Truth or Tradition?

Come Out of Babylon!

"Don't be gay and grow a beard"

April; the month of sacrifice

"The End of April: A Time of Human Sacrifice

Why do we often witness tragedy and senseless deaths during the second half of April? The list of violent events that occurred during this time period is simply staggering. Here are some of them:

• April 19, 1993 – Waco Massacre: An FBI assault lead to the burning down of the compound of a sect named Branch Davidians, killing 76 men, women and children.
• April 19, 1995 -  Oklahoma City bombing – 168 people killed.
• April 20,  1999 – Columbine High School Massacre - 13 people murdered, 21 injured.
• April 16, 2007 – Virginia Tech Massacre – 32 killed; 17 injured.
• April 16, 2013 – Boston Marathon Explosions – 3 killed; 107 injured.
• April 18, 2013 – Fertilizer plant explosion, Texas – 5-15 killed (Notice that this event occurred almost exactly 20 years after the Waco Massacre, which is in the same area. Also, on April 16, 1947, a ship loaded with ammonium nitrate docked at the Port of Texas City and erupted in flames, causing a massive explosion that killed approximately 576 people).

There were many other violent occurrences that happened during that time period. In fact, CNN published an article in 2011 titled What is it about mid-April and violence in America?, discussing the events that occur in Mid-April. Sadly, the article only bashed “conspiracy theorists” and basically said “If you look for answers further than mass media, you are crazy and potentially dangerous”. However, two years later, the violent trend continues.
Is it all a coincidence? For those in the know, there are no such thing as coincidences. In 2011, I wrote an article about the death of Bin Laden, announced between April 30th and May 1st (see Why the Death of the Man Who Was Not Behind 9/11 Was Announced on May 1st). In that article, I briefly described the ritualistic significance of May 1st (May Day) and its relation to a god that is still important for to the occult elite: Baal.

The Cult of Baal Never Disappeared

Throughout many centuries and across many civilizations, the second half of April has always been a time of blood sacrifice. The worship of Baal took many names (Enlil, Molech, etc.) and spread across several civilizations. Being a sun god and a god of fertility, rituals celebrating Baal took place after the vernal equinox (a time of rebirth) and often involved human sacrifice.

“The cult of Baal celebrated annually his death and resurrection as a part of the Canaanite fertility rituals. These ceremonies often included human sacrifice and temple prostitution.”
- Baal, Encyclopedia Mythica

Although the observance of these rituals was sometimes condemned by religious movements, it never truly disappeared.

“The religion of the god Baal was widely accepted among the ancient Jews, and although it was put down at times, it was never permanently stamped out. Kings and other royalty of the ten Biblical tribes worshiped the god. The ordinary people ardently worshiped this sun god too because their prosperity depended on the productivity of their crops and livestock. The god’s images were erected on many buildings. Within the religion there appeared to be numerous priests and various classes of devotees. During the ceremonies they wore appropriate robes. The ceremonies included burning incense, and offering burnt sacrifices, occasionally consisting of human victims. The officiating priests danced around the altars, chanting frantically and cutting themselves with knives to inspire the attention and compassion of the god.”
- Ibid.

As a sun god, Baal’s worship involved human sacrifice and fire. Today, in the occult-elite ruled America, this time period often equals fire (or gun fire) and death. These rites were even mentioned in the Bible:

“They have built the high places of Baal to burn their children in the fire as offerings to Baal–something I did not command or mention, nor did it enter my mind.”
- Jeremiah 19:5

From the Babylonian, Assyrian and Phoenician civilizations of the Middle-East (their Mystery religions come from the same point origin), the cult of Baal spread to distant civilizations, such as the Celts, who observed Beltane rituals on May 1st (Beltane originates from the word “Baal”). While the observance of Baal rituals differed from one civilization to another, they were nevertheless grounded in the same occult concepts of numerology and sacrifice. In other words, they were all tapping into the same magickal knowledge.
Today’s occult elite still observes these rites, but with one major difference: They are now carried out on unsuspecting civilians and spread across the world through mass media. Fed and amplified by the fear and trauma of the masses, these mega-rituals are seen by all, but only celebrated by the occult elite. More than ever, we are dealing with Black Magick.
Other sites dedicated to occult numerology have published information emphasizing the importance of this time period.

