DOCSLIB.ORG

How Did Moshe Rabbeinu Make His Tefillin in the Midbar? REB NOACH

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
How Did Moshe Rabbeinu Make His Tefillin in the Midbar? REB NOACH ON SITE › Shira Yehudit Djalilmand | Photos › Menachem Kalish THE MIX How did Moshe Rabbeinu make his tefillin in the Midbar? REB NOACH GREENBERG of Tzfas Wrapped came up with one answer, and is using his method to teach IN A bar mitzvah boys Mıtzvah worldwide 360 MISHPACHA 11 Tishrei 5781 | September 29, 2020 MISHPACHA 361 ON SITE THE MIX A Holy TASK EACH BOY IS SEATED at a Before any work is done, the table beside his father, with boys wash netilas yadayim. This a sheet of goatskin in front of is a sacred task, Reb Noach tells them. them, and, just like the Kohanim Teaching the craft of tefillin would wash their hands making to preteen boys required before their service in the Beis Reb Noach to develop his own Hamikdash, and as a sofer stam unique method. For the batim, does today before he begins to he decided to use thin goatskin write, so we do before making parchment instead of thick tefillin. cowhide leather. That enabled The boys then see and handle him to fashion a single piece the components of tefillin — that could be formed into a klaf, batim, parshiyos, the hair bayis using origami-like folding of a calf’s tail used to tie up the techniques. (Many older sifrei parshiyos, and the gid, or sinew Torah, particularly those in thread that stitches the batim the older shuls of Tzfas, were closed. All the while, Reb Noach written on goatskin parchment.) continues with his probing, To engage the boys, he kicks incisive questions. Why do we off the introductory session use the hair of a calf tail? (For with some questions: What is all the answers, you’ll have kedushah? What are tefillin? to attend one of Reb Noach’s THE SETTING FOR THIS SESSION of Reb Noach What’s leather? How is it made? workshops….) Greenberg’s hands-on Kesher Tefillin workshop is Especially powerful is the quote And then, before the boys appropriate for this well-known artist and educator who from the Shulchan Aruch (Orach begin the real job, they declare has been creating Judaica from wood for the past 35 years. Chaim 37:1, Mishnah Berurah) importantly in a loud voice, We’re sitting in the Old City of Tzfas, under the shade of that details the huge reward as halachah requires ‘‘L’sheim vines, surrounded by olive, lemon, and esrog trees, in the courtyard for the mitzvah of tefillin, kedushas tefillin!” Reb Noach of this ancient stone home, built centuries ago as a way station for as described by the Chofetz emphasizes that these words, traveling merchants. The rooms now housing Reb Noach’s operation Chaim — long life, a guaranteed repeated at every stage of the were once used to stable horses. place in the World to Come, process, center the person’s Reb Noach's Kesher Tefillin course, in which boys actually make invulnerability to the fires of thoughts and signify his their own tefillin, is renowned for its inspirational power. But this Gehinnom, and forgiveness intention that all these practical particular class, being held for Reb Noach’s own first three grandsons for our sins — and all this for tasks are for the sake of a holy approaching bar mitzvah, along with their fathers, has special wearing little black boxes. mitzvah. significance. 362 MISHPACHA 11 Tishrei 5781 | September 29, 2020 MISHPACHA 363 THE MIX NOMIX-UPS SUDDENLY, EACH BOY is holding a pair of perfect batim. In the “regalim” adding up to 613. following sessions, Reb Noach brings kosher parshiyos, which Some stages are harder than others. Folding the batim of the the boys tie up with calf hair and insert into the batim. The tefillin shel rosh, for example, takes a great deal of time and tefillin are then sewn with cows’ sinew, and the boys learn to tie effort, and triggers numerous cries for help. From a halachic the special knots in the retzuos (straps). standpoint, Reb Noach explains that inserting the parshiyos is All ten critical steps, from the initial cutting to tying the the most stressful part, as it must be done just right. straps, have been carried out by the boys themselves. When they Imagine, he says, 30 students in a classroom, each with four become obligated in the mitzvah, they will be performing it with parshiyos all rolled up. The moment these are unrolled, amid tefillin they made themselves. commotion and excitement, they are at risk of falling on the floor Making tefillin is an arduous task, but Reb Noach is an expert and getting mixed up. And if