We here at the Beams don't want all the garbage in the news to bring us down. We are therefore happy to report that the sabra cacti in the fields east of Ashdod are beginning to flower in all their magnificent splendor. This is very symbolic, showing how exquisite beauty (emuna) blossoms particularly in an environment of dangerous thorns (the trials and tribulations of this world).
If you click on the above image, you'll get an enlarged version which you can use for wallpaper, courtesy of your friends here at the Beams and Emuna Outreach.
Today, the 10th of Teveth, is the 163rd anniversary of Rebbe Natan (Nosson) of Breslev's passing from this world. Rebbe Natan is dear to us beyond words. My editorial this week at BreslovWorld is about him, and there're 3 other fantastic articles about him there written by Rebbetzin Debbie Shapiro.
Here at the Beams, we're commemorating Rebbe Natan's Yahrtzeit with some photos we took in Breslev, Ukraine this past summer.
Photo 1: Rebbe Natan's Gravesite
Photo 2: View of the Ukranian countryside from Rebbe Natan's gravesite
Photo 3: The River Bugg, here Rebbe Natan would pour his heart out in personal prayer
Photo 4: Lazer praying at Rebbe Natan's gravesite
Photo 5: A Breslever sunset - fire in the sky over Rebbe Natan's gravesite
Every once in a while, we like to gave the Beams a facelift. This new look is our answer to the U.S. Presidential Seal. On the left side of the banner at the top you see the Breslev flame emblem, which is made up of Hebrew letters that say "my flame." Under it is the phrase, "Shall burn until the coming of Moshiach." Together, it quotes Rebbe Nachman who said, "My flame shall burn until the coming of Moshiach." The phrase on the top is a quotation from the prophet Chabakuk who said, "And the tzaddik will live by his emuna." That's the whole ballgame, folks.
I got the idea for the new Beams appearance when I was praying at Chabakuk the Prophet's gravesite in the hills of the Upper Galilee. Chabakuk's gravesite is a very special place to pray for emuna.
Photo 1: Praying on Chabakuk's gravesite
Photo 2: Another view of Chabakuk's tomb
Photo 3: Chabakuk's gravesite from the outside
Congratulations to Eurostar for winning the Beams' humor-photo award of this past year.
By the way, don't forget to get a haircut before Succoth, and tell the barber to be careful not to chop your payis (sidelocks).
A tip of the spuddik to Akiva K from Ashdod for sending us the above photo.
Friday afternoon, 5 PM: When much of Israel is taking a nap before Shabbat, 19 year-old David from B'nai Brak has his eyes and ears glued to the Jordan-Valley border crossing and surrounding area that he and his squad are responsible for. Thanks to Hashem and the young men of the Nachal Haredi, the rest of Israel can sleep soundly.
The ambulance with the red crescent and the Palestinian license plate looks suspicious. Two Nachal Haredi soldiers motion for the driver to pull over to side of the road and to get out of the vehicle. They order the driver to open the back door. Who knows what or who is inside and what or who will jump out. There's no such thing as routine and no such thing as relaxing a muscle. Last year, a Nachal Haredi sergeant was shot in the neck and killed on such duty by a Jihad Islami assassin. In the IDF, you grow up fast. If you add emuna, Torah, and prayer to your military training, you grow up fast and strong.
This past Shabbat, I met wonderful young men, strong in body and strong in soul. Before the army, many of them were still young and vacillating, unfocused on any goal whether yeshiva or profession. In the Nachal Haredi, they become full-fledged high caliber infantrymen while benefitting from the supervision of a dedicated staff of advisory rabbis that spend loads of time with them in every stage of their training and subsequent tours of duty.
In the 3rd year of service, a Nachal Haredi soldier gets his choice of studying for matriculation, learning a trade, or studying in a yeshiva. In addition, the Nachal Haredi has a special "Machal" unit that's comprised of young men from abroad. This past Shabbat, I met a dozen such young men. Many of them told me that they left their homes in Florida and New Jersey as babies - the Nachal Haredi changed all that.
If a young man isn't sure of what he wants in life, and he's not seriously learning Torah, then in my humble opinion, the Nachal Haredi is the best place in the world - a place to grow up fast and grow up strong.
What's in that trunk? One Nachal Haredi soldier examines the trunk of a Palestinian car while his sergeant (right)covers for him. No time to relax a muscle...
Our special friend Baruch (Ken) Becker, talented Disney illustrator and the father of Nachman Emuna, has been worried about the various headlines lately: talk about relinquishing parts of Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria to the PA, tension on the Syrian border, threats from Iran, Hizbolla, and the Hamas, and the constant media barrages against the religious public in Israel. He wrote me and asked me what he can do. I told him that the only way to win all the wars is with emuna - putting all our trust in Hashem. This is a two-fold battle - strengthening ourselves, and helping to strengthen others by doing whatever we can for Jewish outreach. Baruch wrote back, "Fine, I'd like to volunteer for Emuna Outreach's recruiting office, calling people to get closer to Hashem." I didn't exactly know what Baruch meant until he sent me this:
