Friday, November 14, 2008

Part 2 of Creation 3 Good Shabbos Stories

More on the creation of man and Evolution vs. Darwin’s Evilution.

Of course every creation came from G-D. The image or perhaps ember of G-D is within man's Divine Soul. But we are not G-D but a creature designed by G-D to raise the physical mundane objects to that of the spiritual.

When one believes in something whether an engineering process, idol worship, political fantasy, or the Darwin Theory of the Origin of the Species, One will continue to fight tenaciously for that belief even if evidence goes against it. According to Professor Aviezer there is fossil evidence that an evolution on earth did take place in leaps and bounds and not survival of the fittest. The best example is the Yucatan Meteor or Asteroid strike that wiped out the dinosaurs and 96% of the species on earth. There was no survival of the fittest here. The dinosaurs ruled for 100.000,000 years suddenly in a short period of time died out except for a few lizards, turtles, alligators and other reptiles. Some birds, amphibians and mice like mammals survived.

At this juncture suddenly all sorts of species appeared from the wooly mammoth, giant sloth, saber tooth tigers, etc. Now sometimes Darwin proponents will show you mini-horse, medium size horses to modern horse. Rabbi Avigdor Miller TzZal mentioned in his lectures and books that the fact of the matter is that modern man is found with the small horses in tar pits and other areas as well as with modern horses. The whole proof of evolution goes out the window. Somebody bred large horses, ponies, Shetlanders, etc. for riding and pulling and (I believe) ate up the mini-horses. But the various species appeared suddenly with no genetic relationship one to another. The only way such an appearance of abundance of species could occur is through some creation or generation process above that of mutation. Thus I can conclude that it appears that a guiding hand brought forth these various species (it neither matters if this was a 24 hour day or thousands of years in ‘geological time’ both are nothing.)

As recently as two years ago Professor Yoel Barak of Tel Aviv University believed that “Lucy” the chimpanzee with different teeth and jaw was the missing link between ape and man, suddenly recalled his theory and said that there was no relationship despite a 95 to 98% DNA match. I do not know why he changed his mind but it took courage to come out against your own theory and disown it.

Yoel Barak gave a lecture on Galil Man. There were a lot of nuns who came to here his discoveries. However, the only thing he discussed was Neanderthal Man living in the same cave as Homo Sapiens in the Galil. The fact that Neanderthal had a jaw structure which allowed for only noises, clicks and other simple communication vs. the vocal cord, jaw and tongue of Homo Sapiens allowed the Homo Sapiens to eventually dominate. The fact that they lived in the same cave at the same time is significant. There is evidence of this in his finds. The Cro-Mongrel, Heidelberg and other humanoid species also appeared suddenly like the other creatures in jumps or evolutionary leaps without physical rhyme or reason. (It is obvious that Homo Sapiens with speech and dexterity were able to make obsolete the humanoid species with their growls and grunts. Even if we were to say the human males were able to just kill off the other species males and enslave the females. – that is from a physical logical point.) The Torah goes further stating in the Medrash that man tried many species until G-D created woman and finally he found a help-mate (assuming in my Chutzpah that the earth did not rotate on its axis in Gan Eden and that all was one day until just before Shabbos the earth rotated). However, you want to cut the cake geneticists claim that the last change in genes occurred about 10,000 years ago and if we say 5,769 years ago is it a crime? Thus Adam or mankind as we know ourselves was created finally in the Divine Image at this time.

Is real evolution going on still? According to the anatomy of the Talmud and statements by our Rabbis 2,000 years ago and with all the pillage and sword disembowelment of helpless Jews, we find a slight change in their anatomical description of humans to us. Since they knew 3,000 years ago how to remove a spleen (King David’s runners) and on Julius to perform a Caesarian birth 2100 years ago, we can assume that they knew anatomy. They also knew that the Pleiades (7 sisters) consisted of 100 stars – but only the Jewish Astronomers/Sages and not the non-Jews. Mankind is also advancing mentally and socially towards Moshiach and afterwards towards Chayay Olam Haba.

