In Honor of Post #200... A Little Treat

Random Thoughts of the Day...

It's been a while since I last posted and a lot has happened. The big ones being that I finally got my Israeli passport and with it my "officially" being approved for Aliyah by the Jewish Agency.

I knew that since I got my Mac I was going to find less time to write, partly due to the fact that now I have some other outlets for my creative juices, like recording music (which actually got some airtime last week on Israel National Radio), as well as just getting used to the new system. I must say the transition from PC to Mac has been very smooth and I can't see myself going back unless it's because of economic reasons.

Anyways this blog is about Torah and Israel so I have to get some stuff off of my chest.

I make Aliyah in the number of day that are listed on the side screen of this page.

And I am terrified.

I know that I've been all gung-ho about Aliyah ever since I came back from Israel that last time (2 years, 2 weeks and 3 days) and I did something that I said that I wouldn't do.

I got comfortable.

It's hard not to in the Exile, that's one of it's tests.

It's the story of Purim. I discovered something interesting last year about the whole Purim story, that the king before Achashvairosh allowed the Jews of Persia to return to Eretz Yisrael to rebuild the Beit Hamikdash.

And their resonse?

"We don't want to go, we like it here, we're going to stay."

So imagine this, a Jews, in the Exile, going to Daf Yomi at night and Vatikin in the morning. Who has the most inspiring Shabbos meals and is someone who is true leader in the Jewish community. Goes to the big government event of the year and makes sure that there is enought Kosher food with every type of hechsher that every sect of Judasim holds by to make sure that the JEWS CHAS V'SHALOM WERE TO DO SOMETHING TREIF!!

And they eat off of the Kalim of the Beit Hamikdash.

I talked to one of my old Rebbeim last week about something he had said in my sister Bais Yaakov class, regarding Aliyah. He had said that it's not a good idea to make Aliyah with kids, because it is in a sense going to end up being the kids who will take the hardest hot from the culture shock, especially if they don't want to go in the first place.

I can't comment on making Aliyah with kids, because I am not married yet and do not have kids of my own. I can however say that he is right in a sense and that it is hard to know what the effect will be on the kids because that might be one the most unpredictable part of the Aliyah as a family equation.

There have been families with kids who have thrived and families who have fallen, but the point is that in order to have a smooth transition from the Exile into the Land of Israel, is for young couples and singles to make Aliyah before there are any kids in the picture.

And that is going to start with education.

Rabbi Fass said that America does not need to pack up it's bags and go tomorrow, but the mentality around Aliyah has to change. There still is the sense that Israel is a charity cause and not something to be taken seriously when it comes to the idea of what the Torah says and actually live there. And people who make Aliyah still kind of get the looks from people who say "s/he's strange."

The trick is education, the groups in America that are educating about Israel as a state are the more modern groups, yet there are also more likely the more affluent group and more rooted in materialism.

The more charadi/yeshivish world don't talk about Aliyah, yet are more committed to Torah in the Exile.

I don't know what the answers are, but I do know that the idea around Aliyah has to change. Israel is no longer a charity organization that serves the purpose of being a refuge for fleeing Jews from countries that are persecuting them. It is now a thriving country (and in some ways more stable that even the United States.)

Which leads me to one more point that I think that a fitting end to Jewish life in America (if Mashiach doesn't come, which will hopefully be by the time you read this) if, as what's happening right now, the American economy would collapse, bringing with it an end to the prosperity this country has enjoyed for decades.

As Natan Sharansky said "In Russia I had to break out of Iron Curtain. You in America need to break out of Golden Curtain."

I don't run the world, that's up to G-d. All I can do is do my best to see it is truthfully as it is and do whatever I can to leave the world a little better than the way I found it.

On a final note, everyone should have, in the back of their minds, that Israel is where home is and not get too comfortable in the Exile. Otherwise, as Jewish history has proven time and time again that it repeats itself, and will we be in Israel drinking on kalim of the Beit Hamikdash.

Because Sometimes We Need to Remember...

I've done this before, but I think it's important to remember, especially after today's terror attack, that we are the Jewish People. We will win in the end and we have to be strong until then

An "Only in Israel" Story

Kol HaKavod to David Bogner the writer of the blog Treppenwitz, with this incredible "Only in Israel" story:

My cab ride to Beirut

OK, truth be told, I didn't actually take a taxi to the capital of Hezbollah-land.

But when I tried to arrange a cab to take me from Beer Sheva to my home in Efrat the other night, you would have thought that Lebanon was my destination based on the number of cab drivers who refused to accept the fare.

It was about 10:00PM and I had long since missed my regular carpool home. Under normal circumstances I would have either stayed over in Beer Sheva at a local hotel or tried to hitchhike home. But seeing as it was really late and I needed to be in Jerusalem first thing in the morning, I decided to treat myself to a taxi ride home.

So far so good... until the fun began, that is.

The process would begin with a call to the taxi dispatcher:

Dispatcher: Hallow!

Me: Hi, I need a taxi to come to [name of my company].

Dispatcher: No problem, where are you going?

Me: Efrat... In Gush Etzion.

Dispatcher: No problem... someone will be right there.

Within a few minutes a taxi would pull up and the driver would ask "Where did you say you needed to go?" I would tell him, which would result in the him saying he had to speak to his dispatcher... getting back in his cab... and promptly driving away.

This was repeated several times. One or two drivers asked if it was possible to get to Efrat without entering the 'shtachim' (territories)... while others offered excuses ranging from not having enough gas in the car to never having heard of Gush Etzion.

I was shocked. At the risk of generalizing, the typical taxi driver here tends to be the salt of the earth... an Israeli 'everyman' of sorts. As a group they tilt heavily towards mizrachi (Sephardi and eastern) origins, and even more heavily towards the political right.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't the abject horror that crossing the green line seemed to evoke in these normally devil-may-care men.

Finally I got a driver who, after a few minutes of reassuring, agreed to take me home.

Once we were on our way he began peppering me with a string of non-stop nervous questions:

"How far is it?"

"Are you sure?"

What's that village over there... Jewish or Arab?"

"Arab!? Is it 'problematic'?"

"What about that one?"

"You really drive this road every day?"

"Have you ever had any problems... roadside bombs... shooting... rocks... Molotov cocktails???"

"What the h... that was a Palestinian license plate on the car that just passed us! I didn't know they were allowed on the roads?!"

Oh G-d!... I see headlights behind us. Should I be worried that it might be a terrorist following us?????!"

And on and on and on...

By the time we'd passed half a dozen sleeping Arab villages and were approaching the southern outskirts of Hevron, the driver had worked himself into a state of panic about terrorists who seemed to be lurking just around every bend to turn his wife into a widow and orphan his children.

Five or six times he reached for the same empty cigarette pack, each time tossing it back on the dashboard in disgust. So finally, as much as I loathed the idea of being trapped in a car full of smoke, I suggested we pull into Kiryat Arba where he could buy himself a fresh pack of cigarettes, thinking that it might help calm his nerves.

Once inside Kiryat Arba he visibly relaxed and stared in amazement at the neat streets lined with stone-clad apartment buildings, parks and playgrounds.

"All these buildings have people living in them?" he asked me in wide-eyed wonder. When I answered in the affirmative he just shook his head and kept repeating "I didn't know... I didn't know...". Apparently he had bought into the media version of 'the territories' where everyone lives in trailers on wind-swept hilltops.

When we'd finally parked and gotten his smokes, I suggested he take a short break from driving and just sit outside enjoying the cool night air. I figured that not only would this spare me from the stink of smoke inside the cab, but it would also give me the opportunity to point out a nearby feature I had a hunch might be of interest to him.

I pointed at an electric gate in a chain-link fence that was less than 100 yards from where we were parked. "You see that gate?" I began. "Just a minute or two beyond that gate is the Ma'arat HaMachpelah (the cave of the Patriarchs)".

He stared at me as though I'd just told him that Abraham himself was waiting in the dark just beyond the fence.

"Are you serious? I thought the Arabs destroyed that during the Intifada! It still exists?!"

I explained that it had been Joseph's tomb that was destroyed by the Arabs, and that the Ma'arat HaMachpelah - the tomb of the Patriarchs - was sill very much extant.

Apparently forgetting all about the previous 45 minutes of white-knuckled terror, the driver sprinted around the car, reached through the window for the radio microphone, and called his dispatcher.

"Itzik... ITZIK... you hear me?"

The click of a far-away mic was followed by a laconic, "Shome'ah" [I hear you]

"Itzik, you'll never believe where I am. I stopped for cigarettes in Kiryat Arba and I'm parked within a few meters of the Ma'arat HaMachpelah!"

The dispatcher's voice burst over the radio... this time full of excitement and now, apparently on the public channel: "Hey Dudu, tchacho, Zvika, Hezi... everyone! Yossi's calling from the Ma'arat HaMachpelah in Hevron!"

While this wasn't exactly true (since we were still technically in Kiryat Arba), the response was immediate and electric. The radio speaker began broadcasting a competing jumble of joyful salutations from his fellow drivers in 'far-away' Beer Sheva:

"Kol Hakavod [congratulations], Yossi!"

"Zachita!" [you won!]

"Yossi, you have to say Tehilim [Psalms] for my mother at the Ma'arah [cave]... she's having an operation tomorow. [Her name is]... Sarah Bat Shifra... Sarah Bat Shifra... you hear me... Sarah Bat Shifra!"

"Aizeh Gibor [what a hero!]"

"Yossi... Tell us what you see."

"Sarah Bat Shifra... Yossi, don't forget!"

"Yossi... Hazarta B'Tchuvah? [Did you become religious?]... Kol HaKAvod!"

"How did you get there... did you get lost"

What does it look like... is it beautiful in the moonlight?"

"Sarah Bat Shifra... Yossi... Sarah Bat Shifra!"

It was like a replay of Motta Gur's famous "Har HaBayit B'Yadainu!" [the Temple Mount is in our hands!] broadcast.

Apparently forgetting completely about how frightened he had been just minutes before, the driver turned to me and asked if we could go into Hevron to pray at the Ma'arat HaMachpelah.

I looked at my watch and noted that it was after 11:00PM already... but he misunderstood the gesture.

"Don't worry", he assured me. "You're not on the meter. I have a flat-fee voucher from your company so nobody will mind if we take a short side trip."

I quickly reassured him, "No, it's not that. I'd actually love to go the the Ma'arah... I haven't been there in a few months [last time I was there was with Jameel and Psychotoddler]. But I'm almost sure they close it to visitors at 9 or 10PM."

He looked crestfallen. He stared longingly towards the closed gate leading into Hevron and into the darkness beyond, and asked, "Are you sure?"

I just shrugged and said, "Look, that's what I remember. But don't take my word for it. There's an army Jeep parked by the gate... let's go ask them."

We quickly jumped into the taxi and drove the short distance to the gate and pulled up alongside the idling Jeep. Yossi got out and had a brief conversation with the soldiers. There were some animated hand gestures from Yossi, but they were of the disappointed sort... such as one might see in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Lots of breast beating and placing of hands on the head as if in despair.

A few minutes later the driver came dejectedly back to the taxi... but instead of getting in he reached over to the recess under the radio and fished out an embroidered velvet kippah (yarmulke) and a well-thumbed book of Psalms with an ornate silver cover. Without a word he strode back towards the gate and upon reaching the chain link fence, began reciting out loud into the darkness beyond:

"Shir Lamalot... Esa Einai el heharim... mayayen yavo ezri..."

[A song of ascents. I raise my eyes to the mountains... from where will my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth... He won't allow your foot to be moved... He doesn't sleep... The protector of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps! ... ]

I sat there in the front seat listening to the taxi driver recite the 121st Psalm into the darkness beyond the fence. Although he occasionally glanced at the small silver-clad book in his hand, it was clear to me that he knew the verses by heart as there was certainly not enough light to see the small print there by the fence.

I seemed to be the only one taking any notice of the goings on. The soldiers sitting nearby in their idling jeep barely looked up from their coffee and conversation... and the two or three people standing outside the store where Yossi had bought his cigarettes didn't even glance in our direction.

I thought to myself, 'what a funny country we live in'. We're all terrified of the unkown / unfamiliar, but completely un-phased by the things we know.

The secular and religious experience emotions about each other ranging from distrust to hate because they no longer know one another. The urbanites and settlers experience similar emotions about one-another due to the same sort of unfamiliarity and disconnect.

The non-political Jews and Arabs are just as wary of each other as their more 'active' counterparts, again, due largely to the scariness of the unknown strangers. Those that live and travel in the territories are (mostly) at ease with commutes and ambulations that, for some reason, fill the hearts of Israel's city-dwellers with dread.

When my driver, Yossi, had finished reciting a few more psalms - presumably with his fellow driver's mother in mind - we resumed our journey, and within 20 minutes arrived outside my house in Efrat. I asked him if he wanted a cup of coffee for the ride back to Beer Sheva, but he shook his head and said he'd be fine.

I reviewed the return route with him and gave him my cell phone number in case he lost his way... but I could see he was writing it down mostly to humor me. Gone was the cloud of hesitancy and fear under which we'd begun our trip together. In it's place was a confident, macho mizrachi cab driver who was completely at home in his surroundings.

Almost as an afterthought I asked him if he was glad he'd taken the fare. Without hesitating he answered that he'd lived his whole life in Israel... most of it in Beer Sheva... and had never realized how close Hevron was. He told me that on his next day off from work he was going to bring his family to pray at the Ma'arat HaMachpelah. "My son's going into the army this year" he confided with a shrug. "If not now... when?" *

I couldn't agree more. As I watched him drive away I couldn't think of a better way to sum up the need for people's perspectives to change; 'If not now, when?'

* He was quoting Hillel from Pirkei Avot. The full quote is "If I am not for myself who will be for me. If I am only for myself, what am I. If not now, when?"

