חנניה ווייסמאן Chananya Weissman

Why Not Do Outreach INSIDE Eretz Yisrael?!

Kiruv for the distant kiruv workers

I’ve always been uncomfortable with the relatively new phenomenon of people leaving Israel to begin kollels or perform kiruv in galus. Many organizations are devoted to this. It is a noble purpose in principle – those who sacrifice of themselves to do outreach are kindred spirits – but I have serious doubts about this from a Torah standpoint.

The Gemara at the end of Kesubos has very harsh words for those who leave Israel for virtually any reason. I am well aware that nowadays people leave Israel temporarily for many reasons, and they have halachic authorities upon which they can rely in most cases. I am not here to argue that anyone who leaves Israel except for extenuating reasons should be condemned, and I am not a posek besides.

At the same time, we have to acknowledge that leaving Israel is not a simple matter, heterim to do so are not automatic, and even if a heter can be found it does not mean it should be exercised. The default rule that one should generally not leave Israel must not be cavalierly disregarded in favor of every whim that can be rationalized. That is neither the way of the frum Jew nor intellectually honest.

Many rabbis and educators justify remaining in galus today on the basis of their community work. They are teaching Torah, they claim. They must stay behind for the sake of their flock. Not only that, but young Torah scholars often uproot their families from Israel to go on kiruv missions in galus or strengthen Torah in various communities. Again, these goals are noble and I strongly identify with them, but it is very dubious from a Torah perspective.

One of the heterim to leave Israel is to learn Torah (Avoda Zara 13A). (This is written specifically in reference to a kohen becoming tamei by leaving Israel, and does not necessarily imply that it is prohibited for other Jews to leave Israel. Nevertheless, the general position of Chazal throughout the Gemara and Midrashim is strongly against Jews leaving Israel, not just Kohanim. Again, I will leave it to poskim to determine halacha, but from a philosophical standpoint the position of Chazal is clear.) The Gemara qualifies this heter to apply only when the individual in question will have particular benefit from a teacher who is outside of Israel.

On the basis of this heter, many people today remain in galus or leave Israel to teach Torah. There are two serious problems with this. First of all, it is a heter; it is by no means an obligation. Just because something is permitted does not mean it is desirable or the best decision in all cases.

Second of all, the heter is specifically to leave Israel so that one can learn Torah and then return. Learning Torah is a vital personal need as are the other heterim (earning a livelihood and getting married, after which one is expected to return as well). Nowhere does the Gemara provide a heter for someone to move away from Israel for extended periods of time to teach Torah.

In fact, we find quite the contrary. As I noted in a previous article, Mordechai left a position of great influence in Persia at an advanced age to return to Israel. There was perhaps no one in the exile with his level of importance on the educational and political level – he had every excuse in the book to stay put – yet he jumped at the opportunity to return home. The Jews in exile could join him, or fend for themselves if not.

We also have the striking example of Baruch ben Nerya, the scribe and disciple of Yirmiyah the prophet, and a prophet in his own right. The Midrash questions why Ezra and his colleagues did not go up to Israel with the first wave of Jews – it is taken for granted that they should have. The Midrash answers that he needed to clarify his learning before Baruch ben Nerya, his teacher. (This was particularly important, because Ezra was compared to Moshe for restoring the Torah in his generation.) The Midrash then asks why Baruch did not go up. Chazal explain that Baruch was both elderly and a large man, and it was not physically feasible for him to travel even in a carriage. (Shir Hashirim Rabba 5:1:5)

Baruch was the teacher of the greatest teacher of his generation, one of the foremost teachers in our history, and were it not for physical limitations, the Midrash takes for granted that he would have gone up to Israel. The message is clear: building Israel is more important than staying behind in galus to teach the exiles Torah.

Again, I am sure there is room for this to be allowed depending on the situation, but today it has become a cottage industry for cementing life in exile when we should be encouraging these communities to transplant themselves back to Israel.

