New Shiur

Without Dovi posting or editing, I am a little unsure as to what to do next with this blog. Hopefully, I will have time to produce new material, but for now:

Starting tomorrow night at 9PM central/ 10 PM Eastern, I’ll be giving a shiur in Likutey Moharan (Anthology of the Teachings of Rabbeiu Nachman of Breslov) at www.virtualyeshiva.com, in the “Torah Chat” room of the site.

The shiur will start at the beginning of the sefer and, imy”H, continue through to the end. Our goal will be to approach all of the teachings of the Rebbe with a searching eye for the practical, le-maaseh, application of the Rebbe’s teachings to our lives. As we complete each section of the Sefer, we will also cover the important corresponding sections from Likutey Halachos.

Blog Update

Shalom all -

When I started this blog I really didn't realize how much time it takes to keep a blog up and going! One of the biggest problems is finding the time to transcribe Rabbi Bloomenstiel's shiurim into blog postings and then track down Rabbi B. for editing and approval. As a result I have been very slow in getting up postings.

Due the above and the development that I got engaged Erev Rosh ha-Shanna, I am not able to maintain this blog any longer. I have tried to find someone in the Baltimore chabura to continue posting but, haven't have much success.

The good news is that Rabbi B. will be taking over the blog (which saves a lot of time in transcribing shiurim!).

The direction of things will probably change somewhat, but the postings should come more regularly from now on.

Another note: Rabbi B., as of next Monday, will be living in Dallas, Texas and his new e-mail will be Kerwiler@gmail.com .

Look for another update soon, and thanks for reading!

- Dovi Meisel.

Blog Clarification, Etc. on Transgender Surgery

Due to the recent YU balagan over hiring a professer who underwent a sex-change, I have received a lot of e-mails about whether or not the Tzitz Eliezer held that GRS (Gender Reassignment Surgery) effectively changes halachic gender. Many have pointed out some apparent deficiencies in R' Bloomenstiel's prior post on the topic. Any errors are solely my own. I transcribed the post from an audio recording of R' Bloomenstiel's shiur and may have not gotten some things totally clear. I e-mailed the Rov this morning regarding some of the comments, and received this response:

"It looks in 10 Tzitz Eliezer X 25:26:6 that he rules that GRS does change gender. But to say that, according to the Tzitz, this is the halacha le-maaseh is very, very ,very hard. If you contrast this psak against other teshuvos dealing with similar mattters, it is obvious that his position is not simple and may even be misunderstood. Even if the R' Waldenburg actually held that GRS is halachically effective, this is, nevertheless, not the actual halacha le-maase; there is no way in which to permit or rely upon such an idea. Anyone who relies upon this is in error. One can't rely on a single posek in a such a serious matter in which the vast majority of the Torah world has rejected his psak. A man who mutilates his body in an effort to become female is still a male in the eyes of halacha. Lechatchila, such a thing is 100% ossur. That's poshut, and there is no two ways about it."

For any further questions, you can e-mail me at SFASBLOG@GMAIL.COM or R' Bloomenstiel @ ACBLOOMENSTIEL@CAVTEL.NET

- Dovi Meisel

Uman Accomodations

If anyone needs accommodations in Uman this year, I have 3 openings in my apartment. Please send me an e-mail @ acbloomenstiel@cavtel.net .

The dira overlooks the tzion and the kloyz and in pretty good shape. Please let me know ASAP if you are interested.

Also - it has been announced that there will be no cheder ochel in Uman this year. If you need to make arrangements for food, etc. please let me know about that as well and I will assist.

- Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel

Uman, the Break for Elul, and the High Holidays

If anyone is interested in going to Uman - please e-mail at SfasBlog@gmail.com.

Also, we will be on blogging break until after the High Holidays.


- Avraham Bloomenstiel

Tonight, the Night of the Ninth of Av...

From the Kinnos (laments) read tonight...

On this night, weep and howl my children,

Upon this night was my holy house destroyed and my palaces burned!

And all the House of Israel shall mourn my agony,

And they shall cry for the conflagration lit by G-D.

On this night I was blackened and the sun, moon and stars darkened,

For the destruction of my holy house and the annulment of the watches!

