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The Kiddish Club is where people leave Davening in the middle of shul and go for a drink. The Kiddish Club was not started in Biblical times. Though many consider it Halacha to get out of shul for the Haftorah and not come back, leaving shul to get tipsy is not Jewish law.
When the Jews left Egypt they had an I Am Thirsty Club. However, once they made it to Israel and found the Jordan River, Jews found ways of quenching their thirst. Nonetheless, when the concept of having to sit with your family for a whole Friday night meal was presented as an important way to celebrate Shabbat, the rabbis instituted Kiddish at the meal. And they said Kiddish has to be made on wine. This helped keep Shalom Bayit, peace in the house, helping dads somehow find the annoyance of their children amusing. Then came Shabbat day, and the rabbis said, "These dads need a drink now too. Kiddish has to be made at the Shabbat meal during the day as well. And when you have another meal in another place, make another Kiddish." Some religious Jews were making up to fifteen Kiddishes, finding new spots to eat. Park benches all over Eastern Europe were full of empty bottle of Manischewitz. Some made it a tradition to visit multiple friends on Shabbat, just to make more Kiddishes. People became friends with random neighbors when they ran out of wine. The going to people's homes for Kiddish became a quite popular tradition in the 1300s when people realized that they didn't have to pay for Kiddishes at people's homes. This lead to another tradition, known as Sukkah hopping and not buying your own food for the Sukkot holiday. Shul boards were trying to figure out how they could help their communities. In the year 424CE, it was unanimously decided that a Kiddish must be provided after services. And the Jews of the exile started showing up to shul at the end of Musaf. Leaving Services for a Drink The concept of leaving services for alcohol began in the 1800s. Before that, they had a Shliach Tzibur, a messenger of the congregation, leading the Davening. Once we started calling the person leading the services a Chazan, people felt the need to drink alcohol. It took the rabbis years to get people to show up on time for Minyin, even though there was no Kiddish till the end of services. Finally, people started showing up on time. It was the lack of cable TV in the homes. It happened in around the year 1306CE, give or take. People would show up and push through the prayers till Davening ended, when all would fold their Tallises in joy and run to Kiddish. For years, people tried pushing through two and a half hours of Davening on a Saturday morning with this new person leading services that they were calling the Chazan. They could never figure out how to do it. Though they were constantly angry at what they called "The Chazin" or "This Guy Who Makes Me Angry with Song." To quote Moishie, the first member of the Kiddish Club (which was at that time known as "Moishie going out for a drink"), "I need a drink." His rabbi argued with him that it wasn't a Halacha. But then Moishie said, "Did you hear the Chazin?!" And his rabbi left the shul and had a drink with him, and declared, this should be Jewish law. A Tradition Begins So, they started having drinks in the middle of Davening. Middle of Torah reading a guy named Menachem Shloimy stood up and said "LChaim" and passed around drinks during Shlishi. He would walk around the shul with shot glasses and whiskey, and say "LChaim" in the middle of Torah reading. He was corrected when the Gabai told him, "The proper response to a Bracha is 'Amen.'" To which Menachem Shloimy said the Bracha on wine. To which the rest of the congregants, said "LChaim." A Halacha class was given by the rabbi and they learned that you first say "Amen" to the blessing. Then after you drink, you say "LChaim," to dedicate your drunken state to Chaim. He was a guy in Menachem Shloimy's shul that everybody liked. And to this day, people dedicate their drinking to him. Moving the Drinking Out of Shul Some people didn't care for the idea of drinking in shul, in the middle of prayers. In the early 1800s, these people were known as losers. The losers, also known as people who love Gd and believe in sanctification of prayer, proclaimed that drinking should be done after shul. There were others who argued drinking in shul was wrong as the Chazan interrupted their enjoyment of the alcohol. They proposed to leave shul, and they were loved. Upon hearing this idea of not drinking in shul, it was the Gaon Reb Yankel Simchi who said, "Kiddish. We drink during Kiddish." To which Pinchas said, "But Kiddish is after Davening." After much discussion it was decided by the Gaon Reb Yankel Simchi, "We shall have Kiddish before Kiddish." Pinchas The Loser asked, "What does that consist of?" To which Reb Yankel said, "Drinking." And he was the most loved rabbi in all of Lithuania. Thus came about the creation of schnapps. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Announcements
The food drive for the homeless brought in some excellent steaks. Prime cuts. It is very kind and thoughtful of our community to think of the homeless, giving them due respect of having fridges and grills in their tents on the streets. We will not be planting a tree in the middle of the sanctuary for Tu BShvat, as the board suggested. The rabbi says it feels like it's idol worship. He also said treating Mark kindly because he is a fool who has money is idol worship, even if he has an Olympic pool and pickleball court in the backyard. He’s also sure that the president of the shul is a heretic. Shul Notice: Dried fruit will also make you fat. We will host a Tu BShvat Seder for all the heretics. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Not Help the Homeless Like our Sisterhood. How to Not Have a Shul Full of Idol worshipers or Congregants. How to Keep the Laws of Tu BShvat and Not Be A Religious Jew. How Our Congregants Find a Way to Put On Weight Even When There is No Holiday. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... It’s Shabbat Shira, The Sabbath of Song, and we’re asking our congregants to not sing... Have you heard yourself sing? Bernie. You sound like a congregant... (Shemot 14:15) At the sea, with the Egyptians right there and the Jews crying, H’ says to Moshe, “Why do you cry out to me, speak to the children of Israel and journey.” Sometimes you have to do stuff. Stop talking. Stop praying and do stuff. Turn to Shimon and say, "Stop coughing already." Stop praying for Merv to stop telling you jokes. Tell him, "We've already heard the joke about the priest. We didn't like it. We're not going to like it now." Let the sisterhood know you don't want dried figs at Kiddish, just because Tu BShvat is coming up. Sometimes you have to do... Your prayers aren’t answered because you sing bad. Your harmony is off. Sometimes we have to depend on ourselves. Which is hard with our shul board... First you have to do something and fire the board. Hishtadlus. Gd steps in when you don't have a shul board... Because they will ruin it. They ruin everything. Rashi’s first teaching is that Moshe was praying at this moment. H’ is saying when Israel is in distress, it’s not the time for lengthy prayer. Between us. It's easier to pray than to be out there fighting the war. It's also easier to pray than to be out there raising money and sending money and clothes to our brethren and sisteren in Israel... Shira. You do a great job praying. You've given nothing... Prayer is important. But we must act... You say one Tehillim Shira. Then you're off to the salon. You have a lot more time. The point is what you do with the sisterhood isn't helpful. Raising money for Israel to host a falafel night for the sisterhood does not help Israel... There are times for action. The food drive is not the kind of action we are talking about. We’re talking about helpful action... I took the steak... Homeless people don’t have fridges. They’re homeless. What are they going to do with steak?... Invite them to your home and cook it for them. In the meantime, I took the steak... Your actions are idol worship. A tree in the middle of the shul?! It’s like you want to turn our shul into Rockefeller Center. Last year you asked for an ice skating rink around the Bima... Idol worship. Every one of you... Pickleball with a heretic is idol worship. Be it Mark or the shul president... Mark's dues make him a Tzadik. He pays dues. So, we like him. But you shouldn't look up to him... Dues are different. Dues are Teshuva. Repentance... Actions affect us even if we don't know how. How the board can be so annoying. I don't know. It just is. How does healthy food make you fat? I don’t know. I just know Shlomo and Hana put on thirty pounds last Tu BShvat. Dried fruit and nuts. The Tu BShvat Seder did it... Dried fruit will make you fat. SO2 keeps it in you longer. The sulfur dioxide just keeps the fat there... Other stuff also puts weight on you. Your Nishama Yeteira, the extra Shabbat soul, should not be there all week... Ms. Melsowitz. You have four Nishama Yeteiras. I suggest you get rid of three of them. You only need one extra soul. It's action. We pray for positive action... Is Tu BShvat Seder positive? Good religious Jews don’t care about the environment. When you have fifteen kids, you use plastic... I didn’t say to not pray. Sometimes action is needed. H’ will do His part. But you have to stop complaining. Shimon. You don't deserve an Aliyah this week... Do something positive with your lives and Gd might help. Maybe pay your dues and the shul will have a better Kiddish and a fixed leak. You come and pray for it. How about you pay for it... And you all complain about dried fruit hurting your stomachs. Always complaining, like the Jews being chased by the Egyptians... (Shemot 14:12) “It’s better for us to serve Egypt than to die in the desert.” Well is it? Let's see. It's definitely not better to be the rabbi at Beis Knesses Anshei Emes uSefilah... They were willing to go back to Egypt and be slaves. Is that really living?! Sometimes you have to take a stand and say, “No. There will not be a tree in this shul. And I can't stand the Chazin. The president. And now the sisterhood is having perishable food drives for homeless people...” Are you really living if you’re not eating dried fruit?! If your fruit is fresh, is that living, or servitude?! And why dried fruit in the food drive? Are you trying to kill homeless people's stomachs?! This Shabbat Shira, before Tu BShvat, I just pray we can hear the beautiful sound of nature and not have to listen to congregants complaining. May we not hear the sounds of our congregation, or witness any of their actions... I fear the actions of our board. You mess up stuff. Maybe our congregation should just pray. Pray with no song... Just say the "Az Yashir." Rivka's Rundown Thank Gd it was Shabbat. Otherwise, the women would've brought out their hand drums. “You sound like a congregant” is a hurtful statement. I've heard them sing. The rabbi is sick of hearing the congregants complain. Yet, he says it's better than them singing. This is why he is also fine with them praying in spoken form. It was the only good falafel night we've had. I commend the sisterhood on that. Israel got no money from it. But we did feel Israeli solidarity with good falafel. I like to think that our eating falafel touched the hearts of our brothers and sisters in Israel. The rabbi took all perishable items. Including steak, salmon, and hamburgers somebody grilled and dropped off for the homeless. He took them home, put it in his freezer. As he said, "I haven't received a raise in five years. Two hundred dollars of ribeye is a start." It was the first time a food drive included cooked food in a home the homeless weren’t invited to. It was almost as helpful as our eating falafel was to Israel. It was the closest our shul ever came to a food kitchen. To quote the president of our sisterhood, “We don’t feed people in our food kitchen." Anything that seems like something they would do in Manhattan for Xmas, the board feels is a good design for our shul. It’s that whole HGTV thing. It’s good the rabbi banned HGTV watching. I also couldn’t stand listening to them and their 200k home renovation concepts on their 125k homes. Since our congregants stopped watching HGTV, they've been focusing on their cars. One put turning gold rims on their Ford Fusion. I believe the rabbi was teaching us that Mark's money is good if it is given for to the shul. Otherwise, forbidden. The rabbi's main lesson of Tu BShvat this year is that natural foods that are full of SO2 and sugar can also make you fat. The rabbi did make it clear that the Nishama Yetira can get heavy. That definitely helped bring down the amount of food consumption at Kiddish. All the heretics will definitely show up for the Tu BSHvat Seder. To quote our rabbi, "Only heretics keep Jewish traditions that connect the earth to Gd. The rest of the good Jews eat deli." "Come and pray for it. How about pay for it." That quote lost us half the membership. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The Kibbitzer Photo Album XLII2/8/2025
Let's take a stroll down memory lane to David complaining about haberdasheries exchanging money, people helping the Israeli soldiers with food and the open airiness of dried fruit in the shuk, with Kibbitzer's pictures of laughter from last month. We want to thank David Kilimnick for expressing his money saving techniques of not paying for stuff he is buying.
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You asked me about the celebration of Tu BShvat and thus I shall answer. If you're not a Frum Jew, you should celebrate Tu BShvat and find joy in nature. If you're a Frum Jew, learn Torah to celebrate nature. Tu BShvat is the New Year of Trees, and thus a Jew must celebrate. And thus a Jew must find joy. And thus a Jew eats stuff.
