On 3 December 2024
I wrote to Ask A Rabbi Chabbad
I saw the following articles of Interest of the ingathering up to Israel
Sanhedrin calls for Crypto-Jews to return from exile - Israel365 News
Sanhedrin Announces Ruling: All Jews Worldwide Must Come Home to Israel
Immediately - Israel365 News
Sincerely
On 5 December 2024
B"H
Hello,
Thank you for sharing the links. The Sanhedrin's recent ruling calling for all Jews worldwide to return to Israel is a significant development with deep historical and spiritual resonance. It's a powerful call to action that aligns with the ancient dream of Jewish unity and the restoration of the Jewish people to their homeland. The Sanhedrin's declaration serves as a reminder of the eternal connection between the Jewish people and the land of Israel. It invites us to reflect on our own spiritual journeys and consider the role we play in the unfolding of history.
All the best,
Rabbi Dov Stein
Browse our ongoing schedule of live classes and courses -- all free at:
http://www.chabad.org/live
today 7 December 2024
I wrote back
I totally agree...Europe and other places of the world outside Israel are becoming quite hostile to Jewish persons
Only living the Torah in their lives and residing in Israel can protect them
Why On Earth Do We Need a Third Temple? - Chassidic Masters - Parshah
outside Israel
Australia
Melbourne 2024: Jews, wake up and smell the smoke!
England formerly Great Britian
Giant anti-Israel banner unfurled outside Parliament
The Oxford show trial
France
Anti-Semitic acts nearly quadrupled last year in France, says Jewish organisation
Holland
Amsterdam mayor says can't protect 'pro-Jewish protesters'
on 10 December 2024 asked Chabad Ask A RabbI
Phinehas lost his priestly dignity because he refused to save the daugther of Jeph¬ thah "But he said proudly : “ What ! I, a high priest, the son of a high priest, should humiliate myself and go to an ignoramus ! ” Is this A warning that those who pride themselves on their Torah knowledge should not withold it from teaching Torah to those Jews who were never taught to live the Torah in their daily lives?
received an answer 10 December 2024
B"H
Hello,
Yes, this story serves as a warning against pride and the withholding of Torah knowledge. Phinehas lost his high-priestly dignity due to his haughty behavior towards Jephthah. The rabbis place blame on Phinehas for not preventing Jephthah from fulfilling his misguided vow. This incident highlights the importance of sharing Torah knowledge, even with those less educated.
The Midrash teaches that both Phinehas and Jephthah were punished for their pride. Phinehas lost the divine spirit that had previously rested upon him, while Jephthah became ill and lost many of his limbs. This outcome emphasizes the severe consequences of allowing arrogance to prevent the sharing of crucial Torah knowledge.
This cautionary tale reminds us that those well-versed in Torah have a responsibility to teach and guide others, regardless of their perceived status or knowledge level. It underscores the importance of humility and the obligation to share wisdom with all Jews, especially those who may lack a strong foundation in Torah observance.
All the best,
Rabbi Dov Stein
Browse our ongoing schedule of live classes and courses -- all free at: http://www.chabad.org/live
The first judge of any importance after Gideon was Jeph¬ thah. He, too, fell short of being the ideal Jewish ruler. His father had married a woman of another tribe, an un¬ usual occurrence in a time when a woman who left her tribe was held in contempt.106 Jephthah, the offspring of this union, had to bear the consequences of his mother’s irregu¬ lar conduct. So many annoyances were put upon him that he was forced to leave his home and settle in a heathen dis¬ trict.107 At first Jephthah refused to accept the rulership which the people offered him in an assembly at Mizpah, for he had not forgotten the wrongs to which he had been subjected. In the end, however, he yielded, and placed himself at the head of the people in the war against Getal, the king of the Ammonites. At his departure, he vowed before God to sacrifice to Him whatsoever came forth out of the doors of his house to meet him when he returned a victor from the war. God was angry and said : “ So Jephthah has vowed to offer unto me the first thing that shall meet him ! If a dog were the first to meet him, would a dog be sacrificed to me ? Now shall the vow of Jephthah be visited on his first-born, on his own offspring, yea, his prayer shall be visited on his only daugther.But I assuredly shall deliver my people, not for Jephthah’s sake, but for the sake of the prayers of Israel.”
The first to meet him after his successful campaign was his daughter She'ilah. Overwhelmed by anguish, the father cried out : “ Rightly was the name She'ilah, the one who is demanded, given to thee, that thou shouldst be offered up as a sacrifice. Who shall set my heart in the balance and my soul as the weight, that I may stand and see whether that which happened to me is joy or sorrow? But because I opened my mouth to the Lord, and uttered a vow, I cannot take it back.” Then She'ilah spoke, saying : “ Why dost thou grieve for my death, since the people was delivered? Dost thou not remember what happened in the days of our forefathers, when the father offered his son as a burnt offering, and the son did not refuse, but consented gladly, and the offerer and the offered were both full of joy? There¬ fore, do as thou hast spoken. But before I die I will ask a favor of thee. Grant me that I may go with my compan¬ ions upon the mountains, sojourn among the hills, and tread upon the rocks to shed my tears and deposit there the grief for my lost youth. The trees of the field shall weep for me, and the beasts of the field mourn for me. I do not grieve for my death, nor because I have to yield up my life, but because when my father vowed his heedless vow, he did not have me in mind. I fear, therefore, that I may not be an acceptable sacrifice, and that my death shall be for nothing.” She'ilah and her companions went forth and told her case to the sages of the people, but none of them could give her any help. Then she went up to Mount Telag, where the Lord appeared to her at night, saying unto her : “ I have closed the mouth of the sages of my people in this genera* tion, that they cannot answer the daughter of Jephthah a word ; that my vow be fulfilled and nothing of what I have thought remain undone. I know her to be wiser than her father, and all the wise men, and now her soul shall be ac¬ cepted at her request, and her death shall be very precious before My face all the time.” Sheilah began to bewail her fate in these words : “ Hearken, ye mountains, to my lamen¬ tations, and ye hills, to the tears of my eyes, and ye rocks, testify to the weeping of my soul. My words will go up to heaven, and my tears will be written in the firmament. I have not been granted the joy of wedding, nor was the wreath of my betrothal completed. I have not been decked with ornaments, nor have I been scented with myrrh and with aromatic perfumes. I have not been anointed with the oil that was prepared for me. Alas, O mother, it was in vain thou didst give birth to me, the grave was destined to be my bridal chamber. The oil thou didst prepare for me will be spilled, and the white garments my mother sewed for me, the moth will eat them ; the bridal wreath my nurse wound for me will wither, and my garments in blue and purple, the worms will destroy them, and my companions will all their days lament over me. And now, ye trees, in¬ cline your branches and weep over my youth ; ye beasts of the forest, come and trample upon my virginity, for my years are cut off, and the days of my life grow old in darkness.” Her lamentations were of as little avail as her arguments with her father. In vain she sought to prove to him from the Torah that the law speaks only of animal sacrifices, never of human sacrifices. In vain she cited the example of Jacob, who had vowed to give God a tenth of all the posses¬ sions he owned, and yet did not attempt later to sacrifice one of his sons. Jephthah was inexorable. All he would yield was a respite during which his daughter might visit various scholars, who were to decide whether he was bound by his vow. According to the Torah his vow was entirely invalid. He was not even obliged to pay his daughter’s value in money. But the scholars of his time had forgotten this Halakah, and they decided that he must keep his vow. The forgetfulness of the scholars was of God, ordained as a punishment upon Jephthah for having slaughtered thousands of Ephraim. One man there was living at the time who, if he had been questioned about the case, would have been able to give a decision. This was the high priest Phinehas. But he said proudly : “ What ! I, a high priest, the son of a high priest, should humiliate myself and go to an ignoramus ! ” Jeph¬ thah on the other hand said : “ What ! I, the chief of the tribes of Israel, the first prince of the land, should humiliate myself and go to one of the rank and file ! ” So only the rivalry between Jephthah and Phinehas caused the loss of a young life. Their punishment did not miss them. Jeph¬ thah died a horrible death. Limb by limb his body was dis¬ membered. As for the high priest, the holy spirit departed from him, and he had to give up his priestly dignity."[1]
One man there was living at the time who, if he had been questioned about the case, would have been able to give a decision. This was the high priest Phinehas. But he said proudly : “ What ! I, a high priest, the son of a high priest, should humiliate myself and go to an ignoramus ! ” Jeph¬ thah on the other hand said : “ What ! I, the chief of the tribes of Israel, the first prince of the land, should humiliate myself and go to one of the rank and file ! ” So only the rivalry between Jephthah and Phinehas caused the loss of a young life. Their punishment did not miss them. Jeph¬ thah died a horrible death. Limb by limb his body was dis¬ membered. As for the high priest, the holy spirit departed from him, and he had to give up his priestly dignity. {LOuis Ginzburg "The Legends of the Jews pp.44-46]
https://archive.org/details/legendsofjew...6/mode/2up
The tale of Elisha-ben-Abuyah-The-Sage-Called-Acher
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_c...-Acher.htm
Remarks on the Shoah
Was the Holocaust a Punishment from G‑d? - Chabad.org
The Torah and Jews IN Israel and the ingathering of Jews outside of Israel
Do Orthodox Jews support Israel? – Israel Advocacy Movement
Is it true that the Torah forbids a Jewish State? – Israel Advocacy Movement
Three Oaths – Does the Talmud forbid a Jewish State? – Israel Advocacy Movement
Before Zionism did orthodox rabbis forbid living in Israel? – Israel Advocacy Movement
