Rabbi Uri Pilichowski Resigns From Beth Jacob

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Luke Ford

*Update!*

I published a tip on this Monday.

Why did R. Pilichowski resign suddenly?

Beth Jacob emails its members today:

Dear Friends:

Rabbi Pilichowski has resigned his position at Beth Jacob effective July 3, 2011. He is currently on vacation with his family until that date. We expect to provide more details following a special meeting of the Board of the Directors called for early next week. We would like to thank Rabbi Pilichowski for his many years of devoted service to our congregation.

We thank you for your patience and assure you we are working diligently to assure an orderly transition of Rabbi Pilichowski’s duties.

Shabbat Shalom,

David West, outgoing president

Hugo Rose, incoming president

According to BethJacob.org:

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski grew up in Fair Lawn, New Jersey with Rabbi Benjamin Yudin and Rabbi Saul Zucker as his mentors and teachers. He attended Yavneh Academy day school and Frisch High School. He was the youth director in his synagogue in Fair Lawn, led a chesed program for his high school and various other community activities. Rabbi Pilichowski went to Israel to learn Torah at Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion for two years and then became a dorm counselor while continuing his Torah education. After marrying Aliza, Rabbi Pilichowski joined the Meretz Kollel, a Kollel for Israeli men, who upon completing their studies go out and develop communities in Israel and the Diaspora, and Rabbi Pilichowski did just that! After learning in Kollel Meretz, Rabbi Pilichowski began studying in the Kollel of Yeshivat Sha’arei Mevaseret Zion. While learning in Kollel in Eretz Yisrael, Rabbi Pilichowski taught and mentored younger Yeshiva boys. After completing his Rabbinical studies, under the supervision of Rabbi Sinai Adler, he moved to Los Angeles.

As Assistant Rabbi, Rabbi Pilichowski wears many hats. Besides his Rabbinical duties, Rabbi Pilichowski assists his wife Aliza with the youth department. Shabbat can find him running the hashkama minyan and then the best teen minyan in town, while during the week he is usually found at local eateries with the kids. As head of Beth Jacob’s Kollel, Rabbi Pilichowski matches charuvot with kollel members for weekly learning. With all of this, Rabbi Pilichowski finds time for his favorites, teaching Torah at five local schools, Hillel, YULA boys, YULA girls, Maimonides and Torah high.

An Israeli citizen and former member of the Israel Civil Defense, Rabbi Pilichowski prides himself in his involvement with the Pro-Israel community. He writes weekly divrie Torah for AIPAC, and with AIPAC’s help began the first Synagogue teen pro-Israel group. After its initial success, Rabbi Pilichowski was able to partner with YULA, YICC and JSU, to extend the program to teenagers throughout Los Angeles.

Rabbi Pilichowski also enjoys writing; he is the author of three books, a book on time management, called “Eis La’asos L’Hashem,” “The Sedra,” on the weekly Torah portion and “The Moadim,” which discusses the festivals. He writes no less than five weekly columns on topics ranging from parenting advice to practical halachah. He also writes a widely distributed weekly Dvar Torah newsletter for both adults and kids.

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Fourth Of July Declaration

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Luke Ford

On his radio show Jun. 23, 2011, Dennis Prager did his first Fourth of July ritual declaration (with a bunch of friends’ kids).

All of the calls to the show were negative about the ritual. Concluded Dennis: “It’s easy to criticize and hard to build.”

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The Rav Moshe Feinstein Foundation

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Luke Ford

Aron B. Tendler has helped establish the Rav Moshe Feinstein Foundation Inc., a nonprofit that will publish Rav Moshe‘s writings.

Here’s some background on what Aron Tendler has been doing since 2006.

The Jewish Press published Sep. 21, 2010:

It is with a sense of great anticipation that The Jewish Press shares with its readers the news that a trove of unpublished manuscripts from the late gadol and posek hador, Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, has been discovered and is being readied for publication in a series of seforim.

Included are Rav Moshe’s writings on the entire Shas, as well as hundreds of Responsa on complex halachic issues. Some of the materials date from Rav Moshe’s years in Europe and others from the period of the 1930s to the 1980s when he emerged as the most authoritative decisor of Jewish law. All the manuscripts have been authenticated by Rav Moshe’s children and the originals will be made available on CDs as each sefer is published by a foundation established by the children for that purpose.

The seforim will contribute immeasurably to Torah scholarship and the halachic portions will likely aid in resolving many of the complex issues that continue to arise in Jewish communities around the world.

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CITY GLATT INC ET AL VS MVP KOSHER FOODS LLC

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Luke Ford

Case Type: Othr Breach Contr/Warr-not Fraud (General Jurisdiction)
Case#: BC464034
CASE NAME: CITY GLATT INC ET AL VS MVP KOSHER FOODS LLC
Parties: CITY GLATT INC. – PL/PET,DOES 1-10 – Def/Res,LEV MIAMI LLC – PL/PET,MVP KOSHER FOODS LLC – Def/Res
Attorneys: REVERE FRANK ESQ. – Attorney for PL/PET
Date Filed: 06/21/2011

Case Type: Othr Breach Contr/Warr-not Fraud (General Jurisdiction)

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The Heming Way

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Luke Ford

Marty Beckerman has a new book out on the Ernest Hemingway method of being male.

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Life Rewards A Laser Focus

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Luke Ford

I know somebody who’s a massage therapist and an Alexander Technique teacher. He makes most of his money from doing massage. He has no Alexander clients. “I can’t sell this [Alexander] stuff,” he says.

On the other hand, almost everybody I know who wants to be a full-time Alexander teacher is a full-time Alexander teacher. Why? Because life rewards a laser focus.

