העורך Editor

From the Seforimg blog’s article on bibliophile Rabbi Shmuel Ashkenazi:

Another such story relates to a famous legend about the site where the Beis Hamikdash was built. Told in short, two brothers inherited a field, one brother had a family one did not. At the end of the harvest they divided up the wheat equally. That night the childless brother felt bad for his brother with a large family and said to himself “it’s unfair that while my brother needs more than I, we shared equally”, so he brought over from his pile to his brothers. The other brother thought that since his brother was childless, he should have a larger share of the crop, as consolation, so he added from his share to his brother’s. In the morning each brother realized their piles remained the same and this went on for two more nights. On the third night they met, realized each of their intentions was out of deep consideration for the other and hugged. Numerous people have searched for the early sources for this story. I decided to ask R’ Ashkenazi if he had any material on the subject. He found his file on the story and within was a letter from R’ Yudlov who had been asked by someone in the Education Ministry for the sources on this story. R’ Ashkenazi traced its first appearance in print to 1832 and from there he traced it to other sources.

We once mentioned Rabbi Alshich’s interesting theory Mashiach is waiting not at the gate to Rome in Chutz La’aretz, but Ruma, an ancient Galilean town.

More support for this can be found in “Doorways to Redemption“, a Mishpacha magazine tour guide column by Rabbi Ephraim Schwartz:

Quote from Mishpacha:

The Seder Hadoros, in fact, writes that the famous story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza that led to the Churban, concluding with Bar Kamtza traveling to “Rome” where he convinced the ruler of the disdain the Jews had for him, took place right here. If this is indeed the “Rome” being referred to, it means that here is where the destruction started, and it is from here that Mashiach is waiting to redeem us.

Judaism has mostly devolved into legalistic loopholes.

In Wikipedia’s page on “Jewish Humor”, the following mockery is presented as “in the tradition of the legal arguments of the Talmud, one prominent type of Jewish humor involves clever, often legalistic, solutions to Talmudic problems”:

Q: Is one permitted to ride in an airplane on the Sabbath?

A: Yes, as long as your seat belt remains fastened. In this case, it is considered that you are not riding, you are wearing the plane.

This isn’t just the outsiders’ take (per Berachos 17a, שכל טוב לכל עושיהם לעושים לא נאמר אלא לעושיהם לעושים לשמה ולא לעושים שלא לשמה); I heard this “joke” from many observant Jews, as well!

Who can blame a layman for thinking this way?!

בספר יערות דבש (איני זוכר מקור מדויק) מסביר שעקבים קרים מונעים הרהורי ניאוף.