Question

Hello, our Rabbi,
In continuation of this correspondence:

Between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur 5778
May you be inscribed and sealed for good.
This email contains three attachments.
The first is a light, straightforward commentary on the Book of Jonah, written by Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Yaavetz, may he live long, a rosh metivta in our yeshiva, Derekh Chaim. Just as he did wonderfully in his commentary on the Scroll of Esther and the Scroll of Ruth, so too in this work the commentary is integrated into the text itself, so that one can listen to the Jonah haftarah from it and, while listening, understand the verses.
The second file is intended for subscribers who joined only this year, and it contains things I wrote between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur last year; and because they are dear to me I saw fit to publish them again.
The third file, Netafim 102. Naturally, this “Netafim,” written in these special days, is different from the other Netafim [this time too I tried to avoid smiles, a bad habit ingrained in me since my “Elul” days as a young man in Rabbi Chatzkel’s Ponevezh Yeshiva, of blessed memory.]
I have a request of the reader: the topics I discussed this time are complex, and they should be read as one whole. For anyone who reads only part of them will almost certainly misunderstand and jump to hasty conclusions, as if there is some lack of faith here.
I will only say this: on some of the topics and insights I already wrote at length in “Netafim” several years ago, and at that time, on my own initiative, the matters were submitted for review to sages and people more expert than I am in matters of faith / belief [and there are such people], who approved that these things are fit to be said and written. There are no surprising questions of faith here that all other believers have not asked themselves at one point or another. Nor did I introduce earthshaking novelties in the answers; the ideas can also be found in the words of the Sages and in works of Jewish thought. Altogether, I simply wished to offer you the way I formulated these things for myself. Perhaps there will be readers for whom דווקא this formulation will help them formulate their own thoughts, and bring some peace of mind to those struggling and agonizing over questions on the topic of God’s providence in the world.
I have no doubt that some of you, when reading this—especially the second part—will be convinced that something bad has happened to me, and that I’ve started floating around in strange worlds and speaking the language of aliens. Don’t worry! By the time I write the next “Netafim,” I’ll make a soft landing back on the ground and return to speaking human language.
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And nevertheless, one small smiling remark. – [For Ashkenazim only]
Musically speaking, the cantillation marks during the High Holidays are more dramatic, as is fitting.
There are special Torah readers such that when you hear them reading the Torah, and especially the words of the prophets in the haftarot, you feel that the reader lives and feels the text and sweeps the entire congregation along with him. When you hear from them, “Thus said the Lord: I remember for you the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days…” or “Is Ephraim My dear son, a delightful child…” your heart melts from God’s love for us.
But there are also other Torah readers who indeed add drama to their reading, yet you sense that it’s only lip service.
It amuses me to hear them finish the Torah reading on the second day of Rosh Hashanah in a loud voice and with a pleading, emphatic melody on the words: “She too bore Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.”
And if I may again remind you and suggest an address for charitable donations for the charity fund under my management and responsibility, where the money goes to truly poor people, for basic needs, and with no management expenses or the like—every penny reaches the needy.
For donations: Kupat Ha’ir, “Yad Leparnasa” Fund no. 1477 phone 1800-39-47-47.
A faster option for anyone who wants to enter a donation directly by bank transfer.
Bank Poalei Agudat Yisrael – Branch 188 [Chazon Ish 42, Bnei Brak] – Account number 551945 – Account name: Kupat Ha’ir 1477
With blessings for a good final sealing.

You answered as follows:

Two comments on the 5778 file:

1. Regarding note 6, this is the well-known example of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef about one who recites havdalah over wine—he will have male children.
2. The end, with all due respect, is just empty verbiage. There is no such thing as living in two consciousnesses when both are true. That’s postmodern nonsense. Either the commandments and transgressions affect reality and my life, or they don’t. If everything proceeds by way of nature, then living with a consciousness that these are results of divine intervention is a life of sheer illusion. And it makes no difference at all whether you live this nonsense with every fiber of your being. And of course, you also aren’t required to live with a consciousness that you clearly know is false. All this Torah chatter about double lives and the like is mere lip movement. About that I say: Retract, Rabbi David, and you and I will stroll in the Garden of Eden (with you in the lead)… [Just to clarify, I do not mean to protest the heresy in the natural consciousness, but the nonsense in the non-natural consciousness. And Rabbi Kook already taught us that there is a kind of faith that is like heresy…]

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It was already clear to me while writing the article that I wouldn’t get past you unscathed. I want to respond at somewhat greater length, but I know that you wrote articles on prayer and its effect on reality, [they told me you also wrote another article close to Yom Kippur] could you give me the addresses of the articles on the subject, because I’d like to study what you are proposing in place of what I wrote.
With thanks and blessings