A Jewish Mystery

FICTION

Bilha, the cook, stood close to the silver-colored counter and quickly cut cucumbers for a salad.

Miriam, her assistant, was busy washing a large pile of dishes near the huge sink.

"I think that I'll go talk to the director again today when I finish working," Miriam said. "It's impossible to continue like this!"

Thoughts on Shir Hashirim

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From Our Archives

FEATURES Glimpses of the Mashgiach, HaRav Shlomo Wolbe zt'l, the Eighteenth of Nisan 5766, his First Yahrtzeit By Rabbi H. Helma His Written Legacy HaRav Wolbe's seforim became basic works for every aspiring ben Torah. One of the visitors to the shivah told the family that although he hadn't known the Mashgiach he wouldn't have been able to make his way through life without the help of Alei Shor. He said that at the huge levaya on Chol Hamoed Pesach he asked a number of people how they were so well-acquainted with the Mashgiach that they felt they should accompany him. Most of them replied that they only knew him through his seforim, which had made a strong impression on them.

FEATURES The Vilna Gaon: No Secret Escaped Him by Rav Dov Eliach In his three-volume work HaGaon (that was put together under the supervision of HaRav Chaim Kanievsky) Rav Dov Eliach brought together an enormous amount of material to try to give us some concept of what the Vilna Gaon was. The Gaon was outstanding in many aspects of human development. Our concepts do not do justice to what the Gaon really was. The section printed here is taken from Chapter Five, and is centered around the breadth of knowledge of the Gaon. When reading it, one should keep in mind that this is just one of many areas in which the Gaon lived at a such an outstanding level. * The Chazon Ish wrote, " . . . his level of Divine inspiration and the like, and his diligence and breadth of knowledge, in profound depth, in all the Torah that is now in our possession - we cannot imagine how it is even possible" (Kovetz Igros).

FEATURES The Former Mormon Bishop Who Teaches Torah Today - The unbelievable story of Rabbi Yosef Fontana of Jerusalem by Chaim Arbeli When thousands of faithful Jews protested the building of the Mormon Center in Jerusalem, he was establishing new Mormon congregations worldwide: a successful bishop (!) in the French Mormon Church who discovered Judaism. His sudden departure from the Church left the priests astonished. He now thanks Hashem for the persecution he suffered from the Argentinean authorities, which led him to discover Judaism. The following interview was conducted in Spanish through an interpreter, because although Rabbi Fontana knows loshon hakodesh, he felt more comfortable telling his life's story in his mother tongue. "No hay tiempo para ferdar tiempo (There is no time to lose time)," Rabbi Yosef Fontana admonishes. Behind this wise statement, which he created, lies a long life experience. Born in Argentina 62 years ago to a Catholic family of Italian descent, he entered a Catholic elementary school and progressed to university, where he majored in philosophy and psychology.