Volume 46 Number 09
Produced: Fri Dec 3 4:57:46 EST 2004
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Article: Contemporary Tzniut
[Rabbi Y. H. Henkin]
Cost of Smachot
[Frank Reiss]
Emoree and superstition
[c.halevi]
Kashrus of old Tefillin
[Sammy Finkelman]
Late to shule
[Carl Singer]
Makom Kavuah (2)
[Batya Medad, Carl Singer]
Nittel
[Saul Newman]
Shul and fixed seats
[Shmuel Himelstein]
Sources for Responsa CD
[Reuben Rudman]
Spending Limits
[Batya Medad]
Tephillin of 30-50 years ago
[Carl Singer]
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From: Rabbi Y. H. Henkin <henkin@...>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 08:53:04 +0200
Subject: Article: Contemporary Tzniut
A copy of my "Contemporary Tzniut" article (49 pages) in the current
Tradition magazine is available upon request to the above e-mail
address.
Rabbi Yehuda Henkin
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From: Frank Reiss <freiss47@...>
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 11:10:39 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Cost of Smachot
Martin, I don't think much will be done. IMO, anyone who overspends on
these things is a fool. Back when I still had my job and so on, we made
a modest simcha for my daughters Bat-Mitzvah. We simply invited less
people, and we had it buffet style. There was a band, photographers, and
very good food + wine. If you analyze it, it is the # of guests that
inflate the cost.
Now I will be faced w/ a Bar-Mitzvah in about 3 years. If things do not
improve in the US economy, for me at least, I will just make a Kiddush.
There's no one to help w. this btw. The organizations that help are
severly strained. Maybe one asks one's Rabbi to put the word out, I have
no idea. I'm not worried about my kids, thank G-d they are not spoiled
at all. They have learnt what is important in life is not the
advertisers gibberish.
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From: c.halevi <c.halevi@...>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 22:51:15 -0600
Subject: Emoree and superstition
Shalom, All:
Responding to my query as to why we single out the Emoree (Emorites) and
not the many other Canaanite nations whenever we are forbidden to
emulate non-Jewish conduct, Martin Stern proposed that >>Darkhei haEmori
means 'superstitious practices', i.e. ones which have no rational
foundation, as opposed to avodah zarah mamash (actual idol
worship). Perhaps the answer is that the Emorim were less objectionable
in their practices than the other nations but that they still had many
irrational practices. It may be to emphasise that even these are
prohibited that their name has been singled out.<<
Wait a minute, please. Judaism also is rife with superstition. Examples
include Ashkenazi Jews not naming children after living relatives (the
S'fardeem do); Talmudic admonitions to beware of demons; using the
phrase "mazal tov" to wish someone good luck, even though mazal's
original meaning referred to astrological sign; disposing of fingernail
clippings lest someone use them to hex us; etc, etc.
Secondly, we have no knowledge that >>the Emorim were less objectionable
in their practices than the other nations.<< And if they were, logic
dictates we should name the worse nations whose conduct we must shun.
Ergo, my original question stands: "why do we single out the Emoree
and not the many other Canaanite nations whenever we are forbidden to
emulate non-Jewish conduct."
Kol tuv,
Yeshaya (Charles Chi) Halevi
<halevi@...>
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From: Sammy Finkelman <sammy.finkelman@...>
Date: Sun, 02 Dec 04 22:34:00 -0400
Subject: Re: Kashrus of old Tefillin
-> on 29/11/04 11:36 am, Michael Mirsky <mirskym@...> wrote:
-> HB noted that a Sofer suggested that *most* tephilin written 30 -
-> 50 years ago were never kosher to start.
Martin Stern:
-> The Va'ad Mishmeret STAM examined a very large number of tefillin and
-> mezuzot produced at the time in Israel some years ago and found the
-> vast majority, including those that appeared to bear a Rabbanut
-> certificate had never been kosher. Similar results were also found
-> when examinations took place here in Manchester. One might say of
-> them that they were not worth the paper they were printed on!
I believe this was around 1984. I don't know when this problem started
in Israel and am not sure exactly when (or if) it ended - I presume
because people started opening Tefillin and checking it it probably
stopped.
But this is a key point - if there is a problem with Tefillin, they were
probably never kosher to start with. The Batim of known kosher tefillin
should not be opened (unless an external examination would give you a
reason to suspect damage.)
It is a complete mistake to "examine" Tefillin by opening them up. My
Rabbi indicated this was a - I think some word meaning disgrace or
more. Tosfos everything is against that. Opening them up is not what the
Halacha is, as you can see by just checking the wording of anything
where this is written about.
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From: <casinger@...> (Carl Singer)
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 22:18:25 -0500
Subject: Late to shule
From: Janice Gelb <j_gelb@...>
> Carl Singer <casinger@...>
>> Why is it that when one invites non-Jews or not-yet-frum Jews to, say, a
>> bar mitzvah, they show up at the time listed in the invitation -- it's
>> almost comic when the only people who are there on time are guests and
>> those who "don't know any better."
>I don't think this is a fair comparison for several reasons:
>* One is more likely to make a special effort for a particular occasion
>than for a daily or weekly occurrence
>* If you perceive yourself as someone else's guest at a special event,
>you are more likely to make a special effort to come on time
>* Non-Jews are used to religous services that last only an hour or a
>little more so it would probably not occur to them that coming late is
>an option!
I disagree with Janice's analysis as follows:
I believe the observation is correct whatever the underlying reason(s.)
There are many Jewish guests in attendence for whom this is also a
special occasion and they too seem to come late.