"The Last Jew"

I found this very disturbing, yet it gives you something to think about.

From the Milkshake and the Flood blog:

My name? My name is not important.

Who am I? I am the last Jew. The year is 2124, the place is the Smithsonian Institute is Washington D.C. I am in this museum, in a cage on exhibit. People pass my way, day in and out, staring, pointing, and even sometimes laughing. On the walls surrounding my exhibit are the remnants of a Jewish culture; a talit, a Torah, the books of the Talmud. Each day, as I sit here watching the people pass, I wonder to myself how six and a half million people who existed as Jews a little over a century ago could have possible vanished. My father and grandfather used to talk with me about the Jewish communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; about the large populations in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and world-wide organizations like United Synagogue, B'nai B'rith and so many others. I recall my father telling me how successful and prosperous the Jew in America was. And about a land called Israel. And yet, all this has vanished--all this has disappeared. I contemplate the reasons, I recall the events, and I search for an answer. I now believe that I know how the Jews in America and in the world disappeared. Small things at first, things that happened gradually. Jewish families stopped attending Shabbat services, the parents stopped sending their children to religious schools, Hebrew High School, day schools and Bar Mitzvah classes. The Shabbat candles were never lit. My grandfather told me that they were still good Jews--some of them spoke Yiddish, they attended Yom Kippur service, they held a Passover Seder each year. Some of them were Jewish by heart; others by tradition and others by stomach. However, the books tell me that in time, this too, ended. To attend a Kol Nidre service became a chore, not an honor--to hold a Seder became a task, not a joy. The rituals and observances of Judaism began to vanish, and this I believe was the first step. Intermarriage was in order. The Rabbi became a businessman, not a teacher. Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform were quarreling. I was reading of a Rabbi, Mordecai Rosenberg, who demanded that Jews fight for emancipation between the American community and the Jewish community, to put aside all difference. In time, the Jew did become equal. He attained material success, and he achieved sustained equality. The Jew was at the same level socially as any Christian. Hatred toward the Jew soon died off, and nowhere was there heard a shout of bigotry towards the Jew. And with this fight for equality, all differences were put aside, including religious differences. Jews stopped hanging mezuzot on their doors, as it merely proved them different. Jews when asked if they were Jewish, would either give a brisk "no" or no answer at all. They were Americans first. A non-religious Judaism was established in America. Why didn't these people see that a non-religious Judaism couldn't exist? Judaism obviously needs Jews, but also, Jews need Judaism. Without one, the other is dead. Why didn't those people see it? Why did Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews fight?

And then, the final blow to the Jew came. It occurred about 50 years ago, and so I can recall it vividly. The Arab nations around the Jewish state of Israel grew restless and strong. As they have since the beginning of recorded history, the Arab nations wanted Israel destroyed. And they acted. With two nuclear pellets, three and a half million Israelis were obliterated, and the land that had once flowed with milk and honey was now charred beyond fertility. When the news of the incident flashed across the globe, the Jew in America turned his head, denied concern and replied, "Really, what could I have done?" Yet, little over 150 years ago, a man in World War II was supposed to have slaughtered six million Jews in Germany, and my father told me that people swore they would never forget. They promised that they would always support the Jews across the continents. They pledged their donations towards the development of Israel, and they vowed their allegiances were forgotten. Any responsibility of the American Jew to Israel was ignored. How forgetful a people can be! When the people lost their pride in themselves, their religion, and their Israel, they lost everything. As it was once said, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" I am the last American Jew. In less than twenty years, I too, will die. And never again will another Jew set foot on this planet.

My G-d, my G-d, where did we forsake you?

Hashem Who?

I have a relative who is a Christian Missionary, who sometimes comes by my house in the hope that I'm not there (OK, I'm only joking). But hanging around him, as well as observant Christians has given me some insight into how Jews approach the whole G-d idea.

Lori Palatnik, who has a weekly videocast on Aish, one told a story of a seminar she was giving to intermarried couples, one spouse was Jewish, and the other wasn't.

She spoke about a number of topics, where you should educate the kids, how to deal with certain in-laws and other family members, and throughout the seminar she would get nods of heads from different people all over the room. She was trying to see if she could figure out which was the spouse who was Jewish.

She knew when what topic would uncover that answer. As soon as she started speaking about G-d half of the room leaning in (the non-Jewish half) and half of the room leaned back (the Jewish half).

The non-Jews wanted to hear what she had to say, but the Jews didn't. Why?

Back to my uncle, he knows that everything that happens in is life is from G-d, and he acknowledges it. Throughout his speech he'll say, "Through the work of G-d" he recognizes it.

Why don't Jews?

It's not only the non-religious, Orthodox Jews have trouble saying it. Lori, told a story of a woman who approached her after the seminar and told her that she wanted to become Jewish like her husband, but she was worried that if she became Jewish she would have to give up G-d.

Another, similar, subject that revolves around this idea of the Beit Hamikdash. There a rather disturbing story in the Gemarah (Ketubot 61a), of a Jew and a non-Jew who are traveling together. The non-Jew is lagging and he wants the Jew to slow down, so he yells what he thinks is something that will cause the Jew to stop and be shocked. "The Beit Hamikdash has been destroyed."
The Jew turns around and says, "You want to shock me? You're going to have to do better than that, that's old news."

This a great example of what the Exile has done to us. We had a close friend of the family pass away this past summer, and when I went to make a shiva call I realized something. I took a closer look at what we say to the mourner, "May you be comforted with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."
What does that mean? It means the feeling you get when you lose someone close to you, is the same feeling you should get when you think about the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.

I have a rebbe who unfortunetly sometimes has to visit America from Israel. He has some close friends of his who, whenever he's in town, try to get together.
So he's on the phone with one of them and his friend asks him when he's going to to visit America again.
"Well I hope that the next time I see you will be here in Jerusalem in the Holy Temple.

And his friend replied, "Don't be retarded, when are you going to come visit America."

It's a sickness, a sickness of the Exile, and the only thing that will get some people thinking differently will either be a destruction or a rebuilding. The destruction of another Holocaust or the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash.

One of the first steps to this is to start realizing G-d more in out lives. Say "Thank G-d," "Baruch Hashem," and don't be afraid. In fact if you say "Thank G-d," to a non-Jew, especially a Christian, they will have the utmost respect for you.

Give it a try, I dare you.

A Look at the Arabs relationship to the Shmittah year

Everything I'm about to say is highly theoretical, but I think is something that should be thought about.

A look at some events that happened during the Smittah year for the past 42 years:

5726/September 1965-September 1966: In 1966 security restrictions placed on Arab citizens of Israel were lifted and efforts began to integrate them into the countries life.

Until 1966, Israel's principle arms supplier was France, however in 1966, following the withdrawal from Algeria, De Gaulle announced France would cease supplying Israel with arms (and refused to refund money paid for 50 warplanes)

5733/September 1972-September 1973: 11 members of the Israeli team to the Munich Olympics were kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.

And let's not forget that 10 days after the end of the Shmittah year, Syria and Egypt started the Yom Kippur War, which was being planned during Smittah

5740/September 1979-September 1980: For the most part was quiet except for the residents of Yamit and other Sinai Jewish residents as the Sinai Peninsula was given to Egypt in April 1979

5747/October 1986-September 1987: Palestinian Arabs start first Intifada (terror war) on Israel

5754/September 1993-September 1994: Rabin and Arafat shake hands on the White House lawn, three days before Rosh Hashanah 5754.

The DOP established May 1999 as the date by which a permanent status agreement for the West Bank and Gaza Strip would take effect. Israel and the PLO subsequently signed the Gaza-Jerico Agreement on May 4, 1994, and the Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities on August 29, 1994, which began the process of transferring authority from Israel to the Arabs.

On July 25, 1994 Jordan and Israel signed the Washington Declaration which formally ended the state of war that had existed between them since 1948.

5761/September 2000-September 2001: In the Fall of 2000, talks were held at Camp David to reach a final agreement on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Although Israel offered to meet the Palestinian requests for territory and political concessions, including the Old City of Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, Arafat chose to walk out of the talks.

September 28, 2000-two days before Rosh Hashanah-Arabs launch Second Intifada

In October 2000, Palestinians destroyed Yosef's Tomb, a Jewish shrine in Shechem. They also stoned worshipers at the Western Wall (Kotel) and attacked another Jewish holy site, Rachel's Tomb (Kever Rochael).

With the Peace Process increasingly in disarray, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called a special election for Prime Minister. Barak was hoping that a victory for him would give him renewed authority in negotiations with the Palestinians. But Barak's hopes were not to be, and in February 2001, opposition leader Ariel Sharon was elected PM in a special elections for Prime Minister in 2001. After this election the system of directly electing the Premier was abandoned.

Last time an Israeli Prime Minister was elected, a party was elected in 2006, but not the Prime Minister.

4 years later the elected of that election, Ariel Sharon, threw 10,000 Jews out of their homes in Gush Katif.

5768/September 2007-??: November 26, 2007, a planned "Peace" conference is set to take place in Annapolis, MD, with the possibility of once again offering Jerusalem and the West Bank to the Arabs.

Only time will determine the outcome.

"And no one is going to take the Land away from us!"

Assimilation at its Best

I found this extremely scary.

Succot in America. Whoop. Dee. Do.

I'm in a really bad mood. Here I am, in the middle of Chol Hamoed, and what am I doing? Sitting and studying for 3 tests that I have tomorrow.
Now if this were any other time, I wouldn't have problem with this. I'd take it in stride and study for them, then take them, because that's what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not supposed to be spending my entire holiday, cramped up in my room staring at a textbook.
America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, and it is in a sense, but only a narrow, pre-selected, number of opportunities.
Some people can do it, but that might because they don't care. They don't care that they have to spend Chol Hamoed studying, "It's not really a holiday is it?"
To me Chol Hamoed is the time to, you know, actually have fun? It's the time when the entire Jewish people have left their houses in order connect with the rest of Am Yisrael. We spend our entire lives, isolated as much as possible, because that's what we're told is the best way to be productive.
I have a new way to be productive. Get to know the people around you, do something that matters. Yes you need to make a living, but you don't have to have your living define you. Here in America a question that comes up in a lot of conversations, "What do you do?"
This can mean two things, "How do you spend your time?" and "how are you contributing to society?"
In understanding this very common variable of conversation, what is the person posing the question actually asking. "How can you help me?" and "How do you, in some round about way, contribute to an easier way for me to live?"
Maybe I'm being harsh, maybe I'm not. Maybe someone asking this question is just asking it without really thinking about what it means, and just using it as a conversation starter. But the point is Succot (along with pretty much all other Jewish holiday) is about taking down the walls that exist between Jews, allowing us all to connect from the core.
So as I sit here studying my Marketing textbook, I'm thinking about next year, when Succot will actually mean something besides just an obstacle that I have to get around in order to study for school.

Chag Sameach

Judaism. . .On Demand

I do some work with my shul so I receive some email from institutions I normally wouldn't. Here's an example:

********** ****** Network and ******** ****** Temple present a LIVE webcast of Kol Nidrei Service
September 21, 2007 4:45 Western/7:45 Eastern
Join Rabbi ****** ******* and Cantor ******* ****** on this historic event!
Watch live at www.*****************.com
Available on demand immediately following the live service

Note: I purposely have not included the names.

I understand what they're trying to do, but their missing the whole point of Judaism. It's not something that you can gift wrap and put in a box, it has to be the essence of who you are.

What's going on in my head. You know, Israel, future of the Jewish people, stuff like that

No idea what this post is going to be about but I need to rant. I B"H had a very full day today, and as I was davening maariv I was thinking about where I had been throughout the course of my day.
First, I got up at 5:30am to go to a 5:55 selichos. After davening I went to school and had 6 hours of class. Then I drove home and had to drive another hour to a meeting across town to which I arrived late to and missed because of intense traffic on the beltway. Then I came back home, ate dinner and went out to night seder, where I eventually davened maariv.

I had a very uplifting experience during night seder, I had been listening to Rabbi Ken Spiro talk about Jewish history on the car ride back from college on the first kings of Israel, Saul through Shlomo. I sat down to night seder and heard a 13 year old kind learning the beginning of Samuel 2, the first chapter. He was studying for a test he has tomorrow and he was having trouble understanding the story of Saul's death, with him being killed by the son of an Amaleki, and then being killed by David for the murder of a Jewish King.
This kid who was in 7th grade in my old school, and I was very happy to hear that there was someone there who was teaching Tanach.

I'm really seeing how important knowing your history is, especially nowadays, with Olmert and Peres planning to split Jerusalem and give Judea & Samaria to the terrorists. They have no idea what they're history is, and if they do know, they don't see it as their history.
Or as Peres said put it (to paraphrase) "history is a waste of time and shouldn't be learned, instead we should be looking to the future and only then will we reach our potential." (End paraphrase)

But it's very interesting that we're going into the Sh'mitta year in Israel, to look back at 7 years ago what was going on? In 2000/5760 the Arabs started their war in Israel, the "Intifada." Seven years before that was Oslo. I hope this Sh'mitta year will break the trend and be a good year for the Jewish people.

Anyways these days, the Yomim Noraim (High Holidays) really make me feel that there's absolutely nothing little old me can do here in America besides pray to the General of this complicated battle field, G-d. I have no power, and these politicians have no power, but the problem is they think they do. Looking at the kings in the Bible, David and Shlomo, those guys knew how to be a leader. They knew that G-d was the real leader and they were simply conduits to run the Jewish people. Olmert doesn't think that, can you imagine if Olmert said to Abbas "Sorry, I have to drive you and all of the other Arabs from this land because you pose a threat to the future of the Jewish people. Oh and this isn't my decision, the G-d of Israel commanded me to do it, I'd rather not, be He commands, therefore I do."

