Torah

After the 1967 Six-Day War, Israeli leaders made the decision to return control of the M’aras HaMachpeilah (Cave of the Patriarchs) complex to the Muslim Waqf. The Arabs did not allow any type of archaeological research in “their” holy places, and even today, they refuse to allow Jews into the area known as Kever Yitzchak, the tomb of Yitzchak Avinu.

On May 3, 1982, Prime Minister Menachem Begin hobbled into a crowded Knesset chamber, tense with expectancy. He was in pain, recovering from a severe hip injury, and it was with heavy, purposeful steps that he arrived to deliver his El Al speech. He began quietly, factually, declaring that the government had finally decided to halt all El Al flights on Shabbos and festivals – a revelation that sent leftist eyes glaring and hatred flashing in the public gallery where the El Al union men sat.

A number of years ago, Rabbi Hertzel Borochov, a Lubavitcher chasid from Rechovot, in the Central District of Israel, visited an auto body shop near his home to have his car serviced. The owner of the shop was a man by the name of Tziyon Kedoshim, a Sephardic Jew, who was nominally observant. He put on t’filin every day and davened, but not much more than that.

The following story is related by Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser shlita, and it illustrates how a Jew can merit unique Divine intervention, if he or she stands up for what is right. The story took place in Eretz Yisrael and is about a poor bride named Rena who could not afford her own wedding gown and needed to resort to procuring one from a free-loan gemach organization. She did her research and found such an organization that had just what she was looking for. The problem was that it was in a distant city and she would have to travel there if she wanted the gown.

On May 3, 1982, Prime Minister Menachem Begin hobbled into a crowded Knesset chamber, tense with expectancy. He was in pain, recovering from a severe hip injury, and it was with heavy, purposeful steps that he arrived to deliver his El Al speech. He began quietly, factually, declaring that the government had finally decided to halt all El Al flights on Shabbos and festivals – a revelation that sent leftist eyes glaring and hatred flashing in the public gallery where the El Al union men sat.

Mrs. Liba Eckstein survived the horrors of the Holocaust as a prisoner in Auschwitz. Eventually, she married and settled in Manchester, England. During her ordeal, Liba begged Hashem for three things. First, that she should survive Auschwitz and tell her story to the world. Second, that she should marry a ben Torah. Finally, she prayed that if she ever merits having children, all her offspring should remain shomer Shabbos and marry before her death.