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Phyllis Shallman – How To Beat Procrastination

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Phyllis Shallman – How To Beat Procrastination

We all procrastinate.

Maybe we’re overwhelmed by the sheer size of the task and our brains just shut down. We might have a few odds and ends to wrap up that don’t seem very important after all. Or there might be an issue that we’ve ignored for so long that we don’t even really think about it until it’s almost too late!

Most of us know that procrastination usually doesn’t produce a good result. Here’s a quick look at how procrastination works and how you can beat it!

Why do we procrastinate?
There are a few reasons why we procrastinate. In general, your brain is much better at understanding the here and now than something that has yet to happen. The hassle of completing a task can seem more real to us than the future feeling of accomplishment we’ll have once everything is said and done.(1)

But it goes deeper than that. Oftentimes, we procrastinate when we associate negative emotions with a task.(2) That’s why we often put off boring or physically demanding tasks as long as possible. We might also be afraid of facing the consequences of failing at the task or being judged poorly by our peers. Putting off the task is an easy, though often costly, way of regulating those doubts and fears. But avoiding the task doesn’t normally make us feel better. Procrastination often leads to a spiral; we put off a task out of fear, feel bad about ourselves, grow more fearful, and on and on.

How to avoid procrastination
There are a few strategies you can use to combat procrastination. Try breaking your tasks down into the smallest, least intimidating pieces possible and start knocking them out, one by one. That can make a big problem seem much more manageable in the short term. You might also want to reward yourself when you overcome each milestone to help you associate productivity with something positive.

But overcoming procrastination isn’t always about strategy. Sometimes we have to overcome deep feelings of fear and anxiety. Studies have shown that practices like self-compassion and re-framing an issue can go a long way to defeating procrastination. Ask yourself why you’re avoiding a task. Is it fear of your work not being recognized? Fear of being ignored? Try to work through what’s causing the slow down and recognize what’s going on!

Don’t forget to cut yourself some slack next time you hit a roadblock. It happens to everyone! Take a breath, try to understand what precisely it is you’re avoiding, and then look on the bright side of how much better you’ll feel once your work is complete!

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(1) https://hbr.org/2016/07/how-to-beat-procrastination

(2) https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/25/smarter-living/why-you-procrastinate-it-has-nothing-to-do-with-self-control.html

Dr. Mindy Boxer – Opioid Addiction: What Is It and Why Is It Prevalent Today

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Dr. Mindy Boxer – Opioid Addiction: What Is It and Why Is It Prevalent Today
Opioids. A word all too common to today’s society. Since the late 1990s, the number of opioid-related deaths has increased dramatically, having taken the lives of nearly 64,000 Americans each year.The opioid epidemic is considered to be the deadliest crisis in United States history and overdoses have also become the leading cause-of-death in people under the age of 50 in the United States.
OPIOID HISTORY
There are many theories regarding the opioid epidemic and how we got to this point. One thing is for certain is that it began in the 1990s and it started in the medical pharmaceutical industry.During this period of time, medical doctors were being pressured to treat chronic pain more aggressively. In response to this pressure, doctors began prescribing long-term use of opioids so that patients could better deal with their pain. At the same time that this was happening, pharmaceutical companies were touting opioids as non-addictive and not harmful.Doctors were prescribing drugs at higher rates and according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), by 2015, there were enough pills being prescribed to medicate every American daily for three weeks straight.
ADDICTIVE NATURE
There are many who may not know just how addictive opioids can be. Studies have shown that patients who take the medications for as little as a week have a higher chance of developing an addiction.It’s a common occurrence for those who have previously been prescribed opioids to begin misusing them. Oftentimes, if their supply ran out or their prescription expired, getting medication from friends, family or buying them illegally was how people gathered them.This behavior led to the medications being harder to obtain and people turning to black market forms of the drugs or using illegal drugs like heroin, to help battle their chronic pain.
USE OF OPIOIDS
Opioids are used to relieve pain because they lower the number of pain signals the body sends to the brain. They also change how the body responds to the pain. Opioids include codeine, fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone and tramadol.They tend to be safe when taken as prescribed, but since they are highly addictive, they can be easily misused and people don’t even realize they have an addiction.This type of medicine alters the brain by creating artificial endorphins, which make you feel good. Overuse of them can cause the brain to actually stop making natural endorphins if opioids are used too frequently and at high dosages. Thus, the body becomes dependent on the synthetic drug and builds up a tolerance, which requires more and more of the drug to achieve the same level of pain relief.
ACUPUNCTURE AND OPIOIDS
Unfortunately, it seems this epidemic is not going away anytime soon. As doctors start to crack down on the prescriptions they are handing out, more and more people are seeking out other forms of pain-relief and that’s where Acupuncture comes into play!The stimulation of Acupuncture needles improves blood circulation and helps you heal naturally. Undergoing treatment from Traditional Chinese Medicinal practices can also help your body begin producing natural chemicals that are used as painkillers, thus relieving chronic pain without the addiction.Acupuncture rebalances energy and qi (the body’s life force) in order to alleviate pain and boost overall health from the inside out!While there are numerous ways to treat opioid addiction, the fact remains the crisis is one that will be dealt with for generations to come, both physically and financially. If you have additional questions about opioid addiction and how you may benefit from Acupuncture treatments, call me and schedule an appointment!310. 450. 9711.     info@drmindyboxer.com

