Emes Ve-Emunah

Eytan Kobre

No, I don’t have a split personality. Nonetheless one might be tempted to think that by reading this post after reading Rabbi Shalom Gold’s open letter last Thursday.

First let me say that I largely agree with Rabbi Gold’s critique of Eytan Kobre (and to a lesser extent Mishpacha Magazine). Rabbi Gold expressed unmitigated outrage at Eytan’s perspective on Israel. Quoting many passages from the Torah, Chazal, Rishonim and Achronim he set out to prove that Eytan’s dismissal of the importance of the land of Israel as defining of our national character (that only the Torah does) - was far from the truth. The fact is that the Torah is exactly that instrument that tells us of the importance of the land, thus making Eytan’s claim somewhat curious to say the least.

That said - I found Rabbi Gold’s attack to be quite the over-reaction - although I understand why. For example I do not think that Eytan’s words were a smorgasbord of nonsense, apostasy, or blasphemy. If you believe in the Torah, you believe that what it tells us is important. Eytan knows importance attached to Israel by the Torah. He was trying to express (rather badly in my view) the Charedi criticism of religious Zionism. Primarily its obsession with the land. That is not the sum and substance of the Torah. And yet if one pays any attention to the content of most religious Zionist rhetoric, it is about making Aliyah and little else.

The right sees that as only one of the 613 Mitzvos and not to be focused upon almost exclusively as do religious Zionists. More significantly the right also sees the State of Israel as the antithesis of the messianic redemption because of its secular founders who they view as anti religious.

Religious Zionists, on the other hand, see the creation of the State as the first flowering of the redemption.

Eytan’s anecdote about a Russian Jew’s desire to move to Israel and ultimately doing so - being the work of Yetzer Hara (evil inclination) was in extremely poor taste!

All of this explains why Rabbi Gold, a strong religious Zionist, was so upset. I don’t blame him at all.

I do not see the State of Israel the way either of them do. I do not believe it is the first flowering of our redemption, despite the occurrence of many miracles enabling the Jewish people to regain sovereignty over it for the first time in 2000 years. And even despite the return of Jewish sovereignty over Jerusalem and the Temple mount! (Which also involved miracles.) There are just too many things countering that notion.

But I do value the creation of the state as one of the most important and positive developments of the 20^th century. I look at all the achievements the state has accomplished with pride, whether it be in Torah study, agriculture, high tech, medicine, science, military prowess, and many other fields. I give credit to the Theodore Herzl and the secular Zionist founders for making it all happen. They were the instruments God chose to accomplish it.

Why He chose secular Jews over religious ones is a question only He can answer! But it is a fact that no one can deny. A fact that has benefited the Charedi world as much as anyone. The sheer numbers of people studying Torah L’shma (for its own sake) in the State of Israel is unprecedented! But as Rabbi Gold pointed out in very strong terms, Torah study is not what the land of Israel is about.

Yesterday I was told a story by someone that studied in Yeshivas Chaim Berlin. It demonstrates how Rav Yitzchok Hutner felt about it.

Right after Rav Aharon Lichtenstein made Aliyah (and before he became Rosh Yeshiva of Gush Etzion) he came back to the US and visited his Rebbe, Rav Hutner. Rav Hutner asked him how he liked Eretz Yisroel. Rav Lichtenstein proceeded to answer that it was wonderful… that there were so many Yeshivos and so many people learning Torah.

Rav Hutner did not like that answer. He started rebuking at his prize student! He told him in so many words that Israel is not about Torah study. It’s about the land itself. To walk the streets of Israel and behold the land is a merit he now has that even Moshe Rabbenu didn’t - even though he yearned to do so.

Sounds more like Rabbi Gold than Eytan.

And yet, I appreciate Eytan’s perspective as an Orthodox Jew living in America. Something we have in common. It was in response to an earlier column by Jonathan Rosenblum who noted that America had changed since he lived here and had become far more polarized politically than Israel.

I recall being amused by that comment considering that Israel is one of the most polarized places in the world. Is there any real doubt about extremes that exist in both the Charedi camp and religious Zionist camp in Israel? Their American counterparts are nowhere near as extreme. Here, most members of each are pretty moderate - despite having ideologies that are pretty divergent with respect to Israel (and other religious issues).

Eytan tells us that he doesn’t feel guilty about not making Aliyah – citing his Gedolim ‘who direct Jews to live wherever it’s best for them…’ As someone that lives in America, I can certainly appreciate that perspective. But at the same time I realize that as a Jew, living in Israel is an ideal I can’t fulfill. I have just grown too comfortable here. And would find making Aliyah a tremendous hardship for a variety of reasons that I will not get into here.

On a totally unrelated matter, I have to give credit to Eytan for his comments about the OU’s new President Rabbi Moshe Bane. Specifically the following:

As a past national lay chairman of NCSY, he witnessed the “excitement, creativity and dynamic Torah-oriented programming” it invested in its outreach programs for Jewish teens, and expresses the belief that “if Judaism were as inspiring to us as it is to those NCSY students, we would find the time to focus on religious growth.”

A few weeks ago, I noted Rabbi Henoch Plotnik’s column in Mishpacha where he made the following observation:

Way too many of our young men and women have been forthcoming enough to admit that they are truly not “feeling it,” but simply “doing it.”

Wouldn’t an NCSY type program for Charedi youth be a way to turn much of that apathy into ‘excitement and creativity’?

Circumcision - tools of the trade (JTA)

Jewish newborns are still at risk for an entirely preventable health problem in the form of MbP (Metzitza B’Peh or Metzitza b’Feh if you prefer the more grammatically correct term). Little has changed. The Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (the common cold sore) is alive and well and still available to seriously affect the health of your child.

In case anyone has forgotten, Metzitza B’Peh is the ritual performed immediately after a newborn male baby is circumcised – usually 8 days after his birth. The purpose for this procedure - which involves drawing blood out of the circumcision wound - is explained in the Gemara as a Halachicly required health procedure. The method used to do that has for centuries been via direct mouth to wound oral suction by a Mohel.

The problem with the herpes virus is that a Mohel can be infected without being symptomatic in the early stages. So that unaware he places his herpes infected mouth directly on a baby’s open circumcision wound easily leaving it open to infection.

As I’ve noted in the past many times, the Gemarah does not mention how to draw out the blood (Metziza). It just tells us to do so. Doing it B’Peh (by mouth) developed post Gemarah. And for centuries was considered the most efficient way to fulfill the Metzitza requirement. Until the discovery of micro organisms that can negatively affect the baby’s health.

Mohalim that do MbP are aware of the problem and still do it, claiming that they rinse out their mouth with antiseptic and the transfer of herpes to a baby via MbP is extremely rare and unproven in any case.

Unproven and rare though it may be, many Poskim – even as early as the 19^th century have ruled that one may fulfill the Gemarah’s Metzitza requirement by using a sterile pipette that avoids direct contact, or a piece of gauze.

The problem is that most Chasidim believe that one MUST use the mouth. And as the Chumra chaisng world turns these days many non Chasidim prefer it be done that way, too. Most Mohalim will accommodate the parents. Some Mohalim will not do it any other way!

So what’s the problem? Well, disinfectants do not do the job. A herpes virus can withstand those disinfectants and cause the baby serious health problems and even death.

This came to a head a few years ago when there were a couple infant deaths via herpes contracted around the time of the circumcision. Although there was never any direct proof that MbP was the cause - the circumstantial evidence was pretty strong.

In an attempt to protect the health of infants that undergo circumcision, New York City’s health department – backed by then Mayor Michael Bloomberg mandated a consent requirement. Parents that wanted a Mohel to do MbP had to sign a form stating that they understood the dangers of their newborn being infected and still wanted to do.

A battle royal ensued. Chasidim felt they were being denied their religious freedom. They were backed by Agudah who joined them in fighting this new rule.

I supported consent requirement. I did not feel it violated the religious rights since it did not ban the procedure itself. Knowledge is power.

There were those that felt this requirement did not go far enough since the risk of a herpes infection still existed.

I understand that. But as long as a parent is informed and the risk is relatively low I felt that informed consent was the best compromise. The Chasidic community and Agudah didn’t like it, though. They felt it was an undue infringement of their religious rights. Adding that a consent form unfairly stigmatized MbP - and opened up a slippery slope to banning circumcision altoghter.

Shortly after that New York elected a new mayor, Bill de Blasio. He had promised Chasidic voters he would revisit this issue if he was elected. He kept his promise. In a deal reached with Chasidic leaders and Agudah, de Blasio canceled the consent requirement. Instead it was agreed by all parties that the public be made aware of the problems with MbP and that Mohalim would be carefully monitored. If found to have infected a baby with herpes by doing it, they would be banned for life.

I am not happy with that compromise. But I guess it’s better than nothing. I am not happy because despite the claims made by supporters of MbP that there is no direct DNA type biomedical proof that any Mohel ever infected a baby with herpes via MbP - there is plenty of circumstantial evidence that they did.

The argument that there is no direct biomedical connection yet established sounds like the old argument made about cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The evidence was only statistical. In fact I believe the direct cause is still not known. Is there anyone that would make the same argument about smoking they are making about MbP?!

It isn’t only about a baby dying - a distinct but rare possibility. It is about causing permanent damage to a baby that survives the infection. Here is how Rav Hershel Shachter feels about it (From a 2013 Forward article):

In a public lecture last February in London, Schachter, who is a rosh yeshiva, or senior chief rabbinic authority, at Y.U.’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, claimed that his daughter’s hospital treated three cases per year of Hasidic babies infected with herpes. The infections were “obviously because of metzitzah b’peh,” Schachter told his audience.

4 babies per year seen in just one hospital in one city! If I were a parent with a newborn baby boy, I would demand that MbP NOT be used. Sure, the chances are low. But not low enough for me. Especially when we can have a 100% guarantee that a Mohel will not affect a baby by MbP by not doing it at all – instead using one of the sterile methods described above.

He added that his daughter said these cases are under reported by her hospital because their Chasidic clients would not return if they were made public!

The reality is that babies are still contracting herpes from infected Mohalim that do MbP. The people that prefer it for religious reasons are unmoved by any warning issued by their community or their Mohel – even assuming they get one. They want the ‘Frummest’ circumcision they can get. And that means that MbP is a foregone conclusion and not negotiable. Besides - they’ve seen it used so often without consequence that it simply does not enter their minds that there is any danger.