the wrong parshiyos go into the hand at sweeping the boys along with his enthusiasm so it feels wrong batim, those tefillin arepassul — and no one will know. not like a job, but a privilege. He’s also an expert at mixing “You can’t imagine how much sleep I’ve lost worrying about information and interest into his presentation — too much dry this,” he admits. data and the boys will lose interest, too many stories and the His concern caused him to seek rabbinical advice, as he does essential info will get lost. He throws in fascinating gems, such regarding every step of the process, and that particular problem ABOVE as the gematria of the two shins on the tefillin along with their was largely solved by the simple step of numbering the parshiyos. the Fold THE BOYS GET DOWN TO WORK. The first stage is place for everything. cutting out the pattern of the bayis from the sheet of Next comes the origami-like folding stage. Reb parchment. The shape is marked with tiny holes, but Noach explains that there are over 100 folds to has to be punched out by hammering very hard with a make, and, using a “makel hakadosh” — a “holy stick” wooden mallet. (The boys enjoyed this part.) (actually a popsicle stick) — the boys work hard Next, because halachah requires that the Hebrew (with help from their fathers) making creases in the letter shin be embossed on the sides of the tefillin appropriate places and directions, and the boys see the shel rosh, the boys do this using something rather tefillin gradually begin to take on their familiar form. like a very large hole punch. Then the oddly shaped As they progress, they become more and more pieces of parchment are taken to a different table and involved and excited. When Reb Noach sensibly sprayed liberally with black paint. (Reb Noach explains suggests a short break — everyone’s been working that this, like the other ten steps of this process, are for two hours solid, outside, in a record heat wave — halachah l’Moshe miSinai.) the boys insist on continuing. A class has to be that Reb Noach is incredibly organized and efficient, and absorbing for a bunch of 12-year-olds to be ready and at the same time, very cool, calm, relaxed, and friendly willing to dedicate so much time and effort to it. (And — and patient with the boys. The whole presentation these workshops continue for roughly four hours, runs like a well-oiled machine, with a set time and three times.) 364 MISHPACHA ON SITE Internal BEAUTY Some readers might reasonably wonder if such unusual tefillin, made of thin goatskin parchment rather than thick leather, are actually kosher. Before launching the project, Reb Noach took his prototype tefillin to Rav Nissim Karelitzztz”l in Bnei Brak for approval. Says Reb Noach, “Rav Karelitz and his entire beis din opened them up, checked them, and asked lots of questions as to how they were made. He finally pronounced, ‘These are tefillin!’ ” The Kesher Tefillin method and educational program have used today, which are a good deal heavier, are a relatively recent the support and approval of numerous prominent rabbis, innovation — no more than perhaps 80 to 100 years.” among them Rav Yisroel Belsky and the Novominsker Rebbe, Although the tefillin are kosher, in order to keep the project zichronam livrachah; and Rav Sariel Rosenberg, Jerusalem’s affordable, Reb Noach generally uses the simplest kosher Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern, and Tzfas’s Chief Rabbi materials (parshiyos, retzuos) as approved by the project’s Shmuel Eliyahu. rabbanim, while offering moremehudar options. The standard Still, the halachah is that only Jewish males over the age of 13 parshiyos are perhaps less mehudar than more expensive ones. are permitted to make tefillin, so how can Reb Noach allow pre– But beauty extends beyond the external. bar mitzvah boys to make them? Reb Noach received the psak As one father wrote to Reb Noach, “My son has made the that if an appropriate adult supervises the boy and physically most beautiful tefillin I have ever seen. I know he put his heart helps him with the critical stages, the tefillin are kosher. and soul into it and I just wish you could have been there to see As to whether anyone would want a pair of tefillin somewhat his face when he gave them to me. I believe it means more to different from the norm, Reb Noach points out, “These tefillin him than we’ll ever know… and that is what makes these tefillin may actually be closer to the traditional mesorah. The tefillin so beautiful.” Tracing the Pattern How did Reb Noach dream up this whole concept? as an artist. Having executed multiple projects using paper- “I was learning the halachos of tefillin with my son for his bar engineering techniques, including an origami-style fold-up mitzvah, back in about 2005,” he relates. “I started thinking cardboard tzedakah box, he made the connection.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • I. Maot Chitim II. Ta'anit Bechorim, Fast of the Firstborns III. Chametz
