Chag Sameach ve'Kasher!

Happy Passover to all!

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Confront the Now

The Chazon Ish gave a parable. A general fought a battle to defend his country from an enemy from the north. When he died, his son assumed his position. Years later, the country again came under attack, this time by an enemy from the south. The son dispatched the army to the north, because his father had done so. He was reprimanded, "You fool! Your father sent the army to the north because that is where the attack from. This time it is from the south, and that is where the army must go."

The Chazon Ish said, "Every generation faces new threats. We must confront the current threats and not those of previous generations if they no longer exist."

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski in Angels Don't Leave Footprints.
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זכות יצחק

Over the last year or so, I have been working on a birkon (Booklet containing grace after meals and songs) using the Rhodesli traditions.  The text and songs were provided graciously by Hazzan Isaac Azose, and I put together the rest (forward, brief history of Rhodes, and a picture of the memorial plaque outside the synagogue in Rhodes).  I called the birkon זכות יצחק (The virtue/right of Isaac), in honor of my great uncle Isaac Piha (who died in Auschwitz a few days before the camp's liberation) and my father, who carries the same name.

I am extremely honored that two of these birkonim are now a part of The National Library of Israel:

	אישור על מסירת עותקי חובה	03/03/2013
הפרסומ/ים הרשומ/ים מטה התקבל/ו בספרייה הלאומית כנדרש בחוק.
אנו מודים לכם על מסירת עותקי החובה ועל תרומתכם לבניין האוסף ושימור התרבות. אנו מקווים שגם בעתיד תמציאו לידינו את פרסומיכם החדשים עם הופעתם. הפרסומים המתקבלים בספריה נרשמים בקטלוג הספרייה הלאומית ובקטלוג המאוחד של הספריות בישראל. עותקיהם מונגשים לעיון באולמות הקריאה ונשמרים לדורות. ניתן לעיין בקטלוגים ולקרוא עוד על הספרייה ואוספיה באתר הספרייה הלאומית: http://www.nli.org.il מס': 003507442 זכות יצחק : ברכת המזון וזמירות לשבת וחג., הע, 2012.

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Life of Pi

Nonnou (my dad's father) died a few weeks after my 20th birthday.  On my birthday, we never got a chance to speak as we had done for many years.  As I mourned his loss, I was devastated that I never had a chance to say goodbye.  I'm sure he knew I loved, respected and looked up to him, but I wish I could have told him this myself one last time.  It's something I will always regret - I missed my last opportunity to say goodbye, to acknowledge the role he played in my life.

"I suppose in the end, the whole of life becomes an act of letting go, but what always hurts the most is not taking a moment to say goodbye."
Pi Patel

The above quote stood out to me as my wife and I watched Life of Pi a few days ago.  It bought back my regret of not telling Nonnou how much I appreciated him one last time. I decided it was something I wanted to ensure didn't happen again. Gramps' (my mom's father) health has been on the decline the last few years, and though we've been corresponding regularly the last few years, I felt that it was important for me to tell him what what I wished I had told Nonnou when I had the chance (I had the opportunity to say goodbye before Granny died when I was 16).  As we talked last night, I told him how much I loved and respected him, and how I hoped I could be a good human being like he's been. He thanked me, and as the conversation winded down he told me, "I love you Avram very much, thank you again." Earlier this morning, I had a similar conversation with Nonna. Like Gramps, she was touched by what I said and thanked me. 

Trying your best to ensure mistakes you've made in the past are not repeated is part of what life is all about - part of our journey to better ourselves. I guess the Pirki Avot (4:1) adage of "Who is smart? He who learns from others" doesn't only refer to people you interact with throughout your lives, but also movie (or book) characters!

Shabbat Shalom.
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Purim and Unity

I wanted to blog about the above subject.  However, the Geshmack Torah blog already did an excellent job, so I'll share piece:

Two of the mitzvos particular to Purim are Mishloach Manos, and Matanos L’Evyonim – giving gifts to people, and distributing charity freely. The Sfas Emes explains that the function of these mitzvos as they relate to Purim is that they increase unity and brotherhood.

