The interdependence of faith in G-d and faith in Sages

Sefas Emes (Vayikra Pesach): And they believed in G‑d and His servant Moshe –It is known from seforim that by means of faith in the sages (emunas chachomim) a person can come to have faith in G‑d. That is because faith in G‑d is a higher level than faith in man. However this is from the perspective that “I am first and I am the last.” That is because in reality, faith in G‑d both precedes and causes faith in the Sages. But it is only after having faith in the Sages that a person is able to have true faith in G‑d. This order is what we see here. The Torah first says that they believed in G‑d and then afterwards they believed in Moshe. After that they sang “az yashir…” Thus we see by their singing the praises of G‑d by the sea, they were brought to true faith.

Chassidus: The Shpoler Zayde's Seuda - Saving the rebbe by dying in his place

Crownheights.info

The Shpoler Zayde, traveling in a sled, safely crossed the Ros River on his way to the Bris. However, upon his return, the ice broke, endangering the lives of everyone riding in the sled. At this moment, the Zayde saw, that in Heaven, a terrible decree was proclaimed against him. He cried out to all the Chassidim present: “Whoever wishes to replace me, I promise him ”Olam Haba“ (the world to come)!” Whoever would give his life for the Shpoler Zayde would be guaranteed a place in the world to come.

“I wish to replace the Zayde!”, shouted his “Gabbai” (beadle) Yollek. And so it was; his “Gabbai” Yollek drowned and the Shpoler Zayde was spared.

KosherSwitch removed false assertion that Rav Sternbuch gave haskoma

In apparent response to my posting that Rav Sternbuch had not given a verbal haskoma to Kosher Switch - their false claim to the contrary has been removed. 

kosher switch endorsements

Contrary to what had been cited on their page of endorsements - Rav Sternbuch did not say that their switch was better than gramma. In fact a rabbi who was present at the meeting said that Rav Sternbuch said that it was worse than gramma.  Thus this was not a case of Rav Sternbuch reversing his position because of pressure or misunderstanding the question or giving approval for a narrower domain than the Kosher Swtich claimed. Rather it is a clear misunderstanding on the part of Kosher Switch. Baruch HaShem they have removed their claim regarding Rav Sternbuch.

Abuse: Person is responsible if he did something clearly wrong - even if told by rabbi

Rav Moshe Sternbuch told me that when dealing with child abuse - that if a rav tells you not to go to the police when it is obvious that one needs to - you should not listen to the rav but to ask another rabbi (if there is no danger to the children by the delay). A clear support for this idea of each individual needing to be responsible to do that which is obviously correct - even if told the opposite by a rabbi - is the following Ba'al HaMa'or. This broadens the obligation to use your seichel and knowledge and focus on doing the right thing. When something is a dvar mishna - clear and obvious - you can not use the excuse that an authority told you not to do the right thing. This is clearly opposed to the idea of blind obedience to authority.

Ba’al ha-Ma’or(Sanhedrin (p. 12a in the Rif:):“If you were to ask: We hold [the prevailing view] that cases of garmi (damages resulting from direct and predictable cause) are liable for court adjudication. Why then do we say that when a judge errs in something stated explicitly in a Mishnah, he simply reverses his ruling but is not responsible for any losses, even if the damage incurred by the litigant due to his error is irrevocable? [For example,] the case of the cow of Bet Menaḥem whose meat can not be returned because R. Tarfon [the judge] had already [caused it to be] fed to the dogs [by those who followed his ruling]. “The answer is: The litigant was negligent. Since the error is in that which is stated explicitly in a Mishnah, the error is obvious, and the litigant should not have relied upon him and should not have acted upon what he was told. He should have questioned [the judge] and demonstrated the error, for this was as obvious as an explicit Mishnah. Therefore it is the litigant who was negligent; the judge’s ruling is superfluous. This is what is meant by: It is as if the judge never issued the ruling; he did nothing at all [to the litigant].”[Translation Rav Nachum Rabinowitz Chakira Magazine #5]

Computers can see (almost) what you are thinking

Time Magazine

That's a video of the process up top. A test subject is undergoing an MRI while watching random video clips from Hollywood movies. On the left side, you see clips from what the subject viewed. On the right, you see the fMRI results of "quantitative modeling" using "a new motion-energy encoding model," essentially a matchup of brain activity with the viewed images. As you can see, at worst, it's capable of reconstructing what was viewed in terms of the video image's elemental geometry, e.g. broad shapes, lights and darks, etc. And at best, you can make out identifiable human forms and even vague facial features. (Interestingly, the human-related images seem the least abstruse, which, perhaps—wild speculation on my part here—says something about species-related bias in our recognition patterns.)

Rav Amnon Yitzchok versus Neturei Karta

100 rabbis[headed by Skulener Rebbe & Rav M. Solomon] meet to solve the Internet Problem

bhol

רבנים קבעו: יש למצוא פיתרון לאינטרנט

בארה"ב הוקם 'איחוד הקהילות לטוהר המחנה' • המטרה: למצוא פיתרון לסכנות הרוחניות הטמונות בטכנולוגיה • בחודשים הקרובים - כנס הסברה ענק • ויש תמונות 

בניו-ג'רזי שבארה"ב התקיים אתמול (ד') כינוס היסטורי, בו נטלו חלק רבנים ואדמו"רים מכל החוגים.

מטרת הכינוס היתה הקמת 'איחוד הקהילות לטוהר המחנה', שיפקח וימצא פיתרונות לסכנות שמציבה ההתפתחות הטכנולוגית בימינו - ובראשה האינטרנט הלא מפוקח.

