Friday, December 5, 2025
Bnei Brak kollel student returns hidden 150,000 shekels found in apt. wall
An extraordinary story and example of halachic adherence unfolded in Bnei Brak on Thursday when a student at the Slabodka Kollel returned a sum of 150,000 shekels in cash to the woman who sold him an apartment.
The Hod Hasharon resident recently sold the apartment, which had been used by her ill brother and returned to her after he passed away, to the haredi student. During renovation work in the apartment, a substantial amount of money was found well hidden in one of the walls.
The discovery raised a complex halachic question: Does the money belong to the brother, who saved it and didn't mention it in the will, or does it belong to the new owner of the apartment according to the Talmudic principle of unknowing forfeiture (Yei’ush shelo mida'at)?
The conundrum was brought to Rabbi Yehuda Silman, who ruled that, according to halacha, the full amount should be returned to the previous owner, who was unaware of the cash's existence. On Thursday, a special ceremony was held at the Rabbi's home, during which the money was returned to the woman, in the presence of the student's peers and relatives.
The woman, who is not religious, was moved to tears by the honesty and pondered aloud: "Why don't they report such good things in the media?"
Rabbi Silman blessed the student that, in the merit of his good deed, he should receive abundant blessings in his home and sons and daughters who follow in the path of Torah and mitzvot.
In a Strange Twist the OU is More Machmir on Beers Than Satmar CRC Hashgachas
In light of growing public uncertainty over the kashrus status of common beers, the CRC (Williamsburg) has released a new clarification addressing which beverages remain free of concern. The announcement comes amid an influx of questions regarding the possibility of non-kosher additives appearing even in well-known brands.
According to the CRC, many widely purchased beers remain entirely kosher and present no kashrus issues whatsoever. Among the brands listed as acceptable are Blue Moon, Corona, Carlsberg, Coors, Heineken, Keystone, Miller, Modelo, Samuel Adams, and Stella Artois. The CRC notes that this is only a partial list and that additional brands will be evaluated and publicized once verified information is obtained.
The CRC explains that standard, unflavored beers continue to be permissible, as the traditional brewing process of water, hops, barley, and yeast remains intact for many major manufacturers. At the same time, the CRC emphasizes that beers containing added flavors should be consumed only when bearing reliable kosher certification. For those seeking higher kashrus standards, the CRC points to beers produced under constant supervision, such as Yamiltz under its own certification and Nesher under the Badatz Eidah Chareidis.
The CRC’s policy stands in sharp contrast to the direction being taken by the Orthodox Union (OU), which recently announced a major policy overhaul set to take effect on January 1. In a letter to mashgichim and food-service operators, the OU stated that the beer industry has changed dramatically, to the point that the old assumption—that unflavored beer requires no certification—can no longer be relied upon. The explosion of craft breweries, the widespread use of unexpected additives, barrel-aging techniques involving wine or spirits, and the sharing of equipment with flavored or potentially non-kosher products have, in the OU’s view, introduced too much uncertainty into the beer market. Even beers that appear to be “plain” may include post-fermentation additives that do not appear on labels.
As a result, the OU will now require that only beers with proper kosher certification be permitted in OU-supervised establishments. Craft beers will need visible certification or written confirmation, while national brands already operating under kosher oversight will remain acceptable. The OU is distributing a list of nearly one thousand certified breweries to mashgichim around the country.
While the CRC affirms that many mainstream beers remain perfectly acceptable without certification, the OU is moving to a stricter model that treats beer with far greater scrutiny than in past decades. The two agencies, operating from different assessments of the industry landscape, have reached divergent conclusions on how to best safeguard the kashrus standards of the tzibbur.
Satmar Tourists Nearly Lynched In Shechem They feel Safer With The Zionists !
Satmar Chassidim visiting Israel are learning that if they want to feel safe they need to hang out with the Zionists!
A charedi tourist from the US who accidentally entered the PA-held town of Shechem was nearly lynched by angry youths before being rescued by Palestinian police and transferred to the IDF.
Chaim Hersh Goldberger, a prominent Satmar chasid from Kiryas Joel, had taken a tour guide to show him and his wife around Samaria. The guide took him to Shilo, the site of the Mishkan in ancient times, and then to Har Gerizim where he went to the lookout point on Shechem and continued to the Samaritan neighborhood. The guide did not have Waze or any other navigating device and after a short while the couple found themselves entering the town of Shechem, which is controlled by the Palestinian Authority and is off limits for Israelis.
