January 27, 2005

Finally some movement!



The Orthodox Union calls on its synagogues across North America to set aside the Feb. 5th Sabbath service - Parshat Mishpatim - to fight the phenomenon known as "Kiddush clubs."

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=76018

Me: Kudos to the OU. But only one day? How about a concerted effort to erradicate this obnoxious behavior EVERY Shabbos?

I have stated this before: If you want to talk and nosh, stay home. It is an affront to G-d, the Torah and the Congregation.

Rabbinical Dispute on Ascent to Temple Mount

Haifa's Chief Rabbi She'ar-Yashuv Cohen has sent an urgent note to Chief Rabbis Amar and Metzger, protesting their signatures on the latest version of a ban on Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount.

Full story: http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=75945

Remembering the Wannsee Conference and the Liberation of Auschwitz



The Holocaust, symbolized by Auschwitz, the worst of the death camps, occurred in the wake of consistent, systematic, unrelenting anti-Jewish propaganda campaign. As a result, the elimination of the Jews from German society was accepted as axiomatic, leaving open only two questions: when and how.

As Germany expanded its domination and occupation of Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, the Low Countries, Yugoslavia, Poland, parts of the USSR, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Italy and others countries, the way was open for Hitler to realize his well-publicized plan of destroying the Jewish people.

After experimentation, the use of Zyklon B on unsuspecting victim was adopted by the Nazis as the means of choice, and Auschwitz was selected as the main factory of death (more accurately, one should refer to the “Auschwitz-Birkenau complex”). The green light for mass annihilation was given at the Wannsee Conference, January 20, 1942, and the mass gassings took place in Auschwitz between 1942 and the end of 1944, when the Nazis retreated before the advancing Red Army. Jews were transported to Auschwitz from all over Nazi-occupied or Nazi-dominated Europe and most were slaughtered in Auschwitz upon arrival, sometimes as many as 12,000 in one day. Some victims were selected for slave labour or “medical” experimentation. All were subject to brutal treatment.

In all, between three and four million people, mostly Jews, but also Poles and Red Army POWs, were slaughtered in Auschwitz alone (though some authors put the number at 1.3 million). Other death camps were located at Sobibor, Chelmno, Belzec (Belzek), Majdanek and Treblinka.

Auschwitz was liberated by the Red Army on 27 January 1945, sixty years ago, after most of the prisoners were forced into a Death March westwards. The Red Army found in Auschwitz about 7,600 survivors, but not all could be saved.

For a long time, the Allies were well aware of the mass murder, but deliberately refused to bomb the camp or the railways leading to it. Ironically, during the Polish uprising, the Allies had no hesitation in flying aid to Warsaw, sometimes flying right over Auschwitz.

There are troubling parallels between the systematic vilification of Jews before the Holocaust and the current vilification of the Jewish people and Israel. Suffice it to note the annual flood of anti-Israel resolutions at the UN; or the public opinion polls taken in Europe, which single out Israel as a danger to world peace; or the divestment campaigns being waged in the US against Israel; or the attempts to delegitimize Israel’s very existence. The complicity of the Allies in WW II is mirrored by the support the PLO has been receiving from Europe, China and Russia to this very day.

If remembering Auschwitz should teach us anything, it is that we must all support Israel and the Jewish people against the vilification and the complicity we are witnessing, knowing where it inevitably leads.

To see a full list of those involved in this blog burst click here: http://blogburstinfo.blogspot.com/2005/01/participant-list.html

January 25, 2005

Need I say More?

"The UN hall was less than half full, and Jordan was the only Arab nation to remain during Holocaust memorial speeches by UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan and Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom."

http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=75802

January 21, 2005

Kohain Names



I would like to start a list of Kohanic last names. Please feel free to post the obvious and the not so obvious. I heard of a Kohain with the last name Levy and a man named Rich Cohen who said he wasn't a Kohain, but it was okay since he wasn't rich either.

To start the ball rolling...

