Derech HaMelech: The Weekly Raid From Galus

Video: Why the Gaza Flotillas are a SHAM

2011-07-01T06:38:00.000-07:00

Video: Why the Gaza Flotillas are a SHAM: "A quick, quality video from the IDF Spox...putting it all into perspective, explaining why the flotillas have nothing to do with providing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

PA will hold Gilad Shalit hostage

2011-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

PA will hold Gilad Shalit hostage: "IMRA speaks with PA ~~Deputy Prime~~ Minister Nabil Shaath (and PA Deputy for Gaza) and asks, once the reunification between Hamas and the PA is complete what will happen to Gilad Shalit. Will he be released?

PA Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Shaath explains that Gilad Shalit will be used by the PA to get as may prisoners (terrorists) released from Israeli jails as possible. He could not say if negotiations will be easier or more difficult than they are directly with Hamas.

IMRI: When unification is completed, of the Gaza Strip and West Bank under one authority again, what do you expect would happen with the handling of the Gilad Shalit case? Would that still be the purview of Hamas, or would it be the responsibility of this unified authority?

Shaath: It should be the responsibility of the unified authority, and we should proceed as soon as possible to exchange Shalit for as many Palestinian prisoners as possible...

Our Peace Partner.

h/t Elder of Ziyon

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The Helicopter Left Behind

2011-05-25T05:25:00.000-07:00

The Helicopter Left Behind: "

I think that now, weeks since the mortal remains of this generation’s most reviled mass-murderer were offered to fish and crustaceans, it’s safe to bring up an important Jewish thought that should have occurred to us all in the wake of the operation at Abbottabad.

No, nothing to do with its ethical merit or legality; formal procedures and qualms have no place when it comes to removing a clearly dangerous object, animal, or person from the world. Nor is it with regard to the jubilation seen in some places following Bin Laden’s killing; there are moral grounds for celebrating the demise of evil.

What may not have received sufficient contemplation was something else: the helicopter left behind.

Two Black Hawks were reportedly employed in the raid on Bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan. One experienced some sort of trouble and made a hard, damaging, landing. The commandos tried to destroy the damaged chopper before leaving the compound on the other helicopter, apparently concerned that the Pakistanis might learn some secrets from the cutting-edge technology of the now-abandoned aircraft.

But there is something valuable in the wreckage from which we might all learn—or, at least, be reminded of: Things can go wrong.

That was a thought that surely reverberated in the minds of President Obama and his advisors as they awaited word of how things had proceeded during the raid. After all, when Jimmy Carter sent helicopters to the Iranian desert in 1980 to rescue the Americans then held captive in Tehran, one crashed en route; one turned back; one malfunctioned; and, the mission aborted, yet another plowed into a transport plane, killing eight soldiers. The servicemen involved in the mission were from Delta Force, the Army’s equivalent at the time of “Seal Team Six.”

And in fact, in an interview last week, Mr. Obama admitted being struck with the fear of failure. “You think about Black Hawk Down,” he said, referring to the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, in which eighteen U.S. Army soldiers lost their lives. “You think about what happened with the Iranian rescue. And I am very sympathetic to the situation for other Presidents where you make a decision, you’re making your best call, your best shot, and something goes wrong…”

That fear, of course, dissipated when the report came in of the “double tap” (Seal slang for one bullet to the chest, another to the face) and the prominent EKIA (enemy killed in action). But recognition of what can go wrong shouldn’t ever dissipate. Fear should unfold like a flower into gratitude.

Which, in turn, should be directed Heavenward. Yes, we owe the President kudos for not putting Bin Laden on the White House back burner, and for risking a confrontation with Pakistani forces to get him. (One hopes some of the more thoughtful Obama-bashers among us were able to summon a smidgen of good feeling for the commander in chief’s determination and decision.) Ditto for CIA Director Leon Panetta. And we have to deeply appreciate the skills and, more importantly, the grit and bravery, of the Seal Team Six commandos.

But what we have to do above all is to remember that an errant gust of wind can wreak havoc on a low-flying aircraft’s ability to generate lift; electrical and hydraulic systems can and do malfunction; rotor blades crack; and human error happens.

And then we have to realize that the fact that none of those things took place—and that Bin Laden hadn’t booby-trapped his room and wasn’t protected by a dozen bodyguards and wasn’t wearing a suicide vest—are all the result of siyata diShmaya, Divine assistance.

It’s a realization that should inform our every humdrum day, for any day can easily be interrupted by things that make us pine dearly for humdrumness. A realization that a Jew should feel in his or her heart and even verbalize, clearly and without embarrassment, at every large or small turn of life that goes the way we hoped it would: Baruch Hashem.

[Rabbi Shafran is an editor at large and columnist for Ami Magazine]

The above essay may be reproduced or republished, with the above copyright appended.

Communications: rabbishafran@amimagazine.org

Chassidim: The Taliban of the Jews!!!

2011-05-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

Chassidim: The Taliban of the Jews!!!: "

The biggest problem I have with yesterday’s events is that I’m not surprised. I have watched over the years as the Chassidic movement has shrunk from it’s holy stature in my mind, to a bunch of zealots who place more value on dress and language that on the personal welfare of children and women. Go and take a look at any of the Jewish news blogs and you will see a daily crime blotter of mostly Chassidim convicted on charges of fraud, child molestation, rape, government scams and so on. This is not a once in a while thing, it happens every day and it’s disgusting. I find it even more disgusting that the Chassidim – whether we like it or not – is what the secular world thinks the orthodox world is made up of. To the secular world there are no divisions – they think the orthodox Jew must wear the garb, the peyos and the beard.

I know there are people out there who will argue about the close knit communities (part of the problem with cover ups) and the amazing chesed that goes on and so forth – but after the reaction of yesterday’s events by the Chassidish and frum world in general – I am beginning to see this group as a whole new religion. A man tried to murder an entire family and not one Chassidic leader has said a word, it can’t be that they do not know of this – they remain silent, just like they do whenever something else happens that tarnishes their name and our religion.

This is a chillul Hashem in the highest and I am sickened by it. Is there any hope for the Chassidim, or will they continue on their path of closed minded zealotry and claim that their form of authentic Judaism (it’s only 300 years old) will live on while everyone else becomes modernized. The non-observant Jewish movements seem a whole lot frummer than the Chassidim a lot of the time.

I am wondering if the Skverer Rebbe will even acknowledge this violence committed in his own little shtetl, or will he remain silent in hopes that it will just go away.

Notes: This post was generalizing a lot – I am sure that within the Chassidic community there are those that do not scam the government, cover up molestation charges and allow women to think for themselves, but these people fear getting killed so they stay in the closet.

Share and Enjoy:

Possibly related posts:

Why I think chassidim are cool

Stuff Chassidim Like

Anti Indulgence Chassidim in Williamsburg ban Choice!!!

Israel: My Land, and that of the Jewish People

2011-05-24T15:38:00.000-07:00

Israel: My Land, and that of the Jewish People: "Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech before the US Congress today brought many accolades from Jews around the world.

'Kiddush Hashem' -- a sanctification of God's Name.

'Amazing Speech'

'Brilliant'

...were some of the responses to his speech. Eloquent as always, Netanyahu managed to seemingly put enough obstacles in the face of the Palestinians, to prevent any agreement with them forever:

1. Hamas must not be part of the Palestinian Authority
2. No 'Right of Return' to Israel for Palestinian refugees
3. Long lasting Israeli security presence on Jordan River
4. Demilitarized Palestinian State
5. Unified Jerusalem under Israeli control
6. No return to indefensible 1967 borders.

I have 2 primary issues with Netanyahu's speech and his premise for a Palestinian State:

1. Israel will remain a Democracy with a 20% Arab population -- yet the Palestinian State demands to be Judenrein, free of Jews. The land of Israel is the heartland of the Jewish people, the spiritual hub of Judaism -- giving it away in the name of the biggest PR scam in history, the 'existence of a Palestinian people' is simply ludicrous. Giving in to the demands for a Palestinian State is the worst capitulation to terror in modern history.

2. Assuming I ignore everything stated above, I don't believe that Netanyahu would actually stand up to his own conditions. Just as the Oslo accords were full of fanciful arrangements (some which all collapsed immediately and the rest of them over time) -- they were a marketing masterpiece. The radical left wing idea of a Palestinian State in 1993 would never have received backing of the Israeli people, so it was spun and marketed till it became facts on the ground...and the idea gradually took hold of Israel's center...and has even encroached on the Israeli right.

Netanyahu has openly written about the dangers of a Palestinian State. He has already capitulated and rejected his own published works...I see no reason to believe he will back his own conditions in future negotiations.

It's irrelevant that my home and community are on the chopping block -- every single Jewish home and community in Judea and Samaria should remain under Israeli rule.

Regardless of whether any Palestinian State ever comes into existence or not, the land of Israel, in its entirety, will forever be the homeland of the Jewish people.

It will yet again be entirely ruled by Israel.

The land is indeed, very, very good.

Jameel

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Reform Commitment? from The Blog of Garnel Ironheart by MIghty Garnel Ironheart

2011-05-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

Reform Commitment?

from The Blog of Garnel Ironheart by MIghty Garnel Ironheart

The New Mall in Gaza

2010-07-18T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Elder of Zion has a review of the new mall in "poverty-stricken, war-torn" Gaza. Here's a photo, but it's worth checking out the article which you can see here.

Going Postal

2010-07-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

"Do your kids want some candy, sir? Don't worry, it's kosher."

I've come to the conclusion that the workers at the Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh post-office are rabid anti-Semites. I watched how they treated customers, and by two separate people on two separate days, I was talked down to and today, one fo them called me "strange" under her breath. Yesterday, another one laughed at my wife and I IN OUR FACES because we were missing a document for a passport renewal and refused to make a photocopy of it so that we didn't have to return later with all of our kids, who have to be present when getting a passport, along with the parents. In fact, she told me that they didn't have a photocopier. In the post office? And I should believe that.

There are many other examples, but I don't have the koach or desire to dwell on them Erev Shabbos.

I know this is not a chidush (Amar Rebbe Shimon Ben Yochi: Halacha he biyaduah sheEsav soneh l'Yaakov" brought down by Rashi Breshis 33:4; and he even married Yishmael's daughter, hence Amalek, but to discuss Yishmael is for another day; also see the Baal HaTanya on "Chessed Le'umim Chatas"), but it is especially glaring during this time period of the 9 days.

On a positive note, it might actually be better when they are open about it, so we know who not to trust or take our business to. Kind of reminds me of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Probably just another benefit of the Obama era (error) - people see the President openly expresses his hate for Yidden, so why can't they follow his lead?

What really happened on the Mavi Marmara

2010-07-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

What really happened on the Mavi Marmara: "IDF releases (with English subtitles) the official IDF investigation video from general Giora Eiland's team of experts -- what transpired on the Turkish Terror boat, the Mavi Marmara.

Part 1

Part 2

Special thanks to the hard working New Media Unit of the IDF spokesman.

What really happened on the Mavi Marmara

2010-07-15T10:11:00.000-07:00

Do you want $25,000?
Buy a raffle ticket for the Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim 2010 Summer Raffle.
Purchases by August 3rd also enter a raffle for a $500 AMEX gift card.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד

Dying to Recover: The Life and Loss of Avi Pincus z"l

2010-07-12T03:26:00.000-07:00

A must read from the Michtavim blog:

While this is not along the lines of the routine at the Michtavim blog, I think that if you are a communal leader/educator, rabbi, parent, or sibling, then you will find this essay particular powerful and important to read and share with others. My friends Noah and Nava (Pincus) Greenfield co-authored this essay together with Nava's parents and siblings following the shloshim, earlier this week, of Avi Pincus z'l, who died last month of a drug overdose at the young age of twenty-six.

Dying to Recover: The Life and Loss of Avi Pincus

By Rabbi Dr. Gershon and Kirbie Pincus, Rabbi Dr. Elie and Aliza Feder, Noah and Nava Pincus Greenfield, and Chaviva Pincus

This past Monday, we marked the shloshim of our beloved son and brother, Avi Pincus ע''ה, who just a few weeks ago – at the tragic young age of twenty-six – died of a drug overdose. Death by overdose is not uncommon in the Orthodox community, but when it does occur families often cover up the cause of death due to denial, shame, and perceived social pressure. This denial, shame and its subsequent whitewashing is not limited to the death of the loved one, but often extends also to that person's life. And it is not only something of which the families of the addict are guilty. Our Jewish community as a whole looks down with derision and disgrace at the addicts among us.

We believe that this outlook and attitude are the wrong ones to take. We believe that such ostracization is a mistaken, destructive and often fatal force. We are not ashamed of Avi. We take deep pride in his life; we sympathize greatly with his pain; and we stand in awe of his heroic struggle to overcome his addiction.

Read the entire essay here.

Click here for a PDF of the version that appeared in this recent Hamodia weekend edition, on page C32. Note, as well, the important addendum (on the bottom of the page) by the world-renowned expert on addiction, Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, entitled: 'Is Addiction Genetic?' where he begins with:

'The Family of Avi has done an immense favor to the community by disclosing the tragedy of his condition and that people who recover from addiction may be thought of as 'baalei teshuvah who may stand higher than even complete tzaddikim.'

May the Pincus family be consoled amongst the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem and, as they conclude the essay:

'If only the Jewish community would learn a little from the life and loss of our dear son and brother, Avi – to be more caring of others, more sensitive to the pain around us, and more appreciative of the difficult circumstances in which so many find themselves – perhaps we would lose fewer of our sons and brothers.'

One of the Many Reasons Why I Love Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky, shlita

2010-07-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

Letter to the editor in the Five Towns Jewish Times:

The letter below, from the Philadelphia Rosh HaYeshiva, appears in the current issue of the Five Towns Jewish Times

Dear Editor:

It has come to my attention that a recent article published in this paper by Rabbi Aryeh Zev Ginzberg has resulted in much negative reaction. Several rabbonim encouraged Rabbi Ginzberg to write his article, and he wisely chose not to state their names and expose them to the anger he feared might result from his words (though they were respectful and measured words throughout). As one of those who encouraged him, and to whom he submitted his article to ensure that I approved of it, I would like to publicly commend him for what he wrote.

The subject of Rabbi Ginzberg’s article was an invitation by an Orthodox shul to a speaker who is prominent because she received an “ordination” from an Orthodox rabbi. The invitee was asked to address the entire congregation as a “scholar in residence” and Rabbi Ginzberg correctly saw that fact as a subtle but clear embrace of what her “ordination” represents – an erosion of mesoras avoseinu, the holy Jewish heritage that governs the lives of all believing Jews.

That mesorah does not allow for women to fill certain roles of men, and rabbanus is one of those roles. This is not a matter of prejudice against women. It is a matter of recognizing that Hashem created men and women to serve different roles in life. Nor it is a matter of any dispute among recognized poskim. It was not only the rabbonim of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah who drew that line but rabbonim who are looked up to for direction by Orthodox Jews outside the haredi world as well.

Knowing Rabbi Ginzberg as I do, I am certain that he does not, cholila, have any ill will toward the speaker. What motivated him to write what he did was a rightful obligation to defend the integrity of our mesorah – an issue larger than the invitee, larger than her rabbi, larger than the differences between various Orthodox shuls and their respective standards.

An Orthodox shul, whatever “stripe” it is, has a responsibility to avoid promoting, even unintentionally, departures from our mesorah. Rabbi Ginzberg saw the invitation here as inconsistent with that responsibility. And I feel, as I felt when he approached me, that he is absolutely right.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky

Rock the Casba -This is great!!!!

2010-07-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

Drinking Wine During the Nine Days and the Authority of the Shulchan Aruch

2010-07-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

From the blog http://hirhurim.blogspot.com/ "Hirhurim - Musings"

Drinking Wine During the Nine Days and the Authority of the Shulchan Aruch: Guest post by Rabbi Aryeh Leibowitz

The Shulchan Aruch records a tradition to refrain from drinking wine during the period of the nine days leading up to Tishah be-Av. In a recent lecture delivered in Teaneck, Prof. Daniel Sperber argued that the entire passage in the Shulchan Aruch is based on a faulty interpretation of a passage in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Sperber’s full analysis of this issue appears in his monumental work, Minhagei Yisrael).In light of this supposed error, Sperber concluded publicly that the Shulchan Aruch’s ruling can be considered a מנהג טעות, although Sperber added that it is advisable to observe this specific מנהג טעות as a mean of identifying with the mournful nature of the time period.

What was the supposed erroneous basis for the ruling in the Shulchan Aruch? A passage in the Yerushalmi in tractates Pesachim and Ta’anit reports the custom of certain women to refrain from certain activity (למשתייא) from Rosh Chodesh Av until the fast of the 9th. Sperber demonstrated that the Shulchan Aruch understood the Yerushalmi to be reporting that these women refrained from drinking wine during this time period, and based on this understanding the Shulchan Aruch codified his ruling. However, Sperber pointed out that the word למשתייא in Palestinian Aramaic means “to weave,” not “to drink,” which would be למשתי. Moreover, he noted that if the custom was to refrain from drinking, it is not clear why this custom would be specifically attributed to women, and not men.

Therefore, Sperber quoted the view of an early North African Talmudist, R. Nisim Gaon, quoted in Or Zarua, who maintained that the custom reported in the Talmud was to refrain from weaving. This understanding explains both the language למשתייא as well as the attribution of this custom to women specifically. The above discussion led Sperber to conclude, quite matter-of-factly, that the Shulchan Aruch’s recording of a tradition not to eat meat or drink wine was faulty and based on a string of errors.

This conclusion is startling for a number of reasons. First and foremost, Sperber failed to articulate clearly that the different explanations of the original custom was due to two separate versions, girsaot, of the Yerushalmi passage. The alternate girsa actually reads, “to drink wine” (למשתי חמרא). In fact, this alternate girsa even predated R. Nisim, and was quoted by no less of an authority than R. Hai Gaon, an older contemporary of R. Nisim.

That an alternate girsa existed is apparent in many Rishonim. Take for example, Machzor Vitri (#263), which states explicitly that the girsa of the Yerushalmi reads, “to drink wine.” The same is true with Ravyah’s recording of this custom (#882). In fact, R. Nisim’s reading was in the minority (Although it is the text in printed editions and in the Leiden manuscript), as most of the major Rishonim had the girsa that reads, “to drink.” This includes significant Rishonim from a wide spectrum of halakhic cultures. From the Baylonian Gaon, R. Hai, to the Spanish codifier, Rambam, to the Ashkenazic codifier, Tur, who records both girsaot, to the Catalonian Talmudist, Ramban, all of the major medieval Talmudists ruled in accordance with the girsa that states “to drink wine.”

Additionally, R. Yosef Karo, author of the Shulchan Aruch, was himself aware of the variant girsaot of the Yerushalmi passage. In the Shulchan Aruch, both the custom to refrain from drinking wine, and to refrain from weaving are codified. The commentators on the Shulchan Aruch note that both customs appear in the Shulchan Aruch due to the fact that the Rishonim quote two different versions of the Yerushalmi text. See, most notably the Be’er ha-Golah, who refers to the version that reads “למשתייא” as a variant text of “some” of the Rishonim (see also Biur ha-Gra). Apparently, R. Karo who was aware of both girsaot, didn’t feel confident enough to conclude that the girsa of the majority of Rishonim was in error. Why then was Prof. Sperber so confident?

Conclusion: The opening question of Sperber’s lecture—what is to be done when the Shulchan Aruch contains a ruling that is based on a mistake?— is not relevant to the issue at hand. The Shulchan Aruch’s quoting of the custom to not drink wine was not based on a mistake. Rather, it was due to two different girsaot in the Yerushalmi. Whereas most Rishonim ruled in accordance with the view that the recorded custom was to refrain from drinking wine, there was a minority view that the recorded custom was to refrain from weaving.

Instead of arguing that the Shulchan Aruch was in error for quoting the view of the overwhelming majority of Rishonim, the opposite could have been argued: Even though the girsa of R. Nisim was only represented in a very small amount of sources, the Shulchan Aruch still included it because of the strengths mentioned by Sperber (such as the fact that the woman were specifically singled out).

