Volume 52 Number 89
                    Produced: Wed Oct 18  6:21:20 EDT 2006


Subjects Discussed In This Issue: 

189 pictures of Second Hakafot
         [Jacob Richman]
Apikores
         [Stu Pilichowski]
ARI and Sefarad
         [Rabbi Wise]
the Arizal
         [Leona Kroll]
Aruk Ha-Shulhan - Missing Simanim
         [<shuanoach@...>]
Chutz Laaretz practices
         [Joel Rich]
Kashrus on EL AL (3)
         [Akiva Miller, Stephen Phillips, Perets Mett]
Looking for restaurant in chicago suitable for business dinner
         [Moshe Bach]
Punishment and Suffering
         [Bernard Raab]
Scarves
         [Shmuel Norin]
A simple courtesy
         [Bernard Raab]
stille naanu'im
         [Orrin Tilevitz]
Stories, Photos & More
         [Rabbi Dovid Bryn Foundation]
Web Site - Size of Israel
         [Michael Mirsky]


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From: Jacob Richman <jrichman@...>
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 04:52:51 +0200
Subject: 189 pictures of Second Hakafot

Hi Everyone!

Tonight (Saturday night after chag) I took pictures of the second
hakafot at S'deh Chemed in Ma'aleh Adumim.  I posted 189 pictures on my
website at:

http://www.jr.co.il/ma/pic/ma113.htm

When the first page comes up, press the F11 key on the top of your
keyboard for a full page view.  Use the icon buttons on the bottom of
each page to navigate.

Enjoy!
Shavua Tov,
Jacob

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From: Stu Pilichowski <cshmuel@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:03:04 +0000
Subject: Apikores

I think it was one of the leaders of the State of Israel many years ago
who lamented that the State, unfortunately, has no apikorsim - only
Amaratzim.

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From: <Meirhwise@...> (Rabbi Wise)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 14:45:52 EDT
Subject: Re: ARI and Sefarad

Custom follows the father not the mother and in the case of the Ari, his
father was also his teacher.

Eli and Menashe are making a common mistake by confusing nusach s'fard
(/ari) with sefardi - they are NOT the same.

Rabbi Wise

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From: Leona Kroll <leona_kroll@...>
Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2006 00:55:45 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: re: the Arizal

BS"D

It's over simplifying things to say that the Arizal adopted Sefardi
customs.

1. There are few, if any, universally Sefardi customs- there are
Moraccan, Egyptian, Syrian, Spanish-Portugese, etc. customs, and they
have common threads, but its a bit erroneous to speak about Sefardi
customs (even eating kitniot on Pesach is not a sefardi
custom. Moroccans do not eat kitniot- except for baal teshuvahs who
don't know any better- and those communities that do eat some kinds of
kitniot have their own guidelines).

2. The Arizal did adopt certain minhagim based on Kabbalah, but the
adoption of these customs arose from his learning. In many cases, his
minhagim are similar or even identical to minhagim found in different
Sefardi communities, but not always and not in all Sefardi
communities. What you could say is that the Arizal, like many Sefardi
rabbanim, was influenced by a particular way of understanding the
Kabbalah and the way to act in harmony with the Kabbalah (I'm being
careful about how I word this because the Gra himslef stated that you
shouldn't paskin w/o an understanding of Kabbalah).

3. The Arizal was definitely influenced by the m'kubali of Tsfas w/ whom
he lived and learned. He also influenced them. Not all of their
practices were Sefardi- some were no doubt from the Arizal himself.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: <shuanoach@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 17:31:30 -0400
Subject: Aruk Ha-Shulhan - Missing Simanim

 Anyone know where the Aruk ha-Shulhan covers hilkot ketubbot? I was
looking at his sefer on even ha-ezer and after siman 65 it just stops
and skips over all the laws of the ketubah. Did he place these
elsewhere? Why wouldnt he have written on these? (If anyone has
tchernowitz's toldot ha-posqim, please see if he mentions these simanim
as missing.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Joel Rich <JRich@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:48:44 -0400
Subject: Chutz Laaretz practices

What is the general practice regarding waiting between chazarat hashatz
and hallel in CHU"L in minyanim where there are those who wear tfillin?
My anecdotal experience is that most everyone takes off their tfillin
and takes out their lulavim during chazarat hashatz.  Is this practice
brought down anywhere as it seems to interfere with people's ability to
concentrate on the chazarat hashatz? Perhaps there's a concern about
some pause between the conclusion of chazarat hashatz and hallel? IIRC
on a somewhat related note R' YBS noted that on Rosh chodesh one should
daven musaf with his tfillin on if he did not have time to put them away
properly because of the rush to get to daven mussaf.

