Volume 24 Number 77
Produced: Sat Aug 10 23:18:00 1996
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Haredi aliyah
[Gedaliah Friedenberg]
Images of People on the Net
[Janice Gelb]
Living outside of Israel
[Avraham Husarsky]
Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael (2)
[Yossie Abramson, Eliyahu Shiffman]
Non-Jewish Codes
[J.N. BenEzra]
Non-Jewish Codes in > Volume 24 Number 70
[Yehoshua Kahan]
Torah Codes
[Shalom Kohn ]
Why American O Aliyah isn't universal
[Micha Berger]
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From: Gedaliah Friedenberg <gedaliah@...>
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 10:27:11 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Haredi aliyah
Newsgroups: shamash.mail-jewish
Anyone interested in reading an amazing essay on Haredi aliyah (or lack
thereof) check out the following:
Rabbi Zev Leff's introduction to the Feldheim book entitled "To Dwell in
the Palace". The introduction is about 20 pages long (R' Leff only
wrote the intro, not the whole book) and the intro has a haskama
(aprobation) from Rav Gifter, shlita.
Rav Leff received smicha from Telz in Cleveland and was a Rav in a shul
in Miami for a long time. He is now the Rav of Moshav Matitiyahu (near
Kiryat Sefer) and is a VERY popular speaker in Israel and America.
Gedaliah Friedenberg
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From: <Janice.Gelb@...> (Janice Gelb)
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 1996 11:24:03 -0700
Subject: Images of People on the Net
In mail-jewish Vol. 24 #56, Avraham Husarsky writes:
>>write, I have made incorrect images in my mind as to what they "look
>>like". One of my hopes with this list is that some people at least may
>>be more open to listen and say, yes even if s/he may look different from
>>me, what they are saying/thinking/feeling etc is similar and we all, as
>>part of Klal Yisrael are brothers. This is not to downplay the concern
>>
>>Mod]
>>
>The only response to the above should be - why is the moderator of the list
>forming images as to what the posters look like and is this affecting his
>decision whether or not to post certain items? the criteria of whether or
>not a post makes into the public forum should be based solely on content
>and not the moderators "image" of who the poster is, what the posters
>beliefs are or what is the posters personal situation.
If one participates in a list for some time and see posts from the same
people over time, without intending it one often has some sort of
mental picture of what the person looks like, and certainly over time,
especially on a list of this kind, one can gather more or less that
person's basic belief structure based on their posts. That doesn't
mean that the moderator uses those mental bemusings to affect what he
sends onward, and nothing in his post indicated that he does.
Janice Gelb | The only connection Sun has with this
<janiceg@...> | message is the return address.
http://www.tripod.com/~janiceg/index.html
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From: <hoozy@...> (Avraham Husarsky)
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 96 19:49:58 msd
Subject: Living outside of Israel
>See there's a problem. I can not save only myself while others are
>drowning all around me. I can not walk away from the countless souls who
>barely know they are Jewish - and certainly know very little of what
>that means. Who will teach the Assimilated Jews of America what it means
>to be a Jew if not an orthodox community in the US. Go into Ohr Sameach
>in Israel and see the bricks of that sukka that we are sending to you to
>complete. Every year countless Jews in this country are reunited with
>their Yiddishkeit - and it often starts with an encounter with an
>Orthodox Jew - here in this country.
you have to be able to look deep down within yourself and argue that by
physically being in america and just living as a religious jew you are
saving souls. i would humbly suggest that for most lay proffesionals,
the majority of their time is spent on the mundane and such encounters
are few and far between. a community of religious rabbis and teachers
who are there for the specific purpose of outreach, supported by lay
people who have a need to be in chu"l would be just as affected.
also, even if the above is true, you need to ask yourself, what
percentage of the next generation of religious jews is necessary to
maintain the staus quo or balance that exists right now, especially in
light of the fact that large portions of the non-religious jewish
community are disappearing from sight never to return. i.e. how many of
your children will you encourage to move to E"Y, as you do not need all
of them to fulfil the role you define for the religious jew in chu"l in
the coming generation. to create pockets of orthodoxy, with no one to
reach out to (which is the inevitable end if what is happening now
continues as is) seems meaningless in light of all the religious growth
and greativity taking place here.