In the end, it is appropriate to note that the custom to not drink wine during this period was observed by the Rishonim, and was accepted by the Jewish nation for centuries before the Shulchan Aruch. The very Or Zarua, who quoted the girsa of R. Nisim, rules (2:414 and 415) that one must not violate this important custom. Also the Rashba, in his responsa (1:306, qtd. in Beit Yosef 551:11), has very sharp words to say about one who violates this custom. It is appropriate to end with a quotation from the Aruch Ha-Shulchan (O”C 551:23) who writes that a Biblical prohibition is violated by one who drinks wine during this period:

Hundreds of years ago, our forefathers accepted upon themselves not to eat meat or drink wine from Rosh Chodesh Av until after Tishah be-Av…Nowadays, in our many sins, many people are mezalzel this prohibition. Besides the fact that they are in violation of a Biblical prohibition of neder, for our forefathers accepted this custom upon themselves and it is therefore a neder of klal Yisrael… Their punishment is very great.

As a final note, I would add that the tone of Sperber’s entire presentation was troubling to this listener. What type of message is appropriate for a Shabbat afternoon shiur in a community shul? The material was fascinating and the potential for a positive educational learning experience was ripe. Sperber could have engaged the sources, and used this example to demonstrate the nature of transmission, as seen through the different traditions of the Yerushalmi text. Instead the event contained a tone that likely undermined the authority of the Shulchan Aruch in the eyes of some of the listeners. Indeed, the smirks, and occasional laughs from the audience that accompanied Sperber’s declarations that the Shulchan Aruch erred, and that the “passage in the Shulchan Aruch is based on a faulty interpretation,” were reflective of this lost opportunity.*

* A note regarding censorship. My words here should not be misunderstood as a militant call to “hide the truth from the masses.” When the truth is apparent, we need to reverently address it. However, because in this case it is far from apparent where the truth lies, it appears to me that a bit more prudence and respect could have been exercised.

The Rebbe Reb Mailech says: Sperber is one of the טועים who gave "semicha" to "Rabba" Sara Hurwitz.

Drake Disses Matisyahu on Kimmel Live. Not really. In fact, not at all.

2010-06-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Talk about misleading or shall we say "yellow journalism"? Drake, from an observant (somewhat) background, is not "dissing" Matisyahu at all; rather, he's saying that he's not noticeably Jewish like Matisyahu. Watch the clip and see for yourself. Pretty irresponsible of Heeb (and Tablet Magazine for posting a link to the Three Weeks Wikipedia entry ON THE SAME PAGE) for writing like this, especially during the Three Weeks.

Drake Disses Matisyahu on Kimmel Live « Heeb Magazine:

YouTube - סיפור סיבת פטירת הבבא סאלי, וסיפור השעונים שמראים את הגאולה

2010-06-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

Oy! We lost one of the Great Sages of Am Yisroel. I was zoche to hear shiur from him many times and meet with him also as, every year he would come to HaKotel/Netiv. I have most of those shiurim on mp3. I will post them later, bli neder, ilui nishmas HaRav Eliyahu, zt"l

Palin in 2012

2010-03-09T07:19:00.001-08:00

The Rebbe Reb Shlomo zt”l Izhbitzer Purim Tisch in Boro Park at the home of the Radziner Rebbe Reb Yaacov Leiner, zt”l Circa late 1980's/early 1990's

2010-02-25T20:37:00.000-08:00

Everybody is asking that we say Shalom Aleichem and then a second later Tzeischem Leshalom, so what's going on here? I'm sure there a 'shishim ribui' answers. But anyway, I want to tell you that several years ago I put out a tape for the Russian yidden, it was very beautiful. I was talking in Englsih but at the same time someone was translating into Russian right away. So I said to the Russian yidden 'why do we say Tzeischem Lashealom? So I said that I want you to know that our holy tzaddikim who made up these words saw beruach kodsham that there will be a Yid in Russia who can't get out. So for 2000 years we are praying for you Tzeischem Leshalom Malachei Hashalom.

Without mentioning names or cities, I’m coming to a city for Shabbos, so I asked if by any chance there is a mikveh in the city. On a Purim level, I am coming to a city and I ask if they have a mikveh and they say yes. So I asked if I can go before Shabbos, so they say to me that the rabbi has a key and he left for Israel for a year. But this is only one half of the story.

I'm coming to a city and I asked if they have a mikveh, and they say 'yes, we have a mikveh. So they give me the number of the synagogue, and that I should call in the morning and they will tell me when I should come. I am calling up, and I am asking them 'I hear you have a mikveh, is it possible to go to the mikveh today?' So the Yid says ' what'? So I said 'Could I go to the mikveh before Shabbos. So he says 'wait a minute'. Another Yid comes to the phone and he says 'wait a minute'. Another Yid comes and asks 'what do you want', so I said 'I would like to go to the mikveh'. And he says 'what?' And this goes on with maybe ten Yidden, one after the other. So I said 'listen Yiddelach, it's cute and sweet but I don't have so much time to talk to every Yid in the city, what's the problem?' So he says 'the problem is that we built a mikveh twenty years ago and you’re the first Yid who wants to go.'

Anyway, I am coming to that city and there is this, and I'm going to the mikveh in Texas. Before I go into the mikveh I am going on the street, I see mamish a limousine and you could swear he is a goy, mamish... with a cowboy hat. I don't want to say anything bad, but mamish like a ungerfressin de punim, mamish b'chinas dosson ve'aviram. Anyway, he is going to the mikveh. And you know, it says in seforim that you shouldn't talk in the mikveh, so I don't talk to him.

We walked out together and I asked him 'how are you my zise Yid', you know, a Yid goes to the mikveh before Shabbos, nisht a pashut zach. So we walked out of the mikveh and there was a little bench. He says to me 'sit down, I'll talk to you. Look at me, do you think I keep Shabbos? I said 'obviously, if you go Friday to the mikveh then obviously you keep Shabbos'. He says to me, 'do you think I am putting on tefillin in the morning? I mean a Yid that goes to the mikveh hopefully puts on tefillin. He asked me about everything.

'Do you think I keep kosher?’ He says, 'let me tell you something. I am coming from a little shteitele in Vizhnitz. When I was seven years old we left for America. My father said to me since I'm a little boy of seven, with all the pushing by the tisch I would never see anything. So while they were still davening my father put me under the table very close to the Rebbe. 'Here, fall asleep, you'll be okay.' I'm sitting under the table and the Heilige Ziseh Reb Yisrael Viznhizer mamish the whole time gives me challah. The Rebbe mamish mekareved me. Then the Rebbe says Torah. So now mamish, open your hearts friends, this is a moridikeh maiseh. In the middle of the Torah I see the Rebbe stands up, because in Vizhnitz you don't sit while you’re standing. The Rebbe stands up and he says 'there is a Yid who doesn't keep Shabbos, who eats on Yom Kippur, but suddenly he has an urge and wants to do something for G-d. He wants to be a Yid for one minute. So here comes brother Yetzer Hara, the evil voice, and says to him 'I know what you did before, And I know what you will do after, whom are you fooling? Forget it. I could see that mamish the Rebbe is looking right at me. He says 'tell that evil voice leich vaiyter,' leave me alone. Let me be a Yid for one minute. Then the Rebbe sat down, and the Rebbe put his holy hands on my keppele and he says to me 'Vi herst vos ich ben gezukt? (Did you hear what I am saying). From time to time I am putting on tefillin, from time to time I am keeping one Shabbos. I know this is crazy, but suddenly today I had this urge to go to the mikveh. I'll tell you the sad truth , I won't keep this Shabbos. But you know something, obviously I came to the mikveh to meet you. So I told this Yid 'I want you to know, I promise I will tell this story all over the world. It's a moiridikeh maiseh. Besides the ruach hakodesh that the Rebbe knew what would happen to this yingele. What do we know the way Rebbes are mesaken our neshamos forever.

In one crazy way, Izhbitza is mamish amkus... I don't want to say anything bad but who am I to say it. Remember the Chiddushei HaRim Torah, 'Halleluhu Benevel Vechinor' The Chiddushei HaRim asks 'why was it called nevel, it sounds so good, shemenavel acheirim. After you hear this instrument you can’t hear anything else anymore. Anybody who learns the Izhbitzer than the rest of Chassidus look sweet...but it's not the same, not this kind of amkus.

Anyway, besides being so deep, there is nobody in the world who is melamed zchus on yidden like Izhbitzer, mamish.. there is no such a thing. Mamish, the Mei HaShiloach says all the time, you see a Yid does an aveirah it's not from him, it's from the outside of the world, because the inside of a Yid can't nisht do an aveirah.

Reb Tzadok Hakohen...you’re not even permitted to say it in public. you know the pasuk 'Ve'ata Hashevosa Es Libam Achoranis. Ultimately, I can say 'Ribbono Shel Oylam, it's your fault, why didn't you prevent me from doing it?

You know, when Kayin says to the Ribbono Shel Olam 'Hashomer Achi Anochi?' I am guarding the world? It's you, why didn't you prevent me? So Reb Tzadok Hakohen says from the Heilige Mei Hashiloach that on Yom Kippur, it's not that the Ribbono Shel Oylam forgives us, the Ribbono Shel Oylam takes the whole blame on himself. The Ribbono Shel Olam says 'yidden, it; wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault, it's all my fault. You cannot say this in public because than a Yid will say to the Ribbono Shel Olam 'if I keep my store opened on Shabbos than it's your fault.' But it's awesome.

You know why we don't kiss the Torah all the time? Because when I look at the Torah I feel bad, all the mitzvos which I don't do, so I feel very bad. But on Simchas Torah when the Torah I’m learning is that it's not my fault, it's not my fault. So I kiss the Torah. You know whom I kiss? Not somebody who makes me feel bad, I only kiss somebody who makes me feel good. Gevalt, does a Yid feel holy on Simchas Torah. On Yom Kippur I don't kiss the Torah so much, because all the time I realize that I am a baa'l aveirah, gevalt, shrei gevalt.

I have to tell you one more thing which I heard in the name of Rav Kook.

I want you to know something. I had the privilege of talking to the son of Rav Kook, Rav Tzvi Yehuda Hakohen. It’s a long story. Before the first world war, Rav Kook was in Switzerland, and he lived in my Zeide's house for a year, it was a gevalt. At that time I had the House of Love and Prayer in San Francisco, I was talking to the drunk generation, I wanted to be mekarev them a little bit to Yiddishkeit. To make it very short, he asks me 'what reaches them the most?' So I said 'I've tried all kinds of Chassidus, without saying anything bad, even maimarim from the Rebbe. There are two Rebbes who mamish do a root canal into their neshamas. Reb Nachman, but the Izhbitzer even more, who am I to say'. He says to me 'I'll tell you that my father Rav Kook told me like this. Everybody knows that the Torah is food and it's also medication. So my father says that all the Chassidshe Rebbes are on the level of food for the neshama; Izhbitser and Breslov is like drugs.' So I said 'it's mamish emesdik, all those heavy drugged up kids come and I start saying a maimer 'Ki Hem Chayeniu Ve'orech yomeinu', they just fall asleep. I hold Mei HaShiloach and I just say a Torah, it's mamish wild....

I want you to know, when I was in Krakov we were about thirty people. It's a long story, but we davened in the Ramah's shul, it was mamish like Yom Kippur...awesome. Bob was standing next to me with the mandolin and I said 'listen, brother Bob, give me B minor, (right now make it E minor) and G-d blessed me with this niggun, the Krakover niggun, and Bob has a cheilek in it…

The Moment Just Before The Pain Begins...

2010-02-16T15:50:00.000-08:00

Just got this in an email.

A NEW APPROACH TO MODERN ORTHODOXY by R’ Dr. Michael J. Schweitzer

2010-02-09T10:00:00.000-08:00

This was an article in the Nishma Introspection Journal out of Toronto from 2007, and is not the final edit, as you can see from the internal notes, but in light of the recent events in the MO world (the "gay" forum at YU, "Rabbah" Hurwitz and interfaith prayers services [See Obama]), I think it's a great suggestion for the MO velt. R’ Dr. Michael J. Schweitzer's blog can be found here.

For some, Modern Orthodoxy is a movement with a problem. It lacks a definitive identity which has caused many of its facets to suffer. Many of its schools are populated with Torah teachers that do not reflect its specific values because the movement does not seem to produce a sufficient body of educators for its institutions. Its adherents are dwindling in numbers as its children and young adults migrate to the left and, even more so, to the right. Its influence in the general Jewish community and in the general Orthodox community is waning; its voice is not heard. The intent of this article is to approach the subject of Modern Orthodoxy and its difficulties from a point of view different than that found in the mainstream literature. I will examine the various definitions of Modern Orthodoxy, summarize what distinguishes it from Chareidi Orthodoxy, note the concerns with its viability and suggest solutions to help the movement continue forward until such time as Hashem sees fit to reveal his Moshiach and return us to our homeland in Israel.

It is with great caution and trepidation that I express my views in this article for I am not an expert or even well-read, and am not fit to even be in the presence of many of the great rabbonim of the Torah world whose opinion on this subject is far more authoritative than mine. The Mishnah in Avos tells us that a wise man does not speak in the presence of those who are greater than he in wisdom[1] but it also notes that “where there are no men, strive to be a man”[2]. It is with this intent, with the help of Hashem that I try to add my voice to the discussion in the hopes of adding something constructive to it.

Please note that this article will specifically limit its discussion to the situation regarding Modern Orthodoxy in North America. The status of the movement in Israel and its relationship with Religious Zionism (Mizrachi), although connected and of significance within this discussion, will not be fully explored due to the extended complexity of the issue.

DEFINITIONS

In order to address any questions about Modern Orthodoxy, it is important to first define it. The main problem with that undertaking is the variety of levels of belief and observance found within the movement. Chaim Waxman maintains that the Modern Orthodox can be roughly divided into two groups: “behaviourally modern” and “ideologically modern.”[3] The former are those who lead their lives as they wish when it comes to work, family, and social interaction. They do this “by ignoring those aspects of halachah which they find most cumbersome or onerous and/or by a process of compartmentalization in which they apply Jewish law to some but not to other aspects of their lives.” The latter, a much smaller group, tries to reconcile strict adherence to halachah with the standards of Western culture.[4]

The approach of the behavioural group poses some great difficulties in assessing the movement as a whole. The nigh-irresistible pressures placed on the Jew choosing to lead such a lifestyle can lead to compromises that might not be sound from a halachic point of view. One author has called this an approach which is “half pagan, half halachic”.[5] Chaim Waxman notes that “the behaviourally Modern Orthodox…are not deeply concerned with philosophical ideas about either modernity or religious Zionism. By and large, they define themselves as Modern Orthodox in the sense that they are not meticulously observant.”

There are still statements found within Modern Orthodox literature that attempt to give some sense of value to the behavioural group. For example, R’ Avi Weiss notes regarding halachah that “while bordered by a system that is external to humankind – the G-d-given law, Torah miSinai, to which Jews are subservient – it also includes laws derived by the Rabbis, concerning which there may be more than one view. It therefore follows that halachah is a living structure that operates within absolute guidelines, yet one which is broad enough to allow significant latitude for the posek to take into account the individual and his or her circumstances.”[6] In truth, this definition does not actually apply to the behavioural group which isn’t particularly interested in the flexibility of halachah, especially when faced with situations where no interest in observing it actually exists. What this statement, though, does still present is a value in the personal drives and desires of the individual. If Halacha is flexible, the result is that it can be seen as possibly giving value to one’s personal interests. The oft-quoted remark that “if there is a Halachic will, there is a Halachic way” offers the behavioural Orthodox the defence that the only reason that their desired action is not yet permitted is because the rabbis haven’t figured out the solution, yet – with fault being placed on the rabbis for not embracing this new perspective and the necessary work to define the theoretical Halachic allowance.

The result is that, far from standing for something, this defines the group in the negative. It is not unusual to hear Modern Orthodox Jews, specifically of the behavioural group, define their level of observance as “Of course I won’t do that. I’m not Reform, you know!” When confronted with practices that contravene halachah, the standard answer given is “I’m not like that. I’m not chareidi!” This lack of positive ideology excludes them from discussions regarding the essential religious and philosophical nature of Modern Orthodoxy.

Helmreich and Shinnar define the ideological group as “a movement that seeks to harmonize the secular and the religious in ways that are compatible with both.”[7] They posit that what defines Modern Orthodoxy as a movement is that it tries to respond to the challenge of living in the modern world within the guidelines set by Torah. How is this to be done? They contend that Modern Orthodoxy’s approach is “a belief that one can and should be a full member of modern society, accepting the risk to remaining observant, because the benefits outweigh those risks. What it means is that a Jew can study the writings of Christian philosophy, learn any scientific therapy he or she wants to, attend a concert at which women sing (accepting the view of some halachic authorities that this is permitted), interact with non-Jews on multiple levels, and do pretty much what others do in their own societies, even while leading a fully observant life.” To fully understand the depth and challenge inherent in this statement, it is necessary, though, to consider the roots of the movement.

THE ROOTS OF MODERN ORTHODOXY

In order to better analyze Modern Orthodoxy, it is important to briefly review its historical development. The movement can trace its existence to two schools of thought that developed in Germany approximately 100-150 years ago. The current forms of Modern Orthodoxy developed from these two schools, the Frankfurt School and the Berlin School.

The Frankfurt School was created by R’ Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, zt”l (5568-5648) around the year 5611 (1851 AD) when he became the head rav of the Israelite Religious Society, a group of Orthodox Jews opposed to the spread of Reform Judaism in Germany. He organized the local teaching institutions as well as writing copious materials to support his view of Torah and refute Reform’s heretical opinions.

The main theme of his writings was Torah Im Derech Eretz, Torah with secular knowledge. As opposed to classical Chareidi teaching which disdained any learning of non-religious (i.e. non-Torah) subjects and minimized the importance of gainful employment in order to better focus on the intense study of Torah, the Torah Im Derech Eretz approach developed by R’ Hirsch proposed that working for a living, the learning of secular subjects and the embracing of certain aspects of general culture, could be used to develop one’s understanding of Torah and enhance one’s Orthodox lifestyle. However, R’ Hirsch’s approach was still to affirm the primacy of Torah over the study of secular subjects and working for a living. Secular knowledge was important for a better understanding of Torah concepts and working served the function of allowing people to be able to afford the costs of education and living a Jewish lifestyle but they were seen as fully subservient to the role of Torah in the Jew’s life, never to be allowed to challenge the centrality of the Holy Writ or influence its practical observance.[8] Furthermore, R’ Hirsch was selective in choosing his sources. He strongly felt that all things in the world were the creation of G-d and therefore had a promise of eventual benefit in them.[9] Secular knowledge, behaviour and appreciation of the natural world was useless, though, unless it inspired religiously; but if it did, it was obligatory to use it to enhance one’s practice and understanding of Torah. Of importance to note is that, even and especially when analyzing Torah subjects, he and his followers generally ignored non-traditional scholars and the scholarly techniques in use at German universities of the day.[10]

Although Rav Hirsch was not the first Jewish authority to propose the concept of Torah Im Derech Eretz (the concept is specifically mentioned in Avos 2:2 and again in a different fashion in 3:20), he was the first to create a formal structure for it that would allow for a response to the challenges of modernity and Reform. In other words, R’ Hirsch developed Torah Im Derech Eretz into a philosophy that would encompass a Jew’s entire worldview, allowing him to move comfortably as a Torah-observant Jew throughout the surrounding society without giving up his level of observance.

While Rav Hirsch’s Frankfurt School of thought did produce Jews who were strictly observant and able to move within secular society without compromising on their Torah beliefs, it failed to produce, in any significant number, Gedolim like the Litvish yeshivah world with its exclusive focus on Torah study. On the other hand, Rav Hirsch’s approach conferred a tremendous advantage to its students in their day-to-day lives. Many Litvish scholars who came in contact with the secular world were often overwhelmed by it and were unable to respond to its challenges[11] while those schooled in Torah Im Derech Eretz were able to overcome the challenges.

The Berlin School was founded by R’ Azriel Hildesheimer (5580-5659). R’ Hildesheimer was extensively educated not only in Torah subjects but in classical secular studies as well. His Berlin Rabbinical Seminary was unique in that it demanded that its students have a high level of achievement in secular studies to be admitted to its program. They were also expected to continue with a concurrent university program during their time in the Seminary. His goal was to create a centre for Jewish intelligentsia, not merely a school for producing rabbis.

