Secular Israeli Youth Asks How To Start Keeping Shabbat

The Bet El Yeshiva Website's "Ask the Rabbi" section has emerged as the leading venue for secular Israelis to ask their first questions about Judaism. Dozens of intriguing inquiries come in each month from the non-religious sector, and a yeshiva rabbi, Yitzhak, answers them daily with love, warmth, and patience.

The letters are personal so I have changed the name in the refreshing exchange below. Enjoy!

QUESTION
Shalom. My name is Sharon. I am 17-years-old and live with my parents.

I live in a house which is totally secular, and I want to start keeping Shabbat, bezrat hashem.
I have a few questions and would be very happy to get some answers, because I really don't have anyone else to turn to.

1. Is it possible to keep Shabbat in a house where everyone else is not religious? How do I start?
2. How do I make a blessing over the food if I am the only one in the house keeping Shabbat? I ask because I saw on your site that there are special foods for religious people on Shabbat, and I really don't know how to relate to this issue.

That's basically it. I don't know what to do and where to start, but since your site rocks and is so nice and you allow people to write in, I am turning to you in the hopes you will answer me and guide me on how to start.

So thanks. I await your reply,
Sharon

ANSWER

Shalom Dear Sharon,

I was very happy to receive your letter and am happy to help you in any way I can.

In addition to spreading Torah knowledge, our site strives to help people who turn to us and answer, guide, and help them build their spiritual world and be more fulfilled. This is my job on the site staff – to give direction on questions which require personal attention.

Usually, I also try to help establish contact with a suitable person in your area, someone who will be happy to help. This way, spiritual development is fostered with greater ease. A connection with the right person can help solve many difficulties, and enable you to learn more and advance quicker. So if you want, I can connect you with someone in your area. Just let me now.

And now to your questions:
It made me so happy to read of your wonderful desire to keep Shabbat. The Shabbat is a treasure, and the more one keeps it, the more one realizes what a beautiful treasure it is, how much light it illuminates, and how much joy and warmth Hashem gives us when we observe it.

In order to feel the great joy of Shabbat, it is important to advance step by step, because sometimes rushing too fast causes pressures and difficulties.

The first thing to start with, in my opinion, is the positive commandments, that is, Kiddush, the Shabbat meals, and the Shabbat prayers. Each is a special experience, and they give strength to continue learning and advance to refraining from the prohibitions of Shabbat.

The prohibitions of Shabbat are not there to weigh us down, but rather to assist us in sensing the specialness of the Shabbat, like a diamond which is important to safeguard, and only if your guard it, will you merit to enjoy its splendor.

Beloved Sharon! Make Kiddush on Shabbat, and feel how special the gift of Shabbat is, and how sweet it is, and how it elevates us from the mundane day-to-day routine. If you want more specific guidance, exactly how and what to do, I will write you in detail.

Remember that growing into Shabbat is dependent upon you. Even in surroundings where no one keeps Shabbat, you can reveal the beautiful light of Shabbat and be uplifted. Make no demands of your family, but rather the opposite, let them sense your happiness and love. Continue to advance and develop yourself, and eventually, they will also want to follow in your path.

On Shabbat, you can eat regular food, though we try to eat special food made for the Shabbat in honor of the Shabbat. But you don't have to do that from the outset. The special food increases the Shabbat feeling, but if it presents too many difficulties, don't start with that now.

On Shabbat food, we make the same blessings as food on weekdays, with one small addition. I can send you a small booklet about the blessings before and after eating.

Orli, I am happy to maintain contact with you so get back to me soon. If you want help in establishing contact with someone in your area, tell me a bit more about yourself, and I will find someone for you.

Much much success,

Yitzhak

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Tzedakah Giving – Torah Usually Precedes the Poor

Here is an article that I think readers may find enlightening.

Tzedakah Giving – Torah Usually Precedes the Poor

by Rabbi Shlomo Shushan of Beit Shean

[Article Extract]

The Mitzvah of tzedakah is an important mitzvah and is part of g'milut chasadim (acts of loving kindness), which is the one of the pillars upon which the world stands. It also facilitates the existence of the other two pillars upon which the world stands – Torah and Prayer – because without donations to Torah institutions and synagogues, they would be hard to maintain.

