Author: Avrohom Meir Morgenstern

156th Yahrzeit of the Kotzker

On By Avrohom Meir MorgensternIn Kotzker Rebbe, Kotzker Rebbe, My Life, Yahrzeit Speeches1 Comment

This coming Tuesday night, February 3, 2015 and extending into Wednesday February 4, 2015 is the 156th Yahrzeit of the Kotzker.  The following is a piece I wrote last year and did not have a chance to put it on my website.  I offer this as my 2015 Yahrzeit speech for the Kotzker.

THE KOTZKER AND THE GRA

The Vilna Goan known as the Gra – Reb Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman – lived from 1720 to 1797.  The Kotzker – Reb Menachem Mendel Ben Yehuda Leib lived from 1787 – 1859.   The Kotzker was 10 years old when the Gra passed away.  The Gra was the first Mishnagid while the Kotzker was a Chassidic master.  The Kotzker grew up in a non-Chasidic family and knew about the greatness of the Vilna Goan.   The Gra signed the excommunication against the Chassidim.

Yet I believe that the Kotzker had a grudging admiration for the Gra.  Both were more alike than different and it is a tragedy of Jewish history that the Gra agreed to and signed the excommunication thereby creating a split between the Gra’s world and Kotzker’s  world.   Had they met, they would have embraced in the kiss of Hashem and perhaps brought a new era to the Jewish people.

The Kotzker did interact with the community at large, albeit in a more limited way in the Kotzker ’s later years.   The Gra had almost no contact with the community at large.  The greatness of the Gra was preserved  for later generations due to his 10+- students,  primarily Reb Chaim Voloziner.  Yet the beacon of light extended from Vilna during the Gra’s lifetime, and from Kotzk in the Kotzker’s lifetime.

I question whether anything good came out of this excommunication.  It led to people turning other Jews over to the government and feeling that they are doing holy work by turning people in on charges,  after all there is a ban against Chassidim.    How can someone sign a ban, when his protagonist is equal to him in piety, learning, leadership, and Yiras Shaminaym.  It is the height of arrogance to say that I am Lesham Shamayin, when his opponent, his equal and a leader of men is not for the sake of Heaven.  I believe  the evil effects of the excommunication lasted all the way to the destruction of European Jewry in 1939 – 1945.  This should be a lesson  today of the need for unity.

Page 249 of the book  Amud Haemes brings down one of the only times the Kotzker mentioned the Vilna Goan  The story  is as follows:

One time the Chidusshei Harim and Reb Moshe Michel of Biala were sitting and analyzing a Tosefes.  The Kotzker comes by and says that according to the explanation of the “thief”  of Vilna the words of Tosefes are answered.  When they asked the Kotzker why he called the Goan of Vilna  a “thief”, the Kotzker answered:  At the time the Torah was given and Moshe ascended to the heavens, a number of Souls hid under the cloak of Moshe, went up with Moshe and heard the entire Torah.  One of them was the Goan from Vilna.

I felt that the Kotzker could not come out directly and say how much he admired the Gra, so he did it in a backhanded way. 

I was at Kesser Ma’ariv in Skokie this past Shabbos – March 2014.  The Rabbi is Rabbi Louis Lazovsky, a friend from my days in Brisk Yeshiva.  His mother and my mother worked on the Brisk Yeshiva ad books in the late  1970s.    I found a Sefer in the Shul’s library titled, “The Goan of Vilna and his Messianic Vision” by Dr. Arie Morgenstern.  I am trying to reach Dr. Arie Morgenstern to determine if I am related.  The title was fascinating and I was not disappointed.

How do we picture the Gra?  We picture the ultimate Misnaged, a rationalist cut of the same cloth of the Rambam. Someone who did not delve into Kabbalah and the Messiah.    He is the teacher of Reb Chaim Volzhin, the person who wrote the Nefesh Hachaim to counter the Tanya.  The Gra was the intellectual and theological father of Volzhin and Brisk, Brisker Torah, the Bais Halevi, the Soloveichiks, and the cold rationality of Halacha.

However,   Dr. Arie Morgenstern dispels this vision of the Gra and turns it on its head.  According to Dr. Arie Morgenstern the Gra was a major Kabbalist, believed that the coming of the Messiah was imminent, and would happen on or around 1781, felt that he was a vessel for Hashem to bring the Messiah, made plans, and started the journey to move to Eretz Yisroel and got to Amsterdam when he turned back.   How does Dr. Arie Morgenstern’s description of this aspect of the Gra square with the historical Gra known to the Yeshiva world?  It does not at all.  It seems as if this side of the Gra was purposely suppressed because this side of the Gra seems to be a textbook Chassidic master.    The  Gra who rejected and excommunicated Chassidim appears to be no different than the Besht and the Chassidic masters.  

I believe that the Kotzker perhaps desired  the world that the Gra created.   The Gra had few students, did not mix with the general public, hid himself from the world, and was free to devote himself to learning Torah.  As described by Dr. Arie  Morgenstern and detailed below the Gra was also a Kabbalist,   Mishicist, tried to determine when the Messiah would come, and worked to bring the Messiah.  The Kotzker and the Gra were exactly the same:  Great Torah masters, both in the revealed and the hidden parts of the Torah.   Both were also similar in their view of the world which while deeply spiritual  they  had very rationalistic views.  The Gra learned science and mathematics.   The Kotzker gave advice that was practical.  The Kotzker did not go as far as the Gra to bring about the Messiah, in fact little is mentioned on this subject by the Kotzker.
Dr. Arie Morgenstern in his book on pages 292 and 293 talks about the nature of the Gra and about who the excommunication against the Chassidiym. It is attached below.   Read it in sheer amazement, especially what Yehuda Liebes wrote how Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Shklov regarded the Gra.  Read what R. J. Z. Werblowsky wrote.  Haflah VePhlah.  Wondrous.

