Friday, October 29, 2010

Hitdabroot 24 Hour Torah TV Channel in Israel - Link to Live Feed

Shloymele pointed out this fascinating 24 hour Torah/kiruv channel in Israel called Hitdabroot. You can watch whatever's on right now AT THIS LINK.

You can help them with their work or buy a raffle ticket at their English site HERE.

This is so fascinating. I added a logo that causes a window to open with their live channel at the bottom of the right sidebar with the Jewish music radio logos. Enjoy!

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

MBD and Y-Love Together - Banned Together

I found this interesting. HT Tikun!

Y-Love: "Back in the day, a couple of years ago, people said that I shouldn't be making Jewish music because Jewish rap music is traif and there was a guy in Bnei Brak saying like 'Jewish music can only sound like this...', there was a-"

MBD: "Well they say that about my music too so don't worry about it."

Y-Love: "Fellow renegade over here!"

That video was filmed during the making of this music video to show support for Shalom Rubashkin:

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Story Told by a Young Shlomo Carlebach

CLICK HERE to listen to or download this mp3 of a very young Shlomo Carlebach telling a story about Yair Dori. Great quality audio. He's speaking in Hebrew.

Thanks to a reader for pointing me to this audio and to Eliayhu Amsalom, who has a blog associated with Yedidya Meir's Israeli radio show! Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Washington Heights Shlomo Carlebach HD Hillula with the Stollel & Rav Reichman



Created and posted by "Bedek Habayis" at Stollel Tamid. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Finding Yiddishkeit and Chassidus - Going Down the Rabbit Hole

I can explain why I originally became frum "while standing on one foot" (cf. Shabbos 31a) with just three words: "Torah is deep."

As a reform Jewish high schooler in a medium sized Jewish community in the South, I was not particularly seeking any new form of spirituality. I was moderately involved Jewishly and was even on the local chapter board of NFTY (the National Federation of Temple Youth). Based on my exposure at that point (aside from some semi-Jewish poetry in the back of our "Gates of Prayer" prayerbook), I took it for granted that Judaism is a fairly shallow enterprise.

For example, in sunday school growing up, every Sukkos we went out to the Temple's Sukkah and the rabbi explained the significance of waving the four species. He always said that "We wave them in all six directions to remind us that G-d is everywhere." It was the same explanation year after year, from the early grades through early high school. It was mostly the same with respect to the other aspects of Jewish practice they taught us about. But aside from the fact that I found these teachings boring, the superficiality did not really bother me very much. I just assumed that one-line pat explanations like this were what Judaism consisted of. And that was that.

Over Channukah my sophomore year in high school, however, I met a couple of orthodox kids at an inter-youth group event at the JCC. Because I fancied myself an open-minded person with respect to people of "other faiths," I interestedly asked them about orthodoxy. To my surprise, their answers to why they did this or that thing were not the kind of pat one-line answers I expected based on my own Jewish experience. There was depth, common sense, and thought-out explanations for each detail of what they did. This depth fascinated and attracted me and was the impetus for me to continue my friendship with them. This process led me to begin attending a Torah class for teenagers and eventually become observant myself.

Fast forward several years later, through post-high school yeshiva and eventually kollel: Over time, I learned how to learn Torah from the original sources, but there was something about the Gemara and Chumash that did not completely satisfy me. I often found Gemaras (sometimes Agadata and sometimes not) which screamed out to me that there was a deeper meaning to the text. As Rashi always says, "אין המקרא הזה אומר אלא דרשני." See, e.g. Rashi on Bereishis 1:1.

I searched through the perushim in the Gemara, the Ain Yaakov, and the seforim commenting on the Gemara found in most batei medrash. Maharal in Chiddushei Agados sometimes "hit the spot," but it was slim pickins'. It seemed that almost nothing went down beneath the surface of the Gemara's simple meaning. As for Chumash, when I had that feeling, I looked through all of the meforshim in the Mikra'os Gedolos and other seforim on the Chumash with similar results (although Kli Yakar and Ohr Hachaim were often very helpful). I eventually came to expect that maybe that deeper meaning and current relevance of the text either did not exist or was simply not accessable to regular people.

This perception began to change when I discovered a sefer that is sometimes found in more Litvish circles: Ohr Gedaliyahu, by Rav Gedalia Schorr, a Rosh Yeshiva of Torah Vo'Daath. He was very connected to Gerer chassidus and I began to learn certain basic concepts of Chassidus from these seforim. I felt like I was finally starting to go down the rabbit hole just a little bit.

Part of the time I was learning in kollel, I worked in the evenings for a "kiruv follow-up" organization called Hashevaynu. Rabbi Zakutinsky, the founder and head of the organization, is close with Rav Moshe Weinberger, so he persuaded Rav Weinberger to come to their first few retreats, which I attended as part of the organization. Rav Weinberger is a Chassidish Rav who lives and teaches Torah in the modern orthodox community of Woodmere, in Long Island, New York.

Although I had heard Rav Weinberger speak at my then-fiancé's (now-wife's) suggestion, the Torah and Chassidus he taught at those retreats were so deep, so real, and so true, that it made me feel like I was discovering an aspect of Yiddishkeit that I had always felt must be there, but never experienced.

