AviraDeArah

Square – do they ask people in shomayim why they weren’t engaged in any of those professions? Chazal say what they ask; if they were honest in whatever they did and if they learned enough Torah. When i go to shomayim, i might have a lot to answer for, but why i wasn’t a radiologist won’t be part of it, this i am sure.

Re, rav miller: his talmidim do not discourage being in kollel while on govt programs nowadays. Rav miller was niftar in 2001; it isn’t a shitah issue so much as a practical one. His overarching opinion however, was that most people should work at some point, and that if you’re in kollel, you really need to spend your time wisely.

He also said that college is like a bathroom; sometimes you need to use it.

והיינו שישתדל לידבק בו יתברך בכח מעשים שתולדתם זה הענין והם הם המצות.

Mesilas yeshorim perek 1. Mitzvos bring one close to Hashem. Aveiros, every single one, makes one far. People who do not do mitzvos as a commandment from Hashem are by definition far from him. They are rachok. There is nothing that brings a person close to Hashem other than mitzvos.

Just like the antisemitism at colleges is good in the sense that it can keep Jewish kids away from harmful places, this is the same thing; Hashem wants to give us the tools we need to fight the influence of the goyim.

I would humbly suggest taking on kabalos which are required, as we all have nisyonos in one mitzvah or another. Whether it’s shmiras aynayim, shmiras halashon, bitul Torah, or whatever else; I think mitzvos which are obligatory should come before deprival of pleasure.

Also, if you learn/daven better after having desert or if you listen to music, I’m pretty sure it’s more important to learn and daven better than to give up those pleasures.

I don’t mean to criticize what is clearly a very meaningful, inspired feeling that people have now, to do better, to be nosei b’ohl. Just some “food” for thought

The gemara, brought in shu”a, says that when you hear half of a bracha made by a kusi, you don’t answer amen (we’re talking about brochos, shehakol, birkas hashavhar…) because he might have directed the bracha at Har Grizim. This is because it is known that some kusim believe in Hashem, but many are believers in shituf, as far as i know.

Evangelicals believe in the Trinity. There’s no doubt who they’re referring to when making blessings. But I’m not talking about blessings here – Christian speakers like to have their audience respond Amen to statements that they make which they want affirmation of. I believe the pastor said something he wanted a show of support for, but to use the word Amen to an idolator in a public mass gathering of Jews is a chilul Hashem. Having him speak at all is also a chilul Hashem.

There’s a big difference between the rabbis march on Washington during the war and today’s matzvav.

Asking, begging for help during the Holocaust on behalf of a humanitarian cause is different than flying a foreign countrys flag and demanding that the United States assist that country, even though the intent of many demonstrators is that the US help Israel defend its citizens, namely acheinu bnei yisroel.

The rabbis march would only anger goyim who are already extremely antisemitic; this rally could play into the dual loyalty stereotype and other tropes which some goyim might be on the fence about.

Marx, it’s a valid point, but liberals contribute far more to the moral decay of society with their policies.

It’s the lesser of two evils, especially since he has a soft spot for Jews

Avi Schnall is no different than any other frum elected official who has been endorsed by rabbonim, as in, daas Torah. That includes Kalman Yeger, Simcha Eichenstein, Simcha Felder, and many others. Avi Schnall’s endorsement would not cause people to question daas torah, because daas torah never stated that all frum politicians must be Republicans, only that when voting for non frum or non jewish candidates, one should typically vote Republican. Rav miller didn’t say that there are never situations where one can’t vote Republican, just this is the typical correct decision because Republicans tend to be closer to(or rather, less distant from) Torah values.

Da, i have a new policy about not getting into arguments like this right now. I am pained beyond words every i see and hear the news about acheinu bnei yisroel hanesunim betzara. I don’t care which yarmulka they’re wearing or what ideologies they have right now. We’re being hunted down like chayos hasadeh. I’ve been yotzei the chiyuv macha’ah enough times on here already.

I’m explaining the satmar shitah because someone said that the radical NK has something to do with them, that’s all. Bli neder I’m only going to post explanatory things going forward.

Sechel, i explained the radical faction of NKs attempt at halachikally justifying themselves. It’s hogsash, and it has absolutely nothing to do with satmar or other Torah jews who denounce the state and zionism. Satmar distanced themselves even from the ehrlich, normal NK in Yerushalayim – they say the radicals are completely off the derech.

