העורך Editor

Though not because of Mohammedan religious sensitivities. After all, the Third Temple might descend upon us from on high at any moment, without prior warning. How will you run without shoes on? Don’t get crushed! (Besides, what would we do with the Tumah?)

It is said Rabbi Aaron of Belz zatzal avoided entering Har Hazeisim lest this mountain suddenly split open in the middle, as per Zecharya Hanavi, so there’s a simple kal vachomer (assuming the story true)!

Find the Fallacy…

לכבוד השואל היקר,

במחילה מכבודכם, האם פעם נכנסתם לשרותים ציבוריים? האם הוא דומה לשרותים פרטיים?!

או שמא גבר הספק אם בתי כיסאות שלנו כמו בתי כסאי דפרסאי?

ודי בזה.

“Our Man in Jerusalem” p. 329-333 describes the short process. Yisroel Gellis asked Rabbi Shach about a bunch of names, and he told him who was in the “old boys’ club”, and who was out.

That simple.

Jewish Action published a book review on the response to Reform.

Most important is the often-ignored need for soul-searching in response to the Reformers’ success.

Here’s an excerpt:

Particularly interesting are the various comments of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes (“the Maharatz Chajes”—1805-1856). Like Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch,¹ Rabbi Chajes boldly places some of the blame for the success of the early Reform movement at the feet of the Orthodox. The failure of the Orthodox leadership to grapple with the challenges of modernity led to disaffection for traditionalism among the youth.

In one incisive passage, Rabbi Chajes writes sarcastically of the low qualifications for rabbinic positions in Galicia. Students study a few select portions of Shulchan Aruch’s Orach Chaim and Yoreh Deah, and “this constitutes their entire course of study. If one of them has a smattering of proficiency in these areas, even if he does not know that David reigned after Saul, he will be recommended by the Rabbis as the most qualified candidate for even the most prestigious cities” (46). Rabbi Chajes berated those of his contemporaries who, in Dr. Bleich’s words, completely failed “to understand the spirit that animates contemporary society and the very real social, ideological, and intellectual problems with which their coreligionists were confronted,” and their failure to establish appropriate educational institutions (47). Although the twenty-first century has largely improved in rabbinical training programs, many men’s yeshivot continue to provide no instruction in Tanach outside of Chumash.²

Read the rest of it here…

(“Worldly“, as opposed to a “position” within the observant, non-profit\minimum-wage\”Yeshiva’she Ma’asros” world.)

Some true stories I know of (interpretation subjective, of course):

Case One: Avreich starts work at an engineering, blue-collar job. Refuses extra hours, to keep learning. Keeps Torah shiurim playing in one ear whenever possible (with permission). Avoids hearing the shop-talk, to avoid hearing dirty language. Doesn’t own a smartphone. Is not creative, proactive enough (read: “Rosh Gadol”), so he is “transferred” within the company to a difficult, menial position.

Case Two: ex-Avreich joins a white-collar, computer software company. Won’t join coworkers in the dining room per Rambam Sanhedrin end of chap. 22, נקיי הדעת שבירושלים… לא נכנסים לסעודה עד שידעו מי מיסב עמהן. Discovers he is forever out of the loop on work matters and decides to change his mindset and behavior.

Case Three: Similar to the first two cases (overheard).

So, what’s the lesson?

I don’t know, but we need an understanding of the real world in our analysis of these questions.