Parshas Va’eschanan: Love and fear of Hashem

The Rav זי’’ע, Rav Soloveitchik asked a basic question. We are accustomed to speaking about the term אהבת השם, loving God himself. This connoted an affinity, or rapport so to speak with God. Yet, the concept of fearing God, which whilst also described as יראת השם is used in the vernacular using the more common יראת שמים, fear of heaven. We don’t find our vernacular expressing the term אהבת שמים. Purely from a symmetric consideration, we would expect that to also be a term used in our speech and prayer.

Indeed, the Pasuk says explicitly

ואהבת את השם אלוקיך

The Rav explains this difference in terminology in terms of the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva (10:6). There the Rambam explains that the level of love that the Jew can attain with God is proportional to his understanding of God’s essence. With a heightened and more sophisticated and fuller understanding of God, one is able to love him to a greater extent than before that understanding is understood, internalised and appreciated. The way in which one understand, and gains a further understanding of God has its own nuanced approaches by various sub-groups within Judaism.

The Rambam explains that a person needs to seclude themselves so to speak, and think deeply about his connection and the nature of that connection to achieve this love, and thereby closeness to Hashem himself. Love then is an effect that brings one closer to God. The more we delve, the closer and more  loving we become.

יראה fear, however is a feeling of distance. It is an awe-laden recognition of the distance between the power and majesty of God and a mere mortal. The more one cognates over this concept, the further and more fearful one becomes of the veneration and wonderment. It is for this reason that it is natural to use the term יראת שמים fear of heaven. As one develops their Jewish character, in respect of יראה, the human condition is seen to be afraid and fleeing in the same way that the sky is beyond us and hangs over us unpredictably from day-to-day.

One cannot, according to the Rav see as an outgrowth of love, אהבה, anything other than a  journey of closeness and approachability. יראה, as important as it is, is about the fearful distance which we can’t lessen, as שלמה המלך said

אחכמה והיא רחוקה ממני

As wise as one may become, there is the dichotomous distance through יראה and closeness through אהבה.

The Rav

Pick the two dogs

Doing the reverse Nazi Salute

20140806-232036-84036011.jpg

Why are they wearing one glove each? The picture was taken from a phone.

They are here. Stand strong

(Hat tip floba)

See this

Haredim Enlist! Good stuff

This is from here by Elchanan Miller

An unusual advertisement appeared on a number of ultra-Orthodox websites at the end of last week. “A group of Yeshiva students is organizing to volunteer with the reserves. Want to join?” it read.

“We believe that the people of Israel are in the midst of an obligatory war against ruthless enemies who seek to annihilate us,” the ad continued, using biblical language for a battle that all Jews are obligated to fight.

“We believe it is a great privilege to join the military effort, in addition to our important contribution through Torah study. We too yearn for this precious mitzvah.”

The message was an outlier in a community where army service is still taboo. Israel’s ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi community, which comprises 10 percent of the country’s total population, has traditionally shied away from service. From the founding of Israel until this year, Haredi men could postpone their mandatory military conscription indefinitely, as long as they were registered for study in a high religious institution, or kolel. This de-facto exemption ended when a new universal conscription law drafted by Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition passed in the Knesset on March 12. A three-year transitional period, ending in 2017, allows men exempted from service in the past to continue avoiding the draft.

The advertisement, published on two leading Haredi news sites, sends applicants to an online form inquiring about age, marital status and employment status.

“There is no risk of the army drafting you for service if you’re exempt, or that you will get stuck in the army against your will,” the advertisement reassures worried inquirers.

An ultra-Orthodox man walks past the army recruiting office in Jerusalem, July 22, 2013 photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)

Yossef, a 40-year-old father of six from Jerusalem who serves as the initiative’s publicity coordinator, told The Times of Israel that the online campaign has garnered 500 volunteers since the ad went online Friday, with new people stepping forward every day.

He estimated that a total of 1,500-2,000 will end up signing on for two possible tracks: a combat track for younger, unmarried men to be trained with new immigrants and to join existing fighting units; and a shorter track for older volunteers, comprising multiple-day basic training followed by a commitment to volunteer in the reserves 12 days a year for five years.

He said senior officers within the military have expressed excitement about the idea. A request to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit for comment was not answered.

“The volunteer position must be significant, otherwise it’s pointless,” Yossef told The Times of Israel. “It’s not just something symbolic for us to check off and say, ‘Look, we came to serve in the army.’ People really want to contribute, and not simply as watchdogs in some remote installation. The volunteers also need satisfaction in their work.”

The initiative was the brainchild of five adult students based in Jerusalem, who have long debated the idea of volunteering for the army. The kidnapping and killing of three Israeli teenagers in June, and IDF Operation Brother’s Keeper, which ensued in the West Bank, spurred them into action.

‘The ultra-Orthodox see those giving their lives in battle and want to contribute too,’ Yossef said

“The ultra-Orthodox see those giving their lives in battle and want to contribute too,” he said. “It’s true we feel that the study of Torah is the greatest contribution we can make to the people of Israel, but one doesn’t replace the other. [Military service] doesn’t contradict our contribution through Torah study.”

But volunteering for the army is, Yossef acknowledged, also a show of defiance against a government that has decided to shove service down their throats. If Haredim were given a mass exemption from the army, many would volunteer to serve in the IDF and join the workforce, and “70 percent of yeshivot (religious institutions) would empty,” he said.

“We wanted to show both the army and our own public that there is a different way of doing things,” Yossef added, withholding his real name and the names of the other initiators, for fear of an angry backlash from hardliners within his community. “The forced draft is a big mistake on the part of the state, but no one — neither the rabbis, nor anyone else — can say anything against volunteering for the IDF reserves. It’s just like volunteering with the police, Magen David Adom (the Israeli ambulance service) or Zaka (the Haredi disaster victim identification organization). It doesn’t harm the Haredi lifestyle.”

Haredi recruits march during a swearing-in ceremony at Ammunition Hill, Jerusalem, May 26, 2012 photo credit: Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

The IDF has been trying to convince the ultra-Orthodox for years that military service and the Haredi way of life are not mutually exclusive. In 2002 it created the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, formerly known as Nahal Haredi, where ultra-observant men can volunteer to serve as combat soldiers in a unisex environment, eating strictly supervised kosher food and dedicating time for prayer and Torah study. But critics of the program say it caters to those on the fringes of Haredi society, not those at its heart.

Yossef believes that the volunteer track into the IDF will prove much more successful in the long run than the draft approved by the Knesset earlier this year. For that reason, he opined, some elements in the Haredi community fear this experiment. Dozens of hate messages have arrived with the online application forms over the past week.

“If we expose any names, those people’s children will be thrown out of their Haredi schools because the extremists will go threaten the schoolmasters,” he said.

“It’s not a simple thing we’re doing,” concluded Yossef, one of relatively few Haredim who served in the IDF and reserves. “But it’s very inspiring. Even though I’ve been discharged, I think I’ll join the first training course. This is something special.”

In the company of heroes

[Hat tip MT]

Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 9:25:25 AM
Subject: In The company of heroes

Yesterday I had the great privilege of accompanying Major General ( Ret) Avigdor Kahalani to an artillery battalion, somewhere in the war zone. General Kahalani is one of Israel’s greatest war heroes, a veteran of the Six Day War, The Yom Kippur War and the First Lebanon War. It is not an exaggeration to say that were it not for the actions of Avigdor Kahalani and the men under his command, the Syrians, who had already taken most of the Golan Heights, would have been able to push into Northern Israel, and the fate, not only of the war but, of the State of Israel would have been very much in doubt. Instead, Kahalani and those under his command were instrumental, not only in recapturing the Golan Heights, but pushed deep into Syrian territory until they literally were within artillery range of Damascus. It was a feat almost unheard of in the annals of modern warfare, in which a country recovered from a devastating Pearl Harbor like attack, were confronted with totally new tactics by a well-trained, superbly well-armed adversary, adjusted to the new realities, counter attacked, and within two and a half weeks were on the outskirts of the attacking force’s capital. Quite simply, General Kahalani and others like him, saved Israel. At the end of his military career, General Kahalani entered politics, was elected to Israel’s Parliament, served as an inner circle cabinet minister, and participated in some of the Israeli government’s most critical debates and decisions. After retiring from the political arena Kahalani became the Chairmen of AWIS, the Association for the Welfare of Israel’s soldiers.

It was in that capacity that he went out to meet with the soldiers serving,  under fire, in the field. For those young soldiers it was a chance to meet a living legend, as close as Israel has to Patton or MacArthur. I thought he was going to give them a sort of pep talk, though their spirits didn’t need any rallying.

I’ve been in the Israel Defense Forces for forty years,  and I’ve never seen morale so high, and never seen the country so united behind its soldiers. The other day I was in a restaurant at a crossroad just before the Gaza border. It’s sort of the last place to get a good meal before you hit the border into no man’s land. I was hungry as your basic honey badger, and had ordered a huge meal, knowing it would probably be the only chance I’d have to eat that day. When I went to pay the bill the waitress said it had already been taken care of.

“ Somebody bought me lunch? “ I asked , wanting to thank my benefactor.

“ No “ she said, “ Somebody picked up the bill for every soldier here.” There were easily fifty soldiers eating lunch there.” It happens like that every day, now” she said and smiled.

I’ve had total strangers take me in, offer me a bathrobe while they washed my uniform, feed me, literally offer me their beds to sleep in and their bathrooms to shower in. Amazing… amazing.

So the troops didn’t need a pep talk.

But what Kahalani told them, I found extraordinary.

He spoke quietly.

So quietly the young soldiers leaned forward to catch ever word and when he spoke it was with a conviction that came straight from his heart and went straight into the hearts of all of those who heard him.

“ We never taught you to hate.” He said, “

Not this army, not the Israel Defense Forces. We never taught you to hate. And there are armies in the world who do that. And I don’t know, maybe it works to a degree, maybe by hating the enemy, you are a fiercer fighter. I don’t know. But we never taught you that. And I’ll tell you why. If we teach you to hate, you can’t undo that. You’ll come back from the war and  it won’t be the “ enemy”, it will be your brother in law, or your neighbor or your former friend. Once you teach people to hate, they’ll find someone to hate. So we never taught you that” .

Suddenly he was speaking, not like a General but like a loving father to his much loved sons and daughters.

” We never taught you that. You know why you’re here. It’s not to hate anybody. It’s to defend your people, your homes and your families. Each of you has to feel as if the whole fate of the whole people of Israel is on your shoulders. Each of you holds that fate in your hands. But it’s not about hatred. And now you’ve inherited that tradition from my generation, and you’ll be the ones to continue it. But those who inherit have a responsibility. I know you won’t disappoint me.”

That was the pep talk from Israel’s Patton during a cruel and vicious war that was forced upon us by an equally cruel and vicious adversary, Hamas.
The pep talk was , Don’t hate. Do what you need to do to defend your homes, your families and your people. But don’t hate.

To the Palestinian people of Gaza : We don’t hate you. We don’t wish you ill. We want only to live in peace side by side with you. When you come out of wherever you’ve been able to take refuge, ask yourself why Hamas never built you any shelters to protect you. They’re great at digging tunnels after all. They’ve dug them under our border, intending to murder as many of our civilians as possible; our women and children, gathered in agricultural village dining halls. Not soldiers, not warriors, but our women and children and old people.

So they’re good at building tunnels.

Why didn’t they build any for you to take shelter in?

Then look at your neighborhoods, which are destroyed now because they housed the entrance points to those tunnels, not next to your homes but IN your homes!

They were turned your homes and neighborhoods into rocket launching sites and weapons storage depots. Not by accident, but to make you vulnerable, to insure, in fact , that you would be in harm’s way no matter how many warnings Israel issued before it attacked. Ask why Hamas told you to ignore those warnings and that it was your duty to stay in those neighborhoods which they had turned into military targets.

Ask yourself why Hamas didn’t accept the Egyptian Cease fire proposal which would have prevented the ground invasion and all the subsequent death and destruction.

It wasn’t a Zionist plot.

It was an Egyptian proposal, endorsed by the Arab League and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. AND ISRAEL ACCEPTED IT IMMEDIATELY AND UNCONDITIONALLY!!

It was Hamas which rejected it by launching a massive rocket attack, followed up by four separate terrorist tunnel attacks aimed not at our soldiers but at our women and children, who were meant to be murdered, maimed and taken hostage, dragged back through those tunnels into Gaza, so Khaled Mashal could declare a Divine Victory,from a five star hotel in Qatar while you eat the dust of Gaza.

Look at your neighborhoods.

How’s Hamas’s Holy War working out for you?

Are your lives better?

Do your children have a better future?

Do they have ANY future but suffering?

Hamas and their ilk have been trying to drive us into the sea for over a hundred years now.

How’s that working out for you?

Look at your lives and look at ours.

Despite not knowing one day of peace, our cities are beautiful, our women are gorgeous, our men handsome, our children, the apple of our eyes, our industry flourishes, our start up nation is the envy of the world. Our sense of personal happiness , though we have been constant victims of terrorist attacks and war, is amongst the highest of any people on earth. We live longer, have more college graduates, more computers more scientific papers published, more artists , musicians, scientists and entrepreneurs per capita than almost any place on earth. Our cows produce more milk than any other dairy cattle. Our agriculture exists almost entirely on reclaimed water and no country on earth does more with desalinized water than Israel. Draughts which would destroy another country have no affect on us. And we’ve done all that despite Hamas and their ilk’s stated plans to destroy us

. You’ve  gone to war against us three times in the last five years.

You’ve initiated each one and we’ve begged you before each , not to launch more rockets at us.

But each time you were promised a new divine victory.

The rockets would be the sword that would defeat us.

We invented Iron Dome.

The tunnels would be Hamas’s “ surprise” that would “open the gates of hell to us”

We’re inside those tunnels right now. Blowing them up.

And who has paid the bitterest price?

You.

Is it worth it? Are you getting something out of all this?

Here’s an idea. You’ve tried war three times in five years? Try something new.

Try peace.

You don’t even have to call it peace. .

Just stop trying to kill us and prepare to be amazed at how good your lives will become..

But what about the siege?

The so called “ siege” which is nothing more than a sanction regime, was put in place BECAUSE YOU KEEP TRYING TO KILL US!

So stop.

You’re smart people. You’re industrious people. Stop trying to kill us and  you won’t need to be a martyr to get into Paradise. You’ll have Paradise on earth. You can become the Singapore of the Middle East. You have beautiful beaches that can be developed for tourism. You’re on the Mediterranean for Goodness sake! You are creative and hard working and talented. Put those talents to use at trying to improve your lives instead of trying to end ours.

You will become the gateway between Europe and the Middle East. There are donors lined up and waiting to offer you a Marshal Plan that will make your lives sweet. The plan that Khaled Mashal has for you, however, leads only to death.

You don’t even have to love us.

You don’t even have to like us.

In fact you can continue to hate us, if that gives you some sort of emotional comfort. It won’t bother us. Knock yourselves out. Just stop trying to kill us

When Hamas tells you it’s a Holy War tell them to read the Quran. The Sura of The Children of Israel; Sura 17:104, “ And we said to the Children of Israel, Dwell securely in the Promised Land, and when the last warning comes,  we will gather you together in a mingled crowd”

THAT’S US!!

How much more mingled can we get? We’ve been gathered together , not just according to our prophecy, but to yours!

We come from every corner of the earth, because for two thousand years every Jew on Earth, who celebrates Passover of Yom Kippur, be they black white, brown or any of the rainbow hues the make up our people, says, “ Next Year in Jerusalem”.

So read THAT part of the Quran when they tell you to strap a suicide belt onto your son or daughter..

And for all your supporters and enablers, for those who march to end the death and destruction, if you really care about the Palestinians of Gaza, as you claim to, just tell them to try to stop trying to kill us.

Give it a decade.

Try it.

We’re not going anywhere. You won’t defeat us. You won’t destroy us. You won;t cast us into such despair that we leave the land we’ve yearned for , worked for , sweated and bled for  for two thousand years. We won’t withdraw from the Middle East. Because we live here. Our religion wasn’t born in Poland. It was born here. Our language wasn’t born in Russia or America or France or Ethiopia or Yemen or Morocco. It was born here. And I promise you, we won’t become war weary. We can’t afford to.

Just stop trying to kill us.

Because  we don’t hate you. We don’t teach our children or our soldiers to hate you. The words of our national anthem sum up the only thing we want; Lihiot am chofshi bi artzeinu, Eretz Zion, Yerushalayim ..” To be a free people. in our land. The land of Zion, Jerusalem.” Just like it says in the Quran.

Dan Gordon
Capt. IDF ( res)

Adopt a Terrorist—Too good to miss

[Hat tip MD. Don’t know if this is true, but it’s worth publishing anyway]

The Canadians know how to handle complaints.
Here is an example.
A Canadian female liberal wrote a lot of letters to the Canadian government, complaining about the treatment of captive insurgents (terrorists) being held in the Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities. She demanded a response to her letter. She received back the following reply:
National Defense Headquarters
M Gen George R. Pearkes Bldg., 15 NT
101 Colonel By Drive
Ottawa , ON K1A 0K2
Canada
Dear Concerned Citizen,
Thank you for your recent letter expressing your profound concern of treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists captured by Canadian Forces, who were subsequently transferred to the Afghanistan Government and are currently being held by Afghan officials in Afghanistan National Correctional System facilities.
Our administration takes these matters seriously and your opinions were heard loud and clear here in Ottawa .. You will be pleased to learn, thanks to the concerns of citizens like yourself, we are creating a new department here at the Department of National Defense, to be called ‘Liberals Accept Responsibility for Killers’ program, or L.A.R.K. for short.
In accordance with the guidelines of this new program, we have decided, on a trial basis, to divert several terrorists and place them in homes of concerned citizens such as yourself, around the country, under those citizens personal care. Your personal detainee has been selected and is scheduled for transportation under heavily armed guard to your residence in Toronto next Monday.
Ali Mohammed Ahmed bin Mahmud is your detainee, and is to be cared for pursuant to the standards you personally demanded in your letter of complaint. You will be pleased to know that we will conduct weekly inspections to ensure that your standards of care for Ahmed are commensurate with your recommendations.
Although Ahmed is a sociopath and extremely violent, we hope that your sensitivity to what you described as his ‘attitudinal problem’ will help him overcome those character flaws. Perhaps you are correct in describing these problems as mere cultural differences. We understand that you plan to offer counselling and home schooling, however, we strongly recommend that you hire some assistant caretakers.
Please advise any Jewish friends, neighbours or relatives about your house guest, as he might get agitated or even violent, but we are sure you can reason with him.
He is also expert at making a wide variety of explosive devices from common household products, so you may wish to keep those items locked up, unless in your opinion, this might offend him.
Your adopted terrorist is extremely proficient in hand-to-hand combat and can extinguish human life with such simple items as a pencil or nail clippers.
We advise that you do not ask him to demonstrate these skills either in your home or wherever you choose to take him while helping him adjust to life in our country.
Ahmed will not wish to interact with you or your daughters except sexually, since he views females as a form of property, thereby having no rights, including refusal of his sexual demands.
This is a particularly sensitive subject for him.
You also should know that he has shown violent tendencies around women who fail to comply with the dress code that he will recommend as more appropriate attire. I’m sure you will come to enjoy the anonymity offered by the burka over time. Just remember that it is all part of respecting his culture and religious beliefs’ as described in your letter.
You take good care of Ahmed and remember that we will try to have a counsellor available to help you over any difficulties you encounter while Ahmed is adjusting to Canadian culture.
Thanks again for your concern.
We truly appreciate it when folks like you keep us informed of the proper way to do our job and care for our fellow man.
Good luck and God bless you.
Cordially,
Gordon O’Connor

Mivtza Kippa: An alteneu method for Jews to be standed and counted

They recognise the yarmulke, do you hide yours?

Like many, I am debating the War with Hamas, on a number of social media. People who were very friendly have emerged as virulently anti-Israel even when logical analysis would suggest that there is no solution different from that employed by the Israel Defence Forces, each soldier of which is involved in an enormous Mitzvah 24/7.

How many of us come near them? My interlocutors aren’t stupid. They are highly intelligent. Most are ex-PhD students and Masters alumni . The common thread  is that they are mainly people with a Muslim background, or in the case of Persians (Iranians often call themselves Persians because they are secular and are embarrassed by the ayatollahs) have a loose affiliation with Islam though they feel it has destroyed their own country. Yet, that which unites them is an unquestionable pathological wish to sink a mortal boot into the high Jewish Morality at each opportunity.

I’ve indicated that the City of Medina was actually a Jewish City before Mohammed and his violent hoards forcefully evicted Jews. As such, should Medina be classified as occupied territory? When does a city morph into a state of occupation and when is an entity born?

Many Arabs and Muslims are oblivious to what resides under the Dome of the Mosque. Some have used the argument that the Canaanites were there before Jews to which I responded that the Canaanites do not exist. In considering existence, I seek clarification of the ‘age’ of Jordan, and its own rights as some independent entity. This is met with silence reminiscence when I refer to Black September.

I had one unsavoury creäture, dare to splash Hitler’s façade into the conversation, with a call to finish off what Hitler did not do.

I and many others happen to believe that this is ultimately a religious war. It’s territorial, but only in the context of an Islāmic imperative to find the Jew behind the stone and kill him.

Apart from engaging in polemics (and sometimes I feel that the only result is that my blood pressure goes up and I achieve nothing) what can we in the Diaspora do?

We get together for an evening of prayer. Some, like Elwood Shule had an emergency appeal which raised 7K. Others prefer a rally of sorts in solidarity. Others will perform a crowd dance in the City.

I note, in passing that many Charedi Yeshivos will not close after Tisha B’Av as is customary. I’d like to see them all use this time to be involved in helping the people of the South whose גאון יעקב has been psychologically apprehended. I mean help them בגשמיות, Reader MD pointed out that Yeshivot Hesder are in full swing and have been conscripted to aid. Who better than legendary Tankistim burning with love of the people, land and Torah to enter the fray.

It’s so relatively easy for the rest of us in the Diaspora.

Beneath the polemic and news commentary there is a latent anti-Semitism. I have seen people try to counter protest with flags of Israel, but there is much more to this conflagration than the Jewish homeland. Jews themselves are in danger, all around the world.

Based on the above, I’d like to call for a new initiative. I will call it Mivtza Kippa. In my opinion, it’s time that each and every male, whatever their level of religiosity may or may not be, decided to not be ashamed to proclaim that they are a Jew and to specifically make such a statement at a moment like this in our history. If you lose one client because of this or are mistreated, then sue. If you are attacked, then show the world it’s because you are a Jew. It is JEWS who are hated. It is their morality and leadership in a corrupt world that is under threat. Even a leftist atheist should wear one in the street, and at work,  and show that after World War 2, this is our new yellow Magen David, only now we are showing the world, and I mean the entire world, that Jews don’t cower. We wear it with pride. We don’t hide. We aren’t defined by our nose or our surnames ending in “stein” or “ofski” and similar.

Do you have the guts to put a Kippa on now, during our time of extreme distress? If not now, when? They try to separate Zionists from Jews. We are all Zionists. A Zionist is a Jew. Even if you are a Satmar type, you are a Zionist. You pray for a return 3 times a day. You may not understand or like God’s planned method through a secular government, but it stares at you and is a living Psak.

A group of Jewish lawyers should band together and at no cost to deal with each and every incident of anti-Semitism that will erupt once the hatred exudes at the sight of  the red rag of a Kippa.

It’s time we were visibly Jews and proud and not exhibiting fear.

We hear stories of soldiers having near death encounters, feeling they were saved by an external being which they call God. I don’t care whether you believe or not. Have as much guts as the soldiers and I challenge you to take on wearing a yarmulke/kippa. Let the Jewish shops sell them at a reduced price for this important Mivtza.

We need to show them all up for what they are: Anti Semites.

If you agree with my initiative, please pass this message on to as many as you can, especially those in other countries. Let the word spread. Let’s have a mass movement around the world where Jews EMERGE and show they are not only here, but here to stay, and we aren’t going to take hate any longer.

Yes, place a target on your head, and let them come at you. Prosecute them and put them away.

My children came home from somewhere with bracelets of support. We don’t need new methods to advertise our support for Israel. It is ant-Judaism which is behind this scourge.

Our support stems from the fact that we are Jews. Encourage the youth of today to have the guts and determination to wear a Yarmulka. Let every anti-Semite emerge from their hole and become completely visible.

petition from Q Society

Dear Friends;

We are launching today a public letter of support from Australians to the people of Israel.

Please spend three minutes of your time, read both the preamble and the letter, and then
consider to be among the first to sign your name to it. Click on the link below now:

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/letter-of-support-from-australians-to-israel.html

Please do not hesitate to invite your connections and friends to also sign.

A delegate from Q Society will deliver the letter in hard copy with all names to the Israeli Embassy
in Canberra.

Warm Regards

Raoul @ Q Admin
Q Society of Australia Inc
http://www.qsociety.org.au

Rabbi Sacks on “the Jewish Condition”

This is an excerpt (no doubt copyrighted to Rabbi Sacks), of his explanation to the conundrums that envelop us בכל דור ודור.

At the beginning of time God created the universe in a burst of energy that eventually gave birth to stars, then to planets, then to life. Among the millions of forms of life that eventually emerged was one different from all the others: Homo sapiens, the only life-form known to us capable of asking the question, “Why?”

On this one being, God bestowed the highest token of His love, setting His image and likeness on every human individual regardless of colour, culture, creed or class. He invited humanity to become His “partners in the work of creation,” calling us to create what He himself had created: freedom and order, the order of nature and the freedom that allows humans, alone in the universe, to choose between good and evil, healing and harm.

What the Torah tells us early on is how humanity failed. They did so in two ways. They created freedom without order. Or they created order without freedom. That is still the human tragedy.

Freedom without order was the world before the Flood, a state of anarchy and chaos that Thomas Hobbes famously described as “the war of every man against every man,” in which life is “nasty brutish and short.” That is the world today in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Mali, the Central African Republic and other conflict zones elsewhere, a world of failed and failing states and societies wracked and wrecked by lawlessness. That is freedom without order, what the Torah calls a “world filled with violence” (Gen. 6: 13) that made God “regret that he had made man on earth, and it grieved Him to his very heart” (6: 6).

But the alternative was a world of order without freedom, epitomised in the Torah by the Tower of Babel and Egypt of the Pharaohs, civilizations that achieved greatness at the cost of turning the mass of humanity into slaves. That too is an affront to human dignity, because each of us, not just some of us, are in the image of God.

Having seen these two kinds of failure, God called on one man, Abraham, and one woman, Sarah, and said in effect: I want you to be different. I want you and those who follow you to create, out of a tiny people in a tiny land, a nation that will show the world what it is to sustain both order and freedom; what it is to build a society on the threefold imperative of love, love of God “with all your heart, with all your soul and all your strength,” love of our neighbour “as yourself,” and love of the stranger, a command reiterated in the Torah, according to the sages, 36 times.

I want you to become the people who keep the laws of tzedek and mishpat (justice and law), chessed and rachamim (grace and mercy), not because of the coercive power of the State but because you have taught your children to hear the voice of God within the human heart. I want you to show the world how to create freedom without anarchy and order without tyranny. That has been the Jewish mission for the better part of 4,000 years.

The result was that Jews found themselves, time and again, in the front line of the defence of humanity. Where there is freedom without order – anarchy – everyone is a potential victim. Jews played no special part in this history. But where there is order without freedom – imperialism in all its guises – Jews have often been the primary targets because they are the people who more than any other have consistently refused to bow down to tyrants.

That is why they were attacked by the empires of the ancient world, Egypt Assyria and Babylon; of classical antiquity, Greece and Rome; the Christian and Muslim theocratic empires of the Middle Ages; and the two greatest tyrannies of the modern world, Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia. The face of tyranny today is radical political Islam in the form of Al Qaeda, ISIS, Boko Haram, Islamic Jihad, Hizb at-Takrir, Hizbollah and Hamas that are creating havoc and destruction throughout the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. They constitute a real and present danger to the liberal democracies of Europe also. And despite the fact that Israel is an almost microscopic element in this global disturbance, it is once again in the front line.

Why? Because Jews throughout history have recognised tyranny for what it is, and have refused to be intimidated by power, threat, terror and fear. Somehow, in the most dangerous region of the world, Israel has created a society of freedom and order: a free press, free elections and an independent judiciary on the one hand, and constant innovation in the arts and sciences, agriculture, medicine and technology on the other.

Israel is not perfect. We believe – the Hebrew Bible is the most self-critical national literature in all of history – that no one is perfect, that “There is no one on earth who is so righteous that he does only right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7: 20). But today’s Israel has been doing what Jews have been charged to do since the days of Abraham and Moses, to create freedom without anarchy and order without tyranny. And if that puts Israel on the front line yet again, there is no nobler cause in which to be so.

Moses’ words ring out today with as much power as they did thirty three centuries ago: “Choose life so that you and your children may live.” If Hamas were to do that one thing, the Palestinians of Gaza would have peace. Innocent lives would not be lost. Palestinian children would have a future. Because Israel did make that choice, it has created a society of order and freedom while all around it rage the godless fires of chaos and terror.

So although yet again we will shed tears this Tisha b’Av, let us at least thank God for the courage and greatness of the people of Israel. For, knowing what we know of history, we would surely rather have the state of Israel and the condemnation of the world, than, God forbid, no state of Israel and the sympathy of the world. And as we read the last line of Eichah, let us be fully aware of what those words have come to mean in our time:

הֲשִׁיבֵ֨נוּ יְקֹוָ֤ק׀ אֵלֶ֙יךָ֙ וְֽנָשׁ֔וּבָה חַדֵּ֥שׁ יָמֵ֖ינוּ כְּקֶֽדֶם

You brought us back, O God, and we returned. Help us to renew our days as of old,” in peace, speedily in our days, Amen.

Open Orthodoxy-Conservative Orthodox by any other name

Don’t know what I’m talking about? See this article and this one. This is the “Orthodoxy” that is anything but Orthodox, but which Shira Chadasha subscribes to.

Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (YCT) There will be several people walking around the UT campus with the label “illegal immigrant” on their clothing. Any UT student who catches one of these “illegal immigrants” and brings them back to the YCT table will receive a $25 gift card.

ירך הלבב

This awe inspiring photo (hat tip mad) shows you can be very frum and ‘as holy’ as those who refuse to enlist. This is a milchemes mitzvah unless you practice a heathen religion related to Judaism as per Neturei Karta and their supporters, and the holy Litvaks who don’t follow Torah by defending Am Yisroel Lefi Pshuto shel Halocho Mefureshes ….

THESE guys are holy. They are our heroes and Shluchei HaKadosh Baruch Hu kipshuto

May they all come back healthy and all those who are injured should recover כהרף עין

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The real plan

Many of us have seen this by now.

My questions are: do they have a COMPLETE subterranean plan of the Hezbollah tunnels. The technology in Israel is deficient. There is a smugness that has been rudely awakened by the work of Hamas. The USA has seen through its satellites the full extent if Hamas tunnels.

This makes John, sycophant of the year, Kerry, somebody who I’d take as seriously as his boofy hair nest.

Obama the growing (sic) impotent is a dangerous man.

If they knew all this and didn’t pass it on then any Jew who votes Democrat needs a Refuah.

If they knew and passed it onto Israeli intelligence, and our arrogant leaders underestimated the threat, they should face a formal investigation.

HAMAS subterranean tunnels need to be identified and pre-emptively destroyed if their exits are in Israel. It’s time to develop a good gas to blow through these tunnels.

Thousands of Hamas-linked terrorists planned to invade Israel on the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), which begins on September 24, according to an Israel security source.
First reported by Ma’ariv, then in English by i24news, “thousands of terrorists were meant to cross over to Israel from Gaza through the tunnels and kill and kidnap as many Israelis as they could. The source added that the army learned about the huge planned attack during the interrogations of Hamas prisoners, captured during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.”
Reports state that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed his cabinet about the foiled plot during a Thursday cabinet meeting. The leader of the Jewish State reportedly expressed to officials that if this attack was not stopped, the number of Israeli fatalities may have been higher than the over 2,200 deaths Israel suffered during 1973 Yom Kippur War.
During Israel’s recent incursion into Gaza, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have set their sights on destroying Hamas’ sophisticated tunnel system. In the past, the U.S.-designated terror group has successfully infiltrated the Jewish State, resulting in the killing and kidnapping of Israeli soldiers. The last occurrence was on July 19 when two IDF soldiers lost their lives and the assailants were able to escape back to Gaza through a tunnel. Gen. James T. Conway, USMC (ret.) recently returned from Israel, where he was joined by a dozen retired U.S. generals and admirals, sponsored by Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA). While there, the group toured a tunnel from Gaza recently discovered near an Israeli kindergarten.
“Unlike tunnels that I had seen during the Iraq war that were designed for smuggling, this Hamas tunnel was designed for launching murder and kidnapping raids. The 3-mile-long tunnel was reinforced with concrete, lined with telephone wires, and included cabins unnecessary for infiltration operations but useful for holding hostages,” the retired General wrote in the Wall Street Journal.
Israel has reportedly destroyed over 30 tunnels during “Operation Protective Edge.” The Jewish State contends that Hamas, which governs Gaza, devotes resources to building tunnels to commit acts of terrorism, instead of building homes, parks, schools and hospitals.
An article published by the Gatestone Institute quotes an Israeli spokesman’s observation that “there are two Gazas, one above ground and one below ground: an underground terrorist city

.”

מי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ

I don’t know where Thisbe from, my daughter in law sent it. Uplifting!

A soldier on the border writes:

What’s happening here in the staging area [area where soldiers prepare to enter Gaza] is beyond comprehension, not rationally, not emotionally and begs the imagination.

Almost every hour a car shows up overflowing with food, snacks, cold drinks, socks, underwear, undershirts, hygiene supplies, wipes, cigarettes, v backgammon and more. They’re coming from the North and the Center, from manufacturers, from companies and private businesses, from prisons, Chareidim and Settlers, from Tel Aviv and even Saviyon.

Every intersection on they way down here we get stopped, not by the police, but be residents giving out food. What is amazing is that the entire situation b organized and everyone is coming on their own without coordination between the folks coming.

They’re writing letters and blessings, how they’re thinking of us all the time. There are those who spent hours making sandwiches, so they’re as perfect and comforting as possible.

Of course representatives of Chabad are here to help soldiers put on Tefillin and distributing Cha’Ta’Ts (Chumash, Tehillim, Tanya) for every troop transport and Breslov are showing up to the border and dancing with the soldiers with great joy.

The Chareidim are coming from their yeshivot to ask the names of the soldiers with their mothers’ names so that the whole yeshiva can pray for them. It should be mentioned that all of this is done under the threat of the terrorist tunnels and rockets in the area.
Soroka Hospital (in Be’er Sheva) today looks like a 5 star hotel. A wounded friend who was recently discharged told us how the MasterChef truck is parked outside and is preparing food for the wounded.

It goes without saying the amount of prayer services that are going on. On the religious front as well, there are lectures and Torah classes, all the food is obviously Kosher. Shachrit, Mincha, and Maariv with Sifrei Torah. They’re giving out tzitzit and Tehilim by the hundreds. It’s become the new fashion! The Rabbi of Maglan [Special Forces unit] told me that almost the entire unit has started wearing them, because the Army Rabbinate has been giving out tzitzit that wick away sweat. They’re gaining both a Mitzva and a high quality undershirt. We’ve started calling them “Shachpatzitzti” (a portmanteau of the Hebrew term for body armor and tzitzit). We’re having deep conversations late into the night without arguments, without fights and we find ourselves agreeing on most stuff.

We’re making lots of jokes at Hamas’s expensive and without politics. There’s lots more to add but my battery is running low and the staff has been requesting someonekm give a class on Likutei MoharaN (Breslov).

How happy is the nation that is like this.

This is my comment that the Economist removed

There was this long back and forth about the citizens of Gaza (only) and one person had said we should all be crying for them.

I wrote back

You should cry why your Arafat didn’t sign the Oslo Accords. THAT’s what you should cry about. Did you forget?

You’ve got to ‘love’ the high morals of the Economist. What they didn’t want me to have published is that if Arafat had signed, and there was an enduring peace (I know that’s questionable) nobody would be crying.

Maybe it’s not just Beck and Neturei Karta?

I’m sure many of us are spending time defending Israel and its rightful inhabitants at work, in forums, in comments on various newspapers (I had a totally benign comment of mine censored by the Economist, no less)

These are TOUGH times. Jewish soccer players get attacked on the pitch. We read that a shop in Belgium hung a large sign saying ‘no entry to Zionists or dogs’ and then had Zionists replaced by the word Jews. Our people fight those who want to annihilate us every minute and protect Jewish lives. Is it Torah that doesn’t see a missile on Bnei Brak or is it the Enemy themselves who perceive such enclaves as their friends?

Many in Europe of all places are facing violence and huge barrages of protest which invariably link us to hitler Yimach Shemo Vezichro. There is a very clear approach being taken by haters of Jews.

This morning someone sent me a phone picture of a demonstration in Paris taken by a bystander. I don’t have words to describe how sick in the guts I felt seeing these low lives joining those who would be happy to see us wiped out.

I am thinking that we need a web page, a World-Wide page, of faces and names. Anyone from any country in the world who joins these protests, is made visible in their anti israel views and should be named alongside their picture.

Here is the picture that raised my blood pressure significantly.

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Parshas Masei

Thanks to R’ Meir Deutsch for another guest post.

Parashat Mas’e

מאיר דויטש             © כל הזכויות שמורות

These are the names of the men who shall share out the land to you: El’azar the priest, and Yehushua the son of Nun.

We just finished with the twelve tribe’s presidents returning from Eretz Cna’an. The revolt of Korach, Datan and Aviram has been settled. We had thirst again, and Moshe hits the rock with his stick instead of talking to it. For that, he and his brother Aharon get punished: “Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Yisra’el, therefore you shall not bring the congregation in to the land which I have given them.” (Bemidbar 20, 12)

We know that Moshe wanted very much to enter the promised land. He even tells it to Bne Israel: “And I besought the Lord {…} I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond the Yarden, that goodly mountain region end the Levanon…” (Devarim 3, 25). But he continues, saying to them that because of them he will not enter it: “But the Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and would not hear me…” (ibid, ibid 26).

Let us see what Rashi says about Me Mriva:

” […] כדי שלא יאמרו בעבור דור המדבר נגזר עליהם שלא ייכנסו”.

Doesn’t this Rashi seem a bit puzzled? In parashat HaMeraglim G-d says who is going to enter the promised land; is Moshe one of them? It is public knowledge who is going to enter. What Rashi says here is that Moshe and Aharon were punished, as the rest of Bne Israel, to die in the desert, because of the Meraglim, but G-d wants to exclude them from the whole Edah and finds for them another sin  – Me Merivah.

Was the punishment of perishing in the desert given to all the adults of over 20 years? Was anyone, beside Kalev and Yehoshua, excluded from this punishment?

After looking into these events, I came across Parashat Mas’e and the Pasuk in the caption: “These are the names of the men who shall share out the land to you: El’azar the priest, and Yehushua the son of Nun. (Bemidbar 34, 17)

and I asked myself: how come that El’azar Hakohen will enter the promised land and not perish in the desert as the rest?

After seeing that El’azar will enter Cna’an I went back to Parashat HaMeraglim and looked up the twelve heads of the tribes that went to Eretz Cna’an. There was no representative of the tribe of Levi in that delegation that went to Cna’an. That tribe did not go scouting the land, therefore that tribe was not one of the scouts that  הוציאו דיבת הארץ רעה

If so, than that tribe did not sin, and if it did not sin, that tribe was probably not sentenced to perish in the desert, and will be entering the promised land.

Looking back  at Parshat Korach, we can get some support to our theory. There, Korach, as a Levi, wants to rule or even be the leader, but he does not complain, like Datan and Aviram who are from the tribe of Reuven. Korach knows that his tribe is not going to perish in the desert and challenges only Moshe’s leadership. Datan and Aviram know that they are going to die in the dessert, and attack Moshe on ground of a broken promise: “Moreover thou hast not brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards…” (Bemidbar 16, 14).

I was looking for more support for my assumption that the tribe of Levi was not sentenced not to enter the land of Milk and Honey and die in the dessert.

At the counting of the tribes in the prairies of Moav on the river Jordan, just before entering the promised land we find written: “But among these there was not a man of them whom Moshe and Aharon the priest numbered, when they numbered the children of Yisra’el in the wilderness of Sinay. (Bemidbar 26, 64-65).

Does this statement include the tribe of Levi? It says:  מפקודי […] בני ישראל במדבר סיני .  If we look at the counting of the tribes in the desert of Sinai we see that the tribe of Levi was excluded, was not counted amongst the other tribes: “But the Levites after the tribe of their fathers were not numbered among them.” (Bemidbar 1, 47), therefore, we can deduct from it, that only the one that were counted in the wilderness of Sinay did perish מפקודי […] בני ישראל במדבר סיני    , and as the tribe of Levi was not counted in the desert of Sinay, some of them, definitely Elazar, did enter Eretz Cna’an.

Moshe and Aharon needed another sin not to enter Cna’an – Me Meriva.

THESE ARE MY THOUGHTS FOR THE DELIBERATION OF THE SUBJECT. WOULD APPRECIATE GETTING YOUR VIEWS.

 

Excellent editorial

(Hat tip md)

Ironically I sat next to a frum businessman last night who was complaining because his phone kept beeping from non Jewish workers and clients about who? Neturei Karta and Moshe Ber Beck and his band of living Chillulei HaShem. He showed me his phone. They were pointing to ‘not all Jews are Zionists’ type publications featuring these rodfim who have to publicise their views to the world. Cherem is too kind for them. Moshe Ber Beck should go and tend to the injured in Gaza. He could become the head of their Mosques.

this is from the Jerusalem Post.

Ban Ki-moon’s shameful message in Israel’s hour of need
By ANNE BAYEFSKY
07/22/2014 09:41

One rule for Israel and another for everybody else, evidently appeals to both the UN and the Obama administration. A shameful scheme in Israel’s hour of need.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon speaks at a joint news conference with Qatar’s foreign minister.

By ANNE BAYEFSKY
07/22/2014 09:בחר שפה​▼

One rule for Israel and another for everybody else, evidently appeals to both the UN and the Obama administration. A shameful scheme in Israel’s hour of need.

It is hard to imagine two more unwelcome, uninvited visitors to Israel in the middle of a war against Palestinian terrorists than UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry. But even more unwelcome is that they are working together.

Their common cause is that although Israel has a right of self-defense in theory, Israel ought to be prevented from exercising this right in practice.

Events over the past week have provided an extraordinary demonstration of this reprehensible nexus.

On July 16, 2014, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) issued a report stating: “the Israeli military delivered text messages to virtually all the residents of Ash Shuja’iyya and Az Zaitun neighborhoods in eastern Gaza city, approximately 100,000 people, warning them to leave their homes by 8 am today (16 July), ahead of attacks to be launched in the area.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also made phone calls and distributed leaflets.

OCHA then describes what came next: “Subsequently, the Palestinian Ministry of Interior in Gaza reportedly instructed the residents to…not flee the area.” As a result, OCHA admits: “the vast majority decided to stay.”

This story tells us both that Israel adhered to the Geneva Convention demand of providing “effective advance warning” to civilians and that Hamas violated the rule forbidding parties to “direct the movement of …civilians in order to shield military objectives from attack.”

What was Hamas trying to protect when it used Palestinians as human shields in Shuja’iyya?

The IDF refers to Shuja’iyya as the Hamas’ “terror fortress” in the Gaza Strip. The IDF has found more than ten openings to tunnels in Shuja’iyya and since July 8, Hamas has fired over 140 rockets at Israel from this neighborhood alone. As IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz put it: “Hamas has built a war machine in residential areas.”

This is another violation of the laws of armed conflict. By deliberately locating its terrorist infrastructure in the midst of Shuja’iyya’s civilian population, Hamas violates the prohibition on “locating legitimate military targets within or near densely populated areas.”

Following the warnings, the IDF went into the Shuja’iyya neighborhood – and is still there – for the purpose of destroying the tunnels that have been designed and used to attack Israeli civilians. This is Hamas’ most basic war crime of all. In the words of the Geneva Conventions, civilians “shall not be the object of attack.”

On the night of July 19, 2014 in separate incidents in the Shuja’iyya area, Israel lost 13 soldiers, more soldiers in a single night than Israel lost in the whole of the three week 2008-2009 ground offensive Operation Cast Lead. These soldiers died in an ambush. An anti-tank mine. Trapped in a burning building.

The IDF affords us the context. They “encountered fierce Hamas fighting in the dense urban environment” as Hamas tried “to defend their tunnel infrastructure.”

In these circumstances, Palestinian civilians who remained in Shuja’iyya – despite the warnings – died. Data on fatalities, in OCHA’s own words, are “preliminary and subject to change based on further verification,” so the number of civilian casualties is unclear.

What is clear is the outrageous reaction of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. On July 20, 2014 he said: “dozens more civilians, including children, have been killed in Israeli military strikes in the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in Gaza. I condemn this atrocious action. Israel must exercise maximum restraint and do far more to protect civilians.”

Ban Ki-moon said nothing about Hamas having failed to protect Palestinian civilians. He said nothing about Hamas having put Palestinian civilians directly in harm’s way. In fact he said nothing about any “atrocious action” by Hamas. He also made no demand that Hamas “restrain” itself from fulfilling its stated goal, namely, that “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it.”

For the UN, no move that Israel makes short of surrender to the Palestinian mob, will ever be sufficient.

When Palestinian civilians did heed Israel’s warnings and did not die, on July 16, 2014 OCHA complained “the relocation experience has been…traumatic…Women have reported stress due to their inability to maintain…modesty norms…[in] overcrowded spaces…”

Five million Israelis have just seconds to run for a bomb shelter and save their lives. Older people have died from heart failure when the sirens go off. Small children flee rockets raining down on their kindergartens and spend hours trapped between four walls day after day. Let alone the parents and brothers and sisters of the 50,000 plus heroic young men and women on the front lines who spend every waking minute dreading a phone call, haunted by the prospect of kidnapping by very real monsters.

The truth is the UN doesn’t give a damn about the suffering of Israelis.

On July 18, 2014 the giant UN apparatus assembled in Geneva for the world press. There was OCHA, and the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA). Not one of these organizations said one word about Israelis.

This is not merely indifference; it is gross negligence and collaboration. On July 17, 2014 UNRWA confessed to “discovering” rockets in one of their schools, then refused to make the photographs public, and promptly gave the rockets back to the rocketeers – or as UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness delicately called them, “the local authorities.”

UNRWA had the audacity to claim “this incident is the first of its kind…” knowing full well that Hamas has directly involved UNRWA schools in its war crimes before – with video evidence over the past decade to prove it.

Canadian reporter Patrick Martin happened to be visiting UNRWA’s Fakhoura School on July 15, 2014 and described the experience this way: “Heading toward the exit, we were overwhelmed by the jet-like sound of two rockets being launched from somewhere near the school. Hamas, or some militant group, clearly is hoping the Israelis won’t strike at the launchers…because they’re close to the school.” He adds that the kids were enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the weaponry; “as the Hamas-made missiles screamed off into the sky…the kids all cheered,” and one boy identified the make and model as the kind aimed at Tel Aviv.

Israelis, by contrast, are not cheering Palestinian civilian deaths.

On June 20, 2014, the UN Secretary-General gave a major speech on UN action on Syria and unashamedly declared: “Since June last year…the United Nations has not been issuing any statistics of death tolls. It is impossible and very sad and tragic to count all these dead bodies.” The UN does not count Syrian dead because it’s too sad, but throwing around unverified numbers of Palestinian civilian casualties serves a more palatable political endgame.

When Ban Ki-moon comes knocking, therefore, his bona fides are non-existent. So why is Secretary Kerry by his side?

On June 20, 2014, responding to a question from CNN’s Wolf Blitzer about Palestinian civilian casualties, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel is “trying to be as pinpointed as we can.” Shortly thereafter, Secretary Kerry was caught on camera by Fox News talking to an aide who was apparently briefing him on the CNN conversation. Kerry reacted “It’s a hell of a pinpoint operation.”

Set aside the 273 civilians across Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, who have been killed unintentionally during the Obama administration’s limited endeavors to reduce terrorism. Think back to the President’s speech on America’s right to self-defense in the context of Syria – a country not on the U.S. border and not posing an imminent threat to three-quarters of the American population. Addressing the nation on September 10, 2013, Obama declared “the United States military doesn’t do pinpricks.”

One rule for Israel and another for everybody else, evidently appeals to both the UN and the Obama administration. A shameful scheme in Israel’s hour of need.

Director, Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust
Follow @AnneBayefsky

Torn between what I think is right and a Torah law

In the evening, as I lie in bed hoping I can fall asleep quickly, I often take to my iPad arguing the outright lies put out by Hamas sympathisers disguising themselves as spokesman for the Palestinian cause.

In an among one stream of debate, a past moral and respected alumni of mine called for money to help the citizens of Hamastan. I asked her whether she was motivated by helping only Muslims or whether it was a civilian gesture to help all citizens caught up in the war begun by Hamas. She didn’t like me introducing that angle to her appeal, although she had published figures where she had already politicised the debate. She was, I believe, one of the vocal supporters of the rabble-like demonstration together with the great unwashed: consisting of the Marxists, Socialist Alliance, and other anti-Semitic no hopers living on Government subsidies in the main. I see them putting up posters all around my workplace. I take them down, if I pass such posters. I have the same right to take down a non mandated poster as they do putting them up.

Suddenly, one of my alumnus’ friends posted a horribly offensive picture of Hitler ימ’’ש with the words “I didn’t kill all the Jews, I left some for you to kill” followed by Share the post etc

I was fuming. I tried to control myself, but as a child of holocaust survivors and like many of us who lost relatives in the genocide targeting a race–the largely helpless Jews–I felt that justice needed to be effected. I quickly took pictures of the said disgraceful post and researched the background of the person who sent it. I asked him to contact me as he was in breach of State and Federal Laws, after which he quickly took down the post.

He wasn’t a Yobbo. He is very intelligent, having completed an Aeronautical Engineering degree from RMIT. He was from Pakistan, living in Melbourne, occupying a very senior role in a well-known company, and was undertaking a part-time MBA part-time at Melbourne Uni.

I asked our common acquaintance to contact him. Our common acquaintance/alumnus is a nice person, also a Muslim, and she and I have mutual respect. He refused to contact me. When a week passed, and I saw another objectionable post from him, I decided that I had to do react. The Police were outraged and informed me that he had likely broken both a local and federal law and if convicted faced a term of up to 3 years in prison and all that flows from that. The police suggested that we need to react to such hate speech.

Yes, it is also true, I was grossed out by the assault perpetrated by Zach Gomo, and this was also on my mind. Zach has been to our house several times, with his lovely partner to be.

There was a rally, which I couldn’t attend. I understand it was poorly attended. In my opinion the proper JEWISH response was not to wear red (a colour we are enjoined to avoid), but to blow the Shofar, to the sound of Teruah (it is a Machlokes Acharonim whether this applies today) and to issue prayers for the safety of the defenders of our Holy State. The agenda should not be led by Zionist organisations alone. They sometimes invent new modes of protest and rally. As Rav Soloveitchik stressed: the Chachomim defined the limits of Torah according to tradition-Mesora. We should not be inventing new traditions. The Mesora informs us what we should be doing. We must follow the Mesora at all times. Unfortunately I could not attend. I was teaching Torah at the time to two people who are the future of our people. I hope the rally achieved success and the organisers were pleased.

Now, I wanted my interlocutor to visit the Holocaust Museum and issue an advertisement apologising for his racially genocidal incitement. In other words, I wanted him educated.

I had rung the Neil Mitchell program on Monday when the topic arose, and related what a low-life had perpetrated. Neil took my number off air but never followed up. I wouldn’t expect Jon Faine to have any more sympathy even Neil although he is technically Jewish and has two very fine traditional parents.

Yes, my angst is trivial compared to a family that has lost a love one, but I can’t help the seething frustration, where weeds are permitted to sprout with impunity in a “multi-cultural” Australia. That being said, a Torah Law prohibits me taking the next steps, and one must bow to the Torah and I will leave it at that.

This is from Debbie Schlussel. It’s not what he posted. What he posted was much worse and I dare not even let anyone see it as it is distressing.

Polemic with Hamas/Palestinian supporters and Mr Moshe Ber Beck

I have argued Israel’s case strenuously in a number of internet forums during the current operation  to defend Israel from Hamas. It was incredible, that my Muslim interlocutors kept publishing videos of Mr Moshe Ber Beck showing me that even Jews are against Israel.

Oh yes, I can tell them that the disgraceful Beck is generally described as a fringe lunatic, but do you think they believe me? They point out that all the ones with long side locks and funny hats and beards are just like Moshe Ber Beck, and there are plenty of them.

I’m embarrassed that someone like Beck (whose voice sounds eerily but unsurprisingly similar to his Melbourne brother) can’t keep his mouth shut and hide in a deep hole somewhere in the Antarctica or Siberia. Perhaps he and his like-minded ilk should find the same hole that the two assassins used to murder the three boys הי’’ד are hiding in: Beck and Co are just one moral rung down from them.

I’d expect to see posters all over Israel, especially Meah Shearim condemning Beck, but the Mashiach will be here before that happens.

Gil-Ad Shaer הי’’ד

[Hat tip MT]

This is spooky to say the least.

Yisroel Nuret, Rav Yitzchok Dovid Grossman’s assistant (renowned Rav of
Migdal HaEmek etc.) related the following on the Israeli radio station Kol
Chai:

“About three years ago, I got a phone call. ‘Hello’ the voice said, ‘I’m
a13 year old boy, and I’d like to meet with Rav Grossman for five minutes.’

I explained to the boy that the Rav is a very busy man, and I wasn’t sure I
could arrange a meeting for him. I couldn’t see what huge need a young boy
would have to meet with the Rav. .. Then the boy’s father called, and he
said to me. ‘Listen, my friend, my son is celebrating his bar mitzvah soon.
We bought him a tallis and tefillin, and we asked him what present he would
like, expecting him to ask for a new bicycle, or maybe a special trip. But
he insisted, “Ima, Abba, I don’t want any presents except for one thing. I
want to meet Rav Grossman. That’s the biggest present I could get.”

So I gave him an appointment, and the boy all excited, went in with his
father to Rav Grossman’s office. It was scheduled to be a five-minute
meeting, but it went on for an hour and forty minutes.

These are the questions the boy asked the Rav: Kevod Harav, how does a
person merit doing chesed? How can one do chesed at a high level? And how can one be Mekadesh Sheim Shomayim (sanctify God’s name publicly)?

Stunned, the Rav explained to the boy how to do chesed in our generation.
and then the boy asked, “How does one merit sanctifying the Name of
HaKadosh Baruch Hu?”

The boy’s name was Gil-Ad Shaer Hy’d from Talmon – one of the 3 kedoshim
who was murdered by the wild beasts of the desert.”

The emperor with no clothes

Barack Hussein Obama is quoted here. The rhetoric is basically as useless as his attempts to  broker peace. It’s not about a ceasefire Mr Obama. It is about demilitarisation. Unless Gazastan is not demilitarised, there can never be a lull that lasts and any diplomatic efforts are futile. Why don’t you let Israel damage their infrastructure in a grander scale? It’s not because of your care for civilians. You don’t care when your drones kill Terrorists and their families. You are simply a hypocrite who started as an idealist and quickly became a back seat driver.

The facts that Obama knows this and ignores it, is a sign that Obama has never been a true friend of Israel except when it is important to his strategic Machiavellian play in the world field. He is a fraud, with a capital F. That Yidden voted this fraud in, would have to go down as one of the biggest mistakes they have ever made.

He cannot be trusted and his delay in denouncing the kidnap and murder of the three Jewish boys, is a proof, more powerful than Scientific extrapolation: there are less unknown variables.

Jews in America who don’t go on Aliya, have a very important role to play. The right-wing “Aliya at all costs” don’t understand that.

One thing I have learned, is that my “mild-mannered Islamic Alumni” all of a sudden become rabid anti-Israel haters overnight. They are also false.

Barking up the wrong tree

Instead of disarming Hamas, all we read about is the number of rockets, number of intercepts by the Iron Dome, and stress and number of near misses and trauma.

WAKE UP ISRAEL. THE WORLD DOESNT CARE ABOUT THE NUMBERS. THEY BLAME YOU. FORGET THEM.

Just go in and disarm HAMAS and destroy their infrastructure. That’s the ONLY response, and the ONLY language they understand. If that sparks Hezbollah then flatten Lebanon.

The future of UJEB?

The following is from the left leaning, often anti semitic, Age Newspaper.

Jewish group fears new religious instruction rules threaten diversity in schools

Michelle Morgan, with daughter Kayla, supports Jewish instruction in schools.

The Jewish instruction provider for state schools is seeking legal advice to ensure its lessons remain available amid concerns new conditions will undermine cultural diversity.

The United Jewish Education Board has told parents it is exploring ”all avenues, including legal options” so Jewish children can continue to receive special religious instruction.

The letter to parents comes after the Education Department issued a new ministerial directive in May that said schools could withdraw from religious instruction programs if there were insufficient resources. The directive also said religious instruction sessions must be ”clearly opt-in” for parents.

”We are monitoring these developments very closely as we are concerned that some schools may not be in a position to deliver special religious instruction under the new framework,” the United Jewish Education Board letter said.

Principals must offer religious instruction to parents if their school is approached by accredited instructors who indicate they are available to run the sessions.

The board’s president, Yossi Goldfarb, said he was seeking legal advice about whether the impact of the new conditions would contravene the Multicultural Victoria Act. The board is now awaiting the advice of lawyers

Mr Goldfarb said cultural and religious diversity in schools would be threatened if principals began withdrawing religious instruction for Jewish children. ”We see it as a cornerstone of multicultural Victoria,” he said.

Mr Goldfarb said the number of Jewish state school students joining religious instruction had increased by about 30 per cent during the past five years.

The United Jewish Education Board operates in 37 state schools, attracting about 1300 students. It offers instruction to schools with as few as three Jewish students whose parents elect for their children to join the sessions.

Mr Goldfarb estimated more than 90 per cent of Jewish families in state schools receive religious instruction.

He said the instructors had no interest in proselytising but sought to convey the ”cultural, historical and national” aspects of Judaism. ”It’s more about a narrative of being Jewish.”

Students who participate in religious instruction must now also be supervised by a teacher from the school. But Mr Goldfarb said many Jewish instructors were already qualified teachers so it made little sense to have them supervised by another teacher.

Bentleigh East mother Michelle Morgan said she supported Jewish instruction for her six-year-old daughter, Kayla, because it ensured there was a base level of education in Judaism for Jewish children. ”They’re getting something out of it,” she said. ”It covers the basics.”

Ms Morgan has also enrolled her daughter in after-school classes in Judaism and Hebrew, but said they could be expensive.

Religions for Peace Australia chair Des Cahill said he was concerned that children from faiths with small numbers at schools could miss out on instruction in their religion because of the new directive.

His organisation co-ordinates instruction in the Buddhist, Baha’i, Greek Orthodox, Hindu and Sikh traditions in schools.

Professor Cahill, an RMIT expert in intercultural studies, said education about the world’s religions should be included in the general school curriculum.

An Education Department spokesman said the rules for special religious instruction (SRI) were the same for all providers.

”The decision as to whether SRI will occur based on available resources, following parental consent being sought, rests with the principal,” he said. ”Resourcing constraints are the only basis on which principals can determine not to offer SRI.”

Fairness in Religions in School campaign member Scott Hedges said he had not received any complaints from Jewish families about the content of the Jewish education board’s sessions. However, he said a small number of Jewish families had expressed their opposition to religious instruction in state schools, which must not exceed 30 minutes a week.

b.preiss@theage.com.au

 

A sense of shame and חילול השם

It’s somewhat ironic that during the week of Parshas Pinchas, where the grandson of Aron HaKohen, failed to consult with the Manhig HaDor, Moshe Rabeinu, and murdered the two lust-filled people who were cavorting in a tent. I hear you say that Hashem gave Pinchas the Bris of שלום albeit with a shortened Vav and there are many explanations in this regard. I will leave it to readers to refresh their memories and check the myriad of diametrically opposed explanations of this act.

Fast forward. Three תנוקות של בית רבן, Yeshiva Students of the highest calibre were short and murdered because they were Jewish. Had they been Muslims, they would not have been shot or kidnapped. The perpetrators seem to be hiding in caves somewhere in the Chevron region. Time will tell. They will be caught and they will receive, hopefully, a life sentence behind bars, with no remission, and no luxuries.

It is now pretty clear that some,  overcome with the grief of this incident coupled with their sense of vengeance felt that they could take the law into their own hands and incinerate a Muslim boy in return. This is anathema. It is anathema not just in Jewish Law, but even B’nei Noach are meant to have proper courts of laws and systems. Society cannot exist while people are taking the law into their own hands. Did they even listen to the words of the parents of the slain קדושים’s parents? Did they think that the man hunt wasn’t on an enormous scale with the aim of catching the low lives who perpetrated this disgraceful act.

Yes, we can show that we didn’t demonstrate, burn tyres, cause all range of mass violence in reaction, but some, albeit a few, had been brought up and inculcated, no different to the murderer of Yitzchak Rabin, to take the law into their own hands.

This was an opportunity to demonstrate a Kiddush Hashem. The parents were inspiring. The world was watching, and then some wild ones קנאים decided that they owned the right to respond for the parents and for the State. They too must be brought to justice, and they too must be jailed for the rest of their lives, in an Israeli Jail, without the comforts of a good living. No “Glatt Kosher/Daf HaYomi” Jail for them. They should do physical labour and go to sleep each night exhausted. For they have defamed the name of Hashem Yisborach, and that in turn defames the name and kedusha of Am Yisrael.

From afar, I do not believe in territorial concessions. I believe one must be aggressive in expansion and only this will bring the Jordanian Palestinians to their senses. Either they want one state in Yehuda and Shomron, or they do not. Until they renounce violence and completely disarm, they cannot be partners for peace. Until that time, Jews have the same right to live in the previously declared Jordanian territory as anyone else. If they don’t like it, then they should negotiate. No Israeli Prime Minister from the left of the left to the right of the right has managed to find a partner for peace. Abbas is just a pretty western suit with a coiffured moustache. It’s only a matter of time before he dies of old age or sickness and then there is nobody else. He hasn’t got the guts to do anything because, unlike Sadat, he is afraid. He is afraid that someone will blow his head off. Let him go to his grave afraid. In the meantime, there is nobody with authority or credibility to talk to.

Then there is the enemy in our midst. If a Palestinian State was to be established, then Jews should be permitted to live there. If they are not, then all Palestinians within Israel should be asked to politely leave before they are forcibly removed. We live under the façade of a holy democracy. It is an incredible democracy but it has allowed people who are not genuine citizens to pretend that they are part of Israel. Anyone not ready to sing Hatikva, fight in the IDF, and do their civic duty is not a Citizen of the State. I don’t care who they are. It’s a free world. They can go to Jordan or Yehuda VeShomron or Williamsburg and live a free life over there if they hate Israel. Let’s face it, most loathe Israel.

Ironically, the words of Aharon of Satmer are but a pimple compared the acts of these Jewish young adults.

Extremists on both sides need to be sidelined. The Meretz Morons whose philosophies are astronomically in the realm of cosmology cause as much trouble as the right wing automatons who have grown out of the ill-fated Gush Emunim movement. Rav Amital would be turning in his grave.

The Chief Rabbis should have (maybe they did) attended the funeral of the Muslim Boy, and sought out his Imam, to apologise for the extremists who decided that price tag was some sort of Hetter to commit חילול שם שמים. We don’t say ה׳ ינקום דמם for no reason. Yes, we must bring them to justice, but Hashem will ultimately deal with their future, and if he sees his people behaving with similar savagery, will he be happy? I don’t know.

What I do know, is that we cannot be Hashem’s accountants. There are all sorts of Rebbalach and more who think they know why Hashem oversees certain things. They would do better by simply following והלכת בדרכיו

We don’t need more accountancy from self-appointed accountants of Hashem’s Cheshbonos. We can only deal with the here and now. The here and now is ugly and we must not let these חיות רעות invade the HOLINESS of our religion. Theirs is a profanation that cannot be countenanced.

They aren’t Pinchas. They have no Moshe. They certainly didn’t make בריתי שלום

It’s winter here and we can expect lots of visitors

The collectors normally come around Shiva Assar BeTamuz and Tisha B’Av because it’s cool and a shorter fast here in Melbourne.

Next time a collector comes, ask him if he is a supporter of Aharon of Satmar, one the Satmar Rebbes whose disgraceful comments have been publicised everywhere. If he says he is but he doesn’t support the comments, let him know you will take down his name and publicise it. If he doesn’t agree, give him a dollar and close the door.

I don’t have any time for someone who can castigate parents who are grieving. It is an Issur D’Orayso in my opinion, and heartless cruelty. I don’t care if it was for private consumption.

Will Adass Israel, that has many Aharoni Satmar adherents, come out and disassociate themselves from this outrage? What of Rabbi Beck and others? Will they speak out against Aharon of Satmar? Don’t hold your breath, people. You will hear nothing.

A rather honourable response appeared in the Jewish Press [Hat tip BA] by Rav Aviner

In the wake of our tremendous pain over the murder of the three innocent teens, a desire has arisen within the Nation to understand why this has happened. The Admor of Satmar, who dwells in the Exile, claims that it is a punishment for the teens learning in the “Settlements” and blames the parents for sending them to learn there.

We fear that assigning such blame may violate the prohibition of “Ona’at Devarim” (distressing others). As the Gemara in Baba Metzia (58b) says, one may not speak to one who is suffering affliction or illness, or whose children have died, the way Iyov’s friends spoke to him: “Surely your fear was your foolishness, your hope and the sincerity of your ways” (Iyov 4:6). And we can add that the Rishonim on this Gemara write that the problem is not only causing distress to another person but also arrogance in thinking that we can know the ways of Hashem.

This recalls the reciprocal placing of blame that occurred following the horrors of the Holocaust: Some said that it happened on account of Zionism, others said it was because there was not Zionism. Still others blamed it on the Enlightenment. Each group’s explanation came from its own biased outlook, with no regard for the idea: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts and My ways are not your ways” (Yeshayahu 55:8).

As is known, the uncle of the Admor of Satmar, Ha-Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, wrote a book “Va-Yoel Moshe” which is based on the idea that the murder of the holy one during the Holocaust was because of Zionism and the Return to Tzion.

But the great Rabbis of Israel have already answered that if the main transgression was Jews making Aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in an organized fashion, then the first Jews to make Aliyah should have been murdered. Yet those who came to Eretz Yisrael and “violated” the Three Oaths (according to the Satmar Rebbe’s opinion) were saved, and those who did not make Aliyah were the ones who were murdered! (See the book “Alo Naale” – Response to Va-Yoel Moshe #43).

The number of Jews murdered in Auschwitz alone was, in fact, higher than that of all of the Jews murdered in all of the wars and terror attacks since the beginning of the Return to Tzion. Today – with the kindnesses of Hashem upon us – there are almost half a million Jews who live in Yesha. Therefore the Admor of Satmar’s claim is not valid.

Regarding the question itself, whether learning in Yesha is permissible: this was already asked of Ha-Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Rabbi of “Ramat Elchanan” (neighborhood in Bnei Brak).

A student was learning in a Yeshiva in Yesha and his parents were opposed on account of the danger. Ha-Rav Zilberstein proves that “a frequent damage” (Pesachim 8b. See Mesilat Yesharim, end of Chapter 9) is five percent. Baruch Hashem, 5% of the residents in Yesha are not murdered! And Ha-Rav Yitzchak Isaac Herzog in Shut Heichal Yitzchak proved based on Shut Rabbi Akiva Eiger (#60) that a frequent danger is not five percent, but one in a thousand (Shut Ha-Rav Herzog Vol. 1, p. 269).

Baruch Hashem, one in a thousand Jews is not murdered in “Yeshe”.

The basic halachah is therefore that there is nothing to fear. Obviously, nothing is 100% certain, but nowhere in this world is 100% safe, not Yerushalayim and not Tel Aviv, and it is all based on the definition of “a frequent damage”.

We agree with the Admor of Satmar that there are many Arab murderers in Eretz Yisrael, but we must see things in proportion. We have already been living in Yesha for 40 years and the number of murders that occur there is extremely low. The same is true in all of Eretz Yisrael. We must remember that according to a report of the WHO, World Health Organization, 8 out of 100,000 Israeli citizens are murdered each year. That’s compared with 15 out of 100,000 citizens in France, and 25 out of 100,000 Americans. Therefore, it is more dangerous for the Admor of Satmar, may he live a long and good life, Amen!, to live in America than to live in the “Settlements”! We must thank Hashem, and his loyal agents – Tzahal, the police, the Mossad, the Shabak and the rest of the security establishment – day and night for the peace and quiet we merit in our Land.

In the Gemara in Chullin (63b), Rabbi Abayu asks: Why is there a bird called “Ra’ah” (the one who saw)? He answers: Because he sits in Bavel and sees a carcass in Eretz Yisrael. The great Rabbis explain that this is a parable to someone who dwells outside of Eretz Yisrael and see the deficiencies in Eretz Yisrael and speaks Lashon Ha-Ra against it…

This obviously in no way detracts from the incredible merits of the Admor of Satmar in strengthening Torah and fear of Hashem in America, and we pray regarding them: “May our eyes behold Your return to Tzion in compassion”.

 

Parshas Balak and Moshiach

The following is from Rav Motti Greenberg, one of the Roshei Yeshivah at Kerem B’Yavne.

The name of this week’s Torah portion, Balak, is remarkable. What merit did such a cruel man, who wanted to destroy Yisrael, have – such that an entire Torah portion was named for him?

In today’s article we will delve somewhat into mystic issues, namely, the light of the Mashiach. It is written in the Zohar that the soul of the Mashiach can be found in a palace called “Ken Tzipor” – the nest of a bird – and the mitzva of sending away a mother bird from a nest can be understood in terms of the Mashiach. And in his commentary on the portion of Metzora, the Or Hachaim Hakadosh writes that the two birds involved in the ceremony of purifying an impure person are related to the two instances of Mashiach, Ben Yosef and Ben David. He writes, “Thus, we see that Mashiach can be compared to a bird.”

This week’s Torah portion involves Balak, son of Tzipor – a bird. “Due to the merit of the forty-two sacrifices that Balak brought, he was privileged to have King Shlomo as his offspring … Rabbi Yossie Ben Choni said, Ruth was the daughter of Eglon, the son of Balak.” [Sota 47a]. Thus, the soul of the Mashiach, symbolized by a bird, exists in Balak, and he is the one who is attempting to block him being revealed. Bilam says to him, “Listen to me, son of Tzipor” [Bamidbar 23:18] – but this can also be read as, “one who has a son named Tzipor.” And this phrase, “beno tzipor,” has a numerical value of 434, which is also the value of “Mashiach Ben David.” Balak fears the nation “because it is many” [22:2]. The word “rav” is an acronym for the names, Ruth and Boaz. According to calculations by the Chatam Sofer, Boaz married Ruth on the eve of the seventeenth of Tammuz, and he died the next day. As a result of that night, Oved, father of Yishai the father of David, was born. It is written, “And Balak Ben Tzipor was the King of Moav at that time” [22:4]. The numerical value of “ba’eit” – at that time – is 472, which is the value of the phrase “the seventeenth of Tammuz.”

There are 85 verses in the Book of Ruth. Balak sent messengers to Bilam “at Petor” [22:5]. The word used, “petorah,” can be rearranged into “po tor,” where the first word (which means “here”) has the value 85, and the second word is a dove – that is, a bird. And the letters of tor can be rearranged into the name Ruth.

Why is it necessary for the Mashiach to appear through an evil person such as Balak? Knowledgeable people have discussed this question many times in the past. The soul of the Mashiach spends its time hiding in places where it would never be expected to be found, in order that the accusers will not be able to interfere with the process of his development. That is why the very spark of the Mashiach makes its first appearance in Sedom, in the incident of Lot and his daughters. As is written, “I found my servant David” [Tehillim 89:21]. The sages teach us, Where did He find David? It was in Sedom, as is written, “his two daughters who were there” [Bereishit 19:15] (Yevamot 77a). And then, in the affair of Yehuda and Tamar, on the main highway, which involved relations with a daughter-in-law, and in the way that Boaz and Ruth met in the harvest field. And then the story of David and Batsheva took place.

Rabbi Yosef Karo, in his book “Magid Meisharim,” where mystic secrets were revealed to him by heaven, writes that because of these events the Mashiach has the power to overcome the evil powers, which would never think that he will be revealed through bastards and ugly acts of evil.

The same is true of modern times. “The people who were chosen for this mission are of this type (not yet religious), and all of this is part of the wonders of the One who is Perfectly Wise” [“Eim Habanim Semaicha” page 125].

And that explains why the mentioning of the Mashiach takes place specifically in this Torah portion. The Rambam writes, “This also appears in the passage of Bilam, and there he prophesies about two appearances of the Mashiach. ‘I will see him but not now’ [Bamidbar 24:17] – this refers to David. ‘I will view him but not soon’ [ibid] – this is Mashiach, the King.” [Hilchot Melachim 11:1].

מי כעמך ישראל

Gut wrenching.

השם ינקום דמם

On one of the murdered boy’s הי’’ד mothers

This is from Ha’aretz [Hat tip anonymous]
(My cousin’s wife is also a Nishmat alumnus. She isn’t a feminist, and can learn lots better than most, certainly including me. Nishmat is led by Rav Yehuda Herzl Henkin and his wife)
Not surprisingly, Rachel Fraenkel, who many men and women know as Rachel Sprecher Fraenkel, has foundational shares in that movement. She is the director of the Advanced Halakha Program at Matan, a high-level women’s institute of Jewish studies in Jerusalem, which despite its pioneering feminist nature has remained within the social conventions of Orthodox society. Sprecher Fraenkel also teaches Jewish law at Nishmat, another women’s institution of high-level Jewish learning in Jerusalem. In both places she is called “Rabbanit,” a title usually reserved for rabbis’ wives, but in her case it stands on its own, given to her by virtue of her learning.
For years, both women and men have contacted her and other women, known as halakhic advisers (yo’atzot halakha in Hebrew,) for guidance on matters of Jewish law. But now, for the first time, in the tragic circumstances of her son’s murder, tens of thousands of people responded to her prayer with “Amen.”

Modeling faith and love

[Hat tip to Bobbie, this is from Israel Hayom]

The Fraenkel, Shaer and Yifrach families modeled for us spiritual strength and brotherly love.

By David M. Weinberg

Published in Israel Hayom, July 1, 2014.

So it turns out that the families of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrach knew almost from the beginning of this ordeal that one or two of the three boys were likely to have been killed in the course of the kidnapping on June 12.

There were gunshots on the recording of the SOS call made by Gilad, which was played for the families. There were bullet casings and blood found in the burnt shell of the getaway car, and the families were told this too.

They were told that the lack of demands from the kidnappers was a sign that the boys might no longer be alive.

And yet all three families exuded optimism, faith and positive energy for 18 long days. They went before camera and after camera, reporter after reporter, concert after concert, and prayer assembly after prayer assembly, and asserted their confidence that just a bit more effort could bring a positive result. They met every youth group, every foreign diplomat, every UN assembly, every IDF commander they could, thanking everybody for their efforts, in their upbeat, affirming and unassuming way.

What amazing people! What noble people! How they raised the spirits of an entire nation; united an entire nation; comforted an entire nation!

They taught us how to harness all our temporal powers to drive towards a national goal in unison. They taught us all what it means to believe in powers greater than our own.

Perhaps the most profound thought uttered over the past three weeks was expressed by Racheli Fraenkel at the Western Wall last week. In a clip shown on Israeli television, and seen I think by just about every person in this country, Mrs. Fraenkel is approached at the Wall by a group of very young girls who want to wish her well.

Instead, Mrs. Fraenkel bends down to them and offers theological reassurance and warm wisdom. “I want you to promise me,” she softly says, “that no matter what happens, you won’t be crushed or broken. That you won’t lose faith. After all, we must remember that G-d isn’t our ‘employee.’ He doesn’t always do as we wish.”

With these crushingly humble words, Racheli Fraenkel captured the hearts of an entire nation. Her words resounded through every living room and every workplace. People repeated them, reflected upon them, debated them. Agree or disagree, nobody could deny her strength of spirit. Nobody could avoid being awestruck at her clear-sightedness; at her breathtaking display of faith within realism.

As I stood at midnight last night outside the Fraenkel home (down the street from my home in Nof Ayalon), Naftali’s uncle Yishai Fraenkel shared with me that behind the mask of embarrassed smiles and sunny demeanor we saw on our television screens, Racheli Fraenkel was being torn apart. “Inside the house, she doesn’t smile. Inside the house, inside her soul, she is dealing with a great personal burden of pain. And of course, she must simultaneously be mother to her other children. She may be a superwoman, but she has no super-natural powers. She says that she draws strength from the People of Israel; from the outpouring of care and prayer that has come from all corners of the Jewish world.”

Such modesty aside, I feel that Mrs. Fraenkel and the other five now-bereaved parents modeled for us not just indomitable personal character. They modeled for us spiritual strength; a healthy blend of religious devotion and rationality. Of this world-ness and other-world-ness. Of pragmatism and values. Of self-interest and selflessness. Of coolly calculated tactics and naturally-flowing love.

They gave Israelis a model for religious commitment, national unity and brotherly love not only in times of crisis but also in everyday life; throughout all regular seasons of our rough-and-tumble spiritual-social-political life.

For this, we are in their debt.

A tribute night for the Lubavitcher Rebbe זי’’ע

Today was the יום הילולא of the last Lubavitcher Rebbe (LR). I’m presently ensconced in three books describing him and will offer my thoughts on these when I have finished.

They are certainly impressive pieces of work, each in their own way. In a recent private email exchange I had with Rabbi Yossi Jacobson in reference to this post, I mentioned that one of the things that attracted me to the Rav, Rav Y.D. Soloveitchik ז’ל was the refreshing ease with which he was able to write about his personal feelings on various matters, some of which were the result of his private life and the emotional struggles surrounding these. Rabbi Jacobson, if I’m not misquoting him, was of the opinion that the LR also expressed his personal feelings. I felt that the LR wasn’t expressing his own private issues, but was always focussed on what the movement and it’s Chassidim needed to achieve.

The Rav, however was not, and never saw himself, or his task in life, as that of a Manhig Yisrael. In his own words he was a מלמד. Certainly that was a self-deprecating description of someone, often described by others as the למדן הדור. We should all aspire to be such a “מלמד”! In other words, the Rav dedicated his life to interacting with the challenging American reality and transmitted the Brisker method of Lomdus and Mesora that he had digested from his illustrious  grandfather, R’ Chaim Brisker, father, R’ Moshe, and Uncle R’ Velvel, to a challenged generation for whom such sophisticated analysis of Torah, enmeshed in the vernacular of the day, was intellectually challenging and advanced in its conceptualism and oratory. The Rav ordained more Rabbonim than any other Rav in the history of Judaism (it would seem).

As time goes by, his greatness, like many who pass away, is amplified, and the fact that I “discovered” him relatively late in my life, is a source of sorrow. How I would have loved to have participated in a Shiur, or listened live to his majestic droshas.

Enter his famed University colleague from Berlin the LR. I couldn’t put my finger on it, until I (partly) read the books about the LR, but I now have a fuller appreciation of the LR’s role and personality. In many ways, they were both became fully equipped educationally and culturally to interact with the needs of American Youth in a so-called modern society. They had both studied at University level, and were aware of the so-called European/Western Culture and thought. I do not think either of them saw that culture as some sort of enlightening factor, but it enabled them to interact at the highest levels using the modern vernacular and conceptualisation of our times, within the context of acutely high levels of grey matter.

דברה תורה כלשון בני אדם

found a new home among these giants.

Whilst I was not brought up with a deep understanding of the “Torah Im Maddah” approach or YU, I found it easier,unsurprisingly, to speak and digest that language. A more universalistic approach to different paths has always appealed to me.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe, however, was an enigma. Here was this powerful genius with a photographic memory and acute ability to link and understand the seemingly disparate thoughts at his disposal, through the prism of the metaphysics of Chassidus, with brilliant insights and a paucity of notes. Yet, I guess I felt remote from him because there seemed to be no outward human frailty that he ever allowed to be shown, except when he was afflicted by that terrible stroke which ultimately led to his departure from our world and when his beloved wife passed away. Furthermore, while the elder Chassidim stressed the Chabad Chassidic approach, the younger Chassidim seemed more pre-occupied with his personage. To be sure, Chassidim would say “you must have a Yechidus”, “you have to immerse yourself in Chassidus to appreciate him” but that didn’t prick me into action. I never felt that I had anything meaningful to say or ask, and I wasn’t the type of tourist to invade an important Gadol’s time just because it was the done thing.

I have only been to the USA once, and I never went to 770. I simply didn’t know or comprehend what I might get out of it. These days, I’d be most apprehensive to go there given that it is controlled largely by the more radical Meshichist types, whose philosophy I do not consider to be Masoretic, but rather a backwards-pointing justification for an already concluded premise.

People will read what I have written and say, stop saying “I” … it’s not about you. One has to be בטל,  somewhat constricted within their personal ego to appreciate what was being effected in a Yechidus. Perhaps I was too ego-driven or cock-sure of where I stood in life vis-a-vis my Avodas Hashem and perspective on Torah. I may have even been wrong. It is what it was, and remains that way.

After reading most of these books, I have discovered through the über romantic, carefully chosen words of Rav Steinsaltz, and the meticulously researched tome of Rabbi Telushkin (Chaim Miller is next), that I have a better appreciation of this extraordinary leader. I didn’t learn much from earlier books, including those of academics and more. I felt that they started their books with a (negative) premise, and then sought to prove this premise, and not undertake a clean, academic unadulterated look at the facts.

Now, a leader can only try and do his best to make sure that his Chassidim conduct themselves in the way which he approves and/or legislates. The LR was no different. At times his exasperation was palpable.

One can certainly find a bevy of Shluchim who are seemingly pre-programmed automatons lacking the very gift that the LR had—the ability to connect individually with the person talking to them. There isn’t and wasn’t a magic formula. It was an action/reaction experience. Some have this gift; many, I dare say, do not.

Even last Shabbos, when I spoke to stranger who was wearing a Yechi Yarmulke, and asked why he wore that outward advertisement, he accused me of hating him simply for asking. I suggested that concluding that I hated someone because I asked a question was shallow, and when I referred to the classical work of R’ Yechezkel Sofer on the topic (which he described as “garbage”) this represented a problem with his own eyes, and not mine.

After reading the books I felt real sadness for the LR. He was clearly a very reluctant leader initially, almost a recluse whose favourite times were with his wife, father in law, parents or his seforim. His personal life was zealously guarded from the masses or even to the few in constant contact. He was a truly selfless man who pushed himself to extraordinary limits. He did not compromise on an iota, and mission, as summarised by Rabbi Sacks, was to ignite the soul of every person who the Nazis had attempted to extinguish and towards whom society was threatening with their often depraved value systems. He was as singularly minded in his pursuit of re-igniting souls to hasten the redemption as anyone we have seen.

As such, I find myself asking the question: what would he have said about a “tribute night” in his memory. Based on what I’ve read, I posit that he would be embarrassed by the word “tribute” to describe such a night. He would not want anyone to focus on him per se. He appeared to vehemently dislike cultish worship. Rather, the essential task was all about the missions and initiatives that he worked tirelessly to introduce and strengthen, all with the aim of bringing the redemption quicker.

It’s a paradox. On the one hand he was reaching out, and yet at the same time, he was enigmatically private.

So, why do his Chassidim engage in tribute nights? Certainly there is the practice that one should remember and talk about the deceased on the day of their Yohr Tzeit. One fasts, and learns Mishnayos. I don’t know how many Chassidim today do that today. But, it is more than that. In the absence of a leader to actively direct a movement in 2014, I feel he would only approve of such a gathering if it was about people taking strength and renewal and redoubling their efforts to carry out (genuinely) the tasks and processes that he had inaugurated.

In that vein, I will agree that a tribute evening potentially can invigorate. At the same time, it can also fail to do so—if people concentrate on the person and not the task to be achieved.

Mamzeirim Rotzchim

I am heart broken to read of the murder of the three boys. Apart from Nikmas Dam Avodecho, We need to add 10 minutes of Mishnayos learning per day for each of them.

20140701-041622-15382173.jpg

Humor and stereotypes and assimilation

This is an interesting study

(Hat tip Bobbie)

Prof Dershowitz on anti semitism … Worth reading

(Hat tip mt)

BUT WHAT’S THE ANSWER??

By: Alan Dershowitz

Why are so many of the grandchildren of Nazis and Nazi collaborators who brought us the Holocaust once again declaring war on the Jews?
Why have we seen such an increase in anti-Semitism and irrationally virulent anti-Zionism in western Europe?

To answer these questions, a myth must first be exposed. That myth is the one perpetrated by the French, the Dutch, the Norwegians, the Swiss, the Belgians, the Austrians, and many other western Europeans: namely that the Holocaust was solely the work of German Nazis aided perhaps by some Polish, Ukrainian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian collaborators.

False.

The Holocaust was perpetrated by Europeans: by Nazi sympathizers and collaborators among the French, Dutch, Norwegians, Swiss, Belgians, Austrians and other Europeans, both Western and Eastern.

If the French government had not deported to the death camps more Jews than their German occupiers asked for; if so many Dutch and Belgian citizens and government officials had not cooperated in the roundup of Jews; if so many Norwegians had not supported Quisling; if Swiss government officials and bankers had not exploited Jews; if Austria had not been more Nazi than the Nazis, the Holocaust would not have had so many Jewish victims.

In light of the widespread European complicity in the destruction of European Jewry, the pervasive anti-Semitism and irrationally hateful anti-Zionism that has recently surfaced throughout western Europe toward Israel should surprise no one.

“Oh no,” we hear from European apologists. “This is different. We dont hate the Jews. We only hate their nation-state. Moreover, the Nazis were right-wing. Were left-wing, so we cant be anti-Semites.”

Nonsense.

The hard left has a history of anti-Semitism as deep and enduring as the hard right. The line from Voltaire to Karl Marx, to Levrenti Beria, to Robert Faurisson, to todays hard-left Israel bashers is as straight as the line from Wilhelm Mars to the persecutors of Alfred Dreyfus to Hitler.

The Jews of Europe have always been crushed between the Black and the Red – victims of extremism whether it be the ultra-nationalism of Khmelnitsky to the ultra-anti-Semitism of Stalin.

“But some of the most strident anti-Zionists are Jews, such as Norman Finkelstein and even Israelis such as Gilad Atzmon. Surely they can’t be anti-Semites?”

Why not? Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas collaborated with the Gestapo. Atzmon, a hard leftist, describes himself as a proud self-hating Jew and admits that his ideas derive from a notorious anti-Semite.

He denies that the Holocaust is historically proved but he believes that Jews may well have killed Christian children to use their blood to bake Passover matzah. And he thinks it’s “rational” to burn down synagogues.

Finkelstein believes in an international Jewish conspiracy that includes Steven Spielberg, Leon Uris, Eli Wiesel, and Andrew Lloyd Webber!

“But Israel is doing bad things to the Palestinians,” the European apologists insist, “and we are sensitive to the plight of the underdog.”

No, you’re not! Where are your demonstrations on behalf of the oppressed Tibetans, Georgians, Syrians, Armenians, Kurds, or even Ukrainians? Where are your BDS movements against the Chinese, the Russians, the Cubans, the Turks, or the Assad regime?

Only the Palestinians, only Israel ? Why? Not because the Palestinians are more oppressed than these and other groups.

Only because their alleged oppressors are Jews and the nation-state of the Jews. Would there be demonstrations and BDS campaigns on behalf of the Palestinians if they were oppressed by Jordan or Egypt ?

Oh, wait! The Palestinians were oppressed by Egypt and Jordan . Gaza was an open-air prison between 1948 and 1967, when Egypt was the occupying power. And remember Black September, when Jordan killed more Palestinians than Israel did in a century? I dont remember any demonstration or BDS campaigns — because there werent any.

When Arabs occupy or kill Arabs, Europeans go ho-hum. But when Israel opens a soda factory in Maale Adumim, which even the Palestinian leadership acknowledges will remain part of Israel in any peace deal, Oxfam parts ways with Scarlett Johansson for advertising a soda company that employs hundreds of Palestinians

Keep in mind that Oxfam has provided “aid and material support” to two anti-Israel terrorist groups, according to the Tel Aviv-based Israeli Law Group.

The hypocrisy of so many hard-left western Europeans would be staggering if it were not so predictable based on the sordid history of Western Europe’s treatment of the Jews.

Even England , which was on the right side of the war against Nazism, has a long history of anti-Semitism, beginning with the expulsion of the Jews in 1290 to the notorious White Paper of 1939, which prevented the Jews of Europe from seeking asylum from the Nazis in British-mandated Palestine . And Ireland , which vacillated in the war against Hitler, boasts some of the most virulent anti-Israel rhetoric.

The simple reality is that one cannot understand the current western European left-wing war against the nation-state of the Jewish people without first acknowledging the long-term European war against the Jewish people themselves.

Theodore Herzl understood the pervasiveness and irrationality of European anti-Semitism, which led him to the conclusion that the only solution to Europe’s Jewish problem was for European Jews to leave that bastion of Jew hatred and return to their original homeland, which is now the state of Israel .

None of this is to deny Israel’s imperfections or the criticism it justly deserves for some of its policies. But these imperfections and deserved criticism cannot even begin to explain, must less justify, the disproportionate hatred directed against the only nation-state of the Jewish people and the disproportionate silence regarding the far greater imperfections and deserved criticism of other nations and groups including the Palestinians.

Nor is this to deny that many western European individuals and some western European countries have refused to succumb to the hatred against the Jews or their state. The Czech Republic comes to mind. But far too many western Europeans are as irrational in their hatred toward Israel as their forbearers were in their hatred toward their Jewish neighbours.

As author Amos Oz once aptly observed: the walls of his grandparents’ Europe were covered with graffiti saying, “Jews, go to Palestine .” Now they say, “Jews, get out of Palestine ” ? by which is meant Israel ..

Who do these western European bigots think theyre fooling? Only fools who want to be fooled in the interest of denying that they are manifesting new variations on their grandparents’ old biases.

Any objective person with an open mind, open eyes, and an open heart must see the double standard being applied to the nation-state of the Jewish people. Many doing so are the grandchildren of those who lethally applied a double standard to the Jews of Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.

For shame!

Are these Litvaks normal

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4531710,00.html

Hat tip (DS)

The implication is that the boys were kidnapped as punishment for getting Charedim to do army or equivalent.

Morons. Maybe it should have been Lapids children. I can’t believe the idiocy.

Give us back our boys (Part 2)

After the Caulfield Shule event there was much murmuring from sections of the community about aspects that they didn’t like. This is not to imply they had a problem with the event. The feeling was positive.

I’d like to consider each one (that I know of) and that have been broadly canvassed, and offer my view, for what it’s worth. These are in no particular order.

