Will New Jersey become the Mecca for North American Jewry?

« ... "I would not be surprised if in the not-too-distant future Rutgers* overtakes [the University of] Florida as the number one destination school for Jewish undergraduates," said Getraer.

Rutgers recruiters target Jewish high schools around the country, he said.

"We now have students active in Hillel from California, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, Ohio — and we actually are now getting a lot of students from Israel and even students from Europe and Latin America." ...»


Rutgers builds reputation as Jewish destination | New Jersey News | NJJN

http://njjewishnews.com/article/statewide/rutgers-builds-reputation-as-jewish-destination


* Rutgers is the Official State University of NJ
Shalom,
RRW

Declaration Against Same Sex Marriage Ceremony

In response to the "Orthodox" same sex marriage ceremony performed recently, the Algemeiner printed a Declaration, signed by 100 Orthodox rabbis (an my understanding is that more have now signed it) declaring emphatically that this action has nothing to do with Orthodoxy and an offense to Orthodox principles and values. See http://www.algemeiner.com/2011/12/05/100-orthodox-rabbis-issue-same-sex-marriage-declaration/

I am proud to say that I am one of the rabbis who signed this document.

However, that is not the end of the story. This week, I received a phone call from a reporter at the Forward informing me that they went through this list of rabbis and also the list of those who signed the "Statement of Principles on the Place of Jews with a Homosexual Orientation in Our Community" (see http://statementofprinciplesnya.blogspot.com/) and they found only one rabbi on both lists -- yours truly. They wanted to know why I signed both lists and also why there were no other rabbis who overlapped.

As followers of the blog know, I expressed some regret in signing the Statement but specifically because of the way it was, I believe, misinterpreted. See http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/u.html and http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/2010/08/media-misinterprets-meaning-of.html. In essence, though, I agreed with basic substance of the Statement as I did with the Declaration -- and so had no difficulties responding to this reporter's questions. The answer was really very simple, and the reporter understood this -- there was no contradiction between the Statement and the Declaration. To read further about this. I invite you to read the Forward article at http://www.forward.com/articles/147684/

Rabbi Ben Hecht

Jews, Israelis and Zionists: Thoughts about a Discontinued Ad Campaign‏

From Guest Blogger: DOUGLAS ARONIN

Shalom

RRW

*****

 

   Israel has enough problems to deal with right now, so it was hardly an opportune moment to pick a fight with the institutional leadership of American Jewry.  Then again, Israel's Ministry of Absorption didn't realize it was picking a fight with American Jewish leaders when it launched an advertising campaign aimed at persuading Israelis living in the United States to return home. The ensuing brouhaha reminds us, in case we needed further reminding, that Israelis and American Jews really don't understand each other.

   The ad campaign targeted Israeli expatriates, commonly known as yordim (literally those who descend), not native born American Jews, but it apparently touched a raw nerve among American Jewish leaders.  Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, called it "heavy-handed, and even demeaning."  The leadership of the Jewish Federations of North America, the national umbrella for local Jewish federations, reportedly sent a letter of protest to the Ministry, calling the ads "insulting".  Once Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu learned of the controversy, he promptly stopped the ad campaign and sent Michael Oren, Israel's ambassador to the United States, to do damage control.  Oren asserted that Netanyahu had not known about the ad campaign in advance and assured American Jews that "[t]he prime minister deeply values the American Jewish community and is committed to deepening ties between it and the State of Israel."

   What was it about this ad campaign that caused such a furor?  One of the ads depicted Israeli-born parents and their young daughter talking via Skype to the child's grandparents in Israel.  When the grandparents ask the girl what holiday it is, she responds "Christmas" as her parents look uncomfortable. The tag line of the ad follows in Hebrew: before Chanukah turns into Christmas, it's time to come home to Israel.  Another similar ad depicts a young boy trying to wake his sleeping father, calling him "Daddy" several times; only when he calls out "Abba" does the father  wake up, as a voice intones in Hebrew the tag line: Before Abba turns into Daddy, it's time to come home to Israel.

   It's easy to understand why some American Jews found ads like these offensive. Though it was directed at the yordim,, almost the same ad campaign (without the Hebrew) could have been used to target American Jews. The message is a familiar one, the same basic message that has been used to encourage aliyah (immigration to Israel) among Diaspora Jews since the early days of Zionism.  In the Diaspora, even in America, that familiar message goes, assimilation is inevitable.  Only in Israel can the Jewish future be assured.