Furthermore, for better or for worse, there is enormous opportunity for outreach within Israel. There is no compelling reason for talented educators to leave Israel to inspire people who live in distant lands when the need is so great right in their backyard. Perhaps they have mistakenly understood the phrase kiruv rechokim as a call to perform outreach on those who are physically far away? Perhaps there is something exotic and glamorous about traveling to a distant land to save Jewish souls? Whatever the case may be, the justifications for leaving Israel to do this are dubious, despite the need for inspiration abroad.

The best way to strengthen the Jewish people is to strengthen the resettlement of our land, physically and spiritually. The best Torah lesson our teachers can provide is not to enable never-ending life in exile, but to lead the way home by example. Let the message be unequivocal that the Torah and Jewish life in all its fullness is in Israel, and only in Israel.

The time for planting seeds of Torah in exile is thankfully behind us. The time has come to transplant our existing trees back home where they belong.

P.S.

I just updated chananyaweissman.com with articles from the last three months and added a new section for The Redemption Process. Check it out, and please share with others!

Current Example: How Israeli Pols Got Jews Killed, Because ‘What Will Do Without the Goyim?’

The Lesson Israel Must Learn From Coronavirus

May 19, 2020

Rabbi Chananya Weissman

Politicians are human, and they make mistakes just like everyone else. As long as these mistakes do not stem from corruption or gross negligence, they can be forgiven. Mainstream and social media’s never ending game of “Gotcha” can make us forget that. Leaders shouldn’t be mocked or condemned every time they prove they aren’t perfect, even though we hold them to a higher standard.

Israel’s handling of the coronavirus plague was far better than that of most countries around the world. It was also far from perfect. It’s impossible to say what a “perfect” response would even be, or what the results of that would look like. I will leave that to others to debate. Overall, we have much to be proud of and thankful for, starting with the divine protection that softened the consequences of our imperfections.

There is, however, one mistake Israel’s leaders made that I cannot forgive. By late January they had determined that the coronavirus was a serious threat and had already begun spreading across the globe. They canceled flights from China. At the start of March there were about two dozen cases in Israel, and Israel had already banned entry to non-residents from most of Europe and Asia.

The virus had begun spreading in the United States. On March 7, Ynet reported the following: “A government official said the Health Ministry is pushing behind the scenes to have the U.S. added to the list, but so far the move has been delayed by some government ministries for fear of compromising diplomatic and economic ties with the U.S.”

Israel’s leaders knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the virus was raging across the United Stated and that entry from there needed to be restricted. Nevertheless, the ban did not go into effect until March 18, lest certain people in high places take umbrage at a perceived insult.

Barely two months later, Israel has suffered over 16,000 known infections and 262 deaths, not to mention economic devastation to countless others.

In retrospect, the decision to allow entry from the United States during those critical two weeks was not only ludicrous but homicidal. Those responsible for the decision understood that they would almost certainly be sacrificing the lives of untold people in favor of not offending American officials who might take umbrage at restrictions they deemed unnecessary. The Israelis calculated that it was worth it to sacrifice these lives rather than the risk whatever repercussions might come from offending the Americans. Surely those repercussions would lead to an even greater loss of life, they rationalized, and hence this was the right decision.

How many times have we witnessed exactly the same rationalizations in slightly different contexts? How many Jewish lives have been sacrificed on the altar of appeasing not only our enemies but those who may or may not be our friends? How much longer will we allow this to go on, and not hold those responsible for this accountable?

Israel has a long history of failing to vanquish its enemies for fear of repercussions from its supposed friends. If we ruffle the feathers of the nations of the world we will be unable to survive, say our leaders. We must act with restraint. We must defend ourselves with one hand tied behind our back and one eye looking over our shoulder. Our friends will not be happy if our victory is too decisive, and that would spell doom for us all. We must bleed enough to justify our actions. The gods of the nations can only be appeased with Jewish blood.

Those who challenged this galut Jew mindset have been marginalized as extremist right-wing warmongers by atheists who consider themselves more “practical” and “responsible”. The coronavirus has given these enlightened adults the opportunity to examine whether this mindset is really to our benefit.

