Myrtle Rising - Blog

Another Happy Update on Rachel Naomi bat Esther Chana

7/3/2021

For those of you davening for Rachel Naomi bat Esther Chana, please know that as of last week, she has finally woken up and is improving every day!

Her family is so grateful for everyone's prayers & they request that we all continue to daven for her.

Our prayers are obviously working, so let's keep going!

(If anyone missed the last announcement: Her baby improved so well, he was able to undergo a bris, baruch Hashem. His name is: Aharon Yehudah Leib, after Rav Shteinman. As far as I know, the baby no longer needs tefillah for his health. But without his mommy at home with him, he could probably still use tefillah for that.)

For the original post on this situation:
http://www.myrtlerising.com/blog/please-pray-for-rachel-naomi-bat-esther-chana-her-newborn-son-rach-hanolad-ben-rachel-naomi

How to Adjust to Life Outside of Gan Eden: Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Ki Tisa

4/3/2021

In Rav Miller's dvar Torah Parshas Ki Sisa 4 - Two Forms of Kindliness, the rav emphasizes the need to get back to basics.

When you daven, really think about what you're saying.

At least a little tiny bit. If you're in a minyan, then you need to keep up with the congregation. But try at least a little to put extra thought into whatever you can.

For example, when you see Hashem's 4-letter Name, you should think (page 6):

Everything that ever existed, everything that exists now and anything that will ever exist; it’s only because Hashem wills it to exist.

Yud kei vuv kei means that everything is under the control of Hakadosh Baruch Hu; He has all the wires in his hand and He’s pulling all the wires all the time.

Bitter Challenge in This World Provides Opportunity

Rav Miller presents an interesting perspective on Mankind's banishment from Gan Eden:

It was to perfect our souls via appreciation of Hashem amid distractions.

In Gan Eden, it was easy to enjoy Hashem's world; everything was perfect.

The world of Gan Eden was delightful, Adam & Chava didn't need any other pleasure—not even music.

Rav Miller describes them as "dancing with happiness" as they ate the delicious fruit.

But outside of Eden, feeling happy & secure are extreme challenges for most people.

And that very challenge provides us with the opportunity for greatness.

Divine punishments are actually opportunities—even when they don't look or feel that way at all.

Even when you fail, and fall, and stumble again and again and again, that's part of the whole challenge: Will you get back up again?

The people who become great get up again.

How Lack Invites Hashem into Your Life

On page 10-11, Rav Miller points out how wealthy people often turn less to Hashem than poor people.

Why?

Because a wealthy person feels secure in his own power. He feels he owes his success to himself. He feels confident in his assets, his money & documents in bank vaults, and his own acumen.

Self-made successes worked hard to get there and very much feel like taking a lot of credit for themselves.

Those born with a silver spoon in their mouth learned to trust in that silver spoon always being there. Either someone (or a trustfund or estate) will always take care of them, or they'll learn how to run the business themselves from their parents.

But a person without that kind of security is more likely to find himself turning to Hashem in desperation.

Throughout the rest of the dvar Torah, Rav Miller offers examples of people for whom an illness or a bad financial turn ended up saving them.

He also describes how a toothache & dental procedure can be used to increase one's closeness to Hashem.

The Most Beneficial Response to Life in the Pits

Many times, a crushing nisayon humbles a person.

Hashem cannot stand to be around a prideful person.

But to a humble person? Hashem can rush right in and cuddle up.

I've personally seen this, that due to a struggle, a formerly overconfident & strong-willed person becomes humbler, gentler, & more compassionate.

But sometimes they revert back to how they were once the nisayon ends.

Or they rise up and become even harder & more judgemental in the effort to make themselves feel better.

In the secular self-help world, people are often encouraged to become more gaavadik & self-centered in the face of a nisayon, so it's hard to combat that.

Yes, there's also stuff about using one's nisayon to help or understand others. But not always and it's comes amid the focus on oneself, encouraging a person to be prideful & "strong."

