The Other Side of Joseph

• Prophecy vs. Wisdom
• Joseph and the Brothers
• Jacob - Joseph
• Sinai
• Gerim, Jews, Noahides...Sinai
• History of Noahide
• Moshiach ben Yosef - and Prophecy
• Torah From Zion
• etc.

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Ki Savo Louder Than Ever!

• First Fruits
• Redeeming the Ger
• Zchus Gerim
• Real Life: Jews and Gerim
• Ups and Downs
• Galus / Geulah
• Open Eyes: Tikkun  Adam
• The Final Brit
• etc.

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The Facts of Life From The Word of God

                                                                           Parashas Ki Savo

                                                                 A New Delight To The Eyes

                                                                           Rabbi David Katz

Parashas Ki Savo makes no ambiguous moves from its opening sequences all the way through to its closing words, in the Torah’s most gripping challenge yet, to explain the saga of the Ger. With its uncompromising style, the reader is challenged each step of the way, to see just how willing to accept the truth the potential Ger advocate truly is. Along the journey we will face all of the core issues that comprise not just a trivial perspective of the Ger, but the core essence of everyday life; a life that to one’s surprise, may be more entirely filled with mysterious Gerim than he ever imagined! Topics such as conversion, meaning of life, truth to exile/redemption ratios, social facts, Israeli demographic DNA, and more – come to light in this Parasha within an astoundingly bright contrast to all preconceived notions and accepted levels of understanding. The Parasha’s closing message says it best, when it states that “today Hashem has opened your eyes…”, and indeed he has, for in the Parasha all are commanded to Fear His Honored Name; ultra - perspective of the Ger will do just that. Hashem calls for a very clear message: to be a member of a Godly society, one must be able to grasp and handle the Truth; anything short of His mission statement is deemed a lack of success. The Parasha will always be there for anyone who desires to remember to see it for what it is.

From the opening introduction to the Parasha we are given a staunch wakeup call to realize just how vital the Ger is to Israel, and his ultimate role of the Final Redemption. As we begin to read, the commandments of the First Fruits are seemingly given over in a calm fashion, as a proper obligation incumbent on those who possess the Land, and their lives culminate in a proper Torah lifestyle. You will kindly take your First Fruits to [Jerusalem] a place that Hashem will choose to rest His Name, and the location of the indoctrinated Priest who will be there [waiting] in those days. Once there you are commanded to recite a thanksgiving of sorts once the fruits are given, stating that this entire episode is only possible due to the fact that my forefathers had problematic relationships in their religious ordeals [and in conjunction to and from the Land], and through a proper exile, I had come to the Land by the Hand of God; this entire ritual shall serve as a retelling of the story of the Torah, along with my historical rights to the Land and this Commandment of First Fruits. The [apparent] Jew is then told to be joyous of God’s Good…and then his eyes really do open, for he is about to read the Torah’s first “did He really say that?” moment. In other words, now is a good time to start to Love the Ger, for he is not just a happenstance to your household; he is your household.

The closing words to the passage are the following, “You shall rejoice with all the goodness that Hashem, your God, has given you [.] and [to] your house [is][:] You [Israelite], and the Levite [along with the Priest, as the Levites are the essential Priests – tithes of Jacob], and the Ger that is in your midst. (In another way of carving it up, one could say, You, [the Israelite] the Priest you brought the fruits to, then the Levite, and finally the Ger that is in your midst.) In other words, “enjoy the goodness,” and that goodness belongs to the adherent of the Torah, otherwise known as “your house” [those that you consist of]; the Israelites, Priests, Levites, and Gerim. Tradition has it that this is represented by the four-headed Hebrew Letter Shin that Jewish Men grace upon their Teffilin; A Shin with four-vav’s [Hebrew letter vav comprises the letter Shin], and each vav depicts a member of the Divine House – Israelites, Priests, Levites, and Gerim.

Now comes the arithmetic, to process what just happened here: I do this mitzvah, by “coming onto the Land,” seems to imply that I was put there, or in other words I was redeemed. The point of this redemption associated mitzvah, is so that I will be able to proclaim that my ancestors had a rough time, and that I come from this inheritance. I then pronounce that God delivered me to Israel, and I am to enjoy this good grace, and I shall indulge with a “Greater House of Israel.” To finalize what just happened, and to give context to desperate parts, Rashi [the Bible Commentator] states the giveaway prize of the century: YOU [the Jew] are to read the declaration, but the Ger is not to, for he may not truthfully state, “for our forefathers.” This is where arithmetic becomes the sacred algorithm.

Why am I the Jew redeemed all of a sudden? Did I earn it? Did I fail and God just gave it to me? Why do I pronounce this declaration [and the Ger not]? What is this distinction of my forefathers? What do I have in common with the Ger on this intimate level? To the “blind eye” this passage would simply appear as meandering dots to a mundane mitzvah that I simply may be too bored to even consider on a mature level. Yet if one produces a consolidated answer, it may just be the shockwave of a lifetime, one that sets in motion a nuclear Ger revelation that is sure to change one’s view of virtually everything that was ever told over as simple fact concerning daily Jewish life [and his association with the World, and thus by association, his true dealings with Gerim from all of Judaism’s history and future].

The plain facts here are, that in some scenario there was a redemption, and the Land is secured. In that security, the Jew will read a passage that states he has “merits of his forefathers” [zchus avos] and if he digs a little deeper, he will clearly see the writing on the wall that they were Gerim, and thus he too comes from Gerim and is in fact, the latest generation of those Gerim. The “Ger” who does not read the passage should he bring the First Fruits, does not have “zchus avos” for he is in his own right a proper Ger, not relying on past merit; he is a new root of merit for himself, and for Israel. To add to this revelation of the Ger, HE IS HERE [we are told; as if it is a given, i.e. without doubt – for it does not say “if there should be a Ger in your midst…”] Thus it is safe to say that “Israel” is the vessel for “zchus avos,” which is another way of saying, “a merit of Gerim” – i.e. a nation that merits Gerim, then, now, in and of themselves, and all types of Gerim – will be a part of this nucleus called Israel – proper. To put it simply, Israel and Gerim are intertwined and synonymous from its inception and creation, in an entity for all eternity. Yet don’t stop there, for the next obvious question will be, exactly why were “they” redeemed? [Notice the relative nature of the word “they”]

Israel was redeemed; them and simultaneously “the Gerim.” Israel has merits of Gerim, yet which Gerim hosted the redemptive merit, remains the relative dispute; for each step of the way one could argue Jewish – personal Ger – merit is the recipe for redemption, or, the merit given to them by the Gerim who are destined to link with Israel, was the mercy cry for Hashem to then redeem all of Israel [in merit of these Gerim]. This can be thought of in many ways, to conceive a ration that clearly illustrates to what extent external Ger merit weighs into the redemption code.

In truth, the premise that Israel alone would be redeemed on its own merit is a furphy, for when one is strict to the text with the essence of the Parasha invoked [i.e. eyes open], one can clearly see the message of Hashem in its profound nature. The redemption comes from the merit of Gerim. Period. Israel has zchus gerim. Period. This means Israel will be the destination for all Gerim for all of time, due to its creation point from History’s biggest Gerim. Thus Israel was created out of those Gerim to become host and “home” to all future Gerim. This is true also concerning redemption; Israel will have been redeemed by their innate Ger innards, along with the merit of the Gerim who will be attached by their rights to Israel by means of Ger passage.  The Jewish redemption would then have succeeded due to realization of inherent Ger status, would have certainly brought external Ger merit to join with Israel. On the other hand, the Ger Proper, perhaps he is the impetus of redemption, for the sake of when the Jew proclaims his Ger essence [from the mitzvah of First Fruits], the Ger then understands that this “zchus gerim” is all about him!

