Hashem listens to all our prayers. That's why I thought that the recently-discovered ancient quarry in Shuafat where Herod carved out the massive gorgeous 20-ton Jerusalem stones that became part of our Second Holy Temple would be a special place to ask Hashem to redeem us quickly and rebuild our Holy Temple. See for yourself:
Today's headlines are one big conglomerate wake-up call from Hashem - it takes a deaf, dumb, and blind person to ignore them.
We can no longer take our water for granted, as the Kinneret is nearing crisis-level.
We can no longer take basic foodstuffs for granted.
Winds of war are blowing from the north.
Our silly government is taking apart the country ( Golan, Jerusalem, with more on the table) with its own soiled hands, secretly and unilaterally bending to the demands of those committed to our destruction, G-d forbid.
Katyushas continue to fall in Ashkelon, and no one says a word.
One of this generation's best loved tzaddikim, Rav Mordechai Eliahu shlit'a, is in serious condition after suffering a heart attack. May Hashem grant him a full and complete recovery, amen.
When will people start taking Hashem's messages seriously?
Meanwhile, there's plenty we can do and no need for despair.
First, we should say our basic blessings, especially those over food and water, with much more intent.
Second, we should spend at least ten minutes a day asking Hashem to bring Moshiach and the Geula mercifully, and not with sever judgments.
Third, we should invoke Divine mercy by spreading emuna as far and as wide as fast as we can.
Fourth, we should correct our own faults without looking for faults in others.
Fifth, we should all devote at least 60 minutes a day to personal prayer.
Sixth, we should all take upon ourselves something additional in Torah study.
One we wake up on our own accord, Hashem won't need to use the scary wake-up calls.
Our thanks to Reb Nati and Reb Akiva from Mystical Paths for providing us with the recording of Rav Shalom Arush's emergency message:
Here are the Rav's key points:
* Hashem has brought us to a wonderful situation where there is no one to depend on but Him, for there is no political or military solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
* Our only power is prayer and emuna.
* Israel is in grave danger, since Hashem has turned His countenance away.
* There's nothing left to do but to cry out to Hashem and to spread emuna far and wide - no Jew in the world is exempt from the obligation to wake up, yell to the Heavens.
* The Lubavitcher Rebbe had 100% holy spirit - his warnings have materialized to the letter. The Rebbe said that the minute you give one millimeter of Eretz Yisrael to the Arabs, the tables will turn - rather than Hashem performing miracles for us, He will turn His countenance on us until we wake up and make teshuva. That's the situation we are in today.
* Hashem loves the people of Israel - that's why He's put us in a situation where no one can help us but Him.
* The martyrs of Mercaz HaRav were a substitute for a harsh judgment that demanded the lives of maybe 80,000 Jews or more.
* The only Israel Defense Force is the army prayer and spreading emuna.
* Emuna is prayer and prayer is talking to Hashem.
* Hashem doesn't want us to retaliate against the Arabs. He doesn't want us to depend on any military might. He only wants prayer, emuna, and teshuva.
* Any immodest Jewish woman or girl delivers our people into the hands of our enemies.
* Listen to Rav Shalom cry his heart out in Track 10 - this is no joke. He's begging all of us to wake up. He addresses the Jews outside of Israel who think they're safe and says, G-d forbid, if anything happens to Israel, your governments will throw you out with nothing.
* Every day is getting worse. We are at war. Everyone is sleeping. The time of Geula has arrived. There's nothing left to do but to wake up and yell to Hashem. Hashem won't forske us, ever. So please wake up, for Hashem is with us and will hear our voices and redeem us, amen.
G-d willing, additional updates forthcoming
In Ashdod, the tangerine trees are starting to blossom, but up on Mount Hermon, there's still snow. If you walk up the mountain, and you think you're alone, you might encounter a happy little snow troll like the one pictured above.
Sometimes, you just have to grab a backpack and cut loose. What could be better than a day of personal prayer up in the foothills of Mount Hermon with your buddy's sheep dog? My friend Koby is a cattle farmer in the Golan, and his dog Brandy knows the trails like the back of his paw. Here's a picture of Brody and Brandy backpacking Breslever style, for the purpose of hitbodedut, finding a wonderful and inspiring setting to pour my heart out to Hashem.
