So, next shabbos, the Monsey community will be the recipient of chizzuk, courtesy of the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva. This is the second year that Beis Medrash Govoha has done this, and they did this program in Brooklyn as well. This is, of course, a thinly veiled fund-raising event, but I have a couple questions surrounding this concept.
1) Why should the Monsey Jewish Community be made to feel as if we need Lakewood in order to get chizzuk? We have our own rebbeim and roshe yeshiva.
2) The concept of tzedakka. No one is saying that supporting torah isn't important. But, mosdos in Monsey are struggling - the chedarim, shuls, schools, and tzedakka organizations that support our community. Why should I give money to Lakewood? It's not "aniyei ircha kodem" and it's not Eretz Yisroel.
I believe that the Rabbonim of the 5 Towns instituted a policy that communal money should stay and support local mosdos. All communities should do the same thing. I fail to see the importance of financially supporting out-of-town yeshivos, which Lakewood is albeit on a larger scale, while local mosdos are struggling. Communal money, as a klal, needs to stay local.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
A Poem and A Message
My cousin is a doctor, a military reservist, and currently on a 3 month tour of duty in Iraq. This was part of his latest e-mail:
I am honestly not trying to be modest, but I want everyone to know that I am simply doing what we should all be doing as observant Jews. We should be engaging the world we live in, and sharing with all people in every part of our lives what we know to be Torat Emet. As Frum Jews, we need to change our perspective and focus outward. We will not be able to bring Moshiach by focusing on ourselves alone. And the way to do this is not to "do kiruv" by intentionally trying to be "mekarev" people. It is by doing what we do every day while being conscious of the fact that people are looking at us and taking "notes", they want to know the right path, and if our path is seen as darchei Noam, then we will win. If our path is seen as selfish and insular and unconcerned with the welfare of others, then we will lose, and worse, The Torah will lose.
I recently received a poem from my Uncle Abe Sharp which I thought was one of the best commentaries i have ever seen on the state of orthodoxy today. Please forgive me if I quote it here, and again, feel free to skip it if you are not interested in a drasha right now.
Twas the night before Cratzmach—Nittel Nacht, as it’s known,
And as my wife cleared the table, and I sat alone,
I pondered how to spend this long Friday eve,
Torah learning being forbidden on this annual reprieve.
That new Halacha Sefer would just have to wait,
And I hoped that in the meantime I didn’t violate,
One of the many prohibitions, an ever-growing list,
In that tome so heavy it could snap off your wrist.
It seemed as if each week a new Chumrah emerged,
Another vegetable outlawed or triple-washing urged;
A book or a song or technology banned,
By some Kol Koreh or Rabbi’s command.
Did we really need Hechshers on water and ice?
(And even if we did, wouldn’t one suffice?)
There were bans on music—both Jewish and non,
Bans on the sites to which we could log on.
Bans on produce and on non-Kosher phones,
(Although the ban on tax fraud seemed to be postponed.)
Bans on what views qualified as Mesorah,
All duly determined by omniscient Daas Torah.
When will it end, I thought to myself,
And as I gazed at my Seforim, asleep on their shelf;
I set aside these thoughts; they must be a test,
After all, our Gedolim surely know best.
I dimmed my KosherLamp and headed up to bed,
While visions of Kefirah danced in my head;
When all of a sudden, the stillness was shattered;
I ran to the window to see what was the matter;
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a flying old wagon, pulled by eight reindeer;
The wagon had seen better days, and it showed,
And there on its side blinked a light—“Sabbath Mode.”
Like eight soaring eagles, his reindeer they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Shmuel! now, Amos! now, Yona and Yeshayahu!
On, Nachum! on, Micha! on, Chagai and Yirmiyahu!
As I watched in amazement they circled my roof,
And gracefully landed on padded split hoofs.
I had heard all the legends but still was confused,
Since when did Santa start visiting Jews?
But it soon became clear that this wasn’t Saint Nick,
It was the prophet Elijah, his beard long and thick.
“So sayeth the Lord,” boomed my surprise late-night guest.
He’s sent me to tell you that He’s none too impressed.
While Chumras proliferate and bans, they abound;
His eternal message remains to be found.
Treat all of your fellow creations with respect,
Whether or not you share the same sect.
Be honest and true—yes, even with Goyim,
And those fruits and those veggies, go ahead and enjoy ‘em!
Don’t be a KosherLamp, hoarding its light,
But an Or LaGoyim, showing everyone what’s right.
The letter of the law is nothing without its spirit,
And let me tell you something, buddy, you’re nowhere near it.
You think He’s proud of Minyanim in jail?
Of religious Jews by the hundreds on bail?
Of scammers and thieves proudly wearing black hats?
Does the third Hechsher on your dish soap make up for that?
Before I could open my mouth to reply,
He turned his back and yelled “Gotta fly!”
I just stood there in shock, and watched him take flight,
And as the reindeer-drawn wagon faded into the night;
I stared up at the sky and wondered, confused,
Were we on the wrong track, as people, as Jews?
So caught up in the details, but missing the big picture,
Seeking God only through stricture after stricture?
Maybe it was time to take a step back,
To open up to the world around us, just a crack.
Not every development needs to be banned,
Not every new idea dismissed out of hand.
There are many types of Jews, of all different stripes,
And perhaps our shared bond should overshadow the gripes.
Could this be the message of this one night each year?
To step away from Torah, and our senses to clear?
Maybe, just maybe, it will all be allright,
HAPPY NITTEL NACHT TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
I am honestly not trying to be modest, but I want everyone to know that I am simply doing what we should all be doing as observant Jews. We should be engaging the world we live in, and sharing with all people in every part of our lives what we know to be Torat Emet. As Frum Jews, we need to change our perspective and focus outward. We will not be able to bring Moshiach by focusing on ourselves alone. And the way to do this is not to "do kiruv" by intentionally trying to be "mekarev" people. It is by doing what we do every day while being conscious of the fact that people are looking at us and taking "notes", they want to know the right path, and if our path is seen as darchei Noam, then we will win. If our path is seen as selfish and insular and unconcerned with the welfare of others, then we will lose, and worse, The Torah will lose.
I recently received a poem from my Uncle Abe Sharp which I thought was one of the best commentaries i have ever seen on the state of orthodoxy today. Please forgive me if I quote it here, and again, feel free to skip it if you are not interested in a drasha right now.
Twas the night before Cratzmach—Nittel Nacht, as it’s known,
And as my wife cleared the table, and I sat alone,
I pondered how to spend this long Friday eve,
Torah learning being forbidden on this annual reprieve.
That new Halacha Sefer would just have to wait,
And I hoped that in the meantime I didn’t violate,
One of the many prohibitions, an ever-growing list,
In that tome so heavy it could snap off your wrist.
It seemed as if each week a new Chumrah emerged,
Another vegetable outlawed or triple-washing urged;
A book or a song or technology banned,
By some Kol Koreh or Rabbi’s command.
Did we really need Hechshers on water and ice?
(And even if we did, wouldn’t one suffice?)
There were bans on music—both Jewish and non,
Bans on the sites to which we could log on.
Bans on produce and on non-Kosher phones,
(Although the ban on tax fraud seemed to be postponed.)
Bans on what views qualified as Mesorah,
All duly determined by omniscient Daas Torah.
When will it end, I thought to myself,
And as I gazed at my Seforim, asleep on their shelf;
I set aside these thoughts; they must be a test,
After all, our Gedolim surely know best.
I dimmed my KosherLamp and headed up to bed,
While visions of Kefirah danced in my head;
When all of a sudden, the stillness was shattered;
I ran to the window to see what was the matter;
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a flying old wagon, pulled by eight reindeer;
The wagon had seen better days, and it showed,
And there on its side blinked a light—“Sabbath Mode.”
Like eight soaring eagles, his reindeer they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Shmuel! now, Amos! now, Yona and Yeshayahu!
On, Nachum! on, Micha! on, Chagai and Yirmiyahu!
As I watched in amazement they circled my roof,
And gracefully landed on padded split hoofs.
I had heard all the legends but still was confused,
Since when did Santa start visiting Jews?
But it soon became clear that this wasn’t Saint Nick,
It was the prophet Elijah, his beard long and thick.
“So sayeth the Lord,” boomed my surprise late-night guest.
He’s sent me to tell you that He’s none too impressed.
While Chumras proliferate and bans, they abound;
His eternal message remains to be found.
Treat all of your fellow creations with respect,
Whether or not you share the same sect.
Be honest and true—yes, even with Goyim,
And those fruits and those veggies, go ahead and enjoy ‘em!
Don’t be a KosherLamp, hoarding its light,
But an Or LaGoyim, showing everyone what’s right.
The letter of the law is nothing without its spirit,
And let me tell you something, buddy, you’re nowhere near it.
You think He’s proud of Minyanim in jail?
Of religious Jews by the hundreds on bail?
Of scammers and thieves proudly wearing black hats?
