So, You Already Live Here. But Are You Maximizing the Mitzva?

What Are We Doing Here? And Why?

Yechezkel Toporowitz, Shmuel HaNavi, Yerushalayim

I have my roots in Eretz Yisroel. My grandfather had come to Eretz Yisroel in the 1930’s already as a bochur, as he felt that it was getting dangerous to stay in Europe. He eventually went to Chaifa, with the encouragement of the Chazon Ish ztz”l, settling in the then-completely irreligious neighborhood of Neve Sha’anan. He was one of the only Chareidi people who were raising their family in the area. He dreamed of building a yeshivah there which would be a positive influence on the whole area, and he and his sons were eventually instrumental in the founding and upkeep of the prestigious Yeshivas Nachlas HaLeviim in Neve Sha’anan. Despite financial difficulties and ruchniyus challenges, my grandparents were moser nefesh for yishuv Eretz Yisroel and for spreading the light of Torah.

I was born in London, where my father had come as a bochur and married my mother. When I was eight years old, we moved to Eretz Yisroel – my father’s home country. Our family was here for about ten years, and then left for the U.S. As I was in yeshivah at the time, I stayed behind, considering myself still a resident of Eretz Yisroel. Two years later I married my wife, who grew up in Bnei Brak. We subsequently moved to Monsey, where I was a magid shiur and mashgiach in a yeshivah for Israeli baalei teshuvah.

I was actually quite successful at my job, and happy to be disconnected from the social pressure I felt when we were in Eretz Yisroel (maybe because as a foreigner in the U.S., I didn’t feel a need to fit in; this might be true in the converse – for an American immigrating to Eretz Yisroel). I will even admit that there were some ma’alos I attained during this period that I would possibly not have achieved in Eretz Yisroel. At the time, I wasn’t aware of the importance of yishuv Eretz Yisroel, for which my grandparents had been moser nefesh. We viewed our grandfather as a Torah pioneer, with no difference to us had his activities taken place in chutz laAretz or in Eretz Yisroel. He was actually involved with the opening of two Novardok yeshivos when he was still a bochur back in Europe.

Three years later we decided we were done with our stint in Monsey, and we headed back to Eretz Yisroel. Our move was purely technical, with nothing at all to do with the ideal of yishuv Eretz Yisroel. When we came back to Yerushalayim, I experienced a huge culture shock – I think even more than a total foreigner would have. As someone whose formative years were spent in Eretz Yisroel who then experienced a disconnect from the so-called “harsh” Israeli culture, it was all suddenly back “in my face.” I am embarrassed to say that there were days when I would think to myself, “what am I doing here?”

After a short while, I went to visit my father in Monsey. I chanced upon a nice house available to rent there, and we found ourselves pulled back to the quiet atmosphere there. That’s how we ended up back in Monsey, and we could have ended up staying there for many more years if not for the substantial change of mind that we went through. I found myself constantly trying to justifying my stay in chutz laAretz through all sorts of ideologies that I adopted (for this purpose…).

One day, a friend suggested that I learn with him a masechta from Seder Zera’im. We started learning – I don’t recall which masechta it was, maybe Shevi’is or Pe’ah – and after a short while, maybe a week or two, I started getting strong feelings for Eretz HaKodesh. I have no way of explaining this as a natural phenomenon. Everything was going for us in Monsey: We had a nice house (albeit rented), two cars (albeit a bit old), the kids were learning in good mosdos, and we were thriving with the quiet and serenity of Monsey. HaKadosh Baruch Hu just put a powerful idea in my head and I began feeling passionate about Eretz Yisroel – the Land which HaShem always has His Eyes focused on.

I found myself wondering, “What am I doing here? I have a house in Eretz HaKodesh, I have the possibility of living there – it’s not just a random place where people live because it’s comfortable to live there.” Similar thoughts continued to flutter through my mind, until one day I told my wife, “We’ve had enough of this romance with the serenity of chutz laAretz!”

We were headed back to Eretz Yisroel, but this time it wasn’t because it was technically better or would work out better to live there. This time we were going for the sake of it being Eretz Yisroel, even if it would be difficult. Our Gedolim throughout the generations strongly desired to come here; some of them had to overcome serious difficulties and literally be moser nefesh. Like them, this time we would return with a desire to connect with Eretz Yisroel itself.

