Volume 33 Number 46
Produced: Wed Sep 6 6:00:25 US/Eastern 2000
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Aleynu - the censored verse
[Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz]
Jewish Book for a Russian Bar Mitzvah Boy/Bat Mitzvah Girl
[Daniel Katsman]
Kashrut: Dishes not used for a Year
[Sam Steingold]
Pikuach nefesh or aivo?
[Chaim Mateh]
Public Apology
[Chaim Mateh]
Shark Oil in Milk vs. Chametz in Milk (2)
[Eric Jaron Stieglitz, Avi Feldblum]
A website for Chumash and Rashi on English
[Russell Hendel]
Wedding
[Ira Hartman]
What is the Jewish Legal View on Teenagers
[Russell Hendel]
Who are today's gedolim? (2)
[Stephen Phillips, Chaim Mateh]
Request: Kosher facilities near Purdue
[David Deutsch]
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From: Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz <sabbahillel@...>
Date: Sun, 03 Sep 2000 14:12:41 -0400
Subject: Re: Aleynu - the censored verse
> From: Paul Shaviv <shaviv@...>
> Surely the explanation of why the verse was censored out of Aleynu is
> much simpler? It is stretching credibility to assume that the censors
> were masters of gematria (although some censors in some places were
> Jewish converts to Christianity).. The phrase "el el lo yashia" ([They
> worship] 'a god who does not save'] is clearly a too-close pun between
> yashia and Yoshua(=Jesus). The spitting is more likely a contemptuous
> gesture by the 'mitpallelim'; the pun is surely the cause for the
> censorship.
The Art Scroll commentary on Aleinu says that a meshumad in 1399
informed the church authorities about the gematriya and that is when the
problem began. I do not think that it was necessarily the Yiddish pun
that was in mid but the gamatriya connection the "nothingness". The
last part of the phrase could have been taken to mean idols, but the
gematriyah made it clear that "y'shu" (and the Roshei Teivot connection
to the spelling is deliberate) was meant.
Said the fox to the fish, "Join me ashore" | Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz
Jews are the fish, Torah is our water | Zovchai Adam, agalim yishakun
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From: Daniel Katsman <hannah@...>
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 23:14:09 +0200
Subject: Re: Jewish Book for a Russian Bar Mitzvah Boy/Bat Mitzvah Girl
> From: Sam Gamoran
> One of my subordinates just told me that his son's Bar Mitzvah is this
> Thursday - and his daughter's Bat Mitzvah is in a few months. I would
> like to get them gifts of books on their age level about Judaism. The
> family is quite assimilated.
>
> Can anyone recommend an appropriate title(s) in Russian - and where to
> purchase in Israel?
Try calling Shamir, "Agudat Akadema'im Shomerei Mitsvot Yots'ei Russia",
6 David Yellin St., Jerusalem; phone:538-5702/5384/5117/5118 . I once
got a copy of "This Is My God" from them in Russian (known in that
language as "Eta Bog Moi", IIRC).
Daniel Katsman
Petah Tikva
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From: Sam Steingold <sds@...>
Date: 04 Sep 2000 14:38:11 -0400
Subject: Kashrut: Dishes not used for a Year
Hi,
I have heard that the objects (e.g., glass, plastic or porcelain dishes)
which cannot be koshered by usual means (clay pots have to be broken),
become permissible when left alone without any use for 1 year. Can
someone provide a reference supporting or refuting this persistent
rumor?
Thanks.
Sam Steingold (http://www.podval.org/~sds)
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From: Chaim Mateh <chaimm@...>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 19:58:48 +0300
Subject: Pikuach nefesh or aivo?
In vol 33#30, Jonathan Groner <jgroner@...> wrote:
<<Lewin comes up with a fascinating statement by the Ramban to the effect
that the avoidance of physical danger or even economic harm to the general
public is a form of pikuach nefesh.
The article can be found at http://www5.law.com/dc-shl/display.cfm?id=3724.>>
The pikuach nefesh waiver applies to Jews and not to gentiles. IOW, it
is clear that if a Jew's life is in danger, then we can transgress
Shabbos to save him. This of course is the Hallachic justification in
Israel for the police working on Shabbos, for the Hatzala workers on
Shabbos, and even for "economic" pikuach nefesh (I'll get to that
later). If we transgress the Shabbos to save Jewish lives, and by the
way there are gentile lives to save, then we are permitted to do so, not
because of pikuach nefesh, but because of aivo which may lead to pikuach
nefesh.
In a religious VP's situation, he would be transgressing Shabbos for
gentiles (after all, America is 98-99% gentile). The question then
arises whether one can transgress Shabbos to collectively save 99
gentiles and 1 Jew? IMHO, and IANARB, I suspect that yes. Going one
step further, even saving 100 gentiles would probably be permitted, not
becaue of pikuach nefesh, but rather because of aivo.
Returning to "economic" pikuach nefesh, Lewin states the following:
"Medieval rabbinic commentators such as Nahmanides had suggested that
the 'public welfare' - avoidance of physical danger or even economic
harm to the general public - is a form of pikuach nefesh. Rabbi Yisraeli
surmised that many aspects of governmental activity designed to protect
the public meet the pikuach nefesh standard."
Would you or anyone have a chapter/verse for the above Ramban? Does
this Rav Yisraeli explain which aspects of government activity is
pikuach nefesh? Do either of them (Ramban/Rav Yisraeli) specifically
state that they refer to gentile government activity or do they refer
exclusively to Jewish government activity?
Kol Tuv,
Chaim
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From: Chaim Mateh <chaimm@...>
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 23:41:47 +0200
Subject: Public Apology
In a recent MailJewish, in a long message regarding Modern Orthodoxy and
Joe Leiberman, I made a comment about Joe Leiberman that may very well
have been loshon horo. Therefore I want to publicly apologize to him
(does he read MJ <G>? [not as far as I know, but his Rabbi might. Mod.])
and to anyone else who may have been offended.
Kol Tuv,
Chaim
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From: Eric Jaron Stieglitz <ephraim@...>
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 14:24:06 -0400
Subject: Shark Oil in Milk vs. Chametz in Milk
I've read with interest the articles about the shark oil in Garelick
milk which caused it to lose its hekhsher.
I recall learning years back that one was permitted to use Vitamin D
fortified milk on Pesach as long as one had purchased the milk prior to
Pesach. On Pesach, one was required to only purchase milk a a
Kosher-For-Passover heksher on the label. The reasoning behind this had
something to do with the fact that the chametz used to fortify milk with
Vitamin D was so minute in quantity that it was considered permissible
to use milk purchased before Pesach that contained it.
In regards to the Vitamin A fortification of Garelick milk, my
assumption would be that the amount of shark liver oil added is of
similarly minute quantity.
The laws forbidding us to eat chametz on Pesach are usually considered
to be more stringent than the laws which forbid us to eat treif during
the rest of the year. For example, I do not believe that the rule of
1/60th (where if a tiny drop of milk accidentally falls into a large pot
of meat soup we are still permitted to eat it) applies to chametz which
has accidentally fallen into a kosher-for-Passover dish.
Why would the issue of shark oil be different? What halakhot and sources
differentiate between the two?
/EJS
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From: Avi Feldblum <mljewish@...>
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 05:21:00 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Shark Oil in Milk vs. Chametz in Milk
On Mon, 4 Sep 2000, Eric Jaron Stieglitz wrote:
> I've read with interest the articles about the shark oil in
> Garelick milk which caused it to lose its hekhsher.
>
> I recall learning years back that one was permitted to use
> Vitamin D fortified milk on Pesach as long as one had purchased
> the milk prior to Pesach. On Pesach, one was required to only purchase
> milk a a Kosher-For-Passover heksher on the label. The reasoning
> behind this had something to do with the fact that the chametz used
> to fortify milk with Vitamin D was so minute in quantity that
> it was considered permissible to use milk purchased before
> Pesach that contained it.
>
> In regards to the Vitamin A fortification of Garelick milk,
> my assumption would be that the amount of shark liver oil
> added is of similarly minute quantity.
>
> Why would the issue of shark oil be different? What halakhot
> and sources differentiate between the two?
This question gets directly to both some of the disagreements over what
is and is not allowed, as well as the difference between before Pesach
and during Pesach.
As you write above, there are rules about bitul - nullification and when
that will occur. The most commonly refered to rule is the 1 in 60 rule,
although there are others as well.
There is also a rule that you may not take something that is forbidden
and purposefully mix it in a ratio of less than 1 in 60 with permitted
food, in order to make the entire mixture permitted.
It is the interpretation of this rule that drives many of our responses
to the kashrut of items with minute additives.
First to address Pesach. If the Vitamen D additive is kosher but
something that is considered chametz on Pesach, then there is no problem
with this mixture before Pesach, everything is fully permitted. When the
moment on erev pesach occurs where chametz becomes forbidden, this has
already been mixed and is in the possesion of a Jew, so it is permitted
on Pesach. However, if you want to buy new now, we view the act of the
Jew buying this as the moment of the mixing occuring (this is likely
special to chametz on pesach) and on Pesach, chametz is no longer
nullified by the 1 in 60 rule.
The fundimental halachic question about the kashrut of many items is
whether the mixing of an ingredient in minute amounts by the
(non-Jewish) manufacturer is considered as if the Jew is doing the
mixing (maybe when s/he buys it?) and in that case would fall under the
rule of not allowing deliberate mixing and would be forbidden, or if it
is considered as it is at the moment of purchase and it has already been
mixed and is viewed as being nullified.
Obviously the entire topic is more complicated than what I have stated
above, but this can start as beginning point if other members want to
elaborate.
Avi Feldblum
mail-jewish Moderator
<mljewish@...>
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From: Russell Hendel <rhendel@...>
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 16:26:59 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: A website for Chumash and Rashi on English
One of my Rashi-is-Simple subscribers pointed out the following websites
where you can find Chumash and Rashi in English. I thought others might
be interested
http://www.mnemotrix.com/metsudah/
http://www.mnemotrix.com/texis/vtx/chumash/
Russell Jay Hendel;
Dept of Math Towson
Moderator Rashi is Simple
http://www.rashiyomi.com/
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From: Ira Hartman <ihartman@...>
Date: Tue, 05 Sep 2000 13:39:10 +0200
Subject: Wedding
I need a quick answer for this one. Does anybody know the roots of the
minhagim 1) each set of parents walking their child to the Hupa vs 2) of
the two fathers walking the groom the and two mothers walking the Kala
to the Hupa
Guess why I need the answer by this thursday
Thanks
Ira Hartman
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From: Russell Hendel <rhendel@...>
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 13:08:36 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: RE: What is the Jewish Legal View on Teenagers
Moshe Feldman (v33n37) agrees with me (citing alternative sources) that
"Aliyah without the proper preparation can do more harm than
good". However Moshe rejects my citation of a Psak of the Chazon Ish for
my uncle on the grounds that he was teenager at the time. Moshe posits
that "Teenagers may not be prepared emotionally or economically for
marriage and Aliyah"
I have heard views like Moshes quite frequently. But I question whether
there is any Jewish source for this view. Indeed, according to my
understanding halacha treats adults and teenagers the same with only 1
or 2 exceptions. Jewish halachah does not know of any category of
"teenagehood" that would allow us to classify a teenager as more than a
child but less than an adult
Certainly in regard to marriage I don't see how we can tell a teenager
any more than we can tell an adult that he is 'ready' or 'not ready' for
marriage.
With regard to Aliyah Moshe has a bit more of a case---since Teenagers
may not own real-estate. But then that implies that ANY PERSON who
cannot own real estate (eg they haven't saved up enough) should not feel
obligated to go on Aliyah. Similarly if the Chazon Ish felt that my
uncle could not support himself at 13 then we are justified in inferring
that any person whose job opportunities are poor should not feel
obligated to go on Aliyah.
The only possibility is that my uncle was not emotionally ready----but
again I question whether Jewish law allows such assessments.
Russell Jay Hendel; Phd ASA
Dept of Math; Towson Univ
Moderator Rashi is Simple
http://www.RashiYomi.Com/
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From: Stephen Phillips <stephenp@...>
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2000 16:36 +0100 (BST)
Subject: Re: Who are today's gedolim?
In-Reply-To: <20000904140705.13461.qmail@...>
> From: Freda B Birnbaum <fbb6@...>
> Around the Shabbos table today, the question came up, WHO are today's
> gedolim (now that Rav Moshe Feinstein ztl and Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach
> ztl are gone)? One or two names were mentioned but they seemed kind of
> young and not established enough yet. So I said I'd post a query to
> Mail-Jewish and see if anything came up.
>
> This isn't meant to be a contest or a debate about who's greater. I
> just wanted a sense of who are the generally acknowledged leaders of the
> generation.
Two names spring to mind immediately (and I am not in the Torah world,
so there may be many who are unknown to the wider community, but who are
none the less Gedolim) - Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg of Yeshivas Torah
Ohr in Mattersdorf and Rav Chaim Kanievski.
Stephen Phillips.
<stephenp@...>
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From: Chaim Mateh <chaimm@...>
Date: Mon, 04 Sep 2000 22:54:51 +0200
Subject: Who are today's gedolim?
In vol 33#43, Freda B Birnbaum <fbb6@...> wrote:
<< WHO are today's gedolim (now that Rav Moshe Feinstein ztl and Rav
Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ztl are gone)? One or two names were mentioned
but they seemed kind of young and not established enough yet. So I said
I'd post a query to Mail-Jewish and see if anything came up. ... I just
wanted a sense of who are the generally acknowledged leaders of the
generation.>>
If you mean Poskim Gedolim, then three names that come up, in Israel,
are Rav Elyashuv, Rav Vozner, and Rav Ovadia Yosef.
Kol Tuv,
Chaim
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From: David Deutsch <dsd3543@...>
Date: Tue, 5 Sep 2000 11:27:09 +0100
Subject: Request: Kosher facilities near Purdue
I am due to visit Purdue University in Indiana and wondered if anyone
knows of good kosher facilities in the vicinity.
David Deutsch
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End of Volume 33 Issue 46