Wednesday 13 May 2009

Nice One...

Thought for the day...............

One day, long, long ago, there lived a woman who did not whine, nag, or pester.

But it was a long time ago, and it was just that one day.

The End

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Monday 11 May 2009

Live Links to Meron - Lag B'omer 2009 [UPDATED]

Tens of thousands of people are currently making their way to Har Meron in honor of Lag Ba'Omer. All are eagerly awaiting the "Hadlakah" by the Boyaner Rebbe Shlita - which is just moments away.Below is a live link to the festivities which are going to be taking place shortly at Meron. Please be advised that this link is in no way affiliated with YWN, and we are not responsible for any technical difficulties that may occur. Please note, that due to the tremendously high volume of people logging on the same time, the link may not work that well.

Link 1: Click HERE
Link 2: Click HERE
Link 3: Click HERE
Link 4: Click HERE
Link 5: Click HERE
Link 6: Click HERE
Link 7: Click HERE
Link 8: Click HERE
Link 9: Click HERE

Link 10: Click HERE

Live Links to Meron - Lag B'omer 2009

Choose from 4 locations http://omer.bneybraki.co.il/

Media Player Link http://meron.mediacast.co.il/

Four Live Clips Here http://www.bhol.co.il/news_read.asp?id=9418&cat_id=1

Here also http://rashbi.eu.pn/

A Glimpse Into the Life of a Bochur in a Japan Prison Cell

Please continue to pour your hearts out in Tefilah for Yoel Zeev ben Mirel Risa Chava, Yaakov Yosef ben Raizel and Yosef ben Ita Rivka.

Tokyo, Japan - Yossi's Brother Speaks Up About Sentencing and What the Family Went Through

Published on: May 7th, 2009 at 01:22 PM

News Source: VIN News By Ezra Reichman | Mishpacha and Sha'ah Tova

Tokyo, Japan - Israeli Charedi Hebrew newspaper Sha'ah Tova printed an interview with Yosef ben Itta Rivka's older brother Yona, who returned to Israel a short while after Yossi was sentenced in Japan last Friday for smuggling drugs to Japan. He had been conned into this deed unwittingly by a respected member of his chassidus 15 years his elder.

For the past year, the families of the three bochurim incarcerated in Japan have refrained from giving interviews. This is the first interview with a family member which intimately touches on what this brother has been going through, the suffering of his family, their feelings after the sentencing and their hopes for a miracle.

"The sentence," says Yona, "was the lesser of two evils. It involves a lengthy prison sentence, but everyone involved are happy to be over this point. Now we can start doing things to relieve Yossi's prison conditions by applying for his transfer to Israel.

The family believes that the boys had been set up already in Holland. Yona says, "Something didn't smell right. The boys were given electronic tickets with a reservation for the Hilton hotel in Tokyo -- which was cancelled even before they reached Japan. Apparently, their senders realized they were going to get caught. We're aware of a few other signs which show that it was doctored. The travel agency through which the reservation was made provided the details after the judge forced them.

"Yossi was placed in the Chiba prison. Over the past year my parents visited him a few times, and I did too. We rented a one-room apartment in Chiba for the 'low' price of $1,700 a month. For Shabbosim, we travel to Tokyo so we can daven with a minyan at the local Chabad House.

"The first time I saw him, several days after he was imprisoned, he looked terrible. He was still being interrogated daily, with some of the sessions lasting 12 hours. When they brought him to the room to meet me, he was sure he was being taken for another interrogation. He almost hadn't slept 15 days. When he saw me, he was sure he was seeing a heavenly apparition. Until today he doesn't stop saying how important that moment was for him. He didn't even know if his family in Israel knew what condition he was in. When he heard from me that thousands are praying for him every day, it greatly encouraged him. Before then, I had never heard of Japan and had no idea how serious the affair was. It was nightmarish. Yossi, who was then 17 years old, looked like a sack of bones.

"All we could give him was 5 pieces of white bread. That's all he has been eating since he was incarcerated last year. Avraham Schwartz (a Jew who lives in the area) has been visiting him every day and buying these pieces of bread from the prison to give him. Everything else was treif. Besides being treif, he's not used to Japanese food. Once they brought him fish and he couldn't even approach it because of the smell. Besides the bread, he is allotted a fruit once every two weeks. For Pesach, he was given a large amount of matzos, but whatever was left over was taken from him right after the holiday."

"He is in a small cell, most of which is taken up by a futon placed on the floor. He is woken every morning at 7. He has to fold the futon and can't sit on it during the day. He can either sit on the floor or stand. If he was sitting and just placed his hand to lean on something, the guard were already shouting at him to sit straight. They have tough discipline there. Only at noontime is he permitted to rest on the futon for an hour.

