Honesty and Justice

Hi,

"So speaks Gd: A wise person shall not honor himself for his wisdom, and a powerful person shall not honor himself for his power, a wealthy person shall not honor himself for his wealth.

"Rather, for this an honored person should honor himself: Take insight and know Me, for I am Gd, who performs kindness and justice in the land. These are the elements I desire; this is the word of Gd."

(Jeremiah 9:22-23, the last verses of the Haftorah for Tisha b'Av morning)

I hope you fasted well,
Mordechai

R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Days of Mourning, Part 4

Hello,

[continued from yesterday's post]

"For in truth, no period lives for itself alone. Generations rise and fall so that those who follow may well learn from the glow of their sunrise as well as from that of their sunset; that they may reap the fruits of the rise and the fall of those who went before, avoid their errors and go forward and upward, basing their edifice upon the vritues of their progenitors."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 234)

Be well,
Mordechai

R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Days of Mourning, Part 3

Hi,

[continued from yesterday's post]

"They saw that as in happy days Israel received the call to revere Gd humbly and to love Him with gladness, so did Israel receive the call to be the lofty example, steadfastly to keep its faith in Gd as well as its filial piety even in the days of misfortune.

"They saw that the time of its dispersion, whose labour-pangs it experienced, was but a fatherly chastisement to teach Israel, to strip it of pleasure-seeking and self-seeking, both of which undermine Israel's fortune.

"They saw that this period had as its immediate aim a betterment and a renewal of life, with the ultimate goal of furthering the advancement of all mankind.

"They realized how necessary for that upbringing, which was to act as a guide, were warnings and correctings and challenge; and, imbued with the spirit of the Torah, they recognized an excellent means in their subjective retrospect of the past."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 234)

[to be continued]

Have a good day,
Mordechai

R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Days of Mourning, Part 2

Hi,

[continued from yesterday's post]

"For the fathers of our people understood profoundly that the fall of the people was not the pathway to the grave. It but changed the scene for Israel's activity, summoning it to new obligations, or, rather, to another aspect of that same fulfilment of its way of living which was its 'vocation' in times of prosperity."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 234)

[to be continued]

Have a good day,
Mordechai

R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Days of Mourning

Hi,

"Just as the Torah preserves those moments when Israel flourished, and raises as holy above other days in the year those festival days commemorating the creation of the people and its preservation so that Israel should devote itself to the remembrance and the study of the truths they posit, whereby Israel may live and learn to understand itself and dedicate itself to the fulfilment of its allotted tasks, so did our sages institute remembrance days for those moments which Israel experienced when its blossoms were seen to fall, remembrance days which summon Israel to the purification as well as to the sanctification of its life and to the proper fulfilment of its conduct of life."

[To be continued]

(R' Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Horeb, paragraph 234)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Torah and Logic

Hi,

Here's one from a few years ago, with fascinating ramifications:

"It is written, 'The Torah's ways are pleasant,' so that the laws of our Torah must match sense and logic."

(Responsum of Radbaz 3:627)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

A reward for humility

Hi,

"What does this passage mean: 'Small and great are both there, and a slave is free from his master (Job 2)?' Do we not know that small and great will both be there [in the next world, after death]?

"This teaches that one who makes himself small [in other words, one who humbles himself] for words of Torah in this world will become great in the next world, and one who makes himself like a slave in endeavoring to study Torah in this world will be made free in the next world."

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 85b)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Path to the good life

Hi,

"Who is the man who desires life, who loves his days, to experience good things?

"Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Abandon evil and perform good, seek peace and pursue it."

(Tehillim [Psalms] 34:13-14)

Have a good day,
Mordechai

Be gentle

Hi,

"Raveina said: One must train himself in gentle behavior, as it is written [Ecclesiastes 11], 'Remove anger from your heart.'"

(Talmud, Taanit 4a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The fire of Torah

Hi,


"Rava taught: If a young Torah scholar becomes angry, it is only because of the Torah that is making him boil, as it is written, 'My words are as fire.'"

(Talmud, Taanit 4a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The beauty of Israel

Hi,

"The Torah says (Vayyikra 19), 'When you come into the land, you will plant trees producing every kind of food.'

"What does this teach?... That Israel does not lack anything, as it is also written (Devarim 8), 'The land in which you will not lack anything.'"

(Talmud, Succah 35a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The value of Tzedakah

Hi,

"Rabbi Elazar said: It is greater to give tzedakah [financial charity] than to bring every korban [Temple offering], as it is written [Proverbs 21], 'One who performs tzedakah and justice is more choice, for Gd, than a korban.'"

