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Author: David Linn

Pulling Your Own Strings

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Over Shavous, I had the privilege to hear Rabbi Yerachmiel Milstein speak a few times. He was excellent.

One of the things that Rabbi Milstein said that really struck a chord with me was: “Don’t be a puppet”. Don’t let others (here he included peer pressure and the media) make your choices for you. The other side of the “Don’t be a puppet” warning, Rabbi Milstein explained, is not to become a puppet to the you that you were yesterday.

Life is full of decisions, big and small. Often, we make the right decisions for ourselves, for where we are now. That’s good and important. However, just because a decision was good for me yesterday doesn’t mean it’s good for me today. As growing individuals and growing Jews, it’s incumbent upon us to continually take stock of ourselves and our life decisions of yesterday.

The way I analogize it is by thinking about when I learned to cross the street on my own. I don’t know precisely how old I was but let’s say 10. When I was 9, my parents felt that I wasn’t old enough, not responsible enough to cross the street on my own. That was a good decision for the 9 year old me. When I turned 10, they saw that I had changed, was more responsible and would take the privilege and the safety issues seriously. That was the right decision for the 10 year old me.

Circumstances change, people change (hopefully) and that necessitates a reevaluation of the decisions we made for the person we were yesterday.

My Take on Father’s Day

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Most of my kid’s know this song:

Today is Father’s/Mother’s Day but it’s no special day ’cause I love you Daddy/Mommy all the time.

You are so dear to me, the best you’ll always be, I thank Hashem he made you mine.

Cute. But I’m a bit torn by the lyrics. On the one hand, it’s true that we don’t need an invented holiday to show our appreciation to our parents. On the other hand, how many of us take the time out to call our parents and say thanks? If you do, then you don’t need Father’s/Mother’s Day. If you don’t, pick up the phone and say thanks!

Personal Note: A little more than six years ago, I lost my Father. A friend of mine who had lost his father fairly young told me that Father’s Day would be tough. When Father’s Day rolled around, my wife went into labor and gave me the best Father’s Day present, my daughter Atara. This year, her Birthday falls out on Father’s Day again, Happy B-Day Attie!

Maybe G-d Wants Me to Have a Hummer

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A few months back, on the way to work, my car started overheating big time. I pulled off the highway and into the closest service station. Since I had a meeting to attend, I called my assistant to pick me up and left the car at the shop. A few hours later, I received that dreaded call; a blown head gasket. That basically meant that I needed a new engine, not an inexpensive proposition. (I have, figuratively, blown a gasket in the past but never realized how expensive it could be!) I wasn’t so sure that I wanted to spring for a new engine since I had just replaced it aproximately a year earlier. So, I have been renting a car and mulling over the decision. Just a few days ago, I decided I should go for the new engine but I hadn’t yet dropped the car off at the mechanic.

This past Friday morning, shortly after arriving at shul, my cell phone buzzed. Now, I’m usually pretty good about ignoring my cell phone in shul. But, I saw that it was my home number and my wife knew that I had just arrived at shul so I thought perhaps it was an emergency. (One of my kids was home with a stomache virus as well)
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Hakaros HaTov for D-Day

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Today is D-Day the commemoration of the Allied attack on Europe that established a literal beach head for eventual Allied victory. It is a day of importance to all Americans. As Jews, it is of additional import as it set the stage for the eventual liberation of the concentration camps some six months later. Many of our brave soldiers that stormed the beaches on D-Day liberated the camps. Whatever the failures, and they are many, of our government in regard to turning a blind eye to the atrocities being committed by the Nazis, blame cannot be laid at the feet of our soldiers.

Here are the words of Staff Sergeant John N. Petro who liberated Dachau with the 42nd “Rainbow” Division, 232 Infantry, E Company:

Initially, the prisoners thought they were dreaming. “They could not believe it was true that after so long, they were finally being liberated.” The liberated looked like the dead. “They were skeletons,” he told me. It was only later that fear gave way to joy.

We salute Staff Sergeant Petro and all of his brethren.

The Jewish Prince

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The other night, I went to hear Rabbi Natan Gamzede, the Jewish Prince from Swaziland, speak. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his story, Rabbi Gamzede was born a prince in the African nation of Swaziland where his Grandfather was the King. Rabbi Gamzede eventually converted to Judaism and is now a teacher and lecturer.

