Which was worse? Worshiping the Golden Calf or the Meraglim?

 

Which "Aveirah" was worse? The "Worshipping the Eigal" or the Aveirah of the "Meraglim"

מְרַגְּלִים אֵין לָהֶם חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַיָּמֻתוּ הָאֲנָשִׁים מוֹצִאֵי דִבַּת הָאָרֶץ רָעָה בַּמַּגֵּפָה לִפְנֵי ה' . וַיָּמֻתוּ, בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה. בַּמַּגֵּפָה, בָּעוֹלָם הַבָּא.

Since the bnei-chutz-le'aartz will be reading the parsha of the spies, I thought that I would re-post my article that is on the side bar!

 Worshipping a calf is one of the three cardinal sins that is יהרג ועל יעבור !

 One must give up one's life if forced to worship a calf! That is an "Ovoda Zara!"

Worse! Much worse than that! 

The incident of the "chet ha'eigal" the worshipping of the golden calf, was just months after the Jewish people witnessed the miracles of "yetzias mitzrayim" and just 40 days after receiving the Torah at Har Sinai! 

They all heard the commandment of the "Ten Commandments" which states: "

You shall not make yourself a carved image etc." 

Stop printing stories about abusive behavior by Gedolim

 

by Daas Yochid

: This post may get people upset, saying it’s “Bizui Talmidei Chachamim” or that I am misrepresenting the facts. So a few disclaimers: First, PLEASE do not draw any conclusions about the character of these gedolim themselves. The stories may be inaccurate, wrongly stressed, missing context or entirely made up. The critiques of these stories are entirely on the way they were printed and the fact they were printed at all. Second, these stories were widely distributed, and there is no chashash lashon hara. Third, I have no issue with these stories being printed in an informational or academic biography. It’s when these stories are printed as inspirational or something normal, healthy and admirable is where I push back. -DY

This past week’s AMI had a pretty fascinating interview with R Chaim Ausband about his father R Eizik. Now, R Eizik was a great Talmud Chacham, a Holocaust survivor, and a person dealing with his own personal traumas. That said, AMI should not have printed the following stories as evidence of greatness. These stories are not ok.

First:

“When my father was a young man, my mother once served him a meal. He gave no indication that anything was out of place; he simply sat there quietly until she finally realized that she had forgotten to give him a fork. He wouldn’t eat without a fork, so he said nothing, because in Kelm one doesn’t draw attention to what is missing. One doesn’t inconvenience the host. One doesn’t say ‘I need.’ One absorbs the discomfort quietly and moves on.

“Even when I was growing up, these seemed like strange hanhagos,” Rav Ausband says with a smile. “It wasn’t until I was much older that I understood that it was strange for the hamon am, regular Yidden. My father’s hanhagos were ones that people describe as belonging to truly great people.”

While it cha”v to critique R Eizik, nowadays, truly great people would gently request the fork. Today, such behavior is indicative of ‘silent treatment’. While R Eizik’s marriage and wife may have been perfectly ok with this, this behavior is not ok and certainly not a mussar lesson of not inconveniencing the host. (Obviously, it makes perfect sense for R’ Eizik’s son to justify this behavior in his head for himself. The critique is solely on AMI for printing it.)

He describes the Shabbos Seuda:

“There might have been the occasional exception,” Rav Chaim Mordechai reflects, “but as a general rule the Shabbos seudah in our home was kulo kodesh. It bore no resemblance to an ordinary weekday meal that most people are accustomed to.”

The structure was unvarying.

“My father would return home from yeshivah after Minchah and Maariv, take his place at the table and eat. My mother, a”h, would look at him and ask, ‘Nu, vos is der vort fun haynt—So what is today’s dvar Torah?’ That was the conversation. There was no schmoozing or devarim beteilim.”

While this may have worked out for R Eizik, this is horrible advice for modern chinuch. One’s shabbos seuda should have shmoozing. It should not have unvaried structure where the kids sit in silence and the father says a devar torah.

Worse, and this is the most troubling section of all:

New York Times Smearing Israel again with false report that Israel was Spying on US officials

 

The Israeli embassy in the US and the White House denied the New York Times report.!

The Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency has reportedly elevated the counterintelligence threat assessment for Israel to its highest category, citing concerns that Israeli intelligence may be seeking access to sensitive US decision-making related to the Middle East, The New York Times reported.

According to the report, which cited two current US officials and one former official, the Defense Intelligence Agency issued an internal message in recent weeks raising Israel’s threat level to “critical.”

The report said US officials are concerned that Israeli intelligence services may be collecting confidential information regarding high-level American deliberations connected to regional conflicts.

Although Israel remains a close US ally, officials cited by The New York Times said there is concern within the Pentagon that Israeli intelligence could obtain access to sensitive information not intended for sharing.

According to one official cited in the report, the internal document assessed Israel’s capability to conduct both human intelligence operations and technical intelligence collection at a “critical level.”

The report also said the document referenced a number of specific incidents that contributed to the heightened concerns, though no further details were provided.

Israel strongly rejected the allegations.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Embassy in Washington said claims that Israel spies on the United States are “completely false.”

“Israel does not gather intelligence on American entities, let alone US government officials,” the spokesperson said. “Israel intelligence collection efforts are aimed at its enemies, not its allies. Any claims to the contrary are either misinformed or politically motivated.”

The Pentagon declined to comment on the report.

A White House official also disputed the account, saying: “This entire story is false and sourced to someone who doesn’t have any knowledge of what’s going on.”

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which oversees US intelligence agencies including the Defense Intelligence Agency, did not respond to a request for comment, according to the report.

The report emerged as Israeli officials reportedly assess that Iran is bluffing in the current standoff and as President Donald Trump pursues a long-term ceasefire arrangement. It also comes amid comments by Lebanon’s president accusing Iran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in broader regional negotiations.

Yeshiva World News Posted a Clip of Israeli Police beating the crap out of Charedim but look at all comments!! 99% for the Police

 Is it finally turning? Are frum people finally opening their eyes? 

The Yeshivishe News Site wanted to portray Police in a bad light but it backfired!  

The oilom, the silent majority are fed up with the Bnei-Torah and are speaking out!

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Those who fear that their children will go OTD if they Make Aliyah Are Following the Meraglim

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts lately while driving, and what I heard disturbed me immensely!

On December 21, 2025, I posted an interview between Rabbi Shoff and Rabbi Michal Weichbrod on the topic "Should Jews leave America?' 

One of Shoff's arguments was that there is a good chance of "your children going off the derech if you make Aliyah"

Another argument that people have "If my child enlists in the army, there is a good chance his spirituality will get destroyed."

I am not in any way belittling their concerns, but this was exactly בדיוק what the meraglim were arguing!

They argued that HKB"H Himself stated that when they will enter Eretz Yisrael, they will certainly, 100% worship Avoda Zara!

וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יהֹ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְּךָ֥ שֹׁכֵ֖ב עִם־אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ וְקָם֩ הָעָ֨ם הַזֶּ֜ה וְזָנָ֣ה ׀ אַחֲרֵ֣י ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י נֵכַר־הָאָ֗רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֨ר ה֤וּא בָא־שָׁ֙מָּה֙ בְּקִרְבּ֔וֹ וַעֲזָבַ֕נִי וְהֵפֵר֙ אֶת־בְּרִיתִ֔י אֲשֶׁ֥ר כָּרַ֖תִּי אִתּֽוֹ׃(דברים לא,טז)

"Hashem said to Moshe,"Behold, you will lie with your forefathers, but this people will rise up and stray after the gods of the foreigners of the Land, in whose midst it is coming, and it will forsake Me and annul My Covenant that I have sealed with it."

 Now, the above verse does not say that it "may" happen, the verse states unequivocally that it will certainly happen! 

