Thursday, March 12, 2009

Cloudy days


People seem chilly these days, at least in Jerusalem. The real weather forecast states that spring-summer is near: the youths already wear cotton T-shirts letting the navel breathe with full visibility. Clothing and fashion are again on the spot in the reading portions of next week: firstly parshat Vayakhel\ויקהל (Shemot 35:1-38:20 - And then Moses convoked) followed by Pekudei\פקודי (Shemot 38:21-40:38 - These are the records of the Tabernacle). This long series of verses describing how to construct the Mishkan\משכן (Tabernacle - God's dwelling) is not a reprint of what God had instructed to carry out before the “chet HaEgel\חטא העגל - the sin of the golden calf”. There are similarities and more: we assist to a hammering party. Each letter is screwed, nailed and hooked into the building process so that every human being could understand what implies that God has His Dwelling among the Israelites.

Israelis progressively forget that they did live in huts, cabins, huge tents (ma'abarot\מעברות) or caravans. I still know several people who - maybe for some personal reasons - continue to live in odd caravans. A lot of people to live in rather third-rate conditions, in hotels. There have been a lot of progress since Trumpeldor's time (1916) and Golda Meir's installation near the swamps. In 1975, visiting in Vienna (Austria) a place for the homeless and refugees, we had been astonished that everywhere people were up-to-the-minute as regards cloths and fashion and they had access to all sorts of TV satellites. The situation is rather similar today even if Israel has to face a permanent fight against poverty, hunger, lack of food, health protection, the increasing amount of homeless. We are mutating to down-sliding impoverishment, need and insolvency. Still, Israeli society is basically rich and wealthy. Or it is possible to consider diferent attitudes: very haredi-pious families with "tons" of babies and young children are very poor, barely clothed accordingly. They do survive, as also all these "students and self-appointed" students who got stipendia from all sorts of organizations.

Our frenzy consumption, credit and monetary corruption show that we line with other spoiled economic systems; this was definitely not at the heart of the ingathering of the Jews in Eretz Israel. In fact, a lot of people are compelled to live humbly, with much restricted resources and, at the same time, they must acculturate to a country on build. Whether secular, partly religious, the Israeli society was born because of the ethical, spiritual hardships overcome in the course of the Exodus and the construction of the Mishkan.

This was certainly not a political “Obama- Medvedev (Putin)-Olmert-Netanyahu” prime TV show news of the day, with political professional, semi-professional, down-to-up and up-to-down circus politic-dealers. When we consider today Nahmanide’s famous words “that the Book of Exodus deals with the first exile… and the redemption of it” we maybe find the phrase true, intriguing, questioning, arousing or rubbish. It sounds like a professional statement for rabbis and Co Ltd. Faith becomes at the present a job or a way to learn the Jewish traditions without being involved professionally or socially. Politics save the universe with Heads of the States summits that replace Antiquity’s gods and goddesses banquets.

At the present, the Israeli society would have to make an enormous spiritual effort to read the Torah portions of this week with total confidence in God alone. The Jewish community has – also scattered throughout the world – simple “anay’im\עניים – simple believers”, that love the Torah and the Mitzvot with such insights as to feel that nothing will ever shake fundamentals. We pathetically need some spiritual voices to clearly prove and be heard that this week of reading the end of the Exodus should let us reconsider how the Shekhinah-שכינה/Divine Presence descending on the Tabernacle is calling us to get out of “galut –exile and reach ge’ulah\גאולה – redemption”. The kind of guy or girl (quite a possible sketch today) who somehow is like David, the incognito youngest child, the real mentsh - וווילער מענטש (humane human being w/heart), not head over heels self-willed and stiff-necked. Candidate(s) should only have heard of the Torah, the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and be maven\זיין א מבין (have expertise in good heart).

