Wednesday, November 09, 2005

LESSONS IN TANYA: Thursday, November 10, 2005

B"H

Cheshvan 8, 5766 * November 10, 2005

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L E S S O N S I N T A N Y A
===============================

Today's Lesson:

Iggeret HaKodesh
(Middle of Epistle Twenty-Six)
------------------------------

[The above refers to the Sefirah of Malchut of Atzilut only so long as it remains on its home ground, so to speak, i.e., in the World of Atzilut. Likewise, the above refers to the Torah laws only so long as they are in their pristine state, i.e, at the sublime level of Malchut of Atzilut.

However, as the laws become vested within lower realms, they can become subject to a measure of concealment.

Likewise, as the Sefirah of Malchut of Atzilut becomes vested in lower Worlds, it too is subject to this state of concealment.

It is then called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because it is vested within kelipat nogah.

This vestiture takes place for the sake of one of the ultimate spiritual tasks of man - beirurim, i.e., sifting and refining the physicality of this world, in order to elevate the divine sparks from the evil which encumbers them.

This is what the Alter Rebbe now goes on to explain.]

As to the statement of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, that the Mishnayot relate to [the Sefirah of] Malchut in [the World of] Yetzirah, [whereas we have just quoted the Zohar to the effect that the Mishnayot relate to the Sefirah of Malchut in the World of Atzilut], he referred to the garment of Malchut of Yetzirah in which Malchut of Atzilut is vested; [only after Malchut of Atzilut descends to the World of Yetzirah and is vested there, can it be said that Mishnayot relate to Yetzirah].

And Malchut of Yetzirah is referred to as a hand-maiden (shifchah), relative to Malchut of Atzilut, [which is vested in it.

This answers an earlier question.

The Alter Rebbe had quoted the Talmud Yerushalmi (ch. 1 of Berachot) to the effect that R. Shimon bar Yochai maintains that for the Reading of Shema one interrupts the study of Scripture, though not of Mishnah, which is loftier than Scripture. This was contradicted by statements of R. Shimon bar Yochai himself in Ra'aya Mehemna, to the effect that Mishnah is referred to as the handmaiden while Scripture is referred to as the king.

According to the above, however, there is no contradiction. So long as Mishnah is in its primary and fundamental state, it belongs to the level of Malchut of Atzilut; it is referred to as a handmaiden only after it is vested within Malchut of Yetzirah.

This difference between the way something exists in its essential state and the way it exists as it is vested in a lower state of being, applies to Scripture as well, as will soon be explained.]

By contrast, Malchut of Beriah [which is a lower World] is referred to as a maid "amah", [denoting a level superior to the level of shifchah].

Proof of this - [that there is a significant difference between the way something exists in its essential state "be'etzem" and the way it exists as it is vested "behitlabshut" in a lower level] - may be gained from the statement of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, that Scripture, i.e., the Written Torah, is in Asiyah, even though it is explicit in innumerable places in the Zohar and the writings of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory, that it is [the Sefirah of] Tiferet, which is the Z'eir Anpin of Atzilut.

[As such it is even higher than Malchut of Atzilut; how, then, can it be said that Scripture is in Asiyah]?

Rather, this means that it vests itself in Asiyah.

Thus it is taught explicitly in Sefer HaKavanot - that Scripture, Mishnah, Talmud and Kabbalah are all in Atzilut, except that Scripture vests itself as far ["down"] as Asiyah.

[The Written Torah hinges on its letters, which are inscribed with tangible ink on tangible parchment, and hence related to Asiyah, the "World of Action"] and Mishnah [vests itself only] as far ["down"] as Yetzirah,

[The Mishnah consists mainly of laws, such as those determining ritual validity or invalidity. These two states ultimately derive from the corresponding middot of Chesed and Gevurah, the Divine "emotive attributes" of benevolence and severity.

Hence these laws are vested in the World of Yetzirah, for [51] "the six [emotive] Sefirot `nest' in Yetzirah"] and Talmud is vested as far ["down"] as Beriah.

[The Talmud elucidates the laws. It thus relates to Beriah, the "World of Comprehension," which is illumined by Binah ("understanding"), for [51] "the Supernal Mother (i.e., Binah) `nests' in the [World of the] Throne," i.e., in Beriah. [52]

Now, when Malchut of Atzilut is vested in kelipat nogah in order to extract and refine the sparks that fell with the sin of Adam, as well as the 288 sparks that fell with the "breaking of the vessels," Malchut of Atzilut, too, is then referred to as the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, relative to Z'eir Anpin of Atzilut which does not descend there and which is referred to as the Tree of Life.

[The concept of shevirat hakelim (the primordial "breaking of the vessels") and the elevation of the 288 sparks of holiness hidden in the material world is explained at length elsewhere in the literature of Chassidut.]

And the investiture of [the Sefirah of] Malchut in kelipat nogah is the Kabbalistic principle of the exile of the Shechinah, whereby [53] "man rules over man, to his detriment."

[In Epistle 25 (above), the Alter Rebbe quotes the exposition of this verse in Sefer HaGilgulim.

During the time of exile, the "evil man" (of kelipah) rules over the "sacred man" (i.e., the holy "side" of the universe).

At this time, the Divine Presence is in a state of exile within the universe.

However, this temporary dominion of evil is "to his [ultimate] detriment," for its underlying intent is that the sparks of holiness that are embedded within evil, be extracted and elevated.

* * *

The Alter Rebbe will now answer another question which he himself had posed earlier.

The Ra'aya Mehemna had stated that so long as the bipolar influence of the Tree of Knowledge of [both] Good and Evil is dominant in the world, Torah scholars (who are likened to the Shabbat and festivals) are supported only by their unlettered ("week day") brethren, whose food is sometimes pure but sometimes not.

This is why the scholars engage in the study of the correspondingly bipolar laws of issur vs. hetter (ritual prohibition vs. permission), and the like.

Concerning this statement the Alter Rebbe asked above:

Even though the Sages in Second Temple times tilled their own fields and vineyards, did they not mainly study the very same laws of issur and hetter, and the like?

In reply, the Alter Rebbe now explains the meaning of this passage from Ra'aya Mehemna.

During the present era of exile, when the world is dominated by the influence of the Tree of Knowledge of [both] Good and Evil, the Divine Presence grants life-force to the chitzonim.

These negative forces belong to the ambivalent realm of kelipat nogah, which veils the holy potential embedded in the material things of this world.

(Torah scholars are nourished only by the distilled essence of the Divinely-endowed life-force.)

In order to extract and refine the sparks of holiness hidden in this material world during this era of exile, scholars study the laws of prohibition and permission, and the like.

Through painstaking debate and deliberation, they isolate and salvage that which is permitted from that which is prohibited, and that which is pure from that which is impure.

Ultimately, their Torah study removes the Divinely-imposed veil, so that a clear adjudication of the law results. This is what the Alter Rebbe now goes on to say]:

And this is the meaning of the statement in Ra'aya Mehemna: "While the Tree of Good and Evil dominates [the world],... these [Sages, who are likened to the Sabbaths and festivals, have nothing except what is given to them by those who are called `un sanctified ones,'...]."