One other point I thought of within a private explanation on blood transfusion which I explained to a Bas Noach who was a former theologian in the witnesses: Man was in G-D's image and has the ability to make a spiritual Gezara (ruling) and declaration such as to rule over the animals as written in Beresheis. When G-D gave us the Torah, he gave the Rabbis power to make a Gezara even against the words of the Torah such as done with Yebum (Levirate Marriage) today. Canceling or over-riding a Mitzvah and making Halitza a Mitzvah is the right of the Rabbis. The Great Sanhedrin made a ruling about saving a life is more important than all but three Mitzvos (one cannot murder somebody to save his own life, idol worship or desecration of the Divine NAME and forbidden sex like have sex with your mother, sister, daughter, brother, etc. or I will kill you [for a male] ). Animal blood falling into a meat pot might make it trafe in quantity above 1/60th of the contents but human blood from one's own cut or wound would not make the food trafe. Same thing goes with blood transfusions.

TO BE CONTINUED LONGEVITY, THE LANGUAGE SPLIT AND AVRAM’S REVOLUTION NEXT WEEK BLE NEDER.


Note: Due to my vacation and travels, I did not have time to write about Ethiopian Jews or Frank Heller’s Escape from the Nazi Death March – ble Neder they will appear next week.

Kashrus Alerts

White Rose Canned Spinach has an unauthorized OU. Jelly Bean Classic Candies has milk inside and the dairy symbol was omitted. Breads and bread mixes from Anna Bread Company have a dairy ingredient inside and have been omitted.

VETERANS DAY - NOVEMBER 11, 2008 Jews Died We Remember
American Jews Served Our Nation
American Jews Died in the Defense of Our Nation
American Jews Diligently Serve Every Day as a Vital Voice of the 27 Million Strong American Veterans Community
We and You are All a Part of the Whole in Educating the Nation about Jewish Service to Our Military and Our Country
This is in memory for Arthur Zion who won the purple heart in WWII and passed away last week in his early 90’s leaving no children behind. May his memory and the memory of all our brethren who fought in the wars be remembered including my great uncle Julius Pascheles who died fighting for the Austrian Kaiser in WWI also childless.

Helping prevent Agunos:

Women’s rights in Eretz Yisrael: Naomi Ragen mailed this to Ruth who posted it: Making it easier for womenBy Amnon Meranda 5/11/08 YnetKnesset Okays property distribution billIn historic vote, Israeli parliament adopts bill allowing distribution of property between couple before divorce is formally granted. New law aims to prevent extortion of women by divorce-refusing husbands Amnon MerandaThe Knesset made history on Wednesday when it adopted in a third reading and by a great majority a bill allowing the division of property between a couple before a divorce was granted.Fifty-eight Knesset members supported the bill and 21 - most of them members of the haredi factions, voted against. Knesset Member Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) was removed from the Knesset floor after loudly protesting the bill's approval.The new law brings new hope for women whose husbands refuse to grant them a divorce. Until today, these women were often subjected to extortion by their husbands, who conditioned the divorce on a distribution of the joint property according to their will.According to the new law, property distribution will be possible even prior to the formal divorce, as long as one of the following provisions exists: A year has passed since the divorce procedure was launched or since a motion for property distribution has been filed; there is a rift between the couple, or they have been living separately for nine months out of a year; a restraining order was issued or an indictment for domestic violence was served against the partner of the spouse seeking property distribution.'End to ongoing injustice'"This brings wonderful tidings for society in Israel and women in particular," said MK Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima), chairman of the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee and one of the bill's initiators."Today, the Knesset said 'enough' to extortionist methods and to the disgraceful exploitation of the weaker spouse," Ben-Sasson declared. "The new law will bring an end to unacceptable phenomena and ongoing injustices that have no place in a properly-run state."National Religious Party Chairman Zevulun Orlev, who also promoted the bill, added: "Many men use the assets under their control to force their wives to agree to a divorce in degrading financial terms or to refuse a divorce altogether.This law aims to make it easier for women who were refused a divorce and to prevent the conditioning of a divorce on the woman agreeing to give away the property." "According to MK Michael Melchior (Labor-Meimad), "This is a Jewish, just and moral law that takes away another tool from the hands of exploitive, get-refusing husbands."

NEXT WEEK THUNDER AND LIGHTNING COMING TO THE WHITE HOUSE AKA RAM AND BARAK.


