Volume 42 Number 18
Produced: Sat Feb 21 22:46:10 US/Eastern 2004
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Disney world
[Yehuda Landy]
do-it yourself "Pesach hotel"?
[Tzvi Stein]
Jewish Observer article, Disney, et al
[Ruth E. Sternglantz]
KA vs KAH
[Russell J Hendel]
Megillat Esther readings in the Colorado wastelands
[Jay F Shachter]
Mikvah (was Ignorance)
[Michael Rogovin]
Miluim
[Stephen Kaye]
Nesher
[Meir Possenheimer]
Writting name of G-d
[Eliezer Shemtov]
Yom Ha`assmaout (Yom Haatzmaut)
[JosephMosseri]
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From: <nzion@...> (Yehuda Landy)
Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2004 04:01:05 +0200
Subject: Re: Disney world
Hi
Unfortunately this Chazal is misquoted and misconstrued.
"Rav Chizkiah, Rav Cohen in the name of Rav says "A person shall give
an account for all that his eyes saw but he did not eat". The Yerushalmi
continues that Rav Elazar took note of this statement and saved up money
to buy fruits which came by once a year."
Clearly the Yerushalmi is saying that one should get to appreciate all
the foods that Hashem created. This not does not mean in any way that a
person is obligated to enjoy every man made pleasure or
meshugas. Otherwise the Yeshivas should be opened in Disneyworld.
Yehuda Landy
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From: Tzvi Stein <Tzvi.Stein@...>
Subject: do-it yourself "Pesach hotel"?
S. Wise wrote:
>There was a time not too long ago when people would go to exotic
>locations without a minyan, and shlepping all their food.
How about nowadays? The prices for Pesach hotels are astronomical!
They're simply not an option for many families. Instead, why not take
along some pre-prepared (as well as raw) Pesach food and go to a regular
"suite" hotel (the kind with the full kitchen in each unit) for Pesach?
You could get there a day in advance to run the self-clean oven and
prepare the kitchen... you wouldn't have to do much in the way of
regular "cleaning", as it would be basically "clean" when you got
there.... there certainly wouldn't be any food around. Depending on
where you go, there may or may not be a minyan available, but if you're
willing to forego that, you could pick a beautiful location if you
wanted.
Has anyone had any experience doing this? Anything to recommend /
discourage the idea?
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From: Ruth E. Sternglantz <resternglantz@...>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 18:28:12 -0500
Subject: RE: Jewish Observer article, Disney, et al
Chana Luntz writes:
>Yalta [his wife] said to Rav Nachman - let us see, everything that the
>Torah forbad us, it permitted us something like it - it forbad us blood,
>and permitted us liver, [it forbad us] dam nidah, [and permitted us] dam
>tahor; [it forbad us] the fat of a domestic animal [and permitted us]
>the fat of a wild animal, [it forbad us] pork (chazir) [and permitted
>us[ brains of fish, [Rashi: which has the taste of pig] [it forbad us] a
>tamei bird [and permitted us] the tongue of a fish {Rashi; which tastes
>like the tamei bird]; {it forbad us] a married woman [and permitted us]
>a divorcee in the lifetime of her husband, [it forbad us] the wife of a
>brother [ and permitted us] a yevama [it prohibited us] a Kuti [and
>permitted us] a yefat toar , bring for me to eat [the like of] basar
>b'chalav, Rav Nachman said to his butchers, roast for her an udder."
>Sounds to me like the Jew in question has good precedents!
You might want to read the original article.
It seems to me that the point of the gemara you quote is NOT "Get me the
taste of basar b'chalav" -- it's look at how amazing Gd's laws are and
how sensitive He is to our needs; yes, many things are forbidden, but
each forbidden thing has a permitted analogue. In other words, we
aren't "missing" anything by keeping the mitzvos.
Rav Solomon's point was that now, the focus is on getting the analogue
to the forbidden taste, not on keeping the mitzvos but on not missing
anything. And he laments the loss that shift of focus represents. His
point was not that we shouldn't go to hotels for Pesach (indeed, he
specifically states this). His point was that if our excitement is
about the hotel as opposed to about Yom Tov -- not that the hotel isn't
enhancing the pleasure, but that it *becomes* the pleasure -- we've
suffered a loss.