Mindy Boxer is a holistic practitioner who has grown into her specialties in an organic way. Understanding a range of disciplines allows her to integrate the wisdom of Ancient healing in combination with the most recent innovations in Scientific research. This dynamic blend has enabled Dr. Boxer to help patients in the prevention and treatment of disease for over 25 years.

Dr. Boxer has a particularly keen understanding of Women’s Health issues including Gynecological irregularity, PMS, Fertility, IUI & UVF support, Healthy Pregnancy & Delivery, and Menopausal issues. Her interest in the human body as a dynamic system has given her the understanding to deal with such problems as improper Digestion and elimination, Cancer Support, Allergies, back pain, tight neck and shoulders, carpal tunnel syndrome, respiratory distress, chronic fatigue, Insomnia, Stress, Anxiety and Depression.She has also studied the art and science of Homeopathy, earning her Diplomate in Homeopathy from the Hahnemann College of Homeopathy in 1995. This allows her to treat the whole person — physically, mentally, emotionally.Proper Nutrition, Herbs, Acupuncture, and Homeopathic remedies are the tools Dr. Boxer utilizes to allow the body to heal itself and find its way back to balance. She is dedicated to helping her patients find “Radiant Health and Well-Being.”

Video-Conferencing & Phone Consultations available.   Be safe,    Stay Healthy.

Israel’s Chief Rabbi Says Coronavirus Patients Not Permitted to Fast on Tisha B’Av

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Israel’s Chief Rabbi Says Coronavirus Patients Not Permitted to Fast on Tisha B’Av

Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi, David Lau, issued guidelines on Monday that stated coronavirus patients and those with possible symptoms of the disease were prohibited from fasting on Tisha B’Av, which will begin at sundown on Wednesday.

“Unfortunately for all of us, the plague is intensifying and we need the mercy of heaven,” Lau said, according to Israeli news site N12.

“The weather on Tisha B’Av will be warmer than usual,” he added, “and therefore, in addition to the duty we all have to observe the guidelines of the Ministry of Health in full,
I would like to add these halachic guidelines as well.”

Lau declared that fasting was forbidden in the following cases:

>  Patients diagnosed with the coronavirus, even if they do not feel sick.
>  Anyone with a fever of over 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit).
>  Those who have symptoms of the coronavirus, even if they have not been diagnosed.
>  Those recovering from the coronavirus.
>  Those who have fully recovered but still feel physically weak.

Those permitted to eat, however, should do so only to the extent necessary to maintain their health and no more. In addition, they must observe the remainder of the day’s traditions.

Besides Lau’s guidelines, other adjustments are being made to the observation of Tisha B’Av, a solemn day on which disasters that have befallen the Jewish people ?? including
the destruction of the Temples ?? are remembered.

