Rav Aviner has a service where people send him questions by SMS, and he answers them. Some of the Q&A also gets published in the alonei shabbat.
A recent one was about Hanukkah. The petitioner asked what type of people the Macabbees were - what group would they be affiliated with today? Would they be Haredi or National Zionist?
Rav Aviner responded that clearly they were National Zionists. They were talmidei chachamim and yirei shamayim, yet they also fought and defended Eretz Yisrael.
(Source: Ynet)
Is it a good thing to be like the Macabbees?
ReplyDeleteThere was a hysterical script that was read out on Radio Kol Chai a year or two ago - two conversations between a father and son. One pair was chiloni and one was charedi... and both fathers had to field some uncomfortable questions about who the Maccabim were...
ReplyDeleteIf you can find a link to this sound file, I'll be most grateful!
isn't it? don't we celebrate their success? if it was not good, why do we celebrate hanukkah?
ReplyDeleteI saw a link to the article about it. I think I even wrote about it last year. I will look for it
ReplyDeletehttp://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2007/12/religious-and-secular-fathers-explain.html
ReplyDeleteAh, G-d bless you! I love it!
ReplyDelete:)
That dialogue was hysterical. It was great.
ReplyDeleteHe is right -- the Maccabess were all hesder boys (and later, secular soldiers) while the sages were Chareidim. Proof -- there is reaosn to suggest that the miracle of oil was a much later creation by the sages in order to take away all the focus of the miraculous victory.
ReplyDelete(cf. 6 day war vs. Satmar Rebbe -- God doesnt do miracle with secualr people.)
D.A.
In my opinion this is less of a psak and more of a: "Ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer."
ReplyDeleteYou can not possibly relate the maccabis to today's world. Its like asking if Julius Ceaser would be more like Sadaam Hussein, George Bush, or Fidel Castro? The answer is neither, and it was a stupid question asked by someone with little or no understanding of historical truths.
(wow that came out stronger than i intended when i started... still true!)
The Chasmonaim,(70 years after the story of Chanuka) brought the Romans into Judea when the two Chasmonai brothers became engaged in a civil war. One brother contacted Rome in order to oust his brother from the leadership, leading directly to churban Bayit Sheini.
ReplyDeleteThat should be the lesson we learn from Chanuka. Sin'at Chinam. Today's politics are no different.
I agree it is a pretty simplistic answer. OTOH, there were times in the field on the 'wrong' side of the border this time of year when I really identified with the Hashmonaim! ;-) Yes, we really thought that today's approach to 'sifra v'seifa' was as close as one might get. I still do. I just recognize it isn't simple.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, whatsinaname, would you do away then with 'binu shnot dor v'dor' ?
Oh, and Rafi, I hardly think that was a 'psak' by Rav Aviner. An 'observation' or 'comment' or even 'definition'; but a 'psak'. I don't think that term has any relevance here.
ReplyDeletehow detailed ad complex an answer can you expect for an sms service?
ReplyDeleteI know it is not a psak (which is why it was in quotation marks). But it is a shu"t service...
Okay, you have a point there. Tangentially, I've wondered why Rav Aviner agreed to do an SMS service. For one thing, I'd think he's too busy. For another, there is not way to give a decent answer to just about anything. Everything is too short and easily misconstrued; or so I've thought...
ReplyDeleteI think this might be the source. You might want to add it to the post as a possible source :-). Also, maybe you want to add this blog to your blogroll lol (ravaviner.com)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ravaviner.com/2008/12/chanukah-chareidi-or-secular.html