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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rabbi-Pinky-Schmeckelstein/621655891273622
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THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF RABBI PINKY SCHMECKELSTEIN
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Rabbi_Pinky
====================================================
NEW – Independence Day Drasha
Rabboisai,
OMG! Like.. WOW! What a week! POTUS DJT led the GOP in another valiant struggle against the MSM at CNN, MSNBC, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, and few other letters. Thank G-D for FOX or I would have to rely on the guy who sits in the back of Shul to get my news!!
(As an aside... did you ever wonder how there is always a guy in Shul who knows all of the headlines and sports scores, even on Yoim Kippur SheChol Lihiyois BaPesach. I do not mean to be Choishaid BiKsheirim... but I wonder if his wife also engages in Maisei Shiksalach, if you know what I mean...)
But I do not want to talk about current events. Not this week. I want to pick up on a topic - far more serious than the relationship between the US and North Korea, the Arab-Israeli conflict, or the emerging trade war between the US and China, between the US and Canada, between the US and Europe, and between the US and... hmmm... every country but Russia. Although, there was ABSOLUTELY NO COLLUSION!! EVER! AND THERE WAS NO RUSSIAN TAMPERING WITH THE ELECTION. PUTIN HAS ASSURED ME, AND I TRUST HIM FAR MORE THAN I TRUST EVERYONE IN THE US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY!!!
No. I want to talk about the most important Mitzvah, the most important commandment, in Yiddishkeit. What is it?
Hava Amina, I might have thought that it is one of the Aseres HaDibrois, the Ten Commandments given to Moishe Rabbeinu and all of Klal Yisroel at Har Sinai, as well to Charlton Heston and a cast of thousands on the Universal Studios lot: There is one Reboinoisheloilum. Do not worship idols, unless they wear long black coats, have long black beards, and have beautiful curly-Q Payis. Keep/ remember the Shabboskoidesh. Honor your parents (and by extension, send checks to your Rebbe). Do not kill. Do not steal... in any way that is traceable. Do not covet my wife or any of my other property, etc.
However... I am not certain that any of the Ten Commandments is the “anchor” Mitzvah of Yiddishkeit. Of the Aseres HaDibrois, the latter commandments are Bain Adam LeChaveiro, social laws in the human domain, which means that they are universal and can be derived through rational thought. But they are not unique to Klal Yisroel.
But the earlier commandments, the Bain Adam LeMakoim commandments, the Mitzvois that govern mankind’s relationship to the Reboinoisheloilum are unique to Klal Yisroel, the Jewish People. However, they imply ia fundamental question: If these Mitzvois are so damned important, why weren’t they given to all of mankind? If they are so damned obvious, why aren’t they also accessible through logic and deductive reasoning?
Rabboisai, I have on numerous occasions engaged in speculation on the meaning of life, the nature of Hakadoshboruchhu, and what my neighbor looks like in her Gatkas. But, in the end, I am not certain that any of these are the most important questions. Let’s face it: People can speculate all they want. But speculating on the “unknowable” is about as useful as Schvantzlach on a Meideleh.
And the Mitzvois are commandments regarding actions. They are core expectations of each and every one of us. (Unless, of course, you are a woman, in which case the core expectations of you are to work three jobs and bear and raise ten children while your husband is learning Toirah twenty seven hours a day.)
So what is the most important Mitzvah in Yiddishkeit? And what is it that makes that Mitzvah “most important”?
These of course are amazing Shailois! Indeed, they have for millennia been the source of speculation amongst CHAZAL. What else do you think they talked about in the Mikvah while waiting for the towel boy?