“April 19 – May 1 – Blood Sacrifice To The Beast, a most critical 13-day period. Fire sacrifice is required on April 19.
April 19 is the first day of the 13-day Satanic ritual day relating to fire – the fire god, Baal, or Molech/Nimrod (the Sun God), also known as the Roman god, Saturn (Satan/Devil). This day is a major human sacrifice day, demanding fire sacrifice with an emphasis on children. This day is one of the most important human sacrifice days, and as such, has had some very important historic events occur on this day.”
- Occult Holidays and Sabbaths, Cutting Edge

Another article briefly describes the elements required to carry out the elite’s mega-rituals.

“The human sacrifice required during many of these occult dates needs to contain the following elements, each one of which is exaggerated to the highest possible degree:
1. Trauma, stress, and mental anguish, sheer terror
2. The final act in the drama should be destruction by a fire; preferably a conflagration.
3. People must die as human sacrifices, especially children, since The Darkness views younger human sacrifice as most desirable”
- Advent of Deception

Of course, not every event that occurs during that time period is related to Illuminati human sacrifice. However, most of the events mentioned above fit right in the mega-ritual “criteria” checklists. If you look carefully at the facts surrounding each one of these events, you might conclude that they were either carried out by government officials or blamed on mind-controlled patsies. Most of these events are absurdly gratuitous, generating even more trauma and causing people to wonder “what kind of evil people would do such a thing?” Unfortunately, these evil people rule us, and the same events are then used to further extremist political agendas.

The powers that be have become masters at combining pragmatic politics with occult rituals.

In Conclusion

Those who know about occult calendars enter the second half of April wondering if something horrific is about to happen. Sadly, every few years, it does, and the public is traumatized with a senseless and violent event. Almost every time, a closer look at the event leads to strange and suspicious facts, and, more often than not, hints towards an inside job. While many will ascribe the occurrence of these events during the end of April to coincidence, the fact remains:  Mass violent events involving death and fire happen regularly during the same time period that is occultly dedicated to Baal, who is worshipped through fire and human sacrifice. Whether this is all done on purpose or just the result of some crazy universal synchronicity, the fact is still there and cannot be disputed.

Incidentally, the compound that was burned down in the 1993 Waco Massacre was named Mount Carmel Center. In the Bible, Mount Carmel was where Elijah defied the prophets of Baal, challenging them to pray to Baal until he lit a fire in front of them. No fire was lit. Was the fire at Mount Carmel Center a symbolic revenge of Baal? "

By the Vigilant Citizen

http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/the-end-of-april-the-most-magickal-time-of-the-year/

Extremely talented group. אל הציפור

Zephaniah 3:20 - Shabbat Shalom!

“At that time I shall bring you in, even at the time I gather you, for I shall give you for a name, and for a praise, among all the peoples of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes,” said יהוה.

Rejoice!

Pesach: Chametz

"What is Chametz? (It’s not Yeast)

Chametz is any food that contains wheat, barley, oats, spelt, or rye that has fermented. These particular grains will ferment by themselves in the presence of water. This process can begin in as little as 18 minutes.

Obvious foods such as breads, cakes, pastries, pasta, cookies, crackers, pretzels, breaded foods, etc. must be consumed or disposed of before Pesach. However, as we are not permitted to consume, derive a benefit from or possess any chametz we need to look a bit further. As such, to make sure that we have no chametz in our possession it is important to review all packaged products or processed foods. If they are not certified kosher for Passover, assume they are not. All raw fruits, vegetables, nuts, and kosher meats are kosher for Pesach. Sephardic Jews and now more and more Ashkenazi Jews do not remove or limit the use of legumes (kitniyot) for Pesach.

But what about Yeast?

Ex 12:33-34, 39 (NASB 1995 update) 33 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders. … 39 They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.

Dt 16:3-4 (NASB 1995 update) 3 “You shall not eat leavened bread [Chametz] with it; seven days you shall eat with it unleavened bread, [matzah] the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), so that you may remember all the days of your life the day when you came out of the land of Egypt. 4 “For seven days no leaven [Se’or] shall be seen with you in all your territory, and none of the flesh which you sacrifice on the evening of the first day shall remain overnight until morning.

Se’or is what is prohibited in our homes. Yeast is natural occurring, living, microorganism which is everywhere. It is what ferments wines, beers, grains, etc. As we know we can have wine (as Yeshua and His disciples did at Pesach) we know that we can have some forms of yeast. What we learn is that all se’or is yeast, but not all yeast is se’or. (Just like all Levites are Hebrews but not all Hebrews are Levites. They may be Gadites, Ephramites, Jews, etc..)

