hubscubs

does obama know where the middle east is?

2011-05-19T23:14:00.002+03:00

after today's riveting speech on the middle east, we can only stand to question...

our jesus shabbos

2011-03-27T16:26:00.001+02:00

the title to this post was borrowed from a recent book, "my jesus year", written by a guy malka went to school with. well, this past weekend was our "jesus shabbos".

a neighbor of ours is involved in a foundation that builds bomb shelters in sderot and kiryat shemona and the like. several of his donors are evangelical (zionist) christians from the US. when a recent group expressed an interest in experiencing an authentic shabbat with jews of the west bank, he arranged for hospitality to 68 participants. four came to our home. they came with me to shul. coincidentally, our shul was doing a carlebach davening this week, so it gave that good ol' "gospel" feel with the singing and dancing.

our shabbat dinner with them was very interesting. when i said that it was our jesus shabbat, it was actually quite the opposite. they weren't here to missionize, they came to learn. they asked us questions about our lifestyles, holidays, raising children, dealing with the arab-israel conflicts, etc.

the most fascinating part for me was the following. as we knew what great supporters of zion they were, we kept making references to the religious zionist doctrine which finds spirituality in the establishment of the state of israel. at one point, one of our guests corrected us and told us that from their perspective, it's not the jewish state that they care about, but rather the jewish people in the jewish homeland.

it makes you kinda stop in your tracks and think: for us, the concept of התחלתא דגאולה, the beginning of our redemption, manifesting itself in the establishment of the state of israel has been a means to an ends. the ends being the jewish people coming home and controlling their homeland. since the last 63 years has brought about so much work to be done just maintaining the status quo and trying to proceed with the redemption process, since there is so much refining in this "jewish state" process, we may not be able to see the forrest for the trees. our end-game is to have jews home in our homeland, in anyway possible. the fact that we believe that the state is that mechanism, should give us inspiration and motivation that G-d is truly helping us. but let's not forget the ultimate objective. sometimes, you need an outsider, especially a zionist outsider to point that out to you.

vicious cycle of dehumanization

2011-03-17T15:42:00.001+02:00

after a long hiatus from blogging, i had to step in and put down my thoughts:

when i was about 19, i remember viewing some sort of film, showing the propoganda that nazi germany employed leading up to the holocaust. the main features that i remember was the film showing nasty pictures of jews picking their noses and scratching themselves and looking overall wretched. and in between these shots, the nazi film showed infestations of rats, bugs, and other vermin. with this background, we can better understand how both the nazi party and civilians under their influence could bring themselves to carry out, or even to condone, the horrors and atrocities that occured during the holocaust. just like many people don't mind exterminating rats or using other animals in experiments, so too these people felt justified in their extermination of the jews. this film made a very lasting impact on me.

this past weekend, our nation witnessed a terrible, brutal murder, in cold blood of the fogel family in itamar, including three young children. this terrorist attack simply shook the jewish people up, from all over the world. i'm sure that was part of the "aftershocks" that the terrorists were aiming for: (kill only 5, but cause psycological damage to untold thousands of people ... destroy their resolve ... destroy their resilience).

anyone who knows me or who has read this blog in the past is familiar with my personal, religious, zionist, and political stance: the perpetrators of this muder should be hunted down and killed. either by death penalty in front of the whole world, like the nazi war criminals, or simply by targeted air missiles. these terrorists do not deserve any leniency. Hashem Yikom Damam Mishpachat Fogel.

however, one thing that i cannot bring myself to do is employ the terms being used over and over throughout people's reactions. my facebook feed was rimming with comments how "we are not dealing with humans" or "they should rot like the animals that they are", etc. even Pally President Abbas was quoted as saying, "humans incapable of such acts". my problem with using these words is not that i don't think that their reaction is justified. i understand where they're coming from and it it a coping mechanism. my problem, though, is that these words remind me of that nazi propoganda i opened with. the arab terrorists who murdered the fogel family have been eating a daily breakfast of such incitement from their early years. they have grown up believing that a good jew is a dead jew and if you can kill them while they're young (and sleeping), even better since this will ensure that those "settlers" won't have a chance to steal our land and further to ruin our lives. only in a scenario where they are indoctrinated with such deeply rooted hatred, can we begin to understand how a 3 month old baby has her throat slit. just to be painfully clear, i will emphasize the obvious: this in no way *justifies* the horror of the terrorists' actions, but simply paints a background to their impetus.

if we use such phraseology, not only are we stooping to their level, but we are engaging in a never-ending cycle of dehumanization that only results in more bloodshed. may the remaining family members be consoled and may we as a nation merit to rise above such horrors, both physically with military prowess and figuratively, to serve our purpose as a light onto the nations.

hubscubs blog goes into hibernation

2010-11-28T18:42:00.003+02:00

well, everybody. it's november, so you know what that means. national blog posting month, an initiative to get out a blog post every day of the month. there's this great blogosphere out there and people are even following memes like the above, but for some reason, i just can't hack it. almost the whole month of november has come and gone and i haven't banged out even one post. where at one point i averaged a solid 4 to 5 posts a months, i can barely scrape together my thoughts for a once-a-month wonder.

i can't blame it on the kids. my friends have 7 kids and 8 kids, respectively, and still manage to maintain consistent blogging output. i can't blame it on the fact that i've never made money off of it, since i never installed google adwords or the like. i won't even blame it on the fact that i get nary a comment even on my best stuff.

i just have come to the point that a bad case of blogger's block has turned into more blogger's hibernation. i'm not ending it forever just yet, but it's time to put it to rest for now.

for you die-hard fans who can't get enough, you can follow my twitter feed, as micro-blogging is so much easier to come up with than a full, intelligent blog post, here. but don't expect much. at least not in the near future. if i ever get reinspired, maybe you'll see me again one day here. for now, l'hitra'ot.

