Expectations

Morgan Housel 

“The world is full of obvious things which nobody ever observes,” says Sherlock Holmes.

In a different scene he tells a friend while thinking about a crime: “It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those simple cases which are so extremely difficult.”

Lots of things work like that.

Learning from something has two parts: whether it’s important and whether it captures your attention. The number of things that check the first box but not the second are higher than any of us want.

It’s not that the simple things are hidden. It’s that our attention is drawn to things we assume make the biggest difference, and the idea that obvious equals ineffective is more powerful than the reverse.

Two examples of obvious things that are easy to overlook in finance:

1. It is impossible to feel wealthy if your expectations grow faster than your income.

Former Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is worth a billion dollars. But he told The Financial Times earlier this year that he considers himself well-to-do, not rich. “I can’t even say ‘rich’,” he said. “I don’t feel that way.”

Let’s assume there’s more than false modesty here. Consider a few points:

Blankfein is not even among the 10 richest people in his own apartment building.

The Bloomberg list of global billionaires stops counting anyone worth less than $4.6 billion. A mere $4.2 billion – four Lloyds – is now socially unmentionable.

To become a top-five earning financier consistently requires earning at least $1 billion in a single year, let alone a lifetime.

Spare Lloyd your tears, but pay attention to two things that affect all of us: People gauge their wellbeing relative to those around them. And rising income tends to raise the gaze of your aspirations as much as your bank account.

A thing that’s obvious but easily overlooked is that feeling wealthy has little to do with what you have. It’s more about the gap between what you have and what you expect. And what you expect is driven by what other people around you have.

It’s been like that forever and for everyone. John D. Rockefeller never had penicillin, sunscreen, or Advil. But you can’t say a low-income American with Advil and sunscreen should feel better off than Rockefeller, because that’s not how people’s heads work. What would have seemed like magic to Rockefeller became our baseline expectation.

Incomes fall into the same trap. Median family income adjusted for inflation was $29,000 in 1955. In 1965 it was $42,000. Today it’s just over $62,000. We think of the 1950s and 1960s as the golden age of middle-class prosperity. But the median household today has roughly twice the income as the median family of 1955. Part of the disconnect can be explained by lots of people’s expectations being inflated by the lifestyles of a small share of people whose wealth grew exponentially over the last 40 years.

There are a million ways to get more money. But the only way to feel wealthy is to maintain a gap between what you have and what you expect. The expectation part has to be managed as much as the income part. It’s easy to ignore the expectation part because focusing on the income side alone is much more intuitive.

In 2004 the New York Times interviewed Stephen Hawking, the late scientist whose incurable motor-neuron disease left him paralyzed and unable to talk since age 21.

“Are you always this cheerful?” the Times asked.

“My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21,” Hawking said. “Everything since then has been a bonus,” he replied.

A useful financial skill, too.

2. Few things fuel denial and ignorance like randomness, and change.

A hard thing about finance – lots of fields, but especially finance – is that the signals of success are both seductive and deceiving. They’re seductive because they can be so lucrative, so flattering. But they’re deceiving because it’s hard to tell whether they reflect your skill, or whether you can maintain your skill, or how long they’ll last.

It’s obvious that skills expire and circumstances change. It’s much harder to identify those in real time, especially for yourself when you’re willing.

There are four dangerous kinds of success that plant the seeds of their own destruction:

Mistaking a temporary trend for a competitive advantage.

Mistaking seeming luck as skill, which increases confidence but not ability.

Legitimate skill and success that makes you too busy to focus on the skill that once made you successful.

Legitimate skill that reduces focus and paranoia, when focus and paranoia is what made you successful to begin with.

Of course that’s the case, and of course it’s common. It shouldn’t be controversial. It should be obvious.

But it’s easy to overlook because all winning feels good. It’s the goal, so you don’t want to question it when it comes. You definitely don’t want to fight it, or assume it’s temporary. It feels reckless to reject a signal from the world that says, “you’re doing great!”

A few people have. Jerry Seinfeld said part of the reason he quit his show at the top because the show was based on recreating real events from his and Larry David’s normal life. But they put so much time into the show – and became so famous – that they were running out of material because it had been so long since they’d lived a normal life. It had been years since they could casually watch people order at a deli, or what happens when you board a plane. Jerry had every signal of success – he was offered $5 million per show to stay on another season – but quit because he knew the thing that made the show great was slipping away.

Telling People What they Want To Hear

"Tell people what they want to hear and you can be wrong indefinitely without penalty."

The Power Of A My-seh

"The person who tells the most compelling story wins. Not the best idea. Just the story that catches people’s attention and gets them to nod their heads.'

Teshuva Is Hard To Maintain

"Behavior is hard to fix. When people say they’ve learned their lesson they underestimate how much of their previous mistake was caused by emotions that will return when faced with the same circumstances."

Exceptionally Talented People

"Don’t expect balance from very talented people. People who are exceptionally good at one thing tend to be exceptionally bad at another." 

Self Interest

"Self-interest is the most powerful force in the world. Which can be great, because situations where everyone’s interests align are unstoppable; bad because people’s willingness to benefit themselves at the expense of others is so seductive."

The Power Of A Good Kashya!

"People learn when they’re surprised. Not when they read the right answer, or are told they’re doing it wrong, but when their jaw hits the floor."

Read Aloud!

כי חיים הם למוצאיהם - אל תקרי למוצאיהם אלא למוציאיהם בפה. [עירובין נ"ד-ב]

וכל המשמיע קולו בשעת תלמודו, מתקיים בידו, אבל הקורא בלחש במהרה הוא שוכח [שו"ע יו"ד רמ"ו כ"ב] 

BBC 

For much of history, reading was a fairly noisy activity. On clay tablets written in ancient Iraq and Syria some 4,000 years ago, the commonly used words for “to read” literally meant “to cry out” or “to listen”. “I am sending a very urgent message,” says one letter from this period. “Listen to this tablet. If it is appropriate, have the king listen to it.”

Only occasionally, a different technique was mentioned: to “see” a tablet – to read it silently.

Today, silent reading is the norm. The majority of us bottle the words in our heads as if sitting in the hushed confines of a library. Reading out loud is largely reserved for bedtime stories and performances.

But a growing body of research suggests that we may be missing out by reading only with the voices inside our minds. The ancient art of reading aloud has a number of benefits for adults, from helping improve our memories and understand complex texts, to strengthening emotional bonds between people. And far from being a rare or bygone activity, it is still surprisingly common in modern life. Many of us intuitively use it as a convenient tool for making sense of the written word, and are just not aware of it.

Colin MacLeod, a psychologist at the University of Waterloo in Canada, has extensively researched the impact of reading aloud on memory. He and his collaborators have shown that people consistently remember words and texts better if they read them aloud than if they read them silently. This memory-boosting effect of reading aloud is particularly strong in children, but it works for older people, too. “It’s beneficial throughout the age range,” he says.

MacLeod has named this phenomenon the “production effect”. It means that producing written words – that’s to say, reading them out loud – improves our memory of them.

The production effect has been replicated in numerous studies spanning more than a decade. In one study in Australia, a group of seven-to-10-year-olds were presented with a list of words and asked to read some silently, and others aloud. Afterwards, they correctly recognized 87% of the words they’d read aloud, but only 70% of the silent ones.

In another study, adults aged 67 to 88 were given the same task – reading words either silently or aloud – before then writing down all those they could remember. They were able to recall 27% of the words they had read aloud, but only 10% of those they’d read silently. When asked which ones they recognised, they were able to correctly identify 80% of the words they had read aloud, but only 60% of the silent ones. MacLeod and his team have found the effect can last up to a week after the reading task.

