Good shabbos, and hey, if you liked the blog this week, how about hitting the donate button?
Shabbos music after the jump (allowed: Lag b'omer is Sunday!)
Pick your favorite!
Support the Pathetic Annual Telethon
Good shabbos
Friday, April 30, 2010
Labels: Israel, Shabbos musicGood shabbos, and hey, if you liked the blog this week, how about hitting the donate button?
Shabbos music after the jump (allowed: Lag b'omer is Sunday!)
Pick your favorite!
Today's rant about how Chumash is studied and taught
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Labels: IsraelIf you're like me, you have several friends who pontificate about Egyptian magic. All of their knowledge comes from Rashi, and one of the "facts" they confidently cite is that Egyptian magic had no power to produce anything smaller than a barley seed.*
They're confident of this fact, not because they've done any research, or made any observations, but merely because Rashi reports it. Unfortunately, they've missed the boat. Rashi, as I've argued at length elsewhere on this blog, wrote his commentary to smooth out perceived anomalies of the text, and he usually accomplished this by citing friendly midrashim. When more than one midrash on the same topic is available, he usually picks one, sometimes even changing the wording or the location of the midrash so that it does a better job of solving whatever problem he's hoping to address. Examples abound, and several are discussed on this blog.
In the case of the barley seed midrash Rashi quotes the midrash accurately but provides us with only one of two opinions
Turn to BT Snahedrin 67b. You'll find an argument between R. Eliezer and R. Papa. R. Eliezer is of the opinion that magicians can produce creatures from nothing, but only if the creature is larger than a barley seed. When he shares this theory with R. Papa, however, it is met with what appears to be anger and disgust:
R. Papa said: By God! [this is an exclamation] he cannot produce even something as large as a camel.R. Papa goes on to say that the magicians had the power of summoning, but not of creating. R. Papa's view of R. Eliezer's theory is not recorded by Rashi, and is therefore ignored by the thousands, if not tens of thousands, of O.J so-called scholars who pride themselves on their Torah knowledge, but don't seem able to remember what they have presumably seen on the pages of the Talmud when they discuss Chumash.
What explains this? If you're like me you've seen this happen a thousand times. Some speaker will open a discussion on introduce a question with the usual formula, ie the words, "We know", as in "We know that the Egyptian magicians couldn't produce anything smaller than a barley seed."
But we don't know. Not even Jewish tradition says we know.
What we know from Jewish tradition is that R. Papa and R. Eliezer argued about it and that R. Papa was astounded at R. Eliezer's theory. The exchange described in Sanhedrin shouldn't give anyone confidence about the world of magic, not when two amoraim** are in such stark disagreement.
What we know from Jewish tradition is that some later authorities, the Rishonim, believed that magic is impossible and that the Egyptians were simply conjurers using slight of hand.
What we know from history is that no one has ever performed a real magic trick under laboratory conditions.
And what we know from our own experiences and observations is that there is no such thing as real magic.
So how do these so called Torah scholars allow themselves to say "we know" when they speak about magic? How do they permit school teachers to train our children to believe that they know anything at all about how magic works? Why in 2010 are there so many Orthodox Jews walking around who, based on nothing more than a completely misunderstood Rashi, imagine that they have something accurate to say about magic?
Haven't they at least seen Sanhedrin?
*Correction April 30, 2010: The post originally stated that one of the "facts" my friends confidently cite is that "Egyptian magic had no power over anything smaller than a barley seed." This was imprecise. The sentence should have said "...Egyptian magicians had no power to produce anything smaller than a barley seed," which is how I phrased it in paragraph 6.
**Correction April 30, 2010: The post originally stated that R. Papa and R. Eliezer were tannaim. They were amoraim.
Search for more information about Rashi and his use of midrashim at 4torah.com.
An odd thing about Rubashkin...
Labels: Israel
In all the communications we've seen and heard in support and defense of Sholom Rubashkin has even one mentioned that the original raid on his plant was carried out by Bush administration officials, as part of a Bush policy? Strange no?
Because if it was Obama's men who landed the black helicopters on the Rubashkin property and put the largest kosher meat plant in the country out of business you can bet we'd be hearing all about Obama's anti-Semitic war on religious Jews, and kosher slaughtering.
Just something to think about....
Search for more information about anti-Obama lunatics spin the news in pursuit of their crazy agendas at 4torah.com.
Search for more information about anti-Obama lunatics spin the news in pursuit of their crazy agendas at 4torah.com.
Gshmak dvar torah for Emor
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Labels: IsraelA guest post from here
The pasuk says:
אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם מוֹעֲדֵי ה’ אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֵלֶּה הֵם מוֹעֲדָי – Speak to the Children of Israel and tell them these are the Festivals that they shall keep holy (23:2)
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ כָּל מְלָאכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ שַׁבָּת הִוא ה’ בְּכֹל מוֹשְׁבֹתֵיכֶם - [For] six days, work may be performed, but on the seventh day, it is a complete rest day, a holy occasion; you shall not perform any work. It is a Sabbath to the Lord in all your dwelling places. (23:3)
Rashi wonders why Shabbos is inserted into the middle of the parsha of the Festivals (moadim).
