Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor

Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works  with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money,  and spiritual engagement

Love Yehuda Lave

From the very confrontation with evil and from the enormous challenges that inevitably follow such painful and often harrowing encounters, we become stronger and better. Without the struggle, fleeing from the battle, seeking only the soft comfort of the couch, we will surely be content, but sadly and tragically bereft of the incredible accomplishments we were meant to achieve in our lives.

 

The Midrash (Tanchuma, Toldos 3) states, "Nimrod died on the same day as Avraham; Eisav’s death coincided with the burial Yaakov …” Similarly, Moshe died not long after Bilaam was killed in battle.  The explanation for this phenomenon is that the wicked come into this world to challenge the righteous. Only when the great tzaddik passes away, does the Rasha die as well. Yaakov was born together with Eisav so that from the beginning of his life until his passing, Yaakov would be tested by Eisav. Even in the womb, they were battling over the inheritance of the two worlds and over the firstborn rights. (Yalkut Shimoni 110).

 

Indeed, Yitzchok, in his blessing to Eisav (27:40) finally understood the cryptic truth behind the birth of his two very different twin sons. (Bereishis Rabbah 67:7) He understood the paradoxical and conflict-ridden destiny that his son, Yaakov, would be compelled to endure. But both he and Rivkah also knew that this unremitting struggle would ultimately be to the benefit of Yaakov and even to Eisav, both sons whom they loved dearly.

I’m So Glad I’m Raising My Kids in Israel. Here’s Why. By Shira Lankin Sheps

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Nefesh B'Nefesh

This article was sponsored by and produced in partnership with Nefesh B'Nefesh, which in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah, The Jewish Agency, KKL and JNF-USA is minimizing the professional, logistical and social obstacles of aliyah, and has brought over 50,000 olim from North America and the United Kingdom over the last 15 years

Back when I lived in America, I wouldn’t have called myself a helicopter parent. I would have said that I was vigilant.

I would have told you that my husband and I were “boundaried” as parents, cautious about what we’d let our two kids do. We limited sugar and screen time. We admonished our kids to “Be careful!” — probably too often.

Then we moved to Israel a year ago, and everything changed.

Since moving, I’ve come to realize that our old parenting style came with a lot of anxiety. We felt like we needed to shelter our kids as long as we could from the realities of the world.

But in Israel, a place where even children are exposed to the harsh realities of war, terrorism, violence, and hatred, the kids somehow have a greater sense of freedom, responsibility, and independence. As a new immigrant, I knew that my parenting approach would have to adjust to the cultural and practical differences of life in our new home. So I let go a little.

The first time I let my 9-year-old daughter walk to synagogue alone, we had my uncles visiting for Shabbat and they needed someone to guide them. My daughter escorted them to shul and then walked back on her own, for the first time — red-faced from the heat but wild-eyed and excited by her newfound independence. Now she walks places by herself not just on Shabbat, but all the time. She loves that she gets to explore our beautiful neighborhood independently and that my husband and I trust that she is responsible enough to use good judgment and be safe.

With my son, I started saying yes more often. He is 6 and the kind of little boy who loves nature. When we first arrived at our new home on the edge of a forest, he immediately felt drawn to the woods, intoxicated by the potential for exploration and discovery. So we let him climb trees, clamber over boulders, and observe the little animals he found. Being in Israel, I wanted him to feel drawn to the land, connected to and immersed in its ancient holiness. That desire triumphed any motherly anxiety I was holding onto.

Now he’s thriving in the outdoors in a way that was impossible in the suburban apartment complex in which we lived in New Jersey. Meanwhile, I have learned the Hebrew names for all different kinds of snails, which is vital to parenting my 6-year old.

One of the most incredible transformations I’ve seen in my children is their ability to quickly transition to speaking Hebrew. While I still struggle sometimes at the supermarket, my kids are fully immersed with Hebrew-speaking peers and teachers, and have adapted so rapidly it’s hard for me to believe. When they play, they immediately switch to Hebrew — the language of the playground.

