Shabbat starts very early these days, and I have way too much work before then to put together the regular Shabbat/Friday Evening post.
Instead, I present you with this informative and yet still spiritual article regarding The Temple Mount, and the Arab onslaught to erase the Jewish people’s historical connection to it. This is definitely worth saving for future use as Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount are bound to become the topic in the future.
In his 1925 autobiography, Mein Kampf, Adolph Hitler wrote that people would assume that an outrageous lie must be true because no one would have the audacity to have made it up. Later, that propaganda technique evolved into: If a big lie is repeated enough times it will become widely accepted as truth.
This bit of Nazi propaganda is being used today by the Palestinians. Their Big Lie is preached from the pulpits of the mosques and in the classrooms of their madrasas — and more and more of the untutored masses are believing it.
What is the Palestinian Big Lie? Palestinian Authority Mufti Ikrama Sabri was quoted in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam (November 22, 1997) as saying that the Western Wall is part of the Al-Aksa Mosque and the Jews have no connection with it. The same newspaper (July 18, 1997) reported that Hamad Yusef, head of the Institution for the Rejuvenation of the Palestinian Heritage, referred to the “false historical claim of the Jews in the holy city, a claim which they were unable to prove in all of the (archaeological) excavations conducted by foreign groups for the past hundred years.”
In other words, the Jewish people have no historical connection with the Temple Mount, including the Western Wall, or with any part of old Jerusalem. No archaeological evidence has ever shown otherwise. So they claim.
Thank G-d: once again it is Friday, and accordingly for Jews this means the beginning of the Holy Shabbat. Every week, Jews read a portion of the Torah and study it. Highly pertinent to many on this blog, this week we are reading a highly contentious portion around some parts called Bereishit (“In the beginning”) (Genesis 1:1-6:8).
The Creation of the World, and Adventures of the First Humans
Dateline: December 1968
From his window he could watch the blue orb of planet earth getting smaller and smaller. Looming in front of him in all its detail was a giant moon. Astronaut Frank Borman of Apollo 8 was filled with emotion, as he drew closer and closer to the fulfillment of one of man’s greatest dreams of landing on the moon. As the lunar module orbited, the crew could perceive the moon in its pristine state, untouched by human hands, exactly as it left the hands of its Creator. (One could imagine Adam opening his eyes for the first time and viewing a pristine Earth with the same awe.)
Borman wanted to convey this feeling to everyone glued to their TVs and radios, just so they could in some sense share the experience of this milestone in history. What text could express this feeling? What human poet or author could capture in words that awesome feeling of the smallness of man and the vastness of the universe?
To the ears of billions of earthlings, Borman declared, “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth!” The first chapter of Genesis was read on that historical day to all mankind. (In contrast to the Cosmonauts who orbited the Earth in Sputnik and proclaimed, “We went to Heaven and didn’t find God!”) This is the beginning of the story of man and his world.
Despite false claims to the contrary, Creation is deeply rooted in Torah. The following are a few exceptionally general, and basic statements of Jews regarding Creation.
“IN THE BEGINNING” – INTRODUCTION TO THE TORAH
Judaism believes that the Bible is a Divine book. Just as a human author generally writes about topics that interest him, we can similarly assume that the Divine Author of the Torah writes about things that interest Him. Here’s a bird’s eye view of the opening chapters of the Torah:
(1) “In the beginning God created Heaven and Earth” (Genesis 1:1). What a contrast between the vast endless heaven containing countless stars, and one tiny speck in the universe called Planet Earth! Yet the following verse begins, “And the Earth was…” and the rest of the book focuses on Earth. Conclusion: God is interested in Earth!
(2) The six days of creation are described in detail. The trees and grass, the animals, fish, birds, and insects. Then was created one human. What a contrast between the vast expanse of planet Earth, and one individual person! Yet from this point on, the Torah focuses exclusively on humans (and NOT on the trees or insects). Conclusion: God is interested in humanity!
(3) After expounding upon the first human, the Torah lists 10 generations with no events recorded. These generations evidently did not interest the author and are only included for the purpose of chronology. Finally we find the passage, “and Noah was a righteous man” (Genesis 6:9), followed by an entire section concerning Noah. Conclusion: God is interested in “righteous people”!
(4) This is followed again by a list of names for chronological purposes. Another 10 generations go by, until we come to Abraham our Father. Abraham is 75 years old at the time the Torah speaks of him (more details of his youth are found in the oral tradition). From this point on, the Torah records exclusively the story of Abraham’s life and then that of his descendents – right up until the emergence of the Jewish people. The rest of the Torah recounts God’s relationship with the Jewish people. Conclusion: God is interested in the Jewish people who undertake a unique mission, to be a “light unto the nations,” to teach the world about spirituality and our Creator. (Rabbi Avigdor Miller)
There is a lot covered in the above article (many debated issues) so, if interested, I highly recommend the above link.
An antidote on the subject of Creation from a Jewish source.
“A disbeliever once asked Rabbi Akiva, ‘Who created the world?’ ‘The Almighty,’ replied Rabbi Akiva. ‘Prove it,’ demanded the disbeliever. Rabbi Akiva replied, ‘Come back tomorrow.’
