Date: 2008-08-17 22:19 Subject: 29th Yohtzeit of the Satmar Rav Security: Public

29th Yohrtzeit of the Satmar Rav.

Wednesday, August 27, is the 29th yohrtzeit of the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum (ztzl). I dicided to write something about this great Scholar.

Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum (1887-1979) was known in the Orthodox Jewish world as a 'Kanoy' (zealot) praised by many for his piety and scholarship, condemned by others for he strong anti-Zionist stands and his opinion that the the foundation of the State of Israel was a violation of the Hallacha.

I am not Chassidic, and although I put my questions by some of the Chassidic doctrines, I still have a deep respect for the Chassidic Masters, their teachings and the Heimishe culture in general.

The Satmar Rebbe has a special place in my life. And of all the Gedollim of the previous generation that I never merited to meet, I feel only saddened that I never had a change to meet the Satmar Rav. He past away before I was born. The only thing left for me is to study his words in the “Divrei Yoel” and what his students collected in the Sefer “Dibros Kodesh”. His teachings on Zionism as they are written down in “Va'Yoel Moshe” and “Al HaGeulah VeAl HaTemurah” gave me a whole new insight in the current situation in the middle east and deepened my understanding of Zionism and how we as Orthodox Jews should relate to it. It has always been surprising to me that nobody ever took the effort to translate these works, who are of utmost importance to clal Yisrael in our days. In the English language we have today many books defending the religious-Zionist position but it is almost impossible to learn (in depth) about the Anti-Zionist position. Especially when we take into account that we Jews are known not to shy away from discussion and debate.

To read more about the Rebbe, http://www.tzemachdovid.org/gedolim/jo/tpersonality/satmarrav.html

All the best,
Yoelishkeit

Date: 2008-08-12 13:25 Subject: Ha-Vikuach Rabbenu Yechiel mi-Paris (1240) Security: Public

Ha-Vikuach Rabbenu Yechiel mi-Paris (1240)

As some might already know, I am working currently on a translation and commentary of the debate between Nachmanides (1194–1270) and the Dominican priests under the guidance of King James I of Aragon (1208-1276) in Barcelona, it is the most famous of all debates between Jews and Christians. What many don't know is that a generation earlier there was an other such a debate in the city of Paris between Rabbi Yechiel ben Joseph of Paris and the Jewish apostate to Christianity Nicholas Donin.

I would like to share with you some of the counter arguments and ideas Rabbi Yechiel used against the attacks of Donin. I say attacks, because it was not a real debate, Donin accused the Talmud for having blasphemies against Jesus and Christianity, and Rabbi Yechiel was there for the defense of the Talmud.

I. CAN CHRISTIANS BE SAVED?
CHRISTIAN JUDGES: Tell us, on your faith, can we Christians be saved, according to your religion?

R'YECHIEL: You may be saved if you follow the seven Laws of Noach, that were given to all mankind.

CHRISTIAN JUDGES: We have the Ten Commandments.

R'YECHIEL: They are excellent and sufficient for you.

II: WHO ARE THE HERETICS IN THE SHIMONEH ESREI?
DONIN: Jews include in their prayer called Shimoneh Esrei a prayer for the destructions of heretics and slanderers, and your sage Rashi explains this refers to Christians.

R'YECHIEL: The prayer revers to apostates from Judaism and to Karaites, not to Christians. As for Rashi's explanation, this is not authoritative, for Rashi is often wrong.

III: DOES THE TALMUD SAY GOD CAN SIN?
DONIN: The Talmud says God can sin, since He ordered a sin-offering to be given on His behalf for His sin in diminishing the status of the moon in relation to the sun. In this same story, too, a conversation takes place between God and the moon. How can the moon talk without a mouth?

R'YECHIEL: The Bible often attributes speech to the heavenly bodies. Also scientists agree that the heavenly bodies are living creatures. God punished the moon for speaking negatively against the sun, but having punished her, He sought to placate her in order to give her encouragement to repent, and this is why He ordered an offering of appeasement (not a sin-offering!) to be made.

IV: IS THE TALMUD ANTI-GENTILES?
The Talmud contains many passages directed against Gentiles, saying a Gentile maybe left to die, though not actually killed; a Jew who kills a Gentile is not liable for the death penalty, whereas a Gentile who kills a Jew is liable; It is permitted to steal money from a Gentile; A Jew must not drink wine touched by a Gentile; One may mock a Gentile's religion; Gentiles are assumed to be adulterers, into bestiality and homosexual; it is forbidden to help a Gentile woman to give birth or to suckle her child; it is forbidden to praise the beauty of a Gentile.

R'YECHIEL: These Gentiles mentioned in the Talmud are not Christians. For proof, you may see that we Jews do much business with Christians, and the Talmud forbids this with Gentiles. Jews have undergone mattyrdom countless times for their religion and would not disobey the Talmud if they really thought the people called 'Gentiles' in the Talmud included Christians. Jews have much social intercourse with Christians, and this is forbidden by the Talmud with 'Gentiles' , by whom is meant the ancient Egyptians and Canaanites, who were steeped in immorality of every kind. Jews teach Hebrew to Christians, which is forbidden to 'Gentiles'.

This were some of the, to me, more interesting topics in the Vikuach of Rabbi Yechiel. I would like to point out that in citation III Rabbi Yechiel uses a scientific argument: “Also scientists agree that the heavenly bodies are living creatures.” using the science of his day to explain the question, while he could just as well had said that the Aggadata is a metaphor or a parable. Rabbi Yechiel himself says in the beginning of the Vikuach about Aggadah (and Midrash) “The Talmud also contains Aggadah, that is figurative and poetic passages... you may believe or disbelieve them as you wish for no practical (Hallachic) decision depends on them”, as is a similar position the Ramban takes in his dispute a generation later (which was the opinion of many Gaonim and Rishonim on midrashim and aggadata).