"Twice a week they take prisoners out to the yard for 10 minutes. If it's cloudy, they don't let them out. Sometimes it was several weeks until Yossi could move his limbs.

"When I came to visit him, I could only speak with him through a glass," Yona recalled. "Yossi was put in the worst building of the prison, without heating in the winter or cooling in the summer. When I saw him last, he told me, 'Summer is again approaching. The heat was scorching. Do what you can to get me out of here because I can't bear another summer here.' They only allow taking showers twice a week, and the prison cell is crawling with bugs and other animals."

Winter was no picnic either. Yossi had ice on the walls of his cell. His hands were blue from the cold. Because they didn't give enough blankets, his family provided him with 5 coats which he used to sleep in.

"We managed to bring him many seforim as well as chareidi newspapers from Israel. Yossi is angry at the papers who mentioned his name; after all, he was a minor. I buy him all the chareidi papers in Israel and send them to Japan. Avraham Schwartz brings them to the prison. Most of the time he learns Torah, davens, and studies sifrei chassidus. He's gotten much stronger in his Yiddishkeit."

Yona has only good words for the Israeli ambassador to Japan, Nissim ben Shitreet and consuls Ms. Shavit and Ms. Friedman, who have helped them through the crisis in every way. On the last day Yona was in Japan, the Israeli embassy had a party (Yom Ha'Atzma'ut?) and invited the Satmar family to join them. The Israeli officials told Yona and his family that they would do the best to help them, 24 hours a day. "They helped us whenever we asked," Yona says in sincere appreciation.

Other people who greatly helped the family and Yossi through the crisis was Rav Menachem Mendel Shafran, a dayan from Ashdod strongly involved in askonus, and Rabbi Mendi Sudkevitch, the Chabad shliach in Tokyo. "Whenever we called them, even 4 a.m., they would always answer. I never saw such mesirus nefesh, all completely voluntary."

Yona also lauds Dr. David Buxbaum, who pro bono led the Japanese legal team and the defense strategy. "He's not a young man; he's 76. But he is dynamic and fresh like a young man. He is a well known lawyer in China, and has offices all over the world. He came a few times to China to help Yossi. He was available at all times and ready to do anything we requested. I have no words to thank him. May Hashem reward him generously."

The family was allowed 20-minute sessions to spend with Yossi. "Besides the moral support it gave him, it afford him the chance to sit on a chair. Yossi also took advantage of the privilege to get a "hair-cut" every two weeks, even though he didn't need it. Anything to just get out of his jail cell for a few minutes.

"We knew that the maximum sentence for a minor was 10 years in prison. We hoped for a miracle. In Japan, it's impossible to be acquitted. The reality is that 99.3% of the accused are guilty in the end." Yona has dozens of clippings from Japanese newspapers of sentences given for drug smuggling. All of them ended with stiff prison sentences.

Yossi was acquainted with all the details of his defense. His family and lawyers spent months preparing for it, and Yona believes that the outcome would have been worse without the vast preparation that went into the case. In the days before the final sentencing, Yossi recited the entire Tehilim and thousands prayed for him.

Two days before the sentencing, the prosecutor was changed, and the new prosecutor gave Yossi his passport, identity card and other documents. "We began to hope that a miracle was going to happen," says Yona. "No one could explain that gesture, not even the Japanese attorneys. When I heard the relatively stiff sentence, it was a sudden, harsh blow."

Yossi was brought to court for his sentencing, accompanied by two guards, with his hands handcuffed and tied behind his back. When he entered the court, the guards removed the handcuffs and he was told to sit down.

"The final sentence was given in the presence of the family, the askanim who had helped out, many Japanese attorneys who we didn't know, and the police interrogators. The Japanese were fascinated by this case, which was part of the problem. Because they made such a sensation of it, the judge couldn't let Yossi get off without a tough sentence."

"At the sentencing, Yossi broke out in heart-rending sobs. Luckily, that day he was to be taken to shower, and they give showers in a building which is heated. When he came out of his shower, his spirits had lifted and he told me, 'I'll deal with this. I have the Ribono Shel Olam with me. But how you will calm Mama?"

The family is hoping Yossi will now be transferred to a prison for westerners or minors, where the conditions are relatively better. "The judge sentenced him to forced labor. I don't know what kind of work that entails, but I hope it will be for minors, which will be easier. Yossi himself wants to work. He can't bear being in that room anymore. He told us, 'I don't care what I have to do; the main thing is to get out of here.'"

Yona has seen the kind of work that prisoners do -- making shoes, tissue boxes from wood, plates, etc. "I hope he's not sent to the Foji prison, which is the worst one. I don't know if this depends on the judge. Our lawyer is working on it."