   That message is a gross oversimplification, of course, but it contains more than a grain of truth.  The notion that the organized Jewish community is on the verge of extinction is wildly exaggerated.  It's reminiscent of the famous 1964 Look Magazine cover story, "The Vanishing American Jew", which predicted that the American Jewish community would disappear by the end of the twentieth century.  When that century ended, of course, the American Jewish community was still there; it was Look Magazine that had disappeared.  To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.

   But that doesn't mean that the fears of assimilation are pure alarmism; I only wish that they were.  The experiences of the last half century have taught us that those Jews who place a high priority on Jewish continuity and build their lives accordingly can usually succeed in passing their Jewish commitment to the next generation.  But it has also taught  us that those whose lives do not reflect a substantial commitment to the Jewish future -- which almost always includes some form of religious commitment -- are at high risk of demographic disappearance.

   I suspect that it was the grain of truth underlying the ill-advised ad campaign, not the exaggeration that many Jewish leaders found so offensive.  Who wants to have their flaws pointed out to them?  How many of the prominent Federation leaders who were so quick to take offense live lives so infused with Jewish content that they can be confident of the Jewish continuity of their own family trees? How many of them, indeed, already have children who have intermarried?

   The specific examples reflected in the ads summarized above are laughable.  Transmitting the notion that Jews celebrate Chanukah, not Christmas, is one of the few indicators of Jewish identity that many marginally committed Jews do manage to pass on. It's really not that difficult to teach children to call their parents Abba and Eema, if that's what the parents want, even if most of their friends do not.  The problem is that such gestures by themselves are not enough to make transmission from one generation to the next likely, and many American Jews -- including, I regret to say, a fair number of American Jewish leaders -- are not willing to do much more than that.

   Offensiveness aside, the ad campaign was probably a waste of money.  I say this not because I don't believe that Israel should be trying to lure back its expatriates; of course it should.  But it's hard to imagine that long-term yordim are likely to be influenced by an ad campaign that somehow manages to be heavy-handed and trivial at the same time..   If they were that easily susceptible to Jewish guilt trips, they probably wouldn't have left in the first place.

   While we're on the subject, why are there so many expatriate Israelis living in North America, and elsewhere?  That question is something of a sociological Rorschach test, telling us more about the person answering than about the phenomenon he's supposedly analyzing. A particularly egregious example is an opinion piece published on line by Roger Cohen of the New York Times, who is (to put it mildly) no friend of Israel.  He claims to know "several Israeli expatriates or would-be expatriates" and he insists that they are leaving because of "the illiberal drift of Israeli politics, the growth of a harsh nationalism, the increasing influence of the ultra religious [and] the endlessness of the 'situation.'"  I am sure that some Israeli expatriates are motivated by such factors, and I have no difficulty believing that all of those with whom Roger Cohen is acquainted fall into this category.  With whom else would you expect him to be acquainted?   But Cohen's analysis, if you can call it that, ignores the inconvenient fact that the phenomenon of yerida (emigration from Israel) is not a new one.  Large numbers of Israelis have lived abroad throughout the State's history.  If yerida is, as Cohen appears to believe, primarily the fault of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman (the foreign minister and head of the Yisrael Beiteinu party), then how do you explain the large number of Israelis who emigrated before the current political leadership came on the scene?

   The primary reasons for yerida are really not that hard to figure out.  Israel is a small country, and living there can produce a sort of claustrophobia; that's why in recent years, it has become de rigueur for secular Israelis, after completing their army service, to trek to remote parts of Asia for a while before returning home to commence the rest of their lives.  Considering its size and the circumstances in which it has lived, Israel's economy is remarkably robust, but highly educated Israelis in many fields can find better professional opportunities outside the country than inside it -- or at least they could before the onset of the current recession. (This is not so unusual in our increasingly mobile and interconnected world.  There are plenty of Americans living temporarily or permanently abroad, and many citizens of other countries as well.) And of course, while Israelis seem to bear up well under the strain of the security threats that are a normal part of life there, living in a constant state of siege with no end in sight can take its toll...

