HaMikdash

SAVE THE TEMPLE MOUNT!

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A Prayer Request…

A dear family friend has been battling cancer for a few years.  She had a brain scan on Thursday.  On Friday her doctor called her husband and asked where he was.  He said he was driving home.  The doctor told him to pull over.

The doctor told him that his dear wife has seven tumors in her brain.  The largest is over an inch and a half in diameter and is in the front of the brain.  That is what was causing her to have seizures.  They need to remove it surgically as soon as possible.  And the other will be dealt with using strong doses of radiation.  She has already had a double mastectomy and has been fighting bone cancer.  The family has been living in hell for many years.  It is so serious that her doctor demanded that she drive to the hospital on Shabbos to meet with the brain surgeon.

A little bit about this family:  They are mamesh Tzadikim.  They are Gerim who have devoted their entire lives to Torah and good deeds.  The mom who is suffering with cancer is in her late 40s and a mother to five holy children. 

This past week my wife and I have been dealing with the tragedy of having a miscarriage.  We were 15 weeks in and so far everything was going great.  We went in for a routine checkup and the Dr. couldn’t find a heartbeat.  Within 24 hours my wife was having surgery (a D & C).  Our family was heartbroken.  The family above demanded to make Shabbos for us so my wife could rest.  they receive the bad news about the tumors Friday afternoon AND STILL MADE AND DROPPED OFF FOOD TO OUR HOME!  THEY DIDN’T WANT TO TELL US THE UPSETTING NEWS SO IT WOULDN’T RUIN OUR SHABBOS!  This are the type of people they are.

Please… I beg you… say tehillim and daven for DEVORAH MIRIAM BAS SARAH.  She is a Tzadekis who has suffered so much in the past few years.  She deserves life and health.  She has a wonderful family… I can’t even imagine Chas v’shalom should something happen to her what would become of the family.

I will (bli neder) be fasting, davening saying tehillim for her.  I will (bli neder) be learning the laws of Lashon HaRa and try to be stricter with my midos in her merit.  I am sorry for the babbling but it has been a horrific few days and I am exhausted.

Please add the name DEVORAH MIRIAM BAS SARAH to your shul’s refuah list - email it to other shuls.  Take on something in her merit.  Do chessed.  Give Tzadukah in her name.  

The world would be a much worse place (Chas v’Shalom) without her.  Let’s beg Hashem Yisborach - Ha Rachman - Baal Refuos to heal Devorah Miriam Bas Sarah and give her a long life of health!

Amen

PLEASE REPOST!!!

Answer to addicted2dacomputer

Well I’ve always had this curiosity with Judaism. And where I’m from, I don’t see very many Jewish people. And the ones I meet are very proud of their religion. I would just like to ask some questions and please don’t think I’m being sarcastic or belittling your religion. It’s just when people explain their religion, I want to feel a passion. ya know?

1. What is your favorite thing about your faith?
2. What made you choose this religion or choose to stay in this religion?
3. Have you been treated differently because of your faith?
4. Is there any part of your faith that you do not agree with? 

Absolutely!  In no way do I think you’re being sarcastic or belittling.  I am happy to answer all your questions to the best of my ability.

1. My favorite thing about Judaism is that it fosters a one on one closeness to G-d.  Judaism does not focus on men, like Christians do with Jesus or Muslims do with Muhammed.  In fact, thoug Moses was the greatest of all Prophets and spoke directly with G-d, his name is only mentioned once during the Passover seder.  That is because G-d is our focus and we are all His children.  I also love Judaism because it is an unbroken chain of faith going back nearly 4000 years to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  It is neat because the Bible is not only the Word of G-d but a history of the Jewish People from the very beginning.  Also, it is a living religion meaning that all Jews are related to our forefathers either genetically or spiritually.  A convert to Judaism takes their place as a child of Abraham and Sarah and is counted among the Jewish Nation!  I myself am descended from Aaron, Moses’ brother, the first High Priest of Israel.  I have even had my DNA checked which confirmed this.  My wife has a family tree with all the names going back to Kind David (the grandson of a convert, by the way, and the forefather of our Holy Messiah may he come soon!).  That being said, a convert to Judaism is as dear to G-d as a born Jew and their soul stood side by side at Sinai with the Jewish Nation as we received the Torah from G-d.  That leads me into #2.

