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"Boycott Woke Disney": A Prophetic 22-Year-Old Q&A with Rav Avigdor Miller

3/4/2022

 
Received this Q&A in the Inbox from Toras Avigdor's daily email subscription.

It's amazing how Rav Avigdor Miller knew specifically this back in the year 2000.

While it had been known for a while that Disney weaves in a lot of filth into their animation, I hadn't picked up on Disney's inclination toward this particular toeva at that point. 

​It's amazing how the rav called it back then—and it has ballooned to revolting proportions only recently:
Rav Avigdor Miller on Disney’s Immorality 

Q:Is it wrong to allow one’s children to read Disney books like Mickey Mouse and things like that?
A:
Now, whether or not you should be reading Walt Disney to your children is one question.

But I say that you shouldn’t for a different reason.

I say that you should boycott Walt Disney because Disney is an active force in promoting all types of immorality and I don’t want to say what else.

They promote very filthy things like H-O-M [the Rav spelled out the three letters] – I really don’t want to say the rest.

And therefore, we should boycott Walt Disney as much as possible.

And if they hadn’t been promoting immorality then it would just be stam a waste of time.

What do you get out of books that make it that mice talk and other animals are talking? It’s meaningless.

But Walt Disney is worse than meaningless because of the immorality that they are promoting in America.

And therefore we should do everything we can to lend our support to those who are trying to make this world more moral.

We should help the people – even the goyim – who are fighting for morality. 

​We really should do that.


TAPE # E-219 (January 2000)

https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-boycotting-walt-disney/

Used with permission.


The Authentic Torah View & Response to Jew-Hatred (based on the teachings of Rav Avigdor Miller)

30/3/2022

 
Rav Avigdor Miller often spoke about the real reasons behind Jew-hatred.

It doesn't mean that the perpetrators are guilt-free. Not at all. They are evil. And they're going to pay for every vile thing they do.

But as long as Jews keep attacking the stick that hits them rather than looking at the prime cause (i.e., our own attitudes & deeds), this will not solve the problem.

​Even worse, as we've seen many times throughout history (including current events), the Jew-hatred keeps going and even intensifies as long as Jews focus on the agent rather than the underlying cause.

Because this approach rams against every other kind of reasoning, many often see this approach as cruel, unjust, and blaming the victim.

But it's not.

Like so much else in Judaism, it forces us out of black-and-white thinking.

Jew-hatred provides messages for us to improve...at the same time, we are absolutely allowed to defend ourselves and the evil perpetrators will not escape ultimate justice. 

We are also allowed to hate the perpetrators—no problem.

But as the Rambam explains, attributing suffering purely to natural causes is CRUEL.

THAT is cruel.

Why?

Because focusing solely on natural causes ensures the continuation of the suffering.

Sure, some suffering may continue due to the needs of a particular soul-tikkun.

But any suffering that can be remedied via adjustments in our minds, hearts, and deeds?

Then it is cruel to ignore that.

At the same time, a person still may struggle emotionally with this concept. That is totally normal.

But a minimal intellectual acceptance leads to clearer thinking, which enables us to improve whatever we need to improve.

Below, you'll see Rav Avigdor Miller's Torah-based insights on Jew-hatred (particularly terrorism in Eretz Yisrael).

As he passed away in 2001, these explanations are from years ago. But they remain just as applicable today. (Unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed much.)

He is not making up anything. His is the traditional Torah view.

At the same time, please keep in mind how much Rav Miller's writings & lectures brim with ideas on how to serve Hashem with joy and how to work on ourselves via humor & baby steps.

So here's Rav Avigdor Miller on the fundamental way to view and respond to terror against Jews in Eretz Yisrael today:
Could we think Hakodosh Boruch Hu will be silent when He sees that the reshaim are trying to wipe out the Torah in the Eretz Yisroel?

The answer is, He’s not silent.  That’s why there are terrorists. 

It’s a big mistake to read the newspapers and think that it’s the result of them not wanting the peace treaty or because they want to have the Jews out of Eretz Yisroel. 

No. 

The terrorists are sent by Hakodosh Boruch Hu as a puraniyos on the Labor Party, on the apikorsim, on those who are trying to teach Jewish children immorality and atheism in the Israeli public schools.


https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-when-hashem-is-not-silent/


And:
But I have to tell you something. People don’t realize this, but why did this uprising happen right now?

Just before this uprising began, Barak came out with a statement and it was in all the headlines.

He said that he’s going to do everything in his power to change Eretz Yisroel into a secular medinah. What it was up till now, I don’t know.

But he said that he wants to make it, that religion should have no connection to the Medinah at all.

Do you hear this statement from the Prime Minister of the State of Israel?!

He wants that the Am Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel should be a completely secular nation – a nation without any Torah at all.

And he said this openly.

It was all the headlines. And the New York Times was very happy about it. They wrote these headlines with excitement.

But our people were very disturbed.

People protested against such a thing. People wrote letters. I sent him a letter.

And then, just now, immediately after Barak announces his plans, the Intafada erupts.

That’s why they’re suffering through this now. Because they made a public declaration that they’re going to rebel against Hakodosh Boruch Hu and that the Torah will play no role at all in our nation.

That’s what he said, that the Torah will play no role in the life of our nation. We are a secular nation and the Toras Hashem will play no role.

