Volume 14 Number 71
Produced: Thu Aug 11 23:22:00 1994
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Administrivia
[Avi Feldblum]
Airline Mezonos/Hamotzi Rolls
[Stephen Phillips]
Mentally Impaired
[Abe Perlman]
muktza question
[Francine S. Glazer]
Please help the Kosher Database project
["David A. Seigel"]
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From: mljewish (Avi Feldblum)
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 1994 23:15:17 -0400
Subject: Administrivia
Hello,
I am back from my vacation to San Francisco, thanks to all of you who
sent me information and to those I got a chance to meet while I was
there. I also just took a quick trip to Chicago, for which I was able to
use the new searchable kosher cities database that David describes and
asks for your help in making even better. (If any of you from the
Chicago area where in Mi Tzu Yun Wednesday night I thought a hello to
you). David has done a really great job, and I want to publically thank
him.
Along similar lines, I've put up a begining of a Mosaic home page for
mail-jewish. Feel free to take a look at it, at
http://nysernet.org/~mljewish.
If there are any artistic oriented readers of mail-jewish around, it
would be nice to have a mail-jewish "logo" or graphic to put on the
page. I welcome any comments and/or help in getting our Mosaic interface
in better shape. What is there now is meant to be just a start.
Avi Feldblum
mail-jewish Moderator
<mljewish@...>
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From: <stephenp@...> (Stephen Phillips)
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 94 18:13 BST-1
Subject: Airline Mezonos/Hamotzi Rolls
I have just returned from a holiday in the States and I thought I
would revisit a question that I believe has been dealt with
previously, namely the status of the rolls that are provided with the
kosher airline meals.
I flew American Airlines (BTW, I can recommend AA as a 1st class
airline) out of London Heathrow to JFK. On the flight out I was
provided with a Hermolis meal under the supervision of "Kedassiah" in
London. The roll was stated to be "Mezonos". As has been mentioned
before, if one eats this roll with the meal then one should wash and
make "Hamotzi" on it.
On the return flight from JFK the meal came from Wiltons in Spring
Valley under OU certification. The kashrus certificate stated that
ALL rolls were "Hamotzi". This seems to me, IMHO, to be a better way
of doing things as there is then no doubt about what B'rocho to make
and (perhaps more importantly) one won't make the wrong B'rocho (ie.
"Mezonos" when it should be "Hamotzi").
Stephen Phillips
<stephenp@...>
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From: Abe Perlman <abeperl@...>
Date: Tue, 9 Aug 94 13:17:15 EDT
Subject: Mentally Impaired
Thomas Divine <TMDIVINE@...> queried:
>I have in mind a reference to the developmentally disabled as God's
>special "vessels" who require special care, treatment, and concern.
>Does this ring a bell with anybody?
I was told that the Chazon Ish used to stand up for autistic and
down-syndrome affected children because he said they had special neshomos
(souls).
Also, my brother wrote to me from Eretz Yisroel (He was learning in
Mattesdorf, Jerusalem in Lakewood Yeshiva) concerning two verified stories.
One that happened in Gateshead & one in Mattesdorf itself.
He writes (parentheses mine):
"A few years ago a discovery was made that enables communication with
children that are autistic or have down-syndrome or the like. Using
computers they have discovered a way for these children to communicate
using a computer. They have found that most of these children are
extremely clever and have even taught themselves to read, just that they
cannot talk. Two months ago, (my brother wrote in August '93) they
tried this device on a religious Jewish girl in Gateshead. She began
typing on the computer a message which was not in English but appeared
to have a pattern. A professor of Linguistics identified the language
as Polish. The girl had written that she was a reincarnation of someone
who lived in Poland in the time of the Chofetz Chaim. She was very
negligent in the transgression of Loshon Horo (evil gossip & the like)
and as a result she was placed on this world in such a state that she
cannot even talk. She asked that the story be told to the public so
that they should be more careful in guarding their tongues. She said
more but I was not able to verify if it was true.
Another such story happened a little while ago in Bnei Brak (near Tel
Aviv) but not concerning Loshon Horo.
There is a family HERE on this BLOCK (Mattesdorf is only two large
blocks long) by the name of Finkelstein --- His father is a Rebbi in
Yeshivas Torah Ohr. They have an adopted son of eight years who cannot
talk or move around by himself. They tried him on the computer and
realized that he knew so much despite the fact that he hardly went
anywhere and had no education. They asked him how he knew so much. He
answered that the Malach taught him before he was born (In Judaism there
is a tradition mentioned in the Talmud that for the nine months of
pregnancy, an angel teaches the Jewish child the entire Torah and
usually makes him forget it before he is born. Forget it, so that he
will get reward for toiling to learn it; is taught it, so that it will
be able to grasp it when he relearns it.) and he remebers everything.
That week was Parshas Ki Setze so they asked him what Zolel V'sovei (a
drunkard and glutton) means. He immediately typed the plain meaning
including the aramaic translation of Unkilus. He went on to say that
almost all the children like him also know the entire Torah. He then
explained that the reason he was put on this world in such a terrible
state is because in his previous stay on this world he sinned in
speaking Loshon Horo constantly. A week later Rav Scheinberg (the Rosh
Yeshiva of Torah Ohr) went to speak with the boy."
