Beethoven - Piano Concerto No 5

Beethoven - Piano Concerto No 5 - Krystian Zimerman

Not for those who are obsessed with anti-antisemitism since the orchestra is the Hamburg Philharmonic, the pianist is Polish, and the composer is German. Obsessed means that one cannot say anything about Poles without mentioning antisemitism and same with the Germans and French. I often play a game where any time I am with frum people and anything about France enters the conversation I tell them how much I enjoy the French language. And every time, 100% of the time thus far, one or more people will make some disparaging comment about the French and about how antisemitic they are. (I know several French gentiles who are not antisemitic at all.)

I think it shows what sheep we are, how conformist, that every person responds in exactly the same way and a way that's uncalled for. Is is a sin to enjoy a language? Who creates languages anyway? I would think HaShem guides their creation. And how did the topic of antisemitism find its way into the conversation? Can we give it a rest and enjoy life a little?

By the way, I find the same thing when I complement almost any gentile place. Oh, you are from Belgium, what a lovely country. Oh, you are from Florida; I have always enjoyed Florida. An alarmingly high percentage of the time the person just can't accept the complement and goes on to say something negative about the place. Or they just look very uncomfortable. After all, I complemented something that has nothing directly to do with Jews. Evidentially, we are not allowed to enjoy the planet earth. Recently, a man told me he was from Los Angeles. I said, Oh, I spent a month there once. He said, did you hate it. I said, no. I liked it. I liked the ocean, the mountains, the laid back feeling. (Obviously I didn't like the tumah). These are not Torah Im Derech Eretz people. A Torah Im Derech Eretz person enjoys parts of the planet earth even the parts with gentiles. Oftentimes, it's the gentiles that make those parts enjoyable. I didn't say they make it holy. But they can build nice cities. HaShem helps them to do that. Rabbi Avigdor Miller says when a town has city ordinances and inspectors, HaShem made that happen. Rabbi Miller also said, we don't hate goyim, we just don't mingle with them. We are not obligated to hate everything.

Anyway, this performance of Beethoven's 5th piano concerto is impeccable. Even Bernstein who conducts takes the back seat and to his credit lets the pianist shine. I try not to share videos of non-religious Jews but I couldn't resist here and the star of the show is not Jewish. What a performance. And since it took place in 1989, the orchestra was dressed modestly. Imagine that! Today, one cannot go to a symphony hall.

Introducing the Nachal Charedi Unit

On Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019, a Nachal Charedi commander was indicted for allowing five of his soldiers to brutally beat up a Palestinian father and son who were handcuffed and blindfolded. In this so-called religious unit is where Israeli politicians and their supporters want to place Charedi bochurim, boys from Belz, Gur, and Toldos Aaron, Heaven save us from this wickedness.

Jerusalem Post: "According to the indictment, the defendants took photos and video footage while they beat the Palestinians all over their bodies, including in intimidate areas.

"The accused are said to have removed the son's blindfold and forced him to watch as his father was beaten."

Father and son are now hospitalized.

So what do we have here, violence, law-breaking, sadism, sexual perversion, and I-phones, all in the so-called Charedi units. Can anyone guess why Charedim oppose the draft?

Jerusalem Post Article

Kol Dimama 2:18

"Explanation of Recent Developments Part 1

'The IDF is tasked with encouraging enlistment of religious girls into its ranks.'

"Thus reads a resolution passed by the Israeli government six years ago. The IDF has taken this government order very seriously. This mighty military machine, using all of its world-renowned professionalism and ruthlessness, has spent the past few years plotting the „conquest‟ of bnos Yisroel into its ranks. Their job hasn‟t been that easy. The fortress constructed by Gedolei Yisroel forty years ago to shield bnos Yisroel from this very danger could not be penetrated in one sudden, frontal attack. The IDF has been forced to use caution, subterfuge, and cunning methods to erode the walls of this fortress. They have adopted a step-by-step approach, attacking on many fronts in almost imperceptible manner."

continue reading

“…we who live here (in Eretz Yisroel) do not have the ability to do anything… because the government is in the hands of the resha’im, as is all of the media… however, the rabbanim of Chutz l’Aretz, along with the shomrei Torah [there], certainly have an obligation to raise an outcry against every offense and attack on the holy Torah, because they [the Israeli government] still fear the demonstrations of Yidden in Chutz l’Aretz which have so far prevented them from taking even more drastic steps…”


(Sefer Kraina d’Igresa, letter 249, from the Steipler Gaon zt”l)