“A’nan\ענן” is a very precious word in the TaNaKh and the Talmud. It means “to make cloudy” as we say “yom me’unan\יום מעונן = cloudy day” (Yoma 28b, Nega’im 2,2), or “to gather clouds, augur from clouds” (Targum 2 Kings 21:6; Luke 12:54 refers to weather and times and delays forecast). The root is linked to “anah\ענה – to answer = begin to speak” as in “and all (the cless) repeated each sentence after him” (Sota 5,20c). “me’uneh\מעונה = fasting” (Toseft. Taanit 2,7). This explains the connection with “ani\עני = poor, humble”: “if one has an enemy, does one wish him to be poor or rich?” (Milah 17a) and : “The Jews became poor again” (Ketubot 33a) or : “Let the poor be members of your household (Avot 1,5). The word “anan\ענן” is very often used in the sens of “protection, cover” such as in this interesting verse: “as long as Sarah lived, a cloud was tied (anan kashur\ענן קשור) over the entrance of her tent and when she died, the cloud ceased” (Bereishit Rabba 60). This verse encompasses all the future developments relating to the Shechinah/Divine Presence and indeed the construction of the Mishkan., then the Temples/Batey Mikdash-בתי מקדש.

The word is also to be found throughout the life, ministry and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth and in most epistles as a specific mention of the Spirit and the Divine Presence. In the Song of the Songs (2:6):”‘his right arm embraces me’ that means the cloud of the Divine Presence in the world-to-come” (Shir Rabba). Moses gathered, convoked the Israelites (vayakhel\וקהל), i.e. he showed to fulfillment of the Kahal – Holy Congregation (cf. blogs “Kahal/12/18/07 – Kehilah/07/01/07”). God gave ordinances, mitzvot and the people deviated. Human herd instinct is trivial and prefers molten materials they think they can manipulate. Even quixotic personae would not imagine to put a portion of cloud into a fridge… We are obsessed by the fact that God would be “our possession” we could put in some box. No way! Moses does check that the Mishkan /Tabernacle is perfect according to God’s requirements. Still, God covers the Holy Place with His Shechinah in the shape of a cloud that no man can hook or capture.

Parshat Vayakhel (reading) starts with the heart of what the Kahal-קהל/Whole Congregation means for the Jewish tradition: “On six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Shabbat of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death” (Ex. 35:2). The Ten Paroles do not require to murder a person who trespassed this commandment. The Shabbat\שבת is not something that vaguely starts from Thursday afternoon to some indefinite Friday or Friday afternoon and stumbles between a “sof shavua\סוף שבוע = week end” that would sound like a “British tea time break” The Shabbat does not belong to any human being (Mark 2:27), cannot be postponed whatever tricky games we may do with our clocks. Anyway, God’s Presence “thickens His Presence” with specific solar, lunar and time schedules that will overshadow the world with a “neshamah yetara\נשמה יתרה – additional soul surplus, or Divine Presence surplus” (Shemot 40:35). It took one year from the Rosh chodashim\ראש חודשים (beginning of all months) and the first day of month Nissan. Just as money, economics, socializing with God is on constant fluctuation. God obliged, requested His people to build His Dwelling with perfection: this means they had to go far beyond any idols. They had to be molten in order to become good-hearted and “tender”. They built the Tabernacle. There were seemingly no more gold rings and accessories roasted with the calf. The half-shekel participation served to make the hooks for the pillars of the Mishkan (Ex. 38:28). Good. Then, God will for ever cover them with clouds and the Shabbat. Rashi thought – true in the Galut (diaspora) – that the TaNaKh should commence with the “rosh chodashim\ראש חודשים – the beginning of all months” and the Feast of Pesach. He mainly lived and studied the Scriptures in France and Germany, i.e. in a Christianized area.

We are not in the same situation in the State of Israel. To begin with, we are not in the diaspora, but we often behave as if we never knew that Eretz Israel was in our bones and minds throughout the dispersion. The prayers for rains or good harvesting in Jewish tradition are calling to God for Eretz Israel, then for any other place in the world. But this is not a DNA nationalistic ethnical, “my culture-my tongue-not yours” claim to God or a notice of strike action. God continues to show His clouds. The Shabbat is not Jewish, Israeli. It introduces the Community to the perfect achievement of the creation and comes to abide the whole world from week to week.

This is the challenge we have to face in Israel. This is why the Sages indeed acted with much insights and wisdom. They decided that the TaNaKh does start with the Book of Genesis/Bereishit and the shaping of the first “universal” human beings. Not only that: The genesis of Passover is not in the Book of Exodus. The Book is that of the Name/Shemot of those who were the descent of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Israel did not originate with the Mishkan, nor the Exodus, but the faith of God in all His creation and Jacob’s wrestling and dream of a ladder. The commandment of the Shabbat states: “You shall not do any work – you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, your cattle, the stranger who is within your settlements” (Ex. 20:10). Oh, we are very good at twisting this commandment. Whatever sort of human we are, the Shabbat invisibly engraves God’s Presence in time. Some Chassidic rabbis said they would, in the absence of any reference point, be able to recognize the time of the Shabbat. We feel its presence.

