Adar Madness

We often hear stories of people of our grandparents  and great-grandparents generation who gave up jobs and faced real economic hardship to keep Shabbat.  In modern-day America these concerns have, thank God,  all but evaporated.  With that in mind, it was surprising but interesting to read about a Yeshiva high school in Houston who is missing its playoffs because it insists that they won't play on Shabbat.

The Robert M. Beren Academy, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Houston, won its regional championship to advance to the boys basketball state semifinals this weekend in Dallas. But the team will not make the trip.
Beren Academy's basketball team had hoped to travel to Dallas early and play its semifinal game before sundown on Friday.
The Beren Academy players observe the Sabbath and do not play from sundown on Fridays to sundown on Saturdays. Their semifinal game is scheduled for 9 p.m. Friday.
“The sacred mission will trump excellence in the secular world,” Rabbi Harry Sinoff, Beren’s head of school, said Monday in a telephone interview.

I don't think anyone is doing anything particularly evil or heroic here.  I would like to think that in a similar situation other Yeshivot would reach a similar decision.  And while we have gotten used to larger organizations accommodating our special religious needs (SATs, universities, most workplaces), in many instances they aren't obligated to.  Still, while I feel bad for the players to be missing out on the opportunity that they worked so hard for, in a way they got an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is and demonstrate the kind of religious commitment to Shabbat that for the rest of us is just theoretical.  Yasher koach to the whole school (especially Rabbi & Dr. Pollack - a Ma'ayanot connection!  Keep up the great work.)

Chagiga Time!

Thoughts on the Parsha with Tamar Berger (Maayanot '11)

This week’s Parsha is Parshat Truma. In this Parsha it speaks about the building of the Mishkan and the structure of how to build the Mishkan. This Parsha is one that truly shows us the proper actions we must take in order to fulfill HaShem’s command and the process in fulfilling HaShem’s command. I would like to share with you four actions I feel we all should remember when trying to fulfill HaShem’s command.

#1- Love Mitzvos- “And let them take for Me a portion, from every man whose heart motivates him.” (25:2). Many Mefarshim comment on this Pasuk and ask the question, what does it mean that we should “take for Me a portion”? Shouldn’t it be give?

Rav Dessler says in his SeferMictavM’Eliyahu that a person that gives will love more. A person that invests in something will love the item more than the person who takes from something. This is like a mother and child relationship in which the mother gives and the child takes. In this relationship the mother loves the child more than the child loves the mother because the mother gives more to the child than the child gives to the mother.

This concept is also true to the Mishkan and to all Mitzvos. If we invest ourselves into the Mitzvos, than they will mean more to us instead of us just taking from HaShem. If we invest in our relationship to HaShem, then our relationship to HaShem will then mean more to us.

That is why Rav Schlessinger explains that when it says “Take for me a portion” it truly means take even though the person would be giving. This is because the true form of taking is to give and our relationship only becomes stronger if we give rather than if we take.       

#2- Inspiration- The context of the Pasuk above is that it was said, according to some Mefarshim, right after Na’aseh V’Nishma (24:7) was said.

The Baal Shem Tov says that this is extremely important to recognize. This is because right after we said to HaShem that “we will do and we will listen” (which by the way I love because it is not that we will listen and then do, notice the order, we must follow HaShem regardless of our own feelings towards a Mitzvah) we followed what we said and we did exactly that. We built a home for HaShem, a place that is filled with such Kedusha.

This is important because we acted with zrizus. We took our inspiration and ran with it. We realized that we were inspired and we listened to that inspiration and followed HaShem’s commands. We acted immediately. We took action.

#3- Help from HaShem- “You shall make a Menorah of pure gold, hammered out shall the menorah be made, its base, its shaft, its cups, its knobs and its blossoms shall be hammered from it.” (25:31)

Rashi comments on this Pasuk, which begins “You shall make a menorah” and ends with “shall the menorah be made”, and says that this is because HaShem asked Moshe to do something that was impossible for man to do. HaShem asked Moshe to make the Menorah all together. God instructed Moshe to put it in the fire and the Menorah through this emerged into the correct form. This is because HaShem made it that way.

HaShem saw it was impossible and therefore HaShem helped Moshe and told Moshe that if Moshe put it in the fire HaShem would form it to be a Menorah. HaShem knew that Moshe was not going to be able to do it and therefore HaShem finished the product. Moshe went the first half and HaShem finished him off.

#4- Build a House for HaShem- “They shall make a sanctuary for me, so that I shall dwell among them.” “Va’asu Li Mikdash V’SchnatiB’Tochem” (25:8)

Shelah HaKodesh says that this Pasuk truly means within them. He says that B’ means within and therefore this Pasuk is saying HaShem shall dwell within them.

