Kol Dodi Dofek II

R. Jeffrey Woolf has a very interesting insight into the relevance of Kol Dodi Dofek. In a post-Disengagement world, people are searching for an alternative to Messianic Religious Zionism. Thus enters Rav Soloveitchik:

The renewed interest in Kol Dodi Dofek is, without a doubt, a result of people looking for an alternative, religious approach to Zionism. Making it available in English has expanded the dialogue around its ideas and spurred both Israelis and non-Israelis to be more creative in making sense out of our present circumstances.

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Rabbi Aryeh Carmell, ztz”l: Some Recollections of a Great Man

Rabbi Aryeh Carmell, ztz”l: Some Recollections of a Great Man

By Natan Slifkin

When I moved to Israel fourteen years ago, I was very keen on meeting Rabbi Aryeh Carmell. He had taught Gemara to my father in Yeshivas Dvar Yerushalayim many years earlier, but what excited me was his role as editor of Challenge, first of the Torah/science genre. I visited him one Shabbos, and he was glad to answer my questions. Thus began my relationship with him.

Click here to read moreOver the years I benefited from many discussions with him in which he mentored me in my approach to Torah and science. His frankness and intellectual honesty was a breath of fresh air. At the beginning, I myself was very conservative in these issues, due to a fairly limited education in Jewish philosophy. Some of what Rav Carmell told me therefore seemed shocking, but I gradually discovered that everything was grounded in the thought of authentic Torah sources.

Rav Carmell reviewed many of my manuscripts in a way that set him apart from other Torah scholars. Most rabbonim who review books do so in a relatively casual way; in some cases they don’t even read the books before writing an endorsement. With my books, because they dealt with sensitive issues, I made sure to show them to rabbonim who would review them carefully. But Rav Carmell took “carefully” to a whole new level. When he finished, there would be dozens upon dozens of incisive comments written in the margins, which he would go through together with me. If there was something that he really didn’t like, he would refuse to write an endorsement unless it was removed, or he would qualify his endorsement to reflect that which he disagreed with. This was a grueling process, but since, aside from his being my personal mentor, he was widely acknowledged as a great authority in this area, it was an honor to subject my work to it.

His breadth of knowledge was spectacular. Not only did he master the standard areas of Torah knowledge, but he was also expert in Jewish philosophy and theology. And he was also fluent in science; not only having a “feel” for it, but also being conversant with the latest literature, even in his eighties. Rav Carmell also stood out in the breadth of his vision. His wonderful but sadly little-known book Masterplan was a modern day version of Hirsch’s Horeb, showing how Judaism deals not only with the narrow concerns of the individual, but also for society and the environment.

Rav Carmell was perhaps most famous for being a longtime disciple of Rav Dessler. He published Rav Dessler’s teachings in the five-volume Michtav Me-Eliyahu which he translated into English as Strive For Truth. For me, Rav Carmell exemplified the concept of striving for truth. He lived by Rambam’s maxim of “Accept the truth from wherever it comes.” I was once discussing an extremely difficult Torah/science problem with him, and he gave me an answer which made me very uncomfortable. When I expressed my discomfort to him, he replied, “I dislike it just as much as you, but the evidence leaves us with no choice.”

Rav Carmell also taught me the corollary of “Accept the truth from wherever it comes,” which is “Reject falsehood from wherever it comes.” About twelve years ago, he rejected a halachic explanation that I had written in a manuscript on the grounds that it simply didn’t make sense. I protested that I was simply presenting the view of one of the Acharonim. Rav Carmell replied that one must be very wary of accepting something merely on the grounds that it was stated by a great authority if it does not make sense. As it happens, I went back and checked the sefer again, and it turned out that I had misunderstood what it stated. But the lesson remained with me; and I recently noticed that Rav Chaim of Volozhin, in his commentary to Pirkei Avos, comments that even if one’s own rebbe states something that does not seem to make sense, it is forbidden to accept it.

Rav Carmell’s intellectual honesty was matched by his integrity and courage. When some of my books were condemned by certain rabbonim, Rabbi Carmell was not intimidated. He wrote a polite but firm letter to one of the distinguished opponents to my work, relating a private communication that he had with Rav Dessler which justified my approach. He also wrote a public letter stating that he had carefully considered the matter and maintained his endorsement of my works. Then, after the opposition to my works widened yet further, he wrote an essay in support of my works entitled Freedom To Interpret.

Despite his intellectual honesty and courage, Rav Carmell was nevertheless very sensitive to the principle that “Not everything that one thinks should be said, not everything that should be said should be written, and not everything that should be written should be published.” His overriding concern was for the strengthening of Judaism; if something would not contribute to that, he believed that it was best not stated publicly. Simultaneously, he was acutely aware of what people were capable of comprehending and what would merely cause confusion, and when things should be limited to certain audiences. I only realized how far he took this when one of his sons, who had taken a more right-wing path, expressed strong opposition to something that I said, with no knowledge that I had heard this point from his own father! When Rav Carmell had discussed this particular issue with me and told me to be circumspect with it, I had not appreciated the extent to which he himself had been circumspect – not even discussing it with his own sons.

The image of Rav Carmell in my mind’s eye, though, is not of his intellect or philosophy, but of his extraordinary demeanor. To put it simply, Rav Carmell was an incredibly cheerful person. He possessed the charming habit of laughing as he spoke, with the sheer joy of communicating information.

When I finished my latest book a few months ago, I wanted to show it to Rav Carmell, but I was unsure of his state of health. I called his wife, and she told me that unfortunately he was in no shape for the task. In sadness, I hung up the phone. Then, a few minutes later, it rang. It was Rebbetzen Carmell, informing me that Rav Carmell heard what I had phoned for and was very enthusiastic to see the book! Unfortunately, when I visited him the next day, I realized that he was truly far too unwell to read it. It was painful to see how his health had declined so much. But, in some ways, he was still the same – beaming with pleasure on realizing that someone had come to see him.

I will miss him greatly.

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Lessons Learned from the Kohen Gadol and the Tailor

Lessons Learned from the Kohen Gadol and the Tailor

R. Dovid Gottlieb
(Kol Nidrei 5766 - 10-12-05)

The shul was hushed, all of the worshippers were crowded into their pews, and a nervous tension filled the air. The famed rebbe, Reb Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, stood, resplendently robed in white, before them. They waited and waited for the rebbe to begin the haunting recitation of Kol Nidrei but only silence filled the air. Dusk turned into night, but still the tzaddik remained silent. Filled with curiosity but paralyzed by fear, struck with wonder but restrained by awe, no one dared approach and remind him that the time to begin had passed.

Click here to read moreSuddenly the door flew open and a simple looking fellow that no one recognized stumbled into shul, finding an open seat against the back wall. And only then was Reb Levi Yiztchok ready to begin Kol Nidrei.

The curiosity of the congregants grew and grew until davening was completed at which time they converged on the stranger in the back. “Who are you?” “What brings you here?” “I am just a simple tailor who lives in the village,” replied the man.

Unsatisfied, the townspeople continued, “Didn’t you see that the entire service was held up until your arrival?” Still, no deeper explanation. The stalemate was finally broken when someone asked “At least tell us why you were so late to shul?”

“Okay,” said the tailor, “I’ll tell you what happened.” “At breakfast I had a little too much to drink so I lay down to sleep. When I awoke I realized it was too late to have a full meal before the fast so I decided to pour a glass of vodka and make a l’chayim. Seeing as I didn’t have anyone else to say it to, I decided that I’d make a l’chayim to the Almighty. So I said to Him: ‘Master of the Universe, let’s cut to the chase. Over the past year, with all due respect, You haven’t quite behaved Yourself. Look how many women were left widowed? How many children have been orphaned? How many children were taken from their parents? Plus, You are even guilty of gossiping. How else would the local squire find out about my little “side business” if You didn’t tell him? Nevertheless, God, we are willing to forgive you for everything, provided that you are willing to forgive us too.’ Then I washed back me vodka and made my way to shul.”

Stunned – and still confused – the listeners gave way and the tailor shuffled back to his home.

After Yom Kippur, Reb Levi Yizchok gathered his curious chassidim and explained what had occurred the night before. “The l’chayim of the tailor was so powerful that it burst forth all the way to the highest gate in heaven. It was only right, therefore, that we wait for him before beginning Kol Nidrei.”

For prayer to be effective it must be real. Tefillos that are honest and sincere are those which we can be sure are heard on High. We say every day in “Ashrei”: “Karov Hashem l’chol kor’av” – God is close to all who call Him; “l’chol asher yikra’u b’emes” – if they are honest – and real – when they call Him.

What the tailor lacked in philosophical sophistication – or even tact – he more than made up for by the honesty and intimacy with which he spoke to God.