Given this objective, it should not be surprising to hear that the Berlin school’s approach towards secular knowledge was even more welcoming than the Frankfort’s school’s approach. In contrast to R’ Hirsch’s limitation on the interaction with secular studies when there was a deep contrast with Torah-observant sources, the Berlin school approached Torah with the scholarly approach commonly used in non-Jewish universities of the time. R’ Hildesheimer’s successor, R’ David Tzi Hoffman and one of his prominent lecturers, Samuel Grünberg, encouraged an approach that would produce students who would be able to confront the intellectual attacks on Judaism that were coming from the schools of Biblical Criticism and the Reform movement. Indeed, the Reform Movement saw the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary as a tremendous threat specifically because its students could refute its heretical assertions on scholarly grounds.

The major disadvantage of this approach was that the study of Judaism by the Berlin school became more scholarly and scientific, and less passionate. R’ Hirsch’s critical response to the approach seems particularly apt: “Has the ‘Science of Judaism’ interested our contemporary generations in drinking deeply, and on their own, from the wellsprings of Judaism in order to enlighten their minds, warm their hearts, and gain sufficient energy and courage for vital, active, personal involvement in the pulsating life of our present day?”[12]

Another difference between the Frankfurt and Berlin schools was the level of interaction between the students of each school and the surrounding Jewish community. R’ Hirsch’s school avoided any attempts at cooperation with those elements of the community that did not adhere to Orthodoxy, even in matters important to the Jewish population in general. In contrast, the Berlin school initially chose to allow a degree of cooperation with non-religious scholars, albeit not in sacred matters. Because of their emphasis on an academic, scholarly technique in Torah study, it was logical that they should hold discussions with other people who shared a similar approach. However, this eventually expanded so that after a generation, the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary was conversing with the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, both non-Torah-observant institutions. This is something that R’ Hirsch’s school would never have done. It is even questionable whether or not the Berlin school’s founder, R’ Hildesheimer, would have approved of such a high level of interaction.[13]

Modern Orthodoxy, to a large extent, in its current form seems to owe more to the Berlin school than the Frankfurt school, even though many people who identify themselves as Modern Orthodox often point to R’ Hirsch as the first rav of their movement. Clearly the current emphasis within the Modern Orthodox movement of Torah U’Maddah is a direct successor to R’ Hildesheimer’s philosophy and less an inheritor of R’ Hirsch’s Torah Im Derech Eretz which helped to found the Agudat Yisrael organization and to this day sees itself as a part of it. In actuality, the Frankfurt school, to a certain extent, eventually connected with the Charedi world which yields some of the problems in attempting to understand Modern Orthodoxy.

THEY’RE MODERN TOO

Given the above realization, the very name of the movement presents a problem. Modern Orthodoxy is, as defined above, a philosophy that halachic living can and should be reconciled with the demands of the modern world. However, if one looks at the Chareidi world, one can find a great deal of appreciation of modernity within it. Whether it is engaging in professions such as medicine and accounting, or accessing current technology such as the Internet, Chareidi Jews are as much a part of the surrounding world as Modern Orthodox Jews. Even the ultimate stereotype of the Chareidi rejection of the outside world, the Neturei Karta, have a website! Thus, the concept of reconciling halachah and modern society is not a problem unique to the Modern Orthodox, nor are they the only Torah-observant group trying to solve the dilemma such juxtaposition causes. This is actually the legacy of the Frankfurt school which effectively integrated into the Charedi world. (A discussion of how the Charedi world, in turn, may have affected Rabbi Hirsch’s original concept and the Frankfurt school over time, while of interest, is beyond the parameters of this article.)

In terms of education, as such, many Chareidi Jews are also quite knowledgeable about various secular fields. One can find Chareidi physicians and surgeons, scientists, mathematicians and physicists. Rav Adin Steinsaltz is renowned not just for his encyclopaedic knowledge of Torah but also for his expertise in physics, history and philosophy. Rav Yonasan Rosenblem, a personal acquaintance and the director of Am Echad, a Chareidi media resource centre in Israel, is knowledgeable about numerous classic and contemporary literary works and has extensive legal training as well. Rav Dovid Gottleib of Ohr Someach in Jerusalem has a Ph.D. in philosophy and is a recognized expert in the field. To therefore state that a difference between Modern Orthodoxy and Chareidi Orthodoxy is simply the level of interaction with the secular world, would be a fallacy. Beyond an analysis of the distinction between the Berlin School and the Frankfurt School, what is demanded is a more thorough investigation into the essence of this distinction.

CONTRASTS WITH THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX

Historically, Judaism has been a religion/nationality in which personal behaviours and observance link the individual to the surrounding community. As a result, the religious leadership of the Jewish nation and sense of community have always been important. “All Jews are responsible for each other” goes the popular saying from the Talmud. Classical Judaism demands a loyalty to Torah and the community that upholds it, with those demands very thoroughly defined. The downside of this concept is that when the individual’s needs are not addressed by the community, this can lead to a tension between the collective and that individual.

In addressing this tension, the Chareidi community has chosen to emphasize the collective over the individual. As a rule, Chareidim are very much subordinate to their communities, affording tremendous power to their rabbinical leaders and enforcing standards on all their members, hence the strong role the Gadol plays in their circles. It is not a mere coincidence that members of a particular Chasidic clan will all wear identical suits and speak in similar ways, or that students of a particular yeshivah will all hold the same opinions as their Rosh Yeshivah. Within the current chareidi community there is a great consensus on what chumros are considered mandatory and what standards people should uphold if they wish to join the group. Much of this is due to a sense of central authority, be it through the various Councils of Sages in Israel or the Agudas Yisrael in the United States and Israel.

On the other hand, within the Modern Orthodox world there is no real functioning central authority. There is Yeshiva University which is the leading centre of Modern Orthodox learning, but unlike Ponevezh or Gur, there are few leaders within that institution who either have the authority or the inclination to issue decrees on the entire Modern Orthodox world and expect that people will follow their instructions obediently.[14]

Instead of conformity, ideological Modern Orthodoxy has chosen to emphasize the individual through the exercise of personal autonomy. Rather than accept the group-think mentality that dominates the Chareidi world, Modern Orthodox Jews demand their independence in thought and action. A rabbi in a Modern Orthodox community is expected to pasken with far more authority than a Chareidi one who might more commonly seek out the opinion of his Gedolei HaDor and defer to that. The tremendous advantage of this approach is that the local rabbi often understands the unique composition and needs of his community and can therefore handle halachic inquiries with a greater sense of relevancy to the questioner.

However, there is a significant negative to this emphasis of the individual over the collective. A Modern Orthodox Jew often keeps those minhagim he or she relates to or can rationalize, dresses as he or she wants to, and interacts with modern society to the degree that he or she thinks best. The result makes it quite problematic to actually describe what a Modern Orthodox Jew is. When a person describes himself as Chareidi, many assumptions in terms of level of observance, standards of kashrus, etc. are automatically defined. This is not the case when a person describes himself as Modern Orthodox. One Modern Orthodox Jew’s definition of kosher may be far too lenient for another Modern Orthodox Jew to rely on. Spending Shabbos together may be difficult. Due to the conflict between the concept of personal autonomy and the need to conform to the greater collective, even important philosophical beliefs may be completely different until the only thing the two individuals have in common is their not belonging either to the secular or very religious segments of the Jewish people.

This lack of uniformity and passion is also robbing Modern Orthodoxy of much of its next generation. Most people are familiar with the concept of students spending a year in Israel following the completion of their high school studies and before beginning university. What is becoming more noticeable is the number of Modern Orthodox youth who return from the year (assuming they don’t succumb to the temptation to stay “a little longer”) looking for a more intense and passionate way to practice their Judaism while eschewing their Modern Orthodox background and its traditions to which they feel little connection. This happens for the most obvious of reasons. At that stage in their lives, children are becoming young adults and their sense of identity is still in flux. They naturally seek out groups to belong to and ideologies to adopt so they can feel that they are part of a greater whole. A Modern Orthodox setting will give them choices. A Chareidi setting will provide opinions, make their choices for them and give them a uniform so they can become part of a group.

SO MUCH TO LEARN, SO LITTLE TIME

Our Sages tell us that the Torah is as endless as the waters of the ocean. No one person can learn all that is incumbent upon him and yet we are not allowed to desist from the effort.[15] If one compares the Chareidi and the Modern Orthodox approach to learning, a few differences immediately present themselves as well.

a) Importance of ongoing Torah study – The concept of Torah Lishmah and ongoing intensive Torah study defines Chareidi learning circles. It is not uncommon to walk into a Litvish yeshivah and see two masmidim arguing over whose ox gored whose first and is therefore responsible for the damages even though neither person has probably ever seen an ox or would recognize one if it attacked him in the street. In addition, within the Chareidi world only Torah-based information is generally permitted in a discussion. One may wish to argue over an event that occurred in the history of the Babylonian Jewish community but bringing in archaeological or non-Orthodox sources to bolster one’s proof would generally be avoided. The words of Chazal are supreme and not to be contradicted. In the Modern Orthodox world, by contrast, the importance of Torah scholarship has a less exclusive prominence and as a result, a certain amount of external knowledge is generally encouraged. As a result, when an average[16] chareidi and certain types of Modern Orthodox Jews debate a position, the chareidi is far more likely to justify his position in purely Jewish terms because of his total reliance on his learning, while the Modern Orthodox Jew may bring in “outside” references to bolster his position. Additionally, in Chareidi yeshivos and learning groups, it is generally the rav who teaches the shiur or leads the discussion and has the final word in disputes. In Modern Orthodox circles, it is not unusual to find Ph.D’s or other “qualified” individuals teaching shiurim to others and in topics that, strictly speaking, aren’t Torah study such as Biblical criticism or archaeological discoveries. This is not to disparage the level of knowledge the individual may have but it does diminish the leading role of the Rav found in more traditional groups, reducing him to the level of one expert among many while giving the outside subjects the same perceived value as true limud Torah.
b) Approach to halachah – amongst the chareidim, there is a controversial concept of daas Torah, loosely defined as “the views of their rabbinic leaders must be followed without question even in non-halachic areas.”[17] Daas Torah nowadays seems to function as a trump card in halachic matters, ending the discussion with a decision even though the “losing” side might have definite opinions to back it up.[18] Within Modern Orthodoxy, there is a much more scientific approach to halachah where variant positions are judged based on the evidence that supports them within Jewish legal literature. “Halachah is a rational discipline operating in the empirical world, open to argument and counter-argument and the development of consensus.”[19] This approach often leads to a more intelligent approach to the subject in question but yields far less definitive answers as, almost by definition, any approach which has support in the literature retains its legitimacy.
c) Passion - When a chareidi Jew prays or learns, he sways back and forth. He may be reading t’hillim, or he may be slogging through a particularly dry sugya in gemara, but he does it with a tune and with emphasis. There is a love and liveliness to his practice. In the Modern Orthodox world, things are much more emotionally sterile. As noted above, the Modern Orthodox community can be divided into the behavioural and ideological. The behaviourally Modern Orthodox community does not seek too much depth in Torah and generally looks for its excitement out in the secular world. They may enjoy their Purim parties but an inspirational drasha doesn’t terribly excite them. On the other hand, the ideological Modern Orthodox approach Torah and halachah from a very intellectual point of view. As a result, halachic dispute and discussion contain all the excitement of a debate on the physics of quantum mechanics. For those intelligent enough to understand the varying positions it can be enthralling and involving but only a very few can function at this level. Furthermore, the emphasis on empiricism precludes strong emotional attachment to one’s view and eliminates true passion from the debate. As a result, “the ability of Modern Orthodoxy to attract a large following and become a movement is inherently inhibited by the fact that it is highly rational and intellectual. This alone would limit its attraction since it has built-in tensions and frequently requires consciously living with inconsistency.”[20]

It is for these two reasons that it can be argued that Modern Orthodoxy falls short in its dispute with the Chareidi world. First, in not emphasizing and grounding itself firmly and positively in Torah and halachah in the broadest sense, and, second, in not offering a sense of unity in approach, is there any wonder that it is losing ground in influence throughout the Jewish world?

WHY DO YOU BELIEVE WHAT YOU DO?

Some articles on Modern Orthodoxy do attempt to expound some positions the movement maintains from a positive perspective. Rav Avi Weiss’ well-known article “Open Orthodoxy! A Modern Orthodox Rabbi’s Creed” he lists several items, including the use of secular knowledge to better understand Torah, a feeling of community with non-religious Jewish groups, a support of the State of Israel and the equality of women in Jewish ritual observance. Other writers go further, adding such matters such as participating in civil society, valuing secular knowledge for its own sake and making the helping of the non-Jewish disadvantaged a priority.[21] The following questions must be asked: Is this a proper expression of what Modern Orthodoxy stands for? what core beliefs lead them to these conclusions? Why do they believe what they do?

Rav David Hartmann, speaking in Toronto in the fall of 1991 on the subject of interactions and dialogue between different religious groups, made a simple but memorable point: “A single question cannot have two contradictory answers which are both correct.” For example, if Muhammed, y”sh is indeed the last prophet and Hashem, going by the name Allah, did instruct him in the principles of the new “true” religion, Islam, Judaism and Christianity are false faiths and it is wrong to observe them. If Muhammed made the whole story up, then Islam is based on a falsehood despite having a billion adherents. It is intellectually dishonest to justify both Judaism and Islam by the pathetic phrase “Well, that may be what you believe and I guess we’ll just have to disagree while respecting each other’s opinion.”

Rav S. R. Hirsch, zt”l, phrased this idea similarly. PROBLEM WITH QUOTE – CHECK IT OVER “Let us not deceive ourselves. The whole question is simply this. Is the statement And G-d spoke to Moses saying with which all the laws of the Jewish Bible commence, true or not true? Do we truly believe that G-d, the Omnipotent and Holy, spoke thus to Moses? Do we speak the truth when in front of our brethren we lay our hand on the scroll containing these words and say that G-d has given us this Torah, the Torah of truth and with it of eternal life, is planted in our midst? Is this is to be no mere lip service, no mere rhetorical flourish, then we must keep and carry out this Torah without omission and without carping, in all circumstances and at all times. This word of G-d must be our eternal rule superior to all human judgement, the rule to which all our actions must at all times conform; and instead of complaining that it is no longer suitable to the times, our only complaint must be that times are no longer suitable to it. And if, again, in carrying out this word of G-d we choose to follow the teachings and instructions that have come down to us from the Rabbis, we can and must do only if and because we recognize in them the same divine origin as the written word of G-d.”[22]

This approach can therefore be used to determine which beliefs are authoritatively Jewish or not. Either Matan Torah happened as described in the book of Sh’mos and as elucidated by our Sages, or it didn’t. Either the Torah Shel Ba’al Peh is an authentic and inseparable part of our law given by Hashem to Moshe Rabeinu a”h or it isn’t. Either the Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries are the most current authoritative source of Jewish law and practice or they aren’t. The answers to these questions and many more decide whether a person is faithful to Toras Moshe or not. What are the answers given by the Modern Orthodox community and why do they choose them?

Additionally, one must examine the influence of the surrounding culture on a Modern Orthodoxy which is not insulated from its effects. One factor affecting Modern Orthodox perceptions is that of the dominant Christian culture around us with its emphasis on public worship and relative lack of rituals for observance in the home. Another corrupting factor has been Secular Liberalism’s presumption that inequality between two groups (for example, men and women) must render one superior and one inferior, hence propagating unfairness. Finally there is the philosophy of the feminist movement in which any task traditionally thought of as “women’s work” has been denigrated and disregarded. Thus the emphasis on communal worship, the perception of inequality and the diminishment of the importance of the role of the women in maintaining the home have seeped into Modern Orthodox thought. The same writers who insist that Modern Orthodoxy is all about giving women equal rights to participate in shul and have their own Megillah readings come Purim give minimal mention to the challenge of the source and heredity of these values. If they have emerged from our interaction with the secular world, the first issue that must be addressed is how this interaction is to be understood within the Torah perspective.

Having stated all this, we return to the question of why Modern Orthodox Jews believe what they do. An example should suffice: A Chareidi family will not own a television for halachic reasons. Their Gedolim have forbidden the device because of the perceived spiritual damages it can cause. They will therefore avoid television and everything to do with it as a positive expression of their beliefs. In contrast, the answer for a Modern Orthodox person owning a television might be “I don’t think G-d has a problem with it.” That is the true problem with this group; even the ideological adherents often do not perform activities with the positive intent of worshiping God. They argue that a practice is permitted but the ideal is not considered. A corresponding Modern Orthodox answer to the question of the acceptability of modern media in the home should be: “I think the positives of television outweigh the negatives and possessing one helps enhance my Judaism. God wants me to enhance my Judaism so I own a 45” plasma just to be machmir” but how often does one hear that stated?

At the root of Orthodoxy, a Jew does not perform activities because they’re “nice” or “the right thing to do”. The guiding point of every action should be that these actions are a Jew’s fulfillment of ratzon Hashem, God’s Will. It’s one thing to echo secular concerns and say that this is what defines Modern Orthodoxy. Without first declaring, though, that the fundamental assumption behind adopting these concerns is a desire to fulfill ratzon Hashem, these activities lack legitimacy from a Jewish standpoint and cannot define Orthodoxy.

IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…

There is a common failing amongst struggling groups. They continue to implement ideas and plans that, until now, have failed miserably in the hope that they will soon become successful. As Modern Orthodoxy has faced its difficulties over the last few decades, there has been a tendency to emphasize the “Modern” as a way to redeem the movement. Thus the Edah organization used “The Courage to be Modern and Orthodox” as its slogan, as if there was some important Jewish expectation that one must be modern to be a good Jew and that this is courageous in some sense. This approach has never shown much success. Modern Orthodoxy has done a poor job over the last few decades when it comes to producing Torah scholars, defining the image of a Jew in the public arena and the greater Jewish community, interesting people through outreach and attracting other Orthodox Jews while holding on to their own young.

The response from many Modern Orthodox authorities has therefore been to increase the “Modern” yet further. We are now told women’s prayer groups, mixed learning and social events and an appreciation of secular knowledge will strengthen the movement and lead it back to greatness although these very attempts have had the opposite result until now. As a reaction to the increasing power of the Chareidi community in defining what a Torah-observant Jew should look and act like, Modern Orthodoxy has come to emphasize matters that are only remotely connected with Torah, like showing concern for world affairs and engaging the general community in feel-good endeavours. The final result is that while the mother might express her modernity at an all-women’s prayer service, her children will do it at the movies.

It might be posited that much of what Modern Orthodoxy posits as its defining characteristics are, in fact, qualities of Secular Liberalism that have snuck into the mindset of Jews who have become immersed in Western culture and have blurred the line between halachic positions and politically correct ones. This must be recognized and countered by accurate understanding of Torah sources and a desire for the Jew to seek out a true manner of service of Hashem not based on self-interest or “what I think is right.”

G. IS IT EVEN PERMITTED TO BE MODERN?

At the root of this matter is the question of legitimacy. Simply put, is the concept of Modern Orthodoxy, with its combining of the sacred word of Hashem and human sources of knowledge, one that is consistent with Torah and halachah?

There are those in the Chareidi world who would answer that question in the negative. Certainly their viewpoint has its sources. For example, Moshe Rabeinu tells us that the Torah is “your life and the length of your days.”[23] Further, at the beginning of his career as leader, Yehoshua is told by Hashem that “this book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth but you should contemplate it day and night in order that you observe it to do according to all that is written in it, for then you will be successful in your way and you will act wisely.”[24] As a final example, we have the words of the mishnah in Avos: “Turn it over and turn it over for everything is in it, and in it shall you gaze.”[25] From these sources, it would seem that a life dedicated exclusively to the study of Torah would be the standard by which an observant Jew would have to live his life.