Unity is the anathema of Amalek, who Haman was descended of. His complaint to Achashverosh:

יֶשְׁנוֹ עַם אֶחָד מְפֻזָּר וּמְפֹרָד בֵּין הָעַמִּים בְּכֹל מְדִינוֹת מַלְכוּתֶךָ וְדָתֵיהֶם שֹׁנוֹת מִכָּל עָם – There is one nation, scattered and dispersed among all the regions of your kingdom, and they are different from everyone else. (3:8)

Even in exile, Jews must maintain identity, and resist assimilation. Haman points out their refusal to integrate, they remain עַם אֶחָד – one nation; this in spite of how the Purim story begins with the Jews attending Achashverosh’s party celebrating their own downfall with the parading of the sacked Temple’s artefacts. The Jews lost their identity and it paved the way for Haman’s nefarious plans to destroy them all – the moment they let their guard down.

The resolution came at the hand of Mordechai and Esther. She tells him to unite the people and impress on them the severity of their futures:

כְּנוֹס אֶת כָּל הַיְּהוּדִים הַנִּמְצְאִים בְּשׁוּשָׁן וְצוּמוּ עָלַי וְאַל תֹּאכְלוּ וְאַל תִּשְׁתּוּ שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים לַיְלָה וָיוֹם – Gather all the Jews in Shushan. Fast for me; don’t eat or drink for three days and nights. (4:16)

The threat is faced when they gather once more, when the Megila tells us that וְעָמֹד עַל נַפְשָׁם – it does not say ועמדו in the plural, that they stood for their lives, but in the singular. Their national identity had discovered. The Jewish nation had united and defended itself from attack.

It is famously expounded in Chazal that Purim also celebrates קימו מה שקיבלו כבר – the Jews had no choice to accept the Torah at Sinai, but after Purim they accepted the Torah afresh, voluntarily. A prerequisite to the Torah is unity; ויחן שם נגד ההר – The nation camped by the mountain, in the singular – not ויחנו – like one man with one heart. The Sfas Emes teaches that וְעָמֹד עַל נַפְשָׁם is directly parallel to ויחן שם נגד ההר.

Unity is fortified with acts of ואהבת לרעך כמוך – loving ones fellow as oneself. If people identify with the nation, they have a very direct connection to the Torah and Sinai. It is quite reasonable to suggest that due to this, it is taught that זה כלל גדול בתורה.

The Gemara says that Mordechai is identified as an איש יהודי. It asks that he was not from Yehuda, but from Binyamin, and answers that we do not read it יהודי, but יחידי – from the root אחד. He brought unity and identity back to Jews who had lost it, cementing their faith, culminating in a new acceptance of the Torah. All mitzvos of the day will reflect unity and friendship to some degree.

The way to fight Amalek is a constant quest for unity and understanding our identity, and the closer we get, the nearer we get ultimate truth and redemption

It is worthwhile to mention that other mitzvot or minhagim (customs) of Purim also center around unity and brotherhood:

- Megillah - we hear about the miracle of Purim together, as a community.
- Drink (the quantity is obviously a machloket!)!! - when one drinks, one often is friendlier and more willing to talk to people.
- Seudah (festive Purim meal) - spending time together with friends and family
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Ten down … no more counting

As I got off the El Al flight on February 17, 2003, I smiled nervously…I had done it. I had done what my parents had down some 20 years earlier. I had come home. I was nervous but I had wanted this for over three years, and I was ready to make it happen. Ten years later, my enthusiasm and love of Israel has not diminished. It’s been a great journey—filled with many highs and challenging lows, with the sole regret being that it took me so long to realize I had to come back home.

For more, click here for my latest piece in the Times of Israel.
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Shine Bright Like a Diamond

I once lectured a group of ex-prisoners who had just been released from prison in Israel. All had been jailed from crimes resulting from their addiction to drugs. I tried to impress upon them that having a positive self-image can prevent tehir relapsing into drug use.

I posed the following question. "Suppose you were fortunate enough to have a brand new, shiny, luxury automobile. How cautious would you be to protect its luster and to avoid it being dented or even scratched? We seem to have an inherent resistance to damaging something that is beautiful and valuable. I'm sure you would have gingerly cared for your automobile. Why then, did you not have the same attitude toward yourself? It can only be because you did not think of yourself as beautiful and valuable.If you had only been aware of your great value and inner beauty, you would have assiduously avoided damaging yourself by use of drugs. In order to recover and avoid relapse into drug use, you must come to a better self-awareness.

