One of the things people get excited about with Pesach approaching, and then on Pesach, is the "KaElah" experience.

Some yeshiva students from Mexico have not returned to their yeshivas in Israel after the Sukkos break because of the war that broke out. Because the war and potential danger, they were unsure whether to return to Israel or not and sent the question to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein looking for guidance.

Rav Moshe Londinski, one of the three Roshei Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaim’s Yeshiva in Radin, inquired of the Chofetz Chaim, “What will be the fate of our brethren in Germany and in Poland?” Rav Londinski pointed out that Hitler y”s had been talking about destroying the entirety of Klal Yisroel for years. 

 The Chofetz Chaim responded that it is impossible for someone to succeed in wiping out Klal Yisroel in all the lands of the exile and he cited the pasuk (Bereishis 32:4-9) “’If Esav comes to the one camp and attacks it, the other camp will escape.” 

At that point, Rav Moshe Londinski zt”l realized that the danger was quite grave. He asked further, “If Heaven forbid, he succeeds in wiping out European Jewry, who and where is the other camp that will survive?” 

 The Chofetz Chaim answered, “This too is a pasuk, it is in the beginning of the Navi Ovadiah (1:17), “And on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant, and it shall be holy..” Rav Londinski left the Chofetz Chaim’s presence with his hands shaking on the future destruction of European Jewry, but he was assured that the Holy Land will be spared and no sword of the Nazi menace would pass before it.   

The Reform Rabbi once again used his immunity and like the last of the criminals is trampling the regulations of the Kotel Rav, via desecration the holiness of the site and desecrating a sefer torah. Soon this will come to an end.

The jokes, and comments, practically write themselves.

TOI is reporting on a study of 2000 years of fish consumption in the ancient holy land. 

Just over a week ago when the tiktokifada began, Rav Chaim Kanievsky reportedly instructed the communities under his guidance in southern Israel to continue their [Torah] studies as normal, despite the increase in violence, both from the tiktokifada (though he probably did not call it that) and from the renewed barrage of rockets from Gaza.

Jared Kushner gave the King of Bahrain a Torah scroll for the Jewish community in Bahrain. Nice.

Kikar reports that Rav mutsafi is upset that rabbonim are giving shiurim to women. He even somehow connects this to the spread of the Corona virus, saying that the deadly virus is spreading around the world and the Heavens are signalling with every alarm "you want to go to the women?"..

Rav Mutsafi says that never before did rabbonim give shiurim to women, but women were int he womens section of the shul and heard the drasha just like the men - suddenly the women cant hear the drasha in the shul?

Rav Mutsafi then refers to, and criticizes, some rabbonim who say they go to give such shiurim but when they enter and leave they close their eyes so as not to see the women. He calls it a joke, even worse - leitzanus. Women should be giving shiurim and surely there are enough learned women who can speak before women!

Rav Mutsafi further asks, are all the men taken care of? the issues of the men have all been dealt with that all that remains is the women? Have you checked if the men are davening? and how they daven? Are they learning regularly and consistently?  they aren't out smoking a bong and chewing gat? Look how they attack the food table at different events, he says!

Honestly, many many years ago I remember commenting similarly about girls schools and seminaries that are run by men with many male teachers. In a community where we are so strict about separating genders and tzniyus and are strict about not creating situations where men would look at women, it is strange that when ti comes to these schools so many men are administrators in these schools and teachers. Yes, now many such schools have many female teachers and even some women running the schools, but there are still many men involved in many of the schools for women.

I find his comment about there still being enough work  for teachers with the men to be funny. I commiserate with his issue, somewhat.  I am not against men teaching women, per se. I just think we should teach consistency. If you believe there should be no contact between men and women [who are not married to each other], then men should also not be teaching women. Nowadays there are many women who are educated and scholarly and knowledgeable who can, and do, teach. And yes, I know [of] rabbis who do not give shiurim to women only.

the following post has some very interesting information that I did not previously know... it was written in response to an article written against the recent women's siyyum hashas daf yomi, which I am posting here:

Aliza Bloch, mayor of Bet Shemesh, posts a short dvar torah on the weekly parsha every Friday on Facebook. Sometimes I get to see it and sometimes I dont. This week she was a guest on the show Bein Hashmashot with Dov Elbaum to talk about this weeks parsha, and it was a much longer discussion than the normal minute or two she usually posts.. very interesting discussion..



