Modi’in Chief Rabbi David Lau, a contender to become the next Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, insists he is not chareidi. In an interview in Olam Katan, Rav Lau explains that “unlike all the others, I am not affiliated with any sector. I belong to everyone. Enough with the sectarianism. We all share the 13 Principles of Faith of the Rambam. We all share the desire to spread Judaism.”
The rav explains he has never hired the services of a public relations office and has not interviewed in the media in this campaign. It should be noted that the rav has yet to officially announce his candidacy.
Rabbi Lau points out the absolute necessity to become the rav of all of Am Yisrael, which includes all populations. He thinks his example as rav of Modi’in speaks for itself, for the vast majority of residents are non observant. About a quarter are dati leumi.
Do You Recite Hallel on Independence Day?
When asked about reciting Hallel on Independence Day, Rav Lau stated that every year after Maariv he runs to the central stage in the city and moments before the evening program gets underway; he recites the prayer for the welfare of the state and a short message citing the significance of the day. “Afterwards we all sing Hatikvah and only then to the evening’s events get underway.”
Regarding Hallel, the rav explains he complies with the ruling of the Chief Rabbinate and recites the entire Hallel with a bracha.
What Do You Have to Say on the Sharing the Burden Issue?
It has become a political issue. This is a country in which experts turn substantive discussions into debates of merits of people. We only hurt ourselves. Instead of dialogue towards settling disputes we have turned to one-sided decisions and dictating actions. Jews who believe know the value of Torah and one engaged in Torah must continue. One who is not must come out and participate with all the others.
“I am opposed to the phrase sharing the burden, for this is not a burden. Chazal teach us that from 1,000 entering a beis medrash one emerges a teacher. That means to say is we want to have 30 rabbis, we must have 30,000 studying Torah.”
So for one like yourself, who does not spend on public relations, how have you become so popular?
Leave it to the wisdom of voters to discern – to detect the difference between priority issues and secondary matters.
Following the recent petirah of Harav Yehoshua Safrin, Z"L, the Komarno Rebbe of Manhattan, an interesting historical detail has been noted regarding his levush. The Rebbe famously wore a historic yerusha shtreimel inherited from his grandfather, Harav Eliezer Tzvi of Komarno, Zy"a, the Damesek Eliezer, who was a son of the Heichal Bracha of Komarno, Zy"a. During the week, the Rebbe wore a kneitsch hat, but on Shabbos, he would wear this historic shtreimel.
The Manhattan Komarno Rebbe, Z"L, was an uncle to all the current Komarno Rebbes, being a son of Harav Chaim Yaakov of Komarno, Zy"a, and a brother to the fathers of the other Rebbes. He was a massive tomchei Torah, supporting both Gur and all the mosdos of Komarno. For example, he personally funded the rebuilding of his father's historic shul in Yerushalayim. He passed away at the age of 91. Born in the city of Belz in pre-war Europe, he was named after Harav Yehoshua of Belz, Zy"a.
Contrary to what was written in the article, Rabbi Milikovsky's parents were not "descendants of the Lithuanian Gaon, Maran Gaon of Vilna, Z"a," but rather descendants of his family's ancestors, and to the best of my knowledge, researchers today are unable to accurately mark the family's relationship, due to the generations that have passed.
B. Did Rabbi Milikowski hide the truth from his parents?
The article claims that Rabbi Nathan's involvement in Zionist activity during his studies at the Volozhin Yeshiva was allegedly done against the will and wishes of his parents:
"While his innocent parents were content with their son sitting hunched over the stand in the yeshiva - their jewel was spending time in Zionist activity in Siberia."
I would like to point out that this serious claim, which makes the rabbi a fraud, is not supported by any document or testimony, and it is clear from it that the writer is biased, apparently not liking the character of Rabbi Milikowski, apparently for the "crime" of his Zionism.
Milikowski studied in a yeshiva for about six years (1866-1931). Although he occasionally went on Zionist propaganda trips, he devoted most of his time to studying Torah.
In late 1941, at the age of 25, he left the yeshiva, and from then on he devoted most of his life to Zionist propaganda campaigns.
