Opuscula Yeshiva = School Test yeshiva “boys”

ONCE AGAIN THE HARIDEEM (religious extremists) are fighting for their stipends and to keep their “boys” out of the army.

Meanwhile, all other reasonably healthy males have to risk their lives for the “boys” sitting on their backsides, safe from any danger.

THIS “ESCAPE TO YESHIVOT” is due to an agreement the harideem made with the same man that was prepared to murder fellow Jews. The yeshivot managed to be part of the left-wing Labor governments; governments unable to reach a peace agreement with any neighbors during Israel’s first 39 years (1948 to 1977).

After Labor was finally defeated by Menachem Began and his Likud party (vs. Netanyahu’s Likud party), the yeshivot climbed into bed with Likud and Began — in order to have a government that finally managed a peace treaty with Egypt.

So much for history.

Everywhere students from First Grade to Bachelor degree candidates regularly are tested. In primary and secondary schools, failure to “make the grade” often means summer school of, worst case, the student has to repeat the academic year.

At the university level, failure to progress may mean the end of a college “career.”

In the military, failure to perform means separation from the service (hopefully before the person causes injury or death to his fellows).

 

TEST THE YESHIVA “BOYS”

 

In order to receive rabbinical ordination a potential posek — a person who can rule on religion-related questions — the person must prove his understanding of Jewish law.

For most men, reaching that level of understanding takes several years.

Yeshiva “boys” should be tested to see if the are learning and retaining anything. Those whose progress is questionable should be invited to move on; to leave to yeshiva.

The rare genius should be encouraged to continue his education, but at another yeshiva so the student will learn from others. This has been common practice since at least talmudic times.

Some editions of Avot provide mini-biographies to those cited, including the masters under whom they studied. This “find a new teacher” is good advice for collegians going for a masters or PhD — go to a different university with different professors to avoid “in grown” learning.

There is no question that we need knowledgeable rabbis and lay leaders, but these people need to be aware of the real world, unlike the Vilna Gaon who lived a sheltered life.

Yeshiva “boys” who can’t cut it; who are “hiding out” in yeshivot while their wife works and manages a household and while others are inducted into the military that protects these “boys” need to be dismissed.

“Boys” that are “invited out” of a yeshiva need to do SOME type national service; if not the military, then work in a hospital or a school; clean up their own neighborhoods. Learn a trade or profession and get off the dole (and give the wives a break).

Get a job ?? Blasphemy! Torah (actually talmud) study must be a full time job, just as it was during the talmudic period.

Wait! Some of the leading lights of the period worked!

Not just as rabbis or teachers, but as shoe makers, farmers, beer makers, and more.

THEY studied AND worked.

Shammai said (Avot1 Mishnah 15) make the study of the law a “fixed duty.”
(עשה תורתך קבע) He did NOT say to study all day.

Gamaliel ben Judah HaNasi said (Avot 2 Mishnah 2) “Excellent is the study of the law in combination with some worldly pursuit for the exertion entailed by them both makes thoughts of sin to be forgotten.”

Above English and Hebrew from Ethics of the Fathers, Judaica Press, ©1964,ISBN 0-910818-15-0

Even today, many rabbis have “real jobs.” I know of several programmers, an electrical engineer (who used to be an Army rabbi/paratrooper), a holistic medicine practitioner. I also know rabbis who work as teachers and congregational rabbis, who work as kashrut supervisors and congregational rabbis. These men are not “kolelers” nor “yeshiva boys.”

 

SINCE STUDY OF TORAH is supposed to protect Israel — actually, the “boys” study the talmuds and later writings — let the yeshivot acquire trailers, caravans, and move their students close to the borders. If study in far-away Jerusalem is good, study at the border MUST be better.

The soldier could see that the yeshiva boys are sharing the danger and each might develop a little respect for the other.

 

TO BE FAIR

 

Dodging the draft is not limited to yeshiva "boys" in Israel.

The U.S. has a long history of draft dodging dating back to the Revolutionary War.

A few recent draft dodgers include (according to Showbiz CheatSheet):
Bill Clinton
Bill O’Reilly
Dick Cheney
Donald Trump
John Wayne
Mitt Romney
Rudy Giuliani
Rush Limbaugh
Ted Nugent

Eisenhower, LBJ, JFK, Nixon all served. Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr. tried to enlist in the Army in December 1944 but failed the physical exam because of a double hernia, color blindness, and calcification of the lungs.

For the record, this scrivener enlisted in the regular Air Force, unlike many future politicians and entertainers who opted for the (Air) National Guard.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

עינים להם ולא יראו * אזנים להם ולא יאזנו

Comments on Yeshiva Boys

Opuscula Does the neck Count as face During the Omer?

OBVIOUSLY I HAVE FAR TOO MUCH TIME on my hands.

Here we are, on Day 8 of the Omer — why “Day 8” vs. “Eighth day”? — and I am pondering “May I remove the hair from my neck and still comply with the mourning rules of shaloshim?” which actually are 33 days, until lag (ל"ג) b’omer.

