Tisha B’av continues

The last two days, over Tisha B’av, I stayed off the news.

If you can actually say it, I had a ‘good’ Tisha B’av, as they go, because I had the house to myself for the first time in weeks and weeks, with no deadlines, no pressure, just one chore to do, aside from reading Yirmiyahu’s Lamentations, which was to make supper.

With supper made in the morning, before I ran out of steam from the fast, I just mooched around, did a lot of hitbodedut, Baruch Hashem, said some Rav prayers on overcoming anger (kind of my staple, at the moment…), tried to do some introspection, some cheshbon hanefesh, to figure out a few things about how I’ve been feeling and reacting, recently.

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I listened to Radio Kol Chai the day before Tisha B’av, as music was off the list, and some rabbi there was talking about how the real essence of Tisha B’av is actually to do some real cheshbon hanefesh, or soul searching, to figure out the bad middot each person has which burnt down the Second Temple, and is still keeping us stuck in exile.

Even here, in Eretz Yisrael.

B’kitzur, I enjoyed Tisha B’av more than usual, if a person is allowed to say that.

No news, no ‘worries’, no stress, no big deadlines.

Heaven.

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Then, this morning, my daughter told me she will be arriving for Shabbos by midday.

Shabbos comes in after 7pm…

What’s the big rush?!

Long story short: she is fleeing a rash of horrible piguim, terror attacks, that have been going on all over the Shomron again.

Jews stabbed, shot, lynched.

Horrible, horrible, horrible.

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You know why the Shomron, always the Shomron, and if not the Shomron, then Jerusalem, or Hevron?

Because these areas prove the authenticity of the bible.

Or at least, they would if more people could get to see them, get access, dig there, publish their findings, if the hugely important archaeological remains were preserved the way they should be, instead of destroyed, in an attempt to obliterate the truth of the Bible.

That’s the bottom line: still a war against God, and His Torah, and of course, His people, with ‘the Shomron’ highest up on the list, as it contains the most biblical proof, outside of Jerusalem, and with Hevron coming in third place.

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So, Tisha B’av is over.

But the death and the sadness about the matzav continue.

Ah Tatty.

Let’s quote some Yirmiyahu, to end:

For even if You had utterly rejected us, You have already raged sufficiently against us.

Haven’t You, Tatty?

 

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The story of when Moshiach finally comes

The more I am looking at the Burgher and the Pauper, the more clues I’m picking up about ‘when Moshiach comes’.

Here are the notes written by Rav Natan Sternhartz, explaining some of the hints at the end of that story (from HERE🙂

Notes Following the Story

Afterwards as well the old emperor had no greatness, for it [the trouble] was all because of him. The burgher had enormous greatness — he is the emperor’s father, who is the essential one [ikar, the root]. The sailor was smacked and smacked in the face and expelled.

Regarding Lot it says, “Ha’hárah himmalét/ to the mountain flee for salvation” (Gen. 19:17) — this is a burgher [a play on words: Yid. barg mountain, pl. berg < Ger. Berg mountain; ME burgh city < OE burg fortified town; O. High Ger. Burg fortified castle, all from Indo-European root *bhergh], and from him comes [Heb. is born] Mashiach. [Note: Rabbi Nachman’s surname was Horodenker, as his grandfather, also named Nachman, was from the Ukrainian city Horodenka, the name of which stems from Ukrainian gorod, city. Thus “Burgher” might be interpreted as an allusion to this name.]

Jews had, in Mitzrayim, signs who would be the Redeemer etc. [Heb. only: paqódh paqádh’ti (Ex. 3:16: “I have remember-remembered you;” alternately, “a chief I have appointed”?) — he who says to them these terms is the Redeemer. And it is an astounding thing, since all Yisrael knew of this — so then what is this sign? Possibly it was not transmitted except to the elders.] And upon the [Heb. final] Redeemer [Yid. to come] there are certainly signs [Yid. do, here] as well.

Mashiach will say to every Jew everything that has happened to him every single day [Heb only: to every member of Yisrael individually]. Tamar also lost the signs, as it says in the Midrash. Also when she was going to be burned the Samekh-Mem came and removed the signs from her, and the angel Gabriel came and returned them, as it says in Midrash; out from her comes Mashiach, speedily in our days, Amen.

