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Did you read the Chasam Sofer I cited (I am assuming that you can read Hebrew)?
He clearly explains that it does not only apply to a Tzaddik’s natural death, but especially to taking him away before his time.מרן ראש הישיבה חכם שלום כהן, שלח אף הוא אגרות תנחומים לבתי האבלים שיחי’, האגרת במלואה לפניכם:
“על אלה אני בוכיה עיני עיני יורדה מים כי רחק ממני מנחם משיב נפשי…”
בלב דואב וכואב על האסון הנורא אשר פקד את כל בית ישראל ביומא קדישא דהילולתא התנא האלוקי רבי שמעון בר יוחאי זיע”א על מ”ה קדושים וטהורים קרבנות ציבור אשר עלו בסערה השמימה בבואם לשפוך שיח ותחינה לפני קודשא ב”ה על הציון הק’ במירון.I apologize.
I know you asked me not to fill you in, but since I am trying to explain the inyan to you, and you seem to really want to understand it, I felt that I must back up my words with the letter HaRav Shalom Cohen shlita wrote to all of the bereaved families.מרן ראש הישיבה חכם שלום כהן, שלח אף הוא אגרות תנחומים לבתי האבלים שיחי’, האגרת במלואה לפניכם
“על אלה אני בוכיה עיני עיני יורדה מים כי רחק ממני מנחם משיב נפשי…”בלב דואב וכואב על האסון הנורא אשר פקד את כל בית ישראל ביומא קדישא דהילולתא התנא האלוקי רבי שמעון בר יוחאי זיע”א על מ”ה קדושים וטהורים קרבנות ציבור אשר עלו בסערה השמימה בבואם לשפוך שיח ותחינה לפני קודשא ב”ה על הציון הק’ במירון.
First of all, Rashi in Chumash says it. On the pasuk (Bemidbar 20:1) …And Miriam died there… Rashi quotes the Gemara (Moed Katan 28a) and writes: Why is the demise of Miriam written aside the parasha of the red heifer (the parah adumah)? To teach us that just as korbanos bring forgiveness, so too does the demise of the righteous.
If you want more sources I will be happy to write them, however, the Maharal in Gur Aryeh, on that Rashi writes: אמנם עיקר דבר זה מה שמיתת צדיקים מכפרת הוא ידוע
Also, the Chasam Sofer writes (in Vayikra 16:1) – כי מיתת צדיקים בעצמו מכפרת מקופיא על הציבור כשרוב עונות גורם חלילה הקב”ה נוטל הרב שבהם ר”ל לכפר על הכלל וכעין כפרת פרה אדומהCertainly we never know exactly why Hashem does specific things, unless a Navi informs us, and we can never know if this specific tzaddik was taken away in order to be a korban or for other reasons.
It is just an expression of consolation to the mourner that possibly the deceased was a great tzaddik and was taken away in order to be a kapparah for Klal Yisroel.
The mourners who undoubtedly believe that the deceased was a worthy person, is given the feeling that he or she was even loftier than they had thought and is meant to make them feel proud and diminish their pain somewhat.I think there s a great misunderstanding here which needs clarification.
Throughout Tanach and Chazal we are taught, again and again, than when chas veshalom there is a bad gezeirah on Klal Yisroel, and the possibility exits that many of them may be killed Rl, sometimes Hashem will have Mercy upon them and take a Tzaddik, who is considered equal to many (Moshe Rabbeinu was equal to 60,000 Jews), and his demise will serve as a kapparah for the others.
When one is declared a “korban” it is probably the greatest honor and compliment he may receive. It means that he was considered to be equal to many and was privileged to bring kapparah to Klal Yisroel, for which he will be rewarded immensely in Gan Eden, which is the goal we all were put here to receive (see perek 1 in Mesilas Yesharim).
It is an even greater compliment when the niftar was young as it shows that in his few years, he served Hashem so devoutly that he reached that madreigah.
Anyone who is insulted by the term, simply does not understand its meaning.
Of course it is very difficult for the mourners to hear, just as it is difficult for them to hear all words of consolation when they are in such pain. But, as time begins to heal the wounds somewhat, they will hopefully realize how privileged they were to have brought into the world such a great tzaddik who was able to protect Klal Yisroel from tremendous tragedy chas veshalom.The Gedolim know what is right and what is wrong.
Who are we do disagree with them?
One of the major problems of our generation is that we have the audacity to disagree and even criticize the Gedolei Yisroel.“The learning over zoom is just another thing to stare at a screen (if that makes sense)”
Actually, it doesn’t make any sense to me. Have you tried it?
I have been learning with my chavrusa, several hours a day for years, and it is just like when we used to learn in the Beis HaMIdrash (even better because I have a chair at home which is much more comfortable than the one in the BM. Also, I can have a drink and even a bite to eat while we learn).
And, BTW, we use a forgotten, excellent program called SKYPE, which offers unlimited time for free, and my chavrusa says it beats Zoom which his other chavrusa uses to learn with him.
I often bring up a sefer on the screen which my chavrusa does not have, and then share the screen with him. This is a lot of fun.
Of course, you must find something of interest to your learning partner, but if you do, I see no reason why you should not learn successfully with him via your computers.
Daven for siyata diShemaya to be matzliach in kiruv and you will surely see very positive results.Ben Hecht’s book reveals the anti religious views of Ben Gurion and the members of his party who wanted a Zionist non-religious State without the old-fashioned religious Jews who should remain in Europe, even at the the expense of being annihilated by the Nazis ym”s.