According to Reb Saadia Goyn, the most important Mitzvah is Petter Rechem for a donkey - Sanctifying the first born offspring of a donkey by either financially redeeming it through a payment to the Koihain, or by killing the donkey by breaking its neck - as commanded in Sefer Shmois, Perek Yud Gimmil Passook Yud Gimmel (Exodus, Ch.13, Vs. 13 in the Melech HaMashiach Bible)
But the RAMBAM disagrees, suggesting that Reb Saadia made this pronouncement while he was suffering heat stroke from the intense Babylonian sun. “What is this Shtuss?” asks the RAMBAM, “the donkey is a Treifah Chaya. Maybe Saadia also thinks that putting a Yarmulke on a turtle is another big Mitzvah?” Instead, the RAMBAM suggests that the most important Mitzvah in is banning the Internet. After all, as everybody knows, the RAMBAM was opposed to any sort of secular knowledge whatsoever!
The RAMBAN, on the other hand, shows his respect and reverence for the RAMBAM by vehemently disagreeing with him on this and every other topic he ever wrote about, referring to him as “that Spanish Egyptian dude with a mail order medical degree”. The RAMBAN notes that the RAMBAM himself was learned in mathematics, philosophy, and the sciences, so banning the internet is hypocritical and silly, especially since the internet would not be invented for another 900 years. The RAMBAN holds that Takkah the internet is Muttar and even encouraged, as long as you purchase the appropriate filtering software from his shell corporation.
According to the RAMBAN, the most important Mitzvah is Shiluach HaKan, sending away a mother bird from the nest prior to stealing her eggs or chicks to fry on the grill. This Mitzvah is so important that the Toirah promises the same reward as is promised for honoring one’s own parents - long life. So why is this Mitzvah the most important, instead of the Mitzvah of honoring one’s parents? Very simple, says the RAMBAN. Honoring one’s parents makes sense indeed. They may be nice people. They may be leaving an inheritance. And you may need to borrow their car every once in a while. But chasing away a bird from its nest? It makes no sense whatsoever!! You may as well catch the mother bird, skewer it in a stick, and roast it next to its babies. That is completely permissible. But, the Mitzvah is here to tell us that if you are only taking the contents of the nest, you must wave away the mother. So the fact that this silly Mitzvah is highlighted Azoy as so important MUST mean that Shuluach HaKan is the moist... err... most important Mitzvah. It makes perfect sense!!!
Shoyn.
Closer to our era, this has remained a topic of debate amongst the Acharoinim, even as social and religious sensibilities have evolved.
According to the Baal Shem Toiv, the most important Mitzvah is Hisboidedus, meditative unification with the Divine, either during Davening, while engaging in hierogamy with one’s wife on Friday night (look up the word, you Menuval!), or while dropping acid at a nice Farbreingin.
However, the Vilna Goyn differs vehemently with the Baal Shem Toiv, and insists that the most important Mitzvah is calling the secular authorities to denounce local Chassidic masters for tax cheating, incitement against the government, and shoplifting bacon from the supermarket.
Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim, disagrees with both the BESHT and the GRUH. He says that the most important Mitzvah is avoiding Loshon Harrah, not speaking ill of others. And when asked about the positions of the BESHT and GRUH, he responds that “those two morons wouldn’t know a Mitzvah if it hit them on the head, since they are too busy smoking Bsomim, chasing Meidelach, and texting on Shabboskoidesh... or so I hear...”
Shoyn.
Rabboisai, I would like to suggest that none of the above speculation about the most important Mitzvah is correct. And in fact, the most important Mitzvah is not spelled out explicitly in the Toirah but is inferred by all of the various commandments.
And how many times are we told to love HaKadoishboruchhu, to fear Him, to revere Her, to worship It through all manner of actions, deeds and thoughts? That is the essence of Mitzvois Bain Adam LaMakoim. And, of course, we are also instructed to behave in a manner that preserves an orderly society. The is the essence of the Mitzvois Bain Adam LeChaveiro. Together, these two categories constitute the sum total of all of the 613 Mitzvois.
I would like to suggest that implicit in these two categories of commandments is the most important Mitzvah: To love ourselves.
And no, you pervert, I am not suggesting in a sexual or erotic way. Or in a selfish, self-absorbed, way. Please take your right hand out of your pants and your left hand out of your wallet.
Rabboisai, let me ask you a question: Who was constructed in the Divine image? Mankind, of course! So indeed, if we are commanded to love, fear, revere and worship the Aimisheh, then we are also commanded to love ourselves, in the sense that we respect ourselves and preserve our physical bodies and mental health and personal dignity in the face of the trials of life.
