Volume 66 Number 66
Produced: Mon, 11 Dec 23 15:33:56 -0500
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Birchat Kohanim
[David Tzohar]
Kiddush in Shule on Friday night - bracha l'vatalla?
[Joel Rich]
Saying Tehillim verse by verse (4)
[David Olivestone Haim Snyder Martin Stern Martin Stern]
Tzedakah collectors
[Joel Rich]
Writers of codes
[Joel Rich]
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From: David Tzohar <davidtzohar@...>
Date: Mon, Dec 4,2023 at 07:17 AM
Subject: Birchat Kohanim
Joel Rich (MJ 66#63) quoted a passage from the commentary "Alei Tamar" on the
Yerushalmi about the custom of dayly "duchening" in eretz yisrael. R' Yissachar
Tamar ZTZL writes from the midst of the most terrible galut (Alei Tamar was
published in Breslau Germany in 1925 where R'Yissachar was the Rav). He said
that since the priestly blessing must be given with complete joy, it has no
place in the galut. Only on the holidays when there is the mitzvah of
"vesamachta bechagecha" would the kohanim bless the people.
At about the same time Rav Kook ZTZL was chief rabbi of Mandatory Eretz Yisrael
and he often mentioned the great zechut he felt that as a kohen he could do
birkat kohanim every day with total joy and gladness.
Since they were contemporaries I wonder if there was any contact between R'
Yissachar and Harav Kook or his son R'Tzvi Yehudah ZTZL. Did R' Yissachar make
aliya after the war? I know that he survived the holocaust. BTW does anyone know
why there are some communities in the Haifa area whose custom is not to do
birkat kohanim every day. (Yekkes?)
Hashem 'Oz le'ammo yiten Hashem yivarech et ammo beshalom
David Tzohar-Yerushalayim
http://tzoharlateivahebrew.blogspot.com/
http://tzoharlateiva.blogspot.com/
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From: Joel Rich <joelirarich@...>
Date: Sun, Dec 3,2023 at 12:17 PM
Subject: Kiddush in Shule on Friday night - bracha l'vatalla?
Further to the correspondence (MJ 66#65):
Other reasons given are that once a minhag has been established it has the force
of a communal neder and/or there's an element of pirsumei nisa.
Bsorot tovot
Joel Rich
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From: David Olivestone <davidolivestone@...>
Date: Sun, Dec 3,2023 at 08:17 AM
Subject: Saying Tehillim verse by verse
Yisrael Medad wrote (MJ 66#65):
> I have been reciting, when the occasion calls for it, Tehilim verse by verse
> rather than alternate verses for over 60 years. Did David have this minhag
> more than 60 years ago?
The answer is yes. And several other (how should I say it?) older people to whom
I have spoken also remember saying the verses of Tehillim alternately with the
chazan. Personally, I think the alternate verse practice encourages more
kavannah (paying attention), as you have to stay more alert and follow along
more closely. Also, saying the next verse after the chazan says his, instead of
just repeating it, gives you a participatory role in what is happening.
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From: Haim Snyder <haimsny@...>
Date: Mon, Dec 4,2023 at 02:17 PM
Subject: Saying Tehillim verse by verse
I can understand why this subject is being discussed now, but I would like to
remind everyone that the same minhagim are involved when we read Shirat Hayam on
Shabbat Parshat B'shalach and on the seventh day of Pesach.
My shul does not have a standard nusach, so every baal tefila uses his own.
Therefore, I have heard Shirat Hayam read responsively and verse by verse,
depending on the ba'al p'sukei dizimra.
Sincerely,
Haim Shalom Snyder
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Sun, Dec 10,2023 at 05:17 AM
Subject: Saying Tehillim verse by verse
In response to Yisrael Medad (MJ 66#65):
I am now 81 and, like David Olivestone (MJ 66#64), I also remember reciting
Tehilim verse by verse antiphonally over 60 years ago.
Martin Stern
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Sun, Dec 10,2023 at 05:17 AM
Subject: Saying Tehillim verse by verse
David Ziants wrote (MJ 66#65):
> ...
> The (Orthodox) United Synagogue (US) in England for many issues, although
> supposed to follow minhag Hamburg, had adopted the custom of the Sephardim who
> were in England well before Ashkenazim started coming in large numbers.
> ...
> Most likely, the US also took the method of reciting tehillim from the
> Sephardim (unless someone can show that this was minhag Hamburg).
> ...
It is possible that the Ashkenazim of Hamburg had also adopted the custom of the
Sephardim who, like in England, had been admitted earlier.
Martin Stern
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From: Joel Rich <joelirarich@...>
Date: Tue, Dec 5,2023 at 11:17 PM
Subject: Tzedakah collectors
What is the best practice if you've started the amida and a tzedakah collector
comes in front of you to collect?
Bsorot tovot
Joel Rich
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From: Joel Rich <joelirarich@...>
Date: Tue, Dec 5,2023 at 11:17 PM
Subject: Writers of codes
Any insights into why writers of halachic codes sometimes decide to just state
general rules, sometimes give one example and other times give copious examples
(see Rambam Mamrim 4:2)?
Bsorot tovot
Joel Rich
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End of Volume 66 Issue 66