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<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>From:
Richard Wolberg <A
href="mailto:cantorwolberg@cox.net">cantorwolberg@cox.net</A></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2><BR>>>Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik used to comment that "he is
willing to see <BR>the Hell
he gets
for learning Xmas eve....</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>.</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Does
anyone have an answer for: If one of the reasons for this minhag
<BR>was the danger of getting beaten up outside, then why isn't there a
<BR>such minhag for Easter? <<<BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV>I heard it said about the Sochachover (IIRC) that he was willing to
risk whatever Gehenom he would get for learning Torah on Tisha B'Av.
Can anyone confirm that?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Your question about Easter -- xmas is especially associated with the night,
with the darkness of night -- that's when their god was born and that's when
they are all outside, going to church. Easter is mainly celebrated on
Sunday morning and indeed I think that Jews did tend to stay indoors and keep
their heads down on Easter, but there isn't the same association with danger
simply because it is celebrated by day and not by night. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also Easter often overlaps Pesach so people aren't learning so much
anyway, they're busy with other mitzvos. And the first night of Pesach
especially is "Leil Shimurim." I imagine in Europe when they opened
their doors and said, "Shfoch chamascha" they had special kavana for Easter
churchgoers and pogromists. Also, speaking
mystically/kabbalistically/cosmically, Yoshka's birth unleashed all kinds of
evil into the world for us Jews, his alleged resurrection not so much. All
this is just speculation.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>(PS I said "for us Jews" because for goyim, on the whole, Christianity was
an improvement over paganism and was better than any other religion
around at the time it started, or around today. Can the same religion be
an elevation for goyim and a curse for Jews? Yes. Of course those
Christians who were "inspired" by their religion to commit murder lost whatever
benefit their souls might have had from their religion.)</DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B><BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============</B></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">See AOL's <A title="http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004" href="http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004" target="_blank">top rated recipes</A> and <A title="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aoltop00030000000003" href="http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aoltop00030000000003" target="_blank">easy ways to stay in shape</A> for winter.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>