Today's Chol Hamoed trip started off with sunrise services at the Me'arat HaMachpela in Hebron. Sunrise was about 6:15am today, so we had to get going at about 4:50am to get there on time.


There was a nice crowd today, bright and early, of visitors coming to daven. I davened in the regular sefardic vasikin minyan rather than one of the ashkenazy minyanim. I always prefer to daven with them because they are not visitors but daven there every single day of the year. I believe they must have a special merit both for being able to do so and just for doing so, so I always prefer to daven with them.

The large and cavernous Yitzchak's Hall is open to Jews on chol hamoed, so that is where we davened.



After we got back and rested a bit with a bit of a lazy morning, my 12 year old son put together the plan for the rest of the day. We planned to go to Mitzpe Massua, or Massua Lookout. Massua is a "Fire Observation Post" at the top of a mountain near Bet Shemesh. The view from the top is phenomenal...



When we finally got moving after that, we decided to do one of the local hikes. From the top of Massua, one can either drive down and go home, or hike to the hurvat Midras or hurvat Luzit. These are both series of caves and ruins from the times of the Roman conquest and Bar Kochba. The hikes are between 3.5km to 5km, depending on which trail you choose to follow. We chose the trail to hurvat Midras which was meant t be a 3.5km hike.

The hike was fairly easy and the kids had a good time. My wife was meeting us at the end with the car and the little kids. We were following the trail marked with red markers. About 1.5 km from the end, we saw no more red markers. Suddenly the trail turned blue and then green. The whole area is beautiful with a lot to see, so it was not a big deal. We were just worried we were going to end up somewhere else and my wife would not know where to meet us.

No, we did not follow the sign to the pyramid, though I was curious what it was. We kept following the trail straight. Shortly after, we ran into the Columbarian Cave, which seems to be where they raised doves in the times of the Greeks.



After getting back on our way, we eventually found out we were not lost after all and we ran right into the Midras ruins!
We met up with my wife and the rest of the kids and they enjoyed running around the caves and exploring a bit before we went home.. Exhausted.

I really like this composition..

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Spending Yom Tov and Shabbos Chol Hamoed in Jerusalem always is a good opportunity for catching up on the latest batch of wall signs. There is nothing like the Jerusalem wall sign.
Shabbos morning I walked to the Kotel to daven at sunrise, so I got to see a nice variety of signage.

Here is a sampling of the signs I saw:

1. The expected signs announcing deaths, new books and shiurim.
2. The expected signs announcing various Birkat HaChama events, mostly by the kotel with Rav Elyashiv, and with the Eida HaCharedis at Kikar Mandelbaum
3. announcement of a Chol Hamoed Neturei Karta Conference on the topic of "Joining with the wicked".
4. Signs announcing events at Hebron and Kever Rachel.
5. Signs about some grave desecration in Spain. There was too much text in too small of a font for me to actually read more than a few words of this...
6. Signs from the Eida HaCharedis protesting the sale of Hametz, allowed by an "Israel" judge (their quotes), in Jerusalem.
   
7. Signs announcing the opening of Kever Yehoshua to the public the night of April 19 (Sunday night) between 10:30pm and 4am in Kafr Harsa. You have to go to Ariel Junction and hop on a fortified bus from there. No need to sign up or register. In addition, they have buses all night from various cities, but I could not write down the various phone numbers. Sorry.
   

If there is one Birkat HaChama event I regret not participating in... it is this.



A group of runners from the Bet Shemesh Running Club went running Wednesday morning, with a reporter from the LA Times doing a story on an unusual Birkat HaChama. They went running into the fields and hills behind Yishi and made the bracha celebrating the return of the sun to its point of creation.

"You're supposed to look at the sun and notice it but then look to the side," he instructed, gesturing into a cloudless sky. "We're not worshiping the sun. We're worshiping its creator."

With that, the Beit Shemesh Running Club began its Birkat Hachamah, or blessing of the sun, a joyous ritual of early morning praying, singing, clapping and dancing replicated Wednesday by observant Jews at outdoor venues across Israel and the world.

The club's six-minute observance was coupled with an eight-mile run along dirt trails in the Judean hills around Beit Shemesh, one of Israel's premier hiking and biking spots. The city's name, Hebrew for "house of sun," is assumed to have been inspired by sun god worship during the early Canaanite period, about 3000 BC.