Although I had previously met Rabbi Gamzede many years ago in yeshivah and I was fairly familar with his story, I was very inspired by his talk. Perhaps the thing that inspired me most was the level of sacrifice he had undertaken on his journey. Rabbi Gamzede grew up with, quite literally, anything money could buy. In fact, as a child his mother would attempt to shake him from his melancholy state by telling him “why are you so sad? You have everything money can buy!” After his conversion, Rabbi Gamzede’s parents cut off all monetary support and the Prince was now, quite literally, a Pauper. He would take odd jobs shlepping bricks for the building of a new shul just in order to make enough money for bus fare to and from Yerushalayim so that he could date. After marrying, he and his wife relied upon the equivilant of tomche shabbos packages (charitable weekly food donations). Yet, despite this dire level of poverty (not to mention the prejudice they endured) they were happy because they had Hashem and his Torah in their lives. Eizu hu ashir? Hasomeach b’chelko. Who is rich? He who is happy with his portion.
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A Matter of Perspective

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My wife, daughter and I were scheduled to leave for Israel on a motzei shabbos.
Leaving home was nothing short of crazy, with shabbos ending at aprox 6:30 and our flight scheduled for 9, there was little time to spare. Little time to spare, three people needing to shower, six kids running left and right and an icy front porch, steps and driveway don’t go well. Somehow or other with the help of our good friend Meyer, we made it out the door.

Traffic moved well and we arrived at the airport with just enough time to spare. Meyer confirmed with the sky cap that we were in the right terminal for Swiss Air, helped us unload and said goodbye. The three of us, barely balancing our luggage and carry-ons, searched for the check-in counter. It just was not there. Upon inquiry we were told that the flight was a “codeshare” with American and would be leaving from a completely different terminal. Apparently, someone forgot to notify the sky cap of that fact.
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Second Chances

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Tomorrow is Pesach Sheni (the Second Pesach). Pesach Sheni takes place one month after erev Pesach, the time when the Pesach sacrifice was prepared and eaten. At the time when the Pesach offering was to be eaten in the desert, a group of men approached Moshe Rebeinu and complained that they were tameh (ritually impure) and, consequently, were unable to join in the mitzvah. They basically told Moshe that it wasn’t fair that they were unable to partake of the Pesach offering. The gemorah (Succah 25a) presents two opinions as to how these men became tameh. One is that they were the men who carried Yosef’s coffin out of Egypt and the other is that they were involved in the mitzvah of burying an unattended body they had found. (Meis mitzvah). Either way they were involved in an “important” mitzvah at the time.

Moshe brought their complaint to Hashem who responded by ordaining a new Yom Tov, Pesach Sheni. One month after erev pesach, all of those who had become tameh through contact with a corpse or who were too far away on the day preceding pesach can offer and consume the pesach offering. A second chance.
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Welcome Home!

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L’ILuy Nishmas Yaakov Eisenberg

A year or so ago, I drove into Manhattan to pick up my mother’s second cousin from Israel, Motty, and drive him to the airport. I had felt guilty after barely seeing him during his short trip. Even though he is only my mother’s second cousin, he treated me like his own son when I visited with him in Israel some 15 years ago (going out of his way to get kosher food, etc.). So, the least I could do was drive him to the airport.

Earlier that morning I had gone to a gemorah shiur I had been attending at the time and I must have left directly from there since my gemorah was on the back seat of the car. When Motty opened the back door, he asked “David, do you learn Tal-mud Bav-Li?” I responded “I try.” “Oh”, he said “I have something for you”. He explained that an uncle of his, the only living religious member of his family, had recently passed away. Amongst his belongings were many sifrei kodesh. The attorney administering the estate gave them to Motty and told him he should probably throw them away. Motty then said to me “I am not dati (religious) but I know what his kodesh (holy). Also, I come from a family of publishers so all books are important to me. I will send these books to you.” I thanked him as graciously as possible.

Approximately one month later, three large boxes were delivered to my home. They included an entire set of Shas (the Talmud), a set of Mishnah Yachin and Boaz (the six orders of the the Mishnah with commentary) and two sets of Mishneh Brurah (the Chofetz Chaim’s authoritative work on Jewish Law). I carefully placed the Shas and Mishnayos on my bookshelf and sent my brother one of the sets of Mishneh Brurah and donated the other to a Jewish outreach library.

This year, my son has begun learning Mishnayos in school. When we learn together, I try to use this particular set of mishnayos in the hopes that it will be of merit to this distant, distant relative that I never met.

Our sages teach that “Torah mechazeres al achsanya shelah”–The Torah returns to its lodgings–which has been explained to mean that even if the Torah leaves a family, it will return within three generations.

Welcome home, I hope you find us to be gracious hosts.

Good Press for BTs

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Over a recent Shabbos, I was shmooozing with a friend. (Those of you who know me personally, and especially my wife, won’t be surprised about that!) This friend is a voracious reader and he always checks out what I’m reading and often recommends books to me. On this particular Shabbos, he showed me a parsha sefer that he had recently purchased and was greatly enjoying. I read the introduction to Sefer Vayikra and the particular piece on the parsha that he had pointed out. I enjoyed them both very much. But it was something else about the book that really struck me, the back cover.
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Of Earrings and Kippas, The Sequel

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Of Kippas and Earrings, The Sequel

Previously, I posted Of Earrings and Kippas. There is a postscript to the story that punctuates the power of sharing our experiences, a lot of what this blog is about.

My Father-In-Law was a member of an amud yomi chaburah (a group of people that jointly study one side of a talmud page per day). Each participant was asked to speak at a siyum (celebratory meal upon the completion of a section of Torah). My Father-In-Law was not looking forward to this. Even though he is fluent in English, it is his fourth language and he is, understandably, hesitant to engage in public speaking. That being the case, he fretted over what to say and how to say it. Finally, he decided to tell the “Of Kippahs and Earrings” story and somehow relate it to the gemorrah that the chaburah had finished.

The story went over well. Weeks later, someone unknown to him stopped my Father-In-Law and asked him if he was the one who told the story about how he started wearing his kippah at work. My Father-In-Law replied affirmatively. The gentleman profusely thanked him and said that the story inspired him to start wearing his kippah full time.

Shulchan Orech (Step 11) – Food for Thought

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It is interesting that Shulchan Orech is included as one of the Steps of the Seder. I mean, since when did Jews need to be commanded to eat?! The answer, I think, hearkens back to what we mentioned in the step of Rachtza: one can eat a meal as a pure physical necessity or desire or one can take the physicality in the meal and elevate it to something spiritual.

The Ma’ainah Shel Torah asks the question of how it is possible to split the Hallel that we say at the Seder (half after Maggid and half during the step of Hallel)? Isn’t the eating of an entire meal in between the two halves considered a hefsek (an impermissible interruption)? The answer is that when we properly eat our meal, in a manner that raises it from the physical to the spiritual, the meal itself is really a continuing praise of Hashem and therefore is not an interruption at all.

Korech (Step 10) – The Sandwich Generation

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At this stage of the Seder, we combine the Maror with the Matzah according to the opinion of Hillel. Most haggadahs state at this point: “This is in remembrance of the Temple, as Hillel used to do.” Hillel was of the opinion that in order to fulfill the mitzvos of eating maror and matza (and the passover offering during the time that the Temple stood), they must be eaten together.

The halacha is not like Hillel and we only eat Korech as a rememberance of the Temple. The interesting thing is that while we do find in halacha that we will fulfill a minority opinion if possible but here the minority opinion is incorporated as an actual step of the seder. Why is it that Hillel’s opinion merited to be added as a separate step of the seder and why was it specifically added as a “rememberance of the Temple”?

Hillel was the paradigm of patience and truly embodied the concept of “loving your fellow Jew”. It is Hillel’s example that we must follow in order to merit the construction of the Third Temple. By giving prominence to a minority opinion, we make the ultimate expression of loving your fellow Jew. That is, even if I don’t agree with you, your opinion, when properly formed within a Torah framework, is important. That is why Hillel’s Korech sandwich is incorporated as a step in the seder and that is why it is a rememberance of the Temple. May we all merit to see that Temple rebuilt, speedily, in our days.

Rachtza (Step 6) – The Washing of the Hands Preceding the Eating of the Matzah

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Our physical bodies are comprised of 2\3 water and the earth upon which we live is made up of more than 2\3 water. That being the case, it is easy to conceive of water as simply a physical, coarse life necessity devoid of spirituality. Of course, we know that not to be true.

Water plays a prominent part in the spiritual life of a Jew. Mikvah, Netilas Yadayim, the water drawing ceremnony in the Temple, etc. Indeed, the torah itself is compared to water. The primary function of water is to remove impurity or lift the spiritual state of an object or person. For example, after we immerse our dishes in a mikvah they become usable, one who is in a spiritually impure state arises from the mikvah in a pure state. There are many such examples.
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Climbing the Fifteen Steps of the Seder 1-3

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The Fifteen Steps of the Pesach Seder serve as the framework for our fulfillment of the mitzvah to tell the story of our exodus from Egypt. They have been compared to the 15 Steps leading up to the Beis Hamikdash in that both sets of stairs are used to bring us to a greater level of unity with Hashem. The haggadah has been called the most commented upon work of liturgy. Commentary on the haggadah serves many purposes: it broadens our understanding of the mitzvos of the night; it brings greater appreciation for the miracles Hashem performed for us; and it makes the Seder night and all of Pesach more relevant to us. Join us as we climb the fifteen steps together by presenting a short vort/dvar torah by different bloggers/commenters. Commenters are invited to share their own vort on the particular steps being discussed in the comment thread of that post. Let’s Climb.

