Volume 36: Number 95
Tue, 21 Aug 2018
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Message: 1
From: Zev Sero
Date: Fri, 17 Aug 2018 17:19:54 -0400
Subject: Re: [Avodah] Would Rashi Have Been a Democrat?
On 16/08/18 15:58, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
> On Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 5:18pm EST, Zev Sero wrote:
> : But only between yidden, who are commanded to love each other and be
> : responsible for each other. Mipnei darkei shalom, if aniyei akum
> : come to collect the gabai need not turn them away, but there is no
> : mitzvah, let alone a chiyuv, and the donors get no sechar.
>
> The Rambam says that vehalakhta bidrakhav applies. And that darkei shalom
> applies. Neither are small issues -- imitating the Borei is one way at
> looking at our tachlis in life, and nothing accepts berakhah like shalom.
If that were so it would be a mitzvah, not a mere heter for something
that otherwise we would assume to be assur. And there would be sechar
for the donor.
--
Zev Sero A prosperous and healthy 5779 to all
z...@sero.name Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper
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Message: 2
From: Micha Berger
Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2018 23:30:47 -0400
Subject: Re: [Avodah] Would Rashi Have Been a Democrat?
On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 05:19:54PM -0400, Zev Sero via Avodah wrote:
:> The Rambam says that vehalakhta bidrakhav applies. And that darkei shalom
:> applies. Neither are small issues -- imitating the Borei is one way at
:> looking at our tachlis in life, and nothing accepts berakhah like shalom.
: If that were so it would be a mitzvah, not a mere heter for
: something that otherwise we would assume to be assur. And there
: would be sechar for the donor.
When I was in 6th or 7th grade, our rebbe asked how it was possible for
Re'uvein to have dragged a bed from one tent to another, with just one
hand and one leg?
The answer: Who ever said Re'uvein only had one leg and one hand?
Where do you see the Rambam speaks of just a mere heter? First, as you
note, that doesn't fit his besing his pesaq in vehalakhta bidrakhav.
That's not a question, it's an argument against your assumption. (The
point rebbe was trying to teach us how to notice.)
But look at the Rambam's wording -- it's lekhat-chilah phrasing:
Afilu aku"m tzivu chakhamim
levaqei choleihem
veliqbor meiseihem im meisei Yisrael
ulfarneis aniyeihem bikhlal aniyei Yisrael
mipenei darkei Shalom.
"Tzivu chakhamim" isn't "mere heter". And then he says this is because
"tov Hashem lakol" and "Derkhaha darkhei no'am".
(Thus closing his discussion of halakhos about our relating to non-Jews,
the next pereq opening his discussion of the moshiach.)
Gut Voch!
-Micha
--
Micha Berger It's never too late
mi...@aishdas.org to become the person
http://www.aishdas.org you might have been.
Fax: (270) 514-1507 - George Eliot
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Message: 3
From: Cantor Wolberg
Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2018 01:39:16 -0400
Subject: [Avodah] Ki Seitzeh NOT Strictly for the Birds
If one happens to come upon a bird's nest in the wild and desires to take
the eggs or the chicks, he or she must first shoo away the mother and then
take the eggs or chicks. This is considered to be the easiest mitzvah in
the Torah to observe. It costs no money, requires no preparation and takes
a minimal effort.
The concept is that even in the animal world, there exists motherly
feelings (which Rabbi Hirsch refers to as "the noblest profession in the
world"), and the Torah wants us to be sensitive to these feelings. We may
not cause the mother anguish by taking her offspring before her eyes. God
wants people to be merciful. If we are sensitive to the feelings of a bird,
then it should follow that we would be even more sensitive to the feelings
of a human being. (Likewise if one has an animal, one must feed the animal
first). The reward for this mitzvah articulated in the Torah is long life.
The only other positive mitzvah which the Torah specifies the same reward,
is honoring one's parents ? which is considered one of the most difficult
mitzvoth to observe. From the fact that the easiest and one of the hardest
mitzvoth both receive the same reward, we realize that the reward for
mitzvoth or the punishment for aveirot is beyond our ability to rate or
even understand.
We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet
to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
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Message: 4
From: Micha Berger
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2018 12:18:59 -0400
Subject: [Avodah] Passing Judgement on Gedolim knowledge
On Sun, Aug 19, 2018 at 07:25:08PM EDT, R Akiva Miller wrote on Areivim:
:>> From http://www.2020vision.co.il/newsletter/the-face-of-the-generation
:>> When the Son of David will come the face of the generation will be like
:>> the face of a dog (Sanhedrin 97a). Rabbi Yisroel Salanter ztl explains
:>> this to mean, the behavior of the leaders of the generation will resemble
:>> that of dogs. When a dog is walked by its master, it trots ahead and thus
:>> appears to be leading. In reality, however, it is the master who chooses
:>> the direction in which to go. When the dog comes to a fork in the road,
:>> it stops and waits for its master to direct it. In the pre-Messianic
:>> era, the leaders will only appear to be leading the nation. In reality
:>> they will be following the whims of the masses (Artscroll quoting Rabbi
:>> Elchonen Wasserman).
: I asked:
:> Is anyone aware of the source of this quote from Rav Salanter
:> or Rav Wasserman?
: R' Moshe Gluck responded:
:> It's in Ikvesa D'mshicha - you can find it online at
:> http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/ezrachut/tsiyonut/ikveta.pdf
:> and the relevant quote is on page 29.
: Thank you!
