Volume 51 Number 34
Produced: Thu Feb 23 5:36:57 EST 2006
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
New Years?
[Joel Rich]
Simchat Bat
[Yehonatan & Randy Chipman]
Temp to perm
[Tzvi Stein]
Valentines and Avoda zara
[R. Meir Wise]
Valentines Day and Halacha (2)
[Janice Gelb, Eitan Fiorino]
Zeved Habat
[Joseph Ginzberg]
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From: Joel Rich <JRich@...>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 08:07:55 -0500
Subject: New Years?
From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
>
> Second, IMHO, no Jew who calls himself Orthodox, religious, or
> religiously observant should be celebrating or observing New Year's Day,
> Rav Moshe's apparent heter notwithstanding.
WADR I celebrate and try to scrupulously observe any day off from work.
There are a number of yimei iyun in the NY area on every major
"holiday". In the US does anyone (even non-Jews) "celebrate" new year
in any meaningful way?
KT
Joel Rich
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From: Yehonatan & Randy Chipman <yonarand@...>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:40:53 +0200
Subject: Re: Simchat Bat
Re Anonymous' question:
Having recently become the grandfather of a baby girl, I have given some
thought to this issue, and have written a lengthy paper about the
various attempts to create "pseudo-brit" ceremonies for baby girls. If
anonymous (or anyone else inteterested) writes me off line, I'd be happy
to forward it to her/them.
A brief answer to the two specific questions asked:
1. The Sepharadim have a tradition known as Zeved Habat, which is
essentially a naming ceremony, accompanied by a festive meal. The
text I've seen is rather brief, consisting of a few verses from
Shir ha-Shirim and elsewhere and a "Mi sheberakh" for the actual
naming. I also have that in a WORD file, in Hebrew and
English. I've been told that there are more elaborate ceremonies
with special piyyutim and so on, and of course one can grace the
celebration with Divrei Torah, study of appropriate texts, singing,
etc., all according to the talents and knowledge of the people
present.
2. To reiterate what others have said: while the ceremony described
sounds as though it's largely intended to make an ideological point,
I cannot think of any reason why attendance at such an event would be
halakhically prohibited. The worst violation is that they MIGHT say
a blessing with Gd's name in vain -- but even that is the culpability
of the one saying it, not of one simply hearing it. What's important
is to give your friend a feeling of support and that you're
celebarting this joyous event with her, and to avoid the feeling that
Orthodox people are always criticizng what others do. Whatever
negative thoughts you may have about this rather odd ceremony, find a
way of saying in a good spirited way, if at all.
Yehonatan Chipman
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From: Tzvi Stein <Tzvi.Stein@...>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 23:27:31 -0500
Subject: Temp to perm
Does anyone have any halachic thoughts on the following case?
[Just a quick note, which I have made a number of times. This list is
not to be used as a source of psak - halacha l'ma'aseh. Any such
question involving how you actually act (in any case, not just below)
should be addressed to your Rabbi / posek. The request here is for
discussion of halacha, which is what the list is designed for. Mod.]
A couple gets married and have several children in quick succession, but
they are all the same sex. The wife wants a "break" from childbearing
and obtains a heter to have an IUD inserted. However, since the husband
has not yet fulfilled the mitzva of Piru Irvu (i.e. at least 1 boy and 1
girl), the heter was only for a limited time. After the time is up, the
wife decides on her own she wants to leave the IUD inserted permenently
without consulting any rabbi. What is the halachic situation of the
husband? Does his wife's behavior make the husband exempt from Piru
Irvu? Does it make marital relations with her an aveira? Is he
obligated to divorce her?
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From: <Meirhwise@...> (R. Meir Wise)
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:38:59 EST
Subject: Re: Valentines and Avoda zara
I am happy to see that I do recall Maran the Rosh Yeshiva's
conversations with me of over 30 years ago correctly and am honoured to
receive his greetings, through your correspondent, his neigbour Arie. I
would add that after forbidding Valentines day as the worst form of
Avoda Zara he did offer some positive advice as was his derech bakodesh.
He suggested that the Jewish students of London University (UJS)
celebrate Tu Bishvat which occurred around that time, thereby creating
an opportunity for Chinuch and a kiddush Hashem.
behokarah
(Rabbi) Meir Wise
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From: Janice Gelb <j_gelb@...>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 07:00:03 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Re: Valentines Day and Halacha
Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...> wrote:
> Second, IMHO, no Jew who calls himself Orthodox, religious, or
> religiously observant should be celebrating or observing New Year's Day,
> Rav Moshe's apparent heter notwithstanding. Aside from the day's
> debatable direct religious association - if Jesus was born on Christmas
> Day (a big if), then New Year's Day was his bris - it has all sorts of
> quasi-religious associations. For example, people wish each other a
> happy, healthy and prosperous new year, just the way they do before Rosh
> Hashana, thus investing January 1 wi th a similar status. Our joining
> in this, other than as a matter of darchei shalom, denigrates Rosh
> Hashana.
The fact is that the world operates on a secular calendar so even
observant Jews deal with the secular year (writing checks, filing taxes,
etc.) Noting that the year is changing and hoping that the next year
will be a good one does not imho denigrate Rosh Hashana - no one I know
does the amount of reflection and soul-searching leading up to New Years
Eve that one does for Rosh Hashana. Merely noting that the secular year
is changing and that one hopes that the new year beginning is a good
one, or even having a party to mark the occasion, doesn't remotely
approach the level of involvement in Rosh Hashana.