This means that at the time of the exile of the Shechinah - which grants life-force to the chitzonim that belong in the realm of kelipat nogah, from which the "mixed multitude" derive their life-force, [54] and from whose distilled essence the Torah scholars are nourished during the exile, - at this time the main spiritual task of man, and the main purpose of being engaged in Torah and the commandments, is to disencumber and elevate the sparks, as is known from the teachings of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory.

For this reason, study chiefly involves deliberation and argumentation on the laws of issur and hetter, impurity and purity, in order to disencumber the permitted and the pure from the forbidden and the impure by means of deliberation and argumentation on the law - with wisdom, understanding and knowledge, [with all the three intellective faculties of the soul that clarify the law].

For as is known, [55] the Torah derives from Chochmah.

Hence, [the sparks of holiness hidden in a legal question] can be extracted and elevated only through Chochmah. [56]

Specifically: the Supernal Chochmah of Atzilut which is vested in Malchut of Atzilut - this being the Kabbalistic principle of the Oral Torah (according to the Kabbalistic principle by which [57] "the `father' [i.e., Chochmah of Atzilut] begat [lit., `founded'] the `daughter' [i.e., Malchut of Atzilut]") - which, [in turn], is vested in Malchut of Yetzirah.

[(This accords with the Kabbalistic principle of] the Mishnayot (and the Beraitot that are vested in the kelipat nogah, which corresponds to the World of Yetzirah; for there begins the Knowledge [of Good and Evil]: "[for there begins] the evil"] which is inherent in nogah), [for the kelipat nogah in the World of Yetzirah is equally good and evil].

(A variant reading: "and the Beraitot that are vested in the kelipat nogah which corresponds to the World of Asiyah, from where there begins the evil of nogah"), [for the kelipat nogah of Asiyah is mostly evil and minimally good].

The above is known from the teachings of R. Isaac Luria, of blessed memory.

Now, the intelligent will understand something far more remarkable, namely, what happens in heaven above through the deliberation and elucidation of an adjudged ruling - of the Gemara and of the earlier and latter codifiers [58] which, before this deliberation, had been concealed.

For by means of this [clarification] one elevates this ruling from the kelipot that were hiding and covering it in such a way that it was not known at all, or that its reasoning was not clearly understood. [59]

For the reason [60] [underlying a particular halachah] derives mystically from the Sefirah of Supernal Chochmah, from which sparks fell into the kelipot as a result of the primordial "breaking of the vessels."

[As to these sparks of Chochmah which constitute the reasons,] they are there in a state of exile, because the kelipot rule over them and hide the wisdom of the Torah from both the higher and lower beings - [both from the created beings of the higher worlds, such as angels and souls, and from man situated here in this lowly world].

This is why it is stated in Ra'aya Mehemna, [as quoted at the beginning of the present letter], that "a problematic query ... emanates from the side of evil."

Since it creates difficulty in the comprehension of a Torah concept, it derives from the evil kelipot which conceal the Chochmah of the Torah.

Footnotes:

51. Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 7; cf. Tanya, ch. 39.
52. Note of the Rebbe: "See also the Note in
Tanya, ch. 40."
53. Kohelet 8:9.
54. In the original, eirev-rav; cf. Shmot 12:38. Likkutei
Haggahot LeSefer HaTanya emends our text to "nations of the
world."
55. Zohar II, 85a; et al.
56. Ibid., 254b.
57. Zohar III, 248a.
58. Note of the Rebbe: "All of these have to do with the
clarification of the reason [underlying a law], as is soon
stated."
59. Note of the Rebbe: "...even though it was known. This
applies to many halachic rulings in the Gemara and
especially in the Codes."
60. Note of the Rebbe [on this addition, which identifies
the reason with the sublime Sefirah of Supernal Chochmah]:
"This [addition] explains the magnitude of the exile [when
the reason is not known], (and of the [consequent]
redemption [when it is ascertained]) - even though the law
itself is known and [hence] not in exile."

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DAILY MITZVAH (Maimonides): Thursday, November 10, 2005

B"H

Cheshvan 8, 5766 * November 10, 2005

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D A I L Y M I T Z V A H (M A I M O N I D E S )
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Today's Mitzvot (Day 69 of 339):

Laws of Megillah and Chanukah Chapters 3 & 4
Positive Mitzvah 213
---------------------------------------------------------------------

Introduction to Mitzvot 213 - 214, 216 - 220: Jewish Marriage

It was the year 2448 after the creation of the world.

A grand wedding was taking place around a mountain in the Sinai
desert. Everyone had heard the engagement announcement and many
had witnessed the "shower" of gifts and special attention given to
the bride to be.

All were excited and anxious about the upcoming event.

The Shofar was blowing the wedding tune, the skies themselves
"flashed" with lightening, as if taking pictures, and a heavenly
fire accompanied the bridegroom to the chuppah.

It was Matan Torah - the giving of the Torah.

HaShem, the bridegroom, was joined by the bride, the Jewish nation,
united by the wedding ring, the Torah, that was being presented to
them.

This holy union serves as a model for all Jewish marriages throughout
the generations.

At that time, HaShem instituted laws and rules (expressed by the
following Mitzvot) that enable every Jewish marriage to reflect
that original sacred bond.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Positive Mitzvah 213: Marriage

-Deuteronomy 24:1 "When a man takes a wife and marries her"

The groom is commanded to marry and live with his wife according
to the law of the Torah.

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"TODAY'S DAY": Thursday, November 10, 2005

B"H

Cheshvan 8, 5766 * November 10, 2005

=======================
"T O D A Y ' S D A Y"
=======================

Shabbat, Cheshvan 8 5704

Torah lessons: Chumash: Lech L'cha, Shevi'i with Rashi.
Tehillim: 44-48.
Tanya: R. Isaac Luria (p. 557)...side of evil." (p. 559).

Mitzva is an idiom of Tzavta - "joining," "attachment."

Whoever performs a Mitzva becomes joined to the Essence of G-d - may He be blessed - Who issues that particular command.

This is the meaning of "The reward of a Mitzva is the Mitzva
(itself)": (1) His becoming attached to the Essence of the En Sof Who ordained the command, is itself his reward.

The above can be understood through an analogy from the physical
world: An extremely simple person has an inner sense of Bitul
(nullity) before the wisdom and greatness of a scholar - a Bitul in which he senses himself to be an utter nonentity.

The sage in turn, (2) does not sense or perceive the simpleton as belonging at all to the category of human beings! Not that the scholar dismisses or rejects him, G-d forbid, for that would be an evil trait; he simply sees no connection or relationship with him whatsoever.

Now, when the sage instructs the simple man to do something for him, that command brings the simpleton "into being."