Restricting entry from the United States two weeks earlier would not have killed any of Israel’s enemies or expanded Jewish control over our G-d given land — sins which our friends often consider unforgivable. At the very worst it would have offended American officials who had yet to realize the prescience and absolute necessity of this order, which would have become clear mere days later. It is hard to imagine any serious repercussions to Israel from this.

Instead, Israel knowingly imported more cases of coronavirus, trading the lives of its citizens for diplomatic convenience. Israel let itself bleed rather than risk losing even a smidgen of “American support”, which is presumably the only thing preventing our total destruction.

Were Israel not chained to relationships that demand Jewish blood to be cheap, were Israel not convinced that it needs to bleed itself to prevent others from bleeding us even more, it could have blocked the curve from starting without ever needing to flatten it. Imagine how much death and damage Israel brought upon itself “for fear of compromising diplomatic and economic ties with the U.S.”

Was it worth it?

Was it ever?

Let our leaders finally learn the lesson that should be obvious by now. No longer shall we sacrifice our people and our land to receive approval from the nations of the world. No longer shall we rationalize bleeding ourselves, jeopardizing our soldiers to protect our enemies, and giving new life to defeated enemies. No longer shall we rationalize self-destructive behaviors or trade dead Jews for diplomatic favors.

So many of our people died from this coronavirus plague. So many people are suffering from the foolish, self-loathing decision to keep the borders open when our leaders already knew.

Let us finally learn the lesson and never make this mistake again.

Rabbi Chananya Weissman is the founder of EndTheMadness and the author of seven books, including “Go Up Like a Wall” and ““Tovim Ha-Shenayim: The role and nature of Man and Woman.” He is also the director and producer of a documentary on the shidduch world, “Single Jewish Male,” available on YouTube.

He can be contacted at admin@endthemadness.org; many of his writings are available here. Click here to read more of this writer’s work in The Jerusalem Herald.

Reprinted from The Jerusaelm Herald.

P.S.

Particularly timely given the N12 news report, cited on Arutz Sheva, that approximately 70% of Israel’s coronavirus carriers were infected by people arriving from New York.
Chananya

‘Love Your Fellow Jew’ Really Means ‘Grant Jewish Renegades a CLEAN DEATH’!

Reclaiming a stolen mitzvah

One of the most fundamental tenets of Judaism is the mitzvah to love your fellow like yourself. Rabbi Akiva referred to it as a “great rule” in the Torah. When Hillel was asked to distill the entire Torah to a single “sound bite”, he cited this mitzvah, and said everything else is commentary.

It is therefore especially tragic that we have allowed this mitzvah to be hijacked, twisted, abused, and corrupted to the point where it has lost all meaning in our time. We have allowed those who are most far removed from the Torah, who in fact wage war against the Torah, to pervert this mitzvah into an empty slogan with which to bludgeon its true practitioners.

For years we have allowed the Torah to be desecrated in our streets – with pride! – with nary a peep of protest. We have allowed ourselves to be convinced that it is pointless to object, even counterproductive, whereby we cleverly turn our unwillingness to stand up for the Torah into a mitzvah for having chosen the prudent course of inaction. Really, we are heroic for doing nothing and saying nothing while everything that is dear to us is desecrated. If we protested for the sake of what is most dear to us we might only legitimize our enemies, or provoke them even further, or make fools of ourselves, so best to look the other way. We believe this because it is convenient, not because it is correct.

We live in a society in which terrorists who make the ultimate sacrifice are referred to as cowards, while those who refrain from fighting back lest they further upset their enemies are called brave, and no one laughs out loud. Declarations of war are now referred to as peace treaties, and casualties of war are referred to as painful sacrifices for the sake of peace. This is the best option, the only option, we are relentlessly told until people believe it or wear down. We allow ourselves to tolerate all manner of hypocrisies and absurdities, for tolerance is the new religion, and everything must be tolerated except what God demands of us. That is what God wants most, we are lectured, to tolerate everyone and everything except for God Himself.

In light of this, it is no wonder that we have allowed the mitzvah to love one’s fellow like yourself to become just another painful sacrifice on the altar of tolerance and obfuscation. In the grand scheme of things, this sacrifice doesn’t seem to have been all that painful, either. What does it matter anymore? Let it be their mantra.

So now we are lectured relentlessly that those who would make the citizens of Sodom blush and Noach’s townsfolk cringe must be loved, as much as we love ourselves. The Torah demands it! It is God’s will! If we even harbor a negative thought toward them we are hypocrites, and if we utter it we are criminals, extremists, terrorists who should be locked up before we can strike. Love your fellow like yourself! If you trampled on the Torah, desecrated its very essence, and waged war on God, wouldn’t YOU want people to love you and accept you? Of course, you would. So you must love others who do the same.

We have even been admonished that this mitzvah extends to actual terrorists, to children of Yishmael who have murdered our people. Those who call for these people to be summarily executed and for the blood of our brothers and sisters to be avenged are silenced with calls to love our fellow like yourself. These murderers were created in the image of God, we are told, just like us, and we must love them, just like ourselves, even if they’ve been a bit naughty. The Torah demands it. It is God’s will. It is a mitzvah.

So preach those who couldn’t tell you where this mitzvah appears in the Torah, who couldn’t tell you what this mitzvah actually means according to the Sages who transmitted it to us from the day it was given, and who believe all the mitzvos are merely suggestions that can be reinterpreted or done away with according to the needs and desires of the time. This mitzvah, however, is binding on us, it supersedes all others, and it must be taken literally to the most absurd, even suicidal extremes. We must be willing to sacrifice for the Torah, after all, preach those who sacrifice nothing but the Torah.

It is with this lengthy introduction in mind that we must reclaim this mitzvah as our own. We must reaffirm its true meaning and context, both its broad applications and its inviolable boundaries – boundaries which exist for every mitzvah. Those who wage war on the very notion of boundaries shall no longer be permitted to deny the existence of boundaries for this mitzvah too, and in so doing hijack it for their nefarious purposes.

*

The mitzvah to love one’s fellow like yourself appears in the beginning of Parshas Kedoshim (19:18), which not coincidentally is preceded by the prohibitions on sexual immorality. The same Torah that commands us to love our fellow also commands us that we are not permitted to express our love – or act out our desires – however we please. One cannot claim one mitzvah is binding, authentic, or otherwise relevant without accepting all the others. The Torah is a package deal.

One who wishes to convert to Judaism and accept upon himself everything except for a single letter of the Torah is denied. A Jew who accepts the divine origin of the entire Torah except for a single letter is a blasphemer. If you want “love your fellow”, you must accept every “thou shalt not” as well. If you deny a single “thou shalt not”, you have no claim to “love your fellow”. If you claim that God wasn’t really serious about a single “thou shalt not”, then you have no right to impose your strict interpretation of “love your fellow” on anyone else.

If you claim the rabbis made up the laws, it is these same rabbis who emphasized “love your fellow”. One cannot cite a rabbinic teaching as support for his lifestyle if he denies the divine authority of these same rabbis and all their other teachings.

Indeed, the next words after “love your fellow like yourself” are “I am Hashem”, to teach that we are only commanded to love those who conduct themselves with righteousness and bring honor to Hashem, not those who do the reverse (Torah Temima, Avos D’Rabbi Nasan Chapter 26). Rashbam explains that this mitzvah is limited by the word “your fellow”; we are not commanded to love our enemies or the wicked, only our fellows in goodness and Godliness.

Those who claim that certain mitzvos do not apply to them – nay, that only this mitzvah does apply to them – must be informed that we are only commanded to love our fellows in Torah and fear of Heaven. To the extent that they believe “thou shalt nots” do not apply to them, the mitzvah to love them does not apply to us. Quite the contrary. And we must keep this mitzvah not to love them even though it is extremely difficult for us, and we were born with the gene to love all people no matter what…

*

Considering the importance our rabbis attached to the mitzvah to love one’s fellow, it’s interesting how little attention is devoted to it in the Gemara and Midrash. We would expect a huge tractate filled with rabbinic teachings on “love your fellow”, yet citations of this mitzvah are sparse and appear in the most unlikely of places. This only underscores how the mitzvah is indeed fundamental and the rest of the Torah is commentary, yet it is also just one mitzvah of 613, and it must be compatible with the other 612.

