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why isn’t English a holy language?
I think the difference between English and Aramaic, Yiddish, Ladino, etc. is that English is not unique to Jews at all. Even the “yinglish” that many frum Yidden speak is almost the same as regular English, with some minute differences.
Whereas the other Jewish languages that were spoken by Jews who were secluded from the goyim are only vaguely similar to their root languages.
Someone who speaks Yiddish will have a hard time understanding German, and vice-versa.What is the standard for “normal” these days? Given some of the other craziness going on in the frum velt, the Chabadniks… seem quite normal. I’d be more concerned about some of the fringe elements of other chassidus and the Litvishshe tzibur…
Listen, every community has its crazies. That’s how Hashem created the world.
Even here in the CR, there are many posters whom I may disagree with on many issues, yet I consider them very normal and bright.
There are some other posters (I have one recent poster particularly in mind) whom I consider completely nuts (at least they provide comic relief).Reb Mendel Futerfas would tell a story:
In the town of Lubavitch, there was a “meshugener fun shtot”.
He always tried to approach the Rebbe Maharash, but the gabbaim stopped him. Once, he saw the Rebbe passing in his carriage, so he jumped in.
After conversing with the Rebbe, he jumped out, and was met by a group of chassidim who inquired what they spoke about.
He said: “My colleague, the meshugener of Vitebsk, invited me to join him. Since Vitebsk is a large city, there’s enough “business” for both of us.
First, of course, I had to consult with the Rebbe. The Rebbe said that I should stay since Lubavitch needs its own meshugener.”When asked what made him ask the Rebbe for advice, the meshugener responded:
משוגע משוגע, אבער שכל דארף מען האבןIn addition to the issue of teaching goyim Torah, there seems to be a greater underlying threat here.
Here’s some more from the article:
“The new program is a joint initiative of YU and the Philos Project, an organization that says it “seeks to promote positive Christian engagement in the Near East.” Philos is a partner of Passages — a Birthright-style program that brings young Christians on group tours of Israel…
The launch of the Christian students’ program is a sign of a growing bond between Orthodox Jews and religious Christians, who have increasingly found common cause on everything from conservative domestic politics to support for Israel.”This is part of the general evangelical pro-Jewish/Israel craze that is happening. This is probably the greatest current threat to the Jewish people.
Jews haven’t died throughout history solely because they were born Jews. They died because they refused to accept Christianity, because we consider the death of our soul worse than the death of the body.
The evangelicals, with all their “Israel support” etc. have a sinister mission to grab more Jews than ever before, which is worse, in a way, than the mass murders of previous generations.
I personally know Jewish families who have pulled their children out of Hebrew School and placed them into church school, r”l, due to the influence of Jews for Jesus ym”sh.
We have so many taka takanos in place to distance us from the goyim, even limiting the bread we eat.
In an institution that calls itself a yeshiva, how can they make a program that encourages “interfaith dialogue” – a clear violation of לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם!?
Hopefully, this terrible threat will be stopped in its tracks.
P.S. I have nothing against YU, as I know very little about it. I am reacting solely to the information given in this article.
I must admit, I side with ARSo on this one
Someone better check up if they were thinking of selling their chometz to him next Pesach!
lol!
This one really made my day! 😄In mishnah Torah the rambam clearly understands chukim as laws without a revealed reason
Something similar that I wrote recently in another thread:
“Interesting example of the different styles: In the Moreh the Rambam explains that shiluach hakan is because of tzar baalei chayim.
In Mishneh Torah (Tefilla) he writes that this reasoning is ridiculous, as it is obviously a gzeiras hakosuv that can’t be understood.”Another example from Mishneh Torah (end of Sefer Tahara):
דבר ברור וגלוי שהטמאות והטהרות גזרות הכתוב הן. ואינן מדברים שדעתו של אדם מכרעתו. והרי הן מכלל החקים. וכן הטבילה מן הטמאות מכלל החקים הוא שאין הטמאה טיט או צואה שתעבר במים אלא גזרת הכתוב היא והדבר תלוי בכונת הלב. ולפיכך אמרו חכמים טבל ולא החזק כאלו לא טבל. ואף על פי כן רמז יש בדברThe first time I heard of it was in a viral video of a guy expressing his incredible pleasure of sitting with a Rabbeinu Dovid and rishus cold seltzer in a plastic cup, and “checking out of life”
Rav Aharon Kotler ZTV’L, in Mishnas Rabi Aharon (Vol. 3, Hesped on the Brisker Rav) states that the essence of Modern Orthodoxy is the same as the Reform and Conservative.
I guess this is a point where he and the Rebbe agree.
Here’s an excerpt from a 5717 letter of the Rebbe:
“This is also the case with regard to the person to whom you refer in your letter, who obviously does not belong at all in the Conservative movement, nor in the so-called “New” brand of Conservatism, which goes under the name of “Modern Orthodoxy.””
midwesterner,
Your post sounds like the reaction of a Lubavitcher when someone complains that CH isn’t tzniyusdik. Lol
P.S. I know nothing about Lakewood, as I wrote in this post: https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/coffeeroom/topic/question-of-an-ignorant-closed-minded-lubavitcher#post-2203613
Just the comparison struck me as funny
If a Lubavitcher would have wrote this, we wouldn’t hear the end of the problems with “Chabad supremacy” 😄On the topic of Modern Orthodoxy, here is an excerpt from an English letter of the Lubavitcher Rebbe from Adar 5738 to a woman who was becoming frum.
(Disclaimer: Obviously, the exact definition of Modern Orthodoxy is blurry, so I doubt that everything written here applies to every person who calls themself MO)
“P.S. Your using the term “modern orthodoxy” prompts me to make the following observation.
Although this term is frequently used, if you reflect on it you will realize the inner contradiction in terms. For, orthodoxy refers to a full commitment to a life regulated by the Torah, Toras Emes, and its Mitsvoth, by which Jews live, whereas “modern” implies a compromise and adjustment supposedly in keeping with “modern” ideas. But where truth is concerned, there can be no compromise or accommodation, for even 99% of truth is not the whole truth, and therefore not truth at all.
Needless to say, 99% is better than 98%, but one must not delude oneself in believing that it is the whole truth. Indeed, the Rambam rules that if a Jew accepts the whole Torah except one letter, he is deemed as if he denied the whole Torah. And one of the explanations of it is that truth and compromise are contradictory.
The above does not mean that unless a Jew observes all the 613 Mitzvoth, he is not an observant Jew. Indeed, the Torah declares, “A Jew, though he has sinned, remains a Jew.” It states further that no sinner is rejected, and eventually everyone who had strayed will return to the fold. What is emphasized above is that any thought that the Torah is in any way “outdated” and needs to be “modernized” that is heresy and a denial of the Divine origin and eternal nature of the Torah and Mitzvoth. There is surely no need to elaborate to you further on the above.”
>>>is there any sefer that is accepted by the litvish community, like if it says something there, everyone listens
Saying “the litvish community” is like saying “the frum community” or “chassidish community” (both of which would include Chabad).
The “litvish community” is just a section of the broader “frum community” which is a section of the broader “Jewish community” which is a section of the broader “mankind” (l’havdil).
In the litvish community itself, there are sub-communities of talmidim and followers of their own rabbanim and drachim.
So, yes, each of those communities has a sefer or rov whose derech they follow.Just as Lubavitchers follow the Chabad rabbeim, students of Rav Miller will follow him, followers of Rav Belsky will follow his drachim, etc.
If someone isn’t a student of such a prominent rabbi, he will still have his personal rov who he follows.