PLEASE DAVEN

My father is in the hospital and has been suffering for weeks with a terrible infection that isn't going away.

R' Yitzchak Yonah ben Chana.

Bi-soch shear cholei yisrael. 

Thanks!

Wonders Of The Daf

Here. 

The Limits Of Wealth

In a minute, Vanessa Bryant became one of the richest single black women on the planet. She has tens of millions of dollars ALL TO HERSELF. WOW-EEE!! And she is not even 40 years old. She probably has decades to enjoy her limitless [and ever increasing] wealth.

I also cannot imagine a less happy human being on the face of the same planet than Vanessa Bryant. She would GLADLY give away every last penny if she could have her husband and daughter back in exchange.  

Most of us spend most of our time and energy trying to preserve and increase our wealth. It is called "work". We always have to keep in mind that the most valuable things in life cannot be bought by money. So invest not only in real estate and the stock market but in family, friends and your faith. 

I love the idea in Halacha of having to die in order to avoid certain aveiros in certain instances. Even if we are never placed in such a situation, it brings home to point that our values and beliefs are worth more than our very lives. The Halacha also states that in order to avoid doing an aveira from the Torah, one must give up all of his money, if necessary. 

So kiss your family members more, tell them often how much they mean to you, thank Hashem for all of the gifts you have [like MEANING AND PURPOSE, a brain, a pancreas, kidneys - and every one of the trillions of complexly designed cells in your body] and DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF!!!!

Yichud

New series on dinei yichud.

First shiur - What are the sources of Yichud?

Second shiur - אביזרייהו דגילוי עריות?

Yachid

In our instagram-twitter-facebook generation, it is hard to find great, famous people who are truly private. Rav Moshe Shapiro said this in a hesped about a different Gadol but it was true no less about himself. 

הוא היה אדם של 'רשות היחיד בדרכו'. עד כמה שאפשר היה לראות בכל מהלך החיים לא נתן מקום לרבים. יש מאן דאמר אחד בגמרא שרבים מבטלים רשות היחיד. זה לא היה אצלו. זה דבר לא שכיח לחיות ברשות היחיד וזה שלו. הוא במהלך שלו. שום 'רבים' לא ביטלו את המחיצות שלו יהיו רבים וגדולים כמה שיהיו זה לא נגע לו. הוא היה רשות היחיד. לא היה שייך שהוא ישנה משהו בגלל שזה לא מוצא חן בעיני כמה אנשים. הוא הלך ברשות היחיד מעלה ששייכת לאלו שבעצם מציאותם הם יחידים. מי שנמצא ברשות יחיד אמיתית 'רשות היחיד עולה עד לרקיע' כל אחד הוא עולם מלא אבל 'יחיד' זה דבר שעובר מהעולם.

Pilei Plaos!

The Obligation To Loan With A Shtar

Here.

NIFLA!!

Shining The Light Of Ahavas Yisrael

Tolna Rebbe Shlita

The Midrash Tadshei (by Rav Pinchas ben Yair) comments that the ten plagues which HKB”H brought upon Egypt correspond to the ten pronouncements with which HKB”H created the world, and to the Ten Commandments. It thus emerges that the ninth plague, the plague of חושך - darkness, is associated with the ninth pronouncement of creation, which preceded the creation of Adam: נעשה אלקים ויאמר כדמותנו בצלמנו אדם G-d said: Let us make a man in our image and in our form” – Bereishis 1:26). 

This plague also corresponds to the ninth of the Ten Commandments – the prohibition against giving false testimony (13:20 Shemos – לא תענה ברעך עד שקר). It behooves us, then, to identify the point of connection between these three topics – the plague of darkness, the creation of man, and the prohibition of false testimony. 

In describing the plague of חושך ,the Torah relates: לא ראו איש את אחיו ולא קמו איש מתחתיו שלושת ימים, ולכל בני ישראל היה אור במושבותם. Nobody saw his fellow, and nobody rose from his place, for three days, whereas there was light for the Israelites in their residences (10:23). The darker it became for the Egyptians, the brighter the light that shone for Benei Yisrael. As the Zohar (vol. 2, 36a) comments, "נגוף למצרים ורפוא בישראל" – "He delivered a plague upon Egypt and cured the Children of Israel.” And so by understanding more fully the plague of darkness, we can understand more fully the light which shone at that time for Bnai Yisrael. 

The Toldos Yaakov Yosef (Parshas Yisro) writes: 

מצד מסך חושך ואפילה לא ראו והשגיחו איש את אחיו, היפך מה שצריך לראות את אחיו מצד ערבות ולהוכיחו, ולכך לא קמו איש מתחתיו לעלות ממדרגה למדרגה. 

Because of the covering of thick darkness, nobody saw and looked after his fellow, the opposite of how one should be looking out for his brother out of a sense of responsibility and reprimand him. Therefore, “nobody rose from his place” to rise from one level to the next. 

The defining quality of the impurity of Egypt was the failure to see one another, to pay heed to one’s fellow’s distress. By contrast, the quality of Am Yisrael is to see and be concerned about one’s fellow, to rejoice in his good fortune and to feel the pain of his distress. The more we see and look after other people, the more we will be able to grow, and to experience great light. 

The Arizal writes (Etz Chaim – Sha’ar Ha’kelalim, chapter 1) that HKB”H created the world –  "in order to bestow goodness upon His creatures.” Similarly, the Maor Va’shemesh writes:  The intention of creation was only to bestow goodness, meaning, that [a person] would not sin and not be punished, so that all goodness will come upon him. 

Thus, the ninth pronouncement of creation, נעשה אדם ,is rooted in the notion of bestowing goodness upon others, as HKB”H created man and brought the entire world into existence solely for the purpose of bestowing goodness upon people. 

The Rambam writes in Hilchos Eidus (17:1): 

מי שהעידו לו אנשים רבים וגדולים בחכמה וביראה שהם אומרים שראו פלוני שעבר עבירה פלונית או שלוה מפלוני, אע"פ שהוא מאמין הדבר בלבו כאילו ראהו, לא יעיד עד שיראה הדבר בעיניו או יודה לו הלוה מפיו...וכל המעיד מפי אחרים, הרי זה עד שקר ועובר בלא תעשה, שנאמר: לא תענה ברעך עד שקר. 

A person to whom many people of wisdom and fear [of G-d] testified, saying that they saw so-and-so violate such-and-such transgression, or borrow from so-and-so – even though he believes it in his heart as though he saw it himself, he may not testify unless he saw the matter with his eyes, or the borrower verbally confessed to him… And whoever testifies based on the words of others is a false witness and violates a prohibition, as it says, לא תענה ברעך עד שקר. 

Even if a person knows with complete confidence that what he says is true, and his intent is purely to relay the absolute truth, nevertheless, it is prohibited for him to testify against his fellow. The Torah strictly forbids testifying against another person unless he saw the matter with his own eyes, or if the borrower himself confessed to him, in which case he must testify in order to help the victim retrieve what he rightfully deserves. Otherwise, the Torah strictly forbids testifying against a fellow a Jew based on secondhand information, regardless of how reliable his source of information is. 

It emerges, then, that all three “ninths” – the ninth plague, the ninth pronouncement of creation, and the ninth of the Ten Commandments – revolve around the theme of אהבת ישראל, love and concern for our fellow Jew. During the plague of darkness, Benei Yisrael looked out for one another’s needs; HKB”H created man for the purpose of bestowing goodness upon people; and the prohibition of false testimony reflects the need to avoid causing harm to one’s fellow.  

This is also the essence of the period of שובבים ,which we are now observing.  A שובב - wayward person, is one who fails to see and look out for other people, who follows the wishes of his heart without concern for what will happen to other people because of his actions. The period of שובבי"ם is the time to heighten our awareness of other people and of the need to take them into consideration, and to understand that we cannot simply act as we wish. The more we take other people into consideration and concern ourselves with their wellbeing, the more “light” we will experience. This is our task during the period of שובבי"ם – to increase the light of אהבת ישראל ,through which we will be able to grow in the area of בין אדם למקום - between man and G-d, as well, for one depends on the other.

[Translated by Rabbi David Silverberg]

Pun Alert!!

When the Egyptians saw the baby sheep tied to the Jews' bedposts - It was bedlam.

What Is A Korban Olah???

Here, from our "Chaburah Bi-kodshim" series. [For the SAME PRICE one can also listen to the other shiurim in this series. Soon there will be a Beis Hamikdash and we must be up to date with what it is all about!!!]. 

I KNOW that this is on EVERYBODY'S mind!!

#iwish 

Yiddishkeit In .... Tel Aviv!!!