Even just silently mouthing the words makes them more memorable, though to a lesser extent. Researchers at Ariel University in Israel discovered that the memory-enhancing effect also works if the readers have speech difficulties, and cannot fully articulate the words they read aloud.

Reading aloud can also make certain memory problems more obvious, and could be helpful in detecting such issues early on.

MacLeod says one reason why people remember the spoken words is that “they stand out, they’re distinctive, because they were done aloud, and this gives you an additional basis for memory”.

We are generally better at recalling distinct, unusual events, and also, events that require active involvement. For instance, generating a word in response to a question makes it more memorable, a phenomenon known as the generation effect. Similarly, if someone prompts you with the clue “a tiny infant, sleeps in a cradle, begins with b”, and you answer baby, you’re going to remember it better than if you simply read it, MacLeod says.

Another way of making words stick is to enact them, for instance by bouncing a ball (or imagining bouncing a ball) while saying “bounce a ball”. This is called the enactment effect. Both of these effects are closely related to the production effect: they allow our memory to associate the word with a distinct event, and thereby make it easier to retrieve later.

The production effect is strongest if we read aloud ourselves. But listening to someone else read can benefit memory in other ways. In a study led by researchers at the University of Perugia in Italy, students read extracts from novels to a group of elderly people with dementia over a total of 60 sessions. The listeners performed better in memory tests after the sessions than before, possibly because the stories made them draw on their own memories and imagination, and helped them sort past experiences into sequences. “It seems that actively listening to a story leads to more intense and deeper information processing,” the researchers concluded. 

Reading aloud can also make certain memory problems more obvious, and could be helpful in detecting such issues early on. In one study, people with early Alzheimer’s disease were found to be more likely than others to make certain errors when reading aloud.

There is some evidence that many of us are intuitively aware of the benefits of reading aloud, and use the technique more than we might realize.

Sam Duncan, an adult literacy researcher at University College London, conducted a two-year study of more than 500 people all over Britain during 2017-2019 to find out if, when and how they read aloud. Often, her participants would start out by saying they didn’t read aloud – but then realized that actually, they did.

“Adult reading aloud is widespread,” she says. “It’s not something we only do with children, or something that only happened in the past.”

Some said they read out funny emails or messages to entertain others. Others read aloud prayers and blessings for spiritual reasons. Writers and translators read drafts to themselves to hear the rhythm and flow. People also read aloud to make sense of recipes, contracts and densely written texts.

“Some find it helps them unpack complicated, difficult texts, whether it’s legal, academic, or Ikea-style instructions,” Duncan says. “Maybe it’s about slowing down, saying it and hearing it.”

If reading aloud delivers such benefits, why did humans ever switch to silent reading?

For many respondents, reading aloud brought joy, comfort and a sense of belonging. Some read to friends who were sick or dying, as “a way of escaping together somewhere”, Duncan says. One woman recalled her mother reading poems to her, and talking to her, in Welsh. After her mother died, the woman began reading Welsh poetry aloud to recreate those shared moments. On Shetland, a poet read aloud poetry in the local dialect to herself and others.

“There were participants who talked about how when someone is reading aloud to you, you feel a bit like you’re given a gift of their time, of their attention, of their voice,” Duncan recalls. “We see this in the reading to children, that sense of closeness and bonding, but I don’t think we talk about it as much with adults.”

If reading aloud delivers such benefits, why did humans ever switch to silent reading? One clue may lie in those clay tablets from the ancient Near East, written by professional scribes in a script called cuneiform.

Over time, the scribes developed an ever faster and more efficient way of writing this script. Such fast scribbling has a crucial advantage, according to Karenleigh Overmann, a cognitive archaeologist at the University of Bergen, Norway who studies how writing affected human brains and behaviour in the past. “It keeps up with the speed of thought much better,” she says.

Reading aloud, on the other hand, is relatively slow due to the extra step of producing a sound.

“The ability to read silently, while confined to highly proficient scribes, would have had distinct advantages, especially, speed,” says Overmann. “Reading aloud is a behaviour that would slow down your ability to read quickly.”

Perhaps the ancient scribes, just like us today, enjoyed having two reading modes at their disposal

In his book on ancient literacy, Reading and Writing in Babylon, the French assyriologist Dominique Charpin quotes a letter by a scribe called Hulalum that hints at silent reading in a hurry. Apparently, Hulalum switched between “seeing” (ie, silent reading) and “saying/listening” (loud reading), depending on the situation. In his letter, he writes that he cracked open a clay envelope – Mesopotamian tablets came encased inside a thin casing of clay to prevent prying eyes from reading them – thinking it contained a tablet for the king.

“I saw that it was written to [someone else] and therefore did not have the king listen to it,” writes Hulalum.

Perhaps the ancient scribes, just like us today, enjoyed having two reading modes at their disposal: one fast, convenient, silent and personal; the other slower, noisier, and at times more memorable.

In a time when our interactions with others and the barrage of information we take in are all too transient, perhaps it is worth making a bit more time for reading out loud. Perhaps you even gave it a try with this article, and enjoyed hearing it in your own voice?

Safek Bracha - Tumtum - Sukkah - Krias Shma - Eating Outside The Sukkah

1] The Rambam [succah 6-3] paskens that a tumtum and androginus don't make a bracha on succah b/c they are only חייב מספק. 

Yes - but ספיקא דאורייתא לחומרא so they are absolutely חייב. Why shouldn’t they make a bracha??!!! 

2] The Rambam paskens [Krias Shma 2-3] that if one is in doubt as to whether he read Shma then he reads w/ brachos. 

If the Rambam doesn’t allow safek brachos [like by succah] then why by Krias Shma yes?? 

3] Rambam - 

אוֹכְלִין וְשׁוֹתִין וִישֵׁנִים בַּסֻּכָּה כָּל שִׁבְעָה בֵּין בַּיּוֹם וּבֵין בַּלַּיְלָה. וְאָסוּר לֶאֱכל סְעֻדָּה חוּץ לַסֻכָּה כָּל שִׁבְעָה אֶלָּא אִם אָכַל אֲכִילַת עֲרַאי כְּבֵיצָה אוֹ פָּחוֹת אוֹ יֶתֶר מְעַט. וְאֵין יְשֵׁנִים חוּץ לַסֻכָּה אֲפִלּוּ שְׁנַת עֲרַאי. וּמֻתָּר לִשְׁתּוֹת מַיִם וְלֶאֱכל פֵּרוֹת חוּץ לַסֻּכָּה. וּמִי שֶׁיַּחֲמִיר עַל עַצְמוֹ וְלֹא יִשְׁתֶּה חוּץ לַסֻכָּה אֲפִלּוּ מַיִם הֲרֵי זֶה מְשֻׁבָּח 

We should eat, drink, and sleep in the sukkah through the entire seven days [of the festival], both during the day and at night. It is forbidden to eat a meal outside the sukkah for the entire seven [day period]. However, [there is no prohibition] if one eats a snack the measure of a k'beitzah or less, or even slightly more. 

One may not sleep outside the sukkah at all, even a brief nap. It is permissible to drink water and eat fruit outside the sukkah. However, a person who follows the stringency of not drinking even water outside the sukkah is worthy of praise. 

Now on the first night the חיוב אכילה in the succah is a כזית [as חיובי אכילה always are] yet the Rambam implies that the איסור אכילה EVEN ON THE FIRST NIGHT is a כביצה. If the חיוב אכילה בסוכה is a כזית shouldn’t the איסור also be the same shiur?? 

JUST LOVE THEM - Echoing The Song Of Rav Dovid Trenk

Gzeiros Chazal In Dinei Di-oraisa

 Here

Succah 7a: The Geder Of 3 Succah Walls And The 4th Wall On Shabbos

 Here

Sacrificing Our Children?

 Worth reading.

Thank you to R' C.Y.A. for sending. 

Learn Despite Hardship

 Rebbe Akiva Eiger ztz"l said about himself that from the age of 15-16 he has learned and taught in great physical pain. If you have ever learned the chiddushim of Rebbe Akiva Eier you can appreciate that there is nothing like it and it was all written while seriously ill. [He was so careful about mikva, he would break through ice and dip!!!]

WOW! 

Rav Shmuel Vosner once came to the Chazon Ish who was writhing in pain from an earache. He told the young Rav Vosner that from the age of 18 he has been ill. Sometimes the Chazon Ish wrote that he can't look up a certain sefer not b/c he didn't have it but b/c he didn't have the strength to get up take it down from the shelf!!

The Brisker Rov suffered from serious asthma and other conditions.

The great Gaon Rav Meir Don Plotzki, the Kli Chemdah, suffered from cancer for over 30 years! 

Lesson: NO EXCUSES!! These giants and gedolei Torah didn't stop learning or serving Hashem, despite their intense physical and emotional distress. 

A Mother

 וַיִּקְרָא הָאָדָם שֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ חַוָּה כִּי הִוא הָיְתָה אֵם כָּל חָי

חוה הוא צורת פיעל של ״חיה״, ופירושו: הנותנת חיים. אדם הראשון התבשר זה עתה, שהוא עתיד למות, ושאשתו תוליד לו בנים; על כן קרא את שמה ״חוה״, שכן היא הנותנת חיים לכל חי. הפרט ימות, אך האנושות תמשיך לחיות; ובזכות האשה, ימשיך גם האיש את חייו דרך צאצאיו.

אדם הראשון יכל לכעוס על אשתו על שמחמתה גורש מגן עדן; אך הוא קרא לה על שם הגדול שבתפקידיה! אמנם נגזר עליו עצבון; גם עליה נגזר עצבון; אך הזכות שזכתה בתמורה לעצבונה, גדולה יותר. היא מצילה ממוות ונותנת חיים; ועל ידה נתעלה האדם מן המוות.

יש לשים לב, שאדם הראשון אינו קורא לה ״חיה״, אלא ״חוה״. ״חוה״ מציין תמיד נתינת חיים רוחניים: ״יְחַוֶּה דָּעַת״ (תהלים יט, ג), ״אֲחַוְךָ״ (איוב טו, יז). האשה היא מכל הבחינות ״אֵם״, בבחינת ״אִם״ – תנאי מעכב; לא רק לחיים הגופניים, אלא גם לחיים הרוחניים והרגשיים. היא הנותנת חיים לדור הבא, כדי שימשיך למלא את ייעוד האדם.

"היתה" מתייחס כאן אל התפקיד שנועד לאשה.

רש"ר הירש 

 

מהות השמחה בכלל ושמחת סוכות בפרט

 HERE!!

Incredible BS"D!!!

ראו עתה כי אני אני הוא - בסוכות מתגלה מציאותנו האמיתית

 Here!!!

What You Do is Who You Are (Shabbos Shuva Derasha 5781/2020)

בריאות

Baby Bitten By A Leech - In Serious Condition

יֵרָאֶה אוֹרִי בן יעל

(א) לַמְנַצֵּחַ מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד. (ב) יַעַנְךָ יְהוָה בְּיוֹם צָרָה יְשַׂגֶּבְךָ שֵׁם אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב. (ג) יִשְׁלַח עֶזְרְךָ מִקֹּדֶשׁ וּמִצִּיּוֹן יִסְעָדֶךָּ. (ד) יִזְכֹּר כָּל מִנְחֹתֶךָ וְעוֹלָתְךָ יְדַשְּׁנֶה סֶלָה. (ה) יִתֶּן לְךָ כִלְבָבֶךָ וְכָל עֲצָתְךָ יְמַלֵּא. (ו) נְרַנְּנָה בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ וּבְשֵׁם אֱלֹהֵינוּ נִדְגֹּל יְמַלֵּא יְהוָה כָּל מִשְׁאֲלוֹתֶיךָ. (ז) עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי כִּי הוֹשִׁיעַ יְהוָה מְשִׁיחוֹ יַעֲנֵהוּ מִשְּׁמֵי קָדְשׁוֹ בִּגְבֻרוֹת יֵשַׁע יְמִינוֹ. (ח) אֵלֶּה בָרֶכֶב וְאֵלֶּה בַסּוּסִים וַאֲנַחְנוּ בְּשֵׁם יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ נַזְכִּיר. (ט) הֵמָּה כָּרְעוּ וְנָפָלוּ וַאֲנַחְנוּ קַּמְנוּ וַנִּתְעוֹדָד. (י) יְהוָה הוֹשִׁיעָה הַמֶּלֶךְ יַעֲנֵנוּ בְיוֹם קָרְאֵנוּ.

Happy Under All Circumstances

 

סיפר לי בעל המעשה אשר היו לו צרות הרבה רח"ל , ונכנס להגאון רבי שלמה זלמן אויערבאך זצ"ל ושפך בפניו ליבו, נענה לו הגרש "ז ואמר, כי מכיר הוא יהודי שהוצרך לעבור ניתוח ומני אז אינו שומע באוזן אחת, גם אלמן הוא ל"ע, ובנוסף לכך יש לו ג' ילדים שלא זכו לפרי בטן , ומכל מקום שרוי הוא תמיד בשמחה ובכל עת פניו שוחקות ומחייכות , אמר לו הלה שאינו מאמין שיתכן כדבר הזה , שוב חזר בפניו הגרש "ז על דבריו והלה עמד על שלו שאי אפשר שיהיה כן, עד שאמר לו הגרש "ז , יהודי זה עומד בפניך עתה ומדבר עמך...

Who Is אני?

וַיִּקְרָ֥א משֶׁ֛ה אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אַתֶּ֣ם רְאִיתֶ֗ם אֵ֣ת כָּל־אֲשֶׁר֩ עָשָׂ֨ה יְהֹוָ֤ה לְעֵֽינֵיכֶם֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם לְפַרְעֹ֥ה וּלְכָל־עֲבָדָ֖יו וּלְכָל־אַרְצֽוֹ:


הַמַּסּוֹת֙ הַגְּדֹלֹ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר רָא֖וּ עֵינֶ֑יךָ הָֽאֹתֹ֧ת וְהַמֹּֽפְתִ֛ים הַגְּדֹלִ֖ים הָהֵֽם:


וְלֹֽא־נָתַן֩ יְהֹוָ֨ה לָכֶ֥ם לֵב֙ לָדַ֔עַת וְעֵינַ֥יִם לִרְא֖וֹת וְאָזְנַ֣יִם לִשְׁמֹ֑עַ עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה:


וָֽאוֹלֵ֥ךְ אֶתְכֶ֛ם אַרְבָּעִ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בַּמִּדְבָּ֑ר לֹֽא־בָל֤וּ שַׂלְמֹֽתֵיכֶם֙ מֵֽעֲלֵיכֶ֔ם וְנַֽעַלְךָ֥ לֹא־בָֽלְתָ֖ה מֵעַ֥ל רַגְלֶֽךָ:


לֶ֚חֶם לֹ֣א אֲכַלְתֶּ֔ם וְיַ֥יִן וְשֵׁכָ֖ר לֹ֣א שְׁתִיתֶ֑ם לְמַ֨עַן֙ תֵּֽדְע֔וּ כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָ֖ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶֽם:

 

 The whole section is Moshe talking to the Jewish people so why does he conclude אני ה' א-להיכם?

כי אני ה״א – אחרי שפרשה זו לא התחילה בלשון וידבר ה׳ א״מ, רק ויקרא ויאמר אליהם, ובכל הפרשה ידבר ממנו ית׳ בלשון נסתר, אשר עשה ה׳. ולא נתן ה׳ לכם, מהו שאמר כאן אני ה״א ? ה״ל להסב הדבור בלשון נסתר ולומר כי הוא ה״א.

ונ״ל שאין מלת אני כאן כבשאר מקומות להוראת הגוף המדבר בעד עצמו (איך), אבל הוא שם הש״י, כמאמרם (סוכה מ״ה) אני והו הושיעה נא, דלדעת ר״י לא אמרו בהקפתם אנא ה׳ הושיעה נא רק אנא אני והו הושיעה נא, וכבר הרחיבו המחברים לבאר מעט סתרי שני השמות האלה (ע״ש רש״י). ובמכדרשב״י (זהר בבשלח נ״ב א׳) גופא דאילנא אני אל״ף נו״ן יו״ד. וכבר אמרו שעל כוונה זו אמר הלל (סוכה נ״ג) אם אני כאן הכל כאן ואם אין אני כאן מי כאן, למקום שאני אוהב רגלי מוליכות אותי, ובמכדרשב״י (זהר בלקוטים דח״ר די״ב) שכינתא דאקרי אני ומזה אמר הלל בספ״א דאבות אם אני לי מי לי, ועל כוונה זו פי׳ מאמר בהאזינו ראו עתה כי אני אני הוא, ששניהם שמות כלשון אני והו, כמ״ש הרב״ח שם, וטעמו ע״ד הפשט אני הוא ששמי אני. והגר״א בשה״ש אמר דשני שמות אלו אני והו הם ראשים וכללים לכל שבעים שמות. והם באמצע השבעים, והם כוללים אותם הראשון מלמעלה עד חציו, והשני מחציו ולמעלה.

ולקרב את הדבר ע״ד הפשט לכנות את הש״י בשם אני, נ״ל, אחרי שימת לב על עיקר הוראת מלת אני אשר יורה על האדם המדבר בעד עצמו, שאמר בו הרש״פ שהוא מגזרת אן שהוא מלת השאלה אל הגבול שאליו (וואָהין), כמו אן הלכתם (שמואל א יו״ד), עד אן תמלל אלה (איוב ח׳), והתחבר למלת אן יו״ד הכנוי המדבר בעדו, כמו ידי רגלי, ומזה נעשה מלת אני, ומובנו אן שלי (מיין אייגנעס וואָהין), מכנוי פאסעסיף, כי ענין ההכרה והידיעה הוא התנועעות למה שחוץ ממנו, ובפגעו בו אז יכירנו מהו ואיך הוא, ואין המכיר נפעל מן הדבר הניכר אבל הוא הפועל והדבר הניכר הוא הנפעל, כי תמיד תנועת ההכרה קודמת למעשה ההכרה הידיעה, וזהו בזמן שהדבר הניכר דבר שחוץ ממנו, אבל המכיר ויודע א״ע הרי הוא עצמו הגבול שאליו תנועת הכרתו. בזה יאמר המכיר את עצמו על עצמו אני, כלומר נושא שכח הכרתו נוטה לעצמו (רעציפראָקום). עכ״ד. לדברי אלה לא יתכן לומר באמת מלת אני רק העליון ית׳ לא האדם, כי עצם האדם הוא הנפש, והגוף איננו רק המקרה הדבוק בעצם, וכל יכולת השגת האדם בלתי מתפשטת רק על אכיות הדברים לא על עצמותם, כי עצם כל הדברים לעוצם דקותו ופשטותו אין אנו ב״ו יכולים להכירו בשום אופן, כי אם ישאלנו אדם בד״מ עצם האש מה הוא, אין בידינו להשיב רק שהוא דבר רוחני המאיר המחמם והשורף, ואלה הסימנים וכיוצא בהם אינם רק איכיות האש לא עצם האש, כי עצם האש מה הוא לא ידענו להשיבו, אף כי הדבר השוכן בקרבנו ושאנו מרגישים הרגשה ברורה והוא הנפש שלנו, אין אנו באים בו לעולם אל ידיעת עצמותו, וכל מה שנשתדל לקרב לנו ממנו אל הציור ע״י שנאמר, שהנפש הוא הכח היודע המכיר המשכיל והרוצה וכדומה לאלה, כ״ז איננו רק איכיות הנפש, אבל עצם הנפש עדיין לא ידע מה הוא, ואחרי שהמכוון במלת אני הוא (לפי המבואר) נושא שכח תנועת הכרתו נוטה לעצמו, ואחרי שהכרתו א״ע הוא בלתי אפשרי לאדם, א״כ כשיאמר מלת אני, איננו בדרך האמת כ״א בדרך מושאל, אמנם הוא ית׳ היודע את עצמותו הוא הוא באמת הנושא שהכרתו נוטה לעצמו, ויוכל לומר באמת על עצמו אני, לכן שפיר נופל עליו שם אני. ודי בזה למשכיל. עמ״ש בזה בהאזינו אני אני הוא. וע׳ פ׳ אחרי ואמרת אליהם, ובמ״ש ר״פ וארא וידעתם כי אני ה׳.

הכתב והקבלה דברים כ"ט ה

The Ohr Hachaim And Contemporary Stars

I am trying to figure out how to get the likes of the Ohr Hachaim Hakodash and the Sfas Emes to be a fraction as popular as Yishai Ribo. 

Nothing against Yishai. Just think that there are other no less important personalities. 

Where Are The Second Luchos And Mechila In Our Tefilla??

Rashi tells us that on Yom Kippur, Moshe received the second luchos and we were forgiven for cheyt ha-egel [which explains why it is the day of atonement]. 

ואתנפל לפני ה' כראשונה ארבעים יום – שנאמר: "ועתה אעלה אל ה' אולי אכפרה בעד חטאתכם" (שמות לב ל). באותה עלייה נתעכבתי ארבעים יום. נמצאו כלים בכ"ט באב. שהוא עלה בשמונה עשר בתמוז, בו ביום נתרצה הקב"ה לישראל ואמר לו למשה (דברים י א) פסל לך שני לוחות, עשה עוד ארבעים יום, נמצאו כלים ביום הכפורים. בו ביום נתרצה הקב"ה לישראל בשמחה ואמר לו למשה (במדבר יד כ) סלחתי כדברך. לכך הוקבע למחילה ולסליחה.

I heard a huuuuuge kashya-  how come this is not mentioned in our tfilla AT ALL???

A wonder!! 

Succah 4a 7a 19a - Migo Di-havei Dofen Li-inyan Succah

Here!!!! WOW! 

PART 2!! Pilei Plaos BS"D!!!!

Child Choked On A Grape

אלתר יוסף בן אסתר

The Life And Times Of The Tzadik From Raanana

 This email/post generated interest in the Tzadik from Raanana. Here is a biographical sketch. 

SUNSHINE

 

Bittul Schach-Tzitzis-Letter In Sefer Torah

Here!!! 

Source For Kiddush Beis Din

The Gemara [Bava Basra 121a] learns from the pasuk "וידבר ה' את מועדי השם" that only Moadim require Kiddush Beis Din and not Shabbos. 

The Rashbam there [ד"ה שבת בראשית] STRANGELY says that this law is derived from the extra words מועדי השם. It could have said "אלה אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש" but instead says "אלה מועדי השם אשר תקראו אותם מקראי קודש". The extra מועדי השם teach that only מועדי השם need Kiddush Beis Din and not Shabbos. But that is a DIFFERENT pasuk than the Gemara uses??

THIS is what got me stuck Motzei YK as I prepare for Succos....  