I subsequently got a job as part of a community kollel in the Midwest. When I got there, I quickly ordered over 100 of Rav Weinberger's tapes (that dates me, I know). I listened to these tapes as I traveled to various college campuses giving shiurim and they had a deep effect on me. When it was time for my family to move to a larger community for chinuch purposes, we moved to Woodmere in order to be closer to Rav Weinberger.

Over time I attended many of Rav Weinberger's shiurim and began learning more sifrei Chassidus like the Me'or Einayim, Toldos Yaakov Yosef, Tzidkas Hatzadik, and the Tanya. The clarity of the Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh seforim also allowed me to go even deeper down the rabbit hole to gain a greater perspective on Judaism, a practical road to achieving my purpose in life, and a deeper understanding of all reality. In this respect, Volume 5 of the Bilvavi series and his seforim on Chumash are especially powerful and perspective-changing.

The common denominator between my discovery of Yiddishkeit in general and my discovery of chassidus in particular, is that I found a deeper life path in both of them, compared to what I was exposed to before. I feel that it is the pure chessed of Hashem that he revealed the Torah to the world through Moshe Rebbeinu and chassidus to the world through the Baal Shem Tov. It seems like the majority of people, both in the outside world and within the frum community, are satisfied with a life of superficiality. So I am thankful for Yiddishkeit generally, and chassidus in particular. B'chasdei Hashem, they are there to offer a deeper path to those who seek it out.
May all of us find our path within Yiddishkeit to a truer and deeper relationship to Hashem!

Picture courtesy of EastSidePatch. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Great Video Interview with Shlomo Carelebach - "What is Your Shoresh Neshoma?"

In honor of Reb Shlomo's yohrtzeit, here is a great and very frank interview with Shlomo Carlebach. During the 27 minute interview, he sings "Yehi Shalom B'cheilech" and the famous "Rama's Niggun."

Along the lines of the post I'm putting up tomorrow morning, I wanted to share a key quote from Reb Shlomo. It's from the first of the three parts of this interview (above) from 2:00 to 6:00. Reb Meir asks Reb Shlomo whethether his shoresh neshoma is in learning, teaching, or singing. Reb Shlomo answers the question Reb Shlomo answers the question in several ways, directly and indirectly, over the course of the whole interview.

With a lot of love and a caring smile, Reb Shlomo answered at about the 5:00 mark: "If you ask me something, I can tell you without really bragging too much that my shoresh neshoma is in depth. I cannot stand shallow things. I cannot stand shallow people. I forgive them and I love them but I can't stand them. I can't stand shallow ideas. I cannot stand anything shallow really. It makes me sick. And especially, I've had the privilege of learning by people, Reb Meir will agree with me, those two, the deepest and the sharpest. Reb Shlomo Heiman was awesome deep and Rav Aharon (Kotler) was awesome deep..."

Big thank you to my holy brother from another mother, Eliav Frei for pointing this video out to me. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

How Shlomo Carlebach got Me to Wash for Melava Malka - Guest Post by Dovid Friedman

Li’iluy nishmas Reb Shlomo ben Naftali Carlebach z’l

I just thought of this while eating Melava Malka and thought I should share it since it’s his yarzeit. I always enjoyed his stories, but there was one that that really had an effect on me. I was in a friend’s car (S.P. if you don’t remember) in the Catskills over 15 years ago and he was playing a Shlomo Carlebach Melava Malka album. On it he told the following story:

Someone came to a certain Rebbe (the recording was unclear so I couldn’t make out the name) and said his friend was sent to Siberia; could the Rebbe get a yeshua for his friend. The Rebbe said if you’re friend will do whatever I tell him, he will be able to get out of Siberia. He said of course. Soon enough, the friend was released from Siberia and came to the Rebbe. He asked what he needs to do. The Rebbe told him “wash for Melava Malka every Motzei Shabbos”. He said: “that’s all”? The Rebbe said: “I promised Dovid Hamelech that you would wash for his seuda of Melava Malka and that’s how you got out of Siberia”.

When I heard this, I thought to myself that if washing for Melava Malka can get someone out of Siberia, imagine how many smaller things it can do. Of course there are many reasons to wash but this is what got me to wash for Melava Malka. From then or shortly after, as far as I can remember, I have washed for Melava Malka every single Motzei Shabbos except for one time 8 years ago when I felt so sick that I had to go straight into bed Motzei Shabbos and woke up the next morning. If anyone doesn’t wash yet, I would encourage them to start. There are many good reasons to do so besides this story. Because of Shlomo Carlebach, I have been washing for Melava Malka so many years now. May this be a zechus for his neshama.

Video courtesy of Gruntig.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Elementary School International Espionage Conference Dialogue

As heard from a reader in Yerushalayim:

Older intelligent child who considers himself quite worldly to a younger sibling in all seriousness: "I think I know who hacked into Iran's computers."

Younger child: "Really? Who?"

Older child: "I think it was Rebbe S. from the cheder. He knows everything there is to know about the office's computer system!"