In essence both are right, for the Jews will be redeemed from both a place of merit and disgrace, i.e. it will be their own power, yet it is God that will redeem through them. Perforce, they will have overlooked the Ger in disgrace, yet Hashem will force His hand in Blessing. The end result being, Israel will be redeemed from its merit, and Gerim will be there, sanctifying the ultimate truth that the Torah message was a message of redeeming Gerim, and thus they must be there, and equally their merit will usher redemption. To promote schism is completely counter-productive to the nature of redemption, for through the relative truth, Hashem will have repaired schism by “zchus gerim” from every angle, in a fashion that the proceeds will be spread on the True House of Israel – the Four- Headed Shin that graces Jews and Gerim side by side, and in perfect context. The Jew will realize his mission was to redeem Gerim, and the Ger will see all is in merit of zchus gerim, of which defines his essence in accordance to all Seventy – Faces of the Torah. Both have the right to officially say, “God redeemed me” because of “zchus gerim.” Thus the two were destined to be redeemed together, and from that standpoint, the mitzvah of First Fruits finally resonates on the Messianic level it deserves.

Now in the Parasha, we are faced with real challenges concerning life and the Gerim. To see how far reaching Gerim come into the life of the Jews, one must rethink just how real life society works, and one must consider the reality of Jews and Gerim side-by-side all through history. Inside this discussion, it raises issues with the true meaning of Gerim, converts, gentiles, friends of Israel, enemies of Israel, Jewish history in proper light, spiritual essences in the Greater House of Israel,  Derech Eretz issues and relevance, the nature of God [from Ger truth revealed], the source of Blessings and Curses – and who Hashem uses as agents of His will,  what constitutes proper service of God by Jews and Gerim, what is the essence of the Torah’s Command [and thus redemption], what is God teaching us, what is a Jew and what is a gentile, what is Sinai, what is this Covenant in our Parasha, and ultimately, as the Parasha ends, where are we exactly?

In essence, this Parasha gives you the Blessing of having your eyes opened to the facts of life, and urges you to not spurn the moment. Once one grasps where the eyes are led, nothing will remain the same, and for that Hashem says it is here [proverbially] every year, we receive revelation of what is incumbent upon the House of Israel. The story may be more complex than we know, yet it remains steadfastly clear, that the Ger is the star of the show in context clarification that paves the path to Redemption and the Goodness of Hashem to be enjoyed by all of Mankind. The truth may hurt and even be nearly impossible to absorb, and yet go on with normal life.  For that, one message resonated with me loud and clear during my moments of clarity in reading the Parasha; we are to understand that God is awesome as a purpose of Life [28:58], and that message has its roots in Eikev [10:17-21]. There it states [what this Parasha is saying beyond words], “For Hashem, your God  - He is the God of the powers and the Lord of the lords, the Great, Mighty, and Awesome God, who does not show favor and Who does not accept a bribe. He carries out the judgment of orphan and widow, and Loves the Ger to give him bread and garment. You shall love the Ger for you were Gerim in the Land of Egypt.”

Point blank, I think that is all we need to know, and now do…to which our Parasha closes with, “you shall observe the words of this Brit, and you shall perform them, so that you will succeed in all that you do.” And as the premise goes, our eyes are opened to see things with crystal clarity – that it was always about Loving Gerim, nor did it ever change. The task at hand is to remain with our eyes wide open and remember what it is that we truly see every day, in a fabric that is called life. Should it ever be a question, Hashem says, “Remember the Brit in the entire House of Israel found within Ki Savo.”

Audio Shiur on Parasha Motzie  Shabbos [Tzfat Time] 11 P.M. 

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Look! A Mall! Ick!!!

My Favorite Two Guys [sarcasm, anyone?]

Today's [Israeli] Judaism loves to acknowledge itself in the scholarly realm based on political stripes [see commentary to Mordechai Ish Yehudi on Purim and how politics prevent geulah]. Not only is this against every deah of emes, and shows lack of true scholarship, but this has been a thorn in Jews' sides since the Temple days. Our leaders are supposed to be Talmidei Chachamim  - not Naftali Bennet.

But since Rabbi Yosef wants to say that this is Jews today, and he goes on further to say that Bennet is Amalek [and a knit kippa - wearer] - what does that say for his followers? Why would anyone follow an Amalekite? I'll even go further to strengthen the claim [which i noted when this baalagan began] in that בנט in אתבש is שטן.

Even though the Name Causes and Bennett is not a nice guy, what does this accomplish by making this war, consisting of battles of thinking small? Why can't our leadership begin to think big and come back to Torah instead of ego strokes over outdated Zionism? Why can't the institutions that be deal with real Jewish issues? - [on my ultra-biased view] where are the Gerim in halacha, Ger Toshav, educating rabbis in these areas, etc.? This may be my biased view, but it is my biased view because this is Jewish Reality today! Converts, Gerim, "goyim", falling religions, etc. is the larger terrain of what is going on, and this is what the Torah is going on about to the tune of every Parasha!

[for those still curious over the "ger" issue; they are halachically not bnei noah nor goyim, nor Jews - they are a quasi - keter [kabalah] status, a joined member of Israel [the 4-headed shin], are the gentile version of the baal teshuva [hence ger tzedek - not to be compared to convert ger tzedek, just like you wouldn't compare a frum BT and a new BT yet both are called BT] and is a member of Olam HaBah. Would it not be a better cause to Love the Ger [to the tune of 46 times in the Torah] which brings Love of God, fellow man,etc. and stop calling everyone Amalek and Erev Rav while disregarding the sources as to what these entities are?

[For the record Erev Rav (also known as Amalekites) is any entity that goes up a level of holiness lo lishmah; we learn it from Moses who brought out Gerim in hopes that they would remain emesdic Gerim and not fall to temptation of false aliyah into poor conversion not for the sake of heaven. Thus when Moses went up, Ahron signed the death certificate by aiding their endeavor, and they died from rachamim, being allowed to live beyond their infamous moment.]

Klal Yisrael has issues, and Bennet is the smallest of those issues, name connotation or not. There is a much more positive energy side to the Torah that is virtually untapped, taking place in Israel, and is our way out of galus.  Our job as it always was, was to choose, and by choosing, be prepared to do what God makes clear to the person what he is to do.

TheJewishPress.com:

Shas party’s spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said Saturday night he really loves knitted-kippa Jews,” but it’s just their political leaders who are “Amalek” – the eternal enemy of Jews. The national religious community in Israel now can breathe easier and know that Rav Ovadia really loves them. Sure, the distinguished rabbi said last month that national religious Chief Rabbinate candidate Rabbi David Stav is “evil” and an “enemy to Judaism,” but, heck, that was just meant to cheer up Shas’ favorite clientele, the dwindling Sephardi community that still feels oppressed by the elite Ashkenazi community. 

Indeed they are, but they are equally oppressed by their own leaders. So what better way to keep the common people in line by telling them that the Rabbi really loves Jews, even those who wear a knitted kippa. But what about Shas Rabbi Shalom Cohen, who said in a sermon a week ago that “as long as there are knit kippot, the [divine] throne is not whole? That’s Amalek. When will the throne be whole? When there is no knit kippa.” If a listener thought Rabbi Cohen, who is a member of Shas’ Council of Torah Sages, meant that knitted-kippa Jews are Amalek, he did not understand correctly God forbid he should say such a thing. Rav Ovadia, who sat silently on the podium as Rabbi Cohen spoke, knows exactly what he really meant. Sure, Rabbi Cohen said some things against” those rebellious national religious Jews with knitted kippot, but he was only referring to their political leaders, opined Rav Ovadia. 

