Reprinted from CrownHeights.info…

In what appears to be a frightening trend, authorities in Argentina captured an Iranian-Hezbollah terror cell which was, according to Debkafile, planning an attack on a Chabad center there. If confirmed, this is the third time this month that an Iranian linked attack on a Chabad House was foiled. The other two plots were against Chabad Houses in Thailand and Azerbaijan.

From Debkafile:

Argentina has captured a three-man Iranian-Hizballah cell and is hunting for the rest of the network, according to exclusive DEBKAfile sources. Its counter-terror police were a step ahead of attacks plotted against several of the 10 Habad centers in the country, part of a worldwide joint terrorist offensive against Israeli and Jewish targets. Two strikes were thwarted earlier this month in Thailand and Azerbaijan.

The three-man cell was captured in the Argentine resort town of San Carlos de Bariloche, 1,680 kilometers from Buenos Aires, a favorite starting-point for Israeli backpackers touring Patagonia and the Andes. The town is situated on the banks of Lake Naheil Huapi, a major tourist attraction of the Rio Negro district which is famous for its beauty.

Argentina's anti-terrorist Federal Special Operations Group, known as T4, waylaid the three terrorists on tips from US and Israeli intelligence. In their possession were incriminating documents and maps.

Chabad hospitality centers and Jewish institutions in the country were then shut down and given extra security guards, as was the Israeli embassy in the capital.
In 1992, the embassy was attacked by Iranian terrorists killing 29 people and injuring 242. DEBKAfile's intelligence and counter-terror sources reveal that one of the things the investigation seeks to discover this time is whether the captured Iranian-Hizballah cell was given a safe house, guidance and aid by family members of World War II Nazi criminals who won sanctuary in Argentina.. At the time of the Israeli embassy bombing twenty years ago, the Iranian and Hizballah terrorists were suspected of working hand in glove with local pro-Nazi elements. Argentina, Germany and Israel never confirmed this.

However, San Carlos de Bariloche is known as a post-1945 Nazi haven. Two books by British writers published in 2011 even claimed that Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun had managed to escape from Berlin and reach safety in this region. This rumor was always denied.

The terror alert Buenos Aires declared this week was also communicated to Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Mexico, in case additional Iranian-Hizballah teams were heading for Israeli and Jewish targets there too.

The plot Argentina foiled after Thailand and Azerbaijan indicates that Iranian intelligence and Hizballah's special security arm are in the midst of a worldwide terror offensive against Israel and Jews. Habad centers were picked out because their doors are always open to travelers, easily identifiable and accessible. They are often packed with large numbers of Jewish and Israeli visitors. The attackers are therefore assured of a big splash in the international media – if they pull off an attack.

In November 2008, Lashkar e-Taiba, the Pakistani arm of al Qaeda, seized Habad House in Mumbai and murdered eight Israelis and American Jews before blowing the building up. The rabbi's small child was the only survivor, rescued from the captured building by his Indian nanny.

In Bangkok, a member of the Iranian-Hizballah terrorist team, on his way with at least two confederates to blow up the Habad center after holding its occupants hostage and killing them, was captured two weeks ago, thwarting the attack. Then, on Jan. 19, Azerbaijani authorities nailed an Iranian intelligence-Hizballah cell in Baku in time to save the local Habad community center in the city.
Joint Iranian-Hizballah terrorist tentacles have already reached into three continents for an all-out drive to reach their prey – so far without success, owing to the cooperation among counter-terror agencies which remain on sustained high alert.

by Reb Gutman Locks @ Mystical Paths

     Sufis belong to an unusual branch of Islam that stresses acceptance instead of war. They enjoy the mystical aspects of their religion, and are best known for their “whirling dervish” practice. They are often ostracized by the “mainstream” Muslim world. An Arabic speaking Sufi liked my music video Bringing Shabbat into the Week and wrote;

     “Your Jewish harp is great. Sort of off topic but can you by chance make a clip where you can advise on how to bring peace among the Muslim and the Jewish community?”

