Tears vs Terror Torah vs Tumah the Har Nof Massacre

As I sit and write these words I cannot get the morning’s current events out of my head, the shock and the horror, the pain and the anguish to hear yet again once more of a cold blooded Terrorist attack in Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh. We have had just too much bloodshed too many holy kedoshim attacked, injured and killed R”L. More orphans and mourners, and more tears and heartache.

JEWISH TEARS
The Ohr Yitzchok of Radvil points out that when  Esav wept (27:38) that he lost the Bechorah the Midrash says that because of his tears he merited all the good that he has . Rav Yitzchok of Radvil says that Rav Shmelka of Nikolsberg asked, why do Esav’s tears count for so much? Have we the Jewish people not shed countless tears over our plights and tragedies? Why don’t our tears cancel out Esav’s, like in the laws of kashrus where there is bitul be shishim ? He answers that when two things are similar, min be’mino, then they are not batel, they do not cancel each other out. Esav cried because he was denied the goodness and pleasure of this world. We too cast our tears and cry for the same reason, therefore the tears are the same and they do not cancel each other out, they are min be’mino and are not batel. However  says Rav Shmelka, if we would cry for the end of the exile, for our spiritual needs, for the sake of the holy Shechinah for Hashem Who is with us in exile Imo Anochi BeTzara (Tehillim 91:15) then our tears would be oif a different character and nature and one would cancel the other.
The Ohr Yitzchok disagrees however and he says an amazing thing: The nature of our crying is different. When Esav cries it is a form of protest against Hashem. Why don’t I have this when I deserve it! Why are You denying me what I have rights to?! Even when Esav was granted the goodness of this world look what he uses it for and does with it, what a chillul Hashem. Thus his entire cryin g and tears are of a different nature then ours. When we cry we are not protesting, it is out of our pain that we know we are unworthy and undeserving, we cry because we know we could be better. Thus surely our tears are ayno mino, since they are of a different nature they must cancel out Esav’s. May our tears drown his out and overcome them and bring our redemption.

TORAH TRUMPS TERROR
And Esav went to Yishmael and took Machlas the daughter of Yishmael ben Avraham as a wife. (28:9) The Modzizter Rebbe explains that Esav and Yaakov had similar pedigrees. Their yichus was equal as the children of Yitzchak and Rivka and as grandchildren of Avraham. Esav sought to overcome this and tip the balance in his favor by marrying Yishmael’s daughter. Since Ishto keGufo, since a wife is like oneself (Berachos 24a), he sought thereby to gain an extra bond between himself and his yichus to Avraham.  How did Yaakov overcome this dual bond? He reasoned as follows: What was Avraham’s greatness? Torah! I will therefore attach myself to the root of Avraham’s success by Torah study and therefore the commentary to this pasuk finds a hint that Yaakov hid himself in the Yeshiva of Shem and Ever for 14 years. The way to overcome the unholy bond of Esav and Yishmael is through Yeshiva and Torah. By attaching ourselves to Torah we can trump their “yichus,” and overcome their bond. When the nations surround us and support our greatest enemies and champion cold blooded terrorism over helpless innocent Jewish blood and victims our answer must be Torah and more Torah! Only through our Torah do we triumph.

Rav Avraham Shmuel ben Rav Aharon Goldberg HY"D Z"L

Rav Aryeh  ben Rav Shlomo Kupinsky HY”D Z"L

Rav Kalman Ze'ev ben  Rav DovBer Levine HY"D Z"L

HaRav Moshe ben Rav Yitzchak Twersky HY”D Z"L

 

 

Shalom uBracha I will imy"H be next week on a speaking trip in Hendon London from Thursday through Sunday, if anyone will be in London and would like to stop by to hear the shiur, meet me and or purchase any seforim or just to say Shalom Aleichem would be happy to meet any of you on my list that reside in the UK

I will be giving a shiur Thursday night at 62 brent street in Hendon. The shul where I will be davening on Shabbos is Nishmas Yisroel at 4 Brent Green which is across the street. I will imyh be giving a shiur on Pirkei Avos before Mincha and during Shalosh Seudos

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response to Rabbi Steven Pruzansky's Jewish Press article My Exchange With An Old Haredi Friend

