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MAKING MONEY WHILE WRITING CHECKS
Some people think that the blessings attached to giving sedaka are only wishful thinking, but in truth distributing charity is a guaranteed certified “contract” with the “Treasury Administer” of all spiritual as well as material assets. It is stated in the Talmud (Gemora Baba Basra 9b) that if one pursues opportunities to do charity, the Holy One, Blessed be He, provides him with sufficient funds to achieve that lofty goal. Since man was not created for himself but only to help others as much as he is capable, it is stated in the Rambam that G-d provides some men with more than they need to act as His representatives to distribute their surplus funds to the poor. These people are not only administrators of His charity fund but they are His partners in the sustenance of His universe. (Hilchos Matnos Aniyim).
The Torah encourages a person to perform kind deeds in order to be rewarded. This is in order to demonstrate publicly to one and all that the bounty one reaps from his kindness is as predictable as the harvest the farmer gathers from his planting. The philanthropist should train himself to feel that there is no loss involved in tithing – it is all guaranteed gain. It is not merely permissible to look forward to riches as a result of charity, it is an obligation! (Sefer Tzedakah Treasury by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer).
The following true story about Yosef which gives a glimmer of just how speedily and efficiently the charity (sedaka) equation can work: Yosef has spent much of his life learning and teaching Torah. Throughout the years of raising a large family, he experienced first hand how helpful other people’s act of kindness (chesed) helped him to continue his learning. Yosef always yearned to be on the giving side of chesed and now these last few years after he received a considerably large inheritance, he was finally able to give sedaka in a much more substantial way.
At first it sounded so easy to just start writing larger checks to those in need and the many wonderful charitable institutions, however Yosef began having second thoughts before writing each check on how much and how often he could afford to give away a portion of his new received resources. He noticed that whenever he would think of an amount that he would like to offer, his mind and emotions would gang up on him with a long list of rational concerns like: Are you sure you can afford so many generous donations after all he had a long list of both foreseen and potentially unexpected needs and wants for his own growing family. In the end Yosef often found himself writing the checks for about half the amount that he would originally think of giving.
One day Yosef decided to invest a large sum of money into the stock market. The particular stock which he chose to invest in had depreciated greatly in the last year and Yosef felt that it was now greatly undervalued. With trepidation Yosef bought the huge amount of shares at the end of the trading day. The next morning just after Yosef finished praying (dovening) he noticed a very pious Jew (yid) in the synagogue (schull) who the previous Pesach he had given a sizable check to and therefore Yosef once again decided that since it was less than two weeks before the Jewish Holidays (Yom Tov) and the money would be will spent by such a righteous person he thought of writing this righteous person (tzadik) a very generous size check. In those same moments Yosef saw another (impressive) chashuver yid learning with such a love and earnestness that he once again couldn’t help but feel this fellow Jews sincerity and deep connection with G-d (Hashem) and His Torah and once again thought of writing him a very generous amount, however by now the doubts and compromising starting to descend upon him like a cascading torrential storm, with convincing questions like: Are you sure you can afford it, after all just yesterday you invested so much money and who knows how much it might go down in value?
This inner conflict of what he could afford lasted for a few minutes until at nine-thirty A.M., at the same time that the stock market begins its new trading day, Yosef pushed aside his doubts and fears and wrote a very generous check, for the full amount that he had originally thought of, for each of these pious people. After arriving home Yosef decided to check how the large amount of stock that he had purchased the day just before was doing. Well, by now you probably know how the story ended. Yes, the stock had risen so much in that one hour that he had profited many times more than total amount of the large sedaka checks he had just written. Yosef not only helped those righteous yidden with their Pesach needs but he merited a very handsome profit in the process. Now the connection and relationship of the blessings promised for doing sedaka may not always be so obvious, but we can rest assured that our “Financial Manager of the Universe” always fulfills His end of the bargain. Happy check writing!