An inspirational and instructive model of just this type of “real” tefillah comes from a sometimes overlooked section of our davening on Yom Kippur and is actually a “prayer within a prayer.”

The highlight of the ancient Yom Kippur service was, without any question, the entrance – and, hopefully, safe exit from – of the Kohen Gadol into the Kodesh Kadoshim, the Holy of Holies. Just once in an entire year there took place a convergence between the holiest person (the Kohen Gadol), the holiest place (the Kodesh Kadoshim), and the holiest time (Yom Kippur). The combined kedushah was so intense, in fact, that one slip of the Kohen Gadol’s concentration could result in the loss of his life. And so, when he emerged safely from this most holy of places you can imagine how relieved he and members of his family were. As a result, after successfully comleting his avodah, the Kohen Gadol offered a heartfelt and beautiful prayer.

The version we have in our Machzorim (Artscroll p. 570) is a poetic embellishment, arranged in the order of the aleph-beis, of a shorter text found in the Mishna (Yoma 5:1) and Talmud (Yoma 53b, Yerushalmi 5:1). What is so beautiful about the tefilla is that it is so real and direct, touching on all of our aspirations, from prosaic to sublime, as all of our needs, both spiritual and physical, are addressed.

Interestingly, upon closer study it becomes apparent that there is something surprising about the structure of the tefilla. As was mentioned, the requests follow the order of the aleph-beis. And yet, after 22 bakashos – corresponding to the entirety of the alphabet – there are an additional three requests. The contemporary work Shemen HaTov (Moadim pp. 97-99) observes that their inclusion, after the prayer should ostensibly have been completed, suggests a particular significance to these bakashos.

“Shanah she’lo tapil ishah pri bitnah” – the first of these requests is that in the coming year women should be spared the pain of miscarrying. Why mention this, of all possible difficulties?

Pregnancy is full of all sorts of discomforts, ranging from physical to emotional. Yet all of this is courageously accepted in the great anticipation of the reward of a healthy and beautiful baby. When a miscarriage occurs, all of the previous sacrifice goes for naught. All of the hopes that pushed the expectant mother through the hardships are dashed; all of her dreams go unfulfilled. The searing pain from such a tragedy cannot be overstated.

There is a broader significance to this, as well. One doesn’t have to be an expectant mother to experience the pain of unfulfilled dreams and unredeemed sacrifices. This can occur to parents who spend years of effort giving everything they can to a child only to see that son or daughter grow up and reject the very values that parents hold most dear. Or to tireless business owners who invested everything they had – financially and emotionally – into their business, only to see it fall on hard times as the economic winds changed.

There are, of course, countless other examples of this type of tragedy and it is for protection from this that the Kohen Gadol prays. We are willing to sacrifice. We just pray that our sacrifice not be for naught but, rather, in service of a higher purpose.

“Shanah she-ta’alenu sameichim l’artzenu” – next, he davens that our aliyah to Israel be joyous. The focus here isn’t on the aliyah per se, but the circumstances that surround it.

We live in a crazy world which is often sadistically cruel to Jews. The ever flexible ability of anti-Semitism to adapt its hatred to current circumstances was succinctly captured recently by Israeli writer Amos Oz (A Tale of Love and Darkness). He recalls that once upon a time, “Out there, in the world, all the walls were covered with graffiti: ‘Yids, go back to Palestine,’ so we came back to Palestine, and now the world at large shouts at us: ‘Yids, get out of Palestine.’”

Through it all – through all of the attacks, pogroms, and blood libels – Jews have fled to the safe haven of Eretz Yisroel. But the Kohen Gadol prays for a different reality. He prays for a time when people aren’t forced to flee from somewhere else but freely chose to run to Israel.

Rav Nachman Kahana beautifully explains that this duality is contained in the famous pesukim we read in the Haftorah on second day of Rosh Hashana. “Ki yesh sa’char lif’ulaseich na'um Hashem, v'shavu mei’eretz oyaiv” – your efforts will be rewarded as you return from the land of your enemies; “V'yeish tikvah l’achriseich n'um Hashem, v'shavu vanim ligvulam” – there is hope for you ultimately, as your children will return to your border.

Interestingly, we are only referred to as God’s children in the second half of the verse. Rav Kahana explained that this is because the two parts of the pasuk are referring to two different types of aliyah. The first refers to those who are fleeing an enemy pursuer. But the second refers to those who are not compelled to return by anything other than the desire of a child to be closer to his mother. This is what the Kohen Gadol is asking for, “she-ta’alenu sameichim l’artzenu.”

Additionally, I would add that there are many other forms of aliyah – spiritual growth – that we aspire to, and with these, as well, their motivation can come from different sources. Moments of great crisis or calamity, just as experiences of great achievement and accomplishment, can lead to spiritual aliyah.

“She-ta’alenu smeichim l’artzenu” also expresses the hope that the inspiration for our aspiration come not from trial or tribulation but from God’s manifest blessing.

Finally, he requests “shanah she’lo yitz’tarchu amcha Beis Yisroel zeh la’zeh v’lo l’am acher” – a year in which we are each able to maintain our independence, not reliant on the help of either Jew or gentile. In addition to obvious benefit of preserving our dignity, there may be an additional meaning as well.

In bentching we ask that we not be forced to depend on “mantas bassar va’dam v’lo li’dei halva’asam” – the largesse and loans of other people. Here too the simple meaning of our request is aimed at avoiding the obvious embarrassment of needing the help of others.

But my rebbe, Rav Mayer Twersky, explained that the more profound fear is that if we become reliant on others we run the risk of forgetting who the ultimate source of all blessing and bounty is. The danger is that an appropriate appreciation of friends who have offered help could cloud out a sense of gratitude to the Ribbono shel Olam who is, of course, the real supplier to all, including our generous friend.

This may be the deeper point of the bakashah by the Kohen Gadol as well. We pray for financial independence because we want to be able to preserve a direct connection to Hashem as the source of blessing in our lives. Otherwise we run the risk of playing a game of “Spiritual Telephone” in which God must take His place in the back of the line – and may be forgotten altogether.

As we begin this marathon journey of Yom Kippur together, let us recall the crucial components of the Kohen Gadol’s prayer. We pray that any difficulties we endure be redeemed as sacrifices on the altar of a larger good; that the aliyos in our lives be inspired by love not fear; and that we remain independent enough to realize our direct dependence on Hashem.

And even more important than the specifics of the Kohen Gadol’s prayer, we must remember the message of the tailor’s prayer: for tefillah to have the utmost success it doesn’t always have to be pretty, but it does have to be real.

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Hirhurim in Wall Street Journal

Hirhurim (under the alternate title TorahMusings.com) is mentioned in today's Wall Street Journal for refusing an ad for an atheist, anti-Christian book.

Key passage:

Whether the promotion in the religious community has helped spur sales isn't known. Indeed, some religious outlets refused to run ads for the book. Christianity Today, a monthly magazine, decided the book's content represents the antithesis of the publication's mission, said Brian Ondracek, the magazine's vice president of sales. Also turning down an ad was religious blog TorahMusings.com, which deemed the book inappropriate for its readers, according to Gil Student, an Orthodox rabbi who oversees the blog.

It kind of makes up for snubs in lesser media outlets (I, II, III).

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Materialism

R. Dr. Abraham J. Twerski sounds the familiar but still pertinent alert against rampant materialism (link):

Do not get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the goods of the world. However, what has happened in the modern world is that pleasure has been equated with happiness and has become the goal in life. Anyone who feels that he/she has not gotten their fair share of pleasure feels cheated, and some people, especially youngsters, turn to drugs to find “happiness.” We should not lose sight of the fact that the goal of life is spiritual rather than physical.

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Koil Doidi Doifek

The latest issue of Tradition is out, or at least online (link), and it is dedicated to R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik's classic essay on Religious Zionism, Kol Dodi Dofek (I, II). While I did not hear Rav Soloveitchik give this important speech, I heard R. Hershel Schachter reenact one part of it many times, knocking loudly on the table to emphasize each word of "Koil Doidi Doifek".

I'll leave it to the experts to discuss the main aspects of that important work. Here, I'll just point out something peripheral that may be of interest. (See also here.)