The Vilna Gaon comes up with a fascinating explanation that explains the pasuk in a different vein. On all the Festivals certain types of melachos are permitted (‘ochel nefesh‘), whereas on Shabbos all melachos are forbidden. However on one Yom Tov no melacha is permitted – Yom Kippur - which is also known as שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן – the same terminology that the Torah uses for a regular Shabbos. Thus the Vilna Gaon explains the pasuk like this;
דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם מוֹעֲדֵי ה’ אֲשֶׁר תִּקְרְאוּ אֹתָם מִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ אֵלֶּה הֵם מוֹעֲדָי – Speak to the Children of Israel and tell them these are the Festivals that they shall keep holy (23:2)
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן מִקְרָא קֹדֶשׁ כָּל מְלָאכָה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ - six days “of these” a melacha is permitted ( “these” are first and last days of Pesach(2), one day Shavuos (3), one day Rosh Hashana (4), one day Succos (5), one day Shmini Atzeres (6) [these are the days that are Yom Tov 'mideoraisa' which are still observed today in Israel]) however the seventh is the holy of holiest – no melacha is permitted (Yom Kippur [not even ochel nefesh])!
Geshmack
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
A reminder of how few in number we are
Labels: Israel
This graph shows the average worldwide Google searches for the word "Torah." It peaks a little here and there as various Torah related events occurred, like the time-share Torah offered by a Florida shul (Letter D) in September 2007, or the remover of a scroll from the Neveh Dekalim shul (letter B) in August 2005, but the real explosion: Torah Bright's gold medal in February 2010 (letter F).
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
Google Trend: Rubashkin ON FIRE
Labels: Israel
here
Peak:
3 hours ago
Location:
19% - New York, NY
13% - Brooklyn, NY
As of 4:20 EDST
No surprise. My own email box is brimming with calls for thillim, announcements of kinus, and (my favorite) a special conference call starring a famous woman educator with ideas on how we, in our daily lives, can help poor Shlomo.
I hope the guy gets what he deserves -- whatever, that means, and I confess to having no clue
Why won't I join a Daf Yomi shiur?
Often, I'm asked why I prefer to study my daily daf alone instead of joining one of the many neighborhood classes/shiurim. The reason I give is that I'm usually a few pages behind, but that's not all of it. I also avoid the public daf yomi lectures because I don't trust myself to sit calmly in the face of barbarities and absurdities such as the one I encountered last night on BT Sanhedrin 69.
Matthew and midrash?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Labels: IsraelWhen I was young, and foolish I used to argue with Christian missionaries (I later graduated to arguing with OJ fundies, and have since realized that is foolish, too.) One of my standard maneuvers, borrowed from some anti-missionary book or another, was to accuse the church of misconstruing Isaiah 7:14. "The verse says almah which means young woman" I would thunder in all caps, "but the church dishonestly translated it as virgin."
Et chatai ani mazkir hayom. The truth of the mistranslation is not so black and white. What actually occurred is messier, and tells us something interesting, I think, about the role of midrash
Jones' Joke
Monday, April 26, 2010
Labels: IsraelOpportunistic republican whiners are complaining bitterly about a terrible joke General James L. Jones, the National Security Advisor, told at the beginning of a speech last Wednesday. [See the joke after the jump]
Some thoughts:
- The joke isn't funny.
- The joke is poorly told.
- The joke isn't offensive to Jews. It merely depicts us as smarter than a Taliban warrior. I'd like to meet the Jew who does not consider himself brighter than any Taliban.
- The fact that Jones told a joke starring a smart Jew is no proof that his boss, the president, hates our guts. My dear GOP Jews, I know its tempting to make this leap of logic but the conclusion doesn't follow.
ArtScroll and Talmudic Medicine
Noah Roth sends in this great example of ArtScroll tying itself into pious knots. The excerpt is from Artscroll Avoda Zara 28A, note 31. All caps added by Noah Roth for emphasis:
Friday, April 23, 2010
Labels: Israel
In Honor Of "Let's Make Fun of Fundies" Day AND Earth Day: An Environmentalist Loon
A Guest Post By E. Fink
Seeing as there are two holidays today, Earth Day and "Let's Make Fun of Fundies Day" on DovBear I decided to join in the fun.
She says that if you really want to save the environment you should not have children. That's because children create a huge carbon footprint oh and of course, they also have more children later...
I am not kidding.
Here is the link to her article: grist.org
For a fuller treatment read this: Green Gone Wild
Search for more information about fundamentalist environmentalists at 4torah.com.
Search for more information about fundamentalist environmentalists at 4torah.com.
Fox's Fair and Balanced Treatment of Obama Continues
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Labels: Israel| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| A Farewell to Arms | ||||
| ||||
More crap from RW losers, who hate Obama and are too lazy to make a phone call to the White House and ask a simple question like, "Hey, how'd you come up with that logo" here, and here.
Look who's famous now!
Monday, April 19, 2010
Labels: IsraelOur own E-Fink was featured, together with his shul, on David Horsey's Escape into America.
Because Mister Horsey is employed by MSNBC, I expected the feature to be rude, slanderous, negative and disrespectful. I was sure Jews would be mocked. And because most Jewish bloggers see what they wish to see when it comes to Jews and the media, I expect someone, somewhere, will be able to tell me what Horsey did wrong, and how his item was deeply unfair to religious Jews.