how i used Torah to advance my career

2010-10-14T09:46:00.005+02:00

as many of you know, i began working in jerusalem twice a week. after over 8 years of traveling to tel aviv, i received approval to shift my work-week and schedule meetings so that i can have a normal commute at least twice a week. so far, the transition has been great. that special corporate buzz word, "work/life balance" has finally come into moderate proportions.

the reception i've had hasn't been wonderful. most of the people there pay no attention to me. which, in a way, is pretty good because it affords me to simply focus on work. even the partner who heads the office that agreed to this arrangement, with whom i've had positive interactions with in the past, has said nary a word to me since i started.

anyway, the partner also happens to be religiously observant and whenever they organize a mincha minyan, he gives a little dvar torah at the end. last week, he discussed an idea that he heard about parshat noach. it was actually a rather well-known comparison of noach to moshe. both are called "ish" (man) twice. 1st noach was "ish tzaddik" (righteous man) and eventually became "ish adama" (a man of the land) whereas moshe was originally referred to as "ish mitzri" (an Egyptian man) and eventually referred to as "ish Elokim" (a man of G-d). so the idea is that all of us have a potential to be a mench and though Noach and Moshe were diamatrically opposed in this light, we can each take our abilities and make the best of them.

well, here was my opportunity. a few minutes later, i went into his office and shared with him an idea that follows up on that thought, brought down by the meshech chachma. (since the actual dvar torah is a side note to the story, i'll keep it in parenthesis: one would think that noach who sat in seclusion for the time he built the ark and sat in the ark, could focus and further his development of a righteous man whereas moshe, who was always involved with leading the people and was required to also deal with the mundanities of everyday life, would probably not be as holy as he once was. in fact, we see the opposite. this message teaches us the importance of being a part of the people and through that strength reaching G-d, and not through seclusion.). from the look on his face and his positive response, i believe he liked the thought.

anyway, so that partner never had boo to say to me and now sees that we have something in common. while i don't report to him, it certainly can't hurt to have him on my side as i (hopefully) continue to work in jerusalem. in this way, i was able to use torah to advance my career.

the honor of giving another kiddush

2010-10-07T18:44:00.001+02:00

ahhh, kiddush.

last friday night, i told the kids how significant it was that we were reciting that week's parsha over our cup of wine on friday night. yes, we say it at night. we say it during the day, even if it's simply a "borei pri hagafen". a very central part of our observance / celebration of shabbat and chagim. i have the privledge of being the first one to add content to the kiddush wikipedia page. (in the upper right-hand corner, click "history" and then in the lower left-hand corner, click "earliest"). it has since then become quite a nice page, i might add (not that i'm responsible for that development, but still fun to have "launched it our there". i often like to claim that the kiddush after shul would solve many problems that we face today, such as talking in shul, the ability for a community to unite, etc.

just a week ago, i had the honor of being selected as chatan torah at our early minyan for simchat torah. one of my neighbors was holding the artscroll simchat torah book, which indicated that such honor is reserved for the most distinguished torah scholars in most congregations. he brought over the book and made sure to emphasize the "in most congregations" part. there are always exceptions.

anyway, as the custom is for the chatan torah and chatan bereishit to sponsor a kiddush, we are doing so this week with my friend, Mark, who was the chatan bereishit at the 6:40 minyan in Zayit Raanan. all are welcome to join. ironically, we just sponsored kiddush 5 days before simchat torah, but now the opportunity to sponsor this one is truly an honor. may we all merit to enjoy completing the torah and beginning it anew (and a little herring and schnopps can be enjoyed too!).

Hallel Gila

2010-09-01T22:56:00.001+03:00

Welcome everyone to our home. Thank You to our friends and neighbors for joining us in this simcha and for those who have helped us with the kids and bringing meals, etc. A special thank you to my parents who have left their lives (and other grandchildren) back in the U.S. for a full month so that they could be here with us for this occasion and to assist us in pre- and post- delivery. Finally, we would like to thank HKBH for another reason to state with utmost praise,
“הודו לה’ כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו”
Our new daughter’s name is Hallel Gila. We thought we’d share with you what these two names mean to us.
I will first discuss her second name, Gila, which is named after two individuals from my family.

Many of you may remember that my paternal grandfather was married with three daughters before the Shoah and his wife and three girls were all killed by the nazis. One of the girls was named Gitla, which sounds similar to Gila. We hope that this will bring an Aliyah to her Neshama.

The second individual is my maternal grandmother's grandmother, making her Hallel Gila's safta rabta rabta rabta. Her name was Zelda, which means Happiness in Yiddish. My grandmother tells me that Zelda lived to an old age and although she had lost her sight at the end of her life, she was very self-sufficient and wouldn't take anybody's help. She was loved by all. We hope that this will bring an Aliyah to her Neshama as well.

We chose Hallel's first name because of it's significance.

