Michael el Chayil

As related in this TftD , I am now really living. After making a siyum on my first masechta (Brachos, of course, you know me... boring; I just go in order), I asked my rebbi, R' Dovid Siegal, shlita, whether to go on to the next masechta or to review. He, characteristically and to no real surprise to me, answered simply, "yes". I am now dividing my time between moving forward on my first pass through Shabbos and moving forward on my second pass through Brachos. I decided on my second pass through Brachos, to follow the development of the halacha through the centuries. The first daf of Brachos is by and large concerned with when one is able to say krias Shema in the evening. I learned the daf with Rashi, the Rosh, and Piskei HaRosh -- which are the essential halachic conclusions of the gemara, authored by the son of the Rosh himself; so quite authoritative. Now... the son of the Rosh organized all those halachos into four sections: (1) Laws of Daily Living, (2) Torts, (3) ...

My father, of blessed memory, was a very good parent. (I told him that once when I was a teenager. He was really touched. I was surprised he didn't just know that. Now that I am a parent, I know why.) One thing that made him a good parent was that he never made empty threats. He never, ever, even once threatened to kill any of us, no matter how egregious our sin. He would  however, in a very calm and measured tone (making it all the more terrifying) threaten to break our arm. I used to think to myself, "Well... he does have medical insurance, and he looks pretty serious." So I would desist. The Torah gives us two ways to create our own restrictions on ourselves. One can create an new Torah  prohibition by making either a נֶדֶר/vow or a שְׁבוּעָה/oath. They are very similar, but there are some technical differences. The one outstanding difference is that it is a Torah prohibition to make and empty/meaningless שְׁבוּעָה, whereas taking an empty/meaningless נֶדֶר i...

A recent TftD discussed an incredible Radak on T'hillim (145:17) regarding the behavior of predators. The main point is summed up with this line: The lion isn't getting hungry and then looking to kill an animal to fulfill his desire, rather the animal's time to die has arrived, so the lion gets hungry so he can fulfill the Desire of HaShem. I was/am quite amazed by this Radak and was socializing it this morning in kollel. In particular, I was proposing that therefore, lions are not violent and the sheep they eat are not fearful; they are just doing what they are programmed to do. One the yungaleit took exception, and told me: They are doing what animals do, and that includes predators being violent and their prey feeling fear. So began a very animated and fruitful discussion. Which, in fact, is why I love learning in kollel. These are young men who have dedicated their lives to learning Torah. I am both humbled and delighted that they take the time to help me get on the ri...

I signed up for a psychology class once. I learned three things. First, I learned that the unit of measure for a psychology class is the JND -- just noticeable difference. So for example, while black and brown shoes will definitely have a different internal temperature for a given ambient temperature, humidity, exposure to direct sunlight, etc... that difference is less than 1 JND. (No, not 1.0; JNDs are atomic, sort of). Second, I learned that we would be tested on material in the assigned reading that would never be covered in lecture. Throughout my entire college career, I never read a textbook; I just attended lectures and worked out the problems to learn the material. So I dropped the course. Before I dropped, though, I actually learned one very cool concept that I later found discussed by our sages over the last few centuries (Rishonim and Acharonim). Namely, that all we can really observe is correlation; two events that always occur together under certain conditions. Cause and e...

Note: All references to simanim in Shulchan Aruch are in Orach Chaim. What is happening when you are davening? The Shulchan Aruch (98:1) says that you should just concentrate on the plain meaning of the words that are coming out of your mouth. Consider yourself to be standing in the Divine Presence and remove all extraneous thoughts from your mind so that your prayer should be pure. Keep in mind how carefully you would arrange your words if you were standing before a powerful earthly leader. (98:3) Express your prayers as someone who is destitute and has an audience with someone who has the ability to give you everything you need; this is not a bother, but an incredible opportunity. I have a little experience with this. I once worked as the radiation physicist in a hospital that had very antiquated treatment planning facilities. I was granted a 15 minute appointment with the president/CEO/head honcho of the hospital to explain the need and give my recommendation for how to rebuild the ...

In the fall 1993, we had decided that we needed to leave Dallas and move to a Jewish community that was more established. In particular, we needed a Beis Yaakov. (We didn't actually know that term yet, but that is actually what we had in mind.) We were newly Torah observant, and the idea of sending our daughters out of town for high school was not a scenario that was in our mindset at all. We had already rejected California (we were from that and wanted to remain from there) and New York (my father's family had left New  York and always talked about how everyone left in New York envied them). We had been to a chasuna in Chicago and spent a Shabbos here. On Shabbos afternoon my wife saw all the girls going to Shabbos groups; the decision was made. All that remained was finding a job. Baruch HaShem, I had a good friend who had recently moved to Chicago and he was able to help me get an interview at Motorola. I spoke to the hiring manager over the phone (dude... long  before Zoom...