Common – rav drillman is a rosh yeshiva. If the story is true, it has a lot more weight than yankel feferkorn(rightfully) throwing things at them.

Multiple batei din have put them in cherem.

Lake, Jews in those countries are forced to take that stance, but they are not justifying Hamas. They live in countries where they would be in mortal danger if they show support for Jews living in Israel.

What NK(or rather, the tiny, miniscule fraction of NK) does in America and England is far different. They are essentially condoning terror attacks in their view that Jewish lives can be sacrificed to dismantle the state.

Truthfully, that faction of NK are the flipside of zionists, with the eame core problem. Zionists claim that the state is so important and vital to the Jewish people that it can justify the loss of Jewish life, while the NK faction says that eradicating the state is so important that it justifies the loss of Jewish life.

They call this horseshoe theory; two radical ideas on opposite ends of the spectrum really are the same in practice.

Radical NK decided that the halacha follows the maharal(or rav yonasan eybeshuts, i forget which) who says that the 3 shavuos are yehereg velo yaavor. Who gave them the authority to pasken that way? They themselves did. And then they think that yehereg velo yaavor means that they can put OTHER people in danger, when it is only used to require one’s self to give up their own life if faced with the 3 chamuros. If goyim would force us on pain of death to violate the shvuos, that shitah holds we must let them kill us – but we cannot put other jews in danger to prevent them from violating them…plus the shevuos were already violated, and jews living there(including NK!) Is not a violation.

Rocky, i disagree.
It’s mainly chasidim who approach tzadikim for advice in business, and the baal hatanya was against this, because money is totally bidei shomayim.

Daas Torah is seeking the Torah’s guidance in life decisions, including which community to live in, which job or business to get involved in(not what investment to make, see above… rather to understand one’s inclinations…a rebbe can tell you if you’re going yo be a good doctor, lawyer, etc..), shiduchim, how much gashmius is too much..how to relate to relatives and how to deal eith relationships, especially shalom bayis – do you know how many marriages have been saved because both husband and wife agreed to blindly follow the decision of their daas torah? It’s unbelievable.

ותנח עליו רוח עיצ-, the Torah confers on its diligent students proper advice.

And gadol hador, thanks for that medrash; i was not aware of it before.

Welcome to the Torah world – we’ve been waiting for you

I recommend R. Aryeh Carnel’s “siyata legamara,” known as the “little white book” in yeshivos. It has a great list of common terms which if memorized, make learning gemara a lot easier.

Also, slow down a lot. You’re not mechuyav to do daf or amud yomi; I found with myself and my talmidim that the more times you go over the gemara, or the sefer you’re learning, the clearer it becomes both in translation and pshat.

What might have come to you quicker in your yeshiva/kolel days might take longer now, if your mind is on other things, but be patient with yourself.

You also need to completely clear your mind of other considerations when you approach your seder; when you were in yeshiva, most likely the only thing you had to worry about was whether or not the cook would serve one of the “bad suppers” that every yeshiva has, forcing you to order pizza if you wanted a meal that evening. I’m exaggerating, as everyone has a “pekel,”but in general, a yeshiva bochurs mind is a lot clearer than when one needs to go to work. So before you start, picture yourself in beis medrash with nothing but the blatt gemara mattering to you. Your work is done, your mortgage and car are paid, your kids and wife are asleep, your boss gave you a paid sabbatical – there’s nothing that you need to do now but this seder.

The chofetz chaim says there’s a remez to this on the pasuk of vehayu hadvarim hae’leh – a person might think, there’s so much to learn! How can i even begin? So the pasuk says ha’eleh – only these words, this daf,this sugya, only this matters now, then the yatzer hora tells you all of your daagos, and for this, the pasuk says hayom – only today, only this seder exists,, nothing else.

Marx – and I’m the one who gets accused of “sinat chinam” all the time – keep on proving the yeshiva world right!

Mdd, it started way before that; it’s brought in the rema! The issue is eretz yisroel; until the last Lubavitcher rebbe, no one refrained from sleeping in a sukkah in eretz yisroel, because there is no issue of mitztayer there.

Can anyone really profess that chabad did not undergo a significant metamorphosis under the last Lubavitcher rebbe? That’s why i refer to it as neo chabad.

