Volume 47 Number 24
Produced: Sun Mar 20 19:43:25 EST 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Birkat Ha-Gomel
[Nathan Lamm]
Brief recapitulation of Purim (2)
[Stuart Feldhamer, c.halevi]
Kashrus of Yankee Stadium
[Edward Ehrlich]
Purim Meshulash - another twist
[Aliza Berger]
Purim procedures this year in Jerusalem (2)
[Yehonatan Chipman, Joshua Hosseinof]
Separate Seating at Megilla Reading
[Immanuel Burton]
There's no mitzvah to "rush around"
[Carl Singer]
zaycher vs. zecher
[Michael Poppers]
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From: Nathan Lamm <nelamm18@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 06:15:43 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Birkat Ha-Gomel
In shul this morning, a woman recited Birkat Ha-Gomel. Not so unusual,
but it got me thinking for the first time that siddurim only print the
response in the masculine, and, from what I can tell, that's how
everyone responded. I'm trying to work it out, but can someone better at
dikduk than I tell me what the proper feminine response would be?
Nachum Lamm
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From: Stuart Feldhamer <Stuart.Feldhamer@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 11:18:35 -0500
Subject: RE: Brief recapitulation of Purim
> From: Sammy Finkelman <sammy.finkelman@...>
> Someone I know in shul asked me if he could have a small description of
> Purim - bigger than the brief description on a small calendar. It cpould
> print put to maybe 3 4 or 5 pages. My thought was that something like
> this could be found on the Internet. Does anyone know of anythimng good?
I know of a great piece of text suitable for just such a purpose. It's
called "Megillat Esther". With the proper font, 5 pages seems very
reasonable.
Stuart
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From: c.halevi <c.halevi@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 18:23:22 -0600
Subject: Brief recapitulation of Purim
Shalom, All:
Why not try the 100-years-old Jewish Encyclopedia? Head to
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=613&letter=P&search=Purim
Kol Tuv,
Yeshaya (Charles Chi) Halevi
<halevi@...>
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From: Edward Ehrlich <eehrlich@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 14:47:07 +0200
Subject: Re: Kashrus of Yankee Stadium
In a response to a message about Kashrus at Yankee Stadium, Dov raised
the issuing of attending sporting and similar events:
>Regarding Sporting events and theaters and the like, I know many
>Orthodox Jews go, yet all I have seen who write on the matter forbid it.
>See Avoda Zara 18b where Theaters and Circuses are described as a
>"Moshav Leitzim."
It's actually a fairly complex issue. Clearly it's asur to attend any
sort of event at Yankee stadium because the Yankees are a g-dless team.
The Baba Ba-bY Berra dissents from this but his ruling is not generally
accepted.
Equally clear, it was permitted and even praiseworthy to attend games
hosted by the Brooklyn Dodgers (see the opinions of R. Hodges, R.
Ben-Robin, and the also that of the Ha-Reese Ha-Katan in Egrot Ebbets)
Furthermore, until the Dodgers return to their true home in Brooklyn, it
is possible to attend Met Games at Shea. This was clarified in a Pasuk
regarding the necessity of reciting Hallel for the nes of the 1969 World
Champion Mets by R. Hodges and R. Seevers.
Before you buy season tickets, please keep in mind that the above was
written during Adar.
Ed Ehrlich <eehrlich@...>
Jerusalem, Israel
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From: Aliza Berger <alizadov@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 13:36:31 +0200
Subject: Purim Meshulash - another twist
I live in Jerusalem, but am planning to spend Shabbat outside
Jerusalem. A rabbi has been asked about this, and he answered that it's
fine to go away for Shabbat, but he still needs to be asked whether I
should say "al hanisim" on Shabbat. Apparently it's not a problem to
miss the Purim Torah reading.
I just thought this was an interesting twist that people might want to
share their thoughts on.