Confession

I would like to make a confession and talk a bit about confession: 

My confession - I feel inadequate. Not that I have low self esteem. I feel very good about myself. For the most part. But I almost always feel inadequate in my dealings with others. I often feel that I didn't say the right thing, do the right thing, do enough etc. Others confirm this and I have found that people are sometimes disappointed with me - which makes me feel yet worse. Even when they are not, since people will rarely say anything, I often wonder and suspect that I disappointed them. That is in my dealings with others. When it comes to my dealings with Hashem I certainly feel inadequate. I waste too much time, I don't learn enough, daven well enough etc. etc.

That is my public confession.

Confession in general: The GREAT thing abt. vidui, confession, is that it allows us to feel AWE-SOME about feeling inadequate. If we feel that we are perfect beings, that we always do things as we should, then the whole thing is a farce. We don't want THAT! 

There used to be a popular book "I'm OK You're OK". I have another title: "I'm NOT OK And That's OK!!! OK??" 

Politicians spend a lot of time and effort convincing people of their near infallibility. In public discourse, the finger is almost always pointed elsewhere. It is Trump's fault, Cuomo's fault, DeBlasio's fault, the Democrat's fault, China's fault, white people's fault, black people's fault, the list goes on. BLAME BLAME BLAME. This is bad chinuch for us. אחת בשנה [the Torah term for Yom Kippur] - once a year, we have a GREAT opportunity. It is MYYYYYYYYY FAULT. ELCHONON BEN HENNA MIRIAM BAS ALTA CHANA! That guy. The bearded-skinny-jokester from Manhattan-Jerusalem-Givat-Zev. And that is PER-FECT. Exactly as it is supposed to be. It feels SUPER to be a LOSER. ICH BIN A LUUUUUUUZERRRRRR - AND PROUD OF IT!!!

That is CLEANSING! 

Of course, I will try to be better this year. I will try to daven with more kavana, get into learning, stop speaking dvarim bteilim, be a better son-husband-father-friend. Less narcissism, more love for others. SO MUCH TO IMPROVE ON!!! But in the meantime, I REJOICE in acknowledging my inadequacies in ALL areas. THAT is the avodas ha-yom. To feel GREAT about how much we are falling short of our potential. The Mishna says that the BEST day of the year is Yom Kippur. Not Purim. Not Succos. Not Super Bowl Sunday or my birthday. The somber Yom Kippur is the BEST [w/ Tu b'av] day of the year. 

So let us celebrate our failings [with a lot of OOOOYYYYY coupled with JOOYYY] and then get to the business of rectifying them. 

Much love,

In all inadequacy, shortcoming and failure,

Me😊

 

  

MECHILLLAAAAHHHH!!!!!

I ASK THAT IF ANYONE HAS ANY COMPLAINTS AGAINST ME FOR OFFENDING OR HURTING THEM IN ANY WAY THAT YOU PLEASE CONTACT ME SO THAT I CAN ASK YOU PERSONALLY FOR FORGIVENESS. 

IN GENERAL - I ASK ANYONE FOR FORGIVENESS FOR ANYTHING I WROTE OR SAID OR DID THAT MIGHT HAVE CAUSED YOU ANY PAIN. 

THANK YOU!!

Self-Control

"Most of the problems that plague our society - addiction, overeating, crime, domestic violence, prejudice, debt, unwanted pregnancy, educational failure, underperformance at school and work, lack of savings, failure to exercise - are in some degree a failure of self-control".

Willpower

"Willpower is what separates us from the animals. It's the capacity to restrain our impulses, resist temptation - do what's right and good for us in the long run, not what we want to do right now. It's central, in fact, to civilization".

Why No Moshiach ?

The Klausenberger Rebbe quotes in the name of Tzadikim whose fault it is that the Geula has not yet come:

שעיקר סיבת עיכוב הגאולה ואורך הגלות המר הנה הוא לא בגלל אנשים שהם רחוקים מתורה ומצוות אלא מפני אלו ששומרים תורה ומצוות שלא שומרים כראוי.

  

Connecting To The Yechida

From an email:

SHALOM SWEETEST FRIENDS!!!!!


I CAN'T believe it but it is TRUE! Erev Yom Kippur is upon us! Ready or Not! [I am on the "Not" team"].


I would like to share a story that I read as a young boy that had a profound effect on me. It is from the fabulous book "Hasidic Tales Of The Holocaust" by Yaffa Eliach and was told by the Bluzhever Rebbe ztz"l Rav Yisrael Spira.

In the Janowska Concentration Camp, there was a Jewish brigadier (a foreman of a brigade) from Lvov by the name of Schneeweiss, one of those people one stays away from if he values his life. He had known Rabbi Israel Spira in Lemberg (Lvov), but was not aware that the latter was an inmate at the Janowska Road Camp. Only a handful of Chassidim who were close to the rabbi knew the rabbi’s identity and they kept it secret. The season of the Jewish holidays was approaching. As the date of Yom Kippur was nearing, the fears in the camp mounted. Everyone knew that the sadistic Germans especially liked to use Jewish holidays as days for inflicting terror and death. It was the eve of Yom Kippur. The tensions and the fears were at their height.


A few Chassidim came to the Rabbi of Bluzhov and asked him to approach Schneeweiss and request that on Yom Kippur his group not be assigned to any of the thirty-nine main categories of work, so that their transgression of the law by working on Yom Kippur would not be a major one. The rabbi was very moved by the request of his Chassidim and despite his fears, for he would have to disclose his identity, went to Schneeweiss. He knew quite well that Schneeweiss did not have much respect for Jewish tradition. Even prior to the outbreak of World War II, he had publicly violated the Jewish holidays and transgressed against Jewish law. Here in Janowska, he was a cruel man who knew no mercy.


With a heavy heart, the rabbi went before Schneeweiss. “You probably remember me. I am the Rabbi of Pruchnik, Rabbi Israel Spira.” Schneeweiss did not respond. “You are a Jew like myself,” the rabbi continued. “Tonight is Kol Nidrei night. There is a small group of young Jews who do not want to transgress any of the thirty-nine main categories of work. It means everything to them. It is the essence of their existence. Can you do something about it? Can you help?”


The rabbi noticed that a hidden shiver went through Schneeweiss as he listened to the rabbi’s strange request. The rabbi took Schneeweiss’s hand and said, “I promise you, as long as you live, it will be a good life. I beg you to do it for us so that we may still find some dignity in our humiliating existence.” The stern face of Schneeweiss changed. For the first time since his arrival at Janowska, there was a human spark in it. “Tonight I can’t do a thing.” said Schneeweiss, the first words he had uttered since the rabbi had come to him. “I have no jurisdiction over the night brigade. But tomorrow, on Yom Kippur, I will do for you whatever I can.” The rabbi shook Schneeweiss’s hand in gratitude and left.


