Volume 52 Number 47
Produced: Tue Jul 11 5:42:30 EDT 2006
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
128 pictures of Thursday's Aliyah
[Jacob Richman]
Jewish Blogs (3)
[Robert Israel, Ari Trachtenberg, Arnold Kuzmack]
Jewish Software questions
[Jeremy Steinberg]
Katrina, Rabbi Yosef, Public Rebukers
[Russell J Hendel]
Korban Mincha
[Robert Schoenfeld]
Naming of children getting converted (2)
[Rabbi Meir Wise, Rabbi Meir Wise]
R. Ovadiah Yosef
[Ira L. Jacobson]
Research question: references to the Creator
[Carl A. Singer]
Siddur Question
[Steven Oppenheimer]
Simchas Yom Tov
[Yakir]
Yom Kippur
[Richard Fiedler]
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From: Jacob Richman <jrichman@...>
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 07:21:16 +0200
Subject: 128 pictures of Thursday's Aliyah
Hi Everyone!
Congratulations to the 240 olim who made aliyah on Thursday from the USA
and Canada.
Jonathan Stein (thanks!) sent me pictures of the new olim arriving at
the airport. I posted on my website articles about the exciting event
and 128 pictures in a gallery format. When the first page appears,
press the F11 key to view the full length of the pictures. To move from
page to page, use the navigation buttons on the bottom of the screen.
The address of the articles and pictures is:
http://www.jr.co.il/pictures/israel/history/usa-aliyah.htm
(hold the control and press F5 if you do not see the July 2006 section)
Please forward this message to relatives and friends so they can also
enjoy viewing the pictures of this special event.
Shabbat Shalom,
Jacob
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From: Robert Israel <israel@...>
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 09:34:37 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Jewish Blogs
Arnie Kuzmack <Arnie@...> wrote:
> One result was groups of Protestants who considered the King James
> Version holy and made all sorts of home-grown interpretations of the
> English text, unconstrained by any knowledge of the original
> languages. There even were groups that started using "thou" instead
> of "you" in daily speech, because it was holier.
If you're referring to the Quakers, that's almost the opposite of what
happened.
First of all, you should know that originally the rule in English was
that "thou" or "thee" was used to address one person, "ye" or "you" for
more than one. As with the French "tu" and "vous", the custom arose of
using the plural forms as a mark of respect, especially for one's social
superiors, while the singular was used for one's equals or inferiors.
Eventually "you" replaced "thou/thee" in almost all uses (except in
certain dialects). But the early English translations of the Bible
always used "thou/thee" for singular and "ye/you" for plural, following
the Hebrew and Greek originals which didn't use plural forms for the
singular.
In the 17th century, the founders of the Quaker movement were opposed to
all flattering speech or behaviour, as they believed honour and respect
were due to God but not to other people, regardless of social class. So
they refused to honour others by removing their hats, bowing or
curtsying, or using the plural "you" for a single person. It was not at
all a matter of "lack of knowledge" or thinking that "thou" was holier.
They just wanted to speak "plainly" and avoid flattery.
Robert Israel <israel@...>
Department of Mathematics http://www.math.ubc.ca/~israel
University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
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From: Ari Trachtenberg <trachten@...>
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:11:47 -0400
Subject: Re: Jewish Blogs
From: Arnie Kuzmack <Arnie@...>
> There even were groups that started using "thou" instead of "you" in
> daily speech, because it was holier.
I don't quite understand this ... "thou" is the informal form of "you";
why would it be considered holier?
Best,
Ari Trachtenberg, Boston University
http://people.bu.edu/trachten mailto:<trachten@...>
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From: Arnold Kuzmack <arnie@...>
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:43:18 -0500
Subject: Re: Jewish Blogs
> From: "Ari Trachtenberg" <trachten@...>
> I don't quite understand this ... "thou" is the informal form of "you";
> why would it be considered holier?
In the 17th century, "thou" was the informal (or singular) form of "you".
By the 19th century, "thou" was no longer used, and nobody except
scholars knew what it originally meant.
However, others made a different distinction: in everyday language,
people said "you" but the Holy Bible said "thou". Even God was quoted
as saying "thou"; how much holier can you get?
