Volume 65 Number 64
Produced: Mon, 25 Jul 22 15:40:49 -0400
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Ba'al Peor and Balfour,
[Yisrael Medad]
First US case of polio in nearly a decade is an Orthodox Jewish Man
[Prof. L. Levine]
Israeli singer defends refusal to shake Biden's hand
[Prof. L. Levine]
Israelis Don't Turn Up for Reserve Duty, and the Consequences
[David Tzohar]
No tolerance for hooliganism
[Immanuel Burton]
Sefer Bound Upside-Down
[Immanuel Burton]
Tallit resting on top of a siddur tephilla
[Martin Stern]
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From: Yisrael Medad <yisrael.medad@...>
Date: Thu, Jul 21,2022 at 06:17 PM
Subject: Ba'al Peor and Balfour,
Prof. L. Levine quotes in response to my reaction to his quoting a "Gadol", from
a Neturei Karta site, enough to disqualify his outlook approach, that we need
depend on the Three Oaths as if they can prohibit "mass return to Erztz
Yisrael". They cannot and the simple proof is that one of the Oaths 'prohibits'
"the nations that they would not oppress Israel too much". That has never been
the case and so, elementary logic indicates that it is just a Midrash.
--
Yisrael Medad
Shiloh
Israel
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From: Prof. L. Levine <llevine@...>
Date: Fri, Jul 22,2022 at 12:17 PM
Subject: First US case of polio in nearly a decade is an Orthodox Jewish Man
Local health officials announced the case on Thursday and said they would begin
a drive to increase vaccination against the potentially deadly virus. They said
the victim was experiencing paralysis, a hallmark of the disease, and that he
had not been vaccinated against it.
Multiple sources told the New York Jewish Week that the man is part of Rockland
County's substantial Jewish community. A local elected official said the same
thing in a now-deleted statement condemning those who do not vaccinate, which
drew fierce criticism on Twitter from many in the local Jewish community.
https://www.jta.org/2022/07/21/ny/first-us-case-of-polio-in-nearly-a-decade-is-an-orthodox-jewish-man?utm_source=JTA_Maropost&utm_campaign=JTA_DB&utm_medium=email&mpweb=1161-46342-711277
I was born in 1941, and I remember very well the fear all kids had about getting
polio. Getting it often meant being in an iron lung for life. When the vaccines
that kept one from getting polio became available, we were all relieved.
I simply cannot fathom how people can be against getting the polio vaccine. One
is required by the Torah to guard one's health, isn't one?
Professor Yitzchok Levine
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From: Prof. L. Levine <llevine@...>
Date: Fri, Jul 22,2022 at 01:17 PM
Subject: Israeli singer defends refusal to shake Biden's hand
Those who say I have no respect should apologize to my parents,' says Yuval
Dayan, who claims she repeatedly informed staff at president's residence of her
beliefs
An Israeli pop star who caused an outcry in Israel when she refused to shake
hands with visiting US President Joe Biden due to her religious beliefs, has
defended her actions and called on her critics to apologize.
> "Respect and human dignity are values that I was raised on and which I will
> raise my children on in the future," Yuval Dayan wrote in a Facebook post on
> Friday after her actions drew widespread criticism.
>
> "I ask all those who claimed that I have no respect to take back their words
> and apologize - not to me - but to my parents," she wrote.
>
> On Thursday, Dayan and another singer Ran Danker performed at a ceremony
> marking Biden's receipt of Israel's highest civilian honor. Afterward, Biden
> and Israeli president Isaac Herzog approached the artists to thank them.
>
> Danker took Biden's outstretched hand, but Dayan bowed instead, clasping her
> hands together and smiling.
>
> Dayan said she did so because she has committed to refrain from touching
> members of the opposite sex for reasons of modesty. She is famous in Israel
> in part for becoming more religiously observant, embracing the principle of
> shomer negiah, a prohibition on opposite-sex touching that some Orthodox Jews
> believe is required, as well as not performing on Shabbat or Jewish holidays.
For more see
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-singer-defends-refusal-to-shake-bidens-hand-on-religious-grounds/
Why is it that those who live in what they term a Jewish State are opposed to
basic halacha? Furthermore, in light of the fact that Biden now has Corona,
those who did shake hand with him could have contracted this virus!
