HAYOM

Channukah & Purim

2007-12-06T10:01:00.000-05:00

The Shulchan Aruch rules that [unlike purim,] on Channukah there is no requirement to eat a seudah.

ריבוי הסעודות שמרבים בהם הם סעודות הרשות, שלא קבעום למשתה ושמחה.

The Levush explains that there is a fundamental difference between Channuka and Purim. Haman's decree was against the "Guf" (body) of the Jews - to wipe them out physically, to kill every single Jew. Therefore when Chazal instituted the method of commemorating the miracle of the salvation they chose to commemorate it through our "guf" - mishteh v'shimcha. Channukah was different. There was no physical danger to the Jews. The decree was to try to force assimilation onto the Jewish people. It was a decree against the nefesh (soul) of the Jewish people. Therefore Chazal chose to establish a means of commemorating the miracle through the nefesh of klal yisroel - hallel v'hoda'ah.

Although this is the most well known reason (likely because it is quoted by the Mishnah B'rurah) there are others as well.

The Yosef Lekach writes that Chazal did not establish a festive meal on Channuka because in the wars that preceded the miracle there was great loss of Jewish life. Purim however was a complete trouncing, there was no loss of Jewish life, therefore there is a festive meal.

In other words, the element of sadness over the great loss of life, that existed alongside the simcha of the nes channuka precluded the festivities of mishteh. All it allowed for was hallel v'hodaah. Purim however was complete unmitigated simcha therfore there is mishteh v'simcha.

Perhaps we can take this thought a little further and come to somewhat of a hybrid pshat.

The physical body, the guf, is capable of understanding pleasure and understanding pain. When the two feelings are combined we require our intellect to comprehend it. Nuanced understandings is for the realm of nefesh. The absolute simcha of purim is something that can be celebrated through guf - therefore, mishteh. Very different are the nuanced feelings of channukah. They can only fully be appreciated by the nefesh - therefore, hallel v'hodaa.

Two nights ago in Lakewood

2007-06-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

That's the sun.
No post-processing or color correction.

Mazal Tov LkwdGuy!

2007-05-27T14:44:00.000-05:00

LkwdGuy's family just grew by one!
Mazal Tov!

If only Leo DaVinci had MS Paint!

2007-04-29T21:43:00.000-05:00

...He probably could've saved alot of time.
This is ridiculously cool.

Hey, I'm talking here!

2007-04-29T10:43:00.000-05:00

Is concern for others a lost art?

A few days ago I had a meeting in a Jewish community which will remain nameless. I was running a little late, and the traffic wasn't helping. I made a turn down a one-way street a few blocks away from where I had to be, and there's a car stopped in middle of the street, the obviously frum driver deep in conversation with another obviously frum man who is standing by his front passenger window. (I should mention that there was no lack of parking spots further up the street and he could easily have pulled over if he was so inclined).

I pulled up behind him and figure he will notice me and move his car. No such luck. So I guessed he just didn't see me. I gave a little tap on the horn. The man doesn't even look in his rearview mirror. More cars have pulled up behind me now, and their drivers are less patient than I. A cacophony of car horns ring out. I hold down my own horn a little more. The man is either deaf (unlikely) or just doesn't care (more likely).

This goes on for about 5 or 6 minutes. He is deep in conversation. Finally, he sloooooowly pulls his car into one of the empty spaces on the street. His friend walks over and they continue their conversation.

I'm all for judging people favorably. But there are times, when try as you might you can't come up with anything. I pulled my own car over, got out and walked over to the driver side window. He rolled down his window. This is the conversation that ensued:

Him: What's the problem"?

Me: "Didn't you see me waiting behind you? Didn't you hear all the beeping? I'm in a rush, I have to be somewhere, but you felt that everyone else should wait for you to finish your conversation? Do you care about anyone else?"

Him: "If you're in such a rush why are you standing here talking? Get in your car and drive away".

He looked at his buddy, they both laughed, he rolled his window up and continued his conversation. I walked away before I did something stupid.

Bishvili Nivrah HaOlam was not meant to be taken literally. I was honestly in shock that someone could be so self-absorbed, so oblivious to anyone else. I hope this is an isolated event, but I fear otherwise. When did people stop caring about anyone else? It's mind-boggling. Really.

L'shana Habaa...

2007-04-01T08:44:00.000-05:00

Pesach Prerequisite

2007-03-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

The haggadah begins with the passage "Ha lachma anyah". It starts out with a one line description of the matzah that we eat. "This is the bread of affliction that our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt". Immediately following this, we proceed to extend an invitation to the poor to come join us at our seder. The question has been asked, what is this invitation doing at the start of the haggadah?

I would like to suggest the following explanation:

The Maharal asks, why does kabalas ol malchus shomayim begin with the words Shema yisroel? The point of kabalas ol malchus shomayim is really to proclaim Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad, why do we preface it with the words "Shema yisroel"?

The Maharal explains, the kingdom of any king is only as strong as his nation is. If the people don't accept the monarchy, there is no monarchy. Ain melech b'lo am. The strength of the malchus is proportionate to how unified the nation is in accepting the king. So before we are mekabel the malchus shomayim on ourselves, we proclaim "Shema Yisroel", listen all fellow Jews, as if to say “We are one group, one am yisroel, totally united in accepting You as our King”.

One of the main themes of Pesach in general, and of the haggadah in particular, is the idea of וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לִי לְעָם, וְהָיִיתִי לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים . Through the exodus from Egypt we became God's nation. The point of sippur yitziyas mitzrayim is to lead to the realization that we are Am Hashem. But a prerequisite of being an Am Hashem is that we first have to be an Am. A consortium of various splinter groups cannot rightly refer to themselves as an Am.

So before we begin to expound on the various aspects of yetziyas mitzrayim we first invite everyone to our table, thereby proclaiming, now that we are a unified Am, we can begin to discuss being an Am Hashem.

I heard the following vort from my Rosh Yeshiva regarding the above mentioned Maharal:

At the end of the tachnun we say the tefillah of shomer yisrael. In it we ask for Hashem's protection based on three things. 1. ha'omrim shema yisrael 2. hamiyachadim shimcha heshem elokeinu hashem echad 3. hamishalishim b'shalosh kedushas. Now if we examine this list we will see that items 1 and 2 seem to refer to the same thing, namely, kabalas ol malchus shomayim. However, according to the Maharal that we mentioned above it makes a lot of sense. Ha’omrim shema yisroel is not referring to Kabalos ol malchus shomayim. It is referring to the fact that we are a united people.

Making Sense of the Census

2007-03-12T11:17:00.000-05:00

Everyone knows that the total number of adult men in the midbar was 600,000. In fact, there are a few specific halachos that are learned from that number. An example would be, the number of people needed [according to most Rishonim] in an area to qualify as a biblical reshus harabbim (See Rashi Eruvin 6b).

However, the results of the census taken in the midbar and recorded in the Torah, indicates that there were more than 600,000 people. The exact number given is 603,550. Why the discrepancy? Why do we not require 603,550 people to create a rishus harabbim?

I heard the following brilliant explanation from Rabbi Yisroel Reissman in his motzai shabbos nach shiur:

In parshas ki setzei the posuk relates regarding Amalek:

אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ, וַיְזַנֵּב בְּךָ כָּל-הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִים אַחֲרֶיךָ
how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, all that were enfeebled in thy rear

Who were these "enfeebled" people that Amalek smote? Rashi quotes the medrash that these were the members of the erev rav who were outside the protective cover of the ananey hakavod.

Now if it can somehow be demonstrated that these people numbered 3,550, we would understand why the gemorah refers to 600,000. That would be the total number of people that were actually inside the machaneh.

In this weeks parsha, parshas vayakhel, we read how most of the silver that was collected through the machatzis hashekel, the 1/2 shekel per person donation, was utilized for the construction of the adonim, the bases for the kerashim. There was however a small amount of silver that was left over after all the adonim were completed. This silver was used to make the hooks that held the curtains that surrounded the perimeter of the mishkan.

How did Moshe determine who's donations would go for the adonim and who's donations would be used for the hooks? The hooks were on the outside of the mishkan in an area where there was no kedusha (min ha-klayos v'lachutz). It would be a safe assumption that Moshe would use the donations of the erev rav for these hooks. (The donation of those that were outside ot the machaneh would be used on the outside of the mishkan.)

How much silver was left over and used to fabricate the hooks? The pasuk says:

וְאֶת-הָאֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע הַמֵּאוֹת, וַחֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁבְעִים, עָשָׂה וָוִים, לָעַמּוּדִים
One thousand, seven hundred and seventy five shekalom worth of silver.

If our assumption is correct, that the erev rav were the ones that donated the silver for the hooks, we can now determine the exact census of the members of the erev rav. Bearing in mind that each person donated a 1/2 shekel, it would follow that this silver was received from 3,550 people. 3,550 individuals. 3,550 people who were outside of the machaneh. Which leaves us with exactly 600,000 people inside of the machaneh.

גַּל-עֵינַי וְאַבִּיטָה נִפְלָאוֹת, מִתּוֹרָתֶךָ.

A Purim Kler

2007-02-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

There are a number of pesukim of the meggilah that are recited aloud by the whole tzibbur. Among them is the pasuk that contains the names of the ten sons of Haman.

The Mishna Berura quotes the Chaye Adam that the minhag that the entire congragation says the eseres bnai haman out loud during the meggila reading, is not a [valid] minhag.

However, the Ragatchover famously held that it is required. His reasoning is, since the gemorah rules that the names of the ten sons of haman must be said in a single breath (b'nishima achas), the rule of shomeia k'oneh (hearing words can halachicly be considered as if those words were spoken by the listener) can only work for the actual words of the meggila but not for the method in which they are to be read. In other words, by listening to the korei read the eseres bnei haman, halachicly it would be considered as if I actually read them but it would not be considered as if I read them in a single breath. Therefore, the requirement of nishima achas demands that each and every listener read those words himself, in a single breath.

I believe that this machlokes can be explained as follows:

The basis for the requirement of nishima achas is (as mentioned above) the Gemorah in Meggilah [16B]:

עשרת בני המן ועשרת צריך לממרינהו בנשימה אחת מאי טעמא כולהו בהדי הדדי נפקו נשמתיהו

The mitzvah of kriyas hamiggilah contains in it two components. There is the aspect of kriyah, similar to krias hatorah and there is also the aspect of pirsumei nisa. The Gemorah quoted above is unclear as to the reason for the requirement of nishima achas. The Rambam however, quotes the Gemorah as follows:

וצריך הקורא לקרות עשרת בני המן ועשרת, בנשימה אחת, כדי להודיע לעם, שכולם נתלו ונהרגו כאחד.

The Rambam adds the words כדי להודיע לעם. The implication is that the words are read in a single breath in order to demonstrate that they were all hanged at one time. This clearly is a persumai nisa requirement. (See also Rambam, Hilchos Chanuka 4:12 where he uses very similar language in referance to persumei nisa).

If the requirement is a part of persumai nisa it would follow that only the korei would be required to do it. Just as the korei fulfills the requirement of persumei nisa by reading the meggila in public, he can also fulfill this additional persumei nisa requirement by reading these words in a single breath publicly. There is no reason to require each listener to say the words himself. (A careful reading of the Rambam in fact shows that the Rambam only requires the korei to say these words.)

The Rogatchover however, understood that the requirement of nishima achas is a part of the Halachos of kriyas hameggilah. It is not to serve the function of persumai nisa. Therefore he required each listener to say the words themselves because shmea keoneh cannot work for nishima achas (as explained above).

If the above was not clear, I'll try writing it in a language that I am more comfortable with.

We can kler a shayla, is the din of nishima achas a din in persumei nisa or is it a din in kriyas hameggilah. If it's a din in prsumei nisa then just like the korei is mikayem persumei nisa by layning the megilah betzibur he can also be mikayim this din nosef of persumei nisa (dhaynu, nishima achas) through his maisah kriyah. For persumei nisa we don't have to come onto shomea keoneh, we just need to be mefarsem the nes. Ma shein ken, if you hold that it's a din in kriah. Kriah is mechayev that each yochid layns. The only was to be mikayem the din kriyah (without layning yourself) is through the din of shomea keoneh. But shomea keoneh can only work for the etzem kriyah, to say that the kriyah of the korai is nisyaches to the shomea. It cannot shtel tzu the oyfen hakriah - nishima achas. Mimela the Ragotchover held that everyone has to layn eseres bnei haman themselves in order to be mikayem the din of kriyah bnishima achas.

New toy!

2007-02-21T17:14:00.000-05:00

My new toy arrived!

If anyone is looking for me, you may not find me for a couple of months. :)

Rumors of Hayom's demise are greatly exaggerated

2007-02-19T16:59:00.000-05:00

We're not dead!
Consider this a sign of life.

One sunny day in 2008, an old man approached the White House from across Pennsylvania Avenue , where he'd been sitting on a park bench. He spoke to the Marine standing guard and said, "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary Clinton ." The Marine replied, "Sir, Mrs. Clinton is not President and doesn't reside here." The old man said, "Okay," and walked away.

The following day, the same man approached the White House and said to the same Marine, "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary Clinton". The Marine again told the man, "Sir, as I said yesterday, Mrs. Clinton is not President and doesn't reside here." The man thanked him and again walked away.

The third day, the same man approached the White House and spoke to the very same Marine, saying "I would like to go in and meet with President Hillary Clinton." The Marine, understandably agitated at this point, looked at the man and said, "Sir, this is the third day in a row you have been here asking to speak to Mrs. Clinton . I've told you already several times that Mrs. Clinton is not the President and doesn't reside here. Don 't you understand?"

The old man answered, "Oh, I understand you fine, I just love hearing your answer!"

The Marine snapped to attention, saluted, and said, "See you tomorrow."

Rabbeinu Yonah on Accepting Truth

2007-01-26T09:01:00.000-05:00

In a comment to this post, Barzilai wrote the following:

See Rabbeinu Yonah on Avos 2:4 D'H Ahl Taamin B'atzm'choh. He says precisely the opposite of the oft quoted Rambam.

So last night I looked it up and this is what I found:

The Mishna in Avos says: Al taamin b'atzmcha, Do not be overly confident in yourself.

R. Yonah first explains that this is true in the area of actions, i.e., A righteous person who is careful in his observance of mitzvos and in refraining from avayros for many years should still not delude himself into believing that he is totally immune from sinning, because the yetzer hara does not give up the fight until a person is gone from this world.

He then adds that the Mishna's warning is applicable in another area as well. That is, in the arena of Emunah. He writes the following:

(translation by me, it may be somewhat imprecise but you'll get the gist of it)

We are warned against learning from heretics, and even from their true ideas because all contact with them is bad. It can lead one to believe ideas that are against our laws, because these ideas have the ability to draw at the heart. So do not be overly confident in yourself to say "I will learn from them and I will accept only the good but the bad I will reject". One should not rely on his own intellect as R. Meir did when he studied under Elisha the heretic, as we learn in Chagigah [15b] that it is said regarding R. Meir "He found a pomegranate, he ate the fruit and discarded the shell". But not all people are equal in their ability to do so.

While it seems to me that R. Yonah would certainly reject the way the Rambam's dictum is invoked by many people today, he also is clearly not totally rejecting it either. He does not condemn R. Meir for studying under Elisha. R. Yonah's concern seems to be, how can a person be absolutely sure that the idea that he is about to accept is actually a "truth". Relying on one's own intellect in this regard is faulty because who is to say that he has never been fooled.

In truth, this concern is voiced by at least one of the other major Rishonim.

ולא עבודה זרה בלבד הוא שאסור להיפנות אחריה במחשבה, אלא כל מחשבה שגורמת לו לאדם לעקור עיקר מעיקרי התורה-מוזהרין אנו שלא להעלותה על ליבנו, ולא נסיח דעתנו לכך ונחשוב ונימשך אחר הרהורי הלב: מפני שדעתו של אדם קצרה, ולא כל הדעות יכולות להשיג האמת על בורייו; ואם יימשך כל אדם אחר מחשבות ליבו, נמצא מחריב את העולם לפי קוצר דעתו

Any guesses on which Rishon is being quoted?

