Avodah Mailing List

Volume 32: Number 38

Thu, 13 Mar 2014

• 1. Re: Eitz HaDa'at (was: Why does Moshe use logical arguments w hen davening to, save) (Kenneth Miller)
• 2. Re: Kivrey avos (Meir Shinnar)
• 3. Aliyyot to the Blind vs Aliyyot for women (Prof. Aryeh A. Frimer)
• 4. Re: Tzedakah Con Men (Michael Poppers)
• 5. "Kabolas Ol Malchus Shomayim" (Zev Sero)
• 6. Re: Eitz HaDa'at (David Riceman)
• 7. Re: Eitz HaDa'at (Arie Folger)
• 8. Purim: Why Name A Holiday After the Enemy? (Prof. Levine)
• 9. kli zayin/gever (saul newman)
• 10. A Primer on Shalach Manos (Prof. Levine)
• 11. Mishloach Manot of Rabbis and Scholars (Prof. Levine)
• 12. What?s the Truth about . . . Mishloach Manot? (Prof. Levine)
• 13. Esther in a hurry (Eli Turkel)
• 14. Daas Torah and the Holocaust (Prof. Levine)

I think it was Rabbi Arie Folger who wrote:

<<< if you go with Rambam, please explain, how does a tree lead us
to lose some intellectual capacities? Did it grow LSD, which then burned
some holes into Adam's brains? And this then became hereditary?
>>>

I once heard an idea that perhaps there was nothing at all unique about
this tree, chemically or biologically. The only thing unusual about it was
that Hashem singled it out to Adam as being forbidden. It was a chok, pure
and simple.

When Adam then violated that law, the repercussions were dramatic, but they
did not come from the fruit - they came from the eating. It was all
psychological. Having sinned - and gotten caght - he is now more intimate
with "right and wrong" than he ever wanted to be.

It doesn't affect his DNA, because it doesn't need to. His kids will have to live with the consequences, and grow up in that cursed world. It's all automatic.

Akiva Miller
____________________________________________________________
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1 EASY tip to increase fat-burning, lower blood sugar & decrease fat storage
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WRT discussion n kivrey avot, cmd across this
http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=5843&;st=&pgnum=180
in name of basal hatanya - who on his death bed denied that the dead know anything in this world.
Don?t know how reliable  source is viewed
Meir Shinnar

 In Avodah Digest, Vol 32, Issue 35, Liron Kopinsky asks why Aliyyot can't be given to women when aliyyot are given to the Blind.

    Dov and I discuss the case of "Suma" in great length in our Tradition
    article  on Women's Aliyyot (See: ?Women, Kri?at haTorah and Aliyyot?
    Aryeh A. Frimer and Dov I. Frimer, Tradition, 46:4 (Winter, 2013),
    67-238  -  available at  http://www.rca
    rabbis.org/pdf/frimer_article.pdf).  See especially Sections VIA
    and B and note 172.  
    A Blind male is obligated in Keri'at haTorah  like all males, but there
    is a technical problem with his receiving an aliyya because he can't
    read from the Torah scroll. [For further Discussion, see Rav Zalman
    Druk, Mikraei Kodesh and Resp. Torat Hesed, OH sec. 8.] The same is
    true for an illiterate person. R. Caro (Shulhan Arukh, O.H., sec 139,
    nos. 2 and 3, and sec. 141, no 2) rules according to Rosh and others
    that even in the presence of a ba?al korei, the oleh is obligated to
    read along quietly with the reader, lest the oleh?s berakhot be
    considered in vain (le-vatala). As a result, Rabbi Caro furthermore
    rules, that a blind or illiterate person is precluded from receiving an
    aliyya.   
    R. Moses Isserlish (Rema; Darkei Moshe, Tur, O.H., sec. 135, no.4 and
    sec. 141, no 1) concurs that normative halakha requires the oleh to
    read along with the reader - and hence a suma, who can't read from the
    Torah, should not be able to get an Aliyya.  However, Rema (in his
    gloss to Shulhan Arukh, O.H., sec. 139, no 3) cites the leniency of R.
    Jacob Molin (Maharil) and others who permit a blind or illiterate
    individual to receive an aliyya, even though neither can read along
    with the ba?al korei from the Torah parchment. According to Maharil,
    the Ba'al Korei can read for the blind oleh via the mechanism of
    Shome'a ke-oneh because both the ba'al korei and the oleh are
    inherently obligated.  Hence there can be a transfer of the act of
    reading from the Ba'al korei to the oleh who makes the berakha. (We
    discuss this mechanism of Shomei'a ke-oneh at great length in Section
    II of the article.)     
    [We note that all this is in theory, however. As R. Soloveitchik
    himself notes (R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, miBet Midrasho Shel haRav,
    Hilkhot Keri?at ha-Torah, sec. 141, no. 2, p. 50; R. Joseph B.
    Soloveitchik, Shiurei haRav haGaon Rabbi Yosef Dov haLevi Soloveitchik
    zatsa?l al Inyanei Tsitsit, Tefillen u-Keri?at haTorah, R. Zvi
    Schachter, ed. (Jerusalem, 5763), Hilkhot Keri?at ha-Torah, sec. 141,
    no. 2, p. 186), while we advise olim le-khatkhila to read along quietly
    following the Rosh, in practice, we rule like Maharil that the oleh
    need not read. Thus, it is a widespread custom, both amongst ashkenazim
    and sefaradim (contrary to the ruling of R. Ovadiah Yosef) to call to
    the Torah the blind, untrained and illiterate, who clearly cannot or
    will not read along from the scroll.  In addition, the Rov, notes that
    if one is called to the Torah while he is in the midst of birkhot
    keri?at shema, the halakhic consensus is to accept the aliyya and
    recite the blessings, but not t
 o read along with the ba?al korei ? again relying on Maharil. Finally, R.
 Moshe Soloveitchik ruled that for Parashat Zakhor, the oleh should not
 read along with the ba?al korei as required by Rosh. Rather, he should
 fulfill his obligations according to Maharil with the reading of the
 reader via shomei?a ke-oneh ? along with the rest of the community; see:
 R. Michel Zalman Shurkin, Harerei Kedem ? beInyanei haMoadim, I, sec. 185,
 no. 2 (5760 ed.) and sec. 208, no. 2 (expanded 5769 ed.).]

