Volume 61 Number 42
Produced: Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:05:58 EDT
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Once a Year? (3)
[Joel Rich Elazar M. Teitz Yisrael Medad]
Order in which to learn Tanach
[Frank Silbermann]
Ribbono shel Olam (3)
[Martin Stern Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz Avraham Friedenberg]
Subjective perceived time (2)
[Robert Israel Josh Backon]
Yom Kippur machzor problem (3)
[Martin Stern Stuart Wise Tony Fiorino]
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From: Joel Rich <JRich@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Once a Year?
Yisrael Medad wrote (MJ 61#41):
> In the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 60a) we read:
>
> Our Rabbis taught: Concerning every ministration of the Day of Atonement
> mentioned in the prescribed order, if one service was done [out of order]
> before another one, it is as if one had not done it at all. R. Judah said:
> When does this apply? Only with regard to service performed in white
> garments, within [the Holy of Holies], but any service performed in white
> garments without, if in connection with them he performed one out of order
> what he has done is done [valid]. R. Nehemiah said: These things apply only to
> before the other one, then service performed in white garments, whether
> performed within [the Holy of Holies] or without, but in case of services
> performed in golden garments outside, what has been done, is done. Said R.
> Johanan: And both expounded it on the basis of one Scriptural passage: And
> this shall be an everlasting statute unto you ... once in the year."
>
> Despite all the foregoing, is it possible that the entry into the Holy of
> Holies was not solely a 'once-a-year' event?
>
> Yet the Midrash Shemot Rabba (38:10) reads:
>
> "Aharon would enter into the Holy of Holies at any time and if it were not for
> all the merits that entered with him and assisted him, he would not be able to
> do so".
I recently heard a shiur by R' H Schachter where he said the multiple entry was
for Aharon Hakohain only.
Gmar Tov
Joel Rich
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From: Elazar M. Teitz <remt@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 07:01 PM
Subject: Once a Year?
Yisrael Medad (MJ 61#41), after bringing a host of references demonsttrating
that the kohein gadol was permitted to enter the Kodesh haKodashim (Holy of
Holies) only on Yom Kippur, then cites what he deems an apparent contradiction
in a Midrash, which states:
"...God said to Moshe - not as you presume that there is a time for one hour, a
time for once a day, once a year, once in twelve years or a time for once in 70
years or an everlasting once but whenever he [Aharon] wishes to enter, he may as
long as he keeps to this particular order..."
However, there is no contradiction. The portion in the Torah discussing the
entry into the Kodesh haKodashim mentions neither kohein gadol nor Yom Kippur.
Rather, it refers to Aharon -- by name, not by position. It states, loosely
translated, that Aharon should not enter at will, but rather "b'zot" [with this]
-- and then describes the service to be followed. Only after twenty-eight
verses of description of the service does the Torah state that on Yom Kippur
there shall be a fast and a refraining from work because it is a day of
atonement and cleansing from sin, and that it shall be incumbent on the one who
succeeded to the role of kohein gadol to perform this service once in a year.
This, then, is the resolution of the apparent contradiction. Aharon could,
indeed, enter the Kodesh haKodashim whenever he wished -- provided that he
performed the service. His successors, however, did not have that privilege.
They were only permitted to enter once a year, on Yom Kippur, when they were
obligated to perform the service. (Note that the midrash cited by Yisrael
refers explicitly to Aharon.)
This is explicated in detail by the Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin,
head of the Volozin Yeshiva in the nineteenth century) in his commentary to
Chumash, Ha'ameik Davar. The explanation is attributed to the Gaon of Vilna,
who pointed out other seeming difficulties in the portion which are explained by
this distinction.
Parenthetically, it should be noted that there was another exception to entry
into the Kodesh haKodashim: Moshe was permitted to enter at any time, and
without the requirement of performing the service.
EMT
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From: Yisrael Medad <yisrael.medad@...>
Date: Fri, Oct 5,2012 at 08:01 AM
Subject: Once a Year?
To follow up on my posting regarding the question whether the High Priest
really entered the Holy of Holies but once a year, I was reading the Sept.
21 Shabbat Supplement of Makor Rishon - from a large pile I had to catch up
on - and spotted an article by Aharon Shtechelberg on the matter of the
Ketoret (Incense ritual). He suggests that Aharon entered the Holy of
Holies daily, based on Exodus 30:34-36 and also 28:35, until his two sons
were killed, sacrificing a strange fire. That was the critical moment that
altered the practice.
