Avodah Mailing List

Volume 40: Number 53

Fri, 05 Aug 2022

• 1. Carrying the Torah to the Bima (Joel Rich)
• 2. Re: Carrying the Torah to the Bima (Micha Berger)
• 3. KASHRUS IN A HOTEL OR RENTAL HOUSE (Prof. L. Levine)
• 4. Re: Use of the word peshat in Moreh Nevuchim (Micha Berger)
• 5. Re: Punishment (Micha Berger)
• 6. Re: It Is Neither Dispositive, Nor A "Xumra" (Micha Berger)
• 7. Re: The Right Spiritual Level (Micha Berger)
• 8. Re: It Is Neither Dispositive, Nor A "Xumra" (Zev Sero)
• 9. How to Make Havdalah When Motza'ei Shabbos is Tisha B'Av - 5782/2022 (Prof. L. Levine)

Is anyone aware of any written Responsa that allow the Torah to be carried in a circuitous route so that more people can kiss it?
Kt
Joel Rich

On Wed, Aug 03, 2022 at 04:09:11PM -0400, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote:
> Is anyone aware of any written Responsa that allow the Torah to be
> carried in a circuitous route so that more people can kiss it?

No, but... Isn't doing this after Kol Nidrei a commonly accepted minhag?

-Micha

The following is from

HALACHOS FOR THE SUMMER
by Rabbi Eidlitz

KASHRUS IN A HOTEL OR RENTAL HOUSE
1. Metal, glass etc. utensils that normally require Tevila can be used without Tevila if
owned by a non-Jew. Typically glasses in hotels and rental houses can be used
without Tevila unless the house is known to be owned by a Jew.
2. Cold, non-kosher, silverware owned by a non-Jew can be used for cold food that is
not sharp, i.e. a cold non-kosher spoon for kosher cold cereal, when plastic or kosher
utensils are not available.
3. For Shabbos we need to check if the property is enclosed in order to carry. At hotels
this often is not the case for the outside grounds. Inside the room and building one
can carry.
4. Buying cut up fruit in a supermarket or airport is fine as long it does not contain
anything that needs to be checked for insect infestation and is without added
flavoring.
5. Unflavored tea or coffee are fine in Kiosks, convenience stores, gas stations, etc.
6. Closed containers such as salt and sugar are fine in a rental house (if the owner
allows their use) but not open containers.
7. It is difficult to kasher a BBQ and better to use a disposable or portable one. If one
does need to be kashered, it must be cleaned well with something like Easy Off and
turned on for an hour to high. The grates that we put the food on directly need
further kashering by placing burning coals on them until they go out. Great care
must be used not to cause a fire or bend the metal rack. Often it is more practical to
buy and Tovel a new rack.
8. A self-clean oven can be turned on and used after the cycle ends. A non-self-clean
oven should be inspected to make sure it is clean, wait 24 hours from last use, turn
3. For Shabbos we need to check if the property is enclosed in order to carry. At hotels
this often is not the case for the outside grounds. Inside the room and building one
can carry.
4. Buying cut up fruit in a supermarket or airport is fine as long it does not contain
anything that needs to be checked for insect infestation and is without added
flavoring.
5. Unflavored tea or coffee are fine in Kiosks, convenience stores, gas stations, etc.
6. Closed containers such as salt and sugar are fine in a rental house (if the owner
allows their use) but not open containers.
7. It is difficult to kasher a BBQ and better to use a disposable or portable one. If one
does need to be kashered, it must be cleaned well with something like Easy Off and
turned on for an hour to high. The grates that we put the food on directly need
further kashering by placing burning coals on them until they go out. Great care
must be used not to cause a fire or bend the metal rack. Often it is more practical to
buy and Tovel a new rack.
8. A self-clean oven can be turned on and used after the cycle ends. A non-self-clean
oven should be inspected to make sure it is clean, wait 24 hours from last use, turn
on till red (usually about 3 minutes) and it is kashered. Gas should be turned on for
15 minutes with metal over it to reflect the heat down. A disposable aluminum pot
works well for this.
9. Countertops are fine to use, but very hot pots should be put on a towel etc. and not
directly on the countertop.
10. Cold cereal in a hotel continental breakfast often is kosher, but one needs to
determine the brand being served for it?s kosher status. Often the hotel personnel
are happy to bring out the boxes and show the Hechscher.
11. A waffle maker, popcorn popper, and other cooking utensils need to be considered
non-kosher even if at the moment they are using kosher oil and other ingredients.
12. Coffee or tea from Coffee Bean is ok if unflavored. Otherwise, their products are
likely to be not kosher. Starbucks is best from a drive thru or kiosk, but acceptable
from the large stores if there is no good alternative. The same is true with coffee
from restaurants. Starbucks flavors come from a bottle with clear indication of
kashrus that one can verify on the spot.

