Other-Focused O / Other-Focused Orthodoxy / Tefillah
by micha · Published ה׳ באלול תש״פ – Mon, Aug 24, 2020 · Last modified Mon, Aug 24, 2020
There are tefillos including Qaddish, Qedushah, Borkhu, that are labeled a “Davar sheBiqdushah“, literally: “a matter that is in holiness”. The way we usually study the halakhah, it is said that a minyan is required to recite a davar shebiqdushah. Which is why we don’t say (e.g. Qaddish) when davening without a minyan. I am going to propose an entirely...
Other-Focused O / Other-Focused Orthodoxy / Shema
by micha · Published י״ב באב תש״פ – Sat, Aug 1, 2020 · Last modified Sat, Aug 1, 2020
The following is a post I wrote for the Judaism Reclaimed Facebook page, a space that in general discusses Judaism Reclaimed: Philosophy and Theology in the Torah, by R’ Shmuel Phillips (Mosaica 2019). The opening in italics is an introduction by R’ Phillips. And the paragraph in sans-serif font was in my original submission, but removed from the post when...
by micha · Published ח׳ באב תש״פ – Wed, Jul 29, 2020 · Last modified Wed, Jul 29, 2020
Sin’as Chinam does not mean “baseless hatred”.It means “pointless hatred”. To explain: My point is about holding grudges, even if the hatred initially had cause, perhaps even started out with a halachically appropriate one. Should you still hold on to the hatred, because it has a basis, even though it serves no purpose? I am arguing that it is still...
Other-Focused O / Other-Focused Orthodoxy
by micha · Published כ״ה בתמוז תש״פ – Thu, Jul 16, 2020 · Last modified Thu, Jul 16, 2020
There was one movement in the Twentieth Century CE that was definitively established as an Other-Focused Orthodoxy (OFO). From its founding by Sarah Schenirer in 1917 until the late 1990s, the Judaism girls were taught in typical Beis Yaakov schools was one of chessed (Lovingkindness) first and foremost and only then the other mitzvos. But I noticed that there has...
by micha · Published י״ג בתמוז תש״פ – Sat, Jul 4, 2020 · Last modified Thu, Jul 2, 2020
A lot has been said on-line about Mystical (e.g. Qabbalah) and Rationalist (e.g. the Rambam) approaches to Judaism. In this post, I aspire to propose clear definitions of these terms. Because much of the existing discussion suffers from a lack of precision to the point of inconsistency. For example, the Rambam was a Rationalist by the standards of his day....
by micha · Published י״ב בתמוז תש״פ – Fri, Jul 3, 2020 · Last modified Fri, Jul 3, 2020
A lesson that can be learned from Parashas Balaq…. Why is the story of Balaq trying to hire Bil’am in the Chumash altogether? The Moavim don’t learn a lesson, they remain our enemies. Bil’am certainly didn’t change. And the Jews? We didn’t know anything about it at the time. And if it weren’t in the Torah, we still wouldn’t. My...
The Parent I believe that the efficacy of prayer is in the relationship built by turning to one’s Parent in times of trouble. One may indeed get what one prayed for, in some circumstances, because perhaps the deprivation served its purpose once it woke you up to prayer. The you post-prayer has a different set of needs than the you...
Other-Focused O / Other-Focused Orthodoxy / Ta`amei haMitzvos
by micha · Published ב׳ בתמוז תש״פ – Tue, Jun 23, 2020 · Last modified Wed, Jul 8, 2020
Rav Shimon Shkop gives a very inter-personal view of Judaism, writing that the we were made “וְחַיֵּי עולָם נָטַע בְּתוכֵנוּ — and eternal life was planted among us” (quoting the berakhah‘s description of the giving of the Torah) is entirely ” להיטיב עם זולתנו — to be of benefit to others, in imitation of the Creator. Rav Shimon even defines...
by micha · Published כ״א באייר תש״פ – Thu, May 14, 2020 · Last modified Thu, May 14, 2020
You may have seen the Tao of Pooh and the Te of Piglet, but have you thought about the Selflessness of Eeyore? Eeyore is most famous for being depressed. If there is something wrong with the situation, he’ll find it. And Ralph Wright (the first actor to play him for Disney) gave him that constant mournful singsong speaking voice. When...
by micha · Published י״ד בניסן תש״פ – Tue, Apr 7, 2020 · Last modified Tue, Apr 7, 2020
I think many discussions of the gemara about rice not producing chameitz head in the wrong direction. The definition of chameitz isn’t entirely scientific. After all, if you mix wheat flour with 100% apple juice, it also does not produce chameitz. (Ashkenazim have a minhag for healthy people to avoid “egg matzah“, but that’s a tangent I found too long...
So many others wrote about THE correct way to respond to the CoVID-19 pandemic, how could someone like myself — Micha Shmuel — named for not one but TWO nevi’im not join the fray with my opinion? I think that identifying causality of the kind so many suggest, “Hashem brought this because …” is impossible for us. Read Hashem’s words...
40 years ago, parashas Pinechas, my bar mitzvah peshetl at Shabbos lunch was about the contrast between Pinechas’s extremism and that of Shim’on and Leivi. That peshetl was written by a master of thoughts on the parashah, future-Rabbi Matis Blum zt”l. Reb Matis fell victim to CoVID-19 over Shabbos. 10 Nissan, 5780. These are disjointed thoughts… Not collected into some...
by micha · Published ט׳ בניסן תש״פ – Thu, Apr 2, 2020 · Last modified Thu, Apr 2, 2020
I was very “into” Rav Hirsch’s worldview as a bachur. The symbol system explains so much. Don’t mix meat and milk because for an animal, the only creativity is procreativity, it’s in who it is, the meat. But to us, creativity goes beyond milk production, and well into creativity, not the automatic action of the flesh. A parah adumah is...
by micha · Published ד׳ בניסן תש״פ – Sun, Mar 29, 2020 · Last modified Thu, Jul 2, 2020
תפילה לזכות לאור ולאהבה רבי אלימלך מליז’ענסק A Prayer to Merit Light and Love by Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk (1717-1787, one of the early rebbes of the Chassidic movement) This prayer, written by the Rebbe Reb Elimelekh of Lizhensk, strikes a chord for me because of its heavy focus on hakarat hatov for all we have in life, and asking...
