Michael el Chayil

There are few things more irritating than hearing, "I told you so." It is usually heard when trapped in a sticky situation that is the outcome -- direct or indirect -- of a group decision. Invariably, someone was not thrilled with the chosen course of action. Someone had a better idea, but they went along with the group. Now that things are falling apart, that one bitter "fine; I'll go along with you, but..." participant gets to double down and say, "See?! I told you so!" Yet, we seem to read those very words in the Torah when the 10 sons of Yaakov who went for food are standing before the viceroy of Mitzrayim -- whom they do not recognize as their brother Yosef; the very brother they were seeking save -- and accused of being spies. They know this is an unfair and unwarranted accusation. Even so, they search their deeds to find some error that would warrant this treatment. They understand deeply that HaShem is orchestrating events to punish them for s...

Some time ago (oh my gosh... over 11 year! where does the time go?) I wrote at TftD regarding Using Science in Support of Avodas HaShem . In recent discussions, I proposed the following analogy: The relationship of the physical world that we experience in relation to the spiritual reality is something like the relationship of an iceberg to the ocean. Howso? Only about 10% of an iceberg is above water. That means the part you can see is not a great indicator of the actual (entire) iceberg. If you know enough about how icebergs form and how they interact with water and how deep the water is, then you can get a clue as to the size and shape of the total iceberg. Why not just measure what you see and multiply by 10? Consider this: shape and composition of an object affects its orientation when floating. That means that whatever is under water (the hidden portion) has more to do with what is visible than the visible part itself. There is a profound underlying spiritual reality that is be...

Ok.... I ran into a couple of Gemaras (both in Brachos) that discussed the terrible consequences of acting less than menschlich, followed by: but if you do act like a mensch... מה שכרו/what is the reward? To me it sounded like: If you speed in a school zone during school hours, you will get a hefty fine; but if you don't speed -- wow! wanna know how much we pay you?! A friend of mine shared a great link with me: alhatorah.org . With that, I was able to search all of Talmud Bavli for "מה שכרו". The question is asked seven times; five times in Masechta Brachos (those are the ones I had found and were bothering me -- 5a, 5b, 6b, 18a, 24b), once in Sanhedrin (92a), and once in Nedarim (40a). And -- TADA -- the one in Nedarim asks exactly my question -- מה שכרו?!? Of course, I worked hard to find that, so you, my dear reader, are going to have to get a taste of my journey. So here are the headlines: Brachos 5a: This one is not like the others. This says that HaShem send chall...

I recently learned and wrote about ( TftD ) a Chazal (Brachos 21a) that apparently says straight out that there is no pleasure/enjoyment/ הנאה from learning Torah. I was surprised, but I gave it some thought and felt I had a good way to understand that Chazal. While discussing it with a member of the kollel, however, he pointed me to the introduction to the אגלי טל, who discusses the concept of "mitzvos were not given for our enjoyment." Long story short, the אגלי טל discusses in the introduction why the Rambam says that learning Torah for the wrong reasons will bring you to learning Torah for the right reasons, whereas doing miztvos for the wrong reasons won't bring you anywhere. Basically, the Rambam is of the opinion that in order to actually fulfill a mitzvah, it must be done with that intent. Since mitzvos were not given for our enjoyment, doing the mitzvah for any purpose other than fulfilling the mitzvah -- ie, for some side benefit -- is automatically not a fulfi...

When I learn Torah, I would say that more often than not I am filled with feelings of happy satisfaction and enjoyment. Yet there is an apparent machlokes between Chazal and every translation I can find for the word הנאה. Google translate says it quite well, I think: הנאה a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment And Chazal? We need a short introduction. There are only two brachos that are a Torah obligation: Birkas HaMazon and Birkas HaTorah: Rav Yehuda asks (rhetorically): How do we know there is a Torah obligation to make a bracha after eating? Because it says ואכלת ושבעת וברכת/(when) you eat and are satisfied, you will bless (Devarim 8:10). How do we know there is a Torah obligation to make a bracha before learning Torah? Because it says כי שם ה' אקרא הבו גדל לאלקינו/when I proclaim the name of HaShem, ascribe greatness to our G-d (Devarim 32:3) (Brachos 21a). So far, so good. R' Yochanon floats the idea that he can prove that there should be a Torah obligation to say ...

Yes, I know מחלוקת is bad. We all know know that מחלוקת is bad. But is it really? It's not like murder, or avoda zara, or immorality, right? Right? Let's check that out. First, there was the sin of the golden calf. A distressingly dark blotch in the history of Klal Yisrael. It is clear from the narrative in  parshas  Ki Sisa that Aaron helped in the construction of said idol . The Torah tells us (Sh'mos 32:2) that Aaron asked them to bring earrings from the women and children. Rashi brings a medrash to explain his plan: Aaron said to himself, “The women and children are fond of their jewelry. Perhaps the matter will be delayed, and in the meantime, Moses will arrive.” So: (1) that plan didn't work; and (2) Aaron was delaying and working as slowly and lazily as possible, but he was  working to build an idol. R' Biderman brings a Chasam Sofer to explain why he participated at all: The Chasam Sofer zt'l answers that Aharon understood that if he refused the nation a...