His latest infectiously wrathful article (on Esser Agaroth) can be one of the chapters. He takes on Australia’s state, Ynet (of course), the state of Israel, another foreign devil…, you name it. I’m happy he didn’t mention me, too!
Few write this well.
סנהדרין מ”ד ב’:
אמר ליה אביי לרב דימי האי קרא במערבא במאי מוקמיתו ליה אל תצא לריב מהר פן מה תעשה באחריתה בהכלים אותך רעך ריבך ריב את רעך וסוד אחר אל תגל בשעה שאמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא ליחזקאל לך אמור להם לישראל אביך האמורי ואמך חתית אמרה רוח פסקונית לפני הקדוש ברוך הוא רבונו של עולם אם יבואו אברהם ושרה ויעמדו לפניך אתה אומר להם ומכלים אותם…
רש”י שם:
אמר רוח פסקונית, גבריאל.
הגהות הגר”א:
נ”ב, אינו כן.
א”ה, איני יודע טעמו.
July 25, 2017
This week’s expected House vote to add more sanctions on Russia, Iran, and North Korea is a prime example of how little thought goes into US foreign policy. Sanctions have become kind of an automatic action the US government takes when it simply doesn’t know what else to do.
No matter what the problem, no matter where on earth it occurs, the answer from Washington is always sanctions. Sanctions are supposed to force governments to change policies and do what Washington tells them or face the wrath of their people. So the goal of sanctions is to make life as miserable as possible for civilians so they will try to overthrow their governments. Foreign leaders and the elites do not suffer under sanctions. This policy would be immoral even if it did work, but it does not.
Why is Congress so eager for more sanctions on Russia? The neocons and the media have designated Russia as the official enemy and the military industrial complex and other special interests want to continue getting rich terrifying Americans into believing the propaganda.
Why, just weeks after the White House affirmed that Iran is abiding by its obligations under the nuclear treaty, does Congress pass additional sanctions anyway? Washington blames Iran for “destabilizing” Syria and Iraq by helping them fight ISIS and al-Qaeda. Does this make any sense at all?
When is the last time Iran committed a terrorist act on our soil? It hasn’t. Yet we learned from the declassified 28 pages of the Congressional 9/11 report that Saudi Arabia was deeply involved in the 2001 attacks against Washington and New York. Who has funded al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syria for years? Saudi Arabia. Yet no one is talking about sanctions against that country. This is because sanctions are not about our security. They are about politics and special interests.
Why is Congress poised to add yet more sanctions on North Korea? Do they want the North Korean people to suffer more than they are already suffering? North Korea’s GDP is half that of Vermont – the US state with the lowest GDP! Does anyone believe they are about to invade us? There is much talk about North Korea’s ballistic missile program, but little talk about 30,000 US troops and weapons on North Korea’s border. For Washington, it’s never a threat if we do it to the other guy.
Here’s an alternative to doing the same thing over and over: Let’s take US troops out of North Korea after 70 years. The new South Korean president has proposed military talks with North Korea to try and reduce tensions. We should get out of the way and let them solve their own problems. If Iran and Russia want to fight ISIS and al-Qaeda at the invitation of their ally, Syria, why stand in the way? We can’t run the world. We are out of money.
President Trump was elected to pursue a new kind of foreign policy. If he means what he said on the campaign trail, he will veto this foolish sanctions bill and begin dismantling neocon control of his Administration.
From Lewrockwell.com, here.
Shulchan Aruch O.C. 423:4:
נוהגים לחלוץ תפילין כשרוצים להתפלל מוסף
Mishna Berurah idem 423:10:
נוהגים וכו’, והטעם דכמו דאין מניחים תפילין ביו”ט משום שיו”ט בעצמו אות כמו כן יש לנהוג בראש חדש עכ”פ בשעת מוסף שמזכירים מוספי היום דאותה זכירה ג”כ הוא כעין אות וכתב הפמ”ג שיש לחלוץ התפילין בובא לציון קודם יהי רצון שנשמור חוקיך ויש נוהגים רק לחלוץ הרצועות מהאצבע קודם יהי רצון מיהו כל זה בר”ח אבל בחוה”מ שהוא יו”ט גמור יש לחלצם קודם הלל (מג”א).
Did you understand the logic? I did not. It appears to be a bias for “custom” and against Tefillin (I have not the time to further investigate now).
See this:
Question: Why do we take off our tefillin before musaf on Rosh Chodesh?
Simple answer: Because everyone else is doing it.
Refined Question: Why is there a widespread practice to do so?
Answer: Because, as the Beth Yosef (Tur Orah Hayim 25) writes, in some places the congregation recites the text of q’dusha that begins with kether yittnu l’cha (“The angels shall give Thee a crown”), and it is inappropriate for us to be wearing our crowns while reciting it. Many of our greatest authorities have found this whole line of reasoning hard to understand, as 1. many other congregations do not recite that version, and 2. even if they did, why would that necessitate removing our tefillin? (Recall that it is also a weekly occurrence in many congregations that recitation of said q’dusha elicts others to put on their “crowns.”) As the Taz (Orah Hayim 25:16) points out, this practice is not universal, and at one point it never existed, and perhaps it is now on its way out. That is, many Rishonim never heard of this idea before, and as we pointed out earlier, the Vilna Gaon held that there can never be a minhag to not perform a commandment. And, see this from Rabbi Melamed, where he cites the same L’vush the Mishna Berura cites: somehow, the musaf of Rosh Hodesh is like an oth, a Sign of the Covenant, like observing the Sabbath, and we generally only have two signs per day: Circumcision everyday, combined with either a Sabbath or tefillin. On Hol Hamoed, those who do not wear tefillin or who remove them early do so because according to some opinions, Hol Hamoed is a day similar to the sabbbath in that m’lacha is forbidden thereon, if not by biblical law then by rabbinic law, but no such rule has ever existed for Rosh Hodesh. Notice how Rabbi Melamed mentions that he did not initially give the older, classical reason that was already dismissed, and instead he resorts to the later reason, that of the L’vush, because even though it is wrong, it is not as wrong. After all, we are saying Musaf. But he does offer that it seems that the L’vush was also bothered by this strange practice, and tried to suggest a post-facto explanation for something everyone was already doing. This goes to show you how strong precedent was and how afraid certain authorities were to change a practice they knew to be problematic. And it was that unfortunate attitude that kept Jews in Europe before the Holocaust, and it was going against that attitude that allowed us to once again become a sovereign people in our own land, both in the past century, and 2,000 years ago during the time of the Maccabees, whose story is directly analogous to ours.
Question: So why did the minhag become so common among ashkenazim if there was never a good reason?
Answer: Because, unfortunately, every weekday men are antsy to remove their tefillinand leave the services, even if the prayers are short, like on no-tahanun days. You know this to be true, and it is less so for stronger groups, like in the yeshivas, where the congregants have more time for personal prayers and less pressing responsibilities after prayers. Now, consider what happens when you suddenly add hallel and musaf to the service. The prayers go twenty minutes longer, and it just increases the pressure to leave quickly on a work day. If you’re wearing tefillin, it’s a work day. Note that. Rosh Hodesh was always a workday, and no one ever considered that there should be an issur m’lacha on it, and unlike Hol Hamoed, when at the very least the Rabbis instituted such a a prohibition. The fact that the congregants get a chance to at least remove their tefillin on time in preparation for leaving the services is very enticing. You have also seen how the post-musaf aleinu on Rosh Hodesh is often attended by about half of those who were there for prayers. Years ago, I did not have a quorum left to say the psalm of the day afterwards.
Question: So what do you do on Rosh Hodesh?
Answer: If alone, I keep my tefillin on until I finish my prayers. After all, it is a shame that I only usually get to perform the commandment during morning prayers, so why should I cut it short, especially on a day when I need to pray for longer? Because I never intentionally pray alone on Rosh Hodesh, I would prefer one of those minyanim where they keep their tefillin on for musaf, much like prominent Bnei Brak rabbis were known not to pray in traditional Ashkenazic synagogues when visiting the United States because those congregations would typically omit the daily priestly blessing. Tefillin-at-Musaf minyanim are out there, and it is my hope that they will become more common. Anticipating your next question, I believe that “renew our days as of old” is not an empty prayer, and it is both with in our power and incumbent upon us to restore observance of the commandments to the way it once was, the way it was intended.