This blog post is a response to Rabbi Steven Pruzansky's article My Exchange With An Old Haredi Friend:

http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/opinions/my-exchange-with-an-old-haredi-friend/2014/03/26/0/

someone emailed that article and asked me to share my thoughts:

My Rebbe Shlita (the Clevelander Rebbe of Raanana) himself recites the tefillah for Tzahal,
I work for a living as do almost all the chassidim I know here in Israel.
Yes many haredim learn in kollel, a greater percentage than in the USA, but most of the adult haredim that I know work, they are not professionals in the sense that "most" are not doctors or lawyers, many of them are rebbes, teachers and meladim, others run grocery stores, work in bakeries, work in supermarkets as stock boys, checkout counter etc. it is simply an untruth that we do not work.

As for the army, I had friends in KBY Hesder who as Israelis told me the truth even 14 yrs ago, the army is sadly no place for frum people, they try to brainwash you and secularize you and force you to see and hear things against Torah and Hashem, its just a fact



here are a few examples folks I didnt make these up sad but true: (none of these websites are haredi to the best of my knowledge)



http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2014/02/does-idf-want-haredim.html

http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2012/03/and-idf-wants-to-draft-haredim-ultra.html
and the guy signed at the bottom named Akiva who says its accurate I know him personally he is a chabad chassid from Ramat Bet Shemesh so I have no reason to doubt its true

Akiva said...

My son's in that unit. The details as described are pretty much accurate, if not worse.

As many of you know, last month, in one of retiring Chief Justice Beinish's 'gifts' to the country, the Supreme Court invalidated the Tal law, which had enshrined into the law the deferments that ultra-Orthodox soldiers receive to postpone their army service so long as they are learning Torah, as well as 'unequal' army service such as Hesder (literally 'arrangement') that allows religious soldiers to have a longer army service which includes time in yeshiva (and less time actually in the army).

The army, which in the past had no real interest in drafting ultra-Orthodox soldiers, has attempted for the last ten years or so to accommodate them (as demanded by the politicians), principally through the establishment of special units in which, with flexibility for actual times of war, the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) soldiers are to be allowed to maintain their level of observance. These accommodations include things like extra time for prayers and Torah study, a higher level of Kashruth, strict Sabbath observance, and no women either on their bases or teaching them courses. Many of the soldiers in the Haredi units are soldiers from the national religious community who are attracted by the higher standards of observance in the Haredi units.

The Haredi community believes - almost unanimously - that the real reason behind the effort to draft Haredi men into the army is to pull them away from the Haredi way of life. This evening, there is stark evidence that belief is true.

This evening, I received a very disturbing letter from a friend who heads the organization whose logo is at the top of this post - an organization that advocates for religious soldiers in the army across the (Jewish) religious spectrum. My friend, Eliyahu Lax, also sent me two links. Unfortunately, both links and the letter are in Hebrew. One of the links is here and it does a good job of summarizing the letter (as of this writing, Arutz Sheva has not translated it into English). I have a copy of the letter in Hebrew, which I will add to this post if I get permission to do so. The bottom line is that at the Sirkin army base in the center of the country, religious IDF soldiers are being forced to desecrate the Sabbath for no operational purpose. And that's not all.

The soldiers have to seek permission from their commanding officer to go to the synagogue or their study hall during their free time, but they can go to a club or to smoke without such permission. The soldiers are being forced to patrol the camp (which is nowhere near a border area) on the Sabbath, but only if the religious soldiers happen to be there. There are televisions and plasma screens in the room, which are not supposed to be there in the Haredi units. Four soldiers in the unit have renounced religion.

My friend Eliyahu has written a letter to the head of the IDF personnel unit. He has publicized the letter, which is how Arutz Sheva has it and how I have it. It will be interesting to see how the IDF responds. I will be waiting (without much hope - she's not known as a friend of religious soldiers) to see if Israel Radio's military correspondent, Carmela Menashe, picks up this story. Last week, she ran a story about soldiers who were being abused by senior officers.

In case you're wondering why the army doesn't have a 100% draft rate....

By the way, the army denies that these things actually happened.

