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6. are permitted to wash their hands for the purposes of performing the Mitzvah of in the afternoon (there is no during morning prayers just like in the house of a mourner), since this is not washing for personal benefit but rather for the purpose of the Mitzvah. 7. -One is forbidden from anointing themselves on . This includes moisturizers, lotions, soaps, fragrances, makeup, etc. It is not only forbidden to anoint ones whole body, but even anointing one limb is prohibited. One may use unscented deodorant to prevent from sweating since this is not anointing. Cosmetics used to heal infections, boils, warts, or other already existing skin problems are permitted. (" ' ' ) " 8. - It is forbidden for husband and wife to have relations on . According to many it is proper for husband and wife to be stringent and follow all of the just as it would be if a woman was , such as separating the beds, not touching, and even avoiding passing objects from hand to hand. ( ) . However, writes that this is an extra stringency and that one may pass objects from hand to hand and does not need to be careful from avoiding normal contact with their spouse. (It is still proper to avoid touching in areas that would normally be covered as well as hugging and kissing which is forbidden during by the )." 9. - One is forbidden from engaging in their normal learning of Torah on . However, one may study topics of sadness, such as the story of
which retells the horror of the destruction of the Temple or certain prophecies from the book of which discuss the anguish of the destruction of Jerusalem. One may also learn about the laws of mourning and select passages from the which discuss the destruction of the Temple. (That being said, one who will sit passive if they cant learn what they desire should indeed learn rather than toil in things that are not in keeping with the solemn nature of the day.) 10. - One who normally sleeps with two pillows should try to sleep with one less pillow to make himself a little more uncomfortable. 11. Sephardic custom is to sit on the floor starting from through midday of , similar to the way a mourner sits on the floor for seven days. 12. One should not greet his fellow man on ; if one desires to greet their friend it is customary to give a solemn greeting and to say, " " - May you merit in the comforting of Zion. 13. One should avoid working on the day of , as our Rabbis teach us, " ' " - One who works on the day of Tisha BeAv does not see blessing [from this work] forever. ( ): ' However, in a place where it is customary to work on this day it is permitted. (" ' ' ' ): " ' ' Still, a person should try to limit the amount of work he does, since according to law we
try to limit the amount of work done even during the nine days from to .
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THIS SPECIAL BULLETIN IS DEDICATED IN HONOR OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES BY THE MEMBERS OF THE ILEAD PROGRAM 2011
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At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land. They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They gave Moses this account: We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit.
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But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.
basically undid all that they originally said. That is the point of their sin. However, we can ask ultimately, they did use the phrase , which means that the land of Israel is a place of flowing honey. Why is that inherently bad? The Maharsha in Masechet Baba Batra gives us a new light as to the sin of the spies which has a tremendous lesson for us today. The Gemara there says: ": " ): , ( This Gemara teaches us that one cannot take out of the land of Israel food that life is dependent on. For example, one cannot take out wheat or barely, wines or oils from the land of Israel, for fear of minimizing the vital produce of Israel for its inhabitants. It is on this point that the Maharsha explains: . " ' ' " ' The Maharsha above says (basically) that there was ill will from the spies even in saying . They were telling the people and showing them that these are the fruit of the land, grapes and pomegranates, but the vital fruit, the fruit the Gemara speaks of, the necessities of life, flour and oil, Israel does not have! This was the sin of the spies. They did not see the actual blessings of the land of Israel, and that it actually does have all that one needs to live. Indeed, the Torah in Sefer Bamidbar, after the incident of the spies, begins discussing the laws of - the pouring of wine on altar, and ,the mealoffering and , the Mitzvah to separate a part of the dough when baking bread- stressing that Israel is actually rich in these vital necessities. And so we reflect this Tisha Beab about the sin of the spies that started this long quantum- entangled day of sadness, and even start to mourn positively, showing our resilience. I have seen in the last 15 years, Tisha Beab evolving into a day where people discuss and watch videos about the Bet Hamikdash, and how it was a beacon of light for the entire world. As the day winds down, there is a sense of hope and optimism. We begin singing the end of Minha in the tunes of the High Holidays, in anticipation of these great days ahead. We are moving ever closer to Tishba BeAb becoming a Yom Tob and a day of
The LORD said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honeythe home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Here, we see the term used right next to the term, . We expect Yehoshua in the blessing of in the Birkat Hamazon to include that phrase also. However, he does not. Why? Because the spies used the term negatively, Yehoshua could not use that term in the blessing. Third, when looking at the verses above, most commentators say that once the spies used the term however, they
happiness. Beezrat Hashem, we continue to move in this direction, leading the world in morality and spirituality, ushering a time when we have the financial and political power to build the third temple. We must continue our work- on ourselves and on our community, Amen.