Dr. Arie Morgenstern writes on page 316, “Everyone contemplated the genius of the Rabbi Elijah of Vilna in amazement and considered his very advent on earth a supernatural act.  Several of his disciples said repeatedly that the Goan earned the revelation of the secrets of the Torah and the true Halacha not only by limitless toil and superhuman talent but also as a reward form God for his prodigious effort, in a chain from the patriarchs to Moses and the prophet Elijah.”

The Goan’s genius is attributed as a supernatural act, almost from God himself.    The Kotzker is his comments above acknowledged the same by stating that the Gra was a “thief” when he ascended to Heaven with Moshe, also attributed the genius of the Gra directly from God in a backhanded way.

Both the Kotzker and the Gra believed that Moshiach can come in a supernatural act or Kimah, Kimah – natural means but having people start making Aliyah and through building up the land. The Gra through his students who made Sliyah (the Rivlin and Solomon families, Reb Menacham Mendel of Shklov and his brother) and the Kotzker through his grandson’s Sefer, Shoelm Yershalim, and his grandson’s desire to start an agricultural community of 1,000 families.

 

Postscript – Last week I was in Israel and on January 27, 2015, I was fortunate to meet with Dr. Arie (Aryeh) Morgenstern.   It was a great meeting.  I received an autographed copy of his Sefer, The Goan of Vilna and his Messianic Vision.   Dr. Arie Morgenstern has written at least 10 books.  He is one of the authors on the recent book on the history of the Chuvra Shul, written in conjunction  with the rebuilding of the Chuvra Shul in 2014.   Dr. Arie Morgenstern has lectured on the Goan and the history of the Jewish community in Israel over the last 200 years.  We are probably not related.  Dr. Arie Morgenstern’s grandfather was named Menachem Mendel, however, usually, the family would have had a tradition that they are descendants from the Kotzker and Dr. Morgenstern has no such tradition.  Even though,  Dr. Arie Morgenstern’s family is from near Lodz and some of the Kotzker’s grandchildren from his second wife settled in the Lodz area.

 

 

Parshas VaYeira – November 8, 2014

On By Avrohom Meir MorgensternIn My LifeLeave a comment

It is getting colder in Chicago, but still nice. I received the Sefer Sholem Yershalim and we will have our Shiur at Kins this Sunday night at 8:45 PM.

Chapter 18, Verse 19 (from Chabad.org):

  1. 19. For I have known him because he commands his sons and his household after him, that they should keep the way of the Lord to perform righteousness and justice, in order that the Lord bring upon Abraham that which He spoke concerning him.”
 יט. כִּי יְדַעְתִּיו לְמַעַן אֲשֶׁר יְצַוֶּה אֶת בָּנָיו וְאֶת בֵּיתוֹ אַחֲרָיו וְשָׁמְרוּ דֶּרֶךְ יְהֹוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת צְדָקָה וּמִשְׁפָּט לְמַעַן הָבִיא יְהֹוָה עַל אַבְרָהָם אֵת אֲשֶׁר

What does the Hebrew word, יְדַעְתִּיו , mean and how is it translated.   The plain meaning is “to know”.  The Bible and common usage is that the phrase “to know” as something more intimate, something about the nature of a person, I know his or her attributes greatness, etc.

What does the Hebrew word   לְמַעַן mean.  It means either 1) for the sake of, in order to  or 2) because of.

Onklys and the Rishonim translate as follows.

1) Onklys – Pashut translation – “I know that he will command his children”

This is the standard translation in Klal Yisraol.  I have chosen Avrohom because I know that he will command his children.

2) Rashi – I know him – I love him.

 Rashi says:

For I have known him: Heb. יְדַעְתִּיו, an expression of love, like (Ruth 2:1) “a kinsman (מוֹדַע) of her husband”; (ibid. 3:2) “And now, Boaz our kinsman (מֹדַעְתָּנוּ)”; (Exod. 33:17): “and I shall know you (וָאֵדָעֲךָ) by name.” But, in fact, the primary meaning of them all is none other than an expression of knowing, for if one loves a person, he draws him near to himself and knows him and is familiar with him. Now why do I love him? “Because he commands” … for he commands his sons concerning Me, to keep My ways. But if you explain it as the Targum renders: “I know about him that he will command his sons, etc.,” the word לְמַעַן does not fit into the sense [of the verse].

3) Ranban, Pshat #1

I know his greatness.

 4) Ranban, Pshat #2 – See Rabanu Bachyaa.

The Ranban say there are two types of Divine Guidance, Hasgacha, and Providence in this world.     Most people and Righteous people. Read the Hebrew and the below English translation. When you read the Hebrew, at first blush it seems that God for most people lets the world run itself, look at Reb Samson Raphael Hirsch. See also the Rabbinu Bachaya

Rabbi Chavel translates the Ranban into English as follows:

“The correct interpretation appears to me to be that the word yedativ literally means “knowing.” He is thus alluding that God’s knowledge, with is synonymous with His Providence in the lower word, is to guard the species, and even the children of men are subject despite it to the circumstantial evil occurrences until the time of their visitation comes. But as regards to His Pious, He directs His Providence to know each one individually so that His work constantly attaches to to him, His knowledge and remembrance of home never departs, as it says: He withdraweth not His eyes for the righteous. There are many verses on this theme, as it is written, Behold, the eye of the Eternal is toward then that fear Him, and other verses besides.”

See Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin for his explanation in the Oznayim LaTorah.

See Professor Nechama Lebowitz, page 167 for her explanation.

1) Chabad.org above, “For I have known him because he commands his sons”

   Onklys – Pashut translation – “I know that he will command his children”

2) Artscroll, “ For I loved him, for he will command his children”

  Rashi – I love him

3) Soncino, “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children”

Footnote – Known him, i.e. loved him. This is a secondary meaning of ‘know’, for one      who loves another brings him near to him and thus knows him,

 4) Rabbi Hertz – “For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children”.

Footnote:   for I have known him. i.e. regarded and chosen him.

I think Rabbi Hertz is based on Onklys. Rabbi Hertz says, “for I  have known him. i.e. regarded and chosen him.”   As I said before this is the standard explanation the Jews have used for years.

