Latest Essays

• Why should I keep Shabbat?

  Jul 23, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

  Shabbat or Shabbos... we heard it so many times; some heard it since birth if they were born into a religious home, while others heard it from a friend, at a lecture, or read an article about it later in their lives. This is the only question that is asked most of the time, whether one observes Sabbath... when one is about to be hired, looking for a shidduch, or dealing with some other important matter, but what is it? Why is such importance placed on this one day of the week? There are books and books on this subject, and if you search the Internet, you'll find literally thousands of lectures on the importance of keeping Shabbat and its laws. Let's look into it closely so we can better understand it...
  
  The first time Shabbat is mentioned is when Moshe Rabbeinu received the Ten Commandments. G-d said: "Remember Shabbat day and keep it Holy". 
  
  So, what is Shabbat all about?
  
  A person is not allowed to perform the 39 melachot, or types of work, on Shabbat, according to the Mishkan's activities associated with them.
  
  The commandment of Shabbat is a sign between us and Hashem for generations to come, when one day of the week we unplug ourselves from mundane, and plug ourselves, or shall I say flood our life with holy energy of Shabbat, for one day of the week that lasts until the next week Shabbat comes around. 
  
  But I believe there's more to it, so please allow me to offer my explanation.
  
  When a woman lights the Shabbat candles, the Shabbat starts. Men go to shule for prayers, the table is set, and everyone is in a great mood. This is when the table is adorned with a beautiful tablecloth and fine silverware. The feeling of holiness is in the air. The food is extra delicious, more dishes are being brought out, and overall, it feels extra special. Kids are sitting around the table, everyone singing, talking about the words of Torah, and simply enjoying each other's company. There's a feeling of harmony, oneness, love, and camaraderie in the family. This is the time when family bonds and the ties of love among all family members become stronger.
  
  Suddenly, one member of the family gets up from the table and sits on the sofa, reaches out for the remote control and turns on the TV...and BOOM - all the magic suddenly disappears, the harsh reality of mundane sets in, the voices of the people sitting at the table become louder and louder, the situation switches from the holy to everyday and the feeling of holiness and harmony of Shabbat is no longer there.
  
  This is how Shabbat is broken. The Holy Books bring some of the harshest punishments to the one who breaks Shabbat, but why go to such extremity? Why is G-d so harsh with the one who breaks Shabbat?
  
  To answer the question above, we need to look into one incident in the Torah, and hopefully we will be able to look at this with a different set of eyes.
  
  In Sefer Bereshit, G-d created Heaven and Earth, then He created animals, trees, birds, man, and everything else to support His creation in the livable conditions. After each day of work, He said, "It Was Good," and indeed it was. Everything was simply beautiful: the sky, with birds flying around, singing and enjoying life; the land, with its animals and greenery; the oceans, with their creatures; and, above all, Adam with his wife Chava—everything in the Garden of Eden was in harmony and simply beautiful.
  
  Suddenly, the Snake comes over to Chava while Adam is away, talks her into eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, which she does, and then makes Adam do the same. And for this, everyone involved was punished. G-d cursed Adam, Chava, and a Snake with the harshest curses for breaking His word.
  
  Since Adam and Chava ate from the Tree of Knowledge, their view of the world has changed in an instant. But more than that, something else has been changed, or shall I say, broken. The efforts that G-d put into creating that perfect world, one that could coexist with its flora and fauna—its harmony and its magic—were broken, evaporated, gone, and faded.
  
  Murder, rivalry, death, hardships, competition, diseases, and more were introduced into the world. This plagues us to this day, and the whole world suffers. Turn on any media outlet, and the negative news floods the minds of millions of people daily, trying to sway them from spiritual truth and pursuits. We're drowning in the lies, and it seems that there's no way out. Go out into any social setting, and you'll see lies, slander, murder, and anything bad you can think of is done either openly or stealthily.
  
  But I believe there's more to the curse of the snake. In Bereshit 3:14 it says: "Then the LORD G-d said to the serpent, Because you did this, More cursed shall you be Than all cattle And all the wild beasts: On your belly shall you crawl And dirt shall you eat all the days of your life."
  
  In the beginning, it may seem that the snake hasn't lost much, but the Sages say the real curse was that the snake was walking like a human being in an upright position, but after the curse, it lost its limbs, thus had to crawl on its belly and eat the dust, which is plentiful and all around it. He also lost the ability to pray or be heard by G-d; this ability has been taken away from him, no matter the situation he may be in.
  
