Volume 33 Number 06
Produced: Thu Aug 10 22:04:25 US/Eastern 2000
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Aliyah
[Mike Gerver]
Arranging a Cab for After Shabbat
[Leah S. Gordon]
Double Parshiyos (2)
[Zev Sero, Jack Gross]
Kosher in Israel - Outside of Jerusalem (2)
[Annice Grinberg, Roger & Naomi Kingsley]
Non-Jew on Shabbat (3)
[I. Balbin, Tony Fiorino, Zev Sero]
Questions about 2 recent parshiot
[Art Roth]
Split or Join
[Menashe Elyashiv]
Announcement: Edah launches web site
[Michael Horowitz]
Announcement: Rashi website Rewritten
[Russell Hendel]
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From: Mike Gerver <Mike.Gerver@...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 13:28:10 +0200
Subject: Aliyah
I have followed the "Aliyah" thread with interest for the past several
months, but haven't posted anything on this topic because I didn't
really have anything to say about it. However, I have done something
about it. My wife and I, and our youngest daughter, made aliyah three
weeks ago. We are living in Raanana, and I am working at GE Medical
Systems in Tirat Carmel, as a senior physicist working on MRI systems.
I would be happy to hear from mail-jewish people living in Israel whose
postings I have been reading over the years, but never had an
opportunity to meet in person when I was in the States. Likewise any
mail-jewish people visiting Israel.
Mike Gerver
E-mail: <Mike.Gerver@...>
Phone (at work): (04)857-9289 (from the U.S., 011-972-4-857-9289)
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From: Leah S. Gordon <lsgordon@...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 08:02:52 -0700
Subject: Arranging a Cab for After Shabbat
>you may miss your flight. Assume it is a business trip and the flight can
>not be rearranged. Is there still a problem is the cab was pre-ordered and
>you request a non-Jew, so that a Jew wouldn't be driving to/ for you on
>Shabbat?
My understanding is that the problem is asking the nonJew to do a
specific melakha for you. You could get around it completely by saying
to the cab company (on Friday morning, say), "I will need a cab at
8:52pm tomorrow outside my address," and let them figure out whether
they'll go on Friday and camp all night or not. If you feel that is too
subtle you could add, "I can find out a place to stay nearby if it is
not possible for the driver to start driving before 8:45pm," which will
make the company person think you're crazy, but eliminates any halakhic
problem. If you are worried about putting a "stumbling block before the
blind," you could request a nonJewish driver.
Oh, and if ten minutes makes a difference, you probably shouldn't count
on any cab I've ever called. ;)
--Leah
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From: Zev Sero <Zev@...>
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 16:40:49 -0400
Subject: Re: Double Parshiyos
Sammy Finkelman <sammy.finkelman@...> wrote:
>My Rabbi (in my shul) remarks at every opportunity that when we have
>two Parashas that are combined it is not really two Parashahs that
>are read together sometimes but one that is split. In other words
>Tazria-Metzora is really one Parashah. From talking I have heard
>from someone that this is not altogether correct - Chukas and Balak
>really are two separate Parashahs and I think I remember something
>about Netzoim Vayelech.
As I've always heard it, the only set of sidrot about which this may be
true is Nitzavim-Vayelech. All other doubled sidrot really are
separate.
According to the Zohar there are supposed to be 53 sidrot, but if you
count them in a chumash there are 54, and two resolutions are given to
this problem:
a) Nitzavim and Vayelech are one sidra that is occasionally split,
rather than two that are occasionally joined;
b) Bereshit is a preface to the whole Torah, and therefore doesn't count
among the numbered sidrot, just as the prologue to a book doesn't count
among the numbered chapters.
I suppose they didn't have programmers back then, or there'd be a third
answer: the numbering of the sidrot starts with zero...
Zev Sero Programming is an art form that fights back.
<zsero@...>
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From: Jack Gross <jbzgross@...>
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2000 13:43:16 EDT
Subject: Re: Double Parshiyos
I tuned in late, but may I add that the Siddur of Rav Saadia Gaon
discusses which parshiyyos are "sometimes split", and which pairs are
"sometimes combined". As I recall, he regards the 70 psukim of
Nizzavim/Vayyelech as a single parsha.
On the other hand, instead of combining Hukkat/Balak, he has (if memory
serves) Hukkat split in such years -- half read with Korach and half
with Balak.
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From: Annice Grinberg <annice.grinberg@...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 13:28:05 +0300
Subject: Re: Kosher in Israel - Outside of Jerusalem
>>From Aharon Fischman
>For those of you who use the Kosher Restaurant database in the US, I
>have found it very helpful when I go away on business trips. Recently,
>I have switched jobs, a job that takes me to Israel once in a while, and
>need to work out of corporate headquarters in Herzeliyah. Would anyone
>who comes here more often than I do be able to tell me if the
>information in the Kosher database is up to date? If not, does anyone
>know of a similar database in Israel with information on location and
>Hashgacha?
There is a database at www.eluna.com, which lists kosher restaurants in
various cities in Israel, including hashgacha, reviews, prices, and, in
most cases, even includes a 10% discount coupon if you become a member
(free). It is by no means all-inclusive, but does show many
restaurants. (If you decide to join, please mention my name; I get a
free lunch for each ten people who subscribe using my recommendation.)
Annice
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From: Roger & Naomi Kingsley <rogerk@...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 23:44:37 +0300
Subject: Re: Kosher in Israel - Outside of Jerusalem
You could try eLuna.com, which is a partial database of participating
kosher restaurants. For any particular area, it is always possible to
call the local religious council (number in the local telephone
directory) and ask for a list of restaurants under their supervision.
As for up-to-date - supervised restaurants should have an up-to-date
kashrus certificate which should normally be on display.
Roger Kingsley
<rogerk@...>
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From: I. Balbin <isaac@...>
Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2000 08:24:19 +1000
Subject: Re: Non-Jew on Shabbat
> From: Aliza Fischman <fisch.chips@...>
> What if that m'lacha was prearranged, so the Jew did not ask him on
> Shabbat?
> For instance, you order a cab to pick you up at home to take you to the
> airport for a flight that leaves 1 hour or so after Shabbat. This time
> frame means that having them come even 10 minutes after havdala means that
> you may miss your flight. Assume it is a business trip and the flight can
> not be rearranged. Is there still a problem is the cab was pre-ordered and
> you request a non-Jew, so that a Jew wouldn't be driving to/ for you on
> Shabbat?
The Melocho of driving a car is probably a Biblical Prohibition. The
Taxi driver however has a choice of arranging his previous pick ups to
be in your area, having a rest/coffee just before he/she picks you up,
or any other arrangement in order to be ready for you. The choice and
method is *his* and consequently, I think (haven't gone back to Seforim)
this is okay. Where a non-Jew has an opportunity to do things in more
than one way, and does it for their convenience in a way which suits
your needs, that is the non-Jew's decision for which you are not
responsible.
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From: Tony Fiorino <fiorino_anthony@...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 15:01:57 -0400
Subject: Non-Jew on Shabbat
A difference here is that the cab driver is working for his own benefit
- i.e., he will be paid for the job he is doing motzei shabbat (driving
you to the airport). This is different than asking a non-Jew to perform
a melachah from which he/she derives no benefit. He also has other
options - you don't require him to drive on shabbat, only to be at your
house motzei shabbat. He could, theoretically, wait at your house from
before shabbat - thus you have not contracted that he work on shabbat
for you.
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From: Zev Sero <Zev@...>
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2000 15:37:03 -0400
Subject: Re: Non-Jew on Shabbat
Aliza Fischman <fisch.chips@...> wrote:
> My question is as such: What if that m'lacha was prearranged, so the
> Jew did not ask him on Shabbat?
It makes no difference when one asks. It's just as forbidden to ask
a non-Jew before shabbat to do a melacha for a Jew on shabbat as it is to
ask on shabbat itself. And I know of no halachic source that `hinting'
helps in the least.
> For instance, you order a cab to pick you up at home to take you to
> the airport for a flight that leaves 1 hour or so after Shabbat[...][
> Is there still a problem is the cab was pre-ordered and you request
> a non-Jew, so that a Jew wouldn't be driving to/ for you on Shabbat?
Here the situation is different. You have no interest at all in the
non-Jew driving to your house on shabbat. If the non-Jew prefers to
drive to your house before shabbat and camp out in his car for 25 hours,
or else walk home and then walk back just before the end of shabbat, it
would be no skin off your nose. That the non-Jew chooses not to do this
is for his convenience, not yours, and so it is permitted. However, you
must place the call early enough on Friday that the driver could get to
your house before shabbat if he wanted to.
Zev Sero Any technology distinguishable from magic
<zsero@...> is insufficiently advanced.
- Gregory Benford
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From: Art Roth <AJROTH@...>
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 12:27:28 -0500
Subject: Questions about 2 recent parshiot
Last week's parsha (Balaq) ends with the statement that 24,000 Jews died
in the plague which resulted from the sins of the Jews with the women of
Mo'av. When we add a hosafa (extra `aliya) during leining, we are not
allowed to stop at a davar ra` (bad thing), e.g., a death or a sin. In
particular, if the last verse of Balaq were NOT the end of the parsha,
nobody would even THINK of ending an `aliya there. So can anyone
explain why Xazal saw fit to end the parsha there (pausing at that point
for a whole week when it appears to be inappropriate even for just a
minute or two)?
My second question is about the second `aliya that we will read this
coming Shabbat (Pinxas) and has no connection to the first question
other than the proximity of the two pieces of text in the Torah. The
`aliya enumerates the Jewish families during their travels. The
standard form used for each family is illustrated by, e.g., l"zerax
mishpaxat hazarxi (to Zerax was the "Zarxite" family) and l"yashuv
mishpaxat hayashuvi (to Yashuv was the "Yashuvite" family). One notable
exception (Nu 28:40) is vayihyu v"nei vela` 'ard v"na`aman; MISHPAXAT
HA'ARDI, l"na`aman mishpaxat hana`ami --- which translates as, "The sons
of Bela were 'Ard and Na`aman; THE "ARDITE" FAMILY, to Na`aman was the
"Na`amite" family."
There seems to be an obvious omission here of the word l"'ard [to 'Ard
(was)], i.e., the verse obviously means, "The sons of Bela were 'Ard and
Na`aman; (to 'Ard was) THE "ARDITE" FAMILY, to Na`aman was the
"Na`amite" family." Does anybody have an explanation for the apparently
missing word? I haven't found anything in the Midrash or the Minxat
Shay, which seemed like the most obvious places to look. Perhaps the
recent posters on the topic of tiqun sof"rim have something to say about
this.
Art Roth
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From: Menashe Elyashiv <elyashm@...>
Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2000 15:23:42 +0300 (IDT)
Subject: Split or Join
There is another minhag in joining Parshiot - some Yemanites split Hukat
in 2 - half is read with Korah & half with Balak. BTW - there is (was?)
a not known minhag to split Mishpatim between Yitro & Truma to avoid the
long Vayakhel - Pekudey.
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From: Michael Horowitz <michaelh1@...>
Date: Tue, 18 Jul 2000 13:09:56 PDT
Subject: Announcement: Edah launches web site
We are excited to inform you of the opening of the first stage of Edah's
new web site, www.edah.org, a site designed to educate, connect, and
empower the modern Orthodox community.
Highlights of the web site include:
* Information about Edah, its staff, leadership, vision, and past, present,
and future programs.
* A comprehensive bibliography of books and articles on modern Orthodoxy to
help raise the level of discourse and understanding within modern Orthodoxy.
* Bulletin boards and discussion groups to enable users to communicate and
help create a virtual modern Orthodox community.
* Regional postings of events of interest to modern Orthodox Jews throughout
the United States, Canada, and Israel.
* Comprehensive suggestions about how to enhance, motivate, and build a
model modern Orthodox community.
* Links and resources of all types of information modern Orthodox Jews
mayneed, at home or on the go.
In the next stage, we plan to add more timely and original material,
including an electronic journal of scholarly works, popular articles, and
new English translations of relevant Hebrew writings. We intend to continue
to build up our Modern Orthodox Library with more books, articles, and
expand into other medias, such as audio and video clips.
We invite you to be the first to experience Stage I of Edah^Òs web site and
ask you to join us in the process of refining and modifying the site by
providing us with your feedback and constructive criticism. Please send any
questions or comments about the site to <feedback@...>
We would love to hear what you have to say about our web site, as well
as any suggestions for what you would like to see from Edah in the
future.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Rabbi Saul J. Berman Eric Weisberg
Director Program Director
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From: Russell Hendel <rhendel@...>
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 23:36:28 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Announcement: Rashi website Rewritten
The Rashi Website has moved to http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
This website is explaining all 8000 Rashis on Chumash using
intuitive grammatical rules.
I have completely rewritten everything in the old website.
Posting size was reduced 90%
I also have a more compact form with pull down menus.
Therefore you may wish to (re)visit it.
Russell Jay Hendel;Phd ASA
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End of Volume 33 Issue 6
