Friday, October 11

How a year of hatred sparked a Jewish renaissance

 

Fri, October 11, 2024 at 7:30 AM GMT+1·12 min read

Miranda Levy

It’s a Friday night in autumn and 150 people are crammed into a small synagogue hall, not a spare seat in sight. Last year, before October 7, there would barely have been two dozen people in attendance. But tonight, children squeeze onto parents’ laps and teenagers squish together to create room for new arrivals searching for seats. As the congregation sings psalms to welcome in the Sabbath, children run in and out helping themselves to biscuits and sweets from a trestle table.

The atmosphere is filled with warmth and chat, plus a smattering of habitual Jewish chaos. At the end of the service, the crowd begins to instinctively sway, arm in arm, as they culminate the service with the psalm “Acheinu”, which translates as “‘our brothers”’. The ancient words proceed thus: “We are praying for our brothers in captivity: bring them out of the darkness and into the light.” Words that have never been more prescient when we think of the hostages in Gaza.

Rabbi Josh, who gives a weekly sermon at the service, believes the surge in attendance is instinctive: “I think it’s the need to come together in a safe space, in the comfort of other human beings,” he says. “Then there is the desire to express emotion through prayer which often takes the form of song. When we can’t find words, song is the best way to express emotion. The Friday night service is one of pure positivity – we want to look for the light.”

As one other congregant puts it: “This is my weekly therapy. I think a lot of Jewish people have felt very isolated this year and so coming here, being surrounded by people who understand the anguish, is cathartic – especially for those who have found work, school or university to be a hostile environment.”

Jews, it seems, are returning to worship. According to the United Synagogue, which comprises 56 mainstream communities around the country, their membership went up around 10 per cent in the aftermath of October 7.

As Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis puts it: “Our synagogues, schools and community centres have needed more guards and higher walls – yet inside, they are more vibrant than ever.” He has been “deeply moved”, he adds, by the spirit of the community. “During the past most challenging and tragic year, the Jewish community has shown extraordinary resilience. The first six months of 2024 saw the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents ever recorded in the UK. In difficult times we have drawn strength from the power of community, and I have been truly inspired by the countless prayer services, vigils, fundraising campaigns and volunteer drives that I have encountered over the last year.”

That engagement in community is something Guy Davis, chairman of Mill Hill Synagogue in London, has witnessed first-hand. “In the immediate aftermath of October 7 we found that our synagogue services were full. A year on, community engagement has soared. Every event we put on – from challah bakes (for example, a challah bake organised by Gift, a Jewish charity whose mission is to inspire and enable giving) to Holocaust remembrance services or talks about October 7 – is oversubscribed. Whether people are religious or not, I think Jewish people want to feel connected.”

A recent study by the Institute of Jewish Policy Research in the UK found a higher proportion of British Jews now feel attached to the Jewish community: 67 per cent compared with 61 per cent two years ago. That theme is echoed on campuses too. The hostility outside, it seems, has triggered a connection. A recent survey of 400 Jewish students by the University Jewish Chaplaincy, an organisation set up at the instigation of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, found that 53 per cent increased their engagement with Jewish life and practice as a direct result of events in Israel. They also found that over 50 per cent experienced anti-Semitism on campuses once a month or more. In the last academic year, the Chaplaincy recorded over 33,000 student engagements, ranging from social events to initiatives tackling anti-Semitism – an increase of nearly 6,000 from the previous year.

Shira Joseph is programme director of GIFT (Give It Forward Today), a Jewish charity which since 2003 has run a Kosher food bank and distributes hot meals for the disadvantaged in London and Manchester. She has had her own experience of that engagement. “On October 8, we turned on our phones and were overwhelmed with people asking how they can help,” she says. “While we’ve been historically UK-based, people wanted to send items to Israel for the victims. Within an hour, our north-west London drop-off was packed with sleeping bags, toothbrushes and electrical appliances.”

A new WhatsApp giving group swiftly swelled to 900 names and GIFT has seen a 250 per cent increase in the number of new regular volunteers. “What has really struck me is these are people who aren’t usually affiliated to Judaism,” says Joseph. And while the initial outpouring was in response to the Israeli crisis, the benevolence has continued. “It’s been a very painful situation, but there have been heart-warming moments too,’’ says Joseph.

The cultural arena has seen that surge, too. Raymond Simonson, the CEO of London’s JW3, the UK’s first and only Jewish Community Centre and arts venue, says: “We’re offering moments of love and joy in the community – far away from politics. And despite fears of anti-Semitism – where many would prefer us to dial down our Jewishness – here at JW3, we’re turning up the volume.”

For self-confessed “lapsed Jew” Judy Rollinson, a 57-year-old executive PA and paralegal from Middlesex, the past year has been transformative. “I used to think Judaism was about family and food, but it’s so much more than that,” she says.

Like many of the 287,000 British Jews, Rollinson considers herself “secular”. She grew up in a traditional household, going to synagogue regularly until her mid-teens, but that eventually dropped away. “But then, October 7 made me think: ‘woah’,” she says. Rollinson spent the day glued to the TV, moving from disbelief, to confusion to anger and tears. “I was shocked by how visceral it felt,” she says. “It was as if I had been kicked in the gut.”

In the 2010s, Rollinson had spent five years as an assistant at Doughty Street chambers, the human rights barristers’ practice where Keir Starmer once worked. “I felt a natural affinity with humanitarian causes, but after October 7 I was very disappointed by the response of others in that fold,” she says. “I expected immediate condemnation of the massacre – but after some initial sympathy, it never happened,” she says. “Every day I have felt angry, confused, horrified and disgusted by the lack of understanding of the situation that Israel has faced, and the lies and propaganda spouted on social media and various mainstream media. I have thought to myself: this is how the Holocaust was able to happen.”

Rollinson has also been dismayed by much of the coverage. “I used to love James O’Brien on LBC, for example,” she says. “But now I can’t listen to him.” (O’Brien has consistently been contemptuous towards Israel over the past year, calling the state “barbaric”, with statements such as: “everybody knows that Israel has little or no concern for the civilian death toll”.)

When it came to attending the March Against Antisemitism in November, Rollinson was initially “nervous. I had an intrinsic fear that something would happen, but having felt isolated at times, I wanted to be around people who understood. It was an amazing feeling.” Since October 7, she has also started wearing a Star of David around her neck for the first time.

Here, Rollinson is in good company. Actress Felicity Kendall has worn hers every day too. She recently explained that soon after the massacre she was walking through a London park when a Jewish woman approached her and thanked her for wearing a Star of David around her neck. “I was quite taken aback. Would people say anything like that to someone wearing a cross or a turban? It made me think, right, I am wearing this all the time now, and I do,” she said in a July interview. She also attends synagogue weekly. A year on, she tells the Telegraph: “It gives me peace and a routine of meditative thinking.’’

Across the UK, Jews are seeking solace – and not just in their social lives. Anti-Semitism in the workplace has emerged as a new issue over the past year. Dave Rich is head of policy at the Community Security Trust, which protects British Jews from anti-Semitism and related threats. “Lots of workplaces and employment sectors now have new Jewish WhatsApp networks that emerged after October 7. Jewish employees need a space to discuss everything that has been happening,” he says.

Ruth* recently set up a group in her company. “Immediately after October 7, I felt really uneasy about going into the office,” she says. “Everybody there knows I’m Jewish and a Zionist, so I felt very self-conscious.” Her colleagues were going on pro-Palestinian marches and although they never said it outright, she felt there was a feeling amongst them that the Hamas attacks were somehow justified, which she found deeply offensive. “My boss was very understanding, but said there wasn’t anything she could do, and that I could work from home when and if I needed to.”

But Ruth didn’t want to shy away. In the end, she and a colleague set up a dedicated Jewish network. “It gives us a feeling of solidarity, despite the pervading unfriendly atmosphere amongst some of my colleagues,” she says.

