PARSHAT DEVARIM Cunning
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Daat Torah (PDF)
Daat Torah Rabbi Alfred Cohen Daat Torah is a concept of supreme importance whose specific parameters remain elusive. Loosely explained, it refers to an ideology which teaches that the advice given by great Torah scholars must be followed by Jews committed to Torah observance, inasmuch as these opinions are imbued with Torah insights.1 Although the term Daat Torah is frequently invoked to buttress a given opinion or position, it is difficult to find agreement on what is actually included in the phrase. And although quite a few articles have been written about it, both pro and con, many appear to be remarkably lacking in objectivity and lax in their approach to the truth. Often they are based on secondary source and feature inflamma- tory language or an unflatttering tone; they are polemics rather than scholarship, with faulty conclusions arising from failure to check into what really was said or written by the great sages of earlier generations.2 1. Among those who have tackled the topic, see Lawrence Kaplan ("Daas Torah: A Modern Conception of Rabbinic Authority", pp. 1-60), in Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy, published by Jason Aronson, Inc., as part of the Orthodox Forum series which also cites numerous other sources in its footnotes; Rabbi Berel Wein, writing in the Jewish Observer, October 1994; Rabbi Avi Shafran, writing in the Jewish Observer, Dec. 1986, p.12; Jewish Observer, December 1977; Techumin VIII and XI. 2. As an example of the opinion that there either is no such thing now as Daat Torah which Jews committed to Torah are obliged to heed or, even if there is, that it has a very limited authority, see the long essay by Lawrence Kaplan in Rabbinic Authority and Personal Autonomy, cited in the previous footnote. -
Nigel Savage, Hazon's Founder and CEO
Nigel Savage, Hazon’s founder and CEO: Here’s the statement that Hazon & Pearlstone have just released. All the rest is commentary… I’m stepping down as CEO after 21 years. It is bittersweet. I love this organization, and I believe in it very deeply. I’m so grateful to everyone who has helped us, and helped me, reach this point. And/but… it is good to make way for new leadership; and good to step down, to reflect, renew, to think about vision and the next phases of life. For me the timing goes back partly to the last shmita year, in 2014-’15. I (somewhat randomly) decided not to buy books or liquor. Clearly neither of these things is religiously prescribed. But I wanted to do something that would remind me that the year was different from the other six in the cycle; and I wanted to change my behavior in a way that, like the biblical shmita, would reduce my normal consumption. To my surprise, I kept to these two decisions the whole year. They did indeed remind me not only that it was the shmita year, but also that in so many ways, I had enough. And at the end of the year someone asked me what I wanted to do next time. Without giving it much thought I said, next time, I want to spend the shmita year in Israel. The next shmita year (which starts on Rosh Hashanah this year, i.e. September 6, 2021) was, of course, the far future, from 2015. But by the end of 2019 this was a looming fork in the road. -
Tishah B'av May Well Drive One to Teshuvah
Tishah b’Av: A Day Without Closure Rabbi Etan Moshe Berman Faculty, Mechinah Program, Yeshiva University There is perhaps no moment on the Jewish calendar more depressing than motzei Tishah b’Av. While Yom Kippurim and Tishah b’Av are comparable in many ways, there is a stark discrepancy between motzei Yom Kippurim’s elation, resulting from an extended teshuvah process coupled with an awareness that on some level, one has redefined himself, and the sense on motzei Tishah b’Av that seemingly, nothing has changed. On the surface, it would appear that both Tishah b’Av and Yom Kippur are days of affliction. There is no washing for pleasure, no eating or drinking, no wearing leather shoes, no anointing ourselves, marital relations are forbidden, and much of the day is spent in the synagogue. The kinnah depicting the ten martyrs is recited on both days. Both days also appear to be days of introspection and teshuvah. One would certainly imagine that especially on the day marking the destruction of the Temple, the Jewish People should join together in collective teshuvah. Yet, while nearly the entire day of Yom Kippur is spent doing teshuvah, this is not the case on Tishah b’Av. The focal points of Yom Kippur, namely vidui, al cheit, and the yud-gimmel middos recited during Selichos, the centerpieces of ones expression of teshuvah and desire for atonement, are entirely absent from the Tishah b’Av service. The approach to Yom Kippur as opposed to that of Tishah b’Av also reflects this discrepancy. The days leading up to Yom Kippur involve daily selichos. -
