Jewish Musician

                                                                                                             B-H

One thing I will most surely not do in this essay is to speak about Jewish music.

That would be a separate subject, in and of its own right, and, with Hashem’s help, I will post on this subject another time.

However, I will ask: Is there any difference between a Jewish and not-Jewish musician?

Of course when I say Jewish, I’m not speaking of Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Dylan, Paul Stanley, David Lee Roth, Geddy Lee, or Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel.

All of them were born Jewish, but their contribution to what is considered real Jewish music is sort of like second cousins twice removed. They contributed to the history of the world’s music, and as much as world music influences Jewish music, that’s about the level of their contribution to it. Most of them didn’t or don’t live the path of life of their ancestors, which make them Jews but not necessarily Jewish.

I would like to speak about musicians who sing at Orthodox Jewish weddings or who sell their CDs in Jewish bookstores.

There is no question in my mind that since Jewish music was always influenced by outside music, and vice versa. As I said this is not the topic here. The matter of what genre do we listen to, is taste and nothing else.

However there is another question: How are our musicians influenced by the secular world’s performers?

We all know that today’s entertainment figures have become the new aristocracy of the world. They and other performers are role models to the new generation. This has been the case for the past few generations.

The root of this phenomenon, however, goes back to the general history of Euro-American civilization. Somewhere within last couple of hundred years, this civilization burned out on accepting their authority figures. There is no priest, statesman, or sage whom the public will rely on his knowledge and wisdom. Even those words — knowledge and wisdom — have somehow become disliked, not “cool.”

The media are constantly bombarding us with completely worthless and irrelevant information about stars and idols. We can learn all the gory and personal details about their lives, from almost every source of information. The media feeds us with information about the performers, with or without these “stars” permission.

We just said “idols”? Hasn’t this word long ago acquired a new meaning? Many times, those new “idols” feel themselves like they are some new kind of god. They become cult-like or even kind of quasi-religious. They behave in a way that some tyrants of old would be ashamed of. The rules of common folk don’t apply to them, yet common folk ape at them thoughtlessly and with great enthusiasm.

Some of them are even talented musicians, but many wouldn’t be on the top of the list without constant scandals, wired outlooks, and wired performances. Everything for the show. Everything.

So … when I see a Jewish singer or musician performing in the manner of Michael Jackson or Mick Jagger, it makes me nauseous. If he thinks that so long as he doesn’t touch himself below the belt line, it’s alright — it isn’t.

Or maybe he will sing in the manner of some young boys’ band — nice and glamorous. It is still an ugly imitation of and manner of performance strange to the Jewish spirit.

A Jew aware of his Creator and Giver of all talents and capabilities understands the fact that he has nice voice and capacity to use it, but only for the pleasure of his fellow brothers. It is a gift from Heaven and nothing else. It is a gift, and as a gift it should be treated as such, with gratitude and humility.

I am expressing my private opinion and nothing more than that. I am not saying that a performance by a Jew should be cheerless or sad. Music has the amazing power to make almost everybody happy. And yes, it makes us move our bodies and that’s beautiful. It especially makes the music player’s or singer’s whole body and soul move. That’s how HaKadosh Baruch Hu created us and that’s how His holy servants enjoyed the gift of music — they were worshiping their Creator with it! It simply doesn’t have to be accompanied by strange Star-shtick.

Even among the greatest non-Jewish performers there are those who use their talent in the humble ways of whatever they value.

David Gilmour, Joe Satriani, Neal Morse, even Bono and countless of others realized that their ability to create doesn’t make them more than talented people. They are people who don’t have to suck glory from their fans and even then exist with severe depression. This, unfortunately, is the case for some performers. At least some of the very talented musicians among the nations don’t act this way. They can enjoy and make others enjoy their music without buffoonery and glamour and shtick so characteristic for the majority of the performers.

I purposely didn’t use any of the Jewish musicians as examples. It would be unnecessary and plain wrong. Whoever reads this essay can make his own cheshbon hanefesh (account of conscience), whether he is a singer, musician, or just plain listener.

Matys Weiser

Evil - Part 2

                                                                                                             B-H

More than twenty years ago, I read the essays of Emmanuel Levinas, collected in a volume titled in my native language as “Difficult Freedom.” I do not remember most of what I read then, but I love this expression – “difficult freedom” whether it is freedom of choice, which, to distinguish it from freedom coming from submitting our lives to G-d’s Torah, I call “liberty,” or whether it is this submission that comes with great effort of taking control of our physicality. To make it easer to understand: liberty = freedom of choice. Freedom = state which we live free of slavery to the transgression of the Torah’s commandments.

Whoever decides to live a life of Torah knows what struggles we go through during our lives. It is even more difficult that every time we climb to another level of righteousness, around the corner new challenges await us — challenges more complex than previous ones. It is difficult.

But even more difficult is this awareness that it is in our human hands to create Evil, to do something against will of our Creator. Most of us don’t think on a daily basis that Evil is something that is against the very character of the Giver of life. Still, all of humanity has some definitions of good and evil.

Most of us are not aware that the only evil is that created by us, humans.

What about such thing like “acts of G-d,” some may ask me at this moment?

Do not tsunamis, hurricanes, and earthquakes kill masses of people? Doesn’t fire or floods take the lives of innocent people? Who should be “blamed,” man or G-d?

First of all, we don’t know the reality behind what we see. Our ability to comprehend and understand what happens is limited by the physical character of our world. We cannot ascend higher and see our inner dimensions while being out of them. We cannot see all of the consequences of our actions, as most of us are not even aware that these actions are only in the lowest part of our three-dimensional reality. Even here on the earth, above our actions (Maaseh) are worlds of word (Dibur) and thought (Machshuva). Then there are higher realms that we can just touch with our intellect; these realms we call “spirituality.” Above spirituality is infinity.

When we pull the thread hanging somewhere from our shirt, we sometimes don’t know that we just ripped off the collar of the shirt. We just see the single thread, which we think doesn’t belong hanging from the shirt. One thread pulled out of our shirt can ruin the piece of fabric. So it is the case with the fabric of Creation. We don’t know what our actions or lack of actions are causing in other end of the world. We have no idea what damage it cause in higher spiritual spheres. G-d, in His infinite love, does not cause anything that is Evil, as Evil is something that doesn’t exist in Him, in His realm. It is we who create Evil; it is we who bring the harm and pain to ourselves and others like us. It costs us our liberty/bechirah and our freedom to have this possibility to cause — directly and indirectly — pain, suffering, violence, war, cruelty, and death. This is difficult.

It is even more difficult when we are somehow having a higher awareness of the temporality of this world. It is difficult, because if what people call reality is not real, pain and suffering is real. But so is happiness and love.

Last week we concluded the period of what we call the Three Weeks. If you still remember, my dear reader, I started this two-part essay with a question about the nature of this period. Why there is more Evil happening to the chosen people of G-d than during the rest of the year?

The answer is described in last week’s essay. It is not more Evil coming from our Creator, chas v’shulem, but as a result of our collective sin of meraglim (spies) and cheit ha’eigel (the Golden Calf). ‘Space’ for more Evil became part of the fabric of the Creation; we are more exposed to the Evil. This was a cosmic adjustment in the very nature of the time, in which we became more vulnerable.

One sin happened on the 17th of Tammuz and other sin we did on the 9th of Av, according to our tradition. There are three weeks in between these days. Until the Geula — the final Redemption — this is a time, a part of our reality, when our Father in Heaven turn His Face away yet a little bit more. It is we who fill up this “additional void” with Evil, simply by not following His Will. We are vulnerable to ourselves and others like us. This is also cost of our freedom.

Last week we also passed the shloishim — thirty days — since our child was taken away from us, since Leiby z”l was taken from his parents and grandparents.

Can we understand what happened on that night month ago? No. We can not comprehend the fact that human being could be able to do such horrible thing. We cannot accept that someone raised with the values that make most of us better human beings, rejected these values and chose to do almost ultimate Evil. Evil where the pain will linger in the hearts of the family and community, perhaps till Moshiach will come. Like the stories we read in Megillas Eichah last Tuesday about mothers cooking their children to eat them, in the besieged Holy City. This pain is too great. It is the pain of our liberty.

But last Shabbos we read the Haftorah, a chapter of Yeshayahu Hanuvi – prophet Isaiah called Nachmu.

There is hope, there is the shearis Yisruel — the remaining holy people — who stay strong, like these seven thousand men whom Hashem is informing Eliyahu Hanuvi about.

There are people like Leiby’s father who, like his ancestor Avraham, gave his son back to the Giver of existence, knowing that there is more than we see. There are people like his grandfather, Reb Yitzchok, who walked out of Leiby’s house with his head up, like the greatest of his ancestors, taking what Hakadosh Baruch Hu gives without questioning, with perfect faith.

I have the great privilege to be a friend of this man, Reb Yitzchok. We use to sit next to each other for seven years in the same beis medrash. I never told Reb Yitzchok how important a role he played in my life.

I was a stranger from different country and from a hostile nation and I came and sat down next to him. While others often hesitated to have even eye contact with me, it was Reb Yitzchok, with his love of his fellow Jew, who opened the door of friendship for me — this neophyte. This is how Reb Yitzchok is. Thanks to this man — and others like him — there is hope that the Geula (Redemtion) is closer. He is someone who, with his family, gives example of emunah to all of us because he chose to fill the void given to him with Good.

Matys Weiser

Evil - Part 1

                                                                                                             B-H

I came back home from my golus in Utah the day before Shabbos parshas Maasey. I had spent the last two weeks (out of five) there, in the west, with my younger son and a couple of his friends.

Usually I give my kids the opportunity to release their energy on all kinds of things that would be rather “unorthodox” for the community in which we belong; activities from moderate mountain climbing through water sports, ending with horseback riding, for example.

This time however, for the first time, we were there during the time we call the Three Weeks. I therefore restricted the boys to walking on the ground, even if sometimes it was thousands of feet up on a cliff, but still feet on the ground.

When the boys asked the reason for this limitation, when other times there were no such restrictions, my answer was a bit complicated, but even 17-year-old boys who were raised in a Torah environment could understand the basic ideas.

What is nature of Evil and why there is more Evil during the Three Weeks than during the rest of the year?

We cannot understand the essence of our Creator, neither can we grasp — with our limited intellect — his reasons and ways. However this great gift from Him of intellect can carry us to heights where the intellectual borders with the spiritual. We can ascend to awareness that is above our three-dimensional realm and beyond the time.

