Quoting Tolstoy (or someone else allegedly quoting him):
(OK, technically it’s “The Jew is…” I’m just translating.)
Mordechai Sones of “Jewish Home News” asks the right question:
What better to deflect attention from the parlous state of the State and ensure against a revolt than to recruit safe bogeymen as a distraction? It’s not like we can prove who the “spy recruiters” are. And they don’t seem to be targeting Israel’s best and brightest.
It wouldn’t be the first time the security “services” have done this, by far.
Excerpt (regarding “Animal Farm” which I haven’t read):
Snowball, representing Leon Trotsky, is systematically demonized by Napoleon (representing Joseph Stalin). After Snowball is driven off the farm, Napoleon attributes all the farm’s problems to him. This mirrors Stalin’s practice of blaming Trotsky and his followers for any setbacks in the Soviet Union.
The idea that Snowball is secretly sabotaging the farm, even in exile, creates an atmosphere of paranoia. This fosters the belief that spies and enemies are everywhere, justifying Napoleon’s increasing control.
הודעה שקיבלתי:
כיצד ממלאים את הכיור? מהו בילוש העזרה? מה עושים עם הטני והכוז? מה עושה הכהן ארבע פעמים במקום הקדוש ביותר ביום כיפור? כיצד ממלאים ומנסכים מים בסוכות? מה שואבים בשמחת בית השואבה? איך אוספים את כספי מחצית השקל? איך צולים את קרבן פסח? איך קולים את העומר? איך נערך מסע הבאת הביכורים?
בימים אלו של ציפיה גדולה בעם ישראל לבניין המקדש והשבת העבודה לדביר ביתו, מתעורר אצל רבים רצון לדעת בצורה מסודרת וברורה, כיצד תראה עבודת המקדש, ומהם סדרי העבודות בו, ולהיות מוכנים ליום שבו ‘פתאום יבוא אל היכלו האדון’.
ספר זה לוקח אותנו למסע סביב עבודות המקדש השונות באופן שגם מי שלא בקיא גדול בענייני קודשים, יוכל להבין היטב מה יעשו בבית המקדש ביומיום, בשבתות ובחגים.
חלקו הראשון מיועד לכולם וכתוב בלשון קלה ומובנת.
חלקו השני מעוטר בהערות בירורים ומראי מקומות, ומיועד עבוד מי שמעוניין להעמיק ולהרחיב יותר.
פרוספקט:
קישור לקריאת ה’הקדמה’ לספר + הצצה בספר עצמו + הזמנת הספר:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ZGYdR7oz9l_1ROhhQmiXhAb8TFDSBImvEnFinkHk_pM/edit#responses
שלכם,אברהם בורשטין052-3114334
Copying Sichot Haran [Breslov] 47 with translation from BRI, via Sefaria (slightly fixed):
צָרִיךְ לָזֶה זְכִיָּה גְּדוֹלָה שֶׁיִּזְכֶּה לְיַשֵּׁב עַצְמוֹ שָׁעָה אַחַת בַּיּוֹם, וְשֶׁיִּהְיֶה לוֹ חֲרָטָה עַל מַה שֶּׁצְּרִיכִין לְהִתְחָרֵט.You must be very worthy to be able to meditate for a given time each day and regret what you must.כִּי לָאו כָּל אֶחָד זוֹכֶה לְיַשֵּׁב הַדַּעַת אֵיזֶה שָׁעָה בַּיּוֹם, כִּי הַיּוֹם הוֹלֵךְ וְחוֹלֵף וְעוֹבֵר אֶצְלוֹ וְאֵין לוֹ פְּנַאי לְיַשֵּׁב עַצְמוֹ אֲפִלּוּ פַּעַם אַחַת כָּל יְמֵי חַיָּיו.Not everyone merits such mental tranquility each day. The day may pass and go without time to reflect. A person’s whole life may pass without his ever once having had time to really think.עַל־כֵּן צְרִיכִין לְהִתְגַּבֵּר לִרְאוֹת לְיַחֵד לוֹ פְּנַאי לְיַשֵּׁב עַצְמוֹ הֵיטֵב עַל כָּל מַעֲשָׂיו אֲשֶׁר הוּא עוֹשֶׂה בָּעוֹלָם, אִם כָּךְ הוּא רָאוּי לוֹ לְבַלּוֹת יָמָיו בְּמַעֲשִׂים כָּאֵלּוּ?You must therefore make sure to set aside a specific time each day to calmly review your life. Consider what you are doing and ponder whether it is worthy that you devote your days to it.וּמֵחֲמַת שֶׁאֵין הָאָדָם מְיַשֵׁב עַצְמוֹ וְאֵין לוֹ דַּעַת, וַאֲפִלּוּ אִם יֵשׁ לוֹ לִפְעָמִים אֵיזֶה יִשּׁוּב הַדַּעַת, אֵין הַדַּעַת הַמְיֻשָּׁב מַאֲרִיךְ זְמַן אֶצְלוֹ וְתֵכֶף וּמִיָּד חוֹלֵף וְעוֹבֵר הַדַּעַת מִמֶּנּוּ וְגַם אוֹתוֹ הַמְּעַט הַדַּעַת שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ אֵינוֹ חָזָק וְתַקִּיף אֶצְלוֹ. מֵחֲמַת זֶה אֵין מְבִינִים שְׁטוּת הָעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. אֲבָל אִם הָיָה לְהָאָדָם שֵׂכֶל מְיֻשָּׁב חָזָק וְתַקִּיף, הָיָה מֵבִין שֶׁהַכֹּל שְׁטוּת וָהֶבֶל.One who does not meditate in this way cannot have understanding. Although he may be able to concentrate at times, he cannot do so for any length of time. His power of concentration remains weak and cannot be maintained, and so he does not appreciate the foolishness of the world. But one who has a relaxed and penetrating mind can see that it is all vanity.בִּפְרָט הַתַּאֲוָה שֶׁיֵּשׁ לְכַמָּה בְּנֵי אָדָם לִהְיוֹת מְפֻרְסָם וּלְהַנְהִיג הָעוֹלָם וְלִנְסֹעַ עַל הַמְּדִינָה, הַכֹּל הֶבֶל וּרְעוּת רוּחַ וְהוּא שְׁטוּת גָּדוֹל בֶּאֱמֶת, כִּי בֶּאֱמֶת אֵין זֶה שׁוּם תַּעֲנוּג וְנַחַת רוּחַ אֲפִלּוּ בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, כִּי הוּא מָלֵא יִסּוּרִים וּבִזְיוֹנוֹת.Many people desire to travel widely and become famous and powerful. But this is vanity and striving after the wind (Ecclesiastes 1:14, 2:11). It is all the more foolish because such fame does not actually result in pleasure and satisfaction even in this world, and its main result is suffering and insults.