So affected was former bookshop-owner Joanna De Guia by the relationship with colleagues in her industry, that she changed careers entirely. “I was hurt and angry by the silence of my friends who worked in publishing,” she says. “After October 7, I waited for my “allies” – such as those in the gay community – to jump in and support me. I have hundreds of people in my social circle, but barely 10 contacted me. So I either left my comfortable spaces, or felt pushed out.”

Rewind to September last year and De Guia, a married mother of one, lived a similar way to many Jews in Britain. “I was Left-leaning and barely celebrated the Jewish festivals,” she says. Nor – like many Jews in this country – did de Guia think very much about Israel. “I’d been for a couple of beach holidays in my late teens,” she says. “But I didn’t feel particularly politically aligned with the country.” October 7 changed that.

De Guia eventually sold her business and now works full-time at the London Centre for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, combating anti-Semitism on university campuses. “Our goal is to change the weather in British universities,” she says. Universities in particular have been a difficult arena for young Jews, with pro-Gaza encampments hollering against “genocide”, and demanding their administrations cut ties with Zionists. In the meantime, students have found comfort in university Jewish societies. President of the Union of Jewish Students Sami Berkoff explains: “Students have needed somewhere to join with other Jewish students and just be. Jewish students have as much of a right as any other to have the full student experience.”  For example, a gathering run by the Union of Jewish Students, which has seen more student engagement as anti-Semitism has increased on campuses.

Rabbi Naftali Schiff, the founder and executive director of Jewish Futures, a family of 10 educational and social organisations dedicated to engaging young Jewish people in a positive way, has also found that engagement has been unprecedented. “Over the past year, we’ve arranged dozens of Friday night meals for students on campuses across the country and events for young professionals,” he says.

“Like many people, I was shocked at the level of vitriolic hate that punctuated some elements of the demonstrations in the streets and on the campuses after October 7,” he says. “Let’s just say it’s been a trip down the memory lane of anti-Semitism. Young Jews have felt targeted, experiencing disconcerting levels of concern, especially on campuses. For the first time in my own life, when waiting at an airport with my beard and a yarmulke [skullcap], I found myself looking over my shoulder with a genuine sense of anxiety.”

However, Rabbi Schiff strongly feels that “the UK is a wonderful place to live as Jews. It’s easy to look at the darkness, however the authorities by and large have been very sympathetic to our concerns and I am confident we shall turn this corner.’’

Since October he has kept two treasured items in his pocket: “A cigarette case, which my grandfather received when demobbed from national service in the First World War, and my father’s dog tags from the Second World War.” Both are symbols of his British pride. Rabbi Schiff adds: “It’s a reminder that we are privileged to live in a liberal democracy and a reminder to be appreciative that in Britain we can live freely as Jewish people, contributing to society as we go. I feel grateful to live in a country like Britain.”

‘The Friday night service is one of pure positivity – we want to look for the light’

 

Wednesday, October 2

הערות על משניות מסכת עדויות

הערות על משניות מסכת עדויות

במשניות מסכת עדויות, מהדורת "משנה לנשמה"
פרק א' משנה י"ד חסר חולם במלת "הכל"
פרק א' משנה ב' ברע"ב ד"ה חמשה ועוד... הן שעור חלה צ"ל הן שיעור חלה
שם, בתויו"ט ד"ה שאדם אולי חסר מלת "מים" בין המלים "הין" ו"שאובין"?

פ"א מ"ג ברע"ב ד"ה שחייב אדם וכו' ורמב"ם קבל מאביו וכו' כדרך בני אדם עד היום וכו' - ככה נדפס בספרי משניות החדשים אולי צ"ל "בני אדום" כמו בדפוסים הקודמים וזה יותר מובן מהמשך הלשון "עד היום". דאם לא כן מה הפשט של צמד מלים אלה, הלא בני אדם של הדור של הרע"ב לא היו בדור של התנאים שמעי'ה ואבטליון ולא יתכן שהם מדברים ככה מאז ועד 'היום'?!