But what if it does happen? Is the Mohel going to be banned as agreed upon by Chasidic leaders and Agudah? Not so much, I guess. From a JTA article:

The New York City Health Department said it cannot complete an investigation into who infected four infants with herpes through a circumcision rite because the boys’ fervently Orthodox families will not identify the mohels.

“Unfortunately, some in the community are resistant to sharing the name of the mohels,” Health Department spokesman Christopher Miller told DNA info New York on Tuesday. “This is a very insular community.”

According to DNAinfo, six families in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, have seen children contract herpes since 2015 from metzitzah b’peh, which involves the ritual circumciser, or mohel, cleaning the circumcision wound by oral suction. Among the six families, only two have provided the names of their mohels, Miller said.

In March, the city ordered those two mohels to stop performing metzitzah b’peh.

How sad that babies in any number are subject to such preventable risks. How sad for their parents who now suffer the consequences of having been needlessly convinced that MbP is the best way to fulfill Halacha. Because I am convinced that it is a terrible way to fulfill the Mitzvah of Pikuach Nefesh.

Agudah Spokesman, Rabbi Avi Shafran

I find it quite amusing (and unfair) when Agudah spokesman Rabbi Avi Shafran is constantly bashed for simply expressing his opinion. There is almost a sense of glee on the part of some of his antagonists when he errs. Which to his credit, I find relatively rare.

I can already hear the skeptics guffawing at that. But I am certainly not one of them. Not that I always agree with him. I don’t. But most of the time I do. Unfortunately this is not one of those times.

In a recent oped for the Forward, Rabbi Shafran spoke to 2 issues that I have dealt with more than once. One of them is the current practice in Charedi circles of erasing women from the public eye. This most frequently happens in Charedi publications like Mishpacha and Hamodia. They have a policy of never publishing any pictures of women.

This is a phenomenon that is relatively new in the non Chasidic world. In the not too distant past this practice was almost exclusively a Chasidic one. The Non Chasidic Charedi world published pictures of women all the time. No less a Charedi figure than Rav Moshe Feinstein (the Posek Hador according to most non Chasidic Charedim) had been photographed together with his wife. That picture was published to what I am pretty sure was no objection by Rav Moshe. In fact, Rabbi Shafran’s own Agudah never refrained from publishing pictures of women when the occasion called for it in its now defunct publication, the Jewish Observer.

Here is what Rabbi Shafran says about that:

Many haredi publications, in the interest of the Jewish idea of modesty, have always refrained from including photos of women; that’s no new or ominous development. Ms. Jaskoll is welcome to find the position extreme, and I would tend to agree.

But then he says the following:

But we differ in that I don’t disparage people for making choices I wouldn’t make. The word for that is “intolerance.”

This is where we part company. While I agree that there is a certain degree of intolerance in some cases, the complaint about it is not only from them. It is even from many in the Charedi mainstream. What seems to be happening is that otherwise moderate Charedi publishers – in an effort to be inclusive are accommodating those to their right (primarily the Chasidic world) in order to broaden their base. That means increased revenue. There is nothing wrong with trying to broaden your base by tying to accommodate their views of what is and isn’t modest. But there is significant collateral damage in doing so that is being ignored.

Just last Shabbos I had occasion to pick up an otherwise marvelous book (Don’t recall the name.) It featured illustrations by artist Gadi Pollack. On each page there was an illustration and questions about the illustration. To answer those questions, the reader had to find clues in the illustration. It was a real brain teaser. But I was disappointed at the illustrations. There was not a single woman in any of them. Even the ones where there should have been. Like sitting at a Shabbos table eating a meal with the family. The father and children were there. But no mother!

What kind of family value is being suggested by a picture like this? Are families not supposed to have their wives/mothers sitting with them on Shabbos? I know of no family – not even Chasdidc ones that makes their women sit at another table. Although in some Chasidic circles in pre Holocaust Europe this did happen!

If a book like this has becomes mainstream, we are all in trouble.

I’m glad that Rabbi Shafran considers this extreme. But I am disappointed that he does not see the damage such pictures do to the minds of innocent young children. They are now learning an entirely different set of values with respect to modesty than those of their parents or their wider community.

Now I too am opposed to disparaging the Chasidim that have this standard. But in my view when the rest of the Charedi world follows suit, that is ominous and deserves the ciritcsim it has gotten.

And then Rabbi Shafran makes the following observation about an incident that I dealt with a while back:

As to the ugly incidents, Ms. Jaskoll relates that a “young girl was caught in the middle of an anti-draft protest” in Jerusalem and was kicked, first by a child and then, when she grabbed the boy, by demonstrators. The “young girl,” readily available video shows, was an adult woman; and her presence in the middle of a large protest is unexplained and suspicious. Do those facts justify her treatment? Of course not. But also unjustified is mischaracterizing her age and presence.

Again I have to take issue not only with his conclusion that her presence at that protest was suspicious. There is no indication of that published anywhere. Is it curious that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Sure. But it happens to all of us. The protest did not take place in an isolated part of town. It took place in a place where a lot of people are found.

I also have to wonder why he questions the veracity of a person commenting about events in her town - which is thousands of miles away from his own? Just because it was not reported in the media, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.

What he was trying to say, I suppose is that we shouldn’t paint the Charedi world with such broad brush strokes. I agree. I have been accused of that myself. And I completely reject that I do. But there are certain segments of Orthodoxy that do paint with big brush strokes about the Charedi community. He’s right about that and it ought to stop.

The bottom line for me (and I’ve said this before) is that it’s true that the actions that we all abhor are being done by extremists. It is also true that mainstream Charedim reject that behavior and even condemn it. But is equally true that the rhetoric one hears from some of the Israeli leadership is extreme and is used as justification by extremists who feel that their actions are in service to those ideals.

All this is not new. I’ve said it before.

So even though I have a great deal of respect for Rabbi Shafran and truly believe that he does not deserve the thrashing he often gets form his detractors - on these issues, I think he kind of missed the boat.

My conscience has been bothering me all day about today's post. I have therefore deleted it. No matter how justified I may have felt in writing it, I should not have done so. It wasn't appropriate. It was not sourced in my usual search for Emes. It was instead a vengeful act. I didn't see that at first. Now I do and regret publishing it.

I am only human. I make mistakes. This was one of them. I apologize to anyone that may have been hurt or offended by it.

Yeshiva University class of 2012

I was pointed in the direction of a Pew Research study that concluded the following: If you are Jewish - the more educated you are the less religious you are.

This may shock some people. But it doesn’t shock me at all. Pew defined education in terms of whether one attended college or not. If there is any place that tends to focus on empirical explanations of phenomena while ignoring or completely rejecting spiritual explanations - it is academia. I say this not as someone that rejects a college education but as someone that is a college graduate and supports it.

As a religious Jew how - one may ask - do I reconcile my support for a college education with the fact that it might weaken religious belief? For me the answer is rather simple. If one has a good Jewish education having attended a Yeshiva for all of elementary and high school, one becomes grounded their religious beliefs.

One can then withstand the suggestion that the only things that matter in the world are things which are physical. Which can easily result in the kind of thinking that says if you can’t experience it with at least one of the five physical senses, then it doesn’t exist. Thus belief in a Spiritual Being (God) is a non starter.

But a good Jewish education will teach you that there is a spiritual side to reality that cannot be detected with our given biological senses. Once we understand that - we can easily deal with an education that tries to counter it the way academia does. We can then proceed to study the physical world without having to give up our beliefs. Instead remaining firm in them.

Jews much smarter than I have remained devout despite getting advanced degrees. Just to name 2 of the more prominent ones, the Rav, and Rav Lichtenstein.

There are, however, some very bright Jews that have had excellent Jewish educations and have nonetheless become skeptics and atheists after being exposed to the disciplines and biases of academia. The reasons for that are not all that clear to me – and outside the scope of this post. I do believe, however, that the vast majority of those of us that have a good Yeshiva education have remained religious despite the pressures of academia. Yeshiva University is a prime example of that.

Unfortunately, however, those without the underpinnings of a good Jewish education can easily succumb to the lure of seeing the world only in terms of the physical.

So what’s the story? Are only stupid uneducated Jews religious? Are the smart ones that have a college education the ones that abandon their beliefs? That might be the conclusion drawn by this study. But that would be far from the truth.

Greater religiosity is unrelated to their intelligence level. The fact is that many non college educated Jews are quite brilliant. They do not attend college because they do not value a secular education. I strongly disagree with them. But that does not make them stupid. They avoid college because they have been indoctrinated against it. The reason for that kind of indoctrination is - in part - because of what this study shows – corroborating the fear that going to college endangers one’s faith.

There are some pretty brilliant Jews in Lakewood that have not - and will not attend college. But most of them would do very well there and would not be swayed against their beliefs.

So how do we arrive at such a reverse correlation between educated Jews and religion? I think it may be because Pew defined ‘educated’ only in terms of attending college – implying that without it, one remains ignorant and thus more dependent on religion to explain things.

Fortunately there are large numbers of religious Jews with strong Yeshiva backgrounds that have - and do attend college. Virtually all of MO does and an increasing number of Charedi Jews do. If Pew were to take a poll of college educated students with strong Yeshiva educations - my guess is that the results would be entirely different. I believe that the vast majority of them would be as strong in their beliefs and practices as they were before they attended.

Curiously, the study showed that Christian religiosity tends to be unaffected by college. That would seem to lend credence to my thoughts about college negating ones religiosity. It doesn’t.

Why do Christians fare better than Jews in this regard? I can only guess at the answer. But I don’t think it’s is because they are less intelligent or more ignorant. If I had to guess, I would say that it is because it’s easier to be a religious Christian than it is to be a religious Jew. It is also because America is a Christian country. 71% of the population identify as Christians. Christians also tend to compartmentalize. They see religion as going to church on Sundays. They otherwise don’t really think about it that much (except for Evangelicals). So that in a poll, it would be a lot easier for a Christian to say they are religious than it would be for a Jew.

When looked at in the light of all this, then in my view the Pew study cannot be taken as indicative of how a college education affects the Jewish people. At least not for those Jews that have been sufficiently educated about their religion.

Hat tip: Jerry Gottheil

Yehoreg V'Al Ya'avor - better to die than serve in the IDF? (Arutz Sheva)

Why is there so much prejudice against Charedim in Israel? I for one do not believe it is warranted. At least not in most cases. The vast majority just want to be left alone to do their thing. Whether one agrees with them or not - their goal is for men to learn Torah full time without any impediment.

