Q&A #32: Eis Ratzon, Covid-Gaza Connection, Balancing Life and Emotions During Wartime, Why We Fast

Have any questions, insights, or feedback? Send me a text!Length: 37 minutesSynopsis: This morning (10/12/23), in our first Q&A of the year, we took up six questions: (1) What is idea of an "eis ratzon"? (2) Is there any connection between the COVID pandemic and the current war in Israel? (3) How do we achieve practical and emotional balance in our lives, given the situation in Israel? (4) Why are we fasting today? Or why do we fast in general? There was an additional unrecorded question about the halachos of civilian casualties in war. We read these halachos in the Rambam, but I didn't know how to apply this to contemporary times. I searched for a short shiur on this and found this one (linked here). It's actually less than minutes, since he doesn't actually address the topic until 7:40 and he concludes with a message which is also unrelated to the halachic question. In the shiur itself, he quotes a number of contemporary poskim and applies them to the present war.-----מקורות:תהלים סט:ידספורנור' אליה די נולהרד"קhttps://rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/p/fasting-as-literal-self-sacrificeרבינו בחיי - כד הקמח: תענית -----This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Ann in honor of her son, Shmuel, who is currently serving in the IDF. May Hashem protect Shmuel Rachamim ben Alter Chaim, along with all the other members of the IDF and Am Yisrael.-----If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.-----Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube Channel: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: instagram.com/rabbischneeweiss/"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel