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$20.00

Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A well-known speaker started off his seminar by holding up a $20.00 bill.

In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"

Hands started going up. He said, "I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this.

He proceeded to crumple up the $20 dollar bill. He then asked, "Who still wants it?" Still the hands were up in the air.

Well, he replied, "What if I do this?"

And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. "Now, who still wants it?" Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value.. It was still worth $20.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you.

The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE and WHOSE WE ARE.

You are special - Don't EVER forget it"

(Anonomous)

My birth was a bit of an accident - my parents said I was a surprise

Question of the Week:

It's my birthday this weekend but I have always felt funny about celebrating it. My birth was a bit of an accident - my parents said I was a surprise, and I was born six weeks premature. Is there any meaning in celebrating the day that I wasn't really supposed to have been born?

Answer:

Your birthday is chosen by G-d - not your parents, your astrologer or the obstetrician. Birth is G-d saying that the world can't go on without you. It is the day that your soul's mission had to begin.

There were already more than six billion people on earth when you were born. Did the world really need you? Can one more soul really make a difference? Obviously the answer is yes. Otherwise G-d would not have sent your soul to this earth. The fact that you were born means there must be some unique gift that you have to offer the world that none of those other six billion people could possibly achieve.

A birthday is an opportunity to reflect: This is the day that my soul was despatched on its mission. How is the mission going? Have I been contributing my part to the furthering of G-d's purpose to create heaven on earth? Have I been doing my bit to enhance and improve myself and my world? How much time and energy do I spend on meaningful pursuits? How much more time could I spend on what really matters in the coming year?

Far from being an accident, your birth was clearly a deliberate act. The fact that you surprised your parents, and you arrived early just shows how urgently the world needed you - your soul couldn't even wait a few weeks for the due date to get down here. G-d had another due date in mind.

Your soul was sent down by priority delivery. Make sure your soul always remains a priority.

Good Shabbos (and Happy Birthday),

Rabbi Moss

To subscribe email rabbimoss@nefesh.com.au

Be Nice !!!!!

Click on picture to see it more clearly

Good Shabbos

A commenter (Halacha)on VIN about the Holocaust

# 12 is indeed correct. The comments following his, suggesting that G-d no longer participates in this world are heresy. G-d spells out the holocaust in the tocha'ah, he does not pass out lollipops, and grade on a curve. He gives orders we follow. There is no notion here that Hitler yshv"z is hero. "Harbei shluchim yesh limokom." If Hitler didn't do the job there would have been a plague or some other device to accomplish G-d's will (yes read it again, G-d's will) in Europe. Hitler volunteered for the job, he will get his just "reward" in gehenom. Regarding the view of Modern Orthodoxy on the holocaust, i.e., Judaism without G-d, the holocaust was due to politics, the economy, historic Christian anti semitism, and everything else except the one thing that caused it: The violation of the Torah. Don't tell me the children and the righteous died also. "Kivan she'nitain reshus limashchis lihashchis aino maivchin bain tzaddik lirosho." The establishment of the Zionist state earlier wouldn't have changed things, armed training wouldn't have change things, American intervention wouldn't have changed things. Tshuva usefilo utzedaka are the only things that make a difference.
(con't)
It's interesting that the ultra orthodox Hungarian and Poilish chassidim that saw their families murdered before their eyes, suffered in Auschwitz and Bergen Belsen, and lost everything, walked out and said "this is a gezairah min hashamyim, we accept it, we are not mi'harer after the RSO." un gegangin viter. The only people that scream "NEVER AGAIN" are the American Jews that sat al sir habaser during the holocaust, the non believers, and the Modern orthodox. As if to say: If the RSO ever makes such a gezairah (ch"v,) we could outsmart the RSO because we own guns, learn karate, and meet with Catholic Cardinals in the bais medresh of YU to further interfaith understanding. S'VET GORNISHT HELFIN! You think 200 million goyim in europe decided to participate, actively if not passively, because Hitler y"sh was a good orator? Because there was depression? The holocaust could not have happened, especially not Germany with it's 43% intermarriage rate before the war. Jews were interwined in every area of German life. banking, industry, commerce, theatre, politics, etc. And yet the Holocaust did happened because G-d wanted it to. A reminder, G-d still runs the show.

How will the internet issue be solved ?

BAN CONTINUES: Mechanchim Receiving Instruction How To Deal With The Internet

Eretz Yisroel - Educators (mechanchim) are being called to attend meetings with the principals of mosdos as they establish guidelines regarding how to deal with talmidim whose homes have Internet connectivity.

According to the latest HaMevaser report on the Internet concerns among Gedolei Yisrael Shlita, the organization of the nation's seminaries are planning a kinos this coming Sunday to address the pressing matter. Principals of Chinuch Atzmai affiliated mosdos are also expected to convene in the near future to address the Internet problem.