As Rabbi Spiro put it very well, "Liberalism comes from Judaism, but Judaism isn't Liberalism."
Our problem is that we're too compassionate, even if it means doom for us. I have some liberal relatives who are pro-Israel, but they were trying to explain to me the reason that Sharon was throwing Jews out of Gush Katif was simply a demographic move, it wasn't because he wanted to throw Jews out of their homes, that was just an unfortunate side effect.
Why then, during the nights of davening at the Kotel, did Sharon make the statement that "they thing they're G-d can save them? Let him try"
Of course we see that he did get his punishment.

But the point is that there was a difference between the Jews if Gush Katif and the Jews of some secular kibbutz. I can't say that the same move would have been made if the the situation had been with the latter.

But that's why J & S are being offered, as well as Jerusalem, these are HOLY sites to the Jews, the secular leaders have no claim to these areas, these are the sites of those "crazy settlers." The world wants us to create and Arab terror state, so will create one, it's only the religious Jews that are being thrown out of their homes. No. Big. Deal.

I'm learning the Eim Habanim Semaicha right now, and Rabbi Teichtal was very supportive of the secular Jews who had left Europe to settle the land of Israel. But he told them that they need to make sure that any state that is established has to have a strong backing in Torah, if you're reason for settling the land is not based on Torah, then you have no claim to that land, and it won't be long before the nations of the world recognize that and demand you give it away.

I envy the people who lived in those times because a secular Israeli who, even if he didn't follow Torah, had a strong sense of nationality and that being a member of the Jewish people was something to be proud of.
Now, the kids of these secularists don't live in Israel, their parents see the Zionist dream as dead, who cares if we give away the country, our kids won't be around to settle it, it's only those religious people who still want to live here. Why no move to America where I don't have to serve in the army, and I can make more money and live the American Dream?

What was the Zionist dream? It was about after 2000 years, a people without access to their homeland returning home and building that home into a conduit to being a Light unto the Nations.
As Rabbi David Zeller said, quoting a Buddhist Monk, "You Jews have done a wonderful job developing the physical world, but you have to develop to spiritual world if you don't want the world to blow up!"

As we've seen Israel is great when it comes to physical aspects of the world, but they really need to develop the spiritual aspect of it, and that can be as simple as doing what I did on the post below and just mention G-d's name in the advertisements for tourism and Aliyah.

We have a job to do, another reason the secularists wanted a state was to be and Light unto the Nation, it was to be Like all the other Nations.

We can't be like the other nations, we have a job to do, and no matter how much we deny our mission it still stands, the only question is it going to be our generation that perfects the world or a generation after us?

We have a mission.

Deal with it.

I hope I don't get in trouble for this

This article was recently posted on YESHIVA WORLD NEWS, but has been since taken down. Why I'm not sure, as it is an incredibly important article pertaining to the lack of acceptable kosher outlets for frum boys.

Rabbi Eli Teitelbaum: A Kosher Alternative (”MUST READ”)

September 5, 2007

Many people are in total shock at some of the goings on in the Catskills this summer. I will not go into the details. Suffice it to say that hundreds of our teenagers - boys and girls - were enticed to engage in activities that are far from what their parents and teachers consider acceptable, and far from what we have a right to expect from Yeshiva and Bais Yaakov products. While there are many reasons for it and no easy or simple solutions, we must be very careful not to add to the problem by forbidding everything without providing a satisfactory kosher replacement.

The Yetzer Hora of today is not the one of yesterday or the one our grandparents had to deal with. Today we have television, movies, CDs, DVD’s, Internet, videos, certain type cell phones, and music that are extremely attractive and contain more filth than ever before. They are everywhere and they can easily be brought into our homes without detection. Their influence and message is so powerful and seductive that they have penetrated even the best homes. We are dealing with a mighty foe whose magnetic power of attraction is difficult to resist. Saying “No” doesn’t always work. Unless we provide our children with a kosher alternative to it all, we are asking for trouble.

While in the past, summer camps may have been considered a luxury and kids could be kept in the city, nowadays camps are a lifesaver. Most summer camps provide kids with a kosher outlet for their pent up energies with a balanced program of learning and sports. There is Color War and BOG. There are hikes and trips. Children are kept so busy that they don’t have the time or desire to look for non-kosher means of entertainment.

Many years ago, Pirchei Agudas Yisroel used to organize trips to Washington, Baltimore, and Toronto. Motzoei Shabbos there was learning along with game nights, and concerts. There was the famous Pirchei Choir that put out beautiful records and tapes that brought countless hours of delightful Jewish entertainment into thousands of homes. This was all done in order to keep children busy during their free time so they shouldn’t have to go looking elsewhere. It was important to show children at a very early age that the Torah is not just restrictions, but that Shabbos as well as the rest of the week can be a time of constructive joy and pleasure. Happy laughter and family voices in the home will keep more kids off the streets at night than the strictest curfew.

I still remember when the Pirchei Agudas Yisrael put on a play and concert more than forty years ago in Montauk Junior High School. ( The play was based on the book Family Aguilar. ) There were some who tried to convince the rabbonim to put a ban on it. Since I was the president of Pirchei at the time, Rabbi Moshe Sherer z.l, asked me to go down to the venerable gaon hador, Rabbi Moshe Fienstien z.t.l., to get his halachic opinion. Not only did he not ban it, but he gave it his blessings. He understood only too well the importance of giving the boys a kosher alternative; otherwise they would soon find their pleasures elsewhere. One must be very careful before imposing restrictions. “Restrict everything and everything becomes permitted,” is what my father z.t.l. once said. When some tried to ban the Miami Boys Choir Concert in N.Y. and tried to get Rabbi Pam z.t.l.s’ signature as well as that of the Mirer Rosh Yeshiva to ban it, they both refused to sign.

A number of years ago, Rabbi Motty Katz of JEP and I organized a Chanuka trip to Washington on the two days that yeshivas give off for Chanuka vacation. Thanks to Mr. Yisroel Lefkowitz and others who helped subsidize part of the trip, we were able to charge only $20, which included an overnight stay in a nice motel. We were only able to take along 100 boys even though many more boys wanted to come along. I received a very nasty letter in the mail from a prominent rosh yeshiva accusing me of causing bitul Torah and admonishing me for organizing the trip. I very respectfully replied that it wasn’t I who was causing any bittul Torah but rather the yeshivas that gave the kids off for two days without providing them with something positive to do. I told him that if he wanted, I would show him where some of his students are hanging out during this time. I never received a reply.

I give great credit to the Mirer Yeshivah in Yerushalayim that has realized the great problem of what happens when their bocurim have nothing to do during bein hazmanim. The yeshiva organizes trips at subsidized prices which take their talmidim around Eretz Yisroel. If only other yeshivas would follow their example, many tragedies would be avoided.

When sports and concerts are forbidden, and all forms of kosher entertainment are off limits, we are asking for trouble. If our kids can’t find a place to vent their energy within a kosher environment, then they will find it elsewhere. In a time of war even the Torah itself permitted one to marry a captive non-Jewish girl under certain conditions. Chazal explain the logic behind this law. The Torah understood that a person is only human and therefore in this instance, while fighting a war, it gave him some leeway. The Gemora tells us that for everything the Torah forbade it gave us something similar that was permitted. Today’s war with the Yetzer Horah is far greater than ever before.

