Today is Maran HaRav Hutner's yahrtzeit. In shul I picked up a copy of his sefer of letters to learn something for a minute or three after davening. This is what I saw...
On Shabbos we say in davening באהבה וברצון - with love and will. On Yom Tov we omit these words. Why?
The sefarim explain that at Har Sinai we were coerced to accept the Torah - כפה עליהם הר כגגית. Chazal say that in a place called Marah the Jews were given Shabbos So Yom Tov was accepted against our will at Sinai while Shabbos was accepted willingly at Marah.
Maran was not convinced by this explanation.
A] The Rambam famously says that we don't keep mitzvos because of any event that preceded Har Sinai. For example, we don't refrain from eating the גיד הנשה because of what happened to Yaakov Avinu with the angel but because we were commanded at Sinai. So one cannot say that we keep Shabbos because we were commanded at Marah.
B] In davening we say אז סיני נצטוו עליה - at Sinai we were commanded. This is seemingly precluding the approach that we keep Shabbos because we were commanded at Marah.
C] Another question - but I don't remember:-)!
See here for more on this topic.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Big Yahrtzeit
It is now the yahrtzeit of Maran HaRav Hunter ztz"l. There is an excellent article about him available on line in the Summer of 2001 issue of Jewish Action on the OU website.
See there:-).
See there:-).
Lack Of Knowledge
There are those who will dismiss love as a naïve and romantic construct of our culture. Others will wax poetic and tell you that “love is all,” ”love is the bird call and the glint in a young girl’s eyes on a summer night.” And some, according to their own experience, will tell us, “Love is a strong emotional attachment to another…”etc. In some cases you will find that people have never thought of questioning love, much less defining it, and object violently even to the suggestion that they think about it. To them love is not to be pondered, it is simply to be experienced. It is true to some degree all of these statements are correct, but to assume that any one is best or all there is to love, is rather simple. So each man lives love in his limited fashion and does not seem to relate the resultant confusion and loneliness to this lack of knowledge about love.
Source: Love : What Life Is All About, Page 35
Easy Questions And Difficult Questions
When a boy is dating the questions are generally easy ones. "How are you planning to support your family?" ["I was actually hoping to rely on your parents."] "Where would you like to live?" ["As far away from your parents as possible."] "Who is your hero and why?" ["The Chofetz Chaim because I think about him all the time, meaning whenever I speak lashon hara."] "If you could be any person who would you be and why?" ["Mitt Romney because he is really rich and has lots of free time on his hands to enjoy his money. Plus, I am also a Republican and disagree with Obama's economic policy."] "How do you view the role of a woman in your life?" ["Her place is in the kitchen - if she likes to cook. In the gym - if she likes to exercise. With evil spirits - if she likes to exorcise. In the office - if she likes to work. Wherever she wants to be. My Rebbi told me to say that."]
When a boy gets married the questions become far more complicated. His wife says to him "Where are you going to light Chanuka candles?" Unless he is Lubavitch ["In Times Square"] the answer is not so simple.
My dilemma this year.
I could light next to my front door as the gemara says, but then nobody will see except a few neighbors because my front door isn't visible from the street. No publicizing of the miracle there.
I could light next to the stairs that lead to my apartment complex [which is considered by some to be פתח החצר the entrance to the courtyard where Tosfos says to light] but according to the Chazon Ish I wouldn't be יוצא because he felt that in the time of the gemara people used their courtyards extensively so one could light at the entrance but today things have changed and it no longer serves an important purpose so one shouldn't light there.
I could light next to my window but my apartment faces a long winding road that nobody uses except for a security guard [we live not far from villages inhabited by our peace loving cousins:-)]. No publicizing of the miracle there.
I could light inside my front door to fulfill what the gemara says that one should have his mezuza on the right and Chanuka candles on the left but nobody would see that but my family. No publicizing of the miracle there.
I could light on my roof which is quite visible to from the street but it's WEIRD lighting on a roof. Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach ruled that one may light on his porch and the roof apparently would have the same halacha. The problem is that others hold that there must be a צורת הפתח a likeness to a doorway, which my roof lacks.
I could just light the candles on my dining room table but then I'd be missing out on the benefits of publicizing the miracle and having it next to my doorway that the gemara encourages.
I could not light at all but then my soul would lack those 36 lights which corresponds to the 36 hours when the hidden light shone at the onset of creation.
So where should I light??
Tough question.
I think I have come to a conclusion. I picked up a used sefer on the "used sefarim for sale" table in Yerushalayim today [ten shek!] and read parts of it on the long bus ride home. Hashgachically, he discussed my question and confirmed the conclusion to which I came.....:-).
Baruch hu uvaruch shemo!!!
When a boy gets married the questions become far more complicated. His wife says to him "Where are you going to light Chanuka candles?" Unless he is Lubavitch ["In Times Square"] the answer is not so simple.
My dilemma this year.
I could light next to my front door as the gemara says, but then nobody will see except a few neighbors because my front door isn't visible from the street. No publicizing of the miracle there.
I could light next to the stairs that lead to my apartment complex [which is considered by some to be פתח החצר the entrance to the courtyard where Tosfos says to light] but according to the Chazon Ish I wouldn't be יוצא because he felt that in the time of the gemara people used their courtyards extensively so one could light at the entrance but today things have changed and it no longer serves an important purpose so one shouldn't light there.