I had asked about the event, and Chaim Wizman, the club's founder and coach, had invited me to take part. As a competitive long-distance runner, I couldn't resist. And as an American Gentile, I welcomed the chance to share this passion, and my attraction to milestones, with Israeli Jews.

Besides, a trail-running religious event seemed a newsworthy example of how times have changed since the last blessing of the sun, on April 8, 1981.

Thanks to the Internet and alarm over global warming, what was once a relatively simple and arcane celebration associated with black-clad ultra-Orthodox Jews has become more widespread, and infused with environmental and New Age messages.

"What is it we're celebrating, essentially?" Wizman asked during the run. "We're celebrating the pristine state of nature at the moment of Creation, right? The world was created that way, you know, and we blew it. Now, the objective of mankind, in the Torah's view, is to re-achieve that pristine state."

Wizman speaks with the authority of an ordained rabbi. Like most of his teammates, he belongs to the modern Orthodox stream of Judaism, religiously observant but more accommodating to secular influences. The team admits women, and a few joined Wednesday's run.

For this band of mostly middle-aged runners, hitting the trail affirms a spiritual connection to nature and the land of Israel, to which many of them have immigrated. They deemed it an ideal way to mark Wednesday's celebration, which happened to coincide with the eve of Passover. Similar themes cropped up at other sun-blessing venues in Israel, including an arts, music and "healing" festival in the northern town of Safed.

...

By contrast the scene in Beit Shemesh was idyllic.

The running course meandered past fields of wildflowers, vineyards, fruit orchards, an olive grove planted eight centuries ago, a honey farm stocked with beehives, Crusader-era ruins, and biblical battlefields where the Israelites fought the Philistines. We also passed a heavily guarded military installation and what my hosts suspect is a nuclear missile silo.

There was no danger of getting lost. Among the group was Lt. Col. Ophir Dor, who designs global positioning systems for the Israeli military.

Along the way, we shared reflections on our own lives: what had changed over the last 28 years and what we envisioned for the year 2037.

"Guys, just think how old you're going to be next time this happens," Wizman told us early in the run.

"In 28 years, hopefully I'm speaking Hebrew," said Rich Levitas, a 49-year-old American-born Web designer who is struggling with the language a decade after moving here.

"Let's not get carried away," a fellow runner quipped.

"And also in 28 years, maybe I can finally break three hours in the marathon," added Levitas, whose best time for the 26.2-mile race is 3 hours, 4 minutes.

Rael Strous and Johnny Burg were 10th-graders from South Africa in 1981 when their tour group insisted on joining the sun blessing at the Western Wall on its final morning in Israel. The group raced to the airport afterward, barely making the flight home.

Years later, Strous and Burg found themselves living in the same neighborhood of Beit Shemesh, working as a psychiatrist and a lawyer, respectively.

Yitz Corn, a 43-year-old information technology consultant, reflected on the intergenerational passage of life and his father's death a few years ago at age 76. He said he had taken up running shortly afterward, with the hope of living longer, and had since lost 60 pounds.

"My son is 14," he said. "Hopefully I'll be there for him at the next Birkat Hachamah, when he'll be almost 43."

Like most everyone blessing the sun this time, Strous is aware that the ancient calculation of its 28-year cycle has been proved inexact. But to him, it's close enough to justify the tradition.

"You long for something that comes every so often, a phenomenon of belonging together at a cosmic level," he said during our charge up the hill. "That kind of event challenges us to grow, to feel part of something bigger. That's the essence of it: being part of something greater than yourself."

At the time, when it was being planned, I thought perhaps it would display a lack of reverence for the seriousness, and the rarity, of the moment. That along with the logistics of having my wife and kids present to mark the moment with me for our memories in 28 years by the next one (when everyone tries to remember where they were the last time it happened), just made it seem too unrealistic.

Different people made it meaningful in different ways. There is no one way to serve God in a meaningful way.

RBS Torah would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire RBS A community for the tremendous turnout at the Birchas HaChama event this morning! Estimates put the crowd at 2500-3000 people, including men, women and children.

I would like to publically thank a few people that put in many, many hours of hard work to make this event such a success - Meir Arnold, Rav Eli Cohen, Efrayim Neiman, Yehoshua Levinson, Dovid Feinberg, and Avrohom Wellins who all volunteered their time to ensure the logistics and participation, the Iriyah for their support of the event and helping with the sound systems and handout sheets, Peretz Dissen for playing the keyboard, Dil V'Zol for sponsoring the siyum, and of course, all the community Rabbonim who supported the event and came to participate and enhance the experience.

