EZ Reads 7/10/09: Pinchas

Ezzie: Please have in mind Chaya bas Pesel. Thank you.

With thanks to Reb Abe, YSF, Justine, and others who sent some interesting pieces in... and yes, Stam is correct: I have a ton of pieces that I post randomly when they occur to me or when I get around to them. :)

• The Jewish Press has an important piece this week by R' Yakov Horowitz and Eliot Pasik called Let The System Work, showing how going to and using the courts provide for proper outcomes in cases of abuse. Please pass this piece around.
  
• An interesting piece in the Forward on gays in the military, citing Israel's acceptance and lack of issues because of it. Thought that comes to mind: Better to accept it than risk "Don't ask, Don't tell", where a high ranking member can be blackmailed for their relationship because of concern over losing their job.
• ProfK discusses whether breast exam signs should be placed in a mikvah. Personally, what caught my eye was the NY/OOT line in the beginning... which happened when a NYer came to town. Interesting.
• More OTML cool finds: How they kept Shabbos in the 1800s (rounding to the nearest 1/2 hour or so - even though they cared about zmanim).
  

A great story and message on Parshas Pinchas and the Jewish community, reminiscent of my favorite R' Salanter quote:

Parashat Pinchas: Fix Yourself and Then Fix Others

[Tal Chermon, p. 448 based on the book "Nivi Zahav" of Ha-Rav Zev Gold]

When Maran Ha-Rav Kook visited America to raise money for the yeshivot in Eretz Yisrael and Europe, one of the Rabbis asked during a reception: Why doesn't Ha-Rav follow the path of zealousness? Maran Ha-Rav Kook answered at length and told a story about a great Torah scholar and ethical person: "He once came to his Rabbi and said to him that he wants to perfect the world through the Almighty's kingdom. His Rabbi said to him: Go, my son and may Hashem help you. He went and tried, but was unsuccessful. The world remained as it was. He came to his Rabbi a second time to lament the lack of blessing in his actions. His Rabbi asked him: My son, have you already spiritually repaired your country and homeland that you are concerning about repairing the entire world? He took the hint and attempted to fix his country. But he also failed; no one listened to his voice. He returned to his Rabbi and related his new failure. His Rabbi said to him: My son, have you spiritually repaired your city? Why should you begin with a whole country? This wise man listened to him and turned to repairing his city, but the residents of his city also do not obey him. His Rabbi said to him: My son, have you already fixed your household? He realized that he was correct, and so he attempted to repair the members of his household. But they also did not listen to him. When he returned to lament before his Rabbi, the Rabbi said: My son, perhaps you did not fix yourself. Go and worry – first and foremost – about your soul, and after you are certain that you repaired everything that you could and you have no blemish – then the members of your household will see and learn from your ways, and they will be an example for the city, and the city for the country and the country for the entire world. This needs to be the path of a person who desires to spiritually repair others."

Finally, for fun:

• Microsoft Office 2010 has its own movie trailer - surprisingly good, actually; someone asks Microsoft if the files they've added is causing their computer to get fat - real or not, hilarious thread; while I'm not a Borat/Bruno fan, this Letterman clip of Sasha Baron Cohen (as himself for once) discussing interviewing a terrorist is quite funny; and in the most confusing finish I've seen, the winning pitcher in a baseball game no longer plays with the team who won and the winning run was scored by a guy who wasn't on the team when the game started. Now *that* is Major League Baseball.
  

Have a great Shabbos!