Here are things you must do to bring joy to the New Year of Trees. No Tachanun is Said on Tu BShvat The Shulchan Aruch (131:6) teaches that we don't say the Tachanun prayer on Tu BShvat because of the joy of trees that we as people connect to. Not reciting Tachanun is the greatest joy you can give a Jew. To quote the Pasuk (Devarim 20:19), "For man is like the tree of the field." Trees also don't say Tachnun. The joy of getting out of shul a minute early is one of elation. Imagine how much joy a Frum Jew would get out of another ten minutes of not being in shul. For this reason, many of adopted the Tu BShvat tradition of showing up to shul late. Many very religious Jews sleep through Davening. They make it a point of not going to shul after Tu BShvat as well. That is how committed they are to the requirement of Tu BShvat joy. Eat Dried Fruit Man is like a tree, and hence the joy. Trees are very joyful. That is the message of Tu BShvat. Like a tree bears fruit, so too man eats it. Taking is the natural way of relationships, we take from the tree. And give the tree nothing. Just like family. Again, the holiday is about meaning. And like old dried fruit, old people wither and become shriveled. Sometimes, when fruit comes out of a pool, it also shrivels. Thus, we eat dried dates and apricots, which look like old people. Apricots are preferred because they look like old people with a really bad spray tan. To truly enjoy Tu BShvat, climb people. It brings an element of fun to the holiday. Sulfor Dioxide Sulfor dioxide is an important part of the Tu BShvat food, allowing it to stay in you. You want the holiday to last. And SO2 ensures that. Sulfur dioxide is also an important part of the Israeli diet, along with people's hands reaching into the nuts that I'm about to purchase. Why Nuts It's tradition to eat nuts on Tu BShvat. I heard they come from trees. I'll go with it. Almonds in Israel are just amazing. Hence, we eat them. Tradition. I don't know if that is in the Shulchan Aruch. The Tu Bshvat Seder Brings Joy Pesach isn't the only Seder. People also like to drink wine on Tu BShvat. Hence the Seder, to justify being a lush around religious people. Keep the Seder quick. If it is long, people will start to get flashbacks to Tachnun. Also keep in mind the fruit and almonds. A long Seder will ruin the joy, as the dried fruit starts to settle and causes heartburn. Once Shilshul sets in, the joy of the Seder is over. Tradition of Puns Fruit puns are amazing. Almost as amazing as almonds. The date joke is just too good to resist. Date puns about dates are amazing fun. Turn to a single person and say, "Here is a date, so you can get a date." Always brings joy and laughs. The puns remind us of the Simanim on Rosh Hashana. With all the Rosh Hashana fruit puns, I feel like the New Year is another New Year for trees, celebrating puns twice. Wait, another fruit pun... "What do you call an ant that wants their whole family to be at the wedding? A cantaloupe!" Just came up with that one. You get it? Antelope. This one can't. Hence, cantaloupe, which is a fruit. The ant can't elope. It's a religious ant. Just adding more joy to the Tu BShvat Seder. Nuts also make for great puns. Such as, "You're a nut." That pun can go on for a good half hour of laughs at the Seder. Puns bring Tu BShvat joy to fathers who come up with them, and people who can't find joy in monologues. I hope all of this helps bring joy to your Tu BShvat, as you now understand the importance of dried fruit and nuts for Jewish celebration. Joy is found in eating. We have tried finding joy outside of food for millennia. Nothing works, other than food, dried fruit puns, skipping prayers and climbing people. Joy has yet to be found in one's children. Nachis is a farce. And remember, nothing brings more joy than going to the Shuk taking dried fruit, and not paying for it. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Sermons of Rebuke IV: Bo2/2/2025
Announcements
The rabbi banned watching HGTV. Home renovation TV shows are now forbidden. Too many congregants are renovating their homes and not paying dues. The rabbi says you can make a home look Jewish, even if it's not an open concept. The rabbi forbids open concept living. To quote the rabbi: “The only open concept Jews are allowed to work with is in the wilderness.” We want to wish a Mazel Tov to Yitzi’s mom. Best Anim Zemirot ever. Your son is a future Chazin. He is so much better than the other kids. Seeing Yitzi perform makes the Bar Mitzvah boys look like toddlers. There will be Layning lessons for kids over Bar Mitzvahed. Now that Yitzi is leading Anim Zemirot, it’s about time the fifteen-year-old, Mordy, learns to read the Torah. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Renovate Your House Like a Jew and Clean For Pesach. How to Grow Up and Move Past Leading Adon Olam At Fifteen. Mastering Not Being an Eight-Year-Old, When You Are Fifteen. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... (Shemot 10:9) With the young and the old Moshe and Aharon want to take everybody to pray to H’. Including kids. That is what our congregants do. Make a lot of noise during Davening and have their kids run around. Paroh sees the problem. Because he has Kavanah when he prays... Moshe wanted the kids to pray properly and sacrifice right. He wanted them to join in the service to H' and keep quiet. Not like Moishie. And why is Moishie in for the sermon?!... Moshe would've kicked out Moishie for the sermon. (Shemot 10:24) After the plague of darkness, Paroh says that the kids can go and pray with them. “Only flock and cattle shall remain behind”... Kids get scared in the dark. Paroh didn’t want them around anymore. The new window renovations have added a plague of darkness to our sanctuary. That's what watching HGTV does... (Shemot 10:25-26) Moshe tells Paroh that the offerings come too. The people and the offerings. “And our livestock will also go with us,” Yous serve H’ with everything. You serve H’ with all you have, including livestock. But you keep kids out of shul... Because they add nothing. Absolutely nothing. And you pay your dues. Your dues are part of everything... And they even asked for vessels of silver and gold from the Egyptians (Shemot 11:3). When it comes to serving Gd, it’s everything. Which makes me ask why we are still using plastic utensils at Kiddish... The environment is important to H' too... You serve H’ with your home... Not an open concept. Your home looks like a plague hit. From one room, you can see the mess of the whole house... No more renovations. Focus on your home being tidy and clean. No more renovations. Open concept is Asur... It’s not Tzanua. You need closed rooms... Hachnasat Orchin, having guests is important. A closed concept and an open home... The Beit HaMikdash had chambers. Closed concept... There goes Bernie again. It would be great if the shul had a closed concept to members. You want to renovate? Give money to the Beit Midrash... Here’s a home renovation for the Finkelmans. Sefarim. Jewish books. A Jewish concept. Maybe make your house look a little Jewish... Buy Sefarim for the Beit Midrash. Learn about Mitzvot, not open concepts... Modern means no personality. Not Jewish. No Merv, Max or Bernie in your house. The shul needs a modern makeover of that sort... Yes. You out of the shul, Bernie... You don’t get a discount on dues. This isn’t taxes... And shul renovations stop now. It is too much. A waste of money... No open concept in the shul. It’s a Mechitzah. It has to be there... Pesach cleaning. That is renovations. Getting the dirt off the floor. Scrubbing a bit. Is Moishie still sitting here?!... Why has nobody moved Moishie?! He has parents... I think they would've been Eruv Rav. What do the kids in our shul add??? Other than Yitzi. Love that kid. The way he bangs the table. A star. You serve H’ with how you pray. And we want decent kids leading services. Moshe didn’t have messed up kids leading Anim Zemirot. Yitzi is so much better than all of your other kids in this shul... Yes. Esther. Yitzi is so much better than your son... And your son is fifteen. Can we get Yitzi up here... Moshe would've had Yitzi singing along with the services. Yitzi. You are our new Anim Zemiort kid. First time, and you didn't ruin it... You didn't have to hit it out of the park. After hearing some of the other kids in our shul, you just had to not ruin the prayer for us... Fast and loud. When you reach Bar Mitzvah, we're firing the Chazin. And you outshined the kid you were doing it with. He just has it. Finally, a decent Anim Zemirot leader... May we all share in redemption. A redemption where we have a decent Chazin and Mordy doesn't lead in Anim Zemirot. A redemption where the sisterhood doesn't do any renovations on the shul... A redemption with beautiful singing with a closed concept to harmony by our congregants. Amen! Rivka's Rundown Truth is the parents let the kids do whatever they want in the shul. The rabbi is right. They probably would've left our youth in Egypt. The fact that Moishie was in the sermon sitting on the Bima the whole sermon was normal for our congregants. The rabbi telling everybody the environment is important had many of our members questioning their childhood, and if Sukkot and Pesach with thirty guests was allowed according to Jewish law, with the caused plastic utensil landfill. After the sermon, congregants wrote letters of protest to HGTV. Many said they were anti-Semites because their renovations are too expensive. One congregant told them that not one renovation included a Shabbis Lichter (candelabra). Some even wrote their senators. Some people went fully open concept. Had glass walls for bedrooms. Open concept has gone too far. And they all want it to look new. Warmth. No warmth in any house. They get rid of everything beautiful in a house and make it modern. Which means white and not lived in. I think the goal is germ free. For everything to look like a hospital. That’s modern. And they are so excited. “Our house feels like the hospital surgical unit. No personality. Perfectly reflects us.” And HGTV is so happy to take all the personality out. That’s what they do as designers. One of them saw a hospital and said, "We should have scalpels in every home." Hence, they have utensil drawers in the kitchen. Love how the rabbi equated Yitziat Mitzrayim and the desert with open concept, telling everybody that nobody liked the Jewish concept of living in the wilderness. If people had cleaner homes, they would look good. If our members mowed their lawns. Instead, they want to just break it all down. The rabbi went off on how great Yitzi is for a good half hour. More correctly, he let all the other kids know they’re not as good as Yitzi. And how their parents’ renovations are only there in hopes that their children will leave the house. Yitzi truly is good. He's already banging on the table and tapping his feet. Other kids stopped showing up. They can’t compete. I think those classes for the pathetic fifteen-year-olds still leading in Anim Zemirot were for Mordy. When you're fifteen, learn how to lead regular services. I agree. It's pathetic. It's messed up. They get stuck mastering Anim Zemirot and they want to do it for the rest of their lives. Bernie still jumps up for Anim Zemirot every once in a while. He's ninety something. Still can't Layn. The Chazin started looking for a new job after the sermon. He saw how good Yitzi was with his foot tapping. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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What do little kids love to eat on Chanukah in the sea? A Sufganiah. (Rabbi Mendel)
You get it? The Yam Suf. Sea of Reeds. A Gan is a nursery school. “Iah.” I have no idea what that means. This is what makes this pun riddle unique. The answer is a surprise. Something you would never get. With a good pun, like a good pop quiz, you want to keep them guessing. She was skipping school for her Chanukah job. So, her parents Gelted her into going back to school. (Rabbi Mendel) You get it? Chanukah Gelt (money). Guilted her with cash. Gelted her into it... Gelt’s more convincing. Especially when you're trying to make money. Artscroll put out a special Chumash for Breslovers. The Stoned Edition. (Mordechai) You get it? Artscroll has a Stone Edition. Stoned Edition is for people who smoke up. Some NaNach Breslov Chasidim have a reputation... Someone will get mad at this. I know. And almost every Breslover I know doesn't get high. But there are those who do. So, let's focus on them for this pun... Ripping out paper from the Stoned Edition to roll is Asur. Asarah BTevet was only ten hours. Boy. It was fast. (Rabbi Mendel) You get it? Asarah BTevet is a fast. The fast only lasted ten hours. That’s fast. The fast was fast. And then that little extra "ten" for the Tenth of Tevet. The fast comes out on the tenth. A little extra topping on that pun for you. Paroh had compassion on the wine steward, because he was pour. The baker had a lot of dough. (Mordechai) You get it? Poor. It should've been "poor." We wrote “pour.” He poured stuff. We misspelled poor so you could enjoy the pun. Then the extra with the baker and dough. Dough meaning money here, but could mean dough for baking... The pun might have been best three weeks ago. Better than getting it three weeks ago, you get two puns in one. Why is a navy boat that isn’t moving against Torah? It’s an idle warship. (Mordechai) You get it? Idle. Read it “idol worship,” and it will mean something totally different. And it will also sound different. It’s in one spot, hence it’s idolatry. If it would be moving, it would be a boat praying to Gd. When Jews pray, they sway. Thought that last part added a little meaning. We like for our puns to touch people. What do you call it when shorter people do Avodah Zarah? Idolabush. (Mordechai) You get it? Avodah Zarah is idolatry. Say “Idolatree.” Now you’re catching on. Taller idolaters worship trees. Shorter idolaters worship a bush. Wait. Idolashrub. How about that? Idolashrub. For even shorter people. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Anti-Semites- a) One who charges Jews for items or services. Sentence: "So, we’re at the movies. Those anti-Semites are charging $4 for popcorn." b) A cop that gives a Jew a ticket for speeding. c) Anybody who asks a Jew to do any work. We link it back to Egypt. d) Number one reason for Aliyah to Israel. They do a much better job than Nefesh BNefesh and the Jewish Agency of bringing Jews to Israel. See all of Europe for ways to attack Jews.
Appeal Cards- Cards with flaps that people fold over to let the shul know what they intend to give to the synagogue if they ever give anything. If it was a cash donation, the shul would never see a flipped tab. The members still owe dues from the 1980s. Even when these people get honored, they don’t pay their pledges. Yet, they still flip the numbers on the Yom Kippur appeal cards. It is to say, "If I were to ever pay my dues and give money to the memorial chapel, this is how much I would think about giving." Apikores (pl. Apikorsim)- a) Somebody who likes the rabbi. Sentence: "This Apikores enjoys the rabbi’s sermon. He knows from nothing." b) Somebody who knows the Torah and at the same time expresses a sense of happiness. Sentence: "You see her smiling? She's is definitely not keeping the Mitzvos. Apikoreset." Aramaic- A language every Jew should know. Unlike Hebrew. Sentence: "If I would know Aramaic, I would understand this Gemara." Armrest- a) An object that makes a tiny seat that is not meant for a whole person even more uncomfortable. This helps make the shul experience painful. Hence, meant for people who are not Apikorsim. Sentence: "This is more uncomfortable than ELAL. The chair sits half of my tush. This armrest is meant for a quarter arm. And that guy’s prayer book is in the back of my head. I'm feeling discomfort, and thus, penitent." b) Something put between seats in shul, so people will fight. Aron Kodesh- A place to put names of people who have a lot of money, and the Torahs. Sentence: "I think the Aron Kodesh will be more valuable if we can place some dedication plaques on the scrolls." Arts and Crafts- Where kids make Jewish objects, such as a Chanukiyah, a grogger, Jewish origami paper chains for the Sukkah, paper plate hamentashes, and Haggadahs. All of which the parents have to find a way to throw out without their children knowing. Sentence: "I wish this teacher would stop sending the arts and crafts home. She’s got no guts; putting the throwing out of the paper mache on us. Now my kids think I don’t love them… Yes. I do think they’re not talented." ArtScroll- a) Master translators of biblical and rabbinic text, that found a way to eliminate Hebrew for the new learner of Yiddishkeit; making English the language of the Torah. Sentence from Zealous American Bal Tshuva: "And I quote, 'The Tabernacle in the wilderness…' That is exactly how Moshe said it. In English." Alternative Sentence: "Got to be honest. No idea why I went to Yeshiva and tried learning this stuff in Aramaic, with no punctuation. This learning Talmud in English is so much easier. I feel like a Talmid Chacham.: Addition to Alternative Sentence: "Give me the Gemara in English and I'm happy not knowing what it says." b) The Jewish book company that elaborates. Other people translate. Artscroll elaborates. This is how the modern Jew learns. Sentence: "I need a translation that doesn’t translate." Translation of "Rabbi Moshe Feinstein had a good childhood": "Roshei Yeshiva came to Rabbi Feinstein when he was six months old. It was then that he gave his first rabbinic ordinances. He wrote his first book of Responsa on the laws of sharing when he was two year of age." c) The Jewish book publishing house, there for the safety of the frum reader, ensuring that we never have to read a book where a rabbi sinned, or where there is a storyline. Plot of all Biographies: Born a Tzadik in Brooklyn, lived as a Tzadik in Brooklyn, died a Tzadik Brooklyn, and still overcame much spiritual struggle to be a Tzadik in Brooklyn. ***This is an excerpt from the Dictionary of Jewish, written by David Kilimnick. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Sermons of Rebuke IV: VaEra1/26/2025
Announcements