Does the third Hechsher on your dish soap make up for that?
Before I could open my mouth to reply,
He turned his back and yelled “Gotta fly!”
I just stood there in shock, and watched him take flight,
And as the reindeer-drawn wagon faded into the night;
I stared up at the sky and wondered, confused,
Were we on the wrong track, as people, as Jews?
So caught up in the details, but missing the big picture,
Seeking God only through stricture after stricture?
Maybe it was time to take a step back,
To open up to the world around us, just a crack.
Not every development needs to be banned,
Not every new idea dismissed out of hand.
There are many types of Jews, of all different stripes,
And perhaps our shared bond should overshadow the gripes.
Could this be the message of this one night each year?
To step away from Torah, and our senses to clear?
Maybe, just maybe, it will all be allright,
HAPPY NITTEL NACHT TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Many moons ago, when I worked at the Bonkers Bagels store in Har Nof, some of my younger co-workers were blasting rock music from behind the counter. A ba'al habas asked us to please shut it off stating, and it's something that has stayed with me, that a hechsher on an establishment goes beyond the kashrus of the food. It goes to the environment of the store as well, and the envirronment w/ the rock music was not fitting to have a hechsher.
Over the past 10 years or so, the concept of going away for Pesach (all yom tovim at this point, actually) has exploded in popularity for numerous reasons. While I, personally, would not go, I understand others that do. My questions are as follows:
1) If the whole hotel isn't taken over, the non-jewish atmosphere remains. Can that have a hechsher?
2) Where is the chinuch better - at home or a hotel?
I bring this up now b/c of this, from a post on Life In Israel:
The frum newspapers are always full of advertisements for frum vacation packages, also known as "chufshat mehadrin". They go all sorts of places, from taking over hotels in Eilat, Tiberias, Safed, and even locations outside of the country such as in Turkey, Italy, Switzerland and other places. They advertise that they "kasher" the hotel and make it mehadrin for the duration of the vacation package.
That all might be coming to an end.
The Rabbinic Committee for Vacation Atmosphere (what don't they have a rabbinic committee for??) has decided to put an end to such vacation packages billing themselves as mehadrin. They have gone to Rav Wosner and presented before him the facts of a vacation package billing itself as mehadrin claiming to have created a mehadrin vacation for women in Eilat. They have shown Rav Wosner that there is nothign mehadrin about the vacation except perhaps the food.
The hotel is not taken over completely by the group, but there are other guests there as well, in there immodest attire. In addition, there are televisions in the rooms. Along with other problems such as people's behavior in the area and being outside where the atmosphere is far from mehadrin.
Based on their testimony, Rav Wosner has decided to publish a letter saying that these packages should not be considered mehadrin and people should avoid them.
I've always wondered what took the rabbonim so long to not speak about going away to hotels as a problem and I've always wondered why hechsher organizations provide hechsherim to these packages.
Over the past 10 years or so, the concept of going away for Pesach (all yom tovim at this point, actually) has exploded in popularity for numerous reasons. While I, personally, would not go, I understand others that do. My questions are as follows:
1) If the whole hotel isn't taken over, the non-jewish atmosphere remains. Can that have a hechsher?
2) Where is the chinuch better - at home or a hotel?
I bring this up now b/c of this, from a post on Life In Israel:
The frum newspapers are always full of advertisements for frum vacation packages, also known as "chufshat mehadrin". They go all sorts of places, from taking over hotels in Eilat, Tiberias, Safed, and even locations outside of the country such as in Turkey, Italy, Switzerland and other places. They advertise that they "kasher" the hotel and make it mehadrin for the duration of the vacation package.
That all might be coming to an end.
The Rabbinic Committee for Vacation Atmosphere (what don't they have a rabbinic committee for??) has decided to put an end to such vacation packages billing themselves as mehadrin. They have gone to Rav Wosner and presented before him the facts of a vacation package billing itself as mehadrin claiming to have created a mehadrin vacation for women in Eilat. They have shown Rav Wosner that there is nothign mehadrin about the vacation except perhaps the food.
The hotel is not taken over completely by the group, but there are other guests there as well, in there immodest attire. In addition, there are televisions in the rooms. Along with other problems such as people's behavior in the area and being outside where the atmosphere is far from mehadrin.
Based on their testimony, Rav Wosner has decided to publish a letter saying that these packages should not be considered mehadrin and people should avoid them.
I've always wondered what took the rabbonim so long to not speak about going away to hotels as a problem and I've always wondered why hechsher organizations provide hechsherim to these packages.
Do you think it's a problem?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)