Map of Beit Shemesh Orot Girls' School

The purple areas to the right are chareidi areas. The blues are Dati Leumi. The arrow points to the Orot girl's campus.






For historical comparison, this is the view from 2002.

Well Said - On Demonstrations

Lulei Demistafina makes some great points:


http://luleidemistafina.blogspot.com/2009/07/who-really-runs-chareidi-israel.html

Rabbi Horowitz Looses Control

Rabbi Yakov Horowitz has been busy recently. He is well known on the American scene for his work with abused children, and is considered by many to be something of a maven in chinuch. I've always respected his opinions as the seem well thought out, and based on experience.

I'm loosing my respect for him very fast.

Here's an article he wrote recently (excerpted). My comments in green:

Dear Readers:

The visual images and media descriptions of young men who dress like my children and yours throwing dirty diapers and rocks at police officers and burning garbage bins are vile and disgusting – in my humble opinion, a far greater chilul Shabbos than all the secular Jews driving in Yerushalayim.

I wrote about this recently. Don't claim you've seen men throwing diapers and rocks, say what you really mean. You read about it in The Jerusalem Post (more on this later).

Maybe it is just me, but throwing stones to prevent the desecration of Shabbos is about as logical as a librarian yelling, “STOP TALKING” into a powerful megaphone at the top of her lungs whenever someone whispers in the library. Or like a group of vegetarians celebrating their accomplishments by hosting a communal barbecue.

The demonstrations were purportedly called by our gedolim shlit’a in Eretz Yisroel. The large and beautiful Friday Night group Kabbolas Shabbos may have been initiated by them. However, the overall campaign to make these hafganos are unquestionably planned, prepared and led by “askanim” not gedolim.


...I don’t for one moment believe that our aged and overburdened gedolei hador shlit’a are being informed by the askonim who plan these demonstrations, what the “last 150 pages” look like – the disgusting images of burning garbage cans and pitched battles with the police that are broadcast worldwide in real time.

Right. That's because they don't read the Jerusalem Post.
Burning garbage? Do they need to be informed? You only need to have a nose, if you're anywhere near Mea Shearim. You can smell it a mile away.
Why should our Gedolim not be able to ask a few simple questions? If there demonstrations that people have been arrested, well, wouldn't that imply something had happened? You wouldn't ask? Oh I see. It's because they're getting 'aged'. Just what do you mean by that? Senile? Not quite all there? Perhaps they just think a little slow? Just what do you mean?

Honestly, I don’t think the process by which these demonstrations are planned is led by the gedolim at all.
...I had the great ze’chus of working for and with Rabbi Moshe Sherer zt’l for the last few months of his life when we started Project YES. So I am very familiar with the correct way to approach da’as Torah. Each and every time we had a question, Rabbi Sherer, who after 50 years of leading the Agudah, had the full confidence and respect of the gedolim, humbly asked for advice and then began planning.

So you know about Da'as Torah. Let's see.

I suggest that all askanim take a hiatus of at least one full generation where we stop protesting about other people’s sins and start looking inward. Maybe Mr. Krause should worry more about the hundreds of our sons and daughters who are in Israeli clubs on Friday night smoking pot, than worrying about secular Jews parking their cars on Shabbos. Maybe Mr. Krause should worry more about the pedophiles in our community who are violating children, more than those outside our community who are violating Shabbos.

Maybe you should not voice your opinion about any subject in the world unless it's the one that is the most important. So for you, it's child abuse. Since there nothing more important, maybe you should worry more about child abuse. Maybe you should never correct any behavior you consider inappropriate, because you need to worry about more important things. Maybe this whole line of thinking is ridiculous.
I've heard this type of talk too many times before. It always comes from someone who just can't stand someone else looking more pious than themselves. Just let everyone deal the problems they deal with best, and get along with your own thing.

So while all our askanim are talking a well earned rest, who is helping the Gedolim get their message out? Do you want them to personally call up the printers? Or would you prefer they just remain closeted up while we take care of ourselves? Da'as Torah! We should all ask every single question we ever have direct to the Gedolim themselves. Start making a long line by their doors (it's only for a generation). Don't trust anyone.

