The views expressed on this blog are those of the author/s, and do not necessarily represent those of any other individuals or organizations.
Assertions made by any commenter should not be assumed to be true until checked out thoroughly. They are allowed only for the issues which they raise - so that people can be alerted to investigate so as to avoid harm or correct evils perpetrated or mistakes made.
Acceptance of a comment is no guarantee of its accuracy or context. Even notices quoted in the name of major Rabbis or experts need to be checked out to see that they were actually authorized by those rabbis or experts before they are believed.
I am a Torah-observant Jew, who has learned in Yeshivah high school in the USA, and at several Yeshivot and Collelim here in Israel, in addition to having a Masters' Degree in Business.
My blog Email address is:
catriel {dot} lev {at} gmail {dot} com
I am a Torah-observant Jew, whose deep Chassidic roots cause him to be considered a member of the Dati-Leumi (Religious Zionist) community; since all that I have learned from my Rabbeim (Rabbis) about Judaism and Chassidut leads to the conclusion that the religious practices of the Dati-Leumi community provide the most religious way to observe Judaism, since they include observance of ALL of the Mitzvot (commandments), including those involved in thanking HaShem for his miracles performed for us in recent generations.
My deep religious commitment causes me to be very concerned for the welfare of my fellow human beings in general and my fellow Jews in particular. As such, I am very concerned that we all preserve peace in the world as well as in our individual communities and towns and cities; and I am also concerned for the presentation of the truth and protecting it from the lies and misrepresentations which occur so often in our world.
Therefore, I chose the name "VeHaShalom VeHaEmmet", which means "And the Peace and the Truth", based upon the verse in Zechariah (8:19) for my blog, where I hope to be able to present ideas for building peace and truthful communication between people and communities.
Readers should also be aware that sometimes I use satire to convey a point!
Rav Ahron Batt, who was the Mankal [Director] of Machon Lev at one point, and then, later, SaMankal [Assistant Director] of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, passed away just before Shabbat, on the 6th of November, 2010 (28 Marcheshvan, 5772); and I felt that I had to post something about this wonderful man who was a blessing for all who knew him.
Rav Batt studied in Yeshivah University with my step-father, Leon Woolf, of blessed memory, and was already living in Israel with his family when I arrived in 1976.
Among other things, Ahron Batt was the person who got me involved in the Mishnah Yomit study program (two Mishnayot a day, every day, so that one completes Shas-Mishnayot approximately every six years), but he was much, much more.
In a sense, Rav Batt was my mentor. I learned a lot from him, spending many Shabbatot at his family's table; and I saw him as an example of what a Jew should strive to be. He was a great person, a Talmid Chacham, and a Mentsch. There is so much that could be written about him that there is no time for it all, so I will just briefly mention some important aspects of what he meant to me.
In this period when so many Rabbis exhibit character traits that are not admirable, it is an honor to be able to say that I knew Rav Ahron Batt who was a true Mentsch, full of Ahavat HaTorah, Ahavat HaBriyot and Ahavat Eretz Yisrael. He was a living example of a person who presented Torah-true Judaism in a manner which endeared it to others and truly promoted it as a holy experience, full of positive meaning for the world.
Since he was involved with many other people, Rav Ahron's Middot Tovot were a blessing for all who knew him, and his passing makes us all a little poorer. May he be a Meilitz Yosher for Am Yisrael before the Kadosh Baruch Hu in heaven, and may the spirit he engendered continue its positive influence in the world.
It seems to me that the debate being held in the state of Israel these days about a proposal to require a "pledge of allegiance" to the Jewish state as a requirement for those who want to acquire Israeli citizenship is, in most cases, "dancing around the issue" rather than dealing with it forthrightly, as often occurs in debates about issues of public interest.
My proposal would be that EVERYONE who wants to acquire Israeli citizenship be required in such a "pledge of allegiance", whether one acquires citizenship by marrying an Israeli citizen, or by taking advantage of the "Law of Return", or in any other way.
This idea, which seems to have been ignored by the major participants in the debate, has been mentioned by several people since this debate began, and was recently mentioned (along with some other ideas) by the famous legal expert Ruth Gavison in an opinion article on this topic which can been found on the internet at: http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3966890,00.html.
The so-called "right-wing" position of requiring such a "pledge of allegiance" ONLY FROM NON-JEWS who want to acquire Israeli citizenship seems to me to be as disingenuous as the so-called "left-wing" position of requiring NO ONE to make such a pledge.
This topic probably would not have even arisen if there had not been cases of support of terrorism by Arabs who acquired Israeli citizenship (in general by marrying an Israeli Arab), so there is proven reason to require such a pledge, but no one can be so naive as to claim that there are not Jews who work against the Jewish state, and even support its destruction, and all of them are eligible for Israeli citizenship according to the "Law of Return". So why not simply require such a pledge from everyone "across the board" who wants to acquire Israeli citizenship? For anyone who really wants to help build a Jewish state here (or, at least, is not determined to destroy the Jewish state) it should not present any problem to make such a pledge in order to acquire citizenship, and many (and probably most) Western nations have a similar requirement for ANYONE who wants to acquire citizenship in their countries.
I am still not certain what kind of deterrent this would provide to destructive activity against the Jewish state, since anyone who is so unhampered by moral concerns that he would be willing to support terrorist activities (or other ways of trying to destroy the state in which he lives and which provides him with many services) would probably be willing to lie in order to acquire Israeli citizenship in order to have a more effective platform to cause damage to the Jewish state.
Perhaps there would be legal grounds to cancel the citizenship of anyone who signed such a "pledge of allegiance" and then was caught violating that pledge, and that could be useful for such instances.
In my opinion, the Jon Stewart Satire program where he announces his "Rally to Restore Sanity" is a classic, with almost all of the elements of great satire, which hits upon the underlying problem with many loud demonstrations: that they DO NOT represent the will of the majority of reasonable people.
In my opinion, the most moving anecdote, including a powerful message for this time of year when we are attempting to correct our Middot (character traits), in Rav Chaim Soloveichik's Shiur from Shavuot was the story which he told of being at a Simchah (celebration of a joyous occasion) in America with his father, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, Zecher Tzaddik LiVrachah (of blessed, saintly memory).
Rav Chaim told how they were eating delicatessen at the Simchah, when he happened to ask who supervised the Kashrut of the delicatessen. When the host mentioned the name of the person who supervised the Kashrut of the delicatessen, Rav Aharon Soloveichik put down his fork and said that he could not eat this delicatessen, though he assured everyone that it was kosher and technically permissible to eat.
It turned out that Rav Aharon could not bring himself to eat the delicatessen because he knew of a terrible blemish in the Middot (character traits) of the person who supervised its Kashrut, a serious flaw in his fulfillment of Mitzvot Ben Adam LaChavero (Torah commandments relating to the proper treatment of one's fellow man). In a manner very similar to the Talmudic description of a Chasid Shoteh (despicably foolish "righteous person"), this Kashrut supervisor had instructed his congregation that if they are near an immodestly dressed woman who slips on the ice, they should not help her get up!
Rav Aharon Soloveichik was such a great Tzaddik (righteous man) that his moral standards affected him to such a degree that he could not even bring himself to eat meat supervised by a person who could issue such a ruling!
A friend just passed this information, from a ynet report, to me, and while some of the findings may be based upon only partial information, a very perturbing trend of deception and outright lying is clearly discernible in the actions of many Chareidi schools and supervisors of those schools:
Haredi teachers fail general knowledge test
How do you say Shabbat in English? Many ultra-Orthodox teachers don't know, nor could they tell Yedioth Ahronoth who Napoleon was; yet they still receive state-funded paychecks, often in cash.
[ by Amir Shoan Published: 07.27.10, 13:21; from: ynetnews.com]
A survey conducted among ultra-Orthodox teachers has uncovered a worrying lack of basic knowledge – including the words to the national anthem, Napoleon's nationality, and even the word for Shabbat in English.
