The Crowns on the Letters

Hi,

"Rav Yehudah said, citing Rav: When Moshe ascended to heaven, he found Gd sitting and tying crowns to the letters. He said, ‘Master of the Universe, who forces You to do this?’

"Gd replied: There will be a man named Akiva ben Yosef, at the end of many generations, who will analyze each point to teach mountains and mountains of laws."

(Talmud, Menachot 29b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Training children in goodness

Hi,

"We hold that goodness is an art in which our children can achieve mastery only through early, intelligent training by exemplary role models."

(Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, The First Years of a Child's Life, Collected Writings Vol 7 pg. 137)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

How to read Tehillim

Hi,

"Two people read Tehillim [Psalms], one of them lacks for nothing, the second is drowning in trouble, Gd-forbid. This one reads it as words spoken by King David, as though he is re-telling a story of the past. The one who is crushed by suffering cries out, 'I drown in the depths!', his own cry, and King David is only giving his mouth the words to produce his cry from his heart."

(R' Klonynus Kalman Schapira, Bnei Machshavah Tovah, Seder Hadrachah uKlalim 1)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Torah as a spouse

Hi,

"Torah is compared to a spouse in various places. When it is first given to a Jew, it is like an arusah [betrothed], until he learns Torah and then it becomes his [fully wedded] spouse."

(Maharsha to Pesachim 49b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Honor your wife

Hi,

"The husband is duty bound to honor his wife. This is not optional and extra-legal; it is obligatory. Honor is more than the absence of disrespect; it is the according of salient, deferring respect to the one who is the main cause for true blessing residing in the home."

(R' Reuven Bulka, Jewish Marriage: A Halakhic Ethic, pg. 44-45)

[Note: The point about the home is a quote from Yevamot 62b, and not a statement on women's involvement outside the home.]

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Of children and grandchildren and hope

Hi,

"Shemuel told Rav Yehudah, 'Sharp one! Do not be on the court [alt. edition: "among those"] to transfer inheritance, even from a bad son to a good son – for you do not know what sort of seed will emerge from him."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 53a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Torah study and secular study, side by side

Hi,

"Our children need not forego the benefits of a worthwhile secular education; they need not sacrifice the opportunities for the study of the arts and sciences in order to obtain all the treasures of truth and wisdom that Judaism holds for their lives. If both studies are nurtured hand in hand, there will be ample room for both; the one will reinforce the other and the result will be a Jewish education that will find favor in the eyes of both Gd and man."

(R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, Religious Education, Collected Writings 7:21)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Yaakov, Yosef and sibling jealousy

Hi,

"Reish Lakish said, citing R’ Elazar ben Azaryah: One must not vary his treatment of one child among others, for via the striped cloak that our father Yaakov made for Yosef, ‘They hated him.’"

(Midrash, Bereishit Rabbah 84:8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Students need to know they have the teacher's attention

Hi,

"R’ Preida had a student who would only learn after R’ Preida taught him a lesson 400 times. One day, R’ Preida was asked to participate in a mitzvah [which would take place after the lesson], and he taught the student but the student could not learn. He asked, “Why is it different now?” The student replied, “From the moment I heard them tell my master that there was a mitzvah to pursue, I could not focus. At every moment I said, ‘Now the master will leave, now the master will leave.’” R’ Preida said to him, “Pay attention, and I will teach you.”"

(Talmud, Eruvin 54b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Education is like a shoe

Hi,

"The fact that the maxim חנוך לנער על פי דרכו ('Raise the boy according to the course his life will take when he is grown') directs our attention separately to each individual child whose education has been entrusted to us, and bids us raise each of our children according to the future course of his life, should make us mindful of yet another reflection that is no less worthy of our consideration: Every child must be raised as an individual…

"The practical means by which we are to guide each individual child to this height of pure devotion to duty are not the same. They are as different from one another as the tendencies and abilities, the temperaments and proclivities, the intellectual and emotional potential are in each individual personality. Every shoe does not fit all feet. The objective of our educational work should be to raise children as different as Jacob and Esau in such a manner that both of them will grow up to be good and capable men. But if this purpose is to be achieved, the two cannot be raised by the same method."

(Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, Thoughts on Education, Collected Writings 7:419)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Faith of Michah

Hi,

"I fell into the depths of the pit, but via this I will rise and become strong, for via this I will be saved. Even when I sit the darkness of troubles, Gd is light for me. If I lack physical light, the light of material success, I have the light of Gd, the light of religion and faith."

(Malbim to Michah 7:8)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The extent of our tzedakah obligation

Hi,

"Our sages taught: If an orphan comes to get married, we rent a house for him, we arrange a bed and all necessary implements, and we pay for him to get married, as it is written (Deuteronomy 15), “[Give him] whatever he is lacking, which is lacking to him.” ‘Whatever he is lacking’ refers to a house, ‘that is lacking’ refers to a bed and table, and ‘to him’ refers to getting married, as it is written (Genesis 2), “I will make to him a helpmate opposite him.”

"Our sages taught: ‘Whatever he is lacking’ means that we must support him, but we are not instructed to enrich him. ‘That is lacking to him’ means even a horse to ride and a servant to run before him.

"It is said of Hillel the Elder that he purchased a horse for a pauper whose parents had been wealthy, and he hired a servant to run in front of the horse. Once Hillel could not find a servant, and so he ran in front of the pauper for 3 mil (about 3 kilometers), himself."

(Talmud, Ketuvot 67b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Welcoming special needs children in the synagogue

Hi,

"When they come to the synagogue, the congregation must greet them pleasantly, even when they cannot learn with the community. They must see to it that such children answer “Amen” and Kedushah, saying it with them so that they will do what they can, and so as to honor their parents. This has value for the children themselves as they fulfill whatever they can, as even walking to synagogue is a mitzvah, and they can kiss the Torah scroll."

(Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Igrot Moshe Orach Chaim 4:29)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Founding of the Jewish Public School System

Hi,

"Rav Yehudah said, citing Rav: Remember that man, named Yehoshua ben Gamla, for the good. If not for him, Torah would have been forgotten from Israel! Initially, one who had a father would learn Torah from him, and one who did not have a father would not learn Torah… They then enacted a system of public teachers in Jerusalem… Still, only those with fathers would be brought to learn, and those who did not have fathers would not go and learn. They then enacted that, in each region, the people would establish teachers.

"They would bring in the students at the age of 16 or 17, and then if the teacher got upset at the student the student would simply lash out and leave. Yehoshua ben Gamla enacted that they should have teachers in every land and in every city, and bring in the students at age 6 or 7."

(Talmud, Bava Batra 21a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Torah should be free

Hi,

"[Moshe said:] ‘Gd instructed me, at that time, to teach you,’ and, ‘See, I have taught you statutes and laws, as Gd instructed me.’ Just as I taught for free, so you should teach for free."

(Talmud, Nedarim 37a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Extend a hand

Hi,

"When your brother becomes impoverished, and his hand descends among you, you shall hold on to him, to the stranger and the resident, and he will live with you."

(Vayyikra 25:35)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The entrances of Gehennom

Hi,

I'm not certain what to draw from this, but I think it's interesting to contemplate:

"R’ Yirmiyah ben Elazar said: Gehennom [Hell] has three entrances – in the wilderness, in the sea, and in Jerusalem. In the wilderness as it is written, ‘And they, and all they had, descended alive in She’ol.’ In the sea as it is written, ‘I cried out from the belly of She’ol, and You heard my voice.’ In Jerusalem as it is written, ‘The word of Gd, who has light in Zion and an oven in Jerusalem.’ It was taught in the yeshiva of R’ Yishmael – The light is Gehennom, and the oven is the entrance to Gehennom."

(Talmud, Eruvin 19a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Yom ha'Atzmaut

Hi,

In honor of Yom haAtzmaut, Israel Independence Day, celebrated Monday night and Tuesday:

"You will return to HaShem your Gd and hear His voice, according to all that I instruct you today; you and your children, with all of your heart and all of your soul.

"HaShem will return your exile and have mercy on you, and He will return and gather you from all of the nations to which HaShem, your Gd had scattered you.

"HaShem your Gd will bring you to the land which your ancestors inherited, and you will inherit it, and HaShem will prepare good things for you and make you greater in number than your ancestors.

"HaShem your Gd will circumcise your heart and the heart of your children, to love HaShem your Gd with all of your heart and with all of your soul, for your life."

