Prophecy II - Validate by foretelling the future?

I discussed the issue of how the Lubavitcher Rebbe was a prophet with a Chabadnik last night. He said every Lubavitcher has heard amazing stories of prophetic ability regarding the Rebbe and thus he obviously was a prophet. The following are two stories that he personally knows the people involved and vouches for their authenticity.

1) An 8 year old Romanian Jewish girl was seriously burned. The family took her to the hospital where she was given intensive care. They were told that she needed to be left alone for two weeks and that the family should return then. Two weeks later they were informed that she died. But the way the information was conveyed they realized the nurses were lying and that she probably had been kidnapped. After searching to the best of their ability they lost hope of ever seeing her and emigrated to Israel. She had a brother who grew up to be a serious talmid chachom. At the age of 17 he developed cancer and the doctors gave up on him. In desperation he went to to New York to get the Rebbe's beracha. The Rebbe told him not to work that everything would work out. Then he decided to ask for a beracha to find his sister. The Rebbe gave him an extra dollar and told him that miracles would happen in 5761 - nine years in the future.. He returned to Israel,his condition rapidly improved and he was considered cured. He got married and settled in Bnei Brak. The family grew. One day his wife complained to him that she was overwhelmed taking care of the kids and also cleaning the house. He promised her that he would get help so he went out to the area where the foreign workers hung out and found a young lady who agreed to come and help clean. Things worked out fine, but he had a strange feeling when ever he looked at the worker. He found out she was Romanian and started talking to her in Romanian. She stated that she didn't remember too much about her childhood having been separated from her family at the age of eight. But she did have a picture of her mother. Lo and behold it was his mother - it was his long lost sister - and it was the last week of the year the Rebbe had said miracles would happen. The rabbi who told me the story noted that this was even a harder call since Romanian workers were only common in Bnei Brak for one or two years in recent history.

2) An Austrailan acquaintance of this rabbi had a Bobover chasid friend. The Bobover chasid took the chabadnik to meet the Bobover Rebbe. The Bobover Rebbe told them about a recent tradgedy. A young woman had married several months before. Despite all predictions of a happy marriage it was a disaster. The woman protested that she wanted to get out of the marriage - but she was ignored and told just be patient. At some point she couldn't take it anymore and simply ran away. The Bobover Rebbe asked the chabadnik to please ask the Lubavitcher Rebbe for help in locating the young woman. The Chadnik stopped by 770 on the way back to Australia and told the Rebbe the problem. The Rebbe told him. When you arrive back in Melbourne immediately take the next flight to Brisbane. The Chabadnik did as he was told and found himself on a flight to Brisbane without the foggiest idea of what to do next. There was a woman sitting next to him who seemed very curious about him and his religion. After an extended conversation she said, "What does your religion hold about people who desert their religion?" The Chasid was surprised by the query but answered simply that one can never leave Judaism but there is always hope of persuading the person to return. She then told him, "I am the owner of a chain of clothing stores in Brisbane and I just got a new worker who used to be an Orthodox Jew - perhaps you could speak to her and persuade her to return to her religion." It of course turned out to be the missing wife. He was able to arrange for her to receive a get and she moved to Israel where she now lives with her new family and many kids.

Prophecy -Validate by foretelling future?