Yona is also critical about how the press in Israel reported the Japanese treatment of the yeshiva bochurim. "I have to say that the media circus caused damage to the whole process. You have to know that every clipping, every newspaper, everything that was written about the affair in Israel was translated in Japan and is sitting on the prosecutor's desk. It's a mazal that Yossi wasn't able to see the early media reports, which were filled with false stories."

"After everything he went through, I think Yossi can be a lawyer himself," Yona says with an ironic smile.

The effect on Yossi's family has been immense. "All 12 of us brothers and sisters went through a very hard time. Our lives have changed over the past year. But thank G-d, we've reached the stage where we've finished the trial. "The real work will begin in the coming weeks. If the lawyers decide not to appeal the sentence, and to work on transferring him to Israel, we have lots of bureaucracy to wade through. There was a recent similar story of an Israel who was imprisoned in Japan for 6 years. It took 10 months to transfer him back to Israel.

"Yossi has become stronger. He's not the same Yossi from a year ago. He has become steeled. At first we were in shock. We didn't dream that such a thing could happen to Yossi. He entered the prison like a child and today he is an adult who is sensibly thinking everything out. We're continuing to support him and pray for him, together with the thousands who are davening for his salvation and the salvation of two of his friends.

Dr. David C. Buxbaum, Yossi's lead defense, is an Orthodox Jew and professor of international criminal law who has lived in China for several decades. He received his legal education in New York University and University of Michigan, and was the first American lawyer to move to China after President Reagan unfroze relations with the Chinese. Many of the top lawyers in Japan, including those working on the case with him, were his students in university. He lives the Asian culture and is able to bridge between it and western culture.

"The chance to transfer the bochur to Israel to carry out his punishment depends on the degree of cooperation provided by Israel," explains Dr. Buxbaum.

He says that the judges realized that the boy was innocent, but issued a harsh ruling according to the law's stipulations. "Despite him violating the law, the facts still remain that he did it unknowingly and was completely innocent," Dr. Buxbaum avers.

Live Links to Meron - Lag B'omer 2009

ALL TESTED & WORKING @ 15:15GMT TIME 11/05/09

Choose from 4 locations http://omer.bneybraki.co.il/

Media Player Link http://meron.mediacast.co.il/

Four Live Clips Here http://www.bhol.co.il/news_read.asp?id=9418&cat_id=1

Here also http://rashbi.eu.pn/

Thursday 7 May 2009

MONEY SAVER: Family railcard for 14 months and 12 months YHA Membership for £13!!!!!

Sign up for the free two month trial of the family railcard and then buy at the discounted price of £13 for a further 12 months, HOWEVER, when you buy your full railcard it entitles you to join the YHA for free at the same time.
A great offer for families looking for cheap getaways by train this summer, OR a cheaper way of getting a family membership of YHA even if you dont use the railcard.

Details of railcard offer

Until midnight on Wed 13 May you can sign up for a free trial of the Friends and Family that lasts until 31 July. The card cuts a third off an adult's ticket and 60% off kids' tickets when you have at least one adult and one child travelling. You can have up to four adults and four kids travel on one card.

At the end of your trial you'll receive a special code to allow you to buy a 12 month Family & Friends railcard at 50% off. The card currently costs £24 yet is rising to £26 on 17 May so will cost you £13 with the code. You'll only be able to buy the half price railcard between 24 July and 21 August.

This offer was originally part of a National Railcard promotion with the Daily Mail, it's only available online at Family & Friends Railcard web page.

The Railcard can't be used on weekday morning peak services entirely within the London and South East area. If you're unsure when these times are, as they differ according to the route, then check with your local station or call the National Rail Enquiries line on 08457 48 49 50. Yet very occasionally some special fares (e.g. cheap London to York/Edinburgh below) undercut it so check, but for regular train travel it's great.

On previous occasions a similar offer's been on some people waiting until the last day to register have experienced problems so it's advisable to do it earlier rather than later (and that means your trials longer too).

Details of YHA offer

Buy your Railcard online and get FREE YHA Family membership valued at £22.95!
Family & Friends Railcard and the YHA have joined forces to help you and your family travel further and pay less to stay!

YHA is offering FREE Family membership to all new Family & Friends Railcard holders who have purchased their Railcard online. YHA membership gives you great discounts in over 200 locations in England and Wales and thousands more around the world. You can come and go as you please with private rooms and make the most of the great child-friendly facilities.

Full details on how you can claim this offer will be given to you in your confirmation page once you have successfully purchased your Family & Friends Railcard online.

For further information about YHA visit www.yha.org.uk

Not open to existing YHA members or renewals. Check Terms and Conditions before applying.

Family and Friends Railcard Terms and Conditions apply.

