Category Archives: Talmud

They shall make themselves tzitzis on the corners of their garments and they shall place upon the tzitzis of each corner a thread of turquoise wool. (Bamidbar 15:38)

Expounding on the intent of the mitzvah of tzitizis, our Sages say we should identify as servants of Hashem.

The Talmud (Menachos 43b) cites R Meir, who said that the punishment for not attaching white strings is greater than the punishment for not attaching techeles (blue strings). He compares it to a king of flesh and blood who ordered two of his servants to bring him a seal. Of one he requested a seal of clay, and of the other he requested a seal of gold. Both failed to bring the seals as requested. Who will have a greater punishment? R Meir says it is the one who did not bring the seal of clay.

Tosfos explains that just as a slave would have a seal on his clothing identifying him as such, the tzitzis distinguish us as servants of Hashem. When a person realizes that he is a servant of Hashem, he fulfills His mitzvos, whether he does it for love, like a faithful servant, or because he is fearful, like a servant who is not as loyal.

The Divrei Mordechai cites the Even Ezra in Bamidbar that although one prays with his tallis to fulfill the requirement in Krias Shema (they are to make themselves tzitzis on the corners of their garments ) there is a greater obligation to wear tzitzis throughout all the hours of the day so that ones servitude to Hashem should be foremost in his mind and he will not sin. During the time of prayer, there is little possibility that one will transgress.

The tzitzis alert the individual and remind him that he is a servant of Hashem who would not disobey his master. The Talmud (Menachos 44a) tells of an individual who was very conscientious about the mitzvah of tzitzis. As he readied to violate a severe Torah prohibition his tzitzis slapped him in the face and he pulled back because the four corners of tzitzis appeared to him like four witnesses.

The Sifsei Tzaddik comments that when one dons his tzitzis he should appreciate the preciousness of this mitzvah and cling to them, for they have the power to save him from sin.

The Divrei Mordechai adds here that we tie the tzitzis 39 times, equivalent to the gematria (numerical value) of the words Hashem echad Hashem is one. Thus our seal is now engraved with the name of our master, Hashem. This is an additional sign that we carry the name of Hashem with us, to maintain our Torah view and guard us from all sin.

Because of the great importance of this mitzvah, the Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim (24) states: Great is the punishment of a person who nullifies the mitzvah of tzitzis. Of him it is said (Iyov 38:13), To grasp the edges of the earth and shake the wicked from it.

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Why the Tzaddik Fell Ill

The great tzaddik R Moshe Pardo once became ill on his travels outside Eretz Yisrael. He had a severe headache, which was then followed by overall weakness in his entire body. His host called the doctor, who requested R Moshe open his shirt so that he could listen to his heart. When the doctor saw R Moshes tallis katan, he was very moved, as it evoked forgotten childhood memories.

Are there still Jews who wear these garments? he asked emotionally.

R Moshe was momentarily distracted from his pain as he described to the physician the splendor of Eretz Yisrael, the world of Torah, and how many were returning to their Jewish roots. He also told the doctor about Ohr HaChaim the educational institutions he had established in Eretz Yisrael. He gently guided the physician to connect to his Jewish ancestry and gave him one of the very special pair of tefillin that he usually gifted to rich donors.

The doctor prescribed a protocol of treatment and medications for R Moshes recovery. He also promised that he would wear the tefillin every day and, at his first opportunity, would come to visit Eretz Yisrael. He expressed a strong interest in seeing the institutions that R Moshe Pardo had established.

R Moshe recovered and continued traveling, his meeting with the doctor soon forgotten.

Many years later, R Moshe received a phone call from an elderly man who wished to see him. When R Moshe Pardo welcomed the visitor he recognized the elderly physician, and immediately rose to happily welcome him.

The doctor related that he had kept his promise to R Moshe. He davened in shul every day and wore his tefillin, and he now wanted to support the educational institutions of R Moshe.

R Moshe gave the doctor a tour of the various buildings the school buildings, the library, the dormitory and the physician was overwhelmed. I thought you were speaking of a small school, and here I see castles. I have no family, and I want you to know that I have resolved at this moment that I am a Jew. I have accrued a large amount of money over my lifetime, and I would like to leave the sum to your institutions. R Moshe praised the doctors great zechus and observed how this one gesture was one of the greatest achievements of his life.

R Moshe would recount that when he fell ill, he was bothered slightly because our Sages tell us (Pesachim 8a), Those on the path to perform a mitzvah are not susceptible to harm. How was it possible that he fell ill? When he was able to reignite the spark of Yiddishkeit within the physician he comprehended the possible reason why he had taken ill far from home. I didnt realize at the time that this illness would later build Torah in the world. One can never predict the results of a days events.

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Ties That Bind - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com

There comes a time in every thoughtful sports fans life when he gazes at absurdly proportioned men bouncing rubber balls on wooden floors and asks himself: How much does this matter, really? These long, Talmudic inquiries into the meaning of words such as catch or throw or knee, carried live on national television before tens of millions of people, conducted amid fields of impatient millionaires dressed in body armor isnt it all a little much, if were being honest?

And if were being a little more honest, we would decide that no, it isnt all a little much.

