Leiberman tells it like is regarding Mubarak

Here is what Lieberman said:

[Ze'evi] would never agree to the self effacing attitude of Israel vis-à-vis Egypt. Time after time we went to see Mubarak in Egypt - he never agreed to come here in an official capacity as president.

Every self-respecting [Israeli] leader, would expect a reciprocal visit when making one on his own. He wants to talk with us? Let him come here; he doesn't want to talk with us - let him go to hell,

Lieberman is absolutely right and tells it like it is. Mubarak has been in power for over 27 years and he has never made an official diplomatic visit to Israel. In addition, the official State run press is viciously anti-Semitic. There has never been more then a very cold peace with Egypt. It really is embarrassing how our leaders grovel before Mubarak who is the dictator of a third world country of little real significance.

Of course our wonderful leaders Peres and Olmert couldn't let this insult stand even for a few hours. They telephoned Mubarak right away to apologize and grovel before his excellency. Where is their self respect?

ז' מצות בני נח

Do these apply today?

The simple reading of the Gemara in Bava Kama 38a seems to say no. The Gemara says:
מה ראה ראה שבע מצות שקיבלו עליהם בני נח ולא קיימום עמד והיתירן

The Gemara then asks how could that be, the sinner is profiting? The Gemara answers that even if they are מקיים them they only get שכר כאינו מצווה ועושה.

Rashi there seems to take the Gemara literally that they are no longer חייבים. Others understand the Gemara that they still are חייבים however, even so, they don't get שכר like a מצווה ועושה.

According to Rashi, if they are not חייבים how can they be punished for not keeping them? The Netziv answers that the ז' מצות בני נח are really mitzvos for the good of society. Without these miztvos society cannot survive. Therefore, if people violate these mitzvos they are not being punished for violating them, rather society will fall apart and they will suffer because of their actions. The Meshech Chochma (beginning of וזאת הברכה) says a similar idea that the ז' מצות בני נח are for societal order. Since Hashem built the world based on the Torah, whenever the ז' מצות בני נח are not observed things don't work well.

Peres: Israel is closer to peace than ever before

What planet is he living on? He is really in a dream world.

As Professor Robert Auman said The very act of running crazedly after the longed-for peace is precisely that which distances it from us.

Professor Auman knows what he is talking about as his Nobel Prize was for "enhancing our understanding of conflict and cooperation through game-theory analysis."

He said the following as well, which is well worth reading:

I will allow myself to say a few unpopular, unfashionable words: our panicked longing for peace is working against us. It brings us farther away from peace, and endangers our very existence.
...
Roadmaps, capitulation, gestures, disengagements, convergences, deportations, and so forth do not bring peace. On the contrary, they bring war, just as we saw last summer. These things send a clear signal to our 'cousins' [the Arabs -ed.] that we are tired, that we no longer have spiritual strength, that we have no time, that we are calling for a time-out. They only whet their appetites. It only encourages them to pressure us more, to demand more, and not to give up on anything. These things stem from simple theoretical considerations and also from straight thinking. But it's not just theory: it has been proven and re-proven in the field over thousands of years. I returned today from a trip to India, where we heard about historical stories that illustrate the same. Capitulations bring about war; determination and readiness bring about peace.

Until the Arabs accept Israel as a Jewish state there is nothing to talk about. Nothing that has happened recently has changed in terms of their accepting Israel, rather the tactics have changed. Why is it so hard for the leaders of Israel to see this?

This is why organizations like Peace Now are so misguided. They claim that if Israel really wanted to make peace then peace would happen. Unfortunately, they are sadly mistaken. As Bernard Lewis said, If the issue is not the size of Israel, but its existence, negotiations are foredoomed, if the other side doesn't want to make peace then peace will not happen.

Only decisive, unambiguous victory for one side or the other can end a long, bitter conflict. Until Israel learns this there will never be peace. Organizations like Peace Now not only don't bring peace now, but like Neville Chamberlain, actually encourage the other side to continue the battle.

The polls show Kadima with 29-31 seats - unbelievable!!!

I cannot understand how after almost 3 years of a disastrous Kadima government people actually want more. Let's remember that Tzipi Livni's biggest achievement is UN Resolution 1701 which has proven to be an unmitigated fiasco.

Why would anyone vote for Kadima? What do they see? What I see is a party of opportunists that failed miserably at running the country, lost a war and have done nothing. Can anyone think of a single achievement of the current Kadima led government? Why would you want more of Shaul Mofaz, Ruchama Avraham, Eli Aflalo, etc.?

It is clear that the mainstream press greatly prefers Livni and will do everything to help her. I have a feeling that the polls are going to prove just as inaccurate as they were in the Kadima primary with Kadima getting much fewer seats.

The moon and the stars

The Rambam in Hilchos Yesodei Hatorah (3:9) writes:

כל הכוכבים והגלגלים, כולם בעלי נפש ודעה והשכל הם; והם חיים ועומדים ומכירים את מי שאמר והיה העולם, כל אחד ואחד לפי גודלו ולפי מעלתו משבחים ומפארים ליוצרם כמו המלאכים. וכשם שמכירים את הקדוש ברוך הוא, כך מכירים את עצמן ומכירים את המלאכים שלמעלה מהן. ודעת הכוכבים והגלגלים, מעוטה מדעת המלאכים וגדולה מדעת בני האדם

The Rambam writes that the stars and the galgalim (which includes the moon) are spiritual beings like angels. This Rambam was proven wrong when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon showing that the moon was a physical entity.

The Rambam (ibid 3:8) also writes:
כל הכוכבים הנראים--יש מהן כוכבים קטנים שהארץ גדולה מאחד מהן, ויש מהן כוכבים שכל אחד מהן גדול מן הארץ כמה פעמים. והארץ גדולה מן הירח כמו ארבעים פעמים, והשמש גדולה מן הארץ כמו מאה ושבעים פעמים; נמצא הירח אחד מששת אלפים ושמונה מאות מן השמש בקירוב. ואין בכל הכוכבים, כוכב גדול מן השמש ולא קטן מכוכב שבגלגל שני.

He states that the Earth is 4 times bigger then the moon and the sun is 170 times bigger then the Earth. These numbers are clearly wrong based on modern astronomy.

Interestingly enough, R' Shach wanted to use this Rambam to show that Torah includes everything. R' Aharon Lichtenstein responded to R' Shach as follows:

R. Aharon Lichtenstein, "Legitimization of Modernity: Classical and Contemporary" in Leaves of Faith (Ktav: 2004), vol. 2:

...Moreover, I freely concede that one's faith in the concept is periodically put to a severe test. As but one instance, the doyen of [then-]current rashei yeshiva, R. [Elazar Mann] Schach, proves the value of Torah as the self-sufficient repository of all knowledge by asking, rhetorically: "Whence did Hazal know that the earth was forty-two times larger than the moon, and that the sun was approximately one-hundred-and-seventy times larger than the earth (as explained in the Rambam, Hilkhot Yesodei Hatorah 3:8), if not from the power of the Torah?"[24] In raising this question, he is wholly oblivious not only to the rudiments of astronomy but also of the fact that the selfsame Rambam explicitly states, with respect to these very issues, that they are beyond the pale of Hazal's authority.

Elections in Israel!!!

Livni failed in creating a coalition. Here are the big winners and losers:

Winners
1. Netanyahu and the Likud - Netanyahu will most probably be the next PM unless he makes a big mistake or something dramatic happens here.
2. Olmert - If Livni had managed to create a coalition today would have been his last day as PM. Now he has another 3-5 months as PM
3. Eli Yishai - He proved that no one can create a government without Shas

Losers
1. Livni - She promised a different politics but what we saw from her over the last month was the same old politics done poorly. Mrs. Clean is no longer Mrs. Clean.She will now go into the elections as Foreign Minister with little ability to do anything to affect her political fortunes. The worst possible scenario for her was for her to negotiate make concessions and not create a government.
2. Barak - His actions and the coalition agreement that he negotiated buried him.

IMHO the Likud should ignore Barak and focus on Livni and Kadima. They can attack her and Kadima on 3 fronts:

1. The war in Lebanon - Kadima was in power and the war was a fiasco. All they need to do is read the relevenat quotes from the Winograd reports
2. UN Resolution 1701 - This is touted as Livni's big achievement. The only problem is that it has been an absolute disaster according to everyone.
3. Leadership ability - the past month has only strengthened the claim that Livni is not a leader.

How could אדם הראשון eat from the עץ הדעת?

After all if אדם הראשון had no יצר הרע how could he do a חטא? We can ask an even more basic question. Did he even have בחירה?