My own personal experience with Charedim in Israel has always been very positive. The Charedim of Ramat Bet Shemesh have been nothing but very warm and accommodating to me. They do not care a whit that I wear a Kipa Seruga.

I was even a Shaliach Tzibur (I led the services) in one of the Charedi Shuls there when I was in Aveilus - the 12 month mourning period for my mother a few years ago. One can find religious IDF soldiers in uniform (both RZ and Charedi) Davening in their Shuls. They are respected and treated like any other religious Jew. In short the Charedim I have met in Israel are some of the finest people I know.

And yet if one reads media reports, one would think there is a virtual war between – not only secular Jews and Charedim, but even Dati Leumi (Modern Orthodox) Jews and Charedim.

Are there alternative realities in Israel?

Well yes and no. The truth is that even though Israel seems like one of the most polarized places in the civilized world – it is an oversimplification to say that. That’s because there are Charedim and there are Charedim.

Just like the US Israel has a mainstream moderate Charedi population and an extremist Charedi population. The differences between the US and Israel is that the poles at each end of the spectrum shift rightward in Israel. But it is still true that just like the US - there is a wide spectrum between the poles in Israel. And a center – that also shifts right compared to America. But this post is not about defining the parameters of each nor about comparing the center-point of each. I mention it only to show that despite the differences between American and Israeli Charedim the centers of both are far more tolerant of other Hashkafos even if they disagree with them.

And yet there seems to be a broad brush feeling on the part of some that sees the other side as evil – at one level or another. Why is that?

In my view it is all about the extremists. And in Israel the extremists comprise a large segment of Charedi Jews albeit a minority. On the far right you have the Meah Shearim types that behave in violent ways or support those among them that do. Behavior that feeds modern day journalism. Which is to record ‘man bites dog’ news, and ignore ‘dog bites man’ news. Those who do not come into contact with Charedim, see only those negative images of them. They therefore conclude that this how they all are. Which is the furthest thing from the truth.

But in the last few years, some of the more mainstream Charedim have taken on this approach. This was made abundantly clear in a recent protest by the ‘Jerusalem faction’ led by Rav Shmuel Aurbach. They see themselves as the new guardians of the faith… modern day zealots that will protect the Jewish people from the hands of the unrighteous. The very saviors of the Jewish people - standing strong against those that wish to undermine the Torah. To that end they are willing to die.

That’s correct. I said, ‘die’!

People that are willing to die for their principles is a noble thing to do. Certainly preventing Torah from desecration and the Jewish people from destruction is. The problem is in how the leaders of this faction define that. The latest of which was a statement by one Jerusalem faction rabbis about serving in the IDF. Which was published in Arutz Sheva a few days ago:

Rabbi Tzvi Friedman, a member of the anti-Zionist Yerushalmi Faction, spoke at a gathering of supporters in a makeshift yeshiva outside of Army Prison 6, near Atlit on the northern coast.

During his talk with supporters at the yeshiva outside of Prison 6, Rabbi Friedman espoused a hardline against service in the IDF, telling parents enlistment was a worse fate for their children than death, Kikar Hashabbat reported.

“Every mother in Israel needs to know that if her son or daughter goes to the army, death would be preferable,” Rabbi Friedman said.

Let us examine the implications of that statement. If a Jew would be forced to serve the IDF under penalty of death, he should allow himself to be executed!

I’m relatively sure this is based on their views that the IDF is anti religious and a national brothel. Defending Israel and the Jewish people is apparently not worth doing if you have to live in an environment of sexual promiscuity in order to do it. Yehoreg V’Al Ya’avor! Better to die. This attitude is what generates the harassment of Charedi soldiers by the worst element among them.

What about the 6 million or so Jews that would surely be annihilated by Israel’s enemies that have sworn to do so if there was no IDF to prevent that? God will protect them without an army.

The fact is that the IDF is not a national brothel. But even if it were, there are religious units there that have existed since the founding of the State. Hesder programs are desgined for religious Zionist Jews that split their time between Torah study and military duties. Surely Hesder is not a brothel. And in recent times, there is Nachal Charedi - army units that have been created to serve Charedim – respecting their religious values that exceed the basic requirements of Halahca. To consider the IDF a Yehoreg V’Al Ya’avor is an inlsult to the entire IDF! Especially to the religious soldiers of Hesder and Nachal Charedi.

They will defend their position with the notion that Israel is not protected by the IDF in any case. That it is only by virtue of those who study Torah L’Shma – for its own sake that Israel is protected – not the oft heard claim made by secular Israelis of ‘Kochi V’Otzem Yodi’ – the physical prowess of the IDF.

No matter how many times I see them doing or saying things like this, it is still shocking to me. The hubris of thinking that God will protect them without any physical human effort is breathtaking. I’m not even sure they believe it.

If anything causes prejudice against Charedim by the rest of Israeli society, this is it! That it is only the Jerusalem faction is lost on most people. That’s because despite being a minority, they are still a large number and most of them look no different that the Charedi mainstream in Israel does. It isn’t only about exempting themselves from army service even if it would be under strict Charedi conditions. It isn’t only about allowing others to die for them. It is about a grossly unfair characterization of the army as being so bad, better to die than serve!

Not everyone gets to see the Charedim in Israel that I see. They reject this kind of thinking. They are tolerant of the IDF and realize that it is as much their efforts as it is Torah study that protects them. What most Israelis see instead is story after story like this. And that paints Charedim with an extremist brush so despicable that I can’t really blame them for their attitude.

The President of the United States

Now that the President has reached the vaunted 100 day mark, I thought it might be worthwhile to take a look back at what happened, and what is happening, and what might happen.

When Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President as the Republican nominee, I don’t think there was a soul in the world that took him seriously. That ‘ride’ down the escalator in a shopping center was about the most unconventional way that any candidate for President ever announced it. It was comical.

Unfortunately it was not intended as comedy. It was real. He meant it. Although I don’t think even he believed he had a chance against a field of serious candidates with far more expertise and experience in government. Those candidates were far more articulate and knowledgeable. Trump’s vocabulary was so limited that he sounded almost illiterate at times. Where the other Republicans sounded Presidential, Trump sounded like someone running for president of his eighth grade class.

His promises were either ‘pie in the sky’ or in some cases ridiculous and yet adored by his die-hard supporters. He was rude and crude, while the other candidates were refined and polished. Often he sounded racist.. He spoke in general populist terms, where the other candidates rattled off policies and details with proficiency. He insulted his opponents and even their families and constantly disparaged the media.

His tweets were filled with braggadocio, inaccuracies, and hyperbole that would have sunk any other candidate. His erratic shoot from the hip’ and ‘shoot first and ask questions later’ nature was something most sober political analysts on both sides of the political aisle feared. The consensus among most of them was that this was not the man you wanted with his ‘itchy’ finger on the nuclear trigger. Nobody believed it was possible for someone like this to be nominated.

But then a funny thing happened. He won the Republican nomination.

After his nomination, I predicted that Trump would win the election, defying the conventional wisdom at the time. I thought that if a man so obviously unqualified could win against a field of candidates so obviously superior to him in just about every way, there was simply something in the air. That rationality would go ‘out the widow’.

Very few people agreed with me, believing that his Presidency would be a disaster and that the general public would be far more sober than his wild and wacky ‘uneducated‘ base that got him the nomination.

Once he became the Republican candidate, some people thought he would change his tactics and act more ‘Presidential’. But nothing about him changed. He was the same way with his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton.

In just about all of the debates they had, she came off as the adult in the room, someone with a lot of experience and knowledge at her fingertips. Trump came off as an ignorant boor most of the time. All while attacking the media. No one gave him a chance. The polls all suggested he’d lose in the general election. He disputed those polls to the laughter of the media and his political opponents.

But once again he defied the polls and won the election. He won a majority of the voters in most states. (He lost the popular vote because the two most populous states, New York and California are heavily liberal and voted for Clinton.)

That was a shock to just about everyone. Probably even to Trump himself.

For the first time in my lifetime we had a President that was an embarrassment to this country. Someone who managed to alienate many world leaders via the insults he hurled at them during the campaign. Someone who made promises he could not keep and would clearly never happen.

A lot of people feared him thinking that he would listen to no one. That he would cause a world crisis, ruin the economy, ruin the environment, and maybe even start World War Three! The night of the election world markets plummeted in record amounts.

Fortunately that did not presage what the US financial markets would do. We are now - 100 days post inauguration - at near record high levels of financial market indicators like the Dow, that Nasdaq and S&P. Most people that are invested in those markets are pretty happy with that. Especially those of us that have retirement accounts.

When I made the prediction that Trump would win, I was one of the few that did not think it would be the disaster that everyone else thought it would be. Yes he was a narcissist, ignorant and erratic. Yes he loved to hit back hard at those that attacked him even in the slightest way. Yes, he continued ‘tweeting’ stupidities, exaggerations, and falsehoods.

But the one thing his ignorance actually produced is exactly what I said it would. That he may have no core beliefs is actually a good thing. It means that he can change his mind completely. He has chosen good people to advise him. At least as it pertains to foreign policy. And he is listening to them. While they are mostly very conservative politically, they are acknowledged by even his opponents to be highly competent in their fields. His choices for Secretary of Defense, National Security Adviser and UN representative have all acted responsibly and he has listened to them.

His Secretary of State - despite his lack of experience in government - has in my view shown himself to be an asset as well. There is little that has changed from previous policies. Here are some examples: NATO is secure. Israeli settlements are still technically opposed. The US embassy will not be moved to Jerusalem.

What has changed is for the better. The new Secretary General seems to be far more objective than his predecessors - recognizing the historical antisemtism that defined Europe and ended up in the Holocaust.The UN's new US representative has been firm in calling them out on the anti Israel prejudice that permeates so many of their subdivisions. The entire US Senate has responded with a 100% demand that the UN end that bias. I do not believe it is a coincidence that this is happening now just 100 days into Trump’s Presidency.

The fear that he would unfairly favor Russia because of unfounded accusations of some sort of personal business relationship with them (whether direct or indirect) has instead turned into a hard line against their policies in Syria. The wall on America’s southern border will not happen. The antisemites he inspired to support him are disappointed at the number of Orthodox Jews (or Jews in general) that are in his close inner circle. His supposed insensitivity to the Holocaust has been put to rest by his passionate address to the Holocaust museum during Holocaust remembrance week.

