Even one drop of innocent blood spilled

 "The land of the Law of God exists for the sake of human beings. Its most precious product, the purpose and goal of all the blessings bestowed upon it by God is every human soul that it nurtures and thus consecrates for the realization of God's law. The land is given to all the people only under the condition that they will regard every human life, which is sacred to the Law, as sacred and inviolable. Even one drop of innocent blood spilled unnoticed will drop a stitch form the bond that binds the land to the nation and both the land and the nation to God."

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), Numbers 35:10

No moving to Israel in Chabad

 …the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, published a piece, or had a farbrengen and they published it in which he said that Eretz Yisroel is wherever you make it. In other words, 770 is our Eretz Yisroel. And therefore, in Chabad ideology, there’s no need to go on Aliyah. If you are already living in the land of Israel, you are not supposed to leave. And it is the Holy Land, but there’s no notion of Aliyah not only obviously as an obligation but even as something that you should strive for, something beneficial because as the Lubavitcher Rebbe said, to Menachem Mendel this is our Eretz Yisroel. Wherever you make Torah, wherever you create a Torah environment that’s Eretz Yisroel.

Dr. Marc Shapiro, “Shapiro-Rav Shlomo Yosef Zevin-Part 2.mp3,” 3:04, Torah In Motion.

abilities

 The Lubavitcher Rebbe said, “If God has blessed you with abilities – and He created nothing in vain – so if He gave you such abilities, you must utilize all of them in fulfilling your Divine mission. And you must do so in a way that no talent is left untapped.” He wasn’t talking only about Gemara skills. He guided people to be researchers, doctors, journalists, artists, teachers. He said, “God guides the steps of each person. If God put you in a specific place – literally and also in terms of your position and influence, it is God guiding you. He put you there for a reason.”

Living Torah, 924 "Think Big."

Holiday with a German

 

The Rebbe was against Zionism

 The Rebbe was against Zionism

 אמנם צריכים להיות נגד הציונות, אך את האנשים המחזיקים בה באופן אישי יש לקרב, כלומר: מקרבים כל יהודי מאחר שהוא יהודי, אך לא מקרבים יחד איתו את הציונות שבו ח"ו

שיחות קודש תשכ"ז ח"ב ע' 407

It is true that we must be against Zionism, but one should still engage in outreach with the people who cling to it. That is to say, one should do kiruv with every Jew because he is a Jew. However, the Zionism should not be brought in along with him.

Lubavitcher Rebbe

Sichos Kodesh, 5727, p. 407

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jews in a Non-Jewish World

 https://hakirah.org/vol27Shapiro.pdf

A book review by R' Hirsch, previously not translated and referenced by only a few people. The review addresses the subject of Christianity, which R' Hirsch viewed as having some positive aspects that it drew from Judaism. Translated by Marc Shapiro

Letter from a frum lady about life in Israel

 Being a proper chareidi means kosher phone only, no text, no camera, no WA, no internet.  And best not to be on the internet at all (although nearly everyone is to some extent).

You can get WA on your computer, but it will confuse people b/c they will think you are on call constantly and will see your messages immediately and that you have the ability to snap a photo and send 1-2-3.

And if you want to buy a refrigerator, you have to get one from a frum store that has installed Shabbos mode, as the technology today (not just in Israel) has gotten so complicated that there is not just one light bulb to unscrew to use the fridge on Shabbos but rather someone has to install a complicated computer on the back of your fridge to allow it to switch off all the lights/settings that would cause someone to violate Shabbos upon opening the fridge.

So you go to a store in a very frum neighborhood like RBS B, buy a fridge.  The sephardi guy working there has a smartphone but he understands the customers mostly do not.  Yet somehow, he never answers a phone - the only way to reach him is by WA - so if you don't have WA, you have to go there when the store is open.  And like a typical sephardi, opening hours vary between 5 pm and 6:30 and there's always people waiting.

So you buy your fridge, after waiting something like an hour (at least he's nice).  The fridge comes later that day, all is well.  Then some problems occur and now you have to deal with the non-religious fridge company (Shabbos mode apparently was put in by an outside service company).  They NEVER answer their phone and if they do, it's to take a message that is not returned.  Then you find them online and make an appointment but since your hebrew is not so good, you found their sister company and the tech won't do the repair.  Then you finally find the company's WA number and reach them, to be dragged around for about a week before convincing them you bought one of their fridges and there is a problem and it's under warranty.  Then the tech finally comes and says the problem is the Shabbos mode and detaches it.  Then you call the Shabbos mode people who give you a hard time and insist you use your smartphone to take a photo of the Shabbos mode and WA it to them.  You explain you have WA only on your computer but they do not understand until you have explained it 7 times.  Finally your Hebrew speaking teenager manages to get the to agree to come and they say they can come only within 10 business days which means your fridge will be unable for at least 1 Shabbos.