So Hakodosh Boruch Hu said, “I’m going to give you a lesson about my role.”

And now people are crying out to Hashem. “Please help us Hashem.”

And even some choifshim are beginning to think, “Maybe we should also cry out to Hashem.”

​And this is midah ki’neged midah.


https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-terror-in-eretz-yisroel/


And:
Everything that’s taking place in Eretz Yisroel, you should know, is done by Hakodosh Boruch Hu – not by Arabs. 

Arabs are not killing anybody – Hashem is killing.  No question about that.  


Why is He doing it? 

Because the Jews in Eretz Yisrael are going m’dechi el dechi.  


Here they passed a law decriminalizing homosxuality.  It’s kosher now to be a homosxual in Eretz Yisroel. 

Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “That’s a toevah.  If that’s what Eretz Yisroel is going to be, I’ll take steps.”
​

They passed a law now that you could import treifeh meat now. 

For the first time since the history of the medina you could import treifeh meat in Eretz Yisroel. 

Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “I’ll show you.  I’ll show you.”
​

And now Tel Aviv has become a place of hefkeirus.  All kinds of wickedness in Tel Aviv.

Hashem says,  “I made Eretz Yisroel for Tel Aviv?!” 

The Israelis, some of them, are so terrible, they’re even worse than goyim in some places.  
​

Why are women in the Israeli army?  You know why they’re there? 

So a man wrote a book about the IDF, the Israeli Defense Force; not a frumme. He said, “The purpose of women is not for fighting.” 

You hear that? The purpose of women in the Israeli army is not for fighting, not for defense. 

You understand that? You understand what that means?  
​

And this great wickedness happened before America had female soldiers. 

America is now no good either. But Israel led the way with this abomination.
​

And therefore, Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “Pay attention.  הֲיֹסֵר גּוֹיִם הֲלֹא יוֹכִיחַ – The one who is bringing upon the nations adversity, isn’t He showing something? He’s showing something! הַמְלַמֵּד אָדָם דָּעַת – Isn’t He teaching wisdom (Tehillim 94:10)? 

So it’s up to us to understand that we’re being taught. 

We’re getting messages from Hashem.
​

Of course we have to fight back.  Of course, we have to defend ourselves. 

Of course we have to look for ways and means of stopping the terror. 

And yet, fundamentally we have to understand it’s Hashem and the purpose is to teach us that something is very wrong in Eretz Yisroel today – very wrong!  


​In the schools, they teach atheism.

In the schools in Eretz Yisroel they teach Jewish boys and girls atheism!

Children should be taught there’s a Boirei, a Creator. In every school, even not a religious school.

But no, in all the Israeli schools they’re being taught atheism.  
​

So what does Hakodosh Boruch Hu say? “You’re forgetting about Me? I’ll remind you.”
​

https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-investigating-terror-attacks/


And:
Why are many who were killed frum people?

I must explain something here. 

It’s a fundamental principle that Hakodosh Boruch Hu conceals His hand.

He doesn’t want to show that it’s a neis.  


Now suppose only reshaim would be killed; suppose only mechalelei Shabbos and oichlei treifos would be killed.

Then everybody would do teshuva.

Let’s say a man who walked in the street on Shabbos and lit a cigarette, he would fall dead right away; so nobody would smoke on Shabbos. Even the Puerto Ricans would make teshuva. The Mirrer Yeshiva would be filled with Puerto Ricans.
​

So Hakodosh Boruch Hu conceals it. 

In order to leave room for bechira, for free choice, He makes it look camouflaged; so you shouldn’t see His open hand. 

And that’s what it says, כיון שניתן רשות למשחית – when a mashchis has power, שוב אינו מבחין בין צדיק לרשע – he makes no distinction between a tzaddik and a rasha.  
​

Like it says in Mitzrayim; when the malach came to destroy the firstborn in Mitzrayim, אתם לא תצאו איש מפתח ביתו עד בוקר – you shouldn’t walk out in the streets. 

Why not?  We didn’t do anything wrong.  Egyptians oppressed us – why should we be afraid to walk in the streets? 

The answer is no.  Once the mashchis is loose, then he makes no distinction.  

And therefore, Hakodosh Boruch Hu doesn’t make any distinctions. 

People should know that once there’s a tzara, the tzara comes upon the tzaddikim and the reshaim equally – that’s a fundamental principle of how Hashem guides the world in order to leave room for free will; so His hand shouldn’t be so evident.


TAPE # 942 (November 1993)


torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-investigating-terror-attacks/

And:
Look, I’m not saying that the message is that we should therefore walk across the border with outstretched arms to embrace the Arabs and make peace – because most likely they’ll greet us with gunfire.
​

But there is a message from Hashem that we have things to fix inside of Eretz Yisroel. A lot of things. 

Maybe, for instance, we have to start pressing for the observance of Shabbos in the Land of Israel.

The Torah says, “Michalileha mos yumos” – those who profane the Shabbos will be put to death. The Torah says that.

And the Gemara says “Af al pi she’batlu Sanhedrin,” although we do not have a Sanhedrin to execute sinners today, “din arbah misos lo batlu,” the judgement will still be carried out.

So maybe when men fall at the border, or when a hand grenade is thrown into a bus, or when people are gunned down in Tel- Aviv, maybe we should think, maybe we should suspect – and it’s a reasonable suspicion – that maybe Hakodosh Boruch Hu is carrying out what He said He would do.

