Avodah Mailing List

Volume 39: Number 16

Mon, 22 Feb 2021

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Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Message: 1
From: Micha Berger
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2021 14:33:39 -0500
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] What is the reason for the mitzvah of giving


On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 02:26:43PM +0000, Prof. L. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis
>> A. This is the subject of a well-known dispute. Manos Halevi...
>> Terumas HaDeshen (1:111), however, explains that the purpose of giving
>> one's acquaintances Mishloach Manos is to ensure that poor people enjoy
>> a festive and lavish Seudas Purim. Although most people are not poor
>> and therefore do not need food given to them for their Seudah, Chazal
>> instituted that Misloach Manos be given to wealthy people as well,
>> so as not to embarrass the poor (Teshuvos Chasam Sofer OC 196).

I am not understanding the ThD's explanation.

After all, there is already a mitzvah in that niche. So:

1- On the first layer of the explanation, why then enact both mishloach
manos and matanos le'evyonim?
And
2- If we give MM to the wealthy so as not to embarass the poor, why not
JUST mishloach manos, rather than matanos le'evyonim embarassing them?

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 It's never too late
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   to become the person
Author: Widen Your Tent      you might have been.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                    - George Eliot



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Message: 2
From: Zev Sero
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2021 22:08:07 -0500
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] What is the reason for the mitzvah of giving


On 19/2/21 2:33 pm, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
> On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 02:26:43PM +0000, Prof. L. Levine via Avodah wrote:
>>  From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis

>>> Terumas HaDeshen (1:111), however, explains that the purpose of giving
>>> one's acquaintances Mishloach Manos is to ensure that poor people enjoy
>>> a festive and lavish Seudas Purim.

Ad kan Terumas Hadeshen.  The rest is the Chasam Sofer's suggestion, or 
rather the OU writer's understanding of the same, which I believe to be 
flawed.

First of all, though, the Terumas Hadeshen does not mention "poor 
people".  He says the purpose of mishloach manos is so that everyone 
will have enough food for the seudah, and therefore it must consist of 
food.  Money or clothing will not do, since one can't serve those at the 
seudah, whereas matanos la'evyonim can be food *or* money, or anything 
else that helps.

It should be readily understood that a person need not be poor in order 
to find himself not quite up to making as big a seudah as he would like. 
  It may be that he is neither rich nor poor, he's keeping up with his 
bills, but he can't afford to make the kind of purim seuda he would like 
to make, and a care package would be welcome.  It may also be that 
someone has plenty of money but for some reason he didn't buy enough 
when he went shopping, or he just isn't that good a cook, and would 
appreciate an outside contribution to the meal.


>>> Although most people are not poor
>>> and therefore do not need food given to them for their Seudah,

This part is not in the ThD or the ChS, and is the OU writer's own 
interjection.


>>> Chazal
>>> instituted that Misloach Manos be given to wealthy people as well,
>>> so as not to embarrass the poor (Teshuvos Chasam Sofer OC 196).

This is the ChS, except that he doesn't say "wealthy", he says one who 
has plenty of food. It could even be a poor person who happens to be 
well provided for the purim seudah, even if he'll be eating the 
leftovers all week. Technically, according to the ThD's explanation of 
the reason for the mitzvah there's no reason to send to this person -- 
one could send him matanos la'evyonim, but not mishloach manos! -- , but 
nevertheless the ChS suggests that Chazal said to send him anyway so as 
not to embarrass those who are not so well supplied.

The ChS's point, however, is not to whom one should send, but whether 
the recipient can decline, and if he does whether the giver is yotzei. 
So he says that according to the ThD's explanation it's obvious that if 
the person actually could use the extra food then his mechilah is of no 
effect; lepo'el his seudah is now short of what it could be, so the 
purpose of the mitzvah was not fulfilled.  But he says even one who is 
well supplied should not decline, so as not to embarrass those who don't 
decline.


I think this answers both of your questions.


-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a *healthy* and happy 5781
z...@sero.name       "May this year and its curses end
                      May a new year and its blessings begin"



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Message: 3
From: Akiva Miller
Date: Sat, 20 Feb 2021 23:33:22 -0500
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] Is it Hebrew or is it Aramaic?


