Today is: Yom Rishone, Elul 19, 5771 • 9 18, 2011
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Topics in the news
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The United Nations General Assembly accepts the credentials of the National Transitional Council to represent Libya in the assembly's current session.
.
A race plane (pictured) crashes into a crowd of spectators at the Reno Air Races in the U.S. state of Nevada, killing nine people and injuring 69 others.
.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt is designated to become the first female Prime Minister of Denmark after a centre-left opposition coalition wins the Danish parliamentary election.
.
In a court case concerning the theft of Kevlar-related trade secrets, DuPont is awarded US$920 million in damages.
.
At least 96 people are killed and more than 100 others are injured in an explosion and resultant fire at a fuel pipeline in Nairobi, Kenya.
.
Current events
.
Armed conflicts and attacks
.
Syrian activists call for mass protests in schools against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad as the school year begins. (Haaretz)
.
Heavy fighting continues in the Libyan towns of Sirte and Bani Walid as eight fighters were killed on Saturday. (BBC)
.
Law and crime
.
Former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn gives his first television interview on the French television network TF1 since rape charges were dropped in New York City. (BBC)
.
Politics and elections
.
Negotiations begin as Latvian politicians seek to form a new government after yesterday's election with the Social Democratic Party "Harmony" having won the most seats and Zatlers' Reform Party and Unity also doing well. (Reuters)
.
Voters in the German capital Berlin go to the polls for a state election with current mayor Klaus Wowereit and his Social Democrats expected to do well. (ReuterS)
.
Today's Laws & Customs
.
• Elul Observances
.
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
.
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
.
Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57
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Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
.
Daily Quote
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There is no such thing as a Jew "with no Jewish background." Every Jew's "background" is that he or she is a child of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah...
.
- The Lubavitcher Rebbe
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Daily Study
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Chitas and Rambam for today:
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Chumash: Nitzavim-Vayelech, 1st Portion Deuteronomy 29:9-29:28 with Rashi
•
Tehillim: Chapters 90 - 96
•
Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 16
•
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
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• 1 Chapter: Sheluchin veShuttafin Chapter Nine
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• 3 Chapters: Pesulei Hamukdashim Chapter 14, Pesulei Hamukdashim Chapter 15, Pesulei Hamukdashim Chapter 16
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Hayom Yom: "Today's Day"
.
When the Alter Rebbe was still in Vitebsk he once expounded on the verse "You stand...1" Taking eitz (wood) as an idiom of eitza (counsel), he interpreted "choppers of wood" to mean that one must chop out "the many thoughts (counsels) in the heart of man."2 "Those who draw water," he interpreted - one must drain out the water that "makes all enjoyments grow."3
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FOOTNOTES
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1. Devarim 19:9, 10. The verses read (in part): "You stand today, all of you, before the Eternal your G-d...; ...from the choppers of your wood to those who draw your water."
2. Mishlei 19:21.
3. See Tanya Ch. 1. "The appetite for pleasures (derives) from the element of water, for water makes grow all kinds of enjoyment."
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Today's Mitzvah
.
Positive Commandment 91
.
Burning Leftover Sacrificial Meat
.
"But that which remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire"—Leviticus 7:17.
We are commanded to burn sacrificial meat that remains after the deadline for its consumption has passed.
Included in this mitzvah is also the commandment to burn sacrificial meat that is Pigul.
.
• THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH
Genesis Chapter 1
בְּרֵאשִׁית
Yom Reeshone........... First day CREATION OF LIGHT
א בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
ב וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחֹשֶׁךְ, עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם; וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם. 2 Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
ג וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר. 3
And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light.
ד וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר, כִּי-טוֹב; וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ. 4
And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
ה וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם, וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם אֶחָד. {פ} 5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. {P}
.
Topics in the news
.
The United Nations General Assembly accepts the credentials of the National Transitional Council to represent Libya in the assembly's current session.
.
A race plane (pictured) crashes into a crowd of spectators at the Reno Air Races in the U.S. state of Nevada, killing nine people and injuring 69 others.
.
Helle Thorning-Schmidt is designated to become the first female Prime Minister of Denmark after a centre-left opposition coalition wins the Danish parliamentary election.
.
In a court case concerning the theft of Kevlar-related trade secrets, DuPont is awarded US$920 million in damages.
.
At least 96 people are killed and more than 100 others are injured in an explosion and resultant fire at a fuel pipeline in Nairobi, Kenya.
.
Current events
.
Armed conflicts and attacks
.
Syrian activists call for mass protests in schools against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad as the school year begins. (Haaretz)
.
Heavy fighting continues in the Libyan towns of Sirte and Bani Walid as eight fighters were killed on Saturday. (BBC)
.
Law and crime
.