Rabbi Milikowski during the period when he began his Zionist activities
It is hard to imagine that Milikovsky, who was sent to Volozhin by his loving parents, did not inform them of his decision to leave the yeshiva for Zionist work, and that he did not tell them about his Zionist travels while he was a yeshiva student. Is it possible that he concealed this from them? In my opinion, this is unnecessary compulsory education, and there is no logical reason to think so, as long as there is no evidence of this. While it is possible to raise the possibility that the parents wanted him to grow up to be a teacher or Rosh Yeshivah, and were disappointed that this did not come true, it must be said in fairness that there is no documentation for this and that this is only a hypothesis.
Rabbi Natan Milikowski in his later years
C. "Return to the Torah Tabernacle"
Furthermore: From the article, the impression may be created as if he had withdrawn from the tent of Torah, from the study of the Beit Midrash (the synagogue). However, his acquaintances described the love of Torah that was in him, and his devotion to Torah in every free moment.
In an article published about him in the Haaretz newspaper after his death, it was written:
"The holy books accompanied him on his difficult journeys. He always consulted them between meetings, but he was never satisfied with them. This man carried within him one aspiration: to return to the Torah tabernacle. But he did not have time to finish his affairs, and in his prime the giant was cut off."
The author of the article noted: "It must be said honestly, in his self-perception he saw himself as a yeshiva student. His heart was full of appreciation for Torah and Judaism, and he saw in his actions the advancement of the mitzvah of settling the Land of Israel." But this formulation misses the point: it was not "appreciation for Judaism" and his activity was not intended only for the sake of "fulfilling a mitzvah," but much more than that: he saw it as a fulfillment of the Torah he learned in the yeshiva.
D. The question of ordination to the rabbinate
The article opens with a dramatic announcement:
"Our grandfather," the Netanyahu family members say, "was a rabbi in Lithuania." However, a series of new documents, uncovered for the first time in a Polish archive, show that, at least until a late age, the grandfather did not have a teaching permit."
This claim also closes the article:
"Benjamin Netanyahu often boasts to the Haredim that "his grandfather was a rabbi." Well, as we have already understood, that is not really accurate, at least not in the official sense of the matter."
The truth is, as the article itself presented, that he was ordained to the rabbinate by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Kowalski, on the 17th of Shvat 1912. What is not official about this? Does the fact that Rabbi Kowalski adheres to Zionism mean that in the eyes of the 'Mishpacha' newspaper, his ordination does not count?!
But in fact, Rabbi Kowalski was not the first to confer ordination on Rabbi Netanyahu, and the claim that "until a late age, my grandfather did not have a teaching permit" is a complete mistake.
At the end of his years of study in Volozhin, the young man Nathan Milikovsky went to be examined by the Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Raphael Shapira, zt"l, and received a "smicha" certificate from him. In addition, he received a "smicha" from Rabbi Yitzhak Yaakov Reines, founder and head of "HaMizrahi" and Rosh Yeshiva Lida. He received these certificates in his twenties, like the rest of his friends in the yeshiva who turned to teaching.
These ordination certificates, which are explicitly mentioned in several different sources, as well as in Milikowski's manuscripts, are not mentioned at all in the article. Has the author not heard of them? Or does he believe that Milikowski and his associates fabricated the existence of these certificates?
Signature of Rabbi Nathan Netanyahu-Milikovsky as principal of the Safed school
E. Rabbinate's office in Rovna
"The writers of Milikovsky's biography note that he had already been accepted to serve as the rabbi of the city of Rubeno in Volhynia. As much as I dug, I was unable to find documentation of this appointment... The explanation that appears in newspaper articles on the thirtieth day after his death is that in the end the appointment did not come to fruition, and this was because World War I broke out and cut short the plan."
These things are not accurate. There is no connection between the cancellation of his coronation and the First World War, which did indeed break out nearby.