Rambam(Letter to Yemen):[translated by Abraham Halkin][The following incident we have verified and know to be true, because it occurred in recent times. About fifty years ago or less, a pious and virtuous man by the name of Moses al-Darri came from Darral to the province of Andalusia to study under Rabbi Joseph ha-Levi ibn Migash, of blessed memory, of whom you have very likely heard. Later he left for Fez, the center of the Maghreb. People flocked to him because of his piety, virtue, and learning. He informed them that the Messiah was about to come, as was divinely revealed to him in a dream. Yet he did not pretend on the basis of a divine communication, as did the former lunatic, that he was the Messiah. He merely affirmed that the Messiah would appear. Many people became his adherents and put their faith in him. My father and master, of blessed memory, endeavored to dissuade and discourage people from following him. However, only a few were influenced by my father, while most, nay, nearly all clung to R. Moses. Finally he predicted even events that would come true no matter what was going to occur. He would say: “I was informed yesterday that this and this would happen,” and it did happen exactly as he predicted. Once he foretold a vehement rain for the coming Friday and that the falling drops would be blood. This was considered a sign of the approaching advent of the Messiah, of which the text says: “[ will set portents in the sky and on earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke” [Joel 3:3]. This episode took place in the month of Marcshevan. A very heavy rain fell that Friday and the fluids that descended were red and viscous as if mixed with clay. This miracle convinced all the people that he was undoubtedly a prophet. In itself it is not inconsistent with the tenets of the Torah, for prophecy, as I have explained, will return to Israel before the messianic advent. When the majority of the people put their trust in him, he predicted that the Messiah would come that very year on Passover eve. He advised the people to sell their property and contract debts to the Muslims with the promise to pay back ten dinars for one, in order to observe the precepts of the Torah in connection with the Passover festival, for they would never see them again, and so they did. When Passover came and nothing transpired, the people were ruined, as most of them had disposed of their property for a trifling sum, and were overwhelmed with debt. When the gentiles in the vicinity and their serfs learned of this hoax they were minded to do away with him, were they to locate him. As this Muslim country no longer offered him protection, he left for Palestine where he died, may his memory be blessed. When he left he made predictions, as I was told by those who saw him, concerning events both great and small in the Maghreb, which were later fulfilled.

Rambam's 8th Principle - All Torah is from G-d

Rambam(Sanhedrin chapter 10:1 8th principle): The Eighth Principle of Faith is that Torah is from Heaven. It is to believe that the entire Torah we have today was given through the agency of Moshe and that it was entirely from G‑d. In other words that the entire Torah came to Moshe in a manner which we can best describe as speech. Even though this process is unknown to us, somehow the Torah was communicated by G‑d to Moshe. Moshe functioned like a scribe who receives dictation and records all the events, narratives and commandments. That is why Moshe was called Mechokek (engraver). Consequently there is absolutely no distinction between the words, “And the sons of Cham were Kush and Mitzrayim” [Bereishis 10:6] or, “The name of his wife was Mehaitavel [Bereishis 36:39] or, “Timna was a concubine” [Bereishis 36:12] and between the First Commandment, “I am the L-rd your G-d” [Shemos 20:2] or the Shema, “Hear Israel the L-rd our G-d the L-rd is One” [Devarim 6:4]. That is because the entire Torah is from G‑d and therefore all of it is G‑d’s perfect Torah – pure, holy and true. Consequently one who says that verses like these or the narratives were written by Moshe alone is considered by our Sages and our Prophets as the worst type of heretic and revisionist. That is because he thinks that there are genuine and spurious parts of the Torah i.e., that these historical descriptions and stories serve no purpose and that they were created by Moshe – and not by G‑d. This is what is referred to in the Mishna (Sanhedrin 90a) as one who says that Torah is not from Heaven – and he therefore has no share in the World to Come. Our Sages [Sanhedrin 99a] explain that it is even heresy to assert that the entire Torah is from G‑d - except for a single verse which was said entirely by Moshe. Such a heretical assertion is an act of despising G‑d’s word [Bamidbar 15:31]. In fact all the words of the Torah contain astounding wisdom for those who understand them. These words are so profound that they will never be completely understood…. This is true not only of the Written Torah but also of the Oral Torah i.e., the explanations of the Written Torah which we have also received from G‑d. Therefore that which we make a Sukkah in a particular manner and perform the mitzvos of lulav, shofar, tzitzis, tefilin and the other mitzvos is the manner which G‑d told Moshe and he in turn faithfully told us. The Torah verse which teaches us this principle is (Shemos 16:28), “And Moshe said: And by this you will know that G‑d sent me to do all these deeds and I didn’t make it up myself.”

Devarim II - Did Moshe compose it?

There are basically two ways of understanding the authorship of Devarim. The first is simply that G-d composed it just as He composed the other four books of the Torah. There is an alternative view that in fact Moshe composed Devarim. Below are examples of the two views.