Goldberger described how his car was being filmed by young Arabs who were trying to gather a group to attack the car. After a few nerve-wracking moments, the guide tried to contact the IDF, who in turn contacted the Palestinian Police. Goldberger said he was impressed by the professional conduct of the PA police, who managed to fend off the youths and accompany him out of Shechem towards the IDF positions.
When he reached the IDF, they thought that he was one of the Breslov chasidim who often try to illegally enter Shechem without security coordination in order to visit the tomb of Yosef. Goldberger explained that he had been visiting the Samaritan village and had mistakenly driven into Shechem.
Beis Din Rules: No Flaw In Conduct Of Satmar Community Regarding Shabbos In Meron
By Yehuda Dov
A dramatic ruling was issued Wednesday night by the Beis Din Tzedek of Bnei Brak regarding the Satmar–Meron guesthouse dispute, in which local guesthouse owners sued the Satmar community and the producer R’ Yaakov Chaim Miller for not informing them in advance that Satmar planned to spend Shabbos in Meron.
The dispute began after Miller began secretly booking all of the available local guesthouses but not disclosing that the goal was for Satmar chasidim arriving from abroad to accompany the Rebbe for a Shabbos. The guesthouse owners claimed that this constituted a deception and that the prices would have been different for an organized group arriving from abroad.
The issue, which was first reported on the B’Chadrei Chareidim website, was widely discussed in batei midrash and kollelim across Israel and around the world.
At the end of the hearing, the Beis Din stated orally that the deal could not and would not be canceled, and that the plaintiffs’ claims had no halachic basis.
In the dramatic written ruling, the Beis Din rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments one by one, ultimately stating the following:
“There is no flaw in the conduct of the community and the defendants. There is no reason to expect the public or its administrators to publicize their plans and thereby cause an increase in market prices, especially when such disclosure usually leads to unfair price hikes. They are entitled to act wisely to obtain lodging at reasonable prices.”
Rabbinic advocate Rabbi Chaim Gerlitz, who represented the Satmar community and the production company, summarized the matter from his perspective in a conversation with B’Chadrei Chareidim:
“From the outset, the plaintiffs attempted to create an uproar over nothing, to the point that the matter was already publicized in the media as if my client had carried out some sort of ‘sting operation,’ Heaven forbid.”
“My client and its director, R’ Yaakov Chaim Miller, well-known from the major events they have produced in the Charedi community over the past two decades, are recognized as a symbol of integrity and fairness. Unfortunately, some attempted through various publications to cast aspersions on their work.”
“However, the honorable Beis Din stated its position clearly and decisively, determining that there was no flaw whatsoever in their conduct and even found it appropriate to praise their prudent management.”
Unbelievable!!! R" Yitchok Sorotzkin Shlita gives chizuk for all the Hishtadlus that was done on behalf of the Drunk Driver who Killed a mother
Rav Yitchok Sorotzkin Shlita giving chizuk for all the Hishtadlusthat was done on behalf of Morty Berkowitz*
Can someone tell me why this guy sounds like a Baal Teshuva?
I respect the Baalei Teshuva but what is this guy's background? He has the Sorotzkin name but sounds like a guy from the Mid West!
Tucker Qatarson will be featured as a Speaker..... Guess Where???.... Yes in Qatar!
JUST IN:@TuckerCarlson has just been added to the speakers list for the upcoming Doha Forum in Doha, Qatar this week.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) December 4, 2025
This comes as many people have noticed Tucker Carlson @TuckerCarlson has been promoting Islam extensively and has been downplaying the threat of Islamic… https://t.co/bfDstuI0mi pic.twitter.com/Hddmswq0iN
Grand Jury has again declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James!
A grand jury has again declined to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James, this time after being asked to review the mortgage-fraud case for a second time, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The development comes 10 days after a federal judge dismissed the original charges against her.
Thursday, December 4, 2025
Was Eisav a Chassideshe Rebbe?
He had a fur coat that he stole from Nimrad, he had 400 followers and he wanted to kill his brother!