Love, love, love, he said. Love for everyone – with one small exception. It is the political leaders of the knitted-kippa crowd who are problematic. They not only are problematic. They are the true Amalek, Israel’s eternal enemy dating back to the days of the Exodus from Egypt. And who is the real knitted-kippa modern Amalek of the Jews? None other than Naftali Bennett, chairman of the Jewish Home party, which, unlike Shas, took the daring move in the last elections to welcome secular Jews as Knesset Members and put the emphasis on nationalist instead of religious. Rav Ovadia has his grounds for considering Bennett Amalek. 

The Jewish Home party is against exempting Haredi youth from IDF service forever. That means that Shas yeshivas would have less youth learning , or at least registered as learning, in their institutions, If there are less students, there is less money from donors, especially from the Israeli taxpayer whose hard-earned money has been going into black-hat yeshivas for years with the payback that the future Torah scholars and eternal voters for Shas are defending the nation by learning Torah, even if they are just listed as learning and actually working or stashing home. 

Now that Rav Ovadia has explained Rabbi Cohen and has mended ties with the national religious community, except for those enemies of Jews like Bennett, Israel is ready for Tu B’Av, which begins Sunday night. The Talmud lists it along with Yom Kippur as the most joyous days of the year when, according to the Talmud, that the daughters of Jerusalem go out dressed in white and dance in the vineyards and said, “Young man, consider who you choose (to be your wife).” Tu B’Av is the same day of the 40th yearin the desert when the ban was lifted on female orphans marrying into another tribe. It is the perfect day for a daughter of a Shas rabbi to become engaged to the son of a national religious politician. And God willing, Rabbi Cohen and Rav Ovadia will perform the marriage ceremony.

The Ger [Torah] teaches to Love, not to "not hate (too much)" - there is a difference between justifying that you didn't taunt the Ger/BT vs. going out of your way to Love them. The difference is a heart filed with God as opposed to Politics as a religion, and then putting that religion on to others who just left one and are trying [and are commanded as such] not to re-enter the matrix. The World wants God, and God wants the World - maybe the time is now to work on the relationship(s)?

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The Message of Jethro's Messiah

Parashas Shoftim

Jethro’s Echo

Rabbi David Katz

Parashas Shoftim for all intents and purposes is the introduction to the Torah of Moshiach, in that it introduces with pristine detail the nature of the famed Four Craftsmen of Redemption [Messiahs sons of Joseph and David along with Elijah and Shem the Righteous Priest] through the King, Judge, Priest, and Prophet. Yet another angle, even deeper than the surface understanding, is to see that Moses is retelling the entire Torah in the negative and as a reassessment of Sinai through the repair of Adam, in the guise of guarding against stealing, all in the name of giving the proper counsel to the Gerim. Essentially, this is where we see that Moses is implementing the plan of Jethro’s court system, which is to be erected upon entrance into the Land; this would dually serve as the prophecy in the End of Days when the Seven Laws will come under microscope, and the World returns to its Sinai state of Israel and Ger Toshavim.

Moses upon his own volition brought out the Erev Rav, which tradition holds they were potential Gerim who converted to Judaism not for God’s sake, thus making them corrupt, and setting precedent of all who aspire to ascend on high not for the sake of true Holiness. Such unnatural growth deems one as Erev Rav, and this is precisely what happened at Sinai. Moses had hoped to make more Gerim, yet this was not a lost cause, for even though failure gave way to the Erev Rav, this sealed their fate of death by the same token. Their destiny is to be eradicated each time this pattern is reiterated, therefore Moses’ will was achieved, and Aaron was the agency to seal the trap. Along these lines, the Messiah will duplicate this victory from Mercy, as in the End of Days Pinchas, who descended from Aaron, will restore the Torah in the Messianic times which will terminate Torah corruption as it happened at Sinai. [Brisker Rav]

The basic sin of the Erev Rav [non-Ger] was to make the Golden Calf, a creation of Man by the work of his hands. They made “other gods” [gematria 345 = Moses] which is 101 – "to not have other gods"; they sought to decide matters in their own hands, recalling the same sin of Adam in context of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The commentary “Mahram Shif” to Bava Kama states that both of these sins were truly in light of making a forgery of God, or stealing; thus in a Parasha that deals with it repairing this, it is equally understood that the Redemption for the World comes when stealing has been rectified [after nearly 6,000 years!] , just as those that stood at Sinai were charged with the task of truly understanding the nature of stealing.  

With all things equal, one can point the finger and say that stealing is the essential negative that we all deal with, Jew and Ger. Based on this approach, we can now begin to see Jethro in better Light, and bigger yet, start to clearly see the inner workings of the Seven Laws of Noah, from the eyes of the only Man in history who we say can see – Jethro!

The Parasha opens with the court system of Jethro; keep in mind Jethro is [arguably] practically the hero of every Ger and Moses is the initial Scribe of the Torah, which the Zohar says is composed by the words of Gerim - Moses being the quintessence of this fact.  Right away we see the clarity of their system [and its obvious Messianic relevance] and are bombarded with an eternal dictum: “Righteousness! Righteousness! You Shall Pursue!” – which as easily as this pertains to the Jew, it just as easily is a command to the Ger to find צדק / Tzedek to realize that he can be a Ger Tzedek!

Rebbe Nachman of Breslov [along with Sifrei Re’eh] explain that the most direct understanding of the Ger Tzedek is to be contrasted with a Baal Teshuva  - a returnee to God, and perhaps onwards to Judaism. Just as a Returnee returns to God, and perhaps will or have chosen a religious lifestyle [it is impossible to know until you get there by subjective definition based on the confines of reality!] so too the Ger may have converted, or simply may be on a Righteous Path with God; this qualifies him to be called a Ger Tzedek – by definition that he is a Ger, on a path of God from a great distance [thus expectations fall under category of “Don’t taunt the Ger”] and he is a Ger Tzedek [and it should be understood we are not to compare between two Gerei Tzaddikim just like to not compare two Baalei Teshuva – one who is religious vs. one on the way, walking with God]. We can conclude that Jethro’s message through the Torah of Moses is one to say [to the Gerim] ‘Be Tzedek!” [Realize the Ger TZEDEK, Baal Teshuva, etc.]

The nature of Tzedek is to explore righteousness, and this becomes the predominant theme in the Parasha; one can see how this was missing at Sinai, yet repairs Adam, and is the domain for the End of Days. In the absence of Moses at Sinai, the task was to resolve this issue of stealing in context of Tzedek; so too in any “leaderless” generation or moment [such as today] we are burdened with the task of the ultimate repair. This is where the Gerim and Righteous Women play huge roles in redemption, as these souls are acutely sensitive to [not] stealing by nature, for women tend to lean towards Tzedek and the Gerim are drawn to an ultimate culmination as the essence of the Seven Laws of Noah from a Talmudic ordering of 1-7. [The first 4 would be those that are capital for Jews as well, followed by Courts of Law, Limb Eating, and ultimately settling the score with stealing.]

Under these terms, we can now consider how the Parsha, Sinai, and the entire Torah, is a guide against stealing, and even more so this puts emphasis on Jethro. Jethro was well aware of the End of Days scenario when theoretically the entire World would realize its Ger Toshav reality, and would seek the prophet of Israel [see Naaman!] to clarify the Seven Law Matters; namely that of what constitutes stealing, as it is the most practical and controversial of Torah Law. The controversy is in understanding the differences and subtleties of stealing for Jews and Gerim; this paves the way to properly understand the Torah for Jews and Gerim, as well as History, and as the genre goes with the Book of Devarim – it reveals an aspect of the Torah of Everything, as per the Torah’s natural fractal repetition in Devarim.