YL
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On Mon, Jul 18, 2022 at 07:13:55PM -0400, Zvi Lampel via Avodah wrote:
> I don't get it. The Moreh Nevuchim repeatedly makes the point that
> certain words and/or pesukim should not be taken literally. I would expect
> the Rambam to say, "the literal meaning is not the peshat!" Isn't that the
> way you and I would put it? He instead uses other constructions, such as,
> "the meaning is," "the idea is," etc. It's as if for some reason he
> wants to avoid using the term "peshat."

Peshat is a buzzword in our Judeo-English.

But did the Rambam have any reason to use it in his Judeo-Arabic? Maybe
one of those constructions /was/ his tranlation of "peshat"!

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Zion will be redeemed through justice,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   and her returnees, through righteousness.
Author: Widen Your Tent
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF

On Fri, Jul 08, 2022 at 06:38:56AM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
>> I've often heard it said that one is better off getting punished
>> in this world that in the world to come. Philosophically why
>> should the sum total of punishment for any transgression be
>> different depending on where one receives the punishment?

> Excellent question. I don't really know. I suspect that it has something to
> do with the nature of the two worlds being so incomparable that we are
> deceived into thinking that their "sum totals" are equivalent. And yet,

I think they are different in kind.

Sekhar va'nesh in this world is about Hashem preparing the best path
for me to get from where I am to where I could and should be. The kelal
gadol is "kol de'avad Rachmana letav avad".

Sekhar va'onesh in the next world is my soul ending up more or less fit
for olam ha'emes.

Wheereas once one gets to olam ha'emes...

The Iqarim (4:33) writes that the fires of gehennom are those of shame.
Rabbeinu Yonah (Shaarei Teshuvah 4:1) compares a sinful soul to a sick
person. Just as a sick person suffers from his illness, the sinner
suffers from his sins. The Ramchal (Derekh Hasheim 1:4:5) too writes,
"Sin detracts from ones perfection." R. Chaim Vilozhiner (Derekh haChaim
1:21) derives a similar idea of gehenom as consequence of sin from a
gemara in Eiruvin (19a): "The wicked deepen gehennom for themselves."
What you get in the World to Come is the consequence of the mitzvos you
do. R. Chaim takes this one step further to also make the full sequence
sin to changes in the soul to reward and punishment in general. Each
sin, he writes, causes a flaw in your soul. In true Divine Mercy, the
punishment is both the natural consequence of this flaw and a key tool
for healing it. And Mikhtav meiElihahu (vol 1 pp 113-114) explains the
expression aveirah goreres aveirah one sin is followed by [another]
sin by saying that after repeatedly doing a given sin, it becomes part
of ones nature; so that no conscious decision is required next time the
situation arises.



-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Zion will be redeemed through justice,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   and her returnees, through righteousness.
Author: Widen Your Tent
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF

On Thu, Jul 28, 2022 at 09:10:41PM -0500, Jay F. Shachter via Avodah wrote:
> You are not thinking clearly, because there are more than 2
> possibilities.  Metzitzah (whether that means bfeh or not is a
> different discussion) is not required for milah to be kosher; that
> does not mean, as you imply above, that it is a "xumrah".  It is not a
> xumrah; it is mandatory, lkhatxilla; bdi`avad, if you don't do it, it
> is not m`akkev...

This presumes a resolution of a machloqes I intentionally didn't close.

On Shabbos, the mohel can continue trimming off tzitzin she'einam
me'aqvin until the milah is done. Which si defined as being until the
end of metzitzah. This leads some acharonim to conclude that metzitzah
is actually part of the milah AND me'aqev.

The majority of those who insist on metzitzah bepeh to the extent that
via a pipette isn't even sufficiently bepeh are working from something
other than your assumption.

Yes, it is possible it's obligatory lechatkhilah and not me'aqev, or
obligatory for reasons other than the mitzvah of milah. Or just obsolete
medical advice. But eilu va'eilu.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Zion will be redeemed through justice,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   and her returnees, through righteousness.
Author: Widen Your Tent
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF

On Mon, Aug 01, 2022 at 06:15:18PM -0500, Jay F. Shachter via Avodah wrote:
> Now, it certainly cannot be the case that the qedusha of Israel has a
> uniform effect on both mitzvoth and `aveiroth, multiplying both your
> merits, and your demerits, by the same amount.  If that were the case,
> then there could not be someone who is all right in Flatbush, but who
> would not be all right in Israel, whereas the original poster ("OP")
> clearly states that there can be someone who is okay in Flatbush, but
> who would not be okay, if he or she were subjected to the increased
> level of qedusha that prevails in Israel...

You are assuming a straight scaling, like an act that moves you a foot
in chu"l would move you a meter in EY.

