Monday, December 31, 2018

Number Of Posts For 2018

Two thousand, one hundred and thirty seven. WOW-EEE. HODU LASHEM!!!

I thank the One who supported me this year [and every year] and made this blog possible, who ensured that despite the fact that I don't have a job and neither does my wife, that I paid the 4,800 shekel a month rent, the 8,000 shekel yearly apartment tax [Charedim pay taxes too], utilities, the food bills [STEEEEPPP], tuitions, clothing [I wear the latest fashions... as they say "lol"], transportation, EVERYTHING [including my wife's new shaitel]. All the while having the health and simchas chaim to be able to learn and spread Torah. [If anyone thinks that I have secret wealthy people or family members supporting me - I don't. All from Above]. 

THANK YOU HASHEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVEEEEE YOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!

YOUR KINDNESS IS INFINITE AND I HOPE I CAN REPAY YOU IN SOME SMALL WAY BY BRINGING HONOR TO YOUR NAME, YOUR PEOPLE, YOUR TORAH AND YOUR LAND!!!! 

MAY ALL OF MY READERS BE BLESSED AS WELL AND FEEL HASHEM'S INFINTE KINDNESS!!

Are We Smarter Than Everyone Else?

Apparently.

"The average IQ score of Ashkenazi Jews has been calculated to be from a range of 108–115 under some studies, which would be significantly higher than that of any other ethnic group in the world."

[Wikipedia]

I am very competitive by nature. No matter what school I went to - there were always kids much smarter than me. I was NEVER the top. Now I get it - when you hang around the smartest people in the world, you have an awfully high bar to reach.

THANK YOU HASHEM FOR MAKING US SO SMART!!!

But remember - ראשית חכמה HAS TO BE יראת השם.

#sfardimaresmarttoo    

2019 - When Adultery Is Normative And Acceptable

The New York Times is a respectable newspaper. Or at least they present themselves that way. As opposed to the other daily New York papers which are written on a level [besides the pseudo-pornographic pictures] that appeals to people whose level of intelligence is limited as is their education [not that educated or intelligent people don't read the other papers - just that they can be easily understood by anyone on a second grade level] - the Times is "high society". 

Yes, they are anti-Israel, Pro-Arab, hyper-liberal, Pro-Alternative lifestyles, Pro-Abortion etc. but they try to present themselves as honorable, reporting all the news that is "fit to print".

Ahhhh - so I come across an article in the Times written by a woman. So far so good. Women have every right to write in a newspaper. Gender equality. As long as our sisters use their own bathrooms and stay on their side of the mechitza, I am cool. 

But here the problem begins, This woman, who unabashedly puts her name on the by-line of the article, talks about her hobby. 

She sleeps with married men. 

The problem of course is not the sleeping part but what happens before that. She relates that she even counsels the men about their marriages and tries to understand why they stray [they are starving for affection that their wives aren't giving them, among other reasons]. But she expresses no remorse or guilt over her actions. She goes around DESTROYING MARRIAGES AND FAMILIES and causing the cheated-on wives to experience trauma that equals that of former prisoners of war or the like [no exaggeration] after they find out - and she seems to have no problem with that. 

Like, are there no single men alive who have sexual attraction to women and aren't shomer negiya? Why married men for crying out loud? She talks about her behavior with complete equanimity, as if it is totally normal. 

So I understand her behavior to a certain extent - she has no fear of G-d, lots of lust [it seems primarily for married men] and finds willing outlets [today everything is only a click away]. But no BUSHA AT ALL???!! No sense of impropriety?! She is completely forward about her identity as if she has done nothing of which to be ashamed. 

And the Times prints this. Where is the outcry? How low have we sunk that adultery is considered normative. [Would they have printed a similar article written by a pedophile??] When I was a kid, living together before marriage was very uncommon and generally frowned upon. Today, I wouldn't be surprised of the MAJORITY of couples in the US live together before marriage. The level of morality sinks lower, lower and yet lower. 

We are ALL products of our society. If we think that we aren't influenced by the prevailing beliefs and mis-beliefs about morality then are are deeply and dangerously mistaken.

We are reading the parshiyos of Yetzias Mitzraim. Mitzraim is called by the Torah ערות הארץ - the nakedness of the land. Mitzraim has moved and it now resides in the USA.

Every day we leave Mitzraim twice - morning and evening. That means [metaphorically] that twice a day we recommit to not being part of the general immorality of our surrounding culture. For us, even to LOOK at a woman or THINK about her in an inappropriate way undermines our entire spiritual existence. Kabbala calls this area "Yesod" because it is the foundation of our spiritual existence. And it is only our spirits that live forever. Our bodies are here for a very short stay.     

    

The Epistemology Of The Sfas Emes



From the Sfas Emes blog, based on the first maamar of Parshas Va-era:


The Sfas Emes teaches us that in addition to influencing the world around us, our actions have spiritual ramifications as well. By influencing the spiritual we indirectly influence the physical, too. For example, the Nefesh HaChayim writes that a Jew who sins is much worse than what the evil Titus did in the Beis HaMikdash. What Titus did had no spiritual ramifications. It was a localized act. A Jew who sins influences himself and the world in ways that he cannot begin to understand.

The Sfas Emes therefore concludes that it is unwise to rely on our own thought processes no matter how strongly we believe that we’ve arrived at the truth. Instead, we need to submit to the source of wisdom, God’s will and word.

The Midrash in this week’s parsha discusses the mistakes of Shlomo HaMelech and Moshe Rabbeinu because they relied on their own intellect. Shlomo HaMelech took more wives than the Torah allows a king. Moshe Rabbeinu complains to God for the deterioration of the nation’s situation after he spoke with Pharaoh.

The Sfas Emes explains that at the time, neither Shlomo HaMelech nor Moshe Rabbeinu thought they were doing something wrong. Shlomo said that his connection with God will protect him from being influenced by his wives. Moshe Rabbeinu had an expectation that the nation would be saved without being further afflicted.

Both Shlomo HaMelech and Moshe Rabbeinu learned that decisions they made based on their own wisdom, decisions which appeared strongly to them to be correct when they were made, turned out to be wrong. When they gained more wisdom, they realized that their original actions were based on flawed thinking. The lesson for us is that we can never be sure of our own wisdom since our current outlook may prove incorrect when we gain more wisdom.

How do we know, though, what God’s will is? First, in principle, actions that do not coincide with the Halacha are never God’s will.

But what about the less obvious. What if you need to make a decision, as I do right now, about where to send your son for high school? Your have a choice between several Yeshivos, all fine institutions. What about a decision about what neighborhood to live in? How do we align ourselves with God’s will when guidance cannot be found in the Shulchan Aruch?

The Sfas Emes makes an incredible statement. He teaches that we align ourselves with God’s will by subordinating our own intellectual faculty to the will of God - even if we don’t know what the will of God is. By making a conscious decision to subordinate our own will to His, we receive His help in making the decision that is in alignment with His will.

When we do this, our actions have positive ramifications far beyond our limited view of them. Rav Yisrael Salanter told people that if the Jews of Eastern Europe refrained from speaking lashon hara, the Jews in Paris will refrain from chilul Shabbos.

Therefore, before taking any decision, it seems like a good idea to tell God that you want to achieve His will through your decision and ask Him to open your eyes and enlighten you as to the correct decision that is aligned with His will.

Links

Golf, Green, Fairway, Forest, Trees

Links

A Sgula For "Yom Ha-Din"

Well, we are all looking for sgulos to ensure that Hashem inscribe us in the book of life for the year 2019. There is actually an opinion in the Gemara that all of mankind is judged on January 1st!! [Rav Yosi (Rosh Hashana 16) holds that man is judged EVERY DAY which clearly includes the first of January....] 

So here is one: If you don't ignore people - Hashem won't ignore you. But if we ignore others who turn to us .... Something to think about when you get texts, emails, phone calls etc, that you are inclined to ignore:-). The answer doesn't have to be in the affirmative but people deserve the dignity of a response. [I am not referring to emails from people from India with names like Dwaharish Sugatatoeva promising you 20 million dollars if you respond to this email. I am referring to communications from friends who await a response.]  

