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I’d like to respond to several questions asked to me.
Haimy said:
“We don’t have an acceptable army framework to join in this Milchoma!”
“If we could organize an independent Chareidi battalion…”
As long as the State of Israel is run by Atheists, I don’t believe the Mesorah following Chareidim will organize to a battalion. Like Rav Hirsh did in Germany, & the Chasam Sofer in Hungary, the Chareidi leadership want the Torah abiding community to live separately from the Chilonim. If we all fought in the same army, this havdallah would cease.“A modern working Talmid Chacham – Boruch Epstein, Torah Temimah (and “my uncle the Netziv”, son of Aruch Hashulchan, learnt in Volozhin) – he was working in a bank in Pinsk in Poland.?
True, you can become great in learning even if you work part time. However, the Torah Temima was not considered a Gadol Hador in his time. He was a huge talmid Chochom. The Gedolei Torah of Klal Yisroel Sit & learn all day & some are madrich the Dor as well. (some sold their seforim very part time like the Steipler while thinking in learning)
“Why shouldn’t a military unit be under the jurisdiction of military experts and generals just because they aren’t frum?
This goes back to the first answer above. If we need to create a cultural divide between us & the Chilonim, we cannot be under their command.
In addition, they cannot be trusted with questions of pikuach nefesh. Experience has shown that even Chareidi units face many halachic compromises.“Not all Rabbanim in Europe did not agree with Zionism, though clearly the majority did not do so. In the Sefardic world, there was much less opposition – but it also was much less prevalent. But all of that is besides the point – the Zionism of that time is significantly different from the Zionism of today, and it is unknown how many of the Gedolim of yesteryear would relate to the currently-existing State of Israel?
Rav Meir Stern explained the problem with Zionism. Zionism is an ideology that takes one mitzva of Yishuv Ha’aretz & elevates it over the rest of the Mitzvos of the Torah. That’s why the Mizrachi looked aside from the problem of joining with apikorsim (& many other compromises) because this mitzva is so great, it overides all other considerations. This ideology continues to be held by the Mizrochi today & many of their youth have left Yiddishkeit because of their exposure to the culture of the Apikorsim.
The Gedolei Torah vehemently disagreed with this ideology. The Torah & Mitzvos are all equally important! & want to keep a havdalah between the Torah abiding Tzibbur & the Atheists group in the land. The Gedolei Torah of this generation are the students of the gedolei olom of the last generation & so on. We can safely assume that if the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Chaim Ozer, Rav Elchonon, Rav Chaim Brisker, and the prewar Chassidic Rebbes were here, they would all discourage the Chareidim from Joining the army. That’s how their talmidim decided & that’s the mesorah they were handed.The Mizrachi chose the Daas Yochidim at the time because nationalism was very popular at that time in history & Zionism was the Jewish version of nationalism. Not out of a sense of looking for Amitah Shel Torah.
Only the Chareidim remained on the well trodden path of our Mesorah as per the opinion of the Gedolei Torah of each generation.Even so, We still have strong Hakoras Hatov for every person fighting for the safety of the Klal. Even though we can’t join them, we mourn the death of every precious Jewish soul. We appreciate the selflessness of many of them putting their lives in danger for the sake of others.
https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/users/always_ask_questions
“How can you right something so demonstratably not true? Many amoraim were in business; Rambam was a doctor; Shamai a builder; R Huna had wineries; R Yohanan Hasandaler was a sandaler”
Absolutely True.
Rav Chaim Voloziner in Nefesh Hachaim states that even when those Gedolei olom were involved in business, they were thinking in learning.
We cannot do this today, that’s why we need to support the full time learning of the elite Talmidei Chachomim of the Dor.The Rambam states that it’s Asur for a Posek or Rav to take money for his service tothe Tzibbur. The Shulchon Aruch & all the poskim of the latter Doros includingh the Mishna Berurah permit taking money from other’s inorder to learn because it’s impossible to become great in Torah otherwise in the later generations. There were exceptions to this rule like the Chayei Odom who was a merchant, but nearly every Gadol Batorah of the last hundreds of years was Kulo Shokuah Batorah.
