Libi BaMizrach

The Jewish world lost a unique and special individual this week.  Justice Tzvi Tal, of blessed memory, was one of those rare individuals who truly embodied the dictum of the Gemara Yoma 86a: Abaye said: “And you shall love the Lord your God”  –  you shall make the name of Heaven beloved. How? One should learn Torah and Mishna, serve Torah scholars, and be pleasant with people in one's business transactions. What do people say about such a person? Fortunate is his father who taught him Torah, fortunate is his teacher who taught him Torah, woe to the people who have not studied Torah. See how pleasant are his ways, how proper are his deeds. The verse states about him and others like him: “You are My servant, Israel in whom I will be glorified” (Isaiah 49:3). Born as Tzvi Elimelech Teitelbaum to a Hassidic family in Poland, Justice Tal came to Eretz Yisrael at a young age. He loved Torah and general knowledge and supported himself through yeshiva high school by working part...

Ah, Politics.  The national pastime of Israel – everyone has an opinion; a nation of prime ministers as the old Golda Meir line goes.  After four elections in the past two years, one would think we are inured to really worrying about the outcome, or lack thereof.  But this time around, an earthquake is happening, and it is deeply worrying. In this week’s Parshat Hashavua, we read about the sorry tale of Korach.  The Mishna in Pirkei Avot (5:17) famously offers the arguments between Hillel and Shammai as a prototype of an “Argument for the Sake of Heaven”, while the protagonists of an “Argument Not for the Sake of Heaven” are Korach and his conspirators.  A question asked by many is why does the Mishna cite “Korach and his conspirators”?  Surely, the negative parallel case to Hillel and Shammai ought to have been Korach and Moshe!  A famous answer given by the Malbim is that a sine qua non of an “Argument for the Sake of Heaven” is that each side repres...