2. I was not brought up religious.  In fact, my family was quite anti-religious and hostile to it.  I saw, though, that it was my recent family who had broken the chain that goes back farther than any other religion.  Ever since I was a young boy I had always been drawn to G-d and Judaism and I when I was 18 I took the steps to become a practicing Orthodox Jew.  I chose returning to Judaism rather than any other religion for a few reasons.  First of all, once a Jew always a Jew.  Even if a Jew converts to another religion they are still a Jew.  That is because the Jews are not only a religion but a nationality.  We have a common bond, heritage, history, land and faith.  Even though we have been dispersed for two thousand years, a Jew from Morocco, Yemen, India, Spain, France or Germany is still my brother or sister.

I was also a comparative religion major in college.  I have extensively studied both Islam and Christianity and found nothing in them that was unfulfilled in Judaism.  In fact, if you asked a Christian which was the more correct religion – Judaism or Islam they would choose Judaism (because Christianity originally came from Judaism and all of our Holy books were incorporated into their faith).  If you asked a Muslim which was the more correct religion- Judaism or Christianity they would choose Judaism (because we are the original monotheist religion and therefore the forerunner to all of these faiths). 

It is interesting to note that of all three religions, only Judaism has national revelation.  Let me explain.  In Christianity, no group actually witnessed Jesus leaving the cave or being resurrected or the conversion of Paul.  These were singularly witnessed events.  In Islam, no group saw the Angel Gabriel speak to Muhammed or saw his Night Journey.  They took him on his word and these stories on faith.  However, the Jewish People collectively witnessed the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai (nearly two million people).  It is easy for me to tell you that I received a message from G-d.  It’s another to try and convince you that you received a message from G-d!  If it had not happened, no one would have permitted it to be recorded in the Torah!  John Doe could have said, “Hey, my parents were in the desert then and they don’t recall any Torah being given!”  That didn’t happen because everyone saw with their own eyes and heard with their own ears.  That proves to me that G-d, Torah and Judaism are Truth.  Everything G-d said would come to pass has.  It is all recorded in our Bible.  When Christians claim that Jesus was god and changed the Torah, we have to laugh.  G-d does not change his mind!  He’s G-d!  He does not need to impregnate women to give birth to a half man/half god!  He created everything!  The physical universe.  Time.  Space.  Everything!  When Muslims say that Allah rejected the Jews for the Qur’an and Islam we also have to laugh.   Why would G-d change His mind and annul His repeated promises that he will never abandon us?  It just doesn’t make sense.  Christians say that they are the “new” Israel.  Islam says that they are the new “chosen” ones.  We believe that G-d is above time and space – G-d is not in the Universe.  The Universe is in G-d!  he is One, indivisible, omnipotent and omniscient.

3.  Yes, I have been treated differently.  Unfortunately it has been by Jews.  As I said above, my extended family is quite anti-religious.  They see my lifestyle as a direct threat to their assimilation.  I am a reminder of the heritage and faith they abandoned.  Unfortunately nearly all of my cousins have married out of the faith and their bloodlines die with them.  Jews, unfortunately, tend to be the biggest self-haters and enemies of Judaism.  It’s almost like Prince Harry stripping nude in Vegas.  He just doesn’t care about the gift he has been given (royalty) and the responsibilities that come with the title.  Very sad.

4.  I accept the Torah, Prophets, Writings, Oral Law and Talmud as fact.  I believe in Rabbinic authority and Jewish Law.  If I could change one thing it would be the divisiveness within Judaism.  We are a tiny people of only 18,000,000 out of 7,000,000,000, yet we have so many divisions!  “Reform” and “Conservative” sects are not even Judaism as they reject the very tenants of Judaism:  the Torah, G-d, the coming of the Messiah, etc.  That’s like 70% of the entire Jewish People!  Among us Orthodox there are many sects and divisions.  If we would have more love for one another and put our petty squabbles aside, we would be a much stronger nation.

