Tuesday, March 25, 2025
Esrog for children - Obligation?
Igros Moshe (YD II #104) The common minhag is not to buy an esrog and lulav for a child.
Igros Moshe (OC III #95) Question Concerning the obligation of chinuch for the mitzva of lulav and esrog. The gemora (Sukkah 46b) says not to buy 4 species and give them as a present to a child for the first day of Sukkos even after he has used it on the first day of Sukkos since that makes it the possession of the child and he is required to be the owner of the lulav and esrog the next day to say the beracha because of the uncertainty of the status of the day. A child can acquire but not transfer ownership to others. Now, there is a dispute on this issue. Some say that one can give the lulav and etrog to the child without transferring ownership, and that this suffices to satisfy one’s obligation of chinuch. This is so even though the child performs no mitzvah and actually makes an unnecessary blessing; since for the sake of chinuch it does not matter whether the mitzvah has actually been fulfilled by the child. It is sufficient that the child thinks they are performing a mitzvah. Others such as the Magen Avraham says this is not sufficient and he must actually do the correct mitzva. The Mishna Berura says that according to the latter view the Shulchan Aruch says that a parent should hold the four specied together with his son to enable the parent to say a beracha the next day. However in such a cse the child has not done the mitzva since he didn’t own the lulav and esrog and the father did not do the mitzva of chinuch. Nevertheless many other Achronim hold this way. It appears that Shulchan Aruch agrees with this too. Since he says that the father is required to buy an esrog and lulav for his child. The reason that in Europe they were lenient was because of the poverty which prevented the purchase of an esrog anf lulav for every child. It was not possible even for most adults to have their own esrog and lulav, and instead they took turns using the community’s esrog and lulav and reciting the blessing over it, and were not able themselves to do the wavings of the lulav during hallel either . In fact it is best to be strict in this matter and especially since in America it it possible to acquire them cheaply everyone should buy a set for each child.
The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans
I have never seen a breach quite like this. It is not uncommon for national-security officials to communicate on Signal. But the app is used primarily for meeting planning and other logistical matters—not for detailed and highly confidential discussions of a pending military action. And, of course, I’ve never heard of an instance in which a journalist has been invited to such a discussion.
5 takeaways from Trump officials war planning group chat breach - Team of Clowns!
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5211761-us-government-group-chat/
Democrats, who have often charged that Trump lacks basic competence, seized on the story.
Trump himself pleaded ignorance.
Asked about it by reporters on Monday afternoon, he responded, “I don’t know anything about it. I’m not aIt’s difficult to imagine any high-ranking national security official in a more conventional administration still having a job if they did what Waltz did.
But the Trump White House is like no other, and the president swiftly released a statement of support.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump “continues to have the utmost confidence in his national security team, including National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.” big fan of The Atlantic. … You’re telling me about it for the first time.”++
Trump Joins Musk to Poke Fun at Massive War Plan Leak
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-joins-musk-to-poke-fun-at-massive-war-plan-leak/
The president and his “first buddy” appeared unbothered by the shocking leak of confidential military plans.
Trump intentionally hired amateurs for top jobs. This is their most dramatic blunder
More specifically, the official doing the texting of the war plans to a journalist appears to be Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed by the Senate despite serious questions about his lack of official experience – Hegseth’s most recent job before taking charge of the US military was as a Fox News host.
The story features all of the bold-faced names in charge of national security for Trump.
Somehow, Goldberg appears to have been added by national security adviser Mike Waltz to a group chat on the private, encrypted messaging platform Signal.
The group included profiles that seemed to be associated with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House adviser Stephen Miller, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and others.
A spokesman for the National Security Council later confirmed that the message chain appeared to be real and said they were investigating how Goldberg’s number was added.
Top Trump Officials Debated War Plans on Unclassified Chat Shared With Journalist
Senior Trump administration national-security officials held detailed discussions of highly classified U.S. plans to launch airstrikes against Yemen’s Houthi militants using a nongovernment messaging service and mistakenly included a journalist in the conversation, U.S. officials said Monday.
What the Trump War-Plan Chat Reveals
President Trump claims to run the most transparent Administration in history, but maybe not like this. His team somehow added a journalist to a high-level Yemen war-planning chat conducted over Signal, the commercial messaging app, with operational details about targets, weapons and attack sequencing.
A National Security Council spokesman confirmed the accuracy of the story in the Atlantic on Monday: “This appears to be an authentic message chain, and we are reviewing how an inadvertent number was added to the chain.”
The news is that the characters played to their public type. National-security adviser Mike Waltz was a voice for U.S. leadership—and for carrying out the President’s policy. Vice President JD Vance was a voice for U.S. retreat even when Mr. Trump directed otherwise.
From far left to haredi right, these Jews are questioning ethics of voting for WZC
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-847461
Founded by Theodore Herzl 128 years ago, the congress has influence over Israeli policy on immigration, land use and religious affairs through its control of institutions such as the Jewish Agency and the Jewish National Fund. It also distributes about $1 billion a year to Jewish causes.