That night, Kol Nidrei night, they were taken to work near the Lvov cemetery. To this very day, the rabbi has scars from the beatings of that night. They returned to their barracks at one o’clock in the morning exhausted, beaten, with blood flowing from fresh wounds. The rabbi was trying to make his way to his bed, one level of a five-tiered bunk bed made of a few wooden planks covered with straw. Vivid images from the past, of Yom Kippur at home with his family and Chassidim, passed before his tear-filled eyes that wretched night at Janowska. Suddenly the door opened and into the barracks came a young Chassid named Ben-Zion. “Rabbi, we must recite Kol Nidrei.” “Who can say Kol Nidrei now?” the rabbi replied. “The people can’t even stand on their feet.” “Rabbi, I used to pray in your shtibel. Do you remember the tune?” In the darkness of the barracks, among tens of hungry, beaten, exhausted Jews, a melody was heard, the soothing, comforting melody of Yom Kippur, as Ben-Zion chanted a prayer… And may the entire congregation of the children of Israel, as well as the proselyte who dwells among them, be forgiven, for all the people acted unwittingly. “Rabbi, the heart wants to hear a prayer, we must say Kol Nidrei…”


As Ben-Zion was talking to the rabbi, about twenty men gathered around them. How could he refuse? He took out his prayer shawl, which he kept hidden underneath the straw on his bunk bed, and was about to begin to chant the Kol Nidrei. No one knew how, but the news spread fast: In Barrack Number 12 they were chanting the Kol Nidrei. In the dark shadows of the Janowska barracks one could see dark shapes against the barrack walls as they made their way to Barracks Number 12. They recited with the rabbi whatever they could recall from memory. When they reached the prayer, Hear our voice, O L-rd our G-d; have pity and compassion… their voices were drowned in tears. In the morning, the rabbi and a small group of young Chassidim were summoned to Schneeweiss’s cottage. “I heard that you prayed last night. I don’t believe in prayers,” Schneeweiss told them. “On principle, I even oppose them. But I admire your courage. For you all know well that the penalty for prayer in Janowska is death.” With that, he motioned them to follow him. He took them to the S.S. Quarters in the camp, to a large wooden house. “You fellows will shine the floor without any polish or wax. And you, rabbi, will clean the windows with dry rags, so that you will not transgress any of the thirty-nine major categories of work.” He left the room abruptly without saying another word. The rabbi was standing on a ladder with rags in his hand, cleaning the huge windows while chanting prayers, and his companions were on the floor polishing the wood and praying with him.


“The floor was wet with our tears. You can imagine the prayers of that Yom Kippur,” said the rabbi to the Chassidim who were listening to his tale while he was wiping away a tear. At about twelve o’clock noon, the door opened wide and into the room stormed two angels of death, S.S. men in their black uniforms, may their names be obliterated. They were followed by a food cart filled to capacity.


“Noontime, time to eat bread, soup, and meat,” announced one of the two S.S. Men. The room was filled with an aroma of freshly cooked food, such food as they had not seen since the German occupation: white bread, steaming hot vegetable soup, and huge portions of meat. The tall S.S. man commanded in a high-pitched voice, “You must eat immediately, otherwise you will be shot on the spot!” None of them moved. The rabbi remained on the ladder, the Chassidim on the floor. The German repeated the orders. The rabbi and the Chassidim remained glued to their places. The S.S. men called in Schneeweiss. “Schneeweiss, if the dirty dogs refuse to eat, I will kill you along with them.”


Schneeweiss pulled himself to attention, looked the German directly in the eyes, and said in a very quiet tone, “We Jews do not eat today. Today is Yom Kippur, our most holy day, the Day of Atonement.” “You don’t understand, Jewish dog,” roared the taller of the two. “I command you in the name of the Fuhrer and the Third Reich, fress!” Schneeweiss, composed, his head high, repeated the same answer. “We Jews obey the law of our tradition. Today is Yom Kippur, a day of fasting.” The German took out his revolver from its holster and pointed it at Schneeweiss’s temple. Schneeweiss remained calm. He stood still, at attention, his head high. A shot pierced the room. Schneeweiss fell. On the freshly polished floor, a puddle of blood was growing bigger and bigger. The rabbi and the Chassidim stood as if frozen in their places. They could not believe what their eyes had just witnessed. Schneeweiss, the man who in the past had publicly transgressed against the Jewish tradition, had sanctified G-d’s name publicly and died a martyr’s death for the sake of Jewish honor. “Only then, on that Yom Kippur day in Janowska,” said the rabbi to his Chassidim, “did I understand the meaning of the statement in the Talmud: Even the transgressors in Israel are as full of good deeds as a pomegranate is filled with seeds.”



What happened here? How did this renegade Jew suddenly become a Tzadik?


It has already been pointed out that the holiest day of the year, itzumo shel yom, touches and awakes the core essence – the pintele Yid – of every Jew, even it is completely dormant. The Mekubalim and Tzadikim call it "yechida" of the soul – the root center of a Jewish neshama, which is revealed on the one day a year, achas b’shana, when the oneness (achas) of the Divine and of the yechida shines forth. Schneeweiss connected to his yechida. 


Beloved friends!!! May we all merit to have a Gmar Chasima Tova and be written in the book of life, health, prosperity and ONLY good things!!!


Bi-ahava,


Me

Meet A Tzadik

From an email:

SHALOM SWEEETEST FRIENDS!!!!


Back in the previous century lived a man/angel named Rav Yitzchak Hakohen Hoberman. He was born in Europe and then moved to Israel and established his residence [in very sparse conditions] in Raanana [before it became the only American State surrounded on all four borders by Israel]. He became known the "Hatzadik Mi-Raanana" and was renowned as a great Talmid Chochom, Kabbalist and miracle worker.


He promised that he will intercede to Hashem on behalf of those who learn his sefarim ["בן לאושרי"] and make sure that they are blessed.
I thought that it was a good deal [I could use some yeshuos, as I am sure you can as well], so I try to learn his sefarim. [A "shout out" to Rav Aharon Bina Shlita who introduced me to him when he showed me his set of בן אושרי and told me that the Tzadik said that even having the sefarim in your home is a segulah for good things].


My "LUCK", I found this shiur on line about aseres yemei teshuva and shabbos shuva, so I thought I would send the link and all who want to listen can do so.


https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/971785/rabbi-ally-ehrman/the-tzadik-from-raanana-on-aseres-yemei-teshuva-and-shabbos-shuva/


Have a SWEET SHABBOS and may all of your wishes be fulfilled for the best!!!

Bi-ahava
Me

We need your tefillos!!!

 Back at home - over 8,000 new cases. Over 700 in critical condition. 

PRAYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Avoda Zara At RBG'S Funeral

They are showing Ruth Bader Ginsburg's funeral. People are walking by her casket in a room filled with statues and crossing themselves רח"ל. 

She never accepted Yoshke as her savior [BARUCH HASHEM - that far she didn't stray] so these idolators should keep their crossing to themselves. She was a Jew, the daughter of Jews, whose parents were Jews, children of devout Jews who would DIE before crossing themselves. On receiving an award from the Genesis Prize Foundation in 2018, she said: “I am a judge, raised and proud of being a Jew. The demand for justice, for peace and for enlightenment runs through the entirety of Jewish history and Jewish tradition.”

Rav Yehoshua Mordechai ben Musia Miriam

 

הרב יהושע מרדכי שמידט ראש ישיבת ההסדר נחלת יוסף ורב הישוב שבי שומרון חלה בקורונה בסוף שבוע שעבר.

הרב סבל מחום גבוה מספר ימים ולאחר מכן החום ירד יחסית אבל נותרו שיעולים וקושי נשמתי. אתמול בערב (ה') למרות חולשתו הרבה הרב ניסה להעביר שיעור בטלפון רב-קווי לתלמידים ואחרי כמה דקות הפסיק באפיסת כוחות וירדה לו הסיטורציה.

הוא פונה לבית חולים, שם אובחן כסובל מדלקת ריאות לצד הקורונה והוא מוגדר במצב בינוני. הרב התחיל לקבל טיפול תרופתי ואנטיביוטיקה במחלקה.

משפחתו מבקשת להתפלל לרפואתו: הרב יהושע מרדכי בן מוסיה מרים.

 

Being A Blessing

From an email:

SHALLOOOM SWEEETEST FRIENDS!!!!

During these high holy days, we read from the Torah about Akeidas Yitzchak and mention it consistently during our selichos. 