(Not strong in a Torah way, which gathers strength from Hashem, but a strong ego, etc.)

But Judaism says no, the healthiest response is beautiful humility & friendship with Hashem.

Credit for quotes & material goes to Toras Avigdor.

And don't forget to check out the Practical Tip on page 17, plus the Q&A on the last page!

"This is the Third World War...and We are Currently Found in the Intense Part of It": Insights & Advice from Rav Itamar Schwartz on Surviving the War of Gog & Magog

3/3/2021

In the Bilvavi issue for Parshat Ki Tisa, Rav Itamar Schwartz reveals intriguing insights regarding the Geula and the current War of Gog & Magog:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi_179_Ki.Sisa_Turning.Directly.to.Hashem_5781.pdf

The whole thing provides essential reading in only 4 pages (so it's very worthwhile & fascinating to read the whole issue).

Certain passages really struck me in the Q&A, like this one (page 3):

QUESTION:
What level of teshuvah and emes (truth) is needed in order for one to experience the Geulah?

ANSWER:
One needs a genuine ratzon (will [desire]) to do the will of Hashem, no matter how many various ups and downs he has been through.

Please note that the answer isn't "one needs to be an exalted tzaddik" or "a multi-tasking baalas chessed" or "the best boy in yeshivah" or "the best girl in school" or "a lamdan" or "a masmid" or "tamid b'simcha/eternally happy" or "one who never eats too many brownies" or "one who never gets persnickety" or anything else superlative (although if you are these things, then that can help a lot and...yashar koach on achieving such wonderful accomplishments!).

Rav Schwartz even acknowledges that the Geula-experiencer can endure both ups AND downs.

However, a basic SINCERE desire to fulfill the desire of Hashem needs to exist.

That's it.

Here's another on why we need to do teshuvah now, even though Mashiach ben Yosef and then Mashiach ben David will come & fix everything anyway (page 3):

Because doing teshuvah draws the Redemption closer.

The more that a person fixes with teshuvah, to that extent will a person merit the spiritual benefits that will come from the two Mashiachs, on his own level and to the degree that he does teshuvah.

Because even when Mashiach ben Yosef and Mashiach ben Dovid will arrive, not everyone will merit to equally partake of the spiritual benefits that they will bring.

It's a sobering thought, but very similar to what Rav Avigdor Miller always said: Your future enjoyment depends on your present investment.

Also, please note his emphasis on YOUR OWN LEVEL and what DEGREE you do teshuvah.

For example, someone can be very frum as a product of upbringing and never invest much thought or effort in inner frumkeit.

In other words, it's questionable whether they ever did any serious teshuvah or even a thoughtful chesbon hanefesh (self-accounting).

Another person could have been born into the 50th level of tumah and managed to drag themselves up to the 40th level with every intention to keep on going.

Yet another person may have seemed very frum, suffered a massive fall, and is now on the way back up again.

Externally, they look a lot less frum than the first example, but they are doing teshuvah on their own level to a very high degree.

So that's something to keep in mind.

In yet another instance, a person may have been born into a very frum family, yet decided to push himself even higher despite there being no external pressure to do so. He looks like a regular frum person, but is actually doing so much more.

Only Hashem sees what's really going on inside.

Also, any teshuvah you do brings the Geulah/Redemption closer.

And that's a very good thing. We should all be grateful to each other for that.

In another answer, Rav Schwartz emphasizes how we are already in the middle of the War of Gog & Magog.

(The first time I heard this, I actually found this somewhat reassuring. Instead of dreading the unknown looming of an upcoming disaster, I felt relieved to hear we're already in the middle of it. Is that a weird reaction?)

Anyway, the questioner wished to know whether the internal/spiritual aspect of this War will materialize as an actual physical war?

Here is Rav Schwartz's answer (page 3):

Certainly.

It cannot “spread” to the outer world – it is already going on!

There have always been wars taking place in the final years of our world.

But all of these wars are just the final outcome of something deeper and more internal.

All of these wars have been the result of the internal “wars” that have been taking place inside people’s souls.

