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| Yitzchok Zilberstein - BANNING CHOLENT ON WEEKDAYS! |
WIKIPEDIA: Yitzchok Zilberstein (Hebrew: יצחק זילברשטיין, also spelled Silberstein) (born 1934) is a prominent Orthodox rabbi, posek (Jewish legal authority)[1] and expert in medical ethics.[2] He is the av beis din of the Ramat Elchanan neighborhood of Bnei Brak, the Rosh Kollel of Kollel Bais David in Holon,[3] and the Rav of Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak.[4] His opinion is frequently sought and quoted on all matters of halakha for the Israeli Litvak yeshiva community.
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There was a time — not long ago — when the word of a rabbi stirred souls, not soup. When a psak halacha was a reflection of eternity, not a reflection of insecurity. When Torah leadership was defined by humility, by wisdom, by a deep trembling before the Divine — not by fear of being out-pioused by the next bearded bureaucrat in line.
But now… now, my friends, we live in a generation of rabbinic theater. Of halachic clown shows disguised as daas Torah. Of men who wear the garments of greatness but issue rulings that make a mockery of Mount Sinai.
They tell us not to taste the cholent before Shabbos — as if the gates of Gehinnom lie hidden in a spoonful of barley. They tell brides to wear oven mitts at their weddings lest the touch of joy violate some invented stringency. They publish handbooks banning birthday cakes because they resemble foreign cult rituals. They decree that children should not laugh too loudly on Shabbos — because the angels might mistake it for weekday joy.
And I ask you: Is this Torah? Is this Yiddishkeit?
No, my friends. This is not Torah. This is Torah-ainment.
This is not yirat shamayim. This is fear-based fanaticism masquerading as piety.
Fear Disguised as Frumkeit
Torah does not need your clown car of chumras. Torah does not tremble in the face of cholent.
Torah is eternal, majestic, deep. It is the song of Moses, the fire of the prophets, the tears of Rabbi Akiva, the logic of the Rambam. And when rabbis turn it into a tool for performative extremism — they do not protect it. They betray it.
Where Are the Sane?
Where are the voices of sanity?
Where are the rabbis who say: “Enough.
Enough with the circus. Enough with the petty, the absurd, the
desperate need to make headlines by inventing halachic handcuffs.”
The Jew is not a clown. The Shabbos table is not a joke. The Beit Midrash is not a stage.
We need leaders who can tell the difference between kedusha and comedy.
We need teachers who speak with heart and halacha, not with a press release in one hand and a list of new bans in the other.
My friends, the sacred is being buried beneath piles of pamphlets, policies, and proclamations that are as absurd as they are unnecessary. The world is burning, the Jewish people are fracturing — and some of our rabbis are busy banning orange juice with pulp because it might remind someone of a grating instrument on Yom Tov.
We must reclaim Torah from the hands of those who cheapen it with their need to be holier than logic. We must say — with love, but with strength:
The Torah belongs to all of us — not just to the clowns with big brainless mouths!
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| REPUBLISHED |
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/and-they-turned-the-holy-into-a-circus/