Libi BaMizrach

It is a Friday afternoon in Yerushalayim, and I do not have much time to write and edit this piece.  Nevertheless, since I received some requests from acquaintances to comment on the malicious and awful events yesterday of the Peleg Yerushalayim group, may their name be blotted out, I wanted to at least write something. Readers of this blog know that I am very much for needed change in the Chareidi world, particularly in regard to their stance of total rejection of army service for any young man, no matter what up until now.   While I believe that we very much need a cadre of special scholarly students who devote their lives to Torah only, surely times have changed greatly since the 1950s.  Then, in the post Holocaust era, many Gedolim felt that all hands were needed on deck.  Furthermore, the army was (in those days) actively trying to reeducate young men away from "Galut mentality" and religious observance; they argued that no young men should be allo...

This is the most painful "essay"  I have ever published on this blog.   It is a Hesped (Eulogy) that I delivered at the funeral of my very dear father in law, Rabbi Monni Weisberger ע"ה, this past Sunday. It is followed by an achingly beautiful tribute written by my dear daughter Diti on this occasion.  This is then followed by the very heartfelt and well-received words that my dear son Shimshon said at the funeral ----------      As a Rabbi, I have had the dubious honor of writing and delivering many hespedim. People I knew well, people I knew not so well; people I loved dearly, people I had a more distant relationship with…I had to find the right words to say to honor them and the loved ones they left behind at such a tragic time. It was always a difficult task, but I felt Hashem helping me to put the right words in my unworthy mouth.      But this is different. . . and so much harder.  I feel at such a loss to find a...

I’m sure hoping for a sweeter year this year. Rosh Hashanah looms, and we struggle to make sense of the past year – the trials and tribulations, the insanity that has taken hold of our nation’s politics; the sicknesses, financial difficulties, pain and suffering that have afflicted so many; the ongoing disasters in Florida and Texas, the danger that is North Korea; the ugliness on display in Charlottesville – where does one begin in preparing for the Day of Judgment? Personally, I am trying to look at the year I just experienced, and attempting to learn from it.   I write these lines to help myself focus, and hope that others might perhaps find some of this relevant to themselves as well. We pray Zochreinu L’Chaim – for Life itself, but also that we might live in good health and that our bodies continue to seamlessly function – this gift for ourselves and our families we need to literally beg Hashem for and not take for granted. I had a “rough year”.  Of course, c...

This will be a short post -- mainly because I will point to a longer (too long?) post from last year. Once again there is much controversy about the Kotel, and the fights between the various movements, over the right for non-traditional prayer at our holiest site.  If one did not know better, one would think that there are new developments and that the "terrible chareidim" have once again blackmailed the government into reneging on its agreements and promises, to the ultimate shame of the Netanyahu government, according to some. Actually, however, rather than coming to the inevitable compromise that has already been made and is the only realistic way forward, extremists on both sides are determined to fight.  As I wrote about a year ago ( please read that detailed article ), there is, and has been for a long time, an established place on the southern section of the Kotel for non-traditional prayer.  No one is seriously challenging this.  It is, or should be, a gi...

I haven't written in a long while.  I have been going through a lot of personal stuff that has consumed me, which I will perhaps discuss in the future.   However, watching the level of social and political discourse in the USA (and for that matter around the world) descend into deeper and deeper levels of hostility, I want to see if I can contribute something useful. The horror this week in Alexandria VA, as an evil person tried to massacre Senators and Congressman during their baseball practice in cold blood, shocked some people into silence, at least for a few hours.  I was moved to write the following on facebook , which apparently resonated with many people: Lots of silence from all my friends on the left today. Unlike you, I will not blame the horrible act of this Trump hating, GOP hating, Bernie supporting excuse for a human being on the Democrat party, nor will I blame all of the terrible violence, rioting, and horrific hatred that the left has been exhibit...