The End of the Telegraph

The world's last telegram will be sent in India on July 14th (2 days before Tish'a Be'av).

Here are some areas of Halacha on HebrewBooks.org that had to do with telegraphs (not necessarily Halacha Lema'aseh - consult your LOR):

• Can one accept testimony via a telegram that a woman is divorced ?  See here.
• How about testimony about when an animal was slaughtered in order to know until when salting can be performed?  See here.  (Talks about the previous case too.)
• Is sending a telegram on Shabbat a biblical or rabbinic prohibition?  See here.
• If someone was notified of a relative's death via telegram, when does Aveilut begin?  See here.
• Can one use telegraph wire as part of an Eruv?  See here and here and here.
• Can you perform the Mitzvah of Pidyon Haben via telegram?  See here.

I'm sure there are more, but you get the drift - it has taken its place in halachic discourse, and we see that it's the end of an era.  Perhaps, though, the era of the telegraph is more important than first thought.

Samuel Morse conducted the first successful experiment with an electrical telegraph in 1837.  Cooke and Wheatstone developed the first commercial telegraph in 1838-39.  In 1844, Morse sent the verse  from this week's Perasha (Balak) "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT" as the first telegram from the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. to Baltimore.  (This verse has Mashiah-related importance, as we find in the Yerushalmi Shabbat 6:9 and Iggeret Teiman.)

All this was going on about the same time that the Zohar explained that in the year 5600 (1840), all the gates and wellsprings of wisdom will open up.  As I translated from Rav Shmuel Eliyahu Shlit"a:

And really, it's amazing to see how all the great inventions of the world began from the year 5600: the industrial uses of coal and oil, electricity and all the technology that depends on it, the paving of roads and the invention of cars, motors and airplanes - all this started around the year 5600. All this development which is called the "Industrial Revolution" brought the world out of its ignorance and changed its life. All of it is a preparation for the days of Mashiah, which as is known, will change the face of all of humanity and not just the nation of Israel.

Rav Eliyahu also quoted the Gr"a and the Be'er Yitzhak that Ikveta Dimshiha started in 5600.  Also, Rav Fish mentioned that עקבתא has the root of עקב, with a gematria of 172.  This implies that the end of this era is about now.  He also mentioned the Targum Yerushalmi that talks about Mashiah coming after 172 "days".

Bye, bye, telegraph.  Hello, Mashiah.

May it be so.

Has the RCA Leadership Lost Its Way?

I'm not usually the type of blogger who criticizes everyone and everything around.  There are countless other blogs where one can go for that.  I feel I must make an exception here.

The RCA is a well-respected organization that has done a lot of good for Kelal Yisrael over the years.  Its membership is quite diverse, and it almost always attracts rabbis with whom someone or another won't agree.  Putting a large mix of people and viewpoints under one umbrella and keeping the umbrella intact is not an easy task, and I give them a lot of credit for doing so.  Without this organization, it may lead to איש כל הישר בעיניו on a wider scale than what the fringe-left of it is doing currently, so I applaud much of what the RCA does.

However, two recent actions taken by the RCA leadership have me quite troubled.  (I must say that I am nowhere near worthy of giving rebuke to anyone - let alone knowledgeable rabbis whom I respect - but I'm speaking as someone defending the sensibilities of others who don't have a blog to speak for themselves.)

The first is the recent invitation to an Orthodox MK - for a party whose platform goes against everything for which Torah Judaism stands - to speak at the RCA Convention.  This figure has made numerous cringe-worthy statements, and that doesn't even include the blasphemous ones.  Even if some of the RCA rabbis agree with this person, it is still unconscionable that such a person should be invited since he talks and legislates so cruelly to a large portion of the frum public.  Inviting Jonathan Rosenblum (who himself has similarly criticized the original invitation, to which the MK responded, but mostly insufficiently) for balance doesn't forgive the misdeed of inviting the original person in the first place.  The RCA should know better.

The second is the letter of support for Rav Stav, which, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing.  They have a different view from the Haredi and much of the Dati Leumi public, and that's understood.  However, the way it was said - as if they have the right to rebuke Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef Shlit"a - is absolutely disgusting and sinful.  The letter should be retracted immediately with an apology to Rav Ovadia Shlit"a.  Rav Ovadia, being the Gadol Hador, has the right to criticize another Rav - even harshly, if necessary.  The RCA does not have the right and should not have the audacity to criticize the Gadol Hador, especially in such a tone.  Now, from the letter, it is not clear if the words אוי לו לפלוני שלמד תורה אוי לו לאביו שלמדו תורה אוי לו לרבו שלמדו תורה פלוני שלמד תורה ראו כמה מקולקלים מעשיו וכמה מכוערים דרכיו" were directed at Rav Ovadia or at the Yeshiva boys who shouted bad names at Rav Stav at a wedding.  Either way, the impression was left that it was in part directed at Rav Ovadia, and Kikar rightly takes offense at these words.  And, I repeat, the words should be retracted and an apology offered.