But in every generation we have the likes of Doeg and Achitofel who misled great people such as Shaul and Avshalom with falsehoods and lies that caused them to try to kill Dovid. Doeg even succeeded in getting Shaul to kill all the Kohanim in the city of Nov. This shows how falsehoods can be spread, how easily they are believed, and the terrible damage that can result. Even the greatest of the great are vulnerable to such camouflaged slander and can be misled by advisors they trust. Just turn to Shmuel II chapter 16 and read the story of how Dovid who knew better than anyone else of the great dangers of an evil tongue was himself taken in by Tziva who fabricated a false story about Mefiboshes. If even the greatest of the great can be misled, then we’d all better be very careful and constantly on our guard least we too fall into the same trap.

Things haven’t changed much since ancient times. Today, too, we have self proclaimed agitators and charlatans who have nothing to do with their time but to go around to our leading Torah sages and try to convince them that separate-seating concerts are a threat to our Yiddishkeit and to ban them. They falsely claim that there is pritzus in the hallways plus other fabrications. Exaggeration is a blood relative to falsehood, and almost as bad. A gossip is one who can give you all the details without knowing all the facts. Unfortunately, they often succeed in their mission. All it took was one Korach to convince the 250 heads of Sanhedrin of the holiness and purity of his mission.

Some have organized special activities and places for these “at risk kids” to get together under proper supervision, but this is not the real solution. The problem must be addressed long before young people reach the “at risk” stage. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If the money we spent on rehabilitation where to be spent on prevention, we’d get far more for our money, and fewer people who need intensive intervention

It must be clearly noted that despite all that was said, one is required to follow the ruling of our sages even when they say “Right is left and left is right.” Nowadays when there is no Sanhedrin, one must seek a leading posek and follow his ruling on all matters and not go “posek hopping.” This applies not only in the above case but in all other areas as well. There are some disagreements among our leading poskim in Hilchos Shabbos which can be an isur sekilah. One can’t pick and choose stringencies from one or leniencies from another. (Gemora ) The Agudas Yisroel follows the ruling of the Moetzes Gedolai HaTorah. Others can decide on their posek whom they wish to follow. But whoever it is, the p’sak must be followed even if it hurts.

Yes, there are legitimate concerns that must be addressed in order to make sure that concerts are conducted in a true Yiddish atmosphere and flavor. Performers should not be Jewish rock or rap singers and the music should not imitate today’s street hip-hop culture as some performers unfortunately do. Sadly, I’ve gone to frum weddings where the music and dancing felt like one was in a discothèque with only the flashing lights missing. Roshei yeshivas and rabbonim danced in the middle of the circle having no idea as what type of music they were dancing to. I hope no one is going to ban music at weddings because of this, but rather the m’sader kidushin or rabbonim should meet with the band leaders as well as the mechutonim to rectify this outrage. Serious concerns must be discussed between the concert organizers and rabbonim beforehand. Instead of seeking to ban these concerts, we must make sure that they are a kiddush Shem Shomayim. Music has a powerful effect upon the listener and we must ensure that it follows in the footsteps and style of Dovid Hamelech the “n’im zemiros Yisroel,” to whose words our music is often put.

We definitely need our gedolim to guide us, and if we come to them with sincere requests to teach us to run activities al pi Torah, they would respond wisely and constructively. We should no longer leave the field open to those few agitators and connivers who choose to deprive our young people of positive outlets. For if we close the doors to that which is permitted, they’ll unfortunately, soon find other places to fill the void!

To mention a few things about this article, particularly the music part. I used to be a big fan of Soulfarm and the Moshav band. It took me five years to realize that, it doesn't matter how good of musicians they are, or that they are playing music from Reb Shlomo, the concerts that they give are nothing more than an excuse for people to get together and smoke, drink and do drugs. Now I still enjoy listening to their music (particularly C. Lanzbom), I am a musician and the best way from me to become a better musician is to listen to the music of great musicians.

But wouldn't it be better to see them live?

No if to become a better musician I have to sacrifice what I believe in, it's not worth it.

I mentioned in a post a few weeks ago that I had gone to a wedding of a cousin of mine. Now these relatives were not what I would call frum, and the tziut level of a wedding can usually be decided by what kind of music is being played.

I'll admit I was impressed with the band they had, they could play (and did play) every kind of music conceivable. From rock, to jazz, to instrumental Carlebach.

But try as you might, it was a wedding with Jews, it wasn't a Jewish wedding. I had a friend who got married at the end of July and after attending my relatives wedding, I could appreciate the incredible level of Tziut at that wedding. And even though it was tzniut, it didn't compromise on the fun level of it.
Now there were guys drinking, which I find unacceptable. As one person I know put it "If you can't reach a spiritual high without drinking, you have a lot of work to do."

Just on a side note, my first year in Yeshiva we had a Shabbaton in the Old City, and during our Friday night tisch, one of the waiters went over to one of my Rabbi's and said, "This is weird, everyone here's is so happy and loose, and no one's had anything to drink!"
My yeshiva had a zero tolerance from foreign substance abuse, that's one of the reason I picked it. A guy has to find out how to have a good time outside of a bottle.

Anyways back to the subject at hand, I saw an interesting comment on a blog the other day, talking about the hypocrisy of the Orthodox, and particularly the Yeshivish, world, who say not to listen to Non-Jewish music, yet when you go to weddings you hear it all the time.
I was at a wedding back in February that had Eitan Katz playing. Now Eitan is awesome, and it was a very lively and ruach-filled wedding. But during the meal the band was playing an instrumental of a non-Jewish song. I remember this mostly because it was a song that I happened to really hate.

Anyways the point is that there are now plenty of kosher things that have been taken out of the non-Jewish world. For example Matisyahu, who's music I actually like, even though I don't really like reggae, I don't listen to it for the music style, I listen to it because he as an incredibly great message. And if people are going to be listening to reggae, or rap, or hip hop, wouldn't it be better that they're humming songs about the Beit Hamikdash, instead of the other garbage that is normally put in its place?

Of course there are bands who take the non-Jewish guise and put it in a Jewish setting that's not kosher, Blue Fringe for example. BF are a bunch of very talented musicians, but they're purpose is not the same as Matisyahu's, who wants to spread the light of G-d to the world. BF is solely in it for the money.

Now Mordechai Ben David being unkosher is kinda laughable. Shwekey? Chaim David? Shlomo Katz? I was at a Simply Tzfat concert last week, and it was an incredibly uplifting experience because the people making the music were G-d fearing Jews who were teaching Torah, and that's why they were there, not to make money, but the bring an uplifting environment to the people in attendence, and experience that was based in holiness, not sexuality.

