Volume 62 Number 34
Produced: Sat, 20 Sep 14 15:47:09 -0400
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Altering Halacha (2)
[Martin Stern Isaac Balbin]
Blowing Shofar during Elul and not eating Matzah after Purim (3)
[Martin Stern Chaim Casper Sammy Finkelman]
Is fifteen significant?
[Martin Stern]
Is there an obligation to serve in the Army?
[Yisrael Medad]
Latecomers
[Martin Stern]
Loud Music
[Frank Silbermann]
Reciting L'David Hashem Ori
[Martin Stern]
Unmarried minor wearing tallis over his head (2)
[Chaim Casper David Ziants]
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Wed, Sep 10,2014 at 06:01 AM
Subject: Altering Halacha
In reply to Bill Bernstein (MJ 62#32):
I have seen many people who have left an area opposite the front door
unplastered or, even, had such an area of plaster removed though, I think, the
latter may be not an absolute requirement when buying a finished house.
We have hung a picture of the Kotel in that place as a substitute zecher
lechurban [reminder of the Temple] since our house was bought "second hand" (it
has now reached its 100th birthday!).
Martin Stern
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From: Isaac Balbin <isaac@...>
Date: Sun, Sep 14,2014 at 12:01 AM
Subject: Altering Halacha
In reply to Bill Bernstein (MJ 62#32):
I do not know why people assume the Halacha of leaving a portion of the house
unfinished has ceased, been altered, or curiously the 'Mesora' has been forgotten.
This is simply not the case. I had a Zecher Lchurban done when we renovated our
old house. It's an explicit Halacha and there is no 'lost Mesora'. It is
questionable whether when moving into a completed abode one must CREATE a
rememberance. Certainly however if one is building from scratch or renovating it
is required.
What is more questionable is the practice of a Chanukas Habayis (dedication of a
new house) outside Israel. This is most contentious, although I know CHABAD is
in favour.
The issue to me is simply that the remembrance is ugly and hard to swallow but a
celebration is far more palatable.
The issue has less to do with Halacha than human nature and one's inclination to
avoid the unsavoury. Are you permitted to cover an unplastered area if you move
into a house which has one? I would posit definitely not.
Some people put up a FANCY 'IM ESHKACHAICH' ... If I forget thee oh Jerusalem
instead of what is required. I don't see the logic or Halacha in that.
Can anyone imagine people stopping the breaking of the glass at a wedding (same
reason)? No. Why not? Because it takes a second and curiously everyone yells
Mazel Tov which I think they should say after the betrothal words. In my opinion
breaking of the glass can occur earlier and be FOLLOWED by the singing of IM
ESHKOCHAICH (which IS a comparatively recent custom)
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Sat, Sep 13,2014 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Blowing Shofar during Elul and not eating Matzah after Purim
Irwin Weiss wrote (MJ 62#33):
> I note that the custom is to blow shofar every weekday morning at the
> conclusion of Shacharit during the month of Elul, which, obviously, precedes
> Rosh Hashana. Then, on Rosh Hashana, sometimes called Yom Teruah (day of the
> blowing of the shofar) we blow shofar with great fanfare at shul.
>
> I note that also the custom is NOT to eat Matzah after Purim in the final
> month prior to Pesach. Thus, when at your Seder, after the appropriate
> Berachot, you eat Matzah, it has a new and fresh taste and it is unmistakably
> Pesach.
>
> Why do we NOT eat Matzah for a month so that that taste is fresh at the Seder,
> and yet, we blow Shofar each weekday in the month prior to Rosh Hashanah? Is
> there not a contradiction here?
There is considerable variety in the custom of not eating matzah before Pesach.
Some people abstain from after Purim (a whole month), others only from Rosh
Chodesh Nisan (two weeks) but the halachah is only not to eat matzah on Erev
Pesach itself.
The custom of blowing shofar in Ellul is to wake people up to do teshuvah and it
is not done on Erev Rosh Hashanah is to make a gap in order that it should not
be confused with the Torah mitzvah of blowing shofar on Rosh Hashanah itself.