   Most Israelis living in the United States come here intending to stay for a while and then return, or at least that's what they tell their families and friends in Israel.  Some have gone back, but others, not surprisingly, have found the comfort and relative safety of the US hard to give up; such is human nature.  It is certainly appropriate for any country to seek to reduce the "brain drain" resulting from the emigration of highly educated citizens by encouraging its expatriates to come home.  For Israel, there is the added concern of the demographic balance between Jews and Arabs among its own citizens.   In his opinion peace, Cohen claims that "[t]he ads play to Israeli patriotism, but it’s not patriotism that expatriates lack."  By framing the issue as one of "patriotism", Cohen manages to evade the issue that is at the heart of both the ad campaign and the American Jewish response to it -- the issue of Jewish identity.  If the ad campaign was addressed merely to Israeli patriotism, then why would American Jews who are not Israeli citizens take offense?  But the risk of Chanukah morphing into Christmas is not a matter of the expatriates' patriotism, but rather of their core identity as Jews.  Maintaining that identity despite the temptations of assimilation in a pluralistic open society like ours is a challenge that faces yordim and native born American Jews alike -- and the implication of the ad campaign is that it can't be done in the Diaspora, even in America, an implication that many American Jews understandably find offensive.

   Only in a Jewish homeland, classical Zionists have always insisted, can Jewish identity be sustained in the long run without dependence on religion.  Secular Jewish identity, they have argued, has no future in the Diaspora.  In this argument classical Zionism was partly right but fundamentally wrong.  It was right that secular Jewishness in the Diaspora is ultimately unsustainable, but it was wrong in assuming that it was the Diaspora rather than the secularism that was the problem.  What has become apparent over the decades of Israel's existence is that in the long run secular Jewishness is not sustainable in Israel any more than it is in the Diaspora.   In the absence of religious commitment, secular Zionism is simply too weak a foundation on which to build an ideology capable of motivating the sacrifice necessary to defend a state under siege.  It is hardly surprising that Zionism as a serious ideology, at least among secular native Israelis, has been weakened almost to the point of disappearance.  Indeed, for many, the very word Zionism has developed pejorative connotations.

   I do not mean to suggest that secular Israelis are not loyal to the State of Israel.  The vast majority serve in the army, often heroically.  But allegiance to the country where you were born and in which you live, and even willingness to risk your life in its defense, does not require an ideological commitment.  It is, rather, the normal human instinct to which we attach the label patriotism. Most secular Israelis remain patriotic citizens, who are loyal to the State.  A growing number, however, have little sense of Jewish identity beyond their identity as Israelis.  They know little of Jewish history before the birth of modern Zionism and have no knowledge or understanding of the Jewish communities of the Diaspora.  They are patriotic Israelis but they are not Zionists.

   The problem with relying solely on patriotism as the glue holding the people together is that patriotism is not immutable.  Over the course of the last century, after all, many millions of people have left the lands where they were born and settled in other, often distant countries.  Some came to escape persecution, others to better themselves economically.  Many have retained cultural or nostalgic ties to the countries of their birth, but after an adjustment period (admittedly, one of variable length), they have usually shifted their primary political allegiance -- their patriotism -- to the countries in which they live.   Of course, human experiences are varied, and human emotions are complex.  Not everyone who has emigrated from the countries of their birth has initially intended that move to be permanent.  Many temporary migrants, for a whole host of reasons, do return to their native countries; others consider it for a while and ultimately decide, whether consciously or by inertia, to stay where they are.  Those countries who wish to avoid "brain drain" by enticing their expatriates to return home are far more likely to meet success during each emigrant's emotional adjustment period, before his or her primarily allegiance has shifted.

   Historically, this basic paradigm of the immigrant experience has applied to Jews a little differently than to others.  Most Jews had little or no residual allegiance to the countries from which they had emigrated and little or no temptation to return there.  Indeed, during the largest period of Jewish immigration to the United States, the so-called Third Wave (1880-1924), most Jewish immigrants were not native speakers of the languages of their native countries but instead spoke Yiddish, a language unique to the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.  Thus there was little adjustment period in the usual sense before Jews who immigrated to the United States became, in their own estimation, American Jews, patriotic citizens of the United States.  To the extent that they retained any other residual loyalty, it was to a land they had never seen, one that their ancestors had left centuries earlier.  That residual loyalty arose not from instinct but from ideology -- the ideology we call Zionism.

When to Omit Birkat Me'ein Sheva [Magein Avot]?