The meraglim like those in the US were concerned about their spirituality, they said:

 (במדבר יג, לא)"for it is stronger than us" .....כִּֽי־חָזָ֥ק ה֖וּא מִמֶּֽנּוּ׃

Rashi said: "כביכול כלפי מעלה אמרו" .... "they said this with respect to Him Who is Above"

They were concerned about their own ruchinus in Olam Haba (שם משמואל שלח, תרע"ה)

The meraglim told Hashem:

"RBS"O if we enter Eretz Yisrael, will be forced to close our gemarras and establish a medina, to plow the earth, to populate the land, to establish a government, to be financially solvent,, to build homes, to join the army!  ותורה מה תהא עליה?

It is far better that we remain here, in the midbar, protected by the clouds, eating manna that is absorbed by the body, drinking water from a rock,our clothes don't warp, and have absolutely no worries other than sitting and learning and our kids will never go off the derech"

These arguments were לשמה! it was all for the sake of Hashem!

But what happened? It was precisely for this very argument, that Klall Yisrael was punished for generations!

Because at the end of the day, the question is not "what is good for me, what is fit for me," not even from a perspective of ruchniyois.

The question is what does the Ribbono Shel Olam want?

And the RBS"O wants Jews to go to Eretz Yisrael and establish Medinas Yisrael even if the result is:וְזָנָ֣ה ׀ אַחֲרֵ֣י ׀ אֱלֹהֵ֣י נֵכַר־הָאָ֗רֶץ , even if the result is that you will wind up worshipping Idols! 

The Torah understands it to be a near-certainty that this will happen and yet does not propose refraining from entering the Land on that account. On the contrary, we will enter, we will fall and rise, and will probably fall again and rise again, For this is the way of the Torah , to fall and rise.

We did not come to this world to be angels, we are here to show the world that Torah can be applied not only in the wilderness but also in the army, in high-tech, in culture, in every place a human hand can touch and improve.

This is our task, Will we always succeed? Probably not. Will there be failures? Yes. Is it our duty to continue with the mission? Clearly,

This is what we are in the world to do!

There are no guarantees that your children will stay frum should you make aliya, but there is no one not even Rabbi Shoff that can guarantee that your children will not go off the derech in the USA!  For that we need prayer, but at least in Israel they will marry Jewish!

We weren’t commanded to enter Eretz Yisrael because it’s safe — we were commanded to enter because it’s ours. The Torah never promised that Aliyah protects your ruchniyus. It promised that avoiding the mission destroys it.

The meraglim taught us that “What will happen to my ruchniyus?” is the wrong question. The only question that matters is “What does Hashem want?” And Hashem already answered: Go. Build. Fall. Rise. Repeat. That’s the mission.

Rectifying the Sin of the Spies - now!

 by HaRav Shuel Eliyahu  Chief Rabbi of Tzfat

Recently, I had the privilege of sharing Torah ideas with HaRav Yisrael Ariel, shlita, one of the foremost Torah scholars of our day. Most of the understandings presented in this lesson are based upon his insights.

Ingratitude

Zera Shimshon Parshas Shelach

 

Rabbanim are the ones mobilizing the Bnei-Torah rioters inciting them ,planning their activities, and paying for their transport

 

by Paul Mirbach

So, here is what I am thinking about the Haredi pogrom perpetrated against Supreme Court Justice, Noam Solberg.

1. Unlike the mass protests of Haredim on Tuesday, where they blocked highways and train tracks for hours, which was a threatening act to display their ability to bring the entire country to a standstill, the targeted, personal attack on Solberg was a calculated act of intimidation. Extortion in it's blackest form (sic).

2. It is clear that these "protests" are being coordinated.

3. There is nothing spontaneous about bussing hundreds of Haredi Yeshiva bochers from Beit Shemesh to Alon Shvut. It requires organization, from ordering buses, to permission for to skip Torah study, to gaining entry to a Yishuv in the West Bank which has an electric gate and guards. (Is it not strange that Torah study is so important that they cannot miss a day of study to serve in the army, but they can take off as much time as they want - every day - to protest the draft)?

4. It requires paying for the buses, which cost at least 2500 NIS a pop. At 50 per bus, every time, calculate the cost. There is no way these Yeshiva students are paying for it. Maybe it's coming out of the billions allocated to them by the government? The vast majority of the Haredim involved in the attack were minors. This is not coincidence; minors are treated with leniency and juvenile courts are much more forgiving. Furthermore, sentences of minors are expunged when they become adults, basically letting them off the hook, allowing them to get drivers' licenses, etc.