Chazal tries to take us there with all the possible tools that human language has. Our Sages, of blessed memory, put into words ideas — seeds — that can grow like huge sequoias, reaching, crowning, heaven.

Chazal gave us words of enlightenment, that our physical existence serves only one purpose — to create, amplify, and maintain our mental attachment to the Giver of Life. We do this by submitting our physicality to His Law and our psyche to what He revealed to us.

All of the writings of the Jewish Sages serve this purpose — to help us to achieve this goal and reach the heights of humanity. In its legal aspect, Torah is a primary vehicle for us to serve the Creator, but Torah is much more than simply law. It gives us limitations — due to the nature of our physicality, knowledge, and understanding of spiritual matters — though in rather esoteric and secretive way. Chazal, in their exceptional ways, are trying to bring forth this knowledge and understanding by extracting it and making more accessible to such plain believers like us (or me rather).

We are created from nothing. Yesh mi’ayin – Creatio ex nihilo.

This is what Jews contributed to the language of Theology and Philosophy. Jews revealed this to the world but only a person learning Torah and performing the mitzvos of the Torah can grasp this knowledge deeper.

It is not G-d who “fills up” the Universe; only His “Presence” does that. Before He created the Universe, He had to make “a space” for it. This is expressed by the kabbalistic term of “tzimtzum,” which is usually translated as “withdraw.” HaKadosh Baruch Hu “withdrew” in order to give a “space” for nothingness; nothingness in turn is the building material for not only the physical universe, but also our spiritual existence. However higher echelons of spiritual matter originated in the Divine.

The Ramchal explains this process as the series of hesturos. The term “hester punim” is known to the broad public. Especially after the Holocaust, the term was used not only by Jewish people, but by all of monotheistic theologians and philosophers, to explain the ultimate Evil — the descent of humanity to allow for systematic killing of Jewish people. The only thought that came to the mind of these believing thinkers was that G-d had turned His Face away.

This is how hester punim is usually translated: turning —covering His Face.

For Jews this is not a new idea; we received the idea of G-d turning His Face away already at Har Sinai.

The Ramchal tells us that without this withdrawal of His Presence, without tzimtzum, creation of independent beings with the gift of bechirah (freedom) would not be possible for the Almighty G-d. However, paradoxically as the last sentence sounds, this is how we understand it.

The whole of Creation is the system of different hesturos, where every such withdrawal creates the vacuum to be filled up with and by the Creation. Different kinds or “amounts” of hester punim were used to create various kinds of spiritual beings. Different kinds of hestar punim were used to give the space for the physical universe. In Kabbalah this “building material” is also called clippah (shell), which divides/separates different levels of spirituality and physicality.

One of the most important levels of the hesturos is the vacuum created for our moral choice, to give us the opportunity to decide by ourselves with what will we fill up these voids.

The Creator gave humanity seven categories of such voids — seven commandments for Bnei Noach. These categories can be deduced solely by the power of human intellect, as Rav Hirsch assures us in his commentary on the Torah.

Man can choose to fill up the given void with submission to the will of the Creator, i.e., good, or has the freedom to do evil. Jews, because of their special mission as a moral and spiritual leadership of humanity, received 613 categories of good and evil.

Every time we choose to fulfill the will of our Creator — we do a mitzvah — it is good for Unity. Since HaKadosh Baruch Hu is indivisible, our doing mitzvos is confirmation to us of this Unity, more than submission would be.

In a similar, but opposite, vein, when we chose disobedience and rebellion against our Creator by doing aveiros (sinning), we creating something that is not Divine. This cannot be in unity with the One. By the decision of our Creator, we  humans  are able to create an alternative “being,” the secondary, the other side — the Sitra Achra. One more time, it is we who fill the void that was given to us as an opportunity to chose — we can fill it with evil. Without this possibility of making the wrong choice, the sense of our creation would be lost. By possessing the opportunity to choose evil, our autonomy — our bechirah — becomes reality. However it is most important to say that by choosing Evil we succumb to Evil’s nature and we become slaves of it. We lose our freedom. A slave is not free by definition.

Matys Weiser

Coming Back

                                                                                       B-H

After experiencing some difficulties with finding good editor for decent price, beezras Hashem i found the right person and i hope to post on coming Sunday.

As for the ‘nine days’ and coming Tishabeav, i choose the topic of 'presence and nature of evil'.

Regards to all my readers and sorry if i disappointed you last few weeks.

Matys Weiser

Appeal

                                                                                                             B-H

It’s been almost two weeks since I didn’t post anything.

I have enough material written to post every week for the next half of the year.

Unfortunately this material needs editing. It was explained in one of the first of my posts that my English language skills are rather limited do to the fact that I came to this country in age of thirty, not knowing English at all. I came with family and this family was my priority and not learning new language more than it was necessary to provide for them.

After fifteen years B-H I learn enough to express myself in this language but the grammar and spelling of my writings, was many times matter of negative critique.

Till now I hire editor who, for decent price, was doing editing for me. Now he got busy with other promising project and he does not have time to do this work for me.

It is not only matter of public laughter which may be caused by my unedited posts, like this one.

I believe there are some good ideas which I would like to share with my readers, and according to statistic tool there are many of them, but I’m afraid that because of my poor language, the idea can be lost or misunderstood.

Presently I’m looking for someone else to edit my essays but I can not pay much for this job.