    To The Brandeis Community, Many of us have fond memories of preparing for the holiday of Pesach (Passover), and our family's celebration of the holiday. Below is a basic outline of the major halakhic issues for Pesach this year. If anyone has questions they should be in touch with me at h​[email protected].​ In addition to these guidelines, a number of resources are available online from the major kashrut agencies: ● Orthodox Union: h​ttp://oukosher.org/passover/ ○ a pdf of the glossy magazine that’s been seen around campus can be found h​ere ● Chicago Rabbinical Council: l​ink ● Star-K: l​ink Best wishes for a Chag Kasher ve-Sameach, Rabbi David, Ariel, Havivi, and Tiffy Pardo Please note: Since we are all spending Pesach all over the world (literally...I’m selling your chametz for you, I know) please use the internet to get appropriate halakhic times. I recommend m​ yzmanim.com ​or the really nifty sidebar on h​ttps://oukosher.org/passover/ I. Maot Chitim The Rema (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 429) records the ancient custom of ma'ot chitim – p​roviding money for poor people to buy matzah and other supplies for Pesach. A number of tzedka organizations have special Maot Chitim drives. II. Ta’anit Bechorim, Fast of the Firstborns Erev Pesach is the fast of the firstborns, to commemorate the fact that the Jewish firstborns were spared during m​ akat bechorot ​(the slaying of the firstborns). T​his year the fast is observed on Friday April 3 (14 Nissan) beginning at alot hashachar (i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • The “Gayfication” of Tel Aviv: Investigating Israel's Pro-Gay Brand
    UCLA Queer Cats Journal of LGBTQ Studies Title The “Gayfication” of Tel Aviv: Investigating Israel’s Pro-gay Brand Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0zv7m3m9 Journal Queer Cats Journal of LGBTQ Studies, 3(1) ISSN 2639-0256 Author Snellings, Satchie Publication Date 2019 DOI 10.5070/Q531045991 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The “Gayification” of Tel Aviv: Examining Israel’s Pro-Gay Brand Satchie Snellings New York University, Global Liberal Studies o someone informed on the modern world’s LGBT hot spots, the Tmention of Israeli homosexuality would most often connote images of a crowded pride parade or a rainbow themed beach party packed with same-sex couples and carefree attitudes. This picture, whether in a film, on a poster, or in reality, is one of Tel Aviv, the self-proclaimed “Gay Capital of the Middle East.”1 It is the most popular and well-known image of the Israeli LGBT community. The history of LGBT rights in Israel predates that of many Western nations, including the United States. Israeli gay rights ensure that all LGBT citizens receive many of the same rights to their heterosexual counterparts, albeit with less publicized shortfalls in terms of health, edu- cation and welfare laws. The greatest exception and the most significant encroachment of faith onto the legality of homosexuality is in the lack of legal gay marriage in Israel. Alongside their crafting of legal rights, the Israeli government has invested heavily in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, rebranding it as a globally recognized “gay destination.” This effort resulted in a fiscally beneficial gay tourism industry and a more positive international reputation for Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • EREV PESACH WHICH OCCURS on SHABBOS: a Practical Guide
