This is a very interesting commencement speech where Rabbi Dov Lipman tells his story from the time he made aliya, through his involvement as a community activist, his introduction to Yair Lapid, how he became an MK, and what he's been doing there since then. HT Life in Israel. As before, I don't personally endorse all aspects of the the current Israeli coalition government's agenda, but I very much appreciate people who are looking for a way beyond the extreme pirud and mutual-condemnation. Enjoy! And see below for a speech by Yair Lapid which R. Lipman refers to in this speech which, in part, caused him to realize that Yair Lapid does not hate Torah and Yiddishkeit.
Click here to get Dixie Yid in your e-mail Inbox or here to "follow" me on Twitter.
21 comments:
I will never understand your admiration for this individual. That is the most generous term I could come up with.
Reb Menashe,
A lot of people believe things about him and Yair Lapid which are factually incorrect. I think a lot of people from our side would benefit from hearing him out so that we're sure we're only disagreeing on the basis of what he is actually doing and what he actually beleives, rather than disagreeing with a characature of what he is doing or believes.
Did you listen to the speech?
Actions speak louder than words.
Did you listen to what he said in the prior videos I posted? If so, were there things about his actions that suprised you, where people said one thing was proposed when in reality, it was different?
I'm 100% with Menashe. Binyomin, would you showcase someone who physically spit in Rav Shteinman's and many other Gedolim's faces numerous times? That's what Dov Lipman has done in a spiritual sense man, many times, There are serious things said by the gemara about someone who is mevazeh talmidei chachamim. esp. b'rabim. That's what Lipman has done and still does. Does Dov think he is l'sham Shamayim? Of course. But so did Korach. I'm not saying Lipman is Korach but just because someone sounds good and wants change-, which we think may be needed, doesn't mean we should embrace him if he goes about it in totally the wrong way. Binyomin, you off base on this one. And yes I listened to Lipman here and Lapid.
Do you support this too Binyomin? See next comment. It's very telling was to where Lipman is in his chutzpah to dis b'rabim a Minhag Yisrael Kadosh. The media loved it and ran headlines saying Lipman says Kaparos is barbaric and pagan.
How could he write against the Rema on kaparos? Rema says ein leshanos. Do he have any respect for the halachic process? Ashkenazim follow the Rema. And the vitriol way he wrote against a minhag Yisrael for dorei doros? mevazeh a minhag yisrael supported by hundreds of poskim? Did he ask a Rav or a Rebbe before humilaiting Klal Yisrael and our minhagim in public? No, he didn't. He admitted he didn't. So, who does he think he is?
He wants to make a law against it in Israel??? It's one thing to want to write that perhaps in some places kaparos is not done right and there's no shechita, etc. that's one thing. Many Rabbanim have written that and there was again a kol korei on that this year but he dissed the entire minhag! Does he really hold himself so high as to enter an issue and paskin and go against hundreds of Ashkenazi Gedolim through the ages? It seems so.
Here's the piece originally at ynet:
“A few days from now all Jews will experience Yom Kippur. While all of us commemorate this special day differently, there is one common denominator – praying to God for compassion – compassion on us as individuals, for our families, and for our nation and state. We ask Him to shower us its blessings and protect us from harm
“Quite shockingly, on Erev Yom Kippur, in a ritual aimed at achieving Divine mercy and atonement, many act in a cruel manner towards animals. Chickens are held in small cages without food or water, oftentimes in terrible heat. The chickens are then bound, swung above the heads of those seeking
“The time has come for a call to go out from the State of Israel putting an end to this practice. This call has already come out from Torah leaders in years past. The Rashba (Rabbi Shlomo ben Aderet, 13th century Spain) demanded that what he termed as a pagan ceremony be removed from his city and the Ramban, a contemporary of his, also came out against the practice. It is no wonder that the Code of Jewish Law (Shulchan Aruch) teaches that one should avoid this practice, coining it a “foolish practice.” The significance of these giants in our tradition demanding an end to this practice carries significant weight. The effort to stop the practice cannot be considered “anti-religious” or the like because it has the backing of such great religious figures
“And, the call is not to cease the custom entirely. The practice of using coins which one waves over his head and then gives to charity is well documented and provides an option for continuing the overall custom while not causing any unnecessary pain to animals. In modern times, Rav Kaduri asked that people use this option instead of harming chickens. The great Torah commentator Rashi (11th century France) teaches that an option exists to use flowers for this ritual. So even those who feel committed to tradition and seek to continue the custom of (cut off).
