Tracing the History of Shavuos Night Learning

By Eliezer Brodt

This article will trace some of the earliest sources for the Minhag observed by many to stay up learning Torah throughout the entire night of Shavuos.[1] At the outset I would like to note that the focus of this article will be not be about the exact seder that was learned i.e. Tikun Lel Shavuos.[2]

Different versions of this article originally appeared in the Kulmos Supplement of Mishpacha in 2014 and then in English in 2015. I returned to all this in my doctorate Halachic Commentaries to the Shulchan Aruch on Orach Chayim from Ashkenaz and Poland in the Seventeenth Century.[3] This post contains important additions to some of the earlier versions. One day I hope to update it properly.

That the minhag of staying up on Shavuos night to learn was observed widely in recent history is very clear. For example, the author of a nineteenth-century Lithuanian memoir describes how her brothers would stay up the entire night.[4]

In a memoir about Yeshivas Lomza, the author writes in passing "after staying up the whole night, the whole yeshiva would take part in a milchig kiddush at the Rosh Yeshiva’s house".[5]

Posters in Monsey Compare New Square to Gaza

The administration of New Square have decided that it is a bad idea for Skverer children to find out that there are Frum Jews in Monsey that are not Skverer Chassidim, so they came up with a bizarre but dangerous scheme to buy up property all around New Square so that other Frum Jews wouldn't G-D forbid move near their town, who are exposing their little sheep to Satmar, Belz, Viznitz and other non-Skver Frum Jews!

I know this sounds crazy .... but it isn't only crazy it's dangerous, because they are renting out these one family houses to Latino families. 

These Latinos are by in large illegal emigrants with criminal backgrounds who move in with many of their criminal cronies, causing  entire neighborhoods around New Square to be crime infested.

These Latinos are also by nature transient, so they never establish families with roots in the community. 

Just two years ago, two Satmar Families that I personally know, managed to buy houses within walking distance to New Square. New Square bullies bought houses on both sides of these houses, filled them up with criminals whose teenage daughters paraded around on Shabbos with skimpy outfits, making life miserable to these Satmar families who were trying to bring up children in a country atmosphere, out of the city, only to be bombarded with these degenerates.

What the above poster is pointing out is that New Square Chassidim by in large live in poverty, and yet the administrators manage to find huge amounts of money just to make their Chassidishe neighbors who are not Skverer Chassidim, miserable!

25 Chareidim Complete Israel Police Course; Now 350 Chareidi Police Officers

Twenty-five chareidim are the latest members of Israel Police, successfully completing the department’s course.

At the end of the training program, 25 chareidi cadets completed a police course during which they were certified as policemen, passed weapons certification and joined the organization as regular policemen. The policemen were recruited as part of the military service (Shacham) and civilian service for two and two years and 8 months.

The recruitment of a chareidi unit in the police began less than four years ago and has since recruited more than 350 chareidim. The officers who completed the training will serve in various units in a variety of positions, including: patrol, intelligence, investigations, Lahav and classified units.

Yitzchok Menashe Rosenfeld 7 Killed by a bus in Beitar Illit

A young boy of approximately 7 years of age was struck and killed by a bus in Beitar Illit on Thursday afternoon. Paramedics and EMTs from United Hatzalah and staff from Magen David Adom (MDA) responded to the emergency and began performing CPR on the young boy. At the time that the EMS  first responders arrived, the boy was already in trauamatic arrest.

EMS personnel from MDA told Israeli newspapers that the young boy was hit by a bus after he had slipped while riding his bicycle. First response teams decided to continue performing CPR on the child while en route to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital.

He was unfortunately Niftar when he arrived at the hospital.

The circumstances surrounding the incident are still being investigated.

Kiryas Yoel Child Drank Poison Thinking it was Chocolate Syrup

Images doesn't represent story

On Tuesday, a serious tragedy occurred in Kiryat Yoel - Monroe in New York. As reported in Behadrei Haredim, 4 year old Yitzhak Menashe Schwartz swallowed poisonous material believing it was Chocolate Milk. 