He is very pro Jabotinsky and his followers like Begin who envisioned a Zionist State comprising all the Jews of the world.Alldaf.org has many wonderful shiurim of all kinds – some audio and some visual. Some faster and some slower. Some with excellent graphics (Daf Review).
Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz’s live zoom visual shiur is fantastic.
6:15 am New York time. Sundays and National holidays at 7:45 am.On the first yahtzeit of the previous Rebbe, the Rebbe accepted to be the new rebbe.
That night he said that in the USA the custom is that when one receives a new position of leadership he makes a “mission statement.”
Following that custom he made a mission statement declaring what his goal as the new rebbe of Chabad was.
Crying (literally) at the fact that there are millions of Jewish children who do not know aleph bais, he declared that it is not enough for one to serve Hashem by himself, even on the highest level.
He said that our motto is that Hashem Echad, and Torah Echad, and Am Yisrael Echad all must be combined.
Therefore, our goal in life and the mission in Chabad from now on will be to see to it that as many Jews as possible accept upon themselves the fact that Hashem Echad and Torah Echad. Then, and only then,together with Yisrael Echad it will be a sheleimus.When I was a bachur, I was told that Reb Aharon Kotler zt”l had guaranteed that someone who moves out of town will not lose his children.
Then I was told that he made a condition: that they go there lishmah.
When I got older, I asked Reb Shneur (his son) z”l if the rumor is true.
He responded that he never heard it from his father, but that it makes sense that he would have said it.
Both the first part and the second.Reb Henoch Leibowitz zt”l also sent talmidim out of town and assured them that things would be fine, based on a Seforno at the beginning of Parashas Chukas.
רבים מקשים: איך ליקוי חמה או לבנה יכול להיות סימן על משהו, הרי זה דבר טבעי שהמדענים יודעים בדיוק מתי זה יקרה שנים מראש?
ביאר הגאון הר”ר יעקב קמנצקי זצ”ל ע”י סיפור.
פעם אמרו שיהי’ ליקוי לבנה בליל הסדר. ר’ יעקב מאד הצטער: בלילה הזה שכלל ישראל בכל העולם מקיימים כ”כ הרבה מצוות דאורייתא ודרבנן, דווקא בלילה הזה יראה אבינו שבשמים סימן לא טוב להם? היתכן?
למעשה, לפני התחלת הסדר הסתכל ר’ יעקב בחוץ וראה שהשמים בהירים מאד והירח זורח במילואו.
כשהגיע זמן הליקוי, הפסיק ר’ יעקב את הסדר לכמה רגעים והסתכל בחוץ וראה שכל השמים מלאים בעננים וא”א לראות מה קורה מאחריהם.
או אז הבין ר’ יעקב. הליקוי אמנם הוא דבר טבעי. אבל אם ח”ו הקב”ה רוצה להראות סימן לא טוב, אז הוא מראה את הליקוי לבני אדם.
משא”כ אם כלל ישראל עוסקים בתורה ובמצוות ואינם ראויים לסימן לא טוב, אז הק”ה מכסה את השמים בעבים ואינו מראה את הליקוי כלל כי הוא אוהב את בניו ביותר.
ודברי פי חכם חן.The video has several complications (including publicizing it) and I DO NOT CLAIM TO KNOW WHAT THE HALACHAH IS.
However, I would just like to bring to your attention the following (and there may be many differences):It is well known that Mr. Irving Bunim a”h worked hand in hand with Reb Aharon Kotler zt”l to save Jews during the Holocaust.
I believe that I heard from the mouth of Bunim and/or it is quoted in the Bunim book written by his son that Reb Aharon said (perhaps more than once) that he would be willing to prostrate himself before the Pope ym”s if he knew it would save even one Jew.
At the beginning of Min HaMeitzar, Rav Weissmandel z”l writes that he tried to convince his father-in-law Rav Unger zt”l to approach the local representative of the Church and plead with him for humanitarian reasons to order that the “expulsion” of Jews be stopped (at that point, that was what the Jews were being told was occurring and they believed it).
His father-in-law never said it was forbidden, but he said that it was a useless attempt.
Eventually, Rav Unger gave into his son-in-law’s pressure but told him that he was afraid that he would soon learn the foolishness of this approach.
When they spoke to the Priest, he corrected them and said that this was not an “expulsion” but a “slaughter” and that their goal was to exterminate the Jewish People as soon as possible. They then fled from his house (after cursing him – I believe) and Rav Weismandel understood that his father-in-law had understood the situation much better than he had.
“Although I think that desiring to die al kiddush Hashem is not necessarily the same as davening to die al kiddush Hashem.”
I hear your interesting chiluk, but we must realize that this was not just an abstract thought thrown out to us. The Ya’aros Devash goes through each berachah in Shemoneh Esrei and tell us what to be mechaven when we recite them.
If he wrote this as one of the kavanos of Retzeh, and Rav Wolbe cited it in his section on Biurei Tefillah, then it certainly would seem that he is telling us to daven for it not just to desire it.
Don’t you agree?I know it seems strange but in the first volume of Alei Shur by Rav Wolbe zt”l (page 127) he quotes the biurei tefillah of Rav Yehonoson Eibshitz zt”l in Ya’aros Devash who writes that when one says Retzeh in Shemonah Esrei “He should very much desire to be killed al kidush Hashem which constitutes a korban olah – completely for Hashem.”