Menachem Shmei

@Kuvult: “don’t judge a Yid by their Hashkafa judge them by whether they’re a Mensch.”

Why should a Jew be judged at all? And once I am judging him, why in the world should I judge him if he is a mensch and not by hashkafa? What’s the difference?

It doesn’t say “You shall love a mensch as yourself.” Who doesn’t love mensches? Most people love non-Jewish mensches as well! The mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך means to love every single Jew, whether he is handsome, polite, smelly, dirty, stupid, or rude. (רמב”ם הלכות דעות פ”ו ה”ג)
You don’t love your brother because he is a mensch.

@Reb Eliezer – RE: Machlokes between Aim Habonim Smeicha and the Minchas Elozor

These are actually two ways in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 99a):
If we merit the Geula (זכו) – it will happen speedily before its time (אחישנה) and miraculously (ארו עם ענני שמיא).
If ch”v we don’t merit the Geula (לא זכו) – it will happen in its time (בעתה) in a long natural process (עני ורוכב על החמור).

@Always_Ask_Questions, @Kuvult

It would be nice if everyone could takeh come together to learn. Although it would take lots of effort to accomplish such a think.

At the same time, maybe the highest level of achdus is to realize that no matter how different we are, we are all one guf. For foot treatment I go to a podiatrist. For my heart I go to a cardiologist. For my teeth I go to a dentist.

My foot doesn’t get offended that my heart doesn’t go to the same doctor as it. We feel perfectly at peace with the fact that we each have our own function and our own needs, and we live in harmony as one body. (besides for my right ear, it gets a bit narcissistic at times!)

If children could go to different schools, get very different values and hashkofos, and still be taught the infinite value of every single Yid, and that without what every Yid brings to the table we would all be incomplete – that would be an incredible step toward achdus and the geula!

@Kuvult – “there’s even a Rebbe in Tosfos named “Peter””

But let’s remember that Peter “the apostle” (l’havdil?) whose Hebrew name was שמעון כיפה was nicknamed in seforim “שמעון פטר חמור” (PETER chamor).

[By the way, Peter is Greek for כיפה (rock, or dome). Peter locked himself in a church on a dome for many years.
Some say that he was a tzaddik who was מוסר נפש to distance Christianity from Judaism. According to some sefroim he actually composed many of the tefillos of Yom Kippur, including נשמת כל חי. Other seforim say that this is blasphemy.]

@Always_Ask_Quesions – “I find schools or teachers who “simply” teach Torah and derech eretz the best”

Exactly! You find that education the best, therefore YOU should send your kids to such a school.

How do you define “derech eretz”? If it means that when they grow up the children should go to college, get a degree, and that will make them a fine yungerman – many people will not want to send their kids to your school, because college etc. goes against their entire hashkafa.

You might not want to send your kids to a school that teaches that Jews must grow beards (although this is an obligation according to many, many poskim from all sides of the chasidish/litvish spectrum), or a school that focuses on staying separate from the אומות.

Obviously, you can’t find a school that has every single hashkafa exactly the same as yours, which is why you must take an active role in educating your children, but you want a school that fits your derech for the most part.

@Kuvult: ujm did not say that children with Jewish names fare better in life than those with non-Jewish names.

He just pointed out that it is a positive change.

Yidden are less focused on integrating with the goyim, and more proud of our traditions. This is a beautiful thing. (Especially in light of the aforementioned Vayikra Rabba)

@Gadolhatorah: It has been part of Jewish tradition for centuries to give Yiddishe nicknames, as apposed to goyishe names.

@Kuvult: At the same time, we must learn to separate the Jew from his ideology. Just because we love and accept the Jew himself, that does not mean that we agree with him whatsoever.

There are times when children must go to separate schools because of different chinuch standards. This does not mean that the Chasidish Jew looks at the MO Jew as any less Jewish, yet he doesn’t want the MO education and values to be imparted to his son.

Moshiach will come no matter what, but we will definitely bring him faster through:
1) holding on to our own derech without bending one iota, and 2) overlooking the differences between Jews, and loving every Jew as a true brother (the fact that you don’t agree with your brother doesn’t mean you love him any less).

@yungerman:
Which tefillos do YOU think are more powerful:
Personal words from the heart, or prearranged words made in a centuries-old nusach?
Words said from the peace and calm of your home, or in public in shul?
Davening alone at your own pace, or davening with a minyan?
Davening at any moment that you feel inspired, or at 3 set times every day?

We believe that the Torah give us the path to connecting to Hashem. We don’t just follow what “feels more powerful.”

Why were we עולה לרגל three times a year if one is supposed to daven directly to Hashem from the corner of his home? Why do we go to shul? etc.

The Gemara says חייב אדם להקביל רבו ברגל – now that there is no Beis Hamikdash, one is obligated to visit his teacher. The mifarshim point out that this is not for the sake of Torah study because women are obligated to go as well. It is because the way to be closest to Hashem nowadays is to be near a tzaddik that one is connected to. This is not chassidus, it is pure halacha. (See Sukkah 27b and Pnei Yehoshua)

[I am obviously not advocating for going this year. I am discussing in general.]

Unfortunately, we are learning from the goyim to look at everything externally. We decide if we should love other Yidden based on their opinions, who they vote for, how up to par they are in avodas Hashem, etc.
If we start looking at everything from a Torah point of view, we will only see other Yidden as pure neshamos whom we must love as true brothers.
At the same time, Hashem doesn’t need us to defend Him for not sending Moshiach. If we try to do everything we can to add in ahavas yisroel, we can demand from Hashem that enough is enough. (מדרש תהלים פי”ז. חפץ חיים על הסידור סי’ קסח. ועוד )

@mentsch1:
Even without a sanhedrin, Jews always believed that the community has a responsibility to care for each other.
You are obviously correct that there must be a balance. Therefore I stressed that Judaism doesn’t believe in PURE republicanism.
There are aspects of republicanism which we accept and aspects of democracy which we accept. Possibly even some aspects of socialism and communism. That doesn’t mean that any of them are the right way (especially the last two, obviously), but no single package perfectly adapts Torah’s view.
For that we’ll have to wait till Moshiach comes.

It seems that whether gun control is right or wrong, neither way is the perfect answer. I don’t think that these shootings will stop whether we outlaw guns or give everyone guns.

There is an underlying issue with the education and value system of this country which neither political party wants to address. Instead, when we demand of our politicians to do something about the violence, they say, “Oh, we’re trying to ban guns” or “Oh, we’re trying to get rid of gun control”.

Through turning this into a shallow partisan issue, they try to distract us from the heart of the problem which they are to lazy to deal with.

Interestingly, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was initially opposed to people taking pictures of him. There are several pics of the Rebbe blocking his face from cameras in the 1940s.

At the same time, he spoke strongly of the importance of “tziyur pnei horav” – looking and thinking of a tzaddik’s image as an important method to yiras shamayim.

In later years, he allowed pictures, but even then he only allowed the official photographers, and many times he stopped others from taking pictures, especially bochurim. A relative of mine was once taking a picture of the Rebbe, and he accidently forgot to turn of the flash. The Rebbe confiscated his camera, and later returned it on condition that he would focus on his learning instead of photography.

Rashi says that Yosef overcame his desire to sin when he envisioned the image of his father in his mind (דמות דיוקנו של אביו).
As well as the Gemara that Reb Little Frogie mentioned about looking at a the teacher while learning Torah.
There is also the Gemara in Bava Metziya (84a) how R’ Yochanan would have the women gaze at him when exiting the mikveh so that their children would be beautiful and talmidei chachamim.

There is also the Yerushalmi which Rabbi Hoffman wrote was often quoted by Rav Shneur Kotler that when saying over a teaching of a Rebbe, one should envision him standing before him.
(147 wrote a beautiful suggestion in the comments)