If buses publicly travel on Shabbos and if the Ministry of Labor is giving out permits to so many factories to allow them to open on Shabbos – so many factories are open in Eretz Yisroel on Shabbos!

A lot of factories, with the explicit permission of the government. In the Land of Israel, it is now accepted to profane the Shabbos!

We should think about this!

* * *
They’re destroying Jewish souls!

So maybe, if you’re destroying Jewish souls, that’s why Jewish bodies are being destroyed.

It’s really not hard, not difficult at all, to look for reasons for why things are happening.

Of course, if you don’t have ears, so you say, “Well, this is nothing. Every new state has troubles. Growing pains. They have battles in the beginning. For the first hundred years they have to battle.”

But the truth is that it’ll never get better.

And it will get worse and worse.

So there are plenty of messages being sent by Hakodosh Boruch Hu that we have to listen to.


https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-the-message-from-the-terrorist/

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Vital Words from Rav Avigdor Miller on How Human Beings Should View Each Other

9/3/2022

 
Here's a gem from Toras Avigdor (Q&A received by email) featuring Rav Avigdor Miller describing the Torah attitude toward non-Jews...in fact, ALL human beings really, whether Jewish or not.

​(And non-Jews should view each other this way too. The world would be a tremendously better place if all non-Jews viewed each other—and us—with the correct perception: tzelem Elokim—God's Divine Image.)

So here's the transcript of Rav Avigdor Miller's lecture on the topic (emphasis mine):
Mankind is beloved because they were created in the image of Hashem.

The mishna says openly that all human beings have a tzelem Elokim.

The truth is, if you take an Australian bushman, a wild fellow, an Aborigine, and you train him, he can become a mensch; he can become a great man, he can even become a big tzadik.

As long as he is a human being there is no limit to the greatness he possesses within him.

Hashem breathed into him a neshama and he is capable of becoming one of the greatest men that ever lived.

Of course he doesn’t know it and that is why he doesn’t do it.

But that’s the plain truth: חביב אדם – Mankind is great because he was created in the image of Hashem.

* * *

But always we remember that every human being has on his face the image of Hashem.

And so when you look at any person you must have respect.

When I was in Slabodka, they refused to call a goy a sheigetz; a sheigetz means an abomination – they refused to say that.

​We never called a goy a sheigetz because it is a contradiction to the doctrine of the glory of Mankind’s greatness.

That alone displays tremendous commitment to the idea of tzelem Elokim.

After all, Rav Miller describes walking past the yard of a primitive pub the morning after the Lithuanian locals indulged in a night of hard drinking.

And these were poor people with children who barely had enough money for food.

But they spent it on alcohol.

And Rav Miller describes seeing piles of men and women lying on each other, passed out and splattered with vomit after drinking so much.

It's so lowly and degrading.

And those Lithuanians natives were very quick to pull out a knife in anger. The local newspapers regularly reported stabbings.

Isn't all that abominable behavior?

Yet even living among such people, the Slabodka yeshivishers refused to call them sheigetz. 

Despite the abominable & animalistic behavior of these Lithuanian peasants, they still possessed a tzelem Elokim and therefore the potential to rise to the pinnacle of human potential.

So the Jews of Slabodka yeshivah refused to call them sheigetz.

The rav continues [emphasis mine]:
And that is what the Mishnah says, חביב אדם שנברא בצלם – Mankind is cherished by Hashem that He created them in His image.

And if we can spread the news to the world, we are doing them a great favor; we are letting them know the message from Hashem, that He looks upon you with a very great affection because you are the image of Hashem. 

The fact that a person can ruin that image by wrong emotions; that he can twist his face in wicked grimaces and make his face the opposite of noble, nevertheless if he would learn, if he would be trained, you can take that savage and you can make out of him a noble personality.

And he can become a Jew too.

But even if he doesn’t become a Jew, he could be become a chassid umos haolam [a righteous person from the nations of the world] and he will become worthy of chayei Olam Haboh [life in the World to Come] – and that is saying a lot. 

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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vaeira: Falling in Love All Over Again with Torah & Tefillah

30/12/2021

 
Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vaeira 5 – Always Enthusiastic revolves around getting back to basics.

It's all about really enjoying your prayers and also just the basic text of the Torah.

It's about looking at a verse with fresh eyes and saying, "Wow, isn't that just so totally awesome!"

Get emotionally involved in the text.

Probably all of us have some favorite stories from Tanach, a favorite verse or chapter of Tehillim/Psalms, a favorite prayer (or even a favorite verse from within a prayer).

Depending on our background, we connected to them as children or, if we only encountered them later, we connected to them as teenagers or adults.

Part of what held our fancy lay in the newness, the freshness of the experience.

(That happened to me as a teenager with Tehillim, which I wrote about here: part-i-books-that-changed-my-life-tehillim.html.)

As usual, Rav Miller combines his wittily related real-life observations (both the religious foibles & the religious successes) with practical tips for how to start heading in the right direction.

This post is shorter than usual. As I read through the dvar Torah, I just felt so good. From the initial sweet story of the Chafetz Chaim, I started smiling.

So I don't have stuff to pour out in writing this time. 

It just feels so nice to get back in touch with that initial appeal & fresh "ooh, shiny!" appeal—like a religious "Eureka!" moment.

