Bechukosai

My oldest daughter had the day off yesterday and went to Tiveria with two of her best friends.  They were planning on going on one of the many boat rides on the Kinneret, where the boat pulls you while you're holding on to some floating mattress.  They just agreed on a price, 50 shekels for "10-15 minutes," when a short Sphardi fifty-something-year old lady (with her "bobo" [a head-covering they like to wear which tends to be at least the same height as their body for some reason]) comes with her friend and asks what they are going on.  My daughter explains, and she says, "Sounds like fun!  Can we join you?"  She turned to the boat driver and simply said, "You will take us all for 40 shekels for 15 minutes," to which he of course agreed … because you always listen to the short Sphardi lady.

Throughout the entire ride, she was yelling and screaming, a mix of Tehillim, "Ima-le, Ima-le, Ima-le", "abba-le, abba-le, abbe-le" along with more Tehillim and repeat.  The girls had a very difficult time holding on and laughing at the same time.

After their ride, the ladies offered to take the girls in their car to daven at Rebbe Meir Baal HaNeis, followed by the beach.

Only in Israel.

Life for Jews has always been difficult.  At least for the past several thousand years.  The world, for us, has been topsy turvy, with only brief breaks of respite.  Obviously, the respite that we have been enjoying for the past many decades is starting to crumble.  However, even with such times of peace, one has to balance his work, family, health, and a whole slew of other stresses in life, and still focus on his spiritual duties, which is the reason he is here on earth.  Due to all of these stresses, our religious ones tend to fall by the wayside.  We're always hoping for that free time to sit and learn or to properly perform mitzvos. However, that time never comes.

Rav Yaakov Meir Schecter (who himself has not lived an easy life) writes that the Gemara (Eruvin 54a) says, "This world is like a wedding banquet – grab and eat!"  Life is not simple and it gets difficult, however, we should try our best to grab whatever we could.  But how does one do this with so much on our heads at all times?

The Mishnah in Avos says, "Don't say, 'I will study when I have time,' for perhaps you will never have the time."  The Kotzker Rebbe said on this, "Perhaps that is the very thing that G-d wants from you, to study when you do not have the time."

Rav Schecter continues:  "I would like to offer the following piece of advice: Grab whatever you can without worrying about the outcome.  You will soon see that you gained much more in the moments when your mind was unsettled, than in the times you were calm.  This is alluded to in another Mishnah: 'Whoever fulfills the Torah in poverty, will ultimately fulfill it in wealth.'  Precisely by studying Torah in the 'poor' times, when things are not going so well, we will eventually come to study it amidst 'riches' – when things will go very well.  For in this world, the main time to serve G-d is when times are difficult."

He continues and offers advice to have different learning "cycles" planned for different periods of life.  We can have structured times of learning, where we learn gemara or halacha.  And we have unstructured times of learning, like waiting for the bus, or for appointments, where we have something "lighter," such as the parsha, or saying Tehillim.  And when you don't understand a certain concept, move on!  If you sit too long and cannot figure it out, you're more likely to give up.

We have plenty of pocket-sized chumashim, mishnyaos, Tehillim, etc. We have hundreds of only audio Dvrei Torah dealing with all areas of learning that can be accessed wherever you are.  We are living in a time where you can literally listen to Dvrei Torah wherever you are on a whole range of topics.  You can transform a ten-minute walk into a ten-minute walk while doing a major mitzvah.  You can't handle gemara right now?  No problem.  There's mishnayos.  Too difficult still? No problem.  There's parsha, Jewish outlook, Jewish law, on levels from beginners to expert.  It's all there for our taking.

A friend once pointed out that two of the main commentaries on the Shulchan Oruch that we were learning at the time wrote their commentaries while either on the run for their lives, or constantly being forced from one location to another.  Yet, here we are, living a rather comfortable life, and we cannot reach such levels.  Thankfully, Hashem is not looking for us to accomplish what others accomplish in their lifetimes.  He's only interested in our doing our best and grabbing what we can grab.

With that, I wish you all a quiet and peaceful Shabbos.

A few months ago, a good friend of mine (currently living in England) and I were speaking about something or another of deep importance.  And somehow, the subject of squirrels came up (don't ask).  I mentioned that I missed seeing squirrels, since we don't have any here.  Instead, we have stray cats.  And I, along with every non-Russian, happen to hate cats.

Yesterday, he was nice enough to send me a video of some squirrels he saw, because … why not?  That's what friends do!

So, I called out to the family, "Who wants to see squirrels???" and immediately, all the children came rushing to me, since they've only heard of such legendary beings from my wife and me and have yet to actually see them.

They thought that they were "soooooooooo cute."

I happen to agree.  Squirrels rock!

"If you walk in My statutes (chukim) and keep My commandments" (Vayikra 26: 3).

Rashi quotes a Midrash which asks, "What are these chukim?  You cannot say that Hashem is speaking about keeping the mitzvos, because the next words ("keep My commandments") clearly refers to keeping mitzvos.  Rather, it must refer to the mitzvah of being "osek b'Torah," delving into the laws of the Torah to understand them well and to use that understanding to do the mitzvos properly.  The word “chok” represents an idea or law that needs to be learned deeply in order to understand.

