Volume 34 Number 35
Produced: Thu Mar 29 20:02:38 US/Eastern 2001
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Book Search - Shiurim L'Zecher Avi Mori
[Neil Normand]
Giveaway liquor
[Reuven Miller]
Half Hallel on last days of Pesach
[Mike Gerver]
Matza Balls and Erev Pesach Sh'chal B'shabbat
[Kobi Ableman/Nadia Kahan]
Selling Chametz - Whiskey
[Bernard Raab]
Yom Tov Sheni for a visitor to Erets Yisrael (3)
[Stuart Wise, Bernard Raab, Zev Sero]
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From: Neil Normand <nachmanyak@...>
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 20:20:16 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Book Search - Shiurim L'Zecher Avi Mori
Hello
I am searching for any available copies of either on of the two copies,
(preferably both) of the Rav Soloveitchik's Shiurim L'Zecher Avi
Mori. To the best of my knowledge these books are out of print, but if
anyone is aware of any book stores that have extant copies, or
individual people that have copies of these books for sale, I would be
interested in purchasing those books.
Thank you
Neil Normand '<nachmanyak@...>
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From: Reuven Miller <millerr@...>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 15:57:37 +0200 (IST)
Subject: Giveaway liquor
> I'm never quite happy w/ "every" "all" "no-one", etc.I know people who
> give away their liquor outright for Pesach They don't "sell" it with
> their chumitz
do you happen to have their phone number/address????
Reuven Miller
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From: Mike Gerver <Mike.Gerver@...>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 15:05:19 +0200
Subject: Half Hallel on last days of Pesach
Our shul is currently between rabbis, so members of the congregation
have been giving divrei torah on Shabbat and Yom Tov. I was asked to
speak on the 7th day of Pesach. I want to talk about why we only say
half hallel then (and by extension, on Chol Hamoed). The Mishneh Brurah
mentions the midrash about G-d criticizing Bnei Yisrael for singing and
celebrating on the shores of the Red Sea, when His creatures, the
Egyptians, have drowned. Can anyone suggest any sources that further
develop the question of when it is appropriate to celebrate, and when it
is appropriate to mourn, at the death of one's enemies, and why? It
seems like a question of topical interest.
It happens (though the person who asked me to speak didn't know this)
that the 7th day of Pesach will be right after I finish saying kaddish
for my father a"h. So in addition to talking about situations where we
are required to mourn, or at least to limit our celebrating, when we
naturally feel like celebrating, I could also talk about situations
where we are required to limit our mourning when we might naturally feel
like continuing to mourn, and I could compare the two situations.
Any sources or ideas for fleshing this out would be most welcome.
Mike Gerver
Raanana, Israel
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From: Kobi Ableman/Nadia Kahan <nadkobi@...>
Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 01:03:41 +0200
Subject: Matza Balls and Erev Pesach Sh'chal B'shabbat
My wife asks a cooking question - not a halachic one.
[I'm not quite sure that this is not a halachic one as well - for many
of us, having kneidlach at the seder ranks up there with Matza and Arba
Kosos :-) Mod.]
How will she prepare the matza balls (kneidlach) for Seder this year.
Usually this is one of the later preparations on a regular Erev Pesach -
late in the afternoon. She makes the batter and then puts it in the
fridge so it cools down and settles a bit before being placed in the
soup at around 'dayenu'.
She fears that if she prepares it on Friday we risk either bad matza
balls or, even worse, salmonella problems. Can the batter be frozen -
and even if it can - the defrosting will take a while. Preparing them
motzaei shabbat would mean missing too much of the seder - or putting it
off too long.
We find that much of any unpleasantness (even the little stuff) is
usually related to logistics which can be overcome with good planning.
Even though we will all go into seder this year more rested - the
juggling that is going to happen motzaei shabbat is going to be tough.
So if anyone has suggestions in general about the logistics and
specifically about the matza ball problem - please let us know.
I imagine that our bretheren in the Diaspora may have suggestions as
they experience each year the second seder issues which are somewhat
akin to our motzaei shabbat problem this year.
Thanks and chag kasher v'sameach
Kobi Ableman
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From: Bernard Raab <beraab@...>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 22:44:15 -0500
Subject: Re: Selling Chametz - Whiskey
>From: Eli Turkel <Eli.Turkel@...>
> > What about whiskey? I assume that whiskey is real chametz (chametz
> gamur) and yet almost everyone sells the liquors they have for Pesach.