Enjoy!
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Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Shemot: The #1 Ultimate Way to Emulate Moshe Rabbeinu

22/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Shemos 5 - Career of Encouragement, we discover one of the greatest traits of Moshe Rabbeinu to emulate: noticing & encouraging others.

Encouragement (chizuk) is one of the aspects Rav Levi Yitzchak Bender stated as the obligation of a friend (Words of Faith):
  • Encourage your friend with soul-restoring words.
  • Give good chizuk.
  • Try to cheer up and uplift your friend.
  • Provide encouraging words
  • Seek his or her good points.

This is the authentic Torah approach for dealing with people.

(For more, please see here: www.myrtlerising.com/blog/how-to-really-love-another-person.)

And Moshe Rabbeinu was outstanding in this area.

And we should definitely follow our leader by doing this too.

As Rav Miller states on page 8-9:
Now I want people to listen to that – married couples, families, boys and girls — everybody should listen to this prayerfully because in many homes people are spending their lives doing the opposite.

And that’s a tragedy because the Jewish home is the scene where this great function of encouraging others can be carried out in the best possible way.

There’s no opportunity to be like a Moshe Rabeinu that is as prolific, as fertile in ways of fulfilling this, as the home.

​And therefore the principle of encouragement should be one of the foundations of a Jewish home.

***

Now, how exactly the encouragement is administered, everybody must utilize his or her own judgment.

But there is one simple and an easy form, and that's compliments.

It's not enough if you don't bicker, if you don't recriminate and belittle.

Unfortunately that’s done too – it's done all the time in very many homes, and these people are complete failures.

They might be successes in other things, in other forms of avodah, but if people are belittling each other, it means they're doing the opposite of this great career, this great mission of idud, encouragement, which Hakodosh Boruch Hu requires. 

​And Rav Miller provides us with engaging, practical examples for a variety of situations.

Encouraging a Wife

Pages 8-10:
Every man who marries must keep in mind that it's not enough that he doesn't transgress this in the negative.

It's so easy to gain Olam Habo if a man would make it a principle once in a while to give his wife a compliment.

***
But because he is begrudging in words so life goes by with lost opportunities, lost opportunities to be an eved Hashem.

***
If your wife once cooked a good meal, make it your business to be profuse, to be lavish in your praise.

Other things too — there’s a lot to praise there. 

There’s nobody in the world who doesn’t have a craving for encouragement.

And why should a housewife be different?

​And so, the Jewish woman who lives successfully in her house – or even not successfully, but she tries – she can be made happy even without any gifts at all.

***
That's what it says in Mishlei when it describes the Woman of Valor. “Her husband and her children arise and praise her enthusiastically.”


Encouraging a Husband

Page 10:
And a woman too, no less, must make it her business always to look for opportunities to drop a word of encouragement to her husband.

Some men when they have some setback and they need consolation they cannot go home and confide in their wives because women sometimes will utilize that to put salt upon his wounds.

But if a woman would learn her role, her role as a confidant, she would become a Moshe Rabeinu.

She has to assume the role of encourager and soothe the things away – to always tell him, “It’s not so bad; you'll forget about it soon.”

“That person didn't mean it the way you thought he meant it,” or “he is wrong and you're right and I know in the end they'll recognize your abilities.”

***
...a wise woman builds up her house [Mishlei/Proverbs] by encouragement and encouragement alone.

And even in those things where there has to be correction, if the husband has to be corrected
and improved, the best way to get results is to give an incentive of encouragement.

If he does something that even looks like what you want him to do, praise him for it, and you'll see that he's going to try his best to do even more.


Encouragement for Children

Page 10-11:
​It’s a tremendous mitzvah, a tremendous step to greatness, if you’ll encourage your children.

Children also have burdens; they might not be your burdens but in their own eyes they have very big burdens.

And you can put your shoulder under their heavy packages and lighten their load by encouraging them with kind words.

And children who are encouraged in the home learn better.

They are more neat in their habits. They are cooperative if they are encouraged.

***
​...most of the time a glett, a caress, on the cheek is the best option.

A kind glett and words of encouragement can do wonders.

And the children too, among themselves should be reminded to encourage each other.

Of course, usually they’ll look at you like you fell off the moon. “What encourage? We only bicker; we argue and fight.”

But say it anyhow – it goes in, it goes in.

When children are taught to encourage each other, to say compliments to each other, and the parents do it too, then the house becomes a happy place, a place of avodas Hashem.

Encouragement for Students

Page 11:
There are a lot of boys in the yeshivah that would benefit from kind words. So many bochurim could use it.

And so if you're a teacher, look around. Your pupils need encouragement.

There are some who are not getting along well, some are sad, some are broken because of home conditions.

Some have poverty. Some are not well. Some have difficulty keeping up with the studies.

So be a Moshe Rabeinu!

Encouragement for All Kinds of People

Page 11:
Encourage your chaveirim in the yeshiva.

Girls, encourage your friends in the Beis Yaakov.

Not only your friends — there are many who are getting lost; they’re struggling.

You know how much you could accomplish if you would say a few words of encouragement to ease their burden? There’s so much opportunity there.

Your rebbe too. He needs parnasah so make sure not to discourage him.

Honor him and make him feel good.

After the shiur walk over to him and say, “Rebbi, I enjoyed your shiur” – even though you didn’t. It’s a mitzvah to be mi’oded anavim, to encourage the downtrodden.

