Volume 24 Number 44
Produced: Thu Jun 20 22:38:04 1996
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Administrivia
[Avi Feldblum]
Bnei Noach
[Saul Mashbaum]
Exchanging honor?
[Freda B Birnbaum]
Flowerpots
[Shimon Lebowitz]
Maaser Newbie Question
[Aaron D. Gross]
Not Attending Parent's Remarriage
[Sam Gamoran]
Not saying Tashlich on Rosh Hashana
[Chaim Shapiro]
Passuk
[Chaim Schild]
Refrigerators
[Perry Zamek]
Request for Talmudic Puns
[Mordechai Torczyner]
Shaatnez in Couches
[Israel Pickholtz]
Shidduch info
[Israel Rosenfeld]
Talmudic puns
[Barry Best]
Talmudic Puns
[Steven F. Friedell]
Tzedaka box in shul
[Israel Pickholtz]
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From: Avi Feldblum <feldblum@...>
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 22:32:21 -0400
Subject: Administrivia
Hello All,
Shamash is in a state of extremem flux right now. We are hopeful that
the next week will be critical to proper continuation of
Shamash. However, right now it appears likely that there will be
interruptions in service, as there have been the last several days and
we, the volunteer staff of Shamash are no longer able to recover things
easily. I hope to have more information for you all at the beginning of
next week.
Avi
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From: <mshalom@...> (Saul Mashbaum)
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 08:21:56 EDT
Subject: Bnei Noach
Rabbi Chaim Richman, an Orthodox rabbi who lives in Jerusalem, directs
"Light to the Nations", an educational institute which promotes the
Noachide laws, and explains Jewish beliefs (paticularly about the Jewish
concepts of redemption, messiah, and the rebuilding of the Temple) to
the Christian community. The institute is in contact with Christian
communities in the United States, and produces a variety of
publications.
Rabbi Richman would be happy to answer any questions on the subject of
Noachide laws or the above-mentioned Jewish beliefs. He can be contacted
by e-mail at <crlight@...> The institute's address is
Light to the Nations
POB 31714
Jerusalem, Israel
Tel/Fax: 972-2-860-453
Saul Mashbaum
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From: Freda B Birnbaum <fbb6@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 10:49:32 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Exchanging honor?
In v24n43, the question is raised:
> Furthermore, even if she is already forbidden to their father (see Even
> HaEzer 10), yet when she remarries another the children will become duty
> bound to show him honor as their mother's husband (Yoreh Deah 240). It
> would not be respectful to the father to take part in the ceremony which
> creates his obligation to honor his stepfather, particularly if the
> children are small and live with their mother, so that they will have
> permanently exchanged the honor they owe their biological father to the
> honor they owe their step-father. Thus, this minhag of not
> participating in the mother's remarriage seems quite appropriate.
I was not aware that there would have to be an EXCHANGE of the honor
owed to one's biological father for that owed to one's mother's spouse,
or even that the additional quality of honor now owed to one's mother's
spouse is the same as that owed to one's biological parent. Anyone have
some leads on this?
Freda Birnbaum, <fbb6@...>
"Call on God, but row away from the rocks"
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From: Shimon Lebowitz <lebowitz@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 11:31:46 +0300
Subject: Re: Flowerpots
> I once looked into Encyclopedia Talumudica and unless I looked
> incorrectly there is no entry for "Ahtziz" i.e. Flowerpot
the word `atzitz is spelled with an `ayin, so even if the encyclopedia
will have a full entry on it, i assume it is years away!
however, the index of volumes 1-17 does have a dozen entries under
`atzitz, some with the sub-heading 'nakuv' and some 'she-eino nakuv'.
(i didnt look at any of them, so i do not know if they will help you at
all).
Shimon Lebowitz Bitnet: LEBOWITZ@HUJIVMS
VM System Programmer internet: <lebowitz@...>
Israel Police National HQ. IBMMAIL: I1060211
Jerusalem, Israel phone: +972 2 309-877 fax: 309-308
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From: <adg@...> (Aaron D. Gross)
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 19:00:16 -0700
Subject: Maaser Newbie Question
I will be coming with my family to Jerusalem for the months of July and
August. We will be staying in Har Nof, near the Supersol. Can we assume
that maaser has already been taken from all produce at that market?
Is there a brief guide to practical maaser halachot? Are there market
chains in Israel that can be trusted?