I see various Minhagim WRT Omitting "Magein Avot"
1. At Rav Shimon Schwab zt"l's private minyan in his apartment on Friday Night, he had them omit "Magein Avot"
- supposedly because when he was absent, the Minyan did not convene.

2. I've heard that in many summer bungalows that they DO recite it, even though there is no minyan there year 'round
3 In Teaneck - There are TWO private Minyanim nearby for Friday Night
A. One is for a person with a disability. There, Magein Avot is omitted
B The other is a Carlebach Minyan in a private home There, they do say it despite the fact that about once a month they daven elsewhere.
--------------------
What are the proper parameters here?
Someone on Davening Discussions suggested that this is a "judgment call"

Shalom,
RRW

Vayishhlach: Binyamin: A Definition of Youth

From the archives of Nishma's Online Library at http://www.nishma.org/, we have chosen an article that relates to the week's parsha, both to direct you to this dvar Torah but also for the purposes of initiating some discussion.

This week's parsha is Vayishlach and the topic is the concept of na'ar. We invite you to look at an article on this topic at http://www.nishma.org/articles/insight/spark5756-6.html

Can a Divorcing Couple Remain "Friends"?

«...At the conclusion of the session, I stated the following: "I have just one question for you." One of the parties quickly provided the question I was pondering, i.e. "Why are we getting divorced?"

I nodded in a manner that indicated this was indeed my question. The response was one I quote often:

"We are really good friends. We are just a lousy husband and wife." ...»

Why Does Gittin Precede Kiddushin? A Plea for Divorce Ethics »

Matzav.com - The Online Voice of Torah Jewry
http://matzav.com/why-does-gittin-precede-kiddushin-a-plea-for-divorce-ethics#more-71727

Shalom,
RRW

JVO: Downloading

Jewish Values Online (jewishvaluesonline.org) is a website that asks the Jewish view on a variety of issues, some specifically Jewish and some from the world around us -- and then presents answers from each of the dominations of Judaism. Nishmablog's Blogmaster Rabbi Wolpoe and Nishma's Founding Director, Rabbi Hecht, both serve as Orthodox members of their Panel of Scholars.

This post continues the weekly series on the Nishmablog that features responses on JVO by one of our two Nishma Scholars who are on this panel. This week's presentation is to one of the questions to which Rabbi Hecht responded.

* * * * *
Question: I know many friends—honest, God-fearing people—who have no problem “stealing” entertainment in the form of illegal downloads. Why have we let our attitude toward this kind of theft become so permissive? Can we stop it? Should we? Or, as many people claim, since they wouldn’t have paid for the show/music in the first place, it’s not like anyone lost money on their download. What is right? What is the Jewish view?

Rabbi Hecht's answer

The issue of intellectual property, of which this is a case, is one that has challenged every legal system. How do you assign proprietary rights to an intangible? This is clearly also an issue within Jewish Law, however the nature of Halacha is such that it need not approach this issue solely from a perspective of property. The questioner asks whether downloading is a form of stealing or theft which, to answer, would first demand a determination of a property right in the intangible download. The issue within the realm of Halacha, though, is much broader; the question being whether it is right or wrong – and this answer may have little to do with the establishment of proprietary rights.

It should not be surprising, as such, to find that over the centuries there have been many variant approaches undertaken to answer these types of questions, namely to what extent, if any, can someone benefit, without pay, from another person’s labours or financial outlay. This is essentially what is happening when one downloads a form of entertainment, one is benefitting from someone else’s efforts. The challenge, though, is that one is still not causing the other to actually expend more time, energy or money by downloading an item. In addition there may be other policy or ethical reasons for allowing this download. It is with a recognition of all these and other factors that Halachists have attempted to approach these questions.

There is a key shift, however, that occurs with the formulation of the issue with Halacha. In the language of Halacha, we would say that the prime focus of the issue becomes no longer one of cheftza, object, but gavra, person. What this means is that we are no longer focusing on the object – i.e. the download and its ownership – but the people involved and whether it is proper behaviour to download items without paying for them. The answer to this question may have little or nothing to do with actual ownership of the object but simply emerge from an ethical view of the behaviour itself. Is downloading objectionable behaviour?

