Havel Havelim: The Purim Edition

Check out the Purim edition of Havel Havelim!

Kumah.org Aliyah Revolution

I received a really cool album in the mail today.  It's from kumah.org and was free.  It's called the Aliyah Revolution Album.

Per the note that was included in the album cover:

"The Aliyah Revolution Album" is not about making it in Israel. It is about having the strength to break out of the powerful gravitational pull of America and the other countries of the Diaspora. The purpose of the music collected here is to give you strength and inspiration in those moments when you need a reminder or a boost - when the exile is getting you down. Music is a powerful medicine to mend the broken spirit, and that is what our nation needs now more than ever - spirit! We need guts to wake up, to get up, to stop being afraid. This album is about the freedom of fearlessness and the wings to fly home.


Here is the youtube video advertisement for the album.

My Nefesh B'Nefesh Essay

(We have returned from our pilot trip, and I really have so much to report, and to write about.  However, all of my time for the past 2 weeks has been spent getting over pneumonia, and filling out the Nefesh B'Nefesh application that is due this week.


However, part of the Nefesh B' Nefesh application is a supporting statement (i.e. essay) on why you want to make aliyah.  I thought I would include a draft of my essay here as a post. I am in the process of revising this essay and will repost when it's final)

The land and State of Israel have been pivotal in forming my Jewish identity.

Let me explain.

Snow "State of Emergency" Best Thing to Happen

Its official.  At this point, this winter season has broken the record as Maryland's snowiest winter ever.

Its like Jadis, the White Witch, has come from Narnia and made it "always winter" here.  We received 3 feet of snow (yes, thats right, 3 whole feet) over Shabbos and only a few days later, another foot and a half of white fluff is being deposited on my steps as I write this blog post.  The Baltimore Sun is now reporting that two more snow storms are on its way for the following week.

Surprisingly, the result of all this snow in our lives has been positive.  Sure, there has been some hysteria (my mother calls every few hours to make sure I'm okay) and rumors of unfortunate events have spread, where purportedly emergency personnel were unable to make it to a "scene" quickly enough to save a life.  And in a more trivial matter, my wife had to wait over an hour to check out at the local supermarket yesterday before the beginning of the storm.

THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF A SNOW STORM

However, the real effect of these snow storms and self-proclaimed "state of emergency" has been positive.  Mainly, the Jewish community here in Baltimore has come together like never before.  Usually, with our houses spread out from each other, with having to drive to get anywhere, and with over 10 shuls within a convenient walking distance, I don't see my neighborhoods.  Its not exaggerating to say that I only see my immediate next neighbor only several times a year.

Am I Allowed To Move To Israel?

(The following is a post from the blog Mystical Paths that I copied here.  Its fantastic.)
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I received the following question from a reader...

How is it that you have/are promoting aliyah if (you know?) :
The Talmud explains That we have been foresworn, by three strong oaths, not to ascend to the Holy Land as a group using force, not to rebel against the governments of countries in which we live, and not by our sins, to prolong the coming of moshiach; as is written in Tractate Kesubos 111a.

A Spiritual and Halachic Guide to Making Aliyah

(Here is the information for a new book on the halachos of making aliyah and and below is review from Arutz Sheva)

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Oleh Chadash
The New Immigrant to Israel

A Spiritual and Halachic Guide to Making Aliyah

Rabbi Mordechai Friedfertig – former Rabbi of Kehillat Ohr Tzion in Buffalo, NY, and now spreading Ha-Rav Shlomo Aviner's Torah for Yeshivat Ateret Yerushalayim and living in Ma'ale Adumim - has authored a new book on halachot, customs and insights relating to all stages of making aliyah. "Oleh Chadash" – A Spiritual and Halachic Guide to Making Aliyah is a single, 2-sided volume (175 pages) with the full text in both English and Hebrew. Many of the halachot and insights are based upon the teachings of Ha-Rav Aviner.

Shlock Rock: Walking In Eretz Yisrael