5) The Pentateuch, by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, “For I have given him My special Care so that he will command his children”.

Ranban, Pshat #2.

Footnote –  “But those who offer themselves to be His instrument on earth, who strive with their whole existence and activities to fulfill His Will, and leave everything else to Him, they form a complete contrast and God takes them under His special guidance and care (protection). This is what is called Yaidah”

“However, people whose attitude towards God is just casual, who treads the paths of God just if and when it happens to suit him, “BeKeri”, . . .       To him God also turns and leaves him to the haphazard chances of life.”

Reb Samson Raphael Hirsch’s translation of לְמַעַן – “so that he will” is problematic. It seems that God gave Avrohom “special Care” so that Avrohom will be able to properly teach his kids.

 

Toras Lech Lacha – November 1, 2014:

On By Avrohom Meir MorgensternIn My LifeLeave a comment

Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon

Another great Shabbos of Torah. I attended three classes given by Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Rimon, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion http://www.haretzion.org. They classes were on the Mitzva of Shmitta, letting the land of Israel lay fallow every seven years. Rabbi Rimon is one of the foremost experts on the laws of Shmitta and he brings an enthusiasm about keeping Shmitta.

Rav Yosef-Tzvi Rimon
Ram in Yeshivat Her Etzion

Rav Yosef-Tzvi Rimon studied at the Netiv Meir Yeshiva High School in Jerusalem and joined Yeshivat Har Etzion in 1987. He served in the Armored Corps in the context of his army service in the Hesder Program and earned a Bachelor of Education degree from the Herzog College. He has served as a Ram in the Yeshiva since 1996 and also teaches classes in halacha for the entire Yeshiva. In 2001, Rav Rimon headed the Halacha Program in the Yeshiva’s Kollel, and published a book “Shiurei Shevi’it” on the laws of Shemitta. Today, Rav Rimon serves as a neighborhood Rav in Alon Shevut, and as a Ram for first-year students in the Yeshiva. He publishes study sheets on various halachic topics and teaches at the Herzog College and at the Beit Midrash for Women in Migdal Oz.

 The following is the Torah I spoke and thought about on Shabbos.

Last year Rabbi Efrem Goldberg talked about the end of Parsha Noach where Terach (Avrom’s father) leave Ur Casdim to go to the land of Canaan. Terach gets to Haran and settles there. In Lech Lecha, God tells Avrum, leave your home and go to the land of Canaan. This got me thinking and I put together the following Torah thought.

כו. וַיְחִי תֶרַח שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה וַיּוֹלֶד אֶת אַבְרָם אֶת נָחוֹר וְאֶת הָרָן:  
  1. 27. And these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran begot Lot.
   כז. וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת תֶּרַח תֶּרַח הוֹלִיד אֶת אַבְרָם אֶת נָחוֹר וְאֶת הָרָן וְהָרָן הוֹלִיד אֶת לוֹט:
  1. 28. And Haran died during the lifetime of Terah his father in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.
   כח. וַיָּמָת הָרָן עַל פְּנֵי תֶּרַח אָבִיו בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתּוֹ בְּאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים:
during the lifetime of Terah his father: lit. on the face of Terah his father. During his father’s lifetime (Tan. Acharei 7). And the Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 38:13) tells us that he died on account of his father. For Terah complained about Abram his son before Nimrod for crushing his idols; so he [Nimrod] cast him [Abram] into a fiery furnace, and Haran sat and thought, “If Abram is victorious, I am on his side, and if Nimrod is victorious, I am on his side.” When Abram was saved, they said to Haran, “Whose side are you on?” Haran said to them, “I am on Abram’s side!” They cast him into the fiery furnace and he was burned. This is the meaning of אוּר כַּשְׂדִּים, the fire of the Chaldees. Menachem (Machbereth, p. 32), however, explains אוּר as a valley, and so (Isa. 24:15): “in the crevices (בָּאוּרִים) honor the Lord,” and so, (ibid. 11:8): “over the hole of (מְאוּרַת) an old snake.” Any hole or deep crevice is called אוּר.   על פני תרח אביו: בחיי אביו. ומדרש אגדה יש אומרים שעל ידי אביו מת, שקבל תרח על אברם בנו לפני נמרוד על שכתת את צלמיו והשליכו לכבשן האש, והרן יושב ואומר בלבו אם אברם נוצח, אני משלו, ואם נמרוד נוצח, אני משלו. וכשניצל אברם אמרו לו להרן משל מי אתה, אמר להם הרן משל אברם אני. השליכוהו לכבשן האש ונשרף, וזהו אור כשדים. ומנחם בן סרוק פירש אור בקעה, וכן (ישעיה כד טו) באורים כבדו ה’, וכן (שם יא ח) מאורת צפעוני. כל חור ובקע עמוק קרוי אור:
  1. 29. And Abram and Nahor took themselves wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.
   כט. וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם וְנָחוֹר לָהֶם נָשִׁים שֵׁם אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם שָׂרָי וְשֵׁם אֵשֶׁת נָחוֹר מִלְכָּה בַּת הָרָן אֲבִי מִלְכָּה וַאֲבִי יִסְכָּה:
     
  1. 30. And Sarai was barren; she had no child.
   ל. וַתְּהִי שָׂרַי עֲקָרָה אֵין לָהּ וָלָד:
  1. 31. And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees to go to the land of Canaan, and they came as far as Haran and settled there.
   לא. וַיִּקַּח תֶּרַח אֶת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן הָרָן בֶּן בְּנוֹ וְאֵת שָׂרַי כַּלָּתוֹ אֵשֶׁת אַבְרָם בְּנוֹ וַיֵּצְאוּ אִתָּם מֵאוּר כַּשְׂדִּים לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ עַד חָרָן וַיֵּשְׁבוּ שָׁם:
and they went forth with them: And Terah and Abram went forth with Lot and Sarai.   ויצאו אתם: ויצאו תרח ואברם עם לוט ושרי:
  1. 32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
   לב. וַיִּהְיוּ יְמֵי תֶרַח חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים וּמָאתַיִם שָׁנָה וַיָּמָת תֶּרַח בְּחָרָן:

 

Compare Verse 31 to Verse 5 below. Both Avrum and Terach left to go to the land of Canaan. Avrum by commandment of God and Terach of his own decision.

ה. וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָם אֶת שָׂרַי אִשְׁתּוֹ וְאֶת לוֹט בֶּן אָחִיו וְאֶת כָּל רְכוּשָׁם אֲשֶׁר רָכָשׁוּ וְאֶת הַנֶּפֶשׁ אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ בְחָרָן וַיֵּצְאוּ לָלֶכֶת אַרְצָה כְּנַעַן וַיָּבֹאוּ אַרְצָה כְּנָעַן:

  1. 5. And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had acquired, and the souls they had acquired in Haran, and they went to go to the land of Canaan, and they came to the land of Canaan.

 

 

Questions:

1) Why did Terach leave Ur Casidim? Terach brought Avrum to Nimrod to pass judgment on Avrom’s rebellion against idol worship. Nimrod threw Avrom into the fiery furnace, where God protected Avrom and saved him from the fire.

2) Why did Terach want to go to Canaan?

3) Is Terach an evil man or a decent person?

4) Avrom went to Canaan because of Gods commandment and Terach made the decision on his own. Avrom had to be pushed and Terach understood to go by himself.

5) Verse 30 says that Avrom’s wife, Sarai, was barren and the next Verse 31 says that Terach picked up his family and left Ur Casdim. The fact that Sarai was barren has nothing to do with the narrative. Does its proximity to Verse 31 mean anything?

6) Verse 31 first says that Terach took his family and the middle said “they” took them. Per Rashi the “they” is Terach and Avrom. Which one is it?

Answers:

There appears to be a disagreement among the Rishonim.

The last Rashi in Noach and the Rabbanu Bachya both say that Terach was an evil man. Rashi says that Terach even in his lifetime was considered dead, because evil people even while alive are considered dead. The Ranban asks on this Rashi from Chapter 15, verse 15 where Rashi says that Terach was repentant. The Ranban answers perhaps Terach repented upon his deathbed or perhaps he never repented but the merit of Avrom granted Terach a portion in the world to come. According to Rashi why did Terach leave Ur Casdim. No idea. Perhaps, Terach could no longer live in Ur Casdim because his son was a rebel or maybe because even though Terach was evil, his love for his son overcame his evil impulses.

The Seforno and the Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh both seem to say that Terach was a decent man.

The Seforno says that Terach left to go to Canaan because Canaan was a higher spiritual place. However, Terach did not make it to Canaan. He only made it to Haran and “settled there”. As Rabbi Goldberg, said we all have the capacity to attain higher and higher spirituality if we do not settle for less.

The Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh says on verse 31 that the reason why Terach left Ur Casdim was due to Sarai not having children. When Terach saw Sarai not having children he decided to change his place of dwelling and took his family to another location based on the concept in the Talmud, Baba Metziah, 75b, “Mishana Makom, Mishana Mazel”, one who changes his place changes his luck. The Ohr HaChaim Hakodosh adds that Avrom was held in such esteem that the entire family uprooted themselves for the sake of Avrom. It thus appears that Terach repented after he saw what Nimrod did to his son and that Avrom was saved.  Rashi uses verse 32 to say that Terach was evil and the Ohr Hachaim Hakodosh has a different explanation.

The answer to question 4 is that both Avrom and Teach understood that Canaan was on a higher spiritual level. They both wanted to leave Ur Casdim and perhaps this is the reason why Verse 31 in the middle say, they – Terach and Avrom went out from Ur Casdim. When Teach settled in Haran and stopped his journey, Avrum intended to stay with his father because of the Mitzvah of honoring his father. Avrum was planning to wait until his father died to continue the journey. God had to tell Avrum, go to Canaan, leave your father; I am telling you that you are free from observing the Mitzvah of honoring one’s parents.

The first Ibn Ezra on Parshas Lech Lecha goes along with this approach and says a big Chiddush,  The commandment of God to Avrom  of “Lech Lacha – go out of your father’s house”, was actually said in Ur Casdim.  The Ranban disagrees with the Ibn Ezra, however, the Ranban can be answered and the Ibn Ezra mkaes sense.

Chazzan Silber on the phrase “Mishana Makom, Mishana Mazel”, one who changes his place changes his luck, told the following story.

Chazzan Silber learned with Rabbi Hecht for many years. Rabbi Hecht was an unappreciated righteous man in Chicago, a Torah scholar. One night when they were learning Rabbi Hecht asked Chazzan Silber, “what do you think about Mishana Makom”. Chazzan Silber said nothing. Over the course of learning that night, Rabbi Hecht asked three more times and each time Chazzan Silber said nothing. The next morning Chazzan Silber was at work at an important meeting, and Mrs. Silber, walks into her husband’s and said that Rabbi Hecht passed away. Chazzan Silber wondered for years, what if He, Chazzan Silber, told Rabbi Hecht, it is not a good idea to change your place; what if, what if.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parshas Noah

On By Avrohom Meir MorgensternIn My LifeLeave a comment

The below is Martin from LA’s comment on this weeks Torah potion, Parshas Noah.   In red are my comments.  Martin from LA is a student of Chief Rabbi, Lord Jonathan Sacks.   As as result I consider myself a student of the Chief Rabbi and have been inspired by the Chief Rabbi’s Torah.   Martin from LA is my cousin, my friend, and my co-marathoner.   At least he is still running and I am not.  

 Noah’s Failure

The Torah readings continue with the introduction to Noah and the flood story. Virtually every culture has a similar story. That Noah and the flood are mythical is irrelevant. The myriad lessons contained therein are of import.

I only take issue with you in this entire piece that Noah and the flood are mythical.  The Torah cannot make up stories of our history, especially after reading the first Rashi in the Chumash.  The problem then is separating myth from fact.  I believe the entire story happened.   My kids completely agree with you.