We moved again to Eretz Yisroel, but this time we were emotionally prepared to deal with the difficulties. The knowledge that what we were doing was for the sake of yishuv Eretz Yisroel gave us the strength to overcome the challenges. Since then, our emotions towards Eretz Yisroel have grown stronger – we feel strongly connected. It’s a whole other world, entirely different from our earlier experiences of living in Eretz Yisroel.

In conclusion, I would say that each person who comes here or stays here in Eretz Yisroel, in spite of any challenges and at any level of mesirus nefesh, is taking an active part in rectifying the sin of the Meraglim. May we merit to see the world through the lens of Torah and Geulah, and may we be zoche to the Geulah Sheleimah!

Deepening our Zechus – A Mitzvah with a Neshamah

Even those of us who are zoche to live here in Eretz Yisroel should ask ourselves: Are we here in Eretz Yisroel just to live here, or to really settle here? Even if we’re here to settle, is it just for technical reasons – even if those technical reasons are ruchniyus-related, such as having a better place to learn – or for the mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisroel? Even if it’s for the mitzvah, is it just for the actual mitzvah, that, as with any mitzvah, can also be performed without a neshamah – or is it with a desire to connect to the inner dimension of Eretz Yisroel and its kedushah, and to appreciate each and every moment that we are zoche to live here?

In our day and age – when the process of kibutz galuyos and the Geulah is continuing to unfold before our eyes – we may be able to add: Is it just a private and personal thing to be here, or do we feel we are a part of HaShem’s pekidah (consideration) of Eretz Yisroel and Am Yisroel, on the way to His zechirah (remembrance) and ultimate geulah?

פאליטיק איז א קרענק! – שיר באידיש

ר’ יואל ראטה מוזיק ווידיא – עלעקשאנס – Music Video R’ Yoel Roth

Dec 2, 2020

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ווערטער פונעם ניגון:

אוי די נייעס ווארפט א שרעק,
צו די וועלט עס קומט אן עק,
אמעריקע גייט ווערן אויסגעמעקט.

פזמון: דער באשעפער פירט די וועלט,
און ער טוט וואס אים געפעלט,
אלעס אנדערש איז דאך נארישקייטן.
אונז האמיר א גרויסער גאט,
וואס די וועלט באשאפן האט,
נאר אמונה טוט דעם איד באגלייטן.

ביידן איז צו אלט,
טראמפ איז צו קאלט,
אוי געוואלד, אמעריקע צופאלט.
לינקע, דעמאקראטן,
רעכטע, רויטע שטאַטן,
גייען זיך שיסן ביי די זייטן.
פזמון

הערן נייעס העלפט גארנישט,
עס מאכט נאר דעם מענטש צומישט,
יעדער ווייסט אז זיי פארקויפן גארנישט.
פזמון

רעד נישט נארישקייטן,
לאז דיך אפ פון ביידן,
זע צו לעבן רואיג און באשיידן.
פאליטיק איז א קרענק,
ס’איז נישט גוט פאר ענק,
נוצן האט עס קיינעם נישט געברענגט.
פזמון

מאתר יוטיוב, כאן.

Halacha Is NOT Supposed to Look Like This. Not Even Close!

I tried reading a pedestrian halacha column on Chanukah…

It went like this (references omitted):

It’s best not to light the Menorah before the customary time by one’s rabbis or ancestors. But if one must leave his house earlier, follow the following instructions:

One who usually lights at night after Ma’ariv, and needs to leave before Tzeis, can light then and pray afterward.

If one must leave earlier, light at Shki’ah. This is preferable to lighting at Plag Hamincha.

If one must leave home before Shki’ah, whether he usually lights at sunset or at Tzeis, can light at Plag, which comes out about an hour before sunset. But the candles must stay burning until half an hour after Tzeis. It is proper to pray Mincha beforehand, but not on account of joining a minyan.

However, since lighting at Plag is unclear (some say this is too early, or one fulfills his obligation only bediavad, or “after the fact”. Also some say Plag occurs right before Shki’ah), therefore:

  • Only do so if “forced” to leave the house at that time.