This presupposes that we can be open, not scared by others or the liberty provided by God. Some people would then think the situation is unbearable. Puzzling, what! With all the nations and spiritual denominations present in Israel, it would mean something like a 25 hours total break? Then, of course, it might make some sense to have some chilonim/seculars: they could discreetly make some barbecues (“shashlyki-шашлыки” or meat grill for the former Soviets and some Arabs). Good enough! we have family or private cars… No cloud in view… Let’s be outdoors. And… by the way! Rashi said that the “Gentiles of our generation are not ovdey zara\עובדי זרה – idolaters (he meant the “Christians”). Now, it might be a plus to have some Christians who seem to work on Shabbat. Then Muslims stop on Fridays. Mutual authentic recognition and consideration do not rely on economic or emergency situations. They have more to do with how we can get aware that we live under the same clouds.

On the 2nd Sunday of Great Lent, the Christian Orthodox commemorate the Sunday of Saint Gregory Palamas. It is intriguing that the two first Sundays of the Fast are dedicated to specific struggling for the visibility of incarnation in the case of the "icons". On the other hand, Gregory Palamas brought in and developed a strong spiritual religious and spiritual attitude of balance and quietness, wisdom. It can asily be traced back to the Jewish schools of chassidism" as compared to "hesychasm = quietness". This is normal: the "answer and humble divine answering" is veyr close to the original perception of both Jews and Early Chrisitans in the East.


av aleksander [Winogradsky-Frenkel]

March 12/February 27, 2009 – 16 deAdar 5769 - ט"ז דאדר תשס"ט




open window from massada

Amalek, free will and Purim... icons


The weekly reading portion is "Tetsaveh - תצוה", immediately followed this year by the parshat Zachor (Exodus 17:8-16 and as described in the additional Torah reading for this Shabbat, Deuteronomy 25:17-19 and in the special haftarah reading for this Shabbat, 1 Samuel 25:1-34) or the memorial of Amalek on this special Shabbat before Passover/Pesach 5769. The reading continues by describing how to clothe the priests. It is a sort of linen and silk fashion explanation of how to be correctly dressed (up) for the Service. The pending is question is to know what happens beside the vestments. This is a real problem. We are often totally cheated by the way people are clothed. This is true, in particular, in our Israeli society, in which there are specific signs for special groups. Hats, robes, coats, jackets mostly indicate to which spiritual or social group we are supposed to belong. It is not always exact. But it is relevant. In other societies, fashion and/or vestments will show a social stand. In Israel, hats, for example, can immediately tell a person about your appertaining: Breslover, Lubavitch, other chassidic groups have different hats or skullcaps; this is also the case for the Greeks, the Armenians, Syrian Orthodox, Russian or Romanian Orthodox. A very famous Greek metropolitan, Emilianos Timiadis, of Sylvestria (of eternal memory), who was the representative of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Geneva and the World Council of Churches invited by the Armenian clergy and honored by being given the title and the special head cover of the Armenian "Vardaped" (clerical rank). He went out into the street wearing this cover and he immediately met some Orthodox faithful who started to gossip pretending that the very Orthodox byzantine hierarch had converted to the Armenian Church!


This is a real problem in Israel since the beginning of the second Intifada. People look at each other to see if they wear the same signs. If they don't they get suspicious, but the interrogation is why they are so often mistaken. For example, during the many terror attacks, the "Palestinian terrorists" (men and women) often used to be dressed like very pious Jews (great prayer shawl, phylacteries, etc.). On the other hand, it never happened that the terrorists would be dressed like Christian clergymen, in particular they never were found wearing black or colorful cassocks and Eastern head covers. Nonetheless, the police used to immediately stop and question any "visible" member of the clergy. They simply could miss the real terrorists.