(Talmud, Succah 49b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Demonstrating wisdom

Hi,

"It is written (Proverbs 17:27), 'The breath of a person of understanding is precious.'

"This means that if a person's each thought is precious to him - that he does not waste it - then he is truly a person of understanding."

(Comment of Vilna Gaon to Proverbs 17:27)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Join the crowd!

Hi,

"It is written (Ecclesiastes 1), 'The loss cannot be counted.'

"This refers to a situation in which one's peers all join to participate in a Mitzvah, and one does not join in with them."

(Talmud, Berachot 26a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Money and religion don't mix

Hi,


"One may not store coins in a sack that has been dedicated for storing Tefillin."

(Talmud, Berachot 23b)

[And yes, this includes coins intended for tzedakah.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

True justice

Hi,

"It must be understood that to be just towards man does not merely mean to be just toward hands, feet, heads or other members of the body; for they are not man, but only man's possessions.

"The essence of man, being like unto Gd, is invisible, the personality or the soul, for which the body with all its members and forces is but a tool, and at the same time the means whereby it assimilates the physical world.

"If you rob him of this tool you have robbed him of everything that belonged to him of this earth."

(R' Samshon Raphael Hirsch, Horeb paragraph 331)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Anger and Humility

Hi,


"Do not maintain your anger at another person, even for a day. Humble yourself before him, to be the first to request forgiveness."

(Orchot Chaim of the Rosh, #62)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Marrying Shabbat

Hi,


"Just as a man and woman become married when the Kallah (bride) enters the Chuppah, so Shabbat becomes married to the Jews at its entrance, with Kiddush."

(Maharsha's comment to Bava Kama 32b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The purpose of a fast day

Hi,

"There are days when all Jews fast because of the troubles that have beset them on those days. The goal is to awaken the hearts, to open the paths of repentance...

"As we remember these things, we will return to do what is right, as it is written, 'And they shall admit their sins and the sins of their ancestors...'"

(Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Fasts 5:1)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

17th of Tammuz

Hello,

The fast day of the 17th of Tammuz, observed Thursday July 9 this year, commemorates five tragedies:

1. Moses descended from meeting Gd and receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai, saw the Jews celebrating with the Golden Calf, and broke the two tablets Gd had given him.

2. The daily Tamid offering, which had been brought regularly in the Jerusalem Beit haMikdash [Temple] from the time the Jews built the Mishkan for over one thousand years, was halted during the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem before the Beit haMikdash was destroyed.

3. The Romans invaded Jerusalem, prior to destroying the second Beit haMikdash. (The Babylonians invaded Jerusalem to destroy the first Temple on the 9th of Tammuz.)

4. A Greek or Roman official named Apostimos held a public burning of the Torah.

5. Idols were set up in the Temple itself; it is not clear what year this happened.

(Mishneh Berurah 549:2)

Be well,
Mordechai

Embarrassing others

Hi,

"It would be better for a person to hurl himself into a fiery furnace than to embarrass another in public."

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 59a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Share the joy

Hi,

When you receive something good, make sure to share it with others:

"And you shall be happy with all of the good which HaShem, your Gd has given to you, and to your household. You, the Levite, and the stranger at your gate."

(Devarim 26:11)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Appreciating the value of community

Hi,

"As a person ascends in his spiritual development, he becomes more sensitive to the great value of the community. The community begins to live in his essence. In his heart, and in the depths of his desire, he feels the great needs of the community, the great value of the exciting life of being part of the community, and the entire community stands in his mind's eye as a single bloc. He fels the immanent existence of the community, and is filled with unlimited love and respect for it."

(Rav Avraham Yitzchak haKohen Kook, Orot haKodesh 3:157)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Government

Hi,

A conflicted message for the Fourth of July:

"Rabbi Chanina, the deputy Chief Kohen, said: Pray for the welfare of the government; if not for fear of the government, each person would swallow the other alive."

(Pirkei Avot 3:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Judging our leaders

Hi,

Preface: 70 elders assisted Moshe in judging cases for the Jews in the desert, on their way from Egypt to Israel.

"Why are the 70 elders not identified by name in the Torah? Lest people say, 'Is our judge like Moshe and Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, or Eldad and Meidad [figures of the desert era]?'"

[Rashi's explanation: Now that the 70 are not identified, we have no way to know whether our judges are better or worse than any of them.]

(Talmud, Rosh HaShanah 25a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Chauvinist or Sensitive?

Hi,

You might call this chauvinist, but I prefer to see it as sensitive:

"Rav said: One should always be careful lest he oppress his wife with his speech. She cries more easily, and so his punishment for oppressing her will come quickly."

(Talmud, Bava Metzia 59a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai