Da'as Torah approved website

Finally, what you have all been waiting for, a website that is approved by da'as torah.

http://www.gimel2006.com/

The Convert

Shmulik, a religious Jew as well as a financial genius, left Brooklyn for a job as CFO of a well known brokerage firm in Utah (which is known as the Mormon state).

The pressure on the company president from the directors was immense:

"We can't have a Jew running the business - we're religious Mormons here," they said.
The president took Shmulik aside for a talk and explained unequivocally that he would have to convert if he wanted to hold on to this honorable (not to mention 6-figure-earning) position. Shmulik had no choice.

However difficult it might be to convert, it was less difficult than losing this great job. He went home and told his wife, "It's simple. From this Sunday on we'll be going to church with the kids".

So passed a good few months, but his wife wouldn't stop nagging him, saying, "It's so difficult for me, I miss Shabbat, lighting candles, kiddush, festivals...you know money isn't everything, Shmulik"

The more she nagged him, the more Shmulik's conscience bothered him too. Finally, he'd had enough. He went back to the president of the company and said "Listen, I can't go on like this, my guilt is eating me up inside. Money isn't everything. I can't even sleep at night, and neither can my wife. It's too much for me - I was born a Jew, and I want to die a Jew. If you want me to quit, I'll leave without making a fuss."

The president looked at him in amazement and said "Listen Samuel, [that's what they called him in Utah], I had no idea it was so tough for you. I figured changing religions would be a simple thing. You know what, you've been a great asset to the company. We need you here. Stay Jewish as you wish. Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest".

Shmulik went home with a thrill in his heart and a spring in his step. He ran to his wife (who was on the couch watching Ricki Lake) and said "Tzipporah, you won't believe it, a miracle happened! We're going back to being Jews, and it's OK! I talked to my boss and he's letting me keep my job!"

Tzippy (that's what they called her in Brooklyn) looked at him with eyes spitting fire and said "Tell me, ARE YOU NUTS!!!!!!!????!!"

Shmuel looked at her in shock. "But...but I thought that was what you wanted all along, what you were crying to me about day and night. What? You don't want to go back to being Jewish?"

Tzippy looked even more upset and said, "Of course I do - BUT NOW?!?!?! TWO WEEKS BEFORE PESACH?!?!?!?"

Pesach Hagadda in 60 Seconds

After Shabbat Mevorchin for the new month of Nisan, it's time to get ready for Pesach.

As any Jewish woman will tell you, if you haven't started cleaning already, you're already behind.

Instead, since you probably aren't taking a break from cleaning, and you're probably taking a break from work, take 60 seconds and review the entire Hagada. Click below...it has sound too.

This year in Yerushalayim!

Jameel & Co.
The Muqata, Inc.

Promoting Aliya since 1874

In case you missed the video making all the ruckus...

Wafa Sultan on Al-Jazeera.

The hand of Hashem

This keeps on happening.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An outbreak of deadly bird flu in Israel is God's punishment for calls in election ads to legalize gay marriages, according to Rabbi David Basri, a prominent sage preaching Kabbalah or Jewish mysticism.

The bird flu outbreak stemmed from far-left political parties "strengthening and encouraging homosexuality," Rabbi Basri's son quoted him as saying.

OrthoMom (I, II) has been posting on other such proclamations. It is also a pet peeve of DovBear's. Allow me to add my two cents.

If we believe that G-d created and continues to control the universe, then it follows that He causes all such things to happen. Bird Flu, Katrina, Ariel Sharon's stroke. All of them. It's true that obese, overweight people in high stress environments are at increased risk for strokes and that meteorological factors predicted a high likelihood of a cat-4 hurricane hitting the gulf coast sooner or later. But no one [that matters] denies that the laws of health and meteorology are part of the teva that G-d created.

