Age differences in Marriage - always Happy - prayers in vain...

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Knowledge is Power – G-dly knowledge, is SUPER power.

Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon – known as Maimonides, 1135-1204 was a philosopher, astronomer, and one of the most prolific, influential Torah/Bible scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages.

Maimonides codified all of Bible Law. The Bible, is not only the word of G-d, it is also the blueprint from which G-d created the world. Being aware of the law, as it is in the Bible, gives one the ultimate control from this blueprint, over life.

This knowledge and expertise, gave Maimonides the authority and respect to write “The guide to the perplexed” circa 1190. In the words of Maimonides, “to promote the true understanding of the real spirit of the Law, to guide those religious persons who, adhering to the Torah/Bible, have studied philosophy and are embarrassed by the contradictions between the teachings of philosophy and the literal sense of the Torah/Bible.”

Maimonides was not only then, “The” guide for the perplexed, he is revered and respected to this very day, as the light that shines down on all of our paths.

The following, are some practical life lessons derived exclusively from the actual words of Maimonides Laws.

Always, Be Happy.

Maimonides develops a fundamental principle in the service of G-d.

The happiness with which a person should rejoice in the fulfillment of serving G-d, and the love of G-d who commanded them, is a GREAT service…...

Whoever holds himself proud, giving himself honor, and acts haughtily in such situations is a sinner and a fool……

In contrast, anyone who lowers himself and thinks lightly of his person in these situations is truly a great person, worthy of honor who serves G-d out of love.

Thus, David, King of Israel declared [II Samuel 6:22]: "I will hold myself even more lightly esteemed than this and be humble in my eyes," because there is no greatness or honor other than celebrating before G-d, as [II Samuel 6:16] states: "King David was dancing wildly and whistling before G-d."

A serious matter of concern.
Large age differences between a man and a woman.

What does the law of the Levirate marriage entail? The widow goes to her brother in Laws place of residence, and approaches the judges. The Judges speak to him, and give him advice that is appropriate for him, and for her.
If the appropriate advice is for them to perform the levirate marriage, they advise him to perform it. If the appropriate advice is for them to perform the Bible alternative of separation - e.g., she is young and he is older, or she is older and he is young - they advise him to perform this biblically mandated separation service.

In another place Maimonides writes,

……A young man should not marry an elderly woman, nor an elderly man, a young woman, for such conduct leads to promiscuity.

One of the reasons offered by the commentators is that. We assume that the difference in age will lead to a lack of sexual harmony and cause the man and/or woman to seek fulfillment outside of marriage.

Prayers are for future events – acceptance and gratitude for the past.

A person who goes to measure his silo should say, "May it be Your will, G-d, our Lord, that You send blessing to the work of my hands." When he begins to measure, he should say, "Blessed be He who sends blessings to this heap of grain."

If he asks for mercy after measuring his grain, his prayer is considered to be in vain. Similarly, whoever calls out to G-d over events that have already happened, is considered to have uttered a prayer in vain.

What’s interesting, is that as long as one did not yet measure the grain, although it is in front of him, one can still pray for a blessing in the grain.

This explains why some people don’t count exactly how much money they have, or what the actual gender of the baby is, before birth. As long as one doesn’t know, they allow G-d to work His wonders.

Honoring ur wife more than urself...Peace rules..

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Knowledge is power. G-dly Knowledge, is super power.

For the next couple of many weeks, I will be sharing with you, the most powerful knowledge, directives, guidelines, and good advice, EXCLUSIVELY from the words of the Rambam- Maimonides, one of the main pillars upon which current Jewish law and present day Jewish practice, is based on.

You will be pleasantly surprised to know that for thousands of years these are Jewish values. The following information, you may never have known existed in our Jewish heritage. Everything the Rambam -Maimonides writes has its roots in the Torah/Bible. I am sure that this info. will enhance, enrich and deepen your appreciation for life. It will put you in the driver’s seat to reach the best, life has to offer.

Moses Maimonides, Rambam, was a preeminent medieval Sephardic Jewish philosopher, astronomer and one of the most prolific and influential Torah/Bible scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages. He was born in Córdoba (present-day Spain), Almoravid Empire on Passover Eve, 1135, and died in Egypt on 20 Tevet - December 12, 1204, whence his body was taken to the lower Galilee and buried in Tiberias. He was a rabbi, physician, and philosopher, mainly, in Morocco and Egypt.

Although his writings on Jewish law and ethics were met with acclaim and gratitude from most Jews, even as far off as Iraq and Yemen, and he rose to be the revered head of the Jewish community in Egypt, and personal physician of the Sultan, there were also vociferous critics of some of his writings, particularly in Spain. But, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical arbiters and philosophers in Jewish history, and his copious work comprises a cornerstone of Jewish scholarship. His fourteen-volume Mishneh Torah from which I will derive the wisdom shared with my dear readers, carries significant canonical authority as a codification of Torah/Bible and Talmudic law.

Aside from being revered by Jewish historians, he is also very prominent in the history of Islamic and Arab sciences and is mentioned extensively in the studies. He lived to become a prominent philosopher and sage in both the Jewish and Islamic worlds.

In his Introduction to his Magnus opus, the Rambam writes; The intent of this text is that a person will not need another text at all with regard to any Jewish law. Rather, this text will be a compilation of the entire Oral Law, including also the ordinances, customs, and decrees that were enacted from the time of Moses, our teacher, until the completion of the Talmud, as were explained by the Rabbis in the texts they composed after the Talmud.

It is my intention to share with you, a serious serving/dose of this very practical and G-dly knowledge.

It’s more important to preserve/secure peace than to be right.

If a person has the opportunity to fulfill only one of two mitzvot, lighting a lamp for one's home on Friday eve so he isn’t sitting in the dark with his wife i.e., Sabbath candles, or lighting a Chanukah lamp, when the two come at the same time, - or, alternatively, lighting a Shabbat lamp for one's home or reciting Kiddush, the blessing made over wine on Friday Eve. required by one the Ten Commandments, to sanctify the holy day of Shabbat - the lamp for one's home receives priority, since it generates peace within the home.

Peace is of primary importance, as reflected by the mitzvah, requiring God's own name to be blotted out, to create peace between a husband and his wife, in the case of a woman suspected of adultery.

Peace is great, for the entire Torah was given to bring about peace within the world, as [Proverbs 3:17] states: "Its ways are pleasant ways and all its paths are peace."

The above is a direct quote from the Rambam. Here is one more.

Husbands honoring their wives. Wives honoring their husbands.

Our Sages commanded, that a man honor his wife more than his own person, and love her as he loves his own person. If he has financial resources, he should offer her benefits in accordance with his resources. He should not cast a superfluous measure of fear over her. He should talk with her gently, being neither sad nor angry.

And similarly, they commanded a woman to honor her husband exceedingly and to be in awe of him. She should carry out all her deeds according to his directives, considering him to be the leader and head, in the house.

This is the custom of holy and pure Jewish women and men in their marriages. And these ways will make their marriage pleasant and praiseworthy.

Could you imagine if men honored their wives more than their own selves? And wives honoring their husbands exceedingly?

Y did he take his own life? Y?

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Is there any wonder they feel empty and depressed and end up with no reason to live?


I was invited to hear the heart wrenching, 6 month speech, after the suicide of an only son who was 16 years old, given by his mother. Very much still grieving and raw, she did a valiant job expressing her grief and efforts to move on forward. This is pretty much the worse scenario, a person can be put in. Her frame of mind, emotional healing, and faith in G-d is remarkable.

So what is my beef all about?

Let me first tell you the way I see it. Can you imagine people enjoying the fun of their life, food galore, drinks to no end, entertainment that is so good it already hurts, and on and on. A few days or weeks later some of the party participants get terrible stomach cramps and maybe one or two die.

At the eulogy and in the hospital where so many are hurting they all reminisce the fun and good times they all had, and as if in a drunken stupor wish for the time they will return back again to all that fun. Not one person ever considers, maybe, just maybe, it was those “good times” that precipitated the deaths and the pain.

This mother went on talking about the advances society has reached where we can talk openly on TV of ED. Mental illness has become accepted and so has being ADD. High school children talk openly of taking their meds which is a good thing in her opinion, and medical marijuana becoming legal. This mother mentioned how we must thank our lucky stars for the recognition in “our time” that homosexuality is a state of being, like cancer. (I don’t think she intended what this comparison could be interpreted to mean.)

She was against the stigma that goes along with suicide, and therefore insisted it should be mentioned in his obituary. It was Ok for him to choose, his own path to heaven. ( I have no idea what that means.) The mother lamented the stigma that goes along with mental illness and mentioned the many other parents who offered their condolences by sharing with her the fact that their own loved ones also took their own lives, but asked her not to share that with others.

She knew her son had depression issues and made every effort to address that, but he had a loving girlfriend. He was always the life of every party. This mother was happy that although she was six months estranged from her husband, he was there in protective mode when this terrible tragedy took place.

Now, take all that the mother said, while both lamenting and ruminating her current condition, from the mouth of an upper middle class woman, with the example I gave earlier.

Not everything done at the party is or was harmful. However, when the whole picture comes together which is pretty much the lifestyle of middle class children, is there any wonder why many times the party ends abruptly with pain and heartache?

And, this is the lifestyle promoted by our society. This is normal!!

How about growing up in a home where children see loving parents who are an example of getting along together. Parents who live a life that show children, when possible more than one child, what it means to live a life with a higher purpose, more than (for the most part) just self-gratification.

How about children, who leave the distraction and many times rejection and heartache of girlfriends for later on in life and focus more of personal growth, so they will have the knowledge and tools to deal with those types of relationships, in its proper time.

How about children who are protected from the violence and immorality of a corrupt and degenerate television and are inculcated with the knowledge of a higher existence and a G-d that is worshiped, more than just money and fun. Every good deed matters, every day matters. Our choices have consequences and we have a moral code that has worked for thousands of years.

While these children have trips around the world and all kinds of fun imaginable, they grow up in an empty debauched environment. Full of mental, emotional, and spiritual emptiness and worse. Is there any wonder they feel empty and depressed and end up with no reason to live?

Heyyy... G-d is talking. Are you listening???

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The Holy Baal Shem Tov teaches, everything we see or hear, is specifically intended as a message, for you, from G-d.

The Torah teaches, when a person sees an immoral woman, he/she should take extra precautions, by minimizing his/her alcoholic beverages.

The Jerusalem Talmud brings three stories to demonstrate this lesson, drawn directly from the book of Isaiah. “If one hears talk around them, (speaking to you), “this is the way to go (or not go)”, it is G-d telling you something.”

Once Bar Kaparah came to a village and bashed his finger. As he was composing himself, he heard children telling each other a certain verse from the Bible. Bar Kapara immediately understood he would be unsuccessful, turned around, and went back home.

Rabbi Yochonan and Shimon Ben Lakish were travelling to Babylonia to visit a certain Rabbi Shmuel who wasn’t feeling well. They stopped next to a school and heard the children learning about Shmuel the prophet,” who died, was eulogized, and buried. Rabbi Yochonan says to Shimon Ben Lakish, “did you hear what the children said? Shmuel is dead.”

Rabbi Shimon wasn’t convinced. Rabbi Yochonan said, “record the time we are hearing this.” It wasn’t long afterwards, they heard Shmuel passed away on that day.

R’ Yoseh and R’Yonah went to visit R’ Acha in Babylonia. Again, they weren’t sure if they would make it there on time. “ G-d will already tell us whether it’s worth going or not”. On their way they heard in a village, one woman ask the other, “Did your candle go out yet?” And the other answered,” It did not go out, and it will not go out, the candle of Israel.” R’Yonah said. “If we heard these words, we have a reason to continue, since his candle didn’t go out yet.”