The passages in Ex and Dt show us that the only ingredients for the bread were a fermentable grain, water, heat, and a short period of time. The opportunity for the grain to ferment after water was added over time is the key formulation. We know that if we add yeast or a lump of fermented sour dough to fermentable dough it is immediately considered fermented and is by definition se’or. Therefore, we know that yeast was not added. We also know that grains such as corn, rice, etc. rot if water is added to them and they are allowed to sit for a long period of time. They do not ferment on their own over time. As such, it was not corn meal or rice cakes that they were taking out of Egypt that did not have “time to leaven.” From this we learn that those grains are not required to be removed from our homes, even if they have been fermented with yeast. Conversely, we learn that the five grains that ferment in the presence of water, if there is any chance that they have been permitted to ferment since harvesting, must be removed from our homes.

Brewers yeast is one exception. As it is a fermented barley it is by definition chametz and all products that contain it must be removed for Pesach.

Baking soda, leavening agents, etc are irrelevant at Pesach and do not have to be removed from ones home, unless they are made from a fermented grain.

Other areas of consideration:

• Pre-ground “raw” wheat flours are often presoaked in water before grinding and may or may not be kosher for Pesach and do require certification.
• Oats are can also be “heat-treated” to keep them from rotting. If the “heat treatment” is done dry they are kosher for Pesach, however if it is done with “wet steam” they may be chametz and do require certification.
• Barley and “pearled barley” are kosher for Pesach and do not require certification.
• Sprouted Barley, barley malt, malt, malted barley, etc are by definition chametz.
• Unfortunately, grains are sometimes used in products such as soda-pop and decaf coffee and are not listed in the ingredient list. Not all soda-pop and decaf coffee are forbidden at Pesach but they do require certification. However, because of the Ashkenazi limitation on kitniyot which includes corn syrup, no soda-pops are currently certified kosher for Pesach and therefore they should be removed and avoided during Pesach.
• Beer, Whisky, grain alcohols, etc are by definition chametz and must be consumed or removed before Pesach.
• All alcohols and wines should be checked to make sure they are in fact kosher for Pesach or they should be consumed or removed before Pesach.
• Vinegar is a re-fermented alcohol. Malt vinegars are by definition chametz as is any product containing malt as it is made from a fermented barley. Wine, apple, and white distilled vinegars are usually fine for Pesach. However, white distilled vinegars can be made from wheat which would make it chametz and wine, apple and white distilled vinegars may contain additives that are chametz or be made on equipment that also processed chametz products such as malt vinegars. Care should be taken to review all products that contain vinegar. Some authorities in the US however do not have a problem with distilled vinegars as the majority of them used in processing foods (such as pickles, ketchup, mustard, olives, etc) or sold are made from corn and are therefore not chametz. They may not contain a hechsher saying it is kosher for Pesach however, because it does contain kitniyot which the Ashkenazi Jews avoid during Pesach. Many people do not remove it from their homes, but avoid consumption because of the vagaries surrounding products containing vinegar. As such consult your local Orthodox Rabbi for a ruling.
• Girl Scout cookies are kosher, but they are not kosher for Pesach. Be sure to check when they will be delivered so that you do not have them delivered just before or during the week of Pesach before you order them.
• For all corporate meals, congregational meals, or meals with guests, it is best to adhere to the strictest standard which is to not use any processed or packaged products unless they are marked kosher for Pesach. As stated before raw fruits, vegetables, meats, nuts and certain grains as noted are fine without a hechsher stating kosher for Pesach.

Cooking:
Cooking is permitted on festival Shabbats as long as the preparation has begun before the festival Shabbat began, the “eruv tavshilin” including the blessing, has been prepared before the festival. This permits cooking on festival Shabbats for meals to be consumed on weekly Shabbats that follow immediately after a festival Shabbat. Note that if a day is available between the festival Shabbat and the weekly Shabbat, cooking for the weekly Shabbat or the regular week day is prohibited on the festival Shabbat.

Cooking is always prohibited on the weekly Shabbat. This is the case even when a festival Shabbat follows immediately after the weekly Shabbat. In that case the “eruv tavshilin” including the blessing, must be prepared before the weekly Shabbat. Then after sunset on the weekly Shabbat, the cooking of the meals for the festival Sabbath may resume. Again, cooking on the festival Shabbat is limited to what will be consumed on the festival Shabbat. Cooking for a meal on a regular week day that follows the festival Shabbat is strictly prohibited.