  1. Umbrage was expressed that the Rabbinic President of the RCV and ORA was using his phone from the daïs to take panoramic pictures/videos from his place while people were involved in the event.
    My view is that this was ill-advised, and not in keeping with the solemnity and angst of the event. There were adequate photographers and the ubiquitous Channel 31 fellow quite able to take pictures and video as need be.
  2. Offence was expressed that some Rabbinic figures failed to sing HaTikva
    My view on HaTikva was formed many decades ago when I discussed the matter with a Rav from Mercaz HaRav, as a young Yeshivah Bochur during the summer break at Moshav Keshet. That is a story in of itself. The Rav was fiercely Religious Zionist, and our site was literally on the border with Syria. When we threw a rock over the barbed wire fence near where we worked each day, it was common for a mine or some other incendiary device to detonate. The Rav was obviously very spiritual. I remember waiting twenty minutes for him to finish davening Mincha after we had all finished to engage him in discussing the matter. His view was that it was unfortunate that God’s name is not mentioned therein and that there was no seeming connection to Torah. Nonetheless, he felt that when in a place where people were singing it as an anthem, not doing so, would likely cause some to make the wrong reading, and that this itself could estrange Jews from Judaism, so to speak. He told me that he made one substitution when he sang it in such situations. Instead of Lihyot Am Chofshi, he used Lihyot Am Torah B’Artzenu and suggested I focus on Hashem’s hand and Ein Lecha Ben Chorin Ela Mi Sheosek BaTorah. Since that time, I have tried to do so. Chofshi, can mean many things, but to secularists this can range from freedom to possibly freedom of the yoke of religion/heaven (from the vantage of a more Charedi reading). As my own children grew up, they noticed me making this substitution. Whether they do, is a matter for themselves.     That being said, it is unwise to be standing there in public view without one’s lips moving even if someone is theologically opposed. I understand that some might turn their back so nobody would notice. I understand that some have other objections. I could even foresee the bleeding left-wing objecting to the anthem on the grounds that it is difficult for an Arab Israeli to sing (this has been in the news in fact). Either way, one should absent oneself in an inconspicuous manner so as not to create heat. I saw one Rabbi leave as soon as Tehillim was over. That’s his right. It’s for his congregation to interpret. Nobody forces a Rabbi to sit anywhere they don’t want to.

    In of itself, there is nothing holy about an anthem, of course. This does not imply that one is opposed in some way to the notion that the birth of the State was Yad Hashem and a miraculous event. Let’s face facts. The majority of the RCV are not Religious Zionists, including the President nor do they need to be in terms of any constitution or mandate that I am aware of.

  3. Some from the more Charedi spectrum, who made an effort to attend in name of unity, felt that the Tefilla Lishlom HaMedina was contentious.
    It is true that Charedim, Chabad, Litvaks et al do not agree that the birth of the state implied that one should say Reishit Tzmichat Geulateynu. Some add the word “Shtehe” (rumoured to be R’ Moshe Feinstein’s suggestion) or Smichat Geulatenu.Having finished a book about the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Amiel ז’ל, of the Gush, a holocaust survivor himself and ardent Zionist, and having a copy of his seminal book המעלות ממעמקים which I read decades ago, it is clear that even some Religious Zionists (like Rav Amiel) have problems with the issue of certainty when it comes to predictions of redemption. It is also for this reason also that I am uncomfortable when people say that XYZ is Mashiach. This type of eschatology, to me, is unimportant. The end is the goal. Exactly who and when and how things happen, as noted by the Rambam in Hilchos Melachim is unpredictable. Having said that, one wasn’t forced to say this prayer. One could easily have just stood like everyone while it was being said. Those who felt that it was just too theologically uncomfortable, could have attended a Tehillim event that was apparently held at Adass Israel on a previous day, although it would be good if they publicised these things in a better manner: they know how.
  4. There were comments about allowing a Conservative Cantor recite Tehillim.
    To be honest, I didn’t know who the (Sefardi) Cantor was. I only noticed the errors in Tehillim that he had made and wondered whether he had bad eye sight. Either way, unless the person is a Kofer/Apikorus, I don’t see an issue with saying Tehillim after him (I haven’t asked my Rav). I would assume the President of ORA checked this out and was satisfied that he wasn’t a Kofer/Apikorus.

To end on a positive note, [Hat tip BA] listen to this excellent speech from the Chief Rabbi in London.

Give us back our boys!

I just attended the community Tehillim event at Caulfield Shule, and I felt ill at ease.

Let me explain. I do not understand what Hashem wants from us. On the one hand he wants us to follow Him and we do, to the best of our ability amongst swirling stormy seas of שונאי   ימח שמם, ישראל,  and the vicissitudes thrown up by the modern world of temptation and diversion.

I have a son in Israel, whose birthday is tomorrow עד מאה ועשרים and who is barely older than the three captives, and who was in that area a few days earlier with my daughter and son-in-law. Another son had been there a few weeks earlier with my grandson enjoying the beauty that only the Holy Land can produce.

We said Tehillim. I concentrated with all my might. I was gratified to see a good cross-section of people from the religious community in attendance, including a number of representatives from Adass. I felt we were one, but I found myself questioning why Hashem was abandoning us. קלי למה עזבתנו. Didn’t we all suffer enough from Gilad Shalit’s ordeal and the tendentious decision to release murderers in return. Will that kid ever be a “normal” person?

I am reminded at such times of the genuine tears and wailing of my Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Goldvicht ז’ל, who repeated over and over and over צעקו והשם שמע ומכל צרותם הצילם at times like these: we are behoved to audibly cry out in anguish, and God must listen and save us from all our Tzores. The atmosphere then at Kerem B’Yavneh was one of numbness. I often still feel it. I visualise it. None of us were remotely close to the essence of the Rosh Yeshivah’s cries to Hashem.

I vacillate between feeling like a speck asking Hashem to listen to my wishes, and the power of the whole, the קדושה of oneness displayed when people are conjoined by external trouble. Rav Soloveitchik wrote that this causative oneness is admirable and natural, but he exhorted that the challenge was to have such feelings when we are not drawn together by Tzaros.

The Rav felt that this higher level of קדושה was the עצמות of what קדושת העם is meant to be. It is our collective existential submission to Hashem that is qualitatively superior to individual pain or external causes that draw us together. This oneness existed at the time of the Beis Hamikdash through individuals literally being לפני השם. This then is the challenge: to feel לפני השם even when things are nice and comfortable and all is comparatively well. I’m certainly not near that level which is probably why I felt rather ill at ease. I know,  like everyone, where I need to improve and what I need to do. The challenge is doing it, and doing it as a team.

Keep

Yaakov Naftali ben Rachel Devorah
Gilad Michael ben Bat Galim
Eyal ben Iris Tesurah

uppermost in your Tefillos

[Hat tip to BA] for the following

LotzyBachy. Your final warning

You have attempted to make comments defending Adass. I have NO problem with that. They are fine people in the main, but I cannot stomach Neturei Karta and disagree with the Satmar philosophy. Until you get out of your hiding place and use your real name, I will continue my practice of not even entertaining publishing your comments, or responding to them. You have made some decent commentary, and some I disagree with, but if you persist in hiding, then I’m afraid I will just have to add you to my ban list, and I will no longer see your comments. The choice is yours LotzyBachy.

If you aren’t allowed to use the internet, then I suggest just go away and stop using it. If you are, then have the guts to use your real name. I don’t publish my blog because I get crave commentary although I do appreciate the many excellent commenters who have a real intellectual contribution to make.

Where did the oceans come from

[Hat tip RB]

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1533108/vast-ocean-trapped-under-core-earth-scientists-say

בראשית ז י וַיְהִי, לְשִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים; וּמֵי הַמַּבּוּל, הָיוּ עַל-הָאָרֶץ.  יא בִּשְׁנַת שֵׁשׁ-מֵאוֹת שָׁנָה, לְחַיֵּי-נֹחַ, בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי, בְּשִׁבְעָה-עָשָׂר יוֹם לַחֹדֶשׁ–בַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה, נִבְקְעוּ כָּל-מַעְיְנֹת תְּהוֹם רַבָּה, וַאֲרֻבֹּת הַשָּׁמַיִם, נִפְתָּחוּ.

 

Breishis 7:10 And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

 

Here is a case where it has taken Science eons to “confirm” something in the Torah.  Actually, this is not all that new and scientists have known that huge amounts of water are found in underground silicates, maybe the source of most of the waters of the oceans.

The excruciating pain of the 3 kidnapped yeshivah boys and the disgrace of Neturei Karta

[Hat tip DS]

My children were near that spot on Thursday night. It is spine chilling. While we normally criticise Neturei Karta for a lack of Ahavas Yisrael, in this case, they have certainly done the wrong thing. They have written about three of their own who (שומו שמים) may have been drafted into the Holy Army defending our Nation.

I find it very hard to support these people. Someone at Shule said “respect their Shita”. Sorry, this poster makes me ill in context. They complain about “ZIONIST MURDERERS”

What Mashiach would want to walk through Meah Shearim? Not even Shabtai Tzvi the faker.

I call on the leaders of Adass Yisrael to disassociate themselves from this and to attend the Tehillim tonight at Caulfield Shule

 

Guest Post from R’ Meir Deutsch שליט’’א on Korach

Korach is the ultimate lesson of an evil self-centred person who considered himself holy but was ego driven. That was his downfall and he was the archetype for misusing pseudo halacha.

We can see a connection between the two Parashoth – Schlach and Korach. In this week’s Parasha we have the revolt of Korach and his followers, and later the accusation of the whole EDAH that the current leadership brought on them the punishment of having to perish in the desert. What happened with G-d’s promise to bring us to the land of Milk and Honey if we do not reach that wonderful land and die on the way? In their dreams about the Promised land they imagined themselves having their own נחלת שדה וכרם and now even that dream will not be fulfilled.

ויקח קורח מאיר דויטש© כל הזכויות שמורות

דווח המרגלים הסתיים, ופתאום, לאחר שראו את העונש שנגזר “במדבר הזה יפלו פיגרכם”, נמצאו אנשים שמפקפקים בהנהגה, בהנהגתו של משה. קורח, דתן, אבירם ואון בן פלט יוצאים במתקפה על משה ואהרון. הביקורות שלהם הם לא רק בעניין חלוקת המשרות. בעצם פורץ כאן מרד, רוצים מנהיגות חדשה. המרד מתחיל בקריאה: “רב לכם […] ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ה’ “. משה מרגיש את תחילתו של המרד נגד ההנהגה ומפסיק אותם, ואומר לקורח ועדתו: אתם לא מרוצים מההנהגה הנוכחית, נלך לבחירות – בואו בבוקר וה’ יודיע במי הוא בוחר. אם בתוצאה הבחירה תהיה בכם, אתם תנהיגו את העם. לאחר השיחה עם קורח משה קורא לדתן ואבירם, אבל הם מסרבים לבוא אליו. הם שולחים לו מסר: “המעט כי העליתנו מארץ זבת חלב ודבש להמיתנו במדבר”. “אף לא אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש הביאותנו ותתן לנו נחלת שדה וכרם”. כדי לא להעלב פעם נוספת, משה לא קורא ולא משוחח עם און בן פלט. או, כמו שאומר רב בתלמוד – שאשתו הצילה אותו בזה שהשקתה אותו יין וחסמה את הפתח (ראה סנהדרין קט, ב) . משה ואחריו זקני ישראל הולכים אל דתן ואבירם. דתן ואבירם יצאו ניצבים פתח אוהליהם כאומרים: נו! מה תעשו לנו? הארץ בולעת את כל אשר לקורח ואש אוכלת את 250 מקריבי הקטורת. האם בזה הסתיימה הפרשייה? למרות מה שראו בני ישראל, הארץ פותחת את פיה והם נסים להציל נפשם ב”רעידת האדמה”, הם, בני ישראל, חושבים כי יש מן הצדק בתלונות. זה מה שאנו רואים מיד למחרת. לא רק לעדת קורח, אלא לכל העדה יש השגות וביקורת על משה ועל אהרון. ” וילונו כל עדת בני ישראל ממחרת על משה ועל אהרון לאמור: אתם המיתם את עם ה’ “. אונקלוס מתרגם ” אתון גרמתון דמית עמיה דה’ “. במה גרם משה למותו של עם ה’ במדבר? בנושא הידוע כפרשת המרגלים, העם רצה לשלוח מרגלים. משה לעומתם ביקש לתור ולראות את טיבה של הארץ: הטובה היא אם רעה, היש בה עץ או אין, האם העם היושב שם חזק או רפה, האם יושב במבצרים, האם הארץ שמנה או רזה. משה שולח שנים עשר נשיאים לתור את הארץ, לא מספר קטן של מרגלים. שלך לך: מפרש רש”י – לרצונך. וייטב הדבר בעיניי ולא בעיני ה’ (סוטה לו). הייתכן? מהנאמר “וידבר ה’ […] שלח לך” (זו הרי פקודה – צווי), “וישלח אותם משה ממדבר פראן על פי ה'”? אם כן כיצד לא ייטב הדבר בעיני ה’? נחזור לשאלתנו: אתם גרמתם למותו של העם במדבר. הביקורת של העם על משה הייתה: 1. אנו ביקשנו לשלוח מרגלים. 2. אתה, משה, על פי ה’, שלחת שנים עשר נשיאים לתור את הארץ. 3. אתה בקשת מאיתם לבדוק: 1. אם העם חזק או רפה 2. המעט הוא אם רב 3. האם הארץ טובה או רעה 4. האם הערים מבוצרות או פרזים 5. האם הארץ שמנה או רזה 6. היש בה עץ או אין 4. אנו עשינו כדבריך, תרנו ובדקנו, התחזקנו והבאנו מפירותיה והכנו דו”ח על הממצאים. כאשר חזרנו למחנה מסרנו לך ולעם דו”ח על מה שביקשת מעמנו. 5. באת אלינו במצרים ואמרת לנו את הבטחת ה’: “ואומר אעלה אתכם מעני מצרים אל ארץ הכנעני והחיטי והאמורי והפריזי והחוי והיבוסי אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש” (שמות ג יז). הבטחת להביא אותנו אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש. 6. כאשר נגזר על מותנו במדבר לא התחננת לה’ כי יחזור בו מרוע הגזירה כפי שעשית תמיד (משה ביקש לבטל את העונש של “אכנו בדבר ואורישנו ואעשך לגוי גדול” (במדבר יד יב) אבל לא כאשר ה’ אמר למשה “במדבר הזה יפלו פגריכם” (במדבר יד כט).), כפי שעשית גם כאן בקורח: “האיש אחד יחטא ועל כל העדה תקצוף”. (ראה רמב”ן במדבר טז א). אני רואה בזה את התשובה לפרוץ המרד. ה’ אומר למשה: “במדבר הזה יפלו פגריכם […] אם אתם תבאו אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי לשכן אתכם בה” (במדבר כט-ל). אתה, משה, באת אלינו במצרים ואמרת לנו את דבר ה’: “אעלה אתכם מעני מצרים אל ארץ הכנעני […] אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש” (שמות ג, יז). אם נמות במדבר הרי לא תקויים ההבטחה של ה’ להביא אותנו אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש. כאן אנו רואים את מה שגרם לדתן ואבירם לתקוף את משה (הם היו משבט ראובן ולא לויים, ולא ביקשו כהונה): “אף לא אל ארץ זבת חלב ודבש הביאותנו” כפי שהבטחת לנו במצרים. תלונת העם ממחרת היא: “אתם המיתם את עם ה”. אתה, משה, ציוויתה על נציגי השבטים לצאת לתיור, לאסוף ולהביא את הממצאים שאתה פירטת על הארץ ועל יושביה ולהציגם לכם. עשינו כדברך, התרים מסרו את מה שראו בתיור, דיווח אמת, ובגלל הדווח הזה נגזר עלינו למות במדבר.

Outcomes of anonymous commentors

During June and July 2013, I published articles on my personal blogsite relating to press reports of statements allegedly made by Rabbi Boruch Lesches concerning child sexual abuse. Although I criticised Rabbi Lesches in respect of some statements he had made I also called upon the person who had recorded Rabbi Lesches’ remarks and provided the recording to the press to immediately release an unedited transcript of those remarks. I wrote that a failure to do so would amount to profaning God’s name with all that flows from that.
My article did not explicitly name any victim of sexual abuse or the person who had recorded the remarks of Rabbi Lesches. I did not know the identity of that person or persons.  Regrettably, and unbeknown to me at the time, a comment posted on another blogsite referred to my article and named a particular person as the person who had recorded Rabbi Lesches’ remarks and referred to that person in insulting terms. I also regret that other comments posted on my blogsite, although not naming anyone, referred to the person who had recorded Rabbi Lesches in derogatory and disparaging terms.
The person named in the other blog subsequently commenced legal proceedings against me & my employer. I accept that that person has acted in accordance with both halacha & secular law. I regret that my articles or any comments published on my blog may inadvertently have led to that person or his family being subjected to any harm, hurt or criticism. I wish that person and their family well & am grateful that the proceedings brought against me and my employer in connection with this matter have been amicably resolved.

I wish they put as much effort into protecting innocent children

[Hat tip BA]

From Yeshiva World News.

After Israel’s Supreme Court declared mehadrin buses illegal, we are introduced to mehadrin
elevators. The חן ארמונות simcha hall in Givat Shaul, Yerushalayim, has set up a mehadrin
elevator divided by a curtain that separates men and women in the elevator. The elevator is
optional, for guests who wish to offer this new mehadrin service. A nylon curtain is placed in
the elevator, permitting men and women to ride without seeking one another, in theory at
least.
Hall owner Yosef Cohen told Walla News that on the day of one’s chupah, many wish to be
especially careful regarding shmiras einayim and this is just another way of assisting them,
nothing more. Cohen adds that one hall in Bnei Brak has two elevators, one for men and a
second for women but he purchased the hall, which only has one elevator so this is the
solution for those wishing it.
When asked what he has to say to the critics, Cohen questions why anyone finds this
bothersome since it is only used upon request of a bal simcha.
It seems to me that some of them need Shmiras Yodayim and other Eyvorim, and as Rodfim, should be chemically castrated if they have a confirmed illness. I know I’ve jumped from one Chumra to another issue, but frankly the latter issue of disgraceful pedophiles worries me a whole lot more than someone who can’t stand in a lift looking straight ahead. The owner should have told them to use the stairs, and reminded them that they have to walk in front of women, not behind. Groise Tzaddikim. Not.
By the way, where is Malka Leifer? Still walking the streets or “educating” with impunity?
(Pic from Scientific American)

Statistics, for what their worth

I must admit that I pay little or no attention to stats unless something sticks out wildly and I try to discover why. My blog reflects things that concern me. They aren’t constructed to make me loved, hated or controversial. It’s just my attempt at understanding the winds of thought, through my head. There are various reasons. I sometimes delude myself into thinking I’ve written something people agree with!

What I did notice is that around 50% of those who follow my blog and those of guest posters, are from the USA and not Australia. I guess it shouldn’t be surprising, but I don’t comment as much as I used to as I’m time poor.

I don’t care too much about the number of comments. Even one great comment is worth more to me than 30 pieces of shallow unfounded attacks, especially ad hominem attacks, from behind anonymous mushrooms, with little, if any, credible evidence! Oh I get them. I have collected a series of horrible insults directed against me and my family which curiously are reflected in similar words in various other places. Yes, there are rumours and yes, those rumours already walk the street well before my blog may mention them in context.  Many have been true, but I’ve backtracked from this style for various reasons. In particular, the message of my post can sometimes be transmitted effectively without them.

It’s best to always pursue truth and have that as one’s ultimate progenitor and never ever be afraid of protecting one’s true and plainly published intentions without spurious conspiracy theories.

Parshas Shlach from R’ Meir Deutsch

If we look at what we call “Parashat Meraglim” we have two sources; one in Bamidbar ch. 13, and the second in Devarim ch. 1. These Parshiot are connected with Parashat Korach. As said, the two parshiot deal with the “Meraglim”, but there are differences. In Devarim the people asked to spy the land to enable them to set up a strategy for conquest, like Moshe himself did in Yazer (Bamidbar 21). In Bamidbar, we have twelve prominent people, who are sent on a tour mission of Eretz Canaan. There is another view, the one of Sforno, who says: שלח לך אנשים. אל תניח שישלחו הם, כמו שאמרו לעשות באומרם “נשלחה אנשים לפנינו”. You send them and be ahead of them. The following is based mainly on the view of the Ramban, but I have added a few thoughts of my own. I do not want to persuade anybody or that they should agree with the point of view I present. I might question a view, but it is not my intention to dismiss it. Each one can come to his own conclusion. He is at liberty to decide what to accept and what to disregard, but I would like your comments and feedback.

מאיר דויטש© כל הזכויות שמורות “וידבר ה’ אל משה לאמור. שלח לך אנשים ויתורו את ארץ כנען” (במדבר י”ג, ב’). “אמר ריש לקיש שלח לך, מדעתך” (סוטה ל”ד ע”ב), וגם רש”י מאמץ פירוש זה. מלשון הפסוק זה נראה אחרת – “שלח לך” הוא לשון ציווי, ה’ מצווה את משה לשלוח. דומה למאמר ה’ לאברהם “ויאמר ה’ אל אברם, לך לך מארצך”, ציווי ולא “לרצונך”. גם מלשון הפסוקים הבאים נראה כי זה ציווי ה’, והוא גם מורה לשלוח שנים עשר נשיאים וקובע את המטרה – תיור. משה הרי שולח אותם ” על פי ה’ “. אם נקבל את דעתו של ריש לקיש, ובעיקבותיו את רש”י, נשאלת השאלה אותה שואל הרמב”ן: “מה טעם למשה רבינו בשליחות הזאת? אם הארץ טובה והעם רפה הרי טוב. ואם רעה או שהעם חזק סבור הוא שיחזירם למצרים?” ספורנו רואה גם כן כי “שלח לך” הוא לשון ציווי, ומפרש זאת: שלח לך אנשים. אל תניח שישלחו הם, כמו שאמרו לעשות באומרם “נשלחה אנשים לפנינו”. תקדים אותם ושלך אותם אתה. בספר דברים נאמר “ותקרבון אלי כלכם ותאמרו נשלחה אנשים לפנינו ויחפרו לנו את הארץ וישיבו אותנו דבר את הדרך אשר נעלה בה ואת הערים אשר נבא אליהם”. בני ישראל ביקשו ממשה לצאת ולרגל לפני שהם יוצאים לכבוש את הארץ. אין בליבם כל ספק כי הארץ תיכבש על ידם, הרי ה’ נתן להם את הארץ לירושה. ברצונם לבדוק את הדרכים ואת הערים דרכם כדאי לבוא בזמן כיבוש הארץ ולגבש תוכנית לכיבוש. הרי משה עצמו השתמש במרגלים – וַיִּשְׁלַח מֹשֶׁה לְרַגֵּל אֶת־יַעְזֵר (במדבר פרק כא). בפרשת שלח אומר ה’ “שלח לך אנשים ויתורו את ארץ כנען […] איש אחד למטה אבותם תשלחו כל נשיא בהם”. כאן אומר ה’ לשלוח את הנשיאים לתור את הארץ ולא לחפור (לרגל), לריגול אין שולחים שנים עשר אנשים, והם גם לא אנשים פשוטים אלא נשיאי השבטים. לריגול שולחים אנשי חרש בודדים שעברו אימון ויודעים כיצד לרדת מגג בחבל ולמנוע את הצורך לעבור דרך חומת העיר ושומרי שעריה. “וייטב הדבר בעיני” אומר משה, והוא שולח אותם לתור את הארץ וקובע את המסלול “עלו זה בנגב ועליתם את ההר” – תיור ולא ריגול. אבל מלבד זאת הוא מצווה אותם לעשות מספר דברים בשעה שהם תרים את הארץ – “וראיתם את הארץ מה היא, ואת העם אשר הוא יושב בהנה הבמחנים אם במבצרים. ומה הארץ השמנה היא אם רזה, היש בה עץ אם אין…”. רש”י מצטט את דברי ריש לקיש במסכת סוטה ומוסיף “אני אמרתי להם שהיא טובה” ולכן מדוע עליהם לשלוח אנשים לבדוק זאת. כפי שאמרנו, בני ישראל פנו אל משה וביקשו לשלוח מרגלים, הם כלל לא ביקשו ללכת ולבדוק אם הארץ היא טובה או לא – לכן תמוהים דברי רש”י המאמץ את דבריו של ריש לקיש. אם בדיקת טיבה של ארץ כנען הוא חטא אז זה משה שביקש לברר אם הארץ היא שמנה או רזה, היש בה עץ או אין, ולא בני ישראל. כל שנים עשר הנשיאים התרים (שם מוצלח יותר מאשר מרגלים, כי הם יצאו לתור את הארץ ולא לרגל) חזרו מארץ כנען ובאו לפני משה ולפני אהרון ולפני העדה ונותנים דוח על מה שהיה עליהם לבדוק לפי הוראתו של משה, הכל דברי אמת. בתוך הדיווח הם אומרים “אפס כי עז העם היושב בארץ, והערים בצורות גדולות מאוד וגם ילידי הענק ראינו שם”. הארץ היא טובה, ארץ זבת חלב ודבש וראו פרותיה, אבל העם היושב בארץ חזק, עריו גדולות ובצורות וגם ענקים יש ביניהם. מתוך הדברים “אפס כי עז העם” ייתכן, אולי, יהיה קושי כל שהוא בכיבוש הארץ, וייתכן והיו לחישות פה ושם בנושא. כדי להסיר את הספק ביכולת בני ישראל לכבוש את הארץ אומר שם כלב “עלה נעלה וירשנו אותה כי יכול נוכל לה”. הארץ ניתנה לנו ירושה מאת ה’, ולכן אם ה’ מוריש לנו את ארץ כנען אז ודאי נוכל לכבוש אותה לנו. כאן, לדעתי, כנראה, מסתיים דיווח הנשיאים, האסיפה מתפזרת והעם חוזר לאוהליו. לאחר סיום האסיפה באו חלק מהתרים לאוהלי בני ישראל “ותרגנו באהליהם” (דברים א’, כ”ז), לא באסיפת העדה ולא לפני משה ואהרון, אלא באוהליהם, שם הם מתארים את התיור מעט בצורה אחרת. הארץ הטובה הזאת, ארץ זבת חלב ודבש, אינה מתאימה לאנשים רגילים כמונו, היא טובה למגורים רק לאותם ענקים ואנשי המידות היושבים בה, לאחרים היא ארץ אוכלת יושביה. בשיחות פרטיות אלה באוהלים אין תושבי ארץ כנען יותר אנשים רגילים ופה ושם כמה ענקים “וגם ילידי ענק ראינו שם”, אלא “וכל העם אשר ראינו בתוכה אנשי מידות” – אבל לא רק ענקים רגילים אלא יותר מזה “שם ראינו את הנפילים בני הענק מן הנפילים”, ועל ענקים, אנשי מידות ונפילים אלה “לא נוכל לעלות […] כי חזק הוא ממנו”. כאשר שומעים העם את דבריהם שנאמרו באוהליהם “ויבכו העם בלילה ההוא”, ובבוקר הם משכימים ומתלוננים על משה ועל אהרון. כאן נכנסים לוויכוח יהושע וכלב, והם אומרים לעם “אך בה’ אל תמרודו, ואתם אל תראו את עם הארץ כי לחמנו הם, סר צילם מעליהם וה’ אתנו”. גם יהושע וכלב, שראו את הארץ ואת העם היושב בארץ כנען יודעים כי בדרך הרגילה יהיה קשה לכבוש את הארץ. גם הם, כנראה בדעה כי חזק הוא ממנו (לפי הפשט ולא לפי רש”י), אבל בגלל שה’ אתנו נצליח להתגבר עליהם ולרשת אותה. הם מבקשים מהעם שיאמינו בדברי ה’, ושלא ימרדו בו בכך שהם אומרים לא נוכל לעלות. ה’ גוזר את הדין עם דור המדבר הבוגרים ואומר “כל מנאצי לא יראוה (את ארץ כנען)”. והעונש : “במדבר הזה יפלו פגריכם […] אם אתם תבאו אל הארץ אשר נשאתי את ידי לשכן אתכם בה” (במדבר כט-ל). ה’ יודע כי דור שעבוד מצרים לא יוכל לחשוב במונחי חירות. לא יוכל לקבל על עצמו אחריות לדאגה על עצמו כאשר במצרים היה רגיל כי הכל נעשה עבורו על ידי אחרים. ודאי לא יצא למלחמות כיבוש, ובקושי יילחם נגד אויב שתוקף אותו, וגם זאת לאחר שקיבל עזרת שמיים. כדי שיקום עם חופשי ועצמאי, על דור יוצאי מצרים להיעלם, ותחתיו צריך לקום דור חדש, דור המדבר, שאינו יודע שיעבוד ואינו עובד אחרים בפרך. דור החייב לארגן את חייו בעצמו ולקבל עליו אחריות. עליו לקבוע חוקים ומשפטים ולהקים את המוסדות המארגנים את חיי היום יום. רק דור זה, דור המדבר, יכול להילחם לכיבוש ארץ כנען. לפיכך היה על ה’ להוליך את העם ארבעים שנה במדבר, עד תום כל הדור ההוא של יוצאי ממצרים. הרמב”ם (מורה נבוכים לב) אומר: “שיהיה מחוכמת השם להסב אותם במדבר עד שילמדו גבורה, כמו שנודע שההליכה במדבר ומיעוט הנאות הגוף […] יולידו הגבורה […] ונולדו גם כן אנשים שלא הרגילו בשפלות ועבדות”. ובפרק כד הוא כותב: “וידוע כשלולא טורחם ועמלם במדבר לא היו יכולים לכבוש את הארץ ולא להילחם ביושביה.” “ועבדי כלב, עקב היתה רוח אחרת עמו וימלא אחרי”, הוא שאמר בזמן דיווח התרים לפני משה ואהרון והעדה “עלה נעלה וירשנו אותה כי יכול נוכל לה”. אותו “והביאותיו אל הארץ אשר בא שמה וזרעו יורשנה” (במדבר, י”ד,כ”ד). שלשה אמרו אמת ונאבדו מן העולם נחש ומרגלים ודואג. (תולדות יצחק בראשית פרק ב) .

How much time do Rabbis put into their Drashos?

I have had recent and distinct pleasure reading the magnificently articulated and profoundly original drashos of Rabbi Dr Norman Lamm (may he have a speedy recovery). It struck me that I’ve probably never heard that style of quality Drosho in Melbourne. I was exposed to the emotionally laden but never judgemental tantalising drashos of Rabbi Chaim Gutnick ז’ל and the fire and brimstone and sometimes judgementally powerful drashos of Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Groner ז’ל. I listen to their sons, and there are semblances of their father’s styles (this is natural), but in essence I haven’t experienced true uniqueness.

I enjoy the care, research and effort that Rabbi Sprung puts into his Drashos (on the occasions that I hear them). I am not attracted to the style of Rabbi Genende. It’s almost apologetically left-wing and seems to use external sources for no other reason than to show that they have been read and incorporated. Rabbi Lamm also uses external sources, but it flows ever so naturally and augments his broad Rabbinic knowledge.

Many other Rabbis effectively parrot or paraphrase a nice thought from the Lubavitcher Rebbe or the Baalei Mussar, which whilst authentic, I sometimes find lazy. Some like to use cute stories. Unfortunately, many of them are hagiographic. I have heard Rabbi Kennard once and found him succinct, clinical and well-organised, but perhaps (at least for me) lacking an element of emotion, call it fire-power. No doubt that’s a natural stylistic phenomenon. If I am to hear a Drasha that isn’t emotionally laden, then I’m awaiting a brilliant unique insight. I don’t have time for the joke a minute style of Drosha either.

To be fair, I am an outlier. Most people are probably very happy with the Drashos they hear. I like to ask myself two questions:

  1. Have I been inspired to actually do or try to do something that I haven’t done, or being doing well, after the Drasha
  2. Have I been inspired to research the topic myself after the Drasha

If the answers are no, then those Drashos disappear like a distant memory.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by the internet. My iPhone brims with super quality drashos and insights. If we are to grow as a community, I feel that some Rabbis perhaps need to put much more time into their Drashos, and, yes, even publish these. They also have to realise we aren’t dumb. I know when I’ve heard it a few years before 🙂

How much world-standard Torah is actually published in Melbourne? Do we have a ‘Chief Rabbi’ in Australia capable of such or are we more caught up in Askonus.

It is true, that not all Shule Rabbis are born orators. Do they have to be in today’s day and age, or is it more important to excel in pastoral care and impart that “feel good” image?

I admit, I undoubtedly have a bias. I like a Chidush, a new insight. In the least, I enjoy being mesmerised by the sheer breadth of halachic knowledge that some impart on a weekly basis emanating from the Parsha (e.g. Rav Schachter or Rav Usher Weiss). Undoubtedly, I am an outlier and atypical.

Don’t even get me started on the lack of simple manners (forget Kavod) that exist primarily at religious functions when a Rabbi/Rov/Roov gets up to speak for a few minutes.

Yizkor—is it dead and buried?

The saying of Yizkor, apart from Yom Kippur (which is mentioned in the Medrash Tanchuma), is a more recent custom. It became part of the Ashkenazi liturgy probably during the time of the crusades in the 1400’s. The Rabbis specifically instituted it to be (outside of Israel) on the second day of Yom Tov. Why not the first day of Yom Tov? Clearly it was felt that by setting it the second day, this would encourage those who were vacillating about whether to attend the service on the second day to do so. Of course, Reform (who like to consider themselves and call themselves) progressive, just dismiss the second day of Yom Tov and banish it to an ordinary day no different in “holiness” to a non-Jewish ordinary day.

There is no requirement to say Yizkor with a minyan of ten males (or females I guess if you are Reformed). We don’t say Kaddish at Yizkor. It is a moment of vocal and silent contemplation during which one lists those who are to be remembered in one’s family and give charity in their merit.

There has always been a disagreement as to whether someone whose parents are alive leaves the Shule during Yizkor. Our family Minhag (like many) is to never stay inside during Yizkor if one’s parent(s) are alive.

During the first year of mourning after a parent, there are also divergent customs. Some say that the mourner stays inside for Yizkor but remains silent, whilst others leave the Shule until Yizkor has concluded and then re-enter (our Minhag)

Over time, special extra Yizkor prayers were added for those who were murdered during tragedies such as the Holocaust.

Jews of Sephardi origin never had the custom to say Yizkor, except on Yom Kippur. They were less influenced by their neighbours and I surmise their Rabbis didn’t need to insert Yizkor in order to cajole them to come to a Jewish service. They came anyway.

In truth, the first Yizkor (after my father ע’’ה) was on Pesach this year. I was planning to attend Elwood Shule, however, I was asked to make up a minyan (and be the sole Cohen for the priestly blessings) for someone who was too ill to attend Shule, and I said Yizkor in his house. My second Yizkor, the first in a formal Shule, was to be Shavuos, and I was planning on attending Elwood Shule again (my father’s Shule). However, I have bouts of plantar fasciitis which occasionally flair up, and had been at the Orthotist on Erev Shavuos because it had caused me pain. I went to Yeshivah Shule, which is closer, as a result. I stood there, while the Shule was engulfed in silence, each person uttering their personal Yizkors. My father used to daven there in the evenings, and had a seat there as well as Elwood.

Strangely, I was not moved. I had been more engrossed in refamiliarising myself with Megillas  Ruth!

I (over) think about my father regularly, either with tears, memories or laughter. For some reason, I could not focus at that ordained moment to make it especially meaningful.

One of my sisters undertook the very long walk to Elwood Shule specifically for this reason and came away quite sad. She mentioned that the Shule was morgue-like, with barely anyone in the women’s gallery and the same few familiar faces in the men’s gallery. She commented that Rabbi Gutnick had spoken well, but that looking at the Shule, she couldn’t get over a feeling of gross cavernous emptiness. It suited her mood though, and her Yizkor wasn’t mine. There is a custom to say Yizkor at the Shule where a parent used to pray.

These days most Jews don’t come to Shule on the first day of Yom Tov. You’d be lucky if they even said Kaddish on the day of the Yohr Tzeit. Perhaps they light a candle at home, I don’t know. Ironically, they went to Jewish Schools, and know what’s required. They aren’t complete ignoramuses. They are caught up in new-age Hedonism or “Tikun Olam”.