If you guessed Rambam.... you are correct!

Clearly the Rambam didn't advocate a total pursuit of the truth by every individual relaying solely on one's own intellect as the only check against error. The Rambam did believe that he himself had the ability to do this - and that's what he is saying in his famous quote. The Rambam selectively quoted the sources that he believed to be true. Now when presenting it to the reader as a finished product, he implores the reader not to question his judgment but rather to accept the what the Rambam himself has already determined to be the truth, regardless of it's source. I don't believe that the Rambam meant for every person to go off on his own search for truth without any checks.

So in short, what it boils down to is - He could say it, we can't.

Rashi on Accepting Truth

2007-01-23T12:02:00.000-05:00

The Rambam, in his introduction to his Peirush on Avos, Shemoneh Perakim, famously writes the following:

ודע, שהדברים אשר אומר בפרקים אלו ובמה שיבוא מן הפירוש, אינם עניינים שבדיתים מעצמי, ולא פירושים שחידשתים, אמנם הם עניינים מלוקטים מדברי החכמים במדרש ובתלמוד, וזולתם מחיבוריהם, ומדברי הפילוסופים גם הקדומים והחדשים; ומחיבורי הרבה בני אדם.
ושמע האמת ממי שאמרה.

My translation:

And know, that the words which I will say in these chapters, and in the explanation itself, are not ideas that I originated, nor are they my own novel insights, rather they are ideas that were compiled from the chachamim in the Midrash and the Talmud, as well as from their other writings, and also from the words of the early and later philosophers as well as from the works of many people. And accept the truth from the one who says it.

The Rambam goes on to explain that it is for this reason that he chose not to quote people by name in this work. He did not want the "inexperienced person" (thanks, S.) to disregard the statement because of its source.

In this post I would like to try to demonstrate that the Rambam's view in this matter is not the only view.

In Makos (5b) the gemarah relates the following incident:

ההיא איתתא דאתאי סהדי ואישתקור אייתי סהדי ואישתקור אזלה אייתי סהדי אחריני דלא אישתקור אמר ריש לקיש הוחזקה זו א"ל ר' אלעזר אם היא הוחזקה כל ישראל מי הוחזקו זימנין הוו יתבי קמיה דרבי יוחנן אתא כי האי מעשה לקמייהו אמר ריש לקיש הוחזקה זו א"ל רבי יוחנן אם הוחזקה זו כל ישראל מי הוחזקו הדר חזיה לרבי אלעזר בישות אמר ליה שמעת מילי מבר נפחא ולא אמרת לי משמיה

A woman once brought witnesses, and they were found to be lying. She then brought another pair of witnesses, who were also found to be lying . She then brought a third party. Said Resh Lakish: This woman has established herself [as someone whose purpose is to use false witnesses]. Said R. Elazar to him: Because she he established herself has all of Israel established themselves [to be suspected of testifying falsely]? Such a case happened also before the court of R. Yochanan, and Resh Lakish said "this woman has established herself". But R. Yochanan exclaimed: "Because she he established herself has all of Israel established themselves?" He (Resh Lakish) looked at R. Elazar rebukingly, saying: You have heard your statement from Bar Naf'ha (R. Yochanan), and you have not mentioned his name!

(Translation courtesy of Sacred-Text, edited by me to represent what the gemorah actually says)

What is not clear from this gemorah is why was Resh Lakish upset at R. Elazar? What exactly was his complaint?

There is a very similar gemorah in Kesuvos (25b). While the matter under discussion there is different, it does feature R. Elazar saying something to Resh Lakish which Resh Lakish subsequently heard from R. Yochanan. Again Resh Lakish was upset at R. Elazar and addressed the same rebuke to him. (You have heard your statement from Bar Naf'ha (R. Yochanan), and you have not mentioned his name!)

To this gemorah Rashi comments:

He [RL] turned his head around and stared at R. Elazar with an ayin ra'ah for he [RL] understood that R. Yochanan was the source for R. Elazar's words but when he [R. Elazar] said it [to RL] he didn't say it in the name of R. Yochanan, therefore he did not accept it from him.

Now in all honesty, I don't really understand Rashi's explanation of Resh Lakish's objection. But is there any other way to understand Rashi other than to conclude that Rashi (or perhaps, Resh Lakish) did not subscribe to the Rambam's dictum?

The Message of the Wind

2007-01-22T13:33:00.000-05:00

This is a repost of last year's Parshas Bo post.

Right at the beginning of the parsha, Moshe warns Pharaoh of the impending plague of locust. Then the Torah tells us how the plague actually transpired:

יג וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מַטֵּהוּ, עַל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיהוָה נִהַג רוּחַ-קָדִים בָּאָרֶץ, כָּל-הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל-הַלָּיְלָה; הַבֹּקֶר הָיָה--וְרוּחַ הַקָּדִים, נָשָׂא אֶת-הָאַרְבֶּה

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Why was the wind necessary? The only act that proceeded the earlier plagues was Moshe (or Aharon) hitting the ground or the river with a stick.

It seems like, for some reason, G-d wanted this plague to appear totally natural. The wind blew all night and in the morning they saw that wind was bringing in locust swarms. I assume that that is the way a locust swarm would usually arrive.

Perhaps G-d was saying (to the Egyptians as well as to the Jews), you all realized over the course of the last few months that I am the Master of the Universe, I can change the nature of water at will, I can cause an infestation of frogs to suddenly appear. But maybe you still don't understand that not only can I do all this supernatural stuff, I also control the natural events that happen all the time. Therefore, G-d sent this totally natural plague, complete with gusts of wind, and sandwiched it between two supernatural events to show everyone that from G-d's perspective there is no difference between the supernatural and nature.

The Ramban at the end of the Parsha says that the reason we are commanded to constantly remind ourselves of Yitziyas Mitzrayim (through mitzvos like shabbos, yom tov, teffilin, mezuzah) is not just to remember the shock and awe of the makkos and of yetziyas mitzrayim. The more important point is that through remembering the supernatural events that took place at yetziyas mitzrayim one will come to the realization that G-d controls every aspect of our natural existence as well.

That, I think, may be the message of the wind.

High Expectations

2007-01-10T15:33:00.000-05:00

In this weeks Parsha:

ו וַתִּפְתַּח וַתִּרְאֵהוּ אֶת-הַיֶּלֶד, וְהִנֵּה-נַעַר בֹּכֶה; וַתַּחְמֹל עָלָיו--וַתֹּאמֶר, מִיַּלְדֵי הָעִבְרִים זֶה. ז וַתֹּאמֶר אֲחֹתוֹ, אֶל-בַּת-פַּרְעֹה, הַאֵלֵךְ וְקָרָאתִי לָךְ אִשָּׁה מֵינֶקֶת, מִן הָעִבְרִיֹּת; וְתֵינִק לָךְ, אֶת-הַיָּלֶד.

6. She opened [it], and she saw him the child, and behold, he was a weeping lad, and she had compassion on him, and she said, "This is [one] of the children of the Hebrews."

7. His sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call for you a wet nurse from the Hebrew women, so that she shall nurse the child for you?"

Rashi comments:
From the Hebrew women.

This teaches that she handed him around to many Egyptian women to be nursed, but he refused to nurse, for he was destined to speak with the Divine Presence.

Interestingly enough, this Medrash is brought l'halachah.

The Rema (SA YD 81:7) rules that a yisroel child should not nurse from an mitzris if there is a viable alternative available. Biur HaGra cites this Medrash as the source for Rema's ruling.

The obvious question is, how could this Medrash possibly be the source for Rema's ruling. The Medrash clearly states that the reason that Moshe objected to nursing from a mitzris was because "he was destined to speak with the Divine Presence", why should that apply to every other child?

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky (Emes L'Yaakov, shmos 2:7) answers, that we can learn from here a vital lesson in how to be m'chanch our children. We must have the absolute highest expectations for our children. We must give them the tools that they need to reach the greatest heights. We must educate each child as if he is a future Moshe Rabbeinu. Obviously no child will speak directly with the shchina as moshe did, however, for parents to deny the child that chance right from the outset, to cripple him because of their low expectations is a sin.

A Really Old Book

2007-01-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

A few months ago my great-uncle died. He was an askan in many Jewish causes, a respected man. He had a large collection of seforim and books. His children, unfortunately, have no need for seforim. So they called us asking us to take what we want before they sell his house. We collected several large boxes. Among these boxes was one box of really old seforim.

I was going through this box, and I found many different siddurim, tehillims, chumashim, etc. from various times and places in Europe. Then, on the bottom of the box I found a small, thin volume wrapped in plastic. I unwrapped it and carfeully opened the cover. It is completely handwritten. The pages are brown and splotchy and sometimes hard to read. The date on top reads 1719.

The chances of this actually being from 1719 is virtually nil, and as I began reading the cursive script I was more and more sure of that. It tells the story of Avraham Ben Avraham, the famous Ger Tzedek of Vilna. He wasn't killed until 1749. So it seems obvious to me that the date of 1719 is the date when the story begins in this book. The first sentence would also lead to that conclusion.

I had always accepted this story as factual, not having done any research into it.

But a visit to Wikipedia shows that there is some scholarly debate if this story really happened. If I could accurately date this little book, perhaps some of this doubt can be put to rest. I don't know when it's from but it looks really old to me. Significantly older than some of the 1850's era books that were in the box.

Closed book

This is what it looks like when you open the cover. There are obviously some pages that were cut out with a sharp-edged object.

There seems to be some kind of ledger, where the author wrote a list of names with a number near each one. There is no monetary symbol, unfortunately.

First page

I have a high-res (3.89mb) scan of the first page, if anyone wants it.

[Not] Agudah's Response

2006-12-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz, a renowned educator and writer, has written an excellent piece on abuse in the frum community. His article has been linked to by many JBloggers, including good old DovBear. Now, DovBear had been very critical of Agudah in the past for not being at the forefront dealing with the issue. Considering that Rabbi Horowitz is the director of Project Y.E.S. which is a project of Agudath Israel of America and that this article appeared on [what appeared to be] Project Y.E.S.' website, I, along with another commenter, pointed out to DB that he should be crediting Agudah for publishing such a courageous article.

My impression of the site being an Agudah site was based on this graphic that appeared at the bottom of the page:

Well, apparently someone somewhere was not too happy about this insinuation. The bottom of the website has been modified sometime in the last 18 hours. It now reads:

Well, at least I tried.

A Chanukah Kler

2006-12-19T11:36:00.000-05:00

This past Shabbos, my brother (Bro #2 of this post ) was kind enough to join us at our home. He arrived Friday afternoon and planned on departing for house (approx. a 1 1/2 hour drive) shortly after Shabbos ended. The question arose as to where he should kindle the Menorah on motzai shabbos.

Chazal instituted the requirement to light the menorah in one's home. The point that needs to be defined is what constitutes one's "home" for this discussion. All agree that a certain level of k'vius is needed. Many poskim hold that spending a single night somewhere is enough of a k'vius to enable one to light at that location. So for Friday night, obviously Bro #2 lit at my house. Motzai shabbbos however, was not so clear. The tzdadim were, should he light at his home because that is his real k'vius, or, should he light at my house because the fact that he spent the past 24 hours there constitutes a k'vius, and it would allow for the additional benefit of lighting at the preferred time, whereas waiting until he would get home would mean lighting at least 90 minutes later.

Bro objected to this last point. How, he asked, can we consider the benefit of lighting on time on motzai shabbos, when it is long after the preferred time of shortly after sunset? And since either way he will not be lighting at the zman, he felt he would be better off lighting at his home at a later time.

I responded with the following chakirah. Is the zman of hadlakas neiros always shortly after shkiyah, and on motzai shabbos, because we have no choice we are forced to light later, or, the regular zman is for all other days but on motzai shabbos chazal were never misaken a zman hadloka of shkiyah but rather a later zman.

I suspect that the second tzad is correct. Therefore it would follow that there would be a benefit of lighting right away on motzai shabbos as opposed to waitng until returning home.

As always consult with a competent halachic authority with any halachic questions. Certainly, before following something written on an anonymous blog.

Happy Channukah!

2006-12-15T10:55:00.000-05:00

Candles in the Park

2006-12-13T03:34:00.000-05:00

A rabbi out West
wants some reasons
why we aren't with the rest
this holiday season

So I wrote this little thing
not for him alone
but for all who might sing
ma'oz tzur on a megaphone

A six-foot menorah
in it's legal place
standing with the tinsel
is a disgrace

Candles in the park
as night takes over the day
might light up the dark
but it's not the Jewish way

Menorahs on a cake
and draidel-shaped pizza
might be fun to make
but it's not persumei nissa

Halacha tells us how
to give our lives meaning
it's not just about
a warm and fuzzy feeeling

Yivanim Nikbitzu Alai
that was back then
if we do what we should
it may not happen again

So let's do what is right
not just how we feel
and perhaps we just might
see Moshiach - for real!

More on Chabad Menorah Displays

2006-12-12T15:35:00.000-05:00

For what it's worth, here's my take on the Seattle Chabad Rabbi and his Menorah display that Shtender discussed in this post.

With both sides playing the PR game it's very hard to know what really went on there. The Rabbi claims he didn't threaten a lawsuit, I suppose we should give him the benefit of the doubt. But regardless, I think Shtender's broader point still stands. There is no need for public displays of menorahs. Chazal were quite explicit regarding where persumei nissa should be performed, namely at one's home and in shul. Nowhere else. Rav Elyashiv in a printed teshuva says that, because of this there is no reason to light a menorah at a public chanukah gathering.

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky reportedly was not pleased with people wearing their taleisim in the streets of NY. We don't have to flaunt our religion in the faces of the Christian majority. We can behave like proud Jews by keeping the Torah and Mitzvos, not by making unnecessary public displays of our religious symbols.

Do they need more reasons to hate us?

2006-12-11T00:49:00.000-05:00

Must we give it to them?

Yes, I'm talking to you Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky.

Who, you ask?

Well, let me tell you.

He's a Chabad rabbi in Seattle who was so offended by the Christmas tree display in Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, that he hired a lawyer and threatened to sue if they did not add a huge menorah to the display.

So what did the airport staff do?

They removed everything. All the trees and ribbons.

In their words:
"We decided to take the trees down because we didn't want to be exclusive," said airport spokeswoman Terri-Ann Betancourt. "We're trying to be thoughtful and respectful, and will review policies after the first of the year."

Of course people are outraged at the rabbi, as they should be.

We live in galus. Do we really need this? Must we continue to draw unwanted attention to ourselves? Do we need to make it so easy for them to target us? Does a tree display really bother anyone so much? Let them put up their trees. It's their country, not ours. But instead of being thankful for this medina shel chessed, this idiot needs his 6-foot menorah.

Personally, a menorah in the airport might actually bother me more than the trees.

Some people say that the airport should've stood up to him. Smart move by the airport people, in my opinion. They made the rabbi look like the dolt that he is. I say the Seattle Jewish community should stand up to him and say that we don't really care if there are trees in the airport.

Sheesh.

I don't live in Seattle but I herby publicly state that this rabbi does not speak for me.

Read the story here.

Helfgot performs Cantorial Classics

2006-12-05T11:02:00.000-05:00

An admittedly non-mavens review of Yitzchok Meir Helfgot's "Cantorial Classics" performance this past Sunday night, December 3rd, at The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City.

1. Although I enjoyed the entire concert from beginning to end, I did find that the more familiar I was with Helfgot's rendition of a specific piece (from his CD's), the less I enjoyed it. This was even more pronounced in cases that I was previously familiar with Motti Sobol's arrangements (e.g., Hallilu , Brach dodi , V'chol hachayim). I would guess the reason is that digitally recorded studio music played at a high volume will always sound better than live music from a distance of 1/4 mile (roughly the distance between Family Circle, Row G, Seat 217 and the orchestra). Also, I was much more attuned to the slight variations in those pieces which was a little distracting.