MONEY SAVER: Free Family & Friends Railcard (valid until 31st July 2009)

Free Family & Friends Railcard (valid until 31st July 2009)

This offer is only available online until midnight 13th May 2009. To register for your trial Family & Friends Railcard in conjunction with the Daily Mail, we need you to fill in the details below. You will receive your trial Family & Friends Railcard in the post, and you will need to have it with you to purchase and travel with discounted train tickets. Demand for this offer is high but we will endeavour to get your Railcard to you as soon as possible. Your trial Family & Friends Railcard will be valid until 31st July 2009.

http://www.familyandfriends-railcard.co.uk/H2CUUP

MONEY SAVER: FREE Nitty Gritty comb from your GP NHS Prescription

Nitty gritty combs are the best on the market to get rid of those horrid little critters from your darlings locks.

Editors Note: I paid a tenner a few weeks back!

But what most dont know is you can get this for free from your GP although chemists will not give this info out as they want you to pay £10 for it.

Its listed under Electronic Drug Tariff on NHS website and if you go to the nitty gritty website they have a letter you can print off to take to the GP to show them you mean business as they dont like to give them away.

Make sure they write the prescription under your childs name .

well worth the fight for it as it will rid you of nits within a few uses.

How to get a Prescription

The Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb is available on
NHS Prescription (free of charge to Under 16's)

More and more family doctors all over Britain are discovering that it works much better than any other comb or chemical treatment, and is much more cost-effective to the Practice budget too.
No multiple or repeat prescriptions are necessary.

All you have to do is ask your GP, prescribing nurse or health visitor (or prescribing pharmacist) whether he or she will prescribe a Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb for you and your family. It has been approved for NHS prescription since 2004, and it conforms completely to the latest NHS guidelines.
Unlike any other comb, however, our award-winning comb removes 'live' eggs before they can hatch as well as head lice and unsightly nits.

Please Click here to print out a letter to take to your GP.

It will tell your family doctor, nurse or health visitor all they need to know in order to prescribe a Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb. If they have any questions about our products, or about head lice and nits in general, we would be delighted to hear from them via: nhs@nittygritty.co.uk

Just one comb is all you need to check and protect a whole family. It works brilliantly with any ordinary hair conditioner, or even better with our natural Aromatherapy Solution and we will replace it free of charge if it ever breaks.

What if your GP hasn't heard about the Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb yet, or offers to prescribe another product in its place?

If your GP hasn't heard of the Nitty Gritty Comb yet, or prefers to prescribe ineffective and costly chemical pesticides, firstly let him or her know that the comb is listed and fully approved for NHS prescription.
You could offer to provide some constructive and unbiased feedback on the performance of the comb if he/she will prescribe it for you.
Point out that other products call for repeated treatments, as they only remove the live lice, not the unhatched eggs, whereas the Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb is guaranteed to remove not only even the smallest head lice but also unhatched 'live' eggs and unsightly nits (empty egg cases) quickly and easily.

If still unwilling to prescribe it for you, we will be happy to send your family doctor a complimentary Nitty Gritty Comb so he or she can evaluate it. All your doctor has to do is email us at nhs@nittygritty.co.uk and we'll send a complimentary comb out to the surgery by first class post.

So one way or another, we'll make sure you get the best comb in the entire world… because we are mums, and we know that your children, just like our children, deserve the best comb in the entire world.

SUMMARY OF USEFUL INFORMATION
Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb Prescription Details

As a one-off prescription, one Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb will keep a whole family nit-free - and chemical-free. This means not just removing all head lice, but also the 'live' eggs that cause any ongoing infestation.
It is listed in Section IX A of the NHS Drug Tariff in the Appliance section under sub-category:
Head Lice Device, Nitty Gritty NitFree steel nit comb with micro-grooved teeth.
It can also be found on the Electronic Drug Tariff on the NHS website
Be sure to click Enter on the The Electronic Drug Tariff before typing in Nitfree or head lice in the search box.
The Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb is also approved for prescription by Prescribing Nurses.
Pediculosis (head lice infestation) is one of the conditions listed for which Nurse Prescribers are allowed to prescribe, under the guidelines on Nurse Prescribing in Part XVII.
Prescribing Health Visitors and Prescribing Pharmacists are also able to dispense the comb.
The PIP ordering Code for the Nitty Gritty NitFree Comb is 294 6366. (useful for your pharmacist)

Monday 27 April 2009

hilarious

These men are concreting solid steel pillars to stop vehicles from parking on the pavement outside a sports bar downtown. They are cleaning up at the end of the day.

How long do you think it will be before they realize where their vehicle is parked?

Happy Pesach

Happy Passover.jpg

Pesach Alert: Diesel may contain chometz

Do you drive a diesel car?

Due to Carbon Friendly Fuel policies of 2008, it has recently come to our attention that 30% of the composition of Diesel is BioFuel made from
cellulosic material. While this is often maize, sometimes waste products from wheat production is used as a feedstock for biodiesel production.

