Thursday, March 31, 2016

Monday, March 28, 2016

Love

R'  Shimon Schwab, Internalizing Eternity, 26:57

"Our slogan must be to return to the authentic ahavas Hashem of our forefathers. For ahava is a sensation felt inside, deeply inside. Ahava is our most intimate emotion and love is never one-sided. As it says, ani li l'dodi and l'dodi li. Once we realize that the Ribbono Shel Olam is loving us as a nation ha-bocheir b'amo yisrael b'ahava and the Ribbono Shel Olam is loving each and everyone of us as individuals, ahavas Hashem, or love for Him, can become a passion, the most intimate totally personal relationship between the Borei Olam and myself."

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Narrative by Chasom Sofer

I wonder sometimes how Orthodox life in Frankfurt might have been different had the Chasom Sofer not left to follow his rebbe Noson Adler. R' Adler had been driven from town due to his kabbalistic interests.

The Chosom Sofer wound up in Pressburg, which is 40 miles from Vienna. In the book Pressburg Under Siege he describes the assault of Napoleon's army on the city. The book is a rare glimpse into life in Pressburg at that time and a narrative by a gaon of life in his city.



Sunday, March 20, 2016

400th post - Our Mission In Life

With gratitude to Hashem, I publish here our 400th post, and choose for it the following reminder of our main mission:

"As His creating word calls forth the sun, and summons the light of the world, so has God's love appointed Israel as the bearer of the light of spirit and life, and as the bearer of Torah. O that you would mindful of such a high task! O that you would allow heart and spirit to be infused by the spirit of the Torah and allow your life, in word and deed, to be but a copy of the contents of this Torah! You would thus surrender yourself to God in love just as He summons you in love." Horeb 628

Thursday, March 17, 2016

I can't stop raving about this kehillah

20th Yahrzeit Rav Breuer zt'l. Part 1 (May 2000)

Breuers 2gether

A video of people walking down the street? Is that interesting?

Watch the tznius of the women AND men - the modesty of these residents of Manhattan. So calm yet purposeful. So pleasant mannered and dignified. Such proper and good yidden.

I can't stop raving about this kehillah. It is superb.

"I have plenty to say about the German kehillah. I love the German kehillah. As a boy I davened every Shabbos in a German shul. I can sit four hours in the afternoon, Shabbos afternoon, in a German shul." R' Avigdor Miller, Loving His People 2, #528 1:06.

Monday, March 14, 2016

Friday, March 11, 2016

Tiferes Tzvi, A Student Torah Publication of YRSRH: Pekudei


Tiferes Tzvi
A Student Torah Publication of YRSRH
Founded in 1984


וירא משה את כל המלאכה והנה עשו אתה כאשר צוה ה' כן עשו ויברך אתם משה. לט, מג 

משה saw the entire work, and behold, they did it just as ה' commanded, so had they done, and משה blessed them. (39, 43)

רש''י explains that משה blessed כלל ישראל that the שכינה should rest on their work. Rav Shimon Schwab זצ''ל asks that earlier the פסוק says (39, 32) that בני ישראל finished the work in the אהל מואד and whatever ה' commanded כלל ישראל, משה had done. Why did משה not bless כלל ישראל there? The answer is that if one looks closely at the פסוק, it says ,ככל אשר צוה ה' את משה כן עשו since they did it because משה commanded them, משה was afraid that maybe they did it out of respect to him, not completely לשם שמים, so he did not give them a blessing. However, after they brought the משכן to משה, the תורה says כאשר צוה ה' כן עשו. It was then that משה realized that they did it , לשם שמים and only then did he bless them. 

The Mesivta Purim Campaign is well under way; if you are interested in donating, please contact Aharon Packer at: 347-786-4591

Posted with permission


Thursday, March 10, 2016

Wisdom from the Gentiles: Goethe

Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men.

The little man is still a man.

Every person above the ordinary has a certain mission that they are called to fulfill.



Tuesday, March 8, 2016

New Ashkenaz Machzor

"Machzor Shivchei Yeshurun, by Rabbi Dovid Roth, and co-published by Goldschmidt. 

Contains Haskomos from Rav Hamburger and Rav Folger (formerly Rabbi of Basel, now Chief Rabbi-Elect of Vienna).
Some of its features are:

  • Contains the full davening for each Special Shabbos separately – both the regular tefillos and the piyutim – together in one place and in the proper order, eliminating the need to flip pages or use two siddurim.  
  • Includes Kerovos for Purim, bensching for seudas bris, and a comprehensive appendix.
  • Each piyut is elucidated by insights and explanations in English.
  • Newly typeset in a large, clear font.
  • Full compatibility with virtually all Western Ashkenaz minhagim, with a special focus on K’hal Adath Jeshurun of Washington Heights.
  •  The introductory price is $18.
You can view sample pages at  https://sites.google.com/site/shivcheiyeshurun/."

(text of post from email that was sent to me)

Monday, March 7, 2016

New Hirsch channel

Legacy Hirsch

Mendy Meyer, who is responsible for the wonderful youtube channel Breuers 2gether is launching a new channel that he describes as follows:

"A safe place to come together and rediscover our legacy - through thought provoking videos and personalities."





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Friday, March 4, 2016

Shiur on Sunday at KAJ-WH

The family of Mrs. Shirley Lerner, o.h. cordially invites friends and members of the Kehilla to a shiur in memory of their mother on the occasion of her first Yahrzeit.  The speaker will be Rabbi Fischel Schachter.  It will take place this Sunday, March 6 at 7:30 PM in the Dr. Moller Hall, 90 Bennett Avenue.

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Tiferes Tzvi: Parshas Vayakhel‏



Tiferes Tzvi
A Student Torah Publication of YRSRH
Founded in 1984

והנשאם הביאו את אבני השהם ואת אבני המלאים לאפוד ולחשן. לה, כז

And the princes brought the שהם stones and the stones to be set for the אפוד and the breast-plate.
(35, 27)

The word נשאם is spelled in this פסוק without a רש"י. י explains that the נשיאים decided to wait in donating to the משכן until everyone else gave, and then they would give whatever was missing. They are criticized for this, and therefore the תורה spells the word as .נשאם 

Rav Hirsch explains what the נשיאים did wrong. They considered themselves on a higher level than the rest of . כלל ישראל That is why they did not respond when משה called upon the people to give, as they considered it beneath their honor. They therefore waited, expecting the people’s donations to not be enough, so that they will have the honor of completing the donations, as befit people of their stature. This was a great mistake, because they held themselves to be higher than everyone else. A נשיא is not supposed to consider himself greater than everybody else. Rather, they should view themselves as part of the whole nation. Since they did not act as a befitting ,נשיא the תורה takes away from their name and spells it as .

The Mesivta Purim Campaign is well under way; if you are interested in sponsoring, please contact Aharon Packer at: 347-786-4591

posted with permission

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Linked Article: In My Own Write: Yekke par excellence By JUDY MONTAGU

"I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I ever saw my father attired in anything but a suit and tie. Visiting me in Israel one summer, he went out on the first day wearing some fine leather sandals bought specially for the trip – and later returned having agreed to sell them to a man who had admired them in a Tel Aviv cafe. Though he laughed at this “deal,” his relief at redonning his formal black lace-ups was evident.

"Dress was only part of it, of course. Decorum and politeness were paramount to him. He was orderly and punctilious, and never as much as a minute late for an appointment.

"He shared, in short, many of the traits exhibited by the “yekkes” – which might help explain why I have always felt a great warmth and respect for these Jews of German origin who arrived in Israel in 1929-39. Educated, cultured and courteous, they have left their mark in many spheres of Israeli life."

cont.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Lectures on Hirsch

These lectures by Professor Marc Shapiro are worth a listen. While most camps claim R' Hirsch as their own, these lectures allow him to be German Orthodox and sui generis within it.