Katz (a contraction of "Kohain Tzedek" or righteous priest)
Kahn
Cohen
Kagen (as in the Chafetz Chaim. It is an Eastern European way of saying Kohain)
Kaplan (for Ashkenazim. In Turkish Kaplan means "tiger")
Rapaport/Rapoport (One of the most distinguished of priestly families. The Gra was "podeh" himself by every Kohain he met until he met a member of the Rapaport family. Supposedly they have a shtar yichus [family tree with all the names] going back to Aharon)
Shapiro (some, not all. I heard it has to do with the grandson of the Maharal who was last named Katz. He married a Shapiro and took her name because she had no brothers. Anyone else hear of this?)
Kahane (Aramaic for Kohain)
Kahana (variation)

KOHANIM: Please add your last name in the comments section!

Festive Meal in Anticipation of Holy Temple

The annual "Temple Mount Dinner" will take place this coming Monday night in the Binyanei HaUmah Convention Center in Jerusalem. Close to 1,000 people are expected.

From Arutz Sheva: http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=75700

January 19, 2005

January 18, 2005

To all my Gentile readers



I have known about the B'nai Noach (or Noahides) for many years. The recent issue of The Researcher put out by the Vendyl Jones Research Institute really opened my eyes to what they are doing and accomplishing. Also, the dedication and passion of the blog "Chasidei Umot Haolam" (http://www.hasidicgentile.org/index.html) never ceases to amaze me. So I decided to research further and felt that I needed to do my part to make their work and philosophy known.

B'nai Noach (literally "Children of Noah") are Gentiles who accept Hashem as the One True G-d of the Universe and believe in His Holy Torah. They reject all forms of idol worship and follow the 7 Universal Laws of Noah which are (in a nutshell):

1. Not to worhip idols
2. Not to blaspheme
3. Not to murder
4. Not to steal
5.Not to engage in sexual immorality
6. Not to eat the limb off a living animal
7. To establish courts of justice

There are many of these holy individuals throughout the world and their numbers are growing daily.

You can connect to G-d in the very same way our ancestor Noah did. I implore you, whether you are Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu, check out these links:

1. Hasidic Gentile's great B.N. page - http://www.hasidicgentile.org/C808593284/index.html
2. Vendyl Jones - http://www.vendyljones.org.il/
3. The Rainbow Covenant Foundation - http://www.rainbowcovenant.org/
4. B’nai Noach Torah Institute - http://www.bnti.us/
5. The Seven Laws in Genesis - http://www.geocities.com/rachav/seven_laws_in_genesis.html
6. Rachav's B'nai Noah Page - http://www.geocities.com/rachav/
7. B'nai No'ach News & Info. Center - http://www.bnainoach.com/tiki-index.php
8. World People - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/2883/
9. B'nai Noach (UK) - http://www.noachide.co.uk/
10. Kosher Noahide Links - http://www.noachide.co.uk/noachide_links.htm

Isaiah 56: 6-7

ו וּבְנֵי הַנֵּכָר, הַנִּלְוִים עַל-יְהוָה לְשָׁרְתוֹ, וּלְאַהֲבָה אֶת-שֵׁם יְהוָה, לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לַעֲבָדִים--כָּל-שֹׁמֵר שַׁבָּת מֵחַלְּלוֹ, וּמַחֲזִיקִים בִּבְרִיתִיו וּבְנֵי הַנֵּכָר, הַנִּלְוִים עַל-יְהוָה לְשָׁרְתוֹ, וּלְאַהֲבָה אֶת-שֵׁם יְהוָה, לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לַעֲבָדִים--כָּל-שֹׁמֵר שַׁבָּת מֵחַלְּלוֹ, וּמַחֲזִיקִים
בִּבְרִיתִי

6. Also the aliens, that join themselves to Hashem, to minister unto Him, and to love the name of Hashem, to be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast by My covenant:

ז וַהֲבִיאוֹתִים אֶל-הַר קָדְשִׁי, וְשִׂמַּחְתִּים בְּבֵית תְּפִלָּתִי--עוֹלֹתֵיהֶם וְזִבְחֵיהֶם לְרָצוֹן, עַל-מִזְבְּחִי: כִּי בֵיתִי, בֵּית-תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל-הָעַמִּים

7. Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Thanks to all my readers!