The greatest thing any of us can do for the Jewish people right now, and especially for our brothers and sisters here in the Holy Land, is to devote as much of our time and energy to personal prayer and self evaluation. In my prayers, I tell Hashem about how wonderful the Jewish people are. I talk about the dedication of Hashem's chosen to Torah, to the Land of Israel, and to Hashem Himself. Despite the fact that many of us are the children of Holocaust survivors whose faith has been tested to the hilt, we don't budge from our steadfast emuna. I call Hashem's attention to the marvelous families in Hevron, Kiriat Arba, Gush Etzion, Eli, Tekoa and Ophra, as well as the Jews of Sderot. In all these communities, there are Jews learning and praying around the clock even though they've paid the ultimate price of their own blood for the privilege of serving Hashem in the holy Land of Israel. I had in my pocket a little Ashdod phone directory of the religious community; half of it are phone numbers of gamachim, benevolent aid societies for anything from baby pacifiers to used furniture for needy young couples. Everyone here is involved in some sort of chesed, voluntary work and lovingkindness for the community. This prayer up in the mountains went on for hours. When I finished, I had a big smile on my face. You know why?
All we have to do is strengthen our emuna, repent for what we know is wrong, and like the Lubavitcher Rebbe zatza'l once side, "to shine our buttons." That's not hard, is it? It's enough to arouse the limitless Divine compassion that Hashem has for His beloved people Israel. Sure, we face difficult challenges, but when the smoke clears, we'll be in the winner's circle greeting Moshiach, soon, G-d willing. I felt that in my heart.
I can't describe how much I love my beloved homeland. The rocks and the pine trees whisper in your ear and tell you how to pray to Hashem. It's unbelievable. You're invited to come see for yourself.
The Hermon River flowing into the Banias, which is also the source of the Jordan River. A Heaven on earth.
Israel faces its greatest existential threat in its history. At this very moment, every single city, town, and village between the northern border and Dimona is a push-button away from oblivion, for the triple menace of missiles from Syria, Hizbollah, and Iran rest like a sharp sword on Israel's Jugular. The fact that the Israeli media and the Israeli government are hiding this unequivocal fact makes it no less acute. One cannot demand from leaders and their mouthpieces that lack principle, conviction, foundation, and a basic common sense to tell the truth to the people.
Our veteran readers and friends know that we are anything but doomsday prophets. Those who know Rav Shalom Arush shlit'a (photo, left) know that he is the happiest of people and always smiling. But of late, as one of this generation's holiest and righteous men, he has taken the burden of the Jewish people, particularly those in Israel, on his shoulders. In the last two months, he has aged ten years. His eyes are bloodshot from crying to Hashem, praying for the people of Israel for hours on end.
Last night, Minister of Commerce and Industry Eli Yishai came to see Rav Shalom. Eli 
Yishai (photo, right) briefed Rav Shalom on the security situation and the missile threats from Iran, Hizbollah in Lebanon, and Syria. He also asked Rav Shalom to pray for the army since one of the Israeli Army's highest ranking generals - a completely non-religious individual - approached Yishai after a Defense Committee meeting in the Knesset and begged him to mobilize the tzaddikim in prayer, because the army has no answer to the missile triple-threat. If the south of Israel has become so vulnerable to home-made Hamas Qassam rockets, then they surely have nothing to answer the threat of Syria, Nasrulla, and Iran.
A reliable Emuna News source told us earlier today that Israel is so badly rushing the USA to expedite the delivery of 100 F35b's with vertical take-off capability because defense authorities are afraid that Israel's airfields will be incapacitated in the first round of missile fire.
Hizbulla's missiles have all of Tel Aviv in the cross-hairs. Yet, Olmert continues to fiddle like Nero and Tel Aviv continues in its campaign to be gay-tourist capital of the world, Heaven forbid.
Just a few days ago, Rav Elyashiv, one of this generation's foremost scholars and lawgivers, said that the current existential threat that Israel faces is greater than the danger on the eve of the Holocaust.
After the Nazi Holocaust, people all over the world shrugged their shoulders and said. "We had no idea!" With everything we've been yelling about here at Emuna News, no one will be able to say, "We didn't know." Folks don't want to know. Knowledge of today's facts necessitates teshuva.
Israel's domestic intelligence chiefs just this week admitted that Abu Mazan and the Fatah are no peace partners, for soon the Hamas will sieze the West Bank also. Emuna News told you that over a year ago. Soon, Hamastan will become a 4th missile threat from right next door to the center of Israel. Yet, the Neroic Olmert-Barak anti-emuna further hastens national suicide by sending more arms to the PA. Like in Gaza, these too will eventually fall into Hamas hands.
Update: Three hours after this post was published, the Jerusalem Post published its leading headline that Defense Minister Barak is afraid of a Hamas takeover in the West Bank. Once again, Emuna News is way ahead of the media and the politicians.