This brings us to a key concept in the Halacha’s determination of the ethics of financial interaction. What is asked are the questions of whether one has benefitted (nehneh) and/or whether one has lost something including an opportunity cost (chaseir). The underlying broad values are that one should pay for a benefit and one should cover the cost of a loss that he/she has imposed upon another. Of course, the Halacha also recognizes that there are numerous details and further concerns that have to be considered and evaluated before these broad principles can be applied to any specific case. For example, one can only be held liable for a loss if one is responsible for causing it – what makes someone responsible? In many ways, Jewish financial law is an investigation of the many such details.

It would be first important, though, to understand the essential distinction between nehneh and chaseir in their legal ramifications. Mishna Baba Kamma 2:2 presents a good example. The case involves an animal eating the produce of a merchant in the public domain. As animals were common in the public domain in Talmudic times, it was deemed to be the responsibility of the merchant to protect his wares from animals. As such, an owner of an animal was not deemed responsible for what the animal ate in terms of the financial damage that was caused to the merchant i.e. he was not responsible for chaseir. Yet the Mishna informs us that he is responsible for the benefit he received through having his animal fed with the merchant’s produce i.e. he should still pay nehneh. The Gemara informs us that the owner does not have to pay the merchant for the price of the fruit but rather must pay him for the benefit he received in not having to feed his animal i.e. the amount he would have paid on the cheaper feed he would have used of the same quantity. It’s not always about what you cost the other but sometimes you have to consider your benefit. This would seem to be an important principle in regard to downloads for, while people contend that they are not directly causing a lost, they do cause opportunity costs and they do benefit. This approach to establishing copyright law was actually taken by Rabbi Yechezkel Landau, the Noda B’Yehuda.

Consideration for chaseir may even be broader. While the topic is actually complex as the Halacha also values competition, there is concern for activities that may impact on another’s business. For example, T.B. Baba Batra 21b states that once a fisherman has marked out an area for himself, perhaps putting out feed to attract fish, other fisherman cannot fish in this area. Again the issue is not propriety rights; this place and the fish are not owned by this fisherman. It is simply a recognition that you are causing loss – the fisherman has extended time, effort and, perhaps, even money to mark this area. It is, as such, improper to fish there and take a fish that this fisherman may have otherwise caught.  Rabbi Moshe Sofer, the Chatam Sofer, applied this idea in his discussion of copyright.

 The reality is that Jewish Law takes a serious approach to issues of intellectual property while in many ways not focusing on the property question but rather on the conduct that should be expected from the ethical individual. Consideration for Dina d’Malchuta Dina, that the law of the land has standing in Jewish Law, also is to be considered. Nonetheless, especially when the secular law has such exceptions, there are opinions that would consider the extent of the download and whether it is just for personal use before absolutely declaring it forbidden. Other ethical motivations for a download may also be considered. 

The bottom line is that the issue is much more than a question of stealing with implications that you are taking something. The definitions of taking are much broader than an object of something. In addition there is the fact that you have benefitted. I would not say that this means that every action of downloading is forbidden but that the issue is one that needs to be approached seriously.

For further investigation of Halacha’s view of copyright, see:

Rabbi Israel Schneider, “Jewish Law and Copyright”, The Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society XX1 (http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/english/halacha/schneider_1.htm)

Rabbi Chaim Jachter,  “Halachah and Copyright Laws”, Gray Matter: Discourses in Contemporary Halachah (http://www.torahlive.co.il/templatebild/tipsresources/Halacha%20and%20Copyright%20%28Jachter%29.pdf)

Rabbi J. David Bleich, “Chapter 6, Business and Commerce: Copyright”, Contemporary Halakhic Problems, Volume 2

Rooted in Tradition - Torah Responds to a "Sour" Economy

«Now 39 years old and serving as the rabbi of a Chabad center near Atlanta, Rabbi Minkowicz has done something he never expected: open a gemach that deals primarily with non-Orthodox Jews in a prosperous stretch of suburbia. The reason, quite simply, is the prolonged downturn in the American economy, which has driven up the number of Jews identified by one poverty expert as the "middle-class needy."

The same phenomenon has appeared in Jewish communities across the country, albeit most often in those with existing Orthodox populations already familiar with the gemach system. This institution, rooted in biblical and Talmudic teachings and whose name is a contraction of the Hebrew words for "bestowal of kindness" ("gemilut chasadim"), is now meeting needs created by such resolutely modern causes as subprime mortgages, outsourcing and credit default swaps.»


