Volume 6 Number 40
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
B'racha on Procreation
[Meylekh Viswanath]
Birkat Kriat Shma
[Anthony Fiorino]
Earings
[Yisrael Medad]
Form of B'racha
[Bob Werman]
G'neiva as Tzedaka
[Anthony Fiorino]
Hora'as Sha'a
[Warren Burstein]
Japan Info Needed
[Frank Silbermann]
M. Mendelssohn and S.R. Hirsch (was Hora'as Sha'a)
[Michael Shimshoni]
Mixing Materials in Clothing
[Keith Shafritz]
Question for submission
[Chaim Schild]
Seoul and Honolulu
[Josh Milner]
Strange Jewish Places
[Kanovsky]
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From: <VISWANATH@...> (Meylekh Viswanath)
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 93 14:49:35 -0500
Subject: Re: B'racha on Procreation
Many posts on this subject have indicated the importance of Mitzvat Onah
(a husband's obligation to sexually satisfy his wife--quantity and
quality) in Judaism, and how this shows that the woman is not merely a
sexual object. I contrasted this with what I know of some other
religions, such as Christianity and Islam, where I understand that a
woman can be divorced for failure to make herself available for sexual
intercourse.
And then I discovered that the same was the case in Judaism, too. I
think it is discussed in Tractate Ksubes. I have two questions. First,
does this dimension (which has not been mentioned in m.j. during this
discussion) surprise/dismay anybody? Second, is the requirement that a
woman satisfy her husband, a biblical obligation or a rabbinic one?
Meylekh.
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From: Anthony Fiorino <fiorino@...>
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 11:35:15 -0500
Subject: Birkat Kriat Shma
Zvi Basser asked
> 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 if there is no torah law to read all day then why not lose
> the reward for the blessings also.
The blessings of shma do not refer to any commandment because they are
blessings of praise [birkat shevach] -- they are not in the form "asher
kid'shanu b'mitzvotav etc. [who santified us with His commandments
etc.]" Thus, one may say them even after the time for reading shma has
passed because they are not connected at all with the commandment to
read shma in its proper time.
I understand the blessings of shma to be part of the nusach [formal
order - Mod.] of davening; thus, it is permissable to say them as long
as it is permissable to pray. So one can say blessings of shma of
shacharit until chatzot [halachic "noon"]; similarly, one can say
shemona esraei until chatzot, even though the _mitzvah_ of shemona esrei
ends at the 4th hour.
Eitan Fiorino
<fiorino@...>
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From: MEDAD%<ILNCRD@...> (Yisrael Medad)
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 15:51 IST
Subject: Earings
Re Mike's comment in Vol 6 No. 16 abour earings:
I want to remind him of the verse in Ezekiel 16:8-12:
"(I) entered a covenant with you, says Hashem...I clothed you...
I decked you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets on your hands...
and e a r i n g s in your ears"
and also the mention of earings in Numbers 31:50.
So it is plain that our ancestors were not adverse to the wearing of
earings. By the way, my wife Batya, and daughters Chandi, Tzruya and
She'era all have pierced ears.
Yisrael Medad
<MEDAD@ILNCRD>
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From: <RWERMAN@...> (Bob Werman)
Date: Wed, 10 Feb 93 06:44:25 -0500
Subject: RE: Form of B'racha
Seth Magot writes:
>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".
In general this is correct.
But see the famous Yerushalmi, in Perek Shishi, brought in the name of R.
TanHum ben Yudin, in kaitzad m'varchin, where we learn that a bracha
made and not carried out can be made up by saying Baruch Shem Kavod
Malchuto [bli shem, im malchut].
__Bob Werman <rwerman@...> rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il
Jerusalem
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From: Anthony Fiorino <fiorino@...>
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 11:38:24 -0500
Subject: G'neiva as Tzedaka
Nelson Pole was wondering about the possibility of stealing an item, then
returning it with a fine, as a means of giving tzedaka.
An issur [forbidden act] is never made permissable by intent, and one cannot
do an issur in order to do a mitzvah. Classic example is stealing t'filin
because you have none. I belive that the mitzvah is negated in such a case.
