NEWS AND MIDRASH

Today is: Tuesday, Av 2, 5771 • 8 2, 2011

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Daily Quote

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When you cross the Jordan to the land of Canaan, you shall designate cities for yourselves; they shall be cities of refuge for you, and a murderer who killed a person unintentionally shall flee there

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- Numbers 35:10-11

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Daily Study

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Chitas and Rambam for today:

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Chumash: Devarim, 3rd Portion Deuteronomy 1:22-1:38 with Rashi

• Tehillim: Chapters 10 - 17

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Tanya: Igeret HaTeshuva , end of Chapter 10

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Rambam:

• Sefer Hamitzvos:

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• 1 Chapter: Mechirah Chapter Eighteen

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• 3 Chapters: Terumot Chapter 1, Terumot Chapter 2, Terumot Chapter 3

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HAYOM YOM: "Today's Day"

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A directive for all: A boy begins putting on tefillin two months before his Bar Mitzva; at first without the b'racha, then a few weeks later with the b'racha.1

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FOOTNOTES

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1. It is critical to note that the Rebbe of righteous memory has instructed and requested all of Bar-mitzva age and older to regularly put on Rabeinu Tam tefillin. Viz. sichot of Purim 5736, Motza'ei Va'eira 5739, Pekudei 5741.

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Today's Mitzvah

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A daily digest of Maimonides’ classic work "Sefer Hamitzvot"

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Positive Commandment 126

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The Priestly Tithe

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"The first of your grain...you shall give to him"—Deuteronomy 18:4.

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We are commanded to separate from our harvest Terumah Gedolah [the "great tithe." This tithe is given to the priest.]

This biblical precept only applies in the Land of Israel.

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Positive Commandment 129

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The Levite's Priestly Tithe

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"Speak to the Levites and tell them: When you take from the Children of Israel the tithe that I have given to you from them as your inheritance, then you shall offer up from it a gift for G‑d, a tenth of the tenth"—Numbers 18:26.

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The Levites are commanded to separate a tenth from the tithe that they receive from the Israelites, and to give it to the priest. This tithe is called Maaser min Hamaaser or Terumat Maaser.

The Levites are commanded to give this tithe from the choicest of the produce.

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Topics in the news

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Yani Tseng (pictured) wins the Women's British Open, becoming the youngest golfer to win five major championships.

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A series of attacks, believed to be by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, occurs in China's Xinjiang region, two weeks after similar attacks.

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U2's 360° Tour, the highest-attended and highest-grossing concert tour of all time, concludes.

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Tropical Storm Nock-ten causes 41 deaths in the Philippines and the evacuation of more than 27,000 people in China.

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Ollanta Humala is inaugurated as President of Peru.

Horn of Africa famine

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Current events



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Armed conflict and attacks

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Suicide bombers attack a guesthouse used by foreigners in the northern Afghanistan province of Kunduz with at least four security guards dead. (Reuters)

Syrian Army forces shell the town of Hama for a second successive day. (BBC)

Fifteen people have been wounded in a bombing of a Syrian Catholic Church in Kirkuk, Iraq. (AFP via Yahoo! News)

Egypt's military police and riot police end three-week Tahrir Square sit-in. (The Washington Post) (The National) (Al-Ahram)

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International relations

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Four European nations the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Portugal circulate a draft United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the Government of Syria for its recent crackdown on protesters. (Bloomberg)

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Law and crime

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South Korean prosecutors send a summons to Park Chul, President of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, over alleged embezzlement. (Yonhap)

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Politics

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Peter O'Neil of Southern Highlands Province is elected Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea in a 70-24 vote, ousting acting Prime Minister Sam Abal. (ABC News)

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The United States Senate is due to vote today on legislation to raise the debt ceiling and avert the 2011 US debt ceiling crisis. (AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)

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THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH

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Genesis Chapter 1

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בְּרֵאשִׁית

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Yom Shlee´shee.........Third day

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וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יִקָּווּ הַמַּיִם מִתַּחַת הַשָּׁמַיִם אֶל-מָקוֹם אֶחָד, וְתֵרָאֶה, הַיַּבָּשָׁה; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

9 And God said: 'Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear.' And it was so.

י וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לַיַּבָּשָׁה אֶרֶץ, וּלְמִקְוֵה הַמַּיִם קָרָא יַמִּים; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas; and God saw that it was good.

יא וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, תַּדְשֵׁא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע, עֵץ פְּרִי עֹשֶׂה פְּרִי לְמִינוֹ, אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ-בוֹ עַל-הָאָרֶץ; וַיְהִי-כֵן.

11 And God said: 'Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.' And it was so.

יב וַתּוֹצֵא הָאָרֶץ דֶּשֶׁא עֵשֶׂב מַזְרִיעַ זֶרַע, לְמִינֵהוּ, וְעֵץ עֹשֶׂה-פְּרִי אֲשֶׁר זַרְעוֹ-בוֹ, לְמִינֵהוּ; וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים, כִּי-טוֹב.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

יג וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם שְׁלִישִׁי. {פ}

13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day. {P}