From Falashas to Ethiopian Jews
FROM FALASHAS TO ETHIOPIAN JEWS: THE EXTERNAL INFLUENCES FOR CHANGE C. 1860-1960 BY DANIEL P. SUMMERFIELD A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON (SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES) FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PhD) 1997 ProQuest Number: 10673074 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10673074 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 ABSTRACT The arrival of a Protestant mission in Ethiopia during the 1850s marks a turning point in the history of the Falashas. Up until this point, they lived relatively isolated in the country, unaffected and unaware of the existence of world Jewry. Following this period and especially from the beginning of the twentieth century, the attention of certain Jewish individuals and organisations was drawn to the Falashas. This contact initiated a period of external interference which would ultimately transform the Falashas, an Ethiopian phenomenon, into Ethiopian Jews, whose culture, religion and identity became increasingly connected with that of world Jewry. It is the purpose of this thesis to examine the external influences that implemented and continued the process of transformation in Falasha society which culminated in their eventual emigration to Israel. -
D'var Torah with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Candle Welcome to the DAT Minyan! Lighting (earliest) 6:56p Shabbat Pinchas (latest) 8:10p July 11, 2020 - 19 Tammuz 5780 Mark Raphaely, President Havdalah 9:17p We invite men and women in the community to D’var Torah With Rabbi Jonathan Sacks The coronavirus pandemic raised a series of deep moral and political issues. How sign up for our minyan at The Jewish far should governments go in seeking to prevent its spread? To what extent should Experience . For those unable to make it, we it restrict people’s movements at the cost of violating their civil liberties? How far should it go in imposing a clampdown of businesses at the cost of driving many of encourage everyone to join us for our virtual them bankrupt, rendering swathes of the population unemployed, building up a daily davening and learning opportunities. mountain of debt for the future and plunging the economy into the worst recession since the 1930s? These are just a few of the many heart-breaking All davening times are published on our dilemmas that the pandemic forced on governments and on us. website. Strikingly, almost every country adopted the same measures: social distancing and lockdown until the incidence of new cases had reached its peak (Sweden was the most conspicuous exception). Nations didn’t count the cost. Virtually unanimously, To join us virtually, download the ZOOM app to they placed the saving of life above all other considerations. The economy may your computer or phone. The computer log in is: suffer, but life is infinitely precious and saving it takes precedence over all else. -
Cincinnati Torah הרות
בס"ד • A PROJECT OF THE CINCINNATI COMMUNITY KOLLEL • CINCYKOLLEL.ORG תורה מסינסי Cincinnati Torah Vol. VI, No. XXXVIII Eikev A LESSON FROM A TIMELY HALACHA THE PARASHA RABBI YITZCHOK PREIS RABBI CHAIM HEINEMANN OUR PARASHA INCLUDES THE BIBLICAL MITZVAH human nature and how each of these mitzvahs A common question that comes up during to thank Hashem after eating a satisfying is designed to protect us from a potential hu- bein hazmanim and summer break is meal—the blessings we typically refer to as man failing. whether it is appropriate to remove one’s bentching or Birkat Hamazon. A spiritual hazard looms immediately fol- tallis katan (or tzitzis) while playing sports or The Talmud suggests that, logically, if we lowing a satisfying meal. Prior to eating, while engaging in strenuous activities that make are obligated to bless Hashem after eating, hungry, it easy to sense our dependency on one hot and sweaty. kal vachomer (all the more so), we should be our Provider. But once satisfying that hunger, While it is true that neither Biblical nor expected to recite a bracha before eating. After our attitude can shift. We run the risk of Rabbinic law obligates one to wear a all, someone who is famished is more acutely becoming self-assured, confident in our own tallis katan at all times, it has become the aware of the need for food and more appre- sustenance, and potentially dismissive of the accepted custom that every male wears a ciative that Hashem has made it available to True Source of satiation. Bentching protects tallis katan all day long. -
More on Chaim Bloch
