Interesting Posts and Articles #57

1. Dreaming Of Moshiach thinks China will be first to be destroyed, because their gematria, of 120, is the same as ksil, and because they are trying to control the weather:
   

   Is it possible that China will be destroyed because the foolish Chinese are trying to do what man never has: Control the weather. (China) Sin is ambitiously trying to control the weather aiming for a dry Olympics - An event whose very purpose is to push the limits of human beings.
   
   The Talmud teaches that the power over rain is one of the three keys that the Almighty has kept for Himself - the key of Rain, the key of Childbirth, and the key of the Resurrection of the Dead” (Taanit 2A).
   
   Don't the foolish and wicked Sin know that they cannot change the weather? HaShem sent them so many signs to stop their foolishness but they refuse to listen.
   Tehillim 92:6, "וּכְסִיל לֹא־יָבִין אֶת־זֹאת A fool doesn't understand this."

   I would ask: "Eliyahu HaNavi" also has a gematria of 120. (See here.) Was he a fool when he borrowed the "keys" and controlled the weather, and then returned it in order to obtain the key to "techiyas haMeisim?"
   
   Chumus is also gematria 120. Is anyone who eats chumus a fool?
   
   And is China really the only ones who have tried to do this, and is such an attempt truly sinful? All the time, they seed to clouds with dry ice in order to induce rain. Is this not at attempt to control the weather? Is the inventor of the defibrillator, and a nurse or doctor who uses it, a sinner or a fool? Is the not attempting techiyas hameisim? And are nurses and doctors, or patients, who make use of artificial insemination, or give or take fertility hormones sinners or fools, for trying to control childbirth? How exactly does she make the distinction?
   
   
2. Meanwhile, she believes her prediction about the failing of all banks has come to fruition, and labels it as a dream that has materialized. Her "proof":
   

   The Reality:
   The Bank Panic of July 2008: Run, don’t walk to get your money out!
   
   NEW YORK (BNW) — With the stock market in freefall, the economy in the dumps, and inflation at an all time high, no wonder the banks across this country are beginning to fail. If you have one penny in any bank in America, you better run, don’t walk to your bank and withdraw it out before it’s too late. No bank has enough reserves on hand to cope with more than the fraction of deposits being taken out at once.

   What she does not note, or realize, it that she is quoting some hysterical person from "Black News Weekly." Their slogan is "We post the news the others refuse." Furthermore, this is advice. It is not confirmation that all the banks are bankrupt, and that people are rushing to withdraw their money from banks but are being refused, and will never see their money again.
   
   In contrast, Shirat Devorah has a better article. We will see if it pans out, but so far, the scenario has not. And it is not that I think the U.S. economy is so good. I had my concerns in the past as well, just al derech hateva, about the economy and the world situation. As such, bad economic news does not surprise me.
   
   
3. Mystical Paths posts about a rumor of mashiach. That at the behest of a "holy autistic," invitations were sent out to rabbanim across the country. And the ones who came met mashiach, and he will be coming this September.
   

   Right around Shavuos this year, an invitation was sent to leading rabbonim of all the different streams of Judaism. (The invitation was delivered at the request of one of the holy autistics.) The invitation was to come to a meeting with Moshiach, at the holy resting place of the Baal Shem Tov in the Ukraine.
   
   The invitation was sent to approximately 150 rabbonim, tzaddikim, rebbe's, and mekubalim. Some considered it a joke, or didn't take it seriously, or couldn't believe that it could be true. Less than half came, mostly chassidic rabbaim, rebbe's, and sephardi mekubalim.

   At Life In Israel, Rafi G. is upset that some of the rabbanim considered it a joke. I did not receive such an invitation, but I, too, would consider it a joke. As I commented there, I have seen enough of facilitated communication to know that these messages are not coming from the autistics, but from the "facilitator" moving the autistic's hand on the Ouija board. And I have seen some halachically and hashkafically problematic statements from these same autistics. And think that what they are doing may be halachically problematic. The group this is coming from is delusional, and it is not wrong to recognize a delusion and not take it seriously.
   
   Of course, we will see in September. Except if something does not materialize, it will be said that this was all just a rumor. And Rafi G. knows that rumors can come into being in the craziest ways. Here is an example from Yeranen Yaakov, where Mashiach was supposed to come in 2006, after Rav Kanievsky bought a suit to greet mashiach. Or didn't.
   
   I don't think spreading crazy rumors is helpful. In fact, in my opinion, it only weakens emunah. Lucy can only pull the football out from Charlie Brown's feet as he is about to kick it so many times before he begins to doubt she will ever hold the ball in place.
   
   
4. Meanwhile, a "holy autistic," Binyamin Golden, tells us that we should not be eating ice cream, french fries, hamburgers, mistic {chewing gum?}, pizza, Coca Cola, 7-Up, etc.
   
   
   הגלידות, הצ'יפסים, הבורגרים, המסטיקים והפיצות וכו', כל הדברים האלה לא שייכים לדרך החיים של יהודי אמיתי. וזה מכניס את התשוקות והטומאה של הרחוב לתוך היהודי. קוקה-קולה [''טעם החיים'' כאילו, לפי הפרסום הכפרני], 7-אפ, ג'אמפ וכו', הכל לא כשר, כי זה נובע מהתאוות והתשוקות של הגוים.
   
   
   Dumb.
   
   
5. But related, Life In Israel posts a kashrus survey of various restaurants in Israel, including Massouv Burger.
   
   
6. JudeoPundit notes a Yemen Times article on why some men prefer uneducated women.
   

   "Uneducated women rarely ask questions," notes one husband of an uneducated woman, adding that his wife never asks where he’s going or from where he’s coming. This first reflects her trust in him and second, it indicates that she recognizes her husband’s mood, avoiding anything that may agitate him.

7. Ishim veShitot posts about Rav Yaakov Emden's evaluation of Ibn Ezra.
   
   
8. I recently came across this commercial for Axe Dry Anti-Perspirant. Funny.