There are many different expressions in Hebrew that are used to Thank or Praise HKBH , what is unique about Hallel?
1. With reference to the prayer of "V'tein tal u'matar", which is recited during the winter season for Israel, the Shulchan Aruch dictates that even a great city full of Jews should not say the prayer even during its draught if it is not at the same time as Israel's winter season. Why is that? the Minchat Chinuch explains that even myriads of Jews in the diaspora are like "yechidim" or individuals. Klal Yisrael is referring to those living in Israel, even when in the minority. I once heard Rav Shechter explain that the Hallel can also only be said when it is for the sake of Klal Yisrael.
2. At the seder, Hallel is split into two stages. The first part is said at the end of Maggid and the rest is said after the meal. Rav Soloveitchik explains that the theme of the first two chapters is purely thanksgiving to G-d for the good He has given to us. We describe the great miracles and salvation Hashem has performed on our behalf without any requests or demands of G-d. It is only later in the third paragraph of Hallel, do we begin to pray and beseech HKBH for additional salvation. The first part of Hallel, expresses the ability of an individual to say Thank You and to praise without any ulterior motives of gaining personal benefit in return.
3. Hallel, which we recite joyously on Rosh Chodesh and holidays, the tone seems to change towards the end. We say “ANA HASHEM HOSHIYA NA” which seems more appropriate for the yamim noraim rather than a chag. What inspires the Jew in the middle of Hallel to suddenly want to scream out to to Hashem, begging and praying for forgiveness? It seems that it is merely the praise itself, describing the greatness of G-d and all he does for us inspires a person to self reflect and call out to G-d to forgive him for all his shortcomings.
Besides our general Hallel and Hakarat Hatov to Hashem for this baby, it is these three ideas that we wish to pass on to her and to our other children as well.
-The importance of the kellal, the community and the nation. That without being part of Am Yisrael, we can not fully praise and thank Hashem.
-The ability to express selfless gratitude to Hashem, to see G-d’s hand in her life
purely and simply and not only if G-d forbid, there is a crises and a need to pray and request things of G-d
- and finally, we as parents and as Jews hope to inspire both ourselves and our children to new heights in avodat Hashem by highlighting the positive aspects of Judaism and experiencing G-d in the world. by reciting Hallel to Hashem and pondering all the good that He has given us, we can reach, on our own, the realization necessary to fix our character flaws whether in our relationship with G-d in the form of teshuva, or in life in general.

Finally, I would like to thank Malka for all that she has done yet again. With each additional child, her work increases and I really appreciate everything you do and I love you.With that, we can sing “זה היום עשה ה’ נגילה ונשמחה בו.”

what is it that has bought me this happiness?

2010-07-27T17:46:00.001+03:00

a few months ago, we hosted a family that had recently made Aliyah for a Shabbat meal. we were discussing with this family their "klita" (absorption) into israeli life and society. for a sundry of reasons, the husband and wife were both suffering from varying levels of cognitive dissonance about their decision to make Aliyah. on one hand, they knew it was the "right" thing to do, while at the same time, just could not be happy.

after discussing several "disadvantages" to the lifestyle that all of us at the table had chosen (being far from family, financial challenges, no sundays off from work), the husband asked me, "in light of these issues, why are you happy here?" i told him in all honesty that simply waking up in the morning and going through my day knowing that i live in the land promised to my nation by the Almighty makes me happy. how could i not be happy when i'm fulfilling the dream that all of my ancestors would have died for? in response, the man said to me, "you've been here for 11 years and you're still singing that tune? doesn't it get old?"

i guess i can see where he's coming from in that if you don't have that "love affair", you can't convince yourself that it's there. what buys me this happiness?

a recent forbes.com article tells us that in general, money DOES buy us happiness since their global survey of the happiest countries results primarily in wealthy countries ranking at the top. a short glance down the list, (make sure to click on the above link to see the table and then to click-through to the full article too), one finds that israel is the 8th happiest place in the world. so, the debate continues of whether money can buy you happiness (i remember learning and reviewing several academic articles to both sides of this argument). one thing is for sure though in this matter. money has not bought me this happiness, nor that of many of the thousands of people polled. i don't know how to answer it, but yes. i am still singing that tune.

jews go home!

2010-06-17T18:28:00.000+03:00

ok, call me a tardy blogger. i can't quite keep up with the pace of the news! it's already a week or two old, but how can i let helen thomas come and go without putting in my two agurot?

her apologies are rather meaningless. her thoughts are out there. who knows how many other people think the same way but are not stupid enough to say it out loud, especially not on camera!?

but, if you listen to her comments, there is an element of truth to it. years ago, a friend of mine told me of his vision to erect a large billboard and place it smack in the middle of jewish communities throughout the US. it would be so harsh that it would cause the attention of thousands, especially thinking that it was anti-semetic. it would say something like this:

and then at the bottom, it might surprise people to discover that it wasn't sponsored by the KKK or by the Neo-Nazi movement, but rather by the Jewish Agency of the State of Israel. while helen thomas might not have gotten the right countries by listing our homes as germany, poland, and even the US, maybe her statement is that "rude awakening" effect that the described billboard would have. our home is israel and the sooner more jewish leadership begins to quote the pesukim that mike huckabee did in this video, the sooner we will come to be a united people. and then we won't need to worry about the slandering of some white house journalist.

stanley who?

2010-06-13T16:34:00.001+03:00

on thursday, i had to leave the house early to catch a meeting first thing in the morning. before i left though, i wanted to catch the last 5 minutes of the stanley cup finals. since the blackhawks couldn't hold the lead in the last 5 minutes of regulation, i had to settle for checking the result through my iphone while on the jerusalem-tel aviv highway. it would have been nice to enjoy watching a major chicago sports team bring home a championship. anyway, it's been 49 years since the last cup in chicago, so let's savor it.

see embedded video:

the stanley cup is also referred to as "Lord Stanley" (named after a Canadian "Lord" of preston), and is often idolized (it's also called the "holy grail") by those real hockey fans (i wouldn't quite count myself among them, but as a sports fan and a chicago fan, i am excited about the win).

maybe this will be the start of something great in chicago sports. let's see if i can witness a cubs' championship in my lifetime.

the flotilla charade

2010-06-07T21:03:00.000+03:00

well, now that it's been over a week, everything has been said on the flotilla and the massive hoopla that has spawned since. so i won't bother with the pros and cons of the move, whether or not it was justified, how bad a PR rap it has been etc.