Congregants should not be scared of the terrorist prisoner release. Our shul has dealt with college students for the past few years. We understand ceasefires are a scary thing. But know you’ve already lived through college students. The rabbi says moving to Israel is the right thing to do. To quote our rabbi: “Moving to Israel and selling your house ensures you are not in Topeka. You already haven’t paid your dues.” The Gabai is allowed to give Haftorah to whomever he would like. It is part of the services. Even if you are usually at Kiddish club getting drunk during the Haftorah, it’s still part of the services. The rabbi can give it to you. And you will have to read not under the influence. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Fight Off College Students Without the Help of Tzahal. You Moving to Israel: How to Bring Shalom to Our Shul. Why Leaving Services to Get Drunk Might Not Be the Right Thing to Do. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... We are all affected by our previous actions. Which is why the members of this congregation are so messed up. Previous actions is also the reason we are still having the Walk for Our Elders in the Snow Fundraiser... It’s freezing and last year three of our senior citizens caught pneumonia. But dumb decisions lead to dumb decisions and that is why we have our board... (Shemot 7:3) Gd says, “And I will harden Paroh’s heart.” Everybody is always worried "but Paroh didn't have free will." Nobody cares about the fact he was whipping Jews. He was murdering little babies, but you're worried about Paroh's mental well-being. Paroh needs a safe space to express himself. If that means murdering Jewish babies... Does H’ really harden Paroh’s heart. The commentaries teach that it’s habit. It’s habit that causes us not to change. It’s habit that makes us evil. We get used to something and at that point, our hearts are hardened. And then you have our board... Congregants give up. No need for me to go into detail about how none of our members help the elderly anymore... H’ does that final action. He’s there to aid us in our stupid... You guys go out to drink. You’re used to it. You come to shul to drink. Most come to Daven. You come to drink. Because that's your habit. Your free will that turned into a fixed state of drunkenness... You should participate in the services. The Gabai gave Yonatan the Haftorah so he could participate... First time you didn’t get drunk at services since your Bar Mitzvah... That’s what Haftorahs do. They keep you from the Kiddish Club and sober for Musaf... First time you've read Haftorah not under the influence, and you still made mistakes... Your family was definitely drinking at your Bar Mitzvah. Having to listen to you reading up there. Let's talk about the Kiddish Club for a second. The club with all the hardened hearts of the fools.... That's what alcohol does. It brings out the fools. What kind of club is it? What's the goal of the club? To get you drunk for Musaf. The Freemasons are looking to build a better future. The Kiddish Club is there to get out of prayers and come back in a way that lets your kids down... Yonatan. Your children are going to show up to shul and have flashbacks to Musaf with drunk dad puking on them. You're the only club that makes it a point to not help. Even the sisterhood does more than you. The point of the club is to get out of Davening... That’s the right of the Levis and Cohens. They can leave services to wash hands... I know some of them don’t come back. But at least they leave for the right reasons... Our congregants leaving is a good thing. Which is why you should move to Israel. All Kiddish Club members should move to Israel. Moving to Israel is the right thing. Yishuv HaAretz... Yishuv HaAretz has nothing to do with a huge hotel breakfast... When you move there, you can’t afford the huge breakfast. Unless at the Dead Sea. It's cheaper there for some reason. The huge breakfast is for tourists. They call it the Israeli breakfast, because tourists who visit Israelis can afford it. You should move to Israel... Jobs?! H’ provides in Israel... H' hardens the hearts of the Kiddish Club and provides in Israel. What do you do here that’s helpful... You make money, but you’re not helpful. It’s safe in Israel. I’m sending you to the Jewish homeland. With terrorists right there... Well. We have college students here. Being scared is a habit. No matter what the habit, you get stuck there. It's a habit and your heart is stuck. If it's drinking, killing people, or not moving from Topeka. You're scared, because you're stuck... You even wrote to Bibi to send soldiers to our shul to help fight off students. Some of these college campuses are full of terrorists... Students. Terrorists. Activists. It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes. At least you can see the face of the terrorists... I’m not scared to move to Israel. I’ve had to deal with the congregants already... Your heart has been hardened to Aliyah. To moving to Israel... Moshe had a hard time and was scared. He didn’t know how to lead. How to speak up. Kind of like the president of our shul. But he was self-aware... Maybe he didn’t have a Jewish day school education. Egyptian public schools do not make orators. Again. Moshe expresses his worry and tells H’ (Shemot 6:30) “I have sealed lips, so how will Paroh obey me.” If you can't talk, who will listen?... I know you don't listen to my Dvar Torahs, Bernie. I get it... His lips were hardened. Again, habit. A habit that wouldn't be a bad thing if Bernie adopted it. How do we get out of this rut? How do we change our habits of being a congregant and drunk? How does one not be scared anymore? How do unharden the heart of the board? How do congregants move to Israel? (Shemot 7:1) H’ tells Moshe, “See. I have made you a master to Paroh, and Aharon, your brother. will be your spokesman...” The Kiddish Club just can't stop talking. That's not a help. H' is telling Moshe that the way to get out of this habit is to know that there are others to help. There is Aharon there to help him change his habit. His worry. His fear. And I have a fear that old people walking in the frozen snow is not healthy... We have to depend on others sometimes. His brother. Right there. Right in front of him. That is the one who is there to help. And Moshe couldn't see that. The same way the board can't see that the programming in this shul is messed up, and that the shul would be better if most of the congregants moved to Israel... With the help of his brother, he was able to be a master. Once he looked outside of himself, he was able to have belief. When I look outside of this congregations, the world is beautiful... In order to deal with our demons. Our habits of destruction, we have to just look outside ourselves for that help. Then maybe you will leave this shul and move to Israel. And stop your habits of Davening drunk. If Paroh would've just seen outside his desire for power and hatred of Jews... Why are you still worried about Paroh not having free choice. Maybe we can work together and stop the habit of killing babies... May all the hostages and their families be comforted, and have strength and Bracha... You say you need to drink. Don’t look to Merv for help. His jokes will have you wanting to drink more. Look to Sadie. The only decent one in this shul. She will help our people. She'll stop you from talking... If the congregation just didn't talk... Rivka's Rundown The elderly winter walk is not smart. To quote the rabbi, "Almost as dumb as our shul's president." Should've done that program in the summer, when our seniors can go outside without thirty layers. For the walk last year, there was a heater truck moving really slowly in front of the walk for elders. The truck turned all the snow on the sidewalk into slush. It ripped up the city park's grass. And everybody came out of it feeling sicker, due to wet feet turned frostbitten. Why the seniors had to do the walk for elder's health in minus five-degree weather still has me questioning. The rabbi likened the worry for Paroh to the whole Gaza thing. How these people are trying to kill us, and everybody is worried about their living situation. Got to worry about the terrorists and how they were "raised to hate Jews. It's not their fault." I’m worried for our brethren. How about they don't try to kill us. I think that's an idea. Some congregants came to the rabbi and said, "Well, Hamas and the Gazans. Gd hardened their heart. It's not their fault." The rabbi told them, "You're fools." I believe that was his simple response. What the rabbi was teaching is that evil is built up until all of their choices are evil. Or to be more exact, and all of their choices are "we hate Jews. Like the president of our shul." I still think he's looking for a raise. Fact is that they’re everywhere. I’ve never been so scared of a ceasefire. It seems that ceasefire means terrorists our on the streets. It always seems like there's more danger when we put down our weapons. The fact we survived college students is very empowering. The rabbi wrote a letter regarding the ceasefire. Very uninspiring. He said nothing. He just wrote, “It should be for Bracha.” Absolutely nothing. And nobody was mad, or comforted. He says "Bracha" and everybody loves him. You can be deathly ill and he'll say, "It should be for Bracha." It sounds good. Almost as good as saying "Mazel Tov." Maybe he should've wrote, "Mazel Tov." That would've been a good response to the release of terrorists. A celebratory reaction. The move to Israel didn't happen. Once they realized the jobs don't pay as much, they decided it wasn't a Jewish value or Mitzvah to go to Israel. "Hearts hardened to moving to Israel." Brilliant. The rabbi likened the congregants to Paroh. Love it. Why the rabbi hasn't moved to Israel is still a question. He brings up moving all the time, and he hates the shul. The rabbi just wanted to get rid of the congregants. They could’ve moved to Costa Rica. Anywhere outside of America. That was a huge dis. That line about the sisterhood doing more than the Kiddish Club. That stings. There is a line you don't cross, and that is telling somebody that the sisterhood does more than them. The Gabai gave Yonatan the Haftorah. A dirty trick. Kept him in shul for the Haftorah. Sneaky and mean. The guy missed the Kiddish Club. He went through all of Musaf without a buzz. I've never seen somebody shake so much during the Musaf Amidah. I think Yonatan was going through withdrawal during the prayer. Reading the Haftorah is not easy. It's like a test for these guys. It brings back harsh memories of being in middle school and having to read in front of the class. The why leaving shul to get drunk might not be the right thing class was not understood. There were many questions asked to the rabbi, in the form of "I don't understand." The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Many Poskim consider snowball making Asur on Shabbis for reasons of building or crushing. And injury that will happen to you if you hit me with one on Shabbis... A lot of anger goes into the formation of Halacha. This is how the modern Posek renders Jewish law. That’s how I learned it.
Some say that even on minor fast days, a Baal Nefesh should start the fast the night before. Those rabbis lost their jobs. Yad Soledet Bo is anywhere from 110 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. How they found out what burns the hand at 180 degrees... And people say religious Jews aren’t brave. (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 1:1) When you wake up, the first thing you should do is place Gd in front of you. You’ll act differently when you place the King of all kings in front of you. If you were doing this right, you'd be sleeping in a suit. Possibly a cloak Maybe a tunic, out of respect. But you're a heretic… This law is not meant for idolaters. Placing little Ken and Barbie dolls in front of your bed defeats the purpose here and it's awkward, even if they are expensive. Even placing a bunch of moisturizers or shoes in front of you, when you wake up, is wrong. The only thing that makes sense is to place Gd in front of you. Anything else, and there's a good chance you'll trip. You might even hurt your feet, especially if you place Lego in front of you. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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How to Calm Down a Terrorist1/22/2025
Many people are scared about the release of the terrorists, asking me, "David. What do we do?" You live.
Before getting into this article, May all of the hostages come home safely. Our prayers continue to go out to them and their families. The nightmare they have gone through is unforgivable. And to know these bloodthirsty terrorists have been put back out there is bothersome. The question still stands. "What do we do?" I can tell you, do not be scared. Israelis have dealt with terror forever. And Americans have had to deal with college students. With so many terrorists out there, we have to discuss what to do when confronted with a terrorist. First, say "Shalom." Greet them. This is going to be dark, but here is some advice for how to calm them down. Show Them Support As we all know, killing terrorists is wrong. You want to empathize with them. Talk it out. See their perspective. Support groups are good. Anything where they are thinking killing themselves is not the right thing today. One day at a time. Start a terror support group if that helps. Get them talking about how their parents never believed in them enough. How their parents didn't think they had the ability to blow themselves up. Sometimes, what parents say can hurt. Get them to open up about the day they lived. Terrorists need a safe space to let out their emotions. Their hurt. Empathize. Maybe give them some warm clothes. A decent coat. Some hot Sabich. It seems to get quite cold in Gaza. This is why they're always wearing ski masks. They never have coats. Empathize a bit. I know Hamas waits for The North Face to have a decent sale before outfitting the Gazans. Give them the coat when they need it. If they are the suicide type, ask them why they want to take others and not just themselves. Educate Them Take the positive approach. Let them know they don't have to blow themselves up to be successful and to receive the adulation of others. Pull them aside for a deep conversation about how you were once down and out when your parents didn't send you enough money to go out drinking in the Shuk when you first made Aliyah. We all go through hard times. Teach them a new trade. Maybe finance. Get them into investments. Get them involved in a trade where they'll only want to kill themselves if they find out the stock market crashed. Give them hope. Instruments are good. Teach them to play the ukulele. Ukuleles don't kill people. There is no reason to blow yourself up when you can play beautiful songs like “Over the Rainbow.” And there is no reason to blow up a ukulele, unless if you find yourself at an open mic, or trying to enjoy a series. Acting is an excellent profession. They're excellent at acting. They've mastered the playing dead. Some of them have already died four or five times. And they pull it, each time. Redirect Their Anger Sports is good for this. Redirect their anger to soccer. Soccer fans yell a lot too. They can find hatred for other people that aren't Jewish, known as fans of the other team. They can feel the same comradery as they do with their fellow terrorists, as they root for their team by jumping up and down and attacking the other fans. If all else fails, let them know there are other Jews. [That might have been too dark. I apologize for that. Too soon. Three-thousand years is too soon. It's just crazy knowing there are so many terrorists and anti-Semites out there. Even if it's not funny, you will always be able to say this piece is gutsy.] Lock Your Doors Terrorists like blowing stuff up. They're not good at picking locks. If your door is locked, it'll take them a while to figure out how to get in. They may knock. Don’t answer. If you answer, they’ll make their way into the house. This is also why I don’t answer the door when my in-laws visit. [There is always room for a mother-in-law joke. Especially when you're not married and talking about terrorism.] Sing with Them Singing brings people together. “Am Yisrael Chai” is a beautiful song. “Over the Rainbow” would be good times too. Pull out the guitar, the bongo and the ukulele. Stay away from the bonfire. Just sing in a circle. Keep it a circle. You can always sing the Jihad ABCs with the male Miss Lyle. That will bring back childhood memories about how the Jews are the devil and they should be killed. Childhood memories always warm the heart. Educate Them on Israel Their education is off. They think Israel doesn’t exist. And yet their charter says to kill everybody in Israel. [Some jokes don’t land. Maybe this isn't the right topic to try to be funny about.] Teach them about Israel. Take them on one of those educational seminars where they tell you about water levels. Then, they'll only want to kill the presenter. Show them how expensive apartments are in Jerusalem and they might change that “Free Palestine” tone to just getting a better deal on housing. Saving some money would be good enough. [Working the Free Palestine pun. Giving it a different angle for you. People are always looking for new angles on the Free Palestine pun.] Less Rage Their full of rage. Terrorists are very rageful. They love rage. Days of rage. Mobs of rage. Rage against the machine. If you can just calm them down. If you can just derage them, you'll be OK. Give them credit for creating falafel and chumus. That will calm them down. That's why they're so outraged all the time, yelling, trying to kill Jews. That's why Arafat created this whole hoax. He just wanted credit for Chumus Abu Ammar. People take their chumus seriously. Teach Them About Other Places Maybe if they saw other places, like Europe, they might want to move there and blow stuff up. Other Ways to Protect Yourself When you’re online in the supermarket let them cut. They will get violent. Look both ways when crossing the street. Look both ways when on a sidewalk. Just look both ways. Always look both ways. And pray. Pray for the Israeli Army. Pray for the hostages. Pray for their families. Pray for the Jewish people. Pray to Gd that the government doesn't do more dumb stuff. Pray for peace. Pray to Gd that we rid the world of terrorists. Jews of the Diaspora, be strong. Know you can take out the terrorists. You've already dealt with college students. [What kind of idiot uses terror to make jokes!] The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Sermons of Rebuke IV: Shemot1/19/2025
Announcements