ידידיה מאיר

בנאום הבכורה שלו כחבר כנסת, בתענית אסתר תשס"ט, דימה אורי אורבך ז"ל את הציונות הדתית ליפהפייה הנרדמת שמחכה למישהו שיעיר אותה. "בניה ובנותיה של התנועה שלנו הם חלק משמעותי בכל תחום מחיינו, אבל מסתובבים בתחושה קבועה של נמיכות רוח, בהרגשה שאנחנו לא זוכים להכרה לפי ערכנו", אמר. השבוע נזכרתי באורבך ובאותו נאום. מעניין איך הוא היה מגדיר היום את מפלגת הציונות הדתית. היפהפייה המטורללת? לכלוכית? כיפה אדומה?

טוב, עזבו רגע את הציונות הדתית בפוליטיקה. נכון, באמת תקופה קשה ומדכדכת. אבל ממש בימים שבהם התרחשה כל הסאגה המביכה הזאת סביב סגירת הרשימות לכנסת, זכיתי לראות את הציונות הדתית במלוא תפארתה והשפעתה. ויותר מזה: ראיתי את החזון, את הכיוון. ראיתי לאן היא מסוגלת להגיע.

2.

יום שישי בין השמשות, כיכר דיזנגוף, תל אביב. בתי הקפה שמסביב לכיכר ממשיכים בשגרת החולין שלהם, כאילו אין שום משמעות מיוחדת לשעה 16:27. קודם היה יום שישי אחרי הצהריים, וגם עכשיו זה יום שישי אחרי הצהריים (אולי בכל זאת יש הבדל אחד: התחבורה הציבורית עוברת לתעריף חינם). ובתוך כל החולין הזה, כמו סוכני קדושה חשאיים, הם יוצאים מהדירות שלהם במרכז תל אביב וצועדים לרחוב בר כוכבא. אחד ועוד אחד. ועוד אחת. ועוד שתיים. קל לזהות אותם: הם לבושים בבגדים חגיגיים, גם ההליכה שלהם חגיגית, ויש להם אור בעיניים. אני יודע שהמשפט האחרון נשמע הגזמה או קיטש, אבל מה לעשות, אני עיתונאי. מחובתי לדווח מה שראיתי, וראיתי אור בעיניים.

כמה דקות אחר כך, בית הכנסת של 'ראש יהודי' כבר מלא מפה לפה. שלא כמקובל בכל בית כנסת אחר בעולם, רב הקהילה לא יושב כאן במזרח אלא בכניסה. זה עניין פרקטי, הרב אסף טבצ'ניק פשוט רוצה לקבל באופן אישי כל מתפלל חדש שמגיע. והם מגיעים בהמוניהם: סטודנטים חילוניים שהכירו את בית הכנסת בזכות השיעורים שמועברים בו כל השבוע, דתיים לשעבר שעברו לתל אביב ופתאום מתגעגעים לבית כנסת ולקהילה, דתיים לשעתיד, וגם ליאור דיין אחד, שפותח את הסידור עם הילד המתוק שלו ארד ומראה לו, לנכד של אסי דיין, מה אומרים עכשיו. זאת תפילת ליל שבת הכי ארוכה שראיתי בחיי. לא מוותרים כאן על אף שיר. קרליבך-פרימיום. ברוב השירים הם גם רוקדים. אף אחד לא ממהר לשום מקום. להפך, התחושה היא שהם מנסים לדחות את היציאה מבית הכנסת אל העיר שבחוץ. מקדש מלך, עיר ללא הפסקה, קומי צאי מתוך השגרה.

3.

התחנה הבאה אחרי התפילה היא בית משפחת זעירא. ישראל ומוריה זעירא, המייסדים של 'ראש יהודי' בתל אביב, פעילים כאן כבר כעשרים שנה, אבל לפני שנתיים הם עשו צעד דרמטי: ביום בהיר אחד הם ושמונת ילדיהם עזבו את הבית הגדול (שבדיוק סיימו לשפץ) במעלה חבר שבדרום הר חברון ועברו אל מעבר לקו הירוק, אל דירת קרקע בלב תל אביב. חייהם השתנו וגם חייה של תל אביב השתנו קצת.

תוך כדי שירת "שלום עליכם" אני סופר את הכיסאות סביב שולחן השבת של משפחת זעירא ומגיע ל-40. זה פחות או יותר גם מספר סוגי הסלטים. האווירה משפחתית. הכי לא חדר אוכל. ישראל עושה קידוש, לא לפני שהוא אומר את התפילה החסידית "ריבון כל העולמים", ושוב כולם עוצרים ושרים ביחד את "וזכנו לקבל שבתות מתוך רוב שמחה, ומתוך עושר וכבוד, ומתוך מיעוט עוונות". ואז מתחילה אחת מסעודות השבת הארוכות שחוויתי בחיי. דברי תורה, שירים, דרשות ספונטניות של האורחים. יש כאן חבר'ה מכל הארץ שגרים עכשיו בתל אביב. צעירים, צעירות, וגם כמה זוגות שהתחתנו בשנה האחרונה.

רק בסביבות אחת אחרי חצות – ואנחנו מדברים על שבת בחורף, שנכנסת מוקדם – מגיעים לשיר המעלות. ואגב, אנחנו כבר מזמן יותר מ-40 איש. במהלך הסעודה הצטרפו עוד ועוד חבר'ה. "זה השלב שבו אנחנו פותחים את הקומה השנייה", אמר לי זעירא. הוא צחק, אין לדירה הצנועה קומה שנייה. אז מרימים לאט ובזהירות את הספות הכבדות מעל השולחן ומוציאים אותן אל מחוץ לבית, כדי לפנות מקום לעוד לא פחות מ-20 אורחים נוספים.

4.

למחרת בבוקר אנחנו מתארחים אצל משפחת טבצ'ניק. הרב אסף הוא, כאמור, רב הקהילה. אשתו צביה עומדת בראש המדרשה לבנות כאן. גם בבית משפחת טבצ'ניק הדלת לא נסגרת, וגם פה מקיימים את המנהג של הוצאת הספות. כמה חבר'ה יש כאן בדרך כלל בשבת, אני שואל את בעל הבית, והוא אומר שהמספר משתנה: "יש סעודות קטנות, רק עשרים אורחים, ויש גדולות יותר כמו השבת. בכל מקרה עד ארבעים אורחים אנחנו אוכלים עם צלחות רגילות, יותר מזה אנחנו עוברים לכלים חד פעמיים".


אחרי המנה הראשונה, ואחרי סבב ההיכרות, הרב אסף מדבר על הפרשה. הוא מספר על רגע הגילוי של "אני יוסף", אותו משפט קטן אחד שיוסף אמר לאחים שלו – ושינה את הכול. "לכל אחד מאיתנו", הוא אומר, "יש בחיים סוג של רגע כזה. רגע שבו מתבהרת התמונה ואתה רואה לפתע בבירור מה תפקידך בעולם. אני אשמח אם תשתפו אותנו ברגע כזה של התבהרות, של גילוי". וכאן מתחיל סבב ארוך. כל אחד וה"אני יוסף" שלו. מחיילת משוחררת שמספרת שזאת השבת הראשונה בחייה שהיא שומרת באופן מלא ("נשארו לי עוד שעתיים וחצי כדי להצליח. אני מקווה שזה לא יישמע פרימיטיבי. הבוקר נכנסתי לשירותים והאצבע שלי לחצה, מתוך הרגל, על מתג האור, אבל משמיים שמרו עליי: המנורה הייתה שרופה...") ועד לסטודנט לקולנוע בסם שפיגל שמספר איך רק בשנה האחרונה הבין שהוא צריך להכיר את התורה ("התעמקתי לצורך איזה תסריט בדמותו של ניטשה. ההתנגדות שלו לדת ולברית החדשה סקרנה אותי אז התחלתי ללמוד את הברית החדשה כדי לראות למה הוא כל כך התנגד. ואז אמרתי לעצמי: רגע, את הברית הישנה אתה כבר מכיר? אז התחלתי ללמוד לראשונה בחיי את התורה מפרשת בראשית, וכשהגעתי לא מזמן למשפט 'אני יוסף' התחלתי לבכות").

משפחת טבצ'ניק גרה כאן כבר יותר מעשור, אחת משש המשפחות של 'ראש יהודי' שבאו לגור בתל אביב. שנתיים אחרי החתונה והכולל בישיבת בית אל הם עברו לכאן. יש להם שישה ילדים, ארבעה נולדו בתל אביב. "אי אפשר לגור בתל אביב ולא להיות אופטימיים לגבי מצבו של עם ישראל", אומרת לי צביה. רציתי לוודא ששמעתי נכון, אבל בני הזוג שיושבים לידי, שמתברר שהתחתנו לפני שבוע, מתחילים לספר איך הכירו כאן.

סיפור ועוד סיפור, ואני מתחיל לתהות מה הולך פה, ולאן כל הקולות העדינים האלה נעלמים בשאון היומיום, הבחירות, הפוליטיקה, התקשורת. כל אחד מהם מדבר הכי אותנטי ומקסים ומרגש, וגם הכי מצחיק ואינטליגנטי. כל אחד מתאר בשפתו ובדרכו תקופה של שנאה וריחוק וסלידה, ואז סקרנות ועניין וגילוי וקרבה. כל אחד נשמע כמו סרטון תדמית קצר למען 'ראש יהודי' (רק שלא יעשו לנו מצ'ינג עכשיו).