Each person MUST have a Mikdash Ma’at (small temple) in themselves. We must each have that place, that home, for HaKadoshBaurch Hu within us and we must reach and nurture that place.

I think that the previous 3 actions help us do that. With the love that we have from doing Mitzvos and taking the responsibility of doing the Mitzvah, from the inspiration we get to put forth and do Mitzvos, and from our help from HaShem we really can build and nurture that Mikdash inside of us and have it blossom.

May we all merit seeing the coming of the Beis HaMikdash through the building of our Mikdashim inside of all of us.

Good Shabbos,

Tamar Berger

The Amazing (but assur?) Race: Reality TV & Halacha

Rav Shlomo Aviner argued that an Israeli couple's participation in "The Amazing Race II" violated Jewish Law.  I clicked on the article sympathetic to the sentiment, but curious exactly what the issur involved is.

"The exposure in itself isn't modest. A man must be modest and humble; he shouldn't have a video camera follow him and see what he does." 

"We're not that modest, and sometimes we take pride and behave in such a certain way as to make an impression. We're not okay and may God have mercy on us," the rabbi said. "But here we see a man who invited the television crews on purpose and they follow him and his every move...that's the opposite of being modest." 

Very interesting.  We keep talking about how Tzniut is more than skirt lengths & necklines, and here is a perfect example.  We have become somewhat desensitized with our webcam mentality, but isn't there something inherently immodest of broadcasting one's every move to any audience member who cares to tune in?  What do you think?

Why-aanot's Greatest Hits - Choosing a College

On Friday I stumbled into a conversation among a group of Sophomores in the hallway about choosing a college.  Setting aside the peripheral issues with this story (Doesn't anyone go to class?  Why are you worrying about this in 10th grade?), it of course reminded me of some of the glory days of this modest blog, which I'll now re-post for this new generation of Maayanoters.  Enjoy:

It started with a long post by Mrs. Knoll about the advantages and disadvantages of  Stern as compared to other college campuses.  Mrs. Sinensky followed up with a response.  Then the students started getting involved.  Jennifer Herskowitz made a passionate defense of her decision to apply to Stern, but then Rachel Friedman immediately responded to all of the Stern love, playing devil's advocate (I would be fascinated to hear, now that they are both where they thought they would be, if they would amend any of their comments.  Interested in a follow up).  Ms. Appel (who chose to go to Penn) and Ms. Wolf (who switched from Stern to Barnard) added their unique perspectives. I then piped in as "the only one in the discussion who couldn't have gotten into Stern,"  and promptly brought an end to the conversation.  Hope you find the discussion helpful even if it ultimately complicates your decision making process.  Good luck (and enjoy the vacation).

What Inspires Me - Zisse Hanfling

A while ago we introduced the "What Inspires Me" program, in which we will be sharing our personal inspirations and hopefully inspire others as well.  I started by reading a  passage from Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau's newly translated memoir, "Out of the Depths" (go here and search inside the book for Naboth - go back to page 162 and read the story about his Rebbi Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach).

Here is our second installment - Zisse shared this with the school after tefilla last week but agreed to write it up for the blog.  Yasher koach.

This video is of Ayelet who was two years old and was diagnosed with a rare bone marrow disorder.

I got the idea to show this video to you because a friend of mine from who did a really special act. She took an initiative.... she went to ayelets shiva, and I was so impressed how she was so moved by ayelets story and I thought if this one girl can make a diffence and an impact on me that she took this step of kindness -Maayanot as a school can make a diffence together.

I'm going to read a part of the article that I found written by the Rabbi from the Harvard Hillel about Ayelet Z''l, its to your benefit to listen:

The loss of Ayelet is not just the loss of one beautiful little girl. It is not just the loss of the potential for her life and all that she might have accomplished. It is both of those things but also so much more. Sanhedrin teaches us that the loss of a single life is as if an entire world was lost forever. There are generations of descendants from Ayelet the world will never know. There are countless people who would have been touched by her life who will not have that experience. In chaos theory there exists a concept called the butterfly effect in which one small change can bring about tremendous results that would be impossible to anticipate. The loss of Ayelet is not just a small change to the world, it is an enormous change, and the impact that she would have brought to her family, her people and the rest of humanity, will never be known.

Yet, the Mishnah also teaches us the converse as well. One who saves a life is as if she or he saved the entire world. And there is no doubt that the heart wrenching struggle for life waged by Ayelet and her family, broadcast to the world has brought about so much good. One often wonders how much they can truly impact the world. What difference can I really have in a global community of over seven billion people? The story of Ayelet is the loudest protest possible against the proposition that our lives do not and cannot matter. Each one of us can make such a tremendous difference.

