Entering the Holy of Holies

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The Torah says (Leviticus 16:3) "with this Aaron shall enter the Holies". What is "this"? Rabbi Moshe Heinemann explains that in the prayer Unesanah Tokef recited in Yom Kippur and Rosh HaShannah, one says that "repentence, prayer, and charity remove the unfavorable decree." Above each of these three elements, the standard liturgical prayer book has the words "fast, voice, and money." The numerical value of each of these words equals 136 and the total is 410, which is the numerical vlaue of the word "this". When the Kohen Gadol enters the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur, it is with fasting for repetence, voice for prayer, and money for charity. It is in the merit fo these three actions for which one can be saved from an unfavorable verdict for the year in the Heavenly court.

Rabbi Heinemann relates a story which occured in Baltimore. A Jewish business owner once has a gentile worker who was a loyal worker and was his empolyee for many years. One day, this worker (henceforth known as Esav), asked the Jewish man if he could be advanced his paycheck for one week. The Jew, realizing that his Friday, at the end of the week, Esav receicved his payment for that week's work and for the next week's work. On monday morning, Esav did not show up, so the Jew cancelled the check, realizing that he had been tricked.

Rabbi Heinemann then receives a phone call from a cash advance service. The properiter of this cash advance service has been given a check by Esav from the Jew and gave Esav the cash. When the cash advance service went to cash the check, they were told that the Jew cancelled the check. Realizing the fairness of the Jewish court system, they asked Rabbi Heinemann to convene a Rabbinical court to see if the Jew owes them money for cancelling Esav's check.

Reactions to Zionism: A Qoton Qlassic

In recognition of Yom Ha'atzmaut, I decided that today's Qoton Qlassic post is an old discussion about the varying points of view concerning Zionism. This post is also a nominee for the Best Overall Post at the Jewish-Israeli Blogging Awards. Voting begins Sunday Night, so please be sure to vote for Reb Chaim HaQoton in all the various categories that this blog in nominated.

Here is an excerpt from the revised edition in which I quote from one of the commentators to the original post:

On November 10, 1975, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 3379, which branded Zionism a form of racism. Although this Soviet- and Arab-sponsored resolution was rescinded by Resolution 4686 in 1991, its premise is often referenced in other debates of Zionism and racism. Chaim Herzog (1918-1997), at that time the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, symbolically tore up this resolution and stated, "For us, the Jewish people, this resolution based on hatred, falsehood, and arrogance, is devoid of any moral or legal value." A Representative in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, Rep. Mark B. Cohen (Democrat), eloquently answered the U.N.’s initial claims by saying, "Racism claims superiority, while Zionism merely claims difference. Racism seeks the persecution of long powerless groups, while Zionism seeks to protect the members of a group long persecuted. Racism seeks to degrade its victims, while Zionism seeks to protect those who have been victims. The U.N. was right to repeal its discredited resolution." The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) categorized the U.N. proclamation as “anti-Semitic;” however, this description is not necessarily accurate because Judaism and Zionism have distinct identities, for some Jews are not Zionists (e.g. anti-Zionists, a-Zionists) and some Zionists are not Jews (e.g. Christian Zionists and the waning American liberal Zionists). It is unclear exactly which flavor of Zionism was referenced in the United Nations’ referendum because of the vagueness of the United Nations’ condemnation of Zionism and the multitude of differing diverse Jewish views on Zionism.

Continue Reading This Qoton Qlassic...

The Return of a Classic

Last week, I received the following email from an old blogger, Mis-nagid:

R Chaim Haqoton,

Can you please transfer ownership of mis-nagid.blogspot.com to me?
I know you've been a fair steward of it, not abusing or misusing it, but I'd feel better if I had control of it.

Thanks,
Mis-nagid
=========

At first, the following parable entered my head as to why I should not give him access to his old blog. Imagine a man had a idol which he not only used for idol worshiping, but also used to convince others to worship idols. Imagine if this idolater decided he does not want to use the idol anymore, so he left it outside for anyone to use. Now imagine that someone grabbed this idol and claimed that he stole it, making a huge kiddush hashem, and locked it away for two years so that no one else could ever use it. Now, imagine that two years later, the old idolater goes to this person and requests back his idol so that he can resume using it for his worship and causing others to sin with it. Does the person who took the idol have any reason to give it back to the one from whom he took it? No! On the contrary, he is probably not even allowed halachikly to return this idol to its former owner because doing so would be a violation of various transgressions, including laws about idol worship and Leviticus 19:14. So I decided not to give him back his blog totally, but I have rather decided to allow him to resume posting on his blog, but it will be under my own auspices. In doing so, I am assuming that Mr. Mis-nagid will not continue his idol worship of old, but will rather provide stimulating kosher information and discussions. So, he is not the owner of the blog, but he does retain some posting rights to the blog. Now presenting the return of Mis-Nagid.