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Beit Midrash
- Jewish Laws and Thoughts
- Serving Hashem, Mitzvot and Repentance
The Holocaust is the primary reason for the breakdown of tradition in Jewish society today. The people who were the bearers of that tradition were murdered. Ninety eight percent of Lithuanian Jewry was destroyed by the Germans, the Russian Bolsheviks, and the Lithuanians. The survivors found themselves in alien societies, uprooted and in the main silent about their experiences and their previous lives. Thus they never spoke about what life in Lithuania was and what its societal mores and worldview was. Ninety five percent of Polish and Ukrainian Jewry were similarly destroyed and again the survivors never were willing or able to recreate the conditions of life of Eastern Europe where their family and societal traditions flourished. Those that came to Israel found themselves in a kulturkampf with the secularist, atheistic, leftist establishment that then governed the yishuv and the nascent state. In America the survivors found themselves in a society that encouraged forgetting the mores of the Old World and still promoted the "melting pot" goal of complete immersion and assimilation into American life. Thus the "new Jew" did in fact emerge in the religious Jewish world - a Jew that was observant and devoted to Torah study and willing to defend the Torah way of life as it was now almost newly created against all foes and by any means at hand. But the "new Jew" had no sense of the tradition of Jewish society and its behavior patterns. Instead it was fed or created legends, stories, myths, and built its society around these illusions and fabrications. And this has created the current impasse of attitudes and problems that face us in every facet of societal Jewish life and has driven us to extremism because the sense of normalcy and proportion that tradition always imported to the next generation was destroyed.
Added to the mix in religious Jewish life was the advent of movements that successfully "returned" thousands of children of non-observant and assimilated Jewish families to ritual observance and to Torah study. These wonderful people arrived naturally without any family or societal Jewish tradition. And more often than not those who were their mentors and guides also suffered from not having traditional Jewish societal norms as part of their own education. Those who "returned" many times gravitated towards extreme sects in their search for their souls and spirituality. What in Eastern Europe were marginal groups, fringe yeshivot, radical idealists now became mainstream in the religious Jewish world. The continuing never ending political turmoil that marks Israeli life and society has also contributed to the mainstreaming of what are really fringe, truly non-traditional groups and ideas. So the traditions of Jewish society in so many societal issues have been forgotten or distorted beyond recognition. The difficulties of creating a new balanced norm of societal behavior and worldview - a new tradition if you wish - are enormous. But somehow it must be achieved for religious Jewish life to grow, prosper and be successful.
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Shoftim TESHUVA IN COURT OF LAW?
Parshat Shoftim-Chodesh Elul
Why does parshat Shoftim always come out during Elul? This innovative and central explanation is an eye-opener regarding many aspects of Judaism.
The Month of Elul TESHUVA IS THE ANSWER
The month of Elul serves as a vital time for self-reflection and personal accountability to prepare for true repentance.
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Realtor’s Fee on Large Commercial Building – part I
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
P'ninat Mishpat Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Chemdat Yamim The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the cornerstone laying for the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh – 1938)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the cornerstone laying for the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh – 1938)
Re'e NEVER EXTREME EXCEPT ISRAEL
Parshat Re'eh
Judaism is against extremism, so how can we understand the seemingly extreme statements found in our sages in favor of living in the Land of Israel and against living in Chutz laAretz? The article deals with the seeming contradiction between the strength of Free-Will and the strength of being influenced by our surroundings.
Ekev DANCE FOR ISRAEL- FOR YOUR BENEFIT
Parshat Eikev
Description: The 7 Haftarot we read after Tisha B'Av ("Shiva D'Nichemta") surely get us excited that they're coming TRUE, and awaken us to yearn, dance & join the return to Zion! The short article also deals with the problems and solutions facing the American Jewish community as discussed at a recent panel, as well as the question why Jews come from America to Israel to help when we face problems, but Israelis don't come to aid Jews in America when they face anti-Semitism.
