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At 08:31 PM 4/12/2021, Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Similar (perhaps identical)
complaints are often raised by schoolchildren.<br>
And yet we continue to send our children to school, despite their
protests,<br>
because they need the input in order to grow, whether they can
appreciate<br>
it right now or not.</blockquote><br>
One does not hear such complaints from children who have good, qualified
teachers. If the instructor is interesting and knows who to present
material, the children will look forward to going to school.<br><br>
R Akiva Miller:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Yes, rabbis (and teachers) have
wide ranges of speaking ability, and of<br>
communication effectiveness. And they have varying styles and
favorite<br>
topics, just as the audience is more or less interested in different<br>
things. If someone wants to choose a different shul where he can get
more<br>
out of it, that's great. But to deliberately choose a place where they
can<br>
escape this hashpa'ah entirely? I fear that too many people are
simply<br>
trying to avoid the hard work of trying to grow.</blockquote><br>
I find the use of the word "grow" surprising. My
lawn grows, yet it has to be cut down regularly. If I am not
underweight and my waistline grows, this is not a plus.<br>
I think better terminology would be to improve positively in Torah
observance and learning.<br><br>
Let me give you a concrete example of a Rov who clearly raised the level
of observance and Torah learning of his baalei batim, and how he did
it.<br><br>
When he first became the rabbi of his shul, he consciously tried to drive
away anyone who would not follow his approach to Yahadus. When he
saw women whose necklines were too low, he publicly said in shul,
"Ladies, cover your utters!" He was staunchly
anti-Zionistic and made this clear time and time again. He made it clear
that married women have to cover their hair. Those who did
not like his views and approach to Yahadus left. From the core that
remained he built a dynamic Torah shul.<br><br>
He began learning with a group of men who had very limited Torah
backgrounds. One of them told me that at the very start he would have
them write the nekudos in the text so that they would pronounce the words
properly. The fellow who told me this eventually learned through
Shas many times. <br><br>
His congregation truly had positive improvement in Torah observance and
learning. <br><br>
How many rabbis will have the courage to strongly speak out
publicly against practices of their congregant that are not
appropriate.? Not many, and if they do, the chances are they will
no longer be the rabbi of the shul.<br><br>
There is a Young Israel near me where many of the older women come to
shul with their hair not properly covered. As far as I know,
while the rabbi has spoken about many topics, he has never
addressed this one or any of the other aspects of Tznius such as sleeve
and hem length. Why not? I suspect that he is fearful of the
response if he deals forcefully with these topics. <br><br>
R Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Count me among those who often
can't remember the rabbi's topic two hours<br>
later. More often, I'm already at a loss two minutes later. And even
more<br>
often, I am daydreaming even while he is still speaking. But that is
MY<br>
problem, not his. I need to fight to try to pay attention and grab
whatever<br>
bits I can. It's not easy, but isn't that part of what this world is
for?</blockquote><br>
No, it is not your problem. If the rabbi is an excellent speaker,
then you will pay attention and listen carefully. I lived in
Elizabeth, NJ for 6 years. When Rav P. M. Teitz came to the shul
where I davened and spoke, I listened. Even though Yiddish is not
my first language, I enjoyed his speeches in Yiddish more that his
speeches in English, because he spoke a beautiful Litvishe Yiddish.
<br><br>
Rav Shimon Schwab's addresses at Agudah Conventions were one of the
highlights of the Agudah weekends. I am sure that his speeches in
KAJ were just as interesting and well received. It is the speaker's job
to capture your interest. Most rabbonim do not know how and hence
cannot do this.<br><br>
R Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">If certain people are "left
out" when the topic is "heavily focused on<br>
Torah subjects", how will they ever grow? For many people,
especially those<br>
who for whatever reason do not attend minyan during the week, the
rabbi's<br>
Shabbos morning speech will be their main (or only) exposure to any
Torah<br>
thoughts at all.</blockquote><br>
How will women (grow) improve positively if the topic is heavily focused
on Gemara? To the best of my knowledge, the overwhelming majority
of Bais Yaakovs do not teach gemara to their students.<br><br>
R. Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I suspect that the response will
be something like: "No! I AM trying to<br>
grow! I have a regular learning seder, and I go to lots of shiurim!"