All the best,
Yoelishkeit

Date: 2008-08-11 07:03 Subject: Prof.Yeshayahu Leibowitz on "In the beginning" Security: Public Mood: accomplished

More from Prof.Yeshayahu Leibowitz. On the first Pasuk in Bereshis. Science and Religion:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZ_aqNMBtOI

As always, he never gets boring.

Yoelishkeit

Date: 2008-08-08 03:40 Subject: A Professor Leibowitz quote Security: Public

Prof.Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903–1994)was a famous Israeli Orthodox Jewish Philosopher. He was know for his chariv stands on religion and politics. And I for one can always appreciate the more extreme, for we can call them many things, but they are not boring. Here a quote I would like to share with you of the Professor:

"Prospects for Peace: All spiritual and material resources in Israel are channeled in one direction: to maintain the Palestinian occupation in the eventual hope that we may seize their land. We are truly Bolshevik. And we should get out of the territories just as the Portuguese left Angola, the British left India, and de Gaulle abandoned Algeria. Then there might be a real possibility of peace. Maybe Jews in the Diaspora like the image of the iron fist; I don’t. It’s pretty hypocritical to call us a democracy while we deny the Arabs their rights. Our national structure is starting to crumble…and without US aid we would be cast adrift in the space of a single day."

All the best,
Yoelishkeit

Date: 2008-08-08 00:09 Subject: JUDAISM: Believing or Doing? Security: Public

JUDAISM: Believing or Doing?

A popular idea, that I even heard from some Orthodox Jews, is the idea, originated by Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), that Judaism is only concerned with actions and not with believes.

The whole question is about the concept of reward and punishment. The case is thus made that God does not punish people for their believes, the ideas in their mind, but only for deviation from practical Torah Law in the physical world.

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888) said that Judaism is not a Theology but a Theonomy, from the Greek Theos -God- and Nomos -Law- a Divine Legal System. All of Judaism is centered around the Law of Mozes. I reject the idea that Judaism is only concerned with physical actions because it seems clear to me that our believes are actions of the mind. For it is as much a Mitzvah (religious action) to believe in God (Ex 20:2) as it is to keep the Sabbath (Ex 31:13). Mitzvos as believing in the unity of God (Deut 4:39) loving God (Deut 6:5) and fearing God (Deut 6:13) are all actions of the mind. Beliefs in Judaism are part of the Law.

The Mishanah says: “Al of Israel [the Jewish People] has a place in the world to come” (Sanhedrin 10:1) The Talmud follows than with a list of how Jews can loose their world to come, making clear that every Jew when they are born has a place in the world to come UNTIL they loose it. This in opposite with a non-Jew who can only own his world to come, by doing the 7 mitzvos of bnei-Noach, but does not have an original place in it that he can loose. The Rambam gives a list of the Jews that loose their world to come in his Mishnah Torah many of which are beliefs.

Rambam states clearly that Jews who do the following sins of the mind loose their portion in the world to come:
-Jews who deny the existence of God
-Jews who deny God is eternal
-Jews who believe that God has a physical body (Ravaad says that a Jew who believes this does not loose his portion,but is just wrong.)
-Jews who believe that God is not aware of man's deeds
-Jews who believe in two or more gods
-Jews who worship the stars, constellations or something else
-Jews who believe there is a mediator between them and God
-Jews who deny that God will resurrect the dead (Techiyas HaMeisim)
-Jews who deny prophecy exists, and believe there is no communication between God and man
-Jews who deny the Torah
-Jews who deny Mozes was a prophet
-Jews who believe that the Torah, or even one verse of the Torah, is not Divine
-Jews who believe that the Torah and the Oral Law (Torah she'baal peh) were not from God but came from Mozes own mind
-Jews who believe that God replaced the Torah of Mozes with an other Torah
-Jews who deny that the Oral Law and the Talmud are the Divine interpretations of the Torah
-Jews who deny the authority of the Talmudic sages
-Jews who deny the coming of the Messiah
(Rambam, Mishnah Torah; Hillchos Teshuvah 3:6-8)

So I have to disagree with the idea that Judaism is only concerned with actions and not with believes

All the best,
Yoeliskeit

Date: 2008-08-07 06:07 Subject: The Biblical view of Man Security: Public

Rabbi Dr. Leo Adler (1915-1978) held a Rabbinical position in Basel, Switzerland. He was a popular speaker among Jews and non-Jews. His most famous work is "Der Mensch in der sicht der Bible" (The Biblical view of Man) from which I would like to share some quotes:

"Being human, for Judaism, is not a philosophical problem but a psychological one, which in the end requires that man choose between the divine and the animal. With his own free will, with which God endowed him in order to allow him to prove himself, man must choose which path he will tread: sublimation of his nature, or self-destruction" (page 16)

“Herein lies the essence of the Jewish interpretation of the Bible. It is directed toward man, for it regards man in the light of God, not God in the light of man. Judaism teaches not so much belief in God as God's judgment of man” (page 19)

A wonderful book and I would advice people all to get the beautiful English translation by Professor Daniel R. Schwartz (Hebrew University) called 'The Biblical view of Man'. (Urim Publications, ISBN-10: 965-7108-96-9)

All the best,
Yoeliskeit

Date: 2008-08-06 23:08 Subject: Testing Security: Public

Testing