פרק א' משנה ח' ברע"ב ד"ה בטומאה צ"ל "בשעה" ולא "בשעת"
פרק ב' משנה ג' חסר מלת "קטן" בין המלים "כפר" ו"שהיה"
פרק ב' משנה ג' חסר חולם במלת "הכל"
פרק ב' משנה ד' חסר חולם במלת "שבלת"
פרק ב' משנה ה' צריך למחוק השוא תחת מלת "אם" האחרון
פרק ב' משנה ה' ברע"ב ד"ה וטמאות צריך למחוק אות ואו השניה ממלת "בטומאות"
פרק ג' משנה א' חסר חולם במלת "הכל" טמא חוץ מן...
פרק ג' משנה א' חסר חולם במלת "כל" שהוא משם אחד
פרק ג' משנה י' "מימיהן של בית אבא לא היה אופין" זה טעות הדפוס צ"ל: ""מימיהן של בית אבא לא היו אופין"
פרק ד' משנה ז' חסר חולם במלת "כל" שנתיחד עמה
פרק ד' משנה ו' ברע"ב ד"ה "בית שמאי אומרים כדי סיכת אבר קטן טהור" זה טעות הדפוס צ"ל: "בית שמאי אומרים כדי סיכת אבר קטן" (זהו הד"ה - כמו בגוף המשניות( ואח"כ מתחיל פירוש הרע"ב: "טהור, טפי מהכי, טמא"
פרק ד' משנה ו' ברע"ב ד"ה אינו צריך צריך לתקן או למחוק(?) מלת "החבית"
פרק ד' משנה ו' ברע"ב ד"ה בית שמאי צריך לתקן או למחוק(?) מלת "טהור"
פרק ה' משנה א' במשנה מובאים: דם נכרית, ודם טהרה של מצורעת, כרוקה וכמימי רגליה.  אמנם ברע"ב ובפירוש הרמב"ם מובאים: דם נכרית, כרוקה וכמימי רגליה, ודם טהרה של מצורעת. אמנם ברע"ב למשנה זו במס' נדה פ"ד מ"ג הסדר: דם נכרית, ודם טהור של מצורעת כרוקה וכמימי רגליה, אבל בפירוש הרמב"ם שם הסדר: כרוקה וכמימי רגליה, ודם טהרה של מצורעת ודם יולדת שלא טבלה. וצריך ברור גרסאות אלו.
פרק ה' משנה ו' חסר שוא תחת השין ד"והשקוה"
פרק ה' משנה ה' ברע"ב ד"ה "ובית הלל אומרים מטמא... "הוא חשב" זה טעות הדפוס צ"ל: "הוא חשיב"
פרק ה' משנה ד' ברע"ב ד"ה ובית הלל צ"ל "חשוב" ולא "חשב"
פרק ו' משנה ב' ברע"ב ד"ה לא אמרו צריך למחוק אות יוד ממלת "איברים"
פרק ו' משנה ב' ברע"ב ד"ה לא אמרו צ"ל שיעורא" ולא "שעורא"
פרק ו' משנה ב' ברע"ב ד"ה מרובה טומאת החיים צ"ל "שהוא" ולא "שהו"
פרק ו' משנה ב' ברע"ב ד"ה מרובה טומאת החיים "מטמא בכל שהו" זה טעות הדפוס צ"ל: "מטמא בכל שהוא"
פ"ז מ"ט ברע"ב ד"ה מפני תקנת השבים. מלים אלה לא מופיעים בגוף המשנה
פרק ז' משנה ז' ברע"ב ד"ה שהן במקום "גזור עליהו" צ"ל "גזור עלייהו" 
פרק ז' משנה ז' ברע"ב ד"ה שהן מדרבנן צ"ל באותיות רש"י ולא באותיות מרובעות
פ"ח מ"ז ברע"ב ד"ה בית הצריפה. צ"ל צריפה.
פרק ח' משנה א' חסר חולם במלת "הסלת"
פרק ח' משנה ה' חסר חולם במלת "והכל"
פרק ח' משנה ז' חסר חולם במלת "למשה" מסיני
פרק ח' משנה ז' חסר חולם במלת "שלח" לכם את אליה הנביא
פרק ח' משנה ז' ברע"ב ד"ה בן ציון צ"ל "אלמא" ולא "אלימא"
פרק ח' משנה ד' ברע"ב ד"ה ועל משקה צבל "מטבחיא" ולא "מטבחייא"
שם ברע"ב ד"ה ודיקרב חסר המראה מקום לפסוק "ונסתרה והיא נטמאה"
שם ברע"ב ד"ה שמשיאין חסר מלת "את" בין המלים "שמשיאין" ו"האשה"