i will say, though, that it is obvious that this was simply a charade and a pretext to stage against israel. of all the videos out there showing the IDF soldiers being brutalized by the "peace" activists, bibi NOT apologizing for defending ourselves and glen beck strategically proving our need to board these ships, this one was simply the best: the flotilla choir. a neighbor of mine, shlomo blass, was the executive producer of this short film as latma is one of his biggest clients. though most of you have already seen it (as of the publishing of this post, the clip had over 1.4 million views!), i'd like to repost it in case any hasn't seen it. in this clip, (those of you reading the blog on email, must enter the blog itself to see the embedded video), latma demonstrates what the ultimate objectives of these peaceful travelers.

this exile is coming out of our nostrils

2010-05-27T17:46:00.002+03:00

in this week's parsha, Am Yisrael wanted meat! מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר
they couldn't stand to look at the manna. וְעַתָּה נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה, אֵין כֹּל--בִּלְתִּי, אֶל-הַמָּן עֵינֵינוּ

now, is asking for meat so bad? they didn't ask for lobster or ham, they didn't ask for עבר מן החי (limbs from living animals), why was this seemingly fair (and "kosher") request deemed so damning that it resulted in the extreme anger of G-d and displeasure of Moshe (וַיִּחַר-אַף ה' מְאֹד, וּבְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה רָע)?

to me the answer is very symbolic.

the mundane lifestyle that was familar from their days in egypt was no longer, no more cucumbers, watermelon and garlic that they were wont to eat. in its stead, the israelites were afforded the opportunity of leading a purely spiritual existence, to eat manna from heaven, physically internalizing the spirituality that G-d bestowed upon them. a way of connecting to G-d that even the greatest prophets of other generations would never experience. G-d replies with (paraphrasing), "You want meat? I'll give you meat. But you won't only eat it for a day or two or a week. You will eat this 'meat' ... until it comes out of your nostrils!"

עַד אֲשֶׁר-יֵצֵא מֵאַפְּכֶם

this story is happening again today, just with different variables. G-d has given the Jewish People an opportunity that our great and righteous ancestors have only dreamed of. a chance to connect with Him on a deep and personal level, to internalize his spirtituality and to dwell in his courtyard. living outside of Israel is also "kosher", also (according to most opinions) is not forbidden. we yearn for our bigger salaries, comfortable lifestyles and cucumbers and watermelon that we have in abundance in america. but by eagerly accepting the exile that we are in, we have despised His Land, we have refused to accept His offer of spirtituality. G-d is responding to us, "you want exile? it won't be just for a week or ten days. it will be until it's coming out of your nostrils!"

jews, put down that meat and come home!

b'damayich chayi

2010-05-25T17:48:00.002+03:00

my channukah friends (you remember this post from a couple of years ago?) a few weeks ago, josh & tamar, have had another baby boy! this time, the name didn't fit in so well with the theme that i indicated, but was taken from the same psalm 27, as was their first three sons. his name is tuvel (from the famous words לראות בטוב ה).

i was especially moved since they honored me with the final brachot at the end of the ceremony along with the "Kriyat Shem" (granting of the name) for the newborn. as this honor is usually reserved for rabbis and close family members, i can guess one of two things: 1) when you have 4 boys, everyone's already had a turn and/or 2) they must really like me :) - thanks guys! had you told me in advance, i wouldn't have worn jeans that morning!

may the words we said of b'damayich chayi refer only to the blood of the mila, and that tuvel should grow to be a G-d fearing man.

mazal tov to the amishav-zlatin-eisenstock families!

a short thought on religious zionism

2010-04-17T23:08:00.000+03:00

in honor of the upcoming holiday of yom haatzmaut, the rabbi of our shul gave a shiur this evening. though this wasn't the focal point of his shiur, he mentioned an interesting quote which i believe he ascribed to yosef burg.

when asked which of the two words, "religious zionism" he found more significance, his response was "the hyphen". in this way, he hoped to demonstrate that the two must go hand-in-hand and complement each other. rav efrati pointed out that this answer did not seem to comply with rav kook and his teachings. whereas the hyphen and the hand-in-hand approach represents synergy, they do not represent harmony. rav kook's teaching of the land of israel and the torah of israel are meant to correspond to body and soul, respectively.

can't have one without the other. i appreciated that thought going into israel's 62nd anniversary of its establishment. may we all merit to witness the state of israel becoming a true jewish state and the blossoming of our redemption.

obama increases aliyah!

2010-04-08T22:52:00.001+03:00

remember this blog post i wrote during obama's presidential campaign? if it doesn't ring a bell, maybe you'll remember this bumper sticker i added:

well, looks like full-circle. according to my buddy rafi's blog, several jewish US doctors have been encouraged to make aliyah due to the new health plan.

well, if i'm gonna say, "told you so", it wouldn't be about his health plan policies. this might be the only good thing he has done for israel since entering office. otherwise, bad news for the jews.

Petition for Orot Etzion Parents

2010-03-02T22:38:00.002+02:00

Dear Parents of the Primary school- Chativa Tzeirah
We are asking for your help in order to advance a decision concerning the primary school of Orot Etzion. Lately, a decision was made to include the third grade in the primary school, which up until now, was composed of the first and second grades only. We feel that at third grade, these young students will greatly benefit from another year of the warm and caring, age appropriate atmosphere and the special attention of the primary school staff. This atmosphere, continued for another year, will surly promote the healthy development of our children and enhance the build up of a love for learning and exploring, in a way that will better prepare them for the demanding goals of the higher classes.
Most importantly, In other schools (as Gush Etzion), the primary schools are composed of the first to third grades, a fact which reflects the extent of maturity required of the middle school students.
We ask you to help us promote this decision and bring it to fruition, by adding your voice to ours, and listing your name and phone number in the following link:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AripSXi8z84tdEVyQndWRjFFNEREMG1CN0pjTlRaS0E &hl=en
(which will be saved automatically when closed).
This letter is forwarded to the Amuta, the Vaad Horim and the administration of the Chativa Tzeira, girls and boys schools, along with our deep appreciation for the educational work and remarkable efforts of the entire staff and administration of Orot Etzion schools.