R' Dessler explains based on many sources as follows. Before the חטא he was certainly a בעל בחירה however on a different level. The יצר הרע was outside him. There was no "I need, I want". Instead it was "you need, you want". The Rambam explains that before the חטא everything was אמת or שקר, everything was black and white. To do a חטא was like to walk into a fire, it was crystal clear that it was the wrong thing to do. There was no way to rationalize or justify. After the חטא however, things are now טוב ורע, a much more subjective reality where an עבירה can turn into טוב and we can rationalize our actions.

If so, how could אדם be חוטא? The answer is that he willingly walked into the fire. He felt that his status made things too easy. If everything is crystal clear where is the נסיון? If רע is so clearly false then there is no challenge in staying away from it. He felt that he could create a bigger קידוש השם by eating from the עץ הדעת and having a greater נסיון to follow the commandments from Hashem. He wanted to be able to understand רע and stay away from it. Unfortunately, he miscalculated. He did not understand that eating from the עץ הדעת would bring such confusion on the world. Someone at his level could not fathom the world after the עץ הדעת, he could not fathom the חשך of טוב ורע.

Pride goes before a fall

On Simchas Torah I davened vasikin at a different shul then I normally daven in. The בעל קורא who read וזאת הברכה was a well known talmid chochom from the neighborhood who is the best בעל קורא that I have ever heard, someone who knows all of Tanach literally by heart and never makes a mistake. After he read חתן תורה a different person from the shul came over and insisted that he lain בראשית and the haftara. The first בעל קורא did not object. Unfortunately the second בעל קורא is not on the same level. He made many mistakes in the trup as well as a few mistakes in the words. The haftara was similar.

The question is why did he insist on laining? He knows the first בעל קורא and therefore had to know that the first בעל קורא was going to do a better job. The only answer that I can think of is כבוד/pride. However, the fact is that instead of bringing him כבוד his actions made him look foolish.

Sitting in the succa in the rain

Generally speaking it doesn't rain in Israel on Succos. However the forecast is for rain late tonight and early tomorrow and therefore we will not be able to sit in the succa.

At first glance, we would say that the פטור of Succah when it is raining is the regular פטור of מצטער. However, if you look at both the Gemara and the Rambam it doesn't seem like that.

The Gemara in Succah on 26a in discussing the din of a חולה and his attendents posits the idea in the name of רבא of מצטער פטור מן הסוכה. However, the Mishna later (28b) discusses rain and gives a completely different reason, it gives a parable of a servant spilling water on his master (or vice versa see the Gemara 29a). The Gemara at no point brings this Mishna (discussing rain) as proof for רבא.

The Rambam also seems to split these 2 up. The Rambam (סוכה ו:ב) writes the halacha of a חולה and a מצטער that both are פטור מן הסוכה in halacha 2. However, he doesn't bring the halacha of rain until halacha 10 unconnected to מצטער. It seems clear from the placement that the 2 are unconnected.

Based on this we could say that the din of rain is an independent din and not based on מצטער. It could be that when it rains the succah loses the din succah because it is not a דירה with rain coming in. It is not related to the person's discomfort but the succah itself.

Buying an Esrog this year

This year buying an Esrog is different then other years because of shemitta. Shemitta raises a number of different problems. Esrogim according to the consensus of poskim have קדושת שביעית. Here are some of the issues:

1. שמור - shemitta fruits need to be made hefker, if they are not they may be assur and may not be able to be used for the mitzva
2. נעבד - you are not allowed to do various melachos related to the esrog tree during שמיטה. Again if these are done the esrog may not be able to be used for the mitzva
3. סחורה - you are not allowed to buy/sell shemitta produce.

To get around all of these issues many people are buying אוצר בית דין esrogim. The אוצר בית דין watched the orchards and made sure that there was no forbidden melacha going on. they also were מפקיר כדין. The esrogim are also sold in sealed boxes so you can't go and pick out a specific esrog.

The big issue is what about סחורה? The answer is that the אוצר בית דין is allowed to charge in order to cover their costs. Therefore when you buy an אוצר בית דין esrog, all you are paying for is the actual cost in producing the esrog, there is no profit to anyone.

There is 1 major problem. All of the אוצר בית דין are selling esrogim in 3 different price ranges:

1. כשר - these sell for 40-60 shekel depending on the אוצר בית דין
2. mehudar - these sell for 80-100 shekel depending on the אוצר בית דין
3. mehudar א - these sell for 130-150 shekel depending on the אוצר בית דין

If as we said all the אוצר בית דין is doing is recovering costs, how can they charge more for a better esrog? The answer given is as follows.

The אוצר בית דין has for arguments sake 1000 esrogim and needs to get back 75,000 shekel for their costs. If they tried to sell every esrog for 75 shekel people would not want to buy, there are always people who want a more mehudar esrog and are willing to pay more and there other people who can't afford to pay 75 shekel for an esrog. Therefore what the אוצר בית דין does is split the cost differently. They still get back only the 75,000 shekel however, the more mehudar esrogim subsidize the less mehudar ones. This enables them to sell the esrogim and get their costs back while enabling the more affluent buyer to spend a little more and the poorer buyer to spend a little less. Since no one is actually picking a specific esrog, you just get a sealed box, it still doesn't look like סחורה.

By the way, I bought 3 sealed אוצר בית דין esrogim this year and ended up with 3 beautiful esrogim that in a regular year I probably could not get.

Some halachos of building a succah

This post (Some halachic points regarding building a succah ) covers a number of the main issues.

No outdoor שמחת בית השואבה or הקפות שניות allowed

for צניעות reasons

The Tzedaka campaigns are working overtime

Here are some of the ads that appeared in today's Yated Neeman. As you can see R' Chaim Kanievsky is featured prominently in many of them:

What does המלך הקדוש mean?

This post, What does המלך הקדוש mean? , from 3 years ago is very relevant now during the עשרת ימי תשובה

בענין קולות השופר

The mitzva of shofar seems pretty simple, blow a few קולות and that is it. However, there are a number of very fundamental disputes relating to the קולות, that I would like to discuss.

I. What is the שיעור of a תרועה?

The Mishna in Rosh Hashana(33b) states that the שיעור of a תרועה is שלש יבבות. Rashi understand this to mean three very short sounds. Tosafos disagrees with Rashi and holds that each יבבה is 3 short sounds meaning that a תרועה is 9 short sounds.

II. What is the שיעור of a תקיעה?

The Gemara states that שיעור תקיעה כתרועה. The simple understanding is that a תקיעה has to be the same length as a תרועה. Therefore the מחלוקת Rashi and Tosafos about תרועה applies to תקיעה as well. According to Rashi a תקיעה is very short, the length of 3 short sounds. According to Tosafos it is 3 times as long the length of 9 small sounds.

The Rambam has a unique שיטה. The Rambam understands that when the Gemara said that שיעור תקיעה כתרועה it meant both the תקיעות that relate to a תרועה as every תקיעה has a תרועה before and a תרועה after. Therefore the שיעור of a תקיעה is half a תרועה.

III. שברים

Tosafos points out that according to Rashi each שבר of a שברים has to be the length of 2 and only 2 short sounds. Tosafos has the following simple calculation.
1. Each sound of a תרועה is 1, therefore each שבר needs to be longer otherwise it will be a תרועה and not a שברים
2. A תקיעה is the length of 3 sounds so therefore each שבר must be shorter then that otherwise it will be considered a תקיעה and not a שברים
3. Therefore each שבר must be 2.

Tosafos has less of a problem because according to them the minimum תקיעה is 9 so a שברים just needs to be less then 9.

IV. שברים תרועה

The Rishonim have a major מחלוקת how you blow it, בנשימה אחת or שתי נשימות?
The Machlokes is based on a Gemara in Succah(53b). The Gemara there discusses the תקיעות in the מקדש. R' Yehuda holds that תקיעה תרועה תקיעה is 1 מצוה and therefore אין בין תקיעה לתרועה ולא כלום.

The Ritva, Ramban and others learn as follows. They read the Gemara literally that according to R' Yehuda there is absolutely no הפסק between the 3 קולות because they are 1 mitzva. Therefore they say even though we don't paskin like R' Yehuda, his din applies to שברים תרועה. Everyone agrees that שברים תרועה is 1 mitzva and therefore you cannot be מפסיק and שברים תרועה is בנשימה אחת.

Rashi and Tosafos in Succah learn that אין בין תקיעה לתרועה ולא כלום means you can't be מפסיק more then a נשימה. However, since these are separate קולות you are מפסיק a נשימה between them, which means that they hold שברים תרועה is בשתי נשימות.