Devarim composed by G-d

Chinuch(Introduction to Devarim before #414): The Ramban wrote in his introduction to Devarim that the nature of Devarim is well know – it is a restatement of the Torah. In it Moshe reviewed to the generation, that was about to enter Israel, most of the mitzvos that they would need to know to settle the Israel. He commands many mitzvos and threatens them strongly concerning the punishment for not keeping the commandments. Occasionally he adds explanations to some of these mitzvos. However he makes no mention of mitzvos which applied to the Cohanim. Furthermore he doesn’t add to the commandments of the Cohanim since they were highly motivated to keep their mitzvos (Shabbos 20a). Moshe also adds mitzvos in Devarim which have not been mentioned previously at all such as Yibum (levirate marriage), slandering one’s bride, divorce, scheming witnesses and others. There is no doubt that these were not new mitzvos but those which had already been told to Moshe at Sinai or in the Tent of Meeting (Ohel Mo’ed) in the first year. That is because on the Plains of Moav there were no new revelations of mitzvos except for the words of the Covenant as will be explained [Devarim 28:69]. Since there were no new mitzvos revealed by G‑d for the first time here – you don’t find in Devarim the expression “And G‑d spoke to Moshe saying, ‘Command the Jews’ or ‘Speak to the Jews and you say to them this mitzva’. These are the words of the Ramban. This that these mitzvos were not mentioned previously with the other mitzvos is not surprising. That is because our Sages say in many places [Pesachim 6b] the Torah is not presented in chronological order. The reason for this is that the Torah includes all wisdoms aside from the plain meaning of the verses of its sweet issues and the strong foundations of its mitzvos. Perhaps because of the concealed wisdom it had to be arranged in the pattern that we have. Thus all is precisely placed by the Master of Divine Wisdom and that is sufficient justification.

Devarm composed by Moshe

Ohr HaChaim(Devarim 1:1): These are the words that Moshe spoke to the entire nation… By saying “these are the words” it comes to exclude what was written previously in the Torah. In other words Devarim consists entirely of the words which Moshe spoke on his own initiative i.e., the chastisements and instructions to those who transgress G‑d words. Megila (31b) states the curses which are mentioned in Devarim were composed by Moshe. However even the laws which Moshe reviewed and explained, he did on his own initiative without a command from G‑d. Since Moshe composed the Book of Devarim, the Torah was concerned that we might mistakenly think that he might have also independently composed part of the previous four books of the Torah. That is why Devarim starts with “These are the words that Moshe spoke” - to tell you that only the words found in Devarim were Moshe’s own composition but not even a single letter of the Torah that preceded it. Those four books of the Torah were entirely from G‑d exactly as He commanded them without the slightest change – even a single extra letter added or subtracted.

Big Brother in Beit Shemesh II/ The true story

Bartley Kulp's comment to "Big Brother in Beit Shemesh":

"Tombeck charges that it is the modern Orthodox who are escalating the war by holding demonstrations, using political muscle and speaking to the media."

This statement from Rabbi Tombeck is pure unadulterated spin. Holding demonstrations and using political muscle is a time honored chareidi tradition. Especially in Beit Shemesh!

Now hear this! I am going to tell you all a story Years before the zeolots in Beit Shemesh broke into the national media spotlight things were already brewing there.

I do not know the exact year that people started moving into Ramat Beit Shemesh. Nor do I know which communities were promised what or who got there first in significant numbers.

What I do know is that by 2003 there were already two rapidly growing communities there that were competing to inherit the earth.

Just to make a note for background information, that was also a municipal election year. At stake was the question what kind of infrastructure the city was going to further invest in. The Chareidim wanted further housing developement for kollel families and the dati leumi wanted to invest in infrastructure that would facilitate businesses and possibly new factories in order to enhance employment prospects in Beit Shemesh. They were also on a better government anti corruption and efficiency platform. Both parties were fielding candidates for the city council. The chareidim also fielded their own candidate for mayor against the likud incumbent. In the end both sides took a beating to the Likud. Mayor vaknin kept his post and Shas who had a large presence in the city council lost many of their seats. They also subsequently lost their municipal posts. Another issue that was brewing was that all time favorite thing to fight about between secular dati leumi and chareidim, who will get what municipal resources for their schools. The fact that the unexpectedly rapid demographic increase in RBS out stripped the municipals ability to quickly facilitate school space for the various communities just aggravated the situation. In fighting and lawsuits just slowed down the situation fueling more aggravation and fights.