Those of us who have any positions of influence in our communities must speak up loud and clear and call this behavior what it is -- a disgraceful Chillul Hashem and a distortion of Torah values -- in the loudest and most unequivocal terms. I am convinced that those of us who don’t, will have to give din v'cheshbon for not having done so.

Or maybe we should should ask advice from Gedolim. Right, that's how Da'as Torah works? So who did you ask?

But now we get another article.

Dear Readers:
Did you see the ugly picture in the papers this week of the elderly charedi man in Yerushalayim shaking his fist angrily in the face of a police officer? Well, he is your spokesman and he was kind enough to represent you before millions of readers worldwide last week while you were sitting at the Shabbos Seudah singing Zemiros with your children. And the charedi young men who threw rocks and burned garbage cans regularly over the past few weeks? They were your spokesmen too. Nice.

Big difference. One is an angry man, upset at chillul shabbos. Yes, he should be representing us. Chillul shabbos should upset us. If it doesn't, then he's not your spokesman. But that's your problem. The second is a lie.

The writers and editors of the Jerusalem Post never met you nor did their millions of readers. They don’t see your Tefillah and Chesed, the respect you show your parents, and the dignified way you raise your children with Torah values. All they see are these hooligans.

If you don't protest chillul shabbos, they still won't see it. But the honest truth is, they are the one's who write the articles and decide whether to describe demonstrators as such, or as a violent mob. All the dancing around won't help anyone here. You didn't see otherwise, you weren't there. All you did was take an article in the Jerusalem Post at face value, believed everything it said, and now you come with your complaints.

If you are as horrified and heartbroken as I am that this is the case, now is the time to do something. It is rather simple. Just fire them. How? By writing a letter to the editors of Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post saying that these hooligans don’t speak for you. That might not completely do the job, but it is a great first step.

Let's not forget here all about how Da'as Torah works. You ask and you humbly accept. So tell us please, who did you ask? Don't you realize that you are liable to create a far bigger chillul Hashem than anyone? don't you think a decision like this should have been taken at least in consultation with someone bigger than yourself?

The dynamics of Eretz Yisroel politics are complicated. They come with years baggage, and if you don't live here, or have lived here, I don't believe you can expected to grasp the basics of the conflicts. That being so, your interference makes things worse. You proudly declare to the secular newspapers that you don't have the same values as Eretz Yisroel shomrei Torah uMitzvos. That's something they will be only too delighted to here. I hate to say it, but soon you'll see exactly what they decide to do with voice - and it won't be to your liking at all.

Let’s finally get these violent hooligans fired as our spokespeople.

Let's get rid of you as our self appointed spokesman.

Shabbos Riots: What Really Happened?

The recent shabbos demonstations.

Firstly, take a look at this picture.

Three cameramen. That means at least four reporters taking pictures. These events were well covered. There are hundreds of pictures out there, circling the internet. It's on all the news sites internationally. Whatever happened was caught on film for posterity.

Now, if you read the articles on quite a number of sites, and especially the blogs, you'll discover that in addition to just being dragged around, the protesters got violent. Stones, glass bottles, used diapers, anything you wouldn't normally touch on a shabbos afternoon is suddenly a fair weapon. This raises some serious issues. Firstly, what are all these religious Jews doing protesting chillul shabbos, whilst being mechalel shabbos themselves? Secondly, what are these normally placid folk doing acting like Palestinians?

So let's see for ourselves. It seems reasonable that we should be able to instantly back up these reports with some great videos, live action of the animals in full swing, hundreds of stone-throwing hooligans. It's all on film, right?

So take a look now at a sampling of videos:

Australian News:
http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200907/r394610_1846815.asx

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2009/06/28/2610535.htm

Arutz 2 (Youtube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ2w2eTWLVU&NR=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpQIFoSJDj8&NR=1

Arutz 2 (Chadrei Chadarim)
http://www.bhol.co.il/tv/?clip=290

IBA News (Jerusalem Post)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1194419829128&pagename=JPost/Page/VideoPlayer&videoId=1245924950425



Did you see it? The mob?