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22 – SELF AWARENESS
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ALL TIME PITFALLS – PISOMS & RA’AMSEIS
In a few impacting verses (pesukim) in the beginning of the Book of Exodus (Sefer Shemos) , the Torah sets in motion the political and emotional forces that were to keep the children of Israel in bondage for the next two hundred and ten years. These same forces have operated as a snare throughout history and are present today, only the stage setting has been specially designed to lure this generations unwary into its web of spiritual bondage. The mindset that led to their subjugation in Egypt was their yearning to be like everyone else – to assimilate into the culture of whatever country they found themselves in. There are those who in their eagerness to be a part of the culture, may mistakenly replace their service of the Creator (Hashem) with loyal service to the governing regime in a manner far beyond and above that which is required by the ordinary dictates of good citizenship.
Pharaoh, who personifies the Jewish nemesis, the yetzer hara, understood that as long as the Jewish people were living in accordance with high standard of spiritual development referred to as the “Children of (Bnei) Israel,” he would not be able to subjugate them. They were the beneficiaries of Hashem’s promise to Avraham our forefather (Avinu) In order to prevent their assimilation, Hashem transformed the appreciation the Egyptians previously had into a feeling that the Bnei Israel had become a threat to them. Pharaoh, then changed its form, face and presentation in order to subjugate the Israelites and turn them into servants of the state.
To induce the Israelites to participate in their building program, the Egyptians hung a brick kiln around Pharaoh’s neck, inviting the Jews to join him in brick making. Each man went to work making as many bricks as possible, which thereafter became the expected quota. The Jews thus became willing accomplices in their own enslavement, wooed and won over by this appeal to “love of country.” This technique, oft repeated in Jewish history.
Modern society today poses a different but equally challenging test, by luring its citizens towards the ephemeral standards of the times. Their value scale of success is graded by such “yardsticks” as how wealthy and famous one is. The lifestyle that emerges from this philosophy can be as, if not more, detrimental to spiritual growth than the servitude imposed by the Egyptians.
Addicted to Bondage
By the time the Israelites began to see the futility and hypocrisy of their alliance with Pharaoh, it was too late. The Bnei Yisrael were given the task of building arei miskenos, cities, whose names were Pisom and Ra’amseis. The word miskenos has the same root as the word miskein which means misfortune or poverty. Pisom means sudden or immediate. It also can refer to the mouth of the abyss, pi tehom (Midrash Rabba I:10). Ra’am means loud, like a thunderclap.
In our hectic lives, where sudden and immediate claims upon our time are an all too frequent occurrence, if we are not discerning, we may find that we are building Pisom. We may also necessarily be building Ra’amses, since these calls to duty are usually loud and very difficult to ignore. One of the ploys of the yetzer hara is to persuade us that we must accomplish everything we have set out to do which can lead to feel overwhelmed. Pharaoh well understood that working without respite on purposeless tasks that could never be completed would weaken the physical, mental, emotional and most importantly spiritual health of the Nation.
Acting too quickly and assuming excessive obligations without enough considered thought as to their value and purpose can make a person feel as if they are enslaved. The work was kasha, hard. This word is related to the word for straw, kash, to hint to us that work is hard when it is like straw to us, that is, when it is commonplace and purposeless. Mortar, chomer, which in Hebrew also means material, represents that which is stripped of spiritual content and inspiration. Even without purpose and without inspiration we can still produce leveinim, bricks, but when one works under those circumstances they are reduced to field laborers (avoda basadeh) deprived of higher motivation, dignity and joy.
Salvation
But take heart; there is a way out. There is an answer that may surprise us.
When we stop and take stock of our options and our strengths, the time we have, the things we must do in order to fulfill our obligations as Jews as opposed to those things that we may be doing to serve some other cultural demand, we may be pleasantly surprised by the result. We may be able to simplify our lives and our goals and live in greater harmony then we ever thought possible. The job of the Egyptian taskmasters was to maximize the burdens upon the Israelites which ultimately shortened their servitude and enhanced their purification in the caldron that was Egypt. It is precisely when the “task masters of time” bear down upon us that we have the opportunity to cull the necessary from the unnecessary and focus upon those matters that are essential to our avoda can be reached by sincerely asking for Hashem’s help in the process.
This will actualize Pharaoh’s fear that we will “go up [be raised up] from the land.” “The land” which represents our physical and mental attachment to this world will no longer have a hold on us. When we cleave to Hashem through His Torah, we will be elevated to a higher level of consciousness referred to as “the children of (Bnei) Israel.”
