Tamar Ross is an Orthodox theologian who has been writing in the past two decades . Her biggest academic focus is Jewish thought – particularly the hasidut and mussar movements.
For more info on Ms. Ross, see http://leoemercer.wordpress.com/2013/07/27/introducing-tamar-ross/
This week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, starts off with setting up Shoftim V’Shotrim – judges and cops – in every city of Israel in order to ensure a sound society. The police would enforce the law and the judges would uphold it. The government would need to be tough to ensure an upright, orderly society. Every year this Torah portion was read the “Cops” theme song “Bad Boys” would go through my mind.
This song also went through my mind on the day that Netanyahu accepted a unilateral cease-fire, overriding the cabinet on a legal technicality. Meanwhile, the “bad boys” – Hamas – still were raining down rockets on Israel. Residents of Ashkelon are now forced to evacuate and not return so fast, just as long as Hamas rockets can target it. Israel to this day apparently still listens to what the United States, currently under the leadership of Barack Obama, has to say. In many respects their hands are tied when the perks of billions of dollars in U.S. aid, a seat in the U.N., free trade and “ally” status gets dangled time and again. Until Israel starts to live off its own and not rely on foreign aid they will always be subject to what the rest of the world wants them to do. This is the problem right there: they lack authority to combat their deadliest enemies. So, whatcha gonna do (Israel) when they (Hamas) come for you?
Another enemy is ourselves. Recently a 23 year old Yeshiva bochur, Aaron Sofer Z”L, was found dead a few days after we was reported missing. It’s unknown what the cause of death was, but what is interesting was how the Israeli police and the IDF were seemingly lackadaisical in searching for him, at least according to his parents. New York City Assemblyman Dov Hikind said it best in that he was also a soldier, albeit a spiritual one, and no expense should be spared in finding him. In the end United Hatzolah volunteers – people essentially working for free – found him using regular GPS technology. Was it because he was Charedi or American? Was it because lots of Israelis simply don’t know? Is it because the main priority in Israel is with the war in Gaza that never seems to end? Bottom-line, we don’t know for certain. Israel needs to ensure that every resident is safe, regardless of ideological or ethnic differences. Indeed, without a government placing top priority on every life-or-death situation, whatcha gonna do?
Israel has a police force to protect its citizens from other citizens. It has one of the best armies and security protocols in the world to protect them from imminent danger. But, it doesn’t have the authority to finish a war against an organization that’s still bent on wiping Israel off the map. It also needs to work harder in finding missing people as any person, Israeli or non-Israeli, is precious.
Shabbat Shalom!
Link: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/shoftim-without-a-sound-government-in-control-whatcha-gonna-do/
The fact that the clay tablet talks about the ark being round rather than almost triangular-shaped demonstrates that the story was adapted to conform with each individual culture.
Scary stuff!
Note: I originally wrote the killing having occurred in Yeshivas Toras Moshe (ToMo). That’s incorrect. R’ Moshe Twersky ZT”L was a teacher at ToMo, hence the confusion. -Rafi
Photo courtesy: Israeli Government Press Office
Very recently news spread of the unspeakable massacre of four Rabbis and one Druze police officer putting his life “on the line” for them. At Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue, in Har Nof, Jerusalem, two young terrorists had to kill four of the biggest Rabbis in today’s generation in a most horrific manner: Rabbi Aryeh Kopinsky, 43, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 58, and Rabbi Kalman Levine – all from Har Nof – as well as Rabbi Moshe Twersky. Each of them were davening Shacharis, and were killed while wearing their Tallesim and Tefillin.
According to police, the two suspected Palestinian terrorists, armed with a gun and axes, attacked worshipers after entering the “Kehilat Yaakov” synagogue on Agasi Street in the capital’s Har Nof neighborhood. Two police officers quickly arrived to the scene and exchanged fire with the suspects, killing them.
Rabbi Aryeh Kopinsky’s passing was an additional tragedy in his family as his daughter was taken from him three years ago due to sudden circumstances. R’ Kopinsky was a U.S. citizen, hailing from Michigan.
Rabbi Kalman Levine, originally from Kansas City, Missouri, emigrated to Israel in 1982 where he devoted himself to religious study. R’ Kopinsky left behind five children and nine grandchildren.
Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, described as a ‘pillar of the community’, was born in Liverpool, U.K. He held dual British-Israeli passport, and now leaves behind a wife and six children.
Rabbi Moshe Twersky ZT”L was a scion of the Twersky Chassidic dynasty. His father, R’ Isodore Twersky, was an academic in his own right, having attended Harvard and also set up a curriculum there. He also was related to the Soloveitchiks.
In R’ Twersky’s case he was the Rebbi of someone I personally know. To me that personally hits home more. I also personally knew fellow New Yorkers that studied in ToMo.
Also, the police officer was the Druze Master-Sergeant Zidan Saif, who died from his wounds on Wednesday. Thousands of Jews and non-Jews mourned at his funeral as well. May Hashem gather him in with all the righteous Gentiles.
All this had to happen on Marcheshvan. According to many Rabbis the “Mar” represents the bitterness of the month since there are no widespread Jewish holidays that month (Sigd is one exception – 29 Cheshvan – by Ethiopian Jews). Biblical scholars are skeptical, explaining it’s a derived name from the name Mrachshvan, also having the names Cheshvan and Bul. Either way, what happened earlier this week really displays the “Mar” – bitterness – that this month traditionally conveys.
It’s also interesting how this occurred on the Torah portion of Toldos, which shows the birth and development of Yaakov and his brother Esav. They grew apart to the point where Yaakov actually asked Hashem “Hatzilani Nah Miyad Achi uMiyad Esav” (save me from the hand of my brother, and from the hand of Esav). My personal interpretation was that Esav didn’t treat Yaakov like a brother, therefore Yaakov was referring to Esav as his brother by blood, and by nothing else as Esav was hell-bent on killing him.
The faces of evil: Terrorists Uday and Ghassan Jamal
Today’s Arabs represent Yishmael and Esav. When a terrorist strike is put against us, we need to realize that just because we come from Abrahamic faiths, that’s about as far as it goes. When people kill us just because they’re ideologically driven to do so, we are connected by blood and nothing else. When this happens, we need to recognize the enemy – blood brother or not – and take the proper course of action to survive. As former Prime Minister Golda Meir was quoted, “I understand the Arabs wanting to wipe us out, but do they really expect us to cooperate?”
Only an Esav can go so far as to celebrate such a slaughter. This was Jew-hatred at its purest: The Rabbis were not soldiers, eliminating any “kill or be killed” motive. The Rabbis weren’t not religious, eliminating the excuse that they weren’t properly serving Gd. Again, they were killed while praying to Gd, while wrapped in their Talleisim and Tefillin! A Jew will always be a Jew no matter what anyone says.
T
he international media handled this matter like everything else: by and large negative. Ireland actually condemned the attack, though issued the back-handed insult to Israel that it should “end the occupation of Palestinian territories.” U.S. President Obama actually had the nerve to state that “too many Palestinians have died.” A CNN reported actually reported in a headline “Police shot, killed two Palestinians.” Another CNN reporter though was more humane and laid out the facts, ” Five dead in Jerusalem synagogue attack.” Feeling adventurous, I visited the website Arab News where it got even better: “The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said it carried out the attack, which it called a “heroic operation.””
A heroic operation?!? Okay. That’s it for me for now. I have no words to express my contempt for a society of people aimed at destroying the Jewish nation – not just Israel. The fact that the world sees good as bad and bad as good shows how twisted everything is.
To conclude, again, may the deaths of the four Rabbis and the one Druze police officer not be in vain. May Hashem avenge their bloods and bring comfort to the friends and family that lost these precious souls.
This literally shook me to the core.
I am also reminded of a video I saw a short while ago. It was by an Asian fellow that gave a homeless guy $100 and wanted to see how he spent it. The homeless fellow shortly thereafter went to a liquor store, leading one to believe one thing. What you see later is both heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.
Like many that occupy the Social Media landscape and “frum” blogosphere (e.g. Facebook, Yeshiva World News), I had heard that R’ Dovid Winiarz, a.k.a. the Facebuker Rebbe, was tragically killed in a Maryland car accident that occurred due to an ice-storm crash. As a passenger in a car, he fell victim to a patch of black ice on Route 23 and High Point Road.
While I personally didn’t know R’ Winiarz personally, I had “liked” his Facebook page for a while and always looked forward to his posts. A wise and dynamic Kiruv Rabbi, he will be missed, even by those that didn’t have the Zechus to meet him in person.
He is survived by his wife and ten ehrliche children. Baruch Dayan Emes tzaddik!
This is an old clip I recently dug up. The Rabbi is about to start a lecture with students, each of whom leave their audio recorders to catch the lecture and then leaving. The Rabbi’s response is priceless.
Rabbi Berel Wein giving a lecture on the origins of the ZOHAR (Book of Splendor, published in 1290 by Rabbi Moshe DeLeon in Spain). The lecture took place at Yeshivas AISH HATORAH.
In 9 Minutes, Rabbi Wein brings down R’ Yaakov Emden, the Chida, and R’ Elazar Falakish. It starts with R’ Moses DeLeon publishing the book in the 1400’s (not 1290) claiming that it was written by R’ Shimon bar Yochai. Since a Sephardic Jew published it, it makes sense why most Ashkenazim didn’t adhere to the Zohar as they simply didn’t have the book.