There is a sublime unity in a Steph Curry step-back shot that exists almost nowhere else in the work of man or God. Football is its own exalted category of human affairs, the one and only plane where every phase of existence is smashed together in public, in real time. In a memorable episode of the ESPN documentary series 30 for 30, we learn that Pablo Escobar would kill anyone if it meant that the team he supported would win even a single additional soccer game, a sentiment with which even Ottawa Senators fans were once able to identify. We watch sports as a frivolous distraction and also because theyre better than everything else, profound and important unto themselves.

This idea that spectator sports have intrinsic value is under unprecedented attack, mostly from within the sports industry, which now loudly and repeatedly insists that the games dont mean much. The nationwide proliferation of app-based sports betting, a bipartisan policy innovation encouraged by every league and cheered on by ESPN and other leading broadcasters, has been a revolution in many fans relationships with the games themselves, turning them from a source of entertainment or a focus of emotional investment into a weeknight gambling opportunity.

Sports have also been vulgarized by something worse than money, as fans of the football team now called the Washington Commanders have discovered over the past couple of weeks. Look at the controversy that nearly cost defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio his job and its clear sports are now widely treated as a mere subset of the political ephemera theyd once been able to transcend.

On June 8, Del Rio responded to a question at a press conference about his reliably unhinged right-wing tweets, something that most mature adults who dont work in sports media can easily recognize as the eccentricities of a man who has spent much of his life designing blitz packages. Del Rios response was no more debatable, and no less reflective of public opinion, than, say, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerrs widely celebrated postgame sermons about gun control or San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovichs attacks on Columbus Day. Jan. 6 had been a dust-up compared to the dozens of people killed and hundreds of businesses burned, largely in low-income areas, during the racial justice protests of 2020, Del Rio said. Why hadnt that warranted a select committee in Congress, like Jan. 6 had? the coach wondered.

The backlash was swift: Del Rios job was suddenly in danger. A Democratic state senator in Virginia used Dustupgate as a pretext for killing the latest effort to build a publicly funded stadium for the Washington areas NFL team. In a statement issued in the name of head coach Ron Rivera under the rainbow Twitter avatar of the Commanders Pentagon contractorlike logo, the team announced that words have consequences, and [Del Rios] words hurt a lot of people in our community. He was fined $100,000.

A few days later, Rivera assured everyone that he closely reviewed the text of the First Amendment before fining Del Rio, a text that Rivera said he holds sacred and thinks about constantly. This was like the patterned blinking in a hostage video. What Rivera really was saying is that owner Dan Snyder is now under investigation by Congress over claims he embezzled money meant for the other 31 NFL owners and that he was instructed that a prominent coach openly questioning the Jan. 6 committee's very existence during its opening week debut was likely to make the bosss legal situation even more difficult. At least, I think thats what Rivera meant.

NFL teams, and even entire sports leagues, now behave as if theyre in thrall to a larger apparatus, one whose demands are capricious, inconsistent, and very often partisan. Witness the MLBs cancellation of last years All-Star Game in Atlanta over Georgias election law, which was enacted prior to the states record early voting turnout this year. The episode brought on a sadness not for the fans in Atlanta but for the game of baseball itself. Once again, the people who administrate sports at the highest level had demonstrated that the game itself wasn't enough, that some higher purpose than sports needed to be served in order for the games to have any real meaning or legitimacy. Turn off this Tuesday night Pirates-Marlins matchup, the league seemed to say, and watch MSNBC instead.

Sports are political, were now often reminded to deny that sports are but an especially high-profile subsidiary in the struggle for a perfected world is to deny athletes their agency as political actors, akin to demanding that they shut up and dribble. But the sports are political formulation does not empower athletes so much as drag them down to the level of technocratic managerial policymaking types, who are the practical beneficiaries of the ascension of politics to the apex of American life. Titan-like coaches and athletes must participate in the nerdy and annoying political classs self-aggrandizement. Any deviation must be punished. The sports are politics ideology exposes a basic insecurity, a noxious idea that no life should be permitted beyond politics or lived beyond the parameters of what a Washington, D.C., consultant or a Capitol Hill legislative aide might want and care about.

Sports have always shown us that theres another, better way. They presented an image of a public life largely free of factional struggle, where everyones differences of race, of religion, of basic fundamental outlook could be subsumed into a larger goal, such as the defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles. The beliefs of Michael Jordan were famously inscrutable, and the fact that he had cooler and better things to worry about than satisfying someone elses dumb ideological test ended up being crucial to his mystique. Bear Bryant eschewed a career in politics because he knew he had a job much more important than governor of Alabama. Sports were always crucial not as a distraction from politics but as proof that society could sustain a meaningful civic existence in a space beyond politics. Of course, today, that cant be allowed to survive.

Armin Rosen is a New York-based reporter at large forTablet.

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The cheapening of sports - Washington Examiner

By Rabbi Alicia Magal

Sedona News Shalom and greetings from the Rabbi, Board of Directors, and congregation of the Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley.

All the services, classes, and programs are listed on the synagogue website.

Come join us either in person or online. Seejcsvv.orgfor instructions to register for in-person services or online links. Visitors are welcome to attend services.