In Sanhedrin we are taught that certain methods of execution in Jewish courts were favored over others that would be even slightly more painful or disgraceful than necessary, due to the mitzvah to “love your fellow like yourself”.

An “enlightened” skeptic would scoff that truly loving one’s fellow would be not to execute him altogether, no matter what the crime, for we wouldn’t want to be executed no matter what we did. This is nonsense, of course. Loving one’s fellow does not mean allowing an entire breakdown of law and justice, especially since that would have devastating consequences for all our other, innocent fellows. It means meting out justice with compassion and empathy even for the lowest of criminals – but meting out justice all the same. Indeed, no system of law in the world demonstrates the degree of compassion and empathy for criminals and sinners to the extent that our Torah does, all while protecting the need for civilization to remain civilized.

*

The truth is that the commandment to love another person just as one loves himself, taken literally, is absurd. Not only is it absurd, it goes against the Torah. If one is traveling in the desert with a fellow Jew, and he has only enough food and water for one person to survive, he must keep it for himself. It is also prohibited for a person to give away too much of his own money to charity lest he become destitute in his own right. Self-sacrifice has its limits, and a literal interpretation of “love your fellow like yourself” is incompatible with the Torah’s actual position. But of course.

That said, we also know that the most basic meaning of a pasuk, the peshat, cannot be disregarded. The Ramban explains that the mitzvah to love one’s fellow equally to himself refers to the obligation to desire only the very best for one’s fellow Jew in all matters, just as one wishes for himself. This mitzvah single-handedly drives away petty competition, ayin hara, jealousy, the begrudging reactions people often have when others find success, especially in areas where one is lacking. Why him and not me? The mitzvah to love one’s fellow like himself urges us to wish only good things for our fellow Jews and to be genuinely happy for them when they find success. To truly love someone is to view their success with satisfaction, as if it were your own.

Needless to say, nowhere in Torah literature will one find in this mitzvah a license to condone evildoing or pardon willful, unrepentant sinners. To do so demonstrates neither love for the other person, nor for yourself, nor for society, nor for the Torah, nor for God. If one is struggling with a particular commandment and truly wishes to perform God’s will, he will receive boundless love and support from His people. Even if he stumbles along the way, he remains “our fellow” so long as he accepts the commandment as binding and wishes to fulfill it. Such a person is truly “our fellow”, for he is all of us, and we shall love such a person just as we love ourselves.

If, however, someone claims that a commandment is not binding, or not relevant, or fabricated by corrupt Talmudic personalities, or simply doesn’t apply to him, then he has excused himself from the fellowship, and is no longer entitled to the privileges of membership. The very preceding pasuk to “love your fellow” is the commandment to rebuke a fellow Jew – which, like every other mitzvah, must be done within proper parameters, but which is a mitzvah just the same.

Even before we are commanded to love a fellow Jew, and immediately after we are commanded not to hate a fellow Jew, we are commanded to rebuke a sinner. This is part and parcel of the loving relationship we are supposed to share with one another. A relationship in which “love” means a blank check to do whatever one desires and receive only approval in return is neither a loving relationship nor a healthy relationship. It is certainly not mandated by the Torah.

The first pasuk of Shema, the most basic of Jewish prayers, commands us to love Hashem with all our hearts, all our souls, and all that we possess. Let us love Hashem, let us love those who serve Him, and let us love those who wish to serve Him even if they are still on the beginning of the road. But they must be on that road, not seeking to blow it up. They must be our fellows.

None of what I have written here is novel. Unfortunately, due to the onslaught of “love your fellow” by those who make a farce of this and all other mitzvos, we need to review that which we already know and strengthen our commitment to it. Let us reclaim this mitzvah as the exclusive inheritance of those who accept the Torah – the entire Torah – and let us proclaim its true meaning with pride.