Lesson - do not move to Israel if you are Chareidi.  You have to have a smartphone to manage.  Maybe if you are from a gigantic heimish family who know who to ask for help and who can have you for Shabbos when your fridge is not working, fine.  But for us BT Americans with no family around, no go.

Even the Shabbos mode people do not understand what this is a kosher phone!!!

Vaccine-Injured Pharmacist Breaks Down Into Tears Testifying Before Ohio State Senate

 https://vigilantfox.news/p/vaccine-injured-pharmacist-breaks

“I was a father, a husband, a pharmacist, and a healthy person prior to being coerced into receiving the COVID vaccine ... I would never have taken the vaccine voluntarily,” declared Mike Yoha, his voice trembling with emotion.

Yoha, a once vibrant and healthy pharmacist, suffered from Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a severe neurological disease that left him paralyzed after being coerced into taking the COVID shot. His testimony before the Ohio State Senate was a harrowing account of personal loss and violated freedoms.

“My liberty was violated when vaccine status discrimination forced me into taking a medical intervention that almost cost me my life,” Yoha lamented. “If we do not have the right to decline a known risk of death without facing discrimination or loss of employment, then we are no longer free. I implore the committee to vote yes on HB 319.”

Ohio House Bill 319, also known as the “Conscientious Right to Refuse Act,” aims to end “no jab, no job” policies for good. The proposed legislation is a beacon of hope against future violations of bodily autonomy.

The bill states unequivocally that businesses, employers, health care providers, and other institutions CANNOT deny or terminate employment, deny services, or otherwise treat individuals differently based on their refusal of any biologic, vaccine, pharmaceutical, or gene-editing technology for reasons of conscience.

Ohio needs to pass this bill, and Mike Yoha’s testimony is a powerful reminder of the stakes. Thank you, Mike, for your courage in speaking out.

Shiur #03: R. Lipshutz's Attitude towards Non-Jews www.etzion.org.il

MODERN RABBINIC THOUGHT

 

Shiur #03: R. Lipshutz's Attitude towards Non-Jews

 

By Rav Yitzchak Blau

 

 

While the Torah's ritual law applies mostly in an exclusively Jewish context, ethical obligations bear a more universal quality.  Pirkei Avot, a tractate dedicated primarily to ethical responsibilities, thus may address the gentile world as well; ethical maxims in Avot might provide guidance for non–Jews along with Jews.  Additionally, the ethical demands made upon Jews can also apply to their social interaction with gentiles.  No rabbinic commentator developed this theme as extensively as R. Lipschutz.

 

Some background will provide a linguistic frame of reference for R. Lipshutz's comments.  R. Shimon bar Yochai taught that non-Jewish cadavers do not convey ritual impurity to other items or people located in the same building with them (tumat ohel).  The biblical verse about cadavers conveying impurity in this manner speaks of "adam" (Bamidbar 19:14), a term that excludes gentiles.  The Rabbis, however, disagree with R. Shimon (Yevamot 61a).  

 

continue

R. Lipshutz's Attitude towards Non-Jews | Yeshivat Har Etzion

Israel Lipschitz - Wikipedia

Kenes in Bene Brak on Sunday evening

 

If your heart doesn't break then

 https://x.com/i/status/1843178143387115962

The air is permeated with Zionism

from TorahJews.org

It happened in the fledgling Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. The war was still raging in Europe the angel of death had almost full reign in the killing fields of Europe. As Lithuania was being decimated Rabbi Isaac Sher resolved to rebuild from scratch in the Holy Land, and founded the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Thus a rejuvenation was beginning in the land of Israel.

Rabbi Sher asked to small group of students if eventually they would want to return with him to Slabodka in Lithuania after the war. One student replied, “Absolutely not! I should go back and leave behind the Holy Land?”

But Rabbi Sher countered, “We will accomplish much more there. We will be able to learn and grow more over there.”