On Friday, July 1, a Friday evening Erev Shabbat service, led by Rabbi Alicia Magal, begins at 5:30 pm both in person and on Zoom, and livestreamed for members and their invitees. Congregants participate by lighting candles, doing a reading, or having an Aliyah for the Torah service. Verses from the Torah portion will be chanted:Korach (Numbers 16:1 18:32) telling of an uprising against Moses by Korach, a cousin of Moses who gathered supporters to challenge Moses leadership. The Talmud offers commentary to distinguish arguments that are for the sake of heaven vs. arguments that are NOT for the sake of heaven but are based in ego and pride, such as the manipulative words of Korach. Blessings for those who are ill and a Mazal Tov for those celebrating a birthday or anniversary will be offered. Kaddish, the Mourners prayer, will be recited in memory of those who passed away either recently or at this time in past years. Shabbat offers a time out from work and worry, an opportunity to be grateful for our lives and the bounty with which we are blessed.

Wednesday morning minyan begins at 8:30 a.m. on July 6 on zoom. Join the group to offer healing prayers, and to support those saying the mourners prayer, Kaddish, for a loved one who has passed away. Every person counts and is needed!

On Wednesday at 4:00 pm Rosalie Malter will lead a class on Jewish meditation on Zoom. Each session focuses on a different tool or aspect of Jewish meditation practices.

On Thursday, July 7, at 4:00 pm, Torah study, led by Anita Rosenfield, will be held on Zoom. The Torah portion for that week is Hukkat (Numbers 19:1 22:1) telling of the death of Miriam and Aaron, Moses sister and brother. Moses receives the answer to his plea to be able to enter the promised Land. He would not lead the people into the land, but rather Joshua would be his successor. The mysterious ceremony of the red heifer is also part of this weeks portion dealing with ritual impurity and the procedure for regaining ritual purity. Issues of leadership, patience, and faith are themes in this weeks Torah portion.

The Social Action Committee is continuing to collect food for the local Sedona food pantry. Please drop of cans or boxes of non-perishable foods in the bin outside thelower level parking lot entranceto the synagogue.

The Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley, located at 100 Meadow Lark Drive off Route 179 in Sedona, is a welcoming, egalitarian, inclusive congregation dedicated to building a link from the past to the future by providing religious, educational, social and cultural experiences. Messages to the office telephone at 928 204-1286 will be answered during the week. Updated information is available on the synagogue website http://www.jcsvv.org.

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Jewish Community of Sedona and the Verde Valley: July 1-7 - Sedona.Biz - The Voice of Sedona and The Verde Valley - Sedona.biz

PODCAST Hello Rapids fans! This week on Holding The High Line, we catch up on last weeks news. We discuss MLS coming to Apple TV and All the Small Things that made the Denver World Cup bid fail. The guys discuss Rapids 2 player news. Matts got takes on Sam Nicholson rejoining the club. Then we do Good Thing, Bad Thing, Big Thing on the draw at New York City. We discuss how concerned you should be with Gyasi Zardes, and look ahead to Portland Timbers.

Holding The High Line is an independent soccer podcast focused on the Colorado Rapids of MLS and a member of the Beautiful Game Network. If you like the show, please consider subscribing to us on your preferred podcatcher, giving us a review, and tell other Rapids fans about us. It helps a ton. Visit bgn.fm for a bunch of other great podcasts covering soccer in North America.

We also have anewsletter. Visit ourSubstack pageto read our content and sign up for our newsletter via email.

Find us on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Blubrry, and many other podcatchers. See the full list of podcatchers with subscription links here. For full transcripts of every episode, check out our AudioBurst page. Our artwork was produced by CR54 Designs. Juanners does our music.

We are brought to you by Ruffneck Scarves and Icarus FC. Ruffneckscarves.com is your one-stop-shop for official MLS, USL, and U.S. Soccer scarves as well as custom scarves for your group or rec league team. Icarusfc.com is the place to go for high-quality custom soccer kits for your team or group. With an any design you want, seriously motto, they are breaking the mold of boring, expensive, template kits from the big brands.

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We have partnered up with the Denver Post to sustainably grow soccer journalism in Colorado. Listeners can get a three month trial of the Denver Post digital for 99/month. Go to denverpost.com/hthl to sign up. This will give you unlimited and full access to all of the Posts online content and will support local coverage of the Rapids. Each month after the trial is $11.99/month. There is a sports-content-only option for $6.99/month.

Follow us on Twitter @rapids96podcast. You can also email the show at rapids96podcast@gmail.com. Follow our hosts individually on Twitter @LWOSMattPollard and @soccer_rabbi. Send us questions using the hashtag #AskHTHL.

Matt Pollard is the Site Manager for Last Word on Soccer and an engineer by day. A Colorado Convert, he started covering the Colorado Rapids as a credentialed member of the press in 2016, though hes watched MLS since 96. When hes not watching or writing about soccer, hes being an outdoorsman (mostly skiing and hiking) in this beautiful state or trying a new beer. For some reason, he thought that starting a podcast with Mark was a good idea and he cant figure out how to stop this madness. He also hosts Last Word SC Radio.