“The time has come for our State to take a stand against this practice. The High Holiday season reminds us about our mission to be a “light onto the nations.” Right before the climactic Neilah prayer on Yom Kippur we read the Book of Yonah which teaches about the responsibility of the Jewish people to inspire the world toward a belief in God and living morally and righteously. The prayers are replete with our hope that all of mankind embrace the civil code which Judaism introduced to the world. This must manifest itself in Israel leading the world in its care for the animal population and, thus, inspiring all humans to live according to this and other core values of ours
“I ask all readers to not use chickens this year when performing the kaparot ritual. It is time to do what is right. Use money. Use flowers. But don’t cause unnecessary pain to animals – especially not on the day before Yom Kippur. King David taught that God has compassion on all His creations. During this special time when we ask God for compassion and bless us with a wonderful new year, let’s demonstrate that we, too, live with this trait of compassion.”
Reb Larry, you're clearly a very sincere and passionate person and I would love to continue the conversation, but I think it would be better over the phone. If you're game, please email me using the contact information on the right sidebar and we can make a time to talk.
Kol tuv!
For the avoidance of doubt, Menashe is also a very sincere person, not that he needs my haskama, but he and I are already in touch with each other in "real life." :-)
Thanks..
I am not so passionate because I feel Dov has removed himself from relevancy. Just as I feel no need to respond to atheists or anti-semites.
Wow. That's just about all I can say. Wow.
Sorry to disappoint you Binyomin but I will remain anon.
Just answer this one question please, does what Lipman wrote about kaparos upset you at all? Does Rav Weinberger do kaparos with chickens? Do you? Tens of thousands of Jews do and for Lipman to publicly lambast it lets us see who he really is. He is becoming way too full of himself.
Reb Larry,
Not to worry I'm not disappointed but did want to give you the opportunity to have an open conversation in a more practical way if you were interested.
I don't agree with, nor am I comfortable with his statement there, as with a number of other issues he's spoken on. But I don't judge him l'kaf chova as yourself and many other do because based on what I've seen from what he's trying to accomplish, I understand why he's motivated to say some of the things he's said and propose some of the policies he's proposed. As I've said before, I am not a spokesman for Rav Weinberger.
Ah gut kvitel!
It's not daning lekaf chovah on kaparos for sure. He spoke terribly about a Minhag Yisrael Kadosh. That's fact. He went against hundreds of years of poskim. He is not a talmid chacham and doesn't even claim to be and he does that? It says in Avos, whoever paskins when he is not worthy is a gas libo and I won't finish some other things it says about such a person.
Lipman may want to do what's right but he is majorly messed up in how he is going about things and the kaparos issue shows this very clearly. And that's why you should never promote him.
It sounds like you're not yet familiar with the full meaning of the halachic terms don l'kaf zechus/chov. Without any irony but just as a helpful tip, I invite you to learn the maareh mekomos in the Linas Hatzedek sources on the topic.
And again, ah gut kvitel!
kaf zechus on that he wants to do the right thing but what he is doing is def. wrong. What he wrote about kaparos is indefensible. Or would you like to try and defend it?
(Also, on the yeshiva/ army issues going against Gedolim, without a Rav on his side, in public is also indefensible but I'll stick to the kaparos issue for now)
Often, kaf zechus doesn't mean that what is done is right, it means trying to see the person in a positive light Lipman wants to do thwe right thing, he has experiences which jave led him to this point and he is prob. an ones now and his mind is messed up ruach shetus has overtaken him and like I said an ones but what he is doing is wrong and Linas Tzedek does not contradict this so you should never show any support to someone who is doing wrong things
Larry: "[Y]ou should never show any support to someone who is doing wrong things."
Rav Aharon Soliveitchik setting the record straight that while Chabad Meschichistim are wrong, it's not for the reason people say, without concern that by doing so he will be perceived as violating the dictum that "you should never show any support to someone who is doing wrong things:" http://haemtza.blogspot.com/2007/02/rebbe-worship.html?
Not sure why you brought that topic in. . .as the link there says Rav Aharon said that believing that the Rebbe is Moshiach is nonsense, not apikorsus, but he didn't defend them or show support for them at all and would never highlight a Chabad Nonsense meshichist on his blog All he did is say they are not apikorsim (btw, I'm not saying Lipman is an apikores either) anyway, what Lipman is doing is not just nonsense-though it's that too-, it is causing real damage to Klal Yisrael. You know how many thousands read his anti-kaparos piece?
I still love you Binyomin :) and I even love Lipman. I just hate what he's doing.
I hope your Yom Tov was awesome!
תמו חטאים ולא חוטאים
Correction:
יתמו חטאים ולא חוטאים
Post a Comment