Volume 47 Number 72
Produced: Wed Apr 20 4:29:47 EDT 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
ArtScroll Siddur
[Richard Schultz]
Artscroll Siddur
[Ben Katz]
Badas for Pesah
[Menashe Elyashiv]
Insurance Query (Cars)
[Shayna Kravetz]
An interesting curiosity
[Shmuel Himelstein]
Jewish source for phrase (2)
[Robert A. Book, Ben Katz]
Jewish Source for Phrase
[Nathan Lamm]
LD ADHD
[Batya Medad]
Medical Insurance Query
[Yossie Abramson]
Quinoa
[Jonathan Baker]
Quinoa for Pesach
[Aliza Berger]
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From: Richard Schultz <schultr@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:29:56 +0300
Subject: Re: ArtScroll Siddur
In mail-jewish 47:62, Ira L. Jacobson <laser@...> wrote:
: [re: "kedushah" vs. "kedoshah" in shacharit]
: Actually, Rinat Yisrael has both versions: one in Nusah Ashkenaz and the
: other in Nusah Sefarad.
: That's called hedging your bets.
Actually, the bet-hedging in the Rinat Yisrael siddur occurs within a
single volume. In the kedusha for Shabbat shacharit, he has "titgadel
v'titkadesh," in line with the opinion that tefilah should be in
Biblical Hebrew, but in the kedusha for Yom Tov shacharit, he has
"titgadal v'titkadash," in line with the opinion that the siddur was
written in Mishnaic Hebrew (pp. 262 and 380 in the nusach Ashkenaz
version).
Richard Schultz
<schultr@...>
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From: Ben Katz <bkatz@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 18:24:57 -0500
Subject: Re: Artscroll Siddur
>From: Ira L. Jacobson <laser@...>
>Eli Turkel <eliturkel@...> stated the following on Sat, 26 Mar 2005
> To defend Artscroll they have to choose a version. No one wants a
> siddur that gives you choices for each phrase. In the siddur
> Rinat Yisrael which is very popular in Israel they use "Uvinimah
> kedoshah, kulom"
>Actually, Rinat Yisrael has both versions: one in Nusah Ashkenaz and the
>other in Nusah Sefarad.
>That's called hedging your bets.
I am sure Mr. Jacobson was joking with his last comment, but
seriously, Shlomo Tal in his book discussing the Rinat Yisrael siddur
seemed to prefer "Kedosha" but put "Kedusha" in the nusah ashkenaz
siddur because that appeared to him to be the dominant ashkenazi minhag.
Ben Z. Katz, M.D.
Children's Memorial Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases
2300 Children's Plaza, Box # 20, Chicago, IL 60614
e-mail: <bkatz@...>
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From: Menashe Elyashiv <elyashm@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 18:49:43 +0300 (IDT)
Subject: Badas for Pesah
Times have changed. Up to a few years ago, the badatz (eida) would state
that there is no need for many foods on Pesah. They would give their
hechser for Tnuva (milk products) only on the basic products, i.e. -
milk, soft cheese, leben, butter, 2 hard cheese, etc. As more badasim
entered the field, and gave many hechsherim, the badas eida had no
choice but to follow the trend. The mehadrin market is full of Pesah
products, including kitniyot for kitniyot eaters.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Shayna Kravetz <skravetz@...>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:19:41 -0500
Subject: Re: Insurance Query (Cars)
Stuart Feldhamer <Stuart.Feldhamer@...> writes:
>Regarding the car issue, I think people are thinking about this the
>wrong way. As I understand the rules, Reuven was obligated to tell the
>insurance company when he first got into the accident with Shimon (or
>when Shimon hit his car or whatever). Like most people, he chose not to
>do so because he didn't want the insurance company to raise his
>premiums. Shimon was happy to pay because it was his fault and because
>he didn't want his insurance company to find out and raise his
>rates. So both of them were tricking the insurance companies. I don't
>believe it's an option to pick and choose which accidents to report and
>which not to report. I could be wrong. If so, someone please correct
>me.
Distinguo! as the medieval logicians would say. Reporting an accident
is not the same thing as making a claim. Shimon and Reuven are both
obligated to report the accident when they (re)apply for their
insurance, as the fact of the accident is clearly relevant to the level
of their premiums and, indeed, to whether the company cares to continue
insuring them. This kind of reporting would be a condition of their
policy.
But that reporting which is usually annual and is concerned with the
setting of insurance premiums doesn't mean that they must report /and
claim reimbursement for/ every accident. Claiming reimbursement from
the insurer for the cost of repairs is a right which the insured can
choose not to exercise, not an obligation. There is no trickery or
dishonesty in choosing not to claim reimbursement under the insurance
contract. Had either Shimon or Reuven made such a claim, the report
accompanying the claim would /also/ have served for the purposes of the
premium-setting function but the absence of a claim merely postpones but
doesn't eliminate the obligation to report the accident.
When Reuven's car was smashed in the later accident, thereby
obliterating the minor damage that Shimon had previously caused, Reuven
would have been obliged in his claim for reimbursement for the later
accident to describe the condition of the car at the time of the
accident. The question then becomes: is Reuven's insurance policy for
damages or restitution? In other words, is the insurer paying a kind of
damages for the difference between the car's pre-accident#2 value and
its post-accident#2 value? Or is the insurer paying the cost of
restoring the car to good condition? If it's damages, then Reuven
should get less and Shimon should still be on the hook. If it's
restitution, then Reuven should be 'made whole' as they say in the law
biz and Shimon gets a break.
Stuart again:
>Assuming the above is true then Shimon got lucky and after the damage
>has been paid for by the insurance company (as it should have been all
>along), then he is no longer obligated to pay anything (if he ever
>was...maybe the whole transaction between Reuven and Shimon was
>illegal).
Clearly not. There is no law requiring anyone to make a claim under an
auto insurance policy, as far as I know.
>The only problem we are left with is that the insurance
>company thinks that Reuven was in one accident when in fact he was in 2.
>From my experience, insurance companies will ignore one accident, but
>two constitute a pattern in their eyes and will lead them to raise
>insurance premiums. So Reuven may in fact be cheating the insurance
>company in order to get a lower premium and actually owe them money from
>that respect.
As discussed above, the accident must be reported to the insurer -- just
not immediately.
Kol tuv and a freilach, kosher Pesach.
Shayna in Toronto (ex-lawyer, B"H ;-)
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From: Shmuel Himelstein <himels@...>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 20:03:47 +0200
Subject: An interesting curiosity
My son Aytan pointed out an interesting curiosity this year on Parshat
Pekudei, which was also Parshat Shekalim and Rosh Chodesh.
The Kriyah was normal for the first 5 Aliyot, while the 6th Aliyah
encompassed both Shishi and Shevii.
Shevii was the Rosh Chodesh Kriyah, while Maftir was Shekalim.
What is interesting is that this is the only possible way (barring VeZot
Haberachah) where Shishi is Chazak!
Shmuel Himelstein
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From: Robert A. Book <rbook@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:54:01 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Jewish source for phrase
Jack Stroh <jackstroh@...> writes:
> A question for my father-in-law. There is a custom not to overly praise
> ovdei kochavim for doing good things, but rather to try to find Jewish
> sources which may predate the event and praise this. His question is-
> he admires the saying of Shakespeare "To thine own self be true." Not
> wanting to praise the author of The Merchant of Venice, he is looking
> for a Rabbinic saying which expresses the idea that first one must be
> honest with one's self. Anybody have an idea about this? Thanks.
Putting aside the question of whether the author of The Merchant of
Venice actualy worshipped stars (ovdei kochavim? Yes, I know it's an
expression, but still...)
RAMBAM says, "You must accept the truth from whatever source it
comes."
So why not quote the one who said it?
--Robert Book
<rbook@...>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ben Katz <bkatz@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 18:30:10 -0500
Subject: Re: Jewish source for phrase
>From: Jack Stroh <jackstroh@...>
>A question for my father-in-law. There is a custom not to overly praise
>ovdei kochavim for doing good things, but rather to try to find Jewish
>sources which may predate the event and praise this. His question is-
>he admires the saying of Shakespeare "To thine own self be true." Not
>wanting to praise the author of The Merchant of Venice, he is looking
>for a Rabbinic saying which expresses the idea that first one must be
>honest with one's self. Anybody have an idea about this? Thanks.
Maybe you should tell your father-in-law that Shakespeare was
not an oved kochavim :-)
This is what ArtScroll does - it will say "as a wise man once
said" instead of quoting the bard. I think this is intellectually
dishonest. Remember, Rambam and other Rishonim refer to Aristotle by
name, and he was surely an oved kochavim.
Ben Z. Katz, M.D.
Children's Memorial Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases
2300 Children's Plaza, Box # 20, Chicago, IL 60614
e-mail: <bkatz@...>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Nathan Lamm <nelamm18@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 05:46:20 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Jewish Source for Phrase
In response to Jack Stroh's request for a Jewish source for
Shakespeare's "To thine own self be true": There are, of course, Jewish
equivalents of this phrase- the most obvious is in tefillah (see below),
and not one that Shakespeare would ever have heard of. But I question
the whole premise that, as Mr. Stroh put it, "There is a custom not to
overly praise ovdei kochavim for doing good things, but rather to try to
find Jewish sources which may predate the event and praise this." Where
is this "custom" from? There is an ancient and well-rooted Jewish
principle, used by Chazal throughout the ages, of "Chochma BaGoyim
Ta'amin." Shakespeare would seem to be a prime example of this. From one
scene later in the same play: "There are more things in Heaven and
Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." I think that
quote applies very nicely to this question. (Speaking of the actual
source- "Dover Emes B'lvavo"- let's not forget that not long before it,
we quote something, admittedly a Nevuah, from Bilaam HaRasha.)
As to "The Merchant of Venice," well, I don't see how it affects the
argument. English literature until modern times is rife with
anti-Semitic stereotypes, and Shakespeare seems to have been among the
least offenders- what he writes is remarkable for his time and place.
Nachum Lamm
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From: Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 20:52:31 +0200
Subject: LD ADHD
Besides the standard advice, I'd like to add that I did a study on the
symptoms: poor memory, impulsivity, concentration difficulties etc. and
I discovered that the same problems are caused by insuffient sleep.
None of us sleep enough in modern society, especially the kids.
Batya
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
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From: Yossie Abramson <yossiea@...>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 17:03:00 -0400
Subject: Re: Medical Insurance Query
Most insurance companies (at least in the US) have exclusions stating
that they will not pay benefits to 1st or 2nd degree relatives.
-Yossie Abramson
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From: Jonathan Baker <jjbaker@...>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2005 16:53:55 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Quinoa
Aliza Berger asks about Quinoa and Qitniyoth. I think we're seeing the
equivalent of a push poll, or how polling affects public opinion. When
quinoa first appeared on the American/Israeli market, there was no
problem. R' Blumenkrantz liked it, said there was no problem. Lately
he's started saying there might be a problem. As more & more people use
it, it comes more and more into public consciousness, and more & more
people speculate aloud if it's allowed. As more people think there
might be a problem, it becomes more of a problem. Within 10 years, I
think it will have become kitniyot.
I have to figure this is what happened to peanut oil and various other
substances that weren't originally kitniyot.
Anyway, my mother made quinoa for a seder last year. It's a big fuss to
make, takes a lot of cooking, and doesn't really taste like much except
what you use to flavor it. Why bother?
- jon baker <jjbaker@...> <http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker> -
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From: Aliza Berger <alizadov@...>
Date: Thu, 14 Apr 2005 15:28:18 +0200
Subject: Quinoa for Pesach
Someone who wanted to remain anonymous sent me a screen print from the
cRc website for Pesach. The screen print said that quinoa is kosher for
Pesach if it has the half-moon K hechsher. He also wrote
"I know that last year they announced here in Chicago that it's not kitniyot
and OK to use (unless processed on chometz kailim)."
Sincerely, Aliza
Aliza Berger-Cooper, PhD
English Editing: www.editing-proofreading.com
Statistics Consulting: www.statistics-help.com
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End of Volume 47 Issue 72