A GUT GEBENTCHTA YOHR!!!:-)

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Link

Not normal! WITH HASHEM'S HELP!!


A person has to learn to be a Torah connoisseur. To separate the really good Torah from the unbelievably amazing. To be able to appreciate how a teaching of Hashem and his rabbis which started out so PUZZLING becomes so ILLUMINATING. I sometimes feel that this is lost on people. Actually - I often feel it and don't really know what to do about it. Like, I attend a shiur Shabbos morning [in between the early and later minyanim] where the Torah is beyond unbelievable. A very small number of people come at all. Others are in the Beis Medrash where the shiur is being given but don't even bother coming forward to a place where they can here. Instead they learn other things or start davening [even though they have pleeeenty of time to say everything afterward]. 

To appreciate masterful Torah is a ZCHUS!! 

MAY WE ALL HAVE THAT ZCHUSSSS!!! 

GET "FIRED"!!!

I know plenty of people in their 50's 40's and even 30's and 20's who already have enough money to retire [especially if they live in Israel and don't have to pay 25k a child for yeshiva day school and another 8k per kid for camp]. So instead of being like the people in this article who retired and either don't know what to do with their time or do things that are meaningless - the people I know can focus on spiritual pursuits!! Numerous people have done it!! They dropped their six-seven figure jobs, went to kollel and live "The Life"! 

Now - this is not for everybody. Some people NEED to work. Other people don't have the "zitsfleish" to sit and learn. Yet others should work because Klal Yisrael needs their tzedaka. But many people work insanely hard and pressure filled jobs just because they LOOOOVE money. But it ain't worth the stress. They could still enjoy the material pleasures in life but instead of just padding their bank accounts with money they don't need, they would live fulfilling lives of Avodas Hashem bi-kdushah ubi-tahara. 

THINK ABOUT IT!!!   

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Carl Jensen experienced what he calls “the awakening” sometime around 2012.

He was a software engineer in a suburb of Denver, writing code for a medical device. The job was high-pressure: He had to document every step for the Food and Drug Administration, and a coding error could lead to harm or death for patients.

Mr. Jensen was making about $110,000 a year and had benefits, but the stress hardly seemed worth it. He couldn’t unwind with his family after work; he spent days huddled over the toilet. He lost 10 pounds.

After one especially brutal workday, Mr. Jensen Googled “How do I retire early?” and his eyes were opened. He talked to his wife and came up with a plan: They saved a sizable portion of their income over the next five years and drastically reduced expenses, until their net worth was around $1.2 million.

On Tuesday, March 10, 2017, Mr. Jensen called his boss and gave notice after 15 years at the company. He wasn’t quitting, exactly. He had retired. He was 43.


Hacking Your Way to Retirement

Although Mr. Jensen’s story may seem exceptional, a more modest version of the stockbroker who makes a killing on Wall Street and sails off to the Caribbean, he is part of a growing movement of young professionals who are intently focused on quitting their jobs forever.

Millennials especially have embraced this so-called FIRE movement— the acronym stands for financial independence, retire early — seeing it as a way out of soul-sucking, time-stealing work and an economy fueled by consumerism. 

Followers of FIRE tend to be male and work in the tech industry, left-brained engineer-types who geek out on calculating compound interest over 40 years, or the return on investment (R.O.I.) on low-fee index funds versus real estate rentals.


Indeed, much of the conversation around FIRE, on Reddit message boards or blogs like Mr. Money Mustache, revolves around hacking one’s finances: strategies for increasing your savings rate to the hallowed 70 percent, tips for cheap travel through airline rewards cards, ways to save nickels and dimes at the grocery store.

Some practice “lean FIRE” (extreme frugality), others “fat FIRE” (maintaining a more typical standard of living while saving and investing), and still others “barista FIRE” (working part-time at Starbucks after retiring, for the company’s health insurance). To be “firing” is to slash one’s expenses to maximize saving while amassing income-generating investments sufficient to support oneself. To have “fired” is to have achieved that goal.


“A lot of people think you’re a new-age hippie,” said Mr. Jensen, who sold his four-bedroom, four-bathroom house, downsized to a more modest home and maxed-out retirement accounts while firing. “They can’t even wrap their minds around it.”

In retirement, Mr. Jensen and his wife and two daughters plan to live on roughly $40,000 a year generated from investments. Because his wife currently works, they have yet to draw on those accounts. But already, it’s a life rich on time but short on luxuries: Groceries are bought at Costco, car and home repairs are done by him.

“People always assume there’s an external circumstance: ‘Oh, you must have received an inheritance,’” Mr. Jensen said. “We’ve just chosen to live far below our means. That itself is a radical idea.”

Equally radical is opting out of the work force in your 30s or early 40s, a time of life when men and women are normally leaning into their careers, or, less happily, enduring the daily grind to pay the bills until Social Security kicks in.

How does all of this really work?

Meet the FIRE folks.

Jason Long, a pharmacist in rural Tennessee who retired last year at the ripe old age of 38, said his father had a hard time understanding why Mr. Long couldn’t continue to work and collect his $150,000 salary.

But Mr. Long said he was deeply unhappy in his job, where over his career he witnessed drug costs skyrocketing, sick people battling with health insurers and the over-prescription of opioids and the resulting addiction crisis. His customers, angry, confused, financially stretched, often lashed out at the person behind the counter.

“There were days when I had 12- or 14-hour shifts where I didn’t use the restroom, where I didn’t eat, because so much work was piled up on me,” Mr. Long said.

Like Mr. Jensen, he had been saving a sizable portion of his income over the past decade, and he and his wife had a paid-for house and an investment portfolio worth a little more than $1 million. Why stick around?

“The reality is the numbers are there for me,” Mr. Long said. “To go to a job that’s making you miserable every day, it doesn’t make sense to pad the bank account at that point.”

Why These Millennials Hate Work

Quitting the rat race isn’t a new concept. From the Shakers of the 1700s to the back-to-the-land hippies of the 1960s and ’70s, a strain of Americans has always embraced simple living. One of the bibles of the FIRE movement, “Your Money or Your Life,” which teaches readers to reduce their spending and value time (or “life energy”) over material gain, was published in 1992.

But Vicki Robin, who wrote that financial guide with Joe Dominguez, said the FIRE crowd is a different breed of dropout than those in the ’90s. “Our aim was not just to have a whole bunch of people quit their jobs,” Ms. Robin said. “Our aim was to lower consumption to save the planet. We attracted longtime simple-living people, religious people, environmentalists.”

The FIRE adherents are, by contrast, “very numbers oriented, fascinated by the minutiae of taxes and accounting,” Ms. Robin said.

They are also benefiting from a lengthy bull run in the stock market and, in some cases, the privilege of class, race, gender and background. It’s difficult to retire at 40 if you work a minimum-wage job, say, or have crushing student-loan debt, or did not have the same opportunities as others because you grew up poor in a crime-ridden neighborhood.

But if, as Ms. Robin said, FIRE adherents “don’t have the aspirational part” of earlier generations, why are they so determined to quit the work force? Many millennials haven’t been working longer than a decade, if that.

It’s about having agency, Ms. Robin said: “The worker in this economy has very little sense of control over their existence. People are expendable. You’re a young person and you look ahead and you say, ‘What’s there for me?’”

That accurately describes how Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung felt. The married couple from Toronto became minor celebrities (and the target of online haters) when they retired from their tech jobs in 2015 to travel the world full time. They were in their early 30s at the time.

Ms. Shen’s wake-up moment came when she watched a fellow I.T. colleague collapse at his desk after clocking 14-hour days and get hauled away in an ambulance. For several years before that, she and Mr. Leung, following the path laid out by their parents, had tried to buy a house in Toronto’s ever-escalating real estate market.