Eitan Fiorino
<fiorino@...>
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From: <warren@...> (Warren Burstein)
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 93 11:16:32 -0500
Subject: Re: Hora'as Sha'a
For either the Torah-Im-Derech-Eretz or an emphasis on lifelong
full-time learning to be a Horaat Shaa, would not the halachic
authority have to be clear that his ruling is, in fact, a Horaat Shaa?
If he just gives a psak, wouldn't his successors continue to rule the
same way?
My feeling is more along the lines that there are a variety of
approaches, all valid, and some might be more appropriate than others
in certain circumstances. It doesn't seem to me that one is violating
any prohibition which needs to be temporarily suspended by following
either opinion.
|warren@
/ nysernet.org
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From: Frank Silbermann <fs@...>
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 93 14:38:26 -0500
Subject: Japan Info Needed
I have been invited to spend three weeks (beginning around the middle of
May) with a research group at the University of Tsukuba in Japan. This
is located about 80 miles from Tokyo.
I need advice re keeping kosher. Three complications:
1) I will not have access to a kitchen.
2) I am borderline lactose-intolerant, so my ability
to eat milchig is limited.
3) I cannot tolerate fish.
I can bring a suitcase of food, so what should I take?
Also, what non-fish Japanese foods are likely to be kosher?
Frank Silbermann <fs@...>
Tulane University New Orleans, Louisiana USA
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From: Michael Shimshoni <MASH@...>
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 15:21:39 +0200
Subject: M. Mendelssohn and S.R. Hirsch (was Hora'as Sha'a)
Steve Epstein wrote:
>The reason Rav Boruch Ber and most of the current Breuer's population
>assert that Hirsch's statement were Horaat Shaah was because Hirsch
>lived at the same time as Mendelsohn. They state that Hirsch proposed
====================================
>his neo-orthodox doctrine as a more traditiona alternative to the
>haskala; however, now this doctrine would not apply.
I do not feel qualified to enter the whole discussion, but would like
to point out that Hirsch did *not* live at the same time as M.
Mendelssohn, he was actually born after the death of M.M. in 1786.
>Yet, from my few readings of books and articles written by Hirsch and
>later statements by Rabbi Joseph Breuer, it seems to me that Hirsch
>truly believed in the value of a secular education for Jews in every
>generation.
That is my *impression* as well but I do not know enough on this
subject.
Michael Shimshoni
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From: Keith Shafritz <KSHAFRIT@...>
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 14:18:55 -0500
Subject: Mixing Materials in Clothing
It is my understanding that there are certain materials which
cannot be used together to make clothing. What are these combinations of
materials and what is the Halachic basis for not using these
combinations of various materials? As a specific example, doesn't a
Talit have to be made from a certain percentage of wool and certain
materials cannot be used to make a Talit? I am not only interested in
the Talit, but also in clothing in general. Any responses would be
greatly appreciated.
Thank You,
Keith Shafritz <kshafrit@...>
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From: SCHILD%<GAIA@...> (Chaim Schild)
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 12:16:37 -0500
Subject: Question for submission
In this weeks Parsha (Yitro) it says the Jewish people are a
segulah/treasure. I remember reading a commentary somewhere that said
they are like the vowel segol RATHER than the vowel tzere
(..).........Does anybody know where I read this ??
Thanx
Chaim
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From: <jdmilner@...> (Josh Milner)
Date: Sat, 13 Feb 93 22:12:58 -0500
Subject: Seoul and Honolulu
My father is travelling to Seoul, Korea and Honolulu, Hawaii soon and would
like to know if and where there might be minyanim etc. in those places
Thanks,
Josh Milner
<jdmilner@...>
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From: <KANOVSKY@...> (Kanovsky)
Date: Thu, 11 Feb 93 15:37:55 -0500
Subject: Strange Jewish Places
about strange jewish places these two come to mind:
1) the Corpus christi synagogue in Texas.
2) the Christ Church synagogue in New Zealand.
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End of Volume 6 Issue 40