How many people do you know, you Mechutziff, who engage in self-destructive behavior, through excessive drinking or drug abuse? How many people do you know who are stuck in destructive relationships with their spouses or significant others? How many people do you know who are trapped in all manner of toxic environments - at home, in social circles or at work?
What does the Toirah tell us to do about such situations? You might say “The Toirah tells us nothing”. But you are a Menuval and an ignoramus!
The Toirah tells us “Ve-Ahavta LeReacha KaMoicha”, “Love they neighbor as you would love yourself”, and Hillel HaZakain restates this as not doing to others what you would not want done to you. Do you want others to engage in self-destructive behavior, you Vilde Chaya? Do you want other others to be trapped in the cycle of despair in a toxic environment? No! Of course not. So why would you ever want to be in such a situation yourself?
That is why loving one’s self is the most important Mitzvah in the Toirah. It is a Mitzvah that is derivative of both Mitzvois Bain Adam LaMakoim AND Bain Adam Lechaveiro. It is a Mitzvah that honors the Reboinoisheloilum by honoring the Tzelem Eleoikim in ourselves. And it is a Mitzvah that ensures the proper functioning of society because it promotes the proper functioning of the individual.
Shoyn.
Rabboisai - When we love ourselves, when we act in our own best interests, then we engage in what Herzl described as “Im Tirtzu, Ain Zu Agadah”, “If you will it, it is not a dream”. We take the reins of our own fate. This is the ultimate message of self-determination, of independence. As a nation we have spent millennia our own national self-determination. We have lived for it and died for it. We must also do the same for our personal independence. Zman Cheiruseinu, the Time of our Independence is not just once a year. It must be all year round.
Ah Freilichin Yuntif, You Menuval!
---------
Rabbi Pinky Schmeckelstein
Rosheshiva
Yeshivas Chipass Emmess
====================================================
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rabbi-Pinky-Schmeckelstein/621655891273622
==================================================================
THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF RABBI PINKY SCHMECKELSTEIN
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/Rabbi_Pinky
====================================================
NEW – Independence Day Drasha
Rabboisai,
OMG! Like.. WOW! What a week! POTUS DJT led the GOP in another valiant struggle against the MSM at CNN, MSNBC, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, and few other letters. Thank G-D for FOX or I would have to rely on the guy who sits in the back of Shul to get my news!!
(As an aside... did you ever wonder how there is always a guy in Shul who knows all of the headlines and sports scores, even on Yoim Kippur SheChol Lihiyois BaPesach. I do not mean to be Choishaid BiKsheirim... but I wonder if his wife also engages in Maisei Shiksalach, if you know what I mean...)
But I do not want to talk about current events. Not this week. I want to pick up on a topic - far more serious than the relationship between the US and North Korea, the Arab-Israeli conflict, or the emerging trade war between the US and China, between the US and Canada, between the US and Europe, and between the US and... hmmm... every country but Russia. Although, there was ABSOLUTELY NO COLLUSION!! EVER! AND THERE WAS NO RUSSIAN TAMPERING WITH THE ELECTION. PUTIN HAS ASSURED ME, AND I TRUST HIM FAR MORE THAN I TRUST EVERYONE IN THE US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY!!!
No. I want to talk about the most important Mitzvah, the most important commandment, in Yiddishkeit. What is it?
Hava Amina, I might have thought that it is one of the Aseres HaDibrois, the Ten Commandments given to Moishe Rabbeinu and all of Klal Yisroel at Har Sinai, as well to Charlton Heston and a cast of thousands on the Universal Studios lot: There is one Reboinoisheloilum. Do not worship idols, unless they wear long black coats, have long black beards, and have beautiful curly-Q Payis. Keep/ remember the Shabboskoidesh. Honor your parents (and by extension, send checks to your Rebbe). Do not kill. Do not steal... in any way that is traceable. Do not covet my wife or any of my other property, etc.