But, as for me, I thought it was just fine.
Could the failure be one of vocabulary?
Labels: Israel
As unfortunately expected, some from the RW Orthodox community responded rudely to Rabbi Hayon, and his answers to my questions. The nasty comments shared a common theme, claiming that by choosing to call himself a Jew and a Rabbi, Rabbi Hayon was deceiving himself, and perhaps the public, too.
This perspective also informed some of the polite, but pointed questions asked by readers who wanted to know if Rabbi Hayon wears t'fillin, or posts a mezuzah on his wall, or eats pork or shellfish. When Rabbi Hayon did not answer, some readers took his silence as a sort-of-confession and asked how a Jew, not to mention a Rabbi, justified these violations of the Torah. They wanted to know how someone who follows no religious law, and performs no religious actions could consider himself "religious".
The failure here may be one of vocabulary. Many mainline Protestant denominations (quoting Wikipedia) "have tried to come to terms with the impact of modernity, critical biblical scholarship, and the scientific method. They tend to be open to new ideas and societal changes" They ordain women. Most of their members attend Church rarely, and church services consists of hymns and a sermon. They have no rituals, and make few demands on their communities.
Contrasted with Catholicism, these mainline Protestant groups don't seem very "religious" at all. The mainline Protestants have no sacraments, no majesty, no mystery. Their approach to religious is rational, not ecstatic or emotional. The Protestant cleric is not believed to have supernatural powers. He can't conjure bread into the body of Christ. And he makes few doctrinal demands on his followers: The mainline Protestant can eat what he likes, when he likes. He and his wife can use birth control, and abortion isn't a sin.
Contrasted with Catholicism, these mainline Protestant groups don't seem very "religious" at all. The mainline Protestants have no sacraments, no majesty, no mystery. Their approach to religious is rational, not ecstatic or emotional. The Protestant cleric is not believed to have supernatural powers. He can't conjure bread into the body of Christ. And he makes few doctrinal demands on his followers: The mainline Protestant can eat what he likes, when he likes. He and his wife can use birth control, and abortion isn't a sin.
However (and here's where the bit about vocabulary comes in) Christendom, unlike Judaism, has an umbrella word that includes all of its sects. That word is "Christian." While any Catholic would insist (correctly) that a mainline Protestant is non-Catholic, he'd never dream of saying that a mainline Protestant isn't a Christian.
We Jews don't have an analogous word. We no longer have a word that emphasizes what the different Jewish sects have in common, a word that all the different sects can fairly and happily claim as their own. Once upon a time, that word was "Jew", but the evidence of RW commentary on this blog, and others suggests that nowadays RW OJs are unwilling to share this word, or to use it in a sense that includes those, who as a matter of theology or doctrine, deny that Torah law is binding.
So perhaps what we need is a new word. Ideas?
We Jews don't have an analogous word. We no longer have a word that emphasizes what the different Jewish sects have in common, a word that all the different sects can fairly and happily claim as their own. Once upon a time, that word was "Jew", but the evidence of RW commentary on this blog, and others suggests that nowadays RW OJs are unwilling to share this word, or to use it in a sense that includes those, who as a matter of theology or doctrine, deny that Torah law is binding.
So perhaps what we need is a new word. Ideas?
Orthoprax Ministers
A Guest Post By E. Fink
Lately, there's been a lot of talk of Orthopraxy within the Orthodox Jewish world. There are even some blogs dedicated to its theology (and challenging the tradition OJ theology). Interestingly, the Orthoprax people I know of (NOT Orthoprax by default) are lay people. Not Rabbis. True, they are very learned and could probably pass as rabbis, but they remain lay people. Though I wonder if there are "closet Orthoprax Rabbis"...
According to this article, there are significant clergy members of various Christian denominations that for all practical purposes are "Orthoprax Christians". They value the rituals, the connection with others, the music, but they don't believe their religion's theology. They don't believe in God.
When comparing ministers and Christianity with Rabbis and Judaism there is a marked difference. Almost all Orthodox Jews spend several years of Torah study. Many lay people in the OJ community are more learned than their Rabbis. The article led me to believe that it is highly unlikely that lay people in the Christian community would be "Orthoprax Christians" because they don't know enough about the Bible and Christianity for the gaping holes, flaws and problems to bother them. But the educated class, the clergy, is susceptible to disbelief because they know what the problems are.
Cynics have said that the reason for "Daas Toyrah" ousting rationalism and "Slifkinism" from the "mesorah" is to keep the public ignorant so that they won't revolt against the rabbis. Perhaps there is some truth to that cynical belief. Ignorance will definitely keep people in line. It also shows is a complete lack of confidence in Torah.
Reading through the article I noticed little things that are virtually the exact ideas that Orthoprax Jews talk about. One idea is the "more benign forms of religion". That is a religion without God. It takes the moral aspects of religion and the rituals but divorces them from divinity and yet brings people together. Another idea is the issue of who wrote the Bible. Orthodox Jews don't usually struggle with this. But those who are aware of the issues, do.