Thus, for example, the Yedioth Ahronoth daily interviewed A., a 26-year old yeshiva student who tutors at a heder, or a religious elementary school, in Jerusalem.
"I go there every day for an hour, and receive $300 cash a month. It's not much, but it's cash so that's nice. It's great money for an hour of work a day," he said. As to the subjects A. teaches, they include Math, Hebrew, and "a little about the destruction of the second temple".
"Of course the content is suitable for the haredi sector," he said. "We don't teach Zionism."
When asked whether the students are taught subjects such as Science, History, Literature, or English – which are considered basic subjects by the state – A. answers, "Never."
He went on to describe the pupils' day. "After morning prayers, at 8:30, we enter the heder. In the morning we study Torah," said A. "Only the last hour of school is dedicated to basic subjects."
The study by Yedioth Ahronoth was a sequel to its report two weeks ago, in which the paper revealed that many of the schools receiving funds from the state for teaching basic subjects were actually teaching almost nothing on the Education Ministry's curriculum.
Calculations by the ministry show that around $7 million are going to waste every year because of this, and the lack of supervision in the schools. Two inspectors charged with maintaining the Education Ministry's standards were found to have made false reports on the number of hours of basic subjects being taught: By reporting on more hours of basic subjects the supervisors obtained extra funding for the schools.
An official at the Justice Ministry was unsurprised, and told the paper the schools had many adjustments to make before basic subjects could be taught. "They have no teachers and no books," she said.
Saturday: The day of the star?
Yedioth Ahronoth put together a test, which included 10 questions taken from lesson plans for grades 1-3 on the various basic subjects – Math, Hebrew, History, Civics, Science, and English. The exam, simplistic by all accounts, included questions such as: 'On which continent is Israel located?' 'Who was Napoleon?' and 'What is the square root of 81?'
The paper presented the test as a survey of general knowledge to 25 teachers from the haredi sector as well 25 teachers who work at state schools.
The results were shocking. Among haredi teachers, the average score was 59, with 40% of those tested getting five or more questions wrong. Half of those tested did not know how to complete the first line of the national anthem after having been given the three first words out of four. One answered: "I don't know and I don't want to know." Another wondered if it was a line from the bible. There were a few who knew the answer but could not recite the second line. When asked the meaning of the word "Saturday", 65% did not know. Among the answers were: The name of a month, the name of a meal, and "the day of the star".
Many spelled the words "spelling mistake" wrong. Napoleon was declared a Russian emperor and an IDF chief of staff. The boiling point was named 42 and 60 degrees Celsius. Israel was said to be located in Europe. One of those tested got nine questions correct. "Did I get 100?" he asked, but was told he did not, because he could not complete the first line of the national anthem. "In that case I got 101," he scoffed.
Teachers belonging to state schools received an average of 96, and many were surprised at the simplicity of the quiz. Some enlightened the auditor on the various subjects involved, such as Napoleon's beliefs and conquests. One teacher talked about the scale that preceded Celsius and Fahrenheit, which he said was computed by Sir Isaac Newton. Another recounted the history of the word 'Saturday', and explained that it was derived from the name 'Saturn'.
Granted, these teachers would probably not have excelled as well at questions on Torah and Talmud, but the paper stressed that the issue at hand was that of basic subjects, which the educators tested were supposed to be teaching at the time they were quizzed.
Certification required, but not enforced
The state has stipulated recently that haredi teachers must be certified by one of the various teaching colleges located throughout the country. Certification requires three years, and uncertified educators who were already teaching were required to complete two years of studies.
But reality paints an entirely different picture. Many rabbis have ordered haredi teachers to begin working first, and then consider getting certified. In addition, the inspectors ordered to make sure only certified teachers are working in the schools are the same inspectors who were revealed by Yedioth Ahronoth to be drawing up false reports on the basic subjects taught in schools.
And their conduct was found to be no different when it came to supervising the teachers' education. A quick check revealed that 15% of teachers were still in the process of achieving certification, while the other 85% had records with the Education Ministry which had never been verified. Because of the lack of supervisors, no one had gone over the files to ascertain that the teachers are certified, as per the new order.