One question: if one purchases a bunch of bananas, where there are 8
bananas in the bunch, does one separate 8/10 of a banana, a whole banana,
or do something else altogether? I heard something about possibly combining
8 of one fruit with 2 of another, but didn't hear enough to be confident
that that is correct.
Do Kohanim and Leviim have different rules?
Having lived in the U.S. my whole life, these halachot don't come up
very often.
Many thanks.
Aaron D. Gross -- email: <adg@...> http://www.pobox.com/~adg
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From: Sam Gamoran <gamoran@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 10:12:57 +0000
Subject: Re: Not Attending Parent's Remarriage
At my father's request, my brothers and I *did* attend our father's second
marriage after our parents' divorce (we were quite young at the time and it did
not even occur to us to ask a poseq). After we returned home to our mother, I
learned how much the wedding, which she of course did not attend, upset her.
Had I known this in advance, I likely would not have gone.
From this personal experience, I can easily understand a minhag not to
attend a second marriage AFTER DIVORCE because of the feelings of the other
parent. However, I fail to see how this could be a problem fro a widowed
parent remarrying.
Sam Gamoran
Motorola Israel Ltd. Cellular Software Engineering (MILCSE)
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From: Chaim Shapiro <ucshapir@...>
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 12:29:02 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Not saying Tashlich on Rosh Hashana
Over the last few years, I have been grappling with the issue of
whether I should say Tashlich on Rosh Hashana proper, or wait until
another day during the Eseres Yima Tshuva. It is not that I don't
believe in saying Tashlich on Rosh Hashana, or have too far to walk.
Rather, it is the very fact that Rosh Hashana is Yom Hadin that I feel
I'd be better off spending the afternoon at home. You see, the majority
of the jews of my neighborhood say Tashlich at the same place, On Devon
Av. between Kedzie and Kimball. And to be sure, the vast majority of
those in attendance have the singular purpose of saying Tashlich in
mind. However, there is still that small percentage who view Tashlich
as the biggest social event of the year, turning the Yom Hadin into a
scene that one would be ashamed to see on your average Saturday night.
There is lightheadness, Loshon Hora, fraternizing between the sexes, and
G-d only knows what else. I, by nature, am a very sociable person. I
enjoy interacting with other people, and as such I am afraid that
attending Tashlich will lead me into a situation where I act in a way
unbecoming of the Yom Hadin.
Now, I am not advocating abolishing Tashlich, or recommending
that anyone not attend. I simply want to know what I should do. For as
much as I don't want to be Tifrosh from the Tzibur, I have to wonder if
in my case I'm better off not putting myself in a potentially dangerous
situation. (By the way, I've tried some alternate locations which were
almost as bad.)
Chaim Shapiro
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From: <SCHILDH@...> (Chaim Schild)
Date: Wed, 19 Jun 1996 12:49 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Passuk
The sentence in out siddurim "HaShem Melech, HaShem Malach, HaShem Yimloch
L'olam Vah'ed" is a composite of three other sentences from scripture. Who
is the author of this sentence and what was its original purpose?
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From: <jerusalem@...> (Perry Zamek)
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 07:22:56 +0300
Subject: Refrigerators
Dr. Barak Greenfield wrote (in mj v24n43):
>Therefore, if opening the refrigerator on shabbat
>will definitely cause the motor to turn on, it is prohibited (p'sik
>reisha d'nicha lei), because a human being was the causal factor behind
>the forbidden activity.
Rav Neuwirth, in Shmirath Shabbat Ke-hilchata, writes that some people do
not open the refrigerator unless the motor is running, while others open it
regardless of the state of the motor. The sevara (logic) behind the first
view is that quoted above, while the sevara of the second view seems to be
that it is a safek (doubt) whether the motor will turn on.
Over this past Shabbat lunch, we discussed a third view: not to open the
refrigerator door when the motor *is* running (i.e. open it *only* when the
motor is *not* running). Is there any basis for this approach?
Perry Zamek | A Jew should hold his head high.
Peretz ben | "Even in poverty a Hebrew is a prince...
Avraham | Crowned with David's Crown" -- Jabotinsky
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From: Mordechai Torczyner <mat6263@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 01:06:17 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Request for Talmudic Puns
Rava on Pesachim 39a, although I don't know if this is humor so
much as a simple play on words, has a pun on Chas [Mercy] and Chasa
[Lettuce] regarding Maror for Pesach. This is especially interesting in
light of the pun which Gershon Dubin points out earlier in Pesachim,
regarding Chulda the Prophetess.
We also have a Gemara towards the end of Yevamos where one of
the Amora'im exclaims, when a man by the name of Chasa disappears in the
sea, "The fish have eaten Chasa" an obvious play on Chasa the name and
Chasa the Lettuce.
For more broad humor, it would be worthwhile to look at the
Gemara with Bar Kappara and Rebbe on Nedarim 50b. Rashi terms Bar
Kappara a "Badchan", or "Joker".
There is more; perhaps I will get a chance to send more in later.
Mordechai Torczyner
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From: Israel Pickholtz <rotem@...>
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1996 05:26:18 +0300
Subject: Shaatnez in Couches
While we are on the subject, a new newsletter showed up in shul this
weekend - SHATNEZ UPDATE. It's in English, published by the National
Committee of Shatnez Testers and Researchers. Their address is in Har
Nof (Jerusalem) and they have a US phone number as well. They also have
the address <ADAM@...>
Articles include basic info, consumer alerts, housecalls to check
couches and rugs, etc etc.
It's not a subject on which I have any expertise, but it makes
interesting reading.
Israel Pickholtz
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From: <iir@...> (Israel Rosenfeld)
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 96 13:51 +0200
Subject: re: Shidduch info
Just an interesting thought on the subject.
Rabbi Ephraimel (that's what Jerusalemites called him fifty years ago)
wrote in his book Oneg Shabbat that someone asked him the
following question:
"Why ask people about a shidduch? If you ask a friend, he'll say
good things, if you ask an un-friend, he won't say good things.
Therefor, the answer reflects on the answerer and not necessarily
on the person discussed!"
He answered: "The gemarra (Sanhedrin 22a) says that forty days
before conception a heavenly voice announces 'A will marry B'.
But who hears? So we ask people! If it's the right one, Hashem
sends us a friend, if not ...".
And a light thought on the subject:
The grave of the tanna Yonatan ben Uziel is in a valley
called Amuka (the deep place).
Jerusalemites consider the place a Big Segula for shidduchim,
and if you visit the place, you will find your shidduch within the
year.
Me? I was engaged a year to the day I visited Amuka (:-)).
So to all MJers still seeking, you are cordially invited to visit
Israel and drop into (literally :-)) Amuka.
And who knows? You might even be lucky enough to stay!
Behatzlacha rabba,
Yisrael
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From: Barry Best <bbest@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 96 08:52:00 EDT
Subject: RE: Talmudic puns
In response to Gershon Dubin's call for Talmudic puns (Vol 24 #43):
In the third chapter of B'rachos (about daf 20 or so) a story is related
about R. Ada bar Ahava, who, in his zeal to stop what he thought was
improper behavior on the part of a Jewish woman, tore the hat off a
non-Jewish woman (he apparantly mistook her for a Jewess). He was sued
or fined and had to pay 400 zuz. He asked the nonJewish woman her name
and she replied Matun. He then commented: "Matun, Matun you cost me 400
zuz".
Rashi points out that the name Matun is similar to the Aramaic word for
two-hundred -- so the pun is that her name times two equals 400 zuz.
Alternatively, Rashi explains that Matun is similar to the Aramaic (and
Hebrew) word for wait, so the pun is "Matun, Matun (i.e., had I *waited*
to see whether you were Jewish or non-Jewish) I would have saved 400
zuz."
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From: Steven F. Friedell <friedell@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 09:09:02 -0400
Subject: Talmudic Puns
In Ta'anit 24: R. Mari the son of Samuel's daughter said, I was standing
at the banks of the Papa River and I saw angels in the guise of sailors
who brought sand and loaded the ships with it and it turned to fine
flour. The angels (malakhei) looked like sailors (malachei). Some texts
omit the "in the guise of sailors").
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From: Israel Pickholtz <rotem@...>
Date: Thu, 20 Jun 1996 06:38:13 +0300
Subject: Tzedaka box in shul
On occasion, I daven at a kollel that has the custom of taking the
tzedaka box around between keriyat shema and amida of Maariv. That
seems to me to be a strange time. (The person doing the collecting is
davening at the same time.)
Anyone know a source for this custom?
Israel Pickholtz
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End of Volume 24 Issue 44