Kiseeva Vachaseema Tova,
Mordechai Perlman
<abeperl@...>
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From: <fglazer@...> (Francine S. Glazer)
Date: Sun, 7 Aug 94 16:36:24 EDT
Subject: muktza question
If I put a small penknife onto my keychain, does that make the keychain
muktza (a class of items that one is forbidden from touching/handling)
on Shabbat? (There is an eruv in town, so I generally carry my
keys rather than using a Shabbos belt.) Would a penknife on the
keychain make it muktza in a different way than a car key on the
same keychain might?
Fran Glazer
<fglazer@...>
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From: "David A. Seigel" <dseigel2@...>
Date: Wed, 10 Aug 1994 23:04:11 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Please help the Kosher Database project
I am working as a volunteer on a project at israel.nysernet.org.
We are updating the kosher and travel database, and will hopefully put
it in a format that can be searched as well as browsed. We hope to
cover the whole world except Israel (there would be too many listings
from Israel). If you'd like to see what we have so far, check it out by
pointing your gopher client to shamash.nysernet.org. To find the
database, from the top menu, select item 13. Jews and Judaism, and from
the next menu select item 3. Kosher Traveler's Database. At the moment,
only restaurant listings have been put into the new database format.
I'd really like your help -- here's what you can do: Check out the
database. If you find listings that need to be updated, send me the
updated information. If your city is not represented or if one or more
kosher restaurants there are not listed, send me listings for the
missing restaurants. Also, feel free to send me listings for bakeries,
kosher grocery stores, kosher butchers, shuls, mikvahs and other jewish
establishments. It would be a big help to me if you use the appropriate
template (see below) for any information you send me.
Make sure to send the listings and other information directly to
me, and NOT to the mail-jewish mailing list address.
-- Dave Seigel
<dseigel2@...>
Template for restaurant, kosher grocer, butcher, bakery, etc.
Name : Full name of establishment
Number & Street : Number and street of establishment's address
City : City in which establishment is located
Neighborhood : e.g., Boro Park, Midwood, Crown Heights,
Williamsburg, etc.
Metro Area : e.g. Teaneck NJ = New York, Newton MA = Boston,
etc.
State or Prov. : State or Province in which establishment is
located
Country : Country in which establishment is located
Tel. Number : Telephone number of establishment
Cuisine : e.g. chinese, french, moroccan, etc.
Price Range : $=inexpensive, $$=moderate, $$$=expensive
Category : Meat Restaurant? Dairy Restaurant? Vegetarian
Restaurant? Bakery? Kosher Grocer? etc.
Addl. Kosher
Information : e.g. Glatt, Cholov Yisroel, Shomer Shabbos,
etc.
Hashgacha : Org. or individual (w/position please) giving
hashgacha (e.g. O.K. Labs or Rabbi Y. Stein,
Rabbi of Young Israel)
Submitted By : name of person submitting information
Last updated : date this listing was provided or updated
Notes : Any additional information or description you
wish to provide, e.g. names of hotels near the
restaurant, if any, hours of operation,
directions, nearest subway station, etc.
Shul Template:
Name : Full name of shul
Number & Street : Number and street of shul's address
City : City in which shul is located
Neighborhood : e.g., Boro Park, Midwood, Crown Heights,
Williamsburg, etc.
Metro Area : e.g. Teaneck NJ = New York, Newton MA = Boston,
etc.
State or Prov. : State or Province in which shul is located
Country : Country in which shul is located
Tel. Number : Telephone number of shul
Rabbi's Name : Name of the shul's Rabbi (if any)
Type of Shul : e.g. Orthodox, Agudah, Chassidish, Young
Israel, Sephardit, Non-Mechitza, etc.
Weekday Minyan : e.g. Shacharit/Mincha/Maariv, Shacharit only,
none, etc.
Shabbat Minyan : e.g. Shacharit/Mincha/Maariv, Shacharit only,
none, etc.
Submitted By : name and e-mail address of person submitting
this listing
Last updated : date that this listing was submitted or updated
Notes : Any additional information or description you
wish to provide, e.g. names of hotels in
walking distance to the Shul, if any, etc.
Mikvah Template:
Name : Full name of mikvah
Number & Street : Number and street of mikvah's address
City : City in which mikvah is located
Neighborhood : e.g., Boro Park, Midwood, Crown Heights,
Williamsburg, etc.
Metro Area : e.g. Teaneck NJ = New York, Newton MA = Boston,
etc.
State or Prov. : State or Province in which mikvah is located
Country : Country in which mikvah is located
Tel. Number : Telephone number of mikvah
Submitted By : name and e-mail address of person submitting
this listing
Last updated : date that this listing was submitted or updated
Notes : Any additional information you wish to provide
Other Jewish Establishment Template:
Name : Full name of other Jewish establishment
Number & Street : Number and street of establishment's address
City : City in which establishment is located
Neighborhood : e.g., Boro Park, Midwood, Crown Heights,
Williamsburg, etc.
Metro Area : e.g. Teaneck NJ = New York, Newton MA = Boston,
etc.
State or Prov. : State or Province in which establishment is
located
Country : Country in which establishment is located
Tel. Number : Telephone number of establishment
Type of
Establishment : e.g. Jewish museum, Jewish Community Center,
Judaica store, Jewish Library, etc.
Notes : Any additional information or description you
wish to provide
Contact for additional info:
Name : Name of person to contact for addl. information
E-mail address : E-mail address of person to contact
Tel. number : Telephone number of person to contact
City or Cities : City or cities for which this person provides
additional information
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End of Volume 14 Issue 71