Volume 50 Number 02
Produced: Tue Nov 15 5:16:30 EST 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Baltimore Jewish Population Expands - and Riverdale Too
[Michael Frankel]
Birkhoth Hashachar
[Perets Mett]
Cohanim and cemeteries
[Perets Mett]
Early pre-Yom Kippur Kiddush
[Yisrael & Batya Medad]
Hungarian Sunset
[Orrin Tilevitz]
The Munkaczer- Apocryphal story
[Shmuel Himelstein]
Shabbat/Yom Kippur (5)
[Yehonatan Chipman, Immanuel Burton, Menashe Elyashiv, Akiva
Miller, Perets Mett]
Starbucks and the 'Holiday' spirit
[Steve Goldstein]
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From: Michael Frankel <michaeljfrankel@...>
Date: Sun, 13 Nov 2005 11:53:55 -0500
Subject: RE: Baltimore Jewish Population Expands - and Riverdale Too
Many readers will doubtless recall the intense communal excitement which
greeted the recent announcement reproduced below:
>>I am pleased to announce the birth of my granddaughter, baby girl
>>Schnittman, to Drs. Nomi and Jeremy Schnittman. Naming will iy'h take
>>place this shabbos in Baltimore.
Flash update - make that (the extremely clever and cute) Talya Rena
Schnittman
I am now equally pleased to remark the parallel demographic in NYC where
my grandson, Avrohom Aryeh Posy - son of Betzalel and Shana Posy of
Riverdale, NY - celebrated his b'ris this past shabbos at YI of
Riverdale. Also in attendance were his grandparents, Prof Carl and
Feige Posy of Jerusalem and Mechy (i.e. me) and Sheila Frankel of Silver
Spring. Avrohom Aryeh negotiated his first Jewish ritual with a stoic
dignity not achieved by his sandek.
Mechy Frankel H: (301) 593-3949
<michael.frankel@...> W: (703) 416-3252
<michaeljfrankel@...>
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From: Perets Mett <p.mett@...>
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 12:51:48 +0000
Subject: Birkhoth Hashachar
Asher Grossman wrote:
Israel Caspi (49/93) asks:
>> I am confused about the punctuation of the Kak/Chaf in the words
>> Birkat/Birchat Ha-mazon. If the former, why do we say "Birchot
>> Ha-shachar" and not "Birkot Ha-shachar"?
> Actually, you are correct. "Birkot" is the correct pronunciation, as
> is
Not so.
As we say each week in veyiten lekho; "birkhoith" **without** a shevo
is correct. (Bereishith 49:25-26).
The rules for singular and plural frequently differ e.g bigdoi (his
clothing) with a dogesh, but bigdhei (plural) without a dogesh.
"Birkhoith hashachar" is correct.
Perets Mett
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From: Perets Mett <p.mett@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 12:22:45 +0000
Subject: Cohanim and cemeteries
Chaim Tatel wrote:
> To get to the plot for the levaya (funeral), we had to enter the
> cemetery on the only road wide enough to accommodate us. Meaning, it
> had to be at least 16 feet wide so we could walk down the center and
> not be within 4 amos (~7 feet, aka 2 meters) of any graves.
To obviate the need for a wide road and cohanim having to distance
themselves from kvorim, the cemetery owners should build a fence. At
the botei almin of the Adath Yisroel in London, all the burial sectors
are fenced in, so cohanim may walk on the paths. Cohanim and their
wives are usuallly buried near a path so that their sons etc may stand
near the grave (on the other side of the fence)
Perets Mett
London
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From: Yisrael & Batya Medad <ybmedad@...>
Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 19:02:09 +0200
Subject: Early pre-Yom Kippur Kiddush
Davka this week's Daf Yomi touches on the issue (40B).
If you make Kiddush, you have to drink.
If you make Kiddush, the "day" exists.
If Yom Kippur exists, you can't drink.
Yisrael Medad
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From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 07:52:23 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Hungarian Sunset
I was once told that there that the time of shekia (halachic sunset)
followed by at least some Hungarian Jews is much later than what most of
us follow, and that they follow this time consistently, to the extent of
doing melacha (halachic work) on erev shabbat up to this time. Can
anyone confirm this, and if so, how late is this shekia?