Noah is a perplexing character. He is described in the Torah, at the beginning of the eponymous Sedra, Noach, as a righteous man, faultless and walking with God!

He, alone in the Hebrew Bible has such appellations! Abraham and Moses, for example, do not come close.

But, despite such praise, the man that was supposed to save the world and rebuild it anew, in the end couldn’t even save himself as he wallowed in a drunken stupor and was an embarrassment to his children, and according to one opinion, sexually assaulted by his so Ham. And unlike Adam and Eve previously, who were ashamed of their nakedness, he was not even aware of his nudity.

How could this be? The man seemed to be the paradigm of religiosity, obeying every jot and tittle of God’s commands to him.

The Sages, in their Midrashic analysis of the flood parable, give Noah short shrift indeed. He is heavily criticized for not doing more to try to encourage a depraved humanity to repent and perhaps prevent the oncoming deluge. In fact he did nothing, but just busied himself meticulously following the minutiae of the ark’s blueprints.

Never understood the criticism.  No one would have listened.  Maybe Noah felt that the proper way is to live a religious  life by example.  Abraham’s defense of Sodom on its surface appears to be misplaced mercy for a society that choose brutality with their riches over a just society.  Abraham should have said, I will go and teach them.  I was only satisfied in Abraham’s defense when I answered the question of misplaced mercy,  that of course, Abraham was not saying let Sodom be spared any judgment.  He told God or understood God, that God will punish them for their evil ways, just not to destroy them.  If you do not say this,  then Abrohom is a fool.  I have not found a source for this, but this has to be the understanding.

 The Sages were particularly disturbed by his unwillingness to leave the ark after the floodwaters had subsided. Despite being certain that the land was now dry he only finally debarked because God instructed him. The Sages excoriated him for this. He was to be performing the most vital role in human history, the reconstructing of a shattered world and he dallied in the comfort and safety of his home not prepared to take the risks necessary for his daunting task until God approved his exit.

Abraham did not sit back in quiet obedience when God told him of the impending destruction of Sodom.

The Kotzker criticized Abraham that when God told him that his children will  go through a bitter slavery, Abraham did not protest and scream GVALT, my kids will be exiled for 400 years and will have to go to slavery!   They will have a holocaust!

Likewise, Moses did not await God’s permission to act on the injustices he saw in Egypt.

The Sages, who claimed that they would have torn down the walls of the ark and taken themselves out, were teaching us in this Midrash that to build a better society, you do not await permission.

Ze’ev Jabotinsky, (amongst others) even before the storm clouds of Europe began to darken warned European Jewry of the approaching destruction and begged them to leave and go to help build what was to become the State of Israel, a process that had begun 50 years or so previously. He was mostly ignored.

Some simply comfortable in their current surroundings, others claiming, that just like Noah before them, were exemplary in the observance of the God’s commandments, that a Jewish State can only be built with God’s permission.

The result was catastrophic.

You are correct.

No disease has been cured, no technology invented for the benefit of society, no hungry child fed, no poor have been clothed and no State has been built  by those that prefer to sit in an ark studying and even devising more minutiae than taking the courage to create a better world.

We need a balance.  We need Torah scholars and we need builders.  We need them in sync, each understanding their roles.  We need Torah and the scholars to provide this radiant glow that positively affects everything it shines on.  A foundation stone for a Jewish society to be built based on the Torah, just values, charity, and Torah knowledge.

This is my theme of Kotzk and when I write the definitive book on Kotzk, I will touch upon this very subject.  On the surface, the Kotzker seems to have withdrawn from this world for 19 years, when in reality he was a major  leader and leading the Jewish world.

“Devising more minutiae”.

Both Reb Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, the Meshak Chocmah and Rabbi Avrohom Yitzchok Kook would agree with you.

 Shabbat Shalom

 The Haftora.

The Hebrew bible consists of 3 sections. The Torah, which Orthodoxy believes is the revealed word of God. Followed by the Prophets, that section from Joshua, through Judges, Kings, and the various 15 Prophets, and finally Writings, such as Psalms, Proverbs, Esther and a bunch of others that you may or may not of heard of. The Haftora is a short reading taken from the 2nd section, that either has a connection to the Torah reading or the season, and is read at the conclusion of the Torah reading. How it came to be, nobody knows. There have been many speculative guesses, and the most well-known and promoted ad nauseum in the Orthodox world, may be the silliest. That is, the Greeks (and later the Romans), banned the public reading of Torah, but we fooled ’em by substituting another section of the Bible.) Personally, I prefer the argument that the Haftora reading was a polemic against sectarians who rejected anything other than the Torah itself as being part of the Jewish cannon.

Regardless of it’s genesis, it’s very ancient, at least 2000 years old, and is universal in practice throughout all denominations(There are occasional differences on the choice of Haftora)

 

 

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, TZL

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I received this unfortunate e-mail on Friday, Eruv Yom Kippur.  The funeral is later today in Beit Semesh.  The comment sums up the loss we all feel.  It is the passing of an era.

Mitch,

I am so sorry to send you sad news. I had such joy from reading your remarks about Rav Yehuda on your blog.

Now, an era has passed. I have lost my teacher, my friend, my father. I know that, apart from his immediate family, many will feel as I do. Baruch Dayan Ha’Emes!

I wish you and yours Gmar Chasima Tova.

 

ברוך דיין האמת 

October 3, 2014

 

Boca Raton Synagogue records with sorrow the passing of our esteemed member, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda, beloved husband of Mrs. Hassia Yehuda.

 

The funeral will be held in Israel on Sunday evening, October 5th at the city of Beit Shemesh Cemetery.

 

Hassia and her family will sit shiva from Sunday night through Wednesday early afternoon at Rechov HaTziporen 10b, Beit Shemesh, Israel.  They can be reached at 011-972-2-999-2936 when dialing from America or 02-999-2936 from Israel.

 

Messages of condolences can be sent to the family at 22166 Trillium Way, Boca Raton, Fl. 33433.

