Freedom of thought in religious world

Some of our recent discussions on facebook (Jewish Explorer group) brought my attention to the following comment, made by some blogger (certainly an  informed one) regarding the influence of Chassidic lifestyle on the Litvishe world. Here's what he is saying-

As noted the classic Litvisher Yeshivisher type is a rare bred today. For example no one at Ner Israel in the 1950's wore their tzitzis out. It simply was not done. No bachur sported a beard

Also, the burgeoning personality cults of Roshei Yeshiva has been adopted by the Litvisher world from the Chasidsher World. In the "old" days, no Poseik {Litvisher or otherwise} was treated as infallible by the Litvisher world. That has changed. The Mishnah Brurah has been canonized by the Litvisher world into something beyond the authority of any predecessor I can think of. Certainly the Chayei Adam or Shach, or Aruch Hashulchan were never treated as complete final authorities.

The old Litvishe world was more skeptical and talmidim challenged Roshei Yeshiva with difficult blistering questions. It used to be the role of the Yeshivisher Talmid to take his rebbe to task. Now it seems the role is to just to answer "amein gut gezukt" w/o any challenge lest one be considered disloyal.

As one of my Litvsiher rebbes admonised us - ich vill nisht keinfrum teira! {I don't want any pious learning - ie- think for yourself before you acquiesce to what I say!}

I am leaving this thoughtful post without any comments- as I think, it is quite self-explanatory, and very much thought-provoking- as to where are we going, and what should be our priorities 

Prayer

God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
- Reinhold Niebuhr

Uncomfortable questions for comfortable Jews

Although the title (as some of you know), is taken from the famous book by R. Kahane, our topic is quite different- it's just a little insight on this week Torah portion.


Jews are taken out of Egypt (E.), and slavery's left behind- or so it seems- until they are to face their masters in hot pursuit, driven all the way to the sea, helpless, and miserable- WHY?
Why G-d is doing this to me/us- we all ask in such dreadful situation.

And here's the point- this question ASSUMES something- namely- that life is supposed to be COMFORTABLE - but the bitter truth is- IT IS NOT!!! Some of us are going to learn this lesson a hard way, as these days we are enjoying great level of comfort (possibly, unmatched in any given generation!)- and yet, when the world hits you back, you HAVE to face this UNCOMFORTABLE realisation- which eventually may become your stepping stone to greatness!
As R. Noach Weinberg puts it, this is the CHOICE Torah gives us- Life or ..Death.!
Really? I never understood that literally, but R. Noach is making a simple point- We choose between Comfort (staying where we are) and Action (ALWAYS uncomfortable, even painful- but certainly with a reward- no pain, no gain, as they say!). Now, what is the ESSENCE of this choice- what is the ULTIMATE COMFORT? Death! And Life is about Action! (This world is called Olam ha Asiya- the World of action- precisely for that reason!)

And yes, life is UNCOMFORTABLE- as our sages put it, both Bet Shammai and Bet Hillel came to that realisation. But from spiritual perspective, we can grow ONLY by making right choices- stepping out of our comfort zone- getting out of Egypt!

"Никто не обещал, что будет легко"- life is not meant to be easy- it's meant for GROWTH!

Greatness of Nahshon ben Aminadav, who stepped into the sea, became possible under the huge pressure of the dreadful situation Jews found themselves in- in other words, HUGE problem became a HUGE opportunity for greatness!

Our sages tell us, we should be doing what we are good at, and at the same time, should life present us with a challenge- let's remember- WE NEED TO BE WILLING TO DO WHAT IS UNCOMFORTABLE!

2 questions we can ask ourselves (to wake up!)

1. When was the last time I did something that was UNCOMFORTABLE- because it was the RIGHT thing to do ?

2. Is there something I'm AVOIDING that is the right thing to do- simply because it's uncomfortable ?



Let's cross the sea of our fears- to see it split!

The beauty of Simple Goodness

Yesterday at the bus stop, something truly beautiful happened in my life
I was totally in my own thoughts, and hardly noticed as someone approached me with a question.
"Must be, he needs some money, or simply asking for directions"- registered quickly in my mind-
But to my utter surprise, the stranger gave me his unused bus ticket (what they call here "kartis maavar"- they give you a transfer for the same price, which you can use only within a certain time limit).
"I'm not going to use it"- he smiled to me, noticing my astonishment. "That's what I always do"- he continued. It turned out, this simple act of kindness and attention from a total stranger totally changed my mood, and a cold winter day became so much warmer.
It doesn't take much to live your life in such a great way- I thought- all it takes is a little attention and good will
May we all become messengers of kindness and good will!
What a lovely day!

