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OF      M MM M O    O O    O N N  N         The Jewish Year
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Issue #8 Vol #2                     Iyar 5757 / 8 May 1997 - 5 June 1997
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This Month's Sign:  Shor / Bull

The formation of the Jewish People started on the eve of the Exodus in the 
first month of the year and culminated with the giving of the Torah at 
Sinai in the third month, Sivan.

	This nation-building process is symbolized in the progression of the 
first three astrological symbols:  Aries, the lamb, symbolizes the unity of 
the group.  In a flock the lamb feels itself identical to its neighbor.  
Also, just as sheep follow a shepherd, the Jewish People accepted the 
leadership of  Moses.

	Our month, the month of Iyar, is symbolized by the Shor, the bull, 
which desires to dwell in isolation.  Iyar is therefore a time of 
introspection and self-development, a time of preparation for receiving the 
Torah in Sivan.  However, there were times when the Jewish People also 
exhibited the rebellious qualities of the bull and `bucked' the leadership 
of Moses and Aaron when they rebelled in the desert during this month.

	This process of individual growth is connected to the counting of the 
Omer, which takes place mostly in Iyar.  But, when the individual is over-
emphasized this can lead to disaster, as happened when the students of 
Rabbi Akiva died because they failed to give each other enough respect.

===========================================================================

The Eternal City

If you ask your travel agent to book you a trip to the Eternal City, 
chances are he will pick up his time schedule and book you on a flight to 
Rome.

	He'd be wrong.  The Eternal City is not Rome.

	The Midrash tells us that when an historic sin was committed by a 
Jewish ruler the angel Gavriel stuck a reed into the Mediterranean Sea, and 
around that reed arose a sandbar, and from there grew Rome.  Rome is not 
the eternal city.  It wasn't there at the beginning of time.  For something 
to be eternal, not only does it have to be there at the beginning of time, 
but it has to be there at the end of time as well.

	When Hashem created the universe, He didn't create it as an expanse, 
as a myriad of stars spread out on an almost infinite blackness.  Rather, 
He first created a single point, and from there all space and time 
unfolded.

	We know where that point is.  It is a rock that sits on top of a 
small hill nested between several others of very similar appearance.  On 
that rock, Abraham brought his son Isaac as an offering.  It was around 
that rock that the two Holy Temples were built.  The name of that rock is 
the Even Shesia, the `Foundation Stone.'

	That rock is the center of the universe.  Around that rock is the 
Temple and around the Temple is Jerusalem.  Around Jerusalem is the Land of 
Israel.  And around the Land of Israel is the Universe.

	Exactly 30 years ago, the eternal city was united again under Jewish 
rule.  The Hebrew date was the 28th of Iyar.  It just so happens that the 
28th of Iyar is also important in Jewish history for another reason:  On 
the 28th of Iyar, Samuel the prophet passed away.

	What do the two have in common?

	At the beginning of the reign of King David, Jerusalem was not in 
Jewish hands.  When King David re-conquered the Land of Israel, Jerusalem 
was in the hands of the Jebusites.  The exact location of Mount Moriah, the 
place of the Even Shesia, was no longer known.

	Before David could plan the building of the Holy Temple he had to 
know exactly where Mount Moriah was.  It was the prophet Samuel, together 
with King David, who, through prophetic insight, established which of the 
hills in Jebusite Jerusalem was in fact the correct location.

	So it was through Samuel the prophet that we know today the location 
of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Maybe it was for this reason that Jerusalem 
was `re-discovered' in June 1967 on the exact date of his passing from this 
world.

	But there's more.

	It the first Book of Samuel 15:29, the following prophecy is written:  
"However, the `Netzach Yisrael' will not lie."

	That phrase `Netzach Yisrael' can be understood in two ways.  It can 
mean the `Eternal One of Israel' -- Hashem -- Who will not lie, Who will 
never desert His people through the long night of exile.

	But Netzach Yisrael can also mean `the eternity of Israel' or `the 
victory of Israel' will not lie.  The survival of the Jewish People, 
through both persecution and the softly stifling embrace of assimilation, 
will not lie.  It will stand as an everlasting proof that the Jewish People 
are what the Torah calls them:  An eternal nation with a G-d given mission.

	It was Samuel the prophet who said `the eternity of Israel will not 
lie' nearly 3,000 years ago.  How could he have known that the Jewish 
People would still be around in 1967, some 3,000 years after he spoke that 
prophecy?  And not only were they around, but they were re-capturing the 
city he had helped to re-identify on the exact day that he passed on to the 
world of truth.

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Victory Is Jerusalem

In our morning prayers we say:  "To you Hashem is the Greatness, the Power, 
the Glory, and the Victory (Netzach)..."

	The Talmud (Berachot 58a) tells us that Netzach here refers to 
Jerusalem.  Victory is Jerusalem.  Eternity is Jerusalem.

	The 28th of Iyar is the Yartzeit of Shmuel the Prophet who revealed 
the place of Jerusalem, who said that `the Netzach of Israel will not lie.'  
The 28th of Iyar , when Jews once more could flock to that hill from which 
the whole universe was drawn out.  The 28th of Iyar.

	Whatever the immediate future holds for the Eternal City, of one 
thing we can be sure:  The Eternal One of Israel will not lie.  He will 
keep His promise, the promise He made to our fathers.

	"Then again will be heard in the cities of Yehuda and the outskirts 
of Jerusalem, the voice of Joy, the voice of Happiness, the voice of the 
groom and the voice of the bride."

	The lost ones will return from the lands of the holocaust of the 
soul.  And the oppressed from beyond the straits of persecution.

	"And they will bow to Hashem in the Holy Mount.

In Yerushalyim."

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Two Sprigs of Myrtle

You were hurrying 
between the twilight's embers
To welcome the Shabbat Queen.
In your hands, two sprigs of myrtle
To guard, To remember
The Hand unseen.

And all those years we spent
Up to our necks,
Our souls were clothed
In nothing more than sand;

We could burn the world
With eyes of fire,
But it's enough,
It's enough,
That there are two
Such as you and I.

===========================================================================

Sources: 
This Month's Sign - Avnei Nezer, Shem MiShmuel, Rabbi M. Glazerson; The 
Eternal City - Yalkut Shimoni - I Kings 172; I Samuel 15:29;
Talmud Berachot 58a; Talmud Zevachim 54b; Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 580:1; 
Rabbi Mordechai Becher
Two Sprigs Of Myrtle - Talmud Shabbt 33b
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