Step 1 Kadesh
The Making of Kiddush

To be mekadesh something is to sanctify it. More precisely to be mekadesh something is to set it aside for holiness. If someone were to be makdish something to the Beis Hamikdash, that means that they have set it aside solely for that holy purpose and nothing else. When we make Kiddush we sanctify the day and set it aside as something holy. The cup of wine used for Kiddush is the first of the four cups we are obligated to drink at the seder. It is well know that the four cups correspond to the four different expressions of redemption that Hashem uses. The first one, corresponding to the first cup-the cup of Kiddush-, is V’Hotzesee I will take you out. Hashem took us out from amongst the Egyptians “goy mi’kerev goy” a nation from the midst of another nation. Hashem separated the Bnei Yisrael out from the Mitzrim and set us aside as something holy. With this understanding, we can see how the cup of Kiddush is clearly related to the first expression of Read more Climbing the Fifteen Steps of the Seder 1-3 ›

Starting Off on the Right Foot

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It seems to me that Borchi Nofshi, Psalm 104, which is said on Rosh Chodesh mornings might just be the most overlooked section of our prayers. By the time we finish Hallel, leining and mussaf (if you are davening ashkenaz) you are probably already late for your train/bus/car pool and Borchi Nofshi often gets short shrift.

Add to that the fact that Nissan is probably the most hectic month of the year (in case you are wondering why, you better start your Pesach cleaning NOW!). Therefore, it just might be that the Borchi Nafshi we say tomorrow may not get the proper attention it deserves.



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Instant Kiruv

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This past Shabbos afternoon, I was asked to speak to a group of college students involved in a phenomenal program for non-religious students.

When I returned from speaking, my six year old daughter was sitting with her friend enjoying their Shabbos party (read: junk). My daughter asked how my speech went (thank G-d, she’s still interested in my life).

I said ” Fine, thanks.”

She then turned to her friend and explained “my father went to speak to people who aren’t frum yet but we want them to be frum”.

Her friend immediately replied: “Nu, did they say yes?”

Getting the Proper Focus

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Abuhav Synagogue The Abuhav Synagogue in Tzefas, Israel is one of the most beautiful shuls I’ve been in. It is ornately painted and was constructed along the theme of the Pesach song Echad Mi Yodea (Who Knows One?) .

On top of the bima where the shaliach tzibur (prayer leader) stands is a dome, with many paintings upon it. Directly in the sight of the shaliach tzibur is a painting with the title “Makom HaMikdash” (the site of the Holy Temple). The weird thing is that the painting does not depict the Beis HaMikdash at all. Rather, it depicts the mosque that currently sits on top of the temple mount. The explanation is that when the shaliach tzibur looks up he sees that, because of senseless hatred among the Jews, in the place of the Beis HaMikdash now stands a mosque. This should serve to focus the shaliach tzibur, who represents the entire kehillah (congregation), on an all-encompassing love for all Jews.

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Of Earrings and Kippahs

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My father-in-law, he should live and be well, became a BT in his late fifties. That, in and of itself, is a whole story. Maybe some other time.

After becoming observant, he had started a new job. He just wasn’t able to bring himself to wear his kippah at work. He thought the obvious change would be too much for his co-workers to handle. In particular, there was one co-worker he was concerned about, an Israeli gentleman who had warned him “if you want to be my friend, don’t talk to me about religion!” Then there was the other co-worker whom he didn’t think would be kindly disposed, a gentleman with an earring in his left ear. So, he made the decision not to wear his kippah at work.

My father-in-law noticed that everytime the gentleman with the earring would go to see the boss, he would take his earring off only to replace it after leaving the boss’ presence. One day, the “Don’t talk to me about religion” guy said to him “Why do you take your earring out everytime you go to the boss? Just leave it in. You are who you are.” “You are who you are”, my father-in-law thought and the very next day he began wearing his kippah to work. Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right.

Starbucks and Shushan Purim

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Realizing that many of us have difficulty gearing up for work on shushan purim, Starbucks is giving away free coffee today.

SEATTLE – Starbucks says it will give away free cups of coffee on Wednesday between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. at 7,500 of its stores nationwide. The Seattle company expects it will give away 500,000 cups of coffee in its two-hour ‘national coffee break.’

Is this a great country for the Jews or what?