Or did you blink and miss it?

Well, I manages to find a couple of kids throwing something. But no more than that.

So what happened? Did everyone blink simultaneously, and that's when it happened? Did all those cameramen kindly turn their backs just for the best parts? I can promise you that if I would have been one of those reporters, I would have given anything for a picture of hordes of swinging dirty diapers.

It's a big challenge to prove something from lack of evidence. But I suspect this stoning business is far overrated. Sure, some kids (under 16) threw a few things. Maybe after shabbos, they threw a little more. But I just don't go for this riot story. And I think the diaper claim is an outright lie.

Watch the videos again. You'll see a lot of protesters getting knocked around by the police, seemingly randomly. But what do you actually see the protesters doing? Shouting. That's what protesters do.

So please. Prove me wrong. Send me some links to pictures or videos showing adult chareidim throwing stones at one of these recent demonstrations, say three or four people together.

Because if you can't, you might want to consider very carefully who you trust for your information, and which lies you feel comfortable spreading around.

Free Otzar Hachochma

Otzar hachochma אוצר החוכמה, has a free version that includes 3000 out of the 33,000 ספרים, the first 40 pages of every ספר, and full search. Get it here.

Hilchos Bed-Making

Yeshiva World News Coffee Room By Feif Un:

Many years ago, in a far away country, there was a well-known rabbi who was consulted on all sorts of matters relating to the Jewish people. His wise counsel was sought from people of all walks of life, and the community at large accepted his decisions, as they understood that his rulings and pronouncements were divinely inspired.

So when one time he met with some parents of his students, and a few mothers complained that their children were not making their beds, he assured them that he would deal with the matter. That week, in his public address to his students, he mentioned that the students should always make sure to make their beds in the morning.

When the person transcribing the speech wrote up his review of the talk, he made sure to emphasize the rabbi's intention. He wrote, "The Rosh Yeshiva today ruled that one is m'chuyav to make his bed in the morning." Word spread fast. The halacha had been established: One was obligated to make their bed.

Later that day, someone came to the Rosh Yeshiva and asked, "I don't have time to make my bed before I go to davening. By the time I get back my mother is gone for the day so she doesn't think I make my bed, and isn't pleased. What should I do?" After hearing the answer that was given, the halacha was suitably amended to say that the bed should be made as soon as one gets up. "One is m'chuyav to make his bed in the morning, as soon as he gets up."

The next day, he was approached by a bochur that wanted to know, "When you said 'as soon as he gets up', do you mean immediately - right when one steps out of the bed - or is one allowed some time first?

So they added to the text: "One is m'chuyav to make his bed in the morning, soon after he gets up."

"How long soon after?" he was immediately asked. "How much time exactly?"
"10-15 minutes?", he replied, figuring that's a reasonable amount of time.

And so it was added: "One is m'chuyav to make his bed in the morning, within 10-15 minutes from when he gets up." The bochurim found this to be a satisfactory resolution, but unsurprisingly, it resulted in some bochurim insisting that it should be made by 10 minutes, and others saying it was fine to wait even 15 minutes. After some time, they settled on an unofficial resolution by considering 10 minutes to be the first zman, and 15 minutes the second zman.

Things went along smoothly until one day a bochur came over and explained to him a problem he had run into. "My roommate doesn't like the way I make my bed! He claims it's not really made!"
"What do you mean?", asked the Rosh Yeshiva. "Well, he claims that for a bed to be considered 'made' the pillow needs to be on top and the sides need to be even or tucked in, and I just lay out the cover on top, covering everything, however it comes out. What should I do?" The Rosh Yeshiva mulled this over for a while, and replied:
You're allowed to make it however your family does it. What's acceptable to your mother (or father) is acceptable here. Hakol k'minhago. An addition was added to the halacha: "One is m'chuyav to make his bed in the morning, within 10-15 minutes from when he gets up. The manner of making the bed should be done according to one's established minhag."