***
Certainly; even on the street, even on the bus, if you see somebody who is dejected and depressed and you could say a few kind words, there's no question that you have given a big donation.

There isn't a human being who cannot stand a few drops of kindness on his soul – it’s a world where everyone has some problems, some worries and troubles, and every human being appreciates some kind words.

If you put your mind to it, you can always find a few words to say, something to assuage, to soothe, to put some balm on their wounds and to encourage them.

That's the important lesson we're learning from Moshe Rabeinu’s story.

Our job in this world is to leave the comfort of our palace and see what’s doing outside by our brothers, [vayar—and he saw]; and not only to see but to think about what you can say to ease their burdens as much as possible.

​And that great attitude, that’s the first step into greatness in this world and the next.


The Power of a Friendly Smile

Pages 13-14:
It could be somebody was passing by dejected.

Let's say he has been trying to find a decent job for a long time.

And meanwhile the young lady with whom he was going out finally told him that it's all off.

And now he doesn't even have carfare to go to the bay – he's thinking of taking a long hike down to the bay and jumping in.

And as he passes by, here's a man. It’s you. You happen to know him and give him a friendly smile.

And now the whole world becomes illuminated with sunlight.

You have no idea what you have done.

You have given him a new hold on life.

Why Smile at Office People & Grouchy People?

Page 14-15:
Don't you know how many times – if you lived a long time, you look back how many times in your career a smile was the turning point.

You know how much courage you get from a smile?

It's really important for us to study this subject, to think about it, because it happens all the time – it's so easy to bestow this happiness on people.

You walk into your office in the morning and you have a bright smile for each person.

You don't just walk through haughtily and ignore everybody and just go to your office. 

People think that you don't like them. As you walk through, smile at each person.

And there's no question you'll get a mitzvah. In your own little way, you’re like Moshe Rabeinu.

And:
Now, don’t tell me people are too grouchy.

Look, if somebody is coming toward you with a club, naturally you're not going to encourage him, but if he's passing you with a scowl, you muster enough presence of mind to smile to him.

Like it says in Pirkei Avos hevey mekabel es kol ha’adam besimchah, greet every man with simchah.

Every man means even Mr. Sour Face.

Actually he needs it more than anyone else.

You can bestow happiness in the form of a little sunshine from your face, and that's better than a glass of milk.

People need a lift.

A lot of people are carrying around hurt in their heart and they need this.

​It’s a career that will make a man successful in this world.

When You're Smiling, The Borei Olam Smiles at You

Page 15 (boldface mine):
And so, if you'll cause your face to shine upon other people, Hashem will smile on you too.

You hear that? Just think about that when you want to do it. 

When you turn on the sunshine and smile at somebody, you have to know that above Hakodosh Boruch Hu is going to turn the sunshine on you.

He'll smile to you too. And when He smiles, all good things come.

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Credit for all material, quotes, and any resulting smiles goes to Toras Avigdor.

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Links to Past Posts for the Holiday Season

19/12/2021

 
Here are posts to get you in a seasonal mood:
  • How Jewish was Yoshke?
  • ​The Roots of Christianity
  • ​The Lesson of a Mamzer
  • The Gentile Holiday Lights
  • A Seasonal Gem from Rav Avigdor Miller
  • Rav Avigdor Miller on New Years 2000 (Y2K)—He speaks about that day in general, not Y2K.
  • 'Tis the Season of Creepy Customs...Tra-la-la-la!


Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayechi: The Way To True Teshuvah

16/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vayechi 5 – The Function of Regret, we see the importance of our fellows around us, how they contribute to our lives.

For example, explains Rav Miller, a family bursting with different personalities—yet who all strive to behave with derech eretz—contribute to each other.

Each person influences another with the good point they possess which the other lacks.

Hashem created us exactly like this. No one is perfect except Hashem, Who possesses all good.

We all have something good to learn from another, to gain from another.

And everyone else has something good to learn from us, to gain from us.

We are vital to this world and the other is also vital.

On page 7, Rav Miller says:
Of course in America, it’s overlooked. It’s ignored today.

Brothers move away from each other and members of the family sometimes have very tenuous connections. They’ll call each other on the phone, they send cards before Rosh Hashana; it’s a very weak connection.

But fundamentally the plan of Hashem was that this should be one of the joys of life.

Family is one of the pleasures of life!

The old time European families who came over to America used to spend time together.

They didn’t have the tendency to go to movies. The old timers didn’t go to movies – even the irreligious ones.

I remember as a child how the families used to come together frequently and they sat for three or four hours together.

​Grandfather, grandmother, the sons and the daughters, the grandchildren, little children crawling on the floor.

The house was swarming with people and that was their fun.

Today it’s boring.

“Let’s go someplace. Let’s do something.”

​People begin to exchange this form of happiness for imitation happiness that you have to pay money for; today you waste money on paid entertainers or traveling; things that are sold to you as forms of happiness instead of the original ways that families used to enjoy themselves.

Remorse, Regret, and Repentance from a Place of Self-Elevation

Another issue addressed in the parsha is teshuvah.

Rav Miller emphasizes the frightening part of not doing teshuvah, which many people in our times resent hearing.

Some people may have heard it too much, accompanied by a petty or hypocritical delivery.