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Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

200,000 Unique Visitors as of This Morning!

Last time I hit this milestone, it was 19 months ago. That's 100,000 unique visitors in about half the time as the first 100,000 (even though I haven't been very active this past year). Woo hoo!

Picture courtesy of omegaconstellationcollectors. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

"Wealth, What is it Worth?" - "?הון, מה" - Picture From Midtown Golf Store Window

Second Shiur on Shir Hashirim for Women by Rebb. Yehudis Golshevsky

Here is the second shiur we're zoche to present in quick succession in a new series for women by Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky. The topic of this series is Shir Hashirim. This second shiur covers Shir Hashirim, 1:3, and explains the pasuk "Mashcheini, acherecha narutza."

This shiur is not on Breslov chassidus per se, but is b'iyun, yet still accessible to almost anyone. The shiur will mainly use the Targum, Rashi, Tzror HaMor, Arizal where appropriate, the Gr"a, Reb Nosson, and sometimes Rokeach. Rebb. Golshevsky will also sometimes use a little known sefer called Oteh Ohr that she used to learn with the menaheles of Yavne.

CLICK HERE to get the shiur by either right clicking and selecting "Save Target As" to download or left clicking to listen right away.

Picture courtesy of picasa. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Personal Video Interview With Yosef Karduner - Plus Song


Here he is singing "Im Ein Ani Li, Mi Li":

Courtesy of VIN news. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

"Kevodo Male Olam" - Shlomo Katz Video

HT A Bit of Light. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

New Shiur on Shir Hashirim for Women by Rebb. Yehudis Golshevsky

Here is the first shiur in a new series for women on Breslov Chassidus by Rebbetzin Yehudis Golshevsky. The topic of this series is Shir Hashirim. This first shiur is an introduction to Shir Hashirim, I:1-2.

This shiur is not on Breslov chassidus per se, but is b'iyun, yet still accessible to almost anyone. The shiur will mainly use the Targum, Rashi, Tzror HaMor, Arizal where appropriate, the Gr"a, Reb Nosson, and sometimes Rokeach. Rebb. Golshevsky will also sometimes use a little known sefer called Oteh Ohr that she used to learn with the menaheles of Yavne.

CLICK HERE to get the shiur by either right clicking and selecting "Save Target As" to download or left clicking to listen right away.

Picture courtesy of daco-design. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Yosef Karduner NY Area Concert Dates Tonight Through Sunday!

THURSDAY OCTOBER 14, 2010

Torah Ohr

575 Middle neck Rd

Great Neck, NY

8:00pm

$10

Separate Seating
________________________________________

SATURDAY NIGHT OCTOBER 16

JEWISH MUSIC

 CAFE

401 9th Street

Brooklyn, NY 11215

doors open 9:00pm

$15

Separate Seating
 ____________________________________

SUNDAY OCTOBER 17, 2010

ROC HOUSE (Ramath Orah)

550 West 110th Street

New York, NY

7:00pm

$15 / $12 students

Separate Seating

To join Yosef Karduner's email list send an email to

yosefkardunermusic@gmail.com

Also, look out for Yosef's amazing new Kumzits album featuring all live music recorded in New York concerts.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Rav Weinberger Speaking on Tzfas, Rebbe Nachman, & Chanukah



HT Shmuel. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Aish Kodesh 2010 Hillula - Pictures/Video (from '09) & Audio (From '10)








Above are four video clips shot by Itchie Mayer Meyer from last year/2009. The first one is from last year's Hillula for the Aish Kodesh. Videos 2-4 are from this past Lag B'Omer with Eitan Katz and Nochi Krohn. These are being shown for the first time publicly here!

Here is a 25 minute audio clip from the Hillula for the Aish Kodesh from this past Motzoi Shabbos (this year's) recorded by my friend Gorin Hachaim. It was recorded in Real Player format. It is the first 25 minutes of the music portion of the Hillula with Yosef Karduner and Areye Kuntzler. Enjoy!

By the way, here are some pictures/audio from last year.

Picture courtesy of Itchie Mayer Meyer. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Shiur on Shnayim Mikrah - Rabbi Reuven Boshnack

The Whole inyan of shnayim mikrah v'echad Targum (reading each verse from each Torah portion twice followed by reading the Aramaic translation once) is very deep.
Here is a shiur from Rabbi Reuven Boshnack which was given to the Brooklyn College guys last week on the topic. Enjoy!
CLICK HERE to get the shiur.

The Three Keys to Success in Any Endeavor

I was just talking earlier tonight (this morning actually) to my friend who's a big ba'al avodah. He came up with a nice short idea. There are three keys to success in any endeavor:

  1. Ratzon (desire, motivation)
  2. Hashem, and
  3. Ratzon Hashem
Picture courtesy of Emunah.info. Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to subscribe in Google Reader.

Please donate to my son's cheder by going to minivanraffle.org to buy a raffle ticket. The drawing for a new minivan, car, or $20,000 cash will be IY"H Chanukah time. $100 for 1 ticket. $360 for 5. Where the form says "Referred by," please write "Dixie Yid." Tizku l'mitzvos!