במשניות מסכת עדויות שמא עולה מצאת בי? אמר לו לאו מעשיך יקרבוך וכו. אם לא מצא בו עולה הרי הבן ראוי להיות מקורב ולמה לא רצה לפקוד עליו לחבריו?
במשניות מסכת עדויות מהדורת "וגשל", פרק ב' מ"ד ברע"ב ד"ה תזרע. מלת "הכרם" מוקף בסוגריים: (הכרם) ומלת הגפן מוקף לבנים: [הגפן].  אותו הגהה צריך להיות גם בד"ה לא תזרע: (הכרם) [הגפן].

משניות מסכת עדויות פ"ז מ"ב ציר חגבים טמאים - איך מתירים, הרי כל היוצא מן הטמא טמא?

Tuesday, September 3

For the Sheloshim of Mrs Hadassah Beck (Schachter) O”H הדסה בת קלונמוס קלמן

For the Sheloshim of Mrs Hadassah Beck (Schachter) O”H הדסה בת קלונמוס קלמן On Erev Rosh Chodesh Av we lost one of the valued members of the local community in North West London. 
Mrs Hadassah Beck was well known for her staunch adherence to Yiddishkeit, her Hachnosas Orchim, which - together with her late husband Reb Yochanan Beck O”H - saw many Rabbonim and other dignitaries, as well as regular guests make their home away from home under their warm roof. For her to drive all the way to far away places, just to give someone a lift was a no-brainer; it was an extension of her dedication to the Mitzvah of Hachnosas Orchim. 

Born at a time of distress for the Jewish people, during WWII, her parents were always on the run. Fleeing Holland, then Belgium and when they arrived in France they had to find a way out and ended up on the Swiss border. Her father, Reb Kalman Schachter O”H held her in his arms and as they found a breach in the fence that separated them from their cursed pursuers and Switzerland, a Swiss border patrol apprehended them. The soldier started interrogating them and as he asked Reb Kalman what he had in his arms, the frightened father took off the blanket and uncovered the child cradled in his embrace. Being in the dead of the night, the young baby woke up from the frigid cold and started crying, which awoke some sense of compassion in the stoic soldier. He said in German, pointing out a path in the forest: “Quick, follow this route and make sure to be out of the way, as there are Wehrmacht soldiers in the area!”. This way, a group of over sixty people were saved - in the merit of Aunty Hadassah’s crying. 

Mrs Beck was an amazingly devoted mother and grandmother, neighbour friend…. caring, worrying and Davening for her family and for anyone who needed a Yeshua. She was always holding a siddur or Tehillim - that was her life thanking the Eibeshter for everything, she believed everything was good and was from Hashem. 

Her children and grandchildren proudly say : Her Emunah and Bitachon were legendary, she always believed and trusted that Hashem has a plan and it's good. Davening and Tehillim were her life and she was always a big shul-goer (she often arrived before the majority of the men). 

She was always dressed and behaved elegantly, without giving up on Tznius as befitting a true Eshes Chayil – a real refined lady who valued the virtues of being a Bas Melech. She would religiously attend Shiurim - even after she became quite ill and even when she was completely washed out after a chemo session - she would not miss any of them - and later on, when she could not go out anymore or during the COVID-19 pandemic, she participated on Zoom. 

She always wanted to join in people’s simchas, like a chuppah, kiddush - just wanted to make everyone feel good with a big mazel tov. She was hosting all types of orchim - our father would bring someone home from shul for a meal - no warning – sometimes an almonoh and sometimes entire families.... 

When the Beis Yaakov school for girls was in its early years - she would volunteer tirelessly and help with whatever was needed, library, reading, wrapping books, lifts, fundraising... She would host tzedaka parties for charities - some of them she didn't even know much about - cooking, baking and preparing beautifully set tables. She so much looked forward to and thoroughly enjoyed hosting the extended family get together party during chanukah and other yomin tovim...." 

One of her nieces writes:
    “A few lines on Aunty Hadassah. O”h: It is impossible to put onto paper how much I learnt from our dear aunty…. She had such a strong Emunah and Bitachon. 
She would always say Hashem is the right doctor and only he will decide how long I will live - not any professor or doctor can tell me that!!! She made sure to tell the doctors the same. 

She once gave me a very strong moshol (parable):
    “When we make a tapestry it all starts to look beautiful, the more we sew the greater the picture looks. But when you turn it around you will notice in the back all the treads are a total mumble jumble. So it is in our lives, there are times when things look all mumble jumble but when Moshiach will come the whole picture will look perfectly beautiful”. 

Aunty Hadassah loved sharing people’s simches.  She wouldn’t miss anyone’s simche if it was locally in Golders Green, in Stamford Hill or abroad - she always came to wish mazel tov and share in someone else’s joy. Every week she listened to the Beth Linda zoom - hosted in Antwerp, Belgium - about people’s life stories, how they spent the war years or how they grew up in the olden times. 
 She would call me the next day and repeat it all. She remembered all the names of people and places that were mentioned. Aunty Hadassah would sit and say Tehillim every day, finishing it thousands of times. 
She didn’t speak Loshon hora and still had lots to say to make interesting conversations. 
When we used to take leave of her to return home, she would always insist on meeting us all the way to her front door, she waited until we entered the car and waved to us until we were down the road.” 

A great niece writes: “Tante Hadassah was such a special great-aunt whom I miss already now! Her warmth, care and interest in our well-being she was always showing to our family, her regal presence at each family Simchah will sorely be missed! 
The yearly Chanukah parties hosted by uncle Yochenen O”H and Tante Hadassah O”H were a highlight of my younger years. 
How she devotedly prepared with heart and soul to ensure our family enjoyed those parties together and her generosity to us little kids were a display of her joy in giving. May she always be in our memories, as the example of a true Eshes Chayil - תנצבה.

Arele writes: "She gave us always a push up icecream 🍦 from snowcrest.gedenkst?"

Tuesday, August 27

Places to visit

Places to visit in England

This site is a must for steam engine buffs. Steam engines are repaired here from all over the UK and there are also test tracks here as well. Statfold barn railway

Thursday, August 8

Questions by David Solomons

David Solomon

davsolo.6@talktalk.net


1. Other religions also have laws on how to lead one's life. What's wrong with doing them their way? Surely they're as good as ours, or not?

Blind man not allowed an עליה
ליין
2. Why can a blind person who knows the whole Torah reading by heart not be a Baal Kore? The son of the Chacham Tzvi, who was Rov in London 300 years ago deals with this problem in his Responsa Sheylas Yaakov Volume I, Responsum 75

3. Why are women not allowed to officiate as Rabbis? Is this a biblical prohibition?

4. Why is the baby a Cholol or a Mamzer he did not choose this!?

5. Who created the Kaddish?

6. Why is the mourner the one who is supposed to say the Kaddish?

7. Why is the mourner only saying Kaddish for 11 months?

8. Who were the Rabbis who enacted all additional laws on top of the ten and the 613 commandments?

9. What is wrong with hearing a woman say Kaddish for her parent?

10. What is wrong with hearing a woman layn the Torah? Miriam the Prophetess sang the Shirah!

11. How could Esther intermarry with Achashverosh?

12. Why do we kill animals as sacrifices

13.The art of museums in halacha, when the object of interest is the human body in its barest baredness…

14. 27 Knightland Road buried in the garden...