I<br>
truly applaud that - adding to one's knowledge of Torah is a very
good<br>
thing. But a rav has a very important ability that a maggid shiur lacks:
If<br>
he sees areas where the community needs to be stronger, he has the<br>
authority to speak about it publicly. If a maggid shiur tries that,
a<br>
common response may be, "Interesting, but
off-topic."</blockquote><br>
Why isn't the rabbi the one giving most or all of the shiurim? The
rov I referred to above who greatly improved in a positive way his
congregation, gave vitally al of the shiurum in his shul.<br><br>
R Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Here are a few such questions
that came to me, just off the top of my head:<br><br>
How early can we daven maariv?</blockquote><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">How early can we count
sefira?</blockquote><br>
Check with <a href="http://www.myzmanim.com/"><h3><b>MyZmanim.com -
Instant zmanim for anywhere in the
world</a></b></h3><blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Is the
mechitza high enough? solid enough?</blockquote><br>
I agree that the answer to this requires a competent posek, and he may
not be the rabbi of the shul.<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Which hechsherim are okay for a
shul-sponsored kiddush?</blockquote><br>
As I have said more than once, most rabbis are not familiar with
the details of kashrus. Ask a rabbi whose meat is used is a
particular brand of delicatessen, and you will probably get the response,
"I do not know, call the organization giving the
supervision." <br><br>
I have davened in a shul where the rov, a highly respected talmud
chocham, allowed a women to bring in food from her home for a
Kiddush. He is makpid on yoshon, yet when I asked who gives
the supervision on a bakery whose products he allowed in shul, he
could not answer me. For many chassidic places, if a person is
considered heimish (whatever that means) , then he can bring in food to
the shul from his home.<br><br>
A rabbi should be able to establish guidelines, but in my
experience many do not have the proper knowledge. In discussions
with one rabbi, it quickly became clear that I knew more about the
intricacies of kashrus than he did. For the record, this rabbi was
a first rate talmud chocham.<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">If a problem is found in the
Sefer Torah, is it pasul?<br>
If the baal koreh makes a mistake, does he have to repeat
it?</blockquote><br>
Shouldn't the Baal Kriah be knowledgeable enough to answer these
questions? If he isn't, then should he be leining?<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Which kibudim (if any) can be
given to a non-shomer Shabbos who comes for a<br>
bar mitzvah?</blockquote><br>
Is their really any agreement on the answer to this situation?<br><br>
R. Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Your mention of the Ezras Torah
luach strikes me as odd, considering how<br>
very very often it cites differing minhagim. I've personally seen
cases<br>
where it adds to the confusion and machlokes instead of resolving it.
My<br>
recollection is that Rav Henkin originally designed it for the rabbis,
and<br>
specifically NOT for the congregants, in order to help those rabbis
in<br>
their leadership choices.</blockquote><br>
If it was for rabbis and gives differing minhagim, then how does it
help the rabbi in his "Leadership choices"?<br><br>
R Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">But more importantly than *any*
of that: If a not-so-nice incident occurs<br>
in the community, who will give them mussar about it?</blockquote><br>
Indeed, who will do this. I see practices that seem to me to be a
clear violations of the mitzvah to guard one's health being ignored by
multitudes, yet no one speaks out about this to chastise those who
do this. Just think of the large funerals in EY during the Carona virus
lockdowns. Didn't any rabbi of stature speak out against
this?<br><br>
R. Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">Yes, the OU will have very
detailed knowledge about the various food<br>
products. But what then? How do we pasken? Should I be machmir, or
perhaps<br>
it is more appropriate for me to be meikil? What does the OU know about
me<br>
and my community? How can the OU decide whether or not my shul should
allow<br>
food that's non-cholov yisroel, or non-yashan, or non-glatt? And
they're<br>
certainly not going to decide which *other* hechsherim should be
allowed.</blockquote><br>
These are questions that should be asked of a recognized posek, In
general, the rabbi of a shul is not a recognized posek. The Jewish Press
used to write, "Ask you local competent Orthodox rabbi."
>From this I deduced that there must be a local Orthodox rabbi who is not
competent! >:-}<br><br>
R. Akiva Miller wrote:<br><br>
<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">To sum up:<br><br>
RYL wrote: <<< Davening is routine every week.
>>><br><br>
That's not the answer. That's the PROBLEM!<br><br>
I'm not suggesting that most rabbis can successfully fix that problem.
Or<br>
even that a minority have been successful. But if one's preference is
to<br>
have no rabbi at all, he is surrendering.</blockquote><br>
Surrendering to what? Is he under attack and if so, by
whom?<br><br>
YL<br>
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