NYT: Gemach Offers Loans Without Profit

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/us/a-traditional-jewish-loan-program-helps-ease-pain-of-tough-economic-times.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=gemach&st=cse


For Mobil Devices:


http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/us/a-traditional-jewish-loan-program-helps-ease-pain-of-tough-economic-times.xml

-------------------

I grew up in a shul that hosted such societies - some were known as "oxies" whatever that means.

Also, my Dad's company had its own Federal Credit Union which offered low-cost loans to its members based upon the same premise of mutual help.

Shalom,
RRW

Baruch Dayan HaEmes: Cantor Macy Nulman z"l

«The Yeshiva University Family is saddened by the passing of
CANTOR MACY NULMAN, z'l
Former Director of the Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music at Yeshiva University, a Founder of the Cantorial Council of America, a pioneer in Cantorial and Jewish music education and author of numerous books and journals on Jewish music and liturgy. »
-------------------
B"H I attended quite a few courses at the Belz school over the years. Cantor Nulman was a consummate professional and helped to raise the Modern Orthodox "cantorate" to a higher level of professionalism. His book "The Encyclopedia of Jewish Liturgy" is a great quick reference guide for us.

While I only chatted with him a few times -- most of his influence on me was indirect -- he, nevertheless, will be missed as a mentor.

To his family, Hamakom Y'nachem ....

Shalom and Regards,
RRW

Mussar: Let's Face It! - Quick Internet Mussar

Instead of FaceBook
Face the Book!
See
http://uberdox.blogspot.com/2011/11/great-mussar-for-me.html

Shalom,
RRW

Issur V'heter Overview in 3 Sections

Basic Rabbinic Literacy
Program

Goal: To Prepare Prospective Students in 3 areas of Issur V'heter Using "Classic Texts"

Note:
Each Overview stands on its own and does not require going further in order to grasp these concepts on a basic level

Each Session is assumed to be 90 minutes. No preparation is necessary, but review is indispensable

--------------------

Overview 1
Bassar b'Chalav

Sefer Minchat Hinuch - Mitzvot 92, 113

Rambam MT Ma'achalot Assurot Ch. 9

4-6 sessions

--------------------

Overview 2 - M'lichah

SA YD 69- 78 with Be'er Hagolah, Ba'er Hetev

Hochmat Adam 43 with Yad Adam

6-8 sessions

--------------------

Overview 3
Taaruvot of Hametz
SA O"Ch with Mishnah Brurah
442
447
467

7 - 9 sessions

Shalom and Regards, RRW

Soviet Purges: Lenin vs. Stalin

Due to the recent death of Comrade Stalin's daughter Svetlana [aka Lana] I thought that it's time to revive a thesis I wrote for my Soviet History class circa December, 1973

Given that both Lenin and Stalin ruthlessly persecuted and purged, can we still compare and contrast their approaches?

The approach I took was to contrast NOT their degree of zealousness; after all the Cheka / Ogpu [Lenin] were as ruthless as the NKVD / MVD [Stalin]. What DID change? The targets of their zeal!

Lenin went after Czarists and "Whites" and other factions who opposed Bolshevism. EG Lenin was willing to overlook Trotsky's personal history as a Menshevik because of his steadfast loyalty to the Bolshevik Revolution. Thus Lenin's "US" were the community of all good Bolsheviks and his "THEM" were all those opposed to Bolshevism

Stalin morphed the zealousness by turning internally onto Fellow Bolsheviks. Stalin's "US" were the community of all those who'd give their life for Stalin and his "THEM" were all those had an independent power base and could thus think and act on their own w/o Stalin

As a result, Trotsky, Kirov, Bukharin, Kamenev, Zinoviev, etc. Were all Bolsheviks in good standing, yet nevertheless were ruthlessly and brutally purged. Their goodstanding as Bolsheviks is testified to by the fact that most were posthumously rehabilitated - except for Trotsky.

Hopefully the Mussar here for US is obvious. How far to take "Kannaus"? Think about it.

Shalom,
RRW

Palestine's Grand Mufti - Nazi Collaborator

The Military Channel has a fascinating series about Nazi Collaborators. On TV now (the evening of Nov. 29), is an episode about the grand Mufti and his personal alliance with Hitler YS"V and his Nazi cohorts.

I highly suggest seeing this episode.

