ChaBaD Jewish Calendar Tuesday, 7 Av, 5783 July 25, 2023
ChaBaD Jewish Calendar Tuesday, 7 Av, 5783 July 25, 2023
After nearly a month of fierce fighting inside Jerusalem (see "Today in Jewish History" for Tammuz 9), the armies of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia broke through into the Temple compound, where they feasted and vandalized until the afternoon of Av 9, when they set the Holy Temple aflame.
Links: The Destruction of the Holy Temple
During the “Nine Days" from Av 1st to the Ninth of Av, we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple. We abstain from meat and wine, music, haircutting, bathing for pleasure, and other joyous (and dangerous) activities. (The particular mourning customs vary from community to community, so consult a competent halachic authority for details.)
Consumption of meat and wine is permitted on Shabbat, or at a seudat mitzvah (obligatory festive meal celebrating the fulfillment of certain mitzvot) such as a brit (circumcision), or a siyum celebrating the completion of a course of Torah study (i.e., a complete Talmudic tractate). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory initiated the custom of conducting or participating in a siyum on each of the Nine Days (even if one does not avail oneself of the dispensation to eat meat).
Citing the verse "Zion shall be redeemed with mishpat [Torah] and its returnees with tzedakah," (Isaiah 1:27) the Rebbe urged that we increase in Torah study (particularly the study of the laws of the Holy Temple) and charity during this period.
Links:
Nine Days laws and customs
Daily live siyum broadcasts
Learn about the Holy Temple in Jerusalem
The core of a Jew is wrapped up in the six words of the Sh'ma Israel.
Very roughly, and at great compromise to the richness of each word, it says, "A Jew must contemplate: G‑d—who is our G‑d—that G‑d is one."
Meaning: Not simply that there is only one G‑d, but that this oneness of G‑d is such that nothing—not the heavens, not the earth, and not even all the vast wonders they contain—nothing at all exists outside the perfect oneness that transcends and encompasses all things.
But then, it only takes two Hebrew words to say that G‑d is one. Why do we need six?
Because at this point you must turn your ear inward to hear a quiet voice deep inside. And from there you will hear that this oneness is not a knowledge you learned from your teachers, discerned from your observations, or intuited out of your sense of wonder.
Rather, this sense of oneness is yours because it is the furnace that burns within the powerhouse of your soul, the oxygen that breathes within every facet of your being, the unstoppable current that drives every movement of your life. It is within you, at your very core.
The knowledge, the tradition, the contemplation—all this is vital and necessary: To awaken within you that which you knew before you were born.
And so:
Sh'ma: Learn, contemplate, grasp, and then listen deep inside…
Yisrael:...innermost of my soul, for whom this is the absolute reality…
A-do-nai:...(focus when saying this name upon the written but unspeakable name of) the One who transcends time, space, and all dualities…
E-lo-hei-nu:...know that this is the very same One who breathes within the essence of my soul, who belongs to me more than anything possession I own, more than my hand and heart belong to me, granted to me as an irrevocable gift, and therefore I know that…
A-do-nai:...the power that sustains all being…
Echad:...is absolutely one. In the heavens above and on the earth below, there is nothing else.
Contemplate this, and how could you not be filled with love, with a yearning that consumes heart and soul, to bond with that Oneness in every mitzvah you do, every word of Torah you speak, every thought and every action of your day?
Click to download: Tehillim Ohel Yosef Yitzchak - Apps on Google Play
Dr. Joshua Kulp
Five possessions did the Holy Blessed One, set aside as his own in this world, and these are they: The Torah, one possession; Heaven and earth, another possession; Abraham, another possession; Israel, another possession; The Temple, another possession. 1a) The Torah is one possession. From where do we know this? Since it is written, “The Lord possessed (usually translated as ‘created’) me at the beginning of his course, at the first of His works of old” (Proverbs 8:22). 2a) Heaven and earth, another possession. From where do we know this? Since it is said: “Thus said the Lord: The heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool; Where could you build a house for Me, What place could serve as My abode? (Isaiah 66:1) And it says: “How many are the things You have made, O Lord; You have made them all with wisdom; the earth is full of Your possessions” (Psalms 104:24). 3a) Abraham is another possession. From where do we know this? Since it is written: “He blessed him, saying, “Blessed by Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 15:19). 4a) Israel is another possession. From where do we know this? Since it is written: “Till Your people cross over, O Lord, Till Your people whom You have possessed” (Exodus 15:16). And it says: “As to the holy and mighty ones that are in the land, my whole desire (possession) is in them” (Psalms 16:3). 5a) The Temple is another possession. From where do we know this? Since it is said: “The sanctuary, O lord, which your hands have established” (Exodus 15:17”, And it says: “And He brought them to His holy realm, to the mountain, which His right hand had possessed” (Psalms 78:54).
I like to call out to all my Jewish friends:
Zechariah 8:23
23So said the Lord of Hosts: In those days, when ten men of all the languages of the nations shall take hold of the skirt of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you." | | כגכֹּֽה־אָמַר֘ יְהֹוָ֣ה צְבָאוֹת֒ בַּיָּמִ֣ים הָהֵ֔מָּה אֲשֶׁ֚ר יַֽחֲזִ֙יקוּ֙ עֲשָׂרָ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֔ים מִכֹּ֖ל לְשֹׁנ֣וֹת הַגּוֹיִ֑ם וְֽהֶחֱזִ֡יקוּ בִּכְנַף֩ אִ֨ישׁ יְהוּדִ֜י לֵאמֹ֗ר נֵֽלְכָה֙ עִמָּכֶ֔ם כִּ֥י שָׁמַ֖עְנוּ אֱלֹהִ֥ים עִמָּכֶֽם: |
ten men: from the seventy nations. This equals seven hundred for each corner. For the four corners of the tallith there will be two thousand and eight hundred. | | עשרה אנשים: משבעים לשון הרי שבע מאות לכל כנף וכנף הרי לד' כנפי הטלית אלפים ושמונ' מאו': |
Please Judah if a righteous gentile tries ‘to grasp your ‘tsi-sit’ and say: "Let me go with you, for I have heard that God is with you." Open your heart for him/her and share all our Torah. The Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu as it is written and spared and is teaches in the Tanach and all scripture of Rabbinical Judaism………
Ariel your Representee, Representee of Ephraim and adviser (not a rabbi but friendly adviser) of Bet Yisrael international on the Har HaBayit.
Read my story: https://rb.gy/i654b
Please contact me for further questions: Telegram https://t.me/ArielRepresentative WhatsApp: +972 54-568-3031 Ariel van Kessel LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ariel-van-kessel-71797424 Email: arielvankessel@aol.com Ariel, hopefully your Representative
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