This week was yet another amazing week at Yeshiva in Israel. This past Shabbat both Neil Silverman and David Beitner stayed at Shapel’s and we had a great time catching up on everything that has happened in our lives since we last spoke. Additionally, David Morley showed up on Shabbat afternoon to see how everyone was doing. It was quite the pleasant surprise. It seems like I just arrived but the zman (semester) is already almost over. We are spending two more weeks on new information and then the last two weeks reviewing everything we have learned so far. The last day of class is March 26th. I will most likely stay here over the semester break and learn with some of the other students who are also staying.
Since Purim is coming up very soon I think it would be appropriate to say some words about the coming holiday. The Torah says in Exodus 19:17 “the Jews stood under the mountain,” referring to when the Jewish people were at Mt. Sinai. Most English translations translate the word as meaning close to, but literally it means under. There is a Gemara in Shabbos on daf (page) 88 that explains the reason the Torah wrote “under” instead of “next to.” It says that after the Jewish people responded, “We will do, and we will listen,” Hashem placed them under Mt. Sinai and gave them a choice, accept the Torah or be buried under the mountain. Obviously they accepted. However, this is a problem because whoever does not follow the Torah can claim they only accepted under distress. However, the Gemara goes on to say that in Megillat Ester 9:27 it says that the Jews “confirmed and accepted” after the Rabbis decreed that every year the holiday of Purim was to be celebrated. The Gemara asks, “Why does the verse say ‘confirmed and accepted,’ it should just say ‘accepted’!” The answer is the Jews did not confirm that they would celebrate Purim every year. That does not make sense. The definition of the word confirm is, “to verify the truth or validity of something thought to be true or valid.” Celebrating Purim cannot be true or valid, it is either accepted or not accepted. There is no truth involved. Rather at that time the Jewish people confirmed the truth and validity of the Torah and additionally accepted to celebrate Purim every year. This means that Purim is the day where the Jewish nation accepted to follow the Torah without being forced to accept it.
There is an additional question which is “Why would Hashem force the Jews into accepting the Torah?” There are many answers to this question, however I will only talk about the one that strikes me the most. The Alter Rebbe of Chabad asked what does the Torah mean when it says, “We will do, and we will listen?” Logically you would think that before deciding to do something, you should first listen to what you will be agreeing to do. His answer is built around the psychology of the human being. I think it is human nature to assume that you are right and not question your way of life. To just do what everyone else is doing. When I was at the University of Michigan I noticed how some people were against attending religious events because they assumed they would be boring. Those same people would only agree that religious events could be fun after going to one. The reason Hashem forced us to accept the Torah under Mt. Sinai and the reason the Jewish people said “We will do, and we will listen” is because deeds lead to listening, not the other way around. The way to understand the beauty of Judaism is to experience a Jewish event. Purim is next Sunday, I hope that everyone will have the opportunity to experience Purim the way it is meant to be experienced. Have a great week and an even better Purim.
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
shabbat
I am extremely pressed for time as the Yeshiva is expecting 60 guests for the wedding on Sunday. We are all pitching in to get the place ready for that many people. I will write my blog after Shabbat.
This Shabbat was amazing. It was very hectic, but very fun. I did not get much sleep since I had one of those converasations where you don't want to stop talking. I made it to bed by 4 and woke up around 8, but it was worth it. These next few weeks are also very hectic. Sunday night was a wedding of one of the students so we were all out very late. It was a blast!!! Since this particular student became very close to many of the gadolim (leading Rabbis) of our time, there were many amazing people there including Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, one of the greatest Torah leaders of our generation. For those of you reading this who do not know, there is a mitzvah to make a groom and bride happy on their wedding day. When they walk from the chuppah all the guys at the wedding, especially the guys in Yeshiva, dance in front of them. They are completely enclosed in this huge crowd of people who are singing and dancing as loud as possible. It is hard to describe so I will look for some pictures of it and post them later if I find good ones.
Today the Rosh Yeshiva of Shor Yashuv, a Yeshiva in New York, spoke here. Tomorrow is "Tuesday Night at the Rabbis" where we all go in groups of 4-6 to a Rabbi's home to get to know them and their family a little better. Since one of the students here is moving to Baltimore and leaving on Saturday night, on thursday we are having a mishmar for him. Basically this means we are all going to be staying up late into the night eating good food and sharing words of Torah with each other. Then next Shabbat is another party, this one for the wedding on next Thursday night. There will not be as many people this Shabbat since the groom is from America and it is much more expensive to come to Israel from America than it is to come from England.
