Volume 36 Number 06
Produced: Wed Mar 13 5:42:46 US/Eastern 2002
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Bar-Mitzva and 13th birthday
[Danny Skaist]
Carrying in a block of apartments on Shabbat
[Gershon Dubin]
Emden, Bacon and traditional heresy (2)
[Gil Student, Bernard Raab]
Gomel
[Jeanette Friedman]
Oat Matzoh
[Steve Weisberg]
Rare Miketz
[Michael Appel]
Shaloch Manos
[Akiva Miller]
Torah reading by a minor
[Janet Rosenbaum]
Unmarried Men not Wearing a Talit Gadol
[Louis Finkelman]
Yehuda HaChassid
[Ben Katz]
Yehudah he-Hasid and R. Moshe Feinstein
[Paul Shaviv]
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From: Danny Skaist <danny@...>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 07:47:56 +0200
Subject: Bar-Mitzva and 13th birthday
<<My late father-in-law (born c. 1903), who was a product of Slobodka,
told us that from the time of 12 years old he was the Ba'al Kriyah at
his Yeshiva (pre-Slobodka), with the Rosh Yeshiva's blessing.
Why should there be any problem with this, except, possibly, with
Parshat Zachor and Parshat Parah?
Shmuel Himelstein >>
I was at a bar-mitzva on parshat zachor where the bar mitzva boy, after
his birthday, read the entire parsha except for maftir. [of course in
Adar everything is backwards anyway] I think that the discussion should
start with the question of why/when did "bar-mitzva" change from
"simanim" [signs i.e. 2 pubic hairs] to a birthday. Since most 13 year
olds don't have simanim yet, there may not be such a big difference
between before or after the birthday.
danny
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From: Gershon Dubin <gershon.dubin@...>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 15:28:08 -0500
Subject: Carrying in a block of apartments on Shabbat
From: Janet Rosenbaum <jerosenb@...>
<<Gershon Dubin <gershon.dubin@...> writes:
> If, in addition to sharing USE of the kitchen, you share food as
> well, presto, you have an eiruv. If not, you need only pool some bread,
> enough for two meals for one person, and have a more formal eiruv.
When I asked about this, I was told that in addition to there being
food, you also have to buy the carrying rights from the apartment
building management.>>
It depends on the physical layout. I was envisioning a set up
where the apartments have private areas and common areas, not one with
areas open to others not part of the contemplated arrangement.
Which proves once again that CYLOR (consult your local Orthodox
rabbi) accompanies all halachic advice dispensed on this list.
Gershon
<gershon.dubin@...>
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From: Gil Student <gil_student@...>
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 13:51:59 -0500
Subject: Re: Emden, Bacon and traditional heresy
Yaakov Fogelman wrote:
>Finally, does anyone have a follow-up on Rav Moshe Feinstein's attempts to
>ban an alleged commentary on the Torah by Yehuda HaChassid because it
>contained heretical statements, along with well-established Sefer Tziyoni,
>which included it (Igrot Moshe, Y.D. II, 114-115). I heard from Joe feder
>that a Rav Weiss protested his ruling. I have an article on it in this
>week's parasha study; anyone who would like a copy,or to subscribe to the
>parasha studies, is invited to write me on e-mail.
R. Dr. Shnayer Leiman discusses this episode (with which he was
personally involved) in a taped lecture on Torah Min HaShamayim. It is
available for purchase as tape #3524 at
<http://members.aol.com/mattifr/leiman.htm>.
I believe the Beis Din of the Edah HaChareidis ruled that the commentary
could be published with the controversial passages removed.
Gil Student
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From: Bernard Raab <beraab@...>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 11:43:44 -0500
Subject: Re: Emden, Bacon and traditional heresy
>From: Yaakov Fogelman <top@...>
>1) The main source for the conflicts between Yaakov Emden and his
>father, the Chacham Tzvi, mentioned by Norm Broner, is likely the
>latter's insistance that he not marry the woman he loved; he obeyed, but
>kept up a lifelong correspondence with her, despite his 3 wives, two of
>whom died young. He is famous for his responsa on non-Jewish influence
>on Jews, in which he attempts to revive concubinage, to avoid
>R. Gershom's goyish prohibition of polygamy (Sh'alot Yavetz, II:15). I
>have some copies of his Hebrew diary, Megillat Sefer, available for $30
>plus postage, mainly an account of his life-long war with Rav Yochanan
>Eifshitz, with lots about his father. Rav J. Soloveichik thought that
>Chacham Tzvi's view was logical- the takana of 2 days of yom tov had
>nothing to do with where you lived, but where you were- in Israel you
>knew the correct day, abroad you did not. Rav Kook added that keeping
>two days in Israel, because one is going back to the terrible exile of
>scarsdale or Boro Park, shows a basic lack of faith- that Moshiach will
>not come meanwhile and gather us all back home.
Many thanks for the facsinating info on R. Emden. I have been under the
impression that a major source of conflict with his father was the fact
that he did not succeed his father as Rav of the Hamburg community. But
that failure was probably the result of the conflict (among other
resons) rather than its cause. Also, it is generally believed that the
source of his bitter conflict with R. Eibschutz stemmed from the fact
that he (R. Eibschutz) was the successor in Hamburg. But clearly many
other issues were at play there as well.
Thanks also for the very interesting transmission of the thinking of Rav
Soloveitchik on the subject of Yom Tov Sheni. Although I have been an
avid student of this subject for some time, this is the first time I
have heard such. Is there any record anywhere of this opinion?
(BTW, it was I who mentioned the Chachahm Tzvi, etc. in response to a
question by Norm Broner.) Kol Tuv--BR
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <FriedmanJ@...> (Jeanette Friedman)
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 08:55:13 EST
Subject: Re: Gomel
In our shul, sometimes a minyon (exactly) will gather near the
ezras nashim and answer the bracha. It does not have to be during
the aliyos but could be after minyan. That way the woman is not
embarassed and it is easier on the rest of the congregation.
Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz
Excuse me, but what is there to be embarrassed about, and what does it
mean it "makes it easier on the rest of the congregation" (obviously the
men!)
Women are not embarrassed to bench gomel. Why should they be? And why
does a woman benching gomel make it tough on the men?
Please give an explanation of your statement. Perhaps once we understand
the logic and halakha behind the remark, we can do a little tikkun and
make sure no one is EVER embarrassed and the men are not put out!
Jeanette Friedman
Thank you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Steve Weisberg <nydecs@...>
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 12:48:08 +0200
Subject: Oat Matzoh
Many scholars are of the opinion that what we call Oat is not Shibolet
Shual at all. Shibolet Shual is rather a type of barley. See Professor
Felix's book on animal and plant life. I know of major poskim who take
this seriously, one l'chumra and one even l'kula. So the that would mean
that using oats to fulfill the positive mitzvah of matzoh is very
problematic.
Steve
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael Appel <myappel@...>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 08:28:56 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Rare Miketz
Besides asking why Miketz falls after Chanukah in such a year, Dan also
asked why this happens so infrequently.
There are two possible years in which this phenomenon occurs. One is in
a normal (non leap) year. The other is in a leap year.
I don't want to get to mired in the Jewish calendar calculations.
However, in the first case, Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbos. The
subsequent Rosh Hashana falls on Tuesday. For this to happen, the molad
for the first Rosh Hashana would have to fall between noon Thursday (5d
18h in molad designation), and either Thursday evening (6d 0h 408p) if
the following year were not a leap year, or 3AM Friday morning (6d 9h
204p) if the following year were a leap year. Either way there is a
window of less than a day for the molad to fall.
In the second case, (a leap year), Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbos. The
following Rosh Hashana falls on Thursday. For this to happen, the molad
for the first Rosh Hashana would have to fall between noon Thursday (5d
18h in molad designation again), and 2PM Friday afternoon (6d 20h
491p). In this case, the window is slightly bigger. However, the
opportunity for this type of year to occur is quite slim. Incidentally,
in one of these years (the leap year) there is another rare
occurrence. Aharei-Mot and Kedoshim are read separately and neither one
is a special Shabbat. In all normal years, they are read together. In
most leap years, Aharei Mot is Shabbat Hagadol or Mahar Hodesh, or
Kedoshim is Rosh Chodesh. In the leap year beginning on Shabbat,
Metzora is Shabbat Hagadol (since we can't get to Aharei-Mot, as we had
begun the Torah reading cycle very late, on 29 Tishre. If Heshvan and
Kislev both had 30 days, Kedoshim would have been Rosh Chodesh. However,
in our case, with Heshvan and Kislev both having 29 days, Aharei-Mot and
Kedoshim are read separately and neither one is a special Shabbat. The
upshot of this is that according to Ashkenazi minhag, a haftarah is read
for Kedoshim that is extremely graphic in its condemnation of the people
of Yerushalayim. Some do not read this haftarah, and instead repeat
that which is read for Aharei Mot. So the same Haftarah is read 2 weeks
in a row. (It should be noted, that in any year beginning on Shabbos,
Cheshvan and Kislev will have an equal number of days.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <kennethgmiller@...> (Akiva Miller)
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 23:05:27 -0500
Subject: Re: Shaloch Manos
Someone asked <<< Is there a mekor (source) for having to give two food
items with different brochos to fulfill your obligation of shalach manos?
If so, where? >>>
I heard that this was never intended as a real minhag or halacha, only
as a simple way to easily be sure that the two foods are sufficiently
different.
In actual halacha, however, two cuts of meat (i.e., different parts of
the same animal) count as "different", as do two wines of different
colors, even though they have the same bracha. (source: Moadei Yeshurun,
by Rabbi Aaron Felder, pg 58)
Akiva Miller
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Janet Rosenbaum <jerosenb@...>
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 07:09:55 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Torah reading by a minor
Shmuel Himelstein <himels@...> writes:
> My late father-in-law (born c. 1903), who was a product of Slobodka,
> told us that from the time of 12 years old he was the Ba'al Kriyah at
> his Yeshiva (pre-Slobodka), with the Rosh Yeshiva's blessing.
> Why should there be any problem with this, except, possibly, with
> Parshat Zachor and Parshat Parah?
Why would kavod hatsibbur not be a problem? In fact, minor men have less
obligation than women to hear the parsha read.
Janet
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Louis Finkelman <louis.finkelman@...>
Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2002 02:01:04 -0500
Subject: Re: Unmarried Men not Wearing a Talit Gadol
Dear Mail Jewish:
1) Does anyone on Mail Jewish have more information than I do about the
custom of unmarried men not wearing a talit gadol?
2) Also, the custom apparently originates in German speaking parts of
Europe, but now, in my experience, we find it among Ashkenazic Jews from
other parts of Europe. Unmarried male German Jews do wear the talit
gadol, in my experience, and I believe unmarried male Sefaradic Jews do
likewise I have a little information about the history/origin of the
custom, all gleaned from a footnote in R. Daniel Sperber's article on
the spread of custom, under the heading, "customs of the pious, from
individuals to the many." (Daniel Sperber. Minhagei Yisrael, Vol. 3,
p.63, n.6.). In this note, Sperber quotes the Maharil, who writes that,
while he wore a tallit gadol since becoming bar mitsvah, in the
Rheinland even older adolsecents do not wear the tallit gadol until
their marriage, relying on the proximity of Deut. 22:12, "put fringes on
your garments" and the next verse, "When a man takes a wife."
Sperber also traces hints of this custom back to the Rokeah (353) and
the Sefer Mitsvot Katan (2:205), but he notes that we do not have a
source for the derashah from proximity in any ancient text.
Shalom,
Eliezer Finkelman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ben Katz <bkatz@...>
Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 10:33:00 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Re: Yehuda HaChassid
>Finally, does anyone have a follow-up on Rav Moshe Feinstein's attempts
>to ban an alleged commentary on the Torah by Yehuda HaChassid because it
>contained heretical statements, along with well-established Sefer
>Tziyoni, which included it (Igrot Moshe, Y.D. II, 114-115). I heard from
>Joe feder that a Rav Weiss protested his ruling. I have an article on it
>in this week's parasha study; anyone who would like a copy,or to
>subscribe to the parasha studies, is invited to write me on e-mail.
>Yaakov Fogelman
I wrote an article about this in the Jewish Bible Quarterly
1997;25(1):23-30. Other discussions of this controversy may be found in
a tape that S Lieman did for the Sephardic Institute in Brooklyn, NY
(they have a website) and in Louis Jacob's latest book "We Still Have
Reason To Believe".
Ben Z. Katz, M.D.
Children's Memorial Hospital,Division of Infectious Diseases
2300 Children's Plaza, Box # 20, Chicago, IL 60614
Ph. 773-880-4187, Fax 773-880-8226
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Paul Shaviv <pshaviv@...>
Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 08:48:24 -0500
Subject: Yehudah he-Hasid and R. Moshe Feinstein
The issue of the Lange edition of Yehudah he-Hasid's commentary on the
Torah is discussed in Louis Jacobs' "Beyond Reasonable Doubt', Littman
Library, 1999, pp. 63-67, where he also gives a short summary of the
contentious passages. However, a fascinating footnote is added by
B. Barry Levy, 'Fixing God's Torah - the accuracy of the Hebrew Bible
Text in Jewish Law' , OUP (USA), 2001, p.218, n.68, who, after giving
some references to Iggerot Moshe, draws attention to a reference in the
teshuvot of R. Menashe Klein "who suggested these words
[i.e. R. Feinstein's suggestion that the Lange edition should be burned
- PS] were added to Rabbi Feinstein's responsum by a student after his
death."
Paul J. Shaviv, Toronto
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End of Volume 36 Issue 6
