Sunday, July 9, 2023
Rabbi Dr. Shalom Gold has passed away
Rabbi Dr. Shalom Gold passed away peacefully on Shabbat (Saturday).
Born in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NY, Rabbi Gold zt"l attended Yeshiva Torah Vodaath in NY, Ner Israel in Baltimore, and Yeshivot Ponevezh and Hevron in Israel. He received semicha from Israeli Chief Rabbi Yitzchok Isaac Halevi Herzog and from HaRav Yaacov Yitzchok Halevi Ruderman.
Rabbi Gold was in the vanguard of building communities both in the Diaspora and Israel. As a young man in 1959, he came to Toronto to establish the Ner Israel Yeshiva, where he also built and developed Congregation Bnei Torah in Willowdale, a northern suburb of Toronto.
Saturday, July 8, 2023
DIN Pinchos Musings
His hunch turned-out to be to be correct!
A "kanai" may be a good thing; it saved the lives of thousands of Jews but he cannot be a leader, a "kanai" acts on impulse and even though it can be a plus, the "minus" factors are of a greater concern.
A lesson one should keep in mind when appointing or following a religious leader, if he is a "kinai" stay away from him... far far away, even though he may be doing things altruistically!
Another point.
In this weeks parsha Hashem instructs Moshe to count the Jewish people after the plaque that killed 24,000 Jews.
Rashi asks why now?
Rashi has two answers:
The first one is very interesting but problematic.
Rashi compares this to a shepherd who counts his flock after it has been ravaged by wolves, so too Hashem wanted to count His children who had survived the plague.
The obvious question is, what kind of comparison is this?
In the case of the shepherd, he really doesn't know how many were killed, so he needs the count, but in our case, we have the exact count of those who perished, as the Torah tells us in the last verse of last week's Parshas Balak, that the count was 24,000?
It could be that Rashi was also bothered by this comparison, hence his second answer, that when the Jews left Egypt, Moshe became the leader, and was given the exact count of how many Jews there were, and now that he was about to hand over the leadership to Joshua he wanted to give the new leader an exact count.
The question now is, if Rashi had a problem with his first answer the one with parable of the shepherd and the wolf, why didn't he just give us his second answer straightaway?
Could it be that Rashi wants to give us a message with the parable?
I'm sure my intelligent talmedei chachamim readers will come up with different ideas.
I believe that Rashi's message is very poignant in our days!
There are frummies who keep harping on the past. Oy, the Zionists built the State to uproot the Torah, to uproot Jewish values.
Oy the "yaldei Tieman!" etc etc.
But notice, Rashi's "wolf/shepherd" parable should have been on the words
שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל
"Take a count of the entire assembly of the Children of Israel"
isn't the parable about the count? Yet Rashi addresses the words two verses back
ויהי אחרי המגפה
"It was after the plague?"
Rashi is telling us that the time has arrived to stop harping on the past and move forward.
It's after "the plague"... Hellllow! It's AFTER the plague! let's move forward, let's get every Jew to feel special that he is being counted no matter the past and just like the shepherd, though he suffered a devastating loss will inexorably move forward as his flock multiplies and recovers, stronger than ever, so too will we the over 7 million Jews living in Eretz Yisrael move forward stronger than ever, despite, the frummies harping on the not-so-great beginnings.
Friday, July 7, 2023
Filthy Bnei-Brak Rats Took a Bite Out of a Sefer Torah
Bnei Brak is grappling with a severe rat infestation that has caused shock and dismay among residents. Sifrei Torah and sifrei kodesh have been discovered with gnawed edges, having been bitten by rats. The situation has worsened to the point where even a 2-year-old girl was bitten by a rat while sleeping in her bed at night.
Initially, the Bnei Brak municipality denied the extent of the problem, insisting that the city was clean. It was only after significant public pressure that measures were taken to address the issue. The city council approved a “strategic plan for general infestation,” but according to residents, there has been little to no action on the ground, and the infestation continues to escalate.
The situation has become unbearable for many. One sofer expressed devastation upon discovering 20 Sifrei Torah damaged by the rats.
In response to the outcry, the municipality has launched a comprehensive and aggressive campaign this week, focusing on exterminating the pests, destroying nests and breeding areas, and intensifying supervision of extermination efforts. Currently, municipal teams are employing various tools to combat the infestation.
