Volume 6 Number 36
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Accessing Israeli journal information
[Elhanan Adler]
Electricity
[Shmuel Zisblatt]
Hatmanah
[Danny Farkas]
M.A. Grant Wanted For An Ambitious Jew Of Poland
[sh*slawomir ZIENIUK]
Prayer
[Seth Magot]
Proper Dress
[Morris Podolak]
Times of Prayer and Shma
[Zvi Basser]
Wedding and Marriage
[Joel Goldberg]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <ELHANAN@...> (Elhanan Adler)
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 02:06:24 -0500
Subject: Accessing Israeli journal information
Riva Katz's recent question about accessing Israeli journal information
(which I answered directly) led me to think that m-j readers might be
interested to know that our Index to Hebrew Periodicals database
(200,000+ records) lists articles in several hundred Hebrew journals
(1977 to present), including Moriah, Tehumin, ha-Ma'ayan, Magal, Asia,
Sinai, Shanah be-shanah, etc. which contain a great deal of theoretical
and practical halakhic material. Articles are accessible both by authors
and subjects.
If you have access to Internet, *and* a vt320/420 or Visual-603 terminal
you can access the database and download the Hebrew font automatically
(sorry, if you're using a PC VT-emulation it probably won't work unless
you have an Israeli Hebrew chip).
If anyone would like detailed instructions on how to do this, please
contact me directly.
* Elhanan Adler University of Haifa Library *
Mt. Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel Tel.: 972-4-240535 FAX: 972-4-257753 *
* Israeli U. DECNET: HAIFAL::ELHANAN *
* Internet/ILAN: <ELHANAN@...> *
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <zisblatt@...> (Shmuel Zisblatt)
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 93 12:37:31 -0500
Subject: Electricity
I haven't been following this electricity debate very closely but I
don't recall anyone mentioning that the act of completing the circuit
causes one to transgress the melacha of "Makeh Beh Patish" which in
addition to fire was a melacha of the mishkan and might be pertinent to
an internal combustion engine also?????
P.S. Does anyone have an e-mail address for Dr. David Yarmush at
Rutgers?? I would like to get in touch with him. Thanks
Sam (Shmuel) Zisblatt Dept. Of Biology , Boston U.
<zisblatt@...>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Danny Farkas <cs922177@...>
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 93 23:52:10 -0500
Subject: Hatmanah
>My purpose, however, was for sources! I realize that if I look up in the
>Shulchan Aruch, Chap. 318 ("shin yud chet" :-), I would find the BASIC
>hallachot of hatmna. What I want to know, is precisely how you define
>"wrapping up a pot". Does that mean DIRECT contact, and if so, where did
>you see this? Do you know of any specific modern t'shuvot that refer to
>this particular issue?
Actually the halachah there is quite clear, that the Hatmanah must
be in direct contact. The mishnah berurah (or maybe it was the mechaber
himself) gives an eitzah (advice) that in order to keep a pot hot, you
can cover it with a larger pot, so that the small pot is not touching
the sides of the larger one. Even if one were to directly wrap the
larger pot, it would still not be considered Hatmanah, because the
original pot was not directly wrapped. The question that was asked here
was in a case where only one side was touching (I think the problem was
the stovetop touching the bottom or something). At the time, I looked
up the halachah and couldn't come up with any clear answer from the m.b.
I'm still in the same postion. If anyone has in fact heard some more
recent teshuvah, I'd also appreciate the answer.
Danny Farkas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: sh*slawomir ZIENIUK <SHELOMOH@...>
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 93 13:29:46 -0500
Subject: M.A. Grant Wanted For An Ambitious Jew Of Poland
B"H
Ma(ariv, Y"Z b'Shevat ThShN"G, Universita Varsha b'Varsha, Galut haMara.
SHALOM ALL|
My name is shelomoh*s*ZIENIUK, & i'm a 5th-year student at the Institute
of Applied Linguistics, University of Warsaw, Warsaw. Here i am also enrolled
to the Department of Hebrew, Oriental Institute. Next summer/autumn
(i.e., '93) i'd like to start my 1-3 semesters (preferrably the whole
academical year period) abroad: Israel/USA/UK/? This is meant to be
an indispensable programme for me as i am going to gather data for my Jewish
M.A. to be defended at the U of Warsaw. Here in this Auschwitz country
(i'm sceptical to say Auschwitz is over, having lived here for 27 years
since my birth now) they hardly have any sources to
THE TOPIC OF MY M.A. THESIS:
ISRAEL'S LANGUAGES AT THE DAWN OF JERUSALEM'S QUADRIMILLENNIUM ('96).
And if they even happen to have a little bit of something, then there is
no a single consultant available to discuss a particular question with.
99.9 % of all the polish Jewry obliterated from the face of this
soil by the terrible Nazis com(m)a & their disgusting polack supporters:
am-I-my-brother's-keeper stuff period.
COULD YOU, PLEASE, HELP ME FIND THE GRANT/SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMME FOR MY M.A.?
MORE INTRODUCING MYSELF BELOW:
Born: 13th Kislev 5753 (='93), poland.
Affiliation: Ortho Shul.
Languages: English (both Brenglish & Amglish), Russian, Ukrainian,
Esperanto,Ido, Interlingua, polish,
(French, Byelorussian, Hebrew, Yiddish, Arabic, Greek).
Interests: broadminded, yet Yiddishkeit being the top priority;
generally: languages, Middle East, cultural anthropology,
volunteering, Jewish activism, editing, journalism.
Qualifications: B.A., translator/interpreter, partime teacher,
everlasting student.
Skills: study, teach, n'socialize: makin' dreams come true;
freelance poet & queryman.