15.  ושתי היתה שחורה מאתיופיה, שנא' 'להראות העמים והשרים את יופיה'...


From: David Solomons [mailto:davsolo.6@talktalk.net]
Sent: 02 July 2015 07:02
To: Menasche Scharf
Subject: RE: Holidays

Please can you share with me the product name to treat ulcers in the mouth, which one can buy in Paris?

Hi, I have missed you at the Mynion. The name of the product is PANSORAL RED BOX.   This is for adults. A blue box is for babies.  It is made in France. If you go to France could you buy 2 boxes for me and I will pay you when you get back.   Regards   David Solomons

Tuesday, July 30

Internet Asifa rumblings II

 Released: 14/05/2015

The Real Asifah – for the real dilemma

There was something very unique about the Asifah we participated in on Sunday afternoon.

It was unique that so many of us attended an event to show support to a dilemma that is worsening year on year, and yet short of davenning Mincha, saying some mizmorei Tehillim and trying to stay warm, we will have not gone a yard further in solving this worsening crisis facing not just our community but Klal Yisroel at large.

Of course, an event attended by huge swathes of our community, a gathering that pulled together the numbers it did from such a diverse section of the public is in itself a huge Kiddush Hashem. No one is denying this. 

Many will argue that we weren’t supposed to be to solving anything. They will argue that when our local Rabonnim issue a proclamation asking of all the community to come together as a show of moral support to our brethren in Eretz Yisroel then that is the purpose. They will contend that rather than spend time analysing an event and its implications, we should simply pause and empathise with the extremely challenging and difficult circumstances that so many Torah institution and truly Toiradike families now find themselves in. Basic funding, given by the Israeli government to every public educational  organisation  has been shut off almost overnight to our mekoimos Hatorah crippling establishment to the point of potential fatal consequence. They will point out that families, for whom the few dollars distributed by the Kollelim are the difference between children eating supper or going without certainly deserve our fullest understanding, compassion and indeed assistance in any way possible. No one is denying this.

But perhaps an occasion like the one we experienced can also be the catalyst to begin to actually look at ourselves, to give ourselves a more microscopic examination, an MOT of the engine of Klal Yisroel and see whether we are all still roadworthy. Is the vehicle built by our holy post-war tzadikkim, leaders like the Chazon Ish zt’l and Reb Aaron Kotler zt’l still the same exact same mode of transport that works for todays modern roads?

When Reb Aaron arrived in America in 1941 he was told in no uncertain terms that he was wasting his time trying to rebuild what was destroyed in Europe because Jewish students of college age were interested only in earning a degree that will enable them to make money and had absolutely no interest in learning, mastering or understanding Jewish law just for its own sake (Torah lishma). Reb Aaron with extraordinary vision, with a visualisation granted only to yechidei hadoir responded that he will ‘plant’ Torah in America and stated publicly on more than one occasion that this was to be his life’s mission. Through his Yeshivah he did indeed rebuild Torah throughout the United States of America. He would constantly send away his best students his most senior talmidim to open other Yeshiva’s throughout North America. One man who transformed post-war Klal Yisroel.

The Chazon Ish settled in Eretz Yisroel in 1933 and though he held no official position became the most recognised worldwide authority on so many matters pertaining Jewish life. His encyclopaedic mind absorbed ‘kol hatoirah kulah’ whilst somehow simultaneously gaining knowledge in secular sciences such as astrology, mathematics, botany and anatomy to name but a few. He was not appointed as a communal leader, yet his positions and rulings influenced the life and institutions of Yahaadus and indeed still do so today.   One man who transformed post-war Klal Yisroel.