Yedioth Ahronoth interviewed 10 haredi teachers from Bnei Brak, Jerusalem, Ashdod, and Elad, none of whom has a teaching certificate. Some of them were not even aware of the requirement, and were unfamiliar with the concept. When asked whether he would be willing to obtain such training one of the interviewees answered that his experience of 10 years in the field was more than enough. "I'm certain the rabbis won't allow this oppression to continue," he said.
'I'll never learn English at age 32'
In the haredi sector, any teacher of basic subjects (no matter which) is called a "Schreiber", or a writer. Usually, one such Schreiber is charged with teaching each grade all of the basic subjects they are meant to study.
When basic subjects are taught in haredi schools, it is usually at the end of the day, when both student and teacher are tired, and in many cases they are relinquished entirely. This is problematic because these are the only studies the haredi children have in common with the Western world, and involvement in the job market becomes nearly impossible for those who don't learn them.
Many economists believe this is the reason 65% of haredi men are unemployed. "Schreiber is a derogatory term," says R., a 32-year old haredi man who has recently begun to study in secret at the Open University.
"If we flunked the Schreiber subjects or cut class everything was fine, as though nothing had happened. The only thing that was important was Torah studies, at which we had to excel and get good grades. There was a test on the Talmud almost every week, but there were often no tests on Schreiber subjects, or just one a year," he said.
"I will never forget the shame I suffered when I tried to make up what I lacked. The courses I take at the Open University are also attended by secular and National-Religious people, and often when I ask questions people stare and make fun of me behind my back. I don't know English to this day, and I doubt that at my age I will be able to learn it."
'No one knows what they teach'
Girls are a different matter. Their education has vastly improved over the past few years and most study all of the basic subjects in school. This revolution was led mainly by the (female) teachers, most of whom are certified and many of whom have gone on to study degrees. But most male teachers have only finished eight years of formal education, and because of the lack of supervision it is often difficult to know what, exactly, these men are teaching their students.
"No one actually knows what or how they teach, or what they know aside from Torah. Haredi education is largely obscured from the view of the secular public, and supervision is irrelevant. They do whatever they want," said Dr. Nahum Balas, who researches the education system.
Dr. Yaakov Lopo, another researcher, stressed the lack of standardized testing in the haredi sector. "When these tests do not exist no one knows what the level of knowledge and education is and there are no objective measurements," he said. "You can't check the teachers' level either. I think the teachers there are mainly chosen according to relations, contacts, and their level of knowledge on the Torah."
And unqualified teachers who are otherwise unemployed stand to gain quite a lot from such part-time work. A haredi family of six in which neither of the parents work receives between $1,040-1,300 a month. Even an additional $300 is a relative goldmine.
"Most of the teachers receive cash handed to them each month, without contracts or wage agreements," Dr. Lopo said. "Usually the amount is set in dollars, and the rate in shekels is not set according to the bank but rather by the rabbis. They determine the rate of the dollar, they determine what is studied, and they determine what our society will look like."
When presented with the findings, the Education Ministry was evasive. "The ministry has no knowledge regarding the identity of these teachers," said a formal statement on the uncertified teachers located by the paper. It should be mentioned that the demand for certification was stipulated by the ministry three years ago, and includes all teachers, haredi and secular.
Regarding the claim that the ministry had not verified the certification of 85% of haredi teachers despite having records on them in its possession, the ministry stated that "the additional supervision demanded by the ministry will lead to maintenance in this field".
Yana Pevzner and Guy Lieberman contributed to this report
Now PA Minister Muhammad Ishtayeh is praising the mastermind of the Munich Olympics Terror Attack, once again showing how moderate the Palestinian Authority truly is:
Well, I guess this tops it all! Since the UN wisely called for an end to flotillas to Gaza, because any aid can simply be transferred by dry land to those who need it; the Hamas has accused the UN of being pro-Israel. Here is the link to the story:
A group of concerned citizens in Israel has recently been promoting a boycott of products which have the Eidah Chareidit Kashrut Hechsher. Now, during Bein HaMetzarim [the time between the fasts of the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha BeAv, when we are particularly exhorted to work against Sinat Chinum and for Ahavat Yisrael], some progress against Sinat Chinam has been achieved by that boycott.
