Thinking out loud; discussing and debating the current issues and challenges affecting the Torah and yeshiva communities such as population growth, dangers of technology, parnassah, shidduchim, financial support of Torah and Chesed institutions, news of the yeshiva world and reviewing frum blogs,Torah media outlets.
Hamodia- HOWELL, NJ - News of what appears to be a parah adumah, fully red cow, on a small farm just outside of Lakewood has been attracting increasing attention. Interest has been heightened by her rapidly approaching second birthday, at which point the cow would become permissible for this extremely rare halachic phenomenon.
2 yr old Red Heifer on a farm in Howell, NJ: photo Hamodia
“Somebody from Brooklyn called and offered me one million dollars for her, but I told him that she’s not for sale. This is a gift from Hashem,” said owner Herbert Celler. “When he asked me what I’m going to do with her, I told him that I’m going to be the first in line when Moshiach comes.”
A parah adumah, or red heifer, is necessary to produce the ash needed for the ritual purification process, essential to performing the service in the Beis Hamikdash.
Since the cow’s birth, on April 2, 2013, which fell on Isru Chag Pesach, Mr. Celler says that he has been extremely vigilant in ensuring that she should not engage in any work or carrying an load, that could halachically disqualify her, as well as doing his utmost to prevent her from incurring any blemishes.
“My workers know that no one is allowed to even touch her,” he said.
The coverage on the Flatbush fire was intense heavy and very detailed not only in the frum media but in the secular media outlets too. A story of such magnitude was certain to be spoken and reported on in many angles and details. However with many frum news media outlets looking to one up each other some may have crossed a line of reporting news to tabloid news. Why are details of Rav Gavriel's personal life newsworthy? does it matter what he does financially? do we have to know everything about them? Is there no privacy to a suffering family? A respected newspaper went as far to say that family was not forthcoming as to what jobs they held. What chutzpa to even pose such a question, let alone to report it. The tabloidization of the frum news media is due to the non stop social media and pressures on editors to come up with new content. The point of frum news outlets is to deliver the news in a kosher way editors apparently forgot what frum newspapers were meant to be.
Links to various Pesach guides from leading Kashrus agencies pertaining to kosher for Pesach products, Medicines, Halachos and laws of Pesach. for Passver 2015
With the Flatbush fire so fresh on our minds many Rabbonim spoke about it in their shabbos hagadol drasha. They spoke about emunah of nistarim darkei hashem no matter how painful it is its always for our good. Of course we have to make sure we do our utmost hishtadlus with safety but to make the conversation about smoke detectors and hotplates is missing the point. There is a message here for us Hashem lit a fire hes telling us something. Rabbonim said over from Gedolei Eretz yisrael that since the fire took place on shabbos we should be mechazek kavod shabbos and increase Torah learning on shabbos.
They were quiet for the first few days following the tragedy that took seven pure neshamos. But they could hold out no longer. The charedi apologists just couldn't control themselves anymore. Their total disregard to Gedolim and Rabbonim shown through. We were all recently witness to a historic video footage of the Chofetz chaim. It was the Chofetz Chaim who said that when there is a flood in China it is a lesson to klal yisrael. At a time when a tragedy hit so close to home it gives us a wake up call. Klal yisrael looks up to its leaders asking for guidance on how to improve themselves. No one knows the reason why it happened nor is anyone questioning it. Rav Chaim Kanievsky in his letter to Rabbi Sassoon said אין איתנו יודע על מה ועל מה עשה ה' לנו however Rav Chaim said it is because of our sins. The fire was not a coincidence and people look for guidance on areas that need improvement, when tragedy strikes. Gedolim alluded to the fact that it happened on Shabbos, that we be mechazek in shmiras shabbos and kavod shabbos. Others mentioned chizuk in kedusha and tznius. For some reason the bloggers and self haters dont want to face reality that Hashem is talking to us. Instead they are twisting the guidance of the gedolim as prophetic words on why it happened in order to attack and ridicule them. Despite their drivel, klal yisrael was shown a lesson in Emunah by Rav Gavriel Sassoon, we are getting chizuk from him and in turn being mechazek ourselves which will be a iluy neshama for the pure neshamos.
Arutz Sheva paid a visit to Gabriel Sassoon, the bereaved father who tragically lost seven of his young children in a fire last Shabbat caused by a hot place malfunction at the family's home in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Sassoon, who is currently sitting the traditional shiva period of seven days of intense mourning for his children in New York, remarked on the great outpouring of support from the Jewish community seen in huge turnouts at the funeral preparations in New York and then the burial in Jerusalem.