The war of Gog and Magog will be revealed outwardly [in our world] as it will be, and it should make no difference to us how it will happen.

If a person is busy thinking about it, he is wasting his time.

So what we see in the outside world emanated from our inner world.

Also, it helps to know not to focus on this so much. Priorities help us aim our energies in the right directions. Again, it's the inner work, the teshuvah that matters.

Then there's this gem (page 4):

This is the third world war which the Chofetz Chaim spoke about – and we are currently found in the intense part of it, and there have already been many casualties, mainly in the spiritual sense, Rachmana Litzlan.

It mainly affects people on a soul level, and very little on a physical level.

Here are 2 quotes from war experts that describe what's going on now:

"In wartime,
truth is so precious that
she should always be attended
by a bodyguard of lies."
– Winston Churchill

This is where we find ourselves now: "Protected" by a "bodyguard of lies."

It's aaaaaaaaaaaaall for your own good, darlin'! Dontchya know?

"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting."
– Sun Tzu

I wish I could quote this as being from the Yetzer Hara rather than Sun Tzu, but I suppose it's all the same.

Either way, we see this all over the world now.

People want everything that's bad for them because it's easier, feels better (at least temporarily), tastes better, and makes life easier (at least temporarily).

So they actively seek out everything that's bad for them.

They've been subdued without fighting.

Fighting back really does feel pointless at this juncture.

That may not be the right attitude, but it's an understandable one.

This is War...Now THAT Explains Everything!

I find this idea helpful for down times because this means it's not really me (or you!) that's the problem.

There's a war going on.

It's a war against your mind, heart, and your soul—but NOT in the way other religions perceive it.

(Meaning, there isn't some idolatrous battle between God & a devil. No one can fight God. That's ridiculous.)

And the down times, the times of despair or depression, are battle wounds, shrapnel, and so on.

The people you see walking around spiritually bereft are casualties of war. (This includes people who, conversely, may look fine & frum, but feel & behave spiritually bereft privately.)

And maybe you sometimes feel like you're going in that direction too.

(Hopefully, you don't feel that way. On the other hand, some people struggle in such impossible, never-ending situations, it's understandable if they feel like they're sinking under.)

Tragically, physical causalities result from this spiritual war when people harm themselves into oblivion via drug overdoses, disease-inducing food habits, eating disorders, reckless behavior, intentional suicide, and so on.

The main thing is to connect with Hashem (even for just a few minutes a day) and try your best to do teshuvah on YOUR level.

Let's end with a couple of quotes from Rav Schwartz from pages 4, 3, 2:

Repeat to yourself the emunah peshutah, the simple belief, that Hashem does everything and that there is nothing in the world which has any power, other than Him: Ain Od Milvado...[There is none but Him.]

Each person, at his own level [should work on whatever he can do].

One should set aside a few minutes to talk to Hashem, simply and earnestly.

This is the revelation we can come to in the Acharis HaYomim [End of Days]:

To uncover our power of directly connecting to Hashem, through having a very real relationship with Him.

We need to simply talk with Him, no less than how we talk to a friend...

May we please all merit to survive this War completely intact—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually!!!

Collecting for Yeshivah: Pinpointing an Unconscious Prejudice (Plus Specific Support for Women)

28/2/2021

When first hearing about yeshivah bachurs going around (especially on Purim) collecting money for their yeshivah, it was presented in a negative light.

Unwittingly, this negative impression remained in my mind until one of my older sons went collecting for his own yeshivah (both on Purim itself and on regular days).

He spoke about all the wonderful families he encountered this way, including poor families who felt so strongly about supporting Torah, they warmly gave generous donations—a very humbling experience for the boys collecting.

He described dancing in their homes on Purim and the whole atmosphere of love for Torah.

He also mentioned how he felt about those who received them kindly, offered them a drink (non-alcoholic)—even if they gave a tiny donation—versus those who just handed them the money and then shut the door.