2. Each piece was preceded by a short video introduction in which Sobol gave a brief history of the composer and the chazzan that popularized that piece. I enjoyed that format and there were some interesting tidbits in some of those clips. (Like Yossle Rosenblatt's fatal heart attack while being filmed for a movie in a boat in the middle of the Jordan river while he was singing "Hayam ra'ah vyanos hayarden tisov liachar"). However, I would urge all those that attend future concerts not to applaud during these clips. You see, IT'S PRERECORDED. The speaker will not wait for the clapping to die down. If you applaud for five seconds, you are going to miss five seconds of what he's saying. It would make more sense to wait until the end of the video and then to applaud. Even if he mentions the words "Boro Park". (For some reason every mention of BP elicited whoops and hollers).

3. In many chazzanus pieces, the climax of the entire piece is the ending. I therefore was perplexed and frustrated when the audience broke into applause and screams as Helfgot approached the last few notes of each piece thereby totally drowning out his voice.

4. I noticed a few members of my community who were trying to hide in the shadows. Apparently they wanted to be at this concert but they didn't want to be seen. Grow up.

5. I was a little uncomfortable when Rabbi Lau's thanks to Hakadsh Baruch Hu was met with thunderous applause. It could have been worse though,at least there were no chants of "Go G-d Go".

6. I overheard a few people commenting that it seemed like Helfgot was having a bit of an off night. Since I have never heard him perform live before, I have no benchmark to compare last night to. He seemed on top of his game to me although his voice did "phlegm up" two or three times during the evening, Interestingly, it never happened at the really high notes as far as I recall.

All in all, a very entertaining evening. Hopefully there will be many more of these in the future.

NY Giants Vs. Y.M. Helfgot

2006-11-30T17:05:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, a customer of mine offered me and a co-worker Giants tickets for this Sundays game. My co-worker jumped at the offer. After checking the calendar I realized that I already had tickets for the Helfgot concert at the Met which will be taking place the same day. So, Giants vs. Helfgot, who shall it be?

If these were Yankee tickets and it was a huge game, I would probably go to the Yankee game. But the fact of the matter is, I am not much of a football fan. I would go to the game if I didn't have anything else to do, but not when it means missing the Helfgot concert. No way.

Problem is, I was planning on attending the concert with my brother. (My wife was not interested. Chazanus, it seems is a male thing.) When my brother heard that I had a ticket to a Giants game that I would not be using, well lemme just say, he's going to the Giants game.

So that leaves me with an extra ticket for the Helfgot concert. No big deal I figured. I have a few other brothers. Surely one of them would want to go to the concert. So I called brother number one.

Me: Hey bro, whats going on?

Bro #1: Not much.

Me: Any plans for Sunday?

Bro #1: You bet.

Me: Well I'm sure that will change after I tell you that I have a ticket for you for the Helfgot concert.

Bro #1: No chance.

Me: Why not. Whats going on?

Bro #1: Are you nuts? There is a HUGE Giants game this Sunday.

Oh well, no big deal. On to Bro #2.

Me: Hey bro, whats going on?

Bro #2: Not much.

Me: Any plans for Sunday?

Bro #2: You bet.

Me: Well I'm sure that will change after I tell you that I have a ticket for you for the Helfgot concert.

Bro #2: No chance.

Me: Why not. Whats going on?

Bro #2: Are you nuts? There is a HUGE Giants game this Sunday.

I tried a few friends. Friend #1 "Who's Helfgot?" Friend #2 "Give me a call back when I'm sixty".

So that leaves me with an extra ticket to a sold out concert.

The Real Issues

2006-11-25T18:34:00.000-05:00

This Shabbos we were talking at the table about the situation in Eretz Yisroel and Iran.

Someone said, "You know, Netanyahu is right. It's 1939 again, and Germany is Iran. Unfortunately, Jews haven't learned their lesson. Sure, there are teshuva movements bringing people back, but not nearly enough people are coming back."

I thought about this for awhile.

While I don't disagree with that, I think there's a much bigger problem.

I remember a few weeks ago standing near the Kosel with a group of people. I saw a young Frum man talking animatedly with a group of Christian tourists. I edged closer and listened in. They were heatedly arguing about religion. Judaism is this, Christianity is that, Judaism believes in this, Christianity believes in that, so on and so forth. I waited until the discussion broke up. Then I went over to the man and asked him why he felt it necessary to convince people that we are right and they are wrong. In my words, "Jews don't proselytize. What's the point?" He replied, "We are supposed to be a light unto the nations. We should show them what the right way is." I strongly disagreed with him. I said, "Being a light unto the nations means to lead by example, that people should look up to us by the way we live." It doesn't mean to go out and try to convince the world that we are right. Our job in this world is to do what halacha requires of us, to do what we're supposed to do. When we do that, we will be a light unto the nations.

It's not our fault that Jews grow up in different parts of the world without knowing their history, heritage or religion, but it may be our fault that they don't come back. What is the perception that an irreligious Jew has of Frum yiddishkeit? Only what they see and hear.

And what do they see and hear?

This scandal, that scandal. Violent disagreements. This group in court feuding with that group. Again and again. Publicly. Mobs of people violently protesting in Yerushalayim. Destroying city property and physically assaulting policemen. I'm not arguing if the cause is just or unjust, I'm just talking about the way things are done and looked at. Of course the media just loves to play these things up as much as possible, and that only strengthens the outside perception. But it is our people doing it to begin with.

Obviously this is only a small amount of people, but it's enough to create the perception. When the shining jewel of yeshivos in Eretz Yisroel deteriorates into violent skirmishes, what is an outsider to think of yeshivos and those that study there? When those who are called ultra-Orthodox (whatever that means) spend their time squabbling in the courts and worse, what are outsiders to think of us? When the schools who educate our children use government programs improperly, what are outsiders to think? When individuals get plastered on the front pages for finanical impropriety, what are outsiders to think of us?

We are supposed to be a light unto the nations of the world and yet we aren't even a light to our own nation.

Not everyone can be involved in Kiruv, but we can all be involved in helping Kiruv work. And we should certainly not be involved in making sure it doesn't.

2 Kislev

2006-11-23T15:27:00.000-05:00

In Lakewood too long?

2006-11-20T17:02:00.000-05:00

Top ten fifteen signs that you've lived in Lakewood too long:

1. You refer to shopping on Clifton Avenue as "going to town".

2. You call Bais Eliyahu "the trailers".

3. You remember what used to stand on the parking lot between Yeshiva and the Legion.

4. You went to school in the Legion.

5. You remember what lies beneath the painted over mural on the Irv.

6. You bought pizza from the pizza truck.

7. You swam at the Y.

8. You attended simchos in The Simcha Room.

9. You remember the Holiday Inn.

10. You once didn't know what a townhouse was.

11. You shopped at the Co-op on Forest and Ninth.

12. You remember when Shloimy's was ShopRite and ShopRite was Shelby's.

13. You remember when Jamesway wasn't Yeshiva's warehouse.

14. You remember creeping down a dark rickety wooden staircase to toivel a pot.

15. You know who Chaim Yukel was.

Feel free to add to this list.

Leaderless?

2006-11-09T12:47:00.000-05:00

Our good friend over at Yeshivaworld posted a link to some of pashkvilim that were hung in Yerushalayim. One of them quite clearly calls for continued protests and bears the signature of Rav Elyashiv (amongst others). So I guess that settles it. Rav Elyashiv has paskened that the demonstrations must go on. Right?

Not so quick.

Jak Black of Mishmar writes :

I spoke to a friend of mine who had just come from a gathering of Rav Elyashiv's students. He heard the following firsthand:

A bochur asked: Should we protest?

Rav Elyashiv answered: Of course. You should turn to your chavrusah and say, "I protest." And your chavrusah should turn to you and say, "I protest." Then, the two of you should get back to learning.

The bochur then asked: What about Friday [the day of the Parade]?

Rav Elyashiv answered: You should get ready for Shabbos.

So, you might ask, as I did, what about the signs that bear Rav Elayashiv's signature?

Jak writes :

Rav Elyashiv was quoted today saying that those signs were blatant lies, and that "the one who put them up was looking for a way to justify his bitul Torah."

It appears to me the no one knows for sure what the Gedolim hold. Do they want bochrim and kollel yungerleit protesting? To they want other protesting? Do they want only non-violent protest? If so, who should be participating? How often?

We are blessed to have many Gedolim living in our generation, but if we have no way of knowing what their true opinions are, are we not essentially leaderless?

Pride Parade Thoughts

2006-11-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

Some thoughts on the parade and the associated violence:

I fully understand that a gay lifestyle is prohibited by the Torah.

I fully understand the that when people publicly flaunt their complete disregard for the Ratzon Hashem, the result is a Chillul Hashem.

I fully understand that if G-d fearing people ignore the tremendous Chillul Hashem and allow it to go on without uttering a sound, they too are a part of the resulting Chillul Hashem. Live and let live is NOT a Torah value.

I fully understand that the legal system in Israel does not look kindly at the Chareidim and there is no hope of stopping the parade through legal channels.

I fully understand that there are times and circumstances that call for extra legal activities and if there ever was such a time this is it.

I fully understand that civil disobedience is a valid means for a citizenry to express their dissatisfaction.

I fully understand that the police in Israel, for the most part, don't like Chareidim and use extreme violence against them at any opportunity.

WHAT I DON'T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND IS WHAT CAUSE IS SERVED BY INTERNATIONAL EXPOSURE FEATUREING CHAREIDIM THROWING STONES, CANNED FRUIT AND ASSORTED OTHER PROJECTILES FROM ROOFTOPS DOWN AT THE POLICE BELOW.

WHAT I DON'T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND IS HOW THESE IMAGES WILL LEAD ANYONE TO SAY "ASHREI AVIV SHELOMDO TORAH, ASHREI RABBO SHELOMDO TORAH".

WHAT I DON'T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND IS HOW THE CHILLUL HASHEM OF CHAREIDIM INJURING POLICEMEN IS ANY BETTER THAN THE CHILLUL HASHEM THAT THE PARADE WILL BE.

WHAT I DON'T BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND IS WHY THE LEADERSHIP DOES NOT FORCEFULLY CONDEMN THE ACTIVITIES OF THOSE WHO ARE HURTING THE CHAREIDI CAUSE.

Photographic Memories

2006-11-01T16:47:00.000-05:00

I think I have a half decent memory (for things that I want to remember), but people like this are in a league of their own.

As heard from R. Yisroel Reisman who heard it from a friend of his who witnessed it.

Rav Ben Zion Abba Shaul and Rav Ovadyah Yosef visited Antwerp together on a fund raising mission. After speaking at a public gathering they were being escorted by Rav Chaim Kreithwirth . Rav Kreiswirth asked Rav Ben Zion Abba Shaul about the source of his [sur?]name, Abba Shaul. He responded that it was after the Ammora by that same name. Rav Ovadyah Yosef proceeded to cite the first statement in the Talmud made by Abba Shaul (the Ammora). Rav Kreithwirth responded with the next statement and Rav Ovadyah countered with the next. This went on until they completed Maseches Brachos and most of the way through Maseches Shabbos, until they reached Shabbos 119. Rav Ovadyah cited a statement of Abba Shaul from that page to which Rav Kreiswirth responded, "See the Rashash there who claims that that statement was not really made by Abba Shaul but by another Ammora".

Any Bar Ilan owners out there, can you check how many times Abba Shaul does appear before Shabbos 119.

How to portray Gedolim

2006-10-30T15:57:00.000-05:00

In this weeks Torah portion, Lech L'cha, we are told of Avroham leaving the land of Cna'an because of a famine. His plan was to head to Mitzrayim. There was, however one small problem with his idea. Sara, his wife, was a uniquely beautiful woman and Avroham's life would be in danger as the husband of this woman. Apparently, the Mitzriyim who would not think of taking a married woman, would have no compunctions with bumping off the husband of this beautiful woman and thus rendering her, a permissible widow. Avroham came up with a plan of action. If Sara would identify herself as his sister and not as his wife, he would not be in any danger. The Mitzriyim would be able to take Sara and Avroham's life would be spared.

The Ramban famously takes issue with Avroham's actions. According to Ramban, Avroham sinned by putting Sara in danger in order to save himself.

"And know that our father Avroham sinned a grave sin, unintentionally."

R. Shamshon Rephael Hirsch disagrees with Ramban's criticism of Avroham. However, he goes to great length to clarify that his objective in disagreeing with the Ramban is NOT to 'defend' Avroham from being criticized:

The Torah does not seek to portray our great men as perfectly ideal figures; it deifies no man. It says of no one: Here you have the ideal; in this man the divine assumes human form. It does not set before us the life of any one person as the model from which we might learn what is good and right, what we must do and what we must refrain from doing.

When the Torah wishes to put before us a model to emulate, it does not present a man who is born of dust. Rather, G-d presents Himself as the model, saying, ”look upon me! Emulate me! Walk in my ways!”. We are never to say, “This must be good and right, because so-and-so id it.” The Torah is not an ‘anthology of good deeds’. It relates events, not because they are necessarily worthy of emulation but because they took place.

The Torah does not hide from us the faults, errors and weaknesses of our great men, and this is precisely what gives its stories credibility. The knowledge of their faults and weaknesses does not detract from the stature of our great men; on the contrary, it adds to their stature and makes their life stories even more instructive. Had they been portrayed to us as shining models of perfection, faultless and unblemished, we would have assumed that they had been endowed wit ha higher nature, not given to us to attain. Had they been portrayed free of passions and personal conflict, their virtues would have seemed to us as merely the consequence of their loftier nature not acquired by personal merit and certainly no model we could hope to emulate.

Take, for example, the humility of Moshe. Had we not known that he was capable also of flying into a rage, we would have assumed that his humility was an inborn trait, not within our capacity to emulate. It is precisely his outburst of שִׁמְעוּ-נָא הַמֹּרִים that lends his humility its true greatness. We thus infer that he acquired humility through hard work, self control and self refinement, and that we are required to emulate him since it is within our capacity to do so.

Let us learn from our great teachers of Torah, of which Ramban is surely one of the greatest, that we must never attempt to whitewash the spiritual and moral heroes of our past. They do not need our apologetics , nor would they tolerate such attempts on our part. Emes, truth is the seal of our Torah and truthfulness is the guiding principle of the Torah's great teachers and commentators

Rav Hirsch then goes on to explain why in his opinion Avroham did not sin.

Bumped!

2006-10-21T22:02:00.000-05:00

Travelling from Israel to the US post-sukkos is not always fun. The flights are usually jammed-packed, and that's what I was counting on. I volunteered to get bumped.

It worked. I got bumped.

Had to wait in Ben Gurion for 5 hours or so, then take an ElAl flight to Rome. From there I got on an Alitalia flight to the US. I was on the ground in Italy for a total of 40 minutes.

No, it wasn't fun. But it was worth it for a free round-trip ticket on ElAl.

I tried getting bumped on the way there (from Newark) as well. The differences between the bumping procedure at Newark and at Ben Gurion are vast.

At Newark, after I volunteered I was told that since I may get bumped they could not check in my luggage and I would have to return in a couple of hours to a certain desk with my luggage. So I spent the next few hours lugging my luggage around the airport. Not fun.

At Ben Gurion they have a person whose sole job is to sit and keep an eye on the luggage of the potential bumpees. No need to drag it all around. So I was free to move around the terminal and look for the resturants and kiosks that were listed on the FREE MEAL VOUCHER that they gave me for being so kind as to request a free flight. It was a very nice (and kind of suprising) experience. Kudos to ElAl for getting it done the right way.

Mikvah Hygiene

2006-10-19T13:03:00.000-05:00

On Erev Rosh Hashanah and Erev Yom Kipper, there is a minhag that men immerse themselves in a mikvah. Common sense, as well as mikvah regulations require one to shower before using the mikvah. My personal custom, based on hygienic concerns is to shower following the immersion as well. This past Erev Yom Kippur, someone (who apparently was keeping tabs on me) commented to me that there is "an inyan" not to wash off the holy mikvah waters. I resisted the urge to say any of the many things that came to mind (it was Erev Yom Kippur after all) and thanked him for informing me of this.