If anybody would like to volunteer at the dairy farm in our shul’s parking lot, that is appreciated. The rabbi said his position is better spent teaching Gemara classes than milking cows. Though, he wants to make it clear that he appreciates cattle more than the membership. Everybody in the shul has a cold. So, no complaining if somebody got you sick, even if they’re not wearing a mask. To quote the rabbi: "The mask does not keep the congregants from talking." This Purim, we ask that people wear masks that cover the eyes as well as the mouth. We would like to not see your full face. We will not be providing protein shakes at Kiddish. The rabbi says they are not Jewish and thus forbidden from shul events. To quote the rabbi: “Jews don’t shake drinks. Jews stir.” Contemporary Halacha Classes: Farming to Keep in Shape: An Idea that Won’t Get People to Volunteer. Wearing a Mask that Keeps People Safe from Hearing You Talk. How to Drink Alcohol with Protein in It, As a Jew: Something Called Schnapps. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... (Shemot 2:12) Upon seeing an Egyptian hitting a Jew, Moshe “turned this way and that way and saw there was no man. So he struck the Egyptian and hid him in the sand”... Before killing somebody, you definitely want to check. Unlike Tim, who goes right up to the video camera like he's performing for surveillance... Discreet. Very discreet Tim. You weren't at Minyin, we all know. The camera caught you... No man. Means no action. Like our shul. Nobody helps with Kiddish. Nobody helps with Minyin. Nobody keeps the little ones from crawling around my feet in the middle of services. He noticed that nobody was willing to take a stand. What’s a man?... Very good. None of the people sitting in the back left of the shul... (Shemot 2:13-14) Two Jews are fighting, and Moshe said to the “wicked one, ‘Why would you hit your fellow?’” He thus replies, “Who appointed you the chief and judge over us? Are you going to kill us, like you killed the Egyptian?”... I'm the rabbi. That's why I give sermons, Bernie. When there is no man amongst your people, it leads to moral decay and false blame. It leads to board meetings. When weak people spread the word about something, you must run. Which is why nobody showed up to the Secret Hannukah Harry Event... It's too similar to Secret Santa. No identity. Weak. Our board makes weak committees of people that want to kill Jews... If they were men, they would’ve went with Moshe and they would’ve been freed. They would’ve stood up to the real enemy. Egypt, or the board. Not to Moshe, who was protecting them... They were slaves. They were weak. Weak people justify. They throw blame. Moshe knew he had to run from that. As I should run from this shul... Our shul has no men... Why I haven’t run is the question. No men. No action here. And then you blame when something is right. Unmanly men... What is a manly man?! Not Simcha. Well. There is a reason for the farm. Work. Men work. They give of themselves. You don’t volunteer... Exactly. If you want a parking spot, you have to volunteer to move a cow. And so much hatred, due to this lack of manhood in our community. So much non-mask hatred. Sinat Mask. If your mask stopped you from talking, I would be in total support of it. I would agree that not wearing you mask causes hatred... Stop complaining about the no-masks making you sick. You come to shul, expect to get sick. Every time I see the members of our shul, I get sick... You get your protein from choolante... Choolante has protein. A lot of fat, a lot of carbohydrates and protein. The way Nachum doesn’t share the meat, he’s getting protein out of the choolante. That's a manly thing to do... Manly men don't share choolante. When it comes to choolante, justice is different... Protein shakes are Asur. Religious Jews get their protein from fat... If it was schnapps with protein there might be a reason for Jews to drink it. In Midian, Moshe has a child. (Shemot 2:22) Moshe calls his child Gershom, saying, “I was a stranger in a foreign land.” He was a wanderer, but he found a wife and he had a family. So, he called his kid "Foreign land." At home we call our kid "We want to leave this community." Moshe was a man because he realized he was in a foreign land. He was honest. And I can't stand the men in the back left of the shul... Once you realize you're a foreigner, a stranger in a strange land, you can approach it. You can deal with it. You can be strong. Your morality is not based on the influence of congregants. You understand that you're dealing with a board of heretics. You understand that nobody is going to help you, especially membership. You can finally accept that these people consider themselves Jews, even if they think that you need more protein than choolante provides... The Jews did not see that they were different. They didn't have that identity of empowerment. They saw themselves as abused. Once they started crying, Gd remembers their difference. He remembers His covenant, His Brit with Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov (Shemot 2:23-24)... It's at that moment that H' rescues them. The people of strength, who accepted their difference. Men of action who stood up for morality. Unlike the board, who doesn't even volunteer... I would appreciate it if the board stops quoting me in the announcements and blaming me for everything nasty they say. Be men, be strong, and take the blame. The board should quote the rabbi as saying, "He wants the board to run from the shul." Rivka's Rundown Good call on not a man. The congregants do nothing. There wasn’t even a man to help build the shul’s Sukkah this year. They had to hire a handyman. “Man” is in the name of the guy we had to hire. There's no such thing as a handycongregant. Nobody would hire that. “Not Simcha.” The rabbi is so true and concise with his brilliance. The rabbi truly lives by his word. He said everybody should be a farmer. Now he has shul shifts for the parking lot dairy farm. It’s amazing how our congregants are more interested in the dairy farm than visiting the sick. A shul food kitchen for the poor would never happen. They would rather milk a cow than feed dairy to the needy. Inviting those people for Pesach is too much already. The rabbi was able to get around angry congregants who said it was rude for him to say that he likes cattle more than them, by saying, "I love animals." You can get away with anything if it's for the animals. The rabbi even got rid of some congregants saying, "There's more of a chance that a bull will pay dues than the Finkelmans." They still make such a big deal about the mask. They don’t stay home. They go out and wear the mask in protest of healthy people. It was messed up when Purim a few years back everybody showed up to shul in masks that only covered the mouth. My kids are still in shock from the experience. They sometimes have flashbacks to having to see the rest of the members' faces. The rabbi ordained protein shakes are forbidden. Other things the rabbi forbade were going to a gym with people who are in shape. He said, "If they're in shape, they're not eating the right protein." He also forbade meetings. He called those "a waste of time, Bitul Zman, especially when the president of the board is there." Milking cows and then not washing your hands before praying was on the Asur list as well. Masks must be worn over the mouth that stop members from talking was ordained. And the rabbi did say that there are times where you can't kill people and bury them in the sand, even if they're on the board. 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Rambam: Yesodei HaTorah 2:11-121/17/2025
Laws 11-12: You will never get it.
This stuff of mysticism and understanding H’ and what happens after death should only be taught to one person. This is known as the Doings of the Chariot (Ma'aseh Merkavah in Yechezkel). Right there. I think that's all you need to know. What the Ma'aseh Merkavah is, is not relevant. The extent of your knowledge is knowing that there is something called the Ma'aseh Merkavah. We can now move on. The person you teach this secret deep stuff to has to be a wise person. And you share very little with him at first. You start with little secrets like, "I'm going on a trip to Florida." Test them, before the real secrets, like how you're telling the boss that your sick. You don't want to share this stuff with tattletales. We all know what problems happen when you start getting too mystical in public. People start believing and those people are weird. I've never met a crazy person who didn’t like mysticism. It's a good thing that somebody has to have some knowledge first. It helps stop homelessness. If it wasn't for this fence of only teaching it to one person who's wise, too many people would be "connecting with Gd." We would have a lot more people closing their eyes during Davening. The rabbis were trying to limit the number of people with eye closing Kavanah (intent) in shul. Davening would take way too long. They're deep concepts and not everybody has the knowledge to comprehend them. Which means, not you. You have no idea what you're reading right now. Shlomo Hamelech describes this knowledge as (Mishlei 27:26) "Lambs for your clothing." Lambs also means secrets. Such as secrets that are only for certain people. Not you. Just wanted you to know you're getting left out. In Mishlei 5:17, Shlomo HaMelech teaches, "They shall be for you and not for others with you." Shlomo could've just said this one and left out the one from chapter twenty-seven, but everybody understands this one. Hence, he had to use the metaphor of the lamb, so that you wouldn't understand that you can't understand it either. Shir Hashirim teaches (4:11) "Like milk and honey under your tongue." I have no idea what that means either. Which is the way it should be. Hopefully, next chapter will be something we can understand, and teach. I am sorry we taught you this. You shouldn't be learning what you were just taught. We appreciate the Rambam starting Mishna Torah with two chapters of stuff we are too dumb to get. Now I know it's not just my teachers that thought I was an idiot. If they thought I was smart, they would've taught me Ma'aseh Merkavah in third grade. Instead, they were trying real hard to get me to multiply with Popsicle sticks, and to read Rashi script correctly. They knew I was an idiot, and I would never understand what lambs clothing really means. I always thought it meant wool. Not a smart one. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The true story of why I became a Baal Teshuva, a repentant. Here is how it all began. Money. That's it. Lost the money.
Gambling is an issue. And I have it. I had it. I caught it. I got it. Every day, I fight it. I am broke. I'm good person and I am broke. It's hard for me to open up about this. Thus, I'll need to go into a lot of detail. Which means I messed up. Anytime somebody goes into detail, they messed up. Stories where they make no mistakes are real quick. You've got to keep it quick, to stop before the messed-up part. Any story that lasts more than two pages, you see messed up. My whole story is messed up. So, I will share it in a long series of pieces. I don't know if gambling is Asur, forbidden. I do know that stealing in order to gamble is Asur. Murder in order to gamble is Asur. Stoning people in order to gamble is also forbidden. Before going into this, you should know there are so many good Jews that have been affected by this disease of addiction. You may not see them at shul, because they can't pay dues. They're also broke. Dues and then you get called up to the Torah and you think that's it. You finish with the Torah Brachas and they give you an envelope with the shul address on it. And in the envelope there's no free play. How It Stated I wasn't religious, which meant I had a lot of free time to ruin my life. I was bored. I'm not going to lie. Living in Oshawa, Ontario, boredom is an activity. Which is why many people from Oshawa end up learning Torah. The lack of other stuff to do. Other activities in Oshawa consist of sitting in your house during the winter and trying to keep warm while freezing. Hence, people in Oshawa love casinos and survival shows. I was going through hard times, so I went to the casino. The casino is where you go when times are hard, so you can see other people going through hard times that aren't drunk. At the casino, people share their problems coherently. I just got dumped by the love of my life, Shaindel Chana. The way she made Kugel, with the spinach inside. And then her Tzimis, how is one not to fall in love. I can tell you, dumping me was Asur. I told her that the rabbis would forbid her from dumping me. That was the first religious Jewish decision I ever made on someone else's behalf. I think that helped my future decision to become a rabbi. I found myself at the casino. I was hurt. I needed to escape, and I figured the best way to do that is to lose all my money. When you're in Oshawa and the most exciting thing you can do is bowling with a ball too small to bowl with, escaping the hurt is hard. Bowling with a softball is not optimal for getting out hurt. And I got kicked out for throwing the ball overhand. Thinking it was a softball, I threw it at somebody. That helped ease my hurt a bit. My Problems Were Gone at the Casino I lost all my money. That took around eight minutes. Once I lost all my money, I stopped thinking about my other problems. I was broke. Once you lose five-thousand-dollars that first week, you're not thinking about the love of your life anymore. You're thinking how you will be able to afford a date. All I had to do was lose all of my money, and all issues in my life were gone. I was spending two-hundred dollars on therapy sessions, and I still had hurt and pain. I would come out of therapy thinking how Shaindel Chana broke my heart. If they would've charged two-thousand a session, I would've forgotten about Shaindel Chana, and I wouldn't have money to gamble. Some therapists don't know how to help. It's A Mitzvah I figured, it's a Mitzvah to visit the elderly, so I went to the casino. I thought I was showing respect to my elders by going to the casino. It's a Mitzvah to show respect to your elders. I figured I was running into more seniors at the casino than at the nursing home I was visiting. So, I decided I should spend more time at the casino. And I stopped going to the nursing home. I was losing money, so I kept on playing. And that is how gambling got me. A good young man. A kind young man who cares for his elders. A young man who loves other people. A young man who is now broke. Lessons from the Beginning I will do anything to justify my gambling addiction and why it's a good idea. I even found a way to turn losing all of my savings into something positive. I found a way to stop visiting the nursing home, so that I could do acts of loving kindness for our elders. I found a way to turn turn losing all my money into therapy. And it's all Shaindel Chana's fault. Gambling makes me weak. I don't know if going to the casino is forbidden. I do know that dumping me is. I also know that once I start doing something I will find a way to justify how it helps people. I gave up drinking. But I should note that drinking alcohol helps me be more friendly. I never once drank for myself. I drank to bring joy to others. I'm a giver. Losing money turned into my therapy. And then I had more problems. Hurt and escape is how it starts. Then starts what they call "chasing your losses," or what I call "losing everything you ever had and your family." I have no idea if gambling was fun or something I had to do. It was definitely my obsession. At that time, I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world. Not even Shaindel Chana's Lokshen Spinach Kugel. Wait. I also lost my grandma who was living in our house. A woman I looked up to and was very close with. I forgot about that. That was real pain. She made a better Lokshen Kugel than Shaindel Chana. It was even more painful to see how everybody dealt with her once she got sick. I was bothered by how shallow people could be, especially about money. Once she had dementia and couldn't change her will, family stopped visiting. That definitely had a lot to do with why I was numb to losing all that cash. I stuck around, and was there for grandma. I did whatever I could to get the inheritance. And all of my other issues were gone. I didn't have enough money to worry about anything else. And that helped for a while. Until I realized I had no money. That took a few hours. Now I was thinking, "I need another job." I want everybody to know that no matter how much an addiction takes hold of you, you're worth it. You need to hear this. Your life is worth it. Probably not very much right now. You lost your money. But it’s worth it. Keep strong. You may not get the inheritance. I got nothing. Which has people asking why I spent time with grandma. To quote, "Was it worth the gamble?!" If I went into detail into that story, it would continue, "It's all about money." The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Sermons of Rebuke IV: VaYechi1/12/2025
Announcements
We are going to celebrate Michael’s first birthday. His parents gave us nothing for his Bris, other than bagels and butter. For his first birthday, as it is not a Jewish event and thus a Heimishtein Simcha, they will serve pizza, ice cream, salmon, lox, bagels. A full bar of schnapps will also be had. The fast is over Friday evening with Shabbat. If you made it till Shabbat, you don’t have to worry anymore about not eating. If you are at the Pitzkowitz home for Shabbis dinner, you may still be fasting till Shabbat morning, due to their Kugel recipe. It's disgusting. We want to welcome everybody back from their Chanukah vacation they took this week, as it is not Chanukah. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Ruin a Simcha with No Lox. Celebrating At the Wrong Time and How to Show Up to Everything Late, Like Our President. What a Kugel Should Not Look Like with Mrs. Pitzkowitz. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... Why do people get stuff? Well let me tell you, Bernie. It’s because they work for it. Unlike Sam, who got an Aliyah, who has never worked on a farm before... Our congregants should be farmers before we give them anything. Or at least they should show up to Minyin... (Bereishit 48:19) Upon putting his right hand on Ephraim, Yaakov tells Yosef that Ephraim will be greater. Yosef wanted the right hand on Menashe, the older son. Yaakov tells Yosef, “I know my son. I know.” Kind of like I have to tell the board all the time... Why do we need a Kosher kitchen? Because a Kosher kitchen has to be Kosher. I have to constantly say, “I know. I have Smicha. I have rabbinic ordination. I know.” "I know you think you're important because you're on a board. I know. I know you know nothing. I know you like wasting my time. I know. I know you haven't given me a raise in three years. I know." Yaakov knows Menashe is the firstborn. But he also knows Ephraim is destined for greatness. Haamek Davar explains that this is not because of the blessing. The blessing is there to aide. It’s because Ephraim learned with him. If any of you learned a little Torah every once in a while. If any of you ever got a decent job, maybe... (Rashi 48:1) The reason Yaakov is able to speak to Yosef immediately is because Ephraim was with him learning... When you're in the right place, things move fast. When you're not at Beis Knesses Anshei Emes uSefilah... Unlike with the board, where everything moves so... Well, have you finished the December meeting yet?! It was Ephraim's accomplishments in Torah study that deserved him the blessing and brought about his greatness. The blessing is there to help carry out the mission. It’s the work. That is what brings the Bracha. The effort brings Bracha. It gives it a place to sit, not like in the back left, where everybody is talking during Davening. You can't even hear the Chazin back there. You can't hear any Brachas there... Because Shimon won't stop talking... We all want, but do we do? Do you farm?! (Bereishit 48:22) Yosef gets Shechem. Why does Yaakov give him more? Rashi says because he is working for Yaakov’s burial. So, Yaakov gives him land he will be buried in... Yosef is buried in Shechem. Why don’t you get anything? Because you don’t help. It’s the work. that brings the Bracha. I know this congregation doesn't work. I know. I haven't seen dues paid in twelve months. I know nobody here ever wants to help with the Chevra Kadisha. I know. Nobody here helps. Nobody learns. If you learned, you would understand you waste time... Learning isn't wasting time. Learning reminds you, you waste time... No. Not when you're learning... We would have blessing. Bracha. I know this shul is messed up. I know. You want. But you don't give. You don't work. It is all meaningless. No Brachas. It’s just Jewish events mean nothing to you... You should’ve had the lox at the Bris. Instead, you put down 5k on Michael’s first birthday party... No. He won’t remember it. The congregation will remember that the Bris had butter... We would’ve been blessed with a normal Bris. I know the families in this shul are messed up. I know. Asarah BTevet was a one day fast. Calm down. It's over. You're having flashbacks to a ten hour fast... I understand you ate at the Pitzkowitzs. I know it's hard. But it is over... Her Kugel is very hard. It would've been a blessing to have a normal Kugel that was soft. I know the congregants are crazy. I know. I won’t eat at the Pintzkowitz home. Not with sweet lokshen spinach Kugel. Who makes sweet spinach??? And then the pine nut olive oil and honey chumus??? If Mrs. Pintzkowitz learned to make a normal Kugel, there would be blessing... Again. It's about giving. It's about proper action. You don’t even do Chanukah vacation at the right time... It was the week after Chanukah. It should be January vacation. That’s