5.

שבת קודש, בין השמשות, כיכר דיזנגוף. אנחנו חולפים על פני הכיכר בדרך מהסעודה הארוכה בבית משפחת טבצ'ניק, שרק עכשיו הסתיימה, אל תפילת מנחה וסעודה שלישית בבית הכנסת של 'ראש יהודי' (מזמן באמת לא אכלנו ושרנו). אני מתבונן על בתי הקפה שממשיכים בשגרה בשעת רעווא דרעווין, מתבונן בטבצ'ניק וזעירא רצים בגשם, עם עשרות סטודנטים שלא רוצים לפספס מנחה, וחושב על כל אינספור הדיונים של הימים האחרונים, תחת הכותרת "הציונות הדתית לאן?".

"כמה אפשר לדבר על אחוז החסימה ולהתווכח על הייצוג הפוליטי של המגזר?", יאמר לי אחר כך זעירא בתסכול. "אנחנו צריכים לשאול את עצמנו מי אנחנו בכלל, מה המשימה, מה זה אומר להיות ציוני דתי, מה השליחות הגדולה שלנו. האם להיות ציוני דתי זה רק להתנגד לאקטיביזם השיפוטי ולתמוך בנתניהו? אנחנו מפחדים להיות 'מיסיונרים', חלילה, וחושבים שזה תפקיד רק לשליחי חב"ד, אבל זו טעות. שכחנו את התורה, שכחנו את הציבור שמחכה לה. מה היה קורה אם עוד משפחות היו עושות את הצעד הזה? נכון, לגור בלב תל אביב זה יקר. לא כל אחד יכול להרשות לעצמו. אבל יש עוד כל כך הרבה ערים, וכל כך הרבה לבבות. אפשר להקים קהילות כאלה בכל הארץ. כל אחד בכל מקום שבו הוא נמצא, יכול לעשות משהו. יש כל כך הרבה צעירים, וגם מבוגרים, שרק מחכים".

האם היפהפייה הנרדמת תתעורר?

It Depends How You Are Raised

Ha-Gaon Rav Yisrael Bunim Schreiber describing his upbringing in the house of his father Ha-Gaon Rav Pinchas:

 בימי טל ילדותינו כאשר עדיין לא הכרנו את העולם מסביב, היה פשוט לנו שכך הם פני החיים, ושכל אדם היושב על התורה כמה שנים הרי הוא בקי בכל צפונותיה וגנוזותיה ללא שיור. זאת ועוד היה פשיטא לנו שכל אדם שלא נשתבשה עליו דעתו אינו עושה בחייו שום דבר אחר מלבד ישיבה על הסטנדר יומם ולילה מאין הפוגות כאשר הורגלנו לראות בבית אבא מימים ימימה. וגם היה ברי לן ששום אב אינו מטייל עם ילדיו ואינו מפטפט עמהם לעולם סתם פטפוט של מה בכך והיה זה אצלינו דבר מופרך לגמרי.

LSD

Lubavitcher Rebbe zy"a: 

I am in receipt of your letter of October 18th, which you write in the name of your friends and in your own behalf, and ask my opinion regarding the new drug called L.S.D., which is said to have the property of mental stimulation, etc. Biochemistry is not my field, and I cannot express an opinion on the drug you mention, especially as it is still new. However what I can say is that the claim that the said drug can stimulate mystical insight, etc., is not the proper way to attain mystical inspiration, even if it had such a property. The Jewish way is to go from strength to strength, not by means of drugs and other artificial stimulants, which have a place only if they are necessary for the physical health, in accordance with the Mitzva to take care of one’s health. I hope that everyone will agree that before any drugs are taken one should first utilize all one’s natural capacities, and when this is done truly and fully, I do not think there will be a need to look for artificial stimulants. I trust that you and your group, in view of your Yeshiva background, have regular appointed times for the study of Torah, and the inner aspects of the Torah, namely the teachings of Chassidus, and that such study is in accordance with the principle of our Sages, namely “The essential thing is the deed,” i.e., the actual conduct of the daily life in accordance with the Torah and Mitzvoth, prayer, Tefillin, Kashruth, etc., etc. This is only a matter of will and determination, for nothing stands in the way of the will. I trust that you are also using your good influence throughout your environment.

Mind Your Own Business - Bud!!!

Years back, actress Brooke Shields had a baby and was suffering from postpartum depression. So she took anti depressant medication to help her deal with the depression. Her old friend and co-star Tom Cruise was publicly critical of her. He was a member of the scientology cult and believed that medical problems are solved not with medication but with vitamins....

Ms. Shields, appearing in a musical in London, later responded to Cruise’s criticism in a wry op-ed piece in The New York Times, incorporating some ליצנותא דעבודה זרה with gender classification. Articulating the feelings of many outraged women and doctors, she wrote: “I feel compelled to speak not just for myself but also for the hundreds of thousands of women who have suffered from postpartum depression. I’m going to take a wild guess and say that Mr. Cruise has never suffered from postpartum depression. . . . Tom Cruise’s comments are irresponsible and dangerous. . . . Tom should stick to saving the world from aliens and let women who are experiencing postpartum depression decide what treatment options are best for them.”

BOOM!!

Mussar Haskel: See title of post. 

Bernie The Kibbutznik

"I know that I am not the only Jewish candidate for President but I am the only one who doesn't want to turn the country into a kibbutz".

Michael Bloomberg 

Learning Eloquence

Trump is good for the Jews and in many ways - good for America. So it appears to me [although I don't follow politics closely and claim no expertise]. 

But his level of rhetoric and discourse equals that of a 2nd grader [in that I am an expert because I spent a whole year in 2nd grade. Thank you Mrs. Gabler for putting up with me]. It is embarrassing to hear him talk. It really makes me uncomfortable that the President speaks as he does. 

After the news of the helicopter crash of the Gadol Ha-dor, he tweeted:

“Reports are that basketball great Kobe Bryant and three others have been killed in a helicopter crash in California. That is terrible news!”

Compare with the tweet of Obama, who while no great friend of Am Yisrael, is far more articulate, dignified and intelligent than his successor:

"Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day."

After that, Trump tweeted again [he doesn't learn the daf, so he has more free time than we do and can tweet almost to his hearts content]:

"Kobe Bryant, despite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, was just getting started in life. He loved his family so much, and had such strong passion for the future. The loss of his beautiful daughter, Gianna, makes this moment even more devastating. Melania and I send our warmest condolences to Vanessa and the wonderful Bryant family. May God be with you all!"

There is a BIG "יש אומרים" that he copied from Barack.... Sounds EERILY similar. 

I laud him. He should learn - even from the man he despises - how to express himself. His first tweet was worthy of a second grader while the second much more respectable. But Donald was מזכיר שם שמים while Barack didn't.   

Kobe And Judaism

Aaron Kaplowitz 

March 24th 2006

Plenty of interesting and shocking words have been spoken in the visitors' locker room at TD Banknorth Garden in Boston during the 2005/06 NBA season, but nothing compares to Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant telling a handful of reporters, "I wouldn't mind being Jewish. I wouldn't mind. Really." Bryant, the NBA's leading scorer at 34.8 points per game, was fielding questions from a television reporter on camera about the dearth of Jewish athletes in professional sports. The basketball star, however, was skeptical. "Not too many Jews in professional sports? Hmmm," Bryant said. "That sounds kind of weird to me. Who did your research?" Reeling from Bryant's caustic tone, the TV reporter changed the topic to MVP talk. A Jewish journalist from The Boston Globe, however, wouldn't let the previous topic slide. "We are very good at squash," she insisted, under the impression that she was helping her people's cause. "There were three hockey players at my college who were Jewish," she continued. "How 'bout that? All on one team," Bryant said, excited. 

"The Red Sox have four Jews including [general manager] Theo Epstein," another Jewish reporter added. "What the h---? Who was doing your research," Bryant asked the TV reporter semifacetiously. "Put the camera back on, man. This guy is false man. This guy is lyin'." Dolph Schayes. Bryant smiles and adds Dolph's son Danny. Jon Scheyer, one of Duke University's top basketball recruits for next year. "You're getting shot down all over the place right now, buddy," Bryant said. "It ain't lookin' too good for you at all." Sandy Koufax. Hank Greenberg. "Oh it ain't lookin' too good for you at all," he continued. Although there are no Jews currently in the NBA, there are 24 in the National Football League, 18 in Major League Baseball and seven in the National Hockey League, according to www.jewsinsports.org. 

