tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post5314500669818105705..comments2024-01-25T09:26:15.915-05:00Comments on Dixie Yid: Light of the Torah, Deveikus, and GerimDixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)http://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-79161394637668258482009-03-19T08:08:00.000-04:002009-03-19T08:08:00.000-04:00wanted to share this with you, how being chosen do...wanted to share this with you, how being chosen doesnt negate others:<BR/><BR/>“And Aharon carried their names on his heart.” (28:29)<BR/><BR/> We should ask why is it that carried the names of the tribes? Especially since we find that in all places we mention the merit of our forefathers, we specifically mention Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya'akov. And although our sages and Rabbis did teach in Yoma (73b) that the patriarchs names were also there [on the breastplate], even so this is not explicitly written in the verse, rather only the names of the tribes were engraved on the stones.<BR/><BR/> This can be explained by the fact that it is written regarding Aharon that (Shemos 28:1 and Devarim 18:5) Hashem selected him from among all the children of Israel. Selecting one from among the general group, forces us to conclude that this choice for this specific person is due to the fact that Hashem loves him, but dislikes or hates the others in that group. So too we would have though to say that selecting Aharon from among the Jewish people was done in the same way. This is why the names of all the tribes were engraved [on the stones], to demonstrate that Hashem desires and loves them as well.<BR/><BR/>Kedushas Levi Parshas Tetzaveh<BR/>From my soon to be published translation imy"hAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-45836046828012651212008-01-06T18:03:00.000-05:002008-01-06T18:03:00.000-05:00That paragraph starts off "U'l'zu." It's on the bo...That paragraph starts off "U'l'zu." It's on the bottom left hand corner of the "Meor Hatorah" edition of the Meor Einayim. It's also after the 5th asterisk in Parshas Shmos. I'm asking two tzadikim IY"H this week about this question, so IY"H, I might have more insight into it soon.<BR/><BR/>-Dixie YidDixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-91834414694744265962008-01-06T17:17:00.000-05:002008-01-06T17:17:00.000-05:00Dixie Yid, I don't seem to be able to find the ref...Dixie Yid, I don't seem to be able to find the reference you're talking about in the Meor Einayim. I'm looking at the drashot to parshat Shemot but in my sefer they're not separated by numbers. Can you quote the relevant passage?<BR/>(btw, i'm a different anon than the one who posted above - anon2 maybe...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-11278439181767959102008-01-06T15:50:00.000-05:002008-01-06T15:50:00.000-05:00Anon, I personally haven't found that to be the ca...Anon, I personally haven't found that to be the case, though I'm sure you're right that many people still have those attidutes. That's sad that your friend said what he did. I think in terms of shidduchim that Gerim or gioros would have the same problems that Baalei Teshuva would have. I think many bachurim and girls want to have in-laws (and their parents want co-in-laws) who are similar to them. And BTs and Gerim just can't "provide" that.<BR/><BR/>But I don't think there is any connection at all between what the Meor Einayim is saying and these prejudicial attitudes that somtimes exist in the frum community.<BR/><BR/>-Dixie YidDixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-84953190476035178022008-01-06T14:09:00.000-05:002008-01-06T14:09:00.000-05:00it is a sad fact that i have seen repeatedly in fr...it is a sad fact that i have seen repeatedly in frum communities that despite the injunctions to love the ger, gerim are honored in public but derided and held under suspicion in private. everything else being equal, as a matter of practice, their yichus is lower than that of someone born from a jewish mother. (just the other day a friend from a yeshiva in israel was telling me how he met a russian gera and how in his mind she was still a shickse despite her frum ways).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-76013413836242831192008-01-03T16:34:00.000-05:002008-01-03T16:34:00.000-05:00Anon, well according to what you're saying, that w...Anon, well according to what you're saying, that would give a very literal meaning to the fact that Avraham was called "Av Hamon Goyim." Thanks for the information!<BR/><BR/>-Dixie YidDixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-71424878679491073382008-01-03T16:25:00.000-05:002008-01-03T16:25:00.000-05:00About the passage saying that only those literally...About the passage saying that only those literally descended from Avraham, Yitzhoch and Yaacov can reach a certain level, you might be interested in the work of some genealogically-oriented mathematicians. They claim that when you go back thousands of years, virtually everyone on earth is descended from basically everyone then alive who has modern descendants. That is, the vast majority of humankind, and certainly Europeans and Middle Easterners, are likely descendants of the Jewish patriarchs, along with the Egyptian Pharoahs and so on. This makes sense, because when you go back 2000 years, or 40 generations, that means you had a trillion grandparents. (2^40). The population of earth at that time was only a few million, which means that most people on Earth were probably in our family trees thousands of times.<BR/><BR/>If you also consider all the forced and willing conversions of Jews to Christianity over the last 2000 years, it would seem that there's good reason for a European-origin Ger to assume he or she is descended from Jews, and thus from the forefathers, at some point. Let's say you're of English origin, and 10 English Jews were forced to convert in 1000 AD. Let's say an average of 2 of their kids survived each generation. So by 1800, about 30 generations later, there should be 10 billion descendants of these Jews! Obviously this calculation is off, since there are far less than 10 billion English-origin people today, but it shows how over a long span of time even a few converts who have descendants can mean that Jewish ancestry is widely spread among non-Jewish populations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-17724418177853848912007-07-03T09:25:00.000-04:002007-07-03T09:25:00.000-04:00I have a copy of the Shulchan Aruch Harav, so if y...I have a copy of the Shulchan Aruch Harav, so if you have a ma'areh makom, I can look it up... <BR/><BR/>-Dixie YidDixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-4173238401446505072007-07-03T03:44:00.000-04:002007-07-03T03:44:00.000-04:00last night I was zocheh to happen upon the Rav who...last night I was zocheh to happen upon the Rav who first told me about the Alter Rebbe's hidush regarding gerim, he confirmed that the said point is in Shulchan Aruch HaRav under hilchot Talmud Torah.<BR/><BR/>i don't have a shulchan Aruch HaRav here.. but in the next couple of weeks i will be in the states by my parents and i know there is a copy on the shelf there that no one knows about, so I will check it out them iy"h ..yitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05866660855678077639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-64112652494248478702007-07-01T21:58:00.000-04:002007-07-01T21:58:00.000-04:00Yitz, First, thanks for the explanation of IIRC.So...Yitz, <BR/><BR/>First, thanks for the explanation of IIRC.<BR/><BR/>So the Ramak was a gilgul of Rebbe Akiva, Zecharia HaNavi and Eliezer Eved Avraham... Wow.<BR/><BR/>If you find the mekor in the Baal Hatanya that a Ger's life as a Jew is a testimony to his always being Jewish. I'd be very interested to find that out. <BR/><BR/>That's a great question you have about a Ger with a Jewish father. Halachically, if a Ger has a Jewish father who's a kohen or Levi, the Ger is still only a Yisroel because "Ger shenisgayer k'katan shenolad dami." Would we say that the person would still be called a born-Jew in the sense that the Meor Einyaim is talking about? Or, similar to the Levi/Cohen compairison, would be say that since he's k'katan shenolad dami, he has no benefit form that past? You're right though that that's a good test case. I did that there's a medrash Shochar Tov on Tehillim 29:1 "havu Lashem bnei elim" on the topic of the different status of a Ger with a Jewish father, but I have been unable to find this. If anyone can help me out or can talk about it, it would be much appreciated!