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From: Shmuel Himelstein <himels@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 14:03:20 +0200
Subject: The Munkaczer- Apocryphal story
When I was in Yeshivah, I heard an apocryphal story regarding the
Munkaczer, who is supposed to have said that when we are told that
Kamtza and Bar Kamtza destroyed the Beit HaMikdash, the word "Kamtza" is
Rashei Teivot (an acronym) for the Yiddish:
Komunistn
Mizrachistn
Tzionistn
Agudistn
i.e., all are in the same boat ...
Shmuel Himelstein
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From: Yehonatan Chipman <yonarand@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 22:11:06 +0200
Subject: Re: Shabbat/Yom Kippur
Immanuel Burton asked:
> When Yom Kippur falls on Shabbos, what is there to stop one
> fromstarting Shabbos early, making kiddush, having a Shabbos meal,
> benching, and only then bringing in Yom Kippur?
Menashe Elyashiv responded that:
> There is not a problem of Yom Kippur Kiddush because it does not exist
> [nor] is there need for a Shabbat meal, as this part of Shabbat is
> cancelled. Almost all minhagim do not say Kabbalat Shabbat, even those
> that say it on Shabbat-Yom Tov.
Two or three related points:
1. Ashkenazim do have a truncated Kabbalat Shabbat on Shabbat Yom
Kippur, just as on every other Yom Tov: the two psalms, "Mizmor shir
leyom hashabbat" and "Hashem Malakh," according to "nusah Ashkenaz"
Ashkenazim, with the addition of "Mizmor leDavid" and four stanzas of
Lekha Dodi" among Hasidim. This is recited between Kol Nidrei and
Barkhu.
2. My ex-wife, who grew up in a Yekkish home with a very strong and
definite sense of masoret, had a strong tradition that children who
eat on Yom Kippur but are old enough to bentch (likewise sick
people) should wash, eat meat (as it's a yomtov), and say Yaaleh
Veyavo, and Retzeh if it's Shabbat, in their Birkat Hamazon.
3. The basic idea propounded -- of taking in Shabbat early -- is one I
found quite strange. Isn't it enough that Klal Yisrael has a
definite tradition as to how Jews are to behave when Shabbat falls
out on Yom Kippur. Why go looking for mitzvot that no one else
(including all gedolei Yisrael in all generations) seems to find
necessary? To this, I would add one more point: even when one takes
in Shabbat early, I believe that one is required to continue the
meal into the evening and eat at least a "kezayit" of bread after
nightfall-- something that would probably happen anyway if one is
careful to begin Kabbalat Shabbat after plag ha-Minhah. But this
point needs checking.
4. I will conclude with a well-known story I heard from Rav
Soloveitchik, told about Baron Edmund de Rothschild, known as "the
Frumer Rothschild" because he was the pious member of that famous
French-Jewish banking family. One of the Gedolei Torah -- either
R. Akiva Eiger or R. Shlomo Kluger -- was his guest one year on Yom
Kippur that fell on Shabbat. After the Evening Service, the two of
them returned to Rothschild's home ,where the candles were lit and
the table was set with the finest china, crystal and so on, as was
his custom every week. "Frumer Rothschild" sat at the head of the
table, and said something like this: "Ribono shel Olam, you have
commanded us to celebrate Your holy Shabbat with a beautifully laid
table and finery -- and I have done my part. But then you have
commanded us to fast on this day, so what can we I do? This Shabbat
meal must remain uncelebrated" and with these words he rose from the
table.
Yehonatan Chipman
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 13:24:01 -0000
Subject: Re: Shabbat/Yom Kippur
> I would say that "bringing in Shabbos early" would also start the
> halachos of Yom Kippur. It would be the same as any Yom TOv that
> occurs on Shabbos. AS soon as you as "started" Shabbos, it is
> halachically the next day.
If one starts Shabbos or Yom Tov early, is it actually halachically the
next day, or is one just extending the sanctity? For example, if one
brings in Shabbos early during the Omer period, one still has to wait
till nightfall before one may count the Omer. Does this indicate that
the next day has not actually been deemed to have started?
Immanuel Burton.