Bird Flu also, has been around for a little while now. It was only a matter of time before it reached Israel. Surely G-d could have miraculously caused all infected birds to avoid Israel but apparently, at this time we were not worthy of having Him tinker with the awesome nature that He created.

[Short aside:
I once heard from my Rosh Yeshiva who said over from the Drashos HaRan that G-d resists performing miracles because every miracle is in effect a question on G-d's ability to create a perfect teva. The universe is G-d's creation, not some architect. One would expect a human creation to be flawed and to require intervention to keep it functioning properly. One would not expect G-d's handiwork to require such intervention, surely G-d could have created a perfect world that would never require miracles.]

So G-d, either directly or indirectly, brought Bird Flu to Israel. I guess the next question to ask is, why? For what purpose?

When the attacks of 9/11 occurred, Rav Chaim Kraisworth, the late Rav of Antwerp was in the United States and was unable to return to Antwerp before Rosh Hashanah. I had the privilege of hearing him speak to an informal gathering on the second day of Rosh Hashanah. He mentioned the attacks and he explained that Teshuvah is the message whenever there is a national tragedy. However, he cautioned, the job of pinpointing specific reasons was formerly a role for a navi. The Gemarah says that nevua was taken away and given to shottim. So basically, unless one wants to go on the record as a shotah, don't specify reasons. No one knows the reason.

Also, by pinpointing a specific reason, the result is less teshuvah, not more. Say for example, someone would say that X was G-d's response for too much lashon hara and I happen to be very careful with regard to that particular avairah. The result of claiming to be able to pinpoint the reason for X will be that I will continue doing exactly what I'm doing because the reason that was given did not apply to me. That is the exact opposite from what is required in the face of a national calamity:
בזמן שתבוא צרה ויזעקו לה ויריעו, יידעו הכול שבגלל מעשיהם הרעים הרע להן--ככתוב "עוונותיכם, הטו אלה" (ירמיהו ה,כה) לכם, וזה הוא שיגרום להם להסיר הצרה מעליהם.

One more special Purim Story

I need to get off Purim topics already, but I wanted to share this story I recently heard.

Many people give money and write checks on Purim. It's a beautiful thing. Here's one man's story.

He's locally known as a well-to-do businessman (let's call him Mr. A), so many groups of collectors come to his house on Purim. They usually put on a big party, it's become sort of an annual event. Not this year however. His house was dark on Ta'anis Esther night. People wondered if he was away for Purim for some reason or perhaps he simply could not afford it anymore. It was puzzling to say the least. Those close to him could not understand it, they were sure he could still afford it, and he hadn't mentioned he was going out of town.

Someone in the know told me the real story.

Mr. A had become aware that another man in town (Mr. B) was in a similar situation. He made a big bash every year, it was not to be missed. However, Mr. B had taken a big financial hit this past year and was unable to afford to make his annual party. A week before Purim Mr. A wrote a check for the entire amount he was about to spend on his own party to Mr. B, so that he should not suffer the embarrassment of people wondering if he could not longer afford it. He took that embarrassment on himself instead.

I heard this story from a wise and learned man. Upon finishing the story he mentioned "This is something I'd expect to hear about R' Yisroel Salanter"!

Indeed.

Mishloach Manot, Xmas gifts, Hanukhah presents and other Goyish practices and expressions of consumerism

The purpose of Mishloach Manot is a way of bringing Jews together. It is the constant separation between Jews that makes us the target of the Goyim - their hatred and consequent destruction. It gives our enemies strength. Hence, the story of Purim. It begins in the Megilah as Jews bonding with the spiritual and physical enemies of the Jews. The story unfolds with Jews praying, fasting and connecting with each other to defend themselves and their people. This is what the Mishloach Manot and Matanot L'Evyonim are intended to replicate in us today. So, fulfill the Mitvah by giving what the Halacha demands and then give ALL of the rest to various charities. This, while not being a technical fulfillment of Mishloach Manot, is a fulfillment of the concept embedded in the Mitzvah.