All this the Rebbe discussed after the story so that one can make some kind of surmise how far the story reaches. So, good for one who is privileged to know the stories’ secret even in the other world!

Regarding that which is explained in the story, that every one comes with his song of desire and some are replied to via an emissary etc. as mentioned — so there are a number of great people who each do what they do [Heb. only: And each says songs and so forth] and each busies himself and wants to reach {Yid.: the truth; Heb.: the desired purpose. But there is none who attains the essential true purpose completely} — except the one who is worthy/ fit/ eligible [re’ui] for it. And some are answered via an emissary, or from under [Heb. behind] the wall, or they show them the face etc. as in the story.

However, in the end, when they leave this world, they answer them that they’ve still done nothing at all, like it is written in the story, how the beauty ultimately answers them, “Di vassern haben aber iber dir noch nit ariber gigangen,” until the right leader comes — speedily in our days, Amen! This too the Rebbe z”l discussed.

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Bkitzur, it’s a story of all the ‘false messiahs’ we’ve had to contend with, both the Jewish ones, and the not-Jewish ones.

But eventually, the real moshiach shows up, with all the authentic signs required, and:

Mashiach will say to every Jew everything that has happened to him every single day.

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It’s been so hard to hang ou to our emuna and our yiddishkeit the last few years.

So much never-ending ‘stress’, so even the most empathetic and kind-hearted amongst us are struggling to ‘feel’, and struggling to empathise, and struggling to have time to do what they need to do for themselves, never mind everyone else.

I feel myself, it can’t carry on like this too much longer – but of course, I’ve been saying that for years, already.

Me personally, I have had to batten down the hatches this past year, just to manage what’s going on day-to-day. That doesn’t leave a lot of ‘space’ to reach out to others, and I’m also missing the enthusiasm I used to have for spiritual matters.

We’ve all been stressed-out and dumbed down, and it’s going to take a while for the flame to reignite again.

But it will.

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Rebbe Nachman famously said, my fire will burn until the coming of the Moshiach.

When our own candles burn out, that’s where we can go to get them relit.

It’s the secret of Uman.

BH, more and more people are discovering it.

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PS: read these interesting articles, if you are one of those people who can still read, re: the dumbing down:

https://www.sott.net/article/507516-The-Great-Woke-College-Experiment-Is-Collapsing-Under-the-Weight-of-Reality

https://www.sott.net/article/507536-People-who-can-still-read-will-rule-the-world

Shabbos doesn’t only guard the soul and the person, it also maintains the person’s ability to read.

If they still keep it, and aren’t secretly on their phones pretending they are just ‘napping’….

(A big ‘if’ today, especially in Chul, and including all those frummer-than-frum communities where keeping up outside appearances is really where the main energy goes, while the inside, felt, experience of true yiddishkeit is nowhere to be found. More on that another time. Maybe.)

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The Burgher and the Pauper – Parts 6 and 7

Parts 6 + 7 are ready, and up for your delight and delectation.

A big part of why I’m spending my time doing this, is because my ‘real life’ has been so hectic recently, BH, mostly for very good reasons, that I can’t really think straight, read or type – stuff I typically do to ‘wind down’.

So, instead of surfing pointless videos about ‘The ENDDDDD’ and all that, I decided to try and do something productive with myself instead, as even half-brain dead morons can and do create content for Youtube.

So, that explains a little more, why this is the focus of the blog at the moment.

Enjoy!

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Part 6:

Part 7:

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The Burgher and the Pauper – Part 4 and 5

Hands up, who is liking these?

I know, I know, some readers would prefer I keep ‘predicting’ stuff pointlessly, or explaining over and over and over again how ‘doomed’ we all are, or babbling on about ‘Napisiti’ and Santa Claus, and little fairy folk who live in the glen…

But what can I do?

I have been bitten by the Rebbe Nachman Tales’ bug, and so, I am spending my time bringing more of the Burgher and Pauper to life.

As I was working on these sections, I suddenly got a brainwave who Rabbenu may have been taking as his inspiration for the Pauper=> Emperor. See if you can figure out, who I based him on, in Part 5.

In the meantime, enjoy!

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Part 4:

Part 5:

 

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Massive arson in Havat Gilad – and how you can help

Shavua Tov!

Is it just me, or is this a really, really intense ‘9 Days’?

We’ve had a ton of stuff breaking, including cars and trisses, and lots of stuff kind of being ‘annoying’…

But nothing on the scale of this:

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Yesterday night, arsonists set 4 fires around a yishuv in the Shomron called Havat Gilad.

Let’s pretend, that those arsonists with Arabs, and not American Delta Force, or other people working for them…

In the meantime, three of the fires were contained before they spread, but one caught, and burned down 14 houses, 11 businesses – and one of those businesses was an uninsured lumber business, that was storing 12 million shekels worth of wood…

That’s the guys you see doing havdalah, in the clip above, on the burning embers of their uninsured business.

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Who is like your people, Hashem?!

In the meantime, the BS stories about journalists being ‘attacked’ while covering the fire, or the fire being a ‘wildfire’ in the MSM is just designed to take sympathy and support away from the people of Havat Gilad.

Clearly, somebody wanted a big fire in that part of the Shomron, probably with an eye to setting a really big fire, politically, off the back of it.

That’s just my opinion. Of course, it was really just ‘Arabs’. We all know that, ho ho.

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Here’s how you can help to get that yishuv back on it’s feet:

https://givechak.co.il/Havat-Gilad?ref=nwc

It’s a link to a crowdfunding site, to help these people rebuild.

And especially, the two business partners who saw 12 million shekels worth of timber literally go up in smoke.

But not only them – also, the homeless families.

And if there is anything left, then also, to rebuild what’s left of the yishuv, as they fire services brought bulldozers to raze all the trees in the yishuv to the ground as a ‘break space’ to stop the fire from spreading.

Apparently, Havat Gilad now looks like Gaza…

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I really hope the next 5 days of the 9 days will be easier for everyone.

But it seems, there is a super-duper amount of ‘scrubbing’ going on this year.

In preparation for… who knows?

But in the meantime, here’s that link again – and pass it around to others. Together, we really do stand, and that frustrates the plans of the Evils like nothing else can:

https://givechak.co.il/Havat-Gilad?ref=nwc

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The Burgher and the Pauper redux: Parts 1 to 3

Here is the redone Part 2.

It’s SOOO much better, BH:

I’m working on the rest now, parts 1-3 can be found on the basic Youtube channel I made to house this stuff, HERE.

Shabbat shalom

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The Burgher and the Pauper – Redux #1

I redid part one, and stuck it up on Youtube:

You can watch it here, hopefully much more smoothly:

There are still some minor ‘issues’ going on, but slowly, slowly, with God’s help, I will go back and fix it.

In the meantime, I’m really enjoying myself.

And honestly, this is a great tale from Rebbe Nachman.

Enjoy!

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The Burgher and the Pauper #3 – starting to get the hang

So, I think this one is much better.

I’m going back now to redo the first parts of the story, in the same style, but see what you think about #3.

 

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Watch: The Burgher and the Pauper, part II

I am really doing this as a form of mental relaxation…

Each segment, I’m figuring the tech out a little better, BH, so hopefully by the end of the story, this will be really good!

In the meantime, Part 2 of Rabbenu’s tale of the Burgher and the Pauper:

Enjoy!

 

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Saying amen brings wealth, and onions from the sky – more comments from the Rav

It seems to me as though everyone is running around like a chicken without a head at the moment.

I know I am.

Usually, I get to read Shivivei Or etc on Shabbat, and then come here and translate some stuff that speaks to me. The last few weeks, I have barely had time to do that, as we’ve been having a ton of guests.

So, today I was going to try and translate a piece from last week, where the Rav was talking about the little 5 year old boy, Moshe Galinski, who got killed in a horrible bus accident in Modiin Illit a couple of weeks ago.

The Rav said his death was another of those that atoned for the nation, and ‘sweetened’ the very harsh decrees of destruction that are still hanging over Am Yisrael (like Leah Singer’s did, when the war really did stop…)

Except… I can’t find that newsletter anywhere, and so what I could find is this one.