In our time, there is a blossoming of Torah institutions in Israel, and simultaneously, there is, unfortunately, a rise in the number of families who are in need of financial assistance. We must determine who to give to and how to distribute our tzedakah funds.

There are differing opinions amongst halachic authorities as to the priorities of giving tzedakah (e.g. Baba Batra pg. 9, Tosfot "Sh'ne'emar", Bet Yosef Yoreh Deah 249, Aruch HaShulchan Yoreh Deah 249).

It is considered a great virtue to build and maintain a synagogue or a house of learning, and it is considered an urgent need to come to the aid of poor sick people.

The accepted majority view amongst halachic authorities is that if there are poor people who are literally starving, and the funds are designated to save them from dying or sickness, then they are the top priority, because we fear for their lives (safek pikuach nefesh).

However, in our time, it is rare to find a poor person who has nothing to eat. Therefore, only is cases of severe sicknesses would a poor person remain, according to Jewish law, the top priority.

In a case where the tzedakah money is designated to improve the welfare of a poor person but not save him from starvation, then there is no fear for his life and one should give first to the study of Torah which precedes even the maintenance of a synagogue.

However, if there is no synagogue or mikvah at all in the community, then their construction would precede giving to Torah institutions because they are a mitzvah relating to the entire community and they prevent various Torah prohibitions.

This same principle of an urgent communal need applies to supporting the mitzvah of settlement of the Land of Israel, in particular in Judea and Samaria, since this enterprise helps prevent the transfer of our homeland to foreigners G-d forbid. It is a mitvah relating to the entire community and also is considered an urgent mitzvah, and thus precedes other mitzvot.

Another issue in tzedakah-giving is verifying if the poor person asking is truly in need, or is he possibly a fraud. Giving tzedakah without any verification not only perpetuates and increases the problem of fraudulent paupers, but also leaves less money for those truly in need and thus causes a double problem.

If it is not possible to investigate, one should at least give a small donation in order not to turn the person away in shame (Rambam, Hilchot Ani'im, 7).

Our sages of blessed memory promise us that one who gives much tzedakah will never himself or his children be in need, and will receive an abundance of blessing.

This article originally appeared in the Kommemeyut parsha sheet, Yitro, 5770.

Quotes & Notes: The Face of 'Nice' Liberal Fascism

When I read Defense Minister Ehud Barak's explanation as to why he ousted the Har Bracha Yeshiva from the Hesder program, I caught a hefty whiff of fascism. It seems that I was not alone in sensing that acrid smell.

Like Rabbi Moshe Isserles upon receiving the legal tractate of Rabbi Yosef Karo, I will not print my own analysis, rather I'll make way for a superior commentary by Lurker at the excellent Muqata blog:

....It is simply incredible to read Barak's description of what he calls "the foundations of a democratic state":

* "a monopoly on the use of force"

* "the state's authority over the citizens" [yes, really]

It can hardly be gainsaid that these two points are actually the foundations of a fascist state. In fact, the
Taken as a whole, Barak's points describe fascism.
second point -- the state's authority over the citizens -- is the very core essence of fascism.

Old-fashioned, naive people such as myself once believed that democracy was the citizens' authority over the state. But apparently, we had it all backwards.

Best of all is Barak's amazing description of what he calls "the true basis of democracy":

"When a state reaches the place in which it needs to enforce the law on citizens, it has no choice but to use its army. This instruction must also be carried out and obeyed, this is the true basis of democracy."

There you have it: The use of the army against a state's own citizens, and the resulting imperative to obey orders, constitute -- according to Ehud Barak -- "the true basis of democracy".

Taken as a whole, Barak's points describe fascism to a tee:

1. The supremacy of the state over the individual

2. The usage of the military against the state's own citizens

3. The absolute imperative to obey the state's orders, even at the expense of obeying one's conscience

Barak has not only outlined the core principles of fascism as his model for how our state should be run -- he also has the shameless, unmitigated gall to label it "democracy".

Go read the rest here. In fact, read the whole blog from top to bottom.

Researched, compiled and presented by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz.