Wit and Wisdom of RYG #6

Once RYG was teaching a shver Tosafot when one Talmid objected:
"But Rebbe, the M'harsha says ...."
To which RYG retorted "YOU don't understand the M'harsha"
And after a pregnant pause followed up with "and the M'HARSHA didn't understand Tosafot!"

At any rate - the salient point here As I Understand it is that RYG's primary fidelity was to achieving good p'shat, and it seems that often meant setting aside acharonim and analyzing Rishonim DIRECTLY. Perhaps in this case he objected mostly to this student distracting everyone's attention by citing a secondary source instead of focusing upon a primary one. As such the failure was probably mostly about not sweating out the Tosafot and taking a short-cut instead.

Summary: Since RYG's derech was Rishon-centric, therefore one should struggle with learning the Rishon, not in relying upon an intervening Acharon..

Shalom,
RRW

What Should a Rabbi Know? - 1 - The Rambam's List for Dayyanim

Originally published 5/1/11, 7:28 pm.
הלכות סנהדרין פרק ב

א  אין מעמידין בסנהדרין, בין בגדולה בין בקטנה--אלא אנשים חכמים ונבונים, מופלאין בחכמת התורה, בעלי דעה מרובה, ויודעין קצת משאר חכמות, כגון רפואות, וחשבון תקופות ומזלות, ואיצטגנינות, ודרכי המעוננים והקוסמים והמכשפים והבלי עבודה זרה וכיוצא באלו, כדי שיהיו יודעין לדון אותם.

 
Shalom,
RRW

FYI: Soncino English Talmud Online

Halakhah.com Babylonian Talmud Online in English

http://halakhah.com/

Shalom,
RRW

Kedoshim - Kedusha: Beyond the Spiritual

From the archives of Nishma's Online Library at http://www.nishma.org/, we have chosen an article that relates to the week's parsha, both to direct you to this dvar Torah but also for the purposes of initiating some discussion.

This week's parsha is Kedoshim and the topic is kedusha. We invite you to look at an article on this topic at http://www.nishma.org/articles/insight/spark5756-15.html

Aggedita Preceding Kaddish DeRabbanan

I'm debating several colleagues on this issue

Does either the "R' Chananya ben Akashya" or the "Amar R Elazar" need to immediately precede kaddish, or can it be followed with a d'var Torah and Kaddish d'rabbanan come after that intervening d'var torah instead?

Someone mentioned that the Y'hi Ratzon is a prayer not an aggadic passage
I'm not certain of that premise. My Edot Mizrach Siddur Avodar Hashem has the entire quote of Yehudah Ben Teima there which is apparently an Aggadic passage immediately before the Kaddish
At any rate on a Friday Night the minhag I with which I'm familiar is when saying a dvar Halachah to end with Amar R Elazar [alternatively R Chananya] before the Kaddish.
Think of Avot - Why do we end a perek of Avot with R Chnananya, doesn't the opening "Kol Yisroel" accomplish the same task?

Nevertheless some say Amar R"E first and then say a d'var Halachah and then say Kaddish. I'm uncertain as to why.

Shalom,
RRW

HHH Avot 1:2 1:18

As we have it Avot 1:2 has on 3 things "ho'olam OMEID"
While in 1:18 it is "ho'olam QAYYAM"
Yet, in Ben Isch Chai Year 2 Parshat T'harot [M'tzora] he has the 2 verbs reversed.

Shalom,
RRW

Signs of the Times

Originally published 4/26/11, 9:23 pm.
As I went to daven Minchah a Chavruta was studying TB Shabbat.
One fellow was using a standard Vilna edition.
His Chavruta was using the original Steinsaltz Edition.
Between them, on the side, lay the Bilingual Schottenstein Edition.
They were apparently covering all of their bases!

Shalom,
RRW

Passover Survival Guide

Originally published 4/24/11, 3:42 pm.
How to deal with Passover Food - especially when away from the comforts of home

• LOTS of raw fruits and veggies
• Nuts
• Hard boiled eggs
• Passover cheeses
• Canned fish - tuna, salmon, sardines
• Toppings for Matzah - butter, margarine, cream cheese, honey, jam

Eat natural!
And, always remember, it's all over in 8.5 days!

Chag Koserh v'Samei'ach!

Hallel in Shul on Seder Night and the Authority of the Moreh d'Atra

Originally published 4/24/11, 10:38 am.