Ilfa and R’ Yochonan decided to earn some money. They rested in an abandoned home. As they are resting, R’ Yochonan hears two voices speaking, “let’s throw the wall down and kill them”. One voice responds. “No. One of them is yet to become a somebody.”

R’ Yochonan asked Ilfa,” did you hear the conversation?” And Ilfa says, “No”. Said R’ Yochonan. “If only “I” heard the conversation, it must mean, I am the one that is set for greatness.”

The Talmud goes on even further and says. Even “when one overhears about world events, that too, are lessons for the one hearing.”

In the tractate of Kallah it tells a story with the great Rabbi Akiva, who was once travelling in a village by a field and saw a man carrying a heavy load and two people at either side hitting him. Rabbi Akiva thought, there has to be something more to this and asked the man being hit, “what’s the story?”

He tells Rabbi Akiva, he did all kinds of transgressions while alive and this was his personal rectification. Rabbi Akiva asked him, did he leave any children behind, and he says, only a pregnant wife. Rabbi Akiva went to his city and asked for the wife and they said to him, why do you bother with the wife of such a terrible person.

Rabbi Akiva found the pregnant wife and offered her to personally take care of the child. After a few years and the child was able to say Kaddish/sanctification of G-ds name in a synagogue, and Borchu, the man met Rabbi Akiva and thanked him profusely for what he did.

Rabbi Akiva gave years of his precious time to the lad because he knew, if G-d made him see the father suffering like that, it was a message to him personally, to attend to the situation.

G-d is sending us messages all the time. We may need better, stronger, hearing aids.

Angelic Revelations & the Holiday of Shavuot.

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This coming Sunday and Monday – May 25 -26, 2015 is the second major Biblical holiday of the year, Shavuot. We are commemorating and reliving the great event, as described and recorded in the Bible, and passed down uninterrupted for 3327 years, when G-d in all His glory, revealed Himself to the entire Jewish people and presented them with The Ten Commandments.

This is the holiday to gain strength and inspiration in all areas of our Holy Torah and all its eternal G-dly wisdom, to guide each one of us in the happiest, most fulfilled way to live our lives.

The bible instructs us in the fundamental belief in a prophet, who will have the spiritual virtue of communicating with the people, G-ds words, as long as it will never contradict any of the teachings in these books.

With this in mind I will share with you another revelation, related to this Holiday, which took place about 500 years ago, and guides us to this very day in all areas of our lives.

The most authoritative book on Jewish Law, was written by Rabbi Joseph Karo in the early 16th century.

Rabbi Karo was born in Spain 1488 and was chased out together with all the Jewish and Moslem people in the year 1492. Moving to Portugal didn’t last very long, when in 1496 the Jews were expelled once again.

The Ottomans invited the Jews to settle within the Ottoman Empire, and the Karo family moved from one city to the other. Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey, until finally reaching the city of Safed in Northern Israel, through Egypt.

Rabbi Yoseph Karo became head of the Rabbinical court in Safed. There was not a single matter of national or global importance that did not come to the attention and ruling of his court. Its rulings were accepted as final and conclusive, and Rabbi Karo's decisions and clarifications were sought by sages from every corner of the diaspora. He came to be regarded as the leader of the entire generation.

Much of Rabbi Karo's inspiration and teachings were guided by a very special event that took place years before living in Israel, on the night of our upcoming holiday, Shavuot.

In a dramatic testimonial, recorded in the book of the great and holy mystic Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz, Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz (author of the famous mystical hymn Lecha Dodi - sung in all synagogues on Friday nights) testified, that in Salonica, Rabbi Karo had become one of the rare individuals who merited to be instructed by a maggid - a private angelic teacher who revealed to him many Kabbalistic teachings.