True Jewish pride.

Chananya Weissman

‘Lost Causes Are the Only Ones Worth Fighting For’ – Chananya Weissman Elaborates…

Why Should We Bother?

I’m human. Sometimes I get frustrated when it seems that no one is even listening, and my motivation to keep trying starts to sink. What’s the point of sitting down and writing another article? It’s hard work, I get more flak than appreciation, this isn’t my job, and I don’t get paid to write. I don’t need to do this.

Even the pats on the back do little to recharge my batteries. Since I don’t really care if people don’t like what I have to say, it’s only fair that I shouldn’t care very much if they do. My goal is to actually make a difference, and you don’t accomplish that by telling people what they already know or what they want to hear. You do that by pushing uncomfortable buttons. When you push those buttons, most people will push back.

If I wanted to be popular, I would stick to safe themes, like “let’s come together in times of crisis”, “drive safely to reduce traffic accidents”, or “don’t forget your child in the car”. If I wanted to be REALLY popular, I would write articles for secular audiences criticizing the Orthodox community, and I would write articles for Orthodox audiences encouraging secular Jews to return to their roots. I do just the opposite. I tell the Orthodox world to take responsibility for its own problems instead of looking for scapegoats and to put Torah principles before social expectations. I tell secular Jews to stop embracing their enemies and hating their own, and to return to an authentic Jewish lifestyle.

As a result, I’ve managed to unite secular and Orthodox Jews – a very rare feat – in disliking me. Even worse, it’s very rare to receive evidence that I’ve actually managed to get through to someone who didn’t previously agree with me, that I moved the needle ever so slightly in the right direction. I have no interest in preaching to the choir; I want to make a difference. If I’m not making a difference, why bother? If you can’t change anyone’s mind, why keep trying? Who needs the tzorus? Why continue to care?

Thankfully, this doesn’t faze me as much as it used to. Over the years I’ve learned to reinforce my motivation to keep trucking along, no matter what, and I’d like to share what I’ve learned to help you do the same. I know I’m not the only one fighting the good fight and trying to accomplish what seems impossible. We need to keep at it, even if it seems like no one is listening, it’s a waste of time, and we’d be better off not bothering.

Here’s what I remind myself when the yetzer hara (sometimes disguised as other people) tells me to stop trying to change the world.

1. Even if you don’t get through to anyone, ever, you still have to try. The Gemara relates that during the destruction of the first Beis Hamikdash, there were elders who kept the entire Torah. Initially they were to be spared from the punishment, but they were prosecuted in Heaven for failing to rebuke the public, and marked for death. The angel Gavriel tried to defend them. He said that he knew with certainly that the people would have rejected their rebuke. Hashem replied as follows: “If that was revealed to you, was it revealed to them?” (Shabbos 55A)

It may indeed be true that you will not get through to a single person. Depressing as that may be, it does not absolve you from trying. Even if you can’t save anyone else, at least by trying you are saving yourself, and your conscience can be clear.

2. Your efforts might bear fruit in ways you will never know about. I used to remind myself of this when I taught kids who came from homes with weak to no levels of halachic observance. It is unreasonable to expect them to change dramatically before your eyes, even if you are the most passionate and dedicated teacher. At the same time, it is self-defeating to believe that your efforts have no impact simply because you see no concrete evidence. You may well be planting seeds that will only blossom many years later, and you might never find out about it in this world.

Just because you don’t receive positive reinforcement doesn’t mean you aren’t making a positive difference. In fact, your efforts are all the more noble precisely because you persist without your batteries being constantly charged.

Another way your efforts can bear fruit is by strengthening other people who agree with you but feel marginalized. This was my mission when I started EndTheMadness nearly two decades ago – not to change the minds of those who are violently opposed to my ideas, but to educate the ignorant and strengthen those who agreed with me but felt trapped in a system that wasn’t working for them.

Maybe you won’t be the one to directly inspire the change. But maybe you will inspire someone else to speak up because you did, and the change will ultimately happen because of the spark you ignited. You might not get the credit you deserve, but this too makes your efforts all the more noble, and no less important.