New York Times & Ezra Friedlander's Nadler Upset about Eric Adams’ Jewish Council Being Too Frum!
The New York Times has again shown its disdain for Orthodox Jews, and is suffering heavy backlash.
A week after Mayor Eric Adams introduced a Jewish Advisory Council, the anti-Jewish newspaper is whining about its lack of “diversity”, claiming that there are too many orthodox Jews.
The bizarre piece, entitled “Orthodox Men Dominate Mayor Adams’s New Jewish Advisory Council”, begins:
“If there is an archetypical Jewish New Yorker, that person might be found on the Upper West Side, somewhere between Zabar’s and Barney Greengrass. But when Mayor Eric Adams recently announced the creation of New York City’s first-ever Jewish Advisory Council, that type of Jewish New Yorker was in short supply. Instead, at least 23 members of the 37-member council are Orthodox, and only nine are women — a makeup that has drawn criticism from a number of prominent Jewish leaders and groups.”
The piece quotes leftist Jewish Congressman Jerry Nadler as saying the board failed to “adequately represent the demographic diversity of Jewish New Yorkers.”
In response, multiple Twitter users observed that the predominance of antisemitic attacks are targeted at Orthodox Jews. It’s interesting that the Times does not complain when Jew-haters attack mostly religious Jews, and don’t choose a “more diverse” group of Jews that represents secular and “archetypical” New York Jews.
NCSY leader Dovid Bashevkin tweeted: “Orthodox Jews are usually a minority. Yet in NY they’re disproportionately the target of antisemitism. So if Orthodox Jews are “over-represented” to help regain control of their image it’s because for far too long their over-representation was in instances of antisemitism.”
SHIDDUCH CRISIS: Roshei Yeshiva Appear to Endorse Age-Gap Theory, Try Innovative Solution
A delegation of leading American Roshei Yeshiva have traveled to Israel to consult with Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a about the Shidduch Crisis, according to Charedi media outlets.
According to the report, the group is considering a dramatic move – shortening the amount of years boys learn in yeshiva before they begin dating.
The delegation led by Rav Mendel Slomovitz shlit”a of Lakewood consists of R’ Mottel Dick shlit”a, Rav Yehuda Svei shlit”a, and the Novominsker Rebbe shlit”a.
They are reportedly considering eliminating one year of high school or bais medrash, which would hopefully decrease the infamous “age gap”, by encouraging boys to begin dating sooner.
This dramatic move would appear to be a strong endorsement of the “age gap theory”, which posits that the main reason for the Shidduch Crisis is that there are more girls in the dating pool than boys, due to population growth each year, combined with the fact that older boys tend to date younger girls.
Thursday, July 6, 2023
Fierce Anti-Zionist Israeli Researcher Kidnapped in Iraq by Iran-Backed Militia
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Wednesday announced that an Israeli-Russian researcher, Elizabeth Tsurkov, was kidnapped in Iraq, is alive, and is being held by the Iraqi Shia militia Kataib Hezbollah.
According to a statement by the New Lines Institute, a DC-based think tank where Tsurkov is a fellow, she last made contact with her colleagues in March, and her disappearance was first mentioned in an article in June.
The PMO’s announcement Wednesday is the first official confirmation of her kidnapping.
“Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being,” the statement said. “The matter is being handled by the relevant parties in the State of Israel out of concern for Elizabeth Tsurkov’s security and well-being.”
The statement added that she had entered Iraq on her Russian passport as part of her doctoral research at Princeton University. Israel and Iraq do not have any formal diplomatic relations.
Princeton University and the Iraqi embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to The Algemeiner’s request for comment.
Tsurkov is a well-known researcher and commentator on the Middle East whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and elsewhere.
In their statement, New Lines said the motivation behind her kidnapping and her whereabouts are unknown.
“Although we don’t know for certain where she is, it would probably involve Iran,” the statement says. “Since Liz is also a Russian national, it may well involve Russia, too.
Somewhat ironically, Liz, who some claim was kidnapped for being the ‘Zionist enemy,’ is not a Zionist at all. Indeed, she is a fierce critic of Israeli national security policy. While some of her critics see her Israeli nationality as an indelible stain, whatever her beliefs, many who follow her work know that she is deeply passionate about the region and empathetic toward its people. It is unclear whether her kidnappers actually believe she is the enemy or merely useful, but what is clear is that she has many friends from the region.”
This is a developing story that we will update as more information becomes available
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