Volume 42 Number 31
Produced: Wed Mar 3 5:58:54 US/Eastern 2004
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Balloons
[Meir]
Baruch Dayan Emes - Rabbi Dr. Azriel Rosenfeld Z'L
[Rosenfeld, Elie]
Cleaning for Pesach
[Deborah Stepelman]
Collecting your stories about Rabbi Ephraim R. Wolf, shlita
[Yisrael and Batya Medad]
Divorcee Covering Hair
[Elazar M Teitz]
Eilat
[Tzvi Stein]
Flounder
[Tzvi Stein]
Marriage in England
[Kibi Hofmann]
Mikvah and Shul
[Bernard Raab]
Non-Dairy Creamer/Bacon Bits
[Andrew Jonathan Marks]
person or machine
[<chips@...>]
Pesach Away from Home
[Yisrael Medad]
Signing the Ketuba
[Shimon Lebowitz]
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From: <meirman@...> (Meir)
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 23:27:52 -0500
Subject: Balloons
> I forget the technical word, but balloon is used, because it's the same
> in both languages.
If the word came straight from the other language, and not from a common
ancestor, I think it's a "loan word".
I don't know when the loan has to be repaid, or if interest is charged.
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From: Rosenfeld, Elie <erosenfe@...>
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 11:20:15 -0500
Subject: Baruch Dayan Emes - Rabbi Dr. Azriel Rosenfeld Z'L
With great sadness, I would like to inform you and the m.j community of
the petira of my father, Rabbi Dr. Azriel Rosenfeld, on Sunday Feb. 22.
He was diagnosed with lung and brain cancer this past Hoshana Rabbah,
and passed away a little over four months later - significantly, just in
between his English and Hebrew birthdays.
I'm attaching a link to the Obituary in the Baltimore Sun.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bal-md.ob.rosenfeld28feb28,0,4130255.story?coll=bal-news-obituaries
Hareni Kaporas Mishkavo.
Elie Rosenfeld
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From: Deborah Stepelman <stepelma@...>
Subject: Cleaning for Pesach
I learned that we must clean and prepare our homes for Pesach whether we
expect to be home for Pesach or plan to go away. That includes clearing
and cleaning counters and removing chometz appliances such as toasters.
This point was driven home to me the year my father-in-law died on the
first day of Pesach. Had we been 'away' for Pesach (which was nearly
the case) we would have had to come home motzaei yom tov for the
funeral. Such a situation would be problematic if the house were not
appropriately prepared for Pesach.
So, the argument that families go away for Pesach in order to avoid
having to clean for Pesach is not valid.
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From: Yisrael and Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 13:21:39 +0200
Subject: Collecting your stories about Rabbi Ephraim R. Wolf, shlita
Some of you may know, or have known Rabbi Wolf, shlita, in the past.
The family is collecting stories that should strengthen him and bring
him a refuah shleimah. You can pass this to others.
Batya
We've set up an address where the hundreds of Great Neck
Synagogue members, friends, family and admirers of Rabbi
Wolf can submit their stories and messages to the Rabbi,
showing appreciation for the many kindnesses he extended to
so many.
Being as modest as he is, Rabbi Wolf never divulged any of
these stories and his family and community are anxious to
hear and be inspired by his legacy.
We hope these stories will also serve to give him strength
as he fights his illness, Be"H.
Please submit your stories to this address
<rabbiwolfstories@...> We'd appreciate your passing
this around to others who'd like to participate in this.
Anyone who prefers to keep the story anonymous should please
state so at the beginning of the story (anonymous, please!)
so that noone be embarassed if these personal stories are
compiled into a booklet. Nothing will be changed without
permission of the sender.
Please reply to this message at <rabbiwolfstories@...>
if you want to receive further mailings on this project.
Refuah Shlaima to all Cholei Yisrael.
Thank you so much!
Leah
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From: Elazar M Teitz <remt@...>
Date: Mon, 1 Mar 2004 05:38:08 -0500
Subject: Re: Divorcee Covering Hair
> > He compared this to the permission (not accepted by all) for
> > divorced women to cease covering their hair.