However, even a superficial knowledge of Jewish history is enough to indicate that this interpretation is not correct. Throughout the Talmud we are told of what work our Sages of blessed memory engaged in. Indeed, the concept of paying a rabbi to teach Torah only came about, according to some opinions, when that teaching began taking up so much time that the rabbis in question could no longer find time to both practise a trade and teach. As is well known, both the Rambam and Ramban were physicians while Yitzchak Abarbanel was a minister of finance in medieval Spain. If exclusive Torah learning is a requirement, how did these giants of our people justify their career choices?

Furthermore, the technology that permeates modern society affects all of us. Unless we wish to return to an existence that excludes such basic utilities as running water, electricity and toilet paper, or we wish to be parasites living off the hard work of the secular world around us without participating in it, we must engage in some level of secular education in order to better our own circumstances and through that, our ability to observe and learn Torah. Therefore, Modern Orthodoxy must declare that, al pi haTorah, it is not just desirable but necessary for an observant Jew to engage in secular education – even if only in order to learn a profession or trade - something the Talmud had already recommended 1500 years ago. But again, can this define Modern Orthodoxy? Are there not elements within the Charedi world, perhaps connected to the Frankfurt School, which would maintain the same position?

The movement must do something more than announce that going to university or working for a living are permitted. Right at the beginning of the story of Creation we are told that Adam HaRishon was commanded to “have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”[26] Yishiahu 45:18 states: “He is God, the One who fashioned the Earth and its Maker; He established it’ He did not create it to be empty; He fashioned it to be inhabited.” Building a civil society with all its physical and cultural appurtenances is, therefore, not against the Torah or even only a simple utilitarian necessity. It is a positive Torah value for Jews to become educated and cultured so that they can, al pi haTorah contribute to the world around them and help bring God’s morality to it. This must be the guiding motivation of Modern Orthodox. It must not be a religious position of exclusion but rather an expression of the highest aims of Torah and Judaism. It is not merely permitted to be modern. In many ways, it is obligatory!

H. PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS

In order to become a viable alternative to Chareidi Judaism, Modern Orthodoxy must undergo profound changes. While deciding the specifics of this is beyond the scope of this article, it can be proposed here that Modern Orthodoxy’s intellectual group should lead the way in this endeavour. If the movement is to change from its current status as a loose association of “not Chareidi, not non-observant” members, any definitions decided on should be done so from the rigorous standpoint of halachah as interpreted through traditional yet scholarly methods. It might be noted that the behaviourally Orthodox group may be slighted by this approach. It is important, however, that the Modern Orthodox movement move beyond vague definitions and into more concrete territory even though it will compromise some of the autonomy which has defined it until now.

In this regard, the leading luminaries and religious authorities of the Modern Orthodox world must work together to develop such meaningful definitions for the movement. Any characteristics that are negative (“we’re not ultra-Orthodox”) or emphasize an attachment to secular liberal priorities (“we’re all about helping the world through Tikun Olam”) cannot be fundamental parts of this definition. As mentioned at the end of the previous section, Modern Orthodoxy must define itself as an approach to Torah and the understanding of the Will of God for us in this World.

This must be an authoritative description. It must include uncompromising loyalty to Torah and mitzvos with the emphasis on developing a system of halachic observance based on rational analysis of the traditional sources. The first and only fealty of the Modern Orthodox Jew must be to Hashem and His expectations for us. “Turn the Torah over again and again, for everything is contained within it.” [27] Any definition so vague as to not exclude anyone who currently considers himself/herself Modern Orthodox, no matter how limited his/her practice of halachah would be meaningless; only in the authority granted to these definitions will there be the capability of encouraging behavioural and philosophical change amongst those on both sides of the movement. Like the Chareidi world, it will be important to define what is “right” and “wrong” within the scope of Jewish practice based more on centrally derived values than on reactions to the non-religious and ultra-Orthodox communities.

The next step would be to begin a centralized coordination of all those institutions in North America that claim to be Modern Orthodox in ideology to ensure that a common message, based on these standards is being transmitted to their memberships about the movement and its expectations of members. Again, these expectations would have to be decided by the leading figures of the movement. It would necessitate bringing a Chareidi concept, that of the Gadol, or authoritative halachic leader, into the Modern Orthodox world albeit with amendments reflecting the distinctive nature of Modern Orthodoxy. On the surface, this may be seen as an assault on one of the most precious features in the current dogma of Modern Orthodoxy -- the aforementioned personal autonomy over the values of the greater community -- but it is the extreme statement of this value that is exactly one of the main features that keeps Modern Orthodoxy from advancing as a movement and realizing any potential. Does this mean a total restriction on autonomy? Not necessarily. What it does mean is that there will be the articulation of the parameters that maintains the necessary vision of the movement. An old Jewish curse goes “May you have many leaders”. With Modern Orthodox gedolim defining the movement and setting down standards, the form of the movement would become far more cohesive.

There must also be a philosophical shift within the world of Modern Orthodoxy. Charedi Judaism keeps its adherents loyal and dedicated through its use of emotion. Oftentimes, Modern Orthodoxy attempts to bring forth this emotion through its nationalistic fervour specifically in its commitment to Israel. This is not enough, especially outside of the Land. The passion for Torah must be paramount.

Within the Charedi world, there is a concept of kavod haTorah which animates its members. Charedi Jews are, often, not as strong in terms of honestly approaching halachah from an impassioned position of scrutiny. This does not hinder them because of the strength of the emotions they feel for their system of Judaism, their leaders, their perception of Torah and Hashem.

If Modern Orthodoxy wishes to evolve into a strong, relevant movement, then this passion must be brought into it. For the intellectual group within the Modern Orthodox world, Judaism has become, in a sense, the equivalent of scientific study. Rare, gifted individuals can be excited by new dimensions in quantum physics. The masses would just yawn at such a thing. It is the same within the Torah world. While the intellectual group within Modern Orthodoxy is certainly no less knowledgeable (some might say even more so) of the intricacies of Torah than their chareidi counterparts, the average Modern Orthodox Jew is not given anything to feel excited over. What’s more, the egalitarian structure that most Modern Orthodox institutions adopt takes away from the concept of kavod haTorah that encourages this missing passion. Rabbonim within the movement must regain the sense of being leaders through the respect inherent in their positions. The rav shouldn’t just be an employee. He is a teacher in the subject most important to the soul of a Jew. A hierarchy, as distasteful as that might be to the autonomous standard currently in place, is necessary to restore that respect and the passion that would come with it.

Another philosophical shift must occur in the perception of what is considered “Torah-true” behaviour. Through diligent public relations work and subtle propaganda, the Chareidi community has positioned itself as the authentic version of Judaism. Anything which fails to meet its minimum standard or deviates from it is automatically considered “less Jewish”. Along with this has come the attitude that s when there are two competing opinions in an area of halachah, the more stringent one is automatically the more legitimate one. This must be challenged by the Modern Orthodox community. In pure halachah, it is the opinion that one feels is most in consonance with what Hashem wishes that is the most correct opinion for that person, not whichever is stricter. This must be emphasized in Modern Orthodox education.

Following this, two final initiatives must be considered. One is the establishment of a common curriculum in all Modern Orthodox educational institutions demanding excellence in both secular and Torah based studies. The movement must produce students capable of navigating themselves competently through general society while educating them to understand the depth and excitement of true Torah study. Modern Orthodoxy must not be apologetic about embracing this approach which will lead to its students fulfilling the words of the Shulchan Aruch (O.Ch 156): “After a session of Torah study, go to work. This is because all Torah which is not combined with a job will eventually come to nothing and will lead to sin. One should not make his work the chief focus of his life but rather secondary to his Torah and in this manner both will flourish.”[28]

The additional advantage of this initiative will be to produce Modern Orthodox educators so that the movement’s current institutions can reduce their reliance on teachers of Judaism that are not always reflective of the studies or the students they teach. Modern Orthodox teachers, rigorously trained in both secular and Jewish subjects and approaching their students with enthusiasm, will have a self-perpetuating effect on the movement that is incalculable.

Also, just as the Agudas Yisroel distributes books and materials emphasizing their points of views and insights through major publishers such as Artscroll and Feldheim, Modern Orthodoxy must retain a publisher and begin spreading books and materials relevant to its philosophy. Why is it that the current Orthodox Union siddur is published by Artscroll and not by a Modern Orthodox publisher? When searching the shelves of the local Jewish book stores, one can justifiably ask: where are the biographies of the Rav and other luminaries from the Modern Orthodox world? The importance of this aspect of the movement cannot be over-emphasized.

In the end, Modern Orthodoxy must not only be about statements of position and practice. It must also be about belief. We should define our practises according to halachah and, after proper introspection, drop those changes that have entered the movement because of a desire to be more like Secular Liberalism even though we may have fooled ourselves into thinking that we are fulfilling our halachic commitments by doing them. We should develop the passion for our style of Jewishness that the Chareidim have for theirs that will enhance our faith in Hashem and His Torah. “A person, who believes with his whole heart in God’s help, will always be happy and be able to endure everything.”[29] We should teach our children that Orthodoxy isn’t just the default lifestyle they were born into but a growing, active framework around which to develop and grow. And we should reach out to our non-religious brethren and show them that a Modern Orthodox lifestyle is a viable, superior form of Jewish life that can only benefit them and give them true spiritual satisfaction.

The author wishes to express hakaras hatov to Rav Ben Hecht for his assistance and editing work on this article.

R’ Dr. Michael Schweitzer is a Family Physician in Hamilton, Ontario and is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. He is also the author of three really good fantasy novels: The Curse of Garnel Ironheart, The Ashes of Alladag and We, the Living which you should go out and buy right away.

[1] Avos 5:7
[2] Avos 2:5
[3] Waxman, C.I. “Dilemmas of Modern Orthodoxy: Sociological and Philosophical” p.1
[4] Leibman, C.S. “Modern Orthodoxy in Israel” p.1
[5] Liebamn, C.S. “Orthodoxy in American Jewish Life”, p. 91
[6] Weiss, A “Open Orthodoxy! A Modern Orthodox Rabbi’s Creed” p. 1
[7] Helmreich, W.B. and Shinnar, R. “Modern Orthodoxy in America: Possibilities for a Movement Under Seige” Jerusalem Letters 383 (1-Jun-1998)
[8] “In my humble opinion the first principle for understanding the words of our Sages is that they were experts in the law of G-d. They received, transmitted and taught His Torah, commandments, laws and statutes but they were not necessarily experts in science, mathematics, astronomy or medicine – except when it was relevant to knowing and observing the commandments of the Torah. We do not find that secular knowledge was transmitted at Mt. Sinai. The greatest of our Sages know the wisdom and the science according to what was accepted as true by the leading secular scientists of the day.” Shapiro, Marc B. “Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy” The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization CHECK NUMBERING
[8] Grayel, S. “A History of the Jews” Meridian equals of these scholars but did not transcend the secular knowledge of their day.” (Letter on Agada, p 9-10) CHECK QUOTE
[9] For example, he was well known to admire the Alps as an example of the grandeur of G-d’s creation. He also favoured the use of choirs during prayers because of the enhancement to the beauty of the service that they offered.
[10] Shapiro, Marc B. “Between the Yeshiva World and Modern Orthodoxy” The Littman Library of Jewish Civilization
[11] Hence the Haskalah was tremendously successful in damaging the religious population of Eastern Europe while in Germany, R. Hirsch’s approach kept the Reform Movement from wreaking similar harm.
[12] “Collected Writings of Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch” vii 39-40 (New York, 1992)
[13] See 11.
[14] Don’t you just hate people who put lots of endnotes into an essay which means you have to flick the pages back and forth to keep up with whatever they’re trying to tell you? Yeah, me too.
[15] Cf. Avos 2:16
[16] And that description is important because, of course, there are many scholars and fools on both sides of the fence
[17] Weiss, A “Open Orthodoxy! A Modern Orthodox Rabbi’s Creed” p. 3
[18] For example, the recent controversy over whether Metzitzah B’Peh, the sucking of the blood from the wound caused by ritual circumcision, must be done by the mohel putting his mouth directly on the infant’s organ. Within the response literature, based on the relevant discussion in B. Shabbos, there are positions both demanding it and being lenient by allowing a pipe to interpose between the mouth and the organ. After a number of newborns circumcised by a particular mohel in the New York area developed neonatal herpes, Rav Moshe D. Tendler attempted to rein in the practice for health reasons. The controversy made its way to the highest chareidi circles in Israel where the final daas Torah pronouncement was made banning any form of metzitah b’peh other than the traditional direct one and declaring this to be the only acceptable form.
[19] Sacks, J. “Traditional Alternatives: Orthodoxy and the Future of the Jewish People” p.136
[20] Waxman, C.I. “Dilemmas of Modern Orthodoxy: Sociological and Philosophical” p.6
[21] Lockshin, M. “A Modern Orthodox Manifesto” Canadian Jewish News March 1, 2007
[22] Hirsch, R.S.R. “Judaism Eternal” Vol II, P. 26
[23] Devarim 30:20
[24] Yehoshua 1:8
[25] Avos 5:28
[26] Bereishis 1:28
[27] Avos 5:22
[28] Translation from Eidensohn, D. “Daas Torah” Emunah Press, Jerusalem 2005
[29] Orchos Tzadikim, 9th Gate – The Gate of Happiness

Port-au-Prince - CNN: Not The U.S. But Israel Has The Most Sophisticated Hospital In Haiti -- VosIzNeias.com

2010-02-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

Port-au-Prince - Haitians who were overjoyed to see loved ones alive but injured after last week's quake are now having to watch them die slowly and painfully, doctors say. Infections are raging due to a lack of adequate medical supplies. but one hospital that was set up by the Israelis seem to be the most sophisticated as of today operating. Kiddish Hashem MAMISH!!! Watch below CNN's report.

My Right Word: Foxy Foxman - Fooey

2010-01-27T15:53:00.000-08:00

From "My Right Word: Foxy Foxman - Fooey" by Yisrael Medad

Abe Foxman, former member of New York Betar, has a large salary as befits his position as titular head of the ADL.

And I found one of his actions here:

The ADL is urging Israel’s chief rabbis, as well as Orthodox rabbis in the US and around the world, to “speak out against this text as a perversion of Judaism, cloaking itself as an authoritative interpretation of Jewish biblical law,” according to a January 26 statement by Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director.

He is referring to the book Torat HaMelech, by Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira.

Here is the full text of his statement:

Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira's book is a perversion of Judaism, rejecting the morals and ethics inherent in the Jewish faith for an extremist ideology that encourages the killings of non-Jews. His teachings are anathema not only to the tenets of Judaism but to the humanitarian and democratic principles upon which the state of Israel was founded.

It is outrageous that several prominent rabbis have endorsed this book. The failure of religious leaders to condemn the distorted views of biblical law advocated in Torat Hamelech may have contributed to an atmosphere in which heinous attacks, such as the attack against the Palestinian mosque in Yasuf, are encouraged and condoned as being supported by biblical commandments.

We applaud those rabbinic scholars who have condemned the book and banned it from their schools. We call on the chief rabbis of Israel and rabbinic leaders in the Orthodox community -- in the United States and throughout the world -- to speak out against this text as a perversion of Judaism, cloaking itself as an authoritative interpretation of Jewish biblical law.

Foxman may be correct. But I suggest that he himself is totally incapable of reading the book, of understanding it and of being able to argue with it. He, at the least, could have named those Rabbis who did read the book and who understood it and with whom he took advice.

Moreover, he tags on this:

Ten settlers were arrested January 18 in a raid on Yitzhar by Israeli security officials.

Foxman is engaging in guilt not only by association but based on tenuous facts and acts. For example, besides the elementary principle of "innocent until proven guilty" from which Jews suffered in the lapse, there are less than 10 persons currently incarcerated since they were released already. His liberalism is affected not by truth but what the goyim will say.

By the way,

Israel’s Supreme Court this week rejected an appeal by the Twelfth of Heshvan, a coalition of Israeli religious organizations, to force Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to take immediate action against the book’s authors. The judges accepted the Attorney General’s request for more time to deal with the matter [the Hebrew version of the court's decision is here],

But, let's return to the essence - what of the book. Well, here's the pronouncement of the group called Sanhedrin, which is easily the most radical right-wing group in the religious national camp:

30 Cheshvan, 5770 [November 17, 2009]

Concerning the book "Torat haMelech (Laws of the King) - Capital offenses between Israel and the Nations"

1. There are two kinds of books in Jewish law: books published which have been universally accepted by all the scholars of Israel for practical rulings in Jewish law (probably the last one of this type was published in 1965[1]) and study books; Shapira and Elitzur's book "Torat haMelech" is a study book. Even a partial review of the material shows it contains a study of mostly medieval material and the opinion of the researchers, and does not attempt to survey modern halachic authorities on the subject.
2. The book is one of about 30,000 study works published by thousands of researchers in our time. This book is one of the studies, and like the rest, it does not obligate anyone.
3. It is not meant to be a ruling in Jewish Law, but rather a summary of some of material written on the subject. Even the endorsements of rabbis who gave their endorsement were praising the efforts to study, not suggesting to use this book in the application of practical Jewish Law.
4. The book is not sold in stores, and obviously it is not meant for the general public unfamiliar with the material, and can only be obtained by direct request to the authors. The authors are not known as halachic masters or decisors in Jewish Law.
5. In the culture and nation of Israel, there is complete academic freedom. Anyone can write and self publish his studies. For the mass media to intercept and falsely portray this book is akin to intercepting someone's doctoral thesis and falsely portraying it in the uninformed popular press.
6. If not for the newspaper Haaretz, which published a story on the book, the religious community probably would not have heard of it. The newspaper published its contents in a partial and perverted manner, as part of its tendency of the newspaper and its owners and members of its system to slander the rabbis of the settlements, residents of the settlements, all of mitzvah observant Judaism, and all the principles of Judaism. They are prepared, as part of their war on the religion of Israel, to slander, by means of partial quotes, their Jewish brethren, in spite of them knowing, as journalists, that they were quoted amidst further falsification, and in a manner which causes anti-Semitism, and hatred of Israel, and even though they are endangering the peace of all the Jews in the Diaspora.
7. At the time of this writing, there are about 35,000 websites quoting the misinformation that Haaretz (and other anti-religious Israeli papers) published, and therefore we see the need to publish this notification.
8. Despite the massive war of propaganda by Israel's enemies against the Jewish people -- which make use of Israeli secularists' and atheists' attacks on Judaism -- the truth is that Judaism is the religion which brought to the world the prohibition against killing children, by our holy Torah[2]; never has a Jew been instructed by religious law to kill innocents, or to commit suicide in order to kill others, (unlike suicide bombers who target families with their children).
9. In spite of all the lies published by the anti-Israeli press, apparently starting from Haaretz and including the hostile European and Arab press, there is no army which strived so much to refrain from harming citizens who are not participating in fighting, as the IDF does, not just in Operation Cast Lead, but since its founding.[3]
10. Therefore, we admonish and condemn in every way the Israeli and worldwide press, printed and electronic, that on the basis of the story in Haaretz (and other anti-religious Israeli papers) published attacks on Israel, on Jews, and on Judaism itself.
11. We have forwarded this message directly to Haaretz. Perhaps they will learn that even in hatred of religion there must be some limit.

Rabbi Yoel Schwartz
Rabbi Yeshayahu haCohen Hollander

References

1. e.g. Shmiras Shabbos K'hilchasa
2. Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5; I Kings 11:7; II Kings 23:10; Isaiah 30:33, 57:5, 57:9, 19:5; Jeremiah 32:35; Amos 5:26
3. e.g. British Col. Kemp testimony prepared for the emergency UN Human Rights Council debate on the Goldstone Report

Israeli TV has just announced that the judge ordered Rav Shapira by released, noting that the police have not the least slim bit of evidence that would justify extending his remand but the police appealed and so he'll be in jail one more night. I doubt a priest or immam would have been chained about his ankles and wrists, as was Rav Shapira when brought into court.

P.S.

Here's a Hebrew language clip of Rav Shapira talking about the book:

Torah View on Homosexuality

2010-01-19T03:41:00.000-08:00

This dvar Torah is from TorahWeb’s Rabbinic Board:

Rav Hershel Schachter

Rav Mordechai Willig

Rav Michael Rosensweig

Rav Mayer Twersky

Torah View on Homosexuality

“K’maase Eretz Mitzrayim asher yeshavtem ba lo sa’asu – like the practice of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled do not do” (Vayikra 18:3)
This verse prohibits the most immoral forms of behavior – idolatry, incest, adultery, bloodshed, male and female homosexual activity and bestiality[1]. The prohibition against male homosexual behavior is repeated in Vayikra 18:22. Prohibited homosexual activity includes any non-platonic physical contact; even yichud (seclusion) with someone of the same gender is forbidden for homosexually active individuals[2].
In addition to its legislative content, this verse also provides a fundamental insight into human nature and propensities. The Torah emphasizes “asher yeshavtem ba - in which you dwelled”; but Jews of all generations most certainly know that we lived in Eretz Mitzrayim. The Torah’s statement of the obvious warns us to be on guard against societal influence. We become susceptible to even the most egregious and vile forms of behavior if we do not guard against societal influence. “Human nature is such that a person in his beliefs, character, dispositions, and actions is drawn after his friends and colleagues and acts in the same fashion as his countrymen” (Rambam Hilchos De’os 6:1). (How to take such precautionary measures will, God willing, be discussed below.) Thus a full interpretive translation of the verse reads: the behavior of Eretz Mitzrayim, to which, having lived there, you may be inclined, is forbidden to you.
Ramban[3] comments that the descent to Mitzrayim foreshadows the current galus. He highlights the historical symmetry between the descent to Mitzrayim and the origins of the current galus. Sadly, we can highlight an additional point of symmetry. The “Mitzrayim” in which we find ourselves is also plagued by aberrant behavior, including the practice of homosexuality. Here too due to societal influence we have become susceptible to such behavior. Moreover, Mitzrayim of old not only engaged in corrupt behavior, it legitimized and mainstreamed such behavior. “Our sages said, what were they (i.e. Mitzriyim) accustomed to doing? Men married men and women married women…”[4] Similarly, the Mitzrayim of today’s galus seeks to legitimize and mainstream the abominable practice (toeiva) of homosexuality. Frighteningly, we who live here are not only practically affected, but also axiologically and ideationally infected. Not only our behavior but our very Weltanschauung has been compromised and contaminated.
Let us illustrate and elaborate the effect of society’s insidious influence regarding homosexuality. In a Torah society, unaffected and uninfected by today’s Mitzrayim, what should one’s attitude be towards homosexual behavior and homosexual individuals? Homosexual behavior is absolutely prohibited and constitutes an abomination[5]. Discreet, unconditionally halachically committed Jews who do not practice homosexuality but feel same sex attraction (ssa) should be sympathetically and wholeheartedly supported. They can be wonderful Jews, fully deserving of our love, respect, and support. They should be encouraged to seek professional guidance. Moreover, in an uninfected Torah society, appropriate sympathy for discreet shomrei Torah u’mitzvos who experience but do not act upon ssa is clearly distinguished from brazen public identification of their yetzer hara for forbidden behavior. In a pure Torah society people would recognize that every individual neshama is given its own unique constellation of challenges and some of these challenges consist of feeling an impulse to forbidden behavior. But every individual neshama also possesses the resilience and strength to triumph over its challenges[6].
How painful, sad and sobering is the sharp contrast between the clear attitude that should prevail in a pure Torah community and the confusion that exists among well-intentioned individuals within our communities. We are not speaking of the heresy of elements who although identifying themselves as Orthodox demand (sic.) change in the Torah, rachamanah litzlan, a clear violation of the thirteen principles of faith. Instead we are speaking of the confusion caused by today’s Mitzrayim within our communities. Due to the influence of today’s Mitzrayim, appropriate sympathy in discreet settings has become conflated with public, celebratory identification of people with an urge for forbidden behavior. In today’s galus ssa is not viewed as a challenge of kevishas hayetzer (overcoming and taming impulses for forbidden behavior), but rather as a troubling halacha lacking in compassion, rachmanah litzlan.
The influence of today’s Mitzrayim on our thinking is sadly and dramatically evident. The light of Torah, however, dispels confusion. Talmud Torah, when honestly and unconditionally pursued, allows us to recognize societally induced pre/misconceptions and biases. Talmud Torah allows us to absorb the divine Weltanschauung. Inevitably, with respect to homosexuality, Talmud Torah will place us at odds with political correctness and the temper of the times. Nevertheless, we must be honest with ourselves, and with Hakadosh Baruch Hu, regardless of political correctness, considerations or consequences.
Editor’s note: Readers may also be interested in the following audio shiurim: A Response to the Recent "Orthodox" Gay Forum and Absolute Truth and Alternate Life Styles: The Torah's Position on Homosexuality

[1] The Sifra (Vayikra 138:5), cited by Rashi ad loc. refers to the atrocities of Eretz Mitzrayim as being the most corrupt of all nations. The Sifra (138:7) further provides the list of activities in which the Mitzriyim engaged. See also Rambam Hilchos Isurei Biah 21:8.
[2] Rambam Hilchos Isurei Biah 21:1,2; 22:1,2. See also Shulchan Aruch Even HoEzer 24
[3] Commentary to Breishis 43:14, 47:18
[4] Rambam Hilchos Isurei Biah 21:8
[5]Vayikra 18:22
[6] In the present forum we are not discussing the halachic category of shotim.

Understanding Melbourne by Not Brisker Yeshivah

2010-01-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

Great post over at Not Brisker Yeshivah - Understanding Melbourne

There is something about hatred for Chabad that transcends all political and religious affiliations. All of a sudden, everybody understands each other, and can all exchange the proverbial winks. Even people that can’t agree on anything seem to band together in a harmonious cadence of “Chabad bashing”.

There are many reasons for this. By some, they get to feel smug and intelligent, that their predictions were accurate. That baffles me. בשלמא those who in the 60’s predicted the madness of the late 80’s and early 90’s; we can give them a little room to rejoice over the fulfilment of their own prophesies. But predicting the Melbourne shenanigans? That was easy. It is the Sabbateans all over again – just with better PR.

Others feel self-righteous bashing Chabad; they get to feel the internal glow of the zealots that they despise. They feel like they are doing G-d’s mission and sticking up for what is right. They feel like they can take the moral high ground, quoting chapter and verse from Professor Berger like he is Charlton Heston.

What is very revealing about the nature of the Chabad hatred is that many- after innocently wondering if ‘all Lubabs are Meshichists’ - feel the need to sprinkle their criticism with disclaimers such as ‘oh, I daven in a Chabad shul’. Or even worse, ‘some of my closest friends are Lubavitchers’. Goebbels, ימ''ש, complained that he got too many phone calls from Nazis asking him to save their friends.

Regarding Meshichism: For many, it is a messianic vision in which Chabad, which controls the world now, will be recognized, by young and old alike, as the center of the universe. Everybody will have their pamphlets with the daily dose of Chasidus and Shteinzaltz Gemaras. All the politicians, whose decisions were anyways always decided by the Rebbe, will pay homage to him. They will bring fruit on silver platters. The world will be filled with knowledge of the Rebbe’s sichas - no need to sit in 770 with headphones. The little Temimim will sit in the front while the best of the other segments of Judaism will sit on the periphery, chalilah.

Furthermore, Meshichism has nothing to do with Moshiach. Obviously, it is an expression of an intense need to make the Rebbe larger than life; Meshichism is just a HT- היכי תימצא. The greatest level a human can obtain is to be the Messiah. Theoretically, if they would be convinced that a different position, let’s say Kohen Godal, would be the ultimate one, they would dredge up all the sources indicating that the Rebbe was really the High Priest.

A thought about the Melbourne incident: the reason why such a thing can only happen in Chabad is obvious. Someone who became religious through, let’s say one of the many selfless shiluchim of the Chafetz Chaim network, would be self-conscious and embarrassed to publicize something that is ridiculed by the overwhelming majority of Jews. Not so in certain known groups of a certain group. Their handlers take advantage of them. They feed them all the Chabad talking points. They are taught that only Lubavitch cares about others, remained religious under duress while the Lita was being destroyed spiritually; they overdose on exclusionism, xenophobia, and hate.

Someone who a Chafetz Chaim talmid was mekarev is more open to outside influences. He is not convinced that the only way to save the world is to learn very slow, or that Chafetz Chaim yeshivas are the true representatives of Slabodko, even though in Slabodko they were intentionally not ‘into the shiur’ and they stressed individuality. He/she might later join the followers of Rabbi Friefeld or Aish Kodesh - and maybe even Chabad. He will send his kids to good yeshivas and might fulfil the dictum of חנוך לנער על פי דרכו better than a FFB. And more importantly, they don’t feel compelled to quote Reb Henoch Leibowitz at every public function and simchah.

Contrast that to some of the elements of Chabad. They know more stories about how the MiSnagdim always persecuted the faithful than עין יעקב. They would never quote or look at a sefer written by a non-Lubavitcher. They are taught that only Chabad are the true Jews and anything positive in Judaism results directly or indirectly from Lubavitch. Those people in Melbourne, couldn’t care less that they are being scorned upon by everyone else. They were taught that no one else counts.

In conclusion, one story will illustrate the point: There was this person who became frum via Chabad. Succos time, he started going to the Succos of other groups (maybe he was looking for a mattress). His handlers admonished him; they told him how the Stoliners are terrible and the Snags are the devil incarnate and Satmar is who knows what. This person, fortunately, ignored them, got to know the other Jews, and was pleasantly surprised that they weren’t as bad as they were made out to be.

On the first night of Succos, he was in for a rude awakening. His host, who was sitting in a beautifully decorated Succah, told him that we have to greet the Ushpizin. He asked his guest if he knew who the guest was for that night.
The reply: the Alter Rebbe.

Are All Lubavitchers Messianic? (from Emes Ve-Emunah)

2010-01-13T13:32:00.000-08:00

Are All Lubavitchers Messianic?

Interesting post from Emes Ve-Emunah

Lubavitcher Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Telsner,

the head of Melbourne’s Yeshiva Centre in Australia

For marei mikomos, see
Can the Rebbe Be Moshiach? (Based on the teachings of the Rebbe, ZT"L by Rabbi Gil Student)

Rav Mayer Twersky: A Response to the Recent "Orthodox" Gay Forum December 28, 2009

2010-01-03T17:08:00.000-08:00

Rav Mayer Twersky
A Response to the Recent "Orthodox" Gay Forum
December 28, 2009

This is a chiuv for every Yid to listen to and internalize.

Special Shalach Manos for the Rosh Yeshiva (from Heichal HaNegina)

2010-01-03T16:36:00.000-08:00

One of the foremost talmidim of Rav Aharon was none other than Reb Shlomo Carlebach, who attended the Lakewood Yeshiva from its inception in 1943, through 1947. Much has been said about the “falling out” between these two, but it is my fervent hope that the following eyewitness account will dispel some of the erroneous notions about this. Please read on.

Special Shalach Manos for the Rosh Yeshiva

The following story is an adaptation and transcript of a true story, told by the man who was present when it happened – my good friend Reb Itzik Eisenstadt. R. Itzik is a fellow music enthusiast, who became involved with the music of both Modzitz and Reb Shlomo Carlebach in the 1950s. Known by Carlebachers as the “Treasurer of the Niggunim,” Reb Itzik accompanied Reb Shlomo on many of his journeys, both in the US and in Israel.

“It was 1957, and Reb Shlomo came home from St. Louis for the holiday of Purim, and he was to read the Megilla in his father’s Shul. It was their custom to read it quickly, and indeed, they finished it, word by word, in twelve [12] minutes! I stood there, a child of fourteen, and I couldn’t believe it! This cannot be – yet it was! Afterwards, Shlomo signaled me to wait, even though his mother, the Rebbetzin, invited me to come up to eat. His father had a room, his study, with a sofa. This room had a window which had a staircase [or fire escape] which led outside – and this was the only way that Shlomo could leave the house unnoticed.
“Shlomo told me to wait in the corner, although his mother had told us to go to bed. His parents came to check on us, to make sure that we had done so. After the ‘inspection’, I snuck out of the bedroom to meet Shlomo in his father’s study, and we left through the window. At approximately 10 pm, someone came by with a car and picked us up. I thought that we must be going to Brooklyn, to 770 – where the Lubavitcher Rebbe was. But no, we were setting out on a much longer journey.
“In those days, to get to Lakewood from Manhattan took about 2-1/2 hours. We arrived at the Yeshiva at around midnight. The Yeshiva was located in a small house in those days. There was a very small study hall [Beis Medrash] downstairs, with stairs leading up to a women’s section [ezras nashim]. There was also a small room upstairs, Rav Aharon Kotler’s study, which had a window through which he could observe what was going on in the Beis Medrash below.
“Shlomo came in – and let’s not forget, this was Purim night – and he found a number of [approximately nine] talmidim learning in the Beis Medrash. ‘Shalom, a freiliche Purim, a joyous Purim to you,’ he greeted them. The talmidim were in the midst of learning – not Masechta Megilla [which is relatively “light” and deals with the Laws and stories of Purim], but Masechta Yevamos! [This is a tractate of Talmud which contains perhaps the most complex areas of Jewish Law]. Shlomo began to engage them in the sugyos [topics] of the Gemara that they were learning – including what he had learned from Rav Aharon when he was in Lakewood. They were amazed! This was exactly what they were learning! And it was some ten years after Reb Shlomo had left the Lakewood Yeshiva. In addition to the Rosh Yeshiva’s Torah, Reb Shlomo added some pearls of wisdom of his own. The talmidim began to whisper to each other, ‘Is this Shlomo Carlebach?’
“Suddenly, a light went on in the Rosh Yeshiva’s room above the Beis Medrash. The window opened, and he looked down to see what was going on. Then he began to come down the stairs. Rav Aharon didn’t drag his feet – within seconds he was down the stairs, and walked directly over to his own shtender [lectern]. Shlomo saw this, turned around, and went over to him. Without even greeting each other, they began to discuss the Gemara Yevamos as well.
“You taught us this, but I’ll add this now,” Reb Shlomo said to the Rosh Yeshiva.
“You added that then, as well,” countered the Rosh Yeshiva.
“I didn’t follow a word – it was above my head,” said R. Itzik Eisenstadt [remember, he was only 14 then!]. “The talmidim, the man who drove us, and I – we all watched this scene, and we were trembling!”
“It was a rare occasion to have seen Rav Aharon laughing. If something humored him, one corner of his mouth turned upwards in a semi-smile. Suddenly, Reb Shlomo stopped the serious learning, and began to say [humorous] Purim Torah – on Yevamos! Rav Aharon burst out laughing. But all the talmidim were still trembling. (R. Itzik remembered one of the jokes: apparently Haman and Achashverosh were brothers, and Haman wanted to perform yibum while his brother was yet alive!]
“After that, the Rosh Yeshiva turned to Reb Shlomo and asked him to sing. Without a guitar or anything else, Reb Shlomo sang ‘Lulei Soras’cha’ [track 8; longer link here, sung by D. Zeller] -- a niggun he had composed for the Rosh Yeshiva. Rav Aharon closed his eyes. (“If I ever saw someone ascend on High, it was then,” said R. Itzik. “He was just not there. Until Shlomo stopped singing.”) Shlomo went on with the niggun – the only one singing – for some ten or fifteen minutes. Then Rav Aharon nodded ‘goodbye’ and left, going back to his room upstairs.
[R. Itzik told us, that at the time he didn’t even know that it was Rav Aharon Kotler. When they went outside, he asked R. Shlomo, “Who was that?” “The Rosh Yeshiva,” Reb Shlomo responded. “Umm…you mean, Rabbi Aharon Kotler!?” Itzik said, trembling once more.]
“And the Torah that they learned together, was Reb Shlomo’s ‘shalach manos’ for the Rosh Yeshiva.”
“Everybody says that Rav Aharon threw Reb Shlomo out of the Yeshiva, and that after he left, they had nothing to do with each other. But I heard from a Rabbi in Queens, that in the year 1951, the Lubavitcher Rebbe sent Reb Shlomo to be the rabbi of Dorothy, New Jersey – a small town not too far from Lakewood. Being that this position was not very demanding, Reb Shlomo took advantage of the amount of free time that he had, and traveled every day – to learn in Lakewood! On Motzaei Shabboses [Saturday nights], he would go to the Yeshiva and teach the boys there Modzitzer niggunim. The Rav who told this to Itzik said that there is where he met Reb Shlomo and became his good friend, and afterwards they remained friends. Shlomo learned like this for two years.

The House Of Brisk Became Chassidishe When It Came To The Shineveh Rebbe

2009-12-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

Drawing of the Shineveh Rebbe, from a visit to Yerushalayim in 1869.

From Revach.net

One time when a number of Sanzer Chassidim came to visit the Brisker Rov, he told them that he was a Shineveh Chosid. (The Shineveh Rebbe, Rav Yechezkel Halberstam, was the son of the Divrei Chaim the founder of the Sanzer dynasty Rav Chaim Halberstam.) They all looked at him in shock. The Brisker Rov the leader of Lithuanian Jewry a Chosid?!?

The Brisker Rov them told them that when the Shineveh Rebbe came to Brisk, the people of Brisk came out to greet him carrying torches in his honor. His grandfather the Bais HaLevi was among them. The Brisker Rov said I know with certainty that absolutely nothing impressed my grandfather except for Torah and Yiras Shamayim. If he went to greet the Shineveh Rebbe it was because apparently he was head and shoulders above everyone else in those areas. Therefore I am a Shineveh Chosid!

One time when the Shineveh came to visit the Bais HaLevi he was accompanied by many Chassidim. Before the entrance to the house he told his Chassidim that they should not accompany him into the house. The Bais Halevi is a Misnaged and is opposed to Chassidim. He does not approve of our ways and he may not appreciate all of you entering with me.

Apparently the Bais HaLevi was right near the door waiting to greet his guest and overheard the conversation. He turned to the Shineveh and said, "Sholom Aleichem and Boruch Haba." Then he smiled and said, "May the Rebbe of Shineveh enter and may his Chassidim enter with him. Consider yourselves to be in a house of Chassidim!"

Got Yoshke?

2009-12-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

Jerusalem - IDF Stops Rabbis To Assist in Reconstruction of Torched Mosque

2009-12-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

...גם היום יש מתיונים בתוך ישראל

Oy Tate! Save the light of Chanukah for Yidden who can't see it yet! Go rebuild Kever Yosef! 20% of Yidden in Israel are poor - donate your time and money to them instead! Don't rebuild the places where they preach hatred and murder!

The IDF prevented a delegation of religious-Zionist rabbis and social activists from entering the West Bank village of Yasuf Sunday, where a mosque was torched on Friday.

(Above: R' Froman [in white kippa] speaking with the Arab governor [brown suit])

The rabbis had arrived in order to donate Koran books to the mosque, but these had to be taken into the village by a Muslim representative due to IDF fears that a conflict would break out if rabbis were allowed to enter the village.

The rabbis waited at a central West Bank junction while soldiers blocked them from proceeding into the village.

After a few hours the IDF released a statement saying the visit had been properly coordinated and that the rabbis would be allowed in within hours, but by then it was two late and the parties left the area.

Earlier the army had stated that the delegation was denied entrance by the IDF chief of staff's office due to security concerns.

Rabbi of Tekoa Menachem Froman said the halacha prohibits doing harm to religious sites. "This deed was a serious religious crime," he said, adding that mutual respect between Jews and Muslims could bring peace.

"If we keep hiding our heads in the sand and denying that the conflict (with the Palestinians) is religious, we will never get anywhere," Froman said.

Abbushi examines donated Koran books (Photo: Ido Erez)

He also condemned similar acts on the Palestinian side, such as the torching of Gush Katif synagogues and the desecration of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus

"They also do worse things such as murder Jews," he said. "I'm not saying they are pacifists but enmity exists on both sides," the rabbi added.

Governor of the Salfit region, Munir Abbushi, met with the rabbis at the junction and told them, "The torching of the mosque was a racist act. We are in favor of true peace, and I thank you for coming to identify with us on the torching I hope we can live in this country as two states."

Abbushi also criticized the IDF for failing to prevent the act. "There are people in the village calling for

revenge, but they are the minority," he said. "We are a national movement and not a religious one, and all we want is a Palestinian state."

The meeting ended with a joint song and dance by Palestinian and Jewish religious officials.

