Rabbi Weissman: Timeless and Timely Teachings from Tanach

 

Timeless and Timely Teachings from Tanach

Plus the latest scheduled war, an informal reader survey, and the cost of the Haredi Draft

Tanach is not studied nearly enough by Torah-minded Jews (which is the only type of Jew there is supposed to be). The typical reasons people offer do not hold up to even mild scrutiny, and, just as typically, they are forced to fall back on the “Da’as Torah” card. Rabbi so-and-so said we don’t need to study Tanach anymore, end of story. 

That’s right, folks, we are following “Da’as Torah” to remain willfully ignorant of the only book of the Torah given word for word by Hashem Himself and those written by actual prophets. Let the Christians have Tanach. We don’t need it.

Those loosely within the Orthodox world who do study Tanach tend to do so in the style of academics, literature professors, and Bible critics, thereby stripping it of its holiness and completely missing the point.

In my first year of post-high school yeshiva in Israel I was rebuked for studying Tanach, and a rabbinic dean at Yeshiva University told me it was bittul Torah. Yes, he actually called it that. 

(I was intelligent and strong enough not to just follow orders even back then, Baruch Hashem, and haven’t regretted it for one second of my life. I wouldn’t have lasted one day in the IDF even back then.)

I’ve written and spoken about this travesty over the years, and here’s a class I recommend from a year and half ago: We Are Learning and Teaching Torah the Wrong Way

In last night’s Torah class we began studying the book of Yirmiya, which we will continue in future classes. Nothing fancy; just letting the words of the Hashem, the prophet, the commentaries, and Chazal speak to us, with an emphasis on timely messages to guide us (similar to the Rabbi Wasserman classes, and how I tend to study Torah in general).

The class is embedded above and on Rumble here.

I got a text message from the municipality of Jerusalem that they are sending all residents a booklet for staying safe in the upcoming scheduled “war. (It’s online here, our roughly 70% in slavery taxes hard at work for us.)

It’s so considerate of them to schedule wars for us like this instead of just springing them unexpectedly like they did on October 7! 

I vaguely remember a miraculous, biblical victory over Iran a few months ago that was supposed to usher in the redemption with a bunch of rising lions, but now is still not the time to ask questions. 

I’m sure Bibi will be praying at the kotel again tonight, followed by a strictly kosher Shabbos meal with lots of Divrei Torah, and teshuva for all those minor sins we’re not supposed to think about him ever doing. Trump too.

Get afraid, but don’t panic. Prepare your safe room and get your running shoes on. Keep the radio on over Shabbos. Download the phone app for pre-alert alerts. Wait for further instructions. Another round of globalist war theatre is coming, and those who just follow orders with the greatest devotion will surely be the biggest winners.

Am Yisrael Chai. LOL.

I often wonder how many articles are “too much”. On the one hand, I have many more things I wish to share and write about, and much more Torah I wish to teach. On the other hand, I don’t want to bombard people with emails, overwhelm them, or cheapen the content by sending things out too frequently. Also, I want to leave time for the most important pieces to be prominently features, digested, and shared.

So, first of all, how much is the right amount? Do you want more?

No, I’m not going to weigh in on all the daily dramas and distactions, like “Tucker Carlson’s controversial visit to Israel”. I realize many people are here just for provocative posts about Israel, Trump, the IDF, etc., but I’m not here just for that. 

More Torah classes or Torah-based articles are definitely possible, though…if you want it.

I have a lot more to say about the shidduch world, too, which is a much more important issue than many people realize, especially married people who don’t have kids to marry off. I’m willing to do an occasional program on the subject, addressing questions and topics from readers…if you want it.

I can also fix the infield fly rule for Major League Baseball…if you want it (they didn’t reply to my email years ago).

I realize many people who read my work don’t want to be outed by publicly commenting (bad for shidduchim, etc.), so please feel free to email me directly at weissmans@protonmail.com. 

Finally, someone sent me this: It costs an arm and a leg.