Ha-Mikdash is proudly nominated for "Best New Blog 2004" in the JIB (Jewish and Israeli Blog) Awards!

Stay tuned for more information on how to vote.

January 14, 2005

Update on the Sanhedrin

"A religious-legal assembly of 71 Sages that convened in the Holy Temple and for several centuries after its destruction, the Sanhedrin was the highest Jewish judicial tribunal in the Land of Israel"

"Their most recent meeting was this week, in which they discussed technical and procedural issues, topics for their agenda, and the Halakhic [Jewish legal] and other ramifications of renewing the Passover sacrifice.Their most recent meeting was this week, in which they discussed technical and procedural issues, topics for their agenda, and the Halakhic [Jewish legal] and other ramifications of renewing the Passover sacrifice."

Will the Passover Sacrifice be reinstituted? Should I start sharpening my knives?

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=75313

Poor poor PETA. If they didn't like shechita in Iowa the ain't gonna love it when they see it in Jerusalem!

January 13, 2005

A Prayer

Tsunamis. Landslides. Floods.

I personally witnessed the horrible consequences of the seemingly unrelenting rain in Southern California. People are dead. Houses are washed away. Lives are ruined.

I remembered an odd passage in the Machzor (prayer book) for Yom Kippur. It stated that when the Kohain Gadol (High Priest) left the Holy of Holies in peace he would pray a special prayer for the Jewish People. Then, as if tacked on the end of this blessing for a fruitful and blessed year, he would say: “[concerning the inhabitants of the Sharon] May it be Your will, Hashem, our G-d and the G-d of our forefathers, that their homes not become their graves.”

The ArtsScroll Machzor states (citing Yerushalmi Yoma 5:2): “The Kohen Gadol recited a special prayer for the people of the Sharon because the earth there was suitable for construction, and house had to be rebuilt twice every seven years or they would collapse. Also, the houses in the valley were subject to landslides and flash floods. Hence the Kohen Gadol prayed that the inhabitants of Sharon not be trapped in the ruins of their homes.”

The fact is, no matter where we live, we are at the mercy of the elements. And we must never forget that Hashem ultimately controls everything. But if there is any positive to the disasters that have befallen so many, it is that there has been an incredible outpouring of help, support and charity for those who have suffered.

My prayer as a humble Jew is that Hashem should comfort those who have lost so much and may He end the immense suffering soon.

You want web Torah? This guy has web Torah!

http://eparsha.com/

Links to everything Torah on the web. Please note that not all sources are "kosher." He does a good job marking those off.

Model of the Beis Hamikdash

The Model of the Beis Hamikdash designed by Rav Zalmen Koren Shlit"a

See it here:
http://www.neveh.org/mikdash/koren/default.html

Speak out against the Desecration!

From the Jerusalem Post

Police allow illegal Muslim burial near Temple Mount
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS

The Arab chairman of a committee which serves as ago-between between Jerusalem police and Arab residents of east Jerusalem is selling burial plots to Muslims just outside the Temple Mount in contravention of the law which classifies the area as state archaeological grounds, a prominent right-wing activist who has taken the state to court said Thursday.

The area in question lies adjacent to the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount, where Jordanian engineers are at carrying out repair work on the 2,000-year-old wall, in the direction of the walled-up Golden Gate, where Jewish tradition holds the messiah will enter.
With burial space fast running out at the nearbyancient Muslim cemetery, Arab residents have, over the last year and a half, begun encroaching on the new site to be used for burial.
Arieh King, an activist with the ultra-nationalistElad organization, who last year filed a petition to the High Court of Justice against the burial ofMuslims going on at the site, said Thursday that aworker employed by his organization was recently able to buy three burial plots at the site for NIS 10,000 from the Arab chairman of an east Jerusalem based committee which serves as an intermediary between police and Arab residents of east Jerusalem.

"It turns out that the person who is selling theburial ground is a police appointee, who is supposedly working on behalf of police," King said.