The recital of public lamentations will be shortened and they do not have to be recited
in a synagogue. In addition, prayers at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City will be restricted, with prayers being recited only in groups of 20 people apiece and the total number of worshipers capped at 1,000.

Normally, tens of thousands of people observe Tisha B’Av at the Western Wall.

To provide an alternative option, a prayer service at the Western Wall will be broadcast live. It can be viewed at www.thekotel.org.

(Algemeiner).

Google To Keep Most Of Its Employees At Home Until July 2021

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Google To Keep Most Of Its Employees At Home Until July 2021
Google has decided that most of its 200,000 employees and contractors should
work from home through next June, a sobering assessment of the pandemic’s potential staying power.

The remote-work order issued Monday by Google CEO Sundar Pichai also affects other companies owned by Google’s corporate parent, Alphabet Inc. It marks a six-month extension of Google’s previous plan to keep most of its offices closed through the rest of this year.

“I know this extended timeline may come with mixed emotions and I want to make sure you’re taking care of yourselves,” wrote Pichai, who is also Alphabet’s CEO, in an email to employees.

Pichai’s decision was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The prolonged lockdown of Google’s offices could influence other major employers to take similar precautions, given that the technology industry has been at the forefront of the shift to remote work that has been triggered by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Even before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic on March 11, Google and many other prominent tech firms had been telling their employees to work from home.

Google had originally planned to allow a significant number of employees to begin returning to its Mountain View, California, headquarters and other offices during the summer. But the pandemic’s ongoing spread prompted Google to push back the reopening until January and now it has prompted yet another delay.

Besides helping protect people from the virus, the new July 2021 target date for reopening Google’s offices should make it easier for workers with children to adjust to schools that aren’t allowing students to return to campus next month and in September. It will also make it easier for employees to sign one-year leases if they decide to rent a home somewhere else while working outside the office.

“I hope this will offer the flexibility you need to balance work with taking care of yourselves and your loved ones over the next 12 months,” Pichai wrote.

Pichai’s email noted that Google and Alphabet have been able to reopen some offices in 42 countries, although he didn’t specify which.

But new guidelines mean Google”s biggest offices will remain largely unoccupied through June 2021. The decision affects more than 123,000 employees on the payroll of Google and other Alphabet companies, as well as 80,000 contractors that normally work on the companies’ campuses.

The pandemic has also prompted several other tech companies to inform their workers they won’t have to return to work this year. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has taken the most extreme step so far by telling the messaging service’s employees they will never have to return to the office if they don’t want, an offer he is also extending to workers at Square, a payment processing service that he also runs.

(Vosizneias / AP)

Matt Gaetz files criminal referral against Mark Zuckerberg for ‘false statements’ under oath

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Matt Gaetz files criminal referral against Mark Zuckerberg for ‘false statements’ under oath
Zuckerberg denied any bias against conservative officials or policies.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made materially false statements while testifying under oath in 2018 Congressional hearings, U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz alleges.

The Fort Walton Beach Republican filed a recommendation Monday to U.S. Attorney General William Barr for an investigation into the CEO’s denials that his company was biased against conservative speech and politics and that it censored content supporting President Donald Trump and other conservatives.

But with new ammunition from a recent Project Veritas investigation, Gaetz has more material to continue his crusade against Silicon Valley and social media corporations’ “leftist culture.”

“As a member of this body, I question Mr. Zuckerberg’s veracity, and challenge his willingness to cooperate with our oversight authority, diverting congressional resources during time-sensitive investigations, and materially impeding our work,” Gaetz, a House Judiciary Committee member, wrote. “Such misrepresentations are not only unfair, they are potentially illegal and fraudulent.”

In April 2018 Congressional testimony, Zuckerberg acknowledged concerns the company, with its home base outside San Francisco, or its employees could be biased. Any favoritism toward any political alignment was a mistake, he assured lawmakers.

“There is absolutely no directive in any of the changes that we make to have a bias in anything that we do,” he said. “To the contrary, our goal is to be a platform for all ideas.”

