Bi-koach And Bi-foel/ Shira/ Nefesh And Ruach/ Seichel

 HERE!!

Rejected as a Talmid, Welcomed as a Gadol

The Scene

Imagine the mahogany-lined office of a prestigious Dati Leumi Rosh Yeshiva. Across from him sits Binyamin Netanyahu, seeking enrollment. The interviewer looks over his glasses and begins the intake.

"Mr. Netanyahu, let’s talk basics. Do you observe the sanctity of the Shabbat?"

Netanyahu shrugs. "I have a state to run. The beach, the cigars, the phones—they don't stop for the sun setting."

"I see. And prayer? Do you stand before the Creator three times a day?"

"I stand before the cameras daily," he replies. "The Siddur? I haven’t opened one for anything other than a photo-op in decades."

"Dietary laws? Kashrut?"

"I’ve been known to enjoy a non-certified seafood platter in London and Paris. It’s a matter of taste, not Torah."

"And your home life? Does your wife observe the laws of Taharat HaMishpacha (Family Purity)?"

"She went to the Mikva once, before the wedding. We checked that box already."

The Rosh Yeshiva closes the folder with a sharp thud. "I’m sorry, Mr. Netanyahu. This is a house of Torah. We hold our students to the standards of the Shulchan Aruch. You are a public violator of the Covenant. Perhaps try a Baal Teshuva program where they have the patience for beginners—but here, you don't fit the uniform."

The Aftermath

Fast forward to Yom Ha’atzmaut. The same Yeshiva is draped in blue and white. The same Rosh Yeshiva stands at the entrance, bowing. As Netanyahu enters, the student body—the very boys who would be expelled for a fraction of his transgressions—burst into a deafening roar of "Yamim Al Yemei Melech Tosif."

They sing to him as if he were the Gadol Ha-Dor. They accord him Kavod Melachim while he continues to trample the very laws they spend all day and much of the night studying. The cognitive dissonance is deafening. How can a man deemed unfit to sit on a Yeshiva bench be treated as the sovereign of the Torah world? The laws of Tochacha (rebuke) vanish, replaced by a desperate need for political proximity. It is a jarring spectacle: a community that prides itself on the meticulous observance of Halakha bowing low to a man who lives his life in open defiance of it.

Massie Blames Defeat On Jews Of Rural Kentucky

LOUISVILLE, KY — Anti-Israel and anti-Zionist commentators from the far left, the far right and Middle Eastern groups lamented Republican Thomas Massie’s loss in a primary election this week.

Massie is one of the Republican Party’s only anti-Israel representatives.

“Thomas Massie’s primary defeat is the saddest political development in a long time,” far-right commentator Tucker Carlson says, accusing a “globalist lobby” of orchestrating Massie’s loss.

“Globalist” is sometimes a dog whistle for Jews and anti-Israel commentators fixate on the pro-Israel lobby in the US.

“Thomas Massie was the standalone, lone voice, and lone vote against funding Israel” in the party, says the far-left Hasan Piker.

“I don’t agree with Thomas Massie on 98% of issues,” he says, “and yet on this one issue he showed integrity and he was punished for it.”

The Palestinian Youth Movement says Massie “consistently opposed aid packages to Israel.”

“Consequently, the Zionist lobby spent record amounts of money to unseat Massie,” the group says. “Tuesday night’s results show us just how dangerous the Zionist lobby remains on the US political scene.”

The far left, the far right and Middle Eastern groups represent the three pillars of the anti-Zionist movement in the US.

The three movements agree on little besides their shared antipathy to Israel.

Massie has accused the Jewish population of rural Kentucky of being the cause of his primary defeat.

After taking the stage to concede the race to Ed Gallrein, an angry Massie squarely laid the blame for his loss on the "dirty Zionists" of the tiny country towns that dot the Ohio River valley.

"I couldn't reach Gallrein to concede. He was probably lost with his supporters in yet another small-town Kentucky synagogue," declared Massie. "Yes, the deck was stacked against me by the Hebrew population of rural Kentucky. We ran a great campaign, I'm really proud of our team. We just couldn't overcome the Hasidic powers that control the farm towns of Appalachia."

Watching as the votes were tallied, Massie's campaign manager Randy Barnes stated that the Congressman had performed well in a few areas, but could not overcome the losses in heavily-Jewish areas of backwoods Kentucky. "Those nudniks really put the kabash on us," sighed Barnes. "Despite Israeli influence over the little villages of Kentucky, we showed a lot of chutzpah out there on the campaign trail. Mazel tov to Ed on his victory."

 

The Art of Gathering: Is Your Shul Truly a Knesses?

It is a painful irony of our time: when a new face enters a Beis Shmad i.e. a missionary "Messianic" congregation, they are immediately enveloped in warmth, often greeted by a designated "welcome committee" whose sole job is to make them feel at home. Why? Because they want to shmad every person they can and a warm welcome will help him feel at home. 

Yet, so often, when a new face appears in our own shuls, they are met with silence, or worse—ignored. We have all seen it and experienced it.

We must remember that a shul is called a Beis Knesses, not merely a Beis Tefilla. While it is a house of prayer, its essence is the Knesses—the gathering. It is the place where the Jewish people come together to form a community. If we do not connect with the Jew standing right next to us, have we truly gathered?

When we daven, our nusach is phrased in the plural. We don’t just daven for ourselves; we daven for the welfare of all Klal Yisroel. That stranger in the back row is the very person we are mentioning in our Shemoneh Esrei. It is a spiritual contradiction to plead for a fellow Jew’s well-being in our prayers and then ignore his presence. It would be a beautiful קידוש השם if our "gathering" lived up to its name.

Shul Hack: Explain To Everyone Stacking Chairs That You'd Love To Help, But Your Specific Chelek In This World Is Chizuk

Getting a little tired of the Gabbai giving some mussar about the middah of Zrizus and Nesiah B'ol and then staring pointedly at you to help fold the tables after the Kiddush? Consider telling everyone you have a "Neshama of Chizuk."

This simple Shul hack can get you out of stacking another chair for the rest of your life. Think of it like being a Mashpiah, except you can do it while wearing your hat and jacket and staying perfectly cool. Heck, you don’t even have to stay for the cleanup; you can just send a WhatsApp to the Shul group on Motzaei Shabbos: "Incredible job with the herring cleanup, Tzaddikim. I know the Schar for such Mesiras Nefesh is huge. Yasher Koach!"

It all goes back to the Mishkan. Did Aharon HaKohen stack chairs? No. He was a "Rodeph Shalom." He brought people together. That’s a fact. And the Torah never once mentions him folding a single metal chair or dragging a heavy rack into the storage closet. Yes, he did a lot of other stuff in the Kodesh HaKodashim, but he never once dealt with those annoying plastic chairs that pinch your fingers. That wasn't his avodah.

So, the next time the Gabbai tries to tell you that "we all need to pitch in for the community," just tell him he shouldn't impose his Chumras on your specific spiritual path. In fact, you can give him a warm smile and a "keep up the holy work" as he struggles with a stack of twelve. That’s your Chelek, after all. It’s an act of Chesed to ensure the workers feel appreciated.

It’s not like Yanky is so much more frum just because he’s sweating through his white shirt stacking chairs. He might get a "Thank You" in the announcements, but we are ultimately judged by our Kavana and not by how many chairs we fit on the dolly. Just keep on dishing out the Chizuk and the "Good Shabbos" wishes from the doorway. Your recognition will be in Olam HaBa.