I had a "word" for that. The roots are definitely not confirmed but it is amazing: "beged\בגד = cloth(ing) = ) and "begidah\בגידה = treason, cheat". I even started my Israeli press blogs on that matter by answering in the daily HaAretz. It was by the time the second antifada began. I explained how much confused our ways of socializing can be at times. It is quite impossible for people in this country and cultural area to get astray of such habits. The matter is very intriguing: on the one hand, we live in a country full of contrasts, from the desert up to the mildness of Galilee. Mountains, hills, caves and sand, sea and salt, there is room for interiority, room for personal questioning and identification. It has proven to be the most challenging matter over the millenia in the Middle- and Near East. In fact, we are definitely not sure that there is a real linguistic connection between the two Hebrew words. Still, according to the Talmudic tradition, it does make sense to compare the two words and to establish a semantic link. This is the immense wealth of Hebrew and it can surprise a lot of non-Jewish people. I recently explained that to an artist friend and she was very astounded. In my teachings among the Christians, it has always been a very difficult exercise because consonants are scarcely perceived as meaningful each time they are put together in order to create a new word or concept.


The problem is that we are indeed betrayed by "external look". This is very sensitive at the present because of the existence of virtual and real worlds and envisioning. True that when God made clothes for Adam and Eve, the did not understand at first that they had disobeyed and had been tested by a very clever little creeping creature that humankind could get to the same might and power as God: do anything without having the same insightful capacities. We are supposedly able to discern between good and bad, good factor or bad Evil. We still think that we may get astray and mix up discernment abilities. This is the dangerous part. And how many of us do accept or get to the core of what is said by God: we have no access in the present to the "Tree of Life".

In the Near and Middle East people never used to mix up the vestments. In the weekly reading we should firstly note the absence of Moses. He is not the acting one. Those who are taught are Aaron and his sons; how to make and use the vestments for the Holy Service. What does it mean to serve in the Presence of God and inside of a "Mishkan\משכן - dwelling -"? The Jewish tradition has it as well: we are the place of the Shechinah = it means that we are the Divine Temple, a notion that Paul of Tarsus underlines in his epistle, in the same way (1 Corinthians 3:16 - 2 Corinthians 6:16). So why the living bodies that we are and so enspirited by the Holy Spirit and the Divine Presence should gather into a Mishkan and serve there? As different individuals, each of us is a "living treasure", a "nest of wealth - ken osher". Getting together allows us to reach to the fulfillment, from the small nest and the mitzvah never to remove the mother of the little birds (Deut. 22:6) till the huge tree that spreads its branches till into the high. This is the parable of the mustard seed that grows so much that the birds can all gather to make their nests and rest there (Luc 13:19; cf. Matthew 13:32). Our "one bodies" are isolated but have to gather together to shape the forms of this wide human body that is the visible and invisible Temple of the Divine Presence.

Good enough. But in the presence, we limit this space to who we are visibly. We are very "fashion", "fathom", "clothing and bling bling" and accessories. Strange, because Jews should never wear rings, for instance. The bridegroom gives to his bride a ring that she puts on her medium finger; he says that "she is "mekudeshet/consecrated consу we expect in accordance to our "principles". Women are welcoming men in order to give them discernment and contest. In return men come to women in order to fertilize them in many various aspects. This "connectedness" does not show so often in the present and constitutes a real societal problem in Israel.

This is the same issue we face with clothes. They disguise, cheat, betray who we are. Fashion can be wonderful, repeatedly the same over long centuries or innovating. Colors, forms, designs change. We love either somber and dark colors,simple dress or very warm, hot, sensual. Fashion shows the lines of our bodies or, on the contrary, it hides the limbs as for the tchador (women) and ghandurahs. Is nakedness a sin? It seems that human spirit requires some sort of cover since immemorial times.

Hebrew "arum / ערום " = "nakedness or shame" is a very interesting root. "Man should always be prudent or deliberate in the fear of the Lord and consider in what manner he can best serve the Lord" (Berachot 17a). "There are men who are clever in knowledge and yet conduct themselves humbly (wise in a evil way) like domestic animals without brains"(Hullin 5b). "Arum" has different and alternative meanings: "wise in an evil manner, subtle, naked and shameful". On the other hand, "He who handles a naked scroll of the Law and touches it directly with his bare hand) will be buried naked (Shabbat 23b).

The question is pending in the Talmud, it is real: 3When the dead will rise , will they rise naked or dressed?" (Sanhedrin 90b). On the eve of Purim, this commentary is also intriguing about Vashti, i.e. Esther-Hadas: "Would she -Vashti - appear undressed in front of the King?" (Megillah 12b). And thus: "Let the love-sick man die, but his woman should not appear undressed in such a moment" (Sanhedrin 75a).

