Volume 35 Number 90
Produced: Tue Jan 8 6:39:43 US/Eastern 2002
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Conditioner & Mikvah
[Michael Poppers]
Grape Juice
[Ben Z. Katz]
Hair Conditioner & Tevila
[Emmanuel Ifrah]
haKapar
[Robert Werman]
Ibn Ezra Gn25:34--Any Defenses
[Jay S. Lapidus]
Irving Schlussel
[Bernard Horowitz]
Kaddish
[Eli Turkel]
Leon Wieseltier
[Yisrael and Batya Medad]
Loans and Maaser
[Efrem Popel]
Mac font - SUPERHEBREW
[Joseph P. Wetstein]
Rambam and Eating
[Matt Nisenoff]
Shaliach Tzibbur - Aveilut (2)
[Jack Gross, Elazar M Teitz]
Shliach Tzibbut for Mourning
[Stephen Phillips]
Traditional Birthdays and Yahrzeits
[Michael M. Schein]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <MPoppers@...> (Michael Poppers)
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 14:55:17 -0500
Subject: Re: Conditioner & Mikvah
> The logic doesn't flow. The problem of Chatitash ...<
Did you mean "chatzitza"?
>...is only on something you object to, such as hair conditioner, but
not hair coloring, which you want. <
As implied by JBackon when he quoted SA on the issue, the criterion is
_not_ whether the subject "want"s the possible chotzaitz on her body.
The reason is that whether "want"ing eliminates an object as a chatzitza
is a machlokes Tannoim, with R'Eliezer positing that it does and the
other side (not sure whether it's one Tanna or the "Chachomim") holding
that it doesn't. L'halachah, we hold like R'Eliezer by n'tilas yodayim,
which is a Rabbinic enactment meant to help us keep in mind that Kohanim
used to have to wash their hands before eating t'rumah, and we do _not_
hold like him by nidah (i.e. a lady using mikvah to end her status as a
Nidah), which is a Biblical-level issue.
All the best from
-- Michael Poppers
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Ben Z. Katz <bkatz@...>
Date: Thu, 03 Jan 2002 19:35:25 -0600
Subject: Re: Grape Juice
>From: Mark Steiner <marksa@...>
> And although the halakha is that one cannot make kiddush on bread
>during the day (only Friday night), this is because during the day
>there is no special blessing to be made (kiddush hayom), so there is no
>way of knowing that somebody is making kiddush if he only eats bread.
>The schnapps comes to signify that the BREAD is meant for kiddush!
Did anyone beside me have trouble following this? There seems
to be a contradiction. If one cannot make kiddush on bread during the
day, then how can the schnaps signify that the bread is meant for
kiddush?
Ben Z. Katz, M.D.
Children's Memorial Hospital, Division of Infectious Diseases
2300 Children's Plaza, Box # 20, Chicago, IL 60614
Ph 773-880-4187, Fax 773-880-8226
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Emmanuel Ifrah <eifrah@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 12:16:47 +0100
Subject: Hair Conditioner & Tevila
A number of contemporary books of practical halacha consider the use of
hair conditioner prior to immersion in a mikva (i.e. for "chafifa") as
authorized.
* For Ashkenazim:
R. Yehoshua Yeshaya Neuwirth (author of "Shemirat Shabbat ke-Hilchatah")
in his book "Ohel Sara" about the laws of Chatzitza and Tevila
(Jerusalem: 2nd ed., 1991), rules that it is permitted to use hair
conditioner based on what he heard from his master, R. Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach zt"l (chap. 2, § 9). The rationale is that what is being left
on the hair by the conditioner has no "mamashut."
* For Sefaradim:
I found a similar ruling in R. Rahamim Shaul Sultan, "A Rose of the
Valley. A Compilation of the Laws of Family Purity according to the
Sephardic Custom," New York: Sephardic Legacy Press, 1996. In chap. 5,
section 12, he writes: "The only types of shampoo or conditioner that
can be used [for "chafifa"] are those that do not case hair to snarl or
become stiff and clumpy. The shampoo must be of a type that will soften
her hair and allow her to brush out all the tangles and knots." In note
#11, the author brings as a source "Mar'eh Cohen", chap. 6, note 2 and
adds that he heard similar rulings authorizing hair conditioner from a
number of poskim.