The Torah teaches us that the more the Jewish nation was afflicted the more they increased and spread out. This means that even during this period when we, as a nation, were far from reaching the perfect service of Hashem, His Divine Radiance was still with us. In the dark and immoral environment of Egypt, Israelite slaves, who were deprived of all the benefits that culture and civilization are thought to bestow, were being forged into a holy nation. The very harshness of the bondage actually strengthened the potential in each Israelite, so that when the time was ripe, Hashem would redeem us. The teaching here is very profound. We do not ask for tests, but if they come, they can inspire our best performances. From this spiritual plateau we will not only be free from Pharaoh and Mitzrayim but we will be able to fulfill the will of the Creator in the holy land of Eretz Israel.
May we merit this soon in our days.
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GOSHEN – THE GATEWAY TO HAPPINESS
All too many people in the world today have been led to believe that by filling their time with new exciting activities and gadgets they will reach a state of existential happiness, however statistics have clearly shown that inner peace and happiness has actually decreased throughout society, while at the same time prescription medication for depression and the need for psychological counseling have all greatly increased. If money, power, fame and thrills are not the kind of “currency” that can acquire true happiness, it behooves us to look into the Torah for an insight on how to merit inner peace and true simcha.
Perhaps we can derive a hint on how to achieve this awesome goal through looking into the D.N.A. of the land of Goshen, whose name is the exact numerical value of simcha. What could be a connection with the land named Goshen, where our nation was “cultivated”, and simcha? Perhaps one lesson we can derive is just like a parcel of land needs to be cultivated, seeded and then tended until its produces the finest of “fruits”, in order to “harvest the fruits” of true simcha, the “soil” of our potential needs be “cultivated” through Torah, “seeded” with mitzvos and “nurtured” through misim tovim.
As the Gemora Shabbos (30b) teaches us that the Divine presence rests on a person “… only through the joy of a mitzva”. And as David HaMelek informs us “Serve G-d with joy, come before Him with song”. – Tehillim (100:2)
May we soon merit through our simchas shel mitzvos to transform the “draught” of galus into “bumper crop” of the final geula.
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FROM A DESTROYER TO THE YESHIVA VIA AN ASHRAM
Avraham, at nineteen years of age, received a draft notice informing him of his candidacy for military service. Since he didn’t relish the idea of becoming a foot soldier in the Vietnamese jungles, Avraham immediately enlisted in the Naval Reserve which obligated him to serve two years of active duty followed by four more years of monthly reserve meetings.
After a short basic training, Avraham was flown to his new duty station, the USS Reeves, a guided missile destroyer, stationed in Japan, that housed to four hundred plus sailors. After leaving port, heading towards their duty station off the coast of North Vietnam, the ship was engulfed in a raging typhoon which caused it and its hapless crew to bob up and down like a cork, listing and rocking among the surging thirty foot waves. When the storm reached its peak, the Captain reassured all those on board that the ship was virtually unsinkable because it had a stabilizer mechanism.
After surviving the storm, Avraham, who was raised as a Reform Jew, would often go to the back deck late in the evening and gaze up into the star-filled sky. He was not only awed by its beauty and the sheer magnitude, but more importantly he began to ask himself many penetrating questions such as: What is the purpose of this awesome creation and what is mankind’s role in relationship to it? Since he had until now never received any meaningful answers to these kinds of questions, he decided to pursue this spiritual quest upon his discharge from the Navy.
After Avraham had completed one full year in military service, the USS Reeves returned to the United States. By now the unpopular Vietnam war was challenging Congress to find new exit strategies, which included huge cutbacks in military spending. The Navy, in response offered early military discharges to reservists who had served overseas for at least one year and were now back in the United States. Avraham qualified and within a few days walked down the gangplank for the last time, honorable discharge in hand, happily thinking he was forever free from all Naval obligations and as well as typhoons .