  When a person breaks Shabbat, he breaks the harmony of that day, he breaks the flow of the holy energy, he breaks the ancient creation, and draws more of that negative energy into this world, thus continuing the work of the snake. That is why Masechat Chulin 5A says that he deliberately takes himself out of the covenant and sets himself apart from the nation, where he is considered to be like a non Jew. By breaking Shabbat, it opens the door to more transgressions, at which point they are committed without a second thought.
  
  We can even go further and say that just like the snake lost his limbs, so are the person's spiritual limbs on his neshama atrophying, so he can't experience the spiritual, and he pursues physical pleasures in this world. He may enjoy wealth and positions in this world since they become more available and abundant to him, because they become easier to acquire than spiritual items which require functional limbs, but he also loses the opportunity to have a relationship with G-d, and gets paid for any of the outstanding merits and good he may have done over the years in this world to enjoy his life, until he is ready to part with this world.
  
  When a Jew dies, it is said in the Holy Books, that so and so is joined to his nation, his neshama or soul is joined with his parents, grandparents and so on all the way to the forefathers, but not so with the one that breaks the Shabbat, he is not joined to his nation and his soul goes to a different place not where all the Jews are going, the cleansing process of the soul is longer, and when the time of resurrection comes, he won’t be joining his nation, since he is not part of the Jewish nation and his soul is lost forever.
  
  By breaking Shabbat, we are breaking away from our people, thus making ourselves outsiders not only to the religion but also to G-d, to the nation, to the future redemption, and to the turmoil of everyday life.
  
  Our passed on parents, grandparents, and the ones before them all the way to our forefathers are praying that we will make the right choice and embrace the covenant so we stay together after our passing as a nation.
  
  The Sages say that this world is like a hallway before the Grand Ballroom. In order to get to the main room, we need to pass through the hallway, make ourselves look presentable - by toiling in Torah and mitzvot - in order not to be ashamed in front of others that have passed before us, and not to shame our relatives because we lack in front of others present in the ballroom.
  
  But what should we do if Shabbat was not on our To Do list as a major, important item? Start today, keep some of it — or all of it —and you will see how your life will change. Make an opening in your heart and let G-d enter and fill your heart, and let the blessings overflow into every area of your life. And when you do that, that's when your spiritual limbs will heal and get stronger, and you will be able to easily grow and prosper in the spiritual domain. As it is says in the Devarim 4:4 "וְאַתֶּם֙ הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים בַּיהוָ֖ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם חַיִּ֥ים כֻּלְּכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃ - While you, who held tight to the LORD your G-d, are all alive Today." With the turmoil that's going on in the world today, you can hold tight, only if your spiritual limbs are intact and strong.
  
  So, why should we keep Shabbat? Because life is full of vanities as was told by Shlomo HaMelech, it is full of things that make noise but have no base and no real value. Loyalty to G-d, and to the generations of the past, and loyalty to your own nation - this is something worth living for, everything else is just a fading noise which is not worth pursuing.
  
  Shmuel Katanov

  Read more

• The Wisdom of the Jewish Sage

  Jun 21, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

  It's very puzzling how it all played out. The nation of Israel was three days away from the Land of Israel—go in, and mission accomplished: you are in Israel, Moshe Rabbeinu is a Moshiach, build the Bet Hamikdash, and life is beautiful.
  
  But suddenly, people ask for the spies to be sent to check out the land. So Hashem says to Moshe Rabbeinu in Parashat Shelach 13:2: "Send men to scout the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelite people; send one man from each of their ancestral tribes, each one a leader among them." So Hashem asked for leaders to be sent from each tribe. To date, I have read many explanations on this pasuk. But with your permission, allow me to offer you yet another explanation.
  
  So twelve people go together as a group. The Rabbis say that the ten men out of twelve concentrated on the negative aspects of the Land, since they had their own hidden agenda, and this was the reason for their downfall—the exile and the hardships we are facing today. The other two men - Calev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua Bin Noun - have tried, but could not overcome the ten men's efforts to slander the Land.
  
  But why did the ten men do that? What made them commit such a grievous sin?
  
  To answer the above questions, we need to look at another story of a different leader—a story of Mordechay HaTzadik, a story of Purim. There's something in this story that can be viewed from a different angle.
  
  Mordechay HaTzadik was a sage who spoke 70 languages and was part of the Great Assembly.
  
  The Megilat Esther says: "Once on a party in front of other kings and his friends, King Achashverosh executed his wife Vashti in a fit of drunken rage. After he got sober, he regretted it, but then realized that he needed a new wife, one who was beautiful and charming. So the King sent his people throughout the towns to find a wife who would please him. 
  
  They gathered lots of ladies for the King to choose from, and this is when Mordechay HaTzadik approached Esther.
  
  There are many explanations of who Esther was to him; one of them says she was his niece. So Mordechay HaTzadik asked her to become the King's wife. We don't realize what it meant to her - being married to a non-Jew, she forfeits all the mitzvot that a woman should perform, and she becomes part of the non-Jewish nation. To our dismay, she agrees...why would she do that? Let's try to understand this as well.
  
  As time passes, there comes a man called Haman who didn't like Mordechay HaTzadik, and then he tries to annihilate the Jewish nation. He gets the King's permission to do just that. The King agrees, and Haman starts the process.

  So, this is when Mordechay HaTzadik goes to Plan B.
  
  Queen Esther invites Haman to the palace along with the King, where she exposes the evil plans of Haman. The King gets furious with Haman and gives an order to hang Haman and ten of his sons on the gallows. And the King's orders have been carried out.
  
  Mordechay HaTzadik gets his community together for the attacks of the locals, since the decree was signed and put in motion by Haman, the Jews win the battle, and there's happiness and joy all over the towns in the Jewish neighborhoods."
  
  Our Rabbis say that this story is not over yet. Mordechay HaTzadik becomes the King's advisor, thus ensuring that peace and security are guaranteed going forward for the Jews in those towns.
  
  Queen Esther and King Achashverosh have a son. The son grows up and becomes the next King after his father's death. It is said that this new king, Cyrus, King of Persia, under the influence of his mother, allowed for the mass immigration of the Jews from Persia to the Land of Israel to rebuild the Second Temple. He sent the nation with gifts of gold and silver to make a fitting house for G-d.
  
  Do you realize what has just happened? Did you see the wisdom of the Jewish sage?
  
  Mordechay HaTzadik asked his niece to marry a non-Jewish King, to be a "spy," where she lost out on all the mitzvot she could have done and ended up living a non-Jewish lifestyle. But she was there for her nation in the darkest and trying times. She had saved the nation from the pogroms, overturning the decrees. Eventually, this led to the rebuilding of the Second Bet Hamikdash and the ingathering of the Jews back in Israel.
  
  The wisdom of Mordechay HaTzadik lay in the clear assessment of the situation and the right moves to win the battle in the long run and make it good and comfortable —not for himself, but for the entire Jewish nation.
  
  This is something the Meraglim, or the spies, lacked in the times of Moshe Rabbeinu. They were looking out for themselves, they were trying not to lose their positions, and were more concerned with their fate and not with the fate of the Jewish nation.
  
  But why? Why was Mordechay HaTzadik able to make the right choices, and the spies failed at it? Because Mordechay HaTzadik had the wisdom of a Jewish sage. 
  
  How can a person acquire wisdom? There's a pasuk on how to acquire wisdom that goes like this: Reshit Chochmah Yirat Hashem — The beginning of wisdom is fear of G-d. If one wants wisdom, he must learn to fear G-d; he must fear G-d; without this, he will not have wisdom - he will transgress everything under the sun, will make people around him suffer, for which eventually he will bring judgment upon himself.
  
  The ten spies who went out to spy out the Land came back with a bad report—because they lacked one thing: a Fear of G-d. They did things to fit their own agenda, and they spoke to support their own story. They were worried about their positions, about what they had, and about how their lives would unfold, without giving a second thought to the fate of the nation, the people they led, and the task they were entrusted with. Eventually, it led the nation to wander for forty years in the desert, and the death of that older generation.
  
  The Rabbis say that the ten spies were fixing the sin of the ten sons of Yaakov Avinu that sinned against Yosef HaTzadik, but they failed. So the rabbis instituted that there should be ten men whenever they gather to pray daily prayers—a miniyan—so that the gathering of ten people, or the miniyan, would have to fix the sin of the ten spies.
  
  A prayer in the minyan is the search for the right meaning, correction, and unification of the goals, desires, and motivation to serve the One and Only G-d, where it is done in unity and oneness of spirit or achdut, just like it was done back in the day when we received the Torah on Mount Sinai.
  
  Why did Hashem hold them liable for the lack of Fear of G-d? Because in Talmud Berachot 33b it says: "Hakol Bidey Shamayim Chutz Miyirat Shamayim," which means "Everything is in the Hands of G-d except for the Fear of Heaven / G-d."
  
  That's why Hashem has not given us the Fear of G-d - because He wants to see us work for it. It is attainable and available, within our reach, and definitely something that should NOT be ignored or postponed for later years.
  
  With everything that we have been through lately - virus and us being out of the shules and having no miniyanim - it makes one wonder if we have been making the mistakes of the ten spies, being too selfish with no concern for the nation, while forgetting the most important thing that we must possess and work on - The Fear of G-d. 
  
  Fortunately, we have been granted the opportunity to return to our shules, where we have minyanim, and are allowed to pray together. Let's step up to the expectations that Hashem has for us. The meraglim did what they did, and now it is on our shoulders and our responsibility to fix the wrong that was done so we can get to the next phase of our redemption.
  
  It is hard to acquire the Fear of G-d, but it is a worthy cause to invest our life into!!
  
  Shmuel Katanov

  Read more

• Upon whom shall we depend?

  Jun 16, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

  "When murderers multiplied, the [ceremony of] breaking a heifer’s neck ceased. That was from the time of Eliezer ben Dinai, and he was also called Tehinah ben Perisha. He was afterwards renamed “son of the murderer”. When adulterers multiplied, the ceremony of the bitter waters ceased. It was Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai who discontinued it, as it is said, “I will not punish their daughters for fornicating, nor their daughters-in-law for committing adultery, for they themselves [turn aside with whores and sacrifice with prostitutes]” (Hosea 4:14). When Yose ben Yoezer of Zeredah and Yose ben Yohanan of Jerusalem died, the grape-clusters ceased, as it is said, “There is not a cluster [of grapes] to eat; not a ripe fig I could desire [The pious are vanished from the land, none upright are left among men" (Micah 7:1-2).
  
  "Yohanan the high priest brought to an end the confession made at the presentation of the tithe. He also discontinued the wakers and the knockers. Up to his days, the hammer used to strike in Jerusalem, and in his days, there was no need to inquire about doubtfully tithed produce."
  
  "When the Sanhedrin ceased [to function], song ceased from the places of feasting, as it is said, 'They drink their wine without song' (Isaiah 24:9).
  
  "When the former prophets died, the Urim and Thummim ceased. When Temple was destroyed, the shamir and nopheth zufim ceased. And people of faith ceased, as it says, “Help, O Lord, for the faithful are no more” (Psalms 12:2). Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel in the name of Rabbi Joshua: from the day the Temple was destroyed, there is no day without a curse, the dew has not descended for a blessing, and the flavor has departed from produce. Rabbi Yose says, "The fatness was also removed from produce."
  
  "Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: [the cessation of observation of the] purity laws has removed taste and fragrance, [the cessation of observation of] the tithes has removed the fatness of grain. But the Sages say: licentiousness and sorcery destroyed everything."
  
  "When Rabbi Meir died, the composers of fables ceased. When Ben Azzai died, the diligent students [of Torah] ceased. When Ben Zoma died, the expounders ceased. When Rabbi Joshua died, goodness ceased from the world. When Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel died, locusts came and troubles multiplied. When Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah died, the sages ceased to be wealthy. When Rabbi Akiba died, the glory of the Torah ceased. When Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa died, men of wondrous deeds ceased. When Rabbi Yose Katnuta died, the pious men (hasidim) ceased. Why was his name called Katnuta? Because he was the youngest of the pious men. When Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai died, the splendor of wisdom ceased. When Rabban Gamaliel the elder died, the glory of the Torah ceased, and purity and separateness perished. When Rabbi Ishmael ben Fabi died, the splendor of the priesthood ceased. When Rabbi died, humility and fear of sin ceased."
  
  "Rabbi Phineas ben Yair says: when the Temple was destroyed, scholars and freemen were ashamed and covered their heads, men of wondrous deeds were disregarded, and violent men and big talkers grew powerful. And nobody expounds, nobody seeks, and nobody asks. Upon whom shall we depend? Upon our Father who is in Heaven."
  