Haredi Orthodox Jews, meanwhile, are also divided over whether to turn out and vote for a slate promising to represent their interests.
For nearly all of Zionist history, there was no haredi slate. In Israel and in the United States, haredi rabbis have historically regarded Zionism as a secular movement that clashes with traditional notions of God’s role in restoring Jews to the Land of Israel. They’ve allowed participation in Israeli democracy for the protection of their religious rights and state services, but viewed support for the World Zionist Congress as a capitulation to secularism.
But a rebel faction emerged ahead of the 2020 election with the creation of a slate called Eretz Hakodesh, meaning “the holy land.” Championing “classical Jewish values of Torah,” the slate shocked the Zionist world by placing third out of 15 slates with about 20,000 votes. Many voters, it turned out, were willing to swallow the bitter pill of voting in their fight for haredi interests.
Monday, March 24, 2025
Trump Team Leaks War Plans in Jaw-Dropping Security Fiasco
Top U.S. officials mistakenly texted war plans to one of the president’s most-hated journalists, The Atlantic revealed Monday—a shocking oversight by those in Donald Trump’s administration.
The bombshell report showed screenshots of a lengthy thread on the messaging app Signal, which included should-be-clandestine texts from Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and others.
Those messages were about the logistics of—and apparent need for—a military strike on Houthi targets in Yemen on March 14. That strike, to “send a message” and to help clear Middle East shipping lanes, was ultimately carried out and killed 53 people.
The messages, which a White House National Security Council spokesperson said Monday appeared to be “authentic,” gave unprecedented insight into how the Trump Administration communicates behind closed doors.
Among the dozens of texts viewed by The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg, included Vance expressing reservations with the strike requested by Trump—a break from the VP’s unwavering public backing of seemingly all of the president’s decisions.
Atlantic journalist says Trump officials included him in war plans group chat
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/5211030-us-houthi-attacks-yemen/
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor in chief of The Atlantic, was apparently included in a Trump administration group chat on Signal in which top officials debated and then discussed details of attacks against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The initial invite to the group apparently came from national security adviser Mike Waltz. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly sent the group details including weapons used, targets, and timing — two hours ahead of the attacks, which began March 15.
Others in the group were Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe.
In the stunning report, Goldberg claimed Waltz connected with him on Signal on March 11 and, two days later, he was invited to join a chain called the “Houthi PC small group,” in which they discussed strikes against the Houthi militant group in Yemen — seemingly unaware of the journalist’s presence in the group.
'Nazis Got Better Treatment' by US Under Alien Enemy Act, Says Judge:
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-administration-elon-musk-live-updates-2049479
Nazis were treated better by the United States during the Second World War, than Venezuelan migrants are by the Trump administration, a judge told an appeals court on Monday.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is currently hearing whether President Donald Trump can use the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport individuals it suspects to be part of a Venezuelan gang without due process, after it sent more than 200 to El Salvador earlier this month.
"There were plane loads of people. There were no procedures in place to notify people," Judge Patricia Millett said.
"Nazis got better treatment under the Alien Enemies Act."
Preface to Igros Moshe
Igros Moshe (OC I Introduction) This book (Igros Moshe) consists primarily of answers that I have written according to what I ruled is the actual practical halacha to those who wanted to know my views. Even though it might have been better to refrain from answering with prescriptions of what to do as we see that many great Torah scholars refused to answer practical halacha because of the warning of Rav (Sotah 22a) What means that which is written: ‘For she hath cast down many wounded’ — this refers to a disciple who has not attained the qualification to decide questions of law and yet decides them However the gemora concludes ‘yea, all her slain are a mighty host’ — this refers to a disciple who has attained the qualification to decide questions of law and does not decide. It was because of this that Rabbi Akiva Eiger is quoted by his sons in the Introduction to his volume of responsa, “I definitely needed to respond to all those who asked about the halacha so as not to violate the concern of being one who is capable of poskening but didn’t.” However those who refrain from poskening do so because even today the posek needs to posken correctly just as in the days of Rav. While it is true that the quality of poskim varies between generations as to what constitutes being qualified to pasken but it is only contemporary poskim who can render psak and the requirement is for them to pasken fot their generation. Anyway it is impossible to find contemporary poskim of the same quality of previous ones. Thus the meanining of “attaining the status to be a posek” can not mean that they are the same high level as in previous generations and nevertheless they are obligated to pasken like Rabbi Akiva Eiger. Nevertheless the poskim still need to be concerned that perhaps their psak is wrong. Consequently there are those who conclude that because of the possibility of error they won’t pasken and Rabbi Akiva Eiger is not typical because of his greater self knowledge. Therefore some minor figure such as me who lacks proper Torah and wisdom should obviously refrain entirely from paskening and surely not to publish them which is like pasening for the whole world. . In spite of this my justification not only for poskening but publishing them in a book is that the scholars of each generation not only can but must pasken even though they are not on the high level of “attaining the status to be a posek” of the time