In fact, that is why Ashkanazim say in the blessings of the Torah every morning, "… Who commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah (l'asok b'dvrei Torah)."  This pasuk and this Midrash are the basis for the language chosen, rather than "… Who commanded us regarding the words of Torah," which Sfardim use.

Furthermore, the Shulchan Oruch states that if one says the brachos on the Torah in the morning and doesn't learn until later in the day, he does not have to repeat the brachos again.  This Shulchan Oruch is based on an argument that goes back many centuries, which we will not go into here.  However, Tosfos and Rabbeinu Yona (Berachos 11a) ask why is this so?  With other mitzvos, if one has a break between the bracha and the mitzvah, he has to repeat the bracha.  For example, if I say a bracha on taking a lulav and then ADHD hits me and I see a bird, or perhaps a squirrel, and start running after it, when I get back to my senses, I need to say the bracha again, followed by the mitzvah.  So, why is this case different?

The answer they give is that the mitzvah of learning Torah is obligated on a man 24/7.  It is a continuous mitzvah, unlike a lulav, which once you do, you are done with the mitzvah.  Therefore, even if one makes a bracha on learning Torah first thing in the morning and does not actually learn until later in the day, he does not need to make a new bracha.

From here we learn the importance of not just learning Torah, but learning Torah in depth, to properly understand it and use it.

My Rosh Yeshiva used to say that nowadays, with so much technology, we have very little excuse not to use our time properly.  Whether driving to work, riding the train or bus, washing the dishes, etc., we all have access to devices, whether smartphones or mp3 players, that allow us to listen to divrei Torah.  A person who is in a location where he cannot learn with anybody, can always find "somebody," either live or via recording, to learn even Gemara with.  What other time in Jewish history was it possible for a working man to go through the entire Talmud all "by himself"?

On one hand, there is an abundance of impurity running free in the world.  Yet, Hashem was kind enough to give us an abundance of opportunities to use our time wisely, no matter where a person is holding in life or even where they are living.

With that, I leave you all with a wonderful Shabbos!

My wife took our two oldest children to Meron on Lag B’Omer night.  We’re only 25 minutes away.  Why not?  When they came back and showed me the photos and the things they saw, I realized how similar and how completely different their upbringing is from mine.  When I grew up, we had Disneyland or Six Flags as the big, fun, adventure, especially as day turned to night and all the lights came on.  You had Cinderella (or whoever was in charge) and her castle, and throughout the park were all the different characters from Disney or Looney Toons.  That was fun!

My kids?  They’ve never heard the words “Disneyland” nor “Six Flags."  Instead, they have Meron on Lag B’Omer.  Instead of Cinderella in her castle, there’s the Boyaner Rebbe lighting the first bonfire with thousands of people singing and dancing.  Instead of the Disney characters, you have the…“Meron” characters, who are often strange, weird, on drugs, have psychological issues, or (most likely) all of the above.  You even come to recognize several of them after awhile.  And while they can be entertaining (much more so than the seven dwarfs), my children know, in the end, that it’s a holy place where one, actually several, of the pillars of Judaism are buried.

“And if you do not listen to Me, nor do all of these mitzvos…” (Vayikra 26:14). 

This week’s parsha describes the good that will happen when we follow the Torah and the opposite when we do not.

Unfortunately, throughout our history, we have suffered greatly from all nations.  Even America, from what I’m hearing, is not immune to this.  Many people will look at this and wonder why.  I also enjoy quoting Mark Twain on this: “The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?"

When we hear that another person’s child did something wrong and hurt another person, we might get upset about it, but it will eventually fade away.  However, when we hear that our own child did something wrong, we begin to worry, and it consumes us for days, if not longer.  It hurts us, and we think of ways to try to correct the situation before it develops further.

Our relationship with Hashem is that of a father and son, and history has proven it time and time again.  Regarding other nations, they come and go.  Which other nation has gone through so much, yet still continues to thrive?  Who would have thought, 75 years ago, that there would be growing Jewish communities?  All the more so in Eretz Yisroel which is surrounded by neighbors who wish to harm them?

Even though, time and time again, we have moved away from Hashem, “forcing” Hashem to bring us back (one way or another), our history is a living proof of the special relationship we, as a nation, have, that no other nations can claim and prove.

So, instead of looking at Jewish history as a long and painful (continuing) story of persecution and trouble, we should look at it and think, “It’s amazing that we are still alive and doing so well!”  This is the ultimate proof of our father-son relationship.

Have a great Shabbos!

My apologies for all the duplicates and the cut-up dvar Torah.  My editor, yes, I have one, and no, she's not my wife, has been having some technical issues.  At least that's what's she's been saying.  I think she's been hitting the bottle a little to hard, but don't tell her I said that...

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Two nights ago, my wife and I woke up from some loud rumbling.  We’ve had some late-season rains and thunderstorms recently, so in my daze, I asked her if there is any laundry outside that needs to be brought in.  She answered in the affirmative, so I went outside to bring it in.  However, I noticed when I got outside, the sky was clear and the stars were out.  My brain then figured out what was going on.  I returned to the room, informed my wife, that “it’s just a war," and promptly fell back  to sleep.  Honestly, if countries are going to try to kill themselves, can’t they at least let me get a few hours of sleep? 