Once, in high school, I had a friend who was leaning towards Kahanist views. He argued with me that we must take "an eye for an eye," and I countered that we understand that verse as referring to paying the value of an eye as punishment for damaging an eye. My friend asked a rebbe in the school and he answered the exegetical (not political) question in my friend's favor, that it is legitimate to understand "an eye for an eye" literally in that respect. I thought, "Another Karaite," but I later discovered that I was wrong. He was essentially quoting Rav Soloveitchik in Kol Dodi Dofek (definitely not a Karaite). Here is the passage from the Gordon translation (edited by His Obiter Dicta), pp. 37-38:

For the first time in the annals of our exile, Divine Providence has amazed our enemies with the astounding discovery that Jewish blood is not cheap! If the antisemites describe this phenomenon as being "an eye for an eye," we will agree with them. If we want to courageously defend our continued national and historical existence, we must, from time to time, interpret the verse of an "eye for an eye" literally. So many "eyes" were lost in the course of our bitter exile because we did not repay hurt for hurt. The time has come for us to fulfill the simple meaning of "an eye for an eye." (Exodus 21:24) Of course, I am sure everyone recognizes that I am an adherent of the Oral Law, and from my perspective there is no doubt that the verse refers to monetary restitution, as defined by halakhah. However, with respect to the Mufti and Naser, I would demand that we interpret the verse in accordance with its literal meaning -- the taking of an actual eye!

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Machashavah Indexes

Atid has posted some bibliographies to Jewish Thought: link

Personally, I think the omission of the Chazon Ish's Emunah U-Vitachon is an unfortunate oversight. And for secondary sources, I would have included R. J. David Bleich's With Perfect Faith and R. Shaul Yisraeli's Perakim Be-Machasheves Yisrael.

Anyone have any other suggestions? I can turn this post into a bibliography of Jewish Thought if I get enough good suggestions.

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Talking Between Shofar Blasts

I cannot recall attending a synagogue for Rosh Hashanah in which the rabbi or gabbai did not announce before the shofar blowing that one is not allowed to talk from the beginning of the shofar blowing until the very end, at the end of services (around two+ hours later). When I was single, refraining from speaking was never a challenge. But once I had little children who needed attention and instructions, maintaining silence became more difficult. And, frankly, I never quite understood the reason for this required silence. One fulfills the mitzvah of shofar with the first 30 blasts. So why the silence until the end of the full 100? After all, the 100 blasts is only a recent custom. It is true that there is a rabbinic requirement to hear the shofar blasts within the blessings of the Amidah prayer, but one who prays in a Nusach Sefard synagogue accomplishes that by the end of the silent Amidah, before the very long chazzan's repetition. So are you allowed to speak (if necessary) after the silent Amidah?

Looking into the texts, it seems the source of this prohibition is the Rif at the very end of Rosh Hashanah, who quotes a Gaon as saying that one may not speak until the very last shofar blast. However, the Ba'al Ha-Ma'or and Ran on that Rif dispute the halakhic reasoning behind such a prohibition. The Ran concludes, however, that since a Gaon said it, we should not speak unnecessarily. And so rule the Arukh Ha-Shulchan (592:8) and the She'arim Metzuyanim Ba-Halakhah (129:15).

Are you allowed to talk? No. It is a huge deal? I don't think so. While I still hesitate before telling a child "Go to mommy," I'm not sure that I need to. And if I do say it, I should not feel guilty about it (but I do anyway).

Note that this is not intended to encourage talking between shofar blasts, and especially not during the chazzan's repetition of the Amidah. But let's face it. Sometimes kids need to be taken care of.

(As always, ask your rabbi before following anything you see on the internet.)

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Treasures looted by Rome 'are back in the Holy Land'

A reader sent me a link to this news article:

A COLLECTION of sacred artefacts looted by the Romans from the Temple of Jerusalem and long suspected of being hidden in the vaults of the Vatican are actually in the Holy Land, according to a British archaeologist.



Sean Kingsley, a specialist in the Holy Land, claims to have discovered what became of the collection, which is widely regarded as the greatest of biblical treasures and includes silver trumpets that would have heralded the Coming of the Messiah.

The trumpets, gold candelabra and the bejewelled Table of the Divine Presence were among pieces shipped to Rome after the looting in AD70 of the Temple, the most sacred building in the ancient Jewish faith.

After a decade of research into previously untapped ancient texts and archaeological sources, Dr Kingsley has reconstructed the treasure’s route for the first time in 2,000 years to provide evidence that it left Rome in the 5th century.

He has discovered that it was taken to Carthage, Constantinople and Algeria before being hidden in the Judaean wilderness, beneath the Monastery of Theodosius...

I'm not sure whether this guy is for real or another quack. Jim Davila at PaleoJudaica remains skeptical.

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Blessings on Medicine

The latest issue of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society (RJJ Journal) is out. Articles include:

• Yarmulkas and Hats: Societal Custom or Halachic Imperative? by R. Henoch Morris
• Sale or Donation of Human Organs by R. Alfred Cohen
• Berachot on Medication by R. Akiva Bergman, MD
• Alzheimer's and Dementia in the Elderly: Halachic Perspectives by R. Zev Shostak
• Can Porcelain be Kashered? by R. Moshe Walter

Here's a quick summary of the Bergman article regarding whether to recite a berakhah on medicine:

• Medicine that tastes bad -- no berakahah
• Medicine that tastes so good you'd eat it even it if wasn't medicine -- yes berakahah
• Medicine that tastes OK -- disagreement over whether to recite a berakhah

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Happy New Year

May you be inscribed in the book of life and have a wonderful year full of blessings yada yada yada.

Post from last year: Simana Milsa

Some Rosh Hashanah links:
TorahWeb
YU Torah
VBM
Aish.com
OU
R. Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Bar Ilan

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Barukh Dayan Ha-Emes

From Yeshiva World, R. Aryeh Carmel passed away and his funeral was earlier today.

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"Rupture and Reconstruction" at ATID

"Rupture and Reconstruction" at ATID

Prof. Haym Soloveitchik will discuss his essay “Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy” at an ATID Erev Diyyun, on the first night of Hol HaMoed Sukkot (Sunday, October 8) in Jerusalem.

When the essay appeared (in Tradition, Summer 1994) it awakened considerable discussion, interest, and debate within the Modern Orthodox community. It has provided a lens through which some amongst us view contemporary Jewish life and learning, as well as our work in Torah education.

The event is by invitation only, and is geared for those who have read the essay in advance (click here), prepared with questions and comments for discussion.

For information or an invitation, email ATID.

See also Isaac Chavel's On Haym Soloveitchik's "Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodox Society": A Response and Dr. Soloveitchik's Clarifications and Reply.

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Renewing Our Spirit: Advance Notice

UPDATED:

I will BE"H be speaking at the following Torah in Motion event in Toronto in early November (link). This will be broadcast through e-TiM for those who cannot make it to Toronto:

Renewing Our Spirit: Fifth Annual Conference
In Memory of Nathan Noteh Krauss z"l

Program Summary

Saturday, November 4, 8:15-10:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 5, 9:00 - 5.00pm (includes lunch)
Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, 470 Glencairn Ave , Toronto

Check back for details.

Speakers include:
Rabbi Chaim Brovender, Dean, Ohr Torah Stone Colleges and Graduate Programs Rosh Yeshiva, Yeshivat Hamivtar- Orot Lev

Dr. Adam Ferziger, Associate Director, Graduate Program Contemporary Jewry at Bar-Ilan University

Dr. Samuel Heilman Ph.D, Editor-in-Chief of Contemporary Jewry magazine. Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Queens College of the City University of New York.

Rabbi Francis Nataf, Educational Director, David Cardozo Academy, Jerusalem.

Mindy Ribner, founder and director of Beit Miriam, Spiritual Psychotherapist and Healer.

Rabbi Dr. Marvin Schick, Ph.D, President of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School.

Rabbi Dr. Pinchas Hayman, Lecturer at Orot College, CEO of Bonayich Services.

Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, Instructor in Talmud, Yeshiva University.

Rabbi Gil Student, Author and President of Yashar Books.

Register Now

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Yom Kippur Machzor

Just a reminder to readers that you can buy the new Rav Soloveitchik machzor from order@RavMachzor.com. The prayer book contains:

• Introductions by Rabbi Menachem Genack and Rabbi Hershel Schachter
• An extensive review of many of the hanhagos HaRav — the Rav’s traditions in tefillah — delineated throughout the Machzor and explained in a special section
• An inspiring commentary culled from many of the Rav’s enthralling, penetrating thoughts

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Pas Yisrael II

The custom during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah (ten days from the first day of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur) is to only eat Pas Yisrael. See here for a description and details of these laws by R. Doniel Neustadt. R. Neustadt writes:

The Shulchan Aruch(8) rules, however, that during aseres yemei teshuvah everyone should be careful to eat only pas Yisrael(9). There are several reasons,- all inter-related - for this halachah: a) so that we conduct ourselves with an extra measure of purity during these Days of Awe(10); b) to serve as a reminder of the unique status of these days(11); c) to beseech Hashem not to judge us stringently, just as we have adopted a practice which is not strictly required of us(12).