Last night, I was reading a compilation of psakim and hadrachos of Rav Shlomo Zalman Aurbach and came across the following:

Rav Shlomo Zalman would shower both before and after using the mikvah. When he was questioned as to why he wasn't concerned with the inyan of keeping the mikvah waters on, he responded "I shower before the mikvah out of concerns of viahavta l'raiacha kamocha. I shower after the mikvah because of those who are not concerned with viahavta l'raiacha kamocha".

Chag Sameach!

2006-10-06T09:23:00.000-05:00

Shtender meets Hezbolla

2006-10-04T14:30:00.000-05:00

No joke.

Well, we didn't exactly 'meet', but we were within shouting (or rock-throwing) distance of each other. Here's what happened.

We (me and several other like-minded people) decided to head north to Metula. For those that don't know, Metula is like a little finger jutting out of the North of Israel into Lebanon.

So we headed north.

Past the Kinneret.

Farther North, through Katyusha-scarred Kiryat Shemona:

Finally we got to the absolutely gorgeous town of Metula.

Driving around in Metula, it's almost impossible not to bang smack into the border fence. We came upon a border fence which was opened and apparently unguarded. It was not a gate directly into Lebanon, but it opens onto the security road which runs betweeen the two border fences.

While standing around checking out the area, we saw a vintage SUV-type truck drive up on the Lebanese side near the fence. Two goons got out and started walking towards us.

We drove to the army base in the town and told them what we saw. They basically told us that they can't do anything as long as they remain on the other side of the fence and don't shoot or anything.

Not willing to leave Israel unprotected, we returned to the fence.
More cars and trucks had joined them, it was almost like a caravan.

More goons got out and started walking towards us.

They got closer...

and closer...

until they were just a few feet from us.

One member of our group apparently got carried away with his vocal excercises in their direction, and a soldier materialized and shouted at us to get away.

So we did.

Please Help

2006-10-04T12:16:00.000-05:00

Dear readers,

Please take a look at this picture.

Three adorable little kids and their teddy bears.

Pigtails and ear to ear smiles.

The father of these three children has been missing after a boating accident over a month ago and is presumed dead.

His remains have not yet been recovered.

He was Eli Horowitz.

He was a classmate of mine many years ago.

Please help these children and their mother.

A fund has been established to help care for this fatherless family.

For more information read this.

One thousand dollars.

One hundred dollars.

Fifty dollars.

Ten dollar.

Whatever you can do.

To make a donation click here.

Tizku L'mitzvos.

Shtender meets Bibi

2006-09-28T17:10:00.000-05:00

Not to be outdone by Jameel, Bibi Netanyahu made it his business to meet with Shtender on his trip to Israel.

For some reason there is a HUGE balagan at the kosel tonight (Thursday night). I hear that it's always like this erev Yom Kippur. Bibi obviously knows this too, and was certain to show up to press the flesh. I was able to push through the Shabak crowd around him and shake his hand.

Yes, that very same hand that shook Arafat's.

I need to take a shower.

Shtender meets Jameel

2006-09-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the world-famous blogger, Jameel.
Super nice guy. (No, no pics.)
We did lunch.
Although it may not have come out during our lunch, we share many of the same opinions. I just enjoy arguing to much. :)

BTW, the flight here may have been the worst flight I've ever taken. Crying babies, people thinking they were in Grand Central Station, etc. It's interesting, but when I've flown on other airlines, it's not like this. I've flown to Israel via, Continental, Air Canada and ElAl. It's only on ElAl that I've had this problem.

But at the end of the day, it doesn't really matter. I'm just happy to be here!

I'm atta here!

2006-09-25T12:14:00.000-05:00

I will be heading to The Aretz tommorow, for about three weeks.
Should be fun!
I will obviously have a computer with me, so I will still be 'here'.
Have an easy and meaningful Yom Kippur.
Thanks for reading our little corner of the blogvelt.

Rosh Hashana 5767

2006-09-22T09:58:00.000-05:00

What follows are remarks from my rosh yeshiva before last rosh hashana. It is really just my notes of those remarks which I am posting with very little editing. (Mostly because it is erev yom tov and I don't have the time to edit it now).

The pasukim in Nechamia 8 tell about Ezra leading the people back to Hashem after they had strayed. He gathers them all together on Rosh Hashana and begins reading to them from the Torah. When the people hear what they should have been doing and realize how far they have strayed, they begin to cry. Ezra tells them not to cry or mourn because Rosh Hashana is a holy day and mourning is not allowed.Rather, he tells them to return to their homes and eat a festive meal and drink fine wines and send gifts to those who don't have enough for themselves.

What were these gifts all about? It seems unlikely that Ezra was telling them about the mitzva of tzedaka at precisely this time? All societies care for their less fortunate brethren. They didn't need to be told that.

The Maharal asks, why does our kabalas ol malchus shomayim begin with the words “shema yisroel”? The point of kabalos ol malchus shomayim is to proclaim Hashem Elokainu, Hashem Echad. Why preface that with the words Shema yisroel?

The Maharal explains, the kingdom of any king is only as strong as his nation is. If the people don't accept the monarchy, there is no monarchy. Ain melech b'lo am. The strength of the malchus is proportionate to how unified the nation is in accepting the king. So before we are mekabel the malchus shomayim on ourselves, we proclaim Shema Yisroel, as if to say “We are one group, one am yisroel, totally united in accepting You as our King”.

Ezra also, was telling the people to reach out to each other through giving gifts and caring for each other so as to create one unified nation and to thus, accept the malchus of HKBH on themselves as one united people

The main avoda of Rosh Hashana is to be mamlich HKBH. To proclaim Him as King of the universe. A natural function of a king is to judge his people, so the Yom Hadin aspect of Rosh Hashana is really a toza'a of being mamlich.

At the end of the tachnun we say the tefillah of shomer yisrael. In it we ask for Hashem's protection based on three things. 1. ha'omrim shema yisrael 2. hamiyachadim shimcha heshem elokeinu hashem echad 3. hamishalishim b'shalosh kedushas. Now if we examine this list we will see that items 1 and 2 seem to refer to the same thing. However, according to the Maharal that we mentioned before it makes a lot of sense. Ha’omrim shema yisroel is not referring to Kabalos ol malchus shomayim. It is referring to the fact that we are a united people.

May the coming year bring with it simcha and brocha for all of klal yisroel – as one united nation.

L'shana Tova

2006-09-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

Just Trust The Experts

2006-09-15T09:39:00.000-05:00

The Rabbonim of Monsey, in consultation with many Gedolim, have suggested that the people of Monsey observe a Yom Ta'anis this Sunday. The usual suspects are bashing these Rabbonim and declaring it "absurd" to fast in such a situation. I will admit that I don't really understand the reason for fasting but I will also admit that I am nowhere near as knowledgeable in these matters as the Rabbonim are.

I find it ironic that the same bloggers that tell us to trust the experts (doctors) when it comes to mitzitzah b'peh and other issues, always know better than the experts when it comes to Jewish law.

Timtum HaLev

2006-09-12T09:05:00.000-05:00

In the wake of the Monsey scandal, it seems that many people are worried about Timtum HaLev. In my (and others) opinion, they have nothing to worry about.

The (non-Kabbalistic) source of timtum halev is from the Gemara in Yoma 39a. I will do my best to transliterate: "Tanna D'bai Rav Yishmoel; aveira mitamtemmes libo shel adam, etc."

The gemara says clearly that timtum halev is only by one who commits an aveira. One who is following a psak halacha has nothing to worry about, he has not committed an aveira.

(I am certainly no posek, and don't know halacha nearly as well as I should. Please feel free to correct me where I am wrong.)

Maybe he does

2006-09-11T17:04:00.000-05:00

I was in a local (Lakewood) store buying some hot take-out.

I heard an earth-shattering noise. I looked out the window and saw a guy getting off a Harley Softail. He walked in, an obvious old-school biker. Leather vest, exposed arms covered with gang tattoos and prison tats. One of those long moustache/beard combos that are unique to bikers.

I'm waiting on line, he's standing next to me.

He turns to me and asks in his smoked out voice "Hey, is all this food kosher"?

"Yeah, it is" I answered.

"You know, my father always dreamed that one day Lakewood would be the way it is today. He grew up here, and he told me that one day I would see it become the Jewish community that it now is".

I nod, starting to get interested.

"I'm Jewish too. When I was younger I went to yeshiva. Then I joined the Marines, went to Vietnam and that was the end of it. I came back to the states and I was wild for a long time. I was in and out of prison, I don't remember a few years of my life. But you know, the stuff you learn when you're a kid stays with you. Hey, you know Hamafkid es chavero?"

My jaw almost hit the floor. This was probably the last person I expected to be quoting a Mishnah.

He went on. "Hey, you ever hear of the Kapishnitzers? My father was a Kapishnitzer chossid. When my mom died, my brother Ari called me up to tell me about it. I work on a fishing boat and we were fishing off the Alaskan coast at the time. I still made it my business to get to the funeral. When I got there a Rosh Yeshiva was speaking, I don't know his name. I remember my brother telling me "You got the beard already, now all you need is the tzitis!

I got two grown kids , both cops, nice kids, but they ain't Jewish. I want to say Kaddish for my father, but that brings up too many questions that I can't answer to my children. Is it possible for me to ask someone to say kaddish for him?"

I replied "Sure, just give me the date he died, and in what year".

He did.

I told him I'd get it done.

He went on" I'm tired of being on the outside looking in. I want to get back into yiddishkeit. It's where it's at. I see these Jewish kids hanging out, trying to be like the goyim, I went to slap them silly. Yeah, kids will be kids but you never know what you got until it's gone.

Then he said again "My father always told me that one day Lakewood would be like this. He was right".

I said "Too bad he isn't here to see it".

He looked at me with watery eyes.

"Maybe he does see it, you know? Maybe he does."

There was much more to the conversation, but those words made a big impression on me coming from him.

PS: If you were one of the guys standing around listening to our conversation, please don't out me. :)

Meat, Money and Musser

2006-09-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

This post is about the monsey meat scandal. If you don't know what I'm talking about click here.

When all the feathers settle and it's determined where the chickens came from and how they were disguised and who should have known and who dropped the ball, there is one question that I hope will be answered. It has been on my mind since the story broke.

What could possibly be going on in someone's life to cause him to do this?

Now before you jump on me and say that I'm excusing him, let me state as loudly and as clearly as I can: WHAT THIS PERSON DID IS 1000% WRONG AND NOTHING (short of someone holding a gun to his head) COULD JUSTIFY IT. But I find it hard to imagine that the only motivation here was pure greed. How desperate a situation must this person have been in to somehow justify doing what he did. And how blind we must be to those around us to not see their desperation.

An Iranian AIDS vaccine! Why?

2006-09-07T01:18:00.000-05:00

So Iran is claiming to have developed an AIDS drug.

From Ynet:

Iranian officials claim local scientists have developed drug for AIDS containment that can also be applied in cases of weak immune system. President Ahmadinejad confirms development in research, but says not ready for formal announcement...

...On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad held a speech at Tehran University implying that: "There is a development on the issue, and if we announce it this would mean a tremendous development, but for now we lack the ability to answer all questions and we must continue dealing with different aspects of the matter...

...FARS also reported of 13,357 known AIDS patients in Iran. However, a more realistic estimate stands at 70,000.

From the CIA factbook on Iran:

Iranians who have died from Aids: 800 (2003 est.)
Iranians living with AIDS: 31,000 (2001 est.)
Adult prevelence in Iran: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

Which begs the question. Why is Iran working on an AIDS cure when hardly any Iranians have AIDS?

There is an obvious answer, which is to get the whole world knocking on their door. Gives them some kind of leverage.

Can there be a more sinister reason at work here?

We all know Hezbollah is an Iranian proxy. They are armed, funded and supported by Iran. They ARE Iran. We also know that Al-Manar TV is a Hezbollah propoganda station. They own and operate it.

Read this Reuters article from December 1st, 2004.

Paris - France's broadcasting authority called for a ban on television broadcasts to Europe by Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla group on Tuesday, after the satellite station claimed Zionists were trying to export Aids to Arab countries.

Reacting only a week after it approved the station despite charges it was violently anti-Semitic, the Higher Audiovisual Council (CSA) said it would ask a court to ban al-Manar TV for breaking its pledge not to incite hatred among religions.

The CSA cited as evidence an al-Manar broadcast last week that spoke of "Zionist attempts to transmit dangerous diseases like Aids through exports to Arab countries". The broadcast said Israel had "no scruples" about infecting Arabs and Muslims.

They are not the only ones.

The November 2001 issue of the Egyptian science journal Al-'Ilm (chaired by Egypt's Minister of Higher Education and the State for Scientific Research, Mufid Shihab) made the claim that:

Jewish tourists infected with AIDS are traveling around Asian and African countries with the aim of spreading the disease."(Source: Memri)

Our dear friend these days, Colonel Mu'ammar Qadhafi didn't want to miss the fun.

Quoted in the Egyptian government daily:

"Our brother, the Colonel Mu'ammar Al-Qadhafi, the leader of the Libyan revolution, revealed that two years ago Libyan children in the city of Benghazi suffered from the most abominable crime in the history of mankind, when foreign nurses injected them with the AIDS virus, while pretending to immunize them."

"Qadhafi added that there are those who think that the CIA or the Israeli Mossad were behind this crime. He emphasized that these children were transported to Europe for treatment and that European health authorities are well aware of the matter. Other [infected] children are treated by Libyan clinics."

Iran may not be doing this for leverage. They just might be doing this to save the Islamic world from those barbaric Zionists who are infecting the world with the AIDS virus!

All hail the great Islamic heros!

Michelle Malkin: Ambulances for Jihad

2006-09-01T12:31:00.000-05:00

Got 10 minutes?

New Avraham Fried song

2006-08-31T02:37:00.000-05:00

I don't know who wrote this, but I have a few issues with this song (well, the part we can hear on this clip anyway).

First of all, I don't like the way he dictates to God. Some may think I'm nitpicking, but it just smells wrong to me. Sometimes it's almost as if he's God forbid talking down to Hashem, as if Hashem needs his comforting and his hand holding. It just struck me the wrong way.

At 1:49 he says "Father in heaven, there's no reason at all, your precious children still are so far from home". No reason? God forbid. Sure, we do not understand His ways, but Hashem doesn't do things for "no reason at all".

Then he says "We've done all we can". Oh really? Who decided that? It's as if, we did our part, but Hashem is delaying things for other reasons. What could those reason be? You don't know? Wow, you seemed to know everything else!

Next words: "now it's in your hands". As if it wasn't until now. What is going on here?

"The whole world is waiting for you". Incorrect. It's Hashem who is waiting for us. If we already did all we can, this would not be an issue, for obvious reasons.

But I gotta say, he sings it well, not his usual rusty hinge-type kvetching. And I like the niggun.

Shabbos Elevator!

2006-08-23T20:45:00.000-05:00

I have stuff to post

2006-08-22T11:26:00.000-05:00

I just have to find the time. :(

Who is this guy?

2006-08-14T19:14:00.000-05:00

Nothing gets my blood boiling like Neturei Karta.

I ran across a clip on Memri of someone talking on Al Jazeera, purporting to be a spokesman for NK. What's interesting is that he speaks flawless Arabic (which is certainly not taught in Monsey, Williamsburg or Monroe - I hope), and his name is Daud Salah. Hmmm... Google shows me two people with that name. One is a Moslem Sheik, the other is this same guy again (quoted on this blog in relation to this story:

At the Muqata the day was proceeding as expected, until a van carrying nine Orthodox men turned up amid a security convoy. Quickly surrounded by the international media that was milling around, the men, carrying posters "Zionists are not Jews" in three languages, made their way to Arafat's memorial and prayed in fluent Arabic over the body of the man they consider the father of their nation. The men, members of the fringe ultra-orthodox, anti-Zionist movement Natori Karta which does not recognize the State of Israel, then attempted to vote. After being refused by a bemused female official, the men held an impromptu press conference for the English language journalists present. Spokesman Daud Salah said "We do not propose moving back to the pre-67 borders, we call for the State of Israel to be dismantled."