His belligerent approach to foreign leaders has not alienated them. Instead they are tripping all over themselves to get on his good side. If people are afraid of you, they tend to be a little more respectful of you. On the other hand, when you are overly friendly they way the last few Presidents have been it breeds contempt. Which can easily result in selfish nationalist policies that hurt the US. In the past American diplomacy would not allow, the relationship to sour over a policy they may not like. That is clearly not the case with Trump.

What about North Korea? A lot of people fear that country’s leader Kim Jong Un will end up starting world war 3 if he isn’t appeased. Ldt him do what he wants, they think. He hasn't attacked us and never will. So what if he's exploding a few bombs. Just ignore him.

That's why Kim Jong Un is getting way with a nuclear weapons program that includes developing the means to deliver them to the American mainland. Completely disregarding pleas by even their main benefactor, China, to abandon that program.

Trump’s advisers know that diplomacy hasn’t worked. They have now opened the possibility military response. So far North Korea has ignored it, with is usual threats of destroying the US if we try anything. But China has no desire to test the new administration. I believe they will finally put the kind of pressure n Kin Jong Un that - as North Korea’s only benefactor - only they can.

Sure the danger of war has increased. But at the end of the day. I don’t think Kim Jung Un will risk annihilation that they must know America is capable of. Nor are they willing to risk alienating their only benefactor, China. The era of appeasement is over.

Domestically the Trump administration has a long way to go. Obama care is still the law of the land. the taxing structure has not yet changed But here has been some progress in other area. NAFTA is secure. The stock market is up. He has gotten a respected conservative Justice on to the Supreme Court. He has reversed some of his predecessors policy implementations that he believed hindered jobs and economic growth.

It is way too early to judge whether his. Presidency is a success or failure. But I think it should be plain to anyone with an ounce of objectivity, that his Presidency is not the disaster everyone thought it would be. Trump may not be pushing policies that are favored by the liberal establishment. Which is what the mainstream media clearly consists of. But he is following a more or less conservative policy that is guided by respected conservative advisers. Not extremist nut jobs like Steve Bannon.

What about those with less experience that are his close advisers? Like his son in law Jared Kushner? He is one voice among many. I don’t think he’s said or done anything to hurt us. His quiet ‘camera shy’ nature should not be misconstrued as stupidity. That the media has no access to him means that no one really knows what he is doing. He may eventually just surprise even his detractors.

The future is hard to predict. Trump has been tempering his comments. I don’t think he’s tweeted much recently. He is not the been quite embarrassment he has been til now.

I have no idea what the future holds. But one thing I am as certain of as I was under the last administration - is that we will survive. And who knows, maybe under Trump’s unconventional way of doing things - things might actually improve.

Recent White House meeting attended by Agudah

I have to admit that there is one positive thing about Donald Trump that is undeniable: His relationship with the Orthodox Jewish community. To put it succinctly, it is unprecedented. I also have to admit that I did not see that coming. Perhaps I should have based on what I had heard about him before he even thought about becoming President. Like the following story told by the son of a rabbi that became very close to Trump’s father. From the Yated:

(Fred) Trump was very moved by the idea my father expressed and the two became close friends. Fred proceeded to donate a piece of real estate for the shul, and he even made a very generous donation so that a magnificent shul building could be built.”

According to Rabbi Wagner, not only did Fred Trump donate the plot of land where the shul was built and cover the expenses of the construction, but he also attended the ceremony at which the cornerstone was laid. “Fred was very moved by my father’s speech at the ceremony.

He was highly impressed, and he became my father’s close friend. They met again and again, and over time they developed a close relationship. Trump viewed my father as a holy man and a great sage. He used to call him ‘my rabbi.’

It should not be a surprise that anyone raised in a home like that is going to have some of that rub off on him. There are other stories about Donald Trump’s generosity to Orthodox Jews that long predated his decision to run for President.

I am not here to ‘Kasher’ the President. I have been pretty clear – and consistent - about his personal failings. Failings so bad that I voted for his opponent despite the fact that I would not have voted for her had just about anyone else run against her. That has not changed.

And yet a story about ‘our arrival’ in the Forward made me smile. Anyone that is Orthodox should take great pride in that – no matter what side of the political aisle they are on. But even more than pride is the the access that Orthodox Jewish lobbies like the OU and Agudah have. Although I have had some issues with Agudah, I have not made secret my support and appreciation for Agudah’s public service on behalf of the Jewish people.

Our newfound access has given them a far larger role in policy decisions that affect all Jews. Especially Orthodox Jews where matters of educational expense may very well be the top agenda item of any parent with children in a parochial school.

Whether that will translate to actual financial relief for tuition paying parents remains to be seen. But for the first time there is actually a chance that it may happen. School choice is a position that the OU and Agudah have both lobbied for. We now have an administration that agrees. They have chosen an education secretary that favors it – and has in the past worked with Orthodox advocacy groups towards that goal.

The Forward calls us ‘a new Jewish elite’. One that has replaced the last Jewish elite: liberal Jewish denominations and liberal Jewish organizations. Whereas Reform and Conservative oriented organizations had the ear of the last President, Orthodox Jews have the ear of the new President. It isn’t just Agudah and the OU. It is also organizations like AIPAC and NORPAC. In fact according to the Forward, modern Orthodox Jews seem to have the greatest influence of all:

Adding weight to the Modern Orthodox circle of influence is another New Jersey activist - Morton Friedman, who was recently selected to serve as the next president of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Friedman will be only the second Orthodox Jew to serve at AIPAC’s helm.

He was previously NORPAC’s vice president. AIPAC has proven in the past its ability to choose top leaders in line with the president occupying the White House. After Obama’s election in 2008, the lobby turned to fellow Chicago liberal Lee Rosenberg to serve as president. Now it is reaching out to Mort Friedman, an Orthodox conservative who may be closer to White House Jewish players.

The Zionist Organization of America, which was largely ignored by the Obama White House, is also seeing its star rise under the new administration. It was the first to score a meeting with a member of the Trump team after the election. President Mort Klein met in New York with an aide, Anthony Scaramucci. He left the White House shortly after.

The Orthodox Union raised its profile by lobbying in support of David Friedman’s confirmation. Chabad welcomed Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to Washington...

This may not make the left happy. Nor heterodox movements. Nor the J-Street crowd. They all had the ear of the last President and sympathized with his perspective on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I am sure that they see this development as a disaster for Israel and the Jewish people. They believe that Israel is doomed if the right wing has its way.

And they can’t be happy by the turn of events in America whereby Orthodox Jews were once thought to be on the precipice of extinction (...as Samuel Rosenman, FDRs Jewish adviser indicated to him about a group of Orthodox rabbis that had traveled to see him during the Holocaust). Instead Orthodox Jews have grown to be the dominant Jewish force in America. It is heterodoxy that may now be on the precipice of extinction. Something their leaders are actually worried about.

I say all of this without any sense of triumphalism. It is simply the truth. A fact of life. The Jewish world as it exists today. But as a member of Orthodoxy I can’t say I am disappointed by our own success.

I am actually quite proud of what we have accomplished. I am equally proud of my country, the United States of America. Where else could this have happened, if not in a country where one of its founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton, knew how to recite the Ten Commandments.... by heart.... in Hebrew?!

This truly shows God’s providence.

What about the fears that America’s turn to the right wing in Israel spells doom for Israel as a democracy AND a Jewish state? I can just hear all the naysayers:

Pluralism is dead. Orthodox extremism has taken over. Non Orthodox Jews will stop supporting Israel. Israel will become an Apartheid State. Palestinians will suffer. Israel is doomed. It’s over for Israel. It’s just a matter of time.

There are some who will say that it is not a blessing that Jews of any kind have such power. Have we learned nothing from history? If anything goes wrong, the Jews will be blamed. World War 3? It’s the Jews fault. An economic depression? It’s the Jews fault. Better Jews should not be so involved lest things go horribly wrong and we are blamed. We don’t need a another Holocaust.

I can’t really address these concerns. Other than to say that things are different now. I Know… we’ve heard it all before. And then the bottom drops out. Didn't the 500 year 'Golden Era' of Spain end with the Inquisition? Wasn't Frankfurt, Germany considered the new Jerusalem only to end with the Holocaust? Why should things be any different now? What a fool I must be, they will say.

Well anything is possible. But I really do believe that America is unlike any other country in the history of the world. Why that is the case is something I’ve dealt with many times and beyond the scope of this post. And then there is one more thing. One that outweighs everything else. God is watching over us. So I am not all that worried.

Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach

My daughter sent me an excerpt from Oro Shel Olam, a new book by Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau. The short version is as follows.

A student in Kol Torah had asked his Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, if he could take some time away from the Yeshiva to pray at the grave-sites of the righteous in Northern Israel. Rav Auerbach told him his time would be better spent studying Torah in the Yeshiva.

The student was surprised and asked if Rav Auerbach ever did that? Wasn’t it appropriate to visit grave-sites of the righteous and pray? Didn’t he ever do that? Rav Auebach answered that when he had the urge to pray at the grave-site of the righteous, he went to Mount Herzl and prayed at the grave-site of the fallen soldiers who died Al Kiddush HaShem – sanctifying God’s name!

This is yet another example of the greatness of this man. If only his son, Rav Shmuel had half the character his father did, the Charedi world would be a far different place.

But I come not to bury Rav Shumel. I come to praise his father in the context of yesterday and today. Yesterday was Israel’s Memorial Day where fallen soldiers are remembered. And today is Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day. This is the day many Jews all over the world celebrate the return – 69 years ago - of the holy land to its rightful owners – the Jewish people. The first time that’s happened in 2000 years.

I cannot emphasize enough the significance of that. That is why many Jews say Hallel on this day as my own Rebbe, Rav Ahron Soloveichik did. Lest anyone think that the Charedi world gives no significance to it, it should be noted that the founding Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh, Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman did not say Tachanun on Yom Ha’atzmaut. Nor did his entire Yeshiva.

Unfortunately, there was one exception. Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach - destined to become the next Rosh Yeshiva defied Rav Kahaneman. He sat down and said Tachanun. I assume that is now standard practice in Ponevezh. As it is in the rest of the Charedi world. I only mention Rav Kahaneman’s practice to show that the significance of Yom Ha’atzmaut was not lost on a man that the entire world recognized as a Charedi Gadol.

To say that I am proud of Israel’s accomplishments – not the least of which is the Makom Torah that it has become since Israel’s founding Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, first declared independence - would be an understatement. I only wish that this feeling was a little more universal. Unfortunately, some segments of Judaism like Satmar, Neturei Karta and the Eida HaCharedis (to mention but a few) might even consider it a day of mourning!