Name: Avraham Husarsky
E-mail: <hoozy@...>
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From: <yossie@...> (Yossie Abramson)
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 17:50:27 EDT
Subject: Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael
>From: <bsegal@...> (Binyomin Segal)
>Dahvid and Leah Wolf ask a good question:
> * One of the hardest questions I have to answer constantly from
> * non-observant Israelis in Israel is "Why do so many 'religious'
>Jews
> * live in Chutz L'Aretz?" One of the answers I give is:"Ask them!"
> * So, I'm asking you...
I seem to recall, that Hashem said that there should not be a mass
exodus to Eretz Yisrael. The reason being that all the Jews should not
be BUNCHED UP in one place before Moshiach comes, for obvious reasons.
Yossie
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From: <sarash1@...> (Eliyahu Shiffman)
Date: Sun, 28 Jul 96 15:59:09 PDT
Subject: Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael
In response to Binyomin Segal's posting:
Binyomin brings up a gemara that describes "the end of days, when
non-Jews will be given the mitzva of sukka - and be unable to perform
the mitzva due to the weather conditions. The gemara describes the
non-Jew leaving the sukka and kicking it on his way out."
Binyomin quite rightly remarks that "when a Jew leaves a sukka, he is
sorry for the lost opportunity -- he does not kick the sukka." And adds
that this is the Jew's attitude to the mitzva of Yishuv Eretz Yisrael
(dwelling in the Land of Israel) as well. But is that the way it is --
or the way it should be? Binyomin writes that "almost no day goes by
when I don't hope of living in Israel," but is he the norm, or are many
Jews in hutz l'aretz "kicking the sukka" when it comes to the mitzva of
yishuv ha'aretz?
I remember my rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Shaya Karlinsky, saying several years
ago that a Jew's proper attitude to being given a heter to not perform a
mitzva was, as Binyomin writes, regret for the lost opportunity. But
Rabbi Karlinsky's impression was that the response of many Jews in hutz
l'aretz on receiving a heter (halakhic permission due to individual
circumstances) not to make aliya is relief at getting off the hook, if
not outright satisfaction at the "good" news.
Rabbi Karlinsky then pointed out something which bears remembering: if
one does not do a mitzva because he or she had a heter not to, there is
no onesh (punishment) for the lost mitzva. But the skhar (reward) that
would have been realized for that mitzva is also lost -- you have to do
the mitzva to get the skhar.
To explain his staying in hutz l'aretz despite his longing for Eretz
Yisrael, Binyomin writes: "I cannot save myself when others are drowning
around me. I cannot walk away from the countless souls who barely know
they are Jewish..." Without passing any judgement on Binyomin's own
individual situation, I think that this is in general an over-used
justification for not making aliya. People that would really prefer to
stay in hutz l'aretz may be inclined to exaggerate the importance of
their staying to the Jewish community. Realistically speaking, the US
Jewish community is not going to make aliya en masse, they are going to
move to Israel one family at a time, one Jew at a time. So when one
leaves, there will most often be other observant Jews still in the
community to show the way to the non-observant. (Of course, determining
whether someone's importance to the overall community necessitates them
staying is a question for a posek.)
But there is another side to consider. Isn't there a pasuk (verse) that
says "And from Zion will come Torah, and the word of G-d from
Yerushalayim."? When I was a (secular) teenager in the late '60s, many
of my friends went to India seeking spirituality. Perhaps it's still
happening -- I don't know. But why can't Israel be a place that people
-- especially Jews, more especially non-observant Jews -- go seeking
spirituality? Why can't Israel be that kind of magnet? If it isn't, I
think it is only because we aren't making it so.
And so why must people in hutz l'aretz feel that there is a conflict
between yishuv ha'aretz and kiruv rehokim (bringing distant souls
closer)? Perhaps there is no conflict at all. Perhaps if Israel becomes
all it can be, those distant souls will be drawn to Israel. And those
who make aliya can have a role in making Israel all it can be, and can
have a role in drawing distant souls from hutz l'aretz to Eretz Yisrael,
where they can see Judaism lived by entire communities, and lived in the
place where the Torah intended for it to be lived.
Eliyahu Shiffman
Beit Shemesh, Israel
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From: <NklsNdimes@...> (J.N. BenEzra)
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 14:49:24 -0400
Subject: Non-Jewish Codes
I read with interest Y.Alderstein's question about non-Jewish codes (Volume
24, Number 70), and I am struck by a similar issue which was posed to me
recently: a non-Jewish friend asked me about the "hidden code" in the names
of the sons of Noah. He said to me that there was a hidden code in the
arrangement of the names which his minister was saying that "Jews were trying
to keep a secret, but which other scholars were beginning to discover" and he
asked me if I would tell him if that were true. Since I have known this man
for over 20 years and have NEVER heard him say ANYTHING of an anti-semitic
nature and do in fact, believe he asked this question in all sincerity, in a
effort to get information to counter the anti-semitic nature of his
minister's statement, I am asking if anyone knows about this. Is there
supposed to be some hidden meaning in the names of Noah's son's?
