טיפע רעיונות פון הגאון רבי אביגדור מיללער זצ"ל

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

רבי שמעון אומר, המהלך בדרך ושונה ומפסיק ממשנתו ואומר מה נאה אילן זה ומה נאה ניר זה, מעלה עליו הכתוב כאילו מתחייב בנפשו

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Why does the Mishna (Avos 3-7) state, ha'mhalech baderech v'shoneh umafsik mi,mishnoso... it says, if a man is walking on the road and he stops learning and he says, "how beautiful is this tree", he is considered guilty of a sin?

If a man stops learning Gemara – let's say he's learning Gemara and he stops for a while because he wants to learn Chovas Halvavos, will you say he's mischayev benafsho, he's guilty of a crime? Chovas Halvavos is also Torah. If a man stops learning Bava Kama and he decides for a little while every day to learn Zevachim, is it a crime? Zevachim is also a sugya in Torah.

But what does it mean if he's mafsik mishnoso and says, ma noeh ilan zeh? It's not talking about studying the tree for the sake of seeing the niflo'os haborei, the wonders of creation. No. He's remarking that it's something beautiful, something aesthetic; it's a pleasure to look at that tree.

Now if you're in middle of Shmonei Esrei, you're standing before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you don't interrupt to talk diverei chol. When you're studying Torah, don't interrupt; you have to have respect for Torah. That's what the mishna is talking about.

But if somebody interrupts because he wants now to take himself to the study of the briah, then there's no question that it's permissible and sometimes virtuous.

A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #275
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210

* * *


What's the explanation of the Mishna that if someone stops learning Torah to look at a tree, and says Mah na'eh ilan zeh - "How beautiful is this tree!" so the Torah considers it as if he is deserving of death?

The Mishna says: ha'mhalech baderech v'shoneh - "A person who is walking on the road and learning, umafsik mi’mishnoso vu’omar, and he stops his learning and says, ma noeh ilan zeh - 'How beautiful is this tree,' maaleh olov hakosuv k’ilu mischayev benafshoו, so it's considered as if he's so it's considered as if he's deserving of death."

You have to understand the following: It's talking about somebody who's "stopping" his learning. However, suppose a person is learning by saying "mah na'eh ilan zeh." He's saying, "How beautiful is this tree; how beautiful are the creations of Hashem! I can see the hand of Hakodosh Boruch Hu in this tree and I'm thanking Him." And he's learning it. Learning from the tree?! That's something different. That's not stopping his learning!

So the person who stops learning and he just states an idle remark, "How beautiful is this tree," but not because he's studying Chovos Halevovos Shaar Habechina, then certainly he's doing wrong. It's the same as stopping and saying, "I want to smoke a cigarette." He gets no mitzvah stopping for that. Just like there's no mitzvah by stopping to enjoy a tree. What difference does it make, a cigarette or a tree?

But if he's enjoying it in order to see the chochmas Hashem and chesed Hashem, and to express his gratitude to Hakodosh Boruch Hu, that's not stopping. Suppose a person is learning Bava Kama, and he stops Bava Kama to learn Bava Metziah in the middle, is it a sin? What of it? It's stopping Torah to learn Torah.

-- TAPE # 641

Credit: Toras Avigdor

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What does the mishna mean when it says that if someone interrupts his learning to look at at the beauty of a tree, that he’s mischayev benafsho, he’s responsible for his own demise ( Avos 3:7)?

When a person is learning gemara in the yeshiva, and it comes 1:30, and now the mashgiach gives a knock on the table and says, “Now it’s time for mussar,” so you close your gemara and you open a Chovos Halevavos, and you start talking about a tree. In Shaar Habechina you learn about the trees! Will you say that he’s mischayev benafsho because he stopped learning and started talking about a tree?! No! It depends why you’re talking about a tree. If you’re a man who is an environmentalist, and you’re talking about conservation, like a good liberal; or even if stam you become enthusiastic about nature by itself, then Hakodosh Boruch Hu says, “Look, you’re in the middle of doing something more important. You’re talking in divrei torah. And you feel that Torah is so unimportant that you can interrupt it to talk about something else?!”

But suppose you interrupt your learning in order to praise Hashem; let’s say you heard thunder, and you want to make a blessing, or you saw lightning, and you want to praise Hashem. Is that called interrupting?! Or if you see in the springtime a fruit tree blossoming, there’s a bracha to make. Is that called interrupting?!

So when you interrupt to see the tree and to serve Hashem with the tree, it’s a mitzvah! Certainly you should do it. So if you’re interrupting in order to praise Hashem, and you’re saying, “This is such a beautiful tree that Hashem made. It looks like the trees of Gan Eden. I see the yad Hashem, in this tree,” then of course it’s a mitzvah. And the purpose of seeing that tree is to remind us that there is a Gan Eden after this world. There is a chesed Hashem that is awaiting those who fulfill His commandments in this world. That’s what the tree is. When you see the chesed Hashem in the tree, it’s a reminder, it’s a promise to you, an intimation of the World to Come. Ohhhh! Now that’s a different way of looking at the tree. And therefore, in such a case, that person is rewarded for interrupting.

-- TAPE # 803 (August 1990)

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לעצט פארראכטן דורך מונאוויטש אום מאנטאג יאנואר 21, 2019 3:10 pm, פארראכטן געווארן 1 מאל.
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

ישיבות זאלן דינגען דוקא פרומע ענגלישע טיטשערס

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How much emphasis should yeshivos put on hiring religious teachers instead of irreligious Jews or gentiles? Should more money be spent on salaries in order to bring in frum teachers?

And the answer is that yes, higher salaries must be a priority, and that's how they'll be able to hire the right teachers. Because they must! Suppose a yeshiva was without a roof; they won't remain long without a roof. You can't be without a roof! And a roof costs a pile of money for a big building. But nothing is going to help, because a building must have a roof.

And you can't have a yeshiva with irreligious, secular teachers. It's worse than having no roof. Because they're raining into the childrens' heads, day and night, every type of wicked teaching. And there's no excuse for that. There's no excuse!

-- TAPE # 13 (January 1973)

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לעצט פארראכטן דורך מונאוויטש אום זונטאג יאנואר 20, 2019 4:44 pm, פארראכטן געווארן 1 מאל.
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

חושך שבטו שונא בנו

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חוֹשֵׂךְ שִׁבְטוֹ שׂוֹנֵא בְנוֹ וְאֹהֲבוֹ שִׁחֲרוֹ מוּסָר. (משלי יג, כד)
אַל תִּמְנַע מִנַּעַר מוּסָר כִּי תַכֶּנּוּ בַשֵּׁבֶט לֹא יָמוּת. (שם כג, יג)


מצודת דוד:
חושך: המונע מבנו שבט מוסר הנה לשנאה תחשב כי סופו יצא לתרבות רעה וימות בעוונו.
ואוהבו: האוהב את בנו מייסרו בעת השחר רוצה לומר בילדותו עת יוכל לנטותו לכל אשר יחפוץ.

מוסר: הכאת שבט מוסר.
כי תכנו: אם תכנו בשבט הלא לא ימות בזה ורק הוא צער בעלמא.