Countless cheek swabbing drives to add people to the bone marrow registry.... Because of those cheek swabbing drives, when Ayelet tragically left this world on Monday morning, 21 people had found their lives saved through the bone marrow registry and the registration of all those new people. Twenty one people in this world owe their lives to the good will of complete strangers who were inspired at the very deepest levels to act because of Ayelet Galena zt”l. In other words, because of Ayelet there now exists another twenty one worlds of human life and meaning.

This is the impact of one person. -

Anytime you feel your life does not matter, anytime you are confident that the world would be no worse or better with or without you, remember Ayelet. The struggle of one small child restored life to twenty one people. Ponder and reflect on that because you never know how and in what way you will make that difference.

Each one of us can make a difference

I say we dedicate our learning on Februray 9th in memory of Ayelet Galena. 

There are countless people whom I'm sure have done so much for her, and Maayanot can do that to! It might not be money and it might not be saving a life, but as a Yeshiva is shows that highschool girls can take an initiative.

This special girl and her family impacted me in ways I couldn't have realized before.

There grace and humor through this hard struggle is what made me want to this share this with you. To look at life through a positive light is so much more fulfilling than anything in the world. There small positive outlook on their young child even reached celebrities. I believe whole heartily ou can make a difference to the girl sitting next to you…just by being the awesome you- and as a growing teenage girl you should never forget that…

My step of standing up here is not what is going to change your life. But me standing up here telling you that you can change someone elses life is what im hoping to accomplish. Maayanot feeds us the skills to grow into a adult throughout high school- and as adult women going out into the world soon- we all matter and we all can make a difference- if a two year old can do it i'm sure we can all to!

Are You Going?

Something Fishy (or Wormy)

Back to the NYT for a true example Toraha U'mada:

Just so you know: Canned sardines are kosher.

This judgment would appear to be definitive, based on DNA evidence. Genetic testing by a parasitologist at the American Museum of Natural History has confirmed that the recent discovery of small worms in canned sardines does not render them treyf, or unkosher. It may render them unappetizing, but that judgment is up to the consumer (more on that later).
The museum got involved last March when rabbis from the Orthodox Union, which certifies as kosher hundreds of thousands of products across the world, sought scientific help in resolving a question that arose when they began finding the worms, or nematodes, in cans of sardines.

The Lonely Man of Lin

There have been many interesting articles on the phenomenon that is Jeremy Lin.  There are so ma y remarkable things about what he is doing - making the Knicks interesting is as impressive as any.  Here is a fascinating perspective from the generally though-provoking David Brooks in the New York Times.  I'll quote some of the highlights below:

Ascent in the sports universe is a straight shot. You set your goal, and you climb toward greatness. But ascent in the religious universe often proceeds by a series of inversions: You have to be willing to lose yourself in order to find yourself; to gain everything you have to be willing to give up everything; the last shall be first; it’s not about you.
For many religious teachers, humility is the primary virtue. You achieve loftiness of spirit by performing the most menial services. (That’s why shepherds are perpetually becoming kings in the Bible.) You achieve your identity through self-effacement. You achieve strength by acknowledging your weaknesses. You lead most boldly when you consider yourself an instrument of a larger cause.

But then check out his big finish!

 The odds are that Lin will never figure it out because the two moral universes are not reconcilable. Our best teacher on these matters is Joseph Soloveitchik, the great Jewish theologian. In his essays “The Lonely Man of Faith” and “Majesty and Humility” he argues that people have two natures. First, there is “Adam the First,” the part of us that creates, discovers, competes and is involved in building the world. Then, there is “Adam the Second,” the spiritual individual who is awed and humbled by the universe as a spectator and a worshipper
Soloveitchik plays off the text that humans are products of God’s breath and the dust of the earth, and these two natures have different moral qualities, which he calls the morality of majesty and the morality of humility. They exist in creative tension with each other and the religious person shuttles between them, feeling lonely and slightly out of place in both experiences.
Jeremy Lin is now living this creative contradiction. Much of the anger that arises when religion mixes with sport or with politics comes from people who want to deny that this contradiction exists and who want to live in a world in which there is only one morality, one set of qualities and where everything is easy, untragic and clean. Life and religion are more complicated than that.

Why is Mishpatim HERE?

"Yeish mukdam u'm'uchar ba'Torah oh ein mukdam u'm'uchar ba'Torah?" This is a debate that begins in the Gemara, but really finds its footing in parshanut. The fundamental question is whether or not the Torah is arranged in strict chronological order. Ramban consistently adheres to the former (the Torah follows along chronologically) and Rashi agrees with the latter (the Torah does not necessarily follow chronology). Regardless of where one falls in this debate, the beginning of this week's parasha indicates that it is, in some fundamental way, connected to last week's.