: For the benefit of anyone looking it up, I would point out that RMG is
: referring us to page 29 of the *sefer*, which you'll find by telling
: that website that you want page *27*. The relevant section is the
: bottom half of the page. I also see (on the copyright page, which is
: page 2 of the file) that this is not Rav Wasserman's original words,
: but it was translated into Hebrew from Yiddish.
: It seems to me that this Hebrew version (and the original Yiddish,
: perhaps) does not have any word that might correspond to "gedolim" or
: "poskim" or even "leaders", as the phrase "Pnei Hador" is used in
: quotation marks, without any interpretation of what the gemara meant
: by it.
If you go back to the mishnah from where this quote is taken (Sotah 9:15,
ie 49b) the context of family; the mishnah despitcs a lack of kibu av
va'eim, a person's enemies will be the people of his home. The next
words are "habein eino misbayeish lifnei av".
The gemara that discusses the idiom, Sanhedrin 97a, has R' Yehudah
quoting a different beraisa. The tone is more communal:
beis havaad yihyeh liznus
the Galil will be destroyed, the Gavlanwill be annihilated,
the people on the border will circulate from city to city, and
they won't have compassion on them,
the wisdom of the Sofrim will diminish,
yir'ei cheit will be loathed,
ufnei hador kifnei hakelev.
Later, R' Nehorai proved something more like the mishnah in Sotah's
context, continuing "ve'ein havein mispayeish mei'aviv."
Rashi gives two peshatim (on R' Yehusvah):
1- Mamash
2- There will be no bushah.
#1 requires its own peirus.
#2 simply fits the mishnah
The Maharshah says that a kelev is "ke-leiv", it doesn't pretened to be loyal,
its actions reflect its heard. Unlike the generation of the ge'ulah, who
act loyal, but their hearts aren't there.
I don't know how the Maharsha explains the quote as a contrast, rather than
stating a similarity.
The Eitz Yoseif defines "penei hador" to be its wealthy people, based on
Rashi on Bereishis 41:56. And they will be as lowly as dogs because they
will be ungenerous.
The Chida (Pesach Einayim) says that the dog is poor (see Shabbos 155b,
which describes dogs as poortest) and insolent (Beitza 25b). And thus
the generation of the ge'ulah is described as being both deserving of
shame and yet shameless.
: It is also worth noting that this page has only Rav Yisroel Salanter's
: understanding of that gemara. In the very next paragraph, Rav
: Wasserman tells us how the Chofetz Chayim understood it.
RYS says that a dog runs ahead of the owner, but doesn't actually lead. The
dog turns to watch where the owner is going. Similarly, the leader of the
generation. (RMMS quotes this peshat besheim RYS; possibly a major factor
toward its popularity in derashos.)
The CC says something that could be understood two ways.
1- When a dog is hit with a stick, it attacks the stick, not the one
wielding it. And similarly the last generation, when attacked, takes it
out on the attacker and never thinks that they must also do teshuvah.
2- Dogs play with sticks. Unlike a person, who would use it for
disciplining the dog. (A different understanding of the dog going after
the stick.) Which makes RYS's intent to be more about assimilation than
misunderstanding yisurim.
Tir'u baTov!
-Micha
--
Micha Berger It is harder to eat the day before Yom Kippur
mi...@aishdas.org with the proper intent than to fast on Yom
http://www.aishdas.org Kippur with that intent.
Fax: (270) 514-1507 - Rav Yisrael Salanter
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Message: 5
From: Professor L. Levine
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2018 14:14:08 +0000
Subject: [Avodah] Definition of the Noun Tzadik
The following is from today's Hakhel email Bulletin.
FROM A READER: ?In response to your phrase, ?Every Jew can be a
Tzaddik--you just have to want it enough.? How would you define the word
Tzadik? To put it another way, how would you characterize someone who is
a Tzadik? Rabbi Shamshon Refoel Hirsch, Z?tl in his Essays on the Psalms
(Collected Writings of RSRH, Volume IV) writes on pages 264 - 265. ?The
noun Tzadik, righteous, denotes the one who accords every being and every
relationship its due, and does not tamper with or destroy them by acts of
commission or omission.? This definition was certainly an eye-opener for
me??
I am the reader who sent this in. Please note that RSRH makes no mention of anything specifically related to what is considered "frumkeit."
YL
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Message: 6
From: Zev Sero
Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2018 15:27:42 -0400
Subject: Re: [Avodah] Definition of the Noun Tzadik
On 20/08/18 10:14, Professor L. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> ?In response to your phrase, ?Every Jew can be a Tzaddik--you just
> have to want it enough.?
Who said that phrase? What is that person's source? The Tanya
explicitly denies this.
It defines a tzadik as someone whose yetzer hara has either been
transformed into a yetzer tov (tzadik gamur) or has been so thoroughly
defeated that it's as if it doesn't exist (tzadik she'eino gamur).
Anyone who has a yetzer hara, even if it is currently quiescent, is not
yet a tzadik.
It then says that although every Jew should aspire to being a tzadik,
not every Jew can succeed at this no matter how much he wants it.
Transitioning from beinoni to tzadik requires help from Above, which is
not always forthcoming.
Nor, says the Tanya, is it possible for a tzadik to know for sure that
he is one. Only HKBH knows whether someone's yetzer hara is truly gone,
or merely playing possum and biding its time. This is how Rabba could
mistakenly think he was a beinoni.
--
Zev Sero A prosperous and healthy 5779 to all
z...@sero.name Seek Jerusalem's peace; may all who love you prosper
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