CHAPTER 108B - Questions and answers with Daniel.(Remarks in these parenthesis { } are by the translator.
1 Q. Should all Jews make Aliyah right now? If not, when is the latest we should go to Israel? A. I only know that very soon the Jews in America are going to be in great danger, very soon. In Europe also. So each person should make his own plans for how to get out, what to get out... It's definitely very soon. 2 Q. The last story on your home page was about a man who experienced life after death. Doesn't this take away his Bechirah? (Choice). How can Hashem take away his bechirah? Of course he won't sin anymore after all that he went through. Please explain and are you sure that this story isn't made up ????? A. The story wasn't made up, they have the medical documents for it. His Bechirah (בחירה חופשית) was not taken away because, as we well know, human beings forget. When you come back to your body in this world, and the body desires something, anything spiritual that we experienced has the tendency of being forgotten. Only a very strong person, after many years, can keep himself focused on the experience that he had, and not desire to sin. Am Yisrael, for one year, saw ten ‘makot' (plagues) in Mitzraim (Egypt), great nissim (miracles), but in the desert, they kept forgetting and sinning again and again. So what can you expect from a poor human being that comes back after such an experience? Hopefully he will never and EVER do aveiros (sins). But nobody can ever be sure of that. As for the bechirah thing; his family, because they were a great family, great Tzadikim, and they were begging in Shamayim that he should do Teshuva - that's what happened. 3 Q. Doesn't religion come from the heart? A. It comes from the heart, from the head, from the hands, from the feet, from the whole body and from the soul. The Ikar (main thing) is the soul not the heart. 4 Q. I know that wigs made of human hair are bad and not allowed but, is a synthetic wig made of fake fibers allowed or just a Tichel and why? A. Every wig today is forbidden because they all look like real hair. 5 Q. I live in America. I cannot come to Israel now. Do I need to buy passports for my family? A. I definitely would buy passports, it's always good for a Jew to have passports ready. 6 Q. When you said we should store food for 2 weeks, should we store food that does not need to be cooked, in other words, should we assume that there will be no electricity or gas with which to cook food, maybe things that don't need refrigeration? Should we store candles to see with? What about water - should we buy bottled water and assume there will be no tap water? Are there any other instructions regarding this subject? A. Obviously you need food that does not require electricity or gas unless you have some kind of gas container that's independent of the gas that's runs into our homes. But the main thing is to come closer to Hashem and to want to do His will. 7 Q. I am a spiritual person at heart and feel like i'm sometimes drowning in a sea of materialistic people around me. My husband finds it hard to give up his tv and i'm afraid he won't want to go to eretz yisrael to feel the kedusha and be inspired.{he can afford it} when i pray to G-d with tears I always see he listens. Then my husband takes a tiny step forward only to go back again to previous levels. Will I have to save my kids and go to Israel with them or wait and see here. I don't want to be the 4/5 that die. A. Be close to Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu, pray to him often, beg him to save you and your children, and Hashem will make you a Nes (miracle). 8 Q. Jewish music since we've been in galus in some way imitates and has been influenced by our host countries' music. All of what we call Jewish music has European, Russian, Arab, Spanish, American, etc. etc. influences. There is really NO pure original Jewish music that we know of left today. Everything's been influenced by non-Jewish music of some kind. If music is performed with modesty and praises and expresses love for Hashem and draws people closer to Him, is it still not kosher if it has been influenced musically by the non-Jewish music of the day? A. The non Jewish music of today is full of klipos (klipot, קליפות) and that means that it's unusable for singing Jewish songs with (Psalms)פסוקים ,תהילים. You can't take the Kedusha and put it with a klipa. {P.S. This was a very good question. However, I myself have found quite a bit of music today that is very jewish and does not sound non-Jewish: Various Chassidic groups that sing zemiros of old, including music of the Baal Shem Tov and more. I can make recommendations if you like. 9 Q. Aren't we supposed to go by the majority ruling of our rabbaim? What does a woman do if 99% of the rabbis in her community say sheitels are OK? If a woman only wants to do what Hashem wants her to do and doesn't care about the vanity aspect of wearing wigs, but is told by all the major Rabbis in her large community that she can wear a sheitel no problem, how can she ignore respected Rabbis and do her "own thing" anyway? And what if she's asked a shaileh of her Rav directly and was told it's OK. Can she just go against the Rav's ruling and not wear a wig? A. Wearing a wig or not wearing a wig is not a שאלה (question) for a Rav. It's an unquestionable thing that a Tichel (scarf) is preferable, better than a sheitel לכל הדעות (in all opinions). Giants like Hafetz-Haim, Hatham-Sofer, were fearfully against sheitels, plus many others including Rav Elyashiv that say clearly that the best kisuy-rosh (head covering) is a tichel. There are many Gedoley-hador from previous generations who were absolutely, lividly against sheitels. And in those days, wigs were much less similar to hair than our wigs of today. The wigs of today are exactly like a woman going with a giluy-rosh [uncovered head](גילוי ראש). There is no wig of today that doesn't look like hair, but even the synthetic ones look like hair and in most cases are much more beautiful than the woman's hair. And if someone says to you that the chofetz Chaim's wife wore a sheitel, his wife before his last wife, I will remind them all that it was in their marriage contract that she would not wear a sheitel but after she married him, she refused to take it off. And the only reason he did not divorce her was because he could not find a wife that in all other aspects of Judaism was on her level so he had no choice, even though it hurt him very much. If you want to ask more questions about this subject from an expert in the field that speaks hebrew and Yiddish, write again and I'll give you a phone number.. 10 Q. Dear Daniel, Thank you so much for the opportunity to ask and thank you for your holy work. My question: A date was given of Rosh Chodesh Sivan 2009 for the "deadline" when all Jews should leave America or it will be "too late" for them afterwards. My husband is not ready to leave and both our elderly mothers are not ready to leave. I will not leave on my own just to "save" myself. Is this date accurate and how can American Jews that can not leave survive to be gathered in and greet Mashiach? Thank you so much for answering. May Hashem bless and favor you, your family and your holy messages. Thank you so much for responding. With deep gratitude and respect for your incalculable contribution and help. S. A. I don't know what the deadline is, I never said a deadline. I know it's soon. But, there will a very strong warning to the American Jews and other Jews. There will be a warning and they should think about the warning when it happens, but if your family refuses to go, then you daven to Hashem, and cry to Him, and beg Him, tell Him your difficulty, and I'm sure He will save you with Nissim gedolim (great miracles). Q. Will there be a warning before the true deadline? A. Of course. It can't be after the deadline. Nobody really knows the deadline. I know it's soon.
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