Wisdom from the gentiles: Queen Elizabeth II

Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly on wisdom.

Good memories are our second chance at happiness.

Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth.

There are long periods when life seems a small, dull round, a petty business with no point, and then suddenly we are caught up in some great event which gives us a glimpse of the solid and durable foundations of our existence.

It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained.

[To the suggestion that Great Britain might someday want a Republic:] We'll go quietly.

I have no idea if these are really her words or those of writers (some goes for any leader or rich person), but being spoken by her  they are most pithy. 

Choir

The men's choir at Kehillas Adas Jeshurun in the German Jewish community in Washington Heights, New York City is legendary, a unique feature of the kehilla. 

Choirs even to this day are very popular in Germany. There are more than 60,000 of them. Recently, the mother of a 9- year old girl whose application to join the 500 year old all boys State and Cathedral Choir in Germany was declined tried to sue the choir for discrimination. Thankfully, a judge decided against the suit, saying the choir was not exercising discrimination in choosing a sound that required boys' voices. There are still a few judges left in the world who exercise common sense from time to time.

In my view, the KAJ choir adds a terrific dimension to the davening. It's worth experiencing for those who can get to Washington Heights for Shabbos. I believe that one of the yekke shuls in Zurich has a choir too. In Eretz Yisroel one can hear yekke choral singing at one of the kenesios organized by Rav Hamburger's shul in Bene Brak on each Chol Moed. 

It's not just about us

"My soul is my Master's. Taking into account all my iniquities, He has still chosen me for the eternal service of His work to train all of mankind, and He has taken me as His own for this purpose." Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, Tehillim, 130:5-6


Gentiles matter and part of our purpose in this world is to help them find a higher path. If all one does is hold contempt for them, then he is falling short in his mission. If we Jews become a group that cares only about itself, then we have fallen short in our mission. A Jew is never to be selfish and rabid ethnocentricity is a form of collective selfishness. 

Preteens suspected of setting 70 fires around Beit Shemesh

Preteens suspected of setting 70 fires around Beit Shemesh

"Group of 12-year-olds, allegedly motivated by boredom and competition, caused damage to nature areas and forced evacuations of buildings."

I heard people proposing that Arabs were doing this which is not unreasonable in that Arabs in Gaza were triggering fires all over the South. But no, we find out that like the 100s of 'anti-semitic' threats that were made across America a few years ago, the culprits were Israelis (a dual citizen in that case). 

Chutzpah, chutzpah, chutzpah. Sadly, the chutzpah in Israeli society is like none other on the planet. And violence. Not very Jewish behavior. And these aren't even teenagers. They are PRE-TEENS! Little kids! They aren't playing with matches in the parking lot. They are setting massive fires that require the dropping of flame extinguishers from airplanes. 

What is the source of this chutzpah? Is it that Zionism from the outset was a rebellion against God? 

The teens, being Jewish,  are under house arrest. And if they were Arab? 

If one desires to change back

“Behold it is known that all the people of Poland, Hungary, and Russia…are children of Ashkenaz even Chasidim. And until Chasidus spread they all prayed with nusach Ashkenaz. However, the Chasidic leaders lead them to pray in a different nusach with various changes…They changed the customs of their ancestors and our great rabbis of Germany and France. The reason for the change is not clear nor how they permitted a change from the established nusach….If one desires to change back and pray in nusach Ashkenaz, since it is the nusach of our ancestors and rabbis, he is permitted as he is returning to what once was." Rav Moshe Feinstein, Igros Moshe Orach Chaim 4:24