According to Project Veritas, a controversial investigative outlet, Facebook’s artificial intelligence content-flagging program overwhelmingly highlighted posts supporting the President and conservative causes. Undercover video depicting favoritism within the company and interviews with two of Facebook’s content moderators raised “serious doubts” for Project Veritas CEO James O’Keefe.

Neither the artificial intelligence nor Facebook’s contracted moderators are neutral, Gaetz wrote.

“These facts are in direct contrast to Mr. Zuckerberg’s testimony before Congress where he stated under oath that Facebook is a politically-neutral platform, and that he personally is working to root out any employees who are restricting speech based on Silicon Valley’s overwhelmingly leftist culture,” he added.

His new call for an investigation is far from his first scuffle with social media corporations. After challenging a Facebook executive in a 2018 Judiciary Committee hearing over uncensored posts threatening to shoot fellow Republicans, the company later removed the page.

In May, he filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Twitter for adding fact checks to some of Trump’s tweets. That broke its neutrality as a protected public forum, according to the complaint.

“It’s about time the Federal Election Commission and the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) as well took action against these digital platforms that are trying to engage
in election interference and that I think are violating existing law,” he said on his daily podcast.

Days later, Twitter flagged one of the Congressman’s June tweets targeting Antifa for “glorification of violence.”

“Now that we clearly see Antifa as terrorists, can we hunt them down like we do those in the Middle East?” read Gaetz’s tweet.

Barr, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and other Republicans have come to believe the social media giant’s hands-on approach to some of the President’s tweets may have violated Twitter’s status as a platform and left it vulnerable to losing protections from liability.

(FLAPOL – Florida Politics).

Opinion: How J Street is attempting to desecrate Tisha B’Av

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Opinion: How J Street is attempting to desecrate Tisha B’Av

It’s hard to believe that any self-described Jewish organization could so viciously distort the meaning of a sacred Jewish day.

If you thought Tisha B’Av was about the destruction of the holy temples and two Jewish states in ancient times, think again.

According to J Street, the real meaning of the day is that the Israeli government is oppressing the Palestinian Arabs and will thereby cause the destruction of the Jewish state in our own times.

It may be hard to believe that any organization claiming to be Jewish could so viciously distort the meaning of a sacred and solemn Jewish day. But J Street has never met a Jewish religious commemoration that it hasn’t turned into a propaganda weapon for slamming Israel.

On Passover, J Street complained about the “plagues” for which it blames Israel, such as “the plague of home destruction.” According to J Street’s “Haggadah,” if the Israeli Army undertakes a court-sanctioned dismantling of a home used by terrorists, then it is to blame for “encouraging retaliatory terrorist attacks.”

On Rosh Hashanah, when Jews engage in cheshbon hanefesh — the “accounting of the soul,” meaning spiritual introspection and self-assessment — J Street announced that everyone should “engage in cheshbon hanefesh” over Israel’s “demolition of Palestinian villages.”

Israel, of course, does not demolish Palestinian villages. J Street was referring to instances in which handfuls of illegal Arab settlers squat on Israeli land, call themselves a “village” and then accuse Israel of “demolishing” them when the police dare to enforce the law. But as far as J Street is concerned, if facts get in the way of the narrative, well, just push the facts aside.

Considering the way J Street has mangled the meaning of other sacred days on the Jewish calendar, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at J Street’s crude exploitation of Tisha B’Av. But that doesn’t make it any more acceptable.

In these days leading up to Tisha B’Av, the J Street web site features a proclamation by Judith B. Edelstein, a member of its “rabbinic cabinet.” She argues that Israel today, faces a Tisha B’Av-like destruction because of “ the annexation proposals of the current Israeli leadership,” Israel’s “denial of basic rights and attempting to usurp land,” and Israel’s “subjugating” of the Arabs.

All this, she claims, is “laying the groundwork for Israel’s demise.”

“Rabbi” Edelstein’s sloganeering has no basis. Israel does not “subjugate” anybody or “deny” the Arabs’ “basic rights.” Arabs who are citizens of Israel have equal rights by Law; they serve in the government, the IDF, the Supreme Court. Arabs who are residents of Gaza or the Palestinian Authority have whatever rights the PA and Hamas choose to grant them – on a whim.