Rabbi Yehuda Gilad, who heads the yeshiva on the religious kibbutz Maale Gilboa, said, "We came to expel darkness, especially during the days of Hannukah. Light is not added by hurting our brothers, the Muslims, who are the servants of God just as we are. This is an important message to relay."

This Guy Just Moved In Our Neighborhood

2009-12-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

It doesn't look like this guy's gotten into trouble again since he RAPED somebody in 1991, but you never know. Be careful.

Classification
Verification Date

Sex Offender
11/24/2009

NOTE: To be compliant with verification requirements, the verification date must be within the past 12 months for sex offenders and within the past 3 months for sexually violent predators.

Residence

5807 HOBART ST, REAR

PITTSBURGH, PA 15217

6FT. 175LB, SCAR ON HIS HEAD

CONVICTED OF RAPE IN 10/21/1991

Zochreini Na Zochnreini Na.....

2009-12-04T02:40:00.000-08:00

Jerusalem - Israeli police are considering charges against a Jewish settler filmed driving over a Palestinian who was lying wounded at a West Bank gas station following an incident in which the settler's wife was stabbed.

After dramatic footage of last week's events was aired by Israel's Channel 2 television, a police spokesman said on Wednesday the Palestinian was also being investigated over the wounding of two women with a knife.

The 21-year-old was still in hospital after he was first shot by a soldier, then crushed by the heavy German sedan.

The driver, who was filmed reversing over the groaning man while Israeli soldiers stood by, was ordered not to leave his settlement while investigation of last Thursday's events near the West Bank city of Hebron continued, the spokesman said.

The incident came at a period of tension between Israeli authorities, settlers and Palestinians following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's order to freeze building on occupied land and Palestinian leaders' rejection of that measure as insufficient to meet their conditions for resuming peace talks.
Advertisement:

Palestinians in Hebron said the man accused of stabbing the two women was not a known member of any militant group.

Note that these were Israelis who stopped the driver and pulled him out of his car. Imagine an Arab driver doing that to a Jew in Arab land... or maybe stop imagining.

Anyway, Kol Hakavod on this man taking revenge for his wife's stabbing.

Warning! Contains disturbing images. Viewer's discretion is advised.

AMAZING VIDEO of Tosher Rebbe, shlita making "Hamoitzei"

2009-11-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Shabbos Kodesh?

2009-11-22T05:44:00.000-08:00

Police hold off ultra-Orthodox demonstrators at Intel plant; three arrested as rally turns violent

These very sick Yidden, are not only causing a enormous Chilul Hashem, but are causing even more Chilul Shabbos by protesting. The kina is on the highest level, but so misdirected. If they would go to shul and daven for Intel to do teshuva, ...which is kina coming from a place of love and empathy, Am Yisroel would be better for it.

I invite every Yid who reads this to ask themselves the following questions:

Do you really think that people will keep Shabbos because of this?

Is this an example of "דרכיה דרכי נועם וכל נתיבותיה שלום"?

Do I want them to represent me because we wear the same clothes and speak the same language?

Is this the pshat of "אור לגויים"?

Rashban Archive: Subscribe להרשמה kesher01@gmail.com

2009-11-19T19:58:00.000-08:00

Rashban Archive: Subscribe להרשמה kesher01@gmail.com

Defining Charedim and Modern Orthodox Jews by Rabbi Harry Maryles

2009-11-18T15:38:00.000-08:00

HaRav Moshe Weinberger (standing) receiving shirayim

from the Munkatcher Rebbe, HaRav Moshe Leib Rabinovich, shlita

An article in Ha’aretz really got me to thinking about how we define ourselves as Jews. The article asks the question specifically about Charedim. But I think it is fair to ask it about all of us. I will limit my remarks to two groups: Charedim and Modern Orthodox Jews. Nor should my views here be considered all inclusive. I am just expressing an impression that I have at this moment in time.

Let us first address Charedim. This was the subject of the Ha’aretz article. Who are they? What are they like? Are all Charedim equal? The answer to the last question is no. There are probably more differences among Charedim themselves than there among any other group. Ha’aretz makes these observations:

Who, in fact, is Haredi, a member of the ultra-Orthodox? Is it that fellow with the long side curls and a striped robe setting fire to trash cans, breaking reporters' bones and proudly declaring to a television camera that "every child born to me is revenge on the Zionists"? Are the Haredim those people from Beit Shemesh who a few weeks ago stoned a woman who was not modestly dressed, in their opinion, and almost killed her?

Maybe the Haredi is that thin, pale, shy young man walking in Bnei Brak, his eyes cast down, seeing nothing until he reaches the yeshiva, where he hides away until evening, poring over his books and barely remembering to eat or drink. Or maybe it's that portly Hasid walking along Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard, pushing a stroller crammed with a baby and two toddlers, with a few more kids tagging along. Also on hand is his adolescent daughter wearing a long blue skirt, and at some distance, his wife, the mother of his children.

Or maybe they are the students at Kiryat Ono Academic College, who will be lawyers and accountants, or maybe the young woman who will be the treasurer of the Bnei Brak municipality, or MA students at Harvard University, or owners and staff at a Glatt kosher restaurant in Herzliya Pituah. And maybe they're the Chabadniks in their mitzvah tank, who light Shabbat candles in the heart of Tel Aviv.

What seems obvious from this is that there are light years of difference between one extreme and the other . Charedim can be virtual Taliban-like terrorists but they can be also be non violent productive participants in the broader society. So what puts these two virtual opposites in the same boat?

It is their devotion to a common singular concept. Fear of Heaven.

The word Charedi comes from the word Chareid – which means to tremble. Charedim tremble with awe before the Almighty. They therefore pay attention only to God and His Torah. That occupies their entire thinking. They tend to therefore reject modernity whenever they can.

Charedim tend to see the world in more or less black and white terms. Good and evil. So both the Meah Shearim extremist and the Charedi professional will look at a secular value in the same way. If it is not in the Torah it has no intrinsic value. To the extent that some will be involved at all in the secular world is to the extent they see it as necessary for their existence – mostly for Parnassa – or livelihood purposes.

There are of course differences in how far one will tread into the secular world for even that purpose which can in part explain why some Charedim become professionals and others do not. But the attitude is the same. Stay out of the general culture as much as possible and focus everything on the spiritual and fearing God.

The focus on the spiritual is the primary reason so many of them want to stay in learning. They see learning the word of God through His written Torah and its accompanying oral tradition as the highest calling of man. They are willing to sacrifice much of their material welfare for it. That kind of devotion results in a great number of them dedicating their entire adult lives to learning Torah.

These Charedim are perhaps the hardest working people on earth. And their work bears fruit. They know a lot of Torah. One would have to be blind, deaf, and dumb not to see the dedication of those sincere Charedim who learn full time and are doing it L’Shma. When entering the Beis HaMedrash at Yeshivas Mir one can feel that dedication. It is in the air. The level of Torah learning of the Charedi who learns there is the highest of high and has the broadest of scope.

The Hasmada – dedication to the ideal of learning Torah and the determination to know Torah is incomparable. No other stream of Orthodoxy can match it. When one experiences a Yeshiva like Mir and sees 5000 young men poring over the Talmudic texts and its commentaries, one can only experience envy. I envy their dedication and the knowledge they seek to attain - and do attain.

I have of course criticized Charedim for the vast numbers who do this for too long. There are far too many – perhaps even the majority – who should not be doing this full time for too long after marriage. But that is a separate issue. No one can deny the dedication of the vast majority of them. (Yes I know there are fakers there too – but I’m not talking about them.)

That I believe that many of them need to prepare for jobs and eventually get them is a separate issue too. So too is the poverty factor that is prevalent among them. The point here is that they are sincere and dedicated Jews who see their task in life as Godly. Their wisdom is firmly based on an awe of God. And they thus fear sin.

That is the common denominator. Charedim see only Torah and nothing else.

Modern Orthodox Jews are as completely observant as their Charedi counterparts. (Yes I know there are exceptions but Charedim have them too.)But they also believe that Torah does not forbid - and even encourages - participation in the modern world. Modern Orthodox Jews do not tremble before God. This does not mean they aren’t Yirei Shamyim or God fearing. They certainly are. But they do not focus on the trembling.

They focus on being the best Jew they can be without trembling. And to the extent they choose to participate in the general culture they do it in permissible ways that do not violate Halacha. The attitude is that God gave us a world to enjoy and told us how to do it (by following Halacha). One need not fear the world and may indeed embrace it.

Modern Orthodox Jews believe in learning Torah too. And they certainly have their share of Masmidim - people who spend the vast majority of their time learning Torah. But their dedication to Torah learning is not the same as the Charedi dedication. You will not see a Modern Orthodox Mir.

You will of course see a Yeshiva University Beis HaMedrash full of students learning diligently for many hours. The Kol Torah coming out of there is pretty strong. The Beis Hamedrash is rarely empty – just like a Charedi Beis HaMedrash. But it is not the Mir - or any other Charedi yeshiva like it. Yeshiva University believes in Torah U’Mada. That means that the entirety of the day is not spent learning Torah. A good part of it is spent on Mada.

Obviously I’m not saying that is a bad thing. Being an adherent of Torah U’Mada myself I strongly endorse this approach. I think this approach makes one a better Jew. But I fully admit that that the level of pure devotion to Torah learning is not the same as it is in a Yeshiva like the Mir. And that is something to be admired.

Breaking News!!! White House Press Release Regarding the Recent Events by Barak Hussein Obama

2009-11-09T16:21:00.000-08:00

I want to take this opportunity to give a shout-out to my man Hasan. We're hanging in there with you, buddy. Thanks for your many years of commitment to the US Armed Forces. We, the American people, take full responsibility for your mental breakdown due to our mistreatment of you and our incorrect classification as Islam as a religion of violence, G-d forbid. We know that you must have killed all those innocent people in the name of peace and due to our failure to become culturally sensitive to Islamic Shariya and our failure to recognize the holiness and purity of honor killings, mutilation of females, pushing improperly dressed women into burning buildings, and the killing and dismembering of your ememies, not to mention the holy mission of your freedom fighters, who some mistakenly call "suicide bombers." As you have been told already by our mutual friend Rahm, no charges will be filed against you now or in the future (G-d forbid). We wish you a full and speedy recovery. When you feel up to it, I am personally inviting you to the White House to sit down with me for a beer to discuss your ideas for the future of the Middle East. Be well and as you so beautifully stated a few days ago, "Allah U'Akbar".

Your friend,

Barak Hussein Obama

One on One with Matisyaahu

2009-10-21T12:33:00.000-07:00

Obama Likens His Bowling Game to Special Olympics

2009-09-15T18:23:00.001-07:00

Mary Ann Akers - Washington Post
President Obama seemed relaxed and in good cheer tonight during his appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." But there was one misstep that surely made his advisers wince.

Leno asked the president whether the White House bowling alley had been "burned and closed down" in light of Obama's gutter ball embarrassment on the campaign trail last year.

Obama replied, "No, no. I have been practicing . . . I bowled a 129."

The audience roared with laughter, and the late-night talk show host assured Obama "that's very good, Mr. President." To which Obama interjected, "It's like -- it was like Special Olympics, or something."

The audience laughed. But the White House didn't let the comment linger without clarification.

"The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics," White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters flying aboard Air Force One after the taping of the show, according to a transcript released by the White House. "He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world."

Also on the "Tonight Show," Leno asked the president when he would finally be making good on his famous campaign promise to reward his daughters with a puppy, which so far hasn't surfaced.

"Listen, this is Washington. That was a campaign promise," the president deadpanned to much laughter.

The president said he was "teasing," and explained that as soon as he returns from the NATO summit in France in Germany early next month, the "dog will be in place."

Leno asked if the dog would be a "Portuguese Water Head," referencing first lady Michelle Obama's recent suggestion that the first family was leaning toward a Portuguese Water Dog. The president laughed and said, "It's not a 'water head.' That sounds like a scary dog. Sort of dripping around the house."

But the first dad gave absolutely no hints about what kind of dog - or puppy - it will be. "We're going to get a dog that is -- that I think the girls will have a great time -- I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with it. You know, they say if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

And according to the schedule the president described, his girls will have their new furry friend by Easter.

What kind of person, let alone the President of America, mocks the Special Olympics? If anyone else except for King Messiah Obama had said this, he'd be forced to step down, or fired.

The truth is, they'd probably beat him badly in a real game of bowling.

What I don't understand is how Rep. Wilson calling President Obama a liar turned into race-card pulling by at least one member of the Congressional Black Caucus, who said Wilson's outburst was a sign of disrespect of the nation's first African American president, and I quote:

"I guess we'll probably have folks putting on white hoods again,'' Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said. "That's the logical conclusion if this kind of attitude is not rebuked.''

Soooo, its OK to make fun of people that have special needs, but disagreeing with someone's health care plan is now considered racist in need of public apology (which, BTW, will be the second time he apologized as the President already accepted his original apology, which was immediately after the incident)? Hmmmmm.

Heroin: The Enemy In Afghanistan (from NPR)

2009-09-03T07:13:00.000-07:00

By Richard Farrell — Morning Edition
Published September 3, 2009 11:26 AM

I'm a heroin addict and I feel as if a piece of my heart is going to war in Afghanistan. I'm not using any more, but this war and my addiction are horribly intertwined.

You see, my 23-year-old son, William, is a member of the United States Navy's elite Mobile Unit 11. The unit is heading for a newly constructed base in Afghanistan. And the enemy they'll face has everything to do with heroin.

The Taliban funds terrorism with millions of dollars from the opium trade. Afghanistan supplies most of the world's heroin.

It has been 22 years since I methodically unwrapped a tiny plastic bag of heroin, tossed the white powder into a cooker and fired it into my veins. I remember sitting in detox — shaking with panic attacks, gagging, trying desperately to survive just another minute. I used to have nightmares about a 6-foot needle chasing me in and out of the shadows.

Now, because of William's mission, I feel heroin nipping at my heels again. The panic attacks are coming on strong. I do my best to forget that my boy is going to war, but the nightly news reminds me. In reports of American soldiers, young boys, killed by roadside bombs, I see William's face instead, and instantly my brain rewinds to when he was 12. I watch him run wild on a football field in Lowell, Mass. Then I see his boots hit the ground in Afghanistan.

I'm deeply troubled, wondering if my son will be trying to wipe out the crop that nearly killed me 22 years ago. Guilt rattles my brain like a BB in a metal boxcar. Back then, I was an involuntary "customer" who helped create a demand for the drug. I was the last link in a system that produced and distributed heroin — the very system my son William will be trying to break.

Last night, my detox nightmare came back. This time, though, it's not a needle full of heroin chasing me. Instead I see an AK-47 gorilla rifle's bullet, a roadside bomb tucked neatly under loose gravel, or a rocket-propelled grenade moving quickly through the air, but slow enough that I can see the trace from where it came. It's after my son William. I wake up just before it takes him out.

Some mornings, the thought of the future brings me to tears. Heroin snatched away William's childhood. Heroin's power destroyed his family. Now, 22 years later, in a very different way, heroin has another chance to break my heart. And frankly, I'm not sure if I'd recover this time around.

Some observations

2009-09-03T06:36:00.000-07:00

Over the past few days, I have been deep in meditation about certain recent occurrences:

1. Why didn't WWII end the way that Quenten Tarantino envisioned it? What's the lesson of the Holocaust for the world in general and for Jews in particular? For those not familiar with his new movie, "Inglourious Basterds" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inglourious_Basterds). However, be forewarned that this article will give away the plot, so click away at your own risk....

2. Adam Michael Goldstein AKA DJ AM, a 36 year old Jewish kid from my hometown of Philadelphia, who was making $25,000 a night spinning records at celebrity and commercial parties, was found dead in his $2 million dollar SoHo apartment of an apparent drug overdose on Friday night, after 11 years of continuous sobriety. (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,544579,00.html) I am reminded again that no matter how long an addict has clean, the disease of addiction never sleeps and is constantly waiting for an addict on the other side of the street, so to speak, for when he MAKES THE CONSCIOUS DECISION TO RELAPSE. Although I had never heard of DJ AM before he died, I still am saddened by his death on so many levels - as a fellow Jew, as a human being and as a drug and alcohol counselor who has seen more than my fair share of deaths in my 30 years here on earth due to the disease of addiction. I am really at a loss for words about this topic. Yet I keep on thinking about how ADDICTION IS NOT A JOKE - RECOVERY IS A GIFT FROM G-D THAT CANNOT AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED, as is life, for that matter.So I ask everyone please, to go home and hug your kids, your family and (if you don't do so already) learn to appreciate every moment you have on this earth and thank G-d everyday for the gift of life that He gave all of us.

Uman Hey

2009-08-24T14:24:00.001-07:00

My 4-year old son getting excited about Rosh HaShanah in Uman, HBAL"T!!!!

A Thought for Tu B'Av from The Rebbe Reb Leibele Eiger MiLublin zt"l in honor of the Yahrtzeit of The Rebbe Reb Yaacov Leiner of Izhbitza, zt"l

2009-08-05T10:50:00.000-07:00

This Torah is unreal so I wanted to share it with everyone.

א גוט ט"ו באב ודבר תורה זאת לעילוי נשמת
כ"ק מרן אדמו"ר עט"ר הרב יעקוב ליינער, בעל הספר הקדוש בית יעקב זצ"ל זי"ע ועכי"א

(Click to enlarge)

Here's a link to בית יעקוב על התורה and a site with Divrei Torah chosen by

כ"ק מרן אדמו"ר עט"ר הרב משה ליינער מראדזין שליט"א

An anecdote about the differrence between Chassidim and non-Chassidim Part 2

2009-08-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

Just some quotes from some Chassidic Masters on this topic:

The Kotzker said that the difference between a chossid and a misnaged is that a misnaged is concerned with Shulchan Aruch while a chossid is concerned with G-d.

The Ba'al HaTanya said that the difference between [the Chassidim] and the Misnagdim is this: the latter set time for study and they are limited by time, whereas the former make the Torah their path of life.

An anecdote about the differrence between Chassidim and non-Chassidim

2009-08-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

This or....

this? You choose.....

The difference between Chassidim and non-Chassidim is best exemplified by the controversy surrounding the wearing of a watch on the Sabbath. A non-Chassidic individual will not wear a watch on the Sabbath for a variety of reasons, some of which are as follows: It is unclear whether the watch is considered to be an article of clothing and/or a piece of jewelry even though it may be worn in this manner. The problem is that one cannot resolutely declare that one’s watch is, because if it breaks or stops it would not be worn, thereby ceasing to be useful to its owner causing the watch to be prohibited from wearing or carrying for 4 amos (about 6 feet) in the public domain or even to touch it at all on the Sabbath - how much more so carrying or transporting it from the private to public domain - regardless of the presence of an eruv. Even if it was a functioning watch, many halachic authorities discourage wearing a watch based on these questionable leniences, not to mention that it is prohibited for men to wear jewelry (Devorim 22:5). (see Bi’ur Halacha simon 303:18 ד"ה כי בזה; Shulchan Aruch HaRav simon 303:23; SS”K simon 18:12, footnote 109 and simon 18:27; Iggros Moshe Orach Chaim 1 simon 111; and Minchas Yitzchak vol. I simon 67).

On the other hand, no pun intended, many Chassidim will not wear a watch on the Sabbath because the Sabbath is timeless. It allows us to break free from our enslavement to time. The Sabbath gives us the opportunity one day a week to devote our complete attention and our "time" to serving the Master of the World.

For us, the concept of time does not exist on the Sabbath. We have 25+ hours (Tosefes Shabbos, Rabbeinu Tam, etc.) of limitless freedom. In fact, some of us, if we could, would observe the Sabbath until Tuesday, which is the last time one is able to say the blessing separating the Sabbath from the rest of the week. Those of you who are familiar with the Amshinover Rebbe, shlita, of Jerusalem, know that I am not exaggerating this possibility (of keeping the Sabbath until Tuesday), as I believe he does so every week. The Amshinover Rebbe, shlita, is an example of a extraordinarily holy servant of G-d for whom time is irrelevant in the pursuit of closeness to his Maker. During weekly prayers, some Chassidim have later prayer times as well e.g. morning prayers at 11am, etc. to ensure proper concentraition and preparation before we stand in front of The King of the World to sing praises unto Him during each prayer session (see Mishnah Brochos, 5:1). How much more so should this release from the constraints of time apply on the Sabbath, where our actions and preparation determine not only the level of prayers on the Sabbath itself, but they also determine the content and flow of the entire Spiritual Universe for the week to come!

