Month: November 2016 – כ״ב במרחשוון תשע״ז

Our Torah knowledge is in bad shape without the Beis Hamikdash. Chazal say so. But here it is with pathos from none other than Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum on Divrei Yoel II p. 451:

No kidding.

We have written here before about the crucial need (and possibility) of seeking prophecy.

An excerpt:

Jews must seek prophecy anew. This is not mere preference. We need a prophet for the various upcoming stages of Jewish history, such as building the Temple, establishing priestly lineage (“yichus”), waging wars, kingship, identifying the true Messiah, and more.

You might ask: why didn’t previous generations make the same effort? First of all, some did, as one can see in the introduction to Rabbi Chaim Vital’s “Sha’arei Kedusha”. Second, poor past actions by our forebears are never a good excuse for ignoring our obligations as Jews. Lastly, and here is the stress, the present time is far more opportune for this lofty quest, now most jews are located in Israel under Jewishly owned government.

This is because prophecy is mainly a public affair. As Chazal say, after Chet Ha’egel God threatened to remove Moshe’s gift of prophecy, since the gift was never granted for Moshe’s own sake alone:

וידבר ה’ אל משה לך רד, אמר הקב”ה למשה לך מגדולתך כלום נתתי לך גדולה אלא בשביל ישראל

Baruch ben Neriya, too, requested the gift of prophecy but was rejected (Yirmiya chapter 45), because, as God explains, he was about to exile the jews from Israel, anyway.

Our current national situation is quite the opposite, so the time is come.

בתגובתנו לחוברת נגד “קדושת ציון” שאלנו: מיהו ש.נ.?

כעת קבלתי את תשובת מערכת קדושת ציון:

… מדובר בחברנו היקר הרב שאול ניר, ממייסדי האגודה וממפיצי “קול התור“. בעבר היה במחתרת היהודית. שאול נפצע באופן קשה לפני שנה בחנוכה מירי מחבלים בשומרון, ובחסדי ה‘ התאושש. בעת פציעתו ביקשנו בעלונים מהציבור להתפלל לרפואתו, ומכאן לקחו שונאי ציון את שמו ובטפשותם הבינו שהוא מ”מייסדי הציונות הדתית”.

We have discussed whether modern scholars may invent prohibitions of permissible activities.

I now see there is a long list of additional examples in the introduction to the Kissei Rachamim commentary on Mishna Berurah part three by Rabbi Mazuz.

The Rambam writes (Deos 5:10) from Sifri:

English translation (from Chabad.org, here):

The way of sensible men is that first, one should establish an occupation by which he can support himself. Then, he should purchase a house to live in and then, marry a wife. [This order of priorities may be inferred from Deuteronomy 20:5-7], which states: “Who is the man who has planted a vineyard, but not redeemed it…;” “who is the man who has built a house, but not dedicated it…;” “who is the man who has betrothed a woman, but not taken her [to wife]…”

In contrast, a fool begins by marrying a wife. Then, if he can find the means, he purchases a house. Finally, towards the end of his life, he will search about for a trade or support himself from charity.

[This is also implied by the order of] the curses mentioned [in Deuteronomy 28:30]: “You shall betroth a woman…, you shall build a house…, you shall plant a vineyard;” i.e., your behavior will be disordered so that you will not succeed in your ways. However, in regard to blessing [I Samuel 18:14] states: “And David was thoughtful in all his undertakings and God was with him.”

Can’t say it better myself.