Gutman’s advice;

     The world should support the local Arabs by providing them with decent lives in other countries. This would improve their lot tremendously, and would cost the world no more than they are spending on them now. Then there will be peace between us. Even the Koran calls this land the homeland of the children of Israel.

     “Peace” (Shalom) is one of G-d’s names. Let all the world live in peace.

Be well

From the koran: 

Suras 5:20-21 "O my people [Children of Israel], enter the holy land that GOD has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers."

Suras 17:104 “And we said to the Children of Israel afterwards, "Go live into this land. When the final prophecy comes to pass, we will summon you all in one group."

by Reb Gutman Locks @ Mystical Paths

Learning Talmud at the Kotel before davening (prayer) 3:30 a.m. 

     For thousands of years, this scene has repeated itself. The “older” more learned boy gives over the page to the younger boy, who has to struggle to understand its meaning. For many of you, this might be an unusual picture, but for those who are familiar with the yeshiva (religious school) world, it is the way things have always been.

     And what does that page say? It says, I created you to be a special people. Do not be fooled by pizza and basketball. Although they can be very nice, they are not the purpose of life. Follow My Torah, and you will understand why I put you in the world, and your grandchildren will understand, too.

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

By now practically everybody has heard of the incredibly stupid op ed piece in the Atlanta Jewish Times that, in talking about the approaches Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu should consider in defending itself and preserving it’s existence, said…

“(option) three, give the go ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel in order for the current vice preisdent to take his place, and forcefully dictate that the United States’ policy includes it’s helping the Jewish state obliterate it’s enemies.  Yes, you read ‘three’ correctly.  Order a hit on the president to preserve Israel’s existence.”

The author made a horrible mistake, has been interrogated by the United States Secret Service (presidential protection force) and has lost his job.  He’s also publically apologize for doing so.

But the question remains, what did he do wrong?  (Besides indirectly threatening the president of the United States and recommending assassination as a policy, as if that wasn’t enough wrong.)

The direct errors are obvious and not the focus of my interest.  (Such as, he’s put American Jews at risk of being considered a threat to the U.S. president as well as handing a heavy serving of red meat to all those who suspect American Jews of dual loyalties.)

What about the religious error?

Am Yisroel should NEVER rely on another country for self defense and survival.  Of course, politics and national relationships will continue to be a part of this world (at least until the times of Moshiach).  But the Jewish people rely on Our Father in Heaven, not on the president of the United States.

That is the truly fatal flaw in the author’s reasoning.

So says Daniel Greenfield, and I strongly suspect he’s right.  Unfortunately even upscale Israelis are generally unaware of such social manipulation going on.

Soros Manufactured Chaos in Israel - In the warm summer of 2011, a twenty-something Israeli named Daphne Leef set up a Facebook protest page agitating against the high cost of housing in Tel Aviv. She pitched a tent and helped touch off a social protest movement that received national and international attention.
While the protests were billed as grassroots, there was nothing grassroots about them. The protests had been organized and funded by the New Israel Fund. Daphne Leef worked as a video editor for the New Israel Fund.

In the winter of that same year, as the protests had died down, a woman named Tanya Rosenblit boarded a bus which runs through religiously hyper-conservative neighborhoods and staged an incident with the passengers. Rosenblit was dubbed an Israeli Rosa Parks and her stunt helped generate waves of articles about major social problems in Israel.

Rosenblit was associated with One Voice, an organization funded by the New Israel Fund, whose board included Alon Liel, the husband of New Israel Fund director Rachel Liel. Hardly had the NIF gotten through manufacturing one phony social protest movement than it was hard at work on another.

See the entire piece at Front Page Magazine in Soros Manufactured Chaos in Israel.

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

Reb Shevach and I had originally intended to make a video showing the injured cow parts he brought back from kosher slaughter, with some explanation from him and assistance by me.  Unfortunately our schedules only aligned for a brief moment, allowing me to take the pictures I shared and gain some knowledge to share with you.

But without his expertise with me, it seems I made some errors in what I shared.  A reader, Rabbi Mandel, sent me these corrections…

Cow Corrections -

- The beis hakosos is NOT the rumen, but the reticulum.  The cow would die if the first stomach the food arrived in were the reticulum.

Reb Akiva – This was my error in receiving the information from Reb Shevach and translating it to cow anatomy.  I assumed the nails and damage I was shown had to be in the first stomach (cows have 4), the rumen.  I’m astounded to learn these make it to the 2nd stomach, the reticulum!

- In point of fact, in South America there are bloating problems with the rumen (the keres), which is where the trocar [the stomach puncture tools I shared from Reb Shevach] is involved, but that has nothing to do with the problems of foreign objects in the beis hakosos.

Reb Akiva – The puncture tools have nothing to do with foreign objects, but do result in a status of not-kosher for the cow.  Therefore (I’m told) kosher ritual slaughterers are advised nowadays to check for signs of the use of these tools in areas where it’s become common practice.

Thanks to Rabbi Mandel for the corrections! 

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

Commentor Josh asked, “I think a good follow up post would be to describe why some cuts of meat are available in some places and not in others (filet mignon, sirloin, etc...) Are Israeli schohets better than American? Another question is taste. Why do Israeli glatt steaks and hamburgers taste differently than overseas glatt.”

And commentor Neshama asked, “Now what we need (and should demand) is what are the different criteria that make up each of the hecksherim in Israel. What level of kashrus do they hold by, both in meat and chickens.”

Not too many orthodox Jewish consumers are familiar with the economics of the slaughtering and kosher meat production business.  Here’s some factors from my own research and from Reb Shevach…

Kosher beef production outside the U.S. is mostly occurring in Poland, supplying most of Europe, and Uruguay (South America), supplying Israel.  Both are countries plentiful in cattle combined with very low labor rates for supporting meat-packing workers, as well as having no interfering humanitarian slaughter laws requiring pre-stunning of the animal before slaughter (which is not permitted by Jewish religious law – which considers kosher slaughter fully humanitarian due to instant death upon cutting both jugular arteries and veins in one cut).

[ Interestingly kosher slaughter for Israel moved from Argentina to Uruguay 5 years ago, when Argentina first passed a ban on export beef and later a small quota, in an effort to reduce in-country food prices.  This was under the assumption that ranchers would sell their cattle to the higher paying export market over the lower paying local market, if they had that option.  The result of the export ban was the loss of tens of thousands of jobs associated with beef processing for export, and ranchers going bankrupt with the local market unable to cover their large ranch operation costs.  After they finished slaughtering off their herds the first year, prices jumped significantly and availability fell as the remaining ranchers raised local prices to export levels to cover their costs and felt less competition. ]

There are different breeds of cattle that do well in different environments.  There are also different feed regimes: grain fed, corn fed and grass fed.  All are factors in different taste and fattiness of the meat, along with the actual animal size.  The U.S. has been breeding cows for size, larger and larger, and usually provides corn feed (which is not a natural food for cows).  South American cattle are smaller and usually grass fed. 

Israel has no grasslands (except in the Golan), meaning local cows must be sustained on grown hay, corn or grain.  Because of this higher feed cost, the vast majority of Israeli cows are dairy cows.  There’s an additional factor that makes kosher cow slaughter less viable in Israel.

Large (kosher) animals have a few parts that are not permitted to be eaten.  These are the chelev, forbidden fats and associated veins that are only used in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem (which is currently destroyed), and the gid hanasheh or sciatic nerve.  (The process of removing this is known as nikkur or treibbering.)

Here’s the thing.  Treibbering is a complex skill requiring a specialist.  Ashkenazim have generally held that this skill is a somewhat lost art, especially after World War II.  Or from another perspective, it’s just too tricky to get right and therefore best avoided if circumstances allow you to discard that part of the animal.  (Sephardim do not hold this perspective and to perform nikkur.)

Now even if you have an expert menaker (trieberer), it’s still time consuming and therefore expensive.  And the Ashkenazi kashrus agencies prefer to not certify it.

So what do you do with 40% of a cow that you can’t eat because of forbidden fats and nerves?  If you’re outside of Israel, you sell it to the non-Jews at discount wholesale meat prices.  They get meat at a discount price, you get to cover the cost of that part of the cow.

Similarly, what do you do with a cow declared treif (not kosher)?  Same thing, you sell it to the non-Jews at cost.  They’re happily receiving a fresh side of beef at a discount, you’re not taking a loss on the non-kosher cow.

Because of this cost operation basis, Ashkenazim basically don’t slaughter beef in Israel (because they would have to throw the back half away).  Since Sephardim perform nikkur, they don’t have to throw the back half away and do slaughter beef in Israel.  That’s why you can get fresh “Machpud” or “Beit Yosef” supervised beef in Israel but not fresh “Eidat Charedit”, “Rubin” or “Landau” (the first two are top Sephardi ultra-orthodox Israeli kosher supervision agencies, the second three are top Ashkenazi ultra-orthodox Israeli kosher supervision agencies.)

The same point applies to cuts of meat available.  No back half of the cow (Ashkenazi) means a whole set of cuts of meat unavailable.

Regarding the criterium, as Reb Shevach has worked for many different agencies he’s told me all the Ashkenazim are holding almost identical customs and all are following the same religious laws.  There are differences between the Sephardi and Ashkenazi customs and interpretations of some laws, but all the ultra-orthodox agencies are keeping the strictest religious law standards according to the Code of Jewish Law.

The differences come in the intensity of the supervision, the experience of the ritual slaughterers and supervisors (shochtim and mashgicim), how strictly they rule when questionable issues arise, and the production rate of the environment.

For example, is the ritual slaughterer expected to slaughter 250 cows a day or 500 cows a day?  Are the shochtim that are checking the animals after slaughter checking 100 a day or 250 a day?  Is there implied pressure from the business owner to not declare a cow treif?

A recent example:  Reb Shevach was slaughtering in Eastern Europe for a major agency.  200 old cows were brought in and only 18 were kosher after slaughter (the older the cow the more likely to have internal damage, particularly in Eastern Europe that tends to have much higher rates of sharp object ingestion.)

Another kosher slaughtering agency was working at another location 20 miles away.  They received cows from the same source, meaning approximately the same age and condition of cow.  Out of their 200 cows, they had 80 kosher after slaughter.

Either they were tremendously lucky, had tremendous siyata d’shamaya (help from Heaven), were doing less thorough examinations, were less skilled at examination, or felt pressured to ignore all but the most serious findings (or all the above).

How the kosher supervising agency acts regularly in these situations IS it’s criteria.  (While there are no public statements to this effect, known an agency and/or factory’s glatt-chalak, glatt-kosher and kosher statistical percentages over time would let us know.)

How can you tell which kosher supervising agencies and/or which brands (factories) are operating which way?  Unfortunately, there is no direct way without talking to an insider. 

Indirectly, if there’s persistent rumors of problems with a brand or supervising agency, there probably is a real concern. 

Kosher buyer beware.  Consult a knowledgeable informed rabbi on these issues if you have a concern.

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

Reb Shevach is a shochet mumche, an expert Jewish ritual slaughterer.  He is flown out from Israel around the world to participate in the kosher slaughter of large animals (usually cows but sometimes sheep).  He’s a leading expert and is used by the top and strictest kosher supervising agencies in the world.

If you’ve eaten glatt kosher beef in Israel, Eastern Europe, France, Belgium, or the USA, chances are Reb Shevach’s been involved.

On his last journey back to Israel, he brought me some examples of why a cow turns out treif (not kosher).  First a little background is necessary…

Kosher slaughter involves 4 main criteria.  The animal must be of a kosher species (having split hooves and chewing it’s cud – meaning cow, sheep, goat, buffalo yes, pig, horse, camel, rabbit no), it must be slaughtered in a kosher way (a single very sharp knife pull that cuts the esophagus, trachea, and both jugular arteries and veins), and it must be healthy – not an ill or dying animal, and certain parts of the animal may not be eaten (certain fats and a particular nerve are forbidden and must either be removed or that area of the animal discarded).

The 3rd criteria, a healthy animal, is where Reb Shevach comes in.  The Gemora defines a number of specific injuries that commonly kill an animal, and the sages added an additional one.

Cows have 4 stomachs.  The first stomach, the rumen, is known in the Gemora as the beis hakoses.  Cows, it turns out, are indiscriminate eaters.  As they eat their grass, they’ll pick up rocks or nails or other sharp objects.  If they eat such an object and it pierces the rumen (the beis hakoses) – meaning the cow has a HOLE IN IT’S STOMACH, the cow is treif – not kosher.  If, however, it merely does damage inside the stomach, simply getting stuck there, the cow may be kosher – depending on the amount of damage.

One intentional procedure causes the same affect.  Some farmers are giving their cows feed combinations that may cause bloat, and cows apparently aren’t good at burping and can explode.  A solution to this is a rumen injector or trocar puncture tool.  These are tools that punch anywhere from small to fist sized holes into one of the cow’s stomachs – a procedure that automatically renders the cow not kosher.

The 2nd major area that is checked nowadays is the lungs.  If the lungs have adhesions to the chest cavity – meaning the cow has minor LUNG TUMORS, the cow is kosher.  If the cow has MAJOR LUNG TUMORS that pierce the lung tissue, the cow is treif (not kosher).

And one of the worst cases, if the cow has eaten a sharp object that pierces the stomach through the diaphragm into the lungs, this cow is complete treif (not kosher).

To give a little perspective, Reb Shevach shares some statistics… on average

- 9% of cows slaughtered are “glatt / chalak”, kosher according to the highest standards with NO tumors or injuries of any kind.

- the next 18% of cows slaughter are “glatt / mehadrin”, kosher according to the highest standards but some minor tumors or injuries that are judged non-life threatening are found.

- the next 20% of cows slaughtered are “kosher”, major lung tumors are found but the digestive system has no life threatening injuries.

- approximately 50% of cows slaughtered are not kosher, meaning stomach injuries are found or stomach procedures have been performed (causing the same impact).

Let’s take a look at some examples (WARNING, GRAPHIC PICTURES OF COW ORGANS BELOW – do not view if you are overly squeamish).

These two pictures shows the beis hakoses – the rumen, pierced by a large staple or piece of barbed wire (two different cows).  These cows were NOT KOSHER.

This is how the outside of the stomach should look, smooth and muscular.

This is a stomach that has been pierced, is infected and scarred.  Reb Shevach felt this scaring against the diaphragm when checking the lungs.  While some argue that checking the lungs is an extra stringency (it is), these STOMACH problems are found by checking the base of the lung cavity.

What caused that result?  Let’s look… in this case we don’t see a nail or sharp object embedded, but we do see the result – a hole and wound.

Now here’s a cow in serious trouble.  She’s got a 10 penny nail and a quarter inch bolt in her stomach!  NOT KOSHER.

What happens to the poor cow?  Swelling, infection, internal scaring…and not-kosher status.

Sometimes while the swelling and impact is obvious, the actually hole or object can be hard to find.  If it’s not found, the cow can be declared kosher.  But an expert like Reb Shevach knows that if the swelling is there, the damage will be found if one looks carefully…

Here’s another example.  Reb Shevach had declared this cow not kosher for another hole, but when showing this to me he found one even he missed before.  The first picture is the reason the cow was declared treif, the second picture is the hole even he missed the first time around…

Our last 4 pictures are book pictures.  They show the rumen injector, a treatment for farmers to use when low quality or high corn content feed creates dangerous cow bloating.  The solution, punch a hole in your cow’s stomach.  It may work, but it means the cow is NOT KOSHER, and is something the shochet must check for.

Now you know why your kosher steak is more expensive… 50% of cows aren’t kosher, and 70% or more are not glatt kosher.

So while we don’t “eat kosher” or “glatt kosher” because we’re avoiding eating tumor ridden cows, think of it as a nice bonus.

A few extra statistical tidbits from Reb Shevach, who examines the organs of hundreds of cattle per week…

U.S. corn fed cattle are much larger and have a much higher rate of lung tumors than other locations.

Eastern European cattle (which are providing most of the kosher meat to Western Europe) have the highest percentage of foreign objects in the stomach, rendering them completely not kosher at a much higher rate than elsewhere.

South American cattle are older and smaller (and grass grazed) but have less problems than anywhere else, with less lung tumors and rarely foreign objects in the stomach.

by Reb Gutman Locks @ Mystical Paths

     Lowell (pictured here) is from Kentucky. After I helped him to put on tefillin, he said that he was going to discuss tefillin with his Reform rabbi. A few weeks later I received this letter…

      I am Lowell’s Reform Rabbi in Lexington, Kentucky (USA).

      Let me first thank you for being so welcoming and engaging to Lowell. Second, let me thank you for the wonderful videos of you sharing Sukkoth, debating x-ian messiah, and engaging people in so many thought provoking ways. Third, as to tefillin; there certainly are many ways to observe our tradition. Some are fixed habits in all of us, some are expressions of need in the moments when we are most fragile inside.

     For me, it is in these latter moments that wrap and withdraw, almost into the tallit [prayer shawl] and tefillin. Powerful stuff, indeed. On a regular basis, though, it is, for me, just another act - and Maimonides admonishes us to never let ritual become rote. Thus - with both sides of this Jewish coin (tradition), it is good that we have each other.

Kol tuv, [All the best]

Marc

Gutman’s Answer

Shalom Marc,

     Thank you for taking the time to write, and for your kind words.

     With all due respect, I think that you are making a terrible mistake. We should never let any mitzvah fall to the level of being a ritual, to being “just another act.” When we stop and think what a mitzvah is, and why Hashem has given them to us, we begin to experience what they have always been intended to accomplish.

     Let me explain. Tefillin (and all mitzvahs) are not mere rituals, G-d forbid. They are spiritual exercises specifically designed to accomplish a certain purpose. When we do an exercise we develop a particular muscle, or skill. A spiritual exercise also develops a certain muscle. It develops our spiritual muscle.

     G-d commanded each of us to be holy. He said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy...” [i] If I would ever dream of attaining such a lofty level, and would dare say that I am holy, well, I would be embarrassed to even think of such arrogance. But, no, this is not arrogance, it is a G-d given commandment!

     Actually, G-d wants us to emulate Him. He wants us to know Him so we can accomplish His purpose in having created us. In order to know something we have to somehow receive it, at least get some of it into our heads. This is also true about knowing G-d. So G-d, in His infinite wisdom and kindness, gave us these commandments so we would be able to move in the direction of holiness. It seems that the old saying “It takes one to know one” fits here.

     Many Jewish sources tell us that the very purpose of man being placed in the world is to reveal G-d’s Presence. This means that we have to actually experience a truth that we all already know, but is presently being hidden. G-d fills and surrounds everything. Since G-d is infinite, He has to be right here now, too. He is here, but He has chosen to hide Himself in order to give us freewill. If He would not hide, and would be seen by all, no one would even think to transgress His will. We would be like angels, very holy, but without freewill. As I said, in order to experience a revelation of holiness, we too have to somehow become holy. We do this through His mitzvahs.

     The blessing we say when we put on tefillin is, “Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, Who has made us holy with His commandments and commanded us to wear tefillin. Wow! Really wow! When we do what G-d tells us to do, we actually become holy. That’s not a ritual… not at all. It’s a privilege… an opportunity to experience holiness.

     When we put on tefillin, and stop to remember what is happening, we begin to approach the degree of holiness that G-d wants us to reach. And all this is only from His kindness because He wants us to have the immense joy of actually seeing Him. This is neither a ritual, nor is it a burden. The mitzvahs actually take away a burden.

     There are so many other unique things about tefillin that add to the experience, such as, they are a sign that we are His people, they are an act that only Jews do and never have the non Jews ever tried to copy (unlike almost all of the other mitzvahs,) that in the cave where they found the 2000 year-old Dead Sea scrolls they also found pairs of tefillin, but even though all these and much more add to the uniqueness of the experience of putting on tefillin, the fact that they make us holy stands out the most. After all G-d did say, Marc, “be holy.”

   With warm regards,

Gutman

---

[i] Leviticus 19:2

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

I make a quick stop by Kfar Chabad, the villiage of Chabad Lubavitch chassidim near Lod in Israel.  I was looking for some new full size siddurim (prayer books), as I noticed the print in my old pocket size siddur was getting fuzzy.  I’m not sure if this is because the ink on the tiny print is smearing with age (unlikely) or my eyes are being affected by some minor normal age related farsightedness (likely, but my ego prefers to think it’s an ink problem).

While there I snapped a couple of quick pictures…

770 Kfar Chabad is a replica of Chabad World Headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY.  While it’s a faithful replica, it’s unfortunately not really used.  The downstairs has the Chabad publications distribution center (wholesale prices!), but the rest of the building is only lightly used.  However, the style certainly makes it stand out in Israel.

Kfar Chabad sits on a slight hill overlooking Tel Aviv.  While it started as a rural village, a number of townhouse projects have been added.  This picture combines a view of the townhouses and Tel Aviv in the distance (to the left, Yehud is to the right, I think).

Kfar Chabad has an interesting mix of greenery, orchards (esrogim and orange), yeshivas and suburban style neighborhoods.  With the good rains Israel has been having, the greenery was really popping.

It was a beautiful day for a visit to a sleepy chassidic village.

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

Religious Jews have 3 prayer services per day.  It is strongly preferable for these services to be performed with a prayer quorum, at least 10 men.  (This is known as avodah Hashem, divine service by the Jew.)

For the morning service, everyone will run to synagogue.  Being synagogues are usually close by in religious Jewish communities, this is just a run down the street.  Similarly for the evening service, which is held after nightfall.

But the afternoon service, held anytime between noon and sundown…people tend to be at work or in the store.  (For those learning in yeshiva, they clearly don’t have a problem rounding up a prayer quorum.)

The solution to this is the afternoon prayer group.  In most areas where there is a concentration of religious Jewish workers, the workers arrange a location to meet every afternoon for a 15 minute afternoon prayer service. 

Recently in Israel I’ve been noticing taking this to an extreme.  Some large businesses, malls, or stores have build in-store synagogues!  So if, while checking out some furniture at Ikea or the pears in the grocery store, the moment of afternoon prayer arrives or a sudden urge to say some Psalms hits…a synagogue is at your convenience. 

Pictured above and below is an in-store synagogue at a warehouse grocery store.  One factor of this type of synagogue is it being placed in unused and inconvenient space for the business, leading to a somewhat oddly shaped synagogue space.  But that’s cool, the employees and customers get an additional service or convenience for shopping or working there, and the business can provide it out of space that otherwise would be unused.

A win-win spiritual win.

So the next time you’re in a store in a Jewish area and you hear “prayer on aisle 3” or “mincha (afternoon service) in the store synagogue”, now you know.