GT
Joel Rich

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Akiva Miller <kennethgmiller@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:01:36 GMT
Subject: re: Kashrus on EL AL

Isaac Balbin wrote:
> I don't wish to be party to any besmirching of what might
> be an "acceptable" Hechsher... I would ask that people keep
> dispassionately to provable facts. I haven't flown EL AL in
> ages and I can recall some years ago there was an issue with
> Kashrus. Have those problems now been overcome?

As far as I know, there are no mashgichim of any kind on any El Al
flights.

This means that there is no one to insure that all food brought on board
has any kind of hechsher. I've heard stories of when a plane needed
restocking at some airport outside of Israel, and the regular brands of
whatever were unavailable, and alternate (non-kosher) brands were used
instead. If a person chooses not to believe such stories, that's okay,
because it doesn't really matter whether such things actually
occurred. The important thing is that without a mashgiach, they *could*
happen at any time.

Lack of a mashgiach also means that there's no one to insure that the
meat and dairy equipment does not get mixed up during a flight.

If someone is aware of flights which DO have an in-light mashgiach,
please let me know.

On the other hand, I do not wish to accuse the El Al flight crews of
serving us anything non-kosher. I presume that they have company
policies about purchasing only kosher food, and about the meat and dairy
equipment. Whether this is considered "reliable supervision" is a
question for each passenger and his/her rabbi.

Akiva Miller

----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Stephen Phillips <admin@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 12:37:24 +0100
Subject: Re: Kashrus on EL AL

> From: I. Balbin <isaac@...>
> I haven't flown EL AL in ages and I can recall some years ago there was
> an issue with Kashrus.
> Have those problems now been overcome?
> Is all meat glatt?
> Is all dairy cholov yisroel?
> Are relevant salad components washed?

I always ask for "Special Kosher" when flying El Al. That way one can be
assured of the above.

> While I am on a roll, do Ashkenazi people eat at El Gaucho's in
> Yerusholayim (I think it's Beis Yosef Shechita and Glatt) if they are
> lucky enough to be invited there by someone who can afford it :-)

I recall that they had a restaurant in London for a short while.
Apparently, in Israel the meat is not kashered by salting (melicha) but
by roasting (tzli). The Kashrus authorities in London wouldn't allow
that.

Before I ate in one of their restaurants I would want assurances that
(as an Ashkenazi) they salted the meat (just a little bit) before
roasting and that the meat was fully roasted (i.e. was not "rare" or
even "medium").

Stephen Phillips

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From: Perets Mett <p.mett@...>
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 13:51:31 +0100
Subject: Kashrus on EL AL

I. Balbin wrote:
> I haven't flown EL AL in ages and I can recall some years ago there  
> was an issue with Kashrus.
> Have those problems now been overcome?
> Is all meat glatt?
> Is all dairy cholov yisroel?
> Are relevant salad components washed?

There isn't a single answer to this question. El Al sources its meals
from different suppliers in different countries. Each has to be
evaluated separately. El Al does provide standards for kashrus. For
flights out of BenGurion airport the standard food supplied is
supervised by the Rabbinate at the airport ( I am not sure whether this
is part of the Israeli national rabbinate). I don't recall El Al serving
beef but if they do they would not be guaranteed to be glat.  OTOH you
can order 'Special Kosher' on El Al flights ex-BenGurion for which the
answer to all the above questions is yes (the hasgocho is by the Eida
hachareidis in Yerusholayim and the meals are sealed).

