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4 Shvat, 5782 - January 6, 2022 | Mordecai Plaut, director | Vayishlach - 5782 Published Weekly
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Dirshu in Europe Plans Big Convention in Radin and Vilna

High gear deployment is evident in Vilna, Belarus, and in Vilna, Lithuania, in anticipation of the mass prayers planned for Thursday evening, the 19th of Shvat, the eve of Parshas Yisro, to be headed by Torah leadership. These will take place at the gravesite of the Chofetz Chaim, who is buried in Radin. Its climax will be the deposit of the work "Sefer Hagibborim" with the names of the tens of thousands of Jews who have committed themselves to the regular study of Halochoh, and simultaneously, on the gravesite of the Vilna Gaon in Vilna.

elect

 

 

 



Thoughts of HaRav Edelstein on Chinuch

The parents and teachers of the Ayelet Hashachar chadorim in Beit Shemesh merited a rare opportunity to be admitted into the home of HaRav Gershon Edelstein in Bnei Brak to hear his holy counsel and ideas on chinuch for the benefit of the students of these chadorim.

This unique gathering was headed by the director, HaRav Yosef Citron, the educational principal HaRav Ben Zion Nordman and HaRav Matisyohu Layish, who came to hear messages of guidance and education. Maran welcomed them and conveyed to them over a long period of time the vital fundamentals on the subject of chinuch and Torah dissemination.

He addressed them as follows:

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The Uniqueness of Hashem's Speech

This was originally published in 1994.

HaRav Moshe Schneider zt"l passed away on 13 Teves, 5715.

The importance of any speech is determined by the power of the speaker. We obey the orders of an ordinary policeman, even though his superior officer is able to cancel them. We obey a minister, or the ruler himself, much more readily, despite the fact that even the latter is unsure of how long his power will last, for the time must come when he either loses his station or departs from the world. At any rate, so long as he wields power, he is obeyed.

Wisdom also lends authority. The greater a man's wisdom, the more seriously his counsel is taken. The advice of a senior advisor is treated with the greatest respect, "like a man who consults the word of Hashem," Shmuel II 16:23.) So it is with matters of Torah and yiras Shomayim; the words of great people are hearkened to more.

All these pale into insignificance when it comes to the power of Hashem's own words.

elect

 

 

 

Rain and Kinneret Watch

by Dei'ah Vedibur Staff

Our weekly report of the rain and the level of the Kineret - Winter, 5782.

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From Our Archives


The Metahistorical Basis of the Jewish People

by Yisroel Spiegel

The whole unique Jewish weltanschauung is epitomized in the commandment, "This month shall be unto you the head of months, the first shall it be for all the months of the year" (Bo 12:1). We are charged with this commandment even before the beginning of the exodus from Egypt, before the liberation from bondage to freedom.

"This month" -- precisely this one -- shall be unto you the chief of months. Not in the natural count nor in the count of the nations of the world. Not according to the counting of the sun, as was practiced by Odom Horishon, nor according to the counting of our Patriarchs (Mechilta, Bo).

From the dawn of its redemption from Egypt, the Jewish people entered a new category: the people of Hashem who do not reckon with other nations, for its history was, is and shall continue to be different from all other folk. Its conduct is different and even its standards of day and night, weeks and months, Sabbaths and festivals, are all distinct. Israel possess a comprehensive codification of commandments which directs and molds the entire course of its life in a unique way that is altogether separate from any other nation or language.


It Was Meant to Be . . . Or Was It? A Middos Workshop

Based on the shiurim of Rav Dovid Siegel

Part II

The first part noted the basic question: As believing Jews, we know that everything which happens to us is min haShomayim -- Divine Providence straight from Hashem. At the same time, we are held accountable for our actions. How do we accept responsibility for the decisions we make, while forfeiting control over the paths that our lives take?

One important point noted is that in truth everything that happens in the world advances Hashem's underlying purposes in the world: to reveal His glory. Even those who intend to oppose Hashem, the reshoim, ultimately advance Hashem's goals -- in suffering their punishment, for example.

The second point noted is that Hashem has chosen to mask His continued operations in the world under the cover of teva, a natural order that persists and appears to govern how things work in the world. Those who study nature but do not relate it to Hashem's underlying Hashgochoh, will never fully understand what is going on.

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As stated, one of the ten statements of Creation is that food should sustain us. Every time we eat, we are actually connecting with one of Hashem's sacred utterances, but we do not see this. If this were obvious to us, we would lose our freedom of choice, because our total awareness of Hashem would prevent us from even considering sin. Hashem purposely concealed His identity in His natural laws to allow us free will. Through this, we can come to recognize Him on our own and thereby earn our relationship with Him.

Hashem's Concealed Hashgochoh




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These links were fixed, Tammuz 5781