Old chabad were extremely separate from goyin, antizionist, presumably wouldn’t do kiruv with goyin, would sleep in a sukkah in eretz yisroel, would wash for shalosh seudos, wouldn’t pray to a rebbe, carry around his picture and think he knows their thoughts, and many, many other things. Regarding the omniscient thing and hiskashrus, the last Lubavitcher rebbe admitted he didn’t see it in sifrei chasidus and it’s a chush that he gets from them.

Hence, i refer to present day chabad Lubavitch as neo-chabad.

Sense, or maybe the strong government would further oppress charedim and force them all into the shmad army?

Mdd, poskim can argue because ayin panim latorah.

As for how it applies to every talmid chacham, see shu”t divrei chaim YD 242(i forgot the exact number) where he says that it’s apikorsus to say that the ohr hachaim was not written with ruach hakodesh.

Also, are you implying that the shu “a harav was not written with ruach hakodesh? Because i believe it was, and that Hashem guided the baal hatanya to learn the sugya of hilchos talmud torah and to reach the correct rulings on that subject. Do you think he was mistaken? If so, have you not violated your own principles?

Emunas, here’s the question – which gedolim say to spend a substantial amount of time on chasidus when one is not a massive talmid chacham, against the psak of your very own posek achriti – please name a posek, not statements in the kisvei Arizal (which the baal hatanya was well aware of) or a contemporary mekubal – a posek, someone like rav landau in bnei brak, who is Lubavitch, for instance.

You can’t, because they don’t exist.

And this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Lubavitcher take the heiligeh words of the baal hatanya and say that they don’t apply in halacha! Ths shu”a harav IS Lubavitch halacha, not only in chabad but in chassidishe circles everywhere, and even in litvishe circles, his shitos are taken very seriously, as the mishnah beruruah quotes him extensively.

Truly amazing. Did the Lubavitcher poskim who followed the baal hatanya, such as the tzemach tzedek, ever make this distinction between the shu”a harav and what the baal hatanya held “later in life”? Or is this just your own pretzel of an answer of how to get around a glaring, huge hole in your ideology – the rosh verishon of chabad did not hold of learning chasidus for hours a day, and that’s that.

There’s no “chiyuv” in halacha to learn kabalah until one masters shas and poskim. Many Achronim recommended learning it for yiras shomayim,and it’s true that the Arizal held that generations in our time need it – but how much do they need it? He never said to spend hours on it before one masters shas. Ever.

And what he meant about tefilah being “ikar” has been discussed at length in the past; it’s a gross misrepresentation, besides the fact that no poskim take it that way in halacha, as talmud torah’s status in haladha vis a vis other mitzvos does not change, because halacha doesn’t change. We’re not reform. Again, the shu “a harav quotes talmud torah kneged kulam word for word from the rambam, that there’s no mitzvah even among the “keneged kulams” that is equal to Torah. And the shu”a harav knew the Arizal plenty more than we do.

Not only that, but in tanya perek 5 and 25 he goes through the importance of Torah, and doesn’t say it’s any less “nowadays”.

Emunas, which gedolim disagree with the halacha outlined in shulchan aruch, nosei keilim and shulchan aruch harav?

I’m not dismissing what gedolim say – please tell me which gedolim said to ignore what the poskim say and learn chasidus for hours upon hours a day.

If such questions make you uncomfortable, to the point where you do not wish to speak with someone who casts doubts on your feelings-based halachik decisions, maybe that should tell you something about how secure you are in said beliefs? When someone asks me to justify a yeshiva custom, I don’t feel threatened, i simply answer the question and give the relevant sources; if i don’t know the sources, I’ll say that, but i am secure enough in my mesorah to speak with people who are coming from a different perspective.

And there’s only one group as far as i know which advocates for hours to be spent on chasidus, and that’s neo chabad

Cs, outside of chabad, you will not find rabbonim teaching to have a balanced seder of nigleh and nistar. Even in shu”a harav, the baal hatanya does not say that in hilchos talmud torah.

Chaz say that only one who is a full fledged talmid chacham will uave to answer in shomayim for not learning maysoh merkava; we are not commanded to learn nistar until we are experts in nigleh.

Chasidus, much like a mussar seder, is for 30 minutes to an hour at most during a 12 hour a day learning schedule.

Neo-chabad spending so much time on chasidus is part of why they have veered from mesoras hachasidus.

Mdd, everyone goes, but few stay.