Rabbonim have indicated they will not permit talmidim in mosdos if they come from homes with Internet connectivity. The same holds true for children of people who own, operate, or maintain an affiliation with chareidi websites, which have already been ordered shut, resulting in partial compliance.

With all due respect, to date, no mention has been made regarding mosdos accepting funds generated as a direct result of Internet connectivity, a question that is being raised by a growing number of givirim today, frum members of the community who are reliant on the Internet for their livelihood, as is most of the world today, Jewish and otherwise.

Some are also questioning the legitimacy of chareidi MKs appearing on the Knesset and other official websites, containing photos of them and information about their lives; as well as some who even maintain their own websites.

There is also the question of chareidi MKs and deputy ministers, who regularly grant interviews to Internet news agencies, frum and otherwise, as well as the large number of chassidic courts and Litvish institutions in Eretz Yisroel that regularly send media releases and accompanying photos to chareidi Internet news agencies for publication.

(Yechiel Spira - YWN Israel)

#756 King Solomon's Wise Formula

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin

In the book of Proverbs , we find an amazing formula for peace. "As in water, face is to face, so too is the heart of one person to another."

When you look at your reflection in a pond or in a mirror, you will see the exact same expression that is on your face. If you frown and scowl, you will see a frown and scowl staring right back at you. And if you smile and wave, you will see a smile and a wave. This is a natural law of physics. To frown and expect to see a smile on the image of your face in a mirror isn't a wise expectation.

King Solomon teaches us that this natural law has a counterpoint in the laws of human nature. The inner feelings you experience towards someone will be reflected back to you from the heart of that person.

See the good in other people. See them as being souls who have high aspirations even if at present they are not yet using all of their potential. See people as they will be when they are at their best. Judge people favorably. See the positive intentions of what they say and do even when it would be preferable if they chose better ways to accomplish those positive intentions.

The way to influence people to feel better towards you is to radiate unconditional love and respect towards them. When someone likes and respects you first, it's easier to reciprocate those feelings. It is a step towards greatness to be the one to create unconditional love and respect when you need to sustain this in the face of challenges. Be willing to take this step.

Test of Three- True, Good and Usefull

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom. One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance, who ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about one of your students...?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me, I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."

"Test of Three?"
"That's correct," Socrates continued.

"Before you talk to me about my student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man replied, "actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about my student something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him even though you're not certain it's true?"
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.

Socrates continued, "You may still pass though because there is a third test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my student going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really..."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"
The man was defeated and ashamed and said no more.

This is the reason Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

It also explains why Socrates never found out that Plato was having an affair with his wife.

(Anonymous)

The milkman's butter

The brief summons hanging on the milkman's door bewildered him. He was an honest man who always behaved appropriately. He never cheated, lied or stole anything. He never drank alcoholic beverages early in the day - a custom outlawed in the village. He had no idea why he was invited to court but the baker knew.

The baker used to buy butter and cheese from the milkman for his baking. One day he suspected that the lumps of butter that the milkman sold him were under a kilo - even though the milkman insisted that each was exactly one kilo. The baker decided to check out the matter and for a period he consistently weighed every lump of butter that he bought from the milkman. He discovered that they were in fact less than a kilo. Sometimes they were 900grms, sometimes they were 950grms and once one was even 850grms.

The baker was angry "Cheating me," he told his wife angrily, "I am not going to be quiet about it". He went to the local court and complained about the milkman. "We have to prosecute him" said the baker. "We can't let him cheat all the villagers, people trust him!"

That same day the court messenger hung a notice on the milkman's house inviting him to court. The milkman arrived at the court shaking with fear. He had never been to a court house and had never spoken to the Judge. The Judge evoked a sense of fear amongst the villagers.

"I assume you have a very accurate scale in your dairy." said the Judge

"No your honour, I do not have a scale "said the milkman

"So how do you weigh the butter? Do you just guess that it is one kilo?" said the Judge

"No G-d forbid, your honour - I am an honest man; it never occurred to me to do something like that. Very simply I built myself a scale - the kind that needs a weight on one side to balance the butter on the other". The Judge nodded his head, and the milkman continued. "Every morning when I come to weigh the butter for the baker I place a kilo loaf of bread on one side of the scale and this way I know that the butter that I will give to the baker will be exactly one kilo."

So the Judge said...you are telling us that the amount of butter that you give the baker is exactly the weight of the loaf of bread he supplies to you?"

"That is it exactly it!" said the milkman and the baker's face fell.

This is as it is in life.... we receive exactly as much as we give....and one more thing. ...before we set out to judge others; let's first check that our own house is in order. Don't we have sometimes the same failings that we accuse others of?

Let us remember the saying of chazal: - "Straighten yourself first, then straighten others;" ...........