יהושע שלט Josh Shalet

A Call to Reexamine Questionable Davening Practices

One would think synagogues would be exempt from the quarantine, for Torah and Tefillah protect us. But alas, even synagogues must close down to fight the coronavirus.

Could it be, perhaps, just maybe, God would rather have fewer or even no minyanim at all because modern davening practices desecrate His Name?

Specifically;

Multiple people saying Kaddish at once (clearly against Halachah if analyzed honestly)

Extra Kaddishim recited unnecessarily; this a violation of the entire purpose of Kaddish: it is a very holy prayer and saying it repeatedly cheapens it. Sephardim do not understand this concept; they honestly believe the more Kaddishim, the better.

The way Qedushah is said in almost all shuls is completely wrong: See Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz Volume One for more on this.

Brich Shmei: Most people just mumble it without understanding what it’s about, not to mention the Zohar itself is somewhat controversial.

Reciting Korbanos and extra Mizmorim like they are magic spells.

Latecomers rushing in and frantically mumbling through entire pages of the siddur, believing they MUST recite every word added by printers over the centuries (such as L’shem Yihud and Korbanoth).

My message to all Gedolim from all Edoth: Once this plague has passed, you must instruct your followers to change the way prayer is conducted in shul.

My suggestions include: 

A unified, SHORT siddur with clear directions on what is obligatory and what is customary and Kabbalistic additions clearly noted as optional.

A return to the correct way of reciting Qedushah: Only the Hazzan recites the first paragraph, as spelled out in the Shulhan Aruch (Yemenites, Italians and western Ashkenazim still recite Qedushah correctly).

Reinstate the order of preference of those given the Mourner’s Kaddish, or better yet, abolish the Mourner’s Kaddish entirely, except maybe for Shabbath. In any case, only ONE person says ONE Kaddish per Tefillah.

Abolish the redundancy of saying Aleinu twice between Minha and Arvith (again, both Yemenites, Italians and western Ashkenazim never did this).

Abolish the insanely stupid custom of removing Tefillin for Musaph on Rosh Hodesh (there is no solid justification for this practice).

Finally, most controversial of all, reinstate wearing Tefillin on Hol Hamoedh for all communities, as was the custom in Eretz Yisrael until the Chassidim took over. There is even evidence that the Arizal himself wore Tefillin on Hol Hamoedh.

See Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz volume 5 for 900 pages of proof the modern Israeli custom is plain wrong.

I hope the great Rabbis of Israel will pay heed to my ideas.

Sincerely,

Yehoshua Shalet, a simple Jew and seeker of the TRUTH

P.S.,

Maybe Hashem also wants us to daven outside so get some much needed fresh air in our lungs (smoking is rampant in both the yeshiva and Chassidic communities). Perhaps also, on our way to davening we should look at the trees and flowers in bloom during Nissan, and marvel and appreciate God’s wondrous handiwork.
And, of course, pester the government to enable Korban Pesach, failing that, have armed citizens go to the temple mount and do it anyway.  There are surely enough crazy people (in our case, the rational and sane) to get it done. All it takes is the will and desire to act. Perhaps we can get a Rebbe to promise Bibi Netanyahu the greatest s’char in Olam Habaw and total forgiveness for his sins.
Lastly, I am involved in an effort to establish a new party in the Knesset. It is called “The New True Right” or, as I like to call it, “Moshiach Focus”, see more here.
Disclaimer: Hyehudi.org does not endorse any law-breaking.

Yehoshua Shalet against Mussar, Brisk, Chassiduth, and Breslov…

Mussar (generally, and especially the Novardok style and its offshoots): Making a business of making you feel like nothing as part of Avodath Hashem. That’s not Avodath Hashem but rather masochism.

Others’ problems are really none of your business. And it’s psychologically damaging to combat arrogance with abject humiliation, especially when few people these days have true self-confidence, anyway. Mussar is cultish and an insult to what Judaism really stands for: connecting to the Creator.