This is a famous debate that most people certainly know. There is another debate, however, that fewer people are aware of. What is the halacha if someone's personal minhag is not to recite the Hallel, but he happens to be in a place where the Hallel is recited? What should he do then?

This issue is a debate between Rav Moshe Feinstein zt"l on one side and the Brisker Rav zatzal and ibl"t Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky Shlita on the other side....

http://www.vosizneias.com/81113/2011/04/18/new-york-halachic-analysis-reciting-hallel-on-pesach-in-shul


Shalom,
RRW

Mussar: Silence is Golden

Originally published 4/23/11. Link has difficulties.
Could this popular proverb -
"Silence is golden; speech is silver"
- American Proverb quotes
Be an adaptation of this quote from R Yehudah Hechossid?  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DerechEmet/message/93
Sefer Chasidim, chapter 37:
"Silence is better than additional speech,
because silence causes you honor and glory and
increasing speech causes humiliation and disgrace."

Shalom,
RRW

P. Acharei-Mot, K'doshim - A Novel perspective on Arayyot

Originally published on 4/22/11, 10:10 am.
The Traditional perspective in the various Arayyot taboos are that they are a function of indidivdual Q'dushah. In other words, these laws promote Holiness in the INDIVIDUAL person by a demanding code of highly moral behaviour, etc.

The Preamble in Acharei-Mot discusses avoiding Egyptian and Canaanite Behaviour. I suggest that the Torah is suggesting that we as a Torah society not emulate those societies. The clincher? V'nichr'tu Han'fashot ha'osot.

Shloymie: Let's say you're correct - Just how does this societal taboo work?

RRW: Let's assume that humans have a libido. And that this tempts humans to "objectify" targets in a predatory manner.

Left unchanneled, a man's Mother, Sister Daughter, might be subjected to predatory behaviour. Even boys and animals could become objectified via Mishkav Zachar or Bestiality.

This society creates a sense where a child has no safety at home. Nor could a child bathe or shower safely with members of the same gender. It is a society of predatory objectification.

Taboos to the Rescue

By imposing deep-seated taboos, the children are given a safety net. Girls need not fear their brothers or even fathers. Children may feel safe in same-gender showers or wash-rooms.

Take away this safety-net, and Egyptian-style objectification may run amok. Sisters grow up to be their brothers's spouses. They grow up as targets from an accepting society.

To my way of thinking, these taboos are targeted at creating a society of reduced objectification.

L'havdil it's analogous to Burkas in Moslem culture$

We take taboos against incest for granted because Xtian Societies have already adopted much of this from Leviticus.. Before mattan Torah, no one could take it for granted.

Shalom,
RRW

Why Doesn't Tanach Have a Single Definitive Meaning?

Dedicated to my Chaveir - R Arie Folger

*****

P. Birnbaum Five Megilloth (c) 1973 Heb. Publishing Co.

p. v - Intro to Song of Songs

The virtue of an allegory is that it leads the reader to think for himself, since [it uses] veiled representations. Indeed the Bible as a whole is believed to possess no single definitive meaning [resulting] in its

[A] universal appeal

And

[B] [marking] it a continually relevant book...

Thus in order to span time and space, society and history, Tanach was designed to have no single definitive meaning. IOW it was designed at the outset to NOT be limited nor fossilized nor irrelevant.

Shalom,

RRW

Harosset vs. Saltwater - Into what do we dip the Karpas?

Originally published 4/18/11, at 4:49 pm.
The Rambam MT Hilchot Hametz uMatzah 8:2 and the Shabbat Hagadol Piyyut of R Yosef Tov Elem [RYTE] both prescribe dipping the Karpas into the Harosset.
However as per contemporary Minhag Ashkenaz, we dip into salt water instead - with some literature offering vinegar as an alternative.
Question: is this something that evolved over time or was it always dependent upon community?
It would seem that since the Rambam was S'pahrdic and RYTE Ashk'nazic, this split appears NOT to have been originally based upon community.
It is also possible that RYTE's rite was never the prevailing minhag in Ashkenaz to begin with, and therefore this is indeed a geographic split and not a temporal one.

Shalom,
RRW

KSA 211:12 - Ein Tzrichin hag'arah b'feirush

Given - An Aveil for one's parents may not cut his hair until "go'arin bo chaveirav". KSA here notes that this is NOT necessarily a literal status, rather we ESTIMATE that it is worthy of being noticed...
RJB Soloveichik was known for a famous story that we do NOT determine the status of eino rauy la'achilas kelev [re: toothpaste for Passover] by literally consulting "stupid dogs". Rather it is a Halachic determination estimated by a Poseiq of what eino rauy laachilas llelev is.
Thus we see in several halachic contexts that these terms are not determined by an actual field test, and that KSA and RJBS are simpatico on that issue.

Shalom,
RRW

A Sign of the Times - Here Comes the Yerushalmi

Beth Aaron in Teaneck has scheduled TWO of its Erev Pesach Siyyumim on Talmud Yerushalmi.
Chag Kosher v'Samayach

Shalom,
RRW

Hasibah, Y'rushalmi, and Raaviyah

A while ago I once commented how greater proliferation of Yerushalmi will cause a shift - a paradigm shift - of how we view Halachah and Minhag.
Here is a likely case of just such a nexus between Minhag Ashkenaz and a Yerushalmi
---------------
I wish to gratefully acknowledge my colleague R Arie Folger who is a fellow-traveller in the World of Classical Minhag Ashkenaz for collaborating with me on this piece. We are working on connecting all the dots.
Also, I wish to acknowledge the contribution of R Abe Weschler for getting me an electronic copy of the Raaviyah text.
---------------
That Hasibah is required at the seder seems axiomatic See EG Mishnah P'sachim 10:1
The question here is - what are its parameters?
The Bavli and SA take it for granted that it implies reclining in just a certain way.
The Y'rushalmi says that Hasiba is in order not to eat like a an "eved" standing up
When I first saw this Y-lmi it occurred to me to connect it to the following Raaviyah.
The Raaviya claims hasibah is optional in societies in which dining bederech herut does not require "reclining"
The usual meaning in other contexts in Sha"s is "formal dining" [courtesy of my colleague RES]. In Roman times that might have implied reclining on mini-couches, but the main point was dining in a formal matter - a M'sibah.
The question is - is there any nexus between Raaviya of Ashkenaz and the Yerushalmi? It's a very tempting proposition but the text of the Raaviyah does not necessarily suggest that connection. Nevertheless, an unconscious connection does make sense.
Alternatively, even if Raaviyah is 100% independent of this Y-lmi, would the Y-lmi add a snif to be lenient in 2 cases? Namely -
1. Women l'chatchilah who decline to recline?
2. Men b'diaavad - who forgot to recline?
Due to Blackberry limitations, I usually paste the Hebrew texts at the end in order not to mess up standard formatting

Texts
Mishnah
מסכת פסחים פרק י
י,א ערב פסחים סמוך למנחה, לא יאכל אדם עד שתחשך. אפילו עני שבישראל, לא יאכל עד שיסב; לא יפחתו לו מארבעה כוסות של יין, ואפילו מן התמחוי.
Yerushalmi

מסכת פסחים פרק י
דף סח,א פרק י הלכה א
אמר רב לוי ולפי שדרך עבדים להיות אוכלין מעומד וכאן להיות אוכלין מסובין להודיע שיצאו מעבדות לחירות.

Bavli
פרקדן לא שמיה הסיבה הסיבת ימין לא שמה הסיבה ולא עוד אלא שמא יקדים קנה לוושט ויבא לידי סכנה אשה אצל בעלה לא בעיא הסיבה ואם אשה חשובה היא צריכה הסיבה בן אצל אביו בעי הסיבה איבעיא להו תלמיד אצל רבו מאי ת"ש <אמר> [דאמר] אביי כי הוינן בי מר זגינן אבירכי דהדדי כי אתינן לבי רב יוסף אמר לן לא צריכתו מורא רבך כמורא שמים מיתיבי עם הכל אדם מיסב ואפילו תלמיד אצל רבו כי תניא ההיא בשוליא דנגרי איבעיא להו שמש מאי תא שמע דאמר ריב"ל השמש שאכל כזית מצה כשהוא מיסב יצא מיסב אין לא מיסב לא שמע מינה בעי הסיבה שמע מינה ואמר ר' יהושע בן לוי נשים חייבות בארבעה כוסות הללו
דף קח,ב גמרא שאף הן היו באותו הנס א"ר יהודה אמר שמואל ארבעה כוסות הללו צריך שיהא בהן כדי מזיגת כוס יפה שתאן חי יצא שתאן בבת אחת יצא השקה מהן לבניו ולבני ביתו יצא שתאן חי יצא אמר רבא ידי יין יצא ידי חירות לא