I put this question to our Rav. The problem here is that owning chametz
gamur ("real" chametz) is an isur d'oraisa (biblical prohibition) while
the heter mechira (sale leniency) is a heter d'rabanan (rabbinic
leniency). He answered that mi-d'oraisa when you recite the "kol
chamira" you nullify your ownership interest in the chametz. (Which
presumably you will repossess after Pesach.) The mechira is to cover all
of the rabbinic prohibitions.
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From: Stuart Wise <swise@...>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 09:51:32 -0800
Subject: Re: Yom Tov Sheni for a visitor to Erets Yisrael
I am not sure I understand the problem in the post below. I have spent
Pesach, Succos and Shavuos in Israel as an American visitor, and there seems
to be no question that I keep two days of Yom Tov. The only shaila that
ever came up was my first trip to Israel on Succos when my host said that
even foreigners to Israel do not sit in the succah on Shemini Atzeres, but
upon further investigation I learned that such was not the widespread
practice. I have not heard of any non-Israeli resident keeping just one day
of Shavuos, but I have heard of people who consider themselves dual
residents and keep two days when in the states and one day when in Israel.
That seems bizarre to me, but who am I to question.
But I do have a question that almost was a real incident. An American girl
marries a an American man living in Israel. He keeps one day Yom tov, she
keeps two days. They spend Pesach in America with the intention of spending
a year here with the intention of returning to Israel for just one year .
So, does the wife continue to keep two days and her husband keeps one day as
an Israeli, or does she follow her husband's tradition since she is married
to him--and keep just one day--even though she has no reason to keep one day
since she has no intention of living in Israel permanently.
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From: Bernard Raab <beraab@...>
Date: Wed, 28 Mar 2001 00:29:53 -0500
Subject: Re: Yom Tov Sheni for a visitor to Erets Yisrael
This is one of my favorite issues. The question is not whether there
should be a yom-tov sheni in chutz-l'aretz. This is a well-established
custom which is unlikely to change anytime soon (or ever). The real
issue with which you are grappling is which custom a traveller should
follow. Unfortunately, this is a halacha which was settled in an era
when travel to Eretz Yisrael was rare indeed. Although there were good
arguments and powerful Rabbinic proponents for the idea of "minhag
ha'makom" (i.e., a traveller would observe the local custom) the
majority came to support the contrary view, at least in part for
personal/political reasons as for logical/historical reasons.
Now that we are in an era of ease of travel undreamed of in past times,
the difficulty of this ruling has become only too apparent. Anyone who
has tried to observe a day of chag in Israel while the entire country is
back at work knows what I mean. The result is that there are heterim
aplenty, if you will but seek them, for observing only one day of chag
while in Israel (you may have to at least think about renting a flat in
Israel to do this). One of most popular compromise positions is the
so-called "day-and-a-half". As near as I can tell, this means that you
do everything the Israelis do except work on what would normally be the
second day of yomtov. This MAY mean as well that you do not launch into
eating chametz on the "8th day" of Pesach, no matter how much you are
drooling over the prospect of a falafel-in-pita sandwich you see just
everyone happily munching. (There is surely more to this
"day-and-a-half" idea than I am describing here.)
The big picture is that this is a minhag in transition. I predict that
in 50 years (probably sooner) the transition will be complete and
travellers to E"Y will only observe one day of yomtov. Unfortunately,
travellers FROM E"Y are not likely to accept yomtov sheni, as logically
they should.
C'est-la-vie!
Chag kasher v'sameach--Bernie R.
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From: Zev Sero <Zev@...>
Date: Tue, 27 Mar 2001 14:58:33 -0500
Subject: RE: Yom Tov Sheni for a visitor to Erets Yisrael
There are different opinions on the matter, but one that is often
overlooked because it's not where you would expect to find it is that of
Shulchan Aruch Harav, in the 2nd edition. Only a few chapters of the
2nd edition are extant, and hilchot yomtov is not among them, but in
Orach Chaim chapter 1 he rules explicitly that one must keep yomtov
according to where one is, and it makes no difference where one is from.
This is because in eretz yisrael, the kedusha of yomtov lasts one day,
while outside it lasts two days. IOW yomtov is an objective reality,
even if most of us cannot perceive it with our physical eyes, not a
subjective state that can vary from person to person; on the second day,
in EY it is simply not yomtov, so there is no point in abstaining from
work, whereas outside EY it is yomtov, whether one realises it or not,
and work is forbidden.
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End of Volume 34 Issue 35