“And they shall confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, in their treachery which they committed against me, and also they have walked contrary unto Me.  I also will walk contrary unto them, and bring them into the land of their enemies” (Vayikra 26:40-41).

I’ll be honest, when reading this as part of the parsha, I never noticed this.  When reading these two psukim, it doesn’t seem to make much sense.  First they will confess their sins, then they will be punished.  That’s generally not a good thing.

The Chofetz Chaim remarks that confessing one’s sins without actually doing anything to CORRECT one’s sins, is not worth a thing.  When a person does something wrong, feels bad afterwards, and continues on with life without actually doing anything about it, then what? He’ll simply continue to repeat that sin, and his account will continue to fall "into debt."

When attempting to do teshuva, one must regret and confess over what he did wrong.  But, he MUST also attempt to make some change in life in order that it doesn’t happen again.  If it happens again, fine; make another change that will hopefully work.  For THAT, nothing can be held against you, since you are making a real attempt to change your life.

Have a great Shabbos!

You may all be jealous of me!

This past Shabbos I ate my first corn-on-the-cob in 10 years!

In Israel, certain vegetables should not be eaten (broccoli, cauliflower, corn-on-the-cob, etc.) unless washed properly. Unfortunately, these things in Israel (compared to the U.S.) are practically impossible to rid of bugs (it's a whole topic of discussion one . . .).

One of the members of the kollel holds a vegetable sale every week with very good prices, all of them grown bug-free. This past week he offered corn-on-the-cob for 18 NIS/kilogram (2.12 USD per pound - is that good?). We bought it for Shabbos, and it was AMAZING! I felt like I was "Mr. Rich Man" eating my fancy, rich-person food.

This week, the price dropped to 14 NIS/kg.

And the best part? Most of our kids don't like it!

More for us!

Okay, on to Torah!
I have to thank Rabbi Yechezkel Hirshman and his book “One Above and Seven Below: A Consumer’s Guide to Orthodox Judaism from the Perspective of the Chareidim.”

I bought it around seven years ago from the author’s son, who, at the time, was in our yeshivah. (He ended up leaving to go to the army in order to start working. He once came to visit in uniform and before he left, we asked that next time he bring two Arab heads with him. He told us, “YOU guys better do your jobs right and learn well, so we can be successful out there. Obviously, his parents did something right.)

The book is designed for the NCOJ (Non-Chareidi Orthodox Jew) to show him how the Chareidi Jew thinks. He of course defines “what is a chareidi” and in the end says that you can substitute many different names in place of Chareidi, and you will get the same affect. In this case, I want to use “Ben Torah” instead of Chareidi. The book itself is very easy to read and, I think, gives a good accounting to what the difference is between a Ben Torah and an NCOJ. I recommend reading it, since he does a good job helping define what are Chareidim and does it in a clear, entertaining way.

The Torah states (Vaykira 26:3-12): “If you are to walk within my statutes and guard my commandments and perform them. And I shall give the rains in their time and the land will give forth its yield and the tree of the field will give its fruit . . . . And I shall walk in your midst and be your G-d and you shall be to me for a nation . . .”

This week’s parsha gives us a good deal: Walk within His statues and guard His commandments, and He shall take care of us.

What does Rashi say concerning “If you are to walk within my statues”:

“I would assume that this is the fulfillment of the commandments. However, when the verse states ‘and guard my commandments,’ the fulfillment of the commandments is indicated. So, how am I to maintain ‘If you are to walk within my statues?’ that you must toil in the study of Torah?”

The parsha continues, “And if you do not hearken to Me and you do not perform all of these commandments. And if in My statutes you will display loathing . . . .” To which Rashi comments:

“And if you do not hearken to Me: To toil in Torah and to be knowledgeable of the exegeses of the Sages . . .”

Rashi continues further down describing what happens when a person does not toil in Torah:

“Here are seven transgressions, the first one draws in the second one, and so on until the seventh. And these are they: Does not study; does not perform; loathes others who perform; despises the Sages; prevents others from performing; denounces the commandments; denounces the main concept.”

We see that by toiling, not simply learning lightly, but by exerting ourselves in Torah, we bring great brachah to this world. However, but failing to toil, one begins down a very slippery slope. Hence we either are the “One above” by toiling in Torah, or one of the “Seven below,” by not.

Rabbi Hirshman explains that there are two types of people: consumers and providers. He writes:

“In some religions there is a marked distinction between the providers and the consumers, a caste system of sorts. The providers are called clergy and the consumers are called laymen. Laymen are discouraged from encroaching into the domain of the clergy. Orthodox Judaism does not advocate such a schism between clergy and layman. Every Jew is encouraged to be as knowledgeable about his religion as he can be. We consider it to be ideal for every Jew to be a provider. Consumerism is deemed not ideal, but still acceptable.”

A Ben Torah will always look at being a consumer to be something that is not “first rate” and should only be relied upon when he has no choice. A non-Ben Torah Orthodox Jew, will be happy being a consumer. He doesn’t need to know the details, just to know what the basics are.

Of course, on some level, we are all consumers. When we buy food, we are relying on the kashrus organization to be doing proper checks on the product. We are the consumers, and they, who are knowledgeable of this particular product, are the providers. But, in many matters of halachah and Jewish thought, it is imperative that one strives to be a provider.

He writes that there are six hazards to being a consumer:

1. A lack of faculties to deal with the situation when one suddenly finds oneself in a position where he must be a “provider.” He gave an example of how he and several families were at a hotel for Shabbos. He and another person were discussing before Shabbos on how to properly put up an eruv, which will allow them to carry objects within the hotel grounds. A third person came up and said, “What’s the problem? Just tie a string from there to there!” When a consumer sees an eruv, he simply sees a string. When a provider sees an eruv, he sees all aspects of the halachic issues that go into making an eruv (which is a complicated subject).

2. A lack of intellectual capacity to discern between an authentic religious phenomenon and a semblance of one. People who read blogs written by so-called Orthodox writers tend to fall for their arguments due to their lack of knowledge in certain areas.

3. Vulnerability for allowing concepts (read: propaganda) from non-religious sources to influence one’s position on religious issues. A great example is when mitzvah-observant Jews fight openly for gay marriage. It’s anti-Torah. Period. But they have a concept of “separation of church and state” in their heads. So being American is a bigger priority than being a Torah Jew.

4. Vulnerability to the erroneous impression that one need not “buy all the items in the product line” (i.e. he can pick and choose which halachos he wants to follow). Examples are: married women not covering their hair, not abiding by laws that prohibit touching between non-related men and women, cooking done by non-Jews, etc. We’re not talking about people faltering, or people coming from non-religious backgrounds who are taking things slowly, we’re talking about people saying “yes” to these halachos and “no” to those halachos, without any intention of moving upwards.

5. A lack of knowledgeable conviction to inspire subsequent generations to remain within the fold.

6. A consumerist Jew is in danger of regarding himself to exist on a plane that is separate from other observant Jews whereas, and in many cases because, he does not comprehend their ideology. This is where Isaiah comes in:
“Hear the word of G-d, those who are anxious (in Hebrew: chareidim) towards His word; your brethren, those who hate you, those who shun you, have said, ‘It is for my name’s sake that G-d finds glory,’ and we shall see in your rejoicing and they will be ashamed” (Isaiah 66:5).

There are a few commentaries that give different explanations on this pasuk. However, Rashi, Radak, Malbim and others write that these “brethren who hate you” are religious Jews who hate those who are more learned than they. They ARE our brethren (the Malbim writes "brethren in commandments") but they hate those who are “anxious (chareidim) toward his word.”

He continues on with different examples of each of these hazards, but if a person is honest with himself, he can find several of these in his own life, either currently or (hopefully, just) in his past.

When a person toils or participates in some way in “toiling in Torah,” he is not only bringing brachah into this world, but he is also strengthening his entire core. When a person WHO KEEPS MITZVOS AND CALLS HIMSELF ORTHODOX AND FOLLOWS HALACHAH, yet remains a consumerist, he, or his children WILL stop performing, and will loathe others who perform, will despise the Sages . . .

This, I believe, is the fundamental difference between a Ben Torah, and religious Jew who is not. One does NOT need to sit in kollel all day and learn. However, he needs to recognize the fact that toiling in Torah is one of the most fundamental aspects of Judaism and one of the most important things he can do for himself and for his future generations. The more one is educated about the product that he is trying to use, the better he is able to use such a product and pass it on to others.

I was discussing this concept with another member of the kollel. He’s a fellow Canadian, in his early 60s. He moved to Israel when he was 16 or so, was completely non-religious, a veteran of two wars, has a mother who dated William Shatner, and is a bigger nerd than I. We were once laughing at certain concepts that we once carried in our heads about Judaism, and how things were "straightened" out by simply sitting and learning.

People should not overestimate and think that they need to know what they already know and that’s that. They should always be pushing themselves in toiling in Torah, each on their own level, and each according to their own strengths. There is a fine line between being a “One Above”-nik or becoming a “Seven Below”-nik. Both can be called Orthodox, but only one will be a Ben Torah.

With that, I wish you all a wonderful Shabbos!

Michael Winner

“If you go in my ways… and I will give peace in the land… and the sword will not pass through your lands…” (Vayikra 26:3-6)

“What is meant by ‘If you go in my ways…’? That you should be labouring in Torah study” (Rashi)

The Midrash (Eicha Rabbah) writes, “Rebbi once sent Rav Asi and Rav Ami to a certain city in Eretz Yisroel (they lived in Babylonia). When they arrived at this city, they asked, ‘Where are the guardians of the city?’ And out came the head of the army. When Rav Asi and Rav Ami saw him, they said, ‘THIS is your guardian of the city!?’ The city representatives answered, ‘Who else would it be?’ Rav Asi and Rav Ami replied, ‘Those who learn Torah!’”

This is one of the many places found in the Midrash and Gemara which shows us the protective power of Torah. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the commando in Lebanon, nor the F-16 pilot, nor the infantryman in Hebron, protecting the Jewish people; but really it are those who are toiling in Torah day and night. Without the commandos, pilots, and infantrymen, Hashem would find ways of protecting the Jewish nation as he has for the last 3300 years. Without those learning Torah day and night, the commandos, pilots, and infantrymen, wouldn’t stand a chance.

