Volume 8 Number 20
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Aliyot on Shabbat
[Orin d Golubtchik]
B'rochos - Al or L'
[Jonathan Chody]
Birkat Cohanim (3)
[Lon Eisenberg, Nicolas Rebibo, Danny Skaist]
Burning the Frankfurt Shul
[Bob Werman]
Levi Doing Haftorah (2)
[Shaul Wallach, Henry Edinger]
Shuls Burning
[Anthony Fiorino]
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From: Orin d Golubtchik <ogolubtc@...>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 16:34:13 EDT
Subject: Aliyot on Shabbat
While sitting at lunch over Shabbat, we got into a discussion of
different shuls and minhagim (customs) of hosafot (additions) in the
Torah reading. The question then arose as to whether there is, and if
so what is the makor (source) for reading 7 aliyot on Shabbat. I would
appreciate any insights - so far I have heard 7 days of creation, and an
interesting answer attributed to the Beer Hetev stating that if a man
missed shul for the previous 7 days (including shabbat morning ?) he
will be able to "recover" the seven barchus that he missed with
answering the seven aliyot.
Thank you, Orin
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From: Jonathan Chody <jonathan@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 93 14:53:24 +0100
Subject: B'rochos - Al or L'
In a recent posting the question was raised as to why we sometimes say
Al eg Al biur chametz and sometimes L' eg L'haniach tefillin.
This subject is discussed by the Ran and Rosh in Pesochim Daf Zayin
The Ran's view is that if the mitzvah can be performed for you by
someone else the b'racho is Al whereas the b'racho for mitzvos that
cannot be done for you is L'.
The view of the Rosh is that if the mitzvah prevails over a period of
time the b'racho is L' but where the mitzvah is finished almost
immediately the b'racho is Al.
Both the Ran and Rosh discuss the reasons for many of the exceptions.
In that discussion the Rosh refers to the 2 B'rachos of tefillin. He
says that the Chachamin did not want to have 2 identical b'rachos for 2
mitzvos that follow each other. The b'racha on the shel yad is correctly
L' , but they changed the bracha for the shel rosh.
Johnny Chody <jonathan@...>
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From: <eisenbrg@...> (Lon Eisenberg)
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 02:30:53 -0400
Subject: Birkat Cohanim
Uri Meth wrote:
>I also heard the following as to why outside of Israel we do not Duchan
>today. This story is said either about the Chazon Ish or R' Nosson
>Adler who was the Rav in Frankfurt Ein Mein. The story is that one of
>these Rabbanim wanted to reinstitute Duchaning every day, however right
>after the decision was made, the shul burnt to the ground. The rav took
>this as an indication from heaven not to reinstitute Duchaning outside
>of Israel.
What happened to the good old "Lo baShamaiim Hee" (we don't decide halakha
based on "signs" from heaven)?
Also, I believe there are various non-Ashkenazim who say Birkat Cohanim
daily outside Israel (correct me if I'm wrong).
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From: nre%atlas%<cesar@...> (Nicolas Rebibo)
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 11:27:53 GMT
Subject: Birkat Cohanim
About a year ago I read an article about the Birkat Cohanim. It was said
that the Beracha was not said every day in the north of Eretz Israel.
The reason was given by the Chief Rabbi of Haifa:
The Guemara (Meguila 24b) prevented the people of Haifa and Galil from
saying the Birkat Cohanim because they could not pronounce well some
letters. Replacing the Alef by an Ayin, they ran the risk of cursing
instead of blessing (they transformed Yaer in Yair (curse) in the second
blessing: "Yaer HaShem Panav Eilecha Vichuneka").
But the Rabbi adds that nowadays this risk does not exit anymore and
that the blessing could be said everyday in the north of Israel.
Maybe the Lubavitch chassid did not agree with that decision.
Nicolas Rebibo
Oce Graphics France
Internet: <rebibo@...>
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From: DANNY%<ILNCRD@...> (Danny Skaist)
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 05:52:13 -0400
Subject: Birkat Cohanim
>Yisrael Medad
>themselves with the Tallit" (Bob Werman wrote me that the custom
>is Roman (Italian)) while the Yaavetz Siddur says not to so as to
>have a direct link (in his words: panim el panim = face to face)
>with the Shechina on the fingers of the Kohanim.
I now understand why the Rav's Shulchan Orech specifies that "not even a
mechitza of iron can come between Israel and the shechina". He specifies
that the "panim el panim" means direction only. i.e. one must face in the
direction of the kohen.
danny
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From: <RWERMAN@...> (Bob Werman)
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 09:05:00 -0400
Subject: Burning the Frankfurt Shul
In mail.jewish Vol. 8 #8 Digest, Uri Meth writes:
>I also heard the following as to why outside of Israel we do not Duchan
>today. This story is said either about the Chazon Ish or R' Nosson
>Adler who was the Rav in Frankfurt Ein Mein. The story is that one of
>these Rabbanim wanted to reinstitute Duchaning every day, however right
>after the decision was made, the shul burnt to the ground. The rav took
>this as an indication from heaven not to reinstitute Duchaning outside
>of Israel.
The moderator, our Avi, adds:
>[My vague memory is that the events occured much earlier, around the
>time of the Mechaber and Rama, that three times they tried and for some
>reason it did not occur, so they took it as a sign that they should not
>institute daily duchanan. Anyone with more definite info please let us
>know. Mod.]
Did the shul in Frankfurt burn down more than once? I know of one
burning in 1711, between the times given by Avi and by Uri, but NOT
related to duchening.
[Note. I did not say that any shul burned down. I'm not home (which is
why there are so many mail-jewish issues comming out now) so I don't
have access to my Shulchan Aruch/Tur, but I believe that either one of
the commentators to the Shulchan Aruch (Shach/Taz?) or the Beis Yosef /
Tarchie Moshe on the Tur bring down the statement, but never say why it
failed when they tried. I'll try and look it up over Shabbat if someone
does not beat me to it. Avi]
The shul was burnt down as I understand it because a certain chief rabbi
of Frankfurt who was into making a Golem [a popular pastime in that
period, it seems] burnt down the entire Jewish Quarter, including the
shul.
My ancestor, R. Shmu'el Shattin, the author of _Kos Yeshu'ot_, describes
the saving of the mss of his book by a goy during the fire, from the
shul's interior, in the introduction to his book. R. Shmu'el, who was
Klaus Rebbi in nearby Dortmund was called to Frankfurt to be acting
chief rabbi [he was interested only in research and teaching, it seems]
until a permanent one could be found. This took many years before the
first of the family of chief rabbis, Levi Ish Horowitzes was brought.
See the book, __Rabbenei Frankfurt_, Mosad Ha-Rav Kook.
__Bob Werman <rwerman@...> rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il
Jerusalem
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From: Shaul Wallach <f66204@...>
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 93 10:25:23 -0400
Subject: Levi Doing Haftorah
Art Kamlet asks about Lewi being called up second:
>Is it not allowed at all to call a Levi second, or is it still
>allowed if no one else knows how to read?
If I understand the question literally, the case in question is
where the only one in the synagogue who knows how to read is the Lewi.
According to the law of the Talmud, it would indeed seem in this case
that the Lewi would go up for all 7 `aliyot. However, the custom today
in most congregations (besides those of the Yemenites) is for the Hazan
to read. According to this custom, I don't think it would be proper for
the Lewi to go up second only.
Shalom,
Shaul Wallach
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From: Henry Edinger <edinger@...>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 1993 13:26:58 -0500 (EDT)
Subject: Levi Doing Haftorah
Although I am a new subscriber and may have missed something, I think I
can make a contribution to the discussion that took place on this
network last week concerning Levites reading the Haftarot. At the
Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue in New York City ( a synagogue that
attempts to preserve the customs of European Sephardic Jews) this is not
an issue. It is not unusual for one person to be called to the sefer for
the reading of Maftir and a second person to read the Haftarah with the
berachot (both before and after the Prophetic text). In that instance
the first person is called to the sefer by his name followed by the
phrase "b'mkom maftir" i.e. in the place of the maftir. After the Sefer
Torah is removed from the shulchan and gelilah [wrapping of the sefer]
has begun, the second person ascends and begins the berachot for the
haftarah.
In this way Levites, Kohanim and minors can recite the Haftarah. In
that synagogue, on occassion, they call Levites or Kohaniim as hosafot
[additional aliyot] later in the Torah reading. They do this by calling
the person's name and adding the phrase "af al pi sh' hoo levi" or "af
al pi s'h hoo kohain[even though he is a levite or even though he is a
kohain].
The system makes a lot of sense to me. I have never seen anything like
this in an Ashkenazi synagogue. I will also check to see if these
customs prevail in other Sephardic synagogues or if they are
idiosyncratic to the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue of N.Y.C.
Henry Edinger
<edinger@...>
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From: Anthony Fiorino <fiorino@...>
Date: Tue, 6 Jul 93 10:12:39 -0400
Subject: Shuls Burning
I have heard the "tried to reinstitute duchening but the shul burned down"
story in the name of the Gra
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End of Volume 8 Issue 20
