Devarim: Words of Rebuke

This week's Parasha starts out:

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on that side of the Jordan in the desert, in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel and Lavan and Hazeroth and Di Zahav.

Rashi explains:

Since these are words of rebuke and he [Moses] enumerates here all the places where they angered the Omnipresent, therefore it makes no explicit mention of the incidents [in which they transgressed], but rather merely alludes to them, [by mentioning the names of the places] out of respect for Israel (cf. Sifrei).

Rebuke is not an easy matter. Not everybody knows how to rebuke his fellowman in a way that what he says will make a positive impression. Rabbi Akiva said, "I am in doubt if there is anyone in this generation who knows how to give reproof." (Arachin 16B). Rebuking someone by hanging a sign from your balcony seems to me to be a good method. The person is not being attacked personally and he may take the words to heart. Here are some words of rebuke that I have seen recently (click on the pics to enlarge):

The sign on the left says, "No entrance to owners of iPhones (or similar devices) or unfiltered internet." The second sign says," O merciful nation of Israel! Pray that my father will get rid of the iPhone and the internet and not break up our family." I agree with the signs that iPhones, internet etc. can be dangerous. If you don't believe me, ask Anthony Weiner.

More of the same:

This sign warns in the name of Rabbi Kanievsky that those who have iPhones bring trouble into their homes:

This really does not fit in but I'm including it anyway. The red sign in the middle says, "To the Nations of the world: (from their ambassadors in the land who are closely following the struggle against Judaism in Israel) Jewish Education under Foreign Rule is preferable to Foreign Education under Jewish Rule".

Baruch Dayan HaEmet. I just noticed that one of the signs announces that Zahava Golda Levin, the wife of Rabbi Simchah Shlomo Levin shlita, has passed away. (Rabbi Simchah Shlomo Levin is the son of the famed Tzaddik of Jerusalem Rabbi Aryeh Levin zt"l).

A Biblical Wi-Fi Donkey?

Some people just cannot part from the internet:

An Israeli attraction meant to immerse tourists in an authentic, ancient biblical experience has outfitted its donkeys with wi-fi. At the historical park of Kfar Kedem in northern Israel, visitors dressed in biblical robes ride donkeys through the rolling hills of the Galilee, learning how people lived in Old Testament times.

Now they can also surf the web while touring the land of the Bible on one of the oldest forms of transportation. A device slung around the donkey's neck like a feedbag is actually a wi-fi hotspot.

I guess that is what you call progress.

A Couple of Links

Obituary: Rav Yishayahu "Nitzan Or" Rotter, Founder of Rotter Net - Nice work, Jameel!

MK Protests Pro-Gay TV Content, is Bashed - Arutz 7 puts the whole thing in proportion. I would advise Anastassia Michaeli to get rid of her television set.

Parashat Kedoshim: You are What You...See

The expression, "you are what you eat" is well known. If you want to be healthy, you have to eat fresh and nourishing food. Where did the phrase come from?:

Ger. Mann ist was Mann isst, man is what man eats; cf. the philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-72) in Jacob Moleschott Lehre der Nahrungsmittel: Für das Volk (1850) ‘Advertisement’: Der Mensch ist, was er isst, Man is what he eats. The saying is sometimes attributed to the French gastronome Anthelme Brillat-Savarin who wrote in his Physiologie du Goût (1825): Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es, Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.

The Torah prescribes a strict diet for the Jewish People. According to the "The Path of the Just", we are dealing with a spiritual version of "you are what you eat":

The sin which comes third after theft and illicit relations in respect to desire is that of forbidden foods - whether thos; that are ritually unclean, or an admixture containing them, or a combination of meat and milk, or suet, or blood, or food cooked by gentiles, or the utensils of gentiles, or the wine used in ther libations, or their drinking-wine. Cleanliness in relation to all of these requires great scrutiny and self-strengthening because there is a lust in the heart for good foods and because one must sometimes suffer a monetary loss as a result of admixtures and the like. The prohibitions concerning forbidden foods also involve many details, as is reflected in all of the commonly known laws that are treated in the Halachic writings. One who is lenient in relation to these laws when he has been instructed to be stringent is destroying his soul. As is stated in the Sifra (Shemini), " `Do not sully yourselves with them, becoming unclean with them' (Leviticus 11:43) - if you sully yourselves with them, you will, in the end, partake of their uncleanliness." Forbidden foods carry uncleanliness itself into a person's heart and soul until the holiness of the Presence Blessed be He departs and withdraws from him, as is also stated in the Talmud ( Yoma 39a), " `...becoming unclean with them' - do not read `becoming unclean with them,' but `becoming dull with them.' " For sin dulls a man's heart in that it causes to depart from him true knowledge and the spirit of wisdom that the Holy One Blessed be He gives to the Saints (as it is said [Proverbs 2:6], "For God gives wisdom"), and he remains beastly and earthy, immersed in the grossness of this world. Forbidden foods are worse in this respect than all other prohibitions, for they enter into a person's body and become flesh of his flesh. In order to instruct us that this applies not only to unclean beasts or to earth creatures, but also to those animals, which, though in the "clean" category, are ritually unclean, Scripture tells us (Leviticus 11:47), "To distinguish between the unclean and the clean," upon which our Teachers of blessed memory comment (Sifra ad loc.), "There is no need to point up the distinction between an ass and a cow. What, then, is the meaning of `between the unclean and the clean'? - between what is unclean to you and what is clean to you; between the cutting of most of the windpipe and the cutting of half. And what is the difference between most and half ? - a hairs-breadth." The reason that they concluded in this manner ("And what is the difference between `most' ... ") is to show how amazing the power of the mitzvoth is, that a hair's-breadth constitutes the difference between uncleanliness and cleanliness itself.

