Thursday, May 17, 2012

If You Follow... I Will Give

Can we do תפילות prayers for:

The Temple Institute?

So that through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?

"If you follow... I will give"
(Leviticus 26:3-4)
Iyar 25, 5772/May 17, 2012
Fortieth day of the Omer

The nation of Israel is "blessed" with many very important friends in very high places who are all very concerned for Israel's well being. These very good friends are all very willing to sacrifice much of their very valuable time in order to dole out to Israel free and unasked for advice as to how Israel can solve all her problems and achieve all her goals. Alas, if only Israel would take heed and listen! Unfortunately, and to the great consternation of Israel's self appointed A-list of good friends, Israel, at best, politely rejects their advice, and at worst, simply ignores it.

Faced with Israel's stubborn inability to do what her good friends deem best for her, these not-to-be-deterred guardians of Israel's true best-interest, proceed to raid their attics and cupboards for any fragmentary or imaginary evidence of their Israel-loving bona fides: Some are Jewish; some have Jewish friends or a Jewish grandparent or simply love Jewish food; some were told by their pastor to stand by the nation of Israel; some are well respected world class pundits, whose weekly pearls of wisdom, (read: empty drivel), commands the respect of the chin scratching chattering classes. Israel's best friends whip out their voluminous CVs even as they harangue Israel with their very good and oh-so selfless advice of what Israel needs to do in order to save her from her own self. And then, when, in spite of all that selfless effort and altruistic intent, Israel continues to demur, well, we can't blame her good friends for throwing up their hands in disgust and choosing to let Israel wallow in her own self deception. "She'll learn... she'll learn the hard way, and then she'll remember what I told her to do all along!" Harumph...

Why does Israel not listen? Why does she not heed the sage words of her many concerned self proclaimed supporters? Is it because Israel considers herself a cut above the others? Hardly. Is it because Israel's leaders are flawless? That's a risible proposition. Is it because the nation of Israel is an arrogant nation? That's a hypothesis that more than one world leader has put forth over the years. But that offensive and derogatory remark is patently false. The reason that Israel tends to ignore the sweetly scented advice that her good friends attempt to foist upon her, and refuses to swallow the sweet flavored porridge that they, (for her own good), attempt to shove down her throat, is simple: 3,500 years ago, while camped out at the foot of Mount Sinai, Israel received the very best advice, and the only advice she would ever need:

"If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them, I will give your rains in their time, the land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give forth its fruit. Your threshing will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your food to satiety, and you will live in security in your land. And I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down with no one to frighten [you]; I will remove wild beasts from the land, and no army will pass through your land; You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you; Five of you will pursue a hundred, and a hundred of you will pursue ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you. I will turn towards you, and I will make you fruitful and increase you, and I will set up My covenant with you. You will eat very old [produce], and you will clear out the old from before the new. And I will place My dwelling in your midst, and My spirit will not reject you; I will walk among you and be your G-d, and you will be My people. I am HaShem, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt from being slaves to them; and I broke the pegs of your yoke and led you upright." (Leviticus 26:3-13)

Israel, indeed, has many true and dear friends, individuals who love and defend the people of Israel, G-d fearing souls who who have attached themselves to the One G-d of Israel. These friends know well Leviticus, chapter 26, verses 3-13. You won't catch Israel's true friends bombarding Israel with unsolicited advice that contradicts the message of these words from Leviticus. For they know full well that when it comes to friends in truly high places, Israel has but one: The G-d of Israel. And that's all she needs. G-d brought Israel out of Egypt and gave Israel Torah at Sinai. G-d led Israel into the promised land and G-d has stuck with Israel throughout four millennia of thick and thin, lean years and fat. So when Torah interrupts G-d's missive of love for Israel in order to deliver a message of sincere and straight up advice to Israel, we can rest assured that it's the real thing.

All the things that Israel's feckless self anointed friends have to offer Israel if only she do their bidding - peace, security, prosperity, tranquility - all these priceless rewards are already spoken for and guaranteed in Deuteronomy 26: "If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them... " (ibid) Israel has a covenant with G-d, and He, and only He, is the guarantor of our well-being, all the while we remain committed to fulfilling His word here on earth.

Barack Obama's "Got Israel's back?" Joe Biden's going to show Israel some "tough love?" Who's writing this material? Please, leave your sage advice at home. Israel knows what needs to be done. The sooner you false friends and phony lovers of Israel leave her alone, the sooner Israel can get on with doing what needs to be done.

Tune in to this week's Temple Talk, as Rabbi Chaim Richman and Yitzchak Reuven wax eloquent over the great modern day biblical holiday of Jerusalem Day! The Book of Leviticus concludes this week with parashat Bechukotai, a Torah portion that features beautiful words of idyllic blessing guaranteeing Israel's future when she but heeds her covenant with the Al-mighty. Conversely, harsh words of admonition describe the nation's fate if she turns her back on G-d and puts her faith in "happenstance;" that leads to exile, tantamount to death itself. But Whoa! Yitzchak & the Rabbi conclude that it is up to Israel to turn the woe into whoa! and simply get with the program, in tune with the flow of all creation. No wonder this Torah portion, which hinges upon our realization of G-d's hand upon us at all times and under all circumstances, leads us right up to the joyous celebration of Jerusalem Day, 5772, a day which reveals great Divine providence and G-d's protection, even as He brings us out of the exile and back home to the Land of Israel. This week's edition of Temple Talk is one for the Hall of Fame!

A Jerusalem Day Greeting: The modern world knows no greater day than Yom Yerushalayim - Jerusalem Day. It's been a long time coming, but our prophets foresaw this great event thousands of years ago! (Jerusalem Day, (20 Iyar) begins Saturday evening, May 19, and continues throughout the day of Sunday, May 20th.) Click here to view.

"If You Build It, He Will Come": Watch this three minute promotional video for Rabbi Richman's upcoming USA June tour! Click here to view.

Rabbi Chaim Richman Strikes Back at Israel detractors and Holy Temple denigrators! Referring to an Arab Knesset member's comparison of the Arab failure to destroy the fledgling state of Israel in 1948 with the destruction of the Holy Temple, Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute says, "This comparison represents a new level of obscenity, and the lewdest and most ribald obeisance before the golden calf of moral equivalency." Read more of the Rabbi's response.

Rabbi Chaim Richman in the USA, June 2012: "IF YOU BUILD IT, HE WILL COME"

"And He called to Moses, and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, when a man among you... " (Lev. 1)

Who is the man who hears the voice?

"The voice of Hashem comes in power! The voice of Hashem comes in majesty! The voice of Hashem breaks the cedars, the voice of Hashem strips the forests bare, while in His Temple all will proclaim 'glory!'" (Psalms 29)

Who hears the voice?

Who hears the voice that calls out every day from Mount Sinai, "Make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell among them?" (Ex. 25:8)

Who hears the voice that calls out, "because of My Temple which is ruined, while you run, each to his own house." (Hagai 1:9) Of all the issues we confront today, there is only one which holds the key. The key to peace, prosperity, security, and fulfillment - the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, the place that G-d has chosen.

What is holding back the people of Israel from rebuilding the Temple today? How close are we? How will the nations of the world be affected? Are the obstacles really that insurmountable... or could we overcome them if we only try? Are we waiting for G-d to step in and perform a miracle... or is He waiting for us to take the initiative? How can this dream become a reality in our life time? What is the relationship between the promise of the Holy Temple, and major issues such as the peace process, Palestinian terror, America's relationship with Israel and the Iranian nuclear threat?

If you build it, he will come. With G-d's help Rabbi Richman will be visiting the United States this coming June to share the Torah's message of the immediate rebuilding of the Holy Temple, the source of blessing for the whole world. Time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!

From June 11th through June 20th, Rabbi Richman will be speaking in different cities throughout Texas and New Mexico. Click here for details.

The 3rd Annual Temple Mount Awareness Day Happening: Part 5 (Available in the upcoming days): Hillel Richman and Frankie Snyder, senior staff members of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, discuss the exciting archaeological finds discovered this past year, from the Temple Mount and from the Second Temple period. With Yitzchak Reuven. Click here to view.

Part 4, featuring Yehudah Katz, and his band. Click here to view.

Part 3, featuring Yisrael Medad, Temple Mount activist and media expert. Click here to view.

Part 2, featuring Rabbi Nachman Kahana, beloved and highly esteemed Kohen, Torah scholar and author. Click here to view.

Part 1, featuring Moshe Feiglin, head of the Likud's Manhigut Yehudit, (Jewish Leadership), Faction. Click here to view.

This week's all-new Return of Prophecy teaching by Rabbi Avraham Sutton, is entitled, "Chapter 25: Hidden Teachings of the Good Light: The history of the world is the history of the progressive revelation of the inner, concealed truth of Torah." Click here to view.

From the opening "And He called" of the book of Leviticus to the closing words of this week's concluding reading, G-d has been direct, open and honest with Israel. He sets out His program for us and, in the end, it is up to us, and only up to us, to decide whether we are going to get on board, or not. Click here to view Rabbi Richman's teaching on parashat Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-27:34).