I am normally a big fan of the RCA, and I criticize only as an admirer hoping to better improve the organization.  I hope that these 2 incidents are not part of a new trend, but aberrations from the normally-good work the RCA has done and continues to do.

Geula Update from Rav Fish - Hukat 5773

From Rav Fish's latest:

• 5775
• It's brought down in the book "She'al Lecha Ot" that he found in a very old book that the Keitz of Mashiah is hinted to in the verse (Shemot 38:28) וְאֶת-הָאֶלֶף וּשְׁבַע הַמֵּאוֹת, וַחֲמִשָּׁה וְשִׁבְעִים, עָשָׂה וָוִים, לָעַמּוּדִים [And of the thousand seven hundred seventy and five shekels he made hooks for the pillars].  The hint is:
• ואת האלף - which is Rashei Teivot for ואם תמנה ה' אלף - and if you will count 5000
• וּשְׁבַע מֵאוֹת וְשִׁבְעִים וְחָמֵשׁ - and 775
• [Verse 25's version has the word] שקל - which is Rashei Teivot for שנת קץ לישראל - and year of the Keitz for Israel
• This year should be a year of salvation - תְּשֻׁעָה - for Israel
• It's brought down in the "Kovetz Beit Aharon Veyisrael" (year 17, volume 5, p. 152) in the name of the Ba'al Haturim that was printed in Vienna in 5554, but is no longer extant, that he writes at the end of the Tocheha in Parshat Ki Tavo that there are 775 (תשע"ה) words in the Tocheha, which equals the gematria of יין תרעלה, which is a cup of punishment.  It comes out that the exile, which is compared to the cup of punishment, will last until the year 5775, and that's when the curses of the Tocheha will end.  (When doing a computer search, it comes out exactly as he wrote.)  He also brings down in the name of the Roke'ah that in the 15 Shir Hama'alot [psalms], there are 775 words.  (However, when doing a computer search, it comes to 811 words.)
• Protests
• The Rama"z adds that the reason the big protest against the draft was opposite the Draft Office at the entrance to Yerushalayim because it is brought down in the book "Kol Hator" that the war against the Erev Rav will take place at the gates of Yerushalayim.
• The street where the protest took place is named after Rav Yechiel Michel Tukachinsky ZT"L because according to him, the end of the area of Yerushalayim in regard to reading the Megilla - is there.
• Holocaust and Six Day War
• It's brought down in the book "Asot Peri" that the Holocaust broke out in the year תרח"ץ [the year 5698], which was בקר [equalling 302] years before the end of the millennium.  The Six Day War broke out ערב [equalling 272] years before the end of the millennium.  Upon this, it could be said: בַּבֹּקֶר תֹּאמַר מִי-יִתֵּן עֶרֶב [In the morning thou shalt say: 'Would it were even!']
• Punishment to the Nations
• It's brought down in Rabbeinu Yona on Avot (chapter 1) that Hashem said about the Exodus דן אנכי and many plagues came due to this.  All the more so is this true in the Final Exile, where many Parshiyot were written about the salvations and consolations, neither hath the eye seen a God beside Thee, who worketh for him that waiteth for Him.  R' Y. G. explains that although Rabbeinu Yona is speaking about the good part of the salvation of Israel and its consolation, still the verse of דן אנכי speaks of Hashem's vengeance against the nations, and especially Edom, about whom whole prophecies were written, like וְהָיָה אֱדוֹם יְרֵשָׁה, וְהָיָה יְרֵשָׁה שֵׂעִיר--אֹיְבָיו and וְלֹא-יִהְיֶה שָׂרִיד לְבֵית עֵשָׂו and like Tosafot (Avoda Zara 2b, top) says that Edom's fate was sealed [during the killing of the Asara Harugei Malchut] and we are awaiting its enactment.  Also, Ovadia prophesied: כַּאֲשֶׁר עָשִׂיתָ יֵעָשֶׂה לָּךְ, גְּמֻלְךָ יָשׁוּב בְּרֹאשֶׁךָ.

The Bayit Vegan Owl and Rav Neuwirth ZT"L

Mashiach Is Coming points us to a Behadrei article about an owl perched on top of the Aseret Hadiberot that's over the Aron of the Gra Shul of Bayit Vegan.  All efforts to remove it failed.

A congregant of the shul made a poster that he claims shows the connection between the owl's appearance and Rav Neuwirth ZT"L, who just passed away this week and used to give Shiurim in this shul, using gematrias and Rashei Teivot.

Kikar also has an article about it and adds another intersting tidbit.  One of the doctors who was caring for Rav Neuwirth ZT"L, had a dream 3 hours before he passed away that he was alarmed to take care of Rav Neuwirth, but was unable to due to a snake that was close to his bed.  After he woke up, 3 hours after the dream, the doctor's telephone rang to inform him of the worsening of Rav Neuwirth's condition.

I personally would have a halachic question whether it is permitted to bow down during prayers in this shul with a live animal that's situated right above the Aron Kodesh.  I don't know the answer, but it seems that this didn't bother those attending the shul or its rabbi.

See also here and here for stories about doves coming to learn Torah.

