Stay updated with breaking news from ரேப் இஸ்றொேல். Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
A building should ultimately be judged not by its height or its dimensions, but by its structural integrity
Over two millennia ago, a magnificent building stood on a mount in Judea. The building was impressive and splendid and admired by all. All, that is, except for Chazal. When Nevuchadnetzar destroyed the Beis Hamikdash and boasted that he had “bested” HaKadosh Baruch Hu, a voice said in response, “You have ground into flour that which was already flour” (Midrash Rabbah Shir Hashirim 3:4). Meaning, the Beis Hamikdash was already rotten and destroyed from within because of our sins; all that Nevuchadnetzar accomplished was to bring this state of spiritual decay into plain view. ....
Today, when so many parts of our machaneh in Klal Yisrael are causing a chillul Hashem, we must stand up and say “ad kan, enough”
Nothing Controversial About It [Outlook / Issue 847] I would like to salute Yonoson Rosenblum for his amazing column on kiddush Hashem. I am sure there were naysayers who said not to print his column since it may be controversial. May I suggest that there is nothing controversial about kiddush kavod Shamayim. The baalei mussar expound on the pasuk in Vayikra 22:32, where the Torah says we should not desecrate Hashem’s name and Hashem will become kadosh. They ask, isn’t there something between chillul Hashem and kiddush Hashem? The response they give is that there is not, because if we are not mekadesh Hashem, then we are automatically mechallel Hashem. ....
There’s much truth to the idea that a sefer can have a soul
There’s an old saying that “sefer bli hakdamah k’guf bli neshamah,” a sefer without an introduction is like a body lacking a soul. I don’t know the source for that epigram and I’ve wondered if it was perhaps coined by someone who just wanted license to write a really long hakdamah to his sefer, or perhaps just liked the way hakdamah rhymes with neshamah. But whatever one may say about the importance of a hakdamah, people who love seforim know there’s much truth to the idea that a sefer can have a soul. And the longer the sefer has been around and the more warm Jewish hands it has passed through, the more keenly you can sense it. ....