There also is a מחלוקת what does בנשימה אחת and שתי נשימות mean. The Mishna Berura writes that נשימה אחת is if you were מפסיק less then a נשימה. The חזו"א disagrees and says that נשימה אחת is no הפסק whatsoever (and this is what the Rishonim seem to say). By שתי נשימות you have a similar dispute. The חזו"א holds that it means a הפסק but not an actual breath and may others (Shulchan Aruch Harav, מקראי קדש, etc.) hold you should specifically take a breath.

What sound is a שברים? From Tosafos it is clear that a שברים is a very short תקיעה as according to Tosafos if you make a שבר too long it becomes a תקיעה. The Ramban however, writes that a שברים should be a broken sound as well. Many have a minhag to blow both types of שברים.

R' Chaim Kanievsky and tzedaka organizations

R' Chaim Kanievsky is probably the biggest בקי of this generation and is כולו תורה. Unfortunately the various tzedaka organizations seem to be using his name for all kinds of dubious campaigns that it is not clear that he would really approve of.

Some tzedaka organizations are turning him into a Chassidish Rebbe. According to them he is now accepting kvitels.



The Kupat Hair Bnei Brak has ads in Yated Neeman and sends out brochures all over the place with pictures of R' Chaim Kanievsky and promises that giving money to them will bring a ישועה.

However, R' Chaim's grandson published a letter from him where he quotes his own sefer (דרך אמונה) the הלכה פשוטה that עניי עירך קודמים.



You have to wonder then how can Kupat Hair Bnei Brak continue with their ads and brochures and mislead people into giving them money as opposed to their local kupa?

Mofaz Foreign or Finance Minister???

The fact that anyone would even think about appointing him highlights one of the biggest problems in the Israeli political system. The problem is that ministers are appointed based on politics with no check on qualifications whatsoever. How can you appoint someone with no diplomatic experience as Foreign Minister? How can you appoint someone who knows nothing about finance, Finance Minister?

The one thing that Olmert did right is appoint Friedman as Justice Minister. Whether you agree with him or not (I happen to agree with him), he is a professional who understands the legal system and can actually make things happen. In addition, because he is not a politician he can actually do things without worrying whether it will affect him politically.

The reason why nothing changes in Israel is because the Ministers are almost always completely unqualified and therefore are yes men to the ministry bureaucrats. Take Mofaz as Transport Minister. What does he know about transportation? Nothing. When is the last time he actually took public transportation or drove his own car? He has no ideas, no ideology and therefore did nothing for 2 years. The few ministers who manage to make changes are those like Friedman and like Netanyahu (as Finance Minister) who are actually qualified and have ideas and a direction that they would like to push.

Only in Israel could somene like Mofaz be in power

After losing in the Kadmima primary last week Shaul Mofaz announced that he was taking a break from politics to decide what his next steps would be, a childish reaction to a defeat in the primaries. Let us not forget that he wanted all the Kadima candidates to pledge to stay if they lost. It was no big surprise that he went back on his word. Now he has gone back on his word again, he is coming back to politics and his "vacation" will end on October 2nd. The events of the past few days should surprise no one. After all Mofaz has done this in the past on a bigger scale. 3 years ago right after Kadima had been formed the Likud had primaries and Mofaz was running against Netanyahu. At the time, there were all kinds of rumors about Mofaz leaving for Kadima. To quash those rumors he sent out a letter to every Likud voter saying the Likud is my home and "בית לא עוזבים", you don't abandon your home. Believe it or not in the time it took to deliver the letters (2- 3 days) he abandoned his home, the Likud, and jumped to Kadima.

What is even harder to believe is that Livni is proposing making him the Foreign Minister or even the Finance Minister. What makes anyone think that he is qualified for either post? What does he know about diplomacy or finance? Does he even speak English well? The answer is no. What were his accomplishments as Transport Minister? None that anyone knows of. What were his accomplishments as Chief of Staff and Defense Minister from 1999-2006? The emasculation of the Army leading to the awful results in the Lebanon War. Let us not forget that he, as Defense Minister, chose Dan Chalutz as Chief of Staff.

In short, there is nothing in Mofaz's background to suggest that he is qualified for any ministerial position.

What is hardest to believe is that he has supporters who believe in him and want him to come back. Can't they see that every move he makes is motivated solely by self interest? Can't they see that he has no credibility? Why on earth would they believe a word that he says?

New commentaries on Shas, end of an era

It is amazing, but there are now actual multiple commentaries in Hebrew on the Gemara that have come out recently. You have Artscroll (in Hebrew as well as English), Oz V'Hadar just came out with a commentary, Meoros came out with a commentary as well, and I believe there are more.

What is fascinating is that these are written by a team of people and claim to be just explaining the Gemara based on Rashi, other Rishonim, and Acharonim. There is no claim to any original Chiddushim here.

We see from this (and other things), that the era of the Acharonim is over and we have clearly started a new period in Jewish history. The last Acharonim will probably be labeled as those gedolim who grew up pre-war (Chazon Ish, Steipler, R' Moshe, RSZA, RYBS, RAK, RYK, etc.).

The Mishna Berura is now playing the role of the Shulchan Aruch. Oz V'Hadar has recently come out with a commentary explaining the Mishna Berura, and I believe this will be a popular trend.

Speeches in shul that are too long

Last night was the first night of selichos and in Israel חצות was about 12:30 so many shuls started selichos at 12:30. Many shuls have a minhag where the Rav talks for a few minutes before selichos to inspire the people. This is a very fine minhag, however, the Rav should realize that it is very late and that people want to start selichos on time and go home and go to sleep. Sunday in Israel is a regular workday and people cannot sleep late. For the Rav to plan to speak for 15 minutes and then speak for an extra 10 minutes is really not right. To start selichos 10 minutes late at such a late hour is a tremendous טרחא דציבורא.

There is a famous saying that to speak for 10 minutes is much harder then to speak for an hour. When you have a short time you need to really hone your message and measure your words. When you have an hour you have much more leeway. Unfortunately, there are some people who can never fit what they want to say in the allotted time. If you give them ten minutes they speak for 20-25. If you give them an hour they will have enough material for an hour and a half.

This really bothers me. Many times it points to a lack of discipline and preparation. I speak publicly every so often, and when I do so, I go over exactly what I am going to say a number of times before I actually speak and time myself. If I have 10 minutes to speak then I will make sure that I have enough to say for 10 minutes and not more. The same goes for 40 minutes or an hour. I don't understand how you can prepare a speech that is allotted 15 minutes and take 25 minutes. That is almost double the time.

Last but not least, I think it is counterproductive for a Rav to speak for 30-40 minutes on Shabbos morning. It is simply too long. Most people on Shabbos morning are tired and simply cannot concentrate for that long. After 10 minutes people simply lose it. There is no reason why the Rav cannot say over idea that he is saying in 30 minutes in 10. It means that he will have to work very hard to refine and hone his message and cut out a lot of extraneous stuff. However, in the end people will be much more attentive and may actually get the message he is trying to convey as opposed to listening for 10-15 minutes without hearing the main message and then tuning out.

The most influential person in Israel is ...

Attorney General Meni Mazuz, following hot on his heels in 3rd place is Supreme Court President Dorit Beinish. Number 2 is a quartet of the state comptroller, state prosecutor, chief police investigator, and commander of the Lahav special investigations unit. The only politician in the top 100 is PM Olmert who is number 100.

When the most influential person in the country is the Attorney General, number 2 is the state prosecutor and number 3 is the President of the Supreme Court, it is a clear reflection of the fact that Israel is a Judicial dictatorship where the real power lies in the hands of the Justice system. Amazingly enough not a single minister (Defense, Finance, Justice, Foreign) made the list. The reason is simple, they have no real power. The real power lies in the judicial system which can arbitrarily quash appointments (see for example this post More judicial tyranny), and interfere in foreign and defense policy at will (for example the security fence, cutting off power to Gaza, etc.).

List courtesy of Haaretz

Kosher Shavers

I saw this poster today promoting a "kosher" shaver.




What is really interesting is that this is being made by Epilady, a company that makes hair removal products for women. I could not find this product on their website,

Hamodia completely ignores Deri

I get the Hamodia weekly edition in English and it is always fascinating to see what news they leave out.

