Volume 28 Number 66
Produced: Tue Jun 8 7:10:46 US/Eastern 1999
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Darche Noam Yarche Kallah
[Darche Noam Institutions]
Fax & Shabbat
[David Schiffmann]
How to deal w/ frum worker abusing the net? (3)
[Daniel Stuhlman, Roger Kingsley, Deborah Wenger]
Jewish Slave Owners
[Jay Rovner]
When To Take Off Tefillin on Chol Ha'Moed.
[Immanuel Burton]
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From: Darche Noam Institutions <darnoam@...>
Date: Wed, 2 Jun 1999 11:05:33 +0000
Subject: Darche Noam Yarche Kallah
YARCHE KALLAH IN JERUSALEM
The Darche Noam Institutions in Jerusalem: David Shapell College
of Jewish Studies and Midreshet Rachel College of Jewish Studies for
Women are happy to announce our upcoming 3-day Yarche Kallah, July
18-20, 1999 entitled "Torah Im Derech Eretz."
Guest Lecturers each day, chavruta study and panel discussions.
For full schedule and more information see our Yarche Kallah
webpage at http://www.torah.org/programs/noam/pages/yk99.htm
for more information about our institutions in Jerusalem take a look
at our website at http://www.darchenoam.org
We look forward to hearing from you.
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From: David Schiffmann <das1002@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 14:32:02 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Re: Fax & Shabbat
> B: Can one send a fax to Israel on Friday afternoon knowing that it
> will arrive there on Shabbat; can the receiver read the fax or is this
> an issue of nolad?
Regarding point B, about reading a fax that arrives on Shabbat, I think
I remember specifically reading about this in a 1-volume, relatively
recently published, English-language book about the laws of Shabbat, by
a British rabbi, I think, (I can't remember the name, but I remember
that it was not part of the 2-volume 'Shemirat Shabbat' book), where it
said that it was okay to read such a fax (though perhaps it said it was
not okay to handle it - I'm not sure about that). Perhaps someone can
look up the exact quotation.
Also, there is a question and answer about sending a fax to somewhere
where it is already Shabbat, in Ohr Somayach's 'Ask the Rabbi' archives
- see http://www.ohr.org.il/web/index/asktitle.htm for the index
Regards,
David Schiffmann
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From: Daniel Stuhlman <ssmlhtc@...>
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 11:01:39
Subject: How to deal w/ frum worker abusing the net?
>From: Frances Klein-Lehman <faygie_klein@...>
>I am a systems administrator for a large company. <snip>
>There is a frum guy who has been abusing the net. He visits adult-sites
>and frequests chat rooms. I know with certainty that it is him, <snip>
>But the bigger issue is, how do I approach him and tell him to stop
>without embarrasing him?
If he is clearly violating company policy, it is not your job to tell
him anything. His *crime* is theft of time. You should go through
normal company channels. For example tell your boss who will inform his
boss.
I was once the LAN administrator of a government agency. We did not
have internet access at the time, but we did have a usage policy that
stated agency computers can not be used for non-agency business.
A top manager, who was Jewish, got into "hot water" with the media for
doing outside consulting that was approved by the head of the agency.
This manager was forced to resign. The agency insisted that he did
nothing wrong or against policy. After he left, I found out that he
used an agency computer for his outside consultations and this was
against policy. I told my boss and then the matter stopped. We had no
reason to embarrass the manager or the agency with the information.
Just my opinion, not my institution.
Daniel Stuhlman
Chicago, IL 60645
<mail to:<ddstuhlman@...>
This is a private message-- not connected to my organization.
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From: Roger Kingsley <rogerk@...>
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 20:52:06 +0300
Subject: How to deal w/ frum worker abusing the net?
1. Why not send out a general, or semi-general, email circulation
repeating the policy, saying that it has been discovered that certain
people are abusing the net in this way, and mentioning a few of the
objectionable sites (preferably not the worst ones) so as to allow
offenders to take it personally, without being certain that they have
yet been been personally identified.
2. What difference does it make if the guy is frum?
Roger Kingsley
<rogerk@...>
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From: Deborah Wenger <dwenger@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 99 12:08:33 -0400
Subject: How to deal w/ frum worker abusing the net?
I think if you're the systems administrator, it would be quite easy:
send a global e-mail to every user saying that there has been some talk
about people abusing the net, and everyone should know that their
connections are being monitored and that disciplinary action may be
taken against abusers. This should scare the person into stopping,
without personally embarrassing him.
Deborah Wenger
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From: Jay Rovner <jarovner@...>
Date: Wed, 02 Jun 1999 13:43:27 +0000
Subject: Jewish Slave Owners
there has been extensive discussion of the reality of jewish slave
ownership, and relations of jewish owners with their slaves, with
bibliography, some of which touches on halakhic aspects of the
phenomenon, in the email discussion group H-JUDAIC. one might search
their archives to identify sources.
jay rovner
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 11:52:00 +0100
Subject: When To Take Off Tefillin on Chol Ha'Moed.
On Chol Ha'Moed Pesach this year I had my usual annual debate about when
to take off one's tefillin (assuming one puts them on in the first
place).
The minhag I was brought up with is that on Chol Ha'Moed Sukkos they are
taken off before Hallel, but on Chol Ha'Moed Pesach before Musaf, as is
done on Rosh Chodesh. However, on the second weekday day of Chol
Ha'Moed Pesach everyone else in the Shul took theirs off before Hallel,
but I kept mine on till just before Musaf. After davenning the Rov of
the Shul read out his daily Halachah from the Mishnah Berurah, where it
states that tefillin are taken off before Hallel on Chol Ha'Moed but the
Sheliach Tzibur takes his off after Hallel. No distinction was made
between Pesach and Sukkos.
After doing a bit of research into my minhag (which seems to be a very
minority one), I found that the Shulchan Aruch (Hilchos Tefillin 25:13)
says that on Rosh Chodesh the tefillin are taken off before Musaf. The
Remo there says that this is also the Halachah on Chol Ha'Moed. The
reason why they are taken off before Musaf is on account of the Kedushah
which starts with the words "Keser Yitnu Lecho", and it is inappropriate
to say this when one is wearing a keser (crown) of tefillin. This
ruling applies even in places where this Kedushah is not said. It would
seem from this that Hallel being said is not sufficient reason to remove
one's tefillin.
I showed the Remo's ruling to the Rov of the Shul where I davenned, and
he agreed that I have a source for my minhag. I asked him what one
should do in a situation where the Mishnah Berurah and the Remo differ
in opinion, and he said that I should keep to the minhag that I grew up
with.
Further research led me to a reason for why tefillin should be taken off
on Chol Ha'Moed before Hallel, namely that the only reason why one is
saying Hallel in the first place is that it is Yom Tov, and as Yom Tov
is described as on "os" (a sign), the sign of tefillin is not needed.
However, the counter-argument to this is that as there is no
Torah-prohibition of work on Chol Ha'Moed, the sign of Yom Tov doesn't
apply, and so one should keep one's tefillin on till Musaf. The
response to this is that as there is no prohibition of work, one has to
rely on the other signs of the Yom Tov, namely the Sukkah on Sukkos and
Matzah on Pesach, and so as one has a sign of Yom Tov, one should take
the tefillin off for Hallel. However, goes the argument, Matzah doesn't
constitute a sign on Chol Ha'Moed as the Torah obligation applies only
on the first day. The Torah obligation of Sukkah on Sukkos applies for
the whole Yom Tov, and so if one is relying on these signs, then on
Sukkos one should take one's tefillin off before Hallel, but on Pesach
before Musaf.
Incidentally, the Zohar says that anyone who wears his tefillin during
Musaf is liable to death.
There is a precedent for saying a Yom Tov tefillah with one's tefillin
on, namely Ya'aleh Ve'Yavo in the Amidah, so this is another argument
against being required to take one's tefillin off for Hallel.
Given that the Remo's ruling is a minority minhag, the argument for
taking one's tefillin off before Hallel is that it is following a minhag
different from the one that the congregation is following. However,
this argument is not a very convincing one on the grounds that most
congregations start off with people following different minhogim, namely
whether tefillin are put on in the first place or not. The argument of
being allowed to have these different minhogim is that it is well known
that some people do put on tefillin and that some don't. If that is the
case, then why can't the different minhag of taking tefillin off before
Musaf rather than for Hallel be allowed? Why should general ignorance
of a minhag preclude one from practising it? There are many precedents
for congregations comprising people following different minhogim, for
example standing for Mizmor Shir Le'Yom Ha'Shabbos after Lecho Dodi,
whether or not one wears a tallis, and on a more fundamental level the
pronunciation of Hebrew. Another argument to allow one to keep one's
tefillin on after everyone else has taken theirs off is that a latecomer
would not have to take off his tefillin when the congregation reaches
Hallel.
The Levush agrees with the Remo in that the tefillin should be removed
prior to Musaf, but he says that the Musaf is the reading of it from the
Torah and not the silent Musaf prayer. So, according to the Levush, on
Pesach one would take one's tefillin off before the second Sefer Torah
is read from. This opinion does have a difficulty though, namely that
one is not supposed to take off one's tephillin in front of a Sefer
Torah.
All opinions seem to agree that on Chol Ha'Moed Sukkos the tefillin
should be removed before Hallel, as they constitute a chatsitso
(barrier) between one's hand and one's Lulav. This would appear to be
the ruling even if one doesn't have a Lulav. Everyone also seems to
agree that on the first weekday day of Chol Ha'Moed Pesach the tefillin
are taken off before Musaf on account of the Torah reading being one of
the Parshiot in the tefillin, and so it is appropriate to keep one's
tefillin on for this reading. This in itself sets a precedent for
keeping one's tefillin on during Hallel on Chol Ha'Moed Pesach.
To date I have come across just one Siddur which instructs one to take
off one's tephillin before Hallel on Sukkos and before Musaf on Pesach,
namely the Singer's Prayer Book (a British publication). There is a
publication by Dayan Lerner called The Minhag Of The United Synagogue
[in Britain], in which he says that on Chol Ha'Moed tephillin should be
taken off before Musaf as on Rosh Chodesh.
I am still left with a couple of questions:
(1) If the Remo is generally followed, why do most people follow a
different ruling and take their tefillin off before Hallel on Chol
Ha'Moed Pesach?
(2) If the Mishnah Berurah says that the Sheliach Tzibur should take his
tefillin off after Hallel, why does no-one seem to do this?
(3) Why do Ashkenazim take their tefillin off before Musaf on Rosh
Chodesh if they do not say "Keser" in Kedushah (the Zohar's statement
aside)?
Comments anyone?
Immanuel M. Burton | Tel: +44 (0)20-8802 9736 x0250
Systems Administrator | Fax: +44 (0)20-8802 9774
Better Properties Limited |
129 Stamford Hill, London N16 5TW, UK | Email: <iburton@...>
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End of Volume 28 Issue 66