---

8 O.C. 603:1.

9 From the way the halachah is presented in Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah, it sounds as if it is a requirement. [See also Teshuvos Nachalas Shivah 72, who rules that it is an absolute obligation.] Chayei Adam 143:1, Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 130:2 and Aruch ha-Shulchan, though, quote this halachah as the "proper" thing to do, not as an obligation. See also Igros Moshe O.C.3:12..

10 In Talmudic times, everyone was careful not to allow their food to become impure (chullin b'taharah) during aseres yemei teshuvah; Tur quoting the Yerushalmi (Shabbos 3:3).

11 Levush O.C. 603.

12 Chayei Adam 143:1; Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 130:2. See also Elef ha-Magen 603:2, quoting the Ramak.

Worthy of note is that while R. Neustadt quotes R. Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and R. Shlomo Zalman Auerbach as ruling that the laws of Pas Yisrael apply to cereal, the OU posekim disagree (link).

Some (including me) have the practice of also only eating and drinking Chalav Yisrael during this period. I wonder, however, whether this only makes sense according to those who explicitly consume non-Chalav Yisrael. Those who follow R. Moshe Feinstein, who was of the view that regular milk in the US is considered Chalav Yisrael, perhaps this stringency does not make sense. According to them, they always consume only Chalav Yisrael. Just thinking out loud...

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Rally Tomorrow

In case you haven't yet heard:



NATIONAL SOLIDARITY RALLY

Wednesday, September 20th
12:00 Noon, Rain or Shine
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
2nd Avenue at 47th Street
New York City
Subways: 4, 5, 6, or 7 to Grand Central Station

Thousands of shofarot will sound in a call of unity with Israel.
Participants are urged to bring a shofar.

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More Legacies Perspectives

More articles about R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik at The Commentator (link):

- My Memories of the Rav by R. Abba Bronspigel

- The Rav and the High Holidays by R. Shlomo H. Pick

- Reflections on the Rav by R. Menahem Meier

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Ruling from the Shulchan Arukh

The Maharsha (Sotah 22a, chiddushei aggados sv. yerei) writes that one may not rule on an halakhic matter by simply looking in the Shulchan Arukh:

In these generations, those who rule from the Shulchan Arukh -- they do not know the reason for each matter unless they first study the subject from the Talmud, which is called "shimush talmidei chakhamim" -- a mistake falls in their rulings and they are among those who destroy the world. It is proper to rebuke them.

In other words, the Maharsha considered the Shulchan Arukh to be a book for cheaters who do not really know the halakhah. If you just look up a law in the Shulchan Arukh, you are missing the background and the overall context. You, therefore, might misunderstand and incorretly apply the Shulchan Arukh's ruling.

The Maharsha was writing in the early 17th century, only decades after the Shulchan Arukh was first published. Other critics of ruling directly from the Shulchan Arukh include the Maharal and the Bach (more on this in a few weeks).

However, the Pischei Teshuvah (Yoreh De'ah 242:8) writes:

It is possible that this was only in the time of the Maharsha, when there were not yet any commentaries on the Shulchan Arukh. However, now that the Taz, Shakh, Magen Avraham and other later commentaries were written, and every ruling is explained sufficiently in its place, it is proper to rule from the Shulchan Arukh and its commentaries.

In other words, the commentaries add the necessary background to the Shulchan Arukh's rulings so that you can properly apply those rulings.

Then what do you need a rabbi for, assuming you know what's in the Shulchan Arukh and commentaries? For those cases that are not directly addressed in the Shulchan Arukh and commentaries, when it is necessary to compare cases and evaluate conflicting imperatives.

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AishDas - Yavneh Shabbaton III

Round-up on the event (including audio) in three installments over at Thanbook: I, II, III

UPDATE: R. Micha Berger posted his notes from his Friday night shi'ur: I

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Rav Soloveitchik on Cooperation with Heterodox Movements

In 1956, the RCA's Halakhah Commission, consisting of R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, R. Samuel Belkin and R. Hayyim Heller, was set to issue an official opinion on whether Orthodox rabbis may sit on the Synagogue Council of America, a body consisting of rabbis from all movements. Five days before the scheduled meeting of the Halakhah Commission, the rabbinic advisory board of the Rabbinical Alliance, consisting of prominent roshei yeshiva, issued a prohibition on participationg in the Synagogue Council. In response to this announcement, the RCA's Halakhah Commission responded to the inquiry presented to it as such (Community, Covenant and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communications, pp. 151-152):

[T]he question submitted to us... was temporarily taken off the agenda of the Halakhah Commission. Our decision not to take action at the present time is motivated by the fact that under the present circumstances that now prevail and for which we bear no responsibility, it is humanly impossible to discuss impartially this most serious matter and to render an opinion meeting high standards of halakhic objectivity and truthfulness.

Students and followers of R. Soloveitchik have long been offended by this preemption of his decision and been impressed with his humble silence in not actively fighting his colleagues (see also here).

I was told that the following on this subject by R. Amos Bunim was recently published in Yated Ne'eman and has been republished by the Five Towns Jewish Times (link):

As a talmid and musmach of Rav Soloveitchik, I remember his vociferousness in speaking out against any relationship with the Conservative and Reform Jews on any and all religious matters.

I once heard from Rav Aharon Kotler in 1956, when 11 rashei yeshiva met and issued an issur against the Synagogue Council of America and the New York Board of Rabbis. Rav Kotler was the chairman of that meeting, and he requested that there be no mention of the issur until he had a chance to discuss the matter with Rav Soloveitchik.

However, an overly zealous individual (not one of the rashei yeshiva) found out about the issue and publicized it before Rav Kotler had the opportunity to meet with Rav Soloveitchik. Rav Kotler was very upset and he told me, “This day is a tragic day in the history of Judaism in America.”

After the petirah of Rav Soloveitchik, I went to Brookline, Massachusetts, to be menachem aveil. The family told me the depth of Rav Soloveitchik’s hurt stemming from the fact that he was not included with the other rashei yeshiva.

In this context, it is worth noting R. Walter Wurzburger's recollections on this (link):

It has been reported that while the Rav opposed the continued membership of Orthodox groups, the Rabbinical Council refused to abide by his instructions. To point out the absurdity of this claim, one need only take into consideration the indisputable fact that as the chairman of its halakha commission, the Rav was the unchallenged halakhic authority of the Rabbinical Council of America. I cannot help but be amused by fanciful accounts of the Rav's views on the issue. I vividly recall a session with the Rav and the late Rabbi Klavan, when we mapped strategy to prevent the Union from seceding from the Synagogue Council.

The Rav's opposition to moves which threatened the unity of the Jewish community also manifested itself in his attitudes towards non-Orthodox groups. He counselled against denying Conservative or Reform Rabbis the right to use communal mikva'ot for conversions. Moreover, he once instructed me that Reform conversions that were accompanied by circumcision and immersion in a mikve had to be treated as a safek giyur, (Accordingly, a get would be required to dissolve a marriage in which one of the partners previously underwent a Conservative or Reform conversion which conformed to the requirement of mila and tevila).

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e-Torah in Motion

e-TiM: Online Interactive Video Programs

Welcome to the e-TiM project, an exciting and powerful new way to participate in our innovative programming. Torah in Motion scholars from around the world are presented in live interactive video, directly in your web browser on your computer - one-click, direct access.

Scheduled programs:

This Tuesday!

Rabbi Menachem Leibtag, Yeshivat har Etzion, Alon Shvut
From the Bible to the Machzor: The Biblical themes behind the High Holiday Prayers
Tuesdays Sept 19 - Oct 10 (4 weeks)
12:30 - 1:15pm (Eastern Time) - Live from Israel! (7:30pm Israel time)
Introductory Price is $18 for all four classes

Register Now!

Upcoming programs:

Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Rabbi Pinchas Hayman
Rabbi Alex Israel
Rabbi Menachem Leibtag
Dafna Siegman
Dr. Marc Shapiro
Rabbi Natan Slifkin

There are various ways to participate. During the presentation you will be able to see and hear the presenter. If you have a webcam, you can use it for your image to be available to the other participants. If you choose, you can use your microphone to ask questions during the question period. It is also possible to use text 'chat' to communicate with the presenter or the participants. If you don't have a webcam or microphone, all computer stores carry a selection of them, and can provide assistance setting them up. (If you purchase a microphone/headset, make sure the plug uses 3.5mm pins, and NOT a USB cable. The Webcam can use a USB cable.)

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Jewish Action on Intelligent Design

I see that the latest issue of Jewish Action is now available online (link). The first section contains three articles debating Intelligent Design from the perspective of Jewish thought. Of particular interest is Dr. Nathan Aviezer's article (link - PDF) which takes the same position as R. Natan Slifkin, albeit perhaps a bit stronger. R. Slifkin recently referred to Intelligent Design as "heresy" while Dr. Aviezer goes so far as to compare it to idolatry.