Equally absurd is Edelstein’s claim that Israel’s “annexation proposals” could possibly result in “Israel’s demise.” Even the maximum proposal involves reuniting less than one-third of Judea and Samaria with the rest of Israel. Very few Arabs reside in those areas.

Making that small territory part of Israel will not affect Israel’s demographic balance or endanger Israel in any other way.

But if Rabbi Edelstein is genuinely concerned about the possible destruction of Israel, let me suggest that she consider an actual danger to the Jewish state. According to her Tisha B’Av statement, Edelstein is a resident of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She ought to take a subway a little way uptown to the Bronx and have a look around.

If a Palestinian Arab state is ever established in Judea and Samaria, Israel’s mid-section will be reduced to a width of just nine miles — narrower than the Bronx.

How do we know that will happen? Because two of the five largest cities in the current PA-controlled area are Tulkarm and Qalqilya. They would have to be included in the “State of Palestine.” They are barely nine miles from the Mediterranean Sea — that is, nine miles of Israel.

Think about that, “Rabbi” Judith Edelstein. Nine miles wide. An enemy army would be able to cut the country in two in a matter of minutes. A terrorist with a shoulder-fired rocket, standing inside the border of “Palestine,” would be able to shoot down a plane landing at Israel’s major airport. Pedestrians in Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, would be targeted by Arab snipers perched along the nearby border, as they were before June 1967.

That’s why anybody who is sincerely worried about Israel’s destruction — anybody who really cares about another possible Tisha B’Av-like catastrophe — should be doing everything possible to prevent the rise of a Palestinian state. That’s where the real danger to Israel lies.

(Stephen M. Flatow – World Israel News).

Sanders delegates sign petition to vote against Dem platform that doesn’t include ‘Medicare-for-all’

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Sanders delegates sign petition to vote against Dem platform that doesn’t include ‘Medicare-for-all’

The petition says a ‘majority of Americans believe Medicare-for-all is the “best way” to achieve affordable and accessible health care.

Just three weeks before the Democratic National Convention, hundreds of Bernie Sanders delegates have pledged to vote against their party’s platform if it does not include support for “Medicare-for-all.”

The delegates argue that a Sanders-style single-payer health care system is an urgent priority in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and the highest unemployment rates since the Great Depression.

Delegates from Nevada organized the petition and nearly 500 of them – most of whom backed Sanders for president – have signed on, delegates told Fox News.

However, Sanders, I-Vt., himself will vote for the platform nonetheless, Fox News is told.

The petition claims that a “majority of Americans” now believe “Medicare-for-all” is the best way to achieve affordable and accessible health care.

The Sanders delegates are sure to clash with their party’s presumptive nominee, Joe Biden, who opposes a single-payer system. “Medicare-for-all” was not included in a draft 80-page Democratic Party platform released on July 21. Instead, the platform promises to make health care more affordable in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

Fox News confirmed the petition with two Sanders delegates. Both delegates are from New Hampshire and tell Fox News the Sanders delegation from their state has yet to decide whether to sign onto the pledge.

The move by the Sanders delegates comes as the Democratic National Committee’s Platform Committee is meeting virtually on Monday to discuss and vote on the party’s platform.

Monday’s vote by the platform committee will be followed by a vote on the platform by the roughly 4,000 convention delegates. That will take place remotely August 3-15, just ahead of the convention.

“Sen. Sanders believes that the Democratic Party platform should advocate strongly for Medicare for All, and that of course is a major reason why he fought so hard for the nomination,” said Mike Casca, a Bernie 2020 spokesman. “The senator appreciates that, amid a deadly pandemic which is creating a national health emergency, his delegates understand that now more than ever we must guarantee health care as a human right.”

Biden has long insisted on building on the Affordable Care Act with a public option, which would be a government-run insurance plan available for anyone to sign up for.

“Whether you’re covered through your employer, buying your insurance on your own, or going without coverage altogether, the Biden plan will give you the choice to purchase a public health insurance option like Medicare,” his campaign explains.