In short, this article is not written about Jews. But it very likely could have been. It seems to me that there is nearly endless room for discussion about the questions it raises for us. I urge you to read the article and think about how it makes you feel.
The article made me feel confused about how I feel. How about you?
Search for more information about Orthoprax Christians and Jews at 4torah.com.
Search for more information about Orthoprax Christians and Jews at 4torah.com.
Discount offer for DovBear on the Parsha
Friday, April 16, 2010
Labels: IsraelNow you can order DovBear on the Parsha, and save money on shipping
Meet the Reform Rabbi (Follow up questions)
Labels: Israel
After answering the first set of questions, Rabbi Hayom was gracious enough to provide answers to some follow up questions. They are provided below. The Rabbi also answered several questions asked on the previous three threads - and tells me he hopes to answer more of them. His answers to the best of those questions are reprinted below for your convinience.
Mikvah Rules
I was just reading a comment on a blog post from someone on the subject of mikvah, and they happened to mention that the mikvah they use has a policy to not allow anyone who is a non-orthodox convert to immerse there. The person herself is a Conservative convert and does immerse there as the closest Conservative mikvah is 300 miles away, but the balanit / mikvah lady has never asked her anything. But her “deception” puts a damper on her mikvah experience, because she is worried about being “found out”.
Have you ever heard of such policies? Is it halachically ok to ask someone coming to the mikvah if they are Jewish, if they converted, and if so, through who? When single women use the mikvah so that they are sinning less when sleeping with their boyfriends – that should be ok because they were born Jewish?! We would be shocked to be asked by the balanit to prove we are married, right? So, how is this ok?!!
IMHO anyone that shows up to use the mikvah should be welcomed and not asked any questions.
Search for more information about [mikvah] at 4torah.com.
Meet the Reform Rabbi (Part 2)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Labels: IsraelDuring our interview, Rabbi Hayom was kind enough to answer some questions I knew were impertinent and rude. I asked them anyway because I know they are the sort of things Orthodox Jews want to know. You can see them after the jump.
I apologize again to Rabbi Hayon for asking these questions, and thank him publicly for his thoughtful replies.
Tomorrow, I'll run Rabbi Hayon's answers to some follow-up questions
Meet the Reform Rabbi (Part 1)
Labels: Israel
Today on DovBear we interview Rabbi Oren Hayon, a Twitter friend, scholar, and all around good guy.
Oh, and he's a Reform Rabbi, too.
In the interview that follows, he tells about his training, his daily routines, and shares his thoughts on any number of hot and cold button issues.
Big interview later today
Labels: Israel
Commenters here and writers on other OJ blogs frequently say unkind things about Reform Rabbis. In fact, among the Orthodox, the very idea of a "Reform Rabbi" is something of a joke: They're imagined to be religious ignoramuses, who are more concerned about hippie initiatives like organic beef then they are about tradition, law, and service.
So I thought it would be illuminating to put a legitimate Reform Rabbi on the seat of heat here at DovBear, and to hear his responses to some of the typical questions, objections and stereotypes. Rabbi Oren Hayon, a friend of mine from Twitter who frequently provides me with fast, witty answers to questions about Torah, grammar, and history, has graciously agreed to participate. His interview will be appearing later today, in two parts.
If you have questions of your own, please leave them on the thread. Time permitting, Rabbi Hayon may reply.
Search for more information about the big interview at 4torah.com.
Torah Con?
Labels: Israel
Is an Orthodox Rabbi selling fake Holocaust Torahs to non-Orthodox congregations?
Serious questions have been raised about the fabulous Torah rescue stories told by Menachem Youlus, the self-proclaimed "Indiana Jones of Torah recovery and restoration." According to Youlis he found one scroll, known as the Auschwitz Torah is 2004, as follows:
Using a metal detector, Rabbi Youlus said, he searched an area within the boundaries of the prewar cemetery in Oswiecim and discovered a metal box buried near a house built after the war.After a story appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, casting doubt on the stories Youlus has told the synagogue that received the Auschwitz Torah, and the philanthropist who purchased it from Youlus, hired a scholar to investigate. He found Youles has no proof of anything: No photographs, contracts, receipts, or names. He can't identify the priest who sold him the four panels, and he can't name the newspaper that carried the advertisement, or say when or where the ad would have appeared.
Inside, he said, was the Torah, but it was missing four panels.
He said that he had placed a classified ad in a Polish newspaper “asking if anyone had parchment with Hebrew letters.” He said a priest had responded to the advertisement, telling him, “I know exactly what you’re looking for” — the four missing panels.
Some historians who specialized in Holocaust studies wondered about Rabbi Youlus’s account, and in May 2008, he was asked by The Times for additional details about the Torah.
He said, among other things, that the Roman Catholic priest who had answered his advertisement in 2004 had died. He also said that he could not remember the priest’s full name.
He said that he had paid cash for the four panels, so he had no check that would serve as a receipt. He said that he had done the digging at the house himself “because I didn’t get a permit.”
These are serious questions indeed; however, they have been raised by the liberal Jew hating media, so please feel free to disregard.
Search for more information about swindles at 4torah.com.