There is no conflict between Hashem Knowing now what we will choose tomorrow, and our ability to makes that choice freely when tomorrow comes. Hashem does not Know now what will will do tomorrow. Not because Hashem doesn’t Know, but because He doesn’t now.
by micha · Published כ״ט באדר תש״פ – Tue, Mar 24, 2020 · Last modified Tue, Mar 24, 2020
A review of my book, Widen Your Tent, appears in the current issue of Jewish Action. REVIEWS IN BRIEF Reviews in Brief GIL STUDENT By Rabbi Micha Berger Mosaica Press Beit Shemesh, Israel, 2019 395 pages Widen Your Tent: Thoughts on Life, Integrity & Joy Rabbi Shimon Shkop was one of the great roshei yeshivah of Europe. A student of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, he had a brilliant mind and clarity of expression...
Other-Focused O / Other-Focused Orthodoxy
by micha · Published כ״ט באדר תש״פ – Tue, Mar 24, 2020 · Last modified Tue, Mar 24, 2020
Well, given this and next weeks’ parashios, as well as numerous other places in the Torah, the question in the subject line appears to have an obvious answer: Yes! And yet, that’s not what Yirmiyahu appears to say (7:22-23): כִּ֠י לֹֽא־דִבַּ֤רְתִּי אֶת־אֲבֽוֹתֵיכֶם֙ וְלֹ֣א צִוִּיתִ֔ים בְּי֛וֹם (הוציא) [הוֹצִיאִ֥י] אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם עַל־דִּבְרֵ֥י עוֹלָ֖ה וָזָֽבַח׃ For when I freed your ancestors from...
by micha · Published ט״ו באדר תש״פ – Tue, Mar 10, 2020 · Last modified Tue, Mar 10, 2020
Related to the Ramban’s position, about holiness being about following the Torah’s ideals, and not stopping at the letter of its laws… There is an enigmatic statement in the Talmud (Nedarim 81a, Koren edition (Links to an external site.), original in bold, with translations of Rabbi Edin Steinsaltz’s explanatory insertions): Ravina says: They are punished because they do not first recite a blessing...
(This post began life as a comment on an article on Torah Musings, ” When a Baby Dies” by Rabbi Gil Student.) What I held on to through the experience had at least two parts. The first is the impossibility of believing that Chazal were trying to explain tragedy. They studied the book of Iyov, after all, they know the...
Other-Focused O / Other-Focused Orthodoxy / Shaarei Yosher
by micha · Published כ״ח בכסלו תש״פ – Wed, Dec 25, 2019 · Last modified Wed, Dec 25, 2019
Rav Ovadiah ben Yaaqov Seforno (15th cent CE, Cesena, Italy) writes…
The similarity to Rav Shimon Shkop’s philosophy should be obvious to readers of this blog. Enough that it is surprising Rav Shimon doesn’t quote the Seforno….
We get one important addition to the picture with this look at the Seforno. In the Seforno we find a taxonomy to analyze ritual mitzvos in the context of an Other-Focused Orthodoxy. A direction Rav Shimon doesn’t explore in his haqdamah.
Ritual in halakhah serves to:
by micha · Published כ״ד בכסלו תש״פ – Sat, Dec 21, 2019 · Last modified Sat, Dec 21, 2019
New Online Va’ad with
TMI faculty member Rabbi Micha Berger
Author of Widen Your Tent
Micha explores the worldview of Rabbi Shimon Shkop, a Mussar Master who was a leading figure in the world of the Lithuanian Yeshiva of a century ago.
ABOUT THE COURSE: WIDEN YOUR TENT
It seems, therefore, that Rav Yochanan is simply saying that a navi must be perfect in every way. Even those that would seem to be less important.
But.
Notice that the Rambam reverses the order of the third and fourth items. The gemara’s list is “גבור ועשיר וחכם ועניו — mighty, wealthy, wise, and humble,” The Rambam not only places character third and knowledge of G-d last, he ranks them accordingly.
Shaarei Yosher / Uncategorized / Yahrzeits
by micha · Published ט׳ במרחשון תש״פ – Wed, Nov 6, 2019 · Last modified Wed, Nov 6, 2019
The following article appeared in this week’s Hamodia, in their Community magazine insert for 8 Marcheshvan 5780. The nicely formatted PDF proof of the article is available here. Torah Sparks Harav Shimon Shkop, Zt”l Marking his 80th yahrzeit on 9 Marcheshvan On the 9th of Marcheshvan, 5700, we lost Rav Shimon Yehudah haKohen Shkop zt”l, making this Thursday (November 7th)...
Teshuvah / Torah as Growth / Uncategorized
by micha · Published ז׳ במרחשון תש״פ – Tue, Nov 5, 2019 · Last modified Thu, Oct 31, 2019
Someone lamented on Mi Yodeya: I wasted my youth. I am 35 years old. I had a toxic relationship with my parents, especially my mother. My career never started, and I am still looking for a fresh start and finding it humiliating at my age. What does the Torah says about wasting your youth? Is redemption possible? My answer: In...
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