Which came first? Bracha or Ban


My neighbor emailed this to me. I hadn’t seen it before, but begs the question: Which came first…the Bracha or the Banning of the Net?

Pragmatian, who is nice enough to read my blog, had a great post yesterday. If you didn’t see it, please click here. Thinking is a good thing.

10 thoughts on “Which came first? Bracha or Ban

  1. Rafi G

    I saw the bracha long before I heard of (official) bans of the internet… it might be though that they waited so long to ban it because they thought it was obvious, then they saw it was not so they banned it. Does that count as coming before the bracha?

    Reply
  2. Lady-Light

    At first glance one thinks this ‘tefilah’ is very funny, but when you think about it, it’s somewhat ‘mezalzel’ of the real Tefilat Haderekh, which is quite serious. Just think of how many Jews recited that tefilah en route between cities in Europe, not knowing if chas ve’shalom Cossaks would ride out of the woods and attack them, or if highway robbers would rob and assault them, etc. It’s basically poking fun of the real tefilah, implying that it is silly and spurious, which it isn’t. In fact, it is this so-called tefilah which is spurious!

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  3. Neil Harris

    Lady-Light,
    Firstly, I want to thank you for taking a look at my blog. I can tell by your blog that you’ve moved to E”Y because of your strong commitment to our people, traditions, and Hashem.
    This “prayer” that I posted has been on the web for some time, and the last two words are really the kicker…”bitul zman!.” Now there is truth in every joke, maybe if someone prints this up and puts it next to their monitor, they might not be tempted to stay online too late, or chat with someone’s spouse, or look at things that a bas or ben torah shouldn’t be seeing.

    I personally carry a copy of the Prayer for Proper Speech (from the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation) in my tallis bag. Every Shabbos morning before kiddush I recite it. Many people ask me what I’m saying and I show it to them and say, “It’s very easy to get carried away talking during kiddush. People often speak about others and this tefillah reminds me that I shouldn’t do that.”

    We all, at times need reminders about things. You are correct that Tefillah HaDerach was said by a generations of Tzaddim who have parrished al Kiddish Hashem. It is near our national day of mourning for those lost to anti-semetic hatred and I truly thank you for bringing their memory to my attention. I hope you read this, and thank you.

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