Volume 38 Number 80
Produced: Tue Mar 18 5:25:33 US/Eastern 2003
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Jubilee Celebration of Daf Hashavua
[Rivkah Blau]
Learning From Non-Jews
[Yisrael and Batya Medad]
Living will and halachah
[Paul Ginsburg]
Local Kashrut and related Communal Responsibilties
[Sam Saal]
The Monsey Fish (The New Square Fish)
[Joseph I. Lauer and Others]
Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Rotzeach U'Shmiras Nefesh 12:12
[Paul Ginsburg]
Say "cheese!"
[Janet Rosenbaum]
Shechiyanu on Shabbat Candles
[Janet Rosenbaum]
Sof Z'man Kriat Shema
[Michael Appel]
Torah U-Madda Lecture 3/19
[Freda B Birnbaum]
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From: Rivkah Blau
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 2003 17:53:22 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Jubilee Celebration of Daf Hashavua
You are cordially invited to the
JUBILEE CELEBRATION of DAF HASHAVUA
honoring RABBI PINCHAS M. TEITZ ztl's innovation
of using MODERN TECHNOLOGY to TEACH TORAH
and the RELEASE of his TALMUD BROADCASTS on TAPE
with a major address by RABBI BEREL WEIN
brilliant author and lecturer on
"THE FUTURE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE"
Sunday, 4 Nissan, April 6th at 8 p.m.
Monroe Levy Auditorium--Jewish Educational Center
330 Elmora Avenue, corner Livingston Road
Elizabeth, New Jersey
In memory of JUDA DIENER, founding Chairman, a booklet on significant
men and women in Daf Hashavua history will be presented to each guest
Arie Halpern Rivkah Blau Marjorie Diener Blenden
Chairman Coordinator Martin Knecht
Daf Hashavua Jubilee Co-Chairs
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From: Yisrael and Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2003 22:00:06 +0200
Subject: Learning From Non-Jews
The following excerpt is from a recent Madonna interview:-
"She claims following the Jewish mystic cult Kabbalah has taught
her not to gossip or criticise others. Madonna said: If we
truly believed that every act of denigrating somebody is a small
form of murder - the negative energy you create by talking badly
we'd never do it again. All anybody does any more is slag
everybody off. Isn't it important to speak up against that?
The UK Sun, March 11, 2003
My question is:
besides the matter of the prohibition of teaching non-Jews Torah, is it
possible to learn from what non-Jews have been taught of the Torah and
to view them as role models and to what extent and in what concerns?
The above example is in the realm of ethical behavior, is that an area
that is not -problematic?
Yisrael Medad
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From: Paul Ginsburg <GinsburgP@...>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 11:04:56 -0500
Subject: Living will and halachah
Are there any halachic considerations to take into account
when putting together a will or living will?
Thank you in advance for your assistance.
Paul W. Ginsburg
Rockville, Maryland
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From: Sam Saal <ssaal@...>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 10:57:04 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Local Kashrut and related Communal Responsibilties
>A list of agencies and symbols listed by state and
>country can be found at http://www.kashrut.com/agencies/
>http://www.traderjoes.com/products/brochures/kosher_west_symbols.pdf
This is all well and good, but misses my point.
I appreciated the post about Dallas Kosher because it described
(defined?) the Kashruth standards of the organization. The web (and
magazine) resources don't give that sort of detail.
I'm still interested in people affiliated with more local Hashgachas to
post descriptions of their organizations and the standards to which they
adhere ("We use the O-U's standard" "We use Lubavitch S'chitah" "We
allow frum proprietors to light the oven" etc.)
Sam Saal <ssaal@...>
Vayiphtach HaShem et Pea haAtone
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From: Joseph I. Lauer and Others <josephlauer@...>
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 01:30:25 -0500
Subject: The Monsey Fish (The New Square Fish)
[Note: I have consolidated a number of URL's on the story sent in by
several of our members into this article. Mod.]