What we see today instead is people spending enormous amounts of time designing the ultimate eye-catching Mishloach Manot. Definitely not the intention of Mordechai and Esther. This practice is just a sick and perverse copying of the Goyim. Everyone trying to outdo the other by having the ultimate. This creates Sinat Hinam and jealousy. The exact opposite of the intended Mitzvah. So let us all stop acting like the consumerist Goyim around us and be real Jews! It is NOT Xmas it is Purim - a Jewish Holiday.

The CIA is wrong

From the CIA World Factbook on Israel: "Cut diamonds, high-technology equipment, and agricultural products (fruits and vegetables) are the leading exports."

I beg to disagree. There is now no doubt in my mind, and probably in the minds of all Mishloach Manos recieving families, that chocolate coated wafers are the leading export of Israel.

Purim Points to Ponder

Some random thoughts that occurred to me while listening to the megillah reading.

1. וּמַלְכוּתָהּ יִתֵּן הַמֶּלֶךְ, לִרְעוּתָהּ הַטּוֹבָה מִמֶּנָּה
Cool. Isn't that very similar to the words used by Shmuel to tell Shaul that he will be losing the kingship. I wonder what the significance of that is.

2. וְהַנַּעֲרָה יְפַת-תֹּאַר, וְטוֹבַת מַרְאֶה
How can the opinion that holds that Esther was really quite ugly possibly translate these words.

3. וְכָל-עַבְדֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ אֲשֶׁר-בְּשַׁעַר הַמֶּלֶךְ, כֹּרְעִים וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לְהָמָן--כִּי-כֵן, צִוָּה-לוֹ הַמֶּלֶךְ; וּמָרְדֳּכַי--לֹא יִכְרַע, וְלֹא יִשְׁתַּחֲוֶה.
Shouldn't Achashveirosh punish Mordechai for ignoring his decrees. Wasn't Vashti killed for ignoring the king's decree? Why was Haman the only one that was mad about this?

4. כִּי אִם-הַחֲרֵשׁ תַּחֲרִישִׁי, בָּעֵת הַזֹּאת--רֶוַח וְהַצָּלָה יַעֲמוֹד לַיְּהוּדִים מִמָּקוֹם אַחֵר, וְאַתְּ וּבֵית-אָבִיךְ תֹּאבֵדוּ
What was Mordechai trying to get at with his stress on וּבֵית-אָבִיךְ ? (more on this point later.)

5. וּבְכֵן אָבוֹא אֶל-הַמֶּלֶךְ, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-כַדָּת, וְכַאֲשֶׁר אָבַדְתִּי, אָבָדְתִּי.
I always recall, at this point, the pshat that I once saw regarding the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur davening. The four paragraphs that begin with the word וּבְכֵן are based on this pasuk, as if to say I know that I am not worthy of asking for all that I am asking for but I will still come before the King אֲשֶׁר לֹא-כַדָּת .

6. אִם-מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֵי הַמֶּלֶךְ, וְאִם-עַל-הַמֶּלֶךְ טוֹב, לָתֵת אֶת-שְׁאֵלָתִי, וְלַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת-בַּקָּשָׁתִי--יָבוֹא הַמֶּלֶךְ וְהָמָן, אֶל-הַמִּשְׁתֶּה אֲשֶׁר אֶעֱשֶׂה לָהֶם, וּמָחָר אֶעֱשֶׂה, כִּדְבַר הַמֶּלֶךְ
Why didn't Esther speak her mind at this first party? Why did she wait until the next day? Ibn Ezra(I think) says that she was waiting to see some confirmation that this was the correct way to go. When she didn't, she chose to delay any action. The next day, after Haman was degraded by having to lead Mordechai through the city, Esther interpreted that as a message that the time was ripe to proceed.