Should parents hit their children?

Let me tell you something. What I'm going to say now is my own opinion. But it says in the Tanach that if you love your children, you should smack them. Of course today, unfortunately, it's a wicked world. A meshuganeh world.

I know a nice boy. A frum boy, a frum family, a nice frum father. His father hit him; this is a boy of thirteen, and he calls the police. Can you imagine? A boy calls the police on his father! It's a terrible thing! And the police came to speak with the father. The police should have come and hit the boy! "What are you bothering us for? Your father has a right to hit you!" But no, they wouldn't say that today. They make a committee, child abuse, psychologists visit the home. Meshuga'im!

Another case. A girl went to yeshiva, a frum girls' school. The school has a dress code and this girl decided she didn't want to follow the dress code of her school. Finally they said that she has to leave the school. So I said to the parents, "Why don't you give her a slap and force her to follow the dress code?" So they told me, "Well, she has emotional problems." So the girl became worse and worse. This school expelled her. She went to another school. They expelled her there too. And now they have even bigger trouble with her.

If you want to save your child, sometimes one slap could save your child. One of my own children once didn't dress properly when he was young. I gave him a good slap and never did it happen again. The child never did it again, and he grew up frum and happy. He even thanks me for what I once did to him. A good parental slap is a bracha min hashamayim; it's a blessing from heaven.

Of course, you must do it with chochmah, with wisdom. You can say like this, "My child, I love you. I love you very much, but for what you did, I have to hit you. I should hit you four times, but I'll do you a favor; I'll only hit you two times instead of four. You're getting a bargain!" Whatever it is, there's no such thing as not obeying. A child must obey.

Unfortunately today, it's such a crooked and wicked world, that they say," I'm going to call the child abuse committee." We once had that here too. People in our shul once called in the child abuse people against a couple. And the couple was so angry that they moved away from us because of that. And they were right! Don't use the child abuse committee at all. These are wicked ideas that the modernists have thought up in order to solve problems that in the olden days were solved very easily. Look at the world outside; they haven't resolved anything with their committees. The world is getting worse and worse every day because of them.

-- TAPE # E-240 (October 2000)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

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א שמועס פון מרן רבי אביגדור זצ"ל אויף ט"ו בשבט.

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

כְּתַפּוּחַ בַּעֲצֵי הַיַּעַר כֵּן דּוֹדִי בֵּין הַבָּנִים - טרעפן הקב"ה אין אן עפל

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Can you prove clearly that there is a G-d?

That’s a question that I like to hear. I’m going to prove it clearly right now to you. And I won’t charge extra for it. Now, some of our people here are veterans, but bear with me for the benefit of the newcomers.

One night, I slept in the country. And outside my window, there was a wild cherry tree. Now for months the wild cherries had been available only to birds. If you couldn’t fly or you didn’t want to climb the tree you wouldn’t get them. But that night, all night long, I heard the pit-pat of falling cherries. Pit pat, they were falling on the lawn. Pit-pat, pit-pat, all night long they were falling. And I was thinking, “Why all of a sudden are they coming down?” The cherry was holding on tightly all the spring months. What makes it come loose and come down?

If you study a little bit of botany, you know that a fruit doesn’t fall by accident. Because why doesn’t it fall by accident at the beginning of the season? It first has to become ripe – it has to become sweet. And then, at her same time, it has to acquire a pleasant color. And only then, certain cells start developing in the stem, where the stem is connected to the twig of the tree, certain abscission cells. And it is these cells that cause the fruit to fall.

So the question is, why is it that when the fruit is still unripe, it doesn’t fall down? That is a question that we have to face. And don’t try to dodge that question because that question is of the utmost consequence. Why does the fruit let go only when it’s ripe? You’re not talking here about a hurricane that comes and blows down unripe, green fruits – a random hurricane will blow down the tree too. But why does the fruit fall only when it’s ripe? Every time!

And the answer is, that we couldn’t get up to it otherwise. The tree knows you don’t have wings. The main eaters, the most important eaters, don’t have wings. And that’s why the tree lets go when the food is ripe.

Now pay attention, why is it that before the fruit is ripe, that it’s always green? All unripe fruit is green. Whether the fruit eventually becomes bright yellow, like a banana or an orange; or beautiful purple like grapes, or bright red like apples – whatever happens – but before it’s ripe it’s always green. Why is that?

There’s only one answer. Because when it’s green – first of all why isn’t it something else? Why isn’t it bright yellow when it’s unripe? Why isn’t it bright red when it’s unripe? All over the world wherever you go, you won’t find a single fruit, that when it’s unripe it should be any color but green. You know why? Because green is the color of the leaves. The fruit is hiding among the leaves. When it’s unripe the fruit is saying, “Don’t look at me – I’m not old enough yet.” And it doesn’t fall down. It’s holding on tight. It’s not fit to eat yet. Even if you shake the tree, it wouldn’t come down. Maybe one would – a sick fruit. But all the healthy fruit hold on tight.

It’s only when the fruit becomes ripe, then it acquires an attractive color. Then it says, “Look at me.” And when you look at the tree, you're looking at a miracle! Who hung all those beautiful and luscious fruits on the tree? And they’re packaged in such gay colors!

Now if you never saw an apple tree before – I was a city boy, and the first time I saw an apple tree full of apples it was an apparition to me. A tree with apples on it?! I had never seen apples before except in a basket. Apples hanging on the tree! And they’re all brightly colored! And you give the tree a little shake, and they start tumbling down.

The question now is why is it that this series of adjustments took place? That the apple, all the fruits, when they’re unripe, they’re all green. Do you think that happens by accident? Do you think it’s a coincidence that green is also the color of the leaves? It happens by accident that the fruits can hide among the leaves? And why is it that when a fruit is ripe – and only then – does it acquire a conspicuous color. By accident, apples become red? By accident, bananas become very yellow? By accident, grapes become blue or whatever they are? Why is it? And why is it that when they’re ripe, they’re ready to come down?

And you want some more? Why is it that when you’re finished eating the apple, you come to the inside there’s an area that’s hard to eat, and you’re discouraged from eating it. That’s the ovary – it’s where the seeds are. Because the ovary has in it plastic pieces in order to protect the seeds, [and] if you try to swallow it, it's stuck in your throat; it sticks in your gums. It’s inedible. You can’t eat that plastic. So why is it that when you walk sometimes in the morning, and last night there were gangs roaming the street – boys and girls eating apples – you see apple cores scattered everywhere? And had it not been a paved street, but an earthen field, it would have taken root eventually. What is it that makes people spare the seeds and spit it out for next year’s planting?

It’s like eating a box of cereal and when you get down to the bottom of the box, there’s a coupon there entitling you to another free box. That’s why you spit out the seeds – and that’s what you do, you spit out the seeds – you always spit out the seeds. If you don’t spit out the seeds, they’ll spit themselves out. Try and eat a piece of watermelon, and the seeds shoot out in all directions. They’re made slippery for that purpose.

Now the question is: Why is it that you have seeds in the apples? Why is it that there are seeds in every living thing? And what a seed? That’s also a question – a little question. A seed has within it 100,000 details; all the blueprints for a new apple tree. It’s the chromosomes of the seed, telling it how to make another apple tree; how to produce leaves, and how to produce sap and bark and flowers – all kinds of flowers – and how to produce more apples. More apples with more seeds inside them. All of these plans are in the blueprint of the seed! So the question is: How is that possible? And therefore if you look at a red apple it’s enough proof for you. It’s enough proof for anybody. Nobody can dispute this proof that there’s a Creator with an intelligence that is far beyond the ability of all the scientists put together to even begin to fathom.

-- TAPE #116 (April 1976)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

א חמשה עשר בשבט פירות טיש

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How should we celebrate Tu B'shvat?

There was a minhag in Yerushalayim, I don't know if they do it there today, but in the olden days there was a minhag that chachomim came together the night of Chamisha Asar B'shvat and they ate peiros. But eating is only a superficial act that is meant to awaken your mind to thinking thoughts of Hashem. Because that's what fruits are for - to remind you about Hashem.

The Gemara says (Brachos 44a) that Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish used to go out - it doesn't say when, but they used to go out to Ginosar, and they would eat the peiros of Ginosar. And they ate so much until they almost fainted from overeating. Rabbi Yochanan ate so much that his forehead was slippery and even a fly couldn't land on his forehead; it slipped off his forehead. Reish Lakish, it says there, ate so much that he became wild, almost drunk with happiness. Maybe it was grapes or something like that. Whatever it was, he was wild with thoughts of the chesed Hashem. And finally Rabbi Yochanan had to ask the nasi to send policeman to take Reish Lakish home.

Now we're talking about great men here! The gemara is telling us something here! We have to know that peiros, fruit, are one of the wonderful creations of emunah. Venechmad ha'etz lehaskil. Fruit is most desirable because it brings wisdom. Look at a beautiful orange, or a beautiful apple. Why is the color so beautiful? Is it an accident? It wasn't beautiful when the fruit was still green, when it was sour and unripe. Only when it became fit to eat, then it turned into a beautiful yellow or a beautiful red. Doesn't that show something?! The fruit is a demonstration of the chesed Hashem.

Tosfos explains in one place (Brachos 37a) what it means Borei nefashos rabos v'chesronan. Hashem made many different creatures and supplied them with all of their needs. But in addition to that, al kol ma she'baroso l'hachayos bohem nefesh kol chai, He also provided mankind with luxuries, besides for the things they need. Le’taanug be’olma, just to give us with pleasure. And what are the luxuries? Tosfos says kemo tapuchim, apples for example. You could get along without apples. Apples are like a dessert, they're an extra chesed. Now, the truth is that everything is chesed. The piece of bread is also chesed. But apples are an added chesed. Hashem is not merely satisfied that you shouldn't be hungry. Let's say a guest would come to your house to eat, would you give him a big plate of bread? A pile of bread, a mountain of bread? No; you'll give him something else as well, something to add to the bread. Some butter maybe or something. Whatever it is, something else you're going to have to give him. You can't give him just bread.

So let's say you give him a meal. And since you have a good heart, after the meal you give him some desert too. That shows that you're a real ba'al chesed. And so Hakodosh Boruch Hu gives us fruit too; He's giving us desserts all the time.

So when you pass a fruit stand, don't walk by like a horse walks by. Take a look! Those delectable fruits are resplendent testimonies to the niflaos ha'borei, the wonders of Hashem. A fruit is a miracle! Every fruit has a skin around it, that protects it, that keeps it fresh for some time. And inside when you finish eating that delicious content of the fruit, you find a coupon that entitles you to another package - the seed! You spit out that seed and it's niflaos ha'borei. What that seed has inside it is remarkable! That seed contains more information than the most sophisticated computer!

And therefore you have to know that fruits are a wonderful opportunity to gain emunah and ahavas Hashem. And that's how to eat fruit on Chamisha Asar B'shvat. And that's how you should be eating fruit all year long as well.

-- TAPE # 812 (November 1990)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

Affirmative Action איז נישט אויסגעהאלטן

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Is there anything wrong with the Afican American community striving for equality? Didn't we Jews also try to do the same?

No, there's nothing wrong with that at all. African Americans have the right to strive for equality. There's no question that everyone has the right to better himself and his place in society. Our claim is only that you must make this attempt for equality by legal means - not by power and not by force. We Jews - whatever we gained was not gained by force. It was not gained by burning down cities.

And we also did not request any privileges. The most we wanted was equality. But that we should be offered privileges above the rest of the population never entered our minds. Affirmative action?! Affirmative action - that's one of the euphemistic names of a policy that is used to camouflage a movement that is intended to give privileges to them more than to others. Affirmative action means to give jobs and other privileges only to them - even when it means discriminating against more qualified people. And open admission to schools means to allow anyone to enter, even though that person is not qualified. And the qualified fellow loses out. Such things are absolutely unfair. And that is what is wrong in the present struggle for control of public office. The politicians who support these unfair and wrong policies in order to placate the vandals who are burning down cities are a danger to all of us.

-- TAPE # 62 (April 1975)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

לא תחוס עינך; האב נישט קיין רחמנות אויף די רשעים

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If Hashem is a rachum v'chanun, so why are the sinners suffering? And shouldn't we have pity on the sinners who are suffering?

The answer is heitivu Hashem latovim. We say: "Hashem, do good to the good people." The world was made for good people. So Hashem will not do good to the resha'im unless it is a benefit for the good people. Now to be successful - to acquire da'as - the good people have to see, they have to know, that Hashem does justice. And there is no such thing as justice if the resha'im will be exonerated for their sins and given peace from their punishment. So for the benefit of the good, Hashem punishes the wicked. And that's called rachamim. Yes, it's rachamim for the righteous! Make no mistake about that.

The problem is that we are learning from the outside world, from the newspapers, to be liberal and kindhearted to the resha'im. No! Lo suchos einecho - "Your eyes should have no pity on the wicked." And Hashem is the One who shows us - if not here, then in the Next World - that there is no such thing as pity on the resha'im. If you want pity from Hashem, then you must use your free-will in this world. Don't wait for the Next World because it'll be too late then. The time to gain pity is in this world while you are alive. And pity is not for the resha'im.

-- TAPE E-268 (March 2001)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

נפלאות הבורא איז אויך תורה!

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Is Torah considered something of Hashem's imagination, or does it have intrinsic value?

As far as we're concerned, not only Torah has intrinsic value, but an orange and an apple have intrinsic value, because Hakadosh Baruch Hu's imagination has intrinsic value, too. If Hakadosh Baruch Hu imagined an orange into existence, it has intrinsic value.

And you can spend your lifetime studying that orange, because you'll learn from it the wisdom of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. How wonderful it is that it has a capsule. The orange peel is a capsule that preserves the contents. You could put an orange on your table without refrigeration, and it'll last for days. It's a wonderful capsule, and it's beautiful. The color is appealing for the purpose of making you enjoy what's inside.