If Bryant, a Catholic, really wouldn't mind being Jewish, he would become the highest-profile athlete to convert to Judaism. Although many believe that baseball great Rod Carew converted when he married a Jewish woman, he never actually "joined the tribe." He did, however, raise his children Jewish. But Bryant dispelled the notion of replacing Schayes as the greatest Jewish basketball player of all-time. "I don't know if I'm converting, but if I do, you can definitely add another athlete to the pool," he said. 

Eating The Pesach

The pasuk says And this is how you shall eat it [the Pesach]: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste it is a Passover sacrifice to the Hashem.

The Ramban says that halachos that apply to how to eat the Pesach don't apply for the generations. Only those pertaining to the actual korban. Why?

Here.

LET SHLOIME SING!

The two most difficult parts of watching the INCREDIBLY INSPIRING siyum ha-shas at Met Life were 1] seeing how cold everyone was [but with mesirus nefesh stayed for hours to give kavod to Torah!!] and 2] watching the "Shloime Dachs Orchestra" play, seeing Shloime himself on the stage - but without a microphone! 

Next siyum ha-shas - LET SHLOIME [Dachs and not only Daskell] SING!!! 

Mizbeach On Rosh Chodesh

Answering this question:

Rav Matisyahu Shtrashon [son of the Rashash] wrote: 

אולי מ"ש בנוסח התפלה למוסף דר"ח מזבח חדש בציון תכין ועולת ר"ח נעלה עליו ושעירי עזים נעשה ברצון ובעבודת בית המקדש נשמח כולנו, הכוונה שתיכף בבוא הגאולה ב"ב נבנה לראשונה את המזבח ונעלה עולות וזבחים ואח"ז נתעסק בבנין המקדש. ומ"ש "בעבודת בהמ"ק" הכוונה בעבודת הבנין וכמ"ש בעזרא "עבודת בית אלהא" וכמו שהיה בבית שני שהתחילו להקריב קרבנות משבאו שם בימי כורש והיכל ה' לא היה יוסד עד אחרי כ"ב שנים אחר"ז בשנת שש לדריוש עכ"ל. והוא משום דתנן בפ"ח בעדויות "מקריבים אע"פ שאין בית" והוא דאיכא מזבח. והנה כתב החינוך מצוה ת"מ מקריבין אע"פ שאין בית אין הכוונה שיהיה חיוב להקריב קרבן בבהמ"ק עכשיו כשהוא חרב זה דבר ברור עכ"ל. 

He doesn't seem to explain, however, why this wouldn't apply on Yom Tov.

The sefer Mishnas Yaakov explains that הקרבה is only a רשות without a בית so on Shabbos and Yom Tov we would not be allowed to bring קרבנות w/o a בית [b/c the קרבנות aren't obligatory]. But on ראש חודש which is חול - we are allowed. The problem is that Ezra 3-6 implies that קרבנות were brought even on Yom Tov w/o a בית.

"From the first day of the seventh month [Rosh Hashana] they commenced to offer up burnt offerings to the Lord, but the foundation of the Temple was not yet laid."

One wise Jew wrote to me "for aliyah l'regel you need a mikdash, simcha etc. for avoda [on Rosh Chodesh] all we need is mizbeach". 

That sounds great but then how would we explain the continuation of the tfilla on Rosh Chodesh?: 

"מזבח חדש בציון תכין, ועולת ראש חודש נעלה עליו, ושעירי עִזים נעשה ברצון, ובעבודת בית המקדש נשמח כלנו".

Woops - what is the Beis Hamikdash doing there?

The Invigorating Power Of Torah

NY Times 

Jan. 4, 1987

Every week, Rabbi Aaron Soloveitchik leaves his home in Chicago and boards a plane for New York. There, though a stroke three years ago has left him in constant pain and barely able to walk, he slowly makes his way from an apartment to a classroom building at the Elchanan [sic - love it!] Theological Seminary, where 70 rabbinical students fill a classroom and listen attentively to the man they call Rav Aaron [close:-) E.E.].

Seated behind a desk cluttered with Jewish texts, the 69-year-old rabbi - considered one of the world's foremost Talmudic scholars and authorities on Jewish law - begins the two-hour shiur, or class, slowly articulating complex laws of betrothal and numerous opinions of rabbinic sages recorded throughout the ages.

''It's as if he has the entire Talmud before his very eyes,'' said a second-year rabbinical student from Pascagoula, Miss., Fivel Smiles. Torah,the oral and written law, ''is his life, his therapy.'' 

After suffering his stroke, Rav Aaron continued his teaching in Chicago. And this year, when the Elchanan seminary asked him to come teach a twice-weekly class, the rabbi accepted without hesitation, despite the hardships involved.

''I don't know how people can retire,'' said the rabbi. ''It's sadistic. One's mind begins to rot.'' To his students and colleagues at the seminary, which is affiliated with Yeshiva University, Rav Aaron is a study in human character as profound as the centuries-old Talmudic texts he has taught for 40 years.

''It's a wonder how such a frail shell can possess a power and enthusiasm that mesmerizes his audiences,'' said the seminary's director, Rabbi Zevulun Charlop. ''You're so taken by his spirit and dynamism, that you don't notice the physical ailment after a while.''

''His courage and determination to teach the Torah cannot be stopped,'' said a postgraduate student, Rabbi Joshua Hoffman, who has studied with Rav Aaron for the last seven years. 

But after rehabilitation, including, most recently, regular treatments of acupuncture, effects of the stroke on the rabbi's body remain. The daily walk from his apartment on Yeshiva's campus on Amsterdam Avenue and 185th Street to an adjacent classroom building takes nearly a half hour.

''Do you know what it's like to tie my shoes or to put the tefilin on my hand?'' he asked, holding out his shaking left hand and pointing to where he binds the traditional phylacteries each morning. ''It's as difficult as parting the Red Sea.

''I try to elevate myself through my suffering,'' said the rabbi. ''I'm in constant pain. But when I give a shiur, I don't feel it as much.''

For the rabbi, the opportunity to return to the seminary - where at least one member of the Soloveitchik family has taught since 1929 and where he himself taught for six years in the 1960's - is of special significance.

''It's an invigorating feeling to teach at the school where my brother and father have taught,'' said the rabbi, who has six children, four of whom are rabbis, and 22 grandchildren. ''I have feelings of trepidation and excitement.''

His father, Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik, was a noted scholar in several Eastern European communities before joining the Seminary in 1929. After Rabbi Moshe's death, Rav Aaron's older brother, Dr. Joseph Ber Soloveitchik, became the Seminary's pre-eminent scholar, remaining there 46 years until 1985 when poor health forced him to give up his classes.

Rav Aaron, a graduate of Yeshiva College in 1940 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, earned a law degree from New York University in 1946. In Chicago, where he has lived since 1966, he founded the Yeshiva of Brisk in 1974 to honor his family.

The challenge for stroke victims, the rabbi wrote in an essay from his hospital bed in 1983, ''is to galvanize one's moral and spiritual potential.''

''I've never allowed myself to become victimized and frustrated by the stroke,'' he said. ''With God's help, I have been strengthened.''

Shovavim

Rav Itamar Schwartz 

Introduction To “Shovavim”

The holy sefarim[1] describe the days of “Shovavim” (Parshas Shemos through Parshas Mishpatim) as days of teshuvah (repentance), based on the possuk, “Return, wayward sons”, and that the main sin which we need to focus our teshuvah on during these days is to rectify the sin of keri (spilling human seed).

We need to know what the root of the spiritual light is that exists during this time, what exactly it means to damage the Bris, and how it is rectified.

In many places, the custom during these days is to recite Selichos (prayer supplications) and to perform various tikkunim (soul rectifications) for the public.

The ancient scholars who taught the inner parts of the Torah[2] established five ways to rectify the sin of spilling seed, and each of them are based on the five different causes that can lead a person to the sin. The five causes that bring about this sin are: 1) Thoughts, 2) Desire to gaze at another woman[3], 3) Desire for gay behavior[4], 4) Wasted spittle[5], 5) One who deliberately delays circumcision[6].

In these coming chapters (Shovavim #02, #03, #04, #05 and #06) we will not delve that in-depth into the esoteric concepts here; rather, we will see the homiletic statements of our Sages about these matters.

We will begin, with the help of Hashem, with the first path of rectification of the sin, which is to rectify the thoughts.

Rectifying The Thoughts: Returning To The “Beginning”

The power of thought is described as the “beginning point” of man. To illustrate the concept, the first thing Hashem did to create the world was that He thought about it. The beginning of a matter is always with thought, thus, thought is seen as the beginning point. Thought is the first kernel of wisdom that allows for the wisdom to become expanded further and further.

Since the purpose of Creation is to reveal the sovereignty of Hashem, “the end of action is first with thought”, therefore, the end of Creation, which will be the purpose, is somewhat reflected in the beginning point of Creation. So the concept of thought, which is the beginning point of Creation, is actually a reflection of the purpose of Creation.