We see how one event can impact and be a source of merit for all of world history! And as Rav Hutner ztz"l pointed out - it NEVER HAPPENED. Yitzchak wasn't sacrificed. He just went up on the altar, was tied up - and then came down, in ONE PIECE. We see the power of GOOD WILL even when things don't practically go as planned. Avraham had a ratzon, a desire, to sacrifice his son to Hashem and that suffices to constitute a merit for all the generations. So do what you must do but never expect results. Leave that up to Him. 

For his behavior and good will Avraham is blessed: 

כִּֽי־בָרֵ֣ךְ אֲבָֽרֶכְךָ֗ וְהַרְבָּ֨ה אַרְבֶּ֤ה אֶת־זַרְעֲךָ֙ כְּכֽוֹכְבֵ֣י הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וְכַח֕וֹל אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־שְׂפַ֣ת הַיָּ֑ם וְיִרַ֣שׁ זַרְעֲךָ֔ אֵ֖ת שַׁ֥עַר אֹֽיְבָֽיו: 

וְהִתְבָּֽרֲכ֣וּ בְזַרְעֲךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ בְּקֹלִֽי: 

Because I will bless you and increase your seed like the stars of heaven 

and like sand on the beach and your seed will inherit the gates of their enemies. 

And through your children shall be blessed the nations of the world because you heeded my voice.

The two psukim seem to contradict each other. First, we are blessed that we will defeat all the bad guys. Then we are told that they will be blessed because of us. First - a strong nationalistic "make the Jewish people great again" "stop losing to China", "we are winners not losers" approach . Then we hear a globalistic "open borders" approach. Everyone will be blessed through us. All of the members of the UN will benefit from us and receive bracha through us [even after they condemned us so many times]. 

So which one is it? Strong parochial Jewish nationalism or universalistic, globalistic, we are all one, Goyish Lives Matter?? The first pasuk says the former, the second - the latter??

HUUUUGE PROBLEM!!!

Explained the Rav ztz"l in his siddur: There are two periods. First - we need to defeat our enemies. That is our blessing. We need protection. Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Hamas has in their charter that we should be wiped off the face of the earth. We are in GREAT DANGER. So we will be blessed with a salvation from our enemies. 

Then comes the next stage. No more enemies. All the nations will understand that we bring them bracha!! They will be our friends. At that time we will be the source of bracha for them.

When we do our teshuva and fix all of our many flaws, we must never lose sight of the big picture. The ultimate goal is for us to bring blessing to all of mankind. That is one insight to explain why we mention the Akeida so often during our selichos and when we read the Torah on Rosh Hashana. 

Make we fulfill our mandate and both defeat those who want to harm us and ultimately being bracha to the whole world!!!!

Bi-ahava

Me

Fasting This Year

 Here. 

32,817

 That is the number of people in Brazil who have reported to have been infected w/ the virus in the last day.

So IF you were planning to spend Yom Kippur in Brazil - DON'T!

A Tzadik?

The Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. 

It is not my place to judge her. She is a soul now that is being judged by Hashem so I can leave the judging to Him. 

But on social media there were people who were calling her a "Tzadik".

Was she a "Tzadik"?

No woman in the history of the world has EVER been a "Tzadik". "Tzadekes", yes, but not Tzadik. OK, some people are grammatically challenged. I am not "Mr. Grammar" myself.

Was she a "Tzadekes"? Traditionally, people are considered "Tzadikim" when they followed the rules. She followed the rules but not the rules delineated by Jewish tradition. She herself would have admitted that. She didn't claim to keep any mitzvos. So how does she become a "Tzadik" when she didn't keep the laws??

She performed marriages between man and man. That is not such a Jewishly pious act. She was an outspoken proponent of abortion based on one criterion - a woman wants one. Hmmmm, doesn't sound so holy to me. 

So say "she was a trailblazer". "She was brilliant". "She was brave". Say a lot of nice things. But please allow the religious term of Tzadik to maintain its traditional meaning. I see that even religious Jew are jumping on the bandwagon. This is dangerous. It corrupts Torah and truth. 

We believe that ultimately she will have a tikkun. She will also be rewarded for her good deeds. But let us not engage in excessive sentimentality and call a devoutly secular woman a "Tzadik".

Or even "Tzadekes". 

     

An Amazing Dream!!

 

רבי מנדל שיינין זצ"ל, היה מגדולי השקדנים בישיבה ומטובי תלמידיו של "הסבא מסלבודקה", הגאון הצדיק רבי נתן צבי פינקל זצוק"ל. לימים כיהן הרב שיינין כרב ביהמ"ד "חניכי הישיבות" בבני ברק עד לפטירתו בשנת תשל"ו.

היה זה בעת לימודיו בישיבה שבעיר חברון. יום אחד ישב התלמיד ר' מנדל בסמיכות ל"סבא", בעת שזה בירך ברכה אחרונה, "ברכת מעין שלוש". ה"סבא" ישב ובירך במתינות כמונה מעות את מילות הברכה, והבחור מנדל עשה אוזנו כאפרכסת ועקב אחר הברכה הנאמרת בכוונה עמוקה.

כל מילה שיצאה מפי הסבא היתה ספוגה ומלאה ביראת שמים, ותודה עמוקה ממעמקי הלב לבורא שנתן לנו מיפי פרות הארץ לשבוע ממנה. בעוד הסבא אומר את המילים המוכרות כל כך "ועל תנובת השדה ועל ארץ חמדה טובה ורחבה…" שמע התלמיד שהוא מוסיף נוסח לא מוכר: "ועל ברית ותורה שנתת לנו".

התלמיד הביט ברבו הגדול בפליאה. זו אינה הפעם הראשונה שהוא שומע את הסבא מברך את ברכת "על המחיה", פעמים רבות שמע אותו, עוד בישיבה בסלבודקה שבליטא מברך את הברכה. למיטב זכרונו תמיד אמר את הנוסח המקובל.

אמון על הכלל של 'לא הביישן למד' ו'תורה היא וללמוד אני צריך', החליט לגשת ולשאול, הרי חייב להיות הסבר לכך. מי שהכיר את הסבא ידע שהליכותיו מדוקדקות בתכלית הדיוק, אומר ועושה. ניגש אל ה"אלטער" והתבונן בו.

ה"אלטער" הביט בו מבעד למשקפיו העגולות ושאל: "וואס ווילט איהר? אתם רוצים משהו?"

"כן", עונה מנדל, "שמעתי את הברכה שהרב בירך בתוספת המילים 'ועל ברית ותורה', ורציתי להבין מדוע הוסיף ראש הישיבה מילים אלו בנוסח הברכה, מה המקור לכך?"

"ראיתי את הגירסה הזו במחזור ויטרי", השיב לו הסבא בחביבות, "און איהר קענט זיך אויך פיהרן אזוי" (וגם אתה יכול לנהוג כך).

תלמיד השומע מילים כאלו מפי רבו – אינו יכול לשנות מהם זיז כלשהו. זאת הוראה מפורשת מפי הסבא! מאותו יום ואילך קיבל על עצמו להוסיף "ברית ותורה" בנוסח ברכה אחרונה. כל חייו נהג ר' מנדל בהנהגה זו, ולא עוד אלא אף לימד את בניו, כולם גאונים מובהקים בתורה, על גרסה זו, בהוראה ברורה שיצאה מפי רבו, הסבא הצדיק מסלבודקה.

במרוצת השנים עבר ר' מנדל להתגורר בבני ברק, שם פתח את בית המדרש 'חניכי הישיבות'.

לאחר פטירתו של ר' מנדל בשנת תשל"ו, החל בנו הגאון רבי נחום שיינין שליט"א, אב"ד תל אביב, ללמוד משניות לע"נ אביו בכל ליל שבת בביהמ"ד 'חניכי הישיבות' בו כיהן אביו.