This is evidenced throughout the Torah, Talmid, and Midrashim, and is central in Jewish belief.

Rav Simshon Pincus wrote of a very embarrassing incident that occurred when he was a Rosh Yeshivah in Yerucham. At that time, he was very close with a certain Talmid Chacham. Unfortunately, a tragedy occurred and the Talmid Chacham was killed. Shortly before speaking at this person’s funeral, Rav Pincus said that he wasn’t feeling the pain of losing such a person, but rather, he felt pained by embarrassment. He kept thinking to himself, “Here I am, a Rosh Yeshivah, and I need to protect my students with my Torah learning and my prayers, and I’ve failed…”

After giving his eulogy, somebody came over and noted how Rav Pincus spoke well. These words as well penetrated his heart… “Is this the job of a Rosh Yeshivah? To say good eulogies???”

When tragedies occur, say Rav Pincus, we, especially those who have the time and ability to sit and learn Torah, should feel pain and embarrassment. When a company commander loses soldiers, he has to feel the pain, like any other human. He goes over in his head what he might have done wrong and what he could have done different. Why? Because ultimately, it’s his responsibility. So too is it the responsibility of the “guardians of the city”. When they are not using their time appropriately, then the defenses are breached and tragedy is waiting to come in.

These Motzei Shabbos begins Lag B’Omer, which is the yartzeit of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai. No other individual in Jewish history has his own ‘holiday’. Without going into detail, which could be found here (http://www.frum.org/dvreitorah/viewDvar.aspx?dtTypeID=1&DvarTorahID=344), Rebbe Shimon stood for one thing and one thing only: Learning Torah. Anything else, including working for a living, was not allowed. While the Halacha does not follow him in this regard, unless somebody wishes to take it upon himself, his beliefs and teachings were very clear on this matter. That is why my Rosh Yeshivah held very strongly that one does not leave the beis medresh to celebrate on Lag B’Omer day. “How can one celebrate the life of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai by LEAVING THE TORAH??????”

On this Lag B’Omer, let’s keep in mind the teachings of Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai that Rashi in this week’s parsha brought out for us. It is the in-depth study of Torah that keeps and protects this nation. Anything else is but a mirage.

Have a great Shabbos!

I’ve been pushing myself lately in my Hebrew. Now that I’m settled in the new community, and most people in our community don’t speak a word of English, I’ve been finally forced to use Hebrew more and more. When you live in Jerusalem, you’re not pushed at all, but here, being that I and my friend are the only full-blooded Americans in the community (some more are moving in soon), we have no choice but to adapt.

Adapting to the Israeli mentality, or at least outlook, is something we’ve done over the years. Therefore, we don’t feel outside “the box” in any way, it’s just been our language skills that have been holding us back.

This week, my wife dropped off Rochel Leah at a friend’s house and ended up staying there for an hour and a half speaking to the mother from Bnei Brak.

Just yesterday, I was on the bus back from Jerusalem, and had a forty-five minute conversation with a kibbutznik.

While, my vocabulary has not increased dramatically, I’ve found that I’m able to speak quicker and feel more comfortable in speaking. I also found that I’m forgetting English words, since I’ve been using the Hebrew version all the time. It’s an interesting transformation to be part of. Hopefully, it will continue to get better.

Okay, on to Torah!
“And you will dwell securely in your Land” (Vayikra 26:5)

Dr. Moshe Rothschild was once in Rome with R’ Yosef Kananeman, the Ponevezher Rav and founder of the famed Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak.

Once, when they were in a taxi, the rav continuously repeated over and over to himself, “I am going to settle the score with him once and for all.”

Naturally, Dr. Rothschild could not imagine who the rav was speaking about, since the rav would never speak about any person!

When the taxi neared the Arch of Titus, the rav asked the driver to stop. He then left the car, walked up to the arch and looked at the image of the Menorah being carried away by Roman soldiers with the words, “Judea is destroyed” written below.

He straightened his hat and clothing, and at the top of his voice, he cried, “Tirus, TITUS! Two thousand years ago you wished to obliterate the Jewish people and to leave no remnant of them. But heed my words, Titus: Who today knows who you are? When a person walks the streets of Rome and asks his children who Titus was, they do not even know how to pronounce his name correctly. Nothing is left of your heritage! Are there any people in the world who see themselves as the bearers of your legacy?

“I just arrived from Bnei Brak, Israel, the Land you wished to destroy. At this moment there are over 500 students sitting and studying the Torah, which you so badly wanted to make us forget. And that is only in MY yeshivah! There are hundreds of other yeshivos and Torah institutions all over the world, in which tens of thousands of people study Torah as well!

“You disgraced the Holy of Holies terribly, but I invite you to come now to the Kosel, the remnant of our Beis HaMikdash, and see how Jews stand there day and night bewailing its destruction, eagerly awaiting its rebuilding, and studying its structure and all the relevant laws about the service. That is the clearest possible sign that our Beis HaMikdash will be rebuilt speedily.

“You have been forgotten forever, and your name has been forgotten; but Judea will forever be, and will yet blossom!”