The things they used to put in the newspapers
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Labels: Israel, Times Treasure
Nowadays, no self-respecting paper would run a puff piece like this, and certainly not one that did nothing but announce the names of wealthy people who had made sizable donations to an marginal college.
I wonder how these wealthy people would feel if they knew Orthodox Jews, today, generally believed that the 1920s were a time when no one in America cared about Orthodox Judaism, or Orthodox Jewish law.
In my imagination, I can almost hear Samuel Levy shouting, "You know-nothing jerks! We cared about Orthodox Judaism and Orthodox Jewish law to the tune of $62,700,000 in 2010 dollars using the Consumer Price Index as a means of calculating the relative value of a dollar! So there!"
I looked Samuel Levy up, and found that he was also a member of NYC's Board of Education during the 20s and 30s. In his 1953 Times obituary Levy is given credit for being "instrumental in changing school rules and regulations for that Jewish students could observe their holy days without penalty."
Another big name on the list is Nathan Lamport,who died in 1928 at the age of 74, and gave Yeshiva $300,000, but the most noteworthy name, I think, is Harry Fischel founder of the Uptown Talmud Torah, founder of the Hebrew Free Loan Society, charter member of National Jewish Welfare Board, and one of the original five incorporators of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
May their memory be a blessing.
Search for more information about great, forgotten Jews at 4torah.com.
This Is the Wrong Time for Bibi to Push Obama Away
Labels: Israel
I see there are others who fault Bibi for the slight chill in US - Israel relations.
Washington Diarist: Showdown
by Leon Wieseltier
Since I have no reason to believe that Benjamin Netanyahu is bluffing about his readiness to attack the nuclear facilities of Iran, I find his recent behavior incomprehensible.
In the wake of an Israeli attack, terrible things will almost certainly happen. There will be another war with Hezbollah, whose missiles will this time reach Tel Aviv. The Iranians may themselves respond directly with force. The price of oil will explode, afflicting ordinary people everywhere with the consequences of Israel’s strike, and provoking a new revulsion against Israel, and also against the United States. And the only ally that Israel will have in that disordered and dangerous hour will be the United States. Otherwise it will be friendless. The American government will likely be infuriated by the attack, but there is a formidable tradition of American solidarity with Israel, all bickerings aside, that may mitigate its fury. Strategically speaking, therefore, Israel’s relationship with the United States should be of supreme importance to its government. I myself am not persuaded of the wisdom of an Israeli attack on Iran—I do not see that it can accomplish its purpose: the only real solution is a democratic government in Tehran, secular and reasonable and transparent and intent on rescuing Iran from its modern adventure in medievalism—but I understand why Israel believes that it must damage and delay the nuclearization of this vicious and anti-Semitic tyranny.
My disagreement on this question is uncharacteristically humble. But less humbly I insist that it is mad for Netanyahu to think that he can have it all: the strike on Iran, the steadfastness of America, the churlishness about a peace process, the apartments in Ramat Shlomo. In these strategic circumstances, Rabin and Sharon would have damned the apartments, and the small perspective that they represent. For all his lectures on history, Netanyahu lacks their historical amplitude. He cannot tear himself away from his numbers. I concur that Israel has the right to build in Ramat Shlomo: I have the right to jump off my building, which some of my Jewish readers may wish me to do, but it would not be the intelligent course of action.
What most alarms me is that there has occurred in Israel an eerie loss of faith in the art of diplomacy. At this hour the Israeli government should be a hive of diplomatic creativity. It should be swarming with proposals and concepts: a map of its vision of Israel and Palestine; or a program of measures to strengthen the Fayyad-Abbas administration, because the alternative is Hamas, with its scriptures and rockets (I am not persuaded that the quiet on the Gazan frontier denotes anything more than the success of Israel’s harsh campaign); or a draft of a West Bank-first agreement, with all the blandishments that it will bring to Palestinians in the West Bank, so that Palestinians in Gaza may eventually seek to enjoy them; or a plan for an interim armistice agreement of the sort that Ehud Yaari has described; or anything else that will demonstrate that Netanyahu’s commitment to two states is designed to make peace also with Palestinians and not only with Americans. Instead I observe in the Israeli leadership a rigid and insensible attachment to the status quo, which consists in a prosperous high-tech contentment protected by a wall and a bi-annual war in the north or the south.
Some of this status-quo-ism results from the pettiness of Israeli politics, which is what Obama rightly wishes to challenge; but some of it results from a despair of the world, to which Obama is callously indifferent. Netanyahu’s ideal is no good: a normal life does not go with a despair of the world. He seems to regard Israel’s unpopularity as evidence of the justice of its cause, and in this dirty world I half-see his point; but Israel is not an island. It would be a monumental failure of statecraft to lead his country into complete isolation.
Another reason to not celebrate Yom HaShoah
Monday, April 12, 2010
Labels: by Rafi G., IsraelA Guest Post by Rafi G
Dov Bear earlier showed a common point of opposition to Yom HaShoah, that being it is sourced in "secular" form of a memorial rather than a "Jewish" source.
I would like to describe another form of opposition and ask for your thoughts.
Putting aside the issues of is it Jewish, should it be in Nissan, moment of silence, the Zionists could have done more, etc. Putting all that aside, here is another idea.