what the Jewish school should call it. You have a preChanukah party and a postChanukah vacation. That is how you celebrate Chanukah... You do everything at the wrong time. Late. You do vacation late. You can’t even show up to Minyin on time. If you spent your holiday time correctly, we would’ve been blessed with a beautiful Chanukah. The kids would’ve got great Chanukah gifts. Instead, they got December gifts... Chanukah gifts are Chanukah gelt... Yes. Money made out of chocolate. That is how money should be made. Money made out of chocolate is a Bracha. I know everything this congregation does makes no sense. I know. I know this shul is messed up. I know. But if you work on cooking. If you work on practicing the holidays in the right time. If you work on birthdays for people who know it’s their birthday. People other than three-year-olds. If you work at getting rid of the board, we can be great. We can be deserving of a blessing, and extra land for a bigger parking lot... It would be a blessing if you could pay dues with chocolate. I agree. If you work on yourselves, we might be deserving of a blessing, to carry out the mission of practicing MItzvot correctly, and getting rid of Bernie... We should be blessed with the Bracha of getting rid of the board. If you learned Torah, you would deserve Bracha. If you just worked at stuff, you would deserve it. I know this will not happen. I know... We are only accepting farmers as congregants from now on. Rivka's Rundown I can’t tell you what farming has to do with an Aliyah to the Torah. Maybe if the farmer was learning twelve hours of Torah a day, the sermon would have made sense. The rabbi started a dairy farm in the shul's parking lot. I think the rabbi truly always wanted a petting zoo. He accidentally bought cows. He didn't realize they were too big for little kids to pet. The sermon was Paytonic. The rabbi wrote a piyut as he gave his sermon. The theme of "I know this congregation is messed up. I know," was beautiful. The Bracha was Yaakovesque. The rabbi even delivered it in acrostic form, which spelled out, "The congregants are is very annoying. Not a Bracha." The rabbi is right. We have to celebrate our Judaism more. It’s for this reason, I didn’t show up to Michael’s first birthday and I didn’t buy him a gift. I saved four hours and around a hundred eighty dollars. I wrote the rabbi how much I appreciated his sermon. And I paid part of my dues. Nobody worries about the destruction of Jerusalem on these fasts. They think about when they can eat again. And then they worry about when the next fast will be. The destruction of the Temple is truly mourned by our membership. They're all praying for a future redemption where they will be able to eat. The Pintzkowitzs are really into that sweet and sour thing. They have gone too far. They’ve been making spicy cheesecake. It’s disgusting. They put hot peppers in the cheesecake. They say it adds flavor. It adds messed up flavor. And then they serve the cheesecake as a main. They decided that since peppers are in it, it's not dessert. Our community uses the holidays for parties and vacations. They say, "It's a week before the holiday, we should celebrate it now." That’s why so many people don’t like Yom Kippur. There aren’t enough pre-Yom Kippur vacations and parties planned. The board is planning a pre-Yom Kippur Sinoff this year. To quote the president, "The idea is to get people to come to shul. They don't come for Yom Kippur anymore. They will come to shul to sin." It's all messed up. There is no blessing, because nobody works at anything. They said the bird in the shul was a Bracha. It was in the shul because nobody closed the window. Nobody lifted a hand to close the window. It would’ve been a blessing to have a shut window during the winter, with no animals flying around while I’m saying the Amidah. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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The Kibbitzer Photo Album XLI1/11/2025
Let's take a stroll down memory lane to David complaining about AI being anti-Semitic, praying to Gd and thanking Him too much for Chanukah and being alive, and educating us about proper modest gymwear that clashes, with Kibbitzer's pictures of laughter from last month. We want to thank David Kilimnick for expressing how Sufganiot don’t have enough jelly, while he still put on weight and ate them.
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I found the jelly. People thought the Sufganiah was a bulkie. We thought we accidentally bought a roll with sugar powder on it. Nope. It was a Sufganiah. You can see we were almost finished with it, and then jelly. We found it... It was a like a Chanukah miracle. Eight holes and no jelly in any of them.
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The Chanukah Rosh Chodesh Added Tefillah Board. Scariest thing I’ve seen in a while... The next morning nobody showed up for Minyin. The six extra prayers scared away every Jew. I say, leave out six of the panels. Then, once they get there, slide them in one at a time over the course of Davening. You might lose a member with every panel addition. But you have more of a chance of getting a Minyin that way.
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Let us speak of the fast days, also known as the days of projected hunger.
Last time we discussed gorging before and after the fast. There is more to fast day survival than eating as much as you can. Though, that is what the rabbis had in mind when instituting the fast days for the destruction of Jerusalem. It’s amazing how you can still be hungry when you’ve eaten twelve pounds of whitefish. Today, Asarah BTevet, when the siege of Jerusalem by the Babylonians began, it's important we focus on sleeping, just as many of the soldiers were doing at that time. I'm just here to help. Sleep Through The Fast Day Method I don’t know what you are trying to achieve. During the fast, I am hoping to achieve survival. And that means not going hungry. The best way to do that is to sleep. We learn this from bears who make it through the winter, refreshed and unscathed. Hence, use the day to sleep to connect with the Destruction of the Temple. The Sleep Through the Day Method of fasting is known by many as the Reason I Lost My Job Method. Thank Gd, I have a new job. You can still go to shul. You wake up at 7am, go to shul and mourn a little, home by 8:15am, sleep until 4:15pm and then it’s time to eat. Please be aware that the Sleep Through the Day Method of fasting can be very dangerous if applied elsewhere. If you practice this every day, you will definitely lose your job. Based on first hand experience. You will also lose your home. You will lose your family. Issues with the Sleep Through the Day Method are that your spouse may ask you to take out the trash. They may even have the Chutzpah to ask you to help with the kids. Make it clear, you're fasting for holy reasons and you have to sleep to focus on the siege. Focus of The Day On a fast day, you must focus on what's important. And that is to figure out when the fast is over, so you can eat. Nonetheless, as you fast, sleep is paramount. The goal of most fast days is to have you thinking about the community's sins and your own. You’re better off sleeping through that. The community has bothered you enough. You don’t want to be asked to join another committee. If you think the Kiddush committee meets too often, imagine how many meetings you will have to attend for the rebuilding of the Temple. One of the major reasons for the destruction of the Second Temple is baseless hatred, which comes along with speaking bad about others, known as Lashon Hara. If you're sleeping, there is no way you will be speaking any slander. The people who were sleeping while the destruction was happening were not the reason for the siege of Jerusalem. If you talk in your sleep, on the other hand, you may be the reason why we have not witnessed the rebuilding of the Temple. How To Sleep Through The Fast It's not easy to sleep another eight hours. You must be resilient. Not everything in life comes easy. You need drive. Push yourself. Being the Tenth of Tevet is a daytime only fast, I say you stay up all night watching action flicks, such as Bloodsport. Entertaining, yet bloody, to remind you of the fighting the Jews had to do. A holy movie to say the least. Daytime TV is hard to work with for any decent fast day entertainment. If you're having trouble falling asleep daytime TV can help with that. Play some Kelly Ripa and you'll be inspire you to go back to bed. Definitely do not get caught thinking about why the Temples were destroyed. That will keep you up all day. Next thing you know, you will start repenting and you've lost a good day's sleep. Not how you want to spend the fast. Next time we will focus on other methods to make it through the fast, such as the Plan Your Sickness so You Can Eat According to the Rabbis and the IV Method for making it through the days of projected hunger. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Sermons of Rebuke IV: VaYigash1/5/2025
Announcements
Everybody is still talking about the preChanukah party and how fun it is was, because it didn’t happen on Chanukah. We are not planning a Rosh Hashana party in February. We're going to call it the High Holidays at the Wrong Time program. Members are still complaining about the length of Rosh Chodesh Davening on Chanukah. Seeing all the signs on the shul’s board for the extra prayers has left many of them scarred. Many have not been back to shul since, due to what they are calling Post Traumatic Davening Disorder or sleeping in late for the past month. We want to thank Rick for creating the Tallis shirt. A shirt that Tallises don’t fall off. The rabbi is sick of watching people adjust their Tallises constantly during Aliyahs. Shul lockers have been handed to important community members. If you are not important, you have to leave your Tallis in the open for possible burglary. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Daven for Five Minutes Without Your Tallis Coming Off. How to Stay Out of Shape: Choosing to Have Your Locker at Shul and Not at the Gym. How To Chase Everybody Out of Shul By Singing Hallel. How to Adjust a Tallis Every Three Seconds Because You Have No Shoulders Like the Finkelman Family. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... (Bereishit 45:15) “And after this, his brothers spoke with him.” After this whole back and forth and taking Binyamin and sending them back to Yaakov. After the reveal of who he is, they spoke. Yosef and his brothers finally spoke. As we have seen in our congregation, family can go years without speaking. Thus making for what we know as a shul. A very uncomfortable place to pray with people you know, to Gd, in disdain... It was time for the brothers to move ahead. Unlike the Beit Midrash committee who hasn’t purchased a book yet... You speak and do nothing. The brothers spoke and there was Shalom... I understand it’s hard to have peace with Sarah Bayla on a committee. She wants to color coordinate and interior the Sefarim... Sarah Bayla. You can have a brown Shtender with a maroon Siddur. Even if they clash. Yosef accepted that he was sent to Mitzrayim for a reason. It was Gd’s plan. Accepting Gd's plan is the prerequisite for peace. For making up with others. He tells them to hurry and to bring the family and to tell their dad, Yaakov, (Bereishit 45:9) “So says your son, Yosef, ‘Gd placed me the master for all of Egypt. Come down to me. Don’t wait.” After accepting it was Gd's plan, and making peace, it was time to hurry. It was time to see dad. No waiting. You don't wait when there is peace. You wait and you end up with Sarah Bayla on the committee. And nothing gets done... If you can accept it’s Gd’s plan you can have peace. Once you have peace, you can have a conversation. Which is why I can’t listen to Merv. The jokes are too much... I’ve heard them a hundred times. You repeat them to everybody... Your jokes are not part of Gd's plan. Possibly Gd's plan for retribution... Waiting is not part of Gd's plan. Which is why I ask myself every morning why I showed up to Minyin on time... All I do is wait. I can’t see how what this shul does is Gd’s plan. That's why there's no peace. Why Gd sent me here, I can’t figure out. Maybe I sinned. You do everything wrong. This is why we have fights all the time, still. There is no way this is Gd’s plan... I believe that everything is in the hands of H’. But you found a way to mess it up. I have no idea how a board can get in the way of Gd's plan. They got in the way of giving me a raise. And now, with this whole color coordination book scheme, which Eichler's never planned... So. The Chanukah party was more fun because it was done at the wrong time... No. Judaism is not a program. A Chanukah party before Chanukah is not Gd's plan... Why are you calling it a Rosh Hashana party? Why not call it Tu BShvat the Rosh Hashan LElanot party and celebrate it at the right time?... Tu BShvat is in February... It is a Rosh Hashana. Trees sin too. Rosh Hashana for trees in Shvat is Gd's plan. If the shul had it at the right time... Davening is part of Gd's plan. And now we have congregants scared to come to shul, because they are scared to Daven... I understand it's long. It’s got the most signs of the year. Nobody complains about Selichot because there are no signs. Should we take down the signs... Selichot are longer. We just don’t have Dave leading Hallel and singing like a fool for Selichot. They're done before Shacharit. It's too early to sing. It's that post Amidah excitement that ruins people's days... You don‘t sing Hallel during the week. It’s Davening. It’s not a concert. It’s not a program. People have to get out of shul Dave. When you're singing, people have to get out of shul... PTDD is not a disorder. It's an excuse Simmy had to skip shul again. Dave is the reason there is no peace. A really long Davening is not H's plan. Everything looks wrong in this shul, especially Chaim's new haircut... Davening together should make for peace. I can't even look at the congregation. I get annoyed looking at the membership. Your Tallis just fell again... Why are you wearing a silk shirt? Of course, the Tallis will fall. It’s just annoying to have to watch you guys with Tallises falling constantly... Well then get to the gym and get wider shoulders, Finkelman. This congregation has the narrowest shoulders. Which is why you’re not good Jews... Rick. Thank you. But even your Tallis shirt won’t work out. The Velcro is a great idea. But they have no room on their shoulders for Velcro... Shul lockers? Who's giving out shul lockers now? We can't get a Minyin, but they need lockers... This isn’t a gym... I understand most of you sweat sitting. As you are extremely out of shape... Who is stealing Tallises? I don't understand the need for the lockers Maybe we can find Shalom one day in this shul. If we are ever able to figure out how having congregants like this is Gd’s plan. I just hope I retire before that... When you know H's plan you have Shalom... Rashi teaches (45:15) “After this” means that it was after they saw he cried and his heart was content with them. Maybe we need to cry. We need to cry as a congregation. Unify in tears and make it all make sense. Why we have to listen to Merv's jokes. Why we have to listen to Dave's Davening and see Finkelman's Tallis fall. Why Sarah Bayla can't picked florescent pink as the right color for the Siddurs... Until there are tears, the full Teshuva, the extent of ability to move on is not there yet. When you see Gd's plan and realize how much you messed up, you cry. You get it out. And then there can be peace. So let us cry. Just look at Chaim's hair. It got me crying... Maybe H’ needs real emotion from us. A way of admitting we understand our wrong and we want to live right... Let's not wait. All this shul does is wait for a Chazin and Dave to finish Davening... Rivka's Rundown Everybody in the shul started crying. The sermon was so long. How families and siblings don't talk to each other, but pray right next to each other. It's a Jewish trait and one we are proud of. Most peoples of the world can't live with such discomfort. Our congregation thrives on it. The rabbi ended the sermon with Queen's “We are the Champions.” Not a dry eye. Everybody was hugging. Some congregants apologized for being congregants. They all walked up to the Bima to hug the rabbi. It was so emotional, the board decided that next year they’ll celebrate Chanukah on Chanukah. They even conceded to Gd's plan to have Rosh Hashana on Rosh Hashana. Truth is the committees move nowhere because Sarah Bayla has to interior design everything. Siddurs don’t need to be color coordinated with the Shtenders. Nor do women's hats need to match the section they're sitting in. We had to wait for the rabbi to kick off his sermon a couple of weeks ago, as Sarah Bayla did not appreciate the burgundy hat in the purple hat section. She made Mrs. Shafron, a ninety-two-year-old woman get up and move to the other side, so the rabbi could start his Drasha. She then said, "Now the section doesn't clash." They do do everything wrong. Like the rabbi said, even the raise they gave him was wrong. All they love about the preChanukah party was that it has nothing to do with Chanukah. Rosh Hashana LElianot is something we should celebrate more. I don't know if trees sin. They do get old though. Maybe the trees remind the rabbi of Bernie. Trees do deserve a New Year party. My friend celebrated her daughter's first birthday. The tree has more of a chance of remembering the celebration. What kind of idiot sings Hallel during the week??? It's scary seeing all those signs on the plaque. You come to shul one day and it's all up there. Al Hanisim, Hallel, vTen Tal uMatar, Mashiv HaRuach, YaEleh vYavo. Maybe take that one down. YaAleh vAYavo. You have the guy whacking the table. That’s scary enough. You don’t need to scare people with the signs too. And then to scare them with singing. You can't have peace when you're that scared. All of Davening, all they do is adjust their Tallises. I have never seen a shirt that holds a Tallis without it falling. Rick’s shirt is cute. But it looks weird with Velcro on the shoulders. You get the feeling like these guys are soldiers with Tallises. They have that Velcro line on their shoulders, showing they served their country by staying out of the army. The community spent much time after this trying to come up with a shirt that you can wear without the Tallis slipping. They started making shirts out of corduroy. The slats in the corduroy keeps the Tallis in a spot. The problem is the spot isn’t always comfortable. They tried selling it to Shark Tank. None of the sharks wanted in. They said that the "Jews at your shul don’t even pay dues. How are you going to get them to buy this?!" There was no answer. Mr. Wonderful did say he would be a customer, as he likes the idea of joining a congregation where other people complain too. Shul lockers has caused a whole ruckus. Now everybody wants a locker for Sheytels, hats, shoes, keys. Not one person wants the locker for gym shorts. You would think one congregant would want to stay in shape. Maurice has now joined the walking group in the back of the shul. He calls it pacing. I figure, he would sweat less if he had on shorts. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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I've got to tell you about this. I never knew the power of my Yarmulke till this open mic. I thought my Yarmulke was supposed to remind me about Gd. I didn't know it was supposed to get other people mad.