IMPORTANT NOTE - if you took photos or video of the event, we would be very appreciative for you to share them. We would like to create a photo gallery on the website and post them for everyone to view. Please email rbstorah@gmail.com if you have pictures or video to share.

Through the strength and achdus in our community, may we be zoche to see the Geulah Shleimah come once again in this month of Nissan.

Chag Kosher V'Sameach.

Ari Rosenstein
RBS Torah

The tzedaka organizations are also trying to cash in on the way Birkat HaChama has gotten out of proportion. Their latest fund raising campaign was for people to donate and their names would be said by Gadol X immediately after the Birkat HaChama bracha with whatever they requested he daven for for them.

The part of the tzedaka ads that I scanned are about something else. they are announcing that this will be the last time in history the Birkat HaChama will be said!



Do they know something we don't? Is the world coming to an end tomorrow after Birkat HaChama? If Mashiach should come this Nissan (after all, isn't Birkat HaChama on erev pesach supposed to be a harbinger of the geula?), will Birkat HaChama no longer be said in the future?

They are obviously trying to get you to give money because this will be your "last chance ever" for such an opportunity....
I wonder how many people fall for that...

The following post is a post that has been sponsored by Sde Tzofim. The post will stay on top for a period of time. New posts will continue to be posted, so be sure to scroll down. Also, be sure to patronize Sde Tzofim with a visit and consider donating to their important cause.

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With Pesach approaching, it is time for us to give our kimcha d'pischa.

There is a unique kehilla in Beitar called Sde Tzofim. Sde Tzofim started out as a yeshiva for baaeli teshuva, but turned into a kehilla. The Rosh Yeshiva realized these students had no family to turn to, no supporting base to build upon. Instead of just bringing them to frumkeit and letting them deal with their personal issues on their own, he built a kehilla so they would have such a personal and emotional foundation and support base.

The yeshiva helps the students find jobs, and works out learning schedules around the job schedules. Yet these students, without family to rely on, without family to help them, find it especially difficult during the expensive holiday season to be able to afford the basic items necessary for the holiday. We all know how expensive it is to make Pesach - the matza alone could make some people take out a second mortgage! And then there is the food, the cleaning, perhaps a new outfit for a child or for a wife, etc. It is beyond the means of these baalei teshuva to make Pesach.

Giving your kimcha d'pischa (or at least some of it) to Sde Tzofim to help these baalei teshuva is definitely going to be helping some poor baalei teshuva have some simchas yom tov.

See the Sde Tzofim website for more details about this wonderful and necessary kehilla, and consider sending them a donation. They can accept credit card donations, online or offline, as well.

(HatTip: TheRBSNews.com)

The big day is finally just about upon us. Tomorrow morning we will be saying the bracha of Birkas hachama, commemorating the return of the sun to the point it was in at the time of creation. This return happens every 28 years.

I am not going to profess to understand the debate whether our count is right or wrong - I get lost in the math and the astronomical explanations, so I am just taking it for granted that tomorrow is the day and it does not really matter to me whether it is accurate or not. Those of you who have a problem with it can take your math and science papers to the rabbonim and work out a more accurate date.

What does interest me is how this has become such a big event. I get how because it is such a rare occurrence we make a big deal out of it. But it has gotten really big and people are making a really big deal out of it. It seems way out of proportion.

Here are some examples (in no particular order) of how big it has gotten:

For the first time in at least two thousand years, there will be a group going up to the top of Masada to recite the Birkas HaChama.

In the "central" event in Netanya, in the Kiryat Sanz neighborhood of the city, they will be changing the name of the street where Birkat HaChama will be recited. The new name of the street will be "Birkat HaChama Street".

Rav Elyashiv has the bris of a great grandchild tomorrow (Mazel tov!). He paskened that despite the normal ruling of "תדיר ושאינו תדיר תדיר קודם" which would mean the bris has priority over Birkas HaChama, in this case the blessing over the sun has priority and should be done first and only then the bris. I saw no explanation for this, but I presume it is because the blessing of the sun is meant to be done in the first three hours of the day and after that the bracha can no longer be said (at least not with Hashem's name), whereas the bris can be done all day (even if the preference is for early in the day). (source: Mishpacha newspaper)