However... I am not certain that any of the Ten Commandments is the “anchor” Mitzvah of Yiddishkeit. Of the Aseres HaDibrois, the latter commandments are Bain Adam LeChaveiro, social laws in the human domain, which means that they are universal and can be derived through rational thought. But they are not unique to Klal Yisroel.
But the earlier commandments, the Bain Adam LeMakoim commandments, the Mitzvois that govern mankind’s relationship to the Reboinoisheloilum are unique to Klal Yisroel, the Jewish People. However, they imply ia fundamental question: If these Mitzvois are so damned important, why weren’t they given to all of mankind? If they are so damned obvious, why aren’t they also accessible through logic and deductive reasoning?
Rabboisai, I have on numerous occasions engaged in speculation on the meaning of life, the nature of Hakadoshboruchhu, and what my neighbor looks like in her Gatkas. But, in the end, I am not certain that any of these are the most important questions. Let’s face it: People can speculate all they want. But speculating on the “unknowable” is about as useful as Schvantzlach on a Meideleh.
And the Mitzvois are commandments regarding actions. They are core expectations of each and every one of us. (Unless, of course, you are a woman, in which case the core expectations of you are to work three jobs and bear and raise ten children while your husband is learning Toirah twenty seven hours a day.)
So what is the most important Mitzvah in Yiddishkeit? And what is it that makes that Mitzvah “most important”?
These of course are amazing Shailois! Indeed, they have for millennia been the source of speculation amongst CHAZAL. What else do you think they talked about in the Mikvah while waiting for the towel boy?
According to Reb Saadia Goyn, the most important Mitzvah is Petter Rechem for a donkey - Sanctifying the first born offspring of a donkey by either financially redeeming it through a payment to the Koihain, or by killing the donkey by breaking its neck - as commanded in Sefer Shmois, Perek Yud Gimmil Passook Yud Gimmel (Exodus, Ch.13, Vs. 13 in the Melech HaMashiach Bible)
But the RAMBAM disagrees, suggesting that Reb Saadia made this pronouncement while he was suffering heat stroke from the intense Babylonian sun. “What is this Shtuss?” asks the RAMBAM, “the donkey is a Treifah Chaya. Maybe Saadia also thinks that putting a Yarmulke on a turtle is another big Mitzvah?” Instead, the RAMBAM suggests that the most important Mitzvah in is banning the Internet. After all, as everybody knows, the RAMBAM was opposed to any sort of secular knowledge whatsoever!
The RAMBAN, on the other hand, shows his respect and reverence for the RAMBAM by vehemently disagreeing with him on this and every other topic he ever wrote about, referring to him as “that Spanish Egyptian dude with a mail order medical degree”. The RAMBAN notes that the RAMBAM himself was learned in mathematics, philosophy, and the sciences, so banning the internet is hypocritical and silly, especially since the internet would not be invented for another 900 years. The RAMBAN holds that Takkah the internet is Muttar and even encouraged, as long as you purchase the appropriate filtering software from his shell corporation.
According to the RAMBAN, the most important Mitzvah is Shiluach HaKan, sending away a mother bird from the nest prior to stealing her eggs or chicks to fry on the grill. This Mitzvah is so important that the Toirah promises the same reward as is promised for honoring one’s own parents - long life. So why is this Mitzvah the most important, instead of the Mitzvah of honoring one’s parents? Very simple, says the RAMBAN. Honoring one’s parents makes sense indeed. They may be nice people. They may be leaving an inheritance. And you may need to borrow their car every once in a while. But chasing away a bird from its nest? It makes no sense whatsoever!! You may as well catch the mother bird, skewer it in a stick, and roast it next to its babies. That is completely permissible. But, the Mitzvah is here to tell us that if you are only taking the contents of the nest, you must wave away the mother. So the fact that this silly Mitzvah is highlighted Azoy as so important MUST mean that Shuluach HaKan is the moist... err... most important Mitzvah. It makes perfect sense!!!
Shoyn.
Closer to our era, this has remained a topic of debate amongst the Acharoinim, even as social and religious sensibilities have evolved.
