CodeScripter To The Rescue!

Good news for all of us who have struggled trying to understand our Blogger templates. Mirty has started a new blog, CodeScripter, to make this stuff understandable even to non-geeks.

Thanks Mirty.

Getting Rid Of The Television

I remember being told that Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt"l once said that having a television at home because "there are some good things on televsion" is like installing a sewer pipe in your home. Perhaps you'll find a dime among all of the sewage that floods your house! (This I heard in the 1980s. I understand that the content of television programs from a Torah point of view has plummeted since then.)

I thought about this after seeing the following in a post by Rabbi Gil Student:

My dilemma in writing this post was that some (most) readers will simply ignore this and continue watching TV. My hope, though, is that in the spirit of the upcoming Yom Kippur season readers will actively reduce their television watching. I don't expect anyone to change years-old habits from one quick blog post. But try cutting down. Think about it. It's easy, fairly painless, and can only yield positive results.

Kol HaKavod to Gil for writing this! My advice, however, is to throw the television away, period. You'll be happy that you did so.

As Rockets Fall

I enjoyed a wonderful Shabbat in my Jerusalem home unaware that Israel was again reaping the fruits of "disengagement." The residents of the Western Negev and Sderot in particular have my deepest sympathies. I also send my deepest sympathies to IDF soldiers that will have to risk their lives to clean up the mess that our government has made.

In the meantime, the suffering of those expelled from their homes in the Gaza Strip continues. Read this article by Rachel Saperstein to get an idea of what they are going through.

Eldad: Don't Pay State Television Tax

From Arutz 7:

"If only a hundred people let them know they are no longer willing to pay [state television anchor] Chaim Yavin's salary, they will confiscate their television and refrigerator. But if the 100,000 people who show up for demonstrations in city squares will refuse to pay the TV tax, it will become impossible to enforce this outrage, whereby we are forced to fund the production of slander against us. Citizens must inform the Broadcasting Authority that they are not prepared to buy for themselves the rope by which they will be hanged."

I have a better solution that does not involve breaking any laws: Just get rid of your television.

Female Soldiers And Beis Yaakov Girls

I was walking down Malchei Yisrael Street yesterday. On one side of the street some female soldiers donning green uniforms entered the Schneller Army Base. On the other side of the street were some Beis Yaakov seminar girls dressed in their the blue-skirt-and-shirt school uniform. I saw two sides of the street and two different uniforms.

I wondered if members of these two groups of young women ever struck up a casual conversation. I imagine that such an occurrence would be very rare. If they did, they would find that the ideological gap that separates them is much wider than the width of Malchei Yisrael Street. Although both girls speak Hebrew, they would find that many words in the lexicon of one of them just don't exist in the lexicon of the other. Even the words that are common for both often carry different meanings and connotations.

This is Israel as we approach Rosh Hashanah 5766.

Getting Stuck On Stupid

Now this is hilarious! (Hat tip: Michelle Malkin.)

And You Thought That All The Jews Left Gaza!

Check out this post from the Muqata!

Meet Avri Ran

NRG, the online version of the Israeli newspaper Maariv, published an interesting article on hilltop settler Avri Ran. As I read it I thought to myself that it is too bad that only those that know Hebrew can read this piece.

Someone from Arutz 7 must have been reading my thoughts. They published an article in English based on the NRG article. I recommend it.

Letters All Over The Jblogosphere

After you are done reading the letter that I posted, check out this letter at Shiloh Musings and this one at Israel Perspectives.

A Letter From A Female Officer To The Family That She Evicted From Their Home In Gush Katif

Blogmaster note: This letter appeared in last week's BeSheva magazine. I found this letter quite interesting, and therefore translated it from the original Hebrew into English for my readers. Without further ado .....

To the dear Goldschmidt family,

Shalom. I am sure that you remember me as the officer that evicted you from (your) home. I hope that after this letter you will remember me differently.

For a long time, since that Tuesday in Ganei Tal, I wander about with a great feeling of distress. Approximately like all the soldiers that took part in the eviction of (the residents of) Gush Katif and (Northern) Samaria.

I've been wounded with a deep emotional wound. I regret every minute and I wish that this feeling would pass. Your pain affected me a lot, perhaps because you were the first family that I, with much sorrow, had to evict. That week it was very difficult for me to go home, because of the fact that I have a home to return to and also because I cried a lot and I did not want to see anybody. The sorrowful experience that I went through with you touched my heart. My dear father suggested to me that I write you this letter, in order to unload the emotional burden that lies upon me since then. To begin with I really want to say that I am sorry. I am sorry about the entire eviction process. I'm sorry that I had to stand there opposite you and hold back my tears, in spite that I felt that I am entirely one of you. I am sorry about the distress that was brought upon you and the rest of the families in your charming settlement. Ironically, Ganei Tal, which did not forcefully resist, pained us the most. I am sorry that I harmed you, and I wish you a happy life and a new start with a minimum of problems. I strengthen you from my little abode in the (army) base and believe in you with all my heart.

I write this letter in tears and sadness, and hope that you won't throw it out, or that it won't return you to the terrible day of the eviction. To your two charming daughters please send my deep sorrow with regards to everything that happened and my sincere (request for) forgiveness. And to you, the parents of the family that so touched my heart, you were so right in what you said to me and the other officer that was with me in your home - that the difficult mission of continuing life and guarding your children at this hard time has fallen upon you. At the end of this letter my personal telephone (number) is attached. I am sure that you do not want any connection with me and that you are trying to forget the past and to look towards the future, but if in spite of this you want to talk, I'll be happy to hear your voice again.

I am happy that the opportunity to contact you again was given to me, even if it is by means of a letter. Would it were that I could meet you again, but of course only at happy occasions. Forgive me for my terrible handwriting. I decided to turn to your hearts in a more personal manner, and not in printed form.

Again I want to write and summarize my words in such that never in my life have I gone through such a difficult situation, a situation of helplessness and deep emotional partnership with people that I do not know. At that time I felt hate and anger towards the governmental factors that sent us on this difficult mission, that caused us to look like robots opposite you, opposite charming people that I had the pleasure to meet even in sorrowful circumstances.

I hope that you do not hold a grudge against me, and that you will truly forgive me and the rest of the soldiers that against their will had to take part in the eviction of (the residents of) Gush Katif. Believe me that we did not want to do this. If I could turn the wheel back and cast off the emotional burden that I had that morning in your house, I would release the tears in order that you would know that it is hard for me as well and that I'm crying with you.

With this I'm finishing my letter again with a blessing of success for your charming family.

Oh that you should find only gladness and happiness in your life.

Violent Left-Wing Activist On The Way To Jail

Deputy Chief Justice of the Haifa district court Rachel Hoza ruled Sunday in favor of Dr. Eli Buchbinder and Dr. Ronen Adar, who were brutally attacked by a group of Arabs wearing Meretz T-shirts and hanging signs for the Meretz municipal elections. Read about it here.

Weird Headline In Ha'aretz

Here's the Headline:

Five Jewish families move into Arab property in Hebron

The article itself, however, states the following:

Five Jewish families recently moved into a building purchased by residents of the Jewish settlement in Hebron, near a longstanding trailer park and a new apartment building intended to replace the trailers.

I don't get it. The building remains Arab property even after Jews have purchased it?

Going The "Right" Way With Torah

The Talmudic sage Rava said, "For those that go right with it (words of Torah), it is the potion of life, for those that go left with it (words of Torah), it is the potion of death" (Shabbat 88B). This is a seemingly strange statement. What does Rava mean? Rava's terminology reminds me of what Abraham said to Lot, "Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left.'" (Genesis 13:9). But here it is obvious that Rava is not talking about directions of the compass!

Fortunately for us, Rashi provides an explanation of Rava's words: "Those that go right- Those that are occupied (with the Torah) with all of their might and concerned to know its (the Torah's) secret, like a man that uses his right hand which is the main (hand)."

I understand that from Rashi's explanation that "those that go left" are not overly occupied or concerned with words of Torah. For them the Torah is like an unimportant hobby, something that they occupy themselves with only after all of the "really important" things are done. The Torah is the potion of death for such people. This is a very harsh statement! Rava is telling us that the Torah has to be the main thing. Even if one spends the majority of their day making a living, he must set aside time for learning Torah. While he is learning, he must strive with all of his might to understand and of course apply what he has learned.

I hope that in the coming year that I will merit, along with the rest of Israel to be among those that "go right" with the words of Torah, that the Torah will be for us an elixir of life, and as such we will all merit to be written and sealed for a good year.

R' Moishe In The Hospital

I went to visit R' Moishe in the hospital last Friday. R' Moishe, once a man of greater than average strength, was lying in his bed totally helpless. He cannot get up from his bed to go to the bathroom, and therefore he has to be diapered. He cannot feed himself. It's ironic that this old man is in many ways similar to a newborn baby, totally dependent on others.

R' Moishe has trouble breathing. That's the reason for the tubes that are in his nose. He sleeps most of the time. When he was awake I asked him if there was something that I could do to help him.

"Hakol Beseder," he said. Everything is okay.

I don't think that I could have received a better lesson in ethics before the New Year.

BeSheva Had Some Really Good Articles This Week

This week's issue of BeSheva (vol. 160) has some really good articles. If you didn't pick up a free copy of the paper, you can read it online here. (I must admit that I wish that Arutz 7 would translate the paper into English. It's not that I have a problem reading Hebrew, it's just that I read English about ten times faster!)

Soldiers Regret Taking Part In Expulsion

Arutz 7 has an interesting article dealing with this. An excerpt:

Yoni and Noa Katzover received a phone call from a Border Guard officer who evicted them from their house in Chomesh. "He asked how we are doing," Yoni said, "and told us of the hardships he's undergoing. He told us of his 10-year-old nephew who refuses to talk with him, and how he broke down crying in the middle of the Kiddush [pre-Sabbath-meal blessing]. He also told us about some of his soldiers who have requested emotional counseling."

A related note: The son of a friend of mine serves in the Golani Brigade. He told his father of an instance where Golani soldiers mercilessly taunted a soldier from another brigade that took part in the expulsion.(And that soldier knew that he better not mess around with Golani.)

Another related note: Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel is of the opinion that those that took part in the expulsion should not be allowed to lead prayers, be called up to the Torah, or be counted in a minyan, until they do teshuvah.

Final note: "Religious soldiers who participated in the evacuation are considered to have impaired their chances for a good match. A number of young women and their mothers said they would not consider marrying someone who had taken part in the operation."

Pallywood

The Second Draft, a web site that is "devoted to exploring some of the problems and issues that plague modern journalism," has a must see:

Pallywood, "According to Palestinian Sources..." a film by Richard Landes & Nidra Poller. International news media extract a few convincing instants of staged scenes - sight-bytes, and present them as news...

Don't miss it!

Hat Tip: Galileeblog

Cosmic X Tears His Shirt

During the reburial of the bodies from the Gush Katif cemetary, Rabbi Yigal Kaminetzky mentioned that when he was expelled from his home he made a tear his shirt as a sign of mourning. He added that when the IDF turns over the settlements to the Arabs, everybody would be required to do so. In Hebrew this is called keri'ah.

I had forgotten Rabbi Kaminetzky's words about keri'ah until last night. Someone in my daf yomi class mentioned that Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu also required this.

So last night I tore the shirt that I was wearing in accordance with Jewish Law.

May all those who mourn the destruction of Jewish communitees in the land of Israel merit to rejoice in their rebuilding, as it is written with regards to Jerusalem: “Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her.” (Isaiah 66:10) “All who mourn for Jerusalem will merit to see its great joy." (Ta'anit 30B)

Beware Of Levity

One of the ways that the proponents of "disengagement" deal with the great injustice done to those that were expelled from their homes is levity. Before the expulsion someone sent me an email with a wmv file version of Channel 10's parody "Nechama Bat Yefune." I do not have a television at home and this is one of the reasons why. The portrayal of the settler woman as a scatterbrained idiot was just one of the devices to desensitize the nation to the great sin that it was about to commit. Let's laugh about kicking these scatterbrained idiots out of their homes!

Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, in his book The Path Of The Just, warns us about the effect that levity can have on our spiritual growth:

Consider the great severity and destructive power of levity. Like a shield smeared with oil, which wards off arrows and causes them to fall to the ground, not permitting them to reach the bearer's body, is levity in the face of reproof and rebuke. For with one bit of levity and with a little laughter a person can cast from himself the great majority of the awakenings and impressions that a man's heart stimulates and effects within itself upon his seeing or hearing things which arouse him to an acconting and an examination of his deeds. The force of levity flings everything to the ground so that no impression whatsoever is made upon Him. This is due not to the weakness of the forces playing upon him, nor to any lack of understanding on his part, but to the power of levity, which obliterates all facets of moral evaluation and fear of God.

As we search our souls this Elul, levity is one of the things that must be done away with.

R' Moishe

R' Moishe was a regular at the daf yomi class. In spite of his advanced age, in spite of the stroke that left him partially paralyzed, R' Moishe almost always made it to the daf yomi class. He would limp in to the beis medresh with his cane, and I would help him remove his coat and sit down. He would pay close attention to what the rabbi said, and often the questions that he would raise were the same questions that the tosefos or other rishonim had already pondered. (This is a sign of a sharp mind and a proper understanding of the issue at hand.)

As the years went by R' Moishe's cane was replaced with a walker, and later on by a wheel chair. R' Moishe started having trouble concentrating during the daf yomi class. He has trouble breathing. His skin has become pale. His doctor says that his days are numbered.

R' Moishe has stopped coming to the daf yomi class. I miss him.