Rav Elyashiv also is going out of his way for this event in another way. Rav Elyashiv makes sure to go to the Kotel every month. he therefore never needs to "tear kriya" at the kotel. Recently he has not been feeling so well, and it seems he has not gone to the Kotel in over 2 months. That means he is required to tear kriya when he will go to the Kotel tomorrow for Birkat Hachama. Out of concern that tearing kriya, being a sign of mourning of the destruction of the Temple, would dampen the joyous occassion of Birkas HaChama, Rav Elyashiv was scheduled to go to the Kotel today to tear kriya in advance of tomorrow's visit for Birkat HaChama. What I find particularly amazing about this is that Rav Elyashiv really feels the mourning when he tears kriya. I know when I tear kriya it is kind of perfunctory and done because I have to. I don't think I know anyone who really considers it a sad, mournful moment when he tears kriya at the Kotel. Rav Elyashiv does, and he assumes everyone else would feel that way as well just from seeing him tear....

The Wall Street Journal even picked up on how big it has gotten and has written about Birkat HaChama and the twist environmentalists are putting on it.

The Old City of Jerusalem is going to be completely shut down and closed off to traffic, including buses, because of the throngs of people expected to come for the Birkat HaChama at the Kotel.



Unfortunately it looks like the weather forecast is looking bad for Birkas Hachama. They are forecasting rain for all around the country. It looks like the best bet to get a sunny day for the bracha would be for those people who have gone down to Eilat for Pesach (though according to some rabbonim, Rav Elyashiv included, they might have to keep two days Yom Tov because Eilat might have the status of Chutz La'Aretz).

Hopefully the weather will clear up enough, at least for a few minutes, and let the sun peek out so we can say our bracha and get on with our erev pesach preparations. Heck, today was supposed to be cloudy and overcast but it has so far been sunny all morning...

Neighborhoods all over are arranging central meeting points where the bracha will be said by the whole community together. In RBS the main gathering will be at Park Ayalon with most of RBS participating together at 7:05 AM. There will be musical accompaniment, with a siyum made afterwords for those who need to be fasting for the fast of the first-born.

I asked the organizer of the even what the big deal is - why can't we just go out after davening, even as a whole shul together, look up to the sky and make the bracha. Why make it so big? Why not do the same for Birkat Ha'Ilanot?

This was his response:

There are very few mitzvos that the halacha states should be done "brov Am". Hakhel comes to mind, which we do not have without the Beis HaMikdash. The Mishna Brerua specifically states that this mitzva - due to its unique structure and timing - is best done Brov Am. There is nothing more significant in the world than giving testimony to G-d's ultimate authority over the cosmos, and the Birchas HaChama bracha gives testimony to this reality. Additionally, it has been the practice for generations for the communities to come together in a public fashion to make the bracha.

We felt that such a special event, coinciding with Erev Pesach, was such a significant milestone that it would be highlighted by the cooperation and participation of all the different kehillos in Ramat Bet Shemesh. In many cities, each shul or community holds their own event. However, in our unique city with a multitude of backgrounds, minhagim and nusachot, it would be the highest level of testimony to our subservience to Hashem by all coming together to make this significant bracha.

(there will be another location in RBS for the Birkat HaChama at the plaza of the Merkaz Mischari at the bottom of the neighborhood for those who can't or don't want to go up to the top of Park Ayalon)

According to the Holyland Pilgrimage website, the Pope will be visiting the Western Wall and Temple Mount on May 12 during his visit to the Holy Land.

Remember that they recently announced that due to security concerns they are planning on shutting the Kotel from the public during the Pope's visit? and Rabbi Rabinovitz was protesting to keep it open.

If you look at a calendar you will notice that May 12 is Lag B'Omer.

Whether Lag B'Omer represents the day that Rav Shimon Bar Yochai died, or whether it represents the [temporary] victory of Bar Kochba over the Romans, it seems that on this Lag B'Omer there is a good chance the Romans will dampen the fires of our celebration... Let's hope that Rabbi Rabinovitz's protests do not fall on deaf ears....

I have a couple of questions maybe someone could help me with:

1. Why do we call it "Bedikas Chametz" rather than something like "Chipus Chametz"? Bedika is more like an inspection of an item to see if it is chametz or not. Chipus is to search for chametz. When we overturn the house and do a bedikas chametz, it is really a chipus chametz. I have an idea or two, but am looking for something better before I share my thoughts.

