Great New Chanukah Videos

The Maccabeats: Candlelight

Yosef & Leah Urso: Eight Candles Burning - It tells the story of how he became religious through four chabadskers in a Menorah-mobile. The fiddle player here, Leah Urso, is from my hometown back in Dixie!


You can see another video of them playing Jewish country music in their song, Hashem is Gonna Do it Again here:

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Rav Mottel Zilber Speaking in Woodmere Tonight at 8

Rav Mottel Zilber will be speaking Sunday (today) at 8:00pm in Woodmere. 1104 Westwood Rd. Hewlett NY 11557

Dixe Yid hopes to be there!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Benyomin, the Son of Suffering/Kindness

In this week's parsha (Bereishis 35:17), Rochel is having a very difficult time with the birth, and is about to die, and her midwife comforts her by saying, "Don't be afraid. You are having another son."

Perhaps this means that when we go through things that are hard, which can cause worry and fear, that we should not be afraid. On the contrary, we should not worry because even if we suffer in the process, it is all good because some great result is going to come from the process.

Rochel took this teaching to heart too, because in the next pasuk (35:18), Rochel named the son Ben Oni, child of my suffering. Contrary to the common view that Rochel's choice of name was a mournful or self-pitying name, to show others that a great result like this child is the product of suffering, so they should not be afraid either.

But Yaakov names him "Benyomin" instead, to teach that there is an even higher level of consciousness. Benyomin means "son of the right side," which relates to chesed, kindness. He wanted to show that the suffering necessarily produces so much good, so it cannot really be called suffering, oni. Rather, it should be looked at as all chesed, kindness. The suffering itself should be perceived for its true essence, which is kindness rather than as pain.

Benyomin's life essence\name therefore represented the fact that suffering is actually a favor to us and that the ultimate result of the whole process is immeasurably great.

Life is Like Microsoft Word

I have thank G-d that He created an "Edit, Undo" feature in His app called Life.

My Son's Name

My wife related the following story to me about our five year old son:

Every morning as he gets on the bus to go to cheder, she gives him the following blessing: "Bye, you should be matzliach (successful)!"

She told me that a few days ago, as he got onto the bus, the non-Jewish bus driver said to him, "Good morning 'Youshouldbematzliach'!"

Apparantly he thought that was our son's name.

When I heard the story I made a little tefillah that IY"H his name should always be a blessing!

Dancing Under the Gallows - Video of 106 Year Old Holocaust Survivor

Thank you to Torah Insights for OA for pointing out this great video. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Why is it that Many Good (but Chitzonius'dik) Yiddin Can't be Sovel Pnimius'dik Yidden in their Midst?

A Ba'al Mussar's Experience in Uman

Here is a section from a very nice article I read this morning which was sent to me by Neil Harris . HT to him for pointing me to this article:

I walked over to the Tzion to find only several dozen people praying at the grave. I entered this small crowd, Psalms in hand looking forward to saying something really significant to God. Over the next hour I took small steps forward into the increasingly dense crowd. I finally got to within one row of the large four-foot high, ten-foot long, five-foot deep marble grave.

A row of men in front of me leaned, heads on arms on the grave crying and whispering intimate prayers. A sociable Israeli man next to me played traffic cop and called out every few minutes, “Ok, brother, your time is up, let someone else get in,” grabbing the shoulder of one of the petitioners and helping him make way for the next person.

At last it was my turn. I squeezed forward and there I was – at the grave...

CLICK HERE to read the full article. It's a very nice article by a Mussar oriented person who is really working on himself.

Picture courtesy flikr. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Torah vs. Blackberry (or Cell Phone)

Received via email from my chevrusa (who is a very busy entrepreneur who got rid of his Blackberry):

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated the Torah as we treat
our Blackberry (or Cell phone)?

--What if we carried It around in our purse or pocket every day?

--What if we looked through It many times each day?

--What if we turned back to go get It if we forgot it?

--What if we always checked It for messages?

--What if we treated It as if we couldn't manage a day without it?

--What if we gave It to our children as a special gift?

--What if we always took It, and used It, when we traveled?

--What if we always thought to use It in case of an emergency?

---Oh, and one more thing...

Unlike our Blackberry (or Cell phone), we don't have to worry about Torah being
disconnected, because Its “Carrier” never fails.

Set yourself free!

Picture courtesy of Telecom Trends. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!