  "Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: from the day the Temple was destroyed, the sages began to be like scribes, scribes like synagogue-attendants, synagogue-attendants like common people, and the common people became more and more debased. And nobody seeks. Upon whom shall we depend? Upon our Father who is in Heaven. In the footsteps of the messiah insolence (hutzpah) will increase and the cost of living will go up greatly; the vine will yield its fruit, but wine will be expensive; the government will turn to heresy, and there will be no one to rebuke; the meeting-place [of scholars] will be used for licentiousness; the Galilee will be destroyed, the Gablan will be desolated, and the dwellers on the frontier will go about [begging] from place to place without anyone to take pity on them; the wisdom of the learned will rot, fearers of sin will be despised, and the truth will be lacking; youths will put old men to shame, the old will stand up in the presence of the young, 'For son spurns father, daughter rises against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law a man’s own household are his enemies (Micah 7:6)."
  
  "The face of the generation will be like the face of a dog; a son will not feel ashamed before his father. Upon whom shall we depend? Upon our Father who is in Heaven."
  
  "Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair says, Heedfulness (being aware or alertness) leads to cleanliness, cleanliness leads to purity, purity leads to separation, separation leads to holiness, holiness leads to modesty, modesty leads to fear of sin, fear of sin leads to piety, piety leads to the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit leads to the resurrection of the dead, and the resurrection of the dead comes from Elijah, blessed be his memory, Amen." -- Mishnah  Sotah Chapter 9.
  
  View videos about Moshiach
  
  
  

  Read more

• Why do we light bonfires on Lag BaOmer?

  May 13, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

  Imagine it is dark, and hundreds of people are dancing around a huge bonfire, which lights up the excited faces of everyone present. But let me ask you, why have we had this tradition for hundreds of years?
  
  It says in the Zohar: "Rabbi Shimon said: All my life, I've been begging to reveal this secret. And up until today, my request has been turned down. But today, I received permission. I decree that this day does not turn into the night like any ordinary day. This day belongs to me, as I begin to reveal the secrets..." Rabbi Shimon sat down to engage in the Divine Torah. Rabbi Aba sat down in front of him and took notes... A fire burned around them, and the sun did not set. He revealed hidden Torah secrets from the Kabbalah until he reached the verse "... For there the L‑rd commanded the blessing, life forever." Rabbi Aba said: "Our teacher had not finished enunciating the word chaim ('life') when his words began to become increasingly imperceptible... Throughout the day, a fire burned in the house, and no one could come near him because he was engulfed by light and fire."
  
  Why was the daylight extended until he finished teaching? The Bnei Yissaschar explains that it was to signify that all the lights of the world were created for the Torah. Our bonfires mirror the sunlight that shone in honor of this special day.
  
  Another explanation: the bonfire lit is the fire within every individual, which may have been extinguished and is rekindled. This person will carry this light and light others who may not have been present at the bonfire event or who feel down in their service of HaShem, so they can also feel the excitement, see the beauty, and taste the sweetness of Torah and mitzvot.
  
  But there may be another explanation which I would like to present to you today.
  
  Interestingly, if you have ever been to this event, whether in Meron or in your neighborhood, you may have noticed that people are holding a small jug of oil. Some have candles, and during dancing, they throw them into the fire. Why do they do that?
  
  We observe Sefirat HaOmer because Rabbi Akiva's students did not treat each other with respect, did not see eye to eye, could not agree on their opinions, and did not accept each other's differences. As a punishment, they started dying, and on the 33rd day, they stopped passing away.
  
  From the first day of Omer to Lag BaOmer, we count 33 days, which, Kabalistically, represent different Kavanot. But in simple terms, we are required to work on our middot—the character traits—during this time of year and, day by day, become better people than we used to be.
  
  So here we are, dancing around the fire, and holding our jug of oil in our hands, and suddenly we see that guy, yes, that guy that did bad to us, spoke bad about us, or brought suffering upon us - simply someone we can't stand. So what do we do? Rabbi Akiva's students died because they mistreated each other, and we are not supposed to repeat their mistake, and we need to fix the situation - make the Tikun. But we can't, as we are circling the fire. The fire casts different shadows that make that person even more unbearable and cause us much agony.
  
  There's a story in the Zohar of the day when Rabbi Shimon came out of the cave. "When the father and son left the cave, they passed a field where they saw Jewish farmers working on the land; they said, 'Imagine people giving up the sacred study of the Torah for worldly matters!'"
  
  When they uttered these words, all the field produce rose in smoke. Then they heard a Heavenly voice saying, "Have you come out to destroy My world? Go back to your cave!" They returned to the cave for another 12 months and left it only after hearing the same Heavenly voice calling them to leave.
  
  Seeing a Jew carrying two bunches of myrtle, rushing home on Friday afternoon, they asked him what he was going to do with the myrtle.
  
  "It is to adorn my house in honor of the Shabbat," the man replied.
  