3. It’s not your responsibility to finish the job, but you’re not free to absolve yourself from it (Avos 2:16). In all aspects of life – all of them – the results are not in our hands.

Jews are always in the minority, and clear-thinking, Torah-true Jews are a tiny minority within the minority. It is entirely impossible according to nature of the world for us to win the ideological wars being waged all around us.

Don’t let that discourage you, though; that’s the way it’s supposed to be.

If we were more numerous and powerful than our adversaries, it would mean little for us to be victorious. It would certainly not demonstrate that we are on God’s side. No, we are supposed to be outnumbered, with the game fixed against us, where victory is a natural impossibility. When we ultimately are victorious – and we will be – it will be unmistakable that God fought for us as we fought for Him.

We have to remind ourselves that just as God granted victory to the few over the many in physical battles in the times of Chanuka and many other occasions, so He will grant victory to the few over the many in the ideological battles that we must fight. It is not our responsibility to calculate the likelihood of success before raising our voice. That is a trap of the yetzer hara for us to give up and surrender – and his only hope to defeat us.

It is God’s job to win the battle for us, in the time that He sees fit. It is our job to continue to show up for battle, to never surrender.

4. A Jew who really believes that God runs the world, and who really believes that every word of the Torah is true, never loses his hope. Sometimes, in spite of everything, you really will reach people and witness a change. But you can only do that if you keep trying. What a shame it would be to put in a massive effort and then stop right before the finish line, simply because you didn’t know it was just one more step forward.

Maybe all my efforts to this point didn’t influence a single Jew to leave galus. Maybe all my efforts to this point didn’t bring about the various other changes I’ve tried to achieve. But one thing you can bank on is that I’m not going to stop trying. If you’ve been fighting the good fight as well, I hope you won’t stop either.

One last push, and we might just get there.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rabbi Chananya Weissman is the founder of EndTheMadness and the author of seven books, including “Go Up Like a Wall” and “How to Not Get Married: Break these rules and you have a chance”. Many of his writings are available at www.chananyaweissman.com. He is also the director and producer of a documentary on the shidduch world, Single Jewish Male, and The Shidduch Chronicles, available on YouTube. He can be contacted at admin@endthemadness.org.

Patience Is Divine

Yesterday my mother found an undated poem written by my grandmother, Chana bas Yisrael Aryeh. She taught herself English on the boat to America by reading a dictionary from the beginning like we would read a novel. She became a very talented writer of poems and letters.
It seems I inherited the creative writing gene from her. Although she didn’t live to see it blossom, she was one of my biggest fans. She passed away approximately 27 years ago. I wish I could have known her as an adult.
This newly discovered poem from Baba is very sobering in these times of trouble. People often lash out at God when bad things happen and wonder why He didn’t prevent them from happening. Perhaps a more appropriate and productive reaction would be to wonder why He should, and to give Him more of a reason to do so.
After all, for all the many things we want from God, we should not lose sight of the fact that He wants some things from us, too. Like all relationships, it’s a two-way street. We don’t get to dictate to God both what we want from Him AND what he should expect from us.
I’m honored to share this poem with you in my Baba’s merit.
Chananya
If G-d should go on strike
How good it is that G-d above has never gone on strike,
because He was not treated fair in things He didnt like.
If only once He’d given up and said “Thats it, i’m thru!”
I’ve had enough of those on Earth, so this is what I’ll do:
I’ll give my orders to the sun – and cut off the heat supply!
and to the moon – give no more light, and run the oceans dry!
Then just to make things really tough and put the pressure on,
turn off the vital oxygen till every breath is gone!
You know, He would be justified if fairness were the game
for no one has been more abused or met with more disdain.
than G-d, and yet He carries on, supplying you and me
with all the favor of His grace
and everything for free.
Men say they want a better deal,
and so on strike they go
but what a deal we’ve given G-d to
whom all things we owe.
We don’t care whom we hurt
to gain the things we like,
but what a mess we’d all be in
if G-d would go on strike.