• Today is: Yom Revee’ee, Iyar 14, 5771 •5 18, 2011
•
• Topics in the news
Queen Elizabeth II (pictured) makes the first state visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland.
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on its final mission, delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for installation on the International Space Station.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, is held without bail in New York City on charges of sexual assault.
At least 12 Arab protesters are killed during Nakba Day protests and marches on Israel's borders.
Kenyan long-distance runner Samuel Wanjiru, who won the men's marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics, dies at the age of 24.
In ice hockey, the IIHF World Championship concludes with Finland defeating Sweden in the final.
•
• Current events of 5 18 2011
•
• Armed conflicts and attacks
Militants attack a checkpoint near the city of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of two police officers and 15 insurgents. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Iran frees detained Al-Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz who had not been seen since being detained in Syria on April 29. (Seattle Times)
•
• Arts and culture
American novelist Philip Roth wins the Man Booker International Prize recognizing his body of work. (AP via ABC News America)
•
• Business and economy
Moody's Investors Service cuts the credit ratings of Australia's big four banks the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ to Aa1 due to their reliance on wholesale funding. (Sydney Morning Herald)
•
• Disasters
The United States Coast Guard reopens a section of the Mississippi River to shipping that was closed on Tuesday as a result of the 2011 Mississippi River floods. (BBC)
•
• International relations
The Palestinian Authority is calling on Israel to reinstate the rights of up to 140,000 people who the Palestinian Authority claims lived in the occupied West Bank and lost their residency after traveling abroad. (BBC)
•
• Politics and elections
Voters in South Africa go to the polls for municipal elections. (BBC)
The President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh and Opposition finally agree on a transition plan allowing him to leave office within 30 days. (Al-Arabiyah)
•
• Science
The space Shuttle Endeavour docks at the International Space Station for the final time. (Space via Yahoo)
5 18, 2011 news
Former Louisiana Tech University President F. Jay Taylor dies aged 87
Dominique Strauss-Kahn refused bail after appearance in New York court
Elizabeth II begins state visit to Ireland amid protests, security fears
Today in Judaism
• Happy Pesach Sheini!! ("Second Passover") • Omer: Day 29 - Chessed sheb'Hod
• Today's Laws & Customs
• Eat Matzah
It is customary to eat matzah today to mark the "Second Passover" (see "Today in Jewish History").
• Count "Thirty Days to the Omer" Tonight
Tomorrow is the thirtieth 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 thirty days, which are four weeks and two days, 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: Gevurah sheb'Hod -- "Restraint in Humility"
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
•
• "Second Passover" (1312 BCE)
A year after the Exodus, G-d instructed the people of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of Nissan 14, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done on the previous year just before they left Egypt. "There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron ... and they said: '...Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-d's offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?'" (Numbers 9).
In response to their plea, G-d established the 14th of Iyar as a "second Passover" (pesach sheini) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month. The day thus represents the "second chance" achieved by teshuvah the power of repentance and "return." In the words of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, "The Second Passover means that it's never a 'lost case.'"
• Passing of Rabbi Meir (2nd Century CE)
Rabbi Meir, a second century scholar and scribe, was among the foremost disciples of Rabbi Akiba. His colleagues called him Meir because he "enlightened the eyes of the sages" with his genius and scholarship ("Meir" comes from the Hebrew word "Or," light).
Rabbi Meir's long life was rife with personal tragedy. Aside for his personal travails, he lived in the troubled times following the destruction of the second Holy Temple. After his beloved teacher, Rabbi Akiva, was executed by the Romans, he fled to Babylon until the persecutions eased up.
His wisdom and teachings are so often quoted in the Mishnah and Talmud that every anonymous teaching in the Mishnah is attributed to him.
His wife, Beruria, was also famous for her Torah knowledge, piety, and wisdom.
He is buried in the holy city of Tiberias.
• Jews of Bisenz Massacred (1605)
The Jews of Bisenz, Austria were massacred on the 14th of Iyar, 5365 (1605).
• Germans Burn Jewish Books (1933)
Following the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany in the year 1933, the Nazis burned thousands of books written by Jews on the 14 of Iyar of that year.