עוד בנושא:
• שיתוף פעולה חסידי-ליטאי: כך נכשיר את האינטרנט

בראש הכינוס עמדו האדמו"ר מסקולען והגאון רבי מתתיהו סלומון, משגיח ישיבת לייקווד, והשתתפו בו ונשאו דברים, בין היתר, האדמו"ר מנובמינסק, הגאון רבי שמואל קמינצקי ראש ישיבת פילדלפיה, הגאון רבי משה גרין ראש ישיבת מונסי, הגאון רבי אליהו ברודני ועוד. 

Texas School Punishes Boy for Opposing Homosexuality

Foxnews

An honors student in Fort Worth, Texas, was sent to the principal’s office and punished for telling a classmate that he believes homosexuality is wrong.

Dakota was in a German class at the high school when the conversation shifted to religion and homosexuality in Germany. At some point during the conversation, he turned to a friend and said that he was a Christian and “being a homosexual is wrong.”

Were Egyptians the Perpetrators of Last Month's Terror Attack?

Time

Yedioth Ahronoth reported:

"The IDF's investigation of the incident was recently completed and its findings indicate that the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza sponsored the terror attack, but the terrorists who executed the attack were Egyptians," reporter Alex Fishman wrote.  "The Egyptian terrorists were responsible for the sniper fire from within Egyptian territory, and the three squads of suicide bombers who went onto Route 12 to attack the Israeli vehicles were also comprised of Egyptian citizens." Fishman reports that the operational cell numbered 20 people, including the Palestinian handlers. One, the story says, was an Egyptian police officer on active duty.

Kosherswitch:Falsely indicating that Rav Moshe Sternbuch endorses product

A company selling grama switch for Shabbos is claiming an endorsement from Rav Moshe Sternbuch.

Kosherswitch

HaGaon R’ Moishe Sternbuch shlit’aChief Rabbi/Ra'avad of the Eidah HaChareidis Yerushalayim. “Not gramma, better than gramma; Brocha that you should get the good to stay good, and get the bad to become good!” (1/5/2010 at his home)JerusalemVerbalWiki

 I received the following letter from Rav Sternbuch's gabbai

I asked the Rav about this, he told me that he was asked about it, he wrote  a letter via Rabbi Sigler on the issue, the Rav holds that it is not only chilul shaboss, but "akiras shaboss" to use this switch, the rav asked for his opinion to be publicized since he has been asked recently about this from numerous sources.

Discussion of Kosher Switch - problem of zilzul Shabbos

YU Torah by Rabbi Aryeh Liebowitz  Listen at the end where he discusses zilzul Shabbos

Kosher Switch & the problematic haskomas - Rabbi Rosen of Tzomet

Chareidi extremists demonstrate in Beit Shemesh

YNET

Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox residents of Beit Shemesh staged a demonstration Tuesday evening outside a religious girls' school in the city, in protest of the Education Ministry's decision to open the school near haredi neighborhoods.  [...]

In spite of the organizers' hopes that the protest would be attended by all haredi factions in Beit Shemesh, the only ones who arrived were the "extremists" identified with the struggle, as well as dozens of haredi children. [...]

Baal HaTanya: Success is not determined by rational planning so don't ask advice from a gadol for personal matters

An interesting point is made by the Baal HaTanya. Personal advice such as finances were never asked of a talmid chachom but only a prophet. This is clearly stated in Koheles (9:11). This is perhaps a reflection of believing that everything is determined by Providence as opposed to the view that talented people with intelligent plans are more like to be successful  Thus he seems to be asserting that  a person's success is always determined individually by hashgocha protis - and not by rational planning. The role of a gadol is to give advice in avodas HaShem and spiritual matters. This is related to my previous question as to whether a person should monitor outcome and modify his behavior to increase success. This seems to be consistent with the Chovas HaLevavos that hishtadlus is only a precondition for success but doesn't determine it. Therefore there is no need to modify ones efforts or change jobs because there is no causal relationship between specific type of effort and success.

Koheles(9:11):[Shlomo said] I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not always won by the swift, the strong don’t always win the battle, the wise don’t always have bread, the men of understanding aren’t always wealthy, and the talented aren’t always favored. In fact they will only sometimes be more successful than others but all of them will find that at times their successes or failures are apparently random.

Baal HaTanya(Igros Kodesh #22): My dear friend… Has there ever been anything like this since the beginning of creation? Where can you find in any one of the books of Jewish sages – whether of the earlier period or later period - to have an established practice of asking advice concerning secular matters such as what to do regarding some mundane issue. [This wasn’t done] even from the greatest of the ancient Jewish sages such as the Tannaim and Amoraim -- from whom no secret escaped and for whom the pathways of heaven were clear. In fact asking advice was only done from the genuine prophets such as those that used to exist amongst the Jewish people. For example  Shmuel the Seer was asked by Shaul about the donkeys his father had lost. That is because in truth all matters pertaining to a person – except those having to do with Torah learning or fear of heaven – are not comprehended except through prophecy. As it says, “And the sage has no bread”(Koheles 9:11). Our Rabbis have taught, “Everything is in the hands of heaven except for fear of heaven.” They also say that 7 thing are concealed…and that no man no knows how he will profit… and when the House of Dovid will return… You should note that these are equated to each other. And this that is says in Yeshaya, “A counselor and a sage who silences all,” and also, the statement of our Sages that people “benefit from [a talmid chachom] by his advice and sound wisdom” – that is referring to his words of Torah which are called “sound wisdom.”…