Mark Goodman, the artist formally known as Rapids Rabbi, moved to Colorado in 2011. Shortly thereafter he went to Dicks Sporting Goods Park, saw Lee Nguyen dribble a ball with the silky smoothness of liquid chocolate cascading into a Bar Mitzvah fountain, and promptly fell head over heels in love with domestic soccer. When not watching soccer or coaching his sons U-8 team, hes generally studying either Talmud or medieval biblical exegesis. Which explains why he watches so much MLS, probably. Having relocated to Pittsburgh in 2019, he covers the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL for Pittsburgh Soccer Now.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken, Last Word on Soccer.

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Holding The High Line: Rapids Draw NYCFC - Last Word On Sports

When people speak of the Talmud, they are usually referring to the Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud), composed in Babylonia (modern-day Iraq). However, there is also another version of the Talmud, the Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud), compiled in what is now northern Israel. The Yerushalmi, also called the Palestinian Talmud or the Talmud Eretz Yisrael (Talmud of the Land of Israel), is shorter than the Bavli, and has traditionally been considered the less authoritative of the two Talmuds.

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Like the Talmud Bavli, the Talmud Yerushalmi consists of two layers the Mishnah and the Gemara. For the most part, the Mishnah of the two Talmuds is identical, though there are some variations in the text and in the order of material. The Gemara of the Yerushalmi, though, differs significantly in both content and style from that of the Bavli. First, the Yerushalmi Gemara is primarily written in Palestinian Aramaic, which is quite different from the Babylonian dialect. The Yerushalmi contains more long narrative portions than the Bavli does and, unlike the Bavli, tends to repeat large chunks of material. The presence of these repeated passages has led many to conclude that the editing of the Yerushalmi was never completed. Others, however, have argued that these repetitions represent a deliberate stylistic choice, perhaps aimed at reminding readers of connections between one section and another.

While the Bavli favors multi-part, complex arguments, Yerushalmi discussions rarely include lengthy debate. For instance, both the Bavli and the Yerushalmi discuss the following Mishnah:

For all seven days [of Sukkot], one should turn ones Sukkah into ones permanent home, and ones house into ones temporary home. . .(Sukkah 2: 9).

The Bavli Gemara embarks on a long discussion of the validity of this statement in the Mishnah:

. . .The rabbis taught, You shall dwell [in booths on the holiday of Sukkot] (Leviticus 23:42) means you shall live in booths. From this, they said for all seven days, one should make the Sukkah [temporary booth or hut] ones permanent home, and ones house temporary home. How should one do this? One should bring ones nice dishes and couches into the Sukkah, and should eat, drink and sleep in the Sukkah. Is this really so? Didnt Rava say that one should study Torah and Mishnah in the Sukkah, but should study Talmud outside of the Sukkah? (This statement appears to contradict the Mishnahs assertion that during Sukkot, one should do everything inside the Sukkah.) This is not a contradiction. [The Mishnah] refers to reviewing what one has already studied, while [Ravas statement] refers to learning new material [on which one might not be able to concentrate while in the Sukkah] (Talmud Bavli Sukkah 28b-29a).

As proof of this resolution, the Bavli goes on to relate a story of two rabbis who leave their Sukkah in order to study new material. Finally, the Gemara suggests an alternate resolution of the apparent conflictnamely, that one learning Talmud is required to stay in a large Sukkah, but may leave a small Sukkah.

In contrast, the Yerushalmi offers very little discussion of the Mishnah:

The Torah says, You shall dwell in booths. Dwell always means live, as it says, you will inherit the land and dwell there (Deuteronomy 17:14). This means that one should eat and sleep in the Sukkah and should bring ones dishes there (Talmud Yerushalmi Sukkah 2:10).

After this brief definition of terms and law, the Yerushalmi moves on to a new discussion.

As might be expected, the Bavli quotes mostly Babylonian rabbis, while the Yerushalmi more often quotes Palestinian rabbis. There is, however, much cross-over between the two Talmuds. Both Talmuds record instances of rabbis traveling from the land of Israel to Babylonia and vice versa. Many times, the rabbis of one Talmud will compare their own practice to that of the other religious center. Early midrashim and other texts composed in Palestine appear more frequently in the Yerushalmi, but are also present in the Bavli.

Both the Bavli and the Yerushalmi follow the Mishnahs division into orders, tractates, and chapters. Neither contains Gemara on all 73 tractates of the Mishnah. The Bavli includes Gemara on thirty-six and a half non-consecutive tractates. The Yerushalmi has Gemara on the first 39 tractates of the Mishnah. Some scholars believe that the differences in the Gemara reflect the different priorities and curricula of Babylonia and of the Land of Israel. Others think that parts of each Gemara have been lost.

Within the Yerushalmi, quoted sections of the Mishnah are labeled as halakhot (laws). Citations of the Yerushalmi text usually refer to the text by tractate, chapter, and halakhah. Thus, Sukkah 2:10 (quoted above) means Tractate Sukkah, Chapter 2, halakhah 10. Some editions of the Yerushalmi are printed in folio pages, each side of which has two columns. Thus, Yerushalmi citations also often include a reference to the page and column number (a, b, c, or d). In contrast, the Bavli is printed on folio pages, and is referred to by page number and side (a or b). These differences result from variations in early printings, and not from choices within the rabbinic communities of Babylonia and the land of Israel.

