Today I will begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you upon the nations that are under the entire heaven, who will hear reports of you and shake and be in trepidation because of you.(Devarim 2:25)
May we be zoche, this week!
7/23/09
No Patience
The most obvious difference between the two traditions [of the Jewish and American peoples] is that of national origins. The beginnings of Judaism are as old as history itself, whereas the sum total of American history reaches 190 odd years, a total which in Jewish history amountsto only a page and which to the Jewish consciousness is absurdly small. While it is true that America’s roots antedate 1776 and can be found in Greece and Rome, it is equally true that in conduct, thought and character, America is distinctive and unique. For despite the variegated roots of American civilization, a homogeneous national character has emerged which is peculiarly a product of the New World. And the beginnings of this national character are quite recent….
This contrasting length of the two histories accounts in part for their disparate time-view. A civilization whose past is measurable has a more restricted view of time than one whose traditions reach into pre-history. For Judaism, the future follows the way of the past, distant and infinite. In America, too, future is like past: brief, measurable and immediate. Thus we find America operating on a short, hurried time scale. It is more concerned with the here and now than the hereafter, both in the practical and the teleological sense. There is no patience for eternity. By contrast, the Jewish time scale is long and far reaching. The Jew has time. This has been celebrated in our folk lore, our humor, and even in the classic Tiddish aphorism, A Yid hat zeit. He is patient, as one who ahs come from the dawn of history and now waits for the Messiah must be patient. The objects of his authentic ambition are sacred rather than secular, and he does not think only in terms of the immediately attainable. Time is not a commodity which must be used. God himself is mekadesh Yisrael ve’ha-zemanim – He who sanctifies Israel and the seasons. Time is holy. Speed in understanding all things, rapidity of movement for its own sake, short courses in learning and scholarship – these are foreign to the Jewish tradition.
The Jew has time, and his Book is constantly expanded: Bible to Talmud to commentaries to super-commentaries ad infinitum. The American book is quickened, shortened: novels to pocket editions to abridgements to condensations. Characteristically, the Jew has carried his Book on his shoulders: Ol Torah , the yoke of the Torah. The American carries his book in his hip pocket.
Rabbi Emanuel Feldman, The American and the Jew: Equation or Encounter? (Tradition, Fall 1960)
7/22/09
The Spread
A group of hikers on their way to rock climbing sing the rebbe's niggun! The revolution is spreading! May it continue until we scale all walls!!!
7/17/09
Not so easy to be a Working Jew...
It is told of the Vilna Gaon that he was very fond of the Maggid of Dubno and would invite him to visit from time to time.
On one occasion, he told him: "you give mussar everywhere you go; why don’t you give me mussar as well?" The Maggid became instantly ill at ease. How could he rebuke someone as revered as the Gaon? But the Gaon was insistent.
Finally, the Maggid spoke: “Rabbi, you sit at home with the shutters so tightly closed that not even sunlight can enter. Is it any wonder, then, that you are a tzaddik. Perhaps if you wandered around the marketplace all day you wouldn’t be so righteous. "
And the Gaon took his words to heart.
On one occasion, he told him: "you give mussar everywhere you go; why don’t you give me mussar as well?" The Maggid became instantly ill at ease. How could he rebuke someone as revered as the Gaon? But the Gaon was insistent.
Finally, the Maggid spoke: “Rabbi, you sit at home with the shutters so tightly closed that not even sunlight can enter. Is it any wonder, then, that you are a tzaddik. Perhaps if you wandered around the marketplace all day you wouldn’t be so righteous. "
And the Gaon took his words to heart.
Geshmak
One Litvak asked one of the early rebbes, "You Chassidim and we misnagdim both learn Torah. We're makpid in halacha and you're makpid in halacha. So, sof kol sof, at the end of the day, what did chassidus really add?" The rebbe answered him that everything he said is true, but that there's one difference; after Chassidus, when one does an aveira, it just isn't as geshmak as it used to be."
7/15/09
Chachmas HaGoyim/Ain Shum Yayush
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Valvano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyO8DMvLGwc (NC State 6th seed, Houston #1 in the country)
7/6/09
Shira Chana Kohl!