Chareidi Jewry was led by By the great Torah Giants of the 20th century like the Chofetz Chaim, Rav Chaim Ozer, Rav Chaim Brisker, All the Chassidic Rabbonim & Rebbe’s including of course Chabad, As well as the Sefardic Gedolim rejected the Mizrachi Movement as an acceptable path for the Torah True Jew. It wasn’t spoken about as Ailu Veailu, it was a derech rejected outright as wrong & a danger to its adherents. This doen’t mean that they aren’t Orthodox, We love them as full Shomer Shabbos Jews who unfortunately are on the wrong course. Similiar to how we view the Meshichist group in Chabad, & much of Chabad in General. They exceptionally kind & well meaning Jews who do tremendous good but are on the wrong track is some important ways.
There’s no need for me or anyone else to get into the minutuea of Milchemes Mitzva because even if there was a Milchemes Mitzva going on, We don’t have an acceptable army framework to join in this Milchoma! If we could organize an independent Chareidi battalion that only answers to Gedolei Torah, not under the jusidiction of athiest generals or defense ministers then we could start debating the issue of Milchemes Mitzva. This doesn’t exist right now.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky himself was drafted in 1948 & fought. I’m sure you’ll find photos of Chareidi Jews fighting in the 6 day & Yom Kippur War as well. Those were exceptional circumstances.
We are BH not in that situation today.The vast majority of Gedolei Torah over the last 100 years didn’t approve of supporting a secular Zionist State. They viewed the Israeli army as a spiritually dangerous place for a religious person to be part of & should be avoided whenever possible.
I’m not learning the sugya of Milchemes Mitzva right now to start debating you about it. I know that there are 100’s of great poskim whose knowledge of halacha far surpasses Rabbi Dr Zivotofsky, who do not agree with his conclusions & they would urge every Frum person to avoid the army like the plague, if they can.
The gedolei Torah throughout history were Jews who spent their entire lives studying Torah every waking moment. They weren’t soldiers part-time. It takes that kind of commitment to Torah & kedusha to produce the gems like Rav Ahron Kotler, Rav Moshe, Rav Shlomo Zalmen, Rav Elyoshiv, Rav Shach, Rav Yaakov, The Steipler, the Chazon Ish, Etc. The Rabbi/soldier is an ant compared to any of these spiritual giants. And if he’s honest, he’ll admit so. He was just raised in a Mizrachi environment and chose the opinion of the Yechidim like Rav Kook & Rav Soloveitzik over the many others who disagreed with them.
Imagine a group of intellectual midgets discussing how a group of intellectual giants should have decided, straight out ridiculous!Is the good Rabbi Dr the Poseik for Klal Yisroel? He’s not at all.
The Jewish people always relied on their Torah Leaders to guide them in questions of Halacha & Hashkafa. The Great Torah Leaders of the the last generations have strongly discouraged Frum Jews from joining the army (excluding special circumstances).
It’s actually a bit humorous that a science professor Rabbi would publicly stick his nose into a sensitive halacha/hashkafa question like this, as though his opinion counts VS the Gedolei Torah of the last 70 years.There’s no reason to repost articles from Modern Orthodox publications to the Yeshiva World which is catering mostly to a Chareidi readership.
I didn’t say it wasn’t worth it. It’s not the first thing a Yid should do & not what he attributes his success to. There are much more important things to do first like Daven to Hashem, give tzedakah, do teshuva, etc. If you feel that this is an sdditional zechus you need then by all means go do it!
When hopefully the yeshuah comes, don’t attribute it to the candles, as though it’s some magical potion that brings yeshuos! If you skipped davening, learning, tzedakah, brochos from live tzadikim etc, the things our Chazal tell us to do when we need a yeshua, then you are treating the candles like an avodah zorah!
R’ Menachem Mendel of Riminov isn’t interested in your candles if you use it to bypass doing what your main focus should be!
By the way, R’ Menachem Mendel Ztzl never mentioned anything about publisizing the yeshuah. In today’s superficial world of segulos, I would suggest to keep it to your personal family rather than post it for all to read.
In addition, there’s no real way to attribute a yeshuah to any one action we may take. Maybe it was your davening, maybe the tzedaka, or maybe everything in combination. Maybe the yeshuah was meant to happen regardless of what you decided to do.
Let’s go Betmimus with Hashem & follow what Chazal tell us to do when we need a Yeshuah. Segulos have a place but aren’t the main Avodah of a Yid.How many times did you light a candle & didn’t see a Yeshua?
I find it hard to believe that Hashem just wants us to light candles as a way to merit a yeshuah from all our tzaros.
Have you davened? Given tzedakah? Performed teshuvah? Why are you attributing the yeshuah to the candles instead of the merits that Chazal tell us to accumulate??
A Jew is a soldier in Hashem’s army & he should be proud of whichever position he was assigned. If he can go from learning in Yeshiva to supporting his family honorably & not needing to come on to other’s, then Kol Kakovod! Please announce it from the rafters!
He should leave the Yeshiva with a heavy heart that he’s no longer sitting in the Beis Medrash but look forward to a life of Kvius Itim, Mitzvos & Maasim tovim!OP “I’ve been struggling immensely with Yiddishkeit, but with the help of Hashem and my parents, I did not go completely off.”
I reiterate my original answer. Some questions in life don’t have fully satisfying answers. We aren’t privy to many of the mysteries of creation & how a loving G-d allows so much evil to exist in his world. When the seforim give answers to such questions, it’s only a small consolation to the questioning mind.
There’s so much more we will never understand in our current golus state.However, there are individuals (like myself) that always want to get to the bottom of things & really understand our world. When you get one semi satisfying answer, a new question pops up, in an endless cycle of questioning & answering.
The downside to this is that after a while, you feel completely exasperated by the lack of clarity! Nothing seems to make sense anymore & there’s nobody that has the answers. Your Yiddishkeit begins suffering because how can you feel positivity in Avodas Hashem with so much uncertainty plaguing you?
Some people went completely off the derech because of this obsession to find the elusive truth & couldn’t.The true answer to Why Hashem made the world one way & not the other is that he alone knows why. Theoretically, Hashem could have decided to make it any way he wanted to & get the result he wanted. He’s unlimited in his power & control.
Let’s trust him for the way he made it, let’s trust that this crazy world makes perfect sense because he’s in full control.
Asking Hashkafah questions is very important! Questions like why an I here? What’s my Avodah supposed to be, today in my circumstance? How do I balance all my obligations in life as a Yid? Excellent questions!
Questions like, Why was I born a Yisroel & not a Kohein? Why couldn’t Hshem create me in a way that obligates me in more Mitzvos? Irrelevant & distrusting of Hashem. I’m here to serve in Hashem’s army, whichever division he put me! Put on your army uniform & start marching to the beat! It makes no difference at all that others were given more prestigious positions (at least externally) than me! We are all part of the same army marching for Kovod Shomayim!Why did Hashem make this world the way it is & not some other way? That is the outline of this question.
The answer: This fantasy question has no relevance to your life. We are totally underequipped to start contemplating a better way for the world to have been created. Hashem created it exactly how he chose to with his infinite wisdom for a specific end goal, and this is what he decided would accomplish his objective.Our job in life is to figure out how to make our lives as meaningful as possible to bring about the goal Hashem has for us in his creation, that’s all it is.
We need to ignore meaningless questions about how life could have been in some other cosmic sphere & instead embrace reality as it is & make the most of it. People who are prone to obsessive thoughts can get hooked on these circular questions for months at a time with no satisfying answer ever reached.
Being stuck with this question can be excruciatingly painful as it swirls around your mind & fools you to take it seriously. Ignore these types of questions & start living purposefully, the questions will hopefully go away on their own.The Chareidim won’t go to the IDF because the Torah leadership has to us not to. End of discussion. Are you angry at a patient told by his doctor not to enlist because of his physical frailty? Of course not. Similarly, No reason to be angry with the Chareidim at large, they were told not to join the IDF by their spiritual doctors because it’s too unsafe due to their spiritual frailty.
