My Last Post - at least for the time being

This will be my last post, at least for the time being.

Living and growing up in Ultra-Orthodox society - I despise the term Haredi - I learned that security is to be found in anonymity, and not having a visible existence will protect me from harm.

(Now before you disagree, just open up a Yated or Hamodia to the letters section. The letters don't deny God's existence or advocate female rabbis rather they deal with mundane issues about which anyone can have an opinion. Yet most of them are unsigned. Because we frum people are not allowed to be seen or heard. If you still doesn't agree, ask yourself if you ever commented on this blog with your real name for all to see.)

As I matured I discovered this reality of frum society, and as I grew more self-aware I realized that the need to be anonymous is a crippling sickness. I became determined to rid myself of it. I declared war on anonymity.

To that end, and with my wife's full support, this blog was created one year ago. It bore fruit for my war effort, and though the war is far from over, this phase of the war has lived out its useful life.

In addition, I am in a different place now than I was a year ago, and I want to focus more time and energy on learning and knowing Shas.

I probably will post on occasion, and I may even get long-term spurts of blogging. I simply don't know how things will go. As of now, however, I will no longer be actively blogging.

If you want to be notified via email when I do update this blog, enter your email address in the box below. Your email address won't be visible to me.

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It was a great year of blogging, and I want to give a great big "thank you" to all my readers - without you it would have been worthless! Thanks for the 11,000 hits, and thank you for reading, commenting, agreeing, disagreeing, complimenting, and criticizing.

At this juncture I would like to pay tribute to my wonderful parents, Rabbi and Mrs. Yehudah Kolko. This is a video of a speech about them I gave by my wedding.



Achron achron chaviv, I want to thank Devorah for editing this blog and being my greatest fan. Also, I would like to thank her for, well, I can't be specific or this post would never end. So I'll just say thank you for... everything. Everything!

Wishing everyone the best in ruchniyos and gashmius...

So long everyone, it's been a great ride...

What Shavuos Means To Me

On Shavuos we celebrate the giving of the Torah. What's that all about?


Not very long ago homosexuality was a sin; now it’s an accepted "preference". Not very long ago slavery was okay; now it’s inhumane.

Today bestiality is a sin; in fifty years it will be an accepted "preference". Today the death penalty is okay; in fifty years it will be inhumane.

Only the values of the Torah are eternal. What was right and beautiful at Har Sinai is right and beautiful today. And what was wrong and abominable at Har Sinai is wrong and abominable today.

The guiding light of our Torah doesn’t dim in university halls nor do its values align themselves with society’s prevailing winds. Morals dictated by a Being whose intelligence we cannot fathom are not subject to our intellectual yardstick.

On Shavuos we celebrate the divinity of the Torah, given to us by God Almighty on Har Sinai, some 3300 years ago.

That’s what Shavuos means to me.

Preparing For Shavuos

In a shul where I learn they were installing a new Aron Kodesh. It's nice that even today there are people willing to part with their money to beautify Hashem's house.


In Belz, they were putting down hundreds of beds for those who come to spend Shavuous with the Rebbe.


In BMG, they are sending out emails offering the ability to share in the Shavuos night learning for only $36. I doubt anyone who actually learned in Lakewood would go for that.

Of course, the women are preparing for Shavuos with the help of Efrat Libfroind!

Shakespeare 2009

2 b or not 2 b that's the ?

A Milestone Deserves Sushi

Today I celebrated a milestone.

Five months ago I saw a sign for a new kollel. The plan was to learn Brachos with Rishonim at an intense pace. It was an opportunity for me to do what I had always wanted to do so I applied even though it would mean pushing the limits of what can be accomplished in a 24 hour day.

We started with six guys, four Americans and two Yerushalmis. It gradually increased and this z'man we have a total of 14, which makes for three spoken languages, a few different kind of hats, one white yarmulkeh and one "zebra" coat. But we all learn together, debate each other's chiddushim, and listen when the next person talks.

Today, we finished Brachos. There were some grueling times along the way but it was well worth it. In celebration of my hard work Devorah and I went for Sushi.


We went to the new Cafe Rimon, which has sushi on Thursday nights. It was great.

In a few days we start Mesechta Shabbos.....

Cool Game

When you click on the link below you will see 2 pictures that are almost identical. There are 3 differences between the pictures.

Of 5000 people who saw these pictures only 47 found all 3 differences. I found 2 differences quickly but couldn't find the third. Try it out, you won't regret it.

Identical Pictures Game

Enjoy and good luck!

(Thank you Chassy Kolko)

Messed Up Priorities - Part II

Let's not get into the whole "kosher cellphone" issue. For our purposes it will be enough if we grant it the status of being a praiseworthy practice.

The following sign was advertising a sale of tools. But the contact number was not kosher so someone stamped the sign "Attention: Non-kosher phone number". To this vigilante, ruining someones property is not a problem. But using a non-kosher cellphone is.


A few months ago I was using my non-kosher phone when a 30-something man came over to me and asked me if I serve "Yushke". I asked him what he's talking about. He told me that if I use a non-kosher phone I should throw away my yarmulkeh.

Using a kosher phone has become - at least in this person's religion - as important as wearing a yarmulke!

What has the world come to?

Have Fun With Your Camera

Ding ding ding. This is post # 200!

Many cameras, even inexpensive ones, let you keep the shutter open longer than it usually is. This allows you to do some amazing things.

The camera will capture any light that it sees while the shutter is open. To get this image of cars whizzing by the Verrazzano Bridge I kept the shutter open for 6 seconds.


In the next picture, I kept the shutter open for 5 seconds while I "drew" a smiley face with a small flashlight. Only light gets captured so you can't really see the movement of my hand that was holding the flashlight.


This next picture of my brother Shloimi is really cool. Here is the formula: Turn off the lights in the room, keep the shutter open for 10 seconds, shine a light on the person for a few seconds, turn off the light and have the person move over, and then shine the light again for a few seconds.


Note: For decent results the camera cannot be held in your hand. Put it on a table or a makeshift tripod.

Anyone else have cool ideas?

Messed Up Priorities

Okay, this a bona fide negative post.

This afternoon I was engrossed in a complicated sugya when a guy came over to me holding a cup of water. He wanted me to answer amen to his brochoh.

A minute later he came back. This time it was to say borei nefashos.

This guy thinks he'll get lots of brownie points for his chumrah. In fact, all he'll get is a juicy place in Hell.

Now On YouTube

I've opened a channel on YouTube.

It's still an infant, so check back often to see it's progress.

Check it out by clicking this link:
AviKolko YouTube Channel

Enjoy!

Reb Moshe And Meron, also Reb Shach

I don't know if this story is true. A guy in kollel quoted this from the biography of Menachem Porush.

When Reb Moshe was in Eretz Yisroel, Porush was with him in the Galil and brought him to Meron. Reb Moshe entered the ohel, looked around for a short time, and was ready to leave.

Porush asked, "Aren't you going to say something?"
Reb Moshe answered, "Is there something special to say here?"
Porush said, "No, but you can say Tehillim."
So, Reb Moshe took a Tehilim and said one kappital, and then left.

These are the only pictures I have of Reb Moshe:


They are screenshots of a homevideo taken in the summertime while Reb Moshe was vacationing. I guess for a true gadol being normal is not a contradiciton to being great. (You can't see this in the pictures but on the video it can be seen that this was a Yiddish paper).

Speaking of Meron, Reb Dovid Barkin told me that Rav Shach never visited kevorim. When he was in Vilna he didn't even go to the kever of the Vilna Gaon.

On one occasion did he go to a kever. When the Brisker Rov was sick he asked Rav Shach what he was doing for his recovery. Rav Shach said he was davening and learning. The Brisker Rov said it's not enough, please go to Meron and daven by R' Shimon Bar Yochai.

And that was the only time Rav Shach davened by kevarim.

Oy, mi yetein lanu tmurasam!

Staying Positve & Blackberry Liqour

A few posts ago one of my readers said that I'm too critical and I took his words to heart, so I'm on a "stay postive" binge. It probably won't last long so enjoy it while it lasts.

In the USA there are lots of kosher liquors but in Israel you're limited. Most liquors are made by the Binyamina company which seems to delight in producing liquors with colors that rival Super Drink. "You think you're cool Super Drink because you have blue soda, well guess what, I have green sour apple liqour!"

I'm constantly on the lookout for decent stuff that's kosher. So far I've found Frangelico and Cherry Heering. The other day, a storeowner showed me a Blackberry liquor made by the Gush Etzion Winery. I was skeptical but like my mommy taught me, you can't say you don't like it before you taste it.


I love it! It has a rich complex flavor and is semi-dry. I tried finding in online but wasn't able. Ask your local liqour store to get it for you, you won't regret it!

I Come To Sing

This guy was at the Kosel strumming his guitar pleasantly.


He told me, "Most people come to the Wall to cry, I wanted to come to sing".

Something to think about. When something goes wrong, we turn to Hashem. Shouldn't we also thank Hashem that everything is right?

Why We Have Two Eyes

Two eyes let us see in 3-D.

How do we know if an object is close or far? One way is based on size. If a car looks small, it must be far away. If a cat looks big, it must be close. Another way is based on things around the object . If a cat is blocked by a car, the car must be closer than the cat.

Many times these methods don't work. So Hashem created us with two eyes. Each eye sees a slightly different image than the other, and based on what one eye sees that the other does not, the brain can figure out how far an object is.

Cool experiment: Keep one eye closed and try putting toothpaste on your toothbrush. You will find it very hard. Being that you're only using one eye you only have 2-D vision, which means your brain can't figure out where the paste and the brush are in relation to each other.

Thank you Hashem!

Holier Than Thou

This is the whiteboard in a classroom of a girls seminary here in Yerushalayim. (Don't ask why I was there).


We say in davening every day "hayom yom ploni b'shabbos". Period. But in this seminary, it is "hayom yom rishon b'shabbos kodesh".

Because they know better than the sages who composed the siddur.