The issue of stealing is simple, and it explains why Jethro was adamant about the court system and burdens upon Moses [and brings the rest of the Parasha into proper context, in alignment with all of the Messianic (Four Craftsmen – representing Priest, Judge, King, Prophet) /Ger Tzedek (Sinai/Adam/Erev Rav Repair) properties as well – which are essentially hand in glove] – for one day you will realize the whole Torah came down to understanding stealing, and its opposite in Holiness – Tzedaka [charity, righteous acts]. 

Tzedaka is told to save you from death, and it is the teaching we have from Shem that he personally learned on the Ark. [the first letter of the last 4 words of the Parasha even spells “Ark” / “תיבה”] If we are to pursue Righteousness, then we are obligated to know the absolute Torah of [how to not] steal; this is where the Seven Laws of Noah become Universal, incumbent upon Jew and non-Jew, equally, and in some cases – “equally – non- equal.”

The Torah defines categorically stealing as the result of character traits. The realm of open theft goes without saying, nor does it intrinsically need a Court of Law. Jethro’s concerns are those grey areas, where the amount stolen is called “less than a Pruta’s worth.” [A Pruta is the Biblical penny, or better yet when gas prices were 89.9 cents a gallon, the .9 would be the less than the Pruta.] In the times before the Flood micro theft brought guilt on the Generation [much like today’s corporate world] by finding the leniencies to steal that proverbial .9; for this the Noahide laws and capital punishment serves to stand against degeneration in society, and to inspire the Fear of God in situations that the person would go free by technicality.  Aside from the purely wicked [those who have not only rejected the Seven Laws, but the Three laws brought in Chullin 92 as well.], the rest of society needs to know what is the bottom line of stealing in Torah.

This is where for some the map [of social context] begins, and for others this is where the map [of imprisonment] falls into the wind; as traditionally, there is one distinction for the Gerim that is to ascertain the fate of one who perpetrates the 7^th Noahide Law of stealing – the knowledge of self and ability to let go of things. In Hebrew this term is Mechila “מחילה” – and it is the defining line as to where one stands in the face of judgment, should the situation arise.  The proverbial message is to the accused, “if someone took from you .9, do you have the power to realize it is best to let it go, and to judge mercifully, realizing that God exacts judgment on these matters, therefore only God is the true Judge. [By which this is the reason exile takes so long, as to rectify rampant stealing on minimal amounts, for none can bribe God.] If one can let it go, his judgment will be the same, while the inverse will bring severity upon himself.

The Seventh Noahide Law of stealing is the result of real life, real people, and real situations.  Jethro saw this, and knew that one day there will be a time that the World will realize that they are Ger Toshav, even despite enactments built to govern the process. When that time comes, you [the Jews] should not forget that you are Gerim as well, and it is equally incumbent upon you to establish Courts of Law for Jews and Gerim, as the Seven Laws of Noah exist for both Gerim and Jews. This is the source for all outreach, and conquering the Land of Israel – along with every endeavor not only in the Parasha, but in Moses’ recollection of Sinai, Repair of Adam, and the basis of the entire Torah. In essence as much as last week we learned about the 6^th Noahide Law – meat and its Tzeddaka to the Ger aspect [which realized the divine schism of Jew and Ger] this week is the negative, as we take issue with stealing, while repairing the schism through joint venture in Beis Din, the 5^th Noahide Law.

Along these lines we have a rudimentary view of the Seven Laws, [re]defining Jew and Ger, the return to God for Jews and Gerim, under the pretense of pursuing Righteousness, and a clear view of history; that by the lens of Jethro, we can even see the Messianic Era in an above nature state where the Gerim will realize that they are Bnei Mechila – as prophesied by King David himself. Parashas Shoftim is the best view yet of the Torah of Moshiach, as it should be, for Pinchas, who returns the Torah in those days is invested with soul sparks of Joseph [of whom Moses took his essence “the Bones of Joseph, Moses took”] and Jethro, and we see for the first time what their shared vision yields according to Torah. In a tradition of Jews and Gerim that goes back to King David, He who’s era defined this Parasha, in Kings, Prophets, Priests, Temples, etc. – it’s all here, no one had a better handle matters as much as him. King David possessed the knowledge that went into establishing an infrastructure through the ages for these two people’s by the inspiration of God [which was the repair of Adam, for David obeyed where Adam deviated] from simply achieving in truth what this Parasha demands; yet on a totally separate issue one might take interest in trying to not taunt the Ger, but if one truly wishes to emulate what King David was after, which was the heart of God – then it is wise to Love the Ger.

From Loving the Ger, one can see the Messianic Light in context, and will make you a Bar- Mechila inherently. In short, a Bar-Mechila is praiseworthy, for the Jew, for the Ger, and is certain to be the prime agent in Loving the Ger, leading one to know Him and His One Torah.  Jethro had one message that summarized all of this, in his Mechila moment with Moses at Sinai – Righteousness! Righteousness! You Shall Pursue! Whether finding the Ger Tzedek or the Baal Teshuva, they both will have found their way by Loving the Ger and being a Bar-Mechila, and Jethro knew this all too well, after all, the Parasha predicts what will befall you in the End of Days – and it will be Very Good says God.

Audio Shiur on Parashas Shoftim 11 P.M. Motzie Shabbos [Motzie Shabbos]

• Theft and The Ger
• Four Craftsmen
• Jethro's Vision
• History and The Ger
• Real Noahide
• etc.

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The Two Who Finally Came Together

Parashas Re'eh

• Give Meat To Who?
• Yiddishkeit and The Ger
• The Torah In The Negative
• Bread, Wine, ....and Meat  Shem and Abraham
• Noah's Permission, a Gift to Israel
• Future Sustenance
• The Real World
• The Ger, The Birth, The Moshiach
• etc.

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Torah of My Father - An Ode To K&K Gourmet Meats: The Meat of the Ger

        Parashas Re’eh

        Along With The Bread and Wine – The Meat Is On The Table

        Rabbi David Katz

In Memory of my Father ליב בן נחמן הכהן – he probably knew this Parasha better than anyone; as a true Kohen, he owned a Meat Factory still in existence today. May he merit to learn the Emes of Meat from the Mouth of the Rosh Yeshiva Shel Maaleh and may this be in merit for that endeavor as an elevation of his Soul in Gan Eden.

**Note: Read the sentences first without brackets [ ] and upon completion of sentence re-read with brackets, for easiest flow and comprehension. I think you will find the bracketed information quite helpful in gaining a 3-D model of what is being taught. Enjoy!

Parashas Re’eh is particularly fascinating when seen in the residual light that [hopefully] still emanates from last week’s Parasha “Eikev.” As last week the Zohar honed in on the essence of the Parsha with its precision focus upon “small matters” such as the Ger, and his association with bread [and due to the highly Kabbalistic teachings from the Zohar, the Parasha can be properly compared to wine, which is synonymous with “sod” /”secret” of Torah, as seen by their common gematria/numerical value – 70] and garment, this week brings apparent completion to the conceptual “set table” [the concept of Torah/Halacha being complete and ready for practice, is to make it as a |Shulchan Aruch – “a set table”] and effortlessly it seems intertwines “meat” [and the concept of] with every step forward, from the Parasha’s beginning, and onwards until the Parasha finishes where it began – with a Blessing [and a curse]. It is surprisingly vivid for the mind to witness the simple yet deep conclusion of the Parasha, being summarized that the Blessing you seek must not be held against you; and this is none other than the finishing touch to God’s table, the Meat – a proverbial [and actual] altar to the Lord.

