Volume 48 Number 07
Produced: Wed May 25 4:45:02 EDT 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Kaddish
[Ira L. Jacobson]
Marrying one's late wife sister
[<rubin20@...>]
Matzoh Farfel
[Ed Greenberg]
Pesha, Pessia
[Batya Medad]
Planning Women's Sections is Shuls
[Batya Medad]
Pouring backwards (Was: Tahara Customs)
[Rhonda Stein]
Quinoa and Yeast
[Orrin Tilevitz]
Religious Non-Zionists (2)
[<rubin20@...>, I.H Fuchs]
Shir Hashirim time of reading
[Arie]
Shul hopping -- supporting shuls
[Carl Singer]
"Single-Use" Digital Camera
[Tzvi Stein]
Windows in shul
[Perets Mett]
Women with [their exclusively own?] Small Children
[Leah S. Gordon]
Yeast for Mead
[Boruch Merzel]
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From: Ira L. Jacobson <laser@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 16:27:43 -0800
Subject: Re: Kaddish
Jack Gross <jbgross@...> stated the following on Mon, 16 May 2005
- Kaddish should not be omitted when there happen to be no
aveilim present; the responsibility reverts to the sha"tz
whether or not he still has his parents.
Without checking sources, I recall that this is indeed a minority
opinion among the posqim regarding the necessity for reciting qaddish
after `Alenu even if there are no mourners present, but this certainly
does not apply to any other Qaddish Yehei Shelama Raba ("mourners'
qaddish").
IRA L. JACOBSON
mailto:<laser@...>
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From: <rubin20@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 09:04:59 -0400
Subject: Re: Marrying one's late wife sister
>> I, too, would be interested in hearing a halachic basis. Perhaps it
>> developed in imitation of the practice of a man marrying his late
>> brother's widow to "build up his brother's house."
>A secular argument based on sociobiology or social Darwinism would note
>that an aunt is more likely to show concern for the orphaned children
>than would an unrelated stepmother.
Actualy, Tosfos in Kesuvos mentions exactly this rational.
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From: Ed Greenberg <edg@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 07:04:38 -0700
Subject: Matzoh Farfel
--Annice Grinberg <annicey@...> wrote:
> This was also the first time I've found matzo farfel here, which was
> one of my pre-aliya Pesach staples. Broken matzos just don't fill the
> bill.
We live in California, and the only time we get Matzoh Farfel is at
Pesach time. The problem is that we like it year round. Roseann
especially likes to have soft boiled eggs with Matzoh Farfel.
What she does is put a board of matzoh in a plastic (ziplock) bag and go
over it with a rolling pin. Works pretty well.
</edg>
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From: Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 17:53:54 +0200
Subject: Re: Pesha, Pessia
A few weeks ago, I had a ride with one of our local rabbis, who's a bit
of a linguist. In "making conversation" he mentioned to me that the
name Pessia is really Batya, derived from Bassya and considering the
close relationship between p and b and the vowels.
Batya
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
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From: Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 14:03:40 +0200
Subject: Re: Planning Women's Sections is Shuls
>"In many places, the main shul is not used during the week and, instead,
>a smaller room is used which can present such logistic problems. Even if
>there were no halachic objection to a woman slipping through, it could
>be embarrassing for her, though she could set a good example to the men"
Now why should a woman be embarrassed that the men planned the shul only
for men? When there's a shul building committee for an Orthodox shul,
are women usually consulted about the "sanctuaries?" The famous Mishkan
Shiloh shul here in Shiloh has a nice big Ezrat Nashim. There's one, or
two major problems for women who want to doven. It's over the lobby and
open on both sides, so the noise floating up, by Musaf is impossible.
