Volume 16 Number 47
Produced: Thu Nov 10 23:34:51 1994
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Book Recommendation
[David Phillips]
Coffe and Tea on Shabbat
[Barry Kingsbury]
Nahshon and Nir Hy"d
[Pinchas Roth]
Pareve (3)
[Yaakov Kayman, Lou Waller, <reiss@...>]
Racism
[David Phillips]
Rarest Shmoneh Esrey
[Lori Dicker]
Second rarest shmoneh esreh
[Mike Gerver]
Shaving/Razors
[Jonathan Greenfield]
Shlomo Carlebach, zt"l
[David Phillips]
Swear or Affirm
[David Steinberg]
Tea on Shabbat
[Shimon Schwartz]
Water Filters and Shabbos
[Aliza Klien]
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From: <davidp@...> (David Phillips)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 21:43:54 EST
Subject: Book Recommendation
Although Rosh Hashono seems a long time ago, I want to share a Yomim
Nora'im experience with fellow m-j'ers. Many people bring to shul on
those days some sefer with "divrei hisorirus" (inspirational words) to
read during a break in the action. This year, I reread "Lovesong -
Becoming a Jew" by fellow m-j'er, Dr. Julius Lester. I strongly
recommend this book to everyone, whether you think you know Julius
Lester's story or not. I know when he'll read this his modesty will
cause him to blush, but it is one of the best books - and most inspiring
and uplifting books - I've ever read. I wish I could make it required
reading for every Jewish high school (or college) student.
--- David "Beryl" Phillips
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From: applix!jomama!<barryk@...> (Barry Kingsbury)
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 94 13:36:26 EST
Subject: Re: Coffe and Tea on Shabbat
I do not know what the full implications are for using a Melior coffee
maker. However, it might be a reasonable alternative. This coffee maker
is essentially a beaker with a wire mesh plunger. Normally, you put the
grounds into the bottom of the beaker, then pour in hot water. After
four minutes, you push down the plunger attached to the wire mesh to
separate the grounds from the liquid. You are now ready to pour your
coffee into the cup.
The system would work just as well if you put in the water, added the
coffee grounds, then stirred gently. (Normally, you don't stir.)
Barry Kingsbury
[There was a discussion on this a while back on mail-jewish, I don't
have a current copy of the fullindex file on the new system here so I
can't check the vol/issues, but I think the topic name was Plunger
Coffee. I do not remember the conclusion. Mod.]
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From: Pinchas Roth <roth@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 21:07:00 PST
Subject: Nahshon and Nir Hy"d
This Sunday, the Shloshim (30th day of mourning) of Nir and Nahshon hy"d,
there is going to be a ceremony at Chorev Yeshivah H.S. at 4:30 pm with Yonah
Baumel (father of MIA Zecharya Baumel) , Yehudah Waxman, Rav Mordecai Elon
(Rosh Yeshivah of Chorev) and Mayor Olmert. At 6:00, the Chief Rabbis have
called for a davening at the Cotel for the wellbeing of the MIAs. There will
be buses there from Chorev.
Pinchas Roth <roth@...>
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From: Yaakov Kayman <YZKCU@...>
Date: Wed, 09 Nov 94 11:47:04 EST
Subject: Re: Pareve
Re "Pareve:" It is definitely NOT Yiddish, but rather (almost certainly)
Persian. I remember seeing in the Jewish Press -- many years ago -- that
it was the name of a magician who apparently did some digging between
two parts of the Beit haMikdash, giving us the term "Lishkat haParva."
As this "lishkah" was neither in one place nor the other, the term
"pareve" came to imply "neutral." Rabbi Sholom Klass of the Jewish Press
would have the full story. I can't even remember in which masechta I saw
the term!
Yaakov Kayman
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From: Lou Waller <Louis.Waller@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 15:02:27 GMT-10
Subject: Re: Pareve
Parev or parve may come from the Latin. But in that
language, parvus/a/um is an adjective meaning 'small'.
The adjective for poor is pauper .