"Rabbi Karo and I decided to stay awake on the night of Shavuot and read passages of the Torah/Bible. After midnight, as we reached the section of Mishnah, a sweet voice was heard aloud from the mouth of Rabbi Karo. The voice grew ever louder, until even the neighbors were able hear it, though they were unable to understand it. The voice told us, the great impact our learning had this night, silencing all the prosecuting Angels and piercing all the heavens. It then spoke of our great merit of staying awake this night, and the greater effect it would have, had there been a quorum of 10. The voice then encouraged us to continue learning throughout the night, not wasting even a moment. Finally, the voice instructed us to stand up and say Boruch Shem... aloud, as is done at the conclusion of Yom Kippur.

The Shaloh HaKadosh – Rabbi Isaiah Horowitz concluded: "It is apparent that there was much more that was not allowed to be revealed. "

This spirit exhorted Rabbi Karo to sanctify and purify himself, and he revealed to him events that would take place in the future. Rabbi Chaim Vital explains that this visitation by the “Maggid” is a form of Divine Inspiration. Rabbi Chaim Joseph David Azulai notes that only about one fiftieth of the manuscript was ever published.

The Maggid promised him that he would have the merit of settling in the Land of Israel, and this promise was fulfilled. Another promise, that he would merit to die a martyr's death sanctifying God's name similar to his teacher had merited, did not transpire for an unspecified reason.

His reputation during the last thirty years of his life was greater than that of almost any other rabbi since Maimonides. This entire trajectory solidified, by the honor accorded to the Holiday of Shavuot and the Torah.

Cherish the Struggle......

Why all the hardships and the pain??

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The only way to build muscle is by experiencing pain, sore muscles etc. There is no other way, period. To expand fundamentally and inherently, you can’t be stretched just from the outside, it must come from inside, your own internal struggle with the status quo.

One of the 13 principles of faith states, that G-d administers rewards and punishments. “If you will go in my statutes and guard my commandments …I will give rain in its proper times and the earth will offer its produce….” No free lunch with G-d. If you work, “your employer is trustworthy to remunerate your efforts.”

G-d is the essence of good. G-d, the source of this entire world is pure kindness. If that’s the case, why doesn’t all this good and kindness just naturally flow from G-d, since that’s all He really is anyway? Why all the conditions, restraints and limitations? Why, the struggle of life?

Actually, mysticism explains the above principle applies to the realm of Holiness and blessings. In the realm of darkness and negativity the flow of energy comes without any or very little effort. Darkness, is a state of existence because there is no light. To create light, to draw light, an effort must be made to have it. But, why is that the case?

True good, is good when completely and totally appreciated. What good is it, if you don't even know or feel the goodness? True good is not just superficial, but reaches deep inside and is internalized.

Because G-d is the essence of good He wants to give that same kind of good that isn’t fake, and doesn't want to give a good that may not be valued by its recipients. G-d wants the good to be appreciated for ALL its’, worth and value. Therefore, those that are not of G-ds good side and are undeserving, what appears to be blessings in abundance, is in truth not only not valued and/or is appreciated, it is actually the source of much heartache and trouble in their lives.

Mysticism describes free (unearned) bread, as "bread of shame”.

Real confidence and self-esteem can’t ever come to people who steal and cheat. Feelings and knowledge that “I” am worth something, can only come when the “I” is really worth something. In addition to the corruptness and immorality in the process of trying to scam someone, there can’t ever be real inner happiness and/or joy in possessions or accomplishments that don't belong where they are. The blessings of life are missing.

A person will only truly relish the fruit, the product of their own hard labor. Our sages say, “a person prefers (and enjoys) one measure that is theirs, more than 9 measures granted for free from others”. The quality in less, is way more, than in the superficial quantity of more.

The ultimate purpose in the obstacles and struggles of life and in serving G-d, is to strengthen and deepen the pleasure and personal satisfaction that comes from overcoming the test. Not only because that’s what brings the best out of the person, but also because the deeper and higher dimensions of G-d are conveyed through the struggle.