    Rabbi Aaron Kraft Dayan EREV PESACH WHICH OCCURS ON SHABBOS: A Practical Guide When Erev Pesach coincides with Shabbos, we benefit from Friday (13th of Nisan; this year, March 26, 2021) or Shabbos having a restful and spiritually uplifting day leading into the (Erev Pesach; this year, March 27, 2021)? The Shulchan Aruch Seder night. However, this infrequent calendrical occurrence (ibid.) says to burn most of the chametz on Friday, leaving some also raises practical questions relating to the halachos of Erev for the Shabbos meals (see next section). Whatever chametz Pesach1 as well as to the proper fulfilment of the mitzvos of remains after the meals should be broken into small crumbs Shabbos. This article will address these concerns. and disposed of in a manner that destroys it completely but does not violate the laws of Shabbos. Preferred methods include flushing the crumbs down the toilet, feeding them to TAANIS BECHOROS a pet, or throwing them into a garbage outside of the house. While on a regular Erev Pesach, firstborn males customarily Larger quantities may also be given to a non-Jew (but you fast, fasting is prohibited on Shabbos either because it detracts should not directly ask the non-Jew to remove more than from the mitzvah of oneg Shabbos or because an obligation to a meal’s worth of chametz from your house – see Shulchan eat three meals exists (OC 288:1 and Beur Halacha). Therefore, Aruch 444:4 and Mishna Berura 444:18-20). the Beis Yosef (OC 470) cites opposing positions whether to According to the Shulchan Aruch (OC 444:2), the burning observe the taanis on Thursday or not at all this year.
    [Show full text]
  • Hundreds of Thousands Celebrate 13Th Siyum Hashas
    Hundreds of Thousands Celebrate 13th Siyum HaShas January 2, 2020 The 13th Global Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi was held on Wednesday, January 1, with the participation of hundreds of thousands of people. The Siyum HaShas – literally “the completion of the Six Orders [of the Talmud]” – is the celebration of the completion of the Daf Yomi program, a seven-and-a-half-year cycle of learning one folio page of the Talmud daily, with 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud being covered in sequence. The idea of Jews all across the world studying the same page of Talmud each day, with the goal of completing the entire Talmud, was presented at the First World Congress of Agudath Israel in Vienna on August 16, 1923 by Rabbi Meir Shapiro. His idea was greeted enthusiastically, including by many Jewish leaders in Europe and America, and the first cycle of Daf Yomi began on the first day of the holiday of Rosh Hashanah that year, September 11, 1923. Ever since then, Jews participating in the program cover one page a day, studying the text by themselves, with a group, or by listening to a lecture. A typical daily Daf Yomi lecture takes one hour. Daf Yomi unifies the Jewish people, allowing Jews across the world and from any background to study the very same text each day, providing a commonality of purpose and injecting Jewish pride in its adherents. The Talmud is written largely in Aramaic, and thus a translation of the Talmud, specifically the popular ArtScroll Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, an English-language and Hebrew-language translation and elucidation, has been credited with significantly increasing the number of participants in the Daf Yomi program.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jewish People
    Preface AT THE PROSPECT OF PUBLICATION of this, my first book, my heart is filled with joy and gratitude. I have been sustained and nurtured by other people and have been shaped by their models, influence, and help. This book, in particular, reflects the ongoing impact of others on me. I would like in this small way to acknowledge my debt of grati­ tude to them. This book bears the imprint of two people, above all. One is Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the master philosopher/poet of halacha (Jewish law) of our time. Even with the perspective of thirty-five years, it is hard to overstate the electrifying impact on me of the initial encounter with Rabbi Soloveitchik's model and mode of thinking. I was twenty years old, emotionally open and intellectually absorbent, on my maiden flight out of the warm, loving cocoon of the East European refugee yeshiva in which I had studied and been ordained. I had been raised to study and observe all the traditions and rules of halacha; Rabbi Soloveitchik opened my eyes to the patterns of meaning therein. In his analysis the halacha became more than the sum of its thousands of observances and details. It was a system by which to live humanly, a way to seize life whole, a confrontation with the dilemmas and anx­ ieties of existence. The details were the products of divine revelation and an ongoing historic confrontation, love affair, and partnership be- 7 8 PREFACE tween God and the Jewish people. Under the light of his illumination, every detail—even those that appeared obscure or mechanical— turned out to be an articulation of a psychological or moral state or an attempt to induce the individual to give deeply human responses to life situations.