This week the biggest story in the Charedi world, and in fact a very big story in the secular world as well, was the announcement on Tuesday by Aryeh Deri that he would run for Mayor of Jerusalem. All of the secular newspapers had extensive coverage and it was discussed extensively on the secular radio stations. In the Charedi world, Radio Kol Chai (a religious/Charedi station) basically had wall to wall coverage on their nightly news programs Tuesday and Wednesday night. The Mishpacha newspaper had a huge headline about Deri. And yet, Hamodia, (to the best of my knowledge, I did not read every page) completely ignored the story. I assume that they ignored it, because Aguda has it's own candidate for mayor, Meir Porush.

This is not the first time that Hamodia has done this, they do it all the time. The question is does this work? I am pretty sure that just about everyone who reads Hamodia has heard that Deri is running. What do they think they will accomplish by censoring this? All it does is make them seem less trustworthy.

Friedman and the Supreme Court

In the waning days of the Olmert government, Justice Minister Friedman has proposed curtailing the Supreme Courts power to overturn legislation. As expected the left and the press went ballistic and accused him of all kinds of terrible things.

My opinion on this issue is clear as I posted here. The country today is ruled by a judicial dictatorship that has completely overstepped all boundaries, this post has one of many examples.

Can we talk seriously about poverty? A response

The following letter was printed in this past week's Mishpacha magazine in response to Jonathan Rosenblum's article about Charedi poverty. Here are some excerpts:

Jonathan Rosenblum is so close to solving the problem of poverty in the frum community. He mentioned 3 common solutions to this crisis: greater government support from taxpayers: who WORK, increased contributions from abroad (meaning us rich Americans who are up to our own eyeballs in debt and sinking fast but who WORK) and a simpler lifestyle. Are you getting a hint of the answer? If you need more money and Hashem is not handing it to you perhaps you need to go out and WORK.

Not working but expecting money to come in is like not cooking and expecting dinner to be ready that evening.
...
Instead of making bochurim who choose to work feel like failures, we need to promote a balance of working and learning
...
My husband Akiva had a friend Reb Ephraim on the Monsey bus to Manhattan. One day, Reb Ephraim did not appear on the bus. Six weeks later, Reb Ephraim returned appearing pale and gaunt. Akiva asked how he was and what happened. Reb Ephraim said that he had had a heart attack but b"h recovered and was returning to work. Something about the answer didn't seem right so Akiva asked, "You are certainly past retirement age and you are obviously not completely recovered. Why don't you retire and go home to guard your health?" Reb Ephraim replied , "I would love to but I am supporting my married children and must continue to work."

Some months later Akiva returned from work head hanging low. Reb Ephraim was niftar from a second heart attack. Akiva with tears shining in his eyes said: " I want to go the shiva house and tell the children they are murderers for doing this to their father. This is kibud av v'eim?"

It will be interesting to see if anyone in Mishpacha (or letters) responds to this letter.

Dr. Berish Rubin: This man may save your child's life

This is one of the captions on the cover of this week's Mishpacha magazine in English. The magazine has a very positive article about Dr. Rubin a molecular biologist who is doing research about genetic diseases that affect Ashkenazi Jews.

Dr. Rubin is Charedi from birth (see below) and went to Torah Vodaas for high school and Beis Medrash.



After reading the article I have a number of questions:

1. From a Charedi Torah only perspective, did Dr. Rubin make the right decision to leave the Beis Medrash and become a scientist?
2. Given the de-emphasis on secular education in Charedi yeshiva high schools and the almost complete prohibition of college, where is the next Dr. Rubin going to come from?
3. How could his parents let him read treif science books which are full of kefira (evolution, the age of the world)? If they hadn't, would he have succeeded and become the scientist that he did?

The Charedi world can't have it both ways. On one hand basically ban all secular studies while one the other hand expecting to produce people like Dr. Rubin.

Who will be the next mayor of Jerusalem?

Things are heating up. As of now there are 3 declared candidates, Gaidamak, Nir Barkat (Chiloni), and Meir Porush (Aguda).

However, it looks like Aryeh Deri (former leader of Shas) may run, and that changes everything.

A little background. In the Ashkenazi Charedi world there are 2 parties, Aguda and Degel Hatorah. Aguda is Chassidic and Degel represents the Yeshivish community. Aguda and Degel generally have rotation agreements for mayor. One term Aguda one term Degel. This is what happened in Bnei Brak, Beitar and other places. This arrangement has come under fire recently as it forces highly successful mayors to abandon the job after 1 term for possibly inferior people.

In Jerusalem, before the last election Degel and Aguda signed an agreement and Lupoliansky from Degel was elected with the agreement that Aguda would put up the candidate in this election. The Aguda candidate is Meir Porush. However, Porush is not well liked by many groups in the Charedi world (especialy Degel) including many Chassidim (especially Ger). Therefore, Degel and parts of Aguda are not happy with his candidacy. Recently polls have show Nir Barkat, a chiloni candidate as trouncing Porush.

Based on the above Deri is thinking of running. he will certainly have the support of Shas and may get the support of Degel. If no one candidate gets 40% of the vote there will be a runoff. Deri believes that with 2 Haredi candidates (and the Charedi population about 40%) there is little chance of anyone getting 40% and all he would need to do is beat Porush. Then in a runoff, he would get the Charedi support by default to keep the chiloni out of office.

Latest Charedi censorship target: Music

Haredim move to eradicate 'foreign' pop

Musicians who use rock, rap, reggae and trance influences will not receive rabbinic approval for their CDs, nor will they be allowed to play in wedding halls under haredi kosher food supervision, according to a new, detailed list of guidelines drafted with rabbinical backing that differentiates between "kosher" and "treif" music.

The guidelines, which are still being formulated, also ban "2-4 beats and other rock and disco beats;" the "improper" use of electric bass, guitars and saxophones; and singing words from holy sources in a disrespectful, frivolous manner.

"Michael Jackson-style music has no place in our community," says Mordechai Bloi, a senior member of the Guardians of Sanctity and Education, an organization based in Bnei Brak that enforces what it sees as normative haredi behavior.

...
The man responsible for drafting the list is Rabbi Efraim Luft of Bnei Brak, who heads an organization called the Committee for Jewish Music. Luft works in conjunction with Bloi's organization and with the Jerusalem-based Council for the Purity of the Camp headed by Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Safronovitch. These are the two most important and influential "modesty patrols" in the haredi community.

This is a really interesting quote:

"We might be able to adopt Bach or Beethoven, music with class, but not goyishe African music and beats.

It will be interesting to see if this succeeds.

Sources in the haredi music scene who spoke off the record for fear they would hurt their relationship with the rabbinic representatives said they doubted the rabbinic establishment would succeed in their newest crusade against CDs.

"What are they going to do listen to every single disc that is released? What about the thousands of discs that are already in the market?"

Olmert racing against clock for deal with Palestinians

This is absolutely pathetic. Olmert who has completely and utterly lost any public trust that he had is doing anything to make an agreement with Abu Mazen. The fact that the agreement isn't worth the paper it is written on is irrelevant. The fact that Abu Mazen rules over nothing is irrelevant. All that matters is that the "Peace Process" is moving forward.

Only in Israel can a leader who is resigning under a cloud can give away half the country.

Solutions for poverty in the Charedi world

Jonathan Rosenblum wrote an article in last week's Mishpacha magazine (Can we talk seriously about poverty?) where he describes the poverty in the Charedi world and the toll that crushing poverty takes on individual lives and Charedi society as a whole. He mentions 3 possible solutions to the problem:

THREE SOLUTIONS ARE commonly offered to the destructive poverty in the Israeli chareidi community (though the problem is hardly limited to Israel): greater government support; increased contributions from rich Jews abroad; and adopting a simpler lifestyle. Each is a thin reed upon which to pin hopes for a solution.

Amazingly enough he leaves out the only real solution, education and working for a living. Why has working for a living become verboten? What happened to the Gemara in Kiddushin of חייב אדם ללמד את בנו אומנות? What happened to the Mishnayos in Pirkei Avos? The answer is so obvious and yet he brings up solutions that are bandaids.

What airline should you fly on II?

Today's Yated Neeman had a follow up ad which listed more recommended airlines. For the curious, US Airways is the recommended airline for flights in the USA.



Of course, if you must fly on a different airline that has movies you can get your handy mechitza by calling 057 3155613.

Why Russia succeeded in Georgia and Israel failed in Lebanon

The press here in Israel has been very focused on the war in Georgia and actually quoted Russian sources that Russia learned from Israel's failure in Lebanon. They have also been discussing why the Russians succeeded so quickly and Israel failed.