Now for M. Wolfberg's stories.
Good Shabbos Everyone. We begin this week the cycle of Torah readings with perhaps the most powerful words of the Holy Torah: "In the beginning, Hashem created the heavens and the earth." The words of this first posuk of the Torah are so powerful that a Jew can use them as a source of spiritual strength in life. When the going gets tough, a Jew can merely repeat these words of this first posuk and be inspired to know that there is One above who is guiding the creation. Belief in Hashem is in fact the foundation of the Jewish faith. As Rambam tells us in the first of his 13 Principles of Jewish Faith "I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is the creator and ruler over all the creation, and He alone created, creates and will create all things." It is through stirring stories such as the following, that our belief in Hashem is strengthened. As the years past, the orthodox Jewish community of Pottersville, New Jersey dwindled to point that there was barely a minyan. One observant resident who remained in Pottersville was a man named Manny Schwartz. Manny could not bear to leave his elderly father who lived in Pottersville alone. So, Manny and his wife continued to live in the small town in order to take care of Manny's elderly father, even after most of the Jewish community had left Pottersville. Then one sad day, Manny's father passed away. Until his father's death, Manny had not been all that careful about davening with a minyan during the weekdays. After the death of his father, however, Manny needed a minyan every day to say kaddish. Manny managed, by calling around, to get together nine men, including himself. He realized that he would have to go out onto the streets of Pottersville to look for the tenth man. He knew it was ridiculous and probably fruitless; after all, he knew every Jew who was still left in town. Why did Manny think another Jew would suddenly materialize? So Manny went out onto the street and looked everywhere for a tenth man. Suddenly, Manny saw a man on the street. Manny knew it was a long shot, but Manny asked him, "Tell me, are you Jewish?" The man nodded yes. Manny prodded the man, telling him: "We need you in the synagogue for a quorum of ten men to pray. You would be the tenth man." The man looked at Manny skeptically and responded: "How can I be the tenth man? I do not know how to pray. The last time I was in a synagogue was at my Bar Mitzvah. You know how many years ago that was? What little Hebrew I knew then, I have long forgotten. I am worthless to you as a Jew." Said the man. "Fella," Manny told the man, "I must tell you, there is no such thing as a worthless individual. You happen to be a valuable commodity. Because, although you do not know the words, your physical presence alone is enough. All you have to do is stand there while we pray and you have fulfilled your function." The man seemed hesitant, but after a little more coaxing, he reluctantly came into the synagogue. All the other members of the minyan were relieved when they saw Manny with another man in tow, and someone quickly offered the newcomer a siddur. The man, whose name was Herb, refused the siddur and walked to the back. Herb stood throughout the prayers, his hands folded in front, his posture erect, his shoulders thrown back like a soldier on duty. The expression on Herb's face was serious, as if the proceedings had little to do with him. Every day following this, for weeks that turned into months, Manny would go out onto the street right before davening and bring Herb inside. Herb would never enter the shul as if he belonged there. Herb always made it look as if he just happened to be passing by. And, every day, Herb would take up the same position in the back of the synagogue with the same earnest expression, the same guarded posture, without ever taking a seat. Then, one day, almost at the end of the year of mourning for his father, Manny went out to get Herb and he was not there. Manny looked down the street. "Maybe he was delayed," someone offered. Someone else suggested that perhaps he was in Florida. Manny asked around and was told that Herb had suffered a severe heart attack and was in the intensive care unit in the local hospital. Manny was not surprised, since Manny had felt all along that Herb was committed to the minyan. Manny knew Herb would never miss minyan unless he were physically unable to attend. Manny rushed over to the hospital and was directed to Herb's bed in the intensive care unit. Herb was in a semi-comatose state. His eyes were closed. Manny felt saddened at seeing Herb in such a bad way. Manny realized how much a part Herb had become of the little Jewish community, even though Herb had never even opened a siddur. "Herb, It's me! How are you doing?" Said Manny to Herb. The nurse who was tending to Herb said kindly, "He cannot hear you. He is not conscious." Manny stood a few more minutes in front of the bed where Herb lay and then turned to leave. Suddenly, Manny spun around swiftly when he heard rustling in the bed behind him. Herb had opened his eyes wide and was looking at Manny. Herb lifted his index finger a few inches from the mattress and called out excitedly, "Manny, minyan?" Herb then closed his eyes for the last time and returned his soul to his Maker. (Stories of Inspiration, R.D.Goldwasser, p.235 - names have been changed) It is through stories like these that our belief in Hashem is strengthened because we can see clearly that there is a hidden spiritual world with Hashem at the helm. Every day in our own lives we can see the Hand of Hashem if we only look. In any case, we can always be inspired by the words of the posuk: "In the beginning, Hashem created the heavens and the earth." Good Shabbos Everyone.

Good Shabbos Everyone. In this week's parsha, we read about the great flood which Hashem sent to destroy the inhabitants of the world. One of the reasons Hashem decided to flush out the evil people in the world is that they were practicing idol worship. Although the Sages were subsequently successful in effectively eliminating the desire to serve idols, there still exists today idol worship. Unfortunately, many Jewish young men and women are drawn to cults. Many of these poor souls grew up without a strong connection to Judaism. The following true story illustrates one young Jew's journey in life, which took him the depths of darkness to the heights of spiritual light. Rabbi Glukowski, of blessed memory, was a rebbe - a Torah teacher in Toronto. It was his job to teach Torah to the Jewish children in the school, but he also had a hobby: Teaching Torah to yet more Jews. In fact he was so good at it that he was often offered payment for special speaking arraignments. But he always refused, saying that he wanted to do it for the mitzvah. One day he received a telephone call from a man that he had never met in his life and who he had no idea where he got his phone number. The fellow was frantic. He was Jewish and his son, who we will call Sheldon, somehow got involved with a cult called Hari Kishka (name changed to avoid mentioned the name of an idol worship) and no one had heard from him for months. The man was going out of his mind and was about to call the police when someone gave him the Rabbi's number. Rabbi Glukowski expressed sympathies at the tragic news but didn't understand what it had to do with him. After all, he was a normal religious Jew with no experience with cults or such things. True he was an venturous sort of person with a tremendous love for all mankind, especially his fellow Jews, but he didn't understand anything about cults and certainly didn't have the time to go searching in India or somewhere else to find about this cult. But the man on the other end of the phone wouldn't take no for an answer. He didn't care if the Rabbi knew about cults or not, he had heard his name from friends and was convinced that if anyone could get his son out it as him. Not only that but he had tried a lot of other things and called a lot of other people and nothing else worked. And as far as locating his son, that was no problem. It so happened that he knew the exact location of his son, or at least where he was when he was last heard from several months ago; in an Ashram in Toronto, not far from where the Rabbi worked. Something told Rabbi Glukowski to do it. It was crazy! But this could be another of his 'special projects'. He took the challenge. With no plan, strategy or inside information whatsoever he woke early the next morning, erev Shabbos, located the Ashram, said a short prayer, put on a smile and began knocking on the massive front door (there was no door bell). At first no one answered. They probably peeked out, saw a religious Jew and figured they should ignore him till he went away. But after he knocked for ten minutes without stopping a gruff voice from the other side of the closed door answered, "Who is it?! What do you want?!" "Hello!" he replied brightly, "My name is Glukowski, Rabbi Glukowski, and I want to talk to Sheldon Greenbaum. Anyone called Sheldon Greenbaum in there? His parents are worried about him." There were a few moments of silence and he almost considered to give them another ten minute knocking session when a different voice came from behind the closed door. "Yes, this is the one who is called Sheldon." "Sheldon? Sheldon Greenbaum?" yelled the Rabbi. A faint grunt signifying 'yes' was heard from the other side. "Hey! Hi Sheldon! Your father called me and he's worried. He might just call the police." "I'm okay!" he answered. "Listen Sheldon. Do me a favor. Your father called me and asked me to contact you because he's worried and he said he might call the police because he's worried." "So what do you want me to do?" The Rabbi had to think fast and suddenly it came to him. "Listen, if you call him he won't believe you. He'll think you are brainwashed. I mean, three months is a long time not to call. And if I call him, what will I say? I can't lie and say you're all right, I haven't even seen you. So I have an idea.." Rabbi Glukowski knew he was really crossing the line here but he went through with it. "Come to my house this Shabbos and then I can tell him I saw you for a full day and he won't worry. What do you say?" "One minute." Was the reply. After a few minutes of silence the door opened and out stepped a thin fellow, shaved head except for a clump of hair on the top with some sort of ornament dangling between his eyes. He was dressed in an orange robe wearing loose sandals and was carrying some sort of shapeless leather briefcase that looked like it was made in Tibet. He declared, "I am ready." Rabbi Glukowski took him to his house, which was only a few streets away, showed him to a room in the basement asked him if he wanted anything to eat or drink, or if he possibly wanted to take a shower. But Sheldon just gave a close-mouthed smile, sat as straight-backed as possible and shook his head serenely 'no'. That evening, as the Rabbi expected, Sheldon declined his offer to go with him and his sons to Synagogue. When they returned an hour or so later from the prayers they all sat down, Sheldon included, to the Shabbos meal. Luckily there were enough potatoes, salad and bread to keep their vegetarian guest satisfied. Rabbi Glukowski had no problem talking Torah at the dinner table but he soon realized that none of it was really pertinent to spaced-out Sheldon. So he tried a joke. no reaction, a story... shabbos zemiros, no reaction, something about family, life, sports, hobbies, animals. no luck; Sheldon just smiled, sat straight backed and nodded his head and finally said a few words before he retired to his basement room. That night Rabbi Glukowski was awaked from his sleep by a low groaning noise that filtered up into his bedroom from the basement. He put on his slippers and night-robe and went down to have a look. The moaning became louder as he descended and realized he was witnessing some sort of ritual. Sheldon had a picture or some sort of statue propped up on a chair before him and he was actually bowing to it while chanting some monotonous mantra. It was too weird for the Rabbi to bear: he had never seen a Jew actually worshiping an idol - certainly not right here in his house!! He didn't know what to do. It was out of the question to let it continue, but on the other hand he couldn't get angry or evict him... poor Sheldon thought he was doing a big "mitzvah!" So Rabbi Glukowski sat up the entire night and talked to him. Occasionally he went to get a cup of coffee to keep him up but he just kept talking. Not one word about idolatry, because he didn't know what to say, and also not too much about Judaism, because it turned Sheldon off, but about everything else under the sun; especially stories. The next day Sheldon was so exhausted that he slept the entire day, waking only for the Shabbos meal and, needless to say, Rabbi Glukowski was a wreck. He would have liked to also catch a few hours of sleep but Shabbos was one of his busiest days, praying, being with his family and teaching several classes. Years later (only a few years ago) Rabbi Glukowski passed away and his children, all of whom had already married and had children of their own, spent the seven-day mourning period in his home in Toronto. In that time hundreds, of people came to comfort the mourners and to praise the deceased. Among them was a thin, middle aged, religious fellow with sparkling eyes that no one seemed to recognize. He sat opposite the mourners and said; "When I heard your father passed away I had to come. Remember me, Sheldon? I was by your house about fifteen years ago for one Shabbos. You were all younger then, so was I but I had a shaved head and was wearing an orange robe." He told them of how that Shabbos got him to begin to think about his Jewish soul seriously for the first time in his life until finally he went to a yeshiva a year or so later and liked it. "You know what did it?" He concluded his story," You know what really impressed me about your father? It wasn't anything he said; in fact even the next day I didn't remember any of it, not a word. It was his love. I never saw such unconditional love in my life. That is what changed my mind." If we know Jews who have been enchanted into cults and other non-Jewish practices, it is big mitzvah to help them get out there and get into the real thing! Good Shabbos Everyone.
Good Shabbos Everyone. The Torah tells us that Avram heeded Hashem's call to leave his birthplace. The Torah states "ve-es ha-nefesh asher asu be-haran" (12:5) - and [they took] all their wealth that they had amassed in Charan." One of the alternative translations of this verse is that Avram and Sarai brought people closer to Hashem. The verse then reads "and [they took] all the souls that they had made in Charan." Which teaches us that when we bring someone closer to Torah and mitzvahs, we are credited as if we had created them. The following true story will inspire us to act in the ways of Avrohom and Sorah. Some twenty years ago in New York, a certain Mr. Fogel (fictitious name) - a middle-aged Chassid - was listening to a Torah tape of the Lubavitcher Rebbe while driving home late one evening from work. He had heard this one particular one tens of times but for some reason he liked it. But suddenly one sentence really struck him. It was as though the Rebbe was speaking to him directly: "As is known, the Baal Shem Tov said that a soul can come into this world for seventy, eighty years just to do a favor for someone, especially a fellow Jew." Suddenly Mr. Fogel became lost in thought. 'Could it be that I could live my entire life and never fulfill my purpose! Could such a thing really happen? After all who knows the secret ways of G-d if not the Baal Shem Tov?' He became serious. His eyes even began to fill with tears and he began to pray. 