King, who on Thursday asked Israel's Highest Court to issue an immediate interim injunction barring further burials at the site, added that previous municipality demolition orders to stop the burial going on at the archaeological and national park site have been prevented by police.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby saidThursday that police have reported all the goings-on at the site to the political echelon.

Me: Write the Knesset, your Senator and Congressman! This desecration has to end. Please pass this on.

January 12, 2005

Is Israel ready for a King?

The Sanhedrin is looking for a scion of David.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1105418785934

Interesting. Jews have not had great sucess with Kings in the past save David and Solomon. But the Messiah will be an offspring of David. What are your thoughts?

My wife's family actually has a "shtar yichus" (family tree with all names) going back to King David (too bad it's through her grandmother!)

Ps. Thanks to HasidicGentile (http://www.hasidicgentile.org) for alerting us to this article.

January 11, 2005

Happy Rosh Chodesh Shevat



In honor of Rosh Chodesh, which is dependant of the lunar calendar, I have added the infamous "Daily Moon Phases Module" to the side bar.

To learn more about Rosh Chodesh, please check out the following: http://www.jewfaq.org/chodesh.htm
http://www.ou.org/chagim/roshchodesh/default.htm

An interesting article on Rosh Chodesh and women can be found here:

http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/About_Jewish_Holidays/Rosh_Chodesh/Women_Rosh_Chodesh.htm

Mah pitom? We have to shlep all the way from Tel Aviv?

"Roc rega, Yossi. You mean we're not fighting for seedless watermelons, cell phones and discos?"

From Arutz Sheva
A new regulation set by IDF Armory Commander, Colonel Ehud David, stipulates that every soldier under his command is to be brought on a visit to the Kotel, the Western Wall.

See it here: http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=75135

Judaism in the Jewish State? How novel.

"But Yossi, what about the disco? The DISCO?"

Sabbath-Observers Become an Economic Force
from Arutz Sheva

Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv last night in a campaign to "strengthen Sabbath in Israel." Leading rabbis took part in the event, organized by ex-champion and businessman Rabbi Rafael Halperin.

For the full story: http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=75128

January 10, 2005

Temple Illustarted Tour Update

The Temple Institute has updated their "Illustrated Tour of the Holy Temple."

From their site:

The tour will take you through the entire Temple Mount complex, as it existed during the time of the Second Temple, providing a comprehensive description of all the various walls and gates, plazas, chambers and courtyards, and the inner sanctum of the Holy Temple itself. Our new installment takes you inside the inner courtyards at the Holy Temple, where the altar stood and the offerings where made to the Creator of the World. The tour is being presented in weekly installments, which will be added over the coming weeks. We will be informing all newsletter subscribers of each new installment.

To take the tour, click here: http://templeinstitute.org/illustrated_tour.htm

The Jerusalem Archaeological Park

Neat site:

http://www.archpark.org.il/intro.asp

Will a Third Temple come from Heaven?

An absolutely great article with thorough sources:

http://www.btzedek.com/law/law01.html

The Gedolim Speak

From Arutz Sheva:

A joint assembly of rabbis from both the hareidi and national-religious sectors declared Sunday night that the entire Land of Israel belongs to G-d and the Jewish People, and not to the government.

"No one in the world has the right to cede the Jewish People's right to any part of the Land," ex-Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu declared, "and such a move must be fought."

The rabbis, meeting in Tel Aviv, sharply condemned the United Torah Judaism party for joining the coalition government. "This act was against the majority of the Torah leaders in Israel," the rabbis resolved, "and leads directly to an endangerment of the entire populace of Israel."

Among the dozens of rabbis in attendance were the Admor of Sadigura, a member of the Council of Torah Sages headed by Rabbi Elyashiv; Kiryat Arba Rabbi Dov Lior; Kiryat Motzkin Rabbi David Druckman; and Rabbi Meir Mazuz of Yeshivat Kisei Rachamim in Bnei Brak. Another Council of Torah Sages member, the Bostoner Rebbe, sent a sharp letter of support for their position to be read aloud.