הורים יקרים לתלמידים בחטיבה הצעירה באורות עציון,

שלום וברכה.

אנו פונים אליכם מתוך רצון להתאחד יחד ולהמשיך להוביל מהלך שנפסק בעניין החטיבה הצעירה בבית הספר "אורות עציון" בו מתחנכים ילדינו.

כידוע לכל, החטיבה הצעירה מורכבת כיום מכיתות א' וב' בלבד. זה זמן רב שאנו חושבים שרצוי שגם כיתות ג' יכללו בחטיבה הצעירה מסיבות רבות ובעיקרן, גילם הרך של ילדינו הזקוקים לתשומת לב המותאמת לגילם והתייחסות אישית, המועילים להתפתחותם התקינה ולהמשך הנחלת אהבת הלמידה, כפי שניתן להם בחטיבה הצעירה. אנו חשים כי שנה נוספת בחטיבה הצעירה תועיל רבות לילדינו הרכים ולהתפתחותם בקצב ובדרך המתאימה להם.

יש לציין שמרבית החטיבות הצעירות בבתי הספר בארץ, מכילות את כיתות א' – ג' ולא רק עד כיתה ב'.

ידוע לנו שהתחיל מהלך של שינוי כזה, שמסיבות שאינן ידועות לנו הופסק, לצערינו.

מכתב זה מופנה להנהלת החטיבה הבוגרת, להנהלת החטיבה הצעירה ולעמותת "אורות עציון" בבקשה לאפשר את צרוף כיתות ג' לחטיבה הצעירה, מתוך הערכה רבה לעבודה החינוכית שנעשית במכלול בית הספר.

נשמח אם תצרפו את שמכם ומספר הטלפון לרשימת ההורים התומכים ברעיון.

לפתיחת המסמך יש ללחוץ על הלינק:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AripSXi8z84tdEVyQndWRjFFNEREMG1CN0pjTlRaS0E&hl=en

המסמך ישמר באופן אוטומטי בזמן סגירתו.

העתקים:

עמותת "אורות עציון".
ועד ההורים אורות עציון
הנהלת החטיבות הבוגרות בביה"ס "אורות עציון" בנות ובנים.
הנהלת החטיבה הצעירה בביה"ס "אורות עציון" בנות.
מחלקת החינוך מועצה מקומית אפרת
מפקחת בתי הספר – הגב' נורית וורהפטיג

have we heeded the message of purim?

2010-02-23T11:00:00.001+02:00

"There is a certain nation scattered among the nations whose laws are different than any other nation, but the laws of the King they do not keep, and it is not worthwhile for the King to leave them be." (Esther 3:8)

why was this claim significant? based on a shiur i've read by rav menachem leibtag, this message was not meant for achashveirosh, but rather for the reader (i.e. us jews).

on purim, we focus on G-d's salvation from the potential calamity of the geonicide of the jewish nation, but it is crucial to understand why we were deserving of such a decree to begin with.

the historical context of the story of megillah, based on mesechet megilla and midrashim, was after the 70 year lapse from the destruction of the first temple. according to one midrash, the 180-day party that achashveirosh threw was in celebration of the fact that jeremiah's prophecy of the return to zion after 70 years had not come true. rav leibtag suggests that this is a satirical irony (ונהפוך הוא) that achashveirosh had this prophecy on his mind when the jews themselves couldn't care less. let's look at the wording of the prophecy:

"Thus said the Lord, when the 70 years are complete, I shall remember you and keep my promise to return you to this land... [At that time...] you shall call out to Me - you shall come and pray to Me - and I will hear you... and you will ask for Me and find Me. If you will search for me with all of your heart, then I will be there for you, and I shall turn away your captivity and gather you from all the nations wherein you may be dispersed... and I will return you to the land from which you were exiled..." (Jeremiah 29:10-14)

the return from the Babylonian Exile would not be automatic, but was meant to be instigated by a true yearning by the Jewish People to return to their home. This didn't happen.

Rav Yehuda HaLevi in Sefer HaKuzari (II.24) comments:

"Had the entire nation enthusiastically answered the divine call to return to the Land, the idyllic prophecies of the return to Zion would have been fulfilled and the Sh'china would have returned. In reality, however, only a small portion returned. The majority remained in ... (the Diaspora)... willfully accepting the exile, as they did not wish to leave their homes and businesses etc..."

this is demonstrated very clearly in the opening chapter of the megillah:

(the wife was called to) "Come to the King and show all the nations her beauty... but she did not come as the King commanded, and he became very angry..." (Esther 1:9-12)

haven't we learned that the "King" is actually referring to G-d? are we not referred to as G-d's wife? is Jerusalem not referred to as our beauty / our splendor? has G-d not called us home but we refused to comply?

the message of purim is still relevant today. let us learn from the mistakes of our forebearers and come to dwell in the palace of the King. happy purim!

rav elon and dubai

2010-02-18T16:45:00.002+02:00

there are two major news stories going on in israel, neither of which are pleasant:

1. rav motti elon, once considered one of the foremost leaders of the religious zionist camp, has been accused of unthinkable sexual misconduct.
2. the mossad has been accused of the assasination of the hamas leader, mabhou, while in dubai.

regarding the former, i don't feel that i am in a position to chip in my two cents as since the yeshivat hakotel / netiv aryeh split, i would not reflect a supporter of the elon camp. i would never beleive that he would do something like this, save for the list of rabbis that have confirmed it.

regarding the latter, the good news is that the terrorist is dead and whosever mission it was, it has been accomplished. the bad news is that whoever was involved, they have done a sloppy job in covering it up.