This blog does not bring any monetary profit. There are no donations and advertising so far is free of charge. I can not afford paying more than I did till now and even this was much for me these days.

If you know someone who would like to edit my essays, please let me know.

Or maybe you would like to advertise on this blog and pay for it, this money would cover the cost of editing as my work I share with others because I love to do it and i do not profit from it.

Please email me if you can positively answer for my appeal.

anotherconvert@gmail.com

Meanwhile, Chasde Hashem, I engaged my 19 years old daughter and it is great source of Simcha for me and for our family. Mazel Tov.

The Yom Tov of Gerim

                                                                                                             B-H

Shvios is coming. Sometimes I call it the Yom Tov of gerim.

The parsha describing Matan Torah (the giving of Torah) is identified with a convert: Yisro. We read an entire sefer (book of Bible) about another convert (Rus) on that day. One of the most famous gerim in the history, Graf Walentyn Potocki, gave his life for G-d and his Torah on this very day. There are many other facts linking this day to gerim.

I have previously attempted to elucidate the term ger according to its meaning in Lashon Hakoidesh (the Holy Tongue). The Hebrew of the Scriptures and other Jewish writings is more like a code and cryptogram than a language. This incredible quality of verbal communication and revelation of the Holy Tongue allows reader to detect multiple meanings and ideas compressed in three or even two letters of the shoresh (root) of every Hebrew word.

The shoresh “gimel raish” is one of those roots which are a common base for multiple words. Rabbi Hirsch for example, finds the shoresh GR within following words: alien, stranger, uprooted, land-less, without support for his feet, without roots, and someone without rights. This shoresh is used also to mean: cast away, without the ties, separated, uncovered, without protection of skin, naked. All of these words seem to have something in common--unsteadiness or instability--caused by a lack of foundation and an exposure to perhaps harmful elements.

The same two letters are also the shoresh of the word describing a Jewish convert, a person who consciously chose to submit himself to G-d and His Torah, a person who joined the chosen people of Yisrael in this most difficult task of being a representative of G-d.

It shares its root with the verbs and nouns listed above, and it therefore must have something in common with them. Let’s analyze.

What are the ‘mind conditions’ of a person who decides to become a Jew? What are the results of such a step? Is there any instability involved in the process when the person recognizes the path given by the Creator?

Even before that: is there any instability caused by the denial of existing conditions, e.g., cutting off the ties with the past? Conditions received from parents, teachers, and the environment? Conditions which at a certain moment lay in the rubble of disillusionment?

I believe that the ultimate personal instability is where one reaches a point in life when everything calls for reevaluation and change--but change coming from a deep desire to find answers and the truth. That moment when the dramatic change of life occurs might be called the “moment of geirus.”

It is the time when spiritual transformation takes place, transformation which gradually bears fruit later, in ways unexpected to ger at the beginning of the transformation. Once he gives his life to his Creator all the way, he is ready to accept anything from the Giver of Life. He finds his support in nothing but G-d.

It takes time and effort to climb up the ladder of self-sanctification, but it starts somewhere on the bottom of a spiritual search where the answer can be only One: I must serve my Creator. I need to serve my Creator. I love to serve my Creator.

For Yaacov Avinu, this moment happened when he awoke up from his dream and recognized that Hashem was much closer than he had thought. “Uchain yaish Hashem bamukoim hazeh vunochi lo yudati--In truth G-d is in this place! And I did not know it.” (See the commentary of RSRH on this verse, parshas Vayeytze 27:16.)

This new awareness creates a tremendous responsibility which the person can not, must not turn his back to. “Vairu--and he was afraid.” Can he undertake this responsibility? Will he have strength and courage to bring this awareness of G-d to the rest of humanity? Even to his own children? Will his children follow his path? Will they understand their mission of being a mamleches kohanim--a kingdom of priests, people leading the rest of the humanity to find their way back to the lost Gan Eden?

For approximately 60 years (see Ramban), Moishe Rabeinu was a fugitive from Pharaoh. Wandering from one land to another, taking jobs as commander in chief in one country and shepherd in another. At this time of his life he was Moishe but not yet Rabeinu.

The last place of his residence before return to Egypt was in Midian. According to the Midrash, it cost him 10 years of his life being imprisoned by Pharaoh’s adviser: Yisro. After 10 years he became Yisro’s son-in-law. Soon after, his wife Tzipoira give a birth to Moishe’s bchor--first born. Moishe named boy Gershom because: “ger huisi ba eretz nachriu--I was a ger (immigrant) in a foreign land.”

Chazal ask the questions: where someone can be a Ger if not in foreign land? Was not Moishe still in the Land of Midian? Why does he says that: ger huisi--I was--and not ger ani--I am? We may also ask: was not Moishe a ger already, in other lands, for 60 years of his life? Or is there more in his expression?

This was Moishe Rabeinu (our teacher). He was a the ultimate seeker of the Truth and the finder of ultimate Truth. He did not find it in the Pharaoh’s court, he did not find it as warrior in land of Kush, he did not find it anywhere else.

He was ready to settle and maybe even give up his search but he could not; he was Moishe. When he, perhaps, lost all his hope, possibly in the Yisro’s dungeon, this was the time for the experience described above. His moment of geirus, his tshuva, his giving up everything for his Creator for G-d of his fathers.