The other two articles on Intelligent Design are by Drs. Gerald Schroder and Arnold Slyper.

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Length of the Year

I was asked to explain Avi Goldstein's point about the length of the year in his recent letter to The Jewish Press. The following is from R. Yehudah Levi, Facing Current Challenges, pp. 319-321 [note that the Hebrew edition has approbations from R. Ovadiah Yosef and R. Zalman Nechemiah Goldberg]:
Click here to read more

The length of the tropical year, meaning the year as counted from the beginning of the spring equinox until the beginning of the following spring, is quite close to 365 ¼ days. This is the commonly accepted length. The seasons based on this approximation are associated with the amora Shemuel (“tekufath Shemuel”); the Christian Julian calendar is also based on it. For most popular purposes this approximation is good for hundreds of years, because the degree of inaccuracy which accumulates in one hundred years is less than a day... According to this accounting (of a year consisting of 365 ¼ days or 52 weeks plus a day and a quarter)... [a]fter 28 years, the remainders accumulate to 35 days, that is, five entire weeks, and the beginning of spring returns to the same point in the week... On the day, which is always a Wednesday, “Whoever sees the sun in its cycle... says the blessing ‘Blessed is He... Who does the act of Creation,’” implying that even today God is performing the act of creation...

But here is the problem: the length of the true solar year is actually eleven minutes shorter. This means that at the end of 28 actual years, when the blessing is pronounced, spring has not returned precisely to the original point in the week. This error has accumulated over the years and now adds up to about thirteen days.

Our detractors, both from within and from without, have tried to conclude from the imprecision in Shemuel’s approximation, which accumulates to about seven and a half days every thousand years, that our Sages were deficient in their knowledge of astronomy… In light of all this, it is difficult to accept the claim that the Sages erred to such a great extent in so basic an astronomical constant as the length of the solar year. The mystery is cleared up, however, if we realize that exactness in the calculation of the time of the blessing of the sun is not all that important. At issue here is a symbol which comes to remind us of the wondrous stability of the laws of nature, which, in turn, points to the awesome Operator behind them. This type of symbol does not demand precision, but rather something which can be understood by the general public and be easily calculated. Hence it is readily understood why the aforementioned cycle of 28 years was chosen, a cycle based on a simple approximation. A more exact basis for calculation would demand a much longer cycle, which would not only greatly complicate the calculations, but also effectively prevent the blessing of the sun from serving as a reminder to us.

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Reminder: AishDas - Yavneh Shabbaton

Reminder: The AishDas - Yavneh Shabbaton is this Shabbos. More information here. I expect to be there for the morning and melaveh malkah sessions.

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A Lonely Judgment

A Lonely Judgment

R. Dovid Gottlieb
(Rosh Hashanah 5765 - 8-16-04)

“The nature of the dilemma can be stated in a three word sentence. I am lonely. Let me emphasize, however, that by stating “I am lonely” I do not intend to convey to you the impression that I am alone. I, thank God, do enjoy the friendship and love of many.”

These are the opening words of Rav Soloveitchik’s classic essay, The Lonely Man of Faith. First published in the journal Tradition in 1965, the passage of almost 40 years has done nothing to dull the incisive and illuminating character of this work. Focusing not on abstract theological dilemmas or philosophical quandaries that are the usual staple of religious writing, Rav Soloveitchik instead concentrates on the inner experience of the religious personality. Not only are the insights he develops still timely, they are really timeless.

What is the difference between being alone and being lonely?

Click here to read moreThe Mishnah (Rosh Hashnah 1:2) tells us that on Rosh Hashanah: kol bu’iy ha-olam ovrin lefanav kibnei maron – all mankind pass before Him, all are judged like “bnei maron.” But what are “bnei maron”? The Gemara (18a) itself explores the precise meaning of this obscure and ambiguous phrase. Three explanations are suggested, although all of them are also a bit unclear and require Rashi’s elucidation. The first suggestion is “kivnei imrana” – like a flock of sheep which are herded one by one as they are counted. This image is, of course, familiar to us from the “U’nesaneh Tokef” prayer – “kivakaras ro’eh edro, ma’avir tzono tachas shivto.”

The second explanation is “ke-ma’alos beis maron” – a narrow ascent traversable by only one person at a time. And the final explanation offered: “ke-chayalos shel beis Dovid” – as soldiers passing, single file, before the king for his inspection before they go off to battle.

The common thread running through all of these explanations is, clearly, that we are each judged individually on Rosh Hashanah. Whether we are compared to the sheep passing in front its owner, a traveler on a narrow path, or a soldier examined by his ruler, the theme remains the same: we are judged as individuals. And yet, in each of these examples, we are not in solitude – there are other sheep, there are fellow travelers, and there are additional soldiers. Why use images of a larger group if the point is to illustrate the individualistic nature of the judgment of Rosh Hashanah?

The answer to this question is critical not only to our appreciation of Rosh Hashanah but also speaks to a deeper understanding of who we are as individuals and our relationship with those around us.

Rav Soloveitchik explains that aloneness is a physical fact. When one is removed from the company of others he or she is alone. Loneliness, on the other hand, is not a physical reality but a spiritual one. It is an existential awareness of our ultimate uniqueness and disconnectedness from others. These are two very different realities. As the Rav says (Family Redeemed, p. 15), “One may stand at Times Square where hundreds of people pass by every minute and yet feel very lonely.” On the other hand, “one may find oneself, in terms of distance, in seclusion, very remote from people, without feeling lonely.” Furthermore, Rav Soloveitchik explains (Lonely Man, p. 40) that when the Torah tell us “lo tov heyos hadam levado” it is not referring to being alone, but rather, counseling against prolonged loneliness.

We sit in shul on Rosh Hashanah surrounded by multitudes of other people; in many cases with beloved family and dear friends. We are surely not alone in judgment. But ultimately it is a lonely judgment. No one else knows everything that we have done wrong or right over the past year. No one else knows if we have failed to live up to our potential or whether we have surpassed it. And no one else knows if our spirituality has been enhanced or diminished since last Rosh Hashanah. Ultimately, we stand before the Ribbono Shel Olam for our own private Day of Judgment.

Perhaps this is the meaning of “kivnei maron.” There may be other sheep, there may be other travelers, and there may be other soldiers, but no two are the same. We may not be alone, but it is surely a lonely judgment.

This distinction may also explain what appears, at first glance, to be the very mean spirited comments of Elkanah to Chana. Our Haftorah famously recounts Chana’s fervent prayers for a child. Upon witnessing her tears, Elkana asks: “What’s so bad – halo anochi tov lach mei’asarah banim” – you have me? On the face of it, this appears to be cruel and obtuse. But perhaps the explanation is that Elkana misunderstood – as many of us do – the difference between being alone and being lonely. He couldn’t understand Chana’s pain because he was only sensitive to aloneness. So he tells her: “You’re not alone. I am with you and I love you.” But what he didn’t understand was that while Chana was not alone, she was lonely. There was something missing from her life without a child. There was a spiritual void then he couldn’t fill.

It is crucial that understand the different sides of this coin. There is a lot of loneliness in the world. Some of it is relatively benign or temporary. But much of it is very profound and lasting. It may be a recent widow or widower who after many years of marriage has just lost their beloved spouse. Or it could be someone who is single and still looking for their beloved. Or a couple whose relationship has turned stale and lost its passion; or an adult who has just become orphaned. The loneliness felt by many people in these and other situations is often indescribable. They may have other people in their lives – parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, nephews – but if they are missing that person or people who would complete them, then even though they are not alone, they are very lonely.

As a community we must do everything we can do to help alleviate the pain of this loneliness. Each situation requires its own individualized approach. The needs of a recent widow are obviously very different than a husband who feels distant from his wife. They are both lonely and both need our help. Each one of us, rabbi and congregant, male and female, old and young, has a role to play. This is a critical component of the type of “community of caring” which we hope accurately describes us. Lo alecha ha’melachah ligmor, v’lo atah ben chorin livatel memenah. No one person can do it all but that doesn’t free us from our responsibility.

But there is another lesson which is just as important for us to learn. Being alone isn’t necessarily to be frowned upon. Of course, taken to an extreme, by choice or otherwise, being removed from other people can be harmful. The permanent hermit’s life should not be romanticized. But it also true that, as Rav Soloveitchik commented, being alone doesn’t necessarily mean someone is lonely. In fact, there are some blessings that can be attained with greater likelihood when we are alone. Remember, the transformative event in Yaakov’s life took place when he was alone: “va’yivaser Yaakov levado.” It was when he was alone, in the dark of night, that he was transformed from one who hung onto the heal of another into one who embodied the destiny of others.

This is an especially important lesson for us in our increasingly “communications based” world.