(Later that week when the bochurim went home for the weekend, many parents were somewhat confused when they were asked by their sons, "What is the minhag of our family of how to make our beds?", but they figured it was all part of the tremendous spiritual growth they could see in their young bnei torah.)

One morning a few weeks later, as shacharis was beginning, the Rosh Yeshiva was notified about an argument that had broken out between 2 bochurim.

Approaching their room, he heard loud shouting through the closed door. As he entered, he found one of the bochurim vehemently yelling at the other.

Seeing him come in, the young man turned to him and exclaimed loudly,
"Rebbe! I'm so glad you're here! I tried to get him to make his bed but he wouldn't listen! He just ignored me, and now it's 5 minutes after the zman, and look - his bed is still not made!"

Before the Rosh Yeshiva had a chance to respond, the other bochur quickly spoke up in his defense, "That's not true. I only got out of bed 2 minutes ago! I still have 8 minutes until the zman!"

"Yes, he only got out of bed 2 minutes ago. But he woke up 20 minutes ago! That means he should have made his bed 10 minutes ago!"

It was clear that there needed to be some clarification: When the psak was issued that a bed must be made 10-15 minutes after getting up, did 'after getting up' mean after waking up ('m'sha'as kumuso') or did it mean after
getting out of bed ('m'sha'as yitziaso')? At this point a small crowd had gathered around the room and a vociferous discussion had broken out.

Everyone started buzzing, talking, sharing their thoughts of why it meant this interpretation and not the other one. Realizing what was happening,
the Rosh Yeshiva put an abrupt stop to it all by loudly demanding that everyone should immediately go to davening and they would deal with it later on.

By lunchtime that day the Rosh Yeshiva had still not addressed the burning issue and a fierce debate had already broken out in the halls of the yeshiva. Even the rabbeim had gotten involved. Some felt that the halacha had to mean from when a person got out of bed, because as they explained, "if it meant 'from when he woke up' then the first thing he would have to do upon awaking would be to look at his clock and remember the time. But this can't be, because we all know that the first thing a person must do when he wakes up is say 'modeh ani'. Therefore it must mean 'from when he gets
out of bed'.
"In spite of this convincing logic others still held it was better to be machmir and go by from when a person wakes up and not to wait until he gets out of bed. They pointed out that all that was needed to avoid the above-mentioned conflict was to first say modeh ani and then subtract 1 seconds from whenever he first looks at the clock. "But not all clock have second hands on them," countered the first opinion, "and besides, it is too easy to forget the exact time including the seconds."
The machmirim had a ready response: "Firstly, someone who cares about the halacha properly can make sure to have a clock with seconds on it, and secondly, he should also have a paper and pen next to his clock so he can mark down the proper time, in order to avoid the chance of forgetting it."

Seeing that positions had already been staked out in this dispute, the Rosh Yeshiva decided not to voice his own opinion and instead told everyone to go by whatever their rebbe held.

Unfortunately, this had the effect of causing a lot of machlokes in the school as some people didn't agree with their rabbeim, and resented being forced out of their beds sooner than they preferred. The problems were soon settled when a young illuy came up with an ingenious solution. He pointed out that even though someone had woken up, if they had in mind that they were sleeping it was like they actually were, since 'machshava k'ma'ase'.

Although his reasoning was roundly rejected by many others, it satisfied those lazier bochurim and they let the matter slide. No one was much surprised at their reaction, as these sorts of students had already demonstrated their laxity of the halacha when it was realized that they were deliberately getting dressed while still sitting in their bed, in order to give themselves more time until the zman of 'when you get up' would commence (according to the shita of m'sha'as yitziaso).