The scope of this potential breakthrough in revelation on a halachic level is immense, and when one applies “Chassidus” [inner most realm of Torah; conclusions drawn from combining Torah angles; the inner dimension of Torah that identifies as the natural mind (sechel) of the Ger] into the fabric, the Parasha [and the Torah all the more so] absolutely enter(s) the realm of Absolute Knowledge, and awareness of nothing but Pure Truth.  On a very oversimplified level, the Parasha seems to equate [as One “Face of Torah” from the famed “70 Faces of Torah”] that the entire Torah can be seen from a perspective of “meat” and our relationship with it. In fact, from this view of meat in the “positive”, one can conclude [i.e. the impression of meat on the whole Torah “Lefi Pshuto” – “to understand the intent of the written from a basis of the non-written”] that its negative [non-emotional; in terms of positive –negative relationships in science] would explain the entire Torah, as the premise of the Book of Devarim - keeping pace with its goal of Torah – reiteration. In essence, the Torah was opened last week with Bread, as the appetizer [Kiddush and HaMotzie], and now we are ready for the Festive Meal [the whole Seudah].

In one sense we can compare the Torah through its first rendition the Torah of Shem, he who brought out Bread and Wine, to a “People” like Abraham – the Ger Toshav. By Mishna Torah, we are served the Meat, a second time through, as this becomes elevated into the essential Torah of Moses; interestingly enough, when Shem brings out Bread and Wine to Abraham [Bereishit Ch. 14], the end letters to the words “King of Salem Brought Out” – has each end letter with a “Mem”, “Shin”, and “Heh”, together forming “Moshe.”  Thus last week in Eikev we found the Ger [as in Moses’ Name “בשגם” (as hinted at by same gematria), it hints to Bereishit – Shem – Ger – and Moshiach], and as he was compared to Bread, the Torah’s Essential Light was exposed through its mitzvah equivalent of the Ger, as King David says, [The. 119:19] “I am a Ger”; King David illustrates how this contains the entire Torah]. This week we are urged to go a little bit deeper and experience the essence as meat, and once again for proper context, the Torah [of Moshe] paints its picture with the Ger, and as per its Universal message, it is in proximity of a Mitzvah that absorbs the Jewish People and the Gerim. From this point forward, it would be fitting to say, “Welcome to the world of the Ger,” and better yet, “welcome to the Torah of Life.”

To make matters short and concise [and within definite scope of the Parasha context], the Parasha illustrates what is perhaps the greatest distinction of a Ger [Toshav] as a non-inclusion of a Ger Gamor [convert], and yet how many people make the mistake of locating the “Ger” of our Parasha, then out of haste and ignorance continue to mislabel him as a convert.  I am referring to Devarim 14:21, “You shall not eat any carcass; to the Ger who is in your cities shall you give it that he may eat it, or sell it to a gentile, for you are a Holy People to Hashem, Your God; do not cook a kid in its mother’s milk.” This one verse in the Torah is the entire basis of everything known about the Ger, and has a macro potential to encompass the entire Torah; weigh in all of the other meat references,  and should be clear that Moses has [re]encapsulated the entire Torah [again] right before our eyes. The mission statement from this verse should be the need to look up the material with a deeper perspective in mind, in this case to weigh in the meat factor. Imagine the tragedy that befalls the people who carelessly call this Ger a convert; that is to say that a Jew eats non-Kosher Meat, the Ger [Toshav…] then does not exist. Woe be the one who does not show Love for the Ger, for Hashem Loves the Ger, and you should Love the Ger.

The basic premise of the verse, [and that is a gross understatement] is that the Ger [non-convert without exception] has removed himself from the status of being of the Nations [goyim in the slang sense] and is a [4^th type of] Israelite [joining Priests, Levites, and Israelites – he is the Righteous Ger, hence why Gerim are called Ger Tzedek – philosophically (taken in the literal sense, devoid of halachic weight; the 4-headed Hebrew Letter Shin – limud of Chassidus in Torah]; he is categorically NOT the Nachri, of whom the verse speaks about next, and the Jewish people are commanded to sell [carcass] the meat to him, while giving it to the Ger. It is forbidden to receive a gift from the Nachri [who is deemed steeped in idolatry] and Torah does not condone the relationship between Jews and the Nachri. On the flip side of things, the Jew and the Ger have the exact opposite type of relationship; this is called “Mitzvah Le’Chiyuso” [a command to give to the Ger vitality in physicality and spirituality].

It is at this point, the Torah expands in every direction for the Ger Toshav, and every option he has to walk the path of righteousness.  He may choose to focus on “no other Gods” [incorporating the maximum of the “negative”], or choose to remain a classic Noahide, while some may even take on the whole Torah, mimicking the ancient Gerim who came before him, whose legacy is told to “stand at Sinai”; just as those in the past stood there, he loads his potential offspring to “return there” as well.  The common thread amongst all three types of Gerim [Avodah Zara 64b] is the need to eat non-kosher meat, as spoken of in Parashas Re’eh.

The Parasha is all about meat, and the major mitzvah of the Parasha [with the Ger] is also about meat being handled properly.  The generalization to these matters are two-fold: there is meat, and then there is the Torah of meat. It is thought that all of Man’s service of God and perceptions of this World can be reduced to how we incorporate meat into our lives.  One avenue is top take no caution with meat, yet the Torah warns [the sons of Noah] that was the Path to the Flood; hence “don’t eat the Limb of a Live Animal” was instituted to curb the sensation. Yet this comes with caution as well, as evidenced by the very next warning in the Torah – to not spill the blood of Man [which is another (more serious obviously) form of meat and blood]. By the “Taryag” commandments [613] Hashem illustrates the “Torah of Meat” in our Parasha, and Moses has successfully shown that the whole Torah can be different angles of perception of meat in proper context. The goal as always, is the repair of Adam, and Noah’s commands, were to help rectify that equation; with the advent of Shem, Abraham, Sinai, etc. this would become a guarantee - a guarantee at least from one perspective, in the proper sensitivity for meat and all associated with it.

The Ger is cautioned that while he may incorporate even all the Commandments of the Torah, he must save the consumption of non-carcass meat as his last Torah fulfillment. In basic terms, when the meat stops, the Torah begins, and per force this is the proper order of progression. Meat serves as the basis of all Spiritual matters governing the Ger and the Jew [together] – for it is at the very least, the conceptual bridge that expresses itself as a universal language between not just these two peoples, but all peoples.

Meat is the language that we have to speak with God, as there is no greater line of communication in the World, than the function of the Altar within the Holy Temple. [Even as Man communicates this way, so too does the rest of the Universe operate on these terms, concepts, and principles.] The Ger thus is the elected one by God to represent the point of where the Halacha not only starts [with meat], but he also ushers in the beginning of the realm towards the infinite, in opening the door to Chassidut based on pure Torah Commandments. From here we delve into what is meat, what is the nature of the Temple, what is the Ger, what is a Jew, even what is Life and God – all based on perceptions of Meat.