Shortly thereafter Avraham began to fulfill his promise to search for the true purpose in life by putting his back pack and travelling to the Far East. There he attended classes in health and nutrition given by a gifted, highly well educated teacher who was very familiar with diverse cultures and traditions. Astoundingly, in more than one class he expressed his profound respect and admiration for the Divine wisdom of the Torah and its sages. These words stunned Avraham who was relatively uneducated about his own tradition.
Alone one day on a mountaintop, Avraham having already realized that the Far Eastern culture was not to be his destiny, he turned humbly to G-d asking for help and direction. Almost instantly Avraham began humming a Jewish melody that he hadn’t thought of for many years, along with contemplating the words of praise he had just heard about his Jewish heritage. With tears in his eyes and a yearning heart, Avraham now understood the need to journey to Eretz Yisrael and eventually into one of its first Baal Teshuvah Yeshivas to learn more about his Jewish roots.
The Gemora tells us: “All beginnings are difficult” and so it was for Avraham as he “set sail” in the “sea” of Torah he encountered a number of “powerful storms” of doubt and “volatile winds” of indecision that pounded fiercely on his small “craft” which was built out of fragile desires to reach the “shores” of truth. A number of times when his Jewish identity seemed ready to “capsize”, Avraham strengthened his resolve by reminding himself of the Captain’s words that “the ship would always re-stabilize”. Fortunately those “storms” subsided and Avraham merited to marry and begin raising a wonderful family whose “voyage” through life has for the last three and one half decades been exclusively in the “waterways” of the Torah.
May all our Jewish brethren merit to safely reach their souls true “port” of destination soon in our days.
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THE ECONOMICS OF TIME
Do you believe that only famous people have a unique purpose? Do you think that only larger-than-life personalities have a raison d’etre, and you do not? You might want to reconsider those attitudes, for we all have a Divine purpose – a G-d given, soul driven mission in this world which we may have intuited as a child and experienced through our identification with great people. That secret yearning, to strive to reach ones ultimate potential, is an intuitive message from our souls (neshoma) encouraging us to be that special someone.
In order to achieve this lofty goal we not only need to refine ourselves but it is most conducive to structure our surroundings with supernal cues that remind us of our true purpose and highest aspirations. The third essential “ingredient” is the elusive “dimension” of time. Just like space can be measured, so also time can be measured by the amount of cerebral ticks of our minds as they synchronize with pulse beat of our desires. Time is not just an invention of convenience for personal scheduling but has been given by The Creator to help us define the spatial reality of the Jewish year. Like each room in a house, which each serves a unique purpose and function as designed by its architect and constructed by its builders, how much more so are the coordinates of time, which can be perceived as an ethereal “structure” that have an on the sight Architect and His wise talented “builders” (the Sages) who have authorization to synchronize our calendar with the Heavenly timelines. So let us take an opportunity to focus on the use and value of our precious time.
When we learn how to manage our time so as to prioritize our tasks and put our service of the Creator (Hashem) first and foremost, then we receive our “promotions”, but first we are tested in using our time well. Although each of the calibrations on the clock is evenly spaced and the hands of the clock travel at a uniform speed, time is not objective and homogeneous, but subjective, varied and responsive to our attitudes and moods. This flexibility gives us an opportunity to make a meaningful choice: We can consider time to be a vessel that can hold a collection of golden eternal currency or see it as merely a container for storing the ephemera of a mundane existence. We are all capable of transforming time by converting it from an earthly time piece into a G-d given gift that can be used as the vehicle for achieving eternal holiness in our lives.
Each one of us has the most desirable of all possible goals for which to strive towards – those being specified good deeds known as mitzvoth which are instruments of eternality. These precious “gifts of opportunity” bestowed upon us by the Creator are embedded within even the most “mundane” task and activity, just ready to transform it into one of overarching importance.
Mitzvoth are not only limited to great and heroic community projects but any act can be done in service of Hashem when it is done for the right reasons in the correct way.
When we attempt to realign our priorities, there is one force that will not be happy. Our negative inclination (yetzer hara) will use all of its wiles to dissuade us from our goals, which is often an easy task, since the array of opportunities for misaligning time is seemingly endless. [1] Thus our first step in this process is to ask Hashem for help in refining and maximizing the use of our precious time. The Sages inform us that we need only move in the right direction, creating an opening as small as the size of a pin hole, for the Creator to then open for us opportunities the size of the doors of the Holy Temple (Bais HaMigdash) in Jerusalem, may it be built soon in our days.
