A PEOPLE BEATEN DOWN

A Lakewood, N.J. rabbi and his wife are facing life in prison for kidnapping, abduction and beating of an Israeli man who refused to give his wife a Jewish divorce, otherwise known as a Get.

According to Jewish Law, Only the man can dissolve the marriage but if the man withholds his permission out of spite, the Rabbis give themselves the right to beat the man until he relents. However, even the rabbis must obey the laws of the land according to the Torah.

In the Talmud-Book of Law is found the book of Gittin/Divorce in which is written the stories about the destruction of the two Temples, 500 years apart on the same day – the ninth of Av. The fast of the Ninth of Av begins tonight at sundown and ends 24 hours later.

The Cabala, the Jewish mystical tradition, explains, When God gave the Torah to the Jewish People it was considered to be a marriage; the destruction of the Temple was considered a divorce. We sit on the floor and read from the Book Aika/How we are alone in the world.

The Jewish People are likened to a woman cast out of her house, left to wander alone in the world; however, the Shakina, the feminine attribution of God's kindness went with us into a span of 2000 years called, Galut Edom/Exile of Rome. On this day Moshiach is born.