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הדור הצעיר מדבר – מענדל ראטה | פרק ג – האם מותר לשמוע מוזיקה בספירת העומר? | Mendl Roth

Why do we celebrate, after the 24,000 Talmidim stopped dying?

Why do we celebrate, after the 24,000 Talmidim stopped dying?

The Pri Chodosh ( O Ch. 493 ) asked this question and answered that the Simcha is, for the five new talmidim (after the death of the 24,000) who didn’t die.  (קצת דוחק -אמבצי)

Perhaps we can say, in Shas Bavli & Yerushalmi there is no mention of Lag Baomer. The first ones to mention  L.B. are some Rishonim in the name of the Gaonim. The Rishonim, Tur, and Mechaber who do mention Lag Baomer don’t mention or consider L. B.  as a day of Simcha. All they say is that there is no Aveilus on L. B., (weddings, haircuts etc. permitted) because they stopped dying.  There is no mention of a Yom Tov on L. B.

It is only the Rema in the name of the Maharil who writes that on L. B. we are “מרבים בו קצת שמחה*.” (increase a little Simcha)

The Rema does not give any reason why the Simcha. It definitely is not because they stopped dying, but for other reasons.

The Chasam Sofer (Y.D. 233) gives two reasons why we increase with Simcha on L. B.

1)      הוד שבהוד  (Kabalistic)

2)      According to the Midrash, the מן (Manna) came down the first time on L. B.

The Chasam Sofer continues and says that To establish Lag Baomer. as a Yom of Simcha and make a fire at this specific place (Meron) and have the masses come there, He is not sure if this may be done. No נס happened on that day and no mention of it in the Gemoro or Poskim as Yom Tov. The extent of Simcha is only, no fasting and no hesped.

Because they stopped dying we stop our Aveilus but this is not the reason why we rejoice. We rejoice because of הוד שבהוד or because of the מן etc.

* seems less Simcha than Mishnichnas Adar Marbin B’Simcha (no Ketzas).

From Toras Aba, here.

Baby Alfie, the Latest Victim of Omnipotent Government

Twenty-three-month-old Alfie Evans passed away in a British hospital on Saturday. While the official cause of death was a degenerative brain disease, Alfie may have been murdered by the British health system and the British high court. Doctors at the hospital treating Alfie decided to remove his life support, against the wishes of Alfie’s parents. The high court not only upheld the doctors’ authority to override the parents’ wishes, it refused to allow the parents to take Alfie abroad for treatment.

In upholding the government’s authority to substitute its judgment for that of Alfie’s parents, the high court is following in the footsteps of authoritarians throughout history. Ever since Plato, supporters of big government have sought to put government in charge of raising children. The authoritarianism of a system where “experts” can override parents is underscored by a police warning that they were “monitoring” social media posts regarding Alfie.

Alfie’s case is not just an example of the dangers of allowing government to usurp parental authority or the failures of socialized medicine. It shows the logical result of the widespread acceptance of the idea that rights are mere privileges bestowed by government. It follows from this idea that rights can be taken away whenever demanded by government officials or the popular will.

Of course, most western politicians deny they believe rights come from government. They instead claim that government must place “reasonable” limits on rights to advance important policy goals, such as limiting the right to free speech to protect certain groups from hate speech or limiting property rights to promote economic equality. But, a right by its very nature cannot be limited or abolished and still be a right.

This disdain for a true understanding of rights is found among both liberals and conservatives. Both support a welfare-warfare state funded via the theft of income taxes and the indirect theft of inflation. Both support jailing people for nonviolent actions like drinking raw milk. Many politicians, regardless of ideology, support restrictions on parental rights such as mandatory vaccination laws.

While claiming to support the right to life, most modern liberals not only support legalized abortion, they want to force pro-lifers to fund abortion providers. Both the right-wing neocons and left-wing humanitarian interventionists dismiss the innocents killed in US military actions as inconsequential “collateral damage.”

America’s Founding Fathers rejected the idea that rights come from government. They instead embraced the view that rights are either granted by the creator or are a basic attribute of humanity.

