The Blood Libel

 

In 1171 כ' סיון the first blood libel in continental Europe was orchestrated in Blois France As a result of a church-sponsored trial,31 members of the Jewish community were burned at the stake. The רבינו תם & the ריב"ם organized a fast day & to say סליחות on כ' סיון. They considered this fast more important than 'צום גדלי. Since then there were 150 recorded blood libels. In 1648, 744 קהילות were destroyed during the גזירת ת"ח ות"ט, In total up to 50,000 Yidden were killed. When they killed 6000 Yidden in Nimirov, (70 miles from Uman) the ש"ך reestablished the fast day & סליחות to be held on כ' סיון In 1946, one year after the end of the holocaust where six  million Yidden were murdered, the Hungarian Gedolim reintroduced the תענית & סליחות* of כ' סיון *Fasting, only for those under the age of 55 years

Raincoats (daf Yomi) Yoma 53b

 

According to Mori V'Rabi Harav Hagaon R.Shlomo Miller Shlita, You may not wear raincoats in a רשות הרבים (No Eiruv)  while the attached hood is tucked inside its pocket. Yoma  53b                    The Gadol Hador Davened  for a raincoat   The Gemoro tells the story of R. Chanina Ben Dosa, who was walking on the street and the rain came down on him. He Davened to Hashem and said,” the whole world has comfort and Chanina is in pain.”   The מהרש"א asks how could it be, The Chosid R. Chanina B.D. would ask  Hashem to stop the rain for the whole world, for his personal comfort, even at the expense of the rest of the world.   The בן יהוידע  (Ben Ish Chai) answers," all he asked from  Hashem was, he should manage to find a coat to protect him from the rain. However, Hashem stopped the rain instead, לכבוד R.Ch.B.D."

Reb Chaim Brim

Reb Chaim Brim 

Courtesy of Avina Seating 

See more rare gedolim pictures here

 

Tanya Parshas Behalosecha

.                         The only time the Chasam Sofer ever quotes from the ספר ליקוטי אמרים*, also known as the תניא is in this week's Parsha (בהעלתך). The Tanya writes, when a person sins he also drags along and sins with his Neshama the חלק אלוה that is within him. The Chasam Sofer explains with this the Pasuk of ויבכו גם בני ישראל Not only did the אספסוף the evil part within him sin but also the נשמת ישראל the חלק אלוה sinned. The Chasam Sofer (Shu"t O.Chaim 16) argues on the ספר ליקוטי אמרים The Ch.S. claims that this Sefer is not available in the whole city and even if it would be available he wouldn't have time for it. The Sefer he is referring to is not the Tanya but the ליקוטי אמרים from the Mezritcher Magid.

THE GREAT MENORAH DEBATE

 

THE GREAT MENORAH DEBATE   The last Lubavitcher Rebbe R.M.M. Schneersohn zt"l,   was very insistent that the Menorah be depicted with straight  and not with curved branches.  The Rebbe was also insistent for the Chanuka Menorahs to resemble the Menorah of the בית המקדש by not having curved branches.   The Rebbe's two main proofs that the Menorah's branches were diagonally straight are, 1) Rashi (Shemos 25:32) "לכאן ולכאן באלכסון" Most read Rashi as stressing that the branches of the menorah were diagonally straight, and negating that they were rounded like an arch. 2) The Oxford manuscript of the Rambam (פהמ"ש מנחות פ"ג) the design of the Menorah. drawn personally by the Rambam where the branches are depicted as straight lines from the stem to the full height of the menorah. There are others* who argue on the Rebbe. They hold, there is overwhelming evidence that seems to prove that the Menorah's branches were indeed curved.  They claim that both proofs of the Rebbe are inconclusive. 1) The word באלכסון does not necessarily mean diagonally  straight but can also mean diagonally curved. We find Rashi using the word אלכסון at least twice in the Torah where אלכסון is not a straight line. (במדבר ל" ד: י"א- והירדן מושך-     במדבר ל" ד: ד - בענין גבולות הארץ)  2) The Rambam writes explicitly in פהמ"ש** that his drawings are not accurate (using upside-down*** triangles as the גביע and round instead of oval buttons etc.) His sole intention is to show how the גביעים כפתורים & פרחים were placed on the Menorah and not a drawing of the Menorah. We can also assume that the straight diagonal branches were not intended to be accurate. הרב ישראל אריאל  ראש מכון המקדש וראש כולל בית הבחירה* ** ואני מצייר עכשיו הצורה הזאת שהגביעים צורת דבר משולש והכפתור עגולה והפרח חצי עגולה כדי שיהיה קל להצטייר שאין  הכוונהבצורה הזאת להודיע בה צורת הגביע על אמתתו לפי שכבר בארתי אותו לך אבל הכוונה להודיע בה מספר הגביעים וכפתורים והפרחים ומקומותם והשיעור הנשאר מעמוד המנורה שאין בו שום דבר והמקומות שהיו בהן הפרחים והכפתורים וכולה איך היתה וזו היא צורת כל זה: ***The Rebbe explained why the Rambam drew the  cups upside down because when one drinks from a full cup one turns it upside down.The שפע from heaven comes down to כלל ישראל