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...
By: Rabbi David Tawil
One of the more famous ,lamentations, which we read on the day of , contrasts the glory and miraculous nature of the exodus from Egypt with the devastation and gloom of the destruction of Jerusalem and the subsequent exile to Babylonia. The author bases his lamentation on the , a Midrashic book which discusses many of the open miracles God performed to release the Jewish people from bondage, and uses these to make moving comparisons with the exile of the first Temple.
"" ' -- . -- The appearance of the glory of God as a consuming fire before me-- when I went forth from Egypt; but a sharpened sword drawn for slaughter-- when I went forth from Jerusalem. "" -- . -- Rejoicing and salvation, and blast of trumpets-- when I went forth from Egypt; but the cries of infants together with the groans of the slain-- went I went forth from Jerusalem.
This lamentation hits the very core of what the day of is about; yet it is still puzzling why we wish to mention such miracles and glory days at a time of such sadness and misery? Are we trying to make ourselves feel bad about what we lost or is there an underlying message that the poet is trying to convey with these comparisons? The : recounts a story that may shed light on this quandary. The story is told about ( Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakai) who was the leader of the Jewish people during the time of the destruction of the Temple, and the rebuilder of Torah in the years following the exile from Jerusalem. One day "was traveling with his students when he witnessed a woman digging through animal excrement looking for undigested pieces of barley that she could eat. When the woman saw "approaching she covered herself and approached him: Rabbi, can you please give me something to support myself? The Rabbi answered her: The daughter of whom are you? She answered: I am the daughter of ( Nakdimon the son of Gurion). The Rabbi looked at his students and said: I remember signing this womens in which it was determined that she would be given thousands of gold coins from the house of her father in addition to what was given to her by her husband. The Rabbi then cried and exclaimed: " , - , - " , Praiseworthy is the nation of Israel-- when they are performing the will of God there is no nation in the world that can touch them; and when they are not performing the will of God, He gives them over to the hands of the lowliest nations, and not just to them but to the animals of such low people as well. The ( "Maharal) asks a similar question to that which we asked above: why at such a sad time does "praise the Jewish people? He answers that it was at this moment that "realized something astonishing about the relationship of the Jewish people towards God, and that was that the Jewish people do not live on middle ground with God. The Jewish people are either at the top of the mountain or in the bottom of the valley, but we cant be anywhere in between. As the chosen people it is our job to rise to the top of the world, the beacon of light that shines onto the other nations; at the same time, when we do not rise above others we fall to the depth, to sink to behavior lower than that of animals. This has been consistent throughout the history of the Jewish people, from slavery in Egypt, until the most recent horrors of the Holocaust, God does not settle for mediocrity. It is for this reason that the Jewish people are compared to the stars in the sky and the dust of the Earth-- we either reach the heights of the stars or the depth of the sand. This revelation in the eyes of "was worth praising and could only be recognized at a time of despair and devastation. This is the message behind the lamenters contrast between the exodus from Egypt, and the exile from Jerusalem. It strengthens this message to us that we can only be in one of two levels and nothing in between. If we internalize this message when reading this poem we can hopefully shoot ourselves to the stars and climb out of the depths in which we currently reside. " -" May we merit in the comforting of Zion.
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Night: August 8 Minha: 6:00 p.m. Stop Eating: 7:54 p.m. Arbit: 8:15 p.m. Day: August 9th First Minyan Shaharit: 7:30 a.m. H.S. Minyan: 9:00 a.m. Minha: 7:30 p.m. Fast Ends: 8:28 p.m.
th
August 12 & 13
Candle-lighting: 7:40 p.m. 92:8 : a.m. Minha: 7:10 p.m. Shabbat Ends: 8:38 p.m.
August 19 & 20
Candle-lighting: 7:31 p.m. 33:8 : a.m. Minha: 7:00 Shabbat Ends: 8:29 p.m. ***Hatarat Nedarim following Arbit