Thursday, August 10, 2023
Rav Kook supports Argentine rabbis' measures against insincere conversions
The Ugly Chareidim & their Frightened Leaders
Update: On my way to Boro Park for Shabbos, I was stopped in the Atlantic Avenue subway station by a goy who said he was from Trinidad. He said, "Do you know what is going on in Israel? Did you see the report from CNN? I know that you Jews treat women in a dignified fashion - but why are they forcing women to sit in the back of the bus? "
Is assisted martyrdom - desirable or is it murder?
Maharal:Jews are less likely to change from moral chastisement than goyim
Torah Study & Working: Shulchan Aruch (156) vs Mishneh Berura
Rambam (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:10)Whoever decides that he will study Torah and not have a job and therefore will be financed from tzedaka – disgraces G‑d (chilulul HaShem), degrades the Torah and extinguishes the light of religion and causes evil to himself and removes his life from the World to Come. That is because it is prohibited to benefit from the words of Torah in this world. Our Sages said that whoever benefits from words of Torah takes his life from the world. Furthermore they commanded not to make Torah into a crown to be elevated in the eyes of others nor should Torah be used as a shovel to dig with. Furthermore they said to love work and to hate the rabbinate. They also said that all Torah which is not accompanied by a job will in the end be lost and will bring about sin and that in the end such a person will end up stealing from others.
Avos(2:2): It is wonderful to combine Torah study with a worldly occupation because the efforts invested in both cause sin to be forgotten. And all Torah study which is not combined with worldly occupation eventually comes to nothing and brings sin in its trail…
Berachos(35b): R’ Yishmael said that Torah study should be combined with a job. R’ Shimon Bar Yochai said that is impossible. If one ploughs, sows, reaps, threshes and winnows in the appropriate season there is no time to master Torah. In fact if one is totally devoted to serving G‑d then all his work is done for him by others… Abaye said that many have followed the advice of R’ Yishmael and have been successful while many who have followed the advice of R’ Shimon Bar Yochai have not been successful. Raba requested his students not to come to yeshiva during the months of Nissan (in order to plant) and Tishri (in order to harvest) so that they not need to worry about sustenance during the rest of the year
Torah Study & Working: Payment for Torah - Rav Moshe Feinstein
Falsely claiming to have ruach hakodesh is capital offence of being a false prophet
Ruach hakodesh is reason Biblical verses are omnisignificant - Netziv
Rav S. R. Hirsch & his contemporary incarnation - Rabbi Slifkin
Rav Hirsch (Bereishis 12:1) [Regarding Avraham being ordered to leave his homeland, birthplace and father's house]...It is certainly not meant to be belittleing of this factor if the planting of the first Jewish germ demanded forsaking fatherland, birth-place and the paternal home. It is rather just the appreciation of these factors wherin lies the greatness of the isolation demanded here. This demand itself placed Abraham in the completest contrast to the ruling tendency of his age. Not individualism, not recognition of the worth and importance of the individual, but centralization which makes men lose their personal value, and lower them to mere subordinate workers, mere bricks for the building of the fame of a supposed representation of the community, that was the tendency of the age, which under the slogan of "let us make a name for ourselves" began building the tower of the glory of Man. This tendency begot the erroneous conception of a majority which has sway in every direction and in every case. So that finally everything is considered the highest by the majority, ipso facto becomes considered and honored as the highest by everybody. It is true of course that the majority of every community should be the representative of all that which is truly the highest and holiest; and it is in the presumption that such is the case, that Judaism, too, values attachment to the community as being supremely important. Nevertheless at the head of Judaism the words לך לך "go for yourself" stand as being higher still; nobody may say: I am as good, as honest, as everybody else is, as is the fashion here today. Everybody is responsible to G-d for himself. If necessary, alone - with G-d - when the principle worshipped by the majority is not the true godly one. this what was demanded from Abraham as the starting point of his and his future people's mission. Our very language teaches, as we have seen, in the word ארץ and בית how strong are the bonds that attach a person both; yet stronger than the bond that attaches us to fatherland and family should the bond be that attaches us to G-d. How could we have existed, how continue to exist, if we had not, from the very beginning received from Abraham the courage to be a minority!
Rav S. R.Hirsch - we can't emulate great men who are portrayed as flawless
Rav Moshe Feinstein - untrue story being circulated
UPDATE:
I called the rav this morning ( Oct 4). He is truly an ish emes. He said he had heard directly from Rav Bluth that Reb Moshe hadn't looked in sefer for 20 years, I told him Rav Bluth denied it. He immediately called Rav Bluth and was told he had misunderstood him. Rav Bluth told him that Reb Moshe was not constantly looking in a sefer but was constantly writing but he did use seforim to look up issues. The rav called me back to explain his error and said he would publicly announce his error today in shul after mincha. I was astounded that the rav was so focused on emes and the effort to correct what seemed a relatively minor issue (though important to understand the derech of psak of Rav Moshe Feinstein) , he said the Chazon Ish and others said to be careful to tell the precise truth about gedolim. He thanked me for informing him of the error.
This passion for the truth that this rav demonstrated is the foundation of emunas chachomim. We presume that our sages have such a concern for truth. However if we see in otherwise - there is no mitzva to be stupid. Emunas chachomim is not a synonym for intellectual laziness and lack of concern for reality.
They are trying to make it illegal to question the results of a bad election.”
The Aug. 1 federal indictment against Donald Trump over efforts to subvert 2020 election results said the former president "had a right, like every American, to speak publicly about the election" and make false claims. It says Trump also was entitled to challenge the results lawfully through recounts, audits or lawsuits.
Trump was indicted for his actions, not for questioning the election.
Guest posts request
Anyone can submit a guest post describing the impact of blogging and blogs on a personal or community level. I will post them to see how they are received and then will possibly include them in my selections from the 15 years of the Daas Torah Blog
Pseudonyms can be used. They need to be submitted within next two weeks
Haredi minister condemns family who cursed IDF soldier
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/375312
Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf (United Torah Judaism) on Wednesday morning published a statement responding to footage showing a haredi family cursing female IDF soldiers on a train.
"Anyone who humiliates another person in public has no share in the World to Come," Goldknopf said, emphasizing that this refers to "any Jew, no matter who he is."
"Even IDF soldiers are included in this rule," he added. "I condemn this behavior, which does not represent the Torah-observant community."