גַּם כְּבָר הוֹכִיחַ אֶת אֶחָד מֵאֲנָשִׁים כָּאֵלּוּ שֶׁהִתְאֲוָה לִהְיוֹת מְפֻרְסָם וְאָמַר לוֹ: הֲלֹא לֹא תּוּכַל אֲפִלּוּ לְבָרֵךְ בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן בֶּאֱמֶת. כִּי תִּצְטָרֵךְ בְּכָל מַעֲשֶׂיךָ לְכַוֵּן שֶׁיִּתְקַבְּלוּ מַעֲשֶׂיךָ בְּעֵינֵי בְּנֵי אָדָם וְלֹא תּוּכַל לַעֲשׂוֹת שׁוּם עֲבוֹדָה קַלָּה לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם.One of the Rebbe’s followers once had a strong desire to become a renowned religious leader. The Rebbe told him, “You won’t even say the Grace after Meals sincerely! Everything you do will have to be acceptable to others. You won’t be able to do anything religious for the sake of God.”From a weekly column by Elliot Resnick (as sent to me). I assume permission to reprint.
On Thursday, Yeshiva University folded. It will now officially permit an LGBT club operate on campus. I am not surprised — nor should anyone else be who has followed developments at YU over the years.
After all:
* From 2008-2021, YU employed a transgender professor.
* It currently employs a Bible(!) professor who has publicly advocated that we ignore Judaism’s stance on homosexual “marriage.”
* Its academic departments have zero rabbinic oversight. That includes the art department — and the Bible department.
* In 2022, its social work graduate school held a pro-abortion event and an event featuring a female Reform rabbi.
* Also in 2022, YU President Ari Berman wrote in an e-mail to YU alumni, “[O]ur commitment to and love for our LGBTQ students are unshakable.”
In short, either YU lacks principles or, to borrow a line from President Theodore Roosevelt, it has the backbone of a chocolate eclair. Most likely, a combination of both.
But YU is not entirely spineless. When it comes to the “far right,” it suddenly forgets its fealty to tolerance and the free exchange of ideas. For years now, it has refused to allow me to sell any books by Rabbi Meir Kahane, even religious ones, at its annual Seforim Sale. You would think that October 7 might have softened its stance. But you would be wrong. YU is so mad that I protested its decision to ban Rabbi Kahane’s books from the Seforim Sale in 2016 (the same year it sold books by Mordechai Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism) that it won’t permit me to sell any books at the sale anymore.
If YU is going to ban books from the sale, you would think it would at least explain and permit an appeal of its decision. And surely, you would think, its decision-making process would be transparent since we all know that transparency is a hallmark of liberal institutions. But you would be wrong again. YU bans books without explanation, and the names of the people doing the banning are shrouded in mystery.
I have appealed YU’s decision in the most respectful of tones many times. I have gotten nowhere. And when I posted flyers on campus last year publicizing the university’s decision, YU reacted by… banning me from campus.
I’m almost ashamed to admit that I once liked Yeshiva University. I was frustrated by some of the close-mindedness I had experienced growing up in black-hat communities and found YU to be a breath of fresh air when I arrived on campus in 2002. But it turns out that YU is just as close-minded as the black-hat world. The only difference is that the black-hat world is intolerant of ideas it regards as kefirah. YU is intolerant of ideas that violate the post-modern liberal ethos.
So Kahane? Absolutely forbidden. An LGBT club? Come right on in.