But it isn’t only the religious right wing that feels this way. Lately it is the ‘religious’ left. And by religious, I don’t mean observant. I mean they are ‘religiously’ left wing. No where is this sentiment better expressed than in a column I read today by Chemi Shalev in today’s Ha’aretz. Instead of feeling good about Israel’s accomplishments he regurgitates everything that he and Israel’s enemies see wrong with it. This is how he opens his column:

It's easier to celebrate Independence Day when you blot out millions of disenfranchised people living right next door.

He then goes into a diatribe about all the injustices Palestinians living in the West Bank have been suffering at the hands of the Israeli occupation. Which he says is being forgotten or ignored these days.

This is not to say that Palestinians on the West Bank don’t suffer. They do. I would even admit that much of what Shalev says is true about the attitude of some Israelis on the political right. Only the most insensitive boor would deny it… blinding themselves to the reality of...

economic hardships, nightly military raids, the absolute dependence on the Civil Administration, the need for a permit for everything under the sun, the roadblocks, the humiliation, the frustration, the feeling of impotence or any of the other thousand and one indignities that go along with living under occupation.

All true and very unfair to them. What he fails to mention is that there is a reason they suffer. And despite the implications of Shalev’s column, it isn’t because Israel is insensitive to human suffering. The exact opposite is true. Whenever there is a disaster in the world, Israel is one of the counties to respond. Israel has even treated in their own hospitals Syrian refugees hurt by the ongoing civil war there. The reason Palestinians suffer is because of Israel's legitimate security needs. Needs that have resulted from terrorism coming from the West Bank. Jews have been slaughtered and mass murder in suicide bombings, shootings and stabbings.

It is so easy to blame ‘the occupation’ for that. But without adding that Israel does it reluctantly and only because they have no better option to protect their citizens - it becomes a lie. Shalev all but ignores that. Thus Israel becomes a racist State. While there are a few people on the extreme political right that may be racist, that is by far not the position of the Israeli government or the vast majority of its people. But don’t try and convince Shalev of that. He has made up his mind. The government of Israel is a bunch of malevolent occupiers denying an indigenous people their rights.

There is not a doubt in my mind that the Palestinians could have long ago had their own state - had their true intentions not been so obviously exposed. Which is the eventual destruction of Israel. In stages if necessary. When Ariel Sharon gave up Gaza to the Palestinians, they could have gained tremendous good will had they tried to build up that area instead of making it a base to terrorize the Jewish people.

Had they done that, it would have shown that their intentions were indeed to live in peace with a state of their own side by side with Israel. Instead they attacked and are still attacking Jews and have gone to elaborate lengths to do that.

It isn’t Israel that is blind to Palestinian suffering. It is Shalev and his colleagues on the left that are purposely blind to the ultimate goals of Palestinian leaders. Hamas is more open about it. But the Palestinian Authority was derived of the PLO – the Palestinian Liberation Organization. They were created in 1964 by a terrorist named Yassir Arafat long before Israel even dreamed of retaking the West Bank. Which land exactly was the PLO going to liberate then? Surely not the West Bank that was then under the control of Jordan. Their goal has not changed. Only their rhetoric.

Now I’m sure that most Palestinians on the West Bank are just plain tired of the whole thing. I would be willing to bet that despite their belief in the justness of the Palestinian cause - they would rather just let it all go, make peace and just get on with their lives.

Unfortunately their leaders insist on maintaining the status quo and blaming ‘the occupation’ and ‘settlements’ for all their problems. All while continuing to indoctrinate their youth about how evil ‘the Jews’ are.

Frankly I’m sick of people like Shalev feeding that narrative. Especially on this day, the birthday of a country that has contributed so much good to the world. And a country that has been very good to him. What about compassion for suffering Palestinians? Sure. Nothing wrong with that. I just wish he'd save a little of that compassion for his own people instead of trying to make them feel guilty on this day.

My grandson Mordechai will be celebrating his Bar Mitzvah in Israel next week. My wife and I are on our way there to join him in celebration. We will be in Ramat Bet Shemesh for the next 2 weeks. I will be posting from there beginning tomorrow.

When it's the passengers that aren't so friendly

There is was in all its magnificent ‘glory’. The Jewish people at their worst. Although I’m sure they thought it was their best – as religious Jews. All kinds of religious Jews. From very Chasidic with long peyos and beards – to Yeshiva type Jews of the black hat variety, to Modern Orthodox Jews dressed casually and wearing Kipot Seruga. What a way to show Achdus!

The wrong way. Instead of being a Kiddush HaShem it may have been the opposite. At best it was an annoyance. Not so much for me. But for the rest of the passengers on the plane that were women, children or non praying men.

Once we were in flight and the sky turned dark, these Jews decided it was time to Daven Ma’ariv (evening prayers). Nothing wrong with that. I too decided to Daven Ma’ariv. So I took out my trusted IPhone, Shirley, and was about to start when one a couple of passengers asked me if I wanted to join them in the back for a Minyan. I politely declined saying I was going to Daven in my seat.

As they passed me by, I turned around and lo and behold, there was a mob of men standing in the back galley overflowing into the aisle and blocking the bathroom door. I could not believe it. There must have been at least 20 people standing there as if they owned the plane swaying back and forth while praying.

It didn’t seem to occur to them that their desire to Daven with a Minyan on a plane might just be an inconvenience to others. The plane is not a Shul. It is not your living room or a hotel lobby. It isn’t even the airport. It is a tight space where there are flight attendants trying to do their jobs and prevented from doing so, while these self centered gentleman did their prayer thing. Nor did it occur to them that someone might need the bathroom whose door they were blocking. Indeed one woman needed to use it. I told her I would try to run interference for her. But the fellow standing outermost in the aisle of that Minyan motioned that they weren’t finished indicating that she had to wait. Nor did it occur to them that there might be sudden turbulence that could knock them off their feet and that they could get hurt.

When they finally ended Ma’ariv, they started walking down the aisle -returning to their seats en masse. Causing a ‘traffic jam’ since the flight attendants were walking down that same ails in the opposite direction with the food cart serving meals. The maneuvering to get around that food cart would have been humorous if it hadn’t been so sad.

I’m sure that most of these people have flown before. They are not novices. I would have thought by now they would have notices how much Davening with a Minyan on a plane inconveniences everyone else. But either they either don’t notice or don’t care. Or a little of both.

If these people are about doing God’s will, as Orthodox Jews ought to understand that that is our purpose here on earth, Do they think that what they did on that plane yesterday is what God wanted them to do? Is God ‘happy’ with the prayers of people that do so at the expense of others?

Unlike Shachris (morning prayers)and Mincha(afternoon prayers)that are a rabbinic requirement – It is unclear whether Ma’ariv is. It is actually a Machlokes – a dispute between the sages of the Talmud. If Iecall correctly we actually Paskin that it is a Reshus – we are permitted but not required to Daven Ma’ariv. The fcat that most religious Jews do is because of aa long standing tradition where our the Jewish people have ancestrally accepted it upon themselves a requirement. From that perspective – we are now required. It is a Mesorah. What we are most certainly not required to do though is seek a Minyan to do it. While it is preferable under normal circumstances. It is surely not preferable when it inconveniences others – especially those whose work is disrupted by it.

So what we have here is religious Jews believing that Bain Adam L’Makom (laws between man and God) is what being religious is all about. Bein Adam L’Chavero (laws between man and God) are completely overlooked as though they don’t matter in the face of Bein Adam L’Makom. What they don’t understand is that when one violates Bein Adam L’Chavero – he is actually violating Bein Adam L’Makom too. It is after all God that requires us to observe those laws. Not man.

Now I’m sure that these are all fine and decent people. They are probably good husbands, good fathers, good neighbors and are well thought of by their friends and peers. But for some reason on an airplane they seem to become self centered and oblivious to those concerns.

I’ve heard it said that the airplane staff is used to it and they don’t really mind. But that is simply untrue. They look the other way because they don’t want to create a stir. Or get into fights. But they do mind. Even on an El Al plane going to Israel filled with religious Jews. Perhaps especially when there are so many religious Jews blocking the bathroom doors and the aisles.

The sad part is the fact that the fellow sitting next to me seemed like a secular Jew (he was not wearing a Kipa). He was seeking his religious roots under the tutelage of Chabad. When he noticed all those religious Jews going to the back of the plane to Daven, he said he was going to join them and Daven Ma’ariv too.

I thought ‘how wonderful to see a secular Jew on the road to observance – caring so much about prayer- and praying with a Minyan. But how sad it was he was learning this bad habit as though it were a religious value to inconvenience others when it suited your religious goals.

Partnership Minyan (JTA)

One of the sad realities that contributes to the divide between Modern Orthodoxy (MO)and the right is how Modern Orthodoxy is defined by the right (Charedim). It is usually defined in the most negative way. This was made clear by a student of Rabbi Bechhofer who has chosen to remain anonymous. Rabbi Bechhofer has published his essay entitled ‘The Orthodox Divide” on this subject. Based on the experience he has in his own community, he sees MO the same way.

The short version is that the right (which he calls the Orthodox) sees MO observance determined through the lens of the modern world. In other words the word modern takes precedence over the word Orthodox. So that when there is a conflict between the values of each, modernity wins the day. The right never takes modernity into consideration with respect to their religious practices and beliefs. If there is a conflict, Orthodoxy wins. There is no ‘modern’ in their definition of Orthodoxy.

I tend to agree up to a point. But Modern Orthodoxy encompasses its own subset of Orthodoxies.

(One may ask, how many division can one make in Judaism before it all becomes just one big meaningless jumble of gobbledygook. That seems like a fair question. But if one examines all the differences – whether denominational, Hashkafic, or intra-Hashkafic, there are definitely markers that separate each group uniquely. Whether a group so small as the Jewish people (relative to others) can survive so many breakdowns is a question for sociologists. But it is nevertheless a fact that they exist and are definitively different from each other.)

I have mentioned this before and I think it is still true. There are 3 primary groups of MO: Centrists (right wing MO) Left wing MO, and what I refer to as MO-Lite. Rabbi Bechhofer’s student conflates the latter two groups and I think he’s wrong to do that. The left is as committed to Halacha as the right. But they are definitely influenced by the modernity and see many of its cultural values in a favorable light.