one can't help but notice the similarities in the stories:

as the days go by, evidence is mounting against rav elon from many directions.
as the days go by, evidence is mounting against israel from many directions.

the rabbinic forum, "takana", though not directly related to rav elon and in theory is a bystander, is acting as a prosecuter for such sexual improprieties and has taken it upon themselves to issue "punishment" when it deems necessary.
the emirate of dubai, though not the national homeland for mabhou and in theory is a bystander, is acting as a presecutor for this assasination and has taken it upon themselves to issue "punishment" when it deems necessary.

other names are being dragged through the dirt as takana members have received death threats.
other names are being dragged through the dirt as identities of israeli citizens were stolen and used for the hit team in dubai. now these people feel like they are potential targets for death threats.

if the allegations prove to be true, the repurcussions will be much more detrimental now than they would have been had rav elon admitted it four years ago.
if the allegations prove to be true, the repurcussions will be much more detrimental now than they would have been had israel not attempted to cover this up.

i think we can learn something from both. in both cases, we hope that the allegations are not true. it's hard to evade the evidence against both "defendents", but we must learn from these incidents. as we have learned the hard way, noone is infallable. we try to keep the mossad and the state of israel on a pedestal, but at the end of the day, if they are in fact guilty, their mistakes will have cost them. so too with our rabbinic leadership. as human beings, no matter how holy and inspiring they seem to be, they can just as easily make 'sloppy mistakes' and we should not be so naive as to refuse to beleive them. we must still respect the state of israel and our rabinnic leadership, but with an acute awareness of the reality of their shortcomings.

finally, for additional food for thought, i refer you to stewart weiss' op-ed :
I do not know if the rabbi is guilty or innocent. I pray that the latter is true, for the man has boundless energy and talent, and is a unique wellspring of spirituality so desperately needed in today’s society. Heroes are in short supply, and we can hardly afford to lose one more. I am torn between the moral maxim of “a person is innocent until proven guilty”; and the folksy wisdom of the adage “where there is smoke, there is fire.”

all i really need to know i learned in ... the talmud

2010-02-07T18:38:00.003+02:00

when i finished school this fall, i noticed that i have a lot more time on my hands. so i took up daf yomi again. i worked on it for a couple of years between March 2005 and July 2007, but i've taken some time off. to get back into it, i had a little catching up to do on the tractate that the rest of the world was working on, but after a few months i caught up. this week, we will complete the mesechet bava batra. the mesechet mostly deals with laws of inheritence and other civil claims that may arise. i've even blogged about it for one interesting topic recently. anyway, as this will mark my first talmud siyum since july 2007, i thought i'd share a brief thought i had over the entire tractate.

it's amazing to consider how much of what was written in the year 500 of the common era is relevant to today. don't get me wrong, i'm well aware that some of the rabbis that wrote the talmud were under the impression that the world was flat, which was a common misnomar during that period. there were other facts that, with the passing of time and advancement in technology and awareness of our surroundings, makes the gemara seem "outdated". yet, on the other hand, so many concepts that come to the fore today were already discussed thousands of years ago:

1. Futures and Derviatives: In commodities trading today, one may purchase the "right" to something that currently doesn't yet exist, but one expects it to exist in the future. Bava Batra discusses cases, for example, of an individual who is the only heir of a parent and engages in commerce based on the financial backing (lien) on this future "right".

2. Foreign Currency Trading: Bava Batra analyzes the scenarios of contracts that may be drawn up based on various currencies and what should be the expected minimum or maximum in a given market.

3. Identify Theft: Though somewhat obscure and less likely to happen today to the extent described in Bava Batra, a concern is mentioned that "Shimon" will travel to a different city and represent himself as "Yaakov" until that local courthouse feels that it can trust him and he implements legal matters based on the identity that he stole back from his original locale. today, identity theft has been taken to a new level, but the premise is there.

Of course, these are only the tips of the iceberg and there are examples abound of other topics that are around us all the time. Sometimes while we are skeptical about the possibility of my ox goring his donkey, it pays to put things in the perspective of what the rabbis back then have to contribute now.

racial profiling prevents tefillin bomber

2010-01-26T20:15:00.003+02:00

i know i'm a bit behind since the incident happened way back on thursday and bloggers and facebook users everywhere have had a hayday ever since, but what can i say, i'm not a hasty blogger. i need time to collect my thoughts.

last week, a teenager wearing tefillin aboard a US airways flight out of LaGuardia reaked havoc amongst the flight attendant and pilot, who eventually diverted the plane to land in philadelphia and caused a full body search on this unpresuming boy. see the video here.

i guess one advantage to waiting is to see what others in the jblogosphere have contributed to the matter. in that light, i'll offer a hattip to bangitout.com and rabbijason.com for this photo:

the discussion of who was wrong and who was right has been thoroughly exhausted. i have heard people laud the incident as a way for the whole world to learn about tefillin, and in an interesting twist of irony (or השגחה פרטית) , it happened in the same week that we learn about tefillin in the parsha and therefore what a "Kiddush Hashem".

others take the approach that this proves the need to avoid standing out as jews and we should cower away from our jewishness in order not to offend others. the following embedded video (no comment as to whether or not it's funny) was reflective of this camp:

my personal opinion is that people watching news won't care that it was simply a misunderstanding and won't care that the boy was respectful and upfront with the flight attendant from the get-go. the only thing they'll remember is "orthodox jewish teen responsible for diverting entire plane due to his praying", which IMHO amounts to a "Chillul Hashem."

does that mean that i won't put on tefillin in a public place again? absolutely not. i did it this morning, on the train, like i do every day. usually there are so many other orthodox tefillin layers in our car that there are no open seats for the onlookers, but i recently rode a different train that had no minyan and went about my business davening with nary a glance from the secular passengers.

so what can we learn from israeli's nonchalance? ahh, you'll say it's because we're a jewish state and even the most secular jew probably has encountered tefillin at some point in his life and therefore wouldn't be alarmed. and i couldn't agree with you more. COME HOME TO THE JEWISH HOMELAND where you can be a proud jew and fit right in amongst your bretheren. but that's not my point (though it never hurts to stick in a bit of propoganda). the israeli security is known as the best in the world for one simple reason. they are not afraid to perform racial profiling. security specialists are trained to identify terrorists by behavior, look and feel and, yes, race. at the end of the day, the overwhelming majority of terrorist are islamic. i don't need to provide the data to corroborate that fact. it may not be PC, but it's the truth. the american approach has been REactive instead of proactive. there's a shoe bomber, so now we must remove our shoes as we undergo security check. there was an underwear bomber, so now we must undergo full body scan, etc. the only way to be proactive is to know what you're looking for. a jewish teenager and his tefillin are not what they're looking for.

is it all a lie?

2010-01-12T23:37:00.001+02:00

so, another good guy bites the dust. mark mcgwire admitted yesterday to rampant 'roid use pretty much throughout his career. no point in writing about all the aspects of mcgwire on his own career, on the records that he broke, on his likelihood of being elected into the hall of fame, on other players under similar suspicion, etc. it's all out there on the internet by writers substantially more knowledgeable about baseball and much better journalistic skills. i'll just focus on my struggle with this issue.

as i tweeted earlier, i was "naively" surprised. in the back of my mind, i couldn't ignore his lack of congressional testimony. i somehow knew that if there was really no substance to these allegations, he would have come forward and denied it. since he didn't, fuel was added to the fire all these years. but at the same time, i maintained a slight hope that this "hero" was still pure. as a cubs fan, especially in 1998, the "year of the home run", i rooted against mcgwire and in support of sammy sosa. but the man broke the record and at the time it seemed to me like it was done in class. i can still remember the day it happened. i was working in my father's office that summer. it also happened to be the fall that i made aliyah and, with a pit-stop through washington heights on the way to israel, experienced the dominican sosa-fest through those streets. so i was swept up in all of the sosa-mcgwire hoopla and appreciated them for what they had done for baseball.

now those visions and feelings of nostalgia are shattered, along with other fond memories. one of favorite childhood heroes as a cubs fan was rafael palmeiro. at that same congressional hearing, this was the striking and poignant picture of his testimony:

he wagged his finger at congress, saying "i never ever used steroids. period." four short months later, he tested positive to be the laughing stock of the sport and that hearing. what's next, greg maddux? ryne sandberg? michael jordan?

my love for the sport won't let me give up on baseball, no matter how tainted. i will not speculate on other players, i would still like to see some of them enshrined in the HOF, irrelevant of whatever got them there. but can i ever trust the game again? what is legitimate and what is genuine? apparently, none of it will ever be taken for granted. i will simply focus on the entertainment side and pretend i'm watching a well-scripted action movie.

"say it ain't so"...

where the deceased inherits the living

2010-01-06T13:20:00.000+02:00

i learned something recently that got me thinking. you'll need a little background to get to the "kuntz". the gemara in bava batra (117a) discusses a difference of opinion in what way the inheritance of the Land of Israel was divided up when the Israelites initially arrived after their 40-year trip through the dessert following the Exodus from Egypt. the first opinion states that each individual (males between 20 and 60) that left Egypt merited a portion in the land and the 2nd opinion states that each individual entering the Land 40 years later merited a portion. in light of the turnover in the dessert due to the sin of the spies, these were predominantly different individuals. each opinion had a scriptural source to support their opinion.

the gemara must reconcile the sources so that each opinion can learn something from each respective conflicting source. one reconciliation learns out from the conflicting source that the inheritance of the Land of Israel is different from all other inheritances. in most cases, the living inherit the deceased, whereas in the Land of Israel, the deceased inherit the living. in that way, those that entering the Land can still "bequeath" to those that left Egypt. basically, the gemara suggests a technical loophole from the quoted verse to cover all bases.

i would like to suggest something far greater beyond addressing the debate at hand. though the Israelites left Egypt with the hope and dream of arriving at Land that flows with Milk and Honey (see this week's parsha), most of that generation died during the next 40 year period. not to belittle their slashed dreams, but in comparison, the Jewish People have been dying for generations now over the past two THOUSAND years to come home to the Land of Israel.

for those of us who seize the opportunity the past 60+ years have afforded us, we are doing something beyond the present meriting of experiencing jewish history. we are even doing something more than creating the jewish future of our homeland by raising our children here. in a sense, our deceased ancestors are inheriting the Land vicariously through us living descendents. come join this great mission and be confident in the fact that our forefathers and ancestors are overwhelmed with joy that we can finally actualize their generations-long dream.

covering all bases

2009-12-31T07:55:00.000+02:00

well, for those who periodically check the blog itself and are not reading this by email or RSS may take note that if not for this post, there would be nothing to show for as of December 2009, which would be the first month without a post since 2006. that would be bad and i wouldn't want to disappoint my loyal readership.

the title of today's post is a play on words since my primary impetus is to "cover" december, while my anecdote will be about my current miluim, which i serve on an army "base".

i was recently called for a quick 2-day miluim (reserve duty) for the army. nothing out of the ordinary, i learned from my mistakes from previous experiences. long-time readers may remember my first miluim. i also had quite an escapade on my last miluim, but never blogged about it yet. maybe in due time.

though we were called in at 8:30 am, i knew nothing would happen until noon, so i took my time arriving. i was even able to attend the brit of a good friend of mine, so i'm glad i didn't rush. my good friend, sam deerhill (his real name is protected for his privacy and so that our secret mission will not be uncovered) also participated in this miluim, which is a real treat for both of us since we don't get to see each other often.