You might wish to note that while the meals are produced under
supervision, there is no supervision of the meals on the plane itself

> If one eats under Rabbanut Hechsher in say a restaurant in Israel is
> EL AL effectively the same standard (I realise it might be the same
> stamp)

Ask the following question: If one eats under Rabbinical hechsher in a
restaurant in Bnei Brak is that the same standard as in Tel Aviv?  Is
the supervision in Tsfas the same as that in Eilat? I don't think it is
meaningful to talk about a 'standard' level of Rabbinate kashrus.

Perets Mett

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Moshe Bach <moshe.bach@...>
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2006 12:13:19 +0200
Subject: Looking for restaurant in chicago suitable for business dinner

Hi.  I'll be in chicago in a few weeks, and I'm looking for personal
recommendations for a restaurant that's suitable to dine with business
colleagues.  I've seen the restaurant database, but I didn't see any
sure thing.  Please answer offline.

thanks
maury (moshe) bach
<mbach@...>, moshe.bach@intel.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Bernard Raab <beraab@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:26:01 -0400
Subject: Punishment and Suffering

I find the whole discussion of whether or why German or Polish Jews,
Communists or secularists suffered more or less, etc., rather curious. I
can't help thinking of the thousands (millions?) of Jews through the
ages who simply abandoned Judaism and assimilated into their surrounding
communities, who thereby avoided suffering any consequences of the
holocaust or prior depredations against the Jews. Shoudn't they be the
first in line for punishment? Perhaps they are, in Olam Haba'..., which
is where I think this entire discussion belongs.

--Bernie R.

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From: <engineered@...> (Shmuel Norin)
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 08:22:09 -0400
Subject: Scarves

 With winter coming, it brings up a question.  Do scarves need tsitsit
(fringes)?  If they do, would the requirement be eliminated by rounding
the edges?

Shmuel Norin

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From: Bernard Raab <beraab@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:17:24 -0400
Subject: A simple courtesy

>For an example I just saw recently, in the Yom Kippur Machzor just put
>out by my good friend Arnie Lustiger with the commentary based on the
>writings of Rav Soloveichek, see his comments on the piyot of the 10
>martyrs.

This comment is typical of many. The poster directs us to a reference
which very few of us (almost none?) are very likely to see. As a simple
courtesy, I believe it behooves the poster to give us a snapshot of the
commentary. Of course, one cannot convey the full meaning and subtelty
of the text in one or two lines, but surely some indication of its
approach and thrust can be provided. Worth a try?

--Bernie R.

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From: Orrin Tilevitz <tilevitzo@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 07:38:48 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: stille naanu'im

Is there any basis for the practice (I hesitate to call it a minhag) of
the sheliach tzibur's shaking the lulav while saying, in each case,
"hodu", the first "yomar", and the first two verses begining "Ana", to
himself, then either saying only the last word ("chasdo" or "na") aloud
or simply turning around expectantly to the congregation?  Is there any
source that explicitly decries this practice?

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Rabbi Dovid Bryn Foundation <RabbiBrynFoundation@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 11:17:07 -0400
Subject: Stories, Photos & More

B"H 
Teacher, Rabbi & Friend
The deffenition of a true Chossid!

If you knew Rabbi Bryn, please post your story. If you have photos of
him, please post them on the website.  To learn more about him, visit
www.RabbiDovidBryn.org.  We are also in the midst of producing a
documentary of his life, so if you have any footage with the rabbi,
please call our office at (305) 770-1919

Thank You!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Michael Mirsky <mirskym@...>
Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2006 16:26:39 -0400
Subject: Web Site - Size of Israel

As we all know Israel is very tiny compared to its neighbors.  But the
average non-Jew doesn't realize that - especially because of all the
news headlines it garners!

As a family project, we have created a web site called
http://www.sizeofisrael.com

It overlays Israel's silhouette onto street maps of well-known North
American and European cities to show Israel and the Green Line in
relation to that city.  For example, for New York, the narrowest part of
pre1967 Israel (around Herzeliya to the Green Line)is the same as from
the East River to Queens). Or for Toronto, it the same distance as from
Lake Ontario to Sheppard Ave.

Please have a look and share with others so that one more misconception
can be corrected.

Michael Mirsky 

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End of Volume 52 Issue 89