In most editions of the Yerushalmi, the Talmud text is surrounded by the commentary of the 18th-century rabbi, Moses ben Simeon Margoliot, known as the Pnai Moshe. The Pnai Moshe clarifies and comments on the text of the Yerushalmi, in much the same way that Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzchak, 11th century) explains and discusses the text of the Bavli.

Medieval sources credit Rabbi Yohanan, a third-century sage, with editing the Yerushalmi. However, the fact that the Yerushalmi quotes many fourth and fifth-century rabbis makes this suggestion impossible. From the identities of the rabbis quoted in the Yerushalmi, and from the historical events mentioned in the text, most contemporary scholars conclude that this Talmud was edited between the end of the fourth century and the beginning of the fifth century CE. The codification of the Bavli took place about a hundred years later.

The discussions of the Bavli and the Yerushalmi reflect the differing concerns of the cultures from which the texts emerged. A comparison of the narrative elements of the two Talmuds suggests that the rabbis of the Yerushalmi had more interaction with non-rabbisboth Jews and non-Jewsthan the rabbis of the Bavli did. The Yerushalmi, produced in a place under Hellenistic control, reflects Greek influences, both in its language and in its content.

Traditionally, the Bavli has been considered the more authoritative of the two Talmuds. This privileging of the Bavli reflects the fact that Babylonia was the dominant center of Jewish life from talmudic times through the beginning of the medieval period. The first codifiers of halakhah (Jewish law), based in Baghdad in the eighth through 10th centuries, used the Bavli as the basis of their legal writings. Reflecting the prevalent attitude toward the Yerushalmi, the Machzor Vitri, written in France in the 11th or 12th century, comments, When the Talmud Yerushalmi disagrees with our Talmud, we disregard the Yerushalmi.

Today, there is renewed interest in studying the Talmud Yerushalmi. This interest reflects the current academic emphases on tracing the development of the Talmudic text, and on understanding the cultures that produced these texts. Many scholars attempt to learn about the history of the talmudic text by comparing parallel passages in the Bavli and the Yerushalmi. Comparisons between the two Talmuds also yield new information about the relative attitudes and interests of Babylonian and Palestinian rabbis.

The traditional approach to learning Talmud, which emphasized the legal elements of the text, tended to dismiss the Yerushalmi as incomplete and non-authoritative. Today, interest in the literary, cultural and historical aspects of traditional texts has prompted a rediscovery of this Talmud, and a willingness to reconsider its place in the Jewish canon.

Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the Rabbi-in-Residence for the Jewish FundS for Justice.

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Tale of Two Talmuds: Jerusalem and Babylonian | My Jewish Learning

(New York Jewish Week) A video of an Orthodox Jewish man making a passionate speech about his love for the Talmud and cold seltzer spread like wildfire over Twitter, showing off what makes yeshiva culture such a unique part of Judaism.

Rabbi Aryeh Moshe Leiser, who lives in Monsey, New York, appears to be having the time of his life in the viral video. Posted on Twitter May 31, the video was seen by thousands of people.

Leiser starts off saying that he wants an Arvei Psachim with a Rabbeinu Dovid, rishus cold seltzer and I just want to check out of life. (This means, roughly, that he wants to read a specific commentary about a specific chapter of Talmud, with a wickedly cold cup of seltzer at hand.) He then goes into more specifics, talking about how the seltzer has to be in plastic cups not styrofoam and eventually he begins singing.

The video was posted by a Twitter user named Ayil Basvach, who deleted it on June 1. The reason why I took it down is because [Leiser] seemed to be very uncomfortable with it going viral, Basvach wrote on Twitter. I never meant to cause anyone agmas nefesh [anxiety], I just loved the video, his exuberance, love for Torah and life (also to show yeshivalites [sic] genuine personality that I grew up with and love).

Still, despite its short shelf life, the video clearly touched a nerve among many religious Jews. People started making merch from the video and someone even commissioned the TikTok meme group Island Boys to give a Rishus cold seltzer shoutout.

According to Rabbi David Bashevkin, a writer and Yeshiva University professor, its because the video allows people to see yeshiva culture in a sincere, religiously charming way.

Thats largely due to Leisers use of the Orthodox patois known as Yeshivish, he said. For example, rishus is not a brand it directly translates to wicked or evil.

Its a dialect of Hebrew, Yiddish and English all together, Bashevkin said. Saying rishus cold seltzer is an extraordinarily charming way of saying you want a really cold beverage, but in a Yeshivish language that highlights your insider knowledge of that world.

When he says checking out of life, its like, not being disturbed and allowing yourself to engage in total learning, Bashevkin said. Its the [Yeshivish] equivalent of someone elses dream to just be on the beach reading a book.

Leiser declined to comment about his newfound fame. But his brother-in-law, Rabbi Avraham Walkin, was happy to explain the backstory of the viral video. He told the New York Jewish Week that, after giving a lecture at a Monsey yeshiva, some students stopped him in the street and asked if Leiser could send a message to other students.

He had no intention of it going viral on social media, Walkin said, adding that while there are people who work their whole life trying to get followers and to be good at social media, Leiser is not that type of person.