Watch an expert packing a suitcase. He or she will be able to put more in and get it to close more smoothly then we ever could have imagined. Our days are like that suitcase in that, throughout each day, we are given opportunities to find corners and crevices of time that are just right for certain activities.
And where is all of this leading? After we have practiced these techniques for a while, we may truly appreciate that each minute of life and opportunity is precious thereby always being inspired to fill that time in meaningful ways with a positive attitude. Through striving to fulfill ones unique abilities our inner creative energy will come bursting forth with joy and dedication. Priorities will then align themselves almost naturally and intuitively and the time we devote to our good deeds will often be expressed in minutes salvaged from the corners and crevices of that “suitcase” we spoke of earlier and placed into the service of Hashem to fulfill His purpose for us in this world. May we merit this blessing soon in our days.
[1] . Indeed, the Sages tell us that the main stumbling block of even the greatest righteous people (tzaddikim) were rooted in the miscalculation of time. This sin of Adam and Chava was not that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge, but that they ate from the Tree of Knowledge at the wrong time. The Sages explain that had they waited until Shabbos, the Creator would have given them permission to eat from this tree. Likewise, King David was judged for marrying Bas Sheva before the Heavenly designated time.
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KEYING INTO PACHIM KETANIM – PARSHAS VAYISLACH
After Yaakov and his family crossed the Yabok River, Yaakov returned to retrieve pachim ketanim — small flasks. There, the Sar of Esau confronted him; what followed was the definitive battle for supremacy between the forces of good and evil. This battle continued to rage throughout the night until finally, Yaakov emerged victorious at which point he was informed of what his new name would become.
The stage was set for this momentous battle by Yaakov’s interest in recovering some small flasks. What could the Torah be hinting to when it informs us that the pachim were small? What relevance does their size have to the lessons in this episode?
Although many people assume that “bigger is better”, sometimes we find that very low-key events or small items actually are the “key” to accessing new horizons of achievement and success.
A key is a relatively small and inexpensive item, but it serves to open important doors. Without one’s keys a person could find oneself without entry into ones own home, car or office.
Like keys that open physical doors, the words of holy Torah open mental and spiritual portals, therefore let us try to “key-in” on the meaning of the name uttered by the Sar of Esau when he announced: “No longer will it be said that your name is Ya’akov, but YiSRAL, for you have striven with the Divine and with man and have overcome.” (Vayishlach 32:29).
The Creator entrusted the “key” to insights and wisdom embodied in our holy Torah to Avraham Avinu. This tradition (“key”) was handed down to his son Yitzchok, who later gave it to his son Yaakov. Apparently at that time since the Bnei Yaakov were beginning their transition from a single family into a nation of millions, it was deemed the appropriate time for the Creator in His infinite wisdom to, so to speak, design within the developing Bnei Israel a tamperproof supernal combination lock for the Torah that only the Jewish people could access.
What is this mystical combination code that binds us with our unbroken tradition all the way back to the Avos? We know that a person’s name reveals his or her spiritual essence, purpose and potential. Therefore it behooves us to unlock one of the deeper meanings within the name given by the Creator to the entire Jewish nation as well as this same name given for our holy land. The Ari Z’l reveals in a few short words one of the mystical secrets of our national name by informing us that the five (osios) letters of the name Y’SRAL are the acronym – roshei teivos – of the names of our three Avos and four Imahos: The Yud of Yitzchak and Yaakov is coded within the Yud of Y’SRAL; the S of Sarah within the Shin; the R of Rivka and Rachael within the Raish, the A of Avraham within the Alef and the L of Leah within the Lamed. Imbedded with our Nation’s name and the name of our land is the spiritual genetic combination of all our Avos and Imahos! The name Y’sral, the “key” – combination code – to our existence is an example of a single word in the Torah that contains worlds of meaning and value.
May we, the Bnei Y’sral, soon merit the final geula allowing all of us to once again live peacefully in our promised land – Eretz Israel.
