Avodah Mailing List

Volume 27: Number 59

Sun, 28 Feb 2010

• 1. Sober Thoughts on the Joy of Purim (Yitzchok Levine)
• 2. Jewish Joyfulness (Yitzchok Levine)
• 3. Re: Culturally questionable Purim costumes (T6...@aol.com)
• 4. Re: Culturally questionable Purim costumes (Micha Berger)
• 5. Who First Said it? (rabbirichwol...@gmail.com)
• 6. Re: kol hamoseif gorea (hankman)
• 7. Re: kol hamoseif gorea (Micha Berger)
• 8. Purim and Parshat Tetzaveh Dvar Torah (Liron Kopinsky)
• 9. If M'gillah is Talmud Torah... (rabbirichwol...@gmail.com)
• 10. Re: Who Said This? How could he say that? (Elazar M. Teitz)
• 11. Re: Who Said This? How could he say that? (Richard Wolpoe)
• 12. Reading the Haftorah (Prof. Levine)
• 13. Melech Chanun V'Rachum (kennethgmil...@juno.com)

The following is from the Collected Writings of RSRH Volume VIII 
pages 245 - 247. It is also available at http://bit.ly/cNwxHk  (Click 
on the link to page 245.) YL

  Sober Thoughts on the Joy of Purim

I look into the eyes of our brethren and find them devoid of the 
luster which in former times radiated from every Jew on Purim. 
Instead they reflect the shine of freedom and opportunity which they 
now enjoy among the nations. while they consider the joy of Purim 
simplistic, A "Good Purim" greeting draws a limp response.

In former times the Jew, crushed by external circumstances, could not 
be found in open society, Yet the Jew's life was not, as our brethren 
today think, merely one of lament and misery. We had our Sabbaths and 
festivals, when-completely removed from the world that rejected us-we 
lived happily and satisfied by ourselves, And we had Purim, when the 
desolate Jewish street became alive! Jubilation and joy abounded, and 
in the evening there was a feeling of having been transplanted to a 
carnival in Venice or Rome. All doors were open, everywhere the 
tables were set and the colorful crowd of masqueraders filled the 
street. The people outside the ghetto considered that this was the 
annual Jewish carnival, and they were often envious of the genuine 
joy expressed by these subjects of the Holy Roman Empire during harsh times.

Has the Emancipation, with its newly found freedom and opportunity, 
resulted in more joy, greater satisfaction and a still happier 
existence than what our forebears experienced? Are we at a stage when 
we look condescendingly on those who still need the old Purim 
celebration to express their joy?

  Purim is not a reverie meant to escape temporarily the harsh pain 
and grief of life. The true lesson of Purim is to teach us the 
realities of life and face them with new vigor and courage. The 
spirit of Purim results in an everlasting. true serenity.

Do you want to know what the spirit of Purim is?

Have you ever been in a storm on the high seas when the strong wind 
blew across the sails, threw down the masts and cast the boat over 
the waves at high speed? The craft seemed about to be shattered on a 
rocky reef, the sailors gripped the siderails in despair and 
looked  with horror at impending disaster. Suddenly the cruel north 
wind gave way to a becalming western wind. the ship slid calmly over 
the smooth surface of the water and the sailors felt as if life had 
been regained. Have you ever been high up in the mountains when a 
storm overtook you? The sky became black, thunder deafened your ears 
and torrents of rain threw you to the ground. You tried to descend to 
a lower, more safe terrain. Your foot almost slipped across the bare. 
wet rocks. your way illuminated only by frightening bolts of 
lightning, and every moment you felt you were about to fall into the 
abyss. Suddenly. the sun reappeared and the storm clouds rapidly 
drifted away, the dull roar of thunder faded and the blue sky and 
green fields appeared so friendly. You were overcome with a feeling 
of gratitude for the Almighty Creator of nature.

Such a calming sea wind after a tempest, the golden sun after a 
thunderstorm. is the story and the spirit of Purim.

       The shaky boat of Jewish fate seemed to be foundering in the 
stormy sea; the rage of the storm had already toppled its mast and 
salvation was nowhere in sight. Suddenly the storm was ordered to 
disappear and the ship of Judah rocked quietly and safely in the 
smiling rays of the sun on the solemn sea. Should Judah not rejoice 
in its regained existence? Should it not jubilate on its day of 
salvation? Should Judah not have its Purim as a day of celebration 
and joy? When danger passes you quickly forget the circumstances of 
your salvation. You forget the faithful hand of the father who guided 
you during the rough stormy days of pressure and misery. You forget 
the caring mother who let healing balm drip on the wounds of hatred 
and oppression inflicted by a hostile environment. You have long 
forgotten the Jewish Law which brought you through life, and only 
rarely do you remember the All-bountiful Who always provided for you. 
You imagine that all danger has passed. There is no more hardship, 
prejudice  or hatred; they will never return. With ineffable conceit 
you look back on the time when your mother cared for you and educated 
you, and you consider yourself as already beyond her influence. With 
pride you exclaim: Well, I am greater than my mother. Do you really 
believe that you no longer need to remember the past?

