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17 Kislev, 5781 - December 3, 2020 | Mordecai Plaut, director | Bereishis- 5781 Published Weekly
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Agudah Virtual Convention Offers Timely Inspiration

It was undoubtedly an unconventional convention.

But with everything that has transpired over the past nine months, there was no question that at this particular moment, the annual Agudah convention could not be allowed to become yet another casualty of the pandemic at a time when Klal Yisroel finds itself struggling to cope with an soverwhelming challenge that threatens to undermine its most essential foundations.

 

 

 



Scandalous Open Flows of Body Fluids on Har Hamenuchos

The terrible and dreadful scene which was discovered three months ago near the section of the above ground graves on Har Hamenuchos shocked all those who drove along the nearby road which was flooded with large amounts of secretions and liquids from the deceased brought for burial in the section of cave compartments belonging to the Sephardi and Oriental extraction communities. The situation aroused a public hue and cry in the hope that the problem would be addressed completely but recently, this happened again after recent rains, not only in the aforementioned sections but also in the compartment burial section of the Kehillas Yerushalayim Chevra Kadisha, and in additional areas of the abovementioned Chevrot Kadisha on Rechov Derech Hachessed. This horrendous desecration of the deceased continues unabated on Har Hamenuchos.

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The Planned Israel Metro Passes under Cemeteries

The Metro, the mega-ambitious biggest transportation project being carried out today in Israel, is in its advanced planning and authorization stages, with at least, if not more, 12 years to go. It will provide a solution to growing national traffic congestion through three underground lines, crossing through 22 regional districts and 110 stations. It will run its 140 kilometer length from Petach Tikva in the east, Rechovot in the South and Raanana in the north, running to a cost of some 150 billion shekel, as a very conservative starting estimate.

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The Etiquette of Simcha

If there is anyone who rejoices over the liquidation of the head of the nuclear Iranian program more than anyone else, it is the various Arab countries, headed by the United Emirates, Egypt and Jordan. The Iranian viper seeks to dominate the entire region through its Shiite dictatorship. The Iranian nuclear program constitutes, first and foremost, a threat to those countries, as the octopus' tentacles of terror are thrust from Teheran to all sides.

 

 

 

 



Clarity in Torah and Character: HaGaon R' Shlomo Heiman — Rosh Yeshivas Torah Vodaas, Ramailless, and Baranovitch

by C. Zilberman

The yahrtzeit of HaRav Raphael Chaim Shlomo Heiman, gaon and true Torah pioneer in America, is 17 Kislev. He was niftar in 1945 at the age of 52, so this is his 76th yahrtzeit. We first published this 26 years ago, in the year of the 50th yahrtzeit, in our print edition in Eretz Yisroel. This is a major addition of information on HaRav Heiman to the Internet. It was written by Rabbi Zilberman originally in English specifically for the Israeli English Yated Ne'eman.

Part III

aRav Simchah Shustal tells the following story that he heard from the Rebbetzin about the tzidkus of R' Shlomo and how he fortified himself so as not to stumble into sin:

R' Shlomo lived off the meager salary he received from Torah Vodaas. He never requested more for himself, being careful how he used yeshiva money.

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s Rain and Kinneret Watch

by Dei'ah Vedibur Staff

Our weekly report of the rain and the level of the Kineret - Winter, 5781.

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From Our Archives


Drug Treatment for ADHD

by Chaim Walder

A book published many, many years ago describes in detail how eyeglasses came into the world. People have always had problems with their eyesight, and when convex or concave lenses were first used to improve vision, neither the nearsighted nor the farsighted leaped at the invention as anticipated. They were embarrassed.

The use of spectacles, as they were called, was a clear admission that the owner was handicapped. They conveyed the information that the wearer had a seeing impairment, that he saw things in a haze, that he found it difficult to read and to recognize people. The truth is they knew this about him anyway, just as all of us know when another person fails to recognize us and is constantly squinting his eyes. But this did not change people's reluctance to make their problem obvious to the public by wearing glasses.


The Lesson of The Flask of Oil: A Shmuess For Chanukah

by HaRav Sholom Schwadron zt'l

Introduction: Centrality of the Flask of Oil The gemora (Shabbos 21) asks, "What is Chanukah?" Rashi explains, "On account of which miracle was it instituted?" for there were two of them. A small handful of Chashmono'im were victorious in battle against thousands of Greeks, and a flask with just one day's supply of oil lasted for eight days. According to Rashi, the gemora is asking which of the two was the main reason for the festival.

The gemora responds, "Tonnu Rabbonon, the Rabbonon learned: On the twenty-fifth of Kislev are the days of Chanukah [of which] there are eight, on which there is no eulogizing and no fasting. For when the Greeks entered the Temple they defiled all the oils in the Temple and when the rulers of the house of Chashmonoi gained the upper hand and defeated them, they searched and found only one flask of oil that remained with the seal of the Cohen Godol. It only contained oil to light [the Menorah] for one day. A miracle took place in it and they lit from it for eight days. A year later, they institutionalized them and made them festive days of praise and thanksgiving."

Rashi explains that this festive character is not in the form of a prohibition against working but in saying Hallel and in adding al hanisim to the brocho of Thanks in the Amidah.

We need to understand why the apparently greater miracle of the victory over thousands of Greek soldiers is not made more prominent. Moreover, every single day of the year the Ner Maarovi of the Menorah in the Temple burned miraculously. All the other lamps burned for twelve hours and, with the same amount of oil, the Ner maarovi burned for twenty-four hours. There would thus also seem to be greater novelty in the victory in battle than in the oil.




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