Volume 12 Number 32
Produced: Thu Mar 31 8:11:31 1994
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Electricity on Yom Tov
[Alan Mizrahi]
Ethical issues
[Tom Divine]
Hebrew Etymology
[Jeremy]
Milk and Meat
[Michael Broyde]
Money in Ketubot
[Yaacov Fenster]
One-year programs
[Yisrael Medad]
Ownership of Chometz
[saul djanogly]
Rav Dovid Zvi Hoffman
[Seth Ness]
Shelo Asani Aved, Shelo Asani Isha
[Gerald Sacks]
Syrian community and Convers
[Michael Broyde]
Torah U'Mesorah looking for Help
[Mark Leibson]
Triage and Halakha
[Robert Klapper]
Wheat oil and Matzah
[Yechiel Pisem]
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From: Alan Mizrahi <amizrahi@...>
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 94 16:47:26 EST
Subject: Electricity on Yom Tov
Many poskim permit turning electric lights on and off on Yom Tov, due
to the idea that it does not create a new fire. Does the heter extend
to all electric appliances, or is it only lights?
-Alan Mizrahi
<amizrahi@...>
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From: <tmdivine@...> (Tom Divine)
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 21:01:08 EST
Subject: Ethical issues
For a course on Jewish ethics, I am looking for primary sources bearing
on the following two hypothetical situations:
(1) A fifty year old professor is diagnosed as having a rare early
form of Alzheimer's disease. Within five years he will have no intact
memory and no personal identity which relates to his former self. He
does not wish to be a burden on his family and community and does not
wish to suffer the indignity of a life without mentation, viewing such a
circumstance as not fully human. Does Jewish law/practice contemplate
any circumstance under which suicide is an acceptable option? If so,
would this be such a circumstance?
(2) A pregnant woman is carrying triplets. Her doctors advise her
that a continuation of the pregnancy without intervention will almost
certainly lead to the birth of the babies before any is able to sustain
life. The doctors wish to kill one of the babies in utero in order to
permit the other two to live. Neither the life nor the health of the
mother is compromised under either scenario. Is it halachically
permissible to kill one foetus that the other two might live?
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.
Tom Divine (<TMDivine@...>)
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From: <jeremy@...> (Jeremy)
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 09:44:55 -0500
Subject: Re: Hebrew Etymology
Daniel J Berleant (<djb@...>) writes:
>I am interested in early sources in which the number of meanings of a
>Hebrew word is found by examining the various contexts in which it
>occurs in the Torah (in other words, where concordances are used to
>find out how many meanings a word has in the Torah). I would be
>grateful for any pointers to such sources.
Several Rishonim wrote books titled _Sefer HaSherashim_ (book of etymology).
Two that come to mind are the _Sefer HaSherashim La'Redak_ and _Sefer
HaSherashim Le'Rabbeinu Yona_. The former is much more widely quoted,
but I've found the latter often brings more sources, although the book
is more difficult to use.
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From: Michael Broyde <RELMB@...>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 09:44:42 -0500
Subject: Re: Milk and Meat
There have been a number of different replies given to the question of
whether the prohibition of meat and milk applies to not properly
slaughtered meat from a kosher animal. In fact this issue is in dispute
among the rishonim and the achronim. Rambam in his teshuvot indicates
that the prohibition does not apply to kosher animals that are not
kosher slaughtered. If my memory is correct, this is agreed to by Nodah
beyehuda and Aruch Hashulchan. Other rishonim and achronim disagree and
rule that it does apply to meat froma kosher animal improperly
slaughtered. Modern authorities resolve this dispute differently to
this very day, and thus one must seek guidance from a competent rabbinic
authority.
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From: Yaacov Fenster <fenster@...>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 13:13:07 -0500
Subject: Re: Money in Ketubot
> From: Gerald Sacks <sacks@...>
>
> Janice Gelb recounts in vol 12 #17 a digression during the reading of
> a ketuba about old vs. new shekels. I think the unit of currency in a
> ketuba is the zuz, so I don't understand the story.
I don't know how Ketubot in the US run, but in Israel they run "100/200
zuz" "(And he added)" so and so a sum of money. I have heard this sum
quoted in Dollars, IS, Francs, etc. Usually it is a VERY large sum of
money such as half a million USD, and many people hang onto every word
of the Ketuba reading just to make sure that they hear the amount. This
amount does NOT have to be in the Ketuba, and when I asked my Rav about
it before our wedding his response was that if we didn't want it, it
would be even better if we just left it blank, and so we did.
% Yaacov Fenster (603)-881-1154
% <y.fenster@...>
% <fenster@...> Yaacov.Fenster@zko.mts.dec.com DTN 381-1154
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From: MEDAD%<ILNCRD@...> (Yisrael Medad)
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 08:47 IST
Subject: One-year programs
Yeshivat Hesder Shiloh accepts students from abroad. There is a
constant Canadian contingent and there have been South African and Australian
Bnei Akiva one-year programs. It is very Zionist-Israeli Yeshiva, known for
its warmth and the accessability of its staff, especially the Rosh Yeshiva
Michael Brom and the Mashgiach Rav Aryeh Mendelkorn who is a native English
speaker.
Yisrael Medad
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From: <saul@...> (saul djanogly)
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 17:20:32 -0500
Subject: Re: Ownership of Chometz
Dayan Weiss in Shaalot Uteshuvot Minchat Yitzchak after a lengthy
discussion of the issues concludes that stocks in co.s which deal in
Chametz should be included in one's sale of Chometz before Pesach!(This
is from memory) My Rabbi,Rabbi Cooper of North Hendon Adas,London told
me that Dayan Padua of London holds that this is not neccessary.
saul djanogly
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From: Seth Ness <ness@...>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 14:58:27 -0500
Subject: Rav Dovid Zvi Hoffman
does anyone know if any of the works of rav dovid zvi hoffman on tanach
are available in english?
Seth L. Ness Ness Gadol Hayah Sham
<ness@...>
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From: Gerald Sacks <sacks@...>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 94 15:50:35 EST
Subject: Shelo Asani Aved, Shelo Asani Isha
Arthur Roth, among others, compares the mitzvot incumbent upon a free Jew,
a free non-Jew, a slave and a woman. If "shelo asani aved" is talking about
an eved ivri (Jewish slave), he is responsible for the same mitzvot as a free
Jew. If it's talking about an eved canaani (non-Jewish slave), isn't he
responsible for the same mitzvot as a free Jewish woman? This doesn't seem
to jibe with the idea that the three brachot refer to different requirements
for observing mitzvot.
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From: Michael Broyde <RELMB@...>
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 1994 20:50:44 -0500
Subject: Re: Syrian community and Convers
In regards to the recent posting concerning the Syrian community's
decree against accepting converts, it implied that this decree suspended
the biblical or rabbinic prohibition to "love the convert" based on the
needs of the times, and it is through this mechanism that the decree
allows one in that community to disavow one who marries a convert. This
is very difficult to accept as the proper rationale for the decree. To
assert that the original decree intended to suspend a mitzvah min
hatorah through the power of horat sha'h when that is not (to the best
of my knowledge) found in the decree itself, is an assignment of power to
the beit din of the Syrian community generally unused by any beit din
currently in the world. Although I am uncertain what is the proper
rationale (although I do have some thoughts on possible halachic
mechanisms, if no one brings forth ones), it would be very suprising to
me if a beit din would actually assert that it is suspending the
fulfillment of the mitzvah to love a convert because it leads to other
problems. Perhaps some clarification could be provided?
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From: <mark.leibson@...> (Mark Leibson)
Date: Tue, 29 Mar 1994 20:15:24 -0500
Subject: Torah U'Mesorah looking for Help
My friend is working with Torah U'mesorah in providing computer support
for the North American yeshiva movement. The idea is that nearly all
yeshivas and day schools own computers (usually a collection of Apple
II's, C-64's and a 386 for the office) but very few have the resources
and know-how to use them well.
Torah U'mesorah would like to produce a regular newsletter providing
their constituents with information that could make their lives easier -
and their work more efficient. The newsletter would cover subjects like
cross-platform networking; which platform suits which needs best;
setting up networks - pro's and con's; educational subsidies available
(but seldom discovered); Hebrew word processing; cheap upgrades; Jewish
software...you get the picture.
My friend is looking for volunteers who are expert in some field
relevant to computer life in the yeshiva world and who would be
interested in writing short articles for the newsletter - and maybe
eventually being part of an email problem-solving resource network.
Anyone who thinks they might be able to help, should contact my friend
at:
<ai917@...>
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From: <rklapper@...> (Robert Klapper)
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 12:16:10 -0500
Subject: Triage and Halakha
Saul Djanogly quoted the last Mishnah in Horayot in relation to triage
situations, including the line that men should be saved before women.
Readers should be aware that Rabbi Emanuel Rackman notes, in an article
in the Rabbi I. Jacobovits Jubilee Volume, that this Mishnah has never
been applied halakhically to triage situations and is not cited by any
codes in that context (although it is explained that way in the Rambam's
Commentary on the Mishnah, he doesn't cite it in the Mishneh Torah). I
believe Rav Moshe also has a teshuvah re triage which essentially
makes this Mishnah halakhically irrelevant.
I have mac-IBM compatibility problems. If anyone knows a way I can do
so, for instance a good emulation program which would let me transfer
files from Mac applications, which would let me edit my mail, I'd
appreciate it. Thanks, moadim l'simkhah, and Mazal Tov!
Robert Klapper
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From: Yechiel Pisem <ypisem@...>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 1994 11:31:20 -0500
Subject: Wheat oil and Matzah
In response to Yosef Bechhofer's posting about the oil::
Ho do we eat shmura matzah given that theory?
Yechiel Pisem
<ypisem@...>
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End of Volume 12 Issue 32