If you go through life answering the question of what work do you do with “I’m an Alexander teacher”, then the world will regard you as an Alexander teacher. If you answer the question with, “I’m an Alexander teacher and I also do massage and pilates”, then the world will not regard you as an Alexander teacher.

Unless they’re sleeping with you, people have only a small amount of space in their brain for you. If they can’t easily categorize you, they will generally dismiss you as too much bother.

A friend of mine wants to become an Alexander teacher and he also wants to become a yoga teacher and to get certified in massage and also take some instruction in Feldenkreiss Technique.

“That’s fine,” I said, “but most people only have a small amount of space in their brain for you. If you do all that, you won’t be regarded by people as an Alexander teacher. If they want Alexander lessons, they’re not likely to come to you.”

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Randy Rabbi Marc Schneier Returns To Public Eye

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Luke Ford

Rabbi Marc Schneier has just had his fourth divorce.

That doesn’t stop him from opining publicly on right and wrong.

The Forward reports:

The Latino community, meanwhile, wishes to see Jewish lawmakers help push through comprehensive immigration reform, which is all but stuck in Congress.
“It’s a quid pro quo,” said Rabbi Marc Schneier, founder and president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding. “We have the issues that are important to us, and on the other hand there are issues they care about that we should support.” Schneier, who is not involved in the creation of the new congressional caucus but has been reaching out actively to the Latino community, stressed that the main interests of the Jewish community are fighting anti-Semitism and supporting Israel.
The initiative for creating the Latino-Jewish caucus came from the American Jewish Committee, which has been leading the pack in forging relations with the Latino community in the United States and with governments in South and Central America. Attending the Capitol Hill launch event were legislators from both sides of the aisle, ambassadors of Latin American countries and Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, who was fondly introduced by caucus co-chair Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Florida Republican of Cuban descent, as “Embajador Miguel Oren.”

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Baruch HaShem, My Dog Was Nifter

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Luke Ford

Heshy Fried gives this guide to sounding more religious, more Orthodox, than you really are:

Funeral: Say Levaya instead

Death, died or passed away: Nifter is the supreme substitute, if you want to be a bit more moderishe, but not really too unfrum you should use passed away – but always follow it up with zecher tzadik lebracha, ava-shalom or of blessed memory if you want to sound conservative.

How are you doing: The correct response is always to insert Baruch Hashem before whatever you want to say – so if your dog (obviously a BT because frummies are afraid of dogs because it’s a mesorah from the shtetl that the goyim had dogs during the progroms) died and someone says “nu, shmuely, vus mach-du” the correct response would be, “Baruch Hashem my dog was just nifter” and so on.

Friends: Your friends are no longer your friends, homeboys or crew – they are now called your chevra.

Israel: Always called eretz yisroel.

Kiddush Cup: Call it a becher from now on.

Gays: Of you ever talk about the gays at all, you have to throw in words like “toevah” and be sure to spit when you say it.

Meal: No longer is any meal just a meal, now you should call it seuda. Shabbos Meal becomes shabbos seuda.

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Miss America Contestants Discuss Evolution

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Luke Ford

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Should Rabbi Rabbs Move To The Beach?

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Luke Ford

Greg Leake reacts to this week’s Torah Talk:

Hi Luke and Rabbs,

Thanks a lot for addressing the questions I posed. I think now that maybe some of the situations i’ve seen that involved a well-to-do, prominent Orthodox Jew getting together with a (good-looking) goy may have been a case of him meeting her after she was already in the conversion process.

Rabbs, my wife and I have talked over your idea of moving to the beach, and we have come to the conclusion that it is a really, really good idea.

Why do I say that?

In the LAPD, the third phase in their progress from academy to retirement is called “hitting the wall.” Out here in the regular world we know this as burn-out. I don’t know what all the internal and external factors are that have been influential to you, but I would say that you are pretty close to burn-out.

I’ve seen a lot of burnout, and the way I would describe it is that the mental part of us keeps trying to hold up all of the obligations and responsibilities, all of the internal contradictions, all of the demands of other people. But at a certain point the body and the emotions, which are closer to the animal kingdom, just start to say the hell with it. They say look, mental part, you’ve been taking us down this road, and we ain’t getting no payoff. And the body and emotions start to exhibit symptoms. I’ve known some powerful, high-placed guys who finally ran into the wall. And their body and emotions just stopped cooperating with them. The body and emotions just want to have a good life. They want to run around and have some fun, get laid, relax and take it easy, and all the mental structures that the mind wants to hold up are meaningless to them.

Most of the time when people hit the wall or get burnout, they start milking it. They make certain that they’re taking every single vacation day, sick day, personal day. They start coordinating all these days with holidays and basically do everything they can do to back away from the job. You try to get home earlier, to take week-long vacations in Big Bear and Big Sur and try to minimize the amount of time and effort on the job. If they’re lucky they can keep this going until it’s time for the pension.

Now with Luke, Orthodox Judaism has been a kind of refuge, and maybe it still is. However, Rabbs, you have pretty much fought every fight, and frankly communities are not always the right answer for everyone. I think you can probably still be a very good Orthodox Jew and not live in a specific community. Sure, when you move you take yourself with you. At the same time, sometimes a move can instantly take 50% of your problems off your back. And that’s a lot. Sometimes a move can give you time to regroup in order to try some new possibilities. (Hell, maybe you could even give surfing lessons… )

My wife and I hope that you can swing it. I can only see good things happening because of it. You know, I’ve never told you, but I completely, 100% agree with you on all your points about ending the cycle of abuse with kids. And I’ve always appreciated your honesty about yourself and your milieu. We really believe that your proposed move would be a good thing for you.

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