.
Yesterday, I found yet another word in Onkelos that I thought was Hebrew:
The fabric "shesh" (shin-shin) appears in Bereshis 41:42 and many times in
Shemos from Terumah to the end. I checked five of them, and Onkelos
translates it consistently as "bootz" (beis-vav-tzadi). "Bootz" seems to be
another case of an Aramaic word (as attested by Onkelos) which got adopted
by Hebrew long after Chumash days: It appears once in Yechezkel, twice in
Esther, and 5 times in Divrei Hayamim.

I'm not going to bother reporting on additional findings. The main reason
I'm posting today is to inform interested parties about "A Comprehensive
Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English" by
Ernest Klein, published by Carta. It's available from Amazon, and I've seen
it in a few seforim stores too. I was impressed to find that he lists all
of these as coming from Aramaic:

techum (Onkelos' translation of gevul in Bereshis 10:19 and Devarim 27:17)
butz (Onkelos' translation of shesh in Bereshis 41:42 and Shemos 28:39)
yakar (Onkelos' translation of kavod in Shemos 28:2 and Devarim 5:21)
siruv (Onkelos' translation of ma'en in Shemos 7:27 and Bamidbar 20:21)

On the other hand, consider the word "oni" (ayin-nun-yud), often translated
as "affliction", such as in Shemos 3:7, 3:17. Onkelos translates this as
"shibud" (shin-ayin-beis-vav-daled), so I imagined it to be an Aramaic form
of ayin-beis-daled. But if I am reading it correctly, Klein says that it is
indeed Hebrew, of the "shaph'el" form, which I never heard of before, but I
suppose it was vernacular to Onkelos' audience.

One more note: This dictionary is available on line, as a searchable and
downloadable pdf file, at
https://archive.org/stream/AComprehensiveEtymologicalDictionaryOfTheHebrewLanguageErnestKlein1987OCR
but its copyright is murky to me. There's an "Info" button near the top
right of that page, and if you click it and the "More information" button
afterwards, it claims that the dictionary is in the public domain. But page
2 of the dictionary itself says "Copyright 1987 by ...", so I don't know
which claim is more correct.

Akiva Miller
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Message: 4
From: Akiva Miller
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2021 06:47:20 -0500
Subject:
[Avodah] Ha'aderes V'ha'emunah on days other than Yom Kippur


In the "credit where credit is due" department, this post results from an
article in the recent issue (Dec 2020) of The Journal of Halacha and
Contemporary Society. It contains an article titled "The Halachos of
Davening at Home" by "Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Cohen, Translated by Rabbi
Nosson Kaiser". On page 74-75, he writes:

>>> It is forbidden for a tzibbur to recite ha'aderes v'ha'emunah except on
Yom Kippur, but an individual may say it anytime. [Mishnah Berurah 565:12.
Nusach Sefarad says it every Shabbos and Yom Tov during pesukei d'zimra.
Perhaps that is considered an individual's tefillah, as there is no
requirement for a tzibbur at that point. In fact, Siddur Tezelosa
D'avraham p. 159 writes that it should be said quietly, and the chazzan
should not end it aloud. See also Aruch Hashulchan 281:4 and Sheivet Levi
10:86.]

Mishnah Berurah 565:12 says:

>>> Don't say Ha'aderes V'ha'emunah with a tzibur except on Yom Kippur,
though an individual can say Ha'aderes all year. [Pri Megadim in Eishel
Avraham]

The Dirshu Mishneh Berurah 565:16 gives some arguments (pro and con) about
saying it in Pesukei D'Zimra, and also raises the issue of singing it
during Hakafos on Simchas Torah.

Magen Avraham 565:5 says:

>>> Don't say Ha'aderes V'ha'emunah with a tzibur except on Yom Kippur.
(R"m Mahari"l)

Pri Megadim 565:5 says:

>>> See the Magen Avraham about b'tzibbur, but an individual can say
Ha'aderes all year. See Darchei Moshe.

Darchei Moshe 565:4 says:

>>> The Mahari'v wrote that the tefillah Ha'aderes V'ha'emunah can be said
by an individual any day of the year, but a tzibbur is forbidden to say it
except on Yom Kippur.

My question about all this does not concern the exceptions that are made
for Pesukei D'Zimra or for Simchas Torah. Rather, I am very surprised to
find a tefillah where the individual has free rein, but the tzibur is
restricted. Usually it is the other way around. There are many tefilos
which may be said *only* b'tzibur, and often only under certain
circumstances. For example, some tefilos are said only on certain days, and
some are said only by the chazan. Here we have a case where the tzibur may
say it on only one particular day, yet the individual can say it anytime.