Though public figures like Nachum Barnea in Yediot Acharonot have written explicitly about the disgusting actions employed by Eidah Chareidit "activists", I have heard even more disgusting examples of Eidah Chareidit "activists" promoting violence and intimidation against other Jews (including Chareidi Jews) from Chareidi Jews themselves. Therefore, let no one be confused by any "smoke screen" the Eidah Chareidit or its supporters may attempt to create; the boycott of the Eidah Chareidit is a result of the Eidah Chareidit's actions which promote Sinat Chinam among Jews, and is, therefore, a very positive step which will support Ahavat Yisrael and true Achdut.
While I dislike the Eidah Chareidit's anti-Zionism, I would not encourage a boycott of products with their Hechsher simply because of their offensive philosophy; but since they sustain this philosophy (as well as many other things on their agenda) through the actions of their "extremists" who promote the utilization of violence and intimidation against those who oppose them, we can all be certain that the Torah requires us to do what we can to stop this utilization of violence and intimidation, supposedly for "Torah purposes", which is actually simply creating an enormous Chillul HaShem!
Though the Osem company (marketers of Nestle ice cream in Israel) had initially declared that all Nestle ice cream would have the Eidah Chareidit Kashrut Hechsher, now that the boycott has been active for several weeks, Osem has announced that a new Nestle ice cream which it is producing will not have the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher!
All supporters of Ahavat Yisrael and Achdut within our people can only hope that more and more Nestle products will be produced without the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher until all Nestle products will be free of that Hechsher, and that other manufacturers will follow suit, and that most or all will choose to replace the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher on their products with other Hechshers.
As is well known among those who follow Kashrut supervision, the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher, as good as their Kashrut supervision is, is not the best Hechsher as far as Kashrut supervision goes; and it is certainly not the best Hechsher as far as the Ruchniut (spirituality) of the supervisors goes.
There are many Mehadrin Hechshers other than the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher, and at least a few of them are known as having a higher level of Kashrut than the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher. I certainly advise all manufacturers who want a Mehadrin Hechsher to find one which is not Eidah Chareidit.
The website (in Hebrew) of the boycott against the Eidah Chareidit Hechsher is:
Asaf Wohl wrote an article in Hebrew about rebuilding the Bet HaMikdash (HolyTemple in Jerusalem) which appeared on ynet yesterday (17/7/10). While I do not agree with most of what he said, I think that he has hit upon an important point, probably without even realizing it.
Asaf Wohl feels that there is no use in rebuilding the Bet HaMikdash because of what he fears would be the atmosphere created by such a rebuilt Temple. Though I think that he misinterprets the meaning of (among other things) rebuilding the Temple, his fears should communicate something VERY IMPORTANT to Torah observant Jews.
If a rebuilt Bet HaMikdash actually would function the way Asaf Wohl fears it would, full of the politics of interest groups (like the factions of Second Temple times, and like modern religious parties) and the divisions within the nation of Israel which they promote, it should not be rebuilt! Probably the reason that the Bet HaMikdash has not yet been rebuilt is that, with all of our religious shenanigans, we Jews have not created an atmosphere where the Bet HaMikdash can be rebuilt to SERVE AS A FOCAL POINT OF HaShem's LOVE FOR ALL HIS CREATURES and of unity of the people Israel.
I am quite certain that if we religious Jews had created the proper atmosphere which would demonstrate how the Bet HaMikdash will make true peace and unity, everyone in the world would be supporting us in rebuilding the Bet HaMikdash, and the Muslim-Arabs would assist our efforts by peacefully moving their Mosques elsewhere.
This, by the way, is also a possible resolution between the two opinions about the rebuilding of the Temple: whether it will be rebuilt physically, or will "descend from Heaven"; since having the entire world support our efforts to rebuild the Bet HaMikdash would, in a sense, be as if it descended, fully-built, from Heaven!
It is time that we stop blaming others, whether weak Israeli governments, non-religious Jews, or non-Jews, for our lack of a Bet HaMikdash. If we would do our part with truly pure hearts, I am certain that everyone else would cooperate. Conversely, as long as we do not do our part with truly pure hearts, HaShem will not allow the Bet HaMikdash to be rebuilt since it simply will not serve its true purpose!
When I was very young, among the children's games we used to play was to imagine new inventions that we could use. At that time I invented the "electric cigarette", though it seemed impractical because I imagined a cigarette with a very long extension cord. Now, however I find that someone has actually invented something similar (without any extension cord!), as an alternative to the dangers of smoking. This invention is called the electronic cigarette, and it is promoted as an alternative to smoking which has fewer or no dangers.
Not being a smoker, I am not personally interested in this device, and I have NOT investigated the health claims made about it. However, anyone interested can check out the website about it [greensmoke], and investigate further.
[My apologies to those who understand only English, since the Hebrew and Judaic Midrashic material to which I have referred in this post does not always translate well into English, and may not be clear to those who do not understand the original Hebrew (and, additionally, I sometimes simply transliterate the original Hebrew without much explanation in English).]
As I discussed the Parshah with my family on this Shabbat (the fourteenth of Tammuz, on which we read Parshat Balak from the Torah), I hit upon an interesting idea, which I think can teach us a great deal regarding how to excel in our Middot (proper behavior attributes).
As Parshat Balak portrays, Bilaam wanted to accede to the request of Balak, king of Moav, to curse Am Yisrael (the people of Israel); and, by the way, I once heard an interpretation (based upon some hints and similarities in the verses about the two men) that Bilaam was actually Lavan (or possibly his great-grandson, as Moshe is Yaacov's great-grandson) who was known to want to destroy Am Yisrael. However, though it is clear that Bilaam acted in a most evil manner by trying to curse Am Yisrael, I do not believe I have ever seen a clear portrayal of what Bilaam SHOULD have done instead of attempting to curse Am Yisrael.
We know that the Middot of Avraham our forefather and Bilaam are contrasted in the Mishnah (Avot, 5:23), with Avraham's positive outlook, of course, being presented as the righteous way to behave. So I believe that we can learn from this how Bilaam should indeed have acted if he had behaved righteously!
In the Parshah (Numbers, 22:6), Balak describes Bilaam's power as "Whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed", making it clear that Bilaam also has a tremendous potential to bring blessing into the world. It is also known that Am Yisrael did not desire war with Moav (and, in fact, avoided it, despite Balak's attempt to harm them), so that Moav had nothing to fear from Am Yisrael.
However, even if the Moabites feared Israel, if Bilaam had been willing to act righteously he would have blessed Moav that they should succeed in having a peaceful cooperative relationship with Am Yisrael. Such a blessing could easily have been fulfilled if the Moabites, and their king, Balak, had been willing to promote the positive spiritual message which Am Yisrael bore.
In such a scenario, Bilaam, instead of being a Rasha (evil person) would have learned from the Middot of Avraham to bring blessing into the world and Moav would have assisted Am Yisrael in their mission (as Moshe's father-in-law Jethro [according to some interpretations a non-Jew who promoted the ideals of monotheism] did) immediately, rather than having the world wait until a single Moabite woman (Ruth) joined Am Yisrael (and promoted the mission of Am Yisrael by becoming the great-grandmother of King David).
This should teach us today, when so many disputes among religious Jews, and between religious Jews and others, result in the sides spewing curses at each other, that when any trouble or dissension arises we should be blessing each other that the true light of the Torah should be clear to all, rather than cursing others with all sorts of epithets for "being on the wrong side of the argument".
Perhaps, if we, too, could learn this lesson, we could hasten the coming of Mashiach (the Messiah), who is a descendant of David, great-grandson of Ruth of Moav!
