Michael el Chayil

An expression that I eschew with extreme prejudice is: "I will never forget <some seemingly important event>" The reason I recoil from this expression is, of course: I haven't the slightest idea what I may or may not forget. Goodness! I have forgotten so many things that at the time seemed so unforgettable. That being said, when the "something" causes a change in how one conducts his life, then that "something" certainly can be said to be unforgettable. Even if one were to lose the ability to recall the details -- or even the occurrence -- of the original event; the change is engendered in one's journey through this world and trajectory through the next. Nonetheless, such an event is intrinsically unforgettable. I herein relay two (which will become three) such experiences where the rosh yeshiva, R' Chaim Dov Keller, זכר צדיק לברכה, changed the trajectory of my life. Every event in life is actually a mussar lesson. For a couple of years

I learn mishnayos every day and try to do a seder or two each year. Having Kehati on my phone (Android; you iPhone users will have to find your own apps) makes it easy to learn several mishnayos a day during the many otherwise wasted minutes of standing around waiting during the day. I am now just finishing the mishnayos of Pesachim. Now, you might think that I'd just switch to Sukkos because it was, after all, Sukkos and I am, after all, learning seder Mo'ed. Nope, I like to go in order and keep my learning seder tidy. Moreover, there is the famous g'zeira shava of ט''ו ט''ו. That is, Pesach and Succos are the only two holidays that start on the 15th of the month, and many halachos are learned one from the other because of that. So there. In a recent Thought for the Day: Shmini Atzeres -- Serving HaShem Without Props , I noted that Shmini Atzeres is a Yom Tov that by design and intent has no mitzvos unique to it. More than that, the month after our High Ho

I get a daily halacha email from the Dirshu organization; great way to get a tour or Mishna Brura. Occasionally they will also include a very nice "vort" about the auspicious occasion in which we find ourselves and proffer a new perspective. For example, they recently discussed a point about the holiday of Shmini Atzeres. As is well known, Chazal understand Shmini Atzeres as our Father who is our King saying to us, "I find separation from you very difficult, please stay one more day." Very nice... but if that's the whole issue, then why not make Sukkos a day longer? Moreover... um... we aren't really going anywhere, right? So why do we need a whole new Yom Tov -- with it's own kiddush, sh'he'chiyanu, musaf, etc. Just make Sukkos one day longer and the situation will have been addressed. Right? Obviously this Chazal is meant to convey something quite profound about Shmini Atzeres. The short answer is that we have had six weeks of focu

I have read enough science fiction and seen enough horror films to have been really worried in recent days about an alien invasion. Anyone who has seen Westworld or Invasion of the Body Snatchers knows very well that an alien invasion can start with creatures who look very human, but they always have one give-away "tell". In this case, I have noticed quite a few very human looking creatures... but to the observant, paranoid, science nerd they made one glaring mistake in their charade: Everyone knows that human breathe through the nose and mouth. These creatures largely breathe through their chins, many have noses that are nothing more than clever camouflage. Some even breathe through their elbows! My evidence? Their mask usage. Then I thought their might be another explanation. They -- the "veldt" -- has what they call the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So inspirational! Our sages said something similar -- That which is hateful to yo

The laws of physics (classical, anyway) are expressed mathematically as second order differential equations. Besides that cool fact, here is another: If you would know all the laws of physics and two more bits of information, then you could (in principle) deduce the entire trajectory/history/travels of an object. Those two bits of information are either: The position and trajectory of the object at the beginning of it's travels (aka Cauchy or initial conditions). The position at both the beginning and end of the trajectory of the object (aka Dirichlet or boundary conditions). (Sigh... the physicist in me needs to qualify that any point(s) along the trajectory will do, because the laws of physics are time reversal and translation invariant. I would note sources for the interested reader, but I am quite confident that the only interested reader at this point is yours truly.) None of that, of course, has anything to do with Sefer Tehilim. The idea, though, is quite relevant to Dovid