The Heilege Streimel

2009-07-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

The Montevideo Rav zt'l, in a streimel

The Gerrer Rebbe shlit'a in a spodik

I just got a sefer (in Hebrew) called "Mivaer HaShabbos" by Rabbi Chaim Eliyah Rappaport, who is connected somehow to the Nanash sect of Chassidus. The book deals with the halachos (Jewish Laws) and minhagim (traditional practices) of Shabbos Koidesh. The first volume deals with the day of Erev Shabbos and preparation for Shabbos itself and the 2nd volume deals with Friday night up to the seudah. There will be more volumes in the future IY"H.

So I recently started wearing a spodik (one of those furry hats that Chassidim wear on Shabbos, holidays and special occasions, such as a bris or wedding of a famliy member). It is also called a "tall streimel". Anyway, being connected to a Polish Chassidic sect, I wear a spodik instead of a streimel, for that is the practice of Polish Chassidim.

In the first volume of the book, there is a whole section regarding the different reasons and importance of Shabbos clothing. Note 28 through 36 discuss the custom of wearing a streimel, or in my case, a spodik, on Shabbos. Some of the various reasons include: it is similar to a king's crown, it was originally a punishment for us, so we turned it into an honor to take the power out of those who would oppress us and so on. What I found really interesting is that in note 33, the author writes (my translation, so any mistakes are mine, not the author's): "There are those who have the custom of not taking their streimel/spodik off of their head for the entire night and day of Shabbos Koidesh (roughly sundown Friday night through after sundown Saturday night)". Immediately I asked myself the question that maybe you are asking at this point as well - So what do you do when you go to sleep? Is their a "shluffin' streimel/spodik" like the "shluffin koppel" (a yarmulke that religious Jews wear while we sleep)?

So I looked in the notes at the bottom of the page and sure enough, in a sefer from the Zidichov Chassidic Dynasty, a story is brought down that two of the Zidichover Rebbes, R'Tzvi and R' Itzik, had a special shtreimel to sleep in on Friday night, that was different from the one that they prayed in, so that they would never take their minds off of the importance of wearing this particular holy piece of clothing.

I am not that holy, nor can I afford another spodik, as they are very expensive, but I do find it to be a strong indicator of the importance of wearing a streimel/spodik on Shabbos Koidesh, for those who are so inclined.

I will, bli neder, write more on this topic later, IY"H, but This information was so interesting that I had to write about it now.

The Mullah, SHLIT"A

2009-06-11T02:51:00.000-07:00

The Mullah SHLIT"A is know for his ability to expound the intricacies of roshei teivos and the secrets of the Hidden and Revealed Torah. Yasher koiach, Mullah SHLIT"A, for this enlightening pilpul! IY"H next week, we will feature how the gematria of the word "hummus" teaches us that the Jews are actually attempting to take over the entire world. Stay tuned!

Yechi = Apikorsis

2009-05-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

I am relieved that someone,who is respected by Lubavitchers, was finally able to address this issue. For those who are able, the article and psak are able to be accessed here and here, which happens to be a Lubavitch News site. I am interested to hear everyone's comments.

2009-05-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

Two posts appeared on Circus Tent that I would like to share with you. The Radziner Rebbe of Boro Park, Rav Yaakov Leiner ZT"L, brother of ybd"l The Radziner Rebbe of Yerushalayim, Rav Moshe Leiner SHLIT"A (my Rebbe) was nifter on 5 Iyar 5769.

Radziner Catastrophe

The Radziner Rebbe of Boro Park, Rav Yaakov Leiner ZT"L
The Levaya at 54th Street on 5 Iyar 5769

A Reader writes: A terrible thing happened today, the Radziner Rebbe, Rav Yakov Leiner passed away at 46 years old. He was a great historian, yad'an and lamdan. He lived in absolute poverty, with 11 kids. He told me that when he became bar mitzvah his father gave him the Lubavitcher siddur and said "this is our nusach." It was almost in shreds but he davened in it every day. There were over 1000 people there today at the levaya. I can't explain to you my deep pain and tza'ar. I don't know where to put my mind, what an unglick. Every day I stayed after davening at the Radziner shtiebel on 54th street and spoke to him. He knew "everything," and I mean everything. He was a true scholar and yerei shomayim. He was a kanoi for Izhbitza but extremely warm and "liberal" in outlook of life. By "liberal" I mean in ahavas yisroel, he couldn't stand any kano'us against tziyonim or the like. He learned in Lakewood and Rav Yeruchem Olshin gave such a moving hesped! R' Olshin spoke like a true chosid about the dynasty, about Izhbitza, about what RAK held of his Zaide the Radziner Rebbe. I could send you and exclusive recording how a "Litvak" is maspid ah Chasidishe Rebbe.

Listen To Rav Olshin's hesped here.

The Reader Continues: He (RYO) cried like a baby...The groyse niftar spoke to me a few days ago about the chasidic movement and the matzav of it today .. He (RYL) was very partisan for chasidus, then he said to me ....You want to know of a real gadol who is truly so.. its Harav Olshin. After the levaya I repeated to Rav Olshin. His Rebbetzin is Bokshin from Monsey. Reb Aron Schechter's son is also an eydim there.

A 12-Year Old's Hesped

This should not be happening.....HELP!!!

Money can now be sent and checks made payable to:

Keren Yesomim Radzin

c/o Dr. Marvin Schick

1529-56th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11219

I understand money can be sent on their behalf via paypal by using the phone number: 718-851-1025. Please. Please don't ignore this plea. Forward this to all your contacts.

Copy and paste this link.

Imagine all 10 yesoimim looking into your eyes.

ולשועת חינונם אל תעלם אזנך

Photos of 12-year old Mordche Yosef writing a hesped surrounded by his father's ksovim.

Fighting Iron with Irony - A Contemporary Purim Story

2009-03-09T18:51:00.001-07:00

By Rabbi Avi Shafran

Scene from the Nuremberg Trial

On a beautiful clear night in 1924 at Landsberg am Lech, where he was imprisoned by the Bavarian government, Adolf Hitler remarked to Rudolf Hess: "You know… it’s only the moon I hate. For it is something dead and terrible and inhuman… It is as if there still lives in the moon a part of the terror it once sent down to earth… I hate it!"

A chill accompanied my first encounter with that quote. Because the Jewish religious tradition sees the ever-rejuvenating, shining disk of the moon as a symbol of the Jewish people. Indeed, the very first commandment we Jews were given as a people, while still awaiting the Exodus in Egypt, was to identify ourselves through our calendar with the moon. The moon Hitler feared.

There is much other oddness about Hitler with connections to ancient Jewish tradition, things like his fondness for ravens, in Jewish lore associated with cruelty; he went so far as to issue special orders protecting the birds. And like his fascination with the art of Franz von Stuck (the artist who had the "greatest impact" on his life, he once said), whose major themes are snakes and sinister women. In the Jewish mystical tradition, snakes evoke evil and its embodiment, Amalek; and there are hints of an antithetical relationship between the irredeemable wickedness of Amalek and women.

And then there is the matter of the most loathsome of Hitler’s henchmen, Julius Streicher, the editor of Der Sturmer, the premier journal of Jew-baiting.

At its peak in 1938, print runs of Streicher’s vile tabloid ran as high as 2,000,000. A typical offering included a close-up of the face of a deformed Jew above the legend "The Scum of Humanity: This Jew says that he is a member of God’s chosen people." Another displayed a cartoon of a vampire bat with a grotesquely exaggerated nose and a Jewish star on its chest. In yet another, a Jewish butcher was depicted snidely dropping a rat into his meat grinder and, elsewhere in the issue, the punctured necks of handsome German youths were shown bleeding into a bowl held by a Jew more gargoyle than human.

In 1935, speaking to a closed meeting of a Nazi student organization, Streicher, displaying an unarguably Amalekian approach, declared:

"All our struggles are in vain if the battle against the Jews is not fought to the finish. It is not enough to get the Jews out of Germany. No, they must be destroyed throughout the entire world so that humanity will be free of them."

The suspicion that in Streicher’s blind, baseless, and absolute hatred of the Jews lay the legacy of Amalek makes the story of his capture and death nothing short of chilling.

Purim is the only Jewish holiday that celebrates the defeat of an Amalekite, Haman. Even a passing familiarity with the Purim story is sufficient to know that the downfall of its villain is saturated with what seem to be chance ironies; he turns up at the wrong place at the wrong time, and all that he so carefully plans eventually comes to backfire on him in an almost comical way – a theme The Book of Esther characterizes with the words v’nahafoch hu, " and it was turned upside down!"

Such "chance" happenings are the very hallmark, of Amalek’s defeat – a fact reflected in the "casting of lots" from which Purim takes its name. Chance, Esther teaches us, is an illusion; God is in charge. Amalek may fight with iron but he is defeated with irony.

As was Streicher. In the days after Germany’s final defeat, an American major, Henry Blitt, en route to Berchesgaden, made an unplanned stop at a farmhouse just off the road. It was occupied by a short, bearded man.

"What do you think of the Nazis?" Blitt asked.

"I’m an artist," came the reply, "and have never bothered about politics."

"But you look like Julius Streicher!" Blitt joked, trying to make conversation.

"You recognized me?" the man blurted out incredulously, startling Blitt, who managed to compose himself and arrest his serendipitous catch.

Major Blitt, incidentally was Jewish.

Another happy irony in Streicher’s life involved the fate of his considerable estate. As reported in Stars and Stripes in late 1945, his considerable possessions were converted to cash and used to create an agricultural training school for Jews intending to settle in Palestine. Just as Haman’s riches, as recorded in the Book of Esther, were bestowed upon his nemesis Mordechai.

There is a good deal more of interest in the life of Julius Streicher to associate him with Jewish traditions about Amalek. But one of the most shocking narratives about him is the one concerning his death. Streicher was of one of the Nazis tried, convicted, and hanged at Nuremberg in 1946.

During the trial, Streicher remained disgustingly true to form. When the prosecution showed a film of the concentration camps as they had been found by the Allies, a spotlight was left on the defendants’ box for security reasons. Many present preferred to watch the defendants’ reactions rather than the mounds of bodies, matchstick limbs and common graves. Few of the defendants could bear to watch the film for long. Goering seemed calm at first, but eventually began to nervously wipe his sweaty palms. Schacht turned away; Ribbentrop buried his face in his hands. Keitel wiped his reddened eyes with a handkerchief. Only Streicher leaned forward throughout, looking anxiously at the film and excitedly nodding his head.

While no proof was found that Streicher had ever killed a Jew by his own hand, the tribunal nevertheless decided that his clear-cut incitement of others to the task constituted the act of a war criminal; and so he was sentenced, along with ten other defendants, to hang.

And hang he did. But not before taking the opportunity to share a few final words with the journalists present at the gallows. "Heil Hitler. Now I go to God," he announced. And then, just before the trap sprang open, he blurted out most clearly: "Purim Feast 1946!" – an odd thing to say in any event, but especially so on an October morning.

The "Amalek-irony" of the Nuremberg executions doesn’t end there, either. The Book of Esther recounts how Haman’s ten sons were hanged in Shushan. An eleventh child, a daughter, committed suicide earlier, according to an account in the Talmud. At Nuremberg, while eleven men were condemned to execution by hanging, only ten were actually hanged. The eleventh, the foppish, effeminate Goering, died in his cell only hours before the execution; he had crushed a hidden cyanide capsule between his teeth.

Something even more striking was noted by the late Belzer Rebbe. In scrolls of the Book of Esther, the names of the ten sons of Haman are unusually prominent; they are written in two parallel columns, a highly unusual configuration. Odder still is the fact that three letters in the list, following an unexplained halachic tradition, are written very small, and one very large. The large letter is the Hebrew character for the number six (Hebrew letters all have numeric values); the small letters, added together, yield the number 707. If the large letter is taken to refer to the millennium and 707 to the year in the millennium, something fascinating emerges. According to Jewish reckoning, the present year is 5762. The year 5707 – the 707th year in the sixth millennium – was the year we know as 1946, when ten sworn enemies of the Jewish people were hanged in Nuremberg, just as ten others had been in Shushan more than two thousand years earlier.

The Book of Esther, (9:13), moreover, refers to the hanging of Haman’s sons in the future tense, after the event had been recounted, presaging, it might seem, some hanging yet to happen.

To believing Jews, the Holocaust was the tip of an unimaginable iceberg of evil, stretching far and deep into the past even as one of its ugly tips punctured the relative peace of the modern world.

And so, as we prepare to celebrate Purim and the downfall of the Amalekite Haman, especially these days, when Jew-hatred has once again made itself manifest in the world, we would do well to ponder that the evil he represents may have been defeated at times throughout history but it has not yet been vanquished.

AM ECHAD RESOURCES

[Rabbi Avi Shafran serves as public affairs director for Agudath Israel of America]

Great News!

2009-03-01T04:20:00.001-08:00

Your favorite blog, Derech HaMelech, will be collaborating with Yeshivas Derech HaMelech to bring you exciting news and updates from the yeshiva in Yerushalyim!

Rav Brazil Spent Shabbos with Yeshivas Derech HaMelech

2009-03-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

The entire yeshiva came together this Shabbos, Parshas Yisro, along with the extended yeshiva community, kollel families, and friends from afar to enjoy an uplifting Shabbos experience with the renowned talmid chachom and singer, Rabbi Shmuel Brazil.

Rabbi Brazil led us in a beautiful kabalos Shabbos complete with singing and dancing which was followed by a seuda at the Tamir Hall.

During the seuda Rav Zucker spoke about the unique connection between Torah and music, paving the way for the events to come.

Guests came from far and wide, even flying in from the states, to hear Rabbi Brazil's world famous words of chizuk, and his original Torah insights which he shared with the olam at the late night tisch which followed the seuda. We sang together late into the night.

The olam came together again for shachris, mincha and shalosh seudas, and then motzie shabbos hundreds of guests came to join us for a melave malka where Rabbi Brazil enthralled the crowd with his music. It was a Shabbos none of us will ever forget.

For more info on the Shabbaton with R' Brazil click here: http://www.derechhamelech.org/

For the amazing Melave Malka with Rav Brazil Shlita

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The Soul of Shabbos by The Rebbe Reb Shlomo Carlebach

2009-02-20T04:09:00.001-08:00

"G-d created the world in six days and on Shabbos He rested."
What a sad translation! On Shabbos, G-d gave the world a soul.
On Shabbos G-d created the world of souls, of depth, of tasting
that which is most real. Shabbos is the Name of G-d.

The holy Shabbos, the most longed for day, is the day which
gives us the strength to begin again. Three things are called
chemda, which means longing and wanting in an absolute, crazy
way (holy craziness): Shabbos, the Torah, and Israel. A true Jew
is possessed by this holy, incurable craziness.

A Shabbos Test. If you want to know how much you like a person,
see if you can sit with the person without doing anything. Shabbos
is therefore given to you. Do nothing and show your love for Hashem.

The Mitzvah of Shabbos is Shabbos: When Shabbos comes I
am yearning to serve G-d in the most infinite way. During the week,
my finite and infinite self are apart. On Shabbos my finite and
infinite self are brought together by Shabbos -- the Mitzvah of
Shabbos is Shabbos itself. The Yid HaKodesh said: "Some people eat
fish on Shabbos and some eat Shabbos on Shabbos".

The Preciousness of Shabbos: The Socheshever Rebbe, the son-in-law
of the Kotzker Rebbe, said: "Imagine if I stop keeping Shabbos; I stop not
because I don't like the value Shabbos has, but because it is no longer
precious to me. So, when I do tshuvah I am to learn the preciousness of
Judaism." Anything that is given to you by G-d you don't receive, unless
you know how precious it is. I can be married, but if I don't know how
precious it is, it will be nothing.

"You can keep every Shabbos to the letter of
the law, but unless Shabbos reaches the
deepest and highest place in your heart.
you haven't kept Shabbos."

Shabbos Shalom: There are some moments when I have to feel
perfect, complete (shaleim). Six days a week I work like a dog and
can't have that feeling. On Shabbos I receive a divinely inspired
feeling of serenity, peacefulness, completeness -- Shabbos Shalom --
because of its holiness one feels perfection. This day will give
you the strength to 'fix' yourself during the week. You will know
what to 'fix' because you will have just experienced a period of time when
you had a complete soul.

Shabbos is back in Paradise. Paradise is a place where everything is good,
everything is holy, everything is beautiful. Paradise is a place where suddenly
it's clear to me that I can fix all my mistakes. And even more so, everything
I thought was a mistake, every street I thought was the wrong street was
the only way to get there.

When G-d drove Adam from Paradise, he retained part of his soul to remain
there. On Shabbos, G-d releases that part and gives it back to man. This is
our extra soul of Shabbos. On this day we are given the opportunity to return
to Paradise. The question is asked, where would Adam have gone on Shabbos
if he had not been driven out of Paradise? G-d would have taken him to
Jerusalem, the Jerusalem of High, which has not yet been revealed to us.
Paradise is a place I know from before; Jerusalem above, I have never
experienced. Now, I must be satisfied with Paradise on Shabbos; in the
future we hope to be brought to Jerusalem of High.

According to our holy tradition, on the Sabbath you have to be in a
higher place than during the week. Everybody knows that G-d
created Adam and Eve on Friday, before the Sabbath, on the sixth
day of creation. And according to our tradition, on that very
same day they ate of the forbidden fruit. and in just one second
before sunset they were driven out from Paradise.

But then, on the Sabbath, G-d took them back into Paradise. So
even if the world is driven out from Paradise during the other six
days of the week, on Shabbos the whole world has a chance to go
back to Paradise.

Shabbos has two faces. There is keeping the Shabbos holy, the thirty-nine
laws of Shabbos, the withdrawing from the world, a non-power kind of
like. But then there is the bliss of Shabbos, the inside of Shabbos, which
is a gift from Heaven. The bliss of Shabbos is even deeper than Paradise.
It's a secret between G-d and me, between me and the people I love so much.
Shabbos is peace because peace is secrets, secrets of the depths, of the
deepest depths. Secrets are the deepest G-d revelation. A true Shabbos
person is someone who walks the streets of the world and every human
being he sees, he shares a secret with. But with those he loves it's the
secret of all secrets.

On Shabbos we say, "Shabbos hi milzok, refuah krovah livoh."
Shabbos is the deepest healing in the world. Our holy rabbis teach us
that a doctor can only heal a foot or hand; they cannot replace it with
a new one. But Shabbos, on a spiritual level, gives us back our hands
and feet. Not only this, Shabbos gives us new minds, new eyes and
new ears, gevalt!

Shabbos is the strongest vitamin because its nutrients are those which
can heal the soul. On Shabbos, new energy is coming
down from Heaven. But the energy and its spiritual nutrients
refuses to be received in dirty vessels. There are many ways we can
do the cleansing and purification on our own. But for those of us
who can't do even that, so for one second before Shabbos purity
and holiness also descend into the world. Happy are those who can
receive it and fill their heart with it.

Shabbos is the highest energy center in the world. It's not a day
when you're not doing anything. Shabbos is the day when your soul
is at the most, most high. What's the most precious possession of
a human being? According to Rebbe Nachman, it's our thoughts,
what we can imagine with our minds and hearts.

On Shabbos our thoughts have to be so high, so heavenly that
we can talk to G-d. And not only to G-d, but people, too! Because
if you can't feel close to someone standing next to you, to someone
you can see with your eyes, then how can you feel close to someone
you can't see? And the more you look at people with great love, the
more you can see G-d in everyone. But whether we look at people
with great love or not, whether our thoughts are heavenly or not,
on Shabbos something happens to the world -- the world becomes
infinite again.

Shabbos is different from all other holidays. The Gemara explains
that if there were no Jews in the world, there would be no Jewish
holidays. But Shabbos will always exist, even if there be no Jew to
observe it, because on Shabbos something happens to the world,
G-d opens the gates, and something so holy comes from heaven
down to us, and all we have to do is pick it up.