Should you be angry at the Chareidi Torah leaders? No, you shouldn’t. They were entrusted by Hashem to make the final decisions for the Torah nation & even if they’re wrong, we are commanded to follow them.
Would you be angry at the Chofetz Chaim if he said the same thing to us? I hope not.
The Torah leaders of this generation are the Einei Ho’eida, the eyes of our people & must be followed just like the Chofetz Chaim in his day.
Don’t be angry, be happy that so many Jews still value the opinions of the great Torah leaders & walk in their footsteps. Many of those who have no leaders to follow are drifting away from full observance of Toras Moshe. They are confused in so many areas of modern life.
Ashreinu Umah Tov Chelkeinu that we still have gedolei Yisroel to lead us.How many times have you heard poor people thanking the citizens of the US for all the programs they offer that dwarf Israel? Kal Vechomer in Israel, the non religious HATE the fact that yeshivos get money. Even the religious zionists aren’t too fond of it.
The money was reluctantly given purely for political reasons by people who hate Torah study!
The Secular supreme court hate the religious population & they are gloating over their power to hurt thousands of poor children.
Even if you believe the Chareidim should all go to work & not live off the State, the economy is not prepared for them, they have no training to enter the work force. They also for cultural reasons can not enter the army & you don’t punish their wives & children even if you think they are wrong.
Maybe you lower the support gradually & allow people to find other sources of income.The difference: A father-in-law supports out of love of his children & appreciation of Torah study.
The Israeli secular court Hates Chareidim & has zero appreciation for Torah study.
The government was only supporting yeshivos for political/legal reasons & always hated the fact that Yeshivos were getting money. Chazal tells us that if you dishonorably give tzedakah to an Oni, you lose your sechar.
The Brisker Rov said that the founders of the State wished to replace Judaism with Zionist nationalism. & many Israelis still hope for that ideal.
The money was never given out of respect or appreciation to the Yeshivos. How loud would your thank you be if someone reluctantly gave you a present only for a kickback (votes) but he actually hated you?Even if it always would have been given out of goodwill:
These tens of thousands of families already live on very low incomes, to suddenly cut funds from their basic necessities for a political reason is an act of cruelty! Tremendous achzorius!
For families with many children, the mothers work hard on low pay, to half their income suddenly is a tremendous rishus!
The court & the leftists are certainly Reshaim who deserve no thank you from the Chareidim.What’s your point? That not everyone agreed with the Satmar Rov Zatzal?
The reason is because the Torah considers Sholom Bayis to be of the highest importance. Hashem allows his own name to be erased to restore Sholom Bayis. Hashem created men & women & the emotional needs of each one for the relationship to last. A man needs to feel that he’s number one in his wife’s eyes when it comes to honor while a woman’s nature can tolerate foregoing her honor for her father in law. A man primarily needs honor from his wife, a wife primarily needs love from her husband.
A son in law is certainly urged to forgo his honor for the honor of his father in law but ultimately he comes first.
Here are the words of Rambam Perek 15:19/20 hilchos Ishus:
Similarly, our Sages commanded that a man honor his wife more than his own person, and love her as he loves his own person. If he has financial resources, he should offer her benefits in accordance with his resources. He should not cast a superfluous measure of fear over her. He should talk with her gently, being neither sad nor angry.
“And similarly, they commanded a woman to honor her husband exceedingly and to be in awe of him. She should carry out all her deeds according to his directives, considering him to be an officer or a king. She should follow the desires of his heart and shun everything that he disdains.
This is the custom of holy and pure Jewish women and men in their marriages. And these ways will make their marriage pleasant and praiseworthy.”
.In addition Mr. Lakewhut, the music wasn’t running for hours, the majority of the event was the Derashos.