The reason why I am writing about all of this is because it is the backdrop of many of the cultural campaigns that were to follow. However I am not suggesting that there is a sinister plot connection between the culture campaign that has been waged by the chareidim in RBS and the issues that I have mentioned above. However they do not help things and increase an already incendiary atmosphere. Those issues might be part of the cause of that atmosphere.

Already in 2003 there were zealots blocking the main road that passes through RBS Bet and throwing rocks at cars that were driving through on Shobbos. Also during that same year the municipality gave the local Bnei Akiva a property to use in RBS Aleph, on a street called Nachal Micha. At the time this was a mixed street. I believe it still is. Residents of both groups were dissatisfied with their situation. They were stuck paying mortgages for properties in neighborhoods that were not shaping up to how each side originally envisioned. When Bnei Akiva received usage of that property, the local chareidi residents responded. The fear was that there would be teenagers of both sexes hanging out on the street in mixed company. The neighborhood rabbanim responded by circulating a petition around the neighborhood to give to the municipality against Bnei Akiva opening on the street. I do not know whether it was the petition on its own merit or wrangling in the municipality but that Bnei Akiva chapter never managed to open on that street.

In 2005 a demonstration was led by Rav mordechai Goldstein (the mora d'asra of Kehillat Yaakov RBS Alef) at the main shopping center in RBS Alef. This was a protest against the eateries there that they felt were becoming teenage hangouts at night. They wanted that those businesses should close earlier.

In 2006 during a Lag B'Omer bonfire celebration Rav Shlomo Perlststein (mora d'asra of RBS Alef) led a demonstration against this group of celebrators (all of whom were religious) after hearing that men and women were mingling and socializing. I would like to note that most of these people were husbands and wives who were sitting out of the dancing or just resting. There was no coed dancing going on there. He brought many of his close followers and forcefully broke up the celebration. These are just the examples that I am aware of. Then the rest is media history. These are just a few examples that Rav Tombek would lead you to believe did not happen. After all he has stated that it was the Modern who introduced protesting and the usage of political muscle in Ramat Beit Shemesh, hence escalating things. Not the fact that they have been the victims of violent attacks for the past two years. This is what is called an LSD spin.

Utopian Hishtadlus inversely related to belief in G-d?

LazerA's comment to "Post Zionism - Chief Rabbinate really necessary?":

Garnel Ironheart said...

"If there's no satisfactory solution, why tackle the problem?"

Well, while it may not be possible to truly solve a problem, this does not mean that we can't do anything to alleviate the problem. (Thus we give tzedaka even though we know we can't eliminate poverty.)

However, I feel you are onto an important point.

I have long wondered why there is a correlation between political conservatism (antagonistic to big government) and religious conservatism. At the first glance there wouldn't appear to be any connection.

After all, why should belief in God result in opposition to the welfare state? Why should "Pro-Life" be connected to opposition to gun control? Obviously, their are relgious people on the politically liberal side as well, but we do see a broad correlation of these views in the population. (As Obama put it, "religion and guns.") Why are they connected?

I think part of the reason is the attitude towards the issue we are talking about: accepting that some problems are unsolvable.

The Western religions teach that, ultimately, God controls the world and that the primary reason for the world's troubles is God's displeasure with human sinful behavior. It follows, therefore, that the primary means of solving these problesm is spiritual.

In the meantime, however, we must deal with an imperfect world. This imperfect world is called, in Jewish terms, galus. (Christians similarly believe that humanity is in a "fallen" state. The theology is, of course, very different, but in this regard the implications are similar.) We therefore have to accept that there simply is no natural solution to many of the worlds problems (poverty, war, crime, etc.). We, of course, do the best we can, in our small human way, to alleviate the problem, but we recognize that we cannot eliminate the problem.