R’ Yaakov Emden, who also owned a printing press and produced many great works (very controversial in his own right in trying to straighten out the world which pushed back), writes that he has no doubt that Zohar is not authentic. The writers introduced so many things that even if R’ Shimon bar Yochai produced such a Sefer, the Sefer that we have is not that Sefer. Later on, many people added to it. The printers, copyists added to it. It then became more and more and more. He can prove it: his book Mitpachas Sfarim which is devoted to this topic. There are ideas of R’ Shimon bar Yochai but it wasn’t written by him. Therefore, it’s not authentic.
The Chida accused R’ Yaakov Emden of Heresy on the basis of all the great Rabbis using it, that the Kabbala is based on it, etc.
The Chasam Sofer defended R’ Emden in the 1800’s. He said that if we could sift the book and keep only what R’ Shimon Bar Yochai kept, it would be a very very thin book. You would only have a few pages.
R’ Elazar Falakish (Talmid of the Noda B’Yehuda) stated that the Zohar is a forgery with many things added that never came by R’ Shimon bar Yochai. Anyone with a little Sechel would notice that. People after his lifetime are listed. Pieces of Rashi and Tosafos are listed there.
Here’s the kicker: the wife of R’ De Leon herself stated that her husband wrote it! When asked why, Mrs DeLeon said that a book written by an author such as Rabbi Shimon sells much better. Further, Mrs DeLeon justified her husband by saying that they desperately needed the income from the book in order to pay their rent and this is the reason why Rabbi Moshe DeLeon claimed that the true auther was Rabbi Shimon.
From Wikipedia (sourced by the Jewish Encyclopedia):
”
A story tells that after the death of Moses de Leon, a rich man of Avila named Joseph offered Moses’ widow (who had been left without any means of supporting herself) a large sum of money for the original from which her husband had made the copy. She confessed that her husband himself was the author of the work. She had asked him several times, she said, why he had chosen to credit his own teachings to another, and he had always answered that doctrines put into the mouth of the miracle-working Shimon bar Yochai would be a rich source of profit. The story indicates that shortly after its appearance the work was believed by some to have been written by Moses de Leon. (Jacobs, Joseph; Broydé, Isaac. “Zohar”. Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls Company.)
However, Isaac (of Acco) evidently ignored the woman’s alleged confession in favor of the testimony of Joseph ben Todros and of Jacob, a pupil of Moses de León, both of whom assured him on oath that the work was not written by de Leon. Over time, the general view in the Jewish community came to be one of acceptance of Moses de Leon’s claims, with the Zohar seen as an authentic book of mysticism passed down from the 2nd century.
”
The Chabad website has an article authored by Rabbi Moshe Miller that gives the entire story in detail. Basically it was Mrs. de Leon’s word against her husbands’, who swore under oath shortly before he passed on, as well as other leading Sepharadi Rabbis. Rabbi Yitzchak of Akko naturally found the story hard to believe since her husband swore under oath which is a capital offense if done falsely.
The same article also offers the best possible reconciliation. The original Zohar might have been authored by R’ Shimon bar Yochai, though it was added on by other scholars over the years. In that respect it can be compared to the Talmud which went through various editions before ultimately being authored by Ravina and Rav Ashi. These two scholars also didn’t make up the Talmud “from scratch.” The fact that Mrs. De Leon said that her husband made it up from his head is unsettling indeed.
It’s therefore interesting in that most people today take it for granted that the Zohar was authored solely by Rashbi. The real answer is that it’s a Machlokes.
Interesting links:
http://m.chabad.org/kabbalah/article_cdo/aid/663169/jewish/Authenticity-of-the-Zohar.htm
Last Motzei Shabbos I was among the crowd that was saying Kiddush Levana out in the open. While davening I overheard someone making a joke about using a Kosher Switch (my guess was to place light on the outside so people could better read). I did my own reading and research before that and couldn’t tell if the gentleman was joking or being serious.
R’ Menashe Kelati demonstrating how the Kosher switch works. Courtesy of Shmuel Hertzfeld on Facebook (http://on.fb.me/1G8j854)
To put it lightly, the development and marketing Kosher Switch, invented by Menashe Kelati, has been very controversial in the Torah Jewish community to say the least. The Kosher Switch, a device purportedly meant to ease the constraints of Sabbath observance, is not the first of its kind. The Grama switch by Zomet Institute, as well as the Zman switch have been created for emergency situations of pikuach nefesh. However, this switch has caused an uproar in the Jewish community. Why?
Before going on, let me state that while I am far from an expert in the field of electrical engineering or Hilchos Shabbos (nor am I a certified Rabbi), I treasure Shabbos and am always looking for ways to enhance it. That said, I did my own personal research and humbly present my findings. Before I go on, let me first state that the topic of electricity on Shabbos is far more extensive than what I’m laying out, and that I am not (intentionally) offering my own Psak, just a compilation of “what’s out there.”
Let’s first briefly cover how electricity works. Electricity is conducted by wires, and a switch would turn an electrical light on or off based on the completion of a circuit. Electricity would flow through the filament of a conductive wire from a power source which would then power on the light. Switches would then complete or break a circuit in the process. For additional reading material, I included below a responsa by Rabbi Shalom Klass ZT”L on electricity on Shabbos from his compendium “Responsa of Modern Judaism, book 1.”
[See image gallery at www.mywesternwall.net]
The creation and destruction of a structure would constitute one Melacha. As an aside, I remember once hearing that locking/unlocking a door also might count as completing/destroying a structure, yet that’s allowed and this isn’t since for some reason.
Another potential problem is the lighting of a fire. On a simple level, when you turn on a switch and a light turns on, it’s emitting light on a platform that if something wrong happens, it can unfortunately cause a fire which we all sadly know on a personal level. Whether the filament part of the wire is pre-existing or not, the fact is that the flicking of the light switch causes the creation of the light to occur. It doesn’t say in the Torah that one needs to rub sticks and stones to create fire, just that it’s created due to a cause that you have started, otherwise known as Grama. I would be remiss if i didn’t add that this also would count as Makeh BePatish, which is where one finalizes a structure, which is what this would seemingly fall under.
The Kosher Switch is a device which sends light pulses from inside one side of the switch to another. If the light pulse doesn’t go, it’s presumably safe for the user to turn the light on or off, and the emission of the light pulse also activates “on or off.” By the blockage being turned on or off during the light’s inactive period, there’s presumably not even an indirect cause of turning on or off the light. However, this is a serious miscalculation according to leading Rabbis.
Image courtesy: Kosherswitch.com
First of all, leading Rabbis have come out against the switch which purported to be lechatchila. Rabbi Chaim Yisroel Belsky was the most vocal about it when it referred to it as a Rube Goldberg contraption.
I was given a description of a device called “the kosher switch” by its makers. The accompanying material claimed that it could be used to turn lights on or off during Shabbos without violating halachah. Upon careful examination, it turned out to be nothing more than a tool for the breaking down of meleches Shabbos into its component parts without omitting a single element thereof. It is a “Rube Goldberg” contraption comprising an entire melachah, except that somewhere along the line, a tiny possibility of safeikis introduced, so that the odds of the melachah being completed is reduced somewhat or delayed minimally. This concept has no place in halachah. (1) If the Sanhedrin were empowered, that act would be punishable by misas bais din.
Following this fallacious reasoning, all thirty-nine melachos and their subcategories, toldos, could easily be performed on Shabbos. There is but a one-word correct response to these machinations: assur, period.
In a case of pikuach nefesh, there would be no improvement in using this device over a direct performance of the actual melachah, which would be preferable, because it would shorten the rescue time.
The material advertising the “switch” is an agonizing distortion of Torah values. It portrays the holy and wonderful Shabbos as a nuisance and a problem to be solved. “Get our switch and you will be relieved from the unbearable limitations and yoke of Shabbos.” That is the unequivocal message resounding from every word of the false publicity accompanying the gadget.
It is worthwhile to issue a clarion call at this time to clear the air. Shabbos is wonderful, Shabbos is bliss. There is nothing in Jewish life comparable to preparing for and experiencing our holy Shabbos. Nor is there anything in non-Jewish life that comes close to Shabbos.
The limitations of Shabbos are what characterizes it and what endows it with its sweetness and majesty.
Zachor es yom haShabbos lekadsho, ois hee beini uveineichem ledoroseichem.
Signed on the 2nd day in the month of Iyar 5775
Rabbi Yisroel Belsky
(1) Compare to “zoreh veruach mesayato.” There, as well, the lack of certainty in intermediate elements does not diminish the continuity of the melachah. There are numerous other examples.
Other letters like Rabbi Bechhofer’s are below.
[See image gallery at www.mywesternwall.net]
I asked myself who Rube Goldberg is, let alone those types of machines. To quote Wikipedia:
“A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention, device or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered or overdone to perform a very simple task in a very complicated fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg (1883–1970).”
[See image gallery at www.mywesternwall.net]
In other words, R’ Belsky was saying that it’s a device that does additional steps to prevent you from actually “causing” the damage. The problem is, one of the criteria of Grama is that when you do the action, you must have intent on the action doing a different thing (davar she-aino miskaven). If you are turning on a switch so that the light should turn on, you have Kavana (intent). Therein lies the issue.
Rabbi Avrohom Neuberger of Mishpacha looks at it from the spiritual viewpoint, that if it doesn’t feel right, then there’s something to be said in the name of Tishbos (you shall rest), and quoted R’ Dovid Ribiat Shit”a on his interpretation of the Rambam’s words regarding Tishbos (seen in the scanned images below). In a nutshell, without Tishbos and all other Miderabbanans, we could actually get around all 39 Melachos using some sort of technicality (using buses operated by non-Jews, weighing bushels and sacks of flour, collecting eggs from chickens on Shabbos, etc.)