But, Ms. Shen said, “It didn’t matter how much you saved, it was a goal post that kept moving. And I was seeing people stressed out paying their mortgages.”


Though they had good educations and well-paying jobs in the booming tech sector, Ms. Shen and Mr. Leung faced the looming threats of outsourcing and artificial intelligence, and had no hope of a retirement pension, or even that their employers would exist in five years.

At the same time, their jobs were all-consuming, their work hours basically 24-7. Rather than chain themselves to a costly mortgage, and therefore to high-pressure jobs, the couple decided to pour their money into an investment portfolio and peace out.

“The rule books our parents have given us is advice that’s perfect for 1970,” Ms. Shen said. “We have to throw out that rule book and write a new one.”

Mr. Leung spoke of the challenges his generation faces more bluntly. “We don’t have jobs that will take care of us,” he said. “We have to take care of ourselves.”

Go Where It’s Cheap

By ditching a big city, Ms. Shen and Mr. Leung exemplify another underlying reason for the popularity of FIRE: the high price of urban life, especially in places like New York and Southern California. There’s the insane housing prices, the high cost of child care, the temptations of so-called lifestyle creep.

“We were spending nearly $3,000 a month on rent, and that was considered a good deal,” said Scott Rieckens, 35, who, along with his wife, Taylor, 33, and their infant daughter until recently lived in Coronado, Calif., a pricey beach town across the bay from San Diego. “We made something like $160,000 between the two of us, but we didn’t have a whole lot left over.”

After hearing a podcast interview with Mr. Money Mustache, a.k.a., Pete Adeney, who The New Yorker called “the Frugal Guru” (he retired at 30), Mr. Rieckens became fired up. He told his wife they should ditch their leased BMW and quit eating out several nights a week.

But even with those lifestyle cuts, the couple couldn’t increase their savings rate substantially unless they relocated to a cheaper community, a deleveraging tactic the FIRE crowd calls “arbitrage.”

The idea, Mr. Adeney said, is “to reap the high salary” of a place like Silicon Valley, “then take that nest egg out to any of the thousands of nice, affordable cities and towns we have in this country and begin a second stage of life on your own terms.”

Ms. Rieckens, who works in recruiting, was initially reluctant to give up her BMW and beachy life and the prestige that went with it, until she saw a retirement calculator that showed they could retire in 10 years if they adopted FIRE and moved, or when they are 90 if they continued their upscale lifestyle in Coronado.

“I never paid attention to the finances, I thought it will all work out,” Ms. Rieckens said. “After I had a baby, I had stress around how I could spend more time with her. I was almost a slave to my job because of the way we were living.”

Last year, the couple left Southern California in search of a community that would give them more financial freedom, a journey Mr. Rieckens, formerly a creative director for a creative agency, is chronicling in a documentary, “Playing With FIRE.”


They ended up in Bend, Ore., where there’s no state sales tax and they could afford to buy a house. Gas for their used Honda CRV with 186,000 miles (they got rid of the BMW and downsized to one vehicle) is a dollar-per-gallon cheaper than in San Diego, although Mr. Rieckens often rides his bike around town.

“The whole retire early thing is unimportant to me. It’s more about gaining control of your time,” Mr. Rieckens said. “If you dive into the definition of retirement, what you’re retiring from is mandatory labor. It’s not necessarily about piña coladas on the beach.”

When You Retire Before Your Parents

A retirement that starts well before you go gray and lasts 40, 50 even 60 years is an anomaly in modern life. How do you fill all those days, months, decades?

On a recent weekday afternoon, Mr. Jensen was taking his two daughters, ages 8 and 11, to the Boulder County Fair. “I told them, ‘O.K., we’re going to wait until Thursday for half-price day,’” he said. “And by the way, we’re walking there. It’s two miles from our house.”

Fearing boredom, Mr. Jensen at first took on way too much, and he found it strange to be at the local rec center exercising alongside senior citizens, or shopping at empty big-box stores on a Tuesday. He also beat his own mother to retirement, which made for awkward family get-togethers.

But one year in, he has settled into his life of leisure, enjoying time spent raising his daughters, making sure they never see him vegging in front of the TV. Mr. Jensen also practices an activity that for many FIRE achievers seems to be the new golf: writing a financial advice blog.


Other FIRE retirees turned bloggers include Early Retirement Dude; the husband and wife behind Our Next Life; the Frugalwoods, a young married couple with children, who wrote a book about their transformation from suburban Boston high earners to retired Vermont homesteaders; and Ms. Shen and Mr. Leung, who when not traveling the world are calling for a Millennial Revolution (“Stop working, start living”).

It’s hardly surprising that a tech-savvy generation would proselytize on the internet. Also, blogging can provide the holy grail of early retirement, an additional income stream.

Perhaps Mr. Long, the pharmacist in rural Tennessee, has given the most detailed, thoughtful account of someone who has fired. In a series of posts to Reddit’s financial independence message board, Mr. Long chronicled with dry wit and self-effacement his first year in retirement.

One month into FIRE, he wrote of the guilt he felt spending money (on video games), and his concern that he would be over his household budget. He spent his days with family, at the gym, doing housework, exercising. He had no regrets so far: “I made the right decision. This is life.”

In the second month, Mr. Long reported a 2.8 percent increase to his portfolio over the first two months, even after living expenses, and listed his accomplishments as more reading, more cooking, volunteering and “faster Rubik’s cube solves.” Stress levels were way down, he wrote: “A friend of mine said the sense of dread from my face was gone.”

In the months that followed, he rewatched the mini-series “Roots,” lost all interest in talk of FIRE now that he had achieved it, feared a looming stock market crash, had nightmares that “I’m back at work and arguing with morons,” finished a marathon in a personal best sub-three hours, felt moments of social isolation, took a two-week road trip across the heartland, and went twice to the beach in Florida with his wife and watched their net worth reach its highest point, despite not working, which he attributed to “the passage of the tax cut for wealthy job creators like myself


Oh, and he started a blog.

“My life is so much better than it was before,” Mr. Long wrote seven months in. “I hope everyone here finds this peace.”

Speaking by phone, Mr. Long acknowledged it was possible that he’d simply burned out, that all of this FIRE stuff was just a needed break until he found a more satisfying career. When he was recently offered a job back in the pharmaceutical field, it induced a mild panic attack.

That morning, he’d woken up on his own, “not when an alarm clock told me that I had a responsibility.” He’d read the news online for 30 minutes, went on a seven-mile run, took a nap and “watched the ceiling fan spin around for a little bit.”

He had been watching the movies from They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They? a website that ranks what it calls the 1,000 greatest films. He’d watched 600 or so. He had work to do.




Rav Moshe Shapiro On Kiruv



Was Rav Moshe the most important figure of the Kiruv Movement in recent years? At his passing, many said so. He certainly had more talmidim (and talmidim of talmidim) in the field than anyone. With his unique brand of both fire and love, he encouraged and guided them, empowering them to be as effective as possible.

I would like to share seven principles of kiruv that either I heard personally from Rav Moshe or that were shared with me by colleagues, based on the advice Rav Moshe had given them. They are based on my shallow understanding. Consistent with Rav Moshe’s sophisticated and nuanced pedagogy, we can assume that he may have said things differently to other talmidim or he could have changed the message for different scenarios.

SLABODKA ROOTS

The Alter of Slabodka’s encounter with Rav Yisrael Salanter was brief. Reb Yisrael, father of the Mussar Movement, had the ability to size up a person on the deepest level in just a few minutes. When The Alter asked, “What is my avodah in this word?” Reb Yisrael answered with the pasuk: “L’hachayos ruach shefalim ul’hachayos lev nidkaim (To revive the spirit of the meek and revive the hearts of the depressed).”