Who is this guy?
Anyone?

Here are some of his comments to Al Jazeera:

In accordance with Jewish religion, we do not consider these Jews to be Jews. The Zionist in an infidel, because he doesn't recognize the divine instructions written in the Torah.

And:

Global Zionism has invented something new - that a Jew cannot live under Arab rule. But I must remind you that in Morocco, 25,000 Jews live in peace and coexistence with the Moroccans, under Islamic Arab rule. I haven't finished. In Yemen there are about 1,000 Jews living under President Ali Abdullah Saleh, may Allah grant him long life. And in Iran, in the Republic of Iran, under the rule of King Ahmadinejad... 25,000 Jews live in peace and coexistence.

Also:

Unfortunately, the attacks by the Zionist entity, by the army of the Zionist entity, against the Lebanese people, against the independent Lebanese state, and against the population, especially in South Lebanon, are war crimes.

This one kind of blew me away:

My sister... My dear, first of all, you should know that Jews living under Arab patronage, under Islamic rule, is nothing new. We lived together in peace and coexistence under the rule of the great king, the Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, and under the Caliph Al-Ma'mun, and Omar Ali Ibn Abu Talib. In the days of the Prophet Muhammad too, when we lived in Saudi Arabia, we coexisted with the Muslims. This is nothing new.

Wow. "Prophet" Muhammad? That's crossing a big line.

I heard the following story from someone who was in the room at the time.
The Satmar Rebbe, R' Yoel Teitlebaum ZT"L was receiving a distinguished guest, either a Senator or a Congressman. The guest came in, greeted the rebbe and started telling him how strong his support for the State of Israel is. He went on for a few minutes while the chassidim standing around exchanged winks and smirks. When he left the room the chassidim burst out in laughter. The Rebbe turned to them and said "Why are you laughing? Our arguments are our arguments! They are internal, among us frum Jews and they should remain so. This man assumes he is supporting Jewry by supporting Israel, so be it! We should respect him for that.

I wonder what he'd think about Daud Salah.

LA Times on LGF and Reutersgate

2006-08-14T09:10:00.000-05:00

LA Times.

Great article, read it.

I liked this:

There are, however, two problems here, and they're the reason this controversy shouldn't be allowed to sputter to its inglorious conclusion just yet: One of these has to do with the scope of what strongly appears to be wider fabrication in the photojournalism Reuters and other news agencies are obtaining from their freelancers in Lebanon. The other is the U.S. news media's grudging response to the revelation of Hajj's misconduct and its utter lack of interest in exploring whether his is a unique or representative case .

And this:

It's worth noting in this context that there is no similar flow of propagandistic images coming from the Israeli side of the border. That's because one side — the democratically elected government of Israel — views death as a tragedy and the other — the Iranian financed terrorist organization Hezbollah — sees it as an opportunity. In this case, turning their own dead children into material creates an opportunity to cloud the fact that every Lebanese casualty, tragic as he or she is, was killed or injured as an unavoidable consequence of Israel's pursuit of terrorists who use their own people as human shields. Every Israeli civilian killed or injured was the victim of a terrorist attack intended to harm civilians. That alone ought to wash away any blood-stained suggestion of moral equivalency.

That brings us to the most troubling of the possible explanations for these fraudulent photos, which is that some of the photojournalists involved are either intimidated by or sympathetic to the Hezbollah terrorists. It's a possibility fraught with harsh implications, but it needs to be examined thoroughly and openly.

Yep.

Some more photos...

2006-08-13T10:28:00.000-05:00

I was on vacation for the last week, so I wasn't blogging.

Although not nearly as good as the first, here's the 2nd installment of my (amateur) photos.

(In case you missed it, here's the first.)

The Wall

2006-08-03T12:05:00.000-05:00

The Western Wall.
The Wailing Wall.
Wall of stone.
Holy stones.
Sacred stones.

What sorrows they have seen.
What secrets they contain.

The Wall watched over our forefathers as they passed this way into the holy temple.
The Wall watched over our ancestors as they passed this way, driven into exile.
The Wall watched as the Romans passed this way to tear down its mighty stones.
The Wall watched as the Byzantines passed this way to plow up the sacred mountain.
The Wall watched as the Persians, the Omayyads, the Abbassids, the Crusaders, the Mamelukes, the Ottomans, the French, the British, and the Jordanians passed this way to destroy and conquer.

But today you still stand watching as we once again pass this way.

Your feet are buried beneath the rubbish and debris.
Rubbish thrown in hate.
Debris thrown with abandonment.
Remnants of civilizations long gone.

But it is the debris of the Jewish people that lies at the very bottom, and it is the Jewish people who stand on top, embracing your stones, kissing the tears you have held all these long years of exile.

Into your crevices you receive our bits of paper with our longings and hopes written upon them. Hold them dearly and watch over us, and soon we shall pass by again, into the Holy Temple.

May it speedily be rebuilt in our days.

From "The Holy Temple Revisited" by Rabbi Leibel Reznick.
Highly recommended reading.

Darkei Shalom

2006-08-01T16:16:00.000-05:00

There are many things that we do for Darchai Shalom, most notably in some of our dealings with non-Jews. But what exactly is Darchai Shalom?

Often the term is used synonymously with mishum aivah. i.e. We visit their sick and bury their dead because if we didn't do that they would hate us. Darkai shalom = to prevent them from hating us.

I don't think this is the correct meaning. The Rambam in hilchos milachim says the following:

אפילו הגויים--ציוו חכמים לבקר חוליהם, ולקבור מתיהם עם מתי ישראל, ולפרנס ענייהם בכלל עניי ישראל, מפני דרכי שלום: הרי נאמר "טוב ה' לכול; ורחמיו על כל מעשיו" (תהילים קמה,ט), ונאמר "דרכיה דרכי נועם; וכל נתיבותיה שלום" (משלי ג,יז).

The Rambam brings the pasuk of טוב ה' לכול ורחמיו על כל מעשיו as a reason for DS. It seems clear to me that the Rambam held that we give charity and bury non-Jews because it is the way that a rachaman acts, and not for any ulterior motive.

Hattip: A wise and learned man

Hezbollah's Nazi tactics

2006-08-01T11:28:00.000-05:00

Article in the NY Sun.

Nothing new, but worth reading.

Spin, spin, spin... BUSTED!

2006-07-27T00:20:00.000-05:00

CNN's Nic Robertson is now admitting, when confronted, that his recent piece on Israeli targets in Lebanon (view video here) was heavily influenced by Hezbollah. NewsBusters, a group dedicated to "exposing and combating liberal media bias" has a piece on it here.

Some choice exerpts:

In his original story, Robertson had no complaints about the journalistic limitations of a story put together under such tight controls, and Robertson himself at one point seemed to agree with the Hezbollah propaganda claim that Israeli jets had targeted a civilian area: “As we run past the rubble, we see much that points to civilian life, no evidence apparent of military equipment.”

Challenged by Reliable Sources host (and Washington Post media writer)Howard Kurtz on Sunday, Robertson suggested Hezbollah has “very, very sophisticated and slick media operations,” that the terrorist group “had control of the situation. They designated the places that we went to, and we certainly didn't have time to go into the houses or lift up the rubble to see what was underneath,” and he even contradicted Hezbollah’s self-serving spin: “There's no doubt that the [Israeli] bombs there are hitting Hezbollah facilities.”

Follow the above link and read it all for yourself.
This should be required reading for everyone who watches CNN, or any other mass media outlet, for that matter.

On the other hand, Anderson Cooper (of CNN 360 fame) exposes Hezbollah's media manipulations.

Some quotes:

...“We'd come to get a look at the damage and had hoped to talk with a Hezbollah representative. Instead, we found ourselves with other foreign reporters taken on a guided tour by Hezbollah. Young men on motor scooters followed our every movement. They only allowed us to videotape certain streets, certain buildings. Once, when they thought we'd videotaped them, they asked us to erase the tape. These men are called al-Shabab, Hezbollah volunteers who are the organization's eyes and ears.”

And finally, the heart of the issue:

..."As the video showed a group reporters and photographers interviewing a single woman on a blanket, Cooper explained, “Civilian casualties are clearly what Hezbollah wants foreign reporters to focus on. It keeps the attention off them — and questions about why Hezbollah should still be allowed to have weapons when all the other militias in Lebanon have already disarmed.

“After letting us take pictures of a few damaged buildings, they take us to another location, where there are ambulances waiting.

“This is a heavily orchestrated Hezbollah media event. When we got here, all the ambulances were lined up. We were allowed a few minutes to talk to the ambulance drivers. Then one by one, they've been told to turn on their sirens and zoom off so that all the photographers here can get shots of ambulances rushing off to treat civilians. That's the story that Hezbollah wants people to know about.

“These ambulances aren't responding to any new bombings. The sirens are strictly for effect.” Cooper concluded: “Hezbollah may not be terribly subtle about spinning a story, but it is telling perhaps that they try. Even after all this bombing, Hezbollah is still organized enough to have a public relations strategy, still in control enough to try and get its message out.”

Kinds of reminds me of Pallywood, though that is Hamas.

Kudos to Cooper for telling how it is. Shame on Nic Robertson for being Hezbollah's propoganda outlet.

LkwdGuy/Lakewood Yid

2006-07-26T17:00:00.000-05:00

LakewoodYid writes:

The other day as I was walking on the street, a Black man stuck his hand out to me and asked for a quarter.

I gave one to him.

My thoughts: Its was definitely worth the 25 cents, to have a Goy think highly of Jews. Now of course, this doesn't mean that one should run around passing out quarters to every Goy on the street. But once this Goy had already stuck his hand out, I thought it would be a Kiddush Hashem to give him one. To show him that Jews are compassionate people.

My commen t:

I spent last night in the ER with a non-jewish employee of mine that attempted suicide. He told me that he was depressed and needed help and then I noticed the slash marks on his wrists and had him brought to the hospital. Things like ayn ma'alin v'ayn moridin went through my mind but not for any real amount of time. Vrachamav al kolmaasov won out without much of a battle.

And:

Who said this:

Our philosophy asserts that every human being is created in the image of the Lord and the primacy of integrity and honesty in all dealings without exception. I strongly repudiate any assertions in the name of Judaism that do not represent and reflect this philosophy.

A. Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm
B. Malcolm Hoenlien
C. Rabbi A. M. Kotler

Yet another fabulous letter to the editor

2006-07-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

From this week's Yated, titled "Bears and Elephants":

"I would like to share with you an experience I recently had, one that I found very disturbing. I opened up a box of heimeshe-brand animal crackers and was terribly dismayed to see that a whole array of non-kosher animals are featured! What are we teaching our children, to eat treife animals?! Are we chas v'shalom teaching our children to eat bears and elephants?"

God help us. It boggles the mind.

How to combat terrorism

2006-07-18T17:10:00.000-05:00

I'm not offering any great, new ideas. What I am doing in essence is repeating the Bush doctrine, which to me seems the only way to effectively combat terrorism.

We hear so much about a "cycle of violence". It seems never-ending. The problem is that barring a massacre, there is no effective way to fight those who melt into a civillian population, and those fight FROM a civillian population. Unlike terrorists, 1st world western powers today do not target civillians. Obviously, civillians do die, but IMO the terrorist group which draws the army into civillian areas deserve the blame.

So how do you fight it? Some people might answer that we should hold hands, sing Kumbaya, and we will slowly win them over. I disagree. I think the only way to fight it is by giving it an address. By saying that there is no distinction between the terrorists and those who harbor them. If a country wants to offer shelter to a terrorist group or terrorist leaders, they are responsible for the actions of whatever terrorist group it may be. Eventually, if that becomes real policy to all 1st world powers, countries will not want to harbor terrorists.

I realize this is very oversimplified, and it doesn't account for an oil blackmail or anything else. But at the core, I think it's the only way. Without it there is no way to fight it.

There is no difference between what Israel is doing in Lebanon today and what the US did in Afghanistan, except that it's much easier to justify an attack against a country who's leaders are religious tyrants than against a government which claims to be a bit of a democracy. Keep in mind though, that Hizbollah has 15 parliamentary seats in the Lebanese government, which makes it kind of ridiculous for the Lebanese government to say that they have nothing to do with Hizbollah.

Wow, what a speech!

2006-07-17T18:19:00.000-05:00

I was very moved by Prime Minister Olmert's speech today. Yes, I know he probably has great speechwriters, and I would not exactly call him a man of God. But I think his inclusion of the "Mi Sheberach" that is said by some people for the soldiers of the IDF , and the inclusion of the pesukim from Yermiah was not only a great move, but the correct one.

Full translated text of the speech.

He appealed for help from God.

No longer can people dismiss it all as 'Kochi V'Otzem Yadi' (KVY). He publicly asked for divine assistance.

Yes, he did make the obligatory KVY statement right before his tefilla when he said:

"The strength of the State of Israel relies on the strength and capability of the IDF. This strength is the main guarantee to preserving and defending our lives on this land. "

But so what. That's to be expected. Asking for the help of God was not. And it's message was felt by me.

Now I'm not stupid. I know Olmert is a shrewd politician, and I think we know his true colors. But I also know there are no athiests in foxholes. And if the only thing this did is serve to pull the sometimes bitterly divided country a little closer together in this time of need, so be it. I applaud him for that.

And I say a heartfelt "Amein".

CNN - oops!

2006-07-17T02:17:00.000-05:00

It's a serious time, and not a time to poke fun. But it IS CNN. And CNN is always open season.

A nameless CNN anchorwoman is discussing the Hezbollah strike on Nazereth.

Click here to view the video.

At about 1:42 in, she says:

"And Anand, help us understand the significance of this, because while it has been, I guess, open knowledge that Hezbollah had, uhh, some missiles that could reach some twenty miles, there was fear and growing concern they might use missiles they may have that reach thirty miles or potentially even more. So this strike in Nazereth, this historic city, which is known to be the place of residence of Jesus's parents Joesph and Mary would fit the bill of being struck by a missile of longer range?"

Did she just say that?

Yes. Yes, she did.

Nice.

Jblogsphere updates: Israel at war

2006-07-16T10:47:00.000-05:00

Click here

Krauthammer on target, as always

2006-07-16T02:14:00.000-05:00

Washington Post:

Next June will mark the 40th anniversary of the Six-Day War. For four decades we have been told that the cause of the anger, violence and terror against Israel is its occupation of the territories seized in that war. End the occupation and the "cycle of violence" ceases.

The problem with this claim was that before Israel came into possession of the West Bank and Gaza in the Six-Day War, every Arab state had rejected Israel's right to exist and declared Israel's pre-1967 borders -- now deemed sacred -- to be nothing more than the armistice lines suspending, and not ending, the 1948-49 war to exterminate Israel.

But you don't have to be a historian to understand the intention of Israel's enemies. You only have to read today's newspapers.

Exhibit A: Gaza. Just last September, Israel evacuated Gaza completely. It declared the border between Israel and Gaza an international frontier, renouncing any claim to the territory. Gaza became the first independent Palestinian territory in history. Yet the Gazans continued the war. They turned Gaza into a base for launching rocket attacks against Israel and for digging tunnels under the border to conduct attacks such as the one that killed two Israeli soldiers on June 25 and yielded a wounded hostage brought back to Gaza. Israeli tanks have now had to return to Gaza to try to rescue the hostage and suppress the rocket fire.

Exhibit B: South Lebanon. Two weeks later, the Lebanese terror organization, Hezbollah, which has representation in the Lebanese parliament and in the cabinet, launched an attack into Israel on Wednesday that resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and the wounding of two others, who were brought back to Lebanon as hostages.