Emmanuel Ifrah
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Robert Werman <rwerman@...>
Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2002 18:43:48 +0200
Subject: haKapar
At Can someone help with the word haKapar, used to describe R' Elezar
in Pirkei Avot and elsewhere.
I have heard two explanations: that it is profession [which?] or a place
name. Those who hold that it is a profession base it on the patakh-
qamatz form of the word, common for profession names. Those who
say it is a place point out that the kapar profession, if any, is not
known and what is more, there is now a place called Kapar in the
Golan, where the name was found inscibed on a stone [aren't names
of people inscribed on stones too?].
Any solid help for the meaning of the word would be appreciated.
__Bob Werman
Jerusalem
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jay S. Lapidus <jlapidus@...>
Subject: Re: Ibn Ezra Gn25:34--Any Defenses
> From: <rhendel@...> (Russell Jay Hendel)
> Saul Davis (v35n66) cites Ibn Ezra, Gn25-34 that Isaac was poor. But
> Gn26-13:33 is very clear that Isaac became very rich, that the
> non-jews were jealous of him, that there was sufficient water for both
> him and non-jews he lived with. (So Isaac became rich like Jacob).
> Any defenses to Ibn Ezra?
Ibn Ezra himself explains it. Gen 26 occurred when Isaac was younger
and wealthy. Gen 25:34 happened during Isaac's old age. IE gives a
number of proofs about Isaac's poverty, e.g., his need for Esau's game,
Esau's need to sell his birthright, and Jacob's parents not supplying
him with food and clothing for his journey to Paddan-Aram.
Jay Lapidus http://jlapidus.tripod.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bernard Horowitz <horowitz@...>
Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2002 13:21:03 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Irving Schlussel
A conversation with a colleague of mine revealed that his father was the
well-known painter, Irving Schlussel. His father was well known for
paintings on Jewish themes. These paintings are hanging in synagogues
and JCC's, as well as in private homes. If anyone knows of any such
paintings and wouldn't mind sharing this information, I would apreciate
your letting me know off-list. Thank you.
Bernard Horowitz
<horowitz@...>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Eli Turkel <Eli.Turkel@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 09:55:08 -0800
Subject: Kaddish
> Last year, there were more mourners than kaddishes unfortunately, so it
> was voted that this year all mourners go to the front--actually the
> reader's lectern in more or less the middle--after Aleinu and say the
> Kaddish together so as to enable a person to say it aloud if he had not
> been selected to do so individually.
It is interesting that many people feel the main kaddish is after
alenu. R. Soloveitchik felt that the main mourner's kaddish is kaddish
derabban and that the one after alenu is not really a mourner's kaddish
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Yisrael and Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Fri, 04 Jan 2002 15:05:23 +0200
Subject: Leon Wieseltier
Re: Harold Greenberg <harold.greenberg@...>
who wrote
> Everything and anything (almost) about KADDISH has been set down in a
> book by Leon Wieseltier called KADDISH. He grew up in an observant
> home, but "threw off the yoke of the commandments".
With all my respect to Leon as a writer of extreme talent and one who
through this book, "resurrected" the tradition of Kaddish as acceptable
in salon circles, and despite my own expanded definition of Halacha,
let's not forget the man's personal past when we read the book, no
matter how "good" it is, which I do not doubt.
Yisrael Medad
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Efrem Popel <efremp@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 07:15:33 -0500
Subject: Loans and Maaser
Does Anyone know, or has anyone heard of paying back professional loans
(graduate school) with maaser money ?
Efrem Popel
<efremp@...>
Brooklyn, NY
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Joseph P. Wetstein <jpw@...>
Subject: Mac font - SUPERHEBREW
If anyone has, or knows where I can get, the old SUPERHEBREW font for
the macintosh, please let me know.
I have an old MacWrite file that contains this font, and I am currently
unable to read it.
THANKS!
Joseph P. Wetstein, P.E.
<j.wetstein@...>
(707) 202-0600 fax
PP/ASEL & KA3VJY [Tech+]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Matt Nisenoff <matthewn@...>
Subject: Rambam and Eating
Hi,
I am doing research on RAMBAM and eating.I am interested in finding
the source of the quote:
A vegitarian web site uses the following quote:
"Extracts from 'Guide for the Perplexed' as quoted in The Extended
Circle by Jon Wynne-Tyson:
It should not be believed that all beings exist for the sake of the
existence of man. On the contrary, all the other beings too have been
intended for their own sakes and not for the sake of anything else."
