Reb Yisrael learned from his rabbi that one of the reasons for residing temporarily in a succah is in case one’s destiny was to be expulsion into galut on Rosh Hashana, then the departure from the comforts of home into the succah should be considered to be that galut.
Ben Hadad King of Aram (today’s Syria), threatened Achav with war if he did not deliver to him his gold and silver, his wives and children. Achav was forced to capitulate and sent to Ben Hadad all that he demanded.
The following day, Ben Hadad sent anther demand to Achav. This time Achav was to deliver to him “machmad ay’necha” – that which is the most precious in your eyes. Achav and all his ministers rejected the demand and agreed unanimously to go to war.
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 102b) asks, that after relinquishing his gold, silver, wives and children, what was left that could be described as the “most precious thing” in Achav’s eyes?
As we draw closer to Rosh HaShana, the tsunami of words we have been subjected to in the past year from all sources, retreat into the background of our subconscious to give space for our minds and hearts to inculcate and integrate into strategies and tactics for the coming year.
There is a unit in Tzahal composed of sub-units of three soldiers. The unit in its entirety is mobilized in time of war, although there are elements which are in constant preparedness.
They go through grueling training in preparation for their mission, although in most instances they need not do more than knock on the door.
Starting with the month of Elul until after Shmini Atzeret our lives are centered around tshuva. Repentance for one’s sins is basic to our relationship with the Creator. A better way is when one conducts his life by preventing the performance of a sin in the first place.
Rabbi Akavya ben Mehalalel in Pirkei Avot chapter 3 lays down a formula for sin prevention intended to dispel the negative compulsions stemming from one’s ego…
Two announcements of the last several days contain the potential to shake the “foundation stones” of the Jewish nation. The pronouncements in and of themselves are revolutionary, but the real story is that their concurrent appearance is obviously an emanation from HaShem’s decision to take His people to a faster and higher lane to the final Redemption. They are also a refutation of many Jewish communities around the world.
