Category Archives: Uncategorized

It would not be appropriate if I did not publicly aknowledge the terrible, terrible tragedy that has just occured at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva. I really do not have anything to say, I just wish to publiclly express my profound sadness and wish solace to the families of those effected. I think we have to view this event as a wake up call and use it as a catalyst for introspection, a quest for a truer sense of priority purpose and ultimately teshuva.

And my the redeemer come onto Tzion, and let us say, amen. 

Sorry for the site being down for the last couple of days. Unfortunately my blog host has removed its free hosting service, so I had to fork out the credit card to register it. Oh well, as long as you guys keep reading, well that is all that matters. Will post up something shortly.

Over Shabbat I read Against (Book One) Apion by Josephus. It is quite frankly incredible, and I highly recommend that everyone read it. You can get a copy here.

Against Omens (Quite Humerous)

 Although I consider myself a talmid of Rav Kook & Rav Soloveitchik, I do not label myself as a “Religious Zionist”. This is not just an issue of semantics, but rather one of self definition. Below are some sources that highlight some ideas on this matter. This not a complete dissertation of my world view, nevertheless, it does give some insight into my thought process.

Source 1: Facing Current Challenges: R’Leo Lev chapter on Zionism
“Zionists who are not Zionists”

In the religious Zionist camp there are also many who view the Torah, rather than the nation, as the supreme value. When they see themselves as Zionists, they use Zionism to mean something entirely different from the accepted meaning. Such usage turns the term into an obstruction to effective communication; beyond this, it may compromise the clarity of thought of those who use it.

The source of the problem lies in the fact that Zionism was coined by a non-observant jew, and as noted, it is impossible to clarify its meaning using Torah sources. It is therefore appropriate to assign the term the meaning attributed to it by most of the people who use it, and to formulate a new term for those who not use it to refer primary nationalism. Presumably Rabbi Y.D Soloveitchik, the last spiritual leader of the Mizrachi movement in the United States, had this in mind when he wrote, “We do not believe in ‘Zionism Plus religion’ or ‘religious Zionism’. For us there is only one special noun – Torah”

“I believe every Torah-true Jew must take pains to free himself of these errors. Then, he will no longer be a Zionist – not a general Zionist, not even a religious Zionist. He will be a lover of Israel, of the Land of Israel, even an excellent citizen of the State of Israel. He will be engaged in the state’s advancement and in straightening its path, involved in its economy and politics, and will take pains to awaken it to its purpose. A “Zionist”, however, he will not be.”

Source 2: Interview with R’ Yoel Schwartz of Nachal Chareidi
(http://yeranenyaakov.blogspot.com/2005/08/rav-yoel-schwartz-on-geula.html)

[After giving it to secular Zionism, he was asked, "What about Religious Zionism?" His reply:]"There are people who call themselves Zionists, but they really go with the approach of the Vilna Gaon, who holds that one can hasten the Ge’ula by building Israel, actively – not passively. There are 3 approaches: The first holds not to do anything [in building up the infrastructure of the Land of Israel], and that anything done will just slow down the Geula process. The Zionists’ approach is "We’ll take our fate into our own hands." The third approach is that of the Vilna Gaon, explained in his book "Kol Hator", that it’s incumbant upon us to be partners with Hashem in the world, and that this is what will hasten the Geula. I believe that the Halacha in heaven is like this [third] opinion because events in the field prove so: the center of Torah today is in Eretz Yisrael. It’s incumbant upon us to understand the greatness of the hour.

And finally why the whole issues of labels is inappropriate and counter productive:

Source 3: Labels are for suits
http://www.chabad.org/holidays/JewishNewYear/template.asp?AID=4476

Dear readers,

This post is one of those unfortunate ones that you hope you never have to write. Unfortunately my uncle has very recently being diagnosed with bowl cancer and is having a major operation this coming Wednesday. I ask if you could all say tehillim, learn some torah or just say a quick short prayer for “Emanuel ben Rochel’ for a complete refuah shleima. I know we unfortunately get dozens of these requests, but even just a quick one liner will be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks, and wishing a full refuah shleima to all of those who are in need of healing.

UPDATE: Baruch Hashem, my uncle got through the surgery. There is still a long road ahead with chemotherapy, etc but at least it is a step in the right direction. Thank you to all of those who prayed and continue to pray for his wellbeing as well as for all of the sick in klal yisroel.

