יום שישי י"ט באדר ב תשפ"ד 29/03/2024
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  • The Mission Continues

    As in the past so it remains today - we were and still are under the selfsame commitment to adhere to the directions of the Gedolei Yisrael, who stand guard against breaches of purity threatening our camp. When we were required to ask – we asked. When we were instructed to depart – we left. The moment we are summoned back to raise the flag, every other consideration is pushed to the side and we answer: We are ready!

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בראי היום

  • Harav Yisrael Friedman zy”a, the Rebbe of Husyatin

    מוטי, ויקיפדיה העברית

    The ancestral chain of Harav Yisrael Friedman, the founder of the Husyatin chassidic court, originates with the holy Baal Shem Tov. The Husyatin chassidus has its roots in Galicia and eventually came to Tel Aviv, during the turbulent years between the two World Wars.

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Place

  • Maccabi'im Gravesite

    In honour of Chanukah, we will discuss a fascinating, ongoing investigation attempting to establish the place of burial of Mattisyahu Kohen Gadol and his family.

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In Weekly Parsha

The Final Test

“...and you (Avraham) will be a blessing.” (12:2) Rashi tells us that in this verse we learn out the construction of Shmoneh Esrey. Each of the Avos is mentioned in the first blessing of Shmoneh Esrey, but the blessing concludes by only mentioning Avraham (“Magen Avraham, the shield of Abraham”).

Yosef Tropper 30/10/2009 09:58
Reb Shimon Shkop points out a homiletical rendition based upon the words of Rashi, “בך חותמים, with you (Avraham) they will conclude (the first blessing)”. He reads it to mean, “with you Avraham, the end of days will revolve”. He explains that Avraham was a lone Jew who stood up for what was right despite worldwide opposition. He did not care that the world was caught up in denial of Hashem, he stood firmly by what he knew to be the only logical truth. From his dedication emerged Hashem’s chosen nation.

So too, concludes Reb Shimon, in the end of days, the concluding challenge that we will face will be this same scenario. The world is filled with a collective voice of denial of Hashem. The world states even more strongly that we just don’t care about any values whatsoever! But our job is to emulate our forefather and gain from him inspiration to stay strong. This is what it means “בך חותמים, we will conclude with you (Avraham)”, your attribute (of unrelenting faithfulness) will be the solution for getting past the final test.

It is very fascination that in the Hebrew alphabet the three letters of the word אמת, truth, are place precisely at the beginning, middle and end of the 22 letters.א is the first letter, מis the middle and ת is the last. Truth is all encompassing.
I believe that the hint is that the ultimate אמת, truth, was expressed and will be expressed only 3 times on the history of the world.

The first letter of Emes, א, corresponds to the beginning of the creation of the world. Adam saw the Master of the world most clearly and undeniably. Time went on and many people were distracted from this truth. Next, came the middle of the 6000 year world span. מ stands for מתן תורה, the giving of the Torah at Sinai. The world saw and shook as Hashem appeared with undisputable clarity. The final stage is the letterת , all the way at the end of time, when Hashem will finally reign as Mashiach comes. This is the time that we are approaching.

I add to this that the three letters directly proceeding the last letter of the alphabet (the ת which represents Mashiach) are ק, ר, ש. They spell שקר, falsehood. This hints that the strongest lies and confusion will be present at the end of time, before Hashem reveals Himself once and for all (See Sanhedrin 97a, Sar Meyra...).

This is the time that we must learn from Avraham and dedicate ourselves to the true service of Hashem. We will be a light and inspiration for the rest of the world!

Yosef Tropper
closetotorah.com