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Futuristic Fruits and Vegetables
In honor of the recent Tu BeShevat, we present a list of some of the new and amazing species produced by Israeli research and agricultural development (regarding their kashrus, we will wait until they actually appear on the shelves):
Sweet cauliflower, coming in three colors, are new products of Seeds from Gedera-Syngeneta. Purple, orange and white cauliflower will complete the array of this vegetable on the plate, cooked or raw as a salad ingredient. The orange type will be called 'tangelin,' appearing in a bright, attractive color and unique sweetness. The dark purple 'hyperstar' will make its debut alongside the familiar white 'gold space star' genus.
Black cherry tomatoes will be marketed by the Top Seeds Company coming from Moshav Tzofar. This species is of a deep purple bordering on black with a rich sweet-sour flavor and a captivating aroma, loaded with anti-oxidants.
A new type of lettuce, 'dagniyo,' from the Degera-Syngenta Company will appear in purple-red color, concurrent with a green 'vergio' specie, both with crunchy texture even after sitting in salad dressing for some time. Both are full of rich flavor and vitamins while adding lively color to the meal.
In order to become a "recognized information security source," one does not apparently need to pass an intelligence test. This is the only way to grasp the admission of an unidentified security source by which the army accepts and acknowledges the 'fact' that over 70,000 Palestinians were killed in the course of the war in Gaza.
Throughout the entire course of the war, Israel categorically denied the numbers which the 'Health Ministry' of Hamas reported regarding the number of fatalities. These figures were altogether exaggerated, blown up and totally lacking realism, and the Israeli information system — faulty, it must be admitted — towards the outside world, gave no credence to those statistics whatsoever. And then, one morning, altogether unexpectedly, that same security source, admitted that Israel had been lying all along and that the Hamas figures were indeed correct.
No need to note that within a few hours, this admission was corrected and the army stated that those figures were not the true ones. But this was too little and a bit too late...
Part IV
This was first published in 1994.
The first part introduced HaRav Zeitchik and the general Novardok experience. The focus here is on his later years in Eretz Yisroel. It discusses serious ideas and themes that were part of the life of HaRav Zeitchik zt"l. This is in the middle of a discussion about life in Siberia.
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Organizing a Minyan
Later on, as I continued to be persecuted by the treacherous regime of evil, I undertook to organize communal services, like gathering a minyan and so on. These were considered counterrevolutionary activities, punishable even by death. But I persevered, and emerged safely from encounter after encounter, each one a miracle which I sought to etch in my memory so that I would continue to appreciate Hashem's divine Providence towards me, personally, event after event, year after year.
In 1950, the newspapers reported a typical incident which sheds light on the convolutions of the human spirit which are brought to light in all their glory only in time of danger. And when that danger passes and everything quiets down, the soul dons its former inscrutable garb.
An airplane was en route to Prague when a motor broke down. The captain announced to the passengers that they would have to make a forced landing. Worst of all, they would not be able to reach land in time. Many passengers fainted out of fear; others wept and wailed. One leaned over and whispered to his wife that since death was nigh, he wished to confess and beg her forgiveness that in his youth, he had been unfaithful to her. The wife, equally terrified by the specter of death, generously forgave him, for what did such things matter in the face of death?
Meanwhile, somehow the situation stabilized and the airplane found itself out of danger. The captain announced that they would soon be reaching their destination. In a flash, everything returned to normal and all the passengers reverted to their petty, selfish interests and foibles. The very man who had confessed his breach of faith now retracted his words and dismissed them entirely. His wife, who had forgiven his misdeed, took back her forgiveness and demanded justification. All of her gentleness vanished in a flash and she became a harsh, vindictive female.
The above scenario should serve us as a clear testimony to what the threat of danger can do to a person by way of purification. The moment of crisis puts everything into a different perspective; it makes man shake off all his pettiness and look at things squarely. All the vanities and falsity of life fall by the wayside and become inane in the face of a life-death situation. When life returns to its routine, things fall back into their rut and the soul wallows in lies, hypocrisy and masquerade.
Only at the brink of death can the soul recapture some measure of purity and begin to doff its defiled garments which it wore during life and which concealed its true beauty and clarity. Our Sages say that at the moment of death, even the wicked are given a glimpse of the Shechina.
When a tzaddik is confronted with death, he becomes all the more purified, but he will retain the glory of the moment of truth forever afterwards. He will maintain the level of purity and will be reinforced by his glimpse of eternity. He will realize that his brush with death was contrived in order to improve and purge him and he will relish, recall and revel in that unique experience for the remainder of his life.
