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BS”D

To whom this may concern:

I do not like the term rabbi, particularly not for me. One of the reasons is that I do not have smicha (rabbinic ordination). About ten years ago, in chavruta with a chaver who is an authority in rabbinic kashrut laws, I learned through the body of learning one learns to get smicha, namely melika, tairuvot, and basar v’chalav – removing blood from meat, doubtful mixtures, and the laws of meat and milk.

Our intent was to learn for smicha, but after about six weeks of daily learning, I decided that I would continue the learning, but not for smicha. I had come to the conclusion that what is called smicha today is a bogus smicha and I wanted no part of it, for it has no connection with receiving the tradition from Moshe at Sinai, which is the true smicha.

Smicha today is based on a certain body of rabbinic teachings that have wisdom, but no source in the Torah from Sinai, only the Torah from Babylon.

So my chavruta and I learned through the seder, primarily Shulchan Arukh with commentaries and a few Gemoras. But we did not learn for smicha. We learned for the mitzvah of learning.  

For those who are interested in the subject of smicha, the Baal HaTurim, who is the author of the Tur Shulchan Arukh which is actually the most authoritative Shulchan Arukh, says that the true smicha is the knowledge of maaseh merkava, a principle teaching of Kabbalah. And the true bestowal of smicha must come from someone who received it from someone who received it from Moshe himself. And yes, there are several people who can confer smicha. One is Eliyahu HaNavi and another is Achiya HaShiloni, who gave smicha to Eliyahu HaNavi.  Any other smicha, is borrowed terminology and should be called faux smicha.

That being said, one can understand why I – as a Levite – felt uncomfortable with the title of rabbi, and I believe that the Rabbono Shel Olam does not approve of the title of rabbi for me either.

When I was in Texas, visiting the folks at Anita Jones’ house, I met Mike Mattlage and he called me rabbi. And I said, “Call me Chaim.” And he insisted on calling me rabbi, almost as if he needed to call me rabbi.” So I said, “Okay, so call me rabbi.”

I will tell you another title that I do not like for me. When I flew from Israel to Texas three years ago, it was on a United Airlines flight. And while waiting for the flight, I signed up with one of those special privilege airlines clubs that gets me nothing but membership in a club that I have no interest in. When I filled out the information, it asked me for a title, and for some reason it would not accept the title of mister, and there was no category of rabbi. So I looked down the list and saw reverend. Now, my grandfather, Wolf Brin, alav hashalom, whose yohrzeit is the 24th of Tammuz, bore the title reverend. He was a shochet and a mohel and a baal tefillah, and he called himself Reverend Brin.

Reverend Wolf Brin was the Orthodox mohel for the city of Chicago until the mid 1940’s. And if you think G-d does not have a sense of humor, He gave my grandfather, a mohel, six daughters and no sons. I am his only Torah observant grandson. But he has Torah observant great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Baruch Hashem.

Anyway, back to United Airlines. So with my grandfather being a reverend, I decided to choose reverend as my title on United Airlines. I went to click on reverend, but my hand slipped, and I clicked on the title below reverend – sister. So I became Sister Chaim Clorfene. Another title I completely reject.

It seems to me that a suitable title is Saba, which means grandfather. It is more haimish and less pretentious than rabbi and certainly more appropriate than sister. I would suggest that other Jewish or Ger elders consider adopting the title Saba. I think it would help steer the ship in a better direction. Rabbi means din, strict judgment. Saba means mercy, the fewer rules the better. And from the saba’s perspective, he can go home after the visit. And you can also go home after you visit him. It is a relationship of freedom. A saba has arrived at the age where he is interested in G-d Himself rather than due process of law. Rabbis are judges, and can be dehumanizing. Judges often turn their flock into paranoid sociopaths. It is a Galutian mindset.

Saba is a title for Geulah. Saba is spelled samech – beit – alef which is gematria 63 – Shem Sag – the milui of Shem Havaye in Binah of Atzilut. Meditating on this raises one to the source of judgment, which is mercy, as King David wrote (Psalms 145:9), “Hashem is good to all, His mercies are above all His works.”

The question is: How do you get there?

And the answer is that you learn the design and meaning of the Third Temple. Scroll down and click on the image of the cover of The Messianic Temple. It will take you to amazon.com and you can buy the book and start your path in Geulah. And if you can get there before Tisha B’Av, mourning the Second Temple is a thing of the past, as it says (Zachariah 8:19), “So said the Lord of Hosts: the fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth month and the fast of the seventh month and the fast of the tenth month shall be for the House Judah for joy and happiness and for happy holidays, only love truth and peace.” Learn the Third Temple and make a l’chaim on Tisha B’Av. Rav Papa’s Papa is a Saba.

BS"D 

Shituf is the Hebrew word for partnership. In Judaism, it means belief in the G-d of Israel plus an independent will that is seen as one’s personal salvation. The rabbinic term for one who believes in shituf is a min, which, in Hebrew, means a type. Rabbi Yaakov Emden, z”l, defines a min as a member of a sect that believes in two powers. 

Now, with that foundation, one can discuss Christianity, Islam, and rabbinic Judaism. I say that all three are shituf.

BS"D

The schism between Judaism and Zionism is a long-term, tenacious struggle that must be resolved because it is blocking the Final Redemption (Geulah).

The previous blogpost mentioned that the Sulam, Rabbi Yehuda Leib Ha-Levi Ashlag, zy’a, revealed two conditions for a person to be worthy of Geulah, the Final Redemption.

Condition # 1: To be worthy of Geulah, one may have no master other than G-d Himself, as it says in Isaiah 30:20, “And your Teacher will no longer be concealed from you, and your eyes shall see your Teacher.”

BS”D

It is derived from the teachings of the Arizal that Geulah is the perfection that arose in the simple will of G-d to create the worlds and emanate the emanations. Creative Zionism is a ray of light from that perfection.

BS"D

Judaism is a religion. And religion exists only when G-d conceals Himself. When G-d was revealed in the days of the prophets, there was no Judaism. There was Israel, the Torah, and the Presence of G-d. It was a cord of three strands, and a cord of three strands is not easily broken.

BS"D

This is the second in a series of three articles on Judaism vs Zionism. This time, the focus is on Zionism.

Zionism and Judaism have the same goal – the survival of the Jewish people in a world that wants them destroyed.

Zionism’s way of attaining the goal is to re-establish Israel as the Jewish homeland and bring the exiles home where they will be strong and where they will have G-d’s protection and support. This happens to be the prophetic definition of Geulah – the Final Redemption.

By contrast, Judaism’s way of attaining the goal is to sit and learn Torah and do mitzvoth, and when Mashiach comes, the Jews will be taken back to their homeland.

BS”D

Judaism was created for survival. Zionism was created for redemption. Judaism was created during Galut (Exile) to preserve the Jewish people during the long and bitter Exile. Zionism was created during Galut to end the long and bitter Exile.  

Both Judaism and Zionism have been successful. Orthodox Rabbinic Judaism has preserved the Jewish people throughout Galut. And Zionism brought the Jews back to their ancestral homeland, and rebuilt them as a mighty nation.

BS"D

Let us say, hypothethically, that you are Jewish. And let us say that you are hypothetically accosted by a well-meaning, but crazed Christian-type person. The dialogue might go like this:

Him: You killed our lord.

You: It wasn’t me.

Him: It was your people.

Yesterday, my wife and I and two friends made a pilgrimage to the tzion (resting place) of Rebbe Tarfon. It is in the mountains of the Galilee between Tzfat and Meron, surrounded by a grove of olive trees.

If you remember the Haggadah, Rebbe Tarfon was one of the five rabbis discussing leaving Egypt in B’nai Brak. 

Since the theme of this blog is Redemption (Geulah), the time has come to discuss building the Third Temple. But first, we need some historical background.

Three structures have borne the name Mikdash (Sanctuary). The first was the Tabernacle built by Moses at the foot of Mount Sinai, as it says (Ex. 25:8), “Make for Me a Mikdash and I will dwell among them.”

This is a good time to say something I have held back for a long time. I have held it back because it is touchy and involves some friends of mine, but it needs to be said. As some of you may know, I co-authored the book, The Path of the Righteous Gentile, with Rabbi Yakov Rogalsky. And we asked Rav Mendel Feldman, alav hashalom, a Talmid Chacham and old-school Lubavitcher Hasid, to check our work and give us his endorsement. He agreed, and worked closely with us, and put his name on the book.

For those of you who are considering moving to a Chinese Buddhist monastery, let me explain how the dynamic works over there. Let us say that there is this Chinese fellow named Lang, and he is something special – brilliant, creative, with the power to bring his creative ideas from koach to poel, potential to actual. And everything he does, he does in the name of his G-d (sic), but he sees Him as Heaven. He does not know His Name, but he thinks he knows who He is and he knows a little bit about what He wants from Lang.

Two very wise and influential people have badgered me to write a retraction of my article called, “Warning: Do not convert to Judaism.” They say that people are confused by what I wrote and think that I am against conversion.

One fine day, a German shepard dog got lost in a forest. As he was coming around an oak tree, he came face to face with a big wolf, who snarled and bared his fangs and said to the dog, “Prepare to die, you miserable creature.”

The dog shook with fear, and bending low to the ground, pleaded for his life, “Please, Mr. Wolf, spare me.”

Let us talk about conversion to Judaism. No one should do it. If you converted to Judaism, you were led astray by a well-meaning, but unlearned Jew, probably a rabbi.

The truth is that when someone converts, he or she becomes grafted onto Kehillat Yisrael, the Congregation of Israel, which has one body and one soul, and a covenant with G-d. The conversion is to the people, not to the religion.