Perhaps, this “speech” is something we need to remember every time people come and attempt to sway us from Torah and mitzvos. It’s probably fitting to quote Mark Twain who put it so well:

“The Egyptians, the Babylonians and the Persians rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greeks and Romans followed and made a vast noise, and they were gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, and have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, survived them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities, of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert but aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jews; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”

We know what the “secret” is… we just need to continue to live and learn it.

Have a great Shabbos!

I few months ago, I spoke about the governmental crackdown on yeshivas, making more inspections with tougher rules to make sure people are sitting and learning, instead of ripping off the system. As I said then, I have no problems with the government checking up on this… it’s their money. However, I wasn’t too keen on how yeshivas were the focus on this crackdown, considering 1) they take up so little of the budget 2) every other government office has horrific records on these very same issues.

So… the government came with their new strict rules and did their checks.

I saw a report a few weeks ago from a very non-religious paper with the results.

Out of around 1700 something yeshivas checked. 17 were asked to give back the money, because they did not pass the inspections.

1% failure.

Let’s see the government beat that!


This week, the Torah goes over the process of donating one's value to the Beis HaMikdash. Basically, if a person wanted to donate his "value on the market" in money to the Beis HaMikdash, his value is dependent on his or her gender and his or her age.

If we look at the different amounts, we see that after a certain age, a person's value begins to diminish. It's interesting to note that a woman's value diminishes much less than a man's value.

Rashi (27:7) explains that this is because an elderly woman is more helpful than an elderly man. The Chizkuni explains that this is because generally men are more involved with physical labour compared to women, hence throughout the years; he becomes weaker and weaker and wears himself down more than women.

It's not so much age that depreciates a person's value, but rather the depletion of strength that does it.

It's an interesting lesson to learn. Every year at this time, I think to myself, "What am I doing during Sfiros HaOmer to prepare for Shavous?" Each day, I get caught up in doing this and doing that, and I don't have time or energy to concentrate on the meaning of each individual day during the sfira.

So, here's a helpful answer.

Every day, Hashem grants us X amount of energy to use for our daily purpose. Chances are, by the end of that particular day, we would have used up all that delegated energy. What we do with that given energy is what counts. If we use it on foolishness, then its wasted energy; a wasted gift from Hashem. However, if we use it all for mitzvos, we are fulfilling our daily goals and fulfilling the reason that we were given such energy.

I think this is comparable to an expensive, new car. When we put in high quality gasoline, the car will continue to run well for a longer period of time. It ages less. However, when we treat it like junk and put poor quality fuel in it, it will age quicker, and its value will drop quicker.

Using each day properly is one of the goals of Sfiras HaOmer. Use it well, and you will arrive on Shavous, with a higher "market value".

Have a great Shabbos!

I learned a very important lesson yesterday.

There are no such concepts of “responsibility” or “accountability” in Israeli society. One of the biggest challenges for anybody moving here is to learn that lesson well. I can give you a 200-page essay on this with more examples than anybody wants to hear, but for brevity sake, I won’t.

Yesterday, my wife saw the postman stealing mail. For envelopes from the US to disappear is something to be expected. Since it’s from the US, it must be a check or cash, therefore its easy prey for people (hence… you need a PO Box). This particular mailman thought nobody was looking and quickly placed it in his pants and resumed his route.

My wife, obviously enraged over seeing such a thing, ran and called the local post office, run by a Canadian who happens to be a very good and honest person. After 45 minutes of non-stop calling since nobody at the post office could bother to actually answer; she got a hold of the manager, who when he heard the story, became upset. Unfortunately, the mail carriers come from the central office and not from him. He took down the details and said he would try his best to found out who it was.

As good as he is, we all know nothing is going to happen. He most likely will not get anywhere as nobody will bother to do anything about it.

Another quick case: When my wife was expecting, the doctor thought he noticed an irregularity and sent her to the ER for an ultrasound. The doctor, fluent in English, refused to speak to her in English, since “you’ve been here long enough that you should speak Hebrew fluently”. After spending hours attempting to get hold of the ER manager, who never seems to be at work, in order to report this doctor, she simply gave up.

On the bus home yesterday, I was brewing over the situation and how a simple Apache helicopter could solve many of these issues. It’s bad enough to have such people out there (and it’s EVERYWHERE here), but the complete lack of power, is the thing that hurts the most. They’ll continue to do what they want, and you’ll continue to suffer.

You doubt me? Ask anybody who’s moved here. And I don’t want to hear… “yeah, we have that here in America...”…. you don’t.

It then hit me.

Eretz Yisroel is a land that brings you closer to Hashem. Here you are surrounded by people who could not be bothered to do their work properly, often causing mental and emotional stress and financial loss to those who they affect. But that’s the point! Our number one goal in life is to become close to Hashem. The way to do that is through strengthening our emunah. What’s the quickest way to do that? To acknowledge that you have no power in this world and that everything comes from Him. And here, it’s “easier” to realize that… but only if you’re willing to. When Hashem puts you in situations where you are powerless to do a thing, you have no choice but to turn to him. I then realized that to live here and truly have the honour of being able to have that feeling every day, is a chessed that Hashem did for those who chose to live in Eretz Yisroel.

Okay, on to more Torah!
I just heard a nice dvar torah in the name of Rav Moshe Feinstein.

