Michael el Chayil

Ok... get over it; I was also surprised to discover that Chazal addressed evolution. Who would have thunk? Where? Here (Brachos 61b): R' Akiva explained why he was teaching Torah in public -- even though the government had outlawed such assemblies on pain of death -- with a parable: A fox saw  fish darting together from one place to another. He asked them from what were they fleeing. They responded from the nets that people were bringing to catch them. The fox suggested that they join him to live together with him on dry land  as his ancestors and their ancestors had done . (Italics mine, but that's how R' Akiva phrased the fox's proposal.) The fish said to the fox: Everyone extols you for being the most insightful (פיקח) of the animals. You are not insightful; you are a fool (טיפש)! If we are afraid in an environment that supports our life, how much more so would be afraid in an environment that does not supply even the basic necessities for us to live! So... I first...

My son (who was working as a -- ahem, quite upscale -- clothing salesman at the time) got a thank you email from a client whom he had helped pick just the right business suit for the occasion. The outfit was very smart and professional and helped to give her the confidence she needed for that occasion. The occasion? She was presenting a brief before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. The suit was just part of her preparation, and obviously not even the bulk of her preparation; but it was  an important part of her preparation. If she spent that much effort on having just the right look, she obviously spent hours, days, maybe even weeks, preparing the brief itself and polishing her delivery. That was just for a presentation to the US Supreme Court. The absolute worst that could happen to her would be to lose her case, be embarrassed and shamed in front of her peers and supervisors, lose her job, be black balled from the entire legal industry, lose her licence to pra...

I don't smoke. I have never smoked. I never had any desire to smoke. I think I dodged that bullet due to my naiveté and also due to the aspect of my personality that others label as "black and white". In my youth I was wont to unquestioningly believe any statement of science (that's the naiveté). I therefore believed all the statements about the dangers of smoking. I put smoking cigarettes in the same category as cyanide pills and rat poison. There was no temptation at all. I was privileged to participate once again in Shas For Shidduchim. (There are lots of pictures  here ; please note the wide spectrum of those learning.) Last year was the first year and I learned only two daf. This year the "buy in" was raised; so I took the day off work and learned a total of six daf. Having never been to yeshiva, this is the first opportunity I had to just sit and learn for six hours straight. I could get used to that. R' Fuerst, shilta, spoke at the siyum dinne...

I do own a smart phone. I do use the internet. I mostly do not play computer games . I am not opposed to computer games in principle, I just don't much see the point. I work as a computer programmer, you see; I have more than enough frustration getting a computer to do what I want when it is not  trying to oppose me. (Though there is one game on my phone that I allow to occupy more of my time than I should.) That being said, I do  believe that technology can be a vehicle to much ביטול תורה/murdering of time and a portal to quite serious Torah violations. Note I said "a vehicle to" and not that technology is in and of itself evil. Nothing in this world, in fact, is in and of itself evil; everything can be used for both good and evil. None the less, some things are so powerfully attractive to our יצר הרע and have so little to offer on the positive side that they must be avoided and almost any cost. I would put heroin and crystal meth in that category. Others have eno...

Spirituality and physicality make strange bedfellows. In fact, the Rema explains words מפליא לעשות/acts wondrously at the end of אשר יצר to be expressing our wonder that our health is actually the vehicle by which HaShem maintains the connection between our spirituality and physicality. (If you haven't, I urge you to pick at least one organ or system in the body and really study the details of how it works and what it does. I guarantee wonder and amazement; as well as becoming even more puzzled that smart people actually believe this all happened accidentally.) Part of maintaining that vital connection between are physical and spiritual components is our weekly infusion of extra spirituality -- Shabbos! For that encounter we are required to put in some effort of our own: kiddush to usher in the extra spirituality and הבדלה to return ourselves back to our mundane week. Think of it as coming up for spiritual air from the physical vacuum in which we live our weekday lives; kidd...

Sigh... תיקון עולם has been so overused that Google Translate yields: Tikkun Olam. My sigh...  is because our mission statement and reason for existing in this world has been reduced -- at best -- to a hackneyed phrase; and at worst into yet another excuse for everything from promoting recreational drug use to ethnic cleansing. Let's talk about their "Tikkun Olam". The פלא יועץ addresses their idea of tikun olam in very strong terms of condemnation. The Chafeitz Chaim made a one verse in Psalms more famous than any other in all of the Bible (Psalms 34:13): מי-האיש החפץ חיים; אוהב ימים, לראות טוב; which is translated as: Who is the one that desires life, to love days and to see good? Of course what follows immediately is one must refrain from Lashon HaRa. According to the פלא יועץ, the punctuation is wrong. The פלא יועץ reads: Who is the one that desires life? To love days and to see good?! Are you kidding me? All you want is to enjoy life and see good...