Volume 62 Number 61
Produced: Thu, 04 Feb 16 20:19:23 -0500
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Calling up for Aliyah or Hagba'ah
[Martin Stern]
Duchening (blessing from cohanim) in Israel (2)
[Martin Stern Daniel Wells]
Lo tirtsach
[Martin Stern]
Multiple Shiva Locations
[Joel Rich]
Palmyra problem
[Martin Stern]
Professional cantors
[Martin Stern]
Rambam's Nusah tephila
[Shlomo Di Veroli]
Saying an extra kaddish unnecessarily
[Martin Stern]
The 13 attributes of mercy
[Martin Stern]
There are times when it is difficult to be a Jew (4)
[Elanit Z Rothschild Jakabovics Russell Hendel Joseph Kaplan Martin Stern]
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Fri, Jan 8,2016 at 05:01 AM
Subject: Calling up for Aliyah or Hagba'ah
Joel Rich wrote (MJ 62#60):
> In doing some research I found that there are variant practices as to using
> actual names for calling up to the Torah and for hagba'ah/gelilah.
A serious problem will arise when a transgender individual is offered an
aliyah. Should s/he be called according to his/her birth name or the one
adopted post-operatively? or, perhaps, not be considered as eligible for an
aliyah at all.
Martin Stern
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Fri, Jan 8,2016 at 05:01 AM
Subject: Duchening (blessing from cohanim) in Israel
Apropos what David Olivestone (MJ 62#60) and Joel Rich (MJ 62#59) wrote
about duchening in Israeli shuls, I wonder why it is always recited so fast
that it is impossible to say the "Ribono shel olam" (cf. Ber. 55b)
concerning disturbing dreams. While this might be understandable on weekdays
when people are in a hurry to get to work, surely it should be possible for
the cohanim to use an extended chant for the last words of each of the three
verses, at least for Mussaf, to allow for its recital as is the practice
outside Israel on the Yamim Tovim.
Martin Stern
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From: Daniel Wells <biuashur@...>
Date: Sun, Jan 10,2016 at 09:01 AM
Subject: Duchening (blessing from cohanim) in Israel
David Olivestone wrote (MJ 62#60):
> Joel Rich asks (MJ 62#59) about duchening in Israeli shuls when the chazan is
> davening from the amud at the front.
>
> This issue was recently discussed in my shul ("Yael" in the Bak'a neighborhood
> of Jerusalem), and it was suggested that anyone who felt he was being excluded
> from the birkat cohanim by davening at the front could choose instead to lead
> the davening from the bimah in the middle. So far, no one has chosen this option
The chazzan, like anyone else who is prevented from moving in front of the
cohanim, is included in the birkat cohanim - OH 128:24.
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Thu, Jan 28,2016 at 03:01 AM
Subject: Lo tirtsach
I just read a marvellous piece by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher in the Torah
Tidbits (Yitro) in which he explains the need for the Bnei Yisrael to 'see'
the Asseret Hadibrot.
He writes "the prohibition 'Lo tirtsach', if only heard, could be misinterpreted
as meaning 'For His sake, you shall murder'", should the word 'Lo' be
understood as spelled 'lamed vav' rather than 'lamed aleph', both pronounced the
same. He points out that this mistake may underlie the fact that Arab terrorists
call out 'Allahu akbar [G-d is great]' before making their attacks and their
political leaders consider them 'holy martyrs'.
Martin Stern
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From: Joel Rich <JRich@...>
Date: Sun, Jan 17,2016 at 02:01 PM
Subject: Multiple Shiva Locations
The practice of sitting shiva in different places has become more common in my
community over time (e.g. sit at niftar's (deceased's) home in Boston then come
back to New Jersey to sit so friends don't have to shlep). It would be an
interesting study to see what amcha (most people) and Rabbis have said/done (much
like the 2nd day yom tov thing) for this change to have occurred, or does someone
know that this has been done historically and there are sources?
KT
Joel Rich
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Thu, Jan 28,2016 at 05:01 AM
Subject: Palmyra problem
In Daf Yomi we recently came across (Git. 38a) a reference to Tarmud, which
seems to have been a centre for heathen kidnappers. Usually this place is
identified as the important oasis town of Palmyra, which was in the news
recently because of the activities there of ISIS. However its usual Aramaic
name is Tadmor, and it seems as if Chazal deliberately distorted it for some
reason by transposing the dalet and reish, which they do throughout Shas. Does
anyone have any idea why they should have done so?
Martin Stern
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Fri, Jan 8,2016 at 05:01 AM
Subject: Professional cantors
Clearly the dispute between David Tzohar (MJ 62#60) and Hayim Snyder (MJ
62#59) regarding professional chazzanim reflects no more than different
personal tastes. Both are equally valid so long as those with one do not
force theirs on the other. In this case, let diversity reign!
Martin Stern
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From: Shlomo Di Veroli <shlomodiveroli@...>
Date: Thu, Jan 7,2016 at 11:01 PM
Subject: Rambam's Nusah tephila
I hope someone can assist me with a question that has been on my mind for some
time:
Is the nusah tephilah of the Rambam Egyptian, Eretz Yisrael or pre-qabalistic
Spain in origin?
Any sources you can point me in would be helpful.
Shlomo Di Veroli
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Mon, Feb 1,2016 at 03:01 PM
Subject: Saying an extra kaddish unnecessarily
There was a brit milah in shul this morning and Aleinu was repeated afterwards,
after which Kaddish was said.
A similar situation occurs with Kiddush Levanah on Motsa'ei Shabbat.
It occurred to me that this 'marbeh bekaddishim [saying an extra kaddish
unnecessarily]' could have been avoided if these were done before the Aleinu in
davenning.