Some Very Cool Predictions Come True

Over at Absolute Truth

It's Hamas vs. Hizballah in a Steel-Caged Death Match!

Well, not quite, but it's starting to look that way, according to Debka.

Hizballah forces helping Syrian troops capture the key Syrian town of al Qusayr from rebel hands last week caught five armed members of the radical Palestinian Hamas fighting with the rebels, debkafile’s intelligence sources disclose. Within hours of this discovery being reported to Hizballah chief Hassan Nasrallah, the order to shut down Hamas offices in the Shiite Dahya neighborhood in Beirut went down the Hizballah chain of command. 

See the rest there.


Yeshaya 19:2

וְסִכְסַכְתִּי מִצְרַיִם בְּמִצְרַיִם, וְנִלְחֲמוּ אִישׁ-בְּאָחִיו וְאִישׁ בְּרֵעֵהוּ, עִיר בְּעִיר, מַמְלָכָה בְּמַמְלָכָה

And I will spur Egypt against Egypt; and they shall fight every one against his brother, and everyone against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.

As I mentioned earlier here and here:

It's brought down in "Yalkut Ohev Yisrael" that R' Mordechai of Slonim said in the name of the Apter Rebbe that at the End of Days, the nations of the world will want to fight against each other, but they will think and contemplate that the outcome of such fighting will only be good for Israel. So, they will all gather together to smooth out the differences between them so that they won't need to fight. However, this will not help them, and they will end up fighting each other until they reach their demise. He concluded that it's permissible to say this over in his name as if one had heard it from a prophet.

Re: Hamas and Hizballah, I wish them both much Hatzlaha!

Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth ZT"L

Today, we mourn the passing of Rav Yehoshua Neuwirth ZT"L, the author of Shemirat Shabbat Kehilchata, and a main student of Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ZT"L.

See:
Matzav
YWN
VIN
Arutz Sheva 1, 2
Jewish Press
Kikar 1, 2, 3
Ladaat 1, 2
Behadrei 1, 2, 3 (See the last link where his great-grandson had a Berit Mila on the day of his funeral - one for which Rav Neuwirth ZT"L was scheduled to be the Sandak - and was, understandably, named after him.)

Baruch Dayan Ha'emet.

Interesting Recent Links - Hukat 5773

The Mysteries of the Sambatyon River Part IV

Video Tribute to R' Yehiel Kalish (a friend of mine who has done some great work in Far Rockaway, and earlier, in Chicago)

Matzav: A Picture of Hasmadah: Chacham Ovadiah (includes a nice story)

RCA Condemns Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Israel Rally

Ladaat: Watch the video as the idiot who protested against Rav Shteinman Shlit"a is taken away by police

Matzav: Lakewood's Protest Against the Draft [Update: Matzav removed the link, but basically, it was an article that consisted of a picture like this]

Srugim: Rav Druckman Cancels His Makor Rishon subscription after the newspaper goes anti-Rabbanim

Debka: Moscow Sets Up Russian Golan Brigade

YWN: Haredim were blocked from the Kotel on Rosh Hodesh just so WoW could have their get-together  and now, MKs are asking why

A new commenter on my old "Will the real Hafetz Hayim please stand up?" post linked to this 1917 picture from Encyclopedia Judaica and claims that the rabbi seated second-from-left is the Hafetz Hayim.

Tacoma

I saw this story in this week's Mishpacha magazine, but found an online version of the story at CrownHeights.info:

by Rabbi Meir Kaplan, Chabad of Vancouver Island

Last week we took the children for a two day trip to the mainland. We started in Tacoma, Washington, where we saw the new beautiful Chabad Center. While touring the magnificent Shul, Rabbi Zalman Heber told us the story of the beautiful candelabras in the front of the Synagogue, a story I’d never hold back from you.

“When we announced the building of a new Shul” Rabbi Heber began the story “a family in the city told me that they would like to donate a special gift to the new house of prayer and asked if I’d come to see them”.

“When I came to their home they presented to me two very old looking candelabras.’They were from a synagogue in Amsterdam in the 18 hundreds, it was passed through the family and we feel that Chabad of Tacoma is the perfect home for it’”.

“I held these beautiful pieces with great emotions and thanked them on behalf of the community for this remarkable gift. In front of the candles were the original plaques with Hebrew words. I quickly got a cloth to clean them and saw the dedication of the donor. They were right, it was donated to the synagogue in Amsterdam in 1791, but when I saw the way it was written I nearly fell in amazement: שנת תקומה. The Jewish year is written many times with the Hebrew letters representing the numerical value of the year. The word they chose for the year was “Tkuma” which means “rebirth”, but the same letters can also be read as “Tacoma”, the city which is now the new home for the candelabras.

“I explained it to the family who was astonished at the divine providence, yet filled with joy that they had done exactly what was meant to be.

“And for me” continued Rabbi Heber, “It gave exactly the strength I required. We were going through financial difficulties to complete the project and I got the sign I needed. It may be a great effort to pull it all together, but it is more than worthwhile. Our Shul is part of the long history of our people; a rebirth of the Amsterdam Synagogue in Tacoma”.