Two scenarios: Scenario I: A young boy awakened in the middle of the night, placed in the back of vehicle, told not to make any noise, and the vehicle speeds off down the highway. Scenario II: Young boy playing in park goes to see firetruck, turns around to see scary man in angry pursuit, poised to attack. I experienced and lived through both of those scenarios. Terrifying, no? Actually, no; and my picture was never on a milk carton. Here's the context: Scenario I: We addressed both set of our grandparents as "grandma" and "grandpa". How did we distinguish? One set lived less than a half hour's drive; those were there "close grandma and grandpa". The other set lived five hour drive away; they were the "way far away grandma and grandpa". To make the trip the most pleasant for all of us, Dad would wake up my brother and I at 4:00AM, we'd groggily -- but with excitement! -- wander out and down to the garage where we'd crawl

I saw interviews a couple of weeks ago with college students on spring break in Florida -- "I've planned this for months; a little virus isn't going to stop me!" Uh-huh. Worse though, I still see people being lax about social distancing and hygiene. I also hear unfortunate comparisons to the flu, "Ok, even if I get it, it's not usually fatal. It'll be a week of being sick; nu?" What does COVID-19 do to a body? So, there are these little cells in the pipes and tubes that bring air into the lungs. These little cells have hair like structures whose job is to sweep the grit mixed in the air out of the lungs. COVID-19 kills those cells, so the lung is left unprotected. Now do you see the problem? No? You still think, "Ok, I'll cough more and probably be sore. But aren't you overreacting?" Hmm... ok, it's like this: Imagine a garbage pickup strike in New York. All those people dumping all that garbage and it's not going any

Here is my hope and expectation: When I stand in front of the the Creator of the World for my final judgment, I will be roundly chided: "Michael, Michael, Michael... don't you think you were overreacting a bit -- let's be honest, way more than a bit, like over the top -- to the COVID-19 outbreak in 5780?" I am pray for that embarrassment, because I know with certainty that I don't want to be held responsible for even one murder. Let's put this in perspective. On Monday, March 16, 2020 CE, there were 100,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 outside of China (which seems to have finally leveled off). On Tuesday there were 116,000; an increase of 16,000; taking the conservative mortality rate of 1%, that means 160 deaths. Not much out of a population of 3 billion. On Wednesday, there were 18,000 more case; 180 more deaths. Thursday, 28,000 more; 280 more deaths. Friday, 30,000 more; another 300 deaths. Saturday, up 32,000; another 320 deaths. These numbers are most

The reaction I got to my TftD: Psak Halacha Regarding Protection that Beats Firearms was much, much different than what I expected. By way introduction to my surprise, allow me to relate a story regarding my father, Yaakov ben Yosef, alav ha'shalom whose yahrtzeit is approaching; 13th Adar (he was niftar a month before Purim, but in a straight year like this one, it is Ta'anis Esther). Several years ago, approximately 13 years before my father's p'tira, I received a distressing phone call: my father had suffered a major heart attack and was just now being air lifted to the closest cardiac intensive care unit. In fact, the heart attack had started the night before, but because of misdiagnosis and generally incompetent medical staff at the small hospital near his home, he had been left suffering all night being treated for indigestion! Baruch HaShem, I was able to get there right away and again three weeks later when he had his triple bypass surgery. Baruch HaShem, the

I once mentioned to my family that I found it interesting that many of my closest friends are people to whom I rarely speak. I was referring, of course, to those with whom I daven at the Chicago Vasikin Minyan. My children -- in all their wide-eyed innocence and purity of spirit -- replied, "Abba, it is probably because you don't speak to them that they are your friends." Ok.... now I have your attention. I had heard in the name of R' Fuerst that it is incumbent on every shul to have someone carrying a weapon on Shabbos. I read in the pamphlet put out by the Beis Hora'ah that the p'sak of R' Fuerst is that it is forbidden to carry a weapon outside on Shabbos. (In a place where there is no eiruv, such as Peterson Park in Chicago.) I decided to ask the rabbi in person to get the straight story. The following is my transcription of the dialog; quoted without comment. Please also note that in this case, the indicated emphasis was the way R' Fuerst said