       Do you really think that such somber times will never recur? 
Do you really believe that you will rock forever on a smooth sea, 
bask eternally in the light of the morning? Do you really believe 
that Purim has outlived its usefulness and that you need not 
distinguish it from the  ever-peaceful days of your life? Is Purim no 
longer a holiday. a call to joy for you?

     O. you deluded ones! Look at the society which is now freely 
open to you. Look around on the great marketplace of life. Has the 
race of Hamans died out completely with him and his ten sons? Could 
you not find someone from the Rhine to the Oder. from the Volga to 
the Danube who is capable of being his successor? Be sober and 
observe. Indeed the horizon of the Jew may well become somber; sultry 
clouds hang in the German sky. Even in our own Jewish circles 
indications for gloom are apparent. No one is secure .

       Thus. more than ever, it is necessary to celebrate the Purim 
spirit. We must take courage in the grace which God gave us by 
leading us safely through the storms of the past. so that we may 
serenely and confidently persevere in the face of the Hamanlike 
trials of the present and future as our fathers did in the past.

       Let us inculcate the merry spirit of Purim in ourselves: To 
remain trusting in God in both happiness and trouble. to remain 
faithful to the Divine Law and our Jewish calling, to remain 
confident of the future during the thunderstorms of history.

      Let us implant into our minds and our children's minds this 
Purim spirit of true serenity and genuine joy, so that it will be 
their companion for life, give them strength and consolation, and 
protect them from the burning sun at high noon.

Read the Megillah and read it also to the still living sons of Haman. 
Remember how Haman of old endeavored to destroy all the Jews and how 
God in His boundless love voided Haman's plans. how He turned the 
sword of retaliation against him and eliminated him and his followers.

But read also about "Mordechai the Jew," who did not bow to 
any   un-Jewish doctrine and acknowledged openly in the marketplace 
of life, under dangerous circumstances. that he was a Jew and would 
never forsake his God. Learn from him.

This is the timeless spirit of Purim.

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I have posted RSRH's essay titled Jewish Joyfulness that appears in 
Volume VIII of his Collected Writings  at 
http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/jewish_joyfulness.pdf  Note 
the sentence, "The Jew needs no intermediary between himself and his God."  YL

In this essay he writes:

The Jew knows only one cause for bitterness, one enemy of his serene 
joyfulness-it is the awareness of sin, of guilt, of having forfeited 
his life's purity. And even here, too, the incomparable majesty of 
Divine teachings comes to the rescue. Even the seasoned sinner will 
not be deprived of life's serenity forever. Judaism knows not only 
death but also redemption from sin. The seasoned sinner must 
earnestly declare his willingness to free himself from the shackles 
of sin once he has tasted the bitter cup of iniquity-and then God 
will be near to him, will meet him halfway, will help him overcome 
the antagonist within him. And God will be ready at any moment to 
take back the sinner in a warm embrace and grant him renewed 
happiness in life, cleansed of all the dreadful wrongs of his past.

The Jew needs no intermediary between himself and his God. His 
transformation and return to God occur in the seclusion of his own 
heart. Within his own heart there may be shadows of darkness, yet his 
own heart will once again radiate with the beams of daylight. Even if 
he had lost his God on his own volition, he will find his God once 
again on his own initiative, and at every moment, at every turn he 
can find  Him (Isaiah 55,6):  "Seek God for He desires to be found; 
call Him for He is so close. Let the sinner change his ways and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to our God; and God 
will show him mercy, He never tires to forgive." God has spoken - the 
Jew hears it, and he turns back and stands upon the most glorious 
heights in unexpected joy!
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From:  Arie Folger _afolger@aishdas.org_ (mailto:afol...@aishdas.org) 

>> What  are the parameters of 'huqot hagoyim. Shul'han 'Arukh YD 178
includes among  the prohibition of 'huqot hagoyim the prohibition to
wear costumes  specifically associated with idol worship.


....But what about dress  that is more explicitly tied to foreign religious
celebrations or religious  orders, are these not violations of 'huqot
hagoyim? Is it sufficient that  in their neighborhood they are unaware
of the Christian connection, or do  they remain assur since most of
their non-Yerushlami neighbors, ten blocks  down, would recognize
these?