He was flown to the Westchester Hospital, and in the helicopter his heart stopped beating and he returned his soul to its creator, 

Neturei Karta Fanatic Decides To Dance With IDF Soldiers

This kind of unity may not have been seen, and it is particularly moving at a time when ultra-Orthodox soldiers and soldiers are afraid to wear uniforms in ultra-Orthodox centers.  But last night, this happened within an ultra-Orthodox crowd, some of whom were identified with the extremist circles, dancing hand in hand - border policemen with a fanatical Neturei Karta The Reason for the dancing was because of a Sefer Torah was donated in honor of the IDF Soldier Binyamin Yakobovitz a IDF Soldier murdered in Gush Etzion. The Neturi Karta guy is Akiva Miller who happens to daven in the shul where the Torah will be housed

Brooklyn Yeshiva Numbers Decline

By Yochonon Donn - Hamodia

In a vivid example of recent population trends, the number of students in Brooklyn’s yeshivos showed its first-ever decline since the borough became an Orthodox powerhouse a century ago, according to an analysis of state education data.

The borough home to Williamsburg, Boro Park, Flatbush and Crown Heights still has a commanding lead with the most number of students in New York state — it has 81,350 students. But this is down by 1,184 from 2017. And it is up from the 64,721 number of students a decade ago.

The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council, which compiled the data from statistics made available by the New York State Education Department, said that Brooklyn’s decline is a direct effect of rising home costs.

“Young families are leaving in large numbers to [other] counties or to New Jersey,” OJPAC said in a statement accompanying the study. “Consider: While enrollment in Brooklyn rose by 3,248 students the last five years, full day kindergarten enrollment dropped by 582 students from five years ago.”

IDF’s New Drone Poops on Rioters

Israel’s Defense Ministry’s weapons R&D on Wednesday revealed a new development that will help IDF soldiers disperse rioters with non-violent means. Dubbed the “Shoko Drone,” the new device hovers over groups of rioters and dumps its payload of plastic baggies packed with “skunk water,” which erupt on contact, sharply reducing quality of life wherever they hit, but no one is hurt beyond being seized by nausea.

The baggies received their name from their similarity in shape and texture to a popular Israeli chocolate milk drink, sold in plastic baggies. It’s bathroom humor, admittedly, but it helps reduce real casualties.

The R&D engineers began to work on a non-violent response to disturbances at the end of last Passover. This week, the Shoko Drone began his military service above the Gaza Strip, where its activities have been rated as successful and very effective.

With the new invention, IDF forces are not required to reach a point close to the border – the operations are carried out from the air, controlled by command forces on the ground deep inside Israel.

The new development is based on a drone which is already manufactured by the Israeli defense industry. The drone is designed to carry heavy cargo and is suitable for a variety of uses as well as for low-altitude flying with designated charges. The ability to disperse rioters was not among its planned uses, but when the need arose, the aircraft’s designation was modified in a short time.

The drone was fitted with a shell capable of containing a large quantity of skunk bags, a.k.a. Shoko. The drone has the ability to release the bags on demand from the air to the ground. The bags burst, and the foul content disperses the rioters.

The Defense Ministry stresses that the skink water has been tested and is not harmful even in cases of a direct hit.

Jewish moments in honor of the the groundbreaking Seinfeld sitcom which ended this week in 1998

Kramer runs a Jewish singles event

Kramer hands Jerry and Elaine flyers for a Jewish singles event, saying he expects them to be there. “But I’m not Jewish,” says Elaine. “Well, neither am I,” Kramer responds. Later, as he’s making kreplach for the event in Jerry’s kitchen, Kramer tries to convince Jerry to try one. “Eat, eat,” he says, “you’re skin and bones!”

George is a white supremacist

Jerry and George spot an opportunity for a free limo ride home from the airport when they see a driver holding a placard for someone who missed the flight that Jerry was on. But, as it turns out, George must pretend to be a neo-Nazi leader to avoid detection. If you’ve ever tried to picture a couple of New York Jews trying to impersonate a white supremacist, it goes pretty much how you’d think.

Shiksappeal

Elaine discovers that Jewish men have a “thing” for non-Jewish women. “What does being a shiksa have to do with it?” she asks George. “You’ve got shiksappeal,” he says. “Jewish men love the idea of meeting a woman that’s not like their mother.”

Crying Chuck Schumer Literally Flip-Flopping on EVERYTHING