The Story I sat down at the bar and ordered a Diet Coke on the rocks. I'm not a loser. This young girl was performing her piece at the open mic in Buffalo. She was old enough to know that Jews should be killed. She had been to college. She had Jewish professors. And she had traveled to France, so she knew about Israel. As part of her piece she was going off on the "genocide of the Palestinian people." I sat there shocked. Who are these Palestinian people she speaks of? Who was doing this to these Palestinian people? I must stop them. Now. I had just shared laughs with some Arabs in Israel. I am assuming some of them identify as Palestinians. I would hope nobody is doing anything to them. But she was adamant that there was a genocide going on somewhere. I didn't know if that was part of the song or not. There was no music accompaniment. Maybe it was one of those music storyteller shows where they leave out the music. They get so excited about the story and they forget it's a concert. And she was really getting into this story. She started talking about Israelis being the devil. She was very passionate about that. I was trying to figure out what she was talking about. And I couldn't figure out how to respond. Everybody loves a good story. What am I going to do? Start yelling at her for her creativity? Shake her up and mess up the story? Maybe she was speaking about the genocide of the Palestinians that lived 4,000 years ago; the start of the Palestinian people and their documented history as a state. She started speaking of this utopian society where women could frolic and get raped. And finally, rape would be supported. There would be no more judgment of the beheading of little children. A paradise where genocide would finally be defined as defending one's people against enemies who are trying to murder everyone in their nation. She was speaking of a Messianic Palestinian time of redemption. It was a beautiful story, delivered with emotion and tears, setting up the song "Zombie," written in support of the Palestinian people who had to deal with the ruthless British in Ireland. Everybody clapped. The story was amazing. How she intertwined the need to kill all Jews in the utopia which was Palestinian Ireland. It was brilliant. To be honest, I think I even clapped. It was the most creative story. Innovative, ingenious, original. At least now I knew where the Palestinian genocide was happening. In Ireland. The story was brilliant, but I felt for those who identify as Palestinian. Did they really feel rape was fine? And she continued with "the day of joy when Jews were dragged through the streets and finally burned. A day in which cheers were had by all." She left some of that part out. Her friends were disappointed. They were hoping for more of the story of Satan the Jew. They wanted to hear more of this utopian ridding of the Jews, as the crowd were pacifists and believed in love of all. So, she cried for the twelve million reported Gazan deaths and went into the song. How Do I Respond My Jewish side and love of my nation and people kicked in. I thought this was wrong, even if it was a story. If you're going to tell a story, tell it correctly. I was bothered she didn't throw the Black Plague into this. If she was going to tell this story with any facts, she would've mentioned how Jews make it a point of drinking blood. Which is Kosher if it's from nonJewish children and Shechted just right. I didn't know if I could argue against stuff that doesn't exist. I simply sat there, took off my winter hat, and there was my Kippah. She finished her song on behalf of the Cranberries who wrote it for the Palestinian people of Ireland and everybody clapped. Cheers were heard throughout the streets of Buffalo. "What a piece. The Palestinians of Gaza should be allowed their Gd given right to behead toddlers and burn them with pride. It's their tradition and the Jewish people of Israel have the Chutzpah to try to stop it. Genocide!!! They're committing genocide. Why do the Israelis have an issue with Hamas using their own children in a war? They're their children. Should not all soldiers be protected by their children???" And the story somehow turned real. That last line was good. You felt that. They Were Offended Taking to the cheers and claps she looked to the side and saw me sitting there, with my Kippah. My presence offended all. I killed the brilliant rendition of the Cranberries. No. It was my Kippah. My Kippah was screaming at them and they were offended. The Kippah. That Chutzpan. Open mic girl's hatred for me was felt. I went to the bathroom and as I came back, with my Kippah still on my head, her friends went to check on her. They saw my Kippah and they were bothered that nobody knocked it off. Her and all of her friends were having talks about me. "Did he approach you?" They wanted to know if I hit on her. Another act of genocide. She responded, "No. But his Yarmulke did. And his Yarmilke had a whole lot to say. Perched there, arguing with me. The audacity of the Yarmulke. It even said that his people only want peace and to protect the innocent lives. His Yarmulke told me the Israeli army even knocks on doors and tries to protect the non-terrorist Palestinians who want to kill his people, by letting them know they have to attack the area. Chutzpah. Knocking on doors." Before I got up for my piece she asked the MC, "Is he going up." And then she ran out with her friends. Crying. "How can they let a Jew sing?! This is America. I thought this was the land of freedom and acceptance. I hate this country." She was offended by my Kippah. She saw my Kippah and she couldn't argue against it. My Kippah made the bar a not safe space. The presence of the Yarmulke made the bar non-inclusive. I was thus quarantined to sit at the bar alone. They almost kicked me out, as my Kippah was arguing too much, and very loudly. Quite disruptive. Thank Gd, they didn't kick me out. They were going to kick out my Kippah, but my Kippah didn't break any rules. It just said that Jews are a good, kind and caring people, that hate having to go to war and defend against terror. Kippahs can be very loud. Especially, the Bucharian ones. My Performance When they all left, I asked her friend with the Kafeya, "Is it because I'm Jewish?... You don't have to leave because I'm Jewish. I know we can't dance." He smiled. I didn't know where he stood, as he was wearing his Kafeya on his shoulders. I didn't know if that was an American tradition or or an Arab tradition. It seems like most American college students wear Kafeyas on their shoulders. A style thing. I know it's not an Arab tradition to wear the Kafeya on the head. Maybe it's a Middle Eastern tradition to wear the Kafeya as a shawl when the weather gets really cold in Ireland. That's probably where it started. I was amazed at the protest against me and my people in a small bar in Buffalo, New York. But I wore that Kippah with pride and sung some songs about people getting along. "Sing along, even if you're Christian. Be happy that you come from a Jew. Because Gd might love you too. Because you come from a Jew. Sing along, even if you're Muslim. Be happy that you believe in one Gd too. Because Gd might love you too. If you know a Jew..." Peace was the message, and the few sitting there turned into lovers of all. Not lovers of terrorists. Lovers of people. Gd might love them too now. And they all sung and clapped for me. Everybody except for the Zombie and her friends. They were outside crying that Jews are allowed to sing. In solidarity of all humans, they wanted the Jew out. She wanted to get rid of the Israeli. In her defense, I was occupying a seat at the bar. Notes When I got back from the bathroom, I didn't drink my Diet Coke. I am aware of what story time can do to your drink when you're wearing a Kippah. I did introduce my songs of peace with, "I will not create any new definitions of genocide. Nor will I talk about genocide. Such as the Armenian genocide, perpetrated by the Young Turks." I am guessing she got her story from story time with Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks. I had one of those moments of political brilliance and little knowledge. You can share that with your friends. Postscript About the Kippah The Kippah is a real buzz killer. There was somebody sitting there with a Yarmulke, killing the performance. It bothered them so much that, because of Israel, they couldn't defile him and burn him at a bar in Buffalo. If the bouncer was doing his job, he would've kicked out the Kippah. Yarmulkes are loud. They yell, “I am still here.” And that is offensive to anti-Semites. Now I know why I wear a Kippah. And that is to piss people off. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Rambam: Yesodei HaTorah 2:9-101/2/2025
Laws 9-10: H’ knows. Because He is Truth. No. You can't handle the Truth.