I could light next to my window but my apartment faces a long winding road that nobody uses except for a security guard [we live not far from villages inhabited by our peace loving cousins:-)]. No publicizing of the miracle there.
I could light inside my front door to fulfill what the gemara says that one should have his mezuza on the right and Chanuka candles on the left but nobody would see that but my family. No publicizing of the miracle there.
I could light on my roof which is quite visible to from the street but it's WEIRD lighting on a roof. Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach ruled that one may light on his porch and the roof apparently would have the same halacha. The problem is that others hold that there must be a צורת הפתח a likeness to a doorway, which my roof lacks.
I could just light the candles on my dining room table but then I'd be missing out on the benefits of publicizing the miracle and having it next to my doorway that the gemara encourages.
I could not light at all but then my soul would lack those 36 lights which corresponds to the 36 hours when the hidden light shone at the onset of creation.
So where should I light??
Tough question.
I think I have come to a conclusion. I picked up a used sefer on the "used sefarim for sale" table in Yerushalayim today [ten shek!] and read parts of it on the long bus ride home. Hashgachically, he discussed my question and confirmed the conclusion to which I came.....:-).
Baruch hu uvaruch shemo!!!
So Much Depth
In today's world of Madison Avenue everything has to be a quick sound bite, a catchy motto, a glossy picture and that is it. People aren't interested in more. When I was in yeshiva, sometimes a boy would ask me a question that required a lengthy in depth response, but when I started I would sometimes notice the boy's eye's glazing over as if to say - "short, sweet and to the point, please".
Well, life is deep and Torah is the blueprint for life so Torah is deep. Not everthing can be explained in one sentence.
I am presently involved in researching the nature of the forbidden labor of הוצאה on Shabbos. Straightforward. Don't carry an object from the private domain to the public or vice versa.
Yet.
Yet, one can write a thousand books on this issue and not be finished.
The rishonim describe it as a "melacha grua" an inferior melacha. I can easily [with Hashem's help and a computer] write a full length book just to explore the definition of the term "melacha grua".
I say "WOW". So profound. Two words that don't even appear in the gemara and yet so much has been written about them.
It gives one such an appreciation for Torah. It is critical that when learning one doesn't seek the easiest and most superficial ways of understanding and instead tries with however much time he has, to plumb the depths of any given topic and then move on to the next.
Well, life is deep and Torah is the blueprint for life so Torah is deep. Not everthing can be explained in one sentence.
I am presently involved in researching the nature of the forbidden labor of הוצאה on Shabbos. Straightforward. Don't carry an object from the private domain to the public or vice versa.
Yet.
Yet, one can write a thousand books on this issue and not be finished.
The rishonim describe it as a "melacha grua" an inferior melacha. I can easily [with Hashem's help and a computer] write a full length book just to explore the definition of the term "melacha grua".
I say "WOW". So profound. Two words that don't even appear in the gemara and yet so much has been written about them.
It gives one such an appreciation for Torah. It is critical that when learning one doesn't seek the easiest and most superficial ways of understanding and instead tries with however much time he has, to plumb the depths of any given topic and then move on to the next.
More Than Just A Body
לרפואת האדמו"ר ר' יצחק מנחם בן גיטל מירל בריינדל לאה
אכן רוח היא באנוש ונשמת שדי תבינם
איוב לב ח
Indeed, it is a spirit in man and it is a soul from Hashem that gives them understanding.
The one basic question that presents itself every second of every day of our lives is whether this world is a purely physical world that consists of only what our eyes can see or even what a microscope can reveal or is there more? Is there also a very prominent spiritual component that our crude [מגושם] this-worldly eyes do not perceive?
Today, I went to see a tzaddik with a close friend. The tzaddik has this other-worldly ability to see a person's deeds on his or her face [in Kabbalah this is called חכמת הפרצוף]. He blew me away [I've seen it before but it never fails to impress..] when he read this person's deeds and told him something that only I [and maybe one other person] know.
And I didn't tell....
The goal, of course, was not the razzle-dazzle but to help this person in his Avodas Hashem.
It reminded me, once again, is that there is so much more to this world than meets the blind, crude, human, physical eye.
So I write a note to my readers:
Dear Souls,
Remember, you are not just bodies.
Love,
Me:-)
אכן רוח היא באנוש ונשמת שדי תבינם
איוב לב ח
Indeed, it is a spirit in man and it is a soul from Hashem that gives them understanding.
The one basic question that presents itself every second of every day of our lives is whether this world is a purely physical world that consists of only what our eyes can see or even what a microscope can reveal or is there more? Is there also a very prominent spiritual component that our crude [מגושם] this-worldly eyes do not perceive?
Today, I went to see a tzaddik with a close friend. The tzaddik has this other-worldly ability to see a person's deeds on his or her face [in Kabbalah this is called חכמת הפרצוף]. He blew me away [I've seen it before but it never fails to impress..] when he read this person's deeds and told him something that only I [and maybe one other person] know.
And I didn't tell....
The goal, of course, was not the razzle-dazzle but to help this person in his Avodas Hashem.
It reminded me, once again, is that there is so much more to this world than meets the blind, crude, human, physical eye.
So I write a note to my readers:
Dear Souls,
Remember, you are not just bodies.
Love,
Me:-)
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