Ohh not not a Post about Chabad again

I wasn't planning on brining up the issue of Chabad again, but as I've said before I'm very saddened by the hijacking of Chabad by individuals with non-Jewish or even Heretical beliefs.

There was recently a question sent to my former Rosh Yeshiva (Rabbi Brovender) on the Jerusalem Posts's Ask the Rabbi Column - and I thought that he gave a very clear answer, while avoiding the crux of the question ...

Q: Some people suggest in the name of well known Torah giants that the Torah rejects the notion of a deceased leader of the Jewish people being qualified to be the long awaited messiah.

They explain that fostering such a belief encourages some Jewish people to believe that the late Lubavitcher Rebbe could still be the messiah, even after his demise.

They also explain that this is not only a dangerous belief for young people, who are prone to be disappointed and abandon Orthodox practice.

Rather, there is no basis in the words of our sages obm, not in the Talmud, nor in Rabbinic writings that appeared later.

Regarding statements in the Talmud and rabbinic writing like Sdei Chemed, the concept of min hamasim is presented, these people suggest these is not meant to be understood literally.

Which view is valid?

A: The topic of the messiah appearing in our time in the guise of the previous Lubavitcher rebbe has become a serious matter in our time. Some are vehemently in favor (mostly hasidim) and some are opposed (some hasidim and many others). I take it that you feel you have to have a position and would like me to give some direction.

Although sympathetic to the enterprise of the Rabbe and in spite of the fact that I visited (yechidus) several times, I have never been part of the Habad movement. When this idea began to gain support from within I must admit that it left me cold. After all, the rebbe had many opportunities to announce his messianism which he only alluded to (according to some interpreters). The Rambam says that when the messiah comes we will all know. That seems reasonable to me. There is no doubt that the Jewish people (outside of Habad) do not know. The Rambam states further that we should try to avoid dwelling on the matter of the messiah since it is not really part of the information package that we received in our tradition.

I have thought about it and I have no way to connect to the notion that the rebbe who died some years ago continues to function as the messiah.

In spite of the rebbes obvious greatness, it seems to be another mistake that the Jews have made on this topic.

We continue to pray fo the coming of the messiah in our time.

MSNBC News Coverage

For the first time that I recall, a lot of foreign news coverage is at least attempting to show the realities behind the current war.

Take a look at this depiction of life in Sderot from MSNBC:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

(hat tip: Gruntig!)

The Day the Teacher Stayed Home

Imagine the following scenario:

You are a teacher in a kindergarten. Like many of your friends, a co-teacher has a son in the army who has been called up to go into Gaza.

Your co-teacher takes the day off school to run some errands, probably a good distraction, after all it must be very stressful having a son directly in harm's way. On your co-teacher's day off, an army vehicle pulls up and three officers get out and ask to speak to your co-teacher.

Fearing the worst, you explain that the co-teacher is away for the day, but ask if there is a message that you can pass on. The officers say that they need to speak to your co-teacher and cannot give any information directly to you - they need to speak to her directly as soon as possible.

They leave the kindergarten and head to her at her house, but return an hour later, having still not been able to contact her.
By now there is no question why they need to speak to her. You manage to reach her on the phone and speak to her, knowing that shortly her whole world will be shattered, and head to her home to wait for her, together with the officers carrying the news that no one wants to hear.....

This is the story of Rachel Salamah, a co-work and friend of Dalia Emmanueloff whose son Dvir was the first casualty of the current war in Gaza.

You can read the sory on the Jerusalem Post.

Paula has more information about Dvir on her blog.

May HaShem have mercy on all our brothers, fathers, and sons currently protecting their homeland, and bring the home safely to their families.

Please stop and recite a perek Tehilim for their safe return.

תהילים פרק כ א. לַמְנַצֵּחַ, מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד ב. יַעַנְךָ ה', בְּיוֹם צָרָה; יְשַׂגֶּבְךָ, שֵׁם אֱלֹקי יַעֲקֹב ג. יִשְׁלַח-עֶזְרְךָ מִקֹּדֶשׁ; וּמִצִּיּוֹן, יִסְעָדֶךָּ ד. יִזְכֹּר כָּל-מִנְחֹתֶךָ; וְעוֹלָתְךָ יְדַשְּׁנֶה סֶלָה ה. יִתֶּן-לְךָ כִלְבָבֶךָ; וְכָל-עֲצָתְךָ יְמַלֵּא. ו. נְרַנְּנָה, בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ - וּבְשֵׁם-אֱלֹקינוּ נִדְגֹּל; יְמַלֵּא ה', כָּל-מִשְׁאֲלוֹתֶיךָ ז. עַתָּה יָדַעְתִּי - כִּי הוֹשִׁיעַ ה', יַעֲנֵהוּ, מִשְּׁמֵי עֲנֵהוּ, מִשְּׁמֵי קָדְשׁוֹ - בִּגְבֻרוֹת, יֵשַׁע יְמִינוֹ ח. אֵלֶּה בָרֶכֶב, וְאֵלֶּה בַסּוּסִים; וַאֲנַחְנוּ, בְּשֵׁם-ה' אֱלֹקינוּ נַזְכִּיר .ט הֵמָּה, כָּרְעוּ וְנָפָלוּ; וַאֲנַחְנוּ קַּמְנוּ, וַנִּתְעוֹדָד .י ה' הוֹשִׁיעָה הַמֶּלֶךְ, יַעֲנֵנוּ בְיוֹם-קָרְאֵנוּ

Tfilla

As our soldiers entered Gaza over the past few hours, we should all spend a minute to stop and pray for or recite Tehillim on behalf of these young men (and their families waiting for them at home), as well for all the families under siege in the South.