So much so that they are willing to compromise tradition (not Halacha) in order to serve those values. They will dismiss millennia old traditions in service to those values if they do not see a clear-cut Halachic violation. They attribute those old traditions to prejudices that all of society had. Now in a more enlightened era, they will say those old traditions no longer make sense.

This is where 21^st century feminism comes in. Its egalitarian nature supersedes traditions that have in the past for example rejected the concept of female rabbis. Or partnership Minyanim. However even though they are convinced of the just nature of their egalitarian pursuit and discard traditions they believe are incompatible, archaic and Halachicly unnecessary, they are otherwise committed to Halacha.

This is not the same as MO-Lite. These are people that are less educated about what Halacha requires. Ad although they are generally observant of the 3 things that define all Orthodox: Shabbos, Kashrus, and Taharas HaMishpacha (Mikva use by women) they tend to not understand or even care about some of the details in keeping Shabbos and Kashrus. And even less so in other matters.

It is MO-Lite that will often place lifestyle over observance. Which can end up in violations of Halacha through ignorance. They will rationalize and say that everyone picks and chooses what to observe. Only they may not know the dfferecne between a simple Minhag and a clear-cut Halacha.

And then there are the Centrists, like me. We are as meticulous in following Halacha as both the right and the left. Only we do not see modern values being overridden by cultural ones like egalitarianism. We do not sacrifice tradition on the altar of secular values. In that sense we are no different that the right.

Where we differ is in how we see secular values at all. Whereas Centrists allow that there is value in some of secular culture which can be incorporated into our lives as long as they do not contradict Halacha or tradition, the right sees no value in secular culture that is not utilitarian . Whereas as they try to avoid it, we tend to accept it and see positive value when there is no contradiction to Halacha and traditional Jewish values.

The right, LWMO and Centrists are usually sincere dedicated Jews. Our differences are not based on lifestyle but on which values to prioritize if Jewish values are not based in pure Halacha. It is the MO-Lites that the right thinks of when using the term Modern Orthodox. But it is clearly a mistake to do so. Why do they think of MO that way? Because there are a lot of MO-Lites in the world of MO.

What about Charedi- Lite? Those among the right that observe Halacha more for social reasons than ideological ones? There are plenty of those too. Considering that they are the fastest growing demographic in Orthodoxy, there may be more of them than there are MO Lites. But they are much harder to detect that since the Charedi-Lites are outwardly very Charedi. They look the look; talk the talk; and walk the walk publicly. But in private they don't always walk the walk so much.

MO-Lites are by nature much more open about their lifestyles. So to the casual right wing observer, it is easy for them to see MO the way Rabbi Bechhofer’s student does. But reality resides elsewhere. I only wish that reality was better understood by those outside of MO looking in.

President Trump greeting clergy members in the Rose Garden on May 4th (JTA)

I never liked the Johnson Amendment. Which restricts the rights of religious organizations to express their preference of one political candidate over the other. That amendment strips away the tax exempt status of any religious organization that endorses a specific political candidate for office.

I never fully understood the motivation or the rationale behind it. I see that as a violation of the first the first amendment right to free speech. But that has been the law since 1954. Until now. Sort of. From JTA:

A full repeal of the Johnson Amendment can happen only through an act of Congress. But Trump’s order directs the Internal Revenue Service not to prosecute violations of the Johnson Amendment by houses of worship, effectively ensuring that they won’t face repercussions from the law.

I hope Congress will act. The idea that a religious organization will turn into ‘partisan political outfits’ as Reform Rabbi Jonah Dov Pesner, director of their Religious Action Center noted - is quite a cynical accusation. Most legitimate religious organizations are about the values they promote. They should not be penalized for endorsing the candidate that most closely promotes those values. That there are some religious organizations that are partisan should not penalize those that are not.

President Trump’s order actually enhances both aspects of the first amendment: freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Those of us that love the liberty this nation is all about ought to be applauding this decision. Not criticizing it. Regardless of how they might otherwise feel about his position on other matters.

That said, I would urge religious organization to continue the policy of not endorsing candidates. I don’t see an upside to that. What they should instead do is continue to speak out about the values in which they believe. Let the voter decide which candidate’s position most closely represents those values.

On the other hand endorsing one candidate over the other does have a downside. It will not serve them well if their candidate loses. Politicians have long memories.

Best to stay neutral during an election. Let the voters see for themselves and make their own decisions. If they support the values the organization preaches, they will make the right choice without any kind of official endorsement.

I am nevertheless happy that the chains have been lifted. No longer will a religious organization have to fear losing its tax exempt status if one of their executives slips up and publicly supports a specific candidate. That is a good thing for religious organizations and a good thing for an America that wants to live up to its creed of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. And for this President Trump deserves our gratitude.

Hamas Leadership (Ha'aretz)

The bias from the left is quite telling when one of their journalists puts a positive spin on a Hamas document that declares its intention to destroy Israel. But this is exactly what Ha’aretz journalist Amira Haas has done. This is not to say that she doesn’t have a point. She may… or may not. But either way it hardly matters.

What she says is that changes in a Hamas document show that there are some moderate voices in Hamas with respect to Israel. She apparently sees this as a hopeful sign. But let us examine both the final document (which is really all that matters) and the original version upon which she pins some hope.

The document which took four years to create and finalize is called the ‘Document of General Principles and Policies’. In it Hamas states what its goals are with respect to the State of Israel. Which include its rationale for those goals.

Here is the key paragraph from the document upon which she hangs her hopes (with the excised sentence in brackets):

[Anti-Semitism was a basic reason for the appearance of the Zionist movement] The Zionist movement, which was able with the help of Western powers to occupy Palestine, is the most dangerous form of colonial occupation which has already disappeared from much of the world and must disappear from Palestine.

The acknowledgement that some people in Hamas at least understand why Zionism was created gives her hope that there are moderate voices in Hamas. Perhaps they can be convinced to compromise on their ultimate goal to destroy the state. But that completely ignores the conclusion they seek even with that understanding. Which is the complete destruction of the state.

One does not need a document to understand why Israel cannot make peace with this people. Actions speak far louder than words. But in many ways I’m glad that they have come out with this document. There can be no mistake about their intention. Nothing has changed. They believe as they always have: Zionism is the most dangerous form of colonial occupation and MUST DISAPPEAR FROM PALESTINE!

Let us not fool ourselves and say that this kind of thinking is not mainstream in the Palestinian mind. Let us not be fooled by the PA leadership that speaks of a 2 state solution living side by side in peace and security. If only that were true. It doesn’t matter that many – perhaps even most Palestinians would prefer a solution like that so that they can get on with their lives. Even if they agree with Hamas in principle, most people are pragmatists. Not ideologues. So even though they would prefer the Hamas option they prefer peace more and might just be willing to settle on 2 states.

The problem is that the ideologues are the ones in control. And ideologues are the ones willing to sacrifice most to achieve their goals. And by ‘most’ I mean with their own lives, and the lives of their children if necessary. People with that kind of motivation will always succeed over those that just want to get on with their lives.

Hamas rules in Gaza.The truly devout Muslims see Hamas as more sympathetic to their religious perspective of the land which they see as theirs. It is not too hard to see that when a Muslim mother on the West Bank dances in the street and hands out candy to little children when one of her own children blows himself up for the cause. They support Hamas and their goals. Hamas is also more sympathetic to their plight. The PA on the other hand is seen as corrupt. Which they probably are.

But still, the more pragmatic Palestinians as represented by the Palestinian Authority (PA) were outvoted in the Gaza elections. The PA lost control and was chased out of Gaza by military means. From their base in Gaza, Hamas has ever since been doing whatever it can to kill innocent Jews. This scenario will no doubt be replayed if the West Bank is handed over to them should anyone be foolish enough to let that happen.

Does it matter a whit that there is someone in Hamas might understand that it was European antisemitism that caused the occupation if they see it as so evil that it must be eradicated? An ‘understanding’ they have in any case deleted from their document entirely lest anyone have the slightest reservation about their intentions and ultimate goals.

And yet there are people that still believe peace is possible and that we should precede post haste in establishing the 2 state solution. Are they that blind? As things stand now, there is no possibility that any such compromise would succeed. It would instead endanger the people of Israel in ways not seen since the Holocaust.

Palestinians may not be Nazis whose intent was to annihilate the entire ‘Jewish race’ from the face of the earth. But the slaughter that would ensue if Hamas were to take control of a West Bank Palestinian state would not be a walk in the park for Israelis either. Jewish blood would flow unlike any time since then. God forbid!

Is there any sane person that believes otherwise? Does it make sense to hand over a state to a people whose strong men believe that Israel must disappear?

The claim by so many of those who are anti Israel is that they are not antisemitic. That is a complete lie! But that is what Hamas wants the world to believe. Unfortunately there are some people that might buy into that. But I think UN Secretary General has it right. From the JTA:

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres vowed to take action to end anti-Semitism and called the denial of Israel’s right to exist a modern form of anti-Jewish hatred.

Thank God Israel’s sitting Prime Minister sees that. He will not be fooled and neither should we. Until Hamas is destroyed there can be no peace.

Pope Francis and Rabbi Edgar Gluck (YWN)

There are some media elites that have panned Trump’s ‘religious liberty’ executive order. In short that order has endorsed the idea that freedom of religions will once again be restored as an unfettered right. Religious people will be able to practice their faith without undue interference by the government.

This act – as noted a few days ago - has also restored the free speech rights to religious organization. They can now endorse political candidates without fear of losing their tax exempt status. I agreed with this order but cautioned our own organizations not to do so as a practical matter.

But the Forward’s Jay Michaelson will have no part of it. He, like far too many other Jews, fears the consequences of this executive order for the Jewish people. Consequences that he thinks will accrue great advantages for Christians at the expense of Jews. Especially Evangelical Christians whose nefarious aims are to first Christianize America and ultimately convert the Jews.

This used to be a legitimate fear. There is no question that this was on the agenda of the Evangelical mind for may decades. But times have changed. Those who still believe this are ignoring the sea change that has taken place among the in the last 25 or so years.

Thanks to the efforts of people like Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, Christians no longer actively seek to do that. They instead see us as natural allies in pursuit of restoring religious values into the American psyche. Values that we have in common with them. Well, maybe not all of us. But certainly those of us that are Orthodox.

That’s why one will find the clergy of both Orthodox Jews and Christians fighting the same fight… lobbying congress to not legislate interferences in religious practices that favor the new morality. A morality that is agnostic about sexual matters. A morality that sees pornography in a far different light than was seen just a few short decades ago. A morality that glorifies sex in all forms. A morality where sexual promiscuity is considered almost normal. A morality that allows for same sex bathrooms as a civil right.