For others, it's too scary or simply doesn't jive with the modern culture & mentality, which has even seeped into the frummest parts of the frum world.

​However, knowing that you'll have to pay for that moment of sinful pleasure exists as yet another tool in one's self-polishing toolbox.

It's meant to be used in conjunction with the idea of the reward & light & angels you create when you overcome that same inclination toward all sorts of prohibited self-indulgences.

Looking back and FEELING REMORSE does wonders for erasing the dark angels created by those mistakes.

Crying & sighing? Even better!

Certainly, one must do it with the attitude of:

How could someone as innately holy & precious & special as me have done something so out of character, so beneath my true stature?

I'm soooooo much better than that. My stunningly beautiful potential lies far above that lowly deed
.


If you do it with lots of self-denigration (or, for some people, even with a tiny bit of self-denigration), then the remorse paradoxically claws you downward, and you may get even worse.

For today's generation, the Slabodka approach of focusing on the gadlut ha'adam, the greatness of a human being, is the way to go.

Every human being contains the breath of Hashem—an aspect of Divinity—within.

Every human being was created in the Image of Hashem.

We are not just mammals!

We need to look at ourselves & each other as tzelem Elokim—God's Divine Image.

​If we do this, we'll treat both ourselves & others much better.

We each have something of the Divine within us—regardless of our physical, mental, or spiritual defects.

If you're Jewish, then you also possess an extra Yisrael neshamah & are a true-blue ben or bat Melech.
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Questions to ask yourself from Rav Moshe Chaim Luzatto, courtesy of Rav Itamar Schwartz: https://bilvavi.net/english/after-holydays-advice-ramchal
A generous chunk of this week's parsha booklet addresses the ins & outs of teshuvah—not to be missed!

A delicious discourse on teshuvah runs from page 8 to page 17, with uplifting chizuk from Rebbe Nachman of Breslov on pages 16-17.

Likewise, part of doing teshuvah & preventing loss means proper efforts—safety precautions, making sensible decisions before one gets stuck in an unwanted situation, and the like. Rav Miller covers that all-important aspect hishtadlut & behaving responsibly on pages 14-16.

Credit for all quotes & material goes to Toras Avigdor.

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More Inspiration against Despair from the Me'am Lo'ez on Mishlei/Proverbs 2:4

Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayigash: Using Your Sight Wisely

9/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Vayigash 5 – Seeing the Secrets of the World, Rav Miller questions Yaakov Avinu's first response to hearing of the survival of his son Yosef  HaTzaddik.

One would assume, knowing Yaakov Avinu, his first response would be one of gratitude & song.

But no, it was basically: "I have to go and see him while I'm still alive."

Travel proved especially grueling back then, especially for the elderly, and Egypt remained steeped in spiritual filth.

Yaakov was a spiritual man—more elevated than we can imagine.

He knew he'd seen Yosef again, at least in the World to Come.

So why his desire—before gratitude & thanks-giving—to go see his long-lost son?

For Hashem.

Rav Miller explains the great joy at seeing his son's face would fill Yaakov Avinu with tremendous joy & gratitude toward Hashem.

And that explains Yaakov Avinu's response.

The Importance of Looking at Your Children's Faces in the Right Way

On pages 5-6, Rav Miller details how to apply to concept practically to your own life:
​As you sit at your table on Shabbos and you’re looking around at the faces of your children; maybe everybody is talking, eating, whatever it is, so you remember what we said here.

You look at your child’s face and you’re thinking, “Ah! What a beautiful face! What a beautiful experience this is that Hashem is giving me! I love this child!"

And the next one too. “Such a sweet face – I love this child! Thank You Hashem for this gift!”

You love every one of them tremendously and it should be translated into stimulating your love of Hakodosh Boruch Hu more and more.

There’s a great happiness in seeing your children.

Even if your child is not a gadol ba’torah, but he walks b’derech ha’yashar, he’s a shomer torah u’mitzvos, it’s a tremendous happiness to see his face. If Hashem gives you normal good frum children, you should be so happy; you should enjoy them.

Enjoy them and thank Hashem every time you see them.

You enjoy the child’s face and while you’re doing it you’re thinking, “I’m not doing it merely because I want to have nachas; I’m doing it because I want to love Hakodosh Boruch Hu Who gave me this tremendous experience to see my child’s face."

The act of seeing allows you to take pictures with your mind.

Once a sight goes in there, it stays.

True, we forgot stuff; we bury stuff.

But unexpectedly, these pictorial memories can reappear when stimulated by smells, sounds, or other sights associated with these mental snapshots.

Unfortunately, people tend to misuse this facility by filling the mind with unwholesome sights & sounds.

​But by making sure you look at the right things (like the faces of holy children), then you're using your sight right.

How to Look at Hashem's Creations for All Their Worth

Another way to use sight correctly is to look at Hashem's creations for all their worth.

On page 11, Rav Miller describes in colorful detail the glories of a leaf.

He even knew why leaves have irregular shapes rather than round shapes (I didn't know why!).

​On pages 12-13, Rav Miller speaks of how to look at the display in a bakery window.

On pages 13-15, Rav Miller delves into the glories of everything to do with fruit, including this gem on page 15:
Last week I had a conversation with the fruit store man.

I said to him, “How did the seeds get inside this fruit?”

He looked at me like I fell off the moon.

I said to him, “Did you ever find a fruit with a nickel inside?”

So he tells me that it never happened.

He’s been selling fruit for thirty years on Kings Highway and he never found a nickel in a fruit.

So I asked him, “If you find a nickel inside the apple would you think that a person put it in there?”

He said, “Yes, I would know somebody put it in there.”

​And you find a seed inside the apple – a seed is a thousand times more complicated than a nickel!

Reading the above pages in the parsha booklet offer wonderful ideas for enhancing your day by using your sight to maintain awareness of Hashem (a huge mitzvah with huge reward) & fortify your emunah.

​Rav Miller regularly took his children berry-picking & exploring — and used the above to make entertaining lessons for his children.

We can also do this for ourselves and others.
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No nickels here! □


Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Miketz: The Real Chanukah Story & What We Learn from It

2/12/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah for Parshas Mikeitz-Chanukah 5 – Suffering of Chanukah, pages 1-6 contain the Chanukah story, which is very worth reading just for that.

Then Rav Miller discusses the value of suffering & yissurim before returning to the Chanukah story on pages 12-14, including the bitter & not-so-well-known end of the Chashmonai family—meaning, their descendants, not those who starred in the Chanukah saga.

Then Rav Miller returns to the theme of suffering and turns our attitudes on their heads.

We think of times of suffering as "bad" while easier times are "good."

But on page 16, Rav Miller reorients us:
Don’t think that! Those are the good old days!

That’s the best time of your life. That's the apex, the summit of your success.

​Your throne in the next world is built on tzaar, on sacrifice and difficulties.

You’ll be sitting on a golden throne because you had to chew the earth with your teeth in order to arrive at even a little bit of success in avodas Hashem.

On pages 18-19, Rav Miller returns to the Chanukah story & explains exactly the miracle of the pure olive oil.

Whenever Rav Miller describes an event from Torah & tradition, he always adds details that bring it to life, and that is exactly what he does with Chanukah story.

Plus, a Q&A appears on the last page regarding why our Sages utilized weapons at times, but today, they don't.

This is a common misunderstanding when people look back and use Jews like the Maccabees, etc., as their role model for military values; it's taking the idea out of context. So Rav Miller clarifies it there.

You can see more of his views on the subject here (including how the young Rav Miller got a hold of his own father's gun, which almost ended in a tremendous loss for Am Yisrael):
  • https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-carrying-a-handgun/
  • https://torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-gun-safety-and-security/
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Chanukah lights on a window sill in Eretz Yisrael by chavahjacobs


Rav Avigdor Miller on Parshat Vayeshev: Fighting the Jewish Inferiority Complex

25/11/2021

 
In Rav Avigdor Miller's dvar Torah Parshas Vayeishev-Chanukah 5 – The Chanukah Battle, we start off by receiving a fully detailed scene of what happened when Yosef HaTzaddik tried to escape the clutches of Potifar's wife.

Based on the Midrash, here's the illustrative description (page 4):
So now this poor innocent woman is standing on the street shouting to everybody,
pointing at this dirty fellow who had tried to violate her...

...Potiphar rushed home from work and when she told him the story, all the details about what this wicked Ivri had tried to do, he became full of rage; he seized Yosef and began pummeling him.

And after a good beating, he grabbed Yosef by the ear and she grabbed him by the other ear, and they dragged him to the police station, to come before the judges to be sentenced...

...She and her husband are dragging Yosef through the streets by his ears.

Potiphar was an important official and his servant was well known so this disturbance certainly drew a crowd.

Women and children were staring from the windows; the men were rushing out of their houses to the streets to see what was going on...

And our sages tell us that as Yosef was being dragged through the streets, Potiphar
and his wife were heaping contumely upon his head.

She was shouting accusations, and Potiphar was gnashing his teeth.

“Look what we did for him. We elevated him. We made him the majordomo, the manager of our house, and that's how he tried to pay us back? By acting so lowly?!”

And the Egyptians who witnessed this spectacle, they were looking on and shaking their heads.

“Well, that’s what you get for taking him as a slave in your house. What else could you expect from a Hebrew? Only a dirty Ivri could be that wicked and do such an uncivilized thing.”

Ivri means a Hebrew but for the Egyptians it meant a hated nation, a corrupt people.

And they were kicking Yosef and spitting at him, insulting him as he was being dragged through the street.

At the same time he endured all this, Yosef HaTzaddik kept repeated the same verse (Tehillim 39:9): "The reproach of low people should not come upon me."

Potiphera's wife had pursued Yosef. The Egyptian people were steeped in immorality.

Yet now all the hypocrites came to fore with appalled, offended, pearl-clutching sensibilities.

As if!

​Yet Rav Miller notes this as characteristic of Jew-haters.

Dirty people will call a Jew "dirty Jew."

Greedy, power-hungry people will accuse Jews of loving money over all else.

Cold-hearted, hostile people accuse Jews of being the same.

​ Rav Miller references a letter Pope Gregory wrote to King Louis of France, declaring that “Jews commit the most terrible crimes that are too horrid to speak about.”

Oho, Catholic Church!

Not sure exactly which King Louis & Pope Gregory corresponded here, but we all know about the Catholic Church.

Yeah, there are some decent and sincere people there. In modern times, some proved instrumental in saving Jews during the Holocaust AND returning Jewish children to the Jewish people.