I am not very clued up about the inter relationships and inner workings of the various Orthodox communities in Israel, but I found this story quite interesting .

Source (http://www.col.org.il/homepage.rtx) for English, http://www.col.org.il/show_news.rtx?artID=31652 for Hebrew.

This story is interesting to me for a couple of reasons 1) that the Toldas Aaron Rebbe (leader of a very conservative insular Chassidic group) would go to a Chabad house and address the crowd (were their non observant jews or women there???) 2) that he publicly expressed his appreciation for meeting the Rebbe 3) That he was impressed with Chabad activities around the world obviously in their reference to their outreach activities.

Maybe I am out of the loop on this one, but isn’t this a pretty radical occurrence? Either way, I find this news quite uplifting and glad to see that such diverse groups can get along with a sense of mutual respect and dignity. Yasher koach

‘From the day the Temple
was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given over to
fools and to young children" [Bava Basra 12b]

Listen & Learn.

On Page 16, footnote 3 of R’Heshey Zelcer "A Guide to the Jerusalem Talmud: The Compilation and Composition of the Jerusalem Talmud, the Cultural, Economic and Political Conditions in the Land of Israel During Its Development" there is a fascinating anecdote recorded. It brings to my mind the Rambam’s dictum "accept the truth from whoever says it". I personally find this story quite inspiring, and as an example of the path we should follow.

For a contrasting view, see here for a discussion of the view of the Chazon Ish on this matter as well as the discussion on the Hirhurim comments section.

The man behind Artscroll, Rabbi Nosson Scherman, is interviewed by the Jewish Press (Online Version). Interesting questions asked in the interview include "Why no mention of Chabad or Rav Kook", "Do Artscroll white wash the Gedolim", etc. I felt the questions were all answered fairly, even if one does not agree with the answers given.

Another interview with R’ Nosson Scherman can be found here [Hat Tip To R’Steve Brizel from the Areivim Email List]

It is about 12:00 at night. I was just reading my blogs as usual, you know catching up on the latest posts. I have been a little bit on the bored side recently. I haven’t mentioned it till now, but I am no longer working at Get Me On Media, long story, but yeah got retrenched so currently unemployed.

I went to a dinner the other night and one of the guys was talking about how important acts of kindness are. You know one of those feel good, be nice drashot. The guy who wasn’t a talmid chacham by any means, seemed genuinely sincere in his convictions about this point and “words from the heart, enter the heart”.

So tonight I decided to act on that advice. As you already know, Hirhurim, is one of my all time favorite blogs that I read prolifically. I have been reading every single day for the last 2-3 years. In fact Hirhurim, was one of my ‘inspirations’ for getting started in blogging in the first place. I thought to myself after reading through the latest post on Hirhurim, “Man, blogging takes a lot of work. To write intelligent posts, respond to comments, etc, it is work that is often really unappreciated, it is solely a labour of love. Here I am every day getting quality Torah education and insight dealing with all the complexities of life, for FREE. What thanks does the blogger get, nothing”.

So what did I do? Well, I decided to call up R’Gil Student. Yup, looked up his number on the internet, called him up and told R’Gil Student how much I enjoy his blog, how much I appreciate his work, that I have learned so much from him and that I really hope he goes from strength to strength in all his endeavors. He was really appreciative, said thank you very much, how it made his day and that was that. I know it was bit "random", but I got idea after hearing Rabbi Rakefet in one of his shiurim read out a letter to his class from a talmid who wrote to him thanking him for all his shiurim on tape he listened to over the years. Rabbi Rakefet was over the moon over that letter.

Now what is the moral of the story. No, I am not suggesting we all call up R’Gil Student. What I am suggesting is that practically if we all make an endeavor to do one extra nice thing for someone it a) makes the world a better place b) is a mitzvah c) makes them feel good and d) makes you feel good.

So I will end off this post with a salute to R’Gil Student and to all the other bloggers and commentators out there who contribute daily to our entertainment and our education. I publicly thank you all for all your hard work. Even though I don’t comment every time, I and thousands more are still reading. Keep up the great work. I also encourage all of you to do an extra random act of kindness today, and help make this world a better place.

The END