5. Do you think any of the protestors, who are minors, have the wherewithal to order the buses, much less money in their accounts to pay for them?

All this, points to the probability that they are being mobilized by their Rabbis and teachers who are inciting them, who are planning their activities, and who are paying for their transport and organizing it.

Which brings me to the Police. It sounds good, that 62 Haredi youth were arrested. Great. But it means nothing, and they will all be released - wait and see. But no Rabbis, no Yeshiva heads who are inciting them, instructing them, sending them and providing them with the logistics and permission to skip studies have been investigated. The Police are playing King Canute against the tide.

They may not serve in the army, but this has the "ש"ג" syndrome written all over it. And, if they don't go after the organizers, coordinators and inciters, it's not going to stop. We ain't seen nothing yet

These are NOT Peleg Rioters these are Mainstream Charedim

 

There is a common—extremely common—claim that Haredim make whenever there is a riot or act of violence carried out by members of the Eida Haredit or the Peleg Yerushalmi:

“We aren’t those Haredim. They are extremists; we’re not. Rabbi X doesn’t agree with rioting. There are differences in hashkafa (outlook, beliefs, worldview). The secular world doesn’t understand the distinctions between the various groups.”

This morning, the day after the Alon Shvut riot, Radio Qol B’Rama’s Yaki Adamker and Yisrael Cohen—two of Israel’s most prominent Haredi journalists—interviewed Rav Boaz Naqi, a spokesman for the Peleg Yerushalmi.

I don’t particularly care about what he said; frankly, there were no surprises. The issue is that they spoke with Rav Naqi at all. The interview was respectful, especially by the standards of Israeli news interviews. More important than the content or tone of the conversation is the fact that the conversation took place.

Qol B’Rama will not interview MKs from Yesh Atid. That is a policy decision; they are effectively off-limits. A few months ago, for the first time in a very long time, these same two journalists interviewed a Yesh Atid MK. The conversation lasted roughly 30 seconds. One of the journalists felt the need to insult the MK at the beginning of the interview. The MK hung up, and that was the end of it.

When Haredim make their claim—that there are important differences between groups, that Rav Dov Landau or Rav Moshe Hirsch may despise the state but do not encourage violence, and that they are not like the Peleg or the Eida—they forget one important point: no one cares.

No one outside their community cares about the microscopic distinctions between these worldviews. Perhaps those differences would make for an interesting graduate-school seminar, but in the real world they are largely irrelevant. Put aside, for the moment, the argument that Rav Landau’s and Rav Hirsch’s statements help lay the intellectual groundwork for the violence perpetrated yesterday. That is a separate and important discussion. The critical point is that these differences are an illusion.

More significantly, the Haredim themselves do not seem to care. Mainstream Haredi media figures clearly view someone like Rav Boaz Naqi as part of their community. No mainstream Haredi journalist would refuse to interview members of these groups. No one is going to exclude them from a minyan. (Full disclosure: I have attended synagogues in Haredi neighborhoods where I was not counted for a minyan. It was rare, but it happened.) No one is going to question the kashrut standards of the Eida Haredit. No one is going to do anything remotely comparable to what some—admittedly a small number of—religious Zionist rabbis and community leaders have done in response to the hilltop rioters.

Anyone who read the tepid condemnation issued by the Shas and Degel HaTorah MKs saw a perfect example of what I mean. Not one word about who committed the crime. Not one word about who was attacked. They condemned violence in the abstract. They devoted far more words to criticizing the Supreme Court and defending their own community than they did to condemning the attack itself. These MKs felt that their job is to protect their community, including the rioters.

So yes, it was Haredim who rioted—without any adjective attached to soften, qualify, or limit that description.

About the Author

Ben Waxman was born in the US  He lived in the Jerusalem area for decades and now resides in the Shomron.

Chutzpadik Bnei-Torah first Smash a Car's window then when they get arrested they riot

 

 A motorist accelerated rapidly and drove into the rioting crowd a short time ago in Ramat Beit Shemesh B'