Volume 65 Number 05
Produced: Sun, 10 Oct 21 10:04:40 -0400
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
A question of fair consumer practice
[David Ziants]
Banging on the bimah (4)
[David Ziants Michael Poppers Stuart Pilichowski Michael Rogovin]
Can I make Kiddush or Havdalah on a cup of coffee or tea?
[Michael Poppers]
Dangerous Sukkos & Simchas Torah Frivolity (2)
[Martin Stern Immanuel Burton]
Hebrew Pronunciation (2)
[Orrin Tilevitz David Tzohar]
Pfizer scientists: Natural immunity better than our vaccine
[Prof. Yitzchok Levine]
The Difference Between Davening and Learning
[Prof. Yitzchok Levine]
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From: David Ziants <dziants@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 7,2021 at 07:17 PM
Subject: A question of fair consumer practice
I am in the middle of learning daf yomi - beitza 38b - the sugya where
the gemara is trying to determine the ramifications of the following
scenario:-
Where there are two foods (same type or different types) belonging to different
owners (possibly borrowed food) that are cooked/mixed together, then there is a
question of whether one food is annulled against the other food in determining
the owner of the food. This is necessary because, if before shabbat one of the
'owners' made an eruv techumin in one direction and the other 'owner' made an
eruv techumin in the other direction - and because there is is a general rule
that techum shabbat (and yom tov) is always relevant for objects and is
determined by the eruv of the owner of the object - so we need to know which
owner's eruv is effective for this mixed food? (Is one food annulled against the
other so that the annulled food doesn't count at all and its eruv is not
relevant, or is none of the food annulled so is the eruv for the food according
to the area common to each owner's eruv).
The gemara makes a comparison between someone who wants to weigh grain to
purchase and he selects the grain from the mixed-in stones before he weighs it.
If I understand this correctly, the purchaser would be obligated to also pay for
the weight of the stones he did not take because this is considered part of the
purchase.
Please excuse my very amateur way of presenting the sugya above, without going
into too much detail - I hope that I summarised it correctly.
Although we do not (usually) determine halacha straight from the gemara, I am
now concerned about what the halacha says when I buy tomatoes in the supermarket
(in Israel this is almost always self service) and remove the storks before
putting in bag to reduce weight (although this is probably pretty negligible).
Am I allowed to do this, or do I just choose loose tomatoes with minimal storks?
What about grapes, if buying loose, where the storks are less negligible in
weight? Do I indeed understand the issue correctly?
David Ziants
<dziants@...>
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From: David Ziants <dziants@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 03:17 PM
Subject: Banging on the bimah
Martin Stern wrote (MJ 65#04):
> Making announcements like 'ya'aleh veyavo' or 'al hanissim' between kaddish
> and the ma'ariv shemoneh esrei is a long established custom mentioned already
> by the Maharil. A new custom seems to have arisen to bang on the bimah before
> the shemoneh esrei of shacharit and minchah as well.
> ...
> This morning, first day of Rosh Choesh Marcheshvan, it struck me that it would
> actually be a good idea to call out 'vekapparat pasha' before musaf since this
> addition is relatively infrequent and might easily be omitted, but I have
> never heard it done.
Today, at musaph where I was, I impulsively said these words out aloud during my
own silent amida to remind others - as no one else seemed to relate to this
(similarly I did when we started meshiv haru'ach on sh'mini atzeret and a few
times after - if there was no other reminder). I am now asking myself if I did
the correct thing concerning saying 'vekapparat pasha' out aloud.
David Ziants
<dziants@...>
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From: Michael Poppers <the65pops@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 09:17 PM
Subject: Banging on the bimah
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 65#04):
That there is sanction for such public-address interruptions is only when
forgetting the Amidah addition in question would result in having to repeat
*b'rachos* (i.e. one or more of the Amidah blessings) / saying the Divine
name.
All the best from
Michael Poppers
Elizabeth, NJ, USA
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From: Stuart Pilichowski <stupillow@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 7,2021 at 01:17 AM
Subject: Banging on the bimah
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 65#04):
I believe "calling out" is not a forbidden interruption if it's for a specific,
positive purpose - informing the congregation of an addition in the tefillah
they may not be aware of or may have forgotten.
It's my practice to always "call out."
Stuart P
Mevaseret Zion
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From: Michael Rogovin <michael@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 7,2021 at 10:17 AM
Subject: Banging on the bimah
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 65#04):
I agree that it would actually be a good idea to call out 'vekapparat pasha'
before musaf since this addition is relatively infrequent and might easily be
omitted, Not everyone knows that it is a leap year (I didn't look it up,
but assumed it must be given how early Rosh Hashana fell in September).
Michael Rogovin
<michael@...> | 201.820.5504 | www.linkedin.com/in/michaelrogovin
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From: Michael Poppers <the65pops@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 09:17 PM
Subject: Can I make Kiddush or Havdalah on a cup of coffee or tea?
Prof. Yitzchok Levine (MJ 65#04) noted a variety of no-wine-available opinions and
asked for comments. I just want to add the opinion of Rav Pinchas Teitz z'l'
that soda (which is obviously not alcoholic) would, like coffee or tea, be
acceptable.
All the best from
Michael Poppers
Elizabeth, NJ, USA
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 05:17 PM
Subject: Dangerous Sukkos & Simchas Torah Frivolity
Professor Yitzchok Levine wrote (MJ 65#04):
> While going through the recent Sukkos issue of Toras Avigdor
> ...