Are there any other examples of this? Can anyone explain why it would be
wrong for a tzibur to choose to say it on a day other than Yom Kippur?

Akiva Miller
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Message: 5
From: Micha Berger
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2021 10:37:22 -0500
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] Is it Hebrew or is it Aramaic?


On Sat, Feb 20, 2021 at 11:33:22PM -0500, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> On the other hand, consider the word "oni" (ayin-nun-yud), often translated
> as "affliction", such as in Shemos 3:7, 3:17. Onkelos translates this as
> "shibud" (shin-ayin-beis-vav-daled), so I imagined it to be an Aramaic form
> of ayin-beis-daled. But if I am reading it correctly, Klein says that it is
> indeed Hebrew, of the "shaph'el" form, which I never heard of before, but I
> suppose it was vernacular to Onkelos' audience.

I was under the impression that shif'il is an Aramaic binyan that
is borrowed by Hebrew. So, it is used for Hebrew shorashim, but the
resulting word is only Hebrew after influence from Aramaic.

But AFAIK, shif'il and the passive shuf'al (meshubadim hayinu leFar'oh)
don't appear in Tanakh.

So, one could accurately says shi'bud is Hebrew, but Rabbinic Hebrew has
Aramaic influences... So, the answer isn't all that black-and-white.

Why not re-ask on our sister list meso...@aishdas.org ? It's full of
people interested in nusach, as well as getting leining and tefillah
"just right".

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Every second is a totally new world,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   and no moment is like any other.
Author: Widen Your Tent              - Rabbi Chaim Vital
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF



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Message: 6
From: Zev Sero
Date: Sun, 21 Feb 2021 13:19:26 -0500
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] Is it Hebrew or is it Aramaic?


On 20/2/21 11:33 pm, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
> Yesterday, I found yet another word in Onkelos that I thought was 
> Hebrew: The fabric "shesh" (shin-shin) appears in Bereshis 41:42 and 
> many times in Shemos from Terumah to the end. I checked five of them, 
> and Onkelos translates it consistently as "bootz" 
> (beis-vav-tzadi).?"Bootz" seems to be another case of an Aramaic word 
> (as attested by Onkelos) which got adopted by Hebrew long after Chumash 
> days: It appears once in Yechezkel, twice in Esther, and 5 times in 
> Divrei Hayamim.

Note that in Esther 1:6, in the same pasuk where "bootz" is used to mean 
what the Chumash calls "shesh", "shesh" is used to mean "shayish", marble.

-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a *healthy* and happy 5781
z...@sero.name       "May this year and its curses end
                      May a new year and its blessings begin"



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Message: 7
From: Simon Montagu
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 10:36:11 +0200
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] Is it Hebrew or is it Aramaic?


On Sun, Feb 21, 2021 at 5:27 PM Akiva Miller via Avodah <
avo...@lists.aishdas.org> wrote:

> I'm not going to bother reporting on additional findings. The main reason
> I'm posting today is to inform interested parties about "A Comprehensive
> Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English" by
> Ernest Klein, published by Carta. It's available from Amazon, and I've seen
> it in a few seforim stores too. I was impressed to find that he lists all
> of these as coming from Aramaic:
>

Klein's dictionary is also available on Sefaria with a search interface:
https://www.sefaria.org.il/Klein_Dictionary
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Message: 8
From: Prof. L. Levine
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 14:32:07 +0000
Subject:
[Avodah] Having Mishaloach Manos Delivered vis Amazon


From today's OU Kosher Halacha Yomis. Please see my question at the end.


Q. I ordered a food package on Amazon two days before Purim with guaranteed
delivery to my friend on Purim day. Do I fulfill the mitzvah of Mishloach
Manos with such an arrangement?

A. This is a matter of dispute among the poskim. Some hold that by doing so
he does fulfill his obligation of Mishloach Manos (Be?er Heitev to OC
695:7, citing Yad Aharon; Da?as Torah in the name of Mahari Assad, and Rav
Elyashiv, cited in Yevakshu Mipihu, Purim 1:31). However Aruch HaShulchan
(695:17) held that one does not fulfill Mishloach Manos with this
arrangement. The Ben Ish Chai (Teshuvos Torah Lishmah 188) explains the
reasoning behind this dispute as follows: In the previous Halacha Yomis we
learned that there is a dispute as to why Mishloach Manos are given. Is it
to engender good will and camaraderie between people (Manos Halevi), or is
it to ensure that poor people have sufficient food for their Purim Seudah
(Terumas HaDeshen)? If Mishloach Manos are to foster good will ? one must
send the food on Purim itself because sending the food is part of the
mitzvah. Those who hold that one is yotzei, take the position that the
purpose of Mishloach Manos is for the recipient to 
 have sufficient food for the seudah. Hence, as long as the food is
 received on Purim ? even if it was sent prior to Purim ? the sender has
 fulfilled his obligation of Mishloach Manos, as the recipient will now
 have sufficient food for his seudah.