(Of course, it's still easy to view them positively, that they felt pressured or harassed at that moment, and despite their situation, they still gave something.)

Because of his experiences collecting for his yeshivah, my son started relating to tzedakah collectors with friendliness & concern.

If he's at home when a collector comes knocking (whether for a yeshivah or any other reason), my son treats them with warmth & friendship, offers them something to drink or eat, and gives them as much of a donation as he can.

And hearing about his experiences also changed me.

One Change of Heart Leads to Another

Feeling grateful to all the people who treated my son so kindly during his collection, I view the yeshivah boys who come knocking as "sons" rather than "them."

Especially the younger ones collecting for the first time, they can feel very vulnerable.

For example, one showed up at my door last week, stammering through his mask and temporarily forgetting the name of his yeshivah, for which he was collecting.

I pretended not to notice his awkwardness, and treated him warmly while giving him a donation. He looked grateful & relieved.

It felt like I was "passing it forward"—meaning, I was merely doing for someone else's son what others had done for mine.

While I was always polite to collectors and wished them well, I learned from my son how important it is to put even more heart into it.

Women at Home When Collectors Come Calling

However, tsniyut (modest, appropriate behavior) still comes first and I'm not warm or friendly to these men & boys in the way my son is.

I hold back.

If my husband or an older son is at home, I might politely (withOUT a big warm smile) offer them a drink.

It's important for women to realize that without a sturdy teenage or adult male at home, she has NO obligation to open the door to tzedakah collectors.

If she does, she has NO obligation to smile or offer refreshments, nor any other behavior that could be interpreted as inviting.

Even if he claims to be desperate to use the facilities, the answer is...NO!!!!!!!!!!

I could tell you stories about that. Here they are...

Scary Story #1:

Years ago, a recently widowed thirtysomething friend of mine, who was experienced in self-defense techniques (which she had used successfully against predators), opened the door to a tzedakah collector in a frum neighborhood and found herself with a knife pointed at her stomach accompanied by a demand for her valuables.

Despite her confidence & experience in self-defense, she could not utilize her skills with the knife pointing where it was.

After taking her valuables, he left—with her in hot pursuit. She felt sure she could successfully attack him from behind.

But he got away.

I'm including this story because the "Blazing Brunhilda" archetype has gained so much popularity, but women's best self-defense & self-protection always has been & still is: Avoidance. Prevention.

Despite my friend's assertive personality & effective self-defense skills, she still got mugged.

It's not a common occurrence (especially with the knife), but because it can happen, it's so important to encourage women to FEEL GOOD ABOUT PROTECTING THEMSELVES and NOT performing the wonderful mitzvah of tzedakah unless it's absolutely safe to do so.

Scary Story #2:
A friend with numerous small children at home opened the door to an apparent tzedakah collector who requested use of the facilities.

She felt uncomfortable because her husband wasn't home. But at the same time, she pitied the guy who seemed desperate.

Without going into detail, let's just say he ended up flashing both her & her young children, but made it seem unintentional.

(It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not. A man who cannot or will not behave appropriately has no business being in your home or around your children.)

NEVER let a strange man into your home UNLESS you have a sturdy male around!!!

(Little boys—no matter how many—don't count.)

If a man desperately needs the bathroom, let him go to a nearby supermarket or shul, or knock until he finds a home with a sturdy male in attendance.

Any normal man understands this. Men have wives, sisters, and mothers whom they would not want them to let in strange men.

So any normal man understands why you are denying him entrance.

If he doesn't understand & even gets upset, then that means he's a pompous jerk (or a predator) who doesn't deserve any favors from you anyway.

(On the contrary, he deserves a good kick.)

You are worthy & good and deserve to protect yourself.

UPDATE: Please see that Jewish Law supports the woman's right to safety:
https://dinonline.org/2021/03/03/danger-of-not-knowing-tzadakah-collector/

Anyway...

So that's how my son collecting for his yeshivah pinpointed a prejudice I didn't even know I had, and changed both my attitude & his...plus the bonus piece on how, despite the praiseworthiness of giving tzedakah, a woman must put her own safety & that of her children first—and she should fulfill that priority with confidence & conviction.