  "Would not one bunch of myrtle be sufficient to fill your house with fragrance?" they asked.
  
  The stranger replied, "I am taking two bunches, one for 'Remember the Shabbat day' and the other for 'Keep the Shabbat Day holy.'"
  
  Rabbi Shimon said to his son, "See how precious the mitzvot are to our brothers! Despite all the decrees and persecution of the Romans, the Jews still observed the commandments, especially the Shabbat. Rabbi Shimon and his son felt greatly encouraged."
  
  Many times in the Zohar, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is referred to as butzina kadisha - "The Holy Candle" since he brought to light the secrets of the Torah, and was able to rise to the levels where he was able to have a different outlook on life.
  
  So as we dance around the bonfire, suddenly we realize that the 33 days of Omer that we have been counting have not done their job, and we still have a lot to fix. And at that moment, one thought gives us hope, that we still have another 16 days of Omer left to work on our middot. And that moment before throwing a jug of oil into the bonfire, we say our prayer: "Ribbono Shel Olam, please accept my small jug of oil and make it a Butzina Kadisha - 'the holy candle' that should join the grand fire and make my flame be part of it. Just like Rabbi Shimon was able to change his view of the world, to accept everyone and become the holy candle, so I should be able to do the same, since a bonfire is a collection of flames that dance together in unison and make one flame, a big bonfire - so is the community, that has all sorts of people as each individual flame burning away in one big fire called Life.”
  
  As Shavuot approaches, we have the remaining 16 days to achieve that level of Butzina Kadisha—"The Holy Candle"—and truly become one flame, be together as one community and one nation—Ba Lev Echad and Guf Echad—one in Heart and one in Body, and accept the Torah once again on the night of Shavuot as One Nation under G-d.
  
  Shmuel Katanov

  Read more

• Coronavirus or What Is G-d Trying To Tell Us?

  Mar 2, 2020 Admin 0 Comments

  As you know, more and more countries are getting infected with the CoronaVirus, and it is not slowing down. The World Health Organization (WHO) has officially named this virus COVID-19. Why did they choose this name?
  
  The Sages tell us that parents become prophets when they choose a name for their child, since they name the child with the name G-d wants him to have. I believe the same thing happened here: the World Health Organization has chosen a name that G-d wants, since He is trying to tell us something.
  
  But what exactly is He trying to tell us?
  
  Covid-19 is written in Hebrew as: 19–כוביד starts with letters כו - Kaf & Vav that have a Gematria or a numerical value of 26, as in the Tetragrammaton - YHVH, and the word ends with יד - Yud & Dalet or word Yad which means Hand - with a numerical value of 14. Together, both words mean: the Hand of G-d. In the middle, there's the letter ב—Bet, which has a numerical value of 2. So, if we add all these values together —26+14+2=42 —it represents a powerful Kabbalistic 42-letter name of G-d.
  
  In Exodus 8:12-15, we have a similar reference, but to a finger of G-d: "And the Lord said to Moshe, Say to Aharon, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may turn into lice throughout all the land of Mizrayim. And they did so; for Aharon stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Mizrayim. And the magicians did so with their secret arts to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice on man and beast.  Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of G-d: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said." 
  
  Back then, G-d showed His Might to Pharaoh and the whole of Egypt. But during this process, Pharaoh hardened his heart every time, and at the end, he lost it all.
  
  This time, G-d is showing His Might to the whole world, and it is not pretty. 
  
  But what should we do? There's only one way to stop it, and it is a Teshuvah - to return to G-d, to keep Shabbat, Torah laws,  learn the laws of slandering, and to make G-d our Master and the driving force of our life instead of wealth and a comfortable lifestyle. The nation of Israel must keep its end of the bargain—we must fulfill what we promised when we accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai. 
  
  The same thing goes for the non-Jews, who have their own set of laws to keep.
  
  These are the times of the Mashiach, and G-d will do everything to bring the end of days events and prophecies to happen, whether we are ready for them or not. 
  
  DO NOT repeat the mistake of Pharaoh and Harden Your Heart, a lot is at stake, and we are all in this together.
  
  The destruction of Egypt happened with The Finger of G-d, imagine what may happen to our World from the blow of The Hand of G-d...?? Let's work together, do our parts, and make this World a better place for all of Humanity. 
  
  ------
  Here is the latest news from around the world where COVID-19, or Coronavirus, is found.
  
  Shmuel Katanov
  
  

  Read more