Can you tell em where this is in the "Giude"? If not, could you
point me in the right direction to continue my search? Thank you for
any help you can offer these requests.
Matt
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jack Gross <vze2dstx@...>
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2002 23:53:22 -0500
Subject: Re: Shaliach Tzibbur - Aveilut
regarding kedima (precedence) in saying Kaddish and leading the service:
As I recall, the rule (back when only one person said each kaddish) was
that the Shloshim has general precedence over the Yahrzeit, but must
cede one kaddish to the yahrzeit -- one to each if there are several
persons with Yahrzeit. If there are many Yahrzeits, the Shloshim (along
with the other aveilim) says none that day (or that service -- not clear
whether that is on a daily basis, or per service. Probably depends
whether there is more than one shul in town...)
I have often seen that principle applied to leading Shacharis, by having
the Shloshim lead the majority of the service, and the Yahrzeit take
over from Ashrei to say Kadish Shalem.
As a vestige of the old regime where kaddish was recited by only one,
and the yahrzeit trumped all other aveilim for the day -- many shuls
give a Yahrzeit who is not serving as Shatz the opportunity to say a
kaddish alone (Klapp!! "Yohr Tzeit!!), and then add a mizmor and a
kaddish to compensate the others saying Kaddish. I have also seen this
done when the Yahrzeit served as Shatz -- but I cannot make any sense of
that.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Elazar M Teitz <remt@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 14:34:38 +0000
Subject: re: Shaliach Tzibbur - Aveilut
The statement was made that "actually anyone avail (i.e. within the year
of the death of a parent)takes precedence over anyone just saying kaddish
on the yahretzeit of a relative including a parent."
However, this is not so. The Mishnah B'rurah, in his Biur Halachah to
Siman 132, has a lengthy monograph called "Kuntrus Ma'amar Kaddishin,"
in which he outlines the order of preference in saying Kaddish (in which
he takes for granted that Kaddish will be said by only one person at a
time), and he adds explicitly that precedence for serving as Shaliach
Tzibbur has the same rules as that for Kaddish. One such rule is that
yahrzeit for a parent takes priority over an aveil other than shivah or
shloshim.
Of course, this applies only to yahrzeit for a parent; kaddish for other
relatives is no obligation whatsoever, and he therefore has no claim to
be the shaliach tzibbur.
It has become the custom, in many shuls, to reverse the order of
priorities of sh'loshim vs. yahrzeit, because of the reasoning that the
sh'loshim has thirty days, while the yahrzeit has only one.
As for the person who comes to shul just for yahrzeit vs. the avel who
is a regular, the distinction is made between a ben ir (city resident --
in our terms, a shul member) vs. a passer-by, with the former, even if a
lesser chiyuv (obligation), having precedence over the latter. There is
no distinction based on regularity of attendance.
May we speedily witness the fulfillment of "Bila Hamaves lanetzach"
(Isaiah 25:8).
Elazar M. Teitz
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Stephen Phillips <stephenp@...>
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 12:38 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: Re: Shliach Tzibbut for Mourning
My understanding was that the one whose aveilus is closer to the death
of the Niftar takes priority. On that basis, the person in shloshim
takes precedence over the one with yahrtzeit. Where a yahrtzeit does
take precedence is on the very first anniversary of the death. This is
explained in detail by the Biur Halacha in Siman 132.
Stephen Phillips.
<stephenp@...>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Michael M. Schein <mschein@...>
Subject: Traditional Birthdays and Yahrzeits
The Midrash gives birthdays and lifespans for all twelve of Yaakov's
sons (cf., for instance, Rabeinu Bahya to the very beginning of Shmot),
and there are well-known traditional yahrzeits for the Avot and Imahot.
How are these dates supported from the text of the Torah? I am in
Arkansas right now and can't look up seforim, so I would appreciate a
pointer from the mail-jewish community.
Incidentally, Shimon had a birthday last Shabbat.
Michael Schein
----------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Volume 35 Issue 90