The two customs are completely different and one cannot make any comparisons
between them.
Martin Stern
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From: Chaim Casper <surfflorist@...>
Date: Sun, Sep 14,2014 at 01:01 AM
Subject: Blowing Shofar during Elul and not eating Matzah after Purim
In MJ 62#33, Irwin Weiss asked
> Why do we NOT eat Matzah for a month so that that taste is fresh at the Seder,
> and yet, we blow Shofar each weekday in the month prior to Rosh Hashanah? Is
> there not a contradiction here?
There is a similarity that Irwin missed. The Rav, Rabbi Joseph Dov Halevi
Soloveitchik, zz"l, pointed out that the halakhah requires that we avoid eating
matzah the day before Pesah as that is similar to a "groom having relations with
his betrothed in his father-in-law's house (before the wedding)." There are
various other customs as to how long one refrains from having matzah (7 days, 30
days, etc.) but theoretically, one could eat matzah any time from Purim until
the day before erev Pesah.
In addition, even those who don't eat matzah for thirty days before Pesah are
allowed to eat matzah balls, matzah brie, matzah farfel, etc. according to the
both the Mishneh Brurah and the Arukh Hashulhan among others. The halakhah
applies only to that which we make the brakhah (blessing) Hamozi and only
applies for the one day, erev Pesah.
On the other hand, the halakhah regarding shofar is that we only do not sound
the shofar the day before Rosh Hashannah in order to distinguish between the
obligatory sounding on Rosh Hashannah and the custom of sounding the shofar in
the month of Elul (which only applies to the Ashkenazim anyway).
Yes, there are heterim (permissive rulings) that will allow one in a pinch to
blow the shofar erev Rosh Hashannah, but the basic halakhah is that we do not
blow the shofar on erev Rosh Hashannah Thus, both matzah and shofar are not used
the day before their required use but may be used for 30 days prior to their
intended use.
B'virkhat Torah,
Chaim Casper
North Miami Beach, FL
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From: Sammy Finkelman <sammy.finkelman@...>
Date: Mon, Sep 15,2014 at 03:01 PM
Subject: Blowing Shofar during Elul and not eating Matzah after Purim
Irwin Weiss wrote (MJ 62#33):
> I note that the custom is to blow shofar every weekday morning at the
> conclusion of Shacharit during the month of Elul, which, obviously, precedes
> Rosh Hashana. Then, on Rosh Hashana, sometimes called Yom Teruah (day of the
> blowing of the shofar) we blow shofar with great fanfare at shul.
> Why do we NOT eat Matzah for a month so that that taste is fresh at the Seder,
> and yet, we blow Shofar each weekday in the month prior to Rosh Hashanah? Is
> there not a contradiction here?
Maybe there is.
The more common custom or halacha actually is the same in both cases.
We don't blow shofar on Erev Rosh Hashanah in shul, unless it is a Friday and
Rosh Hashonah comes out on Shabbos, so that there should be a one day
interruption between the blowing of the during the month of Elul and the blowing
on Rosh Hashana.
Similarly, the mainstream halacha is not to eat Matzoh on Erev Pesach, so that
there should be an interruption between the Matzoh we may eat all year and the
Matzoh we eat at the Seder. Although maybe that is just so you would have an
appetite for it.
So the question really is: Why did some people find it a better minhag not to
eat Matzoh from Rosh Chodesh Nisan, and even for a whole month, but not find a
problem with the minhag of blowing a shofar the whole month of Elul?
I think maybe it is because they have different purposes.
The matzoh is a commemoration. Some people may find it better if it is a long
time since you ate any matzoh (even though one of the 4 questions mentions we
eat matzoh the whole year)
The shofar is an alert signal. If you get (a little) alerted earlier that is
better, because it reminds you for a whole month to do teshuvah. (But it would
lose its meaning if it was every day throughout the whole year)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Sat, Sep 13,2014 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Is fifteen significant?
