העורך Editor

Some Jews refuse to utter obscene (or vaguely suggestive) words and expressions, even though these appear all over Tanach and Chazal. These are substituted with “Bei’ah” or “…” or outlandish euphemisms. Where did they get this from [in Rishonim]?

Perhaps from Rabbenu Yonah’s Sefer Hayir’ah:

ואל ישמע שום טומאה על שפתיך, וכל דבר נבול וצד דבר ערוה לא ישמע על פיך, כגון להזכיר זונה, או כל דבר נבלה, כי שוחה עמוקה פי זרות, מעמיקים לו גיהנם והופכים לו גזר דין של שבעים שנה לרעה, ואף השומעים ושותקים ונהנים בשמיעה ואינם הולכים משם, נכשלים בדבר.

But from his language, Rabbenu Yonah refers to doing so for no good reason, or for lustful purposes (as do Chazal he quotes).

This matter requires further investigation.

Easy. Get rid of the jobs.

1. There are psychopaths in the Knesset!
2. There are crazies in the Knesset!
3. There are leftists\rightists in the Knesset!
4. There are too many women in the Knesset!
5. There are too many men in the Knesset!
6. There are open communists in the Knesset!
7. There are secret communists in the Knesset!
8. There may soon be Cursedians in the Knesset!
9. Terrorists in the Knesset?
10. The Knesset has people who should be in jail!
11. There are feminists in the Knesset!
12. There are Others in the Knesset!
13. There are authoritarians in the Knesset (all of them)!

The government will always have bad people. The solution is, cut the budgets to -0, eliminate all the positions, and throw all present and potential rascals out for good, by destroying their natural habitat.

Get rid of the jobs. Don’t bring them back.

“What I dreaded has befallen me”; a reader has asked my opinion of RationalistJudaism.com…

The topic is too nuanced for writing and\or publishing, let alone for a crowd, but I will make general and inadequate comments:

• First and foremost, even one who denies the “13 Ikkarim” (or appears to) is a Kosher Jew, אכמ”ל, see page 10 over here. Rambam’s 13 Principles are not halachic.
• By definition, the truth cannot be heresy in Judaism, and Emuna does not entail telling anyone falsehoods, either.
• Indeed, there is a time-honored rationalist school of thought in Judaism, one I do not, myself, belong to.
• We have quoted RationalistJudaism.com plenty here in the past, and hope to continue doing so.
• Yours Truly lacks aptitude for the exact sciences.
• One may not judge Jews without hearing them out first, as was, in fact, done in this and many other cases.

To be clear, I’m dodging plenty of things here on purpose!

At least I think it is governmental.

Need a few pages of a Torah work not in your library? “Sifriyat Harambam” will scan and send them to you for free!

Email: rambaml1@gmail.com

I heard the following story from a reliable source (although I may have misremembered some minor detail):

Rabbi Aaron Katzenellenbogen, who later co-founded “Neturei Karta” with Rabbi Amram Blau, once unexpectedly travelled to Bnei Brak, interrupted the Chazon Ish’s Torah learning, banged with his fist on the table, and loudly demanded the Chazon Ish publically denounce… something or other.

First, his host pointed out making too many proclamations renders each less valuable. Then the Chazon Ish tried to cheerfully change the topic. But Rabbi Katzenellenbogen was adamant in his demand: You must do this “for the sake of Judaism”. Eventually, the Chazon had no choice, so he asked: Well, why don’t you denounce it yourself? To which Rabbi Katzenellenbogen responded: Me?! No one listens to me! To have an effect, the statement must issue from a respected personage, like the Chazon Ish.

Here the Chazon Ish brought down the hammer: If no one else listens to you, then why should I myself listen to you?!