Secretary of course!
That is the practical result of the decision the executive commitee of my shul has made. I don't know what I will do now. But to make a long story short, I have a secretary who despises me, has tried to get me in trouble and fired by the shul president and continues to be nasty to me and the Rebbitzen.
I told the president and VP that this was not a viable working condition. And they thought about it and decided that unless she actually does something wrong on the job, they will not fire her. Even if it means I leave.
And mind you, they think I'm a great rabbi. They would be sad to see me go. But they would rather see me go then find a new part-time secretary.
All you rabbis, beware.
(I can just imagine what it's like for a rabbi to work with a shul board that doesn't like him!)
I love a good joke that hits at all stereotypes. I think this is one of those jokes. Heard recently for the first time. Enjoy.
A rosh-yeshiva is touring yeshivos giving a shiur on hilchos Ishus in Rambam.
He goes into a modern orthodox yeshiva and asks a bochur for hilchos ishus. The bochur thinks for a moment, then brings back "sefer Ahavah".
Next, the rosh yeshiva goes into a litvishe yeshiva and asks a bochur for hilchos ishus. The bochur thinks for a moment and brings back to him, sefer Kinyan.
Next, the rosh yeshiva goes into a chassidishe yeshiva and asks a bochur for hilchos ishus. The bochur thinks for a moment and brings back to him, sefer Taharah.
Next, the rosh yeshiva goes into a sephardi yeshiva and asks a bochur for hilchot ishut, the bochur thinks for a moment and brings back to him, sefer Nezikin.
It is not till leaving the enchanted walls of the Yeshiva/Kollel Beis Medrash that I would appreciate the value of the Chavrusa, the aramaic word for friend.
I have had two experienced rabbis tell me that rabbis have no true friends in their communities. I have to say that this is true. It's not that nobody likes me. But there is a certain level of conversataion or exchange of ideas that is totally absent here in Yehupitz. I often long for the so-called Bittul Torah that went on in the Beis Medrash, which was usually on such a high level, albeit rejected by the Yeshiva's faculty.
This is why I find this recent trend of yeshiva alumni blogging so refreshing. Keep it up guys.
So what does "na" the Hebrew word mean?
Sometimes it means "please" and sometimes it means "now". Right?
Wrong. "na" is a Hebrew word that indicates insistence. When a person insists on an idea when he's talking to someone else, he either means that he wants it done now or that he wants to insist that his will be done when the other might be leaning the other way.
This is the connection between the two definitions. So when Rashi explains that a usage of "na" is to be understood as a request as opposed to "now", he is not claiming two entirely different meanings. Rather, he is pointing out that the context points to one nuance of the word.
This is driving me crazy already!
I follow international politics. One story that has consumed Canada for the last several months is the never-imminent-enough departure of Canadian Prime Minister and Liberal Party Leader Jean Chretien.
People in the political hierarchy, including incoming leader Paul Martin, have been wanting him to leave politics for at least three years. Chretien feels justified in sticking around. After all, he claims that he "led his party to three consecutive majority governements", an allegedly rare feat in a country that has more than two federal parties.
I am sick and tired of hearing this lie. He did NOT lead his party to three majority governments. For those of you who don't follow Canadian politics, let me explain.
Since 1993, Canadian politics has not existed. It was in 1993 that the only real alternative ruling party collapsed into two meaningless parties without a chance of winning. The Liberal Party was the only party left standing. Not because of any merits or policy initiatives. Only because the Conservative side of the street imploded. "Chretien"'s majorities were utterly meaningless. He would have won even if he turned into a chicken and ran on a platform of pecking his beak in the dirt twice a day.
His election victories meant nothing.
His ten years as Prime Minister have meant nothing. He only got busy in the last two years gaining popularity by opposing American ideas. Why didn't he start earlier with his anti-US shtick? Because he liked Bill Clinton. Although the same morals were in effect, he had no reason to give Clinton problems. But since 2001, he has enjoyed taking the European road and sticking it to GWB whenever he can.
That's the legacy. One big fat zero.
People who care about what the Bible says have been grappling with the issue of the historicity of the Bible's description of world history from Adam to Noah.
I am bothered by the issue, but only a little bit. Without the scientific talk, I would assume that the first ten chapters in Genesis in fact occured. If it turns out that there are elements that are not meant to be taken literally, I won't lose any sleep. Either way, I accept that the stories should be mined for whatever lessons we can draw from them, as with the rest of Torah.
But in case you ARE troubled by these issues, here is an article that deals with a number of them. Enjoy.
I experienced something last week that made me reconsider for a moment the American Liberal-Conservative divide when it comes to race.
My wife was given a speeding ticket a few weeks ago. She considered it unfair, so she decided to go to Traffic Court to contest it. The Yehupitz Courthouse is in the more unfriendly part of town, so I joined her. Sitting in the courtroom waiting for my wife's name to be called, we listened to the other cases as they flew by.
The white judge's ruling in one particular case was grossly unfair. I felt a brother's pain and anger at the "man".
I saw people sentenced to jail for driving with a suspended license. I saw people who had had their licenses suspended nine (!) times coming back to court for yet another offence. Driving with altered plates was a common charge...
I have a number of thoughts running through my head. The blog would be way too long, so my full report will have to wait.
For now, the summary of my thoughts is that I realized that the Black Community is extremely screwed up on even the smallest level (traffic violations) and that I understand the motivations of racists for being repulsed by the black community at large* as well as Black resentment for the numerous callous injustices perpetrated by those who run society.
*I say "at large". People need to understand that racism is not about skin color. It is about disdain of some people for the cultural mores of a society that has a particular skin color. Can't you see the difference?