It’s actually very funny.

And in typical ‘Rav’ fashion, it brings the parsha alive in ways that no-one else can manage.

So, enjoy!

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Excerpt of shiur from Thursday July 2, 2026

So, everyone should say ‘Amen’ [during the Ma’ariv davening at the Rav], ‘yehai shmaya raba’, barchu – this brings wealth!

Just the ‘Amens’.

Now, I have a very sad story, that I’m ashamed to say it, that I had a great argument with Moshe Rabbenu. I wanted a slice of onion, because I can’t eat salad without some onion, it’s an allergy, maybe it’s one of my defects, I don’t know.

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[I said to him]: A slice of onion! Bring me an onion, tomorrow! Remember!

Tov, so this was already arranged, good. So, I request forgiveness from everyone. B’kitzur, I went to Korach, and I told him the whole story, that Moshe Rabbenu had hurt my feelings, personally.

[What did I want from him?] I wanted a slice of onion. I said to him: Bring onions down from the sky, what’s the problem?! You are bringing down water, you are bringing bread from the sky, the clouds of glory – bring down an onion!

He said to me: Under absolutely no circumstances, no! This, I am not going to do!

I can’t tell you the reasons why, I don’t know. Maybe, he wanted to take revenge against me, I don’t know what, exactly.

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But, I had onion seeds.

When I left Mitzrayim, I had seeds. I said to myself: Let’s sow onions, here in the desert!

So I wanted to take a little water from Miriam’s Well, just a little water, what do you care?!

[Moshe Rabbenu said:] Don’t you dare touch Miriam’s Well! I don’t give you permission! This is not for planting onions, this is just for drinking! Not for sowing onions!

So, how am I meant to grow onions? In the end, I went to Korach, and I told him my whole problem, and how much I’d been hurt.

He said to me: What, you were hurt by that?! See, me, he cut my payot off! He cut off my beard! Did he also cut your payot off? You aren’t a Levite, there’s no problem.

But Isaac[1] is a Levi. Who here is a Levi? Are there Levites, here? So, then you don’t have a problem. Baruch Hashem, they didn’t cut your beards off. But for those who had their beards cut off – Hashem yerachem! (Hashem should have mercy).

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[Korach said]: My wife left me, she ran away from the house. She said: ‘I am not coming back to the house’, until my beard grew back again, and I regrew my payot. I didn’t eat for three days, already, that’s what he told me.

I think there was someone’s bris, so then I ate a little bit, but in the evening there was no-one to cover me up.

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In Sinai, we are talking about Sinai, we aren’t talking about Eretz Yisrael, and not about New York, and not about San Francisco, and not about Los Angeles, we are talking about Sinai.

The temperature goes down in the winter, -40, and in the summer, it’s -20 [at night]. People freeze to death from the cold. People go for a tiyul, they make a mistake in the mountains, they simply freeze. And it’s impossible afterwards to revive them.

He said to me: There was no-one to cover me, there was no-one to make the bed. That’s what he did to me!

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B’kitzur, he started to cry, mamash, he cried a river of tears, he was full of tears.

He said to me: And on top of that, I have other complaints.

I don’t want to tell you all of the complaints [of Korach], but one complaint is from the parshat hashavua, a very difficult complaint. He said: See, Moshe doesn’t know halachot, he doesn’t know Shulchan Aruch, he doesn’t learn Rambam.

[The Rav turns to someone next to him]: You do learn Rambam? What halachot escaped Moshe Rabbenu’s mind, in the parsha? It’s good that you don’t know, that’s the best. You do know, what halacha escaped him? That they took his head off. Whose head did they take off? You also don’t know?!

What, so what are you learning in yeshiva for? Even a simple Rashi. Except, I don’t learn Rashi, because he hit me in the cheder, when he learnt Rashi in the cheder [the teacher hit him]. He gave me such slaps, that now I can’t even touch a Rashi.

But you, he didn’t hit, so what do you care, to learn some Rashi?!

All of this, Korach explained to me…open the parsha! See what’s written there.

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Excerpted and translated from Rasisei Tal, #74.087

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] It’s not clear who the Rav is talking about here.

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