Hodu Lahashem Kitov! Praise Hashem that I am alive and able to serve my Rebbe and my Revolution!
My Tatte looks like a smurf! Watch out it's Gargamel and his evil cat Azriel! Tatte, Were the Smurfs communists?
A new gate in heaven was opened with my birth, and the light was so intense that it engulfed my Tatte's head. Little midwestern boys of the revolution should take note if they ever try and steal my Rebbe action figure with daled minim included. (yes girls of the revolution play with Rebbe action figures too.)
My Tatte looks like a smurf! Watch out it's Gargamel and his evil cat Azriel! Tatte, Were the Smurfs communists?
A new gate in heaven was opened with my birth, and the light was so intense that it engulfed my Tatte's head. Little midwestern boys of the revolution should take note if they ever try and steal my Rebbe action figure with daled minim included. (yes girls of the revolution play with Rebbe action figures too.)
6/24/09
Looking at this picture from a recent Sunday afternoon in DC, I began to lament the loss of innocence. I'm not sure exactly when it happens but I'm sure there must be a study out. Perhaps at Bar Mitzah when our evil urge kicks in , although nowadays it surely happens sooner. Ahh! the hevel shein bo cheit! When did we become twisted, crooked as question marks. Paul Simon's bookends
Time it was oh what a time it was
It was a time of innocence a time of confidences
long ago it must have been I have a photograph
preserve your memories they're all that's left of you
In the words of enigma who sang about the return to innocence as I was losing mine, Let us all merit to the ultimate return.
Vheshiv Lev avos al banim vlev banim al avosom
6/23/09
What table are you at?
Jews,
I would like to personally invite the oi-lam to crash the upcoming Reichman-Bronstein affair with me. I think we should have an awkward meeting by the coat room where we can catch up with "stuff" and I can show you pictures of Rebbe's student-einekel
Love,
Apartment 302
For this reason, and for this reason only, a Jew is a holy being: not because the Jew is more clever, more compassionate, or more successful, but because he has the capacity to negate himself before God. The Baal HaTanya defines a Jew as one who, at a “moment of truth,” will be prepared to sacrifice his life rather than disrupt, even for a moment, his bond with God. A Jew is one in whom union with God and self abnegation to Him are implanted in his soul; should anyone ever attempt to separate him from God, this latent bond will be invoked in all its intensity, to the point of self sacrifice. From this potential for utter self abnegation, implicit even in the most wicked and sinful Jew, the holiness of the Jew derives.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Opening the Tanya, 164
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, Opening the Tanya, 164
6/22/09
Whiny Jews
A few weeks ago, this piece of self hating drivel was published in the NJ Jewish Standard. Poppa Ben-Canaan sent a response, published in last week's edition of the paper:In response to the June 12 opinion piece “Tough love for Israel would pain pro-Israel peace camp,” Dan Fleshler claims to be in the camp that wants Obama to have the political wiggle room to take a fair, even-handed approach to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians so that he won’t have to ‘get tough’ with Israel. Putting aside what Mr. Fleshler and I believe to be the right approach regarding the Jewish communities of Yehuda and Shomron, which by the way would be complete opposites of each other, how can he believe for even a moment that Israel has any choice but to take a hard stance in the face of a Palestinian population that wishes us dead? Their leaders have never abandoned their ultimate aim of destroying us, have never taken steps to build their own state, have never honored their agreements to cease aggression, and have only adopted ever-more offensive positions when Israel has withdrawn from the territories that have been turned over to them. There is no good faith shown by them and there has never been a serious attempt to implement what has been promised to date. These facts are indisputable. Now he and his J Street chevra, in the face of rising global anti-Semitism and relentless pressure on Israel, have chosen to show their “tough love” to the Jews of the State of Israel.
Here is some tough love back to my Jewish brother Dan Fleshler: He needs to get on the right side of the street and stand with the Jews of Israel. He and his friends are seriously misguided and standing with our enemies by doing what they do at this time in our history. Even his use, in his article, of the term “occupying power” in referring to Israel and “defenseless occupied people” in referencing the Palestinians shows how incredibly misled, biased, and naïve he truly is. And while we’re at it, here is ‘an inconvenient truth’ for him to consider — his notion of “bolstering moderation” in the Middle East is a good one that could be seriously enhanced by putting his misguided efforts into trying to figure out how to disarm the Palestinians who continue to attack Israelis relentlessly. We need to show the world the maximum level of achdut (unity) among the Jewish people in the face of our enemies, not his whiny, liberal, progressive apologies for why it hurts him, a Jew, to have to give Israel his “tough love.”
Howard Ben-Canaan*
Teaneck/Modi’in
Name changed to protect the innocent from snag hate mail
6/10/09
Underground
Ratzo v'Shov.
Beards have been trimmed. Shirts have been tucked.
The RRRR has gone underground.
But we shall emerge.
5/22/09
Yom Yerushalayim Torah
From our Brother and Teacher at Jawbonevalley:COME CLOSE TO THE WALL: In Honor of Yom Yerushalayim by Rav Judah Mischel
June 1967:
Nasser, Egypt's President, declared his intention to lead the Jihad to destroy Israel and push the Jews into the sea. Militarily, the IDF was outnumbered by a ratio of 20:1, proportionally even a larger enemy than we faced in days of the Hasmonean revolt and the battle of Chanuka. The Chevra Kadisha (burial society) in Jerusalem prepared 10,000 body bags for the expected mass civilian casualties, and contingency plans were made for Jerusalem's parks to be turned into cemeteries. Animals in the city's zoo were put to sleep for fear that they might be set free and create chaos in the streets. The Knesset archives and artifacts in the Israel Museum as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls were secured underground, preserved in shelters.
Rabbonim instructed the Tnuva factory to remain open on Shabbos to make sure that they would produce enough milk to feed the population during war time. Thousands volunteered to fill sandbags; talmidim of the Mirrer Yeshiva were instructed by Rav Chaim Shmulevitz to leave the Beis Medrash to assist in the effort. Israel was in a state of emergency, understanding that the dire situation threatened the very existence of the State.
"Yeshuas Hashem k'heref ayin": What took Yehoshua Bin Nun months to accomplish, took only six days; Israel's size tripled, as the IDF miraculously and heroically recaptured Yehudah, Shomron, the Golan, Aza, the holy cities of Chevron, Beit Lechem and Shchem, and reunified Jerusalem.
In the wake of the awesome victory, the Jewish world was euphoric, sensing clear Divine intervention and incredible Yad Hashem.
In Shir Hashirim, Shlomo Hamelech describes how Hakadosh Baruch Hu will deal with our enemies who dare attack us at a time of favor (2:7-8): “You will become as defenseless as gazelles or rams in the field…behold it came suddenly to redeem me as if leaping over mountains, skipping over hills. In His swiftness to redeem me… I thought I would be forever alone , but behold He was standing behind our wall, observing through the windows, peering through the cracks of the latticework.”
Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the Kedushas Levi uses these two descriptions of the way Hashem watches over us to explain the different ways we perceive Hashem's presence in our lives. First, there are times when Hakadosh Baruch Hu observes us "through the windows": moments of clarity where we can "see" Hashem openly, as if on the other side of a glass window.
The awesome victory of the Six Day War 42 years ago was one of those times of clarity. Following the war, Southern front Paratroop Commander Rafael ("Raful") Eitan remarked that, "...Apparently someone in Heaven was watching over us... every unintended action they took and every unintended action we took, always turned to our advantage." There was no mistaking that victory was God-sent, that we were witnessing open miracles.
There are however, other times, where it is more difficult to sense the Ribbono Shel Olam. Nonetheless, explains the Kedushas Levi, it is upon us to remember that Hashem also “watches us through the cracks of the latticework”: we can not "see" beyond the wall, but are assured that Hashem is always there. In those times of hiddenness, when Hashem is "peering through the latticework" we remain under the constant watchful "eye"- we can't "see" Him; but Hakadosh Baruch Hu is always watching us.
It is easy to see someone though a window; one can even gaze from afar. But in order to see a person watching you through a "crack in the latticework", one must come up very close to the wall and look carefully into the crack. Only then, when we peer deeply into that space, can we see that there was someone on the other side of the wall, watching us the entire time...
Yom Yerushalayim is a day of celebration and thanks where we reflect on the miraculous salvation and open Hand of God. We are also able to strengthen our awareness of Hashem's presence in our lives, so that in times when we face difficulties- personally or on a National scale - we will remember and encouraged that we are under the constant Hashgachas Hashem. As the complicated and sometimes painful process of Redemption continues to unfold in stages, we must draw strength from the knowledge that Hashem is always with us, watching over us and directing the course of our lives, even within the confusion and concealment.
The Six Day War is not a distant historical event for us to 'remember' or 'commemorate'; it is a defining moment in each of our personal lives, where a major step toward the ultimate restoration of the heart and soul of our land and Nation took place.
On Yom Yerushalayim, when I stand at the Holy Wall after a long day of celebration, I rest my head in its cracks, and am able to see clearly that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is right there, "peering through the latticework." I feel blessed to have been born into the final generation of exile and the first generation of Redemption, and pray, that with Hashem's ever-present Hashgacha, we will merit the next stage of Mashiach, with the complete rebuilding of Yerushalayim speedily in our days.
Nasser, Egypt's President, declared his intention to lead the Jihad to destroy Israel and push the Jews into the sea. Militarily, the IDF was outnumbered by a ratio of 20:1, proportionally even a larger enemy than we faced in days of the Hasmonean revolt and the battle of Chanuka. The Chevra Kadisha (burial society) in Jerusalem prepared 10,000 body bags for the expected mass civilian casualties, and contingency plans were made for Jerusalem's parks to be turned into cemeteries. Animals in the city's zoo were put to sleep for fear that they might be set free and create chaos in the streets. The Knesset archives and artifacts in the Israel Museum as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls were secured underground, preserved in shelters.
Rabbonim instructed the Tnuva factory to remain open on Shabbos to make sure that they would produce enough milk to feed the population during war time. Thousands volunteered to fill sandbags; talmidim of the Mirrer Yeshiva were instructed by Rav Chaim Shmulevitz to leave the Beis Medrash to assist in the effort. Israel was in a state of emergency, understanding that the dire situation threatened the very existence of the State.
"Yeshuas Hashem k'heref ayin": What took Yehoshua Bin Nun months to accomplish, took only six days; Israel's size tripled, as the IDF miraculously and heroically recaptured Yehudah, Shomron, the Golan, Aza, the holy cities of Chevron, Beit Lechem and Shchem, and reunified Jerusalem.
In the wake of the awesome victory, the Jewish world was euphoric, sensing clear Divine intervention and incredible Yad Hashem.
In Shir Hashirim, Shlomo Hamelech describes how Hakadosh Baruch Hu will deal with our enemies who dare attack us at a time of favor (2:7-8): “You will become as defenseless as gazelles or rams in the field…behold it came suddenly to redeem me as if leaping over mountains, skipping over hills. In His swiftness to redeem me… I thought I would be forever alone , but behold He was standing behind our wall, observing through the windows, peering through the cracks of the latticework.”
Rebbe Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, the Kedushas Levi uses these two descriptions of the way Hashem watches over us to explain the different ways we perceive Hashem's presence in our lives. First, there are times when Hakadosh Baruch Hu observes us "through the windows": moments of clarity where we can "see" Hashem openly, as if on the other side of a glass window.
The awesome victory of the Six Day War 42 years ago was one of those times of clarity. Following the war, Southern front Paratroop Commander Rafael ("Raful") Eitan remarked that, "...Apparently someone in Heaven was watching over us... every unintended action they took and every unintended action we took, always turned to our advantage." There was no mistaking that victory was God-sent, that we were witnessing open miracles.
There are however, other times, where it is more difficult to sense the Ribbono Shel Olam. Nonetheless, explains the Kedushas Levi, it is upon us to remember that Hashem also “watches us through the cracks of the latticework”: we can not "see" beyond the wall, but are assured that Hashem is always there. In those times of hiddenness, when Hashem is "peering through the latticework" we remain under the constant watchful "eye"- we can't "see" Him; but Hakadosh Baruch Hu is always watching us.
It is easy to see someone though a window; one can even gaze from afar. But in order to see a person watching you through a "crack in the latticework", one must come up very close to the wall and look carefully into the crack. Only then, when we peer deeply into that space, can we see that there was someone on the other side of the wall, watching us the entire time...
Yom Yerushalayim is a day of celebration and thanks where we reflect on the miraculous salvation and open Hand of God. We are also able to strengthen our awareness of Hashem's presence in our lives, so that in times when we face difficulties- personally or on a National scale - we will remember and encouraged that we are under the constant Hashgachas Hashem. As the complicated and sometimes painful process of Redemption continues to unfold in stages, we must draw strength from the knowledge that Hashem is always with us, watching over us and directing the course of our lives, even within the confusion and concealment.
The Six Day War is not a distant historical event for us to 'remember' or 'commemorate'; it is a defining moment in each of our personal lives, where a major step toward the ultimate restoration of the heart and soul of our land and Nation took place.
On Yom Yerushalayim, when I stand at the Holy Wall after a long day of celebration, I rest my head in its cracks, and am able to see clearly that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is right there, "peering through the latticework." I feel blessed to have been born into the final generation of exile and the first generation of Redemption, and pray, that with Hashem's ever-present Hashgacha, we will merit the next stage of Mashiach, with the complete rebuilding of Yerushalayim speedily in our days.
5/11/09
Har'eini Na et Ruchaniyuti...
Finding one’s individual portion in Torah Despite the fact that the Torah speaks to each of us individually, addressing our every experience, every event to befall us, our every metamorphosis of being, not everyone is privileged to understand the Torah on such a personal level. Not everyone merits to recognize the way in which Torah speaks to his individual mind, heart and personality.
A person needs to recognize what belongs to him, which aspects of Torah are relevant to his life, which part he is to implement at any given moment. But not everyone knows this. Some individuals (even great ones) were said to have been told to concern themselves only with a aparticular aspect of the Torah and no other. It is told that following the death of Rabbi Moses Cordovero, Rabbi Joseph Karo went to learn Kabbalah from Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Holy Ari) and kept falling asleep when the Ari was speaking, until the latter told him that this was not his portion in the Torah, that the holy Ari’s kabbalah was not for him. The Ari is also said to have told Rabbi Moses Alshech that he should not involve himself in Kabbalah but in homiletic discourse, as this was his portion in the Torah, and Rabbi Alshech indeed wrote his book Torat Moshe in this genre of Torah learning.
Some explain the prayer, “grant us our portion in Torah,” as a request not only to be granted a portion in Torah but also to be granted the knowledge of which portion is ours. Every Jew can and must study Torah, but if he concerns himself with aspects of Torah that are not truly his, then, although he has certainly fulfilled the commandment to study Torah, he fails to realize the ultimate potential of his soul in regard to Torah study.
Rav Steinsaltz, Opening the Tanya, 28
A person needs to recognize what belongs to him, which aspects of Torah are relevant to his life, which part he is to implement at any given moment. But not everyone knows this. Some individuals (even great ones) were said to have been told to concern themselves only with a aparticular aspect of the Torah and no other. It is told that following the death of Rabbi Moses Cordovero, Rabbi Joseph Karo went to learn Kabbalah from Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Holy Ari) and kept falling asleep when the Ari was speaking, until the latter told him that this was not his portion in the Torah, that the holy Ari’s kabbalah was not for him. The Ari is also said to have told Rabbi Moses Alshech that he should not involve himself in Kabbalah but in homiletic discourse, as this was his portion in the Torah, and Rabbi Alshech indeed wrote his book Torat Moshe in this genre of Torah learning.
Some explain the prayer, “grant us our portion in Torah,” as a request not only to be granted a portion in Torah but also to be granted the knowledge of which portion is ours. Every Jew can and must study Torah, but if he concerns himself with aspects of Torah that are not truly his, then, although he has certainly fulfilled the commandment to study Torah, he fails to realize the ultimate potential of his soul in regard to Torah study.
Rav Steinsaltz, Opening the Tanya, 28
Laag BeOmer Celebration
Join Rebbe on the Banks of the Deleware where he will lead us to simcha, ahavas yisroel, and achdus.
Rebbe Simchah!
Rebbe invites everyone to celebrate the engagement of his daughter Batya to Yosef Bronstein.
This Thursday night, 6 - 10pm at the Rubin Shul.
Mazel Tov!
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