Then Purim is coming up right after the wedding. I have the amazing opportunity to eat the Purim meal at Rabbi Reuven Kamenetsky's home. This man is an amazingly learned person. He knows Talmud so well that he can quote Tosofot in different masechtas to answer a question asked in our sugya. I do not know how to explain how wise this man is.
From now on I will be posting on Sunday because so much happens on Shabbat that I feel it would be beneficial to write my weekly blog after Shabbat.
This Shabbat was amazing. It was very hectic, but very fun. I did not get much sleep since I had one of those converasations where you don't want to stop talking. I made it to bed by 4 and woke up around 8, but it was worth it. These next few weeks are also very hectic. Sunday night was a wedding of one of the students so we were all out very late. It was a blast!!! Since this particular student became very close to many of the gadolim (leading Rabbis) of our time, there were many amazing people there including Rabbi Moshe Shapiro, one of the greatest Torah leaders of our generation. For those of you reading this who do not know, there is a mitzvah to make a groom and bride happy on their wedding day. When they walk from the chuppah all the guys at the wedding, especially the guys in Yeshiva, dance in front of them. They are completely enclosed in this huge crowd of people who are singing and dancing as loud as possible. It is hard to describe so I will look for some pictures of it and post them later if I find good ones.
Today the Rosh Yeshiva of Shor Yashuv, a Yeshiva in New York, spoke here. Tomorrow is "Tuesday Night at the Rabbis" where we all go in groups of 4-6 to a Rabbi's home to get to know them and their family a little better. Since one of the students here is moving to Baltimore and leaving on Saturday night, on thursday we are having a mishmar for him. Basically this means we are all going to be staying up late into the night eating good food and sharing words of Torah with each other. Then next Shabbat is another party, this one for the wedding on next Thursday night. There will not be as many people this Shabbat since the groom is from America and it is much more expensive to come to Israel from America than it is to come from England.
Then Purim is coming up right after the wedding. I have the amazing opportunity to eat the Purim meal at Rabbi Reuven Kamenetsky's home. This man is an amazingly learned person. He knows Talmud so well that he can quote Tosofot in different masechtas to answer a question asked in our sugya. I do not know how to explain how wise this man is.
From now on I will be posting on Sunday because so much happens on Shabbat that I feel it would be beneficial to write my weekly blog after Shabbat.
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Depth Of The Gemara
A friend from back in Michigan got me thinking about how people do not understand how much information there is to learn in the Gemara, so I figured it would be educational to post about this.
It is incomprehensible to someone who has not learned Gemara how much information there is. I will try to give you an analogy but anything I come up with will fall far short of the true extent of the amount of information. Me sitting in a class given by the head of the Yeshiva is like a 5-year old sitting in a class taught by Einstein. The only reason I can comprehend anything is because since all the students are comparable to 5-year olds the teacher brings the Gemara down to our level.
In addition the way we think is opposite to how we should think. The first day of class the head of the Yeshiva told us that his goal was to erase the damage that public school did to our brains and return us to our 4-year old inquisitive selves, with the ability to think for ourselves. For instance we are not alowed to guess the answer. In public school the answer to a question is what the teacher wants to hear, here any answer must be backed with reasoning. Even if we give the right answer the Rabbi will question us as if it is wrong. The Rabbi says that he would rather us give the wrong answer with a valid explanation than a correct guess.
We also have to stop thinking like Americans. He gives the example that all Americans think any problem can be solved. Today he said that Americans cannot understand why Israeli's and Palestinian's cannot live in peace, all you have to do to solve the problem is stick them in a room so they can talk it out!!! We have to understand that not all problems are solvable and continue learning even if something does not make sense. It is hard to stop thinking like a public school kid who is trying to please the teacher and start thinking like a person who is trying to work with the teacher in order to find the answer even if it is against what the Rabbi is arguing.
I do not mean to say that I did not learn anything at public school or that there were no classes where I did actually get to think, however for the most part the education a public school in America gives you is how to tell the teacher what he wants to hear. I do not think that is a controversial statement it is a fact of the way we were raised. I remember in 11th grade I got a C on a math test even though I got all the answers right. I was marked wrong because the steps I used to get to the answer were different than what my teacher would have done. I had a way of solving the problem, but it was wrong because my teacher thought her way was better.
It is incomprehensible to someone who has not learned Gemara how much information there is. I will try to give you an analogy but anything I come up with will fall far short of the true extent of the amount of information. Me sitting in a class given by the head of the Yeshiva is like a 5-year old sitting in a class taught by Einstein. The only reason I can comprehend anything is because since all the students are comparable to 5-year olds the teacher brings the Gemara down to our level.