 

May the family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem.

 

Rabbi Efrem Goldberg          Rabbi Philip Moskowitz

 

If you would like to make a donation in

Rabbi Zvi Yehuda’s memory, please click here.

 
Hahn Judaic Campus7900 Montoya Circle N

Boca Raton, Florida 33433
Phone: 561-394-0394

 

 

Check out our new websitewww.brsonline.org

 

 

THREE SHABBOSIM AND FOUR SYNOGAGUES

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Over the last three weeks I davened at four different Synagogues.

 

  • Sephardic Shul of East Boca Raton – Parshas Re’ah – August 22, 2014 –
  • Congregation Yagdil Torah. East Boca Raton – Parshas Ra’ah – August 23, 2014
  • Anshei Sholem, Chicago – Parshas Shoftim – August 30, 2014
  • KJBS, Rabbi Franks Shul, Chicago – Parshas Ki Tza’zah – September 6, 2014

 As I am writing this at 9:15 PM, Sunday September 7th, my daughter is on her flight to Israel for her year at seminary at Michlala. She should have a successful year of study in Israel. I was excited for her as a number of her high school friends were on the flight.

 Highlights:

August 22, 2014 – Sephardic Shul of East Boca Raton – Parshas Re’ah:

I got to the regular East Boca Shul at 7:45 PM, however, they prayed earlier at 7:00 PM. I asked where the Sephardic Shul was located and I got blank stares. One guy knew where it was and he walked me part of the way. I arrived at the Sephardic Shul at 8:30 PM, forty minutes after sunset.   The streets were isolated and pitch black, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.  I found a ray of light in the darkness.   I was very happy to be able to pray properly despite the late hour. They were at Lacha Dodi, halfway through the services. It was a typical Sephardic congregation, with a number of people in colored shirts and blue jeans. Everyone is accepted in Sephardic Shuls.   Services were over at 8:55 PM, over one hour after sunset. Sephardim really pray. There is zero tolerance for talking. Sephardim as a community have inherited the true legacy of prayer service.

August 23, 2014 – Congregation Yagdil Torah. East Boca Raton – Parshas Ra’ah:

This is the only Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim Shul in the world. Very nice. The Rov is a Talmud Chochem. I met a friend from Toronto who has a vacation home in East Boca. I told him a Vort from Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, which is a Professor Nechama Lebowitz Lomdeshi explanation. During the week I Davened at Yagdil Torah. On Wednesday night, the Rov gave a Shiur as part of their JEC – Ba’al Tshuvah program. It was on the seventh of the Rambam’s 13 essential beliefs of faith. It was excellent and I asked the Rov why this is not taught in Yeshivas.

I love speeches.  The Rabbi’s  speech on Shabbos morning was good and compelling.  It was a Mussar speech, which linked together Reb Yisroel Salanter, the Chofetz Chaim,  and  others in the world of Mussar.   A friend in Telz Stone used to send me his Rabbi’s Shabbos speeches.  Every speech was Mussar  and I let my friend know that he is missing the richness of Torah.    I rarely hear a Mussar speech, as most Rabbis speak about a great insight into the Sedra, the greatness of Klal Yisroel, and current events.

August 30, 2014 – Anshei Sholem, Chicago – Parshas Shoftim:

One of my favorite Shuls in America. I went to hear Torah from the Rov. I sat down for the Torah reading and as I read the weekly bulletin, I saw that my friend’s daughter is getting married, and the Auf Ruf of her groom is at Anshei Sholem that Shabbos. I looked around and did not see my friend. At the upstairs main Minyan there was a Bat Mitzvah. I ran downstairs and the Auf Ruf was at the early Minyan. I saw my friend and wished him a Mazel Tov, hugged him, and told him I am crashing his daughter’s Labor Day wedding.  My study partner from Beis Midrash was also at Anshei Sholem, and my Toronto’s family acquaintance from the Sha’ari Shomayin Shul in Toronto was at Anshei Sholem visiting his children. I got married at the Sha’ari Shomayim Shul in 1980.  He told me that the Rov from that time, Rabbi Hoshander is still living in Toronto.  I read some of Rabbi Hoshander’s speeches from the 1960s in the RCA speech manuals.  They are rather good.

I did crash the wedding. Many people I knew from Boca Raton were in attendance and I stayed to the end of the wedding. I was very happy for my friend as he mentored my daughter in Boca Raton. I met his family. The Lubavtich Shilach from Brandeis University was there and he knew my two cousins’ kids who are students at Brandeis. He took a selfie of us two and sent it to my cousin’s kid. I saw Rabbi Perry Tirschwell of Young Israel Synagogue services and reminded him that the last time I saw him was a year earlier at my cousin’s wedding in Baltimore.

 September 6, 2014 – KJBS, Rabbi Franks Shul, Chicago – Parshas Ki Tza’zah:

Rabbi Dr. Meir Yaakov Soloeveichik was scholar in residence. He spoke three times and I heard all of his speeches. They were excellent. He said some great stories of Menachem Begin. He talked about Margret Thatcher’s Rabbi, Lord Emmanuel Jacobowitz. It is a great story of the Chief Rabbi  Jacobowitz being a “light to the nations of the world”.  Reb Shamshon Raphael Hirsch’s true student. 

 

RABBI TZVI YEHUDA

On By Avrohom Meir MorgensternIn My Life1 Comment

I was in Boca Raton two weeks ago and Boruch Hashem I went to visit Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda who is recovering in a nursing home. He is no longer able to give his Shabbos morning class.  Unfortunately, his class has been taken off the Boca Raton Shabbos pamphlet. The last time I was at the Boca Raton Synagogue, I felt a sense of loss not being able to hear his Shiur. On Wednesday August 27th,  2014 I visited him at the Regents of Boca Raton located on Verde Trail.