Even Yizkor seems to have lost its attraction to a generation that had and has no trouble accepting a financial inheritance, but plenty of trouble making time in a day to attend Shule and say a prayer like their parents, for their parent(s). Perhaps I’m over-harsh. It’s not the first time my blatant honesty has been interpreted as harshness and even offence. That’s just too bad. I call it as I see it. Word games are for U.N. Diplomats. They achieve nothing. Oslo accords anyone?

It’s so very sad but remembering is part of a much bigger picture. That picture has now been dumbed down and recreated in the image of modern fun events. Kids seem to come to Shule on the first day when you offer them ice cream. Great. Perhaps the second day should be “Whisky day” for the adults? It’s all very nice, but it isn’t Jewish Identity unless it leads somewhere. There can be no Jewish Identity without solid authentic Jewish Education, and I do not include the University style study of History, Poetry or the Arts in that category. Yep, you heard me right.

If you dumb Judaism down, reduce it to clichés or the spiritual, and over focus on the experiential and don’t achieve follow-up there is nothing to hold the house up in the future. That’s my view. Take it or leave it. If you are offended by my observation, do try to focus on the fact that my intention is always to call a spade a spade; and yes, some are offended by that. מה אפשר לעשות.

Sign of the times? Yom Yerushalayim

[Hat Tip MD]

 

נס

Pinchas Koplowicz ע’’ה

My memories of this man are larger than life. I attended his Levaya on Erev Shabbos. To us, the Balbin family, he was known as ‘Uncle Pinye’. We were brought up never to call more senior people by their first names. It wasn’t appropriate to call him Mr, in the same way that it wasn’t appropriate to use the Yiddish “Ir” instead of the closer version “Dir”. He, as usual, disliked Mr just as much, and always said he was “Peter Kay.”

Uncle Pinye was another long-time member of Elwood Shule after his family moved from Adelaide to Melbourne. He sat at the back-most row of the Shule in the last seat of the middle section on the left, leading into the Beis Medrash named after R’ Chaim Yoffe, where daily services are still conducted. Uncle Pinye didn’t sit there because the seats were cheaper. He sat there because he was enigmatic. On the one hand, he wasn’t short of a dollar, and was munificent when it came to Tzedoko for causes that were dear to him. He revelled in the happy social murmur pervading a brunch or event that he loved to host. On the other hand, he wasn’t a person who felt comfortable “standing out” in a Shule environment. The most comforting, perhaps compromising position for him was in the back row. If anything, I felt that he was always struggling when sitting in Shule, conjoined to a seat.

To be sure, there were other members of our family who also sat in that back row over the years, and this would also have contributed to feelings of relative comfort. I use the term ‘relative comfort’ because he was constantly in a state of inner and vocal philosophical turmoil.

All Holocaust survivors struggle to find meaning or justification (if I can use such a word) to describe what they experienced, but he was an Auschwitz survivor whose tattooed number one didn’t need to see. ‘Holocaust survivor and State of Israel lover‘ were evident in a virtual tattoo that was visible constantly on his forehead and literally manifested itself in every second line of conversation I and others had with him for almost 50 years.

A close friend of my father ע’’ה for seventy years, he and his wife Resi ע’’ה loved my mother equally.

Pinchas and my father עליהם השלום
Pinchas and my father עליהם השלום

He always told me that if I needed to study the definition of Yiddishe Mamme, I should simply look at my mother. I remember my band ‘Schnapps’ flying up to Sydney to play at his grandson’s wedding. I secretly wept at select moments when nobody was watching. I played Yiddishe Mamma at his request on my violin. For him, this was a surreal occasion. I feel he was riddled with the understandable guilt of enjoyment and Nachas. What do I mean by that? Although he merited seeing two daughters build families and played joyfully with great grandchildren, he was in a state of questioning at all times. His question was

“Why me? Why did I deserve to survive? What inherent quality did I possess that was not possessed by the millions who were butchered around me?

That was not his most powerful question or indeed his constant question. He traumatised me somewhat from a very young age whenever, and I mean whenever, he saw me. He would ask:

Hey youngster! Yitzchik, I know you are an intelligent boy, a religious boy, and a good son to your parents, but one day I’d like you to explain to me why 1,000,000 children deserved to die.

As I got older, and wiser, I subconsciously, and no doubt intentionally, tried to gently steer the conversation away from that and to the Nachas he was enjoying. He wasn’t simple, of course. He knew exactly what I was doing, and sometimes managed to reverse my strategy.

He wore a small Tallis, and usually that grey hat. I suspect that the late and great R’ Chaim Gutnick ז’’ל was someone whose expressed the pain of the holocaust and a genuine love of the State of Israel as manifested in his renowned drashos, affected Uncle Pinye in a manner that captivated his attention. Rabbi Gutnick didn’t have answers either. He never pretended to. Who does? He spoke about the dry bones, and how those dry bones came to life. I am sure that message resonated somewhat with Uncle Pinye, and it was probably for that reason, and the cajoling of my father and late Uncle Yaakov, that allowed him to feel semi-comfortable enough to attend Elwood in those days.

Last week, when his state of health state was undulating precariously like a yo-yo, between recovery and imminent end of life, I visited him. As a Cohen, it was a calculated decision. We donned gowns and gloves. He was lying listlessly in the bed, and when he realised that I had come with my mother, an enormous strength overcame him as reflected in his eyes and hands. Suddenly, he was the typical Uncle Pinye. I knew it, because he said , in his last words to me

Listen to me youngster (he was 93 and I have grandchildren!)  I do not intend to leave this world until I get an answer to why 1,000,000 children were allowed to be murdered.

I was frozen, as always when confronted with this style of questioning. I find it difficult to read books about the holocaust, let alone watch a movie. The latter stems from my experience as a boy, watching the Diary of Anne Frank and running out of the TV room when the Nazis ימ’’ש found her. I recall running to my room in Rockbrook Road, lying down on the bed, trembling and weeping. I don’t think I’ve ever recovered from that moment. But, this isn’t about me.

When we were young, his family lived in Adelaide. It was there that he built his livelihood. They would come (and it wasn’t cheap) for visits to Melbourne, and there was no question that his daughters were tantalised by the richer Jewish and social life in Melbourne, as well as the sense of family experienced through the wider Balbin family. Whenever they came, we were in their surrounds, enjoying many moments together. They were a permanent fixture though they lived in Adelaide. Eventually, daughters Dora and Belinda won. The family moved to Melbourne, but he used to commute because he couldn’t just leave his business interests to dissipate in wanton abandon.

He had used the name Peter Kay, because in a non-Jewish world it was easier. I recall his love of table tennis, gymnastics, hand-stands and sport, as well as the gregarious nature he oozed without tiring. He had no qualms dressing up, and his house just had to have a formal bar. The refrain

Can I offer you a drink?

still rings in my ear. It wasn’t an offer. It was essentially a command. He had it all behind that bar, and once a drink or two were quaffed, our discussion inevitably led to the Holocaust and how much he admired my parents and family.

He would enthuse that he didn’t have words for the honesty and integrity of my father and Uncle Yaakov who slaved upstairs in their factory cutting clothes and assembling them for production.

For her part, my mother knew that Uncle Pinye loved Choolent. Almost each Shabbos, especially when my father retired, we set aside the remainder to be delivered personally by my father (sometimes together with me) to his house on Sunday. If my father was ill, he and my mother would ask me to perform the delivery. I did so, willingly, of course, even if it meant a drink and talk session that lasted at least an hour. There was no such thing as a quick visit.

I remember a number of times he said to me, “Yitzchik, I have so many paintings, please choose a few and take them home for your lovely wife”. I have always felt uncomforable accepting gifts, and I kept replying that I had no art appreciation and he’d need to talk to my wife. His response was, of course, “so bring her, with pleasure”. My wife also visited on a number of occasions and he loved her too like family.

The root of this connection goes back many years. Although he was born in Lodz, he had relatives in my father’s home town of Rawa Mazowiecka. Immediately after the war,

Pinchas Kay in Rawa on the left with my Uncle Yaakov soon after the war, עליהם השלום
Pinchas Kay in Rawa on the left with my Uncle Yaakov soon after the war, עליהם השלום

when he imagined that nobody had survived, he found two of his sisters in my Booba and Zeyda’s house in Rawa. He never forgot that. I recall when the sisters (Zosia and Itka), who lived overseas, would come to Melbourne, the special bond that they too shared with my father. The kinsmanship and love were palpable. It was no problem for me to like them as well. It was a veritable hand in glove.

Like my parents, his family was his love and purpose and that kept a tortured soul focussed and grounded somewhat. The State of Israel was a miracle he was so very proud of and he never failed to be part of it, even when he wasn’t physically standing in the streets therein.

When my father ע’’ה passed away recently, he turned his attention to the isolation and melancholy that my mother understandably descended into. After her serious fall, he redoubled his efforts, even though he was physically frail. Almost a day wouldn’t go by without him incessantly ringing my mother, and then me and my sisters when he couldn’t elicit an answer from her phone. He wanted to take out the entire family for dinner. I tried to explain that we’d need to wait until the year was over, and he accepted that, but even after the year was over, my mother was and remains rather isolationist, rejecting invitations from her friends for the most simple of activities, such as sharing a cup of coffee. This will change, undoubtedly, in time, but alas, Uncle Pinye departed before she was able to bring herself to accept invitations with comfort.

He is now, no doubt, at peace. I use the term קדושי ניצולי השואה which whilst not common, cannot be seen as objectionable. For me, every survivor was and is holy. They were holy, because they had been “set aside” as a Korbon, literally a sacrifice on the altar. For reasons we do not comprehend, the Korbon survived, not because it was a בעל מום, חס ושלום, rather because

הנסתרות להשם אלוקינו והנגלות לנו ולבנינו עד עולם

The hidden mysteries are the domain of Hashem, but the revealed, is for us, our children and offspring, forever.

This is my only response, although it is not one that I ever used in discussion with Uncle Pinye. There could never be a response that would assuage his troubled, quixotic character.

He is now hovering above his grave on the journey to the Garden of Eden, at the end of the 12 months of mourning. His legacy, kindness, love, and gregarious nature, though, is set in stone in my psyche, and  in that of my mother, siblings, children and the wider Balbin family.

יהי זכרו ברוך

Postscript: at great expense and with much paper shuffling under the devoted hand of Ezra May, he decided to formally change his name back to Koplowicz. He had needed to function as “Kay” but he had never lost the Koplowicz, and that describes his essence in a single act. It isn’t surprising that Yom Yerushalayim will fall during his week of Shiva. That is also Hashgocho—the conundrum of issuing praise for the miracles Hashem wrought after the Holocaust, davka at a time of extreme mourning for an individual of this ilk.

Wired differently? Is that an excuse or a reason?

The Rambam was very clear that people were born with tendencies. He didn’t accept that this absolved them of their actions.

See this article about pedophiles.

Guest post on Shavuos by R Meir Deutsch

Please note the copyright.

The following is a continuation to the article of “Why do we count the Omer”.
We tried there to explain that our sages fixed the date for Shavuoth to the Sixth of Sivan to enable us to call that festival also “Chag Matan Torathenu”.
In the following article I try to find out if our sages did succeed with their aim. Is the Sixth of Sivan “Chag Matan Torathenu”?
As I usually say: beside the sources quoted, the rest are my assumptions. You can either accept them or not.
I would appreciate your comments and opinions.

חג השבועות מאיר דויטש סיוון תשע”ד
© כל הזכויות שמורות

חג השבועות הוא החג היחיד שהתורה אינה נותנת לו תאריך. לא נאמר בו “בחודש השלישי בששה לחודש”. החג נקבע על-ידי ספירה הידועה כספירת העומר. לאחר שבעה שבועות של ספירה מחג המצות חוגגים חג. ידועה המחלוקת בין הבייתוסים ובין חז”ל בעניין הספירה. הראשונים סופרים ממחרת יום השבת שלאחר חג המצות ואנו סופרים למחרת יום ראשון של החג ללא הבדל באיזה יום בשבוע הוא חל. בקביעת חז”ל כי ספירת העומר תתחיל ביום שלאחר חג המצות מקבע את חג השבועות ליום ו’ בסיוון(ראה המאמר על ספירת העומר).

לחג זה גם אין שם ייחודי משלו. בתורה עצמה הוא נקרא במספר שמות.
חג הקציר – בשמות כג הוא: “חג הקציר ביכורי מעשיך אשר תזרע בשדה”.
חג שבועות – שמות לד שמו: “וחג שבועות תעשה לך ביכורי קציר חיטים”.
יום הביכורים – במדבר כח נקרא: “וביום הביכורים בהקריבכם מנחה חדשה”.
חז”ל מוסיפים:
עצרת – שם זה ניתן על ידי חכמינו הרואים בו כנראה המשכו של חג המצות, ואת אותם השבועות שביניהם כימי חולו של מועד (ראה רבנו בחיי בנושא-ויקרא כג, טז). חג השבועות הוא עצרת של חג המצות כמו עצרת שלאחר חג סוכות.
בחג המצות נאמר (דברים טז):
(ז) וּבִשַּׁלְתָּ֙ וְאָ֣כַלְתָּ֔ בַּמָּק֕וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר יִבְחַ֪ר ה’ אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ בּ֑וֹ וּפָנִ֣יתָ בַבֹּ֔קֶר וְהָלַכְתָּ֖ לְאֹהָלֶֽיךָ:
(ח) שֵׁ֥שֶׁת יָמִ֖ים תֹּאכַ֣ל מַצּ֑וֹת וּבַיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֗י עֲצֶ֙רֶת֙ לַה’ אֱ – לֹהֶ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַעֲשֶׂ֖ה מְלָאכָֽה:

אנו רואים כאן כי לחג המצות יש כבר עצרת משלו ביום השביעי. האם הוא צריך עצרת שנייה, נוספת, בתום ספירת העומר?
וחג מתן תורה – שם שאינו מוזכר בתורה אבל רבותינו רואים בתאריך זה את יום מתן תורה.

הבה נבדוק כיצד זה חג מתן תורה.

בשמות יט נאמר: “בחודש השלישי לצאת בני ישראל מארץ מצרים, ביום הזה באו מדבר סיני”.
רבותינו אומרים: בחודש = בראש חודש. חודש השלישי = סיוון.
הגמרא אומרת (שבת פב, ב) כולי עלמה סוברים:
יציאת מצרים ביום ה’.
קבלת תורה ביום שבת.
אני אוהב חישובים. ננסה להגיע עם המשוואה הזו של הגמרא לחג השבועות.

בדיקה בלוח מראה לנו כי חודש ניסן תמיד מלא (30 ימים) וחודש אייר תמיד חסר (29 ימים).
אם טו בניסן הוא יום ה’ הרי א’ אייר הוא יום שבת ולכן א’ בסיוון הוא יום א’.
אם א’ בסיוון הוא יום א’ אז ו’ בסיוון הוא יום ו’ ולא יום שבת שהיא נקודת המטרה שלנו כדי להגיע לסברת רבותינו. אם כן, קבלת התורה או שלא היתה בשבת או לא היתה ב-ו’ בסיוון.

ננסה לפתור בדרך אחרת:
אנו סופרים (ספירת העומר) ממחרת יציאת מצרים. אם יציאת מצרים הייתה ביום ה’ אז נתחיל בספירה באותה שנה ביום ו’.
שבעה שבועות מסתיימים אם כן ביום ה’ ויום החמישים הוא יום ו’.
אם התורה ניתנה ביום השבת הרי יום מתן תורה אינו חל ביום החמישים שהוא שבועות אלא ביום החמישים ואחד שהוא ז’ בסיוון.
בכל החישובים הגענו לאותה תוצאה – או שהתורה לא ניתנה ביום ו’ בסיוון אלא בז’ בו, או שהתורה לא ניתנה בשבת.

את הדיון בנושא אנו מוצאים במסכת יומא ד, ב. כאן כולם בדעה שהתורה ניתנה ביום השבת. הדעות השונות הן אם מתן תורה היה ביום ו’ בסיוון או ביום ז’ בו. הגמרה אומרת:
“דתניא: בששה בחודש ניתנה תורה לישראל, רבי יוסי אומר: בשבעה בו.”
תנא קמא סובר כי התורה ניתנה ב-ו’ בסיוון (תומך בדעה זו גם רבי יוסי הגלילי) וכדי שהחישוב יצא נכון ויגיע למטרתו ש-ו’ בסיוון הוא יום שבת, הוא סובר כי באותה שנה היה חודש אייר מלא (30 ימים ולא 29 ימים) – (ראה שבת פז, ב): “ריש ירחא דאייר שבתא, וריש ירחא דסיון – חד בשבת, קשיא לרבנן! אמרי לך רבנן: אייר דההיא שתא – עבורי עברוה”. כך מנסים לפתור את עניין הלוח שיתאים הן ל-ו’ בסיוון והן שיחול ביום שבת. אבל עתה נוצרה לדעה זו בעיה אחרת, בעייה שהברייתא אינה מזכירה: השאלה של מספר הימים. הרי אם אייר מלא, הימים מחג המצות לחג השבועות וליום מתן תורה מסתכמים ב-51 כאשר לפי התורה חג השבועות הוא ביום החמישים.

לעומת התנא קמא, רבי יוסי סובר כי מתן תורה לא היה בחג השבועות אלא ביום ז’ בסיוון שהוא ביום השבת באותה שנה, ולפי חישוביו עולם כמנהגו נוהג ולוח השנה אינו משתנה, ואין צורך לעבר את חודש אייר של אותה שנה, סופרים מחג המצות לשבועות רק חמישים יום. אבל, לפי חישוביו, יום מתן תורה אינו בחג השבועות אלא הוא יום אחד אחר חג השבועות – ז’ בסיוון. גם רבי עקיבא סובר כרבי יוסי שהתורה ניתנה בז’ בסיוון.

בתפילת “יעלה ויבוא” אנו מזכירים את החג “חג השבועות” אבל למרות קביעה זו של רבי יוסי אנו ממשיכים לקרוא (האם בטעות?) בתפילת שחרית ובתפילת מוסף את חג השבועות “זמן מתן תורתנו”.

יש לציין כי לתושבי חוץ לארץ יש כאן יתרון בחג שבועות לעומת תושבי ארץ ישראל. היושבים בגולה עושים את חג השבועות יומיים, בכך הם מקבלים את חג מתן תורתנו הן בששי בסיוון וכן בשביעי בסיוון, דהיינו גם כדעת תנא קמא וגם כדעת רבי יוסי.

חג שבועות, חג הקציר וחג הביכורים שמח.

picture from the incredible tide