Ex 12:14-16 14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 15 ‘Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 ‘On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you.
By reason of specific to general we see that because cooking is permitted specifically on the festival Sabbaths of Pesach, cooking is permitted on all festival Sabbaths (except Yom Kippur which is a fast day.) By applying the 9th rule of Yishmael we see that the permission to cook on a festival shabbat is a specification that is to provide a leniency to a general prohibition.

Ex 16:4-5, 15-29 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction. 5 “On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily.” (here we see that the preparation is to take place on the sixth day. They are not permitted to gather it or cook it on the seventh day, the weekly Shabbat.) … 15 When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. 16 “This is what the Lord has commanded, ‘Gather of it every man as much as he should eat; you shall take an omer apiece according to the number of persons each of you has in his tent.’ ” 17 The sons of Israel did so, and some gathered much and some little. 18 When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat. 19 Moses said to them, “Let no man leave any of it until morning.” 20 But they did not listen to Moses, and some left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and became foul; and Moses was angry with them. (cooked or raw it went bad by the following morning.) 21 They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt. 22 Now on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one. (First we note they gathered twice as much on preparation day, but we see that was not enough and Moses corrects them.) When all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses, 23 then he said to them, “This is what the Lord meant: Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, (all of it on preparation day) and all that is left over put aside to be kept until morning.” (what was not consumed is to be set aside. They are not to set it aside raw as tomorrow is a Shabbat observance, a holy Shabbat to HaShem.) 24 So they put it aside until morning, as Moses had ordered, and it did not become foul nor was there any worm in it. 25 Moses said, “Eat it today, (There is no permission to cook it. Cooking on a weekly Shabbat is strictly prohibited. That is why there is a leniency provided for festival Shabbats.) for today is a sabbath to the Lord; today you will not find it in the field. 26 “Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none.” 27 It came about on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather, but they found none. 28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My instructions? 29 “See, the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread (the word here is lechem, inferring cooked manna as it is in the form of a food stuff, not raw.) for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”

On the Pashat (plain meaning) of the text we see that cooking is strictly prohibited on all weekly Shabbats.
As cooking is permitted on festival Shabbats for food to be consumed on the festival Shabbat, it is customary to bless HaShem for such a privilege and to show recognition of the keeping of the commandment not to cook on the weekly Shabbat. In blessing HaShem before the festival Shabbat, with the comingling of foods, we are setting apart the festival Shabbat and showing that we are keeping it holy by not doing general cooking for regular week days."

http://jerusalemcouncil.org/halacha/kashrut/chametz-not-yeast/ 

The History of Saint Valentine's Day

●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●
... for I, your Elohim, am a jealous ELOHIM" (Exodus 20:4-5).

Exodus 23:13
And ye shall be on your guard as to everything that I have said unto you; and shall make no mention of the name of other gods -- it shall not be heard in thy mouth.
●▬▬▬▬▬๑۩۩๑▬▬▬▬▬●

Lupercalia --will you be keeping it this month?

This is the real name for Valentine's Day that so many of us  FOLLOW THE HEATHEN'S and observe.

The feast is a ancient Roman, pagan, festival honoring the goddess Juno, the said wife of Zeus, and Pan, the "god of nature" who was half man and half goat.

It was renamed for a Saint who was killed by the same Romans.

After the conversion of Constantine, Gentile Christian names were given to their heathen holidays.

Yehshuah said,
 John 4:22
22"You other nations don't really know the one you worship.
But we Jews do know ELOHIM we worship, and by using us, ELOHIM
will save the world.


Stop the foolishness; if you are not a GENTILE, leave the worship of the Roman and Greek gods to the Romans and Greeks, and return to the pure faith that Yeshuah established.

The History of Saint Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman Empire.

In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses.

The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage.

The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia.

The lives of young boys and girls were strictly separate.

However, one of the customs of the young people was name drawing.

On the eve of the festival of Lupercalia the names of Roman girls were written on slips of paper and placed into jars. Each young man would draw a girl's name from the jar and would then be partners for the duration of the festival with the girl whom he chose.

Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and would later marry.

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns.

Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues.

He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome.

The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II.

He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off.

He suffered martyrdom on the 14th day of February, about the year 270.

At that time it was the custom in Rome, a very ancient custom, indeed, to celebrate in the month of February the Lupercalia, feasts in honor of a heathen god.