Guests are usually invited to lunch so their invitation might well
indicate that this is a 9AM (or 8:30AM) 'til noon service.
Most of all, I cannot fathom that coming late to shule is an option
because services are long.
Carl
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From: Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 06:29:02 +0200
Subject: Re: Makom Kavuah
There's another situation. In shuls like ours there aren't enough seats
for all the members and daughters. The situation is extremely bad in
the Ezrat Nashim. Every seat is sold, though not everyone makes it
every week for various reasons. Sometimes there isn't an empty seat
when a seat owner arrives. In those cases, even though the owner may
feel badly about it, she must oust someone else's daughter. The
ramifications of this are that it's hard to get the young girls to go to
shul, creating a chinuch problem.
Yes, we do disparately want to expand the shul, but we're not a wealthy
congregation/neighborhood, and so far we don't have the means.
Batya
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
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From: <casinger@...> (Carl Singer)
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 22:25:33 -0500
Subject: Makom Kavuah
I've found that as a guest it's usually easiest for me to simply ask,
"where might I sit." Sometimes, simply standing and looking puzzled
(something that I'm good at :) is sufficient for someone to helpfully
point me to a vacant seat.
Carl Singer
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From: Saul Newman <Saul.Z.Newman@...>
Date: Thu, 2 Dec 2004 14:15:01 -0800
Subject: Nittel
with the hypothesis that the practice of not learning dec 24 eve is
primarily hassidic, i would be interested in any knowledge of
1] OU/Young israel type institution that intentionally does not schedule
shiurim for that night or cancels regularly scheduled ones
2] any Litvish type yeshiva that alters learning that night
3] any chasidish community that does learn that night
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From: Shmuel Himelstein <himels@...>
Date: Fri, 3 Dec 2004 05:25:57 +0200
Subject: Shul and fixed seats
One Shul that I've been in alleviates the problem of visitors taking the
permanent seats of others by a simple device: people have the right to
their seats only up to a specified time as determined by the Shul
(Barechu?), and may ask visitors to leave the seats until then. After
that, one has no right to ask for or expect his permanent seat. With
education, this has become an accepted practice in that Shul.
Shmuel Himelstein
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From: Reuben Rudman <rudman@...>
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 12:23:39 +0300
Subject: Re: Sources for Responsa CD
The previous m-j'er wrote:
"Not that I don't respect their (Bar-Ilan CD) work, but in absolute
terms, it seems so much money for a plastic disc..."
I am surprised at this statement. The Bar-Ilan group has been working
on this project for over 40 years! [See Proceedings of the Associations
of Orthodox Jewish Scientists, Vol. 2, pages 3-42 (1969)- A Retrieval
System for the Responsa, Aviezri S. Fraenkel, where he states the
project started in 1962.] They started on mainframes, they developed
special programming techniques for identifying roots (shoreshim) and
grammatical prefixes and suffixes, they entered all the words for
thousands of seforim so that they can be searched word by word; and, in
some cases of current seforim, they have had to pay for permission to
include them on the CD. This is an ongoing project and involves a
considerable investment of time and effort (i.e., money). We are paying
for what went into preparing the CD, not for what the plastic of the CD
is worth. After all, a technical textbook is printed on paper and
costs, often, more than $0.25 a page - a lot more than the paper is
worth. When you pay for medicine you are also paying for the investment
it took to develop it. The same is true for many other things we buy
without questioning the price. So - why pick on the Bar-Ilan CD? In
the old days the Yeshiva melamdim (teachers) were paid very little as
were the Shochet and the Sofer? I thought we were beyond this
approach.
It is fair to ask where one can get the best deal on something. But to
imply that, just because the finished product is inherently inexpensive,
the development costs of the product are not worth paying for is rather
myopic and unfair.
Just my opinion.
Reuben Rudman
Professor of Chemistry
mailto:<rudman@...>
http://www.adelphi.edu/~rudman
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From: Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Fri, 03 Dec 2004 06:42:39 +0200
Subject: Re: Spending Limits
There are yeshivot in Israel, at least in the dati/chardal, where the
Rosh Yeshiva has declared a spending limit on weddings, or he won't
attend. And now there are some halls/caterers who offer simpler, less
waste smachot to get the business. It's a great relief for many, but
sometimes quite a challenge. Neighbors of ours from bli eyin haraa
large families on both sides and oodles of friends needed the help of
volunteers to keep their most recent wedding under the limit. Everyone
should have such problems.
Other neighbors recently made a wedding spending very little and cutting
the guest list. They just invited more neighbors to the benching of the
Shabbat sheva brachot. (So the kids got less gifts and much fewer
tshatzkes.
Batya
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
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From: <casinger@...> (Carl Singer)
Date: Thu, 02 Dec 2004 22:10:22 -0500
Subject: Tephillin of 30-50 years ago
Maybe I'm being too technical, but my interest isn't in the honesty of
the sofers or the hasgochas of 30-50 years ago -- my interest is whether
the standards have changed -- i.e. would a pair of tephillin made
(today) to the accepted standards or specifications of 30-50 years ago
be considered kosher by today's standards.
Carl Singer
From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
> The Va'ad Mishmeret STAM examined a very large number of tefillin and
> mezuzot produced at the time in Israel some years ago and found the vast
> majority, including those that appeared to bear a Rabbanut certificate
> had never been kosher. Similar results were also found when examinations
> took place here in Manchester. One might say of them that they were not
> worth the paper they were printed on!
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End of Volume 46 Issue 9