I am not a rabbi and I don’t play one on tv. (The world is grateful.)

 

R. Abraham Twerski, left, and Hakham Shalom Messas, right

 

In this day and age, when many Jewish males remain clean shaven — for work or shalom biet (beit?) or just because “it itches” — why am I concerned about neck hairs?

Perhaps because this is the season for Avot, commonly called “Ethics of the Fathers” or “Sayings of the Fathers” but in any case comments made by rabbis living between 250 BCE and 250 CE.

These luminaries considered the smallest details of Jewish jurisprudence. Delve into almost any other talmudic work and you may be engaged in nit-picking of the most minute nature.

As far as neck hair goes — from the chin to the clavicle (sorry about that) — I ended up thinking like Tevya in Fiddler on the Roof: On the other hand . . . circular logic.

I am retired, so I don’t have to worry (over much) about a public image or an employer’s frown.

I’ve been bearded longer than I’ve been married; my Spouse never has seen my naked face. My children and grandchildren would not recognize me sans my white beard.

On the other hand — and with Judaism, there ALWAYS is “an other hand” — the first 33 days of the omer are supposed to be like a mourner’s shloshim, the first 30 days after a close relative’s demise. (If you insist on knowing who is considered a “close relative” I commend to you R. Yamin Levy’s Journey Through Grief.¹)

Even for mourners there often are ways rabbis can discover to make beards “disappear.” (Here I am referring to traditional rabbis, “modern Orthodox” if you will. And if you won’t, what then?)

The rabbis of old — and maybe the rabbis of “new," too —, tell us that 2400 of R. Akiva ben Yosef’s students died during the omer because they lacked respect for one another. Imagine, R. Akiva ben Yosef, who began his studies some say at age 40, becomes the head of a yeshiva of at least 2400 students ! ²

There are tens, perhaps hundreds, of different editions of Avot. That is not counting the editions found in almost every sedur, traditional, Conservative, and maybe even Reform. They are like Passover hagadot — you cannot have too many.

One of my favorites is Judaica Press’ ©1964, but I’m enchanted with “The Artscroll Children's Pirkei Avos”³ While the latter is allegedly for children — mostly due to Chani Judowitz’ illustrations — Shmuel Blitz’ commentaries on the complete Avot (in mostly Hebrew and English; there is a smattering of Aramaic with English translation) make it suitable for “children” of all ages, even for those בן שבעים לשיבה. ⁴

My only complain with Avot is that Shamai is not quoted more often. On the other hand, when he IS quoted, he is succinct and his wisdom is plain for all to read.

Aside from almost parenthetical remarks, beards are almost never mentioned, but it is easy to imagine how the rabbis would debate my quandary: Is the neck included as part of the beard that is untouched by a mourner?

The talmuds seem to cover just about everything.

What would the rabbis tell me? Would there be a definitive answer?

Sources

1. Journey Through Grief, Ktav, ISBN 0-88125-802-4, ©2003

2. Masters of the Talmud, A.J. Kolatch, ISBN 0-8546-0434-2, ©2003

3. Artscroll Children's Pirkei Avos, Shmuel Blitz & Chani Judowitz, ISBN-10: 1422615790, ©2015

4. Avot, Chapter 5, Mishnah 21 (in some books, Mishnah 25).

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on

עינים להם ולא יראו * אזנים להם ולא יאזנו

Comments on Beards

Opuscula Rabbis worked, Unlike today’s Yeshiva “boys”

IT’S PIRKEI AVOT SEASON for observant Jews around the world.

I have several different editions of Avot and I have another work, Masters of the Talmud, At least one of my Avot books includes mini-biographies of the personalities who have a place in Avot.

OF COURSE, most sedurim include Avot, but the avot books (a) have bigger print and (b) offer explanations, including Rashi’s and other’s comments

Collecting Avot is akin to collecting hagadot; you cannot have too many.

 

The Judaica Press book, originally published in England in 1985, includes biographies of all the luminaries (both 100 watt and 25 watt) in the talmuds. It also lists everywhere in the talmuds the person has commented or was cited.

Of more interest to me is to see which of the avot actually worked for a living — beyond, or in addition to, teaching.

Masters of the Talmud also provides biographies — more complete than the avot book.

The bottom line is that these bios, be they long or just a short paragraph, prove that you CAN work AND study, and in the case of the avot, make substantial contributions to Jewish jurisprudence.

As examples, from the Judaica Press avot book:

* Abba Saul, gravedigger

* Chuzpit, interpreter

* Ishmael ben R. Jose, merchant (famous for his 13 medot)

* Jeshevav, scribe

* Judah (a/k/a “Rabbi”), medicine and science

* Meir, scribe (and husband of Buruyah)

* Menachem ben Signai, a dyer

* Nehemia, potter

* Yohanon haSandler, sandal maker

 

If these men who played a part in forming Judaism as we know it today and still managed to work “real” jobs, why cannot the lesser men of the yeshivot put in a little time at an honest job.

Pity their wives who must raise a family and often work outside the home to being in some income.