My rav spoke on Shabbos about why we ignore Yom HaShoah. His reasoning was thus (any inaccuracies are mine - I might not be transmitting what he said completely accurately):
Yom HaShoah was created as a memorial for the victims of the Holocaust. But it was not focused on the victims - it was more focused on being a memorial for the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. That is why the date was chosen for 27 Nissan - because it is within the month of the uprising, and that is why the day is called Yom HaShoah V'HaGvurah - the Day of the Holocaust and of Heroism.
To be brief, and because I don't remember all the details of how it developed, the idea of the day was to commemorate the Holocaust through the ghetto uprising - as if the correct response to the Holocaust is to rise up. While the uprising itself might have been fine, after the fact it is wrong to commemorate that as the main focus of the holocaust. We have to, after the fact, accept Hashem's judgment and ruling, and that is that 6 million had to die for whatever reason. To focus on the uprising is to negate that as if to say we could have done better and averted it by being more courageous like them. Whether that sentiment is right or wrong, after the fact we have to accept hashem's judgement.
Establishing the day the way it was established is calling into question our acceptance of what happened, our acceptance of hashem's judgment.
And that is why, according to my rav, we oppose the day.
I had some questions, such as while that might be a reason to not create the day to start with, or to create it differently, but after the fact, now that it has been created and is part of our calendar, why not take advantage of it and teach our kids about the holocaust properly - since we dont really focus on it any other day... The answer given is that you should pick another day, 9 Av perhaps, and teach your kids about it, but not on Yom HaShoah.
I shoul;d add that he also made it clear that no chillul hashem should be made. if in public, one must stand with everyone else. This is only referring to general, private commemoration. The day, in general, should be ignored.
So, what do you think about this argument?
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
The 1957 Shabos march on the Lower East Side
Labels: Israel
Still waiting for a name for the new feature. Meanwhile....
I like how this pro-shabbos demonstration involves no stone-throwing. The approach seems to be one of love. Note the quote: The speaker holds sabbath violates are solid, decent people who don't know any better. He's speaking to a brother, and not to the members of a rival sect. What a shame such a thing now seems so quaint.
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
Levi Eshkol Goes to Shul
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Labels: Israel, Times Treasure
This will be the last one for a few days... Still need a name
Search for more information about famous aliyot at 4torah.com.
Rabbi Aron Kotler, Rabbi Moses Feinstein and Rabbi Joseph B. Solivetchik assist at a wedding
Friday, April 09, 2010
Labels: Israel, Times Treasure
I think its neat that the three greatest names in Orthodox Judaism attended this wedding, and find it beyond precious that the Times described their participation this way: "[The mesader kidushin, Rabbi Pinchas Teitz] was assisted by Rabbi Aron Kotler, Rabbi Moses Feinstein and Rabbi Joseph B. Solivetchik."
ASIDE
My dear friend @yeshivaguy is fond of insisting on Twitter that Rabbi Aron Kotler made a habit of publicly disgracing and defaming Rabbi Joseph B. Solivetchik. I don't believe it for a second, and am deeply offended on Rabbi Kotler's behalf. But assuming @yeshivaguy is right (he's not) one wonders how the assisting at this wedding may have went.
RAK: Man, I didn't know you were going to be here!
RJBS: Um, I was invited. Also, the groom is my student
RAK: Jeez... now people are going to think we're friends. [pout]
RMF: Gentlemen, its time for us to start assisting.
RAK: Let Joe B. do it. I'm out of here.
RJBS: Haven't I told you a 1000 times not to call me Joe B?
RAK: Whatever
END ASIDE
I also note in this article a hint of a generational shift. The senior Rabbis are identified by their English names (Aron, Moses, Joseph) but the groom is Yosef.
Finally, will we ever again see a day when a Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva attends the wedding of a Barnard graduate with plans to continue her education at Columbia?
* I know who they are. Not relevant. For more information see Yosef Blau and Pinchas Teitz
Search for more information about things you don't see anymore at 4torah.com.
More Shortcuts
A Guest Post By E. Fink
Unless you live under a (very litvish) rock you know that this week is Shlissel Challah Week. This is the segula that "everyone" does the week after Pesach, or more specifically, the week of Shabbos Mevarchim Iyar, for good parnassa.
Most people I know participate in this segula by baking challah for Shabbos with their home-key baked into the bread. I think this is the prevailing way of doing it, but I could be wrong.
A lot of people think there is no source for this custom. While early sources are scant, the Sefer Todaah, by Eliyahu Ki-Tov writes (and I paraphrase) that there is a custom to bake Challah in the shape of a key sprinkled with sesame seeds. The seeds remind us of the mon which began in Iyar and that is why we do it this week.
In general I shy away from placing too much weight in pure segulos. I call them "shortcuts". People want the "merchandise" without paying the "price". They think that God will grant them what they want if they perform some ritual. I say, let's get the basics right first.
This segula is even funnier. The only source I know for the segula (Sefer Todaah) says to bake the challah in the shape of a key. Yet, it seems that is just too hard for people. It's too much effort to fashion a challah in the shape of a key. So instead people take another shortcut and make the challah in the standard fashion and just bake the key into the challah.