This sounds pretty silly, but people actually went around saying "thou"
to each other. My point was that wierd stuff happens when people have
free access to information without any intellectual discipline, and it
can have far-reaching effects.
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From: Jeremy Steinberg <jeremy.steinberg@...>
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 08:52:23 -0400
Subject: Jewish Software questions
A year or so ago I saw the Sheinsaltz Talmud (Hebrew) advertised on the
net in CD format, but have not been able to locate it since. Do you know
what happened, and can I still order it?
I am also interested in knowing if the Daat Mikra Tanach (Mossad Harav
Kook) is available on CD (I think I saw that advertised as well).
Yehoshua Steinberg <ysteinberg@...>
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From: Russell J Hendel <rjhendel@...>
Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2006 19:56:16 -0400
Subject: RE: Katrina, Rabbi Yosef, Public Rebukers
The Rambam in the Laws of Character makes it CLEAR that you do NOT have
be a prophet to be a rebuker. The only real prerequisite is lack of
inconsistency. I think at 100 Rabbi Joseph is in a position to rebuke
the community without claiming to be a prophet or anything
else.(Translation: There is nothing wrong with a venerable Rabbi saying
that natural disasters happen to places of "sin" and we should repent)
A second point is that the Rambam in the laws of fasts points out that
it is the obligation of the community when disaster strikes to check out
sins. The Rambam does not have a "prophecy" or EVEN a logic requirement.
It is perfectly legit that there are 20 cities with gambling casinos and
what goes with them but only one was hit by a hurricane.
Here is another way to look at it: We can interpret the rebuke as
follows: "A hurricane is the type of punishment that God WOULD bring on
a sinning city---therefore let me repent."
This perspective does not claim to know how God runs the world...it is
just cautious.
Third: I really was shocked that some people think that this rebuke
should lesson our admiration for Rab Obadiah Yosef. He has a long
distinguished career and has the right to rebuke.
Finally I offer an insight that the Rabbi of a shule where I go pointed
out: "We saw the pictures of those who were hit by Katrina...these
people are not the enemies of Israel." Here the Rabbi pointed out what
Jethro said a long time ago: Jethro said he admired God but God punished
the Egyptians THE SAME WAY THEY SINNED. They sinned by throwing babies
in the Nile and they were punished by drowning in the sea. So if any
criticism is valid it should be that the ethnic populations punished in
the south are not traditionally against Israel. Hence we shouldnt
connect Israel with them (But it is ok to rebuke and ask people not to
have casino type cities)
Russell Jay Hendel; http://www.Rashiyomi.com/
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From: Robert Schoenfeld <frank_james@...>
Date: Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:00:14 -0400
Subject: Korban Mincha
This brings up an interesting question not answered in the Mishah or
Gemmorrah, How were korbans done before the building of the first Bas Ha
Migdosh and between the destruction of the two Bas Ha Migdoshes?
Bob
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From: <Meirhwise@...> (Rabbi Meir Wise)
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 14:32:55 EDT
Subject: Re: Naming of children getting converted
In response to Orrin Tilevitz.
Yes you are correct. However Rav Soloveitchik zatza''l was sensitive
even to that and said that one could write is'so (it'ta) "his women" as
my own rebbes zatza''l instructed me to do in the case of a
divorcee. The general rule is to make the ketubah as similar as
possible.
Since there is no requirment for the ketubah to be read out whatsoever,
whoever does so should display great sensitivy and certainly leave out
those words which might offend or give away origin. Having said that -
one of course cannot falsify the document.
I was taught that in the case of a nine month pregnant bride who has
never been married before the text is still betulta ! The rabbi at that
point looks into the ketuba and nowhere else!!!
Behokara
Rabbi Wise, London
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From: <Meirhwise@...> (Rabbi Meir Wise)
Date: Thu, 6 Jul 2006 14:38:27 EDT
Subject: Re: Naming of children getting converted
In response to chips@eskimo
The fact that the Jewish father's name is David and you say ben Avraham
is not a complete giveaway.
I know many people whose "names" are not the same as their Hebrew name.
Take for example Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks of Britain whose Hebrew name
is Yaakov (Tzvi) not Yonatan or my friend Robin Cohen who is a Levi. Need
I go on?
