Ein Yaakov – Lesson 177a – Avos DeRav Nasan – Demons – Seven Earths – Extraterrestrials – Inter-Dimensional Travel – Spiritual Cause of Plagues – Wars – Liberal Judges – The 10 Martyrs – Speaker: Rabbi Zvi Aryeh Rosenfeld zal. (Recorded abt. 1970.)
00:00 – Demons exist but their ability to cause harm is limited by HaShem. They resemble humans in three ways: they need nourishment, they have a life span, they reproduce. Demons resemble angels in that they have wings so they can travel quickly both in this world and upward into heavenly realms. Demons are aware of the future and can make themselves invisible. They can see but not be seen. They have the power of shape-shifting, transforming themselves into animals or even people. One identifying feature they can’t change when they’re in human form: they have webbed, bird-like feet.
08:36 – “The advice about sheidim is: steer clear. Don’t get involved.”
*08:42 – Seven Earths. Intelligent life exists on planets other than the earth (Talmud and the Zohar HaKodesh). Human-like beings live in other dimensions. HaShem created seven earths, but ours is the one where He formed Adam and Chava (Eve). According to Torah sources, inhabitants of the other six “earths” may be the descendants of Cain, who was sent wandering in other dimensions as a punishment for killing his brother, Hevel – Abel.
17:17 – Spiritual cause of plagues and epidemics: failure to give the Torah’s three obligatory gifts to the poor from the field: Peyah, Leket, and Shikhekha.
19:20 – Peyah, Leket, and Shikhekha – Torah laws of agricultural tzedakah (charity).
20:18 – Story from the Gemara of a mother and two young sons who died of hunger.
22:43 – What is the spiritual cause of war?
24:08 – The cruelty of liberal courts fails to protect innocent victims by being lenient with criminals.
33:05 – War is caused by the failure of a country’s laws and judicial system to protect victims of crime.
33:38 – The Ten Martyrs – the great rabbis killed by the Romans: Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel and Rabbi Shmuel Kohen Gadol.
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