Judy and Paul Shaviv <shaviv@...> asked if anyone can give a
reliable version of the "strange story" circulating in Toronto (and
elsewhere!) regarding a talking fish ("The Monsey Fish").
While I would not presume to tell the story, which concerns an
incident said to have occurred in the New Square Fish Market, it has
appeared in print and on the Internet.
The Jewish Press (posted March 12, 2003) has a "Lessons in
Emunah" article on fish ("Mazal ... Adar ... Dagim"), which includes
the New Square fish story, at
http://www.jewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=2187
The March 14, 2003 Forward has an article ("Fishy Story Tests
Chasidic Town's Beliefs") at
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.03.14/news15.html
The March 14, 2003 (New York) Jewish Week has an article ("Hear The
One About The Talking Fish?") at
http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/newscontent.php3?artid=7557
The March 15, 2003 (New York) New York Times has an article ("Fish
Talks, Town Buzzes") at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/15/nyregion/15FISH.html
For an International view, see the British Observer article at:
http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,915125,00.html
An Audio File on the story, Hebrew and Yiddish is at:
http://www.shmais.com/audio/newsquarefishtalk.mp3
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From: Paul Ginsburg <GinsburgP@...>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2003 12:41:41 -0500
Subject: Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Rotzeach U'Shmiras Nefesh 12:12
Rambam's Mishneh Torah, Hilchos Rotzeach U'Shmiras Nefesh
12:12 contains the prohibition of a Jew selling weapons to a
gentile unless for defensive purposes. What is the applicability
of this halacha today?
Paul W. Ginsburg
Rockville, Maryland
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From: Janet Rosenbaum <jerosenb@...>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 17:20:11 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Say "cheese!"
I picked up the Trader Joe's list of cheeses, which lists which cheeses
use which types of rennets. An OU-certified mozarella, Capiello, was
listed as using a microbial rennet, and was the only kosher cheese on
the list of ~20 microbial rennet cheeses. On the list of ~20 cheese
with vegetarian rennet, there were a few other mainstream cheese brands
under hashgacha Star K, OU, and tablet K (e.g., Tillanook, Cabot), but
most had no hashgacha.
The major reason I have heard cited for the lack of supervised cheese is
non-kosher rennet, but this list seemed to belie that explanation since
all cheeses on these lists used similar types of rennet.
Does anyone know why more cheeses don't get supervision?
Thanks,
Janet
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From: Janet Rosenbaum <jerosenb@...>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 17:08:40 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Shechiyanu on Shabbat Candles
Gershon Dubin <gershon.dubin@...> writes:
> The halacha calls for a shehecheyanu beracha on a new family member.
> Females, that is; males call for hatov vehametiv. And I in fact made
> these berachos for each addition.
I had learned likewise, and was confused when I read recently in the RCA
Lifecycle Madrich that a woman should wear a new dress and say
shehechianu for a daughter.
Is this only because it isn't the first time she saw the child, or are
there those who hold otherwise?
I have a parallel argument to Leah's: is a daughter less significant
than having a second bottle of wine at a meal or buying new furniture?
Kol tuv,
Janet
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From: Michael Appel <myappel@...>
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 08:26:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Sof Z'man Kriat Shema
I know that the below submission is from a month ago, but I am currently
reading Mail-Jewish on the web archives and I just got to this. I didn't
see any subsequent post address this point.
Mark Steiner <marksa@...> wrote:
>Interestingly, all three traditions (or at least the Gaon and the Baal
>Hatanya, I have to recheck the Sefardim) mentioned above agree that
>>the "day" begins at sunrise and ends at astronomical sunset (against
>Rabbenu Tam and most of the rishonim and poskim), which produces
>unusual agreement on questions like when Shabbos ends, which we do not
>have anywhere else.