Louis Waller(Monash Law School, Melbourne, Australia)
<Louis.Waller@...>edu.Au
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From: <reiss@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 09:19:56 EST
Subject: Pareve
I've been told "pareve" comes from "parvah" - Hebrew for fur, an animal
derivative which is neither meat nor milk.
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From: <davidp@...> (David Phillips)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 21:38:48 EST
Subject: Racism
A few comments on Jewish racism not previously expressed this way:
1. Many posters have played a little loose with the translations,
translating "Am Segulah" as "the Chosen People." Although segulah
is hard to translate, "Am Segulah" is probably best translated as
"A People of a Special Destiny/Purpose." The Chosen People would
be "Am HaNivchar."
2. In either case, Chosen or Special does NOT imply superiority. For
rather light examples, the student Chosen to give the answer aloud
in class to a hard question when he did not raise his hand, is
neither superior (necessarily) nor does he feel lucky or get an
inflated ego for getting called on. Also, the pitcher on a
baseball team has a special purpose; that does not make him
superior to the Centerfielder.
I see nothing in either "Am Segulah" or "Am HaNivchar" to allow us to
feel or act superior to any other people and certainly not to look down
on others or to allow us racist feelings, or thoughts.
--- David "Beryl" Phillips
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From: Lori Dicker <ldicker@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 09:41:15 -0500 (EST)
Subject: RE: Rarest Shmoneh Esrey
Reading the posting on about Shushan Purim that falls on Shabbas being
the rarest in Yerushalayim (because Al-HaNisim for Purim is said ON
Shabbas) reminded me of something else -
Mussaf Shmoneh Esrey Rosh Chodesh Teves Shabbos Chanukah would probably
only be the rarest Shmoneh esrey outside of Israel, because in Israel
they start saying "V'ten tal Umatar" 7 Cheshvan, and not Dec. 4.
So what would be the rarest shmoneh esrey in Israel, outside
Yerushalayim.
Any ideas?
Lori
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From: <GERVER@...> (Mike Gerver)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 1:16:07 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Second rarest shmoneh esreh
I have been asked how often the second rarest shmoneh esreh occurs, that
I mentioned in v16n42. This is musaf of Shabbat Rosh Chodesh, during
Chanukah, during a leap year. It occurs about once every 12 years on the
average, but at irregular intervals. The last two times it occurred were
1991 and 1977.
Mike Gerver, <gerver@...>
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From: Jonathan Greenfield <sdb@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 10:06:00 PST
Subject: Shaving/Razors
Just a comment regarding the use of electric shavers.
Moderator mentioned:
>There are various opinions about electric shavers, with the predominant
>opinion being that if the shaver operates by cutting the hair between
>two blades, then it is permitted. If the blade cuts against the skin,
>it is forbidden.
This, too, is my understanding. For years, I was told that an *example*
(there are others) of one of the "approved" type shavers was the Norelco
line with the circular cutting heads which operates in the "hair between two
blades" fashion. During a visit to Israel a couple of years ago, though,
I visited my younger brother, a Rebbe in a Black Hat yeshiva who doesn't
shave (and, yes, I will use labels to give you a perspective on where he and
I are coming from). He informed me of a "serious" development in this
field. I am kipa-sruga/modern Frum (a label I haven't yet seen mentioned) ,
do shave and always take my brother's advice with a grain of salt. His
warning had to do with the fairly recent introduction of the "lift and cut"
technology that Norelco has introduced to all its new shavers. His claim
was that the "lift" blade now does cause the "cut" blade to ever so
delicately touch the skin while shaving, resulting in the advertised closer
and smoother shave. With my permission, he proceeded to remove the circular
blades of my shaver and bend away (disable) the "lift" blades from the "cut"
blades rendering my shaver to a "kosher" status again. He's since done this
for at least a couple dozen other people. I will say that I still use the
shaver in that capacity and don't notice any difference in performance or
"closeness" of shave (i.e. same 4 o'clock shadow). If I did feel there was
a marked difference in performance, well, until I heard otherwise from a
knowledgable and acceptable source I would probably have bought a new set of
blades and replaced my altered ones. So...
has anyone else heard of this "serious problem" or has my brother been
curling his payos (sidelocks) a bit too tight?
Is there a teshuva (responsa) written (or verbal?) somewhere with regard to
this? If so, by whom and where?
By the way, if this is a concern to some people and you don't feel
comfortable with performing the "kashering" of the shaver yourself, I
believe that you can still purchase the Norelco replacement blades without
the "lift and cut" technology and replace them.
Yoni Greenfield aka <sdb@...>
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From: <davidp@...> (David Phillips)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 94 21:41:59 EST
Subject: Shlomo Carlebach, zt"l
We lost two great R. Shlomos in just about a week: R. Shlomo Carlebach,
and R. Shlomo Goren, zichronam livracha. I want to add a comment now on
R. Shlomo Carlebach (and maybe later on Rav Goren).
Besides all of his kiruv work and beautiful songs he composed, a lot of
people overlook a third enormous contribution he made. Before him,
virtually all Jewish music composed to p'sukim or t'filot was composed
by either Chazzanim or Chasidishe Rebe'im (or their appointed court
composer (e.g., like Ben Tzion Shenker is for Modzitz)). Although
Shlomo Carlebach was a little bit of both, he was "matir" (made it
permissible) for a "hedyot" (a plain Jew) to compose religious music.
He was not only the "father of modern Jewish music," and the inspiration
for all that came after him - from the Rabbi's Sons, to the Miami Boys
Choir, and everything in between - but he really made it
possible/permissible for them to even exist. As such, his contribution
to Jewish liturgy and music is immeasurable. His legacy, however, will
only grow: It contains every song he composed, and everything written
since he made the scene, and forever more. Y'hi zichro baruch.
--- David "Beryl" Phillips
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From: David Steinberg <dave@...>
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 1994 23:23:44 +0000
Subject: Swear or Affirm
Claire Austin asks for sources about how to be sworn in before a court.
The standard form calls for the witness to 'solemnly swear... so help you
g-d'; the alternative form 'do you affirm' does not refer to g-d.
As a start, I would refer to the Ten Commandments. The Third Commandment
Shemos 20:7 says: You shall not take g-d's name in vain ...
Commentators take pains to differentiate between LaShav, commonly
translated in vain, and LaSheqer which means falsely, Indeed an alternative
translation for LaShav might be 'unneccessarily'.
The Gemorrah in Brachos on the bottom of 33a teaches us that anyone who
makes an unneccessary Brocho has violated Commandment 3. The Mechaber
brings this down L'Halacha in AH 215:
From the Gemorah we see that LaShav means unneccessary and the care one
must take not to say the Shem Hashem in vain.
Furthermore, many frum jews go to legnths to avoid swearing (even without
reference to hashem)
Menachem Elon, in Jewish Law: History, Sources, Principals Volume IV
pages 1698-1702 discusses the issues relating to court testimony. While
the discussion is directed towards the process of Israeli courts you may
find the background helpful.
Dave Steinberg
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From: <schwartz@...> (Shimon Schwartz)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 10:38:12 +0500
Subject: Re: Tea on Shabbat
Binyomim Segal raises the issue of straining while steeping tea bags on
Shabbat. Another issue is borer, selecting the unwanted tea bag while
the desired tea drips out.
An easy solution to both problems is to lift the bag out of the teacup
using a spoon. No borer, and squeezing is unlikely (certainly not a
p'sik reisha [certain outcome]).
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From: <AKLEIN@...> (Aliza Klien)
Date: Thu, 10 Nov 1994 09:26:36 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Water Filters and Shabbos
Does anyone know the halachah (or the issues) that relate to using a water
filter on Shabbos?
I have heard that "borer" is an issue but some have told me that if you
cannot see the actual filter (like the ones on sinks) it isn't an issue.
I have also heard that if you are not "makpid" to ONLY drink filtered
water then a permanent sink-type filter is not a problem since you don't
really care that "borer" (loosely translated as "selection") is taking place.
My real question is whether one is allow to fill a pitcher-type water filter
on Shabbos (like the Brita water filter).
Of course, I could just ask my LOR - but it always seems to slip my mind until
Shabbos lunch when we "run out" of water...
Thanks...
Aliza
<aklein@...>
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End of Volume 16 Issue 47
