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This Google Custom Search looks only in this website. Heichal HaTorah - Hakosel Hamaarovi: A New Public Beis Medrash near the Kosel
In wake of the tremendous demand of the Torah public, it has been decided to open each Thursday evening, leil Shishi, the Heichal HaTorah - Kosel Maarovi area near the Kosel square so that the thousands who come to this remnant of the Beis Hamikdash can study Torah in tranquility and clarity without disturbance.
At this place, one can avail oneself of the thousands of volumes of a Torah library on Shas, Rishonim and Acharonim, as well as works on Jewish philosophy and Mussar.
A new proposed law allows every tenant the right to install a Shabbos water pump at his expense without requiring the consent of all the other tenants. As a result, a delegation from Mishmeres HaShabbos paid a visit, together with MK Rabbi Yaakov Asher, the initiator of the law, to the home of the Slobodka Rosh Yeshiva to seek his blessing for this fine achievement. The law was imperative since beforehand, Shabbos observers were prevented from installing a kosher pump unless all the tenants agreed to it.
Attorney Yehuda Cohen explained that according to the new proposed law, a Shabbos arrangement can be installed for pumps in residential buildings, similar to the existing rule for lighting where special lighting need not require consent of all the neighbors - but could be installed at a tenant's own cost.
On Friday June 24, the Supreme Court of the United States announced that it had overruled Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision establishing a woman's constitutional right to abortion. Agudath Israel of America welcomes this historic development.
Agudath Israel has long been on record as opposing Roe v. Wade's legalization of abortion on demand. Informed by the teaching of Jewish law that fetal life is entitled to significant protection, with termination of pregnancy authorized only under certain extraordinary circumstances, we are deeply troubled by the staggering number of pregnancies in the United States that end in abortion.
America is up in arms about a US Supreme Court decision. Former president Donald Trump, who has not yet said his last word, succeeded during the four years of his tenure to effect a revolution in the makeup of the judges in the US Supreme Court.
In America, judges are not chosen by an inner clique like in little Israel, but by the sitting president, as it has been conducted for the past many years. Nor is there any mandatory age for retirement; rather, judges can willingly resign or leave the position through a "call from On High".
Thus, a president cannot always appoint judges or affect the makeup of the court. During Trump's office, three judges left the court, so that of the nine seats, he was able to appoint three new judges of conservative leanings in the spirit of the Republican Party, and create a solid majority of conservative judges, six all told, vs. three liberal ones.
Dr. Nosson Birnbaum: The First Prominent Modern Baal Teshuvah
This year marks the eighty-fifth yahrtzeit of Dr. Nosson Birnbaum. One of the secular founders of the Zionist movement, but later a lay leader of the early Agudas Yisroel, Dr. Birnbaum also was one of the first to return from secularism to religion. His story and his thought are of gripping interest and even importance to us today.
Part IV
The next installment in the biographical material about Dr. Nathan Birnbaum, seminal figure in turn-of-the-century Jewish life. We have learned of Dr. Birnbaum's selfless dedication to his people, and his eventual recognition of the truth of Torah. Our story picks up here after Dr. Birnbaum's return to Torah ideals and full shemiras mitzvos.
VII. Emissary To Klal Yisroel
News of Birnbaum's teshuva spread around the Jewish world: the modern Jewish Nationalist was now laying tefillin and keeping Shabbos and kashrus just like an old-time yid. Not only that; he was pouring fire and brimstone on the "idolatrous Jews," his one-time cronies.
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Outstanding Articles From Our Archives
Saga of a Returning Seminary Girl
by Debby Friedman
Part I
This true story happened many years ago, before the age of credit cards and modern telecommunications technology that would have settled this story without the drama. Though I am now a grandmother, I will never forget the Hand of Hashem that guided me safely home from my seminary year in Eretz Yisroel.
It was the end of August 1974. There I was, all of 18 years old, making my way back to Los Angeles. Feeling pretty miserable over leaving, since Eretz Yisroel had become so much a part of me, I made my way to the airport. The thought of not knowing when I would be back was pretty painful. Every possible second had been squeezed out before the inevitable departure. Now, responsibility required my presence in L.A. where I had been hired to teach.
My luggage consisted of two big suitcases, my 12-string guitar and a couple of duffel bags. Approaching the ticket counter, I handed my ticket over and awaited instructions. Boy, was I in for a surprise!
"I regret to inform you but due to the war in Cyprus, all flights are being rerouted through Europe," the ticket agent said.
Flowering Societies
by Gita Gordon
We have in Netanya a mass of yellow flowers that have been planted along the cliffs. They are there for two reasons. The first is to cling to the sandy soil and so, prevent erosion of the cliffs. The second is that they add beauty and color to the surroundings.
These flowers are familiar to me. When I went to school in a country village in South Africa, these selfsame flowers grew in profusion in untended fields. It was the custom in those days occasionally to take flowers from the garden to the teacher. In that hot dry climate, the growing of flowers was something that took time and money, so this didn't happen all that often. On most days, the classroom was bare and undecorated, but on some days, roses stood in a glass pot, or geraniums or marigolds. But never, ever, this beautiful bright yellow flower, growing in abundance and considered a weed.
I always thought of them as beautiful and delicate and could never understand why they weren't considered good enough to brighten our classroom. Here, in Netanya, I see that someone shares my feeling about their beauty.
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