God provides food for all?

In last weeks parsha, עקב, we have the mitzva of bentching after eating. In the first beracha we say:

הַזָּן אֶת הָעוֹלָם כֻּלּוֹ בְּטוּבוֹ בְּחֵן בְּחֶסֶד וּבְרַחֲמִים, הוּא נֹתֵן לֶחֶם לְכָל־בָּשָׂר כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּוֹ וּבְטוּבוֹ הַגָּדוֹל תָּמִיד לֹא חָסַר לָנוּ וְאַל יֶחְסַר לָנוּ מָזוֹן (תָּמִיד) לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד בַּעֲבוּר שְׁמוֹ הַגָּדוֹל כִּי הוּא אֵל זָן וּמְפַרְנֵס לַכֹּל וּמֵטִיב לַכֹּל וּמֵכִין מָזוֹן לְכָל־בְּרִיּוֹתָיו אֲשֶׁר בָּרָא

 who provides food for the entire world
in his goodness, with grace, kindness, and mercy.
He supplies bread for all living beings,
for His kindness is everlasting.
Because of His great goodness,
we have never lacked food, nor will we ever lack it
on account of His great name
since He is God who feeds and provides for all
and is good to all and who supplies food
for all His creatures which He brought into being.
(Translation taken from aish.com)

How do we reconcile this with the many famines that occurred throughout history and still occur today? How can we state that we have never lacked food when we have? How can we say that god feeds and provides for all when there are starving people in the world?

Chareidi forum discusses whether a beautiful woman is allowed to leave her house

I read the forums in Otzar Hachochma to see what is going on in the Chareidi world. I was really surprised to find the following question. A woman who knows she is beautiful and people (eg. men) will look at her, can she go out like everyone else. The majority opinion is yes but there are those who claim that she is causing others to sin and is therefore responsible.

IMHO, just the fact that this can even be a discussion shows how far off the rails Chareidi society has gone.

See https://forum.otzar.org/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=45006

Fooling the health insurance company to get back money

The following question came up in a Charedi forum that I read (https://forum.otzar.org/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=38047). In Israel the Kupot Cholim (health insurance) will reimburse new mothers when buying breast pumps (2). Can you do the following, buy 2 breast pumps, then return them and get the money back, and then send the receipts to the insurance company and get reimbursed for the pumps and buy a baby carriage? There was a heated discussion, with many saying it is simply stealing and others coming up with various heterim as to why it is permitted.

One fascinating heter is that non-profit corporations (which is what the kupot cholim in Israel are) are simply not recognized by the Torah and any money the company has is considered ownerless and therefore there can be no issur to steal from them.

One person wrote back in the name of some dayanim, that saying that is an embarrassment to the Torah. It is basically saying that the Torah cannot deal with modern corporate concepts and of course the Torah system deals with corporations.

Another Beis Hamikdash conundrum

Yetserday's daf (Zevachim 88) states that you are not allowed to launder the bigdei kehuna. The kohanim were also not allowed to wear dirty bigdei kehuna. There is no way that a kohen can do avoda, slaughtering the animal, being mekabel the dam, carrying the parts to the mizbeiach etc. without getting dirty. This leads to the conclusion that the bigdei kehuna could only be worn once. However, the implications of this are quite difficult. They would have had to be constantly making new bigdei kehuna. We don't find any source saying that the bigdei kehuna were only worn once adn we don;t find any sources that they were constantly makiing bigdei kehuna.

Performing מליקה in the Beis Hamikdash

When bringing a bird as a Korban, the bird is not schechted, rather מליקה is performed. The Gemara in Zevachim (64b) describes how מליקה was done.

In Melikah of Chatas ha'Of, the Kohen holds the wings in two fingers, and the legs in two fingers, and stretches the neck over the width of his thumb, and cuts it with his thumbnail.
(Beraisa): The bird faces outside. He holds the wings in two fingers, and the legs in two fingers, and stretches the neck over the width of two fingers, and cuts it with his thumbnail;
This is the difficult Avodah in the Mikdash.

Can you imagine a Kohen nowadays doing this? Killing a bird with your bare hands, actually with the fingernail of your thumb. As opposed to shechita I don't think this is a painless  or quick death. I wonder how the apologists will explain מליקה?

Was all the עבודת הקרבנות done in the first Beis Hamikdash invalid?

Yesterdays daf (זבחים ס"א) seems to imply that was the case. The Gemara says that the mizbeach in the first beis hamikdash was 28x28 amos and in the second bees hamikdash was 32x32 amos. Rabin explains the difference as follows:

In the first Mikdash, Nesachim would flow into Shisim (a pit south-west of the Mizbe'ach) down the wall of the mizbeach. They enlarged the Mizbe'ach in order that the Shisim would be within (under) the Mizbe'ach and they made the corners of the mizbeach hollow so that they could pour nesachim in them. At first (during the first Beis Hmikdash), they learned from the words "Mizbe'ach Adamah" that the mizbeach has to be completely solid. In the second beis Hamikdash they thought that drinking ('consumption' of libations) should be like eating (Korbanos that are burned, i.e. within the boundaries of the Mizbe'ach) and therefore made the holes to pour the Nesachim as part of the mizbeach. Therefore, they understood that Mizbe'ach Adamah" teaches that the Mizbe'ach cannot be built over domes or tunnels (that are not needed for the Mizbe'ach).

What comes out is that according to the way they understood pesukim and halacha, the way they did Nesachim in the first beis hamikdash was pasul.

 This ties in to the general dispute about what was received at Sinai and if there is one halachic truth. 

Disputes about the Beis Hamikdash

Daf Yomi is now learning Zevachim and the Gemara there is starting to get into disputes about the Beis Hamikdash. So far we have a few (Zevachim 53-59):

1. Was there a base around the whole Mizbeach or only on 2 sides? 
2. Was the whole Mizbeach fully in the north or half in the North or fully in the South?
3. Where was the כיור?
4. What was the size of the מזבח הנחשת?

Here are some diagrams with the various opinions about the location of the mizbeach and kiyor.

Here is a diagram showing the dispute about the size of the מזבח הנחשת.

We see clearly that the Tannaim who lived not long after the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed were missing important information about the Beis Hamikdash and simply did not the details of how the Beis Hamikdash was laid out. If they didn't know this basic information what else didn't they know?