The primetime princess's fall from grace
ByADAM SCOTT BELLOS
Megyn Kelly once represented something rare in American media. She was the lawyer-turned-anchor who confronted Donald Trump with fierce resolve, exposing hypocrisy when everyone else trembled. She built her brand on saying what others were afraid to say. She presented herself as the last adult in the room – the uncompromising defender of free expression and common sense.
But something has changed. Not in one dramatic collapse, but through a slow, humiliating slide: from calling out lies to protecting the people who spread them, from demanding moral clarity to digging her heels into tribal right-wing loyalty. The Megyn Kelly who once made a living tearing hypocrisy apart has become one of its most effective new shields.
HOLLYWOOD’S NEW ROLE: “FREE THE TERRORIST OF JEWS"
🚨 HOLLYWOOD’S NEW ROLE: “FREE THE TERRORIST” 🚨
Over 200 celebrities, many of them signing out of pure social pressure, have joined a global campaign to release Marwan Barghouti. Actors spend their lives pretending to be other people…You’d think they could at least pretend to be informed citizens before they start acting like activists. Let’s review who they’re supporting: MARWAN BARGHOUTI, CONVICTED FOR: • 5 counts of murder • 1 count of attempted murder • Organizing and financing deadly terror attacks during the Second Intifada • Direct leadership role supporting the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades • Attacks targeting Israeli civilians in restaurants, on highways, and in communities • involvement in attacks that killed a Greek Orthodox monk • Membership in a terrorist organization Israel’s courts convicted him, not for “resistance”, but for murder. Murder of civilians. Ordinary people. Families. But sure… Hollywood has spoken. Another “cause” to latch onto without reading even a single brief. If these celebrities feel so strongly, maybe they should take responsibility for what they’re campaigning for. You want him freed? → Fine. You house him. You take responsibility. But Israel isn’t paying the price again.
Not today!
"Not today MF!" pic.twitter.com/aHIBy5y4h9
— Steve Inman (@SteveInmanUIC) December 4, 2025
Arab Explains to a Christian Who the Colonizers Are
An Israeli Arab exposes the ignorance of an anti-Israel woman.
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) December 3, 2025
"The Jews are not colonizers, the Arabs are. Do you read your own Bible? The Bible says Jesus was born in a Jewish Bethlehem, a Jewish city. Jesus was born a Jew and came to Jerusalem, full of Jews, before Islam." pic.twitter.com/uze7siWccj
Lakewood rallies around a drunk driver who killed a mother!
Sorry Isn’t Enough: The Frum Community’s Troubling Response to Tragedy
In recent days, I’ve been stunned by the reaction of segments of the frum community to an avoidable tragedy. Instead of sober reflection, we’ve witnessed misplaced sympathy and even public support for a man who chose to drink, drive, and kill.
Consider the case of Mordechai Berkowitz, 23 years old — an adult by both secular and halachic standards. He made a conscious decision to get behind the wheel intoxicated. The result was the death of an innocent mother of children.
This was not a case of shogeg. It was karov le‑mezid.
Yet, rather than confronting the gravity of his actions, some in the community rallied behind him.
The author of a popular WhatsApp group, whom I highly respect, even attended his trial to show support. Tehillim groups were organized at holy sites. Would those supporters at his trial have shown up in court, had he killed someone's wife, husband or child of our community?
Have we lost our collective sense of moral clarity?
They made this רוצח into a hero!
I am not calling him a רוצח, our תורה הקדושה calls him that! Now anyone drinking will drive thinking, "worst comes to worst, I'll be made into a hero, and get a great קבלת פנים!
The problem runs deeper than just one case. Too many in this generation — including Torah leaders — have embraced the dangerous notion that saying “sorry” erases consequences. But it doesn’t. A life was taken. A choice was made. Time must be served..
This isn’t a child. This is an adult. Sorry doesn’t always cut it. Consequences matter.
And let’s be honest: if the victim had been a Jewish mother, would the same sympathy have been extended to the driver? History suggests otherwise. When a drunk driver killed an engaged couple on Motzaei Shabbos a few years ago, the community demanded a stiff sentence. Why the double standard?
This hypocrisy is not new. Satmar ass'kanim secured the release of Philip Drelich, who murdered his pregnant wife and a diamond dealer, despite being sentenced to two consecutive life terms, he walked free in 2016. What message does that send?
