Lazer Beams

A Signed Check by Rebbe Eliezer the Great

We've heard quite a bit recently about the dangers the people of Israel face. Rav Shalom Arush told us to turn to Hashem with more emuna and prayer, for there's no other solution than raising our voice to Heaven.

One of the greatest of our Tannaim (Mishnaic sages, 1st - 2nd Century CE) was Rebbe Eliezer the son of Horkonus, or Eliezer the Great. Rebbe Eliezer promises: "Anyone who engrosses himself in Pereq Shira every day - I bear witness that he is destined for the World-to-Come, and is delivered from calamity, and from the Evil Inclination, and from severe judgment, and from the Satan, and from all types of evil and destruction..." (introduction, Perek Shira).

What could be a better signed check than being delivered from all calamity, Evil Inclination, and destruction? Who can give you a better life and homeowner's policy for 10-12 minutes a day?

Emuna Outreach and the Beams are pleased to take away anybody's excuse that they don't have Perek Shira; here are our free downloads, which also include the Tikkun Klali:

Perek Shira in Hebrew

Perek Shira in English

This week's Torah portion is Metzora, and all though the Shabbat HaGadol is officially next week, the day before Pesach, your local rabbis will be giving special sermons about Pesach this coming Shabbat.

Have a wonderful Shabbat and G-d bless always. Here's Beamin' atcha...

Learning Morals from an Ant

Go to the ant, sluggard; see its ways and become wise. (Proverbs 6:6) [Perek Shira, Chapter 6]

Let's view an example of nature's classroom, the divine wisdom within each creation. Look at an anthill. Ants teach us three main lessons - honesty, faith, and diligence. Observe closely, and you'll see why.

Ants are invertebrates - they don't have a spine. Most invertebrates overheat and dehydrate in full sunlight; therefore, most of their activity above ground level is either in early morning, in late evening, or in full shade. If an ant tells a lie, his peers execute him immediately.

In bright sunlight, we don't see any ants crawling around. If we were to cast a shadow over the mound, a leader ant would peek his head out of the main entrance and walk around freely in the shade. Then, he'd return to the edge of the hole to call his buddies to come outside and join him. Meanwhile, if we were to remove the object that cast the shadow, and the emerging ants would not find shade, they'd kill the leader ant for lying to them. Ants don't tolerate the slightest form of dishonesty.

An ant lives for approximately six months, yet a grain and a half of wheat is sufficient food for its entire lifetime. If we were to dig down to the central warehouses of the anthill, we'd find about three hundred grains per ant. Each ant gathers enough food for two hundred years!

An ant never stops working, because he has faith that The Almighty will grant him a lengthy life. An ant never steals nor covets. The moment he takes a bite from a grain, the grain acquires the unique odor of its owner's saliva. No other ant will dare touch the grain of a comrade. So, by observing ants, we learn about honesty, diligence, and faith.

Shouldn't we demand from ourselves the minimal moral standards of an ant?

The Horse's Song

The following is an excerpt from Chapter 5 of Perek Shira, the Song of Creation.

The Horse says: "Behold, as the eyes of the servants to their master's hand, as the eyes of a maid to her mistress's hand, so are our eyes to Hashem our God until He will favor us." (Psalms 123:2)

I always wondered why the horse sings the above particular passage from the Book of Psalms. I asked the question to a pair of work horses in the Ukraine, and received a remarkable answer.

As you can see for yourself, Svetlana, the mare on the right, is telling me what I need to know. She explained that one can learn the proper way to serve Hashem from a horse, just as a loyal servant serves a benevolent master or a devoted maid serves her mistress. Ludmilla, the mare on the left closer to me, mentioned 4 important points that elaborate on what Svetlana said:

1. A horse never bites the hand that feeds it; if you ever give a horse an apple, some sugar cubes, or a handful of grain, don't be afraid - the horse won't bite. So, when a human goes against Hashem's will, after Hashem feeds him/her and clothes him/her, that human is on a lower spiritual level than a horse.

2. A horse never kicks the person than feeds it or waters it. Denying Hashem and/or His Torah, or complaining about what Hashem does or how He runs the world, is tanatamount to kicking. Once again, such a person is spiritually inferior to a horse.

3. A loyal workhorse never tries to kick off its master's yoke. A human that rebels against the yoke of Torah and Divine service can learn from a horse. Horses don't need analysts and Zoloft; neither do people that happily accept the yoke of Torah and servitude to Hashem. Those who refuse to serve Hashem end up being slaves to their own evil inclinations.