Because that's the main concern for all these bans, sexuality. We are bombarded with it all day (and yes, I know that it happens in Israel also) and the response it to shut it out as much as possible, which is a good thing, but offer a constructive alternative. The fact that secular culture has taken one of the most private, beautiful things, and turned it into one of the most public things is a disgusting shame. It shows how these 'progressives' are trying to bring equality and openness to the everyone, and that everything is exceptable because (sarcasm alert) "we don't want to offend anyone! Nooo!

A major item in the news now for the good part of the past 2 years has been whether to legalize gay marriages or not. I mean we can't offend gay people can we?

But when you try to raise yourself by listening to your body, your not progressing, you're regressing back into an animal state, where you are no longer in control of your body, it's your body that controls you.
Judaism believes that the reason we humans have intellect is because we are not animals, we have a potential that differs from person to person, where every single animal only has the level to reach of every other animal. We're in the most technologically advanced time in human history, yet people want to live like animals.

During one of the times in Jewish history when some Jews decided they wanted to join the 'enlightenment movement,' they approached the Rabbi of the generation and started mocking him because he was still following this ancient religion. Why didn't he join them in they're progressive ways?
He said "you have it backwards. You think that by throwing off the Torah you are free from such burdens, but your not. You've simply replaced the burden of Torah with the burdan of your animal instincts. If you let you animal instincts take over, you have no way of combating them, Torah is a guidebook to not only fight the animal inside you, but also to grow and reach your true, unique human potential.

That's all for tonight.

A Tree Falls in Chutz L'Aretz

There's a very moving article on Aish right now, but I don't want to discuss the article, I want to mention two quotes in there that I thought summed up the relationship between America and Israel, particularly the second which really shows the difference in the spiritual vs. physical mentality of the two places.

When I stepped onto the El-Al plane, I felt like someone had ripped out my insides. Before I left, a rabbi had told me: The good, geshmak feeling you get from walking the streets of Israel, that's comparable to the pleasant feeling you get from a Shabbat in America. The soul-brimming-over high you get from Shabbat in Israel -- that compares to Yom Kippur in America. As for the spiritual high of Yom Kippur in Israel? For that no counterpart exists in America.

The clothes you wear every day in America, are those you wear for Shabbat in Israel. The clothes you wear for Shabbat in America -- you wear for a wedding in Israel. As for weddings in America, there's no such equivalent in Israel. "What about the clothes I wore every day in Israel?" I asked. "Those clothes?" she said. A look of consternation furrowed her forehead as she puzzled that one. "Ah." Her face relaxed and she answered, "Those are the clothes you take out the garbage or clean with."

Why the Jews are Loosing

A story on Ynet today reported that Iran has shut down numerous barber shops that are offering styles that are too 'western.' The story said these barbershops offered western hairstyles, tattoos and even eyebrow plucking for men.

But the fact that a Muslim country is so strict on things based on their religion is something Israel can really pick up on. I think one of the main reasons we have such a falling out of Judaism in western countries is because the modern culture influences Jews to throw off the yoke of their ancestors and 'live freely.'

There's a reason that the Torah made these guidelines, they weren't put in place only when they were convenient, they're supposed to be an 'everlasting covenant.'

We mock the crazy things that the Muslims do, but the fact is the average Muslim has much more fear of G-d than the average Jew does.
Even religious Jews are included in this, I wrote in my post yesterday about a shul I davened in where G-d wasn't taken seriously at all. I'm sure that not everyone was like that, but the truth of the matter is that these people don't view a shul as a place to serve G-d, they view it as a place to socialize.
I don't know if this is true in Israel, but I would imagine that davening is taken much more seriously because most people actually know what they're saying. But still non-religious Jews in Israel all want 'to be like Mike,' IE they want to be like westerners as much as possible.

Good luck trying to get a cab in New York city around 5 o'clock in the afternoon. There's a good chance that the cab you're driving in at 5 will stop and the driver will pull out his rug and start praying, openly without any shame. You see Jews, when daven in public in America, trying to duck away in a corner, and stay out of everyone's way.
That's why we're loosing.
The Arabs get that this war is a spiritual war, that's why Jerusalem, Hevron, Shechem, and Kever Rachel are all considered "Palestinian towns." They know that without our religious places we are weak (or at least they think that).

We are going to win, the only question is how and when, in the meantime the only thing we can do is continue learning, davening, and turning as many Jews onto G-d and Torah as possible

Shabbat Shalom

Davening is for Talking and the Rabbi's Drash is for Sleeping. . .right?

I spent this past Shabbos in a shul (outside of Baltimore) that had a continuous murmur floating in from the back of the room throughout the entire davening. A murmur I can assure you that was not contributing to the conduciveness of the Kedusha in the room.

Then it miraculiously stopped. . . right when the Rabbi started his drash.

Then the Rabbi finished his drash and we started Mussaf. Then about the time I got up to Tekanta Shabbos, the murmer stated again, only this time it was louder. I wonder if the Kiddush Club had anything to do with it. . .

Anyways, this post was going to be a rant about talking in shul. But I have to mention some of the other things that went on during this past weekend.

You see we had traveled out of town for a family wedding (I won't tell you where because of the possibility of Lashon Hara), and lets just say that the entire situation was an educational experience.

The first thing that turned me off was obviously the lack of any fear for G-d in the Shul. I suppose there is something to be said that these people actually go to Shul on Shabbos, but no one has ever taught them how they're supposed to act there. I'm sure that when any of these people are in a meeting at work, they are not turning around and chating with the guy sitting next to them.

Just a thought.

The next big thing that turned me off this time was the wedding.

I could handle the large amount of women not dressed modestly (here's where having to wear glasses comes in handy, all you have to do is take them off). I could handle the hour long Chuppah! (My sister said that she actually enjoyed the long Chuppah "It didn't feel rushed" she said. Well, when you do everything before you actually get married, I guess there's no real rush to get to the Yichud room. Right? Just a thought). I could even handle the weird "She circles him 3 times, then he circles her 3 times, then they circle each other together." Strange, I don't remember coming across that one anywhere in a legitimate halachic authority.
I understand why they do it, they want to show that women are equal to men. Which in my case is a big mistake. Not they they shouldn't be equal to men, but they're already on a higher level than men are. Why would you want to lower them to the level of men? True, they are equalizing the sexes, but they have the whole concept backwards.

I'm not going to even talk about the mixed dancing. All I know is that is assur to have mixed dancing at weddings. Don't ask me to tell you where it says (but if anyone knows please tell me). Anyways, as soon as it started I had to leave the Shul and I went outside to throw up. I was absolutly disgusted. I then left the wedding and went back to the hotel, where I spent an hour learning Gemara, and then I watched Enterprise. At least I wasn't ruining my Neshama.

Anyways I was talking to someone about my whole 'experience' in this foreign city, I was saying the nerve of these people to stand at a Chuppah, that was going to lead to a wedding with mixed dancing, and they had the nerve to mention the Beit Hamikdash! I'm sure that's a topic that makes some people very uncomfortable, because that's what was on everyone's mind!