I am sorry I rambled on.  Hope this answers some of your questions.  Please feel free to ask any more.

(Source: addicted2dacomputer)

Jerusalem’s Jewish Link: Historic, Religious, Political

August 14, 2012 | Eli E. Hertz

For more than 3,000 years, the Jewish people have looked to Jerusalem as their spiritual, political, and historical capital, even when they did not physically rule over the city. Throughout its long history, Jerusalem has served, and still serves, as the political capital of only one nation - the one belonging to the Jews. Its prominence in Jewish history began in 1004 BCE, when King David declared the city the capital of the first Jewish kingdom. David’s successor and son, King Solomon, built the First Temple there, according to the Bible, as a holy place to worship the Almighty. Unfortunately, history would not be kind to the Jewish people. Four hundred and ten years after King Solomon completed construction of Jerusalem, the Babylonians (early ancestors to today’s Iraqis) seized and destroyed the city, forcing the Jews into exile.

Fifty years later, the Jews, or Israelites as they were called, were permitted to return after Persia (present-day Iran) conquered Babylon. The Jews’ first order of business was to reclaim Jerusalem as their capital and rebuild the Holy Temple, recorded in history as the Second Temple.

Jerusalem was more than the Jewish kingdom’s political capital - it was a spiritual beacon. During the First and Second Temple periods, Jews throughout the kingdom would travel to Jerusalem three times yearly for the pilgrimages of the Jewish holy days of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot, until the Roman Empire destroyed the Second Temple in 70 CE and ended Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem for the next 2,000 years. Despite that fate, Jews never relinquished their bond to Jerusalem or, for that matter, to Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel.

No matter where Jews lived throughout the world for those two millennia, their thoughts and prayers were directed toward Jerusalem. Even today, whether in Israel, the United States or anywhere else, Jewish ritual practice, holiday celebration and lifecycle events include recognition of Jerusalem as a core element of the Jewish experience. Consider that:

·         Jews in prayer always turn toward Jerusalem.

·         Arks (the sacred chests) that hold Torah scrolls in synagogues throughout the world face Jerusalem.

·         Jews end Passover Seders each year with the words: “Next year in Jerusalem”; the same words are pronounced at the end of Yom Kippur, the most solemn day of the Jewish year.

·         A three-week moratorium on weddings in the summer recalls the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in 586 BCE. That period culminates in a special day of mourning - Tisha B’Av (the 9th day of the Hebrew month Av) - commemorating the destruction of both the First and Second Temples.

·         Jewish wedding ceremonies - joyous occasions, are marked by sorrow over the loss of Jerusalem. The groom recites a biblical verse from the Babylonian Exile: “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning,” and breaks a glass in commemoration of the destruction of the Temples.

Even body language, often said to tell volumes about a person, reflects the importance of Jerusalem to Jews as a people and, arguably, the lower priority the city holds for Muslims:

·         When Jews pray they face Jerusalem; in Jerusalem Israelis pray facing the Temple Mount.

·         When Muslims pray, they face Mecca; in Jerusalem Muslims pray with their backs to the city.

·         Even at burial, a Muslim face, is turned toward Mecca.

Finally, consider the number of times ‘Jerusalem’ is mentioned in the two religions’ holy books:

·         The Old Testament mentions ‘Jerusalem’ 349 times. Zion, another name for ‘Jerusalem,’ is mentioned 108 times.

·         The Quran never mentions Jerusalem - not even once.

Even when others controlled Jerusalem, Jews maintained a physical presence in the city, despite being persecuted and impoverished. Before the advent of modern Zionism in the 1880s, Jews were moved by a form of religious Zionism to live in the Holy Land, settling particularly in four holy cities: Safed, Tiberias, Hebron, and most importantly - Jerusalem . Consequently, Jews constituted a majority of the city’s population for generations. In 1898, “In this City of the Jews, where the Jewish population outnumbers all others three to one …” Jews constituted 75 percent of the Old City population in what Secretary-General Kofi Annan called ‘East Jerusalem.’ In 1914, when the Ottoman Turks ruled the city, 45,000 Jews made up a majority of the 65,000 residents. And at the time of Israeli statehood in 1948, 100,000 Jews lived in the city, compared to only 65,000 Arabs. Prior to unification, Jordanian-controlled ‘East Jerusalem ’ was a mere 6 square kilometers, compared to 38 square kilometers on the ‘Jewish side.’