 

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All 5 things to happen

 PARSHAS HASHAVUA

    Sotah 40 a
 דאין הכהנים רשאין לעלות בסנדליהן לדוכן

Men - Always unhappy

 

כה תברכו את בני ישראל


The רדב"ז writes, " Single men may Duchan
נשיאת כפיים. Even though they are without
Simcha. (בלא אשה בלא שמחה)

They are not worse off than married men בזמן הזה  
who are also without Simcha because of their
פרנסה and household דאגות (worries)."

Birkas Kohanim at the כותל

 

כה תברכו את בני ישראל For the past fifty years, there has been a ברכת כהנים at the כותל every חול המועד. It is based on a רוקח עה"ת who writes that when there will be 300 כהנים at the bottom of הר הזתים then משיח will arrive. This beautiful Minhag became a smashing success and every חול המועד there is a designated day when they have thousands of כהנים Bentching one hundred thousand plus Yidden.                אמור אל הכהנים   Many כהנים are not aware that according to  the Chasam Sofer*, if they did נשיאת כפיים  earlier in the day they will be עובר on ברכה לבטלה by doing it again at the כותל שו"ת או"ח סי'כ"ב*

The 49th

 

The 49th

2 riddles             

1) The 49th day is the only day to count without a ברכה. 
            
2) The 49th day is the only day to count with a ברכה.
 

Answer: הלכה ולא למעשה 1) The בן איש חי writes " On the 49th day when saying the לשם יחוד before Sefirah, one should skip the words of "שבע שבתות תמימות". If one said it (on the 49th day) he can't make a Bracha."  2) The משנה ברורה quotes the  שלחן שלמה "women should  not make a Bracha for Sefiras Haomer because, a) they tend to forget to complete the counting  b) they don't understand the פירוש המילים."  If a Bais Yakov graduate (knows פירוש המילים) counted the first 48 days, there is no reason for her not to make a Bracha on the 49th day אמבצי

The Megilas Rus Yid

There was a person who was a שנה ופירש, (went off the Derech) because he was rejected in the Yeshiva he attended.

He ended up on the streets of Tel Aviv and somehow met up with R.Shlomo Carlebach zt"l there. 

R. Shlomo told him that there are two types of holy Yidden. One is the "מתן תורה Yid", the Yeshiva man, the Ben Torah

and then there is "מגילת רות Yid", the Giyores, the outsider, the reject etc. Both of them are very holy Yidden, but

the משיח will come from the מגילת רות Yid.

This person claims because of this conversation with R.Shlomo he returned to his roots. The מגילת רות Yid not only

brings the משיח but is also the מחיה המתים. He made him alive again by bringing him back to the fold.

Shlomo Carlebach -Toronto Circa 1980

קוגל בגמטריה שבת

 

קוגל בגמטריה שבת There is an old joke where a speaker got up and said קוגל בגמטריה שבת. The listening audience immediately interrupted him that it is not true. The גמטריה of קוגל is 139 and the גמטריה of שבת is 702 way more than 139. The speaker answered back, that this is not a problem, all you have to do is eat more Kugel until it adds up.                            NO JOKE The  הגהות ר' אברהם אזולאי on the לבוש (grandfather of the Chida) writes, דבש- חלב- קמחא-דסמידא (foods eaten on Shavuos) is the Gematria of 613 (תרי"ג ) R.A.A. continues that it is not exactly correct since the Gematria is 614. His solution is, not to eat the whole amount but leave over one so the Gematria will be correct.

 

Where Is The Cheesecake

 

What to bake for שבועות (a) Seven-layer cake (b) 3 cornered kreplach- Haman Taschen (c) Saffron Matzah (d) Saffron cake (e) 4 cornered Challah (f)  Honey cake (g) Butter Challah  I couldn't find a source for baking cheesecake for שבועות The Sefer יוסף אומץ ס' תתנ"ד writes the Minhag was to make a cake/kugel in the shape of a (a) seven-rung ladder. The reason for it is because, during  Matan Torah, Hashem tore open all 7 heavens to show that אין עוד מלבדו.  The Minhag in many German Kehilos was to bake for שבועות  a seven-layer cake for the seven weeks we counted. The Sefer מנהגי ישורון writes of the Minhag to eat (b) 3 cornered Kreplach (Haman Taschen) to commemmerate Matan Torah דיהיב אוריאן תליתאי לעם תליתאי ע"י תליתאי ביום תליתאי בירחא תליתאי The כל בו writes that "the מנהג בכל ישראל* is to eat on שבועות, (c) Matzah with Saffron".The Chok Yaakov O. Ch.494 has a (d) girsa “עוגה” (cake) instead of Matzah. The כל בו gives the reason " because it is משמח את הלב (brings joy to the heart)." The כל בו also writes to bake a (e) Challah with four corners (looks like two)  to remind us of the שתי הלחם and/or it symbolizes "twins" (מזל סיון תאומים)  The רוקח writes that on Shavuos morning you bring the children for the first time in Shul and serve them a specially inscribed (f) honey cake. The משנה ברורה quotes from the מגן אברהם to bake (g) one Challah with butter. This will force you to have another Challah (זכר לשתי הלחם) to eat with the meat.