They both, in their holy wisdom saw a Klal Yisroel pummelled, destroyed and devastated by events in Europe and pressed the ‘emergency button’ – Limmud HaTorah must be rebuilt, Klal Yisroel reconstructed and with immense siyayta dishmaya achieved in sixty years that which took tens of generations and  hundreds of years in the centuries before. Surely even they could not have envisaged a world in which anew Kollel is established somewhere each week, a world where tens of  thousands of Yiddishe children would stop learning any secular studies by the age of thirteen and spend the next ten, fifteen years of their life in front of a Gemorrah.

Fast forward to the 21st century and this extraordinary success perhaps need re-examining.  Charedi Klal Yisroel is ba’h larger in numbers than it ever was. Reb Aaron’s dream has been realised but unfortunately we don’t have Reb Aaron here anymore to ask, ‘and now what?’ ‘Where do we go from here?’ Do you still want every single Bochur and newly married Yungerman to sit and learn the whole day? Even when they are not made for it? Even when they are not actually learning? Even if they spend less time ‘full-day learning’ than a baal haboss does going to a shiur in the morning and a chavruso at night? Even if they are the ones that help Yerusholayim shtieblach run 24-hour minyanim by being the perfect bridge of last minyan Shachris to those that wish to daven Mincha Gedoila? Even when the Birchas Hatoirah recited each afternoon is the sum total of their day’s learning? Is Reb Aaron and the Chazon Ish magnificent vehicle still able to drive the whole of Klal Yisroel?

Not for a moment is anyone painting everyone with the same paintbrush. I was in Yerusholayim during the recent snowstorm and witnessed yungerleit who walked miles (there was no transport) just to ensure they wouldn’t miss their Seder. We all will witness in a few weeks how the Bottei Midrashim will be filled to the rafters with bochurim who will spend their entire bein hazmanim ensuring that their hasmadah displayed throughout the winter should not slip even for a single day. These are the on-going fruits of our Gedoilim’s brainchild and we salute, applaud and support them with our full heart. In fact we will even spend an hour in the freezing cold saying Tehillim for their continued Hatzlocha.

But quietly we should ask ourselves – what about the others? Can someone organise an Asifah for them too?

Thursday, July 4

Call to Arms: Battalion of 650,000 Ba'alei Battim battle 65,000 Battlonim

Dear Rabbi,


Re: Call to Arms: Battalion of 650,000 Ba'alei Battim battle 65,000 Battlonim

New initiative to rescue Torah Learning in the holy land

Now that at least - according to news outlets - the Israeli Government's recruitment of Yeshiva students has become law (or at least, it's in the process of being enshrined in it), perhaps it is time to look for volunteers to fill the void, which will inevitably occur when 65,000 Torah learners leave their shtenders - for an unspecified period of time.

How about roping in people in the wider Jewish community worldwide, to contribute an hour a day to learning any subject of Torah, with another Yid who has never learned before?

All one needs to do is this: Ask your learning partner to decide what pursuit* could be forfeited le-'iluy Nishman the Kedoshim who were slaughtered on Simchas Torah, only because they were Yidden!

* e.g. reading one newspaper less per week, giving up a football / cricket game per season, oreven visiting your favourite restaurant less often

Such an endeavour will have the double-edged sword (SFTP = sorry for the pun...) effect: It will assuage those who bemoan the loss of Torah learning and - perhaps more importantly - it will encourage 650,000 pensioners, youngsters and even full time workers to trade in their pastime activities for a productive and life-enhancing pursuit?

To enlist in this project, you will be asked to choose a name of one Kollel Man or Yeshiva Bochur, who will be enlisting in the IDF, so that you can take part in providing cover for his loss of Torah learning.

More details to follow...

In the meantime, I wish you Chodesh Tov, Shabbat Shalom and much הצלחה, מזל, ברכה and בשורות טובות,

Menasche Scharf