The real story is this: In 1914, the rabbi of the city of Rovna, the gaon Rabbi Yitzhak Shlomo Yoel Sherman, zt"l, author of the book 'Pitchei Shearim', passed away. The community began to search for a worthy candidate to fill his place and ascend to the rabbinate. In those days, the name of Rabbi Natan Milikowski came up on the discussion table as a potential candidate for leadership of the community. After a tense vote held one winter day, Rabbi Milikowski was elected by a majority vote. The news of the appointment was even published in the newspaper 'HaTsfira' (4th of Kislev 1914 - December 3, 1913): "Rovna. The preacher H. Milikowski from Lodz was elected here as the rabbi of the community."
However, the joy was premature. Behind the scenes, the community was in turmoil, and fierce disputes were tearing the city apart. Several informants, from the camp of fanatics opposed to Zionism, approached the regional minister and slandered the Zionist Milikowski. The minister invalidated the elections and their results, and this was the real reason Milikowski did not begin his term in Rovna (this was published in the newspaper 'HaTsafira').
Incidentally, the person chosen to serve as the rabbi of Rovna was a young and exceptionally talented rabbi, the Gaon Rabbi Simcha-Hartz of Yafit, zt"l, who was the son-in-law of the city's previous rabbi, Rabbi Sherman zt"l.
This Article was written by Moshe Nachmani all credit goes to him
Rav Dov Landau, rosh yeshivas Slabodka, delivered a special shiur today at Yeshivas Zichron Yaakov, followed by words of chizuk to the bnei hayeshiva ahead of the Yomim Noraim, urging them to immerse themselves completely in Torah learning and emphasizing the importance of pursuing truth even when doing so requires admitting that one was wrong.
In his remarks, the rosh yeshiva focused on the obligation to approach Torah with genuine hasmadah and total absorption in learning. He stressed that this responsibility takes on particular significance during the difficult period currently facing those living in Eretz Yisroel.
“We need to learn, to be occupied with learning, to be immersed in learning — not to learn superficially, but to learn with immersion and diligence,” Rav Landau told the bochurim. “And with this difficult situation that we have here in Eretz Yisroel, certainly what we are obligated to do — with this and without this, it makes no difference — is to be immersed in learning, absorbed in learning. To get up in the morning — perhaps one cannot think in Torah learning; that is forbidden before Birchos HaTorah.”
Rav Landau went on to draw a distinction between genuine toil in understanding a sugya and merely searching for interesting insights or appealing vortlach.
“A good question, a good sevara of Rabbi Akiva Eiger — to be immersed in learning, not to search. Vortlach are a very beautiful thing, but that is not learning,” he said.
The rosh yeshiva emphasized that true Torah learning requires iyun, effort and a determined search to understand a sugya in its full depth, rather than being satisfied with attractive ideas and novel observations.
Rav Landau then spoke about the obligation to search for the truth in Torah, citing the Chazon Ish’s comments regarding the Kesef Mishneh.
“Hashem should help us that we should be able to learn, to search, as the Chazon Ish writes in the margin regarding the Kesef Mishneh: The Kesef Mishneh knew that there is truth in Torah, and he sought that truth — to seek the truth as much as we are able and capable of understanding, knowing and searching,” Rav Landau said.
He added that a genuine commitment to truth also requires a person to be willing to recognize when someone else has understood something correctly while he himself has not.
Rav Landau concluded with a pointed message about the importance of being able to acknowledge a mistake, explaining that being wrong is not a catastrophe; refusing to admit it is.
“Hashem should help us that we search for the truth. Included in that is that we acknowledge the one who says it. We did not merit to know, and the other person merited to know. It’s not terrible that the other person merited — it’s not a tragedy, nothing happened. If we made a mistake, no tragedy occurred. The tragedy is when we do not admit a mistake. Hashem should help us that we learn properly, that we are immersed in learning, absorbed in learning. And I wish everyone all the best, a kesivah vachasimah tovah, all the best.”
Aster Taylor observes Shabbat on their own time — literally.
For the past year, Taylor, a Ph.D. candidate in astrophysics at the University of Michigan, has been keeping Shabbat according to a schedule they devised using astronomical data.
So this Saturday, when Chabad of Ann Arbor says Shabbat will end at 9:09 p.m., Taylor will observe for nearly 11 more minutes. Where does Taylor, 25, get the chutzpah to challenge longstanding Jewish tradition?
“We live in the modern world. We have computers, we have catalogs of all the stars, and especially in the 80s, the construction of more significant telescopes,” Taylor told the Forward. “We have a pretty good understanding of how the sky affects our vision. So we can now just calculate this, right?”
They might have a point. In true “two-Jews-three-opinions” fashion, there’s actually no universally accepted time that Shabbat ends. But most people can agree on this: Shabbat ends at nightfall, defined by the Talmud as when three medium-sized stars in close proximity to one another are visible to the naked eye.
But what defines a medium-sized star and how close is close enough? Whose eyesight should be trusted? Those answers are not clear, leaving it up to rabbis to impart practical guidance.
Since without astronomical expertise, determining which stars make the grade is pretty difficult for the average Joseph, rabbis rely on proxy criteria. Today, many Orthodox communities use a standard credited to the venerable Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky, who in 1929 determined three stars are visible when the sun sets 8.5 degrees below the horizon. Others follow the teachings of the 12th-century Rabbeinu Tam, who places nightfall 72 minutes after sunset.
But those approximations didn’t satisfy Taylor, an aspiring professor currently writing their dissertation about giant planet formation. Taylor craved a more scientific approach.
So for a few nights over several months, Taylor went to a local park, sat at a picnic table and every two minutes measured the sky’s brightness with a light meter.
Taylor settled on a brightness standard for a medium star — between magnitude 2 and 3 — and determined that three stars of that brightness need to be within 10 degrees of one another, close enough that an observer could see all three stars without moving their eyes.
Taylor then built a computer model to determine when three stars that meet those conditions become visible, taking into account various atmospheric conditions. That model became a web app that calculates Shabbat times for any given location and elevation.
The results were striking. Based on Taylor’s calculations, Shabbat should often end around 10 minutes later than the time given by the conventional approximation — no small discrepancy for those who faithfully observe the Sabbath.
Taylor’s computations are intriguing Jewish scholars. Masorti: The New Journal of Conservative Judaism has agreed to publish Taylor’s research paper on the topic this winter.
The Forward also shared Taylor’s findings with two rabbis: Yaakov Hoffman of the modern Orthodox Bridge Shul in Washington Heights, who wrote a scholarly article about Shabbat’s end, and Jack Shlachter — who in addition to being a rabbi in Los Alamos, New Mexico, just so happens to have a Ph.D in physics.
Both were impressed. “There’s always room for science to enhance these practices,” Shlachter said. “This author is doing things in a very admirable fashion — trying to be fully aware of tradition, but also incorporating more modern, sophisticated techniques.”
Hoffman said it was “very impressive” that Taylor “was trying to research these things from a contemporary astronomical perspective, and to really put so much effort and passion into accurate determination of the time.”
If Taylor “wants to add a few minutes to Shabbat,” he added, “that doesn’t bother me.”
What if Shabbat never ends?
As any city dweller knows, the stars don’t exactly come out in force at night.
Once Taylor factored light pollution into their calculations, it produced a somewhat uncomfortable result. In New York City, Taylor said, light pollution is so intense that three medium stars in close proximity will never be visible this year. In Jerusalem, only a few months of the year offer enough clear visibility to see Taylor’s criteria.
“The conditions that end Shabbat are never met,” Taylor said, “which is obviously a problem.”
Taken literally, that would mean endless Shabbat. In their paper, Taylor wrote that such a scenario would “require most observant Jews to quit their jobs, refrain from cooking, and spend their time studying Torah.” That would be both “unrealistic” and “lessen the sanctity” of the Sabbath, Taylor wrote.
Fortunately, there is a rabbinic workaround that dates back long before the age of light pollution.
The 16th-century Rabbi Yosef Karo wrote that on a cloudy day, one should wait to end Shabbat until “the doubt leaves his heart.” In other words, wait long enough after sunset to be certain that the stars theoretically would have been visible on a clear night.
Taylor agrees that the same principle for clouds can be applied to light pollution. But they argue that it’s still worth knowing just how much the modern night sky has changed.
Light pollution isn’t the only factor messing with the Jewish clock. President Trump is urging the Senate to pass a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent — a measure which many Orthodox Jews oppose because a later winter sunrise would mean a later morning prayer service, making many Orthodox Jews late for work.
But it also would also push Shabbat an hour later, which could mean a less frantic rush to get home before sunset on wintertime Friday afternoons.
Those potential changes raise a broader question. As modern life becomes increasingly divorced from the natural rhythms of the Earth, to what extent should Jewish practice evolve?
Taylor, who attends a Conservative synagogue, said they’re in favor of maintaining Jewish tradition when possible — but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be improved.
“We should be using a calculation like this in communities in the future,” Taylor said. “It’s a strict upgrade to the way we’ve been doing things in the past, and so I’m hopeful that we’ll start using this more widely.”
Paradoxically, in Taylor’s case, they believe modern technology enabled them to get closer to the literal meaning of the traditional text. It was the ancient rabbis, lacking that science, who had to settle for the next best thing.
The Prince of the Lakewood House: The Gaon Rabbi Shneur Kotler II gave his first lesson
Great excitement at the 'Beit Midrash Gavaho' yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey, and in the Torah world | The only son of the Rosh Yeshiva, the Gra'am Kotler, the Gaon Rabbi Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler, delivered his first shiur in the old Beit Midrash | The exciting closing of the circle in the continuation of the dynasty of leaders of the largest yeshiva in the world | All the details and documentation from the shiur
Rabbi Shneur Kotler in his lesson Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
Peak excitement today (Sunday) at the Lakewood High Yeshiva Beit Midrash in New Jersey and in the Torah world: The only son of the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Aryeh Malkiel Kotler, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Shneur Kotler, delivered the first shiur at the yeshiva today, symbolizing the continuity of the Lakewood Yeshiva lineage founded in the Holy Mountains.
Rabbi Shneur Kotler in his first lesson at Lakewood Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
This is a direct continuation of the great founder, Rabbi Rabbi Yosef Chaim Schneor Kotler, zt"l, and is currently led by Rabbi Rabbi Schneor Kotler. Now the son, who bears the name of his grandfather, Rabbi Schneor, has given his first lesson in the old Beit Midrash where his grandfather gave his lessons.
Rabbi Shneur Kotler was born as an only son (along with his three sisters. M.W.) to his father, Rabbi Kotler, and was known as the prince of the Lakewood family in his childhood, as, along with his extraordinary perseverance and piety, he displayed gentle and noble manners from his very childhood. For years, he studied with Rabbi Wachfogel in South Flossberg, and after a period of time, he went to study in the United States, where he received Torah from Rabbi 'Pahad Yitzhak' the Gaon Rabbi Yonatan David, whom he sees as his teacher and rabbi.
He founded his house with the Rebbetzin of Beit Badosh, the daughter of the Gaon Rabbi Shmuel Badosh, Rosh Yeshiva of the "Lev Eliyahu" yeshiva of the "Aram Tsova" community in Mexico City, and since then his name has become known as one of the most important avrechims in the high beit midrash.
The current appointment is a direct continuation of the appointments in recent years of the sons of the other yeshiva heads: the Gra"d Shustel who appointed his son, the Grand Rabbi Aharon Shustel, the Gra"r"y Olshin who appointed his son, the Grand Rabbi Aharon Olshin, and the Gra"r"y Newman who appointed his son-in-law, the Gra"a Yossel; and now the process is complete with the appointment of the Gra"r"sh Kotler as Kohen Peer as the one who will lead the largest yeshiva in the world, a process that, as mentioned, is causing great excitement.
Rabbi Shneur entered the lesson today at the old Beit Midrash in Lakewood accompanied by his father and the yeshiva leaders, and the lesson was delivered in the tractate being studied, Tractate Baba Kama, on the subject of 'Their History as It Is'.
Rabbi Shneur Kotler enters the yeshiva. Photo: Courtesy of the photographer.
Rabbi Kotler in class Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
Rabbi Kotler in class Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
Rabbi Kotler in class Photo: Courtesy of the photographer