> umm, why can't a divorced woman have her hair uncovered?
Shulchan Aruch, Even HaEzer 21:2: "A woman should not go out in
public with her hair exposed, whether married or unmarried." The last
word is explained by the commentaries as referring to widows and
divorcees, excluding only those who have never married.
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From: Tzvi Stein <Tzvi.Stein@...>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 21:33:13 -0500
Subject: Eilat
Wow! I had no idea! I remember talking to someone only about 5 years
ago who was doing kiruv there, and it seemed like it was not like that
at all.
I wonder if the frum travel agencies (and even non-frum ones) in the
U.S. know about this. If a frum family calls them about the Carribean,
they might be able to suggest Eilat instead. It's certainly a beautiful
area and the minyanim and kosher restaurants would be a plus over the
Carribean. Do you know what the climate of Eilat is like in the winter?
I think it may be a bit colder than the Carribean, but maybe it would be
good for spring or fall. Do you know if they have separate swimming?
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From: Tzvi Stein <Tzvi.Stein@...>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 21:45:05 -0500
Subject: Re: Flounder
Just as a clarification.... flounder IS a kosher fish. I think what
they're refering here is the issue of cooking it on a non-kosher pan and
possibly adding non-kosher ingredients.
As for the truck stop... at the risk of taking the example too
literally... there are a lot more things you could eat there that would
be less problematic than a cooked dish. For example: ketchup, mayo and
mustard on a hot dog bun, raw fruits and vegetables, candy bars, potato
chips, crackers, pretzels, cold cereal (perhaps with milk), coffee (use
a styrofoam cup), a cold can of vegetables (you could even use their
plate), lettuce (perhaps with dressing... many have a hechsher), oatmeal
(check the hechsher ... use hot water from an urn)... not necessarily
your favorite foods but it's good enough keep body and soul together for
quite a while.
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From: Kibi Hofmann <kibi@...>
Subject: Re: Marriage in England
Vol. 42 #27, Ed Greenberg wrote:
> > In England it is (or was) the law of the land that a wedding had to
> > either take place in a registry office,
>I think this must be "was". In 1994 I took my one and only trip to
>England, a business trip to Hemel Hempstead -- I worked for 3Com at the
>time. I checked into the Sopwell House in St. Albans. As I was exploring
>the place, I came upon an array of chairs in the garden, with a chuppah
>set up at the head of the array!
<snip>
>So in 1994, at least, it was OK to have a wedding in a hotel garden.
I was going to reply too David Ziants but I'll just reply to you - the
requirement in England for a "wedding" to take place in a place of
worship, was never a restriction on the Jewish Chuppah veKiddushin - in
many shuls the bride and groom would do the Jewish ceremony outside,
then go indoors and sign on the registry (or maybe they signed the
registry first) - hardly a problem of "wedding in a shul".
Kibi
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From: Bernard Raab <beraab@...>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 15:44:24 -0500
Subject: Re: Mikvah and Shul
Martin Stern wrote:
Roger Jefferson wrote:
>> I live in Silver Spring, and until recently, there was not a mikvah
>> (that was accepted by R. Anemer, the Rabbi) in Kemp Mill. Kemp Mill is
>> an area with about 300-400 orthodox families.
>A community is supposed to build a mikveh before it builds a shul. While
>this may not be practical when Jews first move into an area because too
>few require it, I find it very disturbing that Kemp Mill could have so
>many orthodox families without having built one. With that number of
>families one would expect it to be in use almost every day by several
>women.
The situation in Kemp Mill, Maryland, a community with a yeshiva
ketanah, a yeshiva gedolah, a kolel, countless rabbonim, accomplished
and educated baalei-bayit, and 4+ orthodox shuls, is complicated beyond
easy explanation, and reflects a history that most current residents are
probably totally unaware of. There *is* a mikveh in Kemp Mill. The key
to the above is the phrase "that was accepted by R. Anemer", who is the
senior Rav of the community, the Dean of the yeshivot, and the posek
halacha for all of Washington, DC. The "community mikveh" is 5 miles to
the south in the "original" Silver Spring community, and is supported by
all of the surrounding communities. I imagine many women use the local
"private" mikveh, but cannot estimate how many.
If you are contemplating a move to the DC area, you would do well to
investigate Kemp Mill. It is a remarkable place to live and raise
children. Take it from one who did!
b'shalom--Bernie R.
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From: Andrew Jonathan Marks <ajm58@...>
Subject: Re: Non-Dairy Creamer/Bacon Bits
My understanding is that such a reaction is not the ideal. We learn
from the commandedments not to do things that are disgusting and not to
eat "crawly things" (r'mashim), that we should nto do things because
they are forbidden and out of ahavas/yiras shamaim, not out of our basic
revulsion at these acts. Indeed, this instinctive reaction of "that's
disgusting" regarding shellfish, bacon, etc. in the FFB community is
somewhat puzzling to me as a BT as there is no source (to my knowledge)
that one should regard non-kosher food as "disgusting," but rather one
should regard it as something forbidden. With this understanding,
however, there is no reason to extend such a prohibition to bacon bits
by saying that they "aren't in the spirit of the law" (not what you've
said, but something I've heard many times).
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From: <chips@...>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 2004 23:29:48 -0800
Subject: Re: person or machine
> We prefer the latter, because I feel that one
> should try to assist people in employment not to be replaced by machines.
> In the same way, we always go to the toll booth with a human, rather
> than a machine, and won't use the grocery line which is self-service, but
> rather go in the line with the checkout person. (Although I do use the
> self-service gasoline pump). Someone told me there is an Halachic basis
> for this, but I could not find the source. Any thoughts?
1: One of the arguments against machine made Matzah (especially in the
mid-19th century) was that it took away employment positions.
2: My brother-in-law about 20 years ago was driving a Rav (hopefully he
will remember who and provide that information, but what with the
wedding and all ...) when they came to a toll booth. The Rav told my
b-i-l to go to the booth with a person and not the toss-in-the-coins
booth. My b-i-l did so and gave the attendent the exact. The attendent's
response? "Why did you come to this booth instead of an automated
one?". The Rav then told my b-i-l to use whatever was easiest, since the
person did not feel demeaned by having a machine doing the same thing
the attendant did.
-rp
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From: Yisrael Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 12:29:23 +0200
Subject: Pesach Away from Home
Just as a follow-up to the subject, I have noticed two adverts in the
Israeli press on the theme to give us an idea of how PR people
conceptualize the idea.
One is from El Al. It shows a package of matzot sealed with an airport
tag LY-JFK with the slogan "Osim et HaPesach BaChul" = Let's Make Pesach
Abroad and the second, of Gal-Ezer Recreation LeMehadrin advertises
internal Israeli vacations thus: Now It's Possible to Be Free On Pesach.
Yisrael Medad
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From: Shimon Lebowitz <shimonl@...>
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 2004 12:08:00 +0200
Subject: Signing the Ketuba
Describing a Teimani chupa, Martin Stern wrote:
> and the witnesses do not sign it until after the chuppah.
It might be my failing memory, but I do think I remember that it used to
be that when the ketuba was read under the chupa, it was already signed.
But at least in recent years, it seems to be the general custom (at the
weddings I have been at, in Israel) for the person reading the ketuba to
stop when he gets to the line of witness signatures, at which point the
witnesses come forward and sign it. This can even be a bit humorous,
with looking for a surface on which to write, a common solution being
that each witness puts the document on the other's back and signs.
So, is it my imagination, or have wedding customs been changed in recent
years? If so, who dreamed this up? When? Why? (I can actually understand
that it makes sense to sign *after* "We saw the chattan say...", but if
it must be this way, then what about the old custom??)
Shimon Lebowitz mailto:<shimonl@...>
Jerusalem, Israel PGP: http://www.poboxes.com/shimonpgp
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End of Volume 42 Issue 31