What's the grievance here? Israel withdrew from Lebanon completely in 2000. It was so scrupulous in making sure that not one square inch of Lebanon was left inadvertently occupied that it asked the United Nations to verify the exact frontier defining Lebanon's southern border and retreated behind it. This "blue line" was approved by the Security Council, which declared that Israel had fully complied with resolutions demanding its withdrawal from Lebanon.

Grievance satisfied. Yet what happens? Hezbollah has done to South Lebanon exactly what Hamas has done to Gaza: turned it into a military base and terrorist operations center from which to continue the war against Israel. South Lebanon bristles with Hezbollah's 10,000 Katyusha rockets that put northern Israel under the gun. Fired in the first hours of fighting, just 85 of these killed two Israelis and wounded 120 in Israel's northern towns.

Over the past six years, Hezbollah has launched periodic raids and rocket attacks into Israel. Israeli retaliation has led to the cessation of these provocations -- until the next time convenient for Hezbollah. Wednesday was such a time. One terror base located in fully unoccupied Arab territory (South Lebanon) attacks Israel in support of another terror base in another fully unoccupied Arab territory (Gaza).

Why? Because occupation was a mere excuse to persuade gullible and historically ignorant Westerners to support the Arab cause against Israel. The issue is, and has always been, Israel's existence. That is what is at stake.

It was Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization that convinced the world that the issue was occupation. Yet, through all those years of pretense, Arafat's own group celebrated its annual Fatah Day on the anniversary of its first attack on Israel, the bombing of Israel's National Water Carrier -- on Jan. 1, 1965.

Note: 1965. Two years before the 1967 war. Two years before Gaza and the West Bank fell into Israeli hands. Two years before there were any "occupied territories."

But, again, who needs history? As the Palestinian excuses for continuing their war disappear one by one, the rhetoric is becoming more bold and honest. Just Tuesday, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, writing in The Post, referred to Israel as "a supposedly 'legitimate' state" ["Aggression Under False Pretenses," op-ed, July 11].

He made clear what he wants done with this bastard entity. "Contrary to popular depictions of the crisis in the American media," he writes, "the dispute is not only about Gaza and the West Bank." It is about "a wider national conflict" that requires the vindication of "Palestinian national rights."

That, of course, means the right to all of Palestine, with no Jewish state. In the end, the fighting is about "the core 1948 issues, rather than the secondary ones from 1967."

In 1967 Israel acquired the "occupied territories." In 1948 Israel acquired life. The fighting raging now in 2006 -- between Israel and the "genocidal Islamism" (to quote the writer Yossi Klein Halevi) of Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran behind them -- is about whether that life should and will continue to exist.

שַׁאֲלו שְׁלוֹם יְרוּשָׁלָים

2006-07-14T08:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, between mincha and maariv we said tehillim for the people of Israel. I found myself thinking about what exactly I am praying for. Obviously number one is the safety of all our brothers and sisters in Israel, but what surprised my the most was the realization that for the first time ever instead of asking G-d to have mercy on His children and send Olmert and Peretz packing, I was asking Him to give Olmert and Peretz the wisdom to make the correct decisions and to give the IDF the abilities to implement those decisions.

These are the guys in charge like it or not, pray for them.

Where ever you might be, for the best coverage of the latest events in Israel and to get a little bit of the emotional experience, turn to Jameel.

I Blame Sharon

2006-07-12T21:34:00.000-05:00

Israel withdrew from Gaza in a monumental blunder - a reward for terror. It showed that terrorism works, Israel will bend if hit enough.

For that I blame Sharon.

Hamas was elected, in my view, because of their precieved success in attacking Israel enough times that Israel withdrew from Gaza, not because they pick up the trash on time, as some will have you believe.

For that I blame Sharon.

Gilad Shalit was kidnapped because terrorists have seen that Israel had negotiated in the past for live people and bodies of dead soldiers. How did Israel not learn from it's earlier mistake in 1985? Regardless, prisoners were released in trade in 2004. Guess who was in charge then?

For that I blame Sharon.

Hezbolla has seen that Hamas is getting all the credit. Nasralla felt left out, so he attacked. But why was Hamas getting all the credit? Oh, because they rule Gaza and attack Israel daily from it.

For that I blame Sharon.

Judge Favorably

2006-07-09T21:32:00.000-05:00

We are commanded to judge our friends and neighbors favorably, even when it seems what they are doing is wrong. It's usually pretty hard to do, but this may make it slightly easier.

A close friend of mine had a child who was born with serious health issues. (Sadly, the child passed away a few years ago.) There were many times when he was awake all night caring for the baby.

One morning he arrived at a "minyan factory" about 10:30 am to daven Shacharis. There was an older man sitting in the corner of the room trying to learn. Suddenly he (the older man) jumped up and started screaming at everyone in the room "You lazy idiots! You show up at this time of the day to daven Shacharis?! Your laziness is causing me to be unable to learn, it's too noisy!". He angrily slammed shut the sefer and stalked out.

My friend followed him and tapped him on the shoulder:

"Don't you know we are commanded to judge people favorably?"

"Oh please, you guys are just a bunch of lazy bums!"

"Is it not possible that some people might have been up all night caring for a sick baby, and they therefore are coming to daven at this time? "

"Oh come on! How many sick babies can there be? There are 20 people in there! Do they all have sick babies?!"

"I can't speak for them, but I know I have been up all night with my sick child".

"Oh, I'm very sorry, I wasn't referring to your case".

My friend responded:

"Just like I have a valid reason I am here now, so to you must look at each person here like they do as well. That's what being "Dan L'kaf Zechus" means. You have no idea what's going on in their lives. Don't be so quick to rush to judgment.

The man was left speechless.

I'd just like to add that not only does this apply to us and our friends and neighbors, but it certainly applies to gedolim as well. We are always so quick to judge, we don't always know the whole story, although we may think we do.

Hillary in Hamodia

2006-07-07T09:21:00.000-05:00

(I wrote this post before I saw Shtender's last post. Please don't allow this negative post to detract from his positive post. There is both good and bad in most things.)

From Hamodia (weekend edition, 7/5/06) letters to the editor:

To the editor:

Please permit me a respectful, and I hope, constructive critical comment.

In a recent letter to the editor("Senator's moderation - verbal only," June 29), the writer takes aim at Senator Hillary Clinton. Her moderate tone, the writer asserts, does not reflect her true ultra - liberal views.
[...]
What troubles me, though, is that throughout the letter the writer refers to Senator Clinton by her first name only. Yes, I know that in the secular media "Hillary" is often the name by which she is known - not "Senator Clinton," or even "Mrs. Clinton" - but Hamodia is not a secular tabloid and she is entitled by virtue of her high public office to respect, and to the courtsy of being called Mrs. Clinton.

Furthermore, entirely apart from Senator Clinton's office, there is the tznius factor. Considerations of Tznius demand that a woman, especially a married woman, not be referred to by first name in the pages of a newspaper like Hamodia.

This letter writer strikes me as an example of someone who just "knows" that something is wrong without ever trying to understand the rationale behind it.

Let me be clear. I make an effort in my own life not to address my wife's friends by their first name. Addressing members of the opposite sex by their first names, can create an impression of closeness - even if it does not really exist - that is not desirable. Personally, I find this to be a useful geder in interaction with women in general. Others may disagree, and they are entitled to their opinions. I know of some frum corporations that have implemented such policies across the board - even for the non-frum employees - and I think that that's commendable.

But there is nothing inherantly non-tzniyusdik about a woman's first name. Refraining from using a first name may be justified as a means of preventing a close relationship from developing. NO LETTER WRITER TO HAMODIA IS RISKING BECOMING CHUMMY WITH HILLARY CLINTON BY REFERRING TO HER AS HILLARY.

Hillary. Hillary. Hillary. Hillary.

An Extraordinary Friendship

2006-07-06T23:34:00.000-05:00

The editors of the weekly Hamodia had a contest for the best story of friendship. The winning story, titled "An Extraordinary Friendship" (Hamodia Magazine pg. 10-11 of this week's issue) made a really big impression on me. I advise everyone, even if you don't usually get the Hamodia, to pick up this weeks issue and read that story.

The sham of the UNHRC

2006-07-06T10:42:00.000-05:00

UNHRC to send mission to Gaza.

Personally I think Israel should not let them in. It's an obvious witchhunt. Reminds me of the "Jenin massacre" investigation.

I like this part:

John Dugard, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the territories, will head the fact-finding team. In a speech to the talks on Wednesday the South African jurist accused Israel of violating the "most fundamental norms" of international human rights law.

So the guy heading the team already condemned Israel before setting foot in Gaza. Some "fact-finding" mission this is going to be.

And how can anyone miss this: What can the Palestinians possibly gain by attacking Israel at this point, either through suicide bombings, rocket attacks or the attack on the Army base? Israel withdrew from Gaza giving the Palestinians their first sovereign land in history. The current Israeli government wants to withdraw from most of the West Bank as well. This can only hurt their cause! Unless it's not land they're after, rather the destruction of Israel, or at least causing the deaths of as many Israelis as possible. Where is the UNHRC?

Required reading about the "new" UNHRC from Jpost.

Observations

2006-07-04T14:05:00.000-05:00

Guest post from Yeshiva Orthodoxy.

While driving around lately I've noticed a curious thing.

The cars and minivans that are: driving most erratically; swerving in and out of lanes; obnoxiously honking; risking my life with their speeding; etc., - have prominently displayed on its rear: a green ribbon magnet written on it: "1800 cucumber"!

I'm not trying to cast aspersions, promote conspiracy theories; or CH"V derail a very fine organization, but now when I'm home using the phone service which these ribbons promote, I tightly strap myself in.

-------------------------

Just days after a frum Lakewood man was charged with bribing a police officer, I read in the news how Kiryas Yoel gives more money to state lobbyists than any other NY town or city!

Some 675,000 kiryas yoel, taxpayers' bucks went to influence public officials.

So I guess if you want to LEGALLY bribe an officer: hire a lobbyist to do it for you!

-------------------------

I was born a couple of decades to soon.

When I was in an out-of-town yeshiva and trying to get through a gruesome winter zman, for a little bit of entertainment I'd have to tirelessly scour the entire neighborhood to purchase a radio that was small enough to hide in my pocket, or squeeze into some shoe under my bed.

All so I could listen to a ballgame and Bob Grant.

Welcome to the 21st century.

The new, small, fancy-shmancy full service cell phones do absolutely anything and everything. They serve as a computer, VCR, TV, a camcorder, etc.
These uber-smart, tiny, entertainment machines bring the entire world to your palm, are easy to hide, and boy, can they help you pass time.

The present generation of spoiled out-of-town bochurim don't appreciate just know how "good" they have it!

Pallywood

2006-07-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

Click here to view a short documentary. It's worth a few minutes of your time.
Don't believe everything you see and hear.

Check out the site as well.

60

2006-06-30T12:09:00.001-05:00

The picture in my mind of my family always includes my grandparents. They were always there and I guess I think they always will be. Sort of the same way that picture never includes my other grandfather who passed away before I was born.

I don’t speak to my grandparents nearly as much as I should. The real shame of that is that my grandfather is someone with whom I can discuss almost any intellectual topic, be it any part of Torah or lihavdil, science, literature, philosophy or just life. When we are together for Shabbos or at a Simcha I usually spend a decent amount of time talking to them but I don’t pick up the phone to talk to them as often as I should.

There are just some of my thoughts as my grandparents prepare to celebrate their sixtieth wedding anniversary this Sunday, Iy”h.

May we all be zocheh to celebrate the seventieth.

There's no difference

2006-06-28T23:49:00.000-05:00

So they murdered him.

Bastards.

Who knows what the next few days or hours will bring.
It really makes the normal Jblog-type kvetching seem so trivial.

I had a few hours worth of work to do last night. I went to the office about 10:00 pm, sat down at my desk, turned on the screen and I saw the news about Eliyahu Asheri, HY"D. I couldn't work, I'll have to do it later today sometime. I was just too upset. This entire kidnapping saga, not just his, but all of them touched me very deeply. I can't imagine what his final hours must have been like. I don't want to.

Then I saw the news report that "militants" (how I hate that term) claim to have fired a chemical tipped rocket into Israel. I wanted to immediately board a plane and enlist in the IDF, if they'd have me.

Driving home from the office I was reflecting on why I felt such a strong urge to go there and join up. They certainly don't need me. I'd probably do more harm than good. I decided that my feelings were more selfish than anything else. I want to feel good that I'm doing my part to help, even if I'm not actually helping.

That leaves me with what my first thought should've been upon hearing the news. Prayer. It'll certainly do much more good than anything else I can do. Let's not stop saying Tehillim for him, let's pray for his family to have the strength to withstand this tragedy, let's pray for OUR family. We are one and the same. It doesn't matter what we call our Kippa, Yarmulka or koppel. It doesn't even matter of you don't call it anything at all. Let's pull together, let's pray together.

May he be a Meilitz Yosher for all of Klal Yisroel.

May he be a Meilitz Yosher for his family.

There's no difference.

T.N.TZ.B.H.

Pray

2006-06-28T00:55:00.000-05:00

Just want to remind everyone to take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to say some Tehillim for Gilad ben Aviva (Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped soldier), and for Eliyahu ben Miriam Asheri. Try to imagine them as your brothers, then stop imagining. They are your brothers. They need our prayers.

At Ma'ariv last night, as they were saying Aleinu, I asked a fellow near me if he thought they would say Tehillim afterward. He shrugged and walked up to the Ba'al Tefillah and asked him if they would say some Tehillim. A small tumult ensued, some people said that you don't say Tehillim at night. I responded that if you really thought it was your brother, you'd be saying Tehillim regardless. But what was most shocking to me is that some of them had not even heard the story! They had no idea anything was going on!

Would you have heard about your brother's abduction?

Why didn't you?

Is it not important enough because it's happening a few thousand miles away?

I realize I can't fault someone for not hearing about something. Most people here don't own televisions and who has time to listen to the radio? The internet? I won't even go there. But I know this much; if it was your brother, you would know about it somehow.

And you would say Tehillim.

Even at night.

And while you're at it, add some tefillos for the rest of your extended family heading in to harm's way in Gaza. They can use them as well.

B'suros Tovos.