Before the conception of the Jewish people, the Torah describes the 70 nations who descended from Esav. Although the Jewish people are called raishis, “the beginning,” they were still preceded by the 70 nations. What is the meaning of this? It is because the 70 nations of the world are a different kind of beginning. They are another kind of tool which brings about the revelation of Hashem. We see this from the fact that in the future, Hashem will first reveal Himself to all the nations, “And His Kingdom will reign over all jurisdictions”, and after that, the Jewish people will then become the tool that will reveal the purpose of Creation. The purpose of Creation is the revelation of Hashem’s Presence upon the world, and when His sovereignty will be revealed, that will be the tool that brings it about.

Thus, there are different tools which Hashem has set into motion that will reveal the purpose of Creation. Even the gentile nations of the world will be a key factor in the process; this is actually the deeper meaning behind why Esav’s head is buried with the Avos. It is a hint to the fact that the beginning of the nations is really good at its root. The nations of the world have a good beginning, because they will be the first stage in the revelation of Hashem upon the world; it is just that their end will not be lofty as their beginning was. Their dominion will come to an end, and that is why only Esav’s head is buried with the Avos, because only the “head” of Esav is worthy. The Jewish people, by contrast, have both a beginning and an end which will reveal Hashem upon the world.

When one’s thoughts are damaged through sinful thinking, that essentially means that the “beginning” point in a person is damaged. This has several aspects to it. One aspect of our thoughts is that our thoughts are meant to remain inside us; our thoughts are private, and they are supposed to be kept private. To illustrate, we don’t know what others are thinking; the reason for this is to show us that thoughts are supposed to be kept private. When thoughts do need to become revealed, they must be revealed in a proper way, because in essence, they are really meant to be kept private.

Thus, we have a two-fold avodah in protecting our power of thought: We need to keep them private, and in addition, when we do reveal them, they need to be revealed properly.

The Root of Damaging The Bris: Feeling Completely Independent

The root of a person’s downfall is when he thinks he is perfect. “Esav” is called so because he was asuy, already “made”, meaning, he was born “complete”; the inner meaning of this is that he thought he was complete, and that is the depth of his ruination. When a person thinks he is complete, he denies the fact that he needs others in order to be completed. Because he thinks he is perfect, he doesn’t feel a need to connect with others. This is really the depth behind damaging the Bris: when a person thinks that he does not need to receive from others. When a person is unmarried, he can understand well what it means to feel lacking; he knows that he needs to be completed by another.

Although we find that the Sage Ben Azai did not marry, because he desired learning Torah alone and didn’t feel the need to be completed by a woman, still, although he reasoned well, we know that his path is not meant for us to take, for the Sages recount that when he was shown Heavenly revelations as a result of his spiritual level, he could not survive the revelations, and he died out of shock.

After Adam sinned, before Kayin and Hevel were even conceived, it is brought in the holy sefarim[7] that droplets of keri left his body; and for the 130 years that he was separated from Chavah after the sin, demons were formed from those droplets. Why was he punished? It was because he blamed Chavah for the sin; “This woman you gave me, it is she who gave me from the tree that I ate.” When he said this, the deeper implication of this was that he was basically saying that he doesn’t need her, chas v’shalom, for he was declaring that woman is detrimental to man. So he thought he doesn’t need her to complete him, and that he is better off without her.

This leads us the way to how we can fix the sin of spilling seed. When one feels incomplete, and he is aware that he needs to receive from others in order to become complete, he has fixed the sin at its root. Perfection is not achieved by feeling perfect about yourself and not needing others; rather, it is achieved precisely when one realizes he is incomplete without another to help him reach perfection.

The Deeper Implication of Misusing The Thought Process

In the power of thought, there are three kinds of thoughts: Chochmah, Binah, and Daas. Chochmah is the knowledge that one learns from his teachers. Binah is to reflect on the words of the Chochmah and thereby expand upon them. Daas is to connect the information that the Chochmah imparts and the information that the Binah imparts, bringing them to their potential. Daas reflects the concept that Chochmah needs Binah in order to become complete.

Thus, when a person has sinful thoughts, he has misused his daas, because he thinks he doesn’t need others in order to be complete.

The external part of the rectification for the sin is to feel lacking without another, but the inner layer of the solution is for a person to realize that he needs to become a tool that reveals beginnings. Soon, we will explain what this means.

The truth is that the concept of damaging the Bris was already existent as soon as Chavah’s body was separated from Adam’s; this already reflected a kind of separation between man and woman, in which man thinks that he doesn’t need woman for completion. Once Adam became separated from her, the idea of damaging the Bris became possible. It was the idea that it is possible for husband to be complete without his wife.

When one damages his thoughts, it is not only that he has misused his mental powers of Chochmah, Binah and Daas. The thoughts are damaged even when one has extraneous thoughts – when he lets his thoughts turn outward to think about things that he doesn’t need to think about. Just like the eyes are supposed to be controlled and they should not be turned outward that much, so is there a concept that the thoughts of a person not turn outward.

Repenting Over The Shame Caused By Sin

According to the Kamarna Rebbe, the 50th Gate of Impurity, which is the lowest level, is the sin of heresy, and it is created through the sin of damaging the Bris. This shows us how the Bris is damaged – but it also shows us at the same time how it can be repaired.

We can ask: Why is spilling seed considered to be the lowest level of impurity? Why can’t it just be viewed like any other desire that a person has?

The deep reason is as follows. Before the sin, Adam and Chavah were unclothed, yet they were not ashamed in their nakedness. As soon as they sinned, they realized they were naked and they grew ashamed; this shows us that the entire concept of shame began after the sin. Before the sin, there was no concept of shame. Why? It is because shame is when a person is concerned of what others think about himself; what is a person is ashamed of? He is ashamed of how he appears outwardly to others. But he is not concerned of how he appears inwardly to others. Before the sin, Adam and Chavah were so pure that they were only concerned of how they looked internally, not outwardly. After the sin, they became concerned with externalities, therefore, they were ashamed of how they appear outwardly to others.

So the pure state of mankind is to be concerned with who really is deep down, and not to be concerned of how he appears outwardly to others. Thus, the way to repair the sin is by returning to the original state of Adam, in there was no shame yet; meaning, for a person to concerned about his internal state, to keep his thoughts private as they are meant to be, and not to reveal them outwardly, not to think into things that he shouldn’t think about.

Thus, it’s not enough for a person to simply be ashamed about damaging the Bris. Although shame over a sin normally atones for all sins, the sin of damaging the Bris requires a higher kind of teshuvah, and shame alone is not enough to rectify it, for it was the sin that brought about shame to the world; the sin requires more than just shame and repentance, then, to rectify. What really needs to be rectified is the very fact that we are ashamed! Because if not for the sin in the first place, we would never know what shame is.

Of course, this does not mean chas v’shalom that one should harden himself and not feel bad after he sins. It means that a person has to reach an inner place in himself in which he returns to the state of before the sin, in which there was no shame yet, because then, when man was entirely pure, he was not concerned of anything external or outward!

When a person’s thoughts think about things that he shouldn’t think about, he is turning his thoughts outward, and this can lead chas v’shalom to eventually damaging the Bris. Our avodah during Shovavim is to return to our source, that even our power of teshuvah should be returned to its source.

During the Ten Days of Repentance, we say in Selichos that “If one’s heart understands and he repents, he will be healed”, meaning, if one is ashamed because of his sins and he repents, his teshuvah is valid. However, the teshuvah we do during Shovavim is a different concept of teshuvah than the usual kind of teshuvah. Shovavim comes after the Ten Days of Repentance, because the sin of damaging the Bris needs its own rectification and thus it cannot be covered by repenting during the Ten Days of Repentance. It is because teshuvah alone does not rectify damaging the Bris [as the Zohar states].

But that doesn’t mean that a person shouldn’t feel ashamed about damaging the Bris. Of course a person should feel ashamed and do teshuvah about it! But it is just that after he does that, he should then do a deeper kind of teshuvah – he should do teshuvah over the very fact that he has shame as a result of the sin; he should do teshuvah over the fact that he allowed his thoughts to be turned outward, that he allowed himself to be involved with the external and left the inner world of his thoughts.

Of course, now that we live after the sin, our initial nature is to seek what’s outside of us. But our avodah is to return ourselves to the original state of mankind before the sin, and to describe this in deeper terms, it’s referring to the power of emunah. Emunah helps a person stay in his proper place, where he will never feel a desire to go outward from himself.

Thus, the first way to rectify the sin of damaging the Bris (spilling human seed) is through rectifying our thoughts, and this means to return our thoughts to their source – that we should keep our thoughts inward, and not let them roam outward.

Private (Intimate) Matters Should Be Kept Private

The Chida[8] and others write that if someone reveals secrets to others when he wasn’t supposed to, he will end up sinning with damaging the Bris. This is because he turned outwardly when he should have remained inward. A secret should only be revealed to one who is modest, because he will know how to protect the secret.