Heres a guy who didnt want that, and became viral, Walkin said. Its like God saying, If I need someone to become famous, theyll become famous. The guy who tried to hide from it became more popular.

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Walkin added that Leiser is an innocent family man who is surprised to see what happened with this video. He wanted absolutely no media attention, Walkin said. I was surprised by how many people texted me saying, Youre related to that guy, wow. For some people in the yeshiva world, this was the Super Bowl.

At the end of the video, Leiser shouts blood, sweat, tears! which also happens to be the title of his most recent book, a memoir about being a disciple in a yeshiva. Basvach wrote on Twitter on June 2 the day after he removed the viral video from his account that the book is one of the most inspirational things Ive read in a long time.

When Leiser says in the video that he wants an Arvei Psachim with a Rabbeinu Dovid, he means he wants to read commentary by the 13th-century Talmud scholar Rabbeinu Dovid on Arvei Psachim, a section of the Talmud that focuses on the laws of the seder.

That specific chapter is part of the charm of cultural specificity, Bashevkin said. If somebody says, I want to go to this specific beach and this specific shore and read this specific author, that shows that you really want this. That specificity is where the charm comes from.

He added that while this chapter is about Passover, the longing to study the Torah relates to the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The holiday begins this year on the evening of Saturday, June 4.

Bashevkin explained that, within the yeshiva world, there is a culture that evolves parallel to the learning of Torah. When someone is a diehard baseball fan, of course you love the game, you love the smell of the stadiums, you love the jerseys, Bashevkin said. Its a similar universe in the yeshiva world, but in a much more elevated, spiritual sense.

I think there was something very real and very sweet about this video that underlies a sincerity about life in the yeshiva world, Bashevkin said.

Everything in the world as you grow up and mature, even within the Jewish and Orthodox world, pulls you away from that instinctive love, he added. To love anything so deeply is something that requires a cultural universe to reinforce, and theres no world that does that better than the world of yeshiva.

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Why this video about seltzer and Torah study went viral in the Orthodox Jewish community - JTA News - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

by Rabbi Avi KillipParashat Naso (Numbers 4:21-7:89)

I have always been fascinated by the Nazirite vow, described in this weeks parsha. It is so deeply personal. You choose to become a Nazir, you choose the terms of how long it will last, and then you perform a ritual to release yourself from the binds of the vow. The vow offers you a concrete structure to restrict yourself in relation to the physical worldno wine, no haircutsin order to be more deeply in relationship to the divine. The Talmud, in Masechet Nazir, plays with the way this personal vow intersects with the world around by imagining scenarios where people make conditional Nazirite vows: If x is true, then I am a Nazir. On Nazir 32b, the Talmud shares a story that highlights the stark contrast between the personal Nazirite vow, and the ever-changing world in the background.

The story starts with a group of people traveling to the Temple to offer the sacrifices required to complete their time as Nazirites. Upon arrival they discover, much to their surprise and dismay, that the Temple has been destroyed! The Talmud is brimming with stories about the destruction of the Temple, and the pain and horror this event caused for the Jewish people. This is not one of those stories. This is a story about the struggle to plan in an ever-changing world. When these people made their vows, they assumed the Temple was still standing. They set off on foot to make the long pilgrimage, sacrifices in hand. When they discover the Temple is gone, they regret the vows. They want a take-back.

Whether or not they are able to nullify the vow depends, in part, on whether they could or should have known this was coming. Could they possibly have expected the destruction of the Temple? Rav Yosef quotes a verse from Jeremiah (7:4) that he believes should have been read to predict the destruction of the Second Temple. This verse, he claims, should have been enough for them to have anticipated this catastrophe. Okay sure, the gemara responds, they knew this was coming, but how were they to know when? Abaye brings a verse from Daniel (9:24) to prove that they should have been able to calculate the exact year of the destruction.

The passage ends with these final words and still, did we know on which day? Change on the scale of the destruction of the Temple can happen in a single day. And there is no way for us to know which day that will be.

In the last decade the term VUCA has made its way from military strategy to the business world and now also into non-profit management. The acronym, standing for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, reminds us that the world is unpredictable, and that things are constantly changing. Today there are hundreds of seminars and books to help us live in this ever-shifting VUCA world.

I would argue that Tractate Nazir contains similar lessons. This story about the Temple teaches us that even the biggest historical shifts happen on what is otherwise a regular day. We are reminded that what makes it into our history books and our rituals as an epic story of a people, was also a moment in the life of an individual. We turn on the news to see major events that will no doubt require several chapters of future history books, and then we turn back to our daily lives and figure out what to make for dinner. The Nazirites in this story discovered the destruction of the Temple, yet they still needed to know if they could have a glass of wine and get a haircut.

We might identify with these characters, as they discern how to live their lives against a backdrop of seismic historical shifts. Like them, we have to figure out how to orient ourselves to events not only as they impact history and society, but also how they fit into the fabric of our lives, weeks and even days. There is a reason we ask where were you when questions. We struggle to place ourselves in history. We are not alone in this struggle. Like our ancestors who turned to the Nazirite vow, we may yearn for ways to exercise control and build meaning in our individual lives. Without the Temple we can no longer become Nazirim, but we can still find meaningful ways to set boundaries and connect to the divine.