Former head of the International Monetary Fund Dominique Strauss-Kahn gives his first television interview on the French television network TF1 since rape charges were dropped in New York City. (BBC)
.
Politics and elections
.
Negotiations begin as Latvian politicians seek to form a new government after yesterday's election with the Social Democratic Party "Harmony" having won the most seats and Zatlers' Reform Party and Unity also doing well. (Reuters)
.
Voters in the German capital Berlin go to the polls for a state election with current mayor Klaus Wowereit and his Social Democrats expected to do well. (ReuterS)
.
Today's Laws & Customs
.
• Elul Observances
.
As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionaly a time of introspection and stocktaking -- a time to review one's deeds and spiritual progress over the past year and prepare for the upcoming "Days of Awe" of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur.
.
As the month of Divine Mercy and Forgiveness (see "Today in Jewish History" for Elul 1) it is a most opportune time for teshuvah ("return" to G-d), prayer, charity, and increased Ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew) in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to G-d. Chassidic master Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi likens the month of Elul to a time when "the king is in the field" and, in contrast to when he is in the royal palace, "everyone who so desires is permitted to meet him, and he receives them all with a cheerful countenance and shows a smiling face to them all."
.
Specific Elul customs include the daily sounding of the shofar (ram's horn) as a call to repentance. The Baal Shem Tov instituted the custom of reciting three additional chapters of Psalms each day, from the 1st of Elul until Yom Kippur (on Yom Kippur the remaining 36 chapters are recited, thereby completing the entire book of Psalms). Click below to view today's Psalms.
.
Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57
.
Elul is also the time to have one's tefillin and mezuzot checked by an accredited scribe to ensure that they are in good condition and fit for use.
.
Daily Quote
.
There is no such thing as a Jew "with no Jewish background." Every Jew's "background" is that he or she is a child of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah...
.
- The Lubavitcher Rebbe
.
Daily Study
.
Chitas and Rambam for today:
.
Chumash: Nitzavim-Vayelech, 1st Portion Deuteronomy 29:9-29:28 with Rashi
•
Tehillim: Chapters 90 - 96
•
Tanya: Iggeret HaKodesh, beginning of Epistle 16
•
Rambam:
• Sefer Hamitzvos:
.
• 1 Chapter: Sheluchin veShuttafin Chapter Nine
.
• 3 Chapters: Pesulei Hamukdashim Chapter 14, Pesulei Hamukdashim Chapter 15, Pesulei Hamukdashim Chapter 16
.
Hayom Yom: "Today's Day"
.
When the Alter Rebbe was still in Vitebsk he once expounded on the verse "You stand...1" Taking eitz (wood) as an idiom of eitza (counsel), he interpreted "choppers of wood" to mean that one must chop out "the many thoughts (counsels) in the heart of man."2 "Those who draw water," he interpreted - one must drain out the water that "makes all enjoyments grow."3
.
FOOTNOTES
.
1. Devarim 19:9, 10. The verses read (in part): "You stand today, all of you, before the Eternal your G-d...; ...from the choppers of your wood to those who draw your water."
2. Mishlei 19:21.
3. See Tanya Ch. 1. "The appetite for pleasures (derives) from the element of water, for water makes grow all kinds of enjoyment."
.
Today's Mitzvah
.
Positive Commandment 91
.
Burning Leftover Sacrificial Meat
.
"But that which remains of the flesh of the sacrifice on the third day shall be burnt with fire"—Leviticus 7:17.
We are commanded to burn sacrificial meat that remains after the deadline for its consumption has passed.
Included in this mitzvah is also the commandment to burn sacrificial meat that is Pigul.
.
• THE SACREDNESS OF EACH DAY IN TORAH
Genesis Chapter 1
בְּרֵאשִׁית
Yom Reeshone........... First day CREATION OF LIGHT
א בְּרֵאשִׁית, בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים, אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם, וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ. 1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
ב וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ, וְחֹשֶׁךְ, עַל-פְּנֵי תְהוֹם; וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים, מְרַחֶפֶת עַל-פְּנֵי הַמָּיִם. 2 Now the earth was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters.
ג וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים, יְהִי אוֹר; וַיְהִי-אוֹר. 3
And God said: 'Let there be light.' And there was light.
ד וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת-הָאוֹר, כִּי-טוֹב; וַיַּבְדֵּל אֱלֹהִים, בֵּין הָאוֹר וּבֵין הַחֹשֶׁךְ. 4
And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
ה וַיִּקְרָא אֱלֹהִים לָאוֹר יוֹם, וְלַחֹשֶׁךְ קָרָא לָיְלָה; וַיְהִי-עֶרֶב וַיְהִי-בֹקֶר, יוֹם אֶחָד. {פ} 5
And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. {P}
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