How to Make the World a Better-Smelling Place with Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Tetzaveh

25/2/2021

In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah Parshas Tetzaveh 4 – A Sweet Savor, we learn the importance of making the world smell good.

Scent possesses special qualities to awaken & soothe.

Scent can bring us back to the time & emotional place most strongly associated with a particular smell (for better or for worse).

If you're a spouse, making sure you smell good (especially wives) stands out as a high priority.

In fact, scent is so influential that the same halachah that encourages wives to wear perfume (or whatever scent-producer the couple enjoys) for their husbands also forbids women to wear perfume when non-husbands can smell & feel influenced by it.

The Beit HaMikdash, with its precious Ketoret mixture, smelled Divine—literally.

We associate clean, fresh scents with cleanliness & good hygiene, while repugnant scents accompany filth & poor hygiene.

Well-made fresh food often smells good. Scorched or spoiled food often smells bad.

But there is a more spiritual dimension to smell.

Making the World a Smellier Place

Rav Miller recalls the gladiatorial stadiums of ancient Rome, in which fights to the death took place between gladiators or animals or a mix of the two.

The smell of wild animals & slaughter is not a pleasant one. And though Rome enjoyed the best technological advances of its time, plumbing & general cleanliness weren't what they are now. Most of the people and the stadium itself didn't smell so great.

The sounds of pain (from either the people or the animals), the crunch of breaking bones or skulls, the gory sights...

Yet people attended these repugnant competitions in droves.

Likewise, Rav Miller notes the similarity of today's boxing matches.

A boxing arena reeks of beer, cigarettes, cheap cologne, and sweat. People cheer when one boxer lands a particularly crushing punch on his competitor. Some champion boxers gained a reputation for irrational behavior and poor middot resulting from damage to their brain from years of blows to the head.

Yet people attend these matches in droves.

Those are just 2 examples. Rav Miller notes the glorification of shootings, movie stars, pop stars, and athletes in his time.

It's worse now with people filming truly evil acts, like how they torment a helpless mentally challenged person or meaningless inanity, like how they eat from a bath of milk & fruity cereal.

And along with all the people who find these things repellant, these same cruel or inane videos go viral. Even the then-president of the United States decided to honor the milk-&-fruit-loops chick with an interview.

A Tzaddik's Spiritual Sense of Smell

This topic reminds me of a story I read from Rabbi Berel Wein who drove with a tzaddik who never raised his eyes to look at anything around him.

Yet when they drove through Times Square (during Times Square's most depraved phase), the tzaddik suddenly made a disgusted face and asked what the disgusting smell was.

There wasn't a physical smell that Rabbi Wein could perceive.

But Rabbi Wein marveled at the tzaddik's heightened senses, that upon entering a place of depravity, the rabbi could smell its repugnance without seeing or knowing anything about the place.

Society Works Up a Stench about Orthodox Jews

In Hebrew, one term that means to slander or tattle on someone is l'hasriach—to make
a bad smell, to stink.

Rav Miller notes that the world generally tries to make Orthodox Jews "smell" bad.

Here are modern examples of this:

They portray Israel's "hilltop youth" as maladjusted junkies & provocateurs.

Jews living in the "politically incorrect" areas of Judea & Shomron are viewed as violent dangerous radicals.

The Religious Zionists are considered nationalist religious extremists.

The charedi/yeshivish/ultra-Orthodox are considered the absolute worst: primitive, fanatic, ignorant, repressed, blah, blah, blah...

The modern Orthodox are considered the best of the crowd, but still problematic with their adherence to out-of-date laws like the 10 Commandments, and so on. The mainstream hopes the modern Orthodox will finally come around one day and join their rapidly disappearing Reform co-religionists.

In fact, after hearing the stereotype of the literally smelly chassidic Jew, I was surprised to experience a lack of bad smells when going through the chassidic crowds on the street or the buses.