Sincerely,
Aliza Berger-Cooper, PhD
English Editing: www.editing-proofreading.com
Statistics Consulting: www.statistics-help.com
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From: Yehonatan Chipman <yonarand@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:16:42 +0200
Subject: re: Purim procedures this year in Jerusalem
Two short comments re the discussion about Purim in MJ v47 n19:
1) Joshua Hosseinof wrote:
<<Rav Ovadia Yosef adds (Sefer Chazon Ovadia - Purim) that on the
Shabbat of Purim in Yerushalayim, people should say a full Hallel
without a beracha. I am curious to know if this minhag is widely
followed in Yerushalayim. The logic behind saying Hallel on the Shabbat
of Purim meshulash, is as we know that we don't say Hallel normally on
Purim, because the reading of the Megillah is considered the equivalent
of Hallel for the purposes of "pirsumei nisa" (publicising the
miracle).>>
It's interesting to hear that pesak, which I've never heard before. If
observed at all, the custom is only observed amomg Sephardim. This will
be my fifth Ourim Meshulash, and I've never heard of the practice among
Yerushalmi Ashkenazim. I'm curious whether this is an old,
well-established minhag or something Rav Ovadiah wants to introduce
based upon sevara. (Rav Ovadiah has made definite attempts to
revolutionize and introduce uniform Sephardic minhagim -- an issue for
which there is much to be said both pro and con).
In any event, there are two other reasons for not saying Hallel on
Purim. The source for all three is the sugya in Arkhin 10a-b, which is a
presenation of all the days we do and do not say Hallel, and the
reasons. The first opinion, which is dismissed, is that of Rav Yitzhak,
that we don't say Hallel for a miracle that occurs outside of the Land
of Israel. The second is that of Rav Nahman, on which Rav Ovadiah bases
the above argument: "the reading (of the Megillah) is its Hallel." The
third is that of Rava, that "we were still servants of
Ahashverosh"--that we weren't rea;ly free, but only enjoyed a more
benevolent alien rule -- and not of Gd. Hence, the verse at the very
beginning u fthe Halel, "Praise the Lord, all you servants of Hashem,"
is so to speak inapplicable.
Joshua continued:
<< (On the other hand, this might be a case of "Hem Amru, v'hem
amru" - Since the Rabbis enacted Purim in the first place <SNIP>>>
On the other hand, the fact that we do read the megillah, even if not on
the proper date, might satisfy even Rav Nahman.
2) Akiva Miller wrote:
<<The really bizarre part is: What is read as the Haftara? Answer: The
one about Amalek, "Pokadti", which is the Haftara for Parshas
Zachor. The result is that the exact same haftara will be read two weeks
in a row, on both Adar 8 and Adar 15 !!!>>
About those haftarot: I have been writing a weekly emailed parsha sheet,
entitled "Hitzei Yehonatan," for the past five-and-a-half years, each
year focusing on a different aspect. The last time Purim Shushan fell on
Shabbat, 5761 (2001), I was writing about haftarot. In order to write
something new about the identical haftarah a second week running, I
ended up reading more than half of the Book of First Shmuel, and got
into all the intricacies of the relationships among Shmuel, Shaul, and
David. Then this past fall, when my nephew's wife had a baby boy whom
they named Shaul, I wrote a longish devar torah in lieu of my attendance
at the bris (which was in Cambridge England), based on some of the same
material. If anyone is interested in either or both papers, you may
contact me off list and I'll be happy to send it.
Yehonatan Chipman
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From: Joshua Hosseinof <JHosseinof@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 12:21:19 -0500
Subject: RE: Purim procedures this year in Jerusalem
Looking in the Bar Ilan Responsa CDROM I find Shu"t Minchat Yitzchak
vol.8 #64 (written by Dayan Weiss z"l of the Badat"z Edah Hacharedit in
Yerushalayim) - He goes into this exact issue of whether Jerusalemites
should say Hallel on Shabbat Shushan Purim. One source in favor in the
Peri Megadim 693:3.2 who compares Shabbat Shushan Purim to the situation
of one who does not have a megillah. So if you would tell a person
without a megillah on a regular purim to read hallel without a berachah,
then one would similarly do so on Shabbat, according to the Peri
Megadim. However Rav Weiss concludes that although there are numerous
poskim who hold that one should say Hallel on Purim if one is without a
Megillah, out of all the commentators to the Shulchan Aruch, only the
Peri Megadim compares this situation to a Shabbat Shushan Purim.
Therefore he finds that it is not a good idea to say Hallel on Shabbat
Shushan Purim, especially since there is a concern about saying
unnecessary Hallels.
I believe you are correct that this is an innovation of Rav Ovadia, and
even among sefardim it is little known, since it is only applicable to
Jerusalem (and a couple of other cities).
Joshua Hosseinof
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 09:34:29 -0000
Subject: RE: Separate Seating at Megilla Reading
In Mail.Jewish v47n19, Orrin Tilevitz asked about separate seating at a
Megillah reading.
Last year I read the Megillah in a Shul which I had never been to
before. I was told that the procedure that this Shul has is for the
ladies to come downstairs from the gallery for the Megillah reading
itself, and that they sit on one side of the men's area downstairs, and
that the men sit on the other side. I consulted my local Orthodox Rabbi
about whether this arrangement is acceptable, and he told me that there
is absolutely no problem whatsoever with reading the Megillah for a
mixed seating congregation. He did add that fully mixed seating (as
opposed to the segregation described above) may not be appropriate for
inside an actual Shul (or the actual Sanctuary, if that's the American
term), but that in essence it's not a problem. I would therefore
imagine that in a non-Shul environment there would even less of a
problem with mixed seating for a Megillah reading.
While on this sort of subject, I have been told that in order to be able
to recite the blessing after the Megillah one needs 10 people to be
present, and that women count towards this number, i.e. it's 10 people
and not 10 men. Does anyone have a source for this?
Immanuel Burton.
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From: Carl Singer <casinger@...>
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 06:58:49 -0500
Subject: There's no mitzvah to "rush around"
We've always given "real" Shaloch Manos -- that is baskets that we've
personally hand prepared and distributed -- We sometimes have also
contributed to the "lists" -- where donating money to some tzedukah, in
effect, adds your name to the list of "donors" for the basket going to
someone -- realizing that this construct if to raise money and not to
fulfill the mitzvah of Shaloch Manos.
We've found that Purim has often involved rushing around house to house
to deliver -- and for some reason (social?) a need for reciprocity.
Thus if plony gives us Shaloch Manos we're "obliged" to give them
Shaloch Manos -- even if we don't know them or hardly know them. This
usually leads to rushing around, having gotten home from our delivery
run, we find a basket or two has been delivered during our absence. We
now must again rush to deliver the reciprocal baskets. Cell phones (to
inform the delivery team while they're in route that they need to add
someone) have made things a bit easier -- but it's still a rush.
I was always hoping that my community could created a "FedEx" hub /
spoke type solution -- everyone meet at a central location (the
synagogue?) and exchange there -- but then there's the problem of seeing
who did / did not give to whom.
Lastly, what was cute when children are little -- a small child coming
to the door in costume and wishing you a "frelichen Purim" has a
different ambiance then a teen hopping up the stairs two at a time
trying to set a land speed record for delivery.
bah humbug, err a Frelichen Purim.
Carl
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From: <MPoppers@...> (Michael Poppers)
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 19:48:12 -0500
Subject: re: zaycher vs. zecher
In V47#20, JHosseinof wrote:
> See the responsa of Rabbi Avraham ben Harambam #79, question Bet. He
> was asked why the Gemara Berachot 15b does not list the phrase "benay
> yisrael" as a case in keriat shema where we must be careful to not join
> the two words together since "benay" ends with yud, and "yisrael" begins
> with yud. He answers that "benay" is pronounced as if the yud is silent
> like an aleph (so it is pronounced "bene"). He calls the vowel under
> the nun a "patach" however which is a little confusing - perhaps the
> name tsere is a modern invention? So if the yud is not vocalised it
> could not be "benay", and the tsere sound could not possibly be an "ay"
> sound. So according to sephardic pronuncation we pronounce it as bene,
> and the yud is not vocalized - and we pronounce it the same way we would
> pronounce the word "beneh" in Adir Hu on pesach, and the tsere is
> pronounced like a segol.
That the sound of a tzaireh is not 'ay' doesn't follow from the 'yud is
silent' answer. The yud is 'silent' because a tzaireh followed by a yud
sounds the same as a tzaireh not followed by a yud, regardless of how
the tzaireh itself is pronounced/sounded.
All the best from
Michael Poppers
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End of Volume 47 Issue 24