Rav Mendel of Rimanov used to say that it was a black day for the world the day they paved the roads. After all, it used to be that you were traveling but when it got dark you had to stop for the night. Once a person stopped he could use that time for reflection, tefillah, or learning. Now that the roads are paved no one has to stop; they can keep on traveling through the night.

What would Rav Mendel say about us? We are literally living in a new world. It wasn’t that long ago that faxes were a great novelty. Now we have cell phones, email, and cell phones with email. There used to be limits; places where you couldn’t be reached. No more. The slogan for the air phones – phones that can be used on airplanes – says it all: “now even the sky is not the limit.” I am not arguing that these are bad things per se. I wouldn’t go as far as Rav Mendel. The advantages that many of these devices provide are really meaningful. I utilize these very technologies. But we must be aware of their downside. It’s not all “progress.” We so rarely have time to think about life or even reflect on previous events.

Most importantly, being alone is often the best way to truly understand who we really are. Some people are simply not comfortable being with themselves. We are in such a rush to speak with or be connected to other people that we often forget how to connect with ourselves. How tragic. I remember, almost 15 years ago, when my rebbe in Yeshivat Shaalavim, Rav Michoel Yamer, decried the invention of the shower radio – now you don’t even have to be alone with yourself in the shower.

But if we are never alone how do we know who we really are? How do we know where the community ends and we begin? Periodic solitude can be not only healthy, but transformative and provide opportunity for renewal.

The late Anthony Storr, a noted British psychoanalyst wrote a book in 1988 on this very topic, called Solitude: A Return to Self. Storr cites many anecdotes to buttress his thesis that recent thinking and cultural trends have too much to the extreme and overemphasized the need socialization. One of the most fascinating episodes he cites are the reflections of Admiral Byrd, who single handedly manned an advanced weather base in Antarctica during winter of 1934. Byrd kept a diary in which he recounts that he actually insisted on doing it alone. He was not looking to “escape” or run away from any difficult personal situation. He describes his personal situation as being “incredibly happy.” So why did his volunteer for such an assignment? He writes that it was just “one man’s desire to know that kind of experience to the full, to be by himself for a while and to taste peace and quiet and solitude long enough to find how good they really are . . . I wanted something more than just privacy in the geographical sense. I wanted to sink roots into some replenishing philosophy.” (I thank R. Jacob J. Schacter for bringing this book to my attention.)

I am obviously not advocating going off to Antarctica for a few months. There are other, less extreme, ways to achieve this result. But this is an important goal to have and a vital lesson to remember. Admiral Byrd was totally alone but he was not lonely in the slightest. His aloneness provided a singular opportunity for self reflection and renewal.

And isn’t that one of the critical themes of Yamim Noraim? This is the time dedicated to renewal. And in order to do that we must find a way to get in touch with our true selves. A little time alone might just be the trick.

May the coming year be one of blessing and success and, perhaps most importantly, spiritual rebirth, rejuvenation, and renewal.

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Yeshiva Soldiers III

In the comments to a post a few weeks ago (link), someone pointed out that Yeshivas Merkaz Ha-Rav, founded by Rav Kook, does not have a yeshiva-army Hesder program. It is interesting that its website calls the yeshiva the heart of a movement that includes Hesder, yet the yeshiva itself does not have a Hesder arrangement:

Since its foundation the Yeshivah and all that it stands for has grown in influence until the name "Merkaz HaRav" has come to denote not only a Yeshivah, but a Torah concept which is the heart of a movement. This movement encompasses thousands of pupils and students in high school yeshivoth and yeshivoth hesder, pupils and students in the ulpanoth and michlaloth (girls' Torah high schools and colleges), and members from all walks of the Hityashvuth (Settlement) movement.

I am generally unfamiliar with the Merkaz Ha-Rav ideology but I came across an explanation for this. R. Shlomo Aviner compiled lectures by R. Tzvi Yehudah Kook on the subject of army service in a book titled Sidrei Tzava Vi-Yeshivah. In the book, R. Kook related how, after the Six Day War, there was a meeting between government officials and roshei yeshiva. Representing the government and army was Moshe Dayan, and representing the yeshivos were R. Yechezkel Abramsky, R. Tzvi Yehudah Kook and R. Chaim Ya'akov Goldvicht. When Moshe Dayan asked why yeshiva students are exempt from the army while other youths fight and die to protect the country, R. Tzvi Yehudah Kook responded that he rejects the term "exempt". His students are not exempt from the army but delay entry for a few years to solidify their Torah education before going out to defend their country. Throughout the book, R. Kook advocates juggling these two imperatives -- Torah study and army service -- by first solidifying one's Torah accomplishments and only then serving in the army.

Cf. R. Shlomo Aviner, Am Ve-Artzo, vol. 2 pp. 523-531.

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Protecting Borders and Boundaries

R. Yonatan Kaganoff on book bannings and heresy hunting: link

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We Can Land A Man On The Moon

We can land a man on the moon, but we can't print a newspaper with ink that doesn't make your hands look like you clean chimneys for a living!

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The Slifkin Torah-Science Controversy V

More letters about the article: link

(prior posts: I, II, III, IV)

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Pas Yisrael

An up-to-date list of Pas Yisrael products, handy for the aseres yemei teshuvah: link

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The Course in Mussar

Distance-learning of midos (link):

What is The Course In Mussar?

The Course In Mussar answers the question: "How can I access Jewish wisdom that will really touch and transform my soul?" This course provides time-tested teachings and practical tools for living that have been developed within an ancient Jewish spiritual tradition. Week by week, we focus on enhancing soul-traits including patience, gratitude, generosity, equanimity, silence, trust and truth. The Course in Mussar helps you cultivate awareness, insight and change – all to carry you closer to realizing your soul's potential.

How the Course Works

This carefully designed six-month course provides a flexible and accessible program of personal learning, group support, and individualized guidance that puts Mussar’s methods to work in your life to bring about deep and lasting change.

The Course In Mussar I comes right to your home. It includes:

• Weekly readings and personalized practice assignments accessible from wherever you are on a password-accessed website.


• Regular participation in a small, guided Mussar support group (a va'ad), face-to-face if locally available, otherwise online and by telephone.


• Another student as a learning partner (chevruta).


• Periodic interactive process reports.


• Two, 30-minute personal one-on-one conversations and guidance with myself, Alan Morinis, or Shirah Bell, or another experienced Mussar guide.

More information

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Yeshiva and University Meet

The Commentator has a(n edited?) transcript of a meeting between R. Hershel Schachter and David Srolovitz, the dean of Yeshiva College (link). Very interesting. R. Schachter raised a number of halakhic problems with various courses and Dean Srolovitz indicated a willingness to work with R. Schachter on finding ways to minimize or resolve these issues.

Of course, I side with R. Schachter on all of these matters, although I see how Dean Srolovitz's hands are tied. But, with a little creativity -- which was in evidence at that meeting -- various resolutions are possible. Personally, when I was a student I asked the older guys what courses were problematic and tried to avoid them. I never had to learn Christian works, academic Bible scholarship, or problematic art. Then again, I was a Math major which was more of a Torah u-Farnassah (Torah and earning a living) track.

I remember learning the Canterbury Tales in elementary school, and I don't recall anything problematic in it. But that just might be because I was in elementary school.

Having certain courses that are "rabbinically approved" and others that are not seems like a recipe for disaster. But I think that the problem is all in the presentation and if given nice packaging and inoffensive labeling it could solve a lot of (but not all) problems.

However, while R. Schachter's argument that some of these problems are scaring away students is certainly true, I wonder how current enrollment levels will impact the college's response (link). Will they think that they can afford to lose a few students or will they be so concerned with increasing enrollment that even those lost students' concerns will be addressed? Or is that the cream of the crop they are losing?

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9/11

I's hard to believe that it's been five years since 9/11. I was going to write out my whole story of that day but, frankly, while I was in Manhattan, I didn't come anywhere near danger. (It is very kedai to see the documentary by those two French filmmakers who were there to witness the whole thing.) Suffice it to say that I was on the FDR Drive when the airplanes hit, I had a long day wandering around Manhattan, and ended up in YU and took the train back to Brooklyn with R. Shalom Carmy.

My roommate and chavrusa from my first year in yeshiva was in tower 2 when the first plane hit. He got out of there as soon as possible and was actually a guest in my house a few weeks later on Sukkos. Two other friends of mine had offices in the towers but were not yet at work when everything happened.

A colleague of mine at the time had just left a job on one of the top floors of one of the towers. Almost everyone she had worked with died on that day. I don't think she ever recovered but a few months later she went back to work at that company and help rebuild the department.