“Michtav me’Eliahu” call this moment of life which I call the moment of geirus an “awakening from below.” For Moishe, it was a decisive moment in his life. Soon after this experience came the most important moment in his private life (Matan Torah was a more public event), an awakening from Above. Moishe met the G-d of his fathers in the desert of Sinai, and he was sent with most important mission in the history of mankind.

At the bush, he was still uncertain, and like his great-grandfather Yaacov, he was afraid. We see a man who knows that there is nothing better than the service of Creator. But will he have enough strength to lead? Will people listen to him? There, in Mitzraim, his people were waiting for him; they were already close to the last gate of Tuma (impurity). All hope was lost; they were on the brink of spiritual annihilation as Chazal describes it.

One more time Torah use this word which seem to have meaning much deeper than we usually understand. Torah calls them gerim: “Ki gerim heyisem ba’eretz Mitzraim--because you were gerim in land of Egypt.”

Matys Weiser

Counting Omer

                                                                                                             B-H

Just days before commemoration of the most important event in the history of the mankind (Matan Torah - receiving of Torah), I will post two posts. The first one is the conclusion of Rabbi’s Shimshon Refuel Hirsch or if anyone likes it better Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, experts from his ‘Collected Writings’ elucidating meaning of Sfira – counting fifty days from Pesach to Shvios (Passover to Shavuot). Together with other fragment of his comment on parshas Bechikoysay posted the other week, these posted by me experts can change your view on Judaism regardless if you are non observant Jew or Satmar Chusyd. Without exaggeration it can change your self-understanding and meaning of your Jewishness. It may be difficult to go trough Rav’s Hirsch sophisticated but beautiful language but reward is worth of it. Please if you didn’t read these experts from the beginning, start from the first week after Pesach. To make it appear different than my writings I use thin font for rav Hirsch’s comments and as usually thick font for writings authored by me.

Enjoy!

We did not value freedom and land according to Jewish Truth, under which they should be valued only to the extent that they afford us the means to an ever more complete fulfillment of the Godly Law. Instead, in accordance with the popular delusions, we saw the Godly Law as being meaningful to us only in that it afforded, secured, and protected freedom and land for us. However, where we thought we could better and more independently secure and increase freedom and land through other means, acceptable everywhere else, we thoughtlessly exchanged the Godly Law as an impediment which had become useless, antiquated and stale. But this exchange was always a deception; and in the meantime we lost the single condition which permits us to hope for freedom and land.

The experience of the centuries will one day bear its fruit. We will grasp forever the true, eternal, and inalienable worth of the Godly Law so that we can truly count from freedom and land to Torah. Only then may we trust "that God will again graciously bless us and again cause His Countenance to shine among us!" We therefore will not yearn for the recovery of freedom and land as ends in themselves, in order to be redeemed by freedom from the drudgery of servitude, and by land from the humiliation of dependency. Rather, the purpose will be: Sheibone Bays Hamikdash Bimherah Biyamenu Vesan Chelkanu Besoirosecho, that the Divine Sanctuary might rise again, and we might do our duty in complete fulfillment of His Law.

And then when the land will have yielded its produce, and the sickle will again be put to work on our own soil, then we will not mistakenly see in the ownership of land the sole means of attaining healing and blessing. Rather we will then hope for the Divine blessing, that God as our God, may bless us through all the worldly goods that He will have given to us. We will use all the rich abundance only in His service, and serve only God as our God, in every way and with everything we have, and bring His Law to its exaltation in fulfillment.

We see now, however, in what a wide, wide perspective these Psalm-reflections celebrate Israel's return to life. Far beyond the narrow confines of Jewish nationality, they include all peoples at once in the same hope. God's Way on earth and His salvation will be recognized among all nations, as all peoples render homage to God "and the nations rejoice in this homage." Only through this homage, and in it alone, will the solution finally be found: how to establish permanently the salvation of nations on earth. The solution, hinted at in the Psalm, consists in regulating the order in which everyone and everything will feel and move: "at a moderate level"—neither too high nor too low—rather in exactly such a position that most closely corresponds to everyone's own nature and results in the benefit of all. "Then the Kingdom and the leadership of the nations on earth will have risen to God". 

Civil Wars

                                                                                                             B-H

Jewish civil wars.

What is it? Why does it exist, and why does it it have such destructive power?

Historically there were often wars between different fractions of the Jewish nation that left blood running through the streets and valleys:

●        Wars between the northern and southern kingdoms.

●        Wars of Hashmonuim against corrupted by Greek ideology Misyavnim - Hellenisers, and after a while...

●        Wars of decedents of Hashmonuim with Perushim, who were then defenders of everything sacred for the Jew.

●        Wars between zealots of all different fractions, fighting between themselves as the enemy watched with satisfaction from the hills surrounding Yerushalaim.

We couldn’t learn to love or even respect each other with humility in our own land, and now we have to learn this lesson in long school of Golus (exile). The wars continue between different segments of our nation, but there is no more bloodshed, and no orphans and widows are made by those wars.

When some of my friends in the middle of the Satmar or Bobov civil wars were so ashamed to talk to me about it, they didn’t understand from where I coming. I am coming from a world where bloody war is still a reality. Not only between the countries, but also wars between boys and young teenagers from different neighborhoods; fights between fans of one sport team against a different group of supporters.