There is a very simple reason why Russia succeeded and Israel failed. Russia used overwhelming force while Israel did not, basically fighting with one hand tied behind our backs. Israel's leaders need to learn this simple lesson from the Russians, overwhelming force wins. You can't fight a war with 1 hand tied behind your back and win. Until we learn that lesson the war in Lebanon will repeat itself again and again.

Historic event in Vilna taking place today

The Kupat Hair Bnei Brak is sending a minyan of talmidei chachamim to daven at the grave of the Gra for the people who gave money to the Kupa.

Here is an ad that appeared last week to promote the big event:



Here is the schedule for today's big event:



As I hope you can figure out from the tone here I am not in favor of this for a number of reasons:

1. It tries to get people to act against Halacha. These ads ran in newspapers around Israel and flyers were distributed all over the country. Yet, the halacha clearly states that עניי עירך קודמים. In other words, someone who lives in Yerushalayim, Bet Shemesh, Beitar, Rechasim, Ashdod, etc. should be giving to their local Kupa shel Tzedaka not the Kupa of Bnei Brak. By going out with these big campaigns they are making it hard for local tzedaka organizations (which al pi halacha come first) to collect money.
2. It makes a business out of tzedaka. People can no longer give tzedaka just to give tzedaka? How many עניים could have been supported with the money that went to fly all of these people to Vilna? Do we need to promise a yeshua to get people to give tzedaka?
3. It is a quick fix approach. It makes all kinds of promises of yeshuos with no effort. Give a little money and someone will daven for you and you will be saved. Is that what we believe in? What happened to working hard on yourself, davening yourself, improving yourself?

Not eating meat during the 9 days

There are a number of different reasons for not eating meat during the 9 days:
1. Aveilus - Meat is something that makes us happy (אין שמחה אלא בבשר ויין) and therefore in these days of mourning we abstain
2. זכר לקרבנות - We are supposed to remember that during this time the קרבנות were stopped.

Whatever the reason we are supposed to use this to feel the aveilus of the churban. Unfortunately, many people take not eating meat during the 9 days in the wrong direction. Some people love it, as I once heard "and best of all, there's always ice cream or cheese cake for desert".

Those who feel that it is easy and great and they get to eat ice cream all the time, are missing the whole point. They may be doing the minhag but by Aveilus there is supposed to be a kiyum balev, you are supposed to feel something. These people feel no aveilus because they are not eating meat, in fact they are happy. This is a perversion of the minhag. The minhagim are supposed to help you feel aveilus, if they don't you should do something else that will help you feel the aveilus as well. Clearly, we cannot violate the minhag and eat meat even if we don't like meat, on the other hand, we shouldn't be eating gourmet milchig meals and enjoying ourselves either.

These days are supposed to be sad, eating gourmet milchig meals while not technically violating the minhag is certainly violating it's spirit.

ערב ט' באב שחל בשבת when to take off your shoes?

The Rama is clear, after Borchu you take your shoes off. This is the minhag that I remember when I was growing up.

However, recently a new minhag which makes a lot of sense has evolved. People go home after mincha, eat, and then at Tzeis Hakochavim say boruch hamavdil, take off their shoes, change their clothes and then go to shul to daven maariv. This seems to work better then the old minhag of taking off your shoes in shul. The question is, why didn't the Rama advocate this minhag? One answer is that in the days of the Rishonim and Acharonim it was hard to get people to come out to shul at night and therefore if people had gone home they wouldn't return for maariv. Still you have to wonder is this really true? Was this the case in Eastern Europe 100-150 years ago?

I am interested to hear what the readers will be doing.

Functionally illiterate Chasidim

This weeks Hamodia had a very sad letter from a Chassidishe housewife living in Boro Park. It seems that her husband who was born in NY cannot speak English. He is completely dependent on her for any interaction outside of the Chasidic community. From her letter it is clear that this is not an isolated incident but is a normal phenomenon in many Chasidic groups in NY.

My wonderful capable husband is completely handicapped. He can't call the telephone company without me. Any questions on our credit card bill must be resolved through me.
...
Yet, if my husband must venture out into the world, even simply via a telephone call he is at a complete disadvantage due to the inadequate command of the English language.
...
my husband went to take his road test. When he arrived home, I asked him how it went and he sheepishly handed me the paper the instructor had given him. He hadn't been able to figure out whether he had passed or failed.
...
my husband is a native New Yorker, born and raised. He is also quite intelligent. Yet, when I walked in he was at a complete loss and the nurses were gaping at him in disbelief not comprehending how an American adult could not respond to such elementary questions about his own child without assistance.

This is very sad and is spreading to the non-Chasidic community. I can identify a Yeshivish kid right away by the way they speak Yinglish instead of English. English today is the language of the world and for people living in America not to learn it is a terrible shame.

In 5 years we"ll ask how this happened

This was Olmert's comment in response to the report from GSS Head Yuval Diskin about the the weaponry that Hamas is smuggling in.

There is just one problem, he is the Prime Minister and running the government. He can do something about it if he wants to. What kind of idiotic response is that? He fears what will be but does nothing about it. The sooner he goes the better.

The beginning of the end of the Kollel system in Israel?

According to Mishpacha, 2000 Avreichim may lose their places in Kollel and the 5 biggest Kollels have suffered a 50% drop in donations. The money has basically dried up due to the financial problems in the US and the devaluation of the dollar vs the shekel.

Is this the beginning of the end of the Kollel system for everyone?

Olmert's birthday wish to "Moish" Talansky

Ynet has a video that Olmert sent to Talansky for his 70th birthday.

מויש, אני אוהב אותך, אתה בן-אדם כיפי. תמיד מועיל להיות חבר שלך, אני מקבל יותר ממה שאני נותן, ובתקופות של צרות, של בעיות ושל קשיים - אני מעדיף לצידי אותך, מאשר את רוב האנשים שאני מכיר

Moish, I love you, you are a fun person. It is always great to be your friend, I get more from you then I give, and in times of problems, stress, and hardships, I would rather have you at my side then most of the people that I know

The line about "I get more from you then I give" takes on a lot more meaning today.

Remember, this is the guy who Olmert's lawyers tried to make out as a money launderer, and a serial liar.

Update

Here is the actual video (courtesy of Rafi G):

Kadima splitting?

Globes is reporting that Tzippi Livni is thinking about forming a new party to run in the next elections. The reason for this is that Livni could very well lose the Kadima primary to Mofaz and she is not willing to be number 2 to Mofaz. According to Globes she has wide support both from the Kadima MK's as well as outsiders.

This is absolutely amazing, first they split the Likud now they are splitting Kadima.

As I have mentioned many times before the political system in Israel is completely broken and needs to be remade. It is absolutely ridiculous that in a list based system(the voters vote for a party not individuals), and MK can walk away from his party with his seat. At the very least there needs to be a district system where at least half of the MK's are elected from a district and are directly responsible to the voters.

Olmerts attorneys making another mistake

So far they have tried to blacken Talansky's image, calling him a liar and a money launderer and a criminal. While this might be a good tactic in a regular case, in Olmert's case they are just making things worse.

Imagine, they convince everyone that Talansky is a money launderer. That will not help Olmert, in fact it will hurt him. No one denies that Olmert was a friend of Talansky and took money from him. How is it going to look that the PM was friendly with and took money from a money launderer? It will only make the bribery case stronger, as a criminal does not give money for free, he asks for something in return.

Olmert's team also made a mistake in their pre-cross examination boasting. They boasted that they would destroy Talansky, peel him like an onion etc. This created very high expectations. So far, after 2 days of cross examination, they haven't done much. They have basically wasted time investigating Talansky's past. It certainly seems like Olmert and his attorneys were just blowing hot air.

The NY Times on Samir Kuntar - Raid went "horribly" wrong

The New York Times writes the following about the child killer Samir Kuntar:

Perhaps Israel's most reviled prisoner, Samir Kuntar, will return to a hero's welcome when he crosses into Lebanon this week, 29 years after he left its shores in a rubber dinghy to kidnap Israelis from the coastal town of Nahariya.

That raid went horribly wrong, leaving five people dead, a community terrorized and a nation traumatized. Two Israeli children and their father were among those killed.

What does the Times think would have happened if the raid had gone right? In fact, why do they think the raid went "horribly" wrong at all? What do they think Kuntar set out to do? Kuntar and his compatriots did exactly what they set out to do, they murdered innocent Jews. The only thing that went wrong was the fact that they were captured.

The fact that Abu Mazen praised Kuntar showed his true colors. How anyone can think that this man wants to make peace after calling a child killer a hero is beyond me. The same goes for Lebanese PM Siniora.