There is nothing in this report that's new other than verifications of what Emuna News has been saying for the last two and a half years since the second Lebanon War when a much weaker Hizbollah than today succeeded in firing 4000 rockets on Israel, which led to a million people fleeing from their homes.
The people of Israel stand in the shadow of a dark cloud of severe judgment. We must drop everything and return to Hashem. For those that think we're daft, pour yourself another expresso and delete the Beams from your favorites list. For those of you that have the slightest trust in me, please do your utmost to strengthen your emuna and do genuine teshuva.
I'd much prefer posting a pleasant musical video clip like we normally do on Fridays. But now's not the time. The people of Israel worldwide must wake up. If you think you'll be cushy in Thornhill or in Great Neck while missiles are falling on Israel, you're wrong this time. Hashem is judging us this very moment. The evening of Shabbat Parah is time to purify ourselves. Let's invoke Divine compassion by turning the tides of assimilation and spiritual contamination with a worldwide return to Hashem. Our lives depend on it.
This week's Torah portion is Shmini and it's also Parshat Parah. Here's a Chassidic Pearl to embellish your Shabbat table too. Shabbat Shalom and blessings always.
An American tourist once asked a Jerusalem rabbi how religious Israelis succeed in having such large families? The rabbi answered, "It's because Shepherd's Purse grows wild by the roadside all over the Land of Israel."
Lately, I've had numerous letters from women that complain of lengthy menstrual cycles that leave them few days of purity and reduce their chances of pregnancy.
Rebbe Nachman says there's no such thing as despair. Save your money, don't run to the gynecologist, and don't fill yourself with pills. There's an easier, more natural way to become clean on the 5th day, so with hefsek tahara and 7 clean days, the unpure period is reduced to 12 days. With ritual immesion in the mikva after sundown of the 12th day, a woman's chances for pregnancy are highest, since for many women, ovulation is on the 13th day of the cycle.
Here's all you need to do (I learned this remedy from the great Rabbi Yisroel Yaacov Fisher ob"m of the Eda Haredis in Jerusalem): Gather 5 or 6 young green leaves from a shepherd's purse plant that grows all over the place here, at roadsides and on empty lots. If you live outside of Israel, ask your local herb specialist for the leaves. Wash them off in cold water and make sure they have no bugs in them. Then, boil them in a small tea kettle with water, letting the herb tea brew for about 5 minutes. It may be a bit bitter, so sweeten the tea with a teaspoon of honey. Drink a glass of this tea on the mornings of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th day of the menstrual period. Before sundown of the 5th day, you'll hopefully be clean as a whistle, so you can begin counting the 7 clean days and therefore immerse G-d willing at the end of the 12th day of the cycle.
This remedy has worked for many families in Israel. Hopefully, it will work for you too.
Doron Mahareta (left) of blessed and saintly memory HY"D was one of the eight Yeshiva students that were massacred last week in Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav in Jerusalem.
Last night, I paid a shiva (condolence) call to Doron's family. Every single type of Jew was sitting together, from Ethiopians to Polish Chassidim, from knit kippot to Yerushalmi white kippot, from jeans and sandals to long black frocks. Too bad that it takes a martyr of Doron's magnitude to unite everyone.
One of the rabbis from Mercaz HaRav told me the most amazing story you'll ever hear about Doron's dedication to learning Torah, a story that competes with the Gemara's account of Hillel's near freezing on the roof of Shmaya and Avtalion's Yeshiva (see tractate Yoma, 35b).
Doron wanted to learn Torah in Mercaz HaRav, one of the best of Israel's yeshivas. But, since his early schooling was in Ethiopia, he lacked a strong background in Gemara. The Yeshiva rejected him. He wasn't discouraged. He asked, "If you won't let me learn Torah, will you let me wash the dishes in the mess hall?" For a year and a half, Doron washed dishes. But, he spent every spare minute in the study hall. He inquired what the yeshiva boys were learning, and spent most of the nights and all of his Shabbatot with his head in the Gemara learning what they learned. One day, the "dish washer" asked the Rosh Yeshiva to test him. The Rosh Yeshiva politely smiled and tried to gently dismiss Doron, but Doron wouldn't budge. He forced the Rosh Yeshiva into a Torah discussion; the next day, he was no longer a dish washer but a full-fledged "yeshiva bachur".
On weekends, when Doron would come home to visit his family in Ashdod, he'd spend the entire Shabbat either in the Melitzer Shul or the neighboring Gerrer shtiebel learning Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries. Three weeks ago, he finished the entire Shulchan Aruch and principle commentaries. Doron achieved in his tender 26 years what others don't attain in 88 years. He truly was an unblemished sacrifice, who gave his life for all of us.
The next time you want to close the Gemara to watch TV, think of Doron. The next time your son doesn't want to do his Torah homework, tell him about the price that tzaddikim like Hillel the Elder and Doron Mahareta paid to learn Torah. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if Doron wasn't a reincarnation of Hillel. May his holy soul beg mercy for the grieving nation he left behind, amen.
In continuation of our Eretz Yisroel series this week, here is a clip of Guy Tzvi Mintz and I singing Rebbe Nachman's famous quotation, "Wherever I walk, I am walking in the Land of Israel." A basic tenet of Breslever Chassidic thought is to strive to move to the Land of Israel. Even if one can't, one should yearn so much for the Holy Land, that one's thoughts and feelings are actually here. The more you love someone, the more you think about them.
This week's Torah portion is Vayakhel. Here are wonderful commentaries that you can use for your Shabbat table, including a Chassidic Pearl and a Chassidic story. The Beams and BreslovWorld wish you a wonderful week.
The Holy Land of Israel is so alive that she breathes and talks; she'll even tell us prophecies and the news. We only have to open our eyes and ears.
After a period of rain, overcast, and smog, Wednesday was a beautifully sunny day. The fields east of Ashdod dressed up in a yellow carpet of wild mustard (see Eretz Yisroel series, Part 3, immediately below). Along the Lachish river bank, where I went for personal prayer, wild red poppies sprouted up.
The poppies looked weird; they lacked texture (see above undoctored photo), and looked like drops of blood in the field. I had a strong feeling that my beloved homeland was speaking to me, but unfortunately, didn't understand the message.
In the evening, everything became clear. While I was contemplating blood-looking flora in Ashdod, blood-letting missiles were falling in the Sderot and Ashkelon area, as far north as the Barzilai hospital 14 minutes down the road from where I live. Ronnie Yihya, 47, was killed. The poppies were telling their story - the holy Land of Israel mourns a fallen son.
My love affair with my blessed homeland of Eretz Yisroel is no secret. This land has a soul, a pulse, and breathes like a human. If you listen closely enough, you can hear her singing Hashem's praise all day and all night long. She sings a symphony in a thirty-part harmony that can revive any parched human spirit. She widens one's cognizance; no wonder the Talmud says that the air of Eretz Yisroel makes a person wise.
Yesterday - for the first time in several weeks - the sky over Ashdod was crystal clear and deep blue, like the color of the Heavenly throne described in tractate Menachos. With Hashem's loving grace, the sun emerged from the dispersing cumulus clouds, and literally within a day, a magnificent carpet of yellow flowers covered the countryside east of Ashdod. You don't have to strain your brain to guess where a person could look for yours truly on a day like this.
The pungent aroma of a several concentrated acres of wild mustard flowers is intoxicating. To my surprise, the grapefruit orchards had started to bud and blossom also - a few weeks ahead of time - perfuming the air with no scent that Chanel could ever duplicate. Having past the mustard fields and the orchards, I reached the Lachish River, usually dry for 7 months of the year, but whose bubbling waters were now flowing with the rest of Hashem's symphony. Wild anise and mint were growing by the riverside, a heaven on earth.
My Israel has nothing to do Labor, Likud, Kadima, or the religious parties either. I don't spend 2 seconds a day thinking about the Hamas. Politics and politicians have no place in a such a divine sanctuary. My sweet homeland is a haven of milk, honey, and wild mustard; a place where I can raise my children in Torah, be close to Hashem, and walk out in the fabulous orchards and exquisite fields, sharing the scent of the citrus blossom with the bees and the riverbank with the bullfrogs, where all of creation - the soil, the flowers, the trees, the kingfishers, the jackals, and the deer all join me in the praise of our Creator. In my world - Hashem's Holy Land - things are peaceful and uncomplicated. Life has the flavor of a golden peach in sweet cream.
A delightful story by Rabbi Lazer Brody and beautifully written and illustrated by Rebecca Shapiro, the Worry Worm teaches children the concept of emuna. This book is now offered at a subsidized price to enable more and more children to learn that there's a Master to this Universe.
This is the internationally best-selling life-coaching manual by Rabbi Shalom Arush and translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody that's taking the world by storm. You owe yourself the gratification that this book will give you. (Softcover, 251 pages)
280 pages. "This book turns you into the best person you can be." (Tamar Yonah, Israel National Radio - Arutz 7)
Here's the delightful family book of the weekly Torah portions, enhanced with Rav Lazer Brody's original parables. A must for every Shabbat table! Kalcom Publishing, 254 pages.