Raaviya
Raaviyah on Massekhet Pesachim 525:
ראבי"ה ח"ב - מסכת פסחים סימן תקכה ד"ה ונכנס לבית
וחוזר לביתו, ויושב בהסבה . ובזמן הזה שאין רגילות בארצינו <להסב> שאין רגילות בני חורין להסב ישב כדרכו:
It is cited in Hagahot Maimoniot, Hilkhot Chametz uMatzah 7:2 as well.
Thank You RAW
------

SA O"Ch 472:1-7
סימן תעב - דיני הסיבה וארבע כוסות, ובו ט''ז סעיפים
א. יהיה שלחנו ערוך מבעוד יום כדי לאכול מיד כשתחשך ואף אם הוא בבית
המדרש יקום מפני שמצוה למהר ולאכול בשביל התינוקות שלא ישנו אבל לא יאמר
קידוש עד שתחשך:
ב. יסדר שלחנו יפה בכלים נאים כפי כחו ויכין מקום מושבו שישב בהסיבה
דרך חירות. הגה: ואפילו עני שאין לו כרים ישב על הספסל (מרדכי ריש פרק
ערבי פסחים):
ג. כשהוא מיסב לא יטה על גבו ולא על פניו ולא על ימינו אלא על שמאלו
(ואין חילוק בין אטר לאחר) (טור בשם רש''י ותרומת הדשן סימן קל''ו):
ד. אשה אינה צריכה הסיבה אלא אם כן היא חשובה. הגה: וכל הנשים שלנו
מיקרי חשובות (מרדכי ריש פרק ערבי פסחים ורבינו ירוחם) אך לא נהגו להסב
כי סמכו על ראבי''ה דכתב דבזמן הזה אין להסב (דברי עצמו):
ה. בן אצל אביו צריך הסיבה אפילו הוא רבו מובהק תלמיד לפני רבו אינו
צריך הסיבה אפילו אינו רבו מובהק אלא אם כן יתן לו רבו רשות ותלמיד חכם
מופלג בדורו אף על פי שלא למד ממנו כלום חשוב כרבו ואינו צריך הסיבה
(ודוקא כשאוכלין על שלחן אחד אבל אם אוכל על שלחן בפני עצמו צריך להסב):
ו. השמש צריך הסיבה:
ז. כל מי שצריך הסיבה אם אכל או שתה בלא הסיבה לא יצא וצריך לחזור
לאכול ולשתות בהסיבה. הגה: ויש אומרים דבזמן הזה דאין דרך להסב כדאי הוא
ראבי''ה לסמוך עליו שבדיעבד יצא בלא הסיבה (אגודה פרק ערבי פסחים). ונראה
לי אם לא שתה כוס שלישי או רביעי בהסיבה אין לחזור ולשתות בהסיבה דיש בו
חשש שנראה כמוסיף על הכוסות אבל בשני כוסות ראשונות יחזור וישתה בלא ברכה
(מנהגים) וכן באכילת מצה ולכתחלה יסב כל הסעודה (מהרי''ב):

Thank You RAF

Shalom,
RRW

Mussar: Don't Take Everything Said to Heart

Originally published on 4/16/11, 9:42 pm.
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, commentary on. Kohelet [Ecclesiastes], chapter 7, verse 21:

If you want to find tranquility [menuchah], [then] do not pay attention to everything
people say.

And if someone curses you, even your servant, if you pay attention to their words, you will. become angry and the light of the wisdom of
your soul will be darkened.

Courtesy of:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DerechEmet/message/92

Something I need to master, not to REACT to provocative statements, not to allow my buttons to get pushed.

Shalom,
RRW

Feminism and T'fillah; expressing the Feministic side of Judaism or a Manifestation of Me-Tooism?

Thanbo paraphrasing me [RRW]

R' Richard Wolpoe has said that he doesn't understand why women's tefillah groups feel so bound by the traditional forms of public prayer. Since they are not actually commanded in daily public prayer, they have the freedom to compose their own liturgy, to say prayers that are meaningful to them, as women in the past have done through their own compositions called techinot, personal prayers, which were often collected and published for other women to use.

ThanBook: April 2009

http://thanbook.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

Shalom,
RRW

Jewish Tribune: Let My People Go???

The question can be asked. Why does Hashem send Moshe Rabbeinu to ask Pharaoh to free the Jewish People? Why, effectively, does Moshe ask for permission? Why not just pick up and leave?

In my latest Jewish Tribune article, I present my thoughts in response to these questions. This article is reproduced below.

Rabbi Ben Hecht
 

Let My People Go???