While this is not a problem for ownership on Pesach as it is inedible, the issue of Hanna'ah - benefitting from Chometz is a major problem.

Therefore if one owns a diesel car, one should refrain from driving it over Pesach. For further information about what to do in an emergency one's halachic authority should be consulted.

pessach joke

Abe goes to see his boss and says, "we're doing some heavy house-cleaning at home tomorrow for Pesach and my wife needs me to help with the attic and the garage, moving and hauling stuff."

"We're short-handed, Abe," the boss replies. "I just can't give you the day off."

"Thanks, boss." says Abe, "I knew I could count on you!"

Yigal Calek alumni Master piece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqTHpodzo7g&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSzkIAaIwV0&feature=related

Yom Ha'Shoah Ve'Hagevurah - Ani Maamin - A Song of Ultimate Faith - Modzitz

"Ani Ma'amin" - A Song of Ultimate Faith

Click Here to listen to the Niggun

based on "HaRakeves HaMisnaggenes - The Singing Train", a story by P. Flexer in M.S. Geshuri's

Negina v'Chassidus b'Veis Kuzmir u'Bnoseha and a story in Sichas HaShavua # 654

Although he was centered in Otvoczk, Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar of Modzitz had Chassidim throughout the major towns and cities of Poland. One of these was Reb Azriel David Fastag, who became noted for his exceptional voice throughout Warsaw. Many came to the shul where Reb Azriel David and his brothers, who were also blessed with lovely voices, would daven on the Yamim Noraim [High Holy Days]. Reb Azriel David was the ba'al tefilla [led the prayers], while his brothers accompanied him as a choir. His crisp, clear and moving voice had a profound effect on all who heard him.

He lived simply, supporting himself from a small dry goods [clothing] store, but his happiness and fulfillment came of another source - the world of Negina. His moving tunes made their way to Otvoczk, where his Rebbe, R. Shaul Yedidya Elazar appreciated them immensely. The day a new niggun of R. Azriel David's came to the Rebbe was like a "Yom Tov" for him. [One of his most memorable compositions is "M'heira Yishama," a wedding tune.]

Dark clouds began to cover the skies of Europe - the clouds of Nazism. In spite of the terrible decrees, the yellow patch and the ghettoes, most Jews could not fathom what was about to befall them. Only a few "read the map" correctly and managed to escape the clutches of the Nazi occupation to safe havens. One of them was the Modzitzer Rebbe, Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar, whose Chassidim made a tremendous effort to save him. As the Nazis entered Poland, the Chassidim smuggled him out of Poland to Vilna [Lithuania], and from there he made his way across Russia to Shanghai, China, eventually arriving in America in 1941.

Meanwhile in Poland, tens of thousands of Jews were being 'shipped off' daily to their death in cattle cars that were part of the railway system. Aroused from their warm beds in Warsaw, husbands were separated from their wives, children from their parents. The elderly were often shot on the spot in front of their loved ones. Then the Jews were gathered and sent off in these trains to a place where their existence would no longer trouble those dregs of humanity known as the Nazis - to Auschwitz, Treblinka, Majdanek, etc. What did it look like in one of those cattle cars of the "death train"?

What could one expect to find other than people in their death throes - gasping, sighing and crying? One could hear the stifled cries of children, crushed together and trampled upon by the spiked boots of the evil, cruel Nazis.

However, in one such car, it seemed like a "tone" of life managed to emerge from these crushed people. What - people on their way to the slaughter, singing??? Is this not some cruel Nazi joke? Let us look a bit closer...

An elderly Jew, wrapped up in his ragged clothing, his face white as snow, makes his way over to his neighbor on the death train, begging him to remind him of the niggun the Modzitzer Rebbe sang on Yom Kippur for the Avoda, to "Ma'areh Kohen."

"Now - now - all you want to know about is niggunim?" answered the other, with a hard look at the Chassid, thinking that maybe all the suffering had caused him to lose his mind.

But this Modzitzer Chassid, Reb Azriel David Fastag, was no longer paying attention to his friend, or to anyone else on the train. In his mind, he was at the Amud HaTefilla [prayer stand] next to the Modzitzer Rebbe, and it is he who was the baal tefilla before all the Chassidim.

Suddenly, before his eyes, the words of the twelfth [of thirteen] Principle of Jewish Faith appeared: "Ani Ma'amin b'Emuna Sheleima, b'vias HaMoshiach; v'af al pi she'yismamaya, im kol zeh, achakeh lo b'chol yom she'yavo - I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Moshiach; and even though he may tarry, nevertheless, I wait each day for his coming." Closing his eyes, he meditated on these words and thought, "Just now, when everything seems lost, is a Jew's faith put to the test."

It was not long before he began to hum a quiet tune to these words. Amidst the heavy atmosphere of death and despair on the train, Reb Azriel David's dveykus [attachment to Hashem] took him above it all.