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda needs a Refuah Shelama. He cannot speak. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s wife assured me that her husband understands everything. I only had 15 minutes with Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda as he had to go for a test outside the nursing home. I told Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda that the last piece of Torah I heard from him, was part of my speech when I spoke in Shul to the family of Rabbi Yisroel Gettinger, read my post on Parshas Naso.   Rabbi Gettinger’s wife is a 3th or 4th cousin to Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda.  I also told Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda some of the Torah I heard from him over the last two years.  Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda looked at me with his blue, unflinching eyes that spoke of great knowledge. I almost melted from the glare of my Rebbe.

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda eyes saw the Chazon Ish, Reb Aryeh Levin, the establishment of the State of Israel and many, many great people and events.   Through my association with Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, I was able to connect to his world;  the world of Israel before and after Statehood, to great leaders I only read about, to a great and wondrous world.

Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda taught me how to understand the Chazzon Ish.  The Chazzon Ish’s legacy is one of Ahavas Yisroel and not of dividing Klal Yisroel.  His legacy is misunderstood  by many people.  His legacy is one that connects to the YU, Dati Leumi, and Lubavitch worlds.

 

When I heard of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda’s infirmary and could not give Shiur, I could not explain my sense of profound loss.

May Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda have a complete recovery and may he continue to teach Torah.

Update:  On Shabbos 9/20/2014, I was learning and used a Kehti to understand a Mishna in Chagiga.  Dr. Landa told me that Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda was the main writer of the  Kehti Mishnayous.   I was consoled that when I was learning the Kehti on Chagiga, I was learning from my Rebbe, Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, and was able to picture him saying the Mishna and explaining it.

Parshas Eikev

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The Siege, The Story of Israel and Zionism

This morning September 6, 2014, I saw my friend Hart Hasten in Shul. I mentioned to him that I was reading the book, The Siege, The Story of Israel and Zionism, written by Conor O’Brien, an Irish diplomat. Hart Hasten mentioned that he brought in Conor O’Brien years ago to speak and that Conor O’Brien gave him a number of autographed copies of the book. I have to post the following essay I sent to Yair Hoffman on Parshas Eikev.

Yair:

I read your Parsha Sheet on Eikav.

Shabbos morning I continued my reading of Conor O’Brien’s book titled, “The Siege, The Story of Israel and Zionism”.  It is clear that the Jews were being kicked out of Europe.  It started in 1881 with the Tzar’s decrees and pogroms.    I have written about this on my blog.

How should the Jews have reacted in 1881 moving forward?   Per Amos Elon, the Sfes Emes in 1903 said in response to Herzl that Mosiach can only come through miraculous means, clearly rejecting Herzl and by doing so rejects the Gra’s approach, the Besht, Reb Tzvi Hersh Kalisher, and my Zedi, the Pilaver Rebbe.  Yes – the Gra believed that Moshiach could come via natural means, worked towards bringing Messiach, and sent his students to Israel to start the process.  All these great leaders felt the Moshiach can arrive and probably will come through natural means.   At the time of  Ezra the Jews returned back to Israel by natural means and built the second Temple.  Despite the chance to go back to Israel, a majority of Jews decided to stay in Babylonia, and of the Jews who went to Israel many had non-Jewish wives.  We did have Ezra, who was a prophet.

It is easy to say, do Tshuva, and everything will be okay.  It is easy for right -wing Orthodoxy to say blame the Jews for their own misfortune, after all they are sinners.  This is the standard response of right-wing Orthodox Judaism; however, life is messy and complicated.   The Jews of the Pale of Settlement were basically Frum, yet the Czar went after them with cruel abandon.  We do not know Hashem’s considerations.

After reading some more of The Siege, I had to read through Eikav before going to Shul to find insight.  I did not have any time to read through the Rishonim.  I did not have the Sefer Menachem Tzion from Rabbi Menachem B. Sachs, son-in-law of Reb Tzvi Pesach Frank, for a Zionistic vort on the Sedra.   No insight.   Based on the Sedra, it would appear questionable as to how the Jews merited entering the land of  Israel, the first and second Temples due to their apparent sins.  A generation or two after entering Israel, some Jews worshipped idols.  Moshe Rabbinu’s own grandson was a priest to idol worshippers.

Perhaps the insight is that the Jews are not perfect because life is complicated and messy.  We do not know the ways of Hashem. Perhaps we have to be positive, optimistic, and look at everyone with eyes of Reb Avrohom Yitzchok Kook.  We have to look at life with the approach of Amcha Kulum Kedoshim – your entire Nation is Holy.   We have to be Lubavitch in America. Clearly the Jews were being kicked out of Europe. Perhaps this is what was missed.

Megilah 12A – Missed Opportunity – History Repeats Itself

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July 24, 2014

The war in Gaza is continuing.  Let us hope for peace and security.  

 This morning in Daf Yomi I learned an amazing Gemara. It almost mirrors events in the Jewish world from the late 1700s to 1948. It mirrors the period of time when the students of the Besht and Gra start to move back to Israel to settle the land and bring the Messiah, and ends in 1948 when a Jewish state is created, and Jews have a homeland.

 The Gemara in Megillah 11b, brings down two verses that talks about the 70 years in which the Jews will be in the Babylonian exile.   

 Yirmiyahu – Jeremiah Chapter 29, Verse 10

1) . כִּי כֹה אָמַר יְהֹוָה כִּי לְפִי מְלֹאת לְבָבֶל שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה אֶפְקֹד אֶתְכֶם וַהֲקִמֹתִי עֲלֵיכֶם אֶת דְּבָרִי הַטּוֹב לְהָשִׁיב אֶתְכֶם אֶל הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה:

 10. For so said the Lord: For at the completion of seventy years of Babylon I will remember you, and I will fulfill My good word toward you, to restore you to this place.

 Daniel – Chapter 9, Verse 2

ב. בִּשְׁנַת אַחַת לְמָלְכוֹ אֲנִי דָּנִיֵּאל בִּינֹתִי בַּסְּפָרִים מִסְפַּר הַשָּׁנִים אֲשֶׁר הָיָה דְבַר יְהֹוָה אֶל יִרְמִיָה הַנָּבִיא לְמַלֹּאות לְחָרְבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַם שִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה:

 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, contemplated the calculations, the number of the years that the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah the prophet, since the destruction of Jerusalem seventy years.

