Conference taveng::bagels

On Friday, telephone squads in Boston and elsewhere relayed Rav Schach's
request to light candles ten minutes early.

I believe the fast called for tomorrow (Yom Kippur Katan) is worldwide.
It's received the support of rabbis across the spectrum of the Boston-area
orthodox community.

    Along with the Friday phone call to light candles ten minutes early
    came a request to say Psalms 79 and 83.  These are now being said after
    Shachrit (morning service) and between Mincha and Maariv (afternoon and
    evening services).
    
    Maybe all Bagelers could find some time on the 15th to say these
    Psalms.
    
    I don't have a translation with me, but maybe someone could put it into
    this note to make it easier for those not near a Psalmster.
    
    Av 

    
    
    Psalm 79
    
    A psalm of Assaf. O G-d, nations are come into Your inheritance;
    Your holy Temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem in
    heaps. 
    The dead bodies of Your servants they have given to be meat unto 
    the fowls of the heaven, the flesh of Your righteous unto the
    beasts of the earth.
    Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and
    there was none to bury them.
    We are become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision 
    to them that are round about us.
    How long, O L-rd? Will You be angry forever? Will Your jealosy
    burn like fire?
    Pour out your wrath upon those who know You not, and upon the
    kingdoms that have not called Your name.
    For they have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling place.
    Remember not against us our former iniquities; let Your tender 
    mercies speedily prevent us; for we are brought very low.
    Help us, O G-d of our salvation, for the glory of Your name;
    deliver us, and purge away our sins for Your name's sake.
    Why should the nations say, where is their G-d? Let Him be known
    among the nations in our sight by the revenging of the blood of your
    servants which is shed.
    Let the sighing of the prisoner come before you; according to the
    greatness of Your power preserve those who are appointed to die.
    And render unto our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom their
    reproach, which they have reproached You, O L-rd.
    So we, Your people and sheep of your pasture will give You thanks 
    forever; for all generations will we proclaim Your praise. 
    
    
    Psalm 83
    
    A song, a psalm of Assaf.
    Keep not Your silence, O G-d; hold not Your peace, and be not still,
    O G-d.
    For lo, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have 
    lifted up their heads.
    They take crafty counsel against Your people and consult against 
    Your hidden ones.
    They have said, come, let us cut them off from being a nation; that 
    the name of Israel will be no more remembered.
    For they have consulted together with one consent; they are confederate
    against You.
    The tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagarenes.
    Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre.
    Assyria is also joined with them; they have become the arm of the 
    children of Lot. Selah.
    Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Yavin at the
    brook of Kishon --
    which perished at Ein-dor; they became as dung for the earth.
    Make their nobels like Orev, and like Zeev; all their princes as Zevah
    and Tzalmona --
    who said, let us take to ourselves the houses of G-d in possession.
    O my G-d, make them like chaff; as the stubble before the wind.
    As a fire burns the forest, as a flame sets mountains on fire --
    so pursue them with Your storm, and startle them with Your tempest.
    Fill their faces with shame; that they might seek your name, O L-rd.
    Let them be confounded and troubled; let them be put to shame and
    perish.
    That all will know that You alone, whose name is G-d, are above all
    the earth.

    We pray for the well-being and preservation of Israel.
    We pray for the well-being and preservation of Jews everywhere.  May
    HaShem protect all of us from the attacker.
    120,000 Vietman vets have committed suicide since that war.  We pray
    for peace that the soldiers need not fight.
    We pray for peace for the conscripts on all sides, and the hapless
    civilians caught in the middle.
    We pray for people everywhere that the terrorist targets.  May HaShem
    hold back his vicious hand, restrain the bomb, the gun, and all other
    means of murder and destruction.
    May HaShem provide guidance and inspiration for peaceful settlement to
    the nations' leaders.  May the troops return to their families in
    thanksgiving and may we, our children, and all peoples reside in peace
    in our lands.
    As HaShem softened Pharao's heart and let us finally go free, may he
    influence Saddam Hussein's heart for peace.
    We rely on you HaShem.  Beside you there is no other.  What can we do
    on our own?  We pray for wisdom and compassion, preservation and peace.
    Avert this disaster, we pray.  May G-d's name be known in glory and
    proclaimed through the world. 

    
I found the following article from scj fairly interesting.
    
Article 21121 of soc.culture.jewish:
Path: riscy.enet.dec.com!shlump.nac.dec.com!news.crl.dec.com!deccrl!bloom-beacon!mintaka!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!wuarchive!bcm!dimacs.rutgers.edu!rutgers!psuvax1!psuvm!barilvm!hank
From: [email protected] (Hank Nussbacher)
Subject: Tanach Yomi and Jan 15/16
Organization: Bar-Ilan University Computing Center, Israel

The rabbi in my shul gave a very interesting drasha this past shabbas.  Turns
out there is a book that lists all the "yomi" things - daf yomi, tanach yomi,
mishna yomi, and it lists what chapter or perek should be said each day for
those who wish to do a non-Gemara daf yomi but rather some other sefer.  I
don't know how long ago this book was compiled but it is at least a couple of
years old and the Tanach yomi stuff is at least that old if not more.