    In contrast to Suma, Women are not obligated in Keri'at haTorah (this
    is the view of all known Rishonim and the overwhelming opinion of
    Aharonim - thoroughly documented in the article, Section III and note
    85). Hence shome'ah ke-oneh cannot work and the Berakha would be
    le-vatala.	As a result, there is no such dispute or ruling regarding
    women receiving aliyyot in the posekim.



Much of the above appears as a comment to Rabbi Yuter's article cited by Liron Kopinsky 


--------------------------------------------------------
Prof. Aryeh A. Frimer
Chemistry Dept., Bar-Ilan University
Ramat Gan 5290002, ISRAEL
E-mail (office): Aryeh.Fri...@biu.ac.il
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Whatever one's attitude during the remainder of the year (which seemingly
[and, to that end, RYR noted SA YD] should be different than what I'm about
to note...), RYReisman (in last night's Navi *shiur*) quoted R' Tzadoq
HaKohein as saying that Purim is a time of *tovas-ayin* (of giving for
one's own sake rather than because the recipient deserves it), hence the
Purim dictum to give w/out question to one who asks.

All the best from
*Michael Poppers* * Elizabeth, NJ, USA
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I attended the prayer rally in Manhattan today, and there was something at
the end that they called "kabolas ol malchus shomayim", which was like what
we say at the end of Ne'ilah on Yom Kippur, with a few extra lines.  Including
Boruch Sheim, aloud, three times.  This was not the first time I'd seen this;
I've encountered it once or twice before at similar events.  But I wonder what
is the halachic basis for saying Boruch Sheim aloud when it isn't Yom Kippur?


-- 
Zev Sero               A citizen may not be required to offer a 'good and
z...@sero.name          substantial reason' why he should be permitted to
                        exercise his rights. The right's existence is all
                        the reason he needs.
                            - Judge Benson E. Legg, Woollard v. Sheridan

RAF:

<<But if you go with Rambam, please explain, how does a tree lead us to 
lose some intellectual capacities? Did it grow LSD, which then burned 
some holes into Adam's brains? And this then became hereditary?>>

The Rambam says that if a story in the Bible contains a mal'ach, EVEN AT 
THE VERY END  (emphasis mine), the entire story is a retelling of a 
prophetic vision rather than physical history (MN II:42).  And, of 
course, the story of etz hada'as ends with the kruvim and the lahat 
haherev hamis'hapeches.

So, "if you go with the Rambam", the question should be "what is the 
nimshal in the nevuah?", not "what species is the tree?".

David Riceman

Good point (which I never paid attention to before - did any premodern
Maimonidean commentaries pick up on that? ). Let's just say that I doubt my
brat plugta was intending such a peshat, though I will let her announce her
views on this.

--
mit freundlichen Gr??en,
with kind regards,
Arie Folger

visit my blog at http://ariefolger.wordpress.com/
sent from my mobile device
On Mar 9, 2014 9:53 PM, "David Riceman" <drice...@optimum.net> wrote:

> RAF:
>
> <<But if you go with Rambam, please explain, how does a tree lead us to
> lose some intellectual capacities? Did it grow LSD, which then burned some
> holes into Adam's brains? And this then became hereditary?>>
>
> The Rambam says that if a story in the Bible contains a mal'ach, EVEN AT
> THE VERY END  (emphasis mine), the entire story is a retelling of a
> prophetic vision rather than physical history (MN II:42).  And, of course,
> the story of etz hada'as ends with the kruvim and the lahat haherev
> hamis'hapeches.
>
> So, "if you go with the Rambam", the question should be "what is the
> nimshal in the nevuah?", not "what species is the tree?".
>
> David Riceman
>
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See the video at http://alephbeta.org/course/lecture/whats-in-a-name-1

There are 3 other videos about Purim on this site.  My 10 year-old
found them interesting.  YL





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The haredi Sefardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzchak Yosef reiterated his
position that women are forbidden to serve in the IDF.