_____________________________________________________________

According to the opinion that "the sender has fulfilled his obligation of
Mishloach Manos, as the recipient will now have sufficient food for his
seudah" is the purpose of sending Mishaloach Manos, then it seems to me
that sending candy and cake does not fulfill the mitzvah. While some kids
may make feel that candy and cakes are fine for a meal,  most adults do
not, and hence it seems to me that one who sends candy and sweets does not
fulfill his/her obligation to send Mishaloach Manos.


For the past few years have been giving a package with salad and croutons. This certainly can be a part of a "real" Seudah.


YL

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Message: 9
From: Micha Berger
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 15:57:32 -0500
Subject:
Re: [Avodah] Having Mishaloach Manos Delivered vis Amazon


On Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at 02:32:07PM +0000, Prof. L. Levine via Avodah wrote:
> For the past few years have been giving a package with salad and
> croutons. This certainly can be a part of a "real" Seudah.

The SA requires two manos, not two foods. Two foods, or the AhS's version
of two berakhos, is minhag.

Which raises a question I would CYLOR before following your practice. Say
I would choose to give a salad and croutons for one. Presumably it is
likely the person would put the croutons into the salad, and I only gave
one maneh!


One can argue from the Rambam's Hikkhos Tzedaqah that the same applies
to michloach manos, and it's better to give smaller m"m to more people.
Or maybe not.

The question of how to safely do mishloach manos this year is a touchy
one, and depends on local conditions. I heard one LOR recommend giving
just one person whom you've already had similar contact with, and save
all the great "themed shalachmanos" ideas for next year.


Last year, the week before Pesach was a vary sad one in our community. (I
still cry when I think of R Matis Blum's [Torah Loda'as] mother, someone
who fed me many a Shabbos Qiddush snack when I was a boy, who was still
sitting shiv'ah for R Matis when she started shiv'ah for her husband.)

But last Purim, we weren't aware of the notion of a "superspreader event".

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Feeling grateful  to or appreciative of  someone
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   or something in your life actually attracts more
Author: Widen Your Tent      of the things that you appreciate and value into
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    your life.         - Christiane Northrup, M.D.



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Message: 10
From: Prof. L. Levine
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 2021 20:08:10 +0000
Subject:
[Avodah] Why did Achashverosh's feast last so long?


The following is from the Sefer The Vilna Gaon on Megillas Esther by Rabbi
Asher Baruch Wegbreit. This Sefer contains many interesting insights into
the Megillah.

Pasuk !:4 says "when he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom, and
the splendor of his excellent majesty, many days, one hundred and eighty days."

Question: Why did Achashverosh's
feast last so long?

Answer: The answer lies in
understanding the real purpose
of the feast. Vashti's grandfather
Nevuchadnezzar had hidden 1,080
treasure houses near the Euphrates
River, but Hashem revealed them
to Koresh, the king who preceded
Achashverosh, because Hashem had
designated Koresh to rebuild the Beis
Hamikdash. Achashverosh inherited
these treasures from him.

Achashverosh decided to display
his vast wealth to the officers and
noblemen of all the provinces of his
empire in order to awe them into
submission and thereby solidify his
kingship, and he used the feast as
a context for the presentation. The
feast was thus a pretense to allow
what would have otherwise been
ostentatious display of his wealth. The
pasuk describes this in passive form
"in his showing of his treasures,"
to hint that this display, which was
actually the purpose of the feast, was
conducted in a casual manner, as if it
were merely a secondary goal.

Achashverosh showcased his
1,080 treasure houses at a rate of
six per day- as alluded to in the
six words in the pasuk describing his
wealth and power ("riches," glorious,"
"kingdom," "honor," "sp1endorous, "
and "greatness")-on each of the 180
days of the feast (180 x 6 = 1,080).

At the feast, Achashverosh also
donned the Kohen Gadol's garments,
to convey his personal greatness and
royal dominion.
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