Inside is a delicious beverage, and when you cut it into quarters it doesn't spill out. Can you cut a bottle of ginger ale into quarters? It's so planned, that the cells imprison the liquid, so when you cut it into quarters the liquid doesn't spill… a few drops because you rupture some cells, but otherwise it's all there. It's healthful and nourishing, and it's fun too. When you finish there are seeds inside, you spit out the seeds and the seeds are like tickets for a refill. The seeds fall on the ground and another tree grows.

And so, certainly everything has intrinsic value, but compared to Hakadosh Baruch Hu's existence nothing is considered as intrinsically existing.


A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #379
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

משה אמת ותורתו אמת

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Please prove the authenticity of our Torah?

That's a question I like to get!

So we say to the questioner, you have the floor, please disprove it. Please disprove the authenticity of our Torah. TheTorah is here. Here it is, and we are here. We are the nation that claims our fathers gave us this Torah that they received from their fathers, and we received a tradition that Moshe our teacher gave it to them, and our entire nation stood at Har Sinai, and they heard Hakadosh Baruch Hu say to Moshe and give him a mandate in their presence. Moshe Rabbeinu, you're going to speak to this people for Me from now on, and therefore Moshe Rabbeinu when he gave us the Tora, he was mandated by Hakadosh Baruch Hu in the presence of 600,000 males between 20 and 60 years of age, not to mention the elderly ones, the young ones and the women. That's our claim. No nation in the world ever claimed such a claim. Not the Mohammedans. Of course, the Mohammedans claim that the Bible is true because the Jews say so. Christians claim the Bible is true, because the Jews say so. The Vikings didn't have any traditions, the Buddhists didn't have any traditions, they made no such claims.

We are the only ones who claim that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave it to us. And if you'll ask, how do we know that it's true? So we'll ask you a question: How do you know that there was a George Washington? Prove George Washington. So you say there are books. We also have books. We have books, too. So you say Washington was recent and our claims are old. Anybody around here saw George Washington? Anybody saw a man who saw George Washington around here? How do you know he was there? It's emunah; you believe people. So should we believe nations of disorderly people, there were so many shikurim among them, and so many club wielders, so many roughnecks. Such a nation testifies that George Washington was present, and we accept their testimony. Well, there are so many documents; there are a lot of documents. You want documents? Josephus wrote two thousand years ago a big document. So that's thousands of years ago, so that's as good evidence as any evidence that you'll produce for anything that happened three hundred years ago in America.

Therefore we are standing on solid ground; we have a historical tradition. We are not one person, we are a nation, and our nation always was united behind this. We never had a single Jew who disbelieved that Moshe received the Torah from Hashem, up till a hundred fifty years ago. Not the Karaites, not the Sadducees, none of them disbelieved that; they all believed. There wasn't a single Jew up to the time of the German assimilationists and reformers one hundred fifty years ago; there wasn't a single Jew who disbelieved in the Torah. So our entire nation was behind this tradition. Not to mention the fact that the Christians and Mohammedans all say the same thing about our Torah, that we received the Torah.

So therefore if anybody wants to bring proofs against the authenticity of the Torah, we'll give him the floor.


A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #136
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

הערן צרות טאר נישט פאראורזאכן קיין "דיפרעסיע"

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How can a person not be depressed when he hears about so many people who are dying young?

Let me tell you, it's an excuse, it's an alibi. People are looking for a tirutz to be unhappy, that's all it is. The truth is, you don't care much about them, you're looking for an excuse to be unhappy. On the contrary, you should say Baruch Hashem that You protected me. All day long think about that, Hashem protected me! Of course, what can you do? Pray for them. Are you praying for that person? No, you're just showing that you're dissatisfied, asking questions. Why don't you pray for him? In shmonei esrei, in refaeinu, are you praying for him?

And in addition to that you should thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Modim anachnu luch, we thank you Hashem, You saved me and my wife, and my sons and my daughters, and my grandchildren! We don't have such things among us, Baruch ata Hashem ha'gomel chasadim tovim le'amo Yisroel! Are you thinking that? That's one of the purposes. When you hear tzaros, you have to rejoice that you didn't get the tzaros.

Rejoice you say, I have to rejoice? Be mispalel for them, if they need money, help them get money, but you should not lose sight of the fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has protected you, and you have to utilize that to have more simcha in your life. Whenever you hear of a misfortune, think that Baruch Hashem it didn't happen to me. You stand shmonei esrei, you bow down Baruch Ata Hashem, you think, I thank you Hashem.

For what am I thanking You? Nothing at all, you bow down like a robot! Bow down and think, You saved me from what that person has.

Now, we don't know why Hashem did it to that person, Hashem has His reasons, but Baruch Hashem He didn't do it to me. That should be your reaction, and be happy and enjoy it.

How can I enjoy somebody else's tzaros? No, I'm not enjoying it, I'm praying for him. You know what else you can do? You can contribute to his health by giving some money to bikur cholim. Whatever it is you should do...but at the same time, utilize it and understand that Hakadosh Baruch Hu rescued you from that trouble.

A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #309
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

חש בכל גופו יעסוק בתורה

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The Gemara says, “Chash bi’chol gufo ya’asok ba’torah” (Eiruvin 54a). If you are sick, then you should learn Torah in order to heal. Would the Rav say that one can overlook this Chazal and instead go to sleep in order to get better?

When a person is not feeling well, let him look in the Torah. Of course! And what will he see in the Torah? In the Torah he’ll see that it says, “Rapo yi’rapeh.” It says in the Torah that you have to go to the doctor if you are sick. And included in that is that you have to take care of your body so that it can heal. Someone who damages his fellow must pay, among other things, for refuah. He has to pay for that person’s healing. And besides that, the Gemara is full of discussions about healing and health. Everywhere you look, it’s full of healing. And therefore there’s no question that learning Gemara will teach you that you have to make sure that you heal.

However, suppose that you’re not able to diagnose your illness. Or even if it was diagnosed and you’re taking medications. Still, the segulah of learning Torah is also a way to heal. And that’s because Hashem says, “If you’re able to utilize your life for learning Torah, then you deserve to get well and live longer.” If you are not feeling well and you make an effort to be oisek ba’torah anyhow, then you are showing that you know why you’re in this world – you know how to utilize your time in this world – and just because of that, Hakodosh Boruch Hu will give you more time in this world to accomplish.

And therefore learning is a segulah for getting well. However, does that mean that you’ll stop eating?! No, you have to eat anyhow, even if you’re learning Torah. So even if you’re learning, you’ll have to make sure to take your medicines and sleep as much as your body requires to heal.

-- TAPE #E-232

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

ברוך "שאמר והיה" העולם; נישט דורך עוועלוציע!

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How do I respond to someone who shows me the recent article about evolution in the Jewish Action and tells me that evolution is true, but that it was caused by Hashem?

The answer is, Bereishis barah Elokim. And it says there what He did on the first day, and on the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day and Shabbos was the seventh day. The seventh day, not the seventh period of a billion years. Shabbos was the seventh day. A one-day Shabbos. And if it's a one-day Shabbos, then the sixth day was also one day. And the fifth day was one day, and the fourth day as well. That's how all of our kadmonim have learned pshat. And anybody who comes along and says differently is influenced by the resha'im.

Let me explain something to you. Today there is no excuse at all to be influenced by the resha'im. There is a movement of scientists towards a belief in the creation of the world as we believe it. Many scientists - they are Christians but many of them are outstanding scientists - have written many works, books and research papers and scholarly articles, showing that the world is young. It's a young world. There are now many independent ways of showing that. They can show it from the Niagara Falls, according to the breaking down, the erosion, of the rocks over which the falls descend. At that rate, it shows that it is something that happened within thousands of years. It has only been a few thousand years.

In his two great works, Worlds in Collision and Ages and Chaos, Velikovsky has shown that a very great destruction took place recently in this world. That's why in some places they find whales on top of mountains. Whales on top of mountains?! Yes, because there were oceans there. A great flood changes things. Even smaller floods make great changes. The Mabul could change things in quick ways. Changes that others try to explain with millions and billions of years.

Now, why do they try to explain it with millions of years? Not because they have evidence. They have no clear evidence that it was millions of years. They have absolutely no evidence that it was millions of years. It's only because evolution cannot happen without those years. Even the meshuganeh, crazy idea that from one cell a whole organism developed, couldn't happen in those years. It's as stupid as possible. It's like saying that from a fountain pen, a typewriter will develop. Or a computer. They create millions of years because it would take many gradual changes to accumulate - many miraculous changes - in order for an organism to develop. But even that is as silly as can be.

But today there are scientists who show that the world is a young world. So why do you have to be more pious than these gentiles? There are plenty of gentile scientists who say that the world is young and that the world was created in six days. They say that we don't have to look for anything more than six days. And anybody who yields to the outside environment is only being influenced by his assimilation into the outside world. It's the assimilation of your mind into the foolishness and lies of the outside world. We shouldn't yield to the environment. And we have plenty of good reasons not to. First of all, and most important, the Torah tells us the truth. All the Gedolei Yisroel of all the generations never countenanced such a thing like it says in that article. That the Nachmanidies - the Ramban - wouldn't mind saying that Adam and apes came from the same source?! That's such a shtus. An apikorsis. A terrible chillul Hashem what the Jewish Action did!

And it's not only our Torah, our mesorah. But we have scientists - people who have credentials - writers, researchers. And a whole army of them. And they say that there is absolutely no evidence at all for evolution. So, besides our Torah ha'shleimah - and the Torah speaks openly about it - but the facts of science speak to us too. So why listen to the falsified science of those who want to reject the truth? Listen to the true science of the others. And those who listen to the falsified science are just weaklings who are buckling and yielding to the wicked environment.

-- TAPE # E-238 (July 2000)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

ותורת חסד על לשונה

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There's a gemara that the entire Torah is taught to a child just before he's born. Question is, suppose it's a girl, does she also learn the entire Torah?

She is taught the Torah of a girl. There is a big Torah for a girl to learn, a tremendous Torah. A girl doesn't learn technicalities that are not l'maase, but the things that she has to know are endless. You have to know the Torah of good character, of midos tovos, is a tremendous subject. The Torah of emunah, of daas Hashem, is an endless subject; the malochim are never finished: Tomid mesaprim kvod Keil. Now malochim have very good heads, in one minute they can see more than we see in our whole lifetime, and they are always busy talking about the glory of Hashem, that everybody has to study.

Men and women have to know that it's one of their life functions, to recognize Hakadosh Baruch Hu in this world, the kvod Hashem; there's so much to learn about that. The Gra used to say to his daughters, they should always learn mussar seforim; all the mussar seforim are available to girls. If a girl learns all these things, then she is a gaon, she's considered the same as if she would be a gadol hador. She has learned her Torah, she is a success.

Therefore, absolutely, the Torah is taught to boys and to girls, each one according to what he needs to know.

A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #459
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: מיטוואך אוגוסט 01, 2018 10:23 pm

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מונאוויטש האט געשריבן:
How can a person not be depressed when he hears about so many people who are dying young?

Let me tell you, it's an excuse, it's an alibi. People are looking for a tirutz to be unhappy, that's all it is. The truth is, you don't care much about them, you're looking for an excuse to be unhappy. On the contrary, you should say Baruch Hashem that You protected me. All day long think about that, Hashem protected me! Of course, what can you do? Pray for them. Are you praying for that person? No, you're just showing that you're dissatisfied, asking questions. Why don't you pray for him? In shmonei esrei, in refaeinu, are you praying for him?

And in addition to that you should thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Modim anachnu luch, we thank you Hashem, You saved me and my wife, and my sons and my daughters, and my grandchildren! We don't have such things among us, Baruch ata Hashem ha'gomel chasadim tovim le'amo Yisroel! Are you thinking that? That's one of the purposes. When you hear tzaros, you have to rejoice that you didn't get the tzaros.

Rejoice you say, I have to rejoice? Be mispalel for them, if they need money, help them get money, but you should not lose sight of the fact that Hakadosh Baruch Hu has protected you, and you have to utilize that to have more simcha in your life. Whenever you hear of a misfortune, think that Baruch Hashem it didn't happen to me. You stand shmonei esrei, you bow down Baruch Ata Hashem, you think, I thank you Hashem.

For what am I thanking You? Nothing at all, you bow down like a robot! Bow down and think, You saved me from what that person has.

Now, we don't know why Hashem did it to that person, Hashem has His reasons, but Baruch Hashem He didn't do it to me. That should be your reaction, and be happy and enjoy it.

How can I enjoy somebody else's tzaros? No, I'm not enjoying it, I'm praying for him. You know what else you can do? You can contribute to his health by giving some money to bikur cholim. Whatever it is you should do...but at the same time, utilize it and understand that Hakadosh Baruch Hu rescued you from that trouble.

A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #309
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זייער וויכטיג צו חזרן די נקודה.
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

די אידישע שטוב ברויך זיין א חומה בצורה אקעגן מים זרים

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How do we help our children prepare themselves to stand strong against all the negative influences of the outside world?

Well, that's a very good question. One thing I can tell you is, no libraries. Don't go into libraries anymore. And don't bring your children into the libraries. Once upon a time a library was a nice place, by the way. But today it's no good. No good at all! Libraries are dirt today. They are garbage.

Now, once upon a time, the streets in America were kosher streets. The gentile streets; yes. They weren't holy, but they were kosher. You could walk in the streets. Once upon a time a gay man was put into jail. I remember. Gays were put in jail. A vagabond, someone who didn't work and just wandered the streets, was arrested. If a man was a vagabond, just hanging around on the streets, the policeman would yell at him, "What are you doing?!" If he was just hanging around, he would be arrested. Nowadays, they would arrest the policeman for yelling at him.

And so, the world is crazy today. The literature is filthy. Filthy, disgusting ideas. Terrible attitudes and ideas. And you'll find it all in the library. If you let your children go to the library, you're a rotzei'ach, a murderer. I'm sorry to tell you that, but what can I do. To put that filth into their minds is to destroy them.

And I want to tell you that I'm very much worried. "Will Hashem continue to keep quiet about America?" I'm very worried. America is becoming so wicked today, I don't know what to expect. I don't know what's going to happen in the future. I'm worried. Hashem will not continue to keep quiet. How can He?!

And I want to tell you something else. You might not like this, but I'll tell you anyhow. The best countries in the world today are the Arabian countries. Yes, many of the Arabian countries. I have a booklet - a guidebook for gays. I have it at home. It tells you how to travel. So it tells you that when you come to an Arabian country, stay out! It's dangerous for your life to go there. But when you come to Israel, it says here's a place you can go in Israel. And here's another place you can go. It gives addresses. Israel has good places where you can go; that's what it says in that book. The Knesses, that holy group of tzadikim, passed a law that promotes this type of activity, this behavior that Hashem says is a to'eivah, an abomination. They made it very clear that in Israel, what they call the Jewish State, there's nothing wrong at all with being a proud gay. And in America as well, the streets are filled with filth.

Now, what did Hakodosh Boruch Hu do? He gave the Arabian countries oil. You know, there are so many Arabian countries that are soaking in wealth. There are millionaires and multi-millionaires in the Arabian countries. Billionaires! All because of oil. Now, why did Hashem give them oil? It's a reward, I think. I think it's a reward for their attitudes of morality. I'm not saying they're tzadikim. No, no. Not at all. They are murderers. Vicious, blood-thirsty people. And they deserve a big mapalah - a big downfall. But because there is so much morality there, and they're not hefker like in Eretz Yisroel and in America, so Hashem is rewarding them.

Now, Hakodosh Boruch Hu despises the movies. No movies! And there are no filthy movies allowed in the good Arabian countries. No movies. And you'll notice that in Williamsburg there are no movies either. Unless maybe in the Latin section, there are no movies in Williamsburg. Because Jews, good Jews, don't go to the movies. In Boro Park, it's hard to find a movie theatre. But in the Arabian countries there are no movies at all. Movies are a sakanah, a danger.

And not only that - even the newspapers are a sakanah. And therefore, if you want to protect your children, make sure to separate them from all the rish'us, all the wickedness, of the world. As much as possible, separate them from the stupidity of the outside world. Don't let it come into your home. Internet, computers, radios. Keep them out as much as possible.

Fill your house with simchah, with simchah shel mitzvah. Make your home a place of the happiness of mitzvos. Purim should be a great day of happiness and excitement. Chamishah Asar B'shvat you should celebrate. Chanukah should be made into a big simchah. You should take all the opportunities that you can and make them happy occasions. Shabbos, of course. And every Yom Tov. They should be made into happy occasions. Always fill your home with simchah shel mitzvah so that the children should see that the home of Hashem is a place of happiness - a place of fulfillment. To be a frum Jew is an opportunity for good times. Always make celebrations in the home. The melavah malkah, if possible, is a very fine opportunity to make children happy. And once they see that the home is a home of simchah, they won't look in other places.

The truth is that there is no simchah like a frum environment. It's a real simchah for the neshamah. And children can be taught after a while to feel that that the real happiness of life - the true happiness - is only in a frum environment. And they begin to realize that the outside word smells bad. It really smells bad out there and you have to teach them that. Wicked people smell bad. You see wicked people and they really smell bad. You see women undressed in the street and they smell terrible. That's all. That's what you have to teach them. That wicked people smell wicked.

And after a while they will gain the proper attitude. They look down at all the wicked people and all the wicked attitudes and ideas of the wicked world. They despise them. And once they despise them, they're not going to try to imitate them.

-- TAPE # E-194 (June 1999)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

ואל תביאני לידי נסיון ולא לידי בזיון

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We pray every day not to be subjected to temptations and not to be subjected to tribulations. So Rabbi Grozovsky asks, but that's our purpose of being in the world (to be tested)?

Our job is, to avoid temptations and tribulations. They're going to come anyhow, [but] we shouldn't seek it. We have to run away from temptation, and we have to try to protect ourselves from all kinds of suffering; that's our job in life. Now why that is, it's simple. Suppose you have a fellow Jew and he's suffering from a toothache, and you can do something for him. Shall you say no, suffering is good, yisurim are good for him?! No, your job is to help him out, uh'zov ta'azov imo, help him out with his burden.

Suppose that Jew is not our fellow man, the Jew is myself, is it any less a mitzvah that I should have pity on this Jew? On the contrary, it's more mitzvah, because a man has to have more pity on himself. The closer the relative is the more he should have pity. Therefore, I have to protect myself against suffering; it's my duty. The body is not mine; I'm responsible to Hakadosh Baruch Hu for this body that He entrusted to me, I have to protect the body.

Therefore I have to guard the body against suffering and against ordeals. But don't worry, there will be ordeals aplenty, and tribulations will come no matter what you do to avoid them.


A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #328
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

ודע מה שתשיב

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How could you prove to a small believer that the Torah was Divinely given and wasn't man-made?

Once a Rosh Yeshiva was sitting in his house, in America - this story is about 50 years ago. He was a European Rosh Yeshiva; he was on Henry Street sitting in his room where he was staying in America. A man came in with his son. The son brought his father, and the father said to the Rosh Yeshiva; "How do I know that the Torah was given at Sinai"?

So the Rosh Yeshiva said, “Do you believe there was a Napoleon?”
“Oh yes,” said the man, “certainly.”
The Rosh Yeshiva said, “Did you see Napoleon?”
“No, never saw him.”
“Did you see anybody that saw him?”
“No.”
“How do you know that there was a Napoleon?”
“Everybody said so!”

So he said, “You know, there a lot of people in this world who never heard of Napoleon, a lot of people. Millions in India, millions, never heard of Napoleon. Millions!”

There are more people that heard about giving the Torah at Sinai, than heard of Napoleon. So if you believe what everybody says, that there was a Napoleon, means you're going after a great number of witnesses, or people who are handing over traditions. There's a still greater number, because all the Mohammedan's say that Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai; there are millions and millions of Mohammedan's.

All the Christians say that Hashem gave the Torah to the Jewish people at Har Sinai, and the Jewish people surely say that. So you have so many witnesses. So therefore unless you stop believing in Napoleon or you stop believing in George Washington, then you have to believe in the Torah. Nobody saw George Washington today. Nobody saw anybody that saw George Washington, and still when Washington's Birthday comes they talk about George Washington all the time. They are convinced that he was there.

Oh, there are books of George Washington, you say.

There are books about Moshe Rabbeinu, certainly. There's the whole Torah that talks about Moshe Rabbeinu. Shmos and Vayikra and Bamidbar and Devorim, and Sefer Yehoshua, and Sefer Shoftim, they all talk about Moshe Rabbeinu constantly. Shmuel Aleph and Shmuel Bais, “you should walk in the ways of the Toras Moshe”, and Melachim Aleph and Melachim Bais, and then comes Yeshaya and Yirmaya, many books speak about him So we have books upon books, besides the books of the gentiles. So therefore, how can you prove to a non-believer that there was a Napoleon? If you'll prove to him that there is Napoleon, then al achas kama v'kama, you can tell him he can safely believe there was a Moshe Rabbeinu and a Matan Torah.