Mishloach Manos cards

It seems that there's a new fundraising campaign picked up by several organizations. Basically, you buy cards from them and send them to your out-of-town friends instead of Mishloach Manos. On the card is printed a short message, that instead of sending Mishloach Manos, a donation has been made in your name to the organization.

The mitzva of Mishloach Manos is sending two food items to a friend. That's the way it's brought down in halacha.

Sending "manos" to a friend. Not cards.

In no way am I knocking these excellent organizations. They do great work and I fully support them. But this is not Mishloach Manos in any shape or form. If it was a donation to the poor I could live with it, because it's in the purim spirit even if it's not Mishloach Manos at all. But in some cases it's not going to poor people either.

This is not Mishloach Manos, and in my personal opinion it's wrong to raise money this way.

Good people are still around

A relative of mine is a rebbi in a fairly popular school in a large Orthodox community. He told me the following story.

It seems that the custom in this school (and many others) is that parents send a gift or a small cash token of appreciation to the rebbi around Purim time, if they feel he earned it. This past week a man came over to him after school.

"You probably don't recognize me, but I'm a parent of a student that was in your class six years ago. I really appreciate the job you did with my son back then. I remember that you were out of town for Purim that year. I was quite relieved when I heard you were leaving, because I was going through some very rough financial difficulties at the time. I want you to know that it has bothered me all this time. Recently I've hit the big time, and I want to show my appreciation.

He handed him a nice, large check.

There are still some good people around.

They're out there.

Happy Purim!

An important message to remember:



Oh, and if you're looking for me this Purim, I'll be the guy wearing this T shirt:



Happy Purim!

Welcome aboard!

The preceding post was written by the newest member of the Hayom team, Holy Brother. Holy Brother is by profession a licensed psychotherapist.

Welcome aboard!

Guilt? Shame?

Well, that was some letter to Rabbi Twerski. Where do they dig up people who scratch 3 year olds. I am not even sure what that means to do that out of anger to a child. Doesn't sound normal. I don't know much about stories of the "Chozeh of Lublin" but it seems to me that Rabbi Twerski was stretching more than a bit. I do have letters after my name and legally a person who did what this "Rebbi" did should have been reported to the authorities for child abuse and for sure should be seeking help. That would be help for his abuse of children and not for his guilt!

The whole story sounds weird and the response of Rabbi Twerski sounds weirder. I have to agree with LkwdGuy. If this pennitent says that "I don't know why I did it" then he should not be teaching at all. He definitely has issues that could flare up at any time. His lack of insight is potentially dangerous.

May Hashem protect us all from such craziness.

Seeking Solutions???

Hamodia Weekly features an advice column called Seeking Solutions by Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twersky, M.D. Readers send in their questions, usually related in some way to mental health, a field in which he is certainly quite an expert. This is from this weeks column:

Q. I have been teaching for six years and, baruch hashem, I'm doing very well. I know I'm well liked by all. I'm writing to you because, unfortunately, during my first year of teaching I was very hard on a three year old boy in my class. I'm afraid I abused him emotionally and physically. for example, I often made derogatory statements like "You're such a baby." I also hit, scratched and punished him very often. This, despite the fact that he was very good. I don't know what got into me then but now, six years later, I still can't forgive myself! I never harmed a child since. On the contrary, I'm exceptionally warm to them. I really love children!

Please help me get over this. I cry every night and can't sleep. When I see this child now and talk to him, he speaks to me normally but who know what he thinks inside? Who knows how much damage I did to him?

A. The Chozeh of Lublin once took several talmidim on a trip. The coachman was unable to control the horse and it took off, getting lost in a forest. On Friday afternoon they entered a village and went to shul. When everyone had left, the elderly shammes invited them to his home. "I don't have much to serve you" he said, "but for guests who are dressed in weekday clothes,
it will be enough. Where are you from?"

When they said Lublin, the shammes said "I hear there is a tzaddik in Lublin whom they call the Chozeh. Have you met him?" When they said yes, he said, "You have a zechus that you know Yaakov Yitzchok."

"Have you ever met Yaakov Yitzchok?" the Chozeh asked.

The shammes sighed. "Yes, Itzik'l was a bit wild. I was his melamed. He often ran away from cheder. I would punish him and beat him. One day I went to look for him and found him on the outskirts of town. He was lying on the grass with his hands streched to the sky, repeating Shema Yisrael. I realized then that he was not a usual child. I never beat him again but I am heartbroken that I beat him so many times. How can he ever forgive me"?

The Chozeh said, "I am Yaakov Yitzchok, and I forgave you many years ago."

So, my friend, you are in good company.

There was an incident with Reb Zalman of Volozin who never forgave himself for having offended someone. The Gaon of Vilna told him that a person has an obligation to do teshuvah and ask forgiveness from someone he offended. If he cannot locate the person to ask forgiveness and sincerely regrets his action, he can be sure that Hashem will put it in the other person's heart to forgive him.

Your treating children now with extra sensitivity and kindness is the way of teshuvah, of rectifying a mistake. Continuing to castigate yourself and feeling miserable will not help the child. It is appropriate that you ask mechillah and tell the child that you are sorry for having treated him that way. Inasmuch as he is still a minor, you should ask mechillah again when he turns thirteen.

This article made me sad. And then it made me mad. Very mad. Teshuvah and forgiveness are wonderful things but it does not guarantee that this rebbi will not lose it at some time in the future. Until that is addressed he has no right being a rebbi. Or a father, for that matter.

I don't have any title before my name and there are no letters after my name but I do have some common sense. That common sense tells me that someone who hit and scratched a three year old for absolutely no reason (not that there ever is a good reason), and six years later still has no idea what caused him to do it, should not be teaching children. Period. End of story.

A conversation on Tefillah

The following is an email conversation between myself and LkwdGuy. I found it very interesting, perhaps you will as well.

Shtender:
Did you see Jameel's latest post about the Carlebach Minyanim?
I think that sometimes the spirit of tefilla gets lost (I'm not speaking about Jameel, it just made me think of it). Whatever happened to standing in reverence and awe before the creator of the universe instead of singing and dancing?

LkwdGuy:
Davening is about connecting with God, realizing your personal relationship with God. What works well for one person might not work as well for another. I think that, within the framework of Halachah there can be more than one way of reaching that objective. Now, I agree that Halachah requires awe and reverence for some parts of davening (shemonah esrai, for one) and singing and dancing would have no place there, but pesukai d'zimra might be a legitimate place for someone who really feels such a level of joy and ecstasy, to express it through singing and dancing. I mean, it's called pesukai DZIMRA for a reason.

Shtender:
I'm not speaking about specific parts of davening where it's traditional to sing and dance such as Lecha Dodi. I'm talking more in general, how davening is losing the spirit it should have, as chazal intended it to be instead of sacrificing it for the great experience and warm, fuzzy feeling that a singing and dancing can bring. Davening is not a feel-good excercise.

Remember the famous chassidic story about the guy whistling because he didn't know how to daven? Come on!

LkwdGuy:
I happen to love that story and I think it has alot of truth to it.

I also have my own version of it. Last Yom Kippur my wife was davening at home and my 3 year old daughter was watching her say all the Al Chet's. After a few minutes, my daughter ran off and came running back with her picture machzor that she made in school and began copying what she saw my wife doing. The problem was, she didn't know what words to say. It was all my wife could do to keep from laughing when my daughter started singing Adon Olam while looking in to her paper machzor and pounding her chest.

My point is, the guy in the whistling story was yearning to have some kind of relationship with his Creator. He saw everyone else around him involved in fervent prayer. He lacked the ability to express himself through traditional means. But he was not going to be left out. He tried to achieve that by doing what he knew how to do best. What could be wrong with that?

