DAILY NEWS CAPSULE and judaism study

 Yom Shay’nee, The Second Day, Six more days to Shabbat-Nissan 28, 5771-5 2, 2011


 2 May 2011 (2011-05-02)



 Armed conflicts and attacks



 Syrian uprising:



 Hundreds of dissidents have been arrested across Syria, including in the town of Daraa and a Damascus suburb, after dozens were killed in weekend protests, activists say.(The Australian)

 UN Security Council fails to agree a statement to condemn the killing of Syrian protesters, as Russia and China block a statement proposed by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal that would have condemned the violence, which has led to hundreds of dead, and backed calls for an independent investigation. (Herald Sun)

 The Taliban sends a 12-year-old boy as a suicide bomber in a new wave of attacks that kills four civilians, in one of several attacks across Afghanistan that kills at least seven people. (BBC) (The Australian)



 Business and economy



 The Australian dollar reaches $1.10 in United States dollar, its highest level since the Aussie dollar was floated in 1983. (The Australian)



 International relations



 Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil al-Araby calls on the United States to support an independent Palestine, stating that the U.S. should consider a re-united Palestinian movement as a positive development and that Israel ought to negotiate. (BBC)



 Politics and elections



 Voters in Canada go to the polls for the Canadian federal election. (Reuters via ABS CBN)



 Daily Mitzvah (Maimonides)

 Today's Mitzvah

 A daily digest of Maimonides' classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"



 Positive Commandment 19



 Grace after Meals



 "And you will eat and be sated then you will bless G-d"-Deuteronomy 8:10.

 We are commanded to express gratitude to G-d after every meal.



 Positive Commandment 215



 Circumcision



 "Every male child among you shall be circumcised"-Genesis 17:10.

 We are commanded to circumcise all our male children. This obligation rests upon the child's father, not his mother.



 Today in Judaism



 Today is: Monday, Nissan 28, 5771 • 5 2, 2011

 Omer: Day 13 - Yesod sheb'Gevurah





 Today's Laws & Customs



• Count "Fourteen Days to the Omer" Tonight



 Tomorrow is the fourteenth day of the Omer Count. Since, on the Jewish calendar, the day begins at nightfall of the previous evening, we count the omer for tomorrow's date tonight, after nightfall: "Today is fourteen days, which are two weeks, to the Omer." (If you miss the count tonight, you can count the omer all day tomorrow, but without the preceding blessing).

 The 49-day "Counting of the Omer" retraces our ancestors' seven-week spiritual journey from the Exodus to Sinai. Each evening we recite a special blessing and count the days and weeks that have passed since the Omer; the 50th day is Shavuot, the festival celebrating the Giving of the



 Torah at Sinai.



 Tonight's Sefirah: Malchut sheb'Gevurah -- "Receptiveness in Restraint"

 The teachings of Kabbalah explain that there are seven "Divine Attributes" -- Sefirot -- that G-d assumes through which to relate to our existence: Chessed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut ("Love", "Strength", "Beauty", "Victory", "Splendor", "Foundation" and "Sovereignty"). In the human being, created in the "image of G-d," the seven sefirot are mirrored in the seven "emotional attributes" of the human soul: Kindness, Restraint, Harmony, Ambition, Humility, Connection and Receptiveness. Each of the seven attributes contain elements of all seven--i.e., "Kindness in Kindness", "Restraint in Kindness", "Harmony in Kindness", etc.--making for a total of forty-nine traits. The 49-day Omer Count is thus a 49-step process of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the "rectification" and perfection of one the forty-nine "sefirot."





 Today in Jewish History





• Jericho's Wall Collapses (1273 BCE)



 On the seventh day of the encirclement of Jericho (see Jewish History for the 22nd of Nissan), the Jews, accompanied by the Holy Ark, circled the city seven times. After the blowing of the shofar, the walls miraculously crashed and sank, leaving the city open and unprotected. Jericho was easily conquered, becoming the first fortified Canaanite city to fall to the Children of Israel in their conquest of the Promised Land.



• Rebbe's Call (1991)



 On the eve of Nissan 28, 5751 (April 11, 1991), the Lubavitcher Rebbe issued an emotional call to his followers, and to the world Jewish community, to increase their efforts to bring Moshiach and the ultimate redemption. Spoken in an anguished voice and couched in uncharacteristically personal terms, the Rebbe's words deeply shocked the Chassidim present in the Rebbe's synagogue and reverberated worldwide. "How is it that the Redemption has not yet been attained?" the Rebbe cried. "That despite all that has transpired and all that has been done, Moshiach has still not come? What more can I do? I have done all I can to bring the world to truly demand and clamor for the Redemption...The only thing that remains for me to do is to give over the matter to you. Do all that is in your power to achieve this thing--a most sublime and transcendent light that needs to be brought down into our world with pragmatic tools... I have done all I can. I give it over to you. Do all that you can to bring the righteous redeemer, immediately! I have done my part. From this point on, all is in your hands..."



 Daily Quote



 When we studied under the tutelage of our master in Mezeritch, miracles were rolling about under the tables, and no one bothered to pick them up



- Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi



 Daily Study



 Chitas and Rambam for today:



 Chumash: Emor, 2nd Portion Leviticus 21:16-22:16 with Rashi



 Tehillim: Chapters 135 - 139



 Tanya: Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 44



 Rambam:

• Sefer Hamitzvos:

• 1 Chapter: Kelim Chap. 27

• 3 Chapters: Berachot Chapter Ten, Berachot Chapter Eleven, Milah Chapter One



 Hayom Yom:





 THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH

 Genesis Chapter 1

 בְּרֵאשִׁית



• Yom Shaynee ............Second day

 ו וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי רָקִיעַ בְּתוֹךְ הַמָּיִם, וִיהִי מַבְדִּיל, בֵּין מַיִם לָמָיִם. 6

 And God said: 'Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.'

 ז וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-הָרָקִיעַ, וַיַּבְדֵּל בֵּין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מִתַּחַת לָרָקִיעַ, וּבֵין הַמַּיִם אֲשֶׁר מֵעַל לָרָקִיעַ; וַיְהִי-כֵן. 7

 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.

 ח וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָרָקִיעַ, שָׁמָיִם; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם שֵׁנִי. {פ} 8

 And God called the firmament Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.