 These two Verses that talk about the 70 year exile, uses different terms for the 70 years. Daniel 9:2 talks about “70 years after the destruction of Jerusalem” and Yirmiyahu talks about “For at the completion of seventy years of Babylon.” At first I thought that the two verses referred to the same start time, the destruction of Jerusalem, the language is different but the meaning is the same. 

However the Gemara on 12a says that these two verses are two different 70 year periods.   Yirmiyahu 29:10 starts when Babylonia became a world power and ended 70 years later when Cyrus took power a few years before the reign of Ahasveiros.

The following is the Talmud on 12a:

“Still, there is a contradiction between the texts? It is written [in one], For at the completion of the 70 years of Babylon the jews will be restored to Israel and it is written [in the other], 70 years afer the destruction of Jerusalem the Jews will be returned to Israel.

 Raba replied: [The first term] was for a remembernce only, and this was fulfilled, as it is written, Thus said Cyrus king of Persia,  God has made me the ruler of the entire world and he has commanded to build him a house in Jerusalem.

 Rav Nachman son of Rav Hisda gave the following exposition. What is the meaning of the verse, Thus said the Lord to his “anointed”  to Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold. Now was Cyrus the anointed as a king by the Lord?   Rather what it means is: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Messiah: I have a complaint on your behalf against Cyrus. I said, He shall build my house and gather my exiles, and he [merely] said, Whosoever there is among you of all his people, let him go up to Jerusalem (but did not command all to return).

This Gemara is saying that both 70 year terms are true.  Cyrus should have forced the Jews to go back to Israel, built the Temple, and the Messiah would have come during the reign of Cyrus and before Achashveirosh. AMAZING. This would be done via the efforts of a non-Jewish king, and through natural means. Haflah V’Phalah.   The prophecy of the 70 years in Yirmiyahu 29:10 would have come true with Cyrus initiating the return back to Eretz Yisroel and not through miraculous means. In fact the Rashba says that a Jewish king who had been dead for 100 years would come back to life to lead the Jewish people.

 However Cyrus failed, not because he did not start the process. He did start the process, but he did not force the issue and was not strong enough in his efforts.  The failure of Cyrus led to the prophecy of Daniel 9:2 as the actual period of time for the 70 year exile. The return to Eretz Yisroel starts 19 years later when Darius the son of Achashveirosh and Esther allows the Jews to move back to their homeland and rebuild the Temple.  He was Jewish, but presumably, a Persian.  No open miracles.  Despite a Jewish homeland, most Jews elect to stay in Babylonia.

Fast forward to the late 1700s when the Gra’s and the Besht’s students go to Israel to start the process of settling Israel and bringing the Messiah, all through natural means.

Fast forward to 1881, 2 million Jews of white Russia are forced to leave their homeland, there were stirrings of a return to Israel, the Chovevi Zion society is formed, Herzl sees the Dreyfus trial and proposes the Jewish State.  My Zedi, the holy Pilivar – Kotzker Rebbe writes in his book, written in 1885+-, that the land of Israel should be purchased from the Ottoman-Turkish empire to resettle Jews. The Jews must create an agricultural society so that people will have industry and have a means of livelihood. He writes that there is no Mitzvah to settle in Israel to be supported by the diaspora through charity funds. He envisioned an agricultural society, back to the land.   He asks, why are tens of thousands of Jews going to America, when God promised Israel, the land flowing with milk and honey to the Jewish people.

 The Ottoman- Turkish empire refuses to sell the land in the 1880s, however, in 1917 we have the Balfour Declaration. Jews can go en masse to Israel. However, not enough go to Eretz Israel, and stay trapped in Europe. Hitler comes to power and wants to destroy the Jewish people. Unlike the plot of Haman, which was foiled, Hitler destroys European Jewry. The Jews are finally able to get to Israel and create a State of their own.

Binyomin Zev (Theodore) Herzl

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Yahrzeit – 20 Tammuz 5664 (1904)

May 2, 1860 – July 3, 1904

This past Friday was the 110th Yahrzeit of Binyomin Zev – Theodore Herzl.    I did not know about Herzl’s Yahrzeit until Elykum Schwartz told me this past Shabbos.  I saw in Amos Elon’s book, Herzl, that in 1903 the Sefas Emes came out against Herzl and said the Messiah and settlement of Israel can only come from a miraculous event, not through natural means.  The Sefas Emes’s own cousin and the Vilna Goan did not agree with the Sefas Emes.  The Gra attempted to go to Israel and later sent his students to Israel over 100 years earlier in order to settle the land of Israel to bring the Messiah.  I would like to think that in the heavens the Sefas Emes taught Herzl Torah and that they are now learning together.

I just saw this picture in the July 3rd Jerusalem Post magazine.  This is the salon of Edmund James de Rothschild.

blog pic

 

As I look this picture, I see Theodore Herzl sitting at the table talking, cajoling, debating Edmund James de Rothschild about Herzl’s grand idea to buy the land of Israel from the Sultan of the Ottoman-Turkish empire.    Edmund James de Rothschild was the fifth wealthy Jewish individual Herzl approached to secure funding to buy Israel.  The previous four had not committed at all to Herzl.  Per Amos Elon each one of the five individuals, individually, had enough  money to buy the land of Israel from the Sultan.  Herzl thought that Edmund James de Rothschild would be most sympathetic because Rothschild, known as Hanadiv (“The Benefactor”) was engaged in philanthropy and settlement of Israel.  However, Herzl did not get the firm commitment from  Rothschild.  He got a lukewarm response to the effect bring me something of substance and I will consider it.  Herzl was forced to negotiate with the Sultan as a poker player.  Herzl had to make the Sultan believe that he (Herzl) had the financial backing to purchase the land of Israel, when he in no way had any money backing his grand idea to save world Jewry.

Tragic indeed.