Lazer Beams

Shomer Yisrael: Guardian of Israel

Imagine that the mightiest ocean or the most prodigious tsunami is no where comparable to a single tear in Hashem's proverbial eye. We can all sleep soundly at nights knowing that Hashem is "Shomer Yisrael," the Guardian of Israel.

Here is a beautifully inspiring film clip with Rav Shlomo Carlebach of blessed memory singing "Shomer Yisrael."  Enjoy!

A Journey into the Vastness of Creation

The above photo represents an area 80 light years long. This is a DNA Nebula, a galaxy-type group of cellestial bodies and gases that looks exactly like a DNA chain. We see Hashem's similar secrets both in the macrocosm and in the microcosm.

Our wonderful Emuna Outreach crew in Bet Shemesh, Israel never ceases to amaze me. They sent me this fantastic Power Point Presentation, which takes you on a journey of the macrocosm, then of the microcosm. Now think how Hashem makes the effort to confine Himself within your heart and brain, to make sure they're functioning properly. The author of this presentation probably had no spiritual intentions, but, I find this a mind-boggling aid in contemplating the vastness of Hashem and His lovingkindness.

Please allow about 10 seconds for downloading, depending on the speed of your connection, to enjoy the most thought-provoking 10 minutes you've had in a long time, here: A Journey into the Vastness of Creation.

High and Dry

Five years ago, the London Guardian reported about a secret Pentagon report that was suppressed by President Bush, warning that imminent climatic changes and natural disasters will destroy the USA and much of the world, and that large areas will sink under rising seas. Read the entire article here, it's an eyeopener.

For hundreds of years, Kabbalists have been saying that entire continents will disappear under water as Redemption Day approaches. I heard it personally from Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak shlit'a. Today, scientists around the world are carefully monitoring earth's rising waters. Things are changing, just as our sages have predicted.

Worried? The Talmud says (tractate Kiddushin 69a) that Israel is the highest of lands. Many nonbelievers use the above statement as "proof" to the inaccuracy of Talmud. When the rest of the world will be under water, and Israel will be high and dry, all shall see the universal and eternal truth of every letter in the Gemorra.

This time, you won't need an ark. Start thinking about moving to Israel.

The Gemara also teaches us that the Beis HaMikdash is the highest place in Israel - that makes it the highest place on earth! Above poster courtesy of www.judaica4me.com .

The Lesson of the Sagebrush

The sagebrush doesn't worry about drought. It rejuvenates itself, and takes advantage of every single water molecule. Come on out with me to the desert, and see what we can learn.

The Shtreimel Galaxy

A big Beams blessing to our friend Lazer F. who sent us this news tip.

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope observed a fledgling solar system (image, below) and discovered deep within it enough water vapor to fill the oceans on Earth five times. This water vapor starts out in the form of ice in a cloudy cocoon (not pictured) that surrounds the embryonic star, called NGC 1333-IRAS 4B (buried in center of image). Material from the cocoon, including ice, falls toward the center of the cloud. The ice then smacks down onto a dusty pre-planetary disk circling the stellar embryo (shtreimel-shaped cloud) and vaporizes. Eventually, this water might make its way into developing planets.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

For those of you that don't know what a shtreimel is, it's the traditional Chassidic fur hat that most Chassidim wear on Shabbat, holidays, and festive occasions, as you see below:

Apples and Bananas

The following clip (with a hat tip to Robert Solomon from Baltimore) is a Beam's tribute to a magnificent rabbi that touched the souls of thousands of people, one of the greatest English-language darshanim (lecturers) the Torah world ever heard, Rabbi Avigdor Miller of blessed and saintly memory. Rabbi Miller has always been a tremendous influence in my life, and a shining example of what a rabbi should be. Here is a rare clip, where he talks about the wonders of an apple:

Meanwhile, three people have asked me to repost our clip about what we can learn from bananas. Here it is, with pleasure:

Shepherd's Purse

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.

Read more about Shepherd's Purse here and here.

Sabras

The sabra is a cactus that yields an indescribably sweet fruit. Among other things, the sabra is the symbol of Israel. Today's six-minute film - another addition of Emuna Outreach's Land of Israel series - shows the spiritual, inner-dimensional allusions of the sabra.

The Lesson of the Green Grapefruit

Join Lazer out in the citrus grove for a four-and-a-half minute lesson that's sure to put a smile on your face. Let's disregard last month's problems, not worry about what will be tomorrow, and concentrate on what we need to do right now,as we'll soon see:

The Lesson of the Reeds

Here in Israel, we're now entering our hottest and driest month of the year. Come join us in the dry wadi of what in winter is the Lachish river in the south of Israel, to see what we can learn from a clump of reeds there.