> I was happy to see the forthright words of Rav Miller "warning against
> frivolity and "fun", hefkeirus and wildness, masquerading as praiseworthy
> Torah, during the great time of Simchas Torah. Take a look at his words in the
> beginning of the booklet,... where he mentions a shtiebel where they threw wet
> towels at each other on that day, a Kohen who demonstratively broke ranks to
> drink schnapps at the time of duchanning instead of blessing his people, and
> other nonsense
> ...
> I ask you, "Do you think that this behaviour is in conformance with Torah true
> Judaism?" How can these people think that this is what is meant by simcha on
> Succos? I cannot fathom how they can think that this is what Torah Judaism
> wants them to do.
I am in total agreement with Professor Levine, and Rav Avigdor Miller, about the
way Simchas Torah has been distorted in the last or so seventy years from being
an expression of joy at the completion of the Torah cycle into what can be
described as an excuse for wild and drunken excess. Unless it is curbed, it
could eventually lead to serious injury such as the trampling of small children
Rachmana litzlan.
Martin Stern
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 7,2021 at 05:17 PM
Subject: Dangerous Sukkos & Simchas Torah Frivolity
Professor Yitzchok Levine (MJ 65#03) asked regarding frivolity and "fun",
hefkeirus and wildness, masquerading as praiseworthy Torah, during the great
time of Simchas Torah:
> I ask you, "Do you think that this behaviour is in conformance with Torah true
> Judaism?" How can these people think that this is what is meant by simcha on
> Succos? I cannot fathom how they can think that this is what Torah Judaism
> wants them to do.
I remember hearing from Rabbi Shlomo Noach Mandel in Toronto the following
advice when assessing one's actions and behaviour:
"When doing a mitzvah, make sure that it is indeed a mitvah, and not your yetzer
hara telling you it's a mitzvah."
Immanuel Burton.
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From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 08:17 PM
Subject: Hebrew Pronunciation
Continuing the recent thread, in modern Sefaradi Hebrew, a tseire is pronounced
as a segol; there is no distinction between the two. To my recollection, this
lack of distinction is a relatively recent development. (I'm sure someone will
correct me if I'm wrong.)
Questions:
(1) May one leyn in this pronunciation (they did in the shul I was in in
Israel)? If so,
(2) What does a baal keriah do with the (questionable) minhag of reading
"zeicher" and "zecher" in Parshat Zachor, and
(3) At what point does this lack of distinction go too far--for example, what if
Sefaradi Hebrew evolved so that all vowels were pronounced identically?
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From: David Tzohar <davidtzohar@...>
Date: Thu, Oct 7,2021 at 06:17 AM
Subject: Hebrew Pronunciation
I disagree with Mechy Frankel (MJ 65#04) that it is "ridiculous' to try to
determine which of the current versions of Hebrew pronunciation is correct. I
assume that by correct we are talking about pronunciation that is closest to
Hebrew as it was pronounced in the Biblical period.
When I was studying ancient Semitic languages at the Hebrew University this was
a question that was seriously dealt with. The conclusion was that most research
points to the Yemenite pronunciation, with that of the Kurdish Jews (whose
vernacular is a dialect of Aramaic) a close second. The Ashkenazi pronunciation
with its non-gutteral ayin and chet and sibilant tav (HaYom HaRaS Olam) is
probably the least "correct".
Admittedly there is much we do not know. We do know from the Tanach that there
were differences in pronunciations among the different tribes, most famously the
question of how to pronounce the shin of SHiBOLeT, part of the civil war between
Efraim and Menashe.
Halevai if we could only resurrect an ancient Israelite we would know exactly
how they spoke.
R' David Yitzchak Tzohar
Machon Meir
Jerusalem
http://tzoharlateivahebrew.blogspot.com/
http://tzoharlateiva.blogspot.com/
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From: Prof. Yitzchok Levine <larry62341@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 02:17 PM
Subject: Pfizer scientists: Natural immunity better than our vaccine
In an article published on-line, "Alternate treatments pushed aside over money",
it states:
> A number of scientists from the Pfizer corporation involved in developing the
> COVID vaccine claimed natural immunity is likely superior to the immunity
> obtained through vaccination, and chided their employer for pushing aside
> treatments for COVID, a group of conservative investigative journalists
> revealed Tuesday.
See https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/314561 for more details.
Please keep in mind that I am not a medical doctor. However, I object to the
terminology "natural immunity". As far as I know, no one is born with immunity
to Covid. The immunity they are talking should be called "acquired immunity",
since one acquires it after getting Covid.
Let me add that two of my grandsons, one 20 and one 16, recently got the virus
a second time! So, I am a bit skeptical about the assertion that acquired
immunity is likely superior. Neither of them was vaccinated.
YL
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From: Prof. Yitzchok Levine <larry62341@...>
Date: Wed, Oct 6,2021 at 01:17 PM
Subject: The Difference Between Davening and Learning
The following is from page 38 of Rabbi Berel Wein's book Patterns in Jewish History.
"A great sage once remarked that when we pray, we speak to G-d. When we study
Torah, G-d, as it were, speaks to us."
I believe that we would all benefit if we kept this adage in mind at all times.
YL
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End of Volume 65 Issue 5