Upon this night, torments surrounded and encircled me,

And He declared it a fixed time for the Five Decrees.

For on this night, they cried without cause and, lo,

It was fixed a night of weeping for all generations;

Thus HaShem caused it to happen so.

On this night, weep and howl my children,

Upon this night was my holy house destroyed and my palaces burned!

And all the House of Israel shall mourn my agony,

And they shall cry for the conflagration lit by G-D.

Bamidbar (Leviticus) 13:25 - 14:1 records that, upon the return of the spies to the people, they provided a slanderous and disparaging report of the Land of Israel. Rather than believe the promises of HaShem, of a land flowing with milk and honey, the Jewish people accepted the lashon ho-ra of the meraglim, the spies, and wept over it.

The Talmud in Taanis 29a records that, since we cried for no reason on the 9th of Av, G-d in turn decreed that this night would be cause for tears for all generations. The Talmud ibid. 26b records that five divine decrees were passed upon this date:

1) Those guilty of accepting the report of the meraglim were destined to die in the wilderness without entering the Land of Israel.

2) The First temple would be destroyed on the 9th of Av.

3) The Second temple would be destroyed on the 9th of Av.

4) Bar Kokhba's revolt would be crushed at Beitar on the 9th of Av. The Talmud in Gittin 57a records that the non-Jews fertilized their fields for 7 years with the blood of the Jews killed in this conflict.

5) The evil Roman prelate Turnus Rufus would have the entire city of Jerusalem razed and plowed over on this date.

To all of these events, the paytan, the poet, refers verses.

Out of Town

Due to travel, posting will resume on Friday, August 8th.

Preparing for the Nine Days...

אונטער דער ערד
UNDER THE EARTH

Are there birds twittering under the earth
choking back holy tears in their thin necks,
or is that throbbing beneath the earth
once used words that only seem the sound of unseen birds?

Wherever my feet are wise to walk,
over snow, over hay, over drunken fire.
they feel words,
the souls of words,
it is a pity that my feet cannot hold a pencil...

Like a snake-charmer
I halt my feet in their going:
here and here and here
here they are, here.
Once used silence.
Once used places.
And I dig with my hands - my bony spades,
down to where the black palaces burst,
where words throb
hidden in the sound of violins.

- Avrom Sutzkever
1956

Translated from the original Yiddish
by A. C. Bloomenstiel

Question From a Simple Jew...

See the discussion here and here regarding living in the land of Israel. This was the response from Rabbi Bloomenstiel to the discussion.

- DM

The nature of the mitzvah of living in Eretz Yisroel absent the Beis Mikdash is not a clear cut chiyuv. The earliest halachic (non-aggadic) reference is Ramban commenting on Bamidbar 33:53, which is the potential makor of the chiyuv. According to the Ramban, there is a chiyuv d’oraisa to pack up and move to Eretz Yisroel. However, later Rishonim and the Acharonim wrestle with the fact that the Rambam does not include this mitzvah in his enumeration of the 613 mitzvos.

Additionally, the Shulchan Aruch is mum on this issue. While the Mechaber paskens repeatedly that certain miztvos operate differently or apply differently in the Land, there is no actual statement that one must pack up and move there.

Many meforshim have tried to explain the omission in the Rambam. Some explain that yishuv Eretz Yisroel is only a hekhshar mitzvah (see Rashbam to Bava Basra 91a). Others explain that the mitzvah was abrogated with the destruction of the Beis Mikdash (see sefer Megillas Esther on the Rambam – I have several kashos on this deah, though). Then, of course, there is the aforementioned comment of the Tosafos to Kesubos 110b that there is no mitzvah due to the hardship associated with living in the land. Incidentally, this remark doesn’t actually state that there is no mitzvah, only that one is potur due to the hardship. In our days, however, we can legitimately question the applicability of this svora.

The le-maase question of whether one is obligated to pack up and move to Eretz Yisroel was the subject of Teshuvos from both Rav Moshe ztz”l (Igros Moshe, Even ha-Ezer I:102) and Rav Ovadia Yoseif, shlit”a (written in several places, and heard personally many times).

