A communal rabbi and later a dayan, R' Chavel was chief editor of the journal HaDarom from 1957 until his death in 1982. A recipient of the Rabbi Kook Jewish Book Prize, he moved to Jerusalem where he joined the Board of Directors of Mossad HaRav Kook.
This remarkable book, part of the Marvin N. Hirschhorn
collection, can be found on the shelves of Beit Knesset Hanassi, where you are
welcome to peruse it.
ESRA is a remarkable organisation, dedicated to strengthening the English-speaking community in terms of its integration into Israeli society and the making of a positive contribution to life in Israel through work, volunteering and the promotion of educational and welfare projects. One of ESRA's activities is the publication of the ESRA Magazine, to which Hanassi member Pessy Krausz is a contributor. Here's a powerful and poignant piece by Pessy, which needs to explanation. We pray that Hashem in His mercy will watch over not only Pessy's grandson but also the grandchildren of all our members who put their lives at risk so that we may live safely in the land He has given us.
Grandmother's Courage
My grandson’s in Gaza
need I say more?
Yes, his wife, sweet student runs
to her parents forth and back
to her own home where her
soldier husband returned!
Smelly uniform, socks, no shower
from days on end fighting at the front
boots on the ground – a paratrooper proud...
My grandson’s in Gaza
need I say more?
Yes! Grandmother’s heart races
sighting him in uniform
with gun slung on one shoulder
his baby on the other
free hand his baby’s carriage wheels
along supermarket’s corridor…
unlike one he emerged from – in Gaza
My grandson’s in Gaza
need I say more?
Yes! Baby fast growing up, asks
“Will dad return home soon from our
Swords of Iron War?” Hug him
Hug him tight, give him courage,
explain, his dad’s not the only one –
who comforts grandma with this slogan
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going!”
Checking through our little pile of pending divrei Torah, we found that the Destiny Foundation had provided us this year not with one devar Torah for Shabbat Shuva (parshat Haazinu) but with two. This is the second one. Enjoy!
There are two major poetical songs that appear in the Torah.
One is the great song of deliverance, which was the reaction of Moshe and the
Jewish people to their being saved from the bondage of Egypt and the waters of
Yam Suf. The other is that of this week's parsha, Haazinu. Moshe composed this
too, at the end of the forty-year sojourn of the Jewish people in the desert of
Sinai, at Moshe’s point of departure from life in this world.
To our generation, standing as we do centuries after Moshe
spoke these words, this is a clear and incisive description of what has happened
to us and of our mission in the world. Haazinu reflects current events and not
merely a recording of our past. Both of Moshe’s poems are essential to the development
of Jewish life—but they each transmit a different message. The ability to live,
so to speak, in the past and in the future at one and the same time is a
particularly Jewish trait. The Jewish people have a long memory and
collectively, even if not individually, we remember everything that has
befallen us. Tragically, for many Jews of our time this memory has failed. For
them, our story has been lost.
Only a minority of the Jewish world recites Moshe’s song at
the Yam Suf in daily prayer services, and there are large numbers of Jews for
whom deliverance from Egypt and the splitting of the sea at Yam Suf are no
longer even distant memories. Forgetting the song of Yam Suf is tantamount to gradually
excluding oneself from Jewish society. Forgetting the song of Haazinu is even
more damaging to the individual Jew and to the nation. Those who live only in
the present and do not glimpse the greatness of the future truly cut themselves
off from participation in it.
The poem of Haazinu promises us repentance and redemption,
serenity and a better world. Without this song, and without the belief that the
vision it contains is accurate and true, the Jewish people could never have
survived the long night of our exile and troubles. This song was “to be placed
in their mouths” as the witness for all our history and a valid proof of the
just entitlements of our future. Our task is to rededicate ourselves to fulfill
the goals of this great song of Haazinu in the year before us, which we hope
and pray will be good and blessed.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein
The link is on YouTube is here.
This week’s parsha outlines the special nature of Jewish history and all its events. Ramban, in the 13th century, comments that anyone who can, so many centuries earlier, accurately foretell the subsequent fate of a people must be an exceptional prophet. Moshe certainly fits that description since he passes this test: the parsha of Haazinu provides the proof. Now, more than 750 years after Ramban, we can add nothing to his words.
The rabbis of the Talmud ascribed the crown of wisdom to the
one who has a vision of the future. Even though Moshe is the greatest of all
prophets, his title amongst the Jewish people is “Moshe the teacher”. This
indicates that he was able to translate both his wisdom and his knowledge into
an ability to view the future.
Moshe calls heaven and earth as witnesses to the covenant
and the historical fate of his people. Rashi explains that not only are they
honest and objective witnesses but, most importantly, they are eternal, in
contrast with human witnesses who, being mortal, will die. Later generations
will not be able to hear their testimony and, even though current video
technology seeks to correct this deficiency, much of the personal nuance and
force which colors all human testimony is lost.
So we rely on heaven and earth to reinforce our belief and
commitment to the eternal covenant. The very wonders and mysteries of nature point
to the Creator. All human history rises to testify to the uniqueness of the
Jewish story and the special role that wehave played, and continue to play, in
human events. Much of the testimony of these two witnesses is frightening and
worrisome—but it is even more frightening to be unaware of our past, and
therefore of our course for the future. We should listen carefully to the
parsha. It has much to teach us about our world and ourselves.
Shabbat shalom, Rabbi Berel Wein
“In these troubled times I managed to record this song that David wrote when he brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem (with almost the original instruments).
וַיֹּאמֶר דָּוִיד, לְשָׂרֵי הַלְוִיִּם, לְהַעֲמִיד אֶת-אֲחֵיהֶם הַמְשֹׁרְרִים, בִּכְלֵי-שִׁיר נְבָלִים וְכִנֹּרוֹת וּמְצִלְתָּיִם--מַשְׁמִיעִים לְהָרִים-בְּקוֹל, לְשִׂמְחָה
May it bring us a blessing in our days as well.”
We asked Max what inspired him and where his idea came from. He told us this:
"I got the idea to set this to music from reading this commentary:
This Song of Thanksgiving was written by King David for Asaph and his brother Levites following the celebrations in bringing the Holy Ark to Jerusalem (1 Chr. 15). It was sung in the Tabernacle which David erected as accompaniment to the daily sacrifices: the first 15 verses (1 Chr. 16:1-15) during the tamid-offering in the morning service, and the last 14 verses (1Chr. 16:23-36) during the mincha-tamid-offering in the afternoon. It continued to be sung for 43 years until Solomon inaugurated the Temple. They were later incorporated into liturgy, as pesukei d’zimra (verses of praise) in the daily morning service of the synagogue.
I then read the passage from 1 Chronicles which gives the instruments he used:
16 And David spoke to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren the singers, with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.
Because I didn't have a Levitical choir or harps to work with I substituted them with local singers and piano. But this could be done with many harps & trumpets and a 2-part choir as well. Maybe someday..."
You can enjoy Max’s song on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNL9tAfO4iQ
Last Wednesday Rabbi Joel Kenigsberg took over the f ourth and final slot in the OU's Beit Midrash Rechavia program and gave a stunning shiur with the tantalising title "Confusing the Satan". Reviewing a wide spread of sources, he laid this topic open for all to enjoy. This blogpost offers no plot-spoilers, so if you want to know the real story behind the satan and his confusion, just follow this YouTube link.
In this week's Torah reading we revisit the story of Balak, Balaam and his talking donkey. The whole episode of Balak and his failed at...