Rabbi Mazuz said, "This disengagement story is our tsunami." He emphasized the "ungrateful" behavior of Sharon towards the nation in general and the Yesha residents in particular, and recalled that the Lubavitcher Rebbe saved Sharon's life by advising him not to travel in a helicopter that crashed. Rabbi Mazuz did not mention that the Rebbe once advised Sharon not to enter politics altogether.

Rabbi Lior said, "This [disengagement] plan is a danger to the very existence of the State. It is unprecedented. The rabbis must exude special spiritual strength to deal with this very difficult situation." He noted that this spiritual strength has been shown by the residents of Yesha, and especially of Gush Katif, "and this is one of today's miracles."

Rabbi Simcha HaCohen Kook, Chief Rabbi of Rehovot (pictured above; a grand-nephew of the saintly Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook), said that he visited Rabbi Elyashiv on Friday, after his decision to allow the UTJ party to join the coalition. Rabbi Kook said that "wheeler-dealers" misled Rabbi Elyashiv by telling him that Sharon has a majority even without UTJ, which wasn't true. Rabbi Kook added that most of the leading Torah authorities were against the decision.

Among the rabbis' resolutions were:
* We sadly determine that the Prime Minister is causing a terrible civil war, the end of which cannot be foretold.
* We call upon all the leaders of world Jewry, led by the Rabbis of Israel, to express their clear protest, echoing from one end of the world to the other, in light of the evil behavior of the Israeli government and its head.
* We will not refrain from expressing our protest and great astonishment at the strengthening of this wicked government by G-d-fearing Jews against the opinion of the clear majority of the leading rabbis of Israel. * We call upon our brothers and all of the Torah giants to help bodily, monetarily and spiritually the residents of Yesha who face the decree of evacuation.

January 09, 2005

New side bar poll

Please take out poll. It is located on the side bar. Enjoy!

January 07, 2005

Famous Kohanim

“And it shall be to him and to his descendants after him a covenant of everlasting Kehuna/Priesthood.” (Numbers 25:13)

“For God your God has chosen him of all your tribes to stand and serve with the name of God he and his sons forever.” (Deuteronomy 18:5)

I wanted to have a post to list all of the famous Kohanim throughout history even to today. Please add to it by posting.

Aaron
Pinchas
Eli (book of Samuel)
Tzadok
the Prophet Ezekiel
The Chafetz Chaim
Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik
Rav Kook
Rabbi Meir Kahane

This is just to start us off. Add some more!

January 06, 2005

My Grandfather (Z"L)



I never knew my grandfather. He died almost twenty years before I was born.

My wife took this picture of his grave (as Kohanim are not allowed to go near a dead body). There is a special comfort in knowing that although I never net him, he left me with a lineage and a legacy.

Anyhow, I thought this was cool.

January 05, 2005

Kavanos during Duchaning (Blessing the Congregation)


Most Kohanim are unaware that there are specific kavanos (concentrations) one should have while duchaning (blessing). I personally follow the kavanos of the Amudei Shamayim which is as follows:

Yivarechicha Hashem - May Hashem increase your children and your posessions

V'Yishmarecha - and protect them from harm

Ya'er Hashem Panav Eilecha - May Hashem brighten his angry countenance thereby changing his attribute of Judgement to Mercy

V'chuneka - And favor you, even if you are unworthy

Yisa Hashem Panav Eilecha - May Hashem act favorably toward you

V'yasem Licha Shalom - And grant you Peace (the only vessel capable of containing unlimited Blessing).
Credit: ArtScroll's "Bircas Kohanim"

There are many Kohanim and Jews who also don't know that the congregants MUST be in front of the Kohanim to recieve the blessing. I make sure that I am standing closest to the Woman's section so that when I wave my hands I am including them as well.

When I duchan I really try an feel an intense love for all the congregation as well as the entire house of Israel. I try and really open up my heart and forgive all those who may have wronged me.

KOHANIM: Please post and tell us your minhag on how you hold your hands and what your custom is for duchaning.

January 04, 2005

The Temple Mount Center

Just found this site. Poor English and some of the graphics don't load. Give it a spin: http://www.hamikdash.com/index.html