That is an interesting point considering the issue of Sof Z'man Kriat
Shema (The time by which one should say the morning Shema). If memory
serves, the calendars in shuls that I have been to in Israel usually
give both the Magen Avraham (earlier) and the Gaon/Ba'al HaTanya time
(later) with the Magen Avraham time in bigger print. I recall being told
that the general minhag of Eretz Yisrael follows the Magen Avraham time
for Sof Zman Kriat Shema. That might help explain why Shabbos davening
begins earlier in most places in Israel than at least in most places
I've been to in the US. Of course if you follow the Magen Avraham's
opinion, you are by necessity fulfilling the Gaon/Ba'al HaTanya's as
well, so that may have something to do with this. Anyone familiar with
this topic?
Michael Appel
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From: Freda B Birnbaum <fbb6@...>
Date: Fri, 14 Mar 2003 09:02:46 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Torah U-Madda Lecture 3/19
I've been asked to pass this on; it looks VERY worthwhile.
Freda Birnbaum
Yeshiva University's Torah U-Madda Lecture Series Presents
"DNA and Neshamah: Locating the Soul in an Age of Molecular Medicine"
Dr. Robert Pollack
Director, Center for the Study of Science and Religion
Professor of Biological Sciences
Columbia University
Wednesday, March 19, 2003 8:00 PM
Lipshutz-Gurwirth Study Hall and Synagogue
Joseph and Leah Rubin Residence Hall, Wilf Campus
Yeshiva University, 2501 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10033
Belief in the soul generally consists of the following three principles:
that every person is of equal and infinite value; that each person is
intrinsically unique, different from all other people; and that these
first two principles are sacred because we have instilled within us a
soul that originates in the realm of the divine.
A very different definition of the soul, proffered by the ancient Greek
philosophers and in better accord with a scientific outlook, is the
notion that the soul is some combination of body, brain and mind
activity. Many people find this scientific conception of soul
singularly unsatisfying, particularly on occasion when we confront
issues of life and death, at which time the need for a meaningful
understanding of soul is most urgent. Dr. Pollack will explore these
questions from the standpoint of science, religion and the interface
between those perspectives.
Robert Pollack grew up in Brooklyn, graduated from Columbia College with
a major in physics, and from Brandeis University with a Ph.D. in
biology. He has served as a research scientist at the Weizmann
Institute and at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, as assistant professor
of Pathology at NYU Medical Center and as associate professor of
Microbiology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He has
been taught Biological Sciences at Columbia University since 1978, and
was Dean of Columbia College from 1982 to 1989. He served as the
founding Director of the Center for Study of Science and Religion since
1999 and Lecturer at the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
since 1998. The author of more than a hundred research papers on the
oncogenic phenotype of mammalian cells in culture, Professor Pollack has
also written many opinion pieces and reviews on aspects of molecular
biology, medical ethics and science education, and has edited two books.
In 1994, he chose to cease his own basic research in the laboratory, and
to concentrate instead on questions that lie at the junction of science
and other intellectual and emotional domains, in particular religion.
His 1994 book, "Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA,"
received the Lionel Trilling Award, and has been translated into six
languages. He is also the author of "The Missing Moment: How the
Unconscious Shapes Modern Science," and "The Faith of Biology and the
Biology of Faith: Order, Meaning and Free Will in Modern Science," which
was published as the inaugural volume of a Columbia University Press
series of books on Science and Religion. He serves on the advisory
boards of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel, The John Templeton Foundation,
California Newsreels, The Fred Friendly Seminars, the Program in
Religion and Ecology of the Center for the Study of World Religions at
Harvard University, and as a Senior Consultant for the Director, Program
of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion, American Association for
the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is a Fellow of the AAAS and the
World Economic forum in Davos, and a member of the American
Psychoanalytic Association
For more information please contact Yonatan Kaganoff at
<ykaganof@...> or (212) 795-6681.
THE TORAH U-MADDA PROJECT IS COORDINATED BY THE MAX STERN DIVISION OF
COMMUNAL SERVICES AND SUPPORTED BY THE JOSEPH J. & BERTHA K. GREEN
MEMORIAL FUND AT THE RABBI ISAAC ELCHANAN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, AN
AFFILIATE OF YESHIVA UNIVERSITY.
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End of Volume 38 Issue 80