Spiritual fulfillment therefore requires and stresses the need for the internal fight and the struggle with our environment. Difficulties, create the yearning and desire for respite.When finally reached, this makes the sweetness and pleasantness all the more deeper and richer.

Once, Rabbi Shneur Zalman wanted to gift his grandchild with the wisdom of the Torah. The grandchild, Rabbi Menachem Mendel refused the gift, thinking it’s better and more accomplishing when attained through hard work. Later on in life, he was sorry for refusing the gift because he realized, as much as he would have been granted through the gift, since G-ds wisdom is infinite, there would still be so much more to earn through hard work and toil.

Cherish the struggle because it will bring you to the deepest and best things G-d/life has to offer.

Scientists are they REALLY THAT smart?

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“They” I mean scientists, are constantly telling you, we, have all the answers. It’s all a pretty well proven science. Well, “they” couldn’t be any further from the truth.

I was reading two articles this past week. One a book review on, “The Half-Life of Physicists” and the other on, “armed with old bones and new DNA sequencing technology, scientists are getting a much better understanding” of the prehistory and background of the human species.

The book review writes. Einstein set out on a search for a unified geometrical theory of gravity and electromagnetism and would spend the rest of his life on this project, joined in later years by Schrödinger. They had no success, and the problem still resists the best minds around.

According to our current understanding, the line of research that Einstein and Schrödinger were pursuing was hopeless. While most of their colleagues were moving on to the study of such quantum-field theories, the two of them resisted, feeling to different degrees that such theories were likely inherently flawed.

What they found most problematic was the role that probability seemed to play in quantum theory, with calculations yielding only statistical predictions, not certain answers. Little did they appreciate the role of an infinite mind, impossible to comprehend, behind creation.

Einstein famously summarized his objection as “G-d does not play dice with the universe.” Schrödinger responded with, “don’t tell G-d how to run His world.”

I’m afraid to say both, weren’t getting us any closer to master the secret code of the universe, while ignoring the continuous and constant influence G-d has on the Universe and in each person’s life. That’s why our good or opposite of good deeds still matter. That’s why, how and where, prayer makes a difference.

Imagine what it must have been like to look through the first telescopes or the first microscopes, or to see the bottom of the sea as clearly as if the water were gin. This huge article in the WSJ tells us, this is how students of human prehistory are starting to feel, thanks to a new ability to study ancient DNA extracted from bodies and bones in archaeological sites.

While they felt they were already seeing the gin years ago, only recently, they are coming to realize the muddied waters of the past.

Low-cost, high-throughput DNA sequencing—a technique in which millions of DNA base-pairs are automatically read in parallel—appeared on the scene less than a decade ago. NO MORE THAN TEN YEARS AGO! It has already transformed our ability to see just how the genes of human beings, their domestic animals and their diseases have changed over thousands of years.

Before these technical innovations, reading DNA required the laborious amplification of short segments, one at a time. By 2008, companies such as 454 Life Sciences in Branford, Conn., and the San Diego-based Illumina began marketing machines that could read millions of DNA samples in parallel. In the past, researchers wanting to study ancient or modern DNA had to sip from raindrops; now they can drink from fire hoses.

Now let’s get this straight.

It’s not like I have anything against science, but let’s not constantly and regularly over exaggerate their accuracy and dependability. G-d Himself in the Bible instructs us to respect common accepted knowledge and conclusions of science, but never if it flies against the instructions and wisdom of G-d. G-d allows us a small area to function, but without Him, we would fail again and again.

When we go to a Doctor we know the Doctor as good as he or she may be, doesn’t know everything. Living here in South Florida we certainly know how much the weatherman knows, no disrespect intended.

Resting once a week on the Sabbath, drinking wine a few times a week, cleaning our hands before eating, meditating on the purpose and goals of life before retiring to bed every night and the first thing in the morning is still recognized as the best advice to live by, suggested by the Bible.

Time to join more classes on our heritage, and discover what is, and has always been, the wave of the future.