4. Horses become jittery at the site of uncovered flesh. Notice that equestrians always wear riding clothes that include long trousers. An immodest person wearing a midriff or shorts that walks past a horse is risking a nasty bite. Camels and donkeys are even more sensitive to modesty than horses, so don't say you weren't forewarned. If a horse is sensitive to tznius (modesty), we certainly should be.

Above image: Lazer with one of the locals in Yanov, Ukraine, riding down a 200-year-old cobblestone street. If that street could only talk...

Image below: Ukranian hayride with a local peasant of Gypsy descent.

You can learn quite a bit from horses, and from everything else in Hashem's world.

Would you like to read Perek Shira or perhaps begin reciting it? What, you don't have a copy? Thanks to Emuna Outreach, you no longer have to be without Perek Shira and Tikkun HaKlali. Here's a surprise gift download:

Free English Yalkut (Tikkun Klali/Perek Shira) download here .

Free Hebrew Yalkut (Tikkun Klali/Perek Shira) download here .

Courtesy of the Beams and Emuna Outreach. You can thank Hashem and Nachman Emuna:

Emuna News Analysis: Wake up, Israel - it's time for action

Jets overhead: For months, the skies over Ashdod have maintained a relative level of quiet. But, with yesterday's rocket barrage on the south of Israel, we once again hear those F-16 engines screeching overhead. With two airforce bases in the vicinity, and a thirty-three second flight time from Ashdod to the north of Gaza, or Qassam country (not long ago it was hothouse country - you're welcome to join us in shedding a tear or two), a jet starts making a decent on a bomb run as it flies over our neighborhood. But, in typical government fashion of poor decisions, when they should hit, they don't, and when they should refrain, they make ridiculous macho strikes. Such is the story of an anti-emuna regime.

Anti-emuna insanity: Where there's no emuna, right is wrong and wrong is right. The State Comptroller has always been a faithful watchdog. But, since Mr. Lindenstrauss, the current SC, has been calling for a criminal probe against the Prime Minister, the PM's office is now discrediting the SC. With the president, the PM, the finance minister, and many others in the current regime blemished, the country's moral strength is sorely weakened. That brings us to the next point:

Israeli Deterrence lowest ever: The Torah teaches that if the name of Hashem emanates from a person, in other words, if he or she has an aura of holiness, then others fear them. Encouraged by Hizbulla's success last year and the Ollie regime's lack of strength due to ethical and moral corruption and decay, Hamas is adopting the Hizbulla model, gun-running and hoarding weapons by the tons, and preparing to turn the south of Israel into a potential nightmare, G-d forbid. I'm not the only one saying so, either.

Israel in Grave Danger: Secular Israelis are disgusted with the country. Without emuna, one can't possibly find happiness here. Everyone knows that the pipedream of turning Israel into a cheap man's Monte Carlo has died an unsightly death. Even so, the threat of another Impurade and more public moral decadence is imminent, with government backing. To save his skin, the PM will try to placate that tacit-ruling leftist oligarchy, a nasty group of backroom cigar-smokers that pull the strings, and forfeit more cherished land and settlements of Eretz Yisrael, G-d forbid. Just ask Condi, Abu Mazen, and King Abdulla. We have no one to lean on but Hashem.

I don't want to scare anyone, nor do I want to play the type of scare tactics game that some people use to encourage others to repent, for true tshuva is a matter of joyful free choice and loving commitment. Yet, there is no logical solution to the problems of corruption, security, and poverty that we face. We need more tshuva, emuna, and prayer - pronto!

In light of this emergency situation, Emuna Outreach is breaking out its big guns. We're now giving free spiritual weapons to anyone that asks. Below, you'll find links to download a Hebrew and/or English ebook version of your personal spiritual weapons pouch, including Tikkun Klali and Perek Shira. There is also an introductory essay explaining the power of these prayers.

If you love Israel, and you're concerned about its future, join me in saying Perek Shira and Tikkun Klali, or either one if you don't have time, for the welfare of Israel. These prayers have saved people from terminal diseases; we need them to arouse Divine compassion to save our country.

Free English Yalkut (Tikkun Klali/Perek Shira) download here .

Free Hebrew Yalkut (Tikkun Klali/Perek Shira) download here .

Courtesy of the Beams and Emuna Outreach. You can thank Hashem and Nachman Emuna:

The Song of the Sun

The above photo shows the million-degree gases on the sun's surface. The distance from the left side of the photo to the right side is 75,000 miles.