Brisk: Circular reasoning plus intellectual acrobatics plus ascribing divinity to the inane and mundanity to the divine. (They love the heretical doctrine of hilchatha c’bathra’ei and expand its definition ad absurdum.)

Furthermore, their method of psak is simply counting up the numerous shitoth and going with the majority even if the sum of the shitoth are contradictory or mutually exclusive. Last but not least, they claim not to be Chassidic but they revere their “Rebbe” as though he were ultimately infallible. Briskers are intellectually shallow.

Chassiduth (generally): A parody and caricature of true Judaism, possibly idolatrous. They make the tafel ikkar and the ikar tafel. Chassidim nowadays are basically Litvaks with a funnier accent and different nusach, but Chassiduth itself logically leads to cults like Chabad; Lubavitchers are akin to Christians.

Breslov: Just be happy and everything will be fine. If only life were that simple! Breslov is an insult to human intelligence. It reeks of New Age spiritualism and false promises. Most Breslovers are shallow and air-headed, looking for a quick fix to their emotional baggage. Not to mention their obsession with dancing in the street while blasting techno muzak. Seriously? Breslovers often claim to have all the answers. How insecure can you get?!

Where Is UK Jewry Headed?

Jewish Schools in the UK will be forced to teach LGBT TOEVAH next year or face closure.

Dayan Krausz of Manchester has publicly declared that this is יהרג ואל יעבור, but God forbid they should even think about leaving that God-forsaken hell hole and come to ארץ ישראל. They are so scared of both the IDF draft and the lack of תורה עם דרך ארץ in ארץ ישראל.
Most British Haredim find Israeli culture far too polarised and intense, which is understandable. Most Haredim from England whom I’ve asked won’t move to Israel mainly because it is very difficult to make a living and taxes are way too high. Plus, Haredim who work are looked down upon unless they make tons of money and donate to yeshivos.
Though they’ll never admit they are partially to blame for this mess by not moving sooner…
There are about 50,000 Orthodox Jews in the UK, so if they all moved to Israel, they could even form an autonomous region and negotiate a mass exemption from the IDF in exchange for opting out of ביטוח לאומי, just like the Amish. Or they can decide to declare war and kill for what they believe in (though good luck in getting Jews to organise militias!)
These are the only realistic options.
Every solution I offer them is met with a different excuse: The Yekkes in England won’t move en masse because they believe that this is what Rav Hirsch holds; others won’t because of the Satmar Rebbe.
But honestly, when both these Rabbis were alive, at least the liberal establishment had not yet become completely insane.

Reality Check: Judaism Is FINISHED Outside Israel!

Note: I am not ignoring that there is a secularism/leftism agenda in the IDF and the State in general.
Jews who refuse to make Aliyah, complain of physical and religious problems in Israel, but they have things backward.
As for deeming Eretz Yisrael physically dangerous, a “Makom Sakanah”, please see Hyehudi here and here. The army draft danger is serious but needs to be dealt with individually and head-on. And again, both physical and religious problems are far worse outside Israel, and the way to deal with the problems in Israel is through GOD fearing Jews leaving the Galuth, while anti-Zionism actually makes them worse.
If all Orthodox Jews came to Israel, it would have a massive positive impact on the running of this country. If you truly want to make a difference, don’t vote for Gimel in the next election because all they care about is more money for Haredim at the expense of the rest of Klal Yisrael. Instead, vote for Feiglin and the Zehut party: they wish to abolish the draft entirely and end regulations and cronyism and establish a truly free market.
Look around. Europe and the UK are soul bereft hell holes. Judaism, especially in America, is superficial and unnatural. Most Lakewood guys, for example, only know select tractates of Bavli and have virtually zero grasp of even mainstream Jewish philosophy — not to mention Tanach. They see the land of Israel as just another place where lots of Jews live. Also, antisemitism is on the rise again with shul shootings, but Galuth Jews generally hate guns and self-defense.
Wake up!