 On these occasions, amidst a variety of pagan ceremonies, the names of young women were placed in a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed.

A few pastors of the early Christian Church in Rome endeavored to do away with the pagan element in these feasts by substituting the names of saints for those of maidens.

And as the Lupercalia began about the middle of February, the pastors appear to have chosen Saint Valentine's Day for the celebration of this new feast.

So it seems that the custom of young men choosing maidens for valentines, or saints as patrons for the coming year, arose in this way.

Christmas vs. Hanukkah

Find out the hidden truth of Christmas
 

Hebrew vs. Gregorian calendar

"What is the difference between the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars?

The Hebrew calendar was used in Israel in Bible times, and is still used by Jews for religious purposes. It is based on 12 lunar months (354 days) but with an additional month added every few years (7 times every 19 years) to keep the calendar in line with the solar year (365 days). Originally the months began with the observation of a new crescent moon, but over time this was replaced by mathematical rules.

The following chart shows the months and how they line up (approximately) with our modern Gregorian calendar.

Israel had two years, a civil year and a religious year (just as we have both a calendar year and a financial year). The civil year started in the month Ethanim (corresponding to our September/October) with the Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles. The religious year started six months later with the month Abib (also called Nisan) and included the Feasts of Passover, Unleavened bread and Firstfruits. The other major feast was Harvest (also called Pentecost), 50 days after Passover."

By Rob J Hyndman
http://bibleq.net/answer/3578/

"The Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar is the one used in the western world today.

The Gregorian calendar is today's internationally accepted civil calendar and is also known as the "Western calendar" or "Christian calendar". It was named after the man who first introduced it in February 1582: Pope Gregory XIII.

Calendar features

The calendar is strictly a solar calendar based on a 365-day common year divided into 12 months of irregular lengths. Each month consists of either 30 or 31 days with 1 month consisting of 28 days during the common year. A Leap Year usually occurs every 4 years which adds an extra day to make the second month of February 29 days long rather than 28 days.

Realigned with the equinox

The Gregorian calendar reformed the Julian calendar because the Julian calendar introduced an error of 1 day every 128 years. The introduction of the Gregorian calendar allowed for the realignment with the equinox, however a number of days had to be dropped when the change was made.
The Gregorian calendar was first adopted in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain in 1582. The Gregorian reform consisted of the following changes:

• 10 days were dropped in October 1582.
• New rules were set to determine the date of Easter.
• The rule for calculating Leap Years was changed to include that a year is a Leap Year if:
  1. The year is evenly divisible by 4;
  2. If the year can be evenly divided by 100, it is NOT a leap year, unless;
  3. The year is also evenly divisible by 400. Then it is a leap year.

For example, the years 1900, 2100, and 2200 are not Leap Years. However, the years 1600, 2000, and 2400 are Leap Years.
The Julian calendar is currently (between the years 1901 and 2099) 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar because too many Leap Years were added. The Gregorian calendar is off by about 1 day every 3236 years.

Switching to the Gregorian calendar

The Gregorian calendar would not be adopted until much later in Great Britain and America. It wasn’t until September 1752 that 11 days were dropped to switch to the Gregorian calendar.
Sweden and Finland had a "double" Leap Year in 1712. Two days were added to February – creating a date of February 30, 1712. This was done because the Leap Year in 1700 was dropped and Sweden's calendar was not synchronized with any other calendar. By adding an extra day in 1712, they were back on the Julian calendar.
Japan replaced its lunisolar calendar with the Gregorian calendar in January 1873, but decided to use the numbered months it had originally used rather than the European names. The Republic of China originally adopted the Gregorian calendar in January 1912, but it wasn’t used in China due to warlords using different calendars. However, the Nationalist Government formally decreed the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in China in January 1929.

Who designed the Gregorian calendar?

Although the Gregorian calendar is named after Pope Gregory XIII, it is an adaptation of a calendar designed by Italian doctor, astronomer and philosopher Luigi Lilio (also known as Aloysius Lilius). He was born around 1510 and died in 1576, six years before his calendar was officially introduced."

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/gregorian-calendar.html

Do your own research about Christmas

A Joke Made in Heaven

A young unmarried chassid named Meir spent the festivals in the court of his Rebbe, Rabbi Dov Ber, the "Maggid" of Mezeritch. When it was time to take leave and he was admitted to the Rebbe's room, he complained about the difficulties he was having finding a wife. Because of his poverty, no one would offer him a match.