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AKEIDAH’S YITZCHAK – WHO GAVE THE COMMANDS
In the end of Parsha Vayeira (22: 1 – 19) is the story of what is considered my most as the greatest of all Avraham Avinu’s ten tests. What happened? After many years of yearning and waiting to have a child who would carry on his life work of revealing the presence of the Creator to the world, he was finally at the age of ninety-nine blessed with a son named (Yitzchak) Isaac. The parsha beings with the malakim announcing the birth of Yitzkak, then changes directions and tells the story of Sodom and Lot. There is a brief mention of Yitzchak’s birth and weaning, with the parsha ending with the (Akeidah) was the bringing Yitzchak, who was then thirty-seven years old, onto the alter to be sacrificed as was the seemingly command of Hashem.
Therefore both Avraham and his son Yitzchak went to the Akeidah with total dedication to fulfill the will of the Creator. Both of them had a total appreciation of the value of life, not wasting a moment of it, yet were willing to follow the command of Hashem unquestionably. The commentators explain beautifully all the basic questions, for example: How if there is a commandment in the Torah not to murder and not to bring human sacrifices how could the command of the Akeidah exist? One explanation is that the same Creator that commands us to fast on Yom Kippur – eating being punishable by koras, commands those who are seriously ill to yes eat on Yom Kippur and even making Kiddush.
Then this section of the Torah begins with the words: “And it happened after these things that G-d tested Avraham and said to him, ‘Avraham’, and he replied, ‘Here I am.’ And He said, “Please take your son, your only one, whom you love – Isaac – to go to the land of Moriah; bring him up there as an offering upon one of the mountains which I shall tell you.” Then in pusack 11 the Torah says: “They arrived at the place that G-d had spoken to him; Avraham built the alter there and arranged the wood; he bound Issac, his son, and placed him on the alter atop the wood. Avraham stretched out his hand, and took the knife to sacrifice his son. And an angel of Hashem called to him from heaven, and said, ‘Avraham! Avraham!’ And he said, ‘Her I am.’ And he (the angel) said, ‘Do not stretch out your hand against the lad nor do anything to him for now I know that you are a G-d fearing man, since you have not withheld your son, your only one, from me.’ And Avraham raised his eyes and saw – behold, a ram! Afterwards, caught in a thicket by its horns; so Avraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a offering instead of his son.”
The bomb of a question is how could Avraham follow the command of the angel not to sacrifice his son, if he had originally been commanded directly by Hashem to bring him up as an (olah) offering? That would so to speak be like being commanded by the Owner of the business to do one thing and then being told by a employee not to complete what the owner requested. To answer this question let us first understand what is the power of a mitzvah and what is a angel. A mitzvah is a commandment of the Creator that is the life force of existence. Without the Jewish people fulfilling the will of Hashem, the universe would cease to exist. The main purpose for creation is so that the presence of the Creator would be revealed through our choosing to serve with our free will. With each high quality word or deed we create a good malak and unfortunately with each inferior word or action is created a poorer level malak. Therefore that very malak that spoke to Avraham was created by his efforts towards fulfilling the will of the Creator in bringing his son onto the alter.
Since Avraham Avinu had the ability to see this malak, he was able to discern its level of perfection. Therefore when it is stated in pusak 13: And Avraham raised his eyes and saw – behold a ram – afterwards caught in the thicket by its horns.” The simple meaning is that He raised his eyes and saw the ram, but we will divide the pusak to say first he raised his eyes and saw the malak which was perfect in form without blemish. From this perfectly formed malak Avraham understood that that the mitzvah regarding bring up his son was complete and he didn’t need to do more. Now look back at pusak 2 and you can see that in actuality it had only stated: “take your son and bring him up as an offering”. Since it didn’t actually say that he needed to be sacrificed it was now understood that an alternate offering would be brought in his place. So the pusak 13 continues: “…behold, a ram! Afterwards caught in the thicket by its horns.”
This Torah lesson teaches us not to solely rely on own decisions based on our limited understanding but allowing the Torah to be our guide through the “maze” of this life’s challenges and experiences.
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PARSHAS NOACH VIDEO
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