According to the Baal Shem Toiv, the most important Mitzvah is Hisboidedus, meditative unification with the Divine, either during Davening, while engaging in hierogamy with one’s wife on Friday night (look up the word, you Menuval!), or while dropping acid at a nice Farbreingin.
However, the Vilna Goyn differs vehemently with the Baal Shem Toiv, and insists that the most important Mitzvah is calling the secular authorities to denounce local Chassidic masters for tax cheating, incitement against the government, and shoplifting bacon from the supermarket.
Reb Yisroel Meir Kagan, the Chofetz Chaim, disagrees with both the BESHT and the GRUH. He says that the most important Mitzvah is avoiding Loshon Harrah, not speaking ill of others. And when asked about the positions of the BESHT and GRUH, he responds that “those two morons wouldn’t know a Mitzvah if it hit them on the head, since they are too busy smoking Bsomim, chasing Meidelach, and texting on Shabboskoidesh... or so I hear...”
Shoyn.
Rabboisai, I would like to suggest that none of the above speculation about the most important Mitzvah is correct. And in fact, the most important Mitzvah is not spelled out explicitly in the Toirah but is inferred by all of the various commandments.
And how many times are we told to love HaKadoishboruchhu, to fear Him, to revere Her, to worship It through all manner of actions, deeds and thoughts? That is the essence of Mitzvois Bain Adam LaMakoim. And, of course, we are also instructed to behave in a manner that preserves an orderly society. The is the essence of the Mitzvois Bain Adam LeChaveiro. Together, these two categories constitute the sum total of all of the 613 Mitzvois.
I would like to suggest that implicit in these two categories of commandments is the most important Mitzvah: To love ourselves.
And no, you pervert, I am not suggesting in a sexual or erotic way. Or in a selfish, self-absorbed, way. Please take your right hand out of your pants and your left hand out of your wallet.
Rabboisai, let me ask you a question: Who was constructed in the Divine image? Mankind, of course! So indeed, if we are commanded to love, fear, revere and worship the Aimisheh, then we are also commanded to love ourselves, in the sense that we respect ourselves and preserve our physical bodies and mental health and personal dignity in the face of the trials of life.
How many people do you know, you Mechutziff, who engage in self-destructive behavior, through excessive drinking or drug abuse? How many people do you know who are stuck in destructive relationships with their spouses or significant others? How many people do you know who are trapped in all manner of toxic environments - at home, in social circles or at work?
What does the Toirah tell us to do about such situations? You might say “The Toirah tells us nothing”. But you are a Menuval and an ignoramus!
The Toirah tells us “Ve-Ahavta LeReacha KaMoicha”, “Love they neighbor as you would love yourself”, and Hillel HaZakain restates this as not doing to others what you would not want done to you. Do you want others to engage in self-destructive behavior, you Vilde Chaya? Do you want other others to be trapped in the cycle of despair in a toxic environment? No! Of course not. So why would you ever want to be in such a situation yourself?
That is why loving one’s self is the most important Mitzvah in the Toirah. It is a Mitzvah that is derivative of both Mitzvois Bain Adam LaMakoim AND Bain Adam Lechaveiro. It is a Mitzvah that honors the Reboinoisheloilum by honoring the Tzelem Eleoikim in ourselves. And it is a Mitzvah that ensures the proper functioning of society because it promotes the proper functioning of the individual.
Shoyn.
Rabboisai - When we love ourselves, when we act in our own best interests, then we engage in what Herzl described as “Im Tirtzu, Ain Zu Agadah”, “If you will it, it is not a dream”. We take the reins of our own fate. This is the ultimate message of self-determination, of independence. As a nation we have spent millennia our own national self-determination. We have lived for it and died for it. We must also do the same for our personal independence. Zman Cheiruseinu, the Time of our Independence is not just once a year. It must be all year round.
Ah Freilichin Yuntif, You Menuval!
---------
Rabbi Pinky Schmeckelstein
Rosheshiva
Yeshivas Chipass Emmess
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