What's going on?

Yesterday at the bus stop, I was approached by two English-speaking ladies. They didn't speak any Hebrew, and needed help with directions. It turned out, they were taking a bus from the same stop. after a few-minute conversation on various topics (beer been the first- naturally, I opened a bottle of Israeli shandy- pretty cool mix of beer with lime- and mentioned a few good brands available locally)-one of the ladies looked at me, puzzled. She pointed at my yarmulka, and asked me- "Are you allowed to talk to us?" I was quite surprised, to say the least- it took me a while to understand what she was referring to- Dati (religious) is NOT SUPPOSED TO SPEAK WITH GOYIM! Well, that's what she told me- and when I inquired (politely) who told her that- her friend simply said- "Well, that's what we see all the time here"...


I had a long bus ride to think about this incident- and sure enough, it made me feel very uncomfortable- almost embarrassed...As a matter of fact, religious people in this country are perceived as very xenophobic and looking down at everyone who is not like them.

My only reaction to this is- WHAT'S GOING ON?

Day before Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur is approaching- the most important day in the Hebrew calendar is knocking on the door...Are we ready?


With so many important things to do before the Day of Atonement, I would like to highlight a few things we may forget about-

On Yom Kippur eve, many Jews go to mikvah. It's an important custom brought down in Halacha, as we are reminding ourselves of a need to get purified before G-d. In fact, the whole day of Atonement is been described in the Talmud as "getting cleansed before G-d", and G-d is literally compared to mikvah, in which we are immersing ourselves on that holy day- "Mikvah Israel Hashem"- G-d is embracing us totally, with no rejection and separation, like the waters of the mikvah! How beautiful and magnificent!

Next, we are been told, in as much as it's a mitzvah to fast on Yom Kippur, one HAS TO EAT day before- Talmud even suggests, that this counts as another day of fasting! One can say, this is the only day of the year when one is actually required to eat and fulfills the mitzvah by doing it! It seems, our Rabbis were really concerned with our well- being. That reminds us of necessity not to take our health lightly- should one experience significant health related issues, he MUST terminate his fast. Usually, in light of the seriousness of the day, one is initially (if his health condition permits so) required not to break the Biblical prohibition, and eats shiurim- small amounts of food and drink (usually measured as around 50 gr of solids or around 100 ml of liquids to be consumed every 9 min) , thus violating only Rabbinical prohibition. However, one needs to consult with his Rabbi and/or his doctor, in case of serious medical condition- he may be allowed to eat and drink normally

Finally, in the mincha service before Yom Kippur, we are to say Vidduy- verbal Confession of our sins, which according to Maimonides, constitutes the main part of the most important mitzvah of the day- to do Tshuvah. Very often, in all the rush before the Big Day, we may totally overlook the importance of this Vidduy BEFORE the day starts-so that we enter the day with purity. According to many opinions, this Vidduy is an obligation for men and women alike. As we are saying Vidduy, it's certainly good to think of your individual and specific sins that you want to confess, but also to remember that we are saying it in plural, for all of Israel.

It is an ancient Jewish custom to do kaporos before Yom Kippur- and according to Kabbalists, one needs to do it right before the fast, as close to sunset as possible. Many have a custom of doing kapporos after Mincha. Although some people still insist on using chicken for this purpose, this was strongly critisized by our great Rabbis, and in light of it's being highly problematic from both Halachic and ethical perspective, one should certainly opt for a much better option- Kapporos on money. Generally speaking, in light of a somewhat mysticall spell of a ritual on so many of us, I think we need to remember, that in no way does this formula "this money goes to tsdaka, and I shall be signed for (good) life" substitute genuine Tshuva- real soul searching, that is of course much more challenging than any shortcut.

And here comes Yom Kippur- which so many of us associate with SUFFERING- NO food, NO drinks, NO sex,etc...And yes, Torah calls it suffering- suffering of our nefesh- our lower animalistic soul, our animal, that usually is so demanding and outspoken, that we hardly can hear the Other Voice- that of our angelic Soul...our Higher Self, something in us which is truly G-dlike. Now, my friends, THAT'S THE DAY WHEN THIS IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN- we shut the mouth of our animal, so that an angel in us may emerge and the Voice of Silence can be finally heard...May we all experience this great day to the fullest- so, that this year, we'll be getting a few steps closer to Heaven!