Rabbi Wise
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From: Ira L. Jacobson <laser@...>
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:20:10 +0300
Subject: Re: R. Ovadiah Yosef
Prof. Aryeh A. Frimer <frimea@...>stated:
The accepted (Scholarly Journal articles, Press) spelling of the
former Rishon leZion's name is "Ovadiah Yosef" (final H, single S)
as found in the Encyclopedia Judaica. However, on the former
Sefardic Chief Rabbi's stationary, he spells his name "Ovadia
Yossef".
The Hebrew Language Academy rules of transliteration do not require an H
for the silent "he" at the end of such a word. They are at present
revising the rules, but I do not have sufficient information to comment
on them.
Similarly for the final "he" in ANSI Z39.25-1975, "Standard:
Transliteration of Hebrew," although some of the remarks in that
standard are incorrect. I have seen neither the rav's stationary nor
his stationery.
On the other hand, there is a rule known as "The One Immutable Law of
Transliteration": No matter what system you adopt, someone will come up
to you and say, "I showed your transliteration to six different people
and not one of them could pronounce it correctly. Here's a much better
system that I've developed."
IRA L. JACOBSON
mailto:<laser@...>
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From: Carl A. Singer <casinger@...>
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2006 06:55:34 -0400
Subject: Research question: references to the Creator
Certainly in some communities people use "Yinglish", throwing in Yiddish
words into their English speech. In the New York area I've heard
several non-Jews (even) who throw in various Yiddish words (or
mispronounced approximations thereof ...) into their conversation --
some not so nice, some mild such as "mishugah."
The "G-d" seems to be some kind of extension (chumra?) of the
prohibition of taking God's name in vein. Somehow equating writing His
name in English with writing it in Hebrew. The use of HaShem seems to
be an equivalent verbal construct to avoid saying "G-d" (sic)
I'm sure I'll offend someone if I call what other people do
"narishkite", so I won't -- but I'll reference back to my pre-Bar
Mitzvah days as a camper -- where we all sang "Dahveed, melech Ginger
Kayl, hi, hi, Canada Dry." -- and a few would (seriously) refer to
Canada Dry (a brand of ginger ale) as "ginger kayl" and even say
"Yisro-kayl" and pronounce names such as "Yerachme-kayl" lest they
transgress -- beware these people are, like me, now 60 years old -- who
knows what chumras they've foisted on their children and society after
getting off to such a good start..
Carl A. Singer, Ph.D.
Passaic, NJ 07055-5328
<casinger@...>
www.ProcessMakesPerfect.net
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From: Steven Oppenheimer <oppy49@...>
Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2006 14:26:30 -0400
Subject: Siddur Question
For those who daven Nusach Ashkenaz and recite BaMeh Madlikin after
Kabbalat Shabbat (before Ma'ariv) there is a paragraph that begins
Tanya: Chanaya omer, chayav adam.... This is from the Gemarra Shabbat
12a. Some siddurim have the girsa: amar Rabi Chanina. Artscroll Hebrew
edition lists both with the former language in the body of the text and
the latter as a footnote.
Does anyone know the origin of the second girsa which is at variance
with the text in the Gemarra OR is it just an error that has been
preserved by some printers?
Steven Oppenheimer, DMD
<oppy49@...>
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From: Yakir <yakirhd@...>
Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:00:32 +0300
Subject: Re: Simchas Yom Tov
> Too often we use totally secular and western/modern
> definitions, which are far removed from the halachik Hebrew
Perhaps we have removed ourselves from one of the basic original
meanings of "simcha" on Yom Tov. Simple physical pleasure and
enjoyment, in moderation and "lishma" (not for its own sake ?) is
legitimate and intended. If I remember correctly the source in the
Talmud and its commentators referred to simcha involving eating and
drinking, new dresses etc.
Shavuot, the issue under original discussion, is the one chag about
which all agreed that it needed a dimension of "lachem" (e.g. bavli
Peaschim, 68:). Rashi etc. explain this as enjoying the chag through
eating and drinking etc.
See also various sources which stress that listening to drawn out
chazanut constitutes neither "lachem" nor "l'hashem" (for some!!).
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From: Richard Fiedler <richardfiedler@...>
Date: Fri, 07 Jul 2006 14:08:13 -0500
Subject: Yom Kippur
Out side of Israel why is Yom Kippur not a two day fast?
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End of Volume 52 Issue 47