And even those times when a crowded bus doesn't smell like a field of freshly mown lawn, it's not a lack of hygiene or cleanliness or deodorant.

It's simply a hot day of clean people wearing a couple of layers of clothes crowded onto a not-well-air-conditioned bus.

Very sorry to disappoint all the haters. (Actually, I'm not sorry at all. That sentence was sarcasm.)

Replace the Stench with Your Own Unique Brand of Perfume!

To combat the stinkers (including the self-denigrators within our own communities), we need to spread positive aromas.

Here's Rav Miller on page 8:

The sweetest smelling people are the luftishe Yeshiva men.

They’re young. They have no money. They have no power.

But they are devoted to learning the Toras Hashem. People who sit all day long in the Beis Hashem, those are the ones who smell the best.

The wives too!

Here you have a young idealistic girl and she marries a kollel man and he tells her beforehand, “I have nothing so we’ll have to live in a basement in Boro Park – at the edge of Boro Park in a Spanish neighborhood. And it won’t be so clean either; it’s infested in those buildings. But the rent there is the cheapest I could get and I want to sit and learn.”

And she says, “I’m all in – that’s what I want!”

And so they move into this little den; that’s all it is, a den! It’s not easy for them.

***
Now today, some people would disparage that.

If the father-in-law can buy you a nice car and pay for a nice apartment, OK, why not be a kollel man on your father-in-law’s shoulders?

But to live with such simplicity?! Many people aren’t impressed by that.

But that’s a mistake. It should be our pride that our young couples forgo the pleasures of this world to live idealistic Torah lives!

Rav Miller offers more practical advice.

For weddings (page 10):

Let’s say you're going someplace, you’re going to a chasuna or some family gathering, so make a plan beforehand.

“I’m going to use the opportunity to propagandize for the honor of avodas Hashem. I’ll speak about the beautiful yeshiva I passed by yesterday or about a new sefer I saw that’s full of wonderful Torah ideas.”

Every time a different thing.

At home (page 10)

When you're home alone with your wife, say something that will praise the mitzvos.

Tell her you’ve been thinking about how great a certain mitzvah is.

“This mitzvah is really something!” you say.

Praise davening! Did you ever think about that?

You’re going to the synagogue every day to talk to the Creator of the world!

Isn’t that something!

“Ahh,” you can tell her when you come back from maariv, “the pleasure of talking with Hashem – there’s nothing like it!

More at home (page 11):

A father in his home should be thinking at all times what he can say to his family.

Whenever you have an opportunity, say a good word about the chesed Hashem in this world, about Torah and mitzvos.

Always try to say something that will make your family admire lomdei Torah; choose words that will make them admire mitzvos.

You don't have to be a big lamdan to talk about the mitzvos and make them impressed with the importance of serving Hashem – all you need is to understand your role of being a propagandist for Hashem and then your conversation in the home becomes a part of your program.

Don’t think they’re not listening – it goes in, it absolutely goes in. It will enter their minds forever and ever.

***
“We’re the only nation in the history of the world that Hashem spoke to!”

Tell your family that again and again.

From time to time speak about the glory of avodas Hashem; the glory of tznius and of loving our fellow frum Jews.

Speak about the glory of shemiras halashon and about the importance of being a lamdan and obeying the word of Hashem in every area of our existence.

That’s the table-talk of a loyal Jewish home.

That’s a home where they’re still burning the ketores every day in front of the kodesh kodoshim.

At the office (page 11-12):

Even when you're talking business in the office, sometimes put in a good word.

Agav urcha [casually, "by the way"] you should mention, “I was in the yeshiva yesterday to pick up my son and it was so nice to see those fine boys. It's a pleasure to see how they behave.”

Or when you see frum girls on the street, praise them to whomever you’re with. Don’t be bashful about it.

When the Beis Yaakov girls pass by, or the Beis Rochel girls or Beis Rivka girls; make it your business to be maktir ketores: “Ah! Boruch Hashem! Frum, tzniusdige girls!”

We’re proud of those girls; they are our glory and we shouldn’t disdain the opportunity to praise them up to the sky.

On the street (page 12):

Look for excuses to talk.

You’re walking down the avenue with your wife, or your children; even your friends.

Say, “How beautiful it is to see a big truck – it’s half a block long – going down the street and on the side of the truck in big letters Chalav Yisroel!”

Tell the people around you that it’s beautiful.

I remember not long ago you couldn't get chalav Yisroel in America. When I came back from Europe, a farmer came once a month, a Jewish farmer, and brought us milk from his cow. It was never fresh, and it was always whole milk.

And now, Mehadrin – Chalav Yisroel in big letters on the truck. Tell your children that you’re excited about it.

Ooh, and right behind it, here comes Kemach, a big truck, the Kemach truck; all yashan, all kosher provisions.

The fact that the Jews came to Williamsburg now and began to manufacture kosher food products and advertise them everywhere in the world, that's a tremendous kiddush Hashem.

Don't think it's a small thing. They did it for their business but it’s our business to propagandize and make it great.

This type of "perfuming" reaches the highest levels of Heaven—just like the Ketoret.

Meaning, if you go around pointing out the virtues of fellow religious Jews & authentic Torah Judaism, then you receive phenomenal reward from the highest places.

Credit for all material & quotes, plus any good aromas you experience while reading Rav Miller's dvar Torah, go to Toras Avigdor.

Purim with Rav Miller: Fun Reading!

25/2/2021

torasavigdor.org/purim-with-rav-avigdor-miller-full-book/
(A 189-page extravaganza!)

https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-pur-purim-and-the-holocaust/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-purim-yom-kippur-and-drinking/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-esthers-silence/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-how-to-be-a-purim-drunk/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-the-real-takeaway-of-purim/

https://torasavigdor.org/purim-mesibah-1981-2/

What is the Torah View on Media & How It Affects Us?

23/2/2021

Let's look at what's going on with the media in all its forms & view it from a Torah outlook.

Since the onset of covid-19 around a year ago, Rav Itamar Schwartz of Bilvavi repeatedly emphasizes the need to separate from anything that is not authentically Jewish (i.e. anything not based on Torah).

This does not mean just a physical separation, but an emotional, spiritual, and psychological separation.

This "spiritual distancing" also remained an ongoing theme with Rav Avigdor Miller throughout his life; he consistently noted sources to support this as a primary Torah ideal.

At the same time, both rabbis acknowledge how complex & challenging it is to do this.

So they give us the goal and the path to that goal, but at the same time, they also expresses sympathy with the difficulty, encouraging us with baby steps and also paying attention to our unique soul needs.

The Melting Media

Frankly, I feel far from this ideal. However, I've also made progress in this area, baruch Hashem.

It helps that nearly all media has turned into a one-track-minded golem of one type or another, an entity that cannot think beyond black-and-white and has shed any shred of integrity it once possibly had.

Even frum publications are becoming a drag to read, with their reliance on mainstream media for information.

(Meaning, one needs to suffer reading how the current freezing disaster of Texas results from "global warming" or global warming's alter-ego: "climate change," plus a lot of biased fear-mongering regarding covid-19, sympathetic reporting of the BLM movement & the violent criminal drug-addicted negligent father who died under a cop's knee, plus concerns about "compliance" in the frum community—without rational explanations of why this desired "compliance" is scientifically valid, and so on.)

So I haven't been reading the news so much lately, even the frum news.

With regard to Trump, the Left refused to engage in any objective reporting. They also displayed tremendous hypocrisy when they slammed Trump for engaging in behavior they themselves engage in.

But with literally a couple of exceptions (one being Ben Shapiro), the right also refused to view Trump with any objectivity.

So here we had:
One side viewed & portrayed him as evil incarnate while the other side viewed & portrayed him as the great savior possessed of only the loftiest intentions.

