Volume 61 Number 87
Produced: Tue, 25 Jun 13 16:14:22 -0400
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Calendar Coincidence
[Carl Singer]
Eliezer Levi
[Menashe Elyashiv]
Exporting unsolicited Halacha (2)
[Michael Poppers Bill Bernstein]
Korach and Bilam were alike
[Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz]
Miriam's Miracles
[Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz]
Yizkor on chag - contradiction with Simchat Chag
[Katz, Ben M.D.]
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From: Carl Singer <carl.singer@...>
Date: Mon, Jun 17,2013 at 10:01 AM
Subject: Calendar Coincidence
I was preparing Yahrzeit reminders for a defunct congregation (their
membership long dispersed) and found an interesting coincidence in the 5774
& 2014 calendars.
February / Adar I
April / Nissan
May / Sivan (thru May 29th)
All coincide in numbers -- for example, the 12th of Nissan coincides with
the 12th of April.
Carl
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From: Menashe Elyashiv <Menashe.Elyashiv@...>
Date: Fri, Jun 14,2013 at 02:01 AM
Subject: Eliezer Levi
Eliezer Levi ben Elyakim, 1883-1964, wrote popular commentaries on parts
of the Tanach, on Mishnayot, on the Haggada, and also on the base of
prayer and halacha. Until newer books were written, his books were very
useful. I read the last two many years ago in my father's house and I bought
them for my library.
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From: Michael Poppers <MPoppers@...>
Date: Thu, Jun 13,2013 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Exporting unsolicited Halacha
In MJ 61#86, Dr. Carl Singer wrote:
> ...and this message: Please Note: If you wish to forward this email please use
> the link at the bottom of this page. Forwarding via your regular email server
> may inadvertently unsubscribe you from our list, and prevent you from receiving
> future "Halacha For Today" emails. (Baloney - but they want you to use their
> form for forwarding email -- this way they'll getthe email address of whomever
> you forward their mail to.)
Many email lists build the given listmember/subscriber's mailbox into the given
list's "unsubscribe" link, such that simply clicking on that link will actually
unsubscribe the listmember without further ado. I forward many received
email-list messages to others as a service to them, and I learned the hard way
that I should 'snip' the "unsubscribe" link prior to forwarding the given
message: once, one of the recipients of an email-list message unsubscribed me
from the list in question.
All the best from
Michael Poppers * Elizabeth, NJ, USA
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From: Bill Bernstein <billbernstein@...>
Date: Thu, Jun 13,2013 at 07:01 PM
Subject: Exporting unsolicited Halacha
Carl Singer (MJ 61#86) objects to piskei halakha (legal rulings) coming
unsolicited to his e-mail box, and asks whether this is not like Amazon running
Mom 'n' Pop bookstores out of business.
In my view, they are not alike at all. For starters, there is no (little)
financial gain, unlike sales. Second, there is an easy solution: if the emails
are that objectionable, start sending them to the Spam box, and every email from
the org will go there. The only work is cleaning the Spam box periodically.
True, you didn't solicit their advice. You're also not obligated to follow it.
Or pay any attention to it. I find sometimes things like this at least stimulate
some research on my part or occasionally a call to my rav. Sometimes witty table
conversation as well, as in "you wouldn't believe what someone sent me!"
I think more objectionable is the practice of yeshiva-educated people going back
to their rosh yeshiva for psak rather than relying on the local rov. But that's
another issue.
Bill Bernstein
Nashville TN
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From: Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz <sabbahillel@...>
Date: Sun, Jun 23,2013 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Korach and Bilam were alike
http://sabbahillel.blogspot.com/2013/06/korach-and-bilam-were-alike.html
Korach and Bilam were alike
One of the characteristics of Bilam was that he was greedy and selfish.
A similar characteristic shows up in Korach. The Medrash states that
Korach invented stories designed to try to show Moshe Rabbeinu in a bad
light and pretend that he had made up the halacha himself for his own
and his relatives' and cronies' benefit. One of the stories that he made
up involved a "poor" widow and her two daughters. This widow actually
shows the characteristic of S'dom in that she cannot accept that anyone
else would get any benefit from what is "hers".
--
Sabba - ??? ??? - Hillel
Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz | Said the fox to the fish, "Join me ashore"
<SabbaHillel@...> | The fish are the Jews, Torah is our water
http://sabbahillel.blogspot.com
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From: Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz <sabbahillel@...>
Date: Sat, Jun 15,2013 at 11:01 PM
Subject: Miriam's Miracles
http://sabbahillel.blogspot.com/2012/07/miriams-miracles.html
Miriam's Miracles
The Medrash says that the three main miracles that kept B'nei Yisrael alive in
the desert were because of the merit of the three children of Amram. The Mon
was given because of Moshe Rabbeinu, the Clouds of Glory were
erected because of Aharon haKohein, and the Well of Water in honor
of Miriam haN'viah. Each of these miracles actually shows the character
traits that symbolize the person in whose honor it was manifested.
The rest of the d'var torah is on my blog at the URL shown above.
--
Sabba - ' " - Hillel
Hillel (Sabba) Markowitz | Said the fox to the fish, "Join me ashore"
<SabbaHillel@...> | The fish are the Jews, Torah is our water
http://sabbahillel.blogspot.com
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From: Katz, Ben M.D. <BKatz@...>
Date: Mon, Jun 17,2013 at 12:01 AM
Subject: Yizkor on chag - contradiction with Simchat Chag
Menashe Elyashiv wrote (MJ 61#86):
> OK, its a great way to make (charity) money ... but this is really an east
> european minhag. Sefaradim don't say it. And here in Israel, it makes the
> single- day Shavuot prayers longer (Ruth, Akdamot), and, on the single-day
> Shmini Atseret, it seems to be out of place, coming after hakafot & joyful
> finishing and restarting the Torah cycle.
Mr Elyashiv is quite correct. The single-day Shemini Atzeret in Israel makes no
sense because Simhat Torah is a galut holiday (where the Torah was read on an
annual cycle) which essentially replaced the 2nd day of Shemini Atzeret. To
combine the 2 on a single day in Israel leads to religious dissonance, as
described.
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End of Volume 61 Issue 87