Has anyone any idea why we do not do so?
Martin Stern
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Wed, Jan 13,2016 at 06:01 AM
Subject: The 13 attributes of mercy
An idea occurred to me recently regarding Chazal's comment (Rosh Hashanah
17b) that the first two of the 13 attributes of mercy "Hashem, Hashem ..."
(Ex. 34,6) should be understood as "I am (1) the All-merciful before a
person sins and also (2) the All-merciful after he sins and repents ...".
In the first verse of the Shema, "Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu Hashem
echad", the name Elokeinu, traditionally understood as referring to G-d's
acting as the ultimate Judge (the word elohim is also used to refer to human
judges), separates the two uses of the word "Hashem".
Is it possible that this might possibly be an implicit allusion to the same
idea since G-d would only have to take on His judicial role if there were
something (a sin) to judge?
I was led to this line of thought when I noticed that the gematria
[numerical value] of the final word "echad" is 13 (alef = 1, chet = 8 and
dalet = 4), which seemed to be almost too much of a coincidence. Another possible
point is that there is a psik between the second "Hashem" and "echad" indicating
a short pause, overriding the merecha that would otherwise connect them. This is
similar to the psik between the two occurrences of "Hashem" in the declaration of
the 13 attributes of mercy. Also it 'isolates' the three Divine names between it
and the major pause, etnachta on Yisrael, from the rest of the verse.
Has anyone seen this idea previously or have any further ideas on it?
Martin Stern
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From: Elanit Z Rothschild Jakabovics <ezrothschild@...>
Date: Thu, Jan 7,2016 at 11:01 PM
Subject: There are times when it is difficult to be a Jew
Chaim Casper wrote (MJ 62#60):
> ... But I ask you: can you think of any cases where a person cannot do what
> he/she wants and there is no heter (permissive ruling) to allow this ("this",
> of course, being within the Orthodox sphere of observance)? I could only think
> of the following:
>
> (a) A cohen cannot marry a divorce or a convert; ...
I've heard of plenty of kohanim who have each gone to great lengths to get his
fiancee's previous marriage annulled so that he could marry her. To quote an
article I recently read on a well known Torah blog, there's a "cottage industry"
surrounding it. Sadly, IMHO.
Elanit Jakabovics
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From: Russell Hendel <RHendel@...>
Date: Fri, Jan 8,2016 at 07:01 AM
Subject: There are times when it is difficult to be a Jew
Here is a simple response to Chaim Casper (MJ 62#60) who cites a Facebook
posting asking why Halacha has various antidotes for difficult situations -
Pruzbol for loans, Hatarat Nedarim for Vows, Heter Iska for business
relationships etc - but does not seem to have an antidote for Agunahs, women
who wish a divorce but are stuck in a marital situation.
The response is that a variety of pre-nuptial agreements have arisen in
recent years protecting the woman. Here is a good summary:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_prenuptial_agreement
Some Rabbinic organizations will not allow a person to maintain membership
unless they agree to give pre-nuptial agreements to all people whom they marry.
Russell Jay Hendel; Ph.D., A.S.A
<RHendel@...>; www.Rashiyomi.com/
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From: Joseph Kaplan <penkap@...>
Date: Fri, Jan 8,2016 at 08:01 AM
Subject: There are times when it is difficult to be a Jew
In Chaim Casper's thoughtful post (MJ 62#60) on agunah, he gives two examples of
situations where men also have no halachic "loophole" in important life
situations -- a kohen not marrying a divorcee and a kohen not attending a
funeral of a close relative and friend.
But are these situations really comparable to agunah? Do the male situations
really have the same life-long impact as the agunah situation has? Even in the
divorcee case, both can eventually marry others, have families etc. There may be
a certain heartbreak, but not all heartbreaks are equal. And second, compare
what happens if the man ignores the Halacha in both situations? Neither male
situation results in an extreme penalty like mamzer which has a life-long,
indeed generation-long, impact on an innocent third party.
While I appreciate what Chaim is trying to do, I don't think it's a truly
satisfactory response to what I believe is a serious point made in the Facebook
post he referred to that, again in my opinion, has not yet been adequately
addressed by the Orthodox community and its rabbinic leadership.
Joseph Kaplan
Sent from my iPhone
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Tue, Jan 12,2016 at 03:01 AM
Subject: There are times when it is difficult to be a Jew
Chaim Casper wrote (MJ 62#60):
> If you subscribe to Facebook, you might have seen the following post. Its
> source (at least on Facebook) is an organization called Unchain My Heart
> (https://www.facebook.com/Unchain-My-Heart-1407786212860241/timeline) that
> works to help obtain gittin (Jewish divorces) for women whose husbands won't
> give those writs of divorce, preventing these wives from remarrying.
> ...
> ---
> Thankfully there are loopholes available to solve pressing issues in halacha.
> ---
> ...
> I, for one, sympathize and support their mission. But I ask you: can you
> think of any cases where a person cannot do what he/she wants and there is no
> heter (permissive ruling) to allow this ("this", of course, being within the
> Orthodox sphere of observance)? I could only think of the following:
>
> (a) A cohen cannot marry a divorce or a convert; ...
This is not such a great disability as some would suggest. He could always
keep one as a concubine which, though generally disapproved, does have some
support among the Rishonim. For a full discussion I refer readers to the
late Rav Getsel Ellinson's work "Nissuin shelo kedat Mosheh veYisrael"
(Devir, '75).
In any case, in general society, unmarried couples live together without
societal disapproval. Not that I would advocate such behaviour but one has to be
aware of the realities of the times we live in.
Martin Stern
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End of Volume 62 Issue 61