The Tanach yomi for Jan 15 and 16 is Yermiyahu, perek 50 and 51 (Jeremiah
chapters 50 and 51 for the Christians reading this forum).  These two
chapters detail the future destruction of "Bavel" - Babalon in yesteryear,
now called Iraq.  It describes in intimate detail how vast amounts of "goyim"
will amass on Bavel's borders and in the end Bavel will be so utterly
destroyed that not even an animal will be able to live there ever again.
Perek 51 compares the future destruction of Bavel to that of Sodom and Amora.

I will not attempt to give a full description of these two chapters.  I
suggest everyone read it themselves.  It is very eerie to have the reading of
these two chapters fall out on Jan 15/16.

Hank Nussbacher
Ginot Shomron
Israel

Somebody pointed out an interesting verse in Shirat Hayam (The Song at the Sea,
Exodus 14:30-15:19).  The verse is: Amar oyev erdof asig achalek shalal
timlaemo nafshi arik charbi torishemo yadi (The enemy declared: "I will pursue,
I will overtake, I will divide plunder; I will satisfy my lust with them;
I will unsheathe my sword, my hand will impoverish them.")

The first five words begin with alef, which is equivalent to elef (1000).
That's 5000 so far.  The numerical values of the initial letters of the
next four words total 751.  That's 5751, which is this year.  The next
two words, arik charbi, can be (loosely) read as "Iraq destroyed."

In the context of the Shira, we all know what happened to the Egyptians
when they pursued the Jews.

Saddam has announced that the attack on Israel was delayed for strategic
reasons, and that it's coming soon.  Although the situation so far has been
very positive, it's still important to say T'hillim for Israel's peace.

   Israeli officials are making it very clear that not only is the 
   war far from over, the danger to Israel is only "somewhat 
   diminished".  Among others, the Chief of Staff Shomron, says 
   that there is a substantial part of the Iraqi airforce that was 
   put into underground hangers before the US attack.  Also, it is 
   almost certain that there are still a number of mobile Scud 
   missile launchers hidden away in western Iraq and there is still 
   a chance that one or more missiles will be launched at Israel.

   People are still requested to remain at home and if they MUST 
   leave, they should take their gas masks and chemical warfare 
   protection kits with them.

   While there is no doubt as to the final outcome and that the real 
   physical danger to Israel was never very great, the message 
   tonight is - we're not taking any chances and it ain't over till 
   it's over.

    Re: .6
    
>The first five words begin with alef, which is equivalent to elef (1000).
>That's 5000 so far.  The numerical values of the initial letters of the
>next four words total 751.  That's 5751, which is this year.  The next
>two words, arik charbi, can be (loosely) read as "Iraq destroyed."
    
    My daughter pointed out another interesting "interpretation" for the
    last part of this verse.
    
    ARIK in the Hebrew has the same gematria (numeric value based on the
    values of each of the letters in the word) as does Shvat which is the
    current month. Hence the date can be carried one step further into the
    actual month.
    
    The word HaRBiY can be taken as a mnemonic (in the Hebrew) for
    Hussein Rotzaech (murderer in Hebrew) Bush Ynatzeach (will triumph in
    Hebrew). 	
    
    They also pointed out that if you take the first letter from each of the
    last three parshiot read from the Torah you get BUSH (Bet (Bo) Vav
    (Va'ere) Shin (Shmot)).
    
    It is also documented in some kabalistic works and memoirs from several
    former generation Torah eluminaries that the years 5750 - 5751 would be
    full of strange and miraculous events throughtout the world with Israel
    being the focal point.
    
    Cb.
    
    

    Hello.
    
    I am on duty now at home (listening to the radio for
    signals,sirens etc...) . 
    
    I just wanted to relate something interesting. on Thursday evening,
    while we were all tense (before the first attack), my wife got a
    telephone call from her mother , telling her that there is a telephone
    chain , that she is to light 3 candles , and to relate this message to
    3 other families as well, and that they should do likewise. This was
    a message that originated from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, (Chabad), 
    so we were told. 
    
    My mother has several times quoted a Yiddish saying to me that says that :-
    
    "A cup of tea and/or saying (praying) Tehilim (Psalms) can never cause
    any problem". I added lighting candles to the list, and agreed with my
    wife that it is OK to go ahead. 
    
    A couple of hours after that, at around 2 am came the missile attack.
    
    Just before Shabbat, another phone call, from the same person, 
    quoting the same source,  requesting the already known 
    procedure, but this time, an extra candle has to be lit together with
    the Shabbat candles. Since we usually light 5 (one for every household
    member), this meant 6 candles with a special prayer to be said
    while lighting the candles :-
    
    "Peace unto you, Peace on Israel. He who makes peace in the heavens, 
    etc..." It's very hard to translate exactely, and to make things more
    interesting, we received another phone call with another similar, but
    different prayer...
    
    Needless to say , we followed the instructions to the dot, even saying
    both prayers, to be on the safe side ...
    
    Sure enough, on Shabbat morning came, you guessed it, the missiles !!
    
    Coincidence ?!?!
    
    So either the candles bring the missiles, or else they save you from 
    them. I guess the latter ...
    
    Yesterday I went out and bought a big box of 72 candles.
    
    It's 2.30 AM local time, and all is calm. The radio has news bulletins, 
    some quizes for people like me, and some soft music.
    
    They have announced that Iraq has lost only 30 of its 700 plane fleet,
    and probably has still about 40 missile launchers, with hundreds of
    missiles. Most reassuring ...
    
    I guess we shall be needing an air-lift of candles in the near
    future...
    
    -moti
    
    
    
    

Moti,

We got the telephone chain call on Friday before Shabbat. 

We were told 3 candles *and* to read Psalms 103, 124 & 122. 

BTW: We have a VERy high density of Tehillim books in our sealed room.

						.... Monty

It *does* sound like Habad/Lubavitch, but I heard on the radio an
announcement that some Habad spokesman wanted everyone to know that
they are NOT behind this thing and have nothing to do with it.

Just to set the record straight...

By the way, we also got the phone call, and I'm not embarassed to 
say that we ignored it.  Lighting three extra candles every time the
missiles fall sounds like a bit of a fire hazard.  (Maybe the candle
manufacturers are behind it...).

Sid

We got the 3 candle message on Thursday evening.  My wife was a little uneasy
with it -- lighting candles, particularly *three* candles, sounded vaguely
Christian to her, so she didn't light them.  A friend who also was suspicious
called 770 (Eastern Parkway, Lubovitch HQ) and was told they knew nothing
about it.

    When going through Parshat Ha'Shavu with my son on Shabbat, we found a
    VERY interesting Rashi (Chapter 14 verse 19)

    "and the angel of G-d, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and
    went behind them .......

    Rashi translates it to mean -- "to distinguish between the Eygptian
    camp and Bnei Yisrael, and to absorb the Eygptian arrows and missiles".
    The word Rashi uses for missiles is "balistiot".  

    Just like the SCUD (ballistic) missiles are miraculously not causing
    so much damage.

    							.... Monty

            <<< TAVENG::SYS$SYSROOT:[NOTES$LIBRARY]BAGELS.NOTE;1 >>>
                -< BAGELS and other things of Jewish interest >-
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Note 1022.14          Jewish weapons against Iraqi threat.              14 of 14
TAVENG::MONTY "No more Mr. Nice"                     14 lines  28-JAN-1991 00:46
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>    Rashi translates it to mean -- "to distinguish between the Eygptian
>    camp and Bnei Yisrael, and to absorb the Eygptian arrows and missiles".
>    The word Rashi uses for missiles is "balistiot".  

    See note 989.36. 
    
    I found another chillingly accurate passage recently. The Zohar (in
    Va'yera) speaks of a war which will take place just prior to the 
    advent of the messianic era. The war involves an "Ishmaelite" (Arab)
    nation, and several "Edomite" (European) nations. The Ishmaelite
    nation, says the Zohar will be utterly decimated, and refers to a
    verse in Isaiah (34:6):
    
    	...for Bazra is the L-rd's sacrfice...
    
    The commentators explain that Bazra was a city in Moab, which was
    situated somewhere south and east of the Jordan.
    
    Coincidentally, the wire services reported last night that the Iraqi 
    city of *Basra* was suffering heavy bombing.
    
    The rest of the chapter is virtually indistinguishable from the
    New York Times report:
    
        Is. 34:9 :
    
    	And the streams thereof shall be turned to tar, and its sand
    	to pitch, and the land shall become burning pitch.
      
    	New York Times (1/29/91):
    
    	American companies specializing in oil-spill cleanups are 
    	preparing to join an international effort to help... minimize
    	the effects of the giant spill in the Persian Gulf.
    
    Even in peace-time, the "news" in newspapers is at best yesterday's.
    Certainly, one doesn't expect to see tomorrow's news today. But
    Isaiah promises exactly that (34:16) :
    
    	Seek out the book of the L-rd, and read: not one of these
    	(prophesies) shall fail...
    
    So far, he's batting .1000 .
    
    Jem