Year: 2020

Here’s Proof Chazal Don’t Accept the ‘Overpopulation’ Myth

Hoshea 1:9-2:1:

ויאמר קרא שמו לא עמי כי אתם לא עמי ואנכי לא אהיה לכם. והיה מספר בני ישראל כחול הים אשר לא ימד ולא יספר והיה במקום אשר יאמר להם לא עמי אתם יאמר להם בני אל חי.

Rashi:

והיה מספר, מה ענין פורענות ונחמה סמוכין בדבור אחד, ורבותינו פירשו בפסחים הרגיש הושע בעצמו שחטא על שאמר החליפם עמד ובקש עליהם רחמים, ובספרי דבי רב פרשת וישב ישראל בשטים שנינו רבי אומר יש פרשיות סמוכות זו לזו ורחוקות זו מזו כרחוק מזרח ממערב כי אתם לא עמי והיה מספר בני ישראל כחול הים מה ענין זה אצל זה משל למלך שכעס על אשתו שלח אחר הסופר לבוא ולכתוב לה גט עד שלא בא הסופר נתרצה המלך לאשתו אמר המלך אפשר יצא סופר זה מכאן חלוק כלומר לבו חלוק ותוהה לומר למה שלח אחרי אמר לו בא וכתוב לה שאני כופל לה כתובתה ולפי פשוטו כך היא סמיכתו כי אתם לא עמי ואנכי לא אהיה לכם אראה עצמי כאילו איני לכם ותגלו לבין האומות ואף שם תרבו ותצמחו ושם תשובו אל לבבכם לשוב אלי כמו שנאמר על ידי משה והשבות אל לבבך בכל הגוים אשר הדיחך וגו’ ושב ה’ אלהיך את שבותך וגו’ אף כאן ונקבצו בני יהודה ובני ישראל יחדיו וגו’.

Translation from Chabad.org:

And the number… shall be: What is the connection of retribution and consolation juxtaposed in one speech? Our Rabbis explained in Pesachim (87b): Hosea felt that he had sinned by saying, “Exchange them for another nation.” He stood and begged mercy for them (See above 1:2). And in Sifrei Devei Rav, in the section commencing: “And Israel abode in Shittim” (Num. 25) we learned: Rabbi says: Some sections are close to each other yet as far apart as east is far from west. “For you are not My people… And the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea.” What is the connection of one to the other? This can be compared to a king who became angry with his wife. He summoned a scribe to come and write a bill of divorcement. Before the scribe arrived, the king became reconciled with his wife. Said the king, “Is it possible that this scribe should leave here divided?” I.e. his heart should be divided and bewildered, saying, “Why did the king send for me?” He said to him, “Come and write that I am doubling her kethubah.” And according to its simple meaning, this is the reason for its juxtaposition. “For you are not My people, and I will not be yours.” I will show Myself as though I am not yours, and you shall be exiled among the nations, and even there you shall multiply and grow, and there you shall lay it to your heart to return to Me, as it is said through Moses (Deut. 30:1,3): “And you shall lay it to your heart among all the nations where… has exiled you etc. And the Lord your God shall return your captivity.” Here too, “And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together.”

The Demands of the Galus Jew

The mental illness of the galus Jew was on full display in a recent email correspondence I had with a Jewish woman from the United States. I will refer to the essence of the correspondence and have removed any identifying information.

She wrote that she asked around about homes in Israel. She is looking for a home that has two or three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a nice kitchen. It must be no more than a few minutes from restaurants and nightlife (which eliminates much of the country), and was looking to spend $250 thousand. Surprisingly enough, no one was able to “find a place with those requirements”.

She concluded her initial email with the following admonishment: “How about in your next column in The Jewish Press, you make recommendations for where Americans interested in moving to Eretz Yisroel might find a comfortable home and community.”

I replied in part as follows: “Maybe your aliya wish list is a little too demanding. Israel is a large and beautiful country with many affordable communities. American Jews tend to be very materialistic, demanding, and spoiled, and if they cannot afford to live in the Old City, the center of Jerusalem, or a well-established, high-end Anglo community, they declare that they can’t afford to live in Israel and aliya is not for them. For a fraction of the cost of living in the Beverly Hills of Israel you could get a villa in other communities and give up a little on your materialistic demands in favor of the blessing of coming home.

“You mention [an expensive Anglo neighborhood], but the fact is that you would have sniffed your nose at [this neighborhood] when it was under construction. You wouldn’t have bought there at $250K and waited a few years for it to go up. Were you willing to lower your demands, you could find many more such opportunities in other parts of the country. That’s the hard truth, and I hope you will consider it.

“Life in Israel isn’t perfect, but neither are you. If you will come to Israel with a positive attitude, accept it for what it is, and help bring us closer to the goal, the land will take a favorable view toward your imperfections as well.”

Tough words, but honest and to the point.

She replied with a long diatribe about how she grew up in poverty and now donates money to Jewish institutions. She went on to call me “arrogant…insensitive and a disgrace to the title rabbi. I certainly would not want to live in a community filled with people like you. Now you have uncovered your face for the world to see…no one cares what you want.”

Woof.

Now, all that may be true, but it doesn’t negate my response to her list of demands to make aliya. I replied: “I’m truly sorry that Israel cannot offer you an apartment with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms in a developed Anglo community a half hour away from restaurants and nightlife for $250,000. Obviously the problem is with Israel, and I am a disgusting person for observing that your demands are unreasonable, overly materialistic, and display a distorted perspective of what aliya should be about. I wish you luck in finding a community that makes you happy and has only people who tell you what you wish to hear.”

She replied with another long diatribe about how she grew up in poverty and worked her way up to a nice standard of living, which she refuses to give up. “I simply cannot afford the lifestyle… Yes, there is a problem in Israel if you cannot find a residence to fit your family. You act as though I am requiring a palace. I don’t need a palace, but I do want a home above a Bedouin tent.”

My reply: “As I mentioned previously, there is a huge divide between a “Bedouin tent” and a developed Anglo community near restaurants and nightlife. Thank God the people who came to Israel before us, who truly cherished the land and built it, did not have such a list of requirements to consider themselves not “impoverished”. I never judged you as a human being, and your childhood and how much tzedaka you give are irrelevant to the discussion.

“You presented me with a list of requirements for moving to Israel that I consider unreasonable and overly materialistic, and I gave you an honest response. You reacted by heaping praise on yourself and heaping abuse on me. So be it.

“I stand by my assessment of your shopping list, and there is no reason to continue this discussion. When Black Lives Matter and Antifa pay a visit to your suburb, maybe you will adjust your requirements for living in Israel, and maybe you will even prefer a Bedouin tent in your own homeland among rude, arrogant, and overall disgusting people like me. Good luck to you.”

Well, she had an answer for that contingency! “If Antifa or BLM come to my home, they will see the end of my AR-15.”

To which I replied: “Good luck with that, Rambo.”

The Land of Israel cries for its children. It cries as follows:

“Life here might not yet be everything you want it to be. You know what? You’re not everything the Land of Israel wants you to be, either. I’m willing to view you favorably because you are the children of those I loved most, even though at times you hardly resemble them. I will do this on the condition that you view me favorably, and not complain about how I don’t resemble the land you must leave behind. I’m not supposed to. I’m different, and you are supposed to be different than the people in those lands. If you work to create a better life in Israel, I will work to make you a better person.

“This is your only home. Come here to stay and make it work.”

Most galus Jews will not listen. But maybe one more will hear the call.

____________

www.chananyaweissman.com

https://www.facebook.com/etm.shabbatons

‘Through Fire and Water’ – A Negative Comment

I think one can learn much more from works on the ugly parts of Jewish history.

For example, Rabbi Chaim Kramer’s “Through Fire and Water – The Life of Reb Nosson of Breslov” on the first wars against Breslovers. I was favorably impressed by how objective and even-handedly he managed to write about these events.

But there is one exception.

At the start of chapter Thirty-Five, pp. 388-392 the author starts with the Savraner Rebbe’s proclamation of all-out war against Breslovers.

[The text follows.]

“No time was wasted putting these directives into practice… The vilification of the Breslover Chassidim was intensified. Rebbe Nachman’s seforim were torn and thrown into garbage dumps. Economic sanctions were implemented, even forcing people from their long-established livelihoods. Physical violence broke out in the form of public beatings, while throwing stones at a Breslover Chassid became a common sport.

This is no exaggeration, as illustrated throughout the book.

… In a final effort to avert a catastrophe, Reb Noson tried writing to the Savraner personally.

[The text of the letter follows.]

An answer was not long in coming. Reb Noson ‘s enemies decided there was no need to fight hard. Just do away with Reb Noson and the job is finished. They hired some murderers to do the work. On Friday night, December 19, 1834, a few days after Reb Noson sent this letter, they attacked.

…

They murdered a neighbor by the same name.

But the language “an answer was not long in coming” makes it sound like the Savraner Rebbe himself ordered the murders! One must interpret the meaning of the author, that the letter was read by other people, who decided to order the murders. But this is very sloppy wording

Only in the endnote, page 631, do we hear the truth:

In all fairness to the Savraner, Reb Noson’s letter, written on Wednesday, 17 December, did not reach him until that Friday, and there was not time for a reply. It is also certain that the Savraner was not at all implicated in commissioning the crime But there can be no question that it was the flood of hatred unleashed by the Savraner’s earlier statements that had opened all avenues of persecution, including murder.

Of course, there is no great difference between that and actual murder, since the Savraner later issued another edict permitting Mesirah, as well (p. 392).

בן גוריון והחרדים תמימי דעים: שהיהדות תישאר פילגש של המדינה

ישעיהו ליבוביץ מקריא מתוך ספרו תיאור שיחה בינו ובין ראש הממשלה, דוד בן גוריון:

הוא אמר לי בצורה ברורה, אני מבין יפה מדוע אתה עומד בתוקף על הפרדת הדת והמדינה. אתה רוצה שדת ישראל תחזור להיות גורם עצמאי אשר השלטון המדיני יצטרך להתמודד עמו. ולכן, אני לא אסכים להפרדת הדת מהמדינה. אני רוצה שהמדינה תחזיק את הדת ב-י-ד-ה.

[ריאיון עם ליבוביץ לרגל צאת ספרו “יהדות, עם יהודי ומדינת ישראל” (1975). מראיין: שלום רוזנברג. הקליט: בן ציון נוריאל. שודר בא’ באלול תשל”ה’ 8/8/1975.]