוהים בעולם (בדומה לקנדה ולגרמניה). במדינת ישראל, בה העובדים “מוגנים” במיוחד – השכר הממוצע (מתואם לכוח הקניה) עומד על כ- 1,800 דולר לחודש; בסינגפור כ- 2,600 דולר.

סינגפור מנוהלת, במידה רבה, כמו עסק פרטי ענק של כ- 5 מיליון עובדים. העדר הדמוקרטיה, מהזן המקובל במערב, מונע את התהוותו של “הבאג הדמוקראטי” שגורר פוליטיקאים להציע לבוחרים ולקבוצות לחץ “יותר כסף תמורת פחות עבודה” – על חשבון קבוצות אחרות באוכלוסיה. “דיקטאטור טוב”, שאינו תלוי בבחירות חוזרות ונשנות, לא חייב לשחד את הבוחרים ואת קבוצות הלחץ. לכן גם אין צורך בתקציב מדינה גירעוני, שמכוסה באמצעות הלוואות והנפקת אגרות חוב. המדינה לא מנפיקה אג”ח כדי לכסות חורים בתקציב כמו ב”דמוקרטיות הנאורות”, אלא אך ורק למימון פרויקטים מוגדרים של פיתוח. גרעון בתקציב המדינה, או משרדי הממשלה, אסור על פי החוקה.

בדיקטטורה קיים איום פוטנציאלי של מהפכה בכוח הנשק, אבל כאשר “הדיקטאטור טוב” – קשה לאופוזיציה מיליטנטית להתארגן.

“המודל הסינגפורי” מוצא חן בעיני מנהיגי סין. הם רואים בו מודל אפשרי לשמירת כוחה של המפלגה הקומוניסטית בשילוב עם כלכלה חופשית מבוססת ענפי שירותים. סינגפור קטנה בשטחה ובאוכלוסייתה מהעיר שנחאי שבסין… אך הסינים לא מסתירים את הערכתם ל”מודל הסינגפורי” ושולחים מידי שנה מאות עובדי ציבור להשתלמויות בסינגפור.

אבל לא לעולם חוסן. האב המייסד של סינגפור, לי קואן יו, הלך לעולמו לפני כשנה. לי קואן כנראה ניחן בחושים נדירים של שליט שיודע היכן עובר הגבול העדין בו הרגולציה הופכת לשעבוד בפועל. הבן הממשיך, או הנכד הממשיך, קרוב לוודאי ידפקו את העניינים – הערכה פרטית שלי. “דיקטאטור טוב” הוא נדיר ביותר.

אתר “קו ישר” נושא את דגל חופש הפרט. “כלכלה חופשית” אינה המטרה, אלא חופש הפרט. כלכלה חופשית ושגשוג כלכלי הם תוצאה ישירה של חופש הפרט והגנה על זכויות הקניין שלו – גם מעושק השלטון. שגשוג כלכלי יכול להשיג גם שליט יחיד מזן נדיר כפי שמוכיחה סינגפור. אנחנו דוגלים בחופש.

מוטי היינריך

מאתר קו ישר, כאן.

Moshe Feiglin on “Israeli” Arabs

Moshe Feiglin: Israeli Psyche Needs Arabs

Feb-09-2016

“Even if it would pass, the Knesset bill that would ban MKs who act against the State from serving in the Knesset will never be implemented,” said Moshe Feiglin. “At least not against Arabs.”

“The Opposition will not vote along with the Coalition to provide the necessary votes. And even if it would, the High Court would disqualify the bill.

Why?” asked Feiglin.

“If Arab MKs Zoabi and Zahlake didn’t exist, the Right would have to invent them,” Feiglin explained. “Otherwise, how would it win the elections when the Left was leading by four mandates? The Right won the elections thanks to the Arabs – or the Israeli public’s fear/disgust of them.

And when for the past four months Jews are being slaughtered in the streets and the Right has no answer, which witch do our leaders send the public to hunt, if not the Arabs?” Feiglin said.

“After I expelled 4 Arab MKs from the Knesset plenum in my role as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset,” Feiglin continued, “MK Basil Ratas warned me, ‘If you continue like this, we will leave the Knesset.’ ‘What makes you think that I care?” I answered.

According to Feiglin, the Arabs are fully aware how much Israel needs them. “The Left needs them in order to establish a state of all its citizens in Israel. The Right needs them in order to remain in power. The ‘Israeli’ needs the Arab in order to forget that he is a Jew,” Feiglin concluded.

From Manhigut Yehudit [Defunct].

Ron Paul on Depression

Mandatory Depression Screening is A Depressing Thought

By Ron Paul

February 9, 2016

The United States Preventive Services Task Force recently recommended mandatory depression screening for all Americans. The task force wants to force health insurance companies to pay for the screening. Basic economics, as well as the Obamacare disaster, should have shown this task force that government health insurance mandates harm Americans.

Government health insurance mandates raise the price of health insurance. Consumers will respond to this increase by either choosing to not carry health insurance or by reducing their consumption of other goods and services. Imposing new health insurance mandates will thus make consumers, many of whom are already suffering from Obamacare’s costly mandates, worse off by forcing them to deviate from their preferred consumption patterns.

Mandatory depression screening will not just raise insurance costs. In order to ensure that the screening mandate is being properly implemented, the government will need to create a database containing the results of the screenings. Those anti-gun politicians who want to forbid anyone labeled “mentally ill” from owning a firearm will no doubt want to use this database as a tool to deprive individuals of their Second Amendment rights.

If the preventive task force has its way, Americans could lose their Second Amendment, and possibly other, rights simply because they happened to undergo their mandatory depression screening when they were coping with a loved one’s passing or a divorce, or simply having a bad day. As anyone who has been mistakenly placed on the terrorist watch list can attest, it is very difficult to get off a government database even when the government clearly is in error. Thus, anyone mistakenly labeled as depressed will have to spend a great deal of time and money in what may be a futile attempt to get his rights back.

Mandatory depression screening will endanger people’s health by increasing the use of psychotropic drugs. These drugs often have dangerous side effects. Their use has even been linked to suicide. The fact that almost every mass shooter was on psychotropic drugs is another good reason to oppose any policy that will increase reliance on these medicines.

The Preventive Services Task Force’s mandatory depression screening mandate is based on the fallacy that diagnosing mental health problems is analogous to diagnosing cancer or diabetes. Even mental health professionals acknowledge that there is a great deal of subjectivity in mental health diagnosis.

Consider that until 1973 homosexuality was considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. Today, some mental health professionals think that those who believe in limited government, free-market economics, or traditional values suffer from mental disorders. If mandatory depression screening becomes a reality, it is likely this mental health screening will be expanded to cover screening for other mental illnesses. This could result in anyone with an unpopular political belief or lifestyle choice being labeled as “mentally ill.”

Even if mandatory health screening could be implementing without increasing costs or threatening liberty it would still be a bad idea. Government health care mandates undermine the basic principles of a free society. If it is legitimate for government to tell us what types of health care we must receive, then it is also legitimate for the government to tell us what to eat, when to exercise, and even how to raise our children. To paraphrase C.S. Lewis, a tyranny imposed for our own good is the worst form of tyranny because it is a tyranny without limits. All who love liberty must therefore oppose mandatory depression screening, or any other health care mandate.

From Lewrockwell.com, here.