Rabbi Tzvi Ortner of HalachicTech USA adds that removing an obstruction can be deemed an action. He categorizes it as Hasaras Monei’a (removing an obstruction), and compares it to releasing water held by a dam, which then drowns a person making the one releasing the dam liable as a murderer (see Nimukei Orach Chaim, 259:5 on this matter). It should be noted that R’ Ortner rejected the switch even when it was first introduced to him in 2011.
More letters against the switch have been attached at the bottom for reference.
The one video statement by Rabbi Eliyahu Benhaim (in the video below) appears to be the most level headed, but watching the video in its entirety shows that he’s referring to its use for the aged, ill and infirm, not for just everyone to use it. He also used the example of the refrigerator when it was introduced and the brouhaha it caused later on. The difference between the switch and the fridge is that when opening the fridge, your kavana is to get the food, be it whether the motor is and is not operational. The switch is for the sole purpose of turning on and off the light.
To add to it, R’ BenHaim recalled (rants?) when machine matzos were introduced, the Sanzer Rebbe (R’ Chaim Halberstadt) considered it Chametz. While 99% of Chassidim won’t use machine Matzah for the seder, the reality is that all eat it on Pesach. He further adds the example of a man shooting an arrow and a shield coming into play later on. When the arrow is shot, the shield doesn’t come in later, thereby not constituting Grama. Another example: when there is Chas V’Shalom a fire in ones house and one leaves bottles of water to catch and extinguish the fire, there’s nothing wrong with it according the the Talmud and Rambam. Therefore it’s not a Torah prohibition, though each Rabbi has his own opinion. He then points that the same Rabbis should be ashamed of themselves since they (sic) previously permitted electric scooters and loudspeakers on Shabbat, and even electric shavers which is like a razor, and they hurl accusations at the next innovation. He follows up that these Rabbis should look at themselves in the mirror first as they are allowing leniencies that their ancestors would have never dreamed of. He then compares these Rabbis to a pig that displays its hooves to show how frum it is, thereby deceiving the world of its true nature. He clarifies that he is not going against all the Rabbis but that there are some that are acting in such a manner.
After all that, move on to four minutes into the video, that’s it’s the perfect device for “one who has a need, a baal tshuva, synagogues that require a gentile to kindle so that when a gentile is instructed it would be at most Grama or even NOT a grama. Nevertheless, he does emphasize that it’s for those that absolutely cannot live without it.
This is what Rabbi Benhaim stated. He’s very positive about it but he sees it more as a Kiruv tool since he doesn’t see any Grama or anything active. He only asks that for all those that we all treat each other with respect, which I’m personally all for.
Rabbi Yossi Mizrachi, a Kiruv Rabbi, was originally gung-ho in 2011 and 2013 about it. Here are the videos:
Curious about this, I personally emailed R’ Mizrachi on April 26, stating:
“If your stance has changed since then, perhaps a shiur on this topic is in order?” Baruch Hashem, he didn’t disappoint.
On April 28th (two days later), he came out with a video called Hypocrisy in Our World, which for me is a masterpiece. As an aside, everywhere around us are hypocrites, acting one way and doing things another way. That said, he clarified that Menashe Kelati, the inventor of the Kosher switch, is a very decent Jew – of which there are not too many of – that kept tabs with leading Rabbis since 2011 while developing the switch. His main question aimed at the detractors was very simple: where were they the last 3-4 years? Like R’ BenHaim, R’ Mizrachi was very much “for” this device for Kiruv purposes, but admits that those that are Mechalel Shabbos will stay that way, just that this would lessen the punishment come the next world. However, his issue was moreso in how these big Rabbis not only retracted their approbations, but then condemned him. R’ Mizrachi’s problem was that they could have come out in a Kosher (sic) manner and stated that they were wrong at first and take the brunt of the responsibility, but instead to save face, they claimed that they were right all along and that the inventor was wrong for deceiving them!
I find that this controversy comes out at an interesting time. During Sefiras HaOmer we symbolically mourn for 33 days to commemorate R’ Akiva’s 24,000 students dying during that time of askara (throat tumor, lo aleinu) which was in retaliation for them baselessly hating each other so much despite each one being a scholar in his own right. Each one was supposedly able to learn Torah from 49 different angles, and instead of using their talents for good, they spat on each other without respect. This is a time where we have a real opportunity to do Teshuva and a real Tikkun on this catastrophe.
As for the Kosher Switch, I personally only really paid attention to it the last month, so I have no clue on the background on a) who was/wasn’t approached, and b) how the conversations actually went, nor do I care to for that matter, and c) which Rabbis actually remembered their own conversations due their hectic schedules. I know that from over the last 4 years, Rabbi Belsky for example, underwent serious surgery in 2012 for a collapsed lung and had the name Chaim added to him, suggesting that he had many more important things to worry about than a Kosher Switch.
So that’s it for now. Armed with this information, I respectfully leave you to, the reader, to do as you wish. However, I’m in no personal rush to buy the Kosher Switch.
Electricity: Rabbi Shalom Klass – Responsa of Modern Judaism
[See image gallery at www.mywesternwall.net]
Mishpacha
[See image gallery at www.mywesternwall.net]
Ami
[See image gallery at www.mywesternwall.net]
A Compendium of Halachos (in Hebrew) regarding the Kosher Switch
The Yosher Switch – Zomet’s stance (in English) on the “Kosher Switch”
I recently heard the following from a Rabbi – also an adult holocaust survivor – last Shabbos. For privacy reasons I will not divulge the persons’ name.
We know of the story how Yosef’s brothers plotted to sell him. Their rationale actually was straightforward. Avraham discarded Yishmael and his other sons in favor of Yitzchak, Yitzchak discarded Esav in favor of Yaakov. It only made sense that in Yaakov giving Yosef the multicolored coat, he was sending a message that he was going to choose Yosef and discard the other brothers. The brothers though had prophecy that Yehuda really was to inherit the kingship, therefore, they needed to do away with anyone getting in his way. So what really was the crime?
Their crime apparently was that in making the judgement and leaving Yosef in the pit with snakes, they were using hard logic and, like the average person, didn’t care for him as “the next person,” allowing for natural selection to take its place.
This Rabbi then went ahead and opened up for the first time in decades about his experience in the Holocaust. He explained that when he was in the camps, in addition to the physical torture and hunger, the Nazis also played psychological games on the Jews. People would ask him, why didn’t any Jews revolt? The answer he provided was startling. He explained that the Nazis warned the inmates that, should even one person revolt, that not only would they murder the people in the camp, they would also return to the villages where each person came from and shoot an equal number of people in the village. He explained that, while in the end the Nazis killed everybody anyway, the Jewish attitude must remain the same. To care for each Jew selflessly puts us on a higher level than the average person, and was one of the most astonishing traits that each holocaust survivor exhibited when times were that tough.
Disclaimer: this post (and these pics) came from a much earlier Facebook post by Eitan Mordechai.
Photo courtesy: Eitan Mordechai
Rav Kaduri claims that the Angels enjoyed the smoke from his cigarettes. He also claimed that when he would smoke, all the souls that were in gehenom that were liable for serefa would come up before the smoke. He would puff the cigarette smoke and rectify their souls. He also said that all cigarettes are holy except Marlboro, but he prefers the brand called “Noblesse.”
See footnote dalet.
Photo courtesy: Eitan Mordechai
According to Joey Weisberger,
“This should help explain a bit
שם “נובלס” מקורו במונח הצרפתי Noblesse oblige שמשמעותו “האצילות מחייבת”.
Probably helps with reaching עולם האצילות.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noblesse_%28cigarette%29
In this world of labels and characterization, some people may think of baalei teshuva as a certain kind of exotic being brave and noble, but not really part of the general population. Of course, this is ludicrous. Every person stagnates unless constant thoughts of teshuva are on his mind. The whole of one’s life should be considered and refined regularly. If not, we stop growing.
King David knew what it was to do teshuva, and through his Tehillim, he left us ample lessons to be learned. This particular kapitel was written after the events surrounding the death of Batsheva’s husband Uriah. From his previous heights of spirituality, David felt he had fallen into the abyss. His sin weighed heavily on his mind. He realized that as leader of his people, his sin could be held against them as well. David knew there is no such thing as a behavior that is solely the business of the one who performs it. In spiritual matters, a “victimless crime” does not exist. We are all responsible for each other, and when one fails, his actions have repercussions on others. The spiritual air we breathe changes when a member of our community becomes ensnared in sinful actions.
Taken from: http://torah.org/learning/tehillim-ch17/?print=print
By: Shlomo Katz
A good story takes you back in time.
A holy story doesn’t have to, it keeps on taking place.
Tonight is the yahrzeit of R’ Moshe Heschel, also (and mainly) known as Moishele Good Shabbos.
While attending a wedding of dear friends just a few years ago, our lives changed forever. Before telling you exactly why, PLEASE refresh your memory, and open your hearts to one of the most powerful moments in Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s life.
Reb Shlomo ztz’l:
I don’t want to tell you sad stories, it’s not really sad, maybe a little bit, but it’s a gevalt. Every person needs a Rebbe. Sometimes you meet somebody and it mamesh reaches you so much that it mamesh carries you your whole life. So one of my Rebbes, which I saw just twice or three times in my life, was a Yid and his name was Reb Moshe.
My father was a Rabbi in Baden Bei Din, in Austria, and here comes 1938. I don’t want to mention their name, the other side began to take over. In Germany it was not so dangerous yet to walk on the street, but in Vienna it was mamesh dangerous from the first day on. Yidden couldn’t go to shul anymore, especially my father.
So on Shabbos morning it was only dangerous from 8 o’clock on, but between 5am and 8am it was less dangerous, and my father would make a minyan in the house. People would come at six o’clock and would mamesh daven so fast. Kriyas Hatorah would also go by real fast because everyone wanted to be home before 8.
My brother and I were little kids. When you don’t see people all week long, you are mamesh hungry to see a person. So I remember my twin brother and I, we were nearly up all Friday night. We couldn’t wait, we wanted to open the door for the minyan that would come in the morning.
There was usually a knock at the door, and we would see a yid standing there with such fear. I would open the door just a little bit and he would slip through the door, and then I would close it real fast.
But then one Shabbos, I remember it was Parshas Bamidbar. There was a knock, and I went to open the door. I’ll never forget it. I see a Yid with little peyis, and little beard. But this yid? He’s not afraid. He started singing:
Good Shabbos good Shabbos. Good Shabbos good Shabbos, Good Shabbos good Shabbos, Good Shabbos good Shabbos, Good Shabbos good Shabbos, Good Shabbos good Shabbos, Oy Good Shabbos good Shabbos, Good Shabbos.
(https://soundcloud.com/carlebach-legacy/moishele-good-shabbos-niggun)
This Yid was mamesh in another world.
He walked in and he walks up and down and the whole time he is singing Good Shabbos good Shabbos.
Then he turns to me, I’m a little boy and he says to me in Yiddish, “what is your name, what is your name,”
I didn’t want to G-d forbid stop the melody, so I answered him back singing, “my name is Shlomo, what is your name.”
He said “Moishele, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Oy Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos.”
So my brother and I called him “Moishele Good Shabbos”.
This Moishele came in for the minyan and we began to daven fast. Basically when it comes to Nishmas Kol Chai you are not permitted to talk, but obviously Reb Moishele, just couldn’t hold back. He said to the chazzan ‘prayers are supposed to go up but the way you are davening is making everything go down because you are davening so fast.’ And he was crying. ‘Yiddelach’, he says, ‘maybe this is the last Shabbos we will have in our lives. Is this the way to say Nishmas Kol Chai?
So the chazzan said, ‘I don’t know any better’.
I’ll remember it till Mashiach is coming. Moishele walks to the amud.
He started singing: Nishmas Kol Chai Tevarech Es Shimcha Hashem Elokeinu Veru’ach Kol Basar Tefa’er Useromem… and he was using the same tune he walked into the house singing.
But you know friends, he davened the whole davening with this niggun. The repetition, kedushah, everything. Then they read the Torah, and by that time it was already 10:30 but nobody mamesh cared. Moishele mamesh lifted up everyone, nobody had fear anymore.
Finally the davening was over at around 11 and my mother brought in wine to make Kiddush. Now I want you to know, the windows were always closed and the shades were down. Moishele says, ‘when you make Kiddush, you have to open the windows. You have to say Kiddush for the whole world’.
People started saying ‘Moishele, this is just too much. The people in the street want to kill us’.
‘Who are they’ Moishele says, ‘the children of Esav? they are our cousins. You know why Esav is Esav? Because he forgot what Shabbos is. Maybe if some Yid would scream V’shamru B’Nei Yisrael Es Hashabbos, maybe Esav will remember what he learned by his father Yitzchak’.
He opened the windows and Moishele was standing by the window. You could mamesh see the Germans walking up and down the street. He mamesh had the wine outside of the window and he was singing with the same melody:
“V’shamru B’nei Yisroel Ess haShabbos…..”
After davening my parents invited him to eat with us and Moishele began telling us his story, with so much tzniy’us and anava (modesty), half telling half not telling. ‘I want you to know’ he says, ‘I am on the black list of the Germans’. It was then that my family realizes that we recognized Moishele. His picture was on every street corner. It said ‘the most wanted Jew by the Furor.’ What was his crime? If you remember, thousands of Yidden were arrested and nebech, their wives and children were dying from hunger. Moishele was up all night carrying food to every house.
This was Parshas Bamidbar, and on Pesach (approximately two months prior) he brought matza to two thousand families in Vienna.
He told us that one night they caught him and hit him over the head but at the last moment, he said that the Ribbono Shel Olam gave him strength and somehow managed to turn away and run off. ‘So during the day I cannot walk on the street, so I’ll stay here till Shabbos goes out’.
Before he left he turned to us and said ‘I want to come again, most probably I’ll come Wednesday night’. Now friends, I want you to know how shabbosdik he was. He says ‘I’ll come Wednesday night and it will be around 4 o’clock in the morning and I will knock on the door seven times l’Kovod Shabbos (in honor of Shabbos) and you will know it’s me’.
Wednesday night came and I mamesh could not sleep all night, waiting for Moishele Good Shabbos to come.
At around 4:30 we hear mamesh a subtle knock, seven times. We open the door and Moishele is standing by the door singing:
Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos, Good Shabbos
We asked him where is this niggun from. Moishele told us that he was in Lublin on Rosh Hashana, davening with the Breslover chassidim. He heard this Niggun from the old chassidim who told him this was the niggun which Reb Nachman himself davened too. It was the first time we ever heard of Reb Nachman.
He stayed in our house all night long singing. That was the last time I saw him.
We left for America and my brother I went to Mesivtah Toras VaDa’as. Everyone that came to the Mesivtah … we mamesh taught them Moishele’s Niggun.
Later on I had the privilege of meeting so many young people, especially in San Francisco. I had the house of love and prayer, it was a gevalt. I want you to know, this niggun turned on hundreds of thousands of people to Shabbos. Not to be believed.
The most important thing is that I taught all those kids that even on Wednesday night we say good Shabbos. We are living in an age before Mashiach, we cannot wait till Shabbos to say good Shabbos. You can say good Shabbos all the time.
Anyway, this all took place 1938, and in the meantime, time is flying. And I don’t want to tell you bad things but just open your hearts. A few years ago I was walking on the street in Tel Aviv on Ben Yehuda by street, by the Yarkon river. Suddenly a Yiddele from Vienna see me. ‘Aren’t you Shlomo Carlebach’, and I said ‘yes’. ‘Do you remember Moishele, you know, Moishele from Vienna?’
Somehow it struck me and I said, ‘you mean Moishele Good Shabbos? Is he still alive?’
He says to me, ‘there’s a little park by the river, let’s walk down there and I’ll tell you the story.
I want you to know, I was one the closest friends of Moishele good Shabbos.
(By the way, I thought my brother and I were the only ones who called him Moishele good Shabbos. Obviously everyone called him that. All of Vienna called him Moishele good Shabbos)
Moishele finally got himself a false passport, an English passport. Moishele had two children, a little boy and a little girl. He, his wife and two children were sitting on the train leaving Austria, with a passport to go to London. And this yidele says ‘I was there on the train’. His wife kept on begging him Moishele, ‘please don’t sing’, and he was singing this niggun nonstop. ‘Please’, she said, ‘don’t make any noise. Wait until we go out of the border’.
The train is slowly leaving, but Moishele couldn’t hold back. ‘I have to sing Good Shabbos one more time to say so long to Vienna, I have to say goodbye to the city where my family had so many high moments on Shabbos’. He opened the window and started singing one last time ‘Good Shabbos Good Shabbos Good Shabbos Good Shabbos’.
The most heartbreaking thing happened. Since his picture was all over the city, one of the people on the train recognized him and called over one of the Germans. They stopped the train and dragged off Moishele. ‘And I swear to you’, this yidele told me. ‘Moishele didn’t stop singing Good Shabbos till that final whip which killed him’.
Now I want you to know something incredible.
A few years later, I was supposed to go to do a concert in Manchester on Sunday. and the way to go to the concert was that I had to leave Tel Aviv Friday morning and I was thinking of going to London and then Sunday I would go to Manchester.
While we are flying, they announce that there is a gas strike in London and they are landing in Zürich. Anybody who wants to go to London when they get to Zürich – they would take care of it and it would be a minimum16 hour delay, on Friday afternoon.
So one Yid who was sitting next to me says ‘why don’t you got to Antwerp for Shabbos and from there, there will be a ship that leaves at six o’clock in the morning and gets to London at 12 and from there go to Manchester’. This Yid who is sitting next to me on the plane invites me for Shabbos and I say yes, so I end up in Antwerp.
It’s two hours before Shabbos, and I’m on the streets of Antwerp. Suddenly, someone walks up to me, I know this face, but I didn’t know who this person was. He was so sweet. He says to meet, ‘Shloime’le, come to my house for Shabbos’.
I told him ‘Thank you zise yidele, I’m already going to this Yiddele who I met on the plane but give me your telephone, if I have a Melaveh malka I’ll invite you’. So he writes down his name, Lazer Heschel.
After he left I said, I asked my host ‘who is this Heschel’. He said to me, ‘don’t you know, he’s the son of Moishe Heschel, Moishele Good Shabbos’.
Gevalt, I couldn’t believe it.
We have a Melaveh malka, and this Lazer Heschel shows up. I asked him, ‘do you know your tatty’s niggun?’
‘What niggun’ he says to me.
The most heartbreaking thing was that he was too small to remember. Suddenly it became so clear to me that the whole gas strike in London was only that I should be in Antwerp and I gave him over his father’s niggun.
And then I remembered.
The last time I saw Moishele, before he walked out he was standing by the door for a long time and he sang with the his same niggun
“Tzur Yisroel Tzur Yisroel Kume Be’ezras Yisrael Ufdei Chinumecha Yehuda Veyisroel.…”
He looked at us and said ‘promise me you will teach this Niggun to everyone you meet. Teach your children’, and then he said ‘teach my children’.
What do we know friends?
******
Back to 2010.
We were invited to the wedding of dear friends which took place in the outskirts of Beit Shemesh.
The wedding was awesome. The colorful range of Shtreimels and hippies singing and dancing together was .
Our dear friend and teacher, R’ Sholom Brodt had the zchus to marry off the couple.
After the chuppa, a young chassidishe yid, a princely looking chassid came up to R Sholom asking him if he was using the tune of Moishele Good Shabbos for the brachas under the chuppa. R Sholom said yes and asked him why he is asking.
‘I am Moishele great-grandson, it’s my great-grandfather’s Niggun, how do you know this niggun’ replied this yid.
We all began to come up to this very young, shy and humbled yid. We couldn’t believe it… we felt we were all part of the story. One by one, we came up to him, bursting with utter simcha and total amazement. This chassid never saw anything like this, and hinted to me that this was very overwhelming for him.
How do I begin to explain to him who his great-grandfather is to us, and to thousands and thousands more? How do I begin to explain to him that thousands of yiddelach daven to his great-grandfather’s niggun every day, every Shabbos, every holiday? How do I begin to give over to him who his great-grandfather was to our Rebbe?
He approached me a few minutes later and asked me if I was driving back home, and if I had room in the car for him, his wife and two children. Crazily enough, he only lives 15 minutes away from us. I was humbled beyond belief by the thought of driving him and his family home.
As we closed the door of the car, and a 25 minute ride approaching us, I began to seriously feel Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur and Succos, all at once. It was so beyond my wife and myself.
But then, thank G-d I remembered I had the audio of Reb Shlomo telling over the whole story of Moishele Good Shabbos. We put it on – and literally felt that we were being part of witnessing the past, present and future all meet in holy oneness.
This chassid, whose name is Eliezer Heshel, the son of Moshe Heshel, the son of Eliezer Heshel, the son of Moishele Heshel – thee Moishele good Shabbos… he had never heard the story before. He knew some facts and some stories about his great grandfather, but other than being familiar with the tune… he didn’t know much more.
He sat behind me, and all I could hear while Reb Shlomo ztz’l was davening away in the backround, was Moishele’s great-grandson’s amazement. Pshhhh…psssss. He was literally going out of his mind.
His wife (who is related to the kalla of the wedding we were at) gave me their home number. Eliezer told me that they have a picture in an old family picture album… one picture of their great-grandfather. He is going to dig it out of the storage in his parents house, and get it to us.
As he got out of the car and was about to walk into his home, he turned to me and said ‘May the zchus of my great-grandfather Moishele stand for you, your family and your friends forever.’
I spoke to him a few nights later, and he told me that all they know is that Moishele’s ashes are buried somewhere in Vienna. He then told me that Moishele’s yahrtzeit is coming up, the tenth of Cheshvan, just six days before our Rebbe’s yahzrteit.
‘Come by, I think I found something for you’.
I drove to his house with utmost excitement, wondering what he found.
The picture attached is what he gave me, a picture of his great-grandfather, Moishele Good Shabbos.
The eyes say it all.
Good Shabbos Good Shabbos
Shlomo & Bina Katz
Read the images below. I counted Sarah being “begrudging” five times in this piece. It got so bad that Reb Elihu Levine, who translated the Kli Yakar into English, apologetically wrote below that “she didn’t REALLY mean it…”
Worth a read.
NYTCREDIT: Erin Gleeson for The New York Times
three types of manna, from left, mastic, shirkhesht and hedysarum
Huge hat-tip to finkorswim.com to provide a very rational account of the Manna and how it tasted.
Mystery solved?
I have been wondering about this for a while. Follow me on this journey from a 3000 year old story to current culinary trends….
As the Israelites sojourned in the desert for 40 years, the Torah tells us that they ate Manna. It was a food that they were not familiar with as they reacted to the manna by saying “man hu?” what is it?
Reading the text of the narrative in the Torah tells us some very interesting details. Here are some snippets:
The layer of dew had risen, and behold, on the surface of the desert were thin flakes. It was as fine as frost on the ground.
The Sons of Israel saw it and said to one another, “What is it?,” for they did not know what it was. Moshe said to them, “This is the bread that God is giving you to eat.
They gathered it each morning, each man according to what he would eat. When the sun became hot, it melted.
The House of Israel named it manna. It was like white coriander seed, and it tasted like wafers in honey.
Mishnaic sources seem to indicate that the Manna was a miraculous food, never seen before and never to be seen again. Some rabbinic sources also indicate that the Manna’s taste was subjective. This is traditionally viewed as being a miraculous feature of the food.
This is how most Orthodox Jews approach the Manna.
Then I saw the Ibn Ezra. He says that Chivi has seen this substance called manna. The Ibn Ezra asks several piercing questions on this version of manna. But he does not say that it is impossible to say that the manna was a natural substance. This would seem to indicate that it is possible that Manna is a naturally occurring, not miraculous substance. Its existence in the desert on a daily basis may have been miraculous. But the food is a natural food.
I wondered about this Ibn Ezra for a while. Does this food really exist? Does it really fall from the sky as the text says? What does it taste like?
Then I saw the NY Times article on Manna. (HT: VIN / Rationalist Judaism).
Here are the money quotes:
But as miraculous as its biblical apparition may seem, manna is real and some chefs have been cooking with it.
The dozens of varieties of what are called mannas have two things in common. They are sweet and, as in the Bible, they appear as if delivered by providence, without cultivation.
Most of this manna is either dried plant sap extruded from tiny holes chewed out by almost invisible bugs, or a honeydew excreted by bugs that eat the sap.
Rarer are the mannas not from sap, including Trehala manna, the sweet-tasting cocoon of the Larinus maculates beetle from Turkey; and manna-lichen (Lecanora esculenta), which occasionally dries up and blows around to form semisweet clouds out of which manna settles into drifts from western Greece to the central Asian steppe.
Mannas form best in extremely dry climates — like the Middle East’s — where sap oozes at night and dries up in the morning. The favored theory on what the Israelites called manna is the sap of a tamarisk tree.
Paul Liebrandt of Corton in Manhattan used Shir-Khesht manna in a dish of charred Frog Hollow Farm apricots, fresh wasabi and Kindai kampachi. “The texture is unlike any other I’ve experienced — chewy and crunchy at the same time,” Mr. Liebrandt said. “It also makes the food intensely personal, because no two people taste manna the same way. I might taste a haunting minty-ness, while you might detect a whiff of lemon. No other ingredient is like that.”
Hedysarum manna comes from Hedysarum alhagi, the camel thorn bush. It resembles Grape-Nuts mixed with aquarium sand, and tastes like a combination of maple syrup, brown sugar, blackstrap molasses, honey and nuts.
Even more complex and subtle is the Shir-Khesht manna from the cotoneaster nummilaria shrub. Shir-khesht looks like broken-up bits of concrete or coral and is whiter than hedysarum manna. It is sweet, with some gumminess that eventually dissolves in the mouth. Shir-khesht’s tongue-cooling effect comes from mannitol, a sugar alcohol in this and many other mannas; the sensation is similar to menthol, without the menthol taste. It has notes of honey and herb, and a faint bit of citrus peel.
I find this incredibly fascinating.
If we put it all together we get this: Manna is a real food. It is normal to react to its discovery by saying it resembles no other food. It is made up of tiny particles that form a sweet crunchy substance. It appears to fall from the heaven as it needs no cultivation and is light enough to be transported by the wind. The Sinai Desert is a likely place for manna to “fall”. The taste of the manna is so unique that no two people taste it in the exact same way. The miracle of the manna was more likely its consistent presence than its existence at all.
Source: http://finkorswim.com/2010/06/10/what-was-the-manna/
R’ Tuvia Singer states that as an experienced diver, he dived in the Red Sea as well as throughout most of the world (save for the Muslim countries). He points that the Red Sea has a flat drop wall dive (a boon for divers so they don’t have to walk too far in) of between 8,000 – 10,000 feet, being one of the deepest points in the world to dive. In other words, if the Jews crossed in those spaces, assuming that the sea was cleared, there would be a cliff which the height would have been the equivalent of some skyscrapers today. You would need a helicopter to pass through!
This holds true for every part of the Red Sea save for one spot: the Gulf of Aqaba where Nuweiba Beach is located. That spot is only 60-70 meters deep. He also mentions that when a ferry passes by there’s a huge surge due to the turbulence caused by water current banging on the relatively high wall, such that you would need to tie everything down to prepare for it as the ship will violently shake as it passes. As a result, passengers can get very sick from it.
The wheels and axles encrusted in coral also help.
Copied from Torah.org. Boldness added for emphasis:
By Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin
A sweet story is always worth repeating. A young student once went to see the Lev Simcha. When asked which yeshiva he attended, he replied with the name of an institution renowned for its work with newly committed students. “But I’m not a baal teshuva,” he quickly added. “Why not?” was the Rebbe’s rejoinder. “We should all strive to be baalei teshuva.”
In this world of labels and characterization, some people may think of baalei teshuva as a certain kind of exotic being – brave and noble, but not really part of the general population. Of course, this is ludicrous. Every person stagnates unless constant thoughts of teshuva are on his mind. The whole of one’s life should be considered and refined regularly. If not, we stop growing.
King David knew what it was to do teshuva, and through his Tehillim, he left us ample lessons to be learned. This particular kapitel was written after the events surrounding the death of Batsheva’s husband Uriah. From his previous heights of spirituality, David felt he had fallen into the abyss. His sin weighed heavily on his mind. He realized that as leader of his people, his sin could be held against them as well. David knew there is no such thing as a behavior that is solely the business of the one who performs it. In spiritual matters, a “victimless crime” does not exist. We are all responsible for each other, and when one fails, his actions have repercussions on others. The spiritual air we breathe changes when a member of our community becomes ensnared in sinful actions.
Thus David cries out, Hear, Hashem, righteousness. Pay attention to my cry. Listen to my prayer from guileless lips. David’s first step is to accept his wrongdoing. He dares not even start to repent until he has wiped away all deceit from his lips. Our sages tell us that David was the first to repent, and thus he paved the way for all future baalei teshuva. The Maharal points out that while we know of previous penitents, such as Adam, Cain and Reuven, David’s teshuva was unique. The others had all sought someone or something else to blame for their sins, and only later on did they admit to the wrongdoing. David, though, reached this step first. When the prophet accused him in the matter of Batsheva, he responded simply, “I have sinned.” Because of this attitude, he can now cry to Hashem and hope for Divine attention.
If David’s approach was unique in previous generations, how much more so now, where every misstep is readily blamed on others. David’s humble acceptance of his responsibility is an inspiration. Mitigating circumstances may have pressured us into acting as we did, but when we face Hashem, we must be honest. We must take hold of ourselves and not try to escape responsibility by blaming circumstances beyond our control. “Stuff happens” in every life. The test is what we do with that “stuff” to make our lives more positive.
David continues, Please dismiss the accusations against me. May Your eyes see only my integrity. Here David asks that Hashem take into account all the good he has done in the past. After accepting his guilt, David does not give up and become totally despondent. He is fully aware that a depressed state will never bring about a positive future. Instead, he speaks for a moment about the good he brought to this world, asking that in this merit his current state be put aside.
You examined my heart, inspecting it in the night. You cleansed me of my scheming thoughts, that they may never cross my lips again. David then returns to his teshuva. He knows full well that he was tested and failed. Our sages tell us that David actually asked to be tested. He aspired to a higher level of holiness and was told that to reach the level he hoped for, he would first have to pass just such a crisis. His failure therefore carried a double weight on his heart. Not only would he never reach the level he had hoped for, but he had placed his people in jeopardy. Thus David prays that no scheming cross his lips. Again he tells us that in the final analysis, we have to clear our minds from all scheming and reasoning. Instead we must take ourselves to a simpler place: Support my footsteps on the circuitous byways so that my feet will not falter. Even these circuitous byways, where our view of the final goal is sometimes obstructed, are laid out for us by Hashem. Life is filled with ups and downs, but if we follow to Hashem’s pathways, we our journey is sure to be safe.
I have called out to You because You will answer me, God. Today we seek help in many quarters, but the ultimate answer must always come from Hashem. The main thing is to call out to Him.
Sometimes we are so busy seeking reasons for our distress and failures that we forget it is Hashem Who runs this world. Just as a loving father always awaits his child, so Hashem waits for us to turn to Him. Nurturing a festering anger against people around us won’t bring anyone joy. Here we are told to direct our cry of pain to Hashem, Who will always listen.
The kapitel now comes to a passage that draws together all the various strings that make up true teshuva. Guard me as the apple of Your eye. Hide me in the shadow of Your wings from the evildoers who want to rob me, from my mortal enemies who surround me. The “apple of the eye” is the pupil, the point that lets in light. The Radak says that when we look into another person’s pupil, we see our own reflection as a small man. The ArtScroll Tehillim quotes Harav Gifter, zt”l, who derives from this a moral lesson. Most people observe others in order to find fault in them, thus boosting their own egos by feeling smug and superior. This is not the proper way. Rather, when you look at someone else you should see only yourself and realize what a small man you are compared to your neighbor. Here is the secret of being truly on the road of teshuva. As long as we stare into others’ eyes and see their faults and mistakes, we can never get past the superficiality of it all; we can never see that in truth, we are the small-minded and insecure ones. David faced his situation, and therefore he had the right to ask Hashem to guard him as “the apple of His eye.”
We are given these words of King David so that we too can come to such levels. There is so much bitterness going around today. People look down on others, never really understanding or caring. This is a wall we have erected ourselves. Such a barrier does not allow for growth, and certainly not for teshuva. It causes the anger within us to fester, because the ill feeling, which is certainly a sin, doesn’t dissipate. Rather, it gets worse because of our lack of true teshuva. This can surely be one of the causes for the devastation we see all around us.
As David saw, every action has an effect on others, and like a physical virus, this spiritual one is highly contagious. When we start to look at the “little man” within instead of looking critically at those around us, we too will hopefully be able to end with King David’s final words: Because of my concern for justice, I will merit to behold Your countenance. At the revival of the dead, I will be satisfied by Your likeness.
By: Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Behind Jewish belief in Torah she-be-al Peh, the “Oral Law”, lies a fundamental truth. The meaning of a text is not given by the text itself. Between a text and its meaning lies the act of interpretation – and this depends on who is interpreting, in what context, and with what beliefs.
Without an authoritative tradition of interpretation – in Judaism, the Oral Law -there would be chaos. To be sure, there were sectarian groups within Judaism – Sadducees, Karaites and others – who accepted the Written Torah but not the Oral Law, but in reality such a doctrine is untenable.
The Babylonian Talmud demonstrates this elegantly and with humour. It tells of a certain non-Jew who sought to convert to Judaism, and went to the great sage Hillel to do so. He made one proviso. “Convert me on condition that I accept the Written but not the Oral Law.” He was willing to be a Jew, but only a heretical one.
Hillel made no protest, and told the man to come to him for instruction. The first day, Hillel taught him he first four letters of the Hebrew alphabet: aleph, bet, gimel, dalet. The next day he taught him the same letters in reverse order: dalet, gimel, bet, aleph. “But yesterday,” protested the man, “you taught me the opposite.” “You see,” said Hillel, “you have to rely on me even to learn the alphabet. Rely on me also when it comes to the Oral Law.” (Shabbat 31a). Without agreed principles, there can be no teaching, no learning, no authority, no genuine communication.
One passage in this week’s sedra shows how differences in interpretation can lead to, or flow from, profound differences in culture. Ironically, the subject concerned – abortion – remains deeply contentious to this day.
The text deals not with abortion per se, but with a fight between two people in which a bystander – a pregnant woman – is hit, with the result that she miscarries. What is the punishment in such a case? Here is the text:
“If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she has a miscarriage but there is no other fatal damage [ason], the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. But if there is fatal damage [ason], you are to take life for life . . .” (Ex. 21: 22-23)
The word ason means “mischief, evil, harm, calamity, disaster”. Jacob uses it when his sons tell him that the second-in-command in Egypt (Joseph) insists that they bring their youngest brother Benjamin with them when they return, if they are to be cleared of the charge of spying. With Joseph missing, Benjamin is the only son left of Jacob’s beloved wife (by then dead), Rachel. Jacob refuses to give permission for Benjamin to leave home, saying: “If you take this one from me, too, and he meets with disaster (ason), you will send my white head down to the grave in sorrow” (Gen. 44: 29).
The meaning of the law about fighting men, then, is this: If the woman miscarries but suffers no other injury, the person responsible must pay compensation for the loss of the unborn child, but suffers no other penalty. If, however, the woman dies, he is guilty of a much more serious offence (the sages, in Sanhedrin 79a, disagreed as to whether this means that he is liable to capital punishment or not).
One thing, however, is clear. Causing a woman to miscarry – being responsible for the death of a foetus – is not a capital offence. Until birth, the foetus does not have the legal status of a person.
At the same time that the sages in Israel were teaching this law, there was a significant Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt. A passage in the Talmud describes the great splendour of the synagogue there. The Alexandrian Jewish community – whose most famous member was the first century philosopher Philo – was highly Hellenized. It developed its own traditions, at times quite different from those of the rabbinic mainstream. In one of his works, Philo, explaining the main principles of Jewish law to a non-Hebrew-reading public, turns to the biblical passage under review, and paraphrases it in these words:
But if anyone has a contest with a woman who is pregnant, and strike her a blow on her belly, and she miscarry, if the child which was conceived within her is still unfashioned and unformed, he shall be punished by a fine, both for the assault which he has committed and also because he has prevented nature, who was fashioning and preparing that most excellent of all creatures, a human being, from bringing him into existence. But if the child which was conceived had assumed a distinct shape in all its parts, having received all its proper connective and distinctive qualities, he shall die; for such a creature as that, is a man, whom he has slain while still in the workshop of nature, who had not thought it as yet a proper time to produce him to the light, but had kept him like a statue lying in a sculptor’s workshop, requiring nothing more than to be released and sent out into the world. (The Special Laws, III: XIX)
Philo understands the word ason to mean, not “calamity”, but rather “form”. The meaning of the two verses is now completely different. In both cases, they are talking about damage to the foetus only. In the first case, “there is no ason” means, the foetus was “unformed” – i.e. at an early stage of development. The second verse speaks of a foetus “that has form”, i.e. at a later stage of pregnancy. Philo puts this rather finely when he compares the developed foetus to a sculpture that has been finished but has not yet left the sculptor’s workshop. On this view foeticide – and hence abortion – can be a capital crime, an act of murder.hilo’s interpretation – and the views of the Alexandrian Jewish community generally – were to play a significant part in the religious history of the West. This was not because they had an impact on Jews: they did not. Rather, they had an impact on Christianity. The decisive victory of the Pauline Church over the Jerusalem Church, headed by Jesus’ brother James, meant that Christianity spread among gentiles rather than Jews. The first Christian texts were written in Greek rather than Hebrew. They were, at the same time, intensely dependent on the Hebrew Bible. In fact the one serious attempt to divorce Christianity completely from the Hebrew Bible – made by the 2nd century Gnostic Marcion – was deemed to be a heresy.