"How can one of us be singing at such a time?" wondered his fellow Jews on the train. And with such a sweet voice! It must be, that from Heaven they are accompanying us, in mourning, to our death... But listen, what is it that they are singing? You're about to be slaughtered, shot, poisoned or burnt and what are they singing? -- I believe!!!"

The Modzitzer Chassid was completely above it all, a pillar of song, bringing out of his bloodied lungs the song of his life -- the song of the eternity of the Jewish People. He was unaware of the silence in the cattle car, and of the hundreds of ears listening attentively in amazement. He also didn't hear the voices as they gradually joined his song, at first quietly, but soon - growing louder and louder! Meanwhile, he made sure to write out the notes of the newly composed song...

The moving tune, with its holy words, had penetrated the hearts of the Jews on the train, and had joined to the pure emuna [faith] in their hearts, which burst out from them in the form of this great song. The song spread from car to car. Every mouth that could draw a breath from those congested cattle cars, filled with live "corpses" and pungent with the odor of people crowded together, joined in a piece of "Ani Ma'amin - I believe." It became a wonderful, amazing symphony unto itself.

An elderly Jew, close to his death, asked for an explanation. His neighbor screamed to him, "We're singing the Jewish People lives - chai - lives! You too, sing with us - the Jewish People lives, Ani Ma'amin!" Closing his eyes, the elderly Jew clenched his fists and sang with his remaining strength - "the Jewish People is alive, I believe that Moshiach Tzidkeinu [the Righteous] will come quickly," and expired.

As the train neared the death camp, the railway workers wondered: from where is this amazing song coming? Could the Jews be singing their own burial service tune?

As if waking from a dream, Reb Azriel David opened his eyes to the sight of the singing train. His eyes were red from crying; his cheeks, wet with tears. Deeply moved, he yelled to whomever would listen, "My dear brothers! This niggun is the song of the Jewish soul. It is a song of pure faith, for which thousands of years of exile and troubles cannot overcome!"

Then, in a choked voice, he continued, "I will give my portion in Olam Haba [the World to Come] to whomever can take these notes of my song 'Ani Ma'amin' to the Modzitzer Rebbe!"

A hushed silence descended upon the train. Reb Azriel David lifted himself up by the ends of his thumbs, searching through the crowd that surrounded him. Two young men appeared, promising to bring the notes to the Modzitzer Rebbe, at any cost. One of them climbed upon the other, and in the small crack of the train's roof that only he knew of, made a hole from which to escape. Poking his head out under the open sky, he said, "I see the blue Heavens above us, the stars are twinkling and the moon, with a fatherly face, is looking at me."

"And what do you hear?" asked his companion.

Turning white, the young man answered, "I hear the Ministering Angels singing the Ani Ma'amin tune, and it's ascending to the seven firmaments of Heaven..."

Bidding farewell to their brothers and sisters on the train, the two proceeded to jump off, one after the other. One was killed instantly from the fall, while the other survived, taking the notes of the song with him. He eventually found his way to Eretz Yisrael [perhaps to the Rebbe's son, the Imrei Aish, who was in Tel-Aviv], and the notes were sent by mail to Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar in New York.

Upon receiving the notes and having the "Ani Ma'amin" niggun sung, the Rebbe said, "When they sang 'Ani Ma'amin' on the death train, the pillars of the world were shaking. Hashem said, 'Can it be that My Torah is a fraud? No! But whenever the Jews will sing 'Ani Ma'amin', I will remember the six million victims and have mercy on the rest of My People.'"

It is told that on the first Yom Kippur that the Rebbe sang the "Ani Ma'amin," there were thousands of Jews in the shul. The entire Kahal [congregation] burst into tears, which fell like water into the pool of tears and blood of the Jewish Nation. The tune soon spread throughout Klal Yisrael [world Jewry].

"With this niggun," said Rebbe Shaul Yedidya Elazar, "the Jewish People went to the gas chambers. And with this niggun, the Jews will march to greet Moshiach."

Translated by Reb Yitzchak Dorfman of Yerushalayim, a Modzitzer Chassid

Copyright © 1998 - 2004, Mosdos Modzitz
Comments to Webmaster
Last Update: 05/20/2004
URL: http://modzitz.org/story001.htm

Police Bike Chase on Freeway

MONEY SAVER: POST PASSOVER DEAL ROUND UP

eBay Goes Hebrew

The online auction and shopping website eBay has begun providing its Israeli users with Hebrew language interface. Surfers will now be able to receive almost all the information on the website, including Buy and Sell categories and sub-categories, in their native tongue.