For a more balanced view of Trump's Presidency, please see the following:
https://hamodia.com/prime/navigating-national-meltdown-torah-guidance/

https://hamodia.com/prime/trump-media-truly-unbelievable-unbelievably-true/ (I mean specifically Samuel J. Abrams, who reflects a lot—though not all—of what I think too.)

And this increasing repellence in the media clearly results from Hashem, to help us disconnect from the media.

I'd say the same about the problems & ongoing revelations regarding social media—all these drawbacks help us disconnect. Whether that means to cancel one's account completely or to minimize usage, the annoyances & lack of ethics in social media helps us disconnect on some level.

I personally don't use any social media. If I did, I'm not sure if I would be able to stop. (Sort of like with Internet & email; once you've stepped into the web, it's nearly impossible to extricate yourself.)

So I'm not judging others for being on "Fakebook" or Twitter because I don't know if I myself would be able to extricate myself once already in...with gratitude to Rabbi Wallerstein who, via his shiurim on the topic, caught me right at the time of decision & convinced me not to even try out social media. But would I be able to stop once started? I honestly don't know.

(Just to clarify: There are good articles & beneficial material in the frum media. Many of the writers are good, sincere people. But there are problems too.)

Media Detracts from Your Individuality

Recently, I read how one of the European Torah Sages expressed his trepidation regarding the publishing of a frum newspaper to combat all the really awful brainwashing of secular Jewish media of the pre-WWII era.

He definitely saw the need for a frum newspaper, yet expressed regret how any newspaper harms one's individuality.

Even a frum newspaper impinges on one's individuality because it still affects independent thinking.

I wish so much I could remember where I read this! I'd like to quote it directly.

Nonetheless, the principle is easy to see.

We all see how we're influenced by articles, blogs, op-eds, video clips, and the whole package.

All this affects our emotions & our opinions.

Here is a PDF Q&A from Rav Itamar Schwartz's lectures on the media. Disclaimer: It is pretty strong & I'm not there yet either, but whatever you can take from it is very, very good. At the very least, people should be aware of this good hashkafah:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.on.the.Media.pdf

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-voting-to-save-the-country/
(This is from 1980 & the U.S. is less decent than it was at that time, though certainly the media & entertainment industry still desperately tries to convince us that the average American is just as depraved as the industry is.)

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-how-to-become-a-baal-teshuva/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-common-sense/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-conservative-talk-radio/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-fake-news/

torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-the-danger-of-newspapers/

"Once upon a time when the world didn’t have any newspapers – when there was no literature – so it was possible for a person to think on his own and to have common sense."

-Rav Avigdor Miller
Tape #613

Harnass the Power of Purim Tefillah!

23/2/2021

Chazal says that the Geula will come in the merit of righteous Jewish women.

This year, Purim falls on Erev Shabbat, which makes it a crunch time to fulfill all the Purim obligations and prepare for Shabbat at the same time.

Yet Jewish women decided to make time for worldwide heartfelt Tehillim during that crunch time.

This is yet another example of why the Geula will come in the merit of righteous Jewish women.

(And a big thank you to the wonderful Jewish woman who sent this out!)

4 Links to Imbue You with the Purim Spirit (including for Ta'anit Esther)

21/2/2021

Here are Purim Q&As from Rav Itamar Schwartz:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi_178_Purim_Living%20with%20Purim%20P'nimius_5781.pdf

More Purim Q&A from Rav Itamar Schwartz:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.Purim.QandA.pdf

Here is a post on the segulah for the fast of Ta'anit Esther:
www.myrtlerising.com/blog/a-special-segulah-for-the-fast-of-esther

Here are past Purim posts of this blog:
www.myrtlerising.com/blog/category/purim

Eretz Yisrael in the North (Photo courtesy of Leonid Radashkovsy @ Pixabay)

Worldwide Prayer at 6PM Eretz Yisrael-Time

21/2/2021

Worldwide prayer moment today, Sunday 9 Adar, at 6PM Israel-time.

H/T to Tomer Devorah, Shirat Devorah, and a cherished reader.