In a World where the Ger’s Torah is the most objective view from the point of the lowest common denominator, and now through Eikev and Re’eh, we have reached the DNA of existence in the investigation of the seemingly simple and overlooked elements of Life in Bread and Meat. Perhaps the only way we will ever know what Bread and Meat really are, and have answers to such matters as “will Meat be in the Third Temple,” etc. is when the Jews will finally realize that they have a tremendous gift of God, in a Torah that allows them to properly eat Meat, and thus giving them the merit to give it to a Ger. This may sound like a Beis Hamikdash reality with Offerings and Olah’s up in fire to the pleasing of God by the hands of Jews and Gerim; so what will it take to simply give Meat to a Ger – and finally allow the Hidden Light of Creation to pour out of eons of closed-door-syndrome! It is not that hard, to just stop calling the Ger in Re’eh a convert, look up the ramifications as such, acknowledge the Truth that is now readily available, and the sky is the limit.  

Who would have thought that the secrets of Creation could be found in Meat? And then one should surely remember, Sechel is a Ger in this World, and that the Torah was written of words of the Gerim [Zohar BeHalaloscha]. As the Simple Son of Passover said, “what is this?” – in context and understood as a True Jacob, an Ish Tam [Simple meaning of having known the Truth] – it is my presumption that the Ger knows all too well what meat is, and is willing to serve with Chassidic undertone; the question that remains, will there ever be someone simple enough to ask? Maybe not, because the Gerim already are, and as the parable goes, if a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one there to hear it, does it still make a sound? God Loves the Gerim, and so should you.

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Which Ger Are You?

 Parashas Eikev

 Torat Moshe In Motion – Understanding [The Mitzvah] Chok

 Rabbi David Katz

                                                                       Introduction

*Sefer Devarim has reached the Chazakah [est. pattern] of truly being “Mishna Torah" [repetition of entire Torah]; with that in mind, we will now resume and accentuate Torat Moshe within context of Chok – Shem – and Ger, following the mystical name of Moses, “בשג''ם” – Bereishit, Shem, Ger, Moshe-Moshiach. The Oral shiur will emphasize Torat Moshe in motion with the impetus of the Ger. In plain terms we will explore and introduce [in class] the negative and positive concepts that weigh into Torat Moshe – with direct implications of the Ger, and his naturally objective view of the Universe. Ultimately in this Parsha, the roles of the Jew and Ger in the negative and positive are defined; the results are Tachlis Geulah and Hedvah of achieving the Victory of God in completing the “Mitzvah” – the command given that takes place on the Land and liberates Mankind.

**Special Note, the article employs the terms negative [in relation to positive]; think in magnetic terms, as opposed to emotional state. The negative is that which is there, but not seen or heard, it can only be felt, and is therefore truly the most positive and most poured out from the heart of God. This should be realized as the highest term of endearment, to speak that which can’t be spoken, it is just understood, and praiseworthy is he who need no longer be told in these matters, for his heart is inclined to listen even before being called upon. Welcome to the Torah of Shem finding its way into Torat Moshe derech HaGer.

In Parashas Eikev we encounter an old theme of the Love the Ger / Don’t Taunt the Ger; only this time we are ready to take it to the next level, and fully understand how it relates to the Ger– non convert as well, this time in the negative. As we render its meaning with absolute certainty that the Torat Moshe speaks here not only of the convert, a truly deeper and appreciative Simple Understanding jumps off of the page, and leaves us with the Chassidut of the Mitzvah [The sweet understanding, i.e. the mysterious 5^th level that emerges from “Pardes,” (4 levels of exegesis) as begun with its latest incarnation from the Baal Shem Tov, yet extends as far back as the Ancient Days as well.] that is astoundingly simple, in that it was there staring at us the entire time. The amazing revelation is that Torat Moshe is littered amongst the writings of the last 2000 years [of Moshiach]; the final generations’ task is to gather and unify once ready for “public reading.”

To paraphrase 10:18-19: “Love the Ger – to give him garment and bread….love him and do not taunt him [a blemish in you, to him, do not raise issue] – for you were Gerim in Egypt” - once thought to be specific to the convert, the Ramban [combined with Rashi] comes to illuminate that this was true to the Ger non-convert [expressed/included in the “negative” (non-revealed)] as well, a tradition that dates back to the beginning. The amazing aspect to the Torat HaGer, is that when God speaks, there are those that listen [which the parsha stresses, when we hearken to his Voice, the initiative of the Torah is met (9:23)], and our Parsha is no exception with the Commentary of the Ramban, who takes up the plight of the Ger, explaining in revealed terms that match the will of God, proving that God’s Word is indeed victorious despite attempts of perceived sabotage. The Torah of Moses knows not of something truly foreign to God, thus making it truly reminiscent of the Torah of Shem before him.

Ramban makes special emphasis of the phrase “for you were strangers in the Land of Egypt” as the impetus in understanding the core issue latent within Loving the Ger. One should keep in mind, that the words of the Ramban, as they are illuminated, have been protected from seizure, for the negative nature of the Ger has safeguarded the Light upon the Ger, as none realize the dual nature of the context within. However once the negative turns into a revelation [revealed positive; the Ger non-convert DOES EXIST], the verse must be explained in a way that meets his standards to qualify as an eternally true teaching, one worthy of Torat Moshe. Perhaps the ingredients that make Ramban and Rashi two of the greatest Commentators of all time, is their combined efforts in expressing Torat Moshe in terms of this opportunity to Love the Ger, even in a non-convert arena.

To begin matters in the simplest way possible, it should be noted that the Ramban directs the reader to his commentary in Shemos 22:20 which he renders as identical in terms of explanation; this happens to be Parashas Mishpatim, where the Ramban is also on record as issuing that the 7^th Noahide Mitzvah of establishing Courts. He states that this is also 100% a command incumbent upon Israel, and that the Gerim are to work in partnership in these matters, while making learning appropriate Torah the highest priority for both parties, each for his own way. [Our Parsha says that learning is the essence of the path of Israel to secure victory in the Command, and the Ger only develops his commitments from developed scholarship beyond the traditional scope of his return process.] Once the Ramban gives the background [revealed negative to magnify the positive], his law-based explanation yields to tremendous Chassidut; sweet Torah from the heart of God that develops one into a devout adherent to God’s Will.

To make matters simple, I will outline the thought process to understand the Mitzvah in clear terms [of Loving the Ger]:

·        

Rashi: To Love the Ger is to not make known your blemish that is within him for the sake making ill of him [the Ger].

·        

Ramban: 1^st acknowledges Rashi [which is the basis for the Chassidut – Torah of piety that comes from the heart and is developed from the deepest channels of Torah’s Hedva where one is One with God.]

·        

Ramban explains the nature of “you were strangers in Egypt”; this was a temporary condition as Gerim.

·        The loaded issue with Ramban is always in mind, ”don’t taunt the Ger.”

·        

God saw Israel [as Gerim] had no salvation in sight.

·        

Every Ger only has Hashem to turn to, and every Ger is a part of the Job program, i.e. it isn’t easy to be a Ger.

·        

The Ger will and does cry out to God whenever God desires to hear from the Ger, David said, “I am a Ger.”

·        

God always will then have Mercy on the Ger and redeem him.

·        

Redemption and Gerim come in several ways: some are permanent Gerim, some aren’t, and some are redeemed only from Mercy, while some are redeemed with an additional merit; in Israel’s case that was the case [merit] as having merit of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the literal sense.

·        

The Mitzvah of Loving the Ger is thus, “Love the Ger” – “do not raise issue with his ‘blemish’ i.e. his Ger-ness”; that is to say, “I was redeemed by my merit and God’s Mercy” whereas you were redeemed by Mercy. This is taunting the Ger, and for that God states 46 times, “Love the Ger, for I love the Ger, and thus you should too.” [the 46 references are in similar warnings throughout Torah]

The Ramban has now explained in the clearest terms that the Ger non-convert in here in the negative, and finally explained in the positive. With understanding the proper reading of the text [i.e. Egypt in context], we see that God has many types of Gerim, Loves them all, redeems them all, etc. All Gerim are unique and are Loved by God and we are commanded to join in this Mitzvah, as it is a major part of the Mitzvah that contains the essential message of the Torat Moshe that brings redemption to the World.