I am coming from the world where students described with satisfaction to impressed listeners how thick the layer of glass was from the brawl the previous weekend in the dance hall. How many bones and noses were broken, how much blood was spilled. Anyone who saw the fans of the sports teams fighting and destroying everything in their way knows that Israel is the holy nation.

In some of the Jewish quarrels, emotions are sometimes raised to the level of ‘red hot.’ Each side is convinced that the other party is devoted to the destruction of everything what “we” consider holy. But at worst, it ends with in the hands of the police, and most of the time it is altogether necessary.

There is still a long way to go before we learn to listen to our adversaries. There is still a long way to go before we answer our emotions with mussar--not for others, but for ourselves. There is still a lot of Amulek in our hearts which tells us that scuffling, shouting and screaming, humiliating, and mentally destroying our “enemy” is assuring our victory. There are still some leaders who, instead of going out with tears to protest the misbehavior of some of their followers, will tell you that this is normal; there was always machloikes in Klal Isruel.

Yes, I agree, and some of them were bloody machloikes (quarrels). Does it justify the erosion of Jewish values? Look rather for a different leader, don’t listen to someone who for his hidden ambitions causes a holy nation to sin by remaining silent when there is a need for crying and tears. Yadaim, yadaim Esav – kol, kol Yakov. The hands are for Esaw and his decedents, but Yakov and his children should solve their disagreements with their voice. Our sages teach us that this is our goal, this is what we should learn: to be different from Esav even when we quarrel. As one wise person put it, it should be by the power of argument, and not by the argument of power.

Talmidey Chachumim marabim Shulom BeOylom. Sages spread peace in the world. If someone does the opposite, he is neither a Talmid Chacham nor a follower of Talmidey Chachumim. The Jewishness of his acts or lack of action is questionable to the utmost extent.

( All of the above was writen a year ago and did not describe any particular individuals or groups. All below i wrote last week.)

This week, a person pretending to represent the holy people of Yisrael gave a powerful speech, a speech filled up with word ‘peace.’ But its essence was about ambition, domination, and war. That’s probably was how Nimrod himself convinced others that they must engage in war: to protect the peace. For those who are walking the path of war, war is always pictured as the first necessary step to peace. For these who genuinely want peace, the first step to achieve it is… peace, even if it costs a lot of camels, donkeys, and sheep.

In another area of Jewish affairs, a tragedy happened. A Yid raised his hand against another Yid in attempt to kill him and his family. To all the Haredi bashers (including those who are Haredi themselves), it was accident. It is exceptional, and anyone who sees it differently, please read this essay again from the beginning.

As long we have any trace of admiration for the followers of Amulek--including these who emerge from among us--thoughtless people will find justification for themselves to act in an Amulek-like manner..

The author of these words looks like Chasidic Jew. But more importantly, he feels himself to be a follower of the Chasidic path--albeit with ambivalent thoughts about contemporary so-called “Chasidus.” I have not gone to anyone with a kvitel. However, I asked a person whom I consider an authority on this issue to whom should I go should I decide one day that there is some spiritual gain for me in going mit a kvitel. My Rabbi told me two names. One of them was the head of the community where this tragedy happened.

As long as I don’t hear words of strong mussar or even see him visiting his adversary, I have only one name left.

Matys Weiser

Oy golus, golus

                                                                                                             B-H

Got busy last week. Got busy so much that I pushed this post whole week later even it was only matter of scanning and editing the words of my beloved Rav Hirsch.

But please, read his explanation of our Golus and you may appreciate your life and Jewishness in different light. Without any exaggeration.

Parshas Bechikoisay 26 V. 42. Vzucharti es brisi Yaacov : it does not say brisi im or es Yaacov etc., but brisi  Yaacov, brisi Yitzchok and brisi Avraham So that clearly it is not the covenant with Jacob etc., but Jacob, Isaac and Abraham are in apposition to brisi. There is an Abraham Covenant of God, an Isaac Covenant of God, and a Jacob Covenant of God.

God has established a bris which is called Abraham, a min which is called Isaac, and one which is called Jacob. All three, Abraham Isaac and Jacob were near to God, the lives and fate of all three were directed by God, and had significance for the foundation of their nation, and yet each one of them had a different position in the world. Corresponding to the tradition that Abraham originated the Morning Prayer, Isaac Mincha, and Jacob the night prayer, the different position in the world of each of them was in accordance with these times of the day.

Abraham's lot fell in increasing brightness. Happy, and richly blessed in all and by all, he stood, although alone, against the whole world and called them to the altar of a One Unique God. Nevertheless none were jealous of him, none were his enemies; yea, highly honored, he lived as Naasi Elokim in their midst.

Isaac's position was already clouded. Isolated by treading his path with God, he found only jealousy on account of the blessings He gave him amongst his contemporaries, and was thrown back on himself and his own home.

Finally, on Jacob, the shades of night fell; his whole life was a chain of trials and tribulation, and only seldom and for a short time, did the external joy of life smile on him. And yet all three were the Fathers of our People, all three bearers of the Covenant of God, and Jacob's hard position in the world no less a revelation of the nearness of God in Man's fate in life than the bright picture of Abraham's life. That is why here all three are separately mentioned as Bris, and thereby God's Promise is proclaimed to the nation, whose ancestors and roots they form, that its fate, too, would be a varied one, as those of its fathers were, without thereby ceasing to he the mark of God's special proximity and of God's special guidance and attention. And that, like Abraham Isaac and Jacob, in the midst of the nations of the world, whether their fate be like that of an Abraham, bright, rich and honored, or of an Isaac, rich but envied and disliked and rebuffed, or of a Jacob, full of trials and troubles, in all cases they have to bear themselves and behave as true and faithful' sons of the covenant.