In Perek Shira, The Song of the Universe attributed to King David, we learn how each creation - mineral, plant, and animal - sings praises to Hashem. The sun sings, "The sun (covered by) the moon stands in its abode; they proceed by the light of Your arrows and by the flash of Your glittering spear" (Habakuk 3:11).

The Gemorra in tractate Yoma 20a says that the reason the night is so much quieter than the day is because we don't hear the noise that the sun is making.

185,000 Assyrian officers died when they tried to capture Jerusalem in the days of King Hezekia (See Kings II, chapters 18-19 for the whole exciting story, and especially Kings II, 19:35). The Gemorra tells us that Hashem killed them by letting them hear the singing of the angels, but a different account in the Midrash says that Hashem killed them by letting them hear the sun sing its song as it traverses the heavens.

King David, Habbakuk, Isaiah, and the rest of the Jewish people have known that the sun sings its song for over 2800 years. Now, scientists are excitedly proclaiming "Eureka!" for they've recently discovered that the sun sings a distinct song.

Scientists' findings were presented last week week at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Lancashire, England, revealing that the looping magnetic fields along the Sun's outer regions, called the corona, carry magnetic sound waves in a similar manner to musical instruments such as guitars or pipe organs. As a special to Beams readers, you can hear the sun's song here, courtesy of Stanford University.

above photo: Solar Loops

According to scientists, here's how the music is played: The magnetic loops of the sun act like guitar strings. In the cosmic equivalent of a guitar pick, so-called microflares at the base of loops (see above photo, cortesy of NASA) could be plucking the magnetic loops and setting the sound waves in motion.

At any rate, we simple folks of simple emuna don't have to wait for thousands of years until the scientists come out of the boondocks and tell us that the Torah is true.

Like the ol' gospel song says, "Gimme that ol' time religion... it was good enough for Moses, and it's good enough for me!"

If King David, the Gemorra, the Arizal, the Baal Shem Tov, and Rebbe Nachman of Breslev all tell me that each creation has its song, and the holy Tanna Rebbe Eliezer says that a person can work miracles by saying those songs, then believe it's true.

A bright Beam blessing to Nora Fernandez for her contribution to this post.

Talking about Perek Shira, Emuna Outreach has a big surprise for our readers in tomorrow's (Thursday, 26 Apr) Beams

Pereq Shira

Emuna Outreach and Lazer Beams invite you to spend a beautiful 4-and-a-half minutes right here, enjoying a glimpse of how all of creation praises Hashem. Be careful, because this film clip is just like eating potato chips - once isn't enough. Enjoy.

If for some reason you can't see the above high-resolution film, then click here for the web-quality version.

Despair meets Faith

Despair met Faith while waiting in line the Ashdod post office. Despair was mailing off a stack of protest letters, while Faith was mailing a stack of Perek Shira booklets. Here's the gist of their conversation:

Faith (with a big smile): Shalom, Despair! How are you feeling?

Despair: Don't ask. We've been sold down the river by our own "leaders". The good people are in jail. Nothing's going right. Nobody cares. It's all over – no more Gush Katif, no more Shomron, pretty soon, no more anything…

Faith: Stop talking like that silly! Hashem can cancel the entire evil decree in another minute.

Despair: I don't want to hear about Hashem. He's forgotten us completely.

Faith: Hashem doesn't forget an ameba, much less a human. Hashem loves each and every one of his creations. He calls Israel the "Holy Land" and calls us the "chosen people". If Hashem worries about the needs of every little worm and mosquito, he certainly concerns himself with the plight of his chosen children in the Holy Land.

Despair: Oh yeh, then what's Hashem doing about disengagement? What's He doing about Sharon, the government, the corruption, the police brutality?… He doesn't care about us any more…

Faith: The very first tenet of our faith is that Hashem is the Creator and ruler of the world, who did, does, and will do every action. All those things you're angry with are nothing but scalpels in Hashem's loving hands, and all for our ultimate good. Sometimes, a doctor has to make an incision in the patient's flesh to save the patient, but that certainly doesn't mean that the doctor doesn't care about the patient; on the contrary! The doctor is the epitome of compassion; he deals in healing people!

Despair: Hashem's not interested in healing us. I haven't seen him make any house calls lately.