• Eichmann Captured in Buenos Aires (1960)
Adolf Eichmann, a key party in implementing of Hitler's "final solution," was captured by agents of the Israeli "Mossad" in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eichmann was in charge of all transportation required for the shipment of Jews to the extermination camps. The height of his career was reached in Hungary in 1944, when he managed to transport 400,000 Jews to the gas chambers in less than five weeks.
After the war, Eichmann fled to Argentina and lived under the assumed name of Ricardo Klement for ten years until Israeli Mossad agents abducted him on May 11, 1960 and smuggled him out of the country to stand trial in Jerusalem for his crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
During the four months of the trial over one hundred witnesses testified against him. Eichmann took the stand and used the defense that he was just obeying orders. "Why me," he asked. "Why not the local policemen, thousands of them? They would have been shot if they had refused to round up the Jews for the death camps. Everybody killed the Jews."
Eichmann was found guilty on all counts, sentenced to death and hanged at Ramleh Prison on May 31, 1962.
•
• Daily Quote
•
A single action is better than a thousand groans
- Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch (1860-1920)
•
• Daily Study
•
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Bechukotai, 4th Portion Leviticus 27:1-27:15 with Rashi
Tehillim: Chapters 72 - 76
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 48
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
• 1 Chapter: Hilchot Nizkei Mammon Chapter Four
• 3 Chapters: Shevitat Asor Chapter One, Shevitat Asor Chapter Two, Shevitat Asor Chapter Three
Hayom Yom:
•
• Daily Mitzvah (Maimonides)
•
Iyar 14, 5771 • 5 18, 2011Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
•
• Positive Commandment 165
•
• Resting on Yom Kippur
•
"[Yom Kippur] shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you"—Leviticus 16:31.
We are commanded to rest, by abstaining from creative work, on the tenth day of Tishrei—Yom Kippur.
•
• Negative Commandment 329
•
*Working on Yom Kippur
"And you shall do no work on that very day [of Yom Kippur]"—Leviticus 23:28.
We are forbidden to engage in any creative work on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur.
•
• Positive Commandment 164
*Fasting on Yom Kippur
"You shall afflict your souls"—Leviticus 16:29.
We are commanded to fast on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur. We afflict ourselves by abstaining from food and drink, the nourishment of the soul.
We are also commanded to refrain on Yom Kippur from bathing, applying creams or ointments, wearing [leather] shoes and engaging in marital relations.
Negative Commandment 196
Eating on Yom Kippur
"For any soul that shall not be afflicted... shall be cut off..."—Leviticus 23:29.
It is forbidden to eat on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur.
THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH
Genesis Chapter 1
בְּרֵאשִׁית
Yom Revee´ee............Fourth day
The Birthday Of The Sun And Moon
יד וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה; וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים, וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים. 14
And God said: 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
טו וְהָיוּ לִמְאוֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהָאִיר עַל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי-כֵן. 15
and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so.
טז וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-שְׁנֵי הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים: אֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל, לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיּוֹם, וְאֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַקָּטֹן לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַלַּיְלָה, וְאֵת הַכּוֹכָבִים. 16
And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars.
יז וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים, בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם, לְהָאִיר, עַל-הָאָרֶץ. 17
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
יח וְלִמְשֹׁל, בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה, וּלְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב. 18
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
יט וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם רְבִיעִי. {פ} 19
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. {P}
•
• Topics in the news
Queen Elizabeth II (pictured) makes the first state visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland.
Space Shuttle Endeavour launches on its final mission, delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer for installation on the International Space Station.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, is held without bail in New York City on charges of sexual assault.
At least 12 Arab protesters are killed during Nakba Day protests and marches on Israel's borders.
Kenyan long-distance runner Samuel Wanjiru, who won the men's marathon at the 2008 Summer Olympics, dies at the age of 24.
In ice hockey, the IIHF World Championship concludes with Finland defeating Sweden in the final.