The glorious frum community of Germany

"HaKodesh Baruch saw we had passed the test of oppression. Despite all the tzaras, despite all the hatred, all the oppression, we remained loyal. There were a few Jews, meshumadim who sold their souls in order to get glory among the gentiles. There were a few. There were so few that they are insignificant. But Klal Yisroel passed the test. Now Hakodesh Baruch Hu said, I see you passed that test [of persecution in Medieval times]. I'm going to try you with another test now. [The test of emancipation in modern times.] Let's see how you work out this test. Now, when I said it was a calamity, it doesn't mean that the test was a waste, no. It was a minority that passed this test too. And those that remained loyal, they were a glorious example of the Am HaKodesh. Those that remain to this day. Many went lost, yes it's true. But an example, in Germany where there was so much assimilation, a number of German Jews decided they are going to fight for the preservation of the Torah. And they built up an Orthodox kehilla that was excellent in every detail. They were machmir in everything. In some respects, they were more frum than the Jews in Russia and Poland were. And they had organized kashrus. Strict hashgacha. Not rabbanim who gave heksherim and were paid for it. No. The kehillias gave hashgacha and were very strict in every detail. And so the minority that withstood the test were a glorious fulfillment of the prophecy that the Am Yisroel will continue forever despite any circumstances." 

Rav Avigdor Miller, Recording #855 - "The Kiss of Esav," 11:48

Definitely not a theocracy

As many chilonim in their hysteria continue to rant that Israel is heading toward a theocracy, the Nazareth District Court last Sunday barred the municipality of Afula from holding a gender-segregated musical performance at a public park. The city holds something like 360 events a year. And the Orthodox Jewish community wanted to hold just one event and to set it up so men and women would be separate - you know, according to the halacha. But the court overruled them on the grounds that such was a violation of principles of equality. Some theocracy.

We see that left-wing talk about respect for all cultures only applies to liberal/decadent culture. We see that the charedim in Israel are not a powerful group and need the support of Jews worldwide. 

"Though liberals do a great deal of talking about hearing other points of view, it sometimes shocks them to learn that there are other points of view." William F. Buckley, Jr.

Trouble from the reformers

I found this fascinating tidbit on Chabad.org. A contemporary example of the hostility to Torah of the Jewish reformers and the tolerance of the gentile host society.

"In the city of Outremont in the Canadian Province of Quebec, a number of Orthodox Jews asked their city council for permission to build an eruv. The city council lead by its Jewish mayor refused even though about one quarter of the city's population was Jewish. A non-Jewish judge overruled the city, noting that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees that religion can be practiced openly. Cases have also arisen in the United States and other countries."

As we know, Rav Hirsch spent his entire adult life in battle with such people, trading in much of the time he could have spent on Torah study just to deal with them and the obstructions they made for Torah observant people. 

Dvir Sorek z'l

Baruch Dayin Emes. The body of Dvir Sorek, may his blood be avenged, a hesder yeshiva student from the Ofra settlement, was found today along the side of a road near Bethlehem. It appears that he was abducted and stabbed to death. Reportedly, he had gone to Jerusalem to buy books for his rebbe. He was found clutching those books. He was not in a uniform at the time of his death.



I know many people who act as though Area C is a safe place to be. (Area C is the Jewish part of the West Bank where the Gush, Beitar, and Modi'in Illit as well as all Jewish settlements are found.)  I know all kinds of people that wander around there at night, even women who do so. They act as if geulah has arrived, the result of religious Zionist propaganda no doubt. I know British and French people who moved to Israel for the reason that London and Paris have too many Arabs. Talk about illogical. No Arabs in the Middle East? More than half the population of Eretz Yisroel is Arab. And some of them are angry and very dangerous. Be careful out there.

May this young man rest in peace.

Minhag Ashkenaz/Yekke Minyan this Friday night in Beit Shemesh Ramat Aleph

Shabbos Chazon, parshas Devarim, 8 Av, Aug. 9, Friday night, Mincha 7:15 PM.

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ennoblement of man

"The more the Jew is a Jew, the more universalist will his views and aspirations be, the less aloof will he be from anything that is noble and good, true and upright, in art or science, in culture or education; the more joyfully will he applaud whenever he sees truth and justice and peace and the ennoblement of man prevail and become dominant in human society." 

"Religion Allied to Progress", Collected Writings, Rav Samson R. Hirsch