Posts: secretary, DEGEL*HATORAH Jewish Circle for Arts & Sciences,
U of Warsaw, Warsaw; editor-in-chief, Beth Bir)i Magazine.
Marital Status: bachelor with B.A.
Last not least: gonna make my own Aliyah in 12-24 months.
Other: please feel free to ask any further details You might need.
Shalom uVrakha v'Shavua( Tov laKhem|
--sh a.k.a. shelomOH*of*WARsaw*in*poLAND
Ani shalom v'khi adaber hema lamilchama: (Tehillim QK:Z)
Internet <SHELOMoh@...> * Bitnet <shelomOH@pLEARN.bITnet>
N.B.: Just in case a couple of MY ADDRESSES:
( i) HOME: shelomoh*slawomir*ZIENIUK,
ul. Dobra 22/24 m. 27 (II p.),
PL-00-388 WARSZAWA/WARSAW,
poland.....................<This-Gas-Sting State of Auschwitz>,
no phone installed here, regrettably ('ti$ not America).
(ii) UNIV.: (shelomoh)*slawomir*ZIENIUK, student,
c/o Dept. of Hebrew (Hebraistyka),
Oriental Institute,
University of Warsaw (U.W.),
26/28 Krakowskie Przedmiescie Street,
PL-00-927 WARSZAWA/WARSAW,
poland, eaSTERN*europe.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <MAGOT@...> (Seth Magot)
Date: Tue, 9 Feb 93 10:31:05 -0500
Subject: Prayer
I am trying to find what exactly constitutes a prayer (such as is
found in the siddur). From what I remember (and I don't remember my
source) a 'proper' prayer must either start or end with "baruch ata
ad-oni elo-hanu melech ha-olum".
Seth Magot
<MAGOT@...>
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Morris Podolak <morris@...>
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 93 05:12:49 -0500
Subject: Proper Dress
Some time ago mail_jewish had a discussion on the issue of proper dress.
I recently came across a responsum from the RASHBASH (Rabbi Shlomo
Duran, who lived in North Africa at the end of the fourteenth century)
that has some relevance, and interest. The question involved a
community that wanted to forbid wearing shoes in the synagogue because
the Moslems thought that wearing shoes in a place of worship is
disgraceful. The RAMBAM, however, permits wearing shoes in a place of
worship, so some people insist on wearing them. Who is right? The
RASHBASH explains that a synagogue must be treated with respect. But
that respect depends on what people see as a mark of respect. What
constitutes disrespect depends on local custom. The same is true of
people. A person may be intrinsically worthy of honor, but if he
dresses in a slovenly manner, he will not get it. In Christian
countries you wear shoes even when you stand before a king. Therefore,
in those places, you may wear shoes in a synagogue. In Moslem countries
it is an insult to wear shoes in the presence of dignitaries, and
therefore you should not wear shoes in a synagogue. When the RAMBAM in
chapter 5 of Hilchot Tefillah says you should not pray barefoot, he
means in places where the custom is to stand in front of government
officials wearing shoes. In Moslem countries, where one would not even
enter the home of the poorest Arab wearing shoes, you should certainly
not do so in the synagogue. I'm sure that not everyone agrees with the
RASHBASH on this, and I certainly don't want to start up a whole new
discussion on the subject. I just wanted to point out that there is a
rishon (posek from the middle ages) who says that styles of clothing
change with time and place, and we should take these styles into
consideration.
Morris
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <fishbane@...> (Zvi Basser)
Date: Sun, 7 Feb 93 16:11:50 -0500
Subject: Re: Times of Prayer and Shma
Concerning times of prayer and shma-- i have been somewhat confused.
those who learned berachos with rashi know that the time of shma is
from first rays of dawn (alot hashachar) until the 3rd hour-- we hold
not like rashi that this means to the end of the 3rd hour. WE know
that shmoneh esreh cant be said until sunrise (netz) and that the
ideal way of doing things is to time shma before sunrise so that at
sunrise one will get to shmoneh esreh. There are variations on these
things but essentially thats the story. Now we come to the question of
what happens if someone didnt say shma at the proper time. here we
find the kesef mishna says-- thats ok-- just as uvshochbecho (exactly
how did the gaon work out these pronumnciations?) means for the
rabbis-- the whole time people sleep so uvkumecho should mean the
whole time they're awake, and so the mechaber seems to word the rule in
his SA. The Mogen Avrohom argues and says "uvkumecha" can only mean the
time when the majority of people are rising from sleep-- after 4th
hour too bad (and some argue that people rise independently of dawn
and sunrises etc but go according to fixed custom-- an interesting
wrinkle.) Anyways i recall the pree megadim here supporting the idea
that torah law gives you all day but the rabbis limit it. Now the
question arises-- how can we understand "that one who reads after the
end of the third hour is simply like one who reads from the torah but
does not lose the blessings."-- if they are "blessings" then there
should be a commandment they refer to and the shma recitation should
be good all day according to torah law/ But is there is no torah law
to read all day then why not lose the reward for the blessings also? I have
never seen a satisfactory answer to this, has anyone?
zvi basser
----------------------------------------------------------------------
From: <goldberg@...> (Joel Goldberg)
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1993 09:36:06 +0200
Subject: Wedding and Marriage
With respect to:
However I will not argue
that Gila (mirth), rina (joyous song), ditza (pleasure) v'Cheva (delight)
Ahava (love) v'Achva (brotherhood) v'Shalom (peace) v'Reut (companionship)
are more central.
Shouldn't the last word be Rehut (furniture)? This is very central..
----------------------------------------------------------------------
End of Volume 6 Issue 36