(Photos – in-store synagogue at a warehouse grocery store chain in Israel.)

by Reb Gutman Locks @ Mystical Paths

     Each of us was sent into this world with a particular job. One of the best ways to find your job is, is to look at your name. When parents give their newborn infant a name, they usually name him or her after a loved one who recently passed away, or after someone they truly respect, or perhaps for a dream. Most parents do not realize that Hashem quietly whispers a thought to them, to guide them so that they will choose the name that is best-suited for that child. This is actually a form of prophecy.

     To find the Heavenly hope for you, look at your name and who you are named after. Learn about the relative, but also look at the source of that name. Quite often (with Jewish names at least) a Biblical personality first had that name. Look at the characteristic traits that person was known for, and then try to find those same traits within yourself, albeit watered-down.

     Another way to find out more about your earthly task is to try to see which Biblical personalities you identify with. Often, you will find one or two lives recorded in the Bible that resonate more with you than all of the others.

     When you start work on a new job, the boss has to give you the proper tools for that job. So obviously, the tools we were born with will help show us what we were sent to do. For instance, if you are very short, it is highly unlikely that you were sent into this world to be a basketball player. What are you good at? What talents did you bring with you when you came into this world?

     Once you recognize your skills, try to apply them and align them with your overall spiritual purpose. If your mother is Jewish, your deeds in your last lifetime merited a Jewish life this time around. Be sure to use your individual talents in a way that not only elevates the world, but that is compatible with a Torah life.

     So, who do you identify with? There is Abraham, with his emphasis on kindness; Yitzchok, who personified self sacrifice; Yaakov’s, who struggles and  overcomes as Israel… Sarah, Rivka, Rachel, Leah, Dovid, Eliyahu, who?

     Shall I tell you who I feel that my life reflects? In the Temple days, only a High Priest was allowed into the Holy of Holies. He could enter only once a year, and only on the most holy day of the entire year.

     But when something inside the Holy of Holies needed repair, a craftsman had to be brought to fix it. They tried to find a holy kohen (priest) who could do it, but if one could not be found, they had to use even a simple Jew.

     Now the problem was: Obviously, this Jew was not allowed to just walk in and look at the Holy of Holies, so they lowered him into that holy place in a box that prevented him from seeing the glorious view, from a hole in the roof. They lowered him to the spot that needed repair, and he fixed the problem from the one open side of the box. Then, he was quickly hauled back up and out of that holy place.

     Somehow I got into this holy place where I live, and I got to do this holy work of helping other Jews to do mitzvahs. I must have done something to merit this position, but for the life of me, I cannot figure out what! It seems to be just a gift lowered down from Heaven.

     Remember, as always, my stories are not intended to make you marvel at the people I write about, but for you to marvel at the opportunity that you have to make your life a holy story, too. It all depends on your deeds.

by Reb Akiva @ Mystical Paths

Israel has had a wonderful cold rainy winter.  Wonderful cold rainy?  Yes, in a place with seasonal only rains, those rains were life and death for the people.  While it’s not literally life and death today, it is major economic and environmental impact.  A cold rainy winter means good water supply, a flourishing land, and a good situation for the farmers in spring.

This past Thursday afternoon was alternating sunny and rainy, which gets…rainbows!  Jewish tradition from the Torah itself associates the rainbow with Noach and the flood, and therefore considers a rainbow a negative sign (with an associated blessing on sighting of G-d who remembers His covenant not to destroy the world again).

I explained to my children that the rainbow as immediately caused by the prism effect of the sun hitting the rain, spitting the white light into the colors of the rainbow.

I also explained the setting up of these circumstances over Beit Shemesh seemed appropriate per Jewish tradition that a rainbow is a sign of Hashem’s anger and Him invoking His covenant not to act on it, given the Jew against Jew actions happening in Beit Shemesh.  Hopefully both the Jewish traditionalists and the anti-religious saw this sign, noted it’s understood Jewish meaning, and can use it as a Heavenly sign to move in a positive direction and what our Father in Heaven thinks of the current path.

Full rainbow over Beit Shemesh, January 19, 2012, panorama view.