Secularists (and those who absorbed its world view) generally will not accept this view. Although logically it is possible to be a secularist and also accept that there are no true solutions to the world's problems, emotionally this is very difficult. Most secularists believe, emphatically, that all of the world's problems can be solved ("If only people would listen to our wisdom!").

Thus, LBJ's "War on Poverty" and the modern welfare state, the United Nations (to eliminate war), assorted liberal policies to eliminate racism (affirmative action), socialize medicine, etc. WHile most of these goals are laudable, they are, in essence, attempts to solve the unsolvable. As a result these grand plans tend to just create new problems while exacerbating the old ones.

Fundamentally, what has happened, in my opinion, is a secular substitution for the Messianic age. Religious believers tend to believe that the Messianic age can only be brought about through Divine action. Secularists, who don't believe in the Divine, have put themselves in the Messianic role. Interestingly, the U.N. has been, almost explicitly, described in Messianic terms. Thus the famous "Swords into Plowshares" statue at the U.N. based on a messianic prophecy from Yeshaya HaNavi. (Even more interesting, the statue was donated by the atheist Soviet Union!)

Religious groups that have absorbed the secularist perspective (which includes various Christian factions, such as the Methodist church that mentored Hillary Clinton, and many Jewish groups, such as Reform Judaism) and have completely adopted their agenda as their spiritual purpose.

(Incidentally, while I don't have enough background on Islam to be certain, it seems to me that a similar process has led to the modern "radical Islamists." Today's radical Islam is a modern development, which was heavily influenced by secular Arab nationalism. In radical Islam we also observe the attempt to bring about a Messianic age through direct human action.)

Well, I guess I've rambled for long enough. Sorry!

Eternal Jewish Family Website - Returns

The EJF Website is fully functional including photos and video as well as application for potential converts to apply to their programs

Post Zionism II - Jews & Moslems

Garnel Ironheart said...

> Please elaborate on the Torah's moral justification for persecuting monotheistic inhabitants of the Land of Israel.

You mean: Persecuting monotheistic inhabitants who daily shout out loud for the destruction of Israel and use whatever means they can to bring it about. I don't think you'll find a functioning state on this planet that wouldn't "persecute" such a group.

> This included/includes expelling civilians from their homes,

Well at least you're sympathetic to the exiles from 'Aza.

> seizing their land

That they in turn originally seized from us. Yes, please continue.

> murdering 10,000 civilians

Only in your dreams. You've been reading too much Al-Jazeera.

> raping women and girls in order to incite enough terror that the majority of the native population would flee (Deir Yassin)

You probably also believe that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion is an authentic historical document. Well, as PT Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute.

> This is also very well documented from IDF achives by Meron Benvenisti former mayor of Jerusalem

Who was all for Israel and Yerushalayim until he lost his chance to become mayor of the Holy City and then, in what seems to be de rigeur for failed Israeli politicians, became a bitter enemy of the state willing to spread any and all lies about it. Sour grapes indeed.

> Please explain your source for the Torah justification for taking the Land of Israel by force in light of the Three Oaths.

The Torah tells us to stay away from false matters. By rejecting all the... oh he'll just censor the word... you've spewed, I'm doing just that!

Self-evident Belief vs. Reasonable Belief

LazerA's comment to "Chabad - With defenders like these...?

Garnel Ironheart said...

"One of the problems with Chabad and much of Chareidi philosophy nowadays is that at the core their view is the "right" view and must be defended with passion and aggressiveness."

While I also agree that the problem exists in the Chareidi world as well (though not as pervasively), I do not think the essence of the problem is that they consider their view "right" (which is really to be expected) but that they believe their view is obviously and self-evidently correct. Thus, those who disagree are not simply wrong or misguided, but hateful and arrogant (as we see from the accusations that have been made).