When a person lets his thoughts roam around to explore thoughts that are forbidden or extraneous, that is the first root of what leads to damaging the Bris. But it also includes not to speak about private matters with others.

“Matters of the heart are not revealed to the mouth”[9], meaning, inner and private matters should not be revealed outwardly by the mouth to others. When a Bris [the covenant of marriage between man and woman] remains private between them and it is not spoken about to others, it remains as a protected covenant, as long as it is not spoken about through the mouth [to others].

This is what it means to have Kedushas HaBris, to keep the holiness of the Bris Kodesh: to protect the private nature of the Bris [the covenant of marriage between husband and wife]. Holiness means to conduct one’s private affairs in a hidden manner, in a dark room, privately, and it should be kept hidden and protected – never spoken about with others.

This is the first rectification of repairing the Bris Kodesh. May Hashem help us be able to act upon it practically.[10]

[1] Arizal: shaar ruach hakodesh: tikkun 27; further discussed in Levush, Magen Avraham, Beer Heitiv, and Pri Megadim to Orach Chaim: 685

[2] Rav Chaim Vital in Shaar Ruach HaKodesh (Arizal), ibid.

[3] This will be discussed b’ezras Hashem in Shovavaim #005 – Repairing Lust

[4] See Shovavim #04, Shovavim Today

[5] Shovavim #003

[6] Shovavim #006

[7] Shaar HaPesukim, Yechezkel

[8] Avodas HaKodesh: Tziporen HaShamir: 7: 113

[9] Koheles Rabbah 12:1

[10] Editor’s Summary: In the beginning of the chapter, it was stated that we have a two-fold avodah in repairing our damaged thoughts. The first part is to protect our private thoughts; this includes two aspects, 1)Not to think about forbidden things, which is obvious; 2)Not to reveal our private matters to others. The second part of the rectification was that when we do need to reveal our thoughts to others, they must be revealed properly; now it has been explained at the end of the chapter to mean that matters of privacy should only be revealed to someone who is modest who won’t tell it to others.

Idols

It is quite revealing that popular entertainers and athletes are described as "idols". 

Perfect!!

Should Be

"Most books should be essays; most essays should be Twitter threads; and most Twitter threads should be nothing."

There is No News From Auschwitz

NY Times August 31 1958

A. M. Rosenthal, executive editor of The New York Times, wrote this article shortly after he became the newspaper's correspondent in Poland.

Yesterday was the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. 

The most terrible thing of all, somehow, was that at Brzezinka the sun was bright and warm, the rows of graceful poplars were lovely to look upon and on the grass near the gates children played.

It all seemed frighteningly wrong, as in a nightmare, that at Brzezinka the sun should ever shine or that there should be light and greenness and the sound of young laughter. It would be fitting if at Brzezinka the sun never shone and the grass withered, because this is a place of unutterable terror.

And yet, every day, from all over the world, people come to Brzezinka, quite possibly the most grisly tourist center on earth. They come for a variety of reasons - to see if it could really have been true, to remind themselves not to forget, to pay homage to the dead by the simple act of looking upon their place of suffering.

Brzezinka is a couple of miles from the better-known southern Polish town of Oswiecim. Oswiecim has about 12,000 inhabitants, is situated about 171 miles from Warsaw and lies in a damp, marshy area at the eastern end of the pass called the Moravian Gate. Brzezinka and Oswiecim together formed part of that minutely organized factory of torture and death that the Nazis called Konzentrationslager Auschwitz.

By now, fourteen years after the last batch of prisoners was herded naked into the gas chambers by dogs and guards, the story of Auschwitz has been told a great many times. Some of the inmates have written of those memories of which sane men cannot conceive. Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoss, the superintendent of the camp, before he was executed wrote his detailed memoirs of mass exterminations and the experiments on living bodies. Four million people died here, the Poles say.

And so there is no news to report about Auschwitz. There is merely the compulsion to write something about it, a compulsion that grows out of a restless feeling that to have visited Auschwitz and then turned away without having said or written anything would somehow be a most grievous act of discourtesy to those who died here.

Brzezinka and Oswiecim are very quiet places now; the screams can no longer be heard. The tourist walks silently, quickly at first to get it over with and then, as his mind peoples the barracks and the chambers and the dungeons and flogging posts, he walks draggingly. The guide does not say much either, because there is nothing much for him to say after he has pointed.

For every visitor, there is one particular bit of horror that he knows he will never forget. For some it is seeing the rebuilt gas chamber at Oswiecim and being told that this is the ''small one.'' For others it is the fact that at Brzezinka, in the ruins of the gas chambers and the crematoria the Germans blew up when they retreated, there are daisies growing.

There are visitors who gaze blankly at the gas chambers and the furnaces because their minds simply cannot encompass them, but stand shivering before the great mounds of human hair behind the plate glass window or the piles of babies' shoes or the brick cells where men sentenced to death by suffocation were walled up.

One visitor opened his mouth in a silent scream simply at the sight of boxes - great stretches of three-tiered wooden boxes in the women's barracks. They were about six feet wide, about three feet high, and into them from five to ten prisoners were shoved for the night. The guide walks quickly through the barracks. Nothing more to see here.

A brick building where sterilization experiments were carried out on women prisoners. The guide tries the door - it's locked. The visitor is grateful that he does not have to go in, and then flushes with shame.

A long corridor where rows of faces stare from the walls. Thousands of pictures, the photographs of prisoners. They are all dead now, the men and women who stood before the cameras, and they all knew they were to die.

They all stare blank-faced, but one picture, in the middle of a row, seizes the eye and wrenches the mind. A girl, 22 years old, plumply pretty, blonde. She is smiling gently, as at a sweet, treasured thought. What was the thought that passed through her young mind and is now her memorial on the wall of the dead at Auschwitz?

Into the suffocation dungeons the visitor is taken for a moment and feels himself strangling. Another visitor goes in, stumbles out and crosses herself. There is no place to pray at Auschwitz.

The visitors look pleadingly at each other and say to the guide, ''Enough.''

There is nothing new to report about Auschwitz. It was a sunny day and the trees were green and at the gates the children played.

Great Talk

Here.

Leitzanus

Moshe: Hashem is going to bring a terrible plague on you and your people.

Paroh: Lol.

Fun Fact

Benny Friedman's real name is Binyomin Friedyomin.

The Passing Of A Gadol

The death of Kobe, his daughter, and the other victims of the crash is a very, very sad tragedy. I keep thinking of Kobe's Rebbetzin. She lost her daughter and husband in one shot. No words for such a loss [although I suspect that there were many times that she wished not such good things on her husband. They had a very complicated marriage. There is almost no such thing as an athlete who is on the road and spends his free time reading philosophy books.... Kobe was not an exception in this regard].  

But the press coverage and the degree to which people are stunned, broken, devastated etc. etc. is a little much. More than a little. If EVERY death was met with such emotion then it would be justified. The reality is that every day roughly 150,000 people die. So yesterday 149,999 other people died and nobody is talking about that. Just Kobe. It would also not be a stretch to say that he was not a Tzadik Gamur nor was he a partial Tzadik [despite the revisionist history we are hearing that portrays him as a Tzadik]. 

Here is the reason: In America, the prevailing religion is "Sport". The temples are the stadiums. The Kohanim are the players. 

Kobe was the Gadol Ha-dor. 

The Gadol Ha-dor was niftar.

THAT is what everyone is talking about.  

So let us get perspective: Being able to put a ball in a net does not make one a valuable person. Every human being has value but being able to run fast or jump high does not increase his value. In western culture it does because western culture is obsessed with entertainment.

For us - what matters is what the Navi said: 

הִגִּיד לְךָ אָדָם מַה טּוֹב וּמָה יְ-ה-וָ-ה דּוֹרֵשׁ מִמְּךָ כִּי אִם עֲשׂוֹת מִשְׁפָּט וְאַהֲבַת חֶסֶד וְהַצְנֵעַ לֶכֶת עִם אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ.

He has showed you, man, what is good; and what does the Hashem require of you, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your G-d?!

MA SHLOMCHA?.

השאלה המנומסת הזו בדרך כלל מצטיירת אצלינו עלינו
כמשהו נימוסי או טאקטי גרידא... או אפילו נחמד... אבל
לא יותר מזה!!! אבל אם קצת תעיין בדברי חז"ל ובפרט
בתחילת מסכת ברכות שהרבה יהודים התחילו... תיווכח
לראות שחז"ל התייחסו לנושא הזה ממש בכובד ראש... יש
סוגיה שלימה בגמ' באיזה מקומות מותר להפסיק בברכות
ק"ש כדי לשאול מפני הכבוד או להשיב שלום לכל אדם...
ואפילו אדם הכי פשוט בעולם... שאני לא מפחד וגם לא
צריך לכבד אותו... אם הוא שאל בשלומי בין יוצר המאורות
לברכת אהבה רבה... מעיקר הדין מותר לי להשיב לו
שלום!!! אתה קולט?? (למעשה המ"ב אומר שהיום לא נהגו אבל
ברמת העקרון...) והגמ' גם מוסיפה ואומרת יותר מזה: (ברכות
ו:): כל שיודע בחבירו שרגיל לומר לו שלום יקדים לו
שלום... ואם נתן לו ולא החזיר לו נקרא גזלן!!!! כתוב כאן:
שאם מישהו דורש בשלומי ולא מתחשק לי להיות נחמד
אליו... או אין לי סבלנות אליו.. אין כזה דבר!!! נקרא גזלן...
כן... אני מוכרח ומחויב להתייחס ולענות לכל אדם שדורש
בשלומי!!!
וכעת מתעוררת השאלה שמתבקשת מאליה: מה קורה
בפלאפון??? הרי כיום עיקר התקשורת הבין אנושית היא
בפלאפון.... והנה מישהו מתקשר אלי לדרוש בשלומי ו...
ו... ולא מתחשק לי לענות לו... האם זה גם בכלל "ואם נתן לו
ולא החזיר לו נקרא גזלן"???
לא יודע לענות על השאלה הזו... שאלתי כמה ת"ח
והתשובות היו די מפתיעות... בא נשאיר את זה לכם
קוראים יקרים... תתמודדו עם זה.. (לכאורה... על פניו...
במושכל ראשון די ברור לי שבפלאפון אדם לא חייב... ולמה
לא??? כי... כי לכאורה יש לי קושיה: אני אדם ישר!! מעולם לא
גנבתי ולא גזלתי ולא נגעתי במה שלא שייך לי.. והנה... יום אחד
אדם זר הופיע והתחיל לשאול בשלומי... אבל לא סתם!!! עם
אקדח שלוף!!! תזהר לך... אתה חייב להשיב לי שלום.. כי אם לא
אתה גזלן!!! סליחה: אני חייב לך משהו? לקחתי לך משהו?? מה
אני אשם שאתה החלטת לדרוש בשלומי?? וכי בגלל שאתה דורש
בשלומי... אתה יכול להכניס לי בכח גזילה לתוך הפה שלי שלא
ענה לך שלום?? מה ההיגיון בזה??? מה התשובה??? לא!!! זה לא
הוא!!! אותו אדם שדורש בשבילו הוא לא יכול לחייב אותי לענות
לו שלום!! אלא מי? הנהגת הישוב מחייבת אותי!!!! היות ואני אדם
מן הישוב... חי בין אנשים... אז כמו שאני מחויב חו"מ להשתתף
בהוצאות של צרכי העיר... ככה אני מחויב ליחסי אנוש נורמליים
שבין אנשים!!! אני לא יכול להסתובב בין אנשים שבאופן נורמלי
דורשים בשלומי ואני כמו בור ברה"ר... מבזה אותם ולא עונה להם
במופגן... זה מפגע תבאורתי!!! לכן אני מחויב לענות שלום מחיובי
רשות הרבים!!! אה... אתה לא רוצה?? לא מתאים לך לענות יפה
שלום לאנשים?? אתה לא חייב... אבל תברח למדבר... תכנס
הבייתה ותנעל את עצמך מבפנים... שם זה רשות היחיד.. שם אף
אחד לא יכול להכריח אותך לענות שלום או לעשות משהו שאתה
לא רוצה.. כלומר: כשאני מסתובב ברחוב... אני מחויב לסביבה...
אבל להגיד שאני מחויב לענות לכל חיוג שחודר לרשות הפרטית
שלי?? להגיד שאנשים מבחוץ יכולים לקבוע לי את הסדר יום
ולהכריח אותי לענות... ואם מישהו החליט להתקשר... אני כבר
מחויב לבזבז את זמני בשבילו?? לכאורה די ברור לי שלא!!! אבל
אל תסמוך עלי... אני אומר את זה נטו משיקול דעת אישי... ואני
יודע שיש כאלו שטוענים אחרת... עכ"פ גם אם אני צודק זה רק
בפלאפון!!! אבל ברחוב כן... בפירוש כן!!!! יש חיוב גמור לענות
שלום ליהודי שדורש בשלומך!!! וזה ממש מדינא!! ואם הוא רגיל
לדרוש בשלומך.. אז אתה מחויב גם להשכים לפתוח ולהקדים
לדרוש בשלומו...

Granddaughter Of Cambodian Princess Celebrates Bas Mitzva

JTA

Members of the Cambodian royal family gathered last month at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh for a celebration. There was music, traditional Cambodian dance performances and plenty of food.

The occasion? The coming-of-age party of the granddaughter of one of the princesses. Well, a bat mitzvah to be exact.

The celebrant, Elior Koroghli, is the the great-granddaughter of the late King Sisowath Monivong, who reigned from 1927 to 1941. She is also an Orthodox Jew.

The 13-year-old grew up in Las Vegas, the daughter of Monivong’s granddaughter Sathsowi Thay Koroghli, who converted to Judaism as an adult, and Ray Koroghli, a Persian Jew. While in Cambodia for the bat mitzvah, the Koroghlis met with the current king and queen mother, and the extended family posed for a photograph, the tzitzit fringes worn by Elior’s brothers clearly visible in the frame.

The festivities reflected the various parts of her heritage. Elior wore both a traditional Cambodian costume and a sparkly bat mitzvah dress. She lit a menorah — the celebration took place during Hanukkah — and performed a Persian-style candle-lighting ceremony. And she played traditional Jewish, Persian and Cambodian songs on the piano, including the classic “Hava Nagila.”

The Koroghlis provided kosher food with the help of Rabbi Bentzion Butman, the Chabad emissary in Cambodia. Chabad.org first reported on the celebration.

“It was just incredible how you can bring Cambodian, Jewish and Persian all into one, where we go to Cambodia and I’m wearing their costume but I’m also lighting a menorah there, and I’m wearing ‘tznius’ clothing,” Elior told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, using the Hebrew word for modesty.

For members of her family who live in Cambodia, it was the first time they had been to a Jewish event of any kind.

Elior’s mother, Sathsowi, was born in Washington, D.C., where her father was serving as a Cambodian diplomat. Her mother, Princess Sisowath Neary Bong Nga, was King Monivong’s daughter. Sathsowi moved back to Cambodia with her family when she was 2, but most of her childhood was spent in Long Beach, California. She met her husband at a birthday party in Las Vegas.

“He just came to ask me to dance and that was it,” Sathsowi told JTA in a telephone interview.

Today the couple lives with their three children — Elior and her brothers Matanel, 11, and Eliav, 7 — in Henderson, a suburb popular among Las Vegas Jews. Ray works in commercial real estate and Sathsowi is a homemaker.

Though their cultures differ, Sathsowi, who was raised a Buddhist, said religion did not come up much while she and Ray were initially dating. But a few years later, she joined her husband for a lecture by Rabbi Shea Harlig, the Chabad emissary in Las Vegas. Sathsowi only caught the end of the talk, but the rabbi’s teaching about God being infinite stuck with her.

Elior with relatives and guests during the candle-lighting ceremony. (Kang Predi and Teh Ranie)

“I was taught about Buddhism. And I’m thankful for all that I was taught because it made me who I am. It gives me patience, it makes me who I am at [my] core,” Sathsowi said. “But on the other hand, I just believe that something created all this. So when the rabbi spoke about that, it was just like, whoa, this is how I’m feeling. So that’s why I wanted to know more.”

Sathsowi eventually became a Jew by choice, initially converting through the Conservative movement in 2003. Two years later, she and Ray were married in Israel. The couple would come to embrace Orthodox Judaism and, nine years after her first conversion, Sathsowi had a second one with an Orthodox rabbi. The couple also had a second wedding ceremony performed by an Orthodox rabbi.

“It just kind of happened naturally,” she said. “It took a long time, many years.”

The process wasn’t all easy. She faced pushback from her mother, who was unhappy her daughter was leaving the religion of her birth. At times she felt like an outsider as the only Asian person in her husband’s Persian Jewish family.

It was a desire to reconcile those identities that led Sathsowi to celebrate her daughter’s bat mitzvah in Phnom Penh. The family had already held a celebration at their home in Henderson a year earlier, but Sathsowi wanted something different.

“We want to show her her identity — she’s Persian, she’s Cambodian, she’s Jewish,” Sathsowi said.

For Elior, the identities seem to go hand in hand easily.

“It’s just awesome to be part of a little bit of everything,” she said, “and it’s all different and they all give me different feelings.”

Purity Of Prayer On The Daf Yomi

Here.