Rabbi Meir Wise wrote (MJ 62#32):
> In reply to Martin Stern (MJ 62#30):
>
> Yes, the number 15 is significant in prayer. The most ancient source for this
> is the Targum (pseudo-)Yonatan to Devarim 32:3.
>
> The Ashkenazim counted the words long before the Chasidei Ashkenaz of the 13th
> century. In fact, if you look carefully, every kedusha, I emphasise, EVERY
> KEDUSHA, has 15 words before the first "Kadosh" fulfilling the requirement of
> this most ancient Targum!
I cannot get the count right for the introduction to the mussaph kedushah,
Na'aritzecha, which seems to have 16, NOT 15, words (when words joined by a
makaph are treated as single words). Perhaps Rabbi Wise could explain where
I am going wrong.
> No other nusach - not 'Sefard', not Sefardic, not Yemenite (Shami or Baladi) -
> fulfills this requirement. So those people who belittle or have abandoned
> Nusach Ashkenaz should think again and repent (See Igrot Moshe, Orach Chayyim
> 3:5).
>
> As stated, The Ashkenazi sages counted the words and even the letters of the
> prayers and in this way the most ancient traditions were preserved unlike
> other prayer rites.
I noticed a further occurrence of 15 today when I counted the number of
words said by the tzibbur in kaddish shaleim and kaddish derabbanan:
Amein, 6 times - after 'shmeih rabba' at the beginning, and after 've'imru'
at the end of each paragraph,
Yehei shmeih rabba mevarakh l'alam ul'almei almaya (7 words),
Berikh hu (2 words).
The Sephardim have one extra amein after 'vekariv meshicheih' in the first
paragraph but replace 'berikh hu' with amein so they maintain the same
total.
Martin Stern
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From: Yisrael Medad <yisrael.medad@...>
Date: Sat, Sep 13,2014 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Is there an obligation to serve in the Army?
Elazar M. Teitz (MJ 62#33) points out, correctly, that a verse I quoted (MJ
62#32) indicates the "opposite" of what I seek "to derive from it", in that
"because the tribe of Levi has no portion (in the land), it is the obligation of
the rest of the nation to support them, by giving them a tithe of all crops".
However
a) if he thinks that in addition to allowing non-enlistment, the majority
secular population of Israel, fed up with avoidance of military service, will be
convinced to accept a Biblical precept to support them, in addition to a great
number of the religious community, then I suggest his implication will achieve
the opposite.
b) my point was that the tithe is not longer extant as is the existence of any
tribal portions and so, to attempt to apply that paradigm to modern-day life
simply on the basis of tradition and in contradistinction to the needs of the
state of Israel (beyond my argument that even if Levites are released from
waging war, are they released from learning the arts of war?) is unrealistic and
more, unsubstantiated by the Biblical verse references.
c) if one argues so, will we next hear of a campaign, based on Baba Batra 8A, to
release Torah scholars from certain taxes?
d) I am not arguing that all Torah students must be recruited to serve and that
all dispensions banished. I am suggesting that the framework being employed
(Levitical release; Torah scholar categorization; etc.) cannot be the only ones
and that the responsibility to "save a Jew" is so overriding that to hide behind
such frameworks is unworthy.
In my opinion, everyone should feel obligated to serve.
--
Yisrael Medad
Shiloh
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Sat, Sep 13,2014 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Latecomers
Chaim Casper wrote (MJ 62#33):
> In MJ 62#32, Martin Stern raised the issue of what should latecomers daven
> when they finally get to shul.
>
> There is an order in Shulhan Arukh Orah Hayyim as to what one should say in
> order to "catch up" with the others as s/he could always say after the
> communal davening those items that were left out in the attempt to catch up.
>
> A friend once quoted the Mishneh Brurah (I never saw the original quote) who
> said that if a latecomer felt skipping certain things in order to catch up
> would take away from one's davening, then one should say the entire davening
> in sequential order even though one would not be davening with the community.