But what if temperature translation were the better mashal. That they
don't have the same zero point?

A Religious Zionist would say that just doing your job in Israel is
incredibly more spiritually significant than in chu"l. Going to work
in Manhattan carries with it the ability to provide for your family, to
give tzedaqah, do other mitzvos, etc... But working in Chaifa does all
that AND accomplishes yishuv EY. One doesn't just get more of the same
things done, there is a whole new factor. (In my mashal, correspondonding
to the difference in zero points going from Celsius to Farenheit.)

But the Satmar Rav argued the reverse WRT aveiros. When it comes to
cheit, doing it in Israel has a negative factor not present in chu"l --
chilul ha'aretz. Manhattan is chol; Chaifa isn't. So, there is a rei'usa
to sinning in Chaifa that isn't just a different scale than in chu"l;
there is no corresponding factor in chu"l altogether.

So, it's not just scaling up the same act whether positive or negative.
And there are non-linear factors like these on both sides. I see grounds
for a valid machloqes for saying that a non-tzadiq is net head or behind.

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Zion will be redeemed through justice,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   and her returnees, through righteousness.
Author: Widen Your Tent
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF

On 4/8/22 14:55, Micha Berger via Avodah wrote:
> This presumes a resolution of a machloqes I intentionally didn't close.
> 
> On Shabbos, the mohel can continue trimming off tzitzin she'einam
> me'aqvin until the milah is done. Which si defined as being until the
> end of metzitzah. This leads some acharonim to conclude that metzitzah
> is actually part of the milah AND me'aqev.

If by "me`akev" you mean that without it the child is not circumcised 
and the bris must be redone correctly, *nobody* holds that.  Once the 
bris has been done, incorrectly, with metzitza omitted, nobody says that 
you need to create a wound just to suck blood from it!

The halacha you cite proves that metzitzah is an inherent component of 
the mitzvah, but if it was omitted it's too late to correct it.  Me`uvas 
lo yuchal liskon.  The child is a mahul, but the mitzvah was not done 
correctly.

-- 
Zev Sero            ?Were we directed from Washington when to sow
z...@sero.name       and when to reap, we should soon want bread.?
                    ?Thomas Jefferson: Autobiography, 1821.

From

https://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/9993

Sunday Night Havdalah

Just one week following Klal Yisrael?s Parshiyos resynchronization after an
over-three month long dichotomy between Eretz Yisrael and Chutz
La?aretz,[1]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn1> as
Shabbos Chazon draws to a close along with our not-too-common fleishig Erev
Tisha B?Av Seudah Hamafsekes (a.k.a. Seudas Shlishis),[2]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn2> the
fast of Tisha B?Av commences. Yet, an important question that needs to be
asked is: What about Havdalah? How can we make Havdalah if we are all now
fasting? And, is it proper to make Havdalah on Tisha B?Av?

Let?s jump to the practical conclusion and then backtrack to the specifics.
Practically speaking, Havdalah as we know it will only partially be recited
this Motza?ei Shabbos, whereasmost of Havdalah actually gets pushed off
until Sunday night, Motza?ei Tisha B?av.[3]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn3>

Half Havdalah?

In Maariv on Motza?ei Shabbos-Tisha B?Av, we recite ?Attah Chonantanu? to
allow the performing of melachah (or by simply saying ?Hamavdil Bein Kodesh
L?Chol? once it is Tzeis Hakochavim at the conclusion of Shabbos). There is
no bracha of Besamim at all - as that is considered hana?ah (benefit or
pleasure), which we minimize on Tisha B?Av. It is also not recited on
Motza?ei Tzom, when the fast ends on Sunday night, as at that point it is
no longer directly after Shabbos.

Regarding the bracha of Borei Me?orei Ha?Aish on the flame this Motza?ei
Shabbos/Tisha B?Av, this is generally recited in shul (or at home) after
Maariv as a stand-alone bracha.[4]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn4>[5]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn5>On
Sunday night Motza?ei Tisha B?Av, when the fast is over, the rest of
Havdalah is recited; yet, this Havdalah we start from the bracha on the Kos
and it only consists of that bracha and the bracha of ?Hamavdil Bein Kodesh
L?Chol.?[6]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn6>

But there is still an unanswered question: What should be the contents of
the Kos on which we are making this Motza?ei Tisha B?Av Havdalah? Generally
speaking, many of the Nine Days? restrictions are still in effect through
the next day until at least midday (Chatzos Hayom), including those of
eating meat and drinking wine;[7]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn7> and
although this year Tisha B?Av is a ?Nidcheh?, pushed off until
Sunday,[8]<https://ohr.edu/9993#_edn8> those
restrictions still apply until Sunday morning. However, Havdalah still
needs to be recited when the fast ends. So what do we do?

See the above URL for more.

Yitzchok Levine
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