One young man, Avi, interrupted and challenged me. "How can you tell me that I should consider myself valuable and beautiful? Sixteen of my 34 years have been spent in jail. I have been imprisoned eight times. Whenever I get out of jail, no one will give me a job. When they call my family to tell them that I will be released in two months, they go crazy. My family does not want me out of jail. I am a burden to them and an embarrassment. They actually wish I would be dead. How do you expect me to have any self esteem?"

I was taken aback by this frontal attack, but then responded. "Avi," I said, "have you ever seen a display in a jewelry store window? There are precious diamonds, scintillating with beauty and worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do you have any idea what those diamonds looked like when they were first brought up from the mine? They looked like dark rocks or pieces of dirty glass. The average person would have thrown them away and would have been afraid to soil his hands with them.

"Fortunately there is a mayvin, an expert, who examines the diamond ore and can tell one rock from another. He may become ecstatic with a particular rock and tell the onlooker that this 'piece of dirty glass' may be worth millions of dollars. Indeed, after this piece of ore is processed, it emerges as a perfect, priceless diamond of dazzling beauty.

"There is no way the processing plant can inject any beauty into a dirty rock. The beauty is there, deep within the rock. It is not visible because it is covered with layers of other material. The processing plant merely removes the layers that cover the diamond and expose its beauty.

"Avi," I said, "in your case I am the mayvin. You have a beautiful neshama of inestimable value. True, it has been covered with many layers of objectionable material that has accumulated over the years. If you stay with our program, we will remove these layers and expose your beauty to yourself and to the world."

Avi completed the treatment program and eventually got a job and moved into the community. One day the administrator of the program received a call from a family. Their elderly mother had died and left an apartment full of furniture which they wished to donate to the treatment facility. The administrator called Avi. "We have no way of bringing the furniture here. Can you help us?"

"No problem," Avi said. "I'll get a truck and bring it over."

Two days later Avi called the administrator. "I'm at the apartment with a truck," he said. "There is no point in bringing the furniture over. It is old and dilapidated. We can't use it."

The administrator said, "Bring it anyways, Avi. I don't want to disappoint the family. Maybe we will be able to salvage something."

Avi bought the furniture and began hauling it up the stairs to the treatment facility. As he was bringing up an old sofa, an envelope fell from the cushions. It contained 5,000 shekalim! It was essentially hefker (abandoned money). No one knew of its existence. Remember that in the past Avi had stolen purses and broken into houses for just a few shekalim.

Avi called the administrator and reported his find, "Call the family and tell them," the administrator said. Avi did so, and the family donated the money to the treatment program.

I learned about the incident several months later. "Avi," I said, "didn't I tell you that we would reveal the diamond within you? Many people who had never done anything dishonest would have simply pocketed the money. What you did revealed the beauty within you."

Avi subsequently donated a bronze plaque which is affixed on the door to the treatment facility. It reads "Diamond Polishing Center."

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski in Angels Don't Leave Footprints.
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Balance

Can we be aware of our greatness yet be profoundly humble?

Rabbi Naftali of Ropschitz said, "Before my neshama descended to earth, I saw an inscription on one of the walls of Gan Eden, 'You must be very, very humble,' (Ethics of our Fathers 4:4). However, on another wall there was the inscription, 'A person must say: The world was created just for my sake,' (Sanhedrin 37a). I tried to reconcile these conflicting statements. I had not yet solved the problem when I heard the exclamation, 'Mazal Tov! You have a son!' I have spent the rest of my life trying to resolve the conflict.

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski in Angels Don't Leave Footprints.
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Meretz & Mizrachim

Why is there no partnership here?  Tsafi Saar gives his theory in Haaretz (for more of the article, subscription required):

The Meretz representatives are all good people. Their heart is in the right place. Good souls. Which brings us to their election campaign, an effort rife with mistakes. It started with the patronizing slogan "Your heart is on the left, neshama" – that final word, "my soul," is a term of endearment characteristic of non-Ashkenazi speakers of Hebrew.