Based on this principle, the Alter went on to build a generation of Torah leaders. In an era where Torah and its followers were downtrodden, he gave them a sense of dignity and, indeed, royalty. The concept of gadlus ha’adam, the innate greatness of man, was channeled into pride, that we are given the privilege of serving Hashem. To use the example of the Alter, Shlomo Hamelech in Shir Hashirim [7:3] uses a metaphor of suga b’shoshanim, the Jewish people are “protected from sin by a hedge of roses.” Usually, people avoid the hedge of roses because they are afraid of being pricked by the thorns. A person who is mechubad will not climb over the fence, because he cannot bring himself to destroy the beauty of the rose.

Rav Moshe felt strongly that this approach was more urgent than ever before. Never has there been such a lowly and depressed generation as ours. We need to build people up by showing them the grandeur of Torah. Why waste your time with trivialities? Why be attracted to a lowly culture? You are better than that! In his words, “Don’t talk about muttar or assur. Talk about nivzeh and nechbad.” In other words, don’t talk about what is permitted and forbidden. It is ineffective and may be harmful. Talk about what is cheapening and degrading versus what is illustrious, honorable and elevating. For example, speaking in an unrefined manner should not be avoided because it is forbidden, rather because it is beneath your dignity.
TICKLING

Our generation is called Ikvese D’Meshicha, which literally means the Heels of the Mashiach. Rav Moshe explains that if the early generations are like the head of person, the last generations of history are compared to the sole of the foot. The sole is calloused and hardened, it is insensitive, able to step on small stones without getting hurt. So too with our generation: it is lethargic and not easily touched. There is, however, one way to bring the sole back to life.

Give it a tickle. A light brush on the sole and the entire body can burst into laughter.

Rav Moshe felt that the first step in front-line kiruv is to “tickle.” The information has to be attractive, entertaining, and relevant to the target audience. The medium can be humor or intellectual stimulation. Trips or Shabbatonim. The goal is to bring people alive to the reality that there is a Big Picture in life.

Step One, though, should be kept to a minimum. The moment your clientele is ready, bring them straight to the next step:
THE REAL THING

At the first opportunity teach men gemara. Preferably with Tosafos, so that they can taste the genuine sweetness of lamdus. This is the healthiest form of kiruv and directly connects to building gadlus ha’adam.

Women should be shown the chachma of Torah without gemara. Topics that bring a person to emuna—such as the parsha of Matan Torah—should be taught in depth. (Further hadracha on women’s kiruv are beyond the scope of this article.)

Rav Moshe strongly felt that kiruv should only be done by authentic talmidei chachamim with proper hashkafa. Anyone less could cause damage. He once mentioned that when he goes for a haircut he is subjected to whatever radio station the barber is playing. Occasionally he hears a kiruv lecture. Rav Moshe’s verdict? “If I was a teenager listening to this, I would be totally turned off!”

The goal is always to develop genuine bnei Torah. In answer to the famous question: “Is it better to nurture ten people who will be shomer Shabbos, or invest one’s energies into one ben Torah” Rav Moshe declared that without doubt one should build a ben Torah.

However, if you have a number of students in front of you and some have more potential to become genuine talmidei chachamim than others, you cannot pick favorites. Everyone should be helped along their road to teshuvah as far as possible.
GROWTH THROUGH BECHIRA

Rav Moshe was contemptuous of any pushiness or tactics that smacked of brainwashing. We have to assume our audience is intelligent. Present ideas that challenge people to think for themselves. In his words, give them bechira livchor b’chaim the free choice to choose life.

This is especially important when advising others about life choices. Everyone has unique talents and strengths, but only the individual can find these within himself. Our job is to facilitate each individual’s path, geared to their personal situation based on Torah values. We have to guide them to be absolutely honest with themselves, to prioritize what is important, and to learn what decisions should be done with emunah.

But the journey has to be their own.

It’s not surprising that Rav Moshe attracted the most brilliant minds to teshuvah. Reb Benny Lévy sat quietly on a side bench at our Friday morning shiur. When he suddenly passed away at the age of 58, Rav Moshe was devastated. We had no idea who he was. A leader of the May ’68 Student Revolt in Paris, he was the greatest student of Jean-Paul Sartre, a leading figure of 20th-century French philosophy and Marxism. His last years were devoted as a beloved talmid of Rav Moshe.

Reb Mordechai “Pupik” Arnon was a legendary comedian and a household name in Israel in the 70’s. When he asked Rav Moshe if he could join his shiur, Rav Moshe had not heard of him. He asked if anyone could give him a recommendation. Reb Mordechai stuck his thumb in his mouth and, imitating the voice of a seven-year-old said, “Az Harav rotzeh she’ani avi petek m’Ima?” Does the Rav want me to bring a note from Ima? The place erupted in laughter. Rav Moshe grinned and accepted him as a talmid.
PARENTS

When a student embarks on a journey to teshuvah, extreme care must be taken to avoid alienating parents. Rabbi Eliyahu Ilani is the dean of Nefesh Yehudi, an organization that was the brainchild of Rav Moshe. Nefesh Yehudi runs classes and organizes chavrusahs, providing Israeli students with a window into Judaism. They teach beginners Torah at an advanced level. Reb Eliyahu shared that several times Rav Moshe would personally speak with parents to explain, b’darkei noam, the changes their child was making.

However, there are red lines that cannot be crossed. Reb Eliyahu shared a story how a Nefesh Yehudi graduate raised in a secular kibbutz invited everyone from his past to his wedding. When the kibbutz leadership found out that the wedding would have a mechitza they declared a boycott on the wedding!

Rav Moshe swung into action. He told everyone to bring friends from other yeshivos to make it an unforgettable wedding. Rav Moshe stayed till the very end, dancing without pause.
THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT WORDS IN KIRUV

“Oseh Niflaos L’vado.”

Hashem does wonders on His own. Hashem does not need us to do kiruv, He is perfectly capable of bringing anyone back to teshuvah without our help. He gives us the zchus to play a part. 

The second most important words in kiruv?

Don’t mess up what He is doing.

In practice, this means that kiruv can never be done by compromising Torah values, especially in the area of kedusha. Rav Moshe was particularly frustrated at the abuse of heter kiruv, where a lenient psak was taken beyond the intent of the ruling. Especially in the leniency of co-ed kiruv, where a delicate line must be walked.

Rav Moshe once vented, “Sometimes I feel like closing the whole kiruv movement when I see what it does to my avreichim.”

Another area that bothered him was chanufa, flattery. Mekarvim would, for example, invite an irreligious donor to speak at a convention or allow him to determine how his money is used in a way that compromised the Torah’s honor. When Rav Mordechai Becher and Rav Moshe Newman wrote Avosos Ahava, a work on the halachos of kiruv rechokim, Rav Moshe would only give a haskama if there was a chapter that dealt with the laws of chanufa.
TEFILLAH

One should never stop davening for the success of one’s students in kiruv (for sources, see my sefer Rigshei Lev, Chapter 10, first footnote).

Rav Moshe helped me write a short tefillah for fertility to be said at the end of the Shemonei Esrei (included in my book, Rigshei Lev, pp. 303). When I asked him to write one for mechanchim and mekarvim he told me that it was impossible. Everyone needs to formulate his own nusach based on his unique situation.

Interestingly, when I asked Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky to write a nusach, he basically gave me the same answer as Rav Moshe. So I guess we should keep davening in our own words!

IN REAL LIFE

Rav Moshe saw the unusual success of the Kiruv Movement as part of the simanim of Ikvese D’meshicha, the Messianic Era. He would say, “The door is open. Anyone who goes into kiruv sees bracha, something that we were not zocheh to see in previous generations.” He would refer to the classic Zohar analogy that Galus is night. The darkest part of the night is just before the coming dawn. In that thick darkness, small specks of light can be seen far off into the horizon, heralding the coming dawn. These tiny rays of light are the source of the astonishing success of mekarvim.

The Talmud asks, “What should one do to be saved from the birth pangs that precede the coming of Mashiach? One should involve oneself in Torah and chessed” (Sanhedrin 98b). There are two conceptions of Hashem’s creation of the world. The first is histakel b’Oiraysa u’bara alma, using the Torah as the blueprint. The second is olam chessed yibaneh, through the building power of chessed. Rav Moshe explains (based on Sukkah 49b) that the combination of Torah and chessed is the engine of bringing Mashiach and that kiruv rechokim expresses that combination in its highest form.

Furthermore, every moment we are involved in kiruv, we fulfill the mitzvah of “tzipiya l’yeshua” awaiting the Mashiach.

Rav Moshe lived and breathed the imminence of Mashiach. He constantly spoke about it. To his talmidim who had the ability to do kiruv, it was expressed with a sense of desperate urgency.

Rav Eli Gewirtz is the founder and director of Partners in Torah, an organization that provides in-person, phone, and Skype chavrusahs with beginners. When Reb Eli proudly told Rav Moshe he had set up 5000 chavrusahs, Rav Moshe wasn’t satisfied. “You need to set up 50,000 chavrusahs” he told him.

Recently, Reb Eli was happy to tell me that he has passed the “Rav Moshe benchmark.” Partners in Torah now has over 60,000 chavrusahs! 

Rav Aaron Lopiansky, Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Greater Washington and veteran talmid of Rav Moshe, shares a story he heard from a menahel of a Torah institution for Israelis living in Florida. It perfectly illustrates his rebbe’s passion for kiruv.

“When I was deciding whether to build my school, Rav Moshe sat with me trying to persuade me to go to Florida. He ignored the clock and sat with me for a very long time. When I left, Rav Moshe ran after me and confronted me.

His eyes welled with tears. He said, “Listen carefully, yakiri. Every day another trainload of Israeli children living in America are heading straight for Auschwitz! If you can save just a few of them, your place in Gan Eden will be so high, afeelu lo uchal l’hatzitz alecha, I won’t be able to see you, even from afar.”

And then he started to cry…”

YOU ARE SHAKING UP THE WORLD

Okay, I admit we were jealous.

For years, we took for granted that Rav Moshe would speak at his home on the night of Shvi’i Shel Pesach. Beyond the dazzling shiur, it was a time of closeness with our rebbi, bringing an elevated closure to the Festival of Freedom.

In his last years, we lost that zchus. Rav Moshe spent Pesach at the Toras Chaim Yeshiva in Moscow. Leaving Yerushalayim for Yom Tov could not have been an easy decision for the rav and his rebbitzin. It was clear that he did so because Russia had a special place in his heart.

When one of the chevra asked Rav Moshe, “Why do you abandon us for Pesach?” he answered, “If you can find me another place where bochrim arrive having never heard of Yetzias Mitzrayim and a year later they are asking on their own the (highly complex) questions of Rabbi Akiva Eiger, maybe I will go there, too! In Russia I feel I am keeping the mitzvah of v’higadata l’vincha b’hidur rav, relating the story of the Exodus on the highest level.”

He once shared with us how deeply inspired he was one freezing day, when the heating broke down in the Toras Chaim Yeshiva. In Russia “freezing” means freeeeezing! With deep emotion Rav Moshe described how the bochrim came to the Bais Hamedrash and simply wrapped themselves in blankets, continuing to learn with tremendous hasmada. He said it was a scene that belonged to a different era.

When Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman asked him, “Why do you go to Russia for Pesach?” Rav Moshe answered, “Toras Chaim iz de shtoltz fun Klal Yisrael” (roughly translated – the talmidim of Toras Chaim are the cutting edge of Klal Yisrael), “the bochrim are baalei mesirus nefesh and therefore have extra siyata dishmaya. Their success is outstanding.”

He described a young man making a siyum on a mesechta. Six months earlier, he didn’t know anything about Hashem, Yiddishkeit or Torah. What was the occasion of the siyum? His grandfather’s bris!

He felt that 70 years of the Communist Freezer was melting in front of his eyes.

Rav Moshe Lebel, the Rosh Yeshiva of Toras Chaim, describes how from the moment Rav Moshe arrived in the yeshiva until his return flight, he would give shiurim or talk Torah with the students. At night, he would retire to his room for his personal learning. The light was almost always on in his room. Rav Moshe didn’t care much for sleep.

His love and patience for the bochrim was palpable. A novice bochur “stole” the Afikomen. He declared he would only return it if, “Rav Shapira will learn with me b’chavrusah when I make it to Israel.” Nobody considered it unusual when Rav Moshe agreed. To be honest, it was hard for the bochrim to process that they were in the presence of greatness.

When Rav Moshe spoke to the whole yeshiva, he did so with an interpreter. On his last Shvi’i Shel Pesach, however, he asked to speak without a translator. “I will speak neshama language. Your neshamos will understand me.” Here is a synopsis of his final words to the bochrim:

“My children! You have such a zchus to be learning here. The Rishonim say, ‘Ain baal haness makir b’niso, The recipient of a miracle is not aware of what has happened to him.’ Your ancestors were wrenched away from Yiddishkeit by the cursed Bolsheviks. You are living in the land of Tsar Nikolai, who declared war against Torah. He closed the Yeshiva of Volozhin. You are living in the city where Stalin reigned, where religion and Judaism were subjected to 70 years of terror.

“Now look at you! You are in a holy yeshiva. You are sitting next to Shasim, Rishonim and Achronim. You are sanctifying the streets of Moscow with your holy Torah. You are bringing merit to the neshamos of your unfortunate zeides and bubbes. I envy you! You are shaking up the world!

“Ashreichem, ashreichem!”

[Olami resources - thanks to R' Chaim Yehoshua ben R' Ephraim Hakohen]

A Three Billion Dollar Business Plan

I want to start a support group for women who THINK or COMPLAIN that they are fat. I will charge one dollar for LIFETIME membership. 

If I can convince everyone eligible to join I will QUICKLY earn myself well over three billion dollars. 

Great deal - very low fee, life membership and think of the tzedaka possibilities with the three Bil. I hope not to spend the money on excursions to exotic islands.  

The Man Who Swore Not To Eat The Korban Pesach

Recently, we have had numerous shiurim on the topic of פועל משלו הוא אוכל או משל שמים הוא אוכל. Here is some VERY important knowledge pertaining to our sugya from Rav Kamelhar z"l:


What Goes On In Those Yeshivos??

Professor Moshe Krakowski

In the last few years, advocacy groups have criticized yeshivas (Orthodox private schools) in the New York area for offering students a substandard education.

YAFFED (Young Advocates for Fair Education) recently sued New York state, challenging the constitutionality of a recent amendment to an education law directed at these schools, and has argued that their education is not “substantially equivalent” to that in public schools. In the last few weeks, the State Education Department released their own guidance regarding ‘substantial equivalence’ that poses significant challenges to the current Yeshiva curricular structure.

This movement has placed intense public focus on the yeshiva system. Yet these schools’ aims and methods remain poorly understood—even by many of those calling for their reform.


While law and educational policy is not my field — ultra-Orthodox, or Charedi, education is. I have been researching and writing about ultra-Orthodox education for the past 15 years. And while I have no idea how the legal term “substantially equivalent” ought to be applied to yeshiva education — having studied the education in these schools for many years, I have no doubt that apart from the core secular studies they do learn, what these students learn every day in religious classes is educationally more than equivalent to what they would be otherwise studying in public school.

Amidst the current outcry over the yeshiva system, it is worth considering what students in a typical yeshiva are actually learning.

Long Days, Hard Work

What does the school day look like?

Girls in these communities receive substantially more secular education than boys and have not been the subject of recent criticism, so my focus here will be on boys’ schools. A yeshiva boy’s school day is very long—by middle school, often beginning at 7:30 A.M. with study and prayer services and ending only at 5:30 or 6:00 PM. In high school, boys continue to study until late at night, 9:30 PM or later.

Very little of this day, it’s true, resembles the secular curriculum found in traditional public schools, though these schools do find time for subjects such as English, math, social studies, and science. Having observed classes, from grades K – 12 in dozens of Haredi schools, I have watched students learn reading comprehension, spelling and handwriting; place value, multiplication and problem solving; early American history and global geography alike.