In this week's parsha, Hashem gives us a detailed warning on what will happen to us if we fail to follow the Torah properly. Following these gruesome details, the Torah goes on to discuss the rules of valuations. If somebody wanted to 'donate himself' to the Beis Hamikdash, the Cohanim would evaluate the person and state a monetary amount which he would then pay.

Rav Feinstein questioned why these two subjects are right next to each other? What does tochacha (reproof) have to do with valuations?

He answers that it's only after a person goes through trying times, which is most often a reproof from Hashem, that he can truly look at himself afterwards and give an honest evaluation.

Before any hard times, it's easy for a person to fool himself into thinking he's on a high spiritual level. But the truth is, a person can be judged properly when he sees how he holds himself in trying times. I believe it was Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain of the famed 20th Maine (at least famed for us Civil War history nerds) that said, "War is for the participants a test of character: it makes bad men worse and good men better".

The war with the yetzer horah is no different. When it's peaceful, you can trick yourself, but in the heat of battle, you're able to take a good look at yousrelf and see who you truly are.

With that, I wish you all a great Shabbos!

"And I will place peace in the land" (Vayikra 26:6)

A lack of peace generally is a result of Group A wanting something that Group B has, but Group A doesn't have.

When people feel envy for others, there will not be peace between him and that other person. Every time he sees that person, he will not love him as he should; rather, he will feel nothing but contempt and anger, since that person has something which he does not.

I once heard of a case where somebody survived a long fight with cancer and wanted to make a big seudas hodah (a meal in honour of the thanks that he is giving to Hashem). He brought this up with Rav Chaim Kanievsky who told him that he should not carry through with his plans.

He explained that nowadays everybody has envy for everybody else, that they cannot truly have simcha for somebody else''''s success. He was afraid, that instead of everybody being happy for that person, that they would subconsciously give him an eyin horah ("evil eye").

One of the foundations of peace between people is the ability to be truly happy for somebody else's success in life.

This past week, Rav Chaim Flom, Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Dovid, passed away after a six-month fight against a brain tumor.

I believe he was in his fifties.

I had the honour of knowing him for the past twelve years; picking him up at the airport whenever he came to Chicago, living next to him for a year and a half in Sandhedria Murchevet, Jerusalem, and during that period, learning with him every Shabbos afternoon.

While at most funerals, a positive point or two of the deceased is usually praised. However, this was impossible for Rabbi Flom.

All religious Jews learn Torah during their day. Thankfully, thousands worldwide can say that they sit and learn it throughout the day. However, very few can be said to take their learning and truly incorporate it into their very being. Very few can really be called a Ben Torah.

Rabbi Flom was one of those few.

There was no "one point" to praise about him. His chesed was practically unmatched. Being one of the few to own his own car, Rabbi Flom was well known for giving free rides to people throughout the city. Once on a ride home with him, he stopped off at every bus stop and asked, "We're on our way to Sanhedria Murcheved. Anybody need a ride there or a place on the way?"

When he got a positive, he would speak to that person throughout the ride, getting to know him and making him feel good.

Whenever he would see my wife on the street, his first question was, "Hello Mrs. Winner! Is Michael treating you properly?” with a sly smile on his face.

His love for learning was unmatched. Someone at the funeral pointed out that Rabbi Flom spoke only Torah to people.

To be honest, I never noticed. But when I thought about it, I realized that it was true. He always had a fascinating question or dvar torah to discuss. And it was so natural for him to be discussing it; you never really noticed that you were talking Torah the whole time.

Another point that was made was his happiness in hearing about the success of his students, no matter how far apart he was from them.

Rabbi Flom, around the world, had hundreds, if not thousands of students. Obviously, he could not keep up with every one of them, but his face would light up with a smile whenever he heard good news.

It is a strange thing to know that every time I walk into his neighborhood, I know that I won't be seeing him. Those who know him know what the world lost, and hopefully those who didn't will learn of his life and internalize his lessons.

I wish you all a great Shabbos!

I apologize for not sending out a dvar torah last week. It was sort of hectic. In addition to this weeks dvar torah, which WILL come out on Wednesday or Thursday, I thought it would be nice to post what Rav Brody wrote on last week's parsha. Enjoy!

A chochmolog (Hebrew slang for "wise guy" or know-it-all) went to a Mitsubishi dealer in Tel Aviv to purchase a new car. The salesman told him that the 5-year/ 50,000 mile guarantee is only valid when the car owner fulfills all the warranty terms, as listed in the owner's manual.

For a few months, the chochmolog was happy as a lark in his new car. After a while, he thought to himself, "Hey, why do I have to buy expensive 10/40 weight oil for 4 bucks a quart, when I can get Mazola corn oil on sale at the supermarket for $1.79!" The idiot didn't realize that lubricating pistons and frying potatoes are two different issues. Within a very short time, the car was a wreck.

Last week's Torah portion begins by saying (Lev. 26, 3-6), "If you walk in the path of My laws and fulfill My commandments...I shall grant you peace in the Land of Israel and you shall lay down your heads at night with no fear...for the sword shall not pass through your land." Any simpleton can see that these are The Manufacturer's instructions for peace in The Middle East.