Faith: That's because you don't open your eyes. He's massaging your heart and operating your brain this very second. He's even creating the microorganisms that are helping digest the food in your belly this very minute. Hashem's not only interested in helping and healing each and every one of us, He created us in order to bestow his compassion and lovingkindness on us! What looks to you like an impending disaster will turn out to be the redemption of our people. Gush Katif is only a small part in a big puzzle that's designed to prepare us for a life of bliss in the Eretz Yisroel of Moshiach and Beis Hamikdash. Before every birth comes excruciating labor pains. We just have to pray that Hashem gives us the strength and wisdom to hang on to our faith, no matter what!

Despair: I've got no desire nor strength to pray. I'm burnt out. Besides, I don't belong to a synagogue and don't know how to pray.

Faith: You don't need to "know how", and you don't need a synagogue. Find some quiet place and begin talking to Hashem like you would a loving parent. Ask Hashem to teach you how to pray, to put the right words in your mouth. You'll accomplish a lot more talking to Hashem than you will passing out your protest leaflets. Give it a try – Hashem's waiting for you.

Despair (sneaks a peek at the pretty embossed pamphlets in Faith's shopping bag): Hey, what are those pamphlets? The pictures of the sunsets and the animals are really eye-catching.

Faith: These are "Perek Shira" pamphlets. Perek Shira is the ancient prayer telling how all of creation sings its daily song to Hashem. It's really soothing for the soul, and invokes Divine mercy and blessings.

Despair: Can I have one of those?

Faith: My pleasure. Try reciting Perek Shira – it will open up a whole new life for you…

Postal Clerk (to Faith): It's your turn, ma'am.

Despair (out the door, waving behind him, while throwing the packet of protest letters in a nearby waste can): See ya, Faith. I'm gonna give this a try!

Faith (waves back at Despair): G-d bless, chabibi! (turning to Postal Clerk): Can you give me a bulk airmail rate for 1500 pamphlets to America? By the way, sir - do you say Perek Shira? Here (gives the clerk a pamphlet); say this every day for 40 days straight, and you'll probably see some miracles in your life.

Postal Clerk: Like a raise in salary, a new apartment, and a new baby maybe?

Faith: Our father in Heaven is a zillionaire; for Him, all that stuff is small change. He just wants to hear your voice...

**********

Hashem is waiting to hear your voice, too. If you're not saying Perek Shira already, now's a good time to start. You can download Perek Shira from the upper right hand bar of this site.

 

Deer are very spiritual. They sing to Hashem (see Perek Shira), ..."I will sing of Your might, and rejoice towards morning in Your kindness, for You have been a stronghold to me, and a refuge in the day of my distress (Psalms 59:17)," for Hashem constantly saves the deer from the ferocious wolves and bears of the forest. By no random coincidence, Eretz Yisroel is called "Eretz HaTzvi", or "land of the deer". Our power is in our prayer, not in our biceps.

Stars of the Perek Shira show

Sally, whose Perek Shira ascends to the heavens daily from the beautiful hills of Oregon, writes that she's become much more aware of the beautiful world around her since she started saying Perek Shira. As a token of appreciation, she forwarded some delightful photos of our animal friends, the stars of Perek Shira:

Photo 1: Staff photographer

Photo 2: Smiling goat

Photo 3: Flower frog - "Hang in there, pal!"

Photo 4: Duckling discrimination

Photo 5: "You don't scare me, buddy!"

Photo 6: Birds praising Hashem

Photo 7: The Narrow Bridge

Photo 8: Civil disobedient dog

Thanks again Sally, and may Hashem always put a smile on your face, like you have on ours.

Today's a perfect day to begin saying Perek Shira, if you haven't already joined the special people around the world who are saying Perek Shira for 40 consecutive days in behalf of the families of Gush Katif.

Song of the Universe - The Lightning's Song

.(ברקים אומרים. ברקים למטר עשה מוצא רוח מאוצרותיו (תהלים קלה, ז

The lightning says: "The Almighty makes lightning to bring the rain; He brings forth the wind from His treasuries (Psalms 135:7)."

Now you know what the lightning calls out in the heavens when we hear its awesome reverberation down here on earth. Rebbe Nachman explains, elaborating on a Talmudic passage, that the lightning is designed to straighten out the crookedness of our hearts.

Song of the Universe - Part 2: The Frog

This is the time of year when winter yields to life's springtime reawakening. The evening breeze, especially in the country, is accented with the melodic sounds of frogs in the distance. Did you ever wonder what they're saying? Here's your answer:

image courtesy of artscroll.com