The Ramban shows how learning the appropriate Torah is a major step in that direction and brings one’s heart to commitment and Hedvah in doing His will. Now like never before, do we see Torat Moshe in action, witness the Light of Chok [hard to grasp law], and are finally able to participate in Moshe’s message of how to come into the Land, possess it, and build His Temple for Universal Hedvah. Suddenly the Book of Law has found itself as a source of Philosophy and Chassidut by the basic task of Torah, in the nudge from above to tighten up learning skills, and encourage Learning the proper mechanics, tools, and intentions. In short, one could summarize that Torat Shem brings one to Torat Moshe, and allows us to know Torah Hashem Temimah [perfect].

From this angle, the Chassidut is off the charts, from the negative of Hashem’s “taunt” of the Jew in reminding him of his Ger status [We said not to taunt! – God warns in the negative, as he does with all Gerim, i.e. don’t become apostate and go back to Egypt! This is the focus of the entire Parsha in hindsight, thus turning the negative into a positive. One could say that is yet another fractal of the entire Torah.], ranging to the warning of not to compare one’s Ger status as a competition. The Ger in all of us is our definition of our relationship with God, whether in times of exile or redemption. For every negative there is a positive – yet another fractal of Torah, on every level of spiritual DNA [male female, etc.]

From Torat Moshe Law – in Light, the heart can be eternally warmed by the Light of Chassidut, especially the Chassidut that comes from the Ger out of the heart of God. The Ger here truly serves as the path of piety, warmth, and to the definition of Good, for it is simply Good to Love the Ger [and in the negative we audibly hear God’s caution of what it is to taunt] and bad to hate him; being ambivalent however may be the biggest crime of all, as that is the Parsha’s most staunch warning in a Parsha that loathes [going back to] Egypt.

The Ramban delivers perhaps the most positive illumination of the Ger in his negative state [i.e. non-revealed] that we have encountered in the entire Torah, and it is fitting that only in Sefer Devarim, one would be encouraged to re-learn that which came earlier, when false expectations still ruled over the heart; our Parsha fittingly states how to circumcise the heart of flesh. The path to Hashem is actually quite easy, based on the devout inner message sent from God by way of the Ramban; To Love the Ger is to not taunt the Ger, and yet still realize that all is One. In a Parsha that seals the Shema, it is about time that we all pay attention, and head to the beckoning call that pours from the heart of every Ger, “Shem[a] Yisrael..” The only befitting response would be to proclaim “Baruch Shem Kavod Malchuto LeOlam Vaed.“ In a Book of Law, we should take pride in declaring Her Statutes, and allowing the heart to fill in Hedvah of the Chassidut that emanates as far back as the Chassidim Rishonim, as in the Days of David, may they reign again, in our days as well. Amen Amen.

Motzie Shabbos Audio Shiur 11:00 P.M. [Israel Time] Parasha Shavua In-Depth

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Techias Ha-Metim! - well, kinda

A new old cemetary was discovered in Vienna; it escaped Nazi Germany.
Speaking of which, as Shirat Devorah blogged, today is the Arizal's yahrtzeit in Tzfas Ir HaKodesh.


YahooNews:

It was 1943 when Vienna's Nazi overlords gave the order to destroy the city's oldest Jewish cemetery, demanding it be leveled and the tombstones attesting to centuries of Jewish existence there be destroyed.

Desperate to save their heritage, the city's shrinking Jewish community decided to act. Defying the possibility of prison, deportation or execution, they buried the gravestones and kept them from Nazi hands.

Some 70 years later, Jewish leaders in the Austrian capital say the long-lost stones have been rediscovered. It is a find they say could transform a small obscure graveyard into one that rivals the significance of Prague's Jewish cemetery, the oldest known burial ground of its kind.

The cemetery has no name and is hard to find, with the only entrance through a city home for the elderly in Vienna's 9th district. Weathered but restored gravestones poke through weedy, uncut grass, with faded Hebrew inscriptions.

But beneath the ground, Jewish leaders say, are other tombstones piled layer upon layer.

Tombstones discovered at a small Jewish Cemetery in Vienna, Austria photographed Wednesday July 10, … The cemetery dates back to the 16th century and had about 900 tombstones until 1938, when the Nazis came to power and gave vandals free reign to deface and destroy them.

Vienna's Jewish leaders say it is not clear exactly how many were buried by the small group of Viennese Jews determined to save their heritage from the Nazi bulldozers. They also say they have few further details of the act, with none of the participants surviving the Holocaust and their location unclear — until now.

After workers scored the ground with radar as part of restoration work, they say they are sure there are hundreds beneath the grass. The 20 unearthed in the past few weeks have convinced officials they have a historically significant find, they said.

Raimund Fastenbauer, a senior official with Vienna's Jewish community, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he believes many of the up to 600 missing stones are still below ground and partially or fully recoverable.

If so, he said, the find, "is totally comparable to the significance of the Jewish cemetery in Prague," once the stones are restored and set up again.

Tombstones at a small Jewish Cemetery in Vienna, Austria photographed Wednesday July 10, 2013. Vienn … Community leader Oskar Deutsch said the stones are up to 500 years old. While finding and restoring them is expected to last for years, he said more will likely be dug up in the next few weeks.

More than 185,000 Jews lived in Vienna before Hitler's Germany annexed Austria in 1938.

Of the more than 65,000 deported to Nazi death camps, only about 2,000 survived. Most of the rest emigrated, with only about 25,000 remaining by 1946, most of whom then left the country.

Today, there are an estimated 15,000 Jews living in Austria, largely in Vienna. After decades of officially sanctioned depictions of the country as Hitler's victims, Austrian governments have growingly acknowledged that their nation played a significant role in perpetrating Nazi crimes, and the city of Vienna missed few opportunities in attempts to make amends.

Restoration of the cemetery will serve as "another piece of the mosaic in the total picture" of Vienna's attempts to reconstruct its past, said a statement from Andreas Mailath-Pokorny, a city councilman in charge of restoration work at the cemetery.

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Korach - Religion's Creator

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[*note* it is best to read article before audio shiur]

• Korach and Gerim
• Korach vs. Pinchas
• Anti-Messiah
• Peace and Anger
• Land and the Priest
• Joshua, Rachav, Pinchas
• Spies and Gerim
• etc.

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Real Life With Real Torah and Real Gerim

                                                            Parashas Beha’Aloscha

                                              Intellect [Sechel]: A Ger In This World

                                                                 Rabbi David Katz

In this week’s Parsha, one can open the doors of perception as in every Parsha, once the Ger component is plugged into the mainframe. Whether one seeks to learn about the SEVEN branched menorah and how it is the primary vessel that manifests open light, out of the Temple, for the World. This serves as a defined metaphor of Noahide Law amongst God’s countless commandments [as the basis of Hanuka and its implications to Noahide Torah that resonates with Messiah], along with potent flavors within the Parsha such as Gerim in relation to The Second Passover [when Jews are impure], Jethro and his eyes for the Nation [i.e. The Ger who sees Mazal], and ultimately, as the basis of this article: Miriam, her Tzaaras [“leprosy”], and its relationship with “Miriam the [third] Redeemer, i.e. Redemption and its Ger [Sechel – Tzaaras] attributes.