In his own self-perception he is no longer a nonentity but
a "somebody"; he has assumed a status unto himself in that he is able to carry out an order of the sage, and it is him that the sage addressed and instructed.

In the eyes of the sage too, the simpleton now "exists"; he is a "somebody" to whom he (the sage) can speak and instruct.

What is more, the command actually unites the lofty, exalted sage with the gross simpleton. The analogue is obvious.

It is understood that in the above analogy there is no difference at all what the command is about, whether a great, lofty matter or a simple trivial one.

Footnotes: 1. Avot 4:2.
2. Whose universe is scholarship and intellect.

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Compiled and arranged by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in 5703 (1943) from the talks and letters of the Previous Lubavitcher Rebbe. Note: day of week and Torah lessons indicated are from 5703 (1943).

For a glossary of terms used in "Today's Day" please click here:
http://chabad.org/article.asp?AID=95867

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TODAY IN JUDAISM: Thursday, November 10, 2005

B"H

Cheshvan 8, 5766 * November 10, 2005

=================================
T O D A Y I N J U D A I S M
=================================

* Laws * Customs * Jewish History * Daily Quote * Daily Study *

Today is: Thursday, Cheshvan 8, 5766

===========
Daily Quote
===========

There was once a person who was traveling from place to place and he saw a palace in flames. Said he: "Can it be that there is no master to this palace?" So the owner of the palace looked out to him and said to him: "I am the master of the Palace." By the same token, because Abraham would go around saying, "Can it be that the world has no master?" G-d looked out and said: "I am the owner, the master of the world"

- Midrash Rabbah

===========
Daily Study
===========

Chitas and Rambam for today:

Chumash: Lech-Lecha, 5th Portion Bereishit 14:21-15:6 with Rashi
• English Text:
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/rashi/default.asp?tDate=11/10/2005&src=ds

Tehillim: Chapters 44 - 48
• Hebrew text:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tehillim.asp?tDate=11/10/2005&Lang=HEB
• English text:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tehillim.asp?tDate=11/10/2005

Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, middle of Epistle 26
• Lesson in Tanya:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/tanya.asp?tDate=11/10/2005
• RealAudio:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/audio.asp?what=tanya&tDate=11/10/2005&format=rm
• Windows Media:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/audio.asp?what=tanya&tDate=11/10/2005&format=m3u

Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/seferHamitzvos.asp?tDate=11/10/2005
• 1 Chapter: Genevah Chap. 9
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/rambam.asp?tDate=11/10/2005&rambamChapters=1
• 3 Chapters: Megillah vaChanukah Chap. 3, 4, Ishshut Chap. 1
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/rambam.asp?tDate=11/10/2005&rambamChapters=3

Hayom Yom:
• English Text:
http://www.chabad.org/dailystudy/hayomyom.asp?tDate=11/10/2005

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PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE REBBE SAID: Parshas Lech-Lecha

B"H

Cheshvan 7, 5766 * November 9, 2005

===================================================================
P L E A S E T E L L M E W H A T T H E R E B B E S A I D
===================================================================

Parshas Lech-Lecha
------------------

This parshah begins with Hashem’s commandment to Avraham: "Lech lecha meartzecha", “Go out from your land.” HaShem is telling Avraham to leave his father’s home in Charan and journey to Eretz Yisrael. But why does HaShem say lech lecha? Why doesn’t He just say “lech - Go”?

Lech lecha can be translated: “Go to yourself.” HaShem is not just instructing Avraham to travel. HaShem is telling him: You are now starting your lifetime journey. You will be passing through many places, traveling on many paths. Remember, wherever you go - go to yourself.

What does it mean to “go to ourselves”?

Our real self is our neshamah, which wants to serve HaShem, fulfill His commandments and feel close to Him. So lech lecha means that on all our journeys — wherever we go and whatever we do - we will really be going towards ourselves. We will be coming closer to our neshamah’s goal of serving HaShem.

Avraham understood Hashem’s instructions. He set out with his entire household towards Eretz Yisrael, working hard so that each of his journeys — and there were many stops — would bring him closer to the goals of his neshamah.

The Torah tells us “And Avram traveled and journeyed towards the south.” Rashi explains that the “south” is the place that would later become Yerushalayim. There, surrounded by the holiness of Yerushalayim, Avraham would reach very high levels.

But Avraham didn’t stay in this holy place for very long. Soon he found himself on a journey to a place he did not plan to visit: Mitzrayim! Would you have liked to leave the holy area of Yerushalayim after reaching such closeness to HaShem and go down to Mitzrayim?

But Avraham always remembered Hashem’s instruction: Lech lecha. He understood that if he had to travel to Mitzrayim, this also was part of his lifetime journey. There were things he had to do, some service for HaShem he had to complete down there in Mitzrayim. This was another of Avraham’s journeys on the way to himself — to his neshamah’s goal to serve HaShem.

Just like Avraham Avinu, the Jewish people are on a journey through history that will bring us to the goal of our neshamos: to serve HaShem fully. Like Avraham’s journey to Egypt, galus is a step toward that goal. And when we realize this purpose and dedicate ourselves to HaShem, the destination of our journey will come into sight. And then, led by Mashiach, we and the entire Jewish people will return home to Eretz Yisrael.

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. V, Parshas Lech Lecha)

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TORAH STUDIES: Parshat Lech-Lecha

B"H

Cheshvan 7, 5766 * November 9, 2005

=========================
T O R A H S T U D I E S
=========================

Parshat Lech-Lecha
------------------

There appears to be a contradiction between the name of this Sidra and its content. For “Lech Lecha,” as the Sicha will explain, means “Go to yourself” — Abraham’s movement towards the fulfillment of his task. But the Sidra describes a series of events which happened to Abraham, seeming to deflect him from his mission. The Rebbe resolves the contradiction by going in depth into the meaning of fulfillment, or “ascent,” for the Jew.

1. What’s In a Name?

Names are not accidents in Torah. We find in many places that the name of a person or a thing tells us about its nature. And the same is true of the Sidrot. The names they bear are a cue to their content, even though on the face of it they are simply taken from the first words of the Sidra and are there, as it were, by chance. For there is no such thing as pure chance in events, since everything happens by Divine Providence; certainly in matters of Torah.

We might think that the names of the Sidrot are a relatively late convention, since we are not certain that they are mentioned in the Talmud, while the names of the books of the Torah and of the divisions of the Mishnah are all detailed there. But there is a law relating to legal documents, that a name mentioned in one becomes a name recognized by Torah law if it has stood unchallenged for 30 days. A fortiori, since the names of the Sidrot have stood unchallenged for more than 1,000 years, and are mentioned by the Sages (Rashi, for example), they are recognized as such by Torah.

So we can sum up the inner content of the whole of this week’s Sidra by understanding the implications of its name: Lech Lecha.

2. Lech Lecha: Go To Yourself

This is usually translated as “Get thee out (from your country and your birthplace and your father’s house. . . .)” But it literally means, “Go to yourself.” “Going” has the connotation in Torah of moving towards one’s ultimate purpose—of service towards one’s Creator. And this is strongly hinted at by the phrase, “Go to yourself”—meaning, towards your soul’s essence and your ultimate purpose, that for which you were created.

This was the command given to Abraham, and the first part of the narrative bears this out. For he was told to leave his heathen background and go to Israel. And within Israel he was “going and journeying to the South,” that is, towards Jerusalem. He was moving progressively towards an ever increasing degree of holiness. But then we suddenly find: “And there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt.” Why this sudden reversal of his spiritual journey, especially as the whole Sidra (as testified by its
name) is supposed to contain an account of Abraham’s continual progress towards his fulfillment?

3. Ascent or Descent?

That it was a reversal seems clear. To go to Egypt was itself a spiritual descent—as the verse explicitly says, “And Abram went down to Egypt.” And the cause of his journey—“and there was a famine in the land”—also seems like the deliberate concealment of G-d’s blessing. The more so as G-d promised Abraham, “And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great.” Is it not strange that when he reached the land that G-d had shown him, a famine forced him to leave?

A possible answer is that this was one of the trials which Abraham had to face to prove himself worthy of his mission (and the Midrash tells us when faced with this inexplicable hardship Abraham “was not angry and did not complain”).

But this will not suffice. For Abraham’s mission was not simply a personal one—it was his task to spread G-d’s name and gather adherents to His faith. The Midrash compares his many journeyings to the way a spice box must be shaken about, to spread its aroma to all corners of a room. So an explanation of his descent in terms of a personal pilgrimage will not do justice to the difficulty. Especially since its immediate effect was to endanger Abraham’s mission. It could not help the work of spreading G-d’s name for the arrival of a man of G-d to be followed by a bad omen of a national famine.

Worse is to follow, for when Abraham entered Egypt, Sarah, his wife, was taken by Pharaoh by force. And even though he did not so much as touch her, it was an evident descent from the spiritual course that seemed to be outlined for them.

And even before this, when they first approached Egypt, Abraham said to Sarah, “Now I know you are a woman of beautiful appearance.” Thereby he had already begun to see (though only relative to his own exalted standard) with “Egyptian” eyes; for previously he had not noticed this because of the spirituality of their modest relationship.

So how, in the face of so many contrary indications, can it be that the whole story of Lech Lecha is — as its name would seem to imply — one of Abraham’s continual ascent towards his destiny?

4. History Foreshadowed

We can work towards a resolution of these difficulties by understanding the inner meaning of the famous dictum, “The works of the Fathers are a sign for the children.” This does not mean simply that the fate of the Fathers is mirrored in the fate of their children. But more strongly, that what they do brings about what happens to their children. Their merit gives their children the strength to follow their example. And in Abraham’s wanderings, the subsequent history of the children of Israel was rehearsed and made possible.

Abraham’s journey down to Egypt foreshadows the future Egyptian Exile. “And Abram went up out of Egypt” presages the Israelites’ redemption. And just as Abraham left, “weighed down with cattle, silver and gold,” so too did the Israelites leave Egypt “with great wealth.”

Even that merit for which the Israelites were saved they owed to Sarah; for just as their women kept themselves from sinning with the Egyptians, so had Sarah protected herself from Pharaoh’s advances.

5. The End Is Implicit In the Beginning

Understood in this light, we can see the end of Abraham’s journey to Egypt foreshadowed in its beginning. For its purpose was his eventual departure “weighed down with cattle, silver and gold,” expressing the way in which he was to transform the most secular and heathen things and press them into the service of G-d. This was indeed the purpose of the Israelites’ exile into Egypt, that G-d’s presence should be felt in this most intransigent of places. The final ascent was implicit in the descent.

There is, in Jewish learning, an image which captures this oblique directedness. The Babylonian Talmud, unlike the Jerusalem Talmud, never reaches its decisions directly but arrives at them through digressions and dialectics which shed, in their apparent meandering, more light than a direct path could. Indeed, when the two books are in disagreement, the Babylonian verdict is always followed.

So too do the seeming digressions of Jewish history represent not a wandering from the path of destiny but a way of shedding the light of G-d on untouched corners of the world, as preparation for, and part of, their subsequent redemption.

Abraham’s removal to Egypt was not an interruption but an integral part of the command of “Lech Lecha” — to journey towards that self-fulfillment which is the service of G-d.

And as Abraham’s destiny was the later destiny of the children of Israel, so it is ours. Our exile, like his, is a preparation for (and therefore part
of) redemption. And the redemption which follows brings us to a higher state than that which we could have reached without exile. “Greater will be the glory of this latter house (i.e., the Temple of the Messianic Age) than that of the former (the first Temple).”

Exile, then, is an integral part of spiritual progress; it allows us to sanctify the whole world by our actions, and not simply a small corner of it.

Perhaps one will say: Where is this progress apparent? The world does not appear to be growing more holy: Precisely the opposite seems to be the case.

But this is a superficial judgment. The world does not move of its own accord. It is fashioned by Divine Providence.

What appears on the surface to be a decline is, however hidden, part of the continuous process of transformation which we work on the world whenever we dedicate our actions to Torah and G-d’s will. In other words, the world constantly becomes more elevated and refined. Nothing could illustrate this more clearly than the story of Abraham’s journeyings, seen first on the surface, and then in their true perspective.

Whatever a Jew’s situation, when he turns towards his true self-fulfillment in the injunction of Lech Lecha, he places his life and his actions in the perspective of Torah, and takes his proper place in the bringing of the future redemption.

(Source: Likkutei Sichot, Vol. V pp. 57-67)

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PARSHAH IN A NUTSHELL: Week of November 6-12, 2005 (Lech-Lecha)

B"H

Cheshvan 7, 5766 * November 9, 2005

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T H E P A R S H A H I N A N U T S H E L L
=================================================

TORAH PORTION: Lech-Lecha (Genesis 12:1-17:27)

Torah Reading for Week of November 6-12, 2005

On the Web: http://chabad.org/Article.asp?AID=3161

- * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * -

G-d speaks to Abram, commanding him to "Go from your land, from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you." There, G-d says, he will be made into a great nation. Abram and his wife Sarai, accompanied by his nephew Lot, journey to the Land of Canaan, where Abram builds an altar and continues to spread the message of a One G-d.

A famine forces the first Jew to depart for Egypt, where beautiful Sarai is taken to Pharaoh's palace; Abram escapes death because they present themselves as brother and sister. A plague prevents the Egyptian king from touching her and convinces him to return her to Abram and compensate the brother-revealed-as-husband with gold, silver and cattle.

Back in the Land of Canaan, Lot separates from Abram and settles in the evil city of Sodom, where he falls captive when the mighty armies of Chedorlaomer and his three allies conquer the five cities of the Sodom Valley. Abram sets out with a small band to rescue his nephew, defeats the four kings, and is blessed by Malki-Zedek the king of Salem (Jerusalem).

