Volume 50 Number 48
Produced: Thu Dec 8 5:10:34 EST 2005
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
40
[c.halevi]
Accompanying a Guest to the Door
[Shari Hillman]
Chanukah learning for Bat Mitzvah girls
[Freda B Birnbaum]
Kaddish for Musaf and Friday Night
[Orrin Tilevitz]
Rabbi's keeping hours
[Harlan Braude]
Reality, Halachic Reality, and Bugs
[Frank Silbermann]
Shabbat kaddish tunes
[Jonathan Baker]
That's really the Friday night half-kaddish
[Meir Possenheimer]
Winter Programs at Drisha Institute
[Freda B Birnbaum]
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From: c.halevi <c.halevi@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 06:11:34 -0600
Subject: 40
Shalom, All:
I know that some numbers have great significance in Judaism, such as 3
and 7. (So "famous" that I won't even bother to enumerate all the 3s and
7s which can be found.) But:
What about 40? There were the 40 days and 40 nights that the Great Flood
lasted in Noah's time, and there were the 40 years that we wandered in
the wilderness as punishment for the 40 days spent by the spies who
(except for Calev and Hoshaya ben Nun, aka Joshua) slandered the Land of
Israel - three very bad associations with the number 40. There were also
the 40 days the Egyptians spent embalming Yaakov when he died, which
doesn't sound too happy either.
Mitigating these are the 40 days and nights Moshe Rabbenu spent on Har
Sinai to get the Torah to give to us.
My brain isn't as nimble as it used to be, so I can't, offhand, remember
any more 40s in the Torah, good or bad. Would anybody like to comment or
add to the list?
Yeshaya (Charles Chi) Halevi
<halevi@...>
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From: Shari Hillman <shari_h_613@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 06:11:10 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Accompanying a Guest to the Door
I heard a talk by Rabbi Yissocher Frand last weekend in my children's
school, about being a mensch. He quoted a gemara (I think, I didn't take
notes and I'm sorry I can't cite it properly) asking which of five
mitzvot was the most important: visiting the sick, comforting the
bereaved, helping a girl get married, accompanying the dead to burial,
or accompanying a guest to the door. The answer was accompanying a
guest, because this gives the guest his dignity.
In demonstrating our respect for our guest, we give him something
important and we gain a deeper respect for our fellow man. With the
understanding that someone who is sick or infirm may not be able to do
this, it is a practice I think should be more widely encouraged. Many
people don't know about it at all.
Shari
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From: Freda B Birnbaum <fbb6@...>
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 08:02:15 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Chanukah learning for Bat Mitzvah girls
I've just received this announcement from Drisha and been asked to
publicize it. It looks good, as do all their programs.
Freda Birnbaum
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 2 Dec 2005 13:45:36 -0500
From: Judith Tenzer <jtenzer@...>
Chanukah: Day of Independence - learning for Bat Mitzvah girls and their
families
Why do we celebrate Chanukah? We will explore different perspectives of
the miracle of Chanukah through several texts that illustrate how the
Maccabees achieved independence from the Greeks. Additionally, we will
discuss the ramifications of the miracle for the Jews living during that
time, as well as its continued historical relevance to us today. This
class will include havruta (partner) learning. All Hebrew texts will be
translated into English. Open to girls ages 11-13 and their families.
Led by Shuli Sandler and Adira Netzel-Abramson
Sunday, December 11, 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.
Tuition: $25 per family with advance registration by December 5, $35 per
family at the door.
Includes light lunch
Register now: 212-595-0307
Program will take place at Drisha Institute, 37 West 65th Street, New
York City.
Judith Tenzer, Program Director, Drisha Institute for Jewish Education
37 West 65th Street, 5th floor, New York, NY 10023
(212) 595-3447
www.drisha.org
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From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 08:11:25 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Kaddish for Musaf and Friday Night
Note: without explicitly replying to them, I acknowledge postings on
this issue by Stuart Feldhamer, Mark Symons and Art Werschulz.
Baruch Schwartz correctly identifies the kaddish at
http://www.virtualcantor.com/145 kaddish (before musaf--upbeat).mp3
as the authentic pre-musaf kaddish (of course, only for Shabbat and
regular shalosh regalim, not preceding Tal or Geshem). For ease of
reference, I'll call this the "major key kaddish" (for non-musicians,
for a major key think "Mary Had a Little Lamb"); it is chanted entirely
by the chazzan. However, he says that the second one, at
http://www.virtualcantor.com/146 kaddish (before musaf--slower).mp3
<properly belongs to maariv on Friday night", and that "this kaddish has
only recently begun to be sung on Shabbat morning, either after the
leyning or before musaf, or both (!), but only in North America--and
even there, not in shuls where the tzibbur is particular about nusah.>
I 'll call this kaddish the "minor key kaddish" (for non-musicians, for
a minor key think the traditional "Adon Olam"). It's the one where the
congregation joins in at "bechayechon" and "tushbechata".
When I was learning to layn and daven musaf - yes, in New York City -
about 40 years ago (so it's not "recent", at least in the context of my
lifetime), in a shul where the baalei tefilah generally followed what I
have since learned is the accepted nusach, I was taught that the minor
key kaddish was properly used either after layning or before musaf
(although not both on the same day; that gets boring). I think I have
never heard it on Friday night except from baalei tefilah whose nusach I
regarded as highly suspect. Also, in "The Jewish Song Book", copyright
1951 (not recent either), it is identified as the kaddish after the
Torah reading. However, in "Zemirot Utefilot Yisrael - A Synagogue
Hymnal", by Rev. M. Halpern, published in 1915 (not a misprint), it is
identified as the kaddish for Friday night.
Baruch also writes:
<I'd be really happy if the same website (Virtual Cantor) had a
rendition of th e pre-amida kaddish for maariv on yomtov (3 regalim)>
It does, at
http://www.virtualcantor.com/222 _3D chatzi kaddish.mp3
The purported nusach is basically a variation of the shalosh regalim
maariv nusach and, while I've heard that kaddish nusach a few times, I
have no idea if it's authentic. Similarly, the nusach he presents for
Friday night kaddish, at
http://www.virtualcantor.com/020 Chatzi Kaddish (only).mp3
is a variation of the Friday night maariv nusach. While I have heard
that kaddish nusach plenty of times, I have begun to question its
authenticity because it goes with neither the standard nusach for
veshamru (which this cantor does not present) or Cantor Josef
Rosenblatt's variations on it (sheet music at http://www.chazzanut.tk
under "Rosenblatt's recitatives are online", but I have the music in a
more-printable MsWord file if anyone wants it). For that matter, the
minor key kaddish doesn't go with either the standard maariv n usach or
the nusach for veshamru.
All this is a digression. Deborah Wenger asked for the origin of the
musaf kaddish, and based on correspondence with her she was referring to
the minor key kaddish. Zemirot Utefilot Yisrael, cited above, which
lays out this kaddish in parts for the cantor and the choir, identifies
the composer as "Arranged by Rev. M. Halpern" (the book's author). The
parts for the choir are those (bechayechon, yehei shmei, and
tushbechata) that are traditionally sung today by the congregation. The
book's stated intention is to introduce a large amount of congregational
singing to synagogues using the "Ashkenazi or German ritual", "such as
has been used for centuries in the Portugese or Sephardi ritual" . It
appears to me that Rev. Halpern did not merely write the two-part
harmony for the choir (the other "traditional" pieces in the books with
two-part harmony have no listed composer), but instead took a mode that
had traditionally been recited entirely by the chazzan, made it
rhythmic, and assigned a couple of pieces to the choir (or the
congregation). So I'd guess that the basic nusach is German (which
means it would not properely be part of the eastern European nusach),
but otherwise the origin is Rev. Halpern - who, by the look of things,
probably was Conservative.
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From: Harlan Braude <hbraude@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 09:18:46 -0500
Subject: RE: Rabbi's keeping hours
> From: <casinger@...> (Carl Singer)
> A common complaint about "part time" Rabbis - -and in our
> community most have daytime jobs iand are thus "part time" --
> is their availability for Shailehs.
Voice-mail?
Oh, they said they want the answer "NOW".
Even full-time Rabbis don't sit by the phone waiting for a call from
"plony".
To me, at least, much of these complaints center on the chasm between
what a congregation wants and what that congregation is able/willing to
pay for. Most often, the Rabbi is funded part-time because the
congregation doesn't have the funds (for whatever reason) to hire the
Rabbi full-time. But, their needs don't suddenly become part-time
because of that arrangement.
On a practical level, if one's Rabbi isn't available in an emergency,
one should have the number of another Rabbi (perhaps from a town one
lived in previously) to call. I mean, if one's primary physician weren't
available in an emergency wouldn't one call one another physician to
deal with the situation?