Jay doesn’t seem to notice that. Or perhaps he just doesn’t care about it. What he does notice is what he believes to be the negative Evangelical opinion of us. And that they use code words disguise it. Code words like ‘New York liberals’ whom they blame for all the moral decay in this country.

I agree that this kind of thinking does exist among some of them and that they do use those code words. It is certainly a prejudicial approach to paint only ‘the Jews’ as being responsible for it.

But at the same time it cannot be denied that Jewish hands were involved in major part for moral decay they describe. Hollywood, whose lack of any sexual mores is more responsible for that than any other entity - was created and is still dominated by Jews. Almost all of whom do not subscribe to the biblical view on sexual morality – to say the least! So even though some Evangelical preachers are wrong to use broad brush strokes about Jewish responsibility it is understandable why such prejudice might exist.

But the fact is that most mainstream Evangelicals do not see the Jews that way. They understand that those of us with the values of the Torah see the same moral decay they do… and blame the same people. Instead of being seeing Christian bias against us or being afraid that their missionaries are out to convert us, we are now allies in the same fight. (Yes, I know that their are some Christian missionaries that do seek to convert us, though they might be tolerated - they are surely no longer part of their mainstream.)

But that is not how Jay sees us. He sees us as consorting with the devil for financial gain:

Jewish proponents of these changes — overwhelmingly Orthodox and Republican — are unwittingly selling our country’s pluralistic birthright for a short-term bowl of financial porridge.

How sad it is for someone with a religious background like Jay Michaelson to now see us in such a negative light. Equally sad is his inability to see the change in how Christians view us ever since Vatican II.

Which I believe began with the Catholic Church under Pope John in the early 60s. I have discussed this change more times than I can count. The short version is that what they once saw as a people abandoned by God whose only salvation was to convert – they now see as a legitmate brother religion. They now believe that we Jews would do best to practice our own faith.

I recall that famed conductor James Levine (the Pope’s conductor) had asked Pope John Paul whether he should convert to Catholicism since he admired the Pope so much. Pope John Paul told him not to do it and instead be true to his own religion. My, how things have changed since the days of the Inquisition!

Was Pope John Paul an esception or the new rule? The answer should be more than obvious by the way the new Pope sees us. From YWN:

In a fascinating, and unusual half hour private conversation with Rabbi Chaim Baruch (Edgar) Gluck, Rav DovBer Pinson, and Rabbi Zvi Gluck, speaking about the need to teach the world the Oneness of Hashem, the Pope said “the greatest and most important teaching the world needs to hear is “Shema” (the Pope, said this word in Hebrew).

I cannot ever remember a time where a group of Charedi Jews went as a delegation to the Pope and treated him with such respect. (And even admiration it seems. Rightfully so.)

I am thoroughly convinced that the Pope would see Trump’s religious liberty excutive order in the same positive light that Orthodox Jews do.

Jay Michaelson would do well to rethink his objections to it. Hurt the Jewish people? Hardly.

Zvia Gordetsky - an Agunah who has begun a hunger strike

I cannot understand it at all. It is one of the more perplexing aspects of Halacha.

An Israeli woman by the name of Zvia Gordetsky has been seeking a Get (religious divorce) for 17 years. She is now 53 years old. Which means that she was only 36 when she first sought it. Her child bearing years are over. Why did she seek a divorce? From the Times of Israel:

Gordetsky first asked for a divorce “because of a tragic incident of domestic violence” in which she lost a baby, days before she was due to give birth.

The Beis Din ordered her husband to grant her the Get within 30 days - on penalty of incarceration if he didn’t. He refused. He has been sitting in jail – solitary confinement - since then. Still no Get. The Beis Din has since done everything in its power to pressure her husband to do it. Nothing doing

I cannot fathom the depths of depravity of such a man. This fellow is willing to stay in jail for the rest of his life (it seems) just so that his wife will suffer? What kind of human being does that?

I know that there are always 2 sides to every story. And we haven’t heard his. But anyone who is as evil as this guy is has lost his right to have a side! Unless he is psychotic. In which case an annulment would be appropriate since that would surely allow for it Halachicly under the rules of Hafka’as Kedushin. This is where a marriage is considered a mistake having been fooled into marrying someone she would have never married has she know of a major defect. A man who suffers from psychosis is clearly in that category.

Mrs. Gordetsky is at her wit’s end and has recently begun a hunger strike to gain attention for her cause. She hopes to get an annulment ruling from the Israeli government that would obviate the need for a Get. Israel hasn’t done it yet.

I’m not sure how or if would work. Hafka’as Kiddushin is a rather obscure method of freeing a chained woman and is rarely used. The last time anything like this was tried on a major scale was when Rabbi Emanuel Rackman determined that an abusive husband qualified for Hafka’as Kedushin. He set up a Beis Din that would grant an annulment to an Agunah that was denied a Get and claimed that the reason they wanted one was because they were physically abused during the marriage. Had they known they would have never married their husbands.

Many Agunos applied and received that annulment from Rabbi Rackman’s associate in this endeavor, Rabbi Moshe Morgenstern. But every Posek in the world, including Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik rejected it as illegitimate. They considered these women to still be married. And any offspring from a subsequent marriage were declared to be Mamzerim – a very serious and problematic status for a Jew to be in. One from which they can never extricate themselves.

Why such a claim is not valid is beyond the scope of this post. All I will say about it is that I personally don’t understand why a claim of abuse is not considered legitimate enough to annul a marriage. But it is beyond my pay-grade to dispute all the venerable Poskim that reject it.

The problem of Agunos is not new. Nor is the existence of recalcitrant husbands unique. Unfortunately there are some very vindictive people out there that don’t mind suffering the consequences as long as they know their recalcitrance will inflict emotional pain on their wives.

That may not indicate a psychosis. But it sure comes close! What to do about them is the question of the day. Mrs. Gordetsky by starting a hunger strike has once again put this issue on the front burner. I hope this new attention will bear some fruit. But I tend to doubt it. Halacha is pretty clear on these matters. And Rabbis are not insensitive to their light. But their hands are tied.

The results aren’t pretty. I just don’t get why women in these situations are made to suffer. It truly tests the limits of ‘Deracheha Darkei Noam’ – ‘The ways (of the Torah) are pleasant ways’. Not for Mrs. Gordetsky, and not for all other Agunos, it seems.

Charedim in the classroom (Jerusalem Post)

One might think that Jerusalem Post reporter, Jeremy Sharon might have upset the Charedi world by his recent article. I know I would be if he were talking about my community. But what he reports about Charedim is not anything they aren’t proud of. At least certain parts of it. Jeremy reports on the results on a study of Charedi textbooks undertaken by IMPACT-se, an education watchdog organization. 93 textbooks that are used in grades 1 through 12 were examined.

Here is what they found:

They teach a world view that is isolationist, contemptuous of secular society and instills hatred of Reform Jews.

Well, that is not exactly accurate. At least I hope it isn’t. Their young are not taught to hate Reform Jews. At least I hope they aren’t. What I believe to be the case is that they are taught to hate Reform ideology not the people that have been indoctrinated to believe it. They believe Reform Judaism to be a massive corruption of Judaism itself.

But the first part of that sentence is quite accurate and as I said they are proud of that fact. In my view, that attitude does not serve them well. They – on the other hand - believe that the contempt they teach their young is their actual a salvation – protecting them all from the ills of secular society.

Although there is truth to the fact that there are ills in society that can be damaging, it is hardly the case that this is universally so. There is much in general society that is positive. In many cases teaching valuable life lessons. But they are adamant:

Secularism is also deeply deplored, with secular society described as “empty” and “hollow” in the schoolbooks, with one describing nonreligious society as “stripped bare of ideals and sunk in the depths of materialism.”

This is patently untrue. But even if it were true - in our day, one cannot really be isolated from it. In the short term they might be able to be. But once they are out of the cocoon, they can easily gain access to everything they have been isolated from – with the click of a mouse or the tap of an app.

It could be argued that one reason some of them go OTD is the fact that they are not exposed to it and taught how to properly deal with it by their educators.

Interestingly the study also showed the following:

(T)he report notes that tolerance and respect toward “the individual other” is expressed in haredi school textbooks, and that respect for the rule of law and a generally pragmatic attitude to the state is encouraged.

While this is a major plus, the impact of teaching them to have contempt for secular society and to hate a false ideology has to affect the way they interact with “the individual other”. You can’t look down at them and at the same time respect them. That kind of respect is no respect at all. One can only imagine what they might say about these people behind their backs. I don’t see how one can ethically reconcile contempt with respect.

The idea of promoting ‘a unique and separate cultural identity’ is a laudable goal.That would be fine if they did not ‘negate other cultures’ in the process. This is unhealthy and counterproductive in my view.

I know that they disagree with me. And I can’t really argue with the successes they have. They have many children and produce the most committed type of Jew. The kind of Jew that will transmit their Jewish heritage to their children more successfully than perhaps any other segment. Who will in turn transmit it to their own children in the same way.

But why must they do it in an all or nothing fashion? Why negate the other? Why not teach their young the greatness of their own heritage without negating the other? Why not see the rest of society for what it really is? Both good and bad. Why treat it all as bad? Just sayin…

A 2014 prayer rally in Israel called by Charedi leaders to protest the draft (VIN)

You would think that by now, the rabbinic authorities of the Charedi world in Israel would understand that it isn’t the technology that is the problem. It is in how it is used - that is. You would think that. But you would be wrong. From YWN:

An effort is underway to persuade all of the Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael to convene and call for a Day of Tefilos to stress the importance of the education of the children and the need to distance from technology. This refers to the Moetzas Gedolei Yisrael of Shas, Yahadut Hatorah and Agudas Yisrael.

The secretaries of the councils are reportedly cooperating towards reaching a nussach that will be accepted by all three councils. Their goal is a kol korei for a day of davening as stated, and highlighting the importance of chinuch of the children. Organizers are hoping to have this done on erev Rosh Chodesh Sivan ahead of Shavuos.

Organizers stress the need to highlight the need to distance from the threats posed by some technology today, as well as the need to highlight the importance of education values, which include distancing one from unwanted technology.

I am not going to rehash all the arguments in favor of this technology. They are clearly obvious to those who use it… and even to most of those that don’t. Nor will I rehash all the problems associated with it. We all know that too. Much of which is the easy access to porn without being discovered.