MONEY SAVER: Loads of Virgin mobile reconditioned phones half price

My friendjust called up Virgin mobile and ordered a reconditioned Sony Ericsson W302 half price just £25 but they had many more phones on offer. Here are some of them and the prices:

Nokia 5200 - £25
Nokia 2600 - £15
Nokia 6500 classic - £50
Nokia 7373 -£39.99
Nokia 1112 - £7.50
Nokia 5800 - £110
Samsung C300 - £10
Samsung -C170 £12.50
Samsung J600 £25
Sony Ericsson -W200i - £15
Sony Ericsson - W302 - £25
Lg Shine -£30

The picks for me are the Nokia 5800 , the W302 and 6500 possible more available.

Now delivery is £4.99 but sometimes they waive this if you ask nicely enough (it worked for me).

Also here is a regular landline - 01373 855643 or freephone 0800 4089310 . Then just ask for reconditioned sales.

Be sure to get on these quick as they do sell out however the nice lady said if you request one and it's out of stock then they can arrange a ring back when they have them in stock again.

Hope those who want one get one.

Kiddish Hashem in Crain's New York Under 40's

NK Neturei Karta protest during moment of silence

Neturei Karta protest during moment of silence

Members of radical anti-Zionist stream hold protest in Jerusalem during moment of silence for Holocaust victims, saying 'Zionists cynically abuse the Holocaust for their own purposes'
Kobi Nahshoni

While Israelis across Israel stood for two minutes of silence Tuesday in memory of the Jews murdered in the Holocaust, dozens of members of the radical Neturei Karta anti-Zionist stream protested in Jerusalem against the state ceremonies marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Shortly before 10 am the protesters gathered at the Shabbat Square in the city, and as the sirens sounded and passersby stood still and bowed their head, they began crossing the intersection while holding up signs denouncing "the Zionist Holocaust memorial day."

Walking during the moment of silence (Photo: Guy Assayag)

The protesters briefly confronted journalists, photographers and bystanders before dispersing.

Yisrael Hirsch of Neturei Karta and a resident of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem told Ynet that "the Zionists cynically abuse the Holocaust for their own purposes."

'Zionism caused the Holocaust'

He said that, "According to Jewish tradition, and this was also stated by the Satmar Rebbe, it is Zionism that caused the Holocaust. Once the State proclaimed this day to be a memorial day for those murdered it essentially claims that it saved the Jews, and this is why we went out to protest.

"Standing in silence during the siren signals the people's participation in the acts of the Zionist regime in Palestine," he added.

Hirsch also said that holding Holocaust Remembrance Day in the Jewish month of Nisan, during which mourning rituals are forbidden, is wrong and offensive to the victims' memory.

Hirsch noted that three prominent Neturei Karta representatives attended the UN conference on racism in Geneva on Monday and even sat next too Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a press conference he held there.

The three, Rabbi Aharon Cohen from Manchester, Rabbi Yohanan Hochheiser from London and Rabbi Yisrael David Weiss from Monsey, NY, reiterated the Iranian president's statements that the Zionists used the Holocaust ton establish a state at the expense of the Palestinians.

Birchas Hachama in Antarctica!!!

MONEY SAVER: Pura - Pure Vegetable Oil Kosher MK 99p in Home Bargins

Pura - Pure Vegetable Oil Kosher MK 99p in Home Bargins - Manchester

Stock available now @ home bargains, Salford. unit d2 regent retail park, Regent Road, Salford, Greater Manchester M5 3TP. 0161 832 9542

May be in your local store tooo.

MONEY SAVER: Weetabix 72's Was £5.12 Now £3.00 TESCO EXP 19/05/2009

IKEA Job Interview

London in the earth

TORAH: Minchas Yitzchok: Can You Say Bircas Ha"Ilanos After the Month of Nisan?

Section: Halacha Category: Tshuvos

Minchas Yitzchok: Can You Say Bircas Ha"Ilanos After the Month of Nisan?

The Shulchan Aruch says that one who sees the budding fruit trees during the month of Nisan should make a bracha. The Mishnah Brurah says that the bracha may be said anytime one sees the budding fruit trees for the first time that year even if it is not the month of Nisan.

However the Minchas Yitzchok (10:16) says that this is only true in a climate that the trees bud at a different time of the year, such as in Australia that the trees bud in Tishrei not in Nisan. In such a case the bracha may be said at that time even though it is not Nisan. However in climates similar to Eretz Yisrael that the trees bud at the time of Nisan many Poskim hold that the bracha may only be said in Nisan, even if you find a tree budding after Nisan. Therefore if you didn't make the bracha in Nisan you may say it but without Shem Hashem.

http://revach.net/article.php?id=233

TORAH: Haircut and Shaving Permitted Today according to some

Haircut and Shaving Permitted Today according to some

When Rosh Chodesh Iyar falls on a Shabbos, as it does this year, this coming Shabbos, one is permitted to take a haircut and shave on Erev Shabbos in honor of the double simcha of Shabbos and Rosh Chodesh, even for those who are keeping minhagim of aveilus from Pesach to Lag Ba'omer (Shulchan Aruch w/Mishnah Berurah 493:1 MB5).Many wonder whether this heter may be relied upon by those who normally keep the chumrah (stringency) of Rav Yehudah Hachossid and do not ever take a haircut on Rosh Chodesh even when it falls on a Friday.