Yitzchok Levine
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From: David Tzohar <davidtzohar@...>
Date: Wed, Jul 20,2022 at 12:17 PM
Subject: Israelis Don't Turn Up for Reserve Duty, and the Consequences
Two of my sons who are majors in the IDF reserves, one in the paratroops the
other in unit 669 air sea rescue. They spent a month in Cyprus recently in a
training exercise along with the armies of Cyprus and Greece. The rumor is that
it was a rehearsal for an invasion of Iran Hashem Yishmor aleinu. Like many
reserve officers they are called up for at least 50 days of active duty each
year. They served in the IDF as students in Yeshivot "hesder" after 5 years of
learning in Yeshivot.
It is well known that the IDF is not interested in conscripting tens of
thousands of Yeshiva students - they simply wouldn't know what to do with them.
On the other hand more and more charedim are doing army service. This is nothing
new. Nearly 50 years ago I served with many charedim including chabadnikim and
kids from the charedi moshavim Kommemiut and others.
IMHO the charedim should be doing national service not Army service. The purpose
of the IDF is not the integration of Israeli society. It is to protect Israel
and win wars. B'siyyata d'shmaya we will continue to do so.
David Tzohar
http://tzoharlateivahebrew.blogspot.com/
http://tzoharlateiva.blogspot.com/
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Fri, Jul 22,2022 at 04:17 PM
Subject: No tolerance for hooliganism
The recent incident at the Western Wall in which a group of Orthodox Jews
disrupted a non-Orthodox celebration is not the first time this sort of
behaviour has been discussed on this forum. Back in MJ 14#10 (July 11, 1994)
Meir Landau posted an account of an event he witnessed in which a car was driven
into a Shabbos-observant neighbourhood on Shabbos. The account is quite long,
but it can be read here:
http://www.ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v14/mj_v14i10.html
This too involved someone trying to berate someone whom they saw as a wrongdoer
ending up doing something wrong themselves.
My father has told me many times that whereas there are organisations that
engage in Kiruv work (bringing people closer to Judaism) and that not everyone
can engage in that sort of work full-time, one must still be especially careful
that one's behaviour does not constitute Richuk (distancing from Judaism).
Immanuel Burton.
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From: Immanuel Burton <iburton@...>
Date: Fri, Jul 22,2022 at 04:17 PM
Subject: Sefer Bound Upside-Down
Following on from the discussion about placing a tallit on top of a siddur, what
are people's thoughts regarding a sefer that has been bound upside-down, i.e.
the cover has been attached upside-down? Which way up should it be placed on a
shelf? Should it be placed the right way up for the cover so that it doesn't
appear as if it's upside-down, or should it be place the right way up for the
contents?
Immanuel Burton.
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From: Martin Stern <md.stern@...>
Date: Sun, Jul 24,2022 at 02:17 PM
Subject: Tallit resting on top of a siddur tephilla
Frank Silbermann wrote (MJ 65#63):
> I'm not an expert on any of these laws, but I had heard of priorities as to
> which sefarim one may stack on what other kinds.
>
> I mentioned to my rabbi that, surprisingly there is one set of writing that is
> customary to lay on top of a parchment Torah Scroll. The words are sometimes a
> list of people who donated money. It's embroidered into a piece of heavy cloth
> that we lay on top of the Torah scroll after reading one aliyah before reading
> the next.
I was not sure when I first read this whether Frank was being serious or pulling
his rabbi's leg. The "heavy cloth" to which he refers [mappah] is designated to
cover the Sefer Torah between aliyas so as not to leave it exposed when not in
use. Any writing embroidered on it is tafel [subsidiary] to the cloth and so is
in no way equivalent to a sefer of any kind. Since that is its sole purpose,
there is no question about its use.
> When we're done, we put it over and around the Torah scroll before placing it
> in the ark.
Many shuls do not have a mappah and use the mantel [cover] with which the
Sefer Torah is covered when it is stored in the Aron [ark] instead. I
presume that this is what Frank means in this last paragraph - but the same
applies to any writing embroidered on it.
Martin Stern
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End of Volume 65 Issue 64