But Yosef also doubled down by insisting, Yeshiva World
reported<http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/218446/rav-
yosef-shlita-induction-of-women-into-the-idf-is-an-isur-doraissa.html&g
t;,
that it actually is an issur d?oraita (prohibition from the Torah itself)
for women to serve because women in the IDF must wear men?s clothing ? in
this case, carry a weapon, which Yosef rules is a male-only adornment:

??? ????? ???? ????, ????? ????? ?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????, ?? ?? ??? ????
??? ???, ???? ????? ???? ????, ????, ?? ????? ????????, ?? ?? ????. ?? ??
???? ??? ? ?? ??? ?????, ?? ????? ??????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ??? ???.
??? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??????.

Yosef also said that Jews are obligated to warn female family members about
serving in the IDF, and must explain to these women that serving in the IDF
is not a prohibition of rabbinic origin but is instead an issur d?oraita


-------   question:
do all agree that possesion and use of  any and all weapons by females is
an issur deoraita?

does this include defensive  measures eg  pepper spray? is learning  karate
 etc also biblically verboten?

does this mean that military service is muttar absent weapons?
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See http://5tjt.com/a-primer-on-shalach-manos/

 From http://tinyurl.com/kgy6rmx

Rabbis, scholars and writers used to send on 
Purim?in addition to the traditional Mishloah 
Manot?spiritual food to their dear ones: a song, 
a study, even an entire book, they had written.

      In this article only a few of such ?manot? 
(?portions?, ?gifts?) can be mentioned.

      Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz, the author of Lekha 
Dodi?wrote a commentary on the Book of Esther and 
sent it as a Purim present to his future father-in-law.

See the above URL for more. YL
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 From http://tinyurl.com/kojzjh7

Misconception: The two foods sent on Purim for mishloach manot must 
be from two different categories of blessings.

Fact: This widespread misconception has no halachic basis.

See the above URL for more.

This article was written by Rabbi Dr. Ari Zivotofsky who is on the 
faculty of the Brain Science Program at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.

YL
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The lots of Haman occurs in Nisan and falls on Purim in Adar 11 months
later.

1) Esther says that she has not be called to the king for 30 days.
What is the rush why not wait a while longer after all there are 11 months
to go

2) Esther suggests a fast for 3 days that includes Pesach. Again why not
set the
fast for after Pesach since there is plenty of time until the following
Purim.

-- 
Eli Turkel
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I posted the following on Areivim recently:

The following is from page 5 of the article

   FROM POLAND TO SHANGHAI Eric Shaffer THE STORY 
OF THE MIR YESHIVA.S SURVIVAL OF WORLD WAR II

http://history.emory.edu/home/assets/documents/endeavors/volu
me2/EricSchaffer.pdf 


Few understood Hitler.s ultimate plans and 
thought it would be a better idea to wait out the 
war than flee. In fact, a German rabbi had even 
declared that ?it is more honorable to suffer a 
martyr.s death in Central Europe than to perish 
in Shanghai.?14 Such an opinion was held by Rabbi 
Hayyim Grodzinski, who was the leader of the 
council of torah academies worldwide. Grodzinski 
made a public proclamation to stay put in 
Lithuania and wait for salvation.15 This decision 
was made over fears that trying to leave Russia 
would get the Jews deported to Siberia and be put 
in a worse situation than they were already in. 
However, the Mir yeshiva went against this 
proclamation and proposed to try and escape 
Communist Russia while there was a chance. The 
Mir proposal was tantamount to rebellion in the 
yeshiva community, as going against the higher 
rabbis was unheard of.16 In fact, the Mir 
survival is still a sensitive subject today among 
the Orthodox for this reason. It is almost taboo 
to mention that the only yeshiva to survive the 
war was the one that didn't listen to Torah 
superiors.17 But, such a brazen attitude was that 
of the Mir yeshiva, ready to challenge decrees 
from some of the highest authorities in Judaism. 
This manner would only manifest itself as the Mir 
yeshiva continued onto Shanghai. The brash nature 
of the group had its roots in their elite status 
in the prestigious Eastern European yeshiva 
community, and grew into arrogance as treatment 
for the group became more preferential relative to those around them.

The writer is most probably not observant and is a professor at Emory U.

I would like to add the following to this.

 From http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Belz_Hasidic_Dynasty

Yissachar?s son Aharon Rokeach (1880?1957) 
succeeded his father and became the fourth Belz 
rebbe. Escaping from the ghetto of Bochnia in 
1943, he and his brother Mordekhai Rokeach of 
Bilgoraj (1903?1949) settled in 
<http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Budapest>Budapest, 
where they had a devoted community of Hasidim. In 
a dramatic speech delivered in January 1944, a 
day before the brothers left for Palestine and 
two months before the Nazis invaded Hungary, 
Mordekhai promised his Hasidim that nothing would 
happen to Hungarian Jews. This false promise, 
along with the brothers? personal escape and 
their abandonment of their Hasidim, provoked 
criticism of their behavior during a time of crisis.

For more on this please 
see  http://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/holocaust/belzer_rebbe_shoah_1.pdf


YL
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