For a brief while the yeshiva. had some omplaints from bochurim who wanted to switch rooms because their roommates were not keeping what they felt was the right zman for making their beds. Already very disturbed by the problems that the previous issue had caused and not wanting to cause any more machlokes in the yeshiva, the Rosh Yeshiva wisely dealt with the problem by declaring that if anyone was concerned about another not making the zman, they were allowed to make the other persons bed for them, as long as the first one had da'as that the other would be yotzei for himself. He also said that the person making the bed didn't have to specific da'as because obviously if he was making it he had da'as to do such a thing. Despite that, it wasn't uncommon to hear people loudly declaring, "Have in mind to be yotzei so-and-so when making his bed!"

Some months after the initial psak was issued, an enterprising bochur started selling a unique clock that had a special alarm. The alarm would wake you up, and when you pushed the right button it would turn off and ring 9 minutes later to remind you that you had 1 minute left to make your bed.
He actually also made a second one that gave you 14 minutes instead of 9,but no one bought it since they felt it was better not to be meikel.

Another issue that the yeshiva had to resolve was that according to the opinions that one must make their beds from when they first woke up, what was to be done if someone fell asleep again shortly after waking up?
After much learned discussion it was decided that falling back asleep wasn't a problem, and the zman only started after the real, final waking up. This was derived from the situation of if one woke up in the middle of the night:
Was he then obligated to make his bed shortly after? For a brief time, some people in the yeshiva. began to follow this custom. But when the Rosh Yeshiva ruled that it wasn't necessary, they understood from that that the zman only began after the last, real waking up.

These events all occurred many, many years ago, and boruch hashem nowadays it isn't as heated an issue as it once was. Everyone understands and accepts the principles of eilu v'eilu divrei Elokim chaim, minhag avoseinu b'yadeinu, ba'al nefesh yachmir, and shomer p'saim hashem. Each person has a tradition or chumra that he's entitled to follow. In addition, there have been many wonderful books written on this subject, most recently Artscroll's splendid translation of Hilchos Ish U'Mitoso, which sheds much light on this subject for the average layman (also available in a laminated, newly type-set, pocket edition that one can keep by their bed!).
However legend has it that if you go to this yeshiva and poke in on some of the rooms,
you'll still occasionally find a bochur here and there that tries to be extra zahir in this inyan and - even on a cold winter night - will sleep on top of his carefully made blanket so that he never will - chas v'chalila!- find his bed unmade past the proper zman!

To receive a laminated, large print edition of the special tefila to say before making your bed, please send a fax to 1800-BE-ZAHIR with your proper mailing address and we will be glad to send you one free of charge. "

Heavenly Smile

Source: Achas L'Maala V'Sheve L'Matta

Ban The Buses? - Ban the Chareidim!

Recently, there was another incident on a mehadrin bus, a 497 from Beit Shemesh to Bnei Brak, where some people got out of hand and a melee ensued, involving stones and police, etc., etc. We've heard it before.
What particularly interested me here was a reaction we're starting to see on the blogosphere. Some are asking, why do the Rabonim not do something? Some are even asking, why don't we see bans? Cherems?
I believe these questions are based on a false premise, one that is product of the JBlogospheres, and perhaps the wider MO community's own imagination.
There appears to be a belief that the Israeli Chareidi society is tightly controlled by a system of bans and threats. Every form of freedom, indeed any action that is done by more than three people is subject to review and control. The Gedolim are the ultimate big brothers.
Well, it ain't like that. Sure, there is a fair amount of involvement of Gedolim in public affairs. But the truth is, that most people pretty much do whatever they want. Bans etc. are all only for the people who want to listen. You want a non-meushar phone? Go ahead. If you're not embarrassed, no-one's going to stop you. Want to ride a non-mehadrin bus? It's a free country. Don't like the school rules? Send your kids somewhere else, or open your own. People do it all the time.
And if you think you're a tzaddik gomur, but you're too frustrated to speak to a woman and ask her nicely to move, and can't handle it when she says no, well, just beat her up.
No amount of public proclamations are going to help here. There's no-one listening, and those who are, it doesn't apply to them. When our brothers across the sea start to reign in their imaginations and realize the nature of society in Israel, we might hear some useful suggestions.