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From: Menashe Elyashiv <elyashm@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 16:50:44 +0200 (IST)
Subject: Shabbat/Yom Kippur
What comes first, Kol Nidre or Mizmor Shir? Should Kol Nidre said before
accepting Shabbat because it is weekday business? That is the usual
Ashkenazi minhag. But the Prushim in Jerusalem say Mizmor shir first
because their minhag is to accept Shabbat before sunset. Most Sefaradim
say Kol Nidre at night, because they chant the long Lecha A-li piyut
which includes the Viduy, so one can confess at nitefall. Therefore, Kol
Nidre is said at night, posing no problem because it is sorech hayom= a
necessary of the day- and can be done on Yom Kippur. Mizmor Shir should
be said before the piyut before sunset.
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From: Akiva Miller <kennethgmiller@...>
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 13:35:02 GMT
Subject: Re: Shabbat/Yom Kippur
Immanuel Burton made a fascinating suggestion: <<< When Yom Kippur falls
on Shabbos, what is there to stop one from starting Shabbos early,
making kiddush, having a Shabbos meal, benching, and only then bringing
in Yom Kippur? What one gains from this is the opportunity to make at
least one Shabbos kiddush. >>>
(I would strengthen the question by pointing out that <<< the
opportunity to make at least one Shabbos kiddush >>> is not merely a
nice thing to do, but it is a Mitzvah D'Oraisa - a Torah Command. It can
be argued that this mitzvah is technically fulfilled when we say the
Amidah in Maariv (both on a regular Shabbos and on Shabbos/YomKippur),
which includes the phrase "Mekadesh HaShabbos". But the fact is that
many people either say this somewhat absent-mindedly (not realizing that
they are doing this mitzvah) or they (especially women) don't recite
Maariv at all, and this makes it very important to recite the Kiddush on
wine, at which point people are very aware of what they're doing.)
The simple answer to this would be that in such a year, Shabbos and Yom
Kippur fall on the same day, so it is impossible to start one early
without starting the other one early too.
But the truth would not seem to be quite that simple. The whole concept
of "starting a day early" is a bit difficult philosophically, and the
rabbis have had varied explanations of how it works.
One explanation that I've heard recently is that while one can accept
the Holiness Of The Day before sunset, one cannot actually Change The
Calendar.
Therefore, for example, suppose someone forgot to count Sefiras HaOmer
on Thursday night, and on all of Friday, and finally remembered on
Friday afternoon, but only *after* he accepted Shabbos. As I understand
it, because the calendar has not yet changed, he can still count the
Friday count (without a bracha), and then resume counting with a bracha
on Friday night.
Another example is a woman who did not do her Hefsek Taharah until after
beginning Shabbos early on Friday afternoon. The calendar still says
Friday, despite starting Shabbos, so it is valid and she can go to the
mikveh on the following Friday night.
These examples seem to demonstrate that the concept of accepting Shabbos
early is NOT inherently linked to the calendar. And if so, then what is
to stop us from accepting Shabbos WITHOUT accepting Yom Kippur, exactly
as suggested?
Akiva Miller
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From: Perets Mett <p.mett@...>
Date: Mon, 14 Nov 2005 12:27:38 +0000
Subject: Shabbat/Yom Kippur
Menashe wrote:
> When Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, one cannot accept Shabbat early and
> not Yom Kippur, as they enter together. So no early Shabbat meal or
> Kiddush. There is not a problem of Yom Kippur Kiddush because it does
> not exist. However, there is no need for a Shabbat meal, as this part
> of Shabbat is cancelled. Almost all minhagim do not say Kabbalat
> Shabbat, even those that say it on Shabbat-Yom Tov.
I don't know how one measures 'almost'.
The prevalent custom among chasidim (i.e. Nusach Sfard) says kabolas
Shabos on Yom Kipur eve which falls on a Friday much like any other
yomtov.
Perets Mett
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From: Steve Goldstein <stevengoldstein@...>
Date: Fri, 11 Nov 2005 09:19:07 -0500
Subject: Starbucks and the 'Holiday' spirit
The Starbucks I frequent, in Livingston, went way out in decorating for
xmas this year. Never have I seen more xmas related decorations, they
beat out Rockefeller Center by a mile. I asked my Jewish barista why
there were no Chanukah decorations in this highly Jewish patronized
store and she responded that it's Starbucks policy that only xmas decor
is to be displayed. I wrote an email to the Starbucks office and called
the local district manager but they have not responded as yet.
It's my intention to hit them in their pocketbooks. Everyone should go
to Starbucks.com and lodge a complaint and then maybe they'll listen.
Thanks...
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End of Volume 50 Issue 2