שבת אחת הגיעו למשנה במסכת ברכות (ג, ג), בנידון חיוב נשים בברכת המזון, האם חיובן הוא מדאוריתא או מדרבנן, והעמיקו בדברי רבי עקיבא איגר המדבר על העניין "שאינן לא בברית ולא בתורה". כיון שהזכיר את המילים "ברית ותורה", סיפר ללומדי בית המדרש, אגב אורחא, על מנהג אביו להזכיר "ברית ותורה" בברכה אחרונה של ברכת 'מעין שלוש', כפי ששמע מן הסבא מסלבודקה, שנהג כך על פי מחזור ויטרי.

הוא סיפר את המעשה ששמע מאביו לפי תומו, ולא תיאר לעצמו אלו ניצים יתעופפו בעקבות סיפור זה.

***

במוצאי שבת לאחר תפילת ערבית ניגשו אל ר' נחום כמה מחשובי המתפללים, תלמידי חכמים מופלגים מצד עצמם, ומחזור ויטרי בידם. "ילמדנו רבינו" פתח אחד מהם, "היכן מובאת במחזור ויטרי גירסה זו?" חיפשנו רבות בהלכות סעודה וברכות הנהנין, ולא מצאנו את הגירסה של ברכה אחרונה עם המילים "ברית ותורה".

ר' נחום נבוך: "שמעתי זאת מאבי לא פעם אחת, אבל אודה על האמת שלא בדקתי במחזור ויטרי מבפנים, אתם מכירים את הכלל "אין בודקין מן המזבח ולמעלה"… אם הסבא מסלבודקה אמר לאבי שראה את הגירסה הזו במחזור ויטרי, אין לי ספק שכך היה. הסבא לא אמר דברים מליבו. גירסה זו מלווה אותי מאז ינקותי ומעולם לא פקפקתי בדבר. אלא מאי, נעלם הדבר? עלינו לברר מקחו של צדיק, ולהצדיק את גרסתו של הסבא מסלבודקה".

עמדו הוא והלומדים בבית מדרשו ועיינו עמו שוב במחזור ויטרי, בכמה מקומות הקשורים לעניין, אך לא מצאו בשום מקום היכן מוזכרת גירסה זו.

ר' נחום שב לביתו כשהוא תוהה ומשתומם. איך באמת קורה דבר כזה? הרי הסבא מסלבודקה אמר שראה גירסה זו במחזור ויטרי. אם הוא זצ"ל אמר כך, אין ספק שהדבר כתוב שם. אם כך, מדוע היא נעלמת מעינינו ואין מוצאים אותה?

כמה ימים התהלך ר' נחום וראשו בל עמו, על שאינו יודע להסביר את פשר המעשה המלווה אותו מאז ילדותו. הוא חיפש שוב ושוב במחזור ויטרי, אך חיפושיו היו לשווא. הוא לא מצא כלום. לאחר שעבר על הספר בכל מקום רלוונטי ולא מצא דבר, נואש ממציאת הגירסה. עוגמת נפש מילאה את ליבו מהעניין, וחלישות הדעת על כבוד הסבא מסלבודקה, שנראה כאילו טעה, חלילה, בדבר משנה.

***

באחד מלילות אותו שבוע, רואה ר' נחום בחלום את אביו המנוח, הגאון הצדיק ר' מנדל, בבהירות רבה, כפי שהיה נראה בחיי חיותו. ר' נחום התרגש ונפעם בחלום. זה זמן רב לא ראה את אביו בחלום, ואף אם ראה היה זה חלום מעורפל ומטושטש. כעת חש את אביו כאילו הוא חי ועומד לידו.

ניגש אל אביו והחל משוחח עמו כאילו חזר אביו לחיים.

לא עוברים אלא שניים ושלושה משפטים ור' נחום נזכר בדבר המטרידו. הוא פנה לאביו ושאל אותו בנושא המעיק כל כך על ליבו, גירסת "ברכת מעין שלוש" שנמצאת, או לא נמצאת במחזור ויטרי.

"סיפרתי בשמך, אבא, על מנהגו של הסבא מסלבודקה להזכיר 'ברית ותורה' בברכה אחרונה, כפי שאמר לך שראה במחזור ויטרי, והנה כמה תלמידי חכמים באו והעירו שאין במחזור בנוסח הברכה, שמץ שינוי מהגירסה המקובלת בידינו", התאונן הבן בחלום לפני אביו.

ר' מנדל הצביע על דמות שעמדה קרוב אליו.

"רואה אתה יהודי נכבד זה?"

"אכן" אמר ר' נחום למראה אדם בעל הדרת פנים מכובדת.

"אם כך, שאל אותו, הוא יודע".

ובמילים אלו נעלם.

ר' נחום מתעורר משנתו כשהוא חדור בתחושה עמוקה שהיה זה חלום אמת. החלום היה כה חי עד שחש באמיתתו.

הכלל של "דברי חלומות לא מעלין ולא מורידין" ו"אין חלום בלא דברים בטלים", היה ידוע לו משכבר הימים, אך כעת חש שהחלום הינו אמת ואינו פרי דמיונו, או שראה דברים מהרהורי ליבו. הוא זכר את כל המדובר לפרטי פרטים, כאילו התרחשו הדברים במציאות.

והעיקר, הוא הכיר היטב את הרב נשוא הפנים שעמד ליד אביו, וזיהה אותו בוודאות, דמות חשובה מאד בבני ברק, הידועה בכל רחבי העולם החסידי, הלא הוא הגאון החסיד רבי אליעזר דוד פרידמן שליט"א שהתגורר לא הרחק מביתו…

ר' נחום הכיר את הגרא"ד פרידמן היטב, הוא החליט להכות על הברזל בעודו חם, יצר עמו קשר עוד באותו יום וקבע עימו פגישה. בהגיעו אליו, סיפר להגה"ח רבי אליעזר דוד את המעשה, כשהוא מתאר את הנהגת אביו כפי ששמע מהסבא מסלבודקה, המשיך וסיפר על שיעורו בליל שבת, שאלת האברכים, והחלום שחלם אמש.

הגרא"ד התפעל מאד מהחלום. "אין ספק, זהו חלום אמת! דבר פלא אומר לך, גם אני לא ידעתי עד לפני זמן קצר על נוסח זה המופיע במחזור ויטרי, ואם היית בא לשאול אותי עד לא מכבר, לא הייתי יודע מה לענות לך, אלא שממש בתקופה האחרונה עיינתי בספר "ליקוטי מהרי"ח" של הגה"צ רבי ישראל חיים פרידמן זצ"ל אב"ד ראחוב, ובהלכות 'ברכות הנהנין' הוא מביא גירסה זו בשם מחזור ויטרי (חלק ב' סימן נ"ט) בהלכות ליל הסדר.

ר' נחום נפעם. הלכות ליל הסדר? דבר כזה כלל לא עלה בדעתו. הוא מיהר לעיין במחזור ויטרי, ואכן מצא כי בהלכות ליל הסדר מובא נוסח ברכת 'מעין שלוש' על ארבע כוסות ששותים בליל הסדר, וכותב כך:

… לאכול מפריה ולשבוע מטובה ולהודות לך עליה ועל ברית ותורה שנתת לנו. רחם ה' אלוקינו על ישראל עמך וכו'.

ולבסוף כותב שם: "ברית ותורה צריך להזכיר בה בברכת הארץ" (ואגב, גם בספר "בירור הלכה" להג"ר ר' יחיאל אברהם זילבר זצ"ל בן הגאון ר' בנימין זילבר זצ"ל, מובא כי כך נהג הסבא מסלבודקה כפי שהעיד תלמידו רבי מנדל שיינין זצ"ל).