Stephen Hawking and Time

Time magazine

R kaminetsky should review this vayikra 4:22

אֲשֶׁ֥ר נָשִׂ֖יא יֶֽחֱטָ֑א וְעָשָׂ֡ה אַחַ֣ת מִכָּל־מִצְוֺת֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהָ֜יו אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹא־תֵעָשֶׂ֛ינָה בִּשְׁגָגָ֖ה וְאָשֵֽׁם׃

Rashi
אשר נשיא יחטא — The word אשר is connected in meaning with ‎‎‏אשרי “happy”. Happy is the generation whose prince (king) takes care to bring an atonement sacrifice even for an inadvertent act of his; how much the more certain is it that he will do penance for his wilful sins (Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Chovah, Section 5 1; Horayot 10b)

Netziv
אשר נשיא יחטא. ידוע הפי׳ דנשיאתו גורמת שיהא עלול לחטא. וכ״כ הספורנו. והנה עוד יש במקרא לשון שאינו מדויק כלל. דכתיב אשר לא תעשינה בשגגה. והכי מיבעי ועשה בשגגה אחת וגו׳ אשר לא תעשינה ואשם. והכי כתיב ביחיד אלא מרומז דהנשיאות גורמת לחטוא בעבירות חמורות כ״כ אשר לא תעשינה בשגגה. שאין דרך לחטוא בהם אפילו בשגגה:

rabbi pelvovitz

the following was written by Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times:

He was the dean of the Orthodox American Rabbinate. A graduate of Yeshiva Torah VaDaas, and a Talmid of Rav Shlomo Heiman zt”l, he served as the Rav of the White Shul in Far Rockaway for decades. He lived in the Far Rockaway community for six decades. The Torah community mourns the loss of a remarkable Rav – Rabbi Rephoel Pelcovitz z”l.

Rabbi Pelcovitz loved people. He loved his congregants. He loved people that he encountered on a day to day basis.  He was a great Talmid Chachom. He was an author.  He was a translator. His translation of the Seforno is truly a Torah classic and will remain thus for centuries to come. The footnotes in this translation demonstrate his profound erudition and understanding.

Rav Pelcovitz prompted people to think and to re-examine aspects of their lives.  He had a warm infectious smile which helped in this task of his. He was also an accomplished speaker with remarkable content.

I was privileged to see his remarkable Shabbos parsha notes. The published sefer of his drashos are only a small part of it. The unpublished notes are a treasure trove for any Rav.

Rav Pelcovitz always had a tell-it-like-it-is style. I sat with Rav Pelcovitz to hear what he had to say on contemporary Jewish society.  He felt that we are not emphasizing the role of Eretz Yisroel in our Yiddishkeit and our need to support it even more.  He was very saddened that Torah Jews are not taking a greater role in helping combat the BDS movement, for example.  Below are some more of his thoughts:

BAIN ADAM LECHAVEIRO

Rabbonim should increase how they address the area of the Ben Odom lechaveiro.  Who is a frum Jew?  How do you define and how does one reach a point where he is entitled to the title that he is a religious frum pious person?  What are the yardsticks?  The current yardsticks re skewed, wrong or incomplete.  When a secular person asks how could a religious Jew be so unethical, so immoral?  Is it not important to teach ourselves that the simplest answer to that question is that it is wrong.  He is not entitled to that title as a frum Jew.  Keeping Kashrus, tzitzis and Shabbos does not entitle him to be called a religious Jew if in fact he is dishonest or immoral.

YESHIVOS AND BAIS YAAKOVS

The Yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs and other schools – Are the Yeshiva Gedolos today teaching derech eretz to their students?  Can you tell, looking at a young man or woman in public, whether he or she is a Talmid of a seminary or a Bais Yaakov or could he just as well be a student of any college or secular high school?  I have noticed that too many of these young people, especially the boys, lack simple basic fundamental behavior of derech eretz.

Derech eretz to an older person, to a teacher or a Rav and to their companions – their chaveirim.  Some claim that because we live in a relatively affluent society – one of entitlement – where the average youngster has never really been confronted with any kind of challenge when it comes to their lifestyle.. They have never gone hungry been denied a new suit or dress.  They enjoy many of the luxuries which they do not even consider luxuries.. Has this spoiled them and affected their personalities and character?  Are parents sensitive to this lack in their children?  If so, might it be that they themselves are insensitive in this area.  Is the kavod that a student once had for a teacher, fifty years ago or 100 years ago in Europe or in this country – is that still operative today?  It would be interesting to ask this of many Rabbonim and teachers and compare it with what old-timers would say.

trying to be a man ted talk

demise of guys dr ZimbardoTed Talk

?

psychology of time dr zimbardo Tedtalk

rabbi Azriel Auerbach opposed his brother's demonstations

jpost

The Jerusalem Faction announced on Wednesday night that it will be staging its first demonstration since Shmuel Auerbach’s death last month, following the arrest of a yeshiva student associated with the group for failing to cooperate with the IDF to obtain his military service exemption.   






But in a recording obtained by the Haredi Line news service, Azriel Auerbach said he has always been against the frequent demonstrations staged by the Jerusalem Faction and that he does not believe yeshiva students should fight with the police. 

The recording is particularly embarrassing for the Jerusalem Faction since Azriel Auerbach is Shmuel Auerbach’s brother but was recently named as one of the four leading rabbis of the group’s new Council of Sages of the Torah World, the rabbinic body that has supposedly taken up the mantle of leadership from Shmuel Auerbach. 

“I, from the beginning, was against all these demonstrations,” said Azriel Auerbach genially. 

“I don’t think that its good for the yeshiva students, for sure I was not of the same opinion as Reb Shmuel for whom the fire burned inside of him,” he continued with a chuckle.

“From the beginning of the journey I was not in favor, I told them that I do agree to do [demonstrations] in front of the prisons and study, [The protesters have a good point], but in the streets?” the rabbi questioned. 

“The clashes begin, we don’t need yeshiva students fighting with the police,” he concluded in a disapproving tone of voice. 

another foolish rabbi - Rabbi David Grossman defends accused Australian abuser without evidence or beis din

rabbi grossman realizesbhe made big mistake and withdraws stupid offer

vosizneias

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a woman wanted in Australia on 74 charges of sex abuse, including rape, while teaching in a Jewish school, to be kept in police custody in a medical facility while it considers moving her to house arrest.

Australia wants the woman, whose name is gagged in Israel by court order because she has not been accused of committing a crime in the country, to be extradited for allegedly sexually abusing children in a local school, Adass Israel.

Israel’s state prosecution says she is feigning mental illness to avoid extradition. Last week, a court said that it would delay consideration of whether to extradite her until a psychiatrist can review her case.

The woman’s lawyer, Yehuda Fried, told the court Thursday his client was not a flight risk.

He said: “She has nowhere to go. She is wanted worldwide.”

The prosecution had appealed after a lower court decision that would have seen the woman freed from police custody on Friday and sent to house arrest with a prominent rabbi who vouched for her.

Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, well-known among mainstream Israelis for his philanthropic work, served as a character witness for the defendant in the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday, saying that “for her to be in custody is a humiliation.” He offered to host her in house arrest at his home, adding that if she left the house “for even a second, we will take her straight to the police immediately,” according to the Brisbane Times.

The initial court decision to release the woman prompted harsh criticism from an activist who wants to see her extradited to Australia and held to account.

The woman “has been released on bail based on some random rabbi’s testimony that he will supervise her,” Dassi Erlich, who has accused the teacher of abusing her when she was a pupil, charged on Facebook. “If Rabbi Grossman can have a voice, someone who is not a part of this case at all, where is our voice?!”

Grossman received the Israel Prize in 2004 and the Presidential Medal of Distinction in 2013 for having rehabilitated tens of thousands of disadvantaged children through his educational work, which began in 1972. He was twice offered the position of chief rabbi of Israel, but declined in order to focus on his position as head of the Migdal Haemek yeshiva.

Fried said last week that the court ruled the woman should be dealt with “in the realm of mental illness.” Fried said that likely meant a years-long process before her extradition can be reconsidered.

But Israel’s Court Administration later said that the court will convene again on March 28 after a psychiatric evaluation has been carried out, indicating an extradition decision could be taken sooner.[....]

New taboo loneliness TED talk

Ted talk

rav tzodok

"אין לך משב"ק שאין לו איזה ניצוץ של גיחזי..."

We know others the same way we know our selfs

Mr rodgers model of mental health????

http://mentalfloss.com/article/31389/mister-rogers-epic-9-part-45-hour-interview

Did Tamar Epstein send shaloch mones to Rav Kaminetsky?

Trump plans on dividing Jerusalem?

jpost


Two days after EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini warned the US against taking “false steps” on the peace process, the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Wednesday that the Trump administration’s plan to jump-start peace talks calls for east Jerusalem as the capital of a demilitarized Palestinian state whose borders do not match the pre-1967 lines.

According to the Saudi paper published in London, Arab states are unhappy with the framework and are trying to change it before it is presented.