 

Religious Soldiers 'Forced to Hear Female Singers' ... as Jewish Law prohibits males from hearing a woman singing

 

featuring women's singing, ultra-Orthodox soldier says army 'broke promises, we will follow Halacha' ... Moshe Raved resigned from his post as head a program which recruits haredim 

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4171199,00.html

 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/146089

 

Soldiers Forced to Desecrate Sabbath

 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/157572

 

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/85945 

 

Frum Religious Soldiers forced to shave off beards!

 

http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2014/03/religious-soldiers-forced-to-shave-off.html  

PA Teaching Terrorism to Children

PA TV Bunny Rabbit Threatens to 'Eat the Jews'

by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

The latest TV character created to incite Palestinian Authority children to
anti-Semitism, Islamic triumphalism and violence has debuted on a popular
show produced by Hamas. The character is a cute rabbit who aspires to finish
off the Jews and eat them.

The rabbit's name is Assoud, which translates as "lions," and he has come
from Lebanon "in order to return to the homeland and liberate it," according
to the

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) organization, which translated the



"I, Assoud, will finish off the Jews and eat them."

dialogue.

In a PA children's program called Tomorrow's Pioneers, a young girl
hostess asks the new character, "Why is your name Assoud, since you are a
rabbit?"

Assoud replies: "A rabbit is a [term] for a bad person and coward. And I,
Assoud, will finish off the Jews and eat them."

"Allah Willing!" the girl exclaims.

Can't see video screen above?

Click here.

Later in the show, children are taught that the Jewish city of Tel Aviv
is actually Arab and that it must be "liberated" by way of Hamas-style
terrorism.

Assoud asks the child hostess of the program, "Do you know the original
name of our city... Tel Aviv?"

"It's our city: Tel-Rabia," she replies, "but the Zionists today call it
Tel Aviv, but it will stay ours.... And we will return with Allah's will."

Assoud: "How will we go to our city if the Jews took it?"

"We will continue the resistance [a PA term for terrorism]," she answers.

The program ends with singing: "We will never recognize Israel...." with
the hostess emphasizing the call to "liberate our homeland from the Zionist
filth."

The show, Tomorrow’s Pioneers, first became known for its genocidal
Mickey Mouse look-alike character,

Farfur. The show's producers had Farfur murdered by Israelis and
replaced by

Nahoul the bee, who was killed off in an episode in which Israel would
not allow him to leave Gaza for medical treatment.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com

Day of prayer and fasting this Tuesday in response to the threats facing the Jewish people

The hareidi-religious Council of Torah Sages in Israel and the United States has issued a call for a day of prayer and fasting this Tuesday in response to the threats facing the Jewish people.

Addressed to “Our fellow Jews living in Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel) and to Jewish communities everywhere,” the proclamation continues: “The difficult situation of the Jewish community in Eretz Yisroel fills us with trepidation. Nobody knows what the new day will bring. In our sins, we see the fulfillment of the posuk [Biblical verse] "Behold Your enemies are in uproar and those who hate You have raised their heads. Against Your nation they deviously plot, and take counsel against those whom You protect." Our eyes are lifted in prayer to the Creator, that all of the goings-on in the world turn out for the good.

“From both within and without the crisis mounts. The danger threatens both body and soul. During these days, items are on agendas that could place entire populations of Jews into grave danger, G-d forbid - including those in the Holy City of Jerusalem. Further, there are constant attempts to undermine the foundations of pure education in Eretz Yisroel and to cause harm to the holiness of the Nation of Israel.

Therefore it is incumbent on us to fortify ourselves with Torah, prayer and good deeds, to awaken the mercy of Heaven.“Dear brethren, awaken and inspire yourselves to pour out prayer before the Creator of the world, that He have pity and protect His nation from all who stand up against us, that He abolish the intentions of those who hate us and nullify the plots of our enemies, and that the eyes of the misguided be opened to the realization that their path is foolishness and they should leave Hashem's nation to guard its path and faith, without hindrance or interference.

We therefore call on members of Hashem's holy nation in all the places they reside, men, women and children, to gather in tefilla [prayer] on Tuesday, Erev Rosh Chodesh Adar Rishon, 5768, to recite chapters of Psalms and the liturgy of Yom Kippur Koton .