"V'eileh ha'mishpatim"-- And these are the laws. The "vav" that begins that parasha is not a "vav ha'hipuch" because "eileh" is not a verb to be transformed from one tense to the other. Rather, it is a "vav ha'chibur"--a connecting vav. So the first question that must be asked is: What is the connection of this wek's parasha to last week's parasha? Is it that this is the next set of laws that Moshe received from Hashem? If so, was he still on Har Sinai when these were spoken? These questions begin a whole line of questions as to what was said on Har Sinai, what wasn't, what was said at this moment, what was said later, and what Moshe was taught by Hashem during which stint on Har Sinai.

Which brings up another s'michut question: What is the connection between the dibrot, how the mizbei'ach is to be built (with a ramp, not stairs so that the privates of the kohein are not revealed as he walks up) and the laws of Eved Ivri? If the point that the Torah is trying to make is to show that all halacha is, in effect, "bein adam l'makom", then why pick these two to follow the Dibrot? If the mizbeach is parallel to the first five dibrot, then why end the parsha there?

Regardless of where one stands on the yeish/ein mukdam argument, an interesting question arises. In beginning this parasha, the first set of laws discussed are the laws of Hebrew slaves. Bnai Yisrael had just left slavery; the first dibrah forever reminds us that Hashem is the Power that took us out of Egypt "from the house of slavery." Why would slavery even be permitted in Judaism? And why would it be (almost) the first law mentioned after the Aseret HaDibrot?

Finally, if we are all "avadim" only to Hashem, then why does a parasha that is primarily about civil law begin with permission for us not only to own other humans, but other Jews?

Shabbat Shalom!

Mrs. Herzog

Kabed et avicha v'et imecha

Victor Frankl (1905-1997), author of Man's Search for Meaning and founder of logotherapy, a field of psychotherapy based on finding meaning in life, writes about his encounter with this mitzvah just before World War II.

Having just gotten word that his visa to leave war-stricken Europe had arrived, Frankl found himself torn between taking the opportunity and staying to care for his older parents. Very much stressed by the decision, he decided to put it on hold and wait some sort of sign from Above for guidance.

When he got home that day he saw his father sitting at the table and noticed a big block of stone resting on the table. "What's that?", he asked. His father told him he found it at the site of a nearby shul that had been destroyed by the Nazis. "It has on it", his father told him, "a reference to one of the 10 commandments". Victor asked his father which one. "The 5th one, to honor one's parents".

He had found his sign.


His book is difficult to read, as all Holocaust books are, and is really insightful.

It's Groundhog Day

Yahoo reports that "This morning, "Pennsylvania's Punxsutawney Philemerged from his lair to "see" his shadow on Thursday, in the process predicting six more weeks of winter."


This "holiday"  (HEC, where are you) is a harmless if silly American tradition, but it is the back drop for one of the more thought-provoking and religiously / philosophically interesting movies that I've ever seen (by the same name).


Below is the beginning (not too much in terms of spoilers) of the Wikipedia plot summary.  If you're ever looking for something to watch, this comes highly recommended.

Self-centered and sour TV meteorologist Phil Connors (Bill Murray), news producer Rita (Andie MacDowell) and cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott) from fictional Pittsburgh television station WPBH-TV9 travel to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the annual Groundhog Dayfestivities with Punxsutawney Phil. Having grown tired of this assignment, Phil grudgingly gives his report and attempts to return to Pittsburgh when a blizzard shuts down the roads. Phil and his team are forced to return to Punxsutawney and stay in town overnight.

Phil wakes up to find that he is reliving February 2. The day plays out exactly as it did before, with no one else aware of the time loop, and only Phil aware of past events. At first he is confused, but, when the phenomenon continues on subsequent days, he decides to take advantage of the situation with no fear of long-term consequences: he learns secrets from the town's residents, seduces women, steals money, drives recklessly, and gets thrown in jail. However, his attempts to get closer to Rita repeatedly fail.
Eventually, Phil becomes despondent and tries more and more drastically to end the time loop; he gives ridiculous and offensive reports on the festival, abuses residents, eventually kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil and, after a police chase, drives into a quarry, evidently killing both himself and the groundhog. However, Phil wakes up and finds that nothing has changed; further attempts at suicide are just as fruitless as he continues to find himself awaking at six o'clock on the morning of February 2 with the clock radio on his nightstand playing "I Got You, Babe" by Sonny & Cher, as on each previous day.

Racism Towards Muslims in Israel? Exposed with Hidden Cameras

This is the headline I saw on the video forwarded to me by my sister.  I had the same feeling I've had occasionally, when someone Jewish does something that embarrasses the rest of us.  The power of a chillul Hashem is enormous, and all of us feel it.  More so when it is done ostensibly in the name of religion (I feel the shame of Beit Shemesh & Baruch Goldstein far more than Bernie Madoff - a criminal who happens to be Jewish).  Then I watched the video - check it out for yourself.