Shabbat Shalom

Don't think of your empty Coca-Cola can or water bottle as a worthless piece of garbage, not worth your time and energy to go collect your 30agorot in recycling fees. Think of it just one step in getting your sefer torah.

A community in Upper Nazareth, Nazareth Ilit, the community of Bnei Hayeshivos Ohel Yaakov, decided to put together a massive collection and recycling program, with everyone collecting every qualifying bottle and can they could, mostly worth 30agorot each.

So this community collected and turned in all these cans, and used the money to buy a mehudar megillas Esther. They are now collecting cans and saving up to buy a scroll of Koheles.

And it does not stop there. According to Ladaat, they already have plan for the next stage - collecting cans to raise money for a sefer Torah!

Every little bit counts. Every little bit adds up.

In light of the  recent vandalism in the shul in Jerusalem in which sifrei torah were desecrated and thrown on the floor, many people were shocked by the images.

A question was raised if when people arrived in the morning, and those who took the pictures, should they have left the torah scrolls on the floor, as they did, in their continued desecration, or should they have rushed to pick them up and clean them off and show proper respect? The police had told them it is a crime scene and nothing should be touched until it can all be dusted for fingerprints and other signs that would point the police toward the perpetrators, but perhaps it would be more important to pick the torah scrolls up as soon as possible and not let them lie there in that state.

The question was brought to Rav Chaim Kanievsky. His response was that this is the kavod of the torah in such a situation - to leave them in their place so the police can do what they need to do to find the perpetrators, and thereby prevent similar desecration in the future..
source: Kikar

this horrible and shocking picture is the sight of a shul in Kiryat Hayovel, Jerusalem that was vandalized. When the vandals could not get into the safe serving as an aron kodesh storing the sifrei torah, they cut through it using a "disk" - an electric saw.

However much the residents want to fight with each other about the type of people that can populate the neighborhood, such actions, if done by someone involved and for that purpose, are way way way beyond the pale, and will not even help his side. I hope this is found to be totally unrelated to that issue and, at least, not done by Jews.

After the horrific tragedy in Beitar recently in which two young children died in a fire, an avreich from the community went to Rav Chaim Kanievsky to ask if they should be installing smoke detectors or fire extinguishers in the house, just in case of other similar fires, God forbid.

Rav Chaim Kanievsky responded, according to the report on Kikar, that people who learn Torah do not require any additional measures of protection beyond the Torah learning. The Torah protects. Ergo, each person should improve and increase his learning as much as possible.

I don't know how this stuff works, but we know traditionally that this is true. The question is how much Torah does a person have to learn to get this level of protection. I guess each person has to decide for himself and herself  if his/her learning is at that level that they can rely on it for protection and not take care of obtaining external forms of protection.

Someone asked Rav Aviner if he can continue learning, "bchavrusa", with his friend, as his friend, who is a good person with fine character traits and is learned, goes up to Har Habayit.

Rav Aviner responded that one should break off the learning partnership. He said you can continue being friends, doing things and doing mitzvos together, but not to learn together - learning Torah is the basis for the proper outlook and approach to life, and clearly this person has something messed up in him.

However, one need not cancel a shidduch that was arranged with a person who goes up to Har Habayit. Rav Aviner explains that nobody is perfect and we are judged by the majority of our actions, as we all have benefits and detriments. Torah is Godly and must be exact and we cannot allow distorted views in, but for a shidduch it is ok as none of us are perfect.
source: Srugim

interesting

This is upsetting and shameful.

A non-kosher Chumus restaurant in the Carmel Shuk of Tel Aviv is located in what used to be a shul. They have on display, hanging from the wall, an open Torah scroll.

The fact that it is a non-kosher restaurant is besides the point, as this would be inappropriate and shameful even if it were a kosher restaurant. However, if it were a kosher restaurant this would not have happened - the kashrut mashgiach would see it at some point and make them take it down.

Furthermore, the decor of the former shul is all still intact, with the old shul signs and prayers still hanging on the walls.

All this together, whether the Torah itself or the decor of the shul, might make a potential diner think the restaurant is kosher.
source: Bechadrei

I am surprised as to the insensitivity of the owner who did this.

It hurts to put these pictures up here, but I think it is important.