My son is learning to read — in Hebrew before English. My daughter is learning math in Hebrew, which means neither of us can figure out what the other one is talking about when we try to do her homework together.

I received a Jewish education through college and my Hebrew is conversational at best, and peppered with way too many biblical terms that aren’t actually used in modern Hebrew. When I pick up a Jewish text to study, I need the help of a dictionary. Nefesh B’Nefesh helped us move and start our new life here, but I still can’t even contemplate trying to read a Hebrew newspaper.

My kids will have none of those issues. When they grow up, they won’t need translation to help them understand the prayerbook liturgy. The language and texts of our ancestors will be accessible in a way they never will be for me. For them, Hebrew won’t just be the language of our ancestors and our tradition, but of their daily life. That is the greatest gift.

I always will be an American living in Israel, despite my best efforts. But my children will grow up to be Israelis. Their pop-culture references, their slang, their politics — it all will be Israeli. They will have English from home that will help them navigate the world, but Hebrew will root them to this land and its people.

My children are fourth-generation descendants of Holocaust survivors. My great-grandparents never could have imagined that my children would be living the dreams of their ancestors in the Jewish state. This is their birthright, and there is no place like home.

Lava Drips into the Ocean

Lava drips over the sea cliffs in Hawaii 🌋
This epic display of nature has affectionately been known as “the cliffs of insanity”.

When magma reaches the level of the seafloor, it meets cold ocean water and quickly cools to form basaltic rock, often termed "pillow lava" due to its rounded shape. This pillow lava, along with slower-cooling magma beneath it, forms the vast majority of oceanic crust.

A 232 Year History of our fight against Islam & why it is no longer taught in our public schools...

DID YOU KNOW?

 

When Thomas Jefferson saw there was no negotiating with Muslims, he formed what is now the Marines (sea going soldiers). These Marines were attached to U. S. Merchant vessels. When the Muslims attacked U.S. merchant vessels they were repulsed by armed soldiers, but there is more.

The Marines followed the Muslims back to their villages and killed everyone in the village.

It didn't take long for the Muslims to leave U.S. Merchant vessels alone.

English and French merchant vessels started running up our flag when entering the Mediterranean to secure safe travel.

Why the Marine Hymn contains the verse, "To the Shores of Tripoli ".

This is very interesting and a must read piece of our history. It points out where we may be heading.

Most Americans are unaware of the fact that over two hundred years ago the United States had declared war on Islam, and Thomas Jefferson led the charge!

At the height of the 18th century, Muslim pirates (the "Barbary Pirates") were the terror of the Mediterranean and a large area of the North Atlantic .

They attacked every ship in sight, and held the crews for exorbitant ransoms. Those taken hostage were subjected to barbaric treatment and wrote heart-breaking letters home, begging their governments and families to pay whatever their Mohammedan captors demanded.

These extortionists of the high seas represented the North African Islamic nations of Tripoli, Tunis , Morocco , and Algiers - collectively referred to as the Barbary Coast - and presented a dangerous and unprovoked threat to the new American Republic .

Before the Revolutionary War, U.S. merchant ships had been under the protection of Great Britain . When the U.S. declared its independence and entered into war, the ships of the United States were protected by France.

However, once the war was won, America had to protect its own fleets.

Thus, the birth of the U.S. Navy. Beginning in 1784, 17 years before he would become president, Thomas Jefferson became America's Minister to France. That same year, the U.S. Congress sought to appease its Muslim adversaries by following in the footsteps of European nations who paid bribes to the Barbary States rather than engaging them in war.

In July of 1785, Algerian pirates captured American ships, and the Dye of Algiers demanded an unheard-of ransom of $60,000. It was a plain and simple case of extortion, and Thomas Jefferson was vehemently opposed to any further payments.

Instead, he proposed to Congress the formation of a coalition of allied nations who together could force the Islamic states into peace. A disinterested Congress decided to pay the ransom.

In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoli's ambassador to Great Britain to ask by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens, and why Muslims held so much hostility towards America, a nation with which they had no previous contacts.

The two future presidents reported that Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja had answered that Islam "was founded on the Laws of their Prophet, that it was written in their Quran that all nations who would not acknowledge their authority were sinners, that it was their right and duty to make war upon them wherever they could be found, and to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Musselman (Muslim) who should be slain in battle was sure to go to Paradise."

Despite this stunning admission of premeditated violence on non-Muslim nations, as well as the objections of many notable American leaders, including George Washington, who warned that caving in was both wrong and would only further embolden the enemy, for the following fifteen years, the u\American government paid the Muslims millions of dollars for the safe passage of American ships or the return of American hostages.

The payments in ransom and tribute amounted to over 20 percent of the United States government annual revenues in 1800.

Jefferson was disgusted. Shortly after his being sworn in as the third President of the United States in 1801, the Pasha of Tripoli sent him a note demanding the immediate payment of $225,000 plus $25,000 a year for every year forthcoming.

That changed everything.

Jefferson let the Pasha know, in no uncertain terms, what he could do with his demand. The Pasha responded by cutting down the flagpole at the American consulate and declared war on the United States.

Tunis, Morocco, and Algiers immediately followed suit.

Jefferson, until now, had been against America raising a naval force for anything beyond coastal defense, but, having watched his nation be cowed by Islamic thuggery for long enough, decided that it was finally time to meet force with force.

He dispatched a squadron of frigates to the Mediterranean and taught the Muslim nations of the Barbary Coast a lesson he hoped they would never forget. Congress authorized Jefferson to empower U.S. ships to seize all vessels and goods of the Pasha of Tripoli and to "cause to be done all other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war would justify".

When Algiers and Tunis, who were both accustomed to American cowardice and acquiescence, saw the newly independent United States had both the will and the right to strike back, they quickly abandoned their allegiance to Tripoli.

The war with Tripoli lasted for four more years, and raged up again in 1815. The bravery of the U.S. Marine Corps in these wars led to the line "to the shores of Tripoli" in the Marine Hymn, and they would forever be known as "leathernecks" for the leather collars of their uniforms, designed to prevent their heads from being cut off by the Muslim scimitars when boarding enemy ships.

Islam, and what its Barbary followers justified doing in the name of their prophet and their god, disturbed Jefferson quite deeply.

America had a tradition of religious tolerance. In fact Jefferson, himself, had co-authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, but fundamentalist Islam was like no other religion the world had ever seen.

A religion based on supremacy, whose holy book not only condoned but mandated violence against unbelievers, was unacceptable to him.

His greatest fear was that someday this brand of Islam would return and pose an even greater threat to the United States .

This should concern every American. That Muslims have brought about women-only classes and swimming times in America at taxpayer-funded universities and public pools; that Christians, Jews, and Hindus have been banned from serving on juries where Muslim defendants are being judged; Piggy banks and Porky Pig tissue dispensers have been banned from workplaces because they offend Islamist sensibilities; ice cream has been discontinued at certain Burger King locations because the picture on the wrapper looks similar to the Arabic script for Allah; public schools are pulling pork from their menus; on and on and on and on..

It's death by a thousand cuts, or inch-by-inch as some refer to it, and most Americans have no idea that this battle is being waged every day across America. By not fighting back, by allowing groups to obfuscate what is really happening, and not insisting that the Islamists adapt to our culture, the United States is cutting its own throat with a politically correct knife and helping to further the Islamists' agenda.

Sadly, it appears that today America's leaders would rather be politically correct than victorious!

Via. Article One Section One

See you tomorrow bli neder and Happy Chanukah

Love Yehuda Lave

Rabbi Yehuda Lave

PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202

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