Interestingly, a similar phenomon existed during the Middle Ages when Christians accused the Jews of ritual murder, host desecration, and of being of a demonic/Satanic nature. This was premised on the Christian belief that Jesus' status as Moshiach/prophet/Divine was clearly self-evident to all who knew him. As the Jews knew Jesus best, their denial of his status as Moshiach/prophet/Divine could only be explained by their wilfully evil/demonic nature.

As I noted this tendency also exists in some circles of the Chareidi world, and can cause a good bit of trouble.

Firstly, those who have such an attitude are less likely to consider the impression their actions make on outsiders. (After all, in their hearts, the secular Jews know we're right!)

Secondly, this is one of the reasons kiruv workers sometimes get in trouble. Although they (usually) believe exactly the same things, they are sometimes seen as weaker in their beliefs because they will acknoweldge that these beliefs are not obvious.

This attitude appears to be far more common in Israeli chareidi circles than in American.

Big Brother in Beit Shemesh

Jerusalem Report just published this cover story. It is not the highest quality journalism but of the "he said this and she said that" type. However it is useful when read with a critical but open mind

[...]
Today's religious battles are being waged between different Orthodox factions in the suburban neighborhoods south of the city center known as Ramat Beit Shemesh (Beit Shemesh Heights). In the early 90s ultra-Orthodox haredi families, forced out of Jerusalem by the tight real estate market, settled there.

Some of them are adherents of the Eida Haredit, a small group of anti-Zionist extremists. An unusual coalition of modern-Orthodox religious Zionists and moderate, mainstream ultra-Orthodox residents complain that for the past year, a small group (60 families, it is estimated) of these zealots (kanaim in Hebrew) have engaged in acts of religious coercion and intimidation in order to impose their lifestyle on the majority. For now, the zealots are most vocal about women's modesty in dress and observance of Sabbath laws, although some anti-state activity has also taken place such as flag desecrations on Independence Day. There have also been reports in recent years of attacks on young people who stroll in co-ed groups together on Friday night; and of burning oil and gasoline thrown into a pizzeria where men and women sat together.

An unofficial zealot spokesman, Eli Tombeck, married and in his thirties, defends the attitude of his group. He tells The Jerusalem Report in an interview by telephone, We are merely trying to preserve our way of life." He denies belonging to the Eida Haredit, which is thought to have only 15,000 adherents across the nation, saying he's of Litvak orientation (i.e. more mainstream) and serves as a beadle at a large, normative ultra-Orthodox Beit Shemesh synagogue known as Kehillat Yaakov, led by Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein. Tombeck charges that it is the modern Orthodox who are escalating the war by holding demonstrations, using political muscle and speaking to the media. Moderates admit that they retaliate against the kanaim by waving Israeli flags from rooftops and terraces, hoping to irk the anti-state zealots.

Modern Orthodox residents paint a very different picture. "Rocks, dirty diapers and tomatoes have been pelted at and damaged our hospital van," says Judy Lev, an emergency room nurse, who works at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem and is required to work on Saturdays. The zealots' loud screeching at cars traveling on Shabbat near religious precincts is offensive to the moderates, although they too would prefer cars to stay away from their neighborhoods on the day of rest.

Sharon Ra'anan, an ex-Californian married with three children and a resident of bucolic Nofei Aviv, a modern Orthodox neighborhood of single family homes, reports that even "on a Tuesday" a friend's car was stoned as she drove through an adjoining zealot's neighborhood, Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet. A burning baby carriage was placed in the road, says Ra'anan. When her friend stopped her car to remove it, a brick was thrown into her back window narrowly missing her son. Ra'anan says it is unclear exactly why the woman was accosted, but the incident, she says, underscores the kind of hostile atmosphere, which has erupted in the town. She also knows of a doctor whose arm was broken "by hooligans" but could not elaborate on specific details and another modern Orthodox man who was roughed up by zealots. She also cites the case of a woman who had been harassed after she chose to sit in the forward "men's section" seating area of a neighborhood bus. Ra'anan, 43, who works as a technical writer in Jerusalem, immigrated 10 years ago. She says she was brought up as a "serious Conservative." She does not wear a head covering and she co-founded a women's payer group in Beit Shemesh after she moved in.