There's No Magic Only Tricks

I found some videos on youtube where the secrets behind famous events by magicians are revealed. In one of them, a pair of men, who appear to be French, remind us to remember that "there's no magic only tricks."

Trickbusters 

What's the message for the practitioner of Torah Im Derech Eretz? When you deal with the world, watch out for the illusions. They are only tricks. So you want to get a college degree? Fine. Just don't fall for their illusions, the promise of grand truth, or even of parnassah. Most of college is not geared toward parnassah but towards liberal arts which make the professors a parnassah but not you. They'll teach you how to think they say. There's some truth to it, but only so much. After your fifth paper you know how to write well enough, maybe not to be a professional essayist, but enough to get through life and most careers. Now you have only 7 semesters to go. They do this all in elegant edifices and with expensive books with covers more beautiful than the contents.  I can't tell you how many people I know with degrees from the alluring Ivy League schools and their also Ivy's who can't make a living. Your hear the name Harvard and your heart flutters. It has such allure. Yet William F. Buckley told us, "I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University." It's not what it seems.

Then there's the corporations. They lure you to work for them with promises of the work-home balance and great benefits. And you find yourself working at home until 2 in the morning. One of the greatest crimes of America is the creation of its corporations of the 60 hour work week. You think it's getting you somewhere but really it just uses you up. America has redefined the purpose of life as career and yet most people dislike their work but do it far too many hours a week, a habit they started in college which sold you the dream of career. Illusions.

You find yourself paying thousands in medical costs. You find out that the training programs are threadbare. I know of a company that boasts of its "extensive training programs" consisting of thousands of courses but in reality they are only course descriptions with no offerings. You hear the name "Google" and dream of working there. I know a guy who works there and works day and night under insane pressure. It's destroying him. Illusions.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't get a degree or work for a corporation. Just don't expect magic. Don't fall for the illusions that really are just tricks. Stay grounded in Torah. As for the world outside of Torah, get out of it whatever good you can but don't expect too much, expect far less than it promises. Better to transform the pieces of it that you can than allow it to transform you.

Hashem's Love for Us

Rav Hirsch often wrote about Hashem's love for Jews. Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik's writings often paralleled (or were inspired by?) Rav Hirsch's. In the Mesoras HaRav Chumash we find an example:

"Abraham did not deny his son to God. In exchange, God said, Because you have done this thing and you did not withhold your son, your only one., [t]hat I will surely bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your descendents will inherit the cities of their enemies (verses 16-17). This was the kinyan chalipin, a legally binding transaction based on an exchange of property. You give Me your son, and I will give you your future. And once the kinyan is made, it is an agreement and a covenant that can never be changed. When we say "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God Of Jacob," we do not mean God should love us because He loved Abraham. We say that He should love us because he singed a binding agreement with Abraham that requires Him to love us. (The Lord is Righteous in All in Ways, p 53) - Mesoras HaRav Chumash, Bereishis, p. 155.

And while we are on the topic, here's a gem from R' Marcus Lehman of Mainz:

"The boundless goodness of God, that is unfathomable to the limited powers of human understanding, טובו, is the prime mover and mark of all His loving actions. (The English word "God" is also derived from His goodness). Despite its fullness, it does not act blindly, but changes according to the worthiness and need of the person to whom it is given. To the faithful, it is expressed as a bounty in recognition of their worthiness, חן, to the undeserving, as mercy, חסד, and even to those who have forfeited it or could never lay claim to it, as compassion, רחמים.

"God's benevolent action is not sparing with its love, but extends לכל בשר, indiscriminately to all, although in differing amounts."

R' Marcus Lehman, Passover Haggadah, p. 236

I wrote an article on this topic which you can find here.

And here's more in that vein:

"He rides the Heavens for your help..." Devarim 33:26

"Even though you are unaware, Hashem is taking action in the heavens for your help as if He mounted a chariot and was speeding to assist you... Down below here on the earth you may seem to be forlorn and helpless, but Hashem always is taking action to preserve you and to overcome your enemies." —R A Miller,  Fortunate Nation

מִמְּקוֹמְךָ

מִמְּקוֹמְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ תּוֹפִיעַ וְתִמְלוֹךְ עָלֵינוּ כִּי מְחַכִּים אֲנַחְנוּ לָךְ
מָתַי תִּמְלךְ בְּצִיּוֹן בְּקָרוֹב בְּיָמֵינוּ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד תִּשְׁכּוֹן
תִּתְגַּדֵּל וְתִתְקַדֵּשׁ בְּתוֹךְ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם עִירְךָ לְדוֹר וָדוֹר וּלְנֵצַח נְצָחִים
וְעֵינֵינוּ תִּרְאֶינָה מַלְכוּתֶךָ כַּדָּבָר הָאָמוּר בְּשִׁירֵי עֻזֶּךָ עַל יְדֵי דָּוִד מְשִׁיחַ צִדְקֶךָ
יִמְלֹךְ ה' לְעוֹלָם אֱלֹהַיִךְ צִיּוֹן לְדֹר וָדֹר הַלְלוּיָהּ

The successor to the old קדושות קהילות of Western Europe

"As far as our own Kehilla is concerned we may very well consider ourselves as the successor to the old קדושות קהילות of Western Europe, the perpetuators of the thousand year old sacred אשכנז מנהג and the faithful pupils of the saintly אשכנז חכמי in general and of Rabbi S. R. Hirsch זצ"ל in particular. It follows that we keep aloft this banner and that we keep our precious heritage forever close to our hearts. From the days of Rashi and the Tosafists to the time of R. Moshe Sofer and R. Ya’akov “Jokef” Ettlinger there has been an uninterrupted chain of tradition which was transmitted into the post-Ghetto world by the blessed genius of Rabbi S. R. Hirsch, his co-workers and followers. It is for this compelling reason that we treasure our traditional pronunciation of the sacred tongue, our age-old melodies, our פיוטים and סליחות, which have withstood the onslaught of time and turbulence. We embrace these time-honored forms and expressions which were dear to our forebearers and we cling to their inherited Jewish way of life and we to teach it to our children with love… It is the essential function of our Kehilla to gear all its energies ליושנה עטרה להחזיר, to return this “crown to its ancient glory,” to bring forth the most noble and lofty possibilities which lie hidden in our heritage to its utmost potential; in line with the justified observation of the saintly Chatam Sofer: התורה היא ירושה לנו בני אשכנז."

Rav Shimon Schwab, Selected Writings, Lakewood, NJ, 1988, pp. 17, 62-63 in Shorshei Minhag Ashkenaz

The Shelf of Siddurim at KAJ

Ordered and tidy. It calms the mind and brings honor to the beis kenneses.