Lazer Beams

The Key to Deterrence

Almost everyone in Israel laments our lack of deterrence. Some trace it back to Israel's hasty retreat from Lebanon a dozen years ago. Others go back further, to the first Intifada, or Arab uprising, in the late 1980's. Still others claim that our lack of deterrence is a result of Israel's failure to score a decisive victory over the Hamas and coalition of Gaza terrorists, both in operation “Cast Lead” two and a half years ago and in the recent round of Gazan rocket attacks against the south of Israel last month. Even worse, Israel failed miserably against a mere few thousand Hizbolla fighters five years ago in 2006, who virtually paralyzed the north of Israel.
 
The above facts, although noteworthy, are mere symptoms; they are not the core reason for Israel's lack of deterrence.
 
So where's the deterrence?

Read The Key to Deterrence in this week's issue of Breslev Israel online magazine to find out...

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Your Own Track

Rabbi Avraham HaCohen Kook: The Holy Cloud

Rabbi Simcha Raz: A Fatal Mistake

Dr. Zev Ballen: One Short Prayer

Rachel Tzippora Avrahami: Best Job on Earth

Racheli Reckles: Shaking the Carpet

Rivka Levy: Do it Right

Beams Bulletins:

* This coming Tuesday night and Wednesday is Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers.

* This coming Wednesday night and Thursday is Israel Independence Day. For those who are asking, there will be an emuna lesson and broadcast this coming Wednesday evening at 7:15 PM in the Chut Shel Chesed Yeshiva in Jerusalem as usual.

* G-d willing, we'll soon post the itinerary of our upcoming May 10-21, 2012 trip to Hong Kong, Singapore, and China. We look forward to seeing all of wonderful friends there. Have a wonderful week! 

Rosh Chodesh Iyar

Today and tomorrow mark the beginning of the new Hebrew-calendar month of Iyar. This time of the year is gorgeous in Israel, and particularly in my beloved hometown of Ashdod on Israel's southern Mediterranean coast. The air here is perfumed with the fragrance of citrus blossoms. The sky is a clear deep blue. The wheat is ripening. The sea is calm. Let me share a few photos with you, to start off a lovely week and a beautiful new month: 

Image #1: Wildflowers east of Ashdod

Image #2: The late afternoon sun seen through river canes on Lachish River Wadi

Image #3: Wheat ripening in the field, to be harvested shortly before Shavuot

Image #4: Ashdod Marina

Image #5: Wall of Ancient Ashdod

Image #6: Citrus blossoms

Blessings for a wonderful need week and month!

The King's Coffers

The Mishna teaches (tractate Avos, 4:17) that an hour of Teshuva (penitence) and good deeds in this world is worth more than the entire World to Come, yet a minute in the World to Come is more sublime than all the pleasures of this world combined.

From the above Mishna, we learn that every moment of Teshuva, Torah learning, and charitable deeds is an asset of indescribable value that can never be taken away from a person.

Imagine that you have 120 seconds inside the King's coffers. The King has given you a big burlap sack, and whatever you can grab in the designated two minutes is yours for ever. Once inside, you can shovel into your sack all the gold, diamonds, rubies, and emeralds that you can; once your time's up, you pick up your sack and leave, a multimillionaire forever.

Now imagine that once inside the King's coffers, somebody approaches you and asks you what's going on in Afghanistan. Somebody else approaches you and invites you to watch Star Wars. A third person yells that you're missing the action of the playoff game, and a fourth person wants to share the latest juicy gossip with you. Would you listen to these people? No way! You'd ignore them and keep on throwing 5-karat diamonds into your sack. Each second counts, and the clock keeps on ticking. Soon, the time's up...

**********

We all hope to live until 120, yet we know that the years flash by ever so quickly. In that respect, our term of duty on this earth is like 120 seconds inside the King's coffers. If we use our time wisely, we can accumulate timeless assets of Torah, tshuva, and good deeds, whose value in the World to Come defies all description. When we waste our time in idle gossip or in meaningless pastimes, we're simply squandering each valuable moment that The King of Kings - Hashem our Creator - has granted us on this earth. The worst fires of purgatory is the embarrassment a soul experiences when it reaches the next world and discovers that its golden opportunity inside the King's coffers - that is, on this earth - was wasted on nonsense and idle pastimes of no consequence.

These 49 days of Counting the Omer are an opportune time for us correct our souls and strengthen our character, for each day corresponds to a different character trait and part of the soul. From now until Shavuot, we can't afford to waste a single day. Every day, the King's Coffers are handing out different types of rare gems for all that seek them. Teshuva, from now until Shavuot, is a unique invitation to enter the King's coffers. Here's a chance - grab it while you can! 

Blessings for a wonderful Shabbat Tazria-Metzora.

Holocaust Day: Mass Graves of Yanov

Today is Holocaust Day in Israel. The following is a short clip of one of my recent trips to Yanov, Ukraine, where my father's family comes from. The Nazis slaughtered 4,000 Jews there in the Spring of 1942. They are buried in two mass graves, one of 2,500 and one of 1,500. May their holy martyred memory - and the memory of all the 6 million martyrs - be sanctified and never forgotten.

Israel vs. Iran: Back to the Future

The Master Key

Here's the master key for a good income, for marital bliss, and for educating great kids:

The Valiant Leader

In recent months, we've lost some of our people's leading spiritual leaders. There's no adjective in the English language that can begin to describe the loss of the Mirrer Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel, the Torah-Ohr Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, the Nodvorner Rebbe or the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, all of blessed and saintly memory. We can only beg Hashem to give us a spiritual leader who can uplift our people, meet the challenges of these times, and safely bring us to the full redemption of our people, soon, amen.

What type of leader do we need? Check out The Valiant Leader in this week's issue of Breslev Israel's online magazine, and you'll get your answer.

Also featured this week:

Rabbi Shalom Arush: Your Own Melody

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach: Breathe For Real

Rabbi Nissan Dovid Kivak: Getting Up Early

Rabbi Pinchas Winston: Messages from Hashem

Dr. Zev Ballen: Angel Kids

Rivka Levy: 99% True

Yehudit Levy: Real Pearls

Breslev Israel and the Beams wish you a great new week and a healthy summer!