Volume 64 Number 02
Produced: Sat, 15 Sep 18 17:04:35 -0400
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Meaning of g'zeira (2)
[Perets Mett]
Rosh Hashanah on Shabbat (5)
[Yisrael Medad Yaakov Shachter Haim Snyder Immanuel Burton Lawrence Myers]
Set aside established practice (4)
[Dr. Josh Backon Chaim Casper Irwin Weiss Martin Stern]
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From: Perets Mett <p.mett00@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 7,2018 at 10:01 AM
Subject: Meaning of g'zeira
Eric Mack wrote (MJ 63#99):
> As a kohen, I've been duchening [reciting the Priestly Benediction in front
> of the congregation] for decades, but the wording of the paragraph we Kohanim
> recite after Birkat Kohanim and concurrent with the ba'al tefilah's recitation
> of Sim Shalom just caught my attention this Shabbat ...
>
> We say, "Ribbono shel olam, asinu ma she-gazarta aleinu [Master of the world,
> we have done what you decreed upon us]" ...
> Does a g'zera [decree] from HaShem not usually have negative implications? If
> so, why is that word, in verb form, used regarding our Priestly requirement?
Eric is correct, a gzeira is a decree but there are good decrees and bad decrees.
During the Aseres Yemei Tshuva we ask (at the end of the last brocho of Shmone
Esrei) to be inscribed in the book of gzeiros tovos [good decrees].
Wishing all a gemar chasima tova
Perets Mett
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From: Eric Mack <ewm44118@...>
Date: Tue, Sep 11,2018 at 06:01 PM
Subject: Meaning of g'zeira
I asked (MJ 63#99) whether "g'zeira" has only negative connotations. In a
nutshell, the question arose because after reciting the Priestly Benediction in
the synagogue, we kohanim say, "Ribbono shel olam, asinu ma she-gazarta aleinu
[Master of the world, we have done what you decreed upon us]". However, on Rosh
haShana and Yom Kippur, everyone recites "u'T'shuva u'T'filla u'Tz'daka ma'avirin
et ro'a hag'zeira" [repentance, prayer and charity transform the evil decree].
I asked whether a g'zera [decree] from HaShem usually has negative implications
and, if so, why is that word, in verb form, used regarding our Priestly requirement?
I found my answer during Rosh haShana prayers. On both days, after the Ark is
opened and before the Torah scrolls are removed, we recite a paragraph that
begins "Ribbono shel Olam" ["Master of the World"]. In that prayer, we ask
HaShem to decree upon us good g'zeirot [decrees] and to nullify those g'zeirot
[decrees] which are difficult and evil.
In other words, a g'zeira can be either for the good or for the opposite.
Wishing everyone a g'mar hatima tova [may your Heavenly judgement be entirely
for the good]
Eric Mack, Jerusalem
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From: Yisrael Medad <yisrael.medad@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 7,2018 at 11:01 AM
Subject: Rosh Hashanah on Shabbat
Martin Stern wrote (MJ 64#01):
> I always thought that the primary reason for not blwing the shofar
> on Erev Rosh Hashanah was to make a break between the blowing during
> Ellul, which is only a minhag, and that on Rosh Hashanah itself,
> which is a mitzvah min haTorah. Since we don't blow the shofar on
> Shabbat, it occurred to me this morning that, when the first day of
> Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, we could blow it on Erev Rosh
> Hashanah.
>
> Though it does not apply this year, can anyone throw any light on
> why we still do not blow it in this circumstance?
A. I thought the reason to halt the day prior to Rosh Hashana was to mix up
the Dark Force so I am now mixed up.
B. When the Bet Hamikdash was in existance, the shofar was blown in its
courtyards and in the immediate area. We all recall the case of Rav Akiba
Schlesinger.
C. But I am even more mixed up, how could we blow the shofar on the Friday if
Rosh Hashana is on the Shabbat? Whatever day is erev Shabbat, the custom is not
to blow.
Or have I missed something?
Yisrael Medad
Shiloh
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From: Yaakov Shachter <jay@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 7,2018 at 04:01 PM
Subject: Rosh Hashanah on Shabbat
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 64#01):
How would you know on Friday that we are not going to blow the shofar
on the following day? The halakha is that we blow the shofar on
Shabbath in the Beyth HiMiqdash.
Jay F. ("Yaakov") Shachter
6424 N Whipple St
Chicago IL 60645-4111
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From: Haim Snyder <haimsny@...>
Date: Sat, Sep 8,2018 at 05:01 PM
Subject: Rosh Hashanah on Shabbat
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 64#01):
The simplest answer to this question is "Lo Palgy" (do not make one case
different than another). By keeping the restriction also when Rosh Hashanah
falls on Shabbat, there is no question about any other time.
This is similar to the question of why we say Vayehulu after the Amida on Friday
night even though we just said it in the Amida. (The explanation is left as an
exercise for the student).
Haim Shalom Snyder
Petah Tikva
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Sun, Sep 9,2018 at 12:01 AM
Subject: Rosh Hashanah on Shabbat
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 64#01):
The Siddur that I generally use, the Authorised Daily Prayer Book (commonly
known as the Singer's Siddur) used to say that if Erev Rosh Hashanah is a
Friday, the shofar is sounded. This changed in the 2006 edition (produced under
the auspices of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks), which says that the shofar is not sounded
on Erev Roshahah even if it is a Friday.