of the gemora and thus there is a genuine concern that they might be wrong. from the perspective of Heavenly Truth. In fact it has been stated that the truth of psak is not in Heaven but on Earth. That means that the validity of psak is sufficient if it appears to a tamid chachom after proper study to clarify the relevant gemoras and poskim according to his ability done with seriously with appropriate fear of Heaven. It is sufficient that if he is satisfied that the psak is correct he is obligated to pasken, even if in Heaven he is clearly wrong. In fact not only is this legitimate psak but it is also described as “the words of the living G-d” since it appears to be correct and nothing contradicts it. He will be rewarded for his psak even if it is wrong as is seen from the gemora (Shabbos 130a). Thus the true psak is that there is an obligation to pasken and that one is rewarded fot doing it is simply that which the talmid chachom understands after diligent study with his full ability – even if his conclusion is not true in the absolute objective sense. In fact this understanding applies to all the rabbinic disputes including that of the Rishonim and Achronim in which some conclude something is prohibited while others say it is permitted. As long as the halacha has not been conclusively decided like one position everyone is free to decide which view applies in their place and each is viewed as being true even though they contradict each other and only one view can be objectively true. Both sides are rewarded for their psak. Thus we see that there are many disputes between different communities even involving the most serious sins as some follow the Rambam and Beis Yosef while others follow the differing views of Tosfos and Remah. Both views are seen as the word of the living G-d even though the objective halacha in Heaven is only in agreement with one side. We see in Sanhedrin that a judge might be afraid to making a ruling because he might err in judgement and will be punished for his error. Therefore the Torah says that G-d will be with you in judgment. That means the dayan is only responsible for what he sees, soif he did his best he will not be punished for errors. The requirement to pasken and judging is even when it is not actually true. Consequently according to this definition of the true psak such is also found in the present generation and thus we also are required to posken and judge. The warning found in Bava Metzia that the accidental errors of a tamid chachom are considered intentional sins only means if he did not try hard to determine the truth but when he exerts himself fully he is obligated to pasken for which he will always be rewarded. This is what I relied on to pasken and respond to questions. I responded with what seems to me in my humble opinion after I clarified the matter with great effort to determine my answer. In addition I have written the reasons I came to that conclusion and therefore I am merely like a tutor to the person who is asking the question since he can retrace the process himself and thus decide for himself and I am not serving as a posek at all just as Rabbi Akiva Eiger said in his introduction. It seems from the gemora about Dovid serving as a posek that there is an obligation for a posek to answer all those who ask questions and it is forbidden to send them to another posek. That is why I answered all those who asked me . I have therefore decided to print my answers since I am merely serving as one who clarifies and explains the halacha and not as a posek. Other talmidei chachomim and poskim can readily understand my reasoning and decide for themselves whether to agree with my conclusions. It is easily seen that I did not blindly accept the views of others even that of the great poskim. In fact |I carefully examined with all my ability to try and understand whether they were correct as is commanded by Rabbi Akiva Eiger in his Introduction. Therefore I ask all those who study my sefer to carefully examine everything I said before deciding what the actual halacha is. This also very beneficial in knowing how to clarify the halacha. Thus my sefer will serve to teach the halachic process
"Pandemic of low self-esteem" in Yeshivos - Rav Reuven Feinstein
see video- Rabbi Twerski describe his struggles with low self-esteem
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See "Bringing out the Best"
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Dr. Meir Levin (Beyond Psychology in Jewish Action 2003): Psychology and Musar Are Not the Same - Because of the lack of appreciation of the uniqueness of musar, some have recently begun misrepresenting it as a kind of psychological teaching. The bastardization of musar takes various forms. A number of self-help volumes targeting the Orthodox community have recently been published. While some of the authors of these books explicitly aim at the legitimate synthesis of psychological and musar approaches or at restating musar principles in the language of psychology, others use musar to Judaize psychological teachings. One must not minimize the beneficial effects that the spread of psychological insights can have in our communities. And those who do this work are well intentioned. In fact, practitioners of musar would do well to pay at least some attention to advances in behavioral sciences. Yet, psychology is not musar and musar is not psychology. The conflating of the two detracts from each one.
See Rabbi Ephraim Becker - why equating gadlus haAdam and self-esteem is problematic
“My clinical emphasis on the importance of attaining a positive self-concept and avoiding self-flagellation may have had its origin in an anecdote about the Chafetz Chayim (Rabbi Israel Meir HaCohen) which Father repeated many times. One time the Chafetz Chayim was riding home to Radin and had the driver stop to pick up a man walking along the road. Along the way, the man mentioned he was journeying to visit the Chafetz Chayim, to which the Chafetz Chayim replied that. he didn't see why the man was going to such effort because the Chafetz Chayim wasn't so special The man then slapped the Chafetz Chayim in the face. Later in Radin the man met the Chafetz Chaimand and immediately bowed down, asking for forgiveness. The Chafetz Chaim said there is no need for this, as the man was defending him. "But I did learn something new trom this experience I have always pointed out how wrong it is to belittle others. Now, I know it is also wrong to belittle oneself.” [Twerski Generation to Generation pp 90-91]