I couldn’t make the “Popular Posts” page fully accurate, try as I might, so it’s gone:
We will still בע”ה continue providing two monthly traffic analytics articles (by general readers and by newsletter subscribers, respectively).
Here’s an overlooked medrash on the Akeida (Tanchuma Bereishis 22):
Avraham Avinu is here giving a transcendental reply. I suspect angels don’t have reshus to actually lie about what they hear behind the Pargod. So, he’s not calling Satan wrong, but bearing on the hermeneutical rules of evidence.
Rather: Even if you’re right, for all intents and purposes, you’re still wrong, for all intents and purposes!
I’m not going to go up the hill glancing sideways for an alternative, animal sacrifice! יגער ד’ בך השטן!
So, when they say:
But the Arizal himself mentions Hei Iyar as the date of the redemption (not Vav)!
You retort:
You want me to act differently in daily life based on this, in multifarious halachic matters? Boo. לא בשמים היא!
When they say:
We know that, in fact, Hashem will build the Third Temple, not people.
You retort:
That may be His “Rambam”, but I must still follow the literal Rambam, written for human beings, who says it’s a mitzva to build it, to offer korbanos…
When they say:
The sellout rabbis you disregard had ruach hakodesh and performed many wonders! Not to mention all those authorities who certainly hardly promoted what you do.
You retort:
To quote my grandpa, Avraham: כך ענשו של בדאי, שאפילו אומר אמת אין שומעין לו!
When they say:
But we know that such and such is the sign of someone being “Mashiach Vadai”!
You retort:
The only difference between Mashiach and everyone else is that Mashiach will succeed at what everyone else is commanded to attempt.
When they say:
Others before you have labored in these fields, and their work went to nought; and often even successfully subverted!
You retort:
The Chasam Sofer said: We don’t achieve; we act. בהדי כבשי דרחמנא למה לך, מאי דמפקדת איבעי לך למעבד ומה דניחא קמיה קודשא בריך הוא לעביד
When they say (Chulin Vav):
וכתת נחש הנחשת אשר עשה משה כי עד הימים ההמה היו בני ישראל מקטרים לו ויקרא לו נחושתן. אפשר בא אסא ולא ביערו בא יהושפט ולא ביערו, והלא כל עבודה זרה שבעולם אסא ויהושפט ביערום?
You retort:
מקום הניחו לו אבותיו להתגדר בו
When they say:
כבר שמעתי מאחורי הפרגוד, שובו בנים שובבים חוץ מאחר.
You retort:
כל מה שיאמר לך בעל הבית עשה חוץ מצא!
[There are better answers for the above, as explained elsewhere on the site, but I am trying to make a general point.]This is the primordial sin of Adam Harishon Avraham Avinu came to rectify (כידוע ע”פ סוד…):
Translation:
God – “Adam, I spoke to you myself, prophetically. I was clear, and I was brief. “Don’t eat the fruit of this tree.” Did you then go and do the opposite?” (Hint: You can do Vidduy right now, like David Hamelech immediately saying “חטאתי”.)
Translation (noting the phrasing of “אשר נתתה עמדי”):
Adam – “But I did obey! Look, the woman was divinely created by You, placed here beside me by You, all of it Your handiwork. And, well, she told me to do it. My rabbi, so to speak, said so. If anything, let them get Gehinom! It’s like obeying my own mind’s understanding, no? (Rambam’s peshat in “created in the image of God“). God speaks through events! Should I have disobeyed what You basically told me, coming through her?!”
Translation:
God – “Hey hey, what’s all this impersonal noun “האשה” business? She’s “אשתך”, not a celestial “Nefilim” muse, post-creation! A bas, not a Bas Kol. No, this was social, familial, and kin pressure. I commanded you something Myself, couldn’t have been more direct, via negativa, in “second-person address” grammar. And I’ll repeat the command (won’t take long), since your memory is being selectively self-edited live as we speak: “Do not eat the fruit of this tree. Period“. Don’t give me that “implied prophecy” nonsense, you self-righteous sheep! You remind me of Melachim I ch. 13 with R’ Malbim (but that’s after your time). Punishment: ארורה האדמה בעבורך…”
Back to Avraham Avinu: אהבה מקלקלת השורה שנאה מקלקלת השורה. When you actually love Hashem you can actually figure out what He actually wants!
Parshas Vayera:
ויקח אברהם את עצי העלה וישם על יצחק בנו ויקח בידו את האש ואת המאכלת וילכו שניהם יחדו.
ויאמר יצחק אל אברהם אביו ויאמר אבי ויאמר הנני בני ויאמר הנה האש והעצים ואיה השה לעלה?
ויאמר אברהם אלהים יראה לו השה לעלה בני וילכו שניהם יחדו.
He never even recalled Satan’s idea of the animal stand-in. Avraham came up with that notion all by himself, completely independently. And only after sincerely suggesting more faithful measures. Quoting Breishis Rabba 56:7:
ויאמר אל תשלח ידך. וסכין היכן היה, נשרו שלש דמעות ממלאכי השרת ושחת הסכין.
א”ל, אחנקנו? אמר לו אל תשלח ידך אל הנער.
א”ל, אוציא ממנו טפת דם? אמר לו אל תעש לו מאומה, אל תעש לו מומה.
כי עתה ידעתי. הודעתי לכל שאת אוהבני…
From a quick peek, it seems it might discuss democracy, national responsibility, vox populi, and so on.
A kind of study guide, it passes my chief test of all books’/essays’ value: ratio of actual Torah to the author’s own floating reflections.
Dear Editor,
In wake of many overheard conversations on the upcoming Republican primaries, I realized it might be a good idea to remind our readers of three important facts regarding Presidential contender Ron Paul’s true policy on Israel.
This is not an endorsement designed to influence anyone’s decisions, but an attempt to clear up the confusion on the subject.
Yehuda K., Jerusalem