G-d seals the Covenant Between the Parts with Abram, in which the exile and persecution (Galut) of the people of Israel is foretold and the Holy Land is bequeathed to them as their eternal heritage

Still childless ten years after their arrival in the Land, Sarai tells Abram to marry her maidservant Hagar. Hagar conceives, becomes insolent toward her mistress, and then flees when Sarai treats her harshly; an angel convinces her to return and tells her that her son will father a populous nation. Ishmael is born in Abram's 86th year.

Thirteen years later, G-d changes Abram's name to Abraham ("father of multitudes") and Sarai's to Sarah ("princess"), and promises that a son will be born to them; from this child, whom they should call Isaac ("will laugh"), will stem the great nation with which G-d will establish His special bond. Abraham is commanded to circumcise himself and his descendents as a "sign of the covenant between Me and you."

* * *

FROM THE WORDS OF OUR SAGES ON THE PARSHAH:

There was once a person who was traveling from place to place and he saw a palace in flames. Said he: "Can it be that there is no master to this palace?" So the owner of the palace looked out to him and said to him: "I am the master of the Palace." By the same token, because Abraham would go around saying, "Can it be that the world has no master?" G-d looked out and said: "I am the owner, the master of the world." (Midrash Rabbah)

From the time that G-d said to our father Abraham "Go from your land..." and "Abraham went on, journeying southward", began the process of birurim -- of extracting the sparks of holiness that are scattered throughout creation, buried within the material existence.

By the decree of Divine providence, a person wanders about in his travels, as the Cause of All Causes brings about the many circumstances and pretexts that bring a person to those places where the sparks that belong to his or her soul await their redemption. (Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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CHASSIDIC STORY: The Miser's Slippers

B"H

Cheshvan 7, 5766 * November 9, 2005

=============================
C H A S S I D I C S T O R Y
=============================

The Miser's Slippers
By: Shoshannah Brombacher
-------------------------

In a town lived a very rich miser. Every time the local rabbi came to his door to collect funds for the poor, the miser would invite the rabbi in, offer the rabbi a glass of tea and talk about his business. When the rabbi started talking about the plight of the poor people in winter, the miser would brush him off and tell him that poor people like to complain--it wasn't all as bad as the rabbi thought. In any case, he had no cash in the house at the moment, and couldn't give anything right now. Could the rabbi come back another time? The miser would then escort the rabbi to the door, go back to his warm and comfortable room and settle down in his favorite chair near the fireplace, very pleased with himself.

But the rabbi was not pleased. The poor had no money for food or for wood for their stoves and they were cold and hungry.

One evening, the rabbi knocked on the rich miser's door. It was a cold and miserable night, snow and sleet blew through the deserted streets. The miser asked the rabbi in, as usual. But the rabbi refused. "'No," he said, "I won't be long." And then he inquired after the miser's health, and after the health of his family, and asked him about his business, and spoke about affairs of the community for a long time. The miser could not send the rabbi away, of course; he had opened the door for him himself. But he was getting quite uncomfortable. He had come to the door in his slippers and skullcap, dressed in a thin shirt and his house pants. The rabbi, wearing a warm coat with a fur lining, his biggest shtraymel covering his ears and heavy winter boots encasing his feet and legs, talked on and on. No, he didn't want to come in. No, really, he was on his way. The miser's toes became ice and stone.

Suddenly the miser understood. "Oh, Rabbi!" he cried. "Those poor people with no warm clothes or firewood for winter... I never knew. I never imagined it could be like this. This is miserable. It is horrible. I never knew, honestly! Something must be done!" He went into the house and returned with a purse full of gold coins. He wanted to go back to his fireplace as soon as he could. He needed hot tea. The rabbi thanked him and took the money. He, too, was cold after that long talk, but he didn't mind. The poor people would have a good winter this year.

The miser changed his ways that night. He became a regular contributor to the rabbi's funds for the poor, for poor brides, for poor students, for Passover money and for many other causes. He had learned a good lesson that night.

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PARENTING: Too Much Of A Good Thing?

B"H

Cheshvan 7, 5766 * November 9, 2005

=================
P A R E N T I N G
=================

Too Much Of A Good Thing?
By: Yaakov Lieder
-------------------------

"My son is never happy. We give him everything you can imagine. It keeps him happy for two days and then he wants something else," a mother told me. "I say to my child: 'When I was your age I did not have anything like what you have today and yet I was much happier.'"

Perhaps, I mused in response, we are so busy giving our children everything we did not get, that in the process we forget to also give them what we did get.

Some children nowadays are being supplied with an abundance of good things from their parents: roller blades, scooters, computers, mobile phones, play stations, Nintendo and so on.

In his book, Too Much Of A Good Thing, (August 2001), Dr Daniel. J. Kindlon questions whether giving our children everything they want will result in their becoming happy adults with a positive self-esteem. He writes, "The average American parent gives an abundance of good things on the one hand, but on the other hand spends a limited amount of time at home with their children."

A wise man once said: "If we would spend on our children half of the amount of money and double the amount of time, they will be much better off."

Having a child get whatever they want just by the click of a finger is not preparing them to deal with the challenges of later life. Nature in real life is such that only by putting hard work in the planting and plowing seasons will we get an abundant harvest. Lack of rain or some other unforeseen circumstances may bring disappointment even after all the hard work.

Some parents love their children so much that when they are called by the school about a punishment the child got for misbehaving, they try to persuade the school to reduce the punishment. They think they are doing their child a favor by creating a shortcut where they don’t have to own up to the consequences of their behavior.

Dr Kindlon's research shows that more than half of the youths that grow up in wealthy families in America where their parents have tried to do everything for them are not happy. A quarter of them say that they had seriously considered suicide.

Dr Kindlon believes that while parents want only the best for their children, they may get the opposite results. Giving the child too many toys, too much money and an abundance of other luxuries will not compensate for the lack of time and interest the average busy working parent gives their children.

The most important things a parent could give their children are time, attention, care and boundaries.

Giving time means that we show a real interest in what’s going on in their life. They should see and feel that we are making an effort to get closer to their world. Even one hour a week can have a dramatic change in the relationship.

Research shows that children who have grown up with very clear limits and boundaries, and whose parents devote time, attention and care to them, are less likely to suffer from food disorders or exposure to drugs.

Try it -- it works!

- Rabbi Yaakov Lieder has served as a teacher, principal and in a variety of other educational positions for more than 30 years in Israel, the US, and Sydney, Australia. He is the founder and director of the Support Centre to aid families struggling with relationship and child-rearing issues.