Then there was that video that mocked people taking part in the Revivo Project, a revival of old songs from Middle Eastern Jewish traditions, one of the best music projects in recent years. It sometimes seemed as if the campaign were trying to persuade people not to vote for Meretz.

The thing is, the Meretz people really are good people. And smart – they have an explanation for everything. When asked about their lack of Mizrahim (Jews of Middle Eastern origin), they noted that their three top spots were filled by a woman, a disabled person and a gay man. About the mocking video, they said it was made not by the party but by its supporters. Even if in some cases such answers are acceptable, the questions leave no room for doubt: The party has a problem. A big problem.

In fact, Meretz is continuing the Israeli left's long and inglorious tradition of (in the best case) ignoring Mizrahim, including the Mizrahi left. In the past this was clear racism. What is it today? Why the insularity and foregoing of activities with people committed to similar values? How can it be that a party that waves the banners of human rights, equality and pluralism is sending to the Knesset only people from a hegemonic class? How come its leaders don’t understand that this produces a lack of trust, which the high-flown words, the willingness and even the worthy actions won't dispel?

If Meretz wants to establish a real and broad left, it has to start now. Yesterday it should have begun a thorough inspection, not to say revolution. First, its men and women must acknowledge the problem. There is no escaping it, and no intellectual explanation will sweep it under the rug.

As every female politician in Meretz no doubt knows, men, no matter how progressive and enlightened, cannot faithfully represent women’s interests. In this way, Ashkenazim cannot represent Mizrahim.

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Compromise, Beitar, Ophir & 10

When I wrote my thoughts on the elections last week, I noted that to get into the coalition, Shas would need to "compromise and start pushing more of the Yeshiva students into the army and workforce."  I honestly didn't think it would happen this fast, but Haaretz reported in their weekend edition that R' Ovadia Yosef wrote the following in his letter to Shimon Peres, "Not every Haredi is entitled to exemption from military service."  Now their article doesn't really delve into it more than that introductory sentence, but I'm optimistic.  With Yesh Atid and Ha'Bayit Ha'Yehudi (not to mention Yisrael Beitenu and Labor) both considering this an important duty of the government, Shas know the only way to make this change in a way that suits them is to be a part of it. Time will tell ...

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Last week, a few Beitar fans unveiled a massive flag saying "Beitar will stay pure forever" - a sign aimed in protest of the signing of two Muslims from Chechnya the week before.  Regardless of their stupidity (Beitar has had Arabs & Muslim players before, not to mention Christians on their current team), the media made sure to stress how all Beitar fans are racists.  I was following the comments on various Israeli sports sites, and I found that a majority of Beitar fans who posted were sickened by what was happening.  There was unfortunately quite a few comments by those who openly supported the claims that have sadly given Beitar such a bad reputation internally and abroad.  While I'm fairly certain these fans belong to, or strongly associate with, 'La Familia' (the group who's become a dominant force in the East Stand, and openly state their hatred of Arabs & Muslims), I still don't understand the need to generalize all of Beitar's fans.  When Arab terrorists kill innocents in Israel, people are branded 'racists' if they say 'All Arabs are terrorists.'  Why the double standards?

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Ophir Ben Sheetreet was suspended from her religious school for two weeks due to her singing performance on an Israeli TV show.  I don't really know all the details of the story, but this girl seemingly goes to a religious school which takes a specific stance on the issue (I'd say machmir, but again - I don't know what the basis was for the suspension).  The school could have obviously handled it differently, but without more information from both sides it's tough to really get to the bottom of the story (though it's been a learning experinece to read up on the halachic positions of both sides) ... so I'll sum it up for now like so: If you go to a school which promotes a certain observance level, one has to abide by that level.

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Only 10 asylum seekers entered Israel in January:

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Elections 2013 - My Thoughts

* I don't really think Bibi should be surprised with the Likud's poor showing.  They probably could have got 40 seats, or more, but they not made the same mistakes over and over again.  In my opinion, their biggest mistakes were not taking into account the large effect last year's social protests had on the Israeli electorate, their non-stop attacks on the Bayit Ha'Yehdui party, and their poor campaign.  While the Likud was weakened this election, they'll still have ample opportunities as the ruling party to regain the faith of the Israeli public.  More success stories like that of Moshe Kachlon's with the cellphone price drop, and increasing the Haredi involvement in the workforce and army/national service, will undoubtedly increase their popularity and most likely, seats in the Knesset too.