"Go in peace," said the Rebbe. "Accept the first marriage proposition that is suggested to you."

On his way home the young man spent the night in a village inn, where he found a group of empty-headed loafers wasting their time in drinking and foolish jesting. Being cold from his journey, he found a seat in a corner next to the stove. He tried to be unobtrusive, but the mischief-makers spotted him, and asked him where he was from and what was his business. He gave them the name of his home town, and told them that he had just visited the Maggid of Mezritch.

"What did you want from the Rebbe, and what did he answer you?" they pried.

He told them: "I asked the Rebbe to pray that the Almighty arrange that I meet my destined marriage partner, and he told me that I should agree to the first match that was proposed to me."

At this, one of the party jumped up and exclaimed: "Excellent! I've got a first-class match for you. My sister is a young divorcee, and she has a dowry of hundred silver rubles -- and she's here right now! If you're agreeable, we can shake hands on it."

Now in fact this good-for-nothing was in no way related to the young woman; she was the daughter of the wealthy innkeeper, who was not home at the time.

Meir answered coolly: "Fine, I agree."

The prankster ran into the kitchen, explained the joke to her and asked her to play her role, saying it would be excellent for the inn's business, as many celebratory drinks would certainly be ordered. She innocently agreed, and when she emerged into the main room, was greeted with loud cheers and applause.

The band of loiterers thereupon ordered vodka with which to treat the young chassid on the occasion of his unconventional engagement, and had a great time toasting l'chaim and offering him their blessings, all the while snickering behind his back. Then one of them came up with a further suggestion: "Why don't we arrange the marriage ceremony straight away? Then we can throw a really great party!"

One of his friends objected: "But none of our crowd knows how to draw up the marriage contract and run the ceremony."

Meir, overhearing them, promptly volunteered that he knew how to do both. This gave them even more cause for mirth. They took a clean tablecloth and held it up with four broomsticks over the heads of the couple as a chupah canopy. The chassid wrote out the ketubah document; and then he duly sanctified the giggling young lady as his lawful wedded wife according to the rites of Moses and Israel.

His companions now enjoyed their practical joke so much that they tugged at his hat from all sides, made fun of him without any restraint, and even started to slap him around a bit. Seeing how things were faring for him, the young man made his escape and spent the night in the cottage of one of the gentile villagers. In the morning he ventured as far as the door of the inn, but was afraid to enter lest he be beaten up again. Just at that moment he heard one of the servants saying: "Here comes the 'father of the bride' at the front door!"

The young man approached the innkeeper, and said, "How do you do, father-in-law!"

The innkeeper was somewhat taken aback: "Who is this? What is he talking about?" he asked.

His daughter, who had come out to greet him, explained: "This young man has been providing us with a little entertainment, and last night we had a engagement and marriage ceremonies, just for fun! You'll be pleased with how much extra food and liquor was sold."

Her father did not like the sound of what he heard, and plied her with questions in order to find out exactly what had taken place. When he heard her answers, he shouted furiously at Meir: "Dolt! What's the idea of marrying this young lady? Those idiots may not understand the implications of a ketubah and a wedding ceremony in front of witnesses, but if you are a chassid and a yeshivah student as you appear, you should certainly know better. Didn't you realize that they were making fun of you?"

And, to make his point clearer, he slapped the hapless young man across the face. Soon enough, however, he had second thoughts on the subject, and told himself: "Since I'm already tied up with this tramp, I'll have to speak to him politely in order to be able to get out of this mess. If I get angry, he'll take no notice of me."

He therefore changed his tone, asked the young man to give his daughter a bill of divorce, and promised him twenty silver rubles for his trouble. To his surprise, the visibly impoverished young man quickly refused. He raised his offer several times, but each time with the same lack of success.

"You might as well stop trying to buy me off," said Meir finally. "Let me tell you what is really going on. My Rebbe told me to agree to the first match that was proposed to me, and that's what I did. This crowd may have treated the whole matter as a joke, but I took it seriously. I accepted the offer according to the Rebbe's instructions, and I certainly will not withdraw from it without a specific order to do so from the Rebbe. If you don't agree to the match, let us go to the Rebbe together; let him decide."