It looks like the government will fall over Avishai Braverman

Absolutely amazing. The government didn't fall after the disaster (war) in Lebanon, the 2 Winograd reports and Olmerts 6 investigations (including Talansky and Olmertours). It looks like it is going to fall because Labor MK Avishai Braverman was not appointed head of the Knesset Finance Committee. Because he was not appointed, the Labor Ministers voted no confidence in the government, this should lead to their dismissal. If they are dismissed, on Monday the government will fall and elections will be in 90 days.

The bottom line is, the sooner this government falls the better and if it has to be on a political matter like Braverman so be it.

Where does ישמעאל fit into the ד' מלכיות?

בלעם at the end of the parsha, discussed according to many, the Messianic era. The Ramban understands that he was talking about the ד' מלכיות. The Ramban quotes the Ibn Ezra who thought that ישמעאל was the last of the ד' מלכיות. The Ramban disagrees and says that the Ibn Ezra is completely wrong and that ישמעאל is independent of the ד' מלכיות.

I heard teh following explanantion of the Ramban. The ד' מלכיות represent rebellion against Hashem. They take the kingship from us (who represents Hashem in this world) and worship avoda zara. ישמעאל is different. ישמעאל has Hashem's name in his name and is not rebelling against the מלכות of Hashem. ישמעאל as the Torah says is a פרא אדם, a wild man. He believes in Hashem but wants to do what he wants to do. ישמעאל does everything in the name of Hashem including killing. Therefore, ישמעאל is independent of teh ד' מלכיות and can exist concurrently with them.

Olmert: Peace with Palestinians is closer then ever - Who does he think is fooling?

This is the headline in Haaretz online today.

How dumb does he think the people are? Gilad Shalit is still in captivity, Hamas is violating the ceasefire almost every day and he is talking about peace with Abu Mazen? Does anyone beside Olmert and the diehard left believe that Abu Mazen is relevant? Would a deal with Abu Mazen be worth the paper that it is written on? For Olmert to state

"It seems to me that we have never been as close to the possibility of reaching an accord as we are today,"

is cynical beyond belief. Olmert, a petty thief who stole from charitable organizations, is trying to make people forget about his legal troubles. This time I don't think it will work. No one, even the Israeli public, is that stupid.

Olmert's latest problem - double reimbursement for travel

It seems that Olmert would travel abroad (18 times a year while Industry and Trade Minister) and then bill 2 or more charitable organizations for his trip, pocketing the extra payment. This is not just verbal allegations, the police actually have the double receipts. Below is one example of the double billing:



Note the same flight number and date to 2 separate organizations. Interestingly enough the amounts are different.



I can't wait to hear the imaginative excuses for this one.

Tzippi Livni and Resolution 1701 - disconnected from reality

Tzippi Livni was the architect of UN Resolution 1701 which has completely and utterly failed (see Security Council resolution 1701 has completely failed ). Yet, instead of fessing up to her mistakes she is still acting as if Resolution 1701 actually is working and means something.

Livni: We must disarm Hizbullah

"Unfortunately decision 1701 was not completed by the Lebanese side and I hope that during the next few days it will be implemented with the return of the kidnapped soldiers," Livni said.
"We need to stop the arming of Hizbullah by way of the Syrian border and disarm it. There is currently an opportunity to do so and we mustn't lose it." She refused to answer questions about the progress of the prisoner swap deal.
...
Israel plans to continue its efforts towards the fulfillment of decision 1701 through other Security Council channels in order to expand UNIFIL's mandate.

Believe it or not, according to Livni Resolution 1701 will be implemented when the prisoner swap takes place.

She completely forgot about all of the other important provisions in Resolution 1701 that haven't happened and will not happen. Who exactly does she think is going to disarm Hezbollah?

Let's take a look at what UN Resolution 1701 actually says and if it is even being close to implemented:

1. no sales or supply of arms and related materiel to Lebanon except as authorized by its Government;
Livni herself stated that Hezbollah is still smuggling arms.
2. there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon
As Livni herself stated not only has Hezbollah not disarmed but they now have more weapons then ever.
3. disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon see 2

In fact, she is wrong about the prisoner return as well. Resolution 1701 states:
unconditional release of the abducted Israeli soldiers

The soldiers are not being returned unconditionally, but only after Israel agreed to pay a very high price.

The bottom line is, Resolution 1701 is a completely worthless piece of paper that has no connection to reality.

The really sad thing is that Tzippi Livni is a leading candidate to be the next PM of Israel.

Security Council resolution 1701 has completely failed

Officials: 1701 on verge of collapse

United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, passed to stop the Second Lebanon War, is on the verge of collapse as Syria continues to rearm Hizbullah, senior defense officials warned Tuesday night ahead of a scheduled security cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
...
"Syria is rearming Hizbullah at a rapid pace and this is proof that 1701 has completely failed," one official said.

This is not exactly unexpected. I hate to say it but I told you so. I had a series of posts where I discussed the resolution and how it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Believe it or not, I may have been too optimistic. I wrote:

How the ceasefire may play out

The situation in Southern Lebanon is basically back to where it is on July 12th, 2006

In fact, the situation today is much worse then it was July 12, 2006. Hezbollah has more rockets and more advanced weaponry then it had 2 years ago.

What airline should you fly on?

According to the ועד לעניני תחבורה the main criteria is whether or not the flight has movies shown. They split up the airlines into 3 groups.
Preferred - no movies shown
Second choice - movies but only on a personal screen which can be shut off
Third Choice - movies on a main screen

On the Tel Aviv - NY route for example, there are no Preferred airlines. Continental and British are second choice and El Al is third choice (because they have some planes without personal screens and the movies they do show are particularly bad (according to the Vaad). I wonder how they know this? Who watched the movies for them and compared?).

For some reason, they left out some popular airlines on the Tel Aviv - NY route. I know from personal experience that Lufthansa is very popular. They would probably be a third choice because on their trans-atlantic flights they have a lot of planes with movies on the main screen. They also left out Delta which has a non-stop flight Tel Aviv - NY as well as Tel Aviv - Atlanta.

Interestingly enough, Arkia and Israir are prohibited completely.

You can see the whole list below:

The dollar is still worth 4 shekels according to the Gedolim

The dollar hasn't been anywhere near the 4 shekel mark in a very long time but Areivim is still insisting on pricing in dollars at 4 shekel to the dollar. This month they will be collecting $5.6 at 4 shekel to the dollar. This obsession with the dollar is really strange, why they can't just say they are collection 22.4 shekel is beyond me.

Winograd commission member - PM should have been removed from office

Yechezkel Dror, one of the members of the Winograd commission that investigated the Second Lebanon War had very harsh criticism for the political system in general, and specifically PM Olmert:

A Severe Verdict That Didn’t Go Far Enough

... As a member of the commission, I expected that the Cabinet would resign or be dismissed after the interim report appeared. Indeed, the chief of staff honorably resigned, and the minister of defense was made to leave. The prime minister, however, did not resign, nor was he forced to leave. I do not think this would have happened in any other parliamentary democracy.
...
In retrospect, I think I erred in trusting the political system and the public to do what was obviously required in light of our harsh findings, namely to remove the prime minister from office. I did not expect such dismal behavior motivated mainly by narrow party interests and personal career considerations on the part of many members of the Knesset (with some distinguished exceptions). I regret that I did not insist on making an explicit institutional recommendation that, because of his grand failures, the prime minister should not continue to serve, even if this might have been regarded by some as deviating from the legal limitations imposed on the commission. This recommendation is all the more urgent and valid in light of developments since publication of our final report.

Buy segulos online

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Here you can get holy coins from Lizensk


This is an absolutely terrible phenomenon which makes Judaism into a joke.

How many strings of תכלת?

Recently I have seen in a number of places people recommending to wear 1 string of techeles like the Rambam.

Regarding the number of strings of techeles there seems to be 3 different opinions in the Rishonim:
1. Rambam (הל' ציצית פרק א' הל' ו) writes that 1 out of the 8 strings should be תכלת
2. The Raavad there disagrees and says that 2 of 8 strings should be תכלת
3. Rashi and Tosafos in מונחות ל"ח hold that half of the strings (4) should be תכלת

Those who wear like the Rambam make the following חשבון. They say that according to the Rambam if you put on more then 1 (out of 8) strings of Techeles, you are not יוצא the mitzva of ציצית at all while according to everyone else while you are not יוצא techeles (with 1 string) at least you are יוצא the mitzva of ציצית.