The political chochmologs, like the dimwit in our opening anecdote who wrecked his new Mitsubishi, think they can improve on the Torah's advice. Instead of fulfilling The Creator's commandments for peace in Israel, they dream up other idiotic ideas like the Oslo accords and Roadmap, while trying to disengage themselves from the warranty requirements for a healthy Israel. But, unlike the fool who wrecked his own car, the political chochmologs are trying to destroy my beloved country Israel.

The only peace plan that can ever be viable is the one in this week's Torah portion. All others are doomed to utter failure. Just as you can't fry a hamburger in motor oil and you can't lubricate your car's engine with Mazola or Wesson oil, you can't have peace in Israel by breaking Hashem's commandments.

The Land of Israel is The King's Palace, and Jerusalem is His inner chamber. Those who wish to reside in the proximity of The King must be especially exacting in fulfilling His laws.

http://lazerbrody.typepad.com/lazer_beams/2005/05/the_peace_proce.html

I've quickly become convinced that if you want to truely appreciate Shabbos, you need to experience it first hand in Israel. For six full days a week, the proper word to describe life here is: hectic. Come an hour before Shabbos, things, at least in the religious communities, start to change. You notice a lack of cars and buses on the streets. Starting forty minutes before sundown, the school/orphanage next door, begins playing three minutes of Shabbos songs on their Super-duper loud speakers. They finish just in time to coincide with the air raid sirens going off to give everybody a 40 minute warning. By the time the sun is down, the streets are shut down to traffic, children are out playing in the streets as men head off to shul.

After the Shabbos night meal, you can simply join the thousands of people walking up and down the streets, not sidewalks...streets. The fact that wherever you go, you can hear Shabbos songs from one apartment or the other, testifies that something is diffrent about this night. To look over the other hills in Jerusalem and know that those hills that home religious communities are completely shut down is something that can only be experienced. In Chicago, you might be able to experience Shabbos in your home or shul, but you still have the traffic, the loud neighbors playing obnoxious, loud music. Your daughters cannot walk the street late at night unless accompanied by an adult. Here though, things are a 'tad' different. Shabbos is not only in your home, but it's in the streets.

Okay, enough rambling...on to Torah!

Oh, yes. Two things. I put an interesting story on Prayer on the site you should all read. Plus, photos are going to be updated as constant as possible, so check the site for new ones whenever you want. Hopefully, I'll have one or two a week.

This week's dvar torah is titled: Why do bad things happen to good people?

Don't bother reading the book...just this.

"There is a positive commandment in the Torah to cry out and sound the trumpets for any calamity that befalls the community...and this is an aspect of repentance, for when a misfortune occurs and they cry out and sound the alarm, all will realize that is was because of their sinful actions...However, if they do not cry out..but rather say this is but an act of nature, and this misfortune is but an accident, a random occurrence, this is a manner of cruelty and causes them to continue their sinful ways... as it is written 'If you will walk contrary to Me, then I will walk contrary to you also in fury' (Vayikra 26:27-28)'"

-Rambam, Hilchos Taaniyos 1-3

Many people who do not believe in G-d write off their beliefs to the following statement: "I simply cannot believe that any god would create such a cruel world". Hence, according to them, since they see a cruel world, that means that G-d does not exist. Okay, that's fair, I guess. Not very logical, but we live in a free world.

An interesting question arises with what the Rambam wrote above. He writes that people who assign calamities of this world to random acts of nature are acting in a "manner of cruelty". It's interesting, because a more precise word would be "heresy". Why does Rambam use this type of language?

In order to understand and properly answer this question we need to understand the world. I'll be nice to you and sum it up in a few sentences. In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth.... He created this world, with Gan Eden (The Garden of Eden) in mind. It is somewhat comparable to the Smurfs (boy, am I hitting a low point in life). Of course the Smurfs lived in nice little mushroom homes, living in communion with nature, singing songs, and being all nice and Smurfy. They only had one problem to deal with during every episode: Gargamel and his cat Adrienne. They were the bad guys. It was clear and simple. Stay away from these two and life will go on perfectly. So too was the world before Applegate. Adam and Chava had the entire world at their disposal. All they had to do was stay away from the Snake (Yetzer Horah) and the Tree. That's it! Of course, they failed, and the world became what it is now. The trick is to realize that very little really changed in the world, except for our vision of it. When Adam and Chava took part of the fruit, the Yetzer Horah was no longer an external, clear-cut enemy; he became part of us, confusing good and bad. It is that mixture that throws off our view of the world, and makes good look like bad, and bad like good.

Hashem created the world in a way so that when we commit a sin and distance ourselves from Hashem, then Hashem in turn will bring misfortune upon us. Now, there are two ways of looking at this misfortune. If we look at it as an act of nature, then we will naturally believe that G-d is cruel; that He created us for his mere entertainment. That is why Rambam described this belief as a "manner of cruelty". If every misfortune that hits us in life is some random act of nature, then of course G-d is cruel for creating such a world.

We, on the other hand, take the Torah view on life. When misfortune falls on us, we don't view it as something random; rather we view it as a personal message directly from Hashem telling us to change our lives. On Yom Tov, such as Shavous in two weeks, we say in davening, "Because of our sins we have been exiled from our land". By internalizing this concept that misfortune is a message from Hashem, we can continue to elevate our lives and bring the redemption.

Have a great Shabbos!