A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #71
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

א תורה'דיגע בליק אויף ורפא ירפא

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They hear sometimes from me great respect and admiration for the members of the medical profession, yet I criticize the institutions of higher learning such as the college and university campuses. Now, doesn't the Torah say vrapo yerapei, you should heal? Which means you need doctors.

I think this kashe is not too difficult to explain; it's a remarkable thing that this illustrates tonight's point exactly. The medical profession is actually one of the great demonstrations of the glory of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, and I'll give you a moshol taken from the sefer Cheshbon Hanefesh, a great sefer by the way.

The Torah says vrapo yerapei, mikan shenitein reshus lrofeh lrapei, from here we learn that a doctor has permission to heal. Isn't that remarkable? You need permission to heal, not merely it's a mitzvah, but you need permission. Now listen to what he says. Some people say that you need permission, because if Hashem made somebody sick, then who are you to undo what He did? That's wrong, that's not the pshat.

Shlomo Hamelech we know made a famous throne. You'll find a description of his throne in Targum Sheini on Megilas Esther. He made a remarkable throne that was all clockwork; Shlomo had a good head. His throne was made that when you stepped on the first step of the throne, two lions on each side turned their heads and roared at you. It was an ordeal, it was all like clockwork. On each step as you walked up, other animals did their thing, and when you got to the top and you sat down on the throne, you pressed down on something and a dove came out and lowered the crown on your head. It was a remarkable piece of machinery.

The only one who knew how it was made was Shlomo, because he put his head into it; it was his recreation. So the Cheshbon Hanefesh says, imagine Shlomo Hamelech is away for a while, and something went wrong with the throne. It's a catastrophe because this throne was a world treasure, a unique treasure!. Everybody is saddened and they don't know what to do, and the call goes out in the town, in Yerushalayim.

Now there is a poor man with a good heart, he's a tinsmith, he puts patches on your roof, if your roof leaks he puts tin patches on your roof; he knows how to use tin a little bit. He heard what was doing in the king's palace, so he packed some pieces of tin and a hammer and some tacks, and put it in a carpet bag and came and knocked on the palace gates and he said, "I heard what's doing and my heart hurts me, I volunteer to fix the king's throne."

Would they let him look at the throne, would they even let him approach the throne? It's a danger, he would give it one bang and he would ruin it, they would never let him get that close to the throne. So the question is what is more complicated, Shlomo Hamelech's throne or the human body? The human body is complications upon complications; the smallest thing in it has so many processes that we don't even know how to begin describing them. It's remarkable that every time they publish a medical journal, they are revealing more and more depth in each subject. It's accelerated today, which means last week they didn't know these things, last year they were ignorant of fundamental things. It's speeding now, the knowledge.

So let's say, 30 years ago you went to a physician, he had no idea of these things, 30 years ago I don't know if the medicines of today were known, he went with complete trust to the physician. Now there should've been a law against it, nobody should be a physician, they don't know anything. Thirty years ago a physician was an ignoramus, today if he came back to this world and he had a conversation even with someone in medical school today, they'd laugh in his face. He was ignorant of the elementary things, but we walked in with respect and we let him do whatever he wanted.

So the question is how could you do such a thing? Don't forget, today's physicians will be considered ignoramuses fifty years from now, so how could you trust them? The answer is, Hakadosh Baruch Hu made a decree, mikan shenitein reshus l'rofeh l'rapei, I give permission, let him bungle and I'll try to help him out.

Therefore we don't know anything about medicine just the most superficial things on the surface, we are scratching the surface. We have to respect doctors because Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants them to do a job; they are His messengers. So if they have yiras Hashem and they are doing it l'shem shamayim, a doctor can be a malach! Therefore a doctor really could be a source of inspiration, because the doctor sees things that you don't see; he sees the marvels of the body. There is so much that a doctor knows that you don't have a chance of knowing, a doctor can be intoxicated with Hashem! He sees the miracles in everything, how things are complicated and purposeful.

But what do they do, they take this garment which is made to advertise the greatness of Hashem, and they use that as a mechitza and cover-up, not to see. Therefore up till now the doctors have been the most ardent advocates of atheism.


A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #460
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

טוב מעט תחנונים בכוונה

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The rabbi said that in our time, especially in America, we're so busy with work and other things that we don't spend enough time in the morning on prayers. Is it better this way, I mean praying without much concentration, or are we better off just not praying at all?

No, everybody should continue to pray that way; only that at least for the first bracha, they should put in all they have. In the first bracha, the blessing which concludes with the words Boruch atoh Hashem, Magen Avrohom, you should be moiser nefesh! Put all your koichos into it! Because that bracha is m'akeiv according to the din, it’s very important to at least concentrate by the first bracha in shemonah esrei. The rest, if a person is ambitious he can undertake a program; every day he should try to do a little more, and by the time he's in his sixties or seventies maybe he'll be trained to keep his mind concentrated on the davening.

It's a great pity! Because when we pray without any thought, a big part of our lives is wasted. If we would learn, first of all, what it means - you have to learn what the words mean. There are deep things there and they deserve to be studied. By the way, I would like to talk about this all the time, but I know it would be boring for you. On tefillah, I would like to talk for a whole year. An entire year only on the subject of prayer. We could take every word and analyze it; we could study it deeply and it would be worth every minute. I have it written down at home; it’s one of my specialties.

But whatever it is, it's a career that is available for every Jew and it's a tragedy that lives are being wasted. I said that it's a cancer, the sickness of what we are doing with our davening today. The truth is that it’s one of the greatest failings in Jewish life today; and therefore, to restore tefillah to its proper place should be one of our highest aspirations.

-- TAPE # R-28 (February 1973)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

מיר אדער Yeshiva University

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Should I discourage my son from going to Yeshiva University?

It depends. It depends where else he wants to go, what other places are under consideration. If he wants to go to a worse place, then don't discourage him from going to Yeshiva University. But if he wants to go to the Mirrer Yeshiva then, by all means, you should discourage him from going to Yeshiva University. Actually, if he wants to go to Mirrer Yeshiva, then you should sell the roof from over your head in order to help your son go to that yeshiva. Because you're doing it for yourself. The biggest nachas, the biggest success as a parent is to have a son who is a ben Torah.

So pull your sons out of the colleges; don't have any false dreams of careers for them. Put them into places of Torah and keep them there as long as you can. And that will be your happiness and your success in life.

-- TAPE # 58 (March 1975)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

שולחן דומה למזבח

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In what way is a shulchon domeh l'mizbeiach?

When you sit at the shulchan every day, you have to know that you are serving Hakadosh Baruch Hu. First of all, you have to eat l'shem Shamayim. When you eat you're demonstrating your gratitude to Hashem. M'chalkeil chaim b'chesed, why does Hashem feed the living with chesed? Ba'vur Shmo hagadol, for the sake of His great name, He gives you food for the sake of His great name.