Following the tragedy there has been a "great awakening and opening of the hearts, and I don't want this opportunity to go to waste," he said. "I see how great the people really are, and that we are really one deep inside." "Remember to love and live with love, if everything is lived with love it's a labor of life, it's a pleasure," Sassoon urged.
Speaking about the 3,000-year-old capital of the Jewish people where he buried seven of his children, he remarked "Jerusalem is for me the center of the world...it's the most spiritual place there is, where the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple - ed.) is going to be rebuilt in the future. ...It's the heart of the Jewish people."
"I raised my kids to be pure and holy and that's the place I wanted for my kids to be. My kids grew up there, I bought next to them spots for me and my wife and my living daughter and her future husband," Sassoon said.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky sent a Nichum aveilim letter to Reb Gavriel Sassoon. In the letter Rav Chaim writes how saddened and shaken he was upon hearing of the tragedy that claims these holy pure neshamos, the tragedy was of such magnitude that it is because of our sins. Although we do not know why Hashem did this to us, he quoted the gemara in Shabbos (31a) that a fire is only found where there is chilul shabbos, therefore in order for the neshamos to have an aliyah we should accept shabbos a few minutes early before the zman and be mechazek in Tznius and kedusha and rid ourselves from the technological devices that defile our souls. That will be a iluy neshama for the holy neshamos may we be zoche בנחמת ציון וירושלים and as chazal say in Nissan we will be redeemed.
מכתב תנחומים להרה"צ ר' גבריאל ששון וכל המשפחה החשובה שליט"א, נזדעזענו לשמוע על האסון הנורא אשר כל שומעיו תצלנה אוזניו על הנשמות היקרות והזכות שנחטפו במיתה כ"כ משונה וודאי הוא בעוון הדור וחשיב את לאיתפושי אדרך והשי"ת ישלח רפו"ש במהרה. "איתא בשבת ל"ג א' בעוון נבלות פה צרות רבות וגזירות קשות מתחדשות ובחורי שונאי ישראל מתים וכו' ושם דף קי"ט ב' אין הדליקה מצויה אלא במקום שיש חילול שבת והנה אין איתנו יודע על מה ועל מה עשה ה' לנו, אך כל הקרובים אל החלל שרוצים לעשות עילוי נשמה צריכים להתחזק לשמור על צניעות וקדושה ולסלק את כל המכשירים הטמאים המטמאים את נפשות האדם, ולקבל שבת כמה רגעים לפני הזמן ובוודאי יהיה בזה עילוי נשמה לבני נפשות הנקיות, והשי"ת יאמר למלאך הרף ונראה בקרוב בנחמת ציון וירושלים ובניסן עתידים להגאל".
By: Effy koman Yair Lapid has no where to go for the seder this year. He asked Netanyahu if he could come over, but the latter told him hes better off by Herzog {wines} for the four cups, instead. What have I in common with 'Labor", he retorted; !?מה העבודה הזאת לכם.
Eli Yishai wont be at Netanyahu's Seder this year either; he says its a whole "chad gadya", how that came be.
Kachlon stole the Afikomen early on; but he has yet to reap all its dividends.
Naftali Bennet will be coming over to the Rosh Memshala this year. He says, his favorite part of the seder is להסב על השמאל - leaning on the left.
When asked, how can one sit with the Agudah at the same table when he passed that law a year ago, he replied that he does as per the Hagaddah narrative: מתחיל בגנות ומסיים בשבח. R. Gafni and R. Litzman will sing for him the refrain, if you would have taken us all to בית סוהר and cancelled the מלגות from all the yeshivos, - Dayeinu, it would have been enough.
Rumor has it that Netanyahu will ask Bennet to open the door for שפוך חמתך.
Reb Gavriel Sassoon will be sitting shivah in Brooklyn today, tomorrow, Motzoei Shabbos, and Sunday morning at Congregation Keter Torah, located at 2220 Avenue L, at East 23rd Street, in Brooklyn, NY.
Shacharis Friday morning will be at 7 a.m. Shacharis on Sunday morning will be at 7:30 a.m.