I don't find this argument very compelling. One of the arguments to wear techeles nowadays is that since it is available, if you don't wear it you are עובר בל תגרע. However, if you only wear 1 string you would still be עובר בל תגרע according to Rashi and Tosafos.

The fact is that almost all the חכמי אשכנז (Maharam MiRutenberg, Mordechai, Rid, Semak, etc.) pasken like Rashi and Tosafos as well as both the Rosh and the Tur.

The majority of acharonim (who discuss the issue) also seem to pasken like Rashi and Tosafos.

Taz - או"ח סימן ט' סעיף ב'
בזמן שהיה תכלת מצוותו שיקח שני חוטין וכו': דכתיב גדילים תעשה לך אין גדיל פחות
משנים - גדילים ארבע והיינו שני מינים וסברא שיהיו שני המינים שווים שני חוטים מהאי
מינא ושנים מהאי מינא

Mishna Berura - סימן ט' ס"ק ז paskens like Rashi and Tosafos (half techeles half white):

בזמן הזה - פי' דבזמן שהיה תכלת שהיה צריך להטיל ד' חוטין שני חוטי לבן ושני חוטי
תכלת

Shulchan Aruch Harav - הל' ציצית סימן ט' סעיף ד'

י"א שאין ציצית של צמר ופשתים פוטרין בבגדים של שאר מינים אלא א"כ יהיו הציצית צמר
ופשתים יחדיו דהיינו ב' חוטין תכלת וב' חוטין פשתים...

The bottom line is that the Ashkenazi psak would seem to be clearly like Rashi and Tosafos that you need 4 strings of techeles. The Taz, Shulchan Harav and the Mishna Berura are the עמודי ההוראה for Ashkenazi psak. Therefore, I don't understand how anyone can recommend to an Ashkenzi to follow the psak of the Rambam.

I have heard that this is how RHS and R' ZN Goldberg pasken as well, to put on 4 strings of techeles.

Another Hasidic succession battle - Vishnitz

The Viznitzer Rebbe has 2 sons, Yisrael and Menachem Mendel. About 20 years ago the older son Yisrael was removed from his position, the prevalent rumor was that his mother was responsible. The mother died and the Rebbe remarried 5 years ago and the elder son returned to the Chasidus. With the failing health of the Rebbe the Chasidus has split into 2 camps.

The warring between the 2 camps has spread and started a spate of "Shtreimel snatching".

Shtreimel vs. Shtreimel

The conflict among the two opposing camps in the Viznits Hasidic community in Bnei Brak doesn’t include stealing money or ideological arguments; instead, the Hasidic way of quarreling entails “swiping” shtreimels and bartering their return.

The shtreimel is a fur hat worn by many married haredi Jewish men belonging to the one of the various Hasidic sects on Saturdays and holidays. The hat is usually made out of a young fox’s fur, and a single hat requires 30 of them. A Hasidic man buys one or two expensive shterimels throughout his life for a price range of $2,000 to $4,000.

The shtreimel is worn without fastening, a significant factor in the latest street fights in the Viznits neighborhood. Those looking to humiliate a Hasid snatch his shtreimel, forcing him to return home with a lowered head sporting on his yarmulke.

In recent weeks, the brawls between the camps have intensified, with both sides snatching each other’s shtreimels. During the peacemaking, each camp returns the other’s goods stolen in the last strife.

The barters, one of which took place two weeks ago, also include returning torn shterimels that were intentionally spoiled and torn in the heat of battle in exchange for ones in mint condition.

In each fight, the Viznits Hassids try to snatch as many shterimels off their opponents’ heads, so as to have as many bargaining chips as possible ahead of the next barter.

I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Amir Peretz plans his return to head the Labor Party

Peretz to challenge Barak in primary

You couldn't make this up, this is so completely and utterly absurd. Here is a guy who was elected to lead the Labor party and was a total failure. It is hard to imagine someone failing worse. In any other democratic society he would be done for. Just look at what happened to Michael Dukakis after his failed Presidential bid, and his failure was nowhere close to Amir Peretz's failure. After his disastrous term as Defense Minister how can anyone take him seriously as a candidate for Prime Minister? How can anyone think of voting for him? The fact that he can even think of returning shows how warped politics is here in Israel.

Israel should reject the deal with Hezbullah

As much as I feel for the families this deal cannot be accepted. For probably the first and last time in my life I agree with Yossi Beilin that this deal needs to be rejected.

According to all the intelligence reports the 2 soldiers are dead. The fact that Israel would make a deal with Hezbullah with this fact unknown is in and of itself a reason to reject the deal. How can you make a deal when you don't even know what you are getting back? Given the fact that we are 99% that they are dead, paying the same price for bodies as live soldiers is a terrible precedent. Until now, organizations like Hezbulah and Hamas have understood that live soldiers were worth more then dead bodies and therefore acted accordingly. Now why should they bother keeping prisoners alive, the government will pay the same price in any case? Deals like this bring on the next round of kidnappings and give the enemy no incentive to keep prisoners alive.

We have had a lot of emotional please from the families. That is their right and that is what they need to do. However, leaders need to back away from the emotional pleas and evaluate the situation in a logical cold hearted manner. They are responsible for the well being of all the citizens. The fact is the head of the Mossad and the head of the GSS are against the deal because it is a terrible precedent. Emotion, no matter how justified, can't change that.

The Labor Party is a Joke

So says the headline of today's ישראל היום (a free daily newspaper given out in Israel).

The reason is really simple. Not only did the deal with Labor gain time (3 months until the primaries) for Olmert, he is planning to run in the Kadima primary.

PM: I'll run again despite Labor deal

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert embarrassed the Labor Party on Wednesday when he announced at the Knesset podium that he intends to run for reelection as Kadima chairman despite the deal reached overnight Tuesday in which Labor gave up its effort to initiate an early election.

Even if Olmert does not run, he has made no promise to relinquish the premiership to the victor. He could continue serving as prime minister even if Kadima elects a new leader, because there is nothing in the Kadima bylaws that would force him to step down.
...
Labor secretary-general Eitan Cabel, who negotiated the deal, did not insist on ruling out an Olmert reelection bid, mostly because he thought this was superfluous and because he did not want to embarrass the prime minister. But he ended up being embarrassed and outraged by Olmert's statement at the Knesset.

"I can't deal all day with the question of whether or not I am being lied to," Cabel said. "If Olmert runs, we will quit the coalition and I will submit a motion of no-confidence in the government."

The bottom line is that Labor got absolutely ZERO from this deal, except a black eye for again zigzagging.

Shas is now sitting pretty

Shas must have breathed a huge sigh of relief. They don't really want elections and now they can continue to extort money from Olmert in return for staying in the coalition. I guarantee you that at least once a week we will hear Shas threatening to leave the coalition over some issue. It is patently clear that Olmert will find a way to give Shas money and keep them in the coalition.

It is unclear how this will work out for Shas in the long run. If Olmert actually makes a deal with either the Palestinians (dividing Jerusalem) or Syria (gving back the Golan) it will be a disaster for Shas because their voters will not forgive them for allowing that to happen. On the other hand, if there is no real progress and Shas continues to extort money they will be in an excellent position for the next election.

Can politics in Israel sink any lower?

I haven't posted about Israeli politics in a while, here I go again.

It doesn't get any worse then this. Ehud Barak who a month ago stated that he doesn't see how Olmert can continue as PM, made a deal to allow just that.

Labor agreed late Tuesday night not to vote in favor of the bill which calls for the dissolution of the Knesset, whether it is brought to the floor on Wednesday, or any time in the coming weeks.
...
According to the agreement, the Kadima party promised to convene a committee on Wednesday which would begin the process of primaries for choosing a new chairperson. On Monday of next week, the Kadima faction will discuss the results, and 10 days later the Kadima council will convene to determine an exact date for primary elections, to be held before September 25. Should a run-off election be needed as well, that, too, will be held before September 25.

What this means is that Olmert survives until at least October the beginning of the next Knesset session. Let's not forget that Olmert may very well run in the Kadima primaries and win. Then what?

This is absolutely pathetic. The Winograd commission without saying so explicitly told Olmert to go and he ignored what they said. At that point Ehud Barak said that he would work towards replacing Olmert. So far he has done nothing but help Olmert survive. Then came all the corruption investigations culminating in Talansky's infamous testimony. Again Barak made a lot of noise and again is doing nothing.

Let's look at what is going on.
1. The so called "cease fire" has already started to fall apart
2. Gilad Shalit is no closer to coming home.
3. On the Northern front the deal with Hizbullah is also very controversial and may or may not happen.
4. Negotiations with Syria
5. Iran
...