Batya
http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/
http://me-ander.blogspot.com/
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From: Rhonda Stein <rivka73s@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 19:36:06 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: re: Pouring backwards (Was: Tahara Customs)
I believe the reason we don't pour backwards is because that's how the
Kohanim used to pour in the Bais haMikdash. I'm not sure what it is
they poured (water to wash their hands, nisuch hamayim???)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 09:28:27 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Quinoa and Yeast
I am pleased (that might be the wrong word) to report that yesterday I
baked an edible bread whose sole ingredients were yeast, water, sugar,
quinoa flour, potato starch, matzoh meal, oil, baking powder, salt and
eggs. It is a batter bread, not a kneaded bread, but it is "bread"
nonetheless: the recipe was derived from one for gluten-free "bread";
and since most of the liquid is water, the bracha would be hamotzi had I
used real flour (although not, I believe, all matzoh meal). It doesn't
taste very good, but I think that's because I used too much yeast. I
use this stunt as a take-off point to weigh in on two pending
discussions:
1. Quinoa. In an off-line exchange, Martin Stern pointed out that
recipes exist on the Web for quinoa bread, and since the ability to make
bread from meal is one quality of kitniyot, the existence of these
recipes suggest a reason for putting quinoa in that category. I
questioned whether the bread would be edible, but I see now that I was
wrong. Nonetheless, I believe, contrary to Martin, that a consensus
already exists that quinoa is not in that category - it's not just "one
rabbi" (see the Kof K website, for example),and that those who raise
objections now are trying to uproot a consensus, for reasons I do not
understand.
I am not certain, though, whether all kashrut organizations have all the
facts yet. According to CRC (Chicago), the practical Pesach-kashrut
problem of quinoa is that it is toasted, but the pamphlet that comes
with the quinoa the CRC recommends has instructions for sprouting
quinoa, which would be impossible if it were toasted.
2. Yeast. Someone asked about keeping yeast over Pesach. Yeast is, of
course, not itself chametz (se'or, mistranslated as "yeast", actually
means something like sourdough starter), but I understand that in the
U.S. commercially-available yeast is grown on chametz nutrients.
Therefore, I was told that this yeast may not be used on Pesach, but may
be kept over Pesach.
Yeast could be grown instead on a non-chametz medium. If it were, a
kashrut organization could, in theory, give it a pesach hechsher.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <rubin20@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 09:26:01 -0400
Subject: Re: Religious Non-Zionists
> There is, I hope apocryphal, story concerning Jeanette's grandfather,
>the Munkacser Rebbe of the pre-WW2 era who was well known as being
>vehemently opposed to Zionism. In this he vied with the Satmarer Rebbe
>whom he considered to be too soft on what he considered to be a
>dangerous heresy. This rivalry is said to have resulted in his cursing
>the latter that he would be punished by having no son to succeed him to
>which the Satmarer responded with what he considered an even worse fate,
>that the Munkacser would have a son but he would become a Zionist! Both
>curses were fulfilled.
Hm. The Zionist Munkach Rebber was a son in law of the Minchas Elazar,
not a son!! Make the story unlikely.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: I.H Fuchs <ilan_25@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 19:49:02 +0000
Subject: Religious Non-Zionists
how can the current hasidim call him like that? isn't he the father of
the current muncatch rebbe?
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From: <aliw@...> (Arie)
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 23:31:18 +0200
Subject: Re: Shir Hashirim time of reading
Sammy Finkelman asked in 47/89
>Is there any occasiona when Shir Hashirim - or one of the other
>Megillos read on Chol Hamoed, or Shabbos if there is no Chol Hamoed is
>read at any other time than Shacharis before readin the Torah? How
>exact is the minhag?
Megilat Ruth may not fit your question because of the lack of chol
hamoed during Shavu'ot, but in our vasikin minyan on Shavuot morning we
read Ruth (from a klaf) before we daven.
arie
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From: Carl Singer <casinger@...>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 06:40:28 -0400
Subject: Shul hopping -- supporting shuls
It's been pointed out that the function of a synagogue in America (I
don't know about other countries) now to serve ONLY as a place for
davening. The synagogue is less and less a community center with social
events, a lantsmanshaft, etc., as may have been the case for previous
generations.