In the coffee room you’re anonymous, in shomayim your name is well known. How will you deal with knocking publicly 25000 lomdei Torah which includes most of the senior Roshei Yeshiva & poskim of our time? Just to let lout a little steam & uncalled for frustration on YWN? This is nuts!Next time you don’t agree with something, keep it to yourself rather than publicly being mevazeh other Yidden while hiding behind your screen name.
You need to now ask mechilah from all the people you put down. So do so right here in this thread & be mekabel not to repeat your foolish behavior.
This wasn’t a concert. This was a gathering of Kidush Shem Shomayim.
Nobody spent $200 & 6 hours of their time for the music. They came to give honor to the Torah & those that toil in it.
Leitzonus achas doche meiah tochochos!
There are bitter people out there who don’t stop themselves from putting down the beautiful parts of a Torah life.Just like we have music by a hachnosas sefer Torah, there’s music to honor the living sifrei torah.
It’s only in their zechus that we’ll bezras Hashem overcome our enemies around the world.
Much of the marketing you will come across in frum publications are aimed at a small slice of the population. How many families will many children are going to luxurious hotels, are going to Europe touring ancient Jewish communities, are buying fur coats, glamorous jewelry, buying luxurious SUV’s, have private chefs, live live in 2,000,000 homes, etc.? I assure you that not more than 20% of the frum world is living this way.
Most frum families live quite simply. Much of our income goes to tuition, therapy, basic food & shelter, normal clothes, & the occasional new hat or sheital.
Stop looking at the high spenders amongst us that capture much of the advertising dollars spent. These advertisments don’t reflect
The majority of bnei Torah families.We live simply, we’re careful with our budget, we have our priorities straight. I’m proud of the frum world in so many ways.90% won’t be enjoying 300$ meatboards this Chanuka. Look at the majority of Frum Jews who live simply & celebrate Chanukah correctly. Why are you so negative on the Frum community all the time?
Thank you!
MB Smart from TAG. About $30 a year.
It comes from a few frum but on the fringe music entertainers who wear this style & every kid at risk is copying them. They look ridiculous but if a cool DJ has it on social media then thousands of gullible frum kids will follow. Kids with low self esteem who are not doing well scholastically are the first to fall.
The maamin doesn’t follow these ideas or beliefs. The maamin knows that the Holocaust was a gezeirah min hashomayim, not a secular result of antisemitism. The maamin does the necessary hishtadlus & then focuses on his spiritual growth to be worthy of protection. Now is a time for teshuva & maasim tovim. Unless you’re part of the armed forces fighting in Gaza, your main focus should be about increasing the zechusim of klal yisroel. The lowest & most despicable life form is the human being that has turned himself into a cruel barbarian, all in the name of “Allah” or any other false utopia.
This life form uses his intelligence to take every resource available to man as a tool to destroy others. The Hitlerite & juhaddist share these same selfish drives of Amaleik. May the snakes head be crushed soon.That would be the best present for Hamas! Now is a time for tefilah & teshuva, not political comparisons.
If you are a maamin & believes this was a gezeirah min hashomayim meant for us to wake up, then it makes no difference who was the PM at the time. Get the message & start davening!All gum needs a reputable hechsher. They often contain glycer
irine which can be sourced from non kosher fats including lard.
This besides the other problematic ingredients.These type of unscientific “studies” devalue the prestige of a getting a doctorate in the eyes of the Yeshiva community. Not good PR for Touro.
Right Wingers are instigating the Arabs by entering the Har Habayis. They are rodfim for causing the death of Jews.
Have Rabbi Yair Hoffman write a (if deserved) glowing article about it on this & other sites with a link to purchase it at a deeply discounted price. Very few contemporary seforim by unknown authors make it, they usually end up in shaimos or collecting dust. Even great Roshei Yeshivos had little mazel with their seforim.
You need to find your inner voice amongst all the emotion your feeling. Sometimes discussing your feelings with someone you trust will allow you to find that voice. If you need to clarify some points about the other side then do so.
An experienced shadchan can be very helpful at this stage.