<BR/><BR/>Rebelwithacause,<BR/><BR/>I appreciate your words in defense and love of Gerim like me. :-) However, you seem to be responding to words that neither I, the Meor Einyaim or the Zohar ever said. You used words like "lower state," "not good enough," "lower spiritual level," and "no goods." <BR/><BR/>It is interesting that when I wrote about Gerim having less access to a certain madreiga in Torah, you, as a reader, translated that into "no good" and "lower spiritual level." I didn't read it that way. Similarly, when the Gemara says "B'makom she'ba'alei Teshuva omdim, ein tzadikim gamurim yacholim la'amod," do you believe that the Gemara is saying that Tzaddikim Gamurim are "no goods" or are somehow "not good enough"? Obviously not. What the gemara is teaching is that there exists a certain type of tikun that, because of their Aveiros, Ba'alei Teshuva can accomplish that Tzaddikim Gamurim, who have not sinned, cannot attain. There does indeed exist a place where a Tzadik Gamur cannot compair to a Ba'al Teshuva. <BR/><BR/>What you must understand in order to be able to come to terms with these teachings is that different people can be great in *different* areas of life. We do not all have to be as great in all of the exact same areas. Just like Onkelos, Shemaya v'Avtaliyon and Avraham ben Avraham (the famous Ger of the GR"A) were surely able to accomplish certain things spiritually that their contemporaries were unable to accomplish, those Tzaddikim bnei Tzaddikim were also zoche to other levels that those holy Gerim could not reach. We need not be offended by that. We must simply realize that Hashem has different plans for different people and each person coming from his own place is great and irreplacable in his or her own way, regardless of whether they are a Ger, an FFB, a BT, or an FFBWL.<BR/><BR/>I hope the fact that my words are coming from someone in the category that you feel has been victimized by the teachings of the Meor Einyaim makes a difference. If I am able to accept that different people have a different tachlis in life, and that that does not make them unequal as human beings or as Jews gives the idea more ethos in your eyes.<BR/><BR/>Be well and please check in again and comment. Tizku l'mitzvos and thanks for your thoughts!<BR/><BR/>-Dixie YidDixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-16011424980685714392007-07-01T20:13:00.000-04:002007-07-01T20:13:00.000-04:00Here is my two cents, I am a frum Jew by the way.I...Here is my two cents, I am a frum Jew by the way.<BR/>I am disgusted when I read citations or documents which are supposed to say that converts are at a lower "state" or are not good enough. First of all Zohar is not Torah and neither is Tanya. The written and oral Torah dictates us that we must love and accept a Ger.<BR/>As a Ger you are at the same level with other born Jews. There are many big rabbis who were gerim and the Jewish nation comes from Avraham Aveinu so to say that converts are at a lower spiritual level is to say that Jewish nation descended from individuals with low spiritual levels or the Jewish nation descended from the "no goods". Humbug.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-33294194017167140992007-07-01T09:35:00.000-04:002007-07-01T09:35:00.000-04:00@dixieyidIIRC = if i recall correctlyIt's interest...@dixieyid<BR/><BR/>IIRC = if i recall correctly<BR/><BR/>It's interesting that Anon mentioned the RAMAK and you mentioned Rebbe Akiva because I just read in the Shivchei Ohr HaHayyim that he (Ohr HaHayyim, whose hillulah is today) was purported to have been a gilgul of the RAMAK who was a gilgul of Rebbe Akiva...<BR/><BR/>Also, the Alter Rebbe of Lubavitch said that a Jewish soul can be born to a non jewish mother and a non-jewish soul (cv"s) can be born to a Jewish mother.. He explained that the proof is in the end, if a goy converts and lives his whole life Jewish, he bears witness that his soul was always a Jewish soul, and the reverse (r"l) is also true. (so that was probably the makor of the Rebbe Rashab's teaching.) I will try and find the source for that quote--i think it's actually somewhere in Shulchan Aruch HaRav. (Though I think I heard it quoted by Rav Steinsaltz)<BR/><BR/>Taking this into account, it still raises the question: is the Maor Eynayim saying that someone needs to have <I>a Jewish mother</I> to access this Torah, or a <I>Jewish soul?</I> The best question is this though: if a goy has a Jewish father and converts, l'kulei Alma it seems he would still be privvy to this light, as he is a child of Avraham Yitzhak and Yaakov (patrilineally (sp?))<BR/><BR/>Also a point worth raising, according to everything I know, Gerim get a new soul when they convert which comes directly from Avraham avinu and Sarah imenu, and this is part of the sod of v'chol hanefesh asher asu b'charan. Which means spiritually, every ger is the child of Avraham and Sarah. (which is why we call them ben/bat Avraham and ben/bat Sarah) So it would seem that the Maor Eynayim must mean biological parents.?yitzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05866660855678077639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-41438391502554778732007-06-28T15:27:00.000-04:002007-06-28T15:27:00.000-04:00Anon, Great comments!The Rebbe Rashab lived 1860-1...Anon, <BR/><BR/>Great comments!<BR/><BR/>The Rebbe Rashab lived 1860-1920. R' Nachum from Chernobyl cited the Zohar for his point during his lifetime which was 1730-1797, about 100 years earlier. It could be that the status of Gerim changed from true Gerim to Jews who'd been nisgalgeil as goyim during those 100 years. Or it could be that the Rebbe Rashab was choleik on the heilige Meor Einayim on this point. I'm not sure but if one is Chabad, I suppose he should accept the Rebbe Rashab over Reb Nachum and would therefore believe that Gerim today were actually Jewish to begin with and this issue would become moot to them.<BR/><BR/>I certainly don't see myself as getting to the deepest levels, but the Meor Einayim clearly says that even regular people like us should have kavannah to bind our chiyus, our life to the Ohr She'baTorah, and not just the intellectual understanding. So one can hardly say that he would begrudge us that deep connection to Hashem through His light within the Torah.<BR/><BR/>What does IIRC stand for?<BR/><BR/>I'd not heard the great teaching about Eliezer eved Avraham. Thank you. It is also interesting if one looks at the heights Gerim have reached in Klal Yisroel. Consider Rebbe Akiva (ben Gerim), Shemaya v'Avtaliyon (Tena'im), Ben Bag Bag, Ben Hei Hei (also Tena'im) and Onkelus among others. I'm also curious how the tenaim especially were able to be considered Tena'im halachically, considering the isur d'oraisa of a Ger taking any position of authority from "'Mikerev achecha, Tasim Alecha Melech...' achecha, v'lo Ger." Any halachic insight would be appreciated!<BR/><BR/>And remember also one of the peshatim in Tosafos on the Gemara in Kiddushin "Kashim gerim al Yisroel k'sapachas;" Gerim, in their scrupulous observance of mitzvos, are a Kitrug on the Jewish people who don't observe the mitzvos as scrupulously. There are other pshatim there but that one is certainly interesting!DixieYid (يهودي جنوبي)https://www.blogger.com/profile/03713423988723533390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2606399196932045640.post-88549260467134002872007-06-28T15:01:00.000-04:002007-06-28T15:01:00.000-04:00The Zohar states that true gerim have to be reborn...The Zohar states that true gerim have to be reborn as Jews, and then they WILL attain the deepest levels of Torah, according to their merits. And, of course, the Gemara says that gerim are even more precious to Hashem than born Jews.<BR/><BR/>Also IIRC the Rebbe Rashab said that today's gerim are not true gerim, rather, they are Jewish neshamos that had to be nisgalgel and converted due to having formerly drifted away from Yiddishkeit. So, I don't know if this applies. <BR/><BR/>And BTW, who exactly gets to the "deepest levels" of Torah in this world anyway? <BR/><BR/>PS - The ARI zal says that the RaMa"K was a gilgul of Zechariah ha-Navi, who was a gilgul of Eliezer Eved Avraham -- the "arur" who couldn't make a shidduch with Avraham... The Eybishter has His ways!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com