With all of the Ger inspired revelations in the Parsha, that seemingly lift the Parsha into a multi dimension high-rise of Torah based reality, it is still the story of Miriam that best expresses the Pshat [simple meaning] such that its content contains all levels of Pa’’R’’De’’S [four levels of understanding that take into account the non-verse elements as to arrive at a clear intent of the verse(s) and onwards into the Parsha] and we gain insight to Redemption’s story through Miriam’s [the third redeemer; feminine aspect] plight. Miriam represents the Spiritual World/reality out of this World, which when one considers all of the other elements in the Parsha fully realized [along with the whole Torah as such], they will resonate from beyond this World as well. This is simply called the World of the Ger, as it is said, “Sechel [Torah intellect] is a Ger out of this World, and is/has been removed from the camp; such is the fate of the Tzaaras ridden Messiah, who is named and identified [ironically, per force then, by none] as such. [As it is said, “Messiah waits alone (“with the lepers) at the gates of Rome]

The saga that we encounter Miriam in is one of family dispute, such that it’s true intent is to delve into the deepest most reality where life is simply understood by terms of a reality we all know, i.e. the reality that we know, the reality of the Ger. The nature of Man is to bury this reality, the World of truth, and to pretend that it does not exist. For this our Torah is a beacon from this mysterious place that we all fancy to keep quiet, and it is therefore branded with the nomenclature of the “Ger” – a true alien in this World, for this World is known as the World of lies [and cover-ups] of inconvenient truths and antithetical true Torah concepts. Miriam, Aaron, and Moses deal with these very issues amongst themselves, and this will have ramifications for all future study of Torah. What we have received in writing is a terse account of a family squabble that ends with loshon hara [evil speech] and Miriam banished from the camp due to her affliction.

To get into the specific account of what their individual claims are/were, is something of a kabbalistic mystery, and such that with the integrity of the Torah [and its magical romance] at stake, is best left for the Messiah and his generation to deal with. Just as life went on for those three, the Torah holds no reservation of moving on for the sake of moving on, and not to dwell on speculation and personal reservations about matters that either we may never know, or are simply not prepared to hear/handle.

However, the truth of the matter is, the Talmud stresses that through Miriam’s lengthy quarantine, we clearly see how upset Hashem was with Miriam, and this was in regard to the being fruitful and multiply commandment, of which she spoke out of character with Moses her brother, seeing as she bore guilt in her soul, causing her to speak loshon hara. The exegesis of these principles in both the revealed and concealed matters of Torah are some the richest learning devices amidst the entire Torah [for Torah logic is rooted and deduced from Miriam and her punishment], and rather than to increase accusations against some of the Holiest People the World ever saw, despite their humanity [Moses, Aaron, and Miriam all received the sacred kiss of death, and their bodies knew not of worms and the way of the grave], the hidden light was actually sewn as to better know the Messiah and the era of the Redemption [in relation to the Ger on the highest level].

The Maharal of Prague, and his explanation of the Talmud Sanhedrin explains the deeper connection to Miriam’s Tzaaras on a positive note in relation to the Ger, and by reflecting upon Miriam’s inner voice from with the Torah’s verses, he offers a realistic account of the Messiah, who modestly embodies Miriam’s mission of soul, metabolizing the feminine quality of it into a masculine redeemer [of which the Maharal explains per force must be a masculine job, for neither Miriam nor Esther succeeded in their roles as Redeemer]. The properties that the Maharal works exclusively with in depicting the Messianic qualities, are that of the Tzaaras along with its deeper meaning and in relation to the Ger, his intellect, and how they all tie together into a common fabric that garments the Messiah, who like Miriam, sits outside the camp [to which the Midrash bemoans, “Messiah sits among the lepers of Rome.”]

The Talmud Sanhedrin states [98b] that Messiah suffers from Tzaaras/Metzora – “skin maladies” to which the Commentators have entertained the depths of this enigma since its inception. The Maharal perhaps was the most elected sent to explain the depths of this passage, as he explains it in terms of Miriam [the] Redeemer.

Just as Miriam [was a redeemer] was sent from the camp due to a condition [as a product of intellect] so too is the Messiah banished outside of the camp due to his intellectual malady. The Maharal couples this with the concept, that the intellect [sechel] is a Ger in this World, i.e. alien, and swims against the non-intellectual [non – sechel; counter-Torah] capacity of normative society. Under these terms we can identify the nature of Messiah, The Ger, Torah, Redemption, etc., portraying Olam HaZeh [this world] pitted against its transition into the Days of the Messiah, and onwards into the World to Come.

Society “thinks” one way [even quite literally, a “way”/”direction”] while God’s agents [Messiah, Gerim, Baalei Sechel, Torah scholars, etc.] swim against grain going upstream, in a proverbial shofar blast that we can see, much like the thunder that was seen at Sinai [all counter-logical]. This produces in the end is a society that partakes in small matters of life, and are indigenous to this World. The Ger on the other hand, along with the Messiah, etc., are like Miriam – placed outside of the camp, as if stricken in their very being. All of these concepts are the positive blend of repair that reflects the same efforts and condition of Miriam, who acted from the same principles, but in a harsher blend of [real] life. Miriam highlights from her personal life a truth that is often not told or looked over, a staple concept in Torah becoming realistically revealed before our eyes.

The Ger, intellect, and certainly, the Messiah, all work harmoniously to synchronize their message from beyond the boundary, and into a “World to Come” transition from this World. To this extent, Miriam portrays the Messiah equipped with his mind while being the Ger that he is [as King David on this point said, “I am a Ger”], for the Messianic World is spiritual, and thus in constant conflict with the mundane physical existence that we all dwell in. The task of the Torah and the manner of Creation by the Creator has been to impregnate our World with all of these variant Gerim, so as to promote Messianic growth into an otherwise stagnant society. Thus in our Parsha [even if only in the most negative [literally and figuratively], Miriam is the Ger figure that delivers at the end of the Parsha, opening a realization tunnel that spans the length of the Parsha of the Ger potential that lays latent amidst the entire Torah. It should be on record that as King David said, “I am a Ger” – King David is said to be of the offspring of Miriam specifically.

Parashas Beha’Aloscha delivers another fantastic view of the rich quality of Ger affiliation that is latent in each and every Parsha, once again showing the equality of the Ger-Jew relationship when understanding the Torah on a Pilpul level. To suggest that the Torah is only Jewish, on any terms, is to deny the usage and properties of Ger vessels to understand the Torah that exists in a World most accurately lived by none other than the Gerim. He knows his World, and it is his sacred point of view that brings a resounding Shalom to the Torah.

Miriam and her brothers encompass the essence of real life, and therefore real Torah. In today’s World, the populace has chosen to bury and ignore Truth to matters, and in a truly idolatrous universe, all hope would indeed be lost. To this extent we can thank God for keeping his minyan of Holiness, i.e. the Ger and, the Gerim – who on every level shape and form, personify the concept of Ger. The Ger is something alien to this World, for it/they serve(s) a much higher purpose of operation than the average bear and for this the Torah came into our existence. A true Ger [Torah – Sechel – other worldly descending into our world] is the Torah, a story of Gerim, redeemed by Gerim, etc. and we are commanded to know the Torah on every level to always know which aspect of Ger we are in fact in the presence of. To this extent God has stated the basic premise, “I love the Ger, so you should too.” It just happens God wasn’t kidding, and Messiah will be like Miriam; to know the End will prove to have known and loved the Ger, for at the very least, your understanding of Torah depends on it.

Parasha Class: 11 P.M. Motzie Shabbat -all classes Tzfat Time

[and every Wed 11 P.M. - Ger series]

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