There has been some discussion over the past few days, mostly on the Haredi radio stations, about the decrease in terror attacks and causalities ever since Rosh Chodesh - the day the new zman in the yeshivas began. The increased Torah learning has clearly added protection to the Jews of Eretz Yisrael.

The discussion was not just that.

The discussion included similar, related, topics, such as:
* Rav Chaim Kanievsky and other rabbonim being quoted as saying the way to protect oneself from becoming a victim of a terror attack, and to decrease the attacks in general, is to strengthen our Torah learning.
* Rav Uri Sharki rejected the above concept, saying one has nothing to do with the other. We need strength. People need to do their part, learn self-defense. The country needs to act in strength. When there is what to do, from a physical perspective, one must do it.

So, does the Torah learning help? Does it protect us, somehow, somewhat?

I believe it does, even though I do not necessarily understand in what way or how.

Does that mean we should not do our hishtadlus, put forth our physical efforts to do what is necessary to solve the situation, to improve, to defend ourselves. No, I do not think it does. I think it is incumbent upon us to, in addition to learning, also do what we can to defend ourselves, to stop the terror. I don't think the two, learning and physical effort, contradict each other. Each will help in its own way.

To the Haredi community everything is black and white. Either Torah learning is the solution, or it is not. If you suggest another solution, it means you think Torah learning is not a solution. If you say Torah learning is the solution, nothing else is necessary.

Another, not connected example, a fresh example, of how they see everything in black and white, is something I heard on the radio this morning. On Radio Kol Hai this morning they had the mayor of Bet Shemesh, Moshe Abutbol, on air. They were talking about a recent attempt by the local Likud branch to pressure the mayor and coalition, via the Likud MKs and Ministers, to designate construction of a future neighborhood in Bet Shemesh for the general and religious, not haredi, public.

The mayor was open to the idea for multiple reasons. The haredi broadcasters were on the attack. One of their main points of attack was the idea that demanding some construction for the general public means they are trying to chase away the haredi public.

In a town like Betar or Kiryat Sefer or Yesodot or Bet Chilkiya, for example, maybe such an argument could be made. In a town that is 100% Haredi, demanding the construction of a secular neighborhood can be seen as changing the makeup of the town in a way that would negatively impact its residents.

In a town like Bet Shemesh, where the Haredi community is only about 50%, give or take, of the city, why must construction of a secular neighborhood mean they want to chase away the Haredi community?

Then again, perhaps the facts on the ground have already shown it to be partially true, in the opposite direction. Bet Shemesh was a general, mixed population, town. Mostly secular and traditional, with some religious. As soon as they started building a Haredi neighborhood, that set the tone for the city to continue building Haredi neighborhoods and ultimately "chased out" the secular and religious. So maybe the haredim are justified in being concerned that construction of a secular neighborhood would chase out Haredim. Though I don't see it as being true, because, as I already said, they came to Bet Shemesh knowing it already had a large general community. This will not cause them to leave if it did not prevent them from coming in the first place.

My point in bringing this example is how they see it in black and white. Whatever good might come of it is irrelevant. The Haredi community has been moving to Bet Shemesh. Building for anybody but Haredim means, in their minds, that Haredim are being chased away.

With the Torah learning issue - it is just as black and white. Either Torah learning helps or it does not. There is no middle ground. If Torah learning helps, nothing else is necessary. Doing something else, even in addition to, means you do not really believe Torah learning helps.

My question is, and it is really just the return of an old question but it is coming to me again now based on the clarity displayed by the Haredi community in this instance with "clear evidence"of how the Torah learning worked - and that is, if it is so definite that Torah learning protects and nothing else helps or is necessary, then what right do they have to take vacation from their learning? The IDF, trying to protect Israel, does not take vacation. Ever. The IDF does not say we are taking these 3 weeks off every year. How can yeshivas take off 3-4 weeks 3 times a year? If Torah learning protects, they should feel the duty, pikuach nefesh even, to continue learning without stop. Obviously people need breaks, as they do in the IDF and in every other system in the world. So they can implement a rotation of yeshiva boys and kollel yungerleit taking vacations -  10% take a week in July, the next 10% take a week in August, the next 10% take vacation in September, etc..

And I ask this only because to them it is so clear and obvious that this is the only relevant solution to terror.

I like that this is happening in Tel Aviv...