So the person I was talking to pointed out that all of those people are considered as if they were children captured and raised by non-Jews. It's not their fault for what they do, they have been 'captured' by the society around them. I suppose if you look at it that way, it's pretty incredible that anyone comes to Shul at all. They even had shiurim there.

A shocking realization hit me the other week when I walked of the bathroom to find my 4 year old brother playing on the floor. I said 'Hi' and he looked up at me and stared, shocked.
"What's wrong" I asked.
"You didn't say Asher Yatzar."

I suppose we're all 'captured' in some sense, all we need is a good jolt to free ourselves from the prison that we put ourselves. And I can assure you that I will be saying Aher Yatzar every single time I leave the bathroom for the rest of my life!

We Won't Forget. . .

Dead Jewishly

I need to write about this member of my Shul who seems to think that he controls everything and if he doesn't like something he has to complain about it.
Like I said in my post on Friday that this guy just didn't like my Good Shabbos messages:
I say things like "May be bask in the glory of G-d on the Beit Hamikdash." Does he not want the Beit Hamikdash?
"May it be the last Shabbos in Galus." Does he want to stay in Galus?
"May all the sick be healed, pain be eliminated, be able to connect with the creator." Does he not want any of these things?

I want to quote Rabbi Shalom Gold, regarding people who are not in-tune with certain aspects of Judaism.
"They're dead Jewishly"

They
Are
Dead

This person happens to work in a very comfortable, prosperous field and I'm sure he brings in a lot of money every year, but Mr High & Mighty is having an issue with a simple Bracha that I send out every week?
Maybe it's because he's worried that the coming of Mashiach will burst the little bubble that he's created for himself. Maybe he won't be able to afford the nice cars he drives or the nice house he lives in because that will bring him down in the food chain of society.
You're not the car you drive or the house you live in. If you need "stuff" to make yourself feel worthy, all you're doing is proving that you have no worth.
Michael Masterson likes to explain the difference between "wealth," and "being rich."
"Being rich" is the kind of person who has the title "Filthy Rich" associated with his name. He's the guy who has the 40 cars in the garage on the 40 acre plot of land with the mansion and 2 pools. They like to accumulate "stuff."
Celebrities usually fall into this category, as well as sports stars and CEO's.
Now obviously not every celebrity, sports star and CEO falls into this category, but I'm trying to make a point.
"Wealth" is defined by your own personal worth. Masterson likes to use this analogy with money, but it can be used in the spiritual realm as well.
Masterson's definition regarding money can be illustrated with a story of Mike Tyson. Mike Tyson, at the time I heard this story was $30 million in debt. Yet he makes between $10-12 million a fight. Is he wealthy?
What were to happen if he lost a match? Maybe he would start getting $3 million a match. What happened it he got a career ending injury? What is he qualified to do? Work in McDonald's?

Do you see where I'm going?

Wealth is defined by how much you are worth. Not by by how much stuff you've "accumulated."

In the spiritual realm it works the same way. Lets say you have a Gemara test that you spend hours and hours studying for? They you get your grade back and you've gotten a 40.
Is that your real grade? What if you'd spent the same hours studying the same Gemara, but without the test? Would you still only have a 40?

When it comes to spiritual matters it's the effort that's counted, not the "accumulation."

Case in point. I know someone who went to Ner Israel in Baltimore and he knew how to learn. I remember a conversation I got into with him and I was quoting a story from the Gemara and he knew the story, as well as what Daf it was on.
Yet this guy, doesn't have a set seder a day, he most likely hasn't picked up a sefer in years. He just has a very good ability to comprehend and memorize almost anything.

Compare him to a guy who spends time, every day, struggling to get through the Parsha, or Mishna, or Gemara. This guy is racking up points in Heaven, not because he's ammassing great Torah knowlege, but because he's putting in the effort.
Can you imagine this working in medical school?
"Johnny has averaged a 35 on all of his tests, but he spends hours studying, more than anyone else. Lets just give him his surgeons license for the effort he put in."

So anyways, back to this guy in my shul, he needs to grow up. Maybe he has insecurities and has the need to always feel like he's in control (I hope he doesn't treat his wife like that). Maybe he just had a bad day that day and needed to take it out on someone. But this guy needs to get his priorities straight. If he gets an email like the ones that I send out, he should be smiling and grateful for the reminder that G-d runs the world, and that the Jewish people, unlike everyone else, actually have an end-goal in mind, that we all (hopefully) are working for.

Oohhh, this one's going to be good-Neturei Karta Mechalel Shabbos-How'd I miss this one?

Apparently if you hate the State of Israel you are allowed to desacrate Shabbos. While surfing the internet, I came an interesting fact regarding the Neturei Karta.
Back in June I reported on the Anti-Israel Rally the was held in Washington DC. The previous day (Shabbos, June 9) there was another Anti-Israel Rally held in London.

This picture was taken, on Shabbos, of these burning-in-Hell-for-sure-no-respect-for-Torah-or-other-Jews pieces of garbage. Apparently they carried those signs outside of an Eruv. So after sitting down and eating their Chulent, they decided to slap G-d in the face and disgrace Jews all over the world.
One more thing, I got this picture FROM THE NETUREI KARTA WEBSITE! They're proudly boasting that they were mechalel Shabbos in order to embarress other Jews. And like they always do they have to wear the Europe uniform, which I'm sure will help Charedi standings all over the world.

I think I need to learn some more Gemara now.

Harry Potter and the Death of Shabbat

If any one hasn't seen it yet, it has been all over the news that "oh those darn religious Jews are at it again, preaching the stupid thing we like to call the Bible, and forcing it's insane laws on everyone else."
I am of course referring to Eli Yishai's warning to Jewish bookstore owners in Israel that they should not open their stores on Shabbos to sell the final Harry Potter book.

My thoughts are like this. I think that's its really sad. Not that they're desecrating Shabbos, but that they have to get their hands on the book as fast as possible, waiting a few more hours will not kill anybody.

We had the postman deliver our copy today (in fact we had two mail delivers, one of them by a mailperson only delivering Harry Potter books) and I politely asked her to put the books in out vestable as we don't open our mail on the Shabbat.

She said that she had had mixed reactions from different homes she dropped the books of at. At some houses the books were grabbed out of her hands and ripped open before she could turn around and leave. Other's, like we did, asked her to set t aside and that they would get it later. And the really interesting one, they asked her to open it for them.

I'm hoping that none of the "let's read it right now" people, were Jews.

I understand the Harry Potter mania, and I fell it is well placed. Why is everyone so crazy about Harry?

Because he's just a regular guy like you and me.

He has no special powers (I mean nothing special compared to what everyone around him can do).

He goes through the same growing pains that everyone has experienced.

And the best one, he WEARS GLASSES!

He's a guy we can relate to.

But, could we wait for a few more hours? I personally am not planning on starting the new book until after Tisha B'Av. These are dangerous times, particularly the next few days, I don't think I should be wrapped up in some fantasy world.

I also wish that people would learn Tanach with as much energy and enthusiasm as they read Harry Potter.