Shtender:
There's nothing wrong with it, the problem is that there's also nothing right with it. Davening can be done in any language, Hebrew is not required. The main thing is that you talk to God. When one talks to the King of Kings and actually realizes to whom he's speaking, reverence and awe will come on it's own. Your daughter is 3 years old, so she doesn't know the meaning of Adon Olam either. Does God listen to her? I don't know, but I do know that halacha tells us how to pray. Do you know why we daven the way we do? It's not so that God listens to us better that way, it's because that's the recipe for tefillah that is laid out in halacha. We're doing things the way we're supposed to so God will listen to our tefillos because of that. And whistling is not part of it.

LkwdGuy:
I think it would be helpful do define "listen" as in "Does God listen to her?". We believe that God know whats going on in the universe on a micro level. I don't think that there is some kind of checklist of criteria that have to be met in order for Hashem to 'accept' a tefilah. If I recall correctly (I'll try to look around for a source for this), it was only because people found themselves incapable of expressing their needs that the Anshei Kineses Hagedola instituted a specific format for tefilah. But I don't think that would exclude all other means of communicating with God.

Shtender:
You write that Chazal institued tefillah because people didn't have a way to express themselves. Couldn't they whistle? Or say Adon Olam? Or whatever they wanted to say? Afterall, if it's just the thought that counts, not knowing how to express oneself should not be a problem.

I have my own whistling-type story as well. I don't know if there still is, but there used to be a nightly bus of Breslov chassidim that goes from Rechov Shivtei Yisrael to Kever Rachel and Me'oras Hamachpela. It leaves Jerusalem a little after midnight and arrives in Chevron via Kever Rachel at around 4 AM. They say tikkun chatzos on the bus and usually finish it by the time they get to Chevron. Then they do the strangest thing. They scream. Loudly. With no words. Just screaming at the top of their lungs for 10 minutes outside Me'oras Hamachpela. I asked them what it was all about and I got a speech about the power of Kol, and how it says "Vayitzak el Hashem" and Hashem listened. All I got out of it was a pounding headache. It's ridiculous. A primal scream may be moving to us but that's not what tefilah is about. Tefilah is about the words that you say and understand.

As far as God "listening", I admit I don't know exactly what that means. Yes, God knows everything going on, so why does he want us to daven?

LkwdGuy:
Yes, they could have whistled or said adon olam ( I don't think it was composed yet) but then they would not have been properly expressing their needs. Just to clarify, I didn't say that whistling is the best form of teffilah. I was just saying that that story sums up what the spirit of real teffilah is all about, i.e. a yearning to relate on some level to our Creator.

Regarding your last point (why daven if God knows everything?):
I once heard from a very wise and learned man an interesting explanation of this. I'll try to summarize it as best as I can.

How can human beings relate psychologically and emotionally to God who is totally beyond comprehension?

It should be obvious that God is not in need of human service. Clearly, man's relation to the Creator is for the benefit of the creature not the Creator. Just as God has created us with needs
He also created the means of fulfilling those needs. As humans, our needs are not only physical they are also emotional, psychological and spiritual. An intelligent human NEEDS to feel an ongoing relationship with his Creator. True prayer is perhaps the most obvious example of relating to God. Chazal structured prayer in a manner that would resemble the way a human would relate to his human master-king. Relating to a human king requires praise, thanks, petition and supplication. These are basic to a human relationship. As humans we feel the need to do these things to feel secure in that relationship. To satisfy this human need our Creator has ordained that such a relationship exist, and that He responds to it as if He were that human master-king. In other words, it is not our prayers and our praise that sway God. Rather, He has set up a system where His response to our needs are contingent on our prayer, to satisfy our emotional, psychological and spiritual needs.