Since rights do not come from government, government has no more legitimate authority to violate our rights than does a private individual. Thus, if an individual cannot use force to make you help others, neither can the government. If an individual cannot use force to stop you from gambling online or telling un-PC jokes, neither can the government. If an individual cannot use force to stop parents from seeking medical treatment for their child, neither can the government.

Widespread acceptance of natural rights and the principle of nonaggression that flows from natural rights is key to obtaining and maintaining a free society. Thus, educating people in the benefits of free markets, individual liberty, and a foreign policy of peace and free trade is key to protecting future Alfie Evanses, and other victims of the welfare-warfare state, as well as to restoring respect for the moral principles of liberty among a critical mass of the people.

From Lewrockwell.com, here.

We Love Those Babies! By Shmuel Sackett

Thanks to Rabbi Pliskin’s teachings, I trained myself to always see the good in things, especially when it comes to Jews, the Jewish nation and Israel. Let’s now focus on something far more important than the Yankees (yes, there are things more important…). A recent conference was held in Israel that was co-sponsored by the University of Maryland and Tel Aviv University on the subject of population growth in Israel. Speaking at this conference was Professor Alon Tal, chairman of the Tel Aviv University department of public policy. In his speech, Prof Tal gave some very interesting facts.

“Israel has the highest rate – per capita – of population growth in the developed world… The population in Israel grows by more than 2,000,000 people each decade… Israel averages 3.1 children per family compared to just 1.7 in Western countries… Arabs average 40,000 births a year in Israel while Jews average over 100,000”

These sentences are all facts. Now… how would you interpret these facts? Before answering that, let’s see what the Professor said. No, not the Professor from Gilligan’s Island (although he probably would have given a better answer) the Jewish Professor from Tel Aviv University. Here is an exact quote; “David Ben-Gurion encouraged people to have many children, but now we need to have a collective conversation as a nation and realize that while there was once a period in Israeli history when having lots of children was a patriotic thing to do, today it is an unpatriotic thing to do because it harms the common good.” When asked what should be done, Professor Alon Tal, chairman of the department of public policy said, “Birth control needs to be more accessible and abortion standards need to be lessened.” Now you know why I didn’t send my children to Tel Aviv University!

Instead of jumping for joy at the miracle of Jewish growth – especially so close to the near extermination of our people just 2 generations ago – this foolish man chooses to interpret these facts as horrible news. 2 million new people in Israel every 10 years??? Do you know how much traffic that will bring to the roads? Will we have enough food and water? How about housing and schools? This is tragic, thinks the “Professor”… we have to end this now! Quick… let’s start distributing birth control pills and open abortion clinics next to every cellphone store. And this guy is chairman of a department in a university…

My reaction to these facts? How did I interpret this data? Let me tell you a true story; when I read this news I yelled out the biggest “Baruch Hashem” in modern history! The western world is averaging 1.7 children and here in Israel we are at 3.1??? That’s incredible! Millions and millions of new Jews over the next decade?? Amazing! What could be better than that?

Yes, those big numbers bring us challenges and we need to address them all – the sooner the better – but we must encourage parents to have those beautiful babies, not discourage them. We need to build new communities, not abortion centers, and reduce taxes for young couples, not increase birth control. Israel is already a world leader in so many areas and as our population grows, so will the blessing from Heaven.

For those who ask; but where will all those people live? I have a simple answer – not in the center of the country! There’s a tremendous amount of land in the south (Beersheba area) and in the north (especially the Golan Heights) and the biggest opportunity for settlement is in Yehuda and Shomron. Currently, according to “WestBankJewishPopulationStats.com” there are a bit more than 435,000 Jews living in Yehuda and Shomron and there’s room for millions more!

The Torah tells us that while in Egypt, “The Israelites were fertile and prolific, and their population increased. They became so numerous that the land was filled with them.” (Sh’mot 1:7 – translation by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan z”l) That was 3,500 years ago.  Today, thanks to thousands of people who refuse to listen to a Tel Aviv University professor, the Israelites are once again fertile and prolific. Our population is increasing and this time, the land we are filling is not Egypt but Hashem’s Holy Land that He promised and gave to the Jewish nation! Am Yisrael Chai!! Let’s keep having those Jewish babies!

From Zehut, here.