Rabbi Avi Killip is the Executive Vice President at Hadar. A graduate of Hebrew College Rabbinical School, Avi also holds Bachelors and Masters from Brandeis University. She was a Wexner Graduate Fellow and a Schusterman Fellow. Avi teaches as part of Hadars Faculty and is host of the Responsa Radio podcast. Avi lives in Riverdale, NY with her husband and three young children.

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What to Make for Dinner on the Day the World Changes - Patheos

City and state education agencies have been ordered to finish an investigation into whether a Brooklyn yeshiva is providing students with a sound, basic education.

A New York Supreme Court judge has ruled the departments abdicated their responsibility to investigate whether the school Yeshiva Mesivta Arugath Habosem offers an education that is substantially equivalent to the public school system, court documents show.

The courts ruling should send a clear message to the NYC DOE that it is their responsibility to conclude their investigations into non-compliant yeshivas in a timely fashion, said Naftuli Moster, executive director of Young Advocates For Fair Education, a pro-secular education in yeshivas group, on Wednesday.

The case concerns Beatrice Weber, a mom of 10 who left her ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, but under a family court order had to send her child to a Brooklyn yeshiva her ex-husbands school of choice.

Weber filed a petition in September 2019 with the New York State Education Department against the DOE and the yeshiva, alleging her then-8-year-old son was not receiving the secular education required in the state.

State Education Commissioner Betty Rosa dismissed the petition, suggesting it was premature until the city investigated the allegations leading Weber to appeal to the New York Supreme Court.

This week Justice Adam Silverman ordered the agencies to complete their investigation into the Brooklyn yeshiva by September 2022.

Although this case dragged on and my son lost valuable years of learning, I feel greatly vindicated by this ruling and am hopeful that other parents will be inspired by my actions, said Weber.

The decision comes as yeshivas have sent thousands of letters pushing back against draft state oversight rules for nonpublic schools, ahead of voting on a final policy later this year.

While state officials maintain the proposal ensures students a fair education, letter-writers from the yeshivas said it hinders their ability to provide Jewish children with religious schooling.

David Bloomfield, a professor of education law and policy at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center,called this weeks decision historic in two respects that it gives individual parents alleging a lack of secular education under state law access to judicial relief, and that the court ordered the state and city to stop dragging their feet.

The only issue is how many parents will avail themselves of that opportunity, Bloomfield said.

For the most part, the parents of ultra-Orthodox students know and appear to be satisfied there isnt the necessary secular instruction, which makes it even more important for the state and city to enforce the law, he added. Even if a parent says I want my kid to know Talmud and Torah, thats not what the law says.

Bloomfield also weighed in on its impact on investigations into other yeshivas, after allegations against former Mayor Bill de Blasio said he delayed reports on their quality for his political benefit.

Mayor Adams has aligned himself with ultra-Orthodox yeshivas, and theres no indication at this point that he plans to jumpstart the required investigations that were similarly delayed under de Blasio, he said.

The State Education Department is evaluating the decision and waiting for the city to complete its investigation, said Emily DeSantis, a spokesperson for the agency.

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State, city ordered to finish investigation of NYC yeshiva - New York Post

Rabbi Shai Cherry

By Rabbi Shai Cherry

Parshat Naso

Full disclosure: I love Torah. Deeply. Even at its worst.

Our parshah describes a marriage gone sideways. The visual image of this scenario in the wilderness is a wind of jealousy sweeping over the husband (Num. 5:14). He suspects his wife of infidelity, but he cant prove it. He accuses, and she denies. What are the options?He could divorce her. Thats radical after all, her denials might be genuine. Plus, divorce requires paying the woman a divorce settlement as stipulated in all marriage contracts.They could talk. But theyve tried talking. He accuses and she, once again, denies. The wind of jealousy continues to blow. No teapot is safe from a tempest.

He could publicly accuse her of a secret tryst. She will be mortified, and if she is found innocent of wrongdoing, he will be humiliated as well. The elimination of doubt, however, makes the ordeal worthwhile.

He brings her to the Jerusalem Temple, and a priest mixes water, dirt and the dissolved ink of an incantation. The priests use of the four-letter name of God quickens the conditional curse of the bitter waters. The woman says, Amen. Amen. She drinks from the goblet with all eyes upon her.

Should she be innocent, she will be blessed with child. But should she have been unfaithful, the waters will turn bitter as they enter her defiled vessel. Her moral impurity will poison her from the inside out. Whatever seed that might be within will be expelled, and shell be rendered infertile forever.

And they live happily ever after. The end.

Maybe shell belch from the yucky water. Shell feel vindicated, and hell feel like a jerk and buy her chocolates and flowers to make it up to her.

Whats to love about this? The Torah figured out a way to keep the couple together by allowing the husbands jealousy to blow over. If the wife really had been unfaithful, she gets off easy. The punishment for adultery, when it can be proven, is death. The Mishnah brings in its own deus ex machina.

Lets say Betsy, her neighbor, heard the headboard banging against their common wall. Both Betsy and the adulteress might wonder: Are these bitter waters just psychodrama therapy? The Mishnah anticipates such a question by revealing that if the adulteress had a whole slew of good deeds under her belt, so to speak, the effects of the bitter waters might be suspended for up to three years.

But now the rabbis are in a pickle. If women know of that exemption, some might become righteous sluts. But if they dont know, some might suspect that the ordeal is just for show. As I said, I love Torah!

If we pull back the camera to see how other ancient Near Eastern cultures deal with their jealous husbands, well notice that their water ordeals involve rivers and drowning. Even though the bitter waters are ugly, there was uglier.

When I declare my love for Torah, sometimes what I mean is that I love how the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud interpret the Torah in ways that make it seem like theyre just as bothered with the patriarchy and misogyny of certain texts as I am.

The Mishnah begins its explanation with its own act of interpretive magic: The rabbis transform the Torahs jealousy into a warning that the husband issues his wife against being secluded with a certain man, Ploni.

This warning, to have legal force, must be issued in front of two witnesses. In order for the husband to bring his wife to the priest in Jerusalem, not only must she be warned, but there must be additional witness that she then secluded herself with Ploni. She was warned, and she persisted.

The Mishnah neutralizes the overreactive husband and gives the woman the opportunity to avoid the ordeal. For me, that was the obvious injustice that the Mishnah needed to address. It is the next act of interpretation that makes me so proud to be an heir to this radically righteous tradition.

What about Ploni? The paramour goes unmentioned in the Torah, but the rabbis drag him back in, kicking and screaming. The Torahs Ploni gorges on forbidden fruit without consequence. But in the Mishnah, if the woman was guilty, so was Ploni, and he suffers the same consequences at the same time. Gender parity through gender parody.

It boggles my mind when my rabbinic colleagues argue their point by saying, But, it is written and leave it at that. What is written is a snapshot of how Jewish values were applied in that moment in that place. Our job as rabbis, and as Jews, is not to idolize the text by turning it into an object of stone but to plant its values in our soil. The rabbis knew that for the Torah not to become petrified wood, it had to be a Tree of Life.

Rabbi Shai Cherry is the rabbi of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park and author of Torah through Time: Understanding Bible Commentary from the Rabbinic Period to Modern Times and Coherent Judaism: Constructive Theology, Creation, and Halakhah. The Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia is proud to provide diverse perspectives on Torah commentary for the Jewish Exponent. The opinions expressed in this column are the authors own and do not reflect the view of the Board of Rabbis.

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What Will We Do with a Rotten Torah? - Jewish Exponent

PODCAST Hello Rapids fans! This week on Holding The High Line, we check in on Rapids 2! The guys talk about the USMNT going into Nations League and what it means for the World Cup. Red talks about going to the Rapids 2 game on Saturday, how the team is playing, and whats not working. We try to diagnose and figure out if MLS Next Pro is/will be better than an affiliation with a USL Championship team. Then we discuss how Colorado should handle the final six games with Auston Trusty and the transition of losing him.

Holding The High Line is an independent soccer podcast focused on the Colorado Rapids of MLS and a member of the Beautiful Game Network. If you like the show, please consider subscribing to us on your preferred podcatcher, giving us a review, and tell other Rapids fans about us. It helps a ton. Visit bgn.fm for a bunch of other great podcasts covering soccer in North America.

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Find us on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Blubrry, and many other podcatchers. See the full list of podcatchers with subscription links here. For full transcripts of every episode, check out our AudioBurst page. Our artwork was produced by CR54 Designs. Juanners does our music.

We are brought to you by Ruffneck Scarves and Icarus FC. Ruffneckscarves.com is your one-stop-shop for official MLS, USL, and U.S. Soccer scarves as well as custom scarves for your group or rec league team. Icarusfc.com is the place to go for high-quality custom soccer kits for your team or group. With an any design you want, seriously motto, they are breaking the mold of boring, expensive, template kits from the big brands.

Have your team looking fly in 2022 like Andre Shinyashiki with bleached hair with custom scarves and kits from Ruffneck Scarves and Icarus FC.

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Matt Pollard is the Site Manager for Last Word on Soccer and an engineer by day. A Colorado Convert, he started covering the Colorado Rapids as a credentialed member of the press in 2016, though hes watched MLS since 96. When hes not watching or writing about soccer, hes being an outdoorsman (mostly skiing and hiking) in this beautiful state or trying a new beer. For some reason, he thought that starting a podcast with Mark was a good idea and he cant figure out how to stop this madness. He also hosts Last Word SC Radio.

Mark Goodman, the artist formally known as Rapids Rabbi, moved to Colorado in 2011. Shortly thereafter he went to Dicks Sporting Goods Park, saw Lee Nguyen dribble a ball with the silky smoothness of liquid chocolate cascading into a Bar Mitzvah fountain, and promptly fell head over heels in love with domestic soccer. When not watching soccer or coaching his sons U-8 team, hes generally studying either Talmud or medieval biblical exegesis. Which explains why he watches so much MLS, probably. Having relocated to Pittsburgh in 2019, he covers the Pittsburgh Riverhounds of the USL for Pittsburgh Soccer Now.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken, Last Word on Soccer.

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Holding The High Line: Rapids 2 in focus, Auston Trusty leaving - Last Word On Sports