2. Why do we make such a big deal about Birkat Hachama and make communal get-togethers everywhere to say the bracha? Why do we not do the same, even at a smaller level, for birkat Ha'ilanot? That is fairly rare as well - it is a brach a we say only once a year. Yet we do not see big gatherings being arranged on Rosh Chodesh Nissan to say Birkat Ha'Ilanot as a community. Why do we do this by Birkat Hachama?

Here are a couple of interesting links for you...

1. Rock of Galilee has been posting again after a long hiatus. he raises an interesting debate about whether it would be better to not keep the holiday at all, or to keep it incorrectly. His example is a co-worker who likes to eat matza with cream cheese and meat.

2. Hubscubs writes an interesting drasha from Rav Nachman Kahane about the US bailout money being good money thrown after bad... He connects that to what he see as American Judaism (Chicago community being his specific example) attempting to perpetuate itself. They are already planning the next Birkat HaChama in 28 years from now - do they not plan to be in Eretz Yisrael by then? Mashiach? You know - the things we daven for 3 times a day?

3. Josh Waxman at the Parsha Blog has an interesting debate going on regarding Modern Orthodox Jews saying Birkat HaChama and whether it might be a bracha l'vatala for them....

4. Jameel has an exceptional archaeological find from the days of Joshua....

The recent article by Rabbi Avi Shafran is all the rage. all the blogs are talking about it. Usually that means I stay away from such a popular topic, but I have a point to make I did not see anywhere else (except for in a comment I wrote in one of those blogs), so i will tread where many have tread before.

Rabbi Shafran recently wrote an article in which he described how Bernard Madoff, the Jewish crook who ran the Ponzi scheme scamming others, including family members and members of his own community among many others including charities and foundations, out of something in the range of $50,000,000,000, is worthy of admiration, because he turned himself in.

Shafran also described how a guy like Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, the pilot who remained calm and collected while heroically landed the plane in the Hudson keeping all his passengers alive, is not worthy of admiration.

What is more, Madoff likely began his crime spree in the hope of rewarding, not swindling, investors, and by the time it became clear he wouldn’t be able to do that, he was already deeply entangled – and daily becoming more entangled – in the web he wove.

None of that, though, is to belittle the great pain Mr. Madoff caused, and is certainly no cause for affording the iniquitous investment broker respect. No, what I admire about him has to do with his owning up to his crime.

Think about it. The man knew for years that his scheme would eventually come apart and that prosecution loomed, yet he took no steps to flee, huge bribe in hand, to some country lacking extradition treaties. Idi Amin, we might recall, died of old age in luxury. Madoff’s millions, moreover, could have easily bought him a new face and identity papers; he could spent his senior years tanned and well-fed among the sunbirds of Miami Beach.

Instead, though, he chose to essentially turn himself in and admit guilt. He apologized to his victims, acknowledging that he had “deeply hurt many, many people,” and adding, “I cannot adequately express how sorry I am for what I have done.”

No one can know if those words reflect the feelings in his heart, but I don’t claim any right to doubt that they do. And facing one’s sins and regretting them is the essence of the Jewish concept of teshuvah, repentance – something we are all enjoined to do for our personal transgressions, however small or large.
No such sublimity of spirit, though, was in evidence in any of the public acts or words of Mr. Sullenberger. He saved 155 lives, no doubt about it, and is certainly owed the gratitude of those he saved, and of their families and friends. And he executed tremendous skill.

But no moral choice was involved in his act. He was on the plane too, after all; his own life depended on undertaking his feat no less than the lives of others. He did what anyone in terrible circumstances would do: try to stay alive. He was fortunate (as were his passengers) that he possessed the talents requisite to the task, but that’s a tribute to his training, and to the One Who instilled such astounding abilities in His creations (and Whose help the captain was not quoted as acknowledging). Basketball players are highly skilled, too – and heroes, in fact, to some. But I have never managed to understand that latter fact.
Sully has reportedly inked a $3 million book deal with HarperCollins, and is also planning a second book of inspirational poems; Bernie, likely for the rest of his life, will languish in jail.

That may make societal sense, but personally, I’m still unmoved by the pilot, and, at least somewhat, inspired by the penitent.

First of all, I dislike that he works to justify Madoff's crime. he suggests Madoff probably started out trying not to cheat people and make money for himself, but to help his investors. Right, I am sure Madoff started out as a real Robin Hood. Stealing from one investor and helping the other. Right. he was just trying to do the right thing all along.