The Sassoon and Jemal families have established a charitable fund that will assist parents who are struggling with extreme financial burdens so that they can pay yeshiva tuition.
he Sassoon Children Memorial Fund has no overhead or expenses and is being guided by community rabbonim.
group of Agudah activists spent Wednesday in the Capitol cajoling recalcitrant lawmakers, strengthening allies and confronting opponents, in an effort to revive chances for a breakthrough on a potentially historic education tax credit.
Hamodia -The Agudath Israel of America delegation, headed by Rabbi Shmuel Lefkowitz, the groups’ vice president for community affairs, and Leon Goldenberg and Chaskel Bennett, members of the board of trustees, divided themselves into small groups.
The more than two dozen activists met in Assemblyman Dov Hikind’s office in the morning, then fanned out throughout the chamber, approaching individual lawmakers to garner support for the Education Investment Tax Credit.
The message, Bennett said, was that there was no reason a $142 billion budget could not find some leeway to help private school parents from the crushing burden of tuition.
“Billions of dollars are added to public education and the state can’t figure out a way to help private schools with 50 to 75 million dollars? Is this too much of a lift?” Bennett questioned.
Hamodia - By Harav Yisrael Reisman Rav of Agudah in Flatbush
Wednesday, March 245, 2015 | ה' ניסן תשע"ה
My father, z”l, had yahrzteit on 13 Sivan, the day that he lost 22 members of his immediate family in the Holocaust. His own father, the only one who merited to come to kevurah, was beaten to death by the Nazis, and his mother and 21 other members of his family died too, all on that one day. My father was never able to speak about what had happened in those years. When asked, his response was silence.
Yesterday, I attended the funeral and I heard from Reb Gavriel Sassoon what was possibly the most amazing lesson of my life. This was a practical, real message for every day of our lives — that is, that when we suffer, we surrender our will to the Will of Hashem and that is how we go on. I heard my father’s voice from Heaven while I was standing at the funeral. He said, “I picked myself up and raised children with silence. I accepted without understanding and went on, because that is what we do when we do not understand.”
At the shiva house of Rav Gabi Sassoon there wasn't a dry eye when Rav Avrohom Bernstein who lost seven of his children in a train accident a few years ago came to be menachem avel Rav Gabi who just lost his seven children. How do we cope? how do we go on from such a tragedy? asked rav Gabi. Rav Avrohom answered only with emunah can one move on its very hard but through Emunah in Hashem that enables us to continue on. Rav Gavriel Sassoon related when he lived in Israel he would bring two of his children Z''L for some after school kriah program that was run by Rabbi Bernstein. Mrs. Bernstein would show rav Gavriel an album with pictures of her seven children who died in the fiery crash. Despite her loss she would show great strength in emunah. It was that memory of Rebbetzin Bernstein which helped me cope the past few days said Reb Gavriel.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015 | ד' ניסן תשע"ה
Over the past 72 hours most families have been sitting around saying, “It’s crazy.”
I did the same. When I was asked to speak, I had no idea what to say.
Most people look at this in three parts: the children, the parents, and the community. We will start with the children.
A story was told by Rav Chaim Vital about 500 years ago. A woman lost her husband. Two years later she was still struggling terribly with the pain of her situation. One of her sons needed a shidduch, another was struggling financially, and a young child had died.
It is with a broken heart and spirit that Misaskim, together with all of Klal Yisroel, mourns the incomprehensible and devastating loss of the seven young kedoshim, A”H that tragically perished in a fire that consumed their home on Shabbos Parshas Vayikrah. Misaskim pooled all its resources, and much more in order to offer support to the stricken Sassoon family in the aftermath of this harrowing nightmare.
Misaskim volunteers were dispatched to the hospital to ensure the utmost kavod hames for these pure souls. The organization was instrumental in facilitating positive interactions between law enforcement officials, the investigation team, and the Medical Examiner's Office. Misaskim arranged the transport of the niftarim to Israel and was called upon to join with NYC's finest in arranging for the sorrowful levayah that was attended by thousands of people.
Welcome home signs spotted on many front doors in the frum neighborhoods. The boys are back.Yeshiva Bochurim are back from Eretz Yisrael after spending a year (some more some less) learning in yeshiva away from home. Some will stay and continue in a post EY yeshiva and begin shidduchim others will return for another zman or year of learning. For now we welcome back all yeshiva bochurim as they bring the ruach of yeshiva back home to the local shuls and communities. Ashreichem! Ashreichem! Welcome home.