But historically, the Church has shown itself as a bastion of corruption & immorality & bloodshed.

​Talk about pot calling the kettle black.

As noted within the PDF, Protestants complained about Jews trying to kill Christians at every opportunity. That was not true of the Jews, but of the Christians themselves.

Nazis accused the Jews of trying to murder & corrupt society...while the biggest murderers & corrupters of society were the Nazis themselves.

​The list goes on.

Here's an interesting note on page 6 from Rav Miller:
There is extensive literature on this subject only that you can't get it.

It's very hard to buy these books that speak about the crimes of the church.

There's a powerful organization that sees to it that this literature is not available and therefore to get books, real works that reveal the deeds of the papacy is almost impossible.

One historical work I wanted to see when I was writing one of my books but it was very hard to get my hands on.

There's one copy in the public library in the main branch and you can't take it out.

​That's what an organization can accomplish.

Look Who's Talking

Rav Miller notes how a person can feel ashamed if someone speaks publicly in Yiddish—even as Italians & all sorts of other ethnic groups freely speak their language without a care.

Some Jews feel ashamed or uncomfortable with traditional Jewish garb. Even seeing another Jew in Chassidic garb makes them uncomfortable.

Yet scores of non-Jews go about wearing purposely ripped clothes or pants sagging to an extreme, or other extremely undignified or vulgar styles.

​Some even feel proud of their ugly, demeaning style.

​Many belief systems entered the heads of frum Jews.

At one time, Jews felt attracted to the Egyptian mentality. Later on, many internalized Greek & Roman philosophies—including their music, literature, and attitudes.

Today, many frum people seek to harmonize atheistic & hedonistic ideas with Torah Judaism.

Some do so purposefully while some do so automatically.

​Rav Miller elucidates how evolution crept into the Orthodox Jewish community on pages 10-11.

On pages 11-12, Rav Miller mentions books of Jew-hatred from the time of the Greeks until an old edition of Roget's thesaurus.

​On pages 13-14, the rav offers examples of Jewish self-hatred.

Fighting the Jewish Inferiority Complex

On pages 14-19, Rav Miller describes the seeds of the Chanukah saga...and it all started out with a massive Jewish Inferiority Complex, which even infected knowledgeable Jews who should've known better.

In a nutshell, everything went into a slide all because of what Yosef HaTzaddik initially experienced at the hands of the despicable hypocritical Egyptians: cherpat naval.

In other words: being despised by lowlife hypocrites.

​And here is the main lesson & goal of Chanukah for us today (page 18):
On Chanukah we’re expected to grow great in combating the yetzer hora that caused the trouble of Chanukah.

It means we have to begin falling in love with the Am Yisroel – that’s what Chanukah is trying to teach us.

And if we don’t get busy studying the emes of the Torah, then sooner or later the yetzer hora will win out and we’re going to fall into that error of the ancient Misyavnim [Hellenists].

On pages 19-20, Rav Miller describes his experience with one way to do this: reading Shir HaShirim.

It's true that if you pay attention to the words & understand that it's Hashem speaking to you personally with the uncompromising love expressed within, it's an incredibly powerful experience.

Saying Shir HaShirim for 40 days is also a good segulah to meet your zivug. My husband & I got engaged on Day 39. (He was saying it too, but not sure which day he was up to at that point.)

A synopsis of the real Chanukah story appears on pages 20-25.

​​Throughout pages 25-31, Rav Miller emphasizes the importance of appreciating the goodness of the frum community.

He acknowledges we are not perfect.

And he goes into detail on those pages.

By the way, thinking of yourself with self-worth helps you act that way. People tend to act to expectation.

Having grown up in a mostly non-Jewish secular society with the Conservative & Reform movements, I always noticed that frum Jews are THE most self-critical.

No other group ever criticizes themselves like frum Jews.

This includes all the frum Jews who constantly say, "We're in denial about this-and-such! Our community refuse to acknowledge/deal with this-and-such!"

No other community does that as far as I've ever seen.

Even the activist frum Jews who ARE doing their best deal with [fill in the blank], still go around decrying themselves by saying "we frum Jews aren't doing enough!"

It may be true they're not doing enough & that so much more needs to be done.

Yes, it's true!

But it drives me crazy when these same frum self-critics refuse to see through the self-propaganda of the non-Jewish/secular society, which portrays itself as having its act together, but really doesn't.

(I think this results from working exclusively with the frum community while studying articles, books, lectures, and podcasts from the non-frum/non-Jewish. You see all the problems in the frum community while the non-Jewish/non-frum community paints a picture of what they want. And let's not pretend their material has nothing to do with making a bestselling book or course, right? Sure, they focus on problems in their society, but with a coat of paint over it. Also, nowadays, many non-Jews lack the values to understand what is a problem & what isn't, and what is a solution & what is not.)

Their supposed resources & solutions are not as effective as they like to claim.

I have personal experience in this with them.

Yes, all their organizations and so forth manage to help some people.

They aren't completely useless.

But the reason why Western society as a whole is plummeting in every area results from a lot of stuff being mostly talk with very little action, or simply ineffective.

​They can advertise & promote as much as they want, just like a pig can advertise & promote its kosher sign of a cloven hoof as much as it wants.

But inside, its digestive system acts like that of every other treif beast.​

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Credit for all material & quotes goes to Toras Avigdor.

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