Law 9: Since Gd knows Himself, His greatness and His beauty. He knows all creation. He even knows what you're thinking. Which is, "I don't want to go to work tomorrow." Nothing is hidden from Gd, which is why it's easy to blame Him. H' knows from the first formed stuff to the mosquito. And yet He still lets them bite you. Law 10: H’ knows this truth as Himself. As such, He knows all creation as Himself. He doesn’t view anything as outside of Him. H' sees it all through Oneness. Within. And you have the Chutzpah to have an ego. Everything revolves around you and you being the one that gets all the good meat out the Choolante pot. That's how I define a selfish egotistical person. Anybody who's scooping out all the good meat and Kishka from the Choolante. I couldn't come up with a better definition than that. I figured selfish Choolante scoopers would talk to everybody. We see everything outside ourselves. I barely know myself. I'm still trying to figure out the placement of the different hairs on my arm and why they're there. The stuff coming out of the nose is not pleasant and I'm trying to distance myself from it. It's good to know it's outside of myself. I don't want to associate myself with this bald guy with nose hair. If anything was outside of H', that would mean there's other gods. And that would make Davening a lot longer. The lives are people are two. Confusing. Yes. It's confusing. By man it says Chayei, "By the life of your soul." By H' it says Chai, "H’ lives" (Shmuel I 25:26). H' just is. One. It's not plural by H'. By us, it's two. It could be translated "lives of your soul." That's at least how I translate it. You have no right to get all high on yourself, scooping out the Choolante, when there are others outside of you too. H' just is. It's not being high on Himself. If I could explain it, I would be arguing with the Rambam's point that we can't explain it. Which is why the Rambam spends all of this time explaining it. He is knowledge. And we still spend all that money on college. That's the crazy thing here. Since there is nothing outside of Gd, He knows everything because He knows Himself. And everything else is dependent on Him. We're not talking about you father-in-law paying for everything. We're not talking about you not getting a job, telling your father-in-law that Gd will provide. We're not talking about your father-in-law now thinking he's Gd. You like how I worked that?! He is the Foundation. The First. Ever sing "Chad Gadya"? I love that song. Just wanted you to know. Great song. Great way to end a Seder. Lesson: Mosquito bites are for oneness with H'. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Announcements
We want to thank the Simkin Mishpuchi for sponsoring Sufganiot by following the Jewish tradition and going to Dunkin Donuts. We will not be hosting a shul Chanukah party due to not wanting to ruin people’s holidays by having to see members of our shul. The community candle lighting was a huge success. We want to express the community sentiment that we’re happy the Chabad rabbi is now safe. Being held up by a harness fifty feet in the air, we’re happy he made it down safely. We’ll be hosting a fundraiser to higher a construction crew to light the Chanukiah next year. Davening will be at 8:30am in the morning for the holidays. The rabbi asks that people show up for Minyin and remain Jewish, even though they have off of work. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Ruin Chanukah with the Wrong Sufganiot: Picking Out Sufganiot Like Morah Betsy with No Jelly. How to Ruin Chanukah by Seeing Congregants. Saving Lives and The Height That Makes a Chanukiah Asur. How to Sleep in and Not Show up for Minyin, Like Our Congregation. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... It’s about blessing. And that comes from connecting to Gd and not seeing congregants. And with that, you don’t suffer. Hence, Yosef called his kids Menashe and Efraim... He wasn't making fun of them. Those were their names. Their excellent names. I call you stupid face, because you're annoying. (Bereishit 41:51-52). “Menashe for H’ has made me forget all of my suffering.” And Efraim because “Gd has made fruitful in the land of my suffering”... It’s "Amali" and "Aniyi." Different words, but the same meaning according to Artscroll. Suffering... Names have meaning. Here, at Beis Knesses Anshei Emes uSefilah, I called one of my kids Dror, because the shul wouldn’t get me an extra cupboard in my office... I could’ve used another few drawers. My second kid, I called Max. Because the congregation is the bane of my life. Two different types of blessings. They're both strength Gd gives us to deal with issues. Congregants. I have not found a way to deal with congregants. There are two ways to approach issues. One is to forget and one is to tackle them head on. Our board chooses to forget. Which is why we end up with messed up Sufganiot and a leak. This is what makes Efraim greater... I don’t know how. It’s the tackling. He doesn't avoid the issues. No matter how many congregants he has to deal with, he concurs the pain and makes it a success. I will be hosting classes in my home, to make everything a success. Approaching hardship head on allows for the opportunity to change good to bad. Kind of like how I took Chanukah in this community made it a point to not see Bernie and made it beautiful. Fruitful in a way... Artscroll teaches Yosef did not run away from his father. He wanted to do Kibud Av vEim. His brothers barred him from that. Kind of like the shul that bars me from doing Mitzvot. Menashe represents Gd’s help with Yosef dealing with the pain by having something else to thing about... Congregants just add to the pain. That pain of being estranged was something he had not control over. That kind of pain, you can't make it fruitful. You can push aside and move on that way... What did I do with the Morah Betsy Sufganiot. It was just pain. Very painful... No. Artscroll is not Rashi. Bernie. How do we deal with our suffering here? How do we find the blessing? Do we mask it and let people die alone or do we face it straight on and turn it into something beautiful?! I know our congregants don't visit the sick. You haven’t visited Amelia in the Home yet. She’s alone. You should visit and make her cancer beautiful for a day... I am not suggesting Bernie visit. That would just be adding to the suffering. The shul Chanukah parties are something to forget. Gd granted me that strength so that I can enjoy the holiday and serve this congregation. I do that by forgetting this congregation... No. We are not having a Chanukah party this year. We don't want anybody to suffer on Chanukah... We had it before Chanukah. I will explain Fran... Well the other shul that is celebrating Chanukah on Chanukah is not Frum. They're not religioios. It's called Zrizim Makdimim LMitzvot. You want to be quick to hurry to do Mitzvot. So, our board thought to celebrate the holiday quickly, before the holiday. To do it at the wrong time... If you would've got Boston cream Sufganiot, like Israelis, I would've enjoyed the holiday. I am asking for better donuts. Why was there Danish at the Chanukah party last year?... Donuts are not Sufganiot. They’re donuts. There’s a reason they’re called Sufganiot. Because it’s Jewish. Dunkin Donuts makes Sufganiot... Tradition is Boston cream Sufganiot. That is what they ate in the Temple. The second Beit HaMikdash... They didn't eat Sufganiot in the first Beit HaMikdash. In the first Beit HaMikdash they had Danish... It's a matter of where we see the blessing. We can concur every dealing with the congregation with both modes of overcoming issues. Sometimes the blessing is in lighting at home... Seeing you on Chanukah ruins my Chanukah... The community lighting ceremony was off. There is nothing about Chanukah that says a rabbi has to risk his life to light a Menroah... This is why I'm not a Chabad rabbi. I’m too scared of heights... Yes, Fayge. This is why it's called Crown Heights. Very good... We just hope the Chabad rabbi stays safe being held up by a crane... I don't believe it's a Mitzvah to risk your life to light a Chanukiah. They didn't have Menorah crane lighting in the Beit Hamikdash. Just stairs... The rabbi had to rappel down. Both ways of dealing are gifts from Gd. When you have the power and strength to deal, you do. When you have support, you can deal. When there is no support, H' sometimes grants you that strength to forget. Which is what I do when I get home every Shabbis. I forget shul. The same way Yosef had to put aside in his head that he is estranged... Being in this shul, I feel I am estranged from my people... The Minyin has no support. That means you don't show up... No. We're not doing the late Minyin anymore... Because you guys sleep through that too. And we can't do a late Mincha. That's too late to Daven already... Before you have an opinion or an issue with it, first show up for Minyin. You took off all week for Xmas and you took off from shul. Yosef would've shown for Minyin... I don't want to deal. I want to forget. There is no way of making having to see Bernie and Merv at Minyin every day beautiful... If we had anybody in this shul that was smart enough, I would make him second to me. I would give him the power, like Paroh gave Yosef. The Gabai is wise. He shall be second to me. Not the Chazin. The president shall be of no importance. The president only causes suffering. Paroh tells Yosef, (Bereishit 41:44) “And without you, no man shall lift his hand or his foot in all of Egypt.” Paroh had Yosef deal with everything. The same I shall do with the Gabai. People must have permission from my second in command... Our Gabai has dealt with enough. It's time we listen to his wisdom and allow for us to find that Bracha of salvation. No more giving yourself an Aliyah. You will have to wait for the Gabai to be called to the Torah. You will only be able to open the ark with the Gabai’s approval. You can only get a shul locker if the Gabai says you're showing up for preMinyin aerobics. This is how we shall deal with famine in our shul... That calling yourself for your own Aliyah you all were doing was crazy. We had eighteen people go up for Cohen. All called themselves... There are only two Cohens in the shul, Bernie... Shmuel. You are an amazing Gabai. No arguing. The great must bear the burden... With this we can name our kids normal names, like Brian. But only with the Gabais OK... Next year, we will have a Chanukah party, and I will choose a wise person to run it and get Boston Cream Sufganiot... No purchasing of Sufganiot with Shmuel. My second in command. Traditional apple fritters are up to him. Sometimes, it's just too painful. And we have to forget. When I get home at night, I forget the congregants... From now on, any issues go to the Gabai. My second in command. He will make it all good... Rivka's Rundown I do not believe that people getting up for their own Aliyah without being called constitutes famine. The rabbi threw all the shul's issues onto the Gabai. That was his way of dealing with the suffering of the congregants. That is what I call throwing under the bus. I think the rabbi is trying to work less. The rabbi threw himself into Yosef’s issue, blaming us for his suffering. I guess that’s the point of Bereishit. To personalize how annoying your community is. Congregants are issues. When the Torah speaks of hardship and suffering, H' is speaking of our congregants. How Max means “bane of life” I don’t know. The rabbi stopped hosting classes in his house, and started having them back at shul, when the board said they were going to cut his salary. We all suffer at a price. Sufganiot are donuts. Both are deep fried. Both have jelly. However, Dunkin Donuts does not claim to be Sufganiot. The way most of the people in our community make Sufganiot, Dunkin Donuts doesn’t want to ruin their reputation. Dunkin Donuts is fine being mistaken for Krispy Kreme though. The board took the Zrizim Makdimim LMitzvot, hurrying to do Mitzvot, comment by the rabbi to be a compliment. They started doing everything early. The secretary suggested they start doing Shabbat on Thursday. To quote: "It wouldn't be a problem. It would still be Jewish. No other religion celebrates the Sabbath on Thursdays." To which the treasurer said, "We don't know. We were surprised when summertime Ramadan turned was celebrated in the winter." I think we have to work on our community. When a community doesn’t want to see each other, there’s an issue. When you pay dues and don't want to see those people at a ceremony or celebration, you start to think if this is the right religion. I believe the rabbi said, "Anything with the words 'community' and 'ceremony' is going to be painful. No joy." It was scary to see the Chabad rabbi up so high. One light went out. The whole community insisted the rabbi not go back up to light it. They called in a construction crew to relight it. These Chabad rabbis risk their lives to publicize the miracle. They didn’t have construction crews lighting the Menorah, or harness belts, in the Beit Hamikdash. There’s a point where it’s too much. Maybe have a community slab of wood nuts made by the nursery school Chanukah Menorah. I think the rabbi was competing with the Topeka Xmas tree. He saw the Christians get eight stories, a scaffolding and clean windows. Jews should too. People take off of work and they take off Judaism. Vacation is vacation. The congregants were not happy about the late Shacharit Minyin for the week of Xmas break. To quote Baruch: "Shoot. Now we have to go." I don't think Jewish day schools should have Xmas break. They tried having Chanukah at a different time of year, but it falls out around Xmas. I asked the Gabai and said we can't change Chanukah. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Speaking Lashon Hara is like ripping a pillow open and letting feathers fly all over. You don’t know where they all go. You can't collect them... Teaching that you can't repent for Lashon Hara by littering. Ripping up pillows and throwing trash on the street does not stop Lashon Hara from spreading.
(Devarim 24:5) First year of marriage man must be there for his wife to delight her. Then reality sets in. She’s happy when he’s gone. “When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out in the army.” After the first year, he goes out to battle. It’s better than fighting in the home. Which happens after the first year. (Shabbat 21a) Lighting Chanukah candles is until people finish walking home from the Shuk. Which nowadays is 3am Thursday night... That’s when the parties finish in the Shuk on Thursday nights- you get it. People wanted to know when Chanukah candles are lit. You light them on Chanukah. The fact we have to explain this. You don't light them on Sukkot. I can keep going with this joke... You should light them from nightfall. If it's Shabbat, you light the Chanukah candles before the Shabbat candles. The Chanukah miracle is not greater than the miracle of Salatim on Challah. Olive oil poured on Chumus Yerushalmi is more miraculous. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Make your Chanukah more meaningful with song. Inherently educational, here are some of the newer Chanukah songs for you, and some explanation to bring that extra meaning and joy to your holiday, when the gifts don't pan out and you end up getting knitted socks.
We will stay away from the Hallel and Al HaNisim, as those are the songs we were initially expected to sing when the rabbis implemented the holiday. Which means most Jews don't know them anyways. Chanukah Oh Chanukah "Chanukah Oh Chanuka come Light the Menorah." Love the song, because it tells you what to do. Some Jews forget to light the Chanukiah (Chanukah Menorah). They start singing the song, and they're thinking, "I have to light the Menorah. We should play Dreidel and eat Latkes." And then they start dancing the Horah around the table. It might be awkward to dance around the table, but if you're going to dance around the table as a Jew, it should be the Horah. It's more meaningful than doing the Bachata around Sufganiot. Bachating doesn't bring the Jewish meaning to the holiday. Educational Songs "I Had a Little Dreidel I Made it Out of Clay." Amazing and educational. Before this song people were making Dreidels out of hay. Hay doesn't spin. Many have asked why they weren't making the Dreidels out of cloth. That's because cloth doesn't rhyme with play. "Svivon" is a great song. Svivon is a Dreidel in Hebrew. It goes around, so you turn around. The dance mimicking the Dreidel movement to exemplify the song, Amazing. If you see children spinning around on Chanukah, it's only because they're connecting with the Chag. "Chanukah Chag Yafe Kol Kach." Chanukah is a beautiful holiday. Sometimes I forget Chanukah is a beautiful holiday. I take the snow for granted and call it joyous. I'm a big fan of the Hebrew songs. I feel more connected to the Maccabees when I sing in Hebrew. I know they weren't singing "I Had a Little Dreidel" in 163BCE. They were definitely singing "Svivon Sov Sov Sov. Chanukah Hoo Chag Tov." The Dreidel goes around. It's a great holiday. Just a factual song. No need for explanation. If Hebrew is hard, I suggest you NayNay these Hebrew songs and call it a day. There's no reason to learn a whole language for a couple of songs. Chassidim for centuries have refused to learn Hebrew, opting for the lyrics of NayNayNay. Xmas Songs If it wasn't for Christmas, how would Jews enjoy Chanukah. There is always the Xmas songs. The radio plays them for Chanukah. Written by Jews, the Xmas truly bring out the holiday feeling, capturing the feeling of snow. Not something they captured when writing the "Hallel" and "Svivon Sov Sov.” Don't Learn Laws From Songs Be wary when singing songs. If you want to truly practice Chanukah correctly, you should learn the Code of Jewish Law, and read a cookbook. If you want to bake a Dreidel correctly, I don't know if "I Had a Little Dreidel I Made it Out of Clay" is enough direction. I'm a big fan of the English songs, as I also went to Jewish Day School. However, songs like "Chanukah Oh Chanuka come Light the Menorah" can be misleading. Great song, but the end of it isn't good education. Poor Chinuch. The line, "We light one for each night," is very misleading. You light six on the sixth night. Seven, including the Shamis (the middle light, there for use- we can discuss this next time, my pupil). We have many generations of illiterate Jews due to songs like this. You light one for each night if it is a Yahrzheit (the commemoration of somebody's death), and Yahrzheits candles should only be used as shot glasses, according to tradition. You light the amount for each night plus the Shamis. The song should go, "We light one on the first night, with the Shamis we lit… 4 on the fourth night, plus the Shamis we lit… 8 on the eighth night… And that is because we light like Jews. Oh Chanukah… Come light the proper way like Jews should, the menorah. We will dance other dances that or more Jewish than the Horah..." And then the song should end "Yiddel Dydel Dumb" because that makes it a Jewish song. Maybe add in some Oy Oys and NayNays. Jews don't add Ho Hos. And neither do Christmas songs that are written by Jews. There are many more classic Chanukah songs that weren’t written by Adam Sandler. Nonetheless, they are also meaningful. The only issue is they're not on the radio. For true Chanukah meaning, check out songs in other languages as well. There are always beautiful Yiddish songs about lighting candles and pogroms. Next year, we’ll focus on more Chanukah songs of the religious nature, like “Haneirot Hallalu,” “Maoz Tzur” and “I’m A Latke and I’m Waiting for Chanukah to Come.” Which truly captures the holiday spirit. We are all Latkes. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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Announcements