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From: Frank Silbermann <fs@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 08:05:59 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Reality, Halachic Reality, and Bugs
I don't understand the worry about negative spiritual effects when food
contains insects too small to be halachicly significant (i.e., they
cannot be seen by the naked eye).
We don't rely upon material biological considerations (e.g. the need for
refrigeration) to decide whether tref food is harmful to our souls. So
why should we consider material biological considerations (e.g. the
presence of insects too small to be seen) when halacha tells us that the
food is kosher (and therefore NOT harmful to our souls)?
Frank Silbermann Memphis, Tennessee
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From: Jonathan Baker <jjbaker@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 10:06:03 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Shabbat kaddish tunes
From: Stuart Feldhamer <Stuart.Feldhamer@...>
> > I suspect (and I'll bet Art suspects this too, which is probably why he
> > asked) that she means the second one, but, as expert baalei tefillah
> > will probably attest, this melody for the half-kaddish properly belongs
> > to maariv on Friday night, preceding the amida, not to Shabbat morning
> > at all. It has been pointed out to me that this kaddish has only
> > recently begun to be sung on Shabbat morning, either after the leyning
> I agree with half of this post. To me, the first link is the nusach for
> the pre-Musaf Kaddish, while the second link is the nusach for the
> Kaddish that the Baal Korei says toward the end of the leining. I don't
> think either is the nusach for Kaddish on Friday night.
I agree with what Stu says. I didn't go to Frinite services at Lincoln
Square much, but certainly in the morning, that was the pattern.
Further- more, Cantor Goffin emphasizes strongly that the fancy Kaddish
is to be used after leining, and the other one (the one in major mode)
is the one before Musaf. Which fits, actually, since the beginning of
Shmoneh Esreh through the first paragraph or two of Kedushah are
supposed to be major, according to the Maharil.
I'm waiting for Dad to get home to ask him which tune the Chaz uses on
Friday night.
- jon baker <jjbaker@...> <http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker> -
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From: Meir Possenheimer <meir@...>
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 2005 14:19:29 +0000 (GMT)
Subject: That's really the Friday night half-kaddish
Art Werschulz writes:
>This is the nusah that I was taught, and the one I use when I'm the
>ba'al mussaf.
I was always under the impression that all parts of davenning upto the
kaddish before Mussaf Amidah were the domain of the Baal Shacharis. But
while on this topic, does anyone know of the source for the Sheliach
Tsibbur to say the kaddish after Kerias Hatorah (as is the case in our
Shul which, despite mounting opposition from relative newcomers, still
has a tenuous hold on its old-established German minhagim), as opposed
to the widespread custom for the Baal Koreh to say it?
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From: Freda B Birnbaum <fbb6@...>
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2005 19:30:49 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Winter Programs at Drisha Institute
These all look interesting!
Freda Birnbaum,
Drisha junkie
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Judith Tenzer <jtenzer@...>
December is a busy month at Drisha Institute, with programs for everyone.
Winter Week of Learning for High School Girls
Conscientious Objectors: Community and Dissent - December 25-28. High
School girls from across the United States will learn together,
experience New York and celebrate Chanukah.
Information and registration
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=hiui8qbab.0.76ci7qbab.fydssobab.822&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhighschool.drisha.org%2Fabout_us%2Faboutus.htm
Winter Week of Learning
The Oral Torah: New Approaches to Ancient Text - December 26-28. Six
sessions including Keriyat Shema, Pirkei Avot, Confession, Prayer.
Discover the secret of studying mishnah with Tammy Jacobowitz, Jennie
Rosenfeld, Beth Samuels, and Avie Walfish. All sessions are coed.
Detailed information and registration -
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=hiui8qbab.0.f8ej4obab.fydssobab.822&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drisha.org%2Fevents.html
Bat Mitzvah Study for Mothers and Daughters
The Shema and Its Blessings - A three-part class for the Bat Mitzvah and
her mother or learning partner, begins on January 29.
Course description and registration information -
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=hiui8qbab.0.66ci7qbab.fydssobab.822&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.drisha.org%2Fbatmitzvah.html
Register today for these programs, and look for the Spring 2006 catalog
by the end of the month. Best wishes for a joyous Chanukah from Rabbi
Silber and all of us at Drisha.
Sincerely,
Judith Tenzer, Drisha Institute
email: <jtenzer@...>
phone: 212.595.0307
web: http://www.drisha.org
Drisha Institute | 37 West 65th Street | New York | NY | 10023
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End of Volume 50 Issue 48