The Zohar HaQodesh asks, how did Noah have the strength to resist
a world that was rotten to the core? When everyone around him
seemed perverted and crazy, Noah and his family held out alone, right?
Where did he get the strength from?

Well, the name "Noah" is the same as the Hebrew word for "rest". The
Zohar HaQodesh says that Noah wanted to serve G-d, Noah wanted to keep
Shabbos. Since nobody else picked up the power that came down from
heaven, Noah and his family could take it all! And that's how he had the
strength to resist the world. He had the power of the world in his bones.

So, every Shabbos, imagine if you would pick up from the world the
power of heaven. Imagine how much strength you would get, how
much holiness you could put in your bones.

According to the great Kabbalists, water was never created; it
always was just there. In the Book of Genesis it never says that G-d
created water. Water has the power of "Beyond Creation", the power
to wash you clean and make everything grow. Our rabbis teach us
that in order to really feel the blessing of Shabbos you have first
to immerse in the mikveh.

The Lights of Shabbos: The lights that our Mother Sarah lit were burning
from Friday to Friday. When I kindle a light in the week, anyone can blow
it out. However, Friday night, the lighting of the candles is performed
with such spiritual strength, that their glow lasts from Friday to Friday.
According to our logic, the light of Shabbos, G-d's light, is so
infinitely powerful what can the candle add? But this is one of the
fixings of Eve's eating of the tree of Knowledge. Because it isn't true
that the candle is insignificant. According to the Tree of Life every
candle makes the light more infinite and more deep. G-d's light is
like a Picasso, it is so beyond beautiful that it can't reach inside my
soul. But a painting of my own sweetest Dari has the light of the
little candle of Shabbos that mamash tears my heart apart.

Shabbos comes and Shabbos is everywhere. You can't walk out on Shabbos.
But this is only on the Outside. Kabbalos Shabbos, we are making
ourselves into vessels to receive Shabbos into the deepest most
Inside depths of our soul.

Friday night is the fixing of jealousy. Jealousy comes from thinking
that someone can take your place or your portion. And in the deepest
depths it's my own emptiness, my own incapability to retain what
G-d is giving me. But Friday night, when my heart becomes so full,
so overflowing full, like the wine from the Kiddush, jealousy is wiped
out from my heart, and hopefully, eventually, from the heart of mankind.

The feast of Friday night is the ultimate fixing of the Tree of
Knowledge. We are mamash transforming it into the Tree of Life.
The Holy Ba'al Shem says that whoever is up Friday night
celebrating Shabbos will not leave this world without completing the
fixing which he came down in this for.

Shabbos morning is the fixing of grabbing. Because what G-d gives me
I don't have to steal and I don't even have to take; it's given to me. A
slave takes, a king receives.

The third meal of Shabbos is the fixing of self-esteem, of honor, of giving
up hope. The third meal is like the World to Come, when the world will be
filled with G-d's glory, with the glory of every human being, when the honor
of a child is enough to fill the whole universe with the deepest of G-d's honor.

Shalos Seudos, the Third Meal before you say goodbye to Shabbos, is
the deepest of all. It's when you say goodbye to the One you love that it's
clear to you how much He means to you, Our holy rabbis teach us that
all day Shabbos is just Shabbos. The Third Meal is Shabbos and Yom
Kippur. It's a must for everyone to spend the last hour of Shabbos in
the deepest emotion.

After saying goodbye to Shabbos, we make ourselves a little concert
and partake in the Feast of King David who lives forever. The Feast of
King David gives us the strength to keep Shabbos alive until the next
Shabbos comes.

Shabbos is the deepest healing in the world. Our holy rabbis teach us that
a doctor can only heal a foot or a hand; he cannot give you a new one. But
Shabbos, on the spiritual level, gives you back your hands and your feet. It
gives you new brains, new eyes, new ears -- what a gevalt, Shabbos.

Friday night is the time of seeing, of discovering the unbelievable beauty
and sweetness of the world of the Torah, of people, and above all, those I
love the most. Shabbos morning is a time of tasting. It's even deeper than
seeing. Most people love each other. But tasting each other's soul, each
other's depths -- that is Shabbos morning. The third meal, and, finally,
Havdalah, is smelling, inhaling the fragrance, the beauty which is beyond
seeing and tasting, the kind of depth which only my soul can fathom.
Happy are those who walk the streets of the world with the fragrance of
Shabbos.

G-d created the world in six days and on Shabbos He rested. What a
sad translation! On Shabbos G-d gave the world a soul. On Shabbos G-d
created a world of souls, of depth, of tasting that which is most real.

Shabbos invites all those who need new energy, all those who have been
broken by the world of the six days, who need the world of Shabbos to
make their brokenness whole again.

Shabbos invites all those who have so far only felt the pain of life and
are crying for the joy, the bliss, the unbelievable heavenliness of being
alive in a world created by G-d.

Shabbos invites all those who are tired of walking slowly, who only
cover a spiritual inch per lifetime on their journeys. Shabbos invites
all those who have traveled through the valleys of sadness, of waiting
and waiting all the time. Shabbos is to get to the top of the mountain
in one second, and there discover even higher mountains that we may have
never ever seen before.

Shabbos invites all those who know, who experienced so much
sweetness, so much holiness in life, but it's clear to them this
cannot be all G-d wants to give them. Isn't G-d infinite? Isn't
life infinite? Shabbos is the name of G-d.

Will you accept the invitation of Shabbos?

Mei Shiloach on Vayechi from www.kolbrisk.com

2009-01-10T17:37:00.000-08:00

Parshas Vayechi (based on the Mei HaShiloach)

The Conclusion

Vayechi Yaakov b'eretz Mitzrayim shva esrei shana,

And Yaakov lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years.

Chazal teach us that these seventeen years were the most
wonderful years of Yaakov Avinu's life. They were "mai'ain
olam habah", they possessed the quality of the world-to-come;
years of total peace and unity in his family, years of
material prosperity and most of all, years of great spiritual
blessing and achievement.

Perhaps the greatest, most touching moment in the life of
Yaakov Avinu occurs in this parasha, as all his sons, the
twelve shvatim, gather around his bedside. Yaakov Avinu
veiws them, unsure and afraid. He had invested his entire
turbulent lifetime and all the resources that he had in their
upbringing, in order to bring up a family of twelve perfect
tzaddikim, in order that a nation be established on this
earth to fulfill the Divine Will.

But a human being is so complex. Each child's personality is
different, for each child reveals a diverse aspect of the
parent's personality. Even characteristics and thoughts
deeply embedded and concealed in the recesses of the
subconsious show up in a person's offspring..

All the shvatim came together before their father and waited
to be blessed. Yaakov Avinu looked on at them with great
trepidation. Were they all committed to serving HaKadosh
Baruch Hu, all twelve sons, each so different and distinctive
in his personality and his way?

Suddenly, the silence was broken.

The shvatim called out spontaneously and simultaneously,

Sh'ma Yisrael Hashem Elokainu Hashem Echad!

Listen Yisrael; Hashem who is Our G-d, Hashem is One!
Don't worry, Yisrael (referring to their father), although we
are twelve individuals, we are all united in our loyalty and
committment to serving Hashem Echad.

Yaakov Avinu then knew for sure that the goal of his entire
long and troubled life was realized. HaKadosh Baruch Hu
revealed to him at this moment that Yaakov Avinu had
established the foundations for the nation that would
demonstrate and teach the world the Unity of Hashem
Yisbarach.

Overcome with gratitude and with great joy, Yaakov Avinu
cried out,

Baruch Shem K'vod Malchuso l'olam va'ed!!!

Blessed be the Honored Name of His Majesty for ever and
ever!!!

There is a very important message to be learned from Parashas
Vayechi:

When we examine ourselves in comparison to previous
generations, our accomplishments seem so trivial, puny and
sparse. In addition, the issues and challenges we face seem
so elementary and insignificant! Our intellectual, spiritual
and even physical resourses are so vastly diminished and
depleted, compared to those of even one generation ago.

The lesson of Parasha Vayechi is never to loose heart, never
chas veshalom to despair.

As explained above, it was in Parashas Vayechi, in Galus,
that Yaakov Avinu and the shvatim achieved their greatest
heights.

Furthermore we are taught that although the generations keep
on becoming smaller in spiritual quantity, the hearts are
steadily becoming more pure.

And what does HaKodosh Baruch want of us??

Rachmana liba ba'ay.

Only to try our best with sincere hearts.

Chazak chazak Venischazek.

A gutten Erev Shabbos from Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh

War in Gaza

2009-01-08T03:49:00.001-08:00

Great article from the Jerusalem Post.

IDF Rabbinate uses scriptures to boost soldiers' morale

Jan. 8, 2009
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST

In what some called the theologizing of warfare and others called a boost to Jewish battle morale, 10,000 MP3s with recorded sermons of encouragement by the chief rabbis of Israel were prepared this week for distribution to combat soldiers - religious and secular, Jewish and gentile - presently serving in Gaza.

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger, citing Maimonides (1135-1204), the Jewish philosopher and legalist, urged soldiers to "trust in God and know that war is being waged for the sanctification of His name... and not to fear. [The soldier] should not think at this time of his wife or of his children or of his mother and father."

Meanwhile, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar called the military campaign in Gaza "a holy mission that is being waged in the name of the entire Jewish people."

"Even when we walk in the valley of darkness God is with us," said Amar, paraphrasing Psalms. "Like a little boy in the dark who hugs his father so too should you soldiers cleave to God."

Another spiritual leader, Chief Rabbi of Safed Shmuel Eliyahu, son of former chief rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, was also recorded on the MP3s to be distributed to soldiers.

"Our intention is to uplift soldiers' spirits," said Eliyahu, who likened Hamas to Haman in the biblical story of Ester and to the Nazis.

The recording of the rabbis and plans for the distribution of the MP3 were organized by the IDF's Jewish Consciousness Field (JCF) [Tchum Toda'ah Yehudit], a division of the IDF's Rabbinate.

An anonymous donor or group of donors provided the IDF with the MP3s free of charge.

In addition to the MP3s, the JCF also distributed to IDF rabbis in the field in Gaza a pamphlet entitled "Jewish Consciousness Emphases for Cast Lead."

In the pamphlet, the IDF rabbis are addressed as "Anointed Priests of War."

In the introduction, Shmuel Yurman, an officer in the JCF, defines the purpose of the pamphlet.

"This is the hour to strengthen our fighters in this heavenly commanded war [milchemet mitzva] that they have the merit to wage. Each of you [rabbis] has the knowledge and skills needed to contribute to the IDF battle spirit.

"Nevertheless, in order to enlighten and focus the spiritual message, JCF learned and prepared itself for this war before the operation began and as it was being fought. In meetings with soldiers and officers on the southern front we listened to the spiritual needs. We wrote down the emphases of Jewish Consciousness that are needed during warfare."

In the body of the pamphlet, Rabbi Tzadok Ben-Artzi, head of the JCF, argues for the justification of the war.

"We, the people who contributed to the world the book of books, who want to build a society based on creativity and peace, love of mankind and faith in good, find ourselves chased by blind hatred that is motivated by 'religious' terminology and aspires to bloodshed and cruelty."

In a list of main points, Ben-Artzi recommends that IDF rabbis emphasize that the war Israel is fighting is justified because its aim is "to save the Jewish people from its enemies," a halachic definition mentioned by Maimonides.

Another point made by Ben-Artzi is that the war in Gaza is part of a much larger mission designated for the Jewish people to eradicate evil in the world. This idea is based on the teachings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of Israel and the founding father of modern religious Zionism, and his son Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, who founded Gush Emunim.

According to the elder Kook, in his book Orot, "When there is a great war in the world the power of Messiah is aroused…the wicked perish from the world and the world is invigorated and the voice of the turtledove is heard."

Contemporary religious Zionist rabbis such as Rabbi Yehuda Zoldan, formerly of Gush Katif who teaches at Machon Lev, see the war with radical Islam as battle to wipe evil off the face of the earth.

Military sociologist Dr. Yagil Levy, of The Open University, called the use of rabbinic literature to support soldiers' morale a "theologizing of the army."

Levy said that since the appointment of OC Chaplaincy Brig.-Gen. Avichai Ronzki in March, 2006 the IDF's rabbinate has been taking over functions normally carried out by the IDF's Education Division.

"Ronzki wants IDF missions to receive theological, and not just rational, justification," said Levy. "He has pushed for getting IDF rabbis to serve alongside soldiers and officers and he has expanded their roles to include outreach to secular soldiers."

Levy said that it was unclear whether or not the IDF was taking steps to curtail the influence of the JCF and the rabbinate.

"Today the IDF is so dependent on religious soldiers in combat units that it is unclear whether it is possible to take steps against Ronzki," he said. Levy added that from a utilitarian perspective the theologizing of military missions advances the IDF's interests.

"When we are fighting in Gaza it is very beneficial to utilize religion," Levy said. "Soldiers are very ambitious and motivated. Religious people also seem to deal with loss better judging from the rhetoric of religious families at funerals.

"They accept their loss and don't question the justification of the military operation that resulted in the death of their loved ones. But when it comes to evacuating Hebron things are not so simple.

In the past, Ronzki has rejected criticism to his attempts to expand the influence of Jewish Consciousness.

In a letter that he wrote to IDF rabbis at the beginning of November in response to a series of investigative articles that appeared in Haaretz about the JCF, Ronzki defends the IDF rabbinate's right to "imbue soldiers with Jewish spirit and consciousness."

In the letter, portions of which were published in Haaretz, Ronzki admitted that "recently there has been dispute between the Education Division and us [the rabbinate] but it is clear that we, as military rabbis, are supposed to deal with helping soldiers to internalize Jewish values, spirit and consciousness as presented in Jewish sources. This is our main function as rabbis."

Ronzki said that in meetings with dozens of combat officers in the months before becoming chief IDF rabbi, he was told that the main purpose of the IDF rabbinate is to "teach us, men who did not grow up in a religious household, what Judaism is."

In the past, IDF rabbis focused primarily on providing services to religious soldiers. They were responsible for kashrut supervision, prayers, religious burials and an occasional sermon on Shabbat and holidays.

However, the IDF's Rabbinate under Ronzki has tapped into biblical and rabbinic literature that deals with the theological and philosophical aspects of warfare in an attempt to create a genuinely Jewish culture of war.

Erev Shabbos Chanukah Rosh Chodesh Parashas Miketz

2008-12-26T12:35:00.000-08:00

This is such a gevaldik Torah from one of my rebbes I had to post it. Archives can be found at http://www.secjerusalem.org/torah.html. Have a spectacular, loving, light filled Shabbos, Chanukah, Rosh Chodesh.

Torah Thoughts from Jerusalem

The Impossible Dream

If there is a theme that seems to run through the Torah portions that are always read in an around the festival of “Hanukah”, it is the importance of dreams. A good portion of the second half of “Bereisheet” deals with dreams. First there is the famous dream of Jacob where he sees angels ascending and descending a ladder. Then we read about the dreams of his son Joseph where he sees sheaves of wheat and the sun moon and stars bowing to him. In last week’s Torah portion we read about the dreams of the butler and the baker that Joseph meets in the Egyptian jail cell. Finally in this week’s portion of “Miketz” we will read about the dreams of Pharaoh of scrawny cows devouring healthy ones. Joseph not only emerges as a first class dreamer but as an expert of dream interpretation. One would almost think that the second part of Bereisheet is a psychology manual on dreams and their meanings.

Why does the Torah have such a pre-occupation with dreams? More specifically why do we always read about dreams during the festival of “Hanukah”?

The answer to that question is actually quite scientific. There is a great deal of research that has been done on dreams and dreaming. What most observations show is that we dream during Rapid Eye Movement sleep known as “REM”. What many people don’t know is that when we sleep, and more specifically when we dream, it is when the greatest amounts of growth hormone is secreted. These were the findings of a team of scientists from the Washington University School of Medicine in an article entitled “Growth Hormone Secretion during Sleep” (Y. Takahashi, D. M. Kipnis and W. H. Daughaday).

Of course as a Rabbi who is always trying to find the spiritual message behind everything, it is hard to overlook the philosophical significance of this scientific finding. What these findings are telling us is that not only do we grow physically through dreaming but without the ability to dream we cannot grow spiritually either. To dream is to grow. To dream is to have aspirations. To dream is an inherent part of what being Jewish is all about. Had the Jewish people stopped dreaming, we would have been gone long ago.

The importance of dreams in Jewish thought can also be seen by a number of statements made by our Rabbis. They devoted a considerable amount of time to the importance of dreams. In the Talmud, the final chapter of the Tractate of “Berakhot” is devoted largely to the subject of dreams and their interpretations. In that same chapter the Rabbis made the following statements, “Dreams are one sixtieth of prophesy” (Talmud Berakhot 57b). A more radical statement is made in the name of Rabbi Ze-era who states the following, “Any person who goes seven days without dreaming is called bad” (Ibid 58b).

The importance our Rabbis placed on dreams can also be seen in a number of laws that were enacted to offset bad dreams. The Talmud also explains that a special prayer to annul bad dreams can be said during the time that the “Kohanim” are blessing the people during the morning prayers. These are all but a few examples.

Yes dreams play an important role in Jewish thought and even more so they play an important role in Jewish history. Our nation has always been filled with dreamers who have always reminded us that no matter how dark the reality is we can never stop dreaming of a better one.

Yes Joseph was the greatest dreamer of all. In the pit of an Egyptian prison cell he dared to dream of a better day where he would leave the prison and become an important leader. In the solitude of Egypt he dared to dream that the day would come where he would be reunited with his family. In the heresy of Egypt he dared say that everything he did and stood for was not for personal gain but for G-d’s glory. And in a far away place his father Jacob also never stopped dreaming that the day would come where he would see his beloved son. In fact at the end of his life when he blesses his children Jacob says the following to Joseph, “I had never dreamed (Pilalti) that I would ever see your face and behold now G-d has shown me your children”. How interesting that the word Jacob uses for “the thoughts of his dreams” is “Pilalti” which is the same root as the word “Tefilah” which means prayer. The association is very powerful. For is not prayer a state of wakeful dreaming where we are filled with aspirations and the hopes and dreams of what we want our lives to become.

It is for this reason that the Torah in the latter part of Bereisheet devotes so much time to dreams, and it is also the reason why we read these portions around the time of the festival of “Hanukah”.

The holiday of “Hanukah” is all about dreaming. Who would have thought that the Jews who, as we say in our prayers, were few could stand up to the mighty army of the Greeks? Weren’t those Jews crazy, why would they endanger their lives and the lives of their families in a war that on paper was hopeless? What in the world got into the minds of the “Macabim” to fight such a preposterous battle? The answer is their dreams. Like Joseph before them they were not afraid of the impossible. They too dreamt of better times where they would be free and the Land of Israel would once again return to Jewish hands.

In fact if we are looking for a “Hanukah” hero, let me suggest that it was a crazy “Kohen” who had to be a dreamer. The Talmud (Shabbat 21a) explains that we celebrate the festival of “Hanukah” for eight days because when the Macabim freed the Temple they found that all the olive oil used to light the Menorah was defiled. But they searched and found one small jar hidden and sealed with the stamp of the High Priest. It had only enough oil to light for one day but instead it lit for eight days. And so we celebrate every year the festival of lights.

But who was that crazy “Kohen” who had the foresight to hide that one small jar of oil. What was he thinking as everything around him was going up in flames and the mightiest army of the world was overtaking the Temple? Didn’t he have anything better to do than to hide one little jar of oil? Dear friends he was a dreamer and he is the true hero of the “Hanukah” story. It is because of his dream that we celebrate today.

Dear friends the message of Hanukah is “never stop dreaming”. Today we find ourselves in darkness. A huge financial crisis hangs over our heads, corruption is everywhere, terrorism is rampant, and no one has yet to offer the solution. If there was ever a time to dream it is now. Who can forget the words of Martin Luther King when he said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Today America has a black president. Was someone just dreaming? Perhaps yes, but today that dream is a reality.

Wishing you all a Happy Hanukah

Rabbi Yosef Benarroch

SEC Jerusalem