In connection with what was said before, the three promises of the covenant are significantly placed in inverted order, the covenant "Jacob" first, and moreover by being written in full mule, as well as by the accent and the construction of the sentence, it is brought into prominence. It is given as the principle promise to be considered quite specially to which the covenant "Isaac" and the covenant "Abraham" are only attached by af as extension and continuation.

With the beginning of the Galut the children of the Abrahamite covenant entered into the "Jacob" fate. But if — as is assumed in the second half of V,21, when introducing the other possibility of the future of the Galut — they take the Galut with its bitterness in its true right meaning as rutzi oinom, as an atoning nullification of the debt of their past, and in true faithfulness to duty, pay it off in such a way that they work themselves upwards towards the absolute opposite of their previous mistakes, the vzucharti es brisi Yaacov, then will I fulfill My covenant-promise "Jacob". I will be with them through all the long, long, Galut-night, and will form even their darkest Galut-night to an illuminating revelation of Divine Guidance, as they, the faithful, like bright stars of cheerful sacrificing devotion show up the spiritual and moral calling of human beings in living and dying. And then, when they have endured enough, and in world-historic martyrdom have entered their faithfulness to duty with their blood in the pages of history of misfortune, then vaf es brisi Yitschok, then they will not have lived and bled in the midst of the nations for nothing, by the example of their lives, the spirit of the nations becomes enlightened and their manners milder, with the dawning morn of the world, the darkest midnight of their Galut also passes, they begin to breathe freely again and to prosper in the lands where hitherto they had been so sadly persecuted. And just as in the Jacob period they had to endure the hate, now like Isaac it is the jealousy and rebuff of the nations that they are made to suffer.

Now they have to go through the second school of the Galut for their whole attitude to life, truly no easy one. They learn, in growing prosperity under the regime of nations swaying between humaneness and envy, not to assimilate, hut, Isaac-like to keep their own Jewish characters; to use the richer and freer forces they now possess only for increased faithfulness to the Torah, and, undisturbed by being isolated by the envy of the nations, to develop i a more perfect, more versatile development of their particular task n Galut.

Then, when they have successfully passed the second Galut-test, remaining faithful to the Torah in prosperity, then vaf brisi Avraham ezchor, then the Abraham sun will shine for them in Galut, then Abraham-like, they will build their alters to God and His Torah in the midst of the nations; Abraham-like, they will make the nations so realize the abundance of all that is true and good that the Teachings of God have entrusted to them for the salvation of mankind, that they will not be tolerated, not be honored, although they are Jews, the People of the Abraham covenant, but because they are Jews, because they are the People of the Abraham-covenant, because, in spirit and deed they know and practice God's Law for the salvation of mankind.

And just as Jacob's fight through the night with the Genius of Esau did not come to an end until Jacob had wrested from him his acknowledgement and succeeded in receiving his blessing, so the children of Jacob and Isaac, hated for so long, then tolerated and begrudged will finally, as the people of Abraham in the midst of the nations, receive the reverential, acknowledging greeting nussi Elokim atu besoichaynee! Then, ultimately, when in Galut they have learnt to overcome all the dangerous rocks of the enmity of the nations, of the favor of the nations, of the example of the nations, and of arrogance in good fortune, on which originally in their own land their faithfulness to the Torah foundered, then, only then vehaaretz ezchor when they have become "Abraham", will I, too, bring them to the land promised to Abraham, and give them back the land for a final permanent carrying out of their mission to be the People of God on the Land of His Torah. So that bris Yaacov and bris Yitzchok and bris Avraham, form the three progressive stages of the tasks the performance of which in Galut achieves the atonement of their guilt and at the same time matures them for the future permanent return to the land of their independence.

V. 43. vehaaretz.... For the land, of which it has just been said, that when the people will have become mature for their final purpose, it, too, will regain its purpose to be the land for God's people to keep the whole of God's Torah, the land, until then will await its people in desolation. it will serve no other people as a suitable soil for their development. By lying idle it will make reparation for the Sabbaths that were not kept, and it will remain desolate for as long as the people, by their life in exile, have to make reparation for the guilt of their past.

I hope you enjoyed as much as me.

Matys Weiser

The Hillary Affair

                                                                                                             B-H

It’s been a week since this controversy started, and I had resigned from writing about it, as I figured by Sunday people will have turned their attention to new issues.

