tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post5305140388792312551..comments2024-03-29T06:06:58.796+03:00Comments on Daas Torah - Issues of Jewish Identity: Sometimes G-d answers with a "no"Daas Torahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07252904288544083215noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-38113160965505408562010-05-04T23:20:24.900+03:002010-05-04T23:20:24.900+03:00Anonymous 1:38, I know what you mean. It is hard t...Anonymous 1:38, I know what you mean. It is hard to coach oneself to have emunah! I think many people think that a few seconds of coaching here and there should be enough to get one back on the right track -- I often assumed this myself. Now I realize that lengthy personal prayer and meditation is necessary. Rav Shalom Arush's book on prayer, In Forest Fields, is an invaluable guide in this task. I've already reread several times his book on Shalom Bayit, which is amazingly useful.yeshayanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-47434743476281124522010-05-04T01:44:06.948+03:002010-05-04T01:44:06.948+03:00David's post, if true, is really sickening.David's post, if true, is really sickening.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-41987758513921673812010-05-04T01:38:00.318+03:002010-05-04T01:38:00.318+03:00Thank you so much for posting that response. I th...Thank you so much for posting that response. I think it so eloquently described the reasoning behind the sort of emotional trajectory that my own frumkeit has taken from the time I became religious (very quickly, and when I was very young) until I met with the first real challenge of my religious life (that is, having shalom bayis with a person I barely knew) and through now where I am having a hard time coaching myself to have any emunah in even the existence of G-d because of particularly difficult life circumstances.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-35966716882512123702010-05-03T17:28:45.202+03:002010-05-03T17:28:45.202+03:00The story is not true.
There was such a young man...The story is not true.<br /><br />There was such a young man, and his life was saved in Belgium, but it had less to do with miracles and more to do with the Charedi Health Minister using the power, political influence, and finances of the State of Israel to arrange that the young man receive a transplant.<br /><br />He was unilaterally moved to the head of the list and these extraordinary measures were taken for him becaue it suited the political interests of teh Health Minister.<br /><br />The boy is from an EXTREMELY influential family in the yeshiva world (begins with a samech and ends with a kuf) that is known for their disdain for the medina.<br /><br />He received the liver way before the volcano hit, through a special deal with the Israeli gov't, whose taxpayers paid for the whole thing. <br /><br />We have not heard a word of hakoros hatov to the gov't for having done this for them.<br /><br />I guess when it's all Min HaShomayim, one does not have to have Hakoros Hatov to anyone anymore, especially the medina and its taxpayers.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03755099704849976838noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-52561642806026668082010-05-03T01:36:01.178+03:002010-05-03T01:36:01.178+03:00The post is written as if there is no basis for th...The post is written as if there is no basis for the idea that G-d accomplishes all actions and that divine providence cannot explain fortuitous coincidences. I agree with the last paragraph of the post, and the need for people to understand that everything will not work out miraculously and that is OK. But people should not pretend as if a weak conception of divine providence, in which G-d only rarely intervenes in the life of men, is the only defensible hashgafic opinion.<br /><br />Consider Nachum Gamzu. Or the Talmudic idea that there is no tribulation without transgression -- even putting on one's shirt inside out is mentioned as something that must have been sent by G-d as a punishment. Or the book of Esther. All is foreseen yet free will granted. Yes, there are statements about natural law versus divine providence in the statements of some sages, but as Rebbe Nachman explained (and as Slifkin himself suggested), this does not mean that what seems to be natural law and chance is not directed by G-d in a way we cannot understand (Slifkin, Challenge of Creation, p.71).<br /><br />Assuming they are not known to be false, such stories have value. And they may well be true. The same is true for Baal Shem Tov or other tzaddik stories -- surely some of them are true. And they inspire people. But as the author of the post suggests, people need to be realistic and learn how to cope with loss and disappointment and in a very practical way improve our communities. This coping with loss, though, can include the belief in divine providence. If one has a strong faith that G-d does everything for the best, one starts to see divine providence in one's life, and understand the many hints G-d sends us every day. Of course, it takes much prayer and practice to get to that level. And people should not be discouraged when they cannot see things this way.yeshayanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-45287234021808473372010-05-02T04:51:20.866+03:002010-05-02T04:51:20.866+03:00Stories like this actually have their place, even ...Stories like this actually have their place, even though they are obviously flawed from an intellectual standpoint. <br /><br />I know a woman who became frum all because she learned about the famous Aish HaTorah Torah codes. She felt that it was proof that G-d wrote the Torah. Now she's married with lots of children, bli ayin hara. I wouldn't be surprised if she still believes in the Torah codes.<br /><br />Sometimes, a healthy dose of irrational thinking can change a person's life for the better. I read a book written by a doctor 100 years ago called "The horse and buggy doctor" talking about how medicine men, witch doctors, and shamans have been more successful in treating certain illnesses than modern medicine (in his time). A little bit of magic and irrationality can be good sometimes. (I've heard stories in Israel of hepatitis being cured with pigeons dying on a person's stomach.)<br /><br />But I agree with the response by the anonymous author. This type of thinking can be destructive when taken in high doses.betzalelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-428262775625766082010-05-01T01:30:35.705+03:002010-05-01T01:30:35.705+03:00I am surprise you take Nava Klein the proprietor o...I am surprise you take Nava Klein the proprietor of Dreaming of Moshiach as credible source. If you read her posts during the years, she met Sarah imeinu, King David, Baal Shem tov and other interesting characters, She actually met the real messiah who incidentally looks like the late lubavitche rebbe.<br />==================<br />You missed the whole point. The story is fairly typical of what passes for inspirational stories today. The response to the story is my main concern.Daas Torahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07252904288544083215noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7309929059139673041.post-19873878021534229412010-05-01T01:08:07.774+03:002010-05-01T01:08:07.774+03:00I am surprise you take Nava Klein the proprietor ...I am surprise you take Nava Klein the proprietor of Dreaming of Moshiach as credible source. If you read her posts during the years, she met Sarah imeinu, King David, Baal Shem tov and other interesting characters, She actually met the real messiah who incidentally looks like the late lubavitche rebbe.<br /><br />She promised tens of time before that the messiah would come in a particular day, she complain that the sitra-achra tries to kill her, you can go over her web site and see she is delusional and need help.<br /><br />Her 15 minutes of fame were when she told this story :<br /><br /><i>In a town lived a woman that was married but did not cover her hair. The Rav of the town rebuked her a few times but she paid no heed, saying "I was given beautiful curly hair and unwilling to cover it".<br /><br />When she passed away, the Chevre Kaddishe placed her body in the ground but one of them accidently dropped his wallet inside, not noticing it. Inside the wallet was money and important papers.<br /><br />That evening, when he noticed his wallet was missing, he remembered that while bending down to bury the woman, the wallet fell inside the grave. He went to the Rav of the town, HaRav HaGaon Aryeh de-ve Ilai, zs'l, to receive permission to reopen the grave. The Rav answered that in this case he gives permission but on one condition; that all the town residents and the bet din must be present.<br /><br />The following morning, all the town's Jews gathered at the grave and were witnesses to this unique happening. The Rav and the bet din also arrived and the grand Rav gave the permission to open the grave and the missing wallet was found right away.<br /><br />Suddenly, weird noises were heard coming from the burial ground. Inside the hole of the burial they saw the scariest view ever seen before: The hairs of the dead woman were torn off and stuffed inside her mouth so that her mouth was completely blocked. Her skull was bald, covered by thousands of worms and set in a way the woman used to set her hair when she was alive.<br /><br />The town's Rav seeing this revealed miracle, woke up the residents to do Teshuva and said: This incident is directly from HaShem. It is no coincidence that the wallet fell inside the burial of the immodest woman. HaShem is showing us how severe it is for a woman to reveal her hair and use it as a weapon for beauty.<br /><br />The whole town was greatly influenced to see the judgment of this woman and how the judgment is measurement for measurement. </i><br /><br />http://dreamingofmoshiach.blogspot.com/2007/05/facts-out-of-this-world.htmlChief Penguinnoreply@blogger.com