tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56022412009-02-21T09:29:28.799-05:00The rantings and ravings of Bryan Kinzbrunner. Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-20271131605384547292007-02-21T18:33:00.000-05:002007-02-21T21:24:51.299-05:00

In my Monday night Talmud class, we are studying the 4th chapter of ברכות. On 28b, we are told a story about the death of R. Yochanan ben Zaqai. He was on his death bed and his students came to visit. The gemara tells us that when they entered, R. Yochanan ben Zaqai began to cry. When the students engaged his crying, R. Yochanan ben Zaqai explained that he was crying out fear of having to face

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-7341943428775932112007-01-26T16:32:00.000-05:002007-01-26T16:36:49.669-05:00

I just want to share about a new book regarding children and bereavement, Beyond the Tears: Helping Jewish Kids Cope With Death by Rabbi Eugene Kwalwasser, former head of Yavneh Academy in Teaneck. This is a very well laid out work designed for young adolescents of 10-15 and for teachers who are looking for ideas on how to talk with students about death and bereavement.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-70192198333668993212007-01-07T09:12:00.000-05:002007-01-07T09:21:29.960-05:00

At the end of Bereishit, Yosef, in a scene paralleling Yaakov, places a vow on his family that at the time of redemption to take his bones from Egypt ("And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying: 'God will surely remember you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.'"[50:25]). In Masechet Sotah, Rav taught in the name of Rav Yehuda that the reason it says the bones is as a

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-70161761243009385612007-01-01T13:08:00.000-05:002007-02-21T21:22:34.729-05:00

One of the things in last week's parasha that always struck me as odd was Jacob's response when he encounters Yosef for the first time in 22 years. We would expect Jacob to hug his son and cry with him. Instead we are told "And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1167319253261592172006-12-28T10:01:00.000-05:002006-12-28T10:20:53.290-05:00

In this week's Jewish Week, there is an article about a recent conference in California regarding the rapid, widespread kabbalah study. As usual, the primary issue is a two part question.A. Should Kabbalah be a knowledge accessible to the masses or just an elite few?B. If it is for dissemination to a greater population, is it supposed to be Judeo-specific?Within the article, the main focus is

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1166967779883281512006-12-24T08:33:00.000-05:002007-01-01T13:27:58.923-05:00

On Shabbat, I read a transcription of a lecture given by Rabbi Yitz Greenberg about how to confront Jewish education in the Postmodern age. The title of the lecture is Judaism and Modernity; Realigning the Two Worlds. Even if one is not an educator, this transcribed lecture does evoke much thought regarding issues of change we might consider investigating in our modern society.In his lecture,

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1166819149443241592006-12-22T15:11:00.000-05:002006-12-23T18:13:13.823-05:00

Our dear "brethren" in the ultra-right wing Orthodox world, Neturei Karta, as has been highly publicized, decided that they should join the ranks of Ahmadinejad and other Holocaust deniers. The newspaper reports regarding this most heinous of acts includes their explanation of going to this conference not to deny the Holocaust but to say that Jews used the Holocaust for their own gain. Sometimes

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1123792045073921282005-08-11T16:18:00.000-04:002007-01-01T13:29:05.502-05:00

Robert Pollack Ph.D., in the newest issue of the Edah Journal, presents an article entitled, The Price of Science Without Moral Constraints: German and American Medicine Before DNA and Today. He presents three different topics together. The first is a historical summary of eugenics leading to the Holocaust. He then presents a discussion of the residual effects of the eugenics thinking on modern

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1123765392709090322005-08-11T08:58:00.000-04:002005-08-11T09:23:28.920-04:00

The following links were sent via the Lookjed listserv.Back in October '04, a rabbi at the OU, involved in NCSY, the OU's teenage kiruv organization, claims that the themes in Harry Potter are Jewish. I want to quote a few of the more interesting passages:Harry is Jewish. His parents died so that he might survive and carry on their legacy. Voldemort isn’t an evil wizard, but he does represent the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1123515642150191562005-08-08T11:31:00.000-04:002007-01-01T13:33:11.985-05:00

A couple of Jewish bloggers have been discussing the findings in the mid-1990s of Professor Menachem Friedman of Bar Ilan University regarding the going-ons of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson זצ"ל during the time he was reported to have been in Berlin and Paris.For those interested in reading this three part series which was published in Haaretz in 1998, check out the following link.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1122915399363296172005-08-01T21:20:00.000-04:002007-01-01T13:33:23.200-05:00

Update: It turns out that Palmeiro might have been tested as early as April or May according to the reports on ESPN this evening. If so, I am very disturbed by how baseball could allow this to go unchecked for so long. It would appear as if they felt compelled to wait until after he got 3000 hits before admitting that some part of this quest was enhanced by outside substances. The report also

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1122488007473381962005-07-27T14:11:00.000-04:002006-12-23T18:21:06.683-05:00

Update: One should also read the comments found on the Bloghead blog which cites a couple of articles about the subject of this "curse."For those who want to see the extent of anger against Sharon and the disengagement, check out the following video link posted on the Canonist blog. Also, check out the link to Paleojudaica's blog for news stories describing the curse placed on Sharon.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1121782630142931862005-07-19T10:14:00.000-04:002006-12-23T18:21:50.113-05:00