May Hashem hear our pleas, and turn His face to us so that we may be saved with a permanent salvation soon. And let us merit to see, quickly, the redemption of Yisroel, and gaze upon the building of the Beis HaMikdosh, quickly in our days, amen.

The proclomation is signed by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah (the hareidi-religious Council of Torah Sages), and the hareidi political parties Agudas Yisroel (Chassidic) and Degel HaTorah ("Flag of Torah”) – together the United Torah Judaism party. It was joined by the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of America.

Special Sderot Prayer Added to Arsenal

Special Sderot Prayer Added to Arsenal
by Hillel Fendel

"One must not rely on miracles," Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu reminds - after composing a special prayer to be recited on Sabbath for the residents of Sderot.

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a former Chief Sephardic Rabbi (Rishon LeTzion) of Israel, has composed a special prayer for "Sderot, Ashkelon, and environs" - at the request of the Sderot Security Committee Chairman, Alon Davidi.

Davidi asked Tzfat's Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, who visited Sderot this week, if his father could compose a special prayer on behalf of the residents of Sderot and the western Negev. Within a day, the prayer was written, and its author asked that it be recited every Sabbath morning just prior to the opening of the Holy Ark.

The prayer includes the idea that we may not rely on miracles, implying that we must take concrete steps to fight the enemy.

It is based on a prayer written by the late saintly Kabbalist of Jerusalem, Rabbi Salman Mutzafi (1900-1975). It is rooted in the Halakhic [Jewish legal] ruling of the Shulkhan Arukh code of law (O.C. 576) that calls for fasting and prayer for troubles such as "Gentiles that come to make war on Israel."

The English translation is as follows:

"Master of the Universe. We have come this day to place our supplication before You, on behalf of Your nation Israel, and to request mercy for them - for we rely upon the abundance of Your compassion, as is written: "And He said, I shall cause all My Goodness to pass before you, and I shall call out with the Name of G-d before you, and I shall show favor when I shall want to show favor, and I shall have mercy when I shall want to have mercy" (Ex. 33,19).

So much praise we must lay before You - for we have merited to see clearly the miracles and wonders You wrought for us against our enemies who plot to destroy us. Yet, in Your goodness, You have saved us and rescued us from thousands of rockets that they have fired at us - and especially at the cities of Sderot, Ashkelon, and environs; and from most of them we were saved, by Your great mercies.

Our Sages have taught that one must not rely on miracles, and especially in situations of danger that have already killed and maimed Jews. The residents of these areas and their children live in fright and fear, and many of them have left their homes. The honor of Israel is being desecrated, while the Government of Israel ties its soldiers' hands, preventing them from waging war in response - and is even scheming to give G-d's inheritance to terrorists, who would then, Heaven forbid, do in central Israel what they do in Sderot.

Master of the Univese, our eyes are turned pleadingly toward You, that you show us grace, and give to Your nation Israel favor, good sense, courage and bravery to fight the evil ones - and not to strengthen them. May we [have the strength] to smite and rout all our enemies, and to fulfill the prayer of King David, peace be upon him: "I pursued my enemies and caught them, and I did not return until I destroyed them; I crushed them until they could no longer rise up; they have fallen under my feet" (Psalms 18,38).

Please, G-d, shut the mouths of all those who denounce and besiege us, whether above or below. May this verse be fulfilled for us: "No weapon that is formed against you shall succeed, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment - you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of G-d and the recompense of their righteousness by Me, says G-d" (Isaiah 54,17).
And may this verse, written at the hand of Isaiah Your prophet, be fulfilled for us: "Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not dismay, for I am your G-d. I have adopted you and helped you and supported you with the right hand of My righteousness. All who rage against you shall be ashamed and disgraced... those who war against you will be as nothingness. For I am the Lord your G-d, Who hold up your right arm and says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.' Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O little Israel, for I will help you, says G-d and your Redeemer, the Holy of Israel. Behold, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the storm wind shall carry them - and you shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel.'

And may You redeem us completely and speedily, and may we merit to see the Messiah, son of David, crowned in his crown, and the Messiah, son of Joseph, complete in his glory and his beauty in the building of our Holy Temple, speedily in our days,

Amen, may it be Your will.