העורך Editor

Siach Sarfei Kodesh 1:175 (translated by Rabbi Chaim Kramer, Through Fire and Water – The Life of Reb Nosson of Breslov, p. 99):

… In the circumstances, Reb Nosson’s father-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Zvi Orbach, was urging him to take a position as a Rav.

Reb Nosson turned to the Rebbe for advice. The Rebbe told him to accept the position. Reb Nosson told the Rebbe that he was afraid of the awesome responsibility. Rebbe Nachman said to him, “Who then should be a rav if not one who is afraid?!”

Reb Nosson then asked:

Is this the emes – is it the right thing for me?

“Yes!” said the Rebbe.

Reb Nosson then pressed him:

“But is the emeser emes – is it really right for me?

“You want the real truth?” replied the Rebbe. “Then don’t become a rav”.

Reb Nosson later wrote that he was grateful to God that he was saved from taking the position, since it would have hindered his own spiritual growth and the subsequent spreading of Reb Nachman’s teachings.

The end.

Reb Nosson knew to press the question because Reb Nachman had earlier explained this idea of “true” truth. See too Likutei Halachos’ vitally correct explanation of the Medrash on “ותשלך אמת ארצה” (Ribbis 5:16).

If only Jews loved and feared Hashem enough to not be satisfied with appearances or suffice with tradition and legal fiction, Oness and Dochak, we would listen carefully, and read between the lines, and seek to obey Hashem’s True will. And Hashem would listen back.

Reb Nachman of Breslov placed Halacha above all else. As a friend just said to me (a la “Lubavitch is the closest religion to Judaism”): “Breslovers are the closest Litvaks to Chassidus!”

An excerpt from The Torah Revolution:

I am a Shomron resident and after ten years of gun ownership the police called me up, telling me to surround my gun to them, my license has expired. What happened was that up until now the Ministry of Interior sent out a notification, with a related form to pay a fee at the post office, to renew the license of gun ownership in every two or three years. Now, and without notice, they changed this practice and stopped sending out notifications of renewal, effectively disarming thousands of people with this cowardly bureaucratic trick.

See the rest here.

“לתקן עולם במלכות שדי”.

See the article on “the Seforim blog” right here by Mitchell First entitled “Le-Tacen Olam (לתכן עולם): Establishing the Correct Text in Aleinu”. (It originally appeared here.) The title is self-explanatory; the claim is made that the original and correct version of “Letaken” in “Aleinu” is spelled with the letter ‘Kaf’, not ‘Kuf’.

All I could come up with were several absent-minded interjections, like “Why not ‘Leconen’ instead?”, and “Is ‘Social Justice’ the accurate translation for ‘Tikkun Olam’?”). Instead of forming any sustained opinion on the issue, I will let you see it through virgin, unbiased eyes for yourself.

Please note: One really must check out many of the endnotes to get a decent picture of the views expressed. Indeed, this almost seems a misguided style requirement. Posts on the Seforim Blog often have footnotes more voluminous than the body of the article itself, simply because the content and citations are divided up between the two sections. What the ratio or criteria are I do not know.

(I am not saying this is more than a formal mess; I manage to read most notes without even checking what they refer to…)

I recently heard an audio Torah lesson from state-prostitute Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef (son of Rabbi Ovadya). Discussing יד מסמא יד מחרשת (O.C. 4:3), he said it still “applies”, and since one must wash hands after sleeping during the day (O.C. 4:15), therefore, one must also wash the hands of an infant (from the age it holds food directly, as opposed to a bottle) after every single nap (no mention of length) so it doesn’t go blind and deaf.

I’m not going to go into the independent onion-layers of ignorance shown here (per ספק ספיקא המתהפך). I wish to point out only the thought process which does and would have prevented many similar notions by modern Torah students: Try to imagine the sages of the Talmud actually ruling  – and living! – according to your proposed understanding. In this case, the sheer logistics of using that much water, and the price of the water, not kept artificially low, as it is today.

Bein Din Ledin provides an overview of the Bechukoseihem prohibition.

Check it out here.