I had written (MJ 62#32):
> While his final conclusion is to recommend latecomers to skip as much of PDZ
> as needed to give a good chance to start the silent Amida with the tzibur, a
> point he does not consider is whether to take into account the inconvenience
> caused by latecomers davening at their own pace and thereby preventing someone
> in front of them from sitting down because of their davening their silent
> amidah. This would not be a problem for someone obviously aged or infirm but
> might prove embarrassing for someone temporarily in need.
I concede that someone might have his kavannah enhanced if he does not skip
anything and davens everything in the set order. The point I was trying to
raise, however, was whether a latecomer should be more concerned with his own
private davenning or should take into account the problems he might cause others.
> True, the world is not filled with Yekkes (German Jews, a synonym for people
> being on time). As a result, the halakhik process accomodates those who have
> yet to internalize, z'rizim makdimim l'mizvot (those who are meticulous in
> doing the mizvot come early).
Unfortunately necessary :(
Martin Stern
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Frank Silbermann <frank_silbermann@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 16,2014 at 11:01 AM
Subject: Loud Music
A week or so ago I complained (MJ 62#30) about simcha music being really bad. I
must mention that I attended a wedding in Memphis this past Sunday (bride was a
local girl who went to Stern; groom had been a yeshivah bochur in Maryland), and
was amazed at how _good_ the musicians were. The styles they played included
classical / chamber, folk, traditional Jewish melodies, rock (didn't like that
part but that's just me), and 1950's style Appalachian blue-grass (with banjo!).
(Yeah, it was too loud at times, but since losing some hearing due to a gunshot
fifteen years ago I always carry earplugs -- which come in handy from time to time.)
Frank Silbermann Memphis, Tennessee
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 9,2014 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Reciting L'David Hashem Ori
David Ziants wrote (MJ 62#32):
> Actually, I realized that I would have missed it if they could have said it
> before pesukei d'zimra, as is printed in some of the old Germanic siddurim
> (and am sure Martin is aware),
AFAIK, the shir hayichud, shir hakavod and shir shel yom are printed before
pesukei d'zimra only in machzorim - I have not seen them printed there in
any siddurim from Germany.
Martin Stern
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From: Chaim Casper <surfflorist@...>
Date: Sun, Sep 14,2014 at 03:01 PM
Subject: Unmarried minor wearing tallis over his head
In MJ 62#33, I mentioned that a rebbe of mine had mentioned that according to
most poskim (halakhic deciders) with the exception of the Rav, Rabbi Joseph Dov
Halevi Soloveitchik, zz"l, an unmarried minor should not put a tallit over his
head. I expressed that I had never seen the ruling in writing.
Reuven Miller off line pointed the source to me: The Mishneh Brurah 8:5
(commenting on Orah Hayim 8:2) at the very end of the s'eef katan (gloss) quotes
the Magen Avraham who says:
"The Gemara implies that a bakhur (unmarried man) does not cover his head with a
tallit even if he is a talmid hakham (scholar)."
Thanks, Reuven, for the source!
B'virkhat Torah,
Rabbi Chaim Casper
17350 NE 12th Court
North Miami Beach, FL
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: David Ziants <dziants@...>
Date: Sun, Sep 14,2014 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Unmarried minor wearing tallis over his head
Martin Stern wrote (MJ 62#33):
> The German Jewish minhag was that ONLY the Rav of the kehillah covered his
> head with a tallit, all other men wearing a hat except on the Yamim Noraim
> when everyone wore a white cappel.
> ....
Because I grew up in the UK, the term "cappel" was very familiar to me. Since it
was not an English word like "cap" - I just assumed it was Yiddish - maybe
meaning "a small cap".
Very much later in life, I found out that this is not Yiddish and "yamulka" is
the Yiddish term. People outside the UK actually had hardly heard of a "cappel".
In any case, I prefer the Hebrew word "kippa".
So where does the term "cappel" come from and from what language did it originate?
Quite a few years ago, when my son was younger, I was looking for a big kippa
that wouldn't fall off - so a seller in a Machaneh Yehuda (the main Jerusalem
market) stall offered him a "kobbel" - which in Hebrew means a container. Could
this be the etymology?
David Ziants
Maaleh Adumim, Israel
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End of Volume 62 Issue 34
