Volume 57 Number 22
Produced: Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:01:24 EDT
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
B"H Leolom (2)
[Perets Mett Haim Snyder]
Bar-Kochba Rebellion Treasures
[Jacob Richman]
candle lighting
[David Riceman]
Gadol Hador
[Orrin Tilevitz]
Hareidi line (3)
[Shoshana L. Boublil Ariel Ozick]
Is "Nusach Ari" synonymous with "Nusach Sepharad"
[David Riceman]
Normal
[Martin Stern]
Nusachim
[Martin Stern]
Soda machines on Shabbat (2)
[Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz Abraham Lebowitz]
The meaning of "am ha-aretz" in Biblical time
[Gilad Gevaryahu]
vidui
[Art Werschulz]
Yale University Press
[Ari Trachtenberg]
yedid nefesh
["Bernard J. SUSSMAN"]
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From: Perets Mett <p.mett@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 06:01 PM
Subject: B"H Leolom
There is a great deal of misinformation here.
Nusach Sfard does say B"H Leolom whenever there is a weekday Maariv,
just like Nusach Ashkenaz, and this was the custom of the Baal Shem Tov.
However, R' Mendl Rimanover did not say it on Motsaei Shabbos & Chol
Hamoed, for reasons which are not clear, and very likely have nothing
to do with chasidim and Nusach Sfard.
His minhag became widely accepted in West Galicia, from where it was
also followed by Satmar. Likewise Vizhnits has this minhag, although I
don't know why.
Other than that B"H Leolom was said on M"Sh by chasidim throughout
Congress Poland and East Galicia. To this day it is said in Ger Belz
and Ryzhin.
Many chasidim in Lita did not say B"H Leolom ever, not differentiating
between ordinary weekdays and M"Sh.
Perets Mett
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From: Haim Snyder <haimsny@...>
Date: Wed, Sep 9,2009 at 05:01 AM
Subject: B"H Leolom
In Vol.57 #20, Jack Gross stated "I am not so certain that the Gr"a
intended, or would have agreed, to abolish recital of "Baruch Hashem
Leolam..." (the "fifth Beracha" of Arvit now almost universally omitted
throughout Israel), as his student[s] proceeded to do."
There are 2 points to be made. One, there are 2 reasons that the Gr"a didn't
say B.H.L. given in Ma'aseh Rav: the first is that he wanted to say T'filla
with the congregation and the second is that he felt that it interfered with
the principle to make T'filla adjacent to Geula (redemption). For the latter
reason, he also didn't say "V'Shomru" on the Sabbath. The second is that is
says specifically that the congregation and the Sha"tz did say B.H.L.
Later in his mesaage, Jack said, that B.H.L. "was instituted by the Geoniim
to serve in place of Tefilla ("shemoneh esreh") in Arvit for those who could
not recite the 18 Berachot on their own, is intended solely to be recited
(*aloud*) by the Sha"tz."
Tosfot in BT Berachot 2:1 says that this was inserted in order to make the
minyan wait for their colleagues [who arrived late] in the shul, since shuls
were located in fields and it was dangerous to return home alone. As my
brother put it very succinctly, it a penalty to be paid by those who came on
time.
Regards,
Haim Shalom Snyder
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From: Jacob Richman <jrichman@...>
Date: Wed, Sep 9,2009 at 09:01 AM
Subject: Bar-Kochba Rebellion Treasures
Hi Everyone!
The largest-ever known number of coins from the time of
Bar Kochba, the Jewish leader against Roman invaders,
has been discovered in the Judean Hills by cave
researchers from Hebrew and Bar-Ilan universities.
The research team found three batches of bronze, silver and
gold coins (total of 120 coins) in a deep cavern in a nature
reserve. Pottery and weapons also were discovered.
The cavern was used as a hiding place for Jewish rebels
during the Bar Kochba rebellion over 1,900 years ago.
I posted photos of the discovery at:
http://www.jr.co.il/pictures/israel/things/bar-kochba-rebellion-treasures.htm
Have a good day,
Jacob
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From: David Riceman <driceman@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 06:01 PM
Subject: candle lighting
My wife and I were discussing the transformation of Yiddish (which my
grandparents called "Jewish") phrases into English. One example which
puzzled us is "licht benching"; why didn't it become "candle blessing"?
David Riceman
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From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Wed, Sep 9,2009 at 02:01 PM
Subject: Gadol Hador
In the phrase "Gadol Hador" [the greatest rabbi of the generation], is it our generation or the gadol's generation? If the latter, is it true that one ceases to be the "gadol hador" at one's death?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Shoshana L. Boublil <toramada@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 02:01 AM
Subject: Hareidi line
> From: Ariel Ozick <ari@...>
> For the sake of argument, what's wrong with this halachically or morally?
> No one is paying for a ticket. This is a flaw in the system of line
> waiting
> that is setup by the bureaucracies - in theory everyone could do this.. I
> recall at Misrad HaPnim in Jerusalem you're given a number by a clerk
> which
> might mitigate this, and other offices can be by appointment only...
There is a well known story about Hillel and Shammai and the person who
wanted to become a Ger while standing on one foot. Hillel told him: Ma
Dessani Alach LeChaverach Lo Ta'avid (what is hateful to you don't do to
your friend). The rest is an explanation - go and learn.
The point is that we believe that one generalized reason for Mitzvot is
Letzaref Et HaBriyot - to make them better people.
When a person doesn't understand that by taking two numbers they are
cheating their fellow man, I consider this a very big problem, especially as
I would hate to stand in line waiting for the 5 people currently in the room
who came ahead of me to finish their turns - only to find out that I'm
actually waiting for 7 or 10 people, 2 or 5 of them actually came in after
me, and yet they are getting service ahead of me.
Or another example: What if I walked in, saw that there were only 3
presently ahead of me, and I stayed to take care of some business, knowing
that it should take under 15 min, and suddenly the 15 min become 30 minutes
b/c of 3 extra people who came after me and are suddenly ahead of me. At
the same time I had some obligations, people waiting for me etc. which is
why I stayed - b/c I though it would only be 15 min. and suddenly the time
has doubled and cause me to be late for work.
While most people may not be able to formulate their feeling in moral or
halachic terms - they feel that such behavior is wrong, especially when they
are suffering for it. When the person doing it is dressed clearly as a
religious Jew (Chareidi garb) - this sends a message that you can be a
religious Jew and cheat your fellow man. That is indeed a big Chilul
HaShem.
Shoshana L. Boublil
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Carl Singer <carl.singer@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 03:01 PM
Subject: hareidi line
What's wrong? In one word, everything!
The issue / focus is NOT the system, as noted, it can be repaired in many
clever ways.
The issue is the sinful (yes that's a strong word) behavior that traces back
to a lack of respect for others in a me-centered world.
I must presume that Hareidi (and I dislike vague labels) are careful in
observance of mitzvahs.
Recall a binary classification of mitzvahs as: Bayn Adam L'Makom (Between
Man and HaShem)
and Bayn Adam L'Chavayro (Between Man and his fellow Man.) Both of great
importance.
The behavior described causes others to have unnecessarily longer wait times
and is robbing them of TIME.
Time that they might use to perform mitzvahs, to work, to do chesed, or
(some may assert) to eat a ham sandwich,
whatever .... Genayveh is Genayveh.
But again, the root cause of many behavioral transgressions of mitzvahs Bayn
Adam L'Chavayro is the lack of respect:
Both a lack of self-respect and a lack of respect for others -- especially
those others who they believe to be unlike and therefore lesser than
themselves.
One could fill the internet with positive examples of how frum Yiddin behave
towards others -- but regrettably one can also fill the internet with
negative examples as well.
--
Carl A. Singer, Ph.D.
see my website www.ProcessMakesPerfect.net
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From: Ariel Ozick <ari@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Hareidi line
jeanette wrote:
> That this person has no clue is that this is morally reprehensible is
> outrageous. Period.
1. I didn't say I didn't think it was wrong, I was asking for the sake of
argument, especially in the halachic context of Mail-Jewish. Also, I would
advise most people of the Israeli counter-method, which is to body-check the
person attempting to cut the line.
2. I don't think that on the scale of moral issues, this falls into
reprehensible. It may be wrong but I think reprehensible is a bit much.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Riceman <driceman@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Is "Nusach Ari" synonymous with "Nusach Sepharad"
> From: David Ziants <dziants@...>
> I was never sure whether "Nusach Ari" is actually synonymous with
> "Nusach Sepharad" or not. For example, Siddur Rinat Yisrael Nusach
> Sepharad says it is *based* on Nusach HaAri. "Based" might imply "not
> synonymous".
See Daniel Goldschmidt's article "Al Nusah HaTefillah shel Kehillot
HaHassidim"[On the Liturgy of Hassidic Communities]. It's reprinted in
his collection "Mehkarei Tefilah UPiyot"[On Jewish Liturgy] Jerusalem
5740 [1980].
David Riceman
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 4,2009 at 10:01 AM
Subject: Normal
On Wed, Sep 2,2009, Yisrael Medad <ybmedad@...> wrote:
> I would consider that very not normal, or perhaps it is that the Jews
> who hail from Ashkenaz (although there were many Jews of Sef''rad
> descent and custom who lived in Germany so I think Martin has a problem
> there, among others) who are abnormal.
Firstly, the Portuguese Jews who settled in Germany and Holland either set
up their own communities (Amsterdam, Hamburg etc.) separate from the
Ashkenazim or, if they were isolated individuals like some of my ancestors,
merged into the local Ashkenazi population.
Secondly, I never suggested that any established minhag is abnormal just
because it is different and I take extreme exception to Yisrael's use of
such a pejorative term. It is quite clear that there are many, mostly minor,
differences between the customs of those Ashkenazim hailing from Western
Europe and those coming from Eastern Europe and there is no reason why each
should not treat the other with respect. I am entirely happy not to
interfere with their minhagim and would expect this to be reciprocated.
When I wrote
>> It is precisely this sort of uncouth behaviour that puts many of us
>> off from living in Israel. I am disappointed that Yisrael seems to
>> accept it as "normal".
I was referring to behaviour which I think anyone would consider hardly
exemplary and certainly not what should be seen as some sort of middat
chassidut as Yisrael would seems to imply.
Martin Stern
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Nusachim
On Mon, Sep 7,2009, Rabbi Meir Wise <Meirhwise@...> wrote:
> Who says that "am ha-aretz" is a pejorative term meaning country
> bumpkin? The biblical term does not have this connotation.
In my previous submission (m-j 57#21), I referred to the rabbinic usage
where the term "am ha-aretz" means "peasant" with the connotation of "an
unlearned person". In Biblical Hebrew, on the other hand, it means
something completely different unless Rabbi Meir Wise thinks we should learn
good manners from the verse (Gen. 23,12) "Vayishtachu Avraham lifnei am
haarets"!
Martin Stern
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz <sabbahillel@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Soda machines on Shabbat
> From: Shmuel Himelstein <himels@...>
> I've noticed that in the waiting room of the Shaarey Zedek Hospital in
> Jerusalem they disconnect all soda and sandwich machines before Shabbat.
> This hospital is used to a large extent by Jews, but there are also many
> Arabs who come to it.
>
> Is this the Halachah, or is it a Chumra (stringency) not to offend religious
> Jews?
I recall a shiur in which the discussion was how a Jew who owns a
vending machine (and therefore gets the income from the coin box) can
or cannot get the money that was used to purchase from that machine on
Shabbos. I do not have the references now, but a quick google showed
me the following from the Avodah mail list
http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/getindex.cgi?section=V
# Vending Machines on Shabbos
* Carl M. Sherer (v04n284)
* Stein, Aryeh E. (v04n290)
* David Herskovic (v04n291)
* <richard_wol...@...> (v04n302)
* Micha Berger (v04n304)
* <gil.stud...@...> (v04n305)
* <gil.stud...@...> (v04n305)
* Avi Burstein (v12n012)
* Kenneth G Miller (v12n016)
The initial message was
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2000 23:54:40
From: "Carl M. Sherer" <cmshe...@...>
Subject: Vending Machines on Shabbos
On 12 Jan 00, at 10:15, Stein, Aryeh E. wrote:
> With respect to vending machines on Shabbos, I recently heard R' Frand
> discuss this issue, and he explained that, in order to alleviate problems of
> doing business on Shabbos, the owner of the vending machine should have in
> mind (before Shabbos) the following two things regarding any person who buys
> something from the machine on Shabbos:
>
> 1) to be makneh the item to the person before shabbos; and
> 2) not to be koneh the money that is deposited in the machine until
> after Shabbos (while a person's chotzeir is koneh shelo midaas, it is not
> koneh if the person has specific daas not to be koneh).
There are cases where people will leave the vending machines active,
but donate all money from the last collection Friday to the first
collection Motzaei Shabbat (Saturday night) to Tzedakah (charity).
There was also a reference to machines advertising kosher food "24/6"
but that was an advertising gimmick because one could not shut off the
machine without spoiling the food.
--
Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz | Said the fox to the fish, "Join me ashore"
<SabbaHillel@...> | The fish are the Jews, Torah is our water
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7637/544/640/SabbaHillel.jpg
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Abraham Lebowitz <aileb@...>
Date: Wed, Sep 9,2009 at 03:01 AM
Subject: Soda machines on Shabbat
Reading the above reminded me of when I happened to be in the Karachi airport on
a very hot (over 40C) summer day during Ramadan. Not only were all the kiosks
selling drinks closed, but all the water coolers were covered with wooden boxes
padlocked in place. This despite the presence of non-Moslem travelers. Another
interesting aside: travelers are not required to fast during Ramadan, and at
least in that airport the "kula" only took effect when you went through passport
control.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Gilad Gevaryahu <Gevaryahu@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 05:01 PM
Subject: The meaning of "am ha-aretz" in Biblical time
Rabbi Meir Wise wrote:
> Who says that "am ha-aretz" is a pejorative term meaning country
> bumpkin? The biblical term does not have this connotation.
Martin Stern said on Sep 8, 2009:
> It means "peasant" and, in Rabbinic
> usage, does have such a connotation, as also does the English word. This does
> not mean that followers of the baladi
> rite are country bumpkins but, perhaps, their opponents used such a term as
> a subliminal part of their propaganda for its replacement by the 'more
> correct' shami rite. This would parallel the sort of propaganda used rather
> successfully by the 19th century urban Reformers against the rural Orthodox
> Jews.
Am ha-Aretz is a judge in Biblical times according to judge Mayer
Sulzbacher (1843-1923), a local leader of the Jewish community in Philadelphia,
a respected jurist and a frum guy.
See: The am ha-aretz: the ancient Hebrew parliament, a chapter in
constitutional history of ancient Israel Philadelphia, J. H. Greestone, 1915.
Gilad Gevaryahu
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From: Art Werschulz <agw@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 07:01 PM
Subject: vidui
Hi all.
In Torah Tidbits (put out by the OU Israel Center), Phil Chernovsky
has a pull-out section on the vidui every year. Doing a quick Google,
I found
http://www.ou.org/pdf/tt/5766/687vidui.pdf
Art Werschulz (8-{)} "Metaphors be with you." -- bumper sticker
GCS/M (GAT): d? -p+ c++ l u+(-) e--- m* s n+ h f g+ w+ t++ r- y?
Internet: agw STRUDEL comcast.net
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From: Ari Trachtenberg <trachten@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 8,2009 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Yale University Press
Recently, Yale University Press took pictures of Muhammad out of a
scholarly investigation of the fallout from the cartoons, initially published in
a Danish newspaper some time ago.
The Press appears to defend its actions on pikuach nefesh (saving a
life) merits, saying that publication of the cartoons would likely lead to
violence and loss of life. On the other hand, not publishing the cartoons seems
to strengthen the hand of extremists, which could also lead to loss of life,
just further on.
I am curious if anyone has any halachic observations on the right course of
action in such a predicament.
best,
-Ari
---
Ari Trachtenberg, Boston University
"Those who know don't say; those who say don't know." -Rabbi Eliyashev
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From: "Bernard J. SUSSMAN" <sussmanbern@...>
Date: Fri, Aug 28,2009 at 12:01 PM
Subject: yedid nefesh
I am particularly keen, at the moment, on an explanation (in English) of the
history and variants in the text of Yedid Nefesh. Apparently there are at least
three versions - which in turn means three source documents - one referring to
"Your beloved child", another to "Your loving child", and a third to "Your
beloved people".
Sincerely, Bernard J. Sussman, JD, MLS, CP
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End of Volume 57 Issue 22