At issue are two costumes, one of girls  dressed as nuns, but with a
magen david (and upon reflection, that means  they are likely not
'Hareidim) and a family in Meah She'arim all dressed up  in red
costumes with white trimmings, reminiscent of some famous  fictional
character associated with gifts at some major Christian holiday.  I am
operating here under the reasonable assumption that they are  unaware
of the Christian connection.

Can one unknowingly transgress  'huqot hagoyim, meaning, when knowing
the halakha but not knowing of the  cultural connection? Does it matter
when the clothing in question is not  associated with AZ in that
neighborhood? <<

Arie  Folger,







>>>>>
It seems to me that if you live in a neighborhood (or a time) where the  
association between a particular costume and some A'Z religion has been  
forgotten and is not known, then there is no longer any prohibition.  How  could 
people be culpable for something they didn't even know about?
 
This reminds me of something else that has become common in  Jewish homes 
(but which my father did not permit): candles on a birthday  cake.  I think 
most people don't know that this custom had pagan  origins.  Those who do 
know, should not have birthday candles.  Those  who don't know, well, they 
don't know. 
 
I would make a distinction, BTW, between Santa Claus costumes and the nun  
costumes that you mentioned.  In the case of the former, it is safe to  
assume that the Meah She'arim kids had just never heard of SC and had no  clue.  
I've heard variations on this story a number of times -- e.g, an  Israeli 
kid visiting America and thinking SC is a chassidishe rebbe who wears a  red 
suit.  In the case of the nun costumes, you can assume they /did/ know  and 
that the purpose of dressing as nuns was to /make fun/ of them.  IMO  
wearing an A'Z costume in order to make fun of A'Z is mutar and is quite  
different from wearing an A'Z costume in order to "be like the goyim."
 
You could ask a related question, is it mutar to dress in a way that makes  
you appear to be a rasha?  Well?  How about dressing your kid up as  
Achashverosh or Haman?
 
Generations have held this to be mutar.
 

--Toby  Katz
==========

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On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 11:37:12PM -0500, T6...@aol.com wrote:
: It seems to me that if you live in a neighborhood (or a time) where the  
: association between a particular costume and some A'Z religion has been  
: forgotten and is not known, then there is no longer any prohibition...

So your kids go trick-or-treating?

:                                                                       How  could 
: people be culpable for something they didn't even know about?

Isn't that what "beshogeig" means?

I think the difference between AZ and derekh Emori is just that -- you
need to know the kashrus of the *origins* of a practice before adopting
it.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It is harder to eat the day before Yom Kippur
mi...@aishdas.org        with the proper intent than to fast on Yom
http://www.aishdas.org   Kippur with that intent.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter

Who was the first Poseiq to suggest or require reading BOTH Zecher and
Zeicher in Parshas Zachor?

Freilichen Purim
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

RMB wrote:

I assume they mean that the world was created to fit the Torah, not the
other way around.

I have a much further elaboration about layers of abstraction and olamos
in the Maimonidian Qabbalah category of my blog, but defending that would
get involved. Let's just say that the Zohar (source of #1) meant that as
the Or "descended" from higher olamos to this one, the level at which it
expresses itself as the Torah is logically prior and causes that where
it expresses itself as physics.

But knowing that the ideas in the Torah caused the world to be as it is
doesn't mean that a human being is capable of tracing back how HQBH got
from Torah to olam by studying the Torah. In the case of chuqim, we
can't even undertstand how HQBH got from Torah to Torah.

CM:

Thank you R' Micha, that expresses it far better than I ever could. So
essentially (according to these sources) the answer to what I asked was:
Yes, (advanced/ultimate) science is (somehow) embedded in Torah, but too
deeply to be uncovered by mortals (cf. chukim) and thus unreasonable to
expect Chazal to have advanced scientific knowledge based on their prowess
in limud Torah and therefore not a lack of emunas chachamim to believe they
were only aware of the state of science available in their era (contrary to
[some of] the chareidi position[s]). Is that essentially it?

Freilichen Purim
Kol Tuv

Chaim Manaster
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On Sat, Feb 27, 2010 at 10:48:41PM -0500, hankman wrote:
: Yes, (advanced/ultimate) science is (somehow) embedded in Torah, but too
: deeply to be uncovered by mortals (cf. chukim) and thus unreasonable to
: expect Chazal to have advanced scientific knowledge based on their prowess
: in limud Torah...

That's a stronger statement than the one I made.

I just said that the quotes "histaqeil beOraisa uvarei alma" et al speak
of what Hashem did, not what people are capable of. Therefore, it leaves
open the possibility that while nature was made to fit the Torah, people
can't necessarily see how.

I did not assert that's what the sources themselves say.

