Lonely Man of Faith: Free viewing in Chicago

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LONELY MAN OF FAITH
The life and legacy of
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

PRESENTED BY:
CHICAGO RABBINICAL COUNCIL
AND IDA CROWN JEWISH ACADEMY
Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Congregation K.I.N.S, 2800 W. North Shore Ave.
Open to public. No charge. Separate seating available.
A panel with producer, Ethan Isenberg, and
Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Av Beit Din of the cRc, will follow.
For more information, call ICJA at (773) 973-1450 or
the cRc at (773) 465-3900

From the movie’s webisite:
Lonely Man of Faith is a new documentary film on the life and legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the intellectual leader of Modern Orthodox Judaism in 20th Century America. Throughout his life, in Europe, New York and Boston, he struggled to forge a path between Jewish tradition and the modern age, an ordeal that frequently resulted in loneliness. His impact was tremendous but his legacy was complicated.

Seconds Thoughts

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(from Dkimages.com)

Recently we spent a delightful afternoon with good friends at the Jelly Belly Center, here. On our tour of their facility, I hear the following statement:

It takes between seven to ten days for our factories to make a Jelly Belly bean. It takes just one second to eat one.

While I was wowed by all the cool flavors to eat, I kept thinking about that statement. It hit a cord with me. Not a big, Earth shattering cord, but a more simple and grounded cord. I say the appropriate brachos before and after I eat and drink, but I really should give some thought as to all the effort that goes into the items I’m making my bracha over. From a simple Jelly Bean to a Shabbos meal, there’s a vast amount of effort that takes place. It takes just one second to eat one. I’m sure that working on my Hakoras HaTov is worth more one second of enjoyment.

The right perscription….

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A Simple Jew recently asked me:


I have always preferred sifrei Chassidus over sifrei Mussar. I find sifrei Chassidus to be uplifting and many sifrei Mussar to be somewhat depressing since they break me down and remind me that I am nothing. Although they may be the right prescription for another type of neshoma, I feel that for me it would be equivalent to taking the wrong type of medicine.As someone who feels an attraction to sifrei Mussar, do you think my observation is an oversimplification?

My answer can be found here.

A suggestion regarding Taanit Esther‏ and links…

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The following email was sent to me by the Rabbi Zev Shandalov, President of the Chicago Rabbinical Council:

On March 20, 2008, the 13th of Adar II, Jews around the world will fast for Taanit Esther. On that day, we recall the time when the evil Haman, a descendant of Amalek, planned to annihilate the Jewish people.

Today, we have other people and nations who wish to destroy us, as well. Some of them, Hamas and Fatah in particular, take steps towards that end every single day. Every single day of every week, we read of rockets and qassams falling on Sderot. The goal of the enemy is to drive us out of Sderot and then out of all of Israel (chas v’shalom!).

I would like to make a simple suggestion…this year, as we fast on Taanit Esther, have in mind our fellow Jews in Sderot (and now it seems in Ashkelon as well!) as they face a daily barrage of salvos from the enemy, a modern day Amalek! Yes, think about the occurrences in the time of Esther and Mordechai….but think about TODAY’S victims and how they need our tefillot!

May Hashem see our tefillot and, more importantly, our actions (see Book of Yonah 3:10) and have mercy on our fellow brethren in Sderot, Ashkelon and beyond, and may He bring an end to the daily terror that they witness!

Zev M Shandalov
Rabbi
Congregation KJBS
Chicago, IL USA

PLEASE HELP BY FORWARDING THIS MESSAGE!

In addition I would suggest reading these postings:

Adventures in Eretz Yisrael: Sderot: Dodging the Kassam
Unfinished Post: R’ Yehuda Bar Ila’i (part 1)

Rav Schwab z"tl on Emunah and Bitachon

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Almost 10 years ago I read a transcribed address that Rav Shimon Schwab z’tl gave on Emunah and Bitachon at the Torah Institute of America in Moodus, Connecticut, which was run by Rav Schwab’s son-in-law, Rabbi Yaacov Rosenberg z”tl.

This important drasha was once hosted online as part of the Golders Green Beth Hamidrash (London) website. As it was Rav Schwab’s yartzeit last week, I had looked to link the address to a blog posting, but sadly their site had been removed off of the internet. After several days of searching, I did find the original printout I had from 1999. There were many notes, most of which have been edited out of the pdf that I have now made available online.

This work not only show’s Rav Schwab’s humility and sensitivity in dealing with Baalei Teshuva, but also, as deals with important ideas of Hashem as our Master and our King. May this drasha be an Aliya for Rav Schwab’s neshama and also a zechus for all who need a Refuah. Please feel free to link this.
The pdf is available here.

Sunday’s Spark of Mussar

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Rabbi Yisroel Lipkin of Salant
R’ Yisrael was once praising his student R’ Simcha Zissel Ziv of Kelm. Said a rabbi who was present, “If R’ Simcha Zissel would devote his talents completely to Gemora, instead of spending time also on Mussar, he would become a tremendous goan.”

“The Shulchan Oruch,” answered R’ Yisroel, “teaches that if a person has before him a small, perfect challah and a large but imperfect one, he must cut the perfect challah first. Similary, spritual perfection takes priority over scholarly greatness.”

From Sparks of Mussar by R Chaim Ephraim Zaitchik

My penchant to rant…

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… or why I don’t blog Anon

This is actually my second blog. My first blog was back November 2004 and I did not use my name. The blog was called “Out of town Yid” and constisted of only one posting. The blog was put to sleep after about two days. My ‘post’ was basically about how middos and basic ethical concepts in Yiddishkeit should, in theory, get passed on to one’s children, students, congregants, or receivers of ‘Jewish outreach attempts’. When this doesn’t happen, it’s a disaster. It was not what I would describe as as a “happy go lucky post full of sunshine”. After rereading it I, as mentioned, pulled the plug.

For some, the ability to blog anonymous works to their advantage. For me, it brought out a dark side, that gravitated towards the sarcastic, a place were I might be prone to use my “wit to abuse, not to amuse.”

I know, for myself, that blogging under my name helps to (hopefully) keep me in check and for lack of a better phrase, not do anything foolish. When one puts themselves out in the public, on the web, on You Tube, Facebook, at the grocery store, at work, in shul, or in line somewhere for coffee, we do not only represent ourselves. There is a bigger picture.

That picture, may include our family, spouse, children, or the general category of “Torah observant Judaism”. Chillul Hashem is never a good thing. Rav Yisrael (Lipkin) of Salant (I know it’s not Sunday) said:
When Lashon Hara is spoken in Vilna, the effect will be Chillul Shabbos in Paris.

If, chas v’Shalom, this is true, then the best way to counter such a thing would be for me to remember that the opportunities that I can use for a Kiddush Hashem, or the learning I do, or the davening I do, or the mitzvos I do can have a very global effect. Can a Jew davening in Yerushalyim have an impact on another Jew in Wichita, KS? I like to hope so.

I’m not so global of a thinker tonight, though. I’d rather think more locally, like about my kids sleeping several rooms away. I hope I can affect them positively.