The shortcut that the Sefer Todaah mentions is further shortcut by the recent innovations... I find that amusing. Maybe I just have a weird sense of humor...
Search for more information about super-duper shortcuts at 4torah.com.
Where's the herring?
Labels: Israel
Shold have printed this a week ago
Dear Mr. Bear:
You have prior permission to reprint this on your blog.
Ever since I was a kid, one of my favorite culinary memories of Pesach, aside from matzah brei made with peanut oil, was chopped herring on matzah. And in my adult years, since I moved to CA-city, I have always enjoyed the homemade chopped herring served up at the appetizing counter of our local Kosher-ama market, made under very reliable hasgacha. Unfortunately, I enjoy it no more, at least not over Pesach.
A couple of years ago, while doing my Peasach shopping, I stopped at the appetizing counter and asked for my usual, homemade whitefish salad and chopped herring. The whitefish salad they had, but the chopped herring, nada, shum davar, klum. I didn't get a real straight answer from the guy at the counter, but I got the impression that this was something forced on them by the mashgiach. Last year, they had chopped herring, but they must have modified the recipe somehow, becuase it was lousy. This year, no chopped herring. Now chopped herring contains little more than pickled herring, apples, maybe some sugar, and matzah meal. I don't know what would all of a sudden make it not suitable for Pesach. I have a sinking feeling that the kashrut agency that supervises the Kosher-ama has gone on the no-gebrokts bandwagon. When I look around the store, I see no prepared food and very few packaged items that contain gebrokts. They still sell matzah meal, matzah farfel, and even cake meal, but I fear the worst may happen in the coming years. Sure, I can always go over to the Safeway and get gebrokts stuff (not to mention Hebrew National hot dogs), although premade baked goods that are meade of actual wheat matzah meal are getting hard to find even there. What seems to be happening is that the fanatics are taking over and forcing the rest of us to follow their silly minhagim by default. But my main complain here is that the pleasure of my Yom Tov is diminished by the lack of chopped herring.
I want to know if other people in other cities are having this same problem. I mean, if I can't have chopped herring on Pesach, I might was well be celebrating Easter.
Yours, with affection
CONSERVATIVE APIKORIS
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
Warning
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Labels: IsraelThe good people at Blogger.com have finally added some new templates to their dull as dishwater collection. They've also introduced a new tool, called Template Designer, which lets you easily change your blogs look, layout, colors, and more.
So of course this means I'll be fiddling around and foisting upon you something new before too long.
Search for more information about itchy design fingers at 4torah.com.
Bread is over rated
Labels: Israel
I've had some rice, and of course I've cooked in chometz pots, and used chometz utensils, but as yet I've eaten no leaven. I'm still nibbling happily on matzo, in fact.
You cannot buy chamtez from a chiloni after Pesach
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Labels: by Rafi G., IsraelA Guest Post by Rafi G
Rav Elyashiv is being quoted by his confidante, Rav Efrati, as having issued a psak that one should not buy chametz after Pesach from a chiloni Jew, even when he sold his chametz.
The reasoning for this issur is that the chiloni has no interest in selling his chametz - he is simply doing it to fulfill a religious requirement being imposed on him. Because he has no actual intention to really sell the chametz, the sale is a farce and does not take affect. If the sale is invalidated, that means any chametz he owns is retroactively considered chametz that was owned by a Jew on Pesach, which is not allowed to be purchased.
The kashrus organizations that dealt with the selling of the chametz actually considered this problem and say they had resolved it by using a different text in the sale. The altered text gave this sale a much more powerful legal status to the sale, thus ensuring that the seller of the chametz actually had a level of intent to really sell the chametz.
Despite this, Rav Efrati says in the name of Rav Elyashiv that the problem remains and one should not buy chametz from a chiloni Jew. (source: Ynet)
What I find particularly strange about this is how it compares to shmitta. During the shmitta year, the main argument, or one of them at least, against the hetter mechira, in any form, was that no land owner actually wants to sell his land. They don't want the non-Jew to actually process and complete the purchase of the land. Therefore, with the intention to not really sell the land, the sale cannot be valid.
Fine. However, when the inevitable comparison to mechiras chametz always came up, and the question was raised why it worked for chametz but not for land, the answer given was that anybody would be happy to sell his chametz, if the non-Jew would want to complete the transaction. Land, not. The difference means that the sale of chametz works, because they are happy to sell, while the sale of land doesn't work, because the owner is hoping ti doesn't actually happen.
So now Rav Efrati, in the name of Rav Elyashiv, is really saying that this difference is not even true. Really chametz and the sale of the land are exactly the same.
And, why does he think that the seller is not interested in selling his chametz? Wouldn't any store owner be happy if the non-Jew came in and said he wanted to take all the chametz items and pay the full price for them? I would think any store owner would be ecstatic about that happening.
The rabbonim of Tzohar have countered with a psak arguing and saying it is allowed...
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
Simpsons Visit Israel
Labels: Israel
The Simpsons went to Israel last Sunday, and I thought the episode was wall-to-wall hysterical with Sasha baron Cohen stealing the show with his portrayal of a tour guide. (Those who choose to be offended at everything will, no doubt, see hints of Antisemitism in the episode (Israel: Your American tax dollars at work) and in Baron Cohen's performance (No Masada! Shut your face!). Such cry-babies are referred to the Simpsons Go to Australia, and the Simpsons Go to India, and the Simpsons Go to China, (for starters) where the host countries are all given the same sort of treatment.)
