Re-centralization of Halachah Essential to the Mission of Judaism

A thing in the Torah that I did not understand when I first read it as a young lad. In Parshas Netsavim, (Deut. 30: 12 & 13) Moshe Rabbeinu says that the Torah is not in the Heavens, and in the next verse, not over the sea (that we would have to send someone to get it for us.) If we would have to go to the heavens to get the Torah, kal vechomer, logically there is no need to say we would have to traverse  over the sea. Boats have existed for a long time, even before Moshe Rabbeinu. Spacecraft, only recently. Why did he not reverse that and say, it is not in the sea, and not in the heavens. The first verse refers to the generation of Moshe himself, he personally went to the Heavens to get the Torah. The second verse refers to the generation of Moshiach, where everyone’s rabbi speaks his own version of halachah and a ruling may be found on this or that side of the sea.

Assuming actual halachah is being spoken by a random rav, we can say eilu veeilu Divrey Elokim Chayim, these and these are the Words of the the Living God. But when those words contradict, what is going on may be the Words of God, but not the intent of God’s law, which would be one law for the stranger and the resident in the land. Sometimes there are strict rules or lenient ones that are suspended in midair, due to the power of poskim to change the way God’s world is run. But when the very rules divide rather than unite, the intention behind HaShem’s law is not being fulfilled. All of those congregations are fully religious and God fearing, and yet they follow 3 different rulings that allow no room for the other. It is no longer loshon hora that is the main cause of our nation’s strife, and exile, but also a symptom of the times. No longer are we in a position where we only need to repent and God will redeem, but we are at a crossroad and do not know which direction to go as a collective. Without redemption, we cannot achieve the full unity we need as a people in our time.

We need a single united assembly of halachic deciders, like the knesses hagedolah (Great Assembly) in ancient times, to put our nation back on one path again. Is a smart phone essential for business, is it a tool of the Satan? Is this eruv a source of unity or spiritual destruction to our people? We don’t need to vote, we only need to know what the Will of our Creator truly is, and we would follow it. That is the only way to win such a dispute.

We are bidden repeatedly in Tanach to not veer to the left or right from the Torah. Nowadays it’s like there is also an up or down by some rabbis, and new authorities are trying to put in diagonal ways as well. Therefore I say, the real tool of the Satan in our time is the decentralization of Torah authority. If the law is really more like the Chareidi Rabbis or the Modern Rabbis, or somewhere in between, so be it. We will not engage in activity of insulting the other side and making the Satan rejoice in our strife. We only need know the direction that our beloved Creator truly wishes us to go and there we shall.

May HaShem please send Moshiach ben David to bring back to our people this precious proactive unity in Halachah, without delay. Hashiveinu HaShem Eilecha, venashuvah, chadeish yamainu, kekedem, Bring us back to You, O God, and we will return, renew our days, as of old. Amain.

Temple Mount is the Heart of Judaism

In reaction to the UNESCO's assault on Jewish rights to the Temple Mount:

"The Temple Mount and Western Wall are obviously the seat of Judaism throughout history. A World government respects and upholds International Law. A wayward International Organization, not a governmental body, makes meaningless decrees like this one. 

This weak attempt at redefining history is not only one of the worse blatant frauds ever attempted, but any attempt to remove the Temple Mount from the Jews is an assault on the Jewish faith itself. A violation of their freedom of religion. 

There is no conception of sanctuary in Judaism outside of the Temple Mount. Synagogues are called, "Small Temples" in Talmudic law. An attempt to bring some of the holiness of the Temple Mount to the worshipers who can't go to the real Temple.  It is the heart of Judaism, the seat of it's connection between Heaven and Earth. The interface to imbue humanity with Godliness still flows from there, even today, in Jewish belief. The towering preexisting holiness in that sacred place overrides foreign worshipers and stone throwers that may frequent there today, and brings blessing to the world regardless." 


~ Rabbi Professor Alan Friedlander

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Arutz 7 reported:

The UN passed a resolution Thursday denying the Jewish connection to the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. The resolution was supported by 24 states, including Russia and China. 6 countries opposed and 26 abstained.The resolution maintains that the Western Wall and Temple Mount will be referred to by their Arabic names and the Hebrew terms for the sites will only appear in quotation marks in UN references.

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Prime Minister Netanyahu made the following statement at the beginning of the Bible study group at Prime Minister's residence:​​

"The UNESCO theater of the absurd continues. 

Today that organization adopted another delusional decision that states that the Jewish People have no connection to the Temple Mount or the Western Wall. 

Even if they do not read the Bible, I would suggest that UNESCO members visit the Arch of Titus in Rome. The Arch shows what the Romans brought back to Rome after they destroyed and looted the Second Temple on the Temple Mount 2,000 years ago. There, engraved on the Arch of Titus, is the seven-branched menorah that is the symbol of the Jewish People, and today is the symbol of the State of Israel. 

Soon, UNESCO will decide that Emperor Titus engaged in Zionist propaganda. 

To say that Israel has no connection to the Temple Mount is like saying that China has no connection to the Great Wall of China or that Egypt has no connection to the pyramids. With this absurd decision, UNESCO has lost the modicum of legitimacy it had left. 

But I believe that historical truth is stronger and that truth will prevail. And today we are dealing with the truth." 

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Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Hotovely responded regarding today's (13 October) decision of UNESCO's Executive Board: 

"The Executive Board of UNESCO has disgraced its international mandate in this politicized and distorted resolution. The fact that more states abstained than supported the resolution underscores the deep reservations of many states with regard to this shameful resolution. The countries that supported this resolution have lent their voice to the lie propagated by the Palestinians that the Temple Mount is an exclusively Islamic site. This falsification of history is an affront to the ancient Jewish and Christian connections to Jerusalem."

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Some 26 nations abstained from the vote and two were absent all together. 

The six countries who voted in support of Israel were: the United States, Great Britain, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Germany and Estonia.