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August 27, 2008 • 26 Av 5768Mishpacha Issue 223
I would show him that Shabbos could give them just what they’re looking for: a deeply stirring experience, a sense of true liberation in its most sublime form. I would skip the lofty spiritual concepts, though, and tell him about Shabbos in his own language as a secular man, pointing out how Shabbos, not public transportation, is the answer to all the troubles that beset a Jew
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The poverty figures are well known. What is less frequently discussed, however, is the toll that crushing poverty takes on individual lives and our society as a whole. I would not go so far as the talmid chacham who recently told me that poverty underlies every one of our problems as a society. But I would say that poverty exacerbates, sometimes greatly, every single problem from drop-out youth to marital discord.
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For decades, Colombian Jews have been fleeing the country in droves to escape the threat of kidnap from rebel guerilla groups. But now, it seems, the guerillas’ power is weakening, and there is a new atmosphere of security and hope in Colombia. Slowly, the Jews are returning home, and finding time to concentrate on more spiritual matters
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What course of learning should I embark on? Where should I put my energies? Should I delve into practical halachah or stick to the Gemara? Devote time to learning Tanach? What about taking off learning time for outreach? Support the family or stay in kollel? Every yeshivah bochur faces these and so many more questions, with which parents and educators are constantly grappling. These challenges were presented to three of the generation’s Torah giants: Rav Chaim Kanievsky, shlita; Rav Gershon Edelstein, shlita; and Rav Nissim Karelitz, shlita
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For over fifty years, Rav Hirsch Paley served as mashgiach in Yeshivas Hevron, instructing several generations in intense work of refining character traits and staying far away from dissention. As attested to by the thousands of students he raised up, the foundation of his educational method was one word: love
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There is a wonderful phenomenon in Creation, called mimicry, where certain animals take on the external appearance of other species. For example, the Ash Borer, a moth that is common in the United States, looks just like a wasp, and not only on Purim. Interestingly enough, there is a similar phenomenon, but man-made, in the culinary world, where perfectly innocent saltwater fish, with scales, fins, and all, find themselves on a plate, turned into “shrimps, crabs, and lobsters.”
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Anticipating an important phone call, Yosef borrows an expensive pen from his friend Moshe, in order to write down information he is expecting to hear by phone. Yosef realizes he needs help recording the information as he is not used to taking notes while standing at the yeshivah pay phone. Spotting his friend Yaakov nearby, Yosef requests that Yaakov record the information he (Yosef)will dictate to him during the call. Later, after hanging up, Yosef wishes to return the pen to Moshe. Failing to find it, Yosef turns to Yaakov, who claims that he had left the pen (unguarded) near the pay phone, after recording the information for Yosef. As the pen was not found in its place near the pay phone, Yosef and Yaakov turn to their rebbi to determine who must compensate Moshe for his lost pen.
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The old saying goes that the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity when it comes to making peace. This saying has more than a ring of truth to it.
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Just as Malka’s about to doze off, relaxed after reading her thoughts and concluding that she should learn to say yes when it’s yes and no when it’s no, comes a knock on the door.