Emes Ve-Emunah: Good Yom Tov

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Good Yom Tov

Simchas Torah (Wikipedia)

Wishing all a joyous Simchas Torah.

As for us - the ‘poor Chutzniks’ currently in Israel - we will have to suffer the ‘torture called YomTov Sheni’ in Israel - where we will repeat hours upon hours of dancing. The same dancing we will have done the day before. All while the rest of the country is in full weekday mode.

For someone who is not a dancer (Like me) … YES! It is torture to have to do it again.

There are some Poskim that allow a ‘Chutznik’ like myself to celebrate one day. But they are in the minority. And I choose to go with the majority Poskim on this one. As do most of my peers.

Chag Sameach

Comment Rules

Before you read the rules read this IMPORTANT MESSAGE: If you are having trouble accessing comments copy and past the following url: http://haemtza.blogspot.com That should get you you to the 'not secure' version of my blog where comments are visible. if that doesn't work, try a different browser. Firefox seems to work best. It can be downloaded at: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/

1. Fill in your name or an alias. Do not leave blank or use the name 'guest' or 'anonymous'.

2. No Nivul Peh. Profanity will be deleted.

3. No personal attacks. Be kind in your comment even if you disagree.

4. To avoid automatic moderation - see here

My outlook on Judaism is based mostly on the teachings of my primary Rebbe, Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik from whom I received my rabbinic ordination. It is also based on a search for spiritual truth. Among the various sources that put me on the right path, two great philosophic works stand out: “Halakhic Man” and “Lonely Man of Faith” authored by the pre-eminent Jewish philosopher and theologian, Rabbi, Dr. Joseph B. Soloveitchik. Of great significance is Rabbi, Dr. Norman Lamm's conceptualization and models of Torah U’Mada and Dr. Eliezer Berkovits who introduced me to the world of philosophic thought. Among my early influences were two pioneers of American Elementary Torah Chinuch, Rabbis Shmuel Kaufman and Yaakov Levi. The Yeshivos I attended were Yeshivas Telshe for early high school and more significantly, the Hebrew Theological College where for a period of ten years, my Rebbeim included such great Rabbinic figures as Rabbis Mordechai Rogov, Shmaryahu Meltzer, Yaakov Perlow, Herzl Kaplan, and Selig Starr. I also attended Roosevelt University where I received my Bachelor's Degree - majoring in Psychology.