During the height of Roman occupation and persecution of Jews in the Land of Israel, Torah was in danger of being forgotten, for the Romans outlawed Torah learning. Poverty and deprivation prevailed among our people. Rebbe Hiyya the Great, at this most difficult time, took his wife Yehudit, his two twin sons Yehuda and Chizkiya, his two daughters and his two nephews Rav and Raba bar Bar Chana and made aliya to the Land of Israel. When he saw the terrible material and spiritual deprivation, he planted flax seeds. When he harvested the flax, he made nets to capture wild deer. He used the venison meat to feed starving orphans and used the deer hides to make parchment. On the parchment, he wrote the Five Books of Moses, which he taught to the orphans, making a single-handed revival of Torah.
No wonder that Rebbe Hiyya's two sons and two nephews became prodigious Torah scholars and righteous men of the highest caliber.
Rabbi Lazer relates the story of Rebbe Hiyya the Great from his holy gravesite in Tiberias, overlooking the Sea of Galilee.
Today's Emuna Beams podcast comes from the holy gravesite of Rebbe Meir Baal HaNess in Tiberias, where we learn the miraculous power of Rebbe Meir's emuna, something we can all tap into.
Rabbi Lazer Brody's Emuna Beams "Warm up the Winter" USA speaking tour begins in Teaneck, NJ on Sunday, evening, Feb. 16, 2020. He will be in the NYC area through Wednesday, Feb. 19, then in Los Angeles through Sunday, Feb. 23, on to Arizona through Wed., Feb. 26, then finishing the tour in Houston on Saturday night, Feb. 29 - more details coming soon, G-d willing.
Today's podcast is all about the nasty "A" word – abortion. What we say here is very politically incorrect with the contemporary liberal norms that turn what the Torah calls abominations into ideology, but I don't care because I'm not running for office and am not trying to garner votes. Hopefully, though, today's podcast will save lives; even if it saves one unborn child, it's more than worth it.
The Gemara in tractate Sanhedrin, page 37a says that anyone who causes the loss of one life is equivalent to someone who has destroyed an entire world. And conversely, anyone who saves one life is equivalent to someone who has saved an entire world...
You too can help save lives - download this podcast - it doesn't cost you a cent - and spread it far and wide. If you need urgent help in a crisis related to contemplating abortion, contact the wonderful people at Efrat.
In this special lesson for the month of Shvat, we learn about the four types of fruit that our sages speak about. They are:
1) Fruit of the field and tree - vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds
2) Fruit of the womb - our children
3) Fruit of our labors - the result of our career, trade, professional and job efforts
4) Fruit of the soul - one's emuna, prayer and Torah.
All the above four types have one very significant common denominator...
Right now, the media outlets here in Israel – right, left, center, religious, non-religious, Jewish and Arab – are all focused on one thing – President Trump's Peace Plan, what the Trump administration is calling, "Deal of the Century." Will it Work? Here is our Emuna-Beams analysis...
Are Gog and Magog really dead? Will there be a nuclear war? What about Moshiach, where does he fit in to the current-events news puzzle? What does the Noahide movement have to do with all of this? Today's podcast looks at what's happening all around us through eyes of emuna and puts contemporary affairs in their proper spiritual perspective.
I was lecturing at an IAF base, and my host - the assistant base commander - showed me where the bathroom was. When I came out, I washed my hands three times consecutively with a cup and said slowly and with intent the Asher Yatzar blessing that one says after visiting the toilet. My host looked at me wide-eyed, as if I'd suddenly sprouted peacock feathers. "Rabbi," he gasped, "you guys even make a blessing after relieving yourselves?"
We sure do! It's the best and cheapest health insurance policy anywhere. Hear this:
For your reference, The Asher Yatzar blessing and the practical Halachas of visiting the bathroom are posted here.
Who of us doesn't have difficulties or major troubles in life? We all do – that's part of the turf in this world. But today, G-d willing, we're going to look at our difficulties from a different angle. When we do, we'll see something precious that we never saw before. With Hashem's help, we're about to turn our difficulties into priceless diamonds...
Click here for the written text of the "Prayer for Turning Difficulties into Diamonds".