The idea that the shofar is not blown on Shabbat is not entirely accurate. The
Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah 4:1 says that if Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, the
shofar is sounded in the Temple, but not outside the Temple. The Mishnah then
goes on to say that when the Temple was destroyed, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai
ordained that when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, the shofar should be sounded
in any town which has a Beth Din (which may be referring to a 23-member
Sanhedrin). It would seem, therefore, that the sounding of the shofar is not
totally abolished when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbat, so there would still be
reason to have a break between the minhag of blowing during Ellul and the Torah
mitzvah of Rosh Hashanah itself.
The same Mishnah goes on to say that originally the Lulav was taken on all seven
days of Succot in the Temple and only on the first day outside the Temple, but
that after the destruction of the Temple, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai ordained
that the Lulav be taken all seven days of Succot everywhere as a reminder of the
Temple - something to keep in mind in 2 weeks' time.
Gemar chatimah tovah to everyone.
Immanuel Burton.
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From: Lawrence Myers <lawrm@...>
Date: Sun, Sep 9,2018 at 01:01 AM
Subject: Rosh Hashanah on Shabbat
In response to Martin Stern (MJ 64#01):
According to the old editions of Singers Prayer Book, this was the minhag in UK.
Lawrence Myers
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From: Dr. Josh Backon <backon@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 7,2018 at 11:01 AM
Subject: Set aside established practice
Stuart Pilichowski wrote (MJ 64#01):
> I'm looking for examples where a practice / halacha is set aside in order not to
> embarrass someone in public or private.
There is a very extensive halachic literature on "kavod habriyot" which he can
consult at:
https://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%9B%D7%91%D7%95%D7%93_%D7%94%D7%91%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%95%D7%AA
Josh Backon
<backon@...>
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From: Chaim Casper <info@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 7,2018 at 12:01 PM
Subject: Set aside established practice
In response to Stuart Pilichowski (MJ 64#01):
A ma'aseh she-haya (an actual occurance) in shul a number of months ago:
One Shabbat, the rabbi was out of town. The inexperienced gabbai invited two
brothers for hagba'ah and gelilah (raising and tying the Torah after the Torah
reading). The gabbai never said, "ya'amdu hamagbia vehagolel" but made it
clear to the brothers that they were doing together hagba'ah and gelilah.
Someone said, You can't do that because they are brothers.
I said Rav Braun in Shaarim Mezuyanim b'Halakhah (23:10) said the issue of
calling up brothers or father and son is due to ayna bisha (or ayin hara, the
evil eye). That problem comes up ONLY if you call up the brothers by their
name. But if you don't call them up by the name (as in this case), then there
is no issue of ayna bisha and they can do hagba'ah and gelilah together. So the
gabbai said, " We don't paskin (rule) like that!" and he sent one of the
brothers back to his seat.
In a follow up conversation with him, I said normally I would agree with you
that normative halakhah does not allow two brothers to do hagba'ah and gelilah
together but the two brothers were standing there at the bimah. By sending one
back to his seat, he was embarrassed which, I offered, is not what the halakhah
is looking for. He thought for a minute and said, "Maybe."
Best wishes for a Shanah Tovah u'Metukah!
B'virkat Torah,
Chaim Casper
North Miami Beach, FL
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From: Irwin Weiss <irwin@...>
Date: Thu, Sep 13,2018 at 07:01 AM
Subject: Set aside established practice
In response to Stuart Pilichowski (MJ 64#01):
> I'm looking for examples where a practice / halacha is set aside in order not
> to embarrass someone in public or private.
I don't know if this is really true or not -- but I heard this story: A
Sephardic woman became pregnant without benefit of marriage. She gave the baby
up for adoption. Thereafter she met a Sephardic man and they were married. She
did not tell her new husband of the prior birth. He was a bit of a hot headed
fellow and she didnt know how he would react.
So, it came to pass that she became pregnant and had a son. Her husband was
thrilled, as was she. The Brit Milah occurred. Thereafter, the husband began
making plans for the Pidyon HaBen. Well, she was educated and knew that since
Pidyon HaBen is for the Petter Kol Rechem [the first born child of the female]
and since this wasn't her first child, it really would not be proper to have a
Pidyon HaBen, and that, moreover, certain Brachot would be recited and whatever
was said would be a Bracha Levatalah [a useless blessing). What to do? She was
afraid to tell her husband, fearing that he would lose his temper and that he
might beat her, but, in any event, it would cause great embarrassment to cancel
the Pidyon HaBen, after he had told so many of his friends. What to do?
The story is that she asked her Rav, who asked his, and ultimately, the question
was presented to R. Ovadia Yosef Z"L, who was at the time the Chief Sephardic
Rabbi of Israel. He ruled that the Pidyon HaBen should go forward, without
telling the husband, for the sake of Shalom Bayit (peace in the household). In
other words, the concept of Shalom Bayit trumped the Halacha.
Again, I have no source for this story and I can't recall who told me or when.
Gmar Tov.
Irwin Weiss
Baltimore
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Fri, Sep 14,2018 at 04:01 AM
Subject: Set aside established practice
In response to Stuart Pilichowski (MJ 64#01):
While there may be situations where the GENERALLY ACCEPTED practice is set
aside in order not to embarrass someone in PUBLIC, it usually only involves
relying on a minority opinion that is normally not followed and then only in
the case of a derabbanan [a rabbinic mitzvah]. This would probably rely on
the principle of safeik derabbanan lekula [follow lenient rulings in
rabbinic mitzvot].
I don't think it is ever done when the point at issue is COMPLETELY private or,
for that matter, when it concerns de'oraita [Torah law].
Martin Stern
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End of Volume 64 Issue 2