    [Show full text]
  • Rabbi Alfonso Pedazur Arbib
    Rabbi Alfonso Pedazur Arbib Rabbi Alfonso Pedazur Arbib, the Chief Rabbi of Milan, Italy since clearly and eloquently convey the message of Judaism and make 2005, is the Av Beit Din and a member of the Council of Italian it accessible to all, thereby contributing to the development of Rabbis. He is responsible for providing halachic solutions for all Jewish law in modern life. Jewish communities in Italy. He is a premier example that it is His prolific activity is unique due to the rare combination of a possible to combine the modern world with the halachic world. diligent Torah scholar and successful speaker who is able to make For nearly 30 years, Rabbi Alfonso Pedazur Arbib has been teaching his Torah knowledge come alive to all his listeners. Judaism and Jewish values to students in the University of Milan. His devotion to the Jewish people and his pleasant and sweet In 2016 he was appointed the president of the Italian Rabbinical manner has made him into one of the most prominent rabbis in Conference, whose function is to link the rabbinical institutions in Italy and the worldwide. Italy with other institutions around the world. He disseminates Torah to students and youths of different communities. He teaches them not only Jewish law and customs, but also other treasures of Judaism. His depth of thought and In consideration of all the above, the selection committee has decided to award Rabbi Alfonso Pedazur Arbib the Katz Prize for 2019. broad vision encompasses the young, old, religious and non- religious, drawing them to their Father in heaven.
    [Show full text]
  • Orthodox by Design
    one Authoritative and Accessible the year 2005 was a big one for ArtScroll. It marked the completion of the seventy- third and final volume of their Talmud Bavli: The Schotten- stein Edition, a massive work of thirty- five thousand pages, involving over eighty rabbinic scholars for more than fifteen years, at a blistering produc- tion rate of one volume every nine weeks.1 No other publication has more definitively signaled ArtScroll’s ascent in the publishing world. Several other ArtScroll books have had a dramatic impact on the English- language Jewish public sphere, such as The Complete ArtScroll Siddur (their basic prayer book) and even their best- selling cookbook, Kosher by Design.2 But ArtScroll’s Talmud is unique in terms of the intellectual, symbolic, and financial resources at stake for a project of this magnitude, as well as its impact on the relationship of the publisher with its patrons, customers, critics, and even competing publishers.3 Let us recall here the status of the Babylonian Talmud as arguably the central text of Rabbinic Judaism. It consists of the written record of what is known in Jewish tradition as the Torah she be’al peh (the Oral Law), orig- inally transmitted to Moses on Mt. Sinai alongside the Torah she bi khtav (the Written Torah, i.e., the Hebrew Bible), and systematized by a long tradition of authoritative commentators.4 More than any other text in the Jewish tradition, it symbolizes the shift in ancient Israelite religion from a temple cult or ga nized around sacrificial practices to the religion of a 30 “people of the book,” living in diaspora, in the aftermath of the destruc- tion of the Temple at Jerusalem.