“When the man returned on the following day, Rabbi Akiva asked him, ‘What are you wearing?’ ‘A robe,’ replied the man. ‘Who made it?’ asked Rabbi Akiva. ‘The weaver,’ said the man. ‘I don’t believe you! Prove it,’ demanded Rabbi Akiva.
” ‘That is ridiculous. Can’t you tell from the fabric and design that a weaver made this garment?’ answered the man. Rabbi Akiva then responded, ‘And you – can you not clearly tell that God made the world?’
“After the disbeliever left, Rabbi Akiva explained to his students, ‘Just as a house was obviously built by a builder and a garment obviously sewn by a tailor, so was the world (which follows a natural order) obviously made by a Creator!’ ”
(Author Note: This Thread is not to a space for name-calling, personal attacks, angry vitriol, etc. I expect those who are small minded, and intellectually constrained on this issue to be discussed, but I encourage you to please do so politely, and factually! In short, this is a Thread about G-d – so act in His image!)
I wish the Jews a blessed Holy Shabbat, and to all else a meaningful weekend and day(s) of worship!
Although this Thread is specifically about Yom Kippur, I believe the deep messages, and commitment to bettering oneself transcend Judaism, and even religion. This Sunday at sundown until Monday at sundown is the the holiest day in the Jewish calendar; Yom Kippur. On this day we are like angels.
There is way too much about the deep spirituality of Yom Kippur for me to get into here, but the above links are quite informative if any of you are interested. The following are some quotes from an article I am reading in preparation of the Holyday.
Rabbi Avraham Bukspan once shared…an insight into Yom Kippur – The Day of Atonement. “Atonement” is a conjunctive of “At One-ment” – of reconnecting, strengthening the relationship with the Almighty, the reconciliation of the Almighty with each of us. Yom Kippur is our opportunity to reunite our spiritual essence – our soul – with the Almighty.
Intuitively, each of us knows that we have a soul – that part of us which contains our conscience and drive to do the right thing. The Torah tells us, “… and He blew into his (Adam, the first human being) nostrils the soul of life …” (Genesis 2:7). If we realize that our essence is spiritual – and eternal – it places a whole different perspective on life. We need to be concerned about our bodies and our health and make every effort to sustain them, but the real importance is the soul, because that is our true self. Yom Kippur is about the soul.
Throughout the year we either bring merit to the soul or sully the soul through our actions and behavior.
…
The Torah gives us special mitzvot, commandments, for Yom Kippur to help us see more clearly that we are souls and to help us relate to life on a soul level…These “afflictions” are ways for us to minimize the body’s control over our lives... We are prohibited from: eating/drinking, wearing leather shoes, marital relations, anointing the skin with salves and oils, and washing for pleasure.
By negating the body, we give preeminence to the soul. Life is a constant battle – between the yetzer tov (the desire to do the right thing, which is identified with the soul) and yetzer hora (the desire to follow your desires, which corresponds with the body). The Talmud compares the body to a horse and the soul to a rider. It is always better to have the rider on top of the horse – to have the rider controlling the horse and not the horse controlling where the rider is going.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the anniversary of the day Moshe brought down from Mount Sinai the second set of Ten Commandments. This signified that the Almighty forgave the Jewish people for the transgression of the Golden Calf. For all times this day was decreed to be a day of forgiveness for our mistakes. However, this refers to transgressions against the Almighty. Transgressions against our fellow human being require us to correct our mistakes and seek forgiveness. If one took from another person, it is not enough to regret and ask the Almighty for forgiveness; first, one must return what was taken and ask for forgiveness from the person and then ask for forgiveness from the Almighty.
…
The Rambam, Maimonides, teaches that each individual’s life is always on a balance – like the old-time scales where the weights were put on one side and the produce on the other side – and that each of us should think before doing an action that this transgression or that this mitzvah (commandment) could tip the scales.
Likewise, Rambam teaches that each community, each country and ultimately the world is judged in the same manner. Thus, an individual should not only think that his transgression or fulfillment of a mitzvah tips the scale for him alone, but may very well tip the scale for all of mankind!
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A simple way to keep focused that you are a soul and not a body, is to train yourself to say “My body is hungry” instead of “I am hungry”!
Today at sundown the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashana beings. This is the first of two Jewish holidays that are commonly referred to the “High Holidays”. Welcome to 5770!
Rosh Hashana is the Jewish New Year. Unlike the secular New Year which is celebrated in many parts of the world by partying, drinking to excess and watching a little ball descend a tower in Time Square, the Jewish New Year is celebrated by reflecting upon the past, correcting one’s mistakes, planning for the future, praying for a healthy and sweet year and celebrating with holiday meals.
Rabbi Nachum Braverman writes, “On Rosh Hashana we make an accounting of our year and we pray repeatedly for life. How do we justify another year of life? What did we do with the last year? Has it been a time of growth, of insight and of caring for others? Did we make use of our time, or did we squander it? Has it truly been a year of life, or merely one of mindless activity? This is the time for evaluation and rededication. The Jewish process is called ‘teshuva,’ coming home – recognizing our mistakes between ourselves and God as well as between ourselves and our fellow man and then correcting them.”
I like to think that the worst thing you can realize at Rosh Hashana is that you are the same person you were last year. (ie: haven’t progressed, gotten better)
It is my intent that this be the Friday night positive/G-dlyness thread, but that is up to you!
Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
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