News Flash

You heard it here first !!!

A senior official of Agudath Israel (I won't blow his cover for fear of being 'Plamed') has posted pseudonymously on a (drum roll) . . .blog!!! (Click for URL)

This is indeed good Adar/Purim news for our cause, loyal readers, inevitable though it was!

While we all knew Avi Shafran and Jonathan Rosenblum are on the net with regularity, this is a penetration into Rabbi Sherer (obm)'s inner management sanctum and moreover, the post speaks to us (Agudah & similar types), not 'them' (the great unlearned masses yearning to be free).

I fully disclaim responsibility for any resultant (shudder) kol korehs due to my diligent reporting to you, the loyal reader.

What's next?
A Hischadus shaala web site?

Gilui Daas

In the March 9 edition of Hamodia, the kosher newspaper which is trayfe on the 'net, on page B13 the following "Gilui Daas" appears:

We the undersigned state that it is unequivocally osur to allow internet access to school children of all ages in any way at all (underlined in original). It is also incumbent upon all menahim and menahalos to ensure that this isur is complied with fully, without compromise, as this is a matter of drastic consequence to the nefashos of all students.

The Gilui Daas has 10 signatures. Eight are well respected Roshei Yeshiva. One is the Lakewood mashgiach and one is the Novominsker Rebbe.

There is a note below the Gilui Daas composed by a committee of unkown membership stating that anyone who must have an 'internet accessed' computer must keep it under 'physical lock and key' at all times which only the parents have access to.

Truthfully, my first reaction to the Gilui Daas was positive, because this one, unlike previous ones, skirts the urgent need of B'nai Parnoso to utilize the web, a significant step forward in the parallel reality of internet proclamations.

However I do have two questions:

1. What will become of these schoolchildren when they inevitably mature and need the web? Where is the concern for their spiritual future, as opposed to their here and now?

2. What are we doing for those parents of children who will not or cannot put it under lock and key. Who says that a home lock and key are not more easily subverted than a good filter? When, in the history of yeshivas, has a physical lock and key stopped bochurim who wanted to get in to a room?

The internet becomes stronger from day to day.

We cannot abdicate our responsibility to find technical solutions by putting the onus on the overburdened parent under threat of their childs' expulsion.
We cannot abdicate our responsibility for chinuch by placing newspaper ads. This is 'feel good' activism on the cheap.

Finally, for the straight and narrow among us who avoid the internet due to the 'kol koras', who will have the responsibility here and perhaps in the hereafter for the lack and nature of their parnosas as a result, and the effects of the internet on the 'shabbos goyim' who access the net for them?

Siyyum

I must say for a hard-boiled type, the Siyum HaShas really affected me. This is the fourth siyyum I've attended, and one of the best.

Rav Yissochar Frand’s speech was truly a masterpiece. The two 'book-end' stories, and the conclusion of "It’s never too little, it’s never too late, it’s never enough" will go down the years from mouth to mouth like "mshvochos shel Aharon shalo shina" from the Satmar Rov’s hesped for Rav Aharon Kotler. In addition, he obliquely referred to the 'distractions' of today's world, a concept which readers of this blog will appreciate and suggests a contructive approach.
Rav Mattisyahu Solomon gave a summary of the meaning of gemora as if speaking to a maskil. Like it or not, it is "faith based learning", indeed, because eventually there is no other answer. Yet it is learning, with the full attempt to understand whatever possible, not isolated faith as in some venues.

I heard that a certain Rosh Yeshiva who is a 'kanoye' about the BP eiruv objected to the Aguda scheduling one speaker at the siyum who endorsed the eiruv. The Aguda called R’ Moshe Feinstein’s son, R’ Dovid as the spiritual heir of the author of the most respected responsum against a New York eiruv. He replied like a true gadol - answering that his father knew and respected this particular speaker, and that his father wrote in his responsum on the subject of the eiruv that others may disagree. The speaker was on the program. R' Dovid did not just remove himself from commenting on the speaker out of misplaced respect for his father, or worse still rely on the old standby, 'der tate hat nisht gehalten azoi' (my father did not agree). He answered in a manner that raises respect for both R' Moshe and himself, and R'Dovid Feinstein attended the siyyum.

My neighbor in Bais Medrash refers to the psychology of Daf Yomi as the 'terror of the daf'. No Shabbos, no Tisha B'Av, no vacation. Always with a gun to the head.
As a sometime learner, I am overwhelmed with the serious Daf Yomi learner’s dedication.
A friend of my son's who is about 25 years old made a seuda as a Siyyum HaShas Sunday night, before the major event. He learned Daf Yomi through a serious eye operation, even when incapacitated.

The Daf Yomi students deserve their honor, and more.

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What does all of this have to do with this blog? The Novominsker declared at the siyyum, "Torah can and will be advanced on all frontiers of Jewish life". All frontiers must by definition include the technical frontiers, where the need is urgent.

The technological arrangements for the siyyum were impressive, and though there were some hitches, largely successful.

And how did the siyyum reach the 40-odd locations were crowds gathered on four continents, as well as the primary locations?

Through the internet, of course.

We rest our case.

Mazel-Tov !