The tour guide's daughter Dorit was Mac Air Book chick Yael Naim. You can see her recording her lines for her character's big fight with Bart Simpson here (warning: its boring). The episode itself is still on Hulu.
Search for more information about [topic] at 4torah.com.
Exceptional
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Labels: IsraelOld Jew I know gestured at the local tennis courts this morning, as we were walking past, and said: "That's the difference between a Jew and a Gentile. On Easter they play tennis. On Yom Kippur we go to shul."
This is a common Jewish sentiment. It pops up everywhere. In fact, every time one of us finishes a tractate of Talmud we pay tribute to our own sense of exceptionalness, saying "he’anu mashkimim v’heim mashkimim. Anu mashkimim l’divrei torah, v’heim mashkimim l’devarim biteilim…Anu ratzim v’hem ratzim. Anu ratzim l’chayei haolam habah, v’heim ratzim l’b'air shachas.” = We wake up early and they wake up early. We wake up early to learn for words of torah, and they wake up early for idle words….We run and they run. We run to the life of the Next World, and they run to the well of destruction.
But today I found myself wondering if this was a fair or true thing to say, and if the underlying premise has any basis in reality. After all, many Jews skip shul on Yom Kippur, too. And many Jews wake up early for idle words and run to the well of destruction.
If we were to compare percentages who would come out ahead? As a percentage of the whole, do more Jews skip shul on Yom Kippur or do more Christians skip church on Easter/Muslims skip mosque on the YK/Easter equivalent? As a percentage of the whole, do more Jews dedicate themselves to the study of our law and theology, or do more Christians/Muslims dedicate themselves to the study of their law and theology?
My hunch, I confess, is that we lose this one.
Search for more information about spy vs spy at 4torah.com.
Help Fred
Labels: Israel
If you have any cash left after Pesach preparations and chol hamoed outings, please throw some of it this way.
As Fred writes "...economic necessity has pressed me to request donations from you, my dear readers. If you enjoy On the Main Line, please donate something."
So go and help a brother out
Who has the frumest readers?
Friday, April 02, 2010
Labels: IsraelWhich blog has the frumest readers? Hard to say, but an argument might be made that my readers are frumer then those who read the radically insane, pro-Israel blogs.
Just now, I checked the stats on three of the bigger ones (No, I won't be naming them. I'm not interested in starting any kind of blog war right now) and compared them with my own. Guess who suffered (by far) the largest decline in readership over Yom Tov? Me.
On Tuesday, day one of Yom Tov, I had 197 unique visits. On the Tuesday, March 23, I had 1106. On Wednesday, day 2 of Yom Tov, there were 287 unique visits. On Wednesday, March 24, there were 1050.
In other words more than 70 percent of my so-called lefty, religion-hating readers stayed away from DovBear on the holiday. Meanwhile, over at the three super-star RW blogs I chose for comparisons sake there was no such decline. All of them had solid Wednesdays, and decent Tuesdays: I don't think a single one of them lost more than 20 percent.
Israel-US dustup
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Labels: IsraelA guest post by Rabba bar bar Chana
There’s been a huge fight between the US and Israel over settlements. The US President demanded that Israel halt all settlement activity, but the Prime Minister of Israel, leader of the Likud party, refused. The president put tremendous pressure on Israel. According to the New York Times,
“supporters of Israel said the Administration had indicated to them that (the president’s) angry comments… at a news conference on Thursday were only the first stage in the White House offensive.”Right wing Jewish media outlets became hysterical and declared that the president was doing irrevocable damage to the special relationship between Israel and America. The president was called an anti-Semite in the living rooms of Flatbush and Passaic. The president even threatened to withhold badly needed loan guarantees from Israel unless she complied with his demands.
Wait – what? What do you mean? Obama hasn’t put financial pressure on Israel. All that’s come out of the administration is some strongly worded rebukes.
Oh, right. That’s because the above occurrence refers to the disagreement between George H.W. Bush and Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir in 1991. And guess what? The relationship between the US and Israel was never severed in the 18 years since then. The United States remained Israel’s steadfast ally.
And about those loan guarantees; Can any of you who are calling Obama the worst US president for Israel ever point to any sort of similar pressure Obama is putting on Israel? Can you quote a current administration official saying about Jews upset over the dustup “F--- ‘em. They didn’t vote for us anyway”? No, that was James Baker, of the Bush 41 administration.
As much as the right wing Jewish community and the Israeli populace went after Bush at the time, it pales in comparison to the hatred and scorn they’re pouring on Obama now.
So my message here is basically, chill out. Has Obama made missteps on Israel? Yes. Did Netanyahu make missteps? Yes. But this isn’t the end of the alliance between the two countries. And Obama’s actually a pretty decent friend of Israel, if you just get a little perspective and stop insisting that “Barack Hussein Obama” wants to destroy Israel.
Search for more information about Bush I and Israel at 4torah.com.
Subscribe to:
Comment Feed (RSS)