Christians were therefore dependent on Greek translations of and commentaries to Tanakh, and these were to be found among Alexandrian Jewry. The result was that early Christian teaching on abortion followed Philo rather than the sages. The key distinction was, as Augustine put it, betweenembryo informatus and embryo formatus – an unformed or formed foetus. If the foetus was formed (i.e. more than forty or eighty days had passed since conception: there was argument over the precise period), then causing its death was murder. So taught Tertullian in the second century. So the law remained until 1588 when Pope Sixtus V ordained that abortion at any stage was murder. This ruling was overturned three years later by Pope Gregory XIV, but re-introduced by Pope Pius IX in 1869.
This is not to say that Jewish and Catholic views on abortion are completely different. In practice, they are quite close, especially when compared to the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome, or the secular West today, where abortion is widespread and not seen as a moral evil at all. Judaism permits abortion only to save the life of the mother or to protect her from life-threatening illness. A foetus may not be a person in Jewish law, but it is a potential person, and must therefore be protected. However, the theoretical difference is real. In Judaism, abortion is not murder. In Catholicism, it is.
It is fascinating to see how this difference arose – over a difference in interpretation of a single word, ason. Without tradition and all the sages meant by “the Oral Law”, we would simply not know what a verse means. Between a text and its meaning stands the act of interpretation. Without rules to guide us – rules handed down across the generations – we would be in the same position as Hillel’s student, unable even to begin.
Original: http://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation-5770-mishpatim-the-meaning-of-texts/
Courtesy: Wikipedia
This list is in no particular order though only should show the quality of Rabbis that are proudly wearing Tekhelet from the murex trunculus. The intent here is so that one can see these Rabbis and know that there’s justification in wearing these blue strings despite what detractors might say. The following list is mostly courtesy of “Mi Yodeya: by Hacham Gabriel.” The comments and research are mine.
(On Shabbat) – source source 2
“ראיתי בירחון אור תורה (תשע”א אדר ב’) בענין התכלת מה שכתב הרב מרן ראש הישיבה שליט”א שנוהג לשים רק בשבת תכלת.
1. למה אם שם זאת רק פעם בשבוע זה לא נחשב כמוציא לעז על הראשונים?
2. ועוד כתב הרב בשם הרב אלישיב שאין לחייב את העם בתכלת, מה כוונת הדברים?
3. והאם ידוע לרב אם הרב אלישיב היה בעצמו שם תכלת בציצית?
4. ומתי יהיה נכון לחייב/להורות לרבים לשים תכלת?
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מס’ 10965
הרב המשיב: הרב יהונתן מאזוז שליט”א
1. כשהרב שם רק בשבת הדבר מוכיח שזו הנהגה חדשה שלא נהגו בה אבותינו, ולכן בשאר השבוע אינו שם, ובשבת שם כעין חומרא.
2. הכוונה היא, שאין לנו מסורות ברורות שזה זה ודאי התכלת של מצוה, אלא ראיות שבזה היו משתמשים בעבר לצביעה והסימנים בש”ס מתאימים לזה. וזה לא מספיק כדי להורות לרבים לחייב לשים תכלת, בפרט שאינה מעכבת בציצית.
3. שמעתי שהביאו לו טלית קטן מצוייצת בתכלת והרב זצ”ל לבש כמה רגעים והוריד.
4. כשיבוא המשיח.”
”
א). האם ראש הישיבה שליט”א סובר שהתכלת הידוע כיום זה הכלת האמיתי? ואם כן מה שמו של הדג האמיתי, המדעי שממנו מפיקים את התכלת, ומהיכן מוצאו של דג זה? ב). מי מפיק זאת? והיכן ניתן לרכוש חוטי תכלת אלו? ג). כזכור לי שראש הישיבה אמר שבברכת: “לישב בסוכה” הניקוד שבאות ‘ב’ זה עם פתח והאות מודגשת וזאת מפני שזו הסוכה האמיתית שצריך לישב בה בכדי לצאת לידי חובת ישיבה בסוכה. ומאידך על ברכת: “להתעטף בציצית” האות ‘ב’ היא עם שווא וההסבר שפשוט היות ואין אנו יודעים מהו הדג האמיתי שממנו מפיקים את התכלת לכן זה עם שווא ועד שיתגלה יהיה עם פתח. האם נאמר שכיום עם ההוכחות האות ‘ב’ תשתנה לפתח כמו בסוכה שזה התכלת האמיתי? ******* נשמח למקורות ומה גם שמענו שראש הישיבה שליט”א הוציא קונטרס על כך, האם ניתן לקבלו לכולל שלנו.
הרב המשיב: הרב יהונתן מאזוז שליט”א
1. עיין בעלון בית נאמן (מספר 17 פרשת בשלח שיעור שנאמר בפרשת בהעלותך)
2. אגודת פתיל תכלת של הרב טבגר ונמכר בחנויות טליתניה ועוד.
”
R’ Belsky ZT”L had a complicated relationship with Tekhelet. He likely was influenced by R’ Shachter while working together for the OU. He wore it on his regular Tzitzis when wearing a long frock coat to cover it, as well on his Shabbos Tallis. He didn’t like talking about it much and didn’t wear it on his weekday Tallis. My guess is he didn’t want to face negative backlash from the Haredi community and his affiliation with Torah Vodaas which has gone in “that direction.” This is nothing new: my father told me personally that in his time in Torah Vodaas in the mid-late 1970’s when people were starting to research it, the general attitude was that “this is nonsense.” R’ Yisroel Reisman, who is presently one of the Roshei Yeshiva at Torah Vodaas, has been vocal against it, saying there’s a “zero percent chance” that the murex is the techeiles source (which has been addressed by R’ Aryeh Leibowitz since that lecture). R’ Belsky also told his kids that they don’t need to wear it, and they don’t. Ask any Torah Vodaas alumnus in the last 10-15 years for confirmation on the above.
R’ Simcha Kook is the chief Rabbi of Rehovot.
(source)
Note: R’ Weinreb and I had a very nice email conversation about this earlier. He wears it on all his Talleisim and is 100% convinced that the murex is the real source.
Rabbi Dov Lior, Chief Rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba, at a meeting of Jewish settlers from the West Bank together with spiritual and political leaders attend a meeting in the Israeli parliament, in preparation for events which might follow the vote on the Palestinians state in the United Nations later this month. September 07, 2011. Photo by Uri Lenz/FLASH90 *** Local Caption ***
(source)
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dov_Lior:
Dov Lior (Hebrew: דב ליאור, born 1933) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi, who serves as the Chief Rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba in the southern West Bank. He is also the rosh yeshiva of the Kiryat Arba Hesder Yeshiva, and also heads the “Council of Rabbis of Judea and Samaria“.
(adding from a comment)
Rav Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern is the Rosh Yeshiva of Toras Chochom in Israel. A Mekubal as well, he is a Chasid of Ger from birth. He learned in the Yeshivas of Lucerne and Gateshead. He is married to the daughter of R’ Yosef Lubinsky from Antwerp (known as the Chantshin Rabbi). He moved to Yerushalayim after his marriage and learned with R’ Eliezer Shlomo Schick and R’ Nissan Dovid Kivak. He is also close to R’ Tzvi Hirsh Rosenbaum (Kretchnifer Rabbi-Siget).
Source: https://twitter.com/yiddishnews/status/694009371106361344
R’ Menashe Reisman delivers a daily Shiur in “Bnei Yehoshua” in Jerusalem. Only on his tallis katan and only at home.
From Wikipedia:
“Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam (Hebrew: בן ציון אריה לייבוש הלברשטאם) is the current leader of the Bobov Hasidic dynasty.[1] He was born in 1955 to Grand Rabbi Shlomo Halberstam, the third Bobover Rebbe. After his father’s death, his brother, Grand Rabbi Naftali Halberstam was crowned Bobover Rebbe, and he was crowned “Rav Hatzohir” (“Younger” Rabbi). After Grand Rabbi Naftali Halberstam’s death, he was crowned Grand Rabbi of Bobov.”
Photo courtesy: Yeshiva World
R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg, son-in-law of R’ Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, is a rabbi, posek, and Rosh Yeshiva in Israel. He is also Chief Justice of the Rabbinical High Court in Jerusalem and wears Tekhelet. In addition, R’ Goldberg wrote a beautiful Haskama on R’ Mois Navon’s book “Threads of Reason.”
(source)
Courtesy: Wikipedia
From his Wikipedia page:
“הרב שלמה דיכובסקי (נולד ב-15 בדצמבר 1938) הוא רב ודיין ישראלי חרדי, חבר בית הדין הרבני הגדול עד לפרישתו, שלאחריה שימש כמנהל בתי הדין. נחשב לליברלי באופן יחסי, ובקיא בתחומים כלליים – בעיקר במשפטים.”
“Hacham Gabriel” heard this from a Talmid.
Rabbi Elya Ber Wachtfogel, is rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva of South Fallsburg.