The shuls that I belong to (that is have membership / pay dues) now have
a large influx of observant (frum) people who daven there but do not
choose to "join" and pay membership, take part in maintaining the shul,
etc. [We are not talking of people who cannot afford to pay or are
physically unable to help.]
Would anyone like to venture into exploring the halachic obligations of
people who daven at a given shul and the halachic responses the shul
leadership may take to deal with the those who "pray but don't pay."
Carl Singer
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From: Tzvi Stein <Tzvi.Stein@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 22:49:01 -0400
Subject: "Single-Use" Digital Camera
There is a certain store that sells a "single-use" digital camera. You
pay $20 for the camera, take your pictures, bring it back to the store,
pay another $11 for processing, get your prints, and the store keeps
your camera to sell again. The camera cannot be connected to your own
computer... you must bring it in to the store to get your pictures out
of it.
I recently saw a website that explains in full step-by-step detail (with
illustrations!) how to modify the camera so that it can be used any
number of times and can also be connected to your own computer so you
don't need to ever bring it back to the store.
Any halachic ramifications?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Perets Mett <p.mett@...>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 13:20:20 +0100
Subject: Re: Windows in shul
Batya Medad wrote:
> What Hebrew word is used? Is it a word that means opening for light?
> or air? or to see through? There are various Hebrew words, all
> translated as "window" and their meanings are different.
No Hebrew word!
The source for windows in a shul is Doniel 6:11
"vekhavin p'sikhon leih beilithneih neged y'rushleim"
" windows were open for him in his apartment towards Jerusalem"
The purpose of these windows was neither for light nor for air nor to
see through. The purpose was for the t'filos (of Doniel) to 'be heard'
when he prayed towards Jerusalem (R' Saadyo Go-on).
Perets Mett
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From: Leah S. Gordon <leah@...>
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 12:23:40 -0700
Subject: Women with [their exclusively own?] Small Children
>is no longer so common. Incidentally, Yizkor does not require a minyan
>and women with small children would be well advised to say it at home
>rather than bring them to shul to disturb everyone else, or run wild
>unsupervised outside.
>
>Martin Stern
Or, of course, the fathers of those children should be caring for them
during that time...particularly if, as you say, a minyan is not
required. I am quite irritated to read of these ubiquitous "women with
small children" as though the father (who must exist in at least a few
cases) is a non-entity. Don't any fathers out there feel the same way??
Surely, the correct phrasing is, "families with small children".
It's almost as bad as the [thankfully now never heard in civilized
circles] "she went out and got herself pregnant".... Of course, I
exclude from my rage the cases where the mom did go out and purchase
sperm and get herself pregnant and then have her own small children with
no co-parent.
--Leah S. R. Gordon
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From: <BoJoM@...> (Boruch Merzel)
Date: Mon, 23 May 2005 12:34:54 EDT
Subject: Yeast for Mead
Louis Finkelman raises a number of questions concerning yeast for making
Mead for Pesach. While I do not wish to get into the technical and
Halachik questions he raises, as an old time mead brewer myself I can be
of some help to him.
My father OBM used to make his own yeast for Pesach Mead by mixing a raw
egg into some freshly mashed potatoes and letting it set in the open for
some 24 hours. (A method he learned in Europe from his own father.)
This produced a rather weak and unstable yeast, and required a rather
lengthy fermentation period (aside from question of salmonella). When I
took over the mead making tradition some 20 years ago, after my father's
passing, I was able to obtain a kosher wine yeast (hechsher of OK Labs).
I found that this professionally produced yeast does a great job and
avoids all sh'eilos and fermentation problems.
I am thrilled that there is someone else "out there" who is aware of the
tradition of homemade mead on Pesach. I have a rather large canister of
the yeast in my freezer and would be happy to share it with
Mr. Finkelman.
Boruch Merzel
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End of Volume 48 Issue 7