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A7news: "81 Days Without a Home"

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"81 Days Without a Home"
Some 1,200 people rallied on behalf of thousands of expelled residents from Gush Katif and Shomron in Jerusalem Tuesday night. 600 families are still living in tents, hotels, or dormitories.
Full Story Below

Headlines:
 1. "81 Days Without a Home"
 2. PM Tours Partition Route: "We Won´t Abandon You"
 3. More Moslem Destruction of Temple Mount Feared
 4. PA School Will Impede Access to Jewish Cemetery in Hevron
 5. Shomron Expellee Jailed for Refusing to Take Part in Expulsion
 6. Gov’t Regulation of Internet Broadcasts Could Undermine Arutz-7
 7. Prosecution Fights Against Freedom of Speech - and Loses
 8. IDF Builds Fake Arab City to Practice Urban Warfare

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Hillel Fendel
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
7 Cheshvan 5766

 

1. "81 Days Without a Home"
By Hillel Fendel

Some 1,200 people rallied on behalf of thousands of expelled residents from Gush Katif and Shomron in Jerusalem Tuesday night. 600 families are still living in tents, hotels, or dormitories.

The protest was organized by grassroots activists living in Talmon, between Ramallah and Modiin. Expelled residents still living in temporary quarters addressed the crowd and explained the difficulties of spending nearly 12 weeks living in hotels and the like.

One woman said that she was told in the Interior Ministry that the policy was not to provide help for the expellees unless they officially change their address from Gush Katif to whatever hotel they were staying. Another couple changed its address to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station for this reason. Other speakers talked of various other humiliations they face daily.

The call echoing from all the speakers was addressed to the Prime Minister and the government, asking them to turn a listening ear to the pleas of the people they made homeless and to begin relating to them as normal people.

The Yesha Council of Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza released statistics before the rally, showing that 35% of the evicted families are still living in ultra-temporary quarters such as hotels and tents, and 40% are in caravans, pre-fab housing or other two-year solutions until their permanent housing becomes available.

Among the latter group are former residents of Ganei Tal now living in Yad Binyamin; expellees from Atzmona and Netzarim residing in Yevul and Yated in the Halutza Sands area; some 300 families from various communities living in the newly-built pre-fab community of Nitzan; and others.

Communal solutions have still not been found for places such as Moshav Katif, Kfar Darom, Netzer Hazani, and N'vei Dekalim. For others, such as Slav, Ganim, Kadim, and Dugit, it is too late for such solutions, as they have already broken apart.

The Council notes that three-quarters of the residents are still without work.
Seven-eighths of the residents have not received any advance payments on their government-promised financial compensation, leaving them without money to pay for basic essentials. This Thursday, an emergency Supreme Court session has been called to hear a petition by the Land of Israel Legal Forum, demanding that all compensation money be freed up.

The L'maan Achai [On Behalf of My Brothers] organization, which is coordinating much of the relief efforts, reports that the situation is particularly difficult in the King Sha'ul Hotel in Ashkelon. The hotel was originally disqualified for housing the deportees because of poor health conditions, yet despite this is now housing them. The hotel has cut down on meals, reduced electricity and heating, provided an insufficient number of blankets, and the like. In one case, a family of five people is living in one room.

Participants at the rally held signs reading, "81 days without a home," "There is no solution for every resident" [a reference to the government's television-and-radio campaign boasting of a 'solution for every resident'], "Have you thrown out and also abandoned?" and the like.

Preparations are underway for a massive sit-in strike in Jerusalem to protest the government apathy towards the expellees. It will be run under the banner of "All Israel are Guarantors for One Another," and the organizers say it is not designed for youths - who should be in school - nor for Knesset Members, who have other ways of waging the struggle. Registrants are asked to specify if they can remain for only three days, or for longer. For details, call 09-7921290.

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2. PM Tours Partition Route: "We Won´t Abandon You"
By Hillel Fendel

Ariel Sharon, touring the route of the anti-terror partition being built between Judea/Samaria and the rest of Israel, rebuffed complaints that it is too close to Jewish houses.

Prime Minister Sharon took a guided tour yesterday of the partition - a tall concrete wall in many places, but a chain-link fence in most others - beginning in Beit Aryeh, on the western border of the Shomron and 15 kilometers east of Ben Gurion International Airport. He then continued southward to Modiin, and from there further south-east to Ramot and Mevaseret Zion.

Near the northwestern Jerusalem suburb of Ramot, where parts of the wall are not yet built, it was revealed that a dispute between the General Security Service (Shabak) and the Defense Ministry is holding things up. The Shabak says that the Arab village of Beit Iksa, with some 10,000 residents, must not be included on the Israeli side of the fence, presumably because of the village's preponderance of terrorists and sympathizers. The Defense Ministry, on the other hand, fearing Supreme Court suits and intervention, is in favor of including Beit Iksa within the route.

During Sharon's tour, in which IDF and police officers took part, Partition Administration head Danny Tirzah told Sharon that the dispute is holding up wall construction around northwestern Jerusalem. However, he said, the understanding at present is that the hostile village should remain on the Israeli side of the wall.

Sharon rebuffed complaints by local Jewish municipal leaders from Mevaseret Zion and Har Adar who said that the partition is dangerously close to their schools and public buildings.

"I am not bothered by a distance of 300 meters [as the leaders said] or 600 meters from the fence," Sharon said breezily. "Israel has no intention of putting itself at the mercies of the Palestinian population, and it will be the measures that we will take which will enable the Israelis to live here. I do not suggest changing the route of the partition again just because of the danger of infiltration."

Col. (ret.) Moshe Leshem, head of the Gamla Shall Not Fall Again organization, continues to be infuriated by the fence. "That which I wrote 4-5 years ago is still true today," he told Arutz-7 today. "The partition is merely political, and is a dangerous illusion that has nothing to do with security. Whoever wants to infiltrate can simply take a pair of scissors and cut his way through; most of the partition is not made up of concrete walls [except around Jerusalem - ed.]"

"The political ramifications are clear," Leshem said. "The fence demarcates the borders back to what they were before the 1967 Six Day War, more or less, with the help of the Supreme Court, which keeps moving it back closer to the 1967 border. Those on the extreme left are of course happy about this, but there are those on the right who, either out of foolishness or laziness to face the facts, who are ignoring the fact that this fence/wall will end up being the future border of Israel."

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3. More Moslem Destruction of Temple Mount Feared
By Hillel Fendel

The Committee to Prevent Temple Mount Artifacts Desecration warns that Muslim Waqf construction works are once again underway - this time at the Temple entrance path taken by Jews 2,000 years ago.


The Committee sent a letter on the matter this week to the Prime Minister and to the Director of the Antiquities Authority. The letter states that new information has been received indicating the Waqf's intention to continue its "refurbishing" works on the Mount.

Yisrael Caspi, an active member of the Committee, told Arutz-7, "For some years now we have been standing guard to try to have the Waqf stop its destruction works. The Waqf is trying to take over the Mount and make it a totally Moslem site, with no Jewish presence."

"The problem is that the Prime Minister has neutralized all other elements - the Minister of Public Security, the Education Ministry, and the Antiquities Authority - and has taken full control of the situation. And the cycle is always the same: The government gives the Waqf a permit for refurbishing and the like, then the Waqf starts building and turning the area into a mosque, while destroying or hiding Jewish artifacts, and then we are not even allowed into the sites. This cycle has to be stopped!"

Caspi said that the latest information indicates that the Waqf plans to begin work at the site known as the Hatunya, adjacent to the Southern Wall excavations and the Dung Gate entrance to the Western Wall.

"A staircase leads from the Temple Mount plaza downward under the Al Aksa mosque [south of the Dome of the Rock]," he said, "to two tunnels built by King Herod 2,000 years ago. The tunnels served the Jews who entered the Holy Temple from the Hulda Gate on the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. Today, we see the Hulda Gate, but just to the left is a building called the Hatunya, built several hundred years ago. The Waqf wants to excavate the tunnels and the Hatunya, and, based on past experience, turn it into yet another mosque - while hiding or destroying Jewish artifacts."

Click here for a "restoration drawing" of the Hulda Gate entrance.

"We firmly object to granting the Waqf a construction permit for its Temple Mount works," the Comittee's letter states, "and we demand that all work be carried out only under the supervision of the Antiquities Authority."

Caspi said, "Our past experience has shown that the Waqf does not exactly have an interest in preserving the archaeological findings there, and especially not the Jewish ones. On the contrary: They want to hide and even destroy all Jewish findings. This is our concern. We demand that the Antiquities Authority - which is not taking a strong enough position on this issue - be responsible once again for what goes on there."

"In the past," Caspi said, "the government of Israel gave a permit for Waqf renovations in the Solomon's Stables area of the Temple Mount and under the Al Aqsa mosque [just south of the Dome of the Rock]. The bottom line was that the works were done without supervision, archaeological findings are feared hidden and destroyed, new mosques were built on the Temple Mount, and Jews are prevented from visiting the most important Jewish sites in history."

Caspi said that while he and his colleagues try - so far with little success - to find MKs or others who can intervene with the Prime Minister on this issue, the public can do its part as well: "They should fax the Prime Minister's Office [at 02-670-5475 from within Israel; +9722-670-5475 from abroad] and protest the fact that his policies are allowing the Moslems to totally take over our holiest site and keep us, and our history, out."

For more information, send email to itac45@inter.net.il.

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4. PA School Will Impede Access to Jewish Cemetery in Hevron
By Scott Shiloh

The PA is planning to build a school on land belonging to the ancient Jewish cemetery in Hevron. If built, the school is expected to impede the access of Jews to the ancient cemetery.

The spokesman for Hevron’s Jewish community, Noam Arnon, said building the school on the cemetery site contradicts the Hevron Agreement, signed by former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. That agreement provided terms for transferring much of the city to PA control.

Arnon said that under the agreement, part of the Jewish cemetery was transferred to PA administration on condition that it coordinate any construction in the area with Israel. That clause was added to the agreement in order to preserve security for Jews visiting the cemetery.

Arnon said that building the school will negatively affect the security of tens of thousands of Jewish worshippers and tourists who regularly visit Hevron and the Jewish cemetery there. “Placing a large Arab building adjacent to a site visited by thousands of Jews will exacerbate tensions and endanger Jewish visitors," he said.

Hevron’s Jewish residents submitted a plea to the IDF to stop the construction. Since the Oslo War in September 2000, the IDF has exercised security authority throughout the city. The PA, however, still holds civic authority governing school construction.

The army responded to the request by removing two caravans (temporary mobile structures) set up on the building site by the PA. Arnon praised the IDF’s prompt response. He said the army acted out of pressure from Chabad hassidim from Israel and around the world. Noted rabbis and other prominent individuals affiliated with Chabad are buried in the cemetery.

The cemetery was pillaged and desecrated during the Arab riots of 1929. After falling to the Jordanians during the 1948 War of Independence, Hevron was restored to Israeli control during the 1967 Six Day War. The cemetery was repaired in the 1970’s.

Arnon said that under the reality prevailing in Israel today, “Jews who set up or move a mobile home in Judea and Samaria are arrested, while Arabs can build wherever they want with impunity.”

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5. Shomron Expellee Jailed for Refusing to Take Part in Expulsion
By Ezra HaLevi

Shlomi Bar-On, a father of five expelled from the northern Samarian town of Homesh last summer, was sent to jail Tuesday for refusing to report for reserve duty during the eviction of his family.


Bar-On received a reserve call-up notice, like thousands of other Israelis, several weeks ahead of the implementation of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Disengagement Plan. He could not bring himself to participate in the expulsion, which would also involve abandoning his family as they faced the most difficult period in their lives. He thus informed his commander that he would not be showing up for reserve duty.

Tuesday, Bar-On stood trial in an IDF court for having been AWOL. The court rejected his explanation of the emotional and physical difficulty of serving as the IDF carried out the eviction of hundreds of families, including his own, from their homes. He was sent to IDF Prison #4 for a period of 14 days.

His brother, Yehuda Bar-On, sent a letter to Brig.-Gen. Danny Biran, Chief Reserves Officer, sharply protesting the chain of events leading to his brother’s incarceration.

The following is the text of Yehuda Bar-On’s letter:

Shalom and blessings,
My name is Yehuda Bar-On – the oldest of a family of eight. Our family has, up to now, five combat officers – three in reserves and the other two in the standing and career army. I have served in the reserves since my discharge in 1994.

My brother Shlomi is the reserve soldier who was tried and sent to prison yesterday, like a criminal, to Prison #4 for 14 days. His crime was his refusal to serve during the period of the expulsion of Jews three months ago, last summer. His main reason for refusing was that it was inhumane for him to be drafted to reserve duty during the period that he himself, as a resident of Homesh (originally from Elon Moreh), would be expelled, together with his family, from their home.

According to his commanders, there is no connection between the fact that he was expelled from his home and the reserve duty he was obligated to serve during that exact period.

I am puzzled at the military authority that found time to deal with the justified absence from the army of a father with five children and a pregnant wife, sending him to jail for such a lengthy period.

Does the reserves branch not have more important things to deal with on a daily basis?

Does the absence of a man for the first time ever due to his expulsion from his home not deserve to perhaps be overlooked?

For your information, honored sir, my brother, the father of triplets, volunteered for active reserve duty after the birth of his children - despite the fact that he was exempt from service for a year.

Therefore, I ask that you advise me where to return my reserves card since I have decided that I no longer have any motivation to continue to serve, despite the fact that I was awarded as an outstanding soldier in my battalion and have volunteered many times over the years.

Thank you in advance for your consideration,

Yehuda Bar-On

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6. Gov’t Regulation of Internet Broadcasts Could Undermine Arutz-7
By Scott Shiloh

A government body responsible for regulating satellite and cable broadcasts is considering extending the scope of its authority to Internet broadcasts aimed at the Israeli public.

The Council for Satellite and Cable Broadcasting is currently charged by Israeli law with regulating the content of satellite and cable broadcasts.

Broadcasting via cable or satellite to the Israeli public requires a license. The council has the power to grant licenses to selected content and service providers who meet its requirements, and revoke the licenses of broadcasters who do not.