The preChanukah Party will happen this Monday. We will celebrate preChanukah with Latkes and Dreidel playing. Due to the popular request of Katie, we will celebrate Chanukah before Chanukah. The shul is going to be selling Chanukah candles that work. They will not break on you. We ask everybody pay their dues before Chanukah so we can turn the water back on and celebrate Chanukah before Chanukah. The shul Chanukah vacation this year will be the week after Chanukah. This year the vacation will be in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Boca area. Contemporary Halacha Classes: How to Turn Every Jewish Ritual into a Program By Not Doing it At it Right. How to make Not Oily Latkes Nobody Likes, Because There Was No Miracle of Oil Before Chanukah. Where to Vacation: A Session on Places to Go in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Boca. Rabbi Mendelchem's Drasha Excerpts Shabbat Shalom My Pupils... They hate Yosef. When they hate you. they hold that... They hate him because they’re not happy with themselves. Kind of like the board who hates any good idea you share with them. Like doing a Chanukah party on Chanukah... Kind of like most of our congregants who can't stand Simcha, who likes to share his dreams all the time. It can be annoying, Simcha. It's annoying hearing every detail, and then hearing, "And then I woke up." We know you woke up... (Bereishit 37:24) The brothers take Yosef and they throw him in a pit, “and the pit is empty, there is no water.” Kind of like the Bergstein Bar Mitzvah where there was no schnapps. You asked for it, you flipped the bottle over. Tapped it. Nothing in there. And they still expected you to give the kid a gift... This is why people hate the Bergsteins... I'm not suggesting to throw Simcha in a pit. Rashi, answering the question “why does it need to say no water when it is already empty,” tells us that there were snakes and scorpions. There was no water. No life. When you lose the love of family, there is no life. Then there is no connection and hate, there is no life. Just snakes and scorpions, like the board... What’s saves Yosef’s life? Connection. Their hate would’ve killed him. But they realized he has the same blood. I believe O+. (Bereishit 37:27) Yehudah says “let us sell him to the Yishmaelim, and let not our hand be on him, for he is our brother, our flesh...” You don’t kill your own flesh. You sell them as slaves... This is why the mothers at this shul slave in the kitchen. And the fathers talk in shul... There’s a lot of hate here... Bernie deserves it. And now the shul is left with messed up emptiness. Emptiness and some people trying to make it bad for everybody. Snakes. Stealing the meaning from everything we do. Ruining the joy and love of Yiddishkeit... The preChanukah party sounds like a Chanukah party. But it's not a Chanukah party... Because it's not on Chanukah. If it was on Chanukah, you would call it a Chanukah party... I understand you want to prepare for the holiday. You do that by buying the stuff you need for Latkes, and a Dreidel... No. You’re celebrating it the day before Chanukah... What makes it more exciting?... Thank you. So. Before Chanukah, it’s a program. People don’t like tradition anymore. They don’t like Mitzvot. They like programs... People rightfully hate the Chanukah candles... They’re not Chanukah candles if they don’t break. Those are Shabbis candles. You're using Shabbis candles on Chanukah. The shul fundraiser is to sell Shabbat candles for Chanukah... It's like your programs. Done at the wrong time. Might as well do Sukkot Matzah. People love the Sukkot Matzah that tastes just like bread. Thursday night choolante night... I don't care if they do it in Monsey. This is Topeka. People don't even know what choolante is here. More people would come to the program if it was Thursday night overcooked stew night... Everything you do shows no love for our tradition. A hatred for our people. The shul water is off because of hatred. People hate paying dues. And this is why the sink has no water. It's empty... You can’t even do a Chanukah vacation right... After Chanukah is not a Chanukah vacation. Its winter vacation... You like it more because a Chanukah vacation on Chanukah is tradition. After Chanukah it’s more of a program. More fun... Isn't the vacation always to South Florida?... Just making sure. Then I am going to Orlando this year... Our activities committee is calling it a program. It's not a program. People are going on vacation. If it's not organized by the shul and it's not a tradition, it's not a program... We should all find the love back in our lives, so we can end the hate and get the water turned back on in the shul. So that we can vacation without having to see each other... I hate your preChanukah Chanukah... It's not Chanukah. If you put a "pre" before something, it's not that. "Pre" means not the right time. No. PreChanukah is not Chanukah. You can’t light for Chanukah preChanukah. I know many have started eating choolante on Thursday night. It’s still not Shabbat... I hate doing Jewish tradition done as a program. I will hold that hate. I love this shul. So I will not destroy it. But I will do whatever I can to get rid of the programs. I will bring snakes and scorpions if I must... Serpents sounds better. Serpents are scarier. Serpents and scorpions. Even worse. I will add more people to the board... We pray that the kids learn to like the Bergstein boy, and not blame him for his parents not having schnapps... Maybe come to shul, not like your dad, and people will like you. They'll see you as Jewish flesh. Connected... Rivka's Rundown The rabbi truly connected with the Bergstein boy. He spat on his parents and sat in a different section of shul. I think the rabbi just said people who don't come to shul are not Jewish flesh. And I think the Bergstein boy does not like his family. We can all agree that going to a Bar Mitzvah and getting nothing to drink, then having to give a gift, causes hatred. Beautiful teachings. The board is full of snakes. Poetic. The rabbi was making a strong point saying that you sell your brothers as slaves. The board decided to have the CHanukah Party not on Chanukah, because of Katie. Whatever Katie wants, Gd apparently does. Katie wants Purim in the fall, the shul decided to host a drinking party in October. Our shul has decided to now only run programs. People show up for programs. On Sukkot people didn’t show for Musaf. They came for Hookah in The Sukkah. They then ran a Musaf program, where a Chazin leads in the Musaf prayer. Finally, people came for Musaf. That was a fundraiser. To sell Shabbis candles for a lot more than they’re worth. It went great with the preChanukah program. People spend more when they get stuff they're using for the wrong reasons. The rabbi insisted it would've been a Chanukah miracle if they were Chanukah candles that didn't break. The shul got the water turned off. We need money. I think that is the true lesson of the Parsha. Money saves lives. It saved Yosef's life when the Yishmaelim bought him, and it allows for us to have Kiddish. Many people were mad with the rabbi for suggestion that going to South Florida in the winter is a not a Jewish tradition. The vacation to Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Boca was to Fort Lauderdale and Miami, and Boca last year too. It seems to be the same vacation every year. It's where the Jews go to get away from Jews. They love programs. Even their vacations are now programs. It just happens to be when everybody goes to Florida. And they all go. So the shul is taking credit for the program. The rabbi found a way to take advantage of this new program thing the board is pushing. The rabbi heads down to South Florida for a day, takes a picture with a couple members, says it a shul program, and he calls it work. No vacation days used on his vacation. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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What do you call a Mashgiach who's traveling to Israel? An Overseaer. (Mordechai)
You get it? Mashgiachs oversee. Kosher supervision. Now he's traveling overseas as the overseer. Hence, Overseaer. He spend the whole time on the plane checking the food. Maybe he's not checking the food. I'm not sure. The spelling on that pun was hard. That can happen with the art of pun writing. But you push through for the people who need to hear it. What did the people of Sedom learn? Gomorrah. (Rabbi Mendel) You get it? Sedom and Gomorrah. Gemara is what we learn. Gomorrah was wicked, along with Sedom. They wouldn’t have been wicked if they learned Gemara. This pun doesn’t work in Hebrew, as it’s Amorah. Amorahs are rabbis who wrote the Gemara. A very confusing pun. Sometimes, you have to leave the people not understanding what the point of the pun is. If Gomorrah was learning Gemara with Amorahs, they would've been on the right track. Avraham’s nephew got his name because he wanted a Lot of land. (Rabbi Mendel) You get it? Lot. A lot. Lot’s herdsmen fought with Avraham’s over land. Next time maybe we'll talk about Lot's lot. You get it. 'His lot.' That's two puns right there. Again, educating with words used in a way they were not meant. Went to a matchmaker. They set me up with great stuff to light my Havdalah candle. (Rabbi Mendel) You get it? Matchmakers set people up. This one makes matches. Matches to light things on fire. Not people. Sure, this has been used before. But this pun hasn’t been used enough. There is so much more it can give. “Set me up with a box.” A matchbox. Just throwing that out there. So much more. I handed in a paper about the importance of putting up a Mezuzah. It was an Assay. (Mordechai) You get it? A paper. An essay. Mitzvat Assay or Asei. A positive commandment. You hand in an Essay. Not an Assay. Though it’s important to tell kids that it’s a Mitzvat Asei to hand in an essay, so they do their schoolwork. Mezuzah is a Mitzvat Asei. You need to learn Torah to understand this pun. I hope that inspires you. Next time you get an assignment, make it a Mitzvah and hand in an Assay. Esav was mad his Birthright didn’t allow him a free trip to Israel… He was already there. (Rabbi Mendel) You get it? Esav sold his birthright to Yaakov. Birthright gives free trips to Israel. Esav didn’t get that. That’s probably the reason he was mad at Yaakov. If he wasn’t living in Israel, he still wouldn’t have got it. They didn’t have Birthright back then. Birthright brings families together. What song did they sing for the Chassid with a red Bekishe? “Jingle Belz.” (Mordechai) You get it? It’s the season for these kind of puns. Belz is a Chassidic sect. Chassidim usually have long beards and eat. Some have the big stomach. A Bekishe is a robe. You put one of those on a heavy guy with a big beard... “Jingle Bells” is the song. Here, it’s “Jingle Belz.” What do bikers with a red robe sing? I don't know. That's why we didn't answer that question. The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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For many years the new generation of the Wise Men of Chlem have lit the Chanukah Menorah, known as a Chanukiah or candelabrum for those who like tiny candles, but they never knew why. They were fine with that, until now.
To make Chanukah more meaningful, they had a committee meeting without the rabbi. After much discussion about different types of meditation, they decided it was impossible to make the holiday more meaningful. To quote Sadie, “If we don’t close our eyes and meditate, it’s not meaningful.” Yankel Shares His Idea Known to cause problems, Yankel Tzvi Ben Mendel Simcha always makes everybody say his full name. Yankel told everybody, “I learned at Yeshiva that you're commanded to publicize the miracle of Chanukah. This is why we light.” Berel the Gabai, one to never allow for heresy, jumped in, “You fool. This is how you make of meaning. I learned in Yeshiva too, and our rabbis taught us that we must light the Chanukiah. He knows from nothing.” The Wise Men cheered at the brilliance of their Gabai and his argument against Yankel Tzvi Ben Mendel Simcha. Fayge, captivated by her Gabai, reinforced, “Our Gabai is so wise. How he makes such sense of the rabbis’ laws!!! Now we have meaning.” After a bit more debate, they decided that they should light the Chanukiah on Chanukah. To quote Felvel, "The Gabai is correct. We light the Chanukiah on Chanukah." Yankel Still Makes a Stink Bothered by this idea of publicizing the miracle, Yankel exclaimed, "All Berel says is true. But we should still publicize the miracle." "What miracle?" Rivka Bayla asked. Yankel restated, "The miracle of Chanukah." To humor Yankel, they decided they must find a Chanukah miracle. A Chanukah miracle they could show to people when they're walking home from work, as Yankel insisted it had to be publicized when people are coming home from work. To quote Felvel, "As if they need to be bothered after a full day's work." What is the Miracle of Chanukah That We are Publicizing? The Wise Men and Women of Chelm searched and searched for a miracle. They needed to find the miracle of Chanukah, for they wanted to know what to share with the public. Lazer, the head of the youth group let them know, “Last Chanukah I got an amazing gift. I received a hoverboard.” A silence never heard before was disrupted with a gasp of awe. “Miracles do happen. Hoverboards are awesome,” Chaya Tova replied. Even Duvidel was in awe, as he received a pair of socks last year that his Bubbie knitted for him, and they did not stay up. As Duvidel showed his socks gathered at his ankles, he gleefully shared his joy in Lazer’s hoverboard, “People can receive gifts they like.” He continued to share his newfound hope, “I can use some wireless JBL earbuds.” To which nobody cared. Displaying the Hoverboard They decided to put Lazer’s hoverboard on display in the window, when people were walking home from work. But nobody saw the hoverboard, as they all worked from home. The next day, Duvidel shared his concept, “We can buy all of the children hoverboards and they will see the miracle of Chanukah.” Menachem interceded, to keep the group in line and focused on what was really important. And that is saving money. “Who can afford hoverboards? I can’t even buy one for my kids. Not everybody is as wealthy as the Shwartzawitzs. They even have a flats screen TV.” Bayla, not a fan of Schwartzawits either, added, “If the Shwartzawitzs paid their dues, that would be a miracle.” To which everybody laughed and wished they had a hoverboard. More Chanukah Miracles That Are Easier To Share Chaya Tova recounted yet another miracle, “We didn’t have to go to school today. It’s a snow day. A Chanukah miracle.” And the miracles of Chanukah kept flowing. “The Latkes last year were out of this world. Crunchy, yet beautifully moist on the inside,” Rivka let them all know. “We must let all know. This is a miracle,” responded Menachem, with a joy that could be felt by all who love potatoes that are fried. The kid with the disease they all prayed for, who recovered and was back in school, was not mentioned. They didn’t want to publicize chicken pox. Oily food was a miracle. The snow day was a huge miracle. But none could outdo the miracle of Lazer’s hoverboard and socks that did not fall because they were not made by Bubbie. How Do We Publicize This Joyous Chanukah Miracle of a Hoverboard? The Wise Men and Women of Chelm decided it's time to publicize the true miracles of Chanukah correctly. Ads in the newspaper were too expensive. There was supply and demand and only a group of eight people read the newspaper. Even so, the Wise Men and Women were not deterred from their goal. “We must find a way to advertise the miracle of Chanukah!” Taking initiative, as he does, Duvidel arose with fervor and took to the streets with his megaphone. All the people of Chelm were in shock. They don’t understand Yiddish. “What’s he screaming?” the people asked. He reverted to English. For English is what they speak in Poland nowadays. The rest of the Wise Men and Women at the meeting were inspired, as they followed with megaphones they had amassed in the shul’s food collection bin for the hungry. Cheers were heard all over the streets, “Lazer received a hoverboard.” One fine scholar came to his door, for he heard the cheers of the Wise Men and Women and thought the shul had just received a new Torah scroll. How happy he was to hear that it was Lazer’s hoverboard. He didn’t want to have to go out in this weather to follow a Torah. After hours of cheering for Lazer, none of the townsfolk came out to join the parade of Lazer’s hoverboard. There was three feet of snow and nobody had shoveled their walkway. The only way to share the miracle without taking out an ad was through the window. So, to celebrate the holiday correctly, they decided to light Lazer's hoverboard. And that miracle only lasted one night. Epilogue And Berel, the Gabai, let Yankel and all the committee know, “That is why we light the candles on Chanukah.” “Exactly,” Said Fayge. “Do you want to pay for hoverboards for all the kids of Chelm, Yankel?... You see? This is why we light candles. It's too expensive to buy eight hoverboards.” And Yankel preached in protest, “We light because the one jar of oil lasted eight days. It should’ve only lasted one.” Berel the Gabai responded to this ignorance one last time, “This fool still doesn’t understand. We light eight, because there are eight nights of Chanukah.” On the eighth night, the Wise Men and Women, along with their community, lit their Chanukah Menorahs with the nine candles, including the Shamish candle, to remind them of the Menorah in the Temple that had seven lamps because of the eight nights of Chanukah. Extra Notes on Chanukah The kids didn’t go to school, but they did learn that on Chanukah a great miracle of amazing Latkes and hoverboards took place. So, they lit the Chanukiah for those Latkes. And they lit their hoverboards and their parents grounded them for Chanukah. Duvidel never received earbuds or a hoverboard. However, hoverboard sales in Chelm went up. Duvidel blamed his Bubbie, who took up knitting a few years back. Lazer never road his hoverboard again, as it was too dangerous and banned from use in Chelm. Lighting the hoverboard was not looked upon favorably by the law. That Chanukah the whole community was able to see the Schwartzawitzs’ huge flats screen TV, as the Schwartzawitzs’ publicized their new 120-inch television. The Wise Men and Women knocked on the Schwartzawitzs’ door and asked them to pay their dues. And they did. The miracle of Chanukah was complete. Some people burned Latkes and they said, “This crunch is even a greater miracle.” Discussions continued as to whether the Latke miracle was true, or if it was Tater Tots. Yankel lit his Chanukiah in his window and all tried to figure out what he was trying to prove. To quote Fayge, “This guy never stops.” The Blog Tags Widget will appear here on the published site.
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How these work, I don’t know. I appreciate all the healthy cookies and chips... I put on a few pounds eating a lot of healthy. It seems that too many healthy peanut butter cups will also get you fat. False advertisement.
![]() David Kilimnick - Israel's "Father of Anglo Comedy" (JPost) is not touring with his Israel solidarity show. Bring David to your community, college campus, shul, home, to share laughs of Jewish unity... 585-738-9233 [email protected]
It’s tradition to eat more fruit on Tu BShvat, to praise Gd for his creation and to walk around with an upset stomach.
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2/13/2025
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