Our shapes are without screen and protection. It would require a very special intuitive capacity to overcome shame of desires to seize what can be touched. It is maybe a part of "human solitude". The Talmud on the Scroll of Esther includes a lot of verses commenting whether it is or not fit for the queen to be dressed or undressed. And it is then mentioned that the Torah scroll has to be "dressed, covered" in order to be revealed.

In the Eastern Orthodox Byzantine tradition, it should be noted that the vestments of the clergy are usually magnificent. They are firstly "wedding garments" and therefore must be bright and wonderful. On the other hand, from the deacons to the priests and bishops, the clergy dress starting in simple cassocks, a sign of humility and "nakedness" and they progressively put on the vestments as clothing themselves with God's glory. This is why, during the celebration, the faithful do not really (or should not) pay attention to who the celebrant is. He "disappears, is hidden" by the clothes of the High Priest, i.e. in Christianity Jesus Christ (Psalm 110).

This is why we cannot be versatile. Our generation is going through this kind of temptation. Easy clothing, cheap, non-expensive and widely-distributed vestments allow to change all the time. We hardly value the price and beauty of clothes. This is moreover a source of confusion since modern styles do not formerly prohibit to dress by sex differencing ans it was the case in the Bible from old. Today, in Israel, most women would prefer to wear pants and jeans that are more "comfy" in their daily life. They would also switch to robes and skirts, just as the Scots are known for their kilts. One-sex or unisex is spreading, not in fashion. Fashion is the sign. Changing dress all the time and mixing male and female "appearance" may conduct to "androgynous, undifferentiated" looks. Is it only a look or something that is more significant in our spiritual and mental behaviors and choices. When the disciples are fishing on the Sea o Galilee and cannot take fish for a whole night, they discover in the morning that they are not alone on the sea-shore; they recognized Jesus though no one dared say a word. They were "convinced" he was with them, asking for some food, fish. Then, Shimon-Peter got ashamed because he was naked and he hurried up to dress (John 21:7).

In the present, it would be rather amazing to see a pope, a patriarch, a metropolitan naked on a beach and none of them would even think of fishing all the night... It is not a problem of nudism. Maybe, in a reversed situation, we are too much fashioned and would be afraid to get ashamed as Peter got afraid at the sight of the resurrected Lord. We are "overclothed". We are no more overshadowed by the Divine Presence, The Divine Presence is overclouded by what we have fabricated. It became so sophisticated that we can only feel compulsions in a negative way. I have a very talented friend in a group. She is a typical modern Israeli photographer. A lot of mental and spiritual search somehow, not very clerical and rather "through the mirror, self-mirroring"; a bit seeking for who people are in colors, ideas, fancies, clothes, fascinated by the power of bodies. This must be taken into account in the modern society, in particular in Israel.

I am convinced that Jews have a sort of very in-depth experience of "touching the borderline of sin" without being touched or harmed by sin. It can at times be worse than normal commitment with trespasses. In Hebrew, "light = or/ אור", but as we know, God changed the limpidity of nakedness into a vestment of "skins = or / עור" written with a "ayin\עין". The light turns into what has been understood as "darkness". There may be more. "arah\ערה = arum = stripped, naked bare, i.e. "to stir up and "heerah הערה = to stimulate, especially the sexual organ by contact (as considered when having the first stage of contact); this leads to the notion of "to be interwoven, entangled or captured, caught". It may also refer to the Temple Service: "the cherubim whose bodies were intertwisted with one another" (Yoma 54a). Indeed, skins and cover, clothes seem to veil. Just as "hitarer = to wake up, to stir up" out of a sleep to get into reality.

The real problem is to remain "clean" while turning into some cover to clothe oneself and then unveil things that we are not likely to discover about ourselves or others. We live in a difficult time and we are often trapped into our own look(s). Our image is not "iconic" and it is sometimes very difficult for us to discover the true image of holiness that should be unveiled in each human being. It needs a lot of search, a lot of understanding, beyond surface and appearance. Interestingly, the Russian Orthodox tradition has very quickly adopted the photographs as possible "icons" to be "venerated" as "written (painted) icons" can be according to specific traditions and rules. It means that "photographs" are "the light or enlightened writing/scripture" that allow us to memorize the spiritual interiority of the people we meet with. It may some day be extended to videos, films. At this point, nakedness can also bring "original nakedness or innocence full of light" just as some Ethiopian icons will show naked Adam and Eve under the tree or the Virgin breastfeeding the Child Jesus. There is no need to show this; the only reason is maybe to get to the core of incarnation and its initial clarity, sanctity and holiness. Our overmediatic world needs a repair in that sense.

Is it a coincidence that former Israeli President Moshe Katzav has been indicted on this day of the International Women Day for harassment and sexual assault. This is a terrible accusation. He is certainly not the only politician who could be prosecuted for such reasons. Israel and the Jewish tradition show a long "physical" commitment with trespasses. It also reveals, on the other hand, that the matter is a permanent interrogation about who we are in the great mystery of our call to be men or women. We are never entitled to infringe the reality of our call to be carnal and that we have been called to "take flesh". This is a flash of light, embodied in each individual. This is why Purim does not allow any soul to lose the call that has been shown by incarnation.

There is a moment when at Purim, it is allowed to drink alcohol to the point that it becomes nearly impossible to distinguish between reality and dream, normal stand and the state o being drunken. It is the same as with disguisement: man or woman, carnaval or reality? truth or fake? We have the same in our society, usually about sex. In reality, this is not related to sex. It is dealing with the hardship to get to our identity. It is a terrible search for a lot of youths. Once we try to correct and pray for the correction of those who get addicted to rape, perversions, the main issue that shows up is "dignity", and true combat against idolatry. True faith and confidence lead us to choose the Divine decision upon us.

av Aleksandr [Winogradsky Frenkel]
Original Adam and Eve under the tree

שלום עליכם זצו"ל


One day before Moses was born and died some decades later, on March 2/February 18; the great Yiddish write Sholom Aleichem was born 150 years ago in the Ukraine. It is interesting that he very early decided to become a writer, but as most Jewish writers living in the Russian empire, he used to write either in Hebrew or in Russian. This is very intriguing and should remember us that only two years ago, we also celebrated the 150 anniversary of the birth of Eliezer Perlman, Ben Yehudah who revived the Hebrew language. It should be noted that by the end of the 19th c., a lot of Jewish thinkers, journalists, scholars and religious people in Eretz Ashkenaz and Kanaan (Russia and the East European countries) used to write, speak in Hebrew. The young Rabinovicz decided to write in Yiddish under the nickname of a "big hello, a friendly how are you!" greeting; he belonged to the generation of people who have faced terrible pogroms and hatred, confusion and lack of consistency, just as Dr. L. Zamenhof felt obliged to create an international linguistic first aid language in order to overcome the absence of coherence in Warsaw and Byalystok. The Republic of Ukraine recently issued a special coin for his 150th anniversary. Sholom Aleichem had a difficult life, from the Ukraine to Geneva and New York were 100 000 assisted to his funeral. He was a man of deep insights that accounted the lively daily atmosphere of the true Yiddishkayt. Interestingly, Birobidjan (the Soviet autonomous Jewish region/Oblast') honors his name with streets and buildings till this day. There is much more than "Tovye, der milkhiker|טוביע דער מילכיקער - Tobias, the milkman" in his stories. They depict true Jewish manners and customs as the wonderful description of London in "Blondzhendike shtern".
עס איז עפעס ווי א נס אז די מאמע-לשון פארבלייבט היינט אין דער גאנצער וועלט. די יידישקייט איז אוועק. איך געדענק ווי י. ב. זינגער האט אונדז געזאגט מיט לעבעדיקע ווערטער אז ווען ער וועט קומען צו גאט די מלכים וועלן אים פרעגן וואס איז דערשיינט געווארן אין דער לעצטער צייט. דאס איז א שפראך פון נחות און צרות, פון ציגעס און פון תקוה - פול מיט האפענונג. און דאס ווערק פון שלום עליכם דערמאנט אונדז אייך אויף ווי מע בלייבט א ייד אין א וועלט פון נסיונות. יידיש איז אונזער מחייה.
לעשות וידוי ולעשות תשובה לשם השמים
נו, ווער האט געזאגט אז מיר זיינען חטאים געווען?? . ...שלום עליכם