The dismayed innkeeper realized he had no option but to travel to Mezeritch. When they arrived, he put his complaint to the Maggid: "One day, while I was away from home, along came this pauper, believed a band of jokers who told him my daughter was their sister, and accepted their proposal to marry her. Then they set up a wedding canopy, and he betrothed her in front of witnesses! I offered him some money to give her a get (bill of divorce), but he won't agree without your approval. I am now willing to offer him one hundred silver rubles, as long as he gives my daughter a divorce."

"I'll discuss the matter with the young man," said the Maggid.

When the innkeeper returned a few hours later, the Maggid told him: "I discussed the divorce with the young man, and he is agreeable -- provided that you give him a thousand silver rubles. But what about your daughter? Isn't it high time that she got married? Allow me to propose an excellent match I have in mind for her. I personally vouch that this young man is a learned and pious Jew, stems from a family of refined lineage, and is himself a man of outstanding character..."

"I shall gladly accept whomever recommend, Rabbi," said the innkeeper, who had the greatest respect for the famed Chassidic leader.

"The new bridegroom had only one fault," continued the Maggid. "He was a pauper, and his poverty made him look frail and unattractive. But now that, too, has been rectified. You see, he has just come into possession of a thousand silver rubles, which he will bring into the marriage. This way you will lose nothing at all by buying off the 'first husband'...".

"You see," concluded Rabbi DovBer, "there's no need for a divorce and another marriage. I assure you: it is a match made in heaven. May you both journey home with joyful hearts."
The innkeeper took the Rebbe's counsel to heart, went home happily with his son-in-law, and the newly wedded couple lived their life together in harmony.

---

Adapted by Yrachmiel Tilles from A Treasury of Chassidic Tales (Artscroll) and other written and oral sources. Another version of this story cites Rabbi Moshe Tsvi of Sevran as the Rebbe, identifies the innkeeper as Mr. Tsvi Velbka, and reports the wedding as taking place on Lag B'Omer night.

Biographical note: Rabbi Dov Ber, (d. 1772), known as "the Maggid of Mezritch," succeeded his master, the Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, as the head of the Chassidic movement. Many of the leading chassidic dynasties stem from his disciples (Lubavitch, Chernobyl, Karlin et al), students of his disciples (Gur, Sanz, Belz, etc), and his descendents (Rhizhin, Sadigor, Tchortkov, etc). The classic anthologies of his teachings are Likutei Amarim and Torah Ohr (published by Kehot as Maggid Devorav l'Yaakov), and Ohr HaEmmes.

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/482519/jewish/A-Joke-Made-in-Heaven.htm

The tzit tzit

The Tzitzit - A List of Many Tying Styles

Jerusalem Temple - Virtual tour

The Altar

For those of you who are studying the Temple

Yofyafisa - You are the most beautiful

Luley; Shabbat shalom!

Homemade Body Lotion!

"No chemicals, no drying alcohol, nothing but healthy oils to give you smooth silky skin."

Seven Natural Homemade Substitues for Conventional Beauty Products

" Outer beauty is at least partially a reflection of inner health and a healthy, well-nourished body will shine with great skin, silky hair and bright eyes. It seems ironic then, that most “beauty” products contain chemicals that are so dangerous to the skin. Take for instance, Apricot Scrub by St. Ives,  my former beauty product of choice. I checked it out on The Cosmetics Database and found that it ranks 9 out of 10 for containing hazardous chemicals… and it is marketed as being natural!!!

Fortunately, there are natural alternatives to conventional beauty products that work great. A healthy diet and good exercise plan also go a long way! These natural alternatives are also less expensive in most cases, and work so well, I’m never going back.

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Natural Substitutes for Deodorant and Antiperspirant

Antiperspirant and deodorant products are some of the worst offenders when it comes to beauty products. There have been recent reports of links between these products and much higher rates of breast cancer, and doctors report that those who get breast cancer are most likely to get a tumor in the area closest to the armpit. Antiperspirants, by sealing in moisture are the worst. besides putting aluminum in your body, they prevent perspiration, which is the body’s natural way to eliminate toxins.
Natural Alternatives: Baking soda by itself is actually an incredibly effective natural deodorant, though it can be messy if you are wearing a dark color. Mixing baking soda with equal part coconut oil is a cleaner option and since coconut oil is naturally antibacterial and anti fungal, it is great at preventing odor. You can also buy natural alternatives, but look out for any containing aluminum of any kind, and check yours in the cosmetic database before buying. A post about my homemade essential oil shea butter deodorant coming soon.

