והוא ליקוט מספרי רבינו הק’ הננמ”ח מברסלב זיע”א
לעורר אש להבת שלהבת הרצון דקדושה בגעגועים
והשתוקקות ביקד יקוד ארצה בכלל
ובפרט במצות קדושת שנת השביעית ושאר מצוות
התלויות בארץ ובקדושתה הנצחית
ושבח קדושת פירותיה
Reprinted with permission.
by Rabbi Yosef Hershman
The circumstances of the giving of the Torah convey a great deal about the character of Torah, and of our relationship to it. In G-d’s preparatory words to Moshe, He explains that by virtue of the Torah the people will become a “kingdom of priests to Me, and a holy nation.” There is then a three day period of separation and sanctification to prepare for the great day. Moshe is instructed to set a boundary around the people and to warn them not to draw close to the mountain or touch any part of it.
One purpose of this separation was to establish for future generations that G-d remained in His place, opposite the people, and that His Word came to the people. In this way Judaism is fundamentally different than all other “religions.”
“Religion” stems from the hearts of people: their codes of law originate in the human mind and merely express their conceptions of deity, of human destiny, and of man’s relationship to deity and his fellow man that exist in a particular period of history. Like all other disciplines — language, science, art and philosophy — “religion” is subject to change with the passage of time, as its laws and practices are merely an expression of levels reached by civilization at a given time. Because it is only a marker, religion cannot undertake to raise and educate the nation from which it sprang, up to its own higher standard.
But Torah is not religion. It was given by G-d to the people, who stood at a distance, and required preparation to receive it. It was given from the untouchable, extraterrestrial sphere, and strict separation was maintained. As such, Torah presents the absolute ideals, and sets forth conceptions for all time about G-d and human affairs.
Far from having its genesis from within the people, this set of Laws was imposed on a stubborn, stiff-necked people, a people who struggled for centuries to impart and implement its truths. It is this imperfection of the Jewish People, and its repeated rebellions against Torah that attests to the Divine origin and uniqueness of Torah. It still remains an absolute, an ideal, towards which the people strive, and the Torah still awaits the age which will be fully ripe for its realization. The Torah has no development and no history; it is the Jewish People which has a history, and a development towards Torah. Torah does not have to catch up with the times. It is the times that have to catch up with Torah.
As much as Torah is not religion, it is also not theology. Despite the Divine, unchanging and supernatural nature of Torah, it has never been withheld from the layman and reserved for the gowned theologian. “Theology” contains the thoughts of man on G-d and things Divine, and results in complicated systems of theology, incomprehensible to the layman. But Torah contains the thoughts of G-d on man and human affairs. The Torah speaks not of the essence of G-d and the supernatural, but of what G-d is to us, and how we are to relate to Him and to each other. The Torah does not describe how things look in Heaven, but how they ought to look in our hearts and homes. And this is why the entire nation is to be a holy nation of priests, each member drawing the Torah’s wisdom into his personal sphere, wherever and whenever that sphere may be.
From Ohr Somayach, here.
From Wikipedia:
The yeshiva made headlines when one of its teachers and assistant principal, Joel (Yehuda) Kolko, was charged in 2006 with… Six former students also filed suit against the yeshiva, alleging the school administrators knew about Kolko’s molestation of students for decades, but sought to cover it up and intimidate students who spoke out. Kolko later pleaded guilty to two lesser counts of child endangerment and was sentenced to three years’ probation, later left the school, and died in November 2020. The suit also alleged that school principal Lipa Margulies waged “a campaign of intimidation, concealment and misrepresentations designed to prevent victims from filing lawsuits.” Four of the lawsuits were dismissed for being filed beyond the then five year statute of limitations. In October, 2016 it was reported that the school had reached a $2.1 million settlement on the two remaining cases.
Thanks to Yerachmiel Lopin for bringing this to my attention!
Needless to add, the Rasha was eulogized in Yeshiva World News, Matzav, Hamodia, Bechadrei, JDN, and perhaps more to come. (Not to mention being warmly greeted in The Purgatory Post.)