Second, his lack of admiration for Captain Sully is because a) it was his job and that is all he did and b) he is going to make $3,000,000 in a book deal. Shafran saw no sublimity of spirit in Sully.

Did he forget that Sully was invited on a few talk shows being treated like a hero and practically refused to talk about himself because of what looked like humility in a simple person not looking for accolades? That is not sublimity of spirit?

And that is what he was trained to do so he does not deserve admiration for it? Does that mean Shafran does not admire the firemen of NY who were considered heroes the extra efforts they put forth to save people (many of those people being other firemen) during the attacks of 9/11? Does Shafran not admire Yeshiva students who spend the whole day learning Torah - because that is what they are trained to do and that is their job? Does Shafran not admire soldiers who valiantly fight against great odds and survive a battle, pulling out victory from the jaws of defeat and saving thousands or millions of people - just because the soldiers were trained to fight in battle? All they were doing was their job? What about great Roshei Yeshiva who conquer their desires and control their physical needs, and devote themselves to Torah - that is what they have been trained to do, so what is the big deal??

While I agree to a certain extent that Madoff deserves some sort of admiration for turning himself in - he realized he was doing something very wrong and he regretted it - albeit 15 years too late, but he regretted it nonetheless - and turned himself in knowing he was going to be in serious trouble. That fact does say something worthwhile about the person. But I still would not say I admire Madoff, let alone brush off Sully's heroic act as nothing.

There have been ongoing fights in various places about the "haredization" of the neighborhood. What happens is that housing in a haredi neighborhoods runs short, or it has seen drastic price increases, making it difficult for young couple to rent/buy in existing haredi neighborhoods. They have started a trend of moving to a nearby neighborhood that was not haredi. the prices are generally cheaper and there is plenty available.

The first group is really the one to make the sacrifice as they move to a place with no haredi infrastructure in place. Once they get settled and establish all their needs (be it a mehadrin eiruv, haredi shul, haredi schools, etc.), the influx of newcomers then fill the neighborhood and "haredize" the place and they snap up practically every existing place. Then the old timers start to move out as they feel less and less confortable. etc. etc.

It is really a definition of the free market, and social evolution, and there is no real way to stop it.

The problem is that sometimes the locals do not want to move out, yet they feel threatened by the increasing number of newcomers. Often the newcomers do not respect the ways of the old timers, as they demand their needs be met and impose changes of the local lifestyle to conform to their needs (whether tzniyus, eiruv, etc.). The old timers feel threatened and instead of moving out sometimes choose to fight back against their neighborhood changing.

It can get pretty ugly.

One prime example of how ugly it can get is in Kiryat HaYovel. The fight has been going on non-stop for the past 2 years. The secular residents have been cutting the eiruv strings of the haredi newcomers. There have been scuffles and provocations from both sides. There have been lawsuits from both sides. Now the haredi shul was just closed down due to zoning restrictions and improper use of an apartment (despite it having been used as a dental clinic illegaly for 5 years prior to the shul using it).

On a totally unrelated topic, the Mishpacha magazine ran an interview with a fellow about some communal work he does. At the end of the interview, they asked this fellow where he lives and his community rav.

This fellow said something very interesting, that seems to apply to places with friction like Kiryat HaYovel. he said he lives in Gilo which is also under a process of "haredization" as many young haredi couples move into what was previously a mostly secular neighborhood. He added that Rav Shlezinger, the rav of Gilo, is in constant control of what is going on and he gives them complete direction. Because of Rav Shlezinger's direction, Gilo remains peaceful. They do not preach to the old timers, and theyhave no problem opening shuls and kollels, and building a mehadrin eiruv, etc. It is peaceful because of the ravs direction.

Perhaps in a place like Kiryat HaYovel and other similar points of friction, they would be wise to follow such advice - if they would have a rav to consult with who would let them know when not to insist on something and when they should insist on somethign and how to relate to the old timers, perhaps we would not have to have these dirty fights over who can live where.

Don't forget to register as part of a group for the chance to be part of a korban pesach this year, if it should so happen... You can download forms to register offline, or you can easily sign up online.

The cost for registering is only 12 shekels. I seem to remember that in the past you would only be charged if it came to fruition (which it did not). This time, as you sign up you are charged 12 shekels.

if the korban pesach will not be brought, the 12 shekels will be a donation towards the learning of kodshim as 1. preparation for the future and 2. as it says that if you are not able to bring the korbanos, by busying yourself with the laws of the korbanos it will be considered as if you actually brought the korban.