In addition the way we think is opposite to how we should think. The first day of class the head of the Yeshiva told us that his goal was to erase the damage that public school did to our brains and return us to our 4-year old inquisitive selves, with the ability to think for ourselves. For instance we are not alowed to guess the answer. In public school the answer to a question is what the teacher wants to hear, here any answer must be backed with reasoning. Even if we give the right answer the Rabbi will question us as if it is wrong. The Rabbi says that he would rather us give the wrong answer with a valid explanation than a correct guess.
We also have to stop thinking like Americans. He gives the example that all Americans think any problem can be solved. Today he said that Americans cannot understand why Israeli's and Palestinian's cannot live in peace, all you have to do to solve the problem is stick them in a room so they can talk it out!!! We have to understand that not all problems are solvable and continue learning even if something does not make sense. It is hard to stop thinking like a public school kid who is trying to please the teacher and start thinking like a person who is trying to work with the teacher in order to find the answer even if it is against what the Rabbi is arguing.
I do not mean to say that I did not learn anything at public school or that there were no classes where I did actually get to think, however for the most part the education a public school in America gives you is how to tell the teacher what he wants to hear. I do not think that is a controversial statement it is a fact of the way we were raised. I remember in 11th grade I got a C on a math test even though I got all the answers right. I was marked wrong because the steps I used to get to the answer were different than what my teacher would have done. I had a way of solving the problem, but it was wrong because my teacher thought her way was better.
Friday, February 9, 2007
Another Great Week
Hello everyone,
This week has been very fun and exciting. I have switched Talmud classes again, this time I moved down to level 6. The other head of the Yeshiva came back from America and is now teaching this level. Instead of learning what the Gemara says relatively quickly and then learning some of the many commentators' opinions, we are just focusing on the Gemara and Rashi. We not only need to understand what each word says, but why each word is neccessary, and why the Gemara is trying to teach what it does. This level is perfect for me at this stage in my learning because it will improve my reading tremendously.
I have been asked to use the word study instead of the word learn, so I would like to clarify why religious Jews use learn. Maimonides writes in his laws of "Learning Torah" that every Jewish father has a mitzvah to teach his sons and his grandsons Torah. If a son or grandson was never taught Torah he has the mitzvah to teach himself in order that he will be able to teach his sons and grandsons. If you pay close attention to the words Maimonides uses he does not say that a person must study Torah, he says a person must TEACH HIMSELF Torah. When I think of the word studying I think of learning something by myself with no teacher. When I think of the word learning I think of gaining knowledge as a result of being taught. Since a person is not studying by himself, but rather teaching himself, he has a teacher and is therefore learning not studying.
This Shabbat I am staying at the Yeshiva and going to eat at different families with some guys from the Yeshiva. This Shabbat is going to be a relatively calm Shabbat since two of the older students here are getting married in the next two weeks. Next Shabbat the groom is from Great Britain and since Britain is close to Israel there will be 60 guests here for the wedding. The Shabbat after that a guy from Michigan, who I met two years ago when I was just starting my journey, is getting married. We are going to try to get all the guys from Michigan who are learning somewhere in Israel to stay at Shapel's for his wedding.
I hope everyone is doing well in America.
Please post... or e-mail me...
This week has been very fun and exciting. I have switched Talmud classes again, this time I moved down to level 6. The other head of the Yeshiva came back from America and is now teaching this level. Instead of learning what the Gemara says relatively quickly and then learning some of the many commentators' opinions, we are just focusing on the Gemara and Rashi. We not only need to understand what each word says, but why each word is neccessary, and why the Gemara is trying to teach what it does. This level is perfect for me at this stage in my learning because it will improve my reading tremendously.
I have been asked to use the word study instead of the word learn, so I would like to clarify why religious Jews use learn. Maimonides writes in his laws of "Learning Torah" that every Jewish father has a mitzvah to teach his sons and his grandsons Torah. If a son or grandson was never taught Torah he has the mitzvah to teach himself in order that he will be able to teach his sons and grandsons. If you pay close attention to the words Maimonides uses he does not say that a person must study Torah, he says a person must TEACH HIMSELF Torah. When I think of the word studying I think of learning something by myself with no teacher. When I think of the word learning I think of gaining knowledge as a result of being taught. Since a person is not studying by himself, but rather teaching himself, he has a teacher and is therefore learning not studying.