To my surprise, the affair is still being discussed on the blogs and even on the radio. I can not follow all of it, and it is impossible for me to relate all the sides of the conflict. Most sides had aired their views even before Di Tzeitung published an altered photo of the White House Situation Room.
I do not know the halachic sources that prohibits publishing pictures of women. But considering the fact that this is written by a convert who did not have years in yeshiva to study those issues, this may not be a surprise.
I know plenty of Orthodox--i.e. written and published by Shomrei Torah uMitzvois publications--which publish such photos, of course taking under consideration some (sometimes only basic) standards of Tznius (modesty).
On the other hand, there are many newspapers and magazines which restrain themselves from printing such pictures. There are simply no pictures of women; pictures with women are altered, as these magazines’ standards of tznius do not allow them to place such pictures in their publications at all.
The fact that the picture of the Situation Room was altered by erasing from it Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and another top government female anti-terrorism specialist was wrong for only one reason: the White House did not allow altering their picture.
An apology was issued, and as I understand the White House didn’t have any objections about it--which may be sign that the apology was accepted. Why then, is this issue still in the Jewish media? Why does it still heat the air and computer keyboards?
Some argue that not publishing pictures of women proves that we believe in woman’s inferiority to man. It is so ridiculous that I will not dwell on the topic even for a minute. These people simply have no idea about the position of women in Hareidi and Orthodox society.
One thing I may say only, that such practice shows only inferiority of us – man… nebech.
Some of the disputants argue against altering the photos on the grounds of journalistic ethics. As I understand the ethics of journalism, it mandates that altered photographic material should not alter reality--as if it were not journalism, but rather propaganda. If so, there is no such thing as Jewish journalism; as every single Jewish source of information has and propagate an agenda. That’s how it is. Be it Hareidi or Modern Orthodox, there is almost no informative journalism anywhere within this spectrum. I think it is almost impossible for someone who guides his life by certain moral and religious standards not to have an agenda.
Even when facts are described as they happened, only selected facts are described in different outlets, be it Jewish or even general media. Omitting certain information, even while describing other facts in an honest and truthful manner, may distort reality in an extreme way.
I remember A few years ago there was huge demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate in Manhattan. Something like thirty thousand people were protesting against the killing by Israeli Police forces of Rabbi Daniel Biton. Thirty, ten or even three thousand people protesting anything in Manhattan would be covered in the media, right?
Three thousand visibly orthodox Jews protesting in the front of an Israeli consulate is newsworthy enough to fill up of at least few minutes of the nightly news, or a column of if not the front page, at least the third, of the local newspaper. Isn’t it? No, it wasn’t. Not a single media outlet in the country, proud of their democracy and freedom of press, mentioned this event. Nothing.
Maybe the media was busy with something bigger that night? A few nightly news broadcasts showed tenants picketing a broken sewer pipe in a Bronx apartment house on that very night. I saw some of it myself, and the rest I found through research. It was a shock for me to wake up one day in an America which I had never dreamed about.
But back to the main topic. It is not a rare practice for Hareidi newspapers and magazines to alter the photos of events where our wives and daughters are visible, just as they do with pictures of general events that depict ladies.
Is it Jewish law (Shulchan Aruch) which tells them to do so? Again, I don’t know. But even if it is not so, what is wrong if those outlets have such a practice, trying to meet the standards of tznius of perhaps only few of us? Do I miss anything because of this?
There is a Halacha not to listen to the voice of woman singing. (We will not discuss whether it applies to recordings as well as to live singing.) When I first learned this Halacha I was shocked by the explanation; I was told that a woman’s singing may arouse undesirable thoughts, thoughts a pious man should avoid, as they may lead to sinful acts.
Never in my life had I had such thoughts while listening to, for example, Janis Joplin or even Jean Baez. Nothing. However my rabbi explained to me that there are some people who may have such thoughts, and Halacha generally doesn't discriminate.
If a Hareidi newspaper does something in this spirit, then what is the problem for all the Hareidi bashers (who sometimes appear as if it is their goal in life to find everything to besmear Hareidim). More likely, they are looking for anything which may justify their more-than-lenient positions on key issues and established Halacha by ridiculing their more traditional brothers. Those self-proclaimed “defenders of true Judaism”--who frequently accuse Haredim of creating Hilul Hashem (desecration of Heavenly Name)--so many times bring to the general public issues which should be discussed only within the family, or at least with avoidance of publicity.
Who is really desecrator of the Name?


By Matys Weiser


Below another installment of Rav Hirsch's elucidation of meaning of sfira.

But the Torah remained the eternal and lasting possession, which compensated them for the absence of freedom and land during the centuries of night. Because of Torah and for Torah, freedom and land were once again in store for them one day on the great morrow of rejuvenation. When they counted the days and weeks before God, well might they express the wish that it still "may be His holy Will to build His Sanctuary once more, in our days, and to cause us to find our full share in His Torah!"

Yes, for good reason was it the practice of the Fathers to attach to this counting the hope that "God might one day again turn His favor toward us, give us His blessing, and cause His Countenance to shine among us." Have we not forfeited this favor and lost this blessing only because we had forgotten this very counting, the counting from freedom and land to the festival of the Torah? Did God not for precisely this reason turn away His shining Countenance from us?

Every page of the history of our national downfall testifies to the fact that we forfeited freedom and land only because we conceived of freedom and land as the final and highest purpose. We counted our days and weeks not from freedom and land to the Law, but rather from the Law to freedom and land.

We did not value freedom and land according to Jewish Truth, under which they should be valued only to the extent that they afford us the means to an ever more complete fulfillment of the Godly Law. Instead, in accordance with the popular delusions, we saw the Godly Law as being meaningful to us only in that it afforded, secured, and protected freedom and land for us. However, where we thought we could better and more independently secure and increase freedom and land through other means, acceptable everywhere else, we thoughtlessly exchanged the Godly Law as an impediment which had become useless, antiquated and stale. But this exchange was always a deception; and in the meantime we lost the single condition which permits us to hope for freedom and land.