YeshivaThe torah world Gateway
Beit Midrash
- Family and Society
- The Nation of Israel
- Israel and the Nations
I feel that one of the great enemies of traditional Judaism in the United States is the high cost of tuition in Jewish day schools and yeshivot. Everyone talks about it and recognizes the problem. Families have fewer children because of it. Jewish children from otherwise observant families are sent to Charter Schools and Public Schools because of it. Both the quality and quantity of Jewish education suffer because of it. But apparently nothing is done about it. The major national organizations are busy with their political offices, fighting turf battles and using their funds as they wish. They are legally entitled to do so but I would think that they could and should allocate a given percentage of their budgets to support local day schools and yeshivot that lower tuition rates. That is the true enemy, not all of the supposed deviations from the "true" faith that each group finds present in the other group or organization. The argument over the age of the earth is a sterile one that will not be resolved through articles, speeches and conventions. And worse, it is completely irrelevant to the current problems that face the Jewish world. How can we improve the world that we live in is the question that faces us. How to create a Torah society in Israel and the Diaspora; how to protect ourselves physically and spiritually from the enemies that threaten us so menacingly is the true issue that needs to be addressed. It should not be ignored.
In Israel the supposed enemy is the Charedi society. The media is obsessed with it and the only thing apparently that Israel has to fear is that there will soon be more Charedim in its midst. But again this is a false enemy. The true enemy lies in the secular society where the rate of disaffection from Israeli army service is far greater than with the Charedim. It lies in a university system that somehow under the guise of academic freedom produces the greatest number of Israel bashers and haters of Judaism than anywhere else in the Western world. It lies in a generation of youth who feels entitled to being given everything without having to work for it and who does not in the main have a sense of Jewish solidarity and traditional loyalty. It lies with an electoral system and judicial system that is devoted to only replicating itself and its particular viewpoints. And the external enemy is a real one. Pious statements about how the Moslem brotherhood will become moderate once in office fly in the face of the reality of our history of the last century. Iran is an existential threat to Israel. In short, there is no shortage of real enemies both within and without our society. These enemies should be identified and combated while we should no longer invest our energies in dealing with enemies who are either nonexistent or long ago defeated and dealt with.
Rabbis in Midrash
Lessons
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Israel and the Nations A Few Minutes & Many Innovative Ideas on Antisemitism & What to do About It
As we approach the High Holidays, this short lecture (18 minutes) deals with the unfortunate situation of how Israel and the Jewish People stand against antisemitism, analyzing its cause according to Rav Kook, and how to deal with the issue pragmatically & via our prayers.
Ha'azinu PURSUIT is PERFECTION
p. Ha'azinu, Shabbat Shuva
Rav Kook deals with the question of the seemingly hopeless nature of Tshuva. For G-d Himself knows that He created us with free will, which inevitably means we will sometimes make mistakes and choose wrong. This can easily be frustrating, freezing us into inaction and ye'ush (loss of hope). If one sins even once, does he chalila have no choice but suicide?! Moreover, our Godly conscience demands justice, righteousness and perfection, but we all know this is impossible, so what's the solution? Rav Kook's innovative thinking, strongly based on chazal (our sages), offers an inciteful and important aspect to this topic, especially this time of year!
Sukkot Bug-Free Sukkah: Essential Halachic and Practical Schach Guide
How to inspect, clean, and store bamboo mats and palm branches to protect your mitzvah and holiday meals.
