Volume 6 Number 67
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Converts (Gerim)
[Michael Shimshoni]
Lo Tilbash
[Robert A. Book]
Minyan in Florence, Italy?
[David G Freudenstein]
Nusach Hatefila
[Hillel Markowitz]
Origins of Chasidic Garb
[Norman Miller]
Orthodox Conversion in Toronto
[Jonathan Golden]
Orthodox minyan in a non orthodox synagogue
[Hayim Hendeles]
Souls and Bodies
[Frank Silbermann]
Tapes from Ohr Somayach
[Henry Abramson]
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From: Michael Shimshoni <MASH@...>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 14:49:39 +0200
Subject: Converts (Gerim)
Riva Katz wrote about Converts. Among many other matters she said:
>There are 36 places in the Torah where it says to be careful not to hurt
>a ger. In fact, they are the only people (except God) who you have to
>LOVE. (Parents-honor, respect). (Neviim(prophets)-listen to).
As far as I remember parents have also to be feared :Ish imo ve'aviv
yira'u. As to love being restricted by command to God and Gerim, what
about Ve'ahavta lere'akha kamokha (Love your neighbour as yourself)?
Michael Shimshoni
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From: <rbook@...> (Robert A. Book)
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 17:52:37 -0500
Subject: Re: Lo Tilbash
> questions of modesty (tziniut). To be specific if all observant ladies
> only wear skirts and all (to be extreme) nonjewish or jewish but
> nonobservant women wear " women's " pants (again, that present no
> tziniut problems) how to know which determines the definition of
> women's clothing for the prohibition of "lo tilbash gever simlat isha".
This isssue is usually discussed from the point of view of women
wearing pants specifically designed for women. Is the issue any
different in the case of men wearing skirts designed for men? I am
thinking specifically of kilts, which are very much like skirts but
are traditionally worn by men in Scotland.
(I know this is an old custom, but an article in _The_Economist_ about
a resurgence of the popularity of the kilt brought it to mind.)
--Robert Book
<rbook@...>
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From: David G Freudenstein <dfreuden@...>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 18:40:02 -0500
Subject: Minyan in Florence, Italy?
Might anyone be able to provide details [including place/time] concerning
daily minyan (morning and evening) in Florence Italy? [I am trying to
gather this information for friends traveling there this May.]
Thanks!
david freudenstein
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From: <hem@...> (Hillel Markowitz)
Date: Tue, 9 Mar 93 17:03:33 -0500
Subject: Re: Nusach Hatefila
>From: <schiff@...> (Jeremy Schiff)
>1. The siddur "Olat Reiyah" of Rav Kook has an interesting comma
> in the first of the bircot kriyat shema of maariv; he has
> "Kel chai vekayam tamid , yimloch alenu leolam vaed"
> ^
> ("The living and always present G-d, he will rule over us for ever")
> as opposed to the usual
> "Kel chai vekayam , tamid yimloch alenu leolam vaed"
> ^
> ("The living and present G-d, he will always rule over us for ever")
> The Rav Kook version makes good sense; why should we say that
> Hashem will rule over us both "tamid" and "leolam vaed"?
I would say that the word tamid is being used in the sense of the
"korban tamid" which is continual rather than eternal. Thus the
translation would be "The living and present G-d, who will rule over us
continually for ever".
This expresses two ideas of rulership.
Hillel Markowitz <H_Markowitz@...>
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From: Norman Miller <nmiller@...>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 17:52:44 -0500
Subject: Re: Origins of Chasidic Garb
What Mark Katz heard about the origins of the dress of _some_ hasidic
groups wasn't cynical at all. In 1966 or thereabouts the Chicago Art
Institute had a show approximately titled "Art from the Royal Polish
Court". Not the greatest paintings maybe, but for students of European
Jewish life it was startling to see kings and pans dressed in the manner
of the Gerer tsaddik.
Norman Miller
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From: Jonathan Golden <jgolden@...>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 1993 09:07:42 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Orthodox Conversion in Toronto
Who can one contact in Toronto, Canada for enquiries regarding
Orthodox conversion?
Thank you in advance,
Jonathan Golden <jgolden@...>
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From: Hayim Hendeles <hayim@...>
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 93 16:21:00 -0800
Subject: Re: Orthodox minyan in a non orthodox synagogue
>>From: Benjamin Svetitsky <FNBENJ@...>
>
>The original question on this topic mentioned Congregation
>Torah ba-Midbar in Santa Fe, NM. The p'sakim quoted are
>general, not specific. The minyan meets in a separate building
> ...
I am not a Rabbi, nor am I qualified to stick in my 2 cents on
the halachik issues involved. Nonetheless, I think it prudent
to point out that one ought to be very careful from drawing
general conclusions out from a specific ruling, without knowing
exactly what the original question was.
For example, was the original question (adressed to Rabbi Feinstein
zt"l), whether you can go out and rent/borrow a room in a Non-Orthodox
synagogue to form an Orthodox minyan? Or was the question, there
already is a minyan davening in the basement of a non-Orthodox shul -
can one daven in it? (Also, it might be relevant to note whether there
were any alternatives.)
The halacha may/may not be the same in all cases, but there is a world
of difference between the 2 questions. Before making generalizations,
one ought to ascertain *all* the relevant details.
Hayim Hendeles
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From: Frank Silbermann <fs@...>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 11:13:56 -0500
Subject: Re: Souls and Bodies
In Vol 6 #64 Riva Katz summarized some of the halachot of gerim
he learned from Rabbi Leff. In passing he mentions
that "the neshamot of Jews are different from that of
nonJews which leads to differences in our bodies."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have long known that Jews are said to have neshamot
of a different character, but this is the first I've heard
that our _bodies_ are different. What is the source of this
astounding fact? (Or, is my secular understanding of
the word "body" inappropriate in this context?).
Are these differences observable? Does the source list
any any of these differences, or are we merely told
that differences exist?
Frank Silbermann <fs@...>
Tulane University New Orleans, Louisiana USA
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From: Henry Abramson <abramson@...>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 93 14:35:36 -0500
Subject: Tapes from Ohr Somayach
Since my last posting, when I offered to act as an e-mail conduit for
ordering Rabbi Gottlieb's tapes from Ohr Somayach Thornhill, I have received
several requests for more specific information on titles, prices, etc. Ohr
Somayach has a free catalogue available of their large tape collection
(i.e. thousands!), including lectures by Rabbi Y. Uziel Milevsky z"l, Rabbi
Nota Schiller, Rabbi Mendel Weinbach, Rabbi Lopez Cardozo, Rabbi Mordechai
Becher, and many others. If you would like a copy of the catalogue, post
me a note with your snail-mail address and I will pass it along to Rabbi
Rothman at Ohr Somayach.
Henry Abramson <abramson@...>
University of Toronto
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End of Volume 6 Issue 67