Category Archives: Readers Write

Readers Write: Maran Harav Ovadia

Posted on by

0

Review by Chedva Haber of Jewish Joy Reading:

When I first saw that the biography of Maran HaRav Ovadia had been published, I thought, “Nah, this book isn’t relevant to me. He was Sephardi, I’m Ashkenzi. Nothing doing.” But I decided to give it a chance anyway and, whoa, am I happy I did! You can read my full review of Maran HaRav Ovadia on my blog.

Rabbi Heimowitz did an amazing job gathering information on many aspects of HaRav Ovadia’s life. The quotes from friends and family throughout the book gave me a feeling of closeness to HaRav Ovadia. I especially enjoyed reading how HaRav Ovadia related to his grandchildren. Although he was involved in the klal and constantly learning on his own, HaRav Ovadia still made time to sign his grandchildren’s report cards and make sure they were advancing properly. In one case, a grandson was behind in his studies, and HaRav Ovadia arranged for a tutor and also reviewed the material himself with the child.

To get back to the personal relevance, I was awed by the stories of hasmada, highlighting how much a person can push himself and be able to accomplish. HaRav Ovadia lived through many hard times, going from living without plumbing in Egypt to living in Israel during wartime. HaRav Ovadia served as a Rav to many, becoming a dayan and then the Rishon L’Tzion, Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic community in Israel. After that, he became involved in the political party Shas. Being involved, the book explains, meant that he accomplished everything required in only 10 minutes a day, devoting the rest of his time to Torah study.

Sometimes the book read like a thriller, as one very exciting story began in Egypt, but then followed the Ovadias to Eretz Yisrael. It started when HaRav Ovadia was delving into the shechita (or, rather, lack of it) situation in Egypt. To avoid financial loss, many butchers had been taking shortcuts, which is 100 percent forbidden by Torah law. HaRav Ovadia made it very clear that proper shechita is not something the Jewish nation compromises on. Well, not everyone took that so easily, to say the least. One such shochet would not leave his profession, no matter how many warnings he was given. On several occasions, he even tried to have HaRav Ovadia killed so that the shochet could continue to selling non-kosher meat In the 1950’s, when the Ovadias were already living in Petach Tikva, this same man’s name came up as being a practicing shochet in Mevaseret Yerushalayim. It didn’t take long before this evil man learned that HaRav Ovadia was once again foiling his plans, and he threatened HaRav Ovadia, who was compelled to call the police to investigate. Much later, Rav Yaakov Ovadia, HaRav’s oldest son, read that the man had been murdered by a fellow criminal. The part of the story that most impressed me was HaRav’s determination and dedication to the Torah even when his very life was at stake.

Maran HaRav Ovadia is well over 500 pages, but by the end, it is clear that the life of a gadol can hardly be described in such a short piece. This is a book that I highly recommend for each Jewish household. It’s something that can be read a chapter or so at a time and enjoyed at each reading.

Click here to purchase a copy of Maran Harav Ovadia

We love to hear from our readers! If you have an opinion or review to share on one of our books, please email blog@artscroll.com, and you could be featured here. 

 

Readers Write: My Father, My Mother and Me + Giveaway!

Posted on by

19

Readers from all over the world have been raving about our new book, My Father, My Mother and Me. Below are some of their comments. If you would like to share your thoughts on this book, or any ArtScroll title that has made an impression on you, email blog@artscroll.com and it might be featured on The Official ArtScroll Blog!

Scroll to the end of the post for a giveaway!

Giveaway is over! The winner is: Sarah W!

my father my mother

 

A reader from Israel shares:

“I would like to describe my experience with My Father, My Mother and Me. because I want more people to buy it. I did not buy this book to improve my relationship with my mother or with my mother in law. In fact, I didn’t buy it at all. Someone bought it for me, because she knew I was having real serious issues with my in-laws. You know—things that typically just go on without resolution.

Amazingly, as I read, something shifted in my attitude. It wasn’t because a particular story inspired me. It was just the whole idea of this book. l these years, I was looking at how I was right and how my in-laws were wrong. Even though I saw certain areas where I realized they were right and I was wrong, I had a hard time acting respectfully about them.

So what happened?

After reading the book, I realized that even if they are wrong and I am right, I should be focusing on my responsibilities, on how I could become better. I realized that I should daven more to be able to honor my in-laws, my parents, and to respect them and their needs.

My mindset changed a lot, in a lot of ways. I realized that because of my new attitude, I am talking to my in-laws—and talking to my husband about them—in a different way. I thought, “Wow! What a little book can do!”

I wanted to share this because I feel that everyone should read My Father, My Mother and Me. “

Gitty writes about how much she enjoyed this book:

“I highly recommend the book My Father, My Mother and Me. It has opened up my eyes (pokeach ivrim) to the halachos of Kibud Av V’Eim. It gave me a whole new perspective on the way that I view my relationship with my parents. Baruch Hashem, I have already been able to put the halachas I’ve learned from this book into practice. Aside from being inspirational and educational, this is a highly entertaining book that I had fun reading – I don’t know any time that I ever said that about a halacha sefer.

Yasher Koach!”

Reader Chani writes about how this book impacted her life:

“I picked up a copy of My Father, My Mother and Me over shabbos, and I spent some time reading it. I found it to be life changing.

My father has never forgiven me for becoming a Baalas Teshuva. Every time that I see him he makes fun of my “lifestyle” and puts down Kollel. He makes sure to let me know that if I didn’t have the extra expenses of being a frum Jew, I could live the “good” life (cruises, restaurants, etc).

After spending a few hours with him, the only thing I usually want to do is run out the door. This week, as I was visiting him, I started thinking about the stories that I had read in the book. I took a look around me and realized that his apartment was in terrible shape. The mitzvah of Kibbud Av includes cleaning and feeding my father, not just visiting him. Despite my tremendous desire to leave, I spent a long time cleaning his bathroom and kitchen and taking out numerous bags of garbage. Because of the many stories that I read about ways of taking care of parents, I realized that this is something that I should want to do, not look for excuses to get out of it.

The most remarkable thing is not that I did it, but how I felt about doing it. In the past when I helped him I was full of resentment for the way that he treats me. This time I left feeling good and empowered.  This was not about helping my father; it was about doing what Hashem wants.“

Click here to purchase the book with exclusive online savings

GIVEAWAY!

 For your chance to win a copy of My Father, My Mother and Me  just comment below and tell us which ArtScroll titles have greatly impacted your life. (You can also email your thoughts to blog@artscroll.com and it may be featured here. All entries must be via comment on this post.)

**Giveaway ends on Thursday, March 27th at 11:59 eastern time. Prize can be shipped within the USA. Winner will be notified via email. Valid email address must be provided to claim prize. Limit one entry per person.