As you eat, you marvel at this nes; food is a special material that nobody in the world is able to manufacture. No company, no chemist, no laboratories, can make food. They can change one food to another, but nobody can make food, it's a nes. It's a material that is able - when you ingest it, it becomes transformed into a thousand different materials, much more than a thousand, and each one goes to a different address in the body to replenish the materials that are missing by being worn out by use.

When you put a piece of bread in your mouth, it's beginning a very long and complicated journey; it's a nes. So as you eat the bread you're saying, m'chalkeil chaim b'chesed, it's a chesed... What's the purpose of the chesed? Ba'vur Shmo hagadol, for the sake that we should recognize His great name. Now that's a mizbeiach. You're sitting at the table and you are working on avodas Hashem, to recognize Hashem's great name.

What's greater than that? You think it's a small thing for a person to be oisek in a'chila l'shem Shamayim? And he's thinking of the great lessons that he learns from food. The nes of food, hamotzi lechem min ha'aretz, how does it come out of the earth? And all the complications of this great achievement. So by eating you can become very great, if you know how to eat properly.

In addition to that, sometimes your table is a mizbeiach of chesed. Sometimes you bring in somebody, an orach, a meshulach from Eretz Yisroel - if he trusts you for kashrus - and he sits down at your table. Do you know what you are doing? It's a tremendous gift. Gedola Hachnosas orchim yoser m'hakabolas pnei hashchina (Shabbos 127:1). You took one of my children, and you brought him into your home, and you gave him a meal, it's as great as kabolas pnei Hashchina. So therefore the shulchan is actually a mizbeiach.

The old-time people didn't let their children sit on the table; if a little boy wanted to sit on the table just for a prank, the mother chased him off. "Don't sit on the table, the table is kadosh". And that's the truth; a Jewish table is kadosh. Only kosher food can go on that table, and around the table they sit and they say brachos; sometimes they learn at the table too. A Jewish table is kodesh kodoshim. The trouble is we are so accustomed to having it that we lose sight of the importance of a Jewish table.

The table deserves to be photographed, there should be pictures taken of it and the mementos should remain forever and ever. A table in a Jewish home is this scene where they made the Seder of Pesach, it's the scene where they made seudas Purim, they celebrated Yom Tov around the table, it's an avodas Hashem table. There were guests at the table, orchim; they brought up children at the table; they taught derech eretz at the table. At the table the father inquired of the son how he's learning, he's making an inspection of their behavior in the cheder, he gets the report at the table; very important a Jewish table. So no matter how you will understand it the table is kodesh kodoshim, it's certainly a mizbeiach.

That's why we have salt. When you make hamotzi, you dip the bread in the salt, al kol korboncha takriv melach, for every offering at that table, at that mizbeiach, do it with salt, to show us that it's a mizbeiach and so holy to Hakadosh Baruch Hu no less than a mizbeiach.


A Moment with Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt"l #461
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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

אויפנעמען 'היטשעס' ביי א באס סטאפ

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If people are waiting for a Jewish-owned bus, and I'm passing by and I could give them a ride for nothing or for less money, should I do it? Or do I have to take into account that I'll be hurting the Jew who owns the bus company?

For less money, I don't know what to tell you. But if you can give them a ride for nothing, don't hesitate. Don't hesitate! gemillas chessed, even though somebody else would make money from that, but your mitzvah of gemillas chessed gives you a right to do it for nothing. No question about that. Just don't tell this to the bus man.

-- TAPE #870

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

כהנים קפדנים/זריזים

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Chazal tell us that kohanim are easily angered. Why is that so?

The answer is that kohanim zerizim heim - kohanim by nature act with an emotional alacrity (Shabbos 20a). You know, kohanim have a very big responsibility. They are the designated Torah teachers - the spiritual leaders of Klal Yisroel. Now, that responsibility requires that they should respond quickly to every situation. They must be on constant guard to defend the Torah ideals. Avodas Hashem is so important to them that they are zerizim. They are all "bnei Torah and chareidim li'dvar Hashem." That's what Rashi says "zerizim" means (Rashi, ibid.).

Now, when people are zerizim they can be zerizim for all good things - chesed, mitzvos. But once you're a zariz your emotions are always on edge. Even though you are emotionally on edge to do good things, sometimes people misuse their emotional fervor and they become emotional and excited for wrong things as well. But kohanim are not emotional for wrong things b'etzem. B'etzem they are emotional and excited for good things. That's how they are supposed to use these emotions. But sometimes because of this emotional sensitivity, a kohen will get angry. A kohen might tell his wife, "I'm going to give you a get." Now, he doesn't mean it. He got overly excited. Therefore the gemara tells us that when a kohen gives a get it must be get mekushar, not a get pashut. A get mekushar you have to write one line and then sew it up. Then you write another line and sew it up. Hopefully by the time the sofer is almost done writing, so the kohen has already cooled off and changed his mind. We want to give him a chance to cool off and change his mind.

But not because kohanim should be that way. Kohanim are zerizim - emotional zerizim. Hashem made them with a certain nervous excitement. But they can just as well use it for good things too. That's really the purpose. Some tzadikim are full of nervous excitement to do good things. Not to do something that's not good. It's only that when you have that tevah, that nature of a nervous excitement, you have to beware that it should be used only in a good way.

-- TAPE # E-268 (March 2001)

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זיך איינגעשריבן אום: זונטאג נאוועמבער 22, 2015 6:08 pm

רחמנות האבן אויף א גוי

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If I hear about a tragedy that happens to a goy, is it a good trait of character to feel bad for him?

There are two madreigos, two levels of sympathy. Suppose, chalilah, something happened to your brother - a small thing - would you sympathise with him more than you would sympathise with a stranger? Yes, of course. Every Jew is your brother. With your brother you have to sympathise more. Now, a stranger also, yes. Even a cat; when a cat gets run over, it's tzar b'alei chayim, it's a pity since it's a living thing.

So when you see an ambulance passing by or you hear a siren, don't ignore it. You should say, "If it's a Jew, chas ve'shalom, he should have a refuah she'laima." You never thought about that, did you?

So someone asked me a question: "What about if it's a goy?" I said, "If a goy is standing there, would a goy say that?" Imagine if I'm an Italian, would I say, "If it's an Italian, he should have a refuah she'laima"? They don't say that. So why should we bother about them? We're not going to bother about them. If there's an Italian in an ambulance, and there's another Italian standing there, would the Italian say he should have a refuah she'laima? Ah nechtiga tug! So why should I? But still, it's a pity.

I was once standing in a street and a car was parked. The car got loose. The car was on the sidewalk and it started rolling down the sidewalk, and a black boy was just in front of it. I shouted to the black boy, "MOVE AWAY!" I saved his life. I'm not sorry I did it. Tzar b'alei chayim. I should see a black boy get run over?! I don't love him so much. He's not my brother. But still, it's a pity. Now, I wouldn't be mechalel shabbos for him. You can't be mechalel shabbos for a goy. But for a Jew you are mechalel Shabbos. It's your brother! Achicha! Your brother is different. But certainly you should have pity on people. Certainly! V'rachmov al kol maasov. You have pity on everybody.

-- TAPE # E-217 (April 2000)

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