That is but one problem. And in my view, it is a relatively minor problem in terms of the majority of users. While it is a serious problem for those who do access it, I do not believe that most people do. The bigger problem is more subtle and far more widespread. It is a problem that has been recognized by all manner of society - Jew and gentile alike. Numerous articles have been written to address this subject. Some of which contained expert analyses by mental health professionals. The problem I am referring to is addiction to the technology itself. Not just the porn.

Anyone with the slightest bit of awareness of what’s going on around them as they traverse the pubic square will inevitably see people using their smartphones in one way or another. Most will be texting… or reading texts. They might be sitting at a bus stop, or sitting on a park bench, or sitting at a table with friends at a banquet, or walking down the street, or waiting for a traffic light to change... all glued to their smartphones. This phenomenon has become one of the major causes of traffic accidents. Sometimes even causing fatalities. There are a lot of people that text while driving.

It doesn’t end there. The time gobbled up by internet at work ends up with tons of unproductive working time. Which employers pay for! And in the home too. People will be eating supper with their smartphones right next to their food – ready to respond to the latest text. They will sleep near their smartphones and it will be the first thing they look at when they wake up!

For young people – homework doesn’t get done or is shortchanged. It distracts them in school. And then there is the cyber-bullying. Which has become a major problem these days.

I see it in Shuls too. It is almost as if they are holding a siddur in one hand and a smartphone in the other. Noe does it matter what one’s Hashkafa is. I see all types of Orthodox Jews doing it. From Modern Orthodox to Charedi!

In short the number of opportunities for negative consequences seem endless. And the more widespread smartphone usage becomes, the worse it gets.

And yet, to blame technology for this would be like blaming advances in medical technology for deaths that occur during a surgical procedure. While the analogy is not perfect, the argument could be made that had the procedure not been used, the patient would have survived and lived to see another day. What’s ignored is that this procedure has saved or extended many lives that would have seen untimely deaths had they not been performed.

With all of the negative consequences of this new age of internet use and smartphone technology, the benefits still cannot be denied. Some of which can be life saving.

And yet the Charedi leadership in Israel has called for a ‘day of prayer’?!

I’m sorry but I just do not understand the one sided approach to this. It is as if they believe that that technology is so bad – that it must be avoided no matter what benefit there might be. Just avoid it all. This attitude is not new. It has been their approach from day one. I have always disagreed with them. But I thought that by now they would be more realistic in their approach and realize that there are benefits that are very worthwhile – even to the most ardent Charedi Jew.

Are they so uninformed that they will deny that? ...in the belief that it has no value at all ...that is all evil? I guess so. On the other hand they must be informed about the ban they have placed being honored more in the breach that in observance. By far! This is no doubt why they are calling for a day of prayer – turning to God for help in their goal.

What I thought that by now they would understand the real benefits of this technology the way the American Charedi leadership now does. American leaders have gone from complete rejection to recommending filters. (Which is a good idea for everyone – especially with young children in the house.) This does not solve the overall problems I mentioned above. It does, however, help in curbing access to pornography. Which is severely reduced by the use of filters.

How do deal with the other problems is a huge topic that is beyond the scope of this post. All I will say is that it involves education, commitment, and discipline.

But what about the ‘coincidence’ of the call for a day of prayer - and an article on Matzav promoting 7 smartphone apps for Orthodox Jews?

God rules the world. To call anything a mere coincidence –a happenstance of nature that has no Godly input – might be considered blasphemy. It is therefore no small irony that at the moment this day of prayer was announced, Matzav – a Charedi website – featured this article.

What is God trying to tell us? I do not have the gift of prophesy. No one does in our day. But I do think a lesson can be learned here. Perhaps this is God’s way of answering the prayers these Israeli leaders have called for. Which is that there is good and bad in just about everything. It is our duty as Jews to ferret out the good and reject the bad. And that it is certainly not our duty to reject it all.

Picture in an Ad for Pesach in Croatia 2017

I have no real problem with fancy Pesach vacations. They are not for me, however. For me Pesach is a time to spend with family and to have a traditional Seder at home – with my own family. This is what I have done as far back as I can remember. Last year for the first time in my life, I spent Pesach in Israel. But that too was so that I could be with family. In that case, my son and his family. I had wonderful Seder last year. (The joy of the rest of Yom Tov was however interrupted by the sudden loss of my brother which I had only heard about on the first night of Chol HaMoed.)

The point I’m trying to make is that I enjoy the traditional Peasch despite the hard work that goes into preparing for it for weeks in advance.

Why bring this up now? I bring it up in light of some Mussar on the subject by Rabbi Aryeh Z. Ginzberg published in the latest issue of Mishpacha Magazine. I completely understand what he was trying to say. The gist of which is that people seem to have forgotten what we hope for every Pesach when we say L’Shana HaBah B’yerushalyim – next year in Jerusalem.

These thoughts came upon him in response to a grandchild’s wish for a better version of a water slide he experienced at a resort his cousin had been staying at this Pesach. He believed his Pesach would be vastly improved if only next year he could spend at that resort.

Rabbi Ginsberg's wife tried to convey the message to her six year old grandson that it was far more important to yearn for the rebuilding of the Beis HaMikdash, so that we could experience the joy of sacrificing the Korban Pesach. The child in all his innocence responded that maybe they’ll have a water slide in the Beis Hamikdash.

I’m not sure how wise it is to try and sell the virtues of the Korban Pesach to a six year old. But I do understand trying to convey that message to his adult readers. H e then adds the kicker. A friend of his who spent Peasch at a luxurious resort responded to a question about whether he enjoyed it with the following: ‘It doesn’t get better than this!”

It doesn’t get better than this?! Rabbi Ginzberg felt that if that is how one feels after spending Peasch at a resort, he questions whether any of us ever wait for final redemption with the arrival of Moshiach. One of the fundamentals of our faith is the following: Ani ma'amin b'emunah sh'leimah b'vias hamashiach, v'af al pi sh'yismameah, im kol zeh achakeh lo b'chol yom sheyavo” I believe with complete faith in the coming of Moshaich. And even though he tarries – with all of that, I wait for his coming every day.

That question was dealt with a few years ago by no less a rabbinic authority that Rav Ahron Leib Steinman. His answer was no. None of us do wait for him anymore. Who today leads their lives in anticipation for the arrival of Moshiach every day?

Maybe the Choftetz Chaim did that. Legend has it that he had a bag packed and ready to go should Moshiach arrive. Is there anyone comparable to that today? Rav Steniman therefore eliminated the ‘waiting’ aspect from the fundamentals. We believe in his eventual coming. But we no longer wait for him every day. Rav Steinman is a realist. He understands human nature. We are busy with our lives. We hope he will come soon but we aren’t waiting for him to come every day.

Rabbi Ginzberg castigates an attitude that extols as the ultimate Pesach experience - attending a luxurious hotel. I agree that that going to a resort is not what Pesach is supposed to be all about. Which is why I tend to focus on family. Not personal pleasure.

But I have to wonder about Rabbi Ginzberg’s own sincerity about this when he begins this very rebuke by telling his readers that he spent Pesach at a house in a resort complex in Orlando. Isn’t he just as guilty as those he is rebuking? Perhaps the water slides at his house weren’t as big as the ones at the ones at his cousin’s house. But going to Florida for Pesach isn’t exactly the way to express ones yearning for Moshiach.

Now as I said at the outset, I have no problem with people doing that. If they enjoy spending Pesach at a resort, God bless them. People are entitled to spend Pesach wherever they choose. But to then castigate others for doing the same thing he does - only at better and more luxurious place seems incongruous if you ask me. Sure. It’s all about attitude. One can be at the most luxurious Pesach hotel in the history of mankind – as long they feel the lack of not having the Beis HaMikdash rebuilt. That is his message. It is the right message. But I do not think he should have been the one to give it from where he sat.

Ramat Bet Shemesh

Today is another travel day. Just wanted to say what a wonderful trip it was. My grnadosn Mordechai read his Parsha and the Haftora at a private family Minyan last Shabbos. After which over 30 family members joined in a festive and delicious Shabbos Seudah in the dining hall of the Shul.

Last Monday night was Mordechai's actual Bar Mitzvah - the 'Bo Bayom' and there was a lovely reception where he delivered his Drahsa.

I cannot hold back the pride I feel in my family. I only wish upon all of Klal Yisroel the kind of Nachas my wife and I feel.

One more thing. The people of Ramat Bet Shemesh are some of the nicest people I know. They go out of their way to show hospitality to their out of town guests. My wife and I were made to feel like old time members of the community. Most of the people I meet there are Charedi. But the apartment we leased for the occasion was on a street filled with Dati Leumi families. There were plenty of Israeli flags displayed along the way.

English is as frequently heard there as is Hebrew. Americans would feel very comfortable there.

Everyone seemed to get along just fine too. The so-called fighting between Charedim and Datim was non existent as far as I could see. I even saw some Chiloni children playing with Charedi and Dati children on Shabbos in a small park there. Mothers were standing or sitting around there and seemed quite content with what they saw.

All of which indicates to me that a lot of the internecine strife that is reported about this community is sometimes blown way out of proportion. Not that there aren't problems. Of course there are. Every community has them. But even with these problems life goes on, people are friendly, and everyone seems to get along.

Perhaps that's why there is such an explosion of construction there. I never saw anything like it. The demand must be pretty high. Entire suburbs are being built all around that area. When my son first moved there - there was just one Ramat Bet Shemesh. Now there are several with a lot more new ones on the way. Before it's all over Bet Shemesh and its suburbs will be one of the largest cities in Israel.

It is an amazing sight. Just thought I'd mention it. I will resume posting again from Chicago on Tuesday.

The ‘Gold’ Standard, Eytan Kobre, and Me

MbP and Herpes - Alive and Well

A Tale of Two Issues

Withdrawn Post and an Apology

Drawing the Wrong Conclusions

Better to Die than Serve

The First 100 Days

Orthodox Jews – the New Jewish Elite

Israel, Charedim, and the Left

Travel Day

Not the Kind of Achdus I’m Looking For

The Orthodox Divide - Not What Appears to Be

Freedom of Speech Restored

Peace Not Possible Til They're Gone!

Should Religious Liberty Scare us? Hardly!

Zvia Gordetsky - Another Sad Agunah Story

Confirming What We Already Know

A Day of Prayer and 7 Apps

It Gets No Better than This. But It’s Not So Bad Now!

Back to Chicago