Islam’s Tenuous Connection to Jerusalem

Despite 1,300 years of Muslim Arab rule, Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab entity, nor was it ever mentioned in the Palestine Liberation Organization’s covenant until Israel regained control of East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967.

Overall, the role of Jerusalem in Islam is best understood as the outcome of political exigencies impacting on religious belief.

Mohammed, who founded Islam in 622 CE, was born and raised in present-day Saudi Arabia; he never set foot in Jerusalem. His connection to the city came years after his death when the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa mosque were built. The construction spurred by political and religious rivalries. In 638 CE, the Caliph (or successor to Mohammed) Omar and his invading armies captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire. One reason they wanted to erect a holy structure in Jerusalem was to proclaim Islam’s supremacy over Christianity and its most important shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

More important was the power struggle within Islam itself. The Damascus-based Umayyad Caliphs who controlled Jerusalem wanted to establish an alternative holy site if their rivals blocked access to Mecca. That was important because the Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca was (and remains today) one of the Five Pillars of Islam. As a result, they built what became known as the Dome of the Rock shrine and the adjacent mosque.

To enhance the prestige of the ‘substitute Mecca,’ the Jerusalem mosque was named al-Aqsa. It means ‘the furthest mosque’ in Arabic, but has far broader implications, since it is the same phrase used in a key passage of the Quran called “The Night Journey.” In that passage, Mohammed arrives at ‘al-Aqsa’ on a winged steed accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel; from there they ascend into heaven for a divine meeting with Allah, after which Mohammed returns to Mecca. Naming the Jerusalem mosque al-Aqsa was an attempt to say the Dome of the Rock was the very spot from which Mohammed ascended to heaven, thus tying Jerusalem to divine revelation in Islamic belief. The problem however, is that Mohammed died in the year 632, nearly 50 years before the first construction of the al-Aqsa Mosque was completed.

Jerusalem never replaced the importance of Mecca in the Islamic world. When the Umayyad dynasty fell in 750, Jerusalem also fell into near obscurity for 350 years, until the Crusades. During those centuries, many Islamic sites in Jerusalem fell into disrepair and in 1016 the Dome of the Rock collapsed.

Still, for 1,300 years, various Islamic dynasties (Syrian, Egyptian, and Turkish) continued to govern Jerusalem as part of their overall control of the Land of Israel, disrupted only by the Crusaders. What is amazing is that over that period, not one Islamic dynasty ever made Jerusalem its capital. By the 19th century, Jerusalem had been so neglected by Islamic rulers that several prominent Western writers who visited Jerusalem were moved to write about it. French writer Gustav Flaubert, for example, found “ruins everywhere” during his visit in 1850 when it was part of the Turkish Empire (1516-1917). Seventeen years later Mark Twain wrote that Jerusalem had “become a pauper village.”

17th century Persian persecution of Jews

eretzyisrael:

I just stumbled across a chapter of a book called “Two journeys to Jerusalem, vol. 1”  from 1759. The chapter is entitled “The fatal and final Extirpation and Destruction of the Jews out of the Empire of Persia, begun in 1663 and continuing until 1666, and the Occasion therof.” 

This chapter seems to have been written in 1666 itself, and it has a story I cannot find anywhere else.

According to the book, during the reign of Shah Abbas I, a prince of Persia had the idea to open up trade between Persia and neighboring countries, by making it easier for traders to travel and make agreements. Naturally, the Jews from within and without Persia took advantage of this loosening of restrictions and prospered. This made their competitors jealous so they complained to the Shah.

Abbas had to come up with a way to keep the benefits of the trade while stopping the Jews from profiting. So he came up with a plan and summoned the Jewish religious leaders.

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