Check out the Rappi (not a typo)

Y-Love (Yitz Jordan) is an MC unlike any other. He is a black convert into the Bostener sect of chassidus (the mystical branch of Orthodox Judaism). He is among the most innovative freestylers on the scene, weaving seamless polyglot rhymes in English, Arabic, Yiddish, and Hebrew. Most unique is Y-Love's revival of Aramaic, the ancient language used to discuss Jewish Law. With each word he spits in the tongue of the Talmud, Y-Love breathes new life into Hasidism, and hip-hop, one beat at a time.

Saw this on Orthodoxanarchist.

Bush spoof

Love him or hate him you have to laugh at this. This is the best, funniest, spot-on impersonation I have ever seen. I was literally laughing out loud.

Link dead.

Apathy Alert!

About six months ago, right before the disengagement took place, Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz, the editor of the American Yated wrote an editorial that made me think that maybe, just maybe some good could come out of that horrible event. I didn't save the paper* but from memory here's the gist of what he wrote:

On yom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol exited the Kodesh HaKodoshim he said a prayer for the welfare of the Jewish people in the upcoming year. After he completed that he added a special prayer for the Anshei HaSharon. These were people who lived in the mountains where the land was unstable and prone to earthquakes and mudslides. This was his prayer: "May it be Your will that their homes should not be their graves".

Now, we might ask ourselves, is it smart to live in an area like that? Were there not safer places in Israel to live? The answer is that it probably was not very smart to live in these places. If the Anshei HaSharon would have asked the daas torah of the time, the would have been told not to live there. But for the Kohen Gadol, all that was irrelevent. As the representative of Klal Yisroel his job was to pray for the wellfare of all Jews regardless of if he personally agreed with their chosen lifstyle. They were his brothers. It's as simple as that.

The same is true for the residents of Gush Katif and the other settlements. Ideological, we may not agree on very much. However, they are still our brothers and they are in pain. It's as simple as that.

Now, I'll be very honest. This editorial surprised me. Alot. I did not expect it from the Yated. I expected them to pretty much ignore the whole thing or to report on it as if it had nothing to do with their readership. Sort of like a tragedy in Zimbabwe.

Fast forward six months.

I attended an event this past Sunday. It was a video satellite hookup to Israel to raise awareness for the plight of the Gush Katif evacuees. We heard from Rabbi Berel Wein, Rabbi Emanuel Feldman and a few others. Most notably (to me, at least), Rav Shmuel Kaminetsky addressed the event and stressed how it is incumbent on every person to do whatever they can to help the evacuees. I also heard from someone who was there, that Rav Shmuel spent Shabbos in Monsey and spoke friday night at Bais Shraga to a very yeshivish crowd. He gave a shiur on the topic of Machatzis HaShekel and he ended off by saying that although he was not asked to make an appeal for Gush Katif, there will be an event on Sunday and everyone should try to attend and to "give a krechtz" for our fellow Jews.

The venue was a fairly MO shul in an unnamed community. My motivation for attending was because I figured that there would be a large showing from the MO community and I didn't think there would be much of a showing from the more yeshivish community. To my surprise there was no great showing from any group. My first assumption was that they didn't do a good job promoting the broadcast, but as the speakers started talking it seemed clear from what they were saying that this showing is typical. They are getting this same response everywhere.

Apathy.

I know that Young Israel ran a very successful clothing drive for the evacuees. I don't now what else is currently going on but much more has to happen. Why has the Yated not mentioned this subject again in any kind of personal manner (as opposed to a news story)? That editorial from last August rings very hollow when there was absolutely no follow up to it in six month.

Some links:

Click here to donate money for Purim costumes.

For general donations for the evacuees click here.

There is also an organization called American Friends of Gush Katif that was repeatedly mentioned on the broadcast.

American Friends of Gush Katif
P.O. Box 1184
Teaneck NJ 07066

In Canada:
Canadian UJA
4066 Bathurst St
Toronto , Ontario
M2r3v3

*UPDATE: Here's Rabbi Lipschutz's editorial in his words.

UPDATE 2: Post has been updated with video of RSK's comments.