•
• Current events of 5 18 2011
•
• Armed conflicts and attacks
Militants attack a checkpoint near the city of Peshawar in northwest Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of two police officers and 15 insurgents. (AP via Houston Chronicle)
Iran frees detained Al-Jazeera journalist Dorothy Parvaz who had not been seen since being detained in Syria on April 29. (Seattle Times)
•
• Arts and culture
American novelist Philip Roth wins the Man Booker International Prize recognizing his body of work. (AP via ABC News America)
•
• Business and economy
Moody's Investors Service cuts the credit ratings of Australia's big four banks the Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ to Aa1 due to their reliance on wholesale funding. (Sydney Morning Herald)
•
• Disasters
The United States Coast Guard reopens a section of the Mississippi River to shipping that was closed on Tuesday as a result of the 2011 Mississippi River floods. (BBC)
•
• International relations
The Palestinian Authority is calling on Israel to reinstate the rights of up to 140,000 people who the Palestinian Authority claims lived in the occupied West Bank and lost their residency after traveling abroad. (BBC)
•
• Politics and elections
Voters in South Africa go to the polls for municipal elections. (BBC)
The President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh and Opposition finally agree on a transition plan allowing him to leave office within 30 days. (Al-Arabiyah)
•
• Science
The space Shuttle Endeavour docks at the International Space Station for the final time. (Space via Yahoo)
5 18, 2011 news
Former Louisiana Tech University President F. Jay Taylor dies aged 87
Dominique Strauss-Kahn refused bail after appearance in New York court
Elizabeth II begins state visit to Ireland amid protests, security fears
Today in Judaism
• Happy Pesach Sheini!! ("Second Passover") • Omer: Day 29 - Chessed sheb'Hod
• Today's Laws & Customs
• Eat Matzah
It is customary to eat matzah today to mark the "Second Passover" (see "Today in Jewish History").
• Count "Thirty Days to the Omer" Tonight
Tomorrow is the thirtieth 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 thirty days, which are four weeks and two days, 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: Gevurah sheb'Hod -- "Restraint in Humility"
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
•
• "Second Passover" (1312 BCE)
A year after the Exodus, G-d instructed the people of Israel to bring the Passover offering on the afternoon of Nissan 14, and to eat it that evening, roasted over the fire, together with matzah and bitter herbs, as they had done on the previous year just before they left Egypt. "There were, however, certain persons who had become ritually impure through contact with a dead body, and could not, therefore, prepare the Passover offering on that day. They approached Moses and Aaron ... and they said: '...Why should we be deprived, and not be able to present G-d's offering in its time, amongst the children of Israel?'" (Numbers 9).
In response to their plea, G-d established the 14th of Iyar as a "second Passover" (pesach sheini) for anyone who was unable to bring the offering on its appointed time in the previous month. The day thus represents the "second chance" achieved by teshuvah the power of repentance and "return." In the words of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak of Lubavitch, "The Second Passover means that it's never a 'lost case.'"
• Passing of Rabbi Meir (2nd Century CE)
Rabbi Meir, a second century scholar and scribe, was among the foremost disciples of Rabbi Akiba. His colleagues called him Meir because he "enlightened the eyes of the sages" with his genius and scholarship ("Meir" comes from the Hebrew word "Or," light).
Rabbi Meir's long life was rife with personal tragedy. Aside for his personal travails, he lived in the troubled times following the destruction of the second Holy Temple. After his beloved teacher, Rabbi Akiva, was executed by the Romans, he fled to Babylon until the persecutions eased up.
His wisdom and teachings are so often quoted in the Mishnah and Talmud that every anonymous teaching in the Mishnah is attributed to him.
His wife, Beruria, was also famous for her Torah knowledge, piety, and wisdom.
He is buried in the holy city of Tiberias.
• Jews of Bisenz Massacred (1605)
The Jews of Bisenz, Austria were massacred on the 14th of Iyar, 5365 (1605).
• Germans Burn Jewish Books (1933)
Following the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany in the year 1933, the Nazis burned thousands of books written by Jews on the 14 of Iyar of that year.
• Eichmann Captured in Buenos Aires (1960)
Adolf Eichmann, a key party in implementing of Hitler's "final solution," was captured by agents of the Israeli "Mossad" in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Eichmann was in charge of all transportation required for the shipment of Jews to the extermination camps. The height of his career was reached in Hungary in 1944, when he managed to transport 400,000 Jews to the gas chambers in less than five weeks.
After the war, Eichmann fled to Argentina and lived under the assumed name of Ricardo Klement for ten years until Israeli Mossad agents abducted him on May 11, 1960 and smuggled him out of the country to stand trial in Jerusalem for his crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
During the four months of the trial over one hundred witnesses testified against him. Eichmann took the stand and used the defense that he was just obeying orders. "Why me," he asked. "Why not the local policemen, thousands of them? They would have been shot if they had refused to round up the Jews for the death camps. Everybody killed the Jews."
Eichmann was found guilty on all counts, sentenced to death and hanged at Ramleh Prison on May 31, 1962.
•
• Daily Quote
•
A single action is better than a thousand groans
- Rabbi Sholom DovBer of Lubavitch (1860-1920)
•
• Daily Study
•
Chitas and Rambam for today:
Chumash: Bechukotai, 4th Portion Leviticus 27:1-27:15 with Rashi
Tehillim: Chapters 72 - 76
Tanya: Likutei Amarim, middle of Chapter 48
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
• 1 Chapter: Hilchot Nizkei Mammon Chapter Four
• 3 Chapters: Shevitat Asor Chapter One, Shevitat Asor Chapter Two, Shevitat Asor Chapter Three
Hayom Yom:
•
• Daily Mitzvah (Maimonides)
•
Iyar 14, 5771 • 5 18, 2011Today's Mitzvah
A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"
•
• Positive Commandment 165
•
• Resting on Yom Kippur
•
"[Yom Kippur] shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you"—Leviticus 16:31.
We are commanded to rest, by abstaining from creative work, on the tenth day of Tishrei—Yom Kippur.
•
• Negative Commandment 329
•
*Working on Yom Kippur
"And you shall do no work on that very day [of Yom Kippur]"—Leviticus 23:28.
We are forbidden to engage in any creative work on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur.
•
• Positive Commandment 164
*Fasting on Yom Kippur
"You shall afflict your souls"—Leviticus 16:29.
We are commanded to fast on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur. We afflict ourselves by abstaining from food and drink, the nourishment of the soul.
We are also commanded to refrain on Yom Kippur from bathing, applying creams or ointments, wearing [leather] shoes and engaging in marital relations.
Negative Commandment 196
Eating on Yom Kippur
"For any soul that shall not be afflicted... shall be cut off..."—Leviticus 23:29.
It is forbidden to eat on the tenth of Tishrei, Yom Kippur.
THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH
Genesis Chapter 1
בְּרֵאשִׁית
Yom Revee´ee............Fourth day
The Birthday Of The Sun And Moon
יד וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי מְאֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הַיּוֹם וּבֵין הַלָּיְלָה; וְהָיוּ לְאֹתֹת וּלְמוֹעֲדִים, וּלְיָמִים וְשָׁנִים. 14
And God said: 'Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years;
טו וְהָיוּ לִמְאוֹרֹת בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמַיִם, לְהָאִיר עַל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי-כֵן. 15
and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.' And it was so.
טז וַיַּעַשׂ אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-שְׁנֵי הַמְּאֹרֹת הַגְּדֹלִים: אֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַגָּדֹל, לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַיּוֹם, וְאֶת-הַמָּאוֹר הַקָּטֹן לְמֶמְשֶׁלֶת הַלַּיְלָה, וְאֵת הַכּוֹכָבִים. 16
And God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; and the stars.
יז וַיִּתֵּן אֹתָם אֱלֹהִים, בִּרְקִיעַ הַשָּׁמָיִם, לְהָאִיר, עַל-הָאָרֶץ. 17
And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
יח וְלִמְשֹׁל, בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה, וּלְהַבְדִּיל, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב. 18
and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
יט וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם רְבִיעִי. {פ} 19
And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. {P}
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