by Joel Rich
Anan sahadei (we testify) generally appears in the gemara as an ironclad presumption that defines an event (eg if a lender says to a borrower not to pay back unless there are witnesses, he won’t pay back without witnesses) or an intent (eg a seller making aliya intended to sell only if he made aliyah).
Is anyone aware of anything on whether these are rebuttable presumptions? A function of time and place? Are we encouraged to be mvarer when we can?
Is one permitted to wish the past were different (for self or community) or must one believe it was as HKBH wanted and thus the best?
- Rabbi Baruch Simon-Inyanei Hilchos Sukkah – Ba’al Tosif How do we define bal tosif? Is it the addition of a min (type of object) or zman (time)? Must it involve a maaseh mitzva?
- Rabbi Mordechai Djavaher-iDriving Drowsy on Hoshana Rabba, Harmful Hakafot, and Sechach in the Streets Three choshen mishpat cases: defining ones gamur, implied consent to damage in mitzva activities, and permission to leave something in a public way vs responsibilities for damages for doing so.
- Yakov Danishefsky-The Anatomy of Issur Possible approaches to understanding if HKBH is all good, and everything in this world is an emanation of HKBH, how then can there be bad in this world?
- דברי חיזוק לרגל המצב | הרה”ג זלמן ברוך מלמד שליט”א Messages include kol davad rachmana ltav avad, each of us must do a cheshbon hanefesh, and we must unite. Also provides chizuk to chayalim.
- Rav Asher Weiss- דברי חיזוק והתעוררות בעקבות הפיגוע בשמחת תורה We need emuna and bitachon, unity, tfila, tehillim and torah.
- Rabbi Alan Brill-Revelation 01 Outline of R Brill’s course on revelation. Interesting introduction to different approaches to theology in different time periods and what issues were trying to be addressed. The whole revelation/reason issues only began in the 18th century. A number of definitions of revelation are discussed.
- Rabbi Assaf Bednarsh Tekiat Shofar BeTaaniyot The different shitot on whether the shofar should be pashut or kafuf on rosh hashana, yom kippur and/or taniyot symbolize conceptions of tfila, tshuva and the essential nature of the days.
- Rabbi Moshe Taragin-Initial Responses To The Tragedy in Israel: Short term response to our current tragedy: prayer, mourning, cheshbon hanefesh and emuna. R Taragin described this as a massive chilul hashem, I pray that HKBH reacts in a similar manner as he did post-holocaust (giving us a state – see kol dodi dofek).
- Rabbi Alan Brill-Revelation 02 Focus on the thought of Shadal and R SR Hirsch as responses to their times.
- Rabbi Shraga Kallus-The Simchas Torah War We need to be strong and united and not fixated on the news. We know what HKBH wants of us. Our continued existence is a nes.
- Rabbi Zev Smith-באהבה שאהב את התורה We all have ahavat hatora and can succeed at torah learning at our own level. More hatmada leads to more love of torah.
- Rabbi Larry Rothwachs,rRabbi Ben Zion Feld-War in Israel – Perspective and Chizzuk Be positive and hopeful. Pray, strengthen your relationship with Israel and generally up your game.
- Rabbi Daniel Hartstein-“Half” (Hicha)Kedusha In The Time Of War Tfilat hatzibur (chazarat hashatz) is (per R YBS) a vehicle to bring all our disparate tfilot to shamayim. Only use heicha kedusha when absolutely needed.
- Rabbi Reuven Brand-Israel in The Center Eretz Yisrael is central in many ways (eg dateline calculation).
- Rabbi Shay Schachter-If Hashem Will Not Protect Us, No Security Apparatus Will Succeed Everything that happens is because that’s what HKBH wants to happen.
- Rabbi Moshe Taragin-Responses to the Tragedy in Israel- Part 2 Four lessons: continue to mourn (especially the further from the front you are), daven properly for eretz yisrael and the schina, hamas should be referred to as yimach shmo and continue to work on your emuna.
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin,Mr. Nathan Lewin ,Dr. Marvin Schick ,Professor Michael Wyschogrod-Yosher Conference Panel Discussion Issues with kashrut in community organization seem to have been the same fifty years ago as today. We need to do a better job teaching practical ethics, especially when there are two competing “goods”.
- Rabbi Moshe Shulman-KOHELET! The Sphinx of Scriptures (Part 8) The “turn, turn, turn” speech seems to have elements of the hedonist and the yirei hashem. He seems to then imply we are created to enjoy HKBH’s world but that there’s really no qualitative difference between us and the animals. TBC
- Rav Asher Weiss-פרשת בראשית: מצוות פריה ורביה While the mitzvah of pur urvu starts at age 13 (for a boy), the “best” age is 17/18 and we pressure at 20. What was ben azzai’s story and when is there a bittul asei not to be married?
- Rabbi Yehuda Turetsky-The Mitzvah to Daven: Rambam, Ramban, and Rav Soloveitchik Tfila can be viewed as chesed and/or avoda. How do we understand the machloket between the Rambam (duraita) and Ramban (drabanan) on the nature of prayer? Classic R YBS on eit tzara and maaseh/kiyum. For the Rambam, tfila is more than a mitzvah it’s almost an ikkar (me-R YBS on living a prayerful live)
- Rabbi Daniel Hartstein-Where Is My Money Going?: Tzdekah During War Really a more general discussion of gneivat daat. IMHO the chillul hashem element of a community known for legal but krum midot is not emphasized enough.
- Rabbi Ari Wasserman-War – Does the IDF need to worry about “collateral damage” when bombing Gaza We shouldn’t worry about collateral damage caused in our wars if it saves soldiers’ lives.
- Rabbi Ike Sultan-Risking Your Life to Save Someone Else Review of sources concerning whether giving up life or limb for someone else’s benefit is a prohibition, requirement or voluntary decision. Discusses specific applications to transplants and hostages.
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- Rav Asher Weiss- Halachic Questions & Answers Relating to The War in Eretz Yisrael We need achdut, yeshiva guys should learn more. Specific questions concerning how to balance possible (TBD) pikuach nefesh with observance of shabbat. If your parents are worried, you should leave eretz yisrael.
- Rabbi Doniel Osher Kleinman- Parshas Bereishis: Sh’nayim Mikra – Join The Movement! Shnayim mikra is very important. The different opinions on how to accomplish it may be based on whether it’s patterned after how Moshe taught the torah or how the torah was read in time of chazal).
- Rabbi Shmuel Fuerst,Rabbi Aharon Lopiansky-Rabbi Chaim Tzvi Senter,Rabbi Daniel Glatstein -10/14/23 – Shiur 438 – עת צרה היא ליעקב וממנה יושע – The Torah outlook and our responsibility War related issues: go back to yeshiva in aretz (unless your parents are scared), in the USA you should learn, daven and give $ (for frum to frum???) Tone down celebrations and fight your own spiritual war but with empathy for those who fight the physical war.
(me-I find it worthy of note that in all these divrei chizuk I haven’t heard anyone take into account the impact on others around you if you leave yeshiva in aretz, nor the suggestion that bnai yeshiva volunteer any time for some type of service (eg filling in for those called up). IMHO this would be a real nosei ol)
- Rav Asher Weiss-דברי חיזוק לקהילת נווה שבדרום ארץ ישראל Chizuk in emuna, tfila, thilim and torah.
- Rabbi Aryeh Lebowitz-From The Rabbi’s Desk – Shailos of the Simchas Torah War 5784 Review of some of the questions raised in R Asher Weiss’s earlier shiurim – one should temper their smachot/lifestyle (order out, don’t eat in from high end restaurant so as not to impact the owner’s parnasa!!) [Me-insert your own comment]
- Rabbi Michael Taubes-Milchemes Mitzvah: Some Torah Perspectives on War
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