All being done by a Prime Minister who has no moral authority, has a single digit approval rating and is spending a good part of his day fighting off the 5 corruption investigations.

The political system in Israel is absolutely bankrupt. More and more people are losing faith in the system. When all the politicians care about is keeping their seat and there is no real accountability people simply tune out and don't vote.

Looking back at what the leftists said before the disengagement

I was reading an old post and the comments from 2005 (before the disengagement) and was struck by some some of the things said by leftists and how wrong they turned out to be.

Doresh wrote:
Withdrawing from Gaza makes 100% sense. Israel originally at one time in the 70s offered it back to the Egyptions but they didnt want it. Staying there forments more and more hatred. Remember the Arabs living there think its "their land". They regard it as the one bit of land they have managed to keep a hold of. They are desperate to 'keep' it.

Thus pragmatically you have to understand how the other side sees things and figure out what CAN be done. Once Israel withdraws from Gaza it can effectively seal it off and spend its resources more effeciently. Then there will also be one less thing that enrages the Palastinians.

We see how well that worked. Lets see. We sealed Gaza off but they are shooting rockets over the fence. We are probably going to invade Gaza in the fext weeks and reconquer it.

Someone asked DovBear:
But I still haven't figured out how exactly is the IDF going to stop the mortar and rocket fire that is going to get worse as soon as the IDF leaves.
His answer:
I trust the IDF. I trust that leaving Gaza is the right thing to do. And I trust God to make up the difference.

I guess his trust was misplaced.

Here is another beauty from good old Dovie:

And in conclusion, may I propose the blorange prayer:

Elokeinu v'elokai avosaynu, please let this inevitable withdrawal proceed peacefully and please let it deliver a good outcome.

Som much for Dovie and his prayers, the first half was accepted but not the second.

Age discrimination in Kollels?

I have to say this would never have occurred to me. I would never have thought that there is a phenomenon of age discrimination in kollels. I thought it was only in the secular world that there is a culture of youth. It seems that the Charedi world has been affected as well.

Last week's Mishpacha magazine (in Hebrew) has a long article detailing the problem.

It seems that Avreichim over the age of 40 have a very hard time finding a kollel to learn in. Some of the reasons given are:
1. It is assumed that a young person in his 20's has more zeal for learning then someone who has been learning already for 20+ years.
2. Younger people are less busy and have more time to devote to learning. Someone who is 25 has a few little kids and not s many financial worries. Someone who is 45 probably has 8-10 kids that are older and therefore he is busy trying to marry them off and deal with their problems. He mostly probably is in finanial trouble as a result. As the old saying goes "little kids little problems big kids big problems".
3. The Roshei Kollel feel that they will have more influence on a younger person. They believe that they can have a major influence on the דרך הלימוד of someone who is in their early 20's. However someone in their 40's is already set in their ways.
4. The Roshei Kollel feel awkward about having someone in the kollel their age or older. They also feel that the person will probably not follow the sedarim in the kollel and will learn what they want.
5. Someone who is still just sitting and learing in kollel in their 40's is not going to become a Rosh Yeshiva, Rosh Kollel etc. The fact that they haven't moved up shows that they are not so successful.

These are all stereotypes but there is some truth in all of them. The article points out that the reasons listed above apply mostly to small kollels. Therefore it suggests that older Avreichim should start learning in a big kollel where these issues are not nearly as problematic.

Forner Bais Yaakov girl play football

Football Pro Keeps Her Faith on the Gridiron

Gable grew up Orthodox, with nine siblings, in Monsey, N.Y., and is a running back for the New York Nemesis. Six weeks into the 10-week season, the team is undefeated (5-0) and has a strong chance of making it to the National Women’s Football Association’s equivalent of the Super Bowl, to be held July 26.
...
The more daunting challenge for Gable is adhering to Jewish law in a league where all games are played Saturday, women wear pants and the goal is to carry a football on the Sabbath.

“Most Orthodox people would say it’s not in the spirit of Shabbat,” said Gable, who considers herself Modern Orthodox. “I respect that,” Gable said. “I thought about it. I believe rules should be followed strictly, but if I’m not breaking anything, then, I guess I’m allowing myself to be lenient.”

Gable travels to game sites Fridays, finds the hotel closest to the field and makes sure there’s a fence around the stadium (which acts as an eruv — a Sabbath barrier — and permits her to carry things, such as a football, within its boundaries). She then memorizes the route from the hotel to the field, because she can’t carry the map on the Sabbath, and walks as far as five miles to get to the game the next day.
...
Gable was a standout student at the Heredi Orthodox all-girls Bais Yaakov in Passaic, N.J., before graduating from Bruriah High School in Elizabeth, N.J., and attended Michlelet Mevaseret Yerushalayim in Israel during the 2001 intifada. When she returned to the United States, Gable attended SUNY Rockland Community College. In 2006 she graudated from Cornell, where, a year later, she earned a master’s degree in health administration. She now works as an analyst at Hewitt Associates, a health management consulting firm.

Traveling in America

I was recently traveling in the US (which is why I haven't posted in a while), and would like to relate some of my experiences.

I was in Palo Alto for Shabbos and had a very interesting Shabbos. There is an outreach kollel (http://www.jsn.info/) in Palo Alto as well as 1 Orthodox shul. It is very interesting to see the mix of people in the shul, you have the black hat kollel guys side by side with the students from Stanford, the single guys with long hair etc. It is amazing how well everyone gets along. In Israel many of us live in basically homogeneous communities and this is the complete opposite where you have a very heterogeneous community.

I am always surprised when I visit Northern California how few religious Jews live there. There are so many Jews in hi tech, you would think that more religious Jews would move to Silicon Valley to work there. For some reason it hasn't happened and there is only a very small Jewish community.

I was also in Kansas City. I was amazed to find out that in Kansas City there is a Glatt Kosher Subway. Kansas City has a relatively small Jewish community and therefore I am very surprised that they can support a restaurant like that.

The religion of America is sports. It is amazing how much sports there is on TV. In fact, it is the only thing that there is to watch. In my hotel I had ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN News, and ESPN Classic.

Hamodia: The yeshivos are on the verge of collapse: 'Only a miracle can save us'

The article explains that the crisis comes mostly from the cuts in government funding. One of the biggest issues relates to the core curriculum. The government is refusing to fund any school that does not adhere to a core curriculum (e.g. English, math, science, etc.). The Charedi schools absolutely refuse. The Charedi schools also have a much longer school day then regular schools and again the government does not want to pay.

Basically the Charedim want to have their cake and eat it. On one hand, they want to have complete freedom to do whatever they want, including curriculum, hours, etc. and on the other hand they want the government to fully fund them. They should have seen this coming. I for one, am surprised at how long the government funded Charedi schools that teach no secular studies.

In every other country in the world the Charedi schools teach the core government curriculum in addition to whatever they want and no one complains and the students don't seem to be affected negatively.

The question now is how will the Charedi world react.

With new elections coming soon, the Charedi parties are going to try to get all this money back in return for joining the government. Depending on the election results this may or may not work.

The latest סגולה

Can anyone explain to me what the connection to 104 shekel is?

In any case this is not the only סגולה in yesterday's Yated Neeman. Here some more סגולה ads:




I think this is a very unfortunate and damaging phenomenon. It makes Judaism into magic and promotes a quick fix. You have a problem do this סגולה and your problem will be solved. That is not how it is supposed to work. You are supposed to be מפשפש במעשיו do teshuva, etc. not some quick fix.

Finally the press wakes up ...

and realizes that the main charge against Olmert is not bribery, that is just the icing on the cake. The main charge is money laundering and tax evasion.

Money laundering the key charge in Olmert case

Money laundering appears to be the key charge the police fraud squad is looking at in the corruption investigation against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, sources close to the investigation say.
...
"In the coming days we'll hear a lot of spins about Talansky's testimony and attempts by the various lawyers to discover cracks in it," a law-enforcement source told Haaretz.

"It is important to understand that these claims have almost no importance: Olmert admitted taking the cash, the money was never reported or documented. That in itself is enough to make an indictment stick."
...
Section 3b of the anti-money-laundering law is intended to make it easier for investigators to collect evidence to prove this offense: The clause does not relate to offenses for which the money was used.

Instead, it says a person has broken the law if he or she "takes action in terms of property, or provides false information with the intent that no report be made ... or of causing an incorrect report to be made."

This is what I have been saying all along. He has no defense. He admitted that he took the cash and he didn't report it, end of story. That in and of itself is a violation of the law.