There are 39 categories of Melakha (creative tasks) that are forbidden of Shabbat. One of them is Kotser: reaping fruits, flowers, plants, leaves, etc. from the ground or from a tree or cutting branches for a fireplace, or mowing a lawn.

In other words, cutting or plucking any ‘growing’ thing.

This is one of the few melakhot explicitly mentioned in the Torah (Ex. 34:21), “Six days shall you work, but you shall pause on the seventh; in plowing and in harvesting, you shall stop.”

Examples: During Shabbat you cannot reap a fruit from its tree, even though you intend to eat it right away. Similarly, during Shabbat you cannot cut a mint -branch while is attached to the ground. Not even to use it for smelling it and say a berakha (when using mint branches for Habdala, we should be careful to pick those mint branches, only once Shabbat is over!).

From the other side, once the fruit is already detached from the tree or a plant is detached from the ground, you may cut it or break it in smaller pieces.

For example: if you have a mint branch already detached from the ground, you may cut it ‘with your hands’ in smaller branches or leaves, in the same way you are allowed to cut an apple, once is not in the tree anymore.

A a fruit which falls naturally from a tree on Sabbath, may not be used on the same day (Mukse).

Shabbat Shalom!

Candle Lighting in NY: 4:26 PM
Shabbat Ends in NY: 5:35 PM

Children Singing Moroccan Habdalah http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xigNLJkD5RQ

The Torah forbids to lie.

The Torah distinguishes between different levels of lying. In Shemot 23, 7 the Pasuk says: midebar sheker tirchak “keep yourself away from telling lies”. Which our rabbis interpreted as the prohibition to tell something about the past or about one’s future intentions, changing deliberately the details of it.

Lies are also classified according to the damage they cause. Although it is forbidden to lie even when no harm is caused, the more harm the lie causes to someone else, the more serious the lie is considered.

Our rabbis explain that the first victim of lies is very often the liar.
When someone gets use to lie, he builds for himself an alternative reality. A dimension he devises for himself to accommodate his wishes, fears, complexes. He will give more importance to his perception of the facts than to the facts themselves.

Sometimes -the Rabbis (and the psychologists) explain- a person might get addicted to lies. And in needs of changing reality or escaping reality in order to survive or enjoy life. This person is called ‘a compulsive liar’. Someone who lies out of habit.

“Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. For a compulsive liar, telling the truth is very awkward and uncomfortable while lying feels right. Compulsive lying is usually thought to develop in early childhood, due to being placed in an environment where lying was necessary”. The compulsive liar many times suffers from a very low self esteem and might need therapy and counseling.

Maimonides (Rambam) writes in Hilkhot De’ot Ch. 1, that we all have different habits and tendencies. In this area, the good path is the middle path. The path which is equidistant from both extremes.

But what happens when we ‘naturally’ lean toward one of the extremes? How can we get to be in the middle of the road? We know we have to correct it, but can we correct it? And if so, how?

Before we ask haRambam, first ask a gardener.

If you have in you backyard a small tree or a branch leaning to one side, what should you do so it grows straight?

Your gardener will first assess your tree. If your tree has a 20 degrees inclination, and it grows on a 70° angle you have to stake your tree. When you stake your tree do not tie your tree at 90°! When you are coming from 70° and you aim to get to 90° you must stake your tree at 110° angle on the opposite side! With time, the 110° you impose on your tree will balance its ‘natural ’70° deviation and you will get a tree growing at 90°.

Maimonides explains that a similar process will take place with our character. If we have a natural inclination to one side we need to force ourselves ‘acting’ for a while on the other equidistant side. In this way, with time we will attain the desired balanced ‘golden’ way.

Honoring parents is a Mitzva that extends after our parents pass away. The Laws of Abelut (mourning) are stricter for parents that for any other relatives. There is a natural reason for it: unlike any other family member (spouse, children, brothers) we can only have one father and one mother. But the main reason is that this is part of honoring our parents after they are deceased.

From Me’am Lo’ez: “A person must honor his parents even after they are dead. if he mentions them or says something in their name during the first twelve months after their death he should add: hareni kaparat mishkabo (‘I’m the atonement for their resting place’). Indicating his readiness to accept any retribution destined to be meted out to the parent. After the twelve moths are over one should say: zikhrono librakha lechaye ha’olam habba “May his or her memory be for a blessing in life in the future world”. One should do this when mentioning his parents in speech or in writing”.

More examples:

When we do the keri’a -tearing apart our clothing in sign of mourning- for any other relative we cut our right side. But for our parents we cut on our left side, specifically because that is the side of the heart.

For our parents we keep 12 months of full mourning, while for every other relative we mourn for 30 days.

When a holiday cancels out the mourning, one can shave even before 30 days are over. Except for our parents that the 30 days have to be actually counted before shaving.

The rabbis explained that we come closer to God to the extent that we are willing to sacrifice, for the sake of the truth, material benefits for ourselves. The ultimate test of our appreciation for the truth is not philosophy, but our willingness to lose in business or in any other personal area, for the sake of the truth.

This is what the Torah intends when says: vehalaktha bidrakhav “And you shall conduct yourself -in your daily life- in His paths”. (Debarim 28, 9).

Think of of a person, who is considered knowledgeable in Real Estate, and he is asked by a friend or family member, to give his advice about buying certain property that just came to the market. This person, instead of telling truthfully that it is a good deal, lies saying that he is not sure about it, or that something might be wrong with that property, because he is interested in acquiring that property for himself. The same applies for example in the area of Shidukhim -dating- . If someone asks your opinion about certain girl -which you consider her to be a very
good person- but you don’t give a good reference about her, because you’re interested in her for yourself. These are all examples of harmful lies.

In all these cases, when a person is asked to give an opinion, and he tells the truth, despite having a conflict of interest, and he sacrifices his own benefit for the sake of the truth, this person is behaving with real yrat shamayim, fear and respect of God, and is “conducting himself through the paths of God”.

Every day, my father in law, who lives in Ashdod, Israel, would go to the market and come home with some delicious fruit or treat–declaring that he bought it in honor of Shabbat.

• This is the attitude with which we are supposed to welcome the Shabbat queen.Preparing ourselves to welcome Shabbat, every day of the week!

Maimonides (Rambam) writes in Hilkhot De’ot Ch. 1, that we all have different personalities and tendencies.

To illustrate, Maimonides brings a few examples of extreme character traits:

There are people who are constantly angry, they would explode for any small thing. From the other side, there are individuals who are so cold and indifferent, that nothing moves them to anger. There are people who are so greedy, nothing is ever enough for them. Others, are materially conformist with very few desires in their heart. There is a very proud man and one who is extremely humble.

These behaviors, explains Maimonides, are some times a product of our genetic build-up and sometimes they are acquired seeing our friends, family members, etc. . With time they become an integral part of our personalities.

Maimonides asserts that in this area, the good path is the middle path. The path which is equidistant from both extremes.

Anger, should be reserved for very special circumstances and only when by showing anger we will help to avoid something bad from happening again. Greed, should be balanced: desire all what you need, not all what you want. Don’t be stingy, neither ostentatious.

“This is the path of the wise man. Every man whose character is balanced and moderated, is considered a wise man (chakham)”

As a good doctor, Maimonides does not end just by telling us what is right and what is wrong. He will also teach us, next week, how to get to (and stay in) the middle path.

ZERO POINT THREE PERCENT, by Aish.com http://www.aish.com/v/r/50575802.html

Rabbi Yosef Bitton. YMJC | 130 Steamboat Rd. | Great Neck | NY | 11024

It is permitted to set an alarm system on a private residence which will operate on Shabbat, especially when there is a real possibility of life threatening situations.

The alarm system must be activated before Shabbat begins. If possible, one should by-pass one of the doors to be used by the family (some people would recommend to by-pass the front door, which ironically is less used by burglars to break in) and leave all other doors and windows ‘activated’. If this cannot be done, please consult a rabbi how to set the alarm system.

When the alarm is activated, there are motion sensors, typically located close to the ceiling, which some people cover or deactivate before Shabbat begins. In any case, it is not forbidden to walk though those sensors, although small led lights are activated by the motion of family members inside the house (pesik resheh derabanan dela nicha leh).

If the alarm accidentally goes off on Shabbat, and won’t stop by itself, one should try to have a gentile to turn it off. If that is not possible, it would be permitted for a Jew to shut off the alarm, because 1. the noise is disturbing the entire neighborhood, and it could affect sick people, etc. and 2. preventing or stoping the flow of electrical current is not Biblical -deoraiita- prohibition, (adapted from Practical laws of Shabbat, I, 335).

Saying the truth, speaking and acting truthfully, is one of the principles human civilization is founded upon (pirke abot 1, 18). The Torah exhorts us to tell the truth and keep away from lying. It also teaches us that there are some exceptional cases in which we are allowed – or even commanded- to alter the truth.

First we need to understand that spiritual growing depends on grasping the ‘true’ nature of our existence and living accordingly.

The God given tools to identify the truth are our intelligence (sekhel) and reason (Rambam).

The ultimate reality is God.

But it is not easy to hold ‘constantly’ in our minds the reality of God’s existence (let alone God’s Presence!) and live according to that Truth. Why? Becuase most people do not stop their lives to reflect where are they going or what are they living for? They are driven by pure ‘imagination’, constantly escaping, eluding, mocking or ignoring the reality of God’s existence, which is
also the reality of their own existence. Even those who are believers, often ‘forget’ of His existence and fall into the tricks of imagination.

The rabbis said that: “The seal of God Almighty is EMET” (the notion of ‘truth’), which means, that we should identify the ultimate reality as the reality of God. Therefore, whatever comes from God -the Torah: the book of His will- emanates from that source of truth too.

Living a truthful life begins by identifying the world of imagination around us and have a clear notion that the only true REALITY is God’s.