Month: August 2007
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Shimon Hatzadik
“Shimon Hatzadik was one of the remnants of the Men of the Great Assembly…” (Pirkei Avos 1:2) But WHY was he called a ‘tzadik’???? http://www.torahlab.org/tssf/why_was_shimon_a_tzadik/ Read more
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28th Av – Rav Pam’s Yarzheit
Someone e-mailed me to say that today is also the Yarzheit of R’ Avraham Pam, Rabbi Mordechai Kamenetsky wrote this moving tribute to Rav Pam: HOW do you capture the essence of an elderly man, stricken with a devastating and, ultimately, fatal disease, who insists on attending a fundraising event, having to be brought by… Read more
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28th Av – The Netziv
Today was the Yarzheit of the Netziv (R’ Naftali Tzvi Berlin), the famous uncle of the Torah Temimah (hence ‘My Uncle the Netziv’ – great reading if you can get hold of it – it was one of the first recent books to get banned because someone took offence. I suppose that makes it a… Read more
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Giraffe 1: Carnivores 0
Alternative title: Don’t learn this one from the animals. I saw this entry on the Maggid of Bergenfield and I had to post it here. What a fantastic story! Re’eh: Just Like Chicken The Society for Exotic Kosher Cuisine met once a year at a local restaurant in Teaneck, usually a steak emporium. Its goal… Read more
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Learn from the animals
Something tells me that if Gilad Shalit, Eldad Regev or Ehud Goldwasser were buffalo they wouldn’t still be held hostage by the lions or crocodiles! (I don’t think this is what the Gemara means when it says that we could learn Torah from the animals. However, maybe the politicians could act like animals in a… Read more
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27 Av – Maginei Shlomo
Today (Shabbat Reeh, 27th Av) was the yarzheit of R’ Yehoshua Charif, author of the Maginei Shlomo and Responsa P’nei Yehoshua (and great grandfather of the author of P’nei Yehoshua on Shas). He was the Av Beis Din in Cracow in the 17th century. This Weeks Yarzheit from Yarzheit.com Reb Yehoshua Charif of Cracow, author… Read more
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Berlin is (not) Jerusalem
Another rant, I’m afraid. Not content with replacing life in Israel with life in Berlin (or anywhere else for that matter, but in this case it is Berlin), the Orthodox have taken a leaf out of the classic Reform text book. Remember how over 100 years ago the Reform movement removed any mention of Israel… Read more
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To those who repent and those who don’t
We are about to begin the month of Elul, a time of introspection, repentance and regret. It seems that not only has the government begun the process a wee bit early, but that they are also playing G-d! Just as we ask G-d to forgive those who repent and those who don’t, Ehud Olmert and… Read more
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25th Av – Steipler Gaon’s Yarzheit
(In every picture he has a grumpy face, but in reality everyone who met him said he always greeted people with a smile. Never trust the cameras, even without photoshop!!) Don’t make the mistake of naming your child ‘Steipler’ after the Steipler – his real name was Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky. He was the brother in… Read more
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Kiruv for non-Jews
I have been asked to post this psak of R’ Moshe Sterbuch on my blog. It seems to me that he is certainly not speaking about someone who is in the process of conversion (or investigating that option), but is writing about a person who is not interested in being Jewish. Hence the name ‘kiruv… Read more