One of Rabbi Sher’s early students was Rabbi Shlomo Hoffman. He witnessed this exchange and recalled:

We students living in the Holy Land were not swayed. We could not contemplate how the Rosh Yeshiva could even think of going back there and leaving the Holy Land! Rabbi Sher then told us, “I see that you have been drugged by Zionism.”

I remember asking Rav Isaac, “But how could I be drugged by Zionism? I have not even read one Zionist book. I have been within the four walls of the Yeshiva and nowhere else.”

Rav Isaac replied, “Just like mushrooms grow from the moisture in the air, a person is influenced by the sentiments in the air. If I am telling you that you will accomplish much more in Lithuania and you still insist on staying here, that means you have been drugged by Zionism. The air is permeated with Zionism and it has an influence on you, even unknowingly.” (Yated Neeman, Sep 23, 2022)

https://torahjews.org/rabbi-yitzchok-isaac-sher-rosh-yeshiva-of-slobodka-1875-1952/

For the Zionists out there

Were you under the illusion that Israelis are very smart and can sniff out a fraud?

On 3/21/21, Israeli politician Naftali Bennett appeared on national Israeli television during the election campaign and stated, “I won’t allow Yair Lapid to be prime minister, including in a rotation (agreement.)” and “I will not establish a government based on the support of Mansour Abbas from the Islamic Movement.” He signed a document affirming those words and held it up to the camera. In the first weeks of June of 2021, after the election, Bennett entered a rotation agreement with Lapid and established a government with the support of Mansour Abbas.

Yet.

Zionism makes you dumb.

Israelis liked to believe

 "Israelis liked to believe, and tell the world, that they were running an 'enlightened' or 'benign' occupation, qualitatively different from other military occupations the world had seen. The truth was radically different. Like all occupations, Israel's was founded on brute force, repression and fear, collaboration and treachery, beatings and torture chambers, and daily intimidation, humiliation, and manipulation." 

[Israeli historian Benny Morris, Righteous Victims, p. 341]

HaRav Shneur Zalman Yudkin

 CROWN HEIGHTS: Levaya of HaRav Shneur Zalman Yudkin ZT”L May 10, 2024(https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/date/2024/05/10)  (https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/general/2282414/crown-heights-levaya-ofharav-shneur-zalman-yudkin-ztl.html#comments) YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of HaRav Schneur Zalman Yudkin Zt”l, a link to to pre-war Europe whose story and Mesirus Nefesh inspired countless people throughout his illustrious life. As a child, Shneur Zalman studied at Yeshiva Torah Im Derech Eretz, a school that operated in a gymnasium in Riga, Latvia, and leaned heavily on the teachings of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l. Over the course of his long life, Rav Shneur Zalman lived by the tenets of both Rav Shamshon Raphael and his Chasidic upbringing. He would often recount the tremendous mesiras nefesh demonstrated by his father to maintain a frum home in Russia – including one instance in which he was literally thrown into a sewer for the “crime” of making a bris mila on his son. His father once had no matzos for Pesach, so with incredible mesiras nefesh and kedusha, he used 3 sugar cubes instead of the matzos. With tears in his eyes he explained to his children, “The top one is Kohen, the middle is Levi, and the bottom is Yisroel”… He told his children this is what you need to do when you one day will have Matzos at a pesach Seder. He led the entire Pesach Seder using the 3 sugar cubes, to make sure his children will know how to conduct a pesach Seder one day. Seeing such mesiras nefesh from his father helped mold the Niftar into the Tzadik he was. Anyone who saw him, saw Kedusha radiating from his holy face. zid=22&cid=9153&mid=25678&pid=0&sid=27&uuid=a0c6834488e3e0725d50f36cb923ab01&ip=212.76.103.204&default=false&random=53963208×t heights-levaya-of-harav-shneur-zalman-yudkin-ztl.htm Rav Shneur Zalman and his family clung to their Yiddishkeit with tremendous Mesiras Nefesh, and eventually settled in Crown Heights, where he was able to live a life of Torah and Avodas Hashem without fear. He was well known figure in many Shuls, where he would go around fundraising for Kiryat Malachi, and his presence alone put smiles on the face of Mispalelim as he would come through the door. “He was a true Tzadik,” one individual who knew him told YWN. “He was a special person with an incredible heart and a deep love for those around him and who taught me and so many others what it means to live as a Yid.” The levaya and kevurah are scheduled to take place at 3 PM on Friday at the Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York. Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)