More on Chaim Bloch More on Chaim Bloch By Marc B. Shapiro In a previous post I mentioned how the non-Jewish Austrian minister Leon Bilinski was descended from the rav of Posen, R. Samuel ben Moses Falkenfeld, the Beit Shmuel Aharon. More information about Bilinski’s Jewish roots is found in Chaim Bloch’s Ve-Da Mah she-Tashiv (New York, 1943), p. 74 n. 1. In general, I have found that when Bloch is reporting about other people’s biographies and history in general, he is very reliable. It is only when he is somehow involved in the story that he is full of lies.1 His Ve-Da Mah she-Tashiv is a good example. Here is the title page. In this book he makes up an entire story that he was asked by an important Catholic figure to answer questions from the Vatican dealing with Judaism. The whole story is a fiction, as is so much else he writes about himself. As for Bilinski, Bloch tells us that he is in possession of Bilinski’s 1146 page (!) unpublished diary. As Bloch himself notes, he provided various scholars (e.g.., N. M. Gelber) with selections of this diary which they then used in their own works, thus misleading the world. In these selections, Bilinski comes off as a strong anti-Zionist, who even warns Herzl about how the Arabs will never accept a Jewish state in Palestine.2 In an article in theHerzl Year Book, Bloch published what he claimed was an 1893 letter from Herzl and uses this to prove that Herzl was interested in the Jewish problem already in 1893, a year before the 1894 Dreyfus trial which is usually cited as having turned Herzl to Jewish matters.3 Various scholars have cited this letter, as they understandably regard it as significant in understanding Herzl, but of course it is a forgery. -
The Laws of the Nine Days - 5775: 1
The Laws of the Nine Days - 5775: 1. The Talmud teaches us “When the Jewish month of Av enters, we decrease our happiness. 2. The Jewish month of Av begins Thursday night, July 16th at sunset. This begins a more intense period of national mourning, which concludes the day after Tisha B’av, which is after Sunday, July 26th. 3. All the restrictions that began at the beginning of the Three Weeks are still in force, but they are now intensified. 4. The Talmud explains that one decreases happiness by: ▪ Decreasing one’s business activities ▪ Refraining from construction and planting intended for joyous reasons. ▪ Not conducting weddings or making a festive meal to celebrate an engagement. 5. Any construction not necessary for one’s dwelling but performed for expansion is prohibited. Similarly, any improvement to the appearance of a house such as painting, hanging new drapes, wall papering and all house decorating can not be done during the Nine Days. 6. Certain types of expansion building would be permitted if it were for necessary living space to accommodate more people living in the home. Consult your local Rabbi in this issue. 7. If you hired a non-Jewish contractor to build an addition, and the contractor wants to work during the Nine Days, the Jew is not required to prevent him from doing so. Preferably, one should offer the contractor some financial compensation to refrain from working during the Nine days, but one is not required to offer a significant amount of money to get him to wait until after Tisha B’av. -
Hospitality to Guests
HOSPITALITY TO GUESTS he Torah ascribes great importance to the mitzvah of hospitality to guests T(hachnasat orchim). One of the most detailed accounts of Avraham’s (Abraham’s) life in the Torah describes his dedication to the mitzvah of hospitality to strangers. It is as if the Torah is stressing that the characteristic which made Avraham so uniquely worthy to be the spiritual father of all mankind was how he exerted himself in this mitzvah. This class will discuss the importance of hospitality and explain how one who performs it emulates the qualities of God Himself. By looking closely at Avraham’s conduct, we will see the ideal way to perform this mitzvah – which includes greeting the guests, letting them wash and rest, making them feel comfortable, giving them food and drink, and escorting them on their way. Finally, we will examine the spiritual reward for this mitzvah. In this class, we will address the following questions: Why is hospitality to guests and strangers so central to Judaism? What is the basis and origin of the mitzvah of hospitality? What actions and attitudes are included within the mitzvah of hospitality? What are the spiritual and mystical impacts of this mitzvah? Class Outline: Section I. Why Hospitality is So Central to Jewish Life Section II. The Special Magnitude of the Mitzvah of Hospitality to Guests Section III. The Principles and Details of Hosting Guests Part A. Searching for Guests and Welcoming Them Part B. Providing Rest and Washing Facilities Part C. Personally Serving the Guests Part D. Serving Food Cheerfully and Sensitively Part E. -