Meanwhile, the same voices that defend killers are often the loudest critics of Zionists — Jews who built a home for over 7.5 million people and who daily risk their lives for Klal Yisrael. The contrast is staggering.
I believe in rachmonis. Compassion is a cornerstone of our faith. But compassion must never be confused with excusing deliberate, destructive choices. Supporting someone who was karov le‑mezid undermines justice, morality, and the very values we claim to uphold.
The frum community must ask itself: what are we teaching our children? That “sorry” is a get‑out‑of‑jail card? That murder can be overlooked if the perpetrator is one of us? If so, we are not only failing the victims — we are failing ourselves.
Sorry is only good בין אדם למקום
An Orthodox Jewish man who launched an anti–drunk driving campaign after killing a woman in a 2022 crash was sentenced Wednesday to six years in New Jersey State Prison without parole.
Mordechai Berkowitz, 23, admitted he had been drinking before veering across the center line on South Lake Drive on July 22, 2022, fatally striking 44-year-old Juana Lopez-Hernandez.
After the crash, Berkowitz started a “Don’t Drink + Drive” campaign that drew nearly 45,000 pledges. Berkowitz was taken into custody immediately after sentencing and will receive credit for time served.
Wednesday, December 3, 2025
Comey & Letitia James may be re-indicted as early as this week
The Department of Justice will likely present new indictments against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to a grand jury as early as this week in the Eastern District of Virginia, sources tell CNN.
R' Zalman Sorotzkin Wants Mercy for Someone Who Drove Under the influence
A Heartfelt בקשה from Rav Zalman Sorotzkin- בית מדרש לוצק
Please daven for a Yid like me and you who made a horrible mistake by driving under the influence and needs רחמי שמים.
His sentencing is today. He's facing 5-10 years in state prison R"L
*מרדכי בן שרה רינה*
מי שמרחם על אכזרים לסוף נעשה אכזר על רחמנים
Just in the past two years many innocents were killed by drivers under the influence yet this Sorotzkin is fighting that this guy not face jail!
How insane is this??
Civil War in Viznitz as they beat the crap out of a Viznitz Chusid that made the Mistake of Attending a Wedding of the other Viznitz
All this is happening in the holy city of Bnei-Brak!
The New Viznitz and Gerer Song!
Dec 2, 1947: The day the Damn British gave the ok for Arabs to kill Jews
On the anniversary of the December 2, 1947 Arab pogroms in Israel and throughout the Middle East, a long-ago question calls out to be asked:
Did the British purposely order their police and soldiers to stand aside on December 2 as the Arabs killed Jews in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and throughout the Middle East?A few days earlier, on November 29, the newly formed United Nations had voted to partition Israel into two states.
Unable to sway the UN with their threats that they would not give up one inch of land to the Jews, the Arabs instead did what has come naturally to them since the founding of Islam in 610. They rioted, looted, stabbed, raped, destroyed homes and shops, set fires and, with the greatest of enthusiasm, killed Jews.
Eventually the Arabs killed 184 Jews in Israel following the UN vote. Also, Aleppo, Syria saw 75 dead Jews, Aden in South Yemen reported 82 Jewish dead, Damascus saw 13 Jews killed, including eight children, and over 100 Jews were killed in Libya in December-January.
Researching the riot in Jerusalem 20 years later, which included interviewing Jewish and Arab witnesses, here is how Larry Collins and Dominique LaPierre described the killings of December 2 in their book O Jerusalem!
“The crowds began to assemble in the shuk at dawn December 2…..The city's Arab merchants shuttered their shops and whitewashed their store fronts with a crescent or a cross to shield them from the fury of the mob…….The Arab crowd, it's volatile emotions fired by the rumors deliberately spread on such occasions - this morning's claimed that two Arab women had been raped by the Jews at Jaffa gate - quickly escaped control. Picking up supporters as they rolled along, a stream of workers, drifters, peasants in black and white checkered kefias, excited adolescents, curious shopkeepers in business suits, howling women, flowed toward the Jewish areas like a rush of water bursting from a dyke.
“Watching them push up Prince Mary Avenue (today’s Shlom Tsiyon HaMalka Street), Zvi Sinai, a Haganah observer, thought that at any moment the British would step forward and bar their progress….Now, to his stupefication, the British stared at the advancing demonstrators as indifferently is if they were a few drunken undergraduates celebrating the Oxford-Cambridge boat race at Piccadilly Circus.
“Sensing the police's indifference, the mob swung into a sprawling marketplace full of Jewish shops, clubbing its terrified Jewish shopkeepers, smashing windows and ripping doors from their hinges, the rioters plunged into its stores tearing goods from the shelves by the armful.
Antisemites are receiving massive funding, we are losing this war
Malcolm Hoenlein, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations in the United States, expressed deep concern at the Israel Hayom Conference in New York over the demographic shift working against the Jewish people and the American Jewish community.
Hoenlein, 81, whose involvement in American politics began in the 1950s when he joined the presidential campaign of Adlai Stevenson, has witnessed many incidents of antisemitism throughout his life and in recent years warned that what happened in Europe could also happen in the United States. “Unfortunately,” he said, “this prophecy has come true.”
“For the past twenty years I have been warning about the phenomenon,” Hoenlein said, “but even today people do not want to confront reality. The problem is that we do not have a systematic and comprehensive approach toward the community. We have more than two hundred organizations that were founded in the past two years to fight antisemitism and that have received massive funding, but to be honest we are winning a few battles but losing the war. There is no joint financial effort, and the time has come for the community and its leaders to work together. We saw in the New York elections what is truly at stake. There are more Muslims than Italians, Poles and others in New York and their numbers will continue to grow.”
Hoenlein was asked whether reports that roughly 30 percent of Jews voted for Zohran Mamdani were accurate, and he replied, “They did not vote for him. No one actually measures the Jewish community. They use separate cells for measurement, but it does not matter even if it is 20 percent. We must understand what motivated those people to vote for him. He spoke about the cost of living. He excited them. We are not exciting young people, and it is not only a revolt against Israel, Israel is just a symbol. It is a revolt against their families. We are not growing, and we are not building the future. We are the ones who carry this message we always have and now is the time to focus on the future.”
When asked whether this war can be won, Hoenlein replied, “Ten years ago I said, ‘Don’t run, prepare,’ because you can argue with politics and policy but not with demography. The same thing is happening here…we must create a new generation, better educated and more connected to Israel, but we must do it differently.”
'Shoot anyone who starts a fire'
The Knesset Interior Affairs Committee convened on Wednesday morning to discuss the burning of waste in the Arab territories in Judea and Samaria.
Knesset members presented the implications of the phenomenon on the health of the residents and the environment.
MK Tzvi Succot (Religious Zionists) warned of the severity of the situation, saying: "During the Meron disaster, 45 people were killed; here, thousands of people are being killed. People here are dying from the fires, there are stillbirths, and people are lying in the hospital. It is shameful. As a member of the coalition, I'm embarrassed to say this, unfortunately, the IDF is not involved.
He added, "This is terrorism that injures and kills thousands of people. We may have to form a commission of inquiry. We have to send the Air Force and tell them to shoot anyone who starts a fire."
Committee Chairman MK Yitzhak Kroizer and Environmental Protection Minister Idit Silman second the aggressive classification of the issue, and said: "It is true that it's terrorism. Anyone who starts a fire must be shot. Terrorism must be treated as terrorism."
Other MKs referred to the wave of arson as a "security threat" and called for decisive action by the security forces, including the use of the Air Force and stopping the perpetrators in real-time.
Slabodka Dinner Disrupted by Landaus/Peleg Fringe Vile Attacks on Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch
Nor
Note: The Boro-Park Scoop and YeshivaWorld are lying when they wrote that this was Neturei Karta! Neturei Karta are not goires any of the Litvishe Leaders, these are Pro-Landau supporters that want Rav Hirsch to quit Degel, because he is not extreme enough!
Do not be fooled by these false reports! They are hiding the fact that there is now an open rift between the supporters of Rav Landay and Rab Hirsch! There are Zero Pashkivilim Against Rav Landau, even though they are supposedly on the same political party Degel.
Notice the hate they have for each other! זו תורה וזו שכרה
Pro-Landau/Peleg activists staged a protest Tuesday night at 51st Street and 14th Avenue in Boro Park, hurling vulgar slogans at HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a as guests arrived for the Slabodka Yeshiva dinner.
The Pro_landau chayos spewed rhetoric so crude and dishonorable that even longtime observers of Peleg antics described the display targeting one of the generation’s leading gedolei Torah as “a new low.”
Inside the hall, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch — unfazed, unshaken, and wholly above the chaos outside — entered to thunderous singing from a packed crowd. The ovation underscored the deep reverence held for the Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva, a towering gadol whose gadlus b’Torah and decades of hadracha have earned him global reverence.
The protest has drawn strong communal condemnation, with many leaders reiterating that Peleg represents no recognized Torah authority and operates entirely outside normative Jewish life.
To summarize: Harav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a brought with him Torah and Yiras Shamayim.Peleg brought with them bizayon and chillul hashem.
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Trump invites Netanyahu to the White House, What will he do now to Pressure Israel???
By Vered Weiss, World Israel News
US President Donald Trump invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to travel to Washington “in the near future” during a phone conversation Monday night, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
The call followed a series of statements from Trump urging Israel to avoid any steps that could unsettle Syria’s new leadership while regional tensions remain volatile.
Trump publicly praised what he described as recent progress inside Syria, writing on Truth Social that “the United States is very satisfied with the results displayed, through hard work and determination, in the country of Syria.”
He said Washington had done “everything within our power to make sure the Government of Syria continues to do what was intended,” adding that lifting what he called “very strong and biting sanctions” had contributed to these developments. Trump said that this move “was truly appreciated by Syria, its leadership, and its people!”
Chiloni principals of High School Join Satmar to Prohibit Student to Put on Tefillin
The Satmar Rebbe, as recorded in the sefer Yirei Hashem, ruled that it is halachically forbidden to put on Tefillin for Chilonim — a direct criticism of the Chabad initiative.
Yes, I know it sounds unbelievable, but in Satmar, this kind of ruling is par for the course.
Take this case: a young student, whose brother was badly injured in Gaza, wanted to put on Tefillin in his brother’s merit. He even recruited other boys to join him. Yet the school’s menhalim, apparently mindful of the Satmar “fatwa,” refused to allow it.
And here’s the irony: I can already hear people saying, “See, the Chilonim are against Tefillin.” But they conveniently ignore the fact that Satmar itself has officially taken that stance too.
Monday, December 1, 2025
Civil War Between Backers of Rav Dov Landau and Rav Hirsch
This whole “we are all Leshem Shamayim” line is pure malarkey. Nobody buys it — not even their own followers.
For months, a quiet war was brewing between the supporters of Rav Landau and those of Rav Hirsch. Now the conflict has burst into the open. What we’re seeing is a full‑blown power struggle among the so‑called “gedoilim,” and at this stage Rav Hirsch appears to be pulling ahead.
Grab the popcorn — the show has just begun.
Associates of Rabbi Dov Lando, one of the leaders of Degel Hatorah, are trying to replace all Degel Hatorah MKs in the next Knesset, with politicians who are obedient to the rabbi - and this, in light of the fact that most of the MKs in the party currently obey Rabbi Hirsch, the de facto leader of the Lithuanian public.
A senior member of the national Degel Hatorah tells City News:
"The attempted putsch in question will not succeed, given the trend of hardening of Rabbi Lando's associates, who see with their eyes wide open how the party is slipping through their fingers in favor of Rav Hirsch
מקורביו של הרב דוב לנדו, ממנהיגי דגל התורה, מנסים לקדם מהלך של החלפת כל ח"כי דגל התורה בכנסת הבאה, עם פוליטיקאים הממושמעים לרב - וזאת, לאור העובדה שרוב הח"כים במפלגה כיום ממושמעים דווקא למרן הרב הירש, המנהיג בפועל של הציבור הליטאי.
בכיר ב'דגל התורה' הארצית אומר ל'חדשות העיר': "ניסיון הפוטש המדובר ככה"נ לא יצליח, נוכח מגמת ההיחשלות של מקורבי הרב לנדו, שרואים בעיניים כלות איך המפלגה נשמטת להם מבין האצבעות לטובת הרב הירש".
Is this the Redemption?
Is this the country we have been waiting for? Absolutely! It’s not yet total light, but it has a lot of light.
by Harav Shlomo Aviner Shlitah
It seems that many people have forgotten the very first teaching of the Jerusalem Talmud:
“One time, Rabbi Chiya the Great and Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta were strolling through the Arbel Valley as morning approached, and they saw the breaking of dawn. Rabbi Chiya said to Rabbi Shimon, ‘Such is Israel’s Redemption. At first it is gradual, but the further it moves along, the faster it is.” (Jerusalem Talmud, at the beginning of Berachot).
Countless times I have passed through that area, during the seven years I lived on Kibbutz Lavi in the Lower Galilee, and now, as well, since my daughter lives there in Kfar Zeitim, near the Sea of Galilee.
Were Rabbi Chiya to see all of this, he would burst with pleasure and pride at how gloriously Eretz Yisrael is being rebuilt and how plentifully it is bearing its fruits. Indeed, this is one of the points that distinguish the intelligent from the less intelligent:
the understanding that there are phenomena that do not occur all at once but involve a prolonged, painful, gradual process.
To what may this be compared? To sunrise. The sun doesn’t suddenly appear out of total darkness. Rather, first comes dawn, the brightening of the east, sunrise, and at noon the sun appears in all its might. It is the same with the start of Redemption. Light and darkness intermingle. There are clouds - ups and downs, crises and setbacks, difficulties and complications.
And why is that?
Would it be too hard for G-d to bring Redemption all at once, instantaneously?
Certainly not, but such is G-d’s will, that we should be partners in Redemption, and such is the nature of people, that they are not angels but just people with weaknesses, mistakes and oversights.
Therefore, if we see problems along the way, we mustn’t despair. We mustn’t think we have erred in our direction. All the questions only prove that our country does not constitute the complete Redemption but only its first flowerings. Or, more precisely, we are already at an advanced stage of our Redemption process.
One might say: “I can agree to the Redemption’s proceeding gradually, but not to its regressing and to our losing what we have already gained.” If so, however, my response is that G-d does not need your consent.
Moreover, you’ve forgotten that the Jerusalem Talmud brings as a first example of gradual Redemption, the Purim miracle, which began with Mordechai’s exposing the plot against King Achashverosh.
Yet one can ask: Wasn’t that success followed by a decree to exterminate all the Jews, men, women and children?
The commentary on Sefer Charedim provides an answer to this:
The “gradualness” referred to relates to the increase in light, yet it is also possible that within this process there will be times of great darkness.
You’ve also forgotten that when Moshe came to redeem Israel, at first the situation deteriorated and Pharaoh hardened his decrees, as Ramban explains at the end of Shemot.
The rule is this: the Redemption is not a sudden burst of light like the moon at midday, but light and darkness in coexistence. We rejoice over that light on Israel Independence Day, and we weep over that darkness on Tisha B’Av, and struggle to rectify it.
Therefore, in the Pesach Haggadah, we seek a “day that is neither day nor night.” We certainly long for a situation of total day, but we know that there is an intermediate situation of neither day nor night, and even for that we cannot possibly offer enough thanks, in comparison to the previous situation that was total darkness.
The source is the Prophets, from Zechariah 14:7:
“There shall be one day which shall be known as Hashem’s, not day, and not night, but it shall come to pass that at evening time there shall be light.” It shall not be entirely like the future Redemption, nor as difficult as the exile (Rashi, Radak).
Don’t worry. We are not stuck half-way through. “Shall I bring her there but not assist in the birth? Shall I begin to assist her but stop? - the word of G-d” (Isaiah 66:9). Rashi explains: “Shall I bring the woman to the birthing stone but not open her womb to remove her fetus? Shall I start something without being able to finish?”
HaRav Avraham Yitzhak Kook z"l writes, “In the end of days, a silent movement has arisen [the Zionist Movement] full of strengths and desires, full of contradictions and contrasts, full of light and darkness, and seeking to reach the shore of Jewish Salvation. It represents a small light from the light of the Messiah (Orot, Yisrael U-Techiyato 20).
Rabbi Kook terms it a small light, yet compared to the darkness of the Exile, it is an enormous light indeed!
Is this the country we have been waiting for?
Absolutely! It’s not yet total light, but it has a lot of light, and in spite of all of the difficulties and struggles we face, the light is getting brighter.
Excerpted from the new book, “Torat Eretz Yisrael Anthology,” available in Israel at bookstores and via link: https://www.chavabooks.co.il/product/torat-eretz-yisrael-anthology/#tab-description. Or via Amazon Books divided into 2 page volumes: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G324RXNH. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G3M4747T
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