Volume 6 Number 75
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Cottonseed Oil for Pesach
[Dr. Sheldon Z. Meth]
Edible Chometz
[Bruce Krulwich]
Fast of the First-Born
[Henry Abramson]
Grand Rapids, Michigan
[Manny Lehman]
Heart Trasnplants
[Hayim Hendeles]
Kosher L'Pesach pet food
[Neal Goldberg]
Paris Synagogue/Restaurant on Rive Gauche;Aix-en-Provence Synagogue?
[David G Freudenstein]
Reply to Andy Cohen - #73
[Joseph Greenberg]
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From: <METH@...> (Dr. Sheldon Z. Meth)
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 19:52:25 -0500
Subject: Re: Cottonseed Oil for Pesach
Rabbi Avrohom Blumenkrantz, "The Laws of Pesach: A Digest," 5753 - 1993,
page 9-9.
Cottonseed Oil: Any, with a reliable supervision is permitted.
Then, in Hebrew, he writes (translation mine):
See in the MQRA"Q [I have no idea what the acronym means], Vol. 2, 60, and see
there in the Harrarei Kodesh. Also in the Minchas Ponim Addenda, 463.
It is known that today many use this oil on Pesach. Also the Gaon fro
Tzehlem, ZTZ"L gave a Hechsher for Pesach on this oil. The reason for this
heter is apparently simple: because the oil is made from the seed of cotton.
It is explained in the Shulchan Aruch Harav 4, that we are not accustomed to
a prohibition except on species of legumes, but species of seeds, etc.
Similarly, from other garden seeds we are not accustomed to any prohibition,
etc., since they are not similar to grain.
Nevertheless, see the responsa of the Minchas Yitzchak, Vol. 3, 138b, where
it is not clear to him the heter of this oil, and his opinion there is to
be machmir [stringent], and at the end it was raised (?)...
end of quote.
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From: <krulwich@...> (Bruce Krulwich)
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 13:58:31 -0500
Subject: Edible Chometz
> >Combat Roach Control System is edible chometz and must be sold
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^
> Say what?
>
> [As already mentioned on BALTUVA, this is serious. The underlying question
> is how the definition of edible is set, especially in regards to to Pesach.
> Mod.]
As I understand a comment by a major posek in Chicago, these roach control
systems contain a cracker as bait which is not poisonous to people. It's made
not to be poisonous to people for safety reasons. Because they make it this
way (safely) intentionally, it's chometz.
I don't know whether the cracker is poisonous to roaches, or whether some
other aspect of the trap is what kills them. Are these the traps with the
sticky floors?
Caveats apply -- CYLOR.
Chag Samayach v'Kasher,
Dov
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From: Henry Abramson <abramson@...>
Date: Sat, 27 Mar 93 23:05:33 -0500
Subject: Fast of the First-Born
Andy Cohen recently raised some interesting problems regarding teaching
children about the striking of the first-born, and this made me wonder about
something else that always bothered me -- why it is that the minhag is
to circumvent the fast of the first-born by attending a seudat mitzvah
(meal with "mitzvah content," e.g. completion of a tractate, circumcsion,
etc.).
Certainly, the fast is not halachically very serious -- the Me'am Loez even
writes that if it spoils one's ability to convey the hagada at the first
seder one should eat (see his Hagada, Hebrew translation, dapei nun het-nun
tet) -- but it seems to me an exceptionally meaningful fast, that even
at the moment of our geulah (redemption) we are conscious of the loss of
Egyptian families. Why do we seek to avoid it? Are there kehillot where
this is not the case, or do only yehidim (unique individuals) fast?
Henry Abramson <abramson@...>
University of Toronto
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From: Manny Lehman <mml@...>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 09:59:42 -0500
Subject: Grand Rapids, Michigan
According to the Jewish Chronicle Travel Guide (I really ought to get a
commission from them, I seem to be "advertising" them almost weekly).
Anyway according to them there is a Chabad House of Western Michigan @ 2615
Michigan St NE 49506. No telephone # quoted..
There are also Conservative and Reform synagogues. and a Jewish Community
Fand of Grand Rapids tel: 616 956 9365.
Prof. M M (Manny) Lehman
Department of Computing, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine
London SW7 2BZ, UK. - Phone: +44 (0)71 589 5111, ext. 5009
email: <mml@...>
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From: Hayim Hendeles <hayim@...>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 09:57:26 -0800
Subject: Re: Heart Trasnplants
>I couldn't begin to put forward the positions properly, so I
>won't try, except to note that Rav Tendler was strongly putting
>the position that Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l, who was his
>father-in-law, had in fact issued a ruling permitted organs to
>be removed from someone who has suffered "brain-stem" death.
I think it ought to be pointed out that Rabbi Tendler is the only
person (at least according to what I have heard and read) who believes
that Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l did in fact issue such a ruling. Other
prominent Rabbanim believe that Reb Moshe zt"l never issued such a
ruling, and bring proofs to this from some responses that Reb Moshe did
write. Furthermore, the 2 greatest Poskim of our own generation (Rabbi
Auerbach shlit"a, and Rabbi Eliashav shlit"a) have both ruled quite
emphatically and vehemently contrary to Rabbi Tendler's opinion.
Unfortunately, Rabbi Feinstein is no longer with us to clarify
his opinion on this matter.
There was an article on exactly this issue several months ago
in the Jewish Observer, with Rabbi Tendler putting forth his
positions, and a rebuttal to it from some other prominent Rabbis.
Hayim Hendeles
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From: Neal Goldberg <GOLDBERG@...>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 15:34 EST
Subject: re: Kosher L'Pesach pet food
I am writing in reference to Hillel's list of pet foods. I was
wondering if the list represented those dog foods that are permissible
for Pesach?
Additionally, would anybody know if Eukenuba, IAMS, Nutro's, or
Nature's Way have permissible dog food blends?
Thanks...
Neal
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From: David G Freudenstein <dgf@...>
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 10:16:08 -0500
Subject: Paris Synagogue/Restaurant on Rive Gauche;Aix-en-Provence Synagogue?
Might anyone be able to provide info/addresses for:
* On the Left Bank of the Seine [Paris]:
- A Synagogue.
- A Restaurant that allows prepaying meals for Shabbat dinner.
* In Aix-en-Provence:
- A Synagogue.
[I am trying to gather this information for friends traveling there this
May. I have already received some VERY helpful responses from this
readership, to a different query on their behalf, for a different part of
their proposed itinerary, concerning Minyan in Florence Italy].
Thanks!
david freudenstein, <dgf@...>
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From: <Joseph_Greenberg@...> (Joseph Greenberg)
Date: Thu, 25 Mar 93 09:59:48 -0500
Subject: Reply to Andy Cohen - #73
I too am faced with this issue, particularly as it applies to first-born
sons. I do not yet have any midrashim or sources that describe how to
address this issue, but with my background in psychology, perhaps I can
attempt a brief suggestion.
For the most part, research has suggested that children do not really
develop a sense of "G-d", or who G-d is, until at least the age of 12. I
remember reading a research article about this, and I began to wonder if
that was as true among orthodox Jews, given that we talk about G-d three
times a day (not to mention talking to Him), and we have much earlier
exposure to G-d than a 12th year confirmation, or something like that. In
fact, I have noted that Jewish children tend to know bible stories earlier
and more completely than non-Jewish children. So I am not sure if my child
(who is only two now anyway, I have _some_ time) will understand what I am
taling about when I speak of G-d anyway. But assuming he does, then how do
I address the issue of G-d hurting, or killing first-born sons? Furthermore,
how do we handle the issue of the Yam Suf (Red Sea splitting, then joining
back together to kill the Egyptians)? And of course, there are plenty of
other instances are, at least in 1993 human terms, "difficult" to understand.
I think that my solution will be essentially a gamble, and a bit of
misdirection. Although it will likely be necessary to mention the word hurt
or kill or die (I don't know if kill or die are meaningful to kids of this
age either, by the way), my goal will be to focus on two other issues- one,
that if we are good Jews, G-d will save us, and two, we, as Jews, rejoice in
our special relationship with Hashem, which other nations can not identify
with. I hope that the misdirection away from the discussion of hurt or death
will not lead to a sense of alienation when my son learns about it "for real"
in school, but by the same token, I hope that my emphasis on our relationship
with G-d will provide important Identification information for my son to
experience.
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End of Volume 6 Issue 75