 

 

 

 

 

מעשה מרכבה

 

There is only one הפטרה in the entire year where one should be standing while it's being read. On the first day of Shavuos, we read the הפטרה of the מעשה מרכבה. The חק יעקב & באר היטב תצ"ד both say to stand when reading this הפטרה.

riddle

 There is only one הפטרה in the entire year where

one should be standing while it's being read.

?

WISHFUL THINKING

 

The Black Sabbath part 2                       WISHFUL THINKING 1) There are very few קהילות left, where  the special יוצרות are still said on the שבתות between Pesach & Shavuos. The אשל אברהם (Butchatch) (O.Ch.68) writes, that they stopped saying these יוצרות  from the times of the אריז"ל when we were  promised that no more pogroms or mass killings  will ever happen  to Klal Yisroel. (הלואי) Therefore it is proper in our times not to say יוצרות  on Shabbos that remind us of sad  times. These פיוטים were written in the times of the crusades etc. when there were צרות for Klal Yisroel. Then you may be sad even on Shabbos .שלפעמים מתריעין בשב"ק על צרה שלא תבוא 2) The שו"ת דברי מנחם  (R. Mendel Steinhart z"l ) writes, "Germany is a civilized country and friendly towards the Yidden, therefore there is no reason to say (Mondays & Thursdays) "כי היינו לעג וקלס בגויים" and should be removed from the Siddur since it is not true and this might even create antisemitism". They also removed the תפילה of אב הרחמים from the 1831 edition, of the Heidenheim Siddur.   On its place they printed  in German "The tefillah of אב הרחמים was made for the times of the Barbarians  therefore we removed it."  The next edition of the Heidenheim Siddur  אב הרחמים was put it back in. It is very likely they did so  because the Reform Siddur was published at that time and they too removed the אב הרחמים.        3) When Reagan & Gorbachov signed on December 1987 the INF Treaty and thereby ending the cold war, The last Lubavitcher Rebbe Zt"l declared " The Prophecy of the נביא "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning hooks" was finally fulfilled. There are no more obstacles to the immediate arrival of משיח." ;

Psak From R' Elyashiv -Shavous

 

Psak From R' Elyashiv -Shavous

The Poskim say, If you didn’t daven Shachris ,you may not go to sleep

in the morning unless it is more than a half an hour before Alos Hashachar.

R. Eliyashsuv zt”l said

Those who go to sleep before Alos Hashachar not having davened, should

make sure to do so, at least a half an hour before Alos Hashachar, otherwise

it would have been better had he not stayed up for the night altogether.

Staying up the night of Shavuos is a only a minhag Not going to sleep before

Alos is a Halacha.

The תוכחה.

 מנהגי קריאת תוכחה

There is a Minhag*, not to stand facing the בעל קריאה 
(in front of the בימה) while he Leins (reads)  the תוכחה.

*Another Minhag is that the עולה before the תוכחה leaves
the בימה immediately after his Aliya and doesn't wait for the
end of the next Aliya to do so.

The original Minhag, and in some Shuls even today,
when the Gabai wants to give an Aliyah to the בעל קריאה
he doesn't call him up by saying יעמוד פלוני ב"פ since he
is already standing there.
All he does is point at him to take the next Aliya.

Hence this is how the Minhag started for the בעל קריאה
to get the תוכחה since there is no need to call him up.

**The original Minhag was to put it in the contract  that
the שמש needs to take the Aliya of the תוכחה.

The רמ"א writes to call up יעמוד מי שירצה (no name) Whoever
is willing to take this Aliya.

There was a minhag*** to make a special מי שברך for the עולה.
It said all the קללות should turn into ברכות for the עולה.

The מקור חיים writes that the מי שירצה is a חיוב to be עולה
on the first day Rosh Hashana and on the first day Shavuos.
ie:  The מי שירצה is being compensated by getting an Aliya
on the first Yom Tov after the תוכחה 



*אגרא דפרקא,דרכי תשובה,מנחת אלעזר    
** מהרי"ל
*** מנהג פרעסבורג