    [Show full text]
  • Pesach – Chag Kasher V'sameach
    ב''ה CBT: Pesach Essentials Monday, Mar. 27, 2017h Pesach – Chag Kasher v’Sameach Outline & Source Sheet Course Content: In these classes, we are going to learn and 1 Achilah b’Kedusha (Consecrated discuss Kashrut from an Orthodox Consumption) perspective and we will be discussing kashrut 2 Kosher Concepts and Food in terms of CBT’s congregational standards. 3 What is a Kosher kitchen? In developing this course, I have met with 4 Kashering Your Kitchen Rabbi Allouche and asked him about where 5 Common Kosher Kitchen Issues CBT as a community holds. I will take any 6 Cooking for Shabbat v’Yom Tov questions regarding community standards to 7 Pesach – Chag Kasher v’sameach Rabbi and bring an answer back to the class. Pesach – Chag Kasher v’sameach Pesach – The time of our redemption The Events and Observances of Pesach Pesach Kashrut Basics Akiva ben Avraham [email protected] www.meira-akiva.com Page 1 of 9 ב''ה CBT: Pesach Essentials Monday, Mar. 27, 2017h Pesach – Chag Kasher v’Sameach Outline & Source Sheet Pesach – The time of our redemption 1) What does Pesach mean? Exodus 12:14-20 14) This day shall be to you one of remembrance: you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD throughout the ages; you shall celebrate it as an institution for all time. 15) Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread; on the very first day you shall remove leaven from your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day to the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • Yeshiva Ohr Reuven
    REUVEN YOUR WINDOW INTO THE WORLD OF YESHIVA KETANA OHR REUVEN Vol.REVIEW 8 Issue #31 June 4th, 2021 8:07 PM `"tyz oeiq dk gly zyxt UPCOMING EVENTS Sunday, June, 6, 2021 Pre1-A Siddur Play Thursday, June, 10, 2021 6,7 & 8 Minyan Trip Sunday, June, 13, 2021 2nd Grade’s Siyum Hashana at 10:15 AM Father & Son Breakfast for all 6,7,8 Graders, Shachris @7:45 AM followed by breakfast and siyumim and Maseches Megillah Rabbi Weissman’s 2nd grade had a guest speaker who spoke about Naftali Rubin’s great great grandfather, the Dumbover Rebbe their “gadol of the Honors Dinner week”! Monday, June, 14, 2021 8th Grade Graduation Trip Tuesday, June, 15, 2021 7th Grade Siyum Trip IMPORTANT NOTES REGISTRATION FORMS - DUE! Thank you to all the parents who already submitted their completed registration forms for the upcom- ing school year! If you have not yet completed registration, please send Pre1-A talmidim preparing for their Siddur Play this Sunday! in your completed registration to the Business Office as soon as pos- Yeshiva Ketana | Mesivta | Beis Medrash | Kollel | Alumni sible. businessoffice@ohrreuven. 259 Grandview Avenue Suffern, NY 10901 com/(845)362-8362, ex. 108 845.362.8362 www.ohrreuven.com From Kindergarten to Kollel and Beyond! CALENDAR INFORMATION Updated dates for the end of this school year: June 6 - Pre 1A Graduation and Siddur Play June 8 through 10 - Grade 8 General Studies Final Examinations June 10 through 14 - Grades 6-7 General Studies Final Examinations June 13 - 6-8 Siyum Mishnayos June 13 - Yeshiva Ketana Honors Dinner Rabbi
    [Show full text]
  • A Taste of Torah
    Lech Lecha 5776 October 23, 2015 This week’s edition is dedicated in memory of Avraham Moshe ben Yehuda Leib, Mr. Bud Glassman a”h, whose 8th yahrtzeit was Tuesday, 7 Cheshvan/October 20th A Taste of Torah Stories For The Soul Spare the Wealth A Cut Above By Rabbi Mordechai Fleisher For more than sixty years, Rabbi Avram has just miraculously defeated live” is a refernce to Avram’s fear that the Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1848-1932) served as a mohel. He never refused an four mighty kings. The reason for his going Egyptians would murder him to make his invitation to serve as mohel, and his to war in the first place? No, they weren’t wife available. But what is meant by “go face shone with joy when he had the trying to develop a nuclear weapon, well with me?” Rashi explains that Avram privilege of performing a bris milah on but they had just crushed the armies expected that the Egyptians would offer a Jewish child - “to add another Jew to of five other kings, and, in the process, him gifts to win his “sister’s” hand! How the King’s legions,” he would say. captured Avram’s nephew Lot. Avram felt does this jibe with the Avram who refuses responsible to rescue his nephew, and, with any recompense from the King of Sodom? Once, a huge snowstorm hit Jerusalem, leaving close to three feet of Divine intervention, he won a spectacular One approach to this conundrum may snow on the ground. Walking outside victory. be as follows: Rashi makes it clear that posed a real danger, especially for One of the five kings initially defeated when Avram went down to Egypt, he had someone of Rabbi Sonnenfeld’s age – before Avram appeared on the scene was a shortage of funds, and he incurred debts he was already in his 70’s.