> Moreover, the only nonreligious association of January 1, particularly
> New Year's Eve, is drunkenness and general debauchery, values that
> are, or ought to be, alien to us, with a limited and questionable
> exception of Purim. Rabbi Broyde's dismissal of this as "while there
> might be many problems associated with the way some celebrate it"
> strikes me as similar to the statement, "guns don't kill people;
> people kill people" With rare exceptions, New Years Eve is celebrated
> in a manner antithetical to Jewish values, and to the extent it is
> not, what is being celebrated is not something we ought to celebrate.
> This is not a baal nefesh issue.
I have to wonder about the New Years celebrations in your neighborhood!
Among my friends and neighbors, I have rarely been to or heard of a New
Years Eve celebration that descended into general debauchery or serious
drunkenness. (Perhaps I'm just not being invited to those kind of
parties but I doubt it.) New Years Eve parties are not in and of
themselves held in order to get drunk or experience lewdness but to mark
the changing of the year. Perhaps some people celebrate to excess but
this is true of other types of parties as well: for example, one hears
jokes about weddings where a guest gets drunk and dances on a table or
promiscuity occurs between the wedding attendees - does this mean that
we shouldn't hold weddings?
If one is invited to or wants to host a mannerly celebration marking the
turning of the secular year, I fail to see why the fact that others
celebrate to excess should forbid the practice.
-- Janice
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From: Eitan Fiorino <AFiorino@...>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:21:51 -0500
Subject: RE: Valentines Day and Halacha
> Second, IMHO, no Jew who calls himself Orthodox, religious, or
> religiously observant should be celebrating or observing New Year's Day,
> Rav Moshe's apparent heter notwithstanding. Aside from the day's
> debatable direct religious association - if Jesus was born on Christmas
> Day (a big if), then New Year's Day was his bris - it has all sorts of
> quasi-religious associations. For example, people wish each other a
> happy, healthy and prosperous new year, just the way they do before Rosh
> Hashana, thus investing January 1 with a similar status. Our joining
> in this, other than as a matter of darchei shalom, denigrates Rosh
> Hashana. Moreover, the only nonreligious association of January 1,
> particularly New Year's Eve, is drunkenness and general debauchery,
Does anyone else find this rationale unconvincing? For starters, I
think it is fantastic for Jews and non-Jews alike to often wish
themselves and each other best wished for a happy, healthy and
prosperous year. What is wrong with that??? Why is that even
quasi-religious? I don't understand why you say the only "nonreligious"
association of January 1 is drunkenness - are you saying secular folk
are incapable of wishing the best for another - that this is the domain
only of the religious? But more fundamentally - the fact that people
wish each other good cheer on New Year's Day in no way invests it "with
a similar status" to Rosh Hashana. Rosh Hashana's status is invested by
halacha, not because people wish each other "shana tova." The various
themes of Rosh Hashana - kingship, remembrance, repentance, judgment -
are hardly reflected in the secular conception of New Year's Day, except
perhaps for the practice of New Year's resolutions (which is probably
more of a theme of Yom Kippur than Rosh Hashana anyway; oh, and by the
way, this is another association of New Year's day that is
non-religious). And how does joining in wishing another good cheer for
the upcoming calendar year denigrate Rosh Hashana? Rosh Hashana must
share its status as the Jewish New Year with 3 other days! By your
logic, THAT denigrate Rosh Hashana far more than wishing one's colleague
or neighbor a "Happy New Year" on January 1?
> Moreover, the only nonreligious association of January 1, particularly
> New Year's Eve, is drunkenness and general debauchery, values that
> are, or ought to be, alien to us, with a limited and questionable
> exception of Purim. Rabbi Broyde's dismissal of this as "while there
> might be many problems associated with the way some celebrate it"
> strikes me as similar to the statement, "guns don't kill people;
> people kill people" With rare exceptions, New Years Eve is celebrated
> in a manner antithetical to Jewish values, and to the extent it is
> not, what is being celebrated is not something we ought to celebrate.
> This is not a baal nefesh issue.
I think the Purim analogy is worthwhile - because I think many Jews
approach Purim with the same idea of "this is the one night each year
that drunkenness is tolerated or even encouraged." And I also believe
the majority of people do not get drunk on either New Year's or on Purim
- despite your claim that it is only "with rare exceptions" that New
Year's is celebrated in a manner consistent with Jewish values.
Besides, it is hard to call this behavior inconsistent with Jewish
values when a substantial minority of the Orthodox Jewish population
thinks it is either a chiuv or reshut to get smashed on Purim - then,
sadly, the "get drunk once a year" ethic is actually consistent with
Jewish values, at least as manifested in the practices of contemporary
Orthodoxy.
-Eitan
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From: Joseph Ginzberg <jgbiz120@...>
Date: Wed, 22 Feb 2006 09:57:40 -0500
Subject: Zeved Habat
>Sephardim [or at least some of them, I don't know which varieties] have
>such a ceremony.
In my Seder Brachot (Amsterdam 1687) the Zeved Habat ceremony consists of
the following:
Recital of the sentance of Shir HaShirim "Yonasi bechagvei hasela.."
If a first daughter, this is followed by "Achas he yonasi tamasi..."
Then the recital of the blessings to Rivka, followed by a "mi shebarach"
using the names of the matriarchs, Miriam, Avigayil, and Esther, and then
giving the girl her name and wishing the parents an easy child-rearing, and
wishing her in turn to have "male sons" etc.
Yossi Ginzberg
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End of Volume 51 Issue 34