48 Kinyanim

ברוך ה' מתכנסים פה ציבור גדול, שנצטרפו ללמוד ביחד, ומבין תלמודם של כולם נשלם לימוד כל הש"ס כולו, ועושים יומא טבא לגמרה של תורה.
בחז"ל מבואר שפרק 'אשת חיל' נדרש על התורה, ועל מ"ח קנייני התורה, וחיל הוא בגימטריא מ"ח, כמנין קנייני התורה, ועל פי זה מפרש הגר"א
את הכתוב 'רבות בנות עשו חיל ואת עלית על כולנה', שרבות בנות היינו התלמידי חכמים הלומדים את התורה, והם עושים חיל, היינו שכמעט ואין
תלמיד חכם אחד שיהא מושלם בכל המ"ח קניינים, ואם כן איך יהיה נשלם כל המ"ח קניינים בתלמוד התורה, ועל זה אומר הכתוב של ידי כל
התלמידי חכמים שהם 'רבות בנות' ביחד, 'עשו חיל' כלומר שבזה יהיה נשלם ה'חיל', שזה המ"ח קניינים, וכולם מצטרפים ביחד ומבין כולם נשלם
ומצטרף שיש את המ"ח קניינים, ועל ידי זה התורה מתעלית, וזהו שמסיים הכתוב, ואת עלית על כולנה, היינו שהתורה מתעלה על ידי כולנה.
וצריך ביאור מה מועיל שכל התלמידי חכמים ביחד יש להם מ"ח קניינים סוף סוף כל אחד לומד לעצמו, בקניינים שיש לו.
ומבואר מדברי הגר"א דתלמיד חכם אחד שיש לו מקצת קנייני תורה מצטרף עם תלמיד חכם אחר שגם לו יש מקצת קנייני תורה אחרים, וביחד
הם מצטרפים להשלים את תשלום מנין המ"ח קניינים דהתורה מצרפת את תלמודם של כולם, וכל אחד ואחד תלמודו שלו מצטרף עם תלמודו של
חבירו, וביחד מהוים הם שלמות של תורה, ונמצאת תורה אחת ע"י מ"ח קניינים.
ומכאן אסמכתא לומר כן גם בסיום הש"ס, שאותו חלק שלמדו מקצתם מצטרף עם החלק שלמדו האחרים, וביחד הם מצטרפים, ומביניהם נשלם ונצטרף
שלימות של לימוד הש"ס.

כחלום יעוף

photo taken a day ago 

TOIRAH!!!

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz Zt"l @ Wedding Of Talmid

Mizbeach

In the Mussaf of Yuntiv, we ask Hashem to rebuild the Beis Hamikdash.

On Rosh Chodesh we say "מזבח חדש בציון תכין". The Mizbeach and not the Mikdash. 

Why?

Joy And Sorrow

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. 

Some of you say, “Joy is greater thar sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”

But I say unto you, they are inseparable.

Who We Are - Character

Baal Keri

Understanding Tevilas Baal Keri.

Mamesh Pilei Plaos. 

Mamesh.

BS"D!!

So Many Adams And Chavas

The Gemara says according to one opinion that Adam and Chava were created as one - Adam on one side, Chava on the other, attached at the back. 

So when you see a picture in the frum media with the caption "Mr. and Mrs. So and So" and all you see is the "Mr." - maybe the Mrs. is on the other side and the photographer couldn't get them both in at once. 

So look at the next page - maybe she is there....

The Kanaus Of The Chasam Sofer

The Chasam Sofer is known as a "kano-ee". Here is a story from the sefer החתם סופר ותלמידיו page 11.

פעם אחת בחג הסוכות ואיש מפולנא היה לתפלה בביהמ"ד של החת"ס ובליל שמחת תורה רקד בינינו ובשמחתו עלה הבימה והתחיל לשיר בקול נעים את המזמור אודה לה בכל לבב והיה קורא ומזמר הפסוק ככתיבתו ועל התרגום הגרמני מרמ"ד ובשמעו התלמידים, רצו לפגוע באיש ההוא ולהורידו, וגער החת"ס בהם ויהס אותם והקשיב בהקשבה והאזנה לזמר האורח מרישא עד גמירא והזמין אותו אח"כ לשולחנו"

"Once, during the holiday of Sukkos, a visitor from Poland came for prayers at the Chasam Sofer's Beis Medrash, and in the evening of Simchas Torah, he danced between us. In his merriment, he went above the bimah and started to sing in a pleasant voice, the Psalm Odeh LaHashem.. and he was reading the verses in Hebrew followed by the German Translation of Moses Mendelssohn. When the students heard this, they wanted to harm the man and remove him, but the Chasam Sofer reprimanded them and quieted them and listened carefully to the singing of the guest from through the end. He then invited the man over to eat at his table"

Chiluk About Tchilas Din

The Rashba at the end of this post is causing me discomfort. WHAT IS PSHAT??? 

ראוהו בית דין וכל ישראל נחקרו העדים ולא הספיקו לומר מקודש עד שחשיכה הרי זה מעובר

MISHNA: If the court and all of the Jewish people saw the new moon, and the witnesses were interrogated, but the court did not manage to say: Sanctified, before nightfall, so that the thirtieth day already passed, the previous month is rendered a full, thirty-day month, and the following day is observed as the New Moon.

גמ׳ למה לי למיתנא ראוהו בית דין וכל ישראל איצטריך סד"א הואיל וראוהו בית דין וכל ישראל איפרסמא לה ולא ליעברוה קמ"ל

GEMARA: The Gemara asks: Why do I need the mishna to teach: If the court and all of the Jewish people saw the new moon? Merely stating that the court saw the moon would have sufficed, since its sanctification depends on them. The Gemara answers: It was necessary for the mishna to teach that even in that case, the month is intercalated. As it might enter your mind to say that since the court and all of the Jewish people saw the new moon, it was publicized that it was the New Moon that day, and let them no longer intercalate the month. Therefore, the tanna of the mishna teaches us that even in the case where all the Jewish people saw the new moon, the New Moon must be declared by the court.

וכיון דתנא ליה ראוהו ב"ד וכל ישראל נחקרו העדים למה לי ה"ק א"נ נחקרו העדים ולא הספיקו לומר מקודש עד שחשיכה הרי זה מעובר

The Gemara asks further: But once the mishna states: If the court and all of the Jewish people saw the new moon, why do I need it to say: And the witnesses were interrogated? Why are witnesses necessary if the new moon was already seen by the court? The Gemara answers that this is what the tanna is saying: Alternatively, if the witnesses were interrogated, but the court had no time to say: Sanctified, before nightfall, the previous month is intercalated and rendered a full month of thirty days.

איצטריך סד"א תיהוי חקירת עדים כתחילת דין ומקודש מקודש כגמר דין ולקדשי בליליא מידי דהוה אדיני ממונות דתנן דיני ממונות דנין ביום וגומרין בלילה הכא נמי מקדשין בליליא קמ"ל

The Gemara explains: It was necessary, as it might enter your mind to say: Let the interrogation of the witnesses be regarded as the beginning of the judicial process, and let the declaration: Sanctified, sanctified, be regarded as the conclusion of the judicial process, and let them sanctify the month at night, because the process began during the day. This process would then be just as it is in cases of monetary law, as we learned in a mishna: In cases of monetary law, although they must be adjudicated during the day, the court may judge the majority of a case during the day, and complete the trial and issue the ruling at night. Here too, one might assume that the court may sanctify the month at night, as the process began during the day. Therefore, the mishna teaches us that the court may not do so.

ואימא הכי נמי אמר קרא (תהלים פא, ה) כי חק לישראל הוא משפט לאלהי יעקב אימת הוי חק בגמר דין וקא קרי ליה רחמנא משפט מה משפט ביום אף הכא נמי ביום:

The Gemara raises another difficulty: Why not say that, indeed, the sanctification of the month should be treated like monetary cases? The Gemara answers: The verse states with regard to Rosh HaShana: “For this is a statute for Israel, a judgment [mishpat] of the God of Jacob” (Psalms 81:5). When does the sanctification of the month become a statute? At the end of the judicial process, and the Merciful One calls it a judgment as well, thereby teaching that just as the primary time of a judgment is during the day, here too, with regard to the sanctification of the New Moon, the process must take place during the day, and not at night.

Says the Rashba:

הא דאמרינן: מהו דתימא ליהוי חקירת העדים כתחלת דין ומקודש מקודש כגמר דין וליקדשיה בלילה. קשיא לי, ואי משום הא נמי לא איצטריך דהא מרישא נמי שמעת מינה, דאי סלקא דעתך הכין, ליהוי נמי ראיית בית דין כתחלת דין ומקודש מקודש כגמר דין, אלא מדקתני הרי זה מעובר שמע מינה דלא. ויש לומר דאילו מרישא הוה אמינא דכיון דעלמא דעל פי ראייתם הן מקדשין, בשעת שאומרין מקודש הוי כהתחלתו וכגמרו באותה שעה ומשום הכי אי אפשר שלא לעברו, אבל בשנחקרו העדים דכשהן מקדשין עכשיו על ידי חקירת העדים שהיתה ביום הן מקדשין , אימא שפיר דמי, קא משמע לן.