Epoch of the Messiah by Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman
Epoch of the Messiah As Distributed By S. GOLDMAN - OTZAR HASEFARIM Inc. 33 Canal Street, New York, N.Y.1OOO2 Importers and Publishers of Hebrew Books Copyright 1985 by Rabbi E.S. Wasserman 851 North Kings Rd. Los Angeles, Calif. 90069 Rabbi Elchonon Bunim Wasserman, zt'l A Brief Biographical Sketch Reb Elchonon, zt'l, was born in 1874 in Birz, Lithuania. Circa 1889 his parents moved to Boisk, Latvia, at that time the Rabbinical Seat of Rabbi Cook, olov hasholom. From there he went to Telz where he studied under the illustrious gaonim, Rabbi Eliezer Gordon, zt'l and Rabbi Shimon Shkop, zt'l. In Telz, he was noted for his unusual diligence and profound mind. After many years of intensive study in Telz, he went to Volozin to become a disciple of the great Reb Chaim Brisker who was Rosh yeshivah of Volozin at that time. In 1898, he married the daughter of one of the leading sages of the day, Rabbi Meir Atlas, zt'l, who was then the Rabbi of Salant. Then came a period which impressed itself indelibly on the rest of his life. It began in 1906 when he went to Radin, the home of his master, the world-renowned Chofetz Chaim, zt'l where he studied until 1908 in the Kollel Kodshim. The Chofetz Chaim had founded this select institution for the future leaders of Israel. During the year 1908-1909, Rav Elchonon, together with the gaon Rabbi Yoel Baranchick zt'l started a yeshivah in Amsislav, Russia. In 1910, he accepted a call to become a rosh yeshivah in Brisk, the home of his teacher, Rabbi Chaim, zt'l. -
Mattos Chassidus on the Massei ~ Mattos Chassidus on the Parsha +
LIGHTS OF OUR RIGHTEOUS TZADDIKIM בעזרת ה ' יתבר A Tzaddik, or righteous person , makes everyone else appear righteous before Hashem by advocating for them and finding their merits. Kedushas Levi, Parshas Noach (Bereishis 7:1) MATTOS ~ MASSEI _ CHASSIDUS ON THE PARSHA + Dvar Torah – Mattos Keep Your Word The Torah states (30:3), “If a man takes a vow or swears an oath to G -d to establish a prohibition upon himself, he shall not violate his word; he shall fulfill whatever comes out of his mouth.” In relation to this passuk , the Midrash quotes from Tehillim (144:4), “Our days are like a fleeting shadow.” What is the connection? This can be explained, says Rav Levi Yitzchok, according to a Gemara ( Nedarim 10b), which states, “It is forbidden to say, ‘ Lashem korban , for G-d − an offering.’ Instead a person must say, ‘ Korban Lashem , an offering for G -d.’ Why? Because he may die before he says the word korban , and then he will have said the holy Name in vain.” In this light, we can understand the Midrash. The Torah states that a person makes “a vow to G-d.” This i s the exact language that must be used, mentioning the vow first. Why? Because “our days are like a fleeting shadow,” and there is always the possibility that he may die before he finishes his vow and he will have uttered the Name in vain. n Story The wood chopper had come to Ryczywohl from the nearby village in which he lived, hoping to find some kind of employment. -
Halachos of the Three Weeks 5775
HALACHOS OF THE THREE WEEKS 5775 The three-week period beginning with the 17th of Tammuz (Friday Night, July 3rd) and ending with the fast of the 9th of Av (observed this year on the 10th of Av - Sunday, July 26th) is a period of mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem and the two Batei Mikdash. The mourning intensifies as we move closer to Tisha B’Av. I. Restrictions of “The Three Weeks” 1. Weddings/Engagements. Weddings are prohibited. Engagements are permitted, though engagement parties should be postponed until after the Three Weeks. 2. Music. It is prohibited to play or listen to music. Even a student should not practice during the Three Weeks unless his/her skills will be set back considerably by the lack of practice. According to most, this prohibition includes taped music. Although it may be permissible to listen to tapes with singing alone (“acappella”), it is preferable to refrain from the joy associated with music altogether. Singing is permitted on Shabbos. 3. Haircutting is prohibited for both men and women. In cases of need, children’s hair may be cut. 4. Shaving is prohibited according to most authorities, if not needed for business purposes. A woman may shave her legs even during the Nine Days. 5. Home beautification may continue until Rosh Chodesh (Thursday Night, July 16th). However, it is best not to begin painting or beautification of the home during the Three Weeks. If there are no other dates available, one may begin during this time. 6. Important Purchases that require the berachah of “shehechiyanu” should be avoided, i.e.