According to Rav Feinstein, the mitzvah of yishuv ha-aretz is a reshus, meaning that one is under no halachic obligation or pressure to make aliya. However, if one did, then he is praiseworthy and accredited a mitzvah. The understanding that there is no chiyuv of yishuv is found in many other Ashkenazi acharonim: see Rav Yaakov of Lissa to Kesuvos 110b and the Chofetz Chayim in his Mikhtavim. They both state the halacha is like the Rambam and that there is no chiyuv of yishuv in our days. Such appears to have been the interpretation of the majority of the Ashkenazi poskim.

Among the Sefardim, the poskim tended to read the Ramban literally and hold that the mitzvah of yishuv is a chiyuv. In the early 1980’s Rav Yoseif became the strongest proponent of this interpretation and has argued strongly against Rav Moshe.

All in all, that is the halachic baseline: for the Ashkenzaim, according to the rov, yishuv is at best a mitzvah reshus and not a chiyuv ( Rav Kook ztvk”l was a minority in his view). For the Sephardim, it is a chiyuv.

Knowing this, I read Rav Breiter hy”d (of whom I am a BIG fan) as stating that, while there is no halachic chiyuv of yishuv, one must do everything possible to go. In this sense it is a midda ha-chasidus, potentially akin to donning Rabbeinu Tam Tefillin, or going daily to the mikva. Note that he says “Every day of your life, yearn, pray and make a practical effort to live in Eretz Yisroel, or at the very least to walk four steps there.” If we were talking halachic chiyuv, then there would be no “at least.” A chiyuv d’oraisa is a chiyuv (in all honesty, though there is wiggle room to say that concepts of lechatchila & b’dieved do exist by d’oraisa’s that are halachos le-moshe misinai – see the Pri Megadim’s hakdama to hilchos shechita, however here we are talking about a d’oraisa she nikhtav be-kra). One may legitimately say, though, that this midda ha-chassidus is stronger than that of wearing Rabbeinu Tam since it has a makor be-kra, but it is very hard to split hairs in this area.

Practically, then, it means that if your are one who holds of the Breslov shitta (which is Rav Breiter) then you should always endeavor and make it your goal to live there. However, since it is a midda ha-chasidus, mitigating factors will be much more influential in creating leniencies.

Preparing for the Nine Days...

As the nine days approaches, I commence a review of my learning of the events of the churban Beis Mikdash from the gemora and midrashim.

In recent years, though, I have found that poetry (both the kinnos and Yiddish poetry) helps to sharpen my emotional response to the time at hand. In particular, the writings of survivors of many of the major calamities that have befallen our people (i.e. the inquisition, the Holocaust, etc.) As we get closer to the 9^th of Av, I would like to share some of the most striking writings with you.

In Memoriam

Strangers’ eyes don’t see

how in my small room I open a door

and begin my nightly stroll among the graves.

(how much earth, if you can call it that, is enough to bury smoke?)

There are valleys and hills

and hidden twisted paths,

enough to last a whole night’s journey.

In the dark I see shining towards me

faces of epitaphs

wailing their songs.

Graves of the whole

vanished Jewish world

Blossom in the dalet-amos of my tent.

And I pray:

Be a father, a mother to me,

a sister, a brother

my own children, beloved kin,

real as pain,

from my own blood and flesh, be my own dead,

let me grasp and take-in

these destroyed millions.

At dawn I close the door

to the graveyard of my people.

I sit at the table and nod off

whilst humming a tune.

The enemy had no dominion over them.

Fathers, mothers, children from their cradles

encircled death and overcame him.

All the children, astounded,

ran to meet the fear of death

without tears, like little yiddishe ma’aselakh.

and they soon flickered in to flames

like small namesakes of G-D.

Who else, like me,

has in the nighttime his own

dead garden?

Who is destined for this as am I?

Who has so much dead earth awaiting him, as for me?

And when I die

Who will inherent my little graveyard,

And that shining gift,

an eternal yortzeit light,

forever flickering?

--Yaakov Gletshtein, 1961

--Translated from the original Yiddish by

--Avraham Chaim Bloomenstiel