These subjects, however, do not constitute the central focus of the school day.

What are students doing the rest of the time?

The short answer is “religious studies”, but this is misleading — conjuring, perhaps, a vision of catechism memorization or ritual practice. Despite what many people believe, yeshiva students are not training to be pulpit rabbis—a fairly rare occupation in these communities.

Rather, yeshiva students’ “religious education” centers mainly on close textual study of a canon of ancient and medieval texts central to Jewish life: the Torah, the Talmud, and a near infinite body of commentaries on both.

In-class activities focused on these texts more closely resemble upper-level humanities coursework in a university than clerical training or contemplation of the Divine.

Enter a college course on any subject in the humanities, and you’ll likely find students working to parse the flow and meaning of primary texts, grappling with questions like “Who wrote this?”, “What were they trying to say?”, “Who was this written for?”, “What were they arguing against?”

This is not so different from what yeshiva kids spend most of their time doing—except that unlike most American university students, yeshiva kids are reading ancient and late ancient texts in their original languages (Biblical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew, and Aramaic) rather than in translation.



The Core Curriculum

Yeshivas offer additional subjects besides Torah and Talmud: classes in practical Jewish law, on the Prophets, on ethical instruction, and of course, core secular subjects (that deserve a column of their own). Extra-curricular subjects such as sports, music, or drama, are minimized, finding expression in more occasional school choirs (for Jewish holidays, for example), less structured (rather than organized) outdoor sports, and school plays, rather than a comprehensive drama curriculum. But above all, Torah and Talmud form the main part of the curriculum.

But there is more than meets the eye in Torah and Talmud. Each encompasses a wealth of knowledge and skills.

Torah (Bible)
Starting in pre-school, students spend time learning Hebrew letters and sounds alongside the kinds of classic Biblical stories that most people associate with religious instruction.

But by very early into their elementary school experience—2nd or 3rd grade—this type of story-telling instruction fades away, and students instead begin reading the biblical text directly in Hebrew, learning eventually to analyze it using ancient and medieval commentaries. Detailed text-based questions like “Why is this word repeated?” “What was this character’s motivation?”, “Why does the text appear to stop mid-stream?” are typical. These classes offer students a top-notch education in close, critical reading and analysis.

These activities closely resemble the sorts of interventions that researchers have shown to be effective at developing reading comprehension. For example, one successful program developed in the 1980’s called reciprocal teaching asks students to read in small groups and to frequently pause to predict what will happen next, clarify what happened, or ask questions. Reciprocal teaching asks students to do a bare bones version of what yeshiva students do every day when studying biblical texts.

Talmud
By middle school, male students are studying Mishna and Gemara, which make up the Talmud, for the plurality of the day. (Girls don’t study Talmud, but continue to develop their skills in Hebrew Bible, studying the text closely, and analyzing its numerous commentaries). In Talmud class, students are asked to read, translate from Aramaic, and analyze complex, dense, and sophisticated legal arguments (originally codified between the 2nd and 5th centuries in present-day Israel and Iraq).

Much like the rest of the yeshiva school day, Talmud presents an unusual dichotomy; its study has profound religious meaning to members of these communities, but its substance is not always self-evidently “religious.” For example, students often begin Talmud study focusing on laws of damages, torts, and monetary law, and implicitly learn more about ancient Roman and Jewish law and life than any other group of eleven year olds in the world.

Very little of what students learn in Talmud class has direct bearing on contemporary religious practice—as noted, this is not rabbinical training, and current religious practice is substantially different from the simple reading of the Talmud text—rather, it is a complex academic endeavor that has profound religious significance as an act of study itself.


This academic endeavor revolves around argumentation skills such as reasoning from evidence, resolving multiple perspectives, and contextualization among many others. Skills that fall under the rubric of argumentation are central to nearly every secular domain, and the Talmud text significantly develops these skills.

In Talmud study, students must follow extensive arguments, often presented in elaborate labyrinthine textual constructions. For example, the text might pursue an argument far into one direction just to see how far it will go, before reversing course and rejecting the premise altogether. Different versions of the same argument between two interlocutors might be presented, and the differences analyzed in light of the opinions of yet another pair of interlocutors. And the entire thread of the discussion may be interpreted very differently by later commentaries, further complicating things.

During a recent visit to one of the Hasidic schools in Brooklyn that Yaffed has criticized, I saw sixth-grade students parsing a complex argument in which two legal opinions drew on four different, but related, multi-step proofs, using subtleties in the biblical passages that served as proof-texts to make each argument. In a fifth-grade Talmud class in another one of the schools, the students had to determine how a biblical verse implicitly requires a charity obligation on a wheat field of 1/40th, 1/50th, or 1/60th of the field (which also entailed converting fractions such as 1.5/60 into 1/40).

When they parse these arguments, students must key in not only to the answers provided by the text, but also to the rationale of the questions themselves, in order to make sense of the underlying disputes. Talmud students quickly realize that if the question seems too obvious, they are likely missing the point.

Students are socialized into both the practices of Talmud study and the skills necessary to engage in those practices. For students in these yeshivas, Talmud instruction starts with the development of basic familiarity with the language (Aramaic), the ability to understand the legal arguments, and the approaches taken by Jewish legal authorities over time. As students progress into upper middle school and high school, they are expected to work on their own in pairs (called chavrusas) to decipher the text, make sense of the commentaries, and to generate their own arguments using evidence and logic. Students have a great deal of agency and autonomy over their learning, with lectures and other forms of teacher support fading away as they get older. By the time they are post high school, nearly all Talmud study is completely self-driven.

Are They Missing Too Much?

There are clear differences between a yeshiva education and a public school education. But how significant are these gaps? Are yeshiva students being denied a basic education? Does this educational program hamstring their ability to be constructive members of society?

I don’t think so.

There is much to be said about the aims and limits of the secular education offered by these schools. (I hope to address this question in a separate essay.) But there is an important sense in which their religious study alone provides a significant grounding in many of the essential skills that they would otherwise be receiving; enough, in fact to make the large curricular gaps somewhat beside the point.

This is something that, ironically, most members of the community itself don’t realize, as they take the strengths of this education for granted. But what these kids do in school is actually quite remarkable, and represents a level of intellectual achievement that is significant not only from a religious perspective, but also as a serious foundation for success in most domains beyond the religious community.

Pragmatically speaking, which best prepares students for future success—a secular school program, or a yeshiva program? Even given then schools’ acknowledged limits in secular instruction, I’d be hard pressed to pick the secular track. The critical thinking, textual analysis, reading comprehension, argumentation skills; the historical knowledge, the foreign language acquisition, the legal concepts; indeed, the Jewish culture, tradition, and ethical behavior (which are deeply important to all religious Jews, not just the ultra- Orthodox) embedded in these schools’ religious study are genuinely remarkable.

Talmud students are trained to appreciate that legal terms such as “substantially equivalent” bear specific technical meanings, are subject to a history of interpretation, and may be deployed differently within different social and historical frameworks.

It’s precisely their ability to understand this—when few students their age in any educational system can do the same—that ought to give critics pause before writing off these schools as less than “substantially equivalent” to public schools.

Moshe Krakowski is an Associate Professor at the Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education and Administration at Yeshiva University and directs Azrieli’s Master’s program in Jewish education. He studies American Charedi education and culture, curriculum, cognition, and inquiry learning in Jewish educational settings.

Saturday, December 29, 2018

מנחם מנדל בן ליבא

Little boy hurt in an accident. Please daven!

Thursday, December 27, 2018

A MILLLION dollar idea - Say it over at your Shabbos table - The Purpose of A Hand Is To Give A Hand





פרשתנו מספרת, שכאשר משה רבנו גדל ויצא אל אחיו, ראה "שני אנשים עברים ניצים". תגובתו של משה הייתה: "ויאמר לרשע, למה תכה רעך". המילה 'תכה', בלשון עתיד, מורה, שהאיש עדיין לא הִכה את חברו, ובכל-זאת, הוא כבר מכונה 'רשע'. ואכן, הגמרא לומדת מזה ש"המגביה ידו על חברו, אף-על-פי שלא הִכהו – נקרא רשע".

