Volume 11 Number 28
Produced: Sun Jan 16 23:23:24 1994
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Adoption & Circumcision
[Gary Fischer]
Aleph-Bet
[Eric W. Mack]
Brookline Shul Burns Down
[Carolyn Lanzkron]
Contraception
[Daniel Epstein]
Lung Donor needed (Forwarded Article)
[Robert A. Book]
Minyan - catching up
[Seth Goldman]
Mistake re Leap Year and Shmitta Year
[Shlomo H. Pick]
Naming a son Chris
[Mike Gerver]
Prayer for Rain
[Joseph Steinberg]
Rabbi Meir
[Irwin H. Haut]
Rabbis Who Come For The Siyum
[Meshulum Laks]
The Rav's "Incivility"
[Moshe J. Bernstein]
Toras Avrohom
[Jack A. Abramoff]
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From: Gary Fischer <gfis@...>
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 94 19:32:09 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Adoption & Circumcision
Jack Reiner asks: "...is it permitted to have a religious bris for a
gentile baby boy whom wwe plan on converting and raising Jewish?"
This depends on what you mean by a "religious bris." Circumcision for
a gentile baby boy who is to be converted is _part_ of the conversion
process. It, however, is not aa "bris milah" in the sense that a Jewish
baby boy would have one. For one thing, it must be witnessed by the
beit din that is performing the conversion. (The child goes to the
mikva some time after the circumcision.)
The question was prompted by my dicussion about my feelings regarding the
circumcision of our 13 month old adopted boy. In our case, the
circumcision will be done by a mohel, according to the instructions of
the mohel and our LOR. Because of the boy's age, it needs to be done
under general anesthesia, requiring negotiations with a local hospital.
Our mohel has arranged to have a (Jewish) urologist in attendence, and
has lots of experience doing circumcisions for conversion and on Russia
immigrants of all ages.
If you mean by "a religious bris," a circumcision done in the home, shule,
or other suitable place with lots of friends and family around, this
depends, in part, on the age of the child regarding the safety of such
a procedure. If you will be adopting a newborn, this would seem
reasonable to me, and, perhaps, a good way for him to be welcomed into
the community. I suspect, too, that the ritual and liturgy are a bit
different than for the "usual" bris. The best thing to do is to consult
a rabbi with experience in these matters.
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From: <ce157@...> (Eric W. Mack)
Date: Sat, 15 Jan 94 22:47:45 -0500
Subject: Aleph-Bet
We're reading the aleph-bet to our 21-month-old daughter (it's a
fascinating book) and that got me to thinking...
Why do "caf", "mem", "nun", "peh" and "tzadi" have "sofit" (final)
forms in addition to their standard forms?
Eric Mack and/or Cheryl Birkner Mack
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From: <clkl@...> (Carolyn Lanzkron)
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 10:27:44 -0500
Subject: Brookline Shul Burns Down
I visited what used to be the Young Israel Shul yesterday. It was
devastated. State and Federal investigators were there, investigating
the cause. Mercifully, according to this morning's Boston Globe, the
fire is thought to be accidental. It was a beautiful and relatively new
(about 20 years old?) building with a very active and large
congregation. Damages are estimated at $1 million. If anyone is
interested in contributing to the rebuilding:
Young Israel Rebuilding Fund
% Bank of Boston
P.O. Box 151
Boston, MA
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From: <d.epstein@...> (Daniel Epstein)
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 10:22:39 +0000
Subject: Contraception
I am doing some research for an article on the halachot of
contraception. Could anybody give me some mekorot (sources) for this
subject?
Thanking you in advance for your help.
Daniel.
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From: <rbook@...> (Robert A. Book)
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 10:05:53 CST
Subject: Lung Donor needed (Forwarded Article)
> From: Naomi Ruth Jolkovsky <foyer@...>
>
> Please forward to all Jewish e-mail forums!
> As I type these lines, the life of a Brooklyn teenager, Kreindy
> Weber, hangs in the balance. Miss Weber, who is breathing through a
> resporator, is in need of a double lung transplant. Doctors, at the
> end of Dec., had predicted she would expire by year's end. She is
> living solely through Divine mercy and prayers.
> Out there, certainly, there is someone who knows of a potential
> candidate to save Kreindy's life. Miss Weber is in need of
> lungs--both from the same individual---from either a teenager or small
> framed adult. In the case of the latter, the donor should preferably
> not be older than 43-45 yeards old. Blood type is ``B'' or ``O''.
> While ordinarily organ donations are frowmned upon in the Jewish
> community for Halachic reasons, the leading Halachic experts of the
> day have ruled that in Kreindy's case---where it is known the organs
> will not be extracted merely for research, but to give the gift of
> life---``there is no greater mitzvah!''
> The family has requested that prayers be recited for miss Weber.
> Her full name is Bas Tzion Kreindel Miriam bas Tzortel.
> Those who know of a potential donor , please call
> 1-800-728--36666. The line is open 24 hours a day, including Shabbos!
> Or call me at the ``Forward'', 212-889-8200. [Binyomin Jolkovsky]
> PLEASE, SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, THERE IS A POTENTIAL DONOR! AS SUCH,
> WE MUST ACT NOW!
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From: <seth@...> (Seth Goldman)
Date: Wed, 12 Jan 94 14:39:25 -0800
Subject: Minyan - catching up
This issue arose for a group of my friends. I'm working with the
rabbis at my shul (modern orthodox) to develop both a learning
worksheet (find the following prayers in your favorite siddur) and
guide as to the priorities when one is late to shul. I'll be happy to
send you a copy when it's finished (should be a week or so depending
upon the rabbis' availability). To answer your question, the major
priority is to begin the silent amidah with the tzibur (congregation).
In order to do this one must figure out how much time there is before
they get there and what you can personally do in that amount of time.
There is a long list of descending priorities if there isn't enough
time to completely catch up. If you arrive during the silent amidah,
you can start catching up and then start your silent amidah with the
chazan when he starts the repetition. If you choose this option, then
you daven word for word with the chazan including Kedushah.
Hope this helps,
Seth Goldman
<seth@...>
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From: Shlomo H. Pick <F12013@...>
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 94 01:59:58 -0500
Subject: Mistake re Leap Year and Shmitta Year
shalom ve-shavu tov
i have to admit to a mistake on my part: according to our calendar
a leap year can fall during a shmitta year.
my mistake was based upon the Talmud and the Rambam in hil kiddush
hachodesh that when BEIT DIN sanctified the year and intercalated
the year into a leap year, the usual guideline was not to do that
during a shmitta year. Source: hil. kiddush hachodesh 4:15-16
MAIMONIDES's source is bavli sanhedrin 12a
mistakenly, i carried that over to the set calendar and i thank all
those who sent in the correction.
shlomo
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From: <GERVER@...> (Mike Gerver)
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 1994 3:07:34 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Naming a son Chris
>From David Gerstman in v10n92:
> ...Mike Wallace (who's so assimilated he named his son "Chris".)
While naming one's son Chris is a very assimilated thing to do in America,
it's not so everywhere. I have a friend Christof Litwin, born in Poland,
who is not from an Orthodox background, but is certainly very Jewish in a
cultural sense, with relatives in Israel, etc. He once told me that it was
quite common in Poland, in his generation, for Jews to be named Christof, and
it was not an indication of assimilation. (He was born after World War II.)
After all, Christof or Christopher means "bringing Moshiach" and what could
be more Jewish than that?
Mike Gerver, <gerver@...>
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From: Joseph Steinberg <steinber@...>
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 1994 22:25:41 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Prayer for Rain
The prayer for rain which is to be added in the Amidah -- as mentioned in
Josh Klein's posting is 'Va'anenu Bore Olam B'Midat Harkhamim' -- and can
be found in any (even Ashkenazic) Koren Siddur...
| Joseph (Yosi) Steinberg | <steinber@...>
Shalom | 972 Farragut Drive | <jstein@...>
Uvracha! | Teaneck, NJ 07666-6614 | <jsteinb@...>
| United States of America | Tel: +1-201-833-YOSI(9674)
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From: Irwin H. Haut <0005446733@...>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 94 20:27 EST
Subject: Rabbi Meir
It would appear that the term "aherim" applied to Rabbi Meir is not
connected to his learning from "Aher", but rather because of his dispute
with the Nasi, Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel. see B.T. Horeyot 13b-14a.
Reference to Rabbi Meir in that manner was a punishment that his views,
and that of his colleague, Rabbi Natan, would henceforth be quoted only
anonymously, as "aherim" say and as "yesh" say, respectively.
irwin haut
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From: Meshulum Laks <LAKS@...>
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 94 11:16:55 -0500
Subject: Rabbis Who Come For The Siyum
David Segal (no internet access) sends the following submission,
Perhaps the reference to the Rabbi(s) who just came to the siyum
is to the end of the eighth chapter of B'rachoth. The Rabbis mentioned
are R. Zohamai, Zilai, and Zivai (all in one memra) about whom
R. Nahman bar Yitzhak then expresses doubt as to their existence.
Perhaps the memra is an elaborate pun on the meaning of their names.
(See the reference).
meshulum
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From: Moshe J. Bernstein <mjbrnstn@...>
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 1994 13:59:58 -0500 (EST)
Subject: The Rav's "Incivility"
Having spent five years in the rav's shiur - exactly half pre-1967 and
half post-1967 - I bear witness to the fact that the caricature of the
rav presented in the interest of showing that The Centrist Gadol is also
guilty of uncivil behavior is both absurd and insulting. There is no
doubt that we were held to a high standard, for there is no other
standard in talmud torah, but I never heard the Rav castigate a student
in an uncivil fashion. The mode and the context of the rebuke made it
caring rather than insulting. I have written elsewhere of how the rav
once (privately) threatened to kill me (his words). I don't think any of
us felt that his slings and arrows were uncivil.
moshe
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From: Jack A. Abramoff <71544.2433@...>
Date: 12 Jan 94 20:42:58 EST
Subject: Toras Avrohom
I have been searching for four years for a copy of the out-of-print sefer
(book) Toras Avrohom by Reb Avrohom Grodzensky, Ztz'l. If anyone could
point me to a source to acquire a copy of this sefer, I would be most
grateful. I have tried the usual places (including Eichlers and
Beigeleisen's in Brooklyn and J. Robinson in Tel Aviv). Any suggestions?
If you could please reply to my email box I would be grateful. Thank you.
Jack Abramoff
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End of Volume 11 Issue 28