    [Show full text]
  • Yom Yerushalayim Iyar 5778 • May 2018
    YOM YERUSHALAYIM IYAR 5778 • MAY 2018 ISRAEL EDITION SPECIAL EDITION FOR YOM YERUSHALAYIM (JERUSALEM DAY) “When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time. It is a homecoming.” (Elie Wiesel) This edition is dedicated in memory of the soldiers who fell in defense of Yerushalayim CHICAGO SOUTHAFRICA CANADA Yom HaAtzmaut 70 LOSANGELES WITHMIZRACHIAROUNDTHEWORLD CANADA WithSeventyforintheUSAtheDayofInspirationintheUKandYomHaAtzmautlearningprogramsand celebrationsinAustraliaCanadaSouthAfricaandaroundtheworldMizrachireachedoverpeople! PERTH MELBOURNE PERTH SYDNEY UK UK KNESSETLAUNCH OFSEVENTYFOR UKSDAYOFINSPIRATION NEWYORK Rabbi Doron Perez Torat HaMizrachi Jerusalem: A Tale of Two Cities erusalem is not one city but two. multiplicity, difference. The reality of two This is the key to unlocking the creates complexity. mystery of the Jewish people’s J holiest city. The secret of Jerusalem’s The great challenge of the number two is duality reveals the essence of Judaism itself. whether the potential for difference will create division or unity. Theologically, Jerusalem is at the same time both heavenly and earthly – a physical Will the complexity of contrast at the heart and a spiritual reality, Divine and mundane, of life create contradiction or complete- transient and timeless. ness? Thesis and antithesis can remain irreconcilable opposites or they can fuse in Geopolitically, there is east Jerusalem and beautiful synthesis. west Jerusalem, an upper city and a lower one, a city divided territorially between Because Jerusalem is the epicenter of spir- A soldier and an ultra-Orthodox Jew near the two tribes: Judah (Leah’s child) and Benja- itual life it presents us with this challenge Western Wall min (Rachel’s child). Additionally, the city more sharply than anywhere else.
    [Show full text]
  • Halachic and Hashkafic Issues in Contemporary Society 164 - Women and the Idf - Mitzva Or Minefield? Part 1 Ou Israel Center - Spring 2020
    5780 - bpipn mdxa` [email protected] 1 c‡qa HALACHIC AND HASHKAFIC ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY 164 - WOMEN AND THE IDF - MITZVA OR MINEFIELD? PART 1 OU ISRAEL CENTER - SPRING 2020 Ever since the first Jewish guards - HaShomer1 - started to protect the Moshavot in 1907, women have played an important role in the physical protection of the Yishuv and that role has been the subject of significant debate and controversy. As the original defence forces morphed during the 20s and 30s into the Hagana, Palmach and Irgun2, and later in 1948 into the IDF, discussion about the role of women, in particular religiously observant women, has continued. The contemporary debate is one which includes halachic, hashkafic, educational and societal factors. We will iy’H in these shiurim examine: • Halachic sources and principles which mandate, permit or prohibit women for military service. • Hashkafic factors - including hashkafic definition of the role of women (and whether this applies today), the importance of national service, reactions to feminism and the contemporary battle against post-modernism and its agendas. In particular, we need to examine how how these factors are weighed against each other by different sectors of Israeli society. • Educational and religious considerations - how best to encourage the religious growth of idealistic young Zionist women who wish to serve Am Yisrael and Medinat Yisrael. • Societal factors - how the role of religious women in the army plays into the wider secular/religious debate in contemporary Israel and the religious tensions between the secular, Religious Zionist and Charedi sectors of Israeli society. A] IMPORTANT ISSUES BEYOND THE RELIGIOUS DEBATE • This shiur will focus on the halachic and hashkafic issues, with their respective sources.
    [Show full text]