על משמעות מאמר זה של חז"ל מצאנו כמה שיטות. שיטה אחת, שהדברים לא נאמרו להלכה, אלא בסגנון של דברי אגדה ודרש. שיטה שנייה, שהגבהת יד על הזולת היא איסור גמור, אולם איסור מדרבנן. שיטה שלישית, שהדבר הוא איסור לא-תעשה של התורה.

גדר האיסור

היסוד להתפלגות השיטות הוא השאלה, מהי הגדרת האיסור של "המגביה ידו על חברו". אפשר לראות בהגבהת היד את התחלת הפעולה של הכאת הזולת. וזה החידוש בעניין זה, שאפילו תחילתה של פעולת ההכאה גורמת לאדם להיקרא 'רשע'.

אולם ייתכן שהקביעה כי האדם נקרא 'רשע' אינה בגלל הנזק והצער שנגרמו בהמשך לזולת, אלא בגלל האדם עצמו: אדם שמגביה ידו על חברו, גם אם הדבר לא התפתח אחר-כך להכאה בפועל, וגם אם לזולת לא נגרם שום כאב ונזק – עצם העובדה שאדם מרים את ידו משקף צורת התנהגות ומידה רעה שלו, ולכן הוא נקרא 'רשע'.

עונש על כוונה

על-פי ההגדרה הראשונה, יש קושי לקבוע כהלכה ברורה שהמגביה ידו על חברו נקרא 'רשע'. כלל בדיני התורה קובע שאין מענישים על מחשבה שלילית. אמנם כאן מדובר לא במחשבה לבדה, אלא גם בהגבהת היד בפועל, אבל עדיין אין כאן פעולה של הכאת הזולת, ולכן אי-אפשר לקבוע (כהלכה פסוקה) שבגלל עצם הגבהת היד ייקרא האדם 'רשע'.

אולם אם אנו בוחנים את העניין לא בהיבט של הפגיעה בזולת, אלא במה שהגבהת היד משקפת על מהותו של האדם העושה כך – כי-אז התורה קוראת לו 'רשע' בגלל עצם העובדה שהוא הרים את ידו על חברו, גם אם בפועל לא הייתה שום הכאה. לכן מצד ההיבט הזה מוגדר האיש 'רשע' בהיבט הלכתי מובהק, והשאלה היא אם זה דאורייתא או דרבנן.

לא להפוך את התפקיד

יש להוסיף ביאור מדוע דווקא הגבהת היד היא איסור. תכלית בריאת האדם היא "לשמש את קוני", על-ידי שכל איברי גופו עובדים את הקב"ה. ה'יד' מסמלת את הנתינה, וזה עיקר תפקידה – לתת צדקה, לגמול חסד, לעזור לזולת. כאשר ה'יד' הזאת מורמת לפעולה הפוכה לחלוטין – להכאת הזולת – יש בזה חטא חמור, כי בכך הופך האדם את תפקידה של היד מן הקצה אל הקצה.

מכאן אפשר ללמוד כמה גדולה היא הפעולה של 'הגבהת היד' בכיוון החיובי – להשתדל לפעול לטובת הזולת יותר מהטבע והרגילות, עד שהאדם 'מגביה' את עצמו מכל המדידות והמגבלות של העולם ומגיע לאהבת-ישראל למעלה מכל מידה ושיעור.

(לקוטי שיחות כרך לא, עמ' 1)


Links

I am always posting links yet in my LIFE I have never played golf. 

Is that weird?

What's Your Narrative?

I read an article in a magazine by a woman who faithfully cared for her childless aunt for many years. After she passed away this woman describes in heart wrenching terms her intense guilt over having inherited a multi family Jerusalem apartment from her late aunt.

I have discussed this numerous times on these pages: We are ALL giving "color commentary" to every event that happens to us. Just like in televised [or radio broadcast] sports - you have the play by play guy describing what actually happens and you have the color commentator analyzing what happens. To use Talmudic terminology "הא בהא לא סגיא!!" - if you are SERIOUS about your sports you need BOTH. [You ALSO need 24 hour sports talk radio!!:-). W-Fan! My virtual imaginary radio station is W-ally on the dial...]. 

We first immediately, instantaneously tell ourselves what we are seeing [miraculously we can make this determination in a tiny fraction of a second tens of thousands of times a day - THANK YOU HASHEM FOR WISDOM!!!] and then we interpret this event [also in a heartbeat]. [Nevuah has similar mechanics as was just spoken about here]. All events are neutral and await our interpretation to give them meaning.  So if we get stuck in traffic, bumper to bumper on the GW, we first determine that we are stuck in traffic [neutral] and then decide [or follow our instincts and habitual modes of thinking] how to interpret this event. One person [or actually most people] will say to himself  "Bummer. Traffic stinks!!" Another will say "HOW AWE-SOME!! I am in love with this girl and here she is sitting right next to me and there is nowhere to go!! A true taste of bliss." A third person will say "GREAT - more time to listen to a shiur before arriving at my destination." While a forth will have fantasies of owning a helicopter in order to consistently avoid traffic jams. It is ALL in the interpretation, in our personal narrative. 

Back to our lady. Facts: Her aunt died and left her an apartment worth around a million dollars. Now she is free to interpret how she wishes. What is her narrative going to be. She chose GUILT. Why? What did she do wrong?? NOTHING!!! She just faithfully tended to her aunt's needs for years. Her aunt WILLINGLY bequeathed her the apartment [I am looking for such an aunt...]. Hashem runs the world and He clearly ALSO wants this devoted niece to receive this apartment. So be sad your aunt died and be FILLED with joy that you have merited this HUUUUUUGE windfall. Don't let the emotions dissipate. Thank Hashem EVERY DAY of the rest of your life that you can now marry off all of your children with NO PROBLEM!! That you can buy the cottage cheese in the supermarket even if it is not on sale. That you can take taxis more often - whatever your pleasure. Maybe you will rent it out - 2 thousand dollars a month with ZERO EFFORT. 

THANK YOU HASHEM!!!!! Why give yourself such heartache with such totally undeserved guilt when you can at the same time be filled with gratitude - towards your aunt [and uncle, who ostensibly purchased the apartment] and Hashem. This woman is a clearly a giver and doesn't like to take and G-D BLESS HER for that-  but even givers have to take in order to be able to give more.  

This is a binyan av, a paradigm, for our lives. We can choose whether to give events a positive or negative spin.    

Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Torah Has To Make You Happy


Links

This shiur is a fine commentary on this post. וד"ל. 

Watered Down

When I write posts I often listen to shiurim. Tonight I was listening to a shiur that was mix between Judaism [li-havdil], Buddhism and Pop Psychology. The talker is a good man but I fear that the listeners are getting a watered down version of Torah.    

Gratitude

Regarding the last post: I just found out that he recently wrote on Instagram, where he has over FORTY FIVE MILLION followers: “We been getting that Jewish money, everything is kosher.”

He also compared the white team owners to slave owners. 

Rebbe Lebron - You get tens of millions of dollars from these "Jewish slave owners" to throw a ball in a net. If not for them you would probably be working in a 7-11 or something, making minimum wage. So say thank you and be grateful.

    

The Nature Of Our Culture

Lebron James is not a bad ball player. I understand why people like to watch him play. If there is a choice between watching him or watching me - I would watch him too. [Full disclosure - I find watching basketball BOOOORIINGGGGG. Like, a kashya of Rebbe Akiva Eiger is soooo much more stimulating]. 

But what INTELLIGENT ideas and thoughts does he have? I would say that there are hundreds of millions if not billions of people more intelligent and more educated than he. So why, by golly, does he have 41.9 MILLION followers on twitter. 