Also, a former boss of mine, a real prince of a man, lost his son in the towers. I later learned that he was the hardest agunah case emanating from the tragedy and a number of Torah lectures were given to explain the conclusion of the case.

Five years ago. It seems like yesterday. I'm not sure what can be learned from that day other than learn Torah no matter what's going on around you (I guess I shouldn't have omitted the learning part of the story, but I spent some time learning in a pizza shop while chaos was reigning in the streets).

There is also a great hashgachah peratis story about my delivering prozbol documents, missing my rav and davening later, so that I ended up being late to work that day. Except that I worked in midtown, so the story actually isn't that great. But it makes me think twice about other people's hashgachah peratis stories. Although because of the prozbol aspect, I did get an extra half hour of learning before selichos.

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Kosher Rabbi

A neighbor showed me the following ad from this week's (American) Yated Neeman. He added an impassioned, "Why? WHY?"

For those who can't read the ad, it says:

[Big font]$20,000 Cash Reward
[small font]Everyone can use a little extra cash, and here's an easy way.

Just ask your Rabbi* to give in writing that one is allowed to go to mixed gym to work out when there is a separate gym available.

You get it in writing - we'll hand the cash! $20,000!

However, just in case he tells you "What are you crazy! Of course you can't go - you'll get tons of aveiros just for walking in,"

[medium font]We'll Give You A Reward Just For Trying!

(Kosher Gym information)

[tiny font]* No, you can't ask Rabbi Shirley from Temple Beth Am. Obviously we are not going to accept any "p'sak from a non-qualified Rabbi, such as conservative, reform, woman rabbit, or anyone practicing outside of the realm of halacha. We reserve the right to disqualify any Rabbi for unless they have a Religious Shul and are accepted by the Moetzes Gedolai Torah as being a Rav who is fit to pasken. The Pask along with the rav's name will be published in any form of media we chose. Special circumstances do not apply. Other restrictions may apply.

(Do not assume that spelling and grammatical errors are mine.)

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Chesed Le-Ohavav

My wife pointed this out to me from this week's issue of The Vues:



What, me cynical?

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I See Dead People

Rabbi Michael Merdinger, "Is What We See Really What’s Out There?" (link):

Along these lines, we can explain a famous insight of the Ba’al Shem Tov once said that if you see someone with a particular flaw, you should examine yourself more closely, because you probably suffer from that very same flaw. Why should this be that I am likely to have the very same flaw that I see in another person?

Because I see the world through my own personality, and I recognize my own character when I see it. If I am selfish, and I see someone else who is generous and altruistic, I will naturally suspect he has an ulterior motive—because that’s just the way I see the world.

So true. Greedy people see everyone's actions as a function of greed. Conspiratorial people think that everyone does things out of a complicated conspiracy. Perverted people think everyone else is a pervert. Simple people take things at face value. Honest people assume others are honest. Etc. etc.

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Stop Resenting Others

Important and much needed comments by Cheryl Kupfer in this week's The Jewish Press (link):

[P]art of making choices is taking responsibility for the outcome of these choices and not resenting those who made different ones or feel that anything is owed to them by virtue of their choices. For example, a girl who chooses a kollel life style, and has to work and make do with less, has no right to resent her sister who married an “earner” who can afford a more affluent lifestyle. Likewise, the wife of the earner should not envy her sister for having a husband who is more learned and respected in the community as a talmid chacham.

My guess, based on the letter writer’s mastery of English is that she or her parents were North Americans who made aliyah, and as such she has American or Canadian citizenship. She chose to either move to or stay in Israel. She must take responsibility for the outcome of her choices – the good and the bad – for with all choices, there are pros and cons. By choosing to live in Israel, her children will eventually serve in the Israeli military and must deal with the risks of doing so. At the same time, she and her family are living a life that on a daily basis is imbued with spirituality and meaningfulness that is beyond the experience of Diaspora Jews.

One should enjoy the benefits of one’s choices and deal with the drawbacks, but not resent those who took a different path for they too must deal with the good and the bad that is the outcome of their choice. To do otherwise leads to sinat chinam – to everyone’s detriment.

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Nature's Song

Yashar Books is now pleased to offer for sale R. Natan Slifkin's Nature's Song, which has been officially released to us by Targum Press. Copies can be purchased on Yashar's website.

Nature's Song
An Elucidation of Perek Shirah, the Ancient Text that Lists the Philosophical and Ethical Lessons of the Natural World

Perek Shirah, literally "A Chapter of Song," is an ancient text that is at least a thousand years old; some ancient commentaries even attribute its authorship to King David! It takes the form of a list of eighty-four elements of the natural world, including elements of the sky and of the earth, plants, birds, animals, and insects, attaching a verse from the Bible to each.

Nature's Song is the first English explanation of Perek Shirah. It makes use of rare ancient commentaries on Perek Shirah, as well as contemporary insights from the fields of meteorology, zoology and so on. The result is a Biblical encyclopedia of the natural world, synthesizing the ancient with the modern, that enables one to perceive new depths of insight into the natural world that surrounds us.


A beautiful book dealing with all the aspects of the natural world in the Torah perspective of "How great are Your works, Hashem," accompanied with poignant black-and-white illustrations, Nature's Song is authoritative, factual, poetic, comprehensive, a brilliant work of art-and-science. A book to have and to give, to read repeatedly and to cherish… This book is a valuable addition to anyone's library. May Rabbi Slifkin merit to reap great blessing as his perspective is imbibed and incorporated into the daily conduct of his uplifted readers.

—Yated Ne'eman

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The Slifkin Torah-Science Controversy IV

Two more letters to The Jewish Press about my article (link). It's Ellul, so I've decided not to respond in the paper. The simple response is: Read Rabbi Slifkin's new book carefully and you will find the answers to the two letters.

If anyone knows Dr. Stern, please ask him to e-mail me, preferably before Rosh Hashanah. Thank you.

(prior posts: I, II, III)

UPDATE: See also the letters in The Canadian Jewish News.

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AishDas - Yavneh Shabbaton

(link)

AishDas and Yavneh Minyan of Flatbush
present a Shabbaton on
Teshuvah: Returning Home
September 15-16, 2006, at the Yavneh Minyan of Flatbush

1277 East 14th St, Brooklyn, NY - in the Shulamith School

Self-work...Mussar...Panels ...Intense Prayer and Song

Regret, confession, resolve - how do I bring myself to change?

The Shabbaton will feature:

• kabbalat Shabbat with singing davening


• delicious Friday night dinner with kumsitz


• talks and discussion groups, Shabbat evening and day


• melave malka with panel discussion

Featured Speakers: (subject to change)

• R' Moshe Sokol: Rav, Yavneh Minyan of Flatbush ; Dean, Lander College.


• R' Micha Berger: founder, AishDas Society, lecturer on Mussar.


• R' Yosef Gavriel Bechhofer: charter member, AishDas Society; Maggid Shiur, writer, editor.


• R'n Shoshannah Bechhofer, mechaneches, popular lecturer, professor.


• R' Gil Student: charter member, AishDas Society; author; founder, Yashar Books.

Topics:

• Lo Sisna: do not hate your brother in your heart


• How do I change my life? - Reflections on the yahrzeit of 9/11


• Keeping G-d before me


• Transforming sins into merits - repentance from love

Prices:

Full program (includes Dinner and Melave Malka): Melave Malka only Children's Dinner price (ages 12 and under, not including Melave Malka):

$65 $25 $15

$50 for Yavneh members. $18 for Yavneh members.

AishDas: Inreach, to live the Torah with passion, not by rote

RSVP by September 8th, 2006

Note: Dinner seating is limited, so respond early!
Limited home-hosting available, make your own local arrangements if possible.

Send responses to:
Yavneh Minyan of Flatbush / 1412 Avenue M - PMB 2322 / Brooklyn, NY 11230
Jonathan Baker: (718) 376-5402; programming@yavnehminyan.org
For a printable response form, click here. (Note: legal size paper. You can print it reduced, and send it back.)

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Rachmonus on the Band

There's a Jewish-musician blogger at Blog in D Minor who, among other things, has been posting about the different types of people musicians at Jewish weddings encounter. Pretty funny. Check it out.

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Kabbalah in YU

I received this in the mail from YU's Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies about changing requirements:

Since the field of Jewish Philosophy in many universities has become Mahshevet Yisrael (Jewish Thought), it is desirable that our MA students in the field have some training in Kabbalah and Hasidut. To that end, students in the field are now required to take the two survey courses in Jewish Philosophy (medieval and modern), the introductory courses in Jewish Mysticism and Hasidut and 4 advanced courses in the field. Two courses of electives in other fields remain.

I'm not sure why I find this interesting. Maybe it isn't.

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A Convert in Mourning

The Rambam (Hilkhos Avel 2:3) writes that a convert is not obligated to mourn for either of his parents. This is so because someone who converts is considered as if he is reborn, and therefore has no halakhic relationship to his parents (cf. Yevamos 22a; Bava Kamma 88a). The Beis Yosef (Yoreh De'ah 374) quotes the Mordekhai in the name of the Ri that a convert must mourn for his mother, but the Rema in Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh De'ah 374:5) explicitly disagrees with this view.

But what if a convert wants to mourn his parents? I asked R. J. David Bleich and he (very briefly) said that there is no problem as long as he does not violate any prohibition, such as by tearing his clothes or refraining from learning Torah. But he certainly agreed that a convert can mourn in his own way, such as having a gathering and eulogizing the deceased. I asked my own rav, who admittedly is not a major posek, about the propriety of performing halakhic acts in non-halakhic situations, and he said that it all depends on each situation. Sometimes it might be right to sit a "fake" shivah. For example, a woman with a conditional divorce has the option to mourn over her (ex-)husband even though it is not an obligatory shivah (Rema in Even Ha-Ezer 145:9; cf. however the Pischei Teshuvah there, 7).

R. Maurice Lamm writes the following in his The Jewish Way in Death and Mourning, pp. 82-83:

There is no obligation upon a person who had converted to Judaism to mourn his non-Jewish parents in the prescribed Jewish manner. While it is expected that the convert will show utmost respect for his natural parents, he is, nonetheless, considered detached from them religiously. The grief that the convert expresses, although technically not required by Jewish law, should possess a markedly Jewish character. Therefore:

1. The convert may say Kaddish if he so desires. It is preferable, however, since the deceased was not a Jew, for him to recite a Psalm instead, or to study a portion of Torah in honor of the deceased, as is customart on yahrtzeits. In that way, a distinction is made between mourning a Jew and a non-Jew. The decision to do either rests with the bereaved.

2. Likewise, the shiva procedures should, preferably, not be observed as in full mourning for a Jewish parent...

The converted Jew should not feel that his emotions of gried must be restrained because of religious difference. It is only the religious observance which is at issue...

UPDATE: Follow-up based on a comment, from the same book, p. 80, regrading adoptive parents:

There is no requirement to mourn for adoptive parents, adopted brothers and sisters, or adopted children. But while there is no legal obligation to mourn, there should be "sympathetic mourning," namely abstention from public rejoicing and similar activities in order to demonstrate a full measure of sorrow.

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Rav Soloveitchik Yom Kippur Machzor

Received via e-mail:

For decades, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik delivered his renowned Kinnus Teshuvah shiurim between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and selections of these shiurim have previously been published by Dr. Arnold Lustiger.

As has recently been announced in Jewish Action, the official publication of the UOJCA, K'hal Publishing in cooperation with the Orthodox Union, and through the efforts of many of the Rav's talmidim, presents "The Kasirer Edition Yom Kippur Machzor," with a complete commentary adapted from the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l. This volume is masterfully edited by Dr. Arnold Lustiger, editor of both "Before Hashem You Shall Be Purified: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the Days of Awe" (1988) and "Derashot Harav: Selected Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik" (2003). The Kasirer Edition Yom Kippur Machzor includes, as well, an introduction by Rabbi Hershel Schachter and Rabbi Menachem Genack.

For the cover and a few sample pages of the Kasirer Edition Yom Kippur Machzor, please see http://www.ravmachzor.com/samplepages.pdf.

To order your pre-publication copy of the Kasirer Edition Yom Kippur Machzor (to be delivered in advance of Yom Kippur) at the special discounted price of $24.99 + shipping (list price: $30.99 + shipping), please contact order@RavMachzor.com, for further information.

For Yeshiva University students, FREE delivery is available to any student on the Beren (midtown), Wilf (uptown), Resnick (Einstein/Ferkauf) and Brookdale Center (Cardozo) campuses of Yeshiva University for any order.

For orders of more than twenty-five copies, an additional discount and special bulk rates and free shipping are available within the continental United States.

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Kosher Backsides

This image comes from the Hebrew National website and depicts the front of the cow as kosher and the back as non-kosher (link). The truth is that this is a fairly strict interpretation of halakhah.

R. Dr. Ari Zivotofsky writes about this in his regular column in Jewish Action (67:1, Fall 2006, p. 58):

Misconception: Nikkur achoraim (rendering the hindquarters of an animal fit for kosher consumption) is a Sephardic practice that is banned by rabbinic fiat for Ashkenazim and thus not performed in the United States.

Fact: There is no such ban, and nikkur was practiced in many Ashkenazic communities into the twentieth century. The practice of some communities to refrain from eating hindquarters, owing to the difficulty in excising the forbidden sections, continues to exist among both Ashkenazim and Sephardim.

R. Zivotofsky proceeds to document communities where the hindquarters were eaten and where not. After much historical discussion, he describes the current situation (p. 61):

Today, nikkur of the hindquarters is practiced in Israel, and is supervised by many of the Sephardic badatzes as well as the Rabbanut. In addition, the OU supervises nikkur of deer hindquarters in the United States, because in deer, only the gid hanasheh and blood require removal, but not the chailev.

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Kosher Bottled Water

A brand of bottled water named Kosher, certified as such by Star-K (link).

What will they think of next?

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Kosher Soup

You might remember three years ago that it was a huge deal that Campbell's made one of their soups kosher (link).

The kosher experiment seems to have ended.

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Forwarding E-mail

It is permissible to forward an e-mail without first obtaining permission to do so? From The Jewish Ethicist:

The moral of the story is that we should be very careful not to forward emails unless we are sure the sender approves. Even when it is clearly appropriate to transmit the message to others, consider if it may not be sufficient to provide a brief summary of the sender's words, rather than just forwarding the exact words. Likewise, even when forwarding someone's exact words, don't forward the whole letter if the really relevant section is brief.

For more on the cherem of Rabbenu Gershom, see this post.

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One-Issue Blog

UPDATED

I've reviewed all of the posts from May through August and classified them in one of four categories (note that short is one or two sentences):
Slifkin-short, Slifkin-long, Non-Slifkin-short, Non-Slifkin-long

Here is the tally of number of posts:

MAY THROUGHT AUGUST STATS:

Slifkin-short Slifkin-long Non-Slifkin-short Non-Slifkin-long Total

12 36 35 124 207

6% 17% 17% 60% 100%

In other words, less than 25% of the total posts were related to R. Slifkin. Hardly a one-issue blog. And keep in mind that during June, July and August we launched two books by R. Slifkin, he was traveling across the US, and my Jewish Press article was published (and letters in response). So it should have been a relatively Slifkin-heavy time.

Click here for more detail

AUGUST STATS:

Slifkin-short Slifkin-long Non-Slifkin-short Non-Slifkin-long Total

6 11 6 36 59

10% 19% 10% 61% 100%

JULY STATS:

Slifkin-short Slifkin-long Non-Slifkin-short Non-Slifkin-long Total

2 10 10 28 50

4% 20% 20% 56% 100%

JUNE STATS:

Slifkin-short Slifkin-long Non-Slifkin-short Non-Slifkin-long Total

2 14 9 22 47

4% 30% 19% 47% 100%

MAY STATS:

Slifkin-short Slifkin-long Non-Slifkin-short Non-Slifkin-long Total

2 1 10 38 51

4% 2% 20% 75% 100%

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Concubines in Halakhah

Dr. Marc Shapiro had an article published recently in Yeshivat Chovevei Torah's journal Milin Havivin (vol. 2) on the subject of concubines in halakhah. The bulk of the article is the first publication of a letter on the subject by a learned rabbi to R. Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, one of the (if not THE) leading halakhic decisors of their day. R. Grodzenski responded to this letter with a long responsum (Achi'ezer 3:23) disputing most of its claims. The publication of this letter is probably only of interest to historians (like Dr. Shapiro) and not really to me.

However, Dr. Shapiro wrote an introduction to this letter that I find very interesting. In flowery rabbinic Hebrew, Dr. Shapiro discusses some of the history of those who have permitted concubines in various situations. Some famous posekim and some rabbis who, despite the great honorifics Dr. Shapiro appends to their names, I've never heard of. This is all fascinating. Most importantly, Dr. Shapiro emphasizes that all of these rabbis permitted concubines in various cases in order to prevent promiscuity and never to allow or encourage it. Dr. Shapiro points out that certainly none of these great scholars would permit such a practice today, "in a generation that is immersed in the 49 gates of impurity" (p. 28).

Note that according to Drew Kaplan, Dr. Shapiro's article was written before another recent article on the subject was published.

The Hebrew section of Milin Havivin can be downloaded here (PDF), although the pages are out of order. Dr. Shapiro's article is in pages 25-33. You can download the English section of the journal here (PDF).

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