It is the line that encompasses in most of our minds the force and intensity of the holiday—Let My People Go. Moshe Rabbeinu stands before the most powerful ruler of the world at the time, demanding of Pharaoh, again and again, that he free the Jews. Each refusal is met with a Divine plague, each one worse than the one before, still Pharaoh says no. Then comes the final plague and Pharaoh can take no more. The tables turn and it is now this mighty ruler who must search all over for Moshe, to declare before this great leader of our people that the Jews are now free, that Pharaoh indeed will finally let the people go. I, though, have always had a bit of a problem with this story. Why did Moshe, in the first place, need to go before Pharaoh to request that he let the Jews go? Why didn’t the Jews, under the guidance and protection of God, just leave?

There was, of course, great drama in these confrontations between Moshe and Pharaoh. The story would not be the same without them. But why were they necessary? Could the Jews not have just left Egypt without this so-called permission? The God Who brought the plagues against the Egyptians could also have easily protected the Jews from any potential assault against them if they would have just left. Why the need for “Let My People Go”? Could Moshe’s line not just as easily have been “So long, We’re Leaving”?

The drama of the story would no doubt have been different but it could also have had its force and imagery. Imagine – the Jewish nation, under the direction of Moshe, gathering together and starting to simply march out of Egypt. Pharaoh comes to challenge them, ordering them to return, even sending his army against them to stop them – of course, unsuccessfully. The armies’ arrows fall helplessly to the ground. Soldiers attempting to attack the Jews fall into pits that open underneath them. Maybe walls of water would fall mightily on these Egyptians attempting to prevent the Jews from leaving without permission. Wait a second, though – isn’t that already, in a certain way, part of the story, down by the Reed Sea? Indeed, Moshe’s final line, if there was one, was, simply, “Goodbye.”

There is a drama within this drama of the Passover story that is often overlooked. In the end, the Jews did not leave because Pharaoh let them go. In the end, at the Reed Sea, the Jews actually left against Pharaoh’s will. It is also then, subsequent to this event, that Yul Brynner (playing Pharaoh) drops into his throne and states “He is God” – and this film presentation in The Ten Commandments wasn’t very far from the truth. Even after all the plagues in Egypt, even after finally succumbing to the pressure to release the Jewish slaves, Pharaoh still doubted – was this supernatural power that brought devastation to his nation truly the Divine Creator and Master of all existence? What was Pharaoh’s problem? Why did he still question? His problem was precisely that Moshe and the Jews didn’t just leave, that Moshe kept asking for permission, requesting “Let My People Go.” This led Pharaoh to believe that he was still necessary, that he still had to release the Jews. As long as Pharaoh believed that he had some power, that he was necessary, he could not truly comprehend and accept God in all His Majesty.

Each time that Moshe came before Pharaoh with the request to let the Jewish nation go, Pharaoh’s belief that he had rights was reinforced. These slaves were his and he, thus, had rights over their destiny, immutable rights, he believed, that were inherent in existence. Even as this Supernatural Force was wreaking havoc on Egypt, he still believed that the Jews could not leave without permission. To him, even this Force was bound by these inherent rights within existence. This principle, however, came crashing down with the waters of the Reed Sea. This is where he learned the true message of the Universal God: He is not subject to the rules but Writer of the rules.

.If God would have simply marched the Jewish nation out of Egypt, Pharaoh would not have fully felt this message. God thus had to set Pharaoh up, had to have him believing that his rights were immutable, only to discover at the Reed Sea that God could have really taken the Jewish People out of Egypt at any time, that the drama in Egypt was not really necessary in order to free the Jews. God was not bound by the events but, rather, He orchestrated them to, thereby, teach Pharaoh, and all, an important lesson about reality—that God is the very Source of existence.

The Passover story is not just about freedom. It is also our introduction to the Torah, the Jewish, view of God. It is for this very reason that the Passover Seder is built around the Question. The Question ultimately opens us up to new ideas. It is only thereby that we can learn from the Source—beyond our inherent perceptions and limitations. 

TB M'gillah 13b - R'fuah before the Makkah

Originally published 4/14/11, 9:54 pm.
«Rava said: "Only after the Holy One, created the affliction did HE send the affliction"» Tr Schottenstein

Question: what r'fuah did HKBH create before the European Holocaust?

I thought of two possible answers

A. Escape to America [as B"H my own grandparents did]

B Zionism

It is up to History and to Greater People than I to verify the validity of these hypotheses.


Shalom,
RRW