That is a sad reflection on our culture. Someone's ability to throw a cowhide in a net make him a hero, a multi multi multi guzillionaire and someone who people want to read about and read from. 

Imagine if these 41.9 million people would instead spend their time reading ideas that are ethically edifying??

[I am not judging him as a human being. Maybe he is a great guy. But why should people be interested in his thoughts?]

Exaggerations

I  just went to prepare myself a cup of tea. While I was waiting for the water to boil, I picked up a frum magazine [does the magazine only eat kosher?] lying around. I read a letter to the editor from a woman who asserted that if the Democrats and Far Left get into power then we are in tremendous danger because they have the same agenda as  .... Hitler. 

Now a Far Leftist I am not [although I am a lefty. When I used to write with a pen, I would use my left hand. Now I type with my right hand as well, to be mekayim ימין ה' רוממה] but is she not exaggerating a TAD BIT??! Hitler?? Who - Bernie Sanders? He might be misguided and he DID help the Nazi's eliminate the Jews by intermarrying - but he is not a Hitler. Obama? Not a guy I would appoint a Principal in a Yeshiva because who knows who he would allow in which bathroom and he would encourage alternative family attitudes of which we don't approve. But Hitler? Who else? Hillary? She probably wanted to do to Bill at certain times what the Nazi's did to us - but hey, that's Bill's fault. Bill should know about Shovevim and he conducted numerous affairs during this sacred period. Foreign affairs, domestic affairs - it didn't matter to Bill where the women were from. He just wanted to fulfill his lustful desires. But is she a Hitler?? 

So, let us be careful in our formulations.... People who read this magazine might actually think that there is some element of truth in her words, lose sleep and feel more anxious than they already are.          

Why Did Rashi Prefer Maseches Sotah??


בקשר להכתוב בפרשתנו (ב, ד) "ותתצב אחותו מרחוק לדעה מה יעשה לו", שמרים – אחות משה – נצבה ליד המקום  ששם הושם משה, איתא בגמרא (מגילה יד, א. סוטה יב, סע"ב): "'ותקח מרים הנביאה אחות אהרן' – ולא אחות משה? אמר ר"נ אמר רב: שהיתה מתנבאה כשהיא אחות אהרן, ואומרת עתידה אמי שתלד בן שיושיע את ישראל. ובשעה שנולד, נתמלא כל הבית כולו אורה; עמד אבי' ונשקה על ראשה, אמר לה: בתי נתקיימה נבואתיך. וכיון שהשליכוהו ליאור, עמד אבי' וטפחה על ראשה, אמר לה: בתי היכן נבואתיך?! והיינו דכתיב 'ותתצב אחותו מרחוק לדעה' – לדעת מה יהא בסוף נבואתה". והיינו, שמרים היא זו שנתנבאה לפני לידת משה (כשהיתה "אחות אהרן" בלבד, כי משה עוד לא נולד), ואמרה ש"עתידה אמי שתלד בן שיושיע את ישראל" (ולכן היא זו שעמדה לראות "מה יהא בסוף נבואתה"); והובא תוכן זה בפירוש רש"י על התורה – לקמן בפ' בשלח עה"פ "מרים הנביאה אחות אהרן" (טו, כ),

וז"ל: "היכן נתנבאה? כשהיתה אחות אהרן, קודם שנולד משה – אמרה: עתידה אמי שתלד בן וכו', כדאיתא בסוטה".

והנה, ע"פ הידוע גודל הדיוק בדברי רש"י עד להפליא – יש לדקדק בפירושו זה: ידוע, שאין דרכו של רש"י לציין מקור פירושיו – וכנראה במוחש ברוב רובם של הפירושים שמביא רש"י מדברי חז"ל, שהוא כותבם באופן סתמי, בלי לציין מהיכן לקחם. ומזה, שכאשר רש"י מוסיף ומפרש את מקור דבריו, הרי זה בשביל להוסיף ביאור לפירוש הכתוב; אמנם, הוספה זו אינה מוכרחת להבנת הפשט – כי אז הי' רש"י כותבה בפירוש (כדרכו – באופן שגם תלמיד צעיר יבין), ואין זאת אלא שבאם יהי' תלמיד שהוא זריז וממולח, ותתעורר אצלו הקושיא (מחמת ידיעותיו המיוחדות כו') – הרי כדי לרמוז לו יישוב לקושייתו כותב רש"י "כדאיתא כו'", דהיינו, שעל ידי העיון שם תתיישב הקושיא.

ובפרטיות יותר: לעתים מציין רש"י סתם "כדאיתא בגמרא", וכיו"ב; אמנם לפעמים מציין רש"י למקור מדוייק יותר: "כדאיתא במסכת פלונית", אף שבאמת נמצא מאמר זה גם במסכת נוספת. וצריך לבאר כוונתו בזה, שדוקא על ידי העיון במקום המצויין ברש"י יתוסף ביאור בפירוש הכתוב, ולכן ציין דוקא למסכת זו – כי דוקא על ידי העיון באותה מסכת תתיישב קושייתו של ה"תלמיד ממולח" (משא"כ במסכת הנוספת שאלי' לא מציין רש"י, שהיא לא תועיל ליישב הקושיא). ומעתה – בנידון דידן: המאמר שמביא רש"י נמצא הן במסכת מגילה והן במסכת סוטה (כנ"ל). ולכאורה, הי' לרש"י לציין "כדאיתא בגמרא" סתם (כדרכו בכמה מקומות); ואפילו אם ברצונו לפרט המסכת – הי' לו לציין למסכת מגילה, אשר לפי סדר הש"ס קודמת היא למסכת סוטה (מסכת מגילה היא בסדר מועד, ואילו מסכת סוטה היא בסדר נשים). [כן הוא לפי סדר הרגיל בששה סדרי משנה – זמ"ן נק"ט – מתחיל בסדר זרעים ומסיים בסדר טהרות (תיקוני זוהר בהקדמה – ה, א; הרמב"ם בהקדמתו לפירוש המשניות; וכן משמע קצת בשבת לא, א). אמנם יש שיטה נוספת שהסדר הוא נז"ם קט"ן – מתחיל בנשים ומסיים בנזיקין (ראה במדב"ר פי"ג, טו–טז בסופו. ועוד). ואכמ"ל]. ומזה שרש"י דייק לציין "כדאיתא במסכת סוטה" דוקא – מובן שדוקא על ידי העיון שם יתווסף ביאור בפירושו (מה שלא יהי' על ידי העיון במס' מגילה).

מה הפשט????

Living In Israel According To The Rambam

In shul today someone told me matter of factly that the mitzva of living in Eretz Yisrael bi-zman ha-zeh is a machlokes between the Rambam [no] and the Ramban [yes]. I was horrified. To me, it trivializes the mitzva about which Chazal say EQUALS ALL THE MITZVOS OF THE TORAH!! Like, it is a matter of personal taste. Choose your posek/pleasure. Whatever you like is cool. 

There is ONE opinion that understands the Rambam this way [the Megillas Esther] but even according to him, there is still kedusha in Eretz Yisrael and it is preferable to live in a place with kedusha. [See Chasam Sofer Yo"d 233!!]

Four sources that prove that according to the Rambam the mitzva still applies:

Ishus 13-20 where he paskens that even bi-zman ha-zeh one may force his or her spouse to move to Israel. 

Shabbos 6-11 "When a person buys a house in Eretz Yisrael from a gentile, he is permitted to tell the gentile to compose a deed of sale on the Sabbath. Giving the gentile instructions [to perform a forbidden labor on the Sabbath] is a Rabbinic prohibition, and because [of the importance] of settling Eretz Yisrael the Sages did not enforce their decree in this instance."

Avoda Zara 10-3: It is forbidden to sell home to idolaters in Eretz Yisrael. 

Hilchos Melachim at the end of the fifth perek: It is forbidden to leave Eretz Yisrael. 

This is a brooooaaaad topic and I will close here.