If you want to understand the concept of Tfilla with proper Kavana, try to put yourself in the shoes of a soldier deployed over Shabbat on the border with Gaza - how do you think his Tefilla was, knowing that within a few hours he would be seeing the true evil of war face to face.

I imagine that the Tefilla was very different from a regular Shabbat morning.

Following is the Tfilla written by Rav Shmue Eliahu, approved by his father (May HaShem grant him a Refual Shleima)

יהי רצון מלפניך ה' אלוקינו ואלוקי אבותינו שתרחם עלינו ועם כל תושבי הדרום.
הגן עלינו ברוב חסדך ופרוס עלינו סוכת שלומך.
חזק את ידי הלוחמים המגינים עלינו ומוסרים את נפשם למעננו.
שמור עליהם והגן עליהם מכל רע.
הפר עצת אויבינו ושונאינו "חרבם תבוא בליבם וקשתותם תשברנה".
ריבונו של עולם, תן בלב מנהיגנו חוכמה ועוז ותעצומות נפש להכרית את כל אויבינו, ותקויים בהם תפילת דוד המלך עליו השלום: "ארדוף אויבי ואשיגם ולא אשוב עד כלותם".
אמן. כן יהי רצון

English Translation
"May it be Your Will, L-rd our G-d and G-d of our forefathers, that You will have mercy on us and on all the residents of the south.

Protect us in the bounty of your kindness and spread out over us the shelter of Your peace.

Strengthen the arms of the fighting soldiers who protect us and give their souls for us.

Protect them and guard them from all misfortune.

Foil the plans of our haters and enemies; "Their swords shall plunge into their hearts and their bows shall break."

Sovereign of the Universe, give our leaders wisdom and courage and strength of heart to annihilate all of our enemies, and let the prayer of King David, may he rest in peace, come true regarding them: "I shall chase after my enemies and I shall catch up to them and I will not return until they are destroyed." Amen.

Letter to the New Zealand Herald

The New Zealand Herald posted an editorial calling for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State.

I just sent the following response, we'll see whether it gets published...

As a New Zealand citizen living in Israel, I read with horror an Editorial in the New Zealand Herald indirectly calling for my death.

The Editorial calls for the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State, saying, "Change may require something as drastic as reconsideration of Israel's need of a Jewish majority, the reason for its resistance to a full Palestinian right of return."

If the Palestinian leadership is to be believed, when Palestinians have a majority in Israel and take over leadership, they would use their power to kill or expel all the Jewish residents.

In spite of the Herald’s claim that “Judaism was freely practised in the Islamic empire”, today there is only one country in the Middle East where Jews, Christians, and Muslims are free to practice their religion without fear or persecution, and that is Israel.

For the Herald to call for the destruction of the one free country in the region and the only Jewish state in the world shows a very limited understanding of the realities in the Middle East.

Scientists say that religion is good for you?

If you believe urban legends or opinions like those opposed to Rabbi Natan Slifkin's book, "Religion" and "Science" (AKA "The Atheist professor") are always at loggerheads with each other.

Turns out this is not really true, in fact some aspects of Science have very positive things to say about religion. Take for example the following extract from the New York Times:

[Michael McCullough] and a fellow psychologist at the University of Miami, Brian Willoughby, have reviewed eight decades of research and concluded that religious belief and piety promote self-control.

This sounded to me uncomfortably similar to the conclusion of the nuns who taught me in grade school, but Dr. McCullough has no evangelical motives. He confesses to not being much of a devotee himself. “When it comes to religion,” he said, “professionally, I’m a fan, but personally, I don’t get down on the field much.”

His professional interest arose from a desire to understand why religion evolved and why it seems to help so many people. Researchers around the world have repeatedly found that devoutly religious people tend to do better in school, live longer, have more satisfying marriages and be generally happier.
Source: New York Times

So there you have it, everyone seems to agree that "religious people tend to do better in school, live longer, have more satisfying marriages and be generally happier.", sounds like a good reason to get up in time for minyan to me.

Gentile Jokes

The following jokes were posted today on Jewish Joke du Jour!
The truth is that they are kinda old, and I've seen them before, but they still made me smile, so I thought that I'd share them with you.
If you enjoyed them, you can subscribe to the daily Jewish joke by sending a blank email to:
jjdj-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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All we ever hear are Jewish jokes, so here are some
gentile jokes. Why is it that only Jews understand
the Gentile jokes?

LadyHawke
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A Gentile goes into a clothing store and says:
"This is a very fine jacket. How much is it?"

The salesman says: "It's $500."

The Gentile says, "OK, I'll take it."

**********

Two Gentiles meet on the street.

The first one says, "You own your own business,
don't you? How's it going?"

The other Gentile says; "Just great! Thanks for asking!"

**********

Two Gentile mothers meet on the street and start
talking about children.

Gentile mother 1 (said with pride): "My son is a
janitor!"

Gentile mother 2 (said with more pride): "My son is
a bus driver!"

*********

A man calls his mother and says, "Mother, I know
you're expecting me for dinner this evening, but
something important has come up and I can't
make it."

His mother says: "OK."

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