If the council’s authority is broadened to include Internet radio broadcasts, broadcasters such as Israel National News (Arutz-7) might be subject to government regulation and oversight, something that could severely compromise its independence, objectivity, and ability to report and comment on current events the way it sees fit. Arutz-7 radio, broadcasting from off-shore, was shut down by the government two years ago.

The reason for concern is that government agencies have been selective in their regulation of terrestrial radio. Arutz-7 National Radio's offshore station, serving the public dubbed as "the national camp radio," was shut down in 2003 despite its rank as the third-largest commercial radio station in the country. However, the same agencies allowed the left-wing "Voice of Peace" station to broadcast freely from offshore until the station's manager ended the broadcast due to financial and medical problems.

Yoram Mokdi, chairman of Israel's Council for Satellite and Cable Broadcasting, said that while the council is only beginning to study the issue, Israel’s big cable and satellite content providers, such as Hot and Yes, are already making plans to broadcast to subscribers via the Internet.

While satellite and cable companies must receive a license to start Internet broadcasting, companies who limit their broadcasting only to the Internet can still reach out to the public without government interference.

But once such broadcasts “reach half the country via the Internet,” Mokdi said, many people, particularly Israel’s media conglomerates, will demand that the government start subjecting them to regulation as well, or in the alternative, exempt satellite and cable broadcasting from government regulation.

Mokdi said, however, that in his opinion, “regulation is not always a good thing,” and that the council does not intend to create “a dictatorship for Internet sites,”

Arutz-7 broadcasts over the internet daily and weekly TV programming in English and Hebrew at its site: IsraelNationalTV.com.

Asked what would happen if Arutz-7 started streaming 24-hr. television news content over the Internet the way CNN or Fox News do in the United States over cable, Mokdi said he could not be certain that Arutz-7 would be exempt from Israeli government regulation and supervision.

Under current regulations, the state would have to grant Arutz-7 a special license for broadcasting news, if it were on cable or satellite.

In today’s political reality, with Arutz-7 more often than not at odds with government policy, especially on the sensitive issue of holding all the land of Israel under Jewish sovereignty, getting a license to broadcast news and commentary from the government would be highly unlikely.

Baruch Gordon, Director of Arutz-7's English website IsraelNationalNews.com, said it was no coincidence that the government shut down Arutz-7’s over-the-air broadcasts shortly before announcing the Disengagement Plan to the public.

He said the best way to safeguard the right to freedom of speech from government intervention would be to allow unregulated Internet news broadcasting regardless of how many Israelis decide to tune in, “even if it’s half the country.”

Gordon explained that Arutz-7 broadcasts only over the Internet because the Israeli government would not issue a tender for a national radio station that would be allowed to broadcast news and commentary freely without government intervention.

Most over-the-air radio and television broadcasting in Israel is controlled by the state. Israel allowed private firms to operate regional radio stations, however with many limitations. Initially, the regional stations were forbidden to broadcast their own news on matters of national public debate. They had to default to the state-run news stations. The regional newscasts were limited to coverage of local issues pertaining to the region they operate in.

In contrast, virtually all television and radio stations in the United States are privately owned, and the government does not regulate the content of broadcast news or opinion. Traditional over-the-air broadcast media in the United States do, however, require a license from the Federal Communications Commission.

The U.S. initiated licensing of over-the-air broadcasts in order to ensure fair public access to limited radio frequencies. Cable and satellite broadcasts, on the other hand, are subject to very little government regulation and interference. Controversial radio talk host Howard Stern recently moved to satellite radio in order to avoid certain regulatory limitations on speech.

Internet broadcasting in the United States is virtually free of government regulation, except for certain pornography issues, and legal concerns involving the use of copyrighted material.

Mokdi said the council will be examining the American model as well as the one being developed in Europe which tends to view more favorably government regulation and supervision of Internet broadcasting.

The council will be holding public hearings on the issue until March 7, 2006. After that, it will formulate its policy along with the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Communications.

“We might reach the conclusion that it is impossible to regulate the Internet,” he said.




7. Prosecution Fights Against Freedom of Speech - and Loses
By Hillel Fendel

A Jerusalem District Court judge ordered a confiscated sign returned to right-wing activist Itamar Ben-Gvir. The sign, a picture of Prime Minister Sharon, is captioned, "Insane???"


The sign was confiscated from Ben-Gvir by Jerusalem policemen during a protest rally outside the Knesset during a critical disengagement vote a year ago. Ben-Gvir asked the Magistrates Court to order the police to return his sign, and the police asked for a counter-order rendering the sign officially impounded.

The State representatives said at the hearing that they had no intention of charging Ben-Gvir, but they did not want the sign returned because it represented an "insult of a public servant." The Court ordered the sign returned - and the State appealed to the District Court.

This morning, District Court Judge Moshe Gal ordered the sign returned, and ruled that the caption on the sign, "even if it is grave and severe, is still part of freedom of expression in a democratic regime." The Prosecution informed the judge that it would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but then retracted the idea.

Ben-Gvir told reporters afterwards, "I am happy to give lessons on freedom of speech to the Jerusalem Prosecutor's Office. Unfortunately, they have not internalized that which every law student learns in his first year: Freedom of expression applies even to that which is infuriating."

Ben-Gvir told Arutz-7 that the Attorney-General's office was helping to run the case against him: "When the judge told the State's attorney that this was a clear issue of freedom of speech, the attorney said that Deputy Attorney-General Shai Nitzan had instructed him not to drop the case, but rather to keep up the fight against Ben-Gvir."

Asked how he occupies himself these days, Ben-Gvir said, "I am trying to serve the People of Israel. Right now, for instance, I am about to leave for the large 'We Won't Forget, Won't Forgive' gathering in Jerusalem... I am currently involved in seven court cases that I filed against the authorities, and five cases pending against me."

Asked for examples, he said that the former group includes his charges against the police of "false arrest" when he was incarcerated in Tel Aviv for having sent a threatening message - "and only five days later did they bother releasing me when they realized that it wasn't I who had sent the message." The cases against him include charges of praying at one of the Temple Mount gates. Ben-Gvir has frequently defended himself, and others, in court on charges of this nature - often successfully.

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8. IDF Builds Fake Arab City to Practice Urban Warfare
By Scott Shiloh

The IDF is building a fake Arab city at its Tze’elim base in the Negev in order to train troops in the art of urban warfare.

The city is designed to be a replica of one administered by the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria, complete with mosques, crowded streets, overcrowded buildings, and a casbah (old city market).

Troops will train using high-tech laser devices that show how well they are aiming at terrorist infiltrators. The IDF’s technological and logistics division says that the facility is unique and promises to save the IDF money on ammunition without compromising on solders’ training.

Soldiers will carry out mock battles, with laser-weapons replacing real ones. Shots fired by laser, as well as soldiers’ movements, will be analyzed by computers which will send back a complete depiction of the battleground to commanders. Video cameras will also give commanders the ability to view the action live.

The facility is expected to be ready by the end of 2006, at a cost of $41 million.

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