Press Conference - Contemporary Issues - May 25, 2025 - May 25, 2025 - Short bio. Torah requires all to serve in IDF. Similarity of Haredi Judaism to Reform. Avoid anger. Problem begins in 1884, with Zionism. Herzl & Moshe Rabbeinu came from non-religious environment, thus succeeded. Great rabbinic Zionist leaders failed. Herzl became a meshuga for Zionism. R' Reines founds Mizrachi. Agudath Israel position in 1919: Pro-sovereignty is apikorsus. Agudah is responsible for pork in Israel. Litvish world became Chassidic in nature. Everyone is in black, a portable ghetto. In Israel you must be part of building the country, no ghetto. Satmar's view. Agudah's ban on attending the Washington March for Israel in 2023. Examples of how in Israel one successfully combines Nation of Israel in Land of Israel with Torah of Israel. Agudah opposes voting in World Zionist Congress election. The Rav on applying Rambam to the Satmar anti-Israel demonstration. Engaging the Essence, by R' Yosef Bronstein. The successful Chabad method of encouraging Torah observance. No yelling. 1,000s of Chareidim in army will make things change. YU & its LGBTQ+ club: relevant issues, real life examples, & possible ways of dealing with this. A dual personality in Israel is wonderful.

Shanghai – First Sephardim, Then Russian Jews Arrive. Building the Shul. Mir Yeshiva Moves from Japan to Shanghai. Ships to Canada and Deadly Date Line Problem. R' Meir Ashkenazi. Economic Conditions. Rickshaws. Bodies on Street. Book Publishing. - May 19, 2025 - Amshinover tells Japanese: We are both Asian. Chassidic Rebbis understand people better than Litvish Rabbis. Two boats to Canada from Japan: People died because of the Date Line. Prof. Rotem Kowner. German who helped Sempo Sugihara. How Jacob Schiff influenced Japanese attitude toward Jews. The dream that caused the Shanghai shul to be built. The photograph of Mir Yeshiva students in the shul. Who is missing? The 3 I can identify and their impact on my life. R. Shmuel Belkin's kollel. BTA. Talmudical Academy. RIETS class of 1960. Kranzler family. Ponevezher Rav will not run for the Knesset. Japanese, Nazis, and Jews by David Kranzler. Sephardim in Shanghai of early 1900s. Pogroms motivate Russian Jews to move to Shanghai. R' Meir Ashkenazi, Chief Rabbi of Shanghai. Economic conditions of the Jews. The heat. Forced move to the ghetto and the resulting difficulties. The issue of using rickshaws there and in Atlantic City. Camping on the beach in Eilat. Life in Kobe very good, Shanghai poorer, ghetto terrible. Bodies on the street. Visit of the 3 rabbis to U.S. Publishing Torah books in Shanghai. The celebration of this. Yiddish publishing. How the Jews felt about living in Shanghai.

Rav Menashe Klein: Bekiyut vs. Charifut. Studying Halakhah. Elevator on Shabbat. Best 1st Halakhah Book for a Baal Teshuvah. Shochet Who Rejected Mishnah Berurah. Divrei Chaim. Ohr Hakadosh. Ruach Hakodesh. Satmar Attack on Rav Moshe Feinstein. - May 18, 2025 - Tzeela Gez, hy"d. R' Menashe Klein (MK), Mishneh Halachot (MH) 6:165: Bekiyut preferable to Charifut. Image memory vs. event memory. Importance of studying halachah. The Rav: Stevenson vs. Eisenhower. Non-Jewish elevator operator on Shabbat. MK: Get enough sleep. Eat properly: low quantity and high quality. The puzzling last sentence in this teshuvah. MH 7:159: Telz student asks: What is the best 1st halachah book for a ba'al teshuvah? It depends on the individual. MK recommends Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (simple language). With Mishnah Berurah (MB) one needs some background. MB vs. Aruch Hashulchan. MH 7:160: A shochet who rejects MB over Kitzur in making decisions. Is he denigrating MB? Gebrochts/Matzah shruyah. R' Chaim Halberstam of Sanz, Divrei Chaim (DH), deals with someone who criticized Ohr HaChaim (OH) as lacking ruach hakodesh. Life of OH. Bibas family. Ohr HaChaim perfect fit for Chassidut. Ba'al Shem Tov sensed his death. DH: Bava Batra states chachamim have ruach hakodesh. DH: stay away from the denier. MH: Therefore, avoid butcher who says MB not written with ruach hakodesh. Disagree don't denigrate. Similar example: Satmar attack on R' Moshe Feinstein in מענה לאגרות.

History of Eastern European Yeshivot - Mir - May 12 - May 12, 2025 -

Responsa - May 11 - May 11, 2025 -

History of Eastern European Yeshivot - Mir - May 5 - May 5, 2025 -

Responsa - May 4 - May 4, 2025 -

History of Eastern European Yeshivot - Mir - April 28 - Apr 28, 2025 -

Responsa - April 27 - Apr 27, 2025 -

History of Eastern European Yeshivot - Mir - March 24 - Mar 24, 2025 -