This Shabbat I am staying at the Yeshiva and going to eat at different families with some guys from the Yeshiva. This Shabbat is going to be a relatively calm Shabbat since two of the older students here are getting married in the next two weeks. Next Shabbat the groom is from Great Britain and since Britain is close to Israel there will be 60 guests here for the wedding. The Shabbat after that a guy from Michigan, who I met two years ago when I was just starting my journey, is getting married. We are going to try to get all the guys from Michigan who are learning somewhere in Israel to stay at Shapel's for his wedding.
I hope everyone is doing well in America.
Please post... or e-mail me...
Friday, February 2, 2007
The Ability To Have Free Choice
This week has been a blast. I learned a lot and am now going to spend Shabbat with some friends in Har Nof. The Yeshiva sets students up with different families to eat Shabbat meals and I was set up with two families in Har Nof. It is only a 30 minute walk from where I live but it is supposed to rain here this Shabbat. Since I do not feel like walking in the rain I asked a friend if he could find me a place to sleep. I will be staying at the Machon Yaakov Yeshiva and seeing two friends from Ann Arbor who are currently learning in Har Nof.
Something interesting I learned this week has to do with the apparent defects in nature, especially to the evils found in nature, which are not in accordance to HaShem's perfection. The RAMCHAL writes in "The Knowing Heart" that HaShem wanted to show humankind His oneness. He makes the argument that if HaShem made the world perfectly then man would have nothing to do. He would have nothing to improve in the world. By "pulling back" so-to-speak, HaShem allowed apparent "lack" into the world so humankind could become partners in creation with Him.
The reason HaShem wanted to show humankind His oneness is because it is the only attribute that is seen through its opposite. If HaShem wanted to show us His kindness we would not need to understand what evil was. If everything was given to us in this world and we would not need to work for anything, we would understand HaShem's kindness. If HaShem wanted to show us His wisdom He would not have needed to show us what foolishness is. If I came to you and showed you a fool or an evil person, you would in no way be able to understand what "intelligence" or "righteousness" is. However, the only way to understand oneness is through it's opposite, plurality. If I put five marbles on a table you would be able to understand what one marble would look like. And it is impossible to understand one if there is only one. If you were the only thing existing you would not be able to comprehend more than you, and therefore you would not be able to comprehend "only." However, if there is more than you, you are able to understand what it would be like if you and only you existed. By creating the world as a place that seemingly has many forces that are in opposition to one another (fire and water, good and evil, etc.), each person has the ability to come to their own conclusion that even though the world looks plural, it is all one. The more plural the world is the more amazing it is when one comprehends that everything is all one.
The RAMCHAL then goes on to say that although HaShem could obviously have created the world in a way that humankind could understand His oneness without living through the plurality (negative), if He did so we would not have free will. It would be so obvious that HaShem is God that we would not be able to do an act against His will. By creating the world with negative qualities we have the ability to choose for ourselves whether we will be good or bad.
Something interesting I learned this week has to do with the apparent defects in nature, especially to the evils found in nature, which are not in accordance to HaShem's perfection. The RAMCHAL writes in "The Knowing Heart" that HaShem wanted to show humankind His oneness. He makes the argument that if HaShem made the world perfectly then man would have nothing to do. He would have nothing to improve in the world. By "pulling back" so-to-speak, HaShem allowed apparent "lack" into the world so humankind could become partners in creation with Him.
The reason HaShem wanted to show humankind His oneness is because it is the only attribute that is seen through its opposite. If HaShem wanted to show us His kindness we would not need to understand what evil was. If everything was given to us in this world and we would not need to work for anything, we would understand HaShem's kindness. If HaShem wanted to show us His wisdom He would not have needed to show us what foolishness is. If I came to you and showed you a fool or an evil person, you would in no way be able to understand what "intelligence" or "righteousness" is. However, the only way to understand oneness is through it's opposite, plurality. If I put five marbles on a table you would be able to understand what one marble would look like. And it is impossible to understand one if there is only one. If you were the only thing existing you would not be able to comprehend more than you, and therefore you would not be able to comprehend "only." However, if there is more than you, you are able to understand what it would be like if you and only you existed. By creating the world as a place that seemingly has many forces that are in opposition to one another (fire and water, good and evil, etc.), each person has the ability to come to their own conclusion that even though the world looks plural, it is all one. The more plural the world is the more amazing it is when one comprehends that everything is all one.
The RAMCHAL then goes on to say that although HaShem could obviously have created the world in a way that humankind could understand His oneness without living through the plurality (negative), if He did so we would not have free will. It would be so obvious that HaShem is God that we would not be able to do an act against His will. By creating the world with negative qualities we have the ability to choose for ourselves whether we will be good or bad.
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