J.N. BenEzra <NklsNdimes@...>
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From: <orotzfat@...> (Yehoshua Kahan)
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 23:14:08 +0200
Subject: Non-Jewish Codes in > Volume 24 Number 70
Response to: Y. Adlerstein <yadler@...>
>One fellow presented an argument that went roughly like this:
>
>"Take a look at Psalm 46 [I don't remember which number he actually
>used] If you open the standard King James translation, and count down 46
>lines from the top, you will find the word "shake" on that line. Now
>look at the same line, on the facing page. There you will find the word
>"spear." And if you continue to skip this interval of lines, you get a
>message that reads something like 'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, O
>Juliet [sic!]"
I've heard it as follows: The King James Translation was published when
Shakespeare was 42 years old (this is true, I've checked it). If you
look at Psalm 42 and count 42 words from the beginning, word number 42
is "shake". If you count 42 words from the end, the 42nd word is
"spear". I've also confirmed this. With the sentiments/cautions
expressed by Rabbi Adlerstein, a former teacher of mine (though he may
not recall!) regarding unbridled use of gematria and codes, I am in full
agreement. "Gematriaot parpara'ot l'chochmah", therefore, "berach al
haparperet, lo patar et hapat!" I would go farther and question whether
a faith come to via codes is not more akin to faith in "G-d of the
philosophers" rather than "G-d of Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'acov" (a la
Kuzari).
The purely righteous do not complain about evil,
rather they add justice!
They do not complain about heresy,
rather they add faith!
They do not complain about ignorance,
rather they add wisdom!
Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, Arpilei Tohar p. 39
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From: <skohn@...> (Shalom Kohn )
Date: Sun, 21 Jul 1996 07:06:45 -0700
Subject: Re: Torah Codes
Y. Alderstein reported a radio program in which "Torah Codes" were used
to find Shakespeare's name, and a line from Romeo and Juliet.
In flipping through cable TV channels the other day, my attention was
caught by a snippet on a Christian station about Torah Codes, and
listened for a while. The moderator described how Torah Codes
(stringing together letters based on fixes intervals) had been
discovered to show various wonderful things; that scientists agreed
such Codes were inconsistent with anything but a divine origin for the
Bible; and that Jewish groups were attracting many who found this
persuasive, started wearing skull caps, etc. He then went on to
describe that using similar Codes, the name "Yeshu" appeared in various
chapters dealing with the Messiah! He also referred to a book on the
subject, whose author (non-Jewish) was on the program.
The program was not directed at Jews (unlike some others of the ilk),
but it should give us a warning about pushing the Code approach, which
as noted above can be used by all kinds of people for all kinds of
different purposes. I would defer as to validity of the approach to
those who are experts on Codes (and have often written to the list on
the subject). However, given the apparent ambiguities, use of Codes
beyond an initial "come-on" for Baalei Teshuva would be dangerous, and
even the endorsement of the approach for that limited purpose could
backfire.
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From: <micha@...> (Micha Berger)
Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 11:12:03 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Why American O Aliyah isn't universal
I think the Israelis are judging us overly harshly. Many American Jews
/can't/ make aliyah, but want to.
Paying special ed Yeshiva tuition is not a joke. I even had two job
offers. So, aside from the religious reasons, I might actually be
financially better off in Israel.
So why am I still living in New Jersey? I figure that to pay off current
loans and move my family of 9, I would need to save up US$30K. My
savings account has not seen 5 digits for 4 kids now. At least I'm doing
better than many of my neighbors, who get financial assistance from
their parents. How are they supposed to save up the significant cost of
actually doing the move?
Micha Berger 201 916-0287 Help free Ron Arad, held by Syria 3512 days!
<micha@...> (16-Oct-86 - 9-Jul-96)
<a href=news:alt.religion.aishdas>Orthodox Judaism: Torah, Avodah, Chessed</a>
<a href=http://aishdas.org>AishDas Society's Home Page</a>
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End of Volume 24 Issue 77