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Natural Substitutes for Lotion

Lotion is another top offender for beauty products. The skin is the biggest organ in the body, and many chemicals can be absorbed by the skin and stored in fat tissue. This is especially a concern for pregnant women, as these chemicals can be passed to a baby though the placenta.
Natural Substitutes: The best natural lotion I have found so far is just pure organic Coconut Oil. It is able to penetrate the skin and the medium chain fatty acids help with wrinkles, dry skin, and other skin problems and since it is naturally antibacterial, it won’t cause breakouts. There are also countless ways to combine coconut oil with other oils, butters, essential oils and herbs to create solutions for your specific skin. (recipes to come!)

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Natural Substitutes for Toothpaste

Almost all conventional toothpastes contain fluoride, which have been linked to thyroid disease and cancer. Most also have sugar, which seems counter-intuitive for a product designed to prevent cavities. Fortunately, companies are catching on to consumers being more aware of this, and are finally presenting fluoride free natural options. At our house, we opt for a natural alternative that is easy to make and inexpensive (and keeps us from getting cavities)
Natural Alternatives: Mix baking soda and peppermint liquid castille soap to make a thick paste. Squeeze or scoop onto toothbrush and brush as normal. This has a slightly salty minty taste and also a natural whitening effect. Some people use pure baking soda, which works great, but is a little bitter/salty for me.

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Natural Substitutes for Facial Toner

Though toners don’t contain as high of levels as other beauty products (typically), I wanted to include this one because there is a natural option that outperforms conventional products by far and makes people look a lot younger.
Natural Substitute: Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother rubbed on freshly clean face. The vinegar scent fades as soon as it dries, and a few drops of essential oil in a few ounces of apple cider vinegar really helps the smell. Apple cider vinegar tightens, brightens and freshens the skin and percents dry skin and breakouts. It is also great to have on hand for heartburn, yeast overgrowth and other common complaints.

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Natural Substitutes for Mascara Remover

I must admit, I was always leery of mascara remover, because it seemed dangerous to put something like that close to my eyes. Sorry to say, this kept me from using anything to remove my eye makeup for years. I would sleep with it, and use dry tissues to wipe off the racoon eyes the next morning. I do NOT recommend this! It gave me early wrinkles (fixed by apple cider vinegar and coconut oil) and lighter pigment around my eyes. I finally found a good solution, and my skin has never felt healthier:
Natural Alternatives: Olive oil and/or coconut oil are great at removing mascara and eye makeup, even waterproof. As an added benefit, they moisturize the eyes and help remove or prevent wrinkles.

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Natural Substitutes for Hair Spray

Another product that makes the top ten list of dangerous products, hair sprays (especially aerosol) put chemicals into the air and consequently into your lungs and skin. Most contain substances that have been linked to cancer or disease and they can, after time, cause chemical sensitivities. Willing to try some natural options?
Natural Substitutes: Many people swear by juicing a lemon and mixing with a couple cups of water in a spray bottle. It works, but has to be stored in the fridge. I prefer mixing a cup of boiling water with 1-4 teaspoons of sugar (depending on the level of hold you want). Stir and let sugar dissolve completely and pour into a fine mister bottle. This will hold hair and make it shine. For difficult hair, let first application dry and apply another application.
For the natural beach waves look, make the above recipe with salt instead. This will give a flexible hold without being dull at all. Supposedly, top stylists are turning to sea salt products lately too.

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Natural Substitutes for Teeth Whiteners

Most teeth whiteners contain high levels of peroxide and other chemicals. While these aren’t a necessary beauty product, white teeth make you look younger and healthier. The best treatment is a healthy diet, but some natural options can help speed up the teeth whitening process.
Natural Substitutions: Save the money on expensive commercial whitening and avoid the dangerous chemicals by using pure baking soda on a toothbrush. Brush lightly in small circles for five minutes before regular brushing once to twice a week. Alternatively, rub fresh strawberries on the gums or mix mashed strawberries and baking soda and wear in mouth tray for 30 minutes once a week. I was shocked to find that both of these actually work and make your teeth feel great (no chemical aftertaste or lingering sensitivity).
To sum all that up: you basically need coconut oil, baking soda and apple cider vinegar. These three products do wonders as natural beauty products and are also used in natural cooking and cleaning recipes. They truly are so healthy you could (and should) eat them. Got any better ones? please tell me about them below! "

http://wellnessmama.com/1409/seven-natural-homemade-substitues-for-conventional-beauty-products/