* Yair Lapid and Yesh Atid's performance in the 2013 elections was almost expected.  They were the only party that directly confronted what the aforementioned social protests of 2011 were about.  The 19 mandates the Israeli electorate gave them is a tremendous platform to start making changes.  Centerist parties don't last long in this country, and to survive Lapid will need to advance many of his campaign promises.  Failure to do so will push many of his voters back to Likud or Labor, and the fact most newspapers are linking him to the Foreign Ministry (when the Finance Ministry should be his target) could be a worrying sign.  Though there's less glitter with the Finance Ministry, it is the Ministry he needs to start enacting the changes he was discussing in his election campaign.  Time will tell ... Good luck to him.

* Nafatli Bennett and Ha'Bayit Ha'Yehudi were the other success story of this year's election.  It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to the political world, but based on what he's done as a soldier and businessman, one can only hope he's as successful when pushing his plans for our economy, house prices and children's education.  The party has an ability to become a major force in coming elections, but will need to have a more diverse party list if it's to do so.

* Shelly Yachimovich strengthened Labor, but despite this, it already seems she'll be ousted in next year's Labor primaries.  Her reluctance to talk about her stance on the Palestinians cost her dearly, and her closing the door on a coalition with Bibi early on also hurt Labor's chances of being a larger player over the coming years.  What still amazes me is that a party that had similar social plans to Yesh Atid has a leader that opposed the cottage cheese protests and cellphone cost reduction.  She will need to make a lot of noise over the coming fourteen months to remain Labor's leader.

* Aryeh Deri's return to Shas did nothing for their popularity thankfully.  While they still pulled eleven seats, their place in a government coalition is no longer guaranteed.  To get in, they'll need to compromise and start pushing more of the Yeshiva students into the army and workforce.  Stay out, and the change may be even more drastic.  Either way, one can only hope their power - and ability to continually mudy R' Ovadia Yosef's name and reputation - continues to wane.

* Surely Tzippi Livni will get the hint?

* If the Knesset's members were only based on the votes of soldiers and diplomats, we'd have had the following make up:

Likud: 32
Lapid: 22
Bayit: 20
Avoda: 13
Shas: 10
Aguda: 3
Livni: 5
Meretz: 5
Aleh Yarok: 5
Otzma: 3
Kadima: 2

There's a lot of interesitng discussion points here, but two things stuck out for me.  Shas getting 10 seats shows how a large percentage of their voters are non-Haredi Mizrachim.  Also, the fact Aguda gets 3 seats means we have a small percentage of Ashkenazi Haredim in the army - may that number steadily rise in the coming years.

* Prediction for next election:  Unfortunately, Ehud Olmert will return as head of Kadima and try and be our prime minister again.

* I was extremely disappointed after Election night.  No, I didn't care about Bibi, or Yair, or Naftali, or Tzippi.  I cared that R' Haim Amsalem, the head of the Am Shalem party, didn't get enough votes to see his party represented in the Knesset.  R' Amsalem is a rare figure.  A leader who popped out of the Shas world and demanded a return to the moderate Judaism Mizrachi & Sefardi Judaism preached before the rise of Shas.  He endangered his family's success in the world he called 'home,' and put his political future on the line to do what's right.  He peaked too early unfortunately and though the Israeli electorate did notice him, it was not enough to give him more than the 48,000+ votes he garnered.  I can only hope R' Amsalem doesn't give up on his vision and message, and gives the Israeli voters another chance in the next elections. 
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Blogging 2012

It was an odd year blogging wise.  I only posted 43 entries this past year - well below the 70+ average of the past six years.  There definitely has been plenty of news to discuss (The Syrian civil war, the US election, the upcoming Israeli election etc) ... but I've just not had the desire to write about it.

Time will tell if things change this year ...
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In the News, III

I guess a picture in Haaretz also counts, right?

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