Rain and Kinneret Watch by Dei'ah
Vedibur Staff
Our weekly report of the rain and the level of the Kineret
- Winter, 5786.
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Outstanding Articles From Our Archives
Opinion & Comment
Principles of Education
by HaRav Nosson Einfeld
More insights and thoughts on various aspects of chinuch from a veteran Torah educator.
Being a Leader is Slavery, Not Power
Some think of teaching as a profession and a livelihood, others consider it social status and a source of prestige, while still others consider it a mission in life. None of these is the way the Torah looks at it.
The gemora (Horayos 10a) tells about R' Yehoshua recommending two chachomim to become roshei yeshiva: R' Eliezer Chatma and R' Yochonon ben Gudgoda, who were outstanding scholars and desperately poor. "[Rabban Gamliel] thought of appointing them as roshei yeshiva [so they would have ample livelihood -- Rashi]. He sent someone to call them over so he could appoint them. They, however, did not come [since they ran away from prestige]. He sent another shaliach and they came. He said to them: `Perhaps you think I am giving you a position of power? I am giving you slavery!'"
The Rambam (Hilchos Sanhedrin 25:2) rules: "[A leader] must suffer the public's yoke and affairs like Moshe Rabbenu, as is written, `As a nursing father carries the sucking child.' Furthermore, the Torah writes (Devorim 1:16), `I charged your judges at that time.' This is a warning for a judge to endure the public as a nursing father puts up with the sucking child. Let us learn from Moshe, the teacher of all the nevi'im. When He sent Moshe and Aharon it was on the understanding that bnei Yisroel would curse and stone them." If about each person the Rambam (Hilchos Teshuvah 5) writes, "each person can be like Moshe," an educator and a rav are actually obligated to be like Moshe and tolerate their charges as a nursing father.
An amazing Midrash (Devorim Rabbah 7:11) will now be understood: "Moshe and a hundred like him should die and not even one fingernail of a single Jew should be hurt." The obvious question is that Moshe Rabbenu himself is included within Klal Yisroel, so how can it possibly be that one Jew's fingernail is preferable to Moshe's life or the life of a hundred like him? The gemora (Sanhedrin 75a) only writes that a person's own blood is not redder than another's. Why should we say that the other person's blood is redder than his? It surely needs to be explained why a fingernail of another person is preferable to his own life and even that of a hundred like him.
This is responsibility. The moment one accepts on himself the responsibility to help the public -- and as explained above, the public is made up of individuals -- he is responsible for each one of them. He must dedicate himself entirely to his mission and be faithful to his responsibility up to the point of mesiras nefesh.
I Am the Kaporo of Bnei Yisroel
We can now understand how gedolei hador, geonim and tzaddikim, led our people in the time of calamity, during the ghastly Holocaust of the Churban of Europe.
Opinion & Comment
"I Am Hashem"
by L. Jungerman
"When the Jews heard `I am Hashem your G-d', the capacity for Torah knowledge was implanted in their hearts. They studied, absorbed and did not forget what they learned. . .
"When the Jews heard `You shall have no other gods', the inclination towards idolatry was uprooted from their hearts. . .
"When they came to Moshe and asked him to appoint an intermediary [between them and Hashem], they reverted to their original state of forgetfulness and the penchant for idolatry returned to their hearts as before" (Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabba).
When Hashem declares -- it comes into being; when He commands, it is established. And if He states, "I am Hashem your G-d," this becomes an established, unforgettable fact. And when He declares, "You shall have no other gods," then there cannot be other gods. It becomes an immutable statement and fact. The evil impulse for idolatry simply exists no longer.
Eitz Yosef comments in the name of the Gra, "The first two Commandments encompass the entire Torah and its commandments. Onochi represents all of the positive commandments, while Lo Yihiye incorporates all of the prohibitive ones. This is why Torah was implanted in their hearts through the first utterance, since this is a positive command, while Lo Yihiye, which is a negative command, nullified the evil impulse against, `You shall not. . .' "
All of the commandments embody faith in Hashem. They are the expression, the means of transforming the latent faith into something tangible and thus, drawing closer to Hashem. All of the warnings are safeguards against heresy. Every kind of estrangement is a result of one's ignoring the truth. When Hashem in Person declared "I am Hashem" and "You shall not have. . ." all of the commandments became firmly implanted and ingrained in the hearts of all Jews in the form of all the positive and prohibitive commandments, for this is the expression, the translation, of faith forever after.
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