Ruth Sternglantz
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From: Russell J Hendel <rjhendel@...>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 22:30:36 -0500
Subject: RE: KA vs KAH
Kaela (v42n11) expresses the thought that saying KAH is Gods name. But
saying KA (without the terminal aspirated hey) is not.
Actually Jewish law is very explicit that dialect-based-mispronunciation
is considered a violation (in oaths)
The derivation is interesting (See the 2 URLS below for complete
details) By aligning Ex20-07 Dont LIFT the name of God for nought with
Lv19-12 Dont SWEAR by my name falsely the Talmudic sages inferred that
whether you CORRECTLY SWEAR (Pronounce properly) or whether you just
LIFT an image of an oath (e.g you say I se'er by God such and such) it
is the same. (In other words you cannot claim exemption from a false
oath because you didnt pronounce certains words properly)
Since most people pronounce KAH, KA it follows that both words have the
same status (But as has been pointed out it may be permissable for
praying).
Russell Jay Hendel;Ph.d.,A.S.A.;
http://www.rashiyomi.com/align-10.htm
http://www.rashiyomi.com/ex20-03y.htm
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From: Jay F Shachter <jay@...>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 08:48:20 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Megillat Esther readings in the Colorado wastelands
I am scheduled to teach a class in Broomfield, Colorado, during the
first week of March, specifically from March 1 to March 5. I may not be
finished on Friday the 5th until late afternoon, perhaps as late as 5pm,
and, with sunset still being rather early in that part of the world, I
expect to spend Shabbat in my hotel room. This is not new, and in my
line of work one in fact becomes accustomed to such things.
The reason I write is that Saturday night, March 6, will be Purim in the
unwalled city of Broomfield, and I will want to hear Megillat Esther.
Broomfield is a distant suburb of Denver, and, as far as I can tell, it
is located almost precisely in the middle of nowhere. It would not
surprise me if the nearest minyan were in the city of Denver. Because
Broomfield is a distant suburb of Denver, and because on a Saturday
night I must wait until nightfall before I can even begin to make my way
to Denver, I will not be able to bring myself into the company of other
Jews on that night until several hours after the beginning of the
festival.
My question -- and I am sorry to be addressing it to a worldwide
audience, is: Where shall I go to hear the reading of Megillat Esther on
Saturday night?
The question of Sunday morning is even more complicated, since I am
scheduled to teach a class in Columbia, Maryland, between March 8 and
March 12; I do not yet know whether I will fly directly from Denver to
Baltimore on Purim day, or whether I will fly home to Chicago first, and
then fly to Baltimore later in the day. If I will be coming to Chicago,
I know where to find a late afternoon Megilla reading, but if I will be
going straight to Baltimore, I will need assistance from the readers of
this mailing list in locating a late afternoon Megilla reading there. A
third possibility is to hear the Megilla in Denver early Sunday morning,
before flying out.
An interesting -- and, I must confess, the most convenient -- solution
would be for me to find a minyan of Jews in Broomfield who would
otherwise not hear the Megilla at all, and arrange for Broomfield
Megilla readings on Thursday night, and Friday morning. I do not think
this is likely to happen -- I question whether there are ten Jews in
Broomfield, Colorado -- but I wonder out loud whether this halakha has
been put into practice in recent times.
Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
6424 N Whipple St; Chicago IL 60645-4111
(1-773)7613784
<jay@...> ; http://m5.chi.il.us:8080
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From: Michael Rogovin <rogovin@...>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 09:05:43 -0500
Subject: Re: Mikvah (was Ignorance)
Tzvi Stein writes
>Most of the examples of ignorance seem to be about matters of
>"priority". People often, when faced with a halachic choice, make the
>wrong one because they have a distorted understanding of which thing is
>more important halachically. One example I've heard is quite common is
>that men will make their wife put off their mikva night if it falls on
>Shabbos, because that would make the man stay home to watch the kids and
>miss shul on Friday night.
I don't know where Mr. Stein lives, but the more likely reason for this
is that most women do not want to walk to/from the mikvah alone in the
dark. Even in my fairly safe neighborhood where the mikvah is within a
10-15 minute walk for most families, many women do not feel comfortable
walking alone. Given the mind set about privacy with regards to mikvah
(a topic for aanother thread perhaps), going with someone or asking
someone to watch one's children is not a practical option. Waiting one
day seems a more reasonable approach. This is certainly true in most
places where the mikvah is not within an easy walking distance.
In fact, this is the stated reason that 2 adjacent communities would not
participate in the construction of the Hillcrest (Queens, NYC) mikvah,
claiming that they were saving up to build their own so that women could
walk on Firday nights. Aside from the fact that several years have
passed and neither community has so much as purchased property let alone
begun construction, both neighborhoods, while wealthier, are even less
likely candidates for women to go walking alone at night than
Hillcrest. Of course, they patronize our Mikvah during the week. None of
the 3 communities is large enough to support its own facility; if it
were anywhere outside NYC, it would be inconceivable for each to build
its own mikvah. Getting back to priorities, they are expanding one of
the synagogues....
Michael Rogovin
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From: Stephen Kaye <kayed@...>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 09:58:15 -0000
Subject: Miluim
In modern editions of the Shulchan Aruch (in Yoreh Deah mainly by
hilchot shechitah and basar ve-chalav), the peirush of the Miluim is
blanked out and just an empty space remain where it used to be. I heard
that he was taken out on account of a 'suspect' comment he made in one
of his explanations. Does anyone know more about this or what his
suspect comment was?
Stephen Kaye
London
<kayed@...>
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From: Meir Possenheimer <meir@...>
Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 23:17:34 -0000
Subject: Re: Nesher
> In fact many rabbis over the centuries were called by
> that honorific title. Among these are: Abravanel, Ramban, Hatam Sofer,
> Mahar"m Halevi, Yosef Taitatzeck, Mohari"t, Yaakov bei Rav, Rashbetz,
> Haim from Zanz, Rashash, Ha-Ari, Menachem Mendel Shneirson, Nathan Adler
> and others
Of the list given, R' Noson Adler differs from the others in that the
title 'Nesher' has more to do with his name (Adler=Eagle=Nesher)
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From: Eliezer Shemtov <shemtov@...>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 16:26:15 -0300
Subject: Re: Writting name of G-d
In Vol 42 # 13 (subject Halleuka) Michael Popper writes:
> (Tangential note: in writing a transliteration of or another language's
> name for a Divine name, elision of letters or a dash replacing a letter
> is not necessary. Whether you write YAH or God, you're not writing a
> Divine name about which erasure is a concern.)
I would like to point out that the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch (6:3) says the
contrary:
"It is forbidden to pronounce the name of Hashem in vain.... Not only
the ineffable name of Hashem, but all names that are attributed to
Him.... Not only in Hebrew, but in any language... It is also forbidden
to write in any correspondence the name of Hashem in any language. Many
err and write His name in German or the word 'adieu' in French which
means 'with Hashem'. It is totally forbidden because eventually the
letter will end up in the garbage... One needs ingenuity and effort to
nullify this...."
Eliezer Shemtov
Montevideo, Uruguay
<eshemtov@...>
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From: JosephMosseri <joseph.mosseri@...>
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 00:08:21 -0500
Subject: Yom Ha`assmaout (Yom Haatzmaut)
Dear fellow "Mail Jewish" readers,
I've gone through the MJ archives at length but I'd like to revisit
this topic and from you all afresh.
What has happened to Yom Ha`assmaout?
Over 50 years ago the Chief rabbinate of Israel Led by Rabbis Ouziel and
Kook declared special prayers for this miraculous day. The pronounced the
recital of the Hallel.
What has happened now? Why can one barely find a Jerusalem synagogue
that adheres to this? Why does everyone feel that these Rabbis were
incorrect and there is hardly anything to celebrate?
Have others found the situation to be the same?
Have you noticed differences in different cities or communities inside
or outside of Israel?
What about differences among Sepharadim and Ashkenazim?
Are these differences of opinion due to Halakhah? Philosophy? Politics?
Other?
Please share your thoughts as well as sources (in any language) with me
and the rest of our fellow MJ readers.
Thank you,
Joseph Mosseri
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End of Volume 42 Issue 18