On terror & terrorists

2006-06-26T11:12:00.000-05:00

The following is an AIM conversation between myself and LkwdGuy.
(Jameel, please don't kill me)

Shtender: You there?
LkwdGuy: Yeah, what's up?
Shtender: I'm considering posting something very controversial regarding the terrible story of the the attack on the army base in Israel.
LkwdGuy: What do you want to say?
Shtender: I'm thinking of writing that the attackers cannot be called terrorists, because they attacked an army base, not civilians, and that's called war. Sure, they are the enemy, but not terrorists. Terrorists attack civilians.
LkwdGuy: If they kidnapped and God forbid, if they kill him, they are terrorists. That's not part of war.
Shtender: Kidnapping is another word for a POW. If they harm him they may be breaking the Geneva Convention, but terrorist is still the wrong word.
LkwdGuy: No it's not. The point is to create terror through murder.
Shtender: A terrorist is someone who attacks civilians to create terror in the population so as to achieve a political objective.
LkwdGuy: Where did you get that definition? If they capture a soldier and then dismember him limb from limb on video, they are terrorists.
Shtender: By your logic the IDF are terrorists.
LkwdGuy: How does that follow?
Shtender: The IDF scares the population. They break the sound barrier over civilian areas and scare everyone to achieve an objective.
LkwdGuy: They don't kill people to instill fear.
Shtender: Who said they have to kill? Fear is fear. Terror is terror.
LkwdGuy: That's fine, I would have no issues with Hamas making loud noises.
Shtender: The point is not what you have issues with, but how you define a terrorist. What's the difference between a terrorist and a soldier? In my view, a terrorist is someone who attacks civilians to achieve a political goal.
LkwdGuy: Is making loud noises considered an attack?
Shtender: No, but you defined terror as instilling fear in a population, not an attack. The IDF scares people.
LkwdGuy: So do teachers.
Shtender: Hey, it's on you to draw the line in your definition, not me.
LkwdGuy: If they break the conventions of warfare with the intent of achieving political goals, they are terrorists. And don't tell me that Israel also does, because while I might agree that they sometimes do, they are doing it for security, not political reasons.
Shtender: Were the Vietnamese terrorists? How about the Japanese in WWII? No, they were just plain lowlife soldiers.
LkwdGuy: It's silly to argue about what label to give them. The word has no technical meaning. It can be loosely or strictly applied and it makes no difference.
Shtender: Aha! It's a buzzword, and it has alot of purpose. It's meant to rile up people and to delegitimize the attackers, which is fine, but in this case I think it's wrongly applied. As I said, it would be a very controversial post.
LkwdGuy: The attackers are not legitimate because they are part of a terrorist organ. If you want to argue that these members (by their own admission) of a terrorist group are not, in this specific instance, acting as terrorists and the only reason everyone is calling them that is to delegitimize them, be my guest, But I don't think that's a very compelling argument. Your point here is a very technical nitpick on word usage. It's not a correct commentary about what is actually going on there. And I would argue that the only reason people make your argument is to delegitimize what happens there daily.
Shtender: Now you're making a different argument. Either way, word usage is what's in question here. This kind of word usage has a very specific purpose, and calling them terrorists minimizes the effect when you actually have real terrorist attacks.
LkwdGuy: No it doesn't. This was a terrorist attack in my opinion.
Shtender: Yes it does! This was a military operation. They attacked soldiers. And how does this delegitimize what happens there daily? These kinds of attacks are not the norm. If you would just say that you call them terrorists because they belong to a terrorist organization, and stop there you might have an argument.
LkwdGuy: If you believe in moral equivalence between the two sides, then you are right. But no sensible person believes that. We understand that one side is a ruthless murderous group of people that make no differentiation between soldiers and women and children. If in this specific case they targeted soldiers, that does not make them any more legitimate. You are making a differentiation that they themselves would disagree with.
Shtender: Okay, I can buy that. Like I said, they are part of a terrorist organization. Fine. But your definition of terrorist is still wrong.
LkwdGuy: The definition is irrelevant.
Shtender: That's where you're wrong, it is not irrelevant at all. Throwing the terrorist word around lessens the effect necessary when there actually is a terrorist attack.
LkwdGuy: The only reason to make that argument is to give legitimacy to murderers. Once we establish that they don't care about killing babies for their cause, they are 100% terrorists. To point out that on a very technical level, the current attack is not terror only serves to legitimize what they did, when you and I both agree that this attack, viewed through the lens of the history of this group, is not part of war, but part of terror.
Shtender: They have a political objective. They do not have a problem using terror, and they usually do, and yes, they're scumbags. However, this attack was not a terrorist attack and I think if you call it that, you show that anytime you are attacked you run to use the terrorist buzzword to rile everyone up against the attackers, and that lessens the effect when there is an actual terrorist attack. Does this legitimize the attack? Perhaps. But maybe it IS a legitimate military attack. Were the Haganah terrorists? I don't think so, they attacked military objectives. LkwdGuy: You are arguing that this attack should be looked at by itself and that based on looking at it that way, it doesn't fit the definition of terror. I would respond that it makes no sense to judge them based on one case. If you look at the stated objectives of Hamas, and the means that they consistently employ to achieve those objectives you would understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are terrorists, regardless of whether or not the current attack fits a technical definition. To call them terrorists does not cheapen the word, because they are terrorists even if this attack does not fit the definition. They don't claim to exclusively target military objectives (as the Haganah did).
Shtender: Okay, fine. But now you are making an entirely different argument. I think I'll post this whole AIM conversation on Hayom.

Bear In [his] Mind

2006-06-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

I am in the midst of planning a camping trip to the High Peaks Region of Adirondack State Park. For those who have never been there, it is a gorgeous part of New York State. I have camped in that area five times already and I would keep going back. The trip will consists of around two miles of backpacking, setting up camp in the vicinity of Marcy Dam, and day trips from there to some of the most stunning views available in this part of the country.

My partner in crime here at Hayom, Shtender, has joined us in the past for all of these trips. Our last trip was seven summers ago and that’s where the trouble started. After backpacking in and setting up camp and properly hanging our food, we turned in for the night. Sometime in middle of the night we had visitors. Now, I’m a pretty deep sleeper (or at least I was back then) and I heard nothing. But Shtender in the next tent claims they came so close to our tents that he was able to hear them breathing. The next morning we found that all the time spent securing our food was in vain. The bears had devoured most of our food. Whatever remained had bite marks and claw marks all over and was of no use to us. We had to hike out and restock.

Here is where I need to tap in to the persuasive powers of all [twenty] of our readers. Shtender claims that he is too traumatized from that experience (seven years ago) and he is refusing to join us this year. Personally, I think he is more traumatized by the thought of backpacking a few miles. If anyone can convince him to change his mind, I will forever be indebted to you.

A lesson from an Iranian

2006-06-21T09:54:00.000-05:00

Ynet has a strongly biased article on Rabbi Lau's candidacy for President of Israel. That's to be expected from Ynet, but some of the hateful rhetoric went a little overboard. Some choice excerpts:

The presidency is not just a job. As someone who reached the pinnacle of his public service career as chief rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau should have retired from public service and started volunteering. But he chose the material world over the spiritual and was appointed chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, a full time job.

That comment is obviously coming from someone who views being a rabbi as "just a job". Being a Rabbi is not just about a career, it's about helping those who need you. If there is a need for him in Tel Aviv, there is absolutely nothing wrong with him being Rabbi there. They're really reaching, I mean, if this is the best they got he should be a shoo-in.

The next two paragraphs include these 2 gems:

Israel's president must reflect the image of the Jewish people and must represent the entirety of it. Even if we speak the same language, Rabbi Lau doesn't even come close to representing me. Not because he's religious, but rather because during all his years of public service, he may have thrown a few sweet words towards the secular community, but he took no brave public steps to resolve the religious-secular conflict or the crisis over Jewish identity.

Immediately followed by:

Rabbi Lau showed no leadership, and never dared clash on a practical level with the sickos in the religious world.

Ahh, okay. Nothing against the religious. The hate is just bleeding through. Keep in mind, he started the article stating that:

Not that I have anything against religious people, quite the opposite.

Yeah.

Some more:

Rabbi Lau is not corrupt, but he has taken (apparently not insignificant) payment for officiating at weddings. This makes me, and many others, sick. As part of some research I conducted for the Tzohar organization (a group of
rabbis that conduct weddings free of charge) I found that most people feel rabbis should not charge for performing weddings because it is a mitzvah to do so.

As a comment on the site pointed out, that's a fine example of talking out of both sides of the mouth. The writer knew he could not get away with calling him corrupt, yet tries to do it anyway.

But here's what really got me. The following comment is from someone from Iran:

I don't understand why my country hates Israel since to me after reading this article on Rabbi Lau it seems that Israelis hate jews just like we do!

That pretty much says it all.

The Other Side

2006-06-20T14:45:00.000-05:00

Every account that I have ever read of Israel's 1981 bombing of Iraq's nuclear reactor, depicts the Israeli's as heros, and rightfully so.

If you ever wondered, as I did, what the Arab version of story looks like, here it is.

"Feeling" Kedusha

2006-06-18T07:17:00.000-05:00

I think we can all agree that the Kosel is a holy place, or at least very close to a holy place. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say that the first time they were there or every time they go there they just "felt" the Kedusha.

Sure, there's a strong emotional feeling and I felt it the first time I was there too, a feeling of awe, a sense of the history that happened in that very spot, but is that "feeling" kedusha?

I don't think so.

Of the people that believe they felt the kedusha at the Kosel or in Yerushalaim, I wonder, do they feel the kedusha of a Beis HaMedrash? When they go to shul every day or on Shabbos, do they feel the kedusha of the shul, a Mikdash Me'aat? I'd be happy to admit being wrong, but I doubt it.

What they (or we) are feeling is strong emotion, not a feeling of Kedusha in my opinion.

Why Remember?

2006-06-14T15:03:00.000-05:00

David of Lakewood, a very talented and entertaining writer, writes:

This Friday is the 20th of Sivan. Please spare one moment to remember Tach vTat.
Our grandparents and their tragedy.

Let's hope in 200 years from now (if G-d forbid Moshicach hasn't come) our great-grandchildren won't be here pleading to spare a moment to remember the Holocaust.

(Read the entire post. It's great writing.)

My thoughts:

I'm just thinking out loud, so please nobody shoot me.

What is the point of "remembering"? Of course, this is part of our history, but is there something more to "remembering"? If we "remember", does it somehow make their deaths more meaningful?

We have a mitzvah to rememberer the sheebud in mitzrayim, not merely for the sake of remembering but because only through understanding the slavery can we truly appreciate the miracle of the freedom.

We have a mitzvah of remembering the acts of Amalek, in order to fulfill the commandment of timcheh es zaicher amalek.

But what cause is served by "remembering" just for the sake of remembering? Is "remembering" a goal in and of itself?

As I said, I'm just thinking out loud, not expressing any opinions, so be kind to me.

Not so bad

2006-06-13T22:44:00.000-05:00

I met someone from the blogvelt for the first time. He doesn't have his own blog, but comments extensively on assorted jblogs. Wasn't as traumatic as I expected.

Sedrah Psychology

2006-06-12T09:39:00.001-05:00

ד וְהָאסַפְסֻף אֲשֶׁר בְּקִרְבּוֹ, הִתְאַוּוּ תַּאֲוָה; וַיָּשֻׁבוּ וַיִּבְכּוּ, גַּם בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיֹּאמְרוּ, מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר. ה זָכַרְנוּ, אֶת-הַדָּגָה, אֲשֶׁר-נֹאכַל בְּמִצְרַיִם, חִנָּם; אֵת הַקִּשֻּׁאִים, וְאֵת הָאֲבַטִּחִים, וְאֶת-הֶחָצִיר וְאֶת-הַבְּצָלִים, וְאֶת-הַשּׁוּמִים. ו וְעַתָּה נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה, אֵין כֹּל--בִּלְתִּי, אֶל-הַמָּן עֵינֵינוּ. ... י וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-הָעָם, בֹּכֶה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָיו--אִישׁ, לְפֶתַח אָהֳלוֹ; וַיִּחַר-אַף יְהוָה מְאֹד, וּבְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה רָע.

4 And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting; and the children of Israel also wept on their part, and said: 'Would that we were given flesh to eat! 5 We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; 6 but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all; we have nought save this manna to look to.'-- .... 10 Moses heard the people weeping with their families, each one at the entrance to his tent, The Lord became very angry, and Moses considered it evil.

Rashi (11:10, bocheh) comment:

weeping with their families - Families gathered in groups weeping so as to publicize their grievance.

Then Rashi quotes another explanation from the medrash:

weeping with their families - Our Sages say that the meaning is: concerning family matters, that is, because intermarriage among family members was forbidden to them. [Sifrei Behaalothecha 1:42:10, Yoma 75a]

The problem is quite obvious. The posuk related, not five verses earlier, exactly what the cause of their distress was. (Pasuk 5-6) We remember the fish, which we were wont to eat in Egypt for nought; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic; but now our soul is dried away; there is nothing at all; we have nought save this manna to look to. They were unhappy about the man. They didn't mention a word about arayos. What causes Chazal to put words and ideas into the mouth's of bnei yisroel that bears no resemblance to their explicitly stated complaints?

The answer, says R. Yaakov Kaminetsky, is based on a keen understanding of human nature. Often, a person may be down about something without consciously realizing what it is that's bothering him. He may lash out at those around him with very little provocation and for irrational reasons. The cause of his ire is not really the actions of those around him, that is just the trigger. The real cause is something much deeper that is irking him.

That, explains R. Yaakov, is what Chazal understood from these pesukim. It is inconceivable that a people that were being sustained directly from Hashem, that were eating a most perfect food, would be gathering their families together to cry about fish and cucumbers. There had to be a much deeper reason for their distress. That, say Chazal, was the recently received laws of forbidden relationships.

What I find fascinating about this pshat is that a simple reading of Rashi would lead one to believe that there is no possible way that the two pshatim quoted by Rashi could coexist. The midrashic interpretationtion seems to be so far fetched. R. Yaakov shows us how they both are true on two different levels.

Aylu v'aylu divrai elokim chayim.

Graphic details

2006-06-11T09:24:00.000-05:00

I'm a graphic designer by trade. I've worked everywhere from web development firms to publishing powerhouses. I've been in this field for a while, but there is something I can't wrap my mind around.

Why do frum people and organizations accept horrible design as nice or even passable, when any other company or organization would see it for what it really is, namely garbage?

Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood is making their annual appeal for the kollel (the appeal targets thousands of the very same people who they are raising money for, but that's another discussion). I don't know who makes the decisions there about who to use for design, but the flyer that was plastered around the town was so badly done, I felt like I was physically slapped in the face every time I saw it. Like most frum design jobs, every single photoshop layer effect was used on practically every selection, drop shadows galore, typography that should get you arrested, clashing colors, and the large BMG logo on the bottom had perhaps the worst selection in the history of mankind, plus a drop shadow of course. (Pssst, a blast from the magic wand is not always the best way to make a selection!)

The non-frum world would never accept this fly-by-night design done by people who just discovered Photoshop and filters, yet in the frum world this is not only accepted, but considered nice! Overdone is nice to frum people. I can't figure out why.

People have no idea where to draw the line (pun intended).

The right equipment and a complete knowledge of the programs do not necessarily make a nice product. There is talent and skill involved as well as an eye for design. I mean, learn the color wheel for heaven's sake before you try to do a real design job. I see people all the time who've taken graphic design courses (the 3-6 month type of course). Most of the time the work they do is terrible. Sure, they know the programs well, they know the tools, but they lack an eye for it, they lack talent.

I get asked all the time to do jobs for frum companies and organizations. It's very hard. The client has no idea what nice design is, they just need everything to be as flashy as possible even if the design makes no sense at all.

True story: I was asked to do an album cover for a frum cd. I designed something which I felt was real classy; minimalistic and subtle. They nixed it because, in their words "it won't jump off the shelves". And they're right. The frum costumer in general is looking for the same thing the frum client is - overdone garbage.

Why are frum people different in this way? I don't get it.

Ruth Readings

2006-06-06T14:17:00.000-05:00

This past shabbos we read how Naomi tried to discourage her daughter-in-law Ruth from converting. Naomi tells her:

טו וַתֹּאמֶר, הִנֵּה שָׁבָה יְבִמְתֵּךְ, אֶל-עַמָּהּ, וְאֶל-אֱלֹהֶיהָ; שׁוּבִי, אַחֲרֵי יְבִמְתֵּךְ.

And she said: 'Behold, thy sister-in-law is gone back unto her people, and unto her god; return thou after thy sister-in-law.

Now there is a well known halacha that we must discourage converts and only after much persistence on their part may we accept them. But Naomi seems to take this much further than one would expect. She seems to be advising her daughter-in-law to return to her avodah zara. How could she do that? A Jew cannot encourage a non Jew to worship avoda zara.

Any ideas?

Keith Olbermann takes O'Reilly to task

2006-06-03T21:12:00.001-05:00

Not exactly shocking that Bill O'Reilly doesn't really have a clue about many of the things he pretends to. I may have conservative viewpoints on many issues, but this man does not speak for me. Neither does Sean Hannity for that matter.

The Invisible woman

2006-05-31T11:50:00.000-05:00

For a variety of reasons, none of them very compelling, I subscribe to the weekly Yated Ne'eman and the daily Hamodia. I think there are many (OK, maybe that's an exaggeration) positive aspects to both of these papers but there are also quite a few things that bug me. For today, I want to discuss my wife's pet peeve.

WHERE ARE THE WOMEN???

I don't really have a great explanation for this phenomenon. I'm quite sure that halachah does not prohibit them from showing a relevant picture of a tzniyusdik'ly dressed woman. An obituary of a choshuva rebbitzin does not have to show only a picture of her husband. But what bothers me even more than that is that they include even little girls in this policy. My six year old daughter was looking through the Yated and asked me "Tatty, how come there are only boys in these pictures"? I don't want my girls to grow up thinking that they need to be hidden.