'Please, Hashem, guide me to do what I'm supposed to do, I don't want to miss my purpose!' Deep in thought he began to imagine the hundreds (today there are thousands) of Chassidim all over the world going 'out of their ways' to wake up Jews spiritually. Nothing is more important. nothing! When he came out of his reverie he realized that he was in a strange place and it took him a few seconds to figure out what happened. He had passed his turn-off, gotten off the expressway several stops too late and now was in a different district of Brooklyn. He was looking for a place to make a U-turn when something caught his eye. To his right, at the side of the road was an older man standing before the open hood of a stalled car. The street was unusually empty so Mr. Fogel slowed down, opened his right side window and had a better look. The fellow looked up at him and signaled. It didn't look suspicious so he pulled over and asked what was wrong. "Ahh! What rotten luck! I can't figure it out." The fellow yelled out. "The thing just died on me! Now I'm really stuck!! A tow truck stopped about ten minutes ago but they wanted six hundred dollars to tow me home! Six hundred! And I only live fifteen minutes away!" Mr. Fogel pulled his car even closer and the fellow continued. "And I'm stalled in a no parking zone. Look at this! Even if I caught a taxi. if I leave the car here . they'll tow it away." "Fogel pointed to a spot about fifty yards ahead and said. "Just don't worry. G-d will help. Here, look over there! About a hundred feet away is a place you can park. See! I'll push you. Get in your car and I'll push you. Then you can take a taxi home." "Thanks!" he yelled back as he walked to open the door to his car. "But I've been waiting here for a long time and not one taxi has passed. look!The road is deserted. But I guess you're right. Worrying doesn't help." Mr. Fogel was totally convinced that this fellow was telling the truth. So after pushing him to the parking place and the fellow locked his car up, he offered to take him home. After all it was only a fifteen minute ride. The old fellow couldn't stop thanking him. He got into Fogel's car and kept talking. "Wow! Thanks a million! I really appreciate this!! Now all we have to do, my wife and I that is, is order a cab." He looked at his watch, "Whew! It's really late! I hope we don't miss our plane. We're flying to Florida to visit our daughter and the plane is leaving in an hour." "Listen" said Mr. Fogel "It's no problem. You know what. I'll take you to the airport, after all it's only a half hour drive and my wife won't worry. Just don't ask questions. As soon as we get to your house get your wife and suitcases and let's go! You have no time to waste." The old fellow tried weakly to protest but realized that this Chassid was right, so in no time he and his wife were in the car and before they knew it were at the airport. "I can't thank you enough" said the old man as he pulled his suitcase from the trunk. "Listen, you got to let me pay you! Here, do me a favor.. take a hundred dollars." He pulled a bill from his wallet. "Nu! It's the least I can do. Just take it! But Fogel would have no part of it. "Sorry, my friend! First of all thank G-d I don't need the money. Second, it was a favor so I don't want the money. And third it was no big deal; the whole thing took less than an hour and I enjoyed it, so I don't even deserve the money." But the old man insisted, even took another hundred out and kept pushing it at Fogel saying "Just take it. Nu! Don't argue. Just take it." Until finally Mr. Fogel said. "Excuse me but you're Jewish, right?" the fellow shook his head yes. "So, listen, if you really want to repay me then, you know what? Put on Tefillin. Do you put on Tefillin? Do it every morning for a month." The man shook his head no. In fact it was exactly what he did not want to hear. Tefillin?! No way!! I'm not doing no mitzvos! No MITVOS! Not me!" "Alright, so then don't put on Tefillin." Fogel replied. "You were the one that wanted to pay. As far as I'm concerned you don't owe me anything but if you want to pay, this is what I want. Nu? What do you say? Just buy yourself a pair of Tefillin and put them on when you can. Okay?" The old fellow looked at Fogel with foggy eyes for a second, shook his head reluctantly and said ."All right. I'll do it!" Then he half-heartedly shook Fogel's hand, looked at his watch and ran to get a luggage cart. As soon as her husband was far enough away, his wife approached Fogel with tears in her eyes, dabbed them with a small kerchief and said. "Thank you! G-d just sent you!" She spoke in a low voice, keeping an eye on her husband to make sure he was involved with the cart but, although she tried to hide it, she was obviously very emotional, her eyes were red from crying. "You don't know what you just did. It was a miracle! We are holocaust survivors. We met after the war, got married, moved here to New York and agreed that we wouldn't do anything Jewish. Nothing. We were mad at G-d, you know." She started crying again. "But as we got older I began to yearn for the things from my mother's house.. you know, like lighting candles before Shabbos. But each time I mentioned it my husband said 'NO MITZVOS!! Our children got married, we are alone in the house but he still says 'No Mitzvos'!!' "So, yesterday I felt so bad that .. I did something I haven't done since the war.. I prayed. "I begged G-d to send some miracle to change my husband's mind. And now you came .. You are a miracle!! "I'm sure that this Shabbos we will have Candles." Good Shabbos Everyone

M. Wolfberg's stories are sponsored by: Hashem should help that Shosha Malka bas Golda be forever free of pain and suffering Refuah Shleimah to Chana Ashayra bas Dodi

Good Shabbos and ble Neder will continue properly next week,
Rachamim Pauli