According to an article in Newsday, it seems possible that there are more biblical fragments to be found in the Dead Sea area. As long as they aren't forgeries, this should lead to a new round of excavations for more fragments from the Second Temple era.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1121774669217312232005-07-19T07:26:00.000-04:002007-01-01T13:28:40.603-05:00

Real Jews: Secular Versus Ultra-Orthodox: The Struggle for Jewish Identity in Israel: by Noah EfronWhen trying to analyze current societal trends, one of the most difficult aspects of this analysis is the ability to be objective. Noah Efron presents a work dealing with the perceptions and realities of the situation facing the Secular and Ultra-Orthodox in Israel, predominately from the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1121340196695445672005-07-14T07:15:00.000-04:002007-01-01T13:32:51.615-05:00

If a sports league rises in a forest and no one is there, does it matter?So the NHL has finally come to a deal to bring us hockey next year. Big deal. The teams are decimated, as most don't even have half their stars under contract. Those under contract are going to have to take pay cuts. This whole thing is an utter joke. But what really bothers me is that the wonderful sports networks (ESPN and

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1121211524628441412005-07-12T19:36:00.000-04:002005-07-12T19:38:44.636-04:00

There is a short article in the Jewish Forward about my brother's recent wedding.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1119842067981688042005-06-26T23:08:00.000-04:002005-06-26T23:14:28.006-04:00

This evening, I had the opportunity to hear one of the renowned international תלמידי חכמים, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, who spoke at Congregation Ahavas Achim in Highland Park, NJ. He is currently promoting a new book, We Jews : Who Are We and What Should We Do. Rabbi Steinsaltz spoke about the need to find our lost brethren, not the lost tribes, but all those Jews assimilated in the world. He

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1119826513297490732005-06-26T18:55:00.000-04:002005-06-26T18:55:13.296-04:00

I found something interesting the other day in the משנה ברורה which if anyone can verify seeing it done, I would be greatly appreciated. In the first chapter of אורח חיים, when discussing the recitation of קרבנות in the morning, the משנה ברורה discusses why we would still say קרבנות on שבת even though we don't usually recite נדבות, voluntary prayers, on שבת. He argues that קרבנות on שבת fall in

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1119285777592362712005-06-20T12:31:00.000-04:002005-06-20T12:42:57.613-04:00

Last night was a very wonderful evening as my brother, Ensign Eric Kinzbrunner USN married Suri Hoenig. The evening was a coming together of many different strands of humanity (we think). For many of us, the highlight of the evening, other than the marriage itself, was the military sword ceremony following the Huppah, where 6 of Eric's fellow Navy and Marine officers from the United States

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1118071692393457232005-06-06T11:30:00.000-04:002005-06-06T11:28:12.403-04:00

משנה מסכת אבות פרק א משנה אמשה קבל תורה מסיני ומסרה ליהושע ויהושע לזקנים וזקנים לנביאים ונביאים מסרוה לאנשי כנסת הגדולה הם אמרו שלשה דברים הוו מתונים בדין והעמידו תלמידים הרבה ועשו סייג לתורה 1. Be deliberate in judgment. – הוו מתונים בדין – Think carefully before making decisions. Don’t be rash.2. Raise up many students – העמידו תלמידים הרבה – Don’t hide one’s thoughts from others. The goal

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1118070539691759102005-06-06T11:05:00.000-04:002005-06-06T11:29:41.516-04:00

For the few of you that are still keeping tabs on my blog, I will be posting later today short synopsis of my first of two recent פרקי אבות classes. Also, hopefully before שבועות I will have up my class for 4 am. on תיקון ליל שבועות and the second פרקי אבות class.

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1112980178130563182005-04-08T13:03:00.000-04:002005-04-08T16:36:10.760-04:00

Three Month absence:I know it has been a while since last posting, but I found myself being unable to add anything new to many of the goings on in the world.Well, now I am back. I will be doing two things. The first is that I was recently invited to a new blog, Reclaiming the Daf, which is a place for a bunch of us to write about things we find in the daily page of Gemara. I will link to my first

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1105735490831476282005-01-14T15:26:00.000-05:002005-01-14T15:44:50.833-05:00

I did not want to get involved, but I think if I don't say anything, I might go crazy. The basic situation is that R. Nosson Slifkin, author of works dealing with the relationship of Torah with modern Science, has been put under a ban for saying certain "heretical" things. I am not going to go through all the details, for these can be found at various other blogs, but there is one newer

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1105532005104505242005-01-12T07:07:00.000-05:002005-01-12T07:13:25.106-05:00

My brother sent me a link to this article from the Jerusalem Post about the newly formed Sanhedrin. They recently met to discuss the issues of establishing a Jewish monarchy in the state of Israel and of what to do with the Temple Mount. While this might be a noble gesture, I am hard pressed to understand how further strife within Israel is going to help the situation. One could argue that if

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5602241.post-1105531631834738232005-01-12T07:03:00.000-05:002005-01-12T07:07:11.833-05:00

Rav Shagar was recently profiled in an article in Haaretz. As this is my first exposure to him, I will limit my comments. The only thing of note is that he doesn't seem to fear the individualizing of Judaism from an emotional perspective. Postmodernism's call for relativism does not seem to frighten him but instead challenges him to create an education theory that includes emphasis for the

Bryanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00389206837832816119noreply@blogger.com0