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HaRav Aryeh Levi shlita Talks about Elul
"We now find ourselves in the second week of Elul," says HaRav Arye Levi, "and surely we wish to properly maximize these crucial elevated days. We must internalize the realization that Elul requires individual effort in connecting to Hashem.
I don't want to speak starkly, but if anyone here thinks that he can suffice with this or another talk as fulfilling his obligation, this is not 'Elul'. I do come to preach Mussar to you, my audience, or to the readership, but to tell you what to do. Many words of advice are said for reinforcement in one way of another, and this is very powerful, but we must not forget that it must be followed by incorporation of deeds by each of us individually. We must aim at transforming them into an integral part of us, which truly demands great effort and genuine willpower.
I want to expand on this: every sincere Torah student mobilizes himself during Elul according to his spiritual level. The very first thing upon awakening is to say 'Modeh Ani' and one must remind himself upon the restoration of his soul, that the 'Ani', is his personal one, representing his individual mission in life coupled with his innate gifts and talents. One can only begin to work upon himself after he acknowledges his unique abilities and capacities.
We see this during Elul. The first word of the acronym of Elul is contained in the verse, 'Ani Ledodi Vedodi Li.'
Part III
In the first parts of our review and reflections about World War II, we touched on the dropping of the atomic bomb on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this final part, we deal with the topic in greater detail and depth.
Was it justified to drop the A-bomb over Japan? The President of the United States thought that his decision had been correct, however, people now feel guilty over the extent of the destruction in Hiroshima. On the one hand, it certainly put a speedy end to the war in the Pacific (though there is evidence that the Japanese may been near to giving up even before the bomb). On the other hand, soon after the explosion, the Russians began to manufacture nuclear weapons of their own, and the Nuclear Age began. A new era dawned in which people feared that nuclear war imminent.
The defense of America rested on a theory called Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD): since America and Russia could each destroy the other if attacked, they would never attack. It seems to have worked, but the fears distorted the face of American culture for years.
Today, the Cold War has ended. But new fears are plaguing us, for what will happen if — chas vesholom — nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorist groups?
The Deadly Mushroom
The Hamas captors murdered the six hostages a full day before the army reached the tunnel which held them. A despicable killing in cold blood under orders from above that were issued to prevent the Israelis from freeing them alive. An army report reveals that the murderers saw the progress of the army and killed the hostages in order to prevent the IDF from freeing them alive. When they saw them approaching the tunnel, the Hamas captors were ordered to kill them so that the Israelis would not find them alive.
The Israeli information could have shaken up the whole world by presenting the horrific facts to every possible media forum that Hamas is like the Islamic State, like the Nazis, as an organization of ugly murderers which should be dissociated from human society and pursued to the absolute finish.
And what actually happened? The venomous Israeli system came out in an incisive attack against the government.
Thoughts for Elul...
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Part II
The first part focused on the Torah reading of the first day of Rosh Hashonoh that discusses the birth of Yitzchok and the expulsion of Yishmoel from Avrohom's house by Soroh with Avrohom's consent. The Ramban says that Soroh Imeinu was punished for this, as well as Avrohom for letting her do it, in that Hogor was given a son who was a pere odom, and who later oppresses the descendants of Avrohom and Soroh.
HaRav Bergman explains that it was evident to Soroh and Avrohom that it would not be possible to educate Yitzchok in one house together with Yishmoel and Hogor. Avrohom and Soroh certainly knew that by expelling Hogor and Yishmoel they were committing a grievous injustice, but they did it nonetheless, lesheim Shomayim, in order to safeguard the education of Yitzchok. It was a type of aveiroh lishmoh. They also knew that, as HaRav Chaim Shmulevitz says, an offense bein odom lechavero is like a burning flame and a cutting sword: it cuts and burns even if the intentions are pure. So sending away Yishmoel and Hogor was an act of mesirus nefesh on their part and on the part of their descendants who would be persecuted by the descendants of Yishmoel for all generations. And yet they still did it for the sake of Yitzchok's education.
Since it was done lesheim Shomayim, that is why Soroh is still said at her petiroh to have been like a twenty-year-old, free of sin.
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It may be argued that the Ramban is only talking about the first story in Lech Lecho where there was no Divine command to afflict Hogor (although the angel that met her when she was fleeing said to her, "Return to your mistress and submit yourself to her" (16:9), which constituted a quasi- consent to the act of affliction, there was no explicit command to afflict Hogor), and that in the second incident in parshas Vayeiro (21:2), where there was such a command, Avrohom and Soroh's acts in expelling Hogor and her son cannot be considered blameworthy in any regard.
IN-DEPTH FEATURES
Part II
Reb Moshe Sheinfeld's thirty-first yahrtzeit is on the eighth of Elul. This appreciation was written by Rabbi Spiegel who was a colleague and close friend of Rabbi Sheinfeld.
The first part mainly discussed Rabbi Sheinfeld and his times, including the electrifying impact that his writings made at the time.
This part of the article is perhaps most relevant to Rosh Hashonoh and Yom Kippur since it incorporates a glimpse of a less familiar aspect of his inner world - his prayer. Some of his insights into the prayers of the Yomim Noraim follow this appreciation of his tremendous influence on an entire generation or, more correctly, several generations.
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The Voice of Eternity
It was quite some time before I realized that Reb Moshe's ideas and views formed a well-ordered system. Not only were there no contradictions between the things that he wrote, one piece actually complemented another. There were articles that I read at the time of publication and many others that I read long after they'd been published - I read them repeatedly and continue to do so to this day.
On every reading there are additional points that become clear and new nuances that emerge. I became surer and surer that Reb Moshe was no ordinary character. Gedolei Yisroel testified that his pen was a font of daas Torah, a cruse of the pure oil of Torah hashkofoh. He swam against the current, giving expression to that which the gedolim knew in their hearts.
At this point I ask forgiveness for `plagiarizing' but the following quotes are actually from an article that I wrote myself. Here are two extracts from a piece that I wrote immediately after Reb Moshe's petiroh. It was published in Digleinu in Tishrei 5736 and also appears in my book Bederech Hamelech.
"He was unique in his ability to prevent his writing being swept along in contemporary currents, with fickle fads or superficial changes. Authentic Torah hashkofoh, with its ring of eternal, unchanging truth, was always at the core of his tempestuous and rousing articles. He was never a partner to the various trends that rippled even through Torah and chareidi circles, of conceding erroneous perceptions of the events that befell the Jewish People in the past generation. There seemed to be stubbornness or perhaps even rigidity in this attitude of his. The truth however is, that it stemmed from his unique ability to pierce all the veils and screens that hide the constant, unchanging character of Judaism, that is not subject to any of the principles that govern the ebb and flow of general history.
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