Anyone possessed of sense will regard forbidden food as poison, or as food with which some poison has become mixed. Would anyone allow himself to partake of such food? If there were any room for suspicion or even the slightest doubt, he would certainly not permit himself to eat of it; and if he did, he would be regarded as an absolute fool. Forbidden food, as we have explained, is poison itself to the heart and soul."

I claim that "you are what you see, what you hear, and what you read". Whatever your mind is dealing with, that is "you" at that very moment. This is perhaps one of the reasons that our sages said, "Thoughts of sin are worse than the sin itself (Yoma 29A)". The sin itself may be performed by one's hands, mouth, or whatever. This is a serious matter in and of itself which requires teshuvah. However, "thoughts of sin" go much deeper, entering the intimate recesses of one's inner being.

This is why it is so important to be close to Torah scholars, to invest time in learning Torah. Then one's mind is occupied with positive things: mitzvot, ethics, midot, holiness (Leviticus 19:1-2):

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them: Ye shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy.

Of course, the opposite is also true: If one hangs around with fools, scoffers, and/or slanderers, takes part in their conversations, and reads their books (or blogs), one fills his mind with filth and vulgarity. That is what his mind is occupied with, and to a certain degree that is "him" at that very moment. Holiness and impurity cannot dwell together.

God has clearly put two paths before us. We shall chose holiness and life.

Safely Surfing the Internet

I liked this article that was published in the Ma'yanei Yeshua parsha sheet, so I decided to translate it for the English peaking world:

Rabbi Ya'ir Frank gives us 3 tips for surfing the internet safely: before, during, and after. In a world where internet is becoming such a significant part of our lives it is warmly recommended to think about these things and to adopt them:

1) Enter with a list

In order to avoid wasting money, one of the recommendations of the Pa'amonim organization is to go to the store with a shopping list and buy only what is written on it. One who goes shopping without a list will often find himself buying things that he does not really need. Why? Because it was "on sale", or in a pack of five, and it's a shame not to buy...

We can say the same with relation to internet, and even more so. After all, the difference between the internet and the supermarket is that in the supermarket at least you have to pay for what you buy, and on the internet everything is (almost) free. What's more, the merchandise on the internet can be much more harmful and rotten that the merchandise in the store.

Therefore, one who enters the internet should have a defined purpose why he is entering, to enter only for that, and to leave. Many times one enters one place, but he finds himself wandering from site to site, and taking everything that is available. And certainly one should not enter the internet for the purpose of wandering about.

2) Prayer before entering the internet

The rabbis said that one entering a city should pray," May it be the will of the Lord my God that you will cause me to enter the city in peace". Why? Because in the city there are various dangers. We have found similar things in relation to one who goes to the bath house, to taking medical cures, and more.

It seems that is our generation one should pray - before entering the internet.(click on the pic to see the prayer in Hebrew)



3) I'm a wayfarer here, and not a member of the household

After I have entered the 'city', I must remember that I am only a guest, passing through, and not God forbid a member of the household. Sometimes the web surfer feels that the entire world is under his mouse. Every opinion, be it true or false, and every culture or something that would like to be thought of as such, are presented as equals in front of his eyes. He feels the entire world, the 'global village', is flowing into his computer without discretion and without judgment. He takes interest in the life of Smith and in the thoughts of Jones, who is sitting somewhere at the end of the earth. Beyond the fact this this can create shallowness and superficiality, mainly it can divert the main point life to other vistas. The inner aspirations of being close to God, of repairing life and the world, and the exalted vision of the nation of Israel and God's Torah, can be blurred under the (apparently) infinite flood of the world around us.

We must remember - our home is somewhere else. Our home is the family and the community, the Torah and the Beit Midrash. On the internet we are only wayfarers, and only after we leave it do we return to our true home (page).