Welcome to The Thinking Yid, formerly known as Acher’s Musings.

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Zionism: Defeating the Slave Mentality

The Prophets of old inspired the Jewish people: speaking of pursuing justice, admonishing kings for their sins, and exhorting their listeners to drop their evil ways and pursue Godliness and righteousness. It is with some interest, then, that we read the book of Nachum (Nahum), which deals primarily with the non-Jewish Assyrians and their capital, Nineveh. The Assyrians had been brutalizing and subjugating Israel for a long time, culminating in the reign of Sargon II, when the Northern Tribes of Israel were expelled from the land. (more…)

Bein Hazmanim, Do It Right!

The torah tells in Bereshis 49:14 Yissachar Chamor Gorim – Yissachar is a strong-boned Donkey. Rashi explains this is referring to a Torah Scholar, as bearer of the yoke of the torah. Rovetz Bein Ha’misfasayim – Crouching down between the Boundaries.  Rashi further explains; just as a donkey broods along day and night merely crouching down to get a brief rest between the city limits, so is the way of the Torah Scholar.

The Chofetz Chaim, based on this verse write – The way of a True Torah Scholar is, he wearies day and night in studying Torah, (more…)

Whitewashing Gedolim

Why do we whitewash the lives of our gedolim? Why is that we feel that if we say a gadol made a mistake, or wasn’t the smartest person in the room, or wasn’t always ecstatic that it in some way takes away from their greatness? Why does every gadol story go something like this: He mastered chumash by age three, Mishnah by age five, and Shas by age ten. He never was unhappy a day in his life. (more…)

Articles are currently under review for posting! More and more people are being made aware of the opportunity to say what they think and feel! If you are reading this, (more…)

Recapturing the Spirit of Zionism

How to discuss Zionism? The apathy among Jews on the question of Zionism is a listlessness that has spread throughout the Jewish people. Few could even remember of the tremendous energies and passions that were the hallmarks of Zionism just some decades ago. Perhaps there is no longer a need for remarkable energy and passion in our support of Zionism. (more…)

“Right is Left and Left is Right”: A Rebuttal

In the “About” section of Acher’s Musings Blog, https://achersmusings.wordpress.com/about/, it says thus:

“Many people are… fooled into believing that they cannot think for themselves. They need a Rebbeh, a Gadol to think for them and to get them closer to Hashem. That is diametrically opposed to the views of Judaism. We believe that each… person has the ability to connect with Hashem on their own. They can look to others for inspiration but…”

How to square the circle? I am referring to what is called Daas Torah. (more…)

Thoughts on Segu’los

Recently I was in the Living Torah Museum in Boro Park, New York. As the fascinating tour was going on the guide mentioned three different segu’los. While thinking about the subject of segu’los in general it occurred to me that there may be a great downside to this practice. In a way this idea takes our focus away from the One who provides the bracha, Hashem, and refocuses us on what an object can do for us. (more…)

Do you disagree with something someone wrote? Do you have a dissenting opinion? (more…)

Yerushalmi: Hc Svnt Dracones

In ancient times, writers would draw monsters, dragons, and all manner of fearsome beasts at the edge of their maps. This often signified that there was no knowledge of that darkly unknown area, and thus it was frightening to go there, or even think of going there. There was even a term for this in Latin (more…)

Published February 2016.

Shabbos Drasha, Parshas Tetzaveh

Rebishe Perks

This week’s Parsha starts off by telling us “V’yikche aylechu shemen zeis zoch” to take pure olive to burn in the lamp continuously. We see the Torah instructing us in a chronological order. In last week’s parsha it gives the exact details and the intricate measurements on how to build the Mishkan – the Tabernacle. Now that we have the Mishkan up and standing, we are told on who should be the ones to Minister in it, to do the Avodah. In the first part of this week’s Parsha we go through the details on how to make the vestments for the children of Ahron, the Kohanim, on how they should dress while doing the services. (more…)

This article was written a few months back.

Haters of the Draft

With the day of “demonstration and prayer” in Israel and the one in New York over, the Israeli cabinet is set next week to take up the Shaked commission’s resolution to have a universal draft for all. This will require a good part of the Charedi community to join the army. Speaker after speaker, article after article in the Charedi newspapers condemned this as an “attack on Torah”, saying there is no other reason for this, other than to destroy torah learning. (more…)

Rashbi’s Yahrzeit and a Printing Mistake

If one looks in the Shulhan Arukh or Tur, as well as various early commentaries, one will not find any other reason as to why there should be simcha on Lag Ba’Omer, other than the students of R. Akiva stopped dying on Lag Ba-Omer. How then, did the connection between Meron, Rashbi, and Lag Ba’Omer come about? (more…)

Why Schlissel Challah?

The Shabbos following Pesach, there is a custom of some to bake “Schlissel Challah” – challah in the design of a key, alleged to be a segulah for parnassah.

There is a debate about the origins of this custom, many claiming it is rooted in early Christian practices. (more…)