On top of that, Biden wants to lower the age to qualify for Medicare from 65 to 60 and expand ACA subsidies.

Biden currently has 2,632 delegates, while Sanders has 1,076. Petition signers have little chance of formally revising the Democratic platform but they do hope their protest will draw attention to the cause.

Despite their frustration with the former vice president, the petition’s progressive organizers said they are all voting for Biden and working to elect him. Organizers said they are not being divisive, rather calling attention to the strength of a grassroots movement they believe is being ignored by Democratic leadership.

Still, the petition could call to mind a scene that played out at the 2016 convention: Sanders supporters and other angry party members booed officials attempting to open proceedings. “We are all Democrats, and we need to act like it,” the presiding officer scolded delegates. However, the largely virtual convention this year should quell any fears of a repeat.

The pledge comes as President Trump has tried to paint Biden as beholden to the radical left, after Biden and Sanders signed a “unity platform” as part of an effort to find common ground between establishment Democrats and the far-left flank.

“I think [Biden is] afraid of the people on his left,” Trump said during a phone interview on Fox News’ “Hannity.”

“These are very radicalized people. I mean, he’s going so far, he’s given Bernie everything,” Trump said, referencing the Democrats’ unity convention platform. “Bernie can’t even believe it. Bernie is going around saying, ‘I can’t believe what we got.'”

Trump has recently pushed the idea that Biden supports the “defund the police” movement, among other radical platforms. Biden’s campaign has denied he supports defunding the police, though Biden himself did say some funds should be diverted from police forces.

(Fox News).

Hezbollah threatens: ‘Our response will surely come’

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Hezbollah threatens: ‘Our response will surely come’
“We saw Hezbollah’s preparations yesterday. We have been following the development since noon. There may be a continuation,” an Israeli source said.

After an infiltration attempt by a Hezbollah cell along the Israel-Lebanon border was foiled on Monday afternoon, the terror group both denied that it had happened and promised that retaliation would come.

According to a statement by the Hezbollah mouthpiece Al-Manar, “All that the enemy media claims about thwarting an infiltration operation from Lebanese territory… is absolutely not true. It’s an attempt to invent fake victories.”

“The fire that was fired was only on one side, not on our side. The enemy is deterred and scared and therefore opened fire,” the statement on Al-Manar‘s website said.

At the same time, Hezbollah’s threats continued. “Our response to the killing of Ali Kamel Mohsen Jawad will surely come.”

Jawad was the Hezbollah terrorist killed by an airstrike against what had been described as a major ammunition dump in southern Damascus. The airstrike, attributed to Israel, took place on July 20.

Hezbollah reported that Jawad had been killed by “Zionist aggression.” The attack also wounded seven Syrian troops.

At Hezbollah’s announcement, Israel immediately went on high alert along the Lebanese border. Hezbollah has retaliated for the killing of it members before.

“If Israel kills any of our members in Syria, we’ll respond from Lebanon,” Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said in August after two of its members were killed by an IDF airstrike. In that incident, the terrorists were on the verge of launching a drone attack on Israel.

Hezbollah did take action after that event, firing three anti-tank missiles, one of which nearly hit an IDF ambulance.

Israel is prepared for the possibility of further attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz held a press conference at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv in which they warned Hezbollah and Lebanon that there would be consequences if the terror group made another attempt.

An Israeli political source quoted by Channel 12 said, “We saw Hezbollah’s preparations yesterday. We have been following the development since noon. There may be a continuation.”

Israel gave the all-clear for civilians in the north at 5:00 p.m. to resume their normal activities. However, at 7:00 p.m. the sound of tank fire, cannons and IDF aircraft could be still be heard, Channel 12 reports.

(World Israel News).

Seasons of the Moon: Av – IBM and The Nazis Y / Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

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Seasons of the Moon: Av – IBM and The Nazis Y / Rabbi Yaakov Asher Sinclair

How were the Nazis able to carry out the Holocaust – something extremely complex – without a computer?

 

 

 

 

Source: Aish.com

What Is Tisha B’Av?

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What Is Tisha B’Av?

Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av (July. 29-30, 2020), is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, on which we fast, deprive ourselves and pray. It is the culmination of the Three Weeks, a period of time during which we mark the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

What Happened on 9 Av?

1313 BCE: The spies returned from the Promised Land with frightening reports, and the Israelites balked at the prospect of entering the land. G?d decreed that they would therefore wander in the desert for 40 years. Read more.

Both Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on this date. The First Temple was burned by the Babylonians in 423 BCE (read more) and the Second Temple fell to the Romans in 70 CE (read more), unleashing a period of suffering from which our nation has never fully recovered.

The Bar Kochba revolt against the Romans in 133 CE ended in defeat: The Jews of Betar were butchered on the 9th of Av and the Temple Mount was plowed one year later on the same date. Read more.

Later on in our history, many more tragedies happened on this day, including the 1290 expulsion of England’s Jews and the 1492 banishment of all Jews from Spain. Read more.

How 9 Av Is Observed

The fast begins at sunset of the 8th of Av and concludes at nightfall the following night(delayed by one day when 9 Av is on Shabbat). During this time, we do not

  • eat or drink
  • wear leather footwear
  • bathe or wash ourselves (washing only until the knuckle when mandated by halachah)
  • apply ointments or creams
  • engage in marital relations or any form of intimacy
  • sit on a normal-height chair until chatzot (the time when the sun has reached its apex)
  • study Torah (except for the “sad” parts that deal with the destruction of the Temples, etc.)
  • send gifts, or even greet one another (you may respond to greetings)
  • engage in outings, trips or similar pleasurable activities
  • wear fine, festive clothing

What We Do

Starting from midday on 8 Av, we limit our Torah study to the few allowed topics that are of a sad nature or pertain to the Temples’ destruction.

We eat a square meal in the afternoon, before Minchah services. Then, late in the afternoon, a “separation meal,” seudah hamafseket, is eaten. It consists of bread and a hard-boiled egg dipped in ashes, accompanied by water. This meal is eaten alone, sitting on a low stool.

The meal must be over by sundown, when all the laws of Tisha B’Av take effect.

Tisha B’Av evening services are held in synagogue, where the ark has been stripped of its decorative curtain and the lights dimmed. Evening prayers are followed by the chanting of Eichah (Lamentations).

Morning prayers are held without tallit and tefillin, since both are considered adornments. Most of the morning is occupied by the reading of Kinot, elegies marking the various tragedies that befell our people.

Work is permitted on Tisha B’Av, but discouraged. On this day, one’s focus should be on mourning and repentance. If one must work, it is preferable to begin after midday.

It is customary to give extra charity on Tisha B’Av, as on every fast day.

After midday, it is permissible to sit on chairs, and tallit and tefillin are worn during the afternoon prayer. In the synagogue, the ark’s curtain is restored to its place before the afternoon prayers.

Many communities have the custom to clean the house and wash the floors after midday, in anticipation of the Redemption, which we await.

Many important details and laws can be found in Order of the Day and What to Expect at Tisha B’Av Services.

After the Fast

When night falls, before breaking the fast, one should perform netilat yadayim (hand-washing), this time covering the entire hand with water, but without reciting the blessing. It is also customary to perform Kiddush Levanah at this point, celebrating the rebirth of the moon, and our hoped-for national rebirth.

The Temple was set ablaze on the afternoon of the 9th of Av, and it burned through the 10th. Therefore, the restrictions of the Nine Days (such as not eating meat, swimming or laundering clothing) extend until midday of the 10th of Av.

The Joy Within the Sadness

Even as we mourn, there is an element of joy and comfort. Indeed, the reading of Eichahconcludes with the verse “Restore us to You, O L?rd, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old.” There is also a custom among many to use flimsy paperback Kinot booklets, hoping that they will not be needed next year.

It is by no accident that Scripture refers to this day as a mo’ed, a holiday, and Tachanun(prayer of repentance) is not said today. May the time soon come when we look back with the clarity of hindsight to see how all our suffering was but a prelude to happiness and goodness, with the coming of Moshiach. Amen!

Source: Chabad.org

 

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