The idea that these pictures need to be excluded or that a woman's face (or a five year old girls face) needs to be blurred out doesn't speak well of Jewish men.

I remember a few years ago I was davening on Shabbos in a minyan that was held in a girls school. There was a drawing of a little girl hanging on the wall, with a word bubble coming out of her mouth, I think she was supposed to be singing something. A fellow came over and took the drawing off the wall so that people shouldn't look at it during davening. I was flabbergasted. It's a (bad) drawing of a young girl! I was tempted to tell him that he left the kol isha (the word bubble) on the wall. If such a thing causes people not be able to daven correctly, they should seek emergency therapy.

Jackpot!

2006-05-25T01:13:00.000-05:00

I bought a used office chair today from a used office furniture place. It had good leather, high back and felt great. I was googling today about the chair and I found it on the manufacturer's website here. Apparently it's called the Vitra Imago and it's like a high end snazzy chair designed by some Italian dude named Mario Bellini whose signature is engraved on a a metal piece on the back of the chair. The exact same chair in grey is on eBay starting at $1,295. It's going new for $4740 over here.

Most sites selling it are in German so I can't figure them out, but I know that the $75 I paid was probably a darn good deal. :)

I'll be watching the eBay listings closely. If someone out there is dumb enough to pay big money for those, this baby is going up for sale.

Slow down!

2006-05-24T09:06:00.000-05:00

A young, frum girl was struck by a minivan in Lakewood last night driven by a frum woman. B"H she will be okay.

I don't, God forbid, mean to accuse the woman driver of anything. I honestly have no idea whose fault this was. The street is dark, the girl may have not seen the van, the driver may have not seen her, I don't know.

What I do know is that people speed down these suburban sidestreets like they're on a highway. I see this all the time (again, I am not referring to the driver in this case). There's a tremendous difference between 25 and 40 MPH. I see cars tearing through parking lots like they're stealing second base. You're in a rush? Is that really a reason to endanger lives?

I don't know what it is, but for some reason the frum population are in general, terrible drivers. I can't put my finger on why that would be, but it's something I've noticed all too often, and maybe you have as well. I can usually tell a frum driver from a distance and not just because the car is a Buick LeSabre.

For example, last night I pulled up to a red light behind a pickup truck driven by someone who certainly did not look Jewish. There were two lanes, the pickup was in the left lane. I stayed in the left lane behind the pickup truck and the guy pulling up behind me did the same (Right turn on red is permitted, so it's an unstated courtesy to leave the lane open for someone who would want to turn right). A young frum man in his Toyota Avalon pulls up in the right lane so that he can cut off everyone the instant before the light turns green. I mean really, are you in such a hurry? And if you are do you really think the 1/4 second you saved was worth the Chilul Hashem?

Slow down. Your lunch/dinner will still be warm a minute later.

Gasoline too expensive?

2006-05-22T21:20:00.000-05:00

Can this be the answer?

To answer or not to answer...

2006-05-16T15:33:00.000-05:00

And now for something entirely different.

Did it ever happen that you were davening somewhere, and the person davening next to you was obviously vocally challenged; he is unable to whisper. So he is davening shemona esrai and you can clearly hear every word that he is saying. This has happened to me, and I was wondering, should I answer amen to his brochos or not? (Obviously, after I finished shemona esrai.)

The consensus of the opinions that I was able to find was that one should not answer amen to such brachos. The reasons, however, were not all identical.

R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv (Moriah Vol. 11-12 - kislev 5764, page 48) rules, that:

One who hears his friend davening the quiet shemona esrai, is forbidden from answering amen on the brachos of his friend, because [there is a rule that] we do not answer amen on a bracha that is shelo k'din, and brachos of the quiet shemona esrai that are said audibly are shelo k'din and thus amen should not be said.

R. Shlomo Zalmen Aurbach (Halichos Shelomo, 8:32) rules that:

One who hears the quite shemona esrai of his friend, even though he (i.e. the one who hears) is no longer davening, should not answer amen.

In the footnotes (#45) this ruling is explained as follows:

Since they were instituted to be said quietly, and he is acting shelo k'din when he says them audibly, it would make sense not to answer amen.

R. Hershel Schachter (Mepininai HaRav, pg. 35) writes the following:

Our teacher (R. Yoshe Ber Soloveitchik) was careful to audibly speak each word (so that he could hear what he was saying), even of the quiet shemona esrai. And once, one of the students asked our teacher, if he [the student] should answer amen when he hears the brachos of our teacher's quiet shemona esrai. After some thought, our teacher answered that it would seem that one should not answer amen because these brachos should be said [according to the halacha] quietly, and they were never meant to be heard by others, and as such, amen was never instituted for them.

A practical distinction between the two lines of reasoning (RYSE and RSZA who are of the opinion that we don't answer amen because the bracha is shlo k'din and RYBS who held that we don't answer amen because chazal were never misaken amen on these brachos) would be in a case where the person is allowed to daven audibly. For example, a person who is davening alone and can be michaven better if he davens aloud, according to the first opinion (RYSE and RSZA) since he not acting shelo k'din, amen should be said, however, the second opinion (RYBS) would still not answer amen because the brachos of shemona esrai were not included in the takana of answering amen.

I found that the Elef Hamagen on the Mateh Efraim (582:43) rules that on Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur, since it is permitted to daven shemona esrai audibly, if one hears his friends brachos he may answer amen.

Stuff from here and there

2006-05-15T11:37:00.000-05:00

DavidOfLakewood has a thinly veiled threat. Good stuff.

Ever wonder what it would be like to go for a ride with the Blue Angels? Wonder no more!

iTunes/iPod may finally be getting some real competition.

It seems the rich are doing well. 4 out of 10 home purchases are second homes.

48 million people still don't use seatbelts.

Oh, and Skype is now free for those who are interested. Read about it here.

Lakewood Priorities

2006-05-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

"Our town had a horrible crime visited upon us ..."
-Mayor Meir Lichtenstein

I don't think there has to be any more discussion about the actual event. The lack of sensitivity shown by some in the blogvelt is really saddening.

I would, however, like to discuss the reaction.

I think that it's a fait accompli that there will be an asifa for women. I think it's also pretty obvious who the speakers will be. I'm also quite sure that the main topic that will be addressed is Tzniyus.

And that, in my humble opinion, is very sad.

The gemarah tell us that when a tragedy befalls a member of a group, it must serve as a wake-up call to the entire group. As such, our entire community must view this as a message to improve our ways.

In the past, when there were tragic events that faced our community, the message was always tzniyus. My problem with this attitude is that it ignores half of the population. It addresses the women by saying this is YOUR problem. YOU need to improve in what YOU'RE doing. We men will continue in our holy ways and hope that YOU women can get a grip on YOUR issues.

Lakewood is a wonderful town, filled with talmidei chachomim, baalei chessed and anshei maaseh. But as is true of every place on earth, there are problems. And these problems need to be addressed. When wonderful frum, erlicher people are dragged through the mud when trying to get their children into school because of the sin of working for a living, there's a major problem. When any store owner that has been in business for a year has been to multiple dinei torah already, there's a major problem.

Of course tzniyus is a vital, important issue, and I don't mean to minimize it. But why don't we first focus on the more widespread issues? The ones that affect much more people, even men? Does God care about how someone wears a pocketbook or if their skirt has a kickpleat? He may, I don't know. But I DO know that He cares if people are publicly shamed, and if there's no honesty in financial matters.

Upsetting Behavior

2006-05-08T12:06:00.000-05:00

Life-Of-Rubin writes about some upsetting behavior he experienced.

This is something many of us have experienced in different ways. There was a time when being frum meant that we had integrity. That time is gone. Of course many of us, perhaps even most of us are still honest people, but that is no longer the perception. Money has become more important than halachah to too many people.

Case in point: A friend of mine was looking for a house. A few days ago he found a house that may suit his needs, but it needed plenty of work. He called a "frum" construction guy to come look at the house with him so he would have some idea of the cost of renovation. The guy gave him an estimate and left. The next day the construction guy called the realtor and tried to buy the house (he obviously thought it was a good deal), after he had known that my friend had already made a verbal contract with the seller.

We all have our own stories.

It's sad, but some people just don't realize what being Jewish is all about. How do we go about fixing this? Sure, you try to teach your children as best as you can, and try to lead by example, but your kids still go to school. They still have friends. They are subject to different environments whether the parents like it or not.

Scary.

How could Hashem do that?

2006-05-02T11:37:00.000-05:00

Gil at Hirhurim has a post on holocaust theodicy. Reading through the comments to that post I am amazed at how well some people think they understand G-d's ways. Moshe Rabainu asked Hashem to show him His ways. According to many meforshim, he was asking to understand why righteous people sometimes suffer while wicked people seem to live the good life. Hashem only answered him in part. A little bit of intellectual humility is certainly in order in any discussion of why Hashem acts in the way that He does.

Now for my own holocaust theodicy.

Avos 4:15

רבי ינאי אומר:
אין בידינו לא משלות הרשעים ואף לא מיסורי הצדיקים.

Rabbi Yannai used to say: It is not in our power to explain the well-being of the wicked or the sorrows of the righteous. (Translation courtesy of this site.)

Rav Hirsch expounds on this mishna:

Not only can we not explain the well being of the wicked or the sorrows of the righteous, we can not confidently declare any event to be either good or bad. We simply do not know what the long term plan is.

Dovid Hamelech says:

ו מַה-גָּדְלוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ יְהוָה; מְאֹד, עָמְקוּ מַחְשְׁבֹתֶיךָ.	6 How great are Thy works, O LORD! Thy thoughts are very deep.
ז אִישׁ-בַּעַר, לֹא יֵדָע; וּכְסִיל, לֹא-יָבִין אֶת-זֹאת.	7 A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this.
ח בִּפְרֹחַ רְשָׁעִים, כְּמוֹ עֵשֶׂב, וַיָּצִיצוּ, כָּל-פֹּעֲלֵי אָוֶן: לְהִשָּׁמְדָם עֲדֵי-עַד.	8 When the wicked spring up as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they may be destroyed for ever.

Rav Shimon Schwab explains this with a moshel:

On a trip to Florida, you visit Cape Canaveral. You are chosen to take a tour of an actual space shuttle. After being shown in to the cockpit, you stare in amazement at the vast array of dials, lights and buttons. After a few seconds you point to one little light and you ask the guide "Why is that light there? Shouldn't it be a little higher, like on the next row"?

Obviously, that's a stupid question. Not only don't you have a working knowledge of space shuttle technology, you don't even have a clue what that light is for! If you really want to understand why that light is where it is, first spend the time understanding the intricacies of shuttle technology and then you can begin to ask the questions.

That should be our approach to trying to understand Hashem's actions. Spend a lifetime immersed in the study of His torah and then begin asking the questions.

Bush Vs. Bush

2006-05-01T15:56:00.000-05:00

George Bush and Steve Bridges at the White House Correspondents'. Association annual dinner.

The origins of ..... Tom and Jerry

2006-04-28T13:06:00.000-05:00

Rambam on dissing Gedolim

2006-04-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

I happened across an amazing Rambam:

יז) וזה הוא דרך ישיבת הלצים הרשעים: בתחילה מרבין בדברי הבאי, כעניין שנאמר "וקול כסיל, ברוב דברים" (קוהלת ה,ב); ומתוך כך באין לספר בגנות הצדיקים, כעניין שנאמר "תיאלמנה, שפתי שקר: הדוברות על צדיק, עתק" (תהילים לא,יט); ומתוך כך יהיה להן הרגל לדבר בנביאים וליתן דופי בדבריהם, כעניין שנאמר "ויהיו מלעיבים, במלאכי האלוהים, ובוזים דבריו, ומיתעתעים בנביאיו" (דברי הימים ב לו,טז); ומתוך כך באין לדבר באלוהים וכופרין בעיקר, כעניין שנאמר "ויחפאו בני ישראל, דברים אשר לא כן, על ה', אלוהיהם" (מלכים ב יז,ט).

Basically, the Rambam is detailing a four step process that can lead people to the point of kefirah b'ikar.

1) Spending lots of time talking about "narishkaitin".

This, he says, will lead to:
2) Degrading Tzadikim.

Eventually they will:
3) Speak [negatively] about the neviim and begin doubting their words.

Which will result in:
4) Total kefirah.

What amazed me was that we saw this four-step process take place before our own eyes on a number of blogs over the last few years.

A - Z (again)

2006-04-26T15:16:00.000-05:00

My co-conspirator in this endeavor, Shtender, didn’t want me to feel left out so he graciously tagged me to participate in the A – Z meme. Here goes:

Accent: It’s really the weirdest thing. I have no accent at all. I know people from Toronto and Cleveland and Detroit and Australia with all kinds of accents but I just speak regular.

Booze: For me to consider imbibing any alcoholic beverage whatsoever, it must meet the following criteria: It must contain alcohol. That’s it.

Chore I Hate: Anything LkwdGal asks me to do and when I say, “OK”, She asks “When”? And when I say “Soon”, she says “Can you PLEASE do it now”? That’s a chore that I hate. It may have previously been My Most Favorite Chore, heck, I may have never even thought of it as a chore, but from that moment on it is officially classified as A Chore That I Hate.

Dogs/Cats: Homes are for humans, zoos are for animals.

Essential Electronics: I can’t imagine living without a … dishwasher.

Favorite Perfume/Cologne: I never wore cologne until I was engaged and LkwdGal bought me this. I liked it a lot and I still wear only that.

Gold/Silver: I have a gold colored tie. That’s about as close as I can get to gold. But I bought a lottery ticket and as they say, hey, you never know.

Hometown: I lived in Lakewood for 90% of my life.

Insomnia: Never ever. Sleep is my most favorite activity.

Job Title: Guy who works the hardest for the least.

Kids: LkwdKiddo I, LkwdKiddo II, and LkwdKiddo III. All the same gender.

Living Arrangements: A house that is too small.

Most Admired Trait: Modesty and Humility. I know I’m only supposed to choose one, but I really excel at both of these and I couldn’t decide which of the two really defines me.

Number of sexual partners: What’s that?

Overnight Hospital Stays: Never as a patient, but LkwdKiddo III was born on a Friday night and I spent that night in a dingy hospital lounge on a lumpy couch below a blearing TV next to a rumbling elevator. Does that count?

Phobia: I have an intense and totally irrational fear of being busted blogging at work.

Quote: “I’ll do it later. I will. Really.”

Religion: Jewish. Somewhere between Scary Charedi and LW Yeshivish on the LamidZayin scale.

Siblings: More than ten, less than twenty. I’ll leave it at that.

Time I usually wake up: 2:30 AM, 3:45 AM, 4:30 AM, and 6:30 AM.

Unusual Talent: Pretending to be asleep when I hear one of the kids crying in the other room so I don’t have to be the one to get up.

Vegetable I refuse to eat: If it’s remotely edible, I eat it.

Worst Habit: Spending way too long in the bathroom finishing a sudoku or a crossword puzzle.

X-Rays: When I was ten years old I was in a car accident and I spent Purim in the ER waiting to get X-rays done. Nothing was broken.

Yummy Foods I make: Mac and cheese, frozen pizza and fish sticks.

Zodiac Sign: No clue but I just looked it up on Wikipedia. I am a Cancer. (I think I remember being called that once in camp by some stuck up older kid.) The associated words and/or phrases are: "I feel," sensitive, tenacious, family and home oriented, helpful, nurturing, moody, stomach/breasts. I have no clue what any of that means, but hey, you asked.

A chilling reminder

2006-04-26T14:36:00.000-05:00

In case anyone needs a reminder what the War on Terror is all about, here's a chilling one. In short, it's a 911 call made from the top of the burning World Trade Center, it ends as the towers begin to collapse. Scary stuff.

Crude Language Warning.

If the video doesn't play, you can go directly to the YouTube page here.