This is a machlokes haposkim. Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt"l held that (only for those who have already begun their aveilus in sefirah) this Friday is an exception and one may take a haircut and shave this Friday. The Steipler Gaon zt"l held that they may not, The Kaf Hachaim held that they should rather take a haircut on Thursday, today, after chatzos (L'Torah V'Horoah Vol. 2 pg. 20, Emes L'Yaakov 260:1, Bein Pesach L'Shavuos pg. 246, Kaf Hachaim 493:47).

All Here2cheeruup readers are reminded to consult with their rabbonim for a final p'sak.

-If a bris milah occurs during sefirah, it is permitted for the sandik, mohel and father of the baby to take a haircut/shave on the day before the bris (in the late afternoon) in honor of the bris. {If the bris is on Shabbos, they may take a haircut even Friday morning)}
(Shulchan Aruch w/Mishnah Brurah 493:2).

One should consult his Rov as to which opinion to follow.

Some Nice videos

http://www.youtube.com/user/wiznitz

Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt Live In Concert

Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt Live In Concert

According to the uploader of this video this is "never seen before footage". I don't know about that, but i definitely don't know where this is from!

Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt Live In Concert

Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt needs no introduction &/or description! See him with you own eyes!
Never seen before... Enjoy

£9 SALE NOW LIVE! Hurry, when they're gone, they're gone

View the offer online.


	Book a £9 room now >>


		Booking with Travelodge All rates are subject to availability at the time of booking and may not be available at every hotel, every night. See our full terms and conditions.
		Terms & Conditions £9 rates can only be booked online at www.travelodge.co.uk and are available on a first come, first served basis. £9 rooms are only available at selected hotels on selected nights for stays between 27th August and 30th November 2009. This offer is non-commissionable and cannot be used in conjunction with any other discount scheme. £9 rates must be paid for by a credit or debit card at the time of booking and cannot be refunded. Booking fee applicable for credit card payments, no charge for debit card payments. Information correct at time of print. Travelodge reserves the right to constantly adjust its room prices. Once you have made a booking, the price you paid will not change.

		Please don't click 'Reply' We won't receive any email you send if you click on 'Reply'. If you do have an enquiry about a booking, or indeed any other question, jump to the ever so easy to use Help section on our website.
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Tuesday 21 April 2009

Pictures Birchas Hachamoh - Manchester 5769

Birchas Hachamoh - Manchester 5769

Location: Cheletenham Cresent playing Fields

Photo credit are to "Jokes & More Jokes".

Pictures must be used/printed in its current form with no alterations or corrections made. Woman have been removed from all pictures where required.

These pictures remain mine even once printed.

Should you have any questions please call me.

Kind Regards

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Jokes & More Jokes
The Aim Is To Get You To Smile

Tuesday 17 March 2009

Watch Arutz 10 programme on the 3 boys in Japan

2 of the 3 students that are being held in Japan

Jerusalem - In a detailed report, Israeli TV station Channel 10 described how Mr. Bentzy Miller, a personal aide and confidante to the Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Joel, served however innocently as a liaison between one Avraham Malachi and Chareidi yeshivah students.

Malachi himself is said to be a leading foot soldier of the Abergil clan, an Israeli international crime family involved in international drug-running operations of Ecstasy and other illicit drugs. Their operations penetrated the yeshivah world, using unwitting and innocent yeshivah students as couriers—such as the three who were caught at a Japanese airport with 90,000 Ecstasy pills concealed in their suitcases without their knowledge.

"They were understandably confused, they were in shock," said noted Israeli attorney Mordechai Tzivin, who traveled to Japan to meet with them in their cells. "Here they came from a very structured life, and they were deceived by a frum person whose entire goal was to trick them."

According to the report, the threesome was told they were smuggling antiques so as to avoid paying taxes.

Tzivin says that the entire international Satmar community has mobilized to free the three students. "Whether Antwerp, London, S. Paolo, New York, or Israel, there is an unprecedented draft to help these innocent lads," he told Channel 10 in an interview.

Meanwhile, the youngest of the three is about to go to trial, with the two older students' trial scheduled for next month. Israel's religious community is doing everything it can to save them.

In Israel, Bentzy Miller's trial is soon to begin.

Watch Arutz 10 programme on the 3 boys in Japan

Click On the H2CUUP link http://vimeo.com/3684039