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Sunday, January 31, 2027

Halachic Times (Zmanim)
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Jewish History

Armies of the Tribes of Israel converged upon the tribe of Benjamin in the aftermath of the "Concubine at Givah" incident, in a war which nearly brought about the extinction of the Benjaminites (as related in the Book of Judges, chapters 19-2). The event occurred during the judgeship of Othniel ben Knaz, who led the people of Israel in the years 2533-2573 from creation (1228-1188 BCE).

Daily Thought

When the Mighty Waters cover your head, suffocating the soul and the flame that burnt inside . . .

When raging torrents of confusion drag you away in their current, ripping you from your hold on Life . . .

Look deeper. Beyond the soul.

For the soul itself, as well as the flame it holds, are rooted in a serene G‑dly World of Emanation, a world of quietness and sublime harmony.

But the turbulence of this world is rooted even beyond that, stemming from a World of Confusion, of light unbounded and untamed, before the orderly emanation of defined being, “and the world was confused and void, with darkness over the face of the deep.”

So you must dig deeper than those roots, to find the coals from which the flame arose and the flint rock from which the spark was struck. Deeper, until you reach the primordial essence of the soul, beyond Emanation, beyond Light—even beyond the unbounded light of pre-creation. Where there is nothing but the seminal thought which inspired all that is and was and will come to be.

And what was that thought? It was the thought of you here and now, in your struggle with this world, and the delicious taste of your victory.

And, since in that thought there is no past and future, there, in that thought, you have already won.

Now you must make it happen.

Maamar Mayim Rabim 5738.