For more info:

Controversy-laden "Nazi Collaborators" coming to Military Channel - Channel Guide Magazine

http://www.channelguidemagblog.com/index.php/2011/09/28/nazi-collaborators-coming-to-military-channel/

Shalom,
RRW

The Battle of the Tunnel - Part 2

Last year, we reported and commented on what we termed "The Battle of the Tunnel" between Atheists and Roman Catholics in that the former put a billboard at one end of the Lincoln Tunnel while the latter put up one on the other end. See http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/2010/12/battle-of-tunnel.html.

Well it seems that the battle may be on for this year as well -- well at least the atheists have fired the first shot for this year. They have put up a billboard on one end of the Tunnel with a similar message to the one they presented last year. This year they have pictures of Neptune, Jesus, Santa Claus and the Devil with the question "What do you see?" It seems that they are trying to be a bit more subtle this year, not challenging everyone to be atheist but calling upon those church going people who secretly are atheists to, figuratively, come out of the closet. Further on this, see
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-706810?hpt=hp_bn2

The Roman Catholics have not responded yet as far as I know.  If they do, I most likely would have the same dilemma as I had last year, effectively siding, in a certain way, more with the atheists than the Roman Catholics. Let's face it, in regard to this year's billboard, I would agree with the atheists putting Neptune, a divine Jesus, Santa Claus and a Christian presentation of the Devil, in the same category.

Rabbi Ben Hecht

The increasing chasm Amongst Jewish Factions

«Which leads me to the following question: Who is there anywhere in the Jewish world whose passing would evoke the sense of shared loss that was felt when Peretz died? Is there anyone in the Jewish world – in Israel, the United States, or anywhere else – who would be mourned by secularists and religious Jews alike, conservatives and liberals, Zionists and those more dubious about the Jewish state? Were Haim Nahman Bialik to die now, would the Israeli religious community mark his passing? (In 1934, it did.) Were Rabbi Shlomo Goren alive now, would American Reform and Conservative Jews see his loss as theirs, too? Would Israeli Orthodox Jews take note of the loss of Abba Hillel Silver? »

Daniel Gordis
A Tale of Two Funerals

http://danielgordis.org/2011/11/25/a-tale-of-two-f

-------------------

Comment:

I have long admired Abba Hillel Silver as a spokesman for Jewry, but I'm no fan of his "theology. I can say similar things about Z'ev Jabotinsky.

Certain leaders were imho good for our Nation, but not so good for our Religion. [And perhaps vice versa]

Shalom,
RRW

Is Judaism a matter of what Rabbis say, or a matter of what Jews do?

«If so, fine. If not also fine. Which brings us back to the old, vexing question: Is Judaism a matter of what Rabbis say, or a matter of what Jews do?»

See:
DOVBEAR: Oy Gay

http://dovbear.blogspot.com/2011/11/oy-gay.html?m=1

--------------------

To answer DovBear's question it's a combination of

Torah
Rabbis
Jews

The Zohar says "Yisroel v'raitto v'kudsha bkrich hu had hu"

Similarly, Halachah is also the product of an amalgam. Re: this specific issue, more later BE"H

Shalom,
RRW

Texts: Underrated Yet Classical

There are some classic texts in Judaism that are powerful but nevertheless often neglected. I'm not always sure why. Dear Readers, you will probably come up with a few short lists of your own. Here are a few of mine

1. Midrashim in general. Midrash Rabbah in particular. Fortunately we often do get access to this via intermediate texts

2. The L'vushim. One of the very finest Halachic Codes has been largely neglected for centuries

3. R Hananel on Sha"s. To Rashi goes the first prize in Talmudic Parshanut. R Hananel probably is a close runner up and can be very user-friendly and occasionally highly informative

4. Perhaps the only major Rishon to miss the cut into Mikraot G'dolot is Rabbenu Bachayei al haTorah. He reviews Pardeis on the Humash, making distinctions between each approach

5. Tomer D'vorah. Better known in Kabbalistic circles, it still works in the realms of Mussar, Hashkafah, and Ahavat Yisrael
6. Siddur Avodat Yisrael by Seligmann Baer. One of the few gems admired in both Orthodox and non-Orthodox liturgical scholarship

7. Soncino Humash by Rev. A Cohen. Long overshadowed, first by the Hertz Humash then by the Artscroll Humash the commentary has a "Kitzur Mikraot G'dolot in English.

BE"H we can add more


Shalom,
RRW

JVO: Thanksgiving 2

Jewish Values Online (jewishvaluesonline.org) is a website that asks the Jewish view on a variety of issues, some specifically Jewish and some from the world around us -- and then presents answers from each of the dominations of Judaism. Nishmablog's Blogmaster Rabbi Wolpoe serves as an Orthodox member of their Panel of Scholars, offering answers from our perspective.

This post is part of a weekly series on the Nishmablog presenting the questions to which he responded and the answers that he gave.

* * * * *


Question: Is there a special Jewish prayer that we can say at Thanksgiving dinner in commemoration that we were granted religious freedom in America?

Rabbi Wolpoe:

I would favor consulting Traditional Siddurim [Prayer Books] Jewish Prayers are filled with expressions of thanks.  Any recitation using them would accomplish Thanksgiving and incorporate a Jewish aspect.

For example, one could recite one or both of the "Modim" prayers.  Or the morning Modeh Ani prayer

My own favorite is Psalm 100 "Mizmor leTodah", a Psalm of Thanskgiving.  In particular  I enjoy Louis Lewandowski's awesome choral composition of same.  It is a most inspiring way to express gratitude.

And following dinner as we recite the "Birkat Hamazon" the 2nd Blessing is based upon the theme of   thanks - "Nodeh Lecha"

My in-laws "Did Thanksgiving" on the Friday Night Shabbat Dinner on the Day after the Secular Thursday.  There is perhaps no more Jewish way to celebrate Turkey Day than by having it as a Friday Night Shabbat Feast

I hope these help

Happy Thanksgiving
RRW


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And here's a blog post on this theme

Making Thanksgiving into a Kiddush Hashem
« ...Kesher Israel Congregation (KI) in Harrisburg has found the perfect way to spend the day… They came up with the idea of providing a full Thanksgiving meal for those firefighters who would be spending Thanksgiving on call at the fire station rather than at home surrounded by family and friends. This novel idea resonated with the congregation...»


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Sources:

JVO Link
http://www.jewishvaluesonline.org/question.php?id=243&cprg=%2Fsearch.php%3Fsearchtxt%3Dthanksgiving%26what%3DA

NishmaBlog: Making Thanksgiving into a Kiddush Hashem
http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/2011/11/making-thanksgiving-into-kiddush-hashem.html


Thanksgiving Kiddush Hashem | Hirhurim – Torah Musings
http://torahmusings.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-kiddush-hashem/

Shalom and Regards,

RRW

JVO: Thanksgiving

Jewish Values Online (jewishvaluesonline.org) is a website that asks the Jewish view on a variety of issues, some specifically Jewish and some from the world around us -- and then presents answers from each of the dominations of Judaism. Nishmablog's Blogmaster Rabbi Wolpoe serves as an Orthodox member of their Panel of Scholars, offering answers from our perspective.

This post is part of a weekly series on the Nishmablog presenting the questions to which he responded and the answers that he gave.

* * * * *


Question:How can Jews bring Judaism into celebrating Thanksgiving?

I would favor consulting Traditional Siddurim [Prayer Books] Jewish Prayers are filled with expressions of thanks. Any recitation using them would accomplish Thanksgiving and incorporate a Jewish aspect.

For example, one could recite one or both of the "Modim" prayers. Or the morning Modeh Ani prayer

My own favorite is Psalm 100 Mizmor leTodah, a Psalm of Thanksgiving. In particular I enjoy Louis Lewandowski's awesome choral composition of same. It is a most inspiring way to express gratitude.

And following dinner as we recite the "Birkat Hamazon" the 2nd Blessing is based upon the theme of thanks - "Nodeh Lecha"

My in-laws "Did Thanksgiving" on the Friday Night Shabbat Dinner on the Day after the Secular Thursday. There is perhaps no more Jewish way to celebrate Turkey Day than by having it as a Friday Night Shabbat Feast

I hope these help

Happy Thanksgiving

Making Thanksgiving into a Kiddush Hashem

« ...Kesher Israel Congregation (KI) in Harrisburg has found the perfect way to spend the day… They came up with the idea of providing a full Thanksgiving meal for those firefighters who would be spending Thanksgiving on call at the fire station rather than at home surrounded by family and friends. This novel idea resonated with the congregation...»



Thanksgiving Kiddush Hashem | Hirhurim – Torah Musings


http://torahmusings.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-kiddush-hashem/

Shalom,
RRW