Rabbi Yair Hoffman over at VIN News tries a hilarious whitewash:
There were those, even among Rav Margulies’s many admirers, who felt that he was too overzealous in his vision to ensure the reputation and continuity of the remarkable Torah institutions he had built, and to disbelieve accounts of grave dangers in his institutions. And, sometimes, other Gedolim perceive the true depth of such dangers – whereas others do not. Rav Avigdor Miller zt”l had argued with Rabbi Margulis on such a matter. Boruch Hashem, however, there were wise Baal HaBatim involved in his Yeshiva who took the necessary steps to ensure that Rav Margulies’s vision continue, while still ensuring that, to some extent, those who were harmed or had tried sounding an alarm were vindicated.
The efforts of these dedicated Baal Habatim and family members made sure that Rav Margulies work and lifetime of dedication to Torah and its continuity, not only remain alive but thrive and prosper.
Independent Yerachmiel Lopin puts it slightly differently:
Rabbonim going back to Rav Avigdor Miller begged Lipa to fire Kolko. Some askanim were even willing to buy out Kolko and set him up to make money in some way that did not involve children. But Lipa refused. Over and over, he fought back using all sorts of dirty tricks. He kept Kolko employed until the Brooklyn DA finally charged Kolko with abuse. Lipa is guilty of the retzichah of neshomos for thirty years.
For more, see this.
במדבר התורה הגיעה מלמעלה למטה • עם ישראל עמד בתחתית ההר והשכינה מעליהם • משה הפנה כל שאלה לקדוש ברוך הוא והוא ענה • בארץ ישראל התורה צומחת מלמטה • במעמד הברית בשכם העם עמד למעלה והמשכן למטה • את ההלכות שנשתכחו, יהושע היתה צריך לברר בעצמו • עתניאל בן קנז, אחד מהצעירים בדור, עמד במשימה • הרב יצחק ברנד • בהמשך לדברי הרב אליהו ובר על המן • בית המדרש בהר הבית
Jan 12, 2022
“זהו מצב מגוחך בו בית המחוקקים של ישראל פועל בצורה הפוכה לחלוטין ממדיניותה של ממשלת ישראל”, כותב שלמה קרעי מהליכוד הדורש מיו”ר הכנסת להסיר את המגבלות הפוגעות בעבודת האופוזיציה: “פגיעה ממשית ובלתי אחראית”
ח”כ ד”ר שלמה, קרעי, הליכוד, פנה הערב (ראשון) ליו”ר הכנסת בדרישה כי “לאור מדיניות הממשלה, החזר את הפעילות המלאה בכנסת לסדרה”, בניגוד להגבלות החלות כיום על משכן הכנסת בשל התפשטות הקורונה.
קרעי כותב כי “מזה כשבועיים, מדיניות הממשלה הפוכה לחלוטין מהמצב בכנסת: כל המשק פתוח ההגבלות כמעט הוסרו לחלוטין, אפילו הבידודים במערכת החינוך הופסקו, הממשלה החליטה הלכה למעשה לקיים הדבקה המונית בקרב אזרחי ישראל והשבוע מפורסם כי הממשלה תבטל את התו ירוק בכל מקום מלבד בתי חולים ובתי אבות”.
“זהו מצב מגוחך בו בית המחוקקים של ישראל פועל בצורה הפוכה לחלוטין ממדיניותה של ממשלת ישראל והמקום היחיד במדינת ישראל שסגור לפעילויות הוא כנסת ישראל”.
לדבריו, “הטענה לפיה הצמצום הכרחי כדי להגן על פעילותה העיקרית של הכנסת בחקיקה ובוועדות וכדי שלא יידבקו יותר חברי כנסת מהרגיל, הוכחה כשגויה. חברי כנסת רבים נדבקו עד כה, ובכל מקרה, רוב חברי הכנסת מבקרים במקומות רבים אחרים במהלך פעילותם השוטפת”.
“אני קורא לך לבחון את המצב שוב, לבטל את כלל המגבלות בכנסת ולהחזיר לפעילות מלאה את השדולות והכנסים והמוזמנים לוועדות הכנסת בהתאם להנחיות מומחי משרד הבריאות”.
לסיום טוען ח”כ קרעי כי “הגבלות אלו, החלות רק על הכנסת, בניגוד לעבר, הן פגיעה ממשית ובלתי אחראית בעבודת חברי הכנסת ובייחוד בעבודת חברי הכנסת מהאופוזיציה”.