R’ Kalman Epstein is the son of R’ Zelig Epstein. (“Hacham Gabriel” of “Mi Yodeya” claims to have heard this from a talmid)
No image available.
(“Hacham Gabriel” of “Mi Yodeya” claims you can see him at his minyan on shabbat morning wearing a tallit)
Courtesy: Yeshivat Lev HaTorah
From Yeshivat Lev HaTorah:
“Rav Machlis received Semicha from Yeshivat Torah v’Daat and has been teaching for 25 years. He powerfully personifies chesed, dedicating his life to promoting love for all Jews and modeling a profound respect for every human being. He and his family host around 100 guests in their home each Shabbat, exposing his guests to the beauty of Torah and a vision of true Jewish unity.”
R’ Kimche is an Australian Rabbi who studied in the Mir under R’ Chaim Shmulewitz. He received his first rabbinic Semicha from R. Yaakov Fink zt”l, the Av Beit Din of Haifa, and later continued his halakhic studies with Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth shlita, (author of “Shemirat Shabbat KeHilchata”) from whom he received an advanced Semicha. R’ Kimchi is now the Rav of the Ner Israel community in Hendon, London, UK.
“Hacham Gabriel” heard directly from the Rav Shachter himself.
Courtesy: yeshiva.org.il
Rav Moshe Tzuriel is the mashgiach at Yeshivat Shala’avim.
Courtesy: Times of Israel (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
“Hacham Gabriel” claims to have seen this from personal experience.
Rabbi of the Jewish settlement of Efrat, Shlomo Riskin, seen during a prayer held in celebration of his extendedstay as the settement’s rabbi, after a long battle with the Chief Rabbinate, on July 6, 2015. Photo by Gershon Elinson/Flash90
From StackExchange user Marc:”I saw it with my own eyes, and when someone asked about them, his exact comment was:
You have an opportunity for a mitzvah d’orayta – how can you not wear them ?
Later he mentioned that they were from P’til Techelet.”
He supposedly wears it Rambam style.
At the Bris of one of his grandsons.
From the above photo, he appears to wear the Raavad strings with the GR”A’s tying method.
(source)
R’ Twerski has worn Tekhelet for years. Here are some of his endorsements:
Rabbi Hershel Schachter is Rosh Hayeshiva of YU, one of the poskim of the Orthodox Union regarding Kashrus, and a former talmid of R’ Joseph Ber Soloveitchik (The Rav). He pre-ordered a set for as soon Ptil Tekhelet was in production.
(source)
R’ Moshe David Tendler is the son-in-law of R’ Moshe Feinstein ZT”L, professor of biology/rosh yeshiva at YU, and medical expert. He is someone who goes “against the grain” in medical opinion (such as using a tube for Metzitzah b’Peh), and is one Rabbi who has visited the Temple Mount multiple times in the past. He has written pieces on Tekhelet himself, such as this one on Masorah.
From : https://www.hakotel.org.il/english/staff/
Rav Reuven Taragin, a Wexner Fellow and Musmach of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate completed a B.A. in Science and Philosophy at Yeshiva University and an M.A. in Jewish History and Education at Touro College (Israel). Rav Taragin has also been deeply involved in informal education programming including NCSY shabbatonim and the creation of the YUSSR summer program.
From http://www.haretzion.org/faculty/ramim
Rav Moshe Taragin [YHE ’83] has been a Ram at Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion since 1994. He has Semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, a BA in Computer Science from Yeshiva College, and an MA in English Literature from City University. Rabbi Taragin previously taught Talmud at Columbia University, lectured in Talmud and Bible at the IBC and JSS divisions of Yeshiva University, and served as Assistant Rabbi at the Fifth Avenue Synagogue. In addition, Rabbi Taragin currently teaches at the Stella K. Abraham Beit Midrash for Women of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion. He is the author of an Internet shiur entitled “Talmudic Methodology” with over 5,000 subscribers, and authors an audio shiur for KMTT– Ki Mitzion Teitze Torah – The Torah Podcast, entitled “Redemptive Sketches.” Short divrei Torah related to the parsha of the week can be accessed here. You can also follow Rav Taragin on Twitter.
Only on his tallit.
From http://www.haretzion.org/faculty/ramim:
Rav Doniel Schreiber [YHE ’86] has been a Ram at Yeshivat Har Etzion since 1994, and he is the founding Dean of the Yeshivat Har Etzion Center for Torah Leadership. He has Semicha from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and an MA in Medieval Jewish History from the Bernard Revel Graduate School. Rabbi Schreiber also lectures regularly in halacha in the community of Alon Shevut, and has been delivering a weekly evening halacha shiur to men and women in Jerusalem since 1997, first at Kehillat Moriah until 2003, and then at the Hildesheimer Shul until the present. He is the author of an Internet shiur entitled “The Laws of Shabbat” for the Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, has published articles in various books and Torah journals, and has served as scholar-in-residence in various communities in Israel, the United States, and South Africa. His shiurim emphasize reaching a clear halachic conclusion while showcasing the dynamic and conceptual system of halacha as it emerges from the gemara, rishonim, and poskim. Rabbi Schreiber and his wife, together with their eight children, live in Alon Shevut.
From Wikipedia.
“Hacham Gabriel” claims to have seen this himself.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosheh_Lichtenstein:
Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein (Hebrew: משה ליכטנשטיין; born July 7, 1961) is a co-Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion located in Alon Shvut.[1] He is the son of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein.
(“Hacham Gabriel” of “Mi Yodeya” claims to know this from personal experience)
Rabbi Yaaqov Medan (sometimes Ya’acov Medan) (Hebrew: יעקב מדן ) (born 1950/5710/3263) is a co-Rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion in Gush Etzion.
Based on StackExchange user Double AA:
“Rav Yoel Bin Nun famously slit the slides of his suit jacket rov open and attached tzitzit (with techelet) because he wants to be yotzei the mitzvah on his regular beged as is likely the intention of the pasuk. Source: I’ve seen him!”
R’ Yoel Bin Nun founded Gush Emunim shortly after the 1967 war which encouraged Jews to settle lands just conquered. It formally became an organization in 1974 but has since disbanded. He also co-founded Har Etzion. R’ Bin Nun now lives in Haifa.
From tekhelet.net:
”
Mois Navon is a member of the Ptil Tekhelet Association where he lectures extensively on the topic of tekhelet, manages the association’s question and answer forum both halachically and technically, and writes numerous articles on the subject. In addition he has published articles on Jewish topics in The Torah u-Madda Journal, Jewish Thought, Jewish Bible Quarterly, B’Ohr HaTorah, Alei Etzion, and Chidushei Torah. He also maintains an outreach class on Jewish Thought, and gives talks in parshanut. His writings can be accessed at: www.divreinavon.com.
As a Computer Design Engineer whose professional experience in research and development of digital hardware spans over 20 years, Mois has worked for notable companies such as IBM, NASA’s JPL, and News Corporation’s NDS. He is currently developing image-processing ASICs for Mobileye Vision Technologies to improve automotive safety. Mois has several patents pending in the field of image processing and computing hardware.
”
from tekhelet.net:
”
Baruch Sterman is co-founder of the Ptil Tekhelet Association. Baruch received his doctorate in Physics from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where he developed a CO2 laser used for both medical and industrial purposes. He received his Masters in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University. For the past fifteen years, Baruch has been a leading executive in the High-Tech sector in Israel, specializing in the fields of telecommunications and computer security. He holds several patents in optics and voice technology.
Baruch was instrumental in developing the modern techniques for dyeing tekhelet used by the Ptil Tekhelet Association today. These techniques take into account the halakhic, as well as the physical and chemical requirements needed for mass production. He has published numerous articles on the scientific and halakhic aspects of Tekhelet, and writes extensively on the topic of Science and Torah in general. His articles can be found at www.baruchsterman.com.
Baruch lives in Efrat, Israel with his wife Judy and their seven children.
”
R’ Tavger was the first person to wear Tekhelet with a Bracha.
From Tekhelet.net:
“Rav Tavger is the Rabbinical advisor of the Ptil Tekhelet Association. His involvement with tekhelet began in his kollel studies during which time he published his first work on tekhelet in the Journal Moria, with the blessing of HaRav Hagaon Shmuel Auerbach S”hlita. Further in depth research of the subject led to the publication of his seminal work “Klil Tekhelet”. In 1988, his research culminated in the first ever dyeing of tekhelet for the mitzvah of tzitzit from the Murex trunculus since its disappearance 1300 years prior. Rav Tavger then joined the founders of Ptil Tekhelet to become the organization’s guiding light.
In addition to his efforts with the Ptil Tekhelet Organization, Rav Tavger has been teaching in Moscow in Yeshivat Torat Chaim founded by HaRav Hagaon Moshe Soloveitchik ZT”L and currently under the auspices of HaRav Hagaon Aharon Leib Steinman S”hlita. Rav Tavger resides in Kiryat Sefer with his wife Miriam and their eleven children.
Languages: Hebrew, Russian”
From tekhelet.com:
“
Dr. Greenspan is a co-founder of the Ptil Tekhelet Association. He is a US trained dentist, with a practice in Jerusalem. He is a mohel, shochet and sofer, and has worked for more than 20 years on collecting Jewish traditions and mesorot from far flung Jewish communities. He has lectured around the world for Dental groups and for many Synagogues and Jewish Schools.
Multimedia Presentations include:
Tekhelet, Halachic Archeology, Halachic Adventuring, Mesorah of Exotic Kosher Animals, Search for the Perfect Etrog, History of Matzah. His writings can be accessed at:
http://halachicadventures.com/
“