  • Some say it’s better to have his wife or another member of the household light on his behalf at the correct time, instead. However…

Silly me. I thought the goal of Torah was Hora’ah! This fearful mention of every mutually-exclusive “opinion” under the sun ad infinitum is a relativist dereliction of duty. Is this “kav kalekav” — the opposite of our ancestors’ general toil and therefore confidence in deciding halacha — our “glory in the sight of the nations?”!

This callow, self-fulfilling-prophecy of halachic inability was written by an ostensible posek (or “Motz”, anyway), yet it need not have been. If you aren’t going to think for yourself, and courageously take a side in the debates, what do we need a talmid chacham for? Let’s employ a secular librarian who can read Hebrew and knows how to give academic summaries of convoluted material!

Business Collusion + Useful Idiots (aka ‘Consent of the Governed’) = Unjust ‘Laws’

Bootleggers and Baptists

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bootleggers and Baptists is a concept put forth by regulatory economist Bruce Yandle,[1] derived from the observation that regulations are supported both by groups that want the ostensible purpose of the regulation, and by groups that profit from undermining that purpose.[2]

For much of the 20th century, Baptists and other evangelical Christians were prominent in political activism for Sunday closing laws restricting the sale of alcohol. Bootleggers sold alcohol illegally, and got more business if legal sales were restricted.[1] Yandle wrote that “Such a coalition makes it easier for politicians to favor both groups. … the Baptists lower the costs of favor-seeking for the bootleggers, because politicians can pose as being motivated purely by the public interest even while they promote the interests of well-funded businesses. … [Baptists] take the moral high ground, while the bootleggers persuade the politicians quietly, behind closed doors.”[3]

Economic theory

The mainstream economic theory of regulation treats politicians and administrators as brokers among interest groups.[4][5] Bootleggers and Baptists is a specific idea in the subfield of regulatory economics that attempts to predict which interest groups will succeed in obtaining rules they favor. It holds that coalitions of opposing interests that can agree on a common rule will be more successful than one-sided groups.[6]

Baptists do not merely agitate for legislation, they help monitor and enforce it (a law against Sunday alcohol sales without significant public support would likely be ignored, or be evaded through bribery of enforcement officers). Thus bootleggers and Baptists is not just an academic restatement of the common political accusation that shadowy for-profit interests are hiding behind public-interest groups to fund deceptive legislation. It is a rational theory[7] to explain relative success among types of coalitions.[1][8][9]

Another part of the theory is that bootleggers and Baptists produce suboptimal legislation.[10] Although both groups are satisfied with the outcome, broader society would be better off either with no legislation or different legislation.[11] For example, a surtax on Sunday alcohol sales could reduce Sunday alcohol consumption as much as making it illegal. Instead of enriching bootleggers and imposing policing costs, the surtax could raise money to be spent on, say, property tax exemptions for churches and alcoholism treatment programs. Moreover, such a program could be balanced to reflect the religious beliefs and drinking habits of everyone, not just certain groups. From the religious point of the view, the bootleggers have not been cut out of the deal, the government has become the bootlegger.[3]

Although the bootleggers and Baptists story has become a standard idea in regulatory economics,[12] it has not been systematically validated as an empirical proposition. It is a catch-phrase useful in analyzing regulatory coalitions rather than an accepted principle of economics.[13]

Literal example

In 2015, liquor stores in the “wet counties” of Arkansas allied with local religious leaders to oppose statewide legalization of alcohol sales. Where the religious groups were opposed on moral grounds, the liquor stores were concerned over the potential loss of customers if rival stores were permitted to open in the “dry” counties of the state.[14]

Other applications

Bootleggers and Baptists has been invoked to explain nearly every political alliance for regulation in the United States in the last 30 years including the Clean Air Act,[15] interstate trucking,[16] state liquor stores,[17] the Pure Food and Drug Act,[18] environmental policy,[19] regulation of genetically modified organisms,[20] the North American Free Trade Agreement,[21] environmental politics,[22] gambling legislation,[23] blood donation,[24] wine regulation,[25] and the tobacco settlement.[26]

See also

Continue reading footnotes on Wikipedia…