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23 Elul 5774 - September 18, 2014 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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At
The Center of the Universe
At The Center of the Universe
by Mordechai Plaut

NOTICE
Next week, the week of Rosh Hashonnoh, we are not planning to produce an issue. The next planned issue is for Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, 8 Tishrei, 5775/October 2. Kesivah vechasimah tovoh!

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Hundreds of Farmers Attend Kabbolas Shmittah Event

Amidst heightened fervor and anticipation, thousands of gibborei koach farmers and their families from all over Eretz Yisrael, all geared up to usher in the Sabbatical year, attended a momentous event of Kiddush Hashem which took place this Wednesday afternoon in the Tzipori Bakfar auditorium in Kibbutz Chofetz Chaim. The event was initiated by Keren Hashevi'is and was attended by a roster of Torah leaders who came to boost the morale of these farmers for the upcoming year when they will faithfully fulfill the exalted mitzvah of leaving the land fallow throughout the seventh year. Modeling itself along our relationship to the seventh day of the week, the event was called to greet and accept the Sabbatical year, a week before it actually begins.

"Those Possessing Impure Devices are In Great Danger on Yom Kippur"

In a rare and vary sharply-worded letter published this past Monday, written in his own holy land, HaRav Chaim Kanievsky warned, "Surely those who have in their possession a treif communication device are in grave danger on Yom Kippur."

Weapons Hidden in Toys, Bechasdei Hashem Discovered in Time

Through great Providence, a terrible threat was foiled this week at the Ben Gurion airport: a 36-year-old Israeli of Uzbek nationality and an Uzbek woman tried to take dolls and toys filled with bullets onto a flight to Uzbekistan. Their purpose was apparently to test the security setup in the Ben Gurion airport in preparation for a possible major terrorist attack.

Memorial for HaRav Ovadiah Yosef zt"l

The members of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah of Shas have issued a moving call to the public to turn out in great numbers for the memorial rally for the Rishon leZion, the late HaRav Ovadiah Yosef, which will take place on motzei Tzom Gedaliah. It will be a chizuk gathering for the upcoming Yom Kippur and a tribute to one who sacrificed his entire life for toil in Torah and its dissemination, and outreach to tens of thousands of Jews throughout the world.

Cheshbon Nefesh - Not Excuses!

Let us imagine a person living several centuries back, sitting and contemplating the upcoming Rosh Hashonoh. He thinks and says: "Ribono Shel Olom, I truly wish to serve You and to study Your Torah all day and keep its commandments. But life's circumstances do not allow this. I must get up each morning and go out to work, for if I don't put in my day's work, I won't have what to eat. If, at the end of the day, I wish to study, I find it difficult since it is dark in the house, and in the summer, unbearably hot. The humidity makes me perspire heavily and I am bothered by pesky flies and mosquitoes. If I do sit down to study and get thirsty, I have to go all the way to the well to fetch some water. And then, the well water must be strained because it is stagnant.


The Maggid of Zaloshitz Rabbi Yosef Moshe Shapira, zt"l


In honor of his yahrtzeit, 24th Elul (5575)

A hushed silence in the beis medrash. The Rebbe begins to speak, weaving a droshoh of dramatic stories and lessons. The audience laughs, cries and sighs alternately as the messages of repentance and serving Hashem are brought home. The maggid has made his mark here in this town and is now ready to move on.

From Our Archives


Opinion and Comment
Smoking on Yom Tov is Prohibited MideOraisa

by Yated Ne'eman Staff

The following original halachic rulings were recently collected by an individual active in the area. To HaRav Yochonon Sofer shlita,

I received your letter. With regard to smoking on Yom Tov I published my opinion several years ago that in our day there is no way to permit smoking on yom tov. -- Yosef Sholom Eliashiv (found in Kovetz Teshuvos II:32)


Opinion and Comment
Bein Hashmoshos: A Possible Issur DeOraisa

by Yated Ne'eman Staff

After extensive research, including both written and verbal discussions with many worldwide renowned gedolei horo'oh, it is clear that one should refrain from doing any melochos deOraisa during bein hashemoshos (from sunset until nightfall) on every motzei Yom Tov. In chutz la'Aretz this applies to bein hashemoshos from both Yom Tov Rishon leSheini and motzei Yom Tov Sheini.


Feature
A Yom Kippur of HaRav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk

As heard by HaRav Yitzchok Zeev Diskin zt'l from Maran HaRav Yitzchok Zeev Soloveitchik zt'l, the Griz, who was involved in the story.

The Griz once told his talmidim that they cannot know what the true desire of Heaven is. In this story, we see gedolei olom who spent much of the Yomim Noraim one year in strenuous efforts to save two simple Jews. For the most part, the circumstances were clear and the halochoh was clear. They acted as they did, without hesitation, according to the principles of Torah. The unfolding tale also illustrates how, sometimes, hishtadlus is one thing and success is another. Hashgochoh makes things happen in ways that are unanticipated, if we only do as we must.


Feature
Never Remove Your Love from Us!

by A. Gefen

Oozing Wounds

Yeshivas Chevron, on the first night of Rosh Hashonoh 5690 [75 years ago, just over a month after the great pogrom in Chevron].

The atmosphere is serious and solemn, as befits this night. Yet here, it is oppressively so. The cause of the extra tension is not the Rosh Hashonoh that is about to be ushered in but the thought of the preceding one. That was when the dreadful, awesome decree was propounded, whose execution ten months later left all those presently filling the hall of the Beis Hava'ad Hakeloli as survivors.


Feature
Comfort on the Tablets of Our Hearts

by Rabbi Mordecai Plaut based on a shiur of a rosh yeshiva in Yerushalayim

As we read the seven haftorahs of comfort that lead up to the Yomim Noraim, these insights into the true meaning of true comfort should prove very valuable.

Part IV

Part I discussed the fact that the seven haftorahs that we read from Tisha B'Av until Rosh Hashonoh show that consolation provides a crucial bridge that takes us from the Churban to the Tikkun that we have on Yom Kippur, equivalent to our receiving the Second Luchos on that day. However, we do not even understand what consolation is and how it could be possible. How can we console someone in the midst of a loss? Consolation does not mean distraction, so how is such a thing possible?




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