(Devarim 30:2-6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The pain of anger

Hi,

"One who grows angry is subject to all manner of Gehennom (Hell), as it is written (Kohelet 11), 'Remove anger from your heart, and you will remove evil from your flesh.'"

(Talmud, Nedarim 22a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Obey the law, Impress your neighbors

Hi,

"I have taught you statutes and laws, as my Gd instructed me, to practice them in the midst of the land you are coming to take. You shall guard and practice them, for these demonstrate your wisdom and intelligence in the eyes of the nations; they will hear all of these laws and say, “This must be a wise and intelligent nation!”"

(Devarim 4:5-6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Reward and the Afterlife

Hi,

"They taught in the yeshiva of R’ Yaakov… If a person's father told him to climb a building and bring back young birds, and he ascended, sent away the mother and took the young, and then upon his return he fell and died, what of his “length of days” [promised biblically as a reward for honoring parents and for sending away a mother bird before taking the young] and where would be the good due to him?

"Rather, “so that your days will be aroch” refers to the world that is entirely aroch, and “so that it will be good for you” is in the world that is entirely good.

"But perhaps such an event simply could not happen? R’ Yaakov witnessed such an event."

[Note: I did not translate "aroch" because some render it as "long" and others as "of high quality". The former is Hebrew, the latter is Aramaic. I could see arguments for either translation.]

(Talmud, Chullin 142a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Judgment Day

Hi,

"Rava taught: When a person is brought in for judgment, they say to him:
Did you deal honestly?
…establish time for Torah study?
…involve yourself in procreation?
…hope for Mashiach?
…delve into fine points of the Torah's wisdom?
…understand lessons within the Torah's lessons?

"And yet, with all of this - if he possesses awe of Gd in his storehouse then he will do well, but otherwise he will not."

(Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Fundamentals of Faith

Hi,

"Investigating the fundamentals of Judaism is dangerous. Even if religious viewpoints agree on general themes like the existence of Gd and the phenomenon of reward and punishment, they still differ on specific points…

"It is appropriate to say that…every Jew must believe that everything stated in the Torah is wholly true. Someone who denies a statement which is from the Torah, knowing that it is the Torah’s statement, is called a “Kofer.”…

"But someone who holds to Moses’s Torah and believes its fundamentals, and then is fooled in his examination when he approaches the Torah by examining the verses and using his own mental faculties, such that he says one of the fundamental principles is different…he is not a “Kofer.” He is included among the pious sages of the Jews, even though he errs in his examination. He sins accidentally, and he must atone for it."

(Rav Yosef Albo, Sefer ha'Ikkarim 1:1, 1:2)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The value of Privacy

Hi,

"‘And Gd spoke to Moshe in the Sinai wilderness’ – Until there was a Tent of Meeting, He spoke to Moshe at the bush… and in Egypt… and in Midian… and in Sinai…

"But once the Tent of Meeting stood, He said, ‘Privacy [tzniut צניעות] is good,’… and He spoke to Moshe in the Tent of Meeting."

(Midrash, Bamidbar Rabbah 1:3)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Bringing the Jews from Egypt via human agents

Hi,

"I only benefited you by removing you from Egypt via a human being, with whom you could speak and to whom you could convey your needs, and who could teach you My ways. These are Moshe, who came to Pharoah; Aharon, who prophesied to Israel before Moshe came; and Miriam, who prophesied for the women. Also, the Torah was only given via Moshe and his speaker Aharon, and both taught the mitzvot to the men, and Miriam to the women."

(Ibn Ezra to Michah 6:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Our Mountains

Hi,

"What is the meaning of, ‘The sound of my Beloved nears, leaping over mountains (Shir haShirim 2:8)’?

"Gd said: If I were to look to the deeds of Israel, they would never be redeemed. Rather, I will look to their holy ancestors – and so it is written, ‘I have heard the cries of the children of Israel [and I have remembered My covenant].’ I will redeem them in the merit of their ancestors.

"Thus it is written, ‘Leaping over mountains,’ referring only to the ancestors, as it is written, ‘Hear, O mountains, the quarrel of Gd.’"

(Midrash, Shemot Rabbah 15:4)

Have a great day,
Mordechai