Yisrael Medad
Shiloh
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From: Frank Silbermann <frank_silbermann@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 4,2012 at 03:01 PM
Subject: Order in which to learn Tanach
About twenty years ago I began using the Mezudah Siddur (a prayerbook which
translates into English one phrase at a time) to develop the ability to read
Hebrew with comprehension. Eventually, I remembered the meaning of enough words
that I could use a regular siddur and look up words whose meaning I didn't know
or had forgotten using the English on the left side page.
Similarly, I would go through the weekly Torah portion using a linear
translation, until I knew enough Hebrew that I could find the meaning of
unfamiliar words using a Chumash with a regular page-by-page translation. I
have been doing the same with the Haftorah potions, and have begun using the
English and Hebrew to figure out the Onkolos (Aramaic translation). I've also
gone through the Five Megillot several times as holidays roll around.
I'm looking to improve my Hebrew further by reading through the rest of the
Tanach. I've gone through the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. Many
of the remaining books have Hebrew that seems to be far more difficult.
Can someone order for me the remaining books of the Tanach by increasing
linguistic difficulty? Or should I read them in some other order (e.g.
historical order)?
Frank Silbermann Memphis, Tennessee
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Ribbono shel Olam
Shmuel Himelstein wrote (MJ 61#41):
> There is a prayer beginning "Ribbono shel Olam," which is said by Ashkenazim
> on the Shalosh Regalim and on the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, just before
> the Sefer Torah is taken out.
>
> I have two questions regarding this:
>
> a) On the Chagim except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there is a place
> where one inserts one's own name - listed in the Siddur/Machzor as Peh ben
> Peh i.e,. so-and-so, the son of so-and-so). In inserting one's own name,
> does one then insert one's father's name or one's mother's name?
In most machzorim it specifies that one one refers to oneself as " avdecha
(poloni [so and so] ben/bat poloni amatecha [Your maidservant]) ... so it
seems that one should enter one's mother's name at this point.
> b) Why on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, does one not insert one's name, as
> one does on the Chagim (and let's not go into why this should even be
> necessary on the Chagim - after all God is omniscient ...)?
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (also Hoshana Rabba incidentally), the
Ribbono shel Olam is phrased in the plural and therefore refers to the whole
Jewish people and so it would be inappropriate to mention one's name. This is
the way it is printed in the accurate editions of Heidenheim and Sachs, and
reproduced in the more recent critical edition of the machzor produced by
Goldschmidt. I noticed that several less csrefully produced editions such as the
Machzor Rabba have it in the singular, which is probably an error, and that the
Artscroll editions have followed them. In any case, one cannot rely on the
printers - many mistakes have crept in over the years because of them.
On the other festivals it is phrased in the singular, i.e. it refers to the
individual and therefore it makes sense to include one's name.
Martin Stern
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From: Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz <sabbahillel@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 11:01 PM
Subject: Ribbono shel Olam
Shmuel Himelstein wrote (MJ 61#41):
> There is a prayer beginning "Ribbono shel Olam," which is said by Ashkenazim
> on the Shalosh Regalim and on the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, just before
> the Sefer Torah is taken out.
>
> I have two questions regarding this:
>
> a) On the Chagim except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there is a place
> where one inserts one's own name - listed in the Siddur/Machzor as Peh ben
> Peh i.e,. so-and-so, the son of so-and-so). In inserting one's own name,
> does one then insert one's father's name or one's mother's name?
There are various machzorim (such as Art Scroll) that specifically show
(your name) ben (mother's name). I have never seen a machzor that says
(father's name).
Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz
<SabbaHillel@...>
http://sabbahillel.blogspot.com
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From: Avraham Friedenberg <elshpen@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 4,2012 at 05:01 AM
Subject: Ribbono shel Olam
Shmuel Himelstein wrote (MJ 61#41):
> On the Chagim except Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, there is a place where
> one inserts one's own name - listed in the Siddur/Machzor as Peh ben Peh
> (i.e., so-and-so, the son of so-and-so). In inserting one's own name,does
> one then insert one's father's name or one's mother's name?
I find this interesting because I have siddurim that specify one or the
other name (either the mother"s or father's name). My Rinat Yisrael
siddur, nusach Sfard, says "v'zakay li plony ben plony" Two Artscroll
siddurim - one nusach Ashkanaz, the other nusach Sfard - each use the
wording "sh'alti li avdecha (name) ben/bat (mother's name) amatecha . . ."
Moadim l'simcha to all!
Avraham Friedenberg, KVS
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From: Robert Israel <israel@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 07:01 PM
Subject: Subjective perceived time
Martin Stern wrote (MJ 61#41):
> When I was a boy, it seemed an awfully long time from Rosh Hashanah to Yom
> Kippur. Now it seems almost no time at all from Yom Kippur to the next Rosh
> Hashanah. This phenomenon got me thinking about whether there is a basic
> difference between objective absolute time as measured on clocks and
> calendars and subjective perceived time.
>
> It seemed to me as if subjectively we perceive time quite differently to
> the way it really is (or is that also an artificial construct) as a
> proportion of our lifetime. Thus, to a one year old a year is a lifetime
> whereas to a ten year old it is only one tenth of a lifetime, i.e. time
> seems to pass ten times as fast.
>
> This idea might explain why we think things are speeding up as we age but
> my impression is that this 'speeding up' itself gets faster as we get
> older, which would imply that my suggested model is not the complete
> answer.
>
> Does anyone know whether any research has been done on this and, if so,
> what are its findings?
There has indeed been research.
See e.g. the Wikipedia article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subjective_time
and references there, in particular the article of S.V. Ukraintseva
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/SVUAging.pdf
also you might look at the paper of Wallach and Green
http://geronj.oxfordjournals.org/content/16/1/71.full.pdf
and the more recent work of Wittmann and Lehnhoff
http://igpp.academia.edu/MarcWittmann/Papers/490563/Age_effects_in_perception_of_time
Robert Israel
University of British Columbia
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From: Josh Backon <backon@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 08:01 PM
Subject: Subjective perceived time
In reply to Martin Stern (MJ 61#41):
Access http://scholar.google.com and key in "subjective perceived
time". There are thousands of journal articles on the subject.
Moadim L'Simcha
Josh Backon
<backon@...>
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Yom Kippur machzor problem
Yisrael Medad wrote (MJ 61#41):
> Stuart Wise (MJ 61#40) asks:
>> I wonder what went into the minds of those who compiled the machzor.
> As an observation on the number of prayers to be said, I would guess either
> the Rabbi's sermon was shorter or not at all.
Until relatively recently sermons were not delivered on Shabbat or Yom Tov
mornings - the preferred time traditionally was after minchah when people
were more relaxed (and not hungry). The Reform movement introduced morning
sermons on the Protestant model because that was the only time they held
services and this spread later to more modern Orthodox synagogues, probably
because of the decline in shul attendance at any other time. In charedi
shuls, the traditional format is still followed and morning sermons are
virtually non-existent, being restricted to such things as a few words of
exhortation before shofar blowing.
Martin Stern
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From: Stuart Wise <Smwise3@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Yom Kippur machzor problem
Thanks again, Martin, for taking the time for your most interesting explanation
(MJ 61#41). I am sure printers are responsible for many more of the problems,
like varying font sizes.
Were it only that someone or ones had the courage to revise all our
prayer-related texts!
Stuart
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From: Tony Fiorino <afiorino@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 3,2012 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Yom Kippur machzor problem
Stuart Wise wrote (MJ 61#41):
> It seems to me that it would be virtually impossible to recite the entire
> Yom Kippur machzor even, I think, if you started 6 a.m. (which my mother
> A.H. said is when they started when she was a child). Putting aside the
> different type sizes, I wonder whether it was ever intended to recite it all,
> or was it more or less pick and choose. My shul says an average number of
> non-prominent looking tefilos, but I tend to say some of the others on my
> own.
> Again, similar to my difficulty in selichos, I wonder what went into the
> minds of those who compiled the machzor.
The problem reflects in part, I believe, the fact that there was once a great
deal of geographic variance in the specific piyutim and selichot recited on Yom
Kippur.
This is somewhat speculative, but I suspect that as communities got displaced
and intermingled and as siddurim were printed rather than written, it made sense
to include many piyutim reflecting the minhagim of different communities. As
the siddur became the authoritative reference and living witnesses to the
specific geographic variants disappeared, there was no rationale to include or
exclude any particular piyut and so communities began to simply recite all of
them. Of course, piyutim continued to be composed through the Middle Ages as
well, so the amount of material available for inclusion continued to grow.
One thing that is certain is that the inclusion of so many piyutim in Ashkenaz
led to the eventual exclusion of selichot in most communities. It is said that
selichot are more "important" or more "halachically proper" though I
don't know really how one ranks selichot versus piyutim in terms of either
halachic precedence or efficacy in achieving forgiveness. From a historical
perspective, the custom of reciting selichot originated with the Geonim, whereas
many of the piyutim were written by Kalir and Yannai and thus predate the
Geonim, whereas many others were written by Rishonim and thus post-date them.
Perhaps the halachic preference for selichot simply reflects the anti-piyut
stance of most of the Babylonian Geonim.
Shana tova,
Eitan
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End of Volume 61 Issue 42