IOW, I just dismissed them as proofs; I didn't give any arguments one
way or the other about Chazal knowing science. I think the discussions
of the sun going behind the raqi'ah are sufficient for that. The fact
that Chazal still spoke that way, even after Ptolmey -- albeit not when
Ptolmeic theory was popular -- makes the point irrefutably.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "The worst thing that can happen to a
mi...@aishdas.org        person is to remain asleep and untamed."
http://www.aishdas.org          - Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv, Alter of Kelm
Fax: (270) 514-1507

Please see the Dvar Torah I wrote on this week's parsha and Purim.

http://mydvar.com/2010/02/judging-a-book-by-its-cover/

For those who care, I mention Rav Hirsch ;).

Also, if you have your own insights you'd like to share, feel free to make
an account and post them.

Thanks,
Liron
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[NishmaBlog] If M'gillah is Talmud Torah...

I've seen several articles praising Q'riat Me'gillah as a form of public
Talmud Torah. If so - im kein - how do we understand"M'vatlin Talmud
Torah liqriat hamgilah?"

Frelichen Purim
RRW

RMeir Rabi asked: 

<It is one of the Rishonim who said that if not for being intimidated he
would have ruled that Chamets is Battel on Pesach as per the regulat
guidelines of Bittul, BUT he was worried of being labelled as that Rabbi The
Meikel.

Rabbenu Tam. quoted by Rabbeinu Peretz Pesachim second chapter.

Question:  How could he say that?
This is Assur, the judges and the rabbi s are instructed NOT to be
intimidated but to state their opinion without prejudice or fear?>
     Does lo saguru apply to issur v'hetter?
EMT


 
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On Thu, Feb 25, 2010 at 4:47 PM, Meir Rabi <meir...@gmail.com> wrote:

> It is one of the Rishonim who said that if not for being intimidated he
> would have ruled that Chamets is Battel on Pesach as per the regulat
> guidelines of Bittul, BUT he was worried of being labelled as that Rabbi The
> Meikel.
>
> Rabbenu Tam. quoted by Rabbeinu Peretz Pesachim second chapter.
>
> Question:  How could he say that?
> This is Assur, the judges and the rabbi s are instructed NOT to be
> intimidated but to state their opinion without prejudice or fear?
>
> meir
>
>
I believe this is the [alleged] P'saq of the Sh'eiltos

What Rabbeinu Tam and others have done IMHO is simple
They told everyone how they held
BUT they deferred to the consensus anyway
Either out of humility or as a POLICY - probably so as not to play the
REBEL.

Of course one may ask  that posqim do play the role of Rebel at times...  I
would venture that they pick their fights and do so only in extraordinary
cases.



-- 
Frelichen Purim
RabbiRichWol...@Gmail.com
see: http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nishma-Minhag/
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Due to the inclement weather in Brooklyn my wife went to a nearby 
Shtiebel to hear Parshas Zachor.  When she came home, she expressed 
her surprise that they did not read the Haftorah out loud.  She asked 
me why, and I could not give her a reason. I asked some people who 
daven in this Shtiebel what the reason is for not reading the 
Haftorah out loud, and no one seemed to know.

Can anyone enlighten me so I can enlighten my wife?

Yitzchok Levine 

I have seen many siddurim which say that when saying Birkas Hamazon, Yaaleh
V'Yavo ends with the words "Ki Kel Chanun V'rachum Atah", and that the word
"Melech" is added only on Rosh Hashana. Actually, the directions vary
widely. Some simply leave out the "Melech", some simply include it, some
have "On RH say:", and some have "On RH some say:".

However, from what I've seen, "Melech" is always included in the Yaaleh
V'yavo of Shmoneh Esreh. I haven't seen a siddur which even suggests
omitting it from Shmoneh Esreh on any occasion, even siddurim which do
mention this by benching.

The only place I've found which discusses this is the Siddur Avodas Yisrael published by Roedelheim, which offers this in Birkas Hamazon:

<<< "Ki Kel Chanun V'rachum Atah" - That's what the Avudraham
wrote in the name of the Raavad, about the text of Yaaleh V'Yavo of Birkas
Hamazon, and NOT "Ki Kel *Melech* Chanun etc." The Shelah pg 82b wrote the
same, and also Yosef Ometz #783, and likewise the Ben Seder Ohr Chadash.
And the truth is, that's the language of the pasuk in Nechemia 9:31.
>>>

So if that is the text of the pasuk (and, according to my Tanach, it is),
then why would we include the word "Melech" for Shmoneh Esreh, and omit it
only in Birkas Hamazon? Why, for example, would one say it in Maariv on the
first night of Pesach, but at the Seder on the first night of Pesach?

A related question: How widespread is the practice of omitting "Melech" in
Birkas Hamazon? Is it mostly among any particular groups? From the siddurim
and benchers I've looked at, I can't seem to notice any pattern.

Akiva Miller

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