When in the synagogue, I try to gauge the congregation. If I have to lead the service, which is often, and no one notices, I only remove my shel rosh, and if I can not get away with just that, I take off my shel yad also. This is because that I, as the emissary of the congregation, have to do what they want. However, I make a point of putting my tefillin completely back on, with a blessing, immediately after musaf so that “the children will ask,” i.e., to raise awareness of the issues, and I continue wearing them for a few more minutes. As the Mishna Berura points out, all agree that the entire day of Rosh Hodesh is the prescribed time for wearing tefillin. When I do not have to lead the prayers, if I can hide the fact that I do not remove my tefillin, then I do that, which is very rare, and if I can not, then I only remove my shel rosh and cover up my shel yad and its straps. Afterwards, I make a point to put the shel rosh back on on and recite a blessing, and this is also in order to raise awareness.
From Rabbi Avi Grossman, here.
דרישת ציון על טהרת הקודש ◆ דעת תורה בנושאי ארץ הקודש ת”ו
שלום רב לכל החברים,
אנו שמחים להגיש בפניכם את גליון חודש מנחם אב של “קדושת ציון”.
בגליון זה תמצאו מאמרים מעניינים בענייני ימי האבלות בהם אנו מצויים, וכן בעניינים שונים העולים על סדר היום הציבורי ובנושאים הקבועים של העלון.
אנו שואפים כל העת לשפר את העלון בכל המובנים על-מנת להגיש לקהל הקוראים האיכותי חומר כלבבו.
לעיתים העלון עובר גם תהליכים, אשר לוקחים זמן מה. כך לדוגמא תמצאו בעלון זה נסיון יותר לקטלג את המאמרים לתוך מדורים קבועים, ועם זאת לא כל המאמרים כבר נכנסו לתבנית זו. אנו מקווים שעד העלון הבא הדברים יהיו כבר יותר מסודרים מבחינה זו.
על התוכן עצמו אנו משתדלים שלא להתפשר כלל, ומתוך המאמרים הרבים שנשלחים אלינו אנו בוררים את המיטב עבורכם.
מלבד ההשקעה בהדפסת העלון, אנו עושים מאמץ גדול להביאו לידי כלל ציבור היראים בכל רחבי הארץ, והדבר כרוך במאמצים אדירים ובעלויות מרובות.
החודש החלטנו להיענות לדרישה ולהפיץ 20,000 עותקים, מספר חסר תקדים, אך לא ראינו מכך מנוס, אחר שבמקומות רבים התלוננו שהעלון אינו מגיע, ומאידך לא יכולנו להסתפק בשלושה או ארבעה עלונים לבית כנסת כאשר הצמא הוא כה גדול.
מצב זה מחייב היערכות מיוחדת הן בהדפסה והן בהפצת העלון, והעלויות גדולות בהרבה ממה שחלמנו שתהיינה לפני שנתיים כשפתחנו את העלון. אנו מודים לה’ על כך משום שזה סימן לכך שהצלחנו לחדור למקומות רבים מעבר לכל הציפיות, אך הדבר מחייב גם את ציבור התומכים והאוהדים לשנס את מתניו ולתרום למען המערכה.
כפי שמפורסם בעלון עצמו, ישנן עמדות של “נדרים פלוס” ושל “קהילות”, דרכן ניתן לתרום, ומי שמוכן קצת יותר לטרוח וליצור קשר במייל הזה יחסוך לנו אף את העלויות שלהם. לאור המצב, אנו מבקשים במיוחד השתתפות של הוראות קבע איש איש כפי יכולתו, על-מנת שנוכל לתכנן את הפעילות לטווח ארוך, כאשר מלבד העלון אנו שואפים לערוך גם שיעורים, ימי עיון ועוד.
זכרו! כל מי שתורם, למעשה תורם לעצמו, כי כולנו מעוניינים בהפצת המסר, וככל שיתרבו השותפים בעול, כך יוקל מעל גבי אלו שעוסקים במלאכה.
כמו-כן נודה מאד לכל מי שירצה לחלק את העלון במקומו באופן מושכל, אם זה בישיבה, בכולל, בבית הכנסת או בכל מקום אחר, משום שתמיד עדיף שהחלוקה תיעשה בידי אנשי המקום המזדהים עם המטרה מאשר על-ידי מחלק מקצועי, שאינו מבני המקום. כמו-כן הדבר יחסוך לנו גם עלויות.
בתקוה להבנה ולהשתתפות,
יהודה אפשטיין,
עלון “קדושת ציון”
Reprinted with permission.