These “yeshiva boys” get a stipend from the government while the yeshivas send out schnorers around the world to collect still more money so the “boys” can sit and pretend to study.

Might it not be a good idea to test the yeshiva “boys” periodically as we do children in grammar, middle, and high schools? See how much they learned and retained. Test after one, two, and three years. If the third test fails to show expected progress, after the fourth year in yeshiva the talmid lo hakham is sent packing.

An outstanding student could stay longer, but in reality, that student should study with a new teacher to expand his knowledge. That’s what the avot did.

There may be one student out of 1,000 who might become a great posek, but against 999 who simply are dodging responsibility by sitting in a yeshiva, those are poor odds.

Is there even one student in a yeshiva that can rise to the stature of an Abba Saul?

I am partial to Abba Saul since my Father-In-Law, עה"ש, used to dig graves for the haverat kadesha in Morocco .

Many of the masters of the talmuds were teachers or heads of yeshivot; a few worked at the Bet HaMikdash while it stood, either as cohenim or leveim (singers). Those jobs were “shift work” that allowed the laveim and cohenim time to study and still “hold down a real job.” (A cohan working at the Temple, handling sacrifices bought from all over, by Jews and non-Jews alike, earned whatever remuneration he received.)

There are yeshivot in Israel, hesder yeshivot, where the students study AND serve in the IDF. These students, in my opinion, deserve respect. Not so the ones who dodge responsibility and either force their wives to work (and raise children) or depend on professional beggars to finance their stay at a yeshiva.

 

Sources

1. Ethics of the Fathers, Judaica Press, ISBN 0-910818-15-0

2. Pirkei Avos, Mesorah Publications, ISBN 0-89906-206-72

3. Sayings of the Fathers, Behrman House, Pub. Date: 1945 (no ISBN)

4. Masters of the Talmud, Jon. David, ISBN 0-8246-0436-0434-2

 

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

 

עינים להם ולא יראו * אזנים להם ולא יאזנו

Comments on Rabbis who work

Opuscula Thoughts on Pesach and Avot

PESACH 5778 rapidly is approaching. How do I know. The place is a mini-madhouse with “pre-P” cleaning.

מה נשתנה הלילה הזה

On the first night of Passover, three grandchildren will be singing the question. The eldest will have to get an extra part since the three-year-old twins will outshout their almost seven-year-old sister.

The children learned the question at school; the grand-daughter is an “old hand” at singing the song.

I’ve heard lots of rabbinical comments about the “son unable to ask” – OK, make that “the child unable to ask”; more on that later.

My Spouse pointed out that the question reads: ושאינו יודע לשטול את פתח לו

The hagadah clearly shows את and NOT אתה.

Why would the rabbis write that the mother will be the one to ask for the child “who does not know how to ask”?

Because – and we all know it – the child’s initial education comes at the child's mother’s breast, and later at her knees. Dad is off doing something else – working, studying, but not tending to a small child’s needs.

I never noticed this before and I am, as Yehudah ben Teima contends, of the age of a “hoary head”¹ so this is hardly my first time reading the hagadah.

Ben Teima's comments appear in almost every sedur² remarking

To be fair, my Spouse is an educator and before semi-retirement, was head of Judaics and Hebrew at a Jewish day school; she knows her “stuff.”

One of my favorite Pesach things starts on the second day when we take out Pirke Avot (or Avos, if that’s how your forebears pronounced the word).

We – actually my Spouse – has a LARGE PRINT Avot from the ArtScroll Mesorah Series., complete with “an anthologized commentary and anecdotes.” Beautiful book.

Even before we get to Misnah 1 there’s a lesson to be learned.

We say it every Shabat where I make minyan: כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא",

Note it is לעולם הבא and NOT בעולם הבא.

This version of Avot commnts that we have a “share toward the World to come," suggesting “olam haba is something we create for ourselves by the way we live in this world. We gain olam haba by working toward it" by performing mitzvoth. (Emphasis from the book.)

The Pesach hagadah, Avot, and the Torah have many things in common. To me, the most obvious one is that no matter how many times it is read, the reader can find something he (or she) never saw before.

AS FOR “SON” VS. “CHILD”

If we don’t educate our daughters – both in “general studies” and in :”things Jewish” we are depriving future generations of knowledge.

Children, boys and girls, learn behavior and habits – both good and bad – during their formative years; those years beginning in the cradle.

If a mother lacks knowledge, the child will get off to a slow start.

The child may be able to “catch up,” but catching up will be at the expense of other things and may be more difficult than learning things by osmosis.

Osmosis is a major influence on how we learn to speak (unfortunately, electronic media – tv, computers, notebooks, tablets, etc. and et al have replaced books as vocabulary builders).

To be a little “indelicate,” it’s what is between the ears, not between the legs that should determine how we educate all of our children.

Sources

1. Avot 5:21

2. Avot 5:23 and Pesachim 112a; immediately after R, Ismael’s 13 medot and just before the “Al Israel” kadish.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

YOHANON Comments on (entry name)