some good laughs, i took some pictures and videos with my iphone. i'm going to ask if there is any concern with uploading the videos to youtube, but for now, i leave you with this picture for your pleasant thoughts before you go to bed:

good thing the bris was in the morning...

ask not what your country can do for you

2009-11-24T22:45:00.001+02:00

when people deliberate the big move of making aliyah, they generally map out a set of pros and cons. on one hand, my children will thrive in a jewish environment and speaking the Holy Language of hebrew. yet on the other hand, i will be so far from my other family. on the one hand, i will be able to experience the jewish holidays as determined in the Torah; yet on the other hand, will i be able to earn the resepectable salary that i'm making in the land of the free and the home of the brave? such factors generally tend to be very selfish and me-centric. 'aliyah will make ME a better person' 'aliyah will help ME escape anti-semitism' 'aliyah will enrich MY jewish lifestyle'. all of these statements are true, just happened to be centered around numero uno.

a recent study commissioned by nefesh b'nefesh indicates that the 23,000 olim that they have brought to israel have generated a net sum of over 800 Million Shekel for the israeli economy since 2002. this estimate, which happened to be researched by my firm, Deloitte Brightman Almagor Zohar, takes into account the revenues that these olim have brought to the Israeli government, minus the costs, additional tourism revnue from visiting relatives, and personal net worth.

what i think is amazing here is that the benefit of these findings is twofold: the first result is that it encourages the state of israel that bringing in north american olim should still be a priority. providing opportunities to entice the move and networking once the move is already in action must receive great attention. the second implication, though, takes my breath away. the nbn results teach us that there is yet another reason to make aliyah. all of the aforementioned impetuses, though ego-centric, are legitimate and genuine. if that's what brings jews home, so be it. but these results tell us that beyond what 'your country can do for you', look at the impact that you as a bunch of individuals can have on the jewish state. come home to build a better tomorrow for the jews. come home to israel and make a difference. not for you, but for your people, for your country, for your nation. if one jew makes aliyah, we would never see these kinds of figures. but if another jew and another jew and yet hundreds and thousands follow suit, united we will stand to make this country a great place for the jewish nation as well as for our own selfish interests.

who is a jew?

2009-11-09T12:25:00.000+02:00

during the holocaust, a teenage jewish girl was saved by a gentile young man who housed and fed her. though they never married, he also fathered a son through this woman. rabbi ephraim oshry, on his tour of the destroyed jewish communities throughout europe after the war, discovered this woman and her child. rav oshry tried to convince her to rejoin the jewish people, but she was reluctant. "how can i go back to the jews? my son is a gentile, born to a gentile father." rav oshry insisted that her son was, in fact, jewish, and he volunteered to perform the circumcision and pidyon haben for the child.

the confusion that this woman experienced is a common misnomer. we take our family names from our fathers. we take our tribal affiliation (kohen, levi, yisrael) from our fathers. we take our family customs and nusach from our fathers. the israeli government, in an attempt to affront the nuremburg laws of 1935, established the law of return, which identified persons eligble for automatic israeli citizenship based on maternal OR paternal descent.

however, when it comes to spiritual descent, whether a child is a jew or not, this is historically and halakhically passed on from mother to child. though our nation does not encourage conversion, it is acceptable. otherwise, irrelevant of religious observance, born a jew, always a jew. not born a jew, no matter how observant one is of the torah, he is still not a jew.

since this blog post began so serious, i'll lighten up the mood a little by a funny exchange from the movie "the big lebowski" that illustrates this issue:

Walter Sobchak: ......My point is, here we are, it's shabbos, the sabbath, which I'm allowed to break only if it's a matter of life or death...

The Dude: Will you come off it, Walter? You're not even *** Jewish, man.

Walter Sobchak: What *** are you talkin' about?

The Dude: Man, you're *** Polish Catholic...

Walter Sobchak: What *** are you talking about? I converted when I married Cynthia! Come on, Dude!

The Dude: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...

Walter Sobchak: And you know this!

The Dude: Yeah, and five *** years ago you were divorced.

Walter Sobchak: So what are you saying? When you get divorced you turn in your library card? You get a new license? You stop being Jewish?

The Dude: ......You're living in the *** past.

Walter Sobchak: Three thousand years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...
[shouting]
You're goddamn right I'm living in the *** past!

now, this issue has come to a fore by the recent court decision in the UK. essentially, UK jewish perochial schools are allowed to reject non-Jewish applicants. however, one family claiming to be "observant", has sued the school for discrimination against thier child born to a jewish father and mother who converted according to progressive (and not orthodox) standards.

the article mentions the court's ruling that basing school admissions on whether one's mother is jewish is by definition descrimination against ethnicity. the UK court decided to rule that a jew is one that goes to synagogue and performs acts of charity and should not be to which lineage you were born to. this, of course, will open up several pandora's boxes, such as thereby defining jews who eat on yom kippur as "not members of the tribe" due to lack of observance. we, as jews, do not believe that to be the case.

what scares me is that the UK courts thinking that they have authority over what defines a jew. where will they draw the line? will they next determine that every synagogue mustn't discriminate against an unrelaible kosher certification because "a rabbi is a rabbi"? maybe they'll define for us how to keep shabbat too.

the jewish state on the other hand, does have an inherent hand played in all of these issues. there is a constant intermingling of "church" and state. the general population has now learned to regret that historic error of defining